He declared that of all the
parties asking the confidence of the country, this new one had less of
principle than any other.
He wondered whether it was still the opinion of these Free Soil
gentlemen, as declared in the "whereas" at Buffalo, that the Whig and
Democratic parties were both entirely dissolved and absorbed into their
own body. Had the Vermont election given them any light? They had
calculated on making as great an impression in that State as in any part
of the Union, and there their attempts had been wholly ineffectual. Their
failure was a greater success than they would find in any other part of
the Union.
Mr. Lincoln went on to say that he honestly believed that all those who
wished to keep up the character of the Union; who did not believe in
enlarging our field, but in keeping our fences where they are and
cultivating our present possessions, making it a garden, improving the
morals and education of the people, devoting the administrations to this
purpose; all real Whigs, friends of good honest government--the race was
ours. He had opportunities of hearing from almost every part of the Union
from reliable sources and had not heard of a county in which we had not
received accessions from other parties.
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