E457 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS OODOSTTDDTA ti-o^ =2*. <^^ ^^^"^ *i:^* 'Cn9- V-S^ '••* "^o. ^ ..^'-^ '^ .^•^ .* ^^ *. • * * r .'^.-^.-^ ^^ !> 'A. .•.rf55:^^. o j^ ♦• ^^; ^o ''^Vi* A <^. 'o -^^ ..1^^% V ^0^ ••Ji^:. '^^ ' ' *^ The Illinois Life and the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln. AN ADDRESS The University of Illinois^ Lincoln's Birthday, 1896, President Draper, President Draper's Address. IX 18<)() 1113' way to school led me. with un- varying- reg"ularity, by the stately m a n s i o n 1 which had been the res- idence of one of New York's g-reatest g-overn- ors and most g-iftedl sons. William Henry Sew ard. The associa- tion of this house with one of the g-reatest names in the history of j the state gave it un- usual interest to all. and. in connection with events which were then transpiring-, led it to exert a con- siderable influence upon my childish thoug-ht. Its former occupant was not yet a memory. He was still a g-reat force in the public life of the people. He was representing- his great state in the senate of the nation, with a wealth of scholarship and lit- erary culture, as well as of hig-h-minded thought and courage, which reflected lasting honor upon himself and his people alike. He was a common and an attractive figure about the capital of the state, and the halo of glory which surrounded him the principles for which he stood, the fluency o. his speech and the grace of his style readily awoke' the responsive echoes in the chambers of my awak- ening soul. When the state presented him to the convention! of his party as its candidate for the presidency, andj when all the people about me never doubted thej acceptance of so promising- a leader, there is no wonder that I was his young- and enthusiastic par- tisan. And when this finished statesman was set aside for a ••rail splitter" from the far-away wilds of Illinois, and New York people felt so badly, and Mr. Thurlow Weed declared that New York had hecome the servant rather than the master of the new party, it was not strang-e that I had some little share in the common disapjiointment. The names adopted by that convention were new and long- and strang-e to me, and I wrote ''Abraham Lincoln"' and ••Hannibal Hamlin" on apiece of paper and put it in my pocket so that if occasion should recxuire I could tell what they were, liut that paper soon became useless, for in a day the nominee of that convention became a leading- fig-ure in the world. And each passing- day only streng-thened the con- viction that what was then done was fortunate and was well done: indeed, that it was directed by that Providence which is in and about all of the affairs of men. It is my purpose to-day to inquire what were the qualities, and what had produced the qualities, in Abraham Lincoln, the child of poverty, the hardj^ son of toil, the itinerant country lawyer, the poli- tician of limited experience in the affairs of the na- tion, which made his administration of the presi- dential office during- the critical period of the Civil War so much more beneficent than we can possibly lielieve would have resulted from the election of the rich, g-ifted, able, no less uprig-ht, and far more experienced senator from the Empire state, that all coming- g-enerations will be thankful that that national political convention acted as it did. STUDY OF THE CHARACTER OF LINCOLN. Recent years have witnessed an intensive study —4— I of all of the details of Mr. Lincoln's life. Xo word of his has been too small, no act too trivial, no as- sociation too remote to enlist the quick attention of an interested people. The child of pioneers, he was a pioneer himself. The story of his childhood is one of the most stirring- in all the stirring- rec- ord of American pioneering, and one of the most pathetic in all the history of the world. It is so familiar that there is no need to dwell upon it now. The humble Kentucky log- cabin without floor or window or chimne3^ in which he first saw the lig-ht ■eig-hty-seven years ag-o to-day, is as safe from pro- fanation by the instinctive feelings of all true citi- zens of the Republic as was the ark of the covenant by the written law of the Jews. The book he read in lieu of schooling, the desk upon which he wrote a letter, are relics worthy the care of a whole peo- ple. The house in which he lived receives the jealous care of the state to which his renown Tjrings its greatest honor, and the tomb which liolds his ashes is a mecca to which all lovers of free government, from all nations and in all generations, will turn with continually increasing devotion. From this reverential interest in the material things by which he was encompassed