49/53 As the tiger is said to have a sure instinct for the throat of his victim, so Mr. Other men would debate and argue for days, perhaps, and then Mr.Webster would take up the matter, and grasp at once the central and essential element which had been there all along, pushed hither and thither, but which had escaped all eyes but his own. He had preeminently "The calm eye that seeks 'Midst all the huddling silver little worth The one thin piece that comes, pure gold." The anecdote further illustrates the use which Mr.Webster made of the ideas of other people. He did not say to Mr.Bosworth, here is the true point of the case, but he saw that something was wanting, and asked the young lawyer what it was. The moment the proposition was stated he recognized its value and importance at a glance. |