Part 18

"Black Republicans." Douglas constantly referred to his opponents under this title. In the Ottawa Debate he affirmed that in 1854 Lincoln and Trumbull had arranged to form "an Abolition party, under the name and disguise of a Republican party."

"Popular sovereignty." This principle is defined by Douglas as follows: "My principle is to recognize each State of the Union as independent, sovereign, and equal in its sovereignty."

Harper's Ferry! John Brown! John Brown was a New Englander, who had taken an active part in the Kansas disorders in 1856. During the summer of 1859 he engaged in an attempt to free the slaves of Virginia. After capturing the Arsenal at Harper's Ferry, he was overpowered by a body of marines and with the survivors of his "army," was hanged. By the extreme anti-slavery people he was regarded as a martyr, the best expression of this spirit being given by Mrs. Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic." In a speech in Congress of January 16, 1860, Senator Douglas had stated his "firm and deliberate conviction that the Harper's Ferry crime was the natural, logical, inevitable result of the doctrines and teachings of the Republican party."

The Southampton insurrection. The reference is to a slave insurrection which occurred in 1831 in Southampton, Va.

Helper's Book. Hinton P. Helper, a North Carolinian of the so-called poor white class, was the author of a book on the effects of slavery, entitled The Impending Crisis in the South. The special reference is to the recent agreement among sixty-four Republican representatives to publish a compendium of the book for circulation in doubtful States.

THE FAREWELL SPEECH.

This beautiful little address was delivered from the platform of the car that bore the President-elect away from his old home. It has been preserved in two slightly differing versions, neither of which probably exactly reproduces the words used. The Springfield papers, which were followed by Herndon, gave an inaccurate report that robbed the speech of much of its rare beauty.

THE FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

The First Inaugural was carefully written in Springfield a month before its delivery. Contrary to his usual practice in public speaking, Lincoln read from the MS. The address was enthusiastically received by an immense audience assembled front of the Capitol and the general impression produced at the North was favorable. By the Southern and the Abolition press it was severely criticised, both with regard to its form and its content.

The mystic chords of memory. This passage was suggested by Mr. Seward, to whom the address had been submitted for criticism. The customary usury of genius was paid for the verbal loan.

RESPONSE TO SERENADE.

This speech was delivered before a delegation of New Yorkers, who called at the White House on the evening of March 4. Two other similar responses have been preserved from the same day. The present address is reprinted here for the first time, from the New York Times.

LETTER TO HORACE GREELEY.

Greeley's letter of August 19, which was headed "The Prayer of Twenty Millions," began as follows: "I do not intrude to tell you--for you must know already--that a great proportion of those who triumphed in your election, and of all who desire the unqualified suppression of the Rebellion now desolating our country, are sorely disappointed and deeply pained by the policy you seem to be pursuing." That Lincoln had good reason to complain of "an impatient and dictatorial tone" is sufficiently shown by the closing sentence, "I entreat you to render hearty and unequivocal obedience to the laws of the land." The following issue of the Tribune contained a long editorial on the same subject. The influence of the Tribune in the Northern States was immense, and Lincoln realized the importance of making a clear statement of his policy to its readers.

SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.

After a long statement about the conditions of the finances and of the different departments, the President devoted the remainder of the space to the discussion of compensated emancipation, on which he had already made a recommendation earlier in the year in a special message to Congress. The concluding paragraph is in the elevated style of the Inaugurals.

THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.

The first draft of the Proclamation was submitted to the Cabinet in the preceding July, with the remark that he had fully determined to issue it immediately. Secretary Seward suggested that its issue be postponed until it could be given to the country supported by some military success. The President saw the force of the suggestion and waited until after the battle of Antietam. The Preliminary Proclamation was dated September 22, 1862. In a reply to a serenade two days later the President said: "I can only trust in God I have made no mistake."

Upon military necessity. This phrase was inserted in the concluding sentence, which had been suggested by Secretary Chase, as furnishing the only authority by which the President felt that he could free the slaves of the enemy. The Proclamation did not refer to those slaves held by persons who were not in rebellion.

LETTER TO J. C. CONKLING.

Mr. Conkling was a personal friend of the President, and the formal letter was accompanied by the following note:

"MY DEAR CONKLING:

"I cannot leave here now. Herewith is a letter instead. You are one of the best public readers. I have but one request--read it very slowly and now God bless you, and all good Union men."

In spite of precautions, the letter was published in the New York Evening Post several days before the meeting.

I know as fully as one can know. The portion of the paragraph from these words to the end was not in the original letter, but was added by telegraph.

THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS.

The standard text of the address does not agree exactly either with the original written form or with the form in which it was delivered, but it is a combination of these, made by Lincoln a few days later. In the contemporary newspaper reports it was variously referred to as an address, a speech, and remarks.

Government of the people. The thought contained in this sentence was not original with Lincoln, but it has been traced back through several centuries. It was probably suggested to Lincoln by the following passage in an address by Theodore Parker, which he is known to have read: "Democracy is direct self-government over all the people, for all the people, by all the people."