Abraham Lincoln at the Climax of the Great Lincolndouglas Joint Debate

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ABRAH AM LINCOLN

TH E CLIMA' O'TH E GREAT

LINCOLN' D O'GLAS JOINT DEBATE

'RG ILLINOIS IN GALESB ,

’ ’ EMAN'EL

ABRAH AM LINCOLN

TH E CLIMA' O'TH E GREAT

LINCOLN' D O'GLAS JOINT D EBATE I ALESB'R ILLI I N G G, NO S

D elivered at Galesb r Illinoi s on the 6th da u g, , y

o f October 1 28 on the 7 oth Anniv ersar , 9 , y

o f the Lincoln ' D ou las D ebate from a g , platform erected on the spot where the original debate w as held

u on the Cam us o f Knox olle p p C ge .

EMAN'EL H ERT'

O' NE' 'ORK CIT'

ABRAH AM LINCOLN

CLIMA' O' TH E GREAT LINCOLN ' D O'GLAS J OINT D EBATE

E B'RG ILLINOIS GAL S ,

D ELI'ERED B'

EMAN'EL H ERT'

I S TORIANS have been unkind to Abraham Lincoln in more than c one respe t , particularly as to his part in the famous j oint debates o f t with Douglas . He who was the embodiment ruth , who hated — he exaggeration , who never suppressed facts , who never spoke unless an d he had all the facts , when he had them , spoke in a matter that an — entire country could hear and read and understand now suffers and is still misunderstood by reason o f the absence of material facts which

' would throw light on his career and o n his epoch ' making acts and statements . The facts are in existence , but are being hidden by men fo r and women , who want these data themselves 'or by others who for l purely commercial reasons , concea priceless letters and documents which rightfully belong to the world . The Lincoln Of the j oint debates n o r has never been thoroughly written up by anyone , has he received full justice fo r his great contribution to the Constitutional discussions w 1 9 hich went far to settle the most important problem since 78 . The one great historian who attempted it passed to his eternal reward while writing of the Quincy debate and before the text in reference to the Alton debate was properly prepared— and before the great summary which Beveridge would have written of all the seven debates was even f —w thought O hen the pen fell from his lifeless hands . The adequate ’ an d o f P deﬁnitive treatment Lincoln s great adventure , the residency , wb c is still awaiting the great historian will give a lifetime to the task . ' i In the meanwhile precious time is eeting , irreplaceable mater al

' d is disappearing, newspaper files are falling apart those not estroyed — by fir e and a fire seems ever to be pursuing this priceless Lincoln material—and successive complacent Congresses seem to be satisfied —L— with the pile of stone o n the Potomac as the la st wo rd o f a Lincoln monument . Let us again go to the South and copy the manner of ' r making safe the historical facts surrounding that God sent mes—senge to preserve o ur nation even as they have done for his opponent who — comes as near vindication as he ever can be vindicated in a final and — definitive edition o f his complete works from which nothing is with o held . The entire Southland helped to make the compilation c mplete . w Here at Galesburg seventy years ago tomorro , Lincoln began on o f his victorious march , which was as certain as the progress the suns . O —he At ttowa , at Freeport , at Charleston , at Jonesboro had but m easured his opponent 'he who had read every word which Douglas had o f o n spoken on the stump , in the House Representatives , while the —Lan Illinois Supreme Court bench d knew what the Judge would say , — and how he would say it during these four preliminary debates

Lincoln simply drove Douglas into position . After the opening state l ment , Doug as never again spoke as he intended to speak . Lincoln , ’ who followed with an hour and a half s address , and on every other occasion , said something which irritated and angere—d the Judge , and made him forget what he intended and planned to say in thus attempt ’ l ing to attend to Lincoln s ast irritating and provoking statement . Douglas had evidently carefully prepared a continuous oration to be delivered in the style of the period , which he intended to deliver in certain sections at the different debates . He had taken four opening L o n e addresses and four closing addresses , thus leaving incoln four n in ex hour and a half addresses , which Lincol , used relentlessly and o r a bl y . Here at Galesburg his ﬁrst highly sustained address showed ’ not only that he had taken Douglas full measure , but that his cause N had nothing to fear from that quarter . ever after that day at Gales burg does he condescend to follow o r pay but passing attention to the irritated and angered Douglas . Here he reached the high water mark of his career up to that time , and never really spoke in the same manner during the entire debate , either before or after , excepting only at

