When he says he "cares not whether slavery is voted down or voted up,"--that it is a sacred right of self-government,--he is, in my judgment, penetrating the human soul and eradicating the light of reason and the love of liberty in this American people.
Lincoln condemned Stephen Douglas's stance of indifference to the expansion of slavery, arguing it corrupted the moral and intellectual foundations of the American people.
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As a general rule I abstain from reading the reports of attacks upon myself, wishing not to be provoked by that to which I cannot properly offer an answer.
Unlike a case of war between independent nations, there is no organized organ for us to treat with,--no one man has authority to give up the rebellion for any other man.
The question is, will it be wiser to take it as it is and help to improve it, or to reject and disperse it?
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