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diff --git a/old/14004-8.txt b/old/14004-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0d3cefd --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14004-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,21970 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Every-day Life of Abraham Lincoln +by Francis Fisher Browne + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Every-day Life of Abraham Lincoln + A Narrative And Descriptive Biography With Pen-Pictures And Personal + Recollections By Those Who Knew Him + + +Author: Francis Fisher Browne + +Release Date: November 10, 2004 [EBook #14004] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF LINCOLN *** + + + + +Produced by Audrey Longhurst and the PG Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + _"How beautiful to see + Once more a shepherd of mankind indeed. + Who loved his charge, but never loved to lead; + One whose meek flock the people joyed to be, + Not lured by any cheat of birth, + But by his clear-grained human worth, + And brave old wisdom of sincerity! + They knew that outward grace is dust; + They could not choose but trust + In that sure-footed mind's unfaltering skill, + And supple-tempered will + That bent like perfect steel to spring again and thrust. + His was no lonely mountain-peak of mind, + Thrusting to thin air o'er our cloudy bars, + A sea-mark now, now lost in vapors blind; + Broad prairie rather, genial, level-lined, + Fruitful and friendly for all human kind, + Yet also nigh to heaven and loved of loftiest stars_. + + + _"Great captains, with their guns and drums, + Disturb our judgment for the hour, + But at last silence comes; + These all are gone, and, standing like a tower, + Our children shall behold his fame, + The kindly-earnest, brave, foreseeing man, + Sagacious, patient, dreading praise, not blame, + New birth of our new soil, the first American."_ + + JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. + + + + +[Illustration: ABRAHAM LINCOLN FROM AN UNPUBLISHED ORIGINAL DRAWING BY +JOHN NELSON MARBLE] + + + + + THE EVERY-DAY LIFE OF + ABRAHAM LINCOLN + + A NARRATIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE + BIOGRAPHY WITH PEN-PICTURES + AND PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS + BY THOSE WHO KNEW HIM + + BY + FRANCIS FISHER BROWNE + + _Compiler of "Golden Poems," "Bugle Echoes, Pose of + the Civil War," "Laurel-Crowned Verse," etc._ + +NEW AND THOROUGHLY REVISED EDITION, FROM NEW PLATES, WITH + AN ENTIRELY NEW PORTRAIT OF LINCOLN, FROM A + CHARCOAL STUDY BY J.K. MARBLE + + + CHICAGO + BROWNE & HOWELL COMPANY + 1913 + + + + +FRANCIS FISHER BROWNE + +_1843-1913_ + +The present revision of "The Every-day Life of Abraham Lincoln" was the +last literary labor of its author. He had long wished to undertake the +work, and had talked much of it for several years past. But favorable +arrangements for the book's republication were not completed until about +a year ago. Then, though by no means recovered from an attack of +pneumonia late in the previous winter, he took up the task of revision +and recasting with something of his old-time energy. It was a far +heavier task than he had anticipated, but he gave it practically his +undivided attention until within three or four weeks of his death. Only +when the last pages of manuscript had been despatched to the printer did +he yield to the overwhelming physical suffering that had been upon him +for a long time past. His death occurred at Santa Barbara, California, +on May 11. + +Francis Fisher Browne was born at South Halifax, Vermont, on December 1, +1843. His parentage, on both sides, was of the purest New England stock. +Early in his childhood, the family moved to Western Massachusetts, where +the boy went to school and learned the printing trade in his father's +newspaper office at Chicopee. As a lad of eighteen, he left the high +school in answer to the government's call for volunteers, serving for a +year with the 46th Massachusetts Regiment in North Carolina and with the +Army of the Potomac. When the regiment was discharged, in 1863, he +decided to take up the study of law. Removing to Rochester, N.Y., he +entered a law office in that city; and a year or two later began a brief +course in the law department of the University of Michigan. He was +unable to continue in college, however, and returned to Rochester to +follow his trade. + +Immediately after his marriage, in 1867, he came to Chicago, with the +definite intention of engaging in literary work. Here he became +associated with "The Western Monthly," which, with the fuller +establishment of his control, he rechristened "The Lakeside Monthly." +The best writers throughout the West were gradually enlisted as +contributors; and it was not long before the magazine was generally +recognized as the most creditable and promising periodical west of the +Atlantic seaboard. But along with this increasing prestige came a series +of extraneous setbacks and calamities, culminating in a complete +physical breakdown of its editor and owner, which made the magazine's +suspension imperative. + +[Illustration: FRANCIS F. BROWNE] + +The six years immediately following, from 1874 to 1880, were largely +spent in a search for health. During part of this time, however, Mr. +Browne acted as literary editor of "The Alliance," and as special +editorial writer for some of the leading Chicago newspapers. But his +mind was preoccupied with plans for a new periodical--this time a +journal of literary criticism, modeled somewhat after such English +publications as "The Athenĉum" and "The Academy." In the furtherance of +this bold conception he was able to interest the publishing firm of +Jansen, McClurg & Co.; and under their imprint, in May, 1880, appeared +the first issue of THE DIAL, "a monthly review and index of current +literature." At about the same time he became literary adviser to the +publishing department of the house, and for twelve years thereafter +toiled unremittingly at his double task-work. In 1892, negotiations were +completed whereby he acquired Messrs. McClurg & Co.'s interest in