He alone had successfully answered
Douglas. Every one felt the fitness of his making the closing
speech--and right nobly did he honor the demand. The spell of the
hour was visibly upon him. Standing upon the platform before the
members of the convention, his tall figure drawn up to its full
height, his head thrown back, and his voice ringing with
earnestness, he denounced the evil they had to fight in a speech
whose force and power carried his hearers by storm, ending with a
brilliant appeal to all who loved liberty and justice to
Come as the winds come when forests are rended;
Come as the waves come when navies are stranded;
and unite with the Republican party against this great wrong.
The audience rose and answered him with cheer upon cheer. Then,
after the excitement had died down, it was found that neither a
full report nor even trustworthy notes of his speech had been
taken. The sweep and magnetism of his oratory had carried
everything before it--even the reporters had forgotten their
duty, and their pencils had fallen idle. So it happened that the
speech as a whole was lost. Mr. Lincoln himself could never
recall what he had said; but the hundreds who heard him never
forgot the scene or the lifting inspiration of his words.
Three weeks later the first national convention of the Republican
party was held. John C.
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