the study has passed on with still larger devotion to the thoughtful contemplation of the secret springs of his inner life. His intellectual qualities are being- analyzed only to deepen wonder and widen admi- ration. His innermost religious feelings are being review^ed in the light of every expression having the remotest bearing upon them. His relations to his mother who died in his ninth year, to his al" ■ways kindly foster mother, to his wife and chil- dren, and to the men who were the associates of his pul)lic life, are all under the searchlig-ht of public investig-ation. Even his first love has lifted the plain name of -'Ann Rutledg-e"" to a fame so lasting- that all patriotic Americans are tempted to jour- ney far that they may drop a sympathetic tear over the fair head at her humble and untimely g-rave. His liking- for the anonymous hymn, '"Ohl \\h\ Should the Spirit of Mortal be Proud?" has immor- talized it. Out of all this thoug-htful study there has g-rown a literature, both in prose and verse, which forms no smal 1 part of the g-eneral literature of the na- tion, or indeed of the Ang-lo-Saxon race. Out of this prolific literature I quickly draw a few sug- gestions in the hope that they may have some spe- cial interest to this vast assemblage of the people of the University, supplemented so proiidly by the residents of the thrifty adjacent cities, the teachers and pupils of the public schools, and the veteran soldiei's of the (Jrand Army of the l7nion. Illinois- ans all. proud of our great state and cherishing all that has ennobled her life, we shall hope to find something in the career of xVbraham liincoln in Ill- inois which specially qualified him for his remark- able record in the presidency and for liis world-re- nowned work. I'l.ACE OK HIKTll AM) SV.MI'ATIIV Willi TIIK SOITII. None of us can throw off the infiuences which spring from the place of our nativity or the asso- ciations of our first years. (Jrounded as ^Nlr. Lin- coln "was in the principles of free government, strong as he was in his love for the humanities, ab- horrent as he was of the slave system, it was fortu- nate that he was born south of the Ohio and in a slave state, and that his earlier life was spent in -(3- southern Illinois among- a people who were strong sympathetic with the people of the south by rel on of kindred and associations. The ties of birt of kindred, of years of familiar association with chivalric people, and of marriag-e. all combined g-ive the man whose official acts were to g-ather t g-reatest army that a constitutional state ev marshalled to subdue insurrection, a deep ai abiding- sympathy with the people of the south. This it was that led him when the crucial m ment had come which required him to speak fro his g-reat office to an ag-itated people, already toi into frag-ments. to take his inaug-ural address upc his knee, even when surrounded by multitudes < g-reat men and the excitement of a great occasion even after the bug-les had sounded the onwar march of the inaug-ural procession, and add the in portant part of these memorable words: ''In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countri men. and not in mine, is the momentous issue c civil war. The g-overnment will not assail you." •'You can have no conflict without being- youj selves the ag-g-ressors. You have no oath reg-istere in heaven to destroy the g-overnment: while I shal have the most solemn one to preserve, protect an( defend it. '" "I am loth to close. We are not enemies, bu friends. We must not be enemies. Thoug-h pa;. sion may have strained, it must not brelk ou bonds of affection.'" ••The mystic cord of memory, stretching- frou every battle-field and patriot g-rave to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when ag-aii touched, as surely as they* will be. by the bettei ang-els of our nature." , JLt was this knowledge of the southern people vhich enabled him to take the covirse. and take it 3iroinptly. which prevented his native state with ler g-reat associates upon the border line from fol- owing- the six sisters with which they were dosely allied and which had already assumed to |-o out of the Union, and thus to wdn at the outset I memorable triumph in administration without vhich we cannot but fear that the strug-g'le for the mion must have broken in disaster. It was this ympathy with the south w^hich led him to ting-e lis most drastic official acts with expressions of eeling-s so kindly to the south that no man could )e embittered unless already' crazed bj^ passion, i,nd which g-ives his memory a recog-nized place in he warm feeling's of the great South-land to-day. SYMPATHY WITH THE PKOI'LK. Abraham Lincoln was the child