Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1868-04-03
A United States Senator.

VIC IeHeUDer seeing a lew year
ago take-off upon the imaginar,
heroineS of the almost numberless In
dian romances of that day. OF cours,
the stock character in all such novel,
IS a beautiful Indian maiden, who, i
she Is not at first princess, by hel
charms soon wins chieftain, or some
noted pale face and is happy. The
picture we refer to represented upor
the one hand the Indian Princess as
imagined and described. She was
indeed a beautiful being, with sylph
like form, exquisite features, noble
bearing, &C., &c. To be sure there
was scarcity of comfortable clothing
observable, but plenty Of feathers and
ornaments, and " her own native dig.
nifty" undoubtedly kept her warm
even in so uncomfortable a place as
wigwam OF the other hand was de-
picted the Indian Princess as she IS
1t was evidently a portrait from life
as we have seen just such dusky
maids repeatedly since. 1t was
the picture OF coarse, greasy looking
squaw, at the door of whiskey shop,
with an old tattered blanket over her
shoulders, dirty trousers upon her
limos, some clouted old shoes upon
her feet, and battered straw hat up-
on her uncombed head. Suc1 the
ideal, and such alas the too exact
picture Of the reality This picture
has required to us in another counec-
ton lately. We like other men have
cherished our ideal. of what q II. 8.
Senator ought to be. Our Vermont
Senators Of the past have not dissipa-
ted the illusion Of our fancy. A Col
lamer or Foot, one could well do
them reverence as dignifed, wise and
noble men. So the record and even
the presence of some of the illustrious
men whose names still adorn the roll
OF the national Senate, has not great
ly lessened our respect for the Senate
rial character. But we confess to
having had our ideal sadly shattered
lately by seeing the other side of the
picture. Riding in the cars the 9th.
er day, we noticed a man seated a
little In front of US who attracted a
good deal of attention on the part uf
all around. So we looked at him at
tentively. He was a man of medium
hight, but Of great bulk. His more
than FaLstaf1an belly almost forbade
his entrance or egress from seat or
car: close down upon a pair of broad
shoulders was stuck moderate sized
head. The hair was unkempt, the
face covered with bristly beard of
about three days growth, and lined
with whiskers that spoke of animal
propensities. The eye was the re-
deeming feature Of the physiognomy.
But if dress makes the man." what a
man was here! We are informed
that this individual we are trying to
depict, is worth hundreds of thou
sands Of dollars, this is at least the
popular story, and yet friend of his
told us in describing him before we
had seen him, that " all his clothing
would not sell for fifteen dollars"
and his estimate is certainly high
enough. His head was covered with
the dirty remains of what had once
been a white felt hat, no collar en-
circled his neck, but slovenly silk
neckerchief was loosely tied about the
binding of very dirty shirt. A ca
pacious brown overcoat, stained and
spotted, and almost buttonless, envel-
oped his body and concealed the text
ure and style of undercoat and vest.
A pair of creased and coarse grey
pants encased his legs, and some gen.
ulne coarse boots with dilapidated
overshoes protected his feet. And
this, this was the outward appear
ance of a Senator of these United
States This was none other than
the notorious Hon. Henry Clay L Fan
of Iowa, then stumping a sister State,
to serve or injure his party's interests
in a political campaign.
Now we are no sticklers for dress
or externals, we do not criticise hon.
est poverty, or sturdy though unfash-
ionable independence. We do not
describe this Senator from any I'M
worthy motives, but when we remem-
Der that this man puts on that dress
for party and contemplate purposes
that he thus leads the foreign element
in towns and cities, by appealing to
their baser feelings and prejudices
we are justified in holding up his pic.
ture.
Whatever may be his mental en-
dowments, land he is reputed to be
an able and eloquent man, we deem
him amenable at the bar of good taste