the +periodical. It was enlarged in scope, and made a semi-monthly; and from +that time until his death it appeared uninterruptedly under his guidance +and his control. + +Besides his writings in THE DIAL and other periodicals, Mr. Browne is +the author of a small volume of poems, "Volunteer Grain" (1895). He also +compiled and edited several anthologies,--"Bugle Echoes," a collection +of Civil War poems (1886); "Golden Poems by British and American +Authors" (1881); "The Golden Treasury of Poetry and Prose" (1883); and +seven volumes of "Laurel-Crowned Verse" (1891-2). He was one of the +small group of men who, in 1874, founded the Chicago Literary Club; and +for a number of years past he has been an honorary member of that +organization, as well as of the Caxton Club (Chicago) and the Twilight +Club (Pasadena, Cal.). During the summer of 1893 he served as Chairman +of the Committee on the Congress of Authors of the World's Congress +Auxiliary of the Columbian Exposition. + +THE PUBLISHERS + + + + +PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION + +The original edition of this book was published about twenty years after +Lincoln's death at the close of the Civil War. At that time many of the +men who had taken a prominent part in the affairs, military and civil, +of that heroic period, many who had known Lincoln and had come in +personal contact with him during the war or in his earlier years, were +still living. It was a vivid conception of the value of the personal +recollections of these men, gathered and recorded before it was too +late, that led to the preparation of this book. It was intended to be, +and in effect it was, largely an anecdotal Life of Lincoln built of +material gathered from men still living who had known him personally. +The task was begun none too soon. Of the hundreds who responded to the +requests for contributions of their memories of Lincoln there were few +whose lives extended very far into the second quarter-century after his +death, and few indeed survive after the lapse of nearly fifty +years,--though in several instances the author has been so fortunate as +to get valuable material directly from persons still living (1913). Of +the more than five hundred friends and contemporaries of Lincoln to whom +credit for material is given in the original edition, scarcely a dozen +are living at the date of this second edition. Therefore, the value of +these reminiscences increases with time. They were gathered largely at +first hand. They can never be replaced, nor can they ever be very much +extended. + +This book brings Lincoln the man, not Lincoln the tradition, very near +to us. Browning asked, "And did you once see Shelley plain? And did he +stop and speak to you?" The men whose narratives make up a large part of +this book all saw Lincoln plain, and here tell us what he spoke to them, +and how he looked and seemed while saying it. The great events of +Lincoln's life, and impressions of his character, are given in the +actual words of those who knew him--his friends, neighbors, and daily +associates--rather than condensed and remolded into other form. While +these utterances are in some cases rude and unstudied, they have often a +power of delineation and a graphic force that more than compensate for +any lack of literary quality. + +In a work prepared on such a plan as this, some repetitions are +unavoidable; nor are they undesirable. An event or incident narrated by +different observers is thereby brought out with greater fulness of +detail; and phases of Lincoln's many-sided character are revealed more +clearly by the varied impressions of numerous witnesses whose accounts +thus correct or verify each other. Some inconsistencies and +contradictions are inevitable,--but these relate usually to minor +matters, seldom or never to the great essentials of Lincoln's life and +personality. The author's desire is to present material from which the +reader may form an opinion of Lincoln, rather than to present opinions +and judgments of his own. + +Lincoln literature has increased amazingly in the past twenty-five +years. Mention of the principal biographies in existence at the time of +the original edition was included in the Preface. Since then there have +appeared, among the more formal biographies, the comprehensive and +authoritative work by Nicolay and Hay, the subsequent work by Miss Ida +Tarbell, and that by Herndon and Weik, besides many more or less +fragmentary publications. Some additions, but not many, have been made +to the present edition from these sources. The recently-published Diary +of Gideon Welles, one of the most valuable commentaries on the Civil War +period now available, has provided some material of exceptional interest +concerning Lincoln's relations with the members of his Cabinet. + +In re-writing the present work, it has been compressed into about +two-thirds of its former compass, to render it more popular both in form +and in price, and to give it in some places a greater measure of +coherency and continuity as an outline narrative of the Civil War. But +its chief appeal to the interest of its readers will remain +substantially what it was in the beginning, as set forth in its title, +"The Every-day Life of Abraham Lincoln, by Those Who Knew Him." + +F.F.B. +SANTA BARBARA, CAL., _April, 1913._ + + + + +PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION + +This book aims to give a view, clearer and more complete than has been +given before, of the personality of Abraham Lincoln. A life so full of +incident and a character so many-sided as his can be understood only +with the lapse of time. A sense of the exhaustless interest of that life +and character, and the inadequacy of the ordinarily constructed +biography to portray his many-sidedness, suggested the preparation of a +work upon the novel plan here represented. Begun several years ago, the +undertaking proved of such magnitude that its completion has been +delayed beyond the anticipated time. The extensive correspondence, the +exploration of available sources of information in the books, pamphlets, +magazines, and newspapers of a quarter of a