“We have seen this prejudice die out on the field of battle, where white and colored have fought together for the same flag. It has been met and conquered at the ballot-box and in the halls of our local and general Legislatures, and why should it not receive the same fate in our school-rooms? Why educate American youth in the idea that superiority exists in the color of the skin, when our Declaration of Independence, of which we boast so much, flatly contradicts it?”[10] Now, Sir, I might well leave this whole question on this remarkable statement by these colored Trustees. They have spoken for themselves, for their race, and for us. Who can speak better? I know not if anything can be added to their Reports. I content myself with one further word, concluding as I began. The Senator from New Hampshire finds the principle correct, but not practical. To that I say, Try it. Try the principle, and it will be found practical. It will work. Never was there any correct principle that would not work. I know it is sometimes said that white parents would not send their children to the schools. How long would that be? One week, two weeks, one month, two months. Some might do so possibly for a brief time, just as for a brief time white persons refused to enter the street cars when they were opened to colored persons. It did not last long. According to my experience, men are not in the habit of biting off their own noses for any very long time. Life is too short to prolong this process; and I do not believe that the people of the District of Columbia would reject for their children the advantages of the common schools simply because these schools were brought into harmony with the promises of the Declaration of Independence. HON. JOHN COVODE, LATE REPRESENTATIVE OF PENNSYLVANIA. SPEECH IN THE SENATE, ON HIS DEATH, FEBRUARY 10, 1871. MR. PRESIDENT,--I venture to interpose a brief word of sincere homage to the late JOHN COVODE. I call him John Covode, for so I heard him called always. Others are known by some title of honor or office, but he was known only by the simple name he bore. This familiar designation harmonized with his unassuming life and character.