The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1878-01-11
cHoATE As AN ORATOR.
A Famous Speech, Hitherto unpuh-
lished, in Reply to Buchanan.
ALEX. H. stephens in Christmas Gazette.


lished, in Reply to Buchanan.
| ALEX. II. Stephens in Christmas Gazette.]
Perhaps the "reminiscences of a mar
! who entered the arena of public life
forty years ago may not prove unin'
| teresting at this time, and the many
| changes that have taken place i'll thai
| period render his recollectiOns of some
value Independent of any other cir
| cnmstance. / entered Congress i'll
| 1913, when l was of the age of thirty
one years, when the second genera
| ton of the great statesmen were still
on the boards, tapping the revolution
ary age. They were III the full vigor Ol
intellect, and still figuring prominent
| ly on the public stage. John Quincy
! Adams was member of the House OF
Representatives. Calhoun, Clay and
Webster were the three great leaders
of particular political ideas. They
were known as the great American
trio of their respective schools. One OF
the first deep impressions made upon
my mind was 10y Rufus Choate, OF
Massachusetts,. Early in my first ses-
sion had gone into theSenate tosee Mr..
BerTien, of Georgia. While L was
about leaving the Senate chamber the
order of the day was called and before
/ reached the door the tones of voice
of speaker attracted my attention. l
turned i'm the direction of the orator,
and saw before me n remarkable-lOok-
ing man of medium size, with raven
locks, Il striking black eye, a pallid
check, a bearing as if fully charged
with his subject, and his hand trem-
bling as if with electricity. The chair
had announced the gentleman from
Massachusetts, and in an instant |
knew it must be Rufus Choate. | soon
became very much interested i'll his
speaking. His matter and style were
grand and became more 50 as he pro-
greSSed. Every one was enraptured
with his elOquence. He was replying
to a speech made by Mr.. Buchanan,
on a resolution to give notice to the
English Government of q termination
of joint occupation of Oregon. Mr..
Buchanan had taken the extreme
view, calculated to arouse a war feel
ing. He spoke of a deep-seatcd en-
nifty in the breasts of our people over
the wrongs inflicted by En5land in
former days, and that i'll blood and
hate existed in this country i'll cOnse-
quence of these wrongs.
The Globe of 1913, i'll reporting the
reply Of Mr.. ChOate, says it can not
finish the report of the speech, owing
to the sudden indisposition Cf its re-
porter. ] can repeat he.oInittcd por-
ton even at this distance of time, so
profound was the impression made up
on me, When Mr.. ChOate came to
this part Of Buchanan's speech he
seemed TO rise to majesty that i'm
pressed his audience more deeply than
l had ever witnessed any orator ac-
complish on Il like occasion. After
quoting these expressions of Mr..
Buchanan, Mr.. Choate said: "HoW is
this ? Is it so ? Is it SO that there
are anything like deep-scated feeling
of hate or enmity toward England ?
Sir . in behalf of my cOuntrymen l
deny the allegation. | protest against
the statement that they indulge III
any sentiment so immoral, ur UnchiY-
alrOus, so ImchriStian and 50 unwOr-
thy good and gallant men. Let us
discriminate" f." said he. "Ihat there's
AN intense feeling INDUCED in by them
of eXultatiOn over their independence,
l adait- That they cherish an in
tense sentiment Of consciousness of
this independence, and Of Il high and
grand destiny we are 10 fulfill i'll our
race with the mother country and
with the foremost nations of the earth
in all that tends to elevate, adorn and
enGqhle civilization, | grant. But |
DENY that gilHEe J.. any sentiment akin
to enmity or late toward the EoaI of |
true national renOwn. No, sir No, sir
We are above all this. Envy, malice,
hate and revenge are passions which
have no existence or abiding-place in
this land. Let lac Highland clans
man, half naked, half civilized, half
blinded by the peat smoke of his cab
IL, haYe his hereditary cnmity, and
keep his Keen, deep and h8reditary
passions Unhealed, set on the lire of
hell alive in his breast; let the Morth !
American Indian, driven To the Pa
cific shore, and looking back upon the
land of his fore-fathers, indulge i'll
feelings of hate for unavenged WRONGS
that have been done him; but never
let it be said that such passions dwell
in American BREASTS. Are we mop
ing over the wrongs OF Stamp Acl or
tea tax, or subsequent wrongs? Why, |
sir, were moi all these settled by the !
glorious deeds of 0uf aiicestUs IN the |
bIoodv st,ry, =" "f the Revolution and |
in the second war? Did we not COZ
out Of these struggles with glory rath- |
er than shame? Were not all these |
wrongs righted2 Was not our honor |
as well as our rights amply vindicat |
ed? Did we leave the battle-fields |
Saratoga, Monmouth, or Yorktown, |
Lundy's Lane, or New Orleans sullN- |
lily, or with feelings that our wrongs
were not righted? No, sir! No, sir. In
the name of my country | deny it.n
Ever after this speech ] never let
an opportunity go by to hear Mr..
ChOate. | consider him the most i'll
teresting man for imprisoned OratOry
| ever heard. He had faculty few
men possessed of never firing his
hearers. Seven years afterward
heard him argue the case of the
boundary line between Rhode Island
and Massachusetts, in the Supreme
Court. 1t was as dull case as any
ordinary land-e;ectment suit. / was
at loss to understand how Mr.
ChoatH could interest an audience I'M
der such circumstances. The court
had been occupied five days by some
of the ablest lawyers, Among them
were John Sargent and Horace Bin
ney. Each of the latter occupied two
days in his argument. The room
was thronged to hear ChOate's reply.
From the moment lie commenced he
eHChGined the audience, and enlivencd
the dull subject by MT hist3rlt,al anu
sions and pleasing illustrations. The
logical connection of his argument
was excellent, and SO well arranged
that i'll two hours he had finished a
thorough argument, which was inter
spereed throughout with sublime I'M
agery. Every paragraph wac as the
turning of a Kaleidoscope, when new
and brilliant images are represented
at every turn. At the conclusion of
thar sperlh I Wes confirmed in the
opinion that he was The greatest nra=
tor I ever heard, and in this respect
he was greater than Calhoun, Clay or
Webster.
Gen. Buffers Latest Speech.