The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1860-07-25

49, the iuii play Vf his expressive features.
Then they are Ii, up 10y lightning /; but
no Art of words can reproduce that PIC
ture on paper.
To convey any clear idea of Breckin.
rldge rs parliamentary speaker, il is
necessary to give specimen extracts from
his reported speeches, hut in sketch SO
llmued III plan MS this, these mus, he con-
hned TO the br'-iest space or excluded al
together Those who would see how bis
speeches look III prut should read his v,n
dicaIon ot Gen. Butler. bis review Of the
Nebraska Bill. his address on leaving the
old Senate Chamber, and his eulugrum
upon Henry Clay. These are fair sam,
plies Of hIs style in debate aud IN set
speech. But while they illustrate his
nervous and elegant dlclon, his staIes
manllk- views and his lofty tone Of mind
the, vet fail utterly To give n true npres
son OF him rs an orator For the charm
OF manner is not sci down with the words,
the musical IntonaIlun. the telling eupha.
sis, the graceful and significant gesture,
the high and chivalrous b"uriug. the
deep iervor Of passion, and the electric
tire of bis eye. are all lost. Yet these are
the qualities bv which he is sure TO mag
netize h's auditors INTO sympathy. cap,.
vaie thew Judgments, and luflame them
with his own enthusiasm. UutiI some
subtle process is discovered hy which the
reporter can catch these qualities and cr,s
talze them in'o words. all verbal At.
,enpts 10 describe BreckrurIdg.'s oratory
Must fail.
The wonderful success uf Mr. Breckin
ndge has Teen already referred to, srrnp:v
As All existing fact. but some r-ierrucp To
It's cause and character, and To It's 60 re
Iative-hIS p"pu'anty-Is necessary to
compete wen tins hasv skerch. lis
brst election " Congress MAS wonder
Ia! achievement The district for which
he aas returned WAS the district and
home oI Henry Gay. 1t WAS whig bv u
m"Jo'u, ot sixteen hundred. His com
p-tltor Gen. Leslie Coombs, was one OF
the shr-wdrst lrctcians aud ahiest deh,r
'ers III Kentucky. Yet. Mr.. breckenridge.
heang down thus heavy mnj .ntv, and
this sIr"ng antagouIsr, Was e'ecied hy n
maj rit, OF more ,hah five hundted -
The result WAS n suljrct OF remark IN all
pol,Ical crrcle>. In his second canvass
the Wings evinced resoIute PURPOSE to
recover ',he district, aud hroughl inru tie
feId Goveru"r Leicher-an experienced
campnlguer-ut great ability and estah
lIshed ier"tauom, and altogether the
strongest Wing III The State. The can
vass was q. the hotties; KInd, and many
viii remember the interest and excitement
spread over the ~huIe country. Bnt the
second victory OF the rslmg young Demo
'ral MAS ev' 'uore signal uhnn The first.
Following this came the protfrred mls,
slom 10 SPAN and It's modest decliualure.
Then the Spontaneous call to the Vice
Presidency, then his election to the Sen
ale, aud now the deep and strong under,
current OF popular feeling IN his favor for
the Presidency. Such Unparalleled sue
cess-especi"lly in cur country. aud COR
so yound mau-does not Of course pass
without emphatC remark. 1t is debated
in popular sty Ie and sometimes
with philosophical gravity Some dispose
OF the matler IN "a summary way, OH the
simple theory ol luck" THIS argument
certainly cannot be logically d,sproved.-
Others SAY II is because he is gallant.
genial, high spirited follow hut there are
huhireds Of men Uf that character VIII"
are never heard Of be, ond he smail cir
Gle III which they move. There are those
again who refer his popularity and sue
Cess TO hIs brilliant taien!s: but there are
mSny merely brilliant men who live un
successIul aud die obscure. There are
smll Others who deduce hls intellectual or
physical power as necessary pNysioIoglcnl
psy geological results OF the blood that Is
III him They argue that not only ms
father, bis grandfather. and all his kns
men on the Breckinrldge side were men
Of might and high sense Of honor, but
that s" were his ancestors on The mater
nal side, beginning with the old John
Nmher,poon, Of the Declaration Of Indie
pendeoce, and coming down TO the pres
ent that his Family, throughout our TX
is,ence as n nation. has made lis ozark
upon 'he politics and mo al> al the com
iry and that IL Is because he is sprung
from such race of men that he has run
such a splendid carer. But all this Is
wide Of the mark. The true source OF it
ali is in the man himself, and in the com
mon sense Of the people |: is sheer i'm.
possibility To- account for il on any other
grounds. He may lie sp'Iy described in
his own words applied 10 Butler and
Clay, for he possesses the great qualities
Of b lh. lie is n man pure and incorrur.
tible, Democrat Of the Jackson temper,
n statesman without guile - all the hered
itary instinct Of his race spurning conceal
ment or evasion and in him inleIect,
person, eIoquence and courage unite 20
form a character ft TO command. IRE
we're not such man ie would have met
with no such uninterrupted success. aud
had no such surprising popularity.
But few Of our conventional great mer
bear the test OF close inspection. 1t is
sutjeci OF common remark that nearly
all of them are dwKrfed info the mrresi
mediOcri,y by close aud familiar observa
ton, Ia mosi cAses IL is essentially the