'set him out again' - An Abe Lincoln Debate Story

 

Evidently "fake news" is nothing new, Abraham Lincoln faced the same issue too. In fact, it came up during his fifth debate with Stephen Douglas in their series of famous "Great Debates" for a U.S. Senate seat in 1858. Back then, Lincoln called it "forgery". 

At Galesburg, Illinois that day, Senator Douglas spoke first. At one point in his presentation, Douglas, in an attempt to label Lincoln as an "extreme abolitionist" read a set of resolutions supposedly passed four years previously in 1854 by a convention held in Springfield against the admission of Nebraska as a slave state. These so-called "resolutions" were published in a Springfield newspaper a few days after the convention.

When it was Lincoln's turn to respond, Lincoln agreed that the resolutions read by Douglas were, indeed, the same ones published back in October 1854. But then Lincoln charged that the resolutions were not the ones actually passed by the Anti-Nebraska convention [*] at that time, and that Douglas along with the editor of the newspaper, Charles Lanphier, and another man named Thomas Harris were part of this "forgery".

Lincoln was scrupulously honest - an unusual virtue for a politician then (or now). So rather than just blatantly accuse Douglas of writing this fake news and leave it at that, Lincoln actually built a "case" for his charge.  

The idea that it was done by mistake, is absurd. The article . . . contains part of the real proceedings of that Springfield Convention, showing that the writer of the article had the real proceedings before him, and purposely threw out the genuine resolutions passed by the Convention, and fraudulently substituted the others . . . The main object of that forgery at that time was to beat [Richard] Yates and elect Harris to Congress, and that object was known to be exceedingly dear to Judge Douglas at that time. [1]

Lincoln then accused the men of using the forgery more than once, but in doing so, he made them the butt of a memorable joke: 

"The fraud having been apparently successful upon the occasion, both Harris and Douglas have more than once since then been attempting to put it to new uses. As the fisherman's wife, whose drowned husband was brought home with his clothing full of eels [a delicacy at the time], said when they asked her, 

"What is to be done with him?" 

"Take the eels and set him out again." 

So Harris and Douglas have shown a disposition to take the 'eels' out of that stale fraud by which they gained Harris' election [to Congress], and 'set' the fraud again - more than once. 

Lincoln concluded his "case" to the audience with this wry adaptation of Mark Antony's speech in Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar: 

"But meanwhile the three are agreed that each is 'a most honorable man'.'' 

No wonder Douglas hated to hear Lincoln tell a story whenever he gave a speech.

This was another tale from Abe Lincoln, storyteller.

Mac

Works Cited

[*] Just as a historical FYI: The "Anti-Nebraska" convention held in Springfield in 1854 was one of many locally organized "anti-Nebraska" meetings across the United States. Supporters included members from the many political factions at the time - Free Soil Party, Conscience Whigs, and anti-slavery-extension Democrats. These diverse political views converged on the single issue of opposing the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The Act - narrowly passed by Congress and signed into law by President Franklin Pierce - opened the Kansas and Nebraska Territories to slavery and future admission as slave states if the people living in those territories voted for slave clause to be added to their state constitution. By its enactment the new law nullified the prohibition of slavery in any territory north of  36° 30′ latitude, set by the Missouri Compromise of 1850.

It was from these conventions in 1854 that the Republican Party finally emerged.

[1] Basler, Roy P., et al. (1954) "Fifth Debate with Stephen A. Douglas, at Galesburg, Illinois - October 7, 1858". Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. v.3: p.229.