Show WEBSTER AND JENNY HoW THE GREAT ORATOR SANG WITH HER IX CONCERT New Stories About thc Mnssjiclm setts Statesman Choatc niiil Vcli stcr Negotiates a Loiin Tlie Frisky Fris-ky Wii > s of Other Days WrItten by Joseph B Marvin for the Springfield Sunday Republican When General William Henry Harrison Har-rison came to Washington in 1S41 to be inaugurated President he was received re-ceived as the guest of the mayor nf the city Mr Seaton Seaton and Gales were the editors and proprietors of the old National Intelligencer then the great newspaper of Washington Harrison Har-rison had come all the way from Ohio in stage coaches and he was worn out He confided to Mr Seaton that he felt very anxious about his inaugural He had written it with a pencil on slips of paper while on his way in coaches and at taverns where he stopped for meals I was written so poorly that he was afraid he couldnt read i and the Inauguration In-auguration was to take place the next day Mr Seaton asked to be allowed to look I over and having persuaded Harrison to retire and obtain the rest he so much needed he sent the address to the office of the Intelligencer and had i set up in large type and at the breakfast table the next morning he placed the printed copy in General Harrisons hands The Presidentelect was delighted Mr Seaton was acquainted ac-quainted with nearly all the public men in Washington in those early days with Webster Clay Crittenden Fillmore more General Scott and many others and often received them at his house The Seaton mansion was located just across the street from the site of the present postoflice department A member mem-ber of his family who still resides in Washington and who is full of reminiscences rem-iniscences of the men of those days has told me the following anecdote of Webster Georges Washingtpn Parke Custis who built the Arlington mansion and who resided there until some time in the 50s one time invited Webster who was then secretary of state John T Crittenden the attorneygeneral Mr Seaton and a number of other gentlemen gentle-men to spend the evening at Arlington Arling-ton I was a warm moonlight night inJure in-Jure and they went in a large rowboat row-boat across the Potomac Mr Seatons sqn and another young man being oarsmen Arriving at the Arlington grounds Mr Custis welcomed them as they debarked and soon they were all comfortably seated in easy chairs and settees on the bank of the river in the moonlight around a large punch bowl They proceeded to discuss the contents con-tents of the bowl laying aside the cares of the state and spending a very comfortable and pleasant evening About 10 oclock they set out upon their return Webster sat in the stern Having quaffed liberally of the punch and feeling in a genial mood as the boat glided along the silvery waters in the moonlight he began to sing His song was a favorite melody at that time the old English song Old Rosin the Bow Ive traveled the wide world over And now to another Ill go I know that good quarters are waiting To welcome Old Rosin the Bow To welcome Old Rosin the Bow To welcome Old Rosin the Bow 1 know that dR quarters are waiting g welcome l Old Rosin Yh Bow When Mr Webster reached the end of the first stanza Mr Crittenden asked him a question about a legal point he had under consideration as attorney general and upon whiph he wished to obtain Mr Websters opinion Webster Web-ster paid no heed to his inquiry but but proceeded with the second verse And when I am dead if you wish i Old friends you wjjl 1 want to I know Come stand by the side of my coffin And look at Old Rosin the Bow And look at Old Rosin the Bow etc Mr Crittenden repeated his inquiry and again Mr Webster proceeded paying pay-ing no attention to his remark Then get you a couple of tombstones That all who pass by as they go May read in the letters you put there The name of Old Rosin the Bow The nameof Old Rosin the Bow etc Mr Crittenden again began to state his law point when Webster turned upon up-on him and exclaimed Mr Attor neyGeneral i you interrupt me again in my song Ill hang you on the horn of yonder moon And then he went on With his singing When the party reached the Washington Wash-ington side of the river it became a problem how they were going to get Mr Webster ashore The river bank at the landing place was so steep and high that it had to be ascended by a ladder I was a question whether they would be able to get Mr Webster up the ladder At length with the aid of two young men who had acted as oarsmen by dint of pushing and hauling haul-ing they landed him on the bank above One of the two young men who assisted assis-ted in the feat and who told me the story remembers with amusement to this day how he put his shoulder under the huge statesman and boosted him upI seems to have been characteristic characteris-tic of Mr Webster to feel musically inclined when under the influence of generous libations I before a public pub-lic audience on those occasions his inspirations in-spirations usually showed itself in bursts of eloquent oratory but in private pri-vate gatherings his eloquence was sometimes manifested in bursts of song Upon one occasion htfwever he sang in public I was when Jenny Lind was in this country and was singing at the old National theatre in Washington Webster and some of his friends were present in one of the boxes next to the stage They had just come from a dinner where the wine had flowed freely and Webster was under the inspiration in-spiration The sweet songstress was rapturously encored and by no one more heartily and conspicuously than by Mr Webster She recognized his applause and in response to onetof the encores and out of compliment to him she sang The Star Spangled Banner This was more than Websters inspired soul could listen to and keep silent and in the midst of the song his bass voice was heard rising in concert with the glorious soprano of the prima donna don-na The audience instantly burst into furious applause the fair songstress