members," but in part also " to the parliamentary ability and tact of him who sat faithfully and patiently as Speaker of the House. Deprived by his position of opportunity of taking part in the discussions, which his genius and experience fitted him to illustrate, he nevertheless did much to direct the current of legislation which flowed smoothly or turbulently before him. The resolution of thanks to the Speaker, moved by a member of the minority, and passed unanimously, was no unmeaning compliment, but an honor fairly earned and justly paid."

The Rev. Dr. Boynton, Chaplain of the House, writing for the Cincinnati Gazette, said of these Congresses and of the Speaker:

"History will yet record that in every element of real statesmanship; in clear, broad views of human rights and relations; in deep, true moral convictions; in all that constitutes the heroic character, the leaders of the Thirty-ninth Congress were superior to their predecessors; and among them Mr. Colfax was, and is, an acknowledged leader.

66 They were men who met firmly the shock of the most formidable rebellion of modern times, and crushed it; and then, against the whole power of the Executive, a great party at the North and the reinspirited rebels conceived and executed a safe plan for restoring the South and reuniting the country. Men capable of this are great men. 'For three consecutive Congresses [written after he was elected Speaker the third time], and while the greatest questions ever presented to American statesmen were being discussed, in a time of extreme peril, these strong men invited Mr. Colfax to preside over them, guide their deliberations, and wield the great power of the Speaker, when any grave mistake would have imperilled their party and their country.

Many of the strong men in the House could do, perhaps, each in his own sphere, what the Speaker could not; but in the administrative ability needed in his high position; in the power to so guide the great mental forces of the House as to reach a result; in the faculty of seeing at a glance the true aspect of a difficult case, and of prompt decision; in that 'tact' which means an intuitive perception of what is needed, and how it can be done, Mr. Colfax has no superior among our public men in the House or elsewhere.

"His convictions rest on a firm moral and religious basis, and therefore he is not likely to change. He is one of the best living representatives of the true American type of mind, thoroughly practical, working right on to definite ends with great executive force, power of endurance, and an unwearied attention to the details of business. In any higher position he would bring to the conduct of affairs the same clear concep

tions, the same power of prompt decision, the same exquisite tact and firmness that distinguish him as Speaker."

A writer in Putnam's Magazine for June, 1868, said of the Speaker:

“As a presiding officer, he is the most popular the House has had since Henry Clay. His marvellous quickness of thought and his talent for the rapid administration of details enable him to hold the reins of the House of Representatives, even in its most boisterous moods, with as much grace and ease as Mr. Bonner would show the paces of Dexter in Central Park or as Mr. Gottschalk would thread the keys of a piano, in a dreamy maze of faultless, quivering melody.

"" As an orator, Mr. Colfax is not argumentative, except as clear statement and sound judgment are convincing. He is eminently representative. A glance at his broad, well-balanced, practical brain indicates that his leading faculty is the sum of all faculties-judgment; and that what he believes the majority of the people either believe or can be made to believe. His talents are administrative and executive rather than deliberative. He knows men well, estimates them correctly, treats them all candidly and fairly. No man will get through his business with you in fewer minutes, and yet none is more free from the horrid brusqueness of busy men. There are heart and kindness in Mr. Colfax's politeness. Men leave his presence with the impression that he is at once an able, honest, and kind man. The breath of slander has been silent toward his fair, spotless fame."

In a speech at Bedford, Pa., September 4th, 1866, Thaddeus Stevens said: "As a further enumeration of some of the acts of Congress, I refer you to a speech of the Hon. Schuyler Colfax, lately made to his constituents. No sounder patriot exists. And I will take this occasion to say that as Speaker I believe no abler officer ever presided over a deliberative body."

CHAPTER X.

FORTIETH CONGRESS.

1867-1869.

Re-elected SPEAKER, INAUGUral.-CongresS ADJOURNS TO JULY.— LECTURING, HONORS, RECEPTIONS.-CONGRESS CONSTRUES THE RECONSTRUCTION ACTS, ADJOURNS TO NOVEMBER.-SERENADE SPEECH. -THE SPEAKER PROPOSED IN MANY QUARTERS FOR PResident.— THE FALL CANVASS AND ELECTION.―JOHNSON'S MACHINATIONS TO DEFEAT CONGRESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION. THE PRESIDENT IMPEACHED, TRIED, ACQUITTED.-THE REBEL STATES ACQUIESCE IN THE LAW.-COLFAX SOLICITED TO STAND FOR GOVERNOR OF INDIANA, DECLINES.-Proposed for Vice-PreSIDENT.-NOMINATED WITH GRANT, CONGRATULATIONS, COMMENTS.-RECEPTION AT HOME.-A SUMMER IDYL.-Elected VICE-PRESIDENT.-MARRIES MISS WADE, NIECE OF SENATOR WADE, OF OHIO.-CONGRATULATIONS, RecepTIONS, BANQUETS, PRESENTS.-COUNTING THE ELECTORAL VOTE.— TAKES FINAL LEAVE OF THE HOUSE.