century, and in the scraps +and papers of historical collections, became an almost interminable +task. The examination and sifting of this mass of material, its +verification amidst often conflicting testimony, and its final molding +into shape, involved time and labor that can be estimated only by those +who have had similar experience. + +To the many who have kindly furnished original contributions, to others +who have aided the work by valuable suggestions and information, to +earlier biographies of Lincoln--those of Raymond, Holland, Barrett, +Lamon, Carpenter, and (the best and latest of all) that of Hon. I.N. +Arnold--hearty acknowledgment is made. Much that was offered could not +be used. In the choice of material, from whatever source, the purpose +has been to avoid mere opinions and eulogies of Lincoln and to give +abundantly those actual experiences, incidents, anecdotes, and +reminiscences which reveal the phases of his unique and striking +personality. + +It scarcely need be pointed out that this work does not attempt to give +a connected history of the Civil War, but only to sketch briefly those +episodes with which Lincoln is personally identified and of which some +knowledge is essential to an understanding of his acts and character. +Others are brought into prominence only as they are associated with the +chief actor in the great drama. Many of them are disappearing,--fading +into the smoky and lurid background. But that colossal central figure, +playing one of the grandest roles ever set upon the stage of human life, +becomes more impressive as the scenes recede. + +F.F.B. +CHICAGO, _October, 1886._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER I + + Ancestry--The Lincolns in Kentucky--Death of Lincoln's + Grandfather--Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks--Mordecai + Lincoln--Birth of Abraham Lincoln--Removal to Indiana--Early + Years--Dennis Hanks--Lincoln's Boyhood--Death of Nancy Hanks--Early + School Days--Lincoln's First Dollar--Presentiments of Future + Greatness--Down the Mississippi--Removal to Illinois--Lincoln's + Father--Lincoln the Storekeeper--First Official Act--Lincoln's + Short Sketch of His Own Life + + +CHAPTER II + + A Turn in Affairs--The Black Hawk War--A Remarkable Military + Manoeuvre--Lincoln Protects an Indian--Lincoln and + Stuart--Lincoln's Military Record--Nominated for the + Legislature--Lincoln a Merchant--Postmaster at New Salem--Lincoln + Studies Law--Elected to the Legislature--Personal + Characteristics--Lincoln's Love for Anne Rutledge--Close of + Lincoln's Youth + + +CHAPTER III + + Lincoln's Beginning as a Lawyer--His Early Taste for + Politics--Lincoln and the Lightning-Rod Man--Not an + Aristocrat--Reply to Dr. Early--A Manly Letter--Again in the + Illinois Legislature--The "Long Nine"--Lincoln on His Way to the + Capital--His Ambition in 1836--First Meeting with Douglas--Removal + of the Illinois Capital--One of Lincoln's Early + Speeches--Pro-Slavery Sentiment in Illinois--Lincoln's Opposition + to Slavery--Contest with General Ewing--Lincoln Lays out a + Town--The Title "Honest Abe" + + +CHAPTER IV + + Lincoln's Removal to Springfield--A Lawyer without Clients or + Money--Early Discouragements--Proposes to become a + Carpenter--"Stuart & Lincoln, Attorneys at Law"--"Riding the + Circuit"--Incidents of a Trip Round the Circuit--Pen Pictures of + Lincoln--Humane Traits--Kindness to Animals--Defending Fugitive + Slaves--Incidents in Lincoln's Life as a Lawyer--His Fondness for + Jokes and Stories + + +CHAPTER V + + Lincoln in the Legislature--Eight Consecutive Years of Service--His + Influence in the House--Leader of the Whig Party in Illinois--Takes + a Hand in National Politics--Presidential Election in 1840--A "Log + Cabin" Reminiscence--Some Memorable Political Encounters--A Tilt + with Douglas--Lincoln Facing a Mob--His Physical Courage--Lincoln + as Duellist--The Affair with General Shields--An Eye-Witness' + Account of the Duel--Courtship and Marriage + + +CHAPTER VI + + Lincoln in National Politics--His Congressional + Aspirations--Law-Partnership of Lincoln and Herndon--The + Presidential Campaign of 1844--Visit to Henry Clay--Lincoln Elected + to Congress--Congressional Reputation--Acquaintance with + Distinguished Men--First Speech in Congress--"Getting the Hang" of + the House--Lincoln's Course on the Mexican War--Notable Speech in + Congress--Ridicule of General Cass--Bill for the Abolition of + Slavery--Delegate to the Whig National Convention of 1848--Stumping + the Country for Taylor--Advice to Young Politicians--"Old Abe"--A + Political Disappointment--Lincoln's Appearance as an Officer Seeker + in Washington--"A Divinity that Shapes Our Ends" + + +CHAPTER VII + + Lincoln again in Springfield--Back to the Circuit--His Personal + Manners and Appearance--Glimpses of Home-Life--His Family--His + Absent-Mindedness--A Painful Subject--Lincoln a Man of + Sorrows--Familiar Appearance on the Streets of Springfield--Scenes + in the Law-Office--Forebodings of a "Great of Miserable End"--An + Evening Whit Lincoln in Chicago--Lincoln's Tenderness to His + Relatives--Death of His Father--A Sensible Adviser--Care of His + Step-Mother--Tribute From Her + + +CHAPTER VIII + + Lincoln as a Lawyer--His Appearance in Court--Reminiscences of a + Law-Student in Lincoln's Office--An "Office Copy" of Byron--Novel + Way of Keeping Partnership Accounts--Charges for Legal + Services--Trial of Bill Armstrong--Lincoln before a Jury--Kindness + toward Unfortunate Clients--Refusing to Defend Guilty + Men--Courtroom Anecdotes--Anecdotes of Lincoln at the Bar--Some + Striking Opinions of Lincoln as a Lawyer + + +CHAPTER IX + + Lincoln and Slavery--The Issue Becoming More Sharply + Defined--Resistance to the Spread of Slavery--Views Expressed by + Lincoln in 1850--His Mind Made Up--Lincoln as a Party Leader--The + Kansas Struggle--Crossing Swords with Douglas--A Notable Speech by + Lincoln--Advice to Kansas Belligerents--Honor in Politics--Anecdote + of Lincoln and Yates--Contest for the U.S. Senate in + 1855--Lincoln's Defeat--Sketched by Members of the Legislature + + +CHAPTER X + + Birth of the Republican