The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-04-26
TRIBUTE TO THOMPSON
BEAUTIFUL ADDREssEs DELIv.
 FRED IN THE HOUSE.
Congressman A. A. Wiley in ornat, Language Lauds the Virtues of His Dead Friend and
 Colleague.

Language Lauds the Virtues of His Dead Friend and
 Colleague.
 Washington, April 2s.-In the House Sunday, Congressman A. A. Wiley paid touching tribute to the memory of his late colleague. Representative Charles w. Thompson of the Fifth Alabama Dis trict. Others added their need of praise of the virtues of the dead Congressman. who. in life. had endeared himself to those with whom he came in contact in the nations Parliament. Mir. Wiley said:
 Mir. Speaker. we stand in the shadow of a great sorrow. Again we are ina- pressed with the solemn words of the poet:
 Oh. deep. enchanting prelude to repose. The dawn of bliss. the twilight of our
 Yet half hear the panting spirit sigh; It is q dread and awful thing to die.
 Ebon-handed Death, with his relentless scythe, has again invaded our ranks and cut down a beloved colleague in the full pride and strength of glorious young manhood.
 On the 2oth day of last month. at the hour of o'clock p. n1., his disembodied spirit winged Its flight from the ills of life to a brighter and better home be- ycnd the skies. to that
 Mysterious world. untraveied by the Where times far-wandering tide has never run.
 In his untimely death the State mourns one of her strongest and noblest sons. His illness wasAbrief Grief-stricker. we ] scarcely had occasion to gather around l his bed of sickness before we were sum-
 ncned to follow his body to the grave. So buoyant and manly, strong and heal thy. brave. loyal and true was he that 1t never occurred to us to associate him with the idea of death. Better than any man ever knew he appreciated the just l relations between himself and others, the duties arising therefrom. and his obliga- tions to fulfill them at all times. 1 was his intimate personal friend and loved him for those qualities of head and heart which endeared him to all who ! came into close contact with him. As a father. son. brother. neighbor, friend. church member, and patriotic citizen he discharged every duty cheerfully and with the approval of a good conscience. Time robs us of our treasures one by Otc. lSdNlHB uS nOlu1tB 0dfC Oui AC0A' The ways of God are inscrutable-past finding out. In the midst of a useful and honorable career, with q rainbow of promise spanning brilliant future and glowing with prismatic colors of richest hue. 1t Is beyond our finite comprehen- sion to understand why the dread sum- mops,' should come to him at an hour so isopportune. All our sorrows, 1t is said. have elements of good in them. and as ''the swift shuttle passes we catch bright glimpses of golden threads in the black web of our afflictions. Light and shade, good and evil, joy and sadness. and recross like warp and wool fin the loom and weave up the eternal network of our destiny. But
 Each hope and fear that blights the eye or clouds the brow
 Proclaims there is a happier sphere
 than this bleak world that holds us
 From the almost, inspired pen of Ed mund Burke we have this memorable sentiment: There is nothing in the world that does not lie within the reach of an informed understanding and a well-directed pursuit" The moral quali- ties. the excellencies of character, of  Ich of truth to come down from heaven to earth. Truth and courage are lordly virtues. They wear upon their heads the dignity and glory of kingly power; and when softened by charity, which Is their loving mother, they become the superb crown of humanity-not imperious des- pots, but checked and tempered soYer- eiRns of the soul.
 Charles W. Thompson was a broad gauged, progressive. liberty-loving Amer ican. He was not a theorist or pessi-
 mist He was no literary vagrant. loiter- ints about the soft places of incidence and ease. He was intensely practical. He did things. He accomplished results. With a Napoleonic grasp of the situa- ticn. he reached conclusions with un- erring accuracy and apparently with out conscious intermediate process Earnestly patriotic, his ardent wish was to have all sectional lines obllterated. to behold the North. South Fast, and West banded together in the common bonds of perpetual union and fraternal love. Direct in his methods. clear of comprehension, with a bright mind full of useful knowledge. fluent in sreech, and graceful in manner, it was no marvel that in his public addresses he became so interesting and instructive that "the common people heard him gla dly."
 The Bible description of a Christian worker. mot slothful in business: fer vent in spirit, serving the Lord" pre- cisely fitted him. He met the duties, responsibilities, and obligations of life