Beaufort Republican. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1871-1873, 1873-08-21
HAYNE AND WEBSTER.
His Estimate of the New England
observation-disclosures Opinion
of the Two Speakers.

The lion Henry -. Tootc ue'o'co ohc
of his "reminiscences, now IN course OF
publication, to Senator Robert Y. Hayac
of this State, giving an account OF the
wov in Which, as described by himself,
he overcame the habit of stammerlng III
youth. and adding a graceful tribute by
him to his old antagonist, Daniel Web
ster, Mr., Foote writes.
Gen. Hayne was of medium stature.
we'll shaped, and Of a singulary anlma-
ted and mercurial aspect. His eyes were
very bright and dazzling, and OF light
hazel color. His countcnance wore a
very mild and bcnignant expression. Ills
face was cleanly shaven, and he was ele-
cantly but unostentatiously attired. His
manners were marked with graceful and
winning affabiiity which | have never
seen surpassed. I asked him how he
had been able to acquire such wondrous
facility of expression, and such remark
able capacity for keeping alive the inter
est Of his audience. He answered my
queries without any false modesty, and
without particle ofyulgar egotiSm, rery
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 dis
plav. q shall surprise you, | do not
doub', when ! tell you that at sixteen
wears of age | was an awkward, Stammer-
ing boy. l desired TO become q lawyer,
and was even assiduously preparing my
self for the legal profession. A youth
more ambitions Of oratovical distinction
than I was am sure has never lived.
But my friends and relatives all joined III
urging me to give up the hope OF future
renown as speaker, and to devote my
self to some other calling better adapted
to the s!cnderness Of my faculties. They
told me that it was absurd and ridiculous
in one who suffered so abominab'y TO
thiuk Of becoming even tOlerab!e plead
cr ofcau,cs. This mortified nc much,
but | did not 6esist from the struggle III
which | had so zealousl enlisted. /
thought much of the difficulties of a SIM
liar Kind which Demosthencs was report
cd to have encountered, and Of the sue.
cessiul efforts made hy him to overcome
them. | egsayed to find cut all the mys
terics which belonged to our complex yo
cal organ. Ilaborcd from hour to hour,
and from minute to minute, TO ascertain
the precise nature Of those particular
imprdnncnts to clear and easy articuia.
ton under which | was suffering. |
pondered this subject by day, and it was
with me the prompter Of many painful
and OF many plea,ing dream. At length
the light broke IN upon me. L found
that | had never before learned to talk
that | had been suffered all my life TO
iabber confused and unintclligible sounds.
I learned at last that tospcak, in the true
sense Of the word, was to articuiate dis
tinct vocatlg3; that the ardor Of my
Temperament was such, as well as my
ambition, to communicate ideas to the
mind of Others; that | had heretofore
unduly hurried my syllables upon each
ether, or rather tried 10 do so, 50 that
the vocal sounds became ineztricably
interminglcd aud hopclcssly indistinct,
and tha, every flesh effort had involved
me in greater and greater cmbaTass-
mentS. came at last to the conclusion
that the first step ] had to take in order
10 acquire the complete control of my
voice was TO put my own feelings under
the strictrst discipline, to habituatc my
.elf to sober thought, and to learn the
indispensable art Of keeping the iervcnt
scusibiIi.;cS with which ! was endowed
under thorough command and after !
had dome these things i'll an cficc;ua!
manner it would then bc Indispensable
that | should strive to cnunciatc each
syllable that had to utter. clearly and
before attempting TO emit
succeeding one, and 50 on until the
whole sentence, whether long or short,
should have passed forth from my lips.
By pursuing this course ligid!y for a con
siderable period OF time, | hoped that at
last | might accomplish the great object
ihat | was seeking to attain, so that |
should become able TO speak fiuentiy and
with, III pain either to myself or to 9TH
"rS. | pga"tio"l constantly npon these
ideas, aud ii How speak with ease. As
You seem to think, | am indebted for my
in this respect to the labcrs which have
lust described. This is so certainly the
case that assure you were lcvcn now to
attempt to express my>cifin the RAPID
manncr whirh has become 80 common Of
late among young mcm Of fiery Temporal
men; and ofurcha>lcned moral ORGANISM,
| should inevitably &tuttcr Just as disgust
incly as dil f1rty years ago.
ht,er this mtcrcs.in" iec!ta! had closed.
| yln;UrcA 10 rlltr to the great oratorlcal
contest between himself and Mr.. Web
stcr in the national senate, now nearly
half a century ago. and asked lin what
he thought of lIr. Wrh3jcr's powers as a
speaker. lie at once answered that he
supposed him, upon the whole, to bc the
NEST cunsumate orator Of either ancient
or modern tines; that his ability as a
rcasoncr, lie was confident, had never
been exceeded; lhat his imagination was
us fertile and vigorous as that Of Milton
or Homer; that mS knowledge was un-
limited that lie had the most happy
of his temper at ell times, and
that on certain great occa: ions he had
exc Id al the speakers that had ever
lived, not excepting Dcmo,thencs or
Cicero. J then asked him what he
thought ofWcbster' smanIer. Uercplied
that it was always grand and impressive;
that he had never heard him utter Il
word in careless or vul gar style that
l. q, s.o,,cl ,,o,,,, 10 nn,u,t bic nrn JiU,,i-