The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-01-18
STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS.

| An Old Friends Recollections of the
| Little Giant of Illinois.
In the programme of the second days
meeting Of the Illinois State Historical
| society was a paper of personal remi-
nlscences of Stephen A. Douglas read
| by Major G. M. Mcconnell of Chicago.
| Major Mcconnell outlined the intimacy
| between Douglas and his father, and
| continued:
During the very early years of my
life Mr.. Douglas was often in my faith
ers house. remember most distinctly,
! perhaps, his eyes and his voice. The
| eyes were large, steady, and with Pc
culiar quality that impressed one as
depth. 1 cannot tell what it is. 1t can
| not be merely some arrangement of sur
faces that reflect light in certain way,
because have noticed the same quality
In the eyes Of some portraits. There Is
portrait of Napoleon, the eyes in
which always produced the same effect
on me-gave me the same creepy kind
of thrill along the spinal column that
seemed to be strangely made up of con-
Trajectory qualities, a kind of fearful
delight.
douglas often gave much attention
to me In the years in which my first
vague reeollections come back to me.
At least, it seemed to me that 1t was
much yet | can see now-saW, indeed,
only few years later-that for all his
attention to me he never lost touch with
all the other things going on about him.
He would take book--any booker
one Of the rare newspapers of those
days, and would be pointing out to me
the letters Of the alphabet. showing me
how to distinguish between them, SO
that, as have often said, I learned my
A B C's from him, and before had any
just conception Of what letters were
and yet never lost the thread Of a lively
Or serious conversation with one or
two or more other persons present At
such times l would see or seem to see
depths unfathomable in the eyes, and
for years T rerely saw those letters of
the alphabet without feeling the image
I cannot express it in any other way
of those unflinching eyes in my con-
scious memory. AS grew older I be-
ban, while still drawn by the same spell,
to be conscious that he showed always
certain curious gift of alertness, Of
being wildly alive to all that was going
on about him, to be, as it seems to me
now, carrying on several independent
mental processes at the same time.
Another thing I remember distinctly
is his voice. In ordinary intercourse he
was not what could be called loud
talker.' The vocal strength used was
always adapted to the circumstances.
But there was a certain quality OF
broad deep, vibrant energy in the tone
that was strangely enthralling alike to
one or two or to throng of many thou
sands.
Years afterward, when was proba-
bly, fourteen or fifteen, he spoke on one
Of many occasions at an outdoor meet
ing In Jacksonville from an improvised
platform of long and wide table
standing ON the shady side of the old
courthouse one mellow, golden Sep
TENDER afternoon. With the privilege
of boy friend I sat for nearly three
hours on the table in front Of him as
he spoke over my head to several thou
sand people. There was fitful wind
rustlng and murmuring through the
young trees under which the crowd sat
and stood, and his voice rose and fell
with the wind, round deep, sonorous
with the effortless volume of a great
organ auditor, yet never SCATTERING into
mere sound on the ears of those near
est 1t filed every capacity I had for
hearing, as it rolled out close over my
head, yet it never gave me any sense OF
being deafened, and for long hours af-
terward l could hear on the imaginative
side Of my memory the measured ca
dences of his sentences as one feels the
swell of the ocean for days after ending
a long voyage
After referring to the remarkable
memory for faces and personalities pos
sessed in so emphatic manner by the
Little Giant Of Illinois, Major McCon-
mel continued: 1T has always seemed
to me misfortune for him that that he
was so short in stature. His walk in
life forced him to show himself to his |
fellow men. In most circumstances he |
rose by sheer force of brain and will |
4 bove the disadvantage. Yet it was |
and I have always felt |
and feel yet that if without any other |
change he had been given the imposing |
stature and presence-asde from the |
lead--of Webster for eample. he would |
nave doomed larger in the history of |
lis country. Chicago Chronicle.