speech amid the greatest enthusiasm on the part of the French, which was
followed by hurrahs in the old English style. The Convention was
successively addressed by the President of the Brussels Peace Society;
President Mahan of the Oberlin (Ohio) Institute, U.S.; Henry Vincent;
and Richard Cobden. The latter was not only the _lion_ of the English
delegation, but the great man of the Convention. When Mr. Cobden speaks,
there is no want of hearers. The great power of this gentleman lies in
his facts and his earnestness, for he cannot be called an eloquent
speaker. Mr. Cobden addressed the Congress first in French, then in
English; and, with the single exception of Mr. Ewart, M.P., was the only
one of the English delegation that could speak to the French in their
own language.

The Congress was brought to a close at five o'clock, when the numerous
audience dispersed--the citizens to their homes, and the delegates to
see the sights.

I was not a little amused at an incident that occurred at the close of
the first session. On the passage from America, there were in the same
steamer with me, several Americans, and among these, three or four
appeared to be much annoyed at the fact that I was a passenger, and
enjoying the company of white persons; and although I was not openly
insulted, I very often heard the remark, that "That nigger had better be
on his master's farm," and "What could the American Peace Society be
thinking about to send a black man as a delegate to Paris." Well, at the
close of the first sitting of the Convention, and just as I was leaving
Victor Hugo, to whom I had been introduced by an M.P., I observed near
me a gentleman with his hat in hand, whom I recognized as one of the
passengers who had crossed the Atlantic with me in the _Canada_, and who
appeared to be the most horrified at having a negro for a fellow