CONTENTS Seventh and Last Joint Debate at Alton. Octo- SPEECHES. (March 1, 1859, to September 30, 1859): The "Moral Climate Line" of Douglas. Lin- coln's Speech at Chicago on the Night of the Municipal Election. March 1, 1859 Douglas's "Popular Sovereignty" the Mask of Nationalized Slavery. Speech at Columbus, "A Shot over the Line." An Address to Ken- tuckians on Douglas's Fallacies, Delivered at Cincinnati, Ohio. September 17, 1859 The Advantages of "Thorough Cultivation,' and the Fallacies of the "Mud-sill" Theory of Labor's Subjection to Capital. Address before V PREFACE THE present volume contains Senator Douglas's Reply, and Mr. Lincoln's Rejoinder in the Fourth Joint Debate, held at Charleston, and the last three debates. While the forensic contest with Douglas was formally closed at Alton on October 15, 1858, it was, as a matter of fact, continued throughout the next year: by Douglas in a speech-making and Presidential fence-repairing tour through the South and in an article in Harper's Magazine; and by Lincoln in speeches at Chicago, Columbus, and Cincinnati. These three addresses of Lincoln are comprised in the present volume, as well as an address before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, in which he attacks slavery as the enemy of free labor. The introductory note by Professor Robert Allyn, contrasting the characters and oratorical styles of Lincoln and Douglas as revealed in these post-Debate speeches, is taken from "The Lincoln Memorial," and here presented by permission of the editor, Osborn H. Oldroyd. INTRODUCTION Lincoln and Douglas. BY PROFESSOR ROBERT ALLYN. In the Autumn of 1859, I was residing in Cincinnati, and heard the late Stephen A. Douglas speak twice in that city or vicinity, and Mr. Lincoln speak once, from the steps of the Burnet House, I believe. I was impressed greatly with the contrast between them. Mr. Douglas was aggressive, confident in himself, and evidently bent on crushing his opponent. Mr. Lincoln seemed at first too modest and undemonstrative. But as he went on and forgot himself, and apparently his party, in his interest in grand principles, he rose in dignity, till he seemed more the embodiment of Justice, Freedom and Love of Humanity, than a mere man. He was lost in the grandeur of the cause, and stood unselfishly for the rights of all men, in all ages. And I have often thought that this idea of him, there gathered by me, best expresses the essence of his character-an inspired disregard of personal interest, and a complete self-surrender of everything to the welfare of all men, especially the humblest. |