The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-12-23
MEN AND MEASURES AT WASHINGTON.
WASHINGTON, Dec. %.
WhaSlda ua Stevens

DC mentioned ana MS pOllliCa CdIGcI IclelIcu W
in the debates of the two houses as are those o. |
Webster and Clay, but it will only be inciden-
tally. Even the ablest and most renowned of |
our public men are'soon comparatively forgotten |
when they pass out of sight. To the old bdbitues
of the Capitol 1t seems as If Thaddeus Stevens |
was still present. They expect to find him pre-
siding in the committee.Toom of the Appropria- |
ton Committee, or in that OF the Commi on
Post Offices and Post Roads, where the Recon
struction Committee met while he was It's Chair
man. These were his haunts when he was at
the Capitol, and not in his seat in the House
His face and his figure were at once so familiar
and so eaey distinguished, because they were
so intensely individual, that everybody seemed
TO know him. Once seen he could scarcely be
forgotten, even by person with bad memory
for faces 1t is In the House, however, that he
is missed most of all. While he lived his seat
was hardly ever vacant, and the eye in wander
ing over the House never failed to single out
and rest upon him. His was like the central
figure in group, and invariably attracted
attention.
The EuIOgies I'm thc House.
The announcement in the House OF Repre-
seniatives of the decease of members is
usually me1e form, and is generally devoid ot
interest Deserted galleries, empty seats, two
or three prosy and often senseless eulogies by
the surviving colleagues of the deceased, and
the adjournment of the House, Is the scene
ordinarily presented on such occasions. Very
frequently indeed, the life OF the departed
member has been so pithess and uneventful
that 1t requires considerable ingenuity upon
the part OF the eulogist to find material with
which 10 build. In the case of Thaddeus
Stevens, however, all this was different. The
10 dolo ho1i ini;r al lbo don
previous, through the Speaker, that the death
of Mr. Stevens would be formally announced on
Thursday. Early on the morning OF that day
crowds of people, black as well as white
wended their way towards the Capitol. Long
before IL o'clock the diplomatic gallery, and
all the available space in The other galleries.
were filed with an audience eVi6en tly assem-
bled more out of respect to the memory of the
grand old man than from any feeling of mere
curiosity. Very few members were absent from
their seats. The entire scene was pervaded
with a solemnity seldom witnessed in the
House. Only one funeral scene has been pre-
sented at the Capitol within the last few years
that equalled this-that was when the historian
Bancroft pronounced his oration on President
Lincoln.
"Reminiscences.
/ need hardly state that all eyes were con
centrated OH the seat so bong occupied by the
venerable leader of the House, now sleeping
quietly in the unpretending graveyard at Lam
caster. How The memory reverted, almost
invountarily, 10 other scenes in that hall
wherein he was prominent actor Galleries
as crowded as these had often listened to his
inmitable logic, his biting sarcasm, and his
keen and polished inyective, with mingled
feeling OF admiration and delight. Members,
without distinction in politics, had always
bestowed upon his slightest observation on any
subject before the House an attention more
earnest and intense than they could possibly
exhibit now. Old members, who served with
him before the Rebellion, remembered how he
denounced slavery, and arraigned it before the
bar OF enlightened public opinion, while the
fiery Barksdale was brandishing his bowe-knife
before his eyes, and the other Southern cham
pions of the peculiar institution" were i'm
patient to strike him down, as Brooks did
Sumner. few Sisters of Charity In a corner
of the ladies' gallery could scarcely fail to re-
member Mr.. Stevens last speech in the House
which was an appeal for the passage of an
appropriation for the Providence Hospital a
charitable institution OF this city. Nearly every
body had some Renaissance OF the "Old Com
moner," personal or hstor icsl-many Of them
pleasant, few dltagreeable.
The Formal Announcement.
There was a death-like stiffness after the
reading of the journal on Thursday, when the
Speaker recognized "the gentleman from Penn
sylvania." The Hon. o. J. Dckey arose in Mr..
Stevens old seat, which he had selected only
the day before at the genera! drawing for seats
At that moment he was the observed OF ali
observers" From the time of Mr. Stevens
death there was singular in. n.erest as TO who
should be his successor in the House. Mr..
Dickey was, therefore, naturally subjected ia
the disadvantage of comparison with his re-
noWned predecessor. or medfdm stature, ex
ceedingly spare figure, with the face of student
and head nowise remarkable from that o
dozens around him, it is no injustice to him
when say that his personal appearance did moi
make much impression upon the House. People
had been accustomed TO see another form there
which. though tottering under the weight o.
yesrs still wore that commanding aspect which
belongs to men born 10 be leaders Above all
there was missing that extraordinary head anJ
face easily picked out OF ten thousand, which
once seen, could never be forgotten. The NJ ore
thoughtful may have felt, with Senator Morrill,, o.
Vermont, that 1--WE have had but one BENZ ID
Franklin aud one John RanOop ph, and we Car
scarcely hope to have but Que Ihaddeus
Stevens" But the masses manifestly measured
the new representative from the Lancaster dis
trict by the standard which they had long age