a vote which, at the election in November following, enabled the Democratic party to retain their ascendency in the State of Illinois.

The legal principle asserted by Mr. Douglas for the first time in this celebrated case, and then supposed to be so unsound, was afterward elaborately discussed by him in Congress, and is now the well-established doctrine of all parties in all the states.

In the debates in the lobby, in which Hon. J. A. M'Clernand, now of the House of Representatives, Hon. Murray M'Connell, and Hon. J. A. M'Dougall, now of California, took prominent parts, upon the Judiciary question, at that session of 1840-41, the action of the Supreme Court in this case was freely commented upon. It is true that early that winter the court delivered its opinion reversing the decision of the court below, yet its intended decision otherwise when it was required as a party measure was employed with great effect. It gave strength to the advocates of a reorganization of the judiciary. The political character of the court, and the partisan nature of their official acts as judges and as members of the Council of Revision, were held up in the strongest light, not only in the Legislature, but in the more animated debates in the lobby. The proposed plan of reorganizing the courts was as follows:

To abolish the existing circuit courts, and to increase the number of judges of the Supreme Court to nine, and requiring those judges to do circuit duty, the whole court sitting in banc at stated periods to hear appeals, etc.

This plan was perfectly in accordance with the Constitution of the state. The circuit courts had been created by the Legislature, and were wholly within its control. The plan proposed in no way interfered with the constitutional rights of the judges of the Supreme Court; they continued undisturbed in the possession of their offices and their salaries. Accordingly, Mr. Snyder, in January, introduced a bill into the Senate to reorganize the judiciary of the state upon the plan stated above. The debate in the Legislature and in the lobby was renewed with great warmth, and finally the bill passed both houses. On the 7th of February the bill was returned by the Council of Revision (consisting of the judges of the Supreme Court and the governor) with their objections. The objections

were on the ground of expediency. The governor dissented from his associates in council, but was overruled by the majority. The bill was, however, considered, and passed both houses by the requisite majority.

Under this act the state was divided into nine circuits, that being the number of judges of the Supreme Court; and on the 15th of February, 1841, the Legislature met in joint convention to elect the five additional judges provided for by the act. In that convention, Sidney Breese, Stephen A. Douglas, Thomas Ford, S. H. Treat, and Walter B. Scates were chosen. In the allotment of circuits, the fifth, being the Quincy District, was assigned to Judge Douglas. On the 4th of March, 1834, a poor stranger, without friends, books, or money, he obtained, what was supposed to be a favor, from the four judges of the Supreme Court, a license to practice law; and in less than seven years from the date of that license, by the force of his own unaided abilities, he had so won the confidence and respect of the people that he was chosen a member of that same court.

It was at this session of the Legislature that the Hon. LYMAN TRUMBULL, now of the United States Senate, introduced his resolution advising the practical repudiation of a portion of the state debt by refusing to pay interest on certain bonds of the state for which the state had received no equivalent. This measure was advocated by Trumbull in the House, and was discussed in the lobby, and in a powerful speech in the latter Mr. Douglas administered a crushing rebuke to the arrant demagoguism evinced by the mover of the resolution. The proposition was made so odious that it was soon abandoned as an unsafe hobby even for a demagogue. The state, through inability, for a number of years afterward omitted the payment of interest, but never at any time repudiated the debt; and subsequently, when the state was in a condition to pay, the accrued interest was funded, and stock for its amount was issued bearing interest. All honor to the gallant men who met the insidious and perfidious proposition to repudiate at the threshold, and strangled it even in the hands of its author.

The circuit to which Judge Douglas was assigned was the most perplexing and annoying. It included the Mormon settlements, and there was a constant conflict between the "Saints" and the "Gentiles." Some of the most exciting scenes of his life were spent in the judicial and other proceedings growing

out of the turbulence of the people connected with the Mormon leaders. Joe Smith and his people were accused of all the crimes in the calendar, particularly with all the horse-stealing committed in that section. Whether true or false, it was almost impossible to prove by sufficient legal testimony the guilt of the parties accused. The consequence was that an embittered state of feeling gradually grew up between the Mormons and the rest of the people, and these exasperated feelings often led to deeds of violence. Joe Smith was the head of the Mormon Church and people. The people held the court responsible if the prisoners escaped conviction, and the Mormons denounced the court for inclining always to the oppressors of that chosen race.

