New-York tribune., 1909-10-17
DAILY TRIBUNE, SUNDAY, OCTOBER H. 19o9

II OF hp0Tfrg.
| of the speabership than any subsequent Speaker
has done. and during the entire period OF his
sway not one Of his decisions was overruled.
Three principles he established by his service
the increase of the Speakers parliamentary
Dov,er the retention Of his personal influence
and the establishment Of his position as iegisla-
tive leader. And he had as his reward every
gift but one that the American people mas 70
give. and besides. measure Of popular anec-
tion and devotion that has been allotted to
hardly one of those who have attained the SUI
preme dignity of National Executive
| The years that followed Clay's rule were not
particularly full of interest. but the author culs
many a choice anecdOte or personal reflection to
| brighten his page. Thus he finds time in de-
scribing the 22d Congress. to recall the obserVt-
ton of Thomas Corwin. of Ohio. who won fame
as the keenest wit and one Of the greatest ora
tors of our country, that one who seeks 70
achieve distinction must renOunce all forms OF
pleasantly. You should remember" he said to
a man who joked with crowd. that the crowd
always looks up to the ringmaster and down on
the clown. 1t resents that which amuses- The
clown is the more clever fellow Of the two. but
he is the despised. II you will succeed in life
you must be solemn solemn as ass. All the
great monuments of earth have been built over
solemn asses" And. the author adds. many a
statesman has owed his success in life to the
length Of his legs and the sOlemnity Of his coun-
tenance.
when ex-President John Quincy Adams was
causing considerable cOmmOtiOn with anti
slavery discussion, and exercised discretion
while displaying considerable talent. His four
teen years service in the House left an impress
sion Of an able man. of clean person and high
/ morals. an indefatigable worker. clever par
Humanitarian and able presiding officer but
NV~RV- s~No~
| tician After an interval he carried into the
White House. when the people turned from the
glare Of dazzling talent TO the softer lights OF
conspicuous mediOcrity-a striking and preg-
nant phrase, which illustrates Mr. FuIIer's more
| than ordinary power of compression
The war period brings pictures Of such viriIe
/ leaders as Stephen Douglas and Thaddeus Ste
vens- The latter by sheer force Of will held
Speakers in his hand The most unpopular man
on the floor. he welded a power greater than
any that Clay ever had He had a perfect con-
tempt for applause or censure- Narrow, ignO-
rant and fanatical. he had a passion for mas
tery that could not yield even to broken health
! and of all the civil heroes of the wartime he
stands pre-eminent in Congress for his success
IN moulding men 20 his will With such a
leader on the floor the Speaker was an incident
secondary afterthOught- Colfax's weak and
plastic nature is depicted in bold and telling
strokes. and he is dismissed with a contemptu-
Gus observation that the American public makes
heroes of its great men. but it has no mercy for
it's shattered idols.
The history is continued through the admins
! trations of B'aine and his various SUCCESSORS 10
Carlisle and Reed and Cannon It is not neces-
sary to accept all the judgments of such a writer
when We say that in the main they are sound
dispassionate and we'll founded. At least there
Is neither narToWness nor prejudice, and the
saving grace of humOr is abundantI- evident
The chapter on Reed must have been a pleasure
IN the writing, but the mere collection of even
fresh stories is an art distinctly below that of
pithy Characterization. and that of letting a
narrative unfold itself. as it Were uncOnsciousIy
by the development of it's Incidents When we
have studied the several pictures of individuals
we find they have covered a general survey of
large topic 1t is delightful way of treating
an Important subject. and Mr. Fuller has pro-
dueed volume that will be read with no less
pleasure than profit