, 1860-03-02
A GREAT SPEECH.
LlNCOLN IN NEW YORK.
iFt,,n tic New Yurk TRIBUNE. Feb. e'l.I

LAnSN44H AA HASt
iFt,,n tic New lork TRIBUNE. Feb. e'll.I |
The uon. ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Of illinois, tho
great antagonist Of Senator Douglas, garc last
evening, in the Cooper 1nztitutc, lecture on
National Politics. Although there was an ad-
mission fec for tLc benefit Of The Plymouth
Church course Of lectures, 1hc seats Of the Grcat
hall we're ncarly al filled, and Il large number
of people preferred standing 10 sitting in the
rear seats. Upon the platform were Ex-Gov.
John A. King, Darid Dudley Field, VIM. c.
nryan,, Gen. James ". Nye, Alms.House Gov-
crnors Isaac J. Oliver aad Washington Smith, |
Z. Dclaicid Smith, Or. S. Lounsberry, a. j.
Dittcphoef1er, Esq., Judge f. D. culver,s Theo-
doso Tilton, Thomas u. Still1nan, Samuel Sin
clair J. s. Gibbons; in line, it was crowded
with distinguished Republicans. A eonsldcra.
bic nu,nbcr OF ladies graccd the occasion By
their presence.
Ar. Lincoln wns escorted into the room by
David Dudley Field and VIM. c. Bryant, amid
loud aud prolonged applause. Mr.. Field sad:
Fellow RErrnL,cAxs: beg leave to uomi-
nate us Chairman Of this meeting Republican
whom you all know well-Wiliiam Cullen Ery-
| mt. lChccrs.l Those Of you who arc in favor
Of Mr. Krya.t will say Aye. General and
thundroux ''ayc.'j Those Of YOU who arc not
III favor will say No. tsilcncc.] The is no No.
| Laughter and applause]
Mr. bryant, on taking tho chair, said:
| My friends, It Is grateful Office that perform
in Introducing TO you nj this time IN eminent
| citizen uf tho Wcs! whom you know, or whom
you have known hitlrrlo only by fame, but who
has consented to uddres. u New York assem-
bagc this c:cnny. The Great West, my
friends. is Il potent ausiIiary in the battle VIC
urc fighting for Freedom aga.nst Slavery; in
the occupation Of so,nc Of The fa;reat regions Of
anr continent. on which the settlers. nrc now
auiliilfg their cabins. l sag higher and
wiser agency than that Of mun in the causcs
that hare Tiled with hardy population thcv
and fertile region winch lorms the western part
Of The Valley Of tle Mississippi, ruce Of men
wl,o are not ashamed 10 Til tl,cir acres with
their own hands. uud who would be ashamed to
subsst by the labor Of the slave. Cheers
These children Of the West, my friends, form
living buwark against the advances Of sfuyery,
auI trntn them is recruited The vanguard OF the
will appear betutc you this evening. present
to you guunt soldier Of tile political ca1npaigu
Of 1856, who then rendered good service to tile
Republican causc, and wl,u was since been the
champion oflhat cause in the struggle which took
pluce two years later for the supremacy in the
Legislature Of Illinois, who touk tie field then
ayanst Douglas, and who would have then won
the victory but for tie unjust apportsonmcut
law of the State, which allowed minority Of
tic people to elect na jority of the Legislature.
have only, my friends. 10 pronounce the nulne
of Abraham Lincoln of Illinois loud cheering
-1haye only to pronounce his name, to secure
your profoundcst attention, Continued ap-
plause. and "Tbree cheers for Abraham Lin
| culu!'1
, Ms. LINCOLN then, after prolonged applause,
. | said:
, Kr. Plesidtht and tsllowc;ti-tnsof + 1Nw TorL:
The facts with which shall deal this evening
are mainly old and familiar; nor is there any:
thing new in the general use l shall make Of
them. If there SHALL be any novelty, it will be
in tile mode Of presenting the facts, and the in
r scntation.
THE QUESTION DEFINED.
