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Show GREAT MEN KNOWN ONLY AS MASTERS OF HUMOR. Thomas Corwin, who died in 1865 was one of the most famous statesmen states-men of his day. For more than thirty years he occupied prominent official positions, having been governor of Ohio, member of both houses of congress, con-gress, secretary of the treasury and minister to Mexico. On his deathbed he said pathetically: "After all the public honors I have received and all that I have done in the world, I shall be remembered only as "Tom Corwin, the joker.' " He was like our Chauncey Depew, a funny man, whose witty sayings, more spontaneous than those of Chauncey, were quoted far and wide. No matter how high and dignified were the places to be occupied, he was always called by the undignified name of "Tom." Another instance In which a funny man has failed to receive re-ceive his full meed of fame is that of the late Charles Godfrey Leland, a great philologist and a scholar versed In many languages and literatures. La- land translated much from foreign tongues, and was especially happy in versions of Heine's poems, which in his hands retained the strength, grace and beauty of the originals. But he was chiefly known as the author of the "Hans Breitmann Ballads," written writ-ten in Pennsylvania Dutch, a performance per-formance which gave him world-wide fame and is a masterpiece of grotesque gro-tesque humor. Leland's other books, "Poetry and Mystery of Dreams," "Minor Arts," "The Gypsies," "Practical "Practi-cal Education," etc., are comparatively but little known. John Hay, our secretary of state, is better known by his humorous "Little Breeches" than by his elaborate state papers. Thomas Dunn English, after all his years in congress, could never escape being chiefly known as the author of ."Ben Bolt," a sentimental ditty of his callow youth, the very mention of which in later years raised his ire to such a degree that his fel-low fel-low congressmen took great delight in quoting from it just to tease him. |