Alton , where he spoke his ﬁnal message as one inspired . He mildly : n o t a r e reminds Douglas at Quincy Does he know , does he not pp ' ciate , the great drama that was even then being enacted Will he persist in petty quarrelling and quibbling , he , the great Douglas , the ' undisputed leader o f the Democracy Will he not rise to the great ' occasion Will he persist in the childish repetition of futile charges and insinuations in practically the same words as he began , as he used in the speeches in Chicago and o n the stump during the times between ' ' the several debates Has he but one piece to declaim Will he not — d o b e e . cease threat ning Lincoln Lincoln , who coul n t threatened , c w n o ' a o n e Lin oln , who kne fear Will he not stop c lling this or that

6 On e liar after he had demonstrated a proposition , even as Euclid Of ' did , that the three angles a triangle equalled two right angles Would he call Euclid a liar by way of refuting that self ' evident proposition Examine that marvelous record and you see that Lincoln never overlooked anything Judge Douglas said or asked or charged . He had ’ the text as reported , compared it with his opponent s statement , which was ever the same , and in passing replied to every statement he con “ L s ider e d deserving of reply . Could not incoln make the same speech — ' and stick to the same speech , as he did using the same phraseology O He 'Douglas 'talked the same way , said the same things in ttowa and in Galesburg, in Freeport and in Quincy , in Charleston and in Alton . Lincoln ever said some other thing except the one wanted by Judge n o Douglas . Li c ln never answered his questions at the time the Judge wanted them answered . Lincoln persisted in writing down questions and writing down answers , and read them when thus in j uxtaposition . i Lincoln persisted in hav ng printed statements , extracts , decisions with “ P ut him in his pockets all the time , and ever asked your ﬁnger o n the ' o r spot , when a quotation was inaccurate or false only partly quoted — f O r misquoted . Douglas had a great deal O satisfaction in sneering at Lincoln ’ s “ spot resolutions and raised many a laugh from his de ’ f voted followers . But Lincoln s mastery O his argument against slavery from the day the ﬁrst slavery legislation was enacted until the moment he opened his mouth in Galesburg, had never been equalled by any

. other man on the continent He knew every phase of his subject . He knew every idea promulgated by the friends o f slavery and by the o f r or r friends f eedom , and had the quotation the legislation o the speech under discussion with him . He knew what the fathers and founders had said , and quoted from them in confounding Douglas when o r he attempted to distort misquote them .

'o u f ' d say Jef erson favored slavery , Judge Douglas He di “ n not , he said , in speaking of slavery , he trembled for his country whe ' he remembered that God was just .

D O h you say , Judge Douglas , t at the negroes are not included in the Declaration of Independence ''

I believe the entire records of the world , from the date of the

Declaration of Independence up to within three years ago , may be f searched in vain for one single a ﬁrmation , from one single man , who said that the negro was not included in the Declaration of In depen d ence 'I think I may defy Judge Douglas to show that he ever said so , P e s o that Washington ever said so , that any resident ev r said , that any o f living man upon the whole earth ever said so , until the necessities the present policy Of the Democratic party , in regard to slavery, had to invent that afﬁrmation .

a — Are you relying upon th t great Commoner , Henry Clay are — you actually afﬁrming that Henry Clay has inspired y o u and that y o u ’ are but carrying out Henry Clay s beliefs and policies as to Slavery ' Mr Ob ec Hear what . Clay had to say when he was once answering an j tion to the Colonization Society , that it had a tendency to the ultimate — ‘ emancipation Of the slaves Clay said that those who would repress all tendencies to liberty and ultimate emancipation must do more than ff i — put down the benevolent e orts Of the Colonizat on Society , they to o f d must go back the era our liberty and in ependence , and muzzle the cannon that thunders its annual j oyous return 'they must blot out the an d the moral lights around us 'they must penetrate human soul , ’ eradicate the light of reason and the love Of liberty . And I do think , “ — says Lincoln , I repeat that Judge Douglas , and whoever , like him , teaches that the negro has no share , humble though it may be , in the o f is to o ur Declaration Independence , going back the era Of liberty an d s o independence , and , far as in him lies , is muzzling the cannon that thunders its annual j oyous return 'that he is blowing o ut the moral lights around us , when he contends that whoever wants slaves has a right to hold them 'that he is penetrating , so far as lies in his power , the human soul , and eradicating the light Of reason and the love of liberty , when he is in every possible way preparing the public mind ,

' fo r o f . by his vast in uence , making the institution slavery perpetual ' and national .

