and giving leave to the parties to take testimony in relation thereto. The next day Mr. Cabell adopted this proposition as his own, linking it, however, with another. He said : "He had risen for the purpose of making a proposition which would probably save much time. It had been intimated by the friends of the contestant that his desire was, that the voice of the people, as given at the polls, should be heard, and should prevail; that he did not wish to avail himself of any technical advantage; but that he was ready to adopt such a course as would enable the House to ascertain how the people had voted. That was precisely his (Mr. Cabell's) object; and it could be accomplished, as he understood, by the adoption of the resolution of the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Sims). If the friends of the gentleman (Mr. Brockenbrough) were sincereor, rather, if the friends of the gentleman spoke for him—and such was his object, it could (Mr. Cabell repeated) be attained by that resolution. To test the matter, he would therefore propose that the resolution should be submitted to the House without further debate; and, if it was the object of all parties, as it certainly was his, to arrive at a knowledge of the facts, this was a mode by which it could be effected.

"I will also," continued Mr. Cabell, "offer an alternative proposition; and if the gentleman (Mr. Brockenbrough) will not meet me on this point-if the resolution is not acceptable to him or to his friends-I will propose that, inasmuch as it is doubtful which of the two have received a majority of the votes of the people of Florida (and I will admit that it is doubtful, although I believe that I have myself received that majority), yet I propose to him that we give this House no further trouble, but that we go back to the people the fountain-source from which we claim our rights. They are the proper tribunal. am not afraid of them. I believe that they have once elected me, and that they will elect me again. I am willing to trust myself in their hands, and I believe that they will at once confer a majority of their suffrages upon me."

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To these propositions Mr. Brockenbrough declined to accede. We have noticed the spirit of bitterness which pervaded the controversy. When rejecting the alternativo proposition, Mr. Brockenbrough said:

"If the gentleman (Mr. Cabell) was, as he alleged, so hur

ried to come here to perform the duties which he owed to his constituents that he could not find time to state to him (Mr. Brockenbrough) the grounds upon which he meant to meet the issue, he asked him, What had he done since he had been here, that he was now willing to deprive the State of Florida of her elected representative? Had he fortified her harbors? Had he protected her coasts? Had he regulated her land system? What stupendous work had he done that he should be willing to leave that state for several months of this important Congress without a representative, when he had been in such a hurry to come here? No; these were very ingenious movementsmovements which showed a part of the same ability by means of which he (Mr. Brockenbrough) had come so near being defeated. The gentleman might be willing to abandon a seat proved to belong to him (Mr. Brockenbrough), but he (Mr. Brockenbrough) could not abandon the duties which he owed to his constituents."

To all this, on the following day, Mr. Cabell replied:

"I scarcely know how I am to proceed to reply to the gen tleman's speech of yesterday. From beginning to end it was almost devoid of argument. It abounded in abuse and vituper ation of myself, and of those members of the committee who had sustained my position. It was probably the most extraor dinary speech ever delivered in a controversy of this character; and I question whether, in the annals of legislation, such an abuse of privilege and of the courtesy of the House was ever known as was yesterday exhibited here. Gentlemen who heard it will recollect its character, and will see that these remarks are justified by it. It contained gross misrepresentations of the conduct of the committee; their motives were impugned; lessons and homilies upon honor, honesty, and morality were read to them. Sir, the committee can protect itself. Probably, be fore I get through, they will know something of the character of their teacher.

"I regret that I am obliged to express myself in such terms. I regret to find myself placed in a position in which I must use language of retort; but justice to myself requires it. The tone and temper of the gentleman's speech justify me in speaking plainly on this question. The ungenerous, the discourteous, and, were it not that I might violate the rules of order, I would

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say, the impudent assertions of the gentleman, excited in my bosom nothing more than a feeling of sovereign contempt. He has undertaken to arraign me before this House-to hold me up to the House and to the country as derelict of duty. He says that I have remained here for five or six months, and done nothing. He asks why I have not procured the adoption of measures to fortify the harbors of Florida, to protect her coast, to regulate the land system, and to do various other things, which I do not at this moment remember, but which will, no doubt, be in the recollection of this House. Sir, this is ter between myself and my constituents; it is not an argument to address to this House. Has it come to this, that because, in the opinion of one individual, a member of this House has not been diligent in the discharge of his duties, therefore his right to represent the people who sent him here is to be taken. from him? I might, with equal justice, demand of every member of this House what he has done? what bill he has caused to be passed? what he has done for the protection and defense of the country, in the state of imminent peril of war which now threatens her. Sir, if the gentleman's argument is good as to one member, it is equally applicable to others; and, according to his rule, we should see many vacant seats here. I should blush to listen to such remarks and such arguments, even on the stump. I will only say, further, that I have not thrust myself forward upon the discussion of every question that has come before this House. I may have been, in some degree, ignorant of the rules of parliamentary proceeding. Probably, when I have been longer a member of this body, I shall have it in my power to accomplish more in a short time than I can now. But I say to the gentleman, and to my constituents, that I have diligently and faithfully attended to every matter of business that has been intrusted to me. Nothing committed to my charge has been neglected, and, if I have not done so much as I could desire, or as, perhaps, was expected from me, it is to be attributed to the difficulties thrown in my way by the attempt of the gentleman to deprive me of that right which I claim that the people of Florida have conferred upon me."

