The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-02-05
JEREMIAH BLACKS LETTER IT
ATTORNEY.GENERAL HOAR.
MR.. HOAR,S EULOGY ON THE LATE
SECRETARY STANTON.
WASHINGTON, January 1s, 1870.

UlpucT anu NlueT ne NdS dppOlulcu
Acknowledgement by Mr.. Buchanan on the
goth of December, 1861, in one of the
darkest hours of the country's history,
when the Union seemed crumbling to pieces
without an arm raised for its support;
when without the public counsels was doubt
| ing and within were fears when feeble
ness and treachery were uniting to yield
whatever defiant rebellion might demand !;
and good men everywhere were ready to
despair of the Republic. For ten weeks Of
that winter of national agony and shame,
with patriotism that never wavered and
courage that never quailed, this true Ame-
rican, happily not alone, stood manfully at
his post "between the living and the dead"
gave what nerve he could to timid and
trembling imbecility, and met the secret
plotters of their country's ruin with an un-
daunted front until before that resolute
presence the demons of treason and civil
discord appeared in their own shape, as at
the touch Of Ithuriels spear, and fled baf-
ned and howlng away.
| This statement was carefully and delibc-
rately written down before you delivered
it. You spoke for the American bar az its
organ and official head, and you addressed
the highest tribunal in the world, knowing
that your words were to go upon its records
and there remain forever. I take it for
granted, under these circumstances, that
no earthly temptation could make you de-
fleet hairs breadth from the facts as you
understand and believed them. The inevi
table conclusion is that you must have
in your possession or within your reach
some evidence which convinces you that
@1o rl ~
but the truth. an sure you will excuse
me for asking you to say what that evidence
is. The paper have Transcribed from your
address sounds like the authoritative sum-
mary of historian as he closes the most
interesting chapter in his book. You can
hardly consider the curiosity impertinent
that prompts an American citizen to inquire
what your judgment is founded upon. Be-
sides, I have some friends whose reputation
is deeply involved in the affairs you pro-
nouncc upon with SO much confidence.
Moreover, have o personal concern in
Your remarks, for am one of Mr.. Stanton's
colleagues and am as liable as any Of them
to be taken on your statement for one of
the "secret plo,ters of their c0untry's
ruin" BE pleased, therefore, to give me
the information / seek.
| Do you find on the records of your Office
anything which shows that Mr.. Stanton was
in violent or dangerous conflict with "de-
mons Of treason and civil discord," or any
other description of demons Did Mr..
Stanton himself ever lay claim to the heroic
character you ascribe to him, or declare
that he had performed those prodigious
feats of courage while he was in Mr.. Buchan-
ans Cabinet? Has any other person who
was in a condition to know the facts ever
civen YOU that version of them which you
repeated to the court If yes, who are the
witnesses? What particular danger was he
exposed to which tested his valor, and made
his "undaunted front" thing so wonder
full in the description of it? Whose fee
bleness and treachery was it that united to
| Weld whatever defiant rebellion might de-
mand ?" and how did Mr.. Stanton's courage
dissolve the combination OF defeat its pur-
poses?
You say that for ten weeks ''he stool
manfully at his post between the living
and the dead.' Now, when the first law
officer of the United States addressed the
Supreme Court on O special occasion, and
after elaborate preparation, he is presumed
to mean something by what he says. How
is this to be understood? You certainly
did not intend to assert merely that he
stuck to his commission as long as he could,
and gave it up only when he could not help
it. Standing manfully at post of any
kind, and especially when the stand is
made ".between the living and the Dead"
has doubtless a deep significance if one
could but manage to find out what it is.
Who were the dead and who were the
living? and how did it happen that Mr..
Stanton got between them? What business
had he between them, and why did he stay
there for ten weeks? These questions you
can easily answer, and the answer is
needed; for in the mean time conjectural
interpretations are very various, and some
Of them injurious to the dead and living
aforesaid, as well as to Mr.. Stanton, who,
according to your representation, stood be-
tween them.
lean comprehend the well-worn simile of
Ithuriel's spear, but do not see what on
earth was the use of it unless you thought
it ornamental and original; for you make
Mr.. Stanton, by his mere presence, and
without spear, do what Ithuriel himself
could not do with the aid of that powerful
instrument. The angel with the spear COM
PEELED demon to lay aside his disguise,
while mortal man dealt with many de-
mons, and not only made them oil appear
in their proper shape, but drove them baf-
fed and bowling away" out OF his "reso-
lutte presence" I do not object to this be-
cause the figures are mixed or because 1t
is an extravagant outrage on good taste;
the custom of the times allows all men who
make eulogies on their political friends to
tear their rhetoric into rags and if you like
the tatters you ore welcome to faunt them.
But I cnll vnur attention To it in the hone