THE JOINT DEBATES WITH LINCOLN
National politics made strange bed-fellows in the winter of 1857-8.
Douglas consorting with Republicans and flouting the administration,
was a rare spectacle. There was a moment in this odd alliance when it
seemed likely to become more than a temporary fusion of interests. The
need of concerted action brought about frequent conferences, in which
the distrust of men like Wilson and Colfax was, in a measure,
dispelled by the engaging frankness of their quondam opponent.[669]
Douglas intimated that in all probability he could not act with his
party in future.[670] He assured Wilson that he was in the fight to
stay--in his own words, "he had checked his baggage and taken a
through ticket."[671] There was an odd disposition, too, on the part
of some Republicans to indorse popular sovereignty, now that it seemed
likely to exclude slavery from the Territories.[672] There was even a
rumor afloat that the editor of the New York _Tribune_ favored Douglas
for the presidency.[673] On at least two occasions, Greeley was in
conference with Senator Douglas at the latter's residence. To the
gossiping public this was evidence enough that the rumor was correct.
And it may well be that Douglas dallied with the hope that a great
Constitutional Union party might be formed.[674] But he could hardly
have received much encouragement from the Republicans, with whom he
was consorting, for so far from losing their political identity, they
calculated upon bringing him eventually within the Republican
fold.[675]
A Constitutional Union party, embracing Northern and Southern
Unionists of Whig or Democratic antecedents, might have supplied the
gap left by the old Whig party. That such a party would have exercised
a profound nationalizing influence can scarcely be doubted. Events
might have put Douglas at the head of such a party. But, in truth,
such an outcome of the political chaos which then reigned, was a
remote possibility.
The matter of immediate concern to Douglas was the probable attitude
of his allies toward his re-election to the Senate. There was a wide
divergence among Republican leaders; but active politicians like
Greeley and Wilson, who were not above fighting the devil with his own
weapons, counselled their Illinois brethren not to oppose his
return.[676] There was no surer way to disrupt the Democratic party.
In spite of these admonitions, the Republicans of Illinois were bent
upon defeating Douglas. He had been too uncompromising and bitter an
opponent of Trumbull and other "Black Republicans" to win their
confidence by a few months of conflict against Lecomptonism. "I see
his tracks all over our State," wrote the editor of the Chicago
_Tribune_, "they point only in one direction; not a single toe is
turned toward the Republican camp. Watch him, use him, but do not
trust him--not an inch."[677] Moreover, a little coterie of
Springfield politicians had a candidate of their own for United States
senator in the person of Abraham Lincoln.[678]
The action of the Democratic State convention in April closed the door
to any reconciliation with the Buchanan administration. Douglas
received an unqualified indorsement. The Cincinnati platform was
declared to be "the only authoritative exposition of Democratic
doctrine." No power on earth except a similar national convention had
a right "to change or interpolate that platform, or to prescribe new
or different tests." By sound party doctrine the Lecompton
constitution ought to be "submitted to the direct vote of the actual
inhabitants of Kansas at a fair election."[679] Could any words have
been more explicit? The administration responded by a merciless
proscription of Douglas office-holders and by unremitting efforts to
create an opposition ticket. Under pressure from Washington,
conventions were held to nominate candidates for the various State
offices, with the undisguised purpose of dividing the Democratic vote
for senator.[680]
On the 16th of June, the Republicans of Illinois threw advice to the
winds and adopted the unusual course of naming Lincoln as "the first
and only choice of the Republicans of Illinois for the United States
Senate." It was an act of immense political significance. Not only did
it put in jeopardy the political life of Douglas, but it ended for all
time to come any coalition between his following and the Republican
party.
The subsequent fame of Lincoln has irradiated every phase of his early
career. To his contemporaries in the year 1858, he was a lawyer of
recognized ability, an astute politician, and a frank aspirant for
national honors. Those who imagine him to have been an unambitious
soul, upon whom honors were thrust, fail to understand the Lincoln
whom Herndon, his partner, knew. Lincoln was a seasoned politician. He
had been identified with the old Whig organization; he had repeatedly
represented the Springfield district in the State legislature; and he
had served one term without distinction in Congress. Upon the passage
of the Kansas-Nebraska Act he had taken an active part in fusing the
opposing elements into the Republican party. His services to the new
party made him a candidate for the senatorship in 1855, and received
recognition in the national Republican convention of 1856, when he was
second on the list of those for whom the convention balloted for
Vice-president. He was not unknown to Republicans of the Northwest,
though he was not in any sense a national figure. Few men had a keener
insight into political conditions in Illinois. None knew better the
ins and outs of political campaigning in Illinois.
Withal, Lincoln was rated as a man of integrity. He had strong
convictions and the courage of his convictions. His generous instincts
made him hate slavery, while his antecedents prevented him from loving
the negro. His anti-slavery sentiments were held strongly in check by
his sound sense of justice. He had the temperament of a humanitarian
with the intellect of a lawyer. While not combative by nature, he
possessed the characteristic American trait of measuring himself by
the attainments of others. He was solicitous to match himself with
other men so as to prove himself at least their peer. Possessed of a
cause that enlisted the service of his heart as well as his head,
Lincoln was a strong advocate at the bar and a formidable opponent on
the stump. Douglas bore true witness to Lincoln's powers when he said,
on hearing of his nomination, "I shall have my hands full. He is the
strong man of his party--full of wit, facts, dates--and the best stump
speaker, with his droll ways and dry jokes, in the West. He is as
honest as he is shrewd; and if I beat him, my victory will be hardly
won."[681]
The nomination of Lincoln was so little a matter of surprise to him
and his friends, that at the close of the convention he was able to
address the delegates in a carefully prepared speech. Wishing to sound
a dominant note for the campaign, he began with these memorable words:
"If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we
could better judge what to do and how to do it. We are now far into
the fifth year, since a policy was initiated with the avowed object,
and confident promise, of putting an end to slavery agitation. Under
the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only not ceased,
but has constantly augmented. In my opinion, it will not cease, until
a crisis shall have been reached and passed. 'A house divided against
itself cannot stand.' I believe this government cannot endure
permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be
dissolved--I do not expect the house to fall--but I do expect it will
cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other.
Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it,
and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is
in the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it
forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as
well as new--North as well as South."[682]
All evidence, continued Lincoln, pointed to a design to make slavery
national. The Kansas-Nebraska Act, the popular indorsement of
Buchanan, and the Dred Scott decision, were so many parts of a plot.
Only one part was lacking; _viz._ another decision declaring it
unconstitutional for a State to exclude slavery. Then the fabric would
be complete for which Stephen, Franklin, Roger, and James had each
wrought his separate piece with artful cunning. It was impossible not
to believe that these Democratic leaders had labored in concert. To
those who had urged that Douglas should be supported, Lincoln had only
this to say: Douglas could not oppose the advance of slavery, for he
did not care whether slavery was voted up or down. His avowed purpose
was to make the people care nothing about slavery. The Republican
cause must not be intrusted to its adventitious allies, but to its
undoubted friends.
A welcome that was truly royal awaited Douglas in Chicago. On his way
thither, he was met by a delegation which took him a willing captive
and conducted him on a special train to his destination. Along the
route there was every sign of popular enthusiasm. He entered the city
amid the booming of cannon; he was conveyed to his hotel in a
carriage drawn by six horses, under military escort; banners with
flattering inscriptions fluttered above his head; from balconies and
windows he heard the shouts of thousands.[683]
Even more flattering if possible was the immense crowd that thronged
around the Tremont House in the early evening to hear his promised
speech. Not only the area in front of the hotel, but the adjoining
streets were crowded. Illuminations and fireworks cast a lurid light
on the faces which were upturned to greet the "Defender of Popular
Sovereignty," as he appeared upon the balcony. A man of far less
vanity would have been moved by the scene. Just behind the speaker but
within the house, Lincoln was an attentive listener.[684] The presence
of his rival put Douglas on his mettle. He took in good part a rather
discourteous interruption by Lincoln, and referred to him in generous
terms, as "a kind, amiable, and intelligent gentleman, a good citizen,
and an honorable opponent."[685]
The address was in a somewhat egotistical vein--pardonably egotistical,
considering the extraordinary circumstances. Douglas could not refrain
from referring to his career since he had confronted that excited crowd
in Chicago eight years before, in defense of the compromise measures.
