TITF, OMAHA SUNDAY BEF, : JULY 2R. IPOS.
A
H
SPELLBINDERS OF THE PAST
Famous American Campaigners and
How They Swayed Audience.
NOTED NAMES ON THE EOSTEB
Style, Methods and rower of Clay,
WrMIrr, Conkllng, Rlnlne, (w.
era", DmtlMi Llocola
and Bryan.
No chapter In our political ennals Is
richer In human Interest than the one
which has to do with the men whose rift
of eloquence and persuading speech haa
been a deciding Influence In more than one
presidential canvass. The namea of Henry
Clay and Daniel Wibtr head the roster
of the greater campaign oratora of the
past.
Clny, perhaps, waa a more popu
lar orator than Webster. Ills waa a
voice of great compass, power and mel
ody, and with It he moved at will even
a hostile assemblage to smiles and tears
and enthusiasm. Clay's skill In elec
tioneering, however, waa due largely to
Ms famllarlty with the manners and
customs of farmers, tenants and laborers.
When he was first a candidate for the
Kentucky legislature, he trained the sup
port of a company of riflemen by success
fnllr shooting at a mark. On another
pcrsslon, when a candidate for re-elc
tlon to congress, he met an old hunter
who had previously been one of his
champions, but who now opposed him on
account of hla action on a certain bill.
"Have you a good rifle, my friend?" asked
Clay. "Yes." "Does It ever flash In the
pun?" "Once only." "What did you do
with It, throw It away?" "No, I picked
the flint, tried again, and brrliight down
the game." "Have I ever flashed except
on that hill?" "No," quickly replied the
hunter, nearly overpowered by hla en
thuslasm; "I will pick the flint and try
you agnln." Clay's opponent often i
certalned to their cost that he could be
Ironical and sarcastic, but he usually re
sorted to satire In self-defense, and was
seldom himself the aggressor.
Webster's Power aa an Orator.
Webster's triumphs on the stump were
of a different but no less decisive order.
When he was to speak no hall waa big
enough to contain those who desired to
hear him, and with his pre-eminent
power of speech,' his singular charm of
presence and his dignity of carriage and
demeanor, he never failed to profoundly
move his auditors.
The Impression has been current that
Webster's great speeches were unstudied.
, but aa a matter of fact, he always was a
laborious student, and In the early part
of his career he expended a great deal of
time In the preparation of his public ad
dresses. On one occasion, when the first
message of William H. Seward, then gov
ernor of New York, was Issued. Webster
was appealed to for his opinion of the
document. "Governor Seward," he replied.
"Is a very able man and a very able writer,
The only thing he needs to learn Is how to
scratch out." A fellow senator expressed
some surprise at this remark, and said
that no one who read Webster'a addresses
or listened to his speeches could suppose
that he ever had occasion to altar or amend
anything that came from hla pen.
"However that may be now," was Web
ster's answer, "a very large part of my
life has been spent in 'scratching out.'
When I was a young man, and for.rome
years after I had acquired a respectable
degree of eminence In my profession, my
style was bombastic and pompous In the
extreme. Some kind friend was good
enough to point out that fact to me, and
I determined to correct It If labor could
do It. Whether It has been corrected or
not no small part of my life has been
spent In the attempt."
Orator. Wit and Hamorlat.
Alter Clay and Webster the most popu
lar stump orator of the first half of the
last cemtury was Thomas Corwln of Ohio,
A born humorist, Corwln. at every stage
of hla long career, made a business o
searching out the Jocularities of current
luetics and using them to lighten the se
riousness of statesmanship. But humor
wis not his only gift. He possessed also
a poetic sense, which he had cultivated by
a diligent study of the beRt English poets,
and he ktve w how to temper that sense
so that la would appeal to the throng.
