The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1874-07-22

Hand.
From the st. Louis Sunday Dispatch.
Once or twice in his contributions to
periodical literature, within late years,
Jeremiah s. Black has limited mySteri-
ously that the death of Edwin VI. Stan
ton. the War Secretary, was not wholly
attributable to the natural course OF dis
ease.
The idea, however. was put forward
in dim, uncertain kind Of manner,
which made it seem more like II sugGeS-
ton than An assertion. Black never de-
clared boldly that Stanton came to All
unnatural end by suicide, but he woVe
into his writing here and there black
thrcsd which was suggestive of reinorSe,
disappointmcnt and bitter end.
What Black minated 50 durkly 9TH
er. have whispered but i'll an indefinite
wav. There are men about the MAJ
tionsl Capital who i'll conversation among
themselves talk frankly of Stanton :
death and the horrible circumstances at
tending it. These men say that almost
upon the very eve Of the morry Christ
mas dav of 1869, by the stroke Of razor,
Stanton made the term of his existence
only n question of hours. At tn" time,
the circumstances were known 10 worry
few, and the number Of those prlVy TO
the secret has not much increased since.
Outside the Congressional Librarian,
and few well trained truSty servants of
the Capital, who guard secrets as they
would their lives, and outside of two or
three members of the Stanton family,
the story of the suicide given below Is
probably not known to dozen people in
the country.
1t isa matter of history that the
North owes more to Stanton in certain
sense for the final result of the civil war
than to any one man. He was the en-
bodiment and moving spirit Of all that
was ceascleSsly vigilant, tyrannical and
revengeful in the fratricidal strife. Stanton
would have been prime minister IN an
oppressive monarchy, and as long as the
war lasted he was in II position which
met the craving Of his peculiar nature.
Getting his first taste of nationa
public life in a brief service rs Attorney
General under Buchanan in the latter
dav of that administration, Stanton was
willing enough to take up the p"rtt"li"
which Cameron laid down in 1864, and
became the War Secretary. After the
first few weeks Lincoln seldom or never
interfcrcd with him. Stanton WAS vir-
tuallv commandcr-in-chief of the army
from that day until the meeting Of
Grant and Loc under the apple tire" at
AppomattoI. :,
With the hahcas corpus suspended
and the ears of the people filled with the
clamor of WAT, Stanton found no trouble
in uSurping powers which Ill accorded
with Republican principles. If the
tinkle of Sewart's bell was all that was
needed to send any man in the States to
LAFAYETTE. it was.Stanton who more than
half of the time inspired the ring And
besides there WAS right to his hand the
CAPITAL Prison, the murdcr"uS secrets Of
which have gone into the grave with
Stanton and Preston King, or are sacred
" guarded by the few living members ct
the little coterie who managed the War
It was well for the North that Stan
ton was the War Secretary. Without
such man in that psce tn" contest
might have lasted longer and ended dlf-
frrrntlv. The war gave him his ms
sion, and he followed it regardless ofany
human influence, entirely indifferent t"
all but his work. =.
II would have been well for StaEtnn II
bn could have gone rs Lincoln did. lie
would have been cnshrincd As Il MARTYR,
and his countrymcn would have rrne'n-
brrcd him with reverence and homage
His work was done and he only ilNed L"
struggle against the turning It'd" ana
meet a fate which no man can envy.
He came out If the war with heart ana
soul still full of the v"ng"anc" whlrh
cries for blood. Could he have had his
WAY jefferson Davis and Others VII" had
differed from him in principle and who
fought their principles a he did, would
have been doomed 10 ttlons, tat"S.
50 when the better day vi peace ana
reconciliation dawned Stanton could not
accept it. He fought against 1t I" the
bitter end. and overcome by the tide of
public opinion which recognized "ur
national brotherhood, Stanton went I'm,
d cr. and in despair and gloom found
death with his own hand.
His course in the Surratt trial, and later
in the Impeachment of President johnson
only c1cmplifcd What is stated more
! generally above. Ne forced the trial oi
! Mr.. Surratt to the result il took, and
then with Il heart which loved justir,
without mercy. sedulouSly guarded al,
avenues for Communication or rcprlrv"
1t was his auxiliary, Preston King who
met poor Annie Surratt.. on the steps 4"
the White House. going up 10 interccdc
with the President FOR her mothers life
and when he knew her crrand, pushed
her away and told her that she could not
see Mr.. johnson. And when she threw
herself on her knees, and implored for
hearing. il was Preston King who
threw her of, and thus intercepted the
petition of the pleading daughter.
MAY not the memory of that poor old
woman, hurried into eternity from tn,
scatfold. have pursued King and his chIe'
like shadow, an ever-haunting Nemesis
until both were driven to suicide. hlnG
in the New York custom house, with
career before him which had not a cloud
in it, filled his pockets with shot and
dropped from pier into East River
Stanton, with a place upon the Supreme
Bench just bestowed upon him in rec
ognition of what he had been, III the
midst of the national capitals gayety
drew razor across his throat and
ended his existence.
With the execution Of Mrs. Surratt
Stanton saw his unlimited authority be-
gin to depart. Men began TO look al
matters more diSpassionately. Calm
L. ,,r...:..-.l ..,..ll