Train. The second four
names are for Mr. Boutwell. We are for Mr. Boutwell, and our friends
will be careful not to vote for the first four names, but to vote for
the second four names."
Mr. Emerson's policy prevailed, and as far as I know, this was his
only appearance in Concord politics. In that year I had a majority
of the delegates to the convention, but I attended, withdrew my name,
and nominated Mr. Train for election. When I was elected in 1862, Mr.
Emerson gave me his support and during my term I received many letters
from him in approval of my course, which to many others seemed extreme
and unwise. My acquaintance with Mr. Emerson was never intimate, but
it was always friendly and I rest in the belief that he so wished our
relations to continue. It began in the Forties, when he honored me
with his presence at the Concord Lyceum, where, for a period, I had an
opportunity to speak. It was my better fortune to hear Mr. Emerson
speak on many occasions. He was not an orator in a popular sense, but
he had the capacity to make his auditors anxious to hear what he would
say in his next sentence, which, not infrequently, was far removed from
the preceding sentence.
In April, 1859, I presided at a dinner in honor of Jefferson. In the
speech that I then made, I predicted the Rebellion, although at that
time there were but few who expected an event more serious than a
political struggle.
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