Page:The World's Famous Orations Volume 1.djvu/41

INTRODUCTION their speeches were accepted as the best statements of their respective sides. Lincoln had an advantage, in that he could oppose the principle of slavery without threatening interference with it where it already existed under the Constitution; and yet so strong was Douglas's presentation that he defeated Lincoln in the senatorial contest then pending, only to be defeated by him two years later in the contest for the Presidency. Every student of oratory should secure a complete copy of the debates between these two giants. The debate selected for this collection being the first (the one at Ottawa), gives a fair example of the oratory of each. The first inaugural address of Lincoln and the farewell addresses of Jefferson Davis and Robert Toombs when they withdrew from the Senate reflect the attitude of the North and South at that time.

The tariff question is discussed in the speeches of Speaker Crisp, and ex-Speaker Reed, each a well-equipped champion of his party, while the money question finds worthy exponents in Senator John Sherman and Congressman Richard xxix