John  R.  Lynch,  of  Chicago,  still  survives.  Major  Lynch  is
a  Churchman.  At  one  time  he  was  Speaker  of  the  House  of
Representatives  of  Mississippi.  He  was  a  member  of  Con-
gress from  that  State  for  several  terms.  He  is  now  a  retired
paymaster  of  the  United  States  Army,  and  resides  in  Chicago.
Possibly  Hon.  Robert  Brown  Elliott  of  South  Carolina,
was  the  most  learned  and  resourceful  black  man  that  ever
occupied  a  seat  in  Congress.  Gen.  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  also
a  member  of  Congress  at  the  time,  was  one  of  the  ablest
constitutional  lawyers  of  his  day.     Gen.  Butler  paid  the  fol-


OF  THE  Episcopal  Church  259

lowing  tribute  to  ths  black  man.  FoUowng  him  the  next
day  in  a  speech  on  a  certain  pending  bill  he  said :

"I  should  have  considered  more  at  length  the  constitu-
tional argument,  were  it  not  for  the  exhaustive  presentation
by  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina,  (Mr.  Elliott)  of
the  law,  and  the  only  law  quoted  against  us  in  this  case  that
has  been  cited,  to  wit,  the  Slaughter-House  cases.  He,  w^ith
the  true  instinct  of  freedom,  with  a  grasp  of  mind  that  shows
him  to  be  the  peer  of  any  man  on  this  floor,  be  he  who  he  may,
has  given  the  full  strength  and  full  power  of  that  decision
of  the  Supreme  Court."

Blanche  K.  Bruce,  who  served  the  full  term  of  six  years
as  a  United  States  Senator  from  the  State  of  Mississippi,  was
born  in  Prince  Edward  county,  Va.  Two  very  brief  extracts
from  one  of  Mr.  Bruce's  speeches  in  the  United  States  Sen-
ate will  reveal  the  spirit  of  colored  public  leaders  in  the  days
immediately  following  the  close  of  the  Civil  War.
