A. Lincoln_ A Biography Part 12

1. The meeting did not call itself the Republican State Convention.

2. No resolutions were pa.s.sed in Springfield.

3. The resolutions Douglas read from had been pa.s.sed later at a meeting in Kane County.

4. Lincoln was at neither meeting.

Lincoln spelled out his case as if he were a lawyer in a courtroom, turning to the jury of the Freeport audience and exclaiming, "It is most extraordinary most extraordinary that he should so far forget all the suggestions of justice to an adversary, or of prudence to himself, as to venture upon the a.s.sertion of that which the slightest investigation would have shown him to be wholly false." Prosecutor Lincoln rested his case to a response of tumultuous cheers. that he should so far forget all the suggestions of justice to an adversary, or of prudence to himself, as to venture upon the a.s.sertion of that which the slightest investigation would have shown him to be wholly false." Prosecutor Lincoln rested his case to a response of tumultuous cheers.

Douglas was forced to begin his one-and-a-half-hour reply responding to Lincoln's four questions. His answer to question two was direct. "It matters not what way the Supreme Court may hereafter decide as to the abstract question whether slavery may or may not go into a territory under the Const.i.tution, the people have the lawful means to introduce it or exclude it as they please." Why? "Slavery cannot exist a day or an hour anywhere, unless it is supported by local police regulations."

Douglas's answer to Lincoln, while not new, received widespread attention in the press, who quickly dubbed it the "Freeport Doctrine." Douglas may have been seeking to separate himself from the Buchanan Democrats in Illinois, but his answer further alienated him from the pro-slavery Democrats in the South.

Whenever cornered, Douglas resorted not to ideas, but to aggression. A good defense, he believed, was a good offense. His favorite tactic was to characterize Lincoln as part of the "Black Republicans." He used the term "Black Republicans" thirteen times at Ottawa and eighteen times at Freeport. He also referred to Lincoln's ideas by using the terms "abolition" and "abolitionizing."

After answering Lincoln's four questions, Douglas suggested Lincoln needed more help from his advisers if he was to craft more questions. He named among Lincoln's advisers Frederick Dougla.s.s, the well-known African-American writer and editor, abolitionist, and Republican. He began his race-baiting by acknowledging that some people in Freeport "think that Fred. Douglas is a good man." He then told a story that he said took place the last time he was in Freeport. "I saw a carriage and a magnificent one it was, drive up and take a position on the outside of the crowd; a beautiful young lady was sitting on the box seat, whilst Fred. Douglas and her mother reclined inside." The story provoked a flurry of responses-"Right," "What have you to say against it?" "What of it?"-to which he replied, "All I have to say of it is this, that if you, Black Republicans, think that the negro ought to be on social equality with your wives and daughters, and ride in a carriage with your wife, while you drive the team, you have a perfect right to do so." He concluded, "Those of you who believe that the negro is your equal and ought to be on an equality with you socially, politically, and legally; have a right to entertain those opinions, and of course will vote for Mr. Lincoln."

Douglas was a master of negation. If momentarily caught off guard by Lincoln's charges about the supposed Springfield resolutions of October 1854, he quickly recovered and tried to change the subject by going on the attack. He said that the real import of the resolutions was their radical abolitionist content, not whether they had been approved "on the right 'spot.' " Douglas then launched into a diatribe about Lincoln's unpatriotic behavior for criticizing the Mexican War during his term in Congress.

Lincoln had the opportunity for a reb.u.t.tal for the first time at Freeport. He failed to follow up on his questions to Douglas and spent most of the time defending his own record.

Most of Lincoln's supporters believed he did a much better job at Freeport. He had seized the initiative with his four questions. He was less repet.i.tive than Douglas. Yet, there was still concern in the Lincoln camp. Medill, who had encouraged Lincoln to ask the hard-hitting second question, was more discouraged than encouraged. The day after the debate, Medill wrote that Douglas was better on the stump than Lincoln and "the popular sympathy is more on his side than Lincolns."

FREDERICK DOUGLa.s.s WAS NOT one of Lincoln's advisers, but he cautiously admired Lincoln from a distance. Born in 1818, nine years after Lincoln, Dougla.s.s grew up as a slave near the Tuckahoe River and Baltimore, Maryland. He never knew his father, a white man, and was separated from his mother when he was very young. After what he described as "a religious awakening" at thirteen, his pa.s.sion for reading found its focus in the Bible. In 1838, Dougla.s.s escaped from slavery by traveling in disguise on a train from Baltimore to Philadelphia. Settling as a laborer in New Bedford, Ma.s.sachusetts, Dougla.s.s joined the abolitionist movement led by William Lloyd Garrison. In 1847, Dougla.s.s broke with Garrison, embracing the tactics of political action and rejecting Garrison's reliance on moral suasion. Moving to Rochester, New York, Dougla.s.s began publis.h.i.+ng his own abolitionist journal, the one of Lincoln's advisers, but he cautiously admired Lincoln from a distance. Born in 1818, nine years after Lincoln, Dougla.s.s grew up as a slave near the Tuckahoe River and Baltimore, Maryland. He never knew his father, a white man, and was separated from his mother when he was very young. After what he described as "a religious awakening" at thirteen, his pa.s.sion for reading found its focus in the Bible. In 1838, Dougla.s.s escaped from slavery by traveling in disguise on a train from Baltimore to Philadelphia. Settling as a laborer in New Bedford, Ma.s.sachusetts, Dougla.s.s joined the abolitionist movement led by William Lloyd Garrison. In 1847, Dougla.s.s broke with Garrison, embracing the tactics of political action and rejecting Garrison's reliance on moral suasion. Moving to Rochester, New York, Dougla.s.s began publis.h.i.+ng his own abolitionist journal, the North Star. North Star. By the 1850s, Dougla.s.s had become the leading African-American spokesman in America, attacking slavery and advocating a greater role in society for free blacks in the North. By the 1850s, Dougla.s.s had become the leading African-American spokesman in America, attacking slavery and advocating a greater role in society for free blacks in the North.

Speaking in Poughkeepsie, New York, Dougla.s.s told an audience commemorating the twenty-fourth anniversary of emanc.i.p.ation in the British West Indies that "the contest going on just now in the State of Illinois is worthy of attention." He observed that "Slavery and Anti-Slavery are at the bottom of the contest" and characterized Stephen Douglas as "one of the most restless, ambitious, boldest and unscrupulous enemies with whom the cause of the colored man has had to contend." He then turned, briefly, to "the great speech of Mr. Lincoln," quoting the introduction to the "House Divided" speech, commending it as "well and wisely said."

