emonstrate his political orthodoxy in
matters where there was no conflict of opinion. As a member of the
Committee on Foreign Affairs, he cordially supported the bill for the
purchase of Cuba, even though the chairman, Slidell, had done more to
injure him in the recent campaign than any other man. There were those
who thought he demeaned himself by attending the Democratic caucus and
indorsing the Slidell project.[781]

It was charged that the proposed appropriation of $30,000,000 was to
be used to bribe Spanish ministers to sell Cuba; that the whole
project was motived by the desire of the South to acquire more slave
territory; and that Douglas was once more cultivating the South to
secure the presidency in 1860. The first of these charges has never
been proved; the second is probably correct; but the third is surely
open to question. As long ago as Folk's administration, Douglas had
expressed his belief that the Pearl of the Antilles must some day fall
to us; and on various occasions he had advocated the annexation of
Cuba, with the consent of Spain and the inhabitants. At New Orleans,
he had been called upon to express his views regarding the acquisition
of the island; and he had said, without hesitation, "It is folly to
debate the acquisition of Cuba. It naturally belongs to the American
continent. It guards the mouth of the Mississippi River, which is the
heart of the American continent and the body of the American nation."
At the same time he was careful to add that he was no filibuster: he
desired Cuba only upon terms honorable to all concerned.[782]

Subsequent events acquit Douglas of truckling to the South at this
time. No doubt he would have been glad to let bygones be bygones, to
close up the gap of unpleasant memories between himself and the
administration, and to restore Democratic harmony. For Douglas loved
his party and honored its history. To him the party of Jefferson and
Jackson was inseparably linked with all that made the American
Commonwealth the greatest of democracies. Yet where men are acutely
conscious of vital differences of opinion, only the hourly practice of
self-control can prevent clashing. Neither Douglas nor his opponents
were prepared to undergo any such rigid self-discipline.

On February 23d, the pent-up feeling broke through all barriers and
laid bare the thoughts and intents of the Democratic factions. The
Kansas question once more recurring, Brown of Mississippi now demanded
ad