Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1868-12-30

itDOr anu Tue ltn5uOr more than three
score years and ten, he yet in the morning,
' dreaming he was "a boy az in," would
often have in unexpected readiness a care
fully prepared speech, written in his own
rapid, scrawling, thorn-hung style, upon
such subjects as he felt to be important and
to which he wished to direct the attention Of
the country; and when he aimed merely to
carry the House his speeches were extempo-
raneous and of marked brevity. Barren of
oratorical Ostentation, he not only never
gave the House surfeit of himself, but was
visibly impatient when others became
tie 1ious, silencing all legislative loquacity, il
the temper of the House permitted land OF
that he was an expert judgc-by any par
liamentary device within hi reach. Weak
ening no cause by learned length or refine.
ment he yet always appeared to have a re-
served force ready to repel unloOked-for at
tacks from any quarter.
Not always averse to the exhilaration and
late hours of a diner-Out, nor of Jubilant
company and occasional diversions anywhere,
he was, nevertheless, sure to be at his post
when wanted, and seldom lacked luck or
vig"r in the closing rubber CT debate.
Mr.. Stevens was a little lame, having a
defect hardly to be conccaled-an imperfect
fOot-simiar to that of Sc Tt and Byron
though unlike the latter, he never attempted
all borrowed aid consented relunctantly to
lean even upon a cane. Like John Quincy
Adams ard some others, he never required
the aid Of glasses, for - his eye was not dim
nor his natural force abated.''
Having been a lifelong bachelor, for years
extensively engaged in business as an iron
manu- ecturer, well as in the practice of
the law, whatever may have been his habits
OF study they were not likely to have been
systematic, yet they certainly cannot have
been marked by ideness and his memory,
retentive and capacious, enabled him to
grasp beyond the learning appropriate to his
profession the general store of scholar. but
a scholar with out peiintry or nicely, as he
graspeI general prin ;iples with little knowl-
of and 80 taste tor minor details. lie
sought for comprehensive results in the
briefest time, and IN his devotion to literary
and professional reading never could have
been drudge. The quickness of his appre-
hension, ird ell, was so great that he could
almost afford to cast off the pain o I slow and
careful study
When speaking Mr.. Stevens, nOtwithstand
ing his inhrmtles. stood erect and firmly
poised, as If consci ,us that his foundati IN
reached 10 the very center Of the eirth. HIS
strongly east head, surmOunted by dark
and rather ponderous wig, and HI stern Wis
age, with brow, eye, mouth, and chin, indi
eating the sign and slgnet OF the Almighty
to command" all helped to make him 4
grand and central figure in the House OF
Representatives but there was little grace
or polish IN his periods OF gestures-only fire
or force or jocul,rity An angular and jersy
gesticul,tion. with his lean and bony hands
often clenched together, gave point TO his
words. and he strongly pictured their mean
ing by the changing moods of his face, which
t,l.vaI .yhathpr W ar rruf b1r-
mony with the tone of his voice and argu-
ment. His countenance had more the stony
features of authority than of sweetness. \
beholder would have found it easy TO believe
him man of matchless vigor and potent will
and not difficult to rank him among the
great.
His running undertone commentary upon
the deb ties es-sOmetimcs, though rarely,
caught up by the reporters-and upon oc-
currences of the day while in his seat,
well as his occasional Tux in the first half
hour in the committee room, was character
ized by wisdom and fun mingled and. lost
in the whirl of business hand in hand with
evity. Never, indeed. WAS wit of AL the
varieties, coarse and fine, exhibited in more
bewildering profuson. Could any swell
have treasure d up all these pthy silies and
ceaseless cOrruscations, the spOrtiveness of
genius less sugary than sour and bitter, they
IN ght have been found to be surpassed in
purity of sentiment or in elegance OF phraseo-
low but surely not IN tersc severity nor in
wealth and heartiness of humor. lie daily
wasted in this private and semi-grotesque
distribution of mirth, ser.se, and satire, often
Unfortunately among friends and foes,
capital sufficient, could it have been pre-
served t. rival almost any of the acknOwl
edged masters among the cUlloqual wits Of
this or possibly of any age. But the gusto
with which he let loose his riotous and
sparkling fun could not reduce him to the
level of weak and trivial joker, for the
reason that he had depth and seriousness
of purpose, a bitterness of resolve, never out
of sight, which did not permit him, even in
sport, to trihe with the master questions of
tne day nor with those principles which
held indisputab!e empire over his head and
heart.
HIS wit was all his own, and he had no
skill in working ores mined by others, fail
ing even in the common art of story telling.
" nen his wittIcisms-nnd his attempts at
wit were rarely fiilures-were rehc.rsed in
his presence, as would often happen, and
when, with the usual fate of such brittle aud
bri liant wares, they were sadly broken and
dimmcd by the clumsiness of the retailer,
never knew him to reset the dislocated parte
Jt the Jokes or to correct even the baldest
bunders nor did ever know him to repro
iuce or to give new edition of the good
things OF which he was the constant and
prol fic author. Born in joyial moment,
often growing with passion, they were
never after to be nursed by paren-
tai solicItldc.
Through life he adhered mainly to the
same political principles, and no more
thought of rafting from his party when un- |
bleet with maJorlties than when in the hey |
lay Of its prosperity.
Whenever he stood forth, as he often did |
in behalf Of some of the immortal principles |
liberty of human rights, he rare
~ failed t. make consI lcuous his full |
,trcngth, displaying at once the rrofundity |
If his convictions and the breadth of his |
the energy of his invectvc and |
the flash of his wit, well ns the power and
earnestnes of his speech. His style was
clear, vet abrupt and concise animated, We |
massive; and though lacking ideality, never
ackin. vigor. Whether he led conquer
ng malority or a forlorn hope he never
wItered the truth to make it more 2pular +;
but waving the banner of a paramount idea,
md self-assured sooner later of victory,
he bid defiance to foes, to time, and fate.
Mr.. SrEvE>s retained his intellectual ac-
tiyity to the end of his days. and could not
1t the latest moment be persuaded to forego
anv position however irksome, to shield him
self from labor or responsibility, as if de-
.ermined 90 TO die like a camel in the wilder
ness, with his burden upon his back Age
broug ght for him no quietude; success no
abatement of his indomitable spirit and
never could it have been truly said of him as
IF Wilkes, in his old age, that he was :. a
yolcano burnt OUT Carried at last to the
House of Representatives for months in a
chair, he cluns to his prerogatives as chair
nan of committees with as unquenchable
,enacity as the Pope of Rome clIngs to the