THE DEBATES WERE ONLY a small part of the campaign in the summer and fall of 1858. Lincoln, by his own count, delivered sixty-three speeches; Stephen Douglas said he delivered more than one hundred. In the nearly three weeks between Freeport and the next debate at Jones-boro, Lincoln gave eight speeches, plus responses at several conventions and rallies. Although he focused his campaign on the middle of the state, he traveled the length of Illinois. a small part of the campaign in the summer and fall of 1858. Lincoln, by his own count, delivered sixty-three speeches; Stephen Douglas said he delivered more than one hundred. In the nearly three weeks between Freeport and the next debate at Jones-boro, Lincoln gave eight speeches, plus responses at several conventions and rallies. Although he focused his campaign on the middle of the state, he traveled the length of Illinois.

The Lincoln-Douglas debates would have been physically impossible before the late 1850s. During his Senate campaign, Lincoln traveled 3,400 miles by train, 600 miles by carriage, and 350 miles by boat, for a total of 4,350 miles. Douglas traveled 5,277 miles, mostly by special train, with his own car, which allowed him to rest between towns and spend time with his wife, Adele. Lincoln traveled as a pa.s.senger on regular trains, without Mary, who stayed home with the boys. Exuberant supporters often accompanied him, giving Lincoln little time for rest.

For the third debate, Lincoln went down into "Little Egypt," a narrow neck of land at the convergence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, wedged between Kentucky and Missouri, with its best-known town named Cairo. The region was rural, poor, and strongly Democratic. It was also known for its hatred of blacks. Jonesboro, with its eight hundred residents, lay three hundred miles south of Chicago, and farther south than Richmond, Virginia.

This was not Lincoln land. In his twenty-five years in politics, Lincoln had not spent much time in the state's southernmost counties. John C. Fremont had received only forty-six votes in Union County, in which Jonesboro was located, in the 1856 presidential election.

For Lincoln, a man who reveled in discoveries and inventions, a thrilling part of his stay in Jonesboro occurred in the sky the night before the debate. On September 14, 1858, he sat on the Union House's porch to watch Donati's Comet and its fiery tail race past the earth. Italian Giovanni Battista Donati, who discovered the comet on June 2, 1858, calculated that the comet, one of the brightest to be observed in the nineteenth century, would not be visible again for two thousand years.

The next morning, on a hot and humid day, 1,200 to 1,500 people came to Jonesboro. Some spectators made the trek from Kentucky and Missouri. Douglas arrived with his private cannon.

The setting for the debate was simple, the platform constructed of rough planks placed across logs. A table in the center of the platform gave newspaper reporters a place to write. The seats for Lincoln and Douglas and the various dignitaries were ordinary chairs brought from nearby homes.

Douglas knew his challenge in this southern region of Illinois was not from the Republicans, but from that faction of the Democratic Party loyal to President Buchanan. He needed to rea.s.sure these conservative Democrats, given his rejection of the Lecompton Const.i.tution, of his party orthodoxy. He did so by attacking Lincoln on his "House Divided" speech, trying to show that Lincoln was not a moderate but actually a collaborator with radical abolitionists.

Lincoln, speaking second, added an additional question to the four he had asked at Freeport: "If the slaveholding citizens of a United States Territory should need and demand Congressional legislation for the protection of their slave property in such territory, would you, as a member of Congress, vote for or against such legislation?"

Douglas responded with a general answer that "it is a fundamental article of the Democratic party creed that there should be noninterference by Congress in the States and territories."

Toward the end of his presentation at Jonesboro, knowing he could not win over a hostile audience by argument, Lincoln reached out to them with identification. "Did the Judge talk of trotting me down to Egypt to scare me to death? Why, I know this people better than he does. I was raised just a little east of here. I am a part of this people. But the Judge was raised further north, and perhaps has some horrid idea of what this people might be induced to do."

At Jonesboro, Lincoln tried not to become defensive. For the most part, he succeeded in parrying the thrusts of his Democratic antagonist.

THREE DAYS LATER, Charleston welcomed Lincoln as a favorite son with an eighty-foot pictorial banner hung across the main street with the caption: "Abe's Entrance Into Charleston Thirty Years Ago." The painting depicted Lincoln, the pioneer boy, driving three yoke of oxen as his family entered Illinois from Indiana. The Douglas contingent answered with their own banner with the caption, "Negro Equality," showing a white man, a Negro woman, and a mulatto boy.

The fourth debate would take place in Coles County in east central Illinois, an old-line Whig district that Lincoln knew well. Some in the crowd had known his father and stepmother, who had settled in Coles County in 1831. Thomas Lincoln had died in 1851, but his beloved stepmother, Sally Bush Johnston Lincoln, still lived in an old log cabin south of Charleston. She did not attend the debate.

Both Lincoln and Douglas entered Charleston on the morning of September 18, 1858, like heroes at the head of elaborate processions with bands and banners. In the Lincoln procession was Bowling Green College's marching band, which had traveled fifty miles from Terre Haute, Indiana, to march for their Indiana son. Prominent in the procession was a large wagon filled with thirty-two young women wearing white dresses with long red and blue sashes, each holding a banner for one of the thirty-two states in the Union. A banner above the wagon read: Westward thy Star of Empire takes it way,Thy Girls Link-on Link-on to Lincoln,- to Lincoln,-Their Mothers were for Clay.

Following the wagon was a young woman on horseback with a sign bearing the motto "Kansas will be free!"

In this rural district of cornfields, when the time for early morning farm ch.o.r.es was over, between twelve thousand and fifteen thousand spectators thronged the dusty roads of Charleston. Men, women, and children from b.l.o.o.d.y Hutton, Dogtown, Paradise, Muddy, and Goosenest Prairie converged on the agricultural society fairgrounds west of the town. A special eleven-car train brought in spectators from Indiana. By ten o'clock, the streets leading to the public square were nearly impa.s.sable.

At 2:45, Lincoln opened the debate with an introduction that would become the subject of much interpretation and misinterpretation. At his hotel that morning, he said, an elderly gentleman had wanted to know whether "I was really in favor of producing a perfect equality between the negroes and white people." After the laughter died down, Lincoln said he had not intended to say much on this subject in Charleston, but thought he would devote five minutes to the question.

He then issued a series of statements defining where he stood on racial equality. "I will say that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races, [applause],-that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people." After stating his own opinion, Lincoln went on to say that he had never met a person "in favor of producing a perfect equality, social, and political, between negroes and white men."

Lincoln, by the fourth debate, had grown tired of Douglas's continual race-baiting. He decided to take on Douglas's constant criticisms by clarifying his own position and appealing to the generally held norms of the community where he was speaking. Furthermore, Lincoln appealed to the laws of the state of Illinois, which expressly forbade marriage between whites and blacks.

