Lincoln's Lost Speech (review)

BOOK REVIEWS67 Lincoln's Lost Speech. By Elwell Crissey. (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1967. Pp. 425. $7.50.) For over a century, admirers of Abraham Lincoln have debated, speculated and embeUished the moment of a speech delivered in Bloomington, Illinois on May 29, 1856—better known as "Lincoln's Lost Speech." For an hour and a half Lincoln held his audience spellbound by the power of his arguments and mesmerized the assembly by his logic and sequence. Reporters faüed to take shorthand notes. Without the aid of manuscript, Lincoln's oratorical effort became his "Lost Speech." The quest for this "Lost Speech" has culminated in a new book deliberately designed to capitalize on the public's imagination and overactivated love for the "Dick Tracy Pursuit" in Lincolniana. The author, ElweU Crissey, a Bloomington, Illinois journalist, claims the work to be "the definitive work on Lincoln's . . . oration that transformed his career and the nation's history" and "the most influential oration delivered in America since the founding of the republic," an evident selfdelusion . The author, whose grandfather was in the audience on that special day, claims he has spent thirteen years on his book, and declares he has put more information about the "Lost Speech" between covers than any other author—a boast of probable accuracy, but far more than this particular speech merits. Crissey s book is divided into two sections. His first section, dealing with the approach of the slavery crisis, is a superficial survey of national events prior to 1856. In this section he endeavors to set the stage of national "paranoia" which he claims propelled Lincoln's speech. To achieve his end, he hurls emotional charges at a generation of so-called wüd fanatics, hate-mongers and madmen which he entitles the "paranoid generation." As he judges some, he forgets the serious contributions of others, as in the case of Douglas and the Compromise of 1850. The second half of the book discusses the speech, its importance and what others said about it. Here the research is more impressive. However, the author overindulges in speculation, as in the chapter entitled "Afar off, Lincoln Glimpses the White House." It is his preoccupation with the "mental unbalance" of Lincoln's speech, audience and Lincoln himself which mars most his presentation. The portrayal of Lincoln is a mixture of myth, speculation and history. The author asserts Lincoln "never hated anybody," and then by word and artist sketches presents a Lincoln of "anger" and "fury," who spoke in an "orgy of emotion ." In order to dramatize the occasion of the speech, Lincoln's established reputation as an Anti-Nebraska leader, evidenced by his position on the convention's nominating committee and election as a presidential elector, is demeaned and he is portrayed as a fluent "stump speaker," "a jokester" who looked comical, "cast in the role of a buffoon." He would have us believe that the convention crowd, after dispensing with the crucial questions, looked to Lincoln "half hoping for a short jovial talk." This seems unlikely in light of Lincoln's public announcement the day before to make a "most exceUent" speech at the convention. Lincoln's conduct and plans to speak denote a recognized leader rather than the mythological jokester. The attempt to reconstruct the speech includes a generaUy accurate evaluation of extant versions, bogus and otherwise. The importance of this particular speech in Lincoln's presidential aspirations is overstressed. Lincoln considered his Cooper Union Address in 1860 as the crucial effort in his presidential ambitions. Regardless of Lincoln's oratory, and probably as far reaching in influence as the speech itself was Lincoln's participation in the Decatur Editorial Convention which caUed the Bloomington Convention in 1856. Crissey would have enhanced his purpose if he had thoroughly covered this occasion. The appendix includes a section containing seventy sketches of individuals who attended the convention. A good index is also included. Various sketches by Lloyd Ostendorf, a fine Lincoln artist, add interest. The overemotionalized assignments are to be regretted. The best ülustration is the reproduction of the un-retouched Hesler photograph of Lincoln taken in 1857. 68CIVIL WAR HISTORY The book is more occupied with the...