The Portland daily press., 1885-07-01

well along III the second year of the war.
The lack of success on the part of the
government bordered on disaster. He went
into Office just as the country had been dis
heartened with tidings of Burnsides bloody
repulse at Fredericksburg, which was followed
by Hooker's gloomy failure at Charlottesville.
Midsummer brought us the victory at Gettys-
burg, but fought on the defensive; the loyal
people did not comprehend its true signif-
canoe until months had passed. The enthusi-
asm which was witnessed in the uprising of
the North directly after the attack upon
Sumter, had passed away. The most hopeful
saw a long and bloody war ahead and thou
sands were doubtful concerning the result.
Loyal men were disheartened because of an
apparent lack of leadership in the field.
Demagogues seized upon the Presidents
Emancipation Proclamation as pre-
text to oppose the government
Rebel sympathizers in the North boldly
denounced the administration and the war.
In several States, the fall election had been
unfavorable to the war party No longer
could calls upon the States for troops be filed
by voluntary enlistments and the draft act had
to be resorted to. Maine was no exception.
1t had its share of as malignant traitors as ever
bushwacked the rear guard of patriot army.
They denounced the draft, and in several in
stances they resisted the CONSUMPTION officers,
threatening the lives of several and one was
murdered. In one town the standard of re-
sistance was raised, but, thanks to the prompt
ness of Governor Coburn, the rising was
strangled in its inception by the veteran troops
which he hurried to the plague spot
Do you ask me why it is necessary to recall
this page of shame in the States historys
Because it is impossible without so doing to
impress upon law abiding people the perils
which beset Abner Coburn when governor
and to render full justice to one who was as
patriotic and courageous a man as ever dis
! charged great pnblic duty When, from any
change Of feeling or newborn sentiment, it
may become impohtic to tell the truth here
about the war period, first give Memorial hall
new name. destroy that beautiful work of
art which commentaries the chivalric heroism
and the pathetic martyrdom of some of the
sons Of Alma Mater and from the memorial
tablets, erase the names of Heath, Boothby,
Parker, Leavitt, Bigelow and the Stevenses.
And when the work of obliterating the names
Of patriots from the records of the college is
begun, let the name of Abner Coburn be the
first to be stricken out, for in that thick night
of doubt and fear, there was no truer nor
more courageous heart than his!
lie was one of the war governors who held
up the hands of Lincoln in the darkest hour.
All Of his official papers, plain and simple in
their structure, are permeated with an intense
loyalty and illuminated by faith which in
spired courage in the hearts of those about
him. To the council chamber he carried that
cool head that penetrating mind that sound
judgment, that high integrity and unfinehing
purpose which had marked his business career.
Fields might be lost treason might threaten.
and friends, in their impotence, might be more
exasperating than foes but he never lost his
wonderful poise. He was neither dogmatic nor
trucking, headstrong nor adroit; he listened
to all and then he adopted chat policy which
his own conscience and his own Judgment which
he had learned to trust dictated. The deci-
sion once clearly made upon the basis of right
and justice, was never set aside. He was never
influenced by fattery or by his own personal
or political interests to deviate from what he
believed to be the path of duty. He did not
do some things as custom might dictate, but
for that reason, he often did them better. The
following incident related by one who was
near him and one who did not always agree
with him, illustrates his careful method: The
lst Maine cavalry was regiment of which
every man III the State may be proud, but
during Governor Columns term, it lost its
field officers by the casualties of the service and
there was such condition of affairs in the
command that regular promotions did not
appear to him to be eXpedient After a brief
period Governor Cobum surprised those about
him by nominating two young officers, not the
oldest of rank, for colonel and lieutenant
colonel When asked for an explanation. he
said: 81 have carefully looked the matter over.
know the appointees. They are popular in
the regiment and l have known them several
- - oPPV ~ 10 'he pest Ihlng
L., VS. ne 9eq@eA proven tuat ne
Sc 'o1' i'to9e wisely One oi the names
ofs 49, se ,uo pPoilseu - inscribed on
your y boothoy; the
other grao11,'s I'm 'ilis istution IN $780,
was pronouncen 'e'lsl "a 9lieiluah 10 De one
of the best volulSSS 800, las.'Iis ohicefs IN the
service, and is now the nS - esseeiiea coiohel
OF the 18th lntantry-Chares - - smith,
| Twenty years away from that period ol1ouot.
during which Governor Coburn stood at the
helm of State, his administration stands
model of efficiency, and he chief magistrate
who was without fear and IS without reproach.
| In his private life and in his personal rela-
| tons, Gov. Coburn was the same upright and
conscientious man that he was IN business and
| public affairs. lie was so eonspicuously free
| from the appearance of vice of every nature
| that even the idlest village gossip never had
| the semblance of pretext to trihe with his
name All his life he was not only a total
abstainer from Intoxicating liquors, but in all
| Things ne llVeQ an dDStenllOuS and frugal life,
| Although his earlier life was spent much in
contact with men Of rough habits he was, in
his intercourse with all, refined in speech and
defferential in act Impure or profare words
never passed his lips. Totally unfamiliar with
the etiquette established by polite society. he
possessed that refinement, courtesy and defer
ence for the rights and feelings Of Others, which
only those possess who recognize the brother
hood OF man. Just to all men, he was, at the
same time and IN the best ways, kind, helpful
and sympathetic. He probably never told a
human being that he held him IN high esteem,
but he was unworthy OF 1t. who could not dis
cover It. Few men have had more occasion to
know the wlckedness and the ngratitude of
other men, yet he was, IN speech and act, the
most charitable OF men toward the failings
| and SINS OF others. Integrity SO permeated
| every hbre OF his moral and intellectual being,
That ne often seemed unable to realize that a
man could be rascal. Because 1t was his ma
ture and perhaps his purpose to mask his
emotions behind calm exterior, many thought
HIM distant and unsympathetc, forgetting that
''I n swallows murmur, put the deeps are dumb,
oof I u oopGin was naturaiiy reserved
man oae tli9ss VINO cae W SNOW nm litl-
.lo'Ily ioul.i ntl lios1 senlal man ana III
te e, u leisufe a., .ai converse,