Year: 1870




IN the Senate a man is looming Of whom
that body has the best reason to be proud
Senator Thurman's mere physical presence is
imposing, and his bearing the manifest that
can be supposed. His intellect is a lantern
which, when he speaks, fairly irradiates the
chamber. As Il debater he is confessed to
stand III the foremost rank. He never speaks
without having something, nay much to say,
and that something is always driven straight
to the point at issue. He invariably com
mands the attention of the Senate. Few
have yet been bold enough to enter into bat
tie with him. and such as have yentured
skirmish with him have retired worstcd. HIS
logic, sarcasm and bitter irony are alike the
best weapons Of their kind. Fearless, reso-
lutte. and scornful, Yet often gentle, never
discourteous, and very rarely unjust, this
Senator has already made himself feared and
respected as an opponent, and is spoken Of
with great cordiality by those who have had
the pleasure of meeting him in private life.
Mr.. Casserly, of California, honors the SEN
attn in a degree scarcely less marked.


There is a spectacle in the Senate which
ought, perhaps, to receive but which oftener
repels commiseration of those who look up
on it.


This is the palsied, perishing figure of Par
son Brownlow. As regular as the moon, the
almost completely helpless old man is assist
ed to his seat-a hair cloth easy chair on the
left of the Speaker-in which he reclines,
trembling all over and constantly like shak-
en- jelly. Seen from the gallery, his swarthy
face looks ike that of a malignant Indian
His lips comfort themselves unpleasantly, and
his hands, twitching in every finger, remind
one of couple of ofenormous spiders crawling
over his legs and among the arms of his
chair. Once in a while the right hand makes
tremulous expedition to the desk in front,
and returns with u handkerchief dangling be-
tween thumb and fingers.


Sometimes, with great effort it carries a
glass Of water from the ridge OF the desk to
the old mans mouth Part of the time he sits
with leg hoisted on a corner of the desk, or
crossed over the knee. He is never motion
less. His eyes and ears attend to all that
transpires.


Whenever the debate is earnest, or an in
terestlng question is ppermost-particularl
II it concerns the South, or his own State OF
Tennessee-he listens to it as it were throu oh
every pore; the big dark veins on his tenn
pies grow bigger and darker; the desk shakes
with the shaking Of his legs his hand clutches
yenemously at his trousers, and the peculiar
"rithing of his lips make it appear as if he
would give up his life after that one mo-
ment, If for the moment he had strength tc
get on his feet, and pour forth as Of old a
flood of vituperation on his enemies. But he
has no strength left to speak, and was COM
pelled, the other day, to have the personal
explanation of his course in regard to politi-
cal events in Tennessee, which he had pre-
pared in manuscript, read by the clerk Some
expressions in it were abusive OF Butler and
other members of the House, and the Vice
President stopped the reading.


The emotion of the dying man in the easy
chair so racked him at this juncture that
another Senator. plying him, requested that
solely on account Of his feeble condition the
reading might be suffered to proceed. This
was assented to. Had it been otherwise
perhaps the anger of the old parson would
have consumed him where he sat.