The Portland daily press., 1868-06-04

Mr.. FEssENDEN EULoGIzEs STANTON - In
the Senate, Mond ay, Mr.. Fessenden spoke
very warmly in favor of the resolution thank
ing Secretary Stanton. Phe following is an
abridgment o! his remarks:
Mr.. Fessenden said no public honor could
be paid to MI. stanton that would not crafty
him (Eessenden) and meet with his concur
renee He had in secret session expressed the
opinion that no man had rendered so great
service in the events of the last seven years as
had Mr.. Stanton. He could vote with pleas
ure Tor the resolution IN all its parts, though
| he regretted that it had not been SO worded as
| to command unanimous consent here. He
knew his entire disinterestednesS and the alb
| sence of all looking forward to any reward ex-
| cept his (StantOn's) own consciousness of rem
| dering great service to his country If there
was any one, he said, connected with the ad-
nIinistration, not excepting Mr.. Lincoln, who
served his country merely for the love of il,
and from the desire to save it from the dan
gers which he saw impending over it, it was
he Under such circumstances, he continued
although IL is not customary to pass votes Of
thanks for civil services yet with pleasure
can vote for making exception in this case
but am more particularly willing to do so be-
cause of the facts that have transpired We
all know that since the termination of the war
Mr.. Stanton has occupied peculiarly t1yino
| position, and, as have said before, think the
position he has been placed in has deyeloped
| ln him greatness of character which I did
not know he possessed. 1t is no trifiing mat
| ter, for a man to stand in a position where the
| discharge of his duties, as he understands
| them exposes him every day to misappre
| hensiOn and censure. 1t is a peculiar position
to be placed in, for an officer and more especiaI
ly a member of the Cabinet, to hold on to
| his office under circumstances where the ma
| jority of the lockers on would think it his du-
| ty in good faith to retire. Yet, sir, there are
higher duties there are higher considerations
to the mnd off great and good man than the
mere consideration Of what others may think
of hlm, or what construction others NAV mt
npon his acts. II duty requires him to put h s
character at hazard, it takes strong man to do
1t; If duty TO q mans country requires him
to peril even all the considerations which are
so dear 10 public man, it requires man
| OF more than ordinary cast of character to
| meet the eXigencies and responsibilities of the
| occasion. Such hHs been the condition in
| which Mr.. Stanton has been placed We all
know what he has done; we all know the no
sltlon IN which he has been placed in relation
to the President. The Senator Mr. Hen
DIR cks) asserts that on certain occasion he
did not express positive opinions about certain
laws that had been passed, and which had
been vetoed by the President and passed over
His veto. Sir, he said all that the occasion
would allow him to ay-ihat they were pass-
cd and were laws. l know very well that. al
though Mr.. Stanton thought it his dutv to re-
main in the Cabinet and take the conSeouen-
ces oi the pubic Judgment, he did not feel that
it was matter of duty to place himself in
collision with his chief No man of good taste
and good feeling would do So Mr.. Fessenden
proceeded to say that whatever might have
been Mr.. Stantons original opinion in regard
to reconstruction, they knew that from the time
Mr.. johnson attempted to set up his policy in
opposition to that OF Congress. Mr.. Stanton
had considered it his duty to stand by Con-
gross as the proper tribunal to restore those
States to practical relations with the Union,
and held it TO be the duty of the Executive to
adopt its policy. This brought him into col
liSion with the President, aud the rest of the
Cabinet, and he thought it his duty in that cri-
sis of the country to remain, sacrificing his
own wishes and feelings to an overruing con-
tingency, as few men would have had the
courage and the manliness to do was one.
he continued of those who could not agree
with majority of my friends on a recent oc-
caslon, in the construction which was placed
on the tenure-oi-offiee bill, and L will saw, sir.
that the matter which gave me perhaps as
much pain as any other thing in disagreeing
with my friends, was that l was Obliged 10
put myself apparently in a position somewhat
antagonistic TO Mr.. Stanton himself Mr.. Fes
sender closed by repeating that he felt great
pleasure in supporting the resolution, and ex-
pressing the hope that Senators would n of
find it necessary on reflection to oppose it,