Rensselaer Union, Volume 3, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 June 1871 — Hon. Clement L. Vallandigham. [ARTICLE]

Hon. Clement L. Vallandigham.

Hon. Ciaincnt Laird Vallandigliam, of Dayton, Ohio, accidentally shot himself at Lebanon, in that State, Friday evening, June 16ih. In company with (Jen. Mcßmney he was employed as counsel in defence of Thomas McOehan on trial for the murder of Meyers. J, i»e«ius that he and Mcßuriu y wt re in consultation upon thu line of defense proper to adopt for their clieiit, when he to iljustratc his theory that lly; decease*! was not murdered but came to his death from a wound accidentally inflicted with hi* owjt hand, picked up one of two revolvers lying upon a table in the room, one of which was unloaded, and cocking it placed it in his pants l>ocket- In attempting to withdraw it, porn ting the muzzle in a diiec*iou to illustrate his hypothesis the trigger was pulled discharging the contents into the lower part of his abdomen near the groin. Mr. Yallandighani immediately exclaimed •“Oh, murder, I have taken the wrong pistol.” Surgical aid w;t,s summoned at once and cvery--Ihing known to the science was adopted for his benefit, but lie constantly sank until eighteen minutes before ten o’clock Saturday morning, June 17th, when hu expired I'liui, tragically, ha life of one of the great men of the country.

In bis private life, Mr. Yailandighantis said to have been a pure man, an exemplary husband and father, a firm friend and a pleasant neighbor, lie was possessed of an indomitable and imperious will that is frequently one »f the characteristics of greatness, hut lacked the suavity of manner and deferential respect for the feelings,,prejudices and opjnions of others that are necessary "to make a successful deader. A man of fine natural talents lie was well educated, and the forcible strength of his'hrgumciits were oiten felt even where they failed to carry conviction. As a politician Mr. Valbvidiglmm, tho' powerful, was yet a failure. lie belonged to that class of hardy pi-' oncers who hew out for themselves new paths, continually battling against the dangers of the frontier, but who arc not permitted to taste the full fruits of complete victory—these are left for the more cautious followers to harvest. At the present moment Mr. Vnllandigham had succeeded in placing himself again prominently r.s tlie leader of the Democratic party in a new movement to obtain control of the government. Since ISOJ (when he was arrested and sent ht*; yond the Federal lines for his de* monstrative sympathy with the rebellion) he had occupied rathep a retired position in American politics;, his co-laborers rightly thinking that his bitterness towards the conduct of the,war for suppression of rebellion had made him obnoxious tenthe masses, hut his recent “departure” had again placed him in favor with his party and lie was regarded as its great pillar and exponent. lie was forty-nine years of age. i

A case* of lamentable ignorance of history is found in the Winainae Democrat. last week. liAe’ditbr says “even Chief Justice Chase approves the Oiiio Democratic platform” and talks as though that, if true, won hi be a remarkable fact and an indication that thinking men were going over tc that party from the Republican ranks. The ouly striking thing about the platform referred to is that it endorses the 13th, J4th and loth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States and as it is well known that these amendments originated With the Republican party ar.d were adopted through Us instrumentality and as tin* party lias done nothing looking to the re--peal of these measures, we can't sec why any body needs to go over to the Democracy in order to “accept the'situation.” v Another thing—ls, as the Democrat asserts, Sir. Chase Mhas declared himself so well pleased with the actfon of the convention that ,if ‘in Ohio at the time of the Stato election he will vote for the candidate nominated at that convention” it \yould be nothing remarkable for it is well known by those tbatknow anything about the .political history of the Chief/u&tice that he was a persistent candidate for Ilia Presidency j in the convention that nominated Mr Seymour only three years ago.! The Deguter says that Vico Pros-! ident Colfax is at his home in; Ho nth Baud, where Lis health is

gradually improving. lie is now so fur lVusovercd as to be able, to ride out and walk in Ins garden, but, acting under tho adyioe of his physician he receives few \ isltors and absolutely rifrrfFF ' "To transact any business whatever and does not even answer hitters that sre-flent to hough it has been repeatedly punhuhed th/lt hu will tip no public business whatever, there seems to be but little diminution in tho number of letters received by him daily from all parts of the country, making application for office, for donations of money, ter letters of endorsement, recommendation or introduction, etc., etc. Besides which several, delegations have Recently waited upon him in relation- to these matters, much to the annoyance of his family and intimate friends and disgust of his physicians. It is absolutely too had that souk' eminent Kentlaml physician docs not perform a much-needed surgical operation lor the benefit of those who read the Keutlatid Dcu - ocrull If somebody would only lift the os front is covering the brains which conduct the editorial columns of that influential new: paper, and -pade in a libera! supply of Peruvian guano, it Js possible that a sturdier crop of blues might result from the top dressing. Until that operation is performed, hov, - ever. it will be neeessary. for their possessor to restrict himself to- a simple diet of prairie grass poetry and catnip tea, and indulge in no severer mental exertion than occasionally to peruse a review of the late*dCcisioii of the supreme court of Indiana upon the railroad tax law, by a Mew ton county justice of the peace. The mental strain incident to the production of such an article as the one published in last week’s issue of the Democrat, entitled “A Now Revelation,” is so exhaustive that no other treatment cau It pursued without dangei of permanent injury to the cerebral organs of its author and consequent ! loss to tlio world.

