Again, in 1867, Mr. Weston was pressed into service by his party associates in the city, as a mayoralty candidate against Hon. Joseph B. Clark, then mayor, and Republican candidate for re-election. This canvass resulted in his election by a majority of two hundred and seventy-two, and by a larger vote than had ever been received by any previous candidate except that for Mayor Abbot, in 1855. At the next election the Republicans made a strong and determined effort to regain their ascendency in the city; but, although they had carried the city for Gen. Grant for president, at the election but a few weeks previous, by about six hundred majority, the ward returns at the municipal election gave Mayor Weston a majority of seven votes over his Republican opponent, Hon. Isaac W. Smith. The "revising" process was resorted to, however, and the latter declared elected by twenty-three majority. In 1869, Mr. Weston defeated Mayor Smith by a good majority, and was re-elected the following year. Naturally enough, Mayor Weston's remarkable success as the standard-bearer of his party in the city of Manchester, and the increased popularity he had secured by wise and efficient administration of municipal affairs in that large and prosperous community, suggested him to the Democracy of the state at large as a most fit and available candidate for the gubernatorial nomination; and at the state convention, in January, 1871, he was made the nominee of the party for governor. The election resulted in no choice of governor by the people, though Mr. Weston received a decided plurality of the votes cast, and was chosen governor by the legislature in June following,--the Republicans thus losing control of the state government for the first time since their advent to power in 1855. Determined to retrieve their fallen fortunes, the Republican leaders, in 1872, brought to the front, as their standard-bearer and gubernatorial nominee, Hon. Ezekiel A. Straw, agent of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, a man of great resources and unparalleled influence in manufacturing circles, not only in Manchester, but throughout the state. His defeat of Gov. Weston in the following canvass was a matter of no surprise to either party; and his re-election the subsequent year naturally resulted. The Democracy, however, insisted on continuing Mr. Weston as their candidate; and in 1874 he secured a handsome plurality, and was again elected governor by the legislature. In December previous he had received the unusual distinction of a fourth election as mayor of his city, being chosen by a majority much larger than he had ever before received, reaching some six hundred votes. Although there was great partisan excitement in the state during Mr. Weston's second administration, his official integrity and thorough devotion to the welfare of the state were conceded even by his most determined political opponents; and no man holds in fuller measure the respect and esteem of