To his mind the events of those eight years had amply vindicated the
great principle of popular sovereignty. Knowing that he was in a
Republican stronghold, he dwelt with particular complacency upon the
manful way in which the Republican party had come to the support of
that principle, in the recent anti-Lecompton fight. It was this
fundamental right of self-government that he had championed through
good and ill report, all these years. It was this, and this alone,
which had governed his action in regard to the Lecompton fraud. It was
not because the Lecompton constitution was a slave constitution, but
because it was not the act and deed of the people of Kansas that he had
condemned it. "Whenever," said he, "you put a limitation upon the right
of a people to decide what laws they want, you have destroyed the
fundamental principle of self-government."
With Lincoln's house-divided-against-itself proposition, he took issue
unqualifiedly. "Mr. Lincoln asserts, as a fundamental principle of
this government, that there must be uniformity in the local laws and
domestic institutions of each and all the States of the Union, and he
therefore invites all the non-slaveholding States to band together,
organize as one body, and make war upon slavery in Kentucky, upon
slavery in Virginia, upon slavery in the Carolinas, upon slavery in
all of the slave-holding States in this Union, and to persevere in
that war until it shall be exterminated. He then notifies the
slave-holding States to stand together as a unit and make an
aggressive war upon the free States of this Union with a view of
establishing slavery in them all; of forcing it upon Illinois, of
forcing it upon New York, upon New England, and upon every other free
State, and that they shall keep up the warfare until it has been
formally established in them all. In other words, Mr. Lincoln
advocates boldly and clearly a war of sections, a war of the North
against the South, of the free States against the slave States--a war
of extermination--to be continued relentlessly until the one or the
other shall be subdued, and all the States shall either become free or
become slave."[686]
But such uniformity in local institutions would be possible only by
blotting out State Sovereignty, by merging all the States in one
consolidated empire, and by vesting Congress with plenary power to
make all the police regulations, domestic and local laws, uniform
throughout the Republic. The framers of our government knew well
enough that differences in soil, in products, and in interests,
required different local and domestic regulations in each locality;
and they organized the Federal government on this fundamental
assumption.[687]
With Lincoln's other proposition Douglas also took issue. He refused
to enter upon any crusade against the Supreme Court. "I do not choose,
therefore, to go into any argument with Mr. Lincoln in reviewing the
various decisions which the Supreme Court has made, either upon the
Dred Scott case, or any other. I have no idea of appealing from the
decision of the Supreme Court upon a constitutional question to the
decision of a tumultuous town meeting."[688]
Neither could Douglas agree with his opponent in objecting to the
decision of the Supreme Court because it deprived the negro of the
rights, privileges, and immunities of citizenship, which pertained
only to the white race. Our government was founded on a white basis.
"It was made by the white man, for the benefit of the white man, to be
administered by white men." To be sure, a negro, an Indian, or any
other man of inferior race should be permitted to enjoy all the
rights, privileges, and immunities consistent with the safety of
society; but each State should decide for itself the nature and extent
of these rights.
On the next evening, Republican Chicago greeted its protagonist with
much the same demonstrations, as he took his place on the balcony from
which Douglas had spoken. Lincoln found the flaw in Douglas's armor at
the outset. "Popular sovereignty! Everlasting popular sovereignty!
What is popular sovereignty"? How could there be such a thing in the
original sense, now that the Supreme Court had decided that the people
in their territorial status might not prohibit slavery? And as for the
right of the people to frame a constitution, who had ever disputed
that right? But Lincoln, evidently troubled by Douglas's vehement
deductions from the house-divided-against-itself proposition, soon
fell back upon the defensive, where he was at a great disadvantage. He
was forced to explain that he did not favor a war by the North upon
the South for the extinction of slavery; nor a war by the South upon
the North for the nationalization of slavery. "I only said what I
expected would take place. I made a prediction only,--it may have been
a foolish one, perhaps. I did not even say that I desired that slavery
should be put in course of ultimate extinction. I do say so now,
however."[689] He _believed_ that slavery had endured, because until
the Nebraska Act the public mind had rested in the conviction that
slavery would ultimately disappear. In affirming that the opponents of
slavery would arrest its further extension, he only meant to say that
they would put it where the fathers originally placed it. He was not
in favor of interfering with slavery where it existed in the States.
As to the charge that he was inviting people to resist the Dred Scott
decision, Lincoln responded rather weakly--again laying himself open
to attack--"We mean to do what we can to have the court decide the
other way."[690]
Lincoln also betrayed his fear lest Douglas should draw Republican
votes. Knowing the strong anti-slavery sentiment of the region, he
asked when Douglas had shown anything but indifference on the subject
of slavery. Away with this quibbling about inferior races! "Let us
discard all these things and unite as one people throughout this land,
until we shall once more stand up declaring that all men are created
equal."[691]
From Chicago Douglas journeyed like a conquering hero to Bloomington.
At every station crowds gathered to see his gaily decorated train and
to catch a glimpse of the famous senator. A platform car bearing a
twelve-pound gun was attached to the train and everywhere "popular
sovereignty," as the cannon was dubbed, heralded his arrival.[692] On
the evening of July 16th he addressed a large gathering in the open
air; and again he had among his auditors, Abraham Lincoln, who was hot
upon his trail.[693] The county and district in which Bloomington was
situated had once been strongly Whig; but was now as strongly
Republican. With the local conditions in mind, Douglas made an artful
plea for support. He gratefully acknowledged the aid of the
Republicans in the recent anti-Lecompton fight, and of that worthy
successor of the immortal Clay, John J. Crittenden of Kentucky. After
all, was it not a common principle for which they had been contending?
"My friends," said Douglas with engaging ingenuousness, "when I am
battling for a great principle, I want aid and support from whatever
quarter I can get it." Pity, then, that Republican politicians, in
order to defeat him, should form an alliance with Lecompton men and
thus betray the cause![694]
Douglas called attention to Lincoln's explanation of his
house-divided-against-itself argument. It still seemed to him to
invite a war of sections. Mr. Lincoln had said that he had no wish to
see the people _enter into_ the Southern States and interfere with
slavery: for his part, he was equally opposed to a sectional agitation
to control the institutions of other States.[695] Again, Mr. Lincoln
had said that he proposed, so far as in him lay, to secure a reversal
of the Dred Scott decision. How, asked Douglas, will he accomplish
this? There can be but one way: elect a Republican President who will
pack the bench with Republican justices. Would a court so constituted
command respect?[696]
As to the effect of the Dred Scott decision upon slavery in the
Territories, Douglas had only this to say: "With or without that
decision, slavery will go just where the people want it, and not one
inch further." "Hence, if the people of a Territory want slavery, they
will encourage it by passing affirmatory laws, and the necessary
police regulations, patrol laws, and slave code; if they do not want
it they will withhold that legislation, and by withholding it slavery
is as dead as if it was prohibited by a constitutional prohibition,
especially if, in addition, their legislation is unfriendly, as it
would be if they were opposed to it. They could pass such local laws
and police regulations as would drive slavery out in one day, or one
hour, if they were opposed to it, and therefore, so far as the
question of slavery in the Territories is concerned, so far as the
principle of popular sovereignty is concerned, in its practical
operation, it matters not how the Dred Scott case may be decided with
reference to the Territories."[697]
The closing words of the speech approached dangerously near to bathos.
Douglas pictured himself standing beside the deathbed of Clay and
pledging his life to the advocacy of the great principle expressed in
the compromise measures of 1850, and later in the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Strangely enough he had given the same pledge to "the god-like
Webster."[698] This filial reverence for Clay and Webster, whom
Douglas had fought with all the weapons of partisan warfare, must have
puzzled those Whigs in his audience who were guileless enough to
accept such statements at their face value.
Devoted partisans accompanied Douglas to Springfield, on the following
day. In spite of the frequent downpours of rain and the sultry
atmosphere, their enthusiasm never once flagged. On board the same
train, surrounded by good-natured enemies, was Lincoln, who was also
to speak at the capital.[699] Douglas again found a crowd awaiting
him. He had much the same things to say. Perhaps his arraignment of
Lincoln's policy was somewhat more severe, but he turned the edges of
his thrusts by a courteous reference to his opponent, "with whom he
anticipated no personal collision." For the first time he alluded to
Lincoln's charge of conspiracy, but only to remark casually, "If Mr.