"Race prejudice seems stronger in those states that have abolished slavery than in those where it still exists, and nowhere is it more intolerant than in those states where slavery was never known." So wrote Alexis de Tocqueville in Democracy in America Democracy in America in 1833. Few white Americans were without aversion to black Americans in the 1840s and 1850s. White att.i.tudes were based on an a.s.sumption of the inferiority of African-Americans. This prejudiced mind-set permeated both the South and the North. in 1833. Few white Americans were without aversion to black Americans in the 1840s and 1850s. White att.i.tudes were based on an a.s.sumption of the inferiority of African-Americans. This prejudiced mind-set permeated both the South and the North.

Although the first Illinois const.i.tution in 1818 outlawed slavery, by the time of a revised const.i.tution, anti-black feeling was on the rise. A proposal at the 1847 Illinois const.i.tutional convention to extend the right of suffrage to blacks was defeated by a vote of 137 to 7. Article 14 of the revised const.i.tution of 1848 directed the general a.s.sembly to enact laws prohibiting black migration to Illinois. More than three-fourths of Illinois voters approved the new const.i.tution.

Ironically, antislavery and racist att.i.tudes walked hand in hand. Only a few aggressive abolitionists contemplated social equality with African-Americans as a possibility. Republicans who campaigned in the 1850s understood that it was prudent to deny any interest in social equality as part of achieving some measure of political rights for African-Americans.

Lincoln had one more method to try to silence Douglas's "great apprehension." It was his favorite tactic. Whereas Douglas resorted to anger, Lincoln employed humor. Lincoln said he understood that laws against social equality rightly belonged to the states and that Douglas seemed to be "in constant horror" about measures that might be brought forward in the state legislature to promote equality of the races. What was Lincoln's solution? "I propose as the best means to prevent it that the Judge be kept at home and placed in the State Legislature to fight the measure."

Norman Judd had written to Lincoln before the debate at Charleston, "Allow me to suggest that in your next joint debate where you have the opening you make your entire opening a series of charges against Douglas leaving all statement of your own views for your reply." Lincoln followed Judd's advice. Taking leave of the remarks about popular sovereignty and Dred Scott that had been so prominent in the first three debates, Lincoln instead focused on the accusation that Douglas, despite his protest of the Lecompton Const.i.tution, was part of a conspiracy to impress slavery on Kansas. Senator Lyman Trumbull, who had returned to Illinois in August to campaign against Douglas, had first made this charge, based on his knowledge of Douglas's insider trading in the Senate. Douglas had denounced the charges before, but Lincoln renewed them at Charleston in an at-times wearying recitation of Trumbull's version of the story.

When Douglas stepped forward to speak, he expressed astonishment. "I am amazed that Mr. Lincoln should now come forward and endorse that charge, occupying his whole hour in reading Mr. Trumbull's speech in support of it." In Douglas's conclusion, he referred to Lincoln's opening remarks about Negro equality and left his audience questioning whether Lincoln was in favor of Negro citizens.h.i.+p.

The fourth debate did little to boost Lincoln. His opening remarks about equality were read and heard in quite different ways among different audiences. Some thought he was simply acknowledging the att.i.tudes of the overwhelming majority of those in south central Illinois. Others, reading about the debate in Chicago and northern Illinois, wondered if this was the same Lincoln of the "House Divided" speech. Many observers, then and now, reading only two sentences and not the full two paragraphs, failed to understand that Lincoln's purpose in raising the issue of social equality was to get Douglas off his back. It was a short-term political tactic.

LINCOLN SPENT THE NEXT DAY with relatives in Coles County. He visited with his stepmother, giving her fifty dollars before he left the next morning at four o'clock to resume his campaigning. In the nineteen days before the next debate in Galesburg, Lincoln would crisscross the state in a hurly-burly schedule of speech making, sometimes two or three times in a day. with relatives in Coles County. He visited with his stepmother, giving her fifty dollars before he left the next morning at four o'clock to resume his campaigning. In the nineteen days before the next debate in Galesburg, Lincoln would crisscross the state in a hurly-burly schedule of speech making, sometimes two or three times in a day.

Lincoln continued to refine his thinking on slavery by writing on his steady supply of small slips of paper. The catalyst for one of his notes was reading Slavery Ordained by G.o.d, Slavery Ordained by G.o.d, an 1857 book by Frederick A. Ross, a Presbyterian minister from Huntsville, Alabama. The book, based on lectures and sermons, became an instant bestseller among pro-slavery advocates. Ross argued that slavery was a beneficent and ordering inst.i.tution. an 1857 book by Frederick A. Ross, a Presbyterian minister from Huntsville, Alabama. The book, based on lectures and sermons, became an instant bestseller among pro-slavery advocates. Ross argued that slavery was a beneficent and ordering inst.i.tution.

Lincoln began his musing with a question: "Suppose it is true, that the negro is inferior to the white, in the gifts of nature?" He understood that most white Americans accepted the a.s.sumption of inferiority, but he did not stop there. Pondering that supposition, Lincoln wrote, "Is it not the exact reverse justice that the white should, for that reason, take from the negro, any part of the little which has been given him?" Lincoln offered his answer. "Give to him that is needy" is the Christian rule of charity; but "Take from him that is needy" is the rule of slavery.

Ross had argued that slavery was the will of G.o.d, to which Lincoln wrote, "Certainly there is no contending against the Will of G.o.d; but still there is some difficulty in ascertaining, and applying it, to particular cases." He then proposed a case. Dr. Ross has a slave named Sambo. Lincoln asked, "Is it the Will of G.o.d that Sambo shall remain a slave, or be set free?" Lincoln pondered the options. "The Almighty gives no audible answer to the question, and his revelation-the Bible-gives none-or, at most, none none but such as admits of a squabble, as to its meaning." Lincoln quickly added, "No one thinks of asking Sambo's opinion of it." Lincoln wrote that the last option was for Dr. Ross to decide. If he decided that Sambo was to remain a slave, "he thereby retains his own comfortable position." If "he decides that G.o.d wills Sambo to be free," it will mean that he "has to walk out of the shade, throw off his gloves, and delve for his own bread." Lincoln asked whether Ross will be guided by "that perfect impartiality" which was the best means of making decisions. Lincoln antic.i.p.ated Ross's answer: "But, slavery is good for some people!!!" and reb.u.t.ted that slavery is "peculiar" in "that it is the only good thing which no man ever seeks the good but such as admits of a squabble, as to its meaning." Lincoln quickly added, "No one thinks of asking Sambo's opinion of it." Lincoln wrote that the last option was for Dr. Ross to decide. If he decided that Sambo was to remain a slave, "he thereby retains his own comfortable position." If "he decides that G.o.d wills Sambo to be free," it will mean that he "has to walk out of the shade, throw off his gloves, and delve for his own bread." Lincoln asked whether Ross will be guided by "that perfect impartiality" which was the best means of making decisions. Lincoln antic.i.p.ated Ross's answer: "But, slavery is good for some people!!!" and reb.u.t.ted that slavery is "peculiar" in "that it is the only good thing which no man ever seeks the good of, for himself." of, for himself."

