PROCEEDINGS OF THE EEGENTS. 119 



courts from the fact tliat in 1835, being then only twenty-two years 

 of age, this j'oung man, whose short life had been so largely taxed 

 by adverse circumstances, was elected State attorney. From that 

 time he was continually in the public service. He was, in turn, State 

 attorney, member of the legislature, secretary of State, judge of the 

 supreme court of Illinois, and registrar of the land office; and sub- 

 sequently he was a member of the lower house of Congress, and three 

 times in succession he was elected by his adopted State to be United 

 States Senator; and," as is well known, not long prior to his death he 

 was the very popular though unsuccessful candidate for the highest 

 executive office in the gift of the nation. 



These are the prominent points in the career of Douglas, wdiose life, 

 commencing in obscurity and continuing through nearly the half of 

 its whole duration under the most adverse circumstances, ended in 

 the full light of high position, and the full glow^ of popular favor. 

 The principles which he advocated, and to which he unwaveringly 

 adhered, as well as the measures he proposed, have been the theme 

 of both criticism and eulogy elsewhere, but the discussion of them 

 here would be out of place, and in violation of a rule early adopted 

 by the Board of Regents, that in the affairs of this Institution parti- 

 san politics shall forever be unknown. The points, however, in his 

 personal character which enabled him to obtain so important a posi- 

 tion, and gave him so great an influence, not only over intimate friends 

 and colleagues, but also over the public mind, nv<ij w^ell claim our at- 

 tention as a study no less important than interesting. 



If continued success be the test of merit, then must all admit that 

 Judge Douglas was no ordinary man. That success in a single effort, 

 which may be referred to a fortunate concurrence of circumstances 

 over which the successful man had no control, is not the true criterion 

 of talent is a truth which must be readily admitted. But w^hen the 

 course of an individual is marked through a series of years by a con- 

 tinual advancement in the same direction, and especially when that 

 advancement requires forecast, knowledge, perseverance, and energy, 

 his success most assuredly is evidence of talent, if not of genius. 



Courage, energy, and a working power, both mental and physical, 

 which have rarely been surpassed, were the qualities which chiefly 

 served him in his earlier years. The son of a poor widow, and com- 

 pelled to spend in bodily labor the time which other boys of his age 

 pass in school, he would probably have remained a poor and obscure 

 individual had it not been for the resolute will to elevate himself, 

 and the courage, force of character, and determination to act in ac- 

 cordance w^ith that will w^hich characterized his whole life. But of 

 itself alone, that seemingly inexhaustible power of labor which ob- 

 tained for him the suggestive sobriquet of "the little giant" would 

 have been insufficient to effect the great success which he actually 

 achieved, had it not been directed and aided by other mental charac- 

 teristics, which some even of the warmest admirers and eulogists of 

 the politician Douglas seem to me very insufficiently to appreciate. 



In addition to the characteristics which I have already attributed 

 to him, Judge Douglas was remarkable for his quick perception of the 



