Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1858-04-15

BENTON ON HIS Ds

mas made such progress that.1S1,
vive much longer. He sufsee
pain, and is exhausted to almosS lpoCy eose
gree OF physical prostration Brsaap iccu III u
Is as clear and as powerful as eves useu'
| high, resolute, Roman spiritof theaeSu' 'llei
man struggles with indomitableSA mex. :.
and fortitude against sickness an I've e, IL
ness, and the awful presence of !, MI = no
of terrors. He dies in harness, WORK 1queh
! the last for his country and mankind -,gs iron
old and intimate friend from Missouri but
led upon him this morning. Bentq, I,
IN bed, scarcely able to move hand q y ti,S
ana not able to speak much above whs aiiuS
But he was hard at work, closing ~ ~ = OF
| Abrdgment Of the Debates Of Congo tuh-
which ne has brought down to 1850, t4s t4s,. SIX
passage OF the Compromise measures. gen
was debating the closing chapter oa., ior
work. His daughter, Mrs. Jones, sit2ear'
beside the bed, received it sentence BY
tence, whispered in her ear, and reptfli.
it aloud to her husband who wrote it &
It was then read over to Col. Benton. i',hs ilAe
received his corrections, made with as x,.e9.
particularly as if it were the maiden IN
of young author. ne
nesting lew minutes from ms II q
| COL Benton entered into convers ats a. q
/ his Missouri friend. He told him thaf,.-
reviewing the events Of 1850, he was clad
| to find that the animosity Of the past had
died ont in his heart, and he was not only
ready but eager to DO justice to his former
! rivals and opponents. He spoke with much
feeling Of MIR. Clay, to whose merits and
! services he had awarded the highest praise
in what he was writing about the Comprc-
mise of 1850. He dwelt particularly on
the service, the great service, Ar. c. had
rendered to the Republic at the time by
battling and putting down the traitorous Sc
cessionists OF the South, who were seeking
to destroy the Union, and plunge the coun-
try into civil war for their own selfish ana
ambitious purposes.
! The inspiration Of this theme fred the
| languid blood and terminated for moment
the falling frame of the dying patriot In
/ energetic whispers, he told his visitor that
! the same men who had sought to DESTROY
the Republic in 1850, were at the bottom
OF this accursed Lecompton business
| Among the greatest consultations in dying,
| was the consciousness that the House of
| Representatives had baf1ed these treasona-
/ bic schemers, and put the heels of the peo-
| pie on the neck Of the traitors Few events
in our history had given him SO much salts
| faction as the defeat of Leuompton -
He warmly praised the intrepid and ineor-
ruptible Douglas Democrats who had resis-
ted the power and wiles of corrupt and de-
! luded Administration
IL = d.
ton said that, although there was much in
| his life that he regretted, he could honest
| ly feel proud on his death bed Of his devo-
. ton to his country, in whose service he had
never been taithless or negligent.
Col Benton died on Saturday morning
at o'clock. We copy the following no
tice of his life from the Bulletin:
Thomas Hart Benton was born on the
l4th of March, 1882, at his fathers resi-
dence, near Hillsborough, Orange county,
! North Carolina. His father having died
when he was only eight years old, his
mother removed to Tennessee, where he
began to practice his profession. 1t was
there that he first became acquainted with
Andrew jackson, who was then Judge
OF the Supreme Court and afterwards Major
General of the Militia He was appointed
one of Jackson's aides-de-camp, and when
the war with England began, he raised a
regiment of volunteers of which he was
chosen Colonel. In 1918, the volunteers
having disbanded, President Madison ap-
pointed him a Lieutenant Colonel, but before
he had any service, peace was proclaimed
and he resigned his commission.
In 1915 he removed to st. Louis, where
he combined with the practice of his pro-
fession the conduct of a newspaper, called
the Missouri Argus. Those were stormy
times for Western editors, and he had to
engage in several duels, in one of which
he killed his antagonist. When Missouri
was admitted to the Union, in 1851, he
was one Of her first Senators, having been
elected by the Legislature, which had met
in 1920, previous to the admission. For
six successive times he was elected TO the
same post, retiring finally from it in 1851.
He supported the administrations of Pres
idents jackson and Van Buren, with great
energy; especially sustaining jackson in his
war upon the United States Bank, and after
wards vindicating him by obtaining the ex-
punging of the resolution condemning the
removal of the deposits.
AS the apostle of hard money currency,
Mr.. Benton became an idol among large
portion of the most radical of the Demo,
cratic party. Afterwards, when he chose
to entertain opinions ON certain questions
differing from those of the party leaders
and when other aspiring Missouri politi
clans had grown weary of his monopoi
zing the seat In the Senate, he came int,
6 disfavor, and this caused his defeat in th
. senatorial election in 1851. But durin,
s eli tboA ,,o~;nl &C thsrtv vaarS M Ranto,