Then every third man could be
depended on to tell the truth. Listen to Mr. Seward on the prairies;
what magnificent speeches he has made there since Mr. Lincoln's
nomination. When he ceased to be a candidate for the presidency, he
became a man again."
In the winter of 1863 he went to Washington for the first time, and
lectured on the lesson of the hour. "Old Abe" went to hear him and
expressed himself as being greatly pleased with the exhibition, as he
called it. Next day a committee of influential citizens called on him to
inquire if he could deliver his oration on "Toussaint" that evening for
the benefit of his admirers; and then that was not enough, but they must
have his lecture on "The Lost Arts" the evening afterward. This was a
fine triumph for him after twenty-five years of social ostracism but his
anxiety in regard to the condition of the country, prevented him from
enjoying it as he might have.
Meanwhile a storm was preparing for him in the quarter he least expected
it. The old abolitionists, whom nobody had thought of since the repeal
of the Missouri compromise and who were beginning to feel a good deal
neglected, looked upon Phillips now as a deserter from their standard of
non-resistance and moral suasion, and perhaps also eyed his brilliant
course with some little jealousy. In the spring of 1865 Garrison
returned from hoisting the flag at Fort Sumter, fully satisfied that the
negroes could be safely trusted in future to the patriarchal care of the
central government.
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