of the common )eople. The training- for his great work was in he school of poverty and of toil. His roug-h )ioneer life opened to him the secret spring-s of luman action. It was not money, but brawn vhich could put down the Rebellion. The people )f the north had been separated by political dis- iussion and hate. They were to be united in feei- ng- before an army could be marshalled. His iag-acious words, born of his experiences in Hli- lois, did the work. Could the g'reat New York senator have said from his standpoint what I heard VIr. Lincoln say to the New York leg-islataire. and .vith like effect? Hear him: ••I deem it just to you. to m3\self and to all. that should see everything- : that 1 should hear every- ihing-: that I should have every lig-ht that can be :)roug-ht within my reach, in order that when 1 do ^o speak. I shall have enjoyed everj' opportunitj^ to take correct and true g-roimds: and lor this reason I don't propose to speak, at tliis time, oft, the policy of the government. Hut when the tiine ' conies I shall speak, as well as 1 am able, for the ' good of the present and future of this country- — for the good both of the north and the south of this countr^^ — for the good of the one and tlie other. and of all sections of the country." This was humility which was not assumed. AVhile it was a seeking for light and for guidance which was known to be sincere, because of the history of the man. it was strongl3'^ sugg-estive of a high purpose, worthy of the great place to whicli he was going and of the momentous acts which soon plunged the whole country into the awful vortex of war. Mr. Lincoln was not an aristocrat, as the term is commonly understood, and he could not be. There was no artificiality about him. He never pre- tended to be other than he was: indeed he was careful not to appear to be other than he was. He carried his Illinois waj's and his Illinois ideas with him to the presidency. When he spoke he drew freely upon his Illinois experiences. Some who lived in a kind of artificial society thought at the time that he was coarse. He was not coarse. He was simply natural, unaffected and honest. Of course under the influences of his great position and his new surroundings, his life underwent a change. As he would say, he "bought a new coat." He avoided being odd. He conformed to the reasonable conventionalities of the place, while he ripened and grew in strength, but he never dis- sembled. There was nothing of which he was so proud as his right to a place in the crowd, upon the ground floor of the great human family: and notliinj^- wliich affoi-dcd liini ><> nmrli jiU'iisurr :is to recall tlu- i-Vfiits ..f his youih and r<-e-i)niit llir Vitories of his yoiinji- manhooil in inini»i>. And tht'iH' was a freshness and a reality and a trans- parency ahout it. \vhi«di lent a chaiMn to his p.-rson and <4-av(' urcMt force to his adniinist I'at ion. His reeling- for tlie lowly and oi)i)r.'.>M'd was in- tense, almost c >nsnniin»r- He could treat a stal- wart man with indifferent familiarity, luit theci-y of a ehild t:)nched his lu-art an njxin rec>dvinrs. It wa^ this sympathy for the lowly and th«' w»':ik which led him to put death sentences from tin- aiiny into his desk with<»ut his a])]n-oval until the military authorities iirocurt-d a (dianye in the law in order to o-et ai'ound him. When the .lud<>-e-Advocate < leneral laid the first one hi-- foi-e liim he said: "I will keep this i^few days un- til I read t lu' testinn)ny. ' ' W hen the[v second cami' he said: •! must ])ut this 1)\-. until I can settle in my miml whet her this soldier can he>t sei-ve the counti-y dt>ad or ali> c." 'i"(»the thii-d he said: •'I'lu' (ieiu'i-al foirima ndim;' the hi'iu'ade is to he luM'e in a frw days and I will spe.k with him ahout it." W hen the next came aiid he was told that it wa^aii extreme case, that tin- man was woi-thlcss and wit hout mothei-. w ife or children, and that t he dis- —10— cipline of the army demanded summary action, he said to General Holt: '-Well, after all, Judge, I think I must put this with my leg cases/' "Mr. President, what do you mean by 'leg eases'?" was asked. "Why, those papers in that pigeon hole all refer to cases of 'cowardice in the face of the ene- my,* but I call themi "leg cases*. If Almighty God gives a man a cowardly pair of legs how can he help their running away with him?"" After all. this consuming sympathy with the un- fortunate was the quality in his nature which fitted him for the leadership at the crucial time and gave him the inspiration for the Emancipation Procla- mation. And this quality grew out of the experi- ence of his own life. HIS FAIRNESS AXP KEEN INSIGHT. Mr. Lincoln was