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to receive him [the envoy of the United States], or listen to his propositions, but, after a long-continued series of menaces, have at last invaded our territory, and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on our own soil.'

"And again, in his Message of December 8, 1846, that 'we had ample cause of war against Mexico long before the breaking out of hostilities; but even then we forbore to take redress into our own hands, until Mexico basely became the aggressor, by invading our soil in hostile array, and shedding the blood of our citizens.'

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“And yet again, in his Message of December 7, 1847, The Mexican government refused even to hear the terms of adjustment which he (our minister of peace) was authorized to propose, and finally, under wholly unjustifiable pretexts, involved the two countries in war, by invading the Territory of the State of Texas, striking the first blow, and shedding the blood of our citizens on our own soil!' "And whereas this House is desirous to obtain a full knowledge of all the facts which go to establish whether the particular spot on which the blood of our citizens was so shed, was, or was not, at that time, our own soil. Therefore,

"Resolved, by the House of Representatives, That the President of the United States be respectfully requested to inform this House

"1st. Whether the spot on which the blood of our citizens was shed, as in his memorial declared, was, or was not, within the territory of Spain, at least, after the treaty of 1819, until the Mexican revolution.

"2d. Whether that spot is, or is not, within the territory which was wrested from Spain by the revolutionary government of Mexico.

"3d. Whether that spot is, or is not, within a settlement of people, which settlement has existed ever since long before the Texas revolution, and until its inhabitants fled before the approach of the United States Army.

"4th. Whether that settlement is, or is not, isolated from any and all other settlements of the Gulf and Rio Grande on the south and west, and of wide uninhabited regions on the north and east.

"5th. Whether the people of that settlement, or a majority of them, have ever submitted themselves to the government or laws of Texas, or of the United States, of consent or of compulsion, either of accepting office or voting at elections, or paying taxes, or serving on juries, or having process served on them, or in any other way. '6th. Whether the people of that settlement did, or did not, flee at the approaching of the United States Army, leaving unprotected their homes and their growing crops before the blood was shed, as in the message stated; and whether the first blood so shed was, o:

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was not, shed within the inclosure of one of the people who had thus fled from it.

"7th. Whether our citizens whose blood was shed, as in his message declared, were, or were not, at that time, armed officers and soldiers sent into that settlement by the military order of the President, through the Secretary of War.

"8th. Whether the military force of the United States was, or was not, so sent into that settlement after General Taylor had more than once intimated to the War Department that, in his opinion, no such movement was necessary to the defence or protection of Texas."

These resolutions sufficiently evince Mr. Lincoln's sense of justice. He was accused afterwards of siding with the enemy in the war. He opposed the war as unjust; but it was a war of the country, and it was equally just that the country should pay the soldiers called to the field; and Mr. Lincoln never voted against, or avoided voting for, any bill for army pay or supplies or the relief of the soldiers.

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When, in 1848, Mr. Gott, of New York, introduced a resolution instructing the Committee on the District of Columbia to report a bill for the abolition of the slave-trade in the District, Mr. Lincoln, after consulting Mayor Seaton, of Washington, proposed, on the 10th of January, that the committee should be instructed to report a bill forbidding the sale, beyond the District of Columbia, of any slave born within its limits, or the removal of slaves from the District, except such servants as were in attendance upon their masters temporarily residing at Washington; establishing an apprenticeship of twenty-one years for all slaves born within the District subsequent to the year 1850; providing for their emancipation at the expiration of the apprenticeship; authorizing the United States to buy and emancipate all slaves within the District, whose owners should desire to set them free in that manner; finally, submitting the bill to a vote of the citizens of the District for approval.

The Wilmot proviso had made its appearance in August, 1847, during the previous session, but frequently came up in that on which Mr. Lincoln served. He steadily supported it, and, as he said in one of his debates with Judge Douglas, "had the pleasure of voting for it, in one way or another, about forty times."

Mr. Lincoln was a member of the Philadelphia convention

which nominated General Taylor for President, in 1848, and, during the campaign, visited the East, speaking at New Bedford and elsewhere. Illinois gave her vote, however, to General Cass. In 1849, Mr. Lincoln retired from Congress, where he had always maintained a dignified and respectable position. He was the unsuccessful candidate for United States Senator, General Shields having been elected.

After his retirement from Congress, Mr. Lincoln devoted himself, with greater earnestness than ever before, to the duties of his profession, and extended his business and repute. He did not reappear in the political arena until 1852, when his name was placed on the Scott electoral ticket.

In the canvass of that year, so disastrous to the Whig party throughout the country, Lincoln appeared several times before the people of his State as the advocate of Scott's claims for the Presidency. But the prospect was everywhere so disheartening, and in Illinois the cause was so utterly desperate, that the energies of the Whigs were paralyzed, and Lincoln did less in this Presidential struggle than in any in which he had ever engaged.

