[Handandy #430] Speech at Carlinville, Illinois [1] August 31, 1858 “He [Lincoln] said the question is often asked, why this fuss about ni***rs?” ....
Please advise what is the cause of your confusion. How many speeches of Lincoln at Carlinville, Illinois on August 31, 1858 in The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Volume 3, on page 77 did you find?
There is the remarkably similar content from a Lincoln speech at Clinton, Illinois but that is not at page 77 and is given in a different city on a different date.
The same may be said for the remarkably similar content in the Lincoln speech at Elwood, Kansas, but that was more than a year later, in a different city, and also not on Volume 3, page 77.
I cannot see a problem with Lincoln’s speech in your post. However, you do seem to have hidden something Lincoln said by using asterisks. Perhaps you quoted Wikipedia rather than the Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln.
Of course, the fifth Lincoln-Douglas debate was entirely different, on a different date, in Galesburg, Illinois, at Volume 3, page 77, page 235. There, Lincoln denigrated the Mexican race.
However, before he denigrated the Mexican race on page 235, on page 231 Lincoln observed,
Nothing in the Constitution or laws of any State can destroy a right distinctly and expressly affirmed in the Constitution of the United States.The right of property in a slave is distinctly and expressly affirmed in the Constitution of the United States.
Therefore, nothing in Constitution or laws of any State can destroy the right off property in a slave.
I will try to explain to you, Mr Smartass, what the problem is in the first line of the Lincoln speech. Hint: transcriber/editor f’d up. Try to concentrate for a second. To review, Lincoln’s speech began thusly:
“He [Lincoln] said the question is often asked, why this fuss about ni***rs?”
Can you see the problem now, your eminence? I gave you a hint. It’s really not that hard. You see, this is Lincoln’s speech. He is the person uttering the words. The transcriber/editor (probably a Lost causer) stuck in “[Lincoln]” in brackets. Has it occurred to you that it should be [Douglas] in brackets? Did you think that Lincoln was talking about himself when he said “he”? Of course he wasn’t. He was talking about Douglas!! The “He” that Lincoln was referring to was [Douglas]. As is clear once you read the entire speech and note where the transcriber/editor correctly puts [Douglas] in brackets. Let me straighten this out for you after lo these many scores of years have passed. Read it this way: “He [Douglas] said the question is often asked, why this fuss about ni***rs?” Lincoln was paraphrasing Douglas. Now do you understand why I double checked if I had the correct speech. There is no there there. I’m sorry dude but you have turned out to be a dud. You can take the rest of your dictum and stick it up your rectum.