Judge T. Lyle Dickey of Illinois related that when the excitement
over the Kansas Nebraska bill first broke out, he was with Lincoln and
several friends attending court. One evening several persons, including
himself and Lincoln, were discussing the slavery question. Judge
Dickey contended that slavery was an institution which the Constitution
recognized, and which could not be disturbed. Lincoln argued that
ultimately slavery must become extinct. “After awhile,” said Judge
Dickey, “we went upstairs to bed. There were two beds in our room, and
I remember that Lincoln sat up in his night shirt on the edge of the
bed arguing the point with me. At last we went to sleep. Early in
the morning I woke up and there was Lincoln half sitting up in bed.
‘Dickey,’ said he, ‘I tell you this nation cannot exist half slave and
half free.’ ‘Oh, Lincoln,’ said I, ‘go to sleep.”’