CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 BEQUEST 
 
 OF 
 
 STEWART HENRY BURNHAM 
 1943 
 
E457 .L66°™" ""'™™"y library 
 4r,!i9'"i,.,*he politician, 
 
 olin 
 
 3 1924 032 758 967 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924032758967 
 
STUDIES IN 
 AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 Beaumahchais, and the Wah or 
 Ambeican Independence. Two vol- 
 umes. Illustrated. By Elizabeth S. 
 Kite. 
 
 The Political History op the Pub- 
 lic Lands, from 1840 to 1862. From 
 Pbe-emption to Homestead. By 
 George M. Stephenson. 
 Georgia as a Pboprietajkt Province 
 — The Execution of a Trust. By 
 James Ross McCain. 
 
 Lincoln, the Politician. By T. 
 Aaron Levy. 
 
 The Agricultural Papers of 
 George Washington. Edited by 
 Walter Edwin Brooke, Ph.B. 
 
 RICHARD G.BADGER, PUBLISHER, boston 
 
LINCOLN 
 
 THE POLITICIAN 
 
 BY 
 
 T. AARON LEVY 
 
 BOSTON 
 RICHARD G. BADGER 
 
 THE GOEHAM PRESS 
 
COPTRIGHT, 1918, BT RiCEABD G. BaDQKB 
 
 All Rights Reserved 
 
 fipfill^ 
 
 Made in the United States of America 
 
 The Gorham Press, Boston, U.S.A. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 LOVE of kind alone transcended Lincoln's political ambi- 
 tion. His career as President, Statesman, Emancipator 
 is a mystery unless his preparation for leadership is dem- 
 onstrated. He was no product of sudden elevation, no crea- 
 ture of opportunity. No American Statesman was better 
 equipped to meet a national emergency. Lincoln the plain 
 politician, the lUinois legislator, the congressman, and the 
 prairie debater, was a child of the grocery store, of the 
 pioneer gathering, of caucus and convention. It was this 
 political training that determined the mode in which he 
 breathed life into the momentous proclamation of the nine- 
 teenth century. The world that admires his charity is in 
 equal need of his policy. 
 
 Until the coming of the industrial movement following 
 the Civil War, the Commonwealth commanded the best heart 
 and intelligence of the Republic. Captains of industry had 
 not usurped the places of power. A degraded conception of 
 devotion to the general welfare is in itself a sign of degenera- 
 tion. A corrupt political system is incompatible with a 
 healthy national existence. When individual aggrandize- 
 ment is often preferred to the common good, when private 
 institutions frequently aUure the genius of a people, it is an 
 inspiration to return to a politician who in simplicity and 
 sincerity believed that civil service and patriotism are better 
 than gold. An abounding demand of the day is a practical 
 political philosophy. 
 
 In spite of golden vision, of saintly Grail, civilization still 
 
6 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 questions its real progress, and the sphynx of human suf- 
 fering baffles understanding. Life has ever been a ceaseless 
 compromise between spirit and matter, dream and reahty, 
 shadow and substance. In the never ending conflict between 
 the hosts oi, darkness and of light, of radicalism and of con- 
 servatism, the battle often has been won by the use of 
 superior strategy. Wasted energy, a lack of well directed 
 idealism and indifference to the laws of human progress are 
 the main obstacles to human advancement. There is an 
 ever present need of a fine sense of proportion between 
 vision and reality. The reformer needs more method, while 
 the practical representative needs more vision. The solution 
 of vexing governmental problems wiU be hastened by a 
 clearer and more general comprehension of the gigantic diffi- 
 culties that stand in the way of the domination of ideas 
 over matter. High political success comes from a profound 
 knowledge of the character of the hostility thwarting human 
 progress. Patience as well as faith must be the guide. Soci- 
 ety suffers from misdirected emotion on the one hand and 
 from impervious apathy on the other. Sensational onslaught 
 on evil has been often tested and its futility proved. Like- 
 wise the common politician has made many despair of demo- 
 cratic government. Abraham Lincoln represents the sanest 
 example of wise political action, his political life the best 
 platform for eternal warfare on organized evil. 
 
 The artist is measured not alone by his sleepless imagina- 
 tion but also by the technic through which his vision assumes 
 external form. Dante skillfully gave voice to "ten silent 
 centuries." Even so the dreams of prophet and humani- 
 tarian await the touch of the political artist to find immor- 
 tality in visible manifestation. Neither a politician without 
 a luminous idea nor a dreamer without political craft ever 
 develops into a statesman. Democracy can solve its destiny 
 
Preface 7 
 
 only by an adequate appreciation of the importance of 
 working out its intrinsic mission. The national ideal must 
 become a reality. Dreamer and reformer are needed and 
 likewise the politician, the man of method, the student of 
 matter, the wielder of the tool. A heroic past will not save 
 a nation. "The central idea" of a people cannot be safely 
 relinquished, but must restlessly follow the law of practical 
 evolution in each generation. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln was a child of American Democracy. 
 He was trained in the college of republican institutions. 
 The danger to Democracy is the treason of her own children. 
 Lincoln stayed with his teacliers — the plain people. He 
 never longed for a place they could not give nor an honor 
 they could not bestow. The aristocracy of externality, of 
 clothes, fashion, wealth, station and descent ever remained 
 shadows to him. He valued them at their real worth, with 
 finer judgment than any man in modem history. The 
 possibility of such a career is in itself a justification of re- 
 publican government. 
 
 He walked the way of the average citizen, labored in the 
 factory of political methods. Living in the common atmos- 
 phere, loving the strife of debate, near to the pioneer heart 
 and mind, a student of popularity and party organization, 
 he was from the beginning a champion of the better and 
 broader humanity. He lived his democracy and led his peo- 
 ple to a higher realization of the resistless purposes of the 
 republic. Striking the better chords of their being, he led 
 them to make a mere declaration of freedom the possession 
 of a forgotten people. During his political pilgrimage he 
 ever sought to widen in a practical way the Declaration of 
 Independence. Many prate much of Democracy but Lin- 
 coln dared to make it the bread of humanity. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln used political machinery for the welfare 
 
8 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 of the people. He was ambitious and loved success but not 
 for its own sake. Station gave him wider opportunity to 
 practice his philosophy of life, his affection for his fellow- 
 men, and sympathy for the downtrodden. He is a guide to 
 the perplexed, to those who have not bartered their ideal- 
 ism in the stifling fight. His Ufe is richly calculated to 
 deepen faith in the ultimate triumph of righteousness, to 
 lead to the conviction that spirit and method are not sun- 
 dered of necessity, that the vision is not essentially a stranger 
 to the party worker, that policy and compromise have 
 their place in the domain of progress. 
 
 He looms up in American History as a politician who 
 glorified his craft, who kept his hands clean in all of the 
 sordidness of material success. Vicarious government in a 
 republic is ruinous. Lincoln is therefore an inspiration 
 for political consecration and the prophet of permanency. 
 He dedicated his talent to the external manifestations of 
 the destiny of the republic. His common sense, his practi- 
 cal sagacity and knowledge of human nature and of its 
 limitations for progress, his prudent recognition of the 
 labored advance of ethical sentiment and of the solidarity 
 of vested interests, as well as his superb idealism and ex- 
 alted spirit may well become food and life to those who be- 
 lieve in the better politics. As these become the property and 
 the possession of a broader community the republic will 
 know no fear, dissension will little disturb her serenity and 
 she wiU be equal to every emergency that may threaten her 
 integrity. 
 
 Beginning with the Lincoln-Douglas debates, Abraham 
 Lincoln became and remained a national figure. From that 
 time his life belongs to the history of the United States and 
 has been dwelt upon with ever increasing fullness and eulogy. 
 By contrast his early political life has been almost forgot- 
 
hen.*- This work covers that neglected period, dealing with 
 Lincoln the politician, showing his development and his train- 
 ing for national leadership. The story is largely told in 
 the words of Lincoln himself, stress being laid on crucial in- 
 cidents hitherto, in the main, indifferently considered. \ A 
 unity, dramatic in its simplicity, appears in his recital, giv- 
 ing glimpses of a man who was guided by a supreme political 
 philosophy in seeking to externalize his gospel of the broth- 
 erhood of man in statute and decision. Considerable atten- 
 tion is devoted to Lincoln in Indiana and at New Salem, 
 showing the peculiarity of his power, his political popularity, 
 and the rapid maturity of his convictions as to the wisest 
 methods of attacking entrenched evil. An earnest, reverent 
 and impartial study of his political career is an enriching 
 education. There is no need of hiding its humble, rude 
 phases. The more his life is lingered over, the greater the 
 wonder grows at the emerging of Lincoln from the humility 
 and the poverty of his environment with a "message of range 
 and sweep," to the sons of men the world over. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTEB 
 
 I. Lincoln in Kentucky .... 
 
 II. Lincoln's Environment in Indiana . 
 
 III. The Political Hero of New Salem . 
 
 IV. Practical Legislator ..... 
 
 V. Protestor and Patriot .... 
 
 VI. Partisan in State and National Affairs . 
 
 VII. Restless Political Ambition 
 
 VIII. Lincoln Opposes the Inception of the Mexi- 
 can War in Congress .... 
 
 IX. Lincoln's Attack on Slavery in Congress 
 
 X. The School of Solitude .... 
 
 XI. An Emancipated Politician 
 
 XII. The Pilot of the New Faith in Illinois . 
 
 XIII. Lincoln and the Dred Scott Decision 
 
 XIV. Leader of the Republican Party in Illinois 201 
 
 XV. The Dawn of National Leadership 
 
 XVI. The Political Philosophy of Abraham Lincoln 213 
 
 Bibliography 
 Index . 
 
 15 
 21 
 39 
 58 
 76 
 87 
 109 
 
 121 
 135 
 152 
 162 
 181 
 197 
 
 207 
 
 228 
 
 227 
 
LINCOLN THE POLITICIAN 
 
LINCOLN THE POLITICIAN 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 LINCOLN IN KENTUCKY 
 
 THE forefathers of Abraham Lincoln, like thousands of 
 Western pioneers, were of a sturdy English lineage. His 
 immediate ancestry, however, was less distinguished than 
 that of many whose names are forgotten and whose influ- 
 ence on American history is imperceptible. Every effort 
 to explain his career through an illustrious parentage has 
 proved altogether futile. 
 
 Lincoln's grandfather belonged to that band of fearless 
 adventurers in Kentucky, whose ideal was a lonely house in 
 the middle of a vast farm, even though maintained in the 
 presence of skulking redskins. ■*■ It was in this land that 
 earned the title of "the Dark and Bloody Ground," that a 
 common frontier tragedy made the grandmother of Lincoln 
 a widow. For one day while her husband was in the fields, 
 a short distance from the house, with their youngest son 
 Thomas, a sudden shot from an Indian ambush broke the 
 stillness of the woods and the father fell dead. The oldest 
 son Mordecai looking out of the loop hole in the loft of 
 the house saw an Indian raising his little brother from the 
 ground. Aiming at a silver ornament on the breast of the 
 redman, he brought him down. The boy ran to the cabin 
 
 'Shaler, 116. 
 
 15 
 
16 Lwuitim ine r utuiemn 
 
 and the mother opened the door. She hastened to a more 
 settled community where her son Thomas, the father of the 
 President, grew to a shiftless manhood.^ 
 
 The inhabitants of Kentucky were bred in the school of 
 hardship. The battle with the forest and buffalo abated, but 
 there remained the heroic fight with the soil. Splendid virile 
 quaUties were born in the strife with the Indians and the 
 forest. Inventions were yet unknown and a living was drawn 
 from the earth only through grinding labor. Yet frontier 
 life rapidly gave way to the march of civilization, the trail 
 and the path to the highway. 
 
 Hunters and warriors became tillers of the field. The 
 merchant and manufacturer, the pioneer preacher, physi- 
 cian, lawyer and politician appeared with the onward tide 
 of events. 
 
 The places of learning were few. Now and then a strug- 
 gling teacher gave all that he had from his humble store to 
 the young confidently entrusted to his care. StiU something 
 in the little log cabin school-house, even on unfrequented 
 paths, developed character. Out of the battle with adverse 
 conditions, with few advantages and manifold difficulties, 
 came statesmen, and even scholars, men who laid the founda- 
 tion of states, who guided the nation through its crises, and 
 were equal to every emergency that endangered its vitality. 
 
 The law abiding character of the people was notably 
 evinced by the supreme patience with which they effected 
 their separation from the mother state, Virginia.* With 
 wisdom they established courts of justice and the law of the 
 land was speedily enforced. A malefactor who violated the 
 statute against card playing, after imprisonment, turned his 
 back on Kentucky, swearing "that it was the meanest coun- 
 try a white man ever got into." * 
 'Lamon, 7-8. "Shaler, 107. *Milburn, 65. 
 
Lmcokii m Kentucky IT 
 
 The pioneers of Kentucky had in a high degree the instinct 
 of government, the passion for politics. Their sense of lib- 
 erty was tempered by devotion to constitutional principles 
 and reverence for the written law. The restless spirit of 
 adventure was tamed by the potency of political responsi- 
 bilities. At an early day, they displayed interest even in 
 national problems. Their views were kindred to those of 
 Virginia. Accustomed to restrain their own freedom, they 
 did not favor the coercive measures of a distant, unknown, 
 strong and centralized government. ^ The political policy 
 of Washington was far from popular; that of Adams was 
 odious.® The presidential contest between Adams and Jef- 
 ferson agitated Kentucky. Discussions were frequent and 
 widespread and even women participated. A pioneer boy 
 was so elated over the triumph of Jefferson that, sitting in 
 his chamber alone, he drank in cold water thirteen toasts in 
 celebration of the triumphant event. ''^ 
 
 It is probable that even in his infancy Lincoln listened 
 at the fireside to many political controversies. In that case 
 he heard doctrines advocated destructive of the national 
 sovereignty, vitally hostile to those avowed and cherished by 
 him in his public career. Traces of his early political sur- 
 roundings on his vital convictions are hardly discernible. 
 Lincoln became a national politician with little patience for 
 the popular doctrine of State Sovereignty. He belonged to 
 the Federal party by instinct. No American statesman was 
 broader in his outlook of the general welfare. It is worthy 
 of note that he passed his infancy in Kentucky ; his boyhood 
 and minority in Indiana, and a varied career in the State 
 of Illinois. Not being the son of a single community or 
 commonwealth, he did not look to any individual state with 
 fullness of affection. He was a citizen of the Republic. 
 •Ranck, 181-2, 216. •Collins, 1, 284. 'Drake, 211. 
 
18 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 As early as 1790, an eflFort was made in Kentucky to 
 promote the gradual abolition of slavery. The arrival ot 
 Clay strengthened this movement. Strong passions were 
 aroused by the angry discussions that followed this futile 
 endeavor. About 1810 the number of slaves increased per- 
 ceptibly. The blighting effects of the institution soon began 
 their revelation. Labor was deemed disgraceful and de- 
 meaning. The possession of slaves, not "high intellectual 
 and moral endowments," became the test of social status. 
 Almost everything was subordinate to the dominating insti- 
 tution. 
 
 Such, in general, was the state of society in Kentucky 
 when Thomas Lincoln, in 1816, made his weary trail through 
 tangled woodland to the wild forests of Spencer County, 
 Indiana. He was one of the multitude discouraged with 
 prospects in the Southern states. It wa^ frequently the 
 overbearing conduct of slaveholders, rather than hatred to 
 slavery, that led the pioneer to leave the land of his nativity. 
 Still it is amazing that the majority of these emigraints bore 
 no resentment to the institution that provoked their re- 
 moval, but became or remained vigorous advocates in main- 
 taining its supremacy.* 
 
 Efforts have been made to account for Thomas Lincoln's 
 movement by reason of his extreme hostility to slavery. 
 Lamon indulges in a more prosaic explanation, stating that 
 there were not more than fifty slaves in Hardin County; 
 that it was practically a free community ; that his more for- 
 tunate relatives in other parts of the State had no scruples 
 to their ownership; that he was wanderer by nature gain- 
 ing neither riches nor credit; and that a quarrel with a 
 neighbor, whose nose he bit off, made him more anxious than 
 ever to leave Kentucky.® Lincoln in his campaign biography 
 
 » Palmer, 9. Drake, 208-209. • Lamon, 16-17. 
 
Lincoln m Kentiichy 19 
 
 remarks that this removal was partly on account of slavery, 
 but chiefly on account of the difficulty in land titles in Ken- 
 tucky.^" Ida Tarbell even endeavors to make a sort of 
 Abolitionist out of Thomas Lincoln. She quotes an old 
 man, who claims that he was present at the wedding of 
 Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, and that Tom Lincoln 
 and Nancy and Sally Bush were steeped full of Jess Head's 
 notions about the wrong of slavery and the rights of man, 
 as explained by Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine.-^^ If 
 this were the fact, it is very strange that Thomas Lincoln 
 never thereafter manifested any hatred of slavery during a 
 long life. If Thomas Lincoln had been a zealous advocate of 
 the rights of the black man, is it not stranger stiU that his 
 son never even hinted at receiving the slightest impetus to 
 anti-slavery opinions from his father? The long silence of 
 Thomas, Abraham and Sally Bush Lincoln disproves the 
 contention that Thomas Lincoln was a friend or champion 
 of the enslaved, or that his views differed from the prevailing 
 sentiment in regard to Abolitionism. 
 
 One incident looms up in the brief stay of Abraham in 
 Kentucky. "I had been fishing one day," said Lincoln, "and 
 caught a little fish which I was taking home. I met a soldier 
 in the road, and having always been told at home that we 
 must be good to the soldiers, I gave him my fish." ^^ This 
 story strikingly displays the influence of his mother. Events 
 were few in his early life, and made a correspondingly abid- 
 ing impression. 
 
 Lincoln was seven years old when he passed beyond the 
 borders of Kentucky. There he received the rudiments of 
 an education from two nomadic teachers. At the time of 
 his departure, caste feeling was beginning to dominate so- 
 ciety in Kentucky, but Lincoln never showed any of its mani- 
 
 " Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 639. " Nicolay and Hay, 1, 27. 
 
 "McClure, SS*. 
 
20 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 festations. "He was," says Frederick Douglas, "the first 
 great man that I talked with in the United States freely, 
 who in no single instance reminded me of the difference 
 between himself and myself of the difference of color, and 
 I thought that all the more remarkable because he came 
 from a state where there were black laws." ^^ 
 
 No human mind would have selected Hardin County for 
 the birthplace of the man who was to grapple with the most 
 portentous problem in all American history. For the slav- 
 ery question baffled the wisdom of the makers of the Con- 
 stitution. It darkened the last hours of the stalwart states- 
 men, Webster, Clay and Calhoun. It tried and tested the 
 endurance of this nation in a crisis of grave moment. 
 "Rice, 193. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 Lincoln's environment in Indiana 
 
 r I ^HE year that marked the advent of Indiana into 
 ■■■ national statehood, witnessed the humble and unheralded 
 entrance of Thomas Lincoln and his family into Spencer 
 County. The State was a haven for the pioneer of peace- 
 able disposition. The danger of the Indian no longer 
 haunted the land. Still life was a grim struggle, hewing the 
 way through solid forests to reach the new home, cutting 
 the trees to bviild the log cabin, patiently raising the first 
 crop of corn. It took time to construct the trail and then 
 the road. Yet with marvelous rapidity, these early settlers 
 soon caused the church to appear, the schoolhouse and the 
 hamlet.^ 
 
 Party politics is largely the product of a settled com- 
 munity. When men are engrossed in establishing a home 
 matters of national significance seem of little moment. The 
 kitchen is more important to the log cabin than the parlor. 
 So the most pressing problems of a pioneer settlement are 
 those of local concern. Conventions and parties were un- 
 known for some time. Any man could proclaim his candi- 
 dacy for office. Voters were known as "Jones-men" or 
 "Smith-men," after the candidate of their choice. The 
 earliest manifestations of party spirit arose over the slavery 
 question. Even under territorial government, delegates to 
 Congress were called "Slavery" or "Anti-Slavery." During 
 
 ' Birbeck, 90. 
 
 il 
 
S^ Lmcoh, the PoUticiem 
 
 the canvass in which John Quincy Adams was selected as 
 President, the Whig and Democratic parties were little rec- 
 ognized in Indiana. On election day, the workers shouted, 
 "Here are Jackson tickets! Here are Clay!" ^ The defeat 
 of Jkckson hastened the growth of partisanship. With the 
 introduction of party politics came resort to trickery in 
 elections.* 
 
 Politics was a recreation to the early settler. When the 
 newspaper was a luxury, when there were few forms of 
 amusement, it was an indulgence as well as an educational 
 influence to listen to the orator on the questions of the day. 
 Politics was the school of the nation, and in it there were 
 few truants. 
 
 The foUo'wing incident illustrates a primitive political 
 gathering. School was dismissed at the time of the militia 
 election, and so the teacher took part in the festivities. A 
 tin cup of whiskey was passed around twice, then a two 
 gallon jug and bucket of water. A warm discussion arose 
 about Indiana accepting the land donated by Congress for 
 the construction of the Wabash and Erie Canals. Dr. Stone 
 was most noisy against accepting. "Friends of the canal 
 chose me," said the teacher, "to reply." "I was 'half seas 
 over' from free and frequent use of the cup. I was puzzled 
 to know what to do. Soon a fence rail was slipped into 
 the worn fence near by and a wash tub turned up and placed 
 upon it. Two or three seized hold of me and placed me on 
 the eminence amid shouts of the friends of the canal. I 
 could scarcely preserve my equilibrium. My lips refused 
 utterance. After a long pause, I smote my breast with my 
 hand, and said, 'I feel too full for utterance.' (I meant 
 whiskey — they, full of indignation at the Dr.'s effrontery of 
 opposition) . The ruse worked like a charm. They shouted 
 "Smith, 1, 320. "Smith Misc. Ind., 119. 
 
Lmcoln's Ewvironment m Indiema SS! 
 
 Tjct him have it !' I raised my finger and pointed a momen 
 steadily at the Doctor. They shouted, 'Hit him again.' 
 made my first speech twenty-five minutes. The Dr. talkee 
 again thirty minutes. I closed the debate and there was i 
 viva voce vote in favor of the canal." * 
 
 As the early settler succeeded the hunter, agriculture be 
 came the main means of subsistence, but it could not become 
 a source of profit without improved methods of transporta 
 tion. The movement for internal improvements was to hav 
 a profound influence on the course of events in the West 
 The splendid enthusiasm that lately concerned itself with i 
 hostile environment was now employed in competing for th^ 
 markets of the East. The Westerner was not accustomed t( 
 wander in the realm of dreams, yet he grew romantic in con 
 templating the resources of his fertile soil, and believed th^ 
 time would come when nations would pay tribute to his prod 
 ucts. The completion of the Erie Canal marked a distinc 
 epoch in this movement. It increased prices in some case 
 more than two hundred per cent. This advance called fo: 
 better shipping facilities. As times became better, the peo 
 pie of the West became the missionaries of the internal im 
 provement system.® 
 
 Nothing so vividly revealed this enthusiasm as the recep 
 tion afi'orded Governor Clinton when he visited Ohio in 1825 
 He was hailed as a hero, as a friend, as a benefactor. A con 
 temporary observer thus described the occasion: 
 
 "The grave and the gay, the man of gray hairs and th 
 ruddy-faced youth, matrons and maidens, and even lispin; 
 children, joined to tell his worth, and on his virtues dwell 
 to hail his approach and to welcome his arrival. Ever; 
 street, where he passed, was thronged with multitudes, am 
 the windows were filled with the beautiful ladies of Ohio 
 * Cox, 30. ' Squirrel Hunters of Ohio, 398. 
 
24 Lmcolm the Politiciwn 
 
 waving their snowy white handkerchiefs, and casting flower 
 on the pavement where he was to pass on it." The Govemc 
 was deeply affected by such an unusual demonstration, an 
 even shed tears in the presence of his worshippers. 
 
 A vast system of internal improvements in Indiana wa 
 the fruition of a campaign of more than a decade. It wa 
 an unfailing argument of those seeking political prefermeni 
 The construction of roads and canals was urged as one c 
 the fundamental purposes of human society. This polic 
 was declared to be the highway from poverty to prosperit] 
 It fairly became the political religion of the day. Indians 
 in 1836, started with rejoicing on the path that was befor 
 long to involve it in disasters that led it close to the chasi 
 of bankruptcy and repudiation. 
 
 Spencer County was in the southern part of the Stati 
 bordering on the Ohio River. The country was very roug 
 and covered with forests, sparsely inhabited and poor! 
 adapted for prosperous farming. There being no marke 
 for the products of the soil, the most primitive methods i 
 agriculture were in operation. Wild turkeys and deer wer 
 had at the door of every man's cabin. Bears, wild-cats 
 even panthers, were still in evidence. 
 
 Thomas Lincoln, though he often changed his home, di 
 not modify his character. He remained to the end a shifi 
 less man of roving disposition without effectual ambitioi 
 A carpenter by trade, while other men built substantia 
 homes in the wilderness, he was content to live in a primitiv 
 log cabin without windows, floor or furniture. It was onl 
 the influence of his second wife that secured those urgen 
 improvements. A man of supreme physical strength, sloi 
 to anger, yet dangerous when once aroused, he was not with 
 out deep affection. StiU he did not hesitate to knock his in 
 ' Squirrel Hunters of Ohio, 288, 
 
Lmcolm's Erwironment in Indiana 2i 
 
 quisitive son off the fence for answering traveler's questions 
 He was a master in the telling of stories. It was his chie 
 accomplishment, the main gift that his son owed tO' him. Th^ 
 nature of his mind is somewhat shown by his rambling re 
 ligious opinions. In Kentucky he was a Free Will Baptist 
 in Indiana he espoused the cause of Presbyterianism, anc 
 in Illinois he became a Campbellite. A relative quaintly ob 
 serves that happiness was the end of life with him.'^ Johi 
 Hanks, the uncle of Lincoln, was the most sturdy of hii 
 relatives; yet, this same Hanks was so illiterate that whei 
 Lincoln became President, he could not endow him with ai 
 Indian Agency. 
 
 The somberness of Lincoln's childhood was brightened b^ 
 the memory of his mother. In intellect, she was far abov( 
 those with whom she enacted the sad and short drama O' 
 her life. Even as a child in Kentucky he felt the spell anc 
 potent influence of her words. When she died, young as hi 
 was, he lived alone with his grief. The passing years hal 
 lowed the early impression of his sorrow, yet during all thes( 
 years the memory of his mother was a mystic influence ii 
 his development ; and so when he stood almost at the summi' 
 of his career, he declared, "All that I am, all that I hope t( 
 be, I owe to my angel mother." * 
 
 The greatness of Lincoln grows upon us when we contem 
 plate the conditions from which he emerged, and considei 
 the manner of men among whom he lived. Despite th( 
 efi'orts of many biographers to brighten his early surround 
 ings, we have the highest evidence in his conduct and speed 
 that he was nurtured in hopeless adversity ; in poverty thai 
 was not alone incidental to pioneer conditions, but con 
 tinned long after it was the common fate. He compre 
 hensively described his environment in the statement thai 
 ' Lamon, IS, ' Arnold, 20. 
 
26 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 there w^as absolutely nothing in his associations to excite 
 ambition for education.^ There was little in his ancestry to 
 quicken his pride. He ever maintained a peculiar reticence 
 about his youthful days and his parentage. He may by 
 constant thinking have exaggerated the distressing state of 
 his childhood, but in the main there can be little addition 
 to, or modification of, his reluctant testimony.^** 
 
 He made his own way in the trail of letters. He pur- 
 sued plans of educating himself infinitely better than those 
 followed in schools and universities. He has left us price- 
 less testimony of the manner of his intellectual develop- 
 ment. "Among my earliest recollections," said Lincoln, "I 
 remember how when a child, I used to get irritated when 
 anybody talked to me in a way I could not understand. I 
 do not think I ever got angry at anything else in my Hfe; 
 but that always disturbed my temper and has ever since. I 
 can remember going to my little bedroom, after hearing the 
 neighbors talk of an evening with my father, and spending 
 no small part of the night walking up and down and trying 
 to make out what was the exact meaning of some of their, 
 to me, dark sayings. I could not sleep though I tried to, 
 when I got on such a hunt for an idea until I had caught it ; 
 and when I thought I had got it, I was not satisfied until I 
 had repeated it over and over again; until I had put it in 
 language plain enough, as I thought, for any boy I knew 
 to comprehend. This was a kind of passion with me, and 
 it has stuck by me; for I am never easy now, when I am 
 handling a thought, tiU I have bounded it north and south 
 and bounded it east and west. But your question reminds 
 me of a bit of education which I am bound in honor to men- 
 tion. In the course of my law reading I constantly came 
 upon the word demonstrate. I thought at first that I un- 
 » Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 696-597. " Lamon, lT-18. 
 
Limcoln's Environment in Indiana 2' 
 
 derstood its meaning, but soon became satisfied that I die 
 not. I said to myself, 'What do I mean when I demonstrate 
 more than when I reason or prove?' I consulted Webster'i 
 Dictionary. That told of certain proof, — proof beyond thi 
 probability of a doubt, but I could form no sort of idet 
 what proof it was. I thought a great many things wer( 
 proved beyond the possibility of a doubt, without recours( 
 to any such reasoning as I understood demonstration to be 
 I consulted all the dictionaries and books of reference " 
 could find, but with no better results. You might as wel 
 have defined blue to a blind man. At last I said, 'Lincoln 
 you can never make a lawyer if you do not understanc 
 what demonstrate means ;' and I left my situation in Spring 
 field, went home to my father's house, and stayed there unti 
 I could give any proposition in the six books of Euclid a' 
 sight. I then found out what demonstrate meant, and wen 
 back to my law studies." ^^ 
 
 Inadequate as his education may have been objectively 
 Lincoln was supremely trained in the college of loneb 
 thought. No American of eminence owes less to the publii 
 school system. His entire career is a mystery unless ful 
 value is given to the statement of Hemdon that "Lincoli 
 read less and thought more than any other man of hii 
 time." * 
 
 His love of learning amounted to a passion. The time hii 
 companions squandered in recreation he largely employed ii 
 mental improvement. His literary education was a painfu 
 process and was gained without help. His plan was slow bu 
 effective. "He read every book he could lay his hands on 
 and, when he came across a passage that struck him, h( 
 would write it down on boards if he had no paper. Thei 
 he would rewrite it, look at it, repeat it. He had a copy 
 "TarbeU, 1, 43. * Oldroyd, 533. 
 
28 Limcoln the Politician 
 
 book, a kind of scrap book, in which he put down all things, 
 and thus preserved them." ^'^ 
 
 By this method he gradually evolved a style of supreme 
 strength and sincerity. The Bible was the main force in 
 its fruition. For a long time he dabbled in "crude rhymes" 
 and "awkward imitations of scriptural lore." With all the 
 gentleness of his nature, he was a master of satire, and 
 slowly learned tO' use this dangerous gift with moderation. 
 One of his early compositions was an impulsive effort to con- 
 demn cruelty to the helpless toad and turtle. More ambi- 
 tious products followed. The reading of a newspaper article 
 on temperance induced him to contribute something on that 
 theme. A minister found it a place in a newspaper, to the 
 ecstasy of the writer for the first time tasting the sweet- 
 ness of publicity. This success led him to indulge in other 
 dissertations. His political environment and his readings in 
 American history germinated. With exultant spirit he pro- 
 claimed that "the American Government was the best form of 
 government for an intelligent people; that it ought to be 
 kept sound, and preserved forever; that general education 
 should be fostered and carried all over the country ; that the 
 Constitution should be saved, the Union perpetuated, and the 
 laws revered, respected, and enforced. "^^ This effort met 
 with instant approbation. A lawyer, to whose criticism it 
 was soberly entrusted, declared, "The world can't beat it." ^* 
 
 Three books had a pervasive influence upon his poUtical 
 opinions, "The Revised Statutes of Indiana," Weems' "Life 
 of Washington," and a "History of the United States." ^^ 
 Lincoln has left us indisputable evidence of the profound 
 power of Revolutionary History in moulding his patriotic 
 sentiments. For in his memorable speech in the Senate? 
 
 "Lamon, 36-37. ^* Ibid., 69. 
 
 "Ibid., 68-69. "Ibid., 37. 
 
^ Lincoln's Ermironment in Indiana ^i 
 
 Chamber at Trenton, New Jersey, he said : 
 
 "May I be pardoned if, upon this occasion, I mentioi 
 that away back in my childhood, the earliest days of mj 
 being able to read, I got hold of a small book, such a one 
 as few of the younger members have ever seen, Weems' 'Lif( 
 of Washington.' I remember all the accounts there givei 
 of the battlefields and struggles for the liberties of the coun- 
 try, and none fixed themselves upon my imagination sc 
 deeply as the struggle here at Trenton, New Jersey. Th< 
 crossing of the river, the contest with the Hessians, the greal 
 hardships endured at that time, all fixed themselves on mj 
 memory, more than any single Revolutionary event ; and yoi 
 all know, for you have all been boys, how these early im 
 pressions last longer than any others. I recollect thinking 
 then, boy even though I was, that there must have beei 
 something more than common that these men struggled for 
 I am exceedingly anxious that that thing — that somethin| 
 even more than national independence; that something tha- 
 held out a great promise to all the people of the world t( 
 all time to come — I am exceedingly anxious that this Union 
 the Constitution, and the liberties of the people shall be per 
 petuated in accordance with the original idea for which tha 
 struggle was made, and I shall be most happy indeed if '. 
 shall be a humble instrument in the hands of the Almighty 
 and of this, his almost most chosen people, for perpetuating 
 the object of that great struggle." ^* 
 
 The influence of Weems' "Life" is indicated by the fac 
 that Lincoln did not lose his boyish enthusiasm for the char 
 acter of Washington. He once exclaimed, "Let us believe a 
 in the days of our youth that Washington was spotless; i 
 makes human nature better to believe that one human beinj 
 was perfect: that human perfection is possible."^'' Thi 
 "Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 688. "Whitney, 45-46. 
 
Lincoln the Politician 
 
 devotion is still more significant as Lincoln very rarely in- 
 dulged in hero worship. 
 
 We shall not at all comprehend the political life of 
 Abraham Lincoln unless we fairly understand the momentous 
 subjective influence of these few volumes. One of them, the 
 Revised Statutes of Indiana, contained the Declaration of 
 Independence. He was scarcely more than eighteen years 
 old when he brooded over the significance of that immortal 
 utterance. ■'^^ 
 
 His stepsister says, he was an indefatigable preacher. 
 "When father and mother would go to church, Abe would 
 take down the Bible, read a verse, give out- a hymn, and we 
 would sing. Abe was about fifteen years of age. He 
 preached, and we would do the crying. Sometimes he would 
 join in the chorus of tears. One day my brother, John 
 Johnston, caught a land terrapin, brought it to the place 
 where Abe was preaching, threw it against the tree and 
 crushed the shell. It suffered much, — quivered all over. Abe 
 then preached against cruelty to animals, contending that 
 an ant's life was just as sweet to it as ours to us." ^* 
 
 Often mounting a real tree stump his quaint stories and 
 impressive manner gathered aU his fellow laborers. It is 
 related that Lincoln's father and sometimes his employers, 
 angered at the loss of labor, would drag the orator from 
 his eminence. It was about this time that Lincoln said that 
 his father taught him to work but never to love it.^" 
 
 Lincoln's wit was no small part of his forensic eloquence. 
 He was more ready at the beginning of his career than in 
 after years to ridicule censorious conduct. So James Larkin 
 found it, who was a great hand to brag. He stepped up 
 before Abe, who was in the crowd, and boasted of his horse. 
 "I have got the best horse in the country," he shouted to 
 
 " McClure, 167. » Lamon, 40. » Ibid., 36-40. 
 
Lincoln's Environment in Indiana 31 
 
 lis young listener. "I ran him three miles in exactly three 
 ainutes, and he never fetched a long breath." 
 
 "I presume," said Abe, rather dryly, "that he fetched a 
 ;ood many short ones though." ^^ 
 
 Lincoln further found opportunity for exercising his ora- 
 orical talent in the speaking exhibitions at Gentryville. 
 'ublic debates were no minor attraction to the community, 
 discussions as to whether the Indian or negro had the 
 preater right to find fault with his treatment were frequent 
 md intense. The closing day of school was duly celebrated 
 )y declamations, debates and dialogues. Many selections 
 'or these occasions came from the Kentucky "Preceptor," 
 •ich in such utterance as Pitt's "Speech on the Slave 
 Trade." 22 
 
 Lincoln was present on one occasion at a dramatic mur- 
 ler trial in which John V. Brackenridge appeared for the 
 lefendant.^* Lincoln heard the polished and eloquent advo- 
 ;ate as in a dream. After the trial the hiunble backwood 
 ipeaker freely praised the eloquence of the mature advocate. 
 Brackenridge glancing at his awkward shabby admirer 
 ;urned away without a word. 
 
 Lincoln learned that ability does not always go hand in 
 land with sympathy. He crawled into his own world where 
 jride was to have no home, where humble appearances were 
 lot to be despised. When Lincoln as President met this 
 lame Brackenridge, he simply said, "If I could, as I then 
 bought, have made as good a speech as that, my soul would 
 lave been satisfied ; for it was up to that time the best speech 
 ; had ever heard." ^* 
 
 The people of Gentryville were largely of a rough hardy 
 
 lort. Like other pioneers they were ready to escape the 
 
 =" Herndon, 1, 43. " Spencer County, 313. 
 
 " Tarbell, 1, 86. " Herndon, 1, 49-SO. Lamon, 67. 
 
32 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 monotony of their life by engaging in exciting games. The 
 rude joke, the vulgar gibe was prized. To laugh loud was 
 somewhat of a luxury to the hard working settler. Refining 
 influence was fairly unknown. 
 
 However, social distinctions gradually asserted them- 
 selves with the progress of prosperity. Parties of some pre- 
 tensions came into vogue, and distinctions were made in the 
 guests invited. Lincoln, who had been welcomed at the ruder 
 gatherings, log rollings and similar entertainments, was not 
 in favor with those seeking social prominence. Fond of 
 popular applause, he resented this treatment, and in spite 
 wrote satires and "chronicles," chastising the offenders.^' 
 These productions were coarse, vulgar and even indecent, 
 spiced with no lack of wit. They appealed to many, though 
 it is said that some were shocked. 
 
 On one occasion Lincoln placed certain reflections on 
 the Grigsby family where they could be readily discovered. 
 Being found, they brought on a fight for the family honor. 
 Lincoln had his stepbrother, Johnston, first stand "the 
 brunt" of the contest. A terrible fight ensued, and when 
 Lincoln saw that Grigsby was too much for Johnston, he 
 burst through the ring, caught Grigsby, and threw him off 
 some feet away. Then swinging a bottle of hquor over his 
 head swore that he was "the big buck of the lick." "If any 
 one doubts it," he shouted, "he has only to come on and whet 
 his horns." A general engagement resulted, but soon the 
 field was cleared and the wounded retired amid the exultant 
 shouts of the victors.^® 
 
 From such an origin Lincoln came. Biographers seek to 
 
 illumine its poverty in vain. He was reared amid a shiftless 
 
 family. No external inducement guided him in his wearisome 
 
 journey. He was in the daily presence of vulgarity. He 
 
 "Lamon, 63. ''Ibid., 64-65. 
 
Lvncoln's J^rmronment in Indicma 3 
 
 alone of all his companions started in a titanic conflict wit] 
 an enslaving environment. 
 
 The store was the social center of the pioneer town, th 
 place to hear the latest gossip. There the neighbors met ti 
 pass judgment on events of general and local interest. Th 
 proprietor was often the only possessor of the weekly news 
 paper. It was not as in later days the abode of lounger 
 mainly. It played a big part in the education of the frontie 
 community. It was the school of many men and the hom 
 of wit and wisdom. Politics, religion and other problem 
 were here subjected to the scrutiny of men blest with goo( 
 sense and judgment. 
 
 The store drew the choice spirits in story telling, and it 
 hero was the man who could best kindle laughter. In i 
 community where this art was the highway to the genera 
 good wiU, Lincoln soon became the master among the man; 
 contestants for that distinction. 
 
 Wherever men congregated Lincoln sought supremacy 
 Political discussions were frequent. The newcomer sooi 
 tried his hand in the art of controversy. He gradually 
 gained headway in the esteem of the soberminded for th 
 clearness of his statements, for the keenness of his vision, anc 
 the honesty of his manner. Day by day he gathered strengtl 
 and wisdom. It is improbable that any other young man s( 
 soon won the general good will or was so widely respectec 
 by all classes of men. In this, even as a youth, he wai 
 unique. He had the splendid tact, the inherent humanity 
 that appealed to the various elements that constituted thi 
 transitional frontier when it was evolving into a higher com 
 munity. 
 
 There is very little satisfactory evidence of the politica 
 ■opinions of Abraham Lincoln in Indiana. Lamon states thai 
 his family were all Jackson Democrats; that Lincoln's em 
 
34 Lmcohh the Politician 
 
 ployer, Jones, the grocery keeper of Gentryville, was a Ji 
 son Democrat, and that Lincoln read papers that ch 
 pioned the principles of the Democratic party of that i 
 and that he was in the beginning a follower of that emi: 
 political sage.*'^ There is no corroboration of this t 
 mony that Lincoln was ever avowedly an attendant m 
 school of Jackson. Lincoln frequently refers to the 
 with pride that he was an old time Whig, and it migh 
 inferred from his speeches and statements that he wi 
 devoted follower of Clay from the very first. However, 
 coin was somewhat an admirer of Andrew Jackson. It 
 be that early in life he passed through the several stage 
 political development, and was thus aided in becomir 
 tolerant politician. 
 
 From childhood until 1829, Lincoln lived in Gen 
 viUe. In that year he made a trip by boat to New Orl 
 with Allen Gentry. It was on this venture that Lincoln 
 his first vital meeting with the members of the race in w 
 destiny he was to be so deeply concerned. While their 1 
 was moored near Baton Rouge and they were fast as] 
 they were startled by footsteps on board. They knew " 
 it was a gang of negroes come to rob, and perhaps to r 
 der them. Allen, thinking to frighten the intruders, c 
 out, 'Bring the guns, Lincoln ; shoot them.' Abe came v 
 out a gun, but he fell among the negroes with a huge l 
 geon, and belabored them most cruelly," but "received a 
 which he carried with him to his grave." ^* It is strange 
 this incident did not jaundice the youthful Lincoln ag« 
 the unfortunate people. Though his life was endang 
 by these wayward sons of Ethiopia, it did not affect 
 sympathy in any degree for the burdened and oppre 
 race, nor change his judgment as to the injustice of i 
 " Lamon, 67, 133. " Ibid., 71, 73. 
 
Lincoln's Environment m Indian>a St 
 
 treatment. 
 
 The origin of Lincoln's anti-slavery sentiments is some- 
 what of a mystery. That Stephen Douglas, reared in New 
 England, should become the foremost champion of the South- 
 ern slavery policy, and that Abraham Lincoln, a son oj 
 Kentucky, that of the bondsman, baffles the wisdom of the 
 historian. 
 
 Various efforts have been made to account for his views 
 on the slavery issue. The claim that he derived them fron 
 his parents in Kentucky has been noted. Ida Tarbell enu- 
 merates the various abolition movements in the western do- 
 main that may have influenced him. In 1819, Charles 
 Osbom published a paper advocating emancipation. A fe\^ 
 years after Benjamin Lundy issued the Genius at Shelby 
 ville. Scarcely one hundred miles from Gentryville the Abo 
 Ution Intelligencer was started. There were abolition soci 
 eties in Kentucky and Illinois. The same author states thai 
 "it is not impossible that as Frederick Douglas first real 
 ized his own condition in reading a school speaker, the 'Col 
 umbian Orator,' so Abraham Lincoln first felt the wronj 
 of slavery in reading his 'Kentucky' or 'American Precep 
 tor.' " ^ 
 
 Considering the slowness of communication, the casua 
 appearances of even well-known journals, it is doubtful i 
 Lincoln heard of the abolition movement to any serious ex 
 tent. It is at least significant that Lincoln alone, of hi; 
 entire family and of his associates, saw the magnitude of th^ 
 slavery evil. Like his sympathy for the suffering anima 
 world, his anti-slavery sentiments baffle explanation. H 
 hated the infliction of wrong instinctively. 
 
 There is a duality to the life of Lincoln that should com 
 mand more attention. Intellectually, he lived in a worl( 
 
 » Tarbell, 1, 35, 36. 
 
36 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 of his own, a world in which he found little companior 
 Still he was not altogether the fruition of a subjectivt 
 He shared the common pioneer craving for human soi 
 It may have been rendered even more intense m his 
 by the lonehness of his mental existence. Neither the f( 
 prairie nor storm, the sunset or constellation were his fi 
 as men were. He loved his kind more than nature. 
 
 During his last years in Indiana he lived fully th 
 of the people around him. Their ideals seemed his i( 
 Athletic superiority was the road to respect and honor 
 Lincoln became the foremost man in physical games, 
 first won renown as a wrestler. Stories of his sup 
 strength were heralded far and wide and his place wa 
 challenged. He was a leader in the rude crowd where i 
 was the test of standing. Living among men devotf 
 hunting, he seldom indulged in that common recreation 
 this his individuality asserted itself. He would not san 
 suffering even in the animal world, and he seldom sw 
 from his convictions even in the day when the wolf hi 
 at the cabin door. 
 
 The maturity of Lincoln's development at the time c 
 departure from Indiana has not received just considers 
 Gaunt and awkward in appearance there was little in h 
 attract favorable attention. He was without trade or 
 fession. Nothing appeared to distinguish him fron 
 other members of the shiftless Lincoln and Hanks fa 
 A stranger would hardly have chosen him as a future s 
 fortune, even from that humble crowd of wanderers, 
 couth in dress and manner, he would have found small : 
 in polite society, and among those who judge by things 
 on the surface. 
 
 Viewed subjectively there is another Lincoln, a m£ 
 promise and inevitable distinction. Those who have i 
 
Lincoln's Erwironment in Indicma 37 
 
 extensively on the objective aspect of Lincoln have squan- 
 dered sympathy on his want of education. For though poor 
 in material things, he was rich in mental wealth, in the quali- 
 ties that make manhood, in those virtues that survive the 
 mutations of time, that future generations dwell on with 
 ever increasing fondness. At the threshold of his majority 
 he was already possessed of elemental ability and greatness. 
 He was one of those rare souls that do not lose the golden 
 ideals of youth with passing years. The sneers of selfish 
 men never changed the primal sweetness of his nature. 
 
 The fourteen years that Lincoln lived in Indiana were 
 years of splendid fruition. By his peculiar process of self- 
 development his mind had attained a maturity far beyond his 
 age. He mingled freely in the world of men and events. He 
 was close to the human heart, to the sorrows of the humble, 
 to the mute and deep emotions of the lonely dweller on the 
 western farms. He loved the plain people. He had the com- 
 mand of style, the ease and pith of statement that schools 
 rarely give. Ready of speech, he could command the atten- 
 tion of the rough as well as the sober minded. He w-as 
 already renowned as a dispenser of laughter through the 
 magic of his stories. But above all he was rarely gifted 
 with good sense, with a mind not easily diverted by false 
 lights, by the glitter of objectivity. He went irresistibly to 
 the root of things. A man of fine emotions, wanting in the 
 small social amenities, he seldom went astray in the domain 
 of reality. 
 
 It is also essential to mark the practical character of all 
 his learning. His knowledge was all useful and vitalizing. 
 His mind was not cumbered with waste materials. His edu- 
 cation was sound to the core, was aU genuine, well calculated 
 for a man in the very strife of life. Judged by the standard 
 of schools and universities he was not an educated man, but 
 
38 LmcoJ/n the PoUticicm 
 
 judged by the broader standard of thought and action ] 
 was supremely educated, the best educated man of his tim 
 He served his apprenticeship in the school of experien( 
 and only needed opportunity to be of royal service to h 
 fellowmen. Honest, homely and humble, he was in hannon 
 with the average man of his time, and was well fitted { 
 become a representative of the people. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE POIilTICAL HEKO OF NEW SALEM 
 
 ri^HE immediate occasion for the departure of Thoma,' 
 -'■ Lincoln from Indiana was the visitation of the mysteri 
 ous ailment widely known as the "milk sick." The scani 
 progress made by the family in Spencer County strength 
 ened his desire to try his fortune in a new land, — a lane 
 that in the distance held forth alluring promises of better- 
 ment. 
 