probably not what would have been called a great lawyer at the time of his nomina- tion. He certainly was not a case lawyer. In his practice he did not cite, and doubtless he did not know, the precedents in the reports. Eut he had read the law from its original sources. He assimi- lated what he read. He knew the secret springs of the common law. He drank in its spirit. Or. more accurately, it found rich ground for fruitage in the g-reat soul which the Almighty had given him. He was judicial, fair, and just by nature. The circum- stances of his Illinois law practice made his mind keen and incisive,, and the experience of his politi- cal contests prepared him for leading and manag- ing men, and fortified him for his quiokly coming share in great events. When the time came he grasped those events with a firm hand and a comprehensive understand- ing. It is impossible now to even enumerate the —11— circumstances wliicli lead up to tht> ("ivil War. There was neg-ro slavery in the south and the e;)u- stitution had recog-nized it. liut the o-reat ordi- nance for the oro-anization of the Northwest Terri- tory, which in iinportance rivalled the constitution itself, dedicated ta freedom all that part of the public domain north of the Ohio. Other territory acquired later beyond the Mississippi was left to uncertainty and controver.sy. The Missouri Com- promise was (mly a temporary expedient. For forty years the slave power had soujj-ht to extend its system into the parts of this territory where southern men had found their new homes. The convention which nominated Mr. Lincoln had not declared ajrainst the slave .system within its old limitati(ms. but had taken decided o-round a>*-ainst its extension into the nt'uly foi-nied territories of the west. His election, even on this platfoi-ni. embittered the slave power on the one hand, and. on the other, stimulated while it did not satisfy the ri<^-hteous and cjntinually g-rowing- public sentiment in the north which demanded the overthrow of the slave system altogether. When he took the oath of othce he stood between these extreme and contending- forces. Six states had already assumed to go out of the Union and set up a confederated republic of their own. With his hand on the liook. he took his position with exactness. It was a position which pleased none of the extremists. He said he ■ derived all his powers from the constitution, the laws, and the people, and that it was not within his commission to interfere with the slave sy.stem in the slave states. It was his business to save the I'nion and enforce its laws. \Vhatever it was well to do to save the Tnion. not prohibited by the con- — In- stitution, he would do: what it was well tolea\e undone in order to save the Union he would for- bear. He was commanded to enforce the laws of the Cnited States by the fundamental law. and he would do it upon every rod of her territory with such force as mig-ht he necessary, so long- as he could command it. This was a simple platform. Its streng-th was in its simplicity, in its clearness, in its freedom from demoralizing' and confusing- allusions. It was worthy of a g"reat man and proved equal to a g"reat occasion. Upon it all patriots could stand, and upon it they did stand. Eefore it party lines dis- appeared for the time being- and under it the great- est army was g-athered that ever was marshalled b}'^ a constitutional state for the suppression of in- surrection. Under this platform and throug"h this army slavery was finally'' abolished and the slave power overthrown, and all else was done that was so well done. This is not the day. althoug-h the temptation is g-reat. to tell the fascinating- story of that heroic army. It went through all the horrors of an awful war to restore the Union and enforce the laws. After a contest, which in length of time and in un- numbered horrors had not been anticipated, it met with complete success. While succeeding genera- tions will look upon each faithful meinber of that g'rand army as a hero, coming g-enerations will value more and more deeply the great master spirit which was behind it, which called it . into being-, g-ave it form and organization, framed the simple creed which made it a cosmopolitan army of think- ing patriots, and nerved its arm for the most heroic deeds in histor3^ That great mind never departed from its simple creed. The waves of selfishness, of supercil ious self-importance, of political hate, of V)i<^-otry. all beat ag-ainst him. but the rock stood the storm. The times were unusual. The whole country was a military camp. The financial system was overthrown. Credit was low and the g-overnment beg-an printing- its own money. The needs of the army