The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1860-06-06

met and answered. / admit that the EN-
u ligrant to Kansas and Nebraska is compe
tent to govern himself, but" the speaker
rising to his full height, II deny his
right to govern any other person WITHOUT
THAT PERSONS CONSENT" The applause
which followed this triumphant refuta.
ton of a cunning falsehood 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. Re-
collecting himself, he added though in
a perfectly courteous manner'-abused
in perfectly courteous manner He
then devoted half hour to showing
that it was indispensably necessary to
California emigrants, Santa Fe traders
and others, to have organic acts provided
for the Territories of Kansas and Ne
braska-that being precisely the point
which nobody disputed. Having estab-
lished this premise to his satisfaction, Mr..
Douglas launched forth into an argument
wholly apart from the position taken by
Mr.. Lincoln. He had about half finished
at six clock, when an adjournment to tea
was effected. The speaker insisted siren
ously upon his right to resume in the
evening, but we believe the second part
of that speech has not been delivered to
this day. After the Springfield passage,
the two speakers went to Peoria and tried
it again, with identically the same results.
A friend who listened to the Peoria de-
bate informed us that after Lincoln had
! finished, Douglas hadn't much to say"
which we presume to have been Mr..
| Douglas view of the case also, for the
reason that he ran away from his antag-
onist and kept out Of his way during the
remainder of the campaign.
During this exciting campaign Mr..
Liucoln pressed the slavery issue upon
the people of Central and Southern Illi-
nois, who were largely made up Of the
emigration from Kentucky, Tennessee,
Virginia and North Carolina, with all
the powers of his mind. He felt the force
of the moral causes that must influence
the question. and he never failed to ap-
peal to the moral sentiment of the people
in aid Of the argument drawn from po-
litcal sources, and to illuminate his
theme with the lofty inspirations of an
eloquence pleading for the rights Of hu-
manty. A revolution swept the State.
For the first time majority of the Leg
islature of Illinois was opposed to the
Democratic administration of the Feder-
al Government. A United States Sena-
tor was to be elected in place of General
Shields who had yielded to the influence
of his less scrupulous colleague, aud
against his own better judgement, had
voted for the Kansas Nebraska act. The
election came on, and number of bal
lots We're taken, the almost united oppo
sition voting steadily for Lincoln, bu
the anti Nebraska Democrats for Trum
bull. Mr.. Lincoln became apprehensiye
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 elecl
a Senator who had little or nothing il
common with the inchoate Republican
party. To prevent such consumma
tion, he went personally to his friends
and by strong persuasion, induced then
to vote for Trumbull He thus secured
by an act of generous self sacrifice. {
triumph for the cause of right, and an
advocate of il on the floor Of the Senate
not inferior, in earnest zeal for the princi
Piles of Republicanism, to any member O.
that body.
Some of his friends on the floor of the
Legislature wept like children when con
strained by Mr.. Lincoln's personal ap
peals to desert him and unite on Trum.
bull. 1t is proper to say in this connec
ton, that between Trumbull and Lincolr
the most cordial relations have alway;
existed, and that the feeling of envy OF
rivalry is not to be found in the breast O
either.
From his thorough conviction Of tn,
growing magnitude of the slave ques
ton and of the need Of a strong effort Il
preserve the Territories TO freedom, Mr.
Lincoln was among the first to join in til,
formation of the Republican party, al
though the public opinion around hin
was strongly adverse to that movement
He exerted himself for the organization
of the Republican forces in Illinois. anc
attended the first Republican Convention
held in the State. This was in Bloom
ington. in May. 1856. His speech ii
that Convention was of surprising power
and eloquence. and produced great ef
feet. In the contest of that year. Mr.
Lincoln was at the head of the Illinois
electoral ticket, and lsbored earnestly
though vainly, TO wrest that State from th'
grasp of the proslavery Democracy. will
the " walking magazine of mischief" a
Douglas has beea appropriately called, a
its head.
We need not refer to the Great Cam
paign of 1853. SO fresh in the recollec
ton Of all readers. further than to sub
Join the result OF the vote on members o
the Legislature, to wit:
For ABRAHAM LINCOLN 1928
For STEPHEN 4. DOUGLAS l2l 100
By reason. however. of the tiagrsn
apportionment of the State IN Legislativ