The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1860-06-01

brought hUoNt tnt FeptAl ol tNt mlhhouFl
Compromise. The act Of bascness and
perfidy aroused the sleeping lion, and he
prepared for new efforts. Tie threw him
self at once into the contest thnt follow
cd, and fought the battle Of freedom on
the ground OF his former conflicts In H.
hnois with more than his accustomed en-
crgy aud zeal. Those who recollect the
tremendous battle fought in Illinois that
year, will award to Abraham Lincoln full
ly threc-fourths Of the ability aud unwep-
ying labor which resulted in the mighty
victory, which gave Illinois her first Re-
publican Legislature, and placed Lyman
Trumbull in the Senate of tho United
States. The FIRST and greatest bebate Of
that year came OF between Lincoln aud
Douglas at Springfield during the pro-
prcss of the State Fair in October.
The affair came of on the 4th day Of
October, 1854. The State Fair had been
in progress two days, and the capitulwas
full Of all manner OF men, The Nebrus-
ka bill had been passed on the previous
22d Of May. Mr. Douglas had returned
to Illinois to meet an outraged constitu
ency. He had made a irUcmcntary speech
in Chicago, the people filling up each hi
atus in peculiar and good humored way.
He called the people a mob--they called
him rowdy. The "mobn had the best
Of il, both then and at the election which
succeeded. The notoriety Of all these
events had stirred up the politics Of the
State from bottom TO top. Hundreds Of
politicians had met at Springfield, ex-
pecting a tournament ofan unusual char
acter
We do not remember whether chal-
leuge TO debate passed between the
friends Of the speakers or not, but there
was perfectly OmioOblc understanding
between Lincoln and Douglas, that the
former should speak two or three hours,
and the latter reply in just as little or as
much time as he choose. Mr.. Lincoln
took the stand at two o'clock large
crowd in attendance, and Mr.. Douglas
was seated on a small platform in front
Of the desk. The first half hour Of Mr..
Lincoln's speech was taken up with COM
pliments to his friend Judge Douglas, and
dry illusions to the political events of
the past few years. His distinguished
friend Judge Douglas had taken his seat
as solemn as the Cock-Lano ghost, evil
IDENTIFY with the design Of not moving a
muscle till II came his turn to speak,
The laughter provoked by Lincoln's ex-
ordium, however, soon began to make him
uneasy; and when Mr.. l.. arrived at his
(DouglasO speech pronouncing the Mis-
souri, Compromise "a sacred thing which
no ruthless hand would ever be reckless
enough to disturb" he ventured to oremurk
ga first rate speech" This was the be-
ginning Of an amusing colloquy.
eyes" continued Lincoln, $50 Hffcc-
tionate was my friends regard for this
compromise line, that when Texas was
admitted into tho Union, and il was found
that strip extended north Of SO deg, 80
min, he actually introduced a bill ex-
tending the line and prohibiting slavery
in the northern edge Of the New State"
"And you voted against the bill," said
Douglas.
Precisely So" replied Lincoln; 81
was in favor of running the line great
deal further south"
"About this time" the speaker contin-
ued, "my distinguished friend introduced
me to a particular friend Of his, one Da-
vid Wilmot, of Pennsylvania" Laugh
ter
81 thought" said Douglas, "you would
find him congeniRl company"
$50 did" replied Lincoln. 81 had
pleasure of voting for his Proviso, in one
way aud another, about forty times. II
was Democratic measure then, be-
lieve. AtHny rate Gen. Cass scolded
honest John Davis, Of Massachusetts,,
soundly for talking awny the last hours Of
the session, so that he (Cass) couldn't
crowd it through. Apropos of Gen. Cass:
i'll am not greatly mistaked, he has
prior claim to my distinguished friend, TO
the authorship of Popular Sovereignty.
The old General has an infrmity for
writing letters. Shortly after the scold-
ing he gave John Davis he wrote the
Nicholson letter
Douglas (solemnly)-"God Almighty
placed man on the earth, and told him 70
choose between good and evil. That was
the origin of the Nebraska bill!"
Lincoln-"Well, the priority Of invon-
ton being settled, let us award all credit
to Judge Douglas for being the first to
discover it."
II would be impossible, in these limits
TO give an idea Of the strength of Mr..
I.incoln's argument. We deemed Il by
far the ablest effort Of the eampaign-
from whatever source. The occasion
was a great one, and the speaker was ev-
cry way equal to il. The effect produc-
ed on the listeners was magnetic. No
one who was present will ever forget the
power and vehemence of the following
passage;
"My distinguished friend says Il is an
insult to the emigrants 10 Kansas and
Nebraska TO suppose they are not able
to govern themselves. We must not
slur over an argument of this kind be-
cause il happens 10 tickle the car. II
must be met and answered. ! admit that
the emigrant TO Kansas and Nebraska 10
competent 10 govern himself, but" the
speaker rising to his full height, ~ deny
his right 10 gOVerR any other person WITH
OUT THAT PERSONS CONSENT" The ap-
plause which followed this triumphsh.
refutation Of a cunning falsehood, was
but an earnest Of the1',ictOry at tho polls
which followed jus 0he month from that
day.
When Mr.. lincoln had concluded, Mr..
Douglas stTode hastily 20 the stand. As
usual, he employed ten minutes in telling
how grossly he had been abused. Rec
ollecting himself ho added, Though in a
perfectly courteous manner--abused in a
perfectly courteous NannoTl
After the Springfield passage, The two
speakers went 70 Peoria and tried Il o.
gain with identieally the same results -
A friend who listened 10 the PoorlA do
bate informed Us that after Lineoln had
finished, Douglas "hadn't much 20 say"
which we presume 10 have been Mr..
Douglas view Of the caqe aho, for the
reason that he ran away from his Rntag-
onist and kept out Of hts way during the
-