Show new news na ws of yesterday Ys arda j v t ass i by E J edwards 1 r W M evarts and the potters citory of the witty and famous states wan man and his friend the protest ant episcopal bishop of new now york william M evarts gained internal atonal fame as as an orator his ills speech as iss the leading counsel in the defense of president johnson in the impeach anent proceedings before the senate is one of the finest examples of ameri a can professional oratory his speech before the geneva tribunal organized eo 10 arbitrate the so called alabama claims is regarded as a masterpiece and it won the case As secretary of state mr air evarts el arts added gilded to his other great achievements by very success ifal diplomacy in the senate he was until illness incapacitated him num bared among the leaders but in ad d tion mr evarts gained the highest reputation as a wit ever secured by an am american afcan that reputation was en bancea by the tact fact that there never waa was any malice in his wit although he was prone sometimes to exercise 4 t at the expense ot of friends who en joyed his closest intimacy one of the he most intimate of mr evarts per k bonal friends was the late bishop henry C potter of new york As bishop potter himself was a very witty man there always was an ex change of wit between these two when they met mr evarts sometimes gently chiding the bishop on the emi nent respectability of his various hocks docks 14 about 1885 when mr air evarts was elected a member of the united states senate he entertained a num gler of his friends at his country place it at windsor vt during a week ene ena one bone evening after dinner as senator evarts waa was chatting over the coffee with his guests one of them said to alm senator you are of course ac no with bishop potter the senator hesitated and an ex gir Si slon of doubt came over his coun lechance lie nance as though the name seemed to him and yet he could not tild it with iny of his acquaint inces at last he be said hesitatingly i enunciating each syllable each word almost as thought it stood a one potter bishop potter no I 1 don t seem to recall the gentleman but you must know him per listed misted the guest he ile Is the protest aunt episcopal bishop of new york again senator evarts hesitated ap varent ly trying to recall whether he bad ever met the protestant episcopal bishop of new york at last his face cleared oh yea yes he said sald and his man ner of speech was that of a minute or iv two before you mean henry potter ibe apostle to the gentells gen yes I 1 am acquainted with him on another occasion when bishop r patter ratter was entertaining at dinner a t considerable number of distinguished americans and a member of parlia v ment whose surname like hia his own was aras potter senator evarts was called apon to make a speech there have teen various versions of that speech tie he made pearson postmaster at new 01 york to prove the 8 S mcenty il 11 of his advocacy of civil service I 1 one of the first appointments made uy by president cleveland atter after he had sent the names of his cabinet nomina lions to the senate a tew few hours atter K nis his first inauguration in 1889 was that at of henry G pearson as postmaster at new york it has always been a public mystery why president cleveland the first 4 democratic president since buchanan should have decided to make practical if ly his first important appointment outside of his cabinet appointments that of a very prominent republican to a very influential office mr air cleveland when there came a democratic howl the giving 0 of the country s largest into the keeping 0 of a mem 4 ber ter of the opposite political balth gave no reason for his choice nor did he lie offer any explanation to many of his ills more snore intimate political friends who tinted that they were puzzled puzzle dover over the tile appointment now however I 1 am able to give the reason as president cleveland gave it to one who atter after air cleveland had retired to private we asked him the cause ot of the ap and I 1 think this Is the first public explanation ever made ot of the appointment mr pearson pearsons s appointment was urged upon me by just one republic can and because he urged it it was made said mr air cleveland the re IL publican who urged the appointment in face of the tact fact that he knew there V were plenty of democrats who were hungering to be appointed postmaster ot of new york was dorman B eaton the civil service reformer he told me that it if I 1 would reappoint air pearson postmaster at new york I 1 would do more to advance the cause of civil bervice than I 1 could accomplish in a dozen recommendations to congress mr pearson mr air baton eaton told me but I 1 believe the one here given to be the correct one with an assumed solemnity of man ner which always prepared dinner guests who knew his ways tor for an un usual outburst of wit the senator be gan an by saying raying that as he found him self sitting at table in companionship with a potter who was a bishop a potter who was a member of parlia ment a potter who was a great lawyer and had been a member of congress and chairman of the election investigating corn com cittee in 1877 and a potter who was a great architect be evarts was reminded of an anecdote which he had heard beard when he was taking one of his brief excursions from his sum mer home in vermont into the delight fully rural villages of that state and this was the way senator evarts told the anecdote there came among the people of one of the larger communities of ver mont a young clergyman who was to be the pastor of the largest church in that community he ile was a modest young man and of little exper ex perlene iene in the world he perceived that among his parishioners were men and worn wom en of great intelligence and high cul cut ti atlon he therefore desired to eloquent Llo quent speech of a sailor how james marlow marlowe s description of a naval engagement was praised and later rewarded by wil wit liam M evarts A few weeks after the historic naval battle in hampton roads in the early spring of 1862 between the merrimac Merrl mac and the monitor a great mass meeting was held at the acad emy of music in new york city to celebrate the triumph of the little cheese box on a raft which came unexpectedly into hampton roads on the evening of the day when the mer bier had destroyed two united states men of war the cumberland and the congress the chairman of the meeting was william E