MR. PRESIDENT,--The last Representative of Massachusetts snatched away
by death during the session of Congress was Robert Rantoul, Jr. Ripe
in years and brilliant in powers, this distinguished person tardily
entered these Halls, and he entered them not to stay, but simply to go.
Congress was to him only the antechamber to another world. Since then
ten years have passed, and we are now called to commemorate another
Representative of Massachusetts snatched away by death during the
session of Congress. Less ripe in years and less brilliant in powers,
Mr. Bailey occupied less space in the eyes of the country; but he had a
soul of perfect purity, a calm intelligence, and a character of his own
which inspired respect and created attachment; and he, too, was here
for so brief a term that he seems only to have passed through these
Halls on his way, without, alas! the privilege of health as he passed.
Born in 1823, Mr. Bailey had not reached that stage of life, when,
according to a foreign proverb, a man has given to the world his full
measure;[311] and yet he had given such measure of himself as justified
largely the confidence of his fellow-citizens. This was the more
remarkable, as he commenced life without those advantages which assure
early education and open the way to success. At two years of age he
was an orphan, of humble parentage and scanty means. From school he
followed the example of Franklin, and became a printer. There is no
calling, not professional, which to an intelligent mind affords better
opportunities of culture. The daily duties of the young printer are
daily lessons. The printing-office is a school, and he is a scholar. As
he sets types, he studies, and becomes familiar at least with language
and the mystery of grammar, orthography, and punctuation, which, in
early education, is much; and if he reads proofs, he becomes a critic.
At the age of twenty-two our young printer changed to a student of law,
and in 1848 was admitted to the bar.
In the very year of his admission to the bar the question of Slavery
assumed unprecedented proportions, from the efforts made to push
it into the Territories of the United States. Although he took no
active part in the prevailing controversy, it must have produced its
impression on his mind. It was to maintain prohibition of Slavery in
the Territories, and to represent this principle, that he was chosen to
Congress.[312] In a speech at the time he upheld this cause against the
open opposition of its enemies and the more subtle enmity of those who
disparaged the importance of the principle. Never had Representative a
truer or nobler constituency. It was of Worcester, that large central
county of Massachusetts, and broad girdle of the Commonwealth, which,
since this great controversy began, has been always firm and solid for
Freedom. To represent a people so intelligent, honest, and virtuous
was in itself no small honor.
But with this honor came those warnings which teach the futility of all
honor on earth. What is honor to one whom death has already marked for
his own? As life draws to its close, the consciousness of duty done,
especially in softening the lot of others, must be more grateful than
anything which the world alone can supply. Even the spoiler, Death,
cannot touch such a possession. And this consciousness rightly belonged
to the invalid who was now a wanderer in quest of health. Compelled to
fly the frosts of his Massachusetts home during the disturbed winter
of 1860, when these civil commotions were beginning to gather, he
journeyed nearer to the sun, and in the soft air of the Mexican Gulf
found respite, if not repose. There he was overtaken by that blast of
war, which, like
“A violent cross wind from either coast,”
swept over the country. Escaping now from the menace of war in Florida,
as he had already escaped from the menace of climate in Massachusetts,
he traversed the valley of the Mississippi, and succeeded in reaching
home. At the session of Congress called to sustain the Government he
appeared to take his seat; but a hand was fastened upon him which could
not be unloosed. Again he came to his duties here during the present
session; for while the body was weak, his heart was strong. He often
mourned his failing force, because it disabled him from speaking and
acting at this crisis. He longed to be in the front rank. Yet he was
not a cipher. He was a member of the Committee on Territories in the
House of Representatives, and its Chairman[313] relates that this
dying Representative was earnest to the last that his vote should be
felt for Freedom. “Let me know when you wish my vote, and, though weak,
I shall surely be with you,” said the faithful son of Massachusetts.
This is something for his tombstone; and I should fail in just loyalty
to the dead, if I did not mention it here.
As a member of this Committee, he put his name to a report which became
at once a political event. In the uneventful life of an invalid,
who was here for a few weeks only, it should not be passed over in
silence. By a resolution adopted on the 23d of December, 1861,[314]
the Committee on Territories was instructed “to inquire into the
legality and expediency of establishing Territorial Governments
within the limits of the disloyal States or districts.” After careful
consideration of this momentous question, the Committee reported a bill
to establish temporary provisional governments over the districts of
country in rebellion against the United States.[315] This bill assumed
two things, which, of course, cannot be called in question: first, that
throughout the Rebel region the old loyal State Governments had ceased
to exist, leaving no person in power there whom we could rightfully
recognize; and, secondly, that the Constitution of the United States,
notwithstanding all the efforts of Rebellion, was still the supreme
law throughout this region, without a foot of earth or an inhabitant
taken from its rightful jurisdiction. Assuming the _absence_ of State
Governments and the _presence_ of the National Constitution, the bill
undertook, through the exercise of Congressional jurisdiction, to
supply a legitimate local government, with a governor, legislature,
and court; but it expressly declared that “no act shall be passed,
establishing, protecting, or recognizing the existence of Slavery; nor
shall said temporary government, or any department thereof, sanction or
declare the right of one man to property in another.” In a succeeding
section it was made the duty of the authorities “to establish schools
for the moral and intellectual culture of all the inhabitants, and to
provide by law for the attendance of all children over seven and under
fourteen years of age not less than three months in each year.” With
a thrill of joyful assent Mr. Bailey united with the majority of the
Committee in this bill. It was his last public act, almost his only
public act in Congress, and certainly the most important of his public
life. As a record of purpose and aspiration it will not be forgotten.
To such a measure he was instinctively moved by the strength of his
convictions and his sense of the practical policy needed for the
support of the Constitution. He had no indulgence for the Rebellion,
and saw with clearness that it could be ended only by the removal of
its single cause. His experience at the South added to his appreciation
of the true character of Slavery, and increased his determination. He
did not live to see this Rebellion subdued, but he has at least left
his testimony behind. He has taught by what sign we are to conquer. He
has shown the principle which must be enlisted. Better than an army is
such a principle; for it is the breath of God.
Mr. Bailey was clear in understanding, as he was pure in heart. His
life was simple, and his manners unaffected. His, too, were all the
household virtues which make a heaven of home, and he was bound to
this world by a loving wife and an only child. He was happy in being
spared to reach his own fireside. Sensible that death was approaching,
he was unwilling to continue here among strangers, and, though feeble
and failing, he was conveyed to Fitchburg, where, after a brief period
among kindred and friends, he closed his life. His public place here
is vacant, and so also is his public place in Massachusetts. But there
are other places also vacant: in his home, in his business, and in his
daily life among his neighbors, in that beautiful town scooped out of
the wooded hills, where he was carried back to die.
* * * * *
I offer resolutions identical with those offered by myself, and adopted
by the Senate, on the death of Robert Rantoul.
_Resolved, unanimously_, That the Senate mourns the death
of Hon. GOLDSMITH F. BAILEY, late a member of the House
of Representatives from Massachusetts, and tenders to his
relatives a sincere sympathy in this afflicting bereavement.
_Resolved_, As a mark of respect to the memory of the deceased,
that the Senate do now adjourn.
* * * * *
The resolutions were agreed to; and the Senate adjourned.