Thus It was that his speeches, based on
solid political truth, were a'so Illustrated
by wit, by ancedote and by Imagery rich,
yet simple, such as the layman could un
derstand. Corwln was unexcelled as
stump orator . while he lived and his au
perlor had not appeared since his death
The people of Ohio were at his feet, and
there waa no office In their gift that they
did not bestow upon him. His last years,
however, were shadowed by the belle
that his career had been handicapped by
his reputation aa a wit and humorist.
"My dear Garfield," said he to the future
president Just before his death, "be sol
emn; solemn as an ass. All the monu
ments In the world are built to solemn
'asses.' "
Another famous campaign orator of
sixty years ago was Sergeant S. Prentiss,
Women Who Wear Well.
It la astonishing how great a change a
lew years of married Ufa often make In
the appearance and disposition of many
women. The freshness, the charm, tha
trllllance vanish like the bloom from a
M-ach which It rudely handled. Tha
matron ! only a dim shadow, a faint echo
of the charming maiden. There are two
reasons for this change. Ignorance and
neglect. Few young women appreciate
the shock to the system through tha
change which comes with marriage and
motherhood. Many noglect to deal with
the unpleasant pelvic drains and weak
nesses which too often come with mar
riage and motherhood, not understanding
that this secret drain Is robbing the cheek
cf Its freshness and the form of It
fairness.
As surely as the general health suffers
hen there I deXQgement of the health
of the delicate woniaTHtforgana. so surely
SAhtrfTthe organs rJX$iblished la
kealh the face sjiwjrv4t0re witness
to the Tic t In resrfrcd conieTrna Nearly
million women have found health and
hp)ines In the uso ofDr. Fierce's Fa
vorite Prescription. It makes weak worn
eu strung and sick women well, lngreul
nis on label contains no alcohol or
harmful habit forming drugs. Made
wholly of those native, American, medio
Inal roots raoet highly reconmended by
leading medical authorities of all the sev
eral schools of practice for the cure of
woman's peculiar ailments.
For nursing motbers,or fur those broken
own In health by too frequent bearing of
children, also for the eipertant mothers,
to prepare the orators) for Use easotusj of
l.sby and making It advent aa and
Usjost painless, there Is no medicine quit
so good as Favorite Prescription. It
can do no harm la any condition of the
system. It is a most poWajt invigorating
ionic and strengthening nervine nicely
jdapted to woman's deUcata system by a
nysician 01 large experience in tbe treat-
Consultatloa by letter res of charge.
Address: Ir. Pierce's Invalids' Hotel an4
Kurglcel Institute, No. 004 Main totreeW
native of Maine, who, removing at an J mer of IK he met Abraham Lincoln In )
early age to Mississippi, there rose. In
space of time extraordinarily brief, to a
aster place at the bar. rTentlsa as sn
orator was Inferior to Webster and Clay
In vigor and strength, but he was the
equal of any man of his time In the reedy
lnqunnoe which captivates a popular as
sembly. He was never at a loss for an
plgram or a retort, and his Impromptu
speeches where his beet efforts. Ben Per
ley Poors somewhere relates a good story
of one of Prentiss' campaigns In his
dopted stste. He had arralnged a route,
nd one of his friends had gone ahead to
make arrangements for a hall In each
successive town, and to advertise the
meeting there. The proprietor of a travel-
ng menagerie took advantage of these con
gregations and followed, exhibiting at each
place on the day that Prentiss spoke. The
first Intimation that the orator had of the
rivalry was at a small town In the northern
part of the state, near the Alabama line,
After Prentiss had been speaking for an
hour, holding the attention of his audience,
e observed some of the outsiders looking
over their shoulders, and this movement
was gradually followed by more of his
udlencc. He began to think he was
growing dull and endeavored to rouse him
self up to more animation; but It waa all
vain. He at length looked In the pop
ular direction, and there, to his horror,
ust coming across the hill, was an ele
phant dressed In scarlet trappings and
oriental splendor. A foolish feeling of
vanity, not to be outdone by an elephant,
came over htm and he continued to talk
on. He found It was no use. "Well,
ladles and gentlemen, said he, I am
beaten. But I have the consolation of
nowlng that It was not by my competi
tor. I will not knock under to any two-
legged beast, but I yield to the elephant
A Circes on the Side.
