Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, the great antagonist of
Abraham Lincoln, gave many eloquent speeches in his career, but
the finest one he delivered was at the end of that career on
April 25, 1861 to a joint session of the General Assembly of the
State of Illinois. In broken health, his coming death on June 3,
1861 already foreshadowed, he summoned the energy to help save
his country. Always first and foremost a patriot, Douglas was
intent on rallying members of his party to the cause of the
Union. After one of the most vitriolic presidential contents in
the history of the nation, it was an open question as to whether
most members of the Party of Jackson would stand in support of
the efforts of the Lincoln Administration to fight to preserve
the Union. Douglas, putting country above party, helped ensure
that they would. Immediately after the election of Lincoln he
made it clear that he would make every effort in his power to
fight against secession. At the inaugural speech of Lincoln, he
held the new P