Vaux.] 4 4: [I3ec_ jg^ 



his professional career a distinction which was remarkable. His kindness 

 to the young lawyers who asked his advice and legal aid was proverbial. 



"Retiring from active practice his last years were devoted to public 

 duties of a high order, and very much of his time was cheerfully given to 

 advising and counseling in matters of individual interest and public im- 

 portance. Such a character is worthy of memorial. Let it be inscribed 

 on the scroll dedicated to our departed brethren of this Bar. 



The last public occasion when Mr. Phillips took his recognized place as 

 a member of the Bar was presiding at the Bar dinner given December 20, 

 1882, to the late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of this State, Judge 

 Sliarswood, on his retiring from that exalted position. It was a memor- 

 able occasion. The Chief Justice was greeted by the profession he had 

 honored, as a great jurist, whose professional, official, and private life 

 ranked him among the ablest of the judiciary of our Commonwealth. Mr. 

 Phillips thus with Judge Sharswood reached the end of their lives under 

 the most appropriate surroundings. They both died in no long time there- 

 after. 



Having acquired both reputation and an assured income, Mr. Phillips 

 gave special attention to politics. Until botli had been attained, he knew 

 the unwisdom of intermitting attention to his vocation. Success at 

 the Bar, success in any profession or business, is only secured by constant 

 and unremitted application. A divided duty is half performed, or disre- 

 garded. This Mr. Phillips knew, and he patiently waited until he 

 felt he could devote some time to other affairs. In 1856 he was elected 

 from the 4th district of Pennsylvania to the Federal House of Represen- 

 tatives. He took his seat in the 35th Congress on December 7, 1857. 



He was appointed on the Standing Committee on Elections, and had for 

 colleagues the ablest lawj^ers in the House, John W. Stevenson, of Ken- 

 tucky, L. Q. C. Lamar, of 3Iississippi, Israel Washburn, of Maine, James 

 Wilson, of Indiana, and others. 



Mr. Stevenson was afterwards elected Governor of Kentucky and 

 United States Senator from that State, and Mr. Lamar is now in the 

 Federal Senate from his State. 



Mr. Phillips was also placed on the Special Committee on the Pacific Rail- 

 road, with John S. Phelps as chairman, and among his associates were 

 Erastus Corning, W. S. Groesbeck, John A. Gilmer, O. R. Singleton, J. 

 F. Farnsworth, &c. 



It was thus that at the opening of his public life Mr. Phillips' repu- 

 tation placed him among the foremost of our public men of that period. 



His election to Congress was his first popular endorsement through the 

 ballot box. His first step in the public arena was from the Bar to the 

 Federal Legislature. Whatever of qualification he possessed for this 

 trust was gained by that remarkable power of observation and absorption 

 which emphasized his life. Instinctively he knew, or if he had to learn, 

 he was preternaturally proficient. The method by which he acquired in- 

 formation and knowledge, attained what he sought, or what was required 

 or necessary, is not easily explained. It was more an inherent faculty. 



