“Gentlemen!” said he, in a voice somewhat shaky, “I thank you for this great honor, which I may or may not have merited.  You know it does not say much for a man that he speaks of himself; but this I will say, that the man who serves his country for his country is the man for me.  If you, being people of high quality and much respect, (I never judge men from what they seem on the outside, not I!) shall give me your confidence, I warrant you shall see I am no unscrupulous politician!” Here the throng sent up a loud cheer, and tapered it off with three tigers.  “Ah! that is what I like,” resumed the major; “I always did like the music of the Democracy.  It sounds as if it was the free offering of hearts innocent, and not given to retrieve.”  “Intrigue,” whispered Don Fernando, correctively, as he stood close behind the major, evidently delighted at the good temper of those about him.  “Exactly!” bowed the major, “intrigue was what I meant to say!” Affected either by the strangeness of the scene, or his anxiety for the welfare of his much valued animals, he continued in this incoherent strain for some minutes, but said not a word of his early whiggery, or the affair of the Yacht Club.  Many of the persons outside now began to marvel at the strangeness of his speech, and to think him not so much of a politician after all.  In truth, although he said much about our liberties, and was several times jeered with the question as to what he thought “about niggers,” not a few puzzled their brains to find out to what manner of politician he belonged.  And as he concluded by enjoining them to be good fathers, dutiful husbands, and honest men, which three virtues were sure to secure the blessings of heaven, the puzzle became still greater.  And yet the throng cheered vociferously.  When, then, he had concluded, he wiped the perspiration from his brow, fritted his finger through his beard, and shook hands with several of the ladies, who still thought him a great man, in whose strange speech there was much those acquainted with the politics of the nation could perfectly understand.

Again the music ceased, and loud calls were made for Don Fernando, who always had an apology when invited to make a speech, and an excuse for making it on the second invitation, which he never failed to accept.  In fine, I say it with no intention of satire, that Don Fernando never let an opportunity to make a speech slip through his fingers, though three invitations, as he held, were necessary to one speech.  In truth, he regarded invitations as losing nothing in their passage, when they concerned great men; for it was a rule with our best politicians to make reluctance a virtue.