the
Northerner uncomfortable in his presence, but tied to him by
self-interest. I saw a comin back the good old times when thirty-four
States met in convenshun, and let eleven rule em; and ez I contemplated
the scene, I too wept, but it wuz in dead earnest.

"Wat are you blubberin for?" asked a enthusiastic delegate in front uv
me, who wuz a swabbin his eyes with a handkercher.

"I'm a Postmaster," sez I, "and must do my dooty in this crisis. Wat are
you sheddin pearls for?" retorted I. "Are you a Postmaster?"

"No," sez he; "but I hope to be;" and he swabbed away with renood
vigger.

"Wat's the matter with the eyes uv all the delegates?" sez I.

"They've all got Post Offisis in em," sez he; and he worked away faster
than ever.

While gettin a fresh handkercher (wich I borrered from the hind coat
pocket uv a delegate near me, and wich, by the way, in my delirious joy,
I forgot to say anythin to him about it), I looked over the Convenshun,
and agin the teers welled up from my heart. My sole wuz full and
overflowin, and I slopped over at the eyes. There, before me, sat that
hero, Dick Taylor, and Cuth Bullitt; and there wuz the Nelsons and
Yeadons, and the representatives uv the first families uv the South, and
in PHILADELPHIA, AT A CONVENTION, with all the leadin Demokrats uv the
North, ceptin Vallandigham and Wood, and they wuz skulkin around within
call, with their watchful eyes on the perceedins. Here is a prospeck!
Here is fatnis! The President into our confidence! The Postmaster
General a runnin the Convention! The bands a playin Dixie and the Star
Spangled Banner alternitly, so that nobody cood complain uv partiality,
or tell reely wich side the Convention wuz on, or wich side it had been
on in the past! Ah! my too susceptible sole filled up agin; the teers
started; but that vent wuznt enuff, and I fell faintin onto the floor.
Twenty or thirty Northern delegates seed me fallin, and ketchin site uv
the gray coat, with the brass star onto it, rushed to ketch me; and they
bore me out uv the wigwam. Sed one, "Wat a techin scene! overpowered by
his feelins." "Yes," sed another: "he deserves a apintment."

I didn't go back to the Convenshun, coz I knowd it wan't no yoose; and
besides, after all the teers that had been shed,--the members wringin
their handkerchers onto the floor,--it wuz sloppy under foot.
Conciliation and tenderness gushed out uv em. I knowd it would be all
right; it couldn't be otherwise. There