Party--Lincoln One of Its Fathers--Takes + His Stand with the Abolitionists--The Bloomington + Convention--Lincoln's Great Anti-Slavery Speech--A Ratification + Meeting of Three--The First National Republican + Convention--Lincoln's Name Presented for the + Vice-Presidency--Nomination of Fremont and Dayton--Lincoln in the + Campaign of 1856--His Appearance and Influence on the + Stump--Regarded as a Dangerous Man--His Views on the Politics of + the Future--First Visit to Cincinnati--Meeting with Edwin M. + Stanton--Stanton's First Impressions of Lincoln--Regards Him as a + "Giraffe"--A Visit to Cincinnati + + +CHAPTER XI + + The Great Lincoln-Douglas Debate--Rivals for the U.S. + Senate--Lincoln's "House-Divided-against-Itself" Speech--An + Inspired Oration--Alarming His Friends--Challenges Douglas to a + Joint Discussion--The Champions Contrasted--Their Opinions of Each + Other--Lincoln and Douglas on the Stump--Slavery the Leading + Issue--Scenes and Anecdotes of the Great Debate--Pen-Picture of + Lincoln on the Stump--Humors of the Campaign--Some Sharp + Rejoinders--Words of Soberness--Close of the Conflict + + +CHAPTER XII + + A Year of Waiting and Trial--Again Defeated for the + Senate--Depression and Neglect--Lincoln Enlarging His + Boundaries--On the Stump in Ohio--A Speech to Kentuckians--Second + Visit to Cincinnati--A Short Trip to Kansas--Lincoln in New York + City--The Famous Cooper Institute Speech--A Strong and Favorable + Impression--Visits New England--Secret of Lincoln's Success as an + Orator--Back to Springfield--Disposing of a Campaign + Slander--Lincoln's Account of His Visit to a Five Points Sunday + School + + +CHAPTER XIII + + Looking towards the Presidency--The Illinois Republican Convention + of 1860--A "Send-Off" for Lincoln--The National Republican + Convention at Chicago--Contract of the Leading Candidates--Lincoln + Nominated--Scenes at the Convention--Sketches by + Eye-Witnesses--Lincoln Hearing the News--The Scene at + Springfield--A Visit to Lincoln at His Home--Recollections of a + Distinguished Sculptor--Receiving the Committee of the + Convention--Nomination of Douglas--Campaign of 1860--Various + Campaign Reminiscences--Lincoln and the Tall Southerner--The Vote + of the Springfield Clergy--A Graceful Letter to the Poet + Bryant--"Looking up Hard Spots" + + +CHAPTER XIV + + Lincoln Chosen President--The Election of 1860--The Waiting-Time at + Springfield--A Deluge of Visitors--Various Impressions of the + President-Elect--Some Queer Callers--Looking over the Situation + with Friends--Talks about the Cabinet--Thurlow Weed's Visit to + Springfield--The Serious Aspect of National Affairs--The South in + Rebellion--Treason at the National Capital--Lincoln's Farewell + Visit to His Mother--The Old Sign, "Lincoln & Herndon"--The Last + Day at Springfield--Farewell Speech to Friends and Neighbors--Off + for the Capital--The Journey to Washington--Receptions and Speeches + along the Route--At Cincinnati: A Hitherto Unpublished Speech by + Lincoln--At Cleveland: Personal Descriptions of Mr. and Mrs. + Lincoln--At New York City: Impressions of the New President--Perils + of the Journey--The Baltimore Plot--Change of Route--Arrival at the + Capital + + +CHAPTER XV + + Lincoln at the Helm--First Days in Washington--Meeting Public--Men + and Discussing Public Affairs--The Inauguration--The Inaugural + Address--A New Era Begun--Lincoln in the White House--The First + Cabinet--The President and the Office-Seekers--Southern Prejudice + against Lincoln--Ominous Portents, but Lincoln not Dismayed--The + President's Reception Room--Varied Impressions of the New + President--Guarding the White House + + +CHAPTER XVI + + Civil War--Uprising of the Nation--The President's First Call for + Troops--Response of the Loyal North--The Riots in + Baltimore--Loyalty of Stephen A. Douglas--Douglas's Death--Blockade + of Southern Ports--Additional War Measures--Lincoln Defines the + Policy of the Government--His Conciliatory Course--His Desire to + Save Kentucky--The President's First Message to Congress--Gathering + of Troops in Washington--Reviews and Parades--Disaster at Bull + Run--The President Visits the Army--Good Advice to an Angry + Officer--A Peculiar Cabinet Meeting--Dark Days for Lincoln--A + "Black Mood" in the White House--Lincoln's Unfaltering + Courage--Relief in Story-Telling--A Pretty Good Land + Title--"Measuring up" with Charles Sumner--General Scott "Unable as + a Politician"--A Good Drawing-Plaster--The New York Millionaires + who Wanted a Gunboat--A Good Bridge-Builder--A Sick Lot of + Office-Seekers + + +CHAPTER XVII + + Lincoln's Wise Statesmanship--The Mason and Slidell + Affair--Complications with England--Lincoln's "Little Story" on the + Trent Affair--Building of the "Monitor"--Lincoln's Part in the + Enterprise--The President's First Annual Message--Discussion of the + Labor Question--A President's Reception in War Time--A Great + Affliction--Death in the White House--Chapters from the Secret + Service--A Morning Call on the President--Goldwin Smith's + Impressions of Lincoln--Other Notable Tributes + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + Lincoln and His Cabinet--An Odd Assortment of + Officials--Misconceptions of Rights and Duties--Frictions and + Misunderstandings--The Early Cabinet Meetings--Informal + Conversational Affairs--Queer Attitude toward the War--Regarded as + a Political Affair--Proximity to Washington a Hindrance to Military + Success--Disturbances in the Cabinet--A Senate Committee Demands + Seward's Removal from the Cabinet--Lincoln's Mastery of the + Situation--Harmony Restored--Stanton becomes War Secretary--Sketch + of a Remarkable Man--Next to Lincoln, the Master-Mind of the + Cabinet--Lincoln the Dominant Power + + +CHAPTER XIX + + Lincoln's Personal Attention to the Military Problems of the + War--Efforts to Push forward the War--Disheartening + Delays--Lincoln's Worry and Perplexity Brightening Prospects--Union + Victories in North Carolina and Tennessee--Proclamation by the + President--Lincoln Wants to See for Himself--Visits Fortress + Monroe--Witnesses an Attack on the Rebel Ram "Merrimac"--The + Capture of Norfolk--Lincoln's Account of the Affair--Letter to + McClellan--Lincoln and the Union Soldiers--His Tender Solicitude + for the Boys in Blue--Soldiers Always Welcome at the White + House--Pardoning Condemned Soldiers--Letter to a Bereaved + Mother--The Case of Cyrus Pringle--Lincoln's Love of Soldiers' + Humor--Visiting the Soldiers in Trenches and Hospitals--Lincoln at + "The Soldiers' Rest" + + +CHAPTER XX + + Lincoln and McClellan--The Peninsular Campaign of 1862--Impatience + with McClellan's Delay--Lincoln Defends McClellan from Unjust + Criticism--Some Harrowing Experiences--McClellan Recalled from the + Peninsula--His Troops Given to General Pope--Pope's Defeat at + Manassas--A Critical Situation--McClellan again in Command--Lincoln + Takes the Responsibility--McClellan's Account of His + Reinstatement--The Battle of Antietam--The President + Vindicated--Again Dissatisfied with McClellan--Visits the Army in + the Field--The President in the Saddle--Correspondence between + Lincoln and McClellan--McClellan's Final Removal--Lincoln's + Summing-Up of McClellan--McClellan's "Body-Guard" + + +CHAPTER XXI + + Lincoln and Slavery--Plan for Gradual Emancipation--Anti-Slavery + Legislation in 1862--Pressure Brought to Bear on the + Executive--The Delegation of Quakers--A Visit from Chicago + Clergymen--Interview between Lincoln and Channing--Lincoln and + Horace Greeley--The President's Answer to "The Prayer of Twenty + Millions of People"--Conference between Lincoln and + Greeley--Emancipation Resolved on--The Preliminary + Proclamation--Lincoln's Account of It--Preparing for the Final + Act--The Emancipation Proclamation--Particulars of the Great + Document--Fate of the Original Draft--Lincoln's Outline of His + Course and Views Regarding Slavery + + +CHAPTER XXII + + President and People--Society at the White House in + 1862-3--The President's Informal Receptions--A Variety of + Callers--Characteristic Traits of Lincoln--His Ability to Say + _No_ when Necessary--Would not Countenance Injustice--Good + Sense and Tact in Settling Quarrels--His Shrewd Knowledge of + Men--Getting Rid of Bores--Loyalty to His Friends--Views of + His Own Position--"Attorney for the People"--Desire that They + Should Understand Him--His Practical Kindness--A Badly Scared + Petitioner--Telling a Story to Relieve Bad News--A Breaking + Heart beneath the Smiles--His Deeply Religious Nature--The + Changes Wrought by Grief + + + CHAPTER XXIII + + Lincoln's Home-Life in the White House--Comfort in the + Companionship of his Youngest Son--"Little Tad" the Bright Spot in + the White House--The President and His Little Boy Reviewing the + Army of the Potomac--Various Phases of Lincoln's Character--His + Literary Tastes--Fondness for Poetry and Music--His Remarkable + Memory--Not a Latin Scholar--Never Read a Novel--Solace in + Theatrical Representation--Anecdotes of Booth and + McCullough--Methods of Literary Work--Lincoln as an Orator--Caution + in Impromptu Speeches--His Literary Style--Management of His + Private Correspondence--Knowledge of Woodcraft--Trees and Human + Character--Exchanging Views with Professor Agassiz--Magnanimity + toward Opponents--Righteous Indignation--Lincoln's Religious Nature + + +CHAPTER XXIV + + Trials of the Administration in 1863--Hostility to War + Measures--Lack of Confidence at the North--Opposition in + Congress--How Lincoln Felt about the "Fire in the Rear"--Criticisms + from Various Quarters--Visit of "the Boston Set"--The Government on + a Tight-Rope--The Enlistment of Colored Troops--Interview between + Lincoln and Frederick Douglass--Reverses in the Field--Changes of + Military Leaders--From Burnside to Hooker--Lincoln's First Meeting + with "Fighting Joe"--The President's Solicitude--His Warning Letter + to Hooker--His Visit to the Rappahannock--Hooker's Self-Confidence + the "Worst Thing about Him"--The Defeat at Chancellorsville--The + Failure of Our Generals--"Wanted, a Man" + + +CHAPTER XXV + + The Battle-Summer of 1863--A Turn of the Tide--Lee's Invasion of + Pennsylvania--A Threatening Crisis--Change of Union + Commanders--Meade Succeeds Hooker--The Battle of + Gettysburg--Lincoln's Anxiety during the Fight--The Retreat of + Lee--Union Victories in the Southwest--The Capture of + Vicksburg--Lincoln's Thanks to Grant--Returning + Cheerfulness--Congratulations to the Country--Improved State of + Feeling at the North--State Elections of 1863--The Administration + Sustained--Dedication of the National Cemetery at + Gettysburg--Lincoln's Address--Scenes and Incidents at the + Dedication--Meeting with Old John Burns--Edward Everett's + Impressions of Lincoln + + +CHAPTER XXVI + + Lincoln and Grant--Their Personal Relations--Grant's Success at + Chattanooga--Appointed Lieutenant-General--Grant's First Visit to + Washington--His Meeting with Lincoln--Lincoln's First Impressions + of Grant--The First "General" Lincoln had Found--"That Presidential + Grub"--True Version of the Whiskey Anecdote--Lincoln Tells Grant + the Story of Sykes's Dog--"We'd Better Let Mr. Grant Have His Own + Way"--Grant's Estimate of Lincoln + + +CHAPTER XXVII + + Lincoln's Second Presidential Term--His Attitude toward it--Rival + Candidates for the Nomination--Chase's Achillean Wrath--Harmony + Restored--The Baltimore Convention--Decision "not to Swap Horses + while Crossing a Stream"--The Summer of 1864--Washington again + Threatened--Lincoln under Fire--Unpopular Measures--The President's + Perplexities and Trials--The Famous Letter "To Whom It May + Concern"--Little Expectation of Re-election--Dangers of + Assassination--A Thrilling Experience--Lincoln's Forced + Serenity--"The Saddest Man in the World"--A Break in the + Clouds--Lincoln Vindicated by Re-election--Cheered and + Reassured--More Trouble with Chase--Lincoln's Final Disposal of + Him--The President's Fourth Annual Message--His Position toward the + Rebellion and Slavery Reaffirmed--Colored Folks' Reception at the + White House--Passage of the Amendment Prohibiting Slavery--Lincoln + and the Southern Peace Commissioners--The Meeting in Hampton + Roads--Lincoln's Impression of A.H. Stephens--The Second + Inauguration--Second