Lincoln deems me a conspirator of that kind, all I have to say is that
I do not think so badly of the President of the United States, and the
Supreme Court of the United States, the highest judicial tribunal on
earth, as to believe that they were capable in their actions and
decision of entering into political intrigues for partisan
purposes."[700]
Meantime Lincoln, addressing a Republican audience, was relating his
recent experiences in the enemy's camp. Believing that he had
discovered the line of attack, he sought to fortify his position. He
did not contemplate the abolition of State legislatures, nor any such
radical policy, any more than the fathers of the Republic did, when
they sought to check the spread of slavery by prohibiting it in the
Territories.[701] He did not propose to resist the Dred Scott decision
except as a rule of political action.[702] Here in Sangamon County, he
was somewhat less insistent upon negro equality. The negro was not the
equal of the white man in all respects, to be sure; "still, in the
right to put into his mouth the bread that his own hands have earned,
he is the equal of every other man, white or black."[703]
As matters stood, Douglas had the advantage of Lincoln, since with his
national prominence and his great popularity, he was always sure of
an audience, and could reply as he chose to the attacks of his
antagonist. Lincoln felt that he must come to close terms with Douglas
and extort from him admissions which would discredit him with
Republicans. With this end in view, Lincoln suggested that they
"divide time, and address the same audiences the present
canvass."[704] It was obviously to Douglas's interest to continue the
campaign as he had begun. He had already mapped out an extensive
itinerary. He therefore replied that he could not agree to such an
arrangement, owing to appointments already made and to the possibility
of a third candidate with whom Lincoln might make common cause. He
intimated, rather unfairly, that Lincoln had purposely waited until he
was already bound by his appointments. However, he would accede to the
proposal so far as to meet Lincoln in a joint discussion in each
congressional district except the second and sixth, in which both had
already spoken.[705]
It was not such a letter as one would expect from a generous opponent.
But politics was no pastime to the writer. He was sparring now in
deadly earnest, for every advantage. Not unnaturally Lincoln resented
the imputation of unfairness; but he agreed to the proposal of seven
joint debates. Douglas then named the times and places; and Lincoln
agreed to the terms, rather grudgingly, for he would have but three
openings and closings to Douglas's four.[706] Still, as he had
followed Douglas in Chicago, he had no reason to complain.
The next three months may be regarded as a prolonged debate,
accentuated by the seven joint discussions. The rival candidates
traversed much the same territory, and addressed much the same
audiences on successive days. At times, chance made them
fellow-passengers on the same train or steamboat. Douglas had already
begun his itinerary, when Lincoln's last note reached him in Piatt
County.[707] He had just spoken at Clinton, in De Witt County, and
again he had found Lincoln in the audience.
No general ever planned a military campaign with greater regard to the
topography of the enemy's country, than Douglas plotted his campaign
in central Illinois. For it was in the central counties that the
election was to be won or lost. The Republican strength lay in the
upper, northern third of the State; the Democratic strength, in the
southern third. The doubtful area lay between Ottawa on the north and
Belleville on the south; Oquawka on the northwest and Paris on the
east. Only twice did Douglas make any extended tour outside this area:
once to meet his appointment with Lincoln at Freeport; and once to
engage in the third joint debate at Jonesboro.
The first week in August found Douglas speaking at various points
along the Illinois River to enthusiastic crowds. Lincoln followed
closely after, bent upon weakening the force of his opponent's
arguments by lodging an immediate demurrer against them. On the whole,
Douglas drew the larger crowds; but it was observed that Lincoln's
audiences increased as he proceeded northward. Ottawa was the
objective point for both travelers, for there was to be held the first
joint debate on August 21st.
An enormous crowd awaited them. From sunrise to mid-day men, women,
and children had poured into town, in every sort of conveyance. It was
a typical midsummer day in Illinois. The prairie roads were thoroughly
baked by the sun, and the dust rose, like a fine powder, from beneath
the feet of horses and pedestrians, enveloping all in blinding clouds.
A train of seventeen cars had brought ardent supporters of Douglas
from Chicago. The town was gaily decked; the booming of cannon
resounded across the prairie; bands of music added to the excitement
of the occasion. The speakers were escorted to the public square by
two huge processions. So eager was the crowd that it was with much
difficulty, and no little delay, that Lincoln and Douglas, the
committee men, and the reporters, were landed on the platform.[708]
For the first time in the campaign, the rival candidates were placed
side by side. The crowd instinctively took its measure of the two men.
They presented a striking contrast:[709] Lincoln, tall, angular, and
long of limb; Douglas, short, almost dwarfed by comparison,
broad-shouldered and thick-chested. Lincoln was clad in a frock coat
of rusty black, which was evidently not made for his lank, ungainly
body. His sleeves did not reach his wrists by several inches, and his
trousers failed to conceal his huge feet. His long, sinewy neck
emerged from a white collar, drawn over a black tie. Altogether, his
appearance bordered upon the grotesque, and would have provoked mirth
in any other than an Illinois audience, which knew and respected the
man too well to mark his costume. Douglas, on the contrary, presented
a well-groomed figure. He wore a well-fitting suit of broadcloth; his
linen was immaculate; and altogether he had the appearance of a man of
the world whom fortune had favored.
The eyes of the crowd, however, sought rather the faces of the rival
candidates. Lincoln looked down upon them with eyes in which there was
an expression of sadness, not to say melancholy, until he lost himself
in the passion of his utterance. There was not a regular feature in
his face. The deep furrows that seamed his countenance bore
unmistakable witness to a boyhood of grim poverty and grinding toil.
Douglas surveyed the crowd from beneath his shaggy brows, with bold,
penetrating gaze. Every feature of his face bespoke power. The
deep-set eyes; the dark, almost sinister, line between them; the mouth
with its tightly-drawn lips; the deep lines on his somewhat puffy
cheeks--all gave the impression of a masterful nature, accustomed to
bear down opposition. As men observed his massive brow with its mane
of abundant, dark hair; his strong neck; his short, compact body; they
instinctively felt that here was a personality not lightly to be
encountered. He was "the very embodiment of force, combativeness, and
staying power."[710]
When Douglas, by agreement, opened the debate, he was fully conscious
that he was addressing an audience which was in the main hostile to
him. With the instinct of a born stump speaker, he sought first to
find common ground with his hearers. Appealing to the history of
parties, he pointed out the practical agreement of both Whig and
Democratic parties on the slavery question down to 1854. It was when,
in accordance with the Compromise of 1850, he brought in the
Kansas-Nebraska bill, that Lincoln and Trumbull entered into an
agreement to dissolve the old parties in Illinois and to form an
Abolition party under the pseudonym "Republican." The terms of the
alliance were that Lincoln should have Senator Shields' place in the
Senate, and that Trumbull should have Douglas's, when his term should
expire.[711] History, thus interpreted, made not Douglas, but his
opponent, the real agitator in State politics.
Douglas then read from the first platform of the Black Republicans.
"My object in reading these resolutions," he said, "was to put the
question to Abraham Lincoln this day, whether he now stands and will
stand by each article in that creed and carry it out. I desire to know
whether Mr. Lincoln to-day stands, as he did in 1854, in favor of the
unconditional repeal of the Fugitive Slave law. I desire him to answer
whether he stands pledged to-day, as he did in 1854, against the
admission of any more slave States into the Union, even if the people
want them. I want to know whether he stands pledged against the
admission of a new State into the Union with such a Constitution as
the people of that State may see fit to make. I want to know whether
he stands to-day pledged to the abolition of slavery in the District
of Columbia. I desire him to answer whether he stands pledged to the
prohibition of the slave trade between the different States. I desire
to know whether he stands pledged to prohibit slavery in all the
Territories of the United States, North as well as South of the
Missouri Compromise line. I desire him to answer whether he is opposed
to the acquisition of any more territory, unless slavery is prohibited
therein."[712]
In all this there was a rude vehemence and coarse insinuation that was
regrettable; yet Douglas sought to soften the asperity of his manner,
by adding that he did not mean to be disrespectful or unkind to Mr.
