The Lecompton constitution, as the Judge tells
us, was defeated. The defeat of it was a good thing, or it was not. He
thinks the defeat of it was a good thing, and so do I; and we agree in
that. Who defeated it? [A voice: "Judge Douglas."] Yes, he furnished
himself; and if you suppose he controlled the other Democrats that went
with him, he furnished three votes, while the Republicans furnished
twenty.
That is what he did to defeat it. In the House of Representatives he and
his friends furnished some twenty votes, and the Republicans furnished
ninety odd. Now, who was it that did the work? [A voice: "Douglas."]
Why, yes, Douglas did it? To be sure he did!
Let us, however, put that proposition another way. The Republicans could
not have done it without Judge Douglas. Could he have done it without
them? Which could have come the nearest to doing it without the other?
Ground was taken against it by the Republicans long before Douglas did
it. The proposition of opposition to that measure is about five to one.
[A voice: "Why don't they come out on it?"] You don't know what you are
talking about, my friend; I am quite willing to answer any gentleman in
the crowd who asks an intelligent question.
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