, 1876-11-25
sRopERIcK!
RECOLLECTIONS OF THE PEO-
PIES TRIBUNE.

ItECO11ALO4xON Ox A6G GO.
PIES TRIBUNE.
THE TRUE HER0IsM OF HUMILITY.
1t matter very little what was mans
birthplace or who were his parents.
Hardly day passes but We see some
" degenerate son of worthy sire" cast
ing shame upon the name be should
preserve from obloquy, and leaving
others to wonder how "the blood Of
all the Howards" could become so de.
graded. On the other hand, our coun-
try affords daily instances of noble
lives springing from obscurity and cop
ing successfully with the greatest and
noblest of earth. This is one of the
legitimate results of republican govern>
ment. and we bless Heaven for it. The
Saviour of men was born in stable, and
there is no real aristocracy, save the
aristocracy of intellect. And in obe-
dience to the time-worn adage that
"truth is stranger than fiction" we
recall the almost unparalleled career of
a representative man of the Great West.
the proud, generous. aud in1exible
champion of free labor.
DAVID COLBERT BRoDERICK.
His early life is wrapped up in OBJ
security, though unclouded even by a
film of dishonor. His father was a
stone-c cutter by trade. and worked in
the construction of the State Capitol at
Washington, where the future Senator
was born in 1918. He subsequently came
to New York and worked at his trade,
while his son, after few months Of
scanty schooling, was also apprenticed
to the parental avocation. He joined
fire company, and the debates in the
monthly meetings at the engine-house
bred love of parliamentary tactics.
Entering upon the precarious position
of a ward politician (though not a
tighter) he soon became the proprietor
of a saloon. This done, he caused the
election of his personal friend, the ge-
NAL and witty Mike Walsh. to the State
Assembly at Albany. AS this gave him
great prestige among the rough element
by which he was surrounded, and with
which, secretly, he felt no affiliation,
his own chances were jnst beginning to
brighten, when the gold fever of 1S4S
broke out, and Broderick started for
California, saying. you'll never see
me in New York again till come back
UNITED STATES SENATOR"
His friends cheered the remark, while
his enemies fouted it as the visionary
dream of an empty braggart. But the
stone-cutter's son never once forgot his
stern resolve, nor relaxed his lofty as
pirations. Arriving in San Francisco
f. D. Kohler as a gold melter. Here
he remained one year, when he was
elected State Senator for that county
At this time Peter H. Burnett was Gov
ernor, and John McDougal (who must
not be confounded with the Senator of
the same name) was Lieut.-Goyernor
Mr.. Broderick had hardly been chosen
President pro tenn of the Senate when
Governor Burnett resigned and Nc
Dcugal became Governor. This made
Broderick acting Lieutenant Governor.
The Office was not SO important then as
now, for the State Prison was under an
odious contract system, managed by
one James Estill, a singular COM
pound of courage and viilainy. STEPPED
to the lips himself in every species of
political corruption, no bribe could win
him from his devoted allegiance to the
subject of this memoir. He was a
Southern man, and had been slave
holder, but he never betrayed Brod.
erick.
HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE.
Although a conspicuous man in per-
sonnel, Mr.. Broderick was totally diff.
ferent from either Col. Baker or Bale
Peyton. He was about five feet eleven
inches in height and weighed about 21O
pounds, with the chest and shoulders of
Hercules. His arm was like an Or
dinafy mans thigh. but his hand was
neat and small. His head was of the
leonine order. set upon rather short
neck, while his broad, massive jaw be-
spoke a pertinacity that overcame other
mems genius. His mouth was finely
cut, the thin lips curling half disdain-
fully, while his fine grey eyes-looling
blre by day and black by night-searchS
ed you as though you wore your soul in
your face. Courage was the founda-
ton of this mans character, and on it
was bull. the superstructure of the
strangest career that ever closed by a
premature death. His was one of those
natures that gather hope from despair,
and snatch victory from out the grasp
of defeat. Never was the man born
who was more imperious and exacting
of his satellites. but his fidelity to his
friends and his high sense of honor JUS
titled him fully. he was one who be-
lieved stain upon mans honor was
worse than an arrow in his heart /; and
such another self-poised character our
country has never seen. No man. be-
fore nor since, ever toiled upward from
obscurity against such
OVERWHELMING DISADVANTAGE.
From the moment that he became
Acting Lieutenant Governor. he was O
formidable aspirant for the United
States Senatorship and from that time
out, not an Office was given out by the
Federal Administration, save with the
express understanding that the recipi-
ent should oppose Broderick. In the
rule of Mr.. Fillmore. who was first a
Wing and then suffered himself to be
captured by the Southern Know-No-
things, this was not to be wondered at !;