Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-12-16

~ eAS oia SouAN IouoS VI OlG CUuUlYa
Illinois. at Charleston. There it was that
these giants met in the course of a YER
bal conflict which f~oreshadowed the civil
war in which Lincoln was the central
Inquire. To appreciate this narrative
one must remember the circumstances
under which these men met. their char
acteristics and their oratorical training.
Douglas was short in stature. fiorid in
appearances. and every gesture that he
made showed the training of u school that
taught men how to appeal to an audience.
He was highly educated, and, having an
unlimited vocabulary, his speeches were
free from the repetition that too often
occurs with ordinary speakers.
Douglas had been before the people
as a STUMP speaker often, and at the time
of the joint debate he was called the
Little Giant and was easily the fore
most man of his party in the west. Lin
coin was not unknown, as too many ap-
pear to think, for he had served his state
in the legislature and had been in con-
gress. His dress and manner were not
such as to that admiration
that Douglas Always commanded, and
he was in every way different from him..
Llncoln's manner. as he appeared to the
ordinary person commanded "a feeling
of sympathy at first: tnen the stronger
emotions would come upon the listener
and soon the general appearance of the
speaker became lost with the earnestnees
with which he presented his side OF the
case. i
Il VIeu AIIIlCOlI SkVht VI lIlG slave QuCSS
ton to the average audience he did no:
dwell on the subject to the extent it q
generally supposed he did, nor did he re-
cite narrowing details of the traffic in
slaves SO as to gain prestige by prejudice.
but he. in his own unassuming way.
would raise his left arm, holding it SO
that it would be bent at the elbow. the
right arm and hand extended toward the
audience. with the body leaning in tho
same direction, and would say in nc ui.
usual tones:
II am opposed to any human person
being held in bondage. for l think that
slavery is wrong"
In following Douglas on the joint plat.
form Lincoln seldom referred to the for
mer's flights of OratOry except to pass the
usual compliments that courtesy de-
nands in such cases.
This strange combination, these two
men who were then debating the QueS-
tions that would in a short time nave to
be decided by the army as the court Of
highest appeal, little knew that their
words Of debate would hive in history
and become a basis of a settlement OF
the two factions of mis- country.
Douglas held the crowd with his magic
delivery of eloquent appeal until they
became spellbound, and for one to fol.
impression that had been built so well
by Lincoln. The task appeared herculean
and would not q been attempted by an
ordinary person. In Lincoln's efforts to
overcome these fixed opinions he showed
the tact thai made him so famous in
after life.
At the time this debate was going on
the newspapers were not read as much as
now, so the people depended largely on
the speakers for information, and this
was one of the reasons that so many came
to hear the debate. AS the party moved
from town to town, the crowds kept in
creasing until the audiences We're i'm.
menSc.
Al ono ne thn pooatipr, TNouuIo1 v,oIn
the statement in his usual eloquent man
ner that when Lincoln was in congress
he voted against a bill for supplies for
our army in Mexico. To this assertion
Lincoln made no reply, n at the next
town Douglas repeated the statement
with more emphasis.
When the debaters reached Charles.
ton, prominent men of both political par
ing to custom. Among them was O.. h.
Ficklin, formerly a member of congress.
Douglas again asserted that Lincoln had
refused to vote for supplies for the Unit
ed States army in Mexico. When it
came Lincoln's time to speak he said:
Mr.. Douglas has made the statement
that when I was in congress / voted
against furnishing supplies for our army
in Mexico. AS Mr.. Ficklin, who. as
most Of you know. was in congress at the
time, is in the audience, l will ask him tt
step forward and state the facts in the
case"
Fickiin did not falter, but he was nat.
urally slow and deliberate. Lincoln adj
vanced to where he was seated and al.
most dragged him to the front in his inn.
patience.
Here he exclaimed. 'is a man whs
tell you that Douglas Hest"
Ficklin was a democrat of the most
pronounced type. and therefore a Doug
las partisan. But in all his life his in
tegrity has never been doubted. Now,
at a critical time, his party affairs and
his own vecacity were put to a test.
Lincoln released his hold upon
him. Ficklin walked in his slow. measur-
ed way to the front of the platform and
said in the most positive tones: -
''Mr. Douglas is mistaken" p
Mr.. Fickfin resided at Charleston and
vas noted throughout Illinois as a typi.
,al western statesman.
A HINT FOR NEXT TIME.