and navy were enormous, and the business transactions were such as we had never imagined before. (Jreed was rampant. The writ of Itdhcas ('(n'lnisw'ciH suspended and laws were .sliaped to suit unusual circumstances. The resulting- commotion threw all manner of minds into activity. The good and the bad. the wise and the cranks, all came to the surface, and all concentrated and intensified at the presidential office, but the President adhered to his simple creed and went steadily on his way. Ue treated all patiently, but frankly. He had an intuitive sense of propc'r perspective: he knew the true importance of things. When a company of temperance people came to ask that (Jeneral (h-ant be removed because he drank too much, he inquired what kind of liquor he drank, and said he wanted to know so he could send some to other g-enerals that they mig-ht win such victories as (;rant was winning. --Temperance is a g'ood thing ■■ he said, '-but we are saving the Unifm now." The intrepid confederate army made no more trouble in fi-oiit than the .sincere but impatient aT)oliti(m leaders did behind him. To Horace (Jree- ley. the greatest of American editoi-s. his party as- sociate and the stinging thorn in his flesh, he wrote: -I have just read yours of the 10th instant, ad- dressed to myself thrcmgh the New York Tribune. "' —14— ••If there be in it any statements or assumptions of fact which I may know to be erroneous. I do not now and here controvert them."" ••If there be any inferences which I may believe to be falsely drawn. I do not now and here arg-ue ag"ainst them."' "If there be perceptible in it an impatient and dictatorial tone, I waive it in deference to an old friend whose heart I have always supposed to l)e ricrht."" '•If there be those who would not save the l'ni(m unless the3^ could at the same time save shivery. 1 do not ag-ree with them." 'If there be those who would not save the union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery. I do not agree with them.*' ''My paramount object is to save the Union . (tnd ■hot either to save or destroy slavery " ''If I could save the Union without freeing" any slave, I would do it — if I could save it by freeing" all the slaves. I would do it — and if I could do it by freeing" some and leaving" others alone. I would also do that." •■\Vhat I do about slavery and the colored race. I do because I believe it helps to save the Union, and what I forbear. I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union.'" ••I shall do less whenever I shall believe that what I am doing" hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever 1 believe doing" more will help the cause."" "I shall trv to correct errors when shown to be errors, and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views.'" "I have here stated my purpose according" to my views of official duty, and I intend no modification — i:.— of inj oft-expressed i)ers()mil wisli that all men everywhere could be free."' From the hour of that touehinf^- farewell speech to his neig-hhors in the SpringHeld depot, down to the fatal night in Ford"s theatre, his life was con- secrated to the restoration of a dissevered country. Everything else was subordinate. It is a su- preme satisfaction to know that his life's ambition was consummated before he went to his everlasting- reward MH. I.IXrOT.N AS A S1'?^,AKKI{. Mr. r^ineoln was not an orator in the sense tluit his great competitor in the nominating- convention was an orator. Me was awkward in person. He was a reader of literature: but he .seldom used its Howers to ornament his addresses. Here, as in everything else, he was plain and unassuming-, lie atterai:)ted none of the g-raeesof the traditional ora- tor. We have been led to admire the fluency of speech of other candidates for, or occupants of. the presidential office since then, but surely he ranks below none of them. In purity of style he sur- passed them all. And he made many speeches. In liis inaugural journey alone he made thirty-six more or less substantial addresses upon great (ques- tions, and always with safety and marked ac- ceptability, lie. himself, was hardly in his ad- dresses, lie was eminently successful as a speech maker, but his success was not in his appearance, or his manners, but in the substance of what he said. His cause was always held up before his auditors; his logic was irresistible; and his style, ae(iuired before the debating- clubs and before the farmer juries and the plain people w^ho constituted the political assemblag-es of Illinois, at that time, was so simple, pure, and penetrating', that it has — IC— become distinctive in the literatnre of the Knoj-lish lang-uag-e. KVEKY IXf'll THE