Inaugural Address--"With Malice toward None, + with Charity for All"--An Auspicious Omen + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + + Close of the Civil War--Last Acts in the Great Tragedy--Lincoln + at the Front--A Memorable Meeting--Lincoln, Grant, Sherman, and + Porter--Life on Shipboard--Visit to Petersburg--Lincoln and the + Prisoners--Lincoln in Richmond--The Negroes Welcoming Their + "Great Messiah"--A Warm Reception--Lee's Surrender--Lincoln + Receives the News--Universal Rejoicing--Lincoln's Last Speech to + the Public--His Feelings and Intentions toward the South--His + Desire for Reconciliation + + +CHAPTER XXIX + + The Last of Earth--Events of the Last Day of Lincoln's Life--The + Last Cabinet Meeting--The Last Drive with Mrs. Lincoln--Incidents + of the Afternoon--Riddance to Jacob Thompson--A Final Act of + Pardon--The Fatal Evening--The Visit to the Theatre--The Assassin's + Shot--A Scene of Horror--Particulars of the Crime--The Dying + President--A Nation's Grief--Funeral Obsequies--The Return to + Illinois--At Rest in Oak Ridge Cemetery + + +INDEX + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +Abraham Lincoln + _From an Original Drawing by J.N. Marble, never before published_ + +Francis F. Browne + +Abraham Lincoln + + + + +[Illustration: A. Lincoln] + + + + +THE EVERY-DAY LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN + + + + +CHAPTER I + + + Ancestry--The Lincolns in Kentucky--Death of Lincoln's + Grandfather--Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks--Mordecai + Lincoln--Birth of Abraham Lincoln--Removal to Indiana--Early + Years--Dennis Hanks--Lincoln's Boyhood--Death of Nancy Hanks--Early + School Days--Lincoln's First Dollar--Presentiments of Future + Greatness--Down the Mississippi--Removal to Illinois--Lincoln's + Father--Lincoln the Storekeeper--First Official Act--Lincoln's + Short Sketch of His Own Life. + +The year 1809--that year which gave William E. Gladstone to England--was +in our country the birth-year of him who wears the most distinguished +name that has yet been written on the pages of American history--ABRAHAM +LINCOLN. In a rude cabin in a clearing, in the wilds of that section +which was once the hunting-ground and later the battle-field of the +Cherokees and other war-like tribes, and which the Indians themselves +had named Kentucky because it was "dark and bloody ground," the great +War President of the United States, after whose name History has written +the word "Emancipator," first saw the light. Born and nurtured in +penury, inured to hardship, coarse food, and scanty clothing,--the story +of his youth is full of pathos. Small wonder that when asked in his +later years to tell something of his early life, he replied by quoting a +line from Gray's Elegy: + + "The short and simple annals of the poor." + +Lincoln's ancestry has been traced with tolerable certainty through five +generations to Samuel Lincoln of Norfolk County, England. Not many +years after the landing of the "Mayflower" at Plymouth--perhaps in the +year 1638--Samuel Lincoln's son Mordecai had emigrated to Hingham, +Massachusetts. Perhaps because he was a Quaker, a then persecuted sect, +he did not remain long at Hingham, but came westward as far as Berks +County, Pennsylvania. His son, John Lincoln, went southward from +Pennsylvania and settled in Rockingham County, Virginia. Later, in 1782, +while the last events of the American Revolution were in progress, +Abraham Lincoln, son of John and grandfather of President Lincoln, moved +into Kentucky and took up a tract of government land in Mercer County. +In the Field Book of Daniel Boone, the Kentucky pioneer, (now in +possession of the Wisconsin Historical Society), appears the following +note of purchase: + + "Abraham Lincoln enters five hundred acres of land on a Treasury + warrant on the south side of Licking Creek or River, in Kentucky." + +At this time Kentucky was included within the limits and jurisdiction of +Virginia. In 1775 Daniel Boone had built a fort at Boonesborough, on the +Kentucky river, and it was not far from this site that Abraham Lincoln, +President Lincoln's grandfather, located his claim and put up a rude log +hut for the shelter of his family. The pioneers of Kentucky cleared +small spaces and erected their humble dwellings. They had to contend not +only with the wild forces of nature, and to defend themselves from the +beasts of the forest,--more to be feared than either were the hostile +Indians. The settlers were filled with terror of these stealthy foes. At +home and abroad they kept their guns ready for instant use both night +and day. Many a hard battle was fought between the Indian and the +pioneer. Many an unguarded woodsman was shot down without warning while +busy about his necessary work. Among these was Abraham Lincoln. The +story of his death is related by Mr. I.N. Arnold. "Thomas Lincoln was +with his father in the field when the savages suddenly fell upon them. +Mordecai and Josiah, his elder brothers, were near by in the forest. +Mordecai, startled by a shot, saw his father fall, and running to the +cabin seized the loaded rifle, rushed to one of the loop-holes cut +through the logs of the cabin, and saw the Indian who had fired. He had +just caught the boy, Thomas, and was running toward the forest. Pointing +the rifle through the logs and aiming at a medal on the breast of the +Indian, Mordecai fired. The Indian fell, and springing to his feet the +boy ran to the open arms of his mother at the cabin door. Meanwhile +Josiah, who had run to the fort for aid, returned with a party of +settlers. The bodies of Abraham Lincoln and the Indian who had been +killed were brought in. From this time forth Mordecai Lincoln was the +mortal enemy of the Indian, and it is said that he sacrificed many in +revenge for the murder of his father." + +In the presence of such dangers Thomas Lincoln spent his boyhood. He was +born in 1778, and could not have been much more than four years old on +that fatal day when in one swift moment his father lay dead beside him +and vengeance had been exacted by his resolute boy brother. It was such +experiences