e from it." After some remarks intended to connect the Whig and
Federal parties I repeated the conclusion of Mr. Adams' pamphlet and
made my escape in the smoke. Crowninshield sat upon the dais in front
of the speaker during the debate. I made no allusion to him, for I
commanded my faculties sufficiently to enable me to realize that if he
denied my allegations the denial would be fatal to my standing, and
that he would be seriously injured if he accepted my statement. The
event taught me a lesson, and thenceforward I have avoided all
reference in debate to private conversations.

[* Mr. Newell is the only member living, March, 1901.]

XIV
THE LEGISLATURE OF 1849

In the year 1849, two men were elected to the Massachusetts House of
Representatives who have had conspicuous careers in the State and
nation,--General Nathaniel P. Banks and Henry L. Dawes. General Banks
had genius for politics and the generalities of public affairs. As an
orator he was peculiar and attractive to an unusual degree. For a long
period his popularity was great in his town and district, and finally
in the State. A long life was the possession of General Banks, and I
have only to consider how its opportunities were treated, and its
duties performed. The beginnings of his life were humble enough, but
the beginnings of life, whether humble or otherwise, are of no
considerable consequence to strong characters.

General Banks' public career began with his election to the
Massachusetts House of Representatives, when he was far along in his
thirty-third year. His eminence as a debater and his pre-eminence as
a parliamentarian, were established without much delay, and in 1851 he
was raised to the speaker's chair. In 1852, he was again elected
speaker of the house, and in 1853, and without debate, he was chosen to
preside over the Constitutional Convention. He was then elected to
Congress, and thenceforward he was a conspicuous personality in the
great events of the war; both on the civil and military side of
affairs. He achieved distinction in the Thirty-third Congress, and
after a long and bitter contest in the Thirty-fourth Congress, he was
elected speaker of the House of Representatives. His associates in
that House gave him rank next to Mr. Clay, and through tradition that
rank is still accorded to him.

During his administration as Governor of the State, from 1858 to 1861,
he made military preparations for that contest of arms,