 They arrived in Illinois at the transitional period whei 
 the progressive settler was putting on the clothing of civili 
 zation. The concentration of population scattered the ob 
 stacks of progress. The wilderness was subdued, and th( 
 worth of the prairie land proved. The howl of the wolf eve: 
 growing fainter and fainter marked the hurrying advance o: 
 another dominion.-' Shyly but steadily style showed itsel: 
 in the home, food and dress. Through the surface it be 
 tokened the coming of a settled community; it was the un 
 failing external sign of prosperity and of fellowship wit! 
 religion and education. 
 
 The old pioneer mourned the change. He saw the loon 
 put away, and ribbons supplant the cotton frock. With sad 
 dened heart-, he met the new civilization. To him, it was th( 
 doom of the old hospitality, of his freedom, the coonskin cap 
 the deer shoes; the log cabin built with his own hands 
 "Hog and hominy" no longer waited on hunger. What his 
 >Ford, 94-95. 
 
40 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 child named progress did not compensate him for the t 
 of the companions of his youth. The pioneer had in 
 name of civihzation cleared the land of the Indian, 
 could not adapt himself to its way, and now the victor 
 in turn to yield to the same unrelenting monarch. 
 
 John Hanks was the path finder for the little colony, 
 selected a place close to Decatur as a home for the wande 
 Lincoln took a hand in making the cabin which soon ho 
 his father and family. But rather than engage in ma 
 labor, he was alert to show his skiU as a speaker. "A 
 Abe got to Decatur," says John Hanks, "or rathe 
 Macon (my county), a man by the name of Posey came 
 our neighborhood, and made a speech ; it was a bad one, 
 I said Abe could beat it. I turned down a box or keg, 
 Abe made his speech. The other man was a candidate, 
 wasn't. Abe beat him to death, his subject being the i 
 gation of the Sangamon River. The man, after the sp 
 was through, took Abe aside, and asked him where he 
 learned so much, and how he did so well. Abe replied, f 
 ing his manner and method of reading, and what he had i 
 The man encouraged Lincoln to persevere." ^ 
 
 Lincoln fretted under the tutorage of his father, 
 longed for the hour of his legal freedom. When that pe 
 came, he promptly joined John Hanks in guiding a flat 
 to New Orleans for one Denton Offutt.^ 
 
 Perhaps the most critical incident in the life of Lin 
 was this second visit to New Orleans. Hitherto, with a si 
 exception, his life was simple and close to nature and 
 human heart. Young as he was, the solemnity of the fo 
 the expanse of the prairie, the nearness to the heart of thi 
 the problems of life and their seriousness already cut \ 
 lines in his sensitive organism. Knowing little of the i 
 ^Lamon, 78, 'Ibid., 78-80. 
 
The Political Hero of New Salem 41 
 
 cantile world, in the realm of thought he was already master 
 of those around him. There was something of Hamlet in 
 this gaunt youth. 
 
 The varied amusements of the southern city that fasci- 
 nated his companions did not move or detain him. One sight 
 alone riveted his attention. A mulatto girl was on sale. She 
 was trotted up and down like an animal. Others saw the 
 scene without flinching. It was nothing to them; no lash 
 on their backs. According to Herndon, the whole thing was 
 so revolting that Lincoln moved away from the scene with a 
 deep feeling of hate, saying to his companions, "By God, 
 boys, let's get away from this. If I ever get a chance to hit 
 that thing (meaning slavery), I'll hit it hard." * 
 
 From that time Lincoln hated slavery with all his soul. 
 The slave dynasty was an organized evil of national power. 
 It dominated the actions and even the opinions of men ; its 
 whisper silenced the voice of conscience; its power dictated 
 legislative policies, and was even known to intrude into the 
 sanctuary of judicial tribunals. It was not a stranger in 
 distinguished pulpits. 
 
 Lincoln was weak, helpless, unregarded. A blow from his 
 hand would then fall impotent and unnoticed. Three courses 
 of conduct confronted him. He might, with the majority 
 have become an apologist of slavery, as this was the popular 
 highway. Thus he might have gained the fame of Stephen 
 A. Douglas, but he would not have saved the nation. He 
 might have become an aggressive assailant of slavery. Such 
 conduct would have made him a political outcast in New 
 Salem. In this way, he might have won the renown of a 
 Wendell Phillips but he would not have become the national 
 helmsman. He was neither abolitionist nor apologist. 
 
 One other way was open. He knew his weakness. The 
 "Herndon, 1, 67. 
 
42 Lmcohi the Politician 
 
 day to strike a blow had not yet come. He held his anger 
 and bided his hour. He would not rush, but await the time 
 when a blow from his hand would long leave its traces on 
 the evil. He turned back to his work and to his associates. 
 Objectively, he was the same as ever, but a soul had been 
 awakened to the crime of the ages that would not rest until 
 the auction block should be shattered and the American soil 
 rendered uneasy at the presence of the human auctioneer. 
 He knew that sooner or later the occasion for action would 
 rejoice his soul. This faith reconciled him to the sluggard 
 march of events. 
 
 Some time in the summer of 1831, there drifted into the 
 thriving village of New Salem one who was to add lustre to 
 her name. Some days later Minter Graham, the school mas- 
 ter, was "short of a clerk" at election. Asking a tall 
 stranger if he could write, he was met with the quaint reply 
 that he could make a few rabbit marks. "Lincoln," says the 
 school man, "performed the duties with great facility, much 
 fairness, and honesty and impartiality. This was the first 
 public official act of his life." ® 
 
 Lincoln first gained prestige in New Salem through his 
 droU stories. It was the fast road to the good will of an 
 audience. In those days when amusement was scant it was 
 no mean gift. It was then a kind of legal tender for a 
 dinner or similar hospitality, and in a pioneer community 
 popular favor is a harbinger of high honor. Lincoln found 
 little to do until he became the chief clerk of the presuming 
 store of Denton Offutt. Here he rapidly won the regard of 
 the listener and participated in many discussions ; here he 
 met and talked with the people, and he made another advance 
 in the public esteem. 
 
 Like .many pioneer communities New Salem was largely 
 fj^emon, 89, 
 
The Political Hero of New Salem 43 
 
 dominated by a rough crowd of young men, known there as 
 the "Clary Grove Boys." They were typical of the class in 
 Illinois that stubbornly yielded to the reign of the law. Thej' 
 rapidly disappeared in settled communities, but in the out- 
 lying towns, for a long time, they maintained their power. 
 Usually acting in unison, they were much sought by those 
 seeking political preferment. They attended church, heard 
 the sermon, wept and prayed, shouted, got up and fought an 
 hour, and then went back to prayer just as the spirit moved 
 them.® Rude and even cruel to the traveler, they made mercy 
 the companion of the orphan. They had no sympathy for 
 weakness, or patience with culture. No stranger could attain 
 standing in their affection unless he proved his worth in the 
 gantlet of a physical contest with one of their leaders. 
 
 The enthusiasm of Offutt for Lincoln was boundless. He 
 declared that, "Abe knew more than any man in the United 
 States," that "he would some day be President of the United 
 States." All this did not disturb the boys of Clary Grove, 
 but when he bragged "that he could, at that present moment, 
 outrun, whip or throw down any man in Sangamon County," 
 then the pride of the gang was awakened. A bet of ten dol- 
 lars was made that Jack Armstrong, their leader, "was a 
 better man than Lincoln." The newcomer could not well 
 avoid a combat. In the presence of a host of sympathizers 
 of the Clary Grove leader, the fight began. _ Lincoln put 
 forth his strength and the crowd saw Armstrong's supremacy 
 endangered. In the heat of the fray, they forgot the rules 
 of fair fighting and broke through the ring. This angered 
 Lincoln, and with a giant's effort, he gathered their cham- 
 pion in his arms and shook him like a child. Lincoln's bear- 
 ing won the regard of Armstrong. He grasped the hand 
 of the victor, proclaiming in the presence of his followers 
 
 •History of Sangamon County, 211. 
 
44 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 that Lincoln was the best feUow that ever broke into the 
 settlement.^ A wonderful friendship resulted. "Whenever 
 Lincohi worked Jack 'did his loafing'; and, when Lincoln 
 was out of work, he spent days and weeks together at Jack's 
 cabin, where Jack's jolly wife, 'old Hannah,' stuffed him 
 with bread and honey, laughed at his ugliness, and loved 
 him for his goodness." * 
 
 This was an eventful occasion in the life of Lincoln. The 
 humble ask little of friendship and give much. A lover of 
 the law, in a single hour he became the idol of the lawless 
 element in New Salem. From that time, they submitted to 
 his guidance. Respect for his strength grew into admira- 
 tion for his learning. Slowly and surely, the latest addition 
 to the gang tempered its harshness. As a member, he 
 achieved what would have been impossible as a stranger. 
 He loved their virtues, and was gentle with their vices. So 
 it was that, though he did not drink or smoke with them, 
 they did not think the less of him. Lincoln did not laud 
 his freedom from failing, so they were patient as children 
 with him, even in his chiding. The source of his influence 
 was sympathy, and not ability; solidity of character, not 
 brilliancy; the simple virtues, not genius. 
 
 Lincoln was dowered with supreme physical strength. 
 Rumor claimed that he could lift a load of a thousand 
 pounds. This renown brought him further influence with 
 the rougher element. He was also skilled in manual labor. 
 A settler relates that he was the best hand at husking corn 
 on the stalk that he ever saw. He grew in the estimate of 
 the farmers around New Salem, in a community where agri- 
 culture was almost the sole source of wealth and prosperity. 
 
 Lincoln's boyish enthusiasm for athletic events was doubt- 
 less somewhat calmed with passing years. As other inter- 
 ' Lamon, 90-94. ' Ibid. 93-94. 
 
The Political Hero of New Salem 45 
 
 ests dawned on him he was persuaded to concern himself 
 with horse races and other games of chance more than his 
 judgment advised. An admirer states, "I got Lincoln, who 
 was at the race, to be a judge of the race, much against his 
 will, and after hard persuasion. Lincoln decided correctly ; 
 and the other judge said 'Lincoln is the fairest man I ever 
 had to deal with; if Lincoln is in this country when I die, I 
 want him to be my administrator, for he is the only man I 
 ever met with that was wholly and unselfishly honest.' " ® 
 
 The steamer TaMsman in 1832 made a trip to determine 
 the navigability of the Sangamon. Lincoln was selected as 
 helmsman from Beardstown to New Salem. The Talisman 
 on the return trip "stuck" at the mill dam. Equal to the 
 emergency, Lincoln "rigged up" an apparatus in the pres- 
 ence of the entire assembly of New Salem. All were sure 
 that he had saved the steamer. The trip was of vast worth 
 to Lincoln. Making several speeches and shaking hands with 
 every one, in this one week, he learned toi know more people 
 than he would have otherwise met in many months.^" 
 
 Lincoln was not only honest, but men trusted him. His 
 personality pervaded the community. So a biographer 
 states, "I once asked Rowan Hemdon what induced him to 
 make such liberal terms in dealing with Lincoln, whom he 
 had known for so short a time." "I believed that he was 
 thoroughly honest," was the reply, "and that impression 
 was so strong in me that I accepted his note in payment of 
 the whole. He had no money, but I would have advanced 
 him still more if he had asked for it." ^^ 
 
 Lincoln was not endowed with business skUl. The only 
 
 failure he ever made in life was as a merchant. He had no 
 
 capacity for business. His partner claimed that Lincoln 
 
 could wrap himself up in a great moral question; but that 
 
 "Lamon, 154, ^°Ross, 112. Laipon, 81-83. "Hemdon, 1, 98. 
 
46 Lmcolm, the Politician 
 
 in dealing with the financial and commercial interests of a 
 community or government he was as inadequate as he was 
 managing the economy of his own household, and that in 
 that respect alone he always regarded Mr. Lincoln as a 
 weak man.-*^^ 
 
 Lincoln's fairness vied with his sympathy in giving him a 
 peculiar influence over his fellowmen. He made peace a daily 
 guest of the rude crowd. His method was novel in New 
 Salem. A stranger, angered by the abuse of Jack Arm- 
 strong, struck him a blow that felled the giant. Lincoln 
 made himself the judge of the event. "Well, Jack," said he, 
 "what did you say to the man.?" Whereupon Jack repeated 
 the words. "WeU, Jack," replied Abe, "if you were a stran- 
 ger in a strange town, as this man is, and you were called a 
 
 d d Uar, &c., what would you do?" "Whip him, by 
 
 God!" "Then this man has done no more to you than you 
 would have done to him." "Well, Abe," said the honest 
 bruiser, "it's all right," and, taking his opponent by the 
 hand, forgave him heartily, and "treated." "Jack" always 
 treated his victim when he thought he had been too hard upon 
 him.18 
 
 Esteemed for his strength he was loved for his kindness. 
 None could resist the charm of his help to the poor and the 
 lowly, to the waifs of misfortune. Ab, a barefooted fellow, 
 was chopping wood on a wintry day to earn a dollar that he 
 might buy a pair of shoes. Lincoln, seeing his plight, seized 
 the axe, and soon the job was done. The story runs that 
 "Ab remembered this act with the liveliest gratitude. Once 
 he, being a cast-iron Democrat, determined to vote against 
 his party and for Mr. Lincoln ; but the friends, as he after- 
 wards said with tears in his eyes, made him drunk, and he 
 had voted against Abe." ^* Chandler, a poor settler, desir- 
 "Hemdon, 1, 16S-6. "Lamon, 94-95. "Ibid., 153-153. 
 
The Political Hero of New Salem 47 
 
 ing to enter a small tract of land that was coveted by a rich 
 neighbor, started for Springfield at the same time with his 
 rival and on the same mission. On the way Chandler met 
 Lincoln. Noticing that the horse of Chandler could not 
 stand a forced march, Lincoln gave him his horse — fresh and 
 full of grit. Between the two, a friendship sprang up which 
 all the political discords of twenty-five years never shattered 
 nor strained.^** 
 
 He was active in the first debating organization of New 
 Salem. Those who knew him for his strength were amazed 
 at the logic of his statements. The president of this society 
 said to his wife that there was more in Abe's head than wit 
 and fim; that he was already a fine speaker; that he only 
 lacked culture to enable him to reach the high destiny in 
 store for him. Thereafter the president displayed a deeper 
 interest in his progress. During one of the debates, Lincoln 
 dashed into a controversy on slavery, dilating on its malig- 
 nancy, deploring the dark and hopeless state of the poor 
 white man. With discernment he placed his hand on the 
 mischief, the creation of an aristocracy in a republic; the 
 resulting conflict between the doctrine of the fathers and 
 that of the children ; between the North and the South. His 
 discussion ranged over the consequences. He pictured the 
 grapple of opposing principles ; a land drenched with frater- 
 nal blood.^® A biographer is justified in contending that he 
 became as familiar for the goodness of his understanding as 
 for the muscular power of his body, and the unfailing humor 
 of his talk," 
 
 With the arrival of spring in 1832, the Black Hawk War 
 broke out. A company was organized in Sangamon County 
 for immediate service. The first fruit of Lincoln's popu- 
 larity with "the boys" was his decisive election as captain. 
 >» Herndon, 1, llfi-116. "Maltby, 33. "Lamon, 96. 
 
48 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 His opponent was a man of means. The manner of election 
 was democratic. Lincoln and his antagonist stood some 
 distance apart, while the men showed their preference by 
 taking their place near the man of their choice. The one 
 with the most adherents was selected for leadership. Lin- 
 coln made a very modest speech to his comrades, expressing 
 his gratification, and telling them how undeserved he thought 
 it was and promised that he would do the best he could to 
 prove himself worthy of their confidence.^^ 
 
 The captain needed the mastery of his temper to control 
 the lawless spirit of the volunteers. Accustomed to be 
 cajoled in politics, they were not ready for obedience even 
 in the shsidow of war. A story has been told that Capt. 
 Lincoln's first command was answered by being told to "go 
 to the devil." " 
 
 Lincoln was jealous of the welfare of his men. Thinking 
 them maltreated, he told an officer of the regular army that 
 they were volunteers under the regulations of Illinois, and 
 that resistance would thereafter be made to unjust orders; 
 that his men must be equal in all particulars, in rations, 
 arms and camps, to the regular army. The officer saw that 
 Lincoln was right, and thereafter they were treated like the 
 regular army. This efficient service in behalf of the volun- 
 teers drew officers and rank to him.^'' 
 
 During the march a peaceable Indian strayed into camp 
 and was at the mercy of the soldiers. This old man showed 
 a letter from General Cass testifying to his fidelity; the 
 enraged men pronounced it a forgery, and rushed upon him. 
 The captain stepped between. "Men, this must not be done. 
 He must not be shot and killed by us." The passion of the 
 mob was stayed by this exhibition of courage, not allayed. 
 One bolder than his fellows cried out, "This is cowardly on 
 " Lanjon, 101-102. " Stevens, 277. '» Lamon, 111. 
 
The Political Hero of New Salem 49 
 
 your part, Lincoln." The captain towered in lonely power. 
 "If any man thinks I am a coward let him test it." A new 
 voice was heard, "You are larger and heavier than we are." 
 "This you can easily guard against. Choose your weapons." 
 The word coward was never again coupled with his name. 
 "He has often declared himself, that his life and character 
 were both at stake, and would probably have been lost, had 
 he not at that supremely critical moment forgotten ,the 
 officer, and asserted the man. To have ordered the offenders 
 under arrest would have created a formidable mutiny ; to 
 have tried and punished them would have been impossible. 
 They could scarcely be called soldiers ; they were merely 
 armed citizens, with a nominal military organization. They 
 were but recently enlisted, and their term of service was 
 just about to expire. Haxl he preferred charges against 
 them, and offered to submit their differences to a court of 
 any sort, it would have been regarded as an act of personal 
 pusillanimity, and his efficiency would have been gone foi^ 
 ever." *^ 
 
 Lincoln and other volunteers arrived home just before the 
 State election. That New Salem should present Lincoln as 
 a candidate for the Legislature was the natural culmination 
 of his position in the community. His friends were heart 
 and soul in the cause. His record as a soldier increased the 
 interest of his companions and his associates in the election. 
 
 Lincoln allied himself with the Whig organization and 
 championed its principles. The popular party in Sangamon 
 County prided themselves on their devotion to Andrew Jack- 
 son. They derisively called their opponents "Federalists," 
 while the latter struggled "to shuffle off the odious name."^^ 
 Lamon argues that Lincoln was a nominal Jackson man on 
 the ground that he received the votes of all parties at New 
 
 "Lamon, 109. ^Hbid., 123. 
 
50 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 Salem, that he was the next year appointed postmaster by 
 General Jackson ; that the Democrats ran him for the Legis- 
 lature two years later, and that he was elected by a larger 
 majority than any other candidate.^^ These reasons are 
 without weight. Party lines at the time were not yet closely 
 drawn, and the supreme personal popularity of Lincoln suf- 
 fered little from the partisanship of that period. It is a 
 distinct mark of Lincoln's courage and his love of principle 
 that he devoted himself to the weaker party of lUinois. 
 Selfish ambition would have advised alliance with the domi- 
 nant organization. StiU, the better element in Sangamon 
 County was largely attracted to the Whig side. Lincoln 
 coming from the company of the Clary Grove boys, enthusi- 
 asts for Jackson, fearlessly decided his political relations. 
 National history might have been changed if Abraham Lin- 
 coln had consulted his companions, or temporary interest in 
 the selection of party affiliation. 
 
 After his return from the war, he threw himself into the 
 campaign of 1832. In his first speech, just as he started, 
 he saw that a friend was getting worsted in a fight near by. 
 Hurrying from the platform, he grasped the offender and 
 threw him some ten feet away. He then again mounted the 
 eminence and delivered the following address : "Gentlemen and 
 FeUow Citizens, I presume you all know who I am. I am 
 humble Abraham Lincoln. I have been solicited by many 
 friends to become a candidate for the Legislature. My 
 politics are short and sweet, like the old woman's dance. I 
 am in favor of a national bank. I am in favor of the internal 
 improvement system and a high protective tariff. These are 
 my sentiments and political principles. If elected, I shall 
 be thankful ; if not, it will be all the same." ^* 
 
 Making a speech under such conditions was a more thor- 
 
 "Lamon, 1S3-124. "Ibid., 13S-136. 
 
The Political Hero of New Salem 51 
 
 ough preparation for the activities of life than the training 
 of schools and even universities afford its votaries. This talk 
 is frank and bold. It early avows sentiments hostile to the 
 administration in power. It reveals the "Whiggism" of the 
 orator. It is a product of the times ; a speech to be expected 
 from a young speaker sensitive to his surroundings. 
 
 The testimony of Judge Logan shows that Lincoln had in 
 his youth a mature mind. "He was a very tall, gawky, and 
 rough looking fellow then; his pantaloons didn't meet his 
 shoes by six inches. But after he began speaking I became 
 very much interested in him. He made a very sensible speech. 
 His manner was very much the same as in after life; that 
 is, the same peculiar characteristics were apparent then, 
 though of course in after years he evinced more knowledge 
 and experience. But he had then the same novelty and the 
 same peculiarity in presenting his ideas. He had the same 
 individuality that he kept through all his life." ^^ 
 
 A companion allows us a view of Lincoln as a politician at 
 this period. Deferential to the rich, agreeable to the poor, 
 he was at home everywhere. He talked with the husband 
 and wife^'about their hopes in life, about the school and 
 the farm. The mother would hear with joy of her fine chil- 
 dren ; Willie was the image of father ; Sarah the most beau- 
 tiful, and looked like her mother. The distribution of nuts 
 and candy captured the children. During the preparation 
 for supper, he would walk over the farm with his host, and be 
 shown its worth. After the meal he woidd tell the boys and 
 girls stories of the trials of frontier life in Indiana. He thus 
 secured the esteem of all. 
 
 Early in this campaign, he issued a political circular. This 
 first written address of Lincoln should command attention. 
 It contains abundant evidence of close thinking, political 
 " Nicolay & Hay, 1, 108. 
 
62 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 sagacity and quaint utterance. This youthful appeal of 
 Lincoln is a sober production expressing thoughts that go 
 straight to the mind. The circular is conclusive that his 
 style and his thought were not altogether the fruition of his 
 maturity. 
 
 The address deals mainly with the navigability of the 
 Sangamon River. No theme was closer to the people in the 
 county. The arrival of the steamer Talisman had been 
 hailed with rapture. A newspaper thus gave utterance to 
 the common feeling: "We congratulate our farmers, our me- 
 chanics, our merchants and our professional men, for the 
 rich harvest in prospect, and we cordially invite emigrating 
 citizens from other states, whether rich or poor, if so they 
 are industrious and honest, to come thither and partake of 
 the good things of Sangamon." ^® The enthusiasm reached 
 the women, for they indulged in a grand ball to honor the 
 occasion.^^ The ardent championship of this vain proposal, 
 for it was never either eifected or seriously attempted, is 
 proof that Lincoln was a student of popularity. At this 
 period he proclaimed the doctrine that the representative of 
 the people should reflect the known views of his constitu- 
 ency.^^ 
 
 He next paid heed to the problem of usury. Money, al- 
 ways seeking the highest bidder, preyed on the industry of 
 the people. The common contract rate was about fifty per 
 cent. In many instances it rose to more than one hundred, 
 and unfortunates even paid two or three times as much.^^ 
 "It seems," Lincoln said, "as though we are never to have 
 an end to this baneful and corroding system, acting almost 
 as prejudicial to the general interests of the community as 
 a direct tax of several thousand dollars annually laid on 
 
 "'History of Sangamon County, S3. =» Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 7. 
 ^''Ibid. "»Lamon, 133. 
 
The Political Hero of New Salem 53 
 
 each, county for the benefit of a few individuals only, unless 
 there be a law made fixing the limits of usury. A law for 
 this purpose, I am of the opinion, may be made without 
 materially injuring any class of people. In cases of extreme 
 necessity, there could always be means found to cheat the 
 law ; while in other cases it would have its intended effect. I 
 would favor the passage of a law on this subject which might 
 not be easily evaded. Let it be such that the labor and diffi- 
 culty of evading it could only be justified in cases of great- 
 est necessity." ^** This rather remarkable admission is inter- 
 esting in view of his subsequent utterances on the sacred en- 
 forcement of all laws lest single relaxations prove an induce- 
 ment for other violation. ^"^ 
 
 A rather becoming modesty pervades the conclusion of 
 his address. He maintained that he might be wrong in 
 regard to any or all the subjects he discussed, declaring that 
 it was better only sometimes to be right than at all times to 
 be wrong, that he was ready to renounce his opinions as soon 
 as he discovered them to be erroneous. ^^ 
 
 "Every man," he observed, "is said to have his peculiar 
 ambition. Whether it be true or not, I can say for one that 
 I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of 
 my fellow-men, by rendering myself worthy of their es- 
 teem." ^* This illumines our limited knowledge of his attitude 
 toward an essential problem of life. Lincoln did not fling 
 away ambition. With patient footstep he restlessly followed 
 the vision of higher place along the road of helpful service 
 to his fellow-men. As he rose in influence, he never forsook 
 his early ideals ; that the measure of success was worthiness 
 and not station, that power was only respectable as it was 
 mercifully exercised. He believed that altruistic responsibil- 
 
 =» Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 3. ''Ibid., 4. 
 
 '^Ibid., 12. ''Ibid. 
 
64) LmcoVn the Politician 
 
 ity expanded with growing opportunities. His good deeds, 
 not his personal wants, grew with his growth. 
 
 He did not rest with an appeal to the reason of men. He 
 deftly put in motion the human chord in democracy that 
 vibrates to the poor and the struggling. He declared that 
 he was young and unknown; that he was born, and would 
 ever remain, in the most humble walks of life ; that he had no 
 wealthy or popular relations or friends to recommend him; 
 that his case was thrown exclusively upon the independent 
 voters of the county ; and that, if elected, they would have 
 conferred a favor upon him, for which he would be unremit- 
 ting in his labors to compensate.** 
 
 "But, if the good people," he concluded, "in their wisdom 
 shall see fit to keep me in the background, I have been too 
 familiar with disappointments to be very much chagrined." *' 
 Suffused with seeming humor and the pathos of half hidden 
 tragedy this averment brings us face to face with a life re- 
 luctantly asserting its individuality. It is hardly strange 
 that one who pronounces himself a companion of many dis- 
 appointments when only twenty-three years old should soon 
 get the name of "Old Abe." Sorrow had already left its 
 traces on his heart and brain, so that the appellation was 
 fitting. Still, he encountered uncomplainingly the exigencies 
 of human events. 
 
 "The Democrats of New Salem worked for Lincoln out of 
 their personal regard for him. That was the general un- 
 derstanding of the matter here at the time. In this he made 
 no concession of principle whatever. He was as stiff as a 
 man could be in his Whig doctrines. They did this for him 
 simply because he was popular — because he was Lincoln." ^® 
 Despite the efforts of his friends in New Salem, Lincoln was 
 
 »* Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 4. °° Nicolay & Hay, 1, 103-103. 
 
 "Ibid. 
 
The Political Hero of New Salem 65 
 
 yet too little known to be elected a representative of Sanga- 
 mon County, 
 
 One fact stands out boldly. Out of the total 300 votes 
 cast in the precinct of New Salem, where he was best known, 
 Lincoln received 277.*^ This did not pass without the scru- 
 tiny of those who studied the details of local politics. It 
 revealed an amazing popularity. It was a defeat that prac- 
 ticed politicians knew betokened future triumphs. It marked 
 the trail of a triumphing career ia the common course of 
 events. With ardent pride, he later said of this defeat, that 
 it was the only time he was ever beaten on a direct vote of 
 the people.^® 
 
 John Calhoun, a stalwart Democrat, a surveyor in Sanga- 
 mon County, and later infamous in Kansas history, needed 
 a deputy. He selected Lincoln, who thereupon retreated to a 
 farm of the schoolmaster Graham, where he studied a book 
 on surveying. Struggling with the task for six weeks, he 
 came forth prepared for his new work. He so mastered the 
 subject that he became renowned for the accuracy of his 
 measurements. "If I can be perfectly free," Lincoln is re- 
 ported to have said, "in my political action, I will take the 
 office, but if my sentiments or even expression of them is to 
 be abridged in any way I would not have it or any other 
 office."^^ This story is rather heroic. The work was of a 
 business character, and politics did not dictate every act of 
 Calhoun; he was willing to help a worthy ambitious young 
 man. On the other hand, the store of Lincoln had "winked 
 out"; he had nothing to do; he was eager to enter into an 
 honorable vocation without an inquisition into the motives 
 of Calhoun. It was a friendly act without any suggestion 
 of political obligation; a kindly service that cemented a 
 
 »' Nicolay & Hay, 1, 109. TarbeU, 1, 91. "Herndon, 1, 111. 
 "Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 641. 
 
56 Lincoln the Politician ' 
 
 friendship never severed, though they met as rivals on the 
 field of controversy. Even in the days when it was common 
 to blacken the name of Calhoun, Lincoln never joined in the 
 general hue and cry.*" 
 
 The acceptance of the office of postmaster at New Salem, 
 under the administration of General Jackson, had no par- 
 ticular bearing upon the political views of Abraham Lincoln. 
 The office was of so little monetary importance, that Lincoln' 
 carried its whole contents in his hat. He was the only man 
 of standing in the community that could afford to give it 
 abundant attention for the small pay. The office was doubt- 
 less freely tendered, the more freely as Lincoln was not of a 
 partisan temperament. It was of value to him. It enabled 
 him to be of service and thus gain the good will of many. 
 He readily made known the contents of letters to the ilHter- 
 ate. He also read aloud to the inhabitants gathered at the 
 store, aU the news from the recent papers.*'- 
 
 "The first time I ever saw Abe with a law-book in his hand," 
 says Squire Godbey, "he was sitting astride Jake Bale's wood 
 pile in New Salem. Says I, 'Abe, what are you studying.'" — 
 'Law,' says Abe. 'Great God Almighty !' responded I." *^ 
 Lincoln states in his campaign biography that one of his 
 fellow candidates, Major John T. Stuart, in his first canvass 
 encouraged him to study law, and that after election he bor- 
 rowed books of Stuart and went at it in good earnest. He 
 also states that he never studied with anybody.*^ 
 
 During his legal apprenticeship of three or four years, he 
 was at the call of every citizen. He wrote deeds, contracts 
 and other legal papers, and often appeared before the local 
 Justice of the Peace. All this service was free. He was 
 not forgotten by those he helped. Even when he moved to 
 
 "Lamon, 148. "Ibid., 140. 
 
 "Ibid. '= Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 642. 
 
The Political Hero of New Salem 57 
 
 Springfield, his New Salem friends found that his counsel was 
 ever at their disposal. His door was as open to poverty as 
 to riches. His study of the law widened the exercise of his 
 sympathy and his usefulness. Then, too, every satisfied 
 client was likely to become a political supporter. 
 
 It would have been amazing if Lincoln had come short of 
 being the hero of New Salem. He won "golden opinions" 
 from every class of men. His popularity had a substantial 
 basis. He rode into favor on the tide of service to his fellow- 
 men. Wholesale dispenser of laughter and sympathy, clerk 
 at a store of the village, athlete of renown, arbiter of fights 
 and games, pilot on a memorable journey, a debater of singu- 
 lar skill, an orator commanding attention, a sincere student, 
 a soldier of some distinction, popular postmaster, a skilled 
 surveyor, and later a lawyer and legislator— master in all 
 these relations, he proved his worth and value to the com- 
 munity. No man was more thoroughly gifted in the quali- 
 ties of manhood and character that lodge in the human heart. 
 He took up the harp of pioneer life and smote all "the vital 
 chords with might." Attuned to the lowly sentiments, to the 
 humble ways and the hardships of the people of the prairie, 
 his sympathies were as broad as the plains of Sangamon 
 County. The drunkard, the outcast, the children and the 
 women, the rowdy and the rufiian, the teacher, the store keep- 
 er, and politicians, all were his friends. He was odd in liking 
 so many of his kind, in the universality of his sympathies. 
 
 While Lincoln acted from a "full warm heart," policy 
 could not have dictated wiser conduct for a political career. 
 Could genius have planned the course, it would not have 
 added greater skill to its success. His very faults were the 
 highway to public esteem. Almost every man, each woman 
 and child in New Salem were gladdened by his honest hand 
 shake, the cheer of his voice and the charm of his character. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 PRACTICAL LEGISLATOE 
 
 rilHE fame of Lincoln as a law student and lawyer, as 
 -*• surveyor and postmaster, spread beyond New Salem, and 
 the qualities that had attracted local distinction continued 
 to find him admirers in a broader world. He steadily gained 
 headway with an ever growing audience. 
 
 Naturally, the Whigs gave him concerted support as one 
 of their candidates for the Legislature of 1834. In addition 
 he made large inroads into the Democratic party. Its lead- 
 ers sought to diminish the strength his name would add to 
 the Whig ticket by adopting him as one of their candidates.-* 
 The flattering proposal was not swallowed by Lincoln. He 
 realized that acceptance might involve estrangement from 
 his own party — no small matter for one who was ambitious 
 politically. He was wise enough to counsel with the leading 
 Whigs and his personal friends as to the prudence of such 
 an alliance. They advised an agreement. It is claimed by 
 Lamon that Lincoln and Dawson made a bargain with the 
 Democratic party that nearly demoralized the Whigs, decid- 
 edly weakening the vote of their favorite champion, Major 
 Stuart.* In fact, the alliance was more disastrous to the 
 enemy. The Whigs fared well, as it was, in the campaign; 
 and in a year or two, Sangamon County, a former strong- 
 hold of Jackson, passed into the control of the followers of 
 Clay. 
 'Lamon, 15S-1S6. 'Ibid., 1S6. 
 
 58 
 
Practical Legislator 59 
 
 We have no evidence as to whether Lincoln was less a par- 
 tisan in the campaign as the result of Democratic endorse- 
 ment. It was largely a "hand shaking" canvass, a man to 
 man combat. Affable to every one, Lincoln was master 
 in this mode of securing support. On one occasion he came 
 upon thirty men in a field. They declared they would not 
 vote for a man unless he could make a hand. "Well, boys," 
 said he, "if that is all, I am sure of your votes." Taking 
 hold of the cradle, he led the way aU the round with perfect 
 ease, and the boys were satisfied.* 
 
 "The next day he was speaking at Berlin. He went from 
 my house with Dr. Barnett, the man that had asked me who 
 this man Lincoln was. I told him that he was a candidate 
 for the Legislature. He laughed and said, 'Can't the party 
 raise no better material than that?' I said, 'Go to-morrow, 
 and hear aU before you pronounce judgment.' When he 
 came back, I said, 'Doctor, what say you now?' 'Why, sir,' 
 said he, 'he is a perfect take-in; he knows more than all of 
 them put together-.' "* 
 
 "Mr. J. R. Herndon, his friend and landlord, heard him 
 make several speeches about this time, and gives us the fol- 
 lowing extract from one, which seems to have made a special 
 impression upon the minds of his auditors : 'Fellow citizens, 
 I have been told that some of my opponents have said that 
 it was a disgrace to the County of Sangamon to have such 
 a looking man as I am stuck up for the Legislature. Now, 
 I thought this was a free country; that is the reason I ad- 
 dress you to-day. Had I known to the contrary, I should 
 not have consented to run; but I will say one thing, let the 
 shoe pinch where it may; when I have been a candidate be- 
 fore you five or six times, and have been beaten every time, 
 I will consider it a disgrace, and will be sure never to try it 
 
 'Lamon, 166. *Ibid. 
 
60 Lincoln, the Politician 
 
 again; but I am bound to beat that man if I am beat myself. 
 Mark that!'" 5 
 
 Voting at this period was viva voce and not by ballot. 
 One seeking the vote of Lincoln, pompously supported him. 
 Lincoln thereupon voted against that candidate. Those who 
 witnessed the action marveled much and approved his con- 
 duct." At this election, of the four successful candidates 
 for Sangamon County, Dawson received 1390 votes ; Lincoln 
 followed with 1376. Stuart, the popular Whig, had nearly 
 200 votes less.'' These figures speak with eloquence of the 
 advance made by the surveyor in two years. 
 
 "After he was elected to the Legislature," says Mr. Smoot, 
 "he came to my house one day in company with Hugh 
 Armstrong. Says he, 'Smoot, did you vote for me."" I told 
 him I did. 'Well,' says he, 'you must loan me money to buy 
 suitable clothing, for I want to make a decent appear- 
 ance in the Legislature.' I then loaned him two hundred 
 dollars, which he returned to me according to promise." * 
 
 Compelled by events to be his own teacher, Lincoln learned 
 to depend on his own resources. Reared in a rough school, 
 accustomed to be a leader among his intellectual inferiors, 
 still, in all humility, he looked to his legislative experience 
 with joy. Deprecating his kind of education, open minded 
 he anxiously awaited the privilege of associating with many 
 of the leading men of the State. There gathered at the Capi- 
 tol its best blood, the choice sons of Illinois, the representa- 
 tives of the ambition, the intelligence, and the popularity of 
 the State. "The society of Vandaha and the people attracted 
 thither by the Legislature made it, for that early day, a gay 
 place indeed. Compared to Lincoln's former environments, it 
 had no lack of refinement and polish. That he absorbed a 
 
 "Lamon, 127. ^Herndon, 1, 118. 
 
 ' Nicolay & Hay, 1, 67. » Lamon, 157. 
 
Practical Legislator 61 
 
 good deal of this by contact with the men and women who 
 surrounded him, there can be no doubt. "The 'drift of senti- 
 ment and the sweep of civiKzation' at this time can best be 
 measured by the character of the legislation. There were 
 acts to incorporate banks, turnpikes, bridges, insurance com- 
 panies, towns, railroads and female academies. The vigor 
 and enterprise of New England fusing with the illusory pres- 
 tige of Kentucky and Virginia was fast forming a new civili- 
 zation to spread over the prairies." ® 
 
 Lincoln with modesty remained a witness of the doings 
 of the Legislature. Content to wait for the fitting time to 
 make an impression, he did not rush into debate. It was a 
 scouting period. Scanty of talk, rich in thought, ever on 
 the lookout for information, steady in attendance, studying 
 parliamentary procedure, he gained a name for solidity, far 
 better than brilliancy or oratory for real influence in a 
 legislative body.-*^" 
 
 Lincoln forgot the prudence expressed in his first circular, 
 for he jmnped into the movement that hurried along the in- 
 ternal improvement poUcy. His practice was behind his 
 theory in matters of finance. 
 
 Lincoln made little stir in this session, he took no glorious 
 part in its deliberations, and made no record for independ- 
 ence. He usually voted with the members of his party. He 
 became grounded in the finesse of law making, an art whose 
 acquirement and importance are seldom considered. For 
 method as well as merit is an element in the making of the 
 statute. Still, in measuring himself with his associates, he 
 g'ained confidence and found that he was not far behind in 
 the training for political prosperity. While he would not 
 deceive, he learned how not to be deceived. He discovered 
 that men in the Senate are not of a far different order from 
 
 "Herndon, 1, 156. ^'Ihid. 
 
62 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 those in the field ; that culture often hides a mean soul ; that 
 polish is often the tinsel of education. He remained the 
 same Lincoln, longing for the reality of the old life without 
 pretense. He was content to return to his admirers in Clary 
 Grove, with no exaltation or pride in his new distinction as 
 legislator. 
 
 A special session of the Legislature was held in December, 
 1835. One of the evils of the time was the eagerness of 
 representatives for public offices of a more permanent char- 
 acter than the uncertain tenure of popular election. New 
 offices were constantly created. Lincoln took a bold stand on 
 the danger. He voted with the majority that the election 
 of a member of the Legislature to a State office was corrupt- 
 ing. He voted with the minority to apply the principle also 
 to relatives and connections of the members. Lincoln re- 
 mained a persistent supporter of internal improvements. 
 Some of the advocates shifted their votes from time to time, 
 but he remained constant in his devotion. 
 
 The influence of Lincoln extended over a widening terri- 
 tory and his fame spread with new opportunities. After 
 two scant years of public life, he was considered among the 
 leaders of his party. No longer waiting on the advice of 
 friends, he offered himself as a candidate for renomination. 
 He initiated his campaign with the following political fulmi- 
 nation : 
 
 "To the Editor of the 'Journal' : In your paper of last 
 Saturday I see a communication, over the signature of 'Many 
 Voters,' in which the candidates who are announced in the 
 Journal are called upon to 'show their hands.' Agreed, here's 
 mine. 
 
 "I go for all sharing the privileges of the government 
 who assist in bearing its burdens. Consequently, I go for 
 admitting all whites to the right of suffrage who pay taxes 
 
Practical Legislator 63 
 
 or bear arms (by no means excluding females). 
 
 "If elected, I shall consider the whole people of Sangamon 
 my constituents, as well those that oppose as those that 
 support me. 
 
 "While acting as their representative, I shall be governed 
 by their wiU on all subjects upon which I have the means 
 of knowing what their wiU is; and upon all others I shall 
 do what my judgment teaches me wiU best advance their in- 
 terests. Whether elected or not, I go for distributing the 
 proceeds of the sales of the public lands to the several States, 
 to enable our State, in common with others, to dig canals 
 and construct railroads without borrowing money and pay- 
 ing the interest on it. 
 
 "If alive on the first Monday in November, I shall vote for 
 Hugh L. White for President. Very respectfully. A. Lin- 
 coln." " 
 
 In commanding contrast to his first circular, this fairly 
 seems to crowd out every dispensable expression. Contact 
 with the pioneer had taught him to court the power of 
 brevity, so this announcement is more like a creed than an 
 address. Homely and curt in character, it suited the time. 
 It was the best way to the heart of the average voter. De- 
 mocracy found in it its own image. Lincoln leans more than 
 a little to the popular. He advocates the distribution of 
 the public lands money for the building of canals and rail- 
 roads without borrowing money, and openly declares his 
 subserviency in being governed by the public will on all ques- 
 tions. 
 
 Much attention has been dedicated to the suggestion advo- 
 cating an equality of suffrage. This expression loses con- 
 siderable significance considering its random character. 
 There is little subsequent evidence of his belief in female suf- 
 " Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 7. 
 
64 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 frage as a wise and just political measure. Still, it may be 
 fairly assumed that the untrammeled mind of Lincoln, with 
 a sure faith in universal suffrage, followed the cherished doc- 
 trine to the end. "All such questions," he observed one day 
 to Herndon as they were discussing temperance in his office, 
 "must first find lodgment with the most enlightened souls 
 who stamp them with their approval. In God's own time 
 they wiU be organized into law and thus woven into the 
 fabric of our institutions." ^^ 
 
 The request of candidates to "show their hands" was of 
 special significance at this time. It was a transitional pe- 
 riod, the parting of ways between the "whole hog Jackson- 
 ite" and the moderate Democrat. There was no room for 
 lukewarm adherents. It was a period of positive alliance. 
 Diplomacy was no longer a factor. The center of gravity 
 shifted from local to national affairs. Contests became 
 partisan controversies on general issues. 
 
 The campaign of 1836 is the low ebb of the old personal 
 campaign, where every man fought his own battle on his 
 own worth, where the people judged every candidate on 
 individual merit. This is the last time seekers of office are 
 asked "to show their hand." From that time, political affilia- 
 tion and not personal worth began to be the marrow of a 
 contest. Partisan devotion submerged personal fealty. The 
 people involuntarily created parties, and straightway be- 
 came slaves of their own handiwork, selling independence for 
 party loyalty. Partisanship held them in its clutches, and 
 they hardly dared to loosen its embrace. The man who 
 ventured to exercise his judgment was charged with being 
 a weakling, or opened himself to the impious accusation in a 
 democratic community that he regarded himself greater than 
 his party. The vision of the average worker in the ranks 
 "Herndon, 1, 158. 
 
Practical Legislator 65 
 
 became near sighted, and the bias of his judgment knew no 
 limit. Party spirit set free an element of discord among 
 men that sundered friendships, wrought enmities between 
 brothers, and banished reason. From that time even Lin- 
 coln ceased to gather any considerable support from his 
 political antagonists. 
 
 Lincoln was wise enough to note the tendency of these 
 events. Wasting no regrets over the new conditions, he 
 bound himself to the party of his choice without equivoca- 
 tion. Fairly but energetically maintaining the sanctity of 
 the Whig principles, he became a fearless and feared cham- 
 pion of its doctrine. He displayed keen political wisdom 
 in this conduct. Partisanship seldom rewards the laggard 
 in the day of prosperity. 
 
 That Lincoln entered with zeal into this campaign and 
 indulged in the fashion of the day in the issuance of handbills 
 of a flaring character, the following is significant evidence : 
 
 "TO THE PEOPLE OF SANGAMON COUNTY— Fel- 
 low Citizens : I have this moment been shown a handbill 
 signed 'Truth Teller' in which my name is done up in large 
 capitals. No one can doubt the object of this attack at 
 this late hour. An eflPort is now made to show that John T. 
 Stuart and myself opposed the passage of the bill by which 
 the Wiggins loan was paid. The handbill says— the only 
 vote taken on the bill when the yeas and nays were taken 
 was upon engrossing the bill for a third reading. 'That's a 
 lie !' Let the reader refer to pages 124, 125 and 126 of the 
 Journal and he will see that the yeas and nays were taken 
 twice upon the bill after the vote referred to by this lying 
 Truth Teller, and he will also see that my course toward 
 the bill was anything but unfriendly. It is impossible to 
 make a lengthy answer at this late hour. All I have to say 
 is that the author is a liar and a scov/ndrel, and that if he 
 
66 Lmcoh, the Politician 
 
 will avow the authorship to me, I promise to give his pro- 
 boscis a good wringing. A. Lincoln.' 
 
 One of the sure signs of the spirit of increasing partisan- 
 ship was the virulence and bitterness of political gatherings. 
 Contests between leaders became frequent. Debates were 
 had on the prairie that equaled in earnestness senatorial 
 controversies. There was all the high tension of the gladi- 
 atorial combat intensified by the championship of something 
 more than a personal issue— the stake of party principles. 
 We are informed that on one occasion a Whig candidate, 
 at the top of his voice, branded the statement of a Demo- 
 cratic opponent, as false. As passion ran high, a duel 
 seemed a likely result. Lincoln followed on the program. 
 With his marvelous fairness he discussed the subject gently 
 and serenely so as to satisfy friend and foe. Judicial, 
 though earnest in advocacy, he fully calmed the tumult.'^* 
 
 It was doubtless at this time that the following incident 
 deeply disturbed his calmness. Something had displeased 
 the "wild boys" who had been his supporters from the first. 
 Perhaps a rumor that he afi^ected strange ways, or voted 
 for some measure not to their liking, caused the trouble. 
 The leader at once gave the call and they gathered. Sel- 
 dom revealing himself, he then gave freedom to his emotion. 
 He told them that he never would forget those who had 
 given him his start, the men who stood by him, who had 
 made him what he was and all that he hoped to be. He 
 bade them if they still cherished unkindness, if they stiU 
 held him guilty, to tear him to pieces limb by limb. The 
 generous hearts of the frontiersmen, overcome by this un- 
 wonted display of feeling, lost all resentment, and the leader 
 regained his prestige thus rudely shaken.-"-^ 
 
 " Hand bill in possession of Dr. Jayne, Springfield, 111. 
 " Lamon, 188. « Oldroyd, 557. 
 
