Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1861-03-26
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Lac eoitor OF Harp~'s Weekly having spent "rwo
Nights in the Senate at Washington. thus aIudes
In his correspondence to hia paper to the witty and
chivalrous WIGrAEIr Of Texas, who aas become s,ch
fostering thorn in the sides Of the Abolition do
tards and whining sycophants that fest the Federal
metropolis:
these speakers He is . finished orator -urobablv
the most charming in the Senate His voice Is clear
melodious, and sufficiently powerful to be heard
everywhere. BE speaks grammatically elegantly and
without effort. He never bawls. He never screams
His delivery ia perfect, and his action suitable
When to these merits l add that he is witty and
smart. I have said every thing that can be said
IN his favor. For he has the misfortune of being
almost always Illogical, Incorrect and often alb
surd. He is duelisk and carries his LIE In his
hand, When be was young man ne went % prac>
tce law in AshmoFes Distr ct. in his native State
south Carolina. BE wrote articles for the country
paper. and made enemies. One of them challenged
nlna- They fought, and Wigfall winged his man
another took mp the eudges. snd was winged Ike
wise. The leading men Of the county notified the
young stranger that he did not SUN their telnper,
and must 60 Wigfall replied that he preferred to
say. II viii shoot o regiment of you, he said.
.butl won't gOr BE shot eight altogether. / be-
ileye znciuding the brother Of the late Preston s.
brooks who shot him too; the two beiligerents lay
seven or eight weeks sde by side, on their beds in
tavern on an island in the Savannah river. The
enc OF the snr was, that Brooks died. and Wigfall,
notwithstanding his bravado, left the State and mi
grated to Texas. 49,.
His reply to Wilkinson and Chandler was ex-
tremely smart. Mr.. Chandler had abused Governor
oyd as common thief and scoundrel Wiofall
twited him with Offering insults for which he would
not respond in the field. 81 will make A bargain
with the Senator he said .H he will write let
ter to Governor Floyd saying, Governor Floyd you
are scOundrel, and am gentlemrn. 'Hezekiah' |
no. mean Jeremiah no, l beg pardon, sZecha- |
ria Chancler.' | will covenant that Gov. Floyd's |
friends shall pay the whole amount which he is ac-
cused of stealing from the United States Treasury"
The Northern trains had just arrived and the gals
leries were full Of Northern spectators. Waving
his hand gracefully TO them, Wigfau continued:
The difficulty between you and us, gentlemen, is,
that you will not send the right kind of people here
Why will you not send either Christians gentle-
mens Either people who will not insult US with
gross words people who will admit their person
al responsibility for their language Chandler had
said that he wanted to see whether we had gov |
srnment: that if we had none he would leave the /
country; he would go to some country where they /
lad one: be would go and live among the Conan /
hes Wigfali ruplied sThe Senator says that un-
Ter certain conditions he will go and 1--we among
he Comanches. God forbid The Comanehes |
laye already suffered muc,l-too much-from con-
act with the white man. His wit and repartee |
overwhelmed his Northern opponents, even in the /
opinion of Northern hearers; though, on the main
questions at issue between them, he was obviously
wrong and they were right So much for good /
lehyery and wellchosen language. /