The  names  of  the  seventy  were  signed  to  this  remarkable
document.  Charles  D.  Drake  signed  first,  as  chairman.  He
was  afterwards  a  Senator  from  Missouri  and  still  later  was
chief  justice  of  the  court  of  claims  at  Washington.  Two
Missouri  Congressmen,  Ben  Loan  and  J.  W.  McClurg,  the
latter  afterwards  Governor,  signed  as  vice-chairmen  of  the
delegation.  One  of  the  secretaries  was  Emil  Preetorius  of
the  St.  Louis  Westliche  Post.  One  of  the  seventy  was  Enos
Clarke  of  Kirkwood.  With  some  reluctance  Mr.  Clarke  talked
recently  of  this  historic  occasion,  prefacing  that  it  is  difficult
for  those  who  did  not  live  through  those  trying  times  in
Missouri  to  appreciate  the  conditions  which  prevailed.
"The  feeling  over  our  grievances  had  become  intense,"  he  said.
"We  represented  the  extreme  anti-slavery  sentiment.  We  were
the  Republicans  who  had  been  in  accord  with  Fremont's  position
on  slavery.  Both  sides  of  the  controversy  had  repeatedly  pre-
sented their  views  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  but  this  delegation  of  seventy


LINCOLN  AND  MISSOURI.
99


was  the  most  imposing  and  most  formal  protest  which  had  been
made  against  the  Gamble  state  government  and  against  the  national
administration's  policy  in  Missouri.  The  attention  of  the  whole
country,  it  seemed,  had  been  drawn  to  this  Missouri  issue."
"Who  was  the  author  of  the  address,  Mr.  Clarke?"
"The  address  was  the  result  of  several  meetings  we  held  after
we  reached  Washington.  We  were  there  nearly  a  week.  Arriving
on  Saturday,  we  did  not  have  our  conference  at  the  White  House
until  Wednesday.  Every  day  we  met  in  Willard's  Hall,  on  F  street,
and  considered  the  address.  Mr.  Drake  would  read  over  a  few  para-
graphs, and  we  would  discuss  them.  At  the  close  of  the  meeting  Mr.
