The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1902-09-12
Last Words of. Daniel Webster
are Curtailed in History.
BARLOW MAN MAKES THE CORRECTION
Ancient Latin Maxim: "9pelk Well
Of the Dead" Does Not Apply
to People Prominent In
Worlds History

Is more than two thousand years old.
Nevertheless, history Is made up OF
the character and deeds OF notable
and great men. and It is our duty 10
study them and profit by their exam
pie. That Latin maxim was intended
no doubt to apply to our neighbors
who had recently died, and not to the
great public men whose acts and deeds
made up history. The world had a
perfect right to analyze and criticise
the characters Of Alexander and Gaze
sar and Cromwell and Bonaparte and
Benedict Arnold, but even these were
not settled until century or more
had passed after their death. Bona
parties is not settled yet and English,
French and American historians are
still hammering away at his character
and his deeds. That he was a scourge
to mankind and the age in which he
lived and a traitor to his devoted
wife and all to crafty his selfish ambi.
ton, no reflective man can doubt. The
disposition to idolize great warriors
handicaps all young historians and
captivates the people when one Of
these fighting men offers for office. 1t
was this that elected Taylor and Har-
rison and Jackson How Roosevelt
will get along with his war record for
killing bears remains to be seen, but
l reckon he is relying more on being
a historian and sJandering men after
they are dead. He will lose nothing
up north by telling lies on Jefferson
Davis He belongs to the same school
Of historians that Professor Goodwin
Smith did-that lying EnglIshman
who wrote a history of the United
States that was taught in northern
colleges and said the first settlers of
Virginia were renegades from England
mostly convicts who were given
choice of the gallows or Of exile to
, Virginia. and strange to say they
chose the exile.
But l was Eliminating about these
last words of Daniel Webster, who in
my opinion, was the greatest man the
country ever produced, not the great
est, but the grandest-the most god
like. H emade many great speeches,
but the greatest of all was that deliv-
cred at Capon Springs, where he was
brave enough to qualify all his pre-
vlous utterances concerning the rights
Of the states and to declare that any
state had the right to withdraw from
the union when it was unjustly treated
and that the state was the sole judge
of that. For this he was denied the
privilege of speaking again in Faneull
hall For this he was sacrificed in
verse by Whittier For this that
speech was left out of his published
works-the pp ishers saying that it
would greatly u Nge their sale to
have it in This D4ings me to the text
l started to write about, for have re-
ceived three letters from cultured gen
tlemen who tell me that 81 still live"
were not Webster's last words, but
there were two more that the editor
suppressed. and those two we're more
brandy" These gentlemen concur in
saying that Webster was very fond of
brandy and in his last days INDUCED
too much and during his last illness
his physician kept him alive on bran
DIV. The morning he died his physi.
clan called and, finding him alive, but
apparently unconscious said to the
attendant He cannot live but a lit
tie while, but if he should live until
8 o'clock give him some more brandy.
When the clock struck-S Mr.. Webster
reused up and pointed to it and whis-
pered. 81 still live-more brandy" The
last two words are left out Of the biog-
raphy and may not have been said
Nevertheless. this version has para
lived much of my sentiment and all
can do is to leave It in doubt. | re
member that it was said of Mr.. Web
ster that he was overload Of his bran
DIV toddies. Brandy was gentleman 6
drink. whisky was for the common
people and rum was for eggnog and
for the yankees to ship to Africa tc
buy niggers with. Even in my young
DAYS the gentlemen drank brandy
Deach or apple, or COgnac. 1t was
kent on the sideboards and was al
WAYS offered to visitors When l was
about IA years old John Mcpherson
Berrien came to our little town o
aawrenceville to attend court. He was
considered a very great man. He was
our United States senator and haC
been attorney general Of the UniteC