Prentiss afterward made an arrangement
with the proprietor of the menagerie to
divide time with the monkey and the clown,
the first hour being given to politics. One
of the cages waa used aa a rostrum. 8, ion
he heard a low sound, which resembled
growl, and learned that the hyena was
his nearest listener. There were large au
ger holes in the top of the box for the ad'
mission of air. Prentiss commenced speak
ng, and when he reached the blood and
thunder portion of his speech he ran his
cane Into the case and called forth a most
horrible yell from the enraged animal, at
the same time gesticulating violently with
the other hand. "Why, fellow citizens,,"
he would exclaim, "the very wild beasts
are shocked at the political baseness and
corruption of the times. See how this
worthy fellow Just below me Is scandalised
Hear his yell of patriotic shame and indig
nation." The effect waa electric; he called
down the house In a perfect tempest of
enthusiasm. He hurled his anathemas at
his foes and enforced them by the yells of
his neighbors,
The campaign efforts of John Van Buren
and of Jamil W. Nye belong to a somewhat
later period in our political history. "Van
Buren," said General Thomas L. James not
long ago, "was the finest stump speaker
brought forward by the free soil movement
Unlike his father, Martin Van Buren, Prince
John was ot slcndid proportions. Like
Conkllng, he waa a man whom It did the
eye good to look upon when he appeared In
public; but unlike Conkllng, he attracted
by a delightful mannerism and gained ex
traordlnary popularity, which Is Illustrate!
nowadays by the sobriquet of Prince, firs
applied to him by Thurlow Weed, by which
he was always afterward known. He dl
not dislike to be called Prince John. He
had achieved a fine reputation as a lawyer
before he took a very active part In politics,
and had he been possessed of that ambition
which mastered his father he might havo
gained as many successes as the fathi
won. . Prince John, however, was a hall
fellow-well-met, yet always dignified, fond
of the good things of life, possessed of
wonderful animal spirits, a keen sense of
humor, with a repugnance for some of the
responsibilities and trials of office holding,
The young men of the present generation
cun hardly realize the extent of his popu
larlty nor how great was his fame. The
older generation alone remembers him, and
It does seem strange that a man who had
such extraordinary gifts and such wide
spread popularity should now be almost
forgotten."
Van Birrs on the "tnnip
Others who heard Van Buren bear witness
to the fact that In wit and humor he was
almost without a rival at the bar or on the
stump. An" example cited by one of hi
biographers Illustrates the tendency of til
mind In this direction. At an early perlo
of his career at the bar of New York City
whence he had removed from Albany, he
argued the weak side of a case before th
general term of the supreme court. Ho
had not proceeded far In the argument of
his first point when the presiding Judge
(Kdmonds) said to him, "Mr. Van Buren
we cannot see that there is anything I
your first point." Van Buren answered
"Then I will go to the next point." H
argued but a short time when the presid
ing Judge said, "Mr. Van Buren, If
we understand you correctly, there don'
appear to be anything to your second
point." Van Buren, replied. "Then
will take up my next point." Judge
Edmonds soon Interrupted him with the
same remark he had made In respect
the preceding points. Van Buren said
Then I will waste no further time on
my third point, and will at once argue
my fourth point." Thus he went through
seriatim with his different points, the
presiding Judge saying In respect to each,
"There Is nothing In It." When Va
Buren finished the argument of his last
point, Judge Edmonds (after a whispered
consultation with his associate Judges)
said, "Mr. Van Buren, after consulting.
we all agree that we cannot perceive
that there Is anything In any of your
points." Said Van Buren, throwing down
his papers on the table. "I never could
see anything In any of them; but as your
honors are so much better lawyers than I
am. I did not know but you might."
