Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 May 1875 — Hon. Jesse D. Bright. [ARTICLE]

Hon. Jesse D. Bright.

The corps of engineers surveying the Chicago & South Atlantic railroad from Monticello to the Kankakee river, eight in number, arrived at this place from Monticello yesterday. The company will establish an office at Rensselaer for the use of their engineers and contractors, and it is thought that the work ot giading will be commenced in the course of & few weeks—as soon as the survey is finished, grade stakes arb set, and work laid off *.* * - into sections—and completed in ninety its commencement, providing the weather is favorable and tt-6 unforseen accident occurs to prevent it. As we go to press, o’clock Wednesday afternoon) l)r. Ilaymoud, president of- the company, is being expected to arrive in town. At the recent session of thq Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows of this State, that body sustained the action of Bourbon Lodge No. 203 in suspending a member on account of liis having engaged in keeping a liquor saloon. This action is confirmatory of several former decisions, both of State Grand Lodges and the National Grand Lodge, which have held that it was a question wholly within the jurisdiction of the subordinate lodges. Odd Fellowship inculcates the doctrine that intemperance is a dreadful vice, with a long trail! of attendant evils, which should ever be avoided by the members of the order; and to cut of! the membership of those who engage m the indiscriminate traffic of liquor .and of those who indulge in it* use to such an extent as'to neglect business, waste their time and property and destroy their health, is- only the legitimate result of primary teaching. This action of the Grand Lodge will give additional impetus to the hjyrithy temperance sentiment among the members of the Order, and serve to enlist for it the sympathy, respect and encouragement of the best classes of people.' - -- •

M e6srs. Williams & llosslcr, for many years ]»poj>rietors of the Wor//<> crn Jnd lonian at Warsaw, have recently bought the Fort Wayne Gazette, ami will take possession of the office on the first of July. They now offer to sell the stock and good will of their former establishment at a fair price and on easy terms of payment. It is a large office, well supplied with type, presses, and other requisite material, has a large business, and is probably one of s he best “openings” in the newspaper profession that has been made in the State for many years' In this connection The Uniox would also express a wish for the continued prosperity and success of the proprietors of the lndtanian in their new venture and extended field of operations. Although never having met either of the gentlemen, there has been atone of humanity, honesty, and fairness in debate, so constant and so clearly defined in the columns of the Indianian since our table has been graced with it as an exchange, aud its mechanical appearance has been so uniformly neat, that wo have learned to regard its proprietors m the category of those who adortr the profession both as editors and mechanics.

*j[— lion. Jesse D. Bright, ex C S. Senator from Indiana, died at his residence in Baltimore, May .20th of organic disease of the heart. He was born at Norwich, Chenango county, New York, Dee. 18, 1812, and was, when he died, in his 63d year. In early life he set- ' tied in Indiana, and in time was admitted to the practice of law. He was a Democrat. He served a short time as Circuit Judge, was frequently elected to the Legislature, held the office of United States Marshal, and was elected Lieutenant<soyernor. While holding this office hie was unexpectedly elected to the United States Senate in 1845. He took his seat at the incoming of Mr. Polk’s administration in March, 1845. In 1851 he tfras re-elected. At the session of the Legislature in the winter of i856-’7, the Democrats had a majority onjoint ballot. At that time it was the rule for the two Houses to meet in joint session to elect Senators. The Republicans had a ! majority in one branch of the Leg-j

tdatnre. and refused to pass an order to go into joint session. The Ocifioenatic members of the House therefore held what they called a Joint Convention, and elcfetfed Mr. Bright for a third term to the Senate. The question of the ohvi ous illegality of the election was 1 presented to the Senate, where it was permitted to rest unacted on I tor a long time; and, finally, suflh cient Senators who could not vote to confirm him in the seat were induced to absent themselves, and thus permit the election to stand unchallenged. Mr. Bright was a man of ordinary intellectual abilities, lie was not an educated man, nor one of profound thought. He was, however, an adroit, and skillful politician. He was repeatedly chosen as acting President of the Senate, and made a good presiding officer. He was conspicuous in 1859 in deposing Douglas from the Committees on Territories on account of his Anti-Lccomptonism. In 1860 ho united with the Jeff Davis and Slidell and Buchanan faction to defeat the nomination ot Douglas at the Charleston Convention, and became an intimate member of the extreme secession branch of the Democratic party. lie supported Breckinridge for President, though his opportunities lor doing so were limited.' lie remained in the Senate until Ftl ruary, 18(52, when a letter ot his, written in March, 1861, addressed to “JcfVei'son Davis, President of the Confederate States,” introducing a IrieAl who had an invention for an iiirprpved firearm, was brought Id light, and for writing this letter lie was, alter a lame explanation, expelled by a vote of yeas 32, nays 1 i. Mr. Bright, after his expulsion, received little or no sympathy in Indiana, and removed to Kentucky, where he had some estate. Here he has continued to live ever since, almost unknown in the political circles of which lie was once a noisy and active member, lie had been suffering from a disease, or threatened disease of the heart for some time, and recently went to Ba Iti more for med icui t reatment. Chicago Tribune.