Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1857-08-05
THE PATCH ON MIR, MARCY'S BREECHES.

Harpcr's Weekly relates the following anec-
dotes of Mr.. Marcy:
While he was Governor of New York, he was
visiting Newburgh on some public occasion, and
with a party of gentlemen, Wings and Demo
Gratis, was at the Orange Hotel Good humor
was prevailing, and one story suggested another.
The Governor always enjoyed story, and could
tell one with excellent effect il Wing lawyer
was present, and the Governor, recognizing him.
said
"Ah, yes I'll tell you a good story of Spoo-
ner. The other Gay he came up to Albany, on
his way to the Wing Convention at Utica, and
so he took in his way to call on me to gcta par
don for convict at Sing-Sing. | heard the
case, examined the documents, and being salts
fed that all was right, agreed to grant the re-
quest. Spooner handed me the paper to en-
dorse, and I wrote" Let pardon be granted.
W. L. Marcy" when Spooner called out, Hold,
hold, Governor! that's the wrong paperm And,
sure enough, it was q Wing speech that he soaS
going 10 make al Utica, abusing me in the worst
possible way. But had granted pardon in ad-
vance, suppose he committed the offence after
wards"
The story was received with great applause,
and Spooner being looked to for response, in
stant y went on with the following, which, for
an extempore story, certainly is capital:
"Yes, gentlcmen-yes, l did And when
the convention was over We went to Niagara
Falls, and as we were dragging on by stage
over miserable corduroy roads, bangn, our
heads against the top Of the COACH and then
coming down as if we were to 60 through the
bottom, the stage came to a dead halt; the dri-
yer dismounted. opened the door, and requested
III 4 VI fbnf
some accident had occurred. When we were
all out, standing on the ends OF the logs OF
which the road was made, the driver took oft
his hat and slid: " Gentlemen, we always stop
here out of respect for the Governor; this is
the identical spot where Marcy tore bis panta-
looms %
The story was heard with great jollifcation,
in which no one joined more heartily than the
Governor himself.
That pantaloon incident deserves to be record
ed in every history Of this great man. He was
sent out to hold special sessions Of court to try
tue anti-Nlasonic parties charged with murder.
Hc was to receive salary and his expenses.
With that nice regard for details that belonged
to his sterling character, he kept a minute ac-
count of all his expenditures and handed in
the list on his return, without thinking it ne
cessary or proper to revise and strike out those
items of private nature, which others much
less scrupulous in great matters, might have
carefully suppressed. There stood the tailor's
charge for mending. The political foes Of the
Judge when he came to be candidate for Gov
ernor, found it, and paradcd it before the world
in the newspapers; and making an effigy of MIR.
Marcy, suspended it in the streets of Albany,
with great patch on the pantaloons and the
tailor's charge on the top of that.
But an observant people saw. through the
patch, and the charge into the heart of an hon
est man, and in that very decd Of his they re-
cognisetl fiankness and transparency of char
acter that commended him to their warm ap-
probation 1t is not probable that the panta-
loon charge lost for him single vote, while it
is doubtless true that it made him multitudeS
of friends He was never ashamed Of it, and
never had reason to be.