Practical Legislator 67 
 
 Early in the campaign Lincoln spoke at Springfield. Some 
 of the Clary Grove boys and other admirers followed him, 
 confident that he would distinguish himself at his first ap- 
 pearance. They were not slow in claiming that he would 
 make a better stump speech than any one at the county seat. 
 He splendidly defended the principles of his party, and pro- 
 duced a profound impression. Among his auditors was a 
 Mr. Forquer, who had the finest house in Springfield, lately 
 protected by the only lightning rod in that locality. For- 
 merly a Whig, his apostasy was rewarded with a lucrative 
 office. He felt the sting of Lincoln's strong presentation of 
 the principles of the Whig party. The recent recruit to the 
 Democratic organization replied by a speech able and appar- 
 ently fair, stiU skillfully mingled with sarcasm. Scorn and 
 satire were freeely used, so that the anxiety of the friends 
 of Lincoln was awakened. Speed relates that his reply to 
 Forquer was characterized by great dignity and force ; that 
 he would never forget the conclusion of that speech. "Mr. 
 Forquer commenced his speech," said Lincoln, "by announc- 
 ing that the young man would have to be taken down. It 
 is for you, fellow citizens, not for me to say whether I am 
 up or down.^ The gentleman has seen fit to allude to my 
 being a young man ; but he forgets that I am older in years 
 than I am in tricks and trades of politicians. I desire to 
 live, and I desire place and distinction; but I would rather 
 die now than, like the gentleman, live to see the day that I 
 would change my politics for an ofiice, worth three thousand 
 dollars a year, and then feel compelled to erect a lightning 
 rod to protect a guilty conscience from an off'ended God." ^^ 
 
 Lincoln showed supreme skill in striking a chord in the 
 pioneer heart. He knew the thoughts of the plain people, 
 knew that they hated every pretension of manner. For many 
 "Herndon, 1, 171-3. 
 
68 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 years whenever Forquer rose to speak he was pointed at as 
 the man who put a lightning rod on his house to ward off the 
 vengeance of the Supreme Power.^'^ Lincoln was not averse 
 to appeal to other sentiments of the people. At a gathering 
 of farmers in joint debate with his rival, he said: "I am 
 too poor to own a carriage, but my friend has generously 
 invited me to ride with him. I want you to vote for me if 
 you will; but if not then vote for my opponent, for he is 
 a fine man." ** 
 
 In this campaign, Lincoln rose to eminence as a political 
 speaker. From that time he was one of the stalwart Whigs 
 selected by common consent for leadership in the contests 
 with their strong disciplined and victorious opponents. Lin- 
 coln's services were given popular endorsement. He led all 
 the rest of his able associates.-^* 
 
 In the Legislature of 1836 Lincoln played the part of a 
 politician. The external side of his career is described by 
 Lamon, who declares that "he was the smartest parUa- 
 mentarian and the cunningest 'log roller.' " ^'^ 
 
 The State was now aglow with enthusiasm over the pros- 
 pects of the policy of internal improvements. A few days 
 before the Legislature assembled, a mass convention in San- 
 gamon County instructed their members to vote for the 
 system of internal improvements.^^ This was one of the 
 many manifestations of the public sentiment. 
 
 Lincoln followed the common political ambition of his 
 time. He became an aggressive champion of the public im- 
 provement policy. He told his friend Speed, in confidence, 
 that he aimed at the great distinction of being called the 
 "De Witt Clinton of lUinois." With many other public men 
 of that day he ventured the hope of rivalling the fame of 
 
 "Herndon, 1, 173. "Hemdon, 1, 163. '■'^Ibid., 196. 
 
 "Tarbell, 1, 130. "Lamon, 195. 
 
Practical Legislator 69 
 
 the builder of the Erie Canal. ^^ A leading member of the 
 finance committee, he was foremost in urging the popular 
 measures by which everybody was to be enriched by some 
 stroke of statesmanship, some mysterious manipulation in 
 finance. The state loans were to construct railroads, the 
 railroads were to build cities ; the cities in turn were to 
 create a demand for farms ; capital rushing for investment 
 was to follow, and lands were steadily to rise in value. The 
 tax on real estate was to go into a sinking fund, and thus 
 shuflle oflF local assessment. In this fine way taxation was 
 to be banished.^^ With untiring step many followed the 
 vision. Politics as well as fancy every now and then has its 
 lamp of Aladdin. 
 
 No one voted more persistently for local and State im- 
 provements, relief acts and the incorporation of organiza- 
 tions, than Abraham Lincoln. This was not done in dark- 
 ness. The solemn protest of some sane members was put 
 forth against the prevailing foUy that held its repeated 
 jubilations in the Legislature. They commented on the 
 madness of the immense schemes, on the multitude of officers 
 with ample salaries. They dimly prophesied shadow and 
 gloom to the hopes of the enamored majority.^* Another 
 resolution advising consultation with the people before bor- 
 rowing money for all the contemplated enterprises received 
 only nine votes. Lincoln was not among that eminent mi- 
 nority.*" 
 
 Governor Ford makes the following stinging comment on 
 those who put into operation the internal improvement pol- 
 icy: They have been excused upon the ground that they 
 were instructed to vote as they did, and that they had every 
 right to believe that they were truly reflecting the will of their 
 
 " Benton, 1, 22. Lamon, p. 19S. ^ House Journal of 1836-37, 680. 
 ^Lamon, 197. '^ Ibid., 367. 
 
70 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 constituents. But members ought to resign such small offices, 
 to sacrifice a petty ambition, rather than become the willing 
 tools of a deluded people, to bring so much calamity upon 
 the country.^* 
 
 The chief task of Lincoln and the other members of the 
 Sangamon delegation in the tenth biennial session of the 
 Legislature was to secure the removal of the capital from 
 Vandalia to Springfield. This called forth his utmost inge- 
 nuity. Many rivals sought the prize. It was no mean 
 problem to grasp victory from a crowd of contending com- 
 munities. Lincoln set himself resolutely to the practical 
 problem. It demanded patience, skill and every art of the 
 legislator. Twice its enemies laid the Springfield bill on 
 the table. He gathered his despairing associates for counsel 
 in the hour of seeming defeat. The biU was squeezed 
 through at the last moment. 
 
 Governor Ford and other Democrats seriously believed, 
 and long repeated the charge, that the "Long Nine," as the 
 Sangamon delegation was called, "log rolled the removal" 
 through the Legislature. Nicolay and Hay, however, con- 
 tend that the removal was due to the adroit management of 
 Mr. Lincoln — first in inducing all the rival claimants to unite 
 in a vote to move the capital from Vandalia, and then carry- 
 ing a direct vote for Springfield through the joint conven- 
 tion by assistance of the Southern counties. They cite as 
 evidence of this personal influence of Lincoln the statement 
 of a legislator: "He made Webb and me vote for the re- 
 moval, though we belonged to the southern part of the state. 
 We defended our vote before our constituents by saying 
 that necessity would ultimately force the seat of government 
 to a central position. But in reality we gave the vote to 
 Lincoln because we liked him, because we wanted to oblige 
 "Ford, 196. 
 
Practical Legislator Tl 
 
 our friend, and because we recognized him as our leader." ^'' 
 This statement is not suflBcient to meet the contention that 
 the removal was cunningly attained. The personal power 
 of Lincoln with some legislators may have been an availing 
 factor. Still the majority of the lawmakers were men 
 moved mainly by material considerations. It is not reason- 
 able to assume that in voting on a vital and important 
 proposition they would not highly consider its effect on their 
 own measures ; that they would enable the Sangamon delega- 
 tion to return triumphantly to their constituents without 
 some understanding of reciprocity. That Lincoln reluc- 
 tantly or otherwise made some peculiar alliances or en- 
 gaged in some questionable strategy may be reasonably 
 deduced from the admission : "I also tacked a provision onto 
 a fellow's biU, to authorize the relocation of the road from 
 Salem down to your town, but I am not certain whether or 
 not the bill passed. Neither do I suppose I can ascertain 
 before the law will be published — if it is a law."^^ 
 
 Still there is stirring evidence that Lincoln would not 
 barter his principles even for the success of his most cher- 
 ished purpose in that session. An effort was made to unite 
 the friends of Springfield with those of a measure Lincoln 
 refused to sanction. Every argument was used to influence 
 Mr. Lincoln to yield his objections, and thus secure the 
 removal of the capital to his own city, but without effect. 
 Finally after midnight, when the candles were burning low 
 in the room, he rose amid the silence and solemnity which 
 prevailed, and made an eloquent and powerful speech, say- 
 ing in conclusion: "You may bum my body to ashes, and 
 scatter them to the winds of heaven; you may drag my soul 
 down to the regions of darkness and despair to be tormented 
 forever; but you will never get me to support a measure 
 " Nicolajr & Hay, 138-139. " TarbeU, 1, 13T. 
 
72 Lmcoht the Politician 
 
 which I believe to be wrong, although by doing so I may 
 accomplish that which I believe to be right." * 
 
 In matters involving method and detail, he used every art 
 of the politician. Still when principle was at stake, he 
 would not bow to expediency. With rare precision, he 
 keenly followed the hazy border land between principle and 
 policy. In securing results, he surpassed common politi- 
 cians ; in fealty to integrity he rivalled the patriot. 
 
 The year 1837 was a crucial period in many respects for 
 Lincoln. He had steadily moved forward until he became 
 the leader of New Salem. He had shown superior skill 
 as a local politician. But his future as lawyer and politi- 
 cian in New Salem was already bounded. With his success 
 as a legislator and the applause of larger communities, his 
 longing for fame and power grew stronger. With no keen 
 regret, he sundered the ties that bound him to Clary Grove 
 where his word was law, to enter upon a life of more varied 
 and extensive character. His entrance into Springfield was 
 as humble as that into New Salem. Speed relates that Lin- 
 coln came into his store, set his saddle bags on the counter, 
 and inquired what a single bedstead would cost. Being told 
 that the amount complete was seventeen dollars, Lincoln 
 said that it was cheap enough, but cheap as it was, he did 
 not have the money to pay, but if he would be trusted 
 until Christmas, and his experiment there as a lawyer was 
 a success, he would pay then, if he failed he would probably 
 never pay at all. The tone of his voice was so full of pathos 
 that Speed felt for him, and he thought that he never saw 
 so gloomy and melancholy a face in his life, and he then 
 told Lincoln that he had a very large room and a very large 
 double bed in it, which he was welcome to share with him. 
 Without saying a word Lincoln took his saddle bags on 
 * TarbeU, 1, 138-9. 
 
Practical Legislator 73 
 
 his arm, went upstairs, set them down on the floor, came 
 down again, and with a face beaming with pleasure and 
 smiles, exclaimed, "Well, Speed, I'm moved." ^* 
 
 In the special session of 1837, the accusation that the 
 removal of the capital was born of "bargain and corrup- 
 tion," challenged the integrity of the Sangamon delegation. 
 A prominent Democrat, General Ewing, thus taunted them : 
 "The arrogance of Springfield, its presumption in claiming 
 the seat of government is not to be endured; the law has 
 been passed by chicanery and trickery ; the Springfield dele- 
 gation has sold out to the internal improvement men, and 
 has promised its support to every measure that would gain 
 a vote to the law removing the seat of government.*" That 
 Lincoln hurried to the defence of the onslaught of an emi- 
 nent opponent, is another indication that he was rapidly 
 becoming chief of his fellows. He here displayed the same 
 kind of talent that won him applause from audiences on 
 the prairie.*^ General Linder states that then, for the first 
 time, he began to conceive a very high opinion of the talents 
 and personal courage of Abraham Lincoln. The interven- 
 tion of friends alone averted a duel between Lincoln and 
 Ewing.s2 
 
 During this session, a resolution was introduced by Mr. 
 
 Linder for a legislative inquiry into the affairs of the State 
 
 Bank, generally known to be in a hazardous condition. The 
 
 introducer ventured to support his resolution with a tone 
 
 of superiority that invited chastisement. Again Lincoln 
 
 bore the brunt of the defence, railing at Mr. Linder about his 
 
 pretensions, saying that in one faculty at least, there could 
 
 be no dispute of the gentleman's superiority over him and 
 
 most other men, and that was, the faculty of so entangling 
 
 "Herndon, 1, 176. ='Lamon, 201. 
 
 '" Tarbell, 1, 139. " TarbeU, 1, 139, 
 
74 Lincoln, the Politician 
 
 a subject that neither himself, nor any other man, could 
 find head or tail to it.^* 
 
 In speaking of the resolution itself, Lincoln indulged in 
 these typical expressions: It is an old maxim and a very 
 sound one, that he who dances should always pay the fiddler. 
 I am decidedly opposed to the people's money being used 
 to pay the fiddler. These capitalists generally act harmoni- 
 ously and in concert to fleece the people ; and now that they 
 have got into a quarrel with themselves, we are called upon 
 to appropriate the people's money to settle the quarrel.^* 
 The people know their rights and they are never slow to 
 assert and maintain them when they are invaded. I make 
 the assertion boldly, and without fear of contradiction, that 
 no man who does not hold an office, or does not aspire to 
 one, has ever found any fault with the bank. No, sir, it is 
 the politician who is first to sound the alarm (which by 
 the way, is a false one.) It is he who by these unholy 
 means, is endeavoring to blow up a storm that he made ride 
 upon and direct. Mr. Chairman, this work is exclusively 
 the work of politicians — a set of men who have interests aside 
 from the interests of the people, and who, to say the most 
 of them, are, taken as a mass, at least one step removed 
 from honest men. I say this with the greater freedom, be- 
 cause, being a politician myself, none can regard it as per- 
 sonal.'® 
 
 The speech was published in the Sangamon Journal with 
 the editorial comment that Lincoln's remarks on Linder's 
 bank resolution were quite to the point ; that he carried the 
 true Kentucky rifle, and when he fired he seldom failed send- 
 ing the shot home.** 
 
 Lincoln's bold words about the politician, modified by his 
 
 »=Tarbell, 1, 140, 141, "Ihid., 142. 
 
 '*lbid., 141. ''Ibid. 
 
Practical Legislator 75 
 
 quaint admission, allow us a glimpse of the inner man. It 
 took no mean courage to make so unpalatable an assertion. 
 Still tempering his speech with his rare kind of diplomacy, 
 he did not suffer in the estimation of his associates, those 
 whose esteem he valued. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 PROTESTER AND PATRIOT 
 
 ^T^HE year 1837 is the culmination of the first period of 
 ■*■ abolitionism in Illinois. Until then, abolitionism was a 
 hated eastern conception. Despite opposition, and somewhat 
 feeding on it, it slowly filtered its way through an almost 
 impervious public sentiment. A small band encountered 
 with heroism, the continuous martyrdom that waits on the 
 protagonist. Few in numbers, zealous in their gospel, su- 
 perbly confident in the rectitude of their counsel they 
 aroused the spirit of retaliation. Their excessive zeal tran- 
 scended all other obligations, rendering them indifferent, 
 if not hostile, to the constitutional compact. They stimu- 
 lated and encouraged to life a corresponding bitterness 
 among the multitude. 
 
 It was in those days a mortal offence to caU a man an 
 abolitionist. The popular mind scarcely distinguished be- 
 tween men who stole horses and men who freed negroes. 
 They regarded anti-slavery men as robbers, disturbers of 
 the peace, the instigators of arson, and enemies to the Union 
 which gave us as a people liberty and strength. "In testi- 
 mony of these sentiments, Illinois enacted a 'black code' of 
 most preposterous and cruel severity, — a code that would 
 have been a disgrace to a slave state, and was simply an 
 infamy in a free one. It borrowed the provisions of the 
 most revolting laws known among men, for exiling, selling, 
 beating, bedeviling, and torturing negroes, whether bond or 
 
 76 
 
Protester ami Patriot 77 
 
 free." ^ 
 
 That the opposition of slavery was bothering the people 
 of Sangamon County, is evident from the following resolu- 
 tion adopted at Springfield in 1837 at a public meeting, over 
 which Judge Brown presided : 
 
 "Resolved that in the opinion of this meeting the doc- 
 trine of the immediate emancipation of the slaves of this 
 country (although promulgated by those who profess to be 
 Christians) is at variance with Christianity, and its tendency 
 is to breed contention, broil and mobs; and the leaders of 
 those calling themselves Abolitionists are designing ambitious 
 men and dangerous members of society and should be 
 shunned by all good citizens." ^ 
 
 IlKnois would scarcely brook unchained utterance on the 
 darkest question of aU the ages, — the "right of one man to 
 eat the bread which another earned." A kind of stifling 
 ostracism awaited the lowly or the towering disciple who 
 spoke in the language of Jefferson, of the fear awakening 
 problem. Every generation has its remorseless method of 
 crucifying its heroes of speech and deed. Business and 
 political interests, social influences and religious aiEHations 
 concerted in the crushing of abolitionism. Success might 
 have crowned their effort had prudence been their com- 
 panion, but they mobbed, maltreated, and even murdered the 
 champions of the new movement. Had madness confounded 
 them, they could not have acted more unwisely. This, more 
 than all the agitation of abolition leaders, quickened the 
 moral vitality of the people. There were many white men 
 who cared little for the slave, but much for the gospel of 
 free speech as old as the Anglo-Saxon race. This fatal 
 policy of brute force finally dictated the doom of a power 
 that long mocked all opposition, that dreamed of an im- 
 
 'Lamon, 206. 'History of Sangamon C!ounty, 3S1. 
 
78 Lmcolm the Politician 
 
 perial government grander than the vision which "Stout 
 Cortez" beheld when he first stared at the Pacific, "silent 
 on a peak in Darien." 
 
 The motives that prompted public sentiment in Illinois to 
 throttle discussion on the slave question, almost baffle under- 
 standing. The Lovejoys attacked no vested interest in the 
 State, menaced no substantial rights of person or property. 
 While the Southern States busied themselves with the doc- 
 trine that it was the privilege of each State to demean itself 
 as it wished, subject only to the Constitution, as it inter- 
 preted that instrument, there was small occasion for a North- 
 ern commonwealth to curb its own citizens, to sacrifice 
 ancient and cherished rights for the pleasure of an exacting 
 foreign institution. 
 
 The anti-slavery forces with keenness of vision saw the 
 weak point of the enemy's attack, so they ranged themselves 
 round the banner, proclaiming the doctrine of free speech 
 and the sacredness of an unshackled press. Nothing more 
 inherently reveals the weakness of the advocates of slavery, 
 than their morbid fear of free and frank inquiry into its 
 policy and wisdom. In the face of an institution demanding 
 mob power, and the sacrifice of priceless principles, the 
 Abolitionists performed a wholesome pubhc service in con- 
 tending that then more than ever liberty of discussion should 
 be protected, maintained and hallowed. 
 
 Suddenly, in the same year up starts Lincoln the states- 
 man, Lincoln the politician sinks. He possessed the rare 
 gift of concealing his most cherished opinions until the time 
 was ripe for expression. He was aware of the folly of mouth- 
 ing truths when no good could come therefrom. In this, 
 he was a politician. Still when the occasion called for an 
 act of fortitude, when the solemnity of the hour summoned 
 heroic utterance, as from "heights afar," the sound of his 
 
Protester and Patriot 79 
 
 voice was heard and the thrill of his words awakened. In 
 this, he was a supreme statesman. 
 
 Strange medley of the ideal and the practical, — at times 
 he appeared the very woof of the visionary, and then stood 
 forth as a petty politician. He was a mystery and a won- 
 der to his contemporaries. They never beheld such a man ; 
 they had no standard by which to measure him. First, amaz- 
 ing some by the minuteness of liis strategy, he would then 
 startle others by a bold proclamation of immortal truth. 
 There was something elusive in the manifoldness of his na- 
 ture. The world with childlike simplicity looks for uniform- 
 ity of action, for consistency. So it was that in later years 
 time-servers called Lincoln the apostle of radicalism, and 
 radicals named him the slave of conservatism. 
 
 The legislature instead of branding the black crime of 
 the murder of Lovejoy in 1837, hastened to pass resolutions 
 of sympathy with slavery. No external inducement guided 
 Lincoln to fly in the face of the sentiment of the Legislature, 
 the State and Nation in regard to Abolitionism. His conduct 
 mystifies unless the abiding impress of the incident at New 
 Orleans is fuUy measured. It was no idle vaunt that stirred 
 him to the declaration that if he ever had the chance he 
 would strike a blow for the enslaved. The testing time was 
 at hand. His oath was "registered in Heaven." It was 
 necessary to join the majority in their defence of slavery, or 
 strike a lonely path in behalf of the enslaved. His soul faced 
 that crisis. No longer helpless, he was widely known, and 
 was distinguished for his services as a political leader. High 
 in position, his act and word carrying weight, he proclaimed 
 his protest. The chance being at hand, he struck slavery a 
 stinging blow. The silence of nearly a decade was broken 
 in words that shall echo for evermore. Only one other rep- 
 resentative, Dan Stone, of Sangamon County, dared to sign 
 
80 Lmcol/n the Politician 
 
 the following signal dissent that will save him from an obliv- 
 ion that has already enshrouded those who voted for the suc- 
 cessful resolutions: 
 
 "They believe that the institution of slavery is founded 
 on both injustice and bad policy, but that the promulgation 
 of abolition doctrines tends rather to increase than abate the 
 evils. 
 
 "They believe that the Congress of the United States has 
 no power under the Constitution to interfere with the insti- 
 tution of slavery in the different States. 
 
 "They believe that the Congress of the United States has 
 the power, under the Constitution, to abolish slavery in the 
 District of Columbia, but that the power ought not to be 
 exercised, unless at the request of the people of the District. 
 
 "The difference between these opinions and those contained 
 in the said resolutions is their reason for entering this pro- 
 test. 
 
 "Dan Stone, 
 "A. Lincoln. 
 "Representatives of the County of Sangamon." ^ 
 
 The resolutions that passed the General Assembly were 
 still rather conservative for the time and place. The protest 
 of Lincoln is therefore the more significant, as indicating 
 its origin from some deep mental or moral sentiment. 
 Every letter in the protest is weighed. No product of 
 Lincoln is more native to his genius. It is as re- 
 strained as a judicial decision. Avoiding unneeded antag- 
 onism, it is framed with admirable diplomacy. Radical in 
 thought, still so moderate in expression, it saved his power 
 for further good, not placing him beyond fellowship with 
 'Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 15. 
 
Protester and Patriot 81 
 
 his associates. Yet with all its subdued character, with 
 infinite wisdom it made the assault at the weakest point, 
 declaring that slavery was founded, not only ou injustice, but 
 had policy. In the last phrase lurked the sting that was 
 to awaken the self-interest of the North, the same kind of 
 selfishness that solidified the South in defending the institu- 
 tion. Lincoln was among the first to grasp and lay stress 
 on the warp of the issue. He once declared that honest 
 statesmanship was the employment of individual meanness 
 for the public good. When self-interest became enlisted with 
 conscience against the evU, its days were numbered. While 
 Abolitionism was noisily tugging at one of the pillars that 
 supported human bondage, Lincoln serenely forged an argu- 
 ment linking its moral and industrial weakness, an argu- 
 ment that finally shook its very foundation, until the pecu- 
 liar institution that dominated the destiny of the nation for 
 more than half a century tumbled to destruction. While 
 other men were forced to change their opinions through the 
 malignancy of slavery to keep abreast of public sentiment, 
 Lincoln remained steadfast in his opinions and his policy. 
 At the outset, he foresaw that no institution could last long 
 that rested on injustice and bad policy. Only a change of 
 external conditions separated the man who entered a solemn 
 protest against the iniquity of slavery in a hostile com- 
 munity and the leader who gave life to the momentous act 
 of the nineteenth century. 
 
 The period preceding the murder of Love joy was an era 
 of unrest. The mob spirit ranged over the land. Thus in 
 commenting upon the murder of the mulatto Mcintosh, Love- 
 joy says: "In Charlestown it burns a Convent over the head 
 of defenseless women; in Baltimore it desecrates the Sab- 
 bath, and works all that day in demolishing a private citi- 
 zen's house ; in Vicksburg it hangs up gamblers, three or four 
 
82 Lincoln, the Politicicm 
 
 in a row; and in St. Louis it forces a man — a hardened 
 wretch certainly, and one that deserves to die, but not thus 
 to die — it forces him from beneath the aegis of our constitu- 
 tion and laws, hurries him to the stake and burns him alive !"* 
 
 Without doubt, the murder of Love joy and similar inci- 
 dents drew the mind of Lincoln to the discussion of the sub- 
 ject of the preservation of our institutions. For Herndon 
 has left valuable testimony as to the influence of like events 
 on his own opinions. The cruel and uncalled-for murder 
 aroused anti-slavery sentiments, penetrating the college at 
 Jacksonville where he was attending, and both faculty and 
 students were unrestrained in their denunciation. Hemdon's 
 father, believing that the college was too strongly permeated 
 with the virus of Abolitionism, forced him to withdraw from 
 the institution. But Herndon declares that it was too late; 
 that the murder of Love joy filled him with more desperation 
 than the slave scene in New Orleans did Lincoln. For while 
 the latter believed in non-interference with slavery, as long 
 as the Constitution authorized its existence, Herndon, al- 
 though acting nominally with the Whig party up to 1853, 
 struck out for Abolitionism pure and simple.* 
 
 In the fall of 1837, Lincoln addressed the Young Men's 
 Lyceum at Springfield, Illinois, in a formal discourse bearing 
 traces of considerable preparation. The style is fulsome and 
 fanciful, and unlike his own crisp utterance of previous or 
 subsequent periods. For a time he wandered from his natu- 
 ral self and followed the glitter of what he doubtless deemed 
 a more cultivated form of expression. Thus it begins : "In 
 the great journal of things happening under the sun, we, the 
 American people, find our account running under date of the 
 nineteenth century of the Christian era. We find ourselves 
 *Lovejoy, 172. * Herndon, 1, 178-9. 
 
Protester and Patriot 83 
 
 in the peaceful possession of the fairest portion of the earth 
 as regards extent of territory, fertility of soil and salubrity 
 of climate. We find ourselves under the government of a 
 system of political institutions conducing more essentially 
 to the ends of civil and religious liberty than any of which 
 the history of former times tells us." ^ 
 
 It is especially important to take note of Lincoln's atti- 
 tude of the prevailing mob spirit. His treatment of that 
 theme, his mode and manner and thought, is so like that of 
 the editor of the Alton Observer, that it is reasonable to 
 assume that there was a common origin to the common senti- 
 ment. The same scenes and events that stirred the soul of 
 Lovejoy aroused that of Lincoln. His direct onslaught on 
 the mob spirit being largely connected with the slave issue, 
 was an indirect attack on slavery. In this, Lincoln and the 
 Abolitionists stood on the same ground. He extravagantly 
 denounced the malefaction of the mobs, saying that they 
 pervaded the country from New England to Louisiana ; and 
 alike sprang up among the pleasure-hunting masters of 
 Southern slaves, and the order-loving citizens of the land of 
 steady habits, that this process of hanging went on from 
 gamblers to negroes, from negroes to white citizens, and from 
 these to strangers, till dead men were seen literally dangling 
 from the boughs of trees upon every roadside. He further 
 insisted that by the operation of this mobocratic spirit, the 
 strongest bulwark of any government might effectually be 
 broken down and destroyed — the attachment of the people. 
 He contended that whenever the vicious portion of popula- 
 tion should be permitted to burn churches, ravage provision 
 stores, throw printing presses into rivers, shoot editors, and 
 hang and burn obnoxious persons with impunity, this gov- 
 ernment could not last.* 
 
 » Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 9. " Ibid., 10-11. 
 
84 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 Under the display of such extravagant expression there is 
 still patriotic apprehensiveness of danger to the national 
 existence. He fought out the solution of the problem un- 
 aided until the way seemed clear and plain. To him the 
 remedy was simple — obedience to the law of the land. 
 
 "Let reverence for the law be breathed by every Ameri- 
 can mother to the lisping babe that prattles on her lap ; let 
 it be taught in schools, in seminaries and in colleges ; let it 
 be written in primers, spelling books, ajid in almanacs ; let it 
 be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, 
 and enforced in courts of justice. And, in short, let it 
 become the political religion of the nation, and let the old 
 and the young, the rich and the poor, the grave and the 
 gay of all sexes and tongues and colors and conditions, sacri- 
 fice unceasingly upon its altars. . . . 
 
 "When I so pressingly urge a strict observance of aU the 
 laws, let me not be understood as saying there are no bad 
 laws, or that grievances may not arise for the redress of 
 which no legal provisions have been made. I mean to say 
 no such thing. But I do mean to say that although bad 
 laws if they exist, should be repealed as soon as possible, 
 still, while they continue in force, for the sake of example 
 they should be religiously observed. So also in unprovided 
 cases. If such arises, let proper legal provision be made for 
 them with the least possible delay, but till then, if not too 
 intolerable, be borne with." ^ 
 
 His remedy bespeaking reverence for the laws, would de- 
 stroy the rampant spirit in the slavery movement and in 
 abolitionism, so that neither would violate the law of the 
 land, and so that the controversy might be conducted with- 
 out intruding on the sanctity of the fundamental principles 
 of the Constitution. 
 'Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 13. 
 
Protester and Patriot 85 
 
 From this time, Lincoln ceased to be a mere local politi- 
 cian. He became intensely concerned over national questions. 
 Naturally, a man of broad views, he soon threw off the coil 
 of locality, and with zeal invaded the arena of national 
 issues. His mind ranged over the general domain for ma- 
 terials. Local issues were only stepping stones to him. 
 Leaving the valley of minor matters, with exuberant spirits, 
 he rejoicingly entered the new land of larger import, and 
 of broader moment to the weal of the nation. For the first 
 time he encountered extensive questions concerning the very 
 foundations of the Republic. 
 
 "Towering genius," he said, "disdains a beaten path. It 
 seeks regions hitherto unexplored. It sees no distinction in 
 adding story to story upon the monuments of fame erected 
 to the memory of others. It denies that it is glory enough 
 to serve under any chief. It scorns to tread in the footsteps 
 of any predecessor, however illustrious. It thirsts and burns 
 for distinction; and if possible, it will have it, whether at 
 the expense of emancipating slaves or enslaving freemen." * 
 
 We here strike a golden vein in his character. Ranging 
 over the world's activities for an illustration to rival the 
 ambition of towering genius, he finds it in the enslavement or 
 emancipation of a race. Out of the loneliness of his indi- 
 viduality, out of the solemnity of his deliberations, he grew 
 into a great character. It is his own illustration dug out of 
 his mental experience, a product of a mind brooding over 
 a national destiny. He saw with unerring vision, for men 
 did come in his own generation who did not scruple to climb 
 to power upon the back of an enslaved people. The true 
 Lincoln consists not only of the humble man, of homely face, 
 gaunt form, shambling limbs, quaint utterance, rude story 
 and humble way. We may also see him in his early manhood 
 
 'Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 13. 
 
86 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 with Titan power, fighting and triumphing over the brute 
 forces of his being, over his ambition, and towering to the 
 greatness of righteous triumph. Conduct is only the shadow 
 of soul struggle. Nearly three decades before the Emanci- 
 pation, its destiny was determined in no small measure by the 
 events that led to the murder of Lovejoy. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 PARTISAN IN STATE AND NATIONAL AFFAIES 
 
 rpHE campaign of 1838 did not differ materially from 
 -*■ that of previous years. A colleague of Lincoln says 
 that they called at nearly every home ; that it was customary 
 to keep some whiskey in the house, for private use and to 
 treat guests ; that the subject was always mentioned as a 
 matter of etiquette, but with the remark to Lincoln that 
 though he never drank, his friend might like to take a little. 
 Lincoln often told his associates that he never drank and had 
 no desire for drink, nor the companionship of drinking men. 
 
 Some light is thrown on the nature of the conduct of office 
 seekers by the following incident: During this campaign, 
 Douglas and Stuart, candidates for Congress, "fought like 
 tigers in Hemdon's grocery, over a floor that was drenched 
 with slops, and gave up the struggle only when both were 
 exhausted. Then, as a further entertainment to the popu- 
 lace, Mr. Stuart ordered a 'barrel of whiskey and wine.' " ^'^ 
 
 Joshua Speed states that some of the Whigs contributed 
 a purse of two hundred dollars to enable Lincoln to pay his 
 personal expense in the canvass. After the election, the can- 
 didate handed Speed $199.25, with the request that he return 
 it to the subscribers. "I did not need the money," said he, 
 "I made the canvass on my own horse ; my entertainment be- 
 ing at the houses of friends, cost me nothing; and my only 
 outlay was seventy-five cents for a barrel of cider, which 
 
 ' 'Lamon, 230. 
 
 87 
 
88 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 some farm hands insisted I should treat them to." ' 
 
 On one occasion, Col. Taylor, a demagogue of the Demo- 
 cratic party, was hypocritically appealing to his "homy 
 handed neighbors" in language of feigned adulation. Lin- 
 coln knew his man. He deftly removed the vest of the orator 
 and revealed to his astonished hearers "a ruffled shirt front 
 glittering with watch chain, seals and other golden jewels." 
 The speaker stood confused. The audience roared with 
 laughter. When it came Lincoln's turn to answer, he re- 
 torted. "While Colonel Taylor was making these charges 
 against the Whigs over the country, riding in fine carriages, 
 wearing ruffled shirts, kid gloves, massive gold watch chains 
 with large gold seals, and flourishing a heavy gold-headed 
 cane, I was a poor boy, hired on a flat-boat at eight dollars 
 a month, and had only one pair of breeches to my back, and 
 they were buckskin. Now if you know the nature of buck- 
 skin when wet and dried by the sun, it will shrink; and my 
 breeches kept shrinking until they left several inches of my 
 legs bare between the tops of my socks and the lower part of 
 my breeches ; and whilst I was growing taller they were 
 growing shorter, and so much tighter that they left a blue 
 streak around my legs that can be seen to this day. If you 
 call this aristocracy I plead guilty to the charge." * 
 
 When the Legislature convened in 1838, Lincoln was a 
 candidate of his party for speaker. His opponent was cho- 
 sen by a plurality of one vote. Lamon declares that this 
 distinction was a barren honor, and known to be such at the 
 time, but cites no reason for his statement.** At least the 
 humble representative of Sangamon County continued to rise 
 in the esteem of his associates. His activity was crowned 
 with the approval of those with whom he fought side by 
 side in the turmoil and debate of controversy. It is a sig- 
 
 " Nicolay & Hay, 1, 158. ' Herndon, 1, 186. " Lamon, 213. 
 
Partisan in State and National Affairs 89 
 
 nificant indication of his diplomacy. He had so won the con- 
 fidence of his companions that even differences on that slav- 
 ery issue did not cause him the loss of their esteem and favor. 
 The recipient of such an honor is likely to be the possessor of 
 amiable personal qualities that call forth devotion, even more 
 than the sturdy qualities of talent and ability.* In matters 
 of political expediency, Lincoln did not run athwart the 
 sentiments of the majority. Despite the mutterings of dis- 
 content in some quarters, despite a growing feeling that the 
 internal improvement policy was likely to involve the State 
 in disaster, the finance committee, of which Lincoln was a 
 prominent member, advised even further indulgence in the 
 fatal policy. Finally, the fearful financial condition of the 
 State stared the people and their representatives in the face. 
 The supporters of the internal improvement system stub- 
 bornly began to yield to the policy of retrenchment. Still, 
 in the Special Session of 1839, assembled to deliberate over 
 the momentous state of affairs, Lincoln with peculiar logic 
 urged they were so far advanced in a general system of in- 
 ternal improvements that they could not retreat from it 
 without disgrace and great loss, and that the conclusion was 
 that they must advance.'' 
 
 Lincoln was one of thirty-three members to vote for laying 
 the biU repealing improvements on the table, while sixty op- 
 posed this action; and he was one of thirty-five who voted 
 against the repeal of the internal improvement policy, while 
 thirty-seven voted for it.* Thus, to the very end, Lincoln 
 persisted in the disastrous policy that clouded the history 
 and prosperity of Illinois for many years. 
 
 "Lamon, 312. 
 
 ' From Lincoln's Report for Finance Committee on Expediency of Pur- 
 chasing all Unsold Lands of United States in Illinois, Jan. 23, 1839, 223. 
 ' House Journal of 1839, 265. 
 
90 Lmcoln the PoUticicm 
 
 Lincoln basked in political events. He was alive to the 
 details in political strategy. In November, 1839, he wrote 
 to Stuart, his partner, in regard to a voter : "Evan Butler is 
 jealous that you never send your compliments to him. You 
 must not neglect him next time." ® 
 
 From the very beginning, he concerned himself with the 
 candidacy of General Harrison. Recognizing its elemental 
 political strength, he watched its growth with increasing in- 
 terest. Harrison had never distinguished himself as a public 
 citizen. Lincoln looked at the political side of the picture 
 alone, little dreaming that the day was to come when his 
 election was to depend, in some measure, on the same emo- 
 tions that promoted the triumph of Harrison. In both cam- 
 paigns the log cabin played a dominant part. 
 
 Speed's store in Springfield was the retreat of Lincoln, 
 Douglas and Baker, and other political leaders of the domi- 
 nant parties. However, partisanship was about to triumph, 
 and common meeting places were soon to become unknown. 
 In December, 1839, just as the campaign of 1840 was loom- 
 ing up, a political discussion between the leaders grew violent 
 in the grocery over the national issue. During the angry 
 debate, Douglas, with his imperial manner, flung forth the 
 taunt: "Gentlemen, this is no place to talk politics; we wiU 
 discuss the question publicly with you." ■'■*' 
 
 Lincoln, who had schooled himself in logical dissertation, 
 loved a political contest. He had met the champions of the 
 Legislature without dismay, and was more feared than fear- 
 ing. Shortly afterward Lincoln presented a resolution to 
 accept the flaunting challenge of Douglas. Logan, Baker, 
 Browning and Lincoln were the chosen disputants of the 
 Whig cause. The Democrats put forth Douglas, Calhoun, 
 Lamboum and Thomas as their champions. Each speaker 
 'Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 41. "Lamon, 233. 
 
Partisan m State and National Affairs 91 
 
 was allowed an evening for his address. This controversy 
 was long known as "the great debate." ^^ 
 
 That Lincoln was climbing to eminence slowly, that he 
 was marvelously free from egoism and the aggressiveness of 
 the common political orator is manifest from the first para- 
 graph of his address: "It is peculiarly embarrassing to me 
 to attempt a continuance of the discussion, on this evening, 
 which has been conducted in this hall on several preceding 
 ones. It is so because on each of these evenings there was 
 a much fuller attendance than now, without any reason for 
 its being so, except the greater interest the community feel 
 in the speakers who addressed them than they do in him who 
 is to do so now. I am, indeed, apprehensive that the few 
 who have attended have done so more to spare my mortifica- 
 tion than in the hope of being interested in anything I may 
 be able to say. This circimastance casts a damp upon my 
 spirits, which I am sure I shall be unable to overcome during 
 the evening." ^^ 
 
 His manner of holding an opponent to the point at issue, 
 his directness of speech are strikingly displayed: "I now ask 
 the audience, when Mr. Calhoun shall answer me, to hold 
 him to the questions. Permit him not to escape them. Re- 
 quire him either to show that the subtreasury would not in- 
 juriously affect the currency, or that we should in some way 
 receive an equivalent for that injurious effect. Require him 
 either to show that the subtreasury would not be more ex- 
 pensive as a fiscal agent than a bank, or that we would 
 in some way be compensated for the additional expense." ^^ 
 
 Although of limited experience in public controversy, the 
 least known of the Whig debaters, diffident of his own ca- 
 pacity, yet he sought the most brilliant and distinguished 
 
 "LAmon, 232. "Ihid., 29-30. 
 
 "Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 21. 
 
92 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 debater in the Democratic party — Douglas. Free from 
 sham, he was merciless in exposing it in others, as the fol- 
 lowing attack on his elusive antagonist indicates: "Those 
 who heard Mr. Douglas recoUect that he indulged himself 
 in a contemptuous expression of pity for me. 'Now, he's got 
 me,' thought I. But when he went on to say that five mil- 
 lions of the expenditure of 1838 were payments of the French 
 indemnities, which I knew to be untrue; that five millions 
 had been for the PostofBce, which I knew to be untrue ; that 
 ten millions had been for the Maine boundary war, which 
 I not only knew to be untrue, but supremely ridiculous also ; 
 and when I saw that he was stupid enough to hope that I 
 would permit such groundless and audacious assertions to 
 be unexposed, — I readily consented that, on the score both 
 of veracity and sagacity, the audience would judge whether 
 he or I were the more deserving of the world's contempt." ^* 
 
 Sober in the main as the speeches of Webster, on the cur- 
 rency issue Lincoln only once let loose his rollicking and suf- 
 fusing sense of humor: "The Democrats are vulnerable in 
 the heel — I admit is not merely figuratively, but literally 
 true. Who that looks but for a moment at their Swart- 
 wouts, their Prices, their Harringtons, and their hundreds 
 of others, scampering away with the public money to Texas, 
 to Europe, and to every spot of the earth where a villain 
 may hope to find refuge from justice, can at all doubt that 
 they are most distressingly aifected in their heels with a 
 species of 'running itch.' It seems that this malady of their 
 heels operates on these sound-headed and honest-hearted 
 creatures very much like the cork leg in the comic song did 
 on its owner: which, when he had once got started on it, 
 the more he tried to stop it, the more it would run away." ^^ 
 
 That he was still subject to the fashion of pioneer exuber- 
 " Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 3S. ''Ibid., 35-36. 
 
Partisan in State and National Affairs 93 
 
 ant expression ; that he was somewhat entangled in the grow- 
 ing partisanship of the time, is thoroughly evident from his 
 stormy peroration: "Many free countries have lost their 
 liberty, and ours may lose hers; but if she shall, let it be 
 my proudest plume, not that I was the last to desert, but 
 that I never deserted her. I know that the great volcano at 
 Washington, aroused and directed by the evil spirit that 
 reigns there, is belching forth the lava of political corrup- 
 tion in a current broad and deep, which is sweeping with 
 frightful velocity over the whole length and breadth of the 
 land, bidding fair to leave unscathed no green spot or 
 hving thing; while on its bosom are riding, like demons on 
 the waves of hell, the imps of that evil spirit, and fiendishly 
 taunting all those who dare resist its destroying course 
 with the helplessness of their effort; and, knowing this, I 
 cannot deny that all may be swept away. Broken by it I, 
 too, may be; bow to it I never wiU. The probability that 
 we may fall in the struggle ought not to deter us from the 
 support of a cause we believe to be just ; it shall not deter 
 me." i« 
 
 This fulsome conclusion more than his sustained logical 
 argument swept over his audience and made it a pop- 
 ular success, so that admiring friends promoted its pub- 
 lication in the Sangamon Journal. Lamon, however, 
 curtly makes this dampening comment on his eloquent dic- 
 tion: "Considering that the times were extremely peaceful, 
 and that the speaker saw no bloodshed except what flowed 
 from the noses of belligerents in the groceries about Spring- 
 field, the speech seems to have been unnecessarily defiant." ^'^ 
 
 The Committee of Whigs in charge of Harrison's political 
 campaign in Illinois issued a circular urging the organiza- 
 tion of the whole State for the Presidential contest. Lin- 
 
 " Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 36 "Lamon, 236. 
 
94 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 coin was a prominent member of this body and his style 
 shows through this appeal. It was a combination of skillful 
 play to party spirit, and a thorough knowledge of the mode 
 of conducting a successful campaign. "To overthrow the 
 trained bands that are opposed to us, whose salaried officers 
 are ever on the watch, and whose misguided followers are 
 ever ready to obey their smallest commands, every Whig 
 must not only know his duty, but must firmly resolve, what- 
 ever of time and labor it may cost, boldly and faithfully to 
 do it. Our intention is to organize the whole State, so that 
 every Whig can be brought to the polls in the coming presi- 
 dential contest. We cannot do this, however, without your 
 cooperation ; and as we do our duty, so we shall expect you 
 to do yours." ^^ 
 
 The circular then proposed a new method of bringing out 
 the full Whig vote, in essence the same that is now employed 
 by every successful political organization. The following 
 was the plan of organization : — 
 
 (1) To divide every county into small districts, and to 
 appoint in each a subcommittee, with the duty to make a 
 perfect list of all the voters, and to ascertain their choice 
 with certainty, all doubtful voters to be designated in sepa- 
 rate lines. 
 
 (2) To keep a constant watch on the doubtful voters, and 
 from time to time have them talked to by those they trusted, 
 and to place in their hands convincing documents. 
 
 (3) To report, at least once a month, and on election 
 days see that every Whig was brought to the polls. ■'^® 
 
 Lincoln was brought up in a practical school where votes 
 are a matter of calculation, where the things done on the 
 stage were plotted and planned behind the stage. Few men 
 were more thoroughly trained, in the methods of secur- 
 
 " Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 38. '°76W. 
 
Partisan in State and National Affairs 95 
 
 ing results. He eagerly wrote to Stuart for copies of the 
 "Life of Harrison," and also requested "The Senate Journal 
 of New York" of September, 1814. "I have a newspaper 
 article which says that that document proves that Van 
 Buren voted against raising troops in the last war. And 
 in general send me everything you think will be a good 'war- 
 club.' " ^^ He was learning that political battles are won 
 and lost, not alone on discussion of principles, but on appeals 
 to the emotions of men. 
 
 As a politician, his judgment prevailed over his sentiment. 
 He was not carried away by the enthusiasm of the hour, but 
 looked beneath the surface for events that suggested public 
 sentiment. So he noted with discernment "A great many of 
 the grocery sort of Van Biiren men, as formerly, are out 
 for Harrison. Our Irish blacksmith, Gregory, is for Har- 
 rison. I believe I may say that all our friends think the 
 chances of carrying the State very good." ^^ 
 
 For the first time in years, the Whigs conducted a cam- 
 paign more aggressive than that of their opponents. Gen- 
 eral Harrison represented no definite political policy. The 
 log cabin, the coon skin cap, the political songs, the enthusi- 
 asm of even the children, aU this was more potent than the 
 solid and sober discussion of such issues as the currency, 
 executive power, American labor, protection and interna] 
 improvements. 
 
 The sober thinking and dignified leaders of the Whig party 
 were somewhat shocked by the uncouth campaign of 1840. 
 It was not in keeping with the dignity of its traditions. 
 Leaders like Webster brooked with impatience a campaign 
 in which judgment was fairly forgotten. 
 
 The whole campaign was one of luxuriant freedom, of in- 
 tense excitement, of exaggerated discourse. A resolution 
 "Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 39. "Z6W., 40. 
 
96 Lvncoht the PoUticiam, 
 
 adopted at Springfield during March, indicates the language 
 that was abroad: "Resolved, that the election of Harrison 
 and Tyler would emancipate the land from the Catilines who 
 infest it ; would restore it to prosperity and peace, and bring 
 back the time when good measures, good principles and good 
 men would control the administration of our government." ^^ 
 
 Lincoln was foremost in the emotional fight of 1840. With 
 all the zeal of eager youth, he rushed into the contest. As a 
 presidential elector, he traversed a large portion of the State. 
 Thus a newspaper of the day says : He is going it with a 
 perfect rush. "Thus far the Locofocos have not been able to 
 start a man that can hold a candle to him in political de- 
 bate. AU of their crack nags that have entered the list 
 against him have come ofi^ the field crippled or broke down. 
 He is now wending his way north." ^* 
 
 An incident little known, but of vast importance in illum- 
 ining the kind of orator Lincoln was in 1840, is found in an 
 almost forgotten book. Therein we find the impression that 
 gaunt Lincoln made upon a cultured resident and distin- 
 guished lawyer of St. Louis, who says that at a gathering of 
 Whigs in April, 1840, at Belleville, Mr. Lincoln was the first 
 speaker to an immense crowd. "He rang all the changes upon 
 'coon skins,' 'hard cider,' 'log cabins,' etc., and among other 
 things he launched forth in true Lincoln style and manner 
 and said he had been 'raised over thar on Irish potatoes and 
 buttermilk and mauling rails.' ... I went to Col. Edward 
 Baker, I think it was, and told him for goodness sake to 
 try and get Lincoln down from the stand; that he was 
 doing us more harm than good . . . when Lincoln goes to 
 weaving his buttermilk, etc., it would seem as if we were 
 verging rather too near onto the ridiculous. We succeeded 
 
 " History of Sangamon County, 252. 
 
 " Transactions of tlie Illinois State Historical Society, 8, 334. 
 
Partisan m State and National Affairs 97 
 
 very soon in getting Lincoln down from the stand and got 
 up another speaker who seemed to have more judgment in 
 managing the canvass." ^* 
 
 This statement should not be neglected. It is the judg- 
 ment of a civiHzation diiferent from that of pioneer Illinois. 
 Events had hardly sobered the style and the manner of the 
 sensitive politician of Sangamon County. Later on he grew 
 to a more reserved and severe exposition of political discus- 
 sion, grew to appeal to the judgment rather than the senti- 
 ments of men, grew to lift the debate of the hour above the 
 clash of partisan controversy. 
 
