New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-02-01

in the course which he pursued by what he cOnsid-
cred to be personal injuries. In strict historical
justice it must be said that the plan upon which
the Suffrage men proceeded was not his own. 1t
was devised and determined upon in the office OF me
| Nec Age some time before Mr.. Dorr had anything
| whatever to do with the project. At first he was
| dsincned TO lend ns name to the enterprise, ana
he underwent "a good deal of importantly before he
could be induced to reverse his decision. was once
deputed to ask him 10 make public address or TO
write letter in some other way 10 commit him.
| sef. He was slow man. apparently though not
| really phlegmatic but he answered me promptly.
He said that upon several occasions he had iabored
far an extension OF the suffrage that be had never
been properly supported by those who
should have been swftest III doing so.
and that he must respec fully decline all invitations
to participate in the proposed agitation. Az he
said this, he calmly smoked his cigar, looking. |
must say as little like an incendiary and Ievolu-
| ZIONIST as any man whom have ever encountered
| He yielded, afterwards, and cunOusly enough, he
had bitter reason 10 repeat the same complaint OF
inadequate support. he organized his Government
| in Providence on the Sd of May, 1912 issued
proclamatOns; sent regular message 20 his Legs
lature, which met in a foundry and from that time
forth was called the Foundry Legislature. The
members voted divers sums of money, especially
for their own per diem and mileage, but they did
81
might have been regarded with disfavor by their
constituents Governor" Dorr-" Rgniful Gov
ernor" as his followers styled bim-then went
away to show himself to his svmpathizers in New
York where for while he great favcI1te
with the men of the Pewter Mug. lie came back
upon the 10th Of May, girt with sword
and breathing most beligerently. | saw him
draw the weapon and wave il in defiance
of the General and State Governments, then
and there swearing to die rather than yield.
l also saw him, still wea1ing the sword and sur
rounded by armed men. drawn through the streets
OF Providence III baIouche. The last time / ever
saw him was at his Headquarters, the house of
burlington Anthony. and | can bear testimony 10
the fact that he was then dauntcss rs ever. lie
was however, in desperate situatiOn-hs state
officers rcsgning. his family implOring him to aban-
don his schemes, all his most re spectacle followers
turning against him. He marched that night upon !
the arsenal. but his men had spiked his guns.
of which be had six. These he himself fried to
discharge. Had he succeeded, he. with good
many of those about him, might have been dead
Immediately after. murderous discharge of
grape would have saved the Government
all the trouble which afterward occurred
There would have been no subsequent invasion !
of the State. nor would its military annals |
have contained The short but DECISIVE campaign ol
Chepatchet. Governor DoTr came back agaln IN tne
last DAYS of june with motley following hut before
the first day OF July he had I'D again, with his
Spartan Band" after issuing a general order dis
banding his troops upon the ground that the SUI
frage party no longer adhered 10 the Peoples Con-
stitution.o So ended the Dorr war. Mr. Greeley.
who was the last man the world to approve "a
needlessy restricted suffrage, summed up the whole
matter in an excellent Tribune article, III which !
he argued that every proper concession had been !
made by the LandhOders and that tic charter r
NAMED in force only because the Suffrage men |
voted down the legal Constitution. | have before !
me an old letter written by Governor l.. H. Arnold |
borrowed from the rich autograph collection of my
friend Mr. Gordon l.. Ford, in which the Governor |
says: 1t is due 10 every principle OF justice and /
humanity that DOrr should be punished; and may |
God grant us success III attempts to arrest him.
He was arrested. tried, convicted and sentenced {"
Imprisonment; the "Rirhtful Governor" put /
TO the business OF painting fans; he was soon re-
leased under an act Of amnesty, but died not long !
after his enlargement
II is curions that stern and stormy political d. |
cusson should always be provocative not merely 4 |
satire bnt Of fun. This was true Of The great !
French Revolution; it Is also true OF the little Dorr
war. There was no important discharge Of mis- !
kerry but there was endless fusllade OF squiDr
The lawyers of COiege-st. were " Law and OTdcr''
almost 10 man believe that the efforts OF several
of them went TO the production of The Great Slo-
cum Dinner" brochure reprinted afterwards bY
Messrs Sidney :. Rider IL Bro, Of Providence. IDS
house also reprinted "Thc Dorriad" clever satire
In the former work find rather kindly aliuslon
TO nv old master in the law. General Thomas f.
CARPENTER man Of many merits aud of many
fobles-a stately knd-hearted. old-fashioned gen
tleoan of that polished sort which in this day OF
careless manners is not often met with. without
being eloGuent he had taking way with the Jnrics
which won him many difficult cases about whlch lie
was never weary of talking Never was there
such man for fighting his battles over again. HIS
students being always conveniently present,
were the most favored recipients OF his recoections
He had a natural tendency to exaggeraton; there
was something Of TiCh idealism III bis talk which
saved it from any in, utation of boastinG. He de-
g I'd young lady who was breaktastlnp with lin to
guess Of what metal The cC1ec-uot was made II she
had been a clever girl she would have guessed the
utensl to be of silver, and Ier conjecture would
have been received without comment; but icing Of
a frank laughing character she guessed " tin"
"Ah! MISS" SAID the General, " that is the mistake
which all my guests make; the coiiee-pot IS OF pia-
tina a metal u ore precious than gold" lie was a
Democrat through and through, and he in
formed us with great gravity thar be expected 10 be
Obliged TO Law down his life before the election Of
1910 was over and that he should attend the next
Democratic Convention armed gentlemen. armcd.' |
He would take his stand IN front of the bookcases
and lecture us about tie volumes which il con- |
tanned. Here" for instance he said day. point
ing TO a civil law book about contracts " here is a |
work which never permit a month TO 90 by with |
out reading" Unfortunately he took 1t down. end |
in doing 80 covered himself with dust. IL had |
not been off the shelf for Heaven knows how long |
He had been a General Of militia long before, aud
hls exploits upon the musterheid furnished an end
less series of narratives. Once when a regiment |
was marching by he expressed great contempt for |
.ofe t. ,lir,trn off NJ,