The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-12-14

cumstances, our author naturally saw much
more of Mr. Webster than most boys or
young men would he likely To see Of man
of his age. Dr.. Hale relates that on one
occasion, when Daniel Webster was deliver
ing a great address. Mrs. Webster was In
the gallery OF the church, whittier she had
taken her little son. Edward in order, APP
parentlv, that he might remember hearing
his father at a critical iuncture. In the
| course Of the address Mr.. Webster cried
out will any man dare say" with so much
vigor that the child himself was impressed
| with the folly OF any person contradicting
! his father. and in a clear treble piped back
from the gallery: NO, pa"
Subsequently. D. Hale was an intimate
friend of G. j. Abbott. who was Mr.. Web
! ster's confidential secretary when he was
Secretary OF State under Fillmore MIR
! Abbott used To say that Mr.. Webster would
| rise early in the morning, light his own fire
and work for three hours by himself. really
| finishing in that ti'Ge all the business OF the
! day. He knew only too well that Mr..
! Unexpected would take the rest Of the day
! Accordingly. Just a. they were all getting TO
! their morning work In the Department.
! where the hours required attendance az o
| o'clock Mr. Webster would come in il
| he were the most unoccupicd man in the
= world H. would stand In front Of the fire
| and say. Mr. Abbott, what do Won think of
! Popc's rendering of such and such a line in
: the Had? Do vou think the Greek word
! bears this and that construction Send
| boy for the volume, and let us look at ii
together" Touching the Incorporate hab-
| it, which have been imputed to Daniel
| Neb-ter-i' has even been asserted that he
could not speak well until he was half seas
! over D. Hale has this to say: Bet ween
! the yeqr, 1920 and 1852. when he died. must
| have seen him thousands Of times. | must
| have read thousands of letters from him.
| | have been | know not how often at his
| house My father as ] say, was his init
! mate friend Now, IL was 70 me a matter
| Of the utmost personal surprise when
| found gradually growing up In this country
| the impression that MIR v ebster was often,
! rot To say generally, overcome with liquor
| in the latter years Of his life. | should
say that tlird part Of the anecdotes Of him
! which YOU find afloat now have reference
| Ia occasions when il was supposed that b..
under the il fuence Of whiskey he did not
| know what he was doing. like 20 say.
| therefore, that. In the course of twenty
Z
years old To the time when ! was 80.
| ! never had dream or thought q At he
cared an ythirg about wine or liquor
| certainly | Lever supposed that he used
il 10 excess What is mere, know that
| nv own father. who lived to the year 1854
| heard such stories az these with perfect
! disgust and u.digI alton. This is good
| place tn print my olil ion that tits class Of
4 III
and partly from worse motives; and that
they are not Ia hc taken as real indications
! Of the habit or life Of the man
or Edward Everett, his uncle on tie
! mothers side. Mr.. Hale tells us that ore
! day in 1916. when hi, uncle had return ID
! 'rIm Europe. whore he had represented
! tie Ciited States al the court of ST.
/ j lmeS he declared himself con WINGED that
- stately Grafton Of twenty wears before.
| modelled upon johnson. Gibbon and
| Burke. was for America "A thing of the past
| He advised the ~ young man to ac-
| custom myself 10 speak 10 large or small
! audiences without MAJ uscript before me.
20 accept more colloq ial habit. which |
think he would have called the habit of
the stump After thi, time he prepared
some of his own most elaborate written
addresses. but | doubt if he ever carried
| the manuscript into the assembly where
he was to speak In AT interview In hts
OWL beautiful library, when We were both
! fifteen years older. he said To me that. In
! preparing an address. hc then royer put on
paper any lit of narrative. If YOU know
! what YOU are describing you can tell il
with the most spirit il you are not ia the
least fctterci. | might adj that, with
n memory like his. you may be sure 10
! make 10 mistake as 10 the facts But
| for a matter of persuasion, Of c gic, or
! arglmest in any form, he thought that
| this should be- prepared in advance, with
| all the caution that il implied In the use OF
| pen ink and paper Thus. in his own adj
| dress on George Washi' gton. he did Tot
! write down the narrative Of Braddock's de-
! feat " I'll he wrote il down foe the priI ted
| edition. II was new story To every audi
Ce. But the philippe against MARI
| borough and the conclusion Of the
address were, To the last letter. considered
| in advance. And, though he never
took the paper upon the stage, these
were the same to every audience" Mr.
Hale goes on TO say that nothing is more
! absurd than the habit current in our day
| of referring 10 Everett's eloqucuce as if II
| were academic, or the address Of a superior
10 Interiors As matter of fact, Everett
| brought his audience into sympathy with
| himself almost as soon as he began, az.
| thea ccforth carried them along with him:
| There are two or three foolish anecdotes
| anoat, which hear more often than like
to about his lbvcrett''l preparing stage
| effects in advance. All these fables are
based on the supposition that he had 10
presence Of mind before an audience and
| that he could do lotlinC IL situations which
| he had not AZ tCirated. The truth is, on
| the other hard, that he was never 80 much
| himself "a when he was before an audier ce ,
| and that he rather liked any suggestion of
| the moment which broke up the stiffness
of what might YOU cali tx cathedra or aca-
| dornic discourse"
In a chapter on Historians" wa hear n
| good deal about George Bancroft, whom
| our author knew from the summer of 1884
| before the first volume Of his history of the
| United States was published. II has been
| for some time the fashion on the part of
| younger historical students to make fun of
| Bancroft, a. If he were a mere rhetorician
and did not delve with the requisite care