The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1904-07-21
MARTIN. OF VIRGINIA.
SOMETHING OF HIS CAREER
His characteristics, Etc.

His characteristics, Etc,
tB, Sayuyard, in Washington Post)
Possibly il is in TINT delightful nara
tive. "Nirt'a Life 81 Patrick Henry,
that il iA related that when the toniintn
tn Congress convened in l1Il Patrick
Henry and Richard Henry Lee 80 lar eH
crlled all the men oi the North 10 nratOry
that "A Connecticut member was IN de
spair an remarked that they might ~
well go home, ~ they were not lit 90 ht
the colleagues Of such giants ~ the hir
giuians. whom he cOnsi tered - littl,
more than mortal; but when woi came
10 be done in committee 1t was discover
eI that many Of the Northern drlrgAtet
were superior tn Henry Rnd lee in tn,
drg Aui nprpsqary details Of huelnesH
and our old friend from CunLecticui
changed his mind and came to conclude
that lhe eloquent demiSods from the
South were but men, after all. And 20
1t has generally been found, When the
Republican party wanted 10 say things
IL put forward Henry Ward Brecher
Wendell Phillips, Henry Winter Davis
and owen l.oyejpy; but when the Re
publican party wanted TO do things II
chose Lincoln, FtesendeD. Morton aud
4 Stevens There Rre no Admirable Crich
tons nowadays We do not find Caesar i
/ hand and Shnktsp are 4 brain and 30.
. lingbFnkp'H grace nnd lihrrick 4 art and
Clay Il fascination pumminglrd in one
! personality Jrfir spn thought, nnd
/ Jackson wrought, but He DO not have
/ J-ifirsou and jackson in single indi
viduhl
4 To appear in either Houee of Congress
aud deliver nn cluqueht speech that
thrills aud dazzles ard captivates every
b1iy. and cOnyinces nobody, IL an
a 'hievcment often accomplished in our
parliamentary history. Charles Sumner
and &c lrge " Julian of the North, and
John j crittenden and William l. lan-
cry. Of the South. were given to the prac'
tice 1t IL mAgnih ent. but it IL not ! T.
islstipn. Ir j. the frills and furbelOws
the ostent8tiOn and emblsZOnmrnt, the
dress. .parades and carniyals Of SJlOuism
and IL IL very fine, very excellent, aud II
il difficult 20 gee how we could get along
without it Here il Sulonism, the rea
stuff dozen men. more or less what
James b. Be-k wnr. and William Is. All
son il. eit at long table in committee
room with the print, till of "A proposed
law b,fIre them. and talk about it
sometimes for hours sometimes Tor days
SOMETIMES for werks Every thing that
can be said 10 favor OF the meai ur; ii
said, and every thing that can be al in
opp sition to the measure ID sai1. Al
thnTitips are cited statistic n-e Induced
human experience il invoked, human
speculation iH indulgsd-all fused into AT
guments. pro and con Common sense
sits in iI1gment That il deliberAiiOI
and that is \ ilonism. That il represen
tgtive government. and Thomas ; Mar
tin, al Albemnrir County. il the equal o
any Senator in Con ress hi that sort O
burineas.
4 here IL an impres sion in some quar-
t,rs that Senator Martin ia the bots OF q
political machine and nothing else. and
such the writer Of this long considered
him; but that il al insufficient estimate
3 of the man H. is the leader Of isparty
in Virginia, aud il boss in thetense thai
] O. +. Morton was 10 Indiana, AS ". b
Allison il in Iowa, and like those two h'
il more than boss-he can think as wei
ns act-plsn AZ we'll IA execute.
Thomas S. Martin Was born H. 1917
and educated at the Virginia Military
Institute and the University OF Virginia
He WAS q cadet Of the former schOO
when the great war OF 1876 was rag
ing, and that institution supplied TO the
Southern armies } major generals, u
brigadier generals. 80 colonies, and III
captains.
Martin was not at the battle OF New
Market. lie and SIX other cadets wert
Ill at the time, but when the cadets wer'
enrolled as a part OF the army his name
WAS among them, and he was in the mil
itary service Of the Coniederacy until thu
end In 1869 he w8s admitted to th'
bar. and until his election as Senator hi
devoted his whole heart, mind AND
strength to the rxacting and 'alOus pro
fessiOn of the law and b. came one Of tht
most successful practitioners at tht
South lie has two qualities in extraor
dinary degree determination and per
sisteDce. Early in life he resolved thai
he WOuld sume day be Senator in Con
gress, and that h. would never stand for
nor accept any other office, National oI
State. That purpose was always Will
him. IL was never relaxed, and the:t
never was moment that he doubted
that it would some time be realized. In
1895 he succeeded Gen. Eppa IluntOn al
Senator from Virginia.
For a long time Martin had been th'
friend, counsellor, and lieutenant OF john
s. Barbour, the Democratic leader who
overthrow Malone and exercised Ma
hOneism. Martin was the man on whom
Barbour most relied, and victorious re
suits ever indicated his COltidencein thu
man and the abilities OF his lieutenant.
Senator Martin has the capacity TO set
things-legal and political. This is whai
made him a successful lawyer and a sue
cess vi politician. He exercised the fac
ulty when hs beat Fitz Lee for Senator
He looked over the ground and saw
things as they were He made his or
g8nIzRtiOn, and it was irresistible, anC
his dispositions, and they were inexOr
able-he got the SenatUrsbip. Th'
writer of this is not defending the thing
nor does he say that 1t is in need OF de
Tense IL is only the man who seei
things who can be successful bOH6, anC
the bosses are like the trustr-JYme ar
good and some are bad.
OF course there is opposition TO MsrtiI
in the Democratic party in Virginia, ant
at Roanoke in 1899, that oppo. ition W al
very pronounced and very noisy. Hon
w, A, Jones member of Congress Gf Ihl
First district, superior man, wins TIT
leader uf it, and had his foil 'wing tt
the last man among the Dem OeretIe lead
ers been as intrepid and as capable as h'
it might have been the last Uf Martin
Not only is Jones strong man, but h'
ia honest and has convictions. He is moi
always right, and when he is wrong ht
is terribly wrong, and as his faith is in
tense, so his prt iudiee is strong On thil
occasion he was wrong. He and his fol
lowing clemored for a Primary" a.
though it were possible for party thai
confessedIy cannot hold an honest con
yention to conduct an honest primary
It was only an ebuIlition OF that enOr
mons and resistless wave oil demagogJ