The rupture of the Union will fatally follow the
assassination of Brown. As to Brown, he was an apostle and a hero. The
gibbet has only increased his glory and made him a martyr.'"
Well, was not Douglas a martyr too? Who had done more for his country?
Was Lincoln any more radical than Douglas? Lincoln was defeated to be
sure, but Douglas was penalized for what he had said in these debates.
No sooner had he returned to Washington than he found himself deposed
from the committee on territories. He was beginning to be a man without
a party. He was paying for his ideas.
A book called _Helpers, the Impending Crisis of the South_ had at this
time woven itself into the clouds of the gathering storm. It had
influenced the election of a Speaker in Congress, for although Lincoln
was defeated in Illinois, the Republicans had 25 Senators to 38
Democrats; and the House had 109 Republicans to 128 Democrats. A crisis
was indeed impending, with Douglas, the greatest man in the country,
dishonored and disarmed by the Southern States. What was growing up, and
from what source, which should be the master of the destiny of the
country? What was giving it strength but some form of materialism? The
phrase "the struggle for existence" crept into our conversation, for
Darwin's _The Origin of Species_ had made its appearance this year.
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