C 2 LJLl w 1 1)0 . ; and HH<{ u-ppre-cialo wili n "hem Tor not. iii.>in-- u . if. I fall : hoitid not know u }\u t >\V11 i;:i IVC IfltVl, jlcclion would convince rn : iii^h liopo, (as [ rlii 1 snay !H in this. .in tin Ion*- r;n:. iis sudd . . IT t!ir\ all pers not surlus shi noih fuuijh in t in many tinu s fen days. \\ all. anil keep them a [.- it quite j ; at ai: ; j cially, ourf quals? \! \ o\vu feelings will uot art mil of this; and il miiK- woidd, we well know that j those oi i ne ureat mas- of white ucuple will ; \\ ln:the: this Irejing accords wifh justice >ound jtid^nieni, is n<t t!ie sole question, it in- 1 deed, it. is any pap o| jr. A universal louliujr, 1 wheiln:r. well or ill-found -d, can not be safely disivg ard . d. \\ e caa nut, then. ; ( items of laiicipaliun might be aeluplei! ; but s in this, i will not undertake ilgc our brethren of the .south. lit the course of his reply. Senator iKw^las re marked, in -ubstanee, thai he had always consid ered thi. govei iimrnt was made for the white people and not for the fi"gro s. Why, in point tl ni -iv t-i -t, 1 think s<> too. But in this remark of thehid r u r e. there i*, >i <i^tiincanci , which 1 think i.-j the key to the j. r r<-iit. inisiakc (if there is any <ueii inistuke i whirli he has jnade in thi.-i Ne braska incasurr. it shows that tin; Judg\i has nu very vivid impn-ssinn that t!i<- ne^rro is a hu man ; and e<>n.>e<5uent!y lia.-> im id<-a that tliciv cjui l. e any moral qwrtiori in legislating about him. In his view, the question of whether a | ne&country shall !>< slave <>r fn-e, is a mat KM* of us utter Hidi iK-reneo;- n^ 1 it is svhrtht/r his IK ighbor a liall plant his I urm with tubaeeo, or trto-k it with horned cattle. Now, whether this view is rijrht or wr -ivj-, it j--; very < %| . rta.in thnt the great muss of mankind take a, totally tlilli.-ivnt view. I I hey consider slavery a grout moral wron^ ; and 1 their ieelin,L r ;s u^ainsi i?.. is not evanetcrnt, but .eternal. It lie^ at the very foundation of their i if justice ; and it cannot be trilled with. !t is a groat and durable element of popular action, ai;d, 1 think, 110 Hlatesmau cau safely dis regard it. A^Ld^oV J& /? >H ^ miido for white men made for \v!iite mm it in a shape in which no one wante to deny it^ } r it. 9 into his passion it warranted. I !, !.>. t MOW and forever. aKftinst that eount- There arc "white wen enough -to inarr^* wbivc women, umi black inc-u enon^h i ry all the black womei>, and in God s name let thc-m ]>o so married. The Judge resiles us with tbo terrible enormities that take place by the mixture of races; that the inferior race bears tin 1 superior fluv, i). Why, Judge, ii we will not let them jret together in the Ter- thi-y wont mix there. [Immense ap plause.] A voice " Three eheers for Lincoln." [The cheers were given with a heartv good will.] Mr LiiK-oln T should say at least that is a self-evident trurh. X w, it happens that We meet together once every year, sometime nbout the 4th of July, for some reason or other. These -Jth of July gatherhigs, 1 suppose, have their us-s. If you wit! indulge me, I will state what I sup- io be some of them. ""We arc now a mighty nation, we arc thirty or about Thirty millions of people, ami we own and inhabit about a fifteenth part of the whole earth. .We run our memory back over the pages of history for about eighty-two years ami we discover that we were then a ve ry f-mall people in point of numbers, vastly inferior to what we are now, with a vastly less extent of country with vastly less of every thing we deem desirable among men we look upon tho change as exceedingly advan- t;ip"Mi-5 to us mid to our posterity, and we iix OjX n -"inething that happened away back, as , in some way or other being connected with j tlii.s rise of prosperity. We find a race of | men living at that day whom we claim as our I fathers and grandfathers ; they were iron ! men ; they iV.ught for the principle that they ! were contending for ; and we understand that by what they then did it has followed that the degree of prosperity that we now enjoj has, come to us. We hold this annual cele- i to remind ourselves of all the good done in this process of time, of how it was done !:!i<l who did it, and how we are histori cally connected with it ; and we go from these meetings in better humor with ourselves ; we feel more attached the one to the other, and more firmly bound to the country we inhabit. In every