The Cecil Whig., 1881-11-19
WHOLE No. 2,O32

} eat from the stenographers report Of
them.
Senator Conkling seldom made cor
rection of his utterances in the Senate
Chamber. He is perhaps the most ex-
temporaneous speaker in the CLi cd
States, and even his remarks in running
debate are splendid indices of great abil-
ity. During the extra session of the
Forty-sixth Congress he delivered q
speech upon the Army Appropriation
bill without note, papers, book or refer
ence Of any kind. When the Vice-Presi-
dent announced 1.-THE Senator from New
York, up rose the stately form OF Ros-
coe Conkling. Never before Or since had
a Senator such an audience. He spoke
for four hours. Before the adjournment
of the Senate $50, 900 copies Of his speech
had been subscribed for. Every print
ing establishment in Washington sent to
the Senator its lowest estimate. In a
very short time, Oyster, one of the best
|
gres'ional Globe, had the proof of the
great speech ready. He took it up to
Wormley's about 9 o'clock in the morn
ing and asked for Senator Conkling.
81 He is not mp yet" said the private sec
retary; 1.-THE Senator breakfasts about
II; however, as you are in hurry and
want to see after the speech, ] shall call
him Tell Mr. Oyster to come in
ah. how do you do, Mr.. Oysteron and
Lord Chesterfield never was more polite
than was Mr.. Conkling in his night shirt
After rubbing his eyes he looked at the
proof, made a few changes and struck
out the Hon." before "Roscoe Conk-
ling" You will never find it preflxed to
his name in any speech intended for gen.
eral distribution. After he received the
speech he wrote his thanks very kindly
to Foreman Oyster. as follows:
| L. :. SENATE CHAMBER,
May Z, 1879.
| NJ Dear Sri beg you to receive my
thanks for the bound Speech and for your
| kindness throughout. | am glad To have
know you better in the future. Cordially
| yours. ROSCOE CONKLING.
The present Secretary of State, when
| a member of the Senate used to look
carefully after his speeches, which, for
the most part, were made from "head-
ings." Probably there never was in the
United States Senate man who needed
less preparation than James G.. Blaine.
He is inlallble in history and impregna-
ble i'll debate. His memory of facts and
faces is absolutely wonderful. He can
begin with William the Conqueror and
give you the name of every sovereign O.
England down to Victoria, with the dates
of their reigns. Now and then the Sena-
tor would give his personal attention to
the printing of a speech. One morning
Oyster found him busily at work "cut-
ting mp copy" for the printers. Hello,
Oyster, I'm ahead of you. See, I'm di-
are ahead of me; but went home only
six hours ago. and shall be here for six
teen consecutive hours" "Well, know
it's hard work, Oyster. I've been at it.
and know what night work means"
voorhees, prepares his speeches care
fully and revises moderately. He is one
Of the few, very few, men who use man.
uscript in such way that not single
oratorical grace is diminished thereby.
Whether this is because he commits his
speech we'll to memory or not we never
could tell. We rather think he do2s.
But, with or without manuscript, Foor-
hees is an orator of the first school. AS
a rule the very sight of manuscript i'll
the hands of speaker is enough to nerve
one for a bore. Demosthenes was right
when he said. "Oratory is delivery-de-
livery+d +delivery;' and delivery is killed
by manuscript.
Jones, of Florida, always hard stu
dent. labors diligently at 4 set sp 'ech.
He is passionately fond of Edmund
Burke, and knows his work as We never
knew any other to know them. He has
a memory equal to Blaine's or Ben Hills
and time and again have we heard him
repeat page afterpag Of Burke's immor-
tai speeches. 1t is the same with the
speeches of Phillips. Grattan, Curran and
O'Conne. Jones is a very able man. His
Democracy is extreme, but out Of poll;
tics he is one of the best fellows the
world over.
Davis, of West Virginia, though an
old member of the Senate, has made but
one speech-on agriculture. 1t was
printed exactly as it was written. His
remarks are left to the tender mercies Of
the stepographer.
Beck, Davis colleague on the Commit
tee of Appropriations. is the most rapid
taker in either House of Congress. Well
for him that the Senate has such ste.
uographer as Denis Murphy, whose pen
travels over paper like lightning. We
doubt if his equal could be found any
where. Beck is an untiring worker, has
the constitution of Kentucky race
horse. and no amount of labor is too
heavy for him. He is not much Of a re
vlser-golng on the principles ol fontlns
Pilate-quod seripsi. scripsi. He is as
blunt as Joey Bagstock and as good
natured as Mark Tapley. AS there are
no leaves to print in the Senate no Sena-
tor can publish speech without having
at least read it from manuscript. The
first page of the Daily Record is quite Il
desideratum as the place to air the title
of speech, and many grave Senator
who would willingly sit at the end of
McGregor's table is loath to have his
speech hidden in the middle of the Record.
1t is vain to attack Solomon's theory
about vanity.
The New York Hotels.