JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 181 



ious, it is far from certain that his mind would not, at the same time, have become 

 less robust, energetic, and bravely self-reliant. 



"We do not intend by this remark to throw doubt on the importance in general of 

 that early mental discipline which is furnished by the training of the schools, but to 

 present the suggestion that in particular cases of extraordinary native vigor of intel- 

 lect, determined on a single line of action, the gifts of nature cannot be essentially 

 improved by the moulding influence of ordinary early education. These cases are, 

 however, the exceptions to be avoided in directing the minds of youth, and not the 

 examples of the rule to be generally followed. 



Although Judge Douglas was no scholar in the pedantic signification of the term, 

 yet his mind was duly cultivated in the study of the law, a branch of knowledge 

 which, when pursued merely in its details and practiced in its daily routine of office 

 forms, may tend to obscure the perception of truth in frequent endeavors to make the 

 worse appear the better cause, is yet in its proper study, through the expositions of 

 Blackstone and the other systematic writers on English jurisprudence, one of the 

 most liberalizing and enlarging pursuits to which the mind of youth or early man- 

 hood can be directed. The generalizations of this branch of knowledge were particu- 

 larly fitted to improve the mind of young Douglas, and to prepare him for his future 

 career. 



But even the intellectual qualities we have mentioned are insufficient alone to 

 account for the distinctive character of the eminence he attained. With these he 

 might have been the dexterous pleader, the sagacious judge, the acute politician, and 

 yet have fallen very far short of that perfect empire which he held not only over the 

 minds of the few, but also over the hearts of the many. He had other qualities 

 which may be cultured, but which cannot be created. 



The lively sympathy with friends and associates, the intelligent and appreciating 

 glance, the frank and hearty tone, the kindly grasp of the hand, the prompt and 

 obviously disinterested service, these give to him to whom they belong a despotism 

 which we are, perhaps, too proud to own, but which we cannot, if we would, resist. 

 In the mere personal presence of Stephen A. Douglas there was a singular fascina- 

 tion. When you had once experienced the magic of his influence you were bound 

 to him forever ; his spirit seemed to dare you to rebel, and what was commenced by 

 admiration for his commanding ability was consummated by his kind and genial 

 manner. Bold, fierce, at once haughty in defiance and dexterous in fence, he neces- 

 sarily commanded admiration. But to admire is little else than to wonder ; we ad- 

 mire a brave and gifted enemy quite as much, and, if a little terror be mingled, we 

 may admire him even more than our true but less brilliant friend. But in the case 

 of Douglas we loved while we admired. And this is the true key to his general pop- 

 ularity. His intellect conquered, but his heart secured the conquest. His innate and 

 ineradicable kindness, and his genial manner conciliated all who fell within the influ- 

 ence of his power. His political and public life exhibited but the mere outward husk 

 of the man within ; it was when you looked upon the gentle amenities of his home 

 life, upon his love and devotion to his wife, tenderness to his children, and respectful 

 attention to his friends, that beneath that somewhat rough exterior you could discern 

 the character it concealed. 



It will not, I trust, be considered improper for me to refer to the fact that I was 

 one among the many young men of the west who were honored by his confidence 

 and bound to Judge Douglas by ties of enthusiastic friendship, and that therefore I 

 speak from personal experience when I refer to the magic of his presence and the con- 

 trolling influence of his character. 



As I have already said, this is not the place or the occasion for entering into partic- 

 ulars as to his political opinions and acts, but, alike to his friends and his foes, I must 

 say from the convictions of my head, as well as the suggestions of my heart, that 

 history will be false to her trust if she does not record the fact that Douglas was a 

 true patriot as well as a sagacious statesman. If he was a partisan politician, he 

 never wore his party uniform when his country was in danger. It was a striking 

 illustration of his character in this respect, that when the administration of our 

 national affairs was committed to his political antagonists, he gave his hearty and 

 generous support to the Government at the moment it required his aid. 



Some have lamented his death as untimely and unfortunate for his own fame, since 

 it happened just at the moment when the politician was lost in the patriot, and when 

 he had an opportunity to atone for past errors. But man does not change his nature 

 so readily ; Douglas was the same from the beginning to the end of his career, with 

 views merely modified or enlarged by the expanding horizon which opened upon him 

 from year to year, in his increasing elevation of thought and position. The words 



