Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-01-29


a proud and grateful people, and
poets, too, with felicity Of thought and
grace and charm OF expression, whose
songs and verse are sung with pleasure
and delight the world around-but mn
name among them all is more highly
honored, and no memory more deeply
treasured than that of my friend and
your friend, our own citizen, the great
commoner, Thomas B. Reed. 81
He was to the manner born. he was
our great representative citizen, born.
bred and educated. in Maine. and dur
| ing all that illustrious career which
gave him worldwide name and fame.
he hailed from Maine, our OWN, State.
and his, death was and is irreparable.
not only to the world and the great
city, that great metropolis which he
had made his business home but to
Maine, who claimed him as her own.
her son.
When the history of our own day
and time is finally written, the name
of Reed will occupy a full page, and
when thereafter that page is read, a
sigh Of deep regret will ever express
lament that the world was too early
| y,
| vigor and prowess, and the positive
character of this great man, while he
| was yet in the full enjoyment of COM
plete strength of mind and intellectual
power.
Let us not permit his name and fame
to be forgotten. Let us cherish his
noble and manly virtues, and endeavor
to kindle the fires of ambition within
the hearts and minds of our youth to
emulate his example, and may We set
aside a place in our public archives
where the memory of this great citizen
shall be kept forever green.
His was a busy life-a constant
struggle, but a succession of most bril-
liant victories. When the end came
and the light went out, all classes and
conditions of men, representing all
shades of opinion, at once paused to
reverently and with uncovered head,
give united expression of sincere sor-
row at his death, to pay solemn trib-
ute to his greatness, and sign the uni
versal verdict of mankind throughout
the world, that Thomas Bracket Reed
was a Christian gentleman, great and
incorruptible statesman, an eminent,
resourceful and accomplished lawyer,
and an honest man.
Mr.. DAVIS of Waterville, said:
Your Excel1ency and Gentlemen of
the Assembly: This august assem-
blage, this hour, this place echoing
yet with the craftsmanship of that dis
tinguished citizen whose memory we
cherish, admOnishes us that the
emotions of our hearts and not our
rIc h. e,sx, A,f
dorsement of the resolutions now be-
fore this Convention.
In the words of Daniel Webster, IF
there be anything in associations fit to
affect the mind of man, we need not
strive to repress the emotions which
agitate us here"
Your Excellency, gigantic pine has
fallen-reared in the grand old State of
Maine, where excellence in statesman
ship has ever been an object lesson to
our youth; where in the light of the
constitution is taught the fundamental
doctrine that the nation rests in the
cottage; that morality is the enduring
basis of true greatness, Thomas
Bracket Reed was a natural product:
and his Inheritance of courage, of
manliness, of Independence of adher-
ence to principle, was but logical
sequence.
These environs, these mental and
moral furnishings, made his pathway
from the obscure advocate in his native
town in 1865. to membership in the
House in 1868, to the Senate in 1870, to
Attorney General in 1871 and 1872, to
the National House in 1877 and to the
Speakership in 1889 and again in 1897,
a royal highway without crook or turn
Speaker Reed was too broad an
American to adhere unfalteringly to
party usage or yield to party pressure
against his personal convictions. He
never subscribed to the toast: Our
Country Always Right; But Right or
Wrong, Our Country
On the 9th of February 1882 in that
Garfield memorial address
in Congress. James G. Blaine made the
assertion, that the three distinguished
leaders hitherto devel-
oped in this country were, Clay, Dou-
glass and Stevens. To this distin-
guished list must now be added the
illustrious name of Reed; for while
Clay at "a took the control of the Wing
Party from the President who had re-
ceived their Suffrages-with Webster
ana Cnoate opposed ana WhHe Doug
lass forced Congress into repeal of
the Missouri Compromise, and while
Stevens advanced his parliamentary
leadership until Congress tied the
hands of the President. Mr. Reed
against entrenched precedent and us
age, compelled a reluctant House to
|egislate; and thus inaugurated a new
departure from established parliament
tary proceedings in the American Con-
yress.
Words family express our admir-
alton for such a son of the Pine Tree
State, or our loss in his departure from
US.
Did l say a gigantic pine had fallen?
Let us change the smile. A new fixed
star shines in the Maine consultations.
l star shines with lustrc undimmed
upon the pathway of duty and de-
votion to state and country which
stretches before us.
We have a truer conception of 10y
alty to high ideals because of this
llustrious citizen. His niche in the
Hall of Fame and his place on the
llumined page of history are both Sc
cure. Nav the dav never come when