Excerpt from Abraham Lincoln's Speech at Peoria, Illinois, in Reply to Senator Douglas After returning his thanks to the democracy of Peoria for the kind recep tion extended to him, Judge Douglas proceeded to discuss the principles of the Nebraska Bill, and to defend himself against the attacks of his opponents. Before entering upon the merits of the case he referred brie y to the number and political character of the opposition speakers who had been detailed to follow him through the State. In an abolition settlement an abolitionist was deputed as the organ of denunciation and abuse. In another place, where the Whigs were not wholly abolitionized, a half Whig was selected. In a Demo cratic locality, the duty was assigned to any disaffected Democrat who was willing to unite with the opponents of the Nebraska Bill and denounce its author. It would only be fair that his antagonist should be one who would proclaim the same sentiments in Knoxville that were uttered in Peoria. If this were done, every true Whig in Peoria would turn his back upon the fusion advocates. His sentiments would be uttered in any locality. His principles were broad and national, and could be proclaimed with equal freedom in New England or New Orleans in the east or the west the north or the south. Not so with his opponents. Their principles were too sectional to extend beyond the Ohio, and were designed to array the North against the South. The principle of the Nebraska Bill was to allow the people of the terri tory to decide domestic questions for themselves. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."