Page:The autobiography of a Pennsylvanian.djvu/321

 accent, was inimitable. When he went to Boston, he captured the town; when he ran for office, he always got more votes in the state than any one else on the ticket. It is said that he was never confused but upon one occasion. He had promised to speak at a dinner, and as it was an important affair, he made some memoranda. By an unlucky chance Stewart got hold of them, and being called upon first, he arose and made Houck's speech. Stewart knew every detail of the National Guard, and in executive work was a marvel. He thought out every preparation in advance and, under his guidance, a dinner party, a gubernatorial expedition to a Southern battlefield, or the ten thousand guardsmen going into camp, and all of the individuals concerned in them, moved as smoothly in their places as the hands on a clock. He would have made a most efficient governor, but his talking in all of the campaigns wore off something of the gloss and novelty, and he was too true and faithful to the cause ever to be selected.

In the course of the summer I made addresses before the Sons of the Revolution at Neshaminy, before the graduating class at Franklin and Marshall College, and at the dedication of the monument to old John Burns on the battlefield at Gettysburg. At Gettysburg I said:

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