A succession of meetings organized by him for the same object served to intensify this feeling, and resulted in the establishment of the Republican party, of which Mr. Jay was justly considered one of the most prominent founders. In the Presidential campaign of 1856 he could not fail to take a conspicuous part, and a speech delivered by hira at Bedford on the 8th of October, " America Free or America Slave," was one of the most efficient political documents of the time. During this time he was unceasing in his labors to gain the influence of the church in behalf of the cause of freedom, -- labors which unfortunately met with bitter opposition, which only served to show him in his true character as a fearless champion of the right.

Throughout the struggle which culminated in the triumph of the Republican party and the election of Abraham Lincoln, Mr. Jay was a conspicuous actor. Informed at an early hour of the Confederate design to seize the national capital, he called the attention of the nation to the danger, and prompt means were taken to avert it. In April, 18(51, he was one of the organizers of the great meeting in Union Square New York, from which proceeded a flood of patriotism that swept the Northern States. During the war he was one of the most eSicient members of the Loyal League of New Y'ork, and afterwards of the Union League Club, in the councils of which he has •ever held an important place. When under the auspices of the Union League, and by the authority of Secretary Stanton, colored regiments were raised, lie made an eloquent address to the second of these commands previous to its departure for the seat of war. His son, Colonel William Jay, who served from the beginning to the end of the war on the staffs of some of the most prominent generals, frequently received visits from his father, who was a witness of the destruction of several national vessels by the ironclad " Merrimac," and her subsequent defeat by the " Monitor," and accompanied President Lincoln, Mr.