I can not, however, forbear to say that on this occasion the city of Buffalo honors herself quite as much as she honors our distinguished guest. General Barry is a son of the Empire State, of whom she may well be proud. He was born in the city of New York, and performed his first military service on the Niagara frontier during what is called the Patriot war of 1838. And his early acquaintance here enabled him to pluck from our Eden one of its fairest flowers, which he now proposes to transplant with all its beautiful blossoms to the golden State of California. But let him be assured that we shall place no flaming sword at the gate to prevent his return, but a warm and most cordial welcome will always await him.

It is often said that a military officer has no home-being always subject to the orders of his Government; and this in one sense is true, but in another it is not; for to every heart there is one dear spot, hallowed by a thousand tender recollections, from which he may have wandered thousands of miles, but at every step he drags a lengthening chain, with an ever yearning desire to return. And may we not fondly hope that our honored guest may so regard the city of Buffalo, and return to us again.

But you may naturally expect and desire to hear something of General Barry's military service during the war of the late Rebellion. At my request a young and gallant officer of our city, who served under General Barry most of the time, has furnished me with a brief statement of his services, which, with your permission I will read.

At the outbreak of the rebellion General Barry was at Pensacola, Florida, whence his battery ("A" of the 2d artillery) was ordered to the defence of the Capitol.

His battery arrived at Washington the day before the army marched for Bull Run (No. 1). Upon arriving upon the field he was appointed by General McDowell as his chief-of-artillery. He was shortly afterwards made Brigadier General of Volunteers, and appointed by General McClellan chief of artillery of the Army of the Potomac, in which capacity, after having shown great energy and pro

fessional skill in organizing the immense artillery force belonging to that army, he took the field with it, and served at the siege of Yorktown, before Richmond and through the seven days battles, returning with it to Alexandria. General McClellan was here relieved of command and General Barry ordered to Washington, to fill the office of Inspector of Artillery of the army upon the staff of General Halleck. He remained in Washington doing Bureau duty from the autumn of 1862 until the spring of 1864, when he was relieved and ordered to report to Major General Sherman, who had just assumed command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, headquarters at Nashville, Tenn. He was at once appointed chief of artillery of the three armies then concentrating under one head at Chattanooga, and showed great energy in doing for them what he had previously done in the East, thoroughly reorganizing and equipping their artillery. He served upon General Sherman's staff in the field throughout that arduous campaign of continuous marching and fighting that terminated in the fall of Atlanta. For these services he was breveted Major General. He participated in the subsequent chase after Hood which opened to Sherman the road to the sea, but was unable to make that march with his army owing to a dangerous illness which at this crisis sent him to the rear, and laid him up for several months.

He afterwards started from New York, January 1, 1865, and joined General Sherman in Savannah in time to give the artillery a thorough inspection and overhauling, and place it in readiness for the long and precarious march that was before it. He accompanied General Sherman upon the campaign through the Carolinas up to the date of Johnson's surrender; and after the disbanding of the army in Washington was retained upon his staff and accompanied him to St. Louis, Mo., the headquarters of his new command. About this time the command of the 2d Regiment of U. S. Artillery devolved upon him by the death of Colonel and Brevet Brigadier General Morris, and he was ordered to join his command in California. The Fenian troubles occur

ring about this time, General Grant delayed the execution of this order, and took advantage of his local knowledge of and residence upon the frontier to assign him temporarily to the command in our midst which he is now about to leave for his legitimate field of duty.

General Barry was at the beginning of the rebellion a Captain in the 2d Regiment of Artillery. During the war he has risen to Major, Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel, by regular lineal promotion, and held the rank of Brigadier General and Major General of Volunteers, and Brevet Brigadier General and Brevet Major General in the regular

army.

Such is the military record of the man whom the people of Buffalo delight to honor. In a Southern State, surrounded by superior influences, when rebellion flung its defiant banner to the breeze and threatened a dissolution of the Union, yet he did not, like some others, forget the mother who had nursed him, and the oath he had taken to sustain her in her hour of affliction, and turn traitor to her cause and join her enemies; his patriotism was made of sterner stuff, and without hesitation or wavering he flew to the point of danger, joined the army of the North and was in that first but most disastrous battle of Bull Run. From that day till the last battle was fought, and the last armed enemy had surrendered, and the war was ended, he was always at his post except when dangerous illness prevented, and he shared with his brother officers and soldiers all the dangers and fatigues of that terrible conflict; never forgetting that he was a citizen as well as a soldier, and that his duty was to sustain the Constitution and laws and not to break them. He thus passed through this dreadful ordeal with his escutcheon unstained by any act of military tyranny. This brilliant array of talent, wealth and respectability, gathered around this festive board, with mingled feelings of pride and joy at his success and sorrow at parting, gives the most ample proof of the estimation in which Major General Barry as a citizen and soldier is held by the people of Buffalo.

ON THE DEATH OF JUDGE SKINNER

The Hon. John B. Skinner, for more than a generation a leader of the Bar of Western New York, died in Buffalo June 6, 1871. At a meeting of the Bar of Erie County, to take appropriate action in his memory, ex-President Fillmore was called on to preside. On taking the chair, he said:

I am not in the habit of apologizing, but it has been so long since I have attempted to speak in public that I fancy that I feel somewhat like the aged prisoner released from the Bastile. He had been confined so long that he had lost the use of his limbs, and consequently his steps were hesitating and unsteady. But feeble and unsatisfactory as my effort to speak may be, yet I can not withhold my tribute of respect to the man whose death we deplore today. I am not prepared to pronounce any eulogy upon the character of Judge Skinner. Whoever shall assume that responsible duty will require time for reflection and preparation. But since I consented today to attend this meeting I have been too much occupied by previous engagements to find time. even to read the brief obituary of the deceased published in the papers this morning. I shall therefore content myself with speaking of the Judge as I knew him.

Doubtless there are many in this intelligent audience who knew him more intimately if not so long as I have. My acquaintance commenced with him in 1829, when he and I were both members of the Assembly. That was my first year, but I think it was his third year, and he had then an enviable reputation for so young a man in that distinguished body, as yet free from the suspicion of bribery, and adorned

by the talents of such men as John C. Spencer, Erastus Root, Benjamin F. Butler, Frank Granger, and a host of others.

The revision of our Statutes-the great work which did so much to methodize our laws and relieve them from the cumbrous language and accumulated contradictions and inconsistencies of years-was then just completed, and in that great work Judge Skinner bore a conspicuous part. I know that he was listened to with confidence and respect, and no member of the House seemed to exert a more salutary influence. But that, I believe, was his last year in the State Legislature, and party politics-not want of talent and integrity-prevented him from being elected to any popular office; and, indeed, so long as I took part in party politics, we belonged to different parties, consequently my subsequent acquaintance was mainly at the bar.

But here he was distinguished for his legal acquirements and forensic eloquence. I have often felt a tremor of anxiety when I had to meet him. He was a man religiously devoted to the interest of his client without ever compromising his own conscience or dignity. He prepared his case with great labor and assiduity, and whatever could be honorably said in favor of his client's interest, he presented with clearness and force, and when that was done he conceived he had discharged his professional duty, and he patiently awaited the result.

But professional labors, however great and however successful, give but a limited reputation compared with official services. The reputation of the lawyer is confined mostly to the bench and bar, while that of the statesman or military hero fills the nation-and is often reflected from foreign countries. But the highest encomium which can ever be passed upon a man of his profession may with great propriety be passed upon him, and that is, he was a learned, conscientious lawyer.

"A wit's a feather, and a chief's a rod,

But an honest man is the noblest work of God."