’ e o f 87 He kn w all the legislation beginning with the ordinance , when and where the whole trouble began . He followed the evolution of the whole dismal national tragedy until he brought it down to the date of the debates . And when the two champions appeared at Ottowa fo r the ﬁrst time , we witness upon that great stage upon which were o f riveted the eyes the whole country , the champion of slavery , and the f n champion o freedom . Douglas unquestio ably represented the side of slavery , Lincoln unquestionably represented the side of freedom o n D uglas , fresh from his triumphs in the U ited States Senate where o f o f he gradually but inevitably took the place Webster , Clay, Of

Benton , yea , even Of Calhoun . In that same United States Senate which had witnessed some o f the greatest o f our national gladiators

8 o f constructing , reinforcing and strengthening the beams the Union ,

Stephen A . Douglas appeared as the most remarkable and fearless

o f d . debater and legislator that day an generation Fearless he was , ' Of K like Randolph of irginia , and Clay entucky 'eloquent he was , ' m like Corwin and ancey 'learned he was , like so e Of the greatest scholars who preceded him in that forum which in that era had wit messed the appearance o f practically all the great constitutional scholars

of their day . With all that prestige , fresh from defeating the then o f K i president the United States on the ansas leg slation , the undisputed

orator and spokesman of the Democracy , the inevitable nominee of f r P N his party o the residency in the forthcoming ational election ,

travelling in state in a manner never equalled by any other candidate , O he reached ttowa , the locality where the ﬁrst j oint debate was O launched . pposed to him was he who was commonly known as the

' f most Often defeated and disappointed candidate for O ﬁce , a man who o f had surmounted troubles innumerable from the days his childhood ,

a man upon whom the burdens o f life had . fallen so heavily that he

never reached the calm , the sunshine , the conviviality , the proud posi o f r tion his more successful and fo tunate opponent . By some strange o ut irony Of fate , humble Abe Lincoln was picked to oppose the con n NO quering Douglas , who up to that day practically knew o defeat . f poorer choice could have been made , was the Opinion o almost every o n e H w who watched the two gladiators upon that memorable stage . o o r t could Abraham Lincoln hope to defeat Douglas , even o cope with ' H o w Douglas could the man with the single term in Congress , driven from public life— as he was Often reminded by Douglas for taking the o f M unpopular side the exican war , and looking with dis favor upon c the Administration which plunged us into it , and practi ally forgotten , ho w c o e could he p with the State Legislator , the nationally known advocate , the Supreme Court Judge , the Congressman , the United ' States Senator , the inevitable Democratic nominee for the P residency

But fortune had played the young Republican party many a trick , and this was evidently but another 'to be actually represented in the great

State of Illinois , opposing the greatest speaker o f his day and gen eratio n o o f , by p or Abe Lincoln , the man yarns , the plodding country

' ' ' lawyer , the ill clad , ill dressed , ill appearing farm hand and rail splitter 'Will the new Republican party ever come into its own—after

— ' ' fo r 0 Fremont Lincoln Still , the time retracing their steps was one . 2h There they were , confronting each other and as usual , with the ard o f — luck the Republican party , Douglas had to begin to deliver the

. a first blow Douglas would lso close the seventh and last j oint debate , and so would first hem in Lincoln on every side and finally deliver the

9 — ' coup de grace . Douglas was the beginning and Douglas was to be the

c ' end of the epo h making and fatal performance . He had the ﬁrst as well as the last word—what hope was there then for Lincoln '

But under that crude exterior , behind that care worn , sombre ,

' sad featured visage , underneath his homely clothes , under that high ,

—Oi ' out date hat , was the most original human being who was born in America since that ﬁrst day upon which that Genoese dreamer ' sailor

ﬁrst saw land . Here was a man who was born and brought up in the o f great open spaces , in the great deserts the young Republic , even as was his prototype in Egypt , four thousand years ago . Here was the o ak gnarled , rugged , weatherbeaten and scarred , subj ected to snow d r an storm and sleet , to heat , to thunder and to hu ricane . There he stood , like the monarch of the forest , defying the inclemencies of the Of —c 'eather and the seasons , and still remaining supreme alm , serene , — conﬁdent , right eternally right .

