. Everybody, while they liked the prediction, looked upon it as
a pleasant way the speaker had of giving his hosts and St. Paul a little
"taffy," and nothing more. Such, however, was not the case, and Mr.
Seward, when he uttered the prophecy, was thoroughly impressed with the
truth of what he said, as I will prove further on.

This speech was delivered on the 18th of September, 1860. If I remember
correctly, Mr. Seward was on an electioneering tour in support of
Lincoln's candidacy for the presidency, and that Hon. James W. Ney of
New York, afterwards governor of Nevada, was of the party; but I am not
very sure of these facts, and they are not at all material to the point
I am about to make. Mr. Seward stayed at the Merchant's Hotel, at the
foot of Jackson street, kept by our well known host, Colonel Allen,
while he remained in St. Paul.

Many of the older settlers will remember James W. Taylor of St. Paul,
who, for many years, represented the United States as consul at
Winnipeg. Mr. Taylor was the most popular man in that city. He was not
only esteemed for his superior ability as an official, but was beloved
by all classes of the people for his gentle and genial manners. He was a
great friend of Bishop Anderson of Rupert's Land, who, for twenty years,
had performed the duties of missionary bishop of that far away country.
He had travelled the McKenzie river to its mouth in the Arctic ocean. He
had been all over Alaska, up and down the Yukon, and, in fact, knew more
about the vast country that lies north and northwest of the United
States than any living man at the date we are speaking of. It so
happened that the bishop and Consul Taylor were on a visit to St. Paul
at the time of the arrival of Mr. Seward, and were also guests at the
Merchant's Hotel. They, of course, called on the distinguished American,
Mr. Seward, who became deeply interested in the conversation of the
bishop about his travels through this vast upper region, and was so
impressed with the immensity and future possibilities of the country
that he forgot all about his appointment to speak at the capitol, and
kept his audience waiting for nearly an hour before he could tear
himself away from the fascination of the bishop's conversation.

The topic Mr. Seward had selected for his speech was one in which he was
profoundly interested. It was, "The Duty, Responsibility, and Future
Power of the Northwest," which was a magnificent subject for discussion
by s