The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1891-03-19
Cen Sherman as Writer and
Speaker.


OeneTal horace Porter IN harper BHK4Ts
General Sherman was many sided man
lie had run the entire gamut 81 human cA
Derience. He had been merchant, Dankgr,
lawyer, professor, street railroad prrsi-
dent. traveller, author, orator, aud soldier
Wherever he was placed, his own indiyid.
lality was conspicuous aud pronounced.
He never failed to be intensely entertain.
ing. His methods were always original,
aud even when unsuccessful they were in
teresting. He could not have betn com
monplace IL he had tried.
His writings were as graphic as Caes.
ar's Commentaries. There vas in hi
compositions an elegance of diction sci
dom found except in the works Of profess
sional authors. He has contributed some
If the finest specimens of rhetoric to be
found In modern books. In his descrp-
tion Of the departure of the troops from
Atlanta, given in his memoirs, his style
rises to the sublime.
His letters are all models IN their way.
Nothing could exceed in grace and touch
ing pathos the reply he wrote to the Off.
GERS Of his old regiment upon the death
If his son.
"The child that bore my name, and in
whose future reposed with more conh-
dence than in my own plans of life, now
floats mere corpse, seeking grave In
distant land, with weeping mother
brother, and sisters clustered about him.
But my poor Willy was, Q. thought he
was, Sergeant of the Thirteenth. l
have seen his eye brighten and his heart
beat as he behell the battalion under
arms, and asked me II they were not real
soldiers. Child as he was, he had the en-
thuslasm, the pure love of truth, honor,
and love of country. which should ami
mate all soldiers. God only knows why
he should die so young
As a speaker the same qualities Of style
may be observed in his more serious et
forts. For instance, his reference to the
flag in an address made at banquet to
the veterans:
THE prayer thst every soldier ought to
breathe is that yonder flag should be
above him in life, around him in death.
What is that flag? bit OF bunting, a
bsuble, toy. You can buy it for few
shilings in the nearest store. But once
raise 1t as your standard and millions viii
follow it and die under it. Insult H. and
3 whole nation of patriots will rise up I'D
its defense, aud you will tlnl behind Ii all
the power that can be yielded by the re-
public"
After having listened to nearly j of
General Sherman's speeches during the
last six yesrs, | have no hesitation in
ranking him second 10 no one as an after
dinner speaker. While the prestige of
his illustrious name intensified the Interest
felt in what he said, yet | believe II he
had appeared at shy banquet unheraided
and unknown, and delivered one OF his
characteristic addresses, 1t would have
been copce led that HIS speech was the mt
of the evening. He had the art Of begin
ming with some epigrsmmatic sentence or
humorous alusion 10 some current topic,
spoken in way which at once secured
the attention of the audience. He mingled
wit and pathos in a happy blending which
appealed to al I. inds aud touched all
hearts. As elcquence is only another
name fer earneStness his serious uitelan-
ces had all the power of the finest oratory
lie leaned forward, gestculAted forcibly
with MS long right arm, looked his hear
ers full in the eyes, and seemed to be
speaking into the particular ears ~ each
individual before him. As taiker H.
deserved to be ranked among the great
conversers of history, and, unlike many
gifted conversationalists, he possessed
the faculty of being a good listener. Ey-
en- in the midst of one of his most ANNA
ted rccitals, If some one Interrupted him
to add remark, he would stop, look at
him good. naturedly, and nod 81 pcoval.
His lips, too, would often move in unison
" it'll the speakers, as If marking time
to the music of his words.