stormy administrations of Pierce and Buchananhe set his face unflinchingly against every measurethat hinted even remotely at secession. Few menof that day were so highly endowed with politicalsagacity, or realized, as he did, the tendency ofpublic events and the tremendous nature of thestruggle into which we were drifting. Along withthis rare foresight he was endowed with a loftyand unselfish public spirit, a weight of characterthat impressed itself upon every one, and a cour-age that nothing could daunt. Such a man is apower in any state. I have heard thoughtful peo-ple in Missouri say that if Virginia, during the tenyears which preceded the Civil War , had possessedone such citizen as Francis Blair maintaining sucha political attitude as he maintained in Missouri ,she might have been found in 1861 devoting allher mighty energies to the preservation of theUnion. I have heard this said repeatedly by menaccustomed to weigh their words, and — whatevermay be thought of the implication as to Virginia— it serves to show the esteem in which Blair washeld by those who knew him.
The most interesting moment in the career ofthis man was the spring of 1861. It had beenlargely due to him and the able men whom he di-rectly influenced that the Union sentiment in Mis souri was so strong at the beginning of the war.