The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1872-06-01
ANECDOTES OF PUBLIC MEN.

From the Washington Sunday Chronicle.
From the month Of December,
1860, to the 10Th of April, 1861,
we made history like magic. Par>
ties dissolved and sections colso!i>
dated Professed politicians be-
came practical patriots; professed
patriots bccame~practical traitors.
Andrew johnson struck the first
blow on the 10th of December, 1860,
in the Senate, and continued pound
ing against the secess:onists all
through the war. insanely changing
his course when assassins stion and
accident made him President
throwing away the ripest fruits of
what seemed to be honest endeav.
ors, and that golden opportunity
which rarely comes more than once
in lifetime. Of Buchanan's Cab
met, General Cass, Howell Cobb
and John B Floyd all resigned at an
early day.and j Jacob Thompson later
-Cass in the spirit Of profound
attachment to the constitution; the
others with defiance and threat
The two Houses Of Congress were
two theatres. The galleries were
filled with excited spectators. Few
speeches were made by the Uuion
men, and almost none by the Re-
publicans, until honest Ben. Wade.
of Ohio, broke silence, and gave
tongue to the feelings of an outs
ragged people.
On the day after the firing upon
Fort Sumter. I met Stephen A
Douglas upon Pennsylvania avenue,
in the city of Washington. Natur--
ally anxious to ascertain what part
he would take in the coming events,
] put the question to him. What
is now to done2 My dear friend,
what are we to do?
shall never forget his answer:
We must fight for our country and
forget all differences. There can
be but two parties-the party of
patriots and the party of traitors.
We belong to the first Abraham
Lincoln was President. His old
adversary, who had defeated him
for Senator in 1858, and whom he
Lincoln) had defeated for Presi-
dent in 1920, called that very day
at the White House and profered
his council and his services. The
firing upon Sumter. on the I4th ol
, April, followed by the attack upon
the Massachusetts troops on the
; 10Th of the same month. raised the
question how the soldiers of the
North were to reach the capital
: already belcaguered by the pre-
pared hosts of the South. It wat
9 in the discussion of this question
that Mr.. Lincoln made the memor
5 able remark: If we cannot pas,
2 over Baltimore, or under Baltimore
, we must necessarily pass through
D Baltimore and it was in one o
! his interviews that Judge Dougla
: pressed the suggestion, whicl
} originated in Massachusetts. tina
: We might 60 round Baltimore ant
}. reach Washington via. Annapoli
l. by water-a suggestion subsequent
!. ly successfully carried o1t. Dur
) ing this cordial intercourse, Mr.
: Lincoln solicited Judge Douglas Il
i to go West and raise his voice i
Il favor of the Government, and
+. was in response to this reques
r that the great Senator turned hi
, face homeward, and made tn
I magnetic speech which aroused hi
D followers, and gave to the Admin
istration that timely support whic
helped to fill our armies, to in
crease the Republican column, an
to add, the Republican counsel
: the culture and courage of IL
), flower of the Democratic party
~ Let me quote this his farewe
speech at Chicago on tile Ist
May. 1861 the faithful echo
3 Mr.. Lincoln's affcctionate appe
.. in the preceding April. The
golden words should never be 10
4 gotten:
a. The election of Mr.. Lincoln is
no mere pretext. The present sece
sion movement is the result of I
20 enormous conspil acy formed
leaders in the Southern Confeder
cy more than twelve months ag'
of They use the slavery question
d. the means to aid the accomplish
ia ment of their ends. They desir,
in the election OF a Northern cand
i'm date by sectional vote, in ord
n 10 show that the two sections ca
ill not live together. When the hi
he tory OF the two years from t
nd Lecompton question down to I
ua presidential election shall be VT
els ten it will be shewn that the schel
ia was deliberately made to break
the Union.