 During this campaign, he once failed to come up to the 
 requirements of the occasion in a debate with Douglas. A 
 friend describes his distress at his failure: "He begged to 
 be permitted to try it again, and was reluctantly indulged; 
 and in the next effort he transcended our highest expecta- 
 tions. I never heard and never expect to hear such a trium- 
 phant vindication as he then gave of Whig measures or 
 policy. He never after, to my knowledge, fell below him- 
 self." 25 
 
 The debates of this campaign were a product of the ex- 
 cited and heated condition of the public mind. Thus, Gen. 
 John Ewing, of Indiana, challenged the whole Democratic 
 party and threatened to annihilate it. Douglas was pitted 
 against him. There was no formality at the meetings. Each 
 was to speak an hour alternately. The debate was to begin 
 at eight and adjourn at twelve; meet at two and continue 
 to sundown each day until the contest would be ended. At 
 the end of the fifth day, Ewing "threw up the sponge," and 
 a vigorous shout was given by the Democrats. "E. D. Baker, 
 notified of Ewing's defeat, mounted a butcher block and be- 
 , gan to address us. They protested that the game of 'two 
 
 " Darbey, 447. " Herndon, 1, 190. 
 
98 Lincoln the FoUticimt, 
 
 pluck one' could not be tolerated. He persisted and at once 
 the cry was raised 'pull him down.' At length he yielded, 
 otherwise it would have ended with a number of broken 
 heads." ^^ 
 
 Another incident still further discloses the character of 
 the controversy that prevailed at that period. Arnold says 
 that Baker was speaking in a room under Lincoln's office, and 
 communicating with it by a trap door. Lincoln in his office, 
 listened. Baker, becoming excited, abused the Democrats. 
 A cry was raised, "Pull him ofF the stand !" Lincoln, know- 
 ing a general fight was imminent, descended through the 
 opening of the trap door, and springing to the side of Baker, 
 said: "Gentlemen, let us not disgrace the age and country 
 in which we live. This is a land where freedom of speech is 
 guaranteed. Baker has a right to speak, and a right to be 
 permitted to do so. I am here to protect him, and no man 
 shall take him from this stand if I can prevent it." Baker 
 finished without further interruption.^'^ 
 
 Lincoln and Douglas often met in debate in this campaign. 
 Lamon states that Lincoln in the course of one speech im- 
 puted to Van Buren the great sin of having voted in the 
 New York State Convention for negro suffrage with a prop- 
 erty qualification. Douglas denied the fact, and Lincoln 
 attempted to prove his statement by reading a certain pas- 
 sage from Holland's Life of Van Buren, whereupon Douglas 
 got mad, snatched up the book, and, tossing it into the 
 crowd, remarked sententiously, "Damn such a book !" ^* 
 
 The above encounter shows Lincoln's method of attack. 
 
 He followed his brilliant antagonist with facts that all his 
 
 ingenuity could not evade. From that day, Lincoln loved 
 
 nothing better than a fray with the feared champion of De- 
 
 "" History of Sangamon County, 305. 
 
 ''Arnold, 67-68. "» Lamon, 336. 
 
Partisan in State and National Affairs 99 
 
 mocracy. No other Whig orator could fret Douglas as Lin- 
 coln did. They were as different in mental and moral out- 
 look as they were in appearance. Lincoln saw through his 
 skillful opponent. He knew his strength and he knew his 
 weakness. He was prepared for his chameleon-like attacks 
 and onslaughts. While contemporaries hardly saw in Lin- 
 coln the future rival of the growing Douglas, still Lincoln 
 was gaining strength in the technic of debate that was later 
 to be of inestimable service to him in controversies of na- 
 tional import. 
 
 In the 1840-1 Legislature, Lincoln was again the candidate 
 of his party for speaker. As leader of the minority, he 
 doubtless deemed it an obligation on his part to provide some 
 plan to pay the State debt and save its honor. He no longer 
 cherished the illusion of gaining fame as the DeWitt Clinton 
 of Illinois. There were some in the Legislature who boldly 
 favored repudiation of the whole State debt. Others advo- 
 cated payment of such part of it as the State actually re- 
 ceived an equivalent for. Only a few dared to demand ade- 
 quate taxation for the payment of the interest on the bonds. 
 That was an unpopular expedient. 
 
 Lincoln walked the middle way. He was not a friend of re- 
 pudiation and still he did not court a loss of public esteem 
 by proposing substantial direct taxation. His bill provided 
 that the Governor should issue interest bonds as might be 
 absolutely necessary for the payment of the interest upon 
 the lawful debt of the State. He declared that he submitted 
 the proposition with great diffidence; that he felt his share 
 of the responsibility in the crisis; and, that after revolving 
 in his mind every scheme which seemed to aiFord the least 
 prospect of relief, he submitted this as the result of his own 
 deliberations; that it might be objected that the bonds 
 would not be salable; that he was no financier, but that he 
 
100 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 believed the bonds would be equal to the best in the market, 
 and that as to the impropriety of borrowing money to pay 
 interest on borrowed money, — he would reply, that if it 
 were a fact that our population and wealth were increasing 
 in a ratio greater than the increased interest hereby incurred, 
 then it was not a good objection.^* 
 
 He concluded with characteristic modesty that, "he had 
 no pride in its success as a measure of his own, but submit- 
 ted it to the wisdom of the House, with the hope, that, if 
 there was anything objectionable in it, it would be pointed 
 out and amended." ^^ 
 
 Lamon calls it a loose document, as the Governor was to 
 determine the "amount of bonds necessary," and the sums 
 for which they should be issued, and interest was to be paid 
 only upon the "lawful" debt; and the Governor was to de- 
 termine what part of it was lawful and what was unlawful.^^ 
 Still in essence, Lincoln's plan of leaving the determination of 
 the lawfulness of the debt to an authority not the legislative, 
 was finally adopted. ^^ 
 
 The shameless interference with the judicial system of Illi- 
 nois about 1840 luridly illustrates the enslaving partisanship 
 of that time. Under the provision of the State Constitution 
 permitting every white male adult to vote, aliens had known 
 the right of suffrage for years. Nine-tenths of the aliens 
 allied themselves with the Democratic organization so that 
 their support was essential to its success. As the Presidential 
 contest grew in intensity there sprang up a controversy 
 about these unnaturalized voters. Each party arrayed it- 
 self on the side of its own interest. The Whigs maintained 
 that the Federal Constitution had provided against the par- 
 ticipation of aliens in the affairs of government. A test 
 
 " Lamon, 214. "> Ibid., 213-314. 
 
 '"Ibid., 215. "Ibid., 315. 
 
Partisan in State and National Affairs 101 
 
 case was brought to the Illinois Supreme Court which con- 
 sisted of three Whigs and one Democrat. The latter in- 
 formed Douglas, in advance, that the majority had agreed 
 upon a decision unfavorable to the alien vote, but that there 
 was a technical error in the record. This knowledge be- 
 came serviceable to the Democrats. The case, by reason of 
 the imperfection, was put over to the December term, and 
 10,000 alien votes saved the State for another Democratic 
 administration. 
 
 The attitude of the Whig judges was made a pretext to re- 
 organize the judiciary by increasing their number, thus en- 
 abling the political complexion of that tribunal to represent 
 the party in power. Early in the winter, however, the Su- 
 preme Court rendered a decision that aifirmed the contention 
 of Douglas and his party. Still, the advocates for reor- 
 ganization were not stayed in their purpose, and they moved 
 forward in what they termed a reformation of the judiciary. 
 
 This action of making the judiciary dependent on the 
 Legislature was extremely pernicious in immediate results. 
 It also started political impulses malignant and enduring, 
 little appreciated by those who wantonly inaugurated the 
 change. The participation of Douglas in this enterprise was 
 eifectively utilized by Lincoln in the debate of 1858. It is 
 not surprising that Lincoln and other Whigs in the Legisla- 
 ture were unwilling witnesses of this degradation. They 
 framed protests, declaring that the immutable principles of 
 justice were to make way for party interests, and the bonds 
 of social order were to be rent in twain, in order that a des- 
 perate faction might be sustained at the expense of the peo- 
 ple; that the independence of the judiciary had been de- 
 stroyed; that hereafter the courts would be independent of 
 the people, and entirely dependent upon the Legislature ; that 
 rights of property and liberty of conscience could no longer 
 
102 Lmcoln the Politiciart 
 
 be regarded as safe from the encroachments of unconstitu- 
 tional legislation.*^ 
 
 This strong statement from the Whigs represented the con- 
 science of the State. The protesting element is generally 
 ulert in awakening public sentiment or responding to it on 
 the issues of the day, thus affording a wholesome check upon 
 the dominant organization in making inroads upon righteous 
 government. In this way, it becomes the selfish interest of at 
 least one political party to be on the side of honest states- 
 manship. 
 
 At no time was Lincoln more active in legislative affairs 
 than during the early part of the 184<0-41 session. In the 
 internal improvement system, bank discussions, the attack 
 upon the Sangamon delegation and in almost every legisla- 
 tive proceeding he was ready to bear his share of the fight. 
 
 But during the session, an event occurred that shadowed 
 his political career. Lincoln, the democrat, the man of hu- 
 mility, of common ancestry, was attracted to Mary Todd, 
 a Southern aristocrat, a woman of beauty and ambition. 
 Lamon finds the source of this in selfishness, saying: "Born 
 in the humblest circumstances, uneducated, poor, acquainted 
 with flatboats and groceries, but a stranger to the drawing- 
 room, it was natural that he should seek in a matrimonial 
 alliance those social advantages which he felt were necessary 
 to his political advancement." ^* 
 
 This biographer overlooks the fact that it is not an un- 
 common event for a homely, humble man to be diverted from 
 the common highway as Lincoln was. It is very hard to 
 read in this story anything of designing selfishness. At one 
 time severing his engagement to Miss Todd, the same de- 
 spondency that crushed him upon the death of Ann Rut- 
 ledge again became his master. His own words describe 
 ''Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 47. "Lamon, 237-8. 
 
Partisan m State and National Affairs 103 
 
 his condition: "I am now the most miserable man living. 
 If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human 
 family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth. 
 Whether I shall ever be better, I cannot tell ; I awfully fore- 
 bode I shall not. To remain as I am is impossible; I must 
 die or be better, it appears to me." ^^ 
 
 He was absent from the Legislature for nearly 
 three weeks. A visit to his friend Speed in Kentucky re- 
 called him to his better nature.^* The injustice he had done 
 Miss Todd rankled until a reconciliation followed. Out of 
 this there arose events that culminated in a duel. Though 
 this event was soon hushed, yet its echoes lingered, for he 
 said in 1858, "If all the good things I have done are remem- 
 bered as long and as well as my scrape with Shields, it is 
 plain I shall not soon be forgotten." ^'^ 
 
 The panic of 1837 and the disintegration of the internal 
 improvement system were holding their requiem over the 
 finances of the State. Money was a furtive visitor. The cur- 
 rency of the State banks, fairly worthless, was nearly the 
 only circulating medium. During the summer of 1841, the 
 Administration invalidated the use of State Bank notes for 
 the payment of taxes but the salary of lawmakers was still 
 payable in currency. The Whigs hastened to charge the 
 state officers with adding to the burdens of the people that 
 they might be assured of their salaries. The Auditor of 
 the State was James Shields. Rather vain and aggressive, 
 he was not inclined "to beware of an entrance into a 
 quarrel." 
 
 It was at this time that Lincoln was having stolen con- 
 ferences with Miss Todd. The restless spirit of the latter 
 sought the political field for adventure. A daughter of lei- 
 
 " Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 45. 
 
 "Herndon, 1, 202. "Ibid., 217. 
 
104 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 sure, she had no rival in sarcasm in Springfield. Hunting 
 for material, she found a subject in the pretentious Auditor, 
 and enjoyed worrying the sensitive official. Under such in- 
 fluences, Lincoln aided or sanctioned the composition of an 
 article ridiculing Shields. Like many similar productions, 
 it professed to come from a back-woods settlement, and af- 
 fected a homely if not a vulgar form of speech. The para- 
 graph that follows is a sample of the effusion: — 
 
 "I looked in at the window, and there was this same fellow 
 Shields floatin' about on the air, without heft or earthly sub- 
 stance, just like a lock of cat-fur where cats have been 
 fightin'. 
 
 "He was paying his money to this one, and that 
 one, and t'other one, and sufferin' great loss because it wasn't 
 silver instead of State paper; and the sweet distress he 
 seemed to be in, — his very features, in the ecstatic agony of 
 his soul, spoke audibly and distinctly, 'Dear girls, it is dis- 
 tressing, but I cannot marry you all. Too well I know how 
 much you suffer; but do, do remember, it is not my fault 
 that I am so handsome and so interesting.' " ^* 
 
 The production appeared in the Sangamon Journal, and 
 at once aroused the wrath of Shields. A demand for the 
 identity of the author followed. Doubtless to save Miss 
 Todd from entanglement, Lincoln announced himself as the 
 writer. Thereupon, Shields demanded a full retraction of all 
 offensive allusions. Strangely enough, Lincoln did not wel- 
 come this solution of the situation. He took advantage of 
 the rather ardent demand for an apology and held his ground 
 with these words : "Now, sir, there is in this so much assump- 
 tion of facts and so much of menace as to consequences, that 
 I cannot submit to answer that note any further than I have, 
 and to add that the consequences to which I suppose you 
 
 »»Lamon, 255, 256. 
 
Partisan m State and National Affairs 106 
 
 allude would be matter of as great regret to me as it pos- 
 sibly could to you." ** 
 
 With such a start, a duel for a time seemed inevitable. At 
 the last moment, common friends conveniently, and doubtless 
 to the great satisfaction of the contestants, calmed the af- 
 fair without a real encounter. 
 
 Duelling was the rage of the hour.*" Lincoln was too sen- 
 sitive to the good opinion of the community to fly in the 
 face of popular sentiment. So he violated the law of the 
 State to engage in a transaction unsanctioned by his judg- 
 ment, not ready to defy the general taste in a matter where 
 the standard was still that of the pioneer community. It is 
 not therefore surprising that in later years, Lincoln was 
 abashed by his part in this fight. This was his last per- 
 sonal quarrel, and marks a decisive epoch in his career.*^ 
 Thereafter, he became a champion of principles and was pre- 
 pared to play a part in debates of world-wide moment. 
 
 A dramatic contest ran through this session on the part 
 of the banks to obtain further condonation in the suspension 
 of specie payments. The Whigs were friendly, calling them, 
 "the institutions of the country," branding opposition un- 
 patriotic. The Democrats, however, were on the whole hos- 
 tile to the banks. They called them "rag barons, rags, 
 printed lies, bank vassals, ragocracy, and the 'British-bought 
 bank, bluelight, Federal, Whig party.' " *^ 
 
 The contest was rendered closer by "opportune loans to 
 
 Democrats." The fight grew in intensity as if the wealth, 
 
 the industry and the very happiness of the people were at 
 
 stake. The Democrats, in order to kill the banks, were bent 
 
 on a sine die eidjournment of the special term. The Whigs 
 
 in their zeal to save them invented what was a novel expedient 
 
 "Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 69. "Nicolay & Hay, 1, 211. 
 
 "Ibid., 71. "Lamon, 317. 
 
106 Lmcoln the Politiciam 
 
 at that time in parliamentary tactics. The Whigs absented 
 themselves to prevent a quorum, leaving Lincoln and Gilles- 
 pie to call the ayes and noes. The Democrats discovered the 
 game, and the sergeant-at-arms was sent out. There was 
 great excitement in the House, which was then held in a 
 church at Springfield. Soon several Whigs were caught and 
 brought in and the plan was spoiled. Then Lincoln and his 
 accomplice determined to leave the hall. Going to the door, 
 and finding it locked, they raised a window and jumped out, 
 but not until the Democrats had succeeded in adjourning. 
 Mr. Gillespie remarked that "Lincoln always regretted that 
 he entered into that arrangement, as he deprecated every 
 thing that savored of the revolutionary." *^ 
 
 This incident discloses Lincoln the politician, Lincoln the 
 student of methods engaging in practices that his judgment 
 subsequently disapproved. He was thoroughly schooled in 
 securing results. The student of Lincoln should not hurry 
 over this incident, nor minimize its significance. He mingled 
 in common, sordid, political events. 
 
 Though Lincoln engaged freely in the political machina- 
 tions of his day, he did not sanction corruption. He stood 
 out as a champion of an untainted franchise. He did not 
 still his conscience with the soothing medicine that corrup- 
 tion was the common practice. He moved at this session 
 that the part of the Governor's message relating to fraudu- 
 lent voting be referred to the Committee on elections, with 
 instructions to prepare and report a bill for such an act as 
 might afford the greatest possible protection of the elective 
 franchise against all frauds.** 
 
 Bred in the school of partisanship, where the doctrine that 
 spoils is the fruit of victory, was almost a creed, Lincoln 
 never enslaved himself by the acceptance of that dogma, 
 
 « Lamon, 317. " Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 42, 
 
Partisan m State and National Affairs 107 
 
 either in practice or theory. Early in life he had reasoned 
 out the principle that public ofBce is a trust. He dared to 
 assert its integrity at a time when it met little favor. He 
 wrote in 1840 that he was opposed to removal of public 
 officials to make places for friends.*^ Still, the malevolent 
 conduct of an office holder stirred his resentment. In the 
 same letter he said there was no question as to the propriety 
 of removing the postmaster at Carlinville, that the latter 
 boldly refused to deliver during the canvass all documents 
 franked by Whig members of Congress.*® 
 
 By his tact and service, Lincoln stood well with the party 
 leaders, so that in 1841 he was widely mentioned as a worthy 
 candidate for Governor. A formal protest from his hand 
 and that of his close friends against such a movement was 
 put in the Sangamon Journal: "His talents and services en- 
 dear him to the Whig party ; but we do not believe he desires 
 the nomination. He has already made great sacrifices in 
 maintaining his party principles, and before his political 
 friends ask him to make additional sacrifices, the subject 
 should be well considered. The office of Governor, which 
 would of necessity interfere with the practice of his profes- 
 sion, would poorly compensate him for the loss of four of the 
 best years of his life." Whether he could have attained the 
 nomination is not known. Lincoln was not accustomed to 
 put aside political honors. It is significant that the young 
 legislator readily availed himself of a mode of self-glorifying 
 declination popular with politicians to this day.*^ 
 
 With this session, Lincoln concluded his duties as the rep- 
 resentative of the people. In 1832, he entered Vandalia, a 
 son of poverty, timid of his ability, ungifted in appearance. 
 In eight years, he plowed his way to the very front as the 
 
 « Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 43. "Ibid., 43-44. 
 
 " Nicolay & Hay, 1, 217-8. 
 
108 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 champion of his associates, a skillful leader of his party. 
 Still it is amazing how faint a trace Lincoln left on the his- 
 tory of Illinois, hewing out no legislative enactment endear- 
 ing his memory to the people of the State. Ford only notes 
 him as a Congressman who in the State Legislature followed 
 the glitter of a false finance, and a destructive plan of public 
 improvement. Had his career ended here, no one would have 
 ventured to rescue his name from oblivion. One act only, 
 overtops the events submerged by time, an event that sober 
 history passed by, little knowing that it was the one fact, 
 richer than all others, in the annals, under its scrutiny. For 
 in the light of later events, the protest of 1837 showed an 
 enkindled soul that in the goodness of time thrilled the land 
 with a second edition of the Declaration of Independence. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 EESTLESS POLITICAL AMBITION 
 
 ri^HE ternunation of Lincoln's legislative career, his mar- 
 ■"■ riage and his increasing legal practice did not stay his 
 hunger for political distinction. Music, society or nature 
 did not allure him. His range of interest was limited. His 
 pleasure was not in his fame as a counselor. He was impa- 
 tient of the tiresome devotion to detail demanded of the law- 
 yer. Longing to be a leader in the world of events, he 
 sought a wider field of activity for the full expression of his 
 personality, splendidly realizing that his greatest service to 
 himself and his fellows was in guiding and interpreting a 
 righteous public opinion. 
 
 Lamon has portrayed Lincoln's political ambition with 
 merciless vividness, claiming that he was never agitated by 
 any passion more intense than his thirst for distinction ; that 
 it governed all his conduct, from the hour when he aston- 
 ished himself by his oratorical success in the back settle- 
 ments of Macon County, to the day when the assassin 
 marked him as the first hero of the restored Union ; that he 
 was ever ready to be honored, and struggled incessantly for 
 place.^ Politics was his world, — a world filled with enchant- 
 ment. "In his office," says Mr. Herndon, "he sat down, or 
 spilt himself on his lounge, read aloud, told stories, talked 
 politics, — never science, art, literature, railroad gatherings, 
 colleges, asylums, hospitals, commerce, education, progress, 
 'Lamon, 237. 
 
 109 
 
110 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 nothing that interested the world generally except politics." ^ 
 Yet Lamon and Herndon missed the deeper unity in his 
 life. Neither politics nor distinction was the end with him. 
 They were the paths leading to his palace, not the palace 
 itself. It is not too much to say that love of his kind tran- 
 scended his love of distinction. At the time when he seemed 
 lost in the maelstrom of partisanship, as Burns in the storm 
 thought of the "ourie" cattle, so Lincoln thought of those 
 hapless sons of misfortune who were biding the "bitter 
 brattle" of slavery. Thus in a letter to his friend Speed, 
 he said, "In 1841 you and I had together a tedious low- 
 water trip on a steamboat from Louisville to St. Louis. You 
 may remember, as I well do, that from Louisville to the mouth 
 of the Ohio there were on board ten or a dozen slaves 
 shackled together with irons. That sight was a continued 
 torment to me, and I see something like it every time I 
 touch the Ohio or any other slave border." * 
 
 The extent to which he mingled in political affairs is shown 
 by his activity at a mass meeting in March, 1843, at Spring- 
 field. He was the master of ceremonies. In a careful state- 
 ment, he uttered the cardinal principles of his party. He 
 was materially steeped in the party spirit of his day. For the 
 fifth resolution recommends that a Whig candidate for Con- 
 gress be run in every district, regardless of the chances of 
 success. "We are aware," it continued, "that it is some- 
 times a temporary gratification, when a friend cannot suc- 
 ceed, to be able to choose between opponents ; but we believe 
 that that gratification is the seed time which never fails to 
 be followed by a most abundant harvest of bitterness. By 
 this policy we entangle ourselves." * 
 
 Though Lincoln, at first, fought the convention system for 
 
 ^ Lamon, *82. * Ibid., 76. 
 
 "Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 216. 
 
Restless Political Ambition 111 
 
 the nomination of candidates, as undemocratic, his conver- 
 sion to its championship further exposes his training in the 
 school of practical politics. The statement declared that 
 the Whigs should not stop to inquire whether the system was 
 just, but that while their opponents used the plan it was 
 madness in them not to defend themselves with it.® 
 
 The conclusion of this address is also a sure sign of pro- 
 longed association with the hue and cry of party spirit: It 
 stated with assurance that the Whigs were always a majority 
 of the nation, and that if every Whig would act as though 
 he knew the result to depend upon his action, that surely a 
 Whig would be elected President of the United States.® 
 
 Political office being the reward of party service, Lincoln 
 was a zealous worker in the ranks. He was ever at the caU 
 of the party managers for speeches or other personal work. 
 They could not charge him with being a laggard in the day 
 of defeat. He did not wait for waves of advancement. He 
 was not in accord with the policy that the office should seek 
 the man. He slowly toiled his way to the enoinence he 
 reached. While Lincoln was in Congress, Herndon wrote 
 to him complaining of his sluggard progress in politics, and 
 carped at the old men for usurping all the places of power 
 and profit. In an intimate reply to his associate, we find 
 the plain paths he trod: "You must not wait to be broug'ht 
 forward by the older men. For instance, do you suppose that 
 I should ever have got into notice if I had waited to be hunted 
 up and pushed forward by older men? You young men get 
 together and form a 'Rough and Ready Club,' and have reg- 
 ular meetings and speeches. Take in everybody you can get. 
 Harrison Grimsley, L. A. Enos, Lee Kimball, and C. W. Ma- 
 theny would do to begin the thing; but as you go along 
 gather up all the shrewd, wild boys about town, whether 
 'Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 76. ' Tbid., 79. 
 
112 Lmcoln the PoUticicm 
 
 just of age or a little under age, — Chris. Logan, Reddick 
 Ridgely, Lewis Swizler, and hundreds such. Let every one 
 play the part he can play best, — some speak, some sing, and 
 all 'holler.' Your meetings will be of evenings; the older 
 men and the women will go to hear you; so that it will not 
 only contribute to the election of 'Old Zach,' but will be an 
 interesting pastime, and improving to the intellectual facul- 
 ties of all engaged. Don't fail to do this." ^ 
 
 Lincoln no sooner completed his long term in the Legisla- 
 ture than he cast his eye on a seat in Congress. "Now, if 
 you should hear" he wrote a friend, "any one say that Lin- 
 coln don't want to go to Congress, I wish you, as a personal 
 friend of mine, would tell him you have reason to believe he 
 is mistaken. The truth is I would like to go very much. 
 Still, circumstances may happen which may prevent my being 
 a candidate. If there are any who be my friends in such an 
 enterprise, what I now want is that they shall not throw me 
 away just yet." ® 
 
 Lincoln's race for the nomination was lull of excitement. 
 When he began his canvass, he was a member of the firm of 
 Logan and Lincoln. Besides Hardin, Baker and Lincoln, 
 Logan also was a candidate. Logan deemed his long ser- 
 vice as entitling him to the honor, while Lincoln regarded his 
 legislative career as his claim to distinction. It is not amaz- 
 ing that concord did not dwell in this home of political 
 rivalry. Hemdon says he was not, therefore, surprised to 
 have Lincoln rush into his quarters and with more or less 
 agitation tell him that he had determined to sever the part- 
 nership with Logan; and Herndon states that although 
 painfully aware of his want of ability and experience, when 
 Lincoln remarked in his earnest, honest way, "Billy, I can 
 trust you if you can trust me," he felt relieved and accepted 
 ' Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 131-132. » Herndon, 1, 253. 
 
Restless Political Ambition 113 
 
 the generous proposal of legal partnership.^ 
 
 The most dramatic incident in this fight was the con- 
 test between Baker and Lincoln. It was a battle between 
 brilliancy and solidity. No man of his time surpassed Baker 
 in dashing eloquence. Handsome, of winning personality, he 
 was the idol of the young men of Springfield. Lincoln was 
 no longer, as at New Salem, the leader of the gang. His 
 alliance with aristocratic Mary Todd, the demands of his 
 profession and a settled life largely sundered the partner- 
 ship. It was a natural, not a sudden, intentional separation. 
 Strange rumors were afloat that he was no more a friend 
 to the lowly and that he was seeking new ways. Not free to 
 mingle with the people, he could not readily combat the sus- 
 picion. And they were ever demanding a perfect embodi- 
 ment of their conception of heroism. They found it fully 
 in one of the most dramatic heroes and charming personali- 
 ties in the panorama of American politics — ^Edward D. 
 Baker. 
 
 When the friends of Baker first put forth the charge that 
 Lincoln belonged to a proud family, he was amused. He met 
 it with a laughing remark : "That sounds strange to me, for 
 I do not remember of but one who ever came to see me, and 
 while he was in town he was accused of stealing a Jew's 
 harp." ^"^ But as the campaign developed in intensity, and 
 he realized that the shameless report was scattered to his 
 harm, he thought bitterly of the false charge. The injustice 
 of the accusation and his incapacity to meet it, quite crushed 
 him. He could meet an open foe with a giant's strength, 
 but the gnat of malignant rumor defied him. Thus the 
 humblest politician that ever trod the soil of the Western 
 continent was not saved from the charge of being "puffed 
 up," and the leader of the lowly traveled in the domain of 
 
 • Herndon, 1, 252. "/6M., 255. 
 
114! Lincoln the Politician 
 
 bitter experience. The enthusiasm of the young men car- 
 ried the day for Baker in Sangamon County. 
 
 After his defeat, Lincoln took his old friend Jim Matheny 
 far into the woods. He unburdened himself, protesting that 
 he was anything but aristocratic and proud. "Why, Jim," 
 he said, "I am now and always shall be the same Abe Lincoln 
 I was when you first saw me." ■'■'• 
 
 The story of the defeat as told by Lincoln to Speed, shows 
 much of his poHtical training: "Baker beat me, and got the 
 delegation instructed to go for him. The meeting, in spite 
 of my attempt to decline it, appointed me one of the dele- 
 gates ; so that in getting Baker the nomination I shall be 
 fixed a good deal like a fellow who is made a groomsman 
 to a man who has cut him out and is marrying his own dear 
 'gal'." " 
 
 Yet, Lincoln did not at once reconcile himself to the selec- 
 tion of Baker. A letter from his friends in Menard County 
 led him still to contemplate possibilities and induced him to 
 skirmish on the frontier of his duty to the choice of Sanga- 
 mon County. He wrote to a supporter : "You say you shall 
 instruct your delegates for me unless I object. I certainly 
 shall not object. That would be too pleasant a compliment 
 for me to tread in the dust. And besides if anything should 
 happen (which, however, is not probable) by which Baker 
 should be thrown out of the fight, I would be at liberty to 
 accept the nomination if I could get it." •'^ 
 
 In this same letter, he gave an account of the factors that 
 
 conspired to his defeat, saying that it would astonish the 
 
 older citizens to learn that he (uneducated, penniless boy, 
 
 working on a flatboat at $10.00 per month) had been put 
 
 down there as a candidate of pride and Wealth; that there 
 
 "Lamon, 273. ^' Ibid., 80. 
 
 "Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 79. 
 
Restless Political Ambition 115 
 
 was, too, the strangest combination of church influence 
 against him; that Baker was a Campbellite, and with few 
 exceptions got all that church ; that his wife had some rela- 
 tions in the Presbyterian churches, and some with the Epis- 
 copaJ churches, and wherever it would tell, he was set down 
 as either one or the other, while it was everywhere contended 
 that no Christian ought to go for him, because he belonged to 
 no church, was suspected of being a deist, and had talked 
 about fighting a duel.^* In the long letter Lincoln did not 
 even mention the personal strength and popularity of his 
 opponent, or suggest that Baker was the victor by his own 
 merit. 
 
 Though Lincoln returned to the practice of his profession 
 with increased devotion, he kept his interest in local and 
 national events. He still remained a student of the whims 
 of individual voters as well as a keen observer of political 
 affairs of general moment. A letter to Hardin at Wash- 
 ington illustrates this : "Knowing that you have correspond- 
 ents enough, I have forborne to trouble you heretofore ; and 
 I now only do so, to get you to set a matter right which has 
 got wrong with one of our best friends. It is old Uncle 
 Thomas Campbell of Spring Creek — (Berlin, P. O.). He has 
 received several documents from you, and he says that they 
 are old newspapers and documents, having no sort of interest 
 in them. He is, therefore, getting a strong impression that 
 you treat him with disrespect. This, I know, is a mistaken 
 impression; and you must correct it. The way, I leave to 
 yourself. Robert W. Canfield says that he would like to 
 have a document or two from you. 
 
 '"The Locos here are in considerable trouble about Van 
 Buren's letter on Texas, and the Virginia electors. They are 
 growing sick of the Tariff question; and consequently are 
 
 "Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 80. 
 
116 Lmcolm the Politician 
 
 much confounded at V. B.'s cutting them oiF from the new 
 Texas question. Nearly half the leaders swear they won't 
 stand it." ^^ 
 
 As early as 1837, Webster publicly declared that it could 
 not be disguised that a desire, or an intention, was already 
 manifested to annex Texas to the United States.^® Under 
 the nursing of Tyler and Calhoun, a treaty of annexation 
 was concluded and the scheme almost consummated. The 
 Senate, in 1844, alone stood in the way. The proposal of 
 annexation overtopped aU other issues in the campaign of 
 that year. It proved at the time a dominating incident and 
 left abundant traces on American history. Van Buren, rising 
 to the solitary eminence of statesmanship, uttered a firm 
 and subdued protest against the southern policy. But the 
 edict of the Calhoun democracy, that Texas must be an- 
 nexed was remorseless, and their old friend, Martin Van 
 Buren, in the homely language of Lincoln, was "turned out 
 to root." ^'' It proved the beginning of the cleft on the 
 slavery question that in less than twenty years hopelessly 
 divided the successors of the triumphant Jackson party. 
 
 In June, 1844, Clay fairly represented the views of the 
 Whigs declaring that the annexation of Texas, at this time, 
 without the consent of Mexico, as a measure compromising 
 the National character, involving war with Mexico, probably 
 with other foreign powers, dangerous to the integrity of the 
 Union, inexpedient in the present financial condition of the 
 country, was not called for by any general expression of 
 public opinion.-^* Later coquetting with southern sympa- 
 thies on this issue, he modified his opposition to the present 
 annexation of Texas with the fatal statement that he had no 
 hesitation in saying that, far from having any personal ob- 
 
 '"Tarbell, 3, 390. "Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 140. 
 
 " Greeley, 1, 163. " Greeley, 1, 164. 
 
Restless Political Ambition IIT 
 
 jection to the annexation of Texas, he shotdd be glad to see 
 it — without dishonor, without war, with the common consent 
 of the Union and upon just and fair terms.-'^ This seeming 
 retreat, despite all explanation, insured his defeat. The di- 
 version gained him no strength in the South and alienated 
 needed support in the North. 
 
 The Southern States openly put forth their reasons for 
 annexation. To keep pace with the northern growth they 
 needed new States, otherwise they saw the doom of the insti- 
 tution that they deemed the very palladium of their pros- 
 perity and happiness. The unresting Cq,lhoun finally tri- 
 umphed in awakening dormant fears and sentiments.^" 
 
 The main contention in the famous letter of Jackson was 
 better calculated, than this southern claim, to appeal to the 
 northern democracy, and was more in harmony with the 
 substantial trend of the national destiny. "I do not hesitate 
 to say that the welfare and happiness of our Union require 
 that it should be accepted. If, in a military point of view 
 alone, the question be examined, it will be found to be most 
 important to the United States to be in possession of the 
 territory. 
 
 "Great Britain has already made treaties with Texas; 
 and we know that far-seeing nation never omits a 
 circumstance, in her extensive intercourse with the world, 
 which can be turned to account in increasing her military 
 resources. May she not enter into an alliance with 
 Texas.?" 21 
 
 While the Texan issue stirred the Garrisonian Abolition- 
 ists, it did not allay their hostihty to organized political 
 action, they declared that they would open no road to politi- 
 cal preferment; that the strength of their cause was in the 
 humble, fervent prayer- of the righteous man, which availeth 
 "« Greeley, 1, 166. ''Ibid., US. "/bid. 
 
118 Lkicoln the Politician 
 
 much, and the blessing of that God who had chosen the 
 weak things of the world to confound the mighty; that it 
 was to be expected that some political wolves would put on 
 the clothing of Abolitionism, and seek to elevate themselves 
 and manage the anti-slavery organization for their own pur- 
 poses.* The political Abolitionists, however, named James 
 G. Birney for President. 
 
 There was then, already, a complexity of opinion on the 
 slavery question that shadowed forth the future alignment of 
 parties. While many were confounded by wavering lights, 
 Lincoln picked his way with sure footed precision through 
 maze and pitfall. His unprejudiced mind wondered at the 
 conduct of the "Liberty men" that deprecating the annexa- 
 tion of Texas, deliberately promoted its success by indirec- 
 tion. Their application of the proposition "we are not to 
 do evil that good may come of it" he reduced to plain sophis- 
 try, saying that if by their votes they could have prevented 
 the extension of slavery, it would have been good, and not 
 evil, so to have used their votes, even though it involved the 
 casting of them for a slaveholder, and he earnestly asked if 
 the fruit of electing Clay would have been to prevent the ex- 
 tension of slavery, could the act of electing him have been 
 evil.'' ^^ He held that it was a paramount duty of the free 
 States to let the slavery of the other States alone, while it 
 was equally clear that they should never knowingly lend 
 themselves, directly or indirectly, to prevent slavery from 
 dying a natural death — to find new places for it to live in, 
 when it could no longer exist in the old.^^ Here, is clearly 
 announced the seeming paradox that, though slavery was an 
 evil, there still remained the duty to let it alone in the States 
 where it then existed. This further piles up evidence that 
 his views suffered little change with years. 
 
 * Johnson, 307. '^ TarbeU, 2, 293. " Ibid., 293-294. 
 
Restless Political Ambition 119 
 
 Lincoln boldly participated in the campaign of 1844 ; Clay 
 was the political hero of his youth and manhood as Wash- 
 ington was of his boyhood. Like many other Whigs, he, too, 
 was enthralled by the magic of the far famed eloquence of 
 the name, that, in the words of the orator who nominated 
 Clay, expressed more enthusiasm, that it had in it more elo- 
 quence than the names of Chatham, Burke, Patrick Henry, 
 and, more than any other and all other names together.^* 
 
 During the campaign, Lincoln encountered his former em- 
 ployer, John Calhoun, and other old antagonists. It is said 
 that Calhoun came nearer whipping Lincoln in debate than 
 Douglas did.^* Nothing survives of those speeches. Still, 
 his enthusiasm and skill in the controversies of the campaign 
 awakened a demand for his services throughout the State. 
 His name as an orator even invaded Indiana. In the closing 
 hours of the contest his voice was heard on the soil that he 
 hastened from some fifteen years before as an adventurer. 
 While speaking at Gentryville, his old friend Nat Grigsby 
 entered the room. Lincoln stopped and crying out "There's 
 Nat," scrambled through the crowd to his modest associate 
 of former days. After greeting him warmly, he returned to 
 the platform. When the speech was done, he passed the rest 
 of the evening with Nat. Then Lincoln insisted that they 
 should sleep together; and long into the night, they talked 
 over old times and were once more Abe and Nat.*® 
 
 The appearance of Clay's August letter stirred the politi- 
 cal Abolitionists to fateful activity. They insisted that his 
 antagonism to annexation, not being founded on anti-slavery 
 convictions, was of no account.*^ They poUed enough votes 
 to elect pro-slavery Polk. Mingled with the ribaldry, the 
 din and howl of abandoned politicians over the election of 
 
 «Nicolay & Hay, 1, 325. "Ibid., 274-S. 
 
 ^"J.Wioji, 2.74 ^Greeley, 1, 167. 
 
120 Limcoln the Politician 
 
 Polk, were the exultant shouts of the sober and respectable 
 men of the Liberty Party. They celebrated in unison the 
 victory they both promoted. 
 
 The solemn selection of James K. Polk instead of Henry 
 Clay as President, was a discordant incident that the Whig 
 patriot did not linger over willingly. That a pigmy should 
 sit in the seat of the statesman, that a puppet should stand 
 in the place of the nature-dowered son of American policies, 
 — this opinion made Clay's followers doubt the wisdom of 
 republican government. To them this defeat was more than 
 a partisan grief, it was a national loss. From loyal support- 
 ers hurried a grand tribute to their uncrowned champion in 
 his retreat : "We will remember you, Henry Clay, while the 
 memory of the glorious or the sense of the good remains in 
 us, with a grateful and admiring affection which shall 
 strengthen with our strength and shall not decline with our 
 decline. We will remember you in aU our future trials and 
 reverses as him whose name honored defeat and gave it a 
 glory which victory could not have brought. We will re- 
 member you when patriotic hope rallies again to successful 
 contest with the agencies of corruption and ruin; for we 
 will never know a triumph which you do not share in life, 
 whose glory does not accrue to you in death." ^* 
 ^ Nicolay & Hay, 1, 236. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 LINCOLN OPPOSES THE INCEPTION OE THE MEXICAN WAR IN 
 
 CONGRESS 
 
 T T is quite generally believed in Sangamon County that a 
 -*• bargain was entered into between Baker, Lincoln, Logan 
 and Hardin whereby the "four should 'rotate' in Congress 
 until each had had a term." ^ There is evidence in the writ- 
 ings of Lincoln that there was some kind of an understand- 
 ing between Baker, Lincoln and Logan. There is a startling 
 story as to the character of the arrangement. A delegate 
 to the Pekin Convention of 1843 states, that he was asked 
 by Lincoln immediately after the nomination of Hardin, if 
 he would favor a resolution recommending Baker for the 
 next term. On being answered in the affirmative Lincoln 
 told the delegate to prepare the resolution, and he would 
 support it. It created a profound sensation, especially 
 among the friends of Hardin. After angry discussion, the 
 resolution passed by a bare majority.^ This incident illus- 
 trates the sagacious poHcy of Lincoln in furthering his rest- 
 less political ambition. He publicly declined to contest the 
 nomination of Baker in 1844. Pursuant to a widespread 
 expectation. Baker did not stand in the way of Lincoln two 
 years later. 
 
 Lincoln kept close to those who moulded public opinion, — 
 the men of the press. Then the personality of an editor was 
 a weighty factor in the decision of political contests. He 
 ^Lamon, 375. 'TarbeU, 195-6. 
 
 X21 
 
122 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 wrote to an editor and supporter in 1846 that as the paper 
 at Pekin had nominated Hardin for governor and the Alton 
 paper indirectly nominated him for Congress, it would give 
 Hardin a great start, and perhaps use him up, if the Whig 
 papers of the district should nominate Hardin for Congress, 
 and that he wished that the editor would let nothing appear 
 in his paper which might operate against him.* 
 
 To this, he received a reply that this supporter had, in 
 fact, nominated Hardin for governor. The tactful response 
 deserves attention: "Let me assure you that if there is any- 
 thing in my letter indicating an opinion that the nomination 
 for governor, which I supposed to have been made in the 
 Pekin paper, was operating or could operate against me, 
 such was not my meaning. Now that I know that nomination 
 was made by you, I say that it may do me good, while I do 
 not see that it can do me harm. But, while the subject is in 
 agitation, should any of the papers in the district nominate 
 the same man for Congress, that would do me harm ; and it 
 was that which I wished to guard against. Let me assure 
 you that I do not for a moment suppose that what you have 
 done is ill-judged, or that anything that you shall do will 
 be."* 
 
 "I should be pleased," he wrote another friend, "if I could 
 concur with you in the hope that my name would be the only 
 one presented to the convention; but I cannot. Hardin 
 is a man of desperate energy and perseverance, and one that 
 never backs out ; and I fear, to think otherwise is to be de- 
 ceived in the character of our adversary. I would rejoice 
 to be spared the labor of a contest; but 'being in', I shall 
 go it thoroughly, and to the bottom." He then admonished 
 his friend not to relax any of his vigilance.® 
 
 'Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 83. 'Ibid., 84, 
 
 'Jbid., 83, 
 
Lvncoln Opposes Inception of Mexican War 123 
 
 He was sensitive to the shifting changes of the campaign. 
 "Nathan Dresser is here," he wrote a friend, "and speaks as 
 though the contest hetween Hardin and me is to be doubt- 
 ful in Menard County. — I know he is candid and this alarms 
 me some — I asked him to tell me the names of the men that 
 were going strong for Hardin; he said Morris was about as 
 strong as any — ^Now, tell me, is Morris going it openly.'' 
 You remember you wrote me, that he would be neutral. 
 Nathan also said that some man he could not remember had 
 said lately that Menard County was goiag to decide the 
 contest and that that made the contest very doubtful. Do 
 you know who that was? 
 
 "Don't fail to write me instantly on receiving telling me all 
 — particularly the names of those who are going strong 
 against me."® 
 
 The splendid generalship of Lincoln, his telling blows 
 gradually disposed of the gallant Hardin, who gracefully 
 declined to be longer considered as a candidate. Through the 
 inspiration of Lincoln, with equal gallantry, there promptly 
 appeared in the leading Whig journal, a statement superbly 
 designed to soothe the dignity of his late antagonist: "We 
 have had, and now have, no doubt that he (Hardin) has been, 
 and now is, a great favorite with the Whigs of the district. 
 He states, in substance, that there was never any under- 
 standing on his part that his name was not to be presented 
 in the canvasses of 1844 and 1846. This, we believe, is 
 strictly true. Still, the doings of the Pekin Convention did 
 seem to point that way; and the general's voluntary declina- 
 tion as to the canvass of 1844 was by many construed into 
 an acquiescence on his part. These things had led many 
 of his most devoted friends to not expect him to be a candi- 
 date at this time. Add to this the relation that Mr. Lincoln 
 "Tarbell, 1, 204. 
 
124 Lmcoln the Politicicm 
 
 bears, and has borne, to the party, and it is not strange 
 that many of those who are as strongly devoted to Gen. Har- 
 din as, they are to Mr. Lincoln should prefer the latter at 
 this time. We do not entertain a doubt, that, if we could 
 reverse the positions of the two men, that a very large por- 
 tion of those who now have supported Mr. Lincoln most 
 warmly would have supported Gen. Hardin quite as 
 warmly." ^ 
 
 He was a thorough politician. He attended to details 
 himself. Like a general on the battlefield, he kept his reserve 
 forces well in hand. He would rather minimize his own 
 strength than mistake the power of opposing forces. He 
 never lost a victory through misplaced confidence. Though 
 he looked darkly at a contest, this rather increased than 
 abated his activity. From policy as well as inclination he 
 did not engage in the crimination of his adversaries. He 
 had a marvelous capacity of personally commanding the con- 
 duct of men. 
 
 Out of their ranks, the Democrats called the famed 
 preacher — Peter Cartwright, as their standard bearer in this 
 Congressional contest. Until he was sixteen years old, he 
 was a slave to the common vices of his day. His dramatic 
 conversion during the revival of 1801 preluded the marvelous 
 career of a man who unflinchingly, for sixty years, "breasted 
 the storm and suff'ered the hardships" of his calling in forest 
 and prairie. His heroic treatment of Jackson shows the 
 man. "Just then," Cartwright says, "I felt some one pull 
 my coat in the stand, and turning my head, my fastidious 
 preacher, whispering a little loud, said: 'General Jackson 
 has come in: General Jackson has come in.' I felt a flash 
 of indignation run all over me like an electric shock and 
 facing about to my congregation, and purposely speaking 
 
 'Lamon, 376-7. 
 
Lincoln Opposes Inception of MeaAccm War 126 
 
 out audibly, I said, 'Who is General Jackson? If he don't 
 get/ his soul converted, God will damn him as quick as he 
 would a Guinea negro !' " ® 
 
 The reasons that prompted Cartwright to follow the trail 
 from Kentucky to Illinois are of historical importance. 
 "First, I would get entirely clear of the evil of slavery. 
 Second, I could raise my children to work where work was 
 not considered a degradation. Third, I believed I could bet- 
 ter my temporal circumstances, and procure lands for my 
 children as they grew up. And fourth, I could carry the 
 gospel to destitute souls that had, by their removal into 
 some new country, been deprived of the means of grace." ® 
 The South poorly reckoned the cost to her, of the institution 
 that drove into exile such master spirits, who enriched the 
 states of their adoption. 
 
 Hating human bondage, still he was no friend of abolition- 
 ism. He declared that it riveted the chains of slavery tight- 
 er; blocked the way to reasonable emancipation; threw fire 
 brands into legislative halls; that millions were expended 
 every year in angry debates and that laws for the good of 
 the people were neglected; talents and money thrown away; 
 that prejudice, strife, and wrath, and every evil passion 
 stirred up until the integrity of the Union was in imminent 
 danger, and that not one poor slave was set free; not one 
 dollar expended to colonize them and send them home happy 
 and free; that through unchristian, excited prejudices mobs 
 were fast becoming the order of the day. 
 
 He maintained that after more than twenty years' experi- 
 ence as a traveling preacher in slave states, he was con- 
 vinced that the most successful way to ameliorate the condi- 
 tion of the slaves and Christianize them, and finally secure 
 their freedom was to treat their owners kindly and not to 
 
 'Cartwright, 193. 'Ibid., 345. 
 
126 Lvncoht the Politician 
 
 meddle politically with slavery ! 
 
 Patriot and prophet alike, he contended that abolitionism 
 awakened a bitter and wrathful spirit among the guardians 
 of the black man that made discord a partner in the Federal 
 Union ; that despite the legion moral evils of slavery, he had 
 never seen a rabid abolition or free soil society that he 
 could join, because they resorted to unjustifiable agitation, 
 confounding the innocent with the guilty, and that if force 
 was resorted to the Union would be dissolved, a civil war 
 would follow, death and carnage would ensue, and the only 
 free nation on the earth would be destroyed.^" In early 
 manhood, Cartwright cherished sentiments that were brother 
 to those Lincoln later avowed at the outset of his career. 
 
