Bayard not voting. Mr. Bayard descended from the elevation
he had occupied for so short a time, amid general laughter
in which he good-naturedly joined, and Mr. Davis ascended
the throne. He made a brief speech which began with this
sentence: "The honor just conferred upon me comes, as the
seat in this body which I now hold did, without the least
expectation on my part. If it carried any party obligation,
I should be constrained to decline this high compliment. I
do not accept it as a tribute to any personal merit, but rather
as a recognition of the independent position which I have
long occupied in the politics of the country."
So, it was Mr. Davis's fortune to hold in his hands the determination
between the two parties of the political power of the country,
on two very grave occasions. But for his choice as Senator
from Illinois, he would have been on the Electoral Commission.
I do not think, in so important a matter, that he would have
impaired his great judicial fame by dissenting from the opinion
which prevailed. But if he had, he would have given the Presidency
to Mr.
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