The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1886-03-03


power, his chief strength came from
the depth and earnestness of his moral
convictions. In the long and arduous
battle against the aggressions of slavery
he had been sleepless and untiring in
rousing and quickening the public con-
science. He was keenly alive to the
distinctions of right and wrong, and his
philanthropy responded to every call
of humanity. His sympathies were
equally touched by the sufferings of the
famine-stricken Irish and by the wrongs
of the plundered Indians. Next to
Henry Clay, whose ardent disciple he
was, he had done more than any other
man to educate his countrymen in the
American system of protection to home
industry. But" continues Mr.. Blaine,
"when he left the fields of labor, in
which he had become illustrious, to
pass the ordeal of presidential candi-
date, the opposite and weaker sides of
his character and career were brought
into view"
The following is the conclusion of
Mr.. Blaine's sketch of Charles Sum-
ner: =" However much his wisdom may
be questioned by those who were not
his political friends, whatever criticism
may be made of the zeal which not in
frequently was assumed to be ill-timed
and misjudged, Mr.. Sumner must ever
be regarded as scholar, an orator, a
philanthropist, a philosopher, states
man, whose splendid and unsullied
fame will always form part of the true
glory of the nation"
OF two distinguished democratic
statesmen, Mr.. Blaine holds diverse
opinions. He says of ex-senator Thur
man that she was an admirably disci-
plined debater, was fair in his method
of statement, logical in his argument,
honest in his conclusions" and that
his retirement from the senate was a
serious loss to his party-a loss indeed
to the body" On the other hand, Mr..
Blaine's estimate of Secretary Bayard
is much less tlattering Among other
things, he says of Mr.. Bayard: " His
service in the senate has been remark
able for one leading characteristic-the
power or the accidental fortune to Gre
ate public impression as to his career
precisely the reverse of its actual his
tory" Mr.. Blaine gives Senator Hoar
high rank as debater, and says his
mind is of that type which broadens
and strengthens by conflict in the arena
of discussion. He also pays Senator
Sherman well-deserved tribute. The
historian says of the late Senator Car
penter:
"He was endowed with high order of
ability. If he had given all his time to the
senate, or all to the bar, he would have
found few peers in either field of intellec-
tual combat. Aside from the weight of his
argument, his manner of speech was at
tractive. He had an agreeable voice, pre-
cisely adapted in volume and tone to the SEN
ate chamber. He was affluent in language,
graceful in manner, and, beyond all, was
gifted with that quality-rare, indefnable,
but recognized by every one-which con-
stitutes the orator."
Mr.. Blaine says that as great as Sec
rotary Seward was in public speech
and cogent and powerful as he had so
often proved with his pen, his one pc
culiar gift, greater perhaps than any
other with which he was endowed, was
his faculty in personal intercourse, with
one man or with a number of men, of
enforcing his own views and of taking
captive his hearers. OfSecretary Stan
ton he says that he came to the public
service with patriotic and not with sor-
did motive, surrendering most bril-
liant position at the bar, and with it the
emolument of which his family was in
daily need. OF Senator Logan he says
no man in the country has combined a
military and legislative career with the
degree of success in both which Gen
eral Logan attained. He speaks of
Conkling as the most commanding in
tellect of his time in congress-; of Gov
ernor Seymour as an able leader who
commanded the influence and devotion
of his party; of General Hancock as a
true soldier and chivalrous gentle.
man; of Mr.. Tilden as one of the great.
est masters of political management
of Andrew Johnson as vain, loquacious
and Extensively egotistic, but pro-
nounces the impeachment proceedings
unjustifiable; holds Mr.. Edmunds in
great part responsible for the dcposi
ton of Senator Sumner from the heac
of the foreign affairs committee; ant
concludes his review of twenty years
of national history as follows:
"The national government has in these
twenty years proved its strength in war; it,
conservatism in peace. The self-restrain
which the citizens of the republic exhib
tied in the hour of need, the great burdens
which they bore under the inspiration o
public duty, the public order which the,
maintained by their instructive obedienc,
to the command of law, all attest the goo,
government of self-governing people
Full liberty to criticise the acts of persons