The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1869-06-25

Fortune smiles upon audacity. or
the Stokes family William was the
black sheep. A brother of his--a most
accomplished, eloquent and virtuous
mana lawyer of real learning and
ability-tlid not get on half so speedily
as this raCe-riding preacher and speCu-
lator. Time trotted for him like an am
bling pony. In lS59-for il is needless
to cucumber this narration with the ca
reer of William as q local legislator
there was division among the Demo
Gratis Of the Mountain District, where
the Democrats had great majority. In
spite of this no Whig candidate desired
the race. Stokes took it, "jnst for fun
and, "iust for fun" the people elected
| him. Thus he was transferred from
! Liberty to Washington, and his career
as Il patriot, statesman and soldier COM
/ menced.
lie roomed with Emerson Etheridge,
who had within him that which could
run dozen ordinary members of Com
| Gress besides one extraordinary one.
and for two years Stokes was navigat-
ed " by Etheridge. lie had'all the re-
quirements named by Bill Polk as nee
e3sary to qualify man for Minister to
Naples, which are equally necessary to
qualify a man for Congressional sue
cess; and he made some numbering
| speeches in behalf of "the Union. the
! Constitution, and the enforcement of
the laws lie was n prodigious fellow
| 1t was splendid 10 see him in the House
with his broad, red face and his shiny,
bald pate, which bore u striking resem-
blnnce TO biiiard-ball. 1t has since
| won for him the title Of the "Bald Ea-
GLE though the difference between
Stokes and the "Bird OF Liborty" NAV
be measured by the difference between
the metaphor and the actual bird, for
though no one viii deny that Stokes was
the Bird of Liberty" there are peo-
pie who will be il-natured enough to
suggest the substitution of the buzzard
for the eagle in order to verify the truth
Of the saying. Be this as il may, Stokes
thrived on Etheridge's stutiing as Sin
bad thrived on rice and OIL lie grew
squarer and squarcr, and roster ard ros-
Ter. as long as that Congress continued
in session, when he returned to Tennes-
see.
1t was now 1861. The war was come
upon us. And what did William the
Conqueror-this valorous champion of
"the Constitution. the Union, and the
laws this friend of his country, his
whole country, and nothing but his
country--this patriot and protcge of
Etheridge-what did he do? Did he
follow his preceptOr into the cause of
the Union! Did lie stand by Andy
Johnson's side and hold up the hem of
a. J.'s garment? Not at all. lie went
back To the cedar snags OF Liberty and
took his powerful pen and wrote a let
ter-since grown notable rs the "Dun-
can letter to Il friend OF his in Var
rem county, and in this letter which we
need not reprint in full, he spoke of his
loyal devotion to the South, and he
feared, he said. that his tcalty might be
questioned, and desired that it should
be made known among his friends that
he would resist the cncroachments Of
" LinColn's hirelings to The DEATH Ave
that he would; and he began to organ
i2e a Confederate regiment at once; but,
as his movements Were necessarily dill
atory, lie bade others, who were not so
pressed, to go forward in the noble
work. lie subscribed handsomely and
eXhorted eloquently.
The spring. the summer, the autumn
of 1851 passed quickly by. The winter
OF 1862 was going out. In February
Nashville fell. Buell., backed by Fed
eral army, arrived. Andy johnson,
with proclamation, came. Away in
July-when the new order of things be-
gan 10 be assured--Stokes mounted his
critter and rode down to the State capi-
tai. He was patriot again. He had a
negro boy with him whom he desired
to sell, and, leaving this boy with Cap
tain Haynes, who kept "pen" on
Cherry street, he burned for his country,
and. as evidence of the fact, got togeth-
! er all the loose material he could find
and called them "Stokes' cavalry
There wer" some good men among
them, who fell into discredit, while
! Stokes influence prevailed over the
rest They were active for three years
within the Federal lines. led by Stokes.
! They could rob n hcn-roost or knock an
old woman in the head with surprising
agility, at Stokes command. But only
two events of note are mentioned of
! their career. One was an attack made
| on Stokes by n gallant fellow he tried to
! disgrace, when-to quote the language
of the day" he beloved like steer"
The other was Dick McCann's fag-of-
truce sent in to Negley to request him
"to remove the women and children,
and StoAeS' coco'ry. as he was going to
carry the city by assault"
Was it strange that Stokes should turn
up blazing Radical under the Brown
low dispensation? Does anybody Won
der that he got back into Congress and
swallowed the iron-clad oath without
choking! A couple of years ago he
followed Etheridge in his canvass, and
Etheridge skinned him every day, and
Stokes was happy. Etheridge called
him his "sweet William" and said he
was carrying him about to exhibit him.
Subsequently he tried to beat Brown
low out Of the Senate, but failed, and
the rest is familiar to the public. TTe is
now an independent Radical candidate
for Governor OF Tennessee. His plat
form is three shades blacker than the
backest black republicanism--so bad
indeed that Brownlow can't stand it
and, though he wabbles somewhat, his
main reliance is on the negroes and such
brute force as he can bring to bear upon
a law-abiding people, who yearn for
nothing so much as they yearn for
peace