The Portland daily press., 1864-11-12
"reminiscences Of Stephen A. Douglas.


"reminiscences Of Stephen A. Douglas.
Hon. Isaac N. Arnold of Chicago, recently
said in letter to the Journal thai Guy,
Were Douglas living to day, mere woulo oe
found In all the land no voice more ealnes'
and emnhatic than his, dernandlng not cessa-
ton of hostilities, but tbe most visoIouS' per
sistent and decisive rar, un.n po. IN. s.a
neace should be secpreo, py crushing tne uiii-
itary power of the repe.s'
Tn conarmatjen of this opinion, Mr.. Arnold
oommunicatss to the Journal letter from
t Hon Gaorge Ashburn of Springfield, Mass,
,rr,,,on oct. is, 1854, from which the follow
inc i an extract
On Sunday, April l4th, 1861, Washington
city was agitated by the spread OF the infor
nation of the fall OF Fort Sumpter, the news
OF which had arrived the hight before. Such
an event could not but produce q profound
feeling at the seat of government, and discus
sions largely deposed all the ordinary Sunday
ceremonies. The course which the new ad-
ministration would take was then quite un-
known, and gave ground for much anxiety.
For myself, / felt the occasion was one which
demanded prompt action, and the cordial sup
port of the whole people Of the north; and
that this would be greatly insured by public
declaration from Mr.. Douglas. The friendly
personal relations which had long existed be-
tween US justified an effort in that direction on
my part: and late in the afternoon decided
to make it. On driving to his house, found
him surrounded by quite number of political
friends, whom he, however, soon dismissed,
with an easy grace, on suggestion OF the er-
rand which brought me there. Our interview
lasted an hour or more, and in the course Of it,
the whole nature OF his relations to Mr.. Lin
coins administration, and his duty to the coun-
try, were fully discussed. His first impulse
was decidedly against my purposes. desired
him to 60 with me at once to the President,
and make declaration of his determination
to sustain him in the needful measures which
the exigency OF the hour demanded to put
down the rebellion which had. thus f1ercely
famed out in Charleston harbor. | well re-
member his first reply: Mr.. Lincoln has
dealt hardly with me in removing some OF my
friends from office, and don't know as he
wants my advice or aid" Ny answer was
that Mr.. L. had probably followed Democratic
precedents in making removals; but that the
| question now presented rose to a higher dig
nifty than could belong to any possible parry
| question; and that it was now in his Mr.. DIS
! power to render such service to his country's
need that he could trample all partizan consid-
| erations and resentments under loot. The dis
| cussion, in this vein, continued for some time,
| he would go with me to the President, and Of
| fer cordial and earnest support But shall
never forget, that before it was concluded. his
beautiful and noble wife came into the
| room and gave the whole weight OF her
| affectionate influence towards the result
which was reached. = My carriage was wait
ing at the door, and it was almost dark when
we started for the Presidents house. We for
tunately found Mr.. Lincoln alone, and upon
/ tot.~ t.a6
| he was most cordial in his welcome, and i'm
medately prepared the way for the converse
| ton which followed, by taking from his draw
| er and reading to us the draft of the procla-
nation which he had decided to issue, and
which was given to the country next morning
/ AS soon as the reading ended, Mr.. Douglas
rose fir i'm his chair and said: "Mr. President
cordially concur in every word Of that docu-
ment, except that instead of call for $4,000
men, / would make it 100000. You do moi
| know the dishonest purposes OF those mer
| 1.-THE rebels) as well as l do" And he Their
asked me to look with him at the map which
hung at one end of the Presidents room
where, in much detail he pointed out the prin.
cipal stragetic points which should be at once
strengthened for the coming contest. AMONG
the most prominent were Fortress Monroe
Washington, Harper's Ferry and Carlo. He
enlarged at length upon the firm, warlike
| lUUtluS WlllCu OuSub W to puI5uCu, ditu lOuuO
In Mr.. Lincoln an earnest and gratified listen
er. 1t would be impossible to give in detail
all the points presented by him, and discussed
with the President; but I venture to say that
no two men in the United States parted thai
night with more cordial feeling of q united
friendly, and patriotic purpose than Mr.. Lin
coin and Mr.. Douglas. s s. X q.
After leaving, and while on our way home
ward, l said to Mr.. Douglas, "You have done
justice to your own reputation and to the
President, and the country must know H.
The proclamation will go by telegraph al
over the country in the morning, and the &C
count of this interview must go with 1t.
shall send it either in my own language o.
yours. prefer that you should give you
own version" He at once said: 0Drive tt
your room at Wizards, and will give i
shape" We did SO, and he wrote despatch
the original of which now lies before me il
his own hand writing. Icopied it, and gave
an exact copy to the agent of the Associated
Press, and on the next morning it was read
all over the North, in company with the Pres
ident's proclamation, to the great qualification
of his friends and the friends OF the govern
ment. The original is still preserved, as Q
cherished evidence of the highest character
that whatever else may have fallen by the way
side, in the hour of our country's peril from
"false brethren" Mr.. Douglas was not one o
them.