Mr. Douglas leaves Chicago for New Orleans-Received at St. Louis and Memphis Brilliant Reception at New Orleans-Speech at Odd Fellows Hall-Departs for New York-Received by Corporate Authorities—Voted Independence Hall in Philadelphia-Speaks at Baltimore-Receives News of his Reelection as Senator on point of starting for Washing Mr. Douglas again in Washington-Experiences a Change of Atmosphere- Scene shifts-Removed from Post of Chairman of Territorial Commit- tee-His Services as Chairman-Pretext of Removal-Freeport Speech— Letters to Dorr and Peyton-Speeches in Ohio, and Cincinnati Platform- Charleston Convention-Presidental Aspirants-The Harper Article- Black's Reply-Appendix of Attorney General-Rejoinder of Senator Douglas-The Chase and Trumbull Amendments-Consistency of Sena- Great Speech of Mr. Douglas on the Harper's Ferry Invasion-Anxiety to hear him-His Speeches in Reply to Senators Fessenden, Jeff, Davis, and Seward-The Caucus of Senators-Their Utopian Platform, . 243 ON THE INVASION OF STATES AND REPLY TO MR. FESSENDEN-De- livered in the Senate of the United States, January 23, 1860, ON THE ADMISSION OF KANSAS UNDER THE WYANDOTT CONSTITU- LIFE AND SPEECHES OF STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. THE object of the author of this book is to present to the people of the United States a truthful delineation of the character and qualities of the greatest American statesman now living. The public life of Mr. Douglas naturally divides itself into five periods. The first, from his entrance into Congress in 1843, to the close of the war against Mexico, in 1848. Second, from the close of the Mexican War to the passage of the Compromise measures of 1850. Third, from the passage of the Compromise of 1850, to the passage of the Nebraska Bill in 1854. Fourth, from the passage of the Nebraska Bill, to the third election of Mr. Douglas to the Senate, in the fall of 1858. Fifth, from the commencement of his third Senato rial term, in March, 1859, to the meeting of the Charleston Convention in April, 1860. During the first period, Mr. Douglas appears among the most active and influential friends of the re-annexation of 13 Texas to the United States, and causes to be run through Texas the Missouri Compromise line of 36° 30′; and when the war with Mexico breaks out, he is found among the ablest supporters of the administration, and one of the foremost of our statesmen in upholding the honor of our flag and in prosecuting the war with a vigor and prudence that led to an honorable and satisfactory peace. In this period, too, Mr. Douglas is seen endeavoring to carry out in good faith the principles of the Missouri Compromise, by extending the line of 36° 30' westward through our acquisitions from Mexico to the Pacific Ocean; in which attempt he was frustrated by northern Freesoilers. GREAT MEASURES OF MR. DOUGLAS. The second period was one of the most important in the whole life of Mr. Douglas. He is seen at this time, shaping and molding for the territories of the United States, those institutions of government upon which his fame as a statesman rests, and upon which depend the happiness of millions of American citizens, and the prosperity of a dozen new States. In treating of this period of the life of Mr. Douglas, I have shown that he is the real author of the Compromise measures of 1850, so generally attributed to Henry Clay. In this period, too, we see Mr. Douglas coming home to his constituents, and in the presence of an infuriated mob, proclaiming the propriety and expediency of those measures with such matchless eloquence, that the voices of faction and fanaticism were hushed, and the citizens of Chicago passed resolutions declaring their adherence to those very measures which they had the day before denounced. Toward the close of the third period, we see Mr. Dougias bringing forward the details of his great plan for the government of the territories, in the shape of the Kansas and |