The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1876-03-26
pTBL1C cHARAcTERs At WASHING TON
ROSCOE CoNKLING.

aaems too tall and awkward to be called a
handsome man. Seen from the Sena.e
gallery, his proportions are softeneo .nSo
harmony, and looking at him from
above, you begin to understand now
II ia that all the female correspondents
IN into ecstacies over his beauty. he reai'y
| ia a splendid looking fellow, and ne Knows
IL. But even the enchautment OF the we"
from the gallery cannot MAKE nl9 s.;u ;,h
cetber lovely when be stands up ana, VIVID
ont turned toes and bending knees, Walks
ACROSS the floor of the Senate Cham Der, IKE
| a echooimaster making an estentatioos uls
play of preserving good ORDER. tns'
abominable gait, which nm HteVeienS 49,
| server compared the other day to the strut
| Of turkey, is the only defect which pre-
| yents the senior Senator from New IorK |
from beiuR a thing of beauty aud JOY Tor,
aver. He is far beyond the middle teighe, a9o
ia stropgy but lightly and grac.tu 'iy hnilt,
and his good taste in dress is soch that MS
Soa fonre alEays appears to advantage In
neatly, fitting clothes. HE face, II not pos,
| lively handsome, ie at least manly, Keen anu
intelIectual. The closely trimmed, pointed
beard covers mouth and chin, but uoes NOV
conceal the cynical sneer "hich is tne nat
tina, expression of the couDtenapce, ana 10
which the hooked nose gives especial eit-
tarress That nose is, even more than Ine
bright cyes on each side "f H. pla'n
warning of the owners acnmen. he Is
an,nhatically what Horace would call
n
nroachiug age which ia now sprinkied IN
Conkliug's whiskers and auburn curls ados
greatly to his appearance, and he ls for
innate in growing bald upon the temples
, and not in the middle of the skuii.
Mr.. Conkling is very Punctual In his Az
: tendapce in the Senate Chamber, aud he
ssems to have acquired that habit of at
tendipg to his private sRsirs while the
; nublic business is carried on tedious'y
around him. Many of his colleagues when
!, for
3 are listless, idle, bored but be Is always oc
cupied with reading or writing. He Is not
beedless Of what is going on, by any
means, and is ready to stand up and take
HIS share in discussion if necessary ouG
. he has evidently adopted the policy OF
sayipp himself for great occasions. he
: considers his resources not so abundant as
C to make it needless to hoard them, and
{ breads that familiarity with bls oratory
u will bring contempt of 1t. Wien ne RISES
g to make a point his full, sonorons voice
commands attention, and he has perfect
: understanding of what he desires TO cay
q that eiyes c!earness aud precision to hls
& utte-ances. There is touch of pomposlty
in his manner, however, and curious Ca
(. dence in his tones which put the listener
IT in mind of a school boy speaking piece.
Thus far in the session Mr.. COnkling has
|. confined himself mainly to adroit little
: criticisms of obnoxious measures, prellm-
mary to q suggestion Of their postponemens
a or their reference to some hostile commit
Y tee. In the pratice of this parliamentary
game he has shown a great deal of skill ;
d but it is through occasio nal, elaborate ora
e, tions, after the manner of Charles Snmuer,
le that the Senator has won his reputation IL
n Washing gton and preserved it. Even ye
ID they talk here of his last great speech oe
10 tending the Presidents course toWaIde Lou
o isiana BY showing that Democratic Admin
O ietration was once equally guilty toward
le Kansas. The-Argument was an untortun
es ate one but its details were characEeEieIii l
at of Conkling's method, and eXhtoiti'eo ~
it customary adroitness, research ana olt
n honesty. 1t is the last quality which ren
ders him suchan effective speaker before
An political meeting and proves him peculiar !
ho irritating to an opponent. ne pears ~
reputation of an honorable gentleman, an
would not probably tell a deliberate lie
ly An Individual friend or enemy: but he
10 one of the most dishonest speakers
he America. I have listened to him ofte
y, and don't think I can recollect $40 9
lat instance in which ever heard him N al
ow a fair statement OF an opponents p9s.tlo
ids or tell the whole truth in giving rehears
ed of facts. Indeed, he seems to forget Il
in ordinary rule of morality in talking TO
lily crowd, and misrepreeents events, mlsi
ns. terprets motives, diBtorts characters, al
ing falsies statistics in way that shows nC g
Of fully he appreciates what Holmes calls e
Y as slow average " of intelligence in an Anne
all lean audience, and proves that he, to
lleo failed to learn more than nine out of the t.
en- commandments. He will never make
the supremely great speech for he aiwa
be- aims at victory and not at truth.
the Senator Conklipg belougs to distin
zere uished family, and possesses even mt
the than his share of hereditary ability.
very brother, Colonel Conkliug, the we'll kno
Z, q Liberal of New York, is man of mark q
said influence, and his father, formerly Mimic
were to Mexico and Judge of the United Sta
1884, Court, was q man of great originality 6
1884, force of character. 1t is from him that
;port Senator derives that pride and haughtin
slis- which make him so unpopular in priv
that life, for the father was so conscious of "
was was due to his own position and achie
ments that he was even jealous of his
and was once intensely disgusted at ht
noHg introduced to an audience as thu" fa'
: the ~ Roscoe Conklipp," In many other
5 and crmstonces the senior Senator from
'eeed York has been peculiarly fortunate. It
noe3 we'll for him that he grew up to public