The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-07-20

forgot that two Presidents during his recol>
lection, John Quincy Adams and Martin
Van Buren,, were below average hight.
Douglas was not a reading man. He knew
political history and little else. 1t is doubt
full whether he ever read novel in his life,
and he knew nothing OF poetry.
II he had any sense of humor he
never revealed it in his speeches.
He chad no flowery rhetoric, but he
posseSsed a capacity for stump oratory
which, as Mr.. Blaine said once, was great
enough to have enabled him to lead mob
TO riot, had he desired it. he had voice
which, week after week of use, sometimes
two or three times a day in the open air,
never seemed to lose strength. His ad-
dresses were cold, hard argument, and are
rather dreary reading. IL was the man
rather than the speeches which impressed
vast crowds made Douglas popular idol,
and caused him to become prominent
candidate for the presidency when he was
scarcely 40 years of age, and made him the
candidate of one wing of his party when he
was only A.. e. ~
Corwin is one of thefew men Ewho won
reputation on the stump, and gained thsre-
by what seems to be permanent fame He
was a large man, so swarthY OF complexion
that he was sometimes mistaken Tor an
Indian or Spapiard. Imagination ruled
his mind. He was poet. although not a
no AuOU bkkC
poets by heart, and in correspondence
which he had with Roscoe Cenkling just
after Conkling gained his fame, Corwin
compared notes with him respecting the
poets and found that, Like himself, Conk-
ling had been a student of the most melo-
dious of the English poets. On one occa-
sion, during night trip on a steamboat
with Conkling, the two orators sat on the
deck till dawn, Corwin quoting from
"Lallsh Rookh," of which he was a great
admirer, and Conklipg from paradise
Lost, u ''Childe Harold, ;" and 1.-The Deserted
Village" Corwin, like ConkIing, had the
power of wit, but. unlike him never used it so
wound. He had an irresistible impulse to
use mimtcry and humor in his speeches, so
that when Tom Corwin was announced to
speak the vast crowds which assembled
from miles around to hear him expected to
be amused and entertained SIS we'll as in
structed. He was O mimic, aud in his adj
dresses, violating all of the prescribed rules
of rhetoric, he became a mimic, expressing
an argument or a sarcasm by facial
gesture. Corwin's success on the stump
brought him high houors. He was gov
ernor OF Ohio, Secretary Of the Treas
ury and senator, but he failed to get the
honor on which his ambition was set, the
speekership OF th9 House. He felt that his
political career had been handicapped by
his indulgence in wit and his reputation as
a humortst.
In the summer of 1879 Gen. Garfield was
campaigning in the State of Maine, and one
evening he. entertaining some of his friends,
narrated some "reminiscences OF Corwin,
whom he regarded as the most fascinating
of all the stump speakers he had ever heard.
He said that the best service Corwin had
ever done for him was contained in bit of
advice When Garfield was a very young
man, casting about for a career, he had
Of at r,hirnP n yuy~ifa
Gus sketches. and he spoke TO Corwiu
about it. In q most earnest and al
most pathetic manner Corwin advised
against the endeavor. sit is ruin, he said,
"for man who proposes to undertake any
serious pursuit 10 gain reputation as a
humorist. l have suffered from that my
self. The people know me as funny fel"
low, and such reputation as l have is bound
to be that of wit rather than statesman,
or even a successful politician" Gen. Gar
field said that she advice went home and he
had not been in politics very long time
before he realized the soundness OF it. Sun
set Cox had q similar impression.
LINCOLN AS A STUMP SPEAKER.
Probably the most successful stump
speaking campaign conducted by any man
was that carried on by Abraham Lincoln
in the summer of 1853. 1t is Mr. Blaine's
opinion that Lincoln's achievements on that
OCC6blOut as Gn9Y HoF6 DY
several other addresses, entitle him to rank
as the most successful of American stump
speakers. The joint debate with Stephen
A. Douglas not only served TO crystalline the
somewhat struggling elements in the party
which Lincoln represented, 80 as to enable
it to enter upon a national canvass three
years later with every promise of suo-
cess, but also served 90 make Mr.. Lincoln
the candidate Of his party. Lincoln was
extraordinarily successful outside of these
considerations as q stump speaker. He, too,
had a sense of humor but such tact in the
use Of Ii that he made it his servant and not
his master. Moreover, he mad the gift OF
homely but powerful illustration and
wonderful lucidity of expression, which,
perhaps, has never been equaled by a stump
spe ker. He could take the most abstract
theory and put il before his hearers so
clearly that even the dullest man was able
to understand it.
Charles Sumner would hardly be called
stump speaker, but he delivered two or
three addresses on the stump which had a
powerful political influence. They were,
however, polished orstions. better fitted,
perhaps, for the forum than the stump.
About the time the war broke out and for
three or four years after young Baltimore
lawyer Henry Winter Davis, was esteemed
by many as, in some respects, the most
brilliant and fascinating of stamp speakers.
his power was 80 great b1db ne was 6Ole TO
handle Baltimore mob with ease. His
style was that of the fiery orator. He was
fierce, impassioned, vehement, sometimes
vindctive. He was tremendously in ear
nest. A handsome man, with what is called
the poetic head, his physical beauty, his
charm of diction and his over whelming sim
oerity made him certainly the most power
full union orator south of Mason and Dixon's
line Mr.. Davis was called impracticable,
not always polite in his legislative action.
but his power was confessed. A very brill
liant future was predicted for him, but he
was cut off in his prime.
AFTER THE WAR.
After the war came a new generation OF
superb stump speakers. Gen. Garfield as
early as 1865 had gained national fame. He
was an impressive speakeT on the stump.
His voice was powerful, vibrant, and had
evidently been cultivated carefully. BE APP
pealed to the vast throngs mainly through
his Intellectual power, and no stump speaker
from 1865 to 1880 was In greater demand In
all parts Of the country than Gem Garfield.
Another stump orator who gained great
repute was Senator James W. Nye OF
Nevada His oratory was something like
that of Corwin. His speeches were full Of
humorous illustration. His wit was caustic
and yet delightful, and for some ten years
no stump speaker could draw larger
throngs, especially in the more =ural dis