New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-03-21
THE RECORDOF FIFTY YEARS.
"REMINISCENCES OF A JOURNALIST
by CHARLrs T. coNGDoN.
OF POLITICS.

A GOSSIP OF fOIilINo'
THE MRN OF THE CAUCUsFs-THE DEATH of D"'''A
wrBsrrR-CHARACTERIsIIC OF THAT ohAio"
AZ, INSTRUMENTATION PAEKER-HIs HU-
MANry AND NATURAL RELGIoN-TRE HARD
FATE OF A NEWSPAPER AND ITS EDiloh-ihH
,n,,,oxr c.NpAiGS-AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF
THE PARTY. 49,.
Shall we 90 back for little while to politics
and politiciansf to statesmen and state mat
tersY 10 questions which once morally agl-
tated rs. but which now trouble nobodys
neoces For week or two, the trlfles OF the
theatre have engaged us. We will return II
the reader pleases, to those caucuses anu con
ventions about which, of course, there is no lIiu-
sion whatever In this excellent kepuphc' 'ho
,mportant people are those who hold' nave
held. or hope to hold Office, high OF not so h'gi:
Some of these live in memory only ooine Vi
tbem. not unconsidered during their own meet
ing moment, are utterly forgotten. AHer 'he
ftful fever of the fray victorious ma0orlties VI
6oleful defeats, this miscarriage OF that SUCCESS
NAV they rest in peace Heaven grant that
.bov d;late no more with absurd ambitions WIN
those fatal warnings for any place or presidency
h;oh ore tbe ouintessence of hope deferred!
Nav there he for them no notifying failures
a. Tho no,ls of the land to which they have
como ;f banlv that land enjoys the charms ana
thrills and emotions of universal suffrage Oh'y
if for some souls there could be no heaVeh
worth having without political canvass ie' us
make reservation in favor OF tastes so 'hor-
ourbly confirmed. If theirs can be no pleasure
save that of nomination and election, may such
Measure be still granted them. UT IL IL oo
better 70 have run and lost than never to nave
rim at all, may the persistently unlucRy c''noi
date there find some mysterious satisfaction Ill
a swinging minority
MIR. Webster died in October, 1852 ferIaps
il is one more proof of the fascination WHICH
he exercised over the minds OF men 'Dat 'o
cur TO him. Even now, how much he Is men
toned. how earnestly his character Is dlscusSeu
Asbe lay diving at his well-lOved mousse Ill Nlaisn-
6.)d in that cool New England Octooer'
which inyigorated so many frames though "
brouoht no new life to the shattered giant we
were marching about and raising banners
shouting ourselves hOarse, firing guns ana do'ng
what we could to galvanize the nomination vi
Ce,erol Scott. There was a time when the De
fender of the Constitution might have sent
whitening sheer from his dying pillow at our
dosnerote antics but the self-suficency, the
arrogance. and the dictation which had 10 IL II
flavor of despotsm, were all gone theh' lhele
was nothing for the great man TO 90 no" ou' "
die. Peorle said that the nomination OF Oeheiai
Scott killed him they forgot his seventy years
his liberal method Of life, and the energy "hlch
be had nut not only into his work Dut his
emusements That the nomination maze ny
he Baltimore Convention grievousiy disap
nointed him is certain. A friend VINO nap
nened 10 lie in his house when the news OF Gen
eral SCOTS candidacy reached there, told me that
Mrs. Webster spoke pathetically but with per
feet frankness of the pain which the decision OF
the convention would give to Mr. webster
And after all, it was as well that he should die
soon there was no Presidency for him; through
all his life he had never had chance OF it. Indeed
there was now no remaining pubic career ioI
him. II was pain to hear some men speak OF
him even in Boston and after he was dead they
told odd stories, of which that sick chamber
was the scene. They said that he had taken d
formal farewell of his blooded stock that his
whole herd had been driven slowly py the
door at which he was seated, to receive MS ny
ing benedcton and that, soemnly waving MS
hand. as he distinguished one favorlte anlhal,
he had exclaimed in weak, pathetic out SUN
semi-sonorous tones, Molly Motte, tareweH
There were other stories whether Ill OF wei
founded of actual pecunary exigency al the
Marshfeld farm hOuse-stOres which reminded
one of the dying days of Sheridan, though, OF
course. there was nothing like the absolute
pinch which put the last blanket OF the VIII
in danger of legal attachment. 1t is true, now
over. that the man who had received such en0r-
mons sums of money for professional and other
services left no money behind HIM. lie would
have had his revenge, if he could have lived jun
n little longer to read The election returns, ana
to find General Scott receiving the votes OF only
four States Mr. Webster himself would hardly
have done so badly as that. We are just now
called upon to listen to a fresh discussion OF
this great mans character. Only Few voices
of dissent were raised in 1852, when perfect
pean of unrestrained eulogy swelled through
the land He had all his life been accustomed
to the most abject flattery. The healthy doubts
hero and there uttered might have given
some grim satisfaction to his ghost after 1t had
discovered the emptiness of worldly honors
There were men in plenty to deliver funeral
oratjons. but am compelled to say that &c
not think that his death occasioned any deep
general regret in Massachusetts. 1t had long
before been discovered that the gOd-like had
many human infirmities. Then it is always
foolish to praise men for what they were not
Mr. Everett says, IN the article which he wrote
for an encyclopedia on Mr.. Webster, He was
remarkably good shot" Of course Mr.
Everett would not have said this if he had moi
been told so, and believed what he was told
. but the fact is that Mr.. Webster was remark
ably bad shot, and was often thrown into
passion by his own want Of skill. He was re-
puted mighty hunter of deer, but believe
tbedruh to be that he seldom killed one OF the
antiered herd. Once, about 1912, there was