The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-07-20

must trespass to quote his words:--'Doth n
wild ass bray while he hath grass, or loweth
the OK over his fodler? BY this time his
form was bent down towards his hearers, his
fun-spealing eye was glancing from one
coUntenance TO another, while uproariou5
luirh seemed leaping out of every muscle of
that incompatible face. 1t was perfectly ir-
resistble. My father stood by me. 1 never
saw him in such paroXysms of laughter as
when that ''ass" and that COX" were paraded
He and others laughed until the tears ran in
streams down their faces. The vast crowd
poured forth peal after peal of laughter such
as | never saw equalled. For several minutes
laughter ruled the multitude and sthed
speech. After quiet was restored Mr. Corwn
spoke for some time, and then introduced
Thomas Ewing then great favorte in Ohio,
whose power and popularity were shown in
his ability to address that audience after
such a speech as Mr.. Corwn's.
STUDENT AND ORATOR.
If any one will be at the pains to read any
of Mr.. Corwin's speeches-I mean his elabo-
rate speeches such as that on the Mexican
war in 1916 in the Senate of the United
States, he will find how unjust they are to
him who regard him as merely the incompa-
rable story-teller and actor. That he was
such is true, but that he was no more is
very far from being true. He was pro-
found student of history and biography, of
nations and of men. His knowledge of the
latter made him the peerless orator of
the masses; his knowledge of the former
made him, if not the greatest, yet
one of the great statesmen of his day
If any one will recall his magnificent
speech at GAINESVILLE in 1914, on the annexa-
tiOn of Texas, or his speech on the Mexican
war two years afterwards, he will see how
clearly he apprehended his own times, and
the spirit which was dominating and coercing
our politics to the dreadful issues which
| frowned on us in 1850, and burst with un-
mitigated fury upon us in 1861. In 1913 he
| delivered a speech in the Senate on Free
Soil against Slavery and l venture to say
there is no more scorching raillery to be
found, or one that does more honor both to
the head and humanity of its author, than
this terrible ridicule of the maxim, "PartUS
! scguitlr C6Ht1em"- the child follows the con-
| dition of the mother.
HUMANE TENDENCIES.
A stage-coach companion once related to
| me an incident about Mr.. Corwin which
showed the humane and even religious lean
ings of his mind, although not by profession
a religious man. A Bible Society meeting
was to be held in Lebanon on some weekday
evening, and although well advertised, but
few were present. Among the few was Mr..
COIWll, anu ulJGI waiting SOllle llllc lOI more
| attendants, he himself began to talk in a
plain and unpretentious manner about ''this
Book of God as containing the remedy for
| every human woe. He was seated among a
little knot of friends, who heard him speak
with warming eloquence about the law
of this book, its poetry, eloquence,
prophecies and especially its Christ. Or
this latter theme he discoursed with more
than eloquence, delineating the divine beauty
r a II. l,
worthy of ''the blind preacher" The prac
teal knowledge of this book and of this
Christ is what every man in the world needs
so he said-and yet the most of mankind
have no such knowledge. The world is star
wing to death for want of this And suppose
that we should hear that people in an adjoin
ing State or neighborhood were starving fO
want of bread, and meeting were called tt
consider the means of getting the bread anC
carrying it to the starving, what should w
say if only such response were made to tina
call as is made by Christian people in thi
town tonight to call to consider how to Civ
the bread of life to the millions perishing o
spiritual starvation
My informant says that Corwin spoke fo
an hour to that little circle of favored peopl
in this strain of beautiful eloquence concern
ing the Bible, and Christ, and the starving
world, although he did not come to take an
part In the services. mat discourse, IN TN
gentleman's opinion, was of such a noble, bele
vated, eloquent sort, as to merit such hear
ing as it might have had in Broadway TabeI
nacle or Exeter Hall.
The secret of Corwins power con
sisted in the persistency with which he KEEP
pressing his own convictions on you. TO hi
own mind those convictions were very clear
and they were held by him as very import
ant. To make others believe as he did, h
resorted to every fair means, and perhap
sometimes to unfair. Throughout his mos
humorous speeches there ran a chain of logi
which he held on to with the greatest tena
city, despite any apparent wanderings fo
the purpose of telling an anecdote or bringin
in some eloquent illustration. This is yer
finely shown in the speech referred to-''Fre
Soil Against Slavery and so was it in tn
GAINESVILLE speech. His anecdote became a
argument, and by the laugh he raised fore
in the direction he was leading you. All h
arguments became living force, not merel
by what he said, but by SO saying it as
gather all the magnetism of his audience, an
concentrating it on the given point.