Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 9.djvu/367

 Slavery Question in Oregon. 339 It would be a superficial judgment to say that the Colonel was not a good actor and that there was not good judgment used in his social intercourse, but the real secret, if one, was in the fact that Ned Baker was just what he appeared to be, in English a fine fellow and full of fraternity. And when we come to reflect further, how can there be an orator in the full sense, without the coalescing sympathies which put him at one with the whole human heart ? The Colonel was a ' ' rara avis" in other respects; his memory of faces and names was a wonder. Men whom he had not seen for twenty years and whom he had not known intimately, were recognized instantly and their names were at tongue's end. And the most difficult acquirement of all— one the lack of which gives our public men the most trouble, is the knack of proportioning one's attention to the various grades of men without offence. Evidently all cannot be treated alike ; there must be suitable adaptation, and the ability to do this consti- tutes what, in our present vogue, is called a good mixer. But the Colonel could go through with a free-for-all interview and leave no stings in the expectations of men. His must have been a bountiful soul, or else he became passive to the social fluctuations and let nature take its course. In any event everybody was pleased. A great change came over the coun- try after the advent of the Colonel. For the accommodation of the people who came to see him, he had to keep open house, and this being insufficient, a part of the day, he held court st the largest hotel in town, and in a few weeks had seen and captured all who met him, and knew more of the social and political condition of the state than any man in it. Every person knew what brought the Colonel to Oregon, that it was in the main a selfish purpose— political ambition. But there was no offence. I heard one man sarcastically lament that the Blacks had no man fit to be United States Senator and had to import one. This, however, was a compliment to the im- port. The voice of the Syren was heard in the land and the rough yawp of partisan Democracy became dulcet from sheer imitation. The epithet ''dam-Black-Republican" was short-