 In his autobiography, Cartwright states that he was twice 
 elected as a representative from Sangamon County, and he 
 found that almost every measure had to be carried by a cor- 
 rupt bargain and saJe.*^ 
 
 For nearly half a century he had traversed the western 
 states. In nearly every Methodist Church and mission his 
 voice had summoned many to a better life. His ministration 
 to the sick, his rides at night over the lonely prairie to the 
 death bed had endeared him to thousands of homes. He 
 had a host of relations in the Congressional district. All 
 this and his steady advocacy of Jacksonian Democracy con- 
 stituted him no paltry antagonist. 
 
 An active campaign ensued. Lincoln was again subjected 
 to the harsh charge of religious infidelity. The Whigs, 
 taking up the challenge rallied to his support, Their activ- 
 ity soon turned the tide. Lincoln carried the district by 
 1511, exceeding the vote of Clay in 1844 by nearly 600. 
 Sangamon County showed her loysilty by piling up a larger 
 majority than ever before given to a political favorite.^^ 
 
 "Cartwright, 139. "/6id., 262. "Hemdon, 1, 259. 
 
Lincoln Opposes Inception of Mexican War 127 
 
 The battle largely centered around the wisdom of a preacher 
 participating in politics. The pioneer, who twenty years 
 before, had voted for Cartwright had now become a citizen 
 of a settled community. After this election, there was no 
 question as to the deep seated distrust of the average voter 
 permitting a church official to be the political representative 
 of the people. 
 
 A Democrat who loathed the canvass of Cartwright still 
 deemed it a hard thing to vote against his party. So Lin- 
 coln told him that he would give him a candid opinion as 
 to whether the vote was needed or not. On the day of elec- 
 tion, Lincoln told the Democrat that he had got the preacher, 
 — and didn't want his vote.^* With this power to foretell 
 results, Lincoln was more richly dowered than any modern 
 leader. It was this gift that enabled him to do and speak 
 things that to other men seemed ruinous. 
 
 The victory of Polk in its immediate results hardly sur- 
 prised friend or foe. His election was the signal gun of the 
 Mexican war. Events were rapidly hurried forward under 
 the fostering guidance of the Tyler administration and in 
 its last gasp a messenger was dispatched to Texas to mature 
 the annexation.^* In weighty words Greeley uttered the 
 protest of the aroused North, declaring that the annexation 
 of Texas challenged the regard of mankind and defied the 
 consciences of .our own citizens ; that for the first time our 
 Union stood before the nations, not merely as an upholder, 
 but as a zealous, unscruplous propagandist of human slav- 
 ery.'-* It required no special genius to provoke martial 
 hostilities and anxiety soon found ammunition to drive even 
 a reluctant opponent to the chance of battle. So Mexico 
 was almost dared into the inevitable combat. 
 
 Until this time the nation was little stirred by political 
 "Lamon, 278. "Nicolay & Hay, 1, 236. "Greeley, 1, 178. 
 
128 Lmcolm, the Politician 
 
 unrest and strife. The battles in Congress that form so vast 
 an asset of the historian, hardly disturbed the daily life 
 of the inventor, farmer, mechanic and student. Lincoln 
 entered the national Legislature at a momentous period. For 
 more than a third of a century, "grim visaged war had 
 smoothed her wrinkled front." The nation was lost in in- 
 dustrial pursuits, the hero of the community was the business 
 man. Patriotism slumbered, national impulses seemed dead. 
 Then the wUd passion for war awakened the people from 
 apathy, they rejoiced that the spirit of the fathers was stiU 
 strong in them, that they had not forgotten Bunker Hill 
 and New Orleans. Commerce for the time forewent its emi- 
 nence, the soldier stepped to the front. In a moment the 
 standard of the nation shifted from the dollar to the deed. 
 Men did not stop to debate the righteousness of the war or 
 what the end would be. They did not reason as to its effect 
 on the status of slavery. Emotion, not judgment, was their 
 guide. They knew only the pulsation of a subtle and sub- 
 duing patriotism. Many marched to the front, while others 
 hurried on supplies and ammunition to the seat of trouble. 
 The present alone absorbed their interest, busied every im- 
 pulse. 
 
 Lincoln did not willingly come into conflict with this public 
 sentiment. He, too, was moved by the heroism of the hour, 
 he too saw with pride the flag unfurled and heard the throb- 
 bing drum. When Hardin and Baker and Shields hastened 
 from Springfield for the field of glory and danger, he was 
 one of the speakers at the parting public meeting. The 
 Congressman-elect urged a sturdy, vigorous prosecution of 
 hostilities, admonished all to permit no shame to the govern- 
 ment and to stand by the flag till peace came with honor. ^^ 
 This was not a reluctant politic approbation, as Lamon inti- 
 "Herndon, 1, 260. 
 
Lincoln Opposes Inception of Mexican War 129 
 
 mates,^^ but a benediction upon the cause of his country 
 that came deep from the heart. 
 
 The attitude of Lincoki toward the annexation of Texas 
 is of importance, not alone for its own intrinsic interest but 
 as illustrating the opinion of thousands of sober, patriotic 
 citizens throughout the land. These had no kinship with 
 the radicals who regarded the conduct of the war, as well 
 as its inception, with bitter hostility; who feared the visita- 
 tion of Divine Power upon a conflict conceived in aggression. 
 They were not akin to the Democrats who looked neither to 
 the right nor left but marched over cherished principles of 
 the Republic for the sake of extending the territory and en- 
 larging the activity of a sectional institution. 
 
 Lincoln entered Congress with no thought of opposition 
 to any phase of the war. Like Grant, he doubtless knew that 
 the man who criticized a war in which his nation is engaged, 
 no matter whether right or wrong, occupies no enviable 
 place in life or history, and that he might better advocate 
 "war, pestilence and famine," than to act as an obstruc- 
 tionist to a war already begun.^* 
 
 The President and his advisors would not allow the Whigs 
 to vote alone for supplies. They sought to interpolate reso- 
 lutions expressing the original justice of the war. Lincoln's 
 interesting commentary on this uncalled for procedure is 
 worth quoting. "Upon these resolutions when they shall be 
 put on their passage I shall be compelled to vote; so that 
 I cannot be silent if I would. Seeing this, I went about 
 preparing myself to give the vote understandingly when it 
 should come. I carefully examined the President's message, 
 to ascertain what he himself had said and proved upon the 
 point. The result of this examination was to make the 
 impression that, taking for true all the President states as 
 " Lamon, 381. " Grant, 45. 
 
130 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 facts, he faUs far short of proving his justification; and 
 that the President would have gone farther with his proof if 
 it had not been for the small matter that the truth would 
 not permit him. Under the impression thus made I gave the 
 vote before mentioned." ^* 
 
 The issue once made, Lincoln and other Whigs did not 
 hesitate; he did not even hide in silence. He took up the 
 challenge of the President that war existed by the act of 
 Mexico. He followed with probing resolutions, with a series 
 of penetrating questions that precluded quibbling. The first 
 one well illustrates the series. 
 
 "Resolved, By the House of Representatives, that the 
 President of the United States be respectfully requested to 
 inform the House — 
 
 "First, whether the spot on which the blood of our citizens 
 was shed, as in his message declared, was or was not within 
 the territory of Spain, at least after the treaty of 1819 
 until the Mexican revolution." * 
 
 The President never heeded them, nor does it appear that 
 any friend of the administration soberly attempted the sore 
 task of facing their keen, sabre-like stroke. They allowed 
 little room for shifting, and demanded a logical response. 
 Three weeks later, came the speech which was responsive to 
 the desire of his Springfield friends to distinguish himself.^" 
 It was sober and restrained in expression; curbed in state- 
 ment, concise in logic and comprehensive in treatment. He 
 spoke more like a distinguished jurist than a partisan 
 pleader. 
 
 "Now, sir, for the purpose of obtaining the very best evi- 
 dence as to whether Texas had actually carried her revolu- 
 tion to the place where the hostilities of the present war 
 
 "Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 101. ^ Ibid., 96. 
 
 * Ibid., 97. 
 
Lincoln Opposes Inception of Meosiccm War 131 
 
 commenced, let the President answer the interrogatories I 
 proposed, as before mentioned, or some other similar ones. 
 Let him answer fully, fairly and candidly. Let him answer 
 with facts and not with arguments. Let him remember he 
 sits where Washington sat and so remembering, let him an- 
 swer as Washington would answer. As a nation should not, 
 and the Almighty will not, be evaded, so let him attempt no 
 evasion — no equivocation. And if, so answering, he can 
 show that the soil was ours where the first blood of the war 
 was shed, — then I am with him for his justification." ^^ Then 
 a sentence follows, painful and remorseless in its treatment 
 of the vacillating policy of the President stating that his 
 mind, taxed beyond its power, was running hither and thither, 
 like some tortured creature on a burning surface, finding no 
 position on which it could settle down and be at ease.^^ 
 
 This speech should have won him a high place in the na- 
 tional arena of controversy and debate, were it not that the 
 shifting standard of public judgment often exalts the thing 
 of the hour for intrinsic value, ostentation for merit, popu- 
 larity for worth. This speech may in itself command the 
 interest of those who would know the motives that led the 
 Whigs to their course of conduct.' They did not seek hard 
 duties, but still they would not shirk or retreat when they 
 showed their front. 
 
 Lincoln soon learned that his resolutions and speech, how- 
 ever unanswerable, did not save him from the damaging 
 charge of opposition to the war of his country. Dissatisfac- 
 tion ran through the Whig ranks in Illinois. General dis- 
 content with the course of his partner even turned Hemdon 
 into one of the malcontents. A letter soon advised Lincoln 
 of the condition, who sent a sturdy reply to the complaint 
 on his vote on Ashmun's amendment, — "That vote afiirms 
 
 » Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 106. "^Ibid., 107. 
 
132 Lincoln the PoUtkiem 
 
 that the war was unnecessarily and unconstitutionally com- 
 menced by the President; and I will stake my life that if you 
 had been in my place you would have voted just as I did. 
 Would you have voted what you felt and knew to be a lie? 
 I know you would not. Would you have gone out of the 
 House — skulked the vote? I expect not. — ^You are com- 
 pelled to speak, and your only alternative is to tell the truth 
 or a lie. I cannot doubt which you would do." ^* 
 
 Later Hemdon forwarded a constitutional argument in 
 favor of the policy of Polk ingeniously saying that it was 
 the duty of the President as Conamander-in-Chief of the army 
 and navy, in the absence of Congress, if the country was 
 'about to be invaded, to go, if necessary, into the very heart 
 of Mexico and prevent the invasion; that it would be a 
 crime in the executive to let the country be invaded in the 
 least degree; that the action of the President was a neces- 
 sity.2* 
 
 The reply that hurried to Springfield was a supreme an- 
 swer. No judge of a high tribunal, no statesman of mature 
 experience could have more thoroughly disposed of a specious 
 contention.^^ In this letter of Lincoln there appears a might 
 and an ability to grapple with a great issue, a sincerity 
 of purpose, a soberness of thought that weU betokens a 
 student and patriot, whose heart was in unison with the in- 
 herent purposes of the Republic. He insisted that the im- 
 perial function of the Constitution in leaving the declara- 
 tion of war with Congress was that no one man should hold 
 the power of bringing the oppression of war upon the peo- 
 ple.^* Through this letter there looms up the man, who 
 above all men hated kingly power and domination, and the 
 consequent impoverishment of the people. Herndon, the 
 
 ^Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 110. '"Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 112. 
 
 "Herndon, 1, 366. ''Ibid. 
 
LmcoTm. Opposes Inception of Mexican War 133 
 
 Abolitionist, would, for the sake of policy, sanction the incep- 
 tion of an unjust aggression, while the conservative Lincoln 
 stood resolutely when the hour summoned uncompromising 
 conduct ; then his knees were as "unwedgeable as the gnarled 
 oak." When principle was at stake he sent policy to the 
 rear. At such times he was more aggressive than the radical. 
 
 A letter to the Editor of the Tribune shows the deep hold 
 that this subject had on Lincoln, his restlessness to be rightly 
 understood on the theme. And the fact that he undertook 
 to correct Horace Greeley in a familiar tone is an indica- 
 tion that he was coming to the front as a champion in the 
 Whig ranks. He wrote the editor that he discovered a para- 
 graph in the Tribime in which it was said that aJl Whigs 
 and many Democrats contended that the boundary of Texas 
 stopped at the Nueces. He contended that such a state- 
 ment was a mistake which he disliked to see go uncorrected 
 in a leading Whig paper; that the large majority of Whigs 
 in the House of Representatives had not taken that position 
 and that as the position could not be maintained it gave 
 the Democrats, advantage of them. In conclusion Lincoln 
 asked the editor to examine what he said in a printed speech 
 that he was sending him.^^ 
 
 He earnestly wrote to a minister that he would be obliged 
 for a reference to any law, human or divine, in which an 
 authority could be found for saying that the action of the 
 Government constituted "no aggression." He then asked 
 is the precept " 'Whatsoever ye would that men should do to 
 you, do ye even so to them' obsolete? of no force? of no 
 application?" ^* 
 
 He was not so elated with patriotism that he lost his 
 standard of righteousness. As he was an honest judge of 
 his own conduct, so he was of that of his country. This rare 
 
 "Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 133. ""Ibid., im. 
 
134 Lvncoln the Politician 
 
 ability became a force of moment in later years. 
 
 During the tumult of the debate on the Mexican war 
 Lincoln wrote in his own rare way that Stephens, of Georgia, 
 a little slim, pale-faced, consumptive man, with a voice like 
 Logan's, had just concluded the very best speech of an 
 hour's length he ever heard; that his old withered dry eyes 
 were full of tears yet.^* 
 
 His appreciation knew no sectional limits. His range 
 of vision was not bounded by the Mason and Dixon line. He 
 was as much at home with the sons of the South as of the 
 North; he took the same interest in the speech of Stephens 
 of Georgia as he would in that of Webster. 
 
 "Lincoln's Speeches, I, 111. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 Lincoln's attack on slaveey in congress 
 
 T INCOLN'S main assignment in congressional committee 
 ■*— ^work was on Post-oiBce and Post-roads. He plodded 
 through the detail duties with industry. There was no more 
 earnest worker in the ranks of Congress. On an important 
 occasion, Lincoln stood by the Democratic Postmaster Gen- 
 eral, and opposed the policy of the Whig members of the 
 Committee. He worked out a painstaking plan for certain 
 postmasters receiving subscriptions for newspapers and peri- 
 odicals. He declared it to be in accordance with republican 
 institutions, which could be best sustained by the diiFusion 
 of knowledge and the due encouragement of a universal, na- 
 tional spirit of inquiry and discussion of public events 
 through the medium of the public press. ^ 
 
 Lincoln prepared himself thoroughly in the logic of pro- 
 tection to American industries. He advanced considerably 
 in a serious understanding of its fundamental importance. 
 Not satisfied with old and common contention, he sounded 
 the depths of discussion, by his quaint and original method. 
 He had intense sympathy for the toiler. He deemed a 
 wise and just distribution of wealth a national duty. He 
 pronounced that rather than production the deeper object 
 of government. "And inasmuch," he said, "as most good 
 things are produced by labor, it follows that all such things 
 of right belong to those whose labor has produced them. 
 ^Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 113. 
 
 135 
 
136 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 But it has so happened, in all ages of the world, that some 
 have labored, and others have without labor enjoyed a large 
 proportion of the fruits. That is wrong, and should not 
 continue. To secure to each laborer the whole product of 
 his labor, or as nearly as possible, is a worthy object of 
 any good government." ^ 
 
 He was in advance of the thought of his day in insisting 
 that all transportation, commerce, distribution, not essen- 
 tial, was a heavy pensioner upon industry, depriving it of 
 a large proportion of its just fruits. He advocated the 
 remedy of driving useless toil and idleness out of existence. 
 He announced that all work done directly or indirectly in 
 carrying articles to the place of consumption, which could 
 have been produced in sufficient abundance, with as little 
 effort at the place of consumption as at the place they were 
 carried from, was useless labor.* These fragments show 
 the intellectual power of a growing man of fine sympathies, 
 the sound conviction of a benefactor of his kind. 
 
 That Lincoln rapidly adapted himself to the ways of 
 Congress appears from the variety of the subjects he dis- 
 cussed. Few of the new comers were more in evidence. His 
 speech on internal improvements reveal the secret of his 
 power. He sought no name to sanction his opinions, he used 
 his own illustrations and reached his conclusions unaided. He 
 attacked the opinions of those high in power and station. 
 President Polk maintained that the burden of improvements 
 would be general while the benefits would be local, thus in- 
 volving a pernicious inequality. The reply of Lincoln is 
 a sign of his political wisdom. He argued that inequality 
 was never to be embraced for its own sake ; but that if every 
 good thing was to be discarded which might be inseparably 
 connected with some degree of inequahty, then all govem- 
 ". Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 93. " Ihid., 93. 
 
Lincohi's Attach on Slavery m Congress 137 
 
 ment would have to be discarded. The Capitol, he continued, 
 was built at the public expense, but still it was of some 
 peculiar local advantage, and to make sure of all inequality 
 Congress would have to hold its sessions, as the loafer lodged, 
 "in spots about." He added that there were few stronger 
 cases in this world of "burden to the many and benefit to the 
 few," of "inequality," than the Presidency itself; that an 
 honest laborer dug coal at about seventy cents a day, while 
 the President dug abstractions at about Seventy Dollars a 
 day, and the coal was clearly worth more than the abstrac- 
 tions. He declared that the true rule, in determining 
 whether to embrace or reject anything, was not whether it 
 had any evil in it, but whether it had more of evil than of 
 good; that almost everything, especially of government pol- 
 icy, was an inseparable compound of the two; so that the 
 best judgment of the preponderance between them was con- 
 tinually demanded.* 
 
 A great national party witnessed only the malign con- 
 sequences of the internal improvement policy. To avoid its 
 abuse, they practically advocated its abatement. Seeing only 
 the danger of extravagance, the Democratic party was not 
 free to contemplate prudent expenditures. Lincoln with his 
 keen sight presented a solution indicative of statesman- 
 ship. His plan permitted the States working in a smaller 
 sphere of activity in local improvements to cross paths and 
 to work together in larger national matters under the guid- 
 ance of sober and restrained general legislation, based on 
 statistical information. 
 
 The keen, shrewd instinct of the politician in Lincoln 
 shows through his strenuous advocacy of General Taylor as 
 the Whig candidate for the Presidency. He was in the van in 
 fighting opposition in Illinois to the silent soldier and un- 
 
 'Jiincoln's Speeches, 1, 126,. 
 
138 Lmcoln the Politicicm 
 
 tried statesman. In April he wrote his friend Washburne 
 to let nothing discourage or baffle him, but, in spite of every 
 difficulty, to send a good Taylor delegate from his circuit, 
 and to make Baker, who was a good hand to raise a breeze, 
 to help about it.^ On the same day he admonished another 
 associate in his inimitable manner. "I know our good friend 
 Browning is a great admirer of Mr. Clay, and I therefore 
 fear he is favoring his nomination. If he is, ask him to 
 discard feeling, and try if he can possibly, as a matter of 
 judgment, count the votes necessary to elect him. 
 
 "In my judgment we can elect nobody but General Tay- 
 lor; but we cannot elect him without a nomination. There- 
 fore, don't fail to send a delegate." ^ 
 
 His admiration for Clay was subdued in. his zeal for politi- 
 cal success. He would not do honor to the statesman as an 
 idle tribute so he would put him aside and call to the leader- 
 ship of the Whig party a man whose strength was largely in 
 the uncertainty of his views, in silence not in known sin- 
 cerity. He saw its cause could triumph with Taylor; that 
 the extension of the slave power was more likely to come 
 from the northern non-slave-holding Cass than from the 
 southern slave-holding Taylor. To still further confound 
 the jumble, the Whig convention avoided annunciation of 
 distinctive principles, and even dared to vote down an affirm- 
 ance of the Wilmot Proviso.''' After the selection of "Old 
 Rough," with Stephens, Toombs and Preston, he continued 
 an aggressive interest in his candidacy.* He again pleaded 
 with his friends for support from his State. 
 
 "By many, and often, it has been said they would not 
 abide the nomination of Taylor ; but since the deed has been 
 done, they are fast falling in, and in my opinion we shall 
 
 'Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 118. 'Greeley, 1, 193. 
 
 'Ibid. »TarbeU, 1, 316. 
 
Lincoln's Attack on Slavery m Congress 139 
 
 have a most overwhelming glorious triumph. One unmis- 
 takable ~ sign is that all the odds and ends are with us — 
 Barburners, Native Americans, Tyler men, disappointed 
 office-seeking Locofocos, and the Lord knows what. This is 
 important, if in nothing else, in showing which way the wind 
 blows. Some of the sanguine men have set down all the states 
 as certain for Taylor but Illinois, and it as doubtful. Can- 
 not something be done even in Illinois? Taylor's nomination 
 takes the Locos on the blind side. It turns the war thunder 
 against them. The war is now to them the gallows of Haman, 
 which they built for us, and upon which they are doomed to 
 be hange'd themselves." ^ 
 
 According to a peculiar and prevalent method in the 
 House, of spending public money for personal or partisan 
 purposes, Lincoln availed himself of the privilege of making 
 a campaign speech. It has met with varied comment. 
 Lamon freely and soberly passes this judgment. "Few like 
 it have ever been heard in either of those venerable chambers. 
 It is a common remark of those who know nothing of the 
 subject, that Mr. Lincoln was devoid of imagination; but 
 the reader of this speech will entertain a different opinion. 
 It opens to us a mind fertile in images sufficiently rare and 
 striking, but of somewhat questionable taste. It must have 
 been heard in amazement by those gentlemen of the House 
 who had never known a Hanks, or seen a New Salem." ^^ 
 
 Herndon, twenty years later, pronounced it a masterpiece 
 and declared that one who would read it would lay it down 
 convincd that Lincoln's ascendency for a quarter of a cen- 
 tury among the political spirits in Illinois was by no means 
 an accident, and would not wonder that Douglas, with all 
 his forensic ability, averted, as long as he could, a contest 
 with a man whose plain, analytical reasoning was not less 
 
 "Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 123. "Lamon, 298. 
 
140 Lmcoln the PoUticia/n 
 
 potent than his mingled drollery and caricature were 
 effective.* 
 
 Lincoln entered on the hard job of showing that it was 
 sound doctrine for the President to shun defined public opin- 
 ions and aUow Congress its own way without hindrance from 
 the chief executive. The history of the United States has 
 been a vigorous answer to this contention. As President he 
 made short shrift of that policy, though his splendid state- 
 ment of the Whig position may well attract more than pass- 
 ing attention. He maintained that the Democrats were in 
 favor of laying down in advance a platform as a unit, and 
 then of forcing the people to ratify aU of its provisions, 
 however unpalatable some of them might be ; that the Whigs 
 were in favor of making Presidential elections, and the legis- 
 lation of the country distinct matters ; so that the people 
 could elect whom they pleased, and afterwards legislate just 
 as they pleased. The difference, he insisted, was as clear as 
 noon day, and that leaving the People's business in their 
 hands was the true Republican position. ^^ 
 
 No more dramatic attack during the entire session, ar- 
 raigning the Democratic candidate was made than in this 
 speech for his attitude on the Wilmot resolution. "In 1846," 
 says Lincoln, "General Cass was for the proviso at once; 
 that in March, 1847, he was still for it, but not just then; 
 and that in December, 1847, he was against it altogether. 
 This is a true index to the whole man. When the question 
 was raised in 1846, he was in a blustering hurry to take 
 ground for it. He sought to be in advance, and to avoid the 
 uninteresting position of a mere follower ; but soon he began 
 to see glimpses of the great Democratic ox-goad waving in 
 his face, and to hear indistinctly, a voice saying, "Back! 
 Back, sir! Back a little!" He shakes his head and bats his 
 *Herndon, 1, 273. "Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 139. 
 
Lmcoln's Attach on Slavery in Congress 141 
 
 eyes, and blunders back to his position of March, 1847 ; but 
 still the goad waves, and the voice grows more distinct and 
 sharper still, "Back, sir. Back, I say! Further back!" — 
 and back he goes to the position of December, 1847, at which 
 the goad is still, and the voice soothingly says, "So! Stand 
 at that!"* 
 
 That Lincoln had not fully forgotten the form of utter- 
 ance that angered Darbey and has bothered most biogra- 
 phers since, appears in the following selection: "Like a 
 horde of hungry ticks you have stuck to the tail of the 
 Hermitage lion to the end of his life ; and you are still stick- 
 ing to it, and drawing a loathsome sustenance from it, after 
 he is dead. A fellow once advertised that he had made a 
 discovery by which he could make a new man out of an old 
 one, and have enough of the stuiF left to make a little yellow 
 dog. Just such a discovery has General Jackson's popu- 
 larity been to you. You not only twice made President out 
 of him out of it, but you have had enough of the stuiF left 
 to make Presidents of several comparatively small men since ; 
 and it is your chief reliance now to make still another." ^^ 
 
 At least it may be said that he was not the aggressor or 
 the sole participant in such a "scathing and withering 
 style," ^' nor is it at all hard to find like statements and 
 oratory in every period of our history. This is almost the 
 last time that the historian need halt in his comment on 
 the expression of Lincoln. Years of experience brought him 
 to a higher conception of public utterances. When the sub- 
 ject matter bade exalted expression he grew to the occasion 
 with amazing avidity. 
 
 This speech revealed Lincoln to Congress. It gained pres- 
 tige among the fulminations of the session. The Baltimore 
 
 * Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 143. "Ibid., 139. 
 
 "Ibid., 110. 
 
142 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 American named it the "crack speech of the day." It labeled 
 Lincoln as a very able, acute, uncouth, honest, upright man 
 and a tremendous, wag withal.-'* 
 
 His reputation as a Congressman and orator, begot him 
 the honorable privilege of addressing in September, the same 
 audience in the east that often listened to the triumphant 
 Webster. Only a faint echo of these speeches of the Illinois 
 representative remains. 
 
 A representative Boston newspaper reports him as say- 
 ing that the people of Illinois agreed entirely with the people 
 in Massachusetts on the slavery question, except, that they 
 did not think about it as constantly; that all agreed that 
 slavery was an evil, which could not be affected in the slave 
 states; but that the question of the extension of slavery to 
 new territories was under control. In opposition to this 
 extension Lincoln believed that the self-named "Free Soil" 
 party was far behind the Whigs; that the "Free Soil" men 
 in claiming that name, indirectly attempted a deception, by 
 implying that Whigs were not free soil men ; that in declar- 
 ing that they would "do their duty and leave the conse- 
 quences to God," merely gave an excuse for taking a course 
 they were not able to maintain by fair argument. Making 
 this declaration, he further argued, did not show what their 
 duty was, that if it did there would be no use for judgment; 
 that men might as well be made without intellect, and when 
 divine or human law did not clearly point their duty, they 
 had no means of finding out what it was by using their most 
 intellectual judgment of the consequences, and that if there 
 were divine law or human law for voting for Martin Van 
 Buren, then he would give up the argument.-*^ 
 
 New England testified to its liking for the western advo- 
 cate of Taylor. The Boston Advertiser stated that at the 
 "TarbeU, 1, 317. "^ Ibid., 2, 297-298. 
 
Lincoln's Attack on Slavery in Congress 143 
 
 close of his masterly speech, the audience gave three enthusi- 
 astic cheers for Illinois, and three more for the eloquent 
 Whig member from that state.^^ His Boston speech was so 
 effective "that several Whigs who had gone off on the 'Free 
 Soil' fizzle returned again to the Whig ranks." ^'^ 
 
 Ida Tarbell contends that at this time Lincoln first ex- 
 perienced the full meaning of the "Free Soil" sentiment, 
 as Massachusetts was then quivering under the impas- 
 sioned protests of the great Abolitionists, and Sumner 
 was beginning to devote his life to freedom and was speak- 
 ing often at riotous meetings. Miss Tarbell further main- 
 tains Lincoln was sensitive to every shade of popular feeling 
 in New England, and was stirred as never before on the 
 question of slavery; that he heard Seward's speech in Tre- 
 mont Temple, and that night, as the two men sat talking, 
 said gravely to the great anti-slavery advocate: 
 
 "Governor Seward, I have been thinking about what you 
 said in your speech. I reckon you are right. We have got 
 to deal with this slavery question, and got to give much 
 more attention to it hereafter than we have been doing." ■'■^ 
 
 This evidence does not prove that Lincoln then began to 
 take radical ground on the slavery question. Ten years be- 
 fore in the Illinois Legislature, he made his protest, and 
 later at every opportunity when circumstances favored. His 
 hatred to slavery had long been kindled. He needed little 
 inspiration from the New York orator on New England soil 
 to start his indignation. His statement to Seward shows 
 that he was ready for radical conduct as soon as the event 
 permitted the onslaught. He rejoiced at the growth of the 
 public opinion that betokened the doom of the artificial 
 institution. But he did not need to sit at the feet of eastern 
 teachers. The New England trip was an incident, not an 
 ^'TarbeU, 3, 299. "Ibid., 1, 128. ^'Ibid., 224. 
 
144 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 epoch in his career. 
 
 The second session of this Congress was rather free from 
 turbulence. Lincoln was a silent spectator. He went with 
 his party on the main issues and voted for the Wihnot Pro- 
 viso "about 42 times." ^® The Northern Democrats in the 
 House returned in a resentful spirit at the support rendered 
 Taylor by eight slave states. They were not backward in 
 supporting legislation to exclude slavery from California 
 and New Mexico.^" The Senate, true to its love of vested 
 interests speedily disposed of the proposal. 
 
 During the session a New York representative let loose a 
 resolution with the clanging preamble of a "law rooting out 
 the slave trade in the District of Columbia." ^^ Lincoln was 
 one of three or four northern Whigs who voted to lay this 
 exuberant measure on the table.^^ 
 
 As the sole Whig representative of his State, coming from 
 a constituency hardly distinguished for its anti-slavery sen- 
 timents, while most Whigs even from the New England states 
 were silent ; no external duty beckoned him ; no powerful or- 
 ganization called him to ride the storm by branding the 
 jealous institution. Selfish ambition whispered prudence and 
 calmed the voice of protest. 
 
 But within the very shade of the Capitol, the slave girl 
 was coined into drachmas. He felt the world shame that had 
 come upon the nation by this blot on its professions. The 
 •desire to strike another blow grew strong in him. As he 
 tried a decade before in the legislative halls of Illinois, so 
 now in the national assembly, in a very home of slavery, he 
 rang forth his hate of the old injustice. Still he did not give 
 way to an outburst of vengeance; he husbanded his anger; 
 thought only of the consequence, planned with wisdom the 
 ^ Lamon, 309. ^i jj,^^ ^ ggg 
 
 =°Nicolay & Hay, 1, 383-284. '"Lamon, 308. 
 
Lincoln's Attack on Slavery in Congress 145 
 
 most effective stab at the national disgrace. 
 
 The politician walked hand in hand with the patriot. He 
 gathered discordant elements to the support of a common 
 cause calling forth admiration at the unrivalled policy. H^ 
 consecrated to the high purpose of dedicating the national 
 Capitol to a free citizenship, a devotion and sagacity that 
 made him the peer of any strategist of his day. He con- 
 ceived and carried out a daring plan of securing the support 
 to his 'astounding proposal of the Mayor of Washington, a 
 representative of the intelligent slave-holding citizens of that 
 community. With equal skill, he secured the reinforcement 
 of the radical Giddings, who says in his diary that Lincoln's 
 bill to abolish slavery was approved by all; that he believed 
 it as good a biU as we could get at this time, and was willing 
 to pay for slaves in order to save them from the southern 
 market, as he supposed every man in the District would sell 
 his slaves if he saw that slavery was to be abolished.^^ 
 Lincoln held together two such leaders in advocacy of the 
 same measure affecting the sore subject, thus revealing the 
 supreme tactician, who in later years held to the public 
 service a Seward, a Stanton and a Chase in the same cabinet. 
 
 He persuaded the slave holder that it was wiser to adopt 
 his measure than in later years confront the danger of more 
 exacting legislation. He convinced the Abolitionists that 
 his law was the best then attainable. His alarming propo- 
 sition was as innocent in expression as patience and wisdom 
 could make it. It provided for the ultimate emancipation of 
 all slaves born after 1850 and the manumission of existing 
 slaves on full payinent to willing owners. After soberly pro- 
 viding for the return of all fugitive slaves the whole plan 
 was made dependent upon the approval of a popular vote.^* 
 
 The slaveholders were more illiberal than the Abolitionists. 
 
 ''Nicolay & Hay, 1, 286-287. '^Ibid., 287. 
 
146 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 They spurned all compromise. They would admit no sug- 
 gestion that laid bare the injustice of their institution. They 
 knew that when an inroad was once made, its days would be 
 numbered ; that compromise was the dawn of the end. They 
 brought all their power into being. The social influences of 
 Washington were called into polite requisition and the 
 Mayor, under this duress, withdrew his sanction.^^ The 
 biographers, who knew Lincoln in the days of trial, have 
 given expression to a splendid tribute to his constancy. 
 "Fifteen years afterwards, in the stress and tempest of a 
 terrible war, it was Mr. Lincoln's strange fortune to sign a 
 bin sent him by Congress for the abolition of slavery in 
 Washington; and perhaps the most remarkable thing about 
 the whole transaction was that while we were looking po- 
 KticaUy upon a new heaven and a new earth, — for the vast 
 change in our moral and economical condition might justify 
 so audacious a phrase, — when there was scarcely a man 
 on the continent who had not greatly shifted his point of 
 view in a dozen years, there was so little change in Mr. 
 Lincoln. The same hatred of slavery, the same sympathy 
 with the slave, the same consideration for the slaveholder as 
 the victim of a system he had inherited, the same sense of 
 divided responsibility between the South and the North, the 
 same desire to effect great reforms with as little individual 
 damage and injury, as little disturbance of social conditions 
 as possible, were equally evident when the raw pioneer signed 
 the protest with Dan Stone of Vandalia, when the mature 
 man moved the resolution of 1849 in the Capitol and when 
 the President gave the sanction of his bold signature of the 
 act which swept away the slave shambles from the City of 
 Washington." ^® 
 
 He warred against slavery not the slave holder. He took 
 
 "•Nicolay & Hay, 1, 287-288. "Ibid., 388. 
 
Lincoln's Attack on Slavery in Congress 147 
 
 full account of the conditions leading to the ownership of 
 human property. He realized that it was a legacy of a 
 former age, that it was not a product of present and indi- 
 vidual responsibility, that it was a national fault not a 
 private one, that the slave holder was the victim of the 
 system not the cause. So he would not have the change 
 come with a rush lest it might not be abiding. He was 
 willing to wait. Lincoln knew that progress is a slow and 
 labored process and that haste is often the companion of 
 reaction. He would awaken no just and general resentment, 
 a resentment that still lingers in the hearts of men from a 
 war-won emancipation. It would have been well for the 
 North and South had this measure of gradual compensated 
 emancipation have become the settled policy of the nation. 
 The most cankerous conflict of the age might have been 
 spared and the problems resulting therefrom less perplexing. 
 Like a wise surgeon, he dared an early operation rather than 
 delay the necessity of a more drastic remedy. When 
 passion forged to the front as the guide, when North and 
 South had ample occasion to dwell on mutual wrongs, when 
 the Constitution of the Union ceased to be the prevailing 
 measure of the individual and general welfare, the days of 
 peace were being numbered. Lincoln realized that compro- 
 mise is only available when wisely adapted to opposing forces 
 at the fitting time. 
 
 Thus, there stood forth in Congress a man who subdued 
 his passion for the Declaration of Independence and yet who 
 was not willing that the down-trodden should eternally re- 
 main in the darkness of vicarious government. He knew 
 that slavery could not always dwell in the seat of govern- 
 ment, that the time would come when there would be no 
 human chattel on American soil. Still, Lincoln did not shift 
 to others the whole burden of bringing the day to pass, but 
 
148 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 took his stand against the iniquity of human bondage with 
 sublime wisdom. He tempered but did not dull his sense of 
 justice. He struck a second blow at the national evil, a 
 sign that he still was true to his vow at New Orleans and 
 his protest at Vandalia. 
 
 Like other legislators, Lincoln was obliged to deal with 
 the issue of handing out offices as party spoil. Trade and 
 industry were still in their infancy and had not yet begun 
 to attract the activity of the aspiring. The highway to 
 general distinction and to honor was largely that of public 
 office. Hence, there ensued, in the words of Lincoln, a 
 "wriggle and struggle for office" and an effort to find "a way 
 to live without work." ^^ 
 
 The attitude of Lincoln in days when the Jackson theory 
 was in its full vigor is noteworthy. As the sole Whig rep- 
 resentative, beside Colonel Baker, Lincoln asked, in 1849, 
 to be heard on all appointments in Illinois. His remark- 
 able action is seen in the following letter: "Mr. Bond I 
 know to be personally every way worthy of the office; and 
 he is very numerously and most respectably recommended. 
 His papers I send to you; and I solicit for his claims a fuU 
 and fair consideration. Having said this much, I add that 
 in my individual judgment the appointment of Mr. Thomas 
 would be better. ... I add that from personal knowledge 
 I consider Mr. Bond every way worthy of the office, and 
 qualified to fill it. Holding the individual opinion that the 
 appointment of a different gentleman would be better, I ask 
 especial attention and consideration for his claim, and for 
 the opinions expressed in his favor by those over whom I can 
 claim no superiority." ^® As Congressman he selected a 
 postman of a village with the same precision that he later 
 did a war minister. 
 " Herndon, 1, 279. =» Lincoln's Speeches, 1, lSl-153. 
 
Lincoln's Attach on Slavery m Congress 149 
 
 The activity of Lincoln in securing the nomination and 
 election of Taylor commanded the regard of some leading 
 politicians. They advised his candidacy for the General 
 Land Office. Lincoln was poorly equipped to seek the favor 
 of those dispensing patronage. He was not gifted with 
 assiduity or forwardness so often essential to bearing away 
 the palm. Seldom has a hunter for alluring official service 
 so gently put obstacles in the way of his success. Though 
 it is claimed he was even eager for the prize, he was careful 
 to a nicety, to avoid a false position, while others were bend- 
 ing every effort and using every means at their disposal. 
 
 To several friends he wrote the following unique letter: 
 "Some months since I gave my word to secure the appoint- 
 ment to that office of Mr. Cyrus Edwards, if in my power, 
 in a case of a vacancy ; and more recently I stipulated with 
 Colonel Baker that if Mr. Edwards and Colonel J. L. D. 
 Morrison could arrange with each other for one of them to 
 withdraw, we would jointly recommend the other. In rela- 
 tion to these pledges, I must not only be chaste, but above 
 suspicion. If the office shall be tendered to me, I must be 
 permitted to say: 'Give it to Mr. Edwards, or if so agreed 
 by them, to Colonel Morrison, and I decline it; if not, I 
 accept.' With this understanding you are at Kberty to 
 procure me the offer of" the appointment if you can ; and I 
 shall feel complimented by your effort, and still more by its 
 success."^® 
 
 But even his patience gave way when Justin Butterfield, 
 a late opponent of Taylor, was considered for the place. 
 He burst forth with the statement that if anything should 
 be given to the State, it should be so given as to gratify 
 friends, and to stimulate them to future exertions, and that 
 it would mortify him deeply if General Taylor's administra- 
 
 *» Lincoln's Speeches, 1, lS3-lfi4. 
 
150 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 tion should trample all his wishes in the dust merely to 
 gratify friends of Clay.^" 
 
 ylt was not surprising that the laggard procedure of 
 Lincoln lost him this place. Political offices, like opportu- 
 nity, do not wait long. And so it came to pass that the 
 former opponent of the President was selected in the place 
 of one who was his earnest advocate from the beginning. 
 Though not backward in his claim for an elective office, he 
 was still little inclined to play the servile part in an ap- 
 pointive position. He was willing enough to submit to the 
 democratic judgment of his fellow men when he was given a 
 public opportunity to present his claim, but he timidly shrank 
 from a personal solicitation of a Presidential favor. 
 
 His final letter on the history of this affair is rather 
 tinged with another sorrow. Mr. Edwards being offended 
 with him, he wrote that the better part of one's life con- 
 sisted of his friendships ; that at a word he could have had 
 the office any time before the Department was committed 
 to Mr. Butterfield; and that word he forbore to speak 
 chiefly for Mr. Edwards' sake, — Closing the office that he 
 might gain it, and that to lose his friendship, by the effort 
 for him would oppress him very much, were he not sustained 
 by the utmost consciousness of rectitude.^-' 
 
 The selection of Butterfield for the General Land Office 
 did not shake the efforts of the friends of Lincoln to secure 
 recognition of his valiant services in the Whig ranks. He 
 was tendered the governorship of Oregon by Fillmore. The 
 new land held forth enticing political promises, it was soon 
 to become a state and a senatorship was a fair prospect. 
 Close associates advised acceptance. Lamon says that Lin- 
 coln saw it all, and would have accepted "if his wife con- 
 sented," but she refused to do so ; and that time has shown 
 '=° Lincoln's Speeches, 1, ISS. " TarbeU, 2, 300-301. 
 
Lincoln's Attack on Slavery m Congress 151 
 
 that she was right. ^^ What part Lincoln would have 
 played in history if he had become a senator from Ore- 
 gon may be interesting but none the less vain specula- 
 tion. If the Lincoln and Douglas debates had been shifted 
 from the prairies of Illinois to the national arena at Wash- 
 ington, who can say that Lincoln and Douglas might not 
 have become rivals for the Presidency? It has been quite 
 the fashion to assume that the Senate would have been de- 
 structive to the future of Lincoln, overlooking the plain 
 fact that the National Assembly was the home of the re- 
 nown of Douglas and his ladder to the Presidential nomina- 
 tion. Lincoln was not spoiled by the highest office in the 
 land and there is no surety that the senate would have 
 proved the grave of his career. 
 
 Two scant years of Congressional life worked a change in 
 the politician from Illinois. He had come in a subdued mood 
 to mingle in national affairs. Shrinkingly, he measured his 
 humble equipment with that of illustrious legislators in 
 Washington. While he left a respectable, but not an emi- 
 nent record of achievement, he departed with a store of con- 
 fidence in his worth. His intimate association with northern, 
 and southern leaders, his sure, inner knowledge of national 
 legislative methods, his insight into the uncompromising char- 
 acter of the slavery controversy were not wasted in the part 
 he was soon to play in events that would shake the very 
 foundation of the nation. 
 
 Still, he returned to Springfield unhonored. In the opin- 
 ion of his constituency, he made a series of blunders. His 
 attitude on the war lost the district to the Whig party. His 
 "Spot Resolutions" had become a by-word in the community, 
 they were liberally satired in song and story. The political 
 career of Lincoln had seemingly come to an Inglorious con- 
 clusion. 
 
 "Lamon, 334, 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 THE SCHOOL OF SOLITUDE 
 
 UPON his return from Washington, Abraham Lincoln 
 attended to a growing legal practice. He apparently 
 lost his interest in communal matters, having tasted the 
 allurements and bitterness of public service. He had largely 
 outgrown the passion for ordinary oflScial distinction. He 
 was ready to go back to the circuit with its hardships and 
 rudeness. To win renown as a lawyer now seemed his sole 
 ambition. 
 
 Still as the coippromise measures of 1850 ended another 
 national crisis, he readily renewed his interest in the march 
 of events. A loyal Whig, stiU, he acceded to the Clay and 
 Webster solution of the perturbed political conditions with 
 some misgiving. He poorly tolerated the burdens added to 
 the yoke of the fugitive slave — the premium placed upon 
 bondage rather than freedom. During this stormy period 
 of general controversy, in his lonely way he settled the main 
 issue. A story told by a close friend is significant of the 
 seriousness of the struggle. As they were coming down a 
 hill, Hemdon said to Lincoln that the time was coming when 
 they should all have to be either Abolitionists or Democrats. 
 Lincoln thought a moment and then answered ruefully that 
 when that time came his mind would be made up, for he be- 
 lieved the slavery question could never be successfully com- 
 promised.^ 
 * Hemdon, 2, 31. 
 
 15? 
 
The School of Solitude 153 
 
 Though zealous for action, for a time, he was in the gloom 
 of despair. Most men were lost in their own affairs. The 
 furtive Abolitionist raised his voice as in a wilderness. The 
 busy world took mean note of the cry of anguished slave. 
 About this time Herndon states that Lincoln was speculating 
 with him about the deadness of things, and deeply regretted 
 that his human strength was limited by his nature to rouse 
 the world, -and despairingly exclaimed that it was hard to 
 die and to leave one's country no better than if one had 
 never lived for it.^ Here is again communion with the soul 
 whose thoughts were of the despised and the lowly. To 
 Lamon and other men who cannot rise to kinship with him 
 in such an hour, he must forever remain a mystery. It is 
 for this reason that some who were near him seldom com- 
 prehended the extensiveness of his sympathy, seldom knew 
 the divinity of his hopes, and his surpassing love of kind. 
 
 Lincoln was a stumbling student in the domain of eulogy. 
 His mind scorned fanciful statement. He was no hero wor- 
 shipper. Washington, alone, remained the shrine of his 
 homage. He mastered indiscriminate devotion to person in 
 his loyalty to principle. For this reason, to many, he seemed 
 impassive and self centered. It is strange that the man so 
 little prone to adulation should, himself, be the recipient of 
 almost universal adoration. So his address in 1852 on the 
 death of Clay shows little of the devotional element. Even 
 in the shadow of the grave of the great Compromiser, there 
 is no chant of an admiring friend — no speech leaping from 
 the heart. Lincoln himself felt its limitations.® In this 
 address, he called attention to the striking fact that Clay 
 never spoke merely to be heard, that his eloquence was 
 always directed to practical action. 
 
 It is only when Lincoln approached the discussion of the 
 
 'Lamon, 335. 'Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 171, 
 
154 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 slavery question that he ceased commonplace commendation. 
 He gave much time to that issue. That he brooded over the 
 solemn statement of the patriots of the Republic is shown 
 in his use of the far-famed utterance of Jefferson : "I had 
 for a long time ceased to read newspapers or to pay any 
 attention to public affairs, confident that they were in good 
 hands and content to be a passenger in our bark to the 
 shore from which I am not distant. But this momentous 
 question, like a fire-bell in the night, awakened and filled me 
 with terror. I considered it at once as the knell of the Union. 
 It is hushed, indeed, for a moment. But this is a reprieve 
 only, not a final sentence. A geographical line coinciding 
 with a marked principle, moral and political, once conceived 
 and held up to the angry passions of men, will never be ob- 
 literated, and every irritation will mark it deeper and 
 deeper." * 
 
 He likewise dwelt on the exulting protest of Clay against 
 the enemies of liberty and ultimate emancipation, who would 
 go back to the era of our liberty and independence and 
 muzzle the cannon which thunders its annual joyous return, 
 who would blow out the moral light and penetrate the human 
 soul, and eradicate the light of reason and the love of 
 liberty." 
 
 We learn something of the trend of his thoughts in his 
 discussion of the colonization proposal of Clay that there 
 was a moral fitness in the idea of returning to Africa her 
 children, whose ancestors had been torn from her by the 
 ruthless hand of fraud and violence, who, transplanted in a 
 foreign land, would carry back to their native soil the 
 rich fruits of religion, civilization, law and liberty. Lincoln 
 passes this benediction on the plan : "May it indeed be real- 
 ized. Pharaoh's country was cursed with plagues, and his 
 * Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 173. "Ibid,, 17S. 
 
The School of Solitude 155 
 
 hosts were lost in the Red Sea, for striving to retain a cap- 
 tive people who had already served them more than four 
 hundred years. May like disasters never befall us! If, as 
 the friends of colonization hope, the present and coming gen- 
 erations of our countrymen shall by any means succeed in 
 freeing our land from the dangerous presence of slavery, and 
 at the same time in restoring a captive people to their long- 
 lost fatherland with bright prospects for the future, and this 
 too so gradually that neither races nor individuals shall have 
 suffered by the change, it will indeed be a glorious con- 
 summation." ® 
 
 Lincoln was seeking no temporary expedient. He saw 
 that abolitionism was only a step in the problem, that beyond 
 freedom was the greater question that still terrifies the Union. 
 Statesmanlike, he was not willing merely to trifle with the 
 casual remedy. Like Clay, he would have put an end to the 
 baffling issue by an operation titanic in contemplation and 
 astounding in sweep. So this eulogy on Clay is largely a 
 discussion of a looming problem of his time, a safe sign that 
 he was awake to the gathering storm. 
 
