ADDRESS OF MR. LUCAS. Mr. SPEAKER: An occasion like this is always solemn and sets men to thinking of the future, reviewing the past, and considering the present. The duties and busy cares of life so engross the mind as to keep it unprepared for the great change that sooner or later comes to every human soul. It is always a sadder sight to behold the fall of a useful, talented, and beloved citizen in the bright sunshine of manhood than it is at the age of three-score or perchance with ten added years. MARCUS C. LISLE was just entering his prime in years and in usefulness when summoned to surrender all. At the age of thirty-two his labors ceased, he laid his mantle down, and passed to the great beyond. My acquaintance with Mr. LISLE was only slight, I having met him for the first time in the Pensions Committee room in September, 1893. His every appearance at that time indicated that he was in poor health, yet his mind was strong and clear. His grasp of the vital parts of questions he was called to pass upon showed that he was systematic and thorough in his business methods. As time went on, and I came to know him better, I was impressed with his keen sense of justice, breadth of mind, and high sense of devotion to public as well as private interests. The kindly and unpretending deportment of Mr. LISLE was noticeable, and won for him many friends among those with whom he had only a very slight acquaintance. That he possessed natural and acquired ability of a high order is proven by the preferment awarded him by the people among whom he was born and grew into manhood. As I witnessed the throng of people who followed his remains to the tomb, saw the evidences of grief, and heard the words of sorrow spoken at his home in the beautiful city of Winchester, Ky., I was convinced that a good man had fallen. I was told by many of his neighbors that he ranked high as a lawyer for one of his age, and that those who knew him best predicted a successful career for him. His integrity and high sense of honor were marked characteristics of his professional life-true to his client, true to the court, and a lover of justice and equal rights. Men of such sterling qualities of head and heart are needed in the national halls of legislation. Men who are strong factors in public affairs can illy be spared, and when cut down they are sincerely mourned. As I understood Mr. LISLE, he was a man of the people, and never forgot his duty to their interests. While a leader, he was also a student as well as a teacher. In his labors as a public servant in the courts of justice and halls of legislation he did not neglect the interests of the holy sanctuary or his duties as a Christian gentleman. The human mind is ambitious, and that restless ambition has wrought out the splendid progress and achievements of the world. This planet is the field for action and toil, and the patient, industrious toiler whose guiding star is the right never fails to gather his reward. Everyone has duties to perform in securing the comfort, happiness, and prosperity of his fellow-men and exalting the destinies of the race. As the aged approach the close of life a wise provision of nature has decreed that there shall be less activity and more contemplation. As the energies of life relax their hold upon the cherished things of an earlier manhood the mind forgets the struggles and contentions of life and draws nearer to the God of our creation. It is hope and fond desire, trusting faith, that enable the soul to adopt the words of the poet, who declared: The great world's altar-stairs Slope through darkness up to God. The impress of MARCUS C. LISLE'S quiet, dignified, and correct life, brief as it was, has been left upon the history of his State and the nation, and it is one that may well be emulated. The world is better because of his having lived and been active in it for a third of a century. His Christian faith taught him to believe There is no death; the stars go down To shine upon a fairer shore, And bright in heaven's jeweled crown H MIS 83 2 ADDRESS OF MR. BERRY. Mr. SPEAKER: The frequency with which death has invaded the roll of the Fifty-third Congress is most remarkable. In the other end of the Capitol at this moment memorial addresses are being delivered on a distinguished Senator from North Carolina, while here we pause from the turbulent proceedings of this body to say a word in kind remembrance of a worthy Representative from Kentucky. Within the last two years a dozen members of this Congress out of four hundred and forty-four have had the cold hand of death laid upon them. Nature proclaims to us in all its phases that death is the sequence of life. The opening buds of spring, the full fruition of summer, we know are to be followed by the falling leaves of autumn. It is natural to find the decaying tree falling before the storm, rather than the young and sturdy growth. It seemed consistent with the laws of Providence that one who had seen thirty years of service upon this floor should be called to his final account, as was the case with the Representative from Pennsylvania; but that Kentucky should have taken from her list the youngest, just entering upon a career that promised great usefulness to the State and country, as did MARCUS LISLE, only thirtytwo years old, was unnatural. It only remains to us to say the ways of Providence are inscrutable. MARCUS LISLE developed in youth a love for learning, and after securing a liberal education he prosecuted most successfully the study of law, and was elected to the very responsible position of county judge of Clark County, in which place he won the respect and confidence of the entire community. He naturally sought a wider field in which to display his ability and to utilize his enlarged education. He was elected to Congress. his new He came to Washington to attend the last inaugural festivities, but was suddenly called home by the alarming illness of his young wife, from which she died, leaving him with but one child—a little boy. His own health at this time was much impaired, and yet he felt that his duty called him here, saddened as he was by domestic affliction. He made many warm and devoted friends among associates upon this floor, but that insidious disease, consumption, had taken a firm hold upon him, and his constitution was yielding to its inroads. He fought it with a heroism worthy of a better fate. He came day after day to this Chamber from a sense of duty to his constituents, and, often exhausted and worn out, would rest himself upon a sofa when he should have been in his room; and not until he knew recovery was impossible would he permit his family to be sent for. With great care and skillful treatment he was finally strengthened sufficiently to go back to his home in the blue-grass region of Kentucky he loved so well, to end his life among the scenes of his childhood. As one of the pallbearers appointed from this body I went to Winchester, Ky., to be present at his obsequies. The whole community for miles around were gathered there, manifesting their respect and esteem for their honored Representative without regard to politics. There were the old antebellum darkies in their peculiar dress, with tears on their cheeks, as well as the most distinguished men, to do |