During that lethargy which preceded the dissolution of his party, he had almost relinquished political aspirations. Successful in his profession, happy in his home, secure in the affection of his neighbors, with books, competence, and leisure, ambition could not tempt him.

When the term of General Shields as Senator from Illinois expired in 1854, a close contest ensued in the State legislature on the choice of his successor. The Whig party was fast melting away, and the new Republican party had not yet assumed form. Mr. Lincoln was again a candidate for the Senate, but as some anti-Nebraska Democrats adhered to Mr. Trumbull, Mr. Lincoln gave way in his usual unselfish spirit, viewing the choice of Mr. Trumbull more safe than that of some less decided man.

It was in the same spirit that he declined the nomination for Governor, when tendered by the anti-Nebraska Democrats: he felt that as an old Whig campaigner he was necessarily still an object of antagonism, and till the old party lines disappeared, some men who had mingled less prominently in the arena of political strife, would be more certain of success. Governor Bissell was then nominated and elected.

When the Republican party finally took shape, and met in convention to nominate its candidates for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency, Abraham Lincoln stood so high that he was one of those at once proposed, and received one hundred and two votes for the second office. He stood at the head of the Fremont electoral ticket of Illinois, and labored for the success of that candidate, although the country was not yet prepared to adopt the Republican doctrines.

In 1858 it was determined in Illinois to give the senatorial question the form of a contest by electing a Legislature pledged either to Douglas or Lincoln. A most extraordinary canvass then ensued. The two candidates stumped the State, and at last came into the presence of each other, giving the contest all the interest of direct personal debate.

Mr. Lincoln's first speech was made at Springfield on the 17th of June, before the State convention which nominated him.

The reply made by Douglas to this speech was on the occasion of his reception at Chicago in the July following. Lincoln was present, and spoke in the same city on the next day. Two more great speeches by Douglas, and one more speech by Lincoln were made before they entered the lists in debate.

In one of those speeches, Douglas found occasion-for he was then addressing Lincoln's old friends at Springfield-to pay his tribute to the worth and greatness of his opponent:

"You all know that I am an amiable, good-natured man, and I take great pleasure in bearing testimony to the fact that Mr. Lincoln is a kind-hearted, amiable, good-natured gentleman, with whom no man has a right to pick a quarrel, even if he wanted one. He is a worthy gentleman. I have known him for twenty-five years, and there is no better citizen, and no kinder-hearted man. He is a fine lawyer, possesses high ability, and there is no objection to him, except the monstrous revolutionary doctrines with which he is identified."

On the 24th of July, Lincoln wrote to Douglas proposing debates.

The challenge was accepted, and seven debates followed, at Ottawa, Freeport, Jonesboro', Charleston, Galesburg, Quincy, and Alton. These are unsurpassed in our campaign annals for eloquence, ability, adroitness, or comprehensiveness. Mr. Doug

las represented the moderate Democracy, and Mr. Lincoln the new Republicanism. The standing of the two men, antagonists well matched, and soon to be rival candidates on a wider field, the one more polished, courtier-like, adroit; the other solid, earnest, clear-headed and persuasive,―gave their words no ordinary effect on the minds of men.

Mr. Lincoln was now fully roused, and during the canvass made more than fifty speeches in other parts of Illinois, till the State fairly shook with excitement. The result, while it showed the great influence of Mr. Lincoln, proved that many still hesitated. Mr. Douglas was elected to the Senate by a small majority, effected, his opponents claimed, by the unfair districting of the State. Mr. Lincoln thought more of the cause than of personal success. Being now in the field he extended his tour to other States, following Judge Douglas to Ohio, and in Kansas exciting hearty applause. A speech on National Policy at the Cooper Institute, New York, brought him before the Republicans of that city.

The National Convention of 1860, called by the party whose interests he considered those of right and justice, was convened on the 16th of May, in the Wigwam, an immense structure erected at Chicago. Governor Morgan, of New York, called to order, and George Ashmun, of Massachusetts, was chosen permanent president. It soon became evident that the delegates of the Republican party from all parts of the Union, came prepared to select for the nomination to the Presidency, one of two men, the experienced and polished William H. Seward, of New York, or the homely, clear-headed pioneer of the West, Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois. On the first ballot Seward received 173 votes and Lincoln 102; on the second Seward received 184 and Lincoln 181, but a third ballot showed that Mr. Seward's friends yielded the contest. Mr. Lincoln received 231 votes, and on motion of W. M. Evarts, of New York, the nomination was made unanimous.

Mr. Lincoln was at Springfield at the time, and when the message was brought from the telegraph office, showed little exultation, but simply remarking that there was a little woman at his house who would be glad to hear the news, went to the quiet residence, which was soon to be made familiar to all throughout the land.

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