American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1919-04-25
CHAPTER XVIII.
On the Summit.

IN lHG SunlIHlts
My mental assets would give me a
poor rating, | presume, in the com
merce of modern scholarship when ]
went to Washington that autumn with
Senator and Mrs. Wright. Still 1t was
no smatterlng that / had, but rather a
few broad areas of knowledge which
were firmly In my possession. My best
asset was not mental but spiritual, If !
may be allowed to say 1t, in all mod
esty, for, therein claim no special adj
vantage, saving, possibly, an unusual
strength of character In my aunt and
uncle. Those days the candles were
lighting the best trails of knowledge
ali over the land. Never has the gen.
eral spirit Of this republic been so
high and admirable as then and q little
later. 1t was to speak, presently, In
the immortal voices of Whittier, Emer-
son, Whitman, Greeley and Lincoln
The dim glow of the candles had en-
tered their souls and out of them came
q light that filed the land and was
seen Of all @
The railroads on which we Travelled
from Utica, the great cities through
which we passed, were a wonder and
an inspiration to me. l was awed by
the grandeur of Washington itself. ]
took lodgings with the senator and his
wife.
"Now, Bart" said he, when we had
arrived, "I'm going to turn you loose
here for q little while before / put har.
ness on you. Go about for a week OF
so and get the lay of the land and the
feel of 1t. Mrs. Wright will be your
guide until the general situation has
worked its way into your conscious
ness"
II seemed to me that there was no
room enough In my consciousness fol-
the great public buildings and the pic
lures and the statues and the vast ma
chlnery of the government. Beauty
and magnitude have n wonderful eff
feet when they spring fresh upon tn,
vision Of n youth out of the back coun
try. I sang of the look of them in IN,
letters and 10 began to think abou
them and lmperfectly to understan,
llltiil. iiifN HNN Ntttt tDit. iNTit ait
dramatic stages in my consciousness
One afternoon we went to hear Sen
ator Wright speak. He was to an
swer Calhoun on n detail of the bank
ing laws. The floor and galleries wer
filled. With what emotion / saw hlr
rise and begin his argument as all ear
bent to hear him He aimed not q
popular sentiments in highly fnishe
l.. rhetoric, MS did Webster, to be quote
, in the school books and repeated o
, every platform. But no words of min
and | have used many in the efrol
/ are able to convey a notion of tn
: masterful ease and charm of his MAI
y ner on the floor of the senate or Of til
: singular mOdesty, courtesy, aptnes
, and simplicity of his words MS the
:. fell from his lips. There were tn
munderous Webster, the grandeur {
| v hose sentences no American ha
2 equalcd the aglle-minded Clay, who's
voice was like n silver clarion the fn
Q seeing, fiery Calhoun, of "thc swI
sword"-most formidable In debate
o but | was soon to learn that neitht
nor all of these men-gifted of heave
so hlghly-could cope with the suav
e incisive. conversational sentences
Wright, going straight to the heart
the subject and laying it bare to h
c hearers. That was what people wei
e suying ms we left the senate chambe
late in the evening that, indeed, W,
S vhnt thcy were always saving aft,
they had heard him answer an q
versary.
CTo BE CoNTINUED)