by throwing out a
black fluid, which makes the water so dark the enemy cannot see it,
and thus it escapes."[745]

Douglas, however, did his best to recover his ground by accusing
Lincoln of shifting his principles as he passed from the northern
counties to Egypt; the principles of his party in the north were
"jet-black," in the center, "a decent mulatto," and in lower Egypt
"almost white." Lincoln then dared him to point out any difference
between his speeches. Blows now fell thick and fast, both speakers
approaching dangerously near the limit of parliamentary language.
Reverting to his argument that slavery must be put in the course of
ultimate extinction, Lincoln made this interesting qualification: "I
do not mean that when it takes a turn toward ultimate extinction it
will be in a day, nor in a year, nor in two years. I do not suppose
that in the most peaceful way ultimate extinction would occur in less
than a hundred years at least; but that it will occur in the best way
for both races, in God's own good time, I have no doubt."[746]

Douglas was now feeling the full force of the opposition within his
own party. The Republican newspapers of the State had seized upon his
Freeport speech to convince the South and the administration that he
was false to their creed. The Washington _Union_ had from the first
denounced him as a renegade, with whom no self-respecting Democrat
would associate.[747] Slidell was active in Illinois, spending money
freely to defeat him.[748] The Danites in the central counties plotted
incessantly to weaken his following. Daniel S. Dickinson of New York
sent "a Thousand Greetings" to a mass-meeting of Danites in
Springfield,--a liberal allowance, commented some Douglasite, as each
delegate would receive about ten greetings.[749] Yet the dimensions of
this movement were not easily ascertained. The declination of
Vice-President Breckinridge to come to the aid of Douglas was a rebuff
not easily laughed down, though to be sure, he expressed a guarded
preference for Douglas over Lincoln. The coolness of Breckinridge was
in a measure offset by the friendliness of Senator Crittenden, who
refused to aid Lincoln, because he believed Douglas's re-election
"necessary as a rebuke to the administration and a vindication of the
great cause of popular rights and public justice."[750] The most
influential Republican papers in the East gave Lincoln tardy support,
with the exception of the New York _Times_.[75