way wo are better men in the age, and race, and country in which we live for these celebrations. But after we have done all this we have not yet reached the whole. There is something else connected with it. We have besides these men descended by blood from our ancestors among us perhaps j half our people who are not descendants at j all of these men ; they are men who have come [ from Europe German, Irish, French and Scandinavians men that have come from Europe themselves or whose ancestors have come hither and settled here, finding them- back through this history to true the c on nsctions with those days by blood they fti they have none, they cannot carry U back into that glorious epoch and make them selves feel that they are part of us, but when they look through that old D- of Independence they find that thos^ old men av that "We hold these truths to bo self- evident that all men are created equa then they feel that moral sentiment taug m tl. it day evidences their relation to hose men, that "it is the father of all mora pnneiple in them, and that they have a right to cl it as though they were blood of and ilesh of the flesh of the man who wrote that Declaration Bond and long applaus and so they arc. ThatXs the electric in that Declaration links the hearts o pah - otic and liberty-loving men together, that w L link tho.e patriotic hearts as long as the love of freedom exists in the minds oi men throughout the world. [Applause. J Now, sirs, for the purp.se of squaring things with this idea of don t care it slave ry isNoted up or voted down/; for *u j aimug the Dred Scott decision, [A voice-" Hit him again,"] for holding that the ^clarahon of i Independence did not mean anything we have Jute Douglas giving his exposi of what the Declaration of Independence means, and we have him Baying it means sim- I di-cn and repeated to them, do n I out the sentiment of liberty m ! and to transform this government u. Lcrnmentofsomeotberforra? * hat arc arguments that arc made, that the inferior race are to be treated with as much allow ance as they are capable of enjoying; that as much is, to be done for them as their conditi on will allow ? They are the arguments that king.-* have made for enslaving the people in all ages of the world. Yon will find that all the arguments in favor of kingcraft were of this elans ; they always bestrode the neeks of the people, hot that they wanted to doit, but because the people were better off for being ridden. That is their argument and this ar gument of the Judge is the same old serpent that says you work and I eat, you, toil and I will e;ij<y the fruits of it. Turn it whatever way yon will -whether it come from the mouth of a king, as excuse for enslaving the people of his country or from the mouth of men o-f one race as a reason for enslaving the men of another race, it is all the same old serpent, and [hold if that course of argumentation which is made for the pur pose of convincing the public mind that we should not care about this, should be granted, it does not stop with the negro. I should like to know if taking this old Declaration of Independence, which declares that all men are equal upon principle and no making ex ception to it, where will it stop? If one man says it does not mean a negro, why may not another say it docs not mean some other man ? If that declaration is not truth let us get the statute book in which we find it and tear it out ! Who is so bold as to do it ? If it is not true let us bear it out! [Cries of " no, no,"] Lot us stick to it then. [( heers.] Let us stand firmly by it then. [Applause.] It maybe arjjfii . d tii; iti<-.ns that ii!-;kc i pun us, and to rhe ex >j -I. ! upon a man li think that was the My lYM-nds, I Imvo d-t:im d yoti about as : . iivl { / <ln, it t i { iiav sijilv to J- iiV, disoAixl nl! this qaibbiing about this man : and the cthi i- IMHU- --t.Iii> )-;iro :ui l (haf race nHtl tht? otlii. i I . icc hfinj; iiifcriur, jiiiil fhcrc- i Ti- tlioy IIHI ,t !" placed in nn inf "rioi- pohi- [itcdi-drnj! ().< strm.hnl \v ; hare )<-ft i Lot u ti -n l all f !" thing.i, mcl unito in ii:i 1 ui l. until \\c My frJcmK I ccAild not without launching off upon some new topic, "which "would detain Y .u 90 lunjr, continue to-night. [Cries of "go Oth". J, I thank you for this most extensive audience "\vhich you have furnished me to night. ( h ,ave ytiu, hoping that the lamp of liberty will burn in your bosoms until there .shall no longer be a doubt that all men are created free and equal. Mr. Lincoln retired amid a perfect torrent I of applause and cheers. QL J * fli- *\, ~ /sr* A-V ^f^^^j J l-- : ., -uctence, tn ngui j bappir t -s-^ L^" n iU V- eewitb Judge J - > / &/* L-CsT^SI^A " . /?