The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-11-25
full retirement, dying in 1862 at the ripe

lul retirement, uyiHS III loos at the iipe
age OF ~.
That fine old Democrat. General
Cass, was never greater than in the
hour of his defeat by General Taylor
in 1S4S. He looked upon himself mere
ly as the representative of his party,
and took his defeat with perfect COM
posure and without resentment. 1t
was the party which was defeated, and
not Cass, the man, in his opinion, and
the simple dignity with which. after
having served for time In the cab
met of Buchanan, he retired from pub
lie life to his home in Michigan, was
a beautiful indication of the mans
real greatness. Nor was General Scott
a less engaging figure after his de-
feat by Pierce in 1852. His disappont-
ment was no outward sign of it. Frank
Pierce" said he, when he heard the
news, was good soldier with me in
Mexico, and he ought to make good
president" And then he went quietly
about the discharge of his duties as
commander of the army, which post he
continued to hold until short time be-
fore his death in 1862.
THE FREE SOIL PATRIOT.
John p. Hale, the free soil candidate
for president in 1852. Is now almost
forgotten, but in his time he played a
large part in public affairs. The ven-
cradle Galusha a. Grow told me not
long a-o that he considered Hale one
OF the most brilliant and useful men
who ever served in the federal senate.
"Hale had been four years in the sem
ate when | first took my seat in the
house" said Mr.. Grow, "and there was
no one more feared by the Southern
senators than he. a big, rotund, good
naturcd man, In the art of totally de-
molishing the long and labored argu-
ment of an opponent with timely an
ecdote CT jest he had few equals. "A
few years before the repeal of the
Missouri compromise Senator Slldell
introduced bill in congress appropri-
ating some 100000, 900 for the purchase
Of Cuba General Cass made an elab-
crate speech supporting the bill, on the
grounds that it was dangerous to have
a dependency of foreign power so
near our shores as Cuba. Hale fol-
lowed. Consistency said he, has al
ways been crowning jewel in the dia-
dem of the senator from Michigan. lie
favors the annexation of Cuba because
its proximity Is Il constant menace to
our welfare, when every night of his
life, when he is at home'-General Cass
lived in Detroit--'from the window of
the room in which he sleeps YOU can
throw a stone into the possessions of
her Brittanic majesty Thus in two
minutes he destroyed the effect of Cen
eral Cass's three hours argument
Hale knew there was no chance of
his election when he ran for president
as the candidate of the free soilers in
1852. and hence cherished neither re-
sentiment nor disappointment at his
defeat. He served in the senate for
some years and then was sent as
minister to Spain. He went into re-
tirement in New Hampshire after his
return from Spain, and his death. when
it came, so completely had he been for
gotten. was dismissed by the news
papers with paragraph
No defeated asDirant for the presi-
dency ever had a more checkered after
career than that of John G. Fremont,
Buchanan's rival in 1856. His military
career ended in misfortune and person.
al chagrin, and the ill will which he
bore Lincoln led him in 1864 to accept
a nomination for president rendered by
a so-called party which met in con-
vention in Cleveland. However, FIRE.
monts good sense was sufficient to
teach him that his candidacy could
only imperil the Union cause, and in
September. 1864. he announced his
in the triumph of Mr.. Lincoln, but to
do my part toward defeating the cleo
tion of the Democratic candidate"
After the war Fremont plunged into
business enterprises, but he was not a
good financier, and few of the argOsies
which he put afOat ever came back
to him. He died in poverty in New
York city eight years ago.
SEyVARD'S ANfRJTJON
Stewards presidential ambitions van
ished when the nomination which he
coveted went to Lincoln, and Breckin-
ridge and Douglas were the other
wrecks left on the shore by the political
storm of 1860. During the war, the for
mer commanded confederate army in
the field and served for time in
Davis cabinet, but his heart was never
in the secession movement, and when
1t was overthrown he felt that his ca
reer was ended. He went back to Ken
lucky, expecting to take up the prac-
tice of law, but did not live long after
he retired to private life. Douglass,
when the war opened, was prompt and
in support of the Union, and
had he lived he would probeb bly, have
been one of Lincoln's most valued ad-
visers. But he had been ailing for
strain of the canvass of 1860, coupled
with grief at the hopeless rupture of
his party, undermined his constitution.
He sank rapidly, and when it was evil
dent that his day was ending he sent
for his sister to come and nurse him
during his last hours. After his death
the manifestations of respect revealed
the mighty hold which he had upon
his party and the admiration his great
opponents had come to feel for him
because of his splendid stand for the
Union. No part of Douglass life so
well became him as its close.
After the campaign of 1864 General
Mcclellan emerged but once from his
self-sought retirement In 1877 he was
nominated for governor By the New
Jersey Democrats and elected. This
was the only political office he ever
held. and when his term was over he
returned to his pleasant home in
Orange, where the balance of his life
was spent. He died some ten years
ago. Horatio Seymour survived for q
dozen years or more his crushing de-
feat by Grant in 1868, but thereafter
took small. if any. part in public at
fairs. Horace Greeley died less than
a month after the election OF 1872. HIS
death. however was not due to disap-
LIOlltIItnl al MS 1alltire 10 ltaCn the
presidency--he had known for weeks
that the tide had set strongly against
him-but to the exhaustion of the ca,u-
paign, followed as it was by the tCader
nursing of his wife, who fel! Ill Hll
died few weeks before election Gag.
The strain was too great. insomnia
seized him with all it's horrors, and it
seemed to those who knew him as If
he, realizing that he had dangerously
strained his physical and mental pow
ers, gave w at once without making q
for life.
TILDEN'S COMPOsURE.
Tilden in 1876 accepted the loss of the
with perfect composure. If
he had personal disappointments or
nourished resentment no one knew 1t.
Within q month after the seating of
HDNnc hp o,rial thrpnUh n