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Show WEBSTER'S DIAMOND NECKLACE. The true story of the diamond necklace Daniel Webster gave to Mrs. Joseph Gales is said to be this: When Mr. Webster made his celebrated reply to Senator Hayne, of South Carolina, Mr. Gales, the senior editor of The National Intelligencer, undertook to report it at the request of the orator, who assured Mr. G. that the speech would not be more than half an hour long. The editor was busy, but he thought he could spare time to take down and write out so short a speech. But as Mr. Webster was ascending the steps of the Capitol on the morning that he was to speak, he met Judge Story who told him it was a good opportunity to give his views upon the Constitution. Webster acted upon the suggestion, and instead of speaking for only half an hour, he spoke for three hours. Mr. Gales, under the spell of the orator, wrote on, perfectly unconscious of the lapse of time. But when he came to look over his notes he found they were so voluminous that he would never have time to transcribe them. The speech not appearing in The Intelligencer in due time, Mr. Webster called upon the editor at his house, who told him that the speech was so long, and his time so much occupied, that he feared he could not find time to write it out for publication. While the orator was expostulating with the editor, and endeavoring to urge him to the work, Mrs. Gales appeared and said she thought she could write out the speech, as she had been in the habit of assisting her husband in transcribing his notes. She undertook the task, and in two days sent Mr. Webster his speech in full. A magnificent diamond necklace was the rich reward of the Massachusetts Senator. And thus was preserved to American literature the masterpiece of our greatest orator. |