e took me to the Hone Club, which was the resort of good livers and men
about town. After ordering the meal we set to the comparison of notes.
He was eager to hear about the West and of Chicago. He could scarcely
believe that Detroit and Milwaukee had a population of about 20,000
each, and that Chicago had distanced them with 30,000. I told him of our
canal, which was done, and of our great shipping. Illinois had more than
300 miles of railroad, and we were building more at a rapid rate. This
led, of course, to Douglas. Yarnell wanted to hear more of him. I told
Yarnell of the beginning of my friendship with Douglas; how he had
helped me from the stage to Mrs. Spurgeon's house in Jacksonville; of
our friendship since that time, and of our winter in Washington. Then we
fell to talking of Webster and Seward. Seward was a power in New York,
now about forty-seven years of age; but Yarnell did not like him.
Webster had wavered, particularly before the logic of Calhoun. But,
after all, was not Webster cribbed by his New England environment?
Seward had since been an anti-Masonic, had attended its national
convention in 1830. Then he had joined the Whigs, in order to oppose
Jackson. Nearly all lunacies had gone into the composition of the Whigs.
What about this observance of the law, the higher law included? Why did
not Seward honor the requisition of the Governor of Virginia for the
return of a fugitive slave? Then we took up Greeley. His daily _Tribune_
was now having an enormous circulation. Greeley and Seward were not
friends, but there was much of spiritual kinship between them. We grew
humorous over recounting the new movements: Spiritualism, women's
rights, and temperance. "Do you know what happened right here in New
York?" said Yarnell. "The Millerites got ready for the Second Advent of
Christ, and there was a shop in the Bowery which displayed a large
placard with the words 'muslin for ascension robes.'"

"Don't you see how clearly Douglas' compact mind stands out against all
this folly?" "Yes," said Yarnell, "but how is Douglas going to stand out
against it? These various reformers never get tired, and they are so
numerous that they will overwhelm any man. Besides that, you find able
minds like Seward and Greeley taking up with them. Is it the same way
out in Chicago?" "Not so much so," I said. "We have many foreigners out
our way, and they give a different quality to the civilization. Come out
and see."

Yarnell wal