This complex reflection on slavery was something Lincoln was not yet prepared to say in public. After carefully considering all the options, Lincoln's anger boiled over in the conclusion of his note. "Nonsense! Wolves devouring lambs, not because it is good for their own greedy maws, but because it [is] good for the lambs!!!" The triple exclamation points revealed Lincoln's deep feeling as he struggled with the immorality of slavery, especially as it was defended by religious leaders. Lincoln was ever alert to the mishandling of religion.

In a second note, written in this same period, Lincoln began, "But there is a larger issue than the mere question of whether the spread of negro slavery shall or shall not be prohibited by Congress." Lincoln a.s.serted that even the Buchanan papers, such as the Richmond Enquirer Richmond Enquirer and the and the New York Day-Book, New York Day-Book, understood the issue. Both newspapers pointed to the a.s.sertion by Senator John Pett.i.t of Indiana that the doctrine of equality in the Declaration of Independence was "a self-evident lie." As for Senator Douglas, Lincoln said he "regularly argues against the doctrine of the equality of men." Lincoln concluded that the "common object" of Douglas and his allies was to subvert the clear avowal in the Declaration of Independence and "to a.s.sert the natural, moral, and religious right of one cla.s.s to enslave another." understood the issue. Both newspapers pointed to the a.s.sertion by Senator John Pett.i.t of Indiana that the doctrine of equality in the Declaration of Independence was "a self-evident lie." As for Senator Douglas, Lincoln said he "regularly argues against the doctrine of the equality of men." Lincoln concluded that the "common object" of Douglas and his allies was to subvert the clear avowal in the Declaration of Independence and "to a.s.sert the natural, moral, and religious right of one cla.s.s to enslave another."

THE LARGEST CROWD of the seven debates converged on Knox College in Galesburg in northern Illinois on Thursday, October 7, 1858. Gales-burg, a town of 5,500, was Republican, antislavery, and a stop on the Underground Railroad. Heavy rains had fallen the day before, and on debate day icy winds tore down signs and ripped up banners. But not even the elements could keep 15,000 to 20,000 spectators away. An eleven-car train came from Chicago. A twenty-two-car train from Peo-ria, crammed full with 2,200 pa.s.sengers, was slowed by mechanical problems and did not arrive until near the end of the debate. Despite the winds, numerous banners vied with one another for creativity. A representation of a two-donkey act showed Douglas attempting to ride Popular Sovereignty and Dred Scott. Try as he might, he was unable to keep his balance and was sent sprawling. Another banner was inscribed "Small-fisted Farmers, Mud Sills of Society, Greasy Mechanics, for A. Lincoln," a refutation of the recent Southern charge that laborers in the North were at least as exploited as slaves in the South. of the seven debates converged on Knox College in Galesburg in northern Illinois on Thursday, October 7, 1858. Gales-burg, a town of 5,500, was Republican, antislavery, and a stop on the Underground Railroad. Heavy rains had fallen the day before, and on debate day icy winds tore down signs and ripped up banners. But not even the elements could keep 15,000 to 20,000 spectators away. An eleven-car train came from Chicago. A twenty-two-car train from Peo-ria, crammed full with 2,200 pa.s.sengers, was slowed by mechanical problems and did not arrive until near the end of the debate. Despite the winds, numerous banners vied with one another for creativity. A representation of a two-donkey act showed Douglas attempting to ride Popular Sovereignty and Dred Scott. Try as he might, he was unable to keep his balance and was sent sprawling. Another banner was inscribed "Small-fisted Farmers, Mud Sills of Society, Greasy Mechanics, for A. Lincoln," a refutation of the recent Southern charge that laborers in the North were at least as exploited as slaves in the South.

At 2:30, Lincoln and Douglas were driven to the college in identical carriages. Because of the bitter conditions, the platform had been moved from an open s.p.a.ce on the college campus to abut the east side of Old Main, the central building on campus. According to a later reminiscence, both Lincoln and Douglas had to climb through a window in Old Main to get to the platform. Lincoln, never at a loss for words, was heard to say, "Well, at last I have gone through college."

Douglas began and quickly settled into his regular speech. By this fifth debate Douglas appeared exhausted, with a hoa.r.s.e voice that did not carry his words beyond the first few rows of the audience. He defended popular sovereignty and attacked both Republicans and Buchanan Democrats. He accused Lincoln of s.h.i.+fting his message according to the geography of the debate. "In the extreme northern part of the state he can proclaim as bold and radical abolitionism as ever Gid-dings, Lovejoy, or Garrison enunciated." In the southern part of the state, Douglas claimed Lincoln identified himself as "an old line Whig, a disciple of Henry Clay." Douglas summed up his criticism by telling the crowd, "Mr. Lincoln's creed cannot travel."

Lincoln, by contrast, seemed restored at Galesburg. His nineteen days of travel, spent speaking with thousands of people in Urbana, Jacksonville, Winchester, Pittsfield, Metamora, and Pekin, had not tired but rather renewed his spirits. Lincoln, who could be introspective and took pleasure from time alone to read and to write, was energized by contact with all sorts of people on the campaign trail.

Taking heart from this strongly Republican community, Lincoln began with the Declaration of Independence. Douglas had insisted that the Declaration's opening words were never intended to include Negroes. Lincoln countered with his strongest statement in the debates about the Declaration's intent. "I believe that the entire records of the world, from the date of the Declaration of Independence up to within three years ago may be searched in vain for one single affirmation, from one single man, that the negro was not included in the Declaration of Independence." As for Douglas's contention that Jefferson did not intend to include Negroes because he was the owner of slaves, Lincoln replied by recalling Jefferson's words, offered late in his life, that "he trembled for his country when he remembered that G.o.d was just." Lincoln elicited "great applause" when he thundered, "I will offer the highest premium in my power to Judge Douglas if he will show that he, in all his life, ever uttered a sentiment at all akin to that of Jefferson."

