The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-05-30

cynic. the part Of the buffoon---these
were not Daniels parts. Put We may
see how, year by year. useless orna-
ysar ss pps,oSs were packed eo.sy
and closer with thought; how. year by
year. no seemed to diff his auditors to
higher planes Of feeling and media
simple; what mad been intricate be-
came direct; what had been abstract
became concrete. 1t would be too long
to apply like analysis to his splendid
| saders--of Jackson and Lee and Davis
| and Early; or to his addresses on the
| historic events and figures OF the
earlier epoch or the American repub-
washington, jefferson. Pocahontss. TO
single out one of another for special
praise would be fnvidious when all are
or merit 30 distinguished. jeweled with
passages Of consummate. beauty, and
glowing throughout with an inward
radiance OF tender loyalty and devot-
ed patriotism. II 10 commonly said
that Daniel himself ranked his dis
course upon the Battle of Kings Noun
/ tain( and his GRAFTON on Lee as per-
haps the happiest of his formal ad-
dresses; those who care for such dis
| tinctions will find much in these SPLEEN
did examples of his eloquence to JUS
| tify their claim to pre-eminence. But
| IL after reading Lee you turn to Wash
ington. or after reading the Battle OF
| Kings Mountain you turn TO the
Gettysburg Campaign. you may your
| self be tempted to reverse your own
verdict
UnHke His Contemporaries.
/ When we pass from the study of
Daniels career in detail to the. con-
temptation of his genius and character
as a whole, when we ask ourselves
what was the true secret of his power
] of deep significance--his profound nm
likeness to the men of his own xen-
GRAFTON. Call the roll OF post bellum
governors, congressman, senator's from
| Virginia; you VIII find none IKE
the great figures. who have filled the
stage of our national history during the
decades Of his public iifes you will find
not one like Daniel. His heart was
warm and kind. his nature affectionate
and tender. his spirit attuned to the
sincerities OF friendship; and yet there
was In him certain aloofness. q GER
Ing from the familiar contacts of life.
Men said that he was not a mixer: and
yet he was pre-eminently a MIXER:
nearer to the plain common people than
between the pillow handles than 10 his
colleague in the Senate: nearer to the
man in the street than TO the judge
upon the bench. or the governor in his
not q machine politician; but in truth
J no man believed more thoroughly In
| political organisation. no man followed
more Loyalty the party flag. only he
TO the candidate, nearer to the worker
Mt the polls than to the manager of the
campaign. Men said that he was i'm
patient OF detail and Indifferent to
I legal treatises. his debates in onsress
| his public addresses demonstrate a
passion for detail. and his ardent eu-
loeies of his comrades In arms show
- ~ - =
appreciation for his feliowmen.
| The difference which marked him
off from the other statesmen OF his
own epoch showed plainly in the sub
and excited his enthusiasm. with but
| two exceptions Daniels problems were
the problems of an earlier age The
problems of enlarging the power and
fringing upon the rights OF the States
to the amp1est measure of local self
government: the problem of guaran-
feeling to our sister republics In the
/ two Americas the blessings of rep
resentative government unhampered
| by European control: the problem of
extending throughout both American
continents the reign of righteousness
and peace. of prosperity and order, OF
free speech and popular government
these problems and problems like them
were the problems which came near to
his heart. Daniels problems were the
public; the problems Of Washington
and Jefferson. the problems Of Madison
! and Monroe, the problems of the nation
rather than of a party. He conceived
them as they might have conceived
1 them he attacked the solution as they
might have attacked IT, In this kim
ship of the great men OF great past
we find the true secret of Daniels
strength. Listen for moment to the
noble profession of his political faith:
There Is something In this country
greater than party. There is something
| higher than Convention Platform. 1t
is principle and country and kind.
Thank God we are people of one ianEu-
age. OF one law; and of a spirit that
sticks to right and will do it--as God
grants us TO see the right--regardless
Of consequences to ourselves"
Daniel ON Finance.
| The burning question of our modern
| politics seemed alien to Daniel, and as
q rule he eschewed them. Race prob
| LEM he says in one of his operations,
| lem" he says In one his orations:
What will you do with them? This
| Is not the time nor am I here to an
swer." Twice and twice only he at
| tackled with his full force modern
question. and on both questions the
historic evolution Of economic laws has
put him in the wrong. The one was