The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-07-24
The Part That Stump Speaking.
Has Played i'll Deciding
Presidential Contests.
DAYS or CLAY AND WEBSTER E:l:
.tmpclling Force on Platform OF
Such Mell as Cthoatc,8 corwil',
Prcntiss, Seward and Others.
Bv Rufus Rockwell Wilson,
Author Of "Rambles In Colonial BY
Ways

No ,hataer In our political annals is
richer In human interest than me Oily
,r,,,,,,,h has to do with the men whose GIT
Of eloquent and persnading speech c1 & nae
been a. decIdimg influence In more thall
one presidential canvass. The names OIL
11anrv CLAY and Daniel Wcbstexl head the
roster If the great campaign orators OIL
The mast, Clay was perhaps a more pop
mar. orator than Webster. His was y
voice of great compass, power ana nei-
odv and with 1t at will he moved even a
hostile assenblage to smiles ana te it.s
and enthusiasm. Clay's Skill IN election
eering. however, was largely due 70 fns
Familiarity with the manners ana customs
s of n, rmers, tenants and laborers. Ia !Hlleii
he was first n candidate forthc l<entucky
4 legislature he gained the support OF ~
Z company. Of rifemcn by successI u u.
shooting at a mark. On ano therl OCCASION essl
when a candidate for recollection, 70 con
sress, he met an old hunter, VINO mug ~ ~.
viously been one OF his companions, pul
who now apposcd him OH account Of ms
action on a certain bill. s5'. Have 'youa good
rifle, my friend r. asked Clay. = cs.
docs 1t ever flash in the pan once nee
only what did you do with 1t, throw
y II away? mo, Z picked the flint, trieu !
again, and brought down the game
..Haye ever flashed, except on that
bill?', mo-, 'Wfll you throw m me
away?'' No. no., quickly replied the the
y hunter. nearly overpowered BY his ems
@thuEiasm: ri will pick the flint and try
gyo,i again. Clays opponents often as
certained to their cost that he could be
ironcal and sarcastic, but he usually
resorted to satire only in self-dcfence,
and was seldom, himself the agrees OF.
Webster Scratched" Out.
I'll ifyvcbster's triumphs on the stump were
{ 81 a different but no less decisive order.
When he was to speak no hall was big
enough to contain those who desired 70
y hear him. what with his pre-eminent
4 power Of speech, his Ysngular c harm OF
presence and his dignity of carriage and
1 demeanor, he never failed to profo undly
move his auditors. Tho impression has
been current that Webstcr's grea speech
es We're unstuded, but, as matter OF
fact. he was always n laborious student,
and sin8Itic early part OF his career he
HeXpended Fl great deal of time In the pre-
paration or his public addresses. On one.
occasion, when the first; message OF .sN,4i-
liam HsjSeward, 5 then Governor OF New.
Z York, wa issued, Vebster was Appealed
TO forShiS opiniongof the document. GOV
cinort seward.'' he replied "is a very
\ able man and a very able writer. The
only thing he needs to learn is how to
scratch OUT All elow-Senator expressed
some surprise at this remark, and said
that no one who read w bster's addresses
OF listened TO his speeches could suppose
that he ever had occasion to alter or
a.ucnd anything that came from, his pen
H owever that may be now" was Web
u stcrs answer, "a very large part Of my lie
has been spent in Scratching out. When
q was a young man. and for some years
alter had tacquired a respectable degree
Z Of enlincncc In my profession, my style
was bombastic and pomr,ous in the ex-
IRENE. Some kind friend was good enough
TO point ont I hat act to me, and de-
termined to correct II II labor could do
. it Whether it has been corrected or
not. no small part of my life has been
spent In the attempt
AFTER Clay and Webster, the most pop
nla,a stump. orator of tho first half of ...e
last century WAS Thomas Corwin, of Ohio
IA born hulnorist, Corwin at every stage
h OF his long career made n business OF
L searching out the jocularities Of current
issues and ,ssaE them to tighten the serl-
BUSINESS Off craftsmanship. But humor
was not his only gift He possessed-also
a poetic sense. which he had cultivated
I by dilgent study Of the best English
I poets. and he knew how to temper that
sense so that it would appeal to tho
Y throng Thus 1t was that his speec hes,