Champion. Gay streamers vie
with gayer gowns, and morning papers on the morrow will have something to
say about the fashionable element and the special car which brought them
from Leith.

"My, but it is hot!"

The hall is filled now, with the thousand delegates, or their
representatives who are fortunate enough to possess their credentials.
Something of this matter later. General Doby, chairman of the convention,
an impressive but mournful figure, could not call a roll if he wanted to.
Not that he will want to! Impossible to tell, by the convenient laws of
the State, whether the duly elected delegates of Hull or Mercer or Truro
are here or not, since their credentials may be bought or sold or
conferred. Some political giants, who have not negotiated their
credentials, are recognized as they walk down the aisle: the
statesmanlike figure of Senator Whitredge (a cheer); that of Senator
Green (not so statesmanlike, but a cheer); Congressman Fairplay (cheers);
and--Hilary Vane! His a figure that does not inspire cheers,--least of
all to-day,--the man upon whose shoulders rests the political future of
the Northeastern. The conservative Mr. Tredways and other Lincoln
radicals of long ago who rely on his strength and judgment are not the
sort to cheer. And yet--and yet Hilary inspires some feeling when, with
stooping gait, he traverses the hall, and there is a hush in many
quarters as delegates and spectators watch his progress to the little
room off the platform: the general's room, as the initiated know.

Ah, but few know what a hateful place it is to Hilary Vane to-day, this
keyboard at which he has sat so complacently in years gone by, the envied
of conventions. He sits down wearily at the basswood table, and scarcely
hears the familiar sounds without, which indicate that the convention of
conventions has begun. Extraordinary phenomenon at such a time, scenes of
long ago and little cherished then, are stealing into his mind.

The Reverend Mr. Crane (so often chaplain of the Legislature, and known
to the irreverent as the chaplain of the Northeastern) is praying now for
guidance in the counsels of this great gathering of the people's
representatives. God will hear Mr. Botcher better if he closes his eyes;
which he does. Now the platform is being read by State Senator Billings;
closed eyes would best suit this proceeding, too. As a parallel to that
platform, one can think only of the Ten Commandments. The Republican
Part