The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1872-10-05

ing. Developing on this line, Colfax
became a professional drummer for
inchoate railways, and Across the Con.
tinent" was no more than an auction
eeriDg effort for the sale of Pacific
bonds. How could he help collision
with the Credit Mobilier who never
rode in a street car paying his fare. nor
bought postage-stamp, nor sent q
prepaid telegraph message?
In the North Pacific railway leglsla-
ton he was down on the floor among
the shysters, and it was in this instance
that he declined a denomination pre- :
maturely, and rounded his career with
i'll affected resignation and all the re-
sentiment of modification. Mr.. Nc
Pherson, Clerk OF the House of Repre-.
sentatives, one OF the few remaining
friends of Colfax, not, to my knowledge,
sold out, informed me last spring of the
reason of Colfax's declination. The
Northern Pacific railway has concluded
contract with him to trot a new lee
ture for So, 900 and gate money. after
the manner of Budd Doble or Hiram
Woodruff. He was to have the use Of
all his old adjectives and scriptural
quotations, and not to be even harrassed
in the way OF literary pilfering or the
misspplication of figures. The lecture
was to be sinister aud covert adyer-
tisement of the bonds of the railway,
and when the preliminaries had been
arranged, our young Roscius announced,
with the importance Of an eclipse in the
heavens, that he should serve his coun-
try no more. He intimatei that the
great height of his motives had been
measured; that his pure heart had
been traduced, and that he could no
longer buffet with politics, but should
retire, like Toodles, to his grave, and
die there. At this obituary in the stock
market quotations aged females shed
the silent tear and the devil wagged his
head, saying: go up, 60 up, thou little
jokerI" But chiefly Henry Wilson was
affected, for he coveted the place.
1t happened that session that the
great intellectual labor OF writing the
lecture, the newly assumed cares of q
family, etc., Frustrated Mr.. Colfax. One
day be stepped out Of his chair and
swooned. The doctors sat gratuitously
upon him, and gaze it as their opinion
that the lecture tramp would be, to use
his own language, 1.-The winding sheet
of his political hopes and a confusion OF
tongues to him" He at once recon-
sidered his declination; the devil wag-
ged his head again, and Henry Wilson
Nared with anguish. By this time the
country was tired of a small boy ever
lastingly performing one act, and they
took hypocrisy off the ticket and put on
avoirdupois. -.
Schuyler Colfax leaves public life, if
happily we are to be rid of him, with
the record of retail statesman, PEN
nv dip burning high on the altar among
the legitimate tapers of the State. A
deceitful friend, snesking and dexter
Gus politician, he ate at the table with
his knife during all his official term.
aud has been known to entertain din
ner party of ladies and gentlemen with
a description of his false teeth. | we'll
recollect dining one day at Welckers
restaurant with this rafting egotst and
John D. Defrees, of Indiana. The obs
iect OF the dinner was the same which
took Bross, Bowles and Richardson from
their families, to puff Colfax. | was to
add certain folios to his breastworks
and hustle. Said ColIax:
John, we shall have hard fight to
elect the State ticket in Indiana. (Col.
lax was then a candidate for Vice Pres
ident, nominated by Defrees.) Can't
we get up something against Hen
bricks? Don't you know good point
against him for their campaign p
NO, Schuyler" said Defrees; II have
known him thirty years, and have al
ways been politically opposed to him,
but he has blameless private charac-
ter. 1t cant be touched at any point
and found OPEN"
"Tll get something on him. said the
chatterer; 1--WE must send out to his
district and hunt up something or other.
Well have to carry the State"
This easy political morals, received
at Colfax's lips, gave me an intuition OF
the man, to which he has steadily &C
corded. He is commonplace realiza-
ton of Tennyson's stanza:
| "Himself depressed as he was meek,
Himself unto himself he said;
Upon himself himself did feed,
q liet, dispassionate and cold,
And other than his form of creed
With cherished features clear and sleek"
know that the political year is ION"
and that many an editor who rejoices at
this frank depletion Of the man they
have long despised, will whack at me for
pulling this piece out of his newspaper
hustle But rain, my heartiesl The old
hip roof or the gooses neck will not
shed water better than the unresigned.
Mr.. Cclfax thought fit to meet the
Credit Mobiliers charges over the head
of my corr dependence, which did not
need his advertisement, being, as all the
world and the heather ofthe isles know,
Invariably mild, reliable, good-natured
and ingenious. This little testimonial to
myself is called out by the circnmstan-
ces OF the case. | am sure Cotax will
recognize it, and that, for an instant, the
ghost OF his smile will return to his mo-
billar-credit mobillar-face.