Lincoln Township

Lincoln Township

We were furnished on Saturday, by Mr. Lincoln, with the following correspondence, from which it will be seen that he agrees to meet Mr. Douglas in discussion at seven points in the state, which are named in the note of the letter. Mr. Lincoln cannot forego, even in this brief note, the expression of the idea uppermost with him, that he is "a. victim," Douglas has one more "opening" than himself, which, if it were not so, Mr. Lincoln would have one more than Mr. Douglas. As we are told by Mr. Lincoln's organs that Douglas felt incapable of debating successfully with Mr. L., the latter should have forborne his lament, in a spirit of magnanimity.

Now there is a bit of egotism in all this, pardonable, probably, in view of Mr. Lincoln's extremity. Why had he, any more than Wentworth, or Browning, or Gillespie, or Palmer, or Dougherty, or Judd, or any other republican or Danite notability, a right to expect a challenge for debate from Douglas. True, Lincoln had thrust himself before all the reception meetings gotten up in honor of Mr. Douglas, and had taken shape as a senatorial candidate; but as Mr. Douglas suggests, there are others with similar aspirations. He had in this manner of doubtful propriety, made himself a figure out of place, but we cannot see that the circumstances were such as to induce Mr. Douglas to single him out from the number of his opponents - black republican and Danite, and challenge him to a general canvass. Mr. Lincoln's political necessities may have needed this boosting of him into prominence, but he is scarcely justified in lamenting that Mr. Douglas did not contribute to it.

Mr. Douglas, as a representative of his state in the senate, was a prominent actor in the exciting debates of the last session. His action and his motives therefor had been condemned and impugned, and he had concluded, on his return home, to go before his constituents to render an account of the course he had deemed proper to pursue, as well as to advocate the principles, policy and the election of the candidates of his party. Mr. Lincoln was as well qualified to know that Mr. Douglas came to this city to arrange with his party friends for this purpose, as was Mr. Douglas that Mr. Lincoln's party friends had arranged that he was to champion their cause; and as such, if it was his desire to have had a general canvass, single-handed, he could have made it known at the threshold - at Chicago. Why he did not do it, is simply because he had not " resolved " to do it and we think he did not resolve to do it because he thought he could cut a better figure by waiting until Mr. Douglas had made other arrangements, and then pompously send a challenge which he knew could not be accepted.

Mr. Lincoln knew it was Mr. Douglas' intention to canvass the state long before Mr. D's return home. If it was his desire to canvass with him - if it was the desire of his party that he should do so, he should have met the "lion," with a watchful resistance, at the gate, and not have waited for his terms, and the mode and manner of being eaten up.

This bit of pettifogging jugglery on the part of Mr. Lincoln and his backers can only be viewed as such by the people of the state. The twaddle of his organ about Douglas' dread of his prowess is unworthy of comment. Mr. Douglas' agreement to meet him as proposed in the correspondence above, which could not, under the circumstances, be declined by Mr. Lincoln, is, doubtless, more than they bargained for in their epistolary efforts to make a brave front on paper, as the}^ will certainly learn before they are through with a small portion of the large job they profess to bid for.

Eastern newspapers at first failed to appreciate the importance of this challenge and acceptance, although the arrangement caused extensive comment in the Illinois press, as the above quotations would indicate. In the older section the breach between Douglas and Buchanan continued to be extensively treated by editorial writers.

The debate between Douglas and Lincoln, at Alton yesterday, afforded to our citizens an opportunity of hearing and seeing those eminent champions of Democracy and Republicanism in conflict; and, as the people of St. Louis arc notoriously fond of speeches, several hundred of them went " up to Alton " to listen to the discussion. One crowd went up on the Terre Haute railroad, another took the Baltimore at seven o'clock, and a third detachment followed on the White Cloud, which left at ten o'clock. We cast our fortunes with this latter crowd. It was, politically a promiscuous gathering. There were fierce and furious friends of Douglas, whose admiration for the "Little Giant" knew no bounds; steady old Adamantine Administration Democrats, who support the President at all hazard.s and to the last extremity; rampant Republicans, and neutral Americans. Of course, such an assemblage contained the elements of boundless and endless political disputes; and the boat was no sooner afloat than the whole crowd got afloat, too, in the deep water of politics. The Douglas men were vociferous in praises of the " Little Giant. " The Administration men were vehement in their denunciation of him. The Douglas men believe their champion to be the "greatest man now living. " The Administration men suggested that he had lived well nigh to the end of his political life. The Douglas men went into grandiloquent expositions of "the great principle of the Kansas- Nebraska Act," "popular sovereignty," "the rights of the people," and other "glittering generalities," to which the Administration men listened with "serene indifference," while the Americans and Republicans grappled each other in animated side fights, which made the cabin of the White Cloud as uproariously interesting and profoundly instructive as one of the midnight sessions of the last Congress, when the Kansas question was up. The disputation was vigorously kept up until the boat arrived at Alton, at half past twelve.