One trying scene in his judicial career will suffice to illustrate the difficulties attending the administration of justice in cases where the Mormons were parties, and at the same time serve as an illustration of the boldness and Jackson-like determination of Stephen A. Douglas. Joe Smith had been indicted for some offense, and was put upon his trial before Judge Douglas. While the case was proceeding, the people, who had collected from all parts of the country to see the prisoner, and, as they hoped, to rejoice at his conviction, became excited by the thousand stories told of Mormon outrages. Smith was represented to be, as he was in fact, the moving spirit of the sect, and it was supposed that if he were put out of the way, the entire settlements, being deprived of their leader, would break up and leave the country. Moreover, Smith was by the populace held individually responsible for all the crimes charged against his people. On this occasion the multitude had become greatly excited, and it being whispered that the evidence would hardly justify a conviction, it was proposed by some one to enter the court-house, seize the prisoner, and hang him. A gallows was at once constructed and erected in the court-house yard, and a body of four hundred men entered the court-house for the purpose of taking Smith and hanging him. As the mob boisterously and tumultuously entered and crowded toward the bench, near which Smith sat, the judge directed the sheriff to clear the court-room, as these men interrupted the proceedings. The sheriff, a small, weak man, requested "the gentlemen" to keep order and to retire, and attempted to enforce the request, but

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very soon informed the court that he could not do it. Gaining confidence by the confession of powerlessness on the part of the sheriff, and maddened still more by the sight of the prisoner, several of them climbed over the bar, and rushed toward Smith. The judge at once rose in his place, and, addressing by name a large-built man, who stood six and a half feet high, a Kentuckian by birth, and of great muscular strength, said, "I appoint you sheriff of this court. Select your own deputies, and as many of them as you require. Clear this courthouse; the law demands it, the country demands it, and I, as judge of this court, command you to do your duty as a citizen bound to preserve the peace and enforce the laws." The newly and rather suddenly appointed sheriff" obeyed orders." He ordered the crowd to leave, the judge encouraging him all the while. The first, second, and the third who refused to quit the court-room were instantly knocked down by the powerful arm of the Kentuckian. Others were thrown out of the windows by him and his deputies, and the great crowd, baffled and discouraged by the repulse of their leaders, crowded out of the doors. In less than twenty minutes from the first entrance of the mob the court-room was cleared. A murder had been prevented. The administration of law had been protected from a violent invasion. The prisoner's right to a fair trial by the courts of his country had been vindicated, and all this by the prompt action of the judge. A feature in the case that renders it more striking is, that the judge had no power to appoint a sheriff, the duly appointed sheriff of the county being present; and in his extempore appointment he had exceeded his authority, or, more properly speaking, had assumed an authority that did not belong to him. This he well knew. But the emergency was a great one. A moment's delay would have been fatal; the least sign of hesitation would have sealed the prisoner's fate; in five minutes he would have been hanged, if, indeed, he was not killed before taken out of the building. It was no time for debate as to the limits of his power. Like Jackson at New Orleans, he assumed the responsibility of doing what necessity required. He did the only thing that was possible to prevent a murder in the precincts of the court, and a gross violation of the laws.

The gratitude of Smith was unbounded. On many previous occasions he and his followers had denounced Judge Douglas

for his frequent decisions adverse to their interests in cases where they were parties, but from that time out he always treated Douglas with respect. He had learned that the best judge was not the man who decided in his favor, but the man who decided as justice demanded, and who, to protect the prisoner and preserve the laws from violence, had driven back a murderous mob! The respect of the Mormons, won by this event, was of infinite service to himself and others on a very memorable occasion. We give the story as we find it, having no doubt of its general accuracy:

"In the year 1846, the excitement against the Mormons at Nauvoo reached its height. The people of the surrounding country determined to drive them away. The Saints determined to defend themselves. A civil war seemed imminent. Governor Ford dispatched a regiment to put down both belligerents. This regiment, consisting of 450 men, was under the command of Colonel John J. Hardin, the old political opponent, but warm personal friend of Mr. Douglas, who held the post of major.

"As the little body of troops approached Nauvoo, they saw the Mormons, 4000 strong, drawn up to oppose their advance. Every man of them was known to be armed with a sevenshooter' and a brace of Colt's 'revolvers'-twenty-one shots to a man besides a bowie-knife.

"Hardin halted his troops just out of rifle range, and addressed them:

"There are the Mormons, ten to one against us. I intend to attack them. If there is a coward here who wishes to go home, he may do so now. Let any man who wishes to go step to the front.'

"Not a man came forward.

"There were, I dare say,' says Mr. Douglas, 'just 451 of us, including our colonel, who would have been glad to have retired; but not one of us had the courage to own that he was a coward.'

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Major Douglas,' said the colonel,' will take 100 men, will proceed to Nauvoo, arrest the twelve apostles, and bring them here!'

"Colonel Hardin,' asked the major, quietly, so that no one else heard, 'is this a peremptory order?'

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"It is.'