new. Nevertheless,
the bill passed the Senate by a good majority. In the House it
suffered defeat, owing to the undisguised opposition of the South and
of the landless States both East and West. The Middle States showed
distrust and uncertainty. It was perfectly clear that before such a
project could pass the House, Eastern and Southern representatives
would have to be won over.[333]

After Congress adjourned, Douglas journeyed to the State of
Mississippi, ostensibly on a business trip to his children's
plantation. In the course of his travels, he found himself in the city
of Mobile--an apparent digression; but by a somewhat remarkable
coincidence he met certain directors of the Mobile Railroad in the
city. Now this corporation was in straits. Funds had failed and the
construction of the road had been arrested. The directors were casting
about in search of relief. Douglas saw his opportunity. He offered the
distraught officials an alliance. He would include in his Illinois
Central bill a grant of land for their road; in return, they were to
make sure of the votes of their senators and representatives.[334]
Such, at least, is the story told by Douglas; and some such bargain
may well have been made. Subsequent events give the color of veracity
to the tale.

When Douglas renewed his Illinois Central bill in a revised form on
January 3, 1850, Senator Breese had been succeeded by Shields, who was
well-disposed toward the project.[335] The fruits of the Mobile
conference were at once apparent. Senator King of Alabama offered an
amendment, proposing a similar donation of public lands to his State
and to Mississippi, for the purpose of continuing the projected
central railroad from the mouth of the Ohio to the port of Mobile.
Douglas afterward said that he had himself drafted this amendment, but
that he had thought best to have Senator King present it.[336] Be that
as it may, the suspicion of collusion between them can hardly be
avoided, since the amendment occasioned no surprise to the friends of
the bill and was adopted without division.

The project now before Congress was of vastly greater consequence than
the proposed grant to Illinois. Here was a bill of truly national
importance. It spoke for itself; it appealed to the dullest
imagination. What this amended bill contemplated, was nothing less
than a trunk line connecting the Great Lakes with the Gulf of Mexico.
Now, indeed, as Douglas well said, "nationality had been