im to the line of the Rio del Norte. When he asked if the treaty of
peace and boundaries concluded by Mexico and Texas in 1836 had not
since been discarded by the Mexican government, Douglas retorted that he
was unaware of any treaty ever made by a Mexican government which was
not either violated or repudiated. Adams came finally to acknowledge the
unusual powers of the Western "_homunculus_" as a debater.

But the reputation and the influence won in the House of Representatives
were to be extended in a more favorable arena. In 1846, Douglas being
now thirty-three years of age, the Illinois legislature elected him
United States senator for the six years beginning March 4, 1847. In
April, 1847, he was married to Martha, daughter of Colonel Robert
Martin, of Rockingham, N.C., a wealthy planter and a large slaveholder.
Active as he continued to be in politics, he found time for business as
well as love-making. He invested boldly in the lands over which Chicago
was now spreading in its rapid growth and made the young city his home.
His investments were fortunate, and within a few years he was a wealthy
man according to the standard of those times. He used his wealth freely
in hospitality, in charity, and in the furtherance of his political
enterprises. In the year 1856, the corner-stone of the University of
Chicago was laid on land which he had given.

The assembly of which Douglas was now a member had gradually risen to a
higher place in our system than the founders intended. The House, partly
by reason of its exclusive right to originate measures of a certain
class, partly because it was felt to be more accurately representative
of the people, had at first a sort of ascendency. The great constructive
measures of the first administration were House measures. Even so late
as Jefferson's and Madison's administrations, one must look oftenest to
the records of that chamber for the main lines of legislative history.
But in Jackson's time the Senate profited by its comparative immunity
from sudden political changes, by its veto on appointments, and by the
greater freedom of debate which its limited membership permitted. It
came to stand, as the House could not, for conservatism, for
deliberation, for independence of the executive. The advantage thus
gained was increased as the growth of the Speaker's power into a virtual
premiership and the development of the committee system undermined the
importance of the individual represent