Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-08-09
SENATOR HILLS WIT.
REGENT DEVELOPMENT SHOW A
 NEW PHASE OF HIS CHARACTER.
His Reply to Gorman-Apt and Witty Com parison to shakespearean Characters. His Love For the Drama How German Acquired the Gift of EIoquencc.
Special Correspondence.l

NEW YORK, Aug 7.-One of the speech es recently delivered by Senator Hill in aAe United States senate has caused no little comment outside of the purely polit- ical inspiration and argument which it suggests. It was n speech utterly unlike anything heretofore delivered by the New York senator and contained some flashes of wit, some sly humor and some broader sarcasm which suggest something of the quality that used to characterize the speeches of Senator Conkling.
 When 1t Is remembcrcd that a day or two before he made that speech Senator Hill had delivered another occupying some two hours time, it must bc plain that this second speech of his must have bccn largely cXtcmpurancnus, fl not, in fact, completely impromptu. He could ccr- tainly have had no morc time for its prcp- aration than he found between the hour of adjournment Of the senate ono day and of its meeting upon the next.
 To the intimate friends of Senator Hill, however these unusual qualities of hu- mor, sarcasm and something akin to wit which he revealed in the speech occasioncd no surprise, since in his private convcrsa- ton with those whom he trusts he Is not only apt to bc humorous and sarcastic in what he says, but Inc also has the faculty which Cunkling had to n higher dcgrec of quickly seeing the humorous side of life and of graphically reprOducing by mimic ry or comical suggestion what he has thus seen. Mir. Conkling was one of the greatest mimics that ever sat in the sen ate. He did not darc to trust himself to display this faculty very much. since he feared that 1t might carry him to ex- tremcs. Yet thcre were occasions when he felt safe to attempt to mimic the tones, the methods of speech and the manner of some public men, and when he did so the accuracy of the imitation was always ac- knowlcdgcd.
 Senator Hill has something of this fac ulty and now that he has made slight revelation of 1t in the s,'hntc 1t Is quite likely that his colleagues and the country may have some finer exhibitions hereafter of these powers. Sometimes in tho even ing at his hotel, with group of friends around him, the senator has put them into high glcc by his vivid reproduction of the characteristics of some of tho men who arc distinguished in political affairs of to- day.
 Some surprise has also been expressed | that Senator Hill should have h,Cn able to take up the comparison of himself with one of ShuktSlAar''s characters which | was made by ~cnut"r German m his speech and should have carried that cum | pariSun very much furi,:,r Ih.n ti"rIuan did and do II with d, IiC;.Cy aHd :rprn priatCnCSS which CIussSl tI.' senators to forget their dignity and tn lau"h most heartily, even >nnIv uf thu<' wiIn N,'r' | thus Cxp.- ., .t:v ;:.ntlr .:;tir' Ii:lt l1y concealed in Iiiil'> rv:murkS.
 But th" fact k that, while senator I;in might not have lsr'u able tu have takCn up | comparisons from classic liIrratup' or from | the grvHtCr novels. yet in tlIC field of dr,I-
 matic liICratur' he k perhaps mup' at home than any of the other senators. The | stage has been senator IIill's only pvrCa | tion in very busy life for nearly 80 years, | if We except fnndntsS for the game of | baseball. In that sport he, like senator German, not only takes intrrst to this | day, but also had suno expert quality, since
 each of thCsc senators in his younger days
 was player on tho field.
 senator Hill k probably the best Inform | ed man upon the greatcr plays and the | grCatrr actors and actp.Ss,-s of the present | generation, aS well as those of the past, | who now sits in the United States senate. He has much of General sherman < fond | ness for the thratcr and kccncr apprccia- tion of dramatic art than the old general | had. In the midst of intcns,' political hat | ties 1t has hCrn Hills habit. when he had | opportunity, to steal away for an evening | to the thCatCr. whcr,'. concealed from an audience bChind the curtains of hox, he gave way to his enjoyment as fully as n boy who for tho first time sees farce. Then he would rcturn to the strife Of pOli- | tics, fresh, clear headed and ready to stay up as late ns the most earnest person in | the company of politicians whom he met. | Hill knows Shakespeare hs we'll in one | way as Senator IInar. who has bCCn q | deep student of the Grrat dramatist, does | in another The Massachusetts senator
 has studied Shakespcarc in tho library,
 while Hill has studied him as his works | have been presented upon the staGr. He | has seen the grCatcst actors who have cvCI | played ShakCspCarc in America in his own | time and has seen all the Shakcspcarcan | plays which have ever bCCn produced herr
 ThercfOrc he was quite able on the instant | to mako use of the comparison suggested | by Senator Cinrman as n text and upon ii | to construct n GrratCr satirc and n morV | deliciously humorous one than the Mary
 land senator did
 Hill, unlike German. hhs had training
 as a public speaker outside tho srnat'
 chamber. ThCp'furc "xprrirnC" served
 kim well, so that he could nt once mak,
 rrply to Mir German.
 The Maryland senator. who's" speech
 was a national sensation, had scarcely
 any training as public spcakCr until | after he rnt"nd the senate When hc wa. first member of thut b,dy. hc sIpok,
 with hesitation. his difiidcncc lu'ing v'ry | apparent. and he had not mastcrrd the
 art uf quick thinking when upon his feet
 He had no expectation that he would CVri
 be able tO do murc than utter few bric'
 sentences upon the floOr Of tho senate
 But he has shown that the theory of Sen
 ntor Conkling is a true one that any mar
 Uf good intclli i,CnCc and active mind Can bC
 come pIblic sqcakcr If hv chUus,ss, sine,
 the speaker, unlike thu poet, du>s not ncoC
 to bc born an orator, but can niakv him | self one Of course the GrCatCst uraJors- | those who move the Nvurld-must have
 pro eminent natural gifts, and no mar
 can become Webster or even Conklinl
 by mere hard work. Any young man
 however, who looks forward to public lif'
 may take courage from the successes o
 Senator German so that hc may have hop,
 that he, too, may become at some time [
 speaker who will command attention.