rHKSIDENT. NMth all his modesty he was every inch the president. He took his positions promptly and with certainty. He never hesitated to exercise any of the prerog-atives of his great office. In an unnsual crisis he even strained those prerog-atives and pnt them to the accomplishment of unusual ends. (Jo- ing- into an official circle of the nation's g'reatest statesmen, and without experience or familiarity with administrative functions himself. Jie did his g-reat work with his own hand and stopped at nothing- which would save the I'nion. IHs messag-es to cong-ress were penned with the confident air of a veteran. His proclamations rang- like g-reat sig-nal g-uns from ocean to ocean. He took the most heroic action with the utmost quiet- ness of manner. He directed his cabinet officers with a g-entle. Tmt an unhesitating- hand. AVithin ninety days of his inaug-uration he took Mr. Sew- ard's memorable dispatch to ^Hnister Adams, upon our relations with (Jreat liritain. made erasures, chang-es. and additions, until the orig-inal now on tile in the State department looks worse than a theme after being- slashed l)y the j^rofessor of rhet- (n-ic in our I'niversity: and all the world quickly says that every chang-e was an improvement. His laconic direction to the g-reat. iron-handed Secre- tary of War was the simple indorsement upon the l)apers: -Do this," with only the initials. "A. L." beneath. He was never uninformed about the army. He made the plan . of org-anization. he selected the leaders, he advised movements with a military insig-ht possessed by few and worthy of — IT— tlie greatest professional military men of the ag-e. He was alert and his acts were timely. He cen- sured delay unsparing-ly. He thanked the army for victory very quickly. He promoted the deserving-. Again and ag-ain he called vipon the nation to hum- ble itself in prayer before the (iod of nations. Tpon the second nig-ht of the decisive battle of (lettysburg- he wrote an order as Commander-in- Chief to (Jeneral Meade, directing- him to intercept Lee"s retreat and g-ive him another Ixittle. He sent it by a special mesenger, with a private note saying that this seemed to him to be the thing to do. but that he would leave it to the ultimate de- cision of the military commander on the ground. The general order was not a matter of record, and need not be. If Meade would undertake the move- ment, and it was successful, he need say nothing about it. If it failed, he could publish the order immediately. In other words: --(Jo ahead. Make an heroic attempt to annihilate that army in its disheartened state and before it can recross the river. If the attempt succeeds, you take the glory of it: inul if it fails I will take the responsibility of it."" The people of the state of New York will never think less of (Jovernor Seward than they always did. but rather they will hold his memory in higher and still higher esteem with the passing- years. But the people of New York will always look with entire satisfaction upon the original draft of the Emancipation Proclamation in their s^tate library, in the long, clear hand of the great Eman- cipator himself, with only a formal beginning and ending in the handwriting of the accomplished Secretary of State. The greatest act of his life, perhaps the greatest act of any life, was deter- —18— mined by the' intelligence and performed by the hand of this plain Illinois lawyer in his closet, ins WIT. In speakin- of the character of Abraham Lincoln it is not permissible to omit a special reference to his wit, for it was proverbial and a part of the ■ man In qnick retort, in apt illustration, m ready humor, he had few peers. This accomplishment is commonly dangerous to public men. but his wit was so pure, so spontaneous, so apt. and his ser- vices were so transcendent, that he has not suffered in consequence of it. Indeed it was fortunate that he had it, for it came to his aid at critical jimc- tures. It helped relieve the hours of his despon-i dency. and they were many. It enforced his views.- It saved him when at the breaking point. On the 5th of June. 1863, he wrote General Hooker: -In a word. T would not take any risk of being entangled upon the river like an o? lumped half over a fence and liable to be torn b..