account of the scene in the convention, derived from the personal observation of a Southern delegate. It is worth preservation.

"In the year 1853,' writes Colonel Thorpe,* 'I was paying a visit to Judge John Moore at his house, in the parish of St. Mary, Louisiana. The Judge was a pioneer of the State, one of the most substantial citizens, an ex-member of Congress, and an ardent admirer of Mr. Clay. Among many subjects discussed during the evening was that of the personal and moral courage of Northern and Southern men; and the Judge illustrated his conversation with many anecdotes of desperate encounters which had occurred under his observation, including duels and rough fights, the result of sudden unbridled passion. Perceiving that I was interested, he gave me the details of several fights of desperadoes, and of the coolness displayed by refined gentlemen on the field of honor," his heroes being, without an exception, "Southern men."

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"But,' said he, finally, evidently intending to end the conversation so far as the unpleasant subject under consideration was concerned, the first perfect specimen of real, genuine courage I ever witnessed was displayed by a Northern man last year at the Baltimore Whig Convention. This man, strange as it may appear, was a Yankee, of rather small stature, college-bred, and of a high intellectual character; and this man showed more true courage - moral and physical - than I ever witnessed elsewhere in all my experience.'

"With a great deal of curiosity, I asked who the person was. He replied, 'A young man attached to the New York press, and identified, I understood, with Greeley and the ultra-Abolitionists. He came to the convention as reporter, but it was proposed to make him a member to fill an unexpected vacancy, and the majority of our (Southern) members took umbrage at it and determined to keep him out. I did not approve of the intention, nor the manner in which it was to be done; but I was powerless to oppose, and so said nothing about it, presuming from the obnoxious gentleman's appearance that a few words of objection would put an end to the proposition. When the proper time came, a motion was made to admit the gentleman a member of the convention; and I was myself surprised at the opposition the motion called forth, — it acted like a spark of fire on a body of tinder. Cabell, of Florida, a veteran debater, distinguished for his reckless physical courage and sharp tongue, had volunteered to make a speech against "the Abolitionist," and he opened with a degree of bitterness that was unparalleled in any body governed by parlimentary rules, and he was in the mean time supported and cheered on by apparently a large majority of the house. The gentleman assailed, who had an almost boyish appearance, kept his feet (for Cabell spoke against his having the privilege of a personal defence), and with fixed eye watched the Floridian as he went on with his unqualified denunciations, made up almost entirely of personalities. Several gentlemen sprang to their feet, intending to enter the fight, but the more they looked at the object of the attack the more he appeared capable of taking care of himself. Two or three times Cabell stopped, perfectly infuriated at the unexpected coolness and

* In a letter to the New York Evening Mail.

self-possession of his supposed victim, but the moment he commenced his defence, Cabell would begin again, each time egged on by those who sympathized with his intention, namely, to put "the Abolitionist down." This struggle continued for nearly three long hours, but when it did end, the assailed had the attention of the convention. His calmness, self-possession, and patience were eloquent in his behalf, and many of Cabell's warmest supporters at first, while they admitted that all he (Cabell) had said was true, still they contended that the assailed man was entitled to a hearing.

"At last, the then (except in his own locality) unknown Henry J. Raymond commenced a defence of his position, and satisfied, in a few moments, every logical mind within his hearing of the propriety of his right to the seat made vacant by the unavoidable absence of Gen. Bruce. Had he stopped here, his political status would have been secured; but he demanded more than this. Changing his voice, and turning upon Cabell, he opened upon that gentleman with a speech that was full of argument, wit, and burning sarcasm. He denounced what he called the fashion of certain Southern men to bully Northern representatives in Congress and in national conventions, carrying their points by overbearing insolence and threats of personal injury. He shook his finger at Cabell, and said that he defied this cowardly and unmanly practice, and that he had determined for all time to yield everything to courtesy, reason, and brotherhood, but nothing to threats or intimidation. He then turned upon the North, and demanded to know why its public men were so frequently put in a false position by allowing themselves to be crowded to the wall by such creatures as the man who had that day assailed him, and through him the free state of sentiment of the entire country.'

"The Judge said the speech annihilated Cabell, not only in the convention, but he never got rid of its damaging effects when he got home. This display, concluded the Judge, who could command no language to do his feelings justice, was the finest specimen of the true, moral, and physical courage I ever witnessed,' and he added: when all Northern public men take this young Raymond's position, it will be better for the North, the South, and the country at large, and we will add, that, if they had done so, slavery would have been extinguished upon the field of the forum, instead of the battle-field, reason, and not the sword, would have decided the conflict.""