 The campaign of 1852 was colorless. Both parties were 
 arrayed on the side maintaining the sacredness of the Com- 
 promise Measures. All slavery agitation was severely depre- 
 cated. While the South feared and shunned the triumph of 
 the Whig party, there was still scant surface appearance of 
 a sectional contest. There was little in the issues involved 
 to awaken moral vitality. Lincoln took no glowing part in 
 the electoral contest. Lamon declares that his speeches dur- 
 ing the campaign were coarse, strained in humor, petulant, 
 unworthy of the orator, and pervasive with jealousy at the 
 success of his rival — ^Douglas.''^ 
 
 Though Lincoln was sure from the first, of the sin of 
 
 'Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 176. 'Lamon, 341. 
 
156 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 slavery, still, even at this period, he continued in conduct 
 with slow paced movement as if half afraid of being ahead 
 of the sweep of events. Herndon aided in helping him keep 
 abreast with advanced abolition literature, and sought to 
 win him to a championship of the radical school. Like 
 Washington, he marked out his own path. Neither friend 
 nor foe could swerve him, hasten or check his advance. 
 Broad-minded, open to appeal, no man was less influenceable 
 in final judgment. Herndon's weighty statement confirms 
 this distinctiveness of Lincoln's individuahty. "I was never 
 conscious of having made this impression on Mr. Lincoln, 
 nor do I believe I ever changed his views. I will go further 
 and say, that, from the profound nature of his conclusions 
 and the labored method by which he arrived at them, no 
 man is entitled to the credit of having either changed or 
 greatly modified them." * 
 
 At first, he began in his office in plain speech to comment 
 upon the virulent contest between freedom and slavery, con- 
 tending that delay was intensifying the ultimate clash, that 
 like two wild beasts in sight of each other, but chained and 
 held apart, the deadly antagonists would some day break 
 their bonds, and then the question would be settled.® 
 
 He spoke bitterly of the attitude of the judiciary, the 
 men who shoujd have been in the very front of the fight; 
 who seemed more zealous of the right of property than that 
 of personal liberty. He said that it was singular that the 
 Courts would hold that a man never lost his right to his 
 property that has been stolen from him, but that he instantly 
 lost his right to himself if he was stolen.^" Thus his mind 
 moved faster than public sentiment, and thus he became 
 prepared for decisive action before the culminating Kansas 
 and Nebraska affair threw the North into commotion. He 
 'Herndon, 3, 32. 'Ibid., 35. ^"^ Ibid., 36 
 
The School of Solitude 157 
 
 seemed the barometer of the national conscience, and though 
 his slow progress appeared painful to the radical yet it was 
 genuine and far more remorseless than immature reform. 
 When the conservative mind of Lincoln was stirred to action, 
 it was a definite sign of progress. He saw that the steady 
 march of slavery was slowly perverting the very principles 
 of democracy, that it was a challenge to the integrity of the 
 republic, that sooner or later it would subvert the govern- 
 ment or be subverted by the government. 
 
 He noted that there were about six hundred thousand 
 men non-slaveholding whites in Kentucky to about thirty- 
 three thousand slave holders ; that when a convention recently 
 assembled, there was not a single representative of the non- 
 slaveholding class. He told a friend that the thing was 
 spreading like wildfire over the country and that in a few 
 years Illinois would be ready to accept the institution. 
 When asked to what he attributed the change that was going 
 on in public opinion, he said that he had put that ques- 
 tion to a Kentuckian shortly before, who answered by saying 
 that one might have any amount of land, money or bank- 
 stock, and while travelling around, nobody would be wiser; 
 but, if one had a darky trudging at his heels, everybody 
 would see him, and know that he owned a slave; that if a 
 young man went courting, the only inquiry was, how many 
 negroes he or she owned. He added, that the love for slave 
 property was swallowing up every other mercenary posses- 
 sion; that its ownership betokened, not only the possession 
 of wealth, but indicated the gentleman of leisure, who was 
 above and scorned labor. ■'■■' 
 
 It has been a historical fashion to brand Douglas as the 
 author of all the ills that came in the course of the Kansas- 
 Nebraska agitation. He has suffered more than any other 
 
 "Lamon, 347. 
 
158 Lmcolm the Politician 
 
 northern leader for participation therein. He did not in- 
 augurate; he reluctantly adopted radical action to main- 
 tain his leadership in the Democratic party. The abolition- 
 ists were growing more resolute and exacting in their de- 
 mands, startUng the northern conscience. No compromise 
 could still their protests; they would not tolerate constitu- 
 tional obligations that stood in the way of immediate emanci- 
 pation. At the South, the slave dynasty was daily growing 
 more restless under the real or assumed danger from northern 
 agitation. New enactments were deemed indispensable, as if 
 legislation could stay the rising tide of sentiment against 
 the return of fugitive slaves. The South was, under the edu- 
 cational tutelage of Calhoun, prepared to demand the right 
 to carry slaves throughout every inch of the national t-erri- 
 tory without restraint from Congress. 
 
 Compromise could delay but not settle such a contest. 
 When moral instincts were aroused on one side and fear on 
 the other, the inevitable clash could not be permanently 
 avoided. Dixon of Kentucky, through his far-reaching state- 
 ment upon the question of slavery he knew no "Whiggery" 
 and no Democracy,^^ decisively noted the new era in Ameri- 
 can politics, and showed the desperate chasm that daily grew 
 more divisive, not to be covered over until the blood of a 
 million men was offered up as a sacrifice to the most mo- 
 mentous martyrdom in history. Atchison of Missouri, who 
 declared he would sacrifice everything but his hope of heaven 
 for slavery,^ ^ was anxious for the place of Douglas that he 
 might champion the legislation that would secure the repeal 
 of the Missouri Compromise. To gain this position, he would 
 relinquish his distinction as Acting President pro tern of 
 the Senate. 
 
 For twenty years, Douglas had fought in the party ranks 
 '' Greeley, 1, 239. » Nicolay & Hay, 1, 346, 
 
The School of Solitude 169 
 
 until he stood fair to become its leader. He had either to 
 become champion of the new policy, or as he saw it, to sac- 
 rifice the work of a lifetime. In the party councils he con- 
 tested the wisdom of the policy and eloquently portrayed its 
 far-reaching consequences. He loved his country but not all 
 of his kind. Patriot but not humanitarian, he would not 
 peer behind the curtain of a clashing North and South. The 
 nature of the bitter conflict through which Douglas passed 
 before he submitted to the southern policy, appears from 
 his counsel to a young student and friend never to go into 
 politics ; that if he did, no matter how clear it might be to him 
 that the present was an inheritance from the past, no mat- 
 ter how conscientiously he might feel that his hands were 
 tied, with loyalty to ancient institutions rather than what 
 he might prefer to do if free to choose, still he would be 
 viUfied, traduced, and finally sacrificed to some local interest 
 or unreasoning passion like Adams, Webster and Clay. He 
 continued that he was surprised that the proposal to repeal 
 came from the South and dreaded the effect, and said so ; 
 still for nearly twenty years he had fought for a place 
 among the leaders of the party which seemed to him most 
 hkely to promote the prosperity of his country, and had 
 won it. . . . If he retained his leadership, he argued that 
 he might help to guide the party aright in some graver crisis, 
 and if he threw it away, he not only destroyed himself, but 
 he became powerless for good forever after. 
 
 He then impetuously contended that an individual ought 
 not to oppose his judgment to that of a great party, and 
 besides though surprised at its source, he believed that the 
 repeal would work to the advancement of freedom rather 
 than otherwise, as his vilifiers charged. He finally pleaded 
 that he was politically right in keeping within the pale of 
 the Constitution ; and right as to the moral effect, and right 
 
160 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 as a party leader anxious to help in keeping his party true 
 to the whole country.^* Thus Douglas made his way to the 
 sons of the South and became the father of the Nebraska 
 controversy and of the repeal of the ^Missouri Compromise. 
 
 Douglas had not trained himself in the school of political 
 defeat and hesitated to forego his prestige of leadership. 
 To gain the South, he risked his hold on the Xorth. Had he 
 had the courage to dare, the wisdom to know, the moral hero- 
 ism to do, he might have become the foremost personality 
 in American politics, honoring instead of shadowing the his- 
 tory of his time. In a solemn moment he took coimsel of his 
 fears rather than his integrity, and doubted the triumph of 
 the one cause that has revolutionized history. With all his 
 political sagacity, he lacked the supreme instinct that tran- 
 scends the shrewdness of the day and links itself to the final 
 trivunphing movement. 
 
 During the spring and summer of 1854 when the whole 
 Xorth quivered with the hurrying march of events following 
 the Nebraska agitation, and thundered its protests into 
 Washington, Lincoln grew to the demands of the hour with 
 his wonted sureness. He turned over and over the whole 
 issue. He did not halt at the injustice of the repeal of the 
 Missouri Compromise, but went beyond its consideration to 
 the problems of the age, of which that act was only a grave 
 symptom. 
 
 Now and then in small meetings, he spoke out of the full- 
 ness of his feelings. His friends scanned a strange change. 
 Coming to listen to his quaint stories, they returned, exalted 
 by hearing a speaker who raised the controversy above the 
 shifting events of the hour to the broad tableland where 
 right and wrong meet on the field of battle. They beheld a 
 man who lifted the discussion into the pure realms of eternal 
 "Illinois State Historical Society, IV. 49. 
 
The School of Solitiude 161 
 
 justice, above all questions of policy, into the arena of the 
 higher humanity. Prejudices of a lifetime trembled in the 
 balance. Men were baptised with a new political faith. 
 They instinctively turned to the master and yielded, to the 
 power of a personality speaking in the name of immortal 
 righteousness. He was no longer in his former haunts, the 
 tavern or the grocery. He was seen "mousing" around 
 libraries. He was communing with the Fathers of the Re- 
 public, seeking wisdom from them. 
 
 These five years following his Congressional experience 
 are noteworthy in his Hfe, though scantily known. Now 
 and then a chance remark, the eulogy on Clay, a letter to a 
 friend, reveal a strong man struggling with a giant problem. 
 During all this time, he was thinking out the portentous 
 question that was agitating a tempest. The greatest con- 
 tests of the world are not fought on the battlefield, in the 
 presence of vast armies, when the drum beats or the bugle 
 calls to action. The sublimest battles in history are waged 
 in the lonely soul. There, the destiny of nations is deter- 
 mined before its formal expression in legislative discussion, 
 judicial decision or national controversy. 
 
 The grasping disposition of slavery convinced Lincoln 
 that the encounter was inevitable. Before the formation of 
 the Republican party, he sanctioned the statement that the 
 time was approaching when it would be necessary to take a 
 determined stand either for or against slavery. During this 
 period, he waited and bided his time; all these years he saw 
 with joy, clouded with occasional despair, the day approach- 
 ing when another blow could be struck for freedom, for the 
 principles of the fathers and for the spreading of democratic 
 influence. These were splendid years of preparation. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 AN EMANCIPATED POLITICIAN 
 
 THE indignation that rushed through Illinois when the 
 first news from the Capitol forecast the repeal of the 
 Missouri Compromise had not yet abated, when Douglas 
 dauntlessly sought to explain his course of conduct in Chi- 
 cago. He was howled down and denied liberty of speech. 
 This naturally brought on a reaction. The contention that 
 the distinguished senator had been struck before being heard, 
 added martyi'dom to his bold conduct. 
 
 As he wandered down the State closer to the home of 
 ardent democracy, he was met with growing enthusiasm. His 
 ingenious sophistry turned popular sovereignty into a seem- 
 ing contest for a principle and Illinois was being carried 
 away by his triumphant oratory and logic. There is little 
 wonder that the man who breasted the storm of debate in 
 the Senate should make headway in the land of his friends 
 where office holders and supporters gloried in his fame and 
 were elated when he chanted forth his alluring doctrine as a 
 solution to political conditions. 
 
 His main effort was made at the State Fair in October, 
 1864, an occasion that called together the intelligence of 
 Illinois in days when few occasions permitted the satisfac- 
 tion of social life. Enhancing its importance, this political 
 gathering was to mark the opening of the campaign to deter- 
 mine the selection of a Senator. The speech of Douglas was 
 to be almost a national event. Upon him the hopes of the 
 
 162 
 
An Ejnancipated Politician 163 
 
 State democracy centered in the conditions following the late 
 political tempest. Douglas was equal to the occasion and 
 his friends rejoiced. 
 
 Lincoln had made such a profound impression at the time 
 among the Whig orators, that he was chosen to bear the 
 brunt of the reply to the "State Fair Speech" of the wily 
 leader of the Democratic party. Lincoln surpassed every 
 expectation. Neither side was prepared for the terrible on- 
 slaught. A new and dauntless advocate appeared giving 
 power to the gathering protesting elements against the ag- 
 gressive championship of Douglas. Herndon, himself, was 
 thoroughly amazed, and tells us that the speaker quivered 
 with emotion, that he felt upon his soul the truths burn 
 which he uttered, that crushing with his logic the Nebraska 
 bill he rent it into shreds and held it up to the scorn and the 
 mockery of the crowds, that he took the heart captive 
 and broke like a sun over the understanding.-' In his 
 reply Douglas was excited, and his voice loud and shrill. 
 Lamon relates that shaking his forefinger at the democratic 
 malcontents, and declaiming rather than debating, he occu- 
 pied to little purpose the brief interval remaining until the 
 adjournment for supper; that then, promising to resume his 
 address in the evening, he went his way, and evening came 
 but not the orator.* 
 
 While Lincoln was moving in the moral realm, still, at 
 this very time, note must be taken of the politician in the 
 valley. The enthusiasm that followed his baptismal oration 
 had not calmed when Love joy announced a gathering that 
 evening of the friends of freedom. The Nebraska move- 
 ment fed the Abolitionists with abounding faith in a speedy 
 triumph. With a rising sense of their strength, fairly 
 "snuffing" the coming victory they looked for, Love joy and 
 
 ctAn at/\ 
 
164) Lmcoln, the Politician 
 
 his associates hastened to command Lincoln's attendance at 
 their meeting. Hemdon vividly describes the occasion, say- 
 ing that their plan was to induce Lincoln to speak for them, 
 yet he doubted the propriety of Lincoln's taking any stand 
 yet. Lincoln was ambitious to climb to the United States 
 Senate, and on grounds of policy it would not do for him 
 to occupy at that time such advance ground as they were 
 taking. On the other hand, it was equally dangerous to 
 refuse a speech for the Abolitionists. Herndon then hunted 
 up Lincoln and urged him to avoid meeting the enthusiastic 
 champion of Abolitionism. "Go home at once," he said. 
 "Take Bob with you and drive somewhere into the country 
 and stay till this thing is over." Lincoln under the pre- 
 tense of having business in Tazewell County drove out of 
 town in his buggy, and did not return until the apostles of 
 Abolitionism had gone to their homes. Herndon believes 
 that this arrangement saved Lincoln, for if he had endorsed 
 the resolutions passed at the meeting, or spoken simply in 
 favor of freedom that night, he would have been identified 
 with all the rancor and extremes of Abolitionism, and if, 
 on the contrary, he refused to take a position as advanced 
 as theirs, he would have lost their support.* 
 
 Another incident told by the same writer makes it neces- 
 sary ever to keep track of Lincoln, the wary politician: 
 "One day I read in the Richmond Enquirer an article en- 
 dorsing slavery, and arguing that from principle the enslave- 
 ment of either whites or blacks was justifiable and right. I 
 showed it to Lincoln, who remarked that it was 'rather rank 
 doctrine for northern Democrats to endorse. I should like 
 to see,' he said, with emphasis "some of these Illinois news- 
 papers champion that.' I told him if he would only wait and 
 keep his own counsel I would have a pro-slavery organ in 
 ' Herndon, 2, 40-4.1. 
 
An Emancipated Politician 165 
 
 Springfield publish that very article. He doubted it, but 
 when I told him how it was to be done, he laughed and said, 
 'Go in.' I cut the sHp out and succeeded in getting it in 
 the paper named. Of course it was a trick but it acted 
 admirably. Its appearance in the new organ, although with- 
 out comment, almost ruined that valuable journal, and my 
 good natured friend the editor was nearly overcome by the 
 denunciation of those who were responsible for the organ's 
 existence. My connection and Lincoln's too, — for he en- 
 dorsed the trick, — ^with the publication of the condemned 
 article was eventually discovered, and we were thereafter 
 effectually prevented from getting another line in the paper. 
 The anti-slavery people quoted the article as having been 
 endorsed by a democratic newspaper in Springfield and Lin- 
 coln himself used it with telling effect. He joined in the 
 popular denunciation, expressing great astonishment that 
 such a sentiment could find lodgment in any paper in lUinois, 
 although he knew full well how the whole thing had been 
 carried through." * 
 
 Lincoln was alive to the best methods of persuasion. He 
 knew that men were the children of emotion and that while 
 many would be calloused to the slavery of the black man, 
 nothing would arouse the North quicker than this doctrine 
 of the bondage of the white man. While slavery was making 
 every effort to fasten its fangs on the nation, Lincoln was 
 not averse to take advantage of a shrewd move to strike 
 heavy blows at the potent institution. 
 
 He entered deeply into the contest. Lincoln knew that 
 it involved the painful rending of party allegiance. His 
 letter to Palmer sheds light on the intensity of the struggle, 
 the heroism of the democratic minority whose loyalty to 
 country and righteousness surpassed a deep-seated partisan- 
 
 * Herndon, 3, 39-40. 
 
166 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 ship: "You are," he said, "and always have been, honestly 
 and sincerely a Democrat; and I know how painful it must 
 be to an honest sincere man to be urged by his party to the 
 support of a measure, which in his conscience he believes to be 
 wrong. You have had a severe struggle with yourself, and 
 you have determined not to swallow the wrong. Is it just 
 to yourself that you should, in a few public speeches, state 
 your reasons, and thus justify yourself.'' I wish you could; 
 and yet I say, 'Don't do it if you think it will injure you.' " ® 
 
 Lincoln recognized that political progress is not alone the 
 result of intellectual supremacy ; that it is a painful struggle; 
 that policy must be mingled with principle; that the world 
 does not welcome the unadulterated gospel ; that through the 
 centuries, humanity has groped its way to the far light 
 with eyes blinded by the superstition of ages and selfishness. 
 
 The moral prophet is seldom the political leader of his 
 time. He stands above his age. The politician is part of it. 
 One sees things as they should be, the other as they are. 
 One is splendidly indifferent to results, the other keenly ap- 
 preciative of them. Lincoln made no false step. Had he 
 walked too fast for his day he might have been the Garrison 
 of the West, but not the party guide. With sure instinct 
 he felt that the time was not ripe for companionship with 
 the Abolitionists. Illinois was not ready. If he was to con- 
 tinue his hold on public sentiment, to guide it, he could not 
 flash the truth before the gaze of humanity. Despite the 
 suffering of martyrs, the heroism of statesmen, the sacrifices 
 of seekers of the truth, wrong was still "upon the throne," 
 and "truth upon the scaffold," the world was not slow in 
 crucifying its heroes of speech and deed. Lincoln recog- 
 nized the weaknesses of men, the shortcomings of human 
 nature, the superstition of centuries. He was content with 
 
 "Tarbell, 1, 275. 
 
An Emancipated Politician 167 
 
 slow progress, uncowed by disappointment, and realized that 
 the grumbling world emancipated its heart and mind slowly. 
 
 Under the spell of the State Fair speech, Whig leaders 
 earnestly besought Lincoln to follow Douglas up until elec- 
 tion.* So again at Peoria, Lincoln broke forth in impas- 
 sioned utterances that took captive the judgment. His logic 
 throbbed with passion for freedom, for liberty and emanci- 
 pation. He lifted his hearers above the jangling of everyday 
 hfe, above the mists of hate, of jealousy, of selfishness, into 
 a region of the brotherhood of man. Unlike his speech at 
 Springfield, this was written out. It demonstrates that his 
 supremacy among the eminent leaders of Illinois was not a 
 matter of the choice of the hour. 
 
 With marvelous power of directness, he plotted out the 
 line of discussion. He made much of the fact that the 
 Fathers of the Republic regarded slavery as an evil worthy 
 of restriction and looked forward to the day of its ultimate 
 abolition, saying that as the subject was no other than part 
 of the larger question of domestic slavery, he wished to make 
 the distinction between the existing institution and the ex- 
 tension of it so clear that no honest man could misunder- 
 stand him, and no dishonest man could successfully mis- 
 represent him.'' 
 
 With telling effect he quoted the words of Douglas himself 
 as to the sincere observance of the Missouri Compromise that 
 put a barrier in the way of the progress of slavery: "It 
 had its origin," said Douglas, "in the hearts of all patriotic 
 men, who desired to preserve and perpetuate the blessings of 
 our glorious Union — an origin akin to that of the Constitu- 
 tion of the United States, conceived in the same spirit of 
 fraternal affection, and calculated to remove forever the 
 only danger which seemed to threaten, at some distant day, 
 
 'Lamon, 354. 'Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 181. 
 
168 Limcohb the Politician 
 
 to sever the social bond of Union. All the evidences of pub- 
 lic opinion of that day seemed to indicate that this Com- 
 promise had been canonized in the hearts of the American 
 people, as a sacred thing which no ruthless hand would ever 
 be reckless enough to disturb." ® His comment on this un- 
 answerable statement of Douglas is significant of the nature 
 of Lincoln's peculiar fairness and consequent strength. Lin- 
 coln said that he did not read the extract to involve Judge 
 Douglas in an inconsistency, for if he afterward thought he 
 was wrong, it was right for him to change, but he brought 
 it forward merely to show the high estimate placed on the 
 Missouri Compromise by aU parties up to so late as the year 
 1849.« 
 
 In the North and South passion had unloosed its tongue 
 and crimination and recrimination were daily becoming 
 steady servants in debate and discussion on the slavery ques- 
 tion. With it all, Lincoln calmly sat in judgment. 
 
 "Before proceeding let me say that I think I have no preju- 
 dices against the Southern people. They are just what we 
 would be in their situation. If slavery did not now exist 
 between them, they would not introduce it. If it did now 
 exist among us, we should not instantly give it up. This I 
 believe of the masses North and South. . . . When Southern 
 people teU us they are no more responsible for the origin of 
 slavery than we are, I acknowledge the fact. When it is 
 said that the institution exists, and that it is very difficult 
 to get rid of it in any satisfactory way, I can understand 
 and appreciate the same. I surely will not blame them for 
 not doing what I should not know how to do myself. If all 
 earthly power were given me, I should not know what to do 
 as to the existing institution. My first impulse would be to 
 free all the slaves, and send them to Liberia, to their own na- 
 ' Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 184. °Ibi4, 
 
An Ejnamcipated Politician 169 
 
 tive land. But a moment's reflection would convince me that 
 whatever of high hope (as I think there is) there may be in 
 this in the long run, its sudden execution is impossible — 
 what then? Free them all, and keep them among us as 
 underlings? Is it quite certain that this betterg their con- 
 dition? I think I would not hold one in slavery at any rate, 
 yet the point is not clear enough for me to denounce people 
 upon. What next? Free them and make them politically 
 and socially our equals? My own feelings will not admit of 
 this, and if mine would, we well know that those of the great 
 mass of whites will not. Whether this feeling accords with 
 justice and sound judgment is not the sole question, if indeed 
 it is any part of it. A universal feeling, whether well or ill 
 founded, cannot be safely disregarded. We cannot make 
 them equals. It does seem to me that systems of gradual 
 emancipation might be adopted, but for their tardiness in 
 this I will not undertake to judge our brethren of the 
 South. 
 
 "When they remind us of their constitutional rights, I 
 acknowledge them — not grudgingly, but fully and fairly ; and 
 I would give them any legislation for the reclaiming of their 
 fugitives which should not in its stringency be more likely 
 to carry a free man into slavery than our ordinary criminal 
 laws are to hang an innocent one. 
 
 '"But all this, to my judgment, furnishes no more excuse 
 for permitting slavery to go into our free territory than it 
 would for reviving the African slave-trade by law. The 
 law which forbids the bringing of slaves from Africa, and 
 that which has so long forbidden the taking of them into 
 Nebraska, can hardly be distinguished on any moral prin- 
 ciple, and the repeal of the former could find quite as plaus- 
 ible excuses as that of the latter." ^° 
 "Ivincoln's Speeches, 1, 186-187. 
 
1'70 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 In the domain of literature on the slavery question there 
 is no statement that surpasses this in charity, sanity and 
 wisdom. With his overflowing hatred to slavery, he still kept 
 justice as his guide and was slow to blame the South for 
 the long standing sin. In this he towers above the Aboli- 
 tionists who put upon the slave holders the burdens of a 
 past as well as a present wrong. Yet unlike the politician 
 he did not lose his ideal and become palsied and apologetic. 
 He saw the need of keeping alive the principles of the Re- 
 public. Hastening the coming of the better humanity, with 
 patience for human shortcoming, with zeal for the triumph of 
 emancipation, he continued in his peculiar, lonely and potent 
 way the advocacy of justice to God's dusky children. 
 
 In the Senate Douglas with triumphant eloquence charged 
 Seward and Sumner and the North with having repudiated 
 the Missouri Compromise through the Wilmot Proviso and 
 the measures of 1850. Anti-slavery leaders in the Senate 
 were confounded by this sudden charge and grandiloquent 
 accusation. Lincoln took up the challenge and met the 
 arrogant claim of Douglas without flinching. His analysis 
 exposed the glittering sophistry of the man who enraptured 
 the Northern statesmen in the solemn Senate. He not only 
 held his ground in the face of the brilliant strategy of his 
 opponent, but even carried the war into the camp of the foe. 
 
 He argued that the contention of Douglas that the North 
 repudiated the Missouri Compromise was no less absurd than 
 it would be to argue that because they had so far forborne 
 to acquire Cuba, they would have thereby, in principle, re- 
 pudiated former acquisitions and determined to throw them 
 out of the Union; that it was no less absurd than it would 
 be to say that because he may have refused to build an 
 addition to his house, he thereby decided to destroy the 
 existing house. 
 
An Emancipated Politician 171 
 
 This speech abounds in plain, hard English, travelling 
 direct to the intellect on a straight line. No labored argu- 
 ment could be half as sure of a welcome to the human mind 
 as his graphic exposal of the injustice of the repeal of the 
 Missouri Compromise : "After an angry and dangerous con- 
 troversy, the parties made friends by dividing the bone of 
 contention. The one party first appropriates its own share, 
 beyond all power to be disturbed in the possession of it, and 
 then seizes the share of the other party. It is as if two 
 starving men had divided their own loaf ; the one had hastily 
 swallowed his half, and then grabbed the other's half just 
 as he was putting it to his mouth." -^^ 
 
 In nothing did Douglas show greater genius than in hal- 
 lowing his doctrine of popular sovereignty. The leaders in 
 Congress feared openly to fight his vaunted "sacred right of 
 self government," they were not sure of their ground. Lin- 
 coln with confidence, bom of lonely struggle, rushed on the 
 angry battlefield to run the gantlet of debate on the con- 
 quering doctrine of popular sovereignty: "When the white 
 man," he said, "governs himself, that is self-government, 
 but when he governs himself and also governs another man, 
 that is more than self government — that is despotism. If the 
 negro is a man, why then my ancient faith teaches me that 
 'aU men are created equal,' and that there can be no moral 
 right in connection with one man's making a slave of an- 
 other. 
 
 "Judge Douglas frequently, with bitter irony and sar- 
 casm, paraphrases our argument by saying: 'The white peo- 
 ple of Nebraska are good enough to govern themselves, but 
 they are not good enough to govern a few miserable negroes !' 
 Well! I doubt not that the people of Nebraska are and will 
 continue to be as good as the average of people elsewhere. 
 "Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 193. 
 
1*72 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 I do not say the contrary. What I do say is that no man 
 is good enough to govern another man without that other's 
 consent." ^^ In a single weighty phrase he crushed the elab- 
 orate argument of the Senator of Illinois and left its fair 
 form so that only a shattered frame remains. 
 
 At times he spoke like a seer lifted above the petty preju- 
 dices of the time. He declared that the spirit of mutual con- 
 cession — that first wrought the Constitution, and thrice saved 
 the Union — and that trust in a national compromise, would 
 thus be strangled; that the South flushed with triumph 
 would provoke and aggress, and the North, brooding on 
 wrong, would resent and retaliate. He alleged that already a 
 few in the North defied all constitutional restraint, and even 
 menaced the institution of slavery in the southern States; 
 that already a few in the South claimed the constitutional 
 right to hold slaves in the free States and demanded the re- 
 vival of the slave trade. That it was a grave question for 
 lovers of the Union whether the final destruction of the 
 Missouri Compromise, and with it the spirit of all compro- 
 mise, would not fatally increase the number of both.-"-^ 
 
 His sanity enabled him to guide the erring and confounded 
 in the days of doubt. "Some men," he said, "mostly Whigs, 
 who condemn the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, never- 
 theless hesitate to go for its restoration, lest they be thrown 
 in company with the Abolitionists. Will they allow me, as 
 an old Whig, to tell them, good humoredly, that I think 
 this is very siUy? Stand with anybody that stands right. 
 Stand with him while he is right, and part with him when 
 he goes wrong. Stand with the Abolitionists in restoring 
 the Missouri Compromise, and stand against him when he 
 attempts to repeal the fugitive slave law. In the latter case 
 you stand with the Southern disunionist. What of that.-* 
 "Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 195. ^' Ibid., 301. 
 
An Emancipated Politician 173 
 
 fou are still right. In both cases you are right. In both 
 cases you expose the dangerous extremes. In both you stand 
 on middle ground, and hold the ship level and steady." ^* 
 
 Above all, this speech will live for its moral intensity, 
 hatred of injustice and hunger for righteousness. Through- 
 out this long appeal and uniting its links of logic is an over- 
 powering and pervasive sentiment of the highest humanity. 
 Now and then an outburst against oppression comes forth 
 resistlessly, yet in the company of a sober expression, logical 
 intensity and a broad outlook peculiar to him. These rival 
 the most impassioned utterances of Phillips and Garrison. 
 Like O'Connell, he sent his voice "careering like the thunder- 
 storm against the breeze, to tell the slaveholders of the Caro- 
 linas that God's thunderbolts are hot, and to remind the 
 bondman that the dawn of his redemption is already break- 
 ing." 18 
 
 With elation he passed from the sordidness and the tur- 
 moil of the courtroom and daily pettiness of common political 
 controversy to the championship of an all-mastering prin- 
 ciple. He fed the "parched souls of men with celestial ano- 
 dyne," with visions of a new and nobler era of humanity. 
 He made the humblest voter a public participant in the high 
 service of ridding the nation of the shame of slavery. He 
 was educating American democracy to practice the principles 
 of the Declaration of Independence, restoring to life seem- 
 mgly dead doctrines of the fathers. Better than a course in 
 ethics was the uplift of his utterances, the call to higher 
 attitudes. 
 
 He declared his hate in ringing words, of the indifference 
 to, if not covert zeal for, the spread of slavery, of depriving 
 the Republic of its just influence in the world, of enabling 
 the enemies of Democracy to engage in the taunt of hypoc- 
 
 " Lincoln's .SnRprhpj?. 1. 203. " Martvn's Wpndpll Pliillino ISR 
 
174! Lmcoln the Politicicm 
 
 risy, of forcing so many men into open war with the funda- 
 mental principles of civil liberty, criticising the Declaration 
 of Independence and insisting that there was no right prin- 
 ciple but self interest.^* 
 
 In measured language befitting his solemn theme, Lincoln 
 continued his prophetic condemnation of slavery, charging 
 that, steadily as man's march to the grave, the people were 
 giving up the old for the new faith ; that they had run down 
 from the declaration that all men were created equal to the 
 declaration that the enslavement of some was a sacred right 
 of self government. He dwelt upon the statement of Pettit 
 that the Declaration of Independence was a "self evident lie" 
 and said that Pettit did what candor required, and that of 
 forty-odd Nebraska senators who listened, no one rebuked 
 him ; and asked if that had been said among Marion's men, 
 Southerners though they were, what would have become of 
 the man that said it? He added that if it had been said in 
 old Independence Hall seventy-eight years before, the very 
 doorkeeper would have throttled the man and thrust him into 
 the street.^'' 
 
 The day after the Peoria speech, Douglas told Lincoln 
 that he understood the Territorial question better than all 
 the opposition in the Senate, and declared that Lincoln had 
 given him more trouble than his combined antagonists in 
 Congress. Then Douglas proposed that he would speak no 
 more during the campaign if Lincoln would do the same, 
 and to that proposition Lincoln acceded.-^* So though a 
 speech by Douglas and Lincoln had been advertised for the 
 following day, Mr. Douglas said that he was too hoarse to 
 speak, and Lincoln declared that he would not take advan- 
 tage of the judge's indisposition, by addressing the people. 
 
 "Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 186. "Lamon, 358. 
 
 "Ibid., 203. 
 
An Emancipated Politician 175 
 
 His friends could not see the affair in the same light, and 
 they "pressed him for a speech," but Lincoln mysteriously' 
 and unaccountably refused.^" 
 
 Wisely did shrewd Douglas, the imperial leader in debate, 
 appeal to the generosity of his opponent to conclude fur- 
 ther controversy. Douglas was an over-match for all of 
 the radical Abolitionists, the men who spoke of the higher 
 law, who made war on the charter of American liberties. 
 His better nature rejoiced in such conflicts. But his genius 
 was rebuked in the presence of the plain product of the 
 West, the man who neither relinquished his confidence in the 
 Constitution nor yet in the ultimate triumph of the freedom 
 that first gave it its being. Douglas could wage triumphant 
 war on a Lovejoy and Chase, but the common logic and 
 simple honesty of Lincoln disconcerted him. The elaborate 
 oratory of the Senate never confused the Senator of Illinois. 
 For the first time in his career the national leader was wor- 
 ried and pei-plexed. He was neither used to nor prepared for 
 the combination of talent that could not be diverted from 
 its way, that met every movement with a baffling compla- 
 cency. There was something unanswerable in Lincoln's man- 
 ner and mode of discussion. Douglas could fight other men 
 at a distance, but this opponent made it a hand-to-hand 
 grapple. At length a man had arisen in the American arena 
 as skiUful in defense of freedom as other men were in that 
 of slavery. An orator had come who combined the solid- 
 ity of Webster, the moral fervor of Phillips, and the 
 logic of Calhoun; who mingled justice, patriotism and argu- 
 ment so as to astonish the foremost figure in Washington. 
 It was no idle sentiment that brought Douglas to tender his 
 rival the high tribute of a truce. 
 
 The Peoria and State Fair speeches created a supreme 
 "Lamon. 359. 
 
176 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 place for Lincoln in the anti-slavery movement. He was 
 looked to as likely to gather great strength in the transi- 
 tional period of party dissolution. A dominating passion 
 for place again took hold of him. He declared he prized a 
 fuU term in the Senate more than the Presidency. To ad- 
 vance local political conditions Lincoln was unwisely made a 
 candidate, in his absence, for the State Legislature that 
 would soon elect a Senator. Mrs. Lincoln, however, had 
 Lincoln's name taken oflF the Hst of candidates. When Mr. 
 Lincoln returned, "I went to see him," says Jayne, "in order 
 to get his consent to run. That was at his house. He was 
 then the saddest man I ever saw, — the gloomiest. He walked 
 up and down the floor, almost crying; and to all my per- 
 suasions to let his name stand in the paper, he said, 'No, I 
 can't. You don't know all. I say you don't begin to know 
 one-half, and that's enough!' I did, however, go and have 
 his name reinstated." After election Lincoln resigned and 
 by a "still hunt" a Democrat was elected in his stead. The 
 interference of Mrs. Lincoln, the loss of a vote in the ap- 
 proaching close contest, according to Jayne, angered the 
 people of Sangamon County so that for the time being they 
 hated him.* 
 
 Lincoln managed his senatorial campaign with adroitness. 
 Hemdon shows that Lincoln did not calmly sit down and 
 gather his robes around him, waiting for the people to call 
 him. The vicissitudes of a political campaign brought into 
 play his management, and developed to its fullest extent his 
 latent industry. Like other politicians he never overlooked a 
 newspaper man who had it in his power to say a good or bad 
 thing of him. Writing to the editor of an obscure Kttle 
 country newspaper that he had been reading his paper for 
 three or four years and had paid him nothing for it, he 
 *Lamon, 359-360. 
 
An EmaTvcipated Politicicm 177 
 
 sed $10.00 and admonished the editor with complacency 
 it it into his pocket and say nothing further about it. 
 soon thereafter Lincoln prepared a political article 
 lent it to the rural journalist, requesting its publication 
 e editorial columns of his valued paper. The latter, 
 ig followed Lincoln's directions, declined saying that he 
 ago made it a rule to publish nothing as editorial mat- 
 ot written by himself. Lincoln read the editor's answer 
 emdon, who remarks that although the laugh was on 
 Din the latter enjoyed the joke heartily, and said that 
 editor had a lofty but proper conception of true jour- 
 
 is correspondence shows that he was in constant contact 
 the ever shifting events of the campaign; that he was 
 le lookout for dangerous symptoms ; that he was careful 
 cety to measure his strength soberly, and displayed the 
 
 splendid generalship that distinguished him in his Con- 
 donal canvass. The history of his effort to gain a seat 
 e Senate may be well trailed in his own letters. A curt 
 crisp note advised his friends of his intention. The 
 wing is a sample of many: "You used to express a 
 
 deal of partiality for me, and if you are still so, now is 
 time. Some friends here are really for me, for the 
 I. Senate, and I should be very grateful if you could 
 ! a mark for me among your members. Please write 
 le at all events giving me the name, postofBces and 
 bical position' of members around about you." ^^ 
 )vejoy had only some twenty-five adherents at the con- 
 on following the "State Fair speech" of Lincoln. Noth- 
 launted by the paltry attendance, they adopted a bold 
 'orm. "Ichabod raved," said the Democratic organ in 
 ion, "and Lovejoy swelled, and all endorsed the senti- 
 :erndon, 2, 44-45. ^ Tarbell, 3, 305. 
 
178 Lmcohi the Politician 
 
 merits of that speech." Not content with this, without con- 
 sent or consultation, they placed Lincoln's name on the list 
 of their State Central Committee. ^^ Lincoln's reply shows 
 that he was not unwilling to confer with the abolition leaders 
 and that he deemed it well to keep the way open to an under- 
 standing. "I suppose my opposition to the principle of 
 slavery is as strong as that of any member of the Republican 
 party ; but I have also supposed that the extent to which I 
 feel authorized to carry that opposition, practically, was 
 not at all satisfactory to that party. The leading men who 
 organized that party were present on the fourth of October 
 at the discussion between Douglas and myself at Springfield, 
 and had fuU opportunity to not misunderstand my position. 
 Do I misunderstand them.'' Please write and inform me." "^ 
 Like other candidates for public office he was subjected 
 to all manner of hostility and opposition. He was not spared 
 the humility of defending his most cherished integrity. Lin- 
 coln was not a common egoist and he sparingly bared his 
 view. He was little trained in the easy language of self- 
 praise. Yet once across the bar he displayed rare skiU in 
 the presentation of his position. 
 
 "For a senator to be the impartial representative of his 
 whole State is so plain a duty that I pledge myself to the 
 observance of it without hesitation, but not without some 
 mortification that any one should suspect me of an inclina- 
 tion to the contrary. I was eight years a representative of 
 Sangamon County in the legislature ; and although in a con- 
 flict of interest between that and other counties it perhaps 
 would have been my duty to stick to old Sangamon, yet it 
 is not within my recollection that the northern members ever 
 wanted my vote for any interests of theirs without getting 
 
 "" Nicolay & Hay, 1, 386. 
 
 ^Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 210. 
 
An Emancipated Politician 179 
 
 : interest in the campaign did not once lead him astray 
 tial judgment of the course of events. Early in Janu- 
 ; informed Washbume that he did not know that it was 
 ch advantage to have the largest number of votes at 
 ;art; that if he did know it to be an advantage, he 
 
 1 feel better, for he had more committals than any other 
 ® He remained a master in the study of the attitude 
 ; individual voter and delegate. He not only had the 
 siasm of the orator, but also the keen, calm sense of the 
 cian, knowing that battles are largely won by strategy 
 Dlan. He did not leave the decision to chance. He 
 2d the way to reach men, the method of attaching and 
 g friends. He was methodical rather than brilliant. 
 
 s last letter dealing with the event opens with the state- 
 that the agony was over at last. He then unfolded 
 ;ory of his defeat, how his forty-seven adherents yielded 
 
 2 five of TrumbuU, how Governor Matteson by a secret 
 dacy gathered some anti-Nebraska men to his support ; 
 ive of the latter declared they would never vote for a 
 
 and twenty Whigs resentfully contended that they 
 1 not vote for the man of the five. He then stated that 
 gnal was given to the Nebraska men to turn to Matteson 
 e seventh ballot; that soon he only wanted three of an 
 3n; that to detain the bolters Lincoln's friends turned 
 umbuU until he had risen to thirty-five and he, Lincoln, 
 >een reduced to fifteen; that they would never desert 
 xcept by direction; that he then determined to strike 
 ce and accordingly advised the fifteen to go for Trum- 
 nd thus elected him on the tenth ballot, 
 ich is the way," said Lincoln, "the thing was done. I 
 you would have done the same under the circumstances ; 
 icoln's Speeches, 1, 212. ''Ibid., 213. 
 
180 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 though Judge Davis, who came down this morning, declares 
 he never would have consented to the forty-seven being con- 
 trolled by the five. I regret my defeat moderately, but I am 
 not nervous about it. I could have headed off every combina- 
 tion and been elected, had it not been for Matteson's double 
 game — and his defeat now gives me more pleasure than my 
 own gives me pain. On the whole, it is perhaps as well for 
 our general cause that Trumbtill is elected. The Nebraska 
 men confess that they hate it worse than anything that could 
 have happened. It is a great consolation to see them worse 
 whipped than I am." ^* 
 
 Here a composite Lincoln confronts the student — a poli- 
 tician much concerned over defeat and getting pleasure out 
 of the failure of an unfair opponent. Yet at the same time 
 another Lincoln reveals himself. Determined to run no risk 
 in the cause of freedom he yielded cherished hopes and gave 
 way to an obstinate minority. He would not allow his own 
 fortune to stand in the way of striking a blow at the slave 
 power. Lincoln emancipated himself from selfish egoism, 
 rising in the hour of disappointment to the calmness of 
 duty. 
 
 "Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 213-21S. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE PILOT OF THE NEW FAITH IN ILLINOIS 
 
 ABOLITIONISM as a gospel showed rather paltry re- 
 sults for thirty years of unceasing labor. Still its essen- 
 tial dogma, hatred to human bondage, slowly but steadily 
 held a larger place in the public thought. Mistakes of the 
 South and its Northern friends hurried on a crisis. The 
 Kansas controversy made the issue of a remorseless con- 
 flict, clearer by a concrete example of the incompatibility of 
 freedom and slavery. The nation was thus educated for 
 aggressive action on the long mooted question. The time 
 was becoming ripe for the translation of public sentiment 
 into party platform, statute and decision. The Abolitionist 
 with relentless gospel even of war on the Constitution was 
 altogether too radical for the general mind. The slowly 
 dying Whig party had not kept pace with the advanced 
 public thought, it was too conservative. The democratic 
 party kept on its path either of indifference to the slavery 
 issue or ardent support of the southern view and was the 
 refuge of those who were dead to the sweep of events. Hence 
 the necessity of a new party, with a platform that should 
 sturdily proclaim resistance to the spread of slavery in the 
 territories ; that should register a rising spirit in the North, 
 growing restless and sensitive as it contemplated the in- 
 creasing demands of the Southern institutions, as it grasped 
 the significance of the issue involving the continued existence 
 in their primal integrity of cherished principles of the Re- 
 
182 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 public, a grappling for political supremacy of the free labor 
 of the North and the slave power of the South. Mingled 
 with the essential spirit of justice pervading Abolitionism 
 was the growth of the opinion that slavery was a social and 
 political evil. The public wrath at the repeal of a venerated 
 Compromise, the increasing discontent at the violent mani- 
 festations of the friends of slavery in Kansas, prepared the 
 public for the formation of a radical party. 
 
 Lincoln being a man of power, was beset by three parties. 
 He was urged to remain a Whig by the conservatives, to be- 
 come a Know-nothing by those drifting on the political 
 waters. Others sought to baptise him in the spirit of Abo- 
 litionism. Lincoln had long since made his resolution to 
 array himself on the side of freedom. He was awaiting the 
 right moment. He saw the time for leadership was coming, 
 that events were rapidly sweeping forward to a climax. In 
 the perturbed political condition he was anxious not to go 
 ahead of events and still not play the laggard. Among all 
 politicians in American history he was the wisest student of 
 the public mind. 
 
 With true vision, Lincoln foreshadowed the solemn con- 
 sequences of the Kansas struggle. He asked if there could 
 be a more apt invention to bring about collision and violence 
 on the slavery question than the "Nebraska project," and 
 whether "the first drop of blood so shed would not be the 
 real knell of the Union." ^ "^ Behind the fair form of the Doug- 
 las doctrine of popular sovereignty, he saw the lurking ser- 
 pent. He was not deceived by fine, smooth words. In the 
 beginning, he beheld the gaping wounds of Kansas, the hypoc- 
 risy of the policy professing the name of peace and bringing 
 in its train the devildom of discord, the curse of a broken, 
 plighted compact. A letter to his friend Speed in 1865 
 ' "Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 200. 
 
The PUot of the Nem Faith m Illmois 183 
 
 illumines the whole subject, and is a contribution to the po- 
 litical history of the time — unsurpassed in statement, in 
 clearness of understanding, in subdued calmness of judg- 
 ment: 
 
 "You know I dislike slavery, and you fully admit the ab- 
 stract wrong of it. So far there is no cause of difference. 
 But you say that sooner than yield your legal right to the 
 slave, especially at the bidding of those who are not them- 
 selves interested, you would see the Union dissolved. I am 
 not aware than any one is bidding you yield that right ; very 
 certainly I am not. I leave that matter entirely to yourself. 
 I also acknowledge your rights and my obligations under 
 the Constitution in regard to your slaves. I confess I hate 
 to see the poor creatures hunted down and caught and car- 
 ried back to their stripes and unrequited toil ; but I bite my 
 lips and keep quiet. ... It is not fair for you to assume 
 that I have no interest in a thing which has, and continually 
 exercises, the power of making me miserable. You ought 
 rather to appreciate how much the great body of the North- 
 ern people do crucify their feehngs, in order to maintain their 
 loyalty to the Constitution and the Union." ' 
 
 He then bared with remorseless logic the common southern 
 attitude: "You say, if you were President, you would send 
 an army and hang the leaders of the Missouri outrages 
 among the Kansas elections ; still, if Kansas fairly votes 
 herself a slave State she must be admitted or the Union must 
 be dissolved. But how if she votes herself a slave State un- 
 fairly, that is, by the very means for which you say you 
 would hang men? Must she still be admitted, or the Union 
 dissolved.'' That will be the phase of the question when it 
 first becomes a practicable one." * 
 
 The same letter shows he was aware of the potency of the 
 »JL,incpln's Speeches, 1, 217- 'IMd. 
 
184 Lmcolm, the Politician 
 
 partisan lash, was an observer of the methods of securing 
 results, of the cowardice and timidity of leaders where politi- 
 cal policy appeared on the horizon. He confessed that m 
 their opposition to the admission of Kansas, they would 
 probably be beaten; that the Democrats standing as a unit 
 among themselves, could, directly or indirectly, bribe enough 
 men to carry the day as they could on the open proposition 
 to establish a monarchy ; that by getting hold of some man 
 in the North whose position and ability was such that he 
 could make the support of the measure, whatever it might be, 
 a party necessity, the thing would be done.® 
 
 Then came a biting comment on the pretenses and prac- 
 tices of those who were spreading the national disease, of 
 those who had one doctrine in public and another in private, 
 who worshipped the God of Liberty with speech and Mammon 
 with their deeds. In the same letter Lincoln said that al- 
 though in a private letter or conversation the slaveholders 
 would express their preference that Kansas should be free, 
 they would not vote for a man for Congress who would say 
 the same thing publicly and no such man could be elected 
 from any district in a slave State; that slave-breeders and 
 slave-traders were a small, detested class among them; and 
 yet in poHtics they dictated the course of the Southerners, 
 and were as completely their masters as they were the master 
 of their own negroes.® 
 
 A vivid picture of party uncertainty is seen in his answer 
 to the inquiry of Speed as to where he then stood. "I think 
 I am a Whig; but others say there are no Whigs, and say 
 that I am an Abolitionist. When I was at Washington, I 
 voted for the Wilmot proviso as good as forty times ; and 
 I never heard of any one attempting to unwhig me for that. 
 I now do no more than oppose the extension of slavery. I 
 'Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 217-318. 'Ihid., 319. 
 
