fessional calm under the most exciting circumstances at a Republican convention. The story seems to be too good to be true.

The real explanation of how the convention speech of 1856 was lost may be found, I believe, not in the excitement of the reporters, assuming that they were excited, but in a very common practice among newspaper editors of that time, including the editors of Chicago papers. As a rule, political speeches, even the most important ones, were not reported in full, a mere outline being regarded as sufficient. In the case of many speeches by the most prominent men of the time, not even an outline was published, the bare description of the meeting with the names of the speakers being given. On October 9, 1856, a political meeting at Peoria was addressed by Trumbull and Lincoln and it was reported as follows by the Chicago Press:

"We have neither time nor space to attempt a synopsis of their speeches. They fairly ex

celled themselves and seemed to carry conviction to the minds of all who heard them."

A speech delivered by Lincoln at Springfield, on September 25, of the same year, is referred to in the same paper as being full of witty hits and replies. On August 30, the Chicago Press describes a meeting at Detroit as "the largest ever held in Michigan. There were five speakers." But none of the five speeches were reported even in outline. Finally we have an account of the "Lost Speech" itself, appearing in the same paper:

"Abram Lincoln of Springfield was next called out and made the speech of the occasion. Never has it been our fortune to listen to a more eloquent and masterly presentation of a subject. I shall not mar any of its proportions or brilliant passages by attempting even a synopsis of it. Mr. Lincoln must write it out and let it go before all the people. For an hour and a half he held the assemblage spellbound by the power of his argument and the

deep earnestness of his eloquence. When he concluded, the audience sprang to their feet, and cheer after cheer told how deeply their hearts had been touched and their souls warmed up to a generous enthusiasm.”

Lincoln did not act upon the suggestion that he write out the "Bloomington Speech," but apparently he did the next best thing. He practically repeated the speech on various occasions during the campaign and although the same reporter of the Press seems to have been present on these occasions he did not avail himself of the opportunity to preserve the speech. Like many great men, Lincoln did not hesitate to repeat himself and in the course of a campaign he would give practically the same speech at many different places. Perhaps a better idea of the "Bloomington Speech" than is given by Whitney's report may be found in the fragment of a speech delivered at Galena, in August, 1856, which closes with the words given by Whitney as part of the peroration of

the "Lost Speech": "We do not want to dissolve the Union; you shall not."

On December 10, 1856, Lincoln made a speech in Chicago of a kind seldom affected by him-a reply to a toast. Although it has not been preserved in full, enough of it remains to show that his manner of speaking on such an occasion differed but slightly, if at all, from his manner on the stump.

From 1857, only one speech has been preserved. It was made at Springfield, June 26, in reply to a speech of two weeks earlier by his old opponent, Douglas. Although it is less familiar than the second "Springfield Speech," of the following year, it is of importance as leading up to the Debates, which it closely resembles both in style and subject matter. Unlike the Debates it closes with an effective and picturesque figure:

"The plainest print cannot be read through a gold eagle; and it will be ever hard to find many men who will send a slave to Liberia, and

his

pay passage, while they can send him to a new country-Kansas, for instance-and sell him for fifteen hundred dollars, and the rise."

On June 16, 1858, Lincoln made a speech before the republican state convention in Springfield, at which he had been nominated for the United States Senate in opposition to Stephen A. Douglas. This speech contains the quotation: "A house divided against itself cannot stand," from which it has received its familiar but awkward name. The speech was very carefully prepared by Lincoln after long consideration and the MS. was submitted to several friends, all of whom advised him strongly against delivering it in that form. At that time Illinois was very conservative on the question of slavery and it was thought that so decided an expression of hostility to the peculiar institution would cost Lincoln the senatorship. Lincoln is reported to have remarked that while it might cost him the senatorship he