“Unite as a band of brothers,” he pleaded, “and rescue your government and its capital and your country from the enemy who have been the authors of your calamity.”  His eye rested upon the great river.  “Ah!” he exclaimed, a great wave of emotion checking his utterance, “This great valley must never be divided.  The Almighty has so arranged the mountain and the plain, and the water-courses as to show that this valley in all time shall remain one and indissoluble.  Let no man attempt to sunder what Divine Providence has rendered indivisible."[990]

As he concluded, anxious questions were put to him, regarding the rumored retirement of General Scott from the army.  “I saw him only Saturday,” replied Douglas.  “He was at his desk, pen in hand, writing his orders for the defense and safety of the American Capital.”  And as he repeated the words of General Scott declining the command of the forces of Virginia—­“’I have served my country under the flag of the Union for more than fifty years, and as long as God permits me to live, I will defend that flag with my sword; even if my own State assails it,’”—­the crowds around him broke into tumultuous cheers.  Within thirty days the Unionists of western Virginia had rallied, organized, and begun that hardy campaign which brought West Virginia into the Union.  On the very day that Douglas was making his fervent plea for the Union, Robert E. Lee cast in his lot with the South.

At Columbus, Douglas was again forced to break his journey; and again he was summoned to address the crowd that gathered below his window.  It was already dark; the people had collected without concert; there were no such trappings, as had characterized public demonstrations in the late campaign.  Douglas appeared half-dressed at his bedroom window, a dim object to all save to those who stood directly below him.  Out of the darkness came his solemn, sonorous tones, bringing relief and assurance to all who listened, for in the throng were men of all parties, men who had followed him through all changes of political weather, and men who had been his persistent foes.  There was little cheering.  As Douglas pledged anew his hearty support to President Lincoln, “it was rather a deep ‘Amen’ that went up from the crowd,” wrote one who had distrusted hitherto the mighty power of this great popular leader.[991]

On the 25th of April, Douglas reached Springfield, where he purposed to make his great plea for the Union.  He spoke at the Capitol to members of the legislature and to packed galleries.  Friend and foe alike bear witness to the extraordinary effect wrought by his words.  “I do not think that it is possible for a human being to produce a more prodigious effect with spoken words,” wrote one who had formerly detested him.[992] “Never in all my experience in public life, before or since,” testified the then Speaker of the House, now high in the councils of the nation, “have I been so impressed by a speaker."[993] Douglas himself was thrilled with his