Year: 1877

Il
scarcely necessary in presenting trib-
ute of respect to the memory of the
distinguished subject of the resolutions now
before the House. His services as public
man are too signsl to require apology for
offering tribute to his memory.
He was the friend CT my bOyhoOd. /
knew him well; and, as far as it was my
pleasure to know him, he never turned his
back upon a foe, nor deserted a friend in
time of trouble. Honest and Conscientious
in his convictions. he had the moral cour-
age to make himself felt. whenever and
wherever he was called upon to act. Faith
full in the discharge of duty, ever watchful
of the interests contided to his care, he was
s par excellence" man to whom important
trusts should be cOntided.


There is scarcely page of the acts of
1876, covering useful and proper legislation,
that does not bear impress of the faithful
work of the subject of these resolutions
and if he was living to-day, to speak of the
great work performed by the Legislature at
its last session, he might with much truth
declare 'nadgnG pars fui."


Possessed of a mind capable of the grand
| est thoughts and the most splendid cOncep-
| tions,-like the great river on the western
| border Of our State-tOO great TO be levied
| and confined by any limited channel, there
seemed to be nothing that required mental
effort that he could not master and no sub
| ject could be touched by him that was not
1
| his genius and intellectual power.
| Wherever he walked he was felt to be ga
| man among men," 1t is no mere idle enco-
| mum to say that the vacuum caused by his
| death can scarcely be filled. / regarded
| VIM. r. Barksdale as one of the most supe-
rior men | ever knew. With his mind stored


with fund of useful knowledge, and


sharpened by constant contact at the bar
and in the forum, he was perhaps without


an intellectual superior in the State. When


L first knew him he was the same indefatig ga


ble worker and laborer, with the same de


termination to succeed in all that he under
| took, the same courteous and affable gentle


man, the same true friend and Independent


foe that distinguished him in his mature
manhood.


| Intellectual, cultivated and brave, he wa:


splendid type of a Southern gentleman
Of the most exemplary habits, he was :


model for the young men of the State tt
pattern after.


| am not familiar with his early history
having known him first at the University
of Mississippi; but before he stepped upoI
the Threshold Of manhood, every one wht


knew him there predicted for him life o
great usefulness and honor. They prophe-
sled that Barksdale would be bright stal


in the diadem of Missssippi's useful ant
brilliant men. Leaving the State Universi
sity short time before the late war began
after having there had conferred upon him





applied himself first TO the study of elocu-
ton, aud the good use of his time in tha
study can be attested by those present TO-
day; and | believe only short time before
the war had he settled himself for the prac
tice of the law as profession.


L do not now remember whether he


was "war man" before the recent armed


conflict between the States began, but


whatever may have been his position before


the guns were first fired at Sumte", so soon


as it was known that it could no longer be


an engagement of words only between the


North and the South,


''He girded on his armor and fearless rushed
/ to war,


Twas his bold task the fearful strife to try -


and if necessary in cause he believed was
just,


"For his country nob,y dare to die"


l did not know him as soldier, but from


all reports of him, it can be truthfully said


that like Henry of Navarro, when he led


the armies of the Huguenots, if not his
white plume, his bright blade could ever be


seen, and his cheering voice could be heard


in the foremost rank and in the thickest oil
| the fight, along the s'battle's bloody marge''
wherever Confederate soldiers of his COM
mand were called upon to do their duty.
| He was of a nature never to shirk respon-
/ Sibility, but always performed whatever
work he had to do fearlessly and faith
| fully. It Is scarcely necessary to go out of
| this House for evidence of his great fidelity
| to duty. AT the last session of this body he
was placed upon many important COM
mittees, aad upon them all his superior in
telligence and great force of character was
| felt.


| Take him all in all and | doubt if he had
| superior in the State. lie was man of
brain, pregnant with the grandest thoughts
| and most comprehensive reasoning.
| As as an orator, his genius, language and
| fancy never faileu him. Capable OF ascend
ing to the highest realms of splendid
thought, yet he was not so grand that he
could not at times stoop down and gather a
flower by the wayside. His eloquence was
not like ripping stream that meandered
its way along, but like a torrent that swept
its passage to the sea.


As lawyer, so completely had he train
ed his mind and so fully had he mastered
his profession as science, that it seemed