The Horicon Argus. January 8, 1858

Growing Warm -- Tuesday evening last [Jan 5, 1858] those two eloquent champions of freedom, gentlemanly, colored orators and staunch Republicans, BYRD PARKER and H. F. DOUGLASS, entertained a house full at Academy Hall, in beautiful style. The wrongs of slavery, evils of human bondage, glorious influences of Republicanism and the damnable doctrine of Democracy was illustrated, and as well received. A great many truths were told, and a number of untruths mixed in as condiments. It was clearly proved that the white man was nearly as good as the Negro, that a better day was coming, the date of which was not fixed we believe, that Negroes should vote, notwithstanding brother BOOTH and his party had voted it down by 13,000 majority, and that the better quality of blood in the Negro race ought to be mixed up with that of the Northern whites. We did not attend, owing to urgent business in another direction a circumstance we much regret. After exhausting all political subjects, looking [at the] black and white side of the audience, one of the speakers, commenced a personal attack upon the editor of the "Horicon Argus," the Horicon Argus itself, and denounced its editor as a bigoted, fanatical, southern Democrat. He called upon "POMEROY" [Argus editor Mark Pomeroy] to take the floor, and "clean himself, to answer his arguments, and refute what of them he could. Some hissed and some cheered. "POMEROY" was called from every part of the house, both long and loud, but as that dreadful individual was not present, he did not arise and refute." Finding that POMEROY did not under the circumstances come out, he urged him in stentorian tones to "come out and be whipped." "To stand up to the rack, fodder or no fodder," and if he was afraid, or too delicate to argue with black blood, that he (the speaker) had enough white blood in him, to stand it through the fight. He fairly ached with strength, and urged "Pomeroy" to, "tread on the tail of his coat," [with] which he would silence him and the Horicon Argus quicker than a cat could make a letter W with its tail. The audience yelled "Pomeroy" and a Rev. gentleman rising to explain was hissed down unless his name was Pomeroy, in which case he might proceed. As that wished for individual did not appear the orator knew Democratic editors were not what they were cracked up to be, that Democratic principles were like chaff before his burning eloquence, that GOD was GOD, and that he was H. F. Douglass, while the Republican Party were representatives of both. The hat was passed and after grumbling at the smallness of his contributions, the valiant champions of freedom retired for the evening. This ended one of the one hundred antislavery conventions, and to those present, what was better than theatre.

Note: in an adjacent column on January 8, the Argus reported that, "This makes the third 'nigger man' who was lately used up: Byrd Parker, H. F. Douglass and Booth! [Sherman Booth, Republican leader and outspoken Wisconsin abolitionist]

In the January 15 issue of the Argus, controversial Democratic editor Mark Pomeroy ran the following report. It should be noted that the exchanges reported in the two issues of the Argus reflected both the political temper of the times and the frequency of ad hominem attacks on both sides of the political fence.

The copies of the Argus from which these texts are taken were provided by Kevin Dier-Zimmel