It was not long before he came to Chicago and our interesting association was renewed.  He had had something of a quarrel with Mr. Polk, but it had been patched up.  Before now he had proposed that the line of the Missouri Compromise be extended to the Pacific Ocean.  Was he, too, becoming uncertain of mind?  Sometimes I thought he was overworked, that his energies were concerned with too many subjects.  He was making speeches; he was talking railroads; he had his own political fortunes to watch.  The Whigs were gaining ground.  He scoffed at them.  He derided their hypocrisy.  He laughed at their piebald character.  Yet he saw a cunning plot in this presentation to the electorate of men who appealed so diversely:  Taylor of the South, and of slavery; Fillmore of the North, and of free soil, backed by the powerful mercantilism of the North, like the bank and the tariff.  Both were using Jefferson to win the mob, and Hamilton to satisfy the strong.

It was in the fall just before the election that Reverdy and Sarah came to visit us, bringing Amos, now about fourteen, and Reverdy Junior, about twelve, and Nancy, who was ten.

The Douglases came to dine with us, and after the dinner Reverdy, Douglas, and I retired to the library.  Again we had the bottle between us, but Reverdy was an abstainer.  He was satisfied with Douglas’ personal attitude toward slavery; Douglas’ evident wish that the institution was not among us; his refusal to have anything to do with Mrs. Douglas’ slaves.  Reverdy was a man of peace and believed that Douglas’ non-interference policy would ensure peace.  He approved of leaving the matter of slavery to the people of the territories.  He feared a war, and he opposed the agitation that might bring it.  At the same time, he preferred a free soil and a free people.  Reverdy was typical of many men in America.  And indeed, my heart went with Reverdy in these things, even while my thinking went with Douglas.

Douglas was now the master of his party in Illinois, and it seemed to me that no one could dispute his leadership in the nation.  He had perfected the party organization in the state from the small beginnings of which I have told.  He was proud of his work and the strength and discipline of his party.  He looked forward to victory this fall over the hermaphroditic ticket of Taylor and Fillmore.  He was never more brilliant than he was this evening.  He was compelling to look at, not when standing, for then his short legs caricatured and belittled his great body.  But when he was seated his wonderful face and majestic head truly represented his nature.

Outside the house, in the streets, we could hear the cries, “free soil, free speech, free labor, and free men!” Douglas looked annoyed, ironic lights passed across his face.  He said in a satiric way:  “Just listen to that.”  These cries could not be met by direct denial, by an epigrammatic retort.  One could not so aptly say “slave banks, slave tariffs, slave labor conditions.”