The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1875-12-17

of William Pennington. Of New Jersey.
/ This contest lasted from Dec, D to Feb. l.
Since then no Democratic Speaker was
elected until the assembling of the pres
ent Congress. How rapidly great events
succeed one another, and how the men Oh
to-day. imbued with life, ambition, ana
all the virtues and vices of humanity,
bccomc the Gods of tomorrow, mani
mate, moldering, and forgotten ! Moth
ing could show this more vlVldly thah
this political retrospect. During the
contest last named the exciting questions
in the Senate were the John Brown rad,
the extention of slavery, and questions
of like character, that finally preciplta-
ed the civil war. Seward, Douglas
Toombs jeff. DAVIS, Mason, Of Virginia,
Hale. Fesscndon, Sumner, Wilson and
host of others familiar to the puDllc
were there. In the House were BurIlh-
game, Collux Brooks, ThaddeuS stevens
Logan, Roger A. Pryor, Lovcloy Val,
lnndin~hum. Charles Francis Adams ana
score of others scarcely less noI"O'c'
We nave to 90 over the list carefully no"
TO pick out one here and there VINO Is
sull alive. The great Reaper has been
husy. coming ut longer and shorter IN
teryals but surely, ana taking many OF
these men out of the category oil the
Iiv;r., How short the time seems with
in which 10 compress sucn gigantic
events which have occurred since then!
At that time Abraham Lincoln was
practically unknown. Then Grant was
The most unussumlng of citizen IN
puict town of this State. Then Shcr-
man WAS Il poor, ill-paid Professor III
iourtn-rutc military school IN louisiana.
Sheridan, Mcpherson, Thomas, Howard,
Farragnt-Hll these names were I'M
known. Yet Abraham Lincoln has
lived and died, and many others whose
names have become historical have gone
down t. their graves IN these few years,
which seem 80 Dricf u them VIII" now
look back on them. The great problem
of African slavery winch IT was then
believed it would require halt cen
fury to solve, is now numbered among
the bnrharisms of the past. The struggle
for division of the American Union,
threatened so long, has been attempted
with all the power o. frantic men, anC
has been defeated and lis Origlnaiors
overwhelmed We doubt if any equal
number of years in the past five centur-
ir, has witnessed the dawn, tn" meridian,
and the close OF greater events Ger.
tuinly 1t Is not to ba expected that the
near future will afford anything Ike
parallel. although il holds in itself the
centennial year of our national existence.
The oil actors in these scenes are fast
disappearing, and viii soon be numbered
anon. those who were. New men
are coming forward and taking their
places rs statesmen, rs law makers IL
citizens. The boy Of ten years ut the
date first mentioned j, now the man oil
thirty. The young man Of twenty Is
now the middle aged man Of forty.
Thus do the years change, almost I'M
precrptihlv but still radically, the figures
on the great stage of the universe. Men
come and 90, are filling the eyes OF the
world to-day, and are gone and are al
most uurclncmbcrcd tomorrow; and II
the hundreds who filled prominent places
i'm 1860 could look back at the few
names we have mentioned above they
might calculate with the simple RIP Van
Wrinkle: "Alas, are We 50 soon iorSot
when We are gonc"-htc,-Oc'oM