Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1861-08-01

massive substance Of his thought, clot het
in apt political words like Calhoun, ii
the tenacity Of his purpose and the sub
tility of his dialectics . yet he surpasse,
them all in the hcmely sense, the sturd,
strength, and indomitabe persistence
with which he welded the masses an,
electrified the Senate.
, In the onslaught of debatehe was eve
foremost his crest high and his talchioi
keen. Whether his antagonists number
ed two or ten, whether the whole Senat
were against him, he could "take raknl
fire at the whole group" Like th
shrouded Junus, he dared Commons
Lords, and King, to the encounter bu
unlike that terrible Shadow, he sorgh
no craven cavert, but fought in the opel
lists, with muscular and mental nigh
which dclied the unreasoning cries of tn,
mob and rolled back the thunders of tn,
Executive anathema
Douglas was no scholar in the pedant
ic sense Of the term. His reading wa,
neither classical nor varied. Neither was
he a sciolist. His researches were eve
in the line of his duty, but therein they
were thorough. His library was never
clear from dust His favorte volume
was the book of human nature, which hc
consulted without much regard to the
binding. He was skilled in the cont nts
Of The bar, but he was more than a law.
yer. He easily separated the rubbish o
the law from its essence As iurist
decisions were not essays they had il
them something deciSiye, after the manner
Of the best English judges AS legis
lator his practicalness cut away the en-
taglemcnts of theoretic learning and an
cient precedent and brought his mind
into the presence Of the thing to be done OF
undone Hence he never criticised a
wrong for whom he did not provide a
remedy. lie never discussed question
that he did not propose measure.
His style was of that plain and tough
fiber which needed no ornament. He had
felicity in the use of political language
never caqualed by any public man. He
had the right word for the right place
HIS interrogative method, and his ready
and fit replies gave dramatic vivacity to
his debates. Hence the newspapers read
lily copied them and the people retentive-
ly remember them. Cleans of honor
were not unfrequcnt in his speeches, as in
his conversation. His logic had the reach
of the rihed cannon, which annhiated
while they silenced the batteries of his
opponents.
Douglas was a PARTISAN; but he never
wore his party uniform when his country
was in danger. His zeal, like all excess,
may have bad its defect; but to him who
observes the symmetry and magnanimity
of his life, it will appear that he always
strove to make his party conservative OF
country.
The tenacity with which he cluug to
his theory of territorial government, and
the extension of suffrage, on local ques-
tions, from State to Territory, aud the alb
solutc intervention by Congress for
the sake Of peace and union, while it made
him enemes, increased the admiration of
his friends. His nature shines out with
its loitiest grace and courage in his de-
bates on these themes. so near y connec-
ted as he thought them with the stability
of the Republic.
Ii it be that every true man is himself
n cause, u country, or an age; II the height
of nation is the attitude of its best men
! them indeed are these enlarged liberali-
| ties, which are now fixed AS American
institutions, but the heightened shadow
of Stephen A. Douglas. This is the cause
self government in State and Territory
with which he would love most to be
identified in his country's history. He was
ready to follow it to any logical conclu-
sion, having faith in it as principal
of rcpose, Justice and union.
Placed at the head of the Territorial
| Committee, it was his hand which, on
! this basis fashioned Territory after Ter
| ritory, and led State aft,r State into the
| Union. The latest constellation formed by
California, Iowa, Oregon, Wisconsin,
Minnesota, and | may add Kansas, re-
ceived their charter to shine and revolvc
under his hand. The States. faithful to
his fostering. will ever remain as monu-
ments of his greatness.
His comprehensive forecast was oxhib-
tied in his speech on tho Clayton and
| Bulwer treaty. on the 4th of March,
| 1858; wherein he enforced contine tal
policy suitable aud honorable to the New
/ World and its destiny, now SO uuhappi.
ly obscured. That speech was regarded
/ by Judge Douglas as among the most
| valuable, as hink it the most finished
and cognet speech OF his life. His phil
/ iplic against England which to-day has
its vindication in her selfish conduct to.
wards us, will rcmind the scholar of De-
mosthenes, while his enlarged phi osophy
has the sweep and dignity of Edmund
Burke. 1t was this speech that gave to
Dougla, the heart Young America. lie
refused to precribe limits to the area over
which Democratic principles might safely
/ spread. Il know not what our destiny
may be-" But" he continued, II try
to keep up with the spirit of the age;
to keep in view the hiStroy of the country;
see what we have done, whether we are
going, and with what velocity we are
moving, in order to be prepared ior
events which it is not in the power OF
men to thwart." He would not then
see tho limits of this grato Republic ict-
tered by treaty; neither would he in 1861
see them curtaled by treachery, If he
were alive to-day, he would, repeat with
new emphesis his warning against Eng
land and her uniorgiving spirit, wound
ed pride. and selfish policy, When, in