"Lost" Speeches and Agrapha

[Rob Wick]

Matt,

I have to question whether Lincoln made the comment about providence. It appears that the only source for that quote is Ward Hill Lamon, who bought copies of Herndon's material and used them in his book. Lamon, of course, never actually wrote the book. It was ghost-written by Chauncey Black, a Democrat. For an interesting article on Lamon, Black and Herndon, see this by Rodney Davis in the Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association.

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jala/2629860...w=fulltext

When one reads the original and then the subsequent reprint of Herndon's book, there is no mention made of the "providence" quote.

In the 1889 edition:

Quote:At Springfield we were energetic, vigilant, almost revolutionary. We recommended the employment of any means, however desperate, to promote and defend the cause of freedom. At one of these meetings Lincoln was called on for a speech. He responded to the request, counselling moderation and less bitterness in dealing with the situation before us. We were belligerent in tone, and clearly out of patience with the Government. Lincoln opposed the notion of coercive measures with the possibility of resulting bloodshed, advising us to eschew resort to the bullet. " You can better succeed," he declared, " with the ballot. You can peaceably then redeem the Government and preserve the liberties of mankind through your votes and voice and moral influence..... Let there be peace. Revolutionize through the ballot box, and restore the Government once more to the affections and hearts of men by making it express, as it was intended to do, the highest spirit of justice and liberty. Your attempt, if there be such, to resist the laws of Kansas by force is criminal and wicked ; and all your feeble attempts will be follies and end in bringing sorrow on your heads and ruin the cause you would freely die to preserve !" These judicious words of counsel, while they reduced somewhat our ardor and our desperation, only placed before us in their real colors the grave features of the situation.

The 1902 edition, in which Jesse Weik had a stronger editorial hand, repeats the quote verbatim.

It should also tell you something that Albert J. Beveridge, in his two-volume biography of Lincoln, doesn't repeat the quote. Beveridge had full access to Herndon's material in the writing of his biography and only uses the material that Herndon had used. Beveridge, who almost fetishized footnotes, only writes about the response of the Democratic State Register to the meeting and makes no mention of the "providence" quote.

I also checked an online version of Emanuel Hertz's The Hidden Lincoln and did a search using the word "providence" to see if Herndon had used it in any letters. He did, but none refer to the speech.

Also, in The Recollected Words of Abraham Lincoln the Fehrenbachers give the entire speech a "D" noting that "The sentiments are certainly Lincoln's, but there appears to be no other evidence that he made such a speech." (pg. 246)

I don't necessarily discount the idea that Lincoln talked to the group. It certainly would be in character for him. But given that the only source for this would be Lamon/Black, I don't believe Lincoln made the "providence" quote. Even the words "from" Herndon say that he addressed the group "substantially in these words."

Best
Rob