- /&! t ^ 1 will SHY th been in lavor of 1 the - .-!..! and f . i; l vc biir in regard to it. 1 M.,1 nnr cvcv have ~. gq U ,\ny of the white ... / r , ,i.laa-"]--tha*, I am not or jurors of negroes, nor of qnalifying them to hold office, n..r to intermarry with white : ui d I will say in addition to il there i.s a physical -liiV , cnee beween U white and black race- u hir i I beliere Will ever forbid the two races living together OL terms of social and political equality And iiiasiiiuch as thev cannot.. HO live, while, tut;^ do r<-i:i iln to ;etner thrc i " 1 -" Ti.. th - ]-.si- tionor.-v,!- ;..- u..- ; I ,.,- > .:,. .,,,.1 i ;l - much us saperior position i^.-i::;;! to thewni I say upoa this oocaeioD < d (> H - per that because the whito man 18 1^ w superior position the negro should ^ denied everythine. 1 du not, uudevstaud tliat because I do not want A r.e^vo woimui for a ^iave I mn?t nece^.uily want her tor a wife. [Che"!- si-id laugnter.} My uaderbtanding is that I can just let her alone. I amn o.v ifti. tli vcar. UIK! I < or a wife. So it to get alon^j v. i , that 1 ! .in. \\itnian or chilil .: - recoll -cl r but on-: < ver iicaid ut M- . rd M. Johnson. [Lauj2 . - J liav am not goin to outer at l?trgf ject,) that J innl tj i rluil [ or i :.t\V tO li ; -hier] but an .TudgoDt ls seera : . . .-at apj fhes mi] 10 wt-rc no la trum i;. laughter] I i .-<> jim ple:l,<re 4U/1A / f^frs^-^ +y e^jc^^*~*^<i * d^t-v/ STIIS^/ ^t^nv <Jf /A-^s^-o / - ^ ^Jij .-^^ ^ fL>s*-*J , ^ A-**^^/ &L<^ is -TS^^y 4#^\s^ /Co 1~A^ <--C cSV ^c ^v*> 4 ^X^./ 4 &**^J V ^^, y<--/- ; tej~l^>^^ss /J ti/ 6~ejj^s~> *n~s J? A^-? t^-^L*^ x^. r / /0/e^c ts ft / f/ /- 2..^^-<.^~-^ 4--^ ^>^A zrr" _ feSSH^*^ . &cst^ce*J t^sj&CZy ^ j[/ / 4 /^^C^^^^^f^ j U f ^H LINCOLN: HIS BOOK AN EXPLANATORY NOTE. Copyright, 1901, by McClure, Phillips & Co. New York ABRAHAM LINCOLN / 1 HIS BOOK A FACSIMILE REPRODUC TION OF THE ORIGINAL \VITH AX EXPLANATORY NOTE BY J. McCAN DAVIS NEW YORK: McCLURE, PHILLIPS & CO. 1901 , ..2. QIFT OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN HIS BOOK. This book the only one now or over extant of its illustrious authorship owes its exist ence to the political campaign of 1S58, when the opposing candidates for United States Senator from Illinois were Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas. The issue iras slavery whether, as Mr. Lincoln contended, it should be restricted to the states in which it already existed, or, as Judge Douglas advo cated, it should be permitted to invade the new territories if agreeable to the people thereof. Mr. Lincoln, at that time, did not advocate emancipation. He made no demand for the liberation of the slaves then in bondaare. He made no plea for negro citizenship. While he regarded slavery, as he had declared as early as 1837, as "founded on both injustice and Si- bad policy," and of course hoped for its "ultimate extinction," he recognized its con stitutional status in the states in which it then had an existence, and, without any pur pose to disturb it there, raised his voice only against its further extension. His position, however, was constantly mis stated by his opponents. Judge Douglas made the charge of "abolitionism," and the accu sation was reiterated throughout the state, from the beginning to the end of the cam paign, by Democratic orators and newspapers. It was charged that Lincoln stood for the equality of the races, politically and socially; and it was pointed out, with alarm and in dignation, that should his doctrines prevail, there would be inevitable social and political chaos. Whites and blacks would intermarry promiscuously; the impassable line which had so long separated the two races would be wholly obliterated; the hated black man would be invested with political privileges which hitherlo had been counted the white man s exclusive and sacred rights. 