Nye was also a man of Infinite jest, but
his humor was seasoned with shrewd com
mon sense, and hie gift for telling Illus
tration never failed him. All of his
speeches were full of droll Illustrations
Ms wit was caustic yet delightful, and
word that he was to speak always drew
a crowd. His brilliant Intellect was ob
scured, however, and he died utterly un
conscious of what he was or what his
victories had been.
Campaigners Before the War.
The greatest campaign orators of the
decade preceding the civil war were
William II. rVward. Stephen A. Douglas
and Abraham Lincoln. Seward never
was a popular stump speaker, but he
always was an Impressive one, especially
effective In his appeal to tnttllectual
audiences. Douglas, on the other hand,
waa at his best when delivering an Im
promptu speech before a mixed assem
blage. He was a small man like Seward,
and Benton once said of him that he
could never be president because his
coat-tails came too near the ground;
yet no orator ot his time seemed of such
Imposing stature as Douglas did when
tn the fury and passion of one of his
stump addresses. Blaine asserted that
he was In some respects, perhaps In
most, the ablest campaigner, the demo
crat lo party has produced. Certain It Is
that none surpassed this "little giant"
tn personal Influence over the masses
of the people, nor did any Inspire mors
devoted friendship.
Only once was Douglas worsted on tbe
liiinn .nd that waa vlian tn th .urn.
series of Joint debates, the prise con-
ested for being the seat !n the federal
senate, then held by Douglas. Lincoln s
work In these debates gave him rank as
the most successful of American stump
speakers, for his arguments not only
served to crystallite the struggling ele
ments In the prty which he represented,
so ss to enable It three years later to
enter upon a national canvass with easy
promise of auccess, but they also served
to make him the candidate of his party.
The spirit In which Lincoln Joined this
fateful meeting with Douglas Is best Il
lustrated by an anecdote related long
afterward by Leonard Swett.
I believe, Abe, you can beat Douglas
for the senate. You can carry the leg
islature If you make the best uso of
your opportunity," ssld Swett to Lincoln
on the eve of the first debate.
"No, Len, I can't beat him for the
senate, but I'll make him beat hlmslt
for the presidency!"
In the course of Joint debate he asked
Douglas what would become of popular
sovereignly If the Dred Scott decision were
accepted by law. Douglas replied that the
territorial legislature could hold slavery
back. If not by prohibition, at least by re
striction and Impediment. Douglas had to
make that answer to placate the free soil
democrats of Illinois. It assured his re
election to the senate. But It also alien
ated the slave-state democracy from him,
and thereby precluded any chance he might
otherwise have had for the presidential
nomination of the united democracy In ls0.
But," pursued Mr. Sweet, "at the mo
ment when Lincoln said he would 'make
Douglas beat himself for the presidency,"
he had no more Idea of being nominated
and elected to that office than he had of
being crowned emperor of China."
Darls, Conkllng, Garfield and Blnlne.
After the civil war came a new genera
tion of superb stump speakers, a generation
which included Henry Winter Davis,
Koecoe Conkllng, James A. Garfield and
James G. Blaine. Davis, who was for sev
eral terms a member of congress from
Maryland, died too soon for the full ripen
ing of hla fame and Influence, but he lived
long enough to make for himself an un
usual place In our political history. Those
who opposed him called him Impracticable,
yet friend and foe alike bore cheerful wit
ness to the gifts of speech which enabled
him to sway with ease the most turbulent
assembly. Fierce, impassioned, and at
times vindictive, he was for a dozen years
the most powerful orator south of Mason
and Dixon's line.
Conkllng brought to the stump the
methods of the partisan chief, and he was
never so much at home as when In the
thick of the fray. He was without creative
genius, but he was an Irresistible cham
pion, and In the ability to vigorously set
forth- the Ideals of his own party or to
ridicule with Invective and sarcasm those
of his adversaries he was without an equal
In his time. He was master of what Cicero
called the apt classic and ornate style of
oratory, and his brilliant, melodramatic
career was due mainly to his use of It
a use which made him supreme In his
ability to enforce his Immediate purpose.
