The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-07
TALES OF CLOAK-ROOM
 TOLD BY CHAMP CLARK
President Mckinley as HumOriSt- Touches of Wit in His Recent Speeches Dignity Not
 Necessarily Dry as Dust.

All hail, William Mckinley. humor- ist! The President. always tactiful, gracetui. amiapIe. appears to his IT, VO0, ,00s constituents m a novel roe. From the day he started upon his long tour ne mas taken rank with those bright and buoyant spirits who make Inen iaukn. In ms essay on Bacon Ma caulay says:
 ",Ine or the most remarkable circum- stances in the history of Bacon's mind Is the order 'n which its powers ex- panoed themselves. With him the fruit came first and remained till the last. The blossoms did not appear until late. Tn general the development of the fam cy is to the development of the judg- ment what the growth of girl Is to the growth of a boy. The fancy at tains at an earlier period to the perfec-
 ton of its beauty. its power and its beauty, its power and its fruitfulness, anu as 1t Is first to r1pen 1t ts also Iirst to fade. It has generally lost some
 thing of its bloom and freshness before
 the sterner faculties have reached ma
 turity and is commonly withered and
 barren while those faculties still retain
 all their energy. It rarely happens that the fancy and the judgment grow
 together. It happens still more rarely
 
 the fancy. This seems, however, to
 na ve oeen the case with Bacon. His boyhood and youth appear to have been singularly sedate. Ills gigantic scheme of philosophical reform Is said by some
 writers to have been planned whiie ne
 was still young He observed as v1gi- lantly, meditated as deeply and judged as temperately when he gave his first
 work to the world as at the close or
 his long career. But in eloauence. in
 sweetness and variety of expression
 and in richness of illustration ms iater
 writings are far superior to those or
 his youth.'
 The Presidents case is as remarkable as that of Lord Bacon. That MT. Mc- K.nley should have lived till past oS without showing even a color Of hu- nor. as the miners would say. and then should suddenly enliven his speeches with it is a marvellous manifestation or the human mind which submit to the careful and pray ,rful consideration or | the psychologists. As late as Christ mas week. 1899. Hon. Chauncey Mitcn- | ell Depew, who I take 1t, Is the nest judge of humor and humorists now on terra firma. told me that MT. Mckinley was totally destitute of d sense of hu- nor; but if the brilliant junior Senator from New York has read the f'resf- dents speeches in the swing around the circle he must be in a state of amaze-
 ment. ready to recant that opinion. l I freely confess that the Presidents ts performance in this regard has caused | In me a grateful feeling toward him
 winch I never expected to entertain l For the delectation and, let us fer veutly hope. the instruction of this gen. | eration he has demonstrated that | statesman is not ex necessitate as dry as dust: that even the most powerful | ffcer under the sun may inject lit- | tie refreshing humor into his speeches without loss of dignity. That is vast and incalculable good to the world. for | there Is a countless army of embryo statesmen who are practicing to be SOL chm as owls because they have been thoroughly indoctrinated with the idea | that solemnity is sine qua non 10 the Presidency My mother died when was only 3 years old. and the woman who reared
 me was always bidding me mot to | lpugh," because. as she solemn.y as- | serted. George Washington never laughed" and. as she had confirmed habit of enforcing her commands with | a hickory withe, laughed only on the sly uuti grew so large that laughed both her Admonitions and OK Eads to scorn. True. she has mixed up the
 biography of the Father of His Coun- | try with that of the Savior, but she honestly believed her assertion and stoutly maintained that I would for
 ever remain in the shadow if I went about waking the echoes with my cachinations. It vexes me to this day to think of the pleasure to which she
 unwIttinglv deprived me when life was
 young. I have heard many pleasant
 sounds In my day. including Sweet.
 Sweet Home" sung by the incompara-
 ble Patti. but the most pleasant mu-
 sic that ever fell upon my ear is the
 laughter of children. especially of my
 own children.
 ] So reneat the statement that Presi- | dent Mckinley has rendered mankind
 a great and positive service by his hu-
 mor. He has not yet attained the high | rank of Artemus Ward, Mark Twain