Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-01-03

volume, "Seven Decades Of the Uni0n," gives
some interesting personal sketches. Among
them are the following:
The triangular correspondence had been sue
ccsslul; the convention 20 nominate a president
and vice president had been postponed until az
ter the PENNSYLVANIA elections; the friends of
MIR. Webster h3d used Gen. SCOTS name to de-
feat the nomination of Mr.. Clay, aud General
SCOTS nomination was defeated in turn by that
OF Gen. Harrison in the fall of 1899 Mr. Clay
had been fully warned Of the Vaccinations to
defeat him, and would not give credence to the
friendly caution. He would hardly credit the
device and its success TO the last. In the very
hour Of his defeat he YVES sitting in room in
Browns hotel, anXiOusly awaiting to hear Of
bis nomination. He made most singular eXhi-
billions Of hmselfin that moment Of ardent cX-
Dectaucy He was open and exceedingly pro-
fame in his denunciauous Of the intrguers
against his nomination. We had taken two
whig friends of our district TO see him; and
they had sat some time listening to him, IN ut
ter surprise at his remarks, full of the most i'm
pudent, coarse examinations of Others, in words
BETTING only bar room in vulgar brOil. sud
denly he stopped and turning 70 the two gentle
men, who were dressed in black, and both
strangers to him, he said, But, gentlemen, for
aught | know, from your cloth you may be
parsons, and shocked at my words Let us
take glass OF Wine Aud, rising from his
seat, he walked to a well loaded side-board. at
which, evidently, he had been imbbng deeply
before We entered.
Fhereupon we bowed and took leave One of
the gentlemen, after retiring, remarked, Chat
man can never be my political idol again." and
from that time to this he has ceased to admire
him. In a short time after that he Mr.. Claw
went across the avenue 10 the parlor of his
boarding house, where he awaited the arrival of
two of his personal friends, on the night of the
nomination at Harrisburg, to bring him the
news and tnal proceedings and choice of the
WhiL convention.
We went 10 the depot and cot the intelligence
of the nomination Of General Harrison aud Mr..
Tyler, and FASTENED back TO him with the news
Such an exhibition We never witnessed before,
and we pray never again to witness such an
cbullitonOt pa sion, such storm of desperation
and curses. He rose from his chair, and walk
ing backward and forward rapidly, lifting his
feet like a horse strlnghalted in both legS,
stamped bis steps upon the floor, eXClaiming,
"My friends are not worth the powder and shot
it would take to kill themI He mentioned the
names Of several invoking upon them the most
horrid imprecations, and then, turning to us,
approached rapidly, and stopping before us
with a violent gesture and loud voice, said:
IF there were two Henry Clays, one of them
would make the other president OF the United
States!'
DANIEL WEBSTER.
OF Mr.. Webstcr's public life nothing need
here be said. His private intercourse was even
more attractive than his position as Statesman
was commanding He was, when in the rirbt
mood, the most genial of companions and his
conversation was more delightful and instructive
than his speeches Or OrationS. Ca one occasion
we went into the senate chamber, and were
standing alone in the lobby listening to some
dull debate; he was sitting in his usual place,
net occupied, and hardly attending to what was |
going on but thoughtful, and, as was his habit
when musing, pulling one Of his ears. As we |
were hooking at him he caught our eve, rose |
Immediately from his seat, came to where we |
were and took us by the arm, SAYING, Come |
here There was Il map OF the United States |
hanging behind the Vice-prcSd1n1S chai~ TO |
which he led us and inquired, "Where do Won
live? Snow me the spot We pointed to the |
spot Of the eastern shore, on the Virginia coast |
opposite the Met0mpkiu inlet. "Well," said he, |
edo you ever shoot cnllcws and will will |
wIllets?' We replied, Eyes He then dcscanted |
on the habits of those birds and the times of |
son his custom was to shoot them off Nahant per- |
hapS, and that, according 10 his calculation ofcll-
mate and distance, about two or three weeks |
after he began shooting tnem there they |
migrated to the Nirainia coast. "NOw," said |
be, remember that if you see any crippled ones |
down your way after about that time they are |
my birds" This was said with magic 9cni- |
altty, and without waiting for our reply, he |
asked: "Wherc did your ancestors come lIom?' |
We told him that our blood was half English |
and half Scotch All our parenal ancestors |
came IRON the North of England, and most of |
the prPposti had been clergymen; that the |
only marked men among them he had heard of |
was Sir William Wise, distinguished for his |
wit, whom Henry the Eighth had llnighted for |
grailtl inT his spleen against the French by |
saying, when asked what the phrase feUr-de-iS |
meant, Ii means French lice SIRE He
laughed, and then grayey told us his reason
for asking who our ancestors were. Near
his fathers residence, along the New Hamp-
shire coast, dwelt an English pensiOner.
a bachelor, alone in Il small fsdermans cot,
named Daniel Wise. That his name was no
dtcuS a non MceH9O for he was a very Daniel
judge indeed Of most things, and especially OF
men, and was exceedingly good and wise bv ma
ture as well as by name; and was the best mas
ter Of 4 boat the most cunning in fishing craft
and tackle, and the most inyetCrate fisherman
he ever heard Or read OF, Izaak Walton not ex-
cepted. Mr.. Webster, when boy, was devoted
to fishing, and thus won the heart of "Uucle
Daniel Wise who taught him to fix his hook
and line, and bait, aud always fondly took
him in his boat, whenever be was allowed by his
mother to venture out upon the water
He was dead MANY years before, it seemed
and we could never compare genealories with
him. This little incident first drew us near to
Mr.. Webster socially, aud we were grateful af.
ierward for an opportunity to hear him talk in
the same strain, when he was in the mood to
Go 1t, with his heart rs well as with his tongue
AT such times we preferred listening to his mar
ratiOns TO reading SCOTS best novels; so simple,
pure, and touching was his genial path0S; his
eyes were great, pathetic eyes, !" oxlke, beam
ng generous, genial thoughts, gracious and
great. Clay, in comparison with him, socially,
was what Tom Marshall called him, sublime
BLACKBOARD"