The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1885-11-05

One of the greatest speeches ever
delivered since the war was that of Ben
Hill on the amnesty bill to the House
about ten years ago, and Hill was
coached for this by man whom you
may now see any night sitting in the
Hobbies of Wizards Hotel. This man,
who was Confederate officer during
the war, aud came from one of the first
families of Virginia. was Disguised with
the bold orations of Blaine and Gar
field, and looked in vain over his State
delegation to find man strong enough
to answer them. There was none.
At last his eyes fell on Hill, of Geor-
gia, and he walked up to him as Hill
sat in his seat at the end OF the middle
aisle of the House, in his customary
position, one leg crossed over tho 9TH.
er, his head half hanging, and his
bright eye on old Speaker Kerr, who,
more dead than alive, sat in the pre-
siding chair. He said to Hill: "You
must answer that speech of Blaine's.
Virginia has not man in the House
that can do it, and you are the only
Southerner equal to it."
Hill objected modestly, but the Vir-
ginian persisted. "But l haven't got
the data" said Hill.
"I'll get you the data" replied the
Virginian.
"But the Speaker won't recognize
me-" said Hill. II can't get the floor"
"Ill arrange all that" was the reply.
ait is now about o'clock, and the
House will adjourn after the next man
is recognized, giving him the floor when
the session opens tomorrow. l will
arrange it with Speaker Kerr that you
be recognized, and Immediately there
after l will have one of our friends
move an adjournment"
With this understanding, the Virgin
| ian, WHO was an intimate friend of
Kerr, left Hill and sought out Kerrs
son, who was in the House, and told
him to go and ask his father to recog-
nize Hill as the next speaker, and then
| to adjourn the House.
The boy did so, and told Mr.. Kerr
the plan proposed by the opposition,
and Speaker Kerr consented to it.
II was standing" said the man who
engineered the scheme, "by Hill at the
end of the aisle, as Kerr's boy left his
father, and [ saw Kerr look toward
Hill and myself. and bow his head in
acquiescence. The boy came around a
moment later and told us it was all
| right, and that Hill would be recog-
nized. At this Hill got slowly up and
walked easily down to the front of the
chamber and took o seat on the front
row. AS the man who had the floor
concluded, q dozen men sprang to their
feet in different parts of the chamber
and tried to catch the Speakers eve.
But Mr.. Kerr said, i recognize the
| gentleman from Georgia. before Hill
was half out of his seat. Before Hill
began speaking, Beebe, of New York,
who had been posted by me, rose, and
asked Hill if he would yield for q mo-
ton. In his courtly way Hill said, Ger
tainly,' with bow, and Beebe moved
that the House adjourn. This was car
ried with rush, and we had from 4 p.
m. to 10 q. m. to prepare our thunder.
AS the House adjourned Sam Randall
and other prominent Northern Demo-
Gratis crowded around Hill and tried to
persuade him not to speak, on the
ground that it would stir up bad feel
ings and hurt the party at the North.
Hill, however, replied that he did not
| luIenu 10 nave bHe OOutu 5lauucteu
without an objection from him, and
when the statesmen parted they were
not in the best of tempers then
went to the library and got Stanton s
reports, which in themselves proved the
misstatements uttered ny the Republic
cans, and made the extracts from these
of which Hill construc Ell his speech.
As l gave them TO him / told him
hoped he would use them for all they
were worth, and that he would not be
afraid OF hurting the feelings OF his op.
ponents. He replied with laugh that
he did not expect to spare them, and
you know the result was the most pow.
erful and most vindictive speech since
the war. The galleries were CT wded
when it was delivered, and it made Hill
so popular throughout the South that
it secured his election to the Senate 6
short time later. - Washington Lette,
TO Cleveland Leader.