New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1885-06-17
THOMAS +. MARSHALL.

THD8ASt IL. MARSHALGH
Anecdotes Of the Most Brilliant Orator, KEN
lucky Has Produced-The Crushing
Defeat He Administered to. a
Rival Many Years Ago..
have alluded to John Quincy Ad-
ans, writes correspondent to. The
Louisville Co,trier-Journal. His name
recalls that of Thomas F. Marshall, the
most brilliant man that even Kentucky
has produced. In an evil hour Mar
shall had discussion with. the .'old
man eloquent upon matter of fact,
and as result was badly worsted, as
Henry Clay himself was worsted, by
an appeal to Adams inevitable diary,
which the ex-president invoked on all
such occasions. Marshall was. the.
most eloquent man of his day. His
speech had the dulcet sweetness of the
harp of Orpheus, and was as per.
suasive as the plea of Phryne before
the hostile court. 1t would have soft
ened the marble bosom of Rhadaman-
thus and planted the germ of mercy
in his t1inty heart. Marshall was
singular genius, as cratic as Peters
boro and as gifted as, Admirable,
Crichton, though a slave to his, pas
slons and without individuality of
character sufficient to resist tempta-
ton or reform a broken life. Like
Sir William Yonge, nothing but such
character could drag down such
parts, and nothing but such parts
could sustain such character. -
Until he was elected to congress
Marshan's convivial habits had not
obtained the mastery over him.
He once went to Philadelphia to- de-
liver a lecture. the subject of which
was the Life and Character of Ma
poleon the Great There was much
curiosity to hear him, for his fame as
an orator was national, and the lect-
ure had remarkable excellencies in a
literary, historical and critical point
of view. The hall was filled with the
beauty, grace, and culture of the Qua
ker city. When the lecturer appeared
before his audience he was pretty far
SOUTH" that is.
he was no. fu but just had plenty,
and he began to repeat his lecture af-
ter first interpolating the following:
"Ladles and gentlemen, have not
doubt that Napoleon Bonaparte was
direct lineal descendant and heir-at-
law of a woods colt of Julius Caesar
begottten while that hero was sowing
his crop of wild oats on the banks Of
the Adriatic or in one of the isles of
the Mediterranean"
he delivered his lecture with his ac-
customed eloquence. He was great
lover of Shakespeare, and knew the
best plays from stem TO stern. He
possessed a brilliant, luxurant, gore-
eous Imagination, which gave a hue to
everything that emanated from him,
while there was happy originality
exemplitied in all his utterances. He
illustrated Cables sentence: You
may dwarf man till he be the mere
stump OF what he should be and he
will yet put forth green leaves
He defended Matt Ward for the
murder of Prof. Butler in Louisville
about thirty years ago. 1t was indeed
a celebrated case. Communities all
over the state were divided. His guilt
or innocence became political issue.
The interest was great beyond the
limits of the state, George D. Prem
tice, the life long friend of the father
Of the acussed, championed the son of
his friend in the columns of The Louis
Vitle Journal and narrowly escaped
mob vengeance. His office was sacked
and Quilted. A change of venue was had
and an array of counsel, such as has
rarely been equaled, appeared for the
defense. Besides Marshall there were
Crittend6n, Helm, Wolfe, Wood, and
others, but it was universally conced-
ed that Marsball's speech surpassed
all others. An eyewitness says that
one sentence in his speech cleared the
accused. With an attitude Garrick
would have studied and tone Talma
would have envied, and at the close
of climax, he exclaimed: ''Will you
tear him from his girl wife?' There
was not dry eye in the room, and
the Judge upon the bench sobbed like
child He was once one Of party
OF hunters in the mountains of Ken
lucky. They had been encamped for
more than a week, and were composed
of the flower Of Lexington, cultured
gentlemen, Young and old. When
night overlook them, and the evening
meal prepared and eaten, the party
gathered around the campfire and dis
cussed every subject that offered food
for the contemplative mind. At that
hour Marshall was the leader. No other
member of the party was so daring in
speculation or illustrated his theories
with such splendor and copiousness
OF imagery. Till long past midnight
he held his audience of more than a
score of cultured and learned gentle
men entranced. He was more eloquent
than when on the stump, and often
his listeners were still enchanted when
dawn appeared in the east. One night
it was proposed that he preach a ser.
mon from any text that he might Sc
lect. He chose the passage: '.The
foxes have holes and the birds of the
air have nests, but the son of man has
not where to lay his head" For a
long time he commented on the life
and character OF the Savior. He pre-
sented the theology of the Nazarene
IN a novel and attractive light. He
discoursed OF love and preached all of
humanity all IF human 2onrinr for