The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1868-08-15

A
the roar Of echoing desplation. his aarco .r,
was the lightning's bolt, dealing. death w;th
a single stroke, that seemed like q fasb f,or,
the sword OF an avenging angel. Even his
humor was grim and ghastly to those who
welded to injustice and oppression, had 90,
cas'cn TO fear that he might turn against
themselves the barbed CHATS of his displea.
sure. But his repartees were never launched
against the poor and the unofrendinr. And
ne never forgot the simplicity Of his de.
meanor, nor his love for thc people, down to
INC oay when his battle Of life ended.
FINALLY, at the close of long life, Mr..
stevens completed his record with his course
| on the reconstruction and Impeachment,
measures. The two were intimately asso-
eiated in his mind from the day when he
turned upon Mr.. Johnson as rccreant to his
party, to principle, and to his country.
Like sickly plant scorched by a tropical
| sun, he withered the President with the
scornful words, "The man at the other end
! Of the avenue." And Mr.. johnson could
only retort by calling him traitor in his
famous speech Of the 22d of February. 1866,
and by asking, in his Cleveland speech and
his speech at st. Louis, "Why not bano
Thad Stevens?" "Why not hang Thad
stevens " was reechoed by the rebel and
semi-rebel press everywhere, and that old
man, bowed down with years, shaken by
disease, and treading on the verge of the
grave but still upheld by lis singular sim
cerlty OF purpose and faith in the right,
was pursued in mis- last hours by the con-
centrated obloquy and hate which had been
his rortion for thirty years. 1t was sin
! gular spectacle, but he withstood the mad
dog cry that bounded him to the very death,
and sounded in his ears on his dying bed =,
with the calm composure Of an old hero Of
romance who had come into the world with
the birthright of liberty for the peoples.
He died nobly as he had nobly lived, leav-
ing his example as guiding star to the
| world.
What relief to turn from this disciple
Of the religion Of hate, this sower of the
seeds of evil and discord, to the following
| liberal opinions and sentiments of a lead
ing organ of the great party opposed to Mr.
Stevens and the party led by him
From the National Intelligencer tDemocratc)
Mr.. Stevens was in many respects very
extraordinary man. He was the type of
class, and one of the best types. In his
character he carried the lineaments-the
evil and the good-of that class, and bore
the features Of those who, under circum-
stances not propitious, have had to battle
with the world, and who could, by force OF
character rather than by plishments
of large and liberal understanding, have
49, oh ha ba,r
mark upon their generation. His character,
like that Of most men who have thus, and
by such means, and with retarding dis
advantages, succeeded, was knotty, unbal
anced, ungovernable, and unlovely. His
sharp contest with the world begun early and
roughly, superadded to an irrita ole temper,
made him unscrupulons in the means which
he employed t. accomplish his ends, and
his impetuosity drove him to any lengths.
He bad strength but it was rough and I'M
symmetrical and hayward. He had scope
! of character but was tempestuous, and
without compass to guide it. All these
| traits, strengths, weaknesses, wants, came
out in his political life; and as his force OF
character was greater than his scruples OF
conscience, he has left behind him politi
cal record which we think it would have
been better for his country and for his OWL
memory had it never been made.
But Mr.. Stevens has passed away. What
ever his faults or errors or sins were, it il
not forus to judge him. We will not pene-
trate the sacred precincts of the grave to cast
upon him one word Of bitterness or re-
proach. &c has passed out of our reach,
and beyond that awful gulf VIC will follow
him only to whisper in the dark, Peace
peace 1t is sweet and pleasant thing to
forget the errors which are hidden by the
shroud. "Speak nothing but good of the
dead " is the language Of noble minds.