self-evident lie." The Fourth of July has not quite dwindled away; it is
still a great day for burning fire-crackers!

That spirit which desired the peaceful extinction of slavery has itself
become extinct with the _occasion_ and the _men_ of the Revolution.
Under the impulse of that occasion, nearly half the States adopted
systems of emancipation at once; and it is a significant fact that not a
single State has done the like since. So far as peaceful, voluntary
emancipation is concerned, the condition of the negro slave in America,
scarcely less terrible to the contemplation of the free mind, is now as
fixed and hopeless of change for the better as that of the lost souls of
the finally impenitent. The Autocrat of all the Russias will resign his
crown and proclaim his subjects free republicans, sooner than will our
American masters voluntarily give up their slaves.

Our political problem now is, "Can we as a nation continue together
_permanently--for ever_--half slave, and half free?" The problem is too
mighty for me. May God in his mercy superintend the solution.

Your much obliged friend, and humble servant,
A. LINCOLN.




_Extracts from Letter to Joshua F. Speed. August 24, 1855_


You suggest that in political action now, you and I would differ. I
suppose we would; not quite so much, however, as you may think. You know