1863.] 267 [Sharswood. 



that a Convention should be called for the purpose of proposing 

 amendments to the State Constitution, he was elected a delegate to 

 that body from the County of Philadelphia, in November, 183(5, and 

 took his seat at the opening of its sessions, May '2d, 1837. Here, 

 as in every other deliberative body with which he was ever connected, 

 he entered upon and performed his duties with a zeal, ability, and 

 eloquence, which ranked him amongst the foremost of its members. 

 Each party had carefully put forward its best and most popular men 

 for election, and an amount of talent was congregated on its floor, 

 certainly not to be found or expected in ordinary legislative assem- 

 blies. Its importance in all its aspects upon the futui'e of the Com- 

 monwealth was fully appreciated, and what added much to the in- 

 terest of its proceedings was, that upon coming together it appeared 

 that the members stood, on a party vote, equally divided ; one being 

 neutral. The sessions of the Convention continued at Harrisburg 

 until November 23d, 1837, and at Philadelphia from November 28th, 

 1837, until February 22d, 1838, when its labors were brought to a 

 close. During this long period every topic which either directly or 

 indirectly bore upon economy, legislation or government underwent 

 full discussion. Mr. Ingersoll seems to have specially devoted his 

 attention to the subjects of Currency and Education. His reports on 

 these two subjects were elaborate and full. His speech on the Judi- 

 cial Tenure was one in which he was able, with a large mass of anec- 

 dote and information, to join a striking display of the peculiar charac- 

 teristics of his oratory. 



Mr. Ingersoll, in October, 1810, was elected a member of the 27th 

 Congress of the United States, and successively of the 28th, 29th 

 and 30th Congresses, serving a period of eight years in that body. 

 Thus, as his first service in Congress had been during the war of 1812, 

 it was his fortune to be a member of the same body during another 

 period of foreign war. He made many distinguished efforts during 

 this long period of Congressional service. A part of the time he 

 occupied one of the most important positions in the House, that of 

 Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations, and 

 made several able reports in that capacity. After his retirement 

 from Congress, he still continued to take an active interest in politi- 

 cal affairs, and from time to time, to give his views of the great ques- 

 tions agitating the country. These are entirely too numerous to be 

 here noticed in detail. 



Let us turn to the more purely literary productions of Mr. Inger- 

 soll's pen, and for this purpose we must revert to an earlier period of 



