the session. Not so Douglas and his friend Richardson of Illinois, who
was chairman of the Committee on Territories. With a patience born of
long parliamentary experience, they bided their time. In the
meantime, every possible influence was brought to bear upon
recalcitrant Democrats. And just here the wisdom of Douglas, in first
securing the support of the administration, was vindicated. All those
devices were invoked which President and cabinet could employ through
the use of the Federal patronage, so that when Richardson, on the 8th
of May, called upon the House to lay aside one by one the eighteen
bills which preceded the Kansas-Nebraska bill, he was assured of a
working majority. The House bill having thus been reached, Richardson
substituted for it the Senate bill, minus the Clayton amendment. When
he then announced that only four days would be allowed for debate, the
obstructionists could no longer contain themselves. Scenes of wild
excitement followed. In the end, the friends of the bill yielded to
the demand for longer discussion. Debate was prolonged until May 22d,
when the bill passed by a vote of 113 to 110, in the face of bitter
opposition.

Through all these exciting days, Douglas was constantly at
Richardson's side, cautioning and advising. He was well within the
truth when he said, in confidential chat with Madison Cutts, "I passed
the Kansas-Nebraska Act myself. I had the authority and power of a
dictator throughout the whole controversy in both houses. The speeches
were nothing. It was the marshalling and directing of men, and
guarding from attacks, and with a ceaseless vigilance preventing
surprises."[495]

The refusal of the House to accept the Clayton amendment brought the
Kansas-Nebraska measure again before the Senate. Knowing that a