The PUot of the New Faith in lUvnois 185 
 
 am not a Know-nothing; that is certain. How could I be? 
 How could any one who abhors the oppression of negroes be 
 in favor of degrading classes of white people? Our progress 
 in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation 
 we began by declaring that 'aU men are created equal.' We 
 now practically read it, 'all men are created equal except 
 negroes.' When the Know-nothings get control, it will read 
 'all men are created equal, except negroes and foreigners and 
 Catholics.' When it comes to this, I shall prefer emigrating 
 to some country where they make no pretense of loving lib- 
 erty, — to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken 
 pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy." '' 
 
 To him "Know-nothingism" transcended aU questions of 
 policy, denied the very mission of Democracy, turned back 
 the hour hand of political progress and was traitor and re- 
 creant to its teachings. He was not sure of his standing in 
 the transitional period of party dissolution and showed some- 
 thing in his mental attitude of' the spirit of unrest abroad 
 in the nation and hardly knew whither the trend of events 
 would carry the American people. Cautious in moving for- 
 ward on matters involving method, he was unwedgeable when 
 the principles of the Republic were at stake. His note of 
 scorn rings clear and loud to these who, in selfishness and 
 bigotry, sought exceptions to and a narrow interpretation 
 of the Declaration of Independence, 
 
 By nature Lincoln was a friend of peace. He would have 
 rejoiced at any plan that produced a peaceful solution of 
 the vexed problem. No matter how slow the march of free- 
 dom, he would have bridled his wrath. But the aggressive- 
 ness of the South in the Kansas struggle opened his vision 
 to the fatuity of gradual emancipation. He grew bitter 
 as Garrison in statement as he contemplated the hypocritic 
 ' Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 318. 
 
186 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 limits on freedom, the spread of an institution hostile to 
 democracy with an ever widening promise of future abate- 
 ment : "On the question of liberty as a principle," he wrote 
 a friend, "we are not what we have been. When we were 
 the political slaves of King George, and wanted to be free, 
 we called the maxim that 'all men are created equal,' a self 
 evident truth, but now when we have grown fat, and have 
 lost all dread of being slaves ourselves, we have become so 
 greedy to be masters that we call the same maxim 'a self 
 evident lie.' The Fourth of July has not quite dwindled 
 away; it is still a great day — for burning fire-crack- 
 ers ! ! !" » 
 
 The groping of a giant mind concerning itself with a 
 mammoth problem, the germ of the great speech of Spring- 
 field that was soon to startle the nation with its boldness like- 
 wise shows itself in this same letter. "Our political problem 
 now is, 'Can we as a nation continue together permanently — 
 forever — ^half slave ajid half free.-" The problem is too 
 mighty for me — may God, in his mercy, superintend the solu- 
 tion." 9 
 
 Finally the nation changed. The people, once dead to 
 the cry of the slave, were alive to the evil of slavery. Doc- 
 trines once deemed the outburst of the fanatic were now on 
 the lips of conservative men, and Love joy had become the 
 consort of the political leader. All these years, Lincoln had 
 waited in patience for the day when white men should be 
 ready to fight for the freedom of others. Civilization comes 
 from a sure, steady and progressive enlightenment of public 
 sentiment. Genius alone is helpless in the presence of a 
 palsied national opinion. Consider Lincoln in South Caro- 
 lina in 1856, and the hopelessness of the ideal without the 
 company of circumstances is manifest. Living history conjes 
 
 'Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 21,5, 'Ibi(ii., 316, 
 
The PUat of the New Faith in lUmois 187 
 
 from the union of the great man and the happy moment for 
 the crystallization of advancing public sentiment. In this 
 sense alone the individual makes history, and it becomes the 
 record of the few. The great man is the symbol of the 
 marching life of the multitude and through him humanity 
 moves resistlessly to its higher attitude. 
 
 A gathering of editors opposed to the Nebraska bill on 
 February 22, 1856, marked the first visible step in the forma- 
 tion of the Republican party in Illinois. Lincoln was, of 
 course, not entitled to participate in the public deliberations 
 of that convention. That he promptly heard the tramp of 
 coming events is seen in his readiness to play a commanding 
 part in the early manifestation of the protesting movement. 
 
 Declaring that the black cloud of the American party was 
 threatening to drive the Germans from the ranks of the 
 party about to be formed, Hon. George Schieder said that 
 he entered the Decatur convention with a resolution in oppo- 
 sition to that movement, and helped to form a platform con- 
 taining a paragraph against the prescriptive doctrine of the 
 so-called American party. That portion of the platform 
 condemning Know-nothingism raised a storm of opposition, 
 and, in despair, he proposed submitting it to Mr. Lincoln 
 and abiding by his decision. After carefully reading the 
 paragraph, Lincoln made the remark that the resolution 
 introduced by Mr. Schieder was nothing new, that it was 
 already contained in the Declaration of Independence, and 
 that they could not form a new party on prescriptive prin- 
 ciples. Mr. Schieder states that this declaration of Lincoln 
 saved the resolution and helped to establish the new party 
 on the most liberal basis, and that it was adopted at the 
 Bloomington Convention, and next at the First National- 
 Republican Convention at Philadelphia. He further states 
 that Lincoln crystallized public sentiment, gave it a focal 
 
188 LmcoVn the Politician 
 
 point, so that the great majority of the Germans entered 
 the new party that later made Lincoln President. 
 
 Lincoln was in the van of the leaders who rallied to the 
 support of the infant party that has written such luminous 
 pages in American history. He showed his wonted sagacity, 
 when an editor suggested his name as a candidate for Gov- 
 ernor, in immediately advising the nomination of an anti- 
 Nebraskan Democratic candidate, on the ground that such a 
 nomination would be more available. ■'■'* 
 
 To Hemdon the caution of Lincoln seemed to partake of 
 brotherhood with inaction. He hardly realized the sureness 
 of the unremitting character of his progress. As Lincoln's 
 partner felt the thrUHng approach of a poHtical crisis, he 
 resolved to unloose Lincoln from his conservative connec- 
 tions without realizing that the latter was ready to dare the 
 future on the bark of the coming party. Delegates were to 
 be elected for the State Convention at Bloomington that 
 was to breathe life into the Republican party in Illinois. 
 Herndon signed Mr. Lincoln's name to the call for the San- 
 gamon County Convention without authority and pubHshed 
 it in a local paper. A dramatic incident ensued: 
 
 "John T. Stuart was keeping his eye on Lincoln, with a 
 view of keeping him on his side — the totally dead conservative 
 side. Mr. Stuart saw the published call and grew mad; 
 rushed into my office, seemed mad, horrified, and said to me, 
 'Sir, did Mr. Lincoln sign that Abolition call which is pub- 
 lished this morning.'" I answered, 'Mr. Lincoln did not sign 
 that call.' — 'Did Lincoln authorize you to sign it?' said Mr. 
 Stuart. 'No, he never authorized me to sign it.' — 'Then do 
 you know that you have ruined Mr. Lincoln?' — 'I did not 
 know that I had ruined Mr. Lincoln ; did not intend to do so ; 
 thought he was a made man by it; that the time had come 
 
 "Transactions McLean Co., 3, 39. 
 
The PUot of the New Faith m lUmois 189 
 
 when conservatism was a crime and a blunder.' — 'You, then, 
 take the responsibility of your acts; do you?' — 'I do, most 
 emphatically.' " 
 
 Herndon then wrote Lincoln. He instantly replied that 
 he adopted what Herndon had done, and promised to meet 
 Lovejoy and other radicals. ^^ 
 
 Lincoln did not serve freedom in word only. A free young 
 negro was in danger of being sold into slavery. The Gov- 
 ernor of Illinois was seen. He responded that he had no right 
 to interfere. Lincoln rose from his chair, hat in hand, and 
 exclaimed: "By God, Governor, I'll make the ground in this 
 country too hot for the foot of a. slave, whether you have 
 the legal power to secure a release of this boy or not." ^^ 
 
 During all the trying time when the Kberty of Kansas 
 was in the balance, when violence was being met with violence, 
 when even conservative men drifted into the movement to 
 aid the free state men in opposing the Government, he re- 
 mained master of himself, looked beyond the passion of the 
 moment to the abiding realities. Herndon, who was a par- 
 ticipant in this movement, unfolds a view of the calm, far 
 sighted man, who knew that violence was the father of great 
 evils and not a safe foundation for a free state. He says 
 that Lincoln was informed of their intents, and took the 
 first opportunity that he could to dissuade them from their 
 partially formed purpose. They spoke of liberty, justice, 
 and God's higher law. He answered that he believed "in the 
 providence of the most men, the largest purse, and the long- 
 est cannon"; that if they were in the minority, they could 
 not succeed, and that if they were in the majority they could 
 succeed with the ballot, throwing away the bullet. He 
 advised them that, "In a democracy where the majority rule 
 by the ballot through the forms of law, physical rebellions 
 
 " Lamon, 3T4-375. " Herndon, 3, 47-48, 
 
190 Lmcoln the Politicicm 
 
 and bloody resistances" were radically wrong, unconstitu- 
 tional, and were treason. He besought them to revolutionize 
 through the ballot-box, and "restore the GoYemment once 
 more to the affections and hearts of men, by making it ex- 
 press, as it was intended to do, the highest spirit of justice 
 and liberty." Their attempt, he continued, to resist the 
 laws of Kansas by force, was criminal and all their feeble 
 attempts would end in bringing sorrow on their hesids, and 
 ruin the cause they would freely die to preserve. ^^ Well 
 might Herndon say that this speech saved them from the 
 greatest follies.^* Instead of desperate measures, money was 
 forwarded under legitimate conditions, Lincoln joining in 
 the subscription. 
 
 The second step in the formation of the Republican party 
 was the Convention at Bloomington. Tragic events had 
 taken place in the State and Nation; signs of the sombre 
 character of the approaching conflict. Sumner was struck 
 down in the Senate by the dastard attacks of Brooks, an 
 act which sent a shudder of anger and indignation through 
 the North and a wave of approbation through the South. 
 This incident alone showed the strain that the moorings of 
 the Nation were undergoing. In Illinois, too, violence as- 
 serted its hideousness, and a delegate, Paul Selby, was 
 treacherously assaulted by political opponents. The spread 
 of the Civil War in Kansas heightened the magnitude of the 
 occasion. The seriousness of the National and State situa- 
 tion had taken hold of the delegates. The gravity of public 
 affairs aroused mad instincts. Many were ready for radical 
 conduct, were ready to meet force with force, and violence 
 with violence. 
 
 From the four comers of the State, dauntless anti-Ne- 
 braska Democrats, conservative Whig, distraught Know- 
 
 " Lamon, 372-373. " Herndon, 3, 49. 
 
The Pilot of the New Faith m lUmoii 191 
 
 nothing, bitter Abolitionist, and those di-ifting on the tide 
 of events, gathered under a common impulse in opposition 
 to the vaunting slave party. Beneath the surface there was 
 memory of former antagonism. The problem of the hour 
 was the uniting of these discordant elements into the homo- 
 geneity of common conviction ; submerging old and cherished 
 affiliations with a flood of fealty to a new gospel ; the trans- 
 muting raw recruits ; quickening the martial spirit commonly 
 the product only of long service. 
 
 It was a time for a momentous speech. Several leaders 
 of distinction had addressed the convention, when the au- 
 dience, with instinctive wisdom, called for Lincoln to 
 make the closing address. It was one of those rare moments 
 in human affairs when words may turn the tide of events. 
 He caught the wandering thoughts of troubled men and gave 
 them continuity.-*^^ Those long without a political faith were 
 rejoiced to find a home. Like an inspired giant, he was aglow 
 with the greatness of his theme. He spoke as the spirit of 
 the age might have spoken, if it had broken into eloquence 
 sublime and resistless. Men were brought face to face with 
 immortal justice, with eternal righteousness. The humblest 
 hearer lived in the thrill of such communion. Reporters 
 dropped their pencils and forgot their work ; even Herndon, 
 who was wont to take notes when Lincoln spoke, threw pen 
 and paper aside, subdued and overcome by the majesty of 
 his partner's speech. 
 
 It was not alone a triumph in immediate results, but also 
 a triumph in moulding the abiding convictions of men. Above 
 all the enthusiasm of the moment, there still remained his 
 solid logic, a logic that made Republicans of life-long Demo- 
 crats. John M. Palmer declared that he remembered only 
 one expression of speech, "We will not dissolve the Union, 
 "'Transactions McLean Co., 3, 91. 
 
192 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 and you shall not do it." Others dwelt on his declaration 
 to meet the occasion with ballots and not bullets, and so the 
 minds of men as well as the impulses were wisely educated. 
 The address became famous as "the lost speech." Its re- 
 nown grew with age. It became sacred to the memory of 
 those who heard it and time hallowed its history. ■'^^ 
 
 In the light of later events, the platform adopted at the 
 Bloomington Convention seems conservative. It simply re- 
 buked the administration for its attitude on the Kansas issue, 
 the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and the extension 
 of slavery into Territories." 
 
 When the first flood of enthusiasm, after the Bloomington 
 Convention, subsided, a mysterious apathy, a stifling indif- 
 ference, met the new movement, a no unusual phenomenon 
 in politics or human affairs. Such a time had now come. 
 It was at this period dark and trying that Lincoln towered 
 in lonely grandeur. It was easy enough to be brave and 
 vaunting at a convention when thousands hung on every 
 word. But now it took a higher heroism to be true to the 
 cause. Then Lincoln did not flinch. With superb step, with 
 elated soul, with increasing intrepidity, he continued the 
 championship of the same principles that took captive the 
 delegates at Bloomington. He spoke like one in the wilder- 
 ness. 
 
 Lamon tells the story of a ratification meeting five days 
 after the Bloomington Convention : — "Mr. Herndon got out 
 huge posters, announcing the event, and employed a band 
 of musicians to parade the streets and 'drum up a crowd.' 
 As the hour of meeting drew near, he 'lit up the Court House 
 with many blazes,' rung the bells and blew a horn. At 
 seven o'clock the meeting should have been called to order, 
 but it turned out to be extremely slim. There was nobody 
 
 "" TarbeU, 1, 296. " Lamon, 376. 
 
The PUot of the New Faith m Illmois 193 
 
 present, with all those brilliant lights, but A. Lincoln, W. 
 H. Herndon and W. H. Pain. 'When Lincoln came into 
 the Court-room,' says the bill-poster and horn-blower of this 
 great demonstration, 'he came with a sadness and a sense of 
 the ludicrous on his face. He walked to the stand, mounted 
 it in a kind of mockery, — mirth and sadness all combined, — • 
 and said : 'Gentlemen, this meeting is larger than I knew it 
 would be. I knew that Herndon and myself would come, 
 but I did not know that any one else would be here ; and yet 
 another has come, — you, John Pain. These are sad times, 
 and seem out of joint. All seems dead, dead, dead: but the 
 age is not yet dead; it liveth as sure as our Maker liveth. 
 Under all this seeming want of life and motion, the world 
 does move nevertheless. Be hopeful. Now let us adjourn 
 and appeal to the people.' " ^* 
 
 In June the first National Republican Convention met at 
 Philadelphia. Young, aggressive and flushed with enthu- 
 siasm, it put forth as the standard bearer, John C. Fre- 
 mont, the daring, romantic pathfiiider. Lincoln received one 
 hundred and ten votes for the vice-presidency. So little was 
 this distinction anticipated, that at first he refused to believe 
 that he was the recipient of the flattering compliment, saying 
 that it must have been the great Lincoln from Massachusetts. 
 
 Like the Bloomington gathering the National Convention 
 instinctively linked itself in strength to the impressing prin- 
 ciples of the Declaration of Independence. It took a bolder 
 and more advanced stand than the Illinois Convention, deny- 
 ing the authority of Congress to give legal existence to 
 slavery in any Territory and that it was its right and duty to 
 prohibit therein those "twin relics of barbarism, polygamy 
 and slavery." ^® 
 
 In the ensuing campaign, Lincoln, as a presidential elec 
 " Lamon, 377-378. '° Nicolay & Hay, 2, 36-37. 
 
194 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 tor and orator towered in the State as strong in his invigo- 
 rating championship of the Republican policies. He made 
 fifty speeches. Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa sent for him. 
 The impress of his personality was humbly, but pervasively 
 winning the hearts and minds of men. One man wrote with 
 sure faith, "Come to our place, because in you do our people 
 place more confidence than in any other man. Men who do 
 not read want the story told as you only can tell it. Others 
 may make fine speeches but it would not be 'Lincoln said so 
 in his speech.' " ^^ A college president spoke of him with 
 reverence, as, "one providentially raised up for a time like 
 this, and even should defeat come in the contest, it would be 
 some consolation to remember we had Hector for a leader." ^^ 
 
 He was most skillful in seeing the danger of Fillmore as a 
 candidate in withholding strength from Fremont. He studied 
 the problem as keenly as a legal proposition. No man in all 
 of the United States saw the issues more plainly or could 
 state it as precisely. To a Fillmore man he wrote that every 
 vote withheld from Fremont and given to Fillmore in Illinois 
 actually lessened Fillmore's chance of being President, for 
 if Buchanan got all the slave states and Pennsylvania, and 
 one other State, he would be elected, but if Fillmore got the 
 slave states of Maryland and Kentucky, then Buchanan 
 would not be elected and Fillmore would go into the House 
 of Representatives, and might be made President by a com- 
 promise. Likewise he argued that if Fillmore's friends threw 
 away a few thousand votes on him in Indiana, it would in- 
 evitably give those states to Buchanan, which would more 
 than compensate him for the loss of Maryland and Ken- 
 tucky ; that it was as plain as adding up the weight of three 
 small hogs for Fillmore who had no possible chance to carry 
 Illinois for himself, to let Fremont take it, and thus keep 
 
 =»Herndon, 3, 56. '^Ibid. 
 
The Pilot of the Netv Faith m Illinois 195 
 
 it out of the hands of Buchanan. Lamon remarks that this 
 letter was discovered by the Buchanan men, printed in their 
 newspapers, and pronounced, as its author anticipated, "a 
 mean trick," and that it was a dangerous document to them, 
 and was calculated to undermine the very citadel of their 
 strength. ^^ 
 
 Lincoln's fear of Fillmore was justified by events. While 
 Fremont was defeated, Bissel the Republican was elected 
 Governor by a fair margin. To Lincoln, the defeat of Fre- 
 mont was prophetic of future triumph. With infinitely 
 surer vision than President Pierce, he perceived the trend of 
 events. Beyond seeming setback, he beheld the triumphing 
 movement. He likened the President to a rejected lover 
 making merry at the wedding of his rival, in felicitating him- 
 self hugely over the late presidential election, in consider- 
 ing the result a signal triumph of good men, and a very 
 pointed rebuke of bad ones. To the statement of Pierce that 
 the people did it, Lincoln called attention to the fact that 
 those who voted for Buchanan, were in a minority of the 
 whole people by about four hundred thousand votes, and 
 thus the "rebuke" might not be quite as durable as he seemed 
 to think and that the majority might not choose to' remain 
 permanently rebuked by that minority.^* 
 
 Strong in the belief that slavery was at war with the essen- 
 tial spirit of the Republic, he declared that the government 
 rested on public opinion; that public opinion, on any subject, 
 always had a "central idea," and that "central idea" in 
 American political public opinion was until recently "the 
 equality of man," and although it submitted patiently to 
 some inequality as a matter of actual necessity, its constant 
 working was a steady progress toward the practical equality 
 of all men and the late Presidential election was a struggle 
 
 ^^ Lamon, 382. ^Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 325. 
 
196 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 by one party to discard that central idea and to substitute 
 as a central idea the perpetuity of human slavery and its 
 extension to all countries and colors.^* 
 
 This conviction vivified him with new hopes. The leader 
 called to those in the valley of doubt and indifference to 
 leave their low-vaulted chamber: "Then let bygones be by- 
 gones ; let past differences as nothing be ; and with steady 
 eye on the real issue, let us reinaugurate the good old 'central 
 idea' of the republic. We can do it. The human heart is 
 with us ; God is with us. We shall again be able not to de- 
 clare that 'aU States as States are equal,' nor yet that 'aU 
 citizens as citizens are equal,' but to renew the broader, better 
 declaration, including both these and much more, that' 'all 
 men are created equal.' " ^^ 
 
 « Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 225. " Ibid.j 226. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 LINCOLN AND THE DRED SCOTT DECISION 
 
 WITH unfailing vision Lincoln was attracted to the 
 larger issues under all professed and alleged reasons, 
 both North and South, as to the cause of difference in atti- 
 tude on the slavery question. He believed it was largely an 
 industrial and economical problem, a moral conflict in the 
 North mainly through the absence of a controlling material 
 interest. With plain, blunt speech, he laid bare the national 
 cancer in October, 1856, showing that there was no difference 
 in the mental or moral structure of the people North and 
 South, but that in the slavery question the people of the 
 South had an immediate, immense, pecuniary interest, while 
 with the people of the North it was merely an abstract ques- 
 tion of moral right. 
 
 The slaves of the South, he continued, were worth a thou- 
 sand millions of dollars, and that financial interest united 
 the Southern people as one man ; that moral principle was a 
 looser bond than pecuniary interest. Hence if a Southern 
 man aspired to be President, they choked him down, that 
 the glittering prize of the presidency might be held up on 
 southern terms to Northern ambition. And their conventions 
 in 1848, 1852 and 1856 had been struggles exclusively among 
 Northern men, each vying to outbid the other, the South 
 standing calmly by finally to cry "Going, going, gone" to the 
 highest bidder.^ 
 * Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 223. 
 
 197 
 
198 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 The Dred Scott decision throws a shadow over the judicial 
 history of the United States. That in an hour of crisis the 
 supreme judicial tribunal should ally itself with the potent 
 institution of injustice rather than with humanity, should 
 interpret the principles of the Constitution and the Declara- 
 tion of Independence in a paltry and impoverished manner, 
 should cringe before title and power and grovel in gloom in 
 the dawn of a new era of American citizenship, an era that 
 was to hurl its thunderbolts with ever increasing daring 
 against the further advance of the slave sovereignty, is 
 baffling and astounding. 
 
 Lincoln realized that the Supreme Court to be venerated, 
 must be in the van, and not a laggard in the world spirit and 
 progress ; a guide and not a pupil in the best kind of citizen- 
 ship and sensitive to the rising tide of public conscience. 
 The Dred Scott decision did more than any malice of "foe to 
 weaken the general regard for the august tribunal — the one 
 supreme discovery of American politics. 
 
 It is of interest to study Lincoln's attitude to this deci- 
 sion and to the tribunal responsible for it. Above most 
 men, he had preached the gospel of sacred devotion to law 
 and to the iniquity of mob rule. He was an enemy of all 
 violence. Yet he rebelliously abided the adjudication that 
 made the prospective emancipation of the black man more 
 uncertain, that imprisoned the enlightened principles of the 
 Fathers of the Republic, that manacled America in her Titan 
 march on the highway of humanity. 
 
 Lincoln maintained in 1857 that judicial decisions had 
 two uses, to absolutely determine the case decided, and to 
 indicate to the public how other similar cases would be de- 
 cided. Lincoln then argued that if the decision had been 
 made by the unanimous concurrence of the judges, without 
 partisan bias, in accordance with legal public expectation, 
 
Lincoln and the Dred Scott Decision 199 
 
 and in no part based on assumed historical facts which were 
 not really true ; or if it had been before the court more than 
 once, and had there been reaffirmed through a course of 
 years, it then might be even revolutionary not to acquiesce in 
 it as a precedent.^ 
 
 Still, by the side of the impassioned outbreaks of the abo- 
 litionists and radicals this criticism seems cold and measured. 
 But Lincoln with his usual apprehension justified his oppo- 
 sition by democratic example. He confounded Douglas by 
 recalling the action of his ideal Jackson on a Whig measure, 
 the National Bank, with the statement that the same Supreme 
 Court once decided a national bank to be constitutional; 
 but President Jackson disregarded the decision, and vetoed 
 a bill for the recharter, partly on constitutional ground de- 
 claring that each public functionary must support the Con- 
 stitution as he understood it. And then to the further dis- 
 comfiture of Douglas he declared that again and again he 
 had heard Judge Douglas denounce that bank decision and 
 applaud General Jackson for disregarding it; that it would 
 be interesting for him to look over his recent speech, and 
 see how exactly his fierce philippics against resisting Su- 
 preme Court decisions fell upon his own head.* Still Douglas 
 might have retorted that in those days the Whigs were vio- 
 lent in their denunciation of General Jackson for that very 
 opposition. 
 
 In the same speech Lincoln burst into indignant eloquence 
 at the policy that was a departure from the old ideas of jus- 
 tice and liberty and the still more radiant hope of the future 
 indulged in by Washington, Jefferson and FrankHn, that 
 in time slavery would no longer darken or endanger the 
 national life, for Lincoln said that in those days the Declara- 
 tion was held sacred by all, and thought to include all ; but 
 
 =■ Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 228. 'Ibid., 329. 
 
200 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 that at this time it was construed, hawked at and torn, till, 
 if its framers could rise from their graves, they could not 
 at all recognize it. He observed that all the powers of earth 
 seemed rapidly combining against the negro ; that Mammon, 
 ambition, philosophy and theology of the day were fast join- 
 ing the cry; that they had him in his prison-house, bolted 
 in with a lock of a hundred keys, which could never be un- 
 locked without the concurrence of every key — the keys in 
 the hands of a hundred different men, and they scattered to 
 a hundred and distant places; and they still stood musing 
 as to what invention, in all the dominions of mind and mat- 
 ter, could be produced to make the impossibility of his escape 
 more complete than it was.* 
 
 Less than a decade of history proved Lincoln wiser than 
 those who framed the momentous majority opinion in the 
 Dred Scott case. Lincoln was learned not alone in legal 
 knowledge, but was also familiar with the mighty national 
 movements that laugh laws and decisions to scorn ; that ulti- 
 mately and finally determine progress. These judges were 
 students of the past, slaves of precedent, defenders of an- 
 tiquity, while Lincoln was a student of the present and the 
 future and the ambassador of abiding justice. He had as 
 deep and ultimate a knowledge of the national character and 
 capacity as the statesman, and was a student of political 
 and social progress in order to follow and wisely lead the 
 deep public sentiment and conscience that alone measures 
 true civilization. 
 'Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 231. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 LEADEK OF THE EEPUBLICAN PARTY IN ILLINOIS 
 
 TT^EW pages in our history present a darker picture than 
 ■'■ the ruffianism of the friends of slavery in Kansas, and 
 the retaliating spirit of its opponents. Still, the gloom is 
 illumined by patriotic politicians, democratic slave holders 
 and sympathizers, who sternly put duty before party. There 
 are few more glorious incidents in our political annals than 
 the unwavering fidehty of Robert J. Walker of Mississippi. 
 As Governor of Kansas he lived up to his public pledges, 
 though the offer of the Presidency of the United States was 
 dangled before him.^ Like Washington, himself. Walker tow- 
 ered above temptation. If the Mississippi statesman had 
 held the place of Buchanan, slavery, instead of being nursed 
 by the palsied policy of the Northern statesman, would have 
 been startled by another Jackson, and the nation might have 
 owed its salvation to a Southern leader instead of to the 
 prairie politician. 
 
 In the fine language of Seward: "The ghosts on the banks 
 of the Styx constitute a cloud scarcely more dense than the 
 spirits of the departed Governors of Kansas, wandering in 
 exile and sorrow for having certified the truth against false- 
 hood in regard to the elections between Freedom and Slavery 
 in Kansas." ^ The strange fact above all is that the admis- 
 sion of Kansas as a slave state against the wishes of its 
 people was not asked for by the South. It was freely ten- 
 
 'GUmore, 9-104. ^Nicolay 85 Hay, 3, 118. 
 
 201 
 
202 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 dered to the slave dynasty by a majority of northern demo- 
 crats in the executive and legislative branches of the Gov- 
 ernment.^ And so again the North shared with the South 
 in the zeal for spreading slavery. 
 
 The final scene in the drama was the Lecompton Constitu- 
 tion. Douglas then saw the fatal result that Lincoln had 
 foretold in his June speech of 1857, when he declared that 
 Douglas, since the famous Nebraska Bill, saw himself super- 
 seded in a presidential nomination by one generally endors- 
 ing his measure, but standing clear of the odium of its un- 
 timely agitation and its violation of the national faith; that 
 he saw his chief aids in his own State, politically speaking, 
 successfully tried, convicted and executed for an offense not 
 their own, but his, and that now he saw his own case standing 
 next on the docket for trial.* 
 
 Northern Democrats refused to brook longer the crime in 
 Kansas. To refuse submission of the Constitution to that 
 people made a mockery of the popular sovereignty of Doug- 
 las. With desperate constancy he had impressed that great 
 principle, as he called it, on his constituency. It was now 
 so shorn of all dignity that even a child might see it. He 
 either had to lose Illinois or fight the policy of the adminis- 
 tration. Once having decided to differ he took a bold stand. 
 No Abolitionist or Republican used plainer or more impel- 
 ling language : "But if this Constitution is to be forced down 
 our throats, in violation of the fundamental principles of 
 free government, under a mode of submission that is a mock- 
 ery and insult, I will resist it to the last. I have no fear of 
 any party associations being severed. I should regret any 
 social or political estrangement, even temporarily; but if 
 it must be, if I cannot act with you and preserve my faith 
 and my honor, I will stand on the great principle of popular 
 
 ' Sheahan, 326. « Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 331. 
 
Leader of the RepvbUccm Party in Illmois 203 
 
 sovereignty, which declares the right of all people to be left 
 perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institu- 
 tions in their own way. I will follow that principle wherever 
 its logical consequences may take me, and I will endeavor to 
 defend it against assault from any and all quarters. No 
 mortal man shall be responsible for my action but myself." ' 
 
 The former distinction of Douglas as a slave advocate 
 made his seeming accession to the ranks of its opponents all 
 the more marked. Stirring stories were told of his peerless 
 courage when Buchanan told him to remember that no Demo- 
 crat ever yet differed from an administration of his own 
 choice without being crushed, and to beware of the fate of 
 TaUmadge and Rives. 
 
 "Mr. President," retorted Douglas, "I wish you to remem- 
 ber that General Jackson is dead." * Like an undaunted 
 Abolitionist he flung aside all compromise, refused to accede 
 to the English bill that many administration opponents wel- 
 comed as an exit from the dilemma of party recusancy. Many 
 began to believe that Douglas was about to turn into a black 
 Republican. He had stolen conferences with their leaders, 
 inducing them to believe that it was policy for him to con- 
 ceal his present real intention; that he would soon unmask 
 himself and fight their battles. He often said that he had 
 checked all his baggage and taken a through ticket.'^ 
 
 He convinced his foes that the Nebraska bill was a daring 
 device in behalf of freedom. One Republican said that the 
 plan of Douglas for destroying the Missouri line and thereby 
 opening the way for the march of freedom beyond the limits 
 forever prohibited and conceded to belong to the Slave 
 States, and its march westward, from the British possessions 
 to Mexico, struck him "as the most magnificent scheme ever 
 
 ' Sheahan, 319. ' Lamon, 390. 
 
 • Nicolajr & Hay, 2, 130. 
 
204 LmcoVn the PoUticicm 
 
 conceived by the human mind." This kind of conversation 
 made the deepest impression upon his hearers, and often 
 changed their opinion of the man.® 
 
 In this way, Douglas triumphantly vindicated his policy 
 of popular sovereignty for which he protested he was willing 
 to devote all his talent and the remainder of his life. The 
 very prospect of such a convert dazzled the vision of even 
 radicals like Greeley. So these visionaries wandered in the 
 dreamland of politics, and were eager to enter into an un- 
 holy alliance. Even shrewd leaders in the party built bridges 
 for the entering of Douglas. It was rumored that Seward 
 and others were in the plot.* 
 
 A letter from Herndon in 1858 vividly shows the political 
 condition of this time. Speaking of Greeley he said, "He 
 evidently wants Douglas sustained and sent back to the 
 Senate. He did not say so in so many words, yet his feel- 
 ings are with Douglas. I know it from the spirit and drift 
 of his conversation. He talked bitterly- — somewhat so — 
 against the papers in Illinois, and said they were fools. I 
 asked him this question, 'Greeley, do you want to see a third 
 party organized, or do you want Douglas to ride to power 
 through the North, which he has so much abused and be- 
 trayed.-" and to which he replied, 'Let the future alone; it 
 will all come right. Douglas is a brave man. Forget the 
 past and sustain the righteous.' Good God, righteous, 
 eh ! . . . By-the-bye, Greeley remarked to me this, 'The Re- 
 publican standard is too high ; we want something practical.' 
 . . . The Northern Men are cold to me — somewhat repel- 
 lant." " 
 
 Douglas, after a heroic combat with the administration 
 and after his triumphant championship of the rights of the 
 people of Kansas, returned as a conqueror to Illinois. He 
 
 'Lamon, 390-391. 'Herndon, 1, 395. "I6M., 3, 63-64. 
 
Leader of the RepubUcan Party m Illinois 205 
 
 was the ideal of the Democrats of his state, save of a few 
 office holders under Buchanan. With Lincoln it was other- 
 wise. Despite his brilliant and consecrated service to the 
 Republican principles, even in Illinois, in the home of his 
 friends, all was not yet serene ; he was not yet to taste the 
 sweetness of hero worship. Too proud to resort to dramatic 
 effects, slow to express his resentment, he was almost jealous 
 of the supremacy of his rival. A veteran in the service of 
 freedom, he hardly welcomed the possible entrance of his old 
 foe into the Republican arena. Mingled with personal feel- 
 ing, was his knowledge of the crafty career of his opponent. 
 Lincoln was not content that Douglas should gain the laurel 
 of a triumphant movement in the hour of victory. 
 
 Not alone did Lincoln fear dissension in his own state, 
 but he was also afraid that Douglas might be taken up by 
 the Republican leaders of the party. He grew restless and 
 gloomy at the imjust attitude of Greeley, an attitude that 
 quite vanquished him. To Hemdon he unburdened himself, 
 "I think Greeley is not doing me right. His conduct, I be- 
 lieve, savors a little of injustice. I am a true Republican and 
 have been tried already in the hottest part of the anti-slavery 
 fight, and yet I find him taking up Douglas, a veritable 
 dodger, — once a tool of the South, now its enemy, — and 
 pushing him to the front. He forgets that when he does 
 that he pulls me down at the same time. I fear Greeley's 
 attitude will damage me with Sumner, Seward, Wilson, Phil- 
 lips and other friends in the East." ^^ 
 
 He had slowly gained the confidence, more'than he realized, 
 of the rank of his party. Though loyalty to him was less 
 pretentious, it was not the less sincere. The Republicans 
 in Illinois did not trust Douglas; they were not deceived 
 by his marvelous strategy. Pursuant to a wide spread sen- 
 "Herndon, 3, 60. 
 
206 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 timent, the Republican state convention, with unanimity 
 adopted the significant resolution: "That Hon. Abraham 
 Lincoln is our first and only choice for United States Sena- 
 tor to fiU the vacancy about to be created by the expiration 
 of Mr. Douglas' term of office." ^^ 
 
 One incident shows the enthusiasm of the hour. Cook 
 County brought a banner into the convention inscribed, 
 "Cook County for Abraham Lincoln." A delegate from an- 
 other county proposed to amend the banner by substituting 
 for "Cook County" the word "Illinois." "The Cook delega- 
 tion promptly accepted the amendment, and during a hur- 
 ricane of hurrahs, the banner was altered to express the 
 sentiment of the whole Republican party of the State." ^^ 
 
 " Herndon, 3, 65. 
 "TarbeU, 1, 305. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE DAWN OI- NATIONAL LEADERSHIP 
 
 T N anticipation of his nomination as Senator, Lincoln had 
 •*■ carefully prepared an address of acceptance. It was de- 
 livered on the 17th of June, 1858, in the presence of an 
 immense audience at Springfield. At the time, it was per- 
 haps the most radical speech that had yet burst forth from 
 a Republican statesman. It is not strange that it astounded 
 his friends. It baffled their comprehension to find him at a 
 single stride in the front rank of the radicals. Hemdon, 
 the aggressive abolitionist, was alike bewildered, saying of 
 the first paragraph that it was true; but asking if it was 
 entirely politic to read or speak it as it was written. Lin- 
 coln said that it made no difference; that it was a truth of 
 all human experience ; that he wanted to use some universally 
 known figure, expressed in simple language as universally 
 known that might strike home to the minds of men, in order 
 to rouse them to the peril of the times ; that he would rather 
 be defeated with that expression in the speech, and have it 
 held up and discussed before the people, than to he vic- 
 torious without it.^ 
 
 Lamon questioned whether Lincoln had a clear right to 
 indulge in such a venture, as a representative party man in 
 a close contest, having other interests than his own in charge, 
 and bound to respect the opinions, and secure the success 
 of his party. Lamon states that at the Bloomington Con- 
 1 Lamon, 397. 
 
 207 
 
208 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 vention he uttered the same ideas in almost the same words ; 
 and their recognition of a state of incipient civil war in a 
 country for the most part profoundly peaceful, — these, and 
 the bloody work which might come of their acceptance by a 
 great party, had fiUed the minds of some of his hearers 
 with the most painful apprehensions ; the theory was equally 
 shocking to them, whether as partisans or as patriots. 
 Begged to suppress such speech in the future, he vindicated 
 his utterance, but after much persuasion, promised at length 
 not to repeat it.^ 
 
 The night before its delivery, at a gathering of his close 
 friends, Lincoln slowly read the first paragraph. No uncer- 
 tain, unsparing criticisms followed. It was called "a fool 
 utterance," ahead of the time, a statement that would 
 frighten many voters.^ Only one auditor, his partner, ap- 
 proved the far-reaching statement, saying, "Lincoln, deliver 
 it just as it reads. It is in advance of the times, let us — 
 you and I, if no one else — ^lift the people to the level of 
 this speech now, higher hereafter. The speech is true, wise 
 and politic, and will succeed now or in the future. Nay, it 
 wiU aid you, if it will not make you President of the United 
 States." 
 
 Then Lincoln rose from his chair, walked backwards and 
 forwards in the hall, stopped and said that he had thought 
 about ' the matter a great deal, had weighed the question 
 from all corners, and was thoroughly convinced the time had 
 come when it should be uttered ; and that if he must go down 
 because of that speech, he would go down linked to truth, 
 and would say again and again that the nation could not 
 live on injustice.* 
 
 This speech stands alone among American orations. Cap- 
 tivating in its logic, marvellous in its directness, condensed 
 ' Lamon, 397-398. » Herndon, 2, 68. * Lamon, 399. 
 
The Dawn of National Leadership 209 
 
 in utterance, it is as true to Lincoln as the reply to Hayne 
 was to Webster. It is one of the most momentous addresses 
 in American history. It became the angry battle ground of 
 local and general campaigns. It directed the issues of na- 
 tional parties. In a transitional period with the hand of 
 genius it peerlessly traced party demarcation lines. For the 
 moment in advance of the national progress it soon became 
 the very gospel of multitudes, the war cry of the friends of 
 the Union. Plainer to the average man than the fine phrase 
 of Seward as to "the irrepressible conflict," it brought home 
 to the daily worker the issues of the hour, put him face to 
 face with the deep meaning of the whole struggle going on 
 in his very presence. Its strength was in this — that it put 
 in clear speech the question that was agitating the common 
 mind and thus gave it form and being before other men. 
 With prophetic solemnity he indulged in the philosophic 
 utterance that the slavery agitation would not cease until a 
 crisis should be reached and passed, saying : " 'A house di- 
 vided against itself cannot stand.' I believe this government 
 cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do 
 not expect the Union to be dissolved, — I do not expect the 
 house to fall ; but I do expect that it wiU cease to be divided. 
 It will become all one thing, or all the other. Either the 
 opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, 
 and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief 
 that it is the course of ultimate distinction, or its advocates 
 will push it forward till it shall become alike lawful in all 
 the states, — old as well as new, North as well as South." '^ 
 
 Lincoln in the loneliness of his soul passed upon the solemn 
 
 issue that the hour for speech and action had come; that 
 
 the time of compromise was over; that justice would no 
 
 longer be trifled with; that the law of humanity spurned 
 
 'Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 340. 
 
210 Lincoln, the Politiciam, 
 
 further outrage. He gave voice to the hitherto silent senti- 
 ments of many. The period for the judicious utterance of 
 radical truth had come. In a few years what then seemed 
 the outburst of a perverted attitude became the common 
 thought of the multitude. 
 
 And so again Lincoln showed his keen sense of the drift 
 of events. In this he was wiser than the pure politicians. 
 When events justified his foresight, some were found who 
 cherished the notion that Lincoln was guided by self-seeking 
 motives in his radical advocacy. Two biographers think that 
 Lincoln was quietly dreaming of the Presidency, and edging 
 himself to a place in advance, where the tide might take him 
 up in 1860 ; that as sectional animosities, far from subsiding, 
 were growing deeper and stronger with time, Lincoln knew 
 that the next nominee of the exclusively Northern party must 
 be a man of radical views, and so the speech was intended 
 to take the wind out of Seward's sails.* 
 
 The biographer who sees a plotting, scheming Lincoln 
 in all this is far from understanding the real man. For 
 mingled with his political sagacity was a sublime communion 
 with the mighty spirit of world justice. Elated at the ap- 
 proaching clash of freedom and slavery, believing that out 
 of the conflict would come a better humanity, he rejoicingly 
 dwelt in the pure realm of the unfettered utterance of a 
 truth, far above the stifling valley of commonplace diplo- 
 macy. To him it was a rare moment of utter freedom with- 
 out calculation, moving through regions of unclouded jus- 
 tice and righteous outlook. 
 
 Criticism bitter and biting of political friends did not 
 
 shake his serenity or his belief in his diagnosis of the national 
 
 disease. He lived so long with the solution, that he showed 
 
 the calmness of a historian in judging passing events. Slow 
 
 'J-.amon, 406. 
 
The Dawn of National Leadership 211 
 
 to value highly his own service, he was proudly aware of the 
 intrinsic worth of this utterance. To a friend who said 
 that the foolish speech would kill him, Lincoln replied that 
 if he had to draw a pen across, and erase his whole life from 
 existence, and he had one poor gift or choice left, as to what 
 he would save from the wreck, he would choose that speech, 
 and leave it to the world unerased.'^ 
 
 Withal, the speech was wisely framed. It aroused the fear 
 of the Northerners with the statement that they would lie 
 down pleasantly dreaming that the people of Missouri were 
 on the verge of making their State free, and they would 
 awake to the reality instead that the Supreme Court had 
 made Illinois a slave state.* The dread that slavery might 
 invade the free States of the North, as it ceased to be some- 
 thing more than a possibility, haimted and horrified the 
 North. Some who bore with complacency the servitude of the 
 black men in the distance fumed with anger as they con- 
 templated even a prospect of a closer relation of the insti- 
 tution. Thus the self interest of the North was played upon. 
 This practical danger more than aU abstract arguments 
 awakened free communities. Douglas saw the danger of this 
 appeaL He could no longer hold North and South. It put 
 him on the defensive. Lincoln forced the fighting. It be- 
 came necessary for Douglas to make the speech of Lincoln 
 the basis of his discussion. 
 
 Lincoln weighed his speech at its soul value, and measured 
 its truth and worth in lonely struggle. No coimsel could 
 stay his purpose. He had come upon another crisis in his 
 career. He could no longer compromise with himself in 
 safety, the hour of decision could not be delayed. He faced 
 defeat in aU its darkness but afar he saw the star of simple 
 duty. If he had faltered or cringed he might have become 
 
 'Lamon, 407. 'Lmcoln's Speeches, 1, S44. 
 
212 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 Senator, but that distinction only would have crowned him. 
 He had the rare perception of knowing when to be firm as 
 the earth beneath, of distinguishing between policy and prin- 
 ciple, of ever keeping his integrity unsullied by barter or bar- 
 gain. It is noteworthy that the very speech, politicians 
 deemed the graveyard of his career in reality became his 
 apotheosis. The politician of Illinois became a national 
 leader. From that time, he loomed large in the history of 
 the Republican party and was regarded as wise in counsel 
 and brave in speech. Before Seward, he put in concrete 
 utterance the very philosophy of Republicanism. And that 
 party had reason to regard him with favor as a possible 
 guide in the gathering contest. 
 
 This speech gave Lincoln a prominence that led to the 
 dramatic debates with Douglas and that fastened the atten- 
 tion of the nation on the combat. The Lincoln-Douglas 
 controversy was the fruition of this Springfield speech. This 
 address is the most fitting line of demarcation between Lin- 
 coln the Citizen of lUinois and Lincoln the Citizen of the 
 United States. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 THE POLITICAL PIJILOSOPHY OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 rr^HE political condition of a nation is a symptom of its 
 -*■ health or disease. OflScial corruption is an unfailing 
 sign of national degeneration. Art, science and commerce 
 may thrive, yet if dishonesty and selfishness rule in the ad- 
 ministration of public affairs, there is no substantial 
 progress. The real civilization of a nation can advance little 
 beyond the state of public service. When citizens are in- 
 different to the general welfare, when the rights of the many 
 are entrusted to the designing, when talent is dedicated to 
 the acquisition of wealth or the mere promotion of art, then 
 in spite of mountain high learning and world wide commer- 
 cial prosperity, a nation is in the domain of danger. 
 
 A crisis reveals the potency of the politician and states- 
 man. When war or internal conflict shows its "wrinkled 
 front," then the merchant, the manufacturer, the artist, and 
 the scientist forget their pride. The true politician is the 
 incarnation of civil patriotism and guards the nation during 
 the long days of peace, with an unfaiUng heroism like that 
 of the soldier in the sudden test of war. The devotion of 
 the civil hero is not spectacular and is often undervalued. 
 The whole history of humanity has been a giant effort to 
 beget a democracy where the genius of the few shall become 
 the possession of many. When a nation cannot command 
 the best heart and brain of its citizens for its service it is 
 bankrupt. 
 
 213 
 
214 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 The problem of Democratic government is the maintenance 
 of a just balance between the radical and conservative ele- 
 ments of society, between anarchy and. apathy. American 
 history was for a long time largely a struggle between vis- 
 ionary abolitionist and slavery adherent. Northern reform- 
 ers turned all Southerners into vigorous advocates of human 
 bondage, while Southern radicals finally abolitionized the 
 North. Slaveholders were the children of a long estab- 
 lished selfish interest. Abolitionists were possessed of a 
 vision. Neither understood the other. Rock and cloud were 
 not more unlike. Each saw only the injustice in the oppos- 
 ing position, and had no charity for the environment and 
 traditions of the other. There could be no compromise be- 
 tween a Wendell Phillips and a Preston Brooks. War was 
 the only solution. 
 
 Statesmanship looks to the preservation of the primal prin- 
 ciples of the Republic, favors the general welfare whenever 
 circumstances permit, seeks its progressive evolution, en- 
 courages prudent reform, a reform that is not the parent of 
 reaction. It avoids alike the radicalism of the demagogue 
 and the stagnation of the materialist. While stupid con- 
 servatism is unwittingly the main friend of anarchy, states- 
 manship is its chief foe. The stability of the Republic de- 
 pends on wise leadership, courageous enough to combat vio- 
 lence on the one hand and greed on the other. 
 
 Egoism and foolish fears are the chief obstacles of human 
 progress. Self interest being the main source of human ac- 
 tion, it is the problem of the politician to quicken the public 
 conscience and convince the community that advancement 
 and enlightened selfishness are companions. Altruism is a 
 large factor in human evolution, yet not so basic that it may 
 be made the foundation of abiding government. It is a high 
 mission to lead the people to the conception of making self 
 
The Political Philosophy of Abrahmn Lincoln 215 
 
 interest an every day servant of the general welfare. 
 
