Mr. Clay exclaimed, angrily: "Take it, sir, take it--I dare you!"
Cries of "Order." "No, sir," said Mr. Smith, "I will not take it.
I will not so far disregard what is due to the dignity of the
Senate."

While Mr. Clay was generally imperious in debate, and not overcautious
in his choice of phrases and epithets, he was fond of a joke, and
often indulged, in an undertone, in humorous comments on the remarks
by other Senators. Sometimes he would be very happy in his
illustrations, and make the most of some passing incident. One
afternoon, when he was replaying to a somewhat heated opponent, a
sudden squall came up and rattled the window curtain so as to
produce a considerable noise. The orator stopped short in the
midst of his remarks and inquired aloud, what was the matter; and
then, as if divining the cause of the disturbance, he said: "Storms
seem to be coming in upon us from all sides." The observation,
though trivial as related, was highly amusing under the circumstances
which gave rise to it and from the manner in which it was uttered.

When Henry Clay returned to the Senate, Daniel Webster yielded to
him the leadership of the Whigs in that body, but in no way sacrificed
his own independence. "The Great Expounder of the Constitution,"
as he was called, was then in the prime of life, and had not began
those indulgences which afterward exercised such injurious effects
upon him. He would also occasionally indulge in a grim witticism.
On one occasion, when a Senator who was jeering another for some
pedantry said, "The honorable gentleman may proceed to quote from
Crabbe's Synonyms, from Walker and Webster"--"Not from Walker and
Webster," exclaimed the Senator from Massachusetts, "for the
authorities may disagree!" At another time, when he was speaking
on the New York Fire bill, the Senate clock suddenly began to
strike, and after it had struck continuously for about fourteen or
fifteen times, Mr. Webster stopped, and said to the presiding
officer, "The clock is out of order, sir--I have the floor." The
occupant of the chair looking rebukingly at the refractory time-
piece, but in defiance of the officers and rules of the House, it
struck about forty before the Sergeant-at-Arms could stop it, Mr.
Webster standing silent, while every one else was laughing.

On another occasion, while Mr. Webster was addressing the Senate
in presenting a memorial, a clerical-looking person in one of the
galleries arose and