Hutchinson gazette. [volume] (Hutchinson, Kan.) 1895-1902, 1900-10-18
CHAMP cLARK,s STORIES.
lie Talks Interestingly ~ sPeIibinden
Of Ite last Generation,

| OF the Last Nehefuuou
Anyone seeing Mr. Justice Harlan
with his silk gown on, slVtlng In tn
greatest tribunal In the world, wouc
scarcely believe, gaang upon his mas
slye htud and solemn countennnce
thut there ever was day when he
made not only the welldn ring but nlsC
the woods, not only with logic and
eloquehCe but with wit, humor, banter
sarcasm and all that goes 10 make a
Tip top stump speech Yet such Is the
truth Of history, | heard him with
my own ears in Henry lshums sugar
grove ~ MackyIlle, Ky, In July, 1868;
II anybody doubts that Justice Harlan
Is witty humorous, Airclstit-lha h(
Is the very prince Of story tellers
though u spell binder no l0nger-let
him smuggle up to the justice In the
smoker Of sleeping car or some 9th.
er convenient place, and he VIII DIS
cover that the Justice would have been
gr5o, humorisl II he had not come
Of n race Of great Lawyers and been
predesintd Tor a high career as a
iurlst
Senator Dcpew-the most delightful
raconteur In The worldwide Is well &C.
quuinted with everybody and knows
everything, declared that the ambition
IL inherent IN every man TO do That
which he cannot do, and TO prove that
the Gheory he cited the astounding eX.
ample Of Ulysses Simpson Grant, who,
according to Depew, esteemed his tow.
erng military reputation very lightly,
but was consumed with n vain desire
10 staid IN history side BY side with
Demosthtnts and Cicero, Edmund
Burke and Charles Fox, Marabeau and
Demosthtnes and Cicero, Edmund
Burke and Daniel Webster,
Senator Depew thought that Grant
never could have become, under amy
circumstances whatsoever, an accept
able public speaker, differ from that
conclusion toto coclo, and believe that
any man who could make such excel.
lent epgrams as Grant made could
have become q most effective public
public speaker
The fact that the gft OF public
speaking Is well nigh universal in
America and that we frequently en-.
tertaln orators lnuwares was thor.
oughly demonstrated In the phcnome.
nal campaign Of 1896 OF the many
bewideplng features Of that seismic
period Of our politics. the most ama2-
ing was this: While most Of the illus.
trIons Democratic orators supported
General Palmer or Major Mciinley,we
did not feel their loss TO any appreci-
able degree, New and unhcard Of
orators suddenly arose, like Minerva
from the brain of Jovc. That marvel.
Gus manifestation Of general orator.
ical capacity among Americans is well
worthy the attention of philosophers,
psychologists and linguists.
So thoroughly convinced am OF The
universally of the oratorlcal faculty
among my countrymcn that | feel
absolutely certain that If all our Ola
tors Of renown were to die today, the
stump would be occupied in q month
by new men with voices as soqorouS
and with eloquence as soul stirring as
those whose witchery Is now acknowl-
edged,
Perhaps Henry Clay came as near to
being the ideal stumper as any man
that ever lived, and the reasons W Y
he failed to reach the White louise
were that he was pitt,d against the
most popular and successful military
chiertuin of that age in his earlier con.
tests, and that he could not see, shake
hands with and personally address the
majority of his fellow citizens in his
later races,
The first spcllbindcrs of note that |
ever saw were General Thomas f.
Bramlette, candidate for governor Of
Kentucky. and Colonel John Marshall
Harlan, now justice Harlan Of the
Supreme Court OF the United States,
then candidate for attorney general Of
the Ozark and Bic .dy Ground" That
was In 1863
General Brumlette also possessed tho
first pair OF eye glasses (hooked on
the nose without carstraps) that |
ever saw. He was widoHer, in the
very prime Of lirc-a large, handsome,
courtly digniied gentleman. When he
arose to speak he adjusted his glass,s
upon his aquiline nose, looked at the
audience with bland smile and said:
81 hope the ladies will not consider
my heart as old as my eyes are 7
thought then and think now that was
one OF the neutest mots ever uttered
1t so happened that | saw but one Of
the principal spc)lbindcrs Of the lest
generation; but hewas prince among
his fellows. host within himself, the
handsomest man ! ever saw or expect
to see, General John c. breckenridge,
Of Kentucky Long before ] had the
pleasure Of gazing ON his martial form
| asked my father what manner OF
man he was lie answered; "llc is
tall. handsome, square built, lie has
a head two stories and a half high"
And so II was.
In 1865 | was a student at Kentucky
University, at Lexington, when he re-
turned from his European exile. with
enruptured ear / heard him return