The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-08-24
The Messenger.
OPINION OF a MAN OF PARTS.

We make no apology for again de-
voting some space 20 b late .John ].
ingalls,. He was too rarely a gifted
public man to be overlooked He was
indeed a speaker Of very remarkable
oratorical gifts and with a style Of
writing of much brilliancy and enec-
t-iveness. He always drew
still as night" when he spoke in the
senate. He was so absolutely unique.
SO endowed with masterful qualities Of
mind and speech and temperament, that
he easily stoodforth among the fore
most men of his times. He wss very
caustic, very sarcastic, very witty, very
happy in creating phrases, in painting
character and in invective. He was
terrific in his onslaught upon Senator
Voorhees,, so completely flooring him
that he is said never to nave recovered.
He was the senatorial gladiator and
was greatly feared. Senator 10 Black
burn, however did rot stand IN w or
him, but had with him a sharp encount-
er and did not come out second best. A
long and interesting sketch OF him in
LDe pOl u - 80 Az
lows:
BE hat as it may, Senator j. G. 5.
Blackburn, of Kentucky, Was the only
democrat vho was able TO score Mr.
ingalls, TO any appreciatlve extent.
The speeches had been ? review or
eyerts Of the civil wax. arl '.ltn MI.
Insalls wax pounding away a. his 2Gl-
leagu. about the vl.D- Of Ui;ion SOL
diers, ~. Blackburn inquired where
MI. Ingalls, was when Hancock was
bleeding in the Bloody Angle at Gettys-
burg. Answering the question for him.
self in eloquent and extempore langu-
age, Ihe Kentuckian declared that In
gals had been in the rear as judge ad-
Vocate of Kansas militia trying the
cases of J~ayhawkers who had been
robbing h~enroosts. This sally nearly
raised the roof of the senate, and was
a cauStic speech for Mr. Ingalls,, whose
military record vas not a thing that
he cared much to exploit. He was a
major, lieutenant colonel, and Judge
advocate of Kansas volunteers, but 1t
is said that he saw no active service as
a fighter.
He was great in eulogy as he was
great in invective. When Georgia's ia
nous debater Ben Hill was no more,
Ingalls,, northern republican as he was,
pronounced a very striking eulogiurc
upon the distinguished and able south
ron. He was a very rea debater.
but the Post says he prepared with
care. 1t says:
Those most intimately acquainted
with him say that his st efforts We're
not eXtempOraneouS, as many uppoS
but that he had thought them out in
49, 49, 90 -1a--AI ~ ~ n n O
like a definite way what he intended TO
say. He was proud of his ability as an
orator and later in his senatorial ca
reer realized hat he had senators
largely at his mercy"
In his personal relations he was
generally pleasant, even cordial. He
lived without any OStentatiOn and died
poor as he began, which is a fine tri-
butte to his honesty. We quote again.
cit would require a large volume to
chronicle the brilliant speeches that Mr.
ingalls, made during his career in the
senate. He was well read. possessed a
retentive memory and could sc1nJ1l-
late in a wordy clash. Mr.. In
gals assailed the president (~Cleveland)
in his most scathing language, using
the phrase, now famous that a mug
wump was a political hybrid with all
the vices of both parents and the vir-
tues of neither. - One of his thruStS
at senator Blair, of New Hampshire, is
frequently related. The New Hamp-
Shire statesman. who was chairman Of
the committee on b had introduced
a bill with the title ito shorten the
hours of labor" When he heard that
title read the Kansan was up in an in
slant. Mr. President" said he, Il
hin the standard hour Of sixty minu-
ties has been generally satisfactory to
labor. I hope the senator will not at
tempt any reduction" 1t is needless to
that the title was amended"
He was given to much independence
In thinking. He was often wrong and
some times vicious in his views. He
was epigrammatic and keen of thrust,
and was a socialist it is said. His po-
Iitical and other important writings will
be issued in one or more volumes. Mr..
James A. Hollomon, regular Washing
ton correspondent of the Atlanta Jour-
nal, says Of him:
"In recent years, since his defeat for
the senate ten years ago, he has devot-
ed his time largely to lecturing and
to writing on political issues. 1t is this
work that will p~erpetuate his name In
history. 1t his epigrams, his satire,
his originality as a writer that had kept
him prominently before the peOple
while other fallen statesmen have pas
sed away in almost obscurfty."
He gives in his Entertaining commun-
ication the following that shows some
thing Of the originality and c~leverness
Of ingalls,:
Utopia he once said, is yet an
undiscovered country. 1dea perfection
in society, like the mirage of the des-
ert, receeds as it is approached" In
his l~ecture he was fond of quoting and
frequently paraphrasing the Bible, and
his favorite was. ITO him that hath is
given, and from him that hath not is
taken away even that which he seems
to have" and to this he would always
add, ITO one is given five talents, to
another two, to anothr one-to every
man according to his ability Despite
his fondness for biblical quotations,
however, it will be recalled that he hrst
sprang into general notoriety by declar-
ing hat the ten commandments had
no place in politics.
zone of his proverbs which was as
sailed more than any other was that
great private fortunes are insepardble