c Douglas spoke his pie e as it had been prepared , as it had been spoken from a score of other platforms , and consequently with but ' o f little conviction 'always the same platitudes , the same simple story how the conspiracy was hatched between Trumbull and Lincoln , the o one to steal renegade Dem crats and baptize them into Abolitionism , and the other to steal Whigs and baptize them into Abolitionism , and thus re ' enforce the Republican party and hostile Buchanan ofﬁce o — — holders , all for the purp se of defeating him Douglas who had w brought forward the only real constructive legislation , ho had invented the only nostrum which would answer all questions and solve all prob — o lems , including the never heretofore solved slavery problem p pular sovereignty . And the Judge concluded his statement by asking Lincoln seven h i r r questions , whic he ins sted that he answer forthwith in o der to ivet —he Lincoln to his chariot , Douglas , was going to conduct this joint ‘ debate . Lincoln delivered his ﬁrst hour and a hal f address without ’ paying much attention to the fact that Douglas existed . Douglas l r r a nd remaining ha f hou was , therefore , full of irritation and ange sa i di ppointment that Lincoln did not refer to h s questions , that he was evidently afraid to answer his questions , because Lincoln knew that to he , Judge Douglas , would trot him down Egypt , or to some other to place , where he would not dare make the same speech that he made at Ottowa .

An d i b n so the rrita le , angered and excited Douglas kept it up u til

10 they came to Galesburg , and here Lincoln delivered his hour and a o ut an half talk , carefully prepared and thought during practically o n entire lifetime , and from that moment , until his second inaugural , u t six years later , Lincoln kept steadily climbing and growing , n il his am entire life work blossomed out like a great constellation , and bec e visible to all men from the altitude he had attained o n the day he delivered his immortal Second Inaugural .

’ Galesburg marked the turning point o f Lincoln s career 'the Gales o f burg , Quincy , and Alton addresses were but three portions a great i r i orat on , Of a great argument , before the g eatest ass zes that ever the were assembled at any time , where he pleaded and argued for o f c fo r life of the nation , for the liberty a ra e , the triumph of eternal principles .

Douglas kept repeating charges o f conspiracy between Trumbull i ff and Lincoln , imag na—ry inaccuracies between di erent statements of Lincoln and Trumbull kept o n harping o n the fact that Lincoln would s ufﬁ not dare to talk in Egypt as he talked in Chicago . He became c iently petty to refer to the appearance of Fred Douglas with o n e of ’ Lincoln—s friends in the outskirts Of the crowd Of one Of the j oint debates thus emphasizing his charge that Lincoln was fo r absolute equality between the races . Hear what Lincoln said in a hitherto unpublished memorandum—which he carried with him during the j oint debates : N ' '' egro equality Fudge How long , in the government a Of a God , gre t enough to make and maintain this Universe , ' co n tin ue k n av es s o lo w shall there to vend , and fools to gulp , '' a piece o f demagoguism as this

I f y o u compare the eleven addresses o f Douglas delivered from O o u the opening at ttowa to the closing at Alton , and boil them down , y d imilies o u will fin practically the same words and phrases and s . I f y the o will do the same thing to ten addresses of Lincoln , y u will find o n e connected , finely woven , argument , consistent , continuous , logical , an d irresistible in its force , which represented the entire political creed philosophy Of Abraham Lincoln with reference to the fundamental n principles upo which rested the American Union . In it you will find everything that constitutes the cardinal principles upon which o ur Con s titutio n the rests , which Declaration Of Independence stands for , and which every good man and true throughout the history of the “Union who ev s e fo r has er tood for Union , for Liberty , for Justic and Right

o f attack . He who had successfully fought with the leaders his party , he who had successfully fought to a standstill men like Seward , and

Sumner , and Chase , and Wade , in the United States Senate , a man who could tell an unruly and a fault finding and defiant audience of twenty thousand Chicagoans— which declined to hear his justification — for the repeal Of the Missouri Compromise a few minutes before twelve O ’ clock on the Saturday night when he returned to Chicago “ two years before : Fellow citizens Of Chicago : It is now twelve ’ O clock Saturday night . I am going to church tomorrow , and you can