dodge of national deputa tion as a philanthropist member of one of the greatest mercantile firms of the time and at one time a mem mern her of congress william M evarts who needs no introduction even at this day was the chief speaker of the evening the great building was thronged to its capacity the stage was brilliantly decorated with flags and streamers the audience was keyed to a very high pitch of excitement mr dodge made a brief speech after calling the assembly to order and then introduced mr air evarts 0 the great lawyer then standing almost at the head of the american bar and famous as an orator made as imps stoned an address as he ever delly ered then when the tumultuous tumult ous applause which came at the close of the speech had died away mr dodge rose act explained had been the executive head ot of the I 1 civil service system in the new york post offic efrom from the time of its incel tion both as assistant postmaster and as postmaster under arthur he tur fur ther told me that it was largely through the succeeds of the civil ser vice in the new york post office that he had been able to induce congress in 1883 to act favorably upon the first civil service bill ever presented to congress that was the bill cham chain cloned by george H pendleton ot of ohio in the senate mr air eaton dratted drafted that act though it came to bear sen ben ator pendleton s name and it was eaton who largely kept the members of congress who were fighting tor the passage of this civil service bill supplied with arguments and moral cour age but that was not all that mr air baton eaton told me continued mr cleveland he did not hesitate to remind me that as I 1 was known to be a warm ad of civil service it would be dif dl ficula for me to make my public aavo cacy of civil service consistent with my conduct it if I 1 were to ignore post master pearson who ho had done so much for civil service ervice and give his ills office to a democrat on the other hand mr air eaton went on to to say that it if I 1 were vere to reappoint mr air pearson postmaster republican though be he was I 1 would thereby show shove how consistent and sincere my attitude upon civil service was that was a line ot of reasoning that it was hard to escape from and so I 1 decided to nominate mr pearson tor for postmaster and I 1 did I 1 had some of the party leaders barking at me one in particular criticizing me severely tor for giving one ot of the best bet offices at the tile disposal of the president to a hean but I 1 never regretted making that appointment and I 1 am certain that the making of it did much to per suade the public of the sincerity ot of my advocacy of the civil merylee copyright 1911 by E J edwards all rights reserved prepare his first sermon in such man ner as would be acceptable to the people but when he began the ser mon he was as very much agitated by embarrassment and diffidence and he said by way of preliminary prayer 0 lord in this presence we now acknowledge that thou art the clay and we are the potters and con linued senator everts when the laughter had subsided so that he could be heard beard I 1 am now satisfied that these are the potters to whom that embarrassed clergyman re berred copyright 1911 by E R J edwarda edwards all rights lRe reserved served and said we haye hate upon the plat form a sailor who la Is a survivor of the gallant crew of the man of war cum berland which the merrimac Merrl mac sank I 1 am sure you will all be glad to hear his description of the battle mr dodge led to fo ward a man of modest appearance a young man per haps thirty years of age who seemed not at all abashed by the great tribute which went up from that vast audience to him he stood modestly smiling slightly awaiting the moment when what he said could be heard at last he be began I 1 suppose you all would like to know just how that battle was fought fough well I 1 saw it and I 1 can tell you the captain of the merrimac called opt out with loud voice to the aap aki fo ship j as he was closing up on us will you surrender derr says our gallant captain never and then he put a broadside at the merrimac Merrl mac but the balls were only hailstones against her armor then the captain of the merrimac Merrl mac ran his ship into the side of the cumberland and it shook her like a leaf when he drew the merrimac Merrl mac back there was a great hole in the side of the cumberland and the water rushed in once more the captain of the mer says in a loud voice now will you surrender says our gallant captain again never so the merrimac Merrl mac gave us her er broadside and as we went down then I 1 took a dead bead on her captain and he must have felt it be cause I 1 heard beard that he was shot that was all that this sailor james marlow by name said but the great aud ence went wild with enthusiasm they saw the battle as this plain spoken sailor had described it and as the multitude before him hm was shouting itself hoarse will william I 1 am M evarts went up to james marlow and took his hand and his voice shook with emotion as he said you have described a great sea battle better than it has ever been described before and I 1 want to say to you that if at any time you need assistance of any kind you must come to me sixteen years later when william M evarts was secretary of state there came to him one day a gentle roan man who asked him if if he remembered james marlow and the description he gave of the battle between the mer and the cumberland at the grat gr at meeting in the academy of music well V ell said d the gentleman james marlow Is in need of help he has a large family and he finds it almost impossible to support them he I 1 things you may keep keel your promise tal to him I 1 certainly will keep my promise said the secretary of state and pick ing up his pen he wrote as follows to thomas L james then postmaster of new york and now the fan pan of na tiona bank presidents of V re united states in 1862 1 I promised to help jamea james marlow if he ever needed help he Is a survivor of the man of war cum berland that went down donn tn in the battle with the merrimac at hampton roads ro ids will you now aid me in redeeming my promise to him five days after postmaster jamee jumes received this letter from the secretary of state he appointed james marlow to a position in the new york office and there until the day of his death mar low proved as faithful a civil servant aa ae ie had been sailor copyright 1911 by E 3 edwards A ait rights reserved V |