Sioux County pioneer. (Fort Yates, Sioux County, N.D.) 1914-1929, 1919-06-05
CHAPTER XVIII.
On the Summit,

My mental assets would give me q
poor rating, I presume, in the COM
merce Of modern scholarship when I
went to Washington that autumn with
Senator and Mrs. Wright. Still It was
no smattering that I had, but rather a
few broad areas Of knowledge which
were firmly in my possession. My best
asset was not mental but spiritual, II I
may be allowed to say 1t, in all mod
esty, for, therein claim no special adj
vantage. saving, possibly, On unusual
strength Of character In my aunt and
uncle. Those days the candles were
lighting the best trails Of knowledge
all over the land. Never has the gen.
eral spirit Of this republic been SO
high and admirable as then and a little
later. It was to speak, presently, in
the immortal voices of Whittier, Elmer.
son. Whitman. Greeley and Lincoln.
The dim glow Of the candles had en-.
tered their souls and out Of them came
a light that filled the land ana was
seen Of all men.
The railroads on which we Travelled
from Utica, the great cities through
which we passed, were a wonder and
an Inspiration to me. 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 little while before put har.
ness on you. Go about for a week or
60 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"
It seemed to me that there was not
room enough In my consciousness for
the great public buildings and the pic.
lures and the statues and the vast ma.
chinery Of the government. Beauty
and magnitude have wonderful eff.
feet when they spring fresh upon the
vision Of youth out Of the back coun.
try. ! sang Of the look of them in my
letters and soon began to think about
them and imperfectly to understand
them. They had their epic, lyric and
dramatic stages In my consciousness,
One afternoon we went to hear Sen.
ator Wright speak. He was to an.
swer Calhoun on a detail Of the bank.
Ing laws. The floor and galleries were
filed. With what emotion I saw him
rise and begin his argument as ell ears
bent to hear hint He aimed not at
popular sentiments in highly finished
rhetoric. as did Webster. % be quoted
in the school books and repeated on
every platform. But no w6tds of mine
and have used many in the effort
are able to convey notion Of the
masterful ease and charm of his man.
ner on the floor Of the senate or of the
singular modesty, courtesy, aptness
and simplicity Of his words as they
fell from his lips. There were the
thunderous Webster. the grandeur of
whose sentences no American has
equaled : the agile-minded Clay, whose
voice was like silver clarion; the far.
seeing, snery Calhoun. Of 1.-THE swift
sword" most formidable In debate
but was soon to learn that neither
nor all Of these men-gtfted Of heaven
SO highly-could cope with the suave.
incisive. conversational sentences Of
Wright, going straight to the heart Of
the subject and laying It bare to his
hearers. That was what people were
saying az we left the senate chamber,
late in the evening; that, indeed, was
what they were always saying after
they had heard him answer an ad,
versary.