♦'Faulty as the old time Democratic politicians were, they, were honest. '"Whatever they did, the a did not steal.'l Cincinnati Commercial. Oh, no! John 15. F loyd, a South - ern Democratc politician from Old Virginia and Secretary of War under President BuchatVan never stole a musket from Harper’s Ferry; saintly' John never .conspired with Jacob Thompson another immaculate Southern Democratic politician and Secretary of the Interior in Mr. Buchntian’6 cabinet, to steal SSOO,000 of bonds from the Department of they Interior 1 The Davises and Lees and Hamptons and Morgans and Magrudcrs and Picken&es and "Toonibses and Vances and hundreds of other infamous scoundrels whose exploits in the way of stealing and attempting to steal arsenals, ships, money, arms, the public domain and anything and everything of value belonging to tlic Nation, were all honest. “W hatever they did they did not steal”—any more than they could get their hands on and carry away.

Wallace Flowers, Esq., a beautiful blossom at La Harpe, 111., writes to the Prairie Farmer that a strong decoction of May apple poihphyllin—mandrake—hog 4 apple) sprinkled on potato yines through a common .sprinkler, is an excellent tea to feed voting Colorado bugs,, lie says that after partaking freely of one dose or two they ate no more for this world, but considerably on j it under the vines, and no joking.] If this is found to bo a failure we recommend a. trial of “Dr. iloofland’s Podophylliii, two pills a, dose,” advertised in another column of the Union.

Col. Allen W. Prather, formerly of Columbus, Indiana, lias moved* to Chicago. lie is__ a j!tember of the law firm of Sclioff & Prather, No. 120 Washington St. tCol. Prather commanded the 120th Ind. Vpls. (“Ilovey’s Seedlings”) during the last year of the war and was one ol our nio?t gallant soldiers. — Any person having business ini Chicago will find the Col. gentlemanly, energetic and reliable. We arc satisfied lie can procure a divorce- for you in ten minutes, if desired. ,

The Rochester (Sentinel, Valparaiso Messenger and Laportc Argus, we believe, have united in the opinion That “the Fourth of July is about played tmt, and the emailj cipation proclamation has takendts ! place’-’ since the u<fw departure was inaugurated in the Democratic party. It is induc'd wondcrfnl how easy it is for mr-nito 'change their opinions in’order to obtain* public Office. ■ i

I Court }uf<i v. ili-. j u/»/ - * Wo <li'}-*--L th of bin. 1 ■ * .... i i it-Lm What kind of man is our county clerk?—Ac >o York Hun. Probably a inale. Five cents a .ilozijn i- how the I Luporte gamin gather vhito’ pond i lilies for snip, . ’ .Up in Madison county they hash their potato bugs with Paris Green and now the chicken cholera rageth and hen’s eggs are “skurso.” Down at Mancie, in Delaware, county, fowl breeders claim that if chickens are fed with oats boiled with tobacco they will recover from cholera.' Up.at Kewami, in Fulton county, they have barn, dedications. Presume that ministers out there have commenced preaching the gospel to every living creature, including mules, houses and ilaalimitcs. J ake lv< Per, (if the Onnrgo, 111., Conner, occui-i’es three columns of his; paper with the report of a scrub game of baseball played in that placet. Kciser also returns thanks lor cherries, raspberries and strawberries by tluvbox, which is all berry nice you know'. Fishing with hook and line in the streets of Lafayette is a productive amusement reflecting credit oil the amphibious inhabitants of that metropolis and its efficient street commissioner. The Courier people are responsible for the information upon w hich these observations are based. Last week the townships of Union and Ilochtjster in Fultqn county .voted an additional tax of two 1 per cent, in aid of the New York Western railway enterprise. Tills action swobs the amount of donations in Fulton county to about SBO,OOO besides the subscriptions of private ’individuals. ‘

The National Union, at South Bend, edited by Messrs. Emma and Eddy Alajoy, invites us to “read the ‘Maternity Question’ on the tth page” and then pfovokingly fail; to send hut. the 2d and 3d page's. — These gentlemen having been engaged in the- maternity business tin nisolvcs we have no doubt, their reminiscence? would be readable and instructive. < " —— ' V e have been laboring under the impression for some months past that Milton B. Hopkins was Supcrintendant of Public Instruction in this State, but were enlightened the other day by being shown a letter signed “Win, Henry Ilobbs, Superinfcndunt of Public Instruction.” From Win. Henry’s chirography we should judge he is a young mail who bears his honors very meekly.

At .their session week be.fbr.e last the commissioners of Pulaski county ordered an to be held in Salem township in order,to ascertain tlie wishes of its inhabitants upon the proposition of raising’Vt,OOQf by taxation in aid of the No w/YoVk' 'Western railway enterprise. Tins is the township in which Frances ville is located and it is confidently expected that lire tax will be voted by a large majority. • » ■- Wo find the following receipt for making currant wine in one of our '-.exchanges; ~WTo one quart of ripe currant juice add three . pounds o's sugar am.l water enough to increase this mixture to a gallon. Mix and turn into a keg or demijohn, leaving it'open for two wcbks, or until fermentation subsides, then cork up tightly and let it remain quietly for five'mouths, when it will be fit for use and may be racked off intobottles.”