Lincoln. He had known Mr. Lincoln for twenty-five years. While he was
a school-teacher, Lincoln was a flourishing grocery-keeper. Lincoln
was always more successful in business; Lincoln always did well
whatever he undertook; Lincoln could beat any of the boys wrestling or
running a foot-race; Lincoln could ruin more liquor than all the boys
of the town together. When in Congress, Lincoln had distinguished
himself by his opposition to the Mexican War, taking the side of the
enemy against his own country.[713] If this disparagement of an
opponent seems mean and ungenerous, let it be remembered that in the
rough give-and-take of Illinois politics, hard hitting was to be
expected. Lincoln had invited counter-blows by first charging Douglas
with conspiracy. No mere reading of cold print can convey the virile
energy with which Douglas spoke. The facial expression, the animated
gesture, the toss of the head, and the stamp of the foot, the full,
resonant voice--all are wanting.
To a man of Lincoln's temperament, this vigorous invective was
indescribably irritating. Rather unwisely he betrayed his vexation in
his first words. His manner was constrained. He seemed awkward and ill
at ease, but as he warmed to his task, his face became more animated,
he recovered the use of his arms, and he pointed his remarks with
forceful gestures. His voice, never pleasant, rose to a shrill treble
in moments of excitement. After the familiar manner of Western
speakers of that day, he was wont to bend his knees and then rise to
his full height with a jerk, to enforce some point.[714] Yet with all
his ungraceful mannerisms, Lincoln held his hearers, impressing most
men with a sense of the honesty of his convictions.
Instead of replying categorically to Douglas's questions, Lincoln read
a long extract from a speech which he had made in 1854, to show his
attitude then toward the Fugitive Slave Act. He denied that he had had
anything to do with the resolutions which had been read. He believed
that he was not even in Springfield at the time when they were
adopted.[715] As for the charge that he favored the social and
political equality of the black and white races, he said, "Anything
that argues me into his idea of perfect social and political equality
with the negro, is but a specious and fantastic arrangement of words,
by which a man can prove a horse-chestnut to be a chestnut horse.... I
have no purpose to introduce political and social equality between the
white and the black races. There is a physical difference between the
two, which, in my judgment, will probably forever forbid their living
together upon the footing of perfect equality ... notwithstanding all
this, there is no reason in the world why the negro is not entitled to
all the natural rights enumerated in the Declaration of
Independence,--the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness."[716] Slavery had always been, and would always be, "an
apple of discord and an element of division in the house." He
disclaimed all intention of making war upon Southern institutions, yet
he was still firm in the belief that the public mind would not be easy
until slavery was put where the fathers left it. He reminded his
hearers that Douglas had said nothing to clear himself from the
suspicion of having been party to a conspiracy to nationalize slavery.
Judge Douglas was not always so ready as now to yield obedience to
judicial decisions, as anyone might see who chose to inquire how he
earned his title.[717]
In his reply, Douglas endeavored to refresh Lincoln's memory in
respect to the resolutions. They were adopted while he was in
Springfield, for it was the season of the State Fair, when both had
spoken at the Capitol. He had not charged Mr. Lincoln with having
helped to frame these resolutions, but with having been a responsible
leader of the party which had adopted them as its platform. Was Mr.
Lincoln trying to dodge the questions? Douglas refused to allow
himself to be put upon the defensive in the matter of the alleged
conspiracy, since Lincoln had acknowledged that he did not know it to
be true. He would brand it as a lie and let Lincoln prove it if he
could.[718]
At the conclusion of the debate, two young farmers, in their exuberant
enthusiasm, rushed forward, seized Lincoln in spite of his
remonstrances, and carried him off upon their stalwart shoulders. "It
was really a ludicrous sight," writes an eye-witness,[719] "to see
the grotesque figure holding frantically to the heads of his
supporters, with his legs dangling from their shoulders, and his
pantaloons pulled up so as to expose his underwear almost to his
knees." Douglas was not slow in using this incident to the
discomfiture of his opponent. "Why," he said at Joliet, "the very
notice that I was going to take him down to Egypt made him tremble in
his knees so that he had to be carried from the platform. He laid up
seven days, and in the meantime held a consultation with his political
physicians,"[720] etc. Strangely enough, Lincoln with all his sense of
humor took this badinage seriously, and accused Douglas of telling a
falsehood.[721]
The impression prevailed that Douglas had cornered Lincoln by his
adroit use of the Springfield resolutions of 1854. Within a week,
however, an editorial in the Chicago _Press and Tribune_ reversed the
popular verdict, by pronouncing the resolutions a forgery. The
Republicans were jubilant. "The Little Dodger" had cornered himself.
The Democrats were chagrined. Douglas was thoroughly nonplussed. He
had written to Lanphier for precise information regarding these
resolutions, and he had placed implicit confidence in the reply of his
friend. It now transpired that they were the work of a local
convention in Kane County.[722] Could any blunder have been more
unfortunate?
When the contestants met at Freeport, far in the solid Republican
counties of the North, Lincoln was ready with his answers to the
questions propounded by Douglas at Ottawa. In most respects Lincoln
was clear and explicit. While not giving an unqualified approval of
the Fugitive Slave Law, he was not in favor of its repeal; while
believing that Congress possessed the power to abolish slavery in the
District of Columbia, he favored abolition only on condition that it
should be gradual, acceptable to a majority of the voters of the
District, and compensatory to unwilling owners; he would favor the
abolition of the slave-trade between the States only upon similar
conservative principles; he believed it, however, to be the right and
duty of Congress to prohibit slavery in all the Territories; he was
not opposed to the honest acquisition of territory, provided that it
would not aggravate the slavery question. The really crucial
questions, Lincoln did not face so unequivocally. Was he opposed to
the admission of more slave States? Would he oppose the admission of a
new State with such a constitution as the people of that State should
see fit to make?
Lincoln answered hesitatingly: "In regard to the other question, of
whether I am pledged to the admission of any more slave States into
the Union, I state to you very frankly that I would be exceedingly
sorry ever to be put in a position of having to pass upon that
question. I should be exceedingly glad to know that there would never
be another slave State admitted into the Union; but I must add, that
if slavery shall be kept out of the Territories during the territorial
existence of any one given Territory, and then the people shall,
having a fair chance and a clear field, when they come to adopt the
Constitution, do such an extraordinary thing as to adopt a slave
Constitution, uninfluenced by the actual presence of the institution
among them, I see no alternative, if we own the country, but to admit
them into the Union."[723]
It was now Lincoln's turn to catechise his opponent. He had prepared
four questions, the second of which caused his friends some
misgivings.[724] It read: "Can the people of a United States
Territory, in any lawful way, against the wish of any citizen of the
United States, exclude slavery from its limits prior to the formation
of a State Constitution?"
Lincoln knew well enough that Douglas held to the power of the people
practically to exclude slavery, regardless of the decision of the
Supreme Court; Douglas had said as much in his hearing at Bloomington.
What he desired to extort from Douglas was his opinion of the legality
of such action in view of the Dred Scott decision. Should Douglas
answer in the negative, popular sovereignty would become an empty
phrase; should he answer in the affirmative, he would put himself, so
Lincoln calculated, at variance with Southern Democrats, who claimed
that the people of a Territory were now inhibited from any such power
over slave property. In the latter event, Lincoln proposed to give
such publicity to Douglas's reply as to make any future evasion or
retraction impossible.[725]
Douglas faced the critical question without the slightest hesitation.