coutesied to Mr Webster and Webster Web-ster rising in his box bowed to the cantatrice The applause and the exchange ex-change of obeisances continued for several minutes I was like a contest of courtesy between Olympian Jove and the Muse of Song The scene was one never to be forgotten Webster was at times as solemn and unsocial as a sphinx but when he was in amiable mood and occasion called and urbane no one could be more gracious bane lIen received his polite attentions atten-tions as the greatest compliment of their lives On one occasion and prob his ably on many more similar ones politeness was in his pocket A poUeness Boton merohant from whom Web ater had borrowed 1000 rout r-out of all patience because O al his debtor paid no attention to his written demands for payment Finally he told his friends he was going down to Washington to get his money and that he was not going to come back without I Arriving in Washington he left his grip at a hotel and proceeded at once to Websters house Ringing the bell he was informed by the butler who had come to the door that Mr Webster was engaged and he was asked if he could not call at some other time The impatient creditor had not come all the way from Boston to be repulsed at the first attack and he insisted upon seeing Mr Webster then The servant finally cpnsented to take in his card but doubtful if Mr Webster would consent to see him Jn a few moments he returned and showed the gentleman in saying that Mr Webster would be pleasedto see him Webster knew why his caller had come and the reason of his in sistence but he knew also how to deal with him with the best results Greeting the merchant finthe most cordial manner he at once introduced him to a number of gentlemen who were present telling them that he was one of his most valued Boston friends and then he assured him that he felt under the greatest obligations to him for coming at that particular moment as they were just about to go In to dinner and he should insist upon his dining with them he could not have wih called at a time when he would have been more pleased to see him The merchant at first demurred and feebly remarked that he had come on a matter mat-ter of business but Mr Webster insisted in-sisted and was so cordial and complimentary com-plimentary that the merchant could not I hold out in declining and soon he found himself at the table in the seat of honor next to his host During the dinner Webster addressed to him most of his conversation and drew him out in conversation with his other guests in the most complimentary manner until he began to feel that he was the most important Bostonian that had ever come to Washington and that Webster and he were the greatest of friends He felt that that dinner was the event of his life When the party broke up he went back to his hotel without having said a word about the subject of his call and the next day he returned to Boston When his friends asked him if he got his 1000 he replied Get my 1000 Why I didnt even ask for i Webster invited in-vited me to dinner and treated me so handsomely that I didnt have the face to speak of i and I never shall I was worth just 1000 to tine with Webster Rufus Choate was one of Websters most intimate friends and like Webster Web-ster he was a man of liberal tastes and large desires Both were often in pecuniary straits and borrowed and i is even said that their promises to pay were not always regarded at the banks as giltedged paper One day when Choate was in Washington he called upon MrWebster and said Webster I want to borrow 500 and I have thought that perhaps you might assist me in negotiating a loan for that amount Mr Webster reflected a moment mo-ment and then replied Choate the fact is I want to borrow 500 myself and I was just wondering how i could be done when you came in I now occurs oc-curs to me that if we join forces we may be able to raise the amount we both require How about Corcoran inquired Choate Suppose we go and see Corcoran replied Webster In a few moments they were on their way to Corcorans bank Mr Corcoran received his distinguished visitors with politeness and invited them into his private room Mr Webster stated the purpose of their call saying that Mr I Choate and himself sayng to borrow a thousand dollars and that hey had thought perhaps he might be abie to accommodate them Mr Corcoran replied re-plied that he shouldbe pleased to do so and sitting down at a desk he filled out a note for the amount and handed i to them to sign They both signed it promptly and Mr Corcoran going into the other room obtained the money and placed it in Mr Websters hands A few moments later the two callers withdrew and proceeded up Pennsylvania Pennsyl-vania avenue toward the capitol For several moments they walked on in silence Then Webster said Choate What is it Webster I have been wondering what in the world Corcoran wanted of that piece of paper Websters last speech in Washington was made from the portico from his mansion in response to a serenade given giv-en by some of his admirers who were more zealous than considerate The news of General Scotts nomination for president had just been received Webster Web-ster had failed of the nomination and the failure had broken his heart It was a beautifnl starlit evening and Webster appearing before his friends paid a few words complimentary of General Scott for whom indeed he had great contempt then turning away from the subject of politics and the I nomination he said Gentlemen this is a magnificent night Then he apostrophized I apos-trophized the stars and the planets revolving re-volving in their orbits in one of those splendid flights of oratory of which he alone was capable Then suddenly descending de-scending from the skies to earth he said I now bid you good night I shall retire to my couch to rest in untroubled un-troubled sleep and on the morrow the lark will not rise more jocund to greet the rising sun than I shall I 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