On the following day, January the 24th, 1846, the house ejected Mr. Cabell from his seat by a vote of one hundred and five

against seventy-nine, and forthwith gave it to Mr. Brockenbrough by a vote of one hundred against eighty-four; Mr. Chipman, one of the majority of the Committee on Elections, voting against both these proceedings. An examination of the votes will show a comminglement of parties; and so little satisfied did the House itself appear to be with its own decision, that a motion to reconsider the last vote, with the design, also, of reconsidering the first, for purposes of further investigation, failed by four votes only.

Mr. Cabell returned, therefore, to his people, but carried with him, as we had reason to know, the respect and consideration of the very body which had thrust him beyond its bar. Confident in the justice of his cause, but singularly modest and unaffected in his manners, he had won rapidly upon the good feeling of the House, not less by his personal deportment than by the manly, yet well-tempered independence with which he defended a right that he sincerely believed to be his.

Mr. Brockenbrough retained the seat during the residue of the twenty-ninth Congress. But on the 1st of October, 1846, a representative in the thirtieth Congress having to be chosen, Mr. Cabell was, as a matter of course, the candidate of the Whig party. A Democratic Convention, setting aside the name of Mr. Brockenbrough, nominated Mr. William A. Kain, a gentleman who, it was believed, could unite the entire vote of his party. Mr. Cabell was again elected, and took his seat as the representative from the State of Florida.

The accompanying letter from him concerning the election of Speaker of the thirtieth Congress [see title, R. C. WINTHROP], contains matter of public interest, which entitles it to a place here:

"To the Editors of the National Intelligencer:

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 13, 1848.

"GENTLEMEN,-Since the election of Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Southern Democratic papers have been filled with denunciations of Southern Whigs who cast their votes for the Honorable Robert C. Winthrop. The last mail brought me a budget of these papers from my own state, containing the most illiberal and abusive articles of myself, with such choice expressions as Traitor to the South,' False to his own country,' &c., for voting for 'THE ABOLITIONIST Winthrop!'

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"The editorial corps in other states have probably had more regard for propriety, decency, and truth, than some of the Democratic editors in Florida; but there are certain facts connected with the election of Speaker of the House of Representatives which are of sufficient general interest to justify me in asking a place for this communication in the columns of your paper.

"I yield to no man in devotion to the rights and interests of the South. As a Southern man, I most cheerfully gave my vote for Mr. Winthrop, and mean to make no apology for it. All admit his fitness for the office of speaker. No member of the House is perhaps better qualified to discharge its duties.

"By far the greater number of the speakers of the House of Representatives have been Southern men. At the commence

ment of the present session, the Northern Whigs presented a candidate peculiarly qualified, from his talents, high character, gentlemanly deportment, and parliamentary experience. He was elected, not one Southern Whig voting against him. To have opposed his election because he represented a constituency whose institutions do not tolerate slavery, would have been an act of madness and criminal folly. It would have been suicidal -fatal to the South. By so doing, Southern representatives would indeed have shown themselves "TRAITORS TO THE SOUTH.'

"It is well known that the South is in a minority in the Congressional and electoral representation. What would be our condition if we take the position that we will not support a man for even a secondary office who does not come from our own section of country? Will not the North retaliate? Can it be expected that the people of the free states will give to us the monopoly of all the offices of government? They can control all of our important elections, and will not submit to such unreasonable exactions on the part of the South. Is it wise in us to forget the admonitions of the Father of his Country, who counseled us to beware of sectional issues? Shall we wantonly seek to involve ourselves in angry strife and bitterness of feeling with our Northern brethren, and court a geographical contest, in which every advantage will be on the side of those we would make our enemies? The true policy of the South is to be firm in the maintenance of its rights, but to be JUST. "The Whig party, North and South, is characterized by a