Address at Gettysburg College, November 19, 1857. The most memorable speech of Abraham Lincoln's early career was delivered at a public meeting in Canfield, Ohio, in October 1857. A lawyer from Illinois who had not held public office as of this writing, Lincoln made several points in his two-hour address that show he was thinking deeply about the issues before him. The speech has been called "a classic statement on civil disobedience" and "one of the greatest speeches in American history." It certainly ranks among the top ten presidential speeches. Lincoln began by criticizing the lack of unity among the parties in Congress. He argued that political division was harmful to the country and proposed a compromise that would end the fighting over slavery while allowing the continuation of diplomatic relations with both North and South. The speech received poor reviews from many in the audience who did not want any negotiations with the Confederacy, but it drew applause from others when Lincoln suggested that representatives from both sides meet in order to resolve their differences. Lincoln then turned his attention to what he saw as the real issue at hand: slavery.