Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1868-05-12
Personnel of the late Convention.
| From the Charlottesville Chronicle. I


We do not suppose such collection of vaga-
bonds was ever assembled before including
among them, of course, the Conservatives and
the niggers There was greater variety of
rascality than We could have conceived in the
same room. At the penitentiary and at New
gate the convlcts are for the most part confined
separately; but in the Convention there was a
congregation Of villainous aspects-a blaze of
sinister physiogony-which made and uncom-
Portable impression like the glow of the Tartarus-
like furnace of the Tredegar Iron Works.
The whole scene looked like nightmare
an assemblage Of imps, and ghouls, and sharp
ers, making Constitution. Underwood was
horrible to look at-resembling great sallow
toad that had been out to dine with buzzard.
Right in the centre of the hall you see Bayne-
a thorough niger. Indeed, we know five had
met Bayne in the tropics, up in cocoanut tree,
we should have stated without hesitation that
we had seen an ape. He rises to speak on the
judiciary question. The heavy, redfaced man
with that sinister, dabolical grin on his counte-
nance is Bowden, of Norfolk. He gets up to a
''pint of order" Joe Mayse (of Bath remark
ed of old Bowden that ''he never rose except
to pint of order, and never left the hall except
for pint of wlaisky. He was accurate Bowden
is very bad man-an uncle of the little at
torney general. He is uncle-in-law to the big
of Norfolk representing Chesterfeld) Both
OF these creatures voted for mixed public
schools; both for the test oath. They hate each
other-all of the Radicals hate each other
Porter is the author of the homestead provision
When he speaks he reminds you of force
pump, with very little water in the we'll He
has some smartness, knows little law, is
| intensely vulgar, and has determined to 60 the
whole figure. He aspires to the bench of the
Court of Appeals, to Congress, to the Attorney
Generalship, and to the gubernatorial chair.
That little ,vagabond right under the Presi-
dents chair Ito the lift is Hine-a Yankee, of
course. Hine is as smart as a steel-trap. When
| he speaks he does not move at all-he stands
| like pump, and the words flow monotOnously
| through his nose. He has not particle of
| feeling. He would bring in a proposition to-
| morrow, if he thought it would pass, in the
same cold, imperturbable, nasal tone, to cut off
the thumbs and great toes of all the males in
| the State under sixty, unless they could take
the iron clad oath; and reserving the Chance
to prosecute them for perjury if they swore
falsely.
On the right of the main aisle, Just after YOU
enter the hall, is Hawxhurst, the favorite Of
the Albemarle negroes for Governor. He speaks
through his nose like Hine, and gives sort of
trumpeting groan at the close of every two or
three sentences-the combined progeny of the
| Quaker preacher and the Long Island Yankee.
He is a man, however, of frst-rate sense :; a
Radical on system-an earnest knave-unlike
Porter in this. He is large man, with gray
hair, and a dish-face, lives in Alexandria, and
ran saw-mill until he turned statesman.
That little read-headed fellow way over to
the right, who has just gotten up, and is rock
ing and making the curve with his right hand,
is Maddox. They say he has never settled in
the State. He was elected from Chesterfield
They call him ''the tilter." Kennerley, of
Warren, gave him that name. He said he re-
minded him of one of these little sand pipers
one sees on the margin of a pond fitting up
and down. He is not more than twenty-six.
Lewis Lindsey sits to the left of the Chair
He has the voice OF trumpet, and the con-
servatives are delighted when he rises, maugre
his insolence. You can hear him mile, and
he is a great fool and uses words utterly at
random; the effect is utterly irresistible See
how Scott laughs now-Lewis has just exploded
some terrible thought, and taking his seat, rocks
himself about thirty seconds in spirit of un-
lversal grandeur, like the settling of coil of
wire that somebody has trod on.
Right by him is Jones (negro) of Greensville.
He wants nine and thirty. He is up all the
time explaining his vote, and complaining gen.
orally
The most elegant niger in the convention is
Bland, of Prince Edward. He really speaks
with considerable correctness, has an excellent
manner and good voice. He lie about twenty
SIX, and has the assurance of Bayne, with de-
cidedly less sense
Hunnlcutt is not IN his seat. When in the
convention he has no special influence, but
| speaks better than most Of his side.