The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1896-01-10

equaled record Of 80 years in the senate
of the United States--or as he pompous-
ly expressed ii six Roman lustrums'-
won't be marker TO him.
''Lnckl In 1874 he wanted to be gov
elnor of Missouri and came very near
having his hearts desire gratiiied in
that regard He lacked only one-sixth
Of one vote of securing the nomination,
which was equivalent to an election
Perhaps that is tho closest shave or rec
ord for great Office The history of the
governorship Of Missouri is the queerest
and most inexplicable chapter in the
annals of American politics. 1t is worthy
of the profoundest consideration Of tho
whole school of philosophers. In every
other state in the Union the governor
ship is used as stepping stone to high
er preferment-tot the United States sen
ate, the cabinet, the federal supreme
bench, foreign ministerships, embassa-
dorships, the vice presidency and even
the presidency itself But in Missouri,
by immeinorial custom, the governor
ship is considered as the top round in
the ladder, the jumping off place, the
ultima Thule. Missouri has had govern
ors great and small, governors good, |
bad and indifferent, but their fate is the
same. Over the doors Of the stately gu !
bernatorial mansion at jefferson CITY /
there ought 70 bo inscribed this senti. |
ment from Dante's 'inferno:' All hope |
abandon, ye who enter here. "
only one governor has really SUI
vived it, and that was Trusten Polk iii
times, He would not run
for governor until all the party leaders
had agreed 20 make him United States
senator, which they did He pulled tho
party Through, and they kept their
promise to him. He served rs governor
only "a days The history Of the gov
arnorship Of Missouri has always re
minded mo Of that tale in tho book %
Job where tho man OF u and his
friends were feasting and messenger
broke in upon their meyriment with the
Tewsbmc intelligence that there had
'cen q great Storm in which all the sons
IT Job and their rotainers had bcep
iilled ana nc alone was left 10 tell Tic
ale,
AT any rate, Cockroll wanted to be
governor and was baked III his ambi.
ION By only = traction Of vote, bat q
Mss Is rs goal rs :, mile, so We are in. |
ormee by some ancient provcrb maker
lie ought 20 thank God every night for
hat lucky escape Had he succeeded he
'ould IN all probability have had before
i'm two years in the governor office
nd after that oblivion His defeat was
blessing IL disguise and laid the foun- c
ations CT his fortunes It is passing {
range what small and seemingly triv- {
Il things determine the destinies OF +
len and even of nations d
By the accident Of being the last
IAN to embark on steamboat after the e
Itar at Belmont, General Grant was Q
.arted ON the road TO Appomattox and T
he White House By tiaying Sir Robert ?
eel on the night when he announced +
LIB free trade policy in the house of b
N1mHnS, Benjamin Disraeli took the il
rst step III that marvellous career which s.
azzled the world and which ended in e.
lie premiership and an earldom. Be p
'use his uncomfortable horse ran away Il
40 Carried him straight into the enc u
lies lines in some obscure battle ia "
'uth Asia, enabling him to capture d
e commanding general, Arthur Vel. d
siey subsequently added Waterloo to b,
10 long line of English victories, be- Al
me the Iron Duke and sleeps among a
9 stored great in Westminster abbey. lie
: reason Of the fact that his pistol p,
He'd to fire on the occasions when he Ia
tempted suicide young Robert Give sh
Included that God intended him for al
eat things and lived to create the Brit pe
empire in Indis. to become peer OF be