you if you have not
sins to repent of, if we have? Let us be at peace. Let us go on
with the administration of the government kindly, harmoniously,
hopefully, trusting in that providence of Almighty God which has
thus far guided and guarded us, until this nation has become a
marvel to the world. Can we not go on in the same way in which we
have gone on in the past? Why not let the Republican administration
be inaugurated in peace and quiet? Try it in the name of God!
Are you cowards, that you would flee from an apprehension? I know
you are not. Stand by the old ship of state! Give the Republican
administration a fair chance. If it does not do right, you will
find thousands--ay, millions--in the northern states who will stand
by you. I believe it will do right. Give it a trial. That is
all we ask, and what we demand at all hazards."

The delegation from Ohio, during this Congress, was regarded as a
very strong one. I do not disparage any by a brief reference to
a few.

Thomas Corwin was, by far, the most distinguished member of the
delegation. I have already referred to his eminence as a popular
orator. His speech against the Mexican War, though unfortunate as
a political event, has always been regarded as one of the most
eloquent ever made in either House of Congress. His speech in
reply to Crary, of Michigan, is still remembered as the best specimen
of humorous satire in our language. He had served in the legislature
of Ohio, as a Member of Congress for ten years, as Governor of
Ohio, as a Member of the Senate, and as Secretary of the Treasury.
After an absence from public life for six years, he was elected a
Member of the 36th Congress. Here he was regarded as the "peacemaker"
of the House. In the contest for speaker, he made a long speech,
in which he exhibited marked ability, humor, pathos and persuasive
eloquence. As chairman of the committee of thirty, he did all that
man could do to quiet the storm, to compromise and soothe the
contending factions, but this was beyond human power. He was re-
elected to the 37th Congress, but in 1861 was appointed minister
to Mexico by Mr. Lincoln. In December, 1865, he attended a party
of his Ohio friends, at which I was present. He was the center of
attraction, and, apparently, in good health and spirits. He was
telling amusing anecdotes of life in Ohio "in the olden times," to
the many friends who gathered around him, when, without warning,
he suffer