as these that made of the pioneers the sturdy men they were. +They acquired habits of heroism. Their sinews became wiry; their nerves +turned to steel. Their senses became sharpened. They grew alert, steady, +prompt and deft in every emergency. + +Of Mordecai Lincoln, the boy who had exhibited such coolness and daring +on the day of his father's death, many stories are told after he reached +manhood. "He was naturally a man of considerable genius," says one who +knew him. "He was a man of great drollery. It would almost make you +laugh to look at him. I never saw but one other man who excited in me +the same disposition to laugh, and that was Artemus Ward. Abe Lincoln +had a very high opinion of his uncle, and on one occasion remarked that +Uncle Mord had run off with all the talents of the family." + +Thomas Lincoln was twenty-eight years old before he sought a wife. His +choice fell upon a young woman of twenty-three whose name was Nancy +Hanks. Like her husband, she was of English descent. Like his, her +parents had followed in the path of emigration from Virginia to +Kentucky. The couple were married by the Rev. Jesse Head, a Methodist +minister located at Springfield, Washington County, Kentucky. They lived +for a time in Elizabethtown, but after the birth of their first child, +Sarah, they removed to Rock Spring farm, on Nolin Creek, in Hardin +(afterward LaRue) County. In this desolate spot, a strange and unlikely +place for the birth of one destined to play so memorable a part in the +history of the world, on the twelfth day of February, 1809, Abraham +Lincoln the President was born. + +Of all the gross injustice ever done to the memory of woman, that which +has been accorded to Nancy Hanks is the greatest. The story which cast a +shadow upon her parentage, and on that of her illustrious son as well, +should be sternly relegated to the oblivion whence it came. Mr. Henry +Watterson, in his brilliant address on Lincoln, refers to him as "that +strange, incomparable man, _of whose parentage we neither know nor +care_." In some localities, particularly in Kentucky and South Carolina, +the rumor is definite and persistent that the President was not the son +of Thomas Lincoln, the illiterate and thriftless, but of one Colonel +Hardin for whom Hardin County was named; that Nancy Hanks was herself +the victim of unlegalized motherhood, the natural daughter of an +aristocratic, wealthy, and well-educated Virginia planter, and that this +accounted for many of her son's characteristics. The story has long +since been disproved. Efforts to verify it brought forth the fact that +it sprang into being in the early days of the Civil War and was +evidently a fabrication born of the bitter spirit of the hour. + +It was not from his father, however, that Lincoln inherited any of his +remarkable traits. The dark coarse hair, the gray eyes, sallow +complexion, and brawny strength, which were his, constituted his sole +inheritance on the paternal side. But Nancy Hanks was gentle and +refined, and would have adorned any station in life. She was beautiful +in youth, with dark hair, regular features, and soft sparkling hazel +eyes. She was unusually intelligent, and read all the books she could +obtain. Says Mr. Arnold: "She was a woman of deep religious feeling, of +the most exemplary character, and most tenderly and affectionately +devoted to her family. Her home indicated a love of beauty exceptional +in the wild settlement in which she lived, and judging from her early +death it is probable that she was of a physique less hardy than that of +those among whom she lived. Hers was a strong, self-reliant spirit, +which commanded the love and respect of the rugged people among whom she +dwelt." + +The tender and reverent spirit of Abraham Lincoln, and the pensive +melancholy of his disposition, he no doubt inherited from his mother. +Amid the toil and struggle of her busy life she found time not only to +teach him to read and write but to impress upon him ineffaceably that +love of truth and justice, that perfect integrity and reverence for God, +for which he was noted all his life. Lincoln always looked upon his +mother with unspeakable affection, and never ceased to cherish the +memory of her life and teaching. + +A spirit of restlessness, a love of adventure, a longing for new scenes, +and possibly the hope of improving his condition, led Thomas Lincoln to +abandon the Rock Spring farm, in the fall of 1816, and begin life over +again in the wilds of southern Indiana. The way thither lay through +unbroken country and was beset with difficulties. Often the travellers +were obliged to cut their road as they went. With the resolution of +pioneers, however, they began the journey. At the end of several days +they had gone but eighteen miles. Abraham Lincoln was then but seven +years old, but was already accustomed to the use of axe and gun. He lent +a willing hand, and bore his share in the labor and fatigue connected +with the difficult journey. In after years he said that he had never +passed through a more trying experience than when he went from +Thompson's Ferry to Spencer County, Indiana. On arriving, a shanty for +immediate use was hastily erected. Three sides were enclosed, the fourth +remaining open. This served as a home for several months, when a more +comfortable cabin was built. On the eighteenth of October, 1817, Thomas +Lincoln entered a quarter-section of government land eighteen miles +north of the Ohio river and about a mile and a half from the present +village of Gentryville. About a year later they were followed by the +family of Thomas and Betsy Sparrow, relatives of Mrs. Lincoln and +old-time neighbors on the Rock Spring farm in Kentucky. Dennis Hanks, a +member of the Sparrow household and cousin of Abraham Lincoln, came +also. He has furnished some recollections of the President's boyhood +which are well worth recording. "Uncle Dennis," as he was familiarly +called, was himself a striking character, a man of original manners and +racy conversation. A sketch of him as he appeared to an observer in his +later days is thus given: "Uncle Dennis is a typical Kentuckian, born