3- There were few sections of Illinois where prejudice against the negro was stronger than in Sangaiuon county, the home of Mr. Lincoln. The city of Springfield and the adjacent country was inhabited largely by natives of Kentucky. Before coming to Illinois they had been accustomed to slavery, and, while many agreed with Mr. Lincoln that the insti tution was fundamentally wrong and ought to be restricted, the remotest suggestion of mak ing a negro their social and political equal was abhorrent. It was this prejudice that kept so many of the Whigs, even after their party was manifestly doomed to extinction, from joining the new Republican party. It was this influence that gave Fillmore his strength in Illinois in 1856, and, by dividing the anti- Democratic forces, gave the state s electoral vote to Buchanan. The widespread fear of "negro equality" was at once recognized by Mr. Lincoln as the most portentous obstacle to the success of the new party. It made the Old Line Whigs his life-long political associates- hesitant, wavering, and distrustful. Some of them had already gone over to the Democracy. In 1857 there was no longer any doubt that the Whig party could never survive another election. It was, in truth, already dead. Many of the Old Whigs of Sangamon county were still at sea, not knowing whither to turn for safe and congenial affiliations. There were really but two courses open they must join the new Republican party, with its ad vanced and distrusted doctrines on slavery, or they must join the pro-slavery Democracy, which they had been fighting from time im memorial. It was this dilemma which brought to gether, one day in that year, a few Sangamon county men who long had been prominent in the Whig party councils. The assemblage, in a retrospective view, was notable and historic, though at the time it was but a quiet confer ence of friends, for whose proceedings we are indebted wholly to a trustworthy tradition. There were present, among others, Judge Stephen T. Logan and Major John T. Stuart, 5 both of whom had been Lincoln s law part ners; Colonel John Williams, Major Elijah lies, and Captain James > . Brown. There was a full and frank discussion of the difficult problem. Every one present expressed his views and intentions. Some had joined the Republicans in the previous year; others were now ready to do so, while several, like Major Stuart, although not yet prepared to go with the Democracy, declared that they never could be Republicans. Captain Brown, when called upon to state his position, said : " My friends, I have been a Whig all my life. I cannot be a Democrat. From this time on, I am a Lincoln Re publican." Mr. Lincoln, up to this point, had not been present; but he stepped into the room just in time to hear Captain Brown s declaration. This conference was followed by another early in 1858. It was a Republican meeting this time, and of great local importance. Captain Brown was there, and so was Lincoln. The matter under consideration was the per- 6- sonnel of the local ticket for the campaign then about to open. The master spirit of the occasion was Mr. Lincoln. He talked at length and emphasized the importance of a policy which would set at rest the minds of the Old Whigs who still remained practically without a party showing them that the new party was not the exponent of "abolitionism," as had been alleged against it, but that it stood only for the conservative doctrine of the re striction of slavery to existing limitations. Captain Brown, like Lincoln, was a native of Kentucky, coming of a distinguished family of that state (his father, Colonel William Brown, a veteran of the war of 1812, having served in Congress with Henry Clay, defeat ing Colonel Richard M. Johnson, who was sub sequently United States Senator and Vice- President). He had been a life-long Whig, and, like many of his party associates, had kept out of the Republican party in 1856, voting for Fillmore. He had long been a per sonal friend of Lincoln, and was, moreover, a man of blameless reputation. >% Mr. Lincoln, at this meeting, urged the nomination of Captain Brown as one of the party s candidates for the legislature. Brown did not want the nomination, and said so; he had served four terms in the House (including one term with Lincoln, back in 1840 and 41), and was now averse to longer public service. But Lincoln was insistent, and made an argu ment which disclosed in him the astute poli tician that all recognized him to be. "You must run," he said to Brown. "We cannot, must not, nominate an Eastern man ; he would be beaten. We must have the votes of the Old Line Whigs. You have been a Whig; you are a Kentuckian; jou have been a slave-holder. You will get the support of the large conservative element the