Abigail wrote
me a most amusing and ironical letter on this sudden shift of his
activities. "What do you think now?" was her query. "I think he is as
well fitted to be judge as to be Secretary of State, which is not at
all."
When I wrote to Abigail I had news to tell her with reference to the
farm. I believed I had found a purchaser in Springfield; and my trading
talks with Washburton, for that was his name, had taken me over there a
number of times. On one of these occasions I saw Douglas. He had been
presiding over a proceeding that had something to do with the Mormons,
in which he favored them. He was charged with placating their interests
to win them to his political fortunes. "It was nothing of the sort,"
said Douglas. "I only did my duty. What have I to gain by favoring them?
There are a great many more people who hate them than those who have any
use for them. Even my enemies know that. Do you know they say, Jim, that
I grabbed this judgeship by some high-handed method. It's all a lie. I
can do nothing to please some people. They don't like my conduct on the
bench. You know how crude things are here. My throne is a platform with
a table; and the audience sits so close to me that I can almost touch
them. The other day I walked off the platform and sat for a moment with
one of the spectators, an old friend.
Pages:
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201