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

many of lis, several of the able and dis
Itinguished men of Maine, men who
have left a deep and lasting impress
upon the history of our State and Ma
ton. have been, borne away by this
same camel-Fessenden, Hamlin.
Blaine. Dingley, Boutelle, Milliken-
names as familiar as household words.
Thomas B. Reed stood in the front
ranks of men such as these, and in
power. ability, integrity and strength
of character. he was their peer and
their equal. Like them. he was not
only endowed with great intellectual
power. but like them also he was hon
est and upright in all his dealings with
his fellow men. The smell of fire was
never upon his garments. He, never
prostituted his great power and abil-
lily. Neither love for friend, nor fear
of foe ever caused him to swerve the
breadth of a single hair from what he
believed to be right. His superb hon
esty and high conception of right, is
strikingly evidenced by the fact that
he was poor when he entered Congress,
| he remained poor while in Congress-
and he was poor when he left Congress.
Yet his high position as the great
speaker of the National House of
Representatives, together with the
mighty influence and power which his
exalted position gave him, must have
opened before him many questionable
avenues of wealth, but with his strong
sense of honor, he seorned to enter the
golden doors so invitingly held open
a tempta ton to which a weaker man
than he might have yielded. And the
fact that he did not use his position
and power for his own private gain,
is. one of the brightest gems in the
crown of his great fame.
When occasion required, he could
strike mighty blows, but they were al
ways struck on the side of what he be-
lieved to be right. And when he struck,
he made himself felt. To be sure his
blows were not like those of Saladin
who with a single deft stroke of his
cimiter. severed in twain the gossamer
handkerchief floating in mid air, but
rather they were like the blows of
Richard. the lion-hearted, who with
one stroke of his mighty sword cleft
the ingot of iron.
The State of Maine, without regard
to party or creed, rejoices in his great
fame which is a part of her glory. His
name is written in letters of FURNISHED
gold. high in the list of her many H.
lustrious sons, and many long genera
tions will pass away before Speaker
Reed is forgotten by his State and
country.
Mr.sWING of Androscoggin said:
Your Excellency and Gentlemen of
the Assembly: Nearly nineteen hun
dred years ago the Divine Man, our
savior, pronounced an eulogium upon
an absent friend in less than three
lines. the burning words of which have
outlived and outshone all contempor-
aneous panegyrics. Among them
that are born of women, there hath
not arisen greater than John the
Baptist. These words, few and
simple though they be. will last while
time endures. When all the an
plause created by the fulsome praises
spoken of the living and the dead dur
ing all the centuries which have inter-
vened are forgotten, and the voices
which gave utterance thereto and the
echoes thereof are still and lost. this
simple tribute will stand out boldly
and grandly as the treasured express
sion of Him who spoke as never man
spake.
The. State of Maine, though less than
century old, has upon her roll the
names of most distinguished and hon.
orabie sons. whose lives, characters
ana deeds are interviewer with the his
tory OF our country, and the manage
ment of it's most important concerns.
statesmen of worldwide celebrity.
with wise discrimination and broad |
minded integrity who have paid obedi-
ence to no command but the will Of
heaven; clergymen whose pious min
isfrations in the quiet and peaceful cir
cies of life have elevated the standa I'd
OF public and private morals, and
nave been solace and benediction.
heroes whose deeds of valor, performed