1876.] 4x> [Strong. 



fore the storm. It was he more than any other who in- 

 spired confidence. It was he that restored courage to 

 many who were faint-hearted ; that gathered around 

 him the virtue and intelhgence of the city, and led in 

 bringing back the supremacy of the law. And when, 

 in later years the foundations of our government 

 seemed crumbling away ; when civil war threatened the 

 subversion of our cherished institutions ; when attach- 

 ment to party, with very many, prevailed over love of 

 country, Mr. Binney, an old man of more than four- 

 score, stepped forward, and placed all his influence and 

 the weight of his great name in the scale of a tottering 

 government. Nor was there ever an occasion when 

 high moral courage was demanded, when the city was 

 in trouble and needed a leader and adviser, that he 

 was called upon and failed efficiently to respond. He 

 was often resorted to in seasons of perplexity, and 

 never was application made in vain. Even when not 

 consulted, the friends of good order, and of the right 

 were encouraged by the fact, of which they needed 

 no other evidence than his life, that he would always be 

 found on the side of the just, the orderly, and the 

 true. 



Though he was not long in official life, he gave the 

 fullest proofs that he was both a patriot, and a states- 

 man of high order. The evidence is to be found in the 

 opinions he expressed in Congress, and in those which 

 from time to time he gave to the public while he was 

 in private life. He understood thoroughly the organi- 



