an speech. Matheny followed me with a hot Democratic
speech, attacking especially Judge Trumbull, then our United States
Senator. I remained pretty steadily in the campaign of that year,
making about the same character of speech wherever I went.

Fillmore was very popular in Central Illinois, where the Whig party
also had quite a large following during its palmy days, but he did
not receive votes enough to come anywhere near carrying the State.
Sangamon, my home county, and Tazewell County, where I was brought
up, both gave their majority votes for Fillmore.

The Hon. John T. Stuart and his partner, the Hon. B. S. Edwards,
with whom I studied law, besides being able lawyers and first-class
men, were both Whigs; Mr. Stuart especially took an active part in
the campaign. The latter was invited to attend what was called a
Fillmore meeting at Shelbyville, several counties away from Sangamon.
It so happened that he could not go, and the people of Shelbyville
telegraphed for me. I went, and it turned out to be a combined
Fremont, Buchanan, and Fillmore meeting--at least the three meetings
there were held all on the same day.

The Fillmore camp gathered its forces out in the woods until about
two o'clock in the afternoon. The Buchanan and Fremont crowds then
marched in, informing the first-comers that they regarded their
right to have the first meeting pre-eminent. An agreement was
arrived at after some little wrangling, and old General Thornton
was chosen to preside. He determined that, as I was not only a
young man but the farthest from home, I should make the first speech
--an arrangement that suited me very well.

I made my speech, as good a one as I could, and in closing, somewhat
hurriedly announced that I was obliged to leave for home, much as
I might wish to remain with them to the close of the meeting. The
result was that most of the Fillmore people followed me away and
came nearly breaking up the whole performance. I urged them to go
back and listen to the other speakers; but they declined to do so
until I had gotten off for home. It was my first venture at speech-
making away from home on national issues.

I worked and voted for Fillmore because I had a very high opinion
of him as a good man, and did not then think very much of Fremont
as a proper candidate for the Presidency. Subsequently Fremont
became better known, and occupied a high place in the estimation
of the people of the United States, as