Evening journal., 1914-06-20
New News Of Yesterday
How Daniel Webster
Changed His Style
OF OratOry
By Holland.

Ihe late Benjamin D. silliman was.
when past ninety years Of age on
gagged actively in the practice Of his
! procession as a lawyer. His mama
I ana some OF his professional aehieve'
hents We're well known to the aar ~
lne entire United States. He Was go,.
some years before his death. In 1900
regarded as the nestor of the Aneri,
can par, He also came in the earIy
nlneties into somewhat sensatinraI
reiallon with the purchase OF a niece
Oh real estate in New York City n
was little plot of ground AZ .be
corner OF Wall street and Broadway
ahu u mad been in the ownersbin ~
UT. Sllllman for many years Wban
II was announced that the land had
peeh sold for q price much eraatey
ehan mad up to that time been maid
lur any piece of land in the IJnifad
otates' the transaction was widely
commented upon Mr. Sillirnan al
ways pointed to that property 81
Justification of the Investment he bsd
made years before when he foresa,v
the great growth Of the city ana
especially of the Wall street distri,.t
~ was IN little office in the some
what antiquated building which stood
nDon this plot of ground that I snont
an hour or two one afternoon with
mr. Sllllman. He was then an
preaching his ninetieth year. bnt
there were no evidences in his voice
or IN his mental processes to suggest
that ne had reached SO great an 9pe
wanted to talk to Mr.. SilIiman
ABOUT the national Whig convention
which was held in 1899. for / had
Deen told that he was a delegate IN
lhat convention and was probably the
iast survivor then living of all those
VINO took part in the gathering.
he seemed greatly pleased that I
snould have asked MIN for some OF
ms reeollections of that body.
IL was made up of very able men
ne said. Il am sure that no other
convention contained a larger number
OF men Of very high ability than did
this one.
4 was one Of the younger mem
bers Of the convention and I made
lt point to talk with some of the
older men, especially those who had
taken part in public affairs twenty
or thirty years earlier. before there
was any Wing party. 1t was nv good
fortune to meet two or three gentle
men who had served in Congress With
Daniel Webster. / had never heard
webster speak, but /, like every other
American Of that time, found my in
terests absorbed in the career OF the
Webster and his personality and in
his probable ambition which Law even
az that time ia the direction OF the
In one of the chats which I had
with men who knew Webster / asked
Il It were true that he had completely
his style as an orator and his
use OF English.
was told that when Webster firsr
went to Congress, about twenty-ire
years earlier, he was disposed ia
make somewhat flowery speeches and
% use long words 1t was sometimes
said OF him that he was an fmitator
II 1T. Samuel Johnson, whose manv-
'Yllabled words were at that time
inflated by some public speakers.
Afterwards think some eight or
line wears later-W Webster made a
iDeech which attracted a good deal
II attention, because his style was s.
iitferent from that which heretofore
lad been characteristic Of him. II
vas devoid OF any flowers of rhetoric.
There were scarcely any quotations
rom the classics, although there were
few from Shakespeare. He made
lse of the simple Anglo Saxon words,
many of them words of one syllable,
nd this was a distinct departure
rom his earlier style.
"One of the gentlemen told me that
Webster had said to friend that he
ad changed his style after a careful
eading Of the Book of Job. He
realty admired the sublimity and
ignity of the Book of Job and OBJ
erved that in the King James version
he translators had used for the mos.
art the rich and sinewy Anglo-Saxon
Ongue. From that time on the Book
( Job was his constant companion
nd he based his later English style
Don it,"
Copyright, 1914, by Mr.. e. J. Ed
wards. All rights reserved.