Old Line Whisrs and the men of Southern birth and sympathies who, while willing to let slavery remain where it is, are with us against its further extension, but who would be afraid to trust an Eastern man," and he called off the names of a half-hundred Old Line Whiars of local prominence who would 8 vote for such a man as Brown, but would op pose a candidate of Eastern birth or of doubt ful antecedents. Captain Brown, persuaded to an accept ance by Lincoln s unanswerable logic, was later nominated for the lower branch of the General Assembly, his associate on the ticket being John Cook, sou of a Kentuckian, and afterwards a Union General in the Civil War. Popular feeling was intensified as the cam paign progressed. The old prejudice against the negro, inbred in the men of Southern nativity the heritage of many generations of perverted opinion was found deep-rooted and bitter. Entering upon his canvass, Captain Brown was confronted everywhere with the charge that Lincoln stood for "negro equal ity," social and political. "Why, Brown!" his old friends would say, in astonishment, " How can you, a Ken tuckian, yourself once a slaveholder, stand for a Black Abolitionist a man who says the negro is your equal and mine I " -9 Personally, of course, Captaiu Brown un derstood Lincoln s position perfectly; but there were many whom he found it impos sible to convince that Lincoln held no such views as were ascribed to him. He felt the necessity for something authori tativea statement from Mr. Lincoln himself, setting forth his views in lucid and unmis takable language. Late in the campaign he asked Mr. Lincoln for such a statement. Mr. Lincoln went over his published speeches for several previous years, including those in his debate with Douglas just then concluded, and clipped out whatever he had said on the sub ject of "negro equality." These extracts he pasted into a small pocket memorandum book, making explanatory notes wherever needed. He supplemented this printed matter with a letter addressed to Captain Brown, filling eight pages of the little book. This letter, containing the essence of all he had previously said, was the most recent and authoritative statement of his views which he could pos sibly have made, and it was precisely the -10 thing which liis friend and supporter had felt the need of throughout his canvass. The close of the campaign was near, only about two weeks of it remaining, but the time was fully utilized by Captain Brown. He carried the book in his pocket, and when ever Lincoln s "negro equality" views were questioned and this must have been many times every day, in the course of his public speeches and private conversations he would produce the book and read from it " Lincoln s own words," placed there by Lincoln himself only a few days before. But no argument was strong enough to over come the prejudice then so widespread and unreasoning, and both legislative candidates (one of Southern birth, and the other of Southern ancestry) failed of election. The book, of course, had been intended by Mr. Lincoln only to meet a temporary require ment, and very likely he had no idea that it would survive the campaign of 1858; but Captain Brown carefully preserved it and must have carried it with him in 1860 and in sub- 1 1 - sequent campaigns, for lie filled out the re maining leaves with many later newspaper scraps of his own selection. Captain Brown died in 1868. The Lincoln scrap-book passed to his sons, William and Benjamin W. Brown, of Grove Park, Illinois, by whom it is still owned, and to whom we are indebted for the facts pertaining to its history. It is the unique renown of this book that it is the only one ever written or compiled by Abraham Lincoln. It is reproduced here, as nearly as possible, precisely as it came from his pen and his hand. J. McCAX DAVIS. A "PARAMOUNT ISSUE" IN 1858. XOTE. On the opposite page is the "scare head" of a double-leaded article which the "Illinois State Register " kept standing in its columns for some time previous to the election of 1858. The "State Register" was the organ of Senator Douglas at the State Capital. The article illustrates the preemi nence of "negro equality" as an issue in the campaign of 1858, from the Democratic point of view. J. McC. D. PEOPLE OF SANGAMON! REMEMBER A TOTE FOR COOK AND BROWN IS A VOTE FOR LINCOLN AND NEGRO EQUALITY! VOTE FOR BARRET and SHORT AND SUSTAIN DOUGLAS A\D POPULAR RIGHTS. of Ca p o $ D n