Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1871-07-14


Tom has made better speech for mi
than | made myself. The correction
made were chiefly verbal, striking out
word of three syllables aud inserting {
word of one which expressed the sam,
thought, After this correction he woulc
ask us to read over the sentence again
waen he wouldsay; THAT is an improve
ment there is great power and beauty
In these short Saxon words" About
midnight the speech was finished, and
halfofit, at least, was in type atour office
to appear next day. A large extra edi-
ton had been ordered by the Wing State
Committee, for gratuitous circulation, II
was very excellent speech, but not one
of Mr., Webster's best
After the labor was over we two sat
down by the fire, and Mr.. Webster be-
gan conversation in regard to the can
vass, and especially in regard to Mr..
Clay. Up to that moment we had sup
posed that the two great men were warm
ly friendly with each other, that there
were no dislikes and jealousies existing
between them. We were very soon sat
lshed that so far as Mr.. Webster was
concerned good deal of ill-feeling ,Inot
TO say bitterness, existed We were a
most devoted admirer of both gentlemen,
but our strongest affections were intense
ly in favor of Mr.. Clay. We were therefor
not only very greatly surprised, but deep
ly chagrined and mortified when Mr..
Webster said 81 do not believe Mr.. Clay
viii be elected !" and then made use of
almost the same words which he used
few years afterward in speech at Spring
field, in lS47 that there was no North,
that the South always carried its point
IN these national conventions, and that
twas unseemly and wrong thatthe Wings
should haveselecteda STAKEHOLDER as their
candidate, and have neglected the claims
Of Northern men. We don't pretend to
quote Mr.. Webster's exact language; we
quote it as nearly correct as we can but
the idea, the thought, were what we state.
The conviction was pressed firmly on our
mind that Mr. Webster, in his inmost
heart. did not wish the election of Mr..
Clay; that he thought he should have
been the candidate himself, and that he
would have been had it not been for the
pusilanimity and cowardice of the North
ern Wing leaders, who had been false to
their own great men, and conferred their
honors upon Southern shareholders. We
sat in silent establishment as Mr.. Webster
went on, and listened with sorrowful at
tention. We could hardly believe that
any one, and least of all Mr.. Webster,
could have thought for one moment that
any other Wing candidate than Mr.. Clay
could have been nominated, or could
have had the faintest prospect of success
If he had been. The truth was, that in
some respects Mr.. Clay was stronger than
his party, and Mr.. Webster, as "a popu-
lar candidate outside of Massachusetts,,
was much weaker than his party. The
was carried on for more
than an hour. although we said little
during the time, and we went home a
sadder, If not a wiser man, than we we're
IN the morning. We never spoke ofthis
to any one until after the
election had been decided against Mr..
Clay, and then only to very few per-
sonal friends. 1t only showed that great
men will have their ambitions and weak
nesses as well as others not so great, and
that they are as liable to be mistaken in
regard to the current of popular opinion
as the most humble in the land"
w. S.