The Washington herald., 1914-11-03
HISTORY BUILDERS.
Yankee Tribute to a Brilliant
Southerner.
swriissa EIErss.Iy for ne Hsadl

/ ~ Ohs Es ss Ed " hhDSs
The late william P. Frye. Of Maine
for many years United States Senator
from that State and. earlier. Represent.
. from the Lewiston, Ne, district said
TO me. in the summer OF 1854. that there
was no member OF the House In whose
personality and In whose career he had
I found greater interest than in the In
stance of Representative Robert NJ. Nc
Lane, Of Maryland.
1T always pleased me to hear Nc
Lanes voice" said Senator Frye, "and
| no matter what was doing at the time
never failed to drop my work and
carefully listen and also watch Mr.. Nc
Lane when he took the floor.
II think. without exception, he was
the most graceful member OF the House
during all my service there. His ges
tures were models. They appeared to
/ be unstudied- They aided admirably n
expressing his thought. They consisted
usually Of slight movement Of the
arm, never violent, always gentle, an
yet at times II seemed almost as though
his hand actually spoke. sometimes
wanted to ask him whether he haG ac-
quired that art or whether Il was nat
ural. The only public speaker eySr
heard or saw whose gift for graceful
and yet almost unobservable gestures
was the equal of McLane's was Wendell
Phillips In fact their gesticUlations
were similar.
''McLane possessed a voice Of peculiar
quality. / never heard one that resem-
bled It. II was soft and yet very dis
tinct. He seemed never to exert HIM
self, and ! think he had either Uncon-
sciousIy or through study learneu the
secret OF how to make the voice carry
long distance without stralning the
vocal organs. II is a sort OF singing
quality, although very different from
what Is called information.
Il sometimes thought that there was
no member Of the House whose career
was so varied and Of such extent as
was that OF McLane. He had been a
member Of the House OF Representatives
when Lincoln served in Congress HIS
service there began during the adminls-
tration of President Polk. After that.
he was much occupied with diplomatic
matters. He carried with inviolable Sc
crecy the story OF the message which
at the outbreak Of the Mexican war he
took from President Polk to Gen.
Zachary Taylor.
He was practically minister to China.
He was one of the powerful inteIIects
Of the East who became familiar vita
conditions on .'uT Pacific Coast And
row, when he is nearly seventy years
OF ege, he is governor Of Maryland.
81 hope McLane has carefully pre-
served his correspondence and has re-
corded in his diary or In some con-
venient way his various life as u law
yer. BY the way. learned by accident
that McLane was trained as a soldier.
having been, think, cadet at West
Point
But after all. as l think OF him,
dnd myself recalling with especial
vividness the peculiar grace Of his per-
sonality, the charm of his gestures and
the melodious quality o. his voice. for
these were characteristics which dis
tinguished him from the great company
with which he was associated as a men,
Der of the Lower House"
CcopJright. IeII. b. T. J. Edwards. An riEhtS rs-
SsrTed.l
Tomorrow DR.. Edwards will tell Of "A
Book Which was Never Printed"