The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-06-22

energetic. His passage at arms with Fernando
Wood demonstrated his formidable and aggres-
slve method, and behind this ready ability lies
a reputation for indubitable integrity With
devotion, in detail, to business matters He has
one of his hands paralyzed by wound received
in action, and writes, therefore, with his hands
crossed. The general impression one derives OF
him is that OF a determined, combative spirit |
with a sturdy physique to enforce it. His ex- |
perience and fervor give him a position among |
the masterspirts of the House. |
There is tall, thin, kindly-eyed man near by, |
Mr.. Whaley, OF West Virginia, who is known as
Mr. H At, on account OF his once not being able
to understand clearly the nature of the mystic
rious person whose name is appended to so
many resolutions and appropriations. Question
ing the veracity of Mr.. 1T A., he gave the legal
and Latin side of the house great humor; but
discovering his mistake, owned up with such
candid grace to the English practicability of his
schooling, that he got good esteem In mouths OF
wisest laughter.
The MISUNDERSTANDING gentleman, with eye
glasses and graceful movements, is Russell
Thayer, and the very otherwise gentleman, with
his feet on his desk, his hand In his bushy hair,
and general defiance of both slavery and grand
etiquette, is Mr.. Kuykendall, of Illinois, from
General Logan's district.
THE RESIDUE.
When l have instanced Judge Bingham, a
small, bushy-haired, absorbed gentleman, keen
and bright in oratory, have left to notice only
Deming, OF Connecticut, near-sighted and florid
of face, and generally effective; John b. Alley,
OF Massachusetts, at home the prince of hide
and leather dealers, here keen quick intellect;
Blaine, an editor OF Maine, and the ally OF Gene
raj Fry in the pending investigation; Boutwell,,
of Massachusetts, man OF mastery incisiveness,
and thoroughly imbued with Puritan principles
Dixon, of Rhode Island, a farmer in guise, and
lawyer in INSIGHT; Jenckes OF the same State,
author of the Bankrupt bill; and Hooper, of
Utah, the Mormon delegate n spare, sun.burnt
man, who attends to his own business. The
Speaker and the leader of the XXXIXth Con.
gress remain.
TUE Spp AUrp
Mr.. Schuyler Colfax, the successor in the
chair OF Galusha Grow is scarcely more than
forty years OF age, courteous officer, but on the
floor ready debater, and man. here and else
where, of editorial observation and great
ability.
THE AJAX OF THE HOUSE.
II has been asked how and why Thaddeus
Stevens came before the country with all
absorbing prominence so late in life, and what
characteristics ne possesses to merit his appa
rently entire authority. The answer 10 this is
crisp enough; he is man of long and consistent
conviction, OF thorough legislative expert
ence, and OF great argument and adroitness
There arc speeches eXtant of this statesman,
delivered thirty years ago, which grasp with
startling accuracy ali the issues verified In the
present He also was school teacher, and is
the virtual author of the Pennsylvania school
| system. He was nurtured in the detestation of
| whatever was contrary TO pure repubhcanism
| and in his love of liberty has manifested an
almost romantic attachment. When the war
| began he was perhaps the only man who saw In
| it the downfall of slavery, and he devoted him
| self from the booming of the first gun to the
| reconstruction of the country, so that not only
might slavery and Rebellion be annihtlated, but
| all the atrocous prejudces and passions of its
| partisans.
| His position was an advanced one. When the
| events brought other men to him they admitted
| his sagacity and discovered his intellect He Is
| man OF bold thoughts, OF broad scope Of action,
! full of many amable tendernesses, but inhexible
in his devotion to freedom, and his potentiality
is the natural issue of superior experience and
| resistless will. Many OF his violent enuncia-
| tons have a diplomatic purpose; he takes a
place on the skirmish line sometimes that the
battle position may be chosen well up. He Is
| prompt to recognize justice in an adversary, as
| witness his forgiveness towards Mr.. Simon
| Cameron, when the latter, in the early part OF
| the war, declared for armpg the blacks. His
| closing speech upon the Constitutional Amend
ment tells better than any analysis the secret of
his eminence:- .' H...I
"In my youth, in my manhood, and in my old age
| ] have fondlY dreamed that when any fortuna ate
chance should have broken up for time the foun-
dalons of our institutions, and released us from
obligations the most Urannical that were ever inn
posed IN the name of freedom the intelligent, free
and just men OF this Republic true to their proes-
sions and their conscience, would have remodeled
all institutions as to have barred them from every
Vesge OF human oppression, OF inequality OF rights
Oft the recognized degradatlOns of the poor and the
superior caste of the rich-n short that dlstnc.
| ton would be tolerated in this purified Republic
but that which arose from merit and conduct"
Basing his political life upon this broad hu,
| WISH, InaQueuS stevens mas steadily
risen in greatness as his platform became re.
| CogniZed. Therefore, to-day he is the foremost
tieure in Congress, and history must agree with
the great phaanX of bright minds around him
that in the roster of fame his name will be
pivotal and enduring.
THE GREAT LOSS.
In the death of Henry Winter Davis the
House sustained the loss of its most polls he'd
and effective orator. His was a stature which
would be prominent in any grouping. He had
a positive mlnd, and hare lie in which to
work 1t. His executive enterprise was equal to
paign In Maryland was veritable coup Fetdt
and he probable had more OF the real genius oil
statesman than any Congressman of the war.
His strong, handsome physiognomy, lit up with
ire, yet always burning to conquer, seldom to
I ornament, must be conspicuously set in any pic.
ture OF those hopeful sessions. His loss is gene
rally said to be second in calamitousness only to
Mr.. Lmcolns. when he did use the iewelry
oirhetoric,p y said Mr.. Creswell, she would quietly
set q metaphor in his page or throw compare
son into his speech, which would serve to light
up, with startling distinctness, the colossal pro
portions OF his argument. OF humor he had
none; but his wit and sarcasm at times would
glitter like the brandished sclmeter of Saladin
and, descending, would cut as keenly The pa
| theuc he never attempted; but, when angPreC
by malicious assault, hls invecuve was con
suming, and his epithets would wound like pei
| lets of lead.n
The literature of Congress has no better para
graphs than these to show the spontaneous
delivery OF Davis:
Having vowed to stand in history on the grea
resolve to accept OF nothing but victory or rum
victory is And If with such heroic resolve WI
| 1al we tail with honor, and transmit the name o
liberty, committed TO our keeping, untanlshed, Il
go down to future generations. The historian ou
decline and iall, contemplating the of the las
great Republic, and drawing from ITS late lessons
wisdom on the waywardness men, shall drop
tear as he records with sorrow the vain herOlsm o
that people who dedicated and sacrificed themseve
NTa ahn nf hWTNl