Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-07-14
Thaddeas steven. photoxrephea.

Thsddeus Stevens PhoiOEraphed.
In a recent number Of eThe Galaxy
We find an article on "The Leader of the
House. which gives US a moro vivid and
graphic picture Of Thaddeus Stevens, the
4old man eloquent than any other which
We remember to have seen. We extract :
In personal appearance, few men have
ever worns in q body, a more perfect SYM
Dol of the soul than does the Leader Of
the House. Tall, with a slight bend in
his figure, his presence conveys the notion
of a dignity Of stature in. indefinite re-
serve. His limbs are long and slow, but
seldom in repose. His large hand, with q
look OF its own, is eve undergoing some
slow change Of ungraceful but earnest
motion, as if it, too, conld think, and col
late, and remember. His abundant and
dark hair, heaped up in curly prOfusion,
is as ehangeless as a wooden wig, giving
extraordinary effect to the mobility Of his
features and his uncommonly high head.
His nose is remarkably long, containing
three distinct variations of profile, which,
when marked in SO protracted an organ,
looks like attempts TO shorten itself. His
chin is broad and bold, his brows striking
" advancing and eavernons, and his
mouth wide, deeply marked and grim.
His eye is a feature that must be seen to
be conceived of; it can thrill to the Sub
tlest fbrils the soul that looks into it, vet
it does not CLEAN; it candominate, awe and
e~onfoand, yet it cannot be said to have FIRE
it ear be seen across the vast ball from the
galleries of the opposite side, when ami
uaafod in dnhQta rat - l. ~ L.. - -,
ference, it is cold; in courtesy, it is averted;
if suspicious, its scrutiny demolishes du-
plieity; under excitement, it darkens in
scoFn, 1t seems to shoot Mimic bslls-to
rave, to blast, to poison, TO consume. His
complexion is a uniform, melancholy sal
low His customary altitude, as he sits in
the House, is n expressive of occupation,
even when not specifically engaged; his
spine, upon bis loiHs, Is erect; from thence
to mis- head it bends regularly forward, his
ARM being extended somewhat awkward
lyon the sides of his ehaiFor desk his, while
mis- knees protrude in opposite directions,
and his look is downeast and sad. His
appearance rarely giVes token of attention
to what is passing, though the constant
pottering motion of his prone hands and
the expression of his attitude, c~ontravene
all idea of abstraction, and, indeed, are the
common marks of reflection. The uni
verssl type of Armness in the expression
of a eountenance, Is receivable into COM
petent efforts. But of all human beings,
he alone seems never to strengthen him
self by q specifc draft on his resources
His loins are never girded Up. When he
rises to speak, the preparatory interval is
xvi4h1,.fnfha nuuof anK.aa Ill.
and marshalling the thoughts, which the
great with reason, and the small with af-
fectation seldom omit.
In his exordium, the art Of his oratory
is displayed. With the simplicity of a
plain man, in a loud, desultory, but not
declamatory voice, be Engages attention
by a half s%oliloquy, which, with q sort of
grandfatherly grumbling about some triv-
ial matter in ludicrous contrast with pub
lie business, he s~harpens every hearers
sense of the grotesque awakening in all
that indeseFibshle MIXTURE Of freedom
with Difference, which we feel toward one
who seems to combine in one expression
or manner, a confding openness with a
quaint indifference or arrogance. His
| speech, at this stage, is monotonous, and
sometimes-incohAent, and always with q
tone of mufled good win, and a total alb
sence of all trace of scorn. The hue of
this dFollery is of the most harmless and
contagious. kind, making himself, rather
than Others, the object of the general tit
ter, and its tact is perfected byhis seeming
to aim inefeetiFely elsewhere. During
this time he is looking about his imns-
date place, as if hunting mislaid notes or d
dropped handkerchief, with the dull So
licisude of dotage. The House, meantime.
are cracking furtive jokes at his expense,
while here and there a page with cautious
but significant mimicry, is taking off Old
Thed, an impertinence which the boldest
of the bFats would not dare indulge to-
ward any other member. Every face
wears a smile, everybody is in good hu-
NOR with the odd and interesting charac-
ter on the floor, and especially with him
self and the House, careless of the public
and Of the stern pride of party debate,
giggles like q picnic.
Then, rising erect, the leader lifts his
elbow IN advance Of the hand; contracts
his betting brows, throws up and back
his towering head, and with a sudden,
straight thrust of his long, yellow finger,
followed by the whole outstretch of his
arm, he sends forth, in a laundering tone,
hs iron bolt of his argument. 1t stuns
the abiest intsllects and ~staftles the cool
est tempers in earshot. The succeeding
p%ostulates are but repetitions of this, driT-
ing each other forth in a quick succession
that breaks down all adverse ANALYSIS.
The great qualities stand out in special
prenineGce in the character of the master
spirit ST the american Congress-will,
independence and principle. The most
essential OF all conditions to suea & ni5s- |
terry as his, to wit the fixed habit of
viewing politics as a system of subter-
fugss, in which there is no moral, legal or
poiitieo-srieRti&o principle, and of adapt
ing all means Rcc6Fdihgly-i5 the natural |
outgrowth of these three to Srg1est e.
tent. But it is probable that, after all, It
IS the product of an invineible and incor-
EqppBls moral sense, more than of all
other clements OF lie personal eonstitu-
ton or all the inAuenees Of experience. |
In his private life, i..e, in his relations to
the general world, the writer hiss never
heard, from the most bitter or u~nscrupu-
lous of Mr.. Stephens personal enemies,
the slightest aspersion upon his Justice
his good faith, his charity or his affections. |
Oul=ida If p~olfsfo, he e ,roIol1-. 1