, by the action of a Republican Congress, the full right
to emigrate into all the territory of the United States; and that,
with the consent of the Republican Congress, every inch of the
territory of the United States south of the thirty-seventh degree
of latitude was at that hour open to slavery. "So far," said he,
"as the doctrine of popular sovereignty and non-intervention is
concerned, the Colorado Bill and the Nevada Bill and the Dakota
Bill are identically the same with the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, and
in its precise language." The answer was at once a complete
destruction of the argument of Breckinridge, and a severe indictment
of the Republican party. Never before in the existence of the
Federal Government had its territory been so open, by Congressional
enactment and by judicial decision, to the slave-holder as on the
day that Abraham Lincoln assumed the office of President of the
United States. It is a singular fact that, on the eve of the utter
destruction of the institution of Slavery, its legal status was
stronger than ever before in the history of the government, and
the area over which it might lawfully spread was far larger than
at any previous period. Douglas showed in this debate how absolutely
groundless was the excuse of slave-holders for basing secession or
revolution upon the failure to acquire their rights in the Territories,
when never before had their rights in the Territories been so
absolutely complete.

Public opinion in March, 1861, was so unsettled, the popular mind
so impressible, that a spirit of discontent soon began to spread
over the loyal States on the part of those who had hoped for what
they termed a vigorous administration. For a few weeks the conduct
of the government fell under the animadversion of all classes in
the North. To those who wanted an instant settlement, and the
return of the seceding States upon their own terms, the administration
seemed too radical. To those who demanded that the flag be
maintained, and Fort Sumter promptly re-enforced, who would be
satisfied with nothing less than the recovery of every piece of
public property of which the Confederates had possessed themselves,
the administration appeared altogether too conservative. The
overwhelming public desire after all was for peace, and the
overwhelming public opinion was against the extremists who would,
by any possibility, precipitate war. The administration thus began
its career with no firm foo