Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-17

compromise resolutions, they were call
ed, stopping the advance of slavery, and
heard the debate upon them. 1 heard Mr..
Webster deliver his speech of March Z,
1850, which, 1t is said, cost him the presi
dency. l can see him now as he arose,
saying: Mr.. President 1 speak today not
as northern man, not Massachusetts
man, but as a Union man. Before he
spoke Senator Isaac P. Walker of Wis
consin came over from the democratic side
and took a seat near him. 1t was arranged
on the previous day that Mr.. Walker
Senate was called to order, and that Mr..
Webster was to begin his speech at l
o'clock. The gallery of the Senate was
jammed, and Senator Foote of Mississippi,
whose gallantry was well known, moved
that the ladies be admitted to the floor.
The lobby in the rear of the senator's
seats was Immediately crowded with beau
tifully dressed ladies' Senator Walker,
President, saying:
""This assemblage of noble men and
beautiful women, Mr.. President, have not
come this morning to hear me, but to listen
to words of wisdom from the senator from
Massachusetts. l, therefore, yield the floor
to him.
John c. Calhoun was Webster's antag-
onist and the democratic leader He was a
tall, emaciated man. with a haggard face
and a feeble voice, but one of the most able
and honest men that was ever in public life.
ne Ieple0 u MI WeDSleT IL lew days later,
but was too weak to take the floor. He
said Mr.. President, my physical condition
will not permit me to deliver my own
speech. and l ask the consent of the SEN
ate that my friend from Virginia, Mr.. Ma
son, be allowed to read it for me- The re-
quest was granted, and James NJ. Mason
read Mr.. Calhoun's last speech. Mr.. CAL
houn went out of the Senate Immediately
after and never returned He died March
81, few days later, and I attended his
funeral from his house on Capitol Hill.
Recollections of Clay.
''Henry Clay was perhaps the most bril-
liant orator ever heard and he was never
more eloquent than when, a few days later,
he pronounced a eulogy upon the life and
character of his lifelong political antagonist.
With graceful gesture he began: Mr..
President: Another star has fallen below
the political horizon Mr. Clay was a tall,
slender man with delightful manner and
was always gentle and kind to the pages,
except when they asked for his autograph.
The autograph craze was at its height
when 1 was in the Senate, and everybody
that came to Washington, and almost every
body that lived here, would bring albums
to the Capitol and employ the pages to get
the senator's to write their names in them.
Mr.. Clay was always reluctant to give his
autograph to anybody and we were afraid
"Mr Chase. afterward Secretary Of the
Treasury and chief justice of the Supreme
Court, came to Washington after he gradu-
ated from Dartmouth College in 1926 and
studied law here with William Writ Attor-
ney General. Then he went to Cincinnati to
practice. Among the papers left by my
father was the journal Of a literary and
debating society Of which Mr.. Chase was
secretary.
''Mr Soule of Louisiana was fine-look-
ing man. with polished manners and
strong French accent. He took kindly in
terest in me. and have an autograph let
ter from him asking President Pierce to
send me to West Point as one of the cadets
at-.arge. He took a prominent position in
the confederacy, and many interesting incl
dents of him occurred during Gen. Buffers
occupation.
Jefferson Davis was thorough gentle
man, and was very much admired by the