Lincoln also charged head-on into Douglas's criticism that Lincoln changed his message on Negro equality depending on where he was speaking. Lincoln pointed out that all his speeches were in print so everyone could read them. He denied that there was any conflict between what he said at the various debates. Lincoln then turned Doug las's criticism to his advantage by addressing the moral dimension of the debate about slavery. In summarizing Douglas's position, Lincoln reminded the audience that "every sentiment he utters discards the idea that there is any wrong in Slavery."

Lincoln's supporters were exuberant about his performance at Gales-burg. The Quincy Whig Quincy Whig reported, "When Douglas concluded, 'Old Abe' mounted to the stand, and was received with three such tremendous cheers." The Republican paper believed "he met, and successfully refuted, every argument made by Judge Douglas." Lincoln did so by seizing the moral high ground. He charged Douglas with "blowing out the moral lights around us." Lincoln declared, "Judge Douglas, and whoever like him teaches that the negro has no share, humble though it may be, in the Declaration of Independence, and so far as in him lies, [muzzles] the cannon that thunders its annual joyous return" every Fourth of July. reported, "When Douglas concluded, 'Old Abe' mounted to the stand, and was received with three such tremendous cheers." The Republican paper believed "he met, and successfully refuted, every argument made by Judge Douglas." Lincoln did so by seizing the moral high ground. He charged Douglas with "blowing out the moral lights around us." Lincoln declared, "Judge Douglas, and whoever like him teaches that the negro has no share, humble though it may be, in the Declaration of Independence, and so far as in him lies, [muzzles] the cannon that thunders its annual joyous return" every Fourth of July.

THE SIXTH DEBATE took place on October 13, 1858, at Quincy. Nestled on the banks of the Mississippi River, just across from Missouri, Quincy was settled by New Englanders who named the town in 1825 for then president John Quincy Adams. Quincy was like many cities in central Illinois-contested territory between Republicans and Democrats. Boats from Hannibal, Missouri, and Keokuk, Iowa, swelled the crowd to between ten thousand and fifteen thousand who gathered at Was.h.i.+ngton Park on a sunny but cool day. took place on October 13, 1858, at Quincy. Nestled on the banks of the Mississippi River, just across from Missouri, Quincy was settled by New Englanders who named the town in 1825 for then president John Quincy Adams. Quincy was like many cities in central Illinois-contested territory between Republicans and Democrats. Boats from Hannibal, Missouri, and Keokuk, Iowa, swelled the crowd to between ten thousand and fifteen thousand who gathered at Was.h.i.+ngton Park on a sunny but cool day.

Lincoln arrived by train in the morning and was invited to ride in a decorated carriage, although he said he preferred to "foot it to Browning's," his friend Orville Browning's home, where he would rest until the debate. Nevertheless, a large procession guided Lincoln. Central in the procession was a model s.h.i.+p on wheels drawn by four horses and labeled "Const.i.tution."

Carl Schurz, an immigrant who had fled the failed revolution in Germany of 184849, traveled from Watertown, Wisconsin, to witness the debate. Later, Schurz recalled that Lincoln's charm did not, in the ordinary way, appeal to the ear or to the eye. His voice was not melodious; rather shrill and piercing, especially when it rose to its high treble in moments of great animation. His figure was unhandsome, and the action of his unwieldy limbs awkward. He commanded none of the outwardly graces or oratory as they are commonly understood. His charm was of a different kind. It flowed from the rare depth and genuineness of his convictions and his sympathetic feelings.

He said that Lincoln's "voice was not musical, being rather high-keyed and apt to turn into a shrill treble in moments of excitement." But it did possess "an exceedingly penetrating, far-reaching quality." Lincoln's movements especially struck Schurz. "His gestures were awkward. He swung his long arms sometimes in a very ungraceful manner. Now and then, to give particular emphasis to a point, he would bend his knees and body with a sudden downward jerk and then shoot up again with a vehemence that raised him to his tiptoes and made him look taller than he was."

Carl Schurz, a German immigrant from Wisconsin, traveled to Quincy to hear Lincoln in the sixth debate. Schurz would become instrumental in mobilizing the large German population in the Midwest behind Lincoln.

Lincoln began the debate by denying that his remarks about Negro civil rights at Charleston were any different from what he had said at Ottawa or would affirm at Quincy. Whenever Lincoln bowed to the norms of his day as to the impossibility of social equality between the races, he always concluded with the greater possibility, not yet fully realized, inherent in the Declaration of Independence: "In the right to eat the bread without leave of anybody else which his own hand earns, he is my equal and the equal of Judge Douglas, and the equal of every other man." To this the crowd cheered loudly.

Lincoln concluded his opening hour with a compelling repet.i.tion of his charge that slavery is morally wrong. "When Judge Douglas says that whoever, or whatever community, wants slaves, they have a right to have them, he is perfectly logical if there is nothing wrong in the inst.i.tution; but if you admit that it is wrong, he cannot logically say that anybody has a right to do wrong." Lincoln stated that the issue was not whether he or Douglas was right or wrong, but whether slavery was right or wrong. If, Lincoln declared in his final sentence, "we can get all these men who believe that slavery is in some of these respects wrong, to stand and act with us in treating it as a wrong-then, and not till then, I think we will in some way come to an end of this slavery agitation."

Douglas, on the defensive, was forced to respond to Lincoln's charge that he would not say whether slavery was right or wrong. "I tell you why I will not do it. I hold that under the Const.i.tution of the United States, each state of this Union has a right to do as it please on the subject of slavery." He then spent much of his time disputing that he was conspiring with Pierce, Buchanan, and Taney to open the territories to slavery. Near the conclusion of his remarks Douglas stated, "This republic can exist forever divided into free and slave States."

Lincoln, in his reb.u.t.tal, immediately seized upon Douglas's remark. "We are getting a little nearer the true issue of this controversy, and I am profoundly grateful for this one sentence." Lincoln said that he had no desire to argue with slavery in Kentucky or Virginia, but that Douglas would be happy to see slavery extend not just into the Western territories but into the Northern states.