 Expediency is as essential to the triumph of right as to 
 that of wrong. Cunning materialism may vanquish virtue 
 that is a stranger to wisdom, but prudent integrity never 
 knows final defeat. The following of visions without purpose 
 is as vain as the worship of debasing worldliness. Politics 
 is a larger phase of life than the idealist comprehends, while 
 ideas are more dominant than politicians dream. 
 
 In an ideal state diplomats would be no more essential 
 than the physician, lawyer, jurist and minister. Compro- 
 mise finds its basis in human weakness, conservatism and 
 selfishness. The history of humanity is written in blood 
 and tears largely because men have been prone to passion 
 and prejudice rather than true to reason and judgment. 
 Politics is the art of securing results in government. It is 
 a study of success applied to legislation and administration. 
 
 There are few problems of larger moment than the gen- 
 eral acceptance of the wisest policy in combating established 
 and organized evil. Civilization itself depends on the man- 
 ner in which the unresting battle between the constructive 
 and destructive forces in society is conducted and decided. 
 Mighty empires have flourished and fallen, democracies have 
 sprung to life and decayed, dauntless protesters have sacri- 
 ficed on the altar of conviction, even nations under the 
 spirit of high impulses have for a short time followed the 
 banner of the brotherhood of man. Yet in spite of ages 
 of progress, of heroic martyrdom, the battle is still of the 
 same character as the conflict was on the plains of Palestine, 
 the banks of the Nile and the seven hiUs of Rome. Human 
 nature has changed largely in outer manifestations, not in 
 essential character. The selfishness of man, vested interests, 
 fear of change, still stand in the way of righteous reforms, 
 which are now as bitterly contested as they were by the patri- 
 
216 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 cians of Latium and the barons of the middle ages. In the 
 conflicts of centuries good men have sunk sometimes in a 
 fearless, sometimes in an imprudent encounter with the host 
 of cohesive and malignant interests. Selfish motives unite 
 the supporters of evil, while the forces of righteousness are 
 often discordant and rent with civil feuds. Economic inter- 
 est is the influence that makes evil gregarious. 
 
 Lincoln conceived his plan of warfare on the organized 
 evil of his time in wisdom. He attacked it at its weakest 
 point, its injustice and its bad policy. He made it not only 
 an ethical issue, but an economic one as well. He under- 
 stood that reform must be founded on self interest as well 
 as on justice. He fought the evil and not the wrong doer. 
 He was aware of the influence of environment on the opin- 
 ions of men whenever property rights were involved and so 
 would not exact nor expect too much of the individual. He 
 did not favor premature reform, knowing that it was not 
 permanent. A foe to slavery, yet for a long time he was 
 not a friend of abolitionism. He longed for the emancipa- 
 tion of the black man, yet would not buy it by attacks on 
 the Constitution or on the compromises of the statesmen 
 of the Republic. 
 
 He admitted the evil of slavery, yet recognized the insti- 
 tution as far as the law sanctioned its existence. So he would 
 fight its transfer to new territory where it had no legal right 
 of entrance. He would circumscribe and starve it, would 
 favor compensated emancipation, and thus slowly and safely 
 eradicate the evil from the nation. His political philosophy 
 is worthy of the study of every citizen, patriot and reformer, 
 of every man who believes in the dawn of better ages. His 
 greatness consists in never having relinquished his lofty ideal 
 in aU of the materialism of daily compromise, and in never 
 forgetting charity, justice and policy in his communion with 
 
The Political Philosophy of Abraham LvncoHn 217 
 
 world-shaking ideas. 
 
 No man in history longed for the triumph of justice more 
 earnestly than Abraham Lincoln. He hated evil. Still his 
 main purpose was the preservation of the principles of the 
 republic. Rather than endanger them, the larger good, he 
 would hesitate to begin a campaign against organized selfish- 
 ness. Such battles for humanity require good generalship 
 as well as those of cannon, fife and drum. It is not enough to 
 hate evil, to strike at it in the dark. To husband strength, 
 to bide the time, to await the solemn moment for attack, is 
 political generalship, a generalship that is as essential in 
 the Senate as on the battlefield. 
 
 He was willing to engage in the hard mission of educating 
 men to believe that brotherhood was a more substantial foun- 
 dation for humanity than hatred and selfishness. There 
 was nothing of Don Quixote in his warfare. Democracy was 
 his religion, the source of his strength and the secret of his 
 influence. All that he was, he largely owed to the privileges 
 of the Repubhc, to the support of the plain people. He be- 
 lieved in them with a rare faith and they trusted him with 
 remarkable fidelity, as the incarnation of the higher hu- 
 manity. He was in harmony with the onward movement of 
 sanity, justice and manhood. Charity to all was his plat- 
 form, justice his program, democracy his guide. His spirit 
 is the spirit of the new age. He almost marks as distin- 
 guished an advance in American history as Moses did in that 
 of Israel. 
 
 The politician blindly follows, while the statesman wisely 
 educates public sentiment. In his political philosophy Lin- 
 coln gave due weight to the potency of the general opinion 
 of mankind. He said, "He who molds public sentiment goes 
 deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces decisions. 
 He makes statutes or decisions possible or impossible to be 
 
218 Lmcoln the Politician 
 
 executed." He well knew the principle, so paltrily recog- 
 nized, by even modern legislators, that it is far more vital 
 to prepare the public mind for righteous legislation than 
 prematurely to pass laws. It would be well to write his 
 supreme statement relating to public sentiment in every 
 legislative hall and judicial tribunal in the whole land. An 
 educated public sentiment will soon enough secure the pas- 
 sage of appropriate legislation, and what is more essential, 
 see to it that it is enforced. The curse of American politics 
 is the passage of multitudinous enactments to please certain 
 organized interests and the deliberate indifference, if not hos- 
 tility, of public sentiment to their subsequent enforcement. 
 The problem will be far from settled until fewer laws are 
 passed, and such enactments are religiously enforced. Lin- 
 coln would not aid in the passage of a law not intended to 
 be enforced or incapable in the common course of events of 
 being substantially enforced, and he recognized that legis- 
 lation should be a practical science based on the actual 
 character, the ability of a people to move forward. Fro- 
 ward reform is almost as pernicious as selfish conservatism. 
 
 So complete was Lincoln's mastery over the masses that 
 many have misunderstood the power of his genius as merely 
 following public opinion. He did infinitely more. He studied 
 the capacity of men for progress, slowly leading them to the 
 higher altitude. Lincoln recognized the limitations of aver- 
 age human advance ; that the mind and heart move slowly in 
 the march of centuries. He worked with the materials at 
 hand and builded on the solid foundation of the real national 
 character. He did not stand in the direct way of events, 
 still he deemed it a duty ever to guide them toward the goal 
 of an advancing civilization. 
 
 The attitude of Lincoln to party organization is of com- 
 manding interest. There was no more valiant, earnest worker 
 
The Political Philosophy of AbraJumi Lincoln 219 
 
 in the Whig ranks. None can question his devotion to the 
 routine, burdensome labor of the campaign. In making 
 speeches, in writing platforms, in arranging meetings, in is- 
 suing circulars, and in the tiring work at the polls, he was 
 a persistent toiler, a loyal partisan. In the Legislature he 
 usually voted with his associates. He often sought to 
 strengthen the party in the selection of office holders. 
 
 He believed in organized political action. He remained 
 a trusted leader in the party of his choice, seldom alienating 
 himself from the party managers, or the rank and file. Still 
 he was no slave of party or caucus. His party, town or 
 state, could not buy or bribe his integrity, or get him to be 
 false to his duty. He believed that parties were useful to 
 democratic government as long as they were substantially in 
 harmony with its deeper objects. Still he did not deem them 
 sacred, and when circiunstances demanded, favored their dis- 
 solution, and the organization of new parties. He was one 
 of the few politicians in American history who acted on the 
 conviction that the man who served his state best, best 
 served his party. Having no sympathy with anarchy in poli- 
 tics, he gave full value to the importance of the organiza- 
 tion, but did not exalt it into an object of adoration. Above 
 it, he placed loyalty to the Constitution and the fathers of 
 the country. He was neither mugwump nor partisan. 
 
 There are two classes of men, materialists and visionaries. 
 The materialist is a slave to the fact. He is so intent on 
 the earth that he seldom enjoys a glimpse of star or con- 
 stellation. Still he is a student of methods and results, a 
 worshipper of success, and hence he is generally in the ascend- 
 ancy. The visionary is a slave to his ideal, he looks at the 
 world as it should be and not as it is. While he gazes at 
 the sunset and the evening star he falls in the pit at his 
 feet. He resembles the mariner of Heine: 
 
220 Lincoln the Politician 
 
 "A wonderful lovely maiden, 
 
 Sits high in her glory there, 
 Her robe with gems is laden. 
 
 And she combeth her golden hair. 
 And as she combs it. 
 
 The gold comb glistens. 
 The while she is singing a song, 
 
 That hath a mystical sound and a wonderful 
 melody. 
 The boatman when once she has bound him. 
 
 Is lost in wild mad love, 
 He sees not the black rocks around him. 
 
 He sees but the beauty above." 
 
 The real leaders in the world's history have been idealists 
 of high practical wisdom. They have been the captains, not 
 the subjects of their ideal. The petty politician rules for 
 the day. The men who dominate the ages give substance to 
 shadow, make the dream of one day the reality of another, 
 crystallize the yearnings of humanity into statute and de- 
 cision. 
 
 The world is used to the omnipresent politician. The 
 visionary, the undaunted reformer, is not an infrequent par- 
 ticipant in the domain of affairs. The political idealist, with 
 the judgment of the one and the inspiration of the other, is 
 so rare that he confounds by his presence. The combination 
 astounds the generation unaccustomed to such a phenomenon. 
 The man of high endowments is stupidly expected to be want- 
 ing in worldliness, and the practical representative of the 
 people in the vision. The solution of all political problems 
 depends on political sagacity illumined with altruism. The 
 political idealist consummates the alliance of vision with 
 method. 
 
The Political Philosophy of Abraham Lmcoln 221 
 
 Lincoln was neither idealist nor politician. With the ideal- 
 ist he was faithful to the vision, with the politician he studied 
 the way to success. He was not lost in mere adoration of 
 the ideal; was not content until it became a reality. He 
 blended the enthusiasm of the visionary with the wisdom of 
 the politician. He was the ideal politician. 
 
 Lincoln was the prophet politician of his time, blending 
 the righteousness of the Hebraic seer with political sagacity. 
 He faced failure imperiously. He was never finally van- 
 quished. He looked beyond temporary triumph to ultimate 
 consequences. Despite setback, disaster and every obstacle, 
 he had abounding faith in the abiding triumph of justice. 
 
 He knew the shortcomings of human nature, the painful, 
 sluggard progress of moral evolution. He weighed men as 
 they were and not as he wished them to be. Hence, he was 
 patient with their failings. He made ample allowance for 
 the heavy hand of habit, for ancestral, religious, political, 
 social £^nd industrial environment. That men were largely 
 the children of their time was to him an ever present truth. 
 Cooperation not antagonism was his method of achievement. 
 He would not force progress and he recognized the sway of 
 the grim law of necessity. He measured the labored march 
 of public sentiment. He waited the slow processes of time ; 
 was no believer in magical reforms or quack political reme- 
 dies. He did not squander his energies in the wonderland 
 of dreams. He is the wisest politician in American history, 
 consummate in his strategy for the general welfare, the su- 
 preme friend and champion of democracy and humanity. 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Benton, Thomas H., Thirty years' view; or, a history of the 
 working of the American government for thirty years, 
 from 1820 to 1850. II v. New York, 1854.. 
 
 Birbeck, Morris, Notes of a journey in America from the 
 coast of Virginia to the teri'itory of Illinois : with propo- 
 sals for the establishment of a colony of English, accom- 
 panied by a map illustrating the route to Dublin. Re- 
 printed for Thomas Larkin, 1818. 
 
 Brown, Samuel R., The Western Gazetteer. Auburn, N. Y., 
 1817. 
 
 Cartwright, Peter, Autobiography of Peter Cartwright, the 
 backwoods preacher. Edited by W. P. Strickland. New 
 York, 1856. 
 
 Chittenden, L. E., Recollections of President Lincoln and 
 his administration. New York, 1891. 
 
 Collins, Lewis, History of Kentucky. 2 vols., Covington, Ky. 
 
 Cox, Sanford C, Recollections of the early settlers of the 
 Wabash Valley. Lafayette, Ind., 1860. 
 
 Darbey, John F., Personal recollections of many prominent 
 people whom I have known. St. Louis, 1880. 
 
 Dillon, John B., History of Indiana from its earliest explora- 
 tion by Europeans to the close of the territorial govern- 
 ment in 1816, with historical notes of the discovery and 
 settlement of the territory of the U. S. northwest of the 
 River Ohio. I v. Indianapolis, 1843. 
 
 Drake, Daniel, Pioneer life in Kentucky. Cincinnati, 1870. 
 
 Ford, Thomas, History of Illinois. Chicago, 1854. 
 
 223 
 
224 Bibliography 
 
 Gilmore, James R., Personal jrecollections of Abraham Lin- 
 coln and the Civil War. Boston, 1898. 
 
 Goodrich & Tuttle, History of Indiana. Indianapolis, Ind., 
 1875. 
 
 Grant, U. S., Personal memoirs of. 2 volumes in one. New 
 York, 1894. 
 
 Greeley, Horace, The American conflict. Chicago, 1866. 
 
 Hemdon, WiUiam H., Hemdon's Lincoln. 2 vols. New 
 York, 1916. 
 
 Illinois State Historical Society, Transactions of. Publica- 
 tion No. VIII for the year 1900. Springfield, 111., 1900. 
 
 Indiana Historical Society, Publications of. Indianapolis, 
 1895. 
 
 Johnson, Oliver, William Lloyd Garrison and his times. Bos- 
 ton, 1880. 
 
 Jones, N. E., The Squirrel Hunters of Ohio, or, glimpses of 
 pioneer life. Cincinnati, 1898. 
 
 Lamon, Ward H., The life of Abraham Lincoln. Boston, 
 1872. 
 
 Lovejoy, J. C, and Owen, Memoirs of the Rev. Elijah P. 
 Love joy. New York, 1838. 
 
 Macon County, Publications of. Philadelphia, 1879. 
 
 Maltby, Charles, The life and public services of Abraham 
 Lincoln. Stockton, Cal., 1844. 
 
 Martyn, W. C, Wendell Phillips, the Agitator. 1890. 
 
 McClure's Early Life of Abraham Lincoln, By Ida M. Tar- 
 bell assisted by J. McCan Davis. New York, 1896. 
 
 McLean County Historical Society, Transactions of. 3 vols. 
 Bloomington, 111., 1899. 
 
 Milburn, William Henry, Milburn on pioneer preachers. New 
 York, 1860. 
 
 Nicolay & Hay, Abraham Lincoln, a history by John G. 
 Nicolay and John Hay. X v. New York, 1890. 
 
Bibliography 225 
 
 John G. Nicolay and John Hay. Abraham Lincoln's com- 
 plete works, comprising his speeches, letters, state papers 
 and miscellaneous writings. Edited by John G. Nicolay 
 and John Hay. H v. New York, 1902. 
 
 Oldroyd, Osborn H., The Lincoln Memorial; collected and 
 edited by Osborn H. Oldroyd. New York, 1882. 
 
 Palmer, John M., Personal recollections of. Cincinnati, 
 1901. 
 
 Kanck, George W., History of Lexington, Ky. Cincinnati, 
 1872. 
 
 Rice, Allen Thorndike, Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln by 
 distinguished men of his time. Collected and edited by 
 Allen Thorndike Rice. Sixth Edition. New York, 1888. 
 
 Ross, Harvey Lee, The early pioneers and pioneer events in 
 the State of Illinois. Chicago, 1899. 
 
 Sangamon County, History of Springfield. 1881. Inter 
 State Pub. Co., Chicago. 
 
 Shaler, N, S., History of Kentucky. American Common- 
 wealth Series. Boston, 1895. 
 
 Sheahan, James, The life of Stephen A. Douglas. New York, 
 1860. 
 
 Smith, William C, Indiana miscellany, containing sketches 
 of Indian life, the early settlement, customs and hardships 
 of the people, and the introduction of the gospel 
 and schools, together with biographical notices of the 
 pioneer Methodist preachers of the state. Cincinnati, 
 1867. 
 
 Smith, William Henry, History of the State of Indiana. 2d 
 ed. II V. Western Pub. Co. Indianapolis, 1903. 
 
 Stevens, Frank E., The Black Hawk War, including a review 
 of Black Hawk's Life. Chicago, 1903. 
 
 Stewart, James Hervey, Recollections of the early settlement 
 of Carroll County, Indiana. Cincinnati, 1872. 
 
226 Bibliography 
 
 Tarbell, Ida M., The Life of Abraham Lincoln. II v. New 
 
 York, 1904. 
 Warrick, Spencer and Perry Counties, Indiana. History of. 
 
 Chicago, 1886. 
 Whitney, Life on the Circuit with Lincoln. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Abolitionists — ^Abolition Intelligen- 
 cer, 3S; brute force dooms slav- 
 ery, 77-78; early western move- 
 ments of, 36; favor emancipa- 
 tion in District of Colmnbia, 
 144-146; Garrisonian, 117; "Gen- 
 ius," 36; Illinois, hated in, 76- 
 78; political, 118-119; public 
 service performed, 78. 
 
 Adams, John Q., 22. 
 
 Alton Observer, 83. 
 
 American Government, Lincoln's 
 Essay on, 28. 
 
 American party, see Know-noth- 
 ing party. 
 
 American Preceptor, 36. 
 
 Anti-slavery, see Slavery. 
 
 Armstrong, Jack, 43-44, 46. 
 
 Atchison, D. R., 168. 
 
 Baker, Col. E. D., 90, 96-98, 112- 
 
 115, 121, 128, 138, 149. 
 Battles, greatest, 161. 
 Bimey, James G., 118. 
 Bissel, Gov., 196. 
 Black Hawk War, 47. 
 Bloomington Convention, 190-193. 
 Brackenridge, John V., 31. 
 Brooks, Preston S., 190. 
 Browning, O. H., 90, 138. 
 Buchanan, Pres. James, 194-196, 
 
 201, 203-206. 
 Burke, Edmund, 119. 
 Butterfleld, Justin, 149-160. 
 
 Calhoun, John (111.), 56-66, 90-91, 
 119. 
 
 Calhoun, John C, 20, 116-117, 168. 
 
 Campaign, 1834, in 111., 59. 
 
 Campaign, 1836, in 111., 64. 
 
 Campaign, 1838, in 111., 87-88. 
 
 Campaign, national 1840, exuber- 
 ant speech, 95-96. 
 
 Campaign, national 1844, 116-120. 
 
 Campaign, national 1848, 137-143. 
 
 Campaign, national 1862, 166. 
 
 Capitalists, 74. 
 
 Cartwright, Rev. Peter, 124-127. 
 
 Cass, Gen. Lewis, 138, 140. 
 
 Chase, S. P., 145. 
 
 Chatham, 119. 
 
 Civilization, test of, 313. 
 
 Clary Grove boys, 43-44, 50, 66-67. 
 
 Clay, Henry, 18, 32, 34, 116-120, 
 138, 163-166, 159; colonization 
 proposal, 154-155; tribute to 
 in defeat, 120. 
 
 Clinton, De Witt, 23-24. 
 
 Columbian orator, 35. 
 
 Compromise, 147; slavery not set- 
 tled by, 168. 
 
 Compromise measures, 1850, 152. 
 
 Convention system, 110-111. 
 
 Parbey, J. F., 141. 
 Davis, Judge David, 180. 
 Dawson, 60. , 
 
 Democratic Party — Anti-Nebras- 
 ka Democrats, 190; banks, hos- 
 227 
 
228 
 
 Index 
 
 tilily to, lOfi ; New Salem Dem- 
 ocrats work for Lincoln, 64- 
 SS; Northern complicity in 
 crime of Kansas, 201-303; 
 Northern repudiate Kansas 
 crime, 203; Northern resent 
 Southern support of Taylor, 
 144; patriotic minority in 1864, 
 165-166; run Lincoln as can- 
 didate in 1834, 68. 
 
 Democracy, political religion of 
 Lincoln, 317. 
 
 Dixon, Archibald, 158. 
 
 Douglas, Fred, 30, 36. 
 
 Douglas, Stephen A., See Lincoln, 
 — Buchanan, braves, 303; con- 
 queror, returns as in 1858, 
 304-206; debate, defeats Ew- 
 ing in, 97; debate, Whig's 
 challenge to, 90; Democratic 
 administration fights, 303-203; 
 howled down in Chicago, 162; 
 judiciary reorganized, 100- 
 101; Kansas issue, not the au- 
 thor of, 157-168; Lincoln, de- 
 bates with, 92, 97-99, 119, 170- 
 175, 311; Missouri Compro- 
 mise, 167-168; patriot, not hu- 
 manitarian, 169 ; Republican 
 leaders coquette with, 303- 
 304; senate. Anti-slavery lead- 
 ers in, confounded by, 170; 
 State Fair speech, 162-163; 
 Supreme Court, Jackson's at- 
 tack on, 199. 
 Dred Scott decision, See Lincoln. 
 
 Dueling, 105. 
 
 Economic interest, 216. 
 Edwards, Cyrus, angry at Lincoln, 
 
 149-150. 
 Emancipation, gradual, 147. 
 
 Emancipation proclamation, 86. 
 Emancipation, race, 85. 
 Erie Canal, 22-23. 
 Ewing, W. L. D., 73. 
 Ewing, Gen. John, 97. 
 
 Fillmore, Pres. Millard, 150, 194. 
 
 Ford, Gov., 69-70. 
 
 Forquer's lightning rod, 67-68. 
 
 Franklin, 199. 
 
 Free Soil men, 143-143. 
 
 Freemont, J. C, 193-195. 
 
 Garrison, W. L., 173, 185. 
 Gentry, AUen, 34. 
 Gentryville, Ind., people of, 31-32. 
 Giddings, J. R., 145. 
 Gillespie, Joseph, 106. 
 Graham, Minter, 43, 55. 
 Great Britain, 117. 
 Great Debate, The, 91. 
 Greeley, 137, 133, 304-205. 
 Grigsby, Nat., Story of, 119. 
 Grigsbys, fight with, 32-33. 
 
 Hardin, John J., 112, 116, 121- 
 
 124, 128. 
 Harrison, Pres. W. H., 90, 95-96. 
 Head, Jesse, 19. 
 Heine's, Lorelei, 319, 330. 
 Henry, Patrick, 119. 
 ]Herndon, W. H., 83, 109-113, 131- 
 
 132, 156, 163-165, 177, 188, 
 
 192-193, 204, 207-208. 
 Herndon, Rowan, 45. 
 
 Ideals, political, 219-220. 
 
 Illinois — Abolitionism, hated in, 
 76; Abolition societies, early 
 in, 35; Black code of, 76; ju- 
 diciary in politics, 100-102. 
 
 Indiana— Gentryville, 31-32; inter- 
 
Index 
 
 229 
 
 nal improvement policy, 23- 
 24; pioneer politics, 21-23; 
 Spencer Comity, 21, 24; Stat- 
 utes revised, 28, 30. 
 
 Injustice, nation cannot live on, 
 208. 
 
 Internal improvement policy, 22- 
 24, 68-69, 89. 
 
 Jackson, Andrew, 22, 34, 50, 56, 
 117, 124-125, 141, 199. 
 
 JajTie, Wmiam, 176. 
 
 iTefFerson, 17, 154, 199. 
 
 Johnston, John, step-brother of 
 Lincoln, 30, 32. 
 
 Judicial system of 111. prey of 
 partisanship, 100-102. 
 
 Kansas, Neb. struggle, 181-183, 
 189, 201-204; crisis, national, 
 marked by, 182; Lecompton 
 Constitution, 202; violence be- 
 gets violence, 189. 
 
 Kentucky — Abolitionism, 18, 35; 
 Anti-federalist, 17; frontier 
 life, 15-17; law-abiding, 16-17; 
 passion for politics, 17; pio- 
 neer hardships, 16; schools, 16; 
 slavery, 18. 
 
 Know-nothing party, 190; seek 
 Lincoln, 182; opposed by Lin- 
 cohi, 185, 187. 
 
 Labor, Lincoln sympathizes with, 
 135-136; grapple with slavery, 
 182. 
 
 Lambourn, Josiah, SO. 
 
 Lamon, W. H., 93, 100, 102, 109- 
 110, 163, 193, 207-208, 210. 
 
 Legislature III. in 1834, 60-61 ; cor- 
 ruption in, 126. 
 
 Liberty men, 118. 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham, — 
 Abolitionist, not, 41. 
 Ambition, 53-54, 109-110. 
 American Gcovernment, essay on, 
 
 28. 
 Ancestry, 15. 
 Aristocrat, charged with being, 
 
 113-114. 
 Armstrong, Jack, fight with, 43- 
 
 44. 
 Athlete, 36, 44. 
 Bargain with Democrats in 1834, 
 
 58. 
 Black Hawk War, 47-49. 
 Campaign, 1840, active for Gen. 
 
 Harrison, 96. 
 Campaign, 1844; enthusiastic for 
 
 Clay, 119; speaks in Indiana, 
 
 119. 
 Campaign, 1848, 137-142; strong 
 
 for Taylor, 137-138: speaks in 
 
 New England, 142. 
 Campaign, 1852; colorless, 155. 
 Campaign, 1856, received flatter- 
 ing vote for vice-presidency 
 
 in Republican convention, 193; 
 
 great demand for as speaker, 
 
 193-194. 
 Campaign, purse returned by, 87- 
 
 88. 
 Capitalists, comment on, 74. 
 Capitol removed from Vandalia 
 
 to Springfield, 70-71. 
 Captain, elected in Black Hawk 
 
 War, 47-48. 
 Clary Grove boys, the, 43-44. 
 Clay, Henry — admirer of, 119; 
 
 opposed to in 1848 campaign, 
 
 138; tribute to at death, 153- 
 
 155. 
 Colonization proposal of Clay — 
 
 approved by, 154-155. 
 
230 
 
 Index 
 
 Congress, candidate for, in 1843 
 — bargain as to nomination at 
 Pekin Convention, 131; de- 
 feated by Baker, 113-115; ex- 
 planation of his defeat, 114- 
 115; Hardin defeated by for 
 the nomination in 1846, 121- 
 124; elected in 1846, defeating 
 Cartwright, 126-127. 
 
 Congress, in, — anti-slavery rad- 
 ical resolution opposes, 144; 
 anti-slavery bill skillfully in- 
 troduces, 144-145 ; democratic 
 postmaster general supports, 
 135 ; internal improvement pol- 
 icy approves, 136-137 ; Mexican 
 War, attitude to, 127-134; 
 Mexican War policy, hateful 
 to constituents, 131, 151; 
 speech. Campaign, 139; "Spot 
 resolutions," 130, 151; training 
 in, 151 ; war of aggression, op- 
 poses, 129-134; Wilmot Pro- 
 viso, votes for, 144. 
 
 Conservative radical, 79. 
 
 Convention system, favors, 110- 
 111. 
 
 Court trial, attended by, 31. 
 
 Debater, — convincing, 141-143; 
 demagogue, exposes, 88; fair- 
 ness in debate, 66; skill in, 
 175; youthful, 31, 47. 
 
 Douglas — follovi^ed with facts, 
 98-99; match for, 175; popular 
 sovereignty doctrine crushed, 
 171-172; sought by Lincoln in 
 debate, 91-93; sophistry of ex- 
 posed, 170; State fair speech, 
 replied to, 163; truce tendered 
 Lincoln, 174-175. 
 
 Declaration of Independence — 
 not a lie, 174, 199-200. 
 
 Deist, charged with being, 115, 
 126. 
 
 Demagogue, exposed by, 88. 
 
 Democrats — bargain with, 58 ; 
 charges with having vulnerable 
 heels, 99; popular with, 54. 
 
 Democracy, faith in, 63-64. 
 
 Disappointments, familiar with, 
 54. 
 
 Diplomacy, 74-75. 
 
 Dred Scott Decision, 197-300; 
 Lincoln's opposition to, 198- 
 199; weakened respect for Su- 
 preme Court, 198. 
 
 Drink, does not, 87. 
 
 Duality of his life, 35-36. 
 
 Duels— Ewing with, 73; Shields 
 with, 104-105. 
 
 Education — books that mould his 
 political opinions, 28-30; early, 
 19-20; law, studies, 56; learn- 
 ing, love of, 27; legislature in, 
 60-61; libraries, haunts, 161; 
 method of, 26-37; practical for 
 leadership, 36-38; subjective, 
 27, 36; Weems' Life of Wash- 
 ington, 29. 
 
 Environment, 20, 32, 33; poverty 
 of, 35, 26; Kentucky, 17-18. 
 
 Fairness, 46. 
 
 Federalist, 17. 
 
 Financier— 69, 99 ; De Witt Clin- 
 ton, aims to be of 111., 68; 
 merchant, failure as, 45-46. 
 
 Foresight — foresees slavery 
 struggle, 47, 127, 132, 157, 172. 
 
 Free Soil Men attacked, 143; 
 converted, 143. 
 
 Genius, towering and race eman- 
 cipation, 85. 
 
 Greatness, 216-217. 
 
 Greeley corrected, 133. 
 
Index 
 
 231 
 
 Grigsbys, fight with, 33. 
 
 Harrison, Gen. W. H., candidacy 
 for presidency promoted, 90. 
 
 Herndon, W. H., see Herndon 
 above; letter to, 111-112. 
 
 Hero of New Salem, 67. 
 
 Honesty, 45. 
 
 Horse races, judge at, 46. 
 
 Humility— ^0, 64, 91, 100; lesson 
 in at murder trial, 31. 
 
 Imagination, 139. 
 
 Indian, protects old, 48-49. 
 
 Internal improvements — ^public 
 lands proceeds for, 61-63; per- 
 sistent supporter of, 68, 69, 89, 
 136-137. 
 
 Judiciary— function of, 198-199; 
 Jackson's attitude to, 199; op- 
 poses political interference 
 with by legislature, 101 ; speaks 
 bitterly of relation to slavery, 
 156; war on Dred Scott deci- 
 sion, 198-200. 
 
 Justice, nation cannot exist on 
 injustice, 208; negro, to, 170; 
 south, to, 168-169. 
 
 Kindness, 46-47. 
 
 Know-nothingism, 184-186, 187, 
 190; proscriptive principles op- 
 posed, 187. 
 
 Labor — sympathy for, 135-136; 
 laborer, 44; farmer, 44. 
 
 Law — reverence for, 198; stud- 
 ies, 56. 
 
 Lawyer, dislike of details, 109. 
 
 Lawmaking, skilled in, 61. 
 
 Legislature, 1832, defeated for, 
 56; 1834, elected to, 68; 1836, 
 received highest vote for, in 
 Sangamon County, 68; 1838, 
 elected to, 87; 1838, candidate 
 for speaker, 88; 1840, candi- 
 
 date for speaker, 99; charges 
 of corruption of Sangamon 
 delegation, replies to, 73; 
 jumps from window during 
 session, 106-106; log-roller in, 
 68; protest of 1837, 80; State 
 debt, loose plan to pay, 99-100; 
 summary of career, 107-108. 
 
 Liberty men, satirizes, 118. 
 
 Literary style — development of, 
 27-28, 32; fanciful, 83-84, 92- 
 94; scathing speech, 141; vul- 
 gar satires, 33. 
 
 Log-roller, 68. 
 
 Lovejoy, Owen, writes to, 178. 
 
 Maxims, 74. 
 
 Mexican War— 127-134; 161. 
 
 Mob spirit — 83; cure for, 84. 
 
 Mother, 36. 
 
 New England — speeches in, 142- 
 143; Seward, meets in, 143. 
 
 New Salem — 43-57; hero of, 67. 
 
 New Orleans, sale of slave stirs 
 Lincoln, 41. 
 
 Oifice seeker, as, 149-150. 
 
 Office seekers, unique recom- 
 mendation of, 148. 
 
 "Old Abe," 64. 
 
 Oregon governorship refused by, 
 160. 
 
 Parliamentarian, smartest, 68. 
 
 Partisan— 65-66; 110-112. 
 
 Patriot— 72, 192-193; corrupt 
 bargain, spurns, 71-72; fraud- 
 ulent voting, opposes, 106; 
 party spoils system, opposes, 
 148; politician and patriot, 
 72; political duty, 179-180; 
 Trumbull's election, advises, 
 179-180. 
 
 Peace, friend of, 185. 
 
 Peoria speech, 167-170. 
 
Index 
 
 Personal influence, 70-71. 
 
 Physical strength, 44, 46. 
 
 Pilot, 45. 
 
 Political philosophy of, 213-231; 
 brotherhood basis of progress, 
 217; central idea of the repub- 
 lic, 195; compromise when 
 available, 147; compensated 
 emancipation, 216; faith in tri- 
 umph of justice, 221; laws of 
 political progress, 216-218; leg- 
 islation, 218; organized polit- 
 ical action favored, 219; par- 
 ties not sacred, 219; party 
 power, 184; patient with fraU- 
 ty, 221; political generalship, 
 217; public ofBce, public trust, 
 107; public opinion, 218; revo- 
 lution through ballot, 189-190; 
 slavery, attacks at weakest 
 point, 216; universal feeling, 
 169; violence opposes, 189- 
 190; works with men as they 
 are, 221. 
 
 Political strategy — adroitness 
 with country editor, 176-177; 
 anti-slavery bill in Congress, 
 144-146; bargain with Demo- 
 crats, in 1834, 58; bargain for 
 Congressional nomination, 121; 
 Freemont campaign sees Fill- 
 more danger, 194; jumps from 
 church window, 106; log-roll- 
 er, cunning, 68, 70-71; Love- 
 joy avoided, 164; smart parlia- 
 mentarian, 68; tactician, 144- 
 145; trick of Herndon en- 
 dorses, 164-165. 
 
 Politician— 74; act, first polit- 
 ical, 42; activity, 110; advance- 
 ment as, 111-112; applicant for 
 ofEce, 148-150; Capitol removes 
 
 to Springfield, 70-71; defeat, 
 training in, 114, 180; discern- 
 ment, 139; expediency, 99; 
 fairness, 148; generalship, 217; 
 greatness, 216-217; ideal, 221; 
 party leader, 219; patriot and 
 politician, 72; policy, 41-42; 
 politics, his world, 109-110; 
 popularity, champion of, 52; 
 popularity in New Salem, 54- 
 55; prescience, 310; prophet 
 politician, 221; religion, polit- 
 ical, 317; schooling, 106; self- 
 glorifying declination, 107; 
 skill, 179; succeed, how to, as, 
 111-113; vote, new method of, 
 bring out, 94-95; wisdom, 148, 
 310. 
 
 Popular will, student of, 63. 
 
 Postmaster, 56. 
 
 Preacher, indefatigable, 30. 
 
 Presidency, 140, 310. 
 
 Press, seeks the, 131-123, 176- 
 177. 
 
 Protection, favors, 50, 135. 
 
 Protest 1837, 79-81, 108. 
 
 Public office, public trust, 107. 
 
 Public lands proceeds for inter- 
 nal improvements, 63. 
 
 Religion, political, 317. 
 
 Republican Party — Bloomington 
 Convention, 190-191 ; editors 
 convention, first step in forma- 
 tion of in 111., 187-188; joins, 
 188-189; parties, three seek 
 Lincoln in 1855, 183; party un- 
 certainty, 1855, 184-185. 
 
 Right, exhortation to stand with 
 whoever is, 173-173. 
 
 Senate U. S.— candidate in 1854, 
 176; defeated, 179-180; duty 
 of as representative of whole 
 
Index 
 
 state, 178; nominated unani- 
 mously by Republicans, 1858, 
 205-206; passion for term in, 
 176. 
 
 Shields, "scrap with," 103-105. 
 
 Slavery, — anti-slavery bill in 
 Congress, 145-146; not apolo- 
 gist for, or abolitionist, 41; at- 
 tacks weakest point, 216; anti- 
 slavery sentiments, origin of, 
 35 ; anti-slavery movement, 
 growth of in New England, 
 143; colonization favors, 154- 
 155; Declaration of Independ- 
 ence, relation to, 199-200; de- 
 spair at strength of, 153; eco- 
 nomic strength, 197; foresees 
 conflict over, 47; gradual 
 emancipation policy, 147; ha- 
 tred of, 110, 173-174, 183; jus- 
 tice to negro, 170; menace of, 
 173-174; moral issue in North, 
 
 '197; New Orleans trip, kin- 
 dles hatred, 40-41; protest, 
 1837, 79-81; sale of mulatto 
 girl, fires with hatred of, 41- 
 42; subverts government, 157; 
 shackled slaves torment, 110; 
 slavetraders control Southern 
 policies, 184; South's pecuni- 
 ary interest in, 197; terri- 
 tories, opposition to spread in, 
 169. 
 
 Social slight, resentment at, 32. 
 
 South — constitutional rights rec- 
 ognized, 169; pecuniary inter- 
 est in slavery, 197; slave-trad- 
 ers dictate politics of, 184. 
 
 Speaker — attract, does not, in 
 "great debate," 91-92; growing 
 demand for, 194; eminence in 
 1836, 68; emotions, appeals to. 
 
 SO, 67-68, 96; eulogy on Clay, 
 153-156; fails as, 97; Forquer, 
 crushing reply to, 67; Free- 
 mont campaign, makes SO 
 speeches in, 193-194; humorous 
 passage in speech, 93; "lost 
 speech," 191-192; Peoria 
 speech, 167-174; "scathing 
 Style," 141; shocks cultured 
 lawyer in 1840, 96-97; Spring- 
 field, 1858 speech, 307-212; 
 State Fair speech, 163; youth- 
 ful, 30, 40, 50-51; wilderness, 
 as in a, 192. 
 
 Spot resolutions, 130, 151. 
 
 Springfield speech— "house-di- 
 vided-against-itself" address, 
 207-312; apotheosis of career, 
 313; criticized by friends, 307- 
 208, 210; pride in, 310-211; na- 
 tion cannot exist on injustice, 
 and must become all free or 
 all slaves, 208-310; presidency, 
 claim that it was a bid for, 
 310; United States history, one 
 of the momentous addresses 
 in, 208; wisely framed, 211. 
 
 Springfield, 111. — humble en- 
 trance into, 72-73; secures re- 
 moval of Capitol to, 70-71. 
 
 Statesman — 78; national leader, 
 213; national vision, 134. 
 
 Stories, — appearance, 59-60; bal- 
 lots, not bullets, 189-190; brag- 
 ging horse owner, 30-31 ; John 
 Calhoun, 55; campaign purse, 
 87-88; candidate, pompous, re- 
 buked, 60; captain, 48; 
 cruelty to animals, 30; 
 cultured lawyer shocked, 
 96 ; demagogue exposed, 
 88; despair as to slay- 
 
234 
 
 Index 
 
 ery, 153; Douglas tenders 
 truce, 174-175; duel. Shields, 
 103-105; engagement, 152-103; 
 fairness, 45-46; farm hands, 
 59 ; fight with Jack Armstrong, 
 43-44; free speech, 98; fore- 
 sight, 127; honesty, 45; horse 
 race, 45; Indian, old, 48-49; 
 jujnps from window, 106; law 
 studies, 56; lightning rod, 
 Forquer's, 67-68; Lovejoy, 
 avoids, 163-164; mercy, 46-47; 
 mother, 35; negro boy, 189; 
 negro girl, sale of. New Orleans, 
 41; partnership, Herndon, 112; 
 Pekin convention, 121; pov- 
 erty, 68, 73-73; principle, loy- 
 alty to, 71-72; politics, his 
 world, 109; public, first act, 
 43; Revolutionary history, 39; 
 same Abe Lincoln, 114; slav- 
 ery struggle serious, 153; 
 shackled slaves, 110; soldier, 
 19; speaker, failure as, 97; 
 speech, early, 52; "Speed, I'm 
 moved," 72-73; "There's Nat," 
 119; trick of Herndon, 164- 
 165; Washington, Weems' Life 
 of, 29; world not dead, 192- 
 193. 
 Supreme Court of U. S. — atti- 
 tude to, 198-199; Douglas, ap- 
 proval of Jackson's position, 
 199; Dred Scott decision of, 
 197-200; Dred Scott decision 
 weakens respect for, 198; 
 Jackson's view of its lack of 
 constitutional power of inter- 
 pretation, 199; judges of, stu- 
 dents of the past, 200; judi- 
 cial decisions, function of, 198- 
 199; Lincoln wiser than, 200. 
 
 Surveyor, 55. 
 
 Taylor, Zachary, promotes pres- 
 idential candidacy, 138. 
 Temperate, 87. 
 Texas, annexation of, 129. 
 Todd, Mary (Lincoln), engage- 
 ment to Lincoln, severance of 
 engagement and reconciliation, 
 102-104. 
 Universal suffrage, faith in, 64. 
 Usury, 52-63. 
 
 Voting, fraudulent, opposes, 106. 
 War — captain in Black Hawk 
 War, 47-49; dissatisfaction 
 with Lincoln's action in Mex- 
 ican War, 131; Mexican War, 
 vigorous prosecution of fa- 
 vored, 138-129; Mexican War, 
 inception of opposed, 129-131; 
 Mexican War, speech on in- 
 ception of in Congress, 130- 
 131 ; war power under the Con- 
 stitution, 133-133. 
 Washington, 28-30. 
 Whig, 34, 50, 68, 68, 172. 
 Woman Suffrage, 62-63. 
 Wit, 30-31. 
 
 Writer, see literary style above, 
 first efforts, 27-28; first impor- 
 tant address, 61-54. 
 Lincoln, Mrs. Abraham, 160, 176. 
 Lincoln, Nancy Hanks, 19, 25. 
 Lincoln, Sally Bush, 19. 
 Lincoln, Thomas, 15-16, 19, 24-25, 
 39; reasons for removal from 
 Kentucky, 18-19. 
 Linder, W. F., 73. 
 Locos, 115, 139. 
 Lost speech. See Lincoln. 
 Logan, Judge S. T., 61, 90, 121. 
 Lovejoy, Rev. E. P. — murder of, 
 79, 86; mob spirit, 81-82. 
 
Index 
 
 236 
 
 Lovejoy, Owen, 163, 177-178, 186. 
 Lundy, Benjamin, 3S. 
 
 Matteson, Gov., 179. 
 
 Mexican War, origin of, 127-128; 
 patriotism awakened by, 128- 
 131; Whigs, attitude toward, 
 129-130. 
 
 Milk-sick, 39. 
 
 Minority party, value of, 101-102. 
 
 Missouri compromise, 167-168; re- 
 peal of, 158-160, 163, 170, 182. 
 
 Mob spirit, 81-83; cure for, 84. 
 
 Moral prophet, seldom politician, 
 166. 
 
 Morrison, Col. J. L. D., 149. 
 
 Moses, 217. 
 
 National campaigns. See cam- 
 paigns. 
 
 O'Connell, Daniel, 173. 
 Offutt, Denton, 40, 42, 43. 
 Ohio, 23. 
 Osborn, Charles, 35. 
 
 Pain, John, 193. 
 
 Pain, Thomas, 19. 
 
 Palmer, John M., 165-166, 191. 
 
 Panic, 1837, 103. 
 
 Parties, new, need of about 1854, 
 
 181-182; power of partisan 
 
 lash, 183-184; sacred, not, 219; 
 
 utility of, 219. 
 Partisanship, growth of, 64-65, 66; 
 
 judiciary, 100-102. 
 Party ties, painful rending of, 165- 
 
 166. 
 Patriotism, civil, 213. 
 Pekin convention, 1843, startling 
 
 story of, 121. 
 Pettit, John, 174. 
 
 Phillips, Wendell, 173. 
 
 Pierce, Pres. Franklin, 195. 
 
 Pioneer life — churchman as public 
 officer, 127; Illinois, 39; Indi- 
 ana, 21-23; politics, 21-22; 
 recreation, 31-32; schools, 16; 
 social life, 32-33; store, 33; 
 story-telling, 33. 
 
 Politics — art of securing results, 
 215; American History, strug- 
 gle between abolitionism and 
 slavery, 214; evil, organized 
 wisest attack on, 215-216; fac- 
 tor vital in civilization, 215; 
 pioneer, 21-23; politician sel- 
 dom moral leader, 166; politi- 
 cal generalship, 217; political 
 progress, painful struggle, 
 166-167; recreation to pioneer, 
 22; school of the nation, 22; 
 true politician, 213; voters, 
 new method of getting out, 
 94-95. 
 
 Political pliilosophy — economic in- 
 fluence gregarious, 216; human 
 nature, slow-changing, 215; in- 
 justice, nation cannot live on, 
 208; Lincoln's, 213-221; poli- 
 tician and statesman distin- 
 guished, 217-218; public opin- 
 ion, importance of, 195-196, 
 217-218; universal feeling, 169. 
 
 Polk, Pres. J. K., 119-120, 127, 130- 
 131, 136. 
 
 Presidency, 140, 210. 
 
 Public office, hunger for, 148. 
 
 Public service, state of, test of 
 progress, 313. 
 
 Religious leader opposed as repre- 
 sentative of people, 137. 
 Republic, central idea of, 195-198. 
 
236 
 
 Index 
 
 Republican Party — new party, 
 need of, 181; national, first 
 convention, 193; origin Illinois, 
 187-188; second step in forma- 
 tion of, 190-191. 
 
 Sangamon Eiver, navigability of, 
 S3. 
 
 Sangamon delegation charged with 
 corruption, 70, 73. 
 
 Schieder, G. H., 187. 
 
 Selby, Paul, 190. 
 
 Senate, U. S., slave power favored 
 by, 144. 
 
 Seward, W. H., 143, 14S, 201, 204- 
 205. 
 
 Shields, James, 103-104, 128. 
 
 Slavery — economic strength of, 
 197; free speech endangered 
 Ijy, ''^S; gradual emancipation, 
 147; Illinois friendly, 76-78; 
 intolerance of, 145-146; Kan- 
 sas struggle, 181-182; moral 
 issue in the North, 197; north 
 and south responsible for, 168; 
 policy, bad, 80; portentous 
 problem, 20; power of, 41; 
 property, ostentatious, 157; 
 slave-trade, effort to abolish, 
 144-145; subverts government, 
 157. 
 
 South, Texas, annexation of, 117. 
 
 Speed, Joshua, 67, 73-73, 87, 90, 
 103, 182-185. 
 
 Spencer County, 21, 24. 
 
 Spot resolutions. See Lincoln. 
 
 Springfield speech, See Lincoln. 
 
 Stanton, E. M., 145. 
 
 Stephens, A. H., 134, 138. 
 
 Stone, Dan, 80, 146. 
 Stuart, John T., 60, 90, 188. 
 Sumner, 190. 
 
 Taylor, Richard, 88. 
 
 Taylor, Pres. Zachary, 137-139, 
 
 149-150. 
 Texas, annexation of, 116-117, 129. 
 Thomas, 90. 
 Todd, Mary (Lincoln), See Mrs. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln. 
 Toombs, Robert, 138. 
 TrumbuU, Lyman, 179-180. 
 Tyler, Pres. John, 116, 127. 
 
 Universal feeling, not to be disre- 
 garded, 169. 
 Usury, 52-53. 
 
 Vandalia, Capitol, 111., 70-71. 
 Van Buren, Martin, 98, 116, 143. 
 Voting, 1834, viva voce, 60. 
 
 Walker, Robert J., 201. 
 
 War, only solution to slavery 
 struggle, 214. 
 
 War power under Constitution, 
 132-133. 
 
 Washburn, E. B., 138, 179. 
 
 >Vashington, 39, 131, 156, 199, 201. 
 
 Webster, Daniel, 92, 95, 116, 159, 
 209. 
 
 Weems' Life of Washington, 28. 
 
 Whigs — called federalists, 49; ag- 
 gressive campaign, 1840, 95; 
 judiciary, corruption of, op- 
 posed, 100-102; Mexican War, 
 129-130; support banks, 103, 
 105; seek Lincoln, 182. 
 
 White, Hugh L., 63. 
 
 Wilmot, Proviso, 138, 144.