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 Slavery Question in Oregon. 251 and generally, they are only the indices of a selective and energizing spirit pervading the whole. The anti-slavery cru- sade east of the Rocky Mountains was quite analogous to the foregoing, and the prominences were more noticeable than any within the purview of our history. We had no Wendell Phillips to enchain the ear with his inspiring music of freedom and justice; no Sam. Lew^is to dispel with his calm presence the fogs of prejudice, revive the dormant conscience, bring the altruistic faculties to the front and expand the sphere of fraternity to include the slave ; no Lincoln or Seward to point the practical truth that slavery of a part degrades the whole ; uo Henry Ward Beecher to electrify Christians with a pas- sion for practical Christianity. Still, there were men here who, if not so highly endowed, were as courageous and de- voted and acted as wisely according to their peculiar condi- tions as their brethren of the East. It is probable, or at least possible, that a great orator could have attracted an audi- ence of silent Democrats and Micawber Whigs, and thus have broken the spell of suppression that ruled here for three years, but certain it is that our anti-slavery men were not so competent. And so the agitation was limited almost entirelj' to private proselyting and personal influence, which, though often spoken of as inconsiderable, are more effective and permanent than a majority of orations. Jesse Applegate. a man of scholarly tastes and habits, and by common consent called "the Sage of Yoncalla," was not gifted for public speech and left such exhibition to others less diffident or more fluent of tongue, but his influence was more potent than that of the orators. Daniel Waldo was another fire-side orator, full to overflowing of trenchant wisdom, and who, by the strength of ideas and the spell of conviction, sw^ayed a large circle of acquaintances. Every locality had such men; quiet, foresighted, persistent char- acters whose "daily walk and conversation'' was an educa- tion and an inspiration to those who lingered behind in the path of progress. The influence of such people does not depend principally upon the public advocacy of their opinions; they