ng the
archives of the Republic, until some future day, when wiser counsels
shall prevail, when men shall have been sobered in the school of
adversity, again to be unfurled over the continent-wide Republic."

Senator Hale, who, with Salmon P. Chase, was not named on any of
the committees of the Senate, was a constant target for the attacks
of the Southerners, but the keenest shafts of satire made no more
impression upon him than musket-balls do upon the hide of a
rhinoceros. One day when Senator Clemens had asserted that the
Union was virtually dissolved, Mr. Hale said, "If this is not a
matter too serious for pleasant illustration, let me give you one.
Once in my life, in the capacity of Justice of the Peace--for I
held that office before I was Senator--I was called on to officiate
in uniting a couple in the bonds of matrimony. They came up, and
I made short work of it. I asked the man if he would take the
woman whom he held by the hand to be his wedded wife; and he replied,
'To be sure I will. I came here to do that very thing.' I then
put the question to the lady whether she would have the man for
her husband. And when she answered in the affirmative, I told them
they were man and wife then. She looked up with apparent astonishment
and inquired, 'Is that all?' 'Yes,' said I, 'that is all.' 'Well,'
said she, 'it is not such a mighty affair as I expected it to be,
after all!' If this Union is already dissolved, it has produced
less commotion in the act than I expected."

[Facsimile]
Robt. C. Winthrop
ROBERT CHARLES WINTHROP was born at Boston, Massachusetts, May
12th, 1809; was a Representative in Congress from Massachusetts
from December 5th, 1842, to July 30th, 1850, when, having been
appointed a United States Senator from Massachusetts, he took his
seat in the Senate, serving until February 7th, 1851; was Speaker
of the House during the Thirtieth Congress, and a part of the Thirty-
first Congress.

CHAPTER XXIX.
PROMINENT STATESMEN AND DIPLOMATS.

A prominent figure at Washington during the Taylor Administration
was General Sam Houston, a large, imposing-looking man, who generally
wore a waistcoat made from the skin of a panther, dressed with the
hair on, and who generally occupied himself during the sessions of
the Senate in whittling small sticks of soft pine wood, which the
Sergeant-at-Arms provided for him. His life had been one of romantic
adventure. After having served with distinction