Address of Mr. Ely, of Massachusetts.
Mr. Speaker, in obedience to a graceful custom, we are convened in this Hall to pay our tributes of respect and esteem to the memory of a deceased member of this House. Not alone do the proprieties sanctioned by past Congresses impel us to these services. The associations of this House form a peculiar bond of union between us. We come here strangers to each other. We take these seats, and each looks in the other's face with courteous civility, or , it may be, with idle curiosity. But as day follows day, and members join in the work of legislation, meet in committee-rooms or on this floor, consult, antagonize, compare and contrast opinions, and struggle with the problems before them, there arises a common interest in the well-being and destiny of all and of every one which can never be wholly effaced. And when death's pale flag enters this Chamber, and at his summons a brother leaves his chair and departs to return no more, all hearts are moved by the bonds of goodwill here cemented to speak the last farewell, to strew flowers on his new-made grave, and to place on the printed page an appreciative estimate of those qualities which elevated him to this distinguished post of honor and responsibility.
Animated by these emotions, I gladly avail myself of this occasion to offer my brief tribute to the life and character of Michael Hahn. My personal acquaintance with Mr. Hahn covered a period of scarcely more than three months, but during, that brief time I had not failed to observe that he was a man of calm, conservative, judicious temperament, full of experience in public affairs, firm and decided in his views, but gentle in his expression of them. He was evidently a man whom it would be safe to follow. I was attracted toward him by his quiet and unassuming manners and interesting conversation. In him were happily blended those qualities of mind and heart which would make him, as he was from earliest manhood to the day of his death, the trusted public servant of those among whom his lot was most inti-
