The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1883-12-06
uKATuKs IN THE s5lsNATE.
southern Journalists Estannate-saSen
who Draw and Keep Audiences To-day.

Il Southern Journalists Estanate-a6sn g
4 Who Draw and Keep Andlences To-Day.
From the Augusta tGa. Chronicse.
When MI. Conkling left the senate, one
Of the really great orators OF the republic
passed from that arena into quasl-retre-s
ment. He was most formidable debeter,
because Of his eminent atfainments and ex.
perience. He had no superior as an ora
tor, because Of many gifts OF person and
intellect. Many Of his speeches were mn
promptu, and it was wonderful WHAT apt
ness there was in his selection OF Wolas.
and with what dextrous art Ae marshaied
nis Arguments. His set speeches, barring
dramatic surrounding, were models o. enelr
lind. A prodiglous memory. which GUN.
lillian calls 1the treasury OF eloquenee,
stood him in good stead, and the most IN
tricate statistics were rolled as trippingiy
from his tongue as the flowers OF poetry or
the eladiatorial phrases of rhetoric. HIS
voice was deep. resonant, full thIoated, ana
under perfect control. The least
whisper as we'll as the most strldent eJacu-
lation. penetrated every nook OF the chap
ter. There was at times mon0tony OF
what may be called the statuesque IN has de-
livery, and sometimes a stately yerbosity
that made us regret the crisp ferceness ana
candor of Zacharia Chandler. But, as
Judge Davis said, he was @the best equipped
orator in public llfs." and beyond all
comparison, the most remarkable OF repub-.
Icon senators. His retirement from
the chamber left an untitled gap on that
side, and there is no one to fill his place.
Next 10 MIR. Conkling in readiness, but
not in eloquence, is the grim fermonter,
Judge Edmunds. whose learning is only
equa!ed by his integrity. The speeches OF
MIR. Edmun9sare more like plain talk than
anything else, but they read admirably ana
are delivered without manuscript AIDS.
Even Mr.. Blaine, toward the last. resorted
to wlittcn or printed slips, and Conkhne
icaps who did not follow that plan Now
Mr.. Edmun6s stands the solitary orator of
the republican senatols--an orator without
eloquence. What the new men may DO we
clnnot say; but the chances are that they
will follow the fashion Of the majority.
On the democratic side the two Georgia
senators are extemporaneous speakers.
Nothing could be finer, in old days, than
Mr. Hills speeches, whether on the spur
OF the moment or prepared. he was along
side Mr.. Conkling as the gteHt orator OF the
senate, and superior to the New Yorker on
ordinary occasions. They had deservedly
great respect for each others Intellectual
strength, and, though their encounters were
v,
debate. Sharp, hard blows were given
and taken, but always within parliamentary
limits, leaving no sting behind. What CT
feet the wound upon Mr. Hills tongue may
have upon his eloquencs We can only con-
| lecture. It will, for some tine, to come,
impair the rotundity and symmetry OF his
| articulation, but some Of his more recent
| utterances have, from Common report,
| been in no sense inferior to the splendid
| exhibitions of the past.
Senator Brown has made many speeches
| and none from manuscript. His series OF
| addresses in the extra session stsprlng were
! the most memorable of that time. except
| Hills terrible arraignment OF Malone. Out
of that contest the junior Georgia senator
came as the conquering hero. The champions
| of republicanisnl met him and were sorry
| for it. Logan illustrated the state of feel
ing when. having been asked why he did
| not pitch into Joe Brown" retorted that he
| had been. in and was not going again. "
| During that extraordinary term our senator
deprecated making S" many speeches.. and
| so stated to Senator Butler. of South Caro-
| lima. But Butler saw that he WAS just the
man to make Dawes and Hoar and HaWley
and Logan sick of the encounter, and SO
encouraged him to keep up The hoarhound"
| which he did. An old officer of the SEN
| ate, who had been IN place for oO years,
told the writer that Of all the senator's he
| had known Gov. Brown, in an intellectual
combat on the chamber floor, carried away
more of his opponents cutlcIe."
Voorhees, reads his speeches, SO does
Pendleton, SO does David Davis. SO does
Hampton. Mr.. Lamar hardly trusts him
self without manuscript, even when it
| would not take five minutes to deliver what
ne has composed. Even Vance, the Won
! der of the hastings, sticks to his essay be-
fore him, and sacrifices the favor of his Or
atorical fuency. MIR. Beck is in the same
category.
| : The rising orator of the senate is George
! Vest, of Missouri. He is a genius. His
| figure is as short and unheroic as that of
| E.i1nund Kean was said to be. But, like
ti;e famous tragedian, he has that within
| which more than makes amend for some
| defects of person. Mr.. Vest may be fairly
classed as one of the few consumate ora.
tors of the senate. He has nearly every
endowment for usefulness and brillancy
as a speaker, and no man is more admired
for his oratory and feared for his power of
| retOrt