Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1873-08-28
Hayne and Webster.
How the South Carolina Orator
Conquered his Stammering-His
Estimate of the New England
Statesman.

, one of his "reminiscences, nov
being published in the Wash
ington Chronicle, to ex-senator
Haynes, Of South Carolina, civ.
ing an account of the way il
which, as described by himself
he overcame the habit of STAN.
Imering in youth, and adding {
graceful tribute by him to his
old antagonist, Daniel Webster
Mr.. Foote writes:
General Hayne was one of
medium stature, we'll shaped
and of a singularIy animated
and nercurial aspect. His eyes
were very bright and dazzling,
and Of light hazel color. His
countenance wore a very mild
and benignant expression. His
face was cleanly shaven, and he
was elegantly but mostenta-
tiously attired. His manners
were marked with a graceful and
winning affability. which I have
never seen surpassed. l asked
him how he had been able to
acquire such Wondrous facility
of expression, and such remark
able capacity of keeping alive
the interest Of his audience
He answered my queries with
out any false modesty, and with
out a particle of vulgar egotism,
very nearly in these words
You give me credit for much
facility Of expression, and for
having successfully cultivated
to some extent the graces Of
rhetoric display. / shall sur
prise you, l do no, doubt, when
[ tell you that at sixteen years
of age I was an awkward, stam-
mering boy. I desired to be-
come lawyer, and was even
then assiduously preparing my
self for the legal professiOn.-
\ youth more ambitious for ora
| torical distinction than [ was |
am sure has never lived. But
my friends and relatives all
joined in urging NE to give up
the hope Of future renown as a
speaker, and to devote myself
to some other calling better a.
dapted to the slenderness Of my
faculties. They told me that it
was absurd and ridiculous in
one who suffered so abOmina-
bly, to think Of becoming ever a
tolerable pIeader of causes
This mortified me much, but I
did not desist from the strug-
gle in which l had so zealously
enlisted. | thought much of
the difficulties of a similar
kind which Demosthenes was
said to have encountered and
/ of the successful efforts made
by him to overcome them. l
diligently studied the tones Of
my voice. | essayed to find
out all the mysteries which be-
longed to our complex vocal or
gans. | labored from hour to
hour, and from minnie to min
ute, TO ascertain the precise ma
ture of those particular imped-
iments to a clear and easy ar
ticulation under which l was
suffering. l pondered this sub
iect by day, and twas with me
the prompter Of many painful
and of many q pleasing dream.
At length the light broke in up
OH me. found that l had nev-
er before learned to talk; that |
had been suffered all my life to
iabber confused and Unintelli-
gible sounds. l learned at last
that to speak, in the true sense
of the word, was to articulate
distinct vocables; that the ardor
of my temperament was such
as we'll as my ambition to COM
municate ideas to the minds Of
others, that I had heretofore un-
duly hurried my sylIables upon
each other, or rather tried to do
so, so that the vocal sounds be-
come inextricably intermingled
and hopelessly indistinct, and
that every fresh effort had in
volved me in greater and in
greater embarrassments. l came
at last to the conclusion that
the first step | had to take i'll
order to acquire the complete
control of my voice was to put
my own feelings under the
strictest discipline, to habituate
myself to sober thought, and
learn the indispensable art of
keeping the fervent scnsibili-
ties with which | was endowed