240 POLITICAL LIFE-XII 



the writings attributed to Shakspere were really due to 

 Francis Bacon. During this conversation the house was 

 droning on in committee of the whole, and the proceedings 

 fell upon my ear much like the steady rumble of a mill ; but 

 suddenly the mill seemed to stop, my own name was called, 

 and immediately afterward came the words: &quot;Mr. - 

 of - - and Mr. - of - will escort Mr. White to 

 the chair. It was a very sudden awakening from my talk 

 with Mr. Donnelly on literature, but there was no help for 

 it. &quot;Accoutred as I was, I plunged in, and, in a long fur- 

 lined coat much the worse for wear and bespattered with 

 mud, was conducted to the speaker, who, after formal 

 greetings, turned me loose on the audience. Naturally my 

 speech revealed what was uppermost in my mind wonder 

 at the progress made by the State, admiration for its in 

 stitutions, confidence in its future, pride in its relation to 

 the Union. At the close of this brief talk a few members 

 set up a call for Mr. Donnelly to respond, whereupon he 

 promptly arose, and of all the speeches I have ever heard 

 his was certainly the most surprising. It had seemed to 

 me that my own remarks had glorified Minnesota up to the 

 highest point ; but they were tame indeed compared to his. 

 Having first dosed me with blarney, he proceeded to deluge 

 the legislature with balderdash. One part of his speech 

 ran substantially on this wise : 



&quot;Mr. Speaker, I ask the gentleman, when he returns to 

 his home, to tell his fellow-citizens of the East what he has 

 seen during his visit to this great State ; and, sir, we also 

 wish him to tell them that Minnesota and the great North 

 west will no longer consent to be trodden under the feet 

 of the East. The strength of the United States and the 

 future center of American greatness is here in Minnesota. 

 Mr. Speaker, not far from this place I own a farm. (Here 

 I began to wonder what was coming next.) &quot;From that 

 farm, on one side, the waters trickle down until they reach 

 the rivulets, and then the streams, and finally the great 

 rivers which empty into Hudson Bay. And from the 

 other side of that farm, sir, the waters trickle down into 



