I would gladly speak again, but you see from the
tones of my voice that I am unable to. This has been a happy, a glorious
day. I shall never forget it. There is a charm about this beautiful day,
about this sea air, and especially about that peculiar institution of
yours--a clam bake. I think you have the advantage, in that respect, of
Southerners. For my own part, I have much more fondness for your clams
than I have for their niggers. But every man to his taste."--_Hon_
_Stephen A. Douglas's Address at Rocky Point, R.I., Aug._ 2, 1860.]

[Footnote 41:--It is interesting to observe how two profoundly logical
minds, though holding extreme, opposite views, have deduced this common
conclusion. Says Mr. O'Conor, the eminent leader of the New York Bar,
and the counsel for the State of Virginia in the Lemon case, in his
speech at Cooper Institute, December 19th, 1859:

"That is the point to which this great argument must come--Is negro
slavery unjust? If it is unjust, it violates that first rule of human
conduct--'Render to every man his due.' If it is unjust, it violates the
law of God which says, 'Love thy neighbor as thyself,' for that requires
that we should perpetrate no injustice. Gentlemen, if it could be
maintained that negro slavery was unjust, perhaps I might be
prepared--perhaps we all ought to be prepared--to go with that
distinguished man to whom allusion is frequently made, and say, 'There
is a higher law which compels us to trample beneath our feet the
Constitution established by our fathers, with all the blessings it
secures to their children.' But I insist--and that is the argument which
we must meet, and on which we must come to a conclusion that shall
govern our actions in the future selection of representatives in the
Congress of the United States--insist that negro slavery is not unjust."]

***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ABRAHAM LINCOLN***

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