lties. Before that time much reading had made him a very full man:
when reading became impossible, reflection digested his knowledge into
practical wisdom. He perfectly arranged his storehouse of facts and
cases, and pondered intently upon the first principles of jurisprudence."

His service in the Senate may rather be termed brilliant than useful.
The truth is that Mr. Carpenter attempted to do what no man can
accomplish: he tried to maintain his full practice at the bar, and
discharge his full duties as senator at the same time. His strength
was not equal to the double load. He was endowed with a high order
of ability. If he had given all his time to the Senate, or all to the
Bar, he would have found few peers in either field of intellectual
combat. Aside from the weight of his argument, his manner of speech
was attractive. He had an agreeable voice, precisely adapted in
volume and tone to the Senate Chamber. He was affluent in language,
graceful in manner, and, beyond all, was gifted with that quality--rare,
indefinable, but recognized by every one--which constitutes the orator.

--Carl Schurz now took his seat as a senator from Missouri. He was
born a Prussian subject, and had just completed his fortieth year. He
had been well educated in the gymnasium at Cologne, and in a partial
course at the university of Bonn. Though retaining a marked German
accent, he quickly learned to speak English with fluency and eloquence,
and yet with occasional idiomatic errors discernible when he words are
printed. He took active part before German audiences, for Fremont, in
the Presidential canvass of 1856, and began to make public addresses in
English in 1858, when he espoused the cause of Mr. Lincoln in the
famous contest with Douglas. He was widely sought as a speaker in both
of Mr. Lincoln's contests for the Presidency, 1860 and 1864. In the
latter year he was especially forcible, attractive, and effective.
Subsequently he fell off, apparently in strength, certainly in
popularity. As a lecturer he lost his hold upon the lyceum, and as a
political orator he began to repeat himself, not merely in sense but in
phrase. As a senator he did not meet the expectation of his friends.
His failure was in large part due to the fact that he has not the power
of speaking _extempore_. He requires careful and studious preparation,
and has never attained the art of off-hand parliamentary discussion,
which Colonel Benton likened to