AFTER THE QUINCY DEBATE, both Lincoln and Douglas boarded the City of Louisiana City of Louisiana for the 115-mile pa.s.sage down the Mississippi River to Alton, site of the final debate. Alton was snuggled among bluffs at the confluence of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. When the s.h.i.+p arrived the next morning, Mary and fifteen-year-old Robert were waiting to greet Lincoln. They had traveled from Springfield on the Sangamon-Alton Railroad, which ran a half-price excursion fare to the debate. Robert, a member of the Springfield Cadets, was smartly dressed in a blue coat with white pants. Gustave Koerner, who had served as president of the Republican convention that nominated Lincoln for the Senate, had also traveled to Alton. Koerner found Lincoln in the sitting room at the Franklin House. Lincoln encouraged Koerner to go upstairs and speak with Mary because "she is rather dispirited" about her husband's political chances. Koerner expressed his confidence to her "of carrying the State and tolerably certain of our carrying the Legislature." for the 115-mile pa.s.sage down the Mississippi River to Alton, site of the final debate. Alton was snuggled among bluffs at the confluence of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. When the s.h.i.+p arrived the next morning, Mary and fifteen-year-old Robert were waiting to greet Lincoln. They had traveled from Springfield on the Sangamon-Alton Railroad, which ran a half-price excursion fare to the debate. Robert, a member of the Springfield Cadets, was smartly dressed in a blue coat with white pants. Gustave Koerner, who had served as president of the Republican convention that nominated Lincoln for the Senate, had also traveled to Alton. Koerner found Lincoln in the sitting room at the Franklin House. Lincoln encouraged Koerner to go upstairs and speak with Mary because "she is rather dispirited" about her husband's political chances. Koerner expressed his confidence to her "of carrying the State and tolerably certain of our carrying the Legislature."

In 1837, Alton had been the scene of the murder of Presbyterian abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy, who was defending his press from a pro-slavery mob. In 1858, this town in southwestern Illinois remained sympathetic to slavery, Douglas, and Democrats. The White Cloud White Cloud and and Baltimore Baltimore steamboats offered one-dollar round-trip fares from neighboring St. Louis, bringing in from Missouri more Douglas supporters. Some visitors even made the trip from Kentucky. On a beautiful fall day, organizers of the final debate were disappointed that the crowd would number only between five thousand and six thousand, some spectators saying that by now everyone knew what both Lincoln and Douglas would say. steamboats offered one-dollar round-trip fares from neighboring St. Louis, bringing in from Missouri more Douglas supporters. Some visitors even made the trip from Kentucky. On a beautiful fall day, organizers of the final debate were disappointed that the crowd would number only between five thousand and six thousand, some spectators saying that by now everyone knew what both Lincoln and Douglas would say.

Douglas began the debate looking like a man the worse for wear from the debates and the campaign. His voice could barely be heard as he summarized his arguments of the previous six debates. On the offense in debate one, by debate seven he made the odd decision to focus his defense on his decisions relating to Lecompton. Obviously distressed by Lincoln's renewed emphasis on the Declaration of Independence at Galesburg and Quincy, Douglas, in a barely audible voice, declared, "I hold that the signers of the Declaration of Independence had no reference to negroes at all when they declared all men to be created equal. They did not mean negro, nor the savage Indians, nor the Fejee Islanders, nor any other barbarous race."

Lincoln, in contrast, appeared tanned and eager for the final debate. Always conscious of his audience, Lincoln acknowledged that the citizens of Alton were linked with "strong sympathies by birth, education, and otherwise, with the South." Not content to concede any audience, however, Lincoln recalled his father's decision to move from a slave state to a free state, and then asked: "How many Democrats are there about here who have left slave states and come into the free state of Illinois to get rid of the inst.i.tution of slavery?" One voice interrupted and said, "A thousand." Another added, "One thousand and one," to which Lincoln responded, "I reckon there are a thousand and one."

Douglas, at Quincy and again now at Alton in Madison County, had tried to put on the mantle of Henry Clay, arguing that the architect of the Compromise of 1850 would never have acceded to Lincoln's radical views. But no one loved Clay and his speeches more than Lincoln. Perturbed that Douglas tried to pa.s.s himself off as a follower of Clay, Lincoln reached into his coat and pulled out his notebook filled with extracts from important speeches. He read a long section from one of Clay's speeches to show that the Great Compromiser believed in the great "fundamental principle" from the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal, even as Clay understood that principle had not yet become fully realized in American society.

Toward the end of this final debate, when Lincoln must have been tired, he rose to the height of his eloquence. Focusing his final comments on Douglas's constant refrain that he did not care whether slavery was voted up or down, Lincoln responded that the real issue was the morality of slavery. "That is the issue that will continue in this country when these poor tongues of Judge Douglas and myself shall be silent." Lincoln declared the issue to be "the eternal struggle between these two principles-right and wrong-throughout the world." He continued, They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time; and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the common right of humanity and the other the divine right of kings. It is the same principle in whatever shape it develops itself. It is the same spirit that says: "You work and toil and earn bread, and I'll eat it."

THE TWENTY ONE HOURS of debate were over. The story of the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 needs to be understood on its own terms and not from a backward glance from future events, when Douglas became at best a foil and at worst caricatured or marginalized. At the time of the debates, Douglas was a leading national actor while Lincoln was regarded solely as an Illinois politician. of debate were over. The story of the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 needs to be understood on its own terms and not from a backward glance from future events, when Douglas became at best a foil and at worst caricatured or marginalized. At the time of the debates, Douglas was a leading national actor while Lincoln was regarded solely as an Illinois politician.

How was the voter to decide? Most attended only one debate. At the outset, Lincoln had to discredit the idea that he was a radical abolitionist, whereas Douglas had to deny that he was a pro-Southern defender of slavery. There were many other issues that Lincoln and Douglas might have included in their debates-currency policy, tariffs, immigration, railroads-but the focus was almost exclusively on slavery. The debaters and the audiences agreed that this was the most important issue facing the nation.

There was a great deal of repet.i.tion in the debates, often with each debater reading long quotations from previous speeches. Douglas stuck to his theme of self-government. Lincoln invoked the Declaration of Independence again and again. Douglas began strong and put Lincoln on the defensive with his attacks and questions. Lincoln gathered momentum in the final three debates, beginning at Galesburg, both in his physical presence and his decision to focus on the moral dimension of slavery. Douglas, when under stress, resorted to anger and sarcasm. Lincoln, when pushed, reflexively responded with humor, a lighter touch that created a bond of trust with audiences. Lincoln, whether in his private notes to himself or in his public debates with Douglas, grew in his ability to communicate his ideas both clearly and forcefully.

The debates were over, but the campaign continued. Lincoln, after spending several days in Springfield, was off again. In the final two and a half weeks he was alternately discouraged and encouraged, as were his closest advisers. Stepping off the train in Naples on October 18, 1858, Lincoln saw fifteen "Celtic gentlemen" and wondered if these Irishmen were being brought into Illinois to vote. The next day, he heard that four hundred Irish laborers were arriving in Schuyler County to work on the railroad, arriving just before Election Day. On October 20, Lincoln wrote to Norman Judd, "I now have a high degree of confidence that we shall succeed, if we are not over-run with fraudulent votes to a greater extent than usual."

