New National Era clipping

HON. JOHN R. LYNCH.

You have had sketches so frequently of Mr. Lynch, that it may be somewhat superfluous in me to give you another. But as the chief member of the House of Representatives, and one whose political course has been so remarkable, I must give you a short sketch of him. Mr. Lynch was born a slave in the State of Louisiana, but was brought to Mississippi when an infant by his master. He is a man of about twenty-six years of age, light brown skin, black curly hair, broad forehead, soft black eyes ordinarily, but when engaged in a warm discussion, piercing and wild; and the whole face presents a genial and intelligent expression. I said of Senator Bowles, "that a five-year old boy could walk through the curve of his limbs without touching either one;" but I fear if a grasshopper should attempt to hop through Representative Lynch's limbs, it would feel the pressure of a vise! Perhaps, however, some of these gents will give me a hammering if I continue to write about them in this style, so I'll mention only the perpendiculars, and give the obtuse angles the go-bye. I doubt that there is another man of the same age of Mr. Lynch in the country who has met with such remarkable and continued success in politics. When a lad, he was placed in a photographic gallery to learn the business of an artist, and in this he made rapid progress, so that he can draw as fine a picture now on paste-board as he can a Democratic opponent to an audience. When twenty-one years of age he was appointed one of the Justices of the Peace for the city of Natchez, by Gen. Ames, then Provisional Governor of the State. He filled this position with great credit to himself, his race, and to his appointer. And at the election of 1869 he was elected a member of the lower House of the Legislature. It was while in this position he showed himself a man of no ordinary talent, but one of great natural gifts - able to comprehend profound subjects, and to grapple with them successfully. In debate, he gives his opponent nearly all the ground he wants, but is unmerciful in his charges, and directs them with telling effect. In our first Legislature he was a member of the Judiciary Committee, also the Committee on Education, and Chairman of the Committee on Election. In 1871 he was re-elected to the Legislature, and was elected Speaker of the House by the unanimous Republican vote. He presides with great dignity and discretion, so that he is now called the "boy parliamentarian." In 1872 he was nominated for Congress from the Sixth district, and during the campaign he had several joint discussions with his distinguished opponent, Judge Hiram Cassidy. He never came out second best, and the people showed their appreciation for him by giving him more than six thousand majority over his opponent. And thus, from an artist's gallery to a Justice's bench, to the Legislature, to the Speaker's chair, and soon to a seat in Congress, he has made a continuous line of unbroken success. A strong personal friend, a genial companion, I wish Speaker Lynch continued success and happiness through life.