Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1858-01-28

yanCei in years. Mr.. Old, is about 50 years
Of age and although there are many older
politicians in his party, who cOvet the honor.
still we should not be surprised to see him
the next Representative, from the POwhatsn
| istrrct IN place of the present member Mr..
Code. Democrat rs he is, We wish him the
honor.
Vim. NJ. Amber, is from Louisa county,
and has been 10 the Senate since 1919. MIR
Amber, is very extreme in his feelings, hnv-
ing always been warm admirer Of Mr..
| Calhoun, add his d-trines. Although a
modest man, and seldom speaking, yet, When
On the floor, he always commands attention
and his opinions receive their full weight
/ In past times, Mr. \. was warm Wing,
but for many years he has been Democrat
of the Extreme School. Privately he is
highly respected rs ar estimabie and worthy
gentleman. If Judge Caskie, ever shall de-
cline a reelection 10 Congress, Mr.. Amber,
will be formidable candidate for his shoes.
! George f. Deneaie, has long been 10 the
! Virginia Legislature, and although not con-
sldered by any means q man OF brilliancy,
! still as a party leader, and worker, he cannot
/ he excelled. Mr.. Dcneale is grea: friend
/ of the Governor, and that gentleman may do
something for him yet. When Jno. Letcher
dies or is killed, Mr.. Dcneae will very pro-
! baby be his successor if he lives, but it will
| be long time before the event will take
| place. Deneale'S age we should suppose to
be about fifty.
| Col. Thomas p. August, the new Demo
cratic Senator from Richmond City, is prCba-
! bly, the most brilliant man Of bis age in the
Senate. Col. AS first appearance in po!iti-
cal lie was in 1850, when he represented
Richmond, in the Lower House, as Wing.
Since then he has turned Democrat and If
justice is done him. will make noise in the
political world. A gentleman Of handsome
appearance and elegant address, Tom Au-
gust, hos gathered around him friends from
both parties, who 10 every contest cling to
him with devoted tenacity. Although not
much over thirty years of age, yet his prac
tice ct the bar is now very large, and were
he to devote his entire energies to that pro.
fcssion, would soon rank with the first lawyers
in the State. Col. August, will if be lives, yet
represent the Metropolitan District in Con
gress. We do not know how the Colonel
stands politically in his party, but suppose
that as he is recent Wing convert, be Of
course in joining the Democracy, took sides
with the Extremists. One thing, however,
he is a warm personal friend Of Gov Wise,
and will not, we venture to say, battle against
him in the Senate.
Hon. VIM. Smith, of Greenbrier. new
member was once a member OF Congress, and
for some years. District Attorney for the
Western District of the State. Although an
able man, yet from his advanced age be
will not he heard frequently in the Chamber.
Mr. CoghiIl, of Buckingham. who seems to
have taken a prominent position, is new
member. and unit short time since was O
Wing. lie is said to be q man Of good
promise.
Thos. j. Campbell, Of Nottoway, is a
Young man Of good abilities, an excellent
DICTATOR, and is great fav0rite in bis district
with the Democracy. lie wants TO 90 to
Congress in place of Goode. Mr.. Campbell
in handsome point Of view, is not the hand
soonest man in the United States.
We have thus briefly mentioned the most
prominent members OF the Democratic party
in the Senate, although we doubt not that
there are many new members who will ap.
pear upon the political stage before :he end
Of the session.
We propose now briefly to notice some Of
the members composing the minority, and
known ~ Americans or Wings. Among the
first men decidedly in the Virginia Senate, is
the honored and distinguished gentleman
from the county Cf Augusta, Alexander A. ii.
II. Stuart. /, would be useless for us to ex.
tol the merit Of Mr.. S.. because be had made
his reputation national before we learned the
English language. A member Of Congress
for many vears, and later q distinguished
Cabinet Officer under Mr.. Fillmore, Mr.. Stu
art, is known from one end Of the Union 10
the other, one Of the first public men in the
nation. lie il worthy leader of the gal
liant little American bard in the Senate. Mr..
Stuart ia 10 appearance about fortJ-ive years
OF age, OF commanding address, and elegant
manners.
Alexander Riyes, of Albemare, brother
of Hon. ". c. Rives, is new member Of
the Senate but has been member Of the
Lower House. Mr.. r. is able to cope in de-
bate with the best Of the opposition. Before
an assemblage he is one Of the most elegant
speakers we over listened to. In SET tember
1856. it was our fortune to hear this gentle
tsau in the Baltimore Wing Convention, and
as N;rginian, we felt proud that we were
able to listen u one who ranked equally with
the best men who composed that talented and
distinguished body. Mr.. Ri9es is without
doubt, q statesman Of the first order, and
would fill a seat in Congress with credit to
himself. and honor to his constituency. lie
is about forty-fve years Of age.
james Foot johnson of Bedford county, is
another one Of those men who do not speak
often, but v hen on the floor always commands
the close attention Of Senators, by the force
Of his reasoning and the beauty of his lau-
guage. In point OF ability, be is second to
no man 10 the Senate, although he very sci
dom speaks. Mr.. johnson is serving out
the first session Of his second term. In the
private walks Of life, he is universally beioy.
ed and respected. Ir Bedford county, he is
the strongest man of his party receiving
the votes, whenever candidate, Of large
number Of the opposition. From our know-
edge OF the man, We believe that Mr.. Joho-
son IL one Of the best ard purest men in the
Commonwealth Would that his party we're
ab!e to place him 10 = rosltiDn according with
his talents aud excellen.ies.
Henry w. Thomas, OF Fairfax we all