The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1881-04-20
After Twenty Years.
EX-SENATOR YULEE's GREETING or
GENERAL CAMERON.

EX-SENATOR YULEE's GREETING o
GENERAL CAMERON.
YORK, April 1.-About six week
ago from the front porch of the Eg
mont Hotel at Fernandina, Florida
| saw an old gentleman some s.
years of age alight from his car
riage directly in front of the hous
and step briskly across the graveleC
, walk and up the steps of the hotel
He was one of a group of men wht
left the Senate of the United State.
in 1861 because the conflict of idea.
between the North and the Soutl
was getting too warm, even in tn,
councils OF the nation, to be calmly
and peacefully discussed. Likt
many If not most of those South
erners who went out of Congress a
that time he mistook not only tht
temper of the people of the North
but the purposes of the bold spirit:
of his own section, who made til,
act the stepping stone of war, tC
which majority of the people o
the South were opposed. AS ht
reached the porch he Walked few
steps to the left, where General ST
mon Cameron was conversing with
some friends and, greeted him cor
dlallv. The two shook hands and
the grasp bridged twenty years o.
separation. He said f: General
Cameron, | am very glad to wei,
come you to my home in Florida.
Thank you, Senator Yulee, | am
glad to be here and doubly so to
meet you once MORE" replied Mr.
Cameron.
"We have not met for twenty
years, said ex-senator Yulee.
"We were friends for nearly as
long as that before the separation, u
responded General Cameron.
Most all of our associates in the
Senate have gone to their final ac-
count, but we have lived to see the
great events since then, both in war
aud peace. / hardly dreamed when
| left the capital that it would be
two decades before we should meet
again" said Mr.. Yulee.
i felt at the time that the depart
ure of the Southern Senators from
the Senate was a more serious mat
ter than most of them thought. In
deed, most of our Representatives
as well as our people could not real
ize that that event marked the first
act ofrebellion-peaceable, ofcourse,
but rebellious, nevertheless, replied
Gen. Cameron.
THAT is true" answered Mr.. Yu-
lee Il believed firmly when i left
that there would be no war. l
thought the questions at issue would
be settled at a Convention of the
States and | call to mind that as l
was leaving the Capitol for the South
in 1861 | met Senator Callamer of
Vermont on the steps, one of the
ablest men in the Senate either
from the North or South. Weshook
hands and bade each other goodbye
Goodbye, Yulee, and added, We
shall meet again in the next nation
al convention | have never seen
him since, and he died, | am told,
soon after the wal"
MEN WHO WERE FOR WAR.
While these two men who have
lived the best part of a hundred
years were chatting about men who
were master spirits in life twenty,
thirty, forty years ago, whom they
knew and estimated from the plane
of personal association and most
times friendship, could not help
but note the great characters which
/ picked out of their conversation
who stood boldly out on either side
in the minds of one or the other in
that great but bloodless struggle
which took place during the most
memorable session of the American
Congress since the Revolution. This
talk demonstrated the fact that while
most of the men in Congress from
both sections then believed in a
peaceful compromise there was no
such thought among the bold men
who led the force of thought both of
the North and South, and finally
shaped the current of events which
led to war.
jeff Davis was, of course, the re-
cognized leader of this force for the
South, with Robert Toombs of Geor-
gia, james NJ. Mason of Virginia,
and one or two others as his talking
allies. Ben Wade, Zach Chandler
and Simon Cameron stood for the
native positive force of the North, as
aggressive in spirit and firm in pur-
pose as these men of the South, who
bullied many Of our best men into
talk and thought Of compromise
upon question which was too broad
for any peaceful blade 10 settle.
Strange as it may appear, there was
between most OF these positive an
tagonists a warm personal friend
ship, and they were much together.
Especially was this true of General
Cameron and jeff Davis.
A NOTABLE BREAKFAST.
They had been intimate for many
years, but when the break came no
two men in the Senate were further
apart upon the important question
involved than these two Senators.
Their associations, however, brought
them often together, aand perhaps
there were more warm if not angry
discussions of the questions which
brought about the war between
them than between any ether two
men in the Senate. Toward the lat
ter part of the session preceding the
war they were often together, but
about the only thing upon which
they agreed was that war could
alone settle the differences between
the sections. The last of these talks
took place one morning Just before
the final separation, Mr. Cameron
had the day before received mess
age from the President of the Con-
| isderacy asking him to breakfast with
him the next morning. The mess