Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1879-03-13

4 ne career q lanes ~utCtNNs tSt Aes~
third tame q successful candidate Tor
the position of the United States Sen-
ator from Missouri, reads like = chap
Ger. az Wild Fufnnuras There is nothing
ike il il The hisiosy of this. county,
Without exceptional advaniagesof ahil-
ities cI sny kind, he has gained . bril.
liant record ~ asoldief, fair fame as =
politician. aud iline reputation as IN
honest maa and patriotic citizen. HIS
public life, begining IN ls40s eeyess.
The most momensous period Of our 70.
sional existence. He has. oullived Ell
HE more famous friends and asrocsales
OF the AHexsean vat peEtods aud now
goes backtO haunt ike ghost. the balls
in which, as Q Senator, be mingled on
terms ot fellowship with Webster,
Clay, Calhoun, Benton. Csss. Seward.
Douglas, Chase and Tom Corwin.---
When young man struggling wita
poverty and Law, in Illinois, he was
The intimate friend Of Douglas and Lin
coin. He has seen all the great men
pass away, fulI of honors if not Of
wears, and now returns 10 tha scenes
Of their triumph, cloth bed with a dignity
any of them might have envied. IL
may be said OF him, in the words OF
DR.. johnson:
'suPeraGous lsgs the veteran on the stage"
But this is not wholly true. Mr..
Shields is not an old man. Born in
1910, he is six years younger than Bea-
consfeld, twelve years younger than
that widest Of living diplomats. Gort-
schakof. thirteen years younger than
Kaiser Wilhelm, two years younger
than Marshal MacMahon, and but five.
years the senior Of the man Of blood and
iron. He seems old because OF the ex-
tent and variety ol his public life. He
took kindly to politics while yet mere
boy. He vas State Auditor Of Illinois
in 1910. Six years later, though by no,
means a distinguished lawyer, be was
elected TO the Supreme Bench OF The
State. Under President Polk he was
appointed Land Commissioner. He len
this position to take command Of the
Illinois volunteers in the Mexican War.
with the commission Of Brigadier Cen
eraI. As a soldier he was even tucker
than as a civil Office holder. Without
any marked capacity. for command, he
won great Tenown as a fighter. His
personal bravery was only equaled BY
his tenacity oflIic. Al Cerro GOrdo he
was shot through :...A body while charg-
ing battery. a grape-sholtore through
his right lung and passed out near his
spine. The surgeons gave him up, and
his death was reported. Yet IN ten
weeks he was again at the head ol hIs
brigade, as ready for fight or iroiic
as any man in the army. ChaPulle-
pee he was wounded again. But he
held q charmed life, and came out OF
the war covered with scars and glory.
He was not great general IN any
sense of the word, but he was fearless
and intrepid warrior. He never asked
his men to 90 where he feared TO ven
ture. With him the post OF duty was
the front Of battle always. In III OF
enthusiasm, the people of Illinois made
him the colleague of Stephen A. Doug
las in the United States Senate IN
1849. Il is no injustice to him TO say
that he never did anything TO distin-
guish himself in that body. Always
Democrat, be stood with bis party on
all questions: bis speeches, it he made
any, have been long since forgotten'--
When his term expired he was not re-
turned. But he was a born ofiice-hold
er, and We next find him resident OF
the young State Of Minnesota, and q
candidate for United States Senator
He was in 1857 one Of the first two
Senators elected, and drew the short
term. lie served for two years, and
after bis retirement. he took up bis res
idence in California. His recofd IN
the late war is familiar to all. In the
valley Of The Shenandoah he had the
honor OF defeating Sionewall Jackson,
though The victory vas Of brief duTa-
ton. Too war broken for active duty,
he retired from the command Of the
Army Of West Virginia, and was sent
by President Lincoln 10 California,
where he remained till the close Of the
war, when he came East, and bought
a farm in Carroll county, Missouri
Through all he remained honest and
poor. Indeed, these qualities seem as
natural TO him as his physical bravery
and teBaciiy Of ile. Few men could
have survived such wounds as be
received at Mexico, and as few
would have let his opportunities for
amassing wealth slip by unimProved.
In 1874 he enjoyed the dubious honor
of membership IN the State Legislature
His political resurrection at this time -
due in a large measure 10 the audaeioys
attempt of Mr. d. F. Butler to secure his
election as Door Keeper Of the House
last winter, when Mr.. Polk was rec