"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 Constitution, the people have the lawful means to
introduce it or exclude it as they please, for the reason that slavery
cannot exist a day or an hour anywhere, unless it is supported by
local police regulations. Those police regulations can only be
established by the local legislature; and if the people are opposed to
slavery, they will elect representatives to that body who will by
unfriendly legislation effectually prevent the introduction of it into
their midst. If, on the contrary, they are for it, their legislation
will favor its extension. Hence, no matter what the decision of the
Supreme Court may be on that abstract question, still the right of the
people to make a slave Territory or a free Territory is perfect and
complete under the Nebraska Bill. I hope Mr. Lincoln deems my answer
satisfactory on that point"[726]
The other three questions involved less risk for the advocate of
popular sovereignty. He would vote to admit Kansas without the
requisite population for representation in Congress, if the people
should frame an unobjectionable constitution. He would prefer a
general rule on this point, but since Congress had decided that Kansas
had enough people to form a slave State, she surely had enough to
constitute a free State. He scouted the imputation in the third
question, that the Supreme Court could so far violate the Constitution
as to decide that a State could not exclude slavery from its own
limits. He would always vote for the acquisition of new territory,
when it was needed, irrespective of the question of slavery.[727]
Smarting under Lincoln's animadversions respecting the Springfield
resolutions, Douglas explained his error by quoting from a copy of the
Illinois _State Register_, which had printed the resolutions as the
work of the convention at the capital. He gave notice that he would
investigate the matter, "when he got down to Springfield." At all
events there was ample proof that the resolutions were a faithful
exposition of Republican doctrine in the year 1854. Douglas then read
similar resolutions adopted by a convention in Rockford County. One
Turner, who was acting as one of the moderators, interrupted him at
this point, to say that he had drawn those very resolutions and that
they were the Republican creed exactly. "And yet," exclaimed Douglas
triumphantly, "and yet Lincoln denies that he stands on them. Mr.
Turner says that the creed of the Black Republican party is the
admission of no more slave States, and yet Mr. Lincoln declares that
he would not like to be placed in a position where he would have to
vote for them. All I have to say to friend Lincoln is, that I do not
think there is much danger of his being placed in such a position....
I propose, out of mere kindness, to relieve him from any such
necessity."[728]
As he continued, Douglas grew offensively denunciatory. His opponents
were invariably Black Republicans; Lincoln was the ally of rank
Abolitionists like Giddings and Fred Douglass; of course those who
believed in political and social equality for blacks and whites would
vote for Lincoln. Lincoln had found fault with the resolutions because
they were not adopted on the right spot. Lincoln and his friends were
great on "spots." Lincoln had opposed the Mexican War because
American blood was not shed on American soil in the right spot.
Trumbull and Lincoln were like two decoy ducks which lead the flock
astray. Ambition, personal ambition, had led to the formation of the
Black Republican party. Lincoln and his friends were now only trying
to secure what Trumbull had cheated them out of in 1855, when the
senatorship fell to Trumbull. Under this savage attack the crowd grew
restive. As Douglas repeated the epithet "Black" Republican, he was
interrupted by indignant cries of "White," "White." But Douglas
shouted back defiantly, "I wish to remind you that while Mr. Lincoln
was speaking there was not a Democrat vulgar and blackguard enough to
interrupt him," and browbeat his hearers into quiet again.[729]
Realizing, perhaps, the immense difficulty of exposing the fallacy of
Douglas's reply to his questions, in the few moments at his disposal,
Lincoln did not refer to the crucial point. He contented himself with
a defense of his own consistency. His best friends were dispirited,
when the half-hour ended. They could not shake off the impression that
Douglas had saved himself from defeat by his adroit answers to
Lincoln's interrogatories.[730]
The next joint debate occurred nearly three weeks later down in Egypt.
By slow stages, speaking incessantly at all sorts of meetings, Douglas
and Lincoln made their several ways through the doubtful central
counties to Jonesboro in Union County. This was the enemy's country
for Lincoln; and by reason of the activities of United States Marshal
Dougherty, a Buchanan appointee, the county was scarcely less hostile
to Douglas. The meeting was poorly attended. Those who listened to the
speakers were chary of applause and appeared politically
apathetic.[731]
Douglas opened the debate by a wild, unguarded appeal to partisan
prejudices. Knowing his hearers, he was personally vindictive in his
references to Black Republicans in general and to Lincoln in
particular. He reiterated his stock arguments, giving new vehemence to
his charge of corrupt bargain between Trumbull and Lincoln by quoting
Matheny, a Republican and "Mr. Lincoln's especial and confidential
friend for the last twenty years."[732]
Lincoln begged leave to doubt the authenticity of this new evidence,
in view of the little episode at Ottawa, concerning the Springfield
resolutions. At all events the whole story was untrue, and he had
already declared it to be such.[733] Why should Douglas persist in
misrepresenting him? Brushing aside these lesser matters, however,
Lincoln addressed himself to what had now come to be known as
Douglas's Freeport doctrine. "I hold," said he, "that the proposition
that slavery cannot enter a new country without police regulations is
historically false.... There is enough vigor in slavery to plant
itself in a new country even against unfriendly legislation. It takes
not only law but the enforcement of law to keep it out." Moreover, the
decision of the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case had created
constitutional obligations. Now that the right of property in slaves
was affirmed by the Constitution, according to the Court, how could a
member of a territorial legislature, who had taken the oath to
support the Constitution, refuse to give his vote for laws necessary
to establish slave property? And how could a member of Congress keep
his oath and withhold the necessary protection to slave property in
the Territories?[734]
Of course Lincoln was well aware that Douglas held that the Court had
decided only the question of jurisdiction in the Dred Scott case; and
that all else was a mere _obiter dictum_. Nevertheless, "the Court did
pass its opinion.... If they did not decide, they showed what they
were ready to decide whenever the matter was before them. They used
language to this effect: That inasmuch as Congress itself could not
exercise such a power [_i.e._, pass a law prohibiting slavery in the
Territories], it followed as a matter of course that it could not
authorize a Territorial Government to exercise it; for the Territorial
Legislature can do no more than Congress could do."[735]
The only answer of Douglas to this trenchant analysis was a reiterated
assertion: "I assert that under the Dred Scott decision [taking
Lincoln's view of that decision] you cannot maintain slavery a day in
a Territory where there is an unwilling people and unfriendly
legislation. If the people are opposed to it, our right is a barren,
worthless, useless right; and if they are for it, they will support
and encourage it."[736]
Douglas made much of Lincoln's evident unwillingness to commit himself
on the question of admitting more slave States. In various ways he
sought to trip his adversary, believing that Lincoln had pledged
himself to his Abolitionist allies in 1855 to vote against the
admission of more slave States, if he should be elected senator. "Let
me tell Mr. Lincoln that his party in the northern part of the State
hold to that Abolition platform [no more slave States], and if they do
not in the South and in the center, they present the extraordinary
spectacle of a house-divided-against-itself."[737]
Douglas turned the edge of Lincoln's thrust at the duties of
legislators under the Dred Scott decision by saying, "Well, if you are
not going to resist the decision, if you obey it, and do not intend to
array mob law against the constituted authorities, then, according to
your own statement, you will be a perjured man if you do not vote to
establish slavery in these Territories."[738] And it did not save
Lincoln from the horns of this uncomfortable dilemma to repeat that he
did not accept the Dred Scott decision as a rule for political action,
for he had just emphasized the moral obligation of obeying the law of
the Constitution.
From the darkness of Egypt, Douglas and Lincoln journeyed northward
toward Charleston in Coles County, where the fourth debate was to be
held. Both paused _en route_ to visit the State Fair, then in full
blast at Centralia. Curious crowds followed them around the fair
grounds, deeming the rival candidates quite as worthy of close
scrutiny as the other exhibits.[739] Ten miles from Charleston, they
left the train to be escorted by rival processions along the dusty
highway to their destination. From all the country-side people had
come to town to cheer on their respective champions.[740] This
twenty-fifth district, comprising Coles and Moultrie counties, had
been carried by the Democrats in 1856, but was now regarded as
doubtful. The uncertainty added piquancy to the debate.
It was Lincoln's turn to open the joust. At the outset he tried to
allay misapprehensions regarding his attitude toward negro equality.
"I will say, then, 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; 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; and I will say in
addition to this, that there is a physical difference between the
white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two
races living together on terms of social and political equality. And
inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there
must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any
other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the
white race. I say upon this occasion I do not perceive that because
the white man is to have the superior position the negro should be
denied everything. I do not understand that because I do not want a
negro woman for a slave I must necessarily want her for a wife. My
understanding is that I can just let her alone."[741] This was by far
the most explicit statement that he had yet made on the hazardous
subject.
Lincoln then turned upon his opponent, with more aggressiveness than,
he had hitherto exhibited, to drive home the charge which Trumbull had
made earlier in the campaign. Prompted by Trumbull, probably, Lincoln
reviewed the shadowy history of the Toombs bill and Douglas's still
more enigmatical connection with it. The substance of the indictment
was, that Douglas had suppressed that part of the original bill which
provided for a popular vote on the constitution to be drafted by the
Kansas convention. In replying to Trumbull, Douglas had damaged his
own case by denying that the Toombs bill had ever contained such a
provision. Lincoln proved the contrary by the most transparent
testimony, convicting Douglas not only of the original offense but of
an untruth in connection with it.[742]
This was not a vague charge of conspiracy which could be treated with
contempt, but an indictment, accompanied by circumstantial evidence.