A few days later, Judge David Davis expressed his apprehension. "Outside Republicans from the East, Mr. Greeley-Truman Smith &c have thrown cold water on the election of Lincoln." A difficult blow to Lincoln's chances for election came at the end of the campaign. A letter written by Senator John J. Crittenden of Kentucky on August 1, 1858, announcing his support for Douglas, was held until the last week of the campaign when it could do the most damage. Lincoln and Crittenden had served together in the Thirtieth Congress. Crittenden viewed himself as Clay's political heir. Astonished and hurt that a Kentucky Whig would enter the Senate campaign against an Illinois Whig, Lincoln had written Crittenden in July telling him that a story was being whispered "that you are anxious for the reelection of Mr. Douglas." Lincoln told Crittenden, "I do not believe the story, but still it gives me some uneasiness. I do not believe you would so express yourself. It is not in character with you as I have always estimated you." Unfortunately for Lincoln, the story proved to be true. Crittenden admired Douglas's stand against the Lecompton Const.i.tution and believed that a vote for Douglas was a vote against the Buchanan administration. Crittenden's support for Douglas, trumpeted by the Illinois State Register Illinois State Register in Springfield, certainly served to undercut Lincoln with some old-line Whigs, especially in the critical counties of central Illinois. in Springfield, certainly served to undercut Lincoln with some old-line Whigs, especially in the critical counties of central Illinois.

Lincoln chose to give his last speech of the campaign in Springfield on Sat.u.r.day, October 30, 1858. An enthusiastic crowd of five thousand made it almost impossible for Lincoln to be heard. He became quite personal and emotional in his final words before friends and admirers. "Ambition has been ascribed to me," Lincoln acknowledged.

I claim no insensibility to political honors; but today could the Missouri restriction be restored, and the whole slavery question replaced on the old ground of "toleration" by necessity necessity where it exists, with unyielding hostility to the spread of it, on principle, I would, in consideration, gladly agree, that Judge Douglas should never be where it exists, with unyielding hostility to the spread of it, on principle, I would, in consideration, gladly agree, that Judge Douglas should never be out, out, and I never and I never in, in, an office, so long as we both or either, live. an office, so long as we both or either, live.

He had ended on the high road of principle.

LINCOLN VOTED EARLY in Springfield on Election Day, Tuesday, November 2, 1858. A cold rain covered the Illinois prairies and fell "incessantly" throughout the day in the state capital, turning the streets into a "horrid condition." The in Springfield on Election Day, Tuesday, November 2, 1858. A cold rain covered the Illinois prairies and fell "incessantly" throughout the day in the state capital, turning the streets into a "horrid condition." The Illinois State Journal Illinois State Journal reported that "Street fights are not as numerous as expected," but by sundown, the "city prison is nearly full." reported that "Street fights are not as numerous as expected," but by sundown, the "city prison is nearly full."

Republican candidates for the state legislature won the popular vote, 125,430 to 121,609. But Democrats won the contest for seats in the legislature by a vote of 54 to 46. Lincoln lost a split decision. It would be the legislators who would vote on January 5, 1859, and thus decide who would be the next U.S. senator. This Senate election, with its appeal to the people rather than to state legislators, was a first step on the long road toward the Seventeenth Amendment, ratified in 1913, which would call for the direct election of senators.

After monitoring the results far into the night at the telegraph office, Lincoln headed wearily for home. Some years later he recalled that on that dark and rainy evening he slipped, "but I recovered ... and I said to myself, 'It's a slip and not a fall.' " 'It's a slip and not a fall.' "

IN A POSTELECTION INQUEST on their defeat, Republicans complained about the inequities of an antiquated apportionment of various Illinois legislative districts. William Herndon wrote a long letter to Theodore Parker, a New England transcendentalist minister, detailing what he deemed were "the causes of our defeat." He blamed Horace Greeley: "His silence was his opposition;" he chastised Crittenden: "Thousands of Whigs dropped us just on the eve of the election, through the influence of Crittenden;" and he blamed the pro-slavery men who "went to a man for Douglas." Finally, Herndon blamed "thousands of roving, robbing, bloated, pock-marked Catholic Irish" imported from St. Louis and other cities. on their defeat, Republicans complained about the inequities of an antiquated apportionment of various Illinois legislative districts. William Herndon wrote a long letter to Theodore Parker, a New England transcendentalist minister, detailing what he deemed were "the causes of our defeat." He blamed Horace Greeley: "His silence was his opposition;" he chastised Crittenden: "Thousands of Whigs dropped us just on the eve of the election, through the influence of Crittenden;" and he blamed the pro-slavery men who "went to a man for Douglas." Finally, Herndon blamed "thousands of roving, robbing, bloated, pock-marked Catholic Irish" imported from St. Louis and other cities.

Lincoln did not blame anyone. If there was one person he might have blamed, it was Crittenden. The Kentucky senator wrote Lincoln on October 27, 1858, stating that the publication in several Democratic newspapers of a private letter stating why he was supporting Douglas was "unauthorized." Crittenden's letter, in the confusion of the election, had been picked up at the post office but, Lincoln said, "was handed me only this moment." Everyone around him was blaming Crittenden but, Lincoln wrote, "It never occurred to me to cast any blame upon you." In a final sentence, Lincoln expressed magnanimity in defeat. "The emotions of defeat, at the close of a struggle in which I felt more than a merely selfish interest, and to which defeat the use of your name contributed largely, are fresh upon me, but even in this mood, I can not for a moment suspect you of anything dishonorable." Lincoln's magnanimity grew in part from his ability to attribute the best motives to those who were his opponents.

The Chicago Press & Tribune, Chicago Press & Tribune, under the editors.h.i.+p of Joseph Medill and Charles Ray, said it best on November 10, 1858, five days after Election Day. under the editors.h.i.+p of Joseph Medill and Charles Ray, said it best on November 10, 1858, five days after Election Day.

Mr. Lincoln is beaten. We know of no better time than the present to congratulate him on the memorable and brilliant canva.s.s he has made. He has created for himself a national reputation that is both envied and deserved; and though he should hereafter fill no official station, he has done the cause of Truth and Justice what will always ent.i.tle him to the grat.i.tude of his party and the keen admiration of all who respect the high moral qualities, and the keen, comprehensive and sound intellectual gifts he has displayed.

On November, 19, 1858, Lincoln wrote Dr. Anson Henry, his former doctor and Whig a.s.sociate, now living in Oregon. He told his old friend, "I am glad I made the late race. It gave me a hearing on the great and durable question of the age, which I could have had in no other way, and though I sink out of view, and shall be forgotten, I believe I have made some marks which will tell for the cause of civil liberty long after I am gone."

