The Shasta courier., 1868-08-22
Death OF Thaddeus Stevens.

AAVh' Ahuuuouo otcttHe, Tue statesman and
devoted patriot, died at Washington on the
18th inst. He was born in Caledonia coun-
ty, Vermont, in 1793 and was at the time
of his death IS years of age. The following,
from the San Francisco Times, expresses
our sentiments and views regarding the great
commoner:
When a great man dies whose name has
been associated with the country's history
| during the entire lifetime of generation, it
Is fitting that his life and services should re.
celye more than passing notice. Yet, when
such statesman as Thaddeus Stevens takes
leave of a theater in which he has sustained
one of the chief characters, so many are the
noble deeds he has done, so many have been
his encounters and SO many his triumphs,
that the limits of a newspaper article are too
confined to do the immortal subject justice.
1t belongs to the studied pen of the eulogist
who knew the civil hero well, and can por-
| tray the brave old commoner as he was, in
all the dignity of incarnate moral courage,
with sublimity of faith in the triumph of the
right, battling for freedom and great privi-
leges for all mankind alike. 1t is the pro-
vince of the biographer, keen to appreciate
all that is sterling in the career of one of the
leaders of public opinion during the most
eyentful period in the nations history, to
render tribute due to the name and fame of
Thaddeus Stevens. The history of the pat.
riot is yet to be written and when written,
it will be seen there is not in all annals
braver, more devoted and answering cham
| pion of the oppressed, or purer patriot than
| the statesman who has just gone to his eter-
nal rest.
In early life his sayings and actions fore
told the after man. Mr.. Stevens was never
what might be called seeker after office,
and it was not till we'll advanced in years
| that he was chosen to represent constltu-
ency in the Legislature of his adopted State.
Yet, before this time, his fame was known
throughout the country, as lawyer OF splen-
did promise, as a citizen with large and
incorruptible heart, as a bold opponent of
slavery, and as an orator of directness and
vigor in every sentence he uttered. 1t was
not till 1886 that his sentiments, in telling
phrase, found their way into public docu
ments. In that year Ritner was elected Gov
ernor of Pennsylvania. The influence of
Stevens over the old farmer is as we'll known
as any fact in the political history Of that
State. 1t was at this time that various
Southern States memorialized the Legisla-
lures of the North to suppress the abolition
movement, which was then in its incipient
stage, and had not yet assumed political
character. The message of Governor Ritner,
generally supposed to have been written by
Stevens. replied with spirit to the demands
of the Southern oligarchs. 1t was the first
and only response that became the character
of Northern Governor, in dealing with pre-
sumptuous slave drivers of the South, and it
inspired the muse of the then young poet of
froodoO, Wbiftior in fba folloxrinc, lDao.
Thank God for the token lone lip is still free
One spirit Misunderstanding one knee i!
Like the oak of the mountain, deep-rooted and
firm,
Erect, when the multitude bends to the storm;
When traitors to Freedom, and Honor, and God,
Are bowed at an Idol polluted with blood
When the recreant North has forgotten her trust
And the lip of her honor is low in the dust
Thank God, that arm from the shackle has
broken
Thank God, that one man as a freeman has spoken!
Ger thy crags, Allegheny, blast has been blown!
Down thy tide, Susquehanna, the murmur has
gonel
| To the land of the South-of the charter and
| chain
Of Liberty sweetened with slaverys pain;
Where the cant of Democracy dwells on the lips
| OF the forgers of fetters and wielders of whips
| Where 4" chivalric" honor means really no more
| Than scourging of women, and robbing the poor
Where the Moloeh of Slavery sitteth high,
| And the words which he utters are-WoRsHIP OR
| DIE
A few sentences from a speech of Mr.. Ste
vens, give an index of his character. When
others faltered during the great war, he said:
There are periods in the history of nations
when statesmen make themselves names for
posterity but such occasions are never i'm
proved by towards. In the acquision of true
fame, courage is just as necessary in the
civil as in 1.-THE military hero. We may not
aspire to fame but great events fix the eve
of history on small objects and magnify
their meanness." Brave old man Pros
trated in body, racked with pain, hopeless
invalid during the last decade of his life, his
dauntless spirit bore him up and gave pat
riots aid to holy cause in its hour of trial.
Not unlike Jackson. or William, Prince of
Orange, the will of Thaddeus Stevens tri-
umphed over bodily anguish. Who was
there in the councils of the nation, during all
the dreary four years of war, who infused so
much of his own unconquerable spirit into
the hearts of patriots? 1t was like a voice
from beyond the grave, adjuring tie living to
be just and fear not, for victory must surely
come. The faith of Stevens in the yindica-
ton of the right was living faith. finding
expression in all his speeches, and they were
many, and communicating itself to, buoying
up and strengthening all who came within
his magnetic influence.
1t were useless to recount the fields in
which he labored SO unselfshly and well
during his protracted career in Congress,
ending only with his death. Foremost al
ways for advance measures, he lived to see
his Judgment vindicated, his prophecies full
filled. The great aspiration of his life to see
the enfranchisement of race being accom-
plished, he felt, as he often said, that he
could be content 10 depart in peace. Malig-
nant spirits may execrate all the old apostles
of liberty but by all who can appreciate
noble qualities Of head and heart, be they
political friends or foes, the name of Thad.
deus Stevens will be respected and honored.
HOLDEN BROKE LoosE.-Lieut Governor