henry raymond refused to attend this meeting, because he hated greeley. they did issue a manifesto. they sent it to lincoln. lincoln took it and, you know, never answered. and it said, we should respect freedom of the press. the press is entitled to express its opinion. but when it gives aid and comfort to the enemy it's subject to the laws of war. so they sort of -- this opportunity, it was a funny bunch of papers. the jewish messenger the catholic weekly, the only ones who dared participate in this little convention. basically they reiterated what lincoln said was the -- what the administration implied was the policy. >> if i can just add one thing about the first. democrats did make the -- about the first amendment. democrats did make the argument. the famous ohio copper head who was arrested and then tried before a military tribunal for disloyal speech, he was arrested under general orders, which essentially said you can't speak against the government's war policy. when he went out he said i don't believe in gem general orders number 38, i believe in general orders number 1, mea

on august 22nd, henry raymond, who is the editor of "the new york times" and the chairman of the republican party, writes a letter to lincoln, telling lincoln that he is going to lose the election. that he's going to be really lucky to carry two or three states, and that among the states that he is going to lose is illinois, his own home state. he won't carry it. he suggests to lincoln that lincoln send a delegation south to meet with jefferson davis and to propose peace terms on the idea of reunion alone. now, i find this a really extraordinary moment. this is the chairman of the republican party, which had been founded only 10 years earlier on the explicit platform of being anti-slavery. and here they have emancipation in the palm of their hand, and this man, the chairman of the republican party, is talking about letting it go. whether he is sincere or whether this is a ruse to get davis to tip his hand is unclear to me. but lincoln thinks about this. in fact, he writes out a memo to send somebody south to meet with jefferson davis. and as he often does, he puts it in one pigeon hole in h

raymond chandler. they are, quote-unquote, little people, ordinary people who do not want material success. they are, in henry james' words, perfectly equipped failures. and i wanted to talk about them beginning with huck finn because i think huck finn is america's literary declaration of independence. and i felt that at the end of huck finn that people started moving out and going to other landscapes of america. so babbitt becomes the anti-huck which is the standardization of thought. that is what is really threatening us today, indifference, sleeping consciousness which is all the things that is talked about. okay. and then carson -- [inaudible] and then, of course, the great, the incomparable james baldwin who was not just a writer, not just an african-american writer, not just a gay african-american writer, not just an american writer, but a writer. who speaks to all of us

raymond chandler. they are, quote-unquote, little people, ordinary people who do not want material success. they are, in henry james' words, perfectly equipped failures. and i wanted to talk about them beginning with huck finn because i think huck finn is america's literary declaration of independence. and i felt that at the end of huck finn that people started moving out and going to other landscapes of america. so babbitt becomes the anti-huck which is the standardization of thought. that is what is really threatening us today, indifference, sleeping consciousness which is all the things that is talked about. okay. and then carson -- [inaudible] and then, of course, the great, the incomparable james baldwin who was not just a writer, not just an african-american writer, not just a gay african-american writer, not just an american writer, but a writer. who speaks to all of us and who's so important today. and i think we should remember baldwin. i don't have time to go into it. and i want to end by a quote from mark twain. mark twain gives a talk to what he calls the mayflower tribes, the descendants of the m

raymond chandler. they are, quote-unquote, little people, ordinary people who do not want material success. they are, in henry james' words, perfectly equipped failures. and i wanted to talk about them beginning with huck finn because i think huck finn is america's literary declaration of independence. and i felt that at the end of huck finn that people started moving out and going to other landscapes of america. so babbitt becomes the anti-huck which is the standardization of thought. that is what is really threatening us today, indifference, sleeping consciousness which is all the things that is talked about. okay. and then carson -- [inaudible] and then, of course, the great, the incomparable james baldwin who was not just a writer, not just an african-american writer, not just a gay african-american writer, not just an american writer, but a writer. who speaks to all of us and who's so important today. and i think we should remember baldwin. i don't have time to go into it. and i want to end by a quote from mark twain. mark twain gives a talk to what he calls the mayflower tribes, the descendants of the m