up by the great
multitude. It was a proud day for him, and his heart must have been
touched by the abounding evidences of affection.

Seward was looked upon as the embodiment of sagacious statesmanship and
political prescience, but how far he fell short of comprehending the
real magnitude of the crisis then impending, was shown by his prediction
that the war would last but ninety days. His famous dictum about the
"irrepressible conflict" did him more credit.

That same year, Salmon P. Chase also spoke in Michigan. There were
giants in those days. Chase was not at all like Seward in his
appearance. Tall and of commanding figure, he was a man of perfect
physique. He had an expressive face and an excellent voice, well adapted
to out-door speaking. In manner, he appeared somewhat pompous, and the
impression he left on the mind of the listener was not so agreeable as
that retained of the great New Yorker.

At some time during the summer of 1860, Stephen A. Douglas passed
through Michigan over the Central Railroad. His train stopped at all
stations and hundreds of students flocked to see and hear him. He came
off the car to a temporary platform, and for twenty minutes, that sea of
faces gazing at him with rapt attention, talked with great rapidity, but
with such earnestness and force as to enchain the minds of his hearers.
His remarks were in part stereotyped, and he made much of his well-worn
argument about the right of the territories to "regulate their own
domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the
constitution." In manner, he was easy and graceful, in appearance,
striking. He spoke with no apparent effort. Of massive frame, though
short in stature, after the manner of General Sheridan, his head was
large and set off by a luxuriant growth of hair that served to enhance
its apparent size. His face was smooth, full and florid, the hue rather
suggestive. His countenance and bearing indicated force, courage and
tenacity of purpose. I was not surprised when he announced that he was
on the side of the Union, and believe that, had he lived, he would have
been, like Logan, a great soldier and a loyal supporter of Lincoln. He
was a patriot of the purest type and one of the ablest men of his time.

A significant incident of the winter of 1860-61, seems worth recalling.
That period was one of the most intense excitement. What with the
secession of the Southern States, the resignation of Senators and
Members of Co