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beauty. He speculated on the possibilities of knowledge which an increased power of the lens would give in the years to come; and then the wonderful discoveries of late centuries, as proving that beings endowed with such capacities as men must be immortal, and created for some high and noble end by Him who had spoken those numberless worlds into existence, and

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made man a little lower than the angels that he might comprehend the glories and wonders of His creation. When the night air became too chilling to remain longer on the piazza we went into the parlor, and, seated on the sofa, his long limbs. stretching across the carpet and his arms folded behind him, Mr. Lincoln went on to speak of other discoveries, and also of the inventions which had been made during the long cycles of time lying between the present and

those early days when

NORMAN B. JUDD.

the sons of Adam began to make use of material things about them, and invent instruments of various kinds in brass and gold and silver. He gave us a short but succinct account of all the inventions referred to in the Old Testament, from the time when Adam walked in the Garden of Eden until the Bible record ended, 600 B.C. I said, 'Mr. Lincoln, I did not know you were such a Bible student.' He replied, 'I must be honest, Mrs. Judd, and tell you just how I come to know so much about these early inventions.' He then went on to say that, discussing with some friend the relative age of the discovery and use of the precious metals, he went to the Bible to satisfy himself, and became so interested in his researches that he made memoranda of the different discoveries and inventions; that soon after he was invited to lecture before some literary society (I think in Bloomington); that the interest he had felt in the study convinced him that the subject would interest

others, and he therefore prepared and delivered his lecture on the 'Age of Different Inventions.' 'Of course,' he added, I could not after that forget the order or time of such discoveries and inventions.'" (")

NOTES TO CHAPTER IX.

(1) Daniel Webster's speech in Congress, March 5, 1850.

(2) Stephen A. Douglas, "Congressional Globe," Appendix, 1851-52. (3) "The Last Leaf" was first published 1836. The volume had a limited sale. It seems probable that Mr. Lincoln first became acquainted with it through the "Louisville Journal," the editor of which, being himself a poet, often enriched its columns with choice poems from other writers. Mr. Lincoln for many years was a subscriber to that paper. Mr. Holmes was nearly his own age, both having been born in 1809.-Author.

(*) Archibald Dixon to H. S. Foote, in "Louisville Democrat," October 3, 1858. (*) Mrs. Norman B. Judd, quoted in “Every-day Life of Lincoln,” p. 208.

CHAPTER X.

KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE.

PEOPLE in the Northern States during the month of July, 1854,

July,

1854.

were holding meetings to form a new political party which should have for its object resistance to the aggressions of the slave power. Twenty-three years had passed since William Lloyd Garrison was put in prison for saying the slave traffic was piracy. The Abolitionists, as they called themselves, proposed to bring about the abolition of slavery by convincing the people that it was morally wrong— a sin against God and their fellow-men. They denounced the Constitution because it recognized slavery, and they advocated the dissolution of the Union because it was in league with iniquity. They saw the aggression of slavery, but were opposed to any political action. to restrict it. The Free Soil Party of 1848 was formed more to avenge the slight put upon President Van Buren by the slave power in not renominating him for a second term than from any deep-seated sentiment in favor of freedom.

The passage of the Nebraska Bill brought spontaneous combustiona kindling of the fires of freedom throughout the Northern States, resulting in the formation of the Republican Party.

At Ostend, a seaport of Belgium, James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, Minister of the United States to England, Pierre Soulé, of New Orleans,

Minister to Spain, and Mr. Mason, of Virginia, Minister to France, O had a conference as to the best way for the United States to

1854.

gain possession of Cuba. The slave-holders wanted to obtain that island for the purpose of extending the area of slavery and strengthening their political power. They sent a letter to President Pierce suggesting that the United States should offer Spain $120,000,000, and if Spain would not sell, the United States ought to take the island by force. The thought that the United States would be acting the part of a highway robber did not deter them from putting forth the proposition. But President Pierce discovered that Spain, England, and other European

countries might have something to say about such a transaction; besides, such an outburst of indignation was heard from the people of the Northern States that no attempt was made to carry out the plan. The boldness and wickedness of the scheme aroused the people. There must be united action, or slavery would be the controlling political force.

Delegates from the several Northern States met in convention at Philadelphia and formed the Republican Party. They selected John Charles Fremont as their candidate for the Presidency. The June 17, Democratic Party met in Cincinnati and nominated James Buchanan, who had signed the letter in regard to seizing Cuba. Stephen A. Douglas confidently expected to be nominated. He had

1856.

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rendered great service to the slave-holders, but they had no intention of rewarding him for what he had done.

Abraham Lincoln travelled through Illinois making speeches for the Republican Party, Douglas for the Democrats. They often spoke in the same town. Very graceful the tribute which Lincoln paid to Douglas :

"Twenty years ago Mr. Douglas and I first became acquainted. We were both young-he a trifle younger than I. Even then we were ambitious-I, perhaps, quite as much as he. With me the race has been a failure-a flat failure. With him it has been one of splendid success. His name fills the nation, and is not unknown in foreign lands. I affect no contempt for the high eminence he has reached. So reached that the oppressed of my species might have shared with me the elevation, I would rather stand on that eminence than wear the richest crown that ever pressed a monarch's brow."

Little does he know, as he utters the words, of the elevation towards which divine Providence is leading him. He has been thinking of the millions of his fellow-men in slavery. He never has forgotten the scene in the slave-market in New Orleans. He believes that somehow Providence is to bring about the extinction of slavery. He said to a friend, "Sometimes when I am speaking I feel that the time is soon coming when the sun shall shine and the rain fall on no man who shall go forth to unrequited toil. . . . How it will come about, when it will come, I cannot tell; but that time will surely come!" (')

...

Mr. Buchanan was elected. His inaugural address was carefully written, and he was ready to take his seat. We do not know who in

1857.

formed him that the Supreme Court, the highest judicial tribunal May of the nation, was prepared to make a decision in a case affecting the rights of slave-holders under the Constitution; but Mr. Buchanan thought it best to insert another sentence in his address. It was the expression of a hope that the decision would forever settle a very vexatious question. Two days passed, and Roger B. Taney, of Maryland, Chief-justice, startled the people by what he had to say concerning two slaves. Dred Scott and his wife Harriet were owned by Dr. Emerson, of St. Louis. He was a surgeon in the army. He took them to Rock Island, in Iowa, Fort Snelling, Minnesota, and then to St. Louis. Having been taken voluntarily by him into a Free Territory, the slaves claimed they were entitled to their liberty under the common law of the country. Of the nine judges composing the court, five were from the Slave States. Seven of the judges agreed that the Constitution recognized slaves as property and nothing more. They were not and

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