at Bloomington, in which he commented upon my speech at Chicago and said
that I had used language ingeniously contrived to conceal my intentions,
or words to that effect. Now, I understand that this is an imputation
upon my veracity and my candor. I do not know what the Judge understood
by it, but in our first discussion, at Ottawa, he led off by charging a
bargain, somewhat corrupt in its character, upon Trumbull and
myself,--that we had entered into a bargain, one of the terms of which
was that Trumbull was to Abolitionize the old Democratic party, and I
(Lincoln) was to Abolitionize the old Whig party; I pretending to be as
good an old-line Whig as ever. Judge Douglas may not understand that he
implicated my truthfulness and my honor when he said I was doing one
thing and pretending another; and I misunderstood him if he thought he
was treating me in a dignified way, as a man of honor and truth, as he
now claims he was disposed to treat me. Even after that time, at
Galesburgh, when he brings forward an extract from a speech made at
Chicago and an extract from a speech made at Charleston, to prove that I
was trying to play a double part, that I was trying to cheat the public,
and get votes upon one set of principles at one place, and upon another
set of principles at another place,--I do not understand but what he
impeaches my honor, my veracity, and my candor; and because he does this,
I do not understand that I am bound, if I see a truthful ground for it,
to keep my hands off of him. As soon as I learned that Judge Douglas was
disposed to treat me in this way, I signified in one of my speeches that
I should be driven to draw upon whatever of humble resources I might
have,--to adopt a new course with him. I was not entirely sure that I
should be able to hold my own with him, but I at least had the purpose
made to do as well as I could upon him; and now I say that I will not be
the first to cry "Hold." I think it originated with the Judge, and when
he quits, I probably will. But I shall not ask any favors at all. He asks
me, or he asks the audience, if I wish to push this matter to the point