Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by JOHN R. DICKINSON, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. JCHN F. TROW & OỖ., 50 Green Street, New York, то THOSE WHO WERE THE FRIENDS, PERSONAL AND POLITICAL, OF DANIEL S. DICKINSON; TO THE LOVERS OF THE UNION, THROUGHOUT ITS WHOLE EXTENT; THIS COLLECTION OF SPEECHES, SO LARGELY DEVOTED TO ITS DEFENCE AND MAINTENANCE, IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. 424886 PREFACE. UPON the suggestion of numerous friends, preparations for the publication of the speeches of Mr. Dickinson were commenced some five years since, during his lifetime. The material for the purpose was then placed in my hands, and some progress made with the earlier portions. My removal from New York, and consequently from the convenience of intercourse with him, and the stirring and absorbing events then claiming his attention, occasioned a postponement of the design, intended, however, to be only temporary. Since bis sudden and lamented death, their publication, on many accounts, has been thought desirable and proper; embracing, as they do, discussions of most of the great questions, events, and policies of government, that for the last twenty years have agitated the country, divided parties, produced and subdued a rebellion of gigantic dimensions; and having, it is believed, had their full influence upon public sentiment and affairs, they are presented, with only the apology that is due to the manner in which the duties of editor have been discharged. The political speeches of Mr. Dickinson were rarely, if ever, written out or even read by him before their introduction to the public in print, being mostly the reproduction of the reporter's hasty draft from his short-hand notes. While this has made the task of preparation for the press much more difficult, it will account in some degree for such deficiencies as may appear in its execution. The addition of a collection of private correspondence and poems did not enter into the original plan, but was adopted on later consideration. I am happy that the idea originated and has been carried out. It supplements the mere outline of biography attempted, showing the habits of thought and action, the motives of conduct, the cares, joys, labors, purposes, and aspirations; the beginnings, efforts, and progress of a life of ceaseless and diversified activity, in a manner that no biography, however elaborate, could supply. The correspondence (aside from the political portions) has been collected and prepared for the press by Mrs. Dickinson, with the assistance of her daughters, Mrs. Courtney and Mrs. Mygatt; the poems have been arranged by Mrs. Mygatt, and arrangements for the publication made and supervised in New York by Mrs. Courtney. It will thus be seen that the work, in its several parts and as a whole, is designed as a tribute of affection and reverence-a memorial to one who, however high he may have stood in the estimation of his countrymen, was most esteemed by those who knew him most intimately. CHICAGO, August, 1867. J. R. D. |