While a dispassionate examination of the whole incident will acquit
Douglas of any part in a plot to prevent the fair adoption of a
constitution by the people of Kansas, yet he certainly took a most
unfortunate and prejudicial mode of defending himself.[743] His
personal retorts were so vindictive and his attack upon Trumbull so
full of venom, that his words did not carry conviction to the minds of
his hearers. It was a matter of common observation that Democrats
seemed ill at ease after the debate.[744] "Judge Douglas is playing
cuttle-fish," remarked Lincoln, noting with satisfaction the very
evident discomfiture of his opponent, "a small species of fish that
has no mode of defending itself when pursued except by throwing out a
black fluid, which makes the water so dark the enemy cannot see it,
and thus it escapes."[745]
Douglas, however, did his best to recover his ground by accusing
Lincoln of shifting his principles as he passed from the northern
counties to Egypt; the principles of his party in the north were
"jet-black," in the center, "a decent mulatto," and in lower Egypt
"almost white." Lincoln then dared him to point out any difference
between his speeches. Blows now fell thick and fast, both speakers
approaching dangerously near the limit of parliamentary language.
Reverting to his argument that slavery must be put in the course of
ultimate extinction, Lincoln made this interesting qualification: "I
do not mean that when it takes a turn toward ultimate extinction it
will be in a day, nor in a year, nor in two years. I do not suppose
that in the most peaceful way ultimate extinction would occur in less
than a hundred years at least; but that it will occur in the best way
for both races, in God's own good time, I have no doubt."[746]
Douglas was now feeling the full force of the opposition within his
own party. The Republican newspapers of the State had seized upon his
Freeport speech to convince the South and the administration that he
was false to their creed. The Washington _Union_ had from the first
denounced him as a renegade, with whom no self-respecting Democrat
would associate.[747] Slidell was active in Illinois, spending money
freely to defeat him.[748] The Danites in the central counties plotted
incessantly to weaken his following. Daniel S. Dickinson of New York
sent "a Thousand Greetings" to a mass-meeting of Danites in
Springfield,--a liberal allowance, commented some Douglasite, as each
delegate would receive about ten greetings.[749] Yet the dimensions of
this movement were not easily ascertained. The declination of
Vice-President Breckinridge to come to the aid of Douglas was a rebuff
not easily laughed down, though to be sure, he expressed a guarded
preference for Douglas over Lincoln. The coolness of Breckinridge was
in a measure offset by the friendliness of Senator Crittenden, who
refused to aid Lincoln, because he believed Douglas's re-election
"necessary as a rebuke to the administration and a vindication of the
great cause of popular rights and public justice."[750] The most
influential Republican papers in the East gave Lincoln tardy support,
with the exception of the New York _Times_.[751]
Unquestionably Douglas drew upon resources which Lincoln could not
command. The management of the Illinois Central Railroad was naturally
friendly toward him, though there is no evidence that it countenanced
any illegitimate use of influence on his behalf. If Douglas enjoyed
special train service, which Lincoln did not, it was because he drew
upon funds that exceeded Lincoln's modest income. How many thousands
of dollars Douglas devoted from his own exchequer to his campaign,
can now only be conjectured. In all probability, he spent all that
remained from the sale of his real estate in Chicago, and more which
he borrowed in New York by mortgaging his other holdings in Cook
County.[752] And not least among his assets was the constant
companionship of Mrs. Douglas, whose tact, grace, and beauty placated
feelings which had been ruffled by the rude vigor of "the Little
Giant."[753]
When the rivals met three weeks later at Galesburg, they were disposed
to drop personalities. Indeed, both were aware that they were about to
address men and women who demanded an intelligent discussion of the
issues of the hour. Lincoln had the more sympathetic hearing, for Knox
County was consistently Republican; and the town with its academic
atmosphere and New England traditions shared his hostility to slavery.
Vast crowds braved the cold, raw winds of the October day to listen
for three hours to this debate.[754] From a platform on the college
campus, Douglas looked down somewhat defiantly upon his hearers,
though his words were well-chosen and courteous. The circumstances
were much the same as at Ottawa; and he spoke in much the same vein.
He rang the changes upon his great fundamental principle; he defended
his course in respect to Lecomptonism; he denounced the Republican
party as a sectional organization whose leaders were bent upon
"outvoting, conquering, governing, and controlling the South."
Douglas laid great stress upon this sectional aspect of Republicanism,
which made its southward extension impossible. "Not only is this
Republican party unable to proclaim its principles alike in the North
and in the South, in the free States and in the slave States, but it
cannot even proclaim them in the same forms and give them the same
strength and meaning in all parts of the same State. My friend Lincoln
finds it extremely difficult to manage a debate in the center part of
the State, where there is a mixture of men from the North and the
South."[755]
Here Douglas paused to read from Lincoln's speeches at Chicago and at
Charleston, and to ask his hearers to reconcile the conflicting
statements respecting negro equality. He pronounced Lincoln's
doctrine, that the negro and the white man are made equal by the
Declaration of Independence and Divine Providence, "a monstrous
heresy."
Lincoln protested that nothing was farther from his purpose than to
"advance hypocritical and deceptive and contrary views in different
portions of the country." As for the charge of sectionalism, Judge
Douglas was himself fast becoming sectional, for his speeches no
longer passed current south of the Ohio as they had once done.
"Whatever may be the result of this ephemeral contest between Judge
Douglas and myself, I see the day rapidly approaching when his pill of
sectionalism, which he has been thrusting down the throats of
Republicans for years past, will be crowded down his own throat."[756]
And Lincoln again scored on his opponent, when he pointed out that
his political doctrine rested upon the major premise, that there was
no wrong in slavery. "If you will take the Judge's speeches, and
select the short and pointed sentences expressed by him,--as his
declaration that he 'don't care whether slavery is voted up or
down'--you will see at once that this is perfectly logical, if you do
not admit that slavery is wrong.... Judge Douglas declares that if any
community wants slavery they have a right to have it. He can say that
logically, if he says that there is no wrong in slavery; but if you
admit that there is a wrong in it, he cannot logically say that
anybody has a right to do wrong."[757]
Those who now read these memorable debates dis-passionately, will
surely acquit Lincoln of inconsistency in his attitude toward the
negro. His speech at Charleston supplements the speech at Chicago; at
Galesburg, he made an admirable re-statement of his position.
Nevertheless, there was a marked difference in point of emphasis
between his utterances in Northern and in Southern Illinois. Even the
casual reader will detect subtle omissions which the varying character
of his audience forced upon Lincoln. In Chicago he said nothing about
the physical inferiority of the negro; he said nothing about the
equality of the races in the Declaration of Independence, when he
spoke at Charleston. Among men of anti-slavery leanings, he had much
to say about the moral wrong of slavery; in the doubtful counties,
Lincoln was solicitous that he should not be understood as favoring
social and political equality between whites and blacks.
Feeling keenly this diplomatic shifting of emphasis, Douglas persisted
in accusing Lincoln of inconsistency: "He has one set of principles
for the Abolition counties and another set for the counties opposed to
Abolitionism." If Lincoln had said in Coles County what he has to-day
said in old Knox, Douglas complained, "it would have settled the
question between us in that doubtful county."[758] And in this Douglas
was probably correct.
