Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1860-05-31


lieve. At any rate Gen, Cass scolded
Honest John Davis Of Massachusetts sound
ly for talking away the last hours of the
session so that he (Cass) couldn't crowd
it through. ,Apropos to Gen. Cass.: if l
am not greatly, mistaken be has a prior
claim to my distinguished friend, to the
authorship Of Popular, Sovereignty The
old General has an infirmity for writing
letters. Shortly after the scolding he gave
John Davis he wrote his Nicholson letter
Douglas (solcmnly -""God Almighty
placed man on the earth, and told him to
choose between good and evil. That was
the origin of the Nebraska bill ?, -,
Lincoln-"W the priority of inven
tion being settled. let us, award all credit
to Judge Douglas for being the first to
discover IT, i,.ew s.ss.s.ss, .5Ilaa
1t would be impossible. in these limits
to give an idea of the strength of Mr. Lin
coins argument. We deemed it by far
the ablcst effort of the campaign-from
whatever source. The OCCASION was great
one. and the speaker was every way eqnal
to it. The effect produced on the listners
was magnetic. No one who was present
will ever forget the power and vehemence
of the following passage -. s, f.s..9
"My distinguished friend says it is an
insult to the emigrants to Kansas and Ne
braska to suppose they are not able to
govern themselves. We must not slnr an
argument OF this kind because it happens
to tickle the ear. 1t must be met and
answered. / admit that the cmigrant to
Kansas and Nebraska is competent to gov
ern himself, but" the speaker rising to bis
| full height. "Ideny his right to gorern any
other person WITHOUT THAT Persons coz
SENT The applause which followed this
triumphant refutation of a cunning false
hood. was but an earnest of the victory at
the polls which followed just one month
! from that day.
When Mr.. Lincoln had concluded Mr..
Douglas strobe hastily to the stand. As
usual he employed ten minutes in telling
! how grossly he had been abused. Recol-
Letting himself, he added Though in per-
fectly courteous manner He then devo-
ted half an hour to showing that it was
indispensably necessary to California emf.
grants, Santa Fe traders and others. to
have organic acts provided Tor the Terrific
ries of Kansas and Nebraska-that being
precisely the point which nobody disputed.
Having established this premiss to his
satisfaction, Mr.. Douglas launched forth
into an argument wholly apart from the
positions taken by Mr.. Lincoln. He had
about half finished at six o'clock, when an
Adjournment to tea was effected. The
speaker insisted strcnuously upon his right
to resume i'll the evening, but We believe
the second part If that speech has not been
delivered to this day. After the Spring
field passage; the two speakers went to
Peoria and tried it again with identically
the same results. A friend who listened
to the Peoria debate informed us that after
Lincoln had finished, Douglas 'l,adn't
much to say"-which we presume to have
been Mr.. Douglass view Of the case clso.
for the reason that he ran away from his
antagonist and kept out of bis way during
the remainder of The campaign.
During this exciting campaign Mr.. Lin
coin pressed the slavery issue upon the
people of Central and Southern Illinois,
who were largely made up of the tmigra-
ton from Kentucky. Tennessee. Virginia,
and North Carolina, with all the poweis
of his mind. He felt the force of the NOR
al causes that must influence the question,
and he never failed to appeal to the moral
sentiment of the people IN aid of the argu-
ment drawn frora political sources, and to
illuminate his theme with the lofty inspi-
~rations Of an eloquence, pleading for the
rights of humanity. A revolution swept
the State. For the first time majority
of the Legislature of Illinois was opposed
to the Democratic administration of the
Federal Government. A United States
Senator was tn be elected in place of Gen
eral Shields who had yielded to the inhu-
ence of his less scrupnlous colleague, and,
against his own better judgment, had voted
for the Kansas Nebraska act The elec-
tion came on, and number of ballots
were taken, the almost united opposition
v,ting steadily fer Lin oln, but the anti.
Nebraska Democrats for Trumbull Mr.
lincoln became apprehensive that those
men who had been elected as Democrats
though opposed to Judge Douglas, would
turn upon some third candidate, of less
decided convictions than Judge Trumbull
and possibly elect a Senator who had littIe
or nothing in common with the then In.
choate Republican party. To prevent
such a consummation, he went personally
to his friends. and by strong persuasion
Induced them to vote for Trumbuli. He
thus secured, by an act Of generous self
sacrifice, a triumph Tor the cause of right
and an advocate Of it on the floor of the
Senate. not inferior. in earnest zeal for the
, principles of Republicanism, to any mem
ber of that body.n 1911 -aois~
J Some of his friends on the floor of the
Legislature wcptl like children when con
strained by Mr.. Lincoln's personal appeals
i to desert him and mite on Trumbull. i
: is psoperto say in this connection, thai
between Trumbull and Lincoln the mos
: cordial relations have always existed. and
, that the feeling of envy or rivalry is no
, to be found in the breast of either. ie7.i
: T. From his thorough conviction Of th,
; growing magnitude of the slavos;questior
, and of the need of a strong effort to pre-
] serve the Territories to freedom. Mr. Lin
coin was among the frstto join in the for
nation of the Republican party, although
) the public opinion around him was strong
: lly adverse to that movement. j Ee exertee
himself for the organization of tho Rens,b