In his speech last Autumn, ut Columbus
, ator Doug las said:
"Our fathers, when they framed he Government urac
which W ltv, understood th.s question just as we'll All
. escn better, tlsaa WI do n1"
!. fully iudorsc this. and adopt it as q tex
:. for this discourse. so adopt it because it fur
: / nishes precise aud an agreed starting poia
= | for discussion between Republicans aud tia
- wing of the Democracy headed by Senator
Douglas. 1t simply leaves the inquiry: Wha
was the understanding those fathers had Of th'
question mentioned:'' What is the frame o
r Government under Which VIC live? The an
it swer must be: The Constitution Of the Unitct
~ States" That Constitution consists Of th'
W original, framed in 1857 {and under which TIL
i. present Government first went into opcration)
c. and twelve subsequently framed amendments
ie the first ten Of which were framed in ITS!
L. Who were our fathers that framed the Consti
rs tulion? 1supposc the shirt rty-nine" who sign
il cd The original instrument may be fairly calte
= our fathers who franacd that part Of the prcsen
c.ttr aaf1 frs10 tn
C. they framed it. aud it is altogether true to Ea
: they fairly represented tile opinion and sent
nlent Of the whole nation at that time. Tnci
names being familiar to nearly all, aud access
1c b'e TO quite all. need not now he repeated.
Of take these tlirtynIne" for the present, rs b
;s ing tour fathers who framed the Governmen
under which We live"
THE ISSUE.
81 What is the question which, according to IL
III tsxt. those fathers understood just as well, an
even better than we do now? It is this: Dot
1y the proper division Of local from Federal Il!
u tho!i.y. or any thing in the Constitution, forb
If our Federal Governments eontrvl as to Star
ne | ry i'll our Federal Territories: Upon til
ne Douglas holds the affirmative, and Republican
c- the negative. This affirmative and denia! fer
H. an issue; and this issue-this lurstion--is pr
us c;scly what the text declares our fathers unde
whether the !" thirty y-nine" or any Of them, cv'
E1e acted upon this question; and il they did, lo
ug Thea ucted upon ii-how they expressed tn
te better understanding.
ur THE FACTS OF HISTORY.
~ n In 17s4-tlsree years before the Constitute
" ". the United States then owning the Mort
=, western Territory. and no othcr-the Cougrc
n 1n ton Of prohibiting slavery in TINT Tcrritor.
~. ~. and four of the " "tlrty-nne" who aftcrwa
~ ~ | framerthc Constitution were in that Cougres
er ,rr and voted on.that question. ot these, kog
n Sherman. Thomas Aiitilin, and Hugh Willia'
~ ~ son voted for The pruhibiton-thus showil
up that, in their understanding, no line dividil
s local from Federal authority, nor anything eli
". ~ properly forbade the Federal Government
i;e control as to slavery in Federal Territory. 7
80 other Of the four-James McHenry y-rot
against the prohibition, showing that, tor sol
a1e cause, he Thought it improper TO vote for it.
In 1857, still before the Constitution, l.
while the Convention was in session framing
OF and while the Northwestern Territory still VI
at- the ouly territory owned By the United Stat
), the same question Of prohibiting slavery III t
the Territory again came before the Congress of
ere Confederation; and three more Of the "thir
.,r nine" who ufterward signed the Constitute
-, were in that Congress. and voted on the qu
'eo tion. They were William Dlount, William Fe
and Abraham Baldwin; aud they ail Foted
Mr.. the prohibition--thus showing that, in tn
~. understanding, no line dividing local from. F.
en' eral authority, nor anything else, properly &
the bade the Federal Government 10 control Us
ing Slavery in Federal Territory. This time
tn prohibition became law. being a part OF VI
is now well known rs the Ordinance Of 81. I
'as- question Of Federal control Of slavery in
ned Territories seems not to have been directly
# a fore tie Convention which fraued the or1sl
- Constitution; and hence it is not recorded Il
,o' the "tlir1y.nln or any Of them; while I
on- gagged on that instrument, expressed aDy op
'ck- ion on that precise question. In 1852, by
,cs first Congress which sat under the Constitute
IN act was passed to enforce the Ordinance