in +Hardin County in 1799. His face is sun-bronzed and ploughed with the +furrows of time, but he has a resolute mouth, a firm grip of the jaws, +and a broad forehead above a pair of piercing eyes. The eyes seem out of +place in the weary, faded face, but they glow and flash like two diamond +sparks set in ridges of dull gold. The face is a serious one, but the +play of light in the eyes, unquenchable by time, betrays a nature of +sunshine and elate with life. A glance at the profile shows a face +strikingly Lincoln-like,--prominent cheek bones, temple, nose, and chin; +but best of all is that twinkling drollery in the eye that flashed in +the White House during the dark days of the Civil War." + +Uncle Dennis's recollections go back to the birth of Abraham Lincoln. To +use his own words: "I rikkilect I run all the way, over two miles, to +see Nancy Hanks's boy baby. Her name was Nancy Hanks before she married +Thomas Lincoln. 'Twas common for connections to gather in them days to +see new babies. I held the wee one a minute. I was ten years old, and it +tickled me to hold the pulpy, red little Lincoln. The family moved to +Indiana," he went on, "when Abe was about nine. Mr. Lincoln moved first, +and built a camp of brush in Spencer County. We came a year later, and +he had then a cabin. So he gave us the shanty. Abe killed a turkey the +day we got there, and couldn't get through tellin' about it. The name +was pronounced Linkhorn by the folks then. We was all uneducated. After +a spell we learnt better. I was the only boy in the place all them +years, and Abe and me was always together." + +Dennis Hanks claims to have taught his young cousin to read, write, and +cipher. "He knew his letters pretty wellish, but no more. His mother had +taught him. If ever there was a good woman on earth, she was one,--a +true Christian of the Baptist church. But she died soon after we +arrived, and Abe was left without a teacher. His father couldn't read a +word. The boy had only about one quarter of schooling, hardly that. I +then set in to help him. I didn't know much, but I did the best I could. +Sometimes he would write with a piece of charcoal or the p'int of a +burnt stick on the fence or floor. We got a little paper at the country +town, and I made some ink out of blackberry briar-root and a little +copperas in it. It was black, but the copperas ate the paper after a +while. I made Abe's first pen out of a turkey-buzzard feather. We had no +geese them days. After he learned to write his name he was scrawlin' it +everywhere. Sometimes he would write it in the white sand down by the +crick bank and leave it there till the waves would blot it out. He +didn't take to books in the beginnin'. We had to hire him at first, but +after he got a taste on't it was the old story--we had to pull the sow's +ears to get her to the trough, and then pull her tail to get her away. +He read a great deal, and had a wonderful memory--wonderful. Never +forgot anything." + +Lincoln's first reading book was Webster's Speller. "When I got him +through that," said Uncle Dennis, "I had only a copy of the Indiana +Statutes. Then Abe got hold of a book. I can't rikkilect the name. It +told a yarn about a feller, a nigger or suthin', that sailed a flatboat +up to a rock, and the rock was magnetized and drawed all the nails out, +and he got a duckin' or drowned or suthin',--I forget now. [It was the +"Arabian Nights."] Abe would lay on the floor with a chair under his +head and laugh over them stories by the hour. I told him they was likely +lies from beginnin' to end, but he learned to read right well in them. I +borrowed for him the Life of Washington and the Speeches of Henry Clay. +They had a powerful influence on him. He told me afterwards in the White +House he wanted to live like Washington. His speeches show it, too. But +the other book did the most amazin' work. Abe was a Democrat, like his +father and all of us, when he began to read it. When he closed it he was +a Whig, heart and soul, and he went on step by step till he became +leader of the Republicans." + +These reminiscences of Dennis Hanks give the clearest and undoubtedly +the most accurate glimpse of Lincoln's youth. He says further, referring +to the boy's unusual physical strength: "My, how he would chop! His axe +would flash and bite into a sugar-tree or sycamore, and down it would +come. If you heard him fellin' trees in a clearin' you would say there +was three men at work, the way the trees fell. Abe was never sassy or +quarrelsome. I've seen him walk into a crowd of sawin' rowdies and tell +some droll yarn and bust them all up. It was the same after he got to be +a lawyer. All eyes was on him whenever he riz. There was _suthin' +peculiarsome_ about him. I moved from Indiana to Illinois when Abe did. +I bought a little improvement near him, six miles from Decatur. Here the +famous rails were split that were carried round in the campaign. They +were called _his_ rails, but you never can tell. I split some of 'em. He +was a master hand at maulin' rails. I heard him say in a speech once, +'If I didn't make these I made many just as good.' Then the crowd +yelled." + +One of his playmates has furnished much that is of interest in regard to +the reputation which Lincoln left behind him in the neighborhood where +he passed his boyhood and much of his youth. This witness says: +"Whenever the court was in session he was a frequent attendant. John A. +Breckenridge was the foremost lawyer in the community, and was famed as +an advocate in criminal cases. Lincoln was sure to be present when he +spoke. Doing the chores in the morning, he would walk to Booneville, the +county seat of Warwick County, seventeen miles away, then home in time +to do the chores at night, repeating this day after day. The lawyer soon +came to know him. Years afterwards, when Lincoln was President, a +venerable gentleman one day entered his office in the White House, and +standing before him said: 'Mr. President, you don't know me.' Mr. +Lincoln eyed him sharply for a moment, and then quickly replied with a +smile, 'Yes I do. You are John A. Breckenridge. I used to walk +