Stephen H. Branch's Alligator, Vol. 1 no. 08, June 12, 1858
General
Stephen H. Branch's Alligator, Vol. 1 no. 08, June 12, 1858
New York (N.Y.) -- Politics and government
fatten his belly, as though he was basking on the fertile borders of
the Chagres.
Early Years—Senator Henry B. Anthony.
When I was in the Providence Post Office, Henry B. Anthony was a
student of Brown University, whose noble father resided in Coventry,
and the pale and delicate Henry would descend College Hill at evening
shades, and present his sweet little face at the Post Office window,
and inquire in solicitous and music tones: “Good Stephen, did my dear
father or mother write me to-day?” And if I said yes, his tiny face
reflected the innocent hilarity of childhood. But if I said no, he
would depart in silence, with tears careering on his brilliant and
intellectual eyes. One summer evening, while in the doorway of the
Post Office, we had a long political disputation. Henry was a Whig
and I a Democrat. He was a Hamiltonian, and I a Jeffersonian. Samuel
and Joseph Bridgham, Wm. Henry Manton, Giles Eaton, David Perkins,
Halsey Creighton, Edward Hazard, Nathan F. Dixon, George Rivers, and
other students of Brown University, were there, and most of them were
Whigs, and opposed to Gen. Jackson, who was then President. We had a
very exciting discussion, and the students applauded as we warmed and
glowed and rounded our periods; but Henry received the most applause,
and I the most hisses. I endured all this with composure; but when
Henry corrected my pronunciation of the military word “corps,” (kore,)
which I pronounced like corpse, (korps,) a dead body,—he brought
blushes to my cheeks, and copious blood to my brain, and the conquest
was his, and I retired into the Post Office, and studied dictionary
for some time, and resolved to acquire the principles of the English
language. And from that memorable evening, I have been a laborious
student. When this same Henry B. Anthony became Governor of Rhode
Island, my father was the Senator from Providence County, which is the
second honor of the State Administration, and the duties more arduous
than those of the Governor himself. And father has told me that Henry
often consulted him during his Gubernatorial Administration. When poor
father died, I called on Henry at the _Providence Journal_ office, who
received me with the cordiality of a brother, and said: “Stephen: My
father has recently died, and I profoundly sympathize with you, as I
know what it is to lose a good father like mine. As to your father,
Rhode Island never had a wiser nor a better citizen, nor a purer
patriot,—and years will roll ere she will rear a man of his integrity
and penetration. Our whole State is in tears, and will ever cherish
him with warm affection.” Henry was elected an American Senator last
week from Rhode Island, and here am I, with a dagger and revolver in my
hand, exposing the robbers and parricides of my country, and with not
one truly reliable friend in all the world; and even the few dollars
that I recently received from the Corporation for public services,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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