Vermont daily transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1868-1870, 1868-08-18
JWUdtieUS SfercUs as he ~ as.

JUUddeUs Stercus as ne Vas.
None of the obituaries of Thaddeus
Stevens which we have read have
skctched him faithfully and wildly as
he really was. He was an extraordinary
man, in the natural elements which
made him up. His peer has not died
since Daniel Webster. In some traits of
character he was superior to Webster
in unselfshness and answering devo-
ton to principle. In breadth of intel
lect and profoundly ofthought, Webster
has had no equal among American
statesmen. The ardor and impetuosity
which Webster showed in his earlier
speeches characterized all Mr.. Stevens
efforts, even his latest.
The most brilliant performances of
Mr.. Stevens were undoubtedly at the bar;
and they are preserved but family and
imperfectly, and mainly in tradition. 1t
was at the bar that he spent almost his
whole life. Over fifty years he prac-
tised at the bar. lie was employed in
the greater part of the suits where he
lived, on one side or the other. The
power of his satire and sarcasm is des-
cribed as something terrific. In one of
his earliest speeches in Congress this was
manifested in wonderful degree. That
speech probably remembered by but few
now, but there has seldom been such
speech delivered on the floor of Con-
gress.
During Mr.. Fillmore's administration
Mr.. Stevens was one of the counsel for
the defense oftwenty-one persons indict-
ed for treason in assisting at the rescue
of fugitive slave in Pennsylvania.
The trial took place in Philadelphia. All
the prisoners but one were cOlOred.
They were brought into court together
on one occasion, as it became necessary
that one ofthem should be identified by
certain witness. A shrewd scheme
was practsed by the defense on this oc-
casion. The long row of blacks appear
ed dressed in a peculiar uniform. They
all wore highly-colored gcarfs of the
same pattern.
Every one had his hair parted and
combed very deliberately in the same
way. The puzzled witness looked them
over and over again in vain attempt to
identify the one in question. He might
as well have undertaken to swear to one
of twenty similar white beans which he
had seen six months before
Mr.. Stevens was devoted throughout
his long life to two great principles with
unchanging fidelity and the warmth of
religious enthusiasm. These two prin
ciples were human liberty and common
school education.
There was no sham about him. His
belief was not a cloak which he wore for
his personal ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. On the
contrary, his fidelity to principle kept
him out of office the greater part of his
life. 1t was this self-sacritice to the
welfare of mankind this self-abnegation
in labor of love for the whole human
race, which gave grandeur to his char
acter
Mr.. Stevens was firm believer in flu
ture rewards and punishments. When
Judge fancy died he remarked that the
Judge had doomed himself to eternal in
fanny by the bred Scott decision, and he
feared to eternal flames. On one occa-
sion, in animated debate in Congress on
the course to be pursued toward the lead
ing rebels, Mr.. Stevens exclaimed that
he would sentence them to the peniten-
tiaryOf hell. He was always full of fire
and passion.
Mr.. Stevens was man of noble and
chivalrOus nature. He held all
manner of meanness in infinite con-
tempt. An evidence of this was the
spirited letter which he wrote on the
occasion of Mr.. Buchanan's funeral, eX-
pressing himself strongly in favor of
every demonstration of respect for the
personal. priveta character of his old
IOllt-lCul uLtttSOillSt'
For many years Mr.. Stevens apprOpri-
ated large part of his income to re-
deeming slaves from bondage. This
was done without Ostentation, and gen.
orally without being made known by
, him to any one except the parties con-
cerned
Mr.. Stevens hObbled through life,
like Byron, with lameness Occasioned
by deformity of one foot. One of the
most disgraceful things in the newspa-
, per literature of the day has been an oc-
casional unfeeling fling at this defect
showinga much greater moral defect in
the person capable such meanness
: Mr.. Stevens was very fond of playing
cards, and frequently sat up very late,
= and sometimes all night, engaged in
: this diversion.
. He was strictly temperate man, and
never tasted liquor or wine.
He lived and died bachelors but he
was not insensible to the charms and
destinations of woman.
He Will be laid to rest in his fina
abode in Lancaster on Monday next
= There Thaddeus Stevens and James Blu
: chanan will sleep their last sleep in the
y same town where they both lived fol-
. more than thirty-five years. What diff,
u ferent characters! How different theil
: histories How different their fame
J; NeW York San.