my opinion the people of a
territory can, by lawful means, exclude slavery from their limits prior
to the formation of a State Constitution." It is claimed that this
question was put by Lincoln in spite of the protests of several of his
friends, who believed that it would give Douglas an advantage. But
here, as in the equally feared Springfield Speech, Lincoln proved his
superior sagacity. Douglas' affirmative answer probably gained him the
senatorship, but it certainly lost him the presidency two years later.

_First Republican State Convention_. The reference is to a meeting
held in Springfield, which was addressed by Owen Lovejoy. Lincoln was
not present on this occasion. Recent investigation seems to show that
there was no foundation for the charge that this was exclusively a
meeting of Abolitionists, but that it included many men who held the
same political views as Lincoln. Douglas honestly believed that the
resolutions read by him at the Ottawa meeting were genuine and he was
greatly chagrined at the mistake.

_By an amendment_. This amendment was offered by Douglas.

THE COOPER INSTITUTE ADDRESS.

This address, Lincoln's first important direct message to the people of
the East, was very carefully prepared. The text in this volume is
taken from _The Tribune Tract_, issued as a campaign document.

The Northwestern Territory. The district comprising the present States
of Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin, had been ceded to
the national government by the original States.

"_Black Republicans_." Douglas constantly referred to his opponents
under this title. In the Ottawa Debate he affirmed that in 1854
Lincoln and Trumbull had arranged to form "an Abolition party, under
the name and disguise of a Republican party."

"_Popular sovereignty_." This principle is defined by Douglas as
follows: "My principle is to recognize each State of the Union as
independent, sovereign, and equal in its sovereignty."

_Harper's Ferry! John Brown!_ John Brown was a New Englander, who had
taken an active part in the Kansas disorders in 1856. During the
summer of 1859 he engaged in an attempt to free the slaves of Virginia.
After capturing the Arsenal at Harper's Ferry, he was overpowered by a
body of marines and with the survivors of his "army," was hanged. By
the extreme anti-slavery people he was regarded as a martyr, the best
expression of this spirit being given by Mrs. Julia Ward Howe's "B