New-York tribune., 1886-06-09
STANTON EINDICHT TEU.

| The country VIII DC ulSpoSC" w N'"i 'e''''J
with the offence of General Wheeler seeing
that it has been the occasion OF bringing 10
| light the noble letter written by the great " ar
Secretary to his friend and preceptor the hev.
Hammond Dyer. 1t is long time since SO
valuable a contribution to the history of the re-
be,lion has been made. The letter, written in
confidence to dear and trusted friend, lays
hare the inmost thoughts of tie writer. And
what a lofty patriotism is thus disclosed. The
old Roman spirit, the passionate inf1exlble, in
corruptible devotion to the Republic which
we are accustomed, perhaps with half-uncon-
scious irony. to associate only with the antique
world. breathes from every line of this epistle.
II is at once An answer to the sordid abuse with
which the man. while living, was assaled by
self seeking, corrupt, narrow minded crew,
and an explanation of the alleged eccentrlcllies
which often perplexcd those who thought they
| knew him best.
The safety of the Union was the one object of
his labors. Everything else sank into in
significance beside that. "In struggle like
this he writes Justice or credit to individuals
is as dust in the balance" Yet no man sought
more strenuously to execute justice, and no
man. as he shows in this letter, could have CO.
operated more Loyalty with a general i'll whose
plans he had little confidence. The ring of
truth is in his declaration that he never
thwarted or embarrassed Mcclellan, and that
he only interfercd with the latters arrange
ments when it became evident that the Cen
eral had disobeyed the explicit orders OF the
Government and had left Washington virtually
undcfended at a juncture when rebel descent
upon the capital was both probable and posi-
A., ~ o,,1
indignation the mpntatiOns of his enemies,
| but he declares that he had counted the cost OF
his undertaking from the first. knew" he
says, that everything | cherish and hold dear
"would be sacrificed by accepting Office. But
| thought might help to save the country, and
" for that was willing to perish" He repudi-
ates the idea that he had any office in view.
"If wanted to be a politician or candidate
| for anv Office" he writes wonld | stand be-
"tween the Treasury and the robbers who are
abowlng around me Would | provoke and
"stand against the whole newspaper gang in
| the country of every party, who to sell news
would imDeIil a battle 7"
There is no choice of phrases in this man. He
cares nothing for men, every thing tor the cause
Of the Union. That he should have made
swarms Of enemies was of course inevitable; as
inevitable as that his full merits should be but
slowly recognized. FDr Stanton was patriot
of so firm and indomtablc character that his
purity and single -mndedness bclittled and
Inundated the crowd of greedy egOtists who
pushed to the doors of the Treasury, and the
same qualities even Obscured the greatness of
all but the greatest Of his contemporaries.
Wien the names of Lincoln and Grant have
been written there is no other that deserves to
be linked with that of Stanton. He was n
| Heaven sent Minister, if ever there was one.
Carnot, the organizer of battles, was less to
| France in the crisis of the Revolution than
our War Secretary was to the salvation of the
| Union. SO just, pure, so incOrrupuble, so
patriotic was he, that 1t seems almost work of
snpererOgatior to attempt the defence of his
memory against the base aspersions of the Con-
federate brgader who "with his darkness
burst atiront this light" The letter which Mr..
Kelley caused to be read yesterday is alone more
than a sufficient vindicatiOn of the traduced
statesman. 1t carries into a higher plane
than men like General Wheeler can breathe
upon. 1t hOnors us with the intimate conf
dence of soul which could afford to disregard
the spite of men, having taken for its standard
| from the beginning the judgment of Cod