Year: 1859

1" '"is s9OihiuhicaCion, unentertalnlng, Is In
consequence of the combination which exists
between the Legislature and myself That is
to say, my stock and store of common.places
has been replenished by my attrtion with
the lawgivers now assembled in the Capitol
But the body that have taken the right to
blame for whatever of interest my communi-
cations have been wanting in, is growing
more worthy Of note,--and | shall try and
improve with it.


Still does the House continue to sit in Com
mittee of the Whole upon the Duneombe
case. thought that when Judge Robinson
had concluded his argument it was proftless
to talk further upon the matter; SO it was as
far as the law involved in the case is con.
cerned but as bringing out the various talk
ative qualifications of the members, it has
proved fortunate though expensive circum-
stance that the case has been so much pro.
longed. Had the House gone to vote yes
terday, the speeches of to day wonld not hav e
been among the interesting archives of this
young and growing State" Mount would
not have elucidated the profundity of Putfen.
dorf, of Confucius and of Solon the venera.
ble respondent would not have had an oppor-
tunity of telling the touching narrative OF
his voluntary exile in Canada and of his suf.
ferings for the cause Of liberty Street would
have been denied chance to utter the patri
otic platitudes that convinced the House that
he can read and write and commit to memo
ry compilation of hackneyed oratorical
fourishes; and the facetious, bitterly satiri-
cal, plain, comprehensive speech of Mr. Frank
Pixley would have been lost to history.


Mr.. Mount is Small weedsh. He is glo-
riOusly vain little wretch, capable of saying
as he did in substance, that what he should
say was only because the conscientious MEM
bers seeking information desired him to do
so. He is the most complete illustration of
the proverbiAl self-importance of little men
is petite all over; black eyed, black whisker-
ed and charmingly innocent, ignorant and
impudent He is a darling little creature,
and Charles Dickens would have to but see
him to make him immortal. In fact, he is a
complete Tom Thumb of a Legislator.


Conceive of robust, forid, white haired
and white bearded gentleman of the old
school, and you have picture of DR.. Dun
combe. That such a man might have been a
patriot in the troublesome days in Canada
you readily can be persuaded as you look up
on him. When in his calm, naturally blunt
plain style of eloquence, he stood up and told
the history of the causes which brought him
before the bar of the House to be tried by his
peers; when he reviewed the history of the
events that led him to leave the dominions of
the British Crown and again become a citi-
zen of the land of his birth, never was an au.
dience touched with deeper sense Of shame
than were they who had come to witness
this extraordinary trial of man whose only
fault was that he had done as the heroes of
Texas aud Ecuador and Central America have
DONE | say a sense of shame pervaded the
galleries and lobbies 1t was shame for a
Legislative body willing to make such man
victim to blind partzan hatred and inius
tice


| must not speak of Street at length Dun
combe and buncombe and Street, and Street
and buncombe and Duncombe are words that
must forever hereafter exist in the minds of
Mr. Streets auditors; and that he committed
his innocent speech to memory with great
perfection will never be denied him even bv
the most prejudiced of his enemies. Street is
"clever gentleman" and would make u
good editor of Lecompton paper


But Frank Pixley's speech was The speech
of the session. Black Republican as he is. he
is the John P. Hale of the House. Not only
did he show up in most happily conceived
strain of satire. the utter absurdity of the
prosecution of the case in discussion, but with
a series of the most apt illustrations possible
to be conceived OF, showed how empty was
the assertion that an American born citizen
ever could ALLEVIATE himself or ever had been
considered capable of so doing. Mount kept
interrupting him, asking to be informed Of
the pages from which he now and then read
matters of law. Mr.. Pixley answered him
with ludicrous precision, and finally taking
up the San Francisco National proceeded to
read from that taking care, however, before
reading, to state that the subject matter was
to be found on page l , and that the authori
ties were George Washington and Geo. Pen
Johnston. This was but one Of a hundred
happy hits he made during his speech-all of
which you will find entire in the columns of
the Union. 1t kept the whole house in con-
vulsions, and even Cope, who by the way,
made the only decent speech on the Lecomp-
ton side, laughed at his own castigation as
heartily as the outsiders did. Stratton was
in the chair at the time, and made himselfin-
tensely ridiculous by attempting to frown
down and brow-beat Pixley who, l may
remark, is as incapable Of being non-plussed,
as he is of being Democrat.


Read the debates, and you will say that it
is impossible for a legislative body of Ameri-
can citizens to reject Dr. Duncombe. But
this Lecomptonite Legislature will probably
do it. They would vote to hang him, if the
Custom House we're to give them a cue to
that effect.


There are some matters meant to have al
luded to in this, which will omit in con
sideration of the great length to which have
strung it out.


Shepard of San Francisco speaks to NOR
row. Look out for something rich.


Ever yours, VANDYKE BRowN.