' ‘ — n o t l go to Hell , that man certainly was afraid Of Linco n nor the audiences which he faced 'but he was beginning to fear that he was n o t s o standing upon firm ground , and that the earth , to speak , was breaking under him— there seems to be no doubt that he was himself ’ = convinced by Lin c o ln s inexorable logic . But as Lincoln says in still — “ another hitherto unpublished memorandum H e 'Douglas 'never lets O f the logic Of principle displace the logic success . ' All honour to Galesburg , where this great work began At Gales i L o f burg t was where incoln began his career leadership triumphant . At Galesburg it was where he definitely and clearly convinced even L ’ Douglas that his cause , incoln s cause , was j ust , and that there was o n to only e answer the question which they were debating . Douglas w was happy , as happy as he could be , that the contest closed , he as to — beaten a standstill tired and exhausted , and Lincoln stood pre — he o ut pared to continue could not be tired in this fight . At the L beginning he had a premonition that incoln was a dangerous opponent.

His premonition turned o ut to be true . His fears were more than justiﬁed , his expectations realized . Lincoln spoke from the ﬁrst moment like a man who knew Of no opponent , like a man who spoke to I i an entire people , like an nsp red prophet of an inspired cause . It was not the same Lincoln whom Douglas had met in Congress , whom o r Douglas had met in their trips through the Eighth Circuit , at the

' various functions in Springﬁeld and in other parts Of Illinois . It was

Go d' ' the inspired , the God intoxicated soul , picked by an inscrutable P rovidence to perform a task under which had stumbled and fallen o f o f the leaders a quarter a century . A new man had arisen on the plains of Illinois who , when he spoke up , had an entire nation listening, m contemplating , meditating , reasoning and ﬁnally , when Father Abraha : called , an entire nation responded We are coming , Father Abraham , ' ﬁve hundred thousand strong .

From day to day the n umber o f tho s e w ho were pr iv ilege d tq s ee o f 19th t that form , to hear that voice this cen ury prophet , is getting

13 Na o i smaller . y even the number of those wh followed h s remains to his . last resting place ar e passing to the Beyond and j oining him among e the heavenly hosts where abide all good men and true . ' cannot see the glory that they saw , we cannot hear the voice they heard , but the message which he brought to them has become our heritage and our paramount duty to transmit unsullied even as it has been transmitted — — to us . Why then cannot we here resolve seventy years later that ' he shall not have lived and labored and died in vain Why cannot we here determine— under God— to battle against the modern misguided — — enemies Of o ur union the Douglas of today and of tomorrow for in one guise or ‘ another he appears and reappears in each generation e ver falsely proclaiming that his mission is their mission in his frantic

‘ t N desire to a tain leadership in our ational Councils . Why can we not , 'h y do we not , decide and determine to drive them from political life ' e v en as did Lincoln drive out Douglas and his associates To his — s aw glory be it said“ Douglas at last saw the light that his whole life

r rn d . But o r n t had been barren , wasted , and etu e the s ever see the ligh and never return . There then is the enemy . Let us not be blinded by minor matters magnified for the purpose o f blinding the people and diverting their attention from the frightful possibilities and calamitous o ur o u o f results if and when government is taken t, of the hands the followers of Lincoln and entrusted into the hands o f his enemies and detractors . This country must continue in the spirit and under the ’ guidance of the eternal principles laid down in Lincoln s charter o f o ur Of liberties committed to care 'and like the Holy Holies , it must o ur f be guarded with very lives . That much we O our generation can ’ o do , and with G d s help will do . This is our paramount daily task . — NO strange fires must be permitted o n o ur national altar death was ’ fo r it the penalty Aaron s disobedient sons , who sought to introduce in Of M defiance oses and Aaron whom they sought to displace .

’ Death of Lincoln s government of the people will be o ur penalty r should we pe mit the undermining , the desecration , the uprooting of o ur form of government at the hands of the vandal , the communist , d o the unholy alliances of evil , of disloyalty , of hypocrisy , an f all those wh hosts have no truth in them , who falsify issues even as they 1 Ma falsify the intentions . y He , in whose eyes a thousand years are but a moment , and who brought us through the successive ordeals of Revolution and Civil War, save us and keep us in all these succeeding trials and tests . The omnipresent spirit of Lincoln will guard us , us—O r r intervene for us , plead for us and protect u Heavenly Gua dian slumbe reth not an d sleepeth no t '