Conservative.
THE IATK SENATOll IlllICE.
Mr. Erskino M. Phelps , one of the
leading and most astute wholesale mer
chants of Chicago , recently paid his tri
bute of personal friendship and respect
to the late Senator Brice in a fervid and
sincere eulogium. Among other things
appropriate to the occasion Mr. Phelps
said of Mr. Brice :
"His.first'great enterprise was the put
ting together of the Lake Erie and Wes
tern road , of which ho was president at
the time of his death. He was the head
and front and really conceived the plan
of the Nickel Plato road , which was
afterward sold to the Vanderbilts. The
amusing incident that resulted in the
sale of that road and saved Brice from
financial ruin is worth repeating.
"Brice invited Gould to take a ride
over the lino. The great railroad king was
placed in a chair on the rear end of an
observation car. Brice and Burke in
vited the newspaper men to take the
trip with them and fixed it with them
so that word should be telegraphed from
every station that Gould was making an
inspection of the road , with a view to
purchasing. The Vanderbilts bit at the
the bait and closed the deal for the pur
chase of the road within forty-eight
hours. Mr. Gould remarked when the
story was told him that it was the only
time in his life that ho had been 'worked
for a sucker. '
"I have been associated with Brice in
politics and business , and the longer ]
knew him the more I admired the trans
cendent genius of the man. He was
strong as an organizer and a man of
great breadth. In the second Cleve
land campaign he was chairman of the
national committee and was associated
with such men as Arthur Sowall oi
Maine , William O. Whitney , Senators
Ransom and Gorman and myself. Ho
spent $150,000 of his own money in the
campaign.
# # *
"Only a few days ago it was my gooc
fortune to meet him at a dinner givei
in New York to Chief Justice Fuller by
J. W. Doaue. There were such men
present as General Schofield , M. E.
Ingalls , Daniel S. Lament and ex-Gov
ernor Flower of Now York. Brice was
the light and life of the whole dinner
and kept the guests in a continuous roai
of laughter by his shafts of wit.
"Take him all in all he was one of the
most remarkable men that I have ever
met or ever expect to meet. When you
met him it was like coming into sun
shine. Ho was cheery , never despoil
dent , always loolung up , never looking
down ; always looking forward , nevei
loolung backward. Ho was never dis
couraged , never blue and always had i
cheerful smile for all. He was a wonderful
dorful conversationalist , probably the
most charming after-dinner talker ii
the country. When Lord Coleridge
visited this country lie made the re
mark that Brice was the best convor
if
ntionnlist that ho had had the pleiumro
of meeting. The senator was a good
tory teller and delighted in telling good
ones on himself.
NO MONEY FOU TAILOK.
"I have always remembered one he
; old mo on himself several years ago.
Ho said that when his wedding day ar-
ived ho did not have enough money to
lay for both his dress suit and the min
ster , and finally compromised by pay-
ng the parson and standing off the
tailor.
"A great man is dead. Probably
there are very few men so universally
respected and beloved in all phases of
society as Calvin S. Brice. His death
will bo a shock to all and he will be
mourned by thousands whom he helped ,
who loved and adored him. He was a
man of small stature , Titian hair , bushy ,
was quick and active , almost to nervous
ness , with an eye as bright as a diamond
and a nose like one of Napoleon's field
marshals. He was well informed on
every subject , religion , politics , science
or finance. He was a ready debater
and quick at repartee. He was a late
riser and one who burnt long and late
the midnight oil. He used to reach his
office at 11 o'clock and seldom wont to
bed before 2 in the morning. His word
was as good as his bond , and nothing
was ever too large for him in the way of
a scheme. Ho was never appalled by
millions. He would talk about $20-
000,000 deals as unconcernedly as you 01
I would mention a.$20 transaction. "
The average farm in North Carolina
contains 120 acres , and the average value
of improved land is $14.25 per acre , and
of iinimproved $5.75.
I > KA1 > IN THE YEAK 181)8.
The last hours of this year are draw
ing near. During the twelve months
millions of human beings have passec
from life to death. But only a few , a
very few , are world-missed or world-
mourned. In the great stream of hu
inanity which pours along the surface !
of the globe the individual is like the
drop of water hurled by obstructive
rocks from a mountain torrent , lost bu
not missed.
Gladstone and Bismarck in the Old
World and Thomas Francis Bayard ii
the New are among the renowned of
earth who have gone during this year
Of the two first much has been said and
published. Of Mr. Bayard not so mucl
as his long , honest and efficient service
to the country would warrant. There
fore , as an admirer and personal friem
of Mr. Bayard , the editor of Tun CON
snuvATivn takes upon himself the sacrec
duty which sincere friendship always
imposes , of telling the world something
of the aims and ambitions of the life
that has gone out.
Thomas Francis Bayard was born ii
Wilmington , Delaware , October 29,1828
*
and was the son of James Ashoton Bay
ard and Anne Francis Bayard. * * *
At the ago of 13 years ho went to the
chool of the Rov. Francis L. Hawks at
Flushing , Long Island. During the few
years when his father lived in Now
York , young Bayard entered the mer
cantile house of his brother-in-law , Mr.
Schermerhorn , and his business training
was supplemented in the house of S.
Morris Wain , of Philadelphia. At that
ime it was the intention of his father to
; raiu him for mercantile pursuits , but
upon the death of his elder brother ,
Richard Henry Bayard , his father de-
ided to train him for the legal profes-
sion. Upon his return to Delaware he
was entered as a student at law in the
office of the older Bayard , and was ad
mitted to the bar in 1851 , and at once
engaged in active practice in copartner
ship with his father. In 1858 he was
appointed United States district attorney
for Delaware , but resigned this office the
following year and associated himself
with his friend William Shippen , in
Philadelphia. Mr. Shippen died in 1858 ,
when Mr. Bayard returned to Wilming
ton , which city he made his homo al
ways afterward. Ho soon acquired an
extensive legal practice.
Like his father , Mr. Bayard was an
active , conscientious democrat , and took
a prominent part in the stirring political
events that immediately preceded the
civil war. Ho was not , however , in
favor of secession , but was what was
then known as a peace democrat , signal
izing his convictions in this direction by
a famous speech at a peace meeting in
Dover , in June , I860 , in which ho advo
cated a settlement of the pending ques
tions without resort to war , and earn
estly opposed the severance of the rela
tions of any of the states with the Federal
Union.
Mr. Bayard's interest in local politics
continued unabated until , in February ,
1869 , he was elected United States sena
tor to succeed his father , upon the same
day and by the same legislature that
chose his father to fill the uuexpired
term of George Read Riddle , which
ended upon the 4th of March following.
The career of Mr. Bayard in the
United States senate is a matter of pub
lic record. But their are few men who
recall his antagomsiu to the roissuanco
clause of the law which provided for the
of three hundred and
non-bonding forty-
six millions of dollars of greenbacks.
In the senatorial discussion of that ques
tion Mr. Bayard was more than a match
for John Sherman. Time has verified
the patriotic wisdom of Bayard and con
demned the position taken by Sherman.
The greenback circulation and its con
tinued reissuance are a primary and
major cause of all the financial fallacies
and monetary evils which have befallen
the United States since 1879.
In 1884 Mr. Bayard was urged by
many democrats as a candidate for the
presidency. But the national convon-