nstitutional rights. The innocent must not suffer,
nor women and children be the victims." Before him were some who felt
toward the people of the South as Greek toward barbarian. But Douglas
foresaw that the horrors of war must invade and desolate the homes of
those whom he still held dear. There is no more lovable and admirable
side of his personality than this tenderness for the helpless and
innocent. Had he but lived to temper justice with mercy, what a power
for good might he not have been in the days of reconstruction!

The summons had gone forth. Already doubts and misgivings had given
way, and the North was now practically unanimous in its determination
to stifle rebellion. There was a common belief that secession was the
work of a minority, skillfully led by designing politicians, and that
the loyal majority would rally with the North to defend the flag.
Young men who responded jubilantly to the call to arms did not doubt,
that the struggle would be brief. Douglas shared the common belief in
the conspiracy theory of secession, but he indulged no illusion as to
the nature of the war, if war should come. Months before the firing
upon Fort Sumter, in a moment of depression, he had prophesied that if
the cotton States should succeed in drawing the border States into
their schemes of secession, the most fearful civil war the world had
ever seen would follow, lasting for years. "Virginia," said he,
pointing toward Arlington, "over yonder across the Potomac, will
become a charnel-house.... Washington will become a city of
hospitals, the churches will be used for the sick and wounded. This
house 'Minnesota Block,' will be devoted to that purpose before the
end of the war."[998] He, at least, did not mistake the chivalry of
the South. Not for an instant did he doubt the capacity of the
Southern people to suffer and endure, as well as to do battle. And he
knew--Ah! how well--the self-sacrifice and devotion of Southern women.

The days following the return of Douglas to Chicago were filled also
with worries and anxieties of a private nature. The financial panic of
1857 had been accompanied by a depression of land values, which caused
Douglas grave concern for his holdings in Chicago, and no little
immediate distress. Unable and unwilling to sacrifice his investments,
he had mortgaged nearly all of his property in Cook County, including
the valuable "Grove Property" in South Chicago. Though he was always
lax in pecuniary m