The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-08-04

was gentleman, his wife and mis-
daughter the old statesman had under
convoy. When they came to the door
| the venerable senator took by the hand
the young lady, little past her shird
/ lustrum, and, followed by her parents
he escorted her down the steps. Fun
kies hurried and scurried getting seats
for the party, and the senator took his
place between the mother and the
daughter. As far as the eye could
reach you could see the young girl
was lovely. and just as far it could be
detected that she was a daughter of
the south. So pretty, so innocent, so
Winsome, she was that l repeated what
| old Chaucer wrote of one who might
| have been, and probably was, one of
her remote grandmothers:
l saw her dance so comfy,
| carol and sing so sweetN
/ Ana laugh and play so womaniy,
| And look so debnairly,
| SO COOLEY speak and so friendly;
| Ihat, certes, 1 trow that nevermore
| was seen so blissful a treasure,
| For every hair upon her head,
Sooth to say, it was not red,
Nor yellow neither. nor brown it was,
But, oh; what eyes my lady had,
Debonair. goode, glad and sad,
Simple, of good size, not too wide;
Thereto her look was not aside,
Nor overwort.
The old man sat there beside that
mother and daughter, his friends, evil
identity from home-and homefolks at
this capital are more than homefolks
at hOme-and pointed out the celebri-
ties on the floor. All of them enjoyed
themselves, but after a time there was
call of the senate,i and the old fell
low excused himself and departed with
a bow that would have been the envy
of Whitehall in De Grammont's day,
that Versailles could not have sur
passed when the grande monarque pre-
scribed etiquette for all polite society
of Europe. ! thought of Ben Franklin
in French salons, but at once dis
missed him, for old Ben was a rake,
and his female friends over there, as
rule, rakesses.
Senator Pettus never cared for po-
litical life. He was the old southern
gentleman-not Peveril of the Peak,
but something like him; not Sir Henry
Lee of Ditchley, but much like him.
He was lawyer and loved the profess
sion. He was judge, and exactly
what Sir Matthew Hale would have
been in our age-upright from skin to
marrow, learned in the precedents. but
subordinating precedent and learning
to wisdom.
Had Pettus got to the senate at 40
and remained there till his death, his
would have been one among the very
great names in our parliamentary his
tory. He was made for parliamentary
and forensic debate He was a good
natured Ben Hardin, with all his giant
intellect and vast legal lore, and with
out his cOarSeness and malice. He
might have been Ben Hill, less ruth
less, indeed, and made irresistible by
his sense of humOr, in which Hill was
hopelessly deficient
A great Englishman of letters con-
trasted the powers of VOltaire. Swift
and Addison as masters of ridicuIe
and each was superb in his sphere. In
another essay he declares that the
mockery of VOltaire was the most ter
rible thing with which man or devil
was ever armed, or words of that i'm
port. Perhaps the greatest master of
ridicule either house of the American
congress ever knew was John r.
Thompson of Kentucky, who served in
both ends of the capitol. Proctor
Knott provoked more laughter than
anybody else, but he was the hunor
list; he was also the poet. He left no
sting. Even Duluth presented him a
corner lot. Sunset" Cox dubbed over
with wit and humor, but he did not
go to the spot" as Knott did, especial
ly after old Ben Butler ran him
through a threshing machine and
threw him into a hysteria of chagrin.
John Allen was a delightful humorfst.
and, though he plays on only one
string, no one can deny that he gets
more out Of that string than most
funny men get out of a full hand.
Lands of Indiana is dashing fellow.
but he is the epigrammatist, rather
than the humOrist. Speaker Reed
could make the house laugh, but he
was wit rather than a humorist. He
always left a sting. There would have
been what never was, since parlia-
ments were instituted among men, if
Thomas B. Reed and John Randolph of
Roanoke had been contemporaries.
In the spring Of 1900 the senate had
the Porto Rico tariff under considera-
ton, and Mr.. Beveridge made a WON
derful speech on the subject. but SUBJ
sequently voted on the other side.
Here is a passage, words, words. words
-langwidge. langwidge. langwidge!
Mr.. President: The great movement