| the dogs front and rear, without a fair chance t(j gore one way or kick the other." And. m a dayi the eighteen thousand dead and wounded Lnior soldiers at Chancellorsville. immediately bor dreadful testimony to the military foresight of th great war president. To a committee of congressmen 'who came to pre test against the removal of McClellan, he sai frankly that he thought the general had had o] portunity; that he complained too much, and thf he made no headway. They replied that he wi certainly a great engineer. "Yes. but he must ha. run a stationary engine,^' was the answer. Going down to review. the army, he rode upon f army wagon and found the driver swearing at li mules. He said: "^ly friend, you must be ; Episcopalian?" "Xo. sir: what makes yow think so?" asked the man. "NMiy. yon swear the way (Governor Seward does and he is an Episcopalian, but he has mules to drive sometimes and it may be in the business," was the answer. His g-rasp upon affairs was sutticiently strong" to let him use his wit with impunity. He used it for a laudable purpose and it brought him rest from his g-reat cares. It would be a profitable occupation for some stu- dent to collect the innumerable, published, homely references and witty illustrations used while he was president, and drawn from his life in Illinois. Indeed it is not fanciful to say that this conspicu- ous trait in his character, this keenness of wit, this love of story telling, this quickness of retort, was largely developed by his experiences in the hotels and in the court rooms when he was an itinerant lawyer upon the 8th ch-cuit of this state. SAGACIOrS I'OLITICS. He had freely declared his indifference to renom- ination prior to the end of his first term. He had questioned whether the name of some other candi- date would not go farther to save the Union. He had avowed his entire readiness to stand aside for any other person whose name would unite the north or advance the armies a sing-le rod upon the field. liefore the end of his first term political dif- ferences had become intense behind him. It was a great trouble to him. In 1803 he had thoug-hts of an effort to blot out all parties and unite all patri- ots in one organization, with one of his old oppo- nents as the standard bearer. He had sent Thur- low Weed to (Governor Seymour with a request that the g-overnor should pursue an aggressive war pol- icy in New York and become the candidate of all —20— unionists for the presidency at the next election, P^ailing- there, he had caused the same proposition to be sent to General McClellan. liut politics is a stumbling- block for much that is good and it stood in the way of any of these ag-reements. When the time came, and he was unanimously and enthusiastically renominated, he thoug-ht. and very properly thoug-ht. that it was best to under- take to be reelected. The task at first seemed for- midable indeed, but his experiences in securing- delegates and in leading campaigns in Illinois again came to his substantial help. When he was menaced by a split from his own party, he asked his friend to resign his position in the cabinet and used the place as a consideration with which to negotiate the independent ticket oiit of the field. Mr. Depew says that when he was secretary of state in New York, it was his duty to locate every New York regiment in order to gather in the sol- dier vote, doing to Washington, and applying to Mr. Stanton for the information, he was gruffly re- fused on the ground that it was not safe to give such information to politicians, as it would get into the nevvspapers and so to the enemy. As he was leaving in disgust he met ^Nlr. Washburn at the door of the war department and told him he would go home and publish in the newspapers that the soldier vote could not be taken because of the un- reasonableness of the Secretary of \Var. Mr. Wash- burn said: -Have you seen the President? Why. Mr. Lincoln is as great a politician as he is a president. If there was no other way to get tjiem he would start out with a carpet bag and gather up those votes him- self. He will find a wav."" — :.'l — In another half hour Mr. Stanton had been reor- o-anized and the difficulty removed. When two votes were yet needed to pass the amendment to the constitution abolishing" slavery, in cono-ress. so that it could be sent to the states, he sent for two members and said: "Those two t^otes must be procured."" ^^'hen asked how. he re- plied: --This amendment affects millions now in bondag-e and many millions more yet unborn. The matter is too larg-e to be fooled with. I am presi- dent of the United JStates, with g-reat powers, and [ expect 3'^ou to procure those two votes."" The sig-nificance of the remark was understood and the votes were procured, and the acts of the President a,nd the army were soon approved and established by constitutional action. Mr. Lincoln ints a politician, but his political operations were commendable for they had a laud- able end in view. HKMGIOl'S FKKI,IN(iS. Mr. Lincoln"s relig"ious views have been sur- rounded with mystery. In early life he was cer- certainly a doubter, and he expressed