Banners and mottoes were streaming from every car, and his reception at the stations was quite enthusiastic. The people were collected in large groups, dressed in their best attire, particularly the ladies; and when Mr. Clay alighted, there went forth a shout that made the welkin rin^. They immediately formed a circle round him, expecting a short speech; he first shook hands with the ladies and gentlemen, and then addressed them for ten or fifteen minutes. As I was in the mail train we could not, at all times, stop until he had finished; but usually met at the next station. At one of the towns at which we stopped, before arriving at Weldon, a very large crowd had collected, who appeared to be of a different character from those we had previously met; there were few ladies among them, and when our cars stopped, the other train was not yet in sight.
Among the crowd there was an old fellow, whose hair was perfectly white; he held his hat in his hand, and was running on in the most extravagant manner against Mr. Clay. His voice was sharp and shrill, and he was surrounded by a gang of men and boys, and crying out, " Henry Clay, the traitor, if he comes near me, I'll just put my fist in his face; don't hi him come near one, the scoundrel;" then up goes a cheer. At first I thought the fellow crazy, but it appeared that he was perfectly rational, and I feared that when Mr. Clay arrived, there would be trouble. The ears were now in sight The moment they stopped, Mr.
Clay was surrounded by the crowd, in the centre of which was this noisy old fellow, who immediately approached him, and grasping his hand, says: " Mr. Clay, bless your good old soul, you shall be our next President; yes, you shall, and show me the man who dares to say aught against it!" Up went three hearty cheers for Henry Clay, who in a brief manner thanked them for their good feeling. As it was getting late, the Clay party gave these equivocal patriots a gun, and we all started for Weldon, where we arrived at two o'clock, P. M. A large collection were there from many miles around to participate in the dinner; flags were flying, and guns firing in all directions, and deputations were continually arriving to greet the Presidential candidate.
I had an introduction to him as from Boston, when he with much apparent amazement asked me how I happened to be there. " I replied, I came here to see you, sir." He laughed, and we were all crowded into the dining rooms which had been fitted up for the purpose, and partook of an excellent dinner, but we of the mail cars, were obliged to retire before the others, as our hour for starting was four P. M. On arriving at Washington, I learned that on the afternoon of that day, a torpedo experiment was to be tried upon a ship of four hundred tons; it was to take place within about two miles of the Navy Yard.
As I had a desire to see how they managed matters in Congress, concluded to remain a few days. While on my way to the Capitol, I met Hon. Mr. King, who had been our speaker in the Massachusetts legislature for the last year. He politely invited me to accompany him to the house; but as the ship was to be blown up in a few hours, deferred my visit to Congress until the following day. It was evident from the movement of the people, and the enormous price of carriage hire, that the blowing up affair was to be something great. I started off at an early hour and secured a good place very near the torpedo buoy; the collection of citizens on both sides the river was immense, and at half past four, the ship came round the point with all sail set, right before the wind.
She was a fine looking vessel, but was doomed to destruction: and when she had approached within a hundred yards of the buoy, the lieutenant in charge raised his hat to the multitude, and with his boats' crew went over the side. Now was a moment of excitement. Her bow had just touched the buoy, and in another moment she was a mass of fragments; the destruction was so instantaneous that it was impossible to describe it in detail. I could perceive that she broke off amidships, and both ruptured euds were considerably raised; but in an instant all was flat, floating on the surface, hardly two pieces of wood remaining together. Immediately after the destruction of the ship, three other torpedoes were discharged, raising a huge column of water, two hundred feet high, very much resembling a shaft of crystal, rising suddenly from the bed of the ocean; the smoke, beautifully curling into a pyramid, added much to the grandeur of the scene.