IMMEDIATELY on the dissolution of the Thirty-ninth, the Clerk called the roll of the Fortieth Congress. There had been no caucus; Colfax was nominated for Speaker" amid as enthusiastic and universal a clapping of hands," said a press dispatch, "as was ever accorded a public favorite. Republicans did not cheer more than Democrats, men more than women, the galleries more than the House. It was a spontaneous recognition of a rare personality and a true manhood." On the ballot he received 127 votes to 30 for Mr. Marshall, of Illinois. Upon taking the Chair he spoke as follows:

"GENTLEMEN: Elected for the third time to this responsible and trying position, I appreciate more than ever before the importance of this trust, and realize more than when first entering upon its difficult duties the absolute necessity of your confidence and support. Nor do I overrate the gravity of our position as American legislators.

"The years have never dropped their sand

On mortal issue vast and grand

As ours to-day.'

"A nation decimated by the conflicts of fraternal strife, a land desolated by the destructive marches of hostile armies, a people with the fruits of prolonged war, ripened into the gloomy harvest of hearts dead with the bullet, as well as hearts heavy with bereavement and broken with anguish, look anxiously, from North and South alike, to this Capital of our continental domain.

"But there is a pathway of duty luminous with light, and by that light we should walk. It is to guide our steps by the justice of God and the rights of man. It is to anchor our legislation on what the great Commoner of England, John Bright, declares to be the simple but sublime principles on which national questions should be settled-the basis of eternal right. It is to write on our banner those words that will shine brighter than the stars that gem the firmament-liberty, loyalty, and law.' It is to so make history that posterity will rise up and call us blessed.

"The Congress which has just passed away has written a record that will be long remembered by the poor and friendless, whom it did not forget. Misrepresented or misunderstood by those who denounced it as enemies, harshly and unjustly criticised by some who should have been its friends, it proved itself more faithful to human progress and liberty than any of its predecessors. The outraged and the oppressed found in these Congressional halls champions and friends. Its key-note of policy was protection to the down-trodden. It quailed not before the mightiest and neglected not the obscurest. It lifted the slave whom the nation had freed up to the full stature of manhood. It placed on our statute-book the Civil Rights Act as our national Magna Charta, grander than all the enactments of the American code. And in all the region whose civil governments had been destroyed by a vanquished rebellion, it declared, as a guarantee of defence to the weakest, that the free man's hand should wield the free man's ballot, and none but loyal men should govern a land which loyal sacrifices had saved. Taught, too, by inspiration that new wine could not be safely put in old bottles, it proclaimed that there could be no safe or loyal reconstruction on a foundation of unrepentant treason or disloyalty.

"Fortunate will it be for us if, when we surrender these seats to our successors, we can point to a record which will shine on the historic page like that of the Congress which has just expired. Thrice fortunate if, when we leave this Capitol, our whole national structure shall be permanently restored, resting on the sure foundation-stones of loyalty, unity, liberty, and right.

"With such convictions of duty I come to this Chair to administer your rules, but not as a partisan. I appeal to you for that generous support by which alone a presiding officer can be sustained, pledging you in return an inflexible impartiality, which shall be proved by my deeds. And invoking on your deliberations the favor of Him who holds the destinies of nations in the hollow of His hand, I am now ready to take the oath of office prescribed by law."

Congress proceeded to perfect a supplementary reconstruction act. The act of the last Congress declared universal suffrage the principle upon which reorganization should proceed; this act provided the machinery in detail for reorganizing upon that principle. Both acts recognized President Johnson's State governments "for municipal purposes only." The President appointed Generals Thomas, Ord, Sheridan, Sickles, and Schofield to the command of the five military districts into which the South was divided. About the end of March Congress adjourned to the first Wednesday in July. Maryland was soon afterward recovered by the Southern party through a constitutional convention. Jefferson Davis was released on bail, Mr. Greeley becoming one of his sureties, and thereby incurring a good deal of odium among his old admirers. Mr. Johnson "swung round the Southern arc of the circle," and left the Constitution in the hands of the Southern as well as the Northern people. His AttorneyGeneral, Mr. Stanberry, was delivered of an opinion on the reconstruction acts which led Congress to declare, in its July session, "that the existing provisional State governments are not legal governments," and to put its own and a finally unmistakable construction on the reconstruction legislation. It appointed a committee to investigate the Lincoln assassination conspiracy and a committee to inquire into the cruelties to Union prisoners during the war, and on the 20th of July adjourned to the 21st of November.

With Stevens, Wade, Sumner, and others, the Speaker was serenaded on this adjournment. In response, Mr. Colfax said they had been forced to hold this session against their will. Mr. Johnson had vetoed the reconstruction bills because they made the generals supreme. Said the Speaker:

"We passed them over the vetoes, meaning to make the generals supreme. But when it became apparent that they would be accepted by those States, the President vetoed his own vetoes, promulgating, through his Attorney-General, that the laws made the generals subordinate to the provisional governments. We have returned and declared our meaning.