They found in him only a guilty recreancy to sacred principle for the same act which in themselves was inspired by devotion to the Union.
It was certainly a day of triumph for Mr.Douglas.

He was justified in his boast that, after all the bitter agitation which followed the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, the Republicans adopted his principle and practically applied its provisions in the first Territory which they had the power to organize.

Mr.Douglas had been deprived of his chairmanship of the Committee of Territories by the Southern leaders, and his place had been given to James S.
Green of Missouri.

His victory therefore was complete when Mr.
Seward waived the anti-slavery guaranty on behalf of the Republicans, and when Mr.Green waived the pro-slavery guaranty on behalf of the Breckinridge Democracy.

It was the apotheosis of Popular Sovereignty, and Mr.Douglas was pardonable even for an excessive display of self-gratulation over an event so suggestive and so instructive.