The streets of Alton were alive with independent looking "Suckers," who had come from all the country round about to hear the speeches ; flags were streaming from the two hotels to denote the headquarters of the respective forces ; and Senator Douglas' six-pound traveling swivel was blazing away in the most obstreperous manner, to impress the Altonians with a proper sense of the respect due the " big gun " who was its master. At half past one the people assembled to the number of five thousand, in front of the new City Hall, against which a platform had been erected, midst mingled cheers for "Douglas" and "Lincoln" the "Little Giant" came forward and opened the game.

When Mr. Lincoln arose to speak he was loudly cheered by a portion of the crowd, while a magnificent bouquet of dahlias and roses, thrown at his feet, bespoke the admiration which the tall Republican had inspired in the bosom of one of the ladies in the crowd.

Mr. Lincoln appeared to some disadvantage in the first part of his speech, which was a labored defense of himself against the charges of his antagonist, and a rescue of his position from the misrepresentations which Mr. Douglas had thrown around it; but the latter portion was as admirable example of close, compact and finished argument, and would have been creditable before any Court or Council in the land. It was a lucid exposition of the doctrines and philosophy of the Republican party, and, as a forensic effort, was certainly superior to the speech of Mr. Douglas.

Seventh And Last Debate Between Lincoln And Douglas At Alton, Friday, Oct. 15Th

Dou!?la8'8 Seventh Rehearsal of "That Speech." - Admirable Sunimingr Up of the Issues of the Campaign by Mr. Lincoln. - Verbatim Report of Mr. Douglas's Speech, Mr. Lincoln's Reply and Mr. Douglas's Rejoinder

The final passage-at-arms between Lincoln and Douglas came off at Alton on Friday last - two days subsequently to the Quincy debate. The speakers, accompanied by a few friends, took passage on the fine

The Alton Debate 509

There was very little excitement manifest in the city during the forenoon, beyond the constant arriving of people from the country and the neighboring towns. A train of eight or ten cars came down from Springfield, Carlinville, and other stations on the Alton & Chicago Railroad; and the steamer White Cloud brought up a full load from St. Louis. The whole number in attendance upon the discussion was probably between four and five thousand. By mutual agreement the friends of the respective candidates made no processions or other demonstrations of enthusiasm. The debate passed off with rather less than the ordinary amount of applause, but with unusually close attention on the part of the audience. The speaking commenced at 2 o'clock p. M. at the south front of the new City Hall.

The Last Joint Debate

The number of people in attendance was considerably less than on the occasion of their former debates. Only four or five thousand were present. The novelty had worn off and the full reports of the previous debates had partially satisfied the public curiosity, and as little that was new could now be expected on either side . . . Both these champions will appear before the people on several occasions previous to the election but not again in conjunction. It has evidently been a less advantageous arrangement to Douglas than to his competitor.

Springfield Cadets. - This military company visited our city on the occasion of the joint debate between Lincoln and Douglas, and their beautiful appearance and excellent training merited notice from us. Their officers are as follows: Captain - D. S. Mather; 1st. Lieut. - W. H. Latham; 2d. Lieut. - J. Loyd; 3d. Lieut. E. Strickland.

Immediately after the arrival of the lOJ o'clock train, on which they came down, they formed, and preceded, by Merritt's Cornet Band, which by the way, is one of the finest that has visited our city lately, they paraded through our streets, attracting general attention. In the afternoon, at the close of the discussion, they again formed, and after marching about the city awhile, drew up in front of the Courier office, and displayed their knowledge of military' tactics. Their evolutions were e.xceedingly well performed. We are sure they need not fear comparison with any company in the State. They drew a large crowd of observers, and well they might. The beauty of their uniform, their general neatness of appearance, the certainty and rapidity with which they moved at the word of command, all combined to make them justly worthy of admiration and praise.

Encouraging

In our notice, the other day, of the flags and banners displayed, we are advised we did a "Young American Republican" injustice, as will be seen by the following:

In j'our notice Saturday you gave my father the credit of hanging out the banners at his store. I did it! They are mine. I have kept some of them ever since the election of the brave Col. Bissell, and will hang them out again when Lincoln is elected. I am only a " Young America " Republican, twelve years old, but if I had twelve votes I would give them all to Lincoln and Liberty.

Good for Harry, say we. He has all the fire of a genuine Republican, and puts to shame many of his elders. Those banners will be wanted, Harry, so be sure and keep them safe, and think what a rejoicing we will have on that occasion. How many of our young folks can say as much as Harry?

The Alton Debate

The seventh and last public debate between Lincoln and Douglas, came off at Alton on Friday last. The audience though large, was not equal in point of numbers to the average of those at the preceding discussions. This may he attributed partly to the staid character of the population of Madison County - a considerable plurality of whom are Old Line Whigs, and partly to the fact that both speakers had previously visited in the county during the campaign.

Mr. Douglas' prudence in limiting this national discussion to seven meetings has prevented our candidate from driving him any further into the ditch. We arc grateful for what has been vouchsafed us.

Douglas and Lincoln have concluded their joint discussions. The last was at Alton on Friday. Each has about a dozen more appointments for speeches by themselves before the election.