at the prospect of tying all his activity by the constitutional check of
a Democratic majority in Congress. In short, he came amid general
execration, and departed amid universal regret. I had heard Mr. Douglas
before, but never when he gave any evidence of the wonderful power which
he exhibited on this occasion. With few tricks of rhetoric, with no
extraordinary bursts of eloquence, he accomplished all the results of
the most impassioned oratory. The qualities of a great debater--unshaken
presence of mind, tact in adapting himself to his audience, the power of
arranging facts in a form at once simple and coherent, and yet most
favorable to his own cause, the strange influence by which one mind
compels from others the recognition of its supremacy--have long been
conceded to the late Senator from Illinois, but never did he exhibit
these qualities with greater effect than before the excited populace of
Montgomery.

This was the last strictly Union speech which was delivered in that
city. No one after this was found bold enough to stand up in the defence
of the cause that from this day began slowly to succumb to the fierce
spirit to which it was opposed. For several days the effects of the
speech were visible in the moderate tone of 'popular feeling;' but they
were soon lost in the tumultuous excitement attending the return of Mr.
Yancey from his tour in the North, and the still more intense feeling
produced by the election which immediately followed.

It was impossible in these last hours of distinct political
organizations not to be struck with the differences that characterized
the opposing parties--differences which, both before and since, have had
much to do with the progress of the rebellion. The Union gatherings were
easy, jovial, fond of speeches adorned with the quips and turns of
political oratory, and filled with the spirit 't'will all come right in
the end.' In the Breckinridge--or, as they had now practically
become--the secession meetings, a different spirit prevailed. It was the
spirit of insurrection, fierce, stormy, unrestrained. It was the spirit
of hatred; hatred of the North, hatred of the Union, hatred of Mr. Bell,
whose success would deprive them of their only weapon for the
destruction of that Union.

But with the 4th of November came a change. Three days after election
there remained in Montgomery no trace of party organizations. All the
widely divergent streams of public opinion seemed suddenly