Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1876-01-26
TINES CHANGES.

lmE - tHdN ULbo.
STRANGE FACTS IN c0NoREss--THE GREAT
LEADERS OF 81 AND THE REpREsEN-
TArIvE MEN OF TODAY.
Col. Mcclure, the editor Of the Phil
adelphia Times, recently paid visit to
Washington for the purpose of look
ing after Centennialmatter and writes
the following interesting letter which
We clip from his journal of the 9th in
slant
1t is well now and then to turn
back TO the shattered landmarks of
the past and take note of the ravages
Of Times relentless scythe. A full
decade has written its records since |
have been more than the casual and
hasty visitor in Washington. For its
whirl Of fashion, its struggles of ambi-
ton, It's superficial, fleeting honors,
and its unsatisfying, unreal, and often
fatal fruition of brightest hopes, have
never had inclination. When war
came; when fathers We're smitten ;
when mothers were widowed and be-
reaved; when children were orphaned
with helplessness added to sorrow, duty
to others, which was then duty to
country, made me familiar with the
inner sanctdaries of power and brought
me regretfully close to the idols we
worshipped. There were faces and
forms visible everywhere in the Capi.
tai city then which were familiar to
all. The sad countenance of Lincoln
was unveiled to the people, and his un.
graceful gait was recognized on the
street as he hurried to and from the
army headquarters, the War and the
Navy and the State Departments, un-
conscious Of the gaze that followed
him. The nervous step Of the great
War Minister might then be seen as
he sought the counses of his chief, OF
sent q holiday soldier TO the front by a
wave of the hand or o toss of the head
He fashioned armies as if by magic
and hurried them upon each other Ia
reap in the terrible harvest of death
1t was lite for country, and he paused
not in the sacrifice until rebellious
armies perished. The polish grace and
stately form of Chase, with his genial
intellectual sunshine and unselfish pat
riotism, ruled among the money chang
ers, and taught them that national
honor and credit are the first attributes
ofnationallife. Stevens, grand gloomy
and peculiar" fearless to a fault, able
above all his fellows, and always faith
ful even though not always wise, was
the commoner of the Republic--the
one position that was never attained
unearned. Wilson, sensible, practical
and safe rather than profound, wise
counsellor in the new issues for which
the craftsmanship of the world turn
ished no precedents, was the leader
who calmed the conflicts of passion
and ambition and recalled men to fdel
ity. Seward, the brilliant, plodding
hopofal dreamer, whose visions van
ished only to nerve him for the long
and bloody conflict, was the diploma
tist of his age, and mastered the scienc
cd schools of state-craft OF the civilized
world. These, with scores OF other
upon whom the nation leaned in III
sorcst trial, have almost ceased to be
missed in this cver-changing panorama
of political greatness. / looked dowr
upon the Senate to-day, and was star
tied as turned from chair Il
chair only TO meet with strang'
faces. But had forgotten that since
the coming Of those men in 1861, wei
nigh half generation has passed iron
the earth, and the sands Of tho glas
run as ccaselessly in high places q
among the lowly and unknown. o
all the men who will be remembers
as Of those who builded wiser than the,
knew for the disenthrallment of popu
lar government, but a few remain, an,
they are bowed and furrowcd by tb
waste Of years. Hamlin is still in hi
place, but when | recall that twent,
years have hastened by since, in th
old Senate chamber Of Clay and Web
ster and Calhoun and Buchanan an,
Benton, he proclaimed the resolution
Of his State to the coming supremacy
il is not strange that his eye is dimme'
and his step unsteady. Cameron an
swcrs Senate roll-call as he did thir'
Of century ago, but he approaohe
his four-score years with visible sunso
shadows gathering about him. An
tbonv Ia vet here but withercd bv Tn