Mathew Brady took this photograph of a beardless Lincoln, in New York to deliver his Cooper Union address. It was later called "the photograph that made Lincoln president."

CHAPTER 14.

The Taste Is Is in My Mouth, a Little 185860 in My Mouth, a Little 185860 LET US HAVE FAITH THAT RIGHT MAKES MIGHT, AND IN THAT FAITH, LET US, TO THE END, DARE TO DO OUR DUTY AS WE UNDERSTAND IT.

ABRAHAM LINCOLNCooper Union address, February 27, 1860 -N NOVEMBER 3, 1858, THE DAY AFTER LINCOLN' S DEFEAT IN THE SENATE election, Jeriah Bonham, editor of the election, Jeriah Bonham, editor of the Illinois Gazette Illinois Gazette in Lacon, asked, "What man now fills the full measure of public expectation as the statesman of to-day and of the near future, as does Abraham Lincoln? ... We believe we but express the wish of a large majority of the people that he should be the standard-bearer of the Republican Party for the presidency in 1860." in Lacon, asked, "What man now fills the full measure of public expectation as the statesman of to-day and of the near future, as does Abraham Lincoln? ... We believe we but express the wish of a large majority of the people that he should be the standard-bearer of the Republican Party for the presidency in 1860."

Three days later, the Commercial Register Commercial Register of Sandusky, Ohio, carried a brief notice: "An enthusiastic meeting is in progress here to-night in favor of Lincoln for the next Republican candidate for President." of Sandusky, Ohio, carried a brief notice: "An enthusiastic meeting is in progress here to-night in favor of Lincoln for the next Republican candidate for President."

These first calls for Lincoln to run for president came from smalltown, little-known newspapers. But on November 10, 1858, only a week after Lincoln's defeat, the Chicago Tribune Chicago Tribune printed the printed the Commercial Register's Commercial Register's announcement without comment in the "Personal and Political" column of its popular weekly edition. The following day, the announcement without comment in the "Personal and Political" column of its popular weekly edition. The following day, the Chicago Democrat Chicago Democrat stated that Illinois should "present his [Lincoln's] name to the National Republican Convention, first for President, and next for Vice President." The stated that Illinois should "present his [Lincoln's] name to the National Republican Convention, first for President, and next for Vice President." The Illinois State Journal Illinois State Journal of Springfield printed the "Lincoln for President" story from Sandusky on November 13, 1858, but it was buried in the "City Items and Other Matters" column without editorial comment. of Springfield printed the "Lincoln for President" story from Sandusky on November 13, 1858, but it was buried in the "City Items and Other Matters" column without editorial comment.

Other newspapers would add their approbation at the end of 1858, but the speculation about Lincoln's future in higher office often was as much about praising him for what he had accomplished in the debates in 1858 as about what he might achieve in 1860. Some of this commendation mentioned Lincoln at the end of a list of potential candidates, which usually started with Senator William H. Seward of New York and Senator Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, and often included Edward G. Bates of Missouri and Senator Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania.

AT DUSK ON A COLD DECEMBER DAY, as Lincoln was leaving the McLean County courthouse in Bloomington, Jesse Fell, lawyer, land speculator, and the founder of the Bloomington Pantagraph, Bloomington Pantagraph, met him on the south side of the public square. Fell asked whether he could have a word in his brother Kersey's law office. Fell and Lincoln had roomed together as members of the state legislature at Vandalia in the early 1830s. He had been one of the organizers of the Republican convention in Bloomington in 1856. He nominated Lincoln for the Senate in June 1858, and was secretary of the Republican State Committee. As the two sat amid calf-bound legal books, Fell told Lincoln he had recently returned from an extensive trip to Pennsylvania, New York, and New England. Everywhere he traveled he found people asking the question: "Who is this man Lincoln?" Fell responded that there were two giants in Illinois, a little one they knew, "but that you were the big one they didn't all know." met him on the south side of the public square. Fell asked whether he could have a word in his brother Kersey's law office. Fell and Lincoln had roomed together as members of the state legislature at Vandalia in the early 1830s. He had been one of the organizers of the Republican convention in Bloomington in 1856. He nominated Lincoln for the Senate in June 1858, and was secretary of the Republican State Committee. As the two sat amid calf-bound legal books, Fell told Lincoln he had recently returned from an extensive trip to Pennsylvania, New York, and New England. Everywhere he traveled he found people asking the question: "Who is this man Lincoln?" Fell responded that there were two giants in Illinois, a little one they knew, "but that you were the big one they didn't all know."

Fell told Lincoln he could become a viable candidate for president in 1860, but it was critical that his name become better known in the East, especially in Pennsylvania. He knew from his wide-ranging contacts that Seward, thought by many to be the leading candidate for the Republican nomination for president, was not popular in Pennsylvania. If Pennsylvania, and several other states in the East, were to rally behind Lincoln, they would first need to know more about him. Fell proposed that Lincoln write an autobiographical statement to be published in several Eastern newspapers.

"Oh, Fell, what's the use talking of me for the Presidency," Lincoln replied, "whilst we have such men as Seward, Chase, and others, who are so much better known to the people?" Lincoln told Fell, "Everybody knows them. n.o.body, scarcely, outside of Illinois, knows me." Fell was particularly struck by what Lincoln said next. "Beside, is it not, as a matter of justice, due to such men, who have carried this movement forward to its present status, in spite of fearful opposition, personal abuse, and hard names?"

Lincoln concluded, "I admit the force of much that you say, and admit that I am ambitious, and would like to be President; I am not insensible to the compliment you pay me, and the interest you manifest in the matter, but there is no such good luck in store for me, as the Presidency of these United States." Besides, "there is nothing in my early history that would interest you or anybody else." With these words, Lincoln put on his "dilapidated" shawl and walked out into the darkness.

At the very moment that Lincoln was saying no to Fell's initiative, he was taking his own initiative to publish his personal sc.r.a.pbook of the debates. Throughout the summer and fall of 1858, Lincoln, by scissors and paste, had placed in a two-hundred-page sc.r.a.pbook the texts of speeches and debates, primarily from the Chicago Press and Tribune Chicago Press and Tribune and the and the Chicago Times. Chicago Times. On virtually every page, he wrote in his distinctive handwriting t.i.tles, captions, a variety of notes, and corrections to the texts. Four days after he met with Fell, he told Henry C. Whitney, "There is some probability that my Sc.r.a.p-book will be reprinted." On virtually every page, he wrote in his distinctive handwriting t.i.tles, captions, a variety of notes, and corrections to the texts. Four days after he met with Fell, he told Henry C. Whitney, "There is some probability that my Sc.r.a.p-book will be reprinted."