The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-05-07
They Were Effective
When Used by Eli
Thayer-
PRAISED BYCRITICS.
The Father Of Kansas viii
Live Long in !,
History.

enables him to speak with authority
concerning him, writes The spy as fol- fol-. 4
flows: .4s:~-.e
/ Eli ,Thayer was distinguished by his
originality, breadth of view and great. i
power in thought and action. In clear
ness of argument and simple and con-
densed statement before an audience,
few public speakers have equalled him
His speeches in congress must have
exhibited a remarkable quality to have
lmade the profound impression they
; ibid. not only in the House, but through
out the country, and to have drawn I'M
qualified praise from such critics as
Henry b. stanton, Lucius M. Sargent
4 and Theodore Parker The latter
4 wrote:
you open a new era in the congress
Esional discussion of slavery. You at
tack 1t with wit-light, easy and DELI
: cete satire worthy of Dean
Swift, but finer and subtler than any
thing I remember from him. The more
serious part, too, is quite me anu val
table," 5e
4 A Washington correspondent or one
sEof the great newspapers. declared thaI
: these speeches had inaugltrated q new
. Estate of feeling in this country. Inc
effect upon the southern members Was
! marked. A prominent Representative
!, from Alabama wrote afew years ago:
Il remember with great dfstinctness
Mr. Thayers first speech In congress- Il
and how, by humor, good nature, wltss
argument, self-possesslon ana ma
fest sincerity, he won the respect ansk~
admiration of the 'fre-eaters,' of WhoEIl-
was one"
,, John w. Forney, clerk of the House.
! afterwards secretary of the united
states Senate, in his "reminiscences
= y, as
: most enlightened, progressive ana
original minds of New England, whose
efforts have wrought measureless re
, suits in our development, and Wnost
= record in congress was one OF the liiosl
spotless and brilliant
; These are the opinions of those who
7 were not blinded by partisan zeal or
, personal prejudice Such men as pal
: mon P. Chase Lyman Trumbull, Pres
: ton King. Henry Winter Davis ana
Francis E. Spinner We're attracted TO
him. and remained his friends and adj
: mirers to the end.
1 In his advocacy of measure Mr.
5 Thayer regarded its rational and proha-
y BILE outcome, and excluded from seri-
= Gus consideration its theoretical or abb
: stract phases, In this way he tesui-
S mated the slavery problem, and long
L before the great mass of the northern
7 people came to the same conclusion
e boldly declared that slavery was doom
ed and that there never WOulu bI az
. other slave state in the union.
His faith in the power and advance
0 of free labor was supreme. He regard
ed the two systems in the light OF su-
{ perior and inferior forces in eivlliza-
e ton, of which the first was sure to preH.A
vail and in this he proved, by MS
, Kansas work, that he was right. rms.
I feeling of assurance caused him TO take
, a stand at variance with some of MS
1 republican associates and constituents
who We're bred in fear of the reslstless
power of slavery.
e His public utterances were character-te
e lied by broad craftsmanship and a..
t catholic spirit He never could endure 3
E hair-splitting, clubbing over non-es- T.
sentials, or anything like pharisaicaI
assumption, and once in momentary
. impatience in a speech exclaimed: u
2 would rather be telescopically wrong
: than microscopically right
! He was a man of large Ideas and
! grand conceptions, and his talents rec
7 quired a national field for their exer- =
: else and display. Hence he was held
lin light esteem by ward politicians and
!. party managers who made Iin thesuh-.5
. ject of contemptuous remark -7ttHli- 2
The eminent members Of the repub-
lcan party, who took issue with MIN
Z in 1860 and that portion of the voters
: conscientiously opposedsto him at that
time however freely acknowledged his q
power and ability His unconciiatory
! attitude in that crisis, too rigid adher-
ence TO his chosen course, and short 5
! comngs as a politician. are matters of
7 minor consequence and criticism, as 2
, the force Of the penalty fell upon him
alone.
His energy in the face of opposition
was remarkable. When some one said
that he exerted as much force to crush
an ant as he would to annihilate an
elephant. he replied: What, then-be-1
comes Of the ant?''
| He was eminently practical man.
as practical as a steam engine, as one
of his congressional associates express
ed it-but the magnitude of his plans h
caused some to think him visionary.
His strong faith in what he undertook :
in its expression, gave the impression.
of egotism to those who did not know
: of his achievements in the past.
His readiness in retort was proverbs
ial. To the follower of Garrison who
declared that he would rather give =
over Kansas to slavery than to make 2
a cent out Of the operation of saving It
for freedom. he replied: Il would
rather make 1t q free state for a bad
reason than a slave state for the best
of reasons"
, His conversation would distinguish
him in any company. He always had
something to say that was well worth
the hearing As Johnson said OF
Burke no one could meet him. even
for five minutes under a shed, without
discovering that he was an extraor-
binary man.
In a statement explanatory OF his
own conscientious opposition to the adj
mission of Oregon, printed in the
Springfield Republican recently, ex--
Senator Dawes does Mr.. Thayer an inzz.
justice in saying that he had become.
Y enamored with Douglas doctrine OF :
popular sovereignty. 1t would be
much nearer the truth to say that
Douglas became enamored of Thayer
i philosophy; for the latter detected, be-
e fore he planned his Kansas work, the
inherent weakness of the Illinois sem
4 ator's purpose, and shaped his plans
? / accordingly while Douglas. at first de-
nouncing Thayer became his admirer.
Mr.. Dawes closes his communication
with this Just and appreciative state.
ment: -, -,
: Mr. Thayer was right IN claiming
s that the victory in Kansas sealed the
/ doom Of slavery. In that he was a
great leader, and to him history viii
{ ultimately accord that great share in
il to which he is entitled, and which
as vet has been scanuly yielded him,
Mrs. Henpeck Visiting her first hl1s--,
hands eravel-Yes. here lies hero. YOU
would not by my husband todaey had her-
, not been killed in the war 49,
: