Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 1.djvu/80

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&emsp; I arrived here in good season, having just time to dress for the [Jefferson birthday] banquet. My reception was genuinely enthusiastic and my reputation in New England is already established. I found that my speech on State-rights had already been widely circulated here and that I was expected with suspense and curiosity. They toasted gallant Wisconsin and me, and I was called on to respond. My little speech elicited hearty applause. Almost every sentence was greeted with a “Bravo!” and when I closed, the applause was prolonged. Then followed a general shaking of hands and hardly one of the speakers who followed concluded without a reference to “brave Wisconsin and her gallant champion.” In short, the affair was a complete success. Governor Banks was not at the banquet. He was ailing, but I received an invitation to meet him at dinner to-morrow at the house of one of the most prominent men of the city. I have several days of strenuous work ahead of me, but I feel that I am in my element.

The great meeting is to be held at Faneuil Hall, on Monday, where I am to be given a grand reception. So far as the Know-Nothing amendments are concerned, the prospects are good. All sensible people are opposed to them, and I think Senator Wilson and other prominent Republican leaders will express their opinions boldly and fearlessly after I have made my speech. If we succeed in destroying that movement, our prospects for the future will be most excellent.

&emsp; I have just returned from the dinner of which I wrote you yesterday. We were the guests of Mr. Gardner