The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1868-05-14

members OF this House personally, we'll
know l think, to all of them by reputa-
ton, the distinguished BENJAMIN Harris
Brewster, of Philadelphia, "a man whose
learning, genius and character have
illuminated the profession Of the law in
that State, of which he is now Attorney
General-the man under whom / stud
led law, and who knew me from nv
boyhood up. I ask the clerk to read
what he says in answer to this SANDER.
The Clerk read as follows:
COMMONWEALTH OF Pennsylvania,
OFFICE OF ATTORNEY GENERAL,
HARRISBURG, April 90, 1868
Ny Dear Mr.. Donnely:
Your letter of yesterday is now before
me. II is surprise to me tina: any one
should be so har iy as to assa;l your go9I
name for acts done while resident here.
To me you have been known for nearly
twenty yeas You were my student, snd
from l849 to 1853 you were daily with ne
and down to 1857 there was not week that
We were not in constant intercourse. For
year before you left it vas publicly no,o-
rlous that you were arranging your affairs
to 60 West and reside there. Your depart
ure was open, public, conspicuously public.
You made formal call On NE to bid me
goodbye.
Your character from your boyhood up
was well known to me; your business If
fairs were known to me, as vou advised
with me, and from other sources ny means
Of information were exact, and you were
A itJcr ri fr,
ali who evc, epoKe ~ me " ,;., - . ,u.CIl u
of uncommon energy, skill, and strict Ia
tegrity.
After you had been absent for FIVE years,
and on an occasion when you were preSen,
in Philadelphia, my recollection is that i,
was in 1863, you came to me, and, to my
surprise, you advised me that some per-
son Of the name OF Porter had charged
you with conspiracy to defraud. AZ
your counsel, the whole matter was con-
mitted to my exclusive charge The case
was heard before the magistrate, in ny
presence, and he discharged you. there
being no proof Of any XII nd gains, you.
My recollection is distinct, there va:
not the shadow Of proof against you. TIE
conviction impressed on my mind thea
was, and still is. that it was an attempt,
under color Of criminal proceedings. TO
frighten you into the payment of deb:
you did not owe; md tina. there was also
some personal and political i'll feeling q:
the bottom Of the affair.
In that transaction you acted like MAJ
Of courage amt high honor. You r=fusel
to plead the statute Of limitations and you
also refused 10 plead your privilege as {
member of the House of Representative
and that refusal was publicly anreunc;i
By me in open court, before the nagis rae
and all the bystanders. You also being
present. announced, th1 ough NE. that no
technical defense Of any kind would be set
up; and you challenged any one to come
forward and make charge, if they had
any to make; and, as representing YOU.
far; her said that, if notice were sent TO me
at any subsequent day, when you were ab-
sent, that you would be forthwith prod: ID
by me, at any time and from any distance;
that you had been honored By . respectable
constituency with responsible c.. and
that you owed to their honor and to your
own honor to confront all accusers at all
times and meet all such charges on their
merits.
For my part, to ne you have ever been
dear as friend and pupil of whom Ia
proud.
You are known by meto enjoy charac-
ter for stern integrity. ana h, IL
would be trusted to the utmost limit of bu-
man confidence.
Truly, as ever, more and more, your
friend,
BENZ AMIN HARRIS BREWSTER.
Hon. I. DoSSELLI. House Of Representatives,
Washington, D. c.
MIR. DoNNELLY. Mr.. Speaker, how
noble, how beautiful do such ut,cranccs
appear beside the base, leprous ISLANDERS
that have been sought to be heaped up.
on me stand here reiterating the de-
claration then made. that if anywhere
on Gods earth, down in the mire Of
filth and all nastiness, the Gentleman
can pluck anything that touches my
honor, let it come. 1 shall meet it On
its merits. I have gone through the
entire catalogue; I have araly.ed the
contents of the geDtleman's foul stom-
ach; I have dipped my hand in its gall;
I have examined the half-diseste3 trac-
ments that I found floating il the gas
trio juice; but if it is possible for tic
peristaltic acton Of the gentleman f
Illinois to bring up anything more
loathsome, more disgusting than he has
vomitcd over me in that letter, III God
name, let it come.
The SPEAKER. The Chair mus. say
to the gentleman from Minnesota that
his remarks are out of order.
Mr.. WAsuBURNE, of Illinois. Oh. I
hops the party will be permitted to so
on by unanimous consent.
Mr.. DoNNELLY. l am glad the GEN
tleman is Wiling that I should have
unanimous consent to proceed.
Mr.. Speaker, the charges are no:
original. one of the editors of the St.
Paul Press, the paper in which the
gentleman's letter appeared, man
named Driscoll, wen: to the city of
Philadelphia and played the detective
there. He stayed there for days hunt
ing around to find something upon
which SANDER could lay her crooked
hands, and he came back with his
hands empty. But that did hot suffice
The gentleman's brother, four years aco.
contesting with me the right to seat
in this House. repeated these ISLANDERS
upon the streets Of ST. Paul, until l
was forced to come out in a card in the
public papers of the State, and say that
if they could prove anything against
my honor I would withdraw from the
contest, and resign my seat in this body.
l had thought, knowing the source
from which these things spnns. that
that denial would have ended the matter,
but it. seems they were brought up here
again. shall not stop to amplify that
splendid passage Of Shakespeare, which
my friend from Iowa Mr.. PR1cE] was
compelled the other day to quote against
the gentleman from Illinois Mr.. Wash
burne
"who stss's my purse stcals trash; It's something.
nothing;
Twas mine tits his, and has been slave thousands
But he that nlches from me my good name
Robs me Of that which naught enrches him,
Bnt makes me poor indeed.
Why, Mr.. Speaker, the crinsinS
sneak thief who picks your pocket or
steals your overcoat is Christian gen.
tleman compared with that monster who
would rob you Of the precious mantle
.@,.s o~I lava chiv