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Another interesting reminiscence was published in the Albany Evening Journal after the death of Mr. Raymond, and from this account also we transcribe a few passages : —

"During the progress of the convention-which was divided up into Scott, Fillmore and Webster factions- -the Scott men found themselves without a ready debater, able to cope with the trained experts from the South, who, as usual, were provokingly insolent and overbearing. To meet this deficiency, it was arranged that Mr. Raymond should take the seat occupied by General Bruce. This proposition met with opposition, and the excitement was intensified when, subsequently, it was seriously proposed to expel him from the body. On this impudent proposition, and others of kindred spirit, Mr. Raymond bore himself with becoming calmness and dignity. But his real

power and fearlessness were most conspicuously developed at a later stage of the proceedings, when he was personally arraigned for a statement embodied in a telegram which he had sent to the Times. Mr. Cabell, a ready debater from the State of Florida, was his chief assailant. His manner was of the highest type of Southern insolence. Mr. Raymond responded with a dignity and firmness which excited the admiration of his friends, and greatly provoked the pro-slavery delegates. His calm demeanor was met by bluster and threats; but he held his ground unmoved, meeting every argument with irresistible and overwhelming logic, and every threat with a calm defiance. wholly new to the chivalry,' but which foreshadowed the inflexible resolution, courage, and purpose, which found full and triumphant development in after years. His bearing seemed to those who witnessed it, and who were in sympathy with him, not merely grand, but sublime. It excited the intensest enthusiasm; and when the excitement was at its highest, if any Southern bravado had so much as lifted his finger in violence, the physical strength as well as the moral courage of the representatives of the North would have been made fearfully manifest.

"Fortunately, whatever may have been their original purpose, the Southern delegates and their boisterous claquers confined their demonstrations to words and hisses; and, after a protracted and stormy discussion, Mr. Raymond achieved the victory and the chivalry' met with their first serious

defeat in a National Whig Convention. "It is only by the light of all that has since transpired that we can appreciate the significance of what was said and done upon that occasion. From that hour the Whig Party assumed a new character, and its representatives (with a few disgraceful exceptions) a bolder attitude in the press, ou the stump, and in the halls of legislation. Mr. Raymond's clarion voice, upon that memorable occasion, sounded the opening notes in the death-knell of slavery, and definitely initiated the movement which has ultimated in the complete triumph of the principles for which he then so fearlessly and so eloquently contended.

"We revive this incident, not merely to do honor to the memory of the lamented dead, but to remind the living that courage was as necessary to throw off the influence of the slave power in our political national councils, as it was to overcome its physical prowess upon the battle-field. And to further remind those who are all too willing to forget, that equal honors are due to the heroic men who began the struggle against slavery, while it was in the full vigor of lusty life, as to those who had the fortune and the honor to strike the blow which effected its overthrow and death."

CHAPTER XIV.

THE TIMES IMPROVED, AND RAYMOND ELECTED LIEUTENANTGOVERNOR.

RAYMOND'S RESOLUTION TO DEVOTE HIS LIFE TO JOURNALISM --NEW WRITERS ENGAGED FOR THE TIMES-CHARLES C. B. SEYMOUR - FITZ-JAMES O'BRIEN - DR. TUTHILL- CHARLES WELDEN-CHARLES F. BRIGGS, HURLBUT, GODKIN, SEWELL AND DE CORDOVA - RAYMOND AGAIN IN POLITICS -ELECTED LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR ADDRESS AS PRESIDENT OF THE STATE SENATEDECLINES THE NOMINATION FOR GOVERNOR.

TWICE a champion, -the champion of Hungary against its enemies in the American Press, and of Freedom against the assaults of the Slave Power in a National Convention, Mr. Raymond had now became widely known beyond the limits of his profession. He had proved his readiness and skill in public debate; he had shown his antagonists that, in a fair field and with open lists, he could wield a lance as bravely as the best, and strike with the strongest; he had convinced his professional rivals that he was able to hold his own. But the Times needed his care, and to it he determined to devote his time, his energy, and his skill.

Mr. Raymond said to the writer, and to others, in the year 1852, that he had fully resolved to abandon political life, for the broader and better field of Journalism; believing the office of an Editor to be more honorable and more influential than any place which could be bestowed by party. For two years he adhered strictly to this resolution. It was the great misfortune of his life that he afterwards yielded to seductive temptation; forgetting his earlier and better purpose in the pursuit of political preferment. Had Raymond remained a journalist, untouched by the corrupting influences of party chicanery, and unsullied by evil association, the record of his life would have had no deep shadows.