his doubts freely, but it is also certain that in maturer years he acc[iiired considerable relig-ious feeling-, and all the facts g-o to show that it deepened with his ex- panding- g-reatness. Indeed it promoted his g-reat- ness. He w^as not hypocritical. He never paraded. He cared nothing- for denominational differ- ences and little for creeds. An analysis of his re- lig-ious feeling-s would doubtless uncover points with which many christians would not ag-ree. But he came to be an undoubted believer in CJod. in im- mortality, in the larg-er liberty which makes men free. As early as lS(iU he wrote to Newton Hate- man: ••I know that tjiere is a (Jod and that He hates injustice and slavery. I see the storm coming" and I know that His hand is in it. If He has a place and a work for me. and I think He has. I believe I am ready. I am nothing-, but truth is every- thing. I know that I am rig-ht. becaiise I know that liberty is rig-ht. for Christ teaches it and Christ is God.'" In November. \Si\:l. he enjoined the orderly ob- servance of the Sabbath upon the army and the navy as ""a becoming- deference to the best senti- ment of a christian people, and a due reg-ard to the Divine Will,"* and added: "The discipline and character of the national forces should not suffer nor the cause they defend be imperiled by the profanation of the day or the name of the Most High."" There has been much said in relation to the pe- culiarities of Mr. Lincoln"s relig-ious opinions, but the peculiarities are of small account, and the facts are too numerous to leave any room for doubt that he was a man of deep and continually deepening relig-ious culture. He had a constitutional tend- ency towards sacred things, an intense emotional nature, an innate reg-ard for the truth, an inborn reverence for the rig-ht. an abiding- sense of his de- pendence upon Crod. And all this limited and ex- panded and correlated his other qualities to the de- velopment and upbuilding- of a great and uncom- mon character Avhich safely directed the American republic throug-h the g-reatest crisis in its history, and perhaps through the greatest crisis of free g-overnment in the world. CONCLUSION. Walking in the busy streets of the city of At- lanta, not long- since, 1 came upon a fine statue of Henry W. Grady. Beneath the bronze figure of the young orator, whose early death has been so widely regretted, was the legend: •He died while literally loviriK a nution into peace."' Even more suggestive than his cheering words was the act of the southern masses which placed this monument in their busiest thoroughfare, a witness of their satisfacticm at the sentiments which had distinguished him. No traveler in the south can doubt that there is a *'New South.'' The indus- tries are growing and the schools ai'e multiplying. There is a healthier sentiment upon sociological and economic questions, because the slave system is no longer there to throttle it. In spite of lynch- ings for heinous crimes, and of course they are to be regretted; in spite of provocations, and surely they are innumerable: there is a kindlier, more rational feeling toward the colored race. As Mr. Hooker AVashington puts it, the negro in the south is to work out his own destiny, with the help of free citizenship under free institutions. The gratifying fact is apparent, that he is to be given a chance, and that he is seizing it: feebly, it is true, but surely he is seizing it. The south has a new feeling towards the north. As we understand each other better, we love each other more. The roads are being broken out. Beaten paths are be- ing- made.' Commercial intercourse has commenced and fraternal regard is growing. The Ohio river no longer separates two opposing peoples who merely sustain diplomatic relations with each other: there is a chemical affinity in progress: we are amalgamating. The bitterness of a century of NOV 30 1900 -24- controversy is well nig-h gone. The wounds torn V, the rough hoof of war have almost healed. The soldiers of the two armies, and the young men and women of the new generation, who ''look forward and not back." have attained this magnificent re- sult. The iinion is stronger, safer, because it stood the shock of battle The people are more homogeneous because more free. A hundred rail- lions of united, industrious, frugal, educated, christian people, under a free flag, stand in a placa so high among the nations that they can command anything that is right by the force and dignity oi their position, and without resort to war. The work of Abraham Lincoln is accomplished.^ His qualities point a moral. His career is an \n-\ spiration to us. 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