He stuck closely to his subject. He had a gift
of sarcasm with which he could make an adversary feel exceedingly
uncomfortable, although he rarely indulged in it. He almost
never attempted eloquence, except so far as it is found in
his grave and effective statement of his case. One sentence
of his which I myself heard deserves to be remembered among
the best things in American eloquence. Speaking to thirty
or forty people at a club in Boston of the power and greatness
of the Republic, he said: "If we cannot say of our country,
as Mr. Webster said of England, 'that her morning drum-beat
circles the earth with an unbroken strain of her martial airs,'
we can at least say that before the sun sets upon Alaska he
has risen upon Maine."
In my first Congress the leadership was shared between my
colleague, Mr. Dawes, and Robert C. Schenck of Ohio. General
Schenck was an old Whig. He had served with distinction in
the time of Webster and Clay and Calhoun and Corwin. He had
the gift of vigorous, simple Saxon English. He was a very
powerful debater, a man of wisdom and of industry.
Pages:
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421