Had some of his traits of character been as
skilfully adjusted to his ambition aa was
his gift of speech his political end would
not have been In sorrow.
Garfield, like Conkllng, owed his political
triumph to his gifts as an orator; and in
truth a collection of his speeches would
furnish a complete epitome of the history
of the era of which he was a part. The
least of his speeches were marked by
thought and Imagination, and they often
rose Into splendid and stirring eloquence.
A master of clear, condensed statement
"he gathered up at the climax of speech,'
wrote an old associate, "all of the forces of
statement and logic he had been marshal!
Ing, and hurled them upon his listeners
with tremendous force," while "his ges
tures became so analytic and forcible that
he seemed, at times, to be beating down
opposition with sledge-hammer blows
iiiiuwiiiH nis arguments forward like a
shot from a cannon." No stump speaker
from 186a to 1S80 was In greater demand In
all parta of the country than Garfield
jiraine naa tne equipment of a great
popular orator, and he early gained and
maintained until the end a hold upon the
affections of the people surpassing that
enjoyed by any other American statesman
save Henry Clay. He was. Colonel Mc
Clure tells us, "the most magnetic man I
have ever met." The animosities which at
tend upon long continued leadership cost
Blaine the presidency, for which he was a
candidate In four national conventions, but
never the foremost place accorded to him
by the rank and file of his party, and the
memory of him that endures Is that of
one of the ablest, bravest, and most
ardently beloved of our public men.-Rufus
Rockwell Wilson In Brooklyn Eagle.
PAMPAS GRASS THE NEWEST
8 I I I
Jill
is the
" iw t-araaol Handles I
latest Fad of Purl.
Women.
Paris has a new fad for women In pam
pas grass for parasol handles. The grass
Is put forth under the catchy name of
raffia, but It comes from the banks of the
Congo. Just the same. Light and summery
In effect, the grass has caught the fancy
of Parisians, but the Idea has been carried
to the barbaric by the use of the rubles,
pearls, and emeralds. The long, flexible
strands are laced around a light bamboo
frame, and this design has tho beauty of
.inpui:iiy. cui tne Parisians, never be
yond Is criticism In taste, must have it dif
ferently, and near the top of the handle
they show the rubles, pearls, and emeralds
peeping through the grass. Some of these
gems are attached to the bamboo by silver
or gold; some are simply held In place by
the gross Itself. Parasols of this descrip
tion have been put on the market at li.000
and fl.SOO apl-ce, which seems to place them
beyond the rach of the women who does
not count herself a spendthrift. It Is be
lieved, however, that the fashion will
spread without Its Jtwel attendant, and
that the pampas grass will be used In many
other ways, especially for hats.
Deadly Fright
possesses sufferers from lung trouble till
they learn Dr. King's New Discovery will
help them, eoc and $1.00. Tor sale by Boa
ton Drug Co.
DO "YOUTo
SHOES HURT
Don't blame the shoes
It's your corn
CACTUS
CORN CALLOUS
COMPOUND
tlQ ran Cons, Ctllouot, Bnnhrai S3i
Iift-Eeiy Foot hwien, lit
CACTUS KUBSY CO..
KANSAS
CITY,
MO.
to... V.
It
TO...
Yeltowstoic Part
Goes right to the park boundary from whence all
the noted sights in the park are best reached. The
Geysers, Mammoth Hot Springs, Grand Canyon,
Yellowstone Lake, etc. Buy your tickets over the
IPAC
niFncc
and you can then take in Denver and Colorado
points, also Salt Lake City enroute.
jjy
Trains on Union Pacific are protected by the
A-ottOFimsitiSc
Oloelk
3stioinni
MM
reducing the possibilities of
accidents to a minimum.
mm. ii - " ' ' ''P'K.
For books and other in
formation, inquire at
City Ticket Office,
1324 Farnam Street.
Phonest Douglas 1828s Ind. A32M
etuuaio, XI. X,
