The Cleveland leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1865-1865, 1865-08-09

The daily Territorial Enterprise pub
lished st Virginia City, Nevada, contains
in its issue of June %, a full photographic
report, filling nearly a page, of a speech by
the Hon. Schuyler Colfsx, delivered on the
evening of the Goth. Mr.. Colfax- of course
expressed his surprise and admiration at the
rapid and splendid growth of Nevada, and
coon began to talk OF our military heroes.
He said of Grant: q
And, above all, let Us remember that
man who stands chief among men, mild
and unassuming, and yet SIS iDfexible and
persissent as mortal man can be-our Lieu
tenant General Ulysses Grant-(tremen-
doous cheering)-worthy of a plscein all
hearts fitted to grace, as ! bel eUe he l0tIi
the first chair IN the Republic Of the United
Statez.
Concerning Jefferson Davis, MT. Colfsx
being interrupted by 8 question, show will
it be with old Jef?' replied:
If there is justice leftin this country we
will see him hanging between heaven and
earth, as not ft for either. (Cries OF
GThats what we want. Send him out
here.')
1 was il one place in one of those mines
when we climbed up an iron ladder over a
shaft of many hundred feet, end L thought
that it would be an appropriate doom for
Jefferson DAVIS that ne should be com-
PEELED to 90 up and down those iron stairs
until he became tired ard fell. That would
be the end of him. (Voice-Hen fsli
deeper than that
+ About the last of Abraham Lincoln on
earth, and his interview with MIR. ColfaX,
and the message he sent to the miners, Mr.
Colfax said:
L was in Washington on the last day Of
the life of Abraham Lincoln; and upon
that day he gave to me q message which he
desired me TO communicate to the telling
miners of the West, wherever l might hap
pen to see them upon this continental tour
in which myself and companions are en-
gagged. 1 went there to see our President,
whom 1 believe | had q right to cali friend
IS we'll as President, and whom I loved
as l never loved man before, to ask him
whether publicd duties would allow my long
absence from home; whether there was
any danger or prospect of an extra session
of Congress being called during the sum-
mer. 1t SO hsppened-snd l shall always
rejoice, sad as it was, that l stood by his
bedside during that night and saw his life
ebbing hopelessiy awsy-thst 1 was there
to have the last interview had with him on
pubic affairs, and bring to you the last
message of his life. Alter converting fa-
milisrly for come time on matters of pub
lie interest, he suddenly turned to me and
asked me if l WAS not going to the Pacific.
l toll him l was going if there was no
danger of an extra session of Congress this
summer. He assured me there was none /;
and then rising, and with much mere than
his usual emphasis, he made what seemed
10 be a speech which he had thought over,
in regard to the miners sndtheir interests /;
and he impressed it upon me that l should
communicate it 10 them. After his death
1 thought 1 would write it down, as it was
fresh in my recollection, instead of trust
ing his communication TO my memory for
delivery some months sfterwsrd. l think
l wrote it down nearly IN his own words /:
"Mr. Colfax-I want you to take q mes.
sage from me to the miners whom you
visit. l have" said he, "very large ideas
of the mineral wealth of cur nation. 1
believe it practically inexhaustible. 1t
abounds all over the western country from
the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, and
its development has scarcely commenced.
During the war, when we were adding q
couple of millions of dollars every day to
our national debt, / did not care about en-
cOuraging the increase in the volume OF
our precious metals. We had the country
to save first. But now that the rebellion
is overthrown and We know pretty nearly
the amount of our national debt, the more
silver and gold we mine makes the pay
ment of that debt so much the easier.
Now" ssid he, speaking with much en-
phasis, 81 am going to encourage them in
every possible way. We shall have nun
dreds of thousands of disbsnded soldiers,
and many have feared that their return
home in such great numbers might psrslyze
industry by furnishing suddenly a greater
supply of labor than there will be demand
for. am going to try to attract them to
the hidden wealth of our mountain gorges,
where there is room enough for al. I'M
migration, which wen the war has not
stopped, will land upon our shores hun
dreds of thousands more per year from
over crowded Europe. 1 intend to point
them TO the gold and silver that waits for
them in the West. Tell the miners for
me that l shall promote their interests to
the utmost of my ability because their
prosperity is the prosperity of the nation,
and" said he, his eye kindling with
enthusiasm, 1--WE shall prove in a very few
years that we are indeed the treasury of
the world"
Three cheers we're given for the memory
Of Abraham Lincoln :
Mr.. Celfsx-l told MIN I was happy to
be his messenger, and to bear such q mes
3 q as this. He asked me &c come sgsin
in the evening, IS he was going to the thea
ire that night, and desired ms to accom-.
psny him. l told him then, and sgsin in
the evening, that as l had engagements for
the whole evening, and intended TO leave
the city the mex morning to return home,
it would be impossible for me to accom-.
pany him. After that we sat and con-
versed for three. quarters of an hour.
Finding that the time had arrived when he
should leave, he rose, and, as Mrs. Lincoln
took the arm of Mr.. Ashmun, of MsssA-
chusetts, he took mine, and we walked to
the doorway togelher-the last steps he
ever took in the Executive Mansion. And
then, as he arrived at the doorway, he stop.
ped, and repeated substantially, though.
somewhat condensed or 8bbre7isted the mes
sage he had given me in the morning. And
again, as he went out of the door he turned
huu EMU W mo- OOu \ lOTR6kI SOllhA, 70
tell those miners what 1 told you this morn
ing. A pleasant journey to you. l will
telegraph you At San Francisco. Good-by."
l. was his last good-by on earth and I
bring this incident to your recollection that
you may see, andteel, and realize that even
amid the shock and con ict of war, even
amid the triumphs of assured peace, amid
victories which crowned his lsbors so glOri-
ously, your interests were the last suit ect
that occupied his thoughts in the last hours
OF his life. told the incoming President,
Mr.. johnson, Of this message, TWO or three
days after Lincoln's death, and he told me
that the policy was wise, and thst he should
follow it. lCheers for President j johnson.
As to the rapid travel by stage, Mr..
Colfsx said:
"We came on the Overland Mail Line
from Salt Lake to this city. They ssked
me if 1 could stand rapid travelling. told
them that 1 believed I could ride as fast as
they could drive. They put us through
over mountains and down canons, and
across alkali fats, where the horses could
not be seen, on account of the dust, from
the divers seat where Governor Bross
used to be. 1 doubt if the Governor could
see the country over the horses heads on
ACCOUNT of the dust aud l am quite certain
that he could not observe any of the pretty