Book 3 — ORATORS.

Albert J. Beveridge.

When the Indiana legislature elected Albert J. Beveridge to the United States senate in 1898, he was but thirty-six years of age, and with one exception was the youngest member of the distinguished body in question. Mr. Beveridge was born October 6, 1862, in a log cabin of Highland county, Ohio, his father being a small farmer. When the war broke out the year preceding his birth, his father and his four half-brothers entered the army, while his mother volunteered as a nurse. Moving to Illinois, they settled near Sullivan, renting a small farm there. At the age of ten the future senator was a full-fledged farm hand. At fourteen he was a railroad laborer and at sixteen joined a logging camp. Whenever he could find no work he attended school. At the age of seventeen young Beveridge heard that the district cadetship for West Point was to be filled by competitive examination. He was one of the competitors, and, although practically self-educated, took second place on a list of twenty-five. In 1881 he managed to enter De Paw university, his capital consisting of $50. By wheat-cutting in the summer, serving as a steward in the college club, and winning money prizes offered to students, he managed to pay his way. Graduating from college with high honors, he went direct to Indianapolis, called on General Benjamin Harrison and asked permission to study law with him. Failing in this, he obtained employment with Messrs. McDonald, Butler & Mason, well-known lawyers at the Indiana capital, and soon became a third partner in the firm. In 1889 he opened an office of his own, and his first fee was from Governor Hovey. His initial political speech was in 1884, and, as someone has put it, he turned out to be “a revelation, a dream of oratory and a trip-hammer of argument.” His fame as a speaker being established, he was in demand in all directions. His subsequent career is well-known to the public at large. In 1887 he married Miss Catherine Maud Langsdale, daughter of George J. Langsdale, the editor of a well-known paper in Indiana.

Champ Clark.

Through the medium of a highly successful career, Champ Clark, who has a national reputation as stump speaker and forensic orator, furnishes yet another illustration of the possibilities that lie before the young American who determines to “get there.” Mr. Clark was born in Anderson county, Kentucky, March 7, 1850. First educated in the local schools, he later studied at the Kentucky university, Bethany college and the Cincinnati law school. In order to support himself while acquiring his education, he worked as a farm hand, a clerk in a country store, an editor of a country newspaper, and finally as a lawyer. Not long after he had begun to practice law for a livelihood he commenced to take an active interest in political affairs and was at length elected city attorney of Louisiana, Mo., and later for Bowling Green, Mo. He has served as prosecuting attorney of Pike county, and since 1893, has been a member of congress from the Ninth Missouri district. Mr. Clark’s eloquence, apart from his other notable qualities, makes him a prominent figure in congressional affairs.

William Bourke Cockran.

W. B. Cockran, the well-known lawyer and politician, who is also one of the most popular orators before the public, was born in Ireland, February 28, 1854. He was educated in that country, and later in France. When he landed in New York in 1871, he knew no one in America and had exactly one hundred dollars in his wallet. But he was well educated, of marked ability, and ambitious to the highest degree. Failing to secure something better, he became clerk in A. T. Stewart’s store. A month later, however, he obtained a position as teacher in a public school on Rutgers street, where he taught French, Latin and history. Still later he accepted an appointment as principal in a public school in Westchester. But at this period Mr. Cockran had mapped out his future. He had determined to become a lawyer, and when on Saturdays his time was his own, he studied law in the office of the late Chauncey Schaffer. Saving some money, he resigned as school principal, and for nearly a year did nothing but read. In 1890 he was admitted to the bar of New York. His rise thenceforward was rapid. Very soon he became known as a man of great ability as an advocate and of supreme eloquence as a speaker. It was not long before he had a lucrative practice, and took a foremost place among the best lawyers of the metropolis. In the meantime his repute as an orator had attracted the attention of democratic leaders, and hence it was that Mr. Cockran was in demand at national democratic conventions and “on the stump.” He was elected member of congress in 1891, serving in that capacity until 1895. In 1896, however, he refused to accept the 16 to 1 theory of the Democratic party and did his utmost to elect McKinley. Some will call Mr. Cockran a fortunate man, but as a matter of fact his fortune, professional and financial, is the outcome of his persistent industry and sincerity.

John Warwick Daniels.

John Warwick Daniels was born at Lynchburg, Virginia, September 5, 1842. He was educated in the public schools of the town, at Lynchburg college, and also at Dr. Gessner Harrison’s university school. During the Civil war he was an adjutant-general in the Confederate army, serving on the staff of General Early. At the close of the conflict he took up the study of law at the University of Virginia and graduated in 1866. He has practiced ever since at Memphis, Va. He was elected to the state senate in 1875 and was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1869 to 1872. In 1881 he was democratic candidate for governor of Virginia, but was defeated. As member of congress in 1885 to 1887, and since 1887 as United States senator he has been much in the eye of the public. He is one of the most eloquent of forensic orators in America, as well as being the author of several well-known legal works.

Carl Schurz.

The riper years of Carl Schurz are so generally identified with the peaceful and progressive things that are the fruits of the rostrum of the orator and the sanctum of the editor that it seems hard to associate him with the stormy and romantic incidents that crowded his youth. Born in Liblar, Rhenish Prussia, on March 2, 1829, he was educated at the Cologne gymnasium, and at the age of seventeen entered the University of Bonn. When, in 1848, the revolutionary spirit became actively in evidence, he, together with Gottfried Kinkel, a professor of the university, started a liberal newspaper. As the consequence, the young men were forced to flee from Bonn. Later, Schurz received a commission as adjutant in the revolutionary army, and upon the fall of Badstadt was compelled to fly to Switzerland. His friend Kinkel was captured and sentenced to twenty years’ imprisonment. Schurz, however, did not desert his friend, but returning to Germany, by the exercise of marvelous courage and ingenuity, liberated Kinkel, and went with him to Scotland. Subsequently, and in Paris, Mr. Schurz entered the journalistic profession. In 1855 he, accompanied by his young wife, whom he had married while under the ban of the German authorities, came to America and settled in Philadelphia. Afterward he went to Madison, Wisconsin, where he became identified with local political affairs. He soon became a prominent figure in state politics. In the interval he had been admitted to the bar and now opened an office in Milwaukee. In 1860 he was a member of the national republican convention, and when Lincoln became president he was made minister to Spain. During the Civil war he served with distinction under General Franz Sigel, who had been his old commander in Germany. In 1866 he was made Washington correspondent of the New York Tribune. Later he established the Detroit Post. He disposed of his interest in it, and in 1867 removed to St. Louis, where he became editor of the Westliche Post. In January, 1869, Mr. Schurz was made United States senator for Missouri. He has taken an active and even strenuous part in presidential campaigns for many years. In 1884, 1888 and 1892 he supported Mr. Cleveland. When he visited Europe, in 1888, he was cordially received by Prince Bismarck and other German leaders. He is an author, having published several books, including a life of Henry Clay and an essay on Abraham Lincoln. His screeds are often seen in periodical literature.