I am beginning to think that
Franklin, Payne, and Jefferson were the truest thinkers and greatest
planners for a republic that America has had. And what do you think of
Douglas now? He is a Nationalist with Jackson, and a Republican with
Jefferson; a let-alone philosopher all the time."
"Oh, yes, but Douglas is not educated. He is not really sound. He is not
deep enough. He is not--I hate the word spirituality--but he hasn't the
right heat, the right light. I may not be able to put my finger on the
exact fault--it is not exactly demagogy--but I see him using blocks of
people, who are bound together by a common emotion or idea, as a man
might use a block of stone for his house. He picks them up and puts them
in the place that suits his own ambition. There is one thing, however,
with which I am inclined to sympathize with Douglas. His appeal is
really more intellectual than emotional. You see an ocean-bound republic
requires imagination to get the thrill out of it, but you can catch
anybody in America with a military uniform. And while Douglas may be a
war man, so to speak, he is really too honest to play that game. I'll
grant him that much. I think that the Whigs are outplaying him. And it
looks to me that the emotions of America--what some people might call
the conscience of America--are being drawn away from Douglas by this
slavery matter.
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