The policy of the admission of slavery into the territory north of the prohibited line, and not the moral wrong of slavery, was argued by him; meantime the fugitive slave law of 1850 was upheld.

As before said, in spite of the appeals of Douglas and the offensive use made by him of the favorite epithet, "Abolitionist," with the prefix of "black," added, his party lost in this preliminary contest. This much by way of explanation of the causes which led up to the convention which forms the subject of this paper.

Chief among the causes which contributed to the concentration of an unorganized anti-slavery sentiment in the State in favor of candidates opposed to the policy of Senator Douglas, was the press of the State. In Chicago every newspaper, both Whig and Democratic, made war upon the senator, and the Whig newspapers of the State, with few exceptions, joined in the opposition. It was this influence that kept the opposition alive and finally crystalized it in Illinois, into a definite, live, winning party. It was then known as the "AntiNebraska" press and party.

Upon the initiative suggestion of the Journal, published at Jacksonville, and edited by our venerable co-laborer, Paul Selby, seconded by twenty-four other newspapers of the State, a meeting of newspaper men having in view organization, was held at Decatur, Feb. 22, 1856. Twelve newspaper men answered the call and were organized under the leadership of Mr. Selby. Mr. Lincoln, naturally feeling an interest in the movement, and perhaps others, joined in the consultation. The result was a moderate declaration of principles held by the meeting upon the political topics uppermost in the public mind and the appointment of a provisional committee charged with the duty of calling a convention to meet at Bloomington on the 29th day of May, 1856; to fix the ratio of representation for the convention and to take such steps as may seem desirable to bring about a full representation from the whole State. This committee well performed its duty and published its call in apt time.

It will be seen that according to the code of political ethics understood to govern political movements, this convention lacked in that it was not legally called by a general committee representing a recognized, existing political party, for there was no Republican party in Illinois. It however held a higher claim to regularity, in that it did represent the people who opposed the further extension of African slavery, then an unorganized mass of independent Democrats, Whigs. and Liberty men, acting together and bound by a common sympathy. Up to that date the term "Republican," as the name of a political party had been made use of in other states and in a few localities in this State, as a party designation; but with the use made of it by Senator Douglas in connection with the prefix "Black," and the hated epithet "Abolitionist," it carried with it much that was obnoxious to the people of a considerable part of the State. So the call for the convention made no use of this name, but on the contrary called for a "State Convention of the Anti-Nebraska Party of Illinois." At that time this name had a definite meaning and all understood that all shades of opposition to Senator Douglas new policy were intended and invited by the call.

Singularly enough, the names of the nominees of that convention for the office of Governor and for Lieutenant Governor were well settled and agreed upon and most enthusiastically announced by public opinion, as declared through friendly newspapers, before the date fixed for it to assemble. One voice went up in favor of Col. William H. Bissell, a veteran of the Mexican war, for Governor and for Francis A. Hoffman, a popular German citizen of Chicago, for Lieutenant Governor. So far as candidates for these offices were concerned, the convention had but to record and announce the verdict of its constituency.

I now come to speak of my own personal observations in connection with the convention.

Mr. Lincoln, who according to all accounts. figured so largely, both in the calling and in the conducting of the meeting, the week before the date fixed, had been in attendance upon the Champaign county circuit court, and during convention week, was at the Vermilion court; at both places using his influence to bring together a good representation of the people in sympathy with its purposes. Citizens of both counties on the day before the convention, with Mr. Lincoln, came west to Decatur upon the same Wabash train, on their way to Bloomington, We arrived at Decatur about the middle of the afternoon, where, on account of there being no train for Bloomington that evening, all remained for the night. A considerable portion of the day remained before us and the company kept well together, strolling around the town, and finally, at the suggestion of Mr. Lincoln, all went to the then near-by Sangamon timber. Here, seated upon a fallen tree. Mr. Lincoln talked freely as he had during the afternoon, of his hopes and fears for the coming convention, and of his earnest wish that the Whig element of the southern counties might be well represented there. He was among political friends, there being several lawyers and editors who sympathized politically with him, and he did not attempt to conceal fears and misgivings entertained by him as to the outcome of the gathering. He was well assured that the radical element of the northern counties would be there in force, and feared the effect upon the conservative element of the central and southern parts of the State. It was for the latter he seemed most concerned.

Mr. Lincoln seemed much inclined to indulge in reminiscences of his coming to Decatur twenty-five years before, as an immigrant from Indiana with his father's family, in an ox wagon, and could point out the exact locality in front of the public square where he halted the team driven by him which brought the Lincoln family and its belongings.

Early the next morning all took the northbound train for Bloomington, Mr. Lincoln had hardly entered the train until he began a search for the Whig element bound for the convention from the south, and was much gratified in finding one, Jesse K. DuBois, from Lawrence county.

Arriving in Bloomington, we found the Pike House, the principal hotel of the city, at the corner of Center and North streets, now (Monroe) full to overflowing and the streets alive with partisans of the

"Anti-Nebraska" type. Among them was the tall form of John Wentworth, earnestly engaging one after another in his attempts to make democrats, whigs and free-soilers forget old differences and join hands upon the uppermost issue, "Free Kansas." So too there was the athletic personality of Owen Lovejoy, making love to the abolition haters of the center and south. Archibald Williams and O. H Browning, those conservative towers of ancient Whiggery, were there and alike surprised to find how much they now loved those fierce Democrats, John M. Palmer, Burton C. Cook, Norman B. Judd and Gustavus Koerner.

Governor Reeder, who in the face of hostile Missourians had abdicated the governorship of Kansas, to which he had been appointed by President Pierce, and in disguise fled the territory, had arrived in Bloomington the evening before and had addressed the assembled delegates at an open air meeting, telling them in detail and in a plain manner of the outrages perpetrated by the Missouri invaders upon the free state men of Kansas and upon himself, making it evident that the federal officers were parties thereto. Other speeches were made from the veranda of the Pike House on the preceding evening, the whole burden of which was the unholy conspiracy to fix upon Kansas the burden of a slave code, whether the people were willing or unwilling. Kansas and its wrongs was upon every lip and the very air was charged with the idea of resistance to what seemed to be the policy of the national administration towards free territory.

Delegates came to Bloomington highly excited by the news of the day and its verification by eye-witnesses of high character who had witnessed the outrages and suffered the wrongs, wrought them to a high state of excitement. The morning of the 29th came and with it the Chicago dailies giving the particulars of the destruction of the Free State Hotel and the newspaper press of Lawrence. Isaac N. Arnold, from a perch upon the main stairway of the Pike House, read with almost tragic emphasis, accounts and dispatches from the seat of war to the crowds in and about the hotel. All these things combined to inflame the sentiment of listening delegates and others in attendance upon the convention to the highest degree, even the old Whigs, proverbially conservative and forbearing, were moved te demonstrations.

In this mood early in the day the crowds moved to Major's Hall, the place set apart for the convention. The hall, not a large one, was promptly filled with an eager crowd of men who had evidently been much moved by the speeches and intercourse of the miscellaneous gathering about the Pike House, which, up to that time, had been the storm center of the town. The convention was called to order and Archibald Williams, of Quincy, the conservative Whig, called temporarily to the chair, a precaution well taken at this juncture. H. S. Baker, of Alton, was made temporary secretary.

No sooner had this temporary organization been effected than Leander Munsell, a delegate from Edgar county, an old Whig and a former member of the General Assembly, got recognition from the chair and gave vent to pent up enthusiasm by nominating Colonel Bissell for Governor. The lapse from conventionalities was little