St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1876-05-12


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He had deep moral convictions of the
wickedncSS of slavery, which were in
tenSitied by time and his associations.
Inheriting slaves bN bcqucst through
his wiic'S relatives. he accepted the gift
that he might better the enSlavcd. All
of his slaves. when coming legally un-
der his control, were granted their lib
ertN AT any time they desired and. il
any remained with the family. il WAS
cause of inability to help themselves,
and because Il large SENSE of humanity
prevented Francis BriStow from turn
ing them into the world to Starve.
Coming of such il stock, it Was only
natural that the Young Bristow should
develop. as he early did. an intense
hatred of the organized and legalizcd
iniquitN which made one man the prop
ertN of another. simply because of Il diff
ference in their skins. But it should
always he remembered that it WIS one
thing to he an anti-SlaVerN man in Maine.
twenty years ago, and quite another
thing To he an anti-slaverN man in Ken
tuckN.
SO. too. it was one thing to he IL re-
publican and Union man in Maine and
New York. and quite another thing to
be Il republican and Union man in Ken
tuckN. For Il Noun" and ambitious man
to identity himself with the republican
party III Kentucky was to Deliberately
shut to himself every door of political
advancement in his own state. 1t WAS
to volunteer for Il toIl"In hope. The
party WAS i'll Il seemingly hopeless
minority. To the certain political pen
altic> attaching to membership in it WAS
>uperaddcd the imincnt risk of social
oStraciSm. To incur these penalties.
t" run this risk. required considerably
more eaIncStnc>s. courage and cnm>tan-
cy than went necessarily Ia the making
up of republican in New England
MI Brl>toW does NOT seem TO have even
heSitatcd. Know ing the cost of fidelity
to his convictions and coIScicncc he
was ready To pay it. The leadin" dem
ocIatic newspapers of Kentucky not il
bad witness surely in this case -tcS' itic>
of him that he has been. from that ear
~ day t" this. "a republican of repuhIi-
cans. Il republican, III principle. and Il
rddicdI republican :" that his opinions
;Ie. a> fan removed as the poles from
those held 10y the majority of his fellow
citizens. His umioni>m WAS of the same
sterling quality a> his rrpuhlicami>m.
Put To the test il rang tue. Outside of
his Immediate family. nearly all his
relatives were >ecr>>iomiSt>. \ tIcmru-
dou> pressure WAS brought to bear on
him. His t;Ithcr-im-laW served notice
on him that he need never hope to have
the handling of ANY ot his money if he
lifted Il hand against the South. Il
will not sell my country tnr gold and
silver" Was Bri>tow'> answer to this
threat of di>inhcritancc go to hell
with Nour property. >ir. Aud he suit
eel the action to the wold. He was
among the first krntuck iam> t" put on
ihc blue coat and 90 To the front. His
zeal and Influence made him Il marked
man. When Gru. Polk invaded the
state. his family wcIc driven from their
home. and Gen. (noW SrnatOr) AlCom
occupied it a> his headquarters Dr.
Muller SAYS the house WAS burned when
the c"ntcdcratcScNicuate the town and
adds the very pertinent reflection TO
hc Il lni"n man in those days in Ken
tuckN required Il sacrifice and nerve lit
tie appreciated 10y those in remote and
more secure parts ot the county,.
But it WIS not merely l.l the sacrifice
of his property and the peril ct his own
lltr. that Nh. Brl>tnW attc>tcd his iidrl-
NY To the | mon. There are I'VE sorts
of mon men i'll Kentucky. a> every
one knows. Nh. Bri>tuW WAS one of
the radical sort. Elected to the State
senate. he speedily hccamc their rccnu-
niIc'l leader and Spokesman. He WAS
un>parln% i'll his dcnuuciltion of what
vas know II :t> the ''ucutIalitN policy
Every fresh measure l"I the more viz
"r"u> prosecution "f the War had his
voice and vote. He. Il kcntuckiam. the
son of Il Stakeholder. early and hrlIt-
" approved the enlistment of negro
tl""p>. When the emancipation came
ont. and all conservative Kentucky WAS
III mysteries. he took th, stump to de
trnd it. Later. when the thirteenth
amendment Wa> sent To the states, hr
was one and the lcadcl of the twelve
men in the Kentucky Senate. " Io voted
tnl lis unconditional ratification. When
Mr.. Wirkliiic-wc hrlicNc il WIS
brought forward his proposition fnr
compensation T." the slave holders.
Bri>tow voted no The later CON
>tituli"nal amendments had no more
earnest advocate and supporter. From
iiI>t t" last. Throughout the IcconStrrc-
ti"n period a> dHrin" the waI. Mr. Eri>-
tow showed himself radical. consistent
and untlinching. His rccordaS Il mon
man and republican is absolutely mmas-
>ailahlr. Ii Is only where. and 50 Ion.
rs. this record i, unknown. that lis
quality can hc called III question:
And all his more recent uttrrancc~
and official acts have been in perfect
harmony with this record. 1t is tue,
that he i> eager for IL genuine Icconcil-
IatIon; 81 are nine Massachusetts re
puhlicam> i'll every ten. liut it is Il re
cancellation based upon national feel
In". upon justice. upon equal rights
No man has insisted more StI,muuu>l\
upon the cS>cmtialuc>>. the absolute ne
cc>>ifN. of these conditions than Nlr.
BIiStnw. No man has recognized more
clearly the duty of protecting all riti.
Ncm>. the humhlc>I and trrhlr>t. in ih,
undi>tnIhcd enjoy mcnt "i their political
and civil rights. No public man. we
may add. has kept this duty more CON
Stantll III view in his own public acts.
Mr. BIiStnW has cNcrtcd himself to re-
move all Nc>ti"c> of the old Injustice of
color from the Kentucky constitution
and >tatutc-honk and from the practice
"f the c"uIt>. In l-7i. he said: ~
government that cannot protect lis !
humhlc>t citizen from "utlagc and miu- |
~ l. unworthy the name and ought not
T." command the respect of Il free pco-
pie" Appointed United States district
attorney. he earned the la>lim- gratitude
of every black man in Kentucky 1S
well as the hatred and abuse of a rood |
many white ones 10y the vigor with |
which he hunted down the kukluN. |
SAYS ii Kentucky writer: He took up