Wilmington journal., 1876-08-18
0Niln>ingtou yourm1.
MN I'D LANE.

A., I,dinapolis correspondent of the
c;ncinuati Enquirer writes long let
tar embracing among other matters
interview between the writer and
Mr. Matt Brown. one OF the Oregon
a.,eoates to the st Louis Convention,
~ which a once prominent public man
- the limited States is mentioned:
.R,t tn, most notable object of in>
tarest We have out III our western re-
oions." continued Brown, OF oregon;
his ewes cleaning with aeV"'iohai
fire sis old Gen. Joe Lane. L suppose
there are thousands OF people IN this
country familiar with his name ana re-
cord who would swear he was uead,
and the young politicians Oh tue pre-
sent generation manage 10 get along
without men ioning him at all. wnloh
70 varv remar kable, L sometimes think,
eonsiiering what a conspicuous hgure
ha was III American politics twenty
,aars 400. Indiana idoIlZed him. NO
man ever received snch an oVatl"n Tor
aorvices IN the field AZ } pe Lame when
~ raturned rom Mexico at the close
If the war, and gave the State
oi,ance To carry him on lis shoulders
t,r his pallantry at Buena Vista. He
came West in 1856. was appointed
Provisional Governor OF Oregon 10y
Fillmore. then WAS i'll the Senate, ana
ta1 ;ust finished his tenn when the
charleston convention recognized MS
radical prO-alavery opinions 10y placing
hinn on tha ticket with Breckinridge.
.f,ar That defeat he came back to us
in disoust and the hot political places
tLat once knew him will know him no
n,ora forever. He bought farm back
of ROseberg, running up from the
Wiley of the Willamette, and built
him a small frame house high up on
picturesque spur of
THE ROGUE RIVER MOUNTAINS,
where be has lived ever since In the
most perfect seclusion. Two years ago
he lost bis wife, whom he always
called 'the madam. and loved devoted
". Since then his desolatiOn has been
relieved only by negro boy, who
cooks and keeps house for him. In
firm! You ought to see him. He's
eighty three now, straight as an arrow,
six feet two in height, and he can pick
ItD ul6 gun anu bIILS iioAAS "a NtoC1s W
follow down a trout stream over the
rocks about as we'll as the next man.
And then he reads a great deal. One
room in his cabin Is sacred to his
books. and his library is one of the
most vaiuable on the Pacific Slope.
Strange how the old man hangs on the
skirts of the past! Old thonghts, old
questions, old scenes, old states
men, which have nearly faded out
of our remembrance, and given place
to the issues and plans of the present,
are meat, drink and lodging to him.
The new thoughts of an ever-busy and
progressive race he cares very little
about, comparatively, and seems to
have made up his mind that the coun-
try is retrogradlng. He talks about
ancient notions of political honor and
integrity, and any comparison with the
present turns him sick at the stomach.
Only once lately we got him worked
up to the point of coming down from
MS garret in the c.ouds and making q
speech. 1t was on the 4th of June, at
Roseberg, just as we were getting
ready to leave for st. Louis. We Cir
culated it in every direction, and peo-
Pile came ovor the mountains to hear
him. taxing three or four days for the |
Journey. There were at least five |
there, and when
THE GID HERO BEGAN
the auditors stretched their necks as If |
soma revelation was coming, and every |
word was to be precious. Only few
could hear him, for his voice was drift
ed into the childish treble, but curios-
lty kept them spell-bound till he |
closed. He reminded one, with his
majestic presence and flowing white
hair an.l beard, of some John the
Baptist in the wilderness crying unto |
the people 'Repent!' And when he |
came down from the platform he took |
us delegates to one side and begged |
us, with faltering voice and tears in |
his eyes, to give the country a pure
ticket, and help bring back the honesty
and decency which politics had lost |
and the country wanted to see re-
stored. The boys, for that's the name
he called us by, look up to him with
great veneration, and think there is
still more eloquence in those weak,
tones, than in ali modern
orators combined. The old man has
only one wish left-to vote for Tilden |
and Hendricks. If the ticket wins he |
wants to depart in peace, like Simeon,
for he will have lived to see the coun-
try's salvation"