reasons why this especial election was
of great interest to the county, and the motto of both parties was "No
malingering!" Early in the morning, by the Three-Notched Road, the
Barracks Road, and the Secretary's Road, through the shady Thoroughfare,
over the misty Rivanna, the Hardware, and the Rapidan, the county began
to pour electors into Charlottesville. They came upon wheels, on
horseback, and afoot; the strong and the weak, the halt and the blind,
the sick and the well, the old and the young, all the free men of
Albemarle, all alert, all pleasurably excited over the prospect of the
fight.

Without the Court House yard, under the locust trees to the right of the
open gate, were placed long tables, and on them three mighty
punch-bowls, flanked by drinking-cups and guarded by house servants of
venerable appearance and stately manners. Here good Federalists
refreshed themselves. To the left of the gate, upon the trampled grass
beneath a mulberry, appeared other punch-bowls, and in addition a barrel
of whiskey, ready broached for all good Democrat-Republicans. The sunny
street was filled with horses, vehicles, and servants; the broad path
between the trees, the turf on either hand, and the Court House steps
were crowded with riotous voters. All ranks of society, all ages,
occupations, and opinions, met in the genial weather, beneath the trees
where sang every bird of spring.

Within the Court House the throng, slight at first, was rapidly
increasing. The building was not large, and from end to end, and on the
high window-sills beneath the long green blinds, the people pushed and
shoved and stood a-tiptoe. It was yet early morning, and for some
unexplained reason the Federalist candidate had not arrived.

Upon the Justice's Bench, raised high above the crowded floor, sat the
candidate of the Democrat-Republicans--the Republicans, pure and simple,
as they were beginning to be called. Near him stood the sheriff and the
deputy-sheriff; around him pressed committee-men, heelers with tallies,
vociferous well-wishers, and prophets of victory, and a few, a very few,
personal and private friends. On the other hand, strongly gathering and
impatiently awaiting their candidate, his foes gloomed upon him.
Everywhere was a buzzing of voices: farmers and townspeople voting
loudly, the sheriff as loudly recording each vote, the clerk humming
over his book, the crowd making excited comment. There was no
ballot-voting; it was a _viva