The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1860-01-04

as seats by the potent assembly, while
every one is solacing himself with quid
of tobacco laid away in his check, or a
rank cigar, poeticaly styled cabbage
leaf The principal speakers are expect
ed to surround the stove, each with his
back toward it, his hands occupied iE
keeping the tails of his coat as far asun-
der as possible. The members of the
society address each other by the dmin
utive of their Christian names, as Pete,
Jim, Bill, or Steve, and the grand doc
trines of liberty, equality and fraternity
are realized on the common level of story
telling, smoke, tobacco spit, end bolster
Gus defamation.
Such are the debating clubs wherein 1
imagine most of our Western orators,
legal and political. have 6rst spread their
unfedged wings and tried to soar toward
distinction; doubtless it was in just such
school that Mr.. Douglas took his first
lesson in oratory. He, before long, by
virtue Of his indomitable energy, acquir-
ed enough of legal lore to pass an exam
ination, and "to stick up his shingle,' as
they call putting up q lawyers sign And
now began series of official emp!oyments,
by which he has mounted, within five and
twenty years, from the obscurity of viii
lage pedagogue on the borders of civil
zation, to his present ilustrious and CON-
manding position. First he was elected
the States attorney for the judicial dis
trict in which he lived, and next to q seat
in the Legislature. He then ran for Con.
gress, but was defeated by five votes, and
was afterward appointed Register of the
Land Office in Springfield. Resiguing
this, he was chosen to be Secretary OF
State, and while he filled the Office, was
selected Judge of the Supreme Court OF
the State. His next step was into Con-
gress, and in 1S46 or AT he was elected
to the Senate, in which he will soon enter
upon his third term of six years. Thus
! in the twelve or thirteen years that elapsed
from the time of his entering the State
a friendless, penniless youth, he had served
his fellow citizens in almost every officia
capacity, and entered the highest positio,
within their power to confer.
/ No man, since the days of Andrew
jackson, has gained a stronger hold upor
, the confidence and attachment of his ad
herents than Judge Douglas. Whethe
upon the stump, in the caucus. or the
Senate, his power and success in debat
are prodigious. His instincts stand hin
in the stead of Imagination, and amount
, to genius.
| Notwithstanding the busy and bolster
f Gus political life which he has led, wit
all its engrossing cares and occupations
t Mr. Douglas has, nevertheless, by'his in
: vincible perseverance, managed to re
deem much time for selfimprovemeu,
S For one in his situation, he has been
f wide and studious reader of history an
: it's kindred branches. Contact With al
n fairs has enlarged his understanding an
e strengthened his judgment. Thus, wit
e his unerring sagacity, his matured an
d decisive character, with o courage whic
It sometimes appears to be audacity, br
o which is in reality tempered by prudenc
# will that never submits to an obstacle
n however vast, and a knowledge of tn
:, people, together with power to lea
n them, Incompatible in his generation. h
e may be accepted as practical sta,esma
n of the highest order.
d 1t must be confessed that there We
}. formerly dash of the -owdy in Nj
! Douglas, and that even now the blaze
: the old Be.serker fire will show itself {
= times But it must be recollected ths
n his is vivid and electric nature, of r,
y dundant animal life and nervous energ,
!. that he was bred, not in scholastic seclr
q sion, nor amid the conventional routine
If a settled population. but that his chara'
IT ter has taken shane and color from ths
5. of the bold men of the border, whel
e, pluck was the highest virtue, and "bacl
ir bone," to use phrase of the countr
t. compensated for many deficiency in ell
IS gance. His organization is exuberan
,r but not coarse. Like the prairies of
n, adopted State, which in their wildne
,r yield q luxuriant bounty of long gra
l. and countless flowers, but return to cultu
re unmeasured harvests of wheat and cor
so his youth may have known the flush al
ID pride of rude health, yet his manhot
< turns up, under the plowshare of expel
IN ence, a loom fit to mature the glorio
a plants of wisdom. power, virtue aud p
ly triotism.
a In society, few men are more agreeab
r providing you are willing to make allo
le ance (Which most people in this count
~ are bound to do) for the defects of ear
of breeding, which can never be entire
es hidden. He is singularly magnetic
re conversation, full of humor, spirit and
s, formation, and charms while he instruc
IN Hanging in the Rural Districts.
ry The author of "Rural Life in Loui
a ana" thus describes hanging in the rur
er districts Of that State:
Is, "Why," exclaimed we, as we approac