At Quincy, Douglas was in his old bailiwick. Three times the Democrats
of this district had sent him to Congress; and though the bounds of
the congressional district had since been changed, Adams County was
still Democratic by a safe majority. Among the people who greeted the
speakers, however, were many old-time Whigs, for whose special benefit
the Republicans of the city carried on a pole, at the head of their
procession, a live raccoon. With a much keener historic sense, the
Democrats bore aloft a dead raccoon, suspended by its tail.[759]
Lincoln again harked back to his position that slavery was "a moral, a
social, and a political wrong" which the Republican party proposed to
prevent from growing any larger; and that "the leading man--I think I
may do my friend Judge Douglas the honor of calling him
such--advocating the present Democratic policy, never himself says it
is wrong."[760]
The consciousness that he was made to seem morally obtuse, cut Douglas
to the quick. Even upon his tough constitution this prolonged campaign
was beginning to tell. His voice was harsh and broken; and he gave
unmistakable signs of nervous irritability, brought on by physical
fatigue. When he rose to reply to Lincoln, his manner was offensively
combative. At the outset, he referred angrily to Lincoln's "gross
personalities and base insinuations."[761] In his references to the
Springfield resolutions and to his mistake, or rather the mistake of
his friends at the capital, he was particularly denunciatory. "When I
make a mistake," he boasted, "as an honest man, I correct it without
being asked to, but when he, Lincoln, makes a false charge, he sticks
to it and never corrects it."[762]
But Douglas was too old a campaigner to lose control of himself, and
no doubt the rude charge and counter-charge were prompted less by
personal ill-will than by controversial exigencies. Those who have
conceived Douglas as the victim of deep-seated and abiding resentment
toward Lincoln, forget the impulsive nature of the man. There is not
the slightest evidence that Lincoln took these blows to heart. He had
himself dealt many a vigorous blow in times past. It was part of the
game.
Douglas found fault with Lincoln's answers to the Ottawa questions: "I
ask you again, Lincoln, will you vote to admit New Mexico, when she
has the requisite population with such a constitution as her people
adopt, either recognizing slavery or not, as they shall determine!" He
was well within the truth when he asserted that Lincoln's answer had
been purposely evasive and equivocal, "having no reference to any
territory now in existence."[763] Of Lincoln's Republican policy of
confining slavery within its present limits, by prohibiting it in the
Territories, he said, "When he gets it thus confined, and surrounded,
so that it cannot spread, the natural laws of increase will go on
until the negroes will be so plenty that they cannot live on the soil.
He will hem them in until starvation seizes them, and by starving them
to death, he will put slavery in the course of ultimate
extinction."[764] A silly argument which Douglas's wide acquaintance
with Southern conditions flatly contradicted and should have kept him
from repeating.
To the charge of moral obliquity on the slavery question, Douglas made
a dignified and worthy reply. "I hold that the people of the
slave-holding States are civilized men as well as ourselves; that they
bear consciences as well as we, and that they are accountable to God
and their posterity, and not to us. It is for them to decide,
therefore, the moral and religious right of the slavery question for
themselves within their own limits."[765]
On the following day both Lincoln and Douglas took passage on a river
steamer for Alton. The county of Madison had once been Whig in its
political proclivities. In the State legislature it was now
represented by two representatives and a senator who were Native
Americans; and in the present campaign, the county was classed as
doubtful. In Alton and elsewhere there was a large German vote which
was likely to sway the election.
Douglas labored under a physical disadvantage. His voice was painful
to hear, while Lincoln's betrayed no sign of fatigue.[766] Both fell
into the argument _ad hominem_. Lincoln advocated holding the
Territories open to "free white people" the world over--to "Hans,
Baptiste, and Patrick." Douglas contended that the equality referred
to in the Declaration of Independence, was the equality of white
men--"men of European birth and European descent." Both conjured with
the revered name of Clay. Douglas persistently referred to Lincoln as
an Abolitionist, knowing that his auditors had "strong sympathies
southward," as Lincoln shrewdly guessed; while Lincoln sought to
unmask that "false statesmanship that undertakes to build up a system
of policy upon the basis of caring nothing about the very thing that
everybody does care the most about."[767]
Douglas made a successful appeal to the sympathy of the crowd, when he
said of his conduct in the Lecompton fight, "Most of the men who
denounced my course on the Lecompton question objected to it, not
because I was not right, but because they thought it expedient at that
time, for the sake of keeping the party together, to do wrong. I never
knew the Democratic party to violate any one of its principles, out of
policy or expediency, that it did not pay the debt with sorrow. There
is no safety or success for our party unless we always do right, and
trust the consequences to God and the people. I chose not to depart
from principle for the sake of expediency on the Lecompton question,
and I never intend to do it on that or any other question."[768]
Both at Quincy and at Alton, Douglas paid his respects to the
"contemptible crew" who were trying to break up the party and defeat
him. At first he had avoided direct attacks upon the administration;
but the relentless persecution of the Washington _Union_ made him
restive. Lincoln derived great satisfaction from this intestine
warfare in the Democratic camp. "Go it, husband! Go it, bear!" he
cried.
In this last debate, both sought to summarize the issues. Said
Lincoln, "You may turn over everything in the Democratic policy from
beginning to end, ... it everywhere carefully excludes the idea that
there is anything wrong in it [slavery].
"That is the real issue. That is the issue that will continue in this
country when these poor tongues of Judge Douglas and myself shall be
silent. It is the eternal struggle between these two principles--right
and wrong--throughout the world.... I was glad to express my gratitude
at Quincy, and I re-express it here, to Judge Douglas,--_that he looks
to no end of the institution of slavery_. That will help the people to
see where the struggle really is."[769]
To the mind of Douglas, the issue presented itself in quite another
form. "He [Lincoln] says that he looks forward to a time when slavery
shall be abolished everywhere. I look forward to a time when each
State shall be allowed to do as it pleases. If it chooses to keep
slavery forever, it is not my business, but its own; if it chooses to
abolish slavery, it is its own business,--not mine. I care more for
the great principle of self-government, the right of the people to
rule, than I do for all the negroes in Christendom. I would not
endanger the perpetuity of this Union, I would not blot out the great
inalienable rights of the white men, for all the negroes that ever
existed."[770]
With this encounter at Alton, the joint debates, but not the campaign
closed. Douglas continued to speak at various strategic points, in
spite of inclement weather and physical exhaustion, up to the eve of
the election.[771] The canvass had continued just a hundred days,
during which Douglas had made one hundred and thirty speeches.[772]
During the last weeks of the campaign, election canards designed to
injure Douglas were sedulously circulated, adding no little
uncertainty to the outcome in doubtful districts. The most damaging of
these stories seems to have emanated from Senator John Slidell of
Louisiana, whose midsummer sojourn in Illinois has already been noted.
A Chicago journal published the tale that Douglas's slaves in the
South were "the subjects of inhuman and disgraceful treatment--that
they were hired out to a factor at fifteen dollars per annum
each--that he, in turn, hired them out to others in lots, and that
they were ill-fed, over-worked, and in every way so badly treated that
they were spoken of in the neighborhood where they are held as a
disgrace to all slave-holders and the system they support." The
explicit denial of the story came from Slidell some weeks after the
election, when the slander had accomplished the desired purpose.[773]
All signs pointed to a heavy vote for both tickets. As the campaign
drew to a close, the excitement reached a pitch rarely equalled even
in presidential elections. Indeed, the total vote cast exceeded that
of 1856 by many thousands,--an increase that cannot be wholly
accounted for by the growth of population in these years.[774] The
Republican State ticket was elected by less than four thousand votes
over the Democratic ticket. The relative strength of the rival
candidates for the senatorship, however, is exhibited more fully in
the vote for the members of the lower house of the State legislature..
The avowed Douglas candidates polled over 174,000, while the Lincoln
men received something over 190,000. Administration candidates
received a scant vote of less than 2,000. Notwithstanding this popular
majority, the Republicans secured only thirty-five seats, while the
Democratic minority secured forty. Out of fifteen contested senatorial
seats, the Democrats won eight with a total of 44,826 votes, while the
Republicans cast 53,784 votes and secured but seven. No better proof
could be offered of Lincoln's contention that the State was
gerrymandered in favor of the Democrats. Still, this was part of the
game; and had the Republicans been in office, they would have
undoubtedly used an advantage which has proved too tempting for the
virtue of every American party.
When the two houses of the Illinois Legislature met in joint session,
January 6, 1859, not a man ventured, or desired, to record his vote
otherwise than as his party affiliations dictated. Douglas received
fifty-four votes and Lincoln forty-six. "Glory to God and the Sucker
Democracy," telegraphed the editor of the _State Register_ to his
chief. And back over the wires from Washington was flashed the laconic
message, "Let the voice of the people rule." But had the _will_ of the
people ruled?
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 669: Hollister, Life of Colfax pp. 119 ff; Wilson, Rise and
Fall of the Slave Power, II, p. 567.]
[Footnote 670: Hollister, Colfax, p. 121.]
[Footnote 671: Wilson, p. 567.]
[Footnote 672: Bancroft, Life of Seward, I, pp. 449-450.]
[Footnote 673: Pike, First Blows of the Civil War, p. 403.]
[Footnote 674: Hollister, Colfax, p. 119.]
[Footnote 675: _Ibid._, p. 121.]
[Footnote 676: Wilson, II, p 567; Greeley, Recollections of a Busy
Life, p. 397.]
[Footnote 677: Hollister, Colfax, p. 120.]
[Footnote 678: Herndon-Weik, Life of Lincoln, II, pp. 59 ff.]
[Footnote 679: Sheahan, Douglas, p. 394.]
[Footnote 680: Foote, Casket of Reminiscences, p. 135.]
[Footnote 681: Forney, Anecdotes, II, p. 179.]
[Footnote 682: Lincoln-Douglas Debates (Edition of 1860), p. 1.]
[Footnote 683: Sheahan, Douglas, pp. 398-400.]
[Footnote 684: Sheahan, Douglas, p. 400; Mr. Horace White in
Herndon-Weik, Life of Lincoln, II, p. 93.]
[Footnote 685: Debates, p. 9.]
[Footnote 686: Debates, p. 9.]
[Footnote 687: _Ibid._, p. 10.]
[Footnote 688: _Ibid._, p. 11.]
[Footnote 689: Debates, p. 18.]
[Footnote 690: Debates, p. 20.]
[Footnote 691: _Ibid._, p. 24.]
[Footnote 692: Flint, Douglas, pp. 114-117; Chicago _Times_, July 18,
1858.]
[Footnote 693: Debates, p. 24.]
[Footnote 694: Debates, p. 27.]
[Footnote 695: _Ibid._, p. 30.]
[Footnote 696: _Ibid._, pp. 33-34.]
[Footnote 697: Debates, p. 35.]
[Footnote 698: _Ibid._, p. 39.]
[Footnote 699: Sheahan, Douglas, p. 417; Chicago _Times_, July 21,
1858.]
[Footnote 700: Debates, p. 44.]
[Footnote 701: _Ibid._, p. 60.]
[Footnote 702: _Ibid._, p. 61.]
[Footnote 703: _Ibid._, p. 63.]
[Footnote 704: Debates, p. 64.]
[Footnote 705: _Ibid._, pp. 64-65.]
[Footnote 706: _Ibid._, p. 66.]
[Footnote 707: Debates, p. 66.]
[Footnote 708: Mr. Horace White in Herndon-Weik, Lincoln, II, pp.
104-105.]
[Footnote 709: For the following description I have drawn freely from
the narratives of eye-witnesses. I am particularly indebted to the
graphic account by Mr. Carl Schurz in _McClure's Magazine_, January,
1907.]
[Footnote 710: Mr. Schurz in _McClure's_, January, 1907.]
[Footnote 711: Debates, p. 67.]
[Footnote 712: Debates, p. 68.]
[Footnote 713: _Ibid._, p. 69.]
[Footnote 714: Herndon in Herndon-Weik, Lincoln, II, pp. 76-77; Mr.
Carl Schurz in _McClure's_, January, 1907.]
[Footnote 715: Debates, p. 73.]
[Footnote 716: Debates, p. 75.]
[Footnote 717: _Ibid._, p. 82.]
[Footnote 718: _Ibid._, p. 86.]
[Footnote 719: Henry Villard, Memoirs, I, p. 93; Mr. Horace White in
Herndon-Weik, Lincoln, II, p. 108.]
[Footnote 720: Debates, p. 129.]
[Footnote 721: _Ibid._, p. 130.]
[Footnote 722: Holland, Lincoln, p. 185; Tarbell, Lincoln, _McClure's
Magazine_, VII, pp. 408-409.]
[Footnote 723: Debates, p. 89.]
[Footnote 724: Holland, Lincoln, pp. 188-189; Mr. Horace White in
Herndon-Weik, Lincoln, II, p. 109.]
[Footnote 725: Herndon-Weik, Lincoln, II, p. 109.]
[Footnote 726: Debates, p. 95.]
[Footnote 727: Debates, pp. 94-97.]
[Footnote 728: Debates, pp. 100-101.]
[Footnote 729: Debates, p. 101.]
[Footnote 730: Mr. Horace White in Herndon-Weik, Lincoln, p. 110.]
[Footnote 731: Mr. Horace White in Herndon-Weik, Lincoln, p. 118.]
[Footnote 732: Debates, pp. 113-114.]
[Footnote 733: _Ibid._, p. 120.]
[Footnote 734: Debates, p. 127.]
[Footnote 735: _Ibid._, p. 129.]
[Footnote 736: _Ibid._, p. 135.]
[Footnote 737: Debates, p. 133. Lamon is authority for the statement
that Lincoln pledged himself to Lovejoy and his faction to favor the
exclusion of slavery from all the territory of the United States.
Douglas did not know of this pledge, but suspected an understanding to
this effect. If Lamon may be believed, this statement explains the
persistence of Douglas on this point and the evasiveness of Lincoln.
See Lamon, Lincoln, pp. 361-365.]
[Footnote 738: _Ibid._, p. 135.]
[Footnote 739: Mr. Horace White in Herndon-Weik, Lincoln, p. 119.]
[Footnote 740: Mr. Horace White in Herndon-Weik, Lincoln, p. 121.]
[Footnote 741: Debates, p. 136.]
[Footnote 742: Debates, pp. 137-143.]
[Footnote 743: See above pp. 303-304.]
[Footnote 744: Mr. Horace White in Herndon-Weik, Lincoln, p. 122.]
[Footnote 745: Debates, p. 159.]
[Footnote 746: _Ibid._, p. 157.]
[Footnote 747: Rhodes, History of the United States, II, p. 342.]
[Footnote 748: Foote, Casket of Reminiscences, p. 135; Herndon-Weik,
Lincoln, II, p. 127.]
[Footnote 749: Mr. Horace White in Herndon-Weik, Lincoln, II, p. 129.]
[Footnote 750: Coleman, Life of Crittenden, II, p. 163.]
[Footnote 751: Rhodes, History of the United States, II, p. 341.]
[Footnote 752: Rhodes, History of the United States, II, p. 338, note
3. The record of the Circuit Court of Cook County, December term,
1867, states that the entire lien upon the estate in 1864 exceeded
$94,000. The mortgages were held by Fernando Wood and others of New
York.]
[Footnote 753: Villard, Memoirs, I, p. 92.]
[Footnote 754: Mr. Horace White in Herndon-Weik, Lincoln, II, p. 123.]
[Footnote 755: Debates p. 173.]
[Footnote 756: _Ibid._, p. 180.]
[Footnote 757: Debates, p. 181.]
[Footnote 758: Debates, p. 188.]
[Footnote 759: Mr. Horace White in Herndon-Weik, Lincoln, II, pp.
123-124.]
[Footnote 760: Debates, p. 198.]
[Footnote 761: Debates, p. 199; _McClure's Magazine_, January, 1907.]
[Footnote 762: Debates, p. 201.]
[Footnote 763: _Ibid._, p. 201.]
[Footnote 764: Debates, p. 204.]
[Footnote 765: _Ibid._, p. 209.]
[Footnote 766: Mr. Horace White in Herndon-Weik, Lincoln, II, p. 124.]
[Footnote 767: Debates, p. 231.]
[Footnote 768: _Ibid._, p. 218.]
[Footnote 769: Debates, p. 234.]
[Footnote 770: _Ibid._, p. 238.]
[Footnote 771: Sheahan, Douglas, p. 432.]
[Footnote 772: Nicolay and Hay, Lincoln, II, p. 146 note.]
[Footnote 773: Sheahan, Douglas, pp. 439-442; Herndon-Weik, Lincoln,
II, p. 128.]
[Footnote 774: It has not been generally observed that the Democrats
gained more than their opponents over the State contest of 1856. The
election returns were as follows:
Democratic ticket in 1856, 106,643; in 1858, 121,609; gain, 14,966.
Republican ticket in 1856, 111,375; in 1858, 125,430; gain, 14,055.
]