MR, THADDEUS STEVENS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume IV, Issue 1131, 29 June 1867, Page 5

MR, THADDEUS STEVENS.

THEspecialcorresponJentof the 3£ornin<f Herald thus answers the quesii »n. Who is Thaddeus Stevens ?—" Tliaddeus Sturens was born in Yer- ' mont in 1783. He emigrated to Pennsylvania at a very early age, and having picked up some notion of the three it's, lis entered upon ' professional' life as the teacher of a country school. He found bircliing unprofitable, and set out upon the highway as a travelling pedlar. A born Yankee, his trading propensities neededno development; in the coursc of five or six years, by the skilful transfers of tinware, calico, turkeys, applesauce, and the miscellanea grouped together by tlie Yankee housawife as ' truck' he gathered some §3000 in hard coin, lie settled down upon tliis tlien respectable fortune in the town of Lancaster. He became a justice of the peace, lie was sent to tlie State Legislature, and lie bouglit his way to Congress in 18X9. He has been returnned at every election save one since that time. For ten years he rarely opened his mouth, liis occasional outpourings of Pennsylvania English, acquiring for him, however, the reputation of a brainless old buffoon. In 1859 he attracted attention by the sudden violence of his attacks on Southern institutions. The withdrawal of the Southern, representatives left a clear field to Stevens and men of-his class, and the Pennsylvanian soon, acquired leadership. He is now something more than the master of the Radicals in Congress; ho is their owner. During the early part of his Congressional carcer Stevens set up extensive ironworks in Pennsylvania, and his profits have been enormous. His position during the war enabled him to secure numerous Government contracts, from which he realised an immense fortune. Stevens is a short, gaunt, homely old man. He has a dried up, wizen face, shrivelled like a half-frozen apple. He has sharp eyes, and an acute nose, thin lips, a large mouth, false teeth—all these surmounted by a wondrously juvenile wig, that invariably gets awry as its wearer grows excited, aid sets the House to smiling. Once last session this uneasy wig came near falling off, and was only saved by a frantic clutch by its owner. Stevens has a harsh, unequal voice, now strident, now grating and grinding. He jerks out his sentences, accompanying the jerks with viudictive snaps of the head and singular motions with the hands. In speaking, when wrought up to frenzy pitch, he frequently leaves his scat, and walk-up and down the neighbouring aisle, swinging his hands, and, on occasion, stamping a foot smartly upon the floor. Even during his ordinary speeches it is not pleasant to sit in front of Stevens—he has a very obnoxious habit of sputtering like a fryingpan. He is not devoid of a coarse sort of humor and he is never at a less to excite a roar among his admirers. Mr. Stevens is not a statesman. He is not a scholar. He has very little ability as a politician. His hatred of the Southern people is frightful in its intensity. Indeed, he lias declared in his place in the House that it is his wish to consign them all to ' the penitentiary of hell.' This is not a political, or a national, or a sectional hatred. It is purely personal.- Tlie secret of Stevens' power among the Hadicals lies in his indomitable vigour. His sleepless hatred of the South, and his despotic manner of conducting debates and legislative business, together with certain unusual satirical powers, and a readiness to perceive the weaknesses, foibles, and peculiarities of the people, give him a prominence that no other person can obtain, and in fact that no other person deserves."