Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 9.djvu/398

370 T. W. Davenport. Seldom in the history of mankind has there been an instance of such summary and deserved retribution as was experi- enced by Stephen A. Douglas. Born and nurtured amid free institutions, and raised almost to the summit of power, then, when the preponderance over barbarism wa^ assured, turning his talents to overthrow what had been gained and arrest progress, was not his fate well deserved? My task is finished, and people who estimate the value of history by the fearful and astounding incidents which make lurid the annals of nations, will decide that the episode I have attempted to describe is of little value, that it is too tame and not worth while, in fact, that there is no lesson in it. True, there was no invasion, no insurrection, no unlawful con- spiracy, no governmental interference, not even a street brawl or fisticuff, no bloodshed, and, so far as known, no intemper- ate or insulting language between those differing in opinion. But it must be a morbid taste which relishes only that in history which is illuminated by the outbursts of the militant spirit in human beings, and the proper office of the phil- osopher is in tracing back the casual chain of events to its point of departure from the path of rectitude, and determin- ing the conditions which produced it, thus fortifying against future aberrations. And, indeed, history is valueless without such investigation, and philosophy has not come to its own until the means of immunity can be shown. The crucial point for philosophical investigation is the point of divergence, and the American people, as well as all others, are too heedless of the divergences, and so, sooner or later, find themselves struggling against powers which have grown from apparently trifling concessions they unwittingly granted, or evolved from devices they adopted with no other intention but to conserve the public interests. And it is well to remember, that though a condition may be intruded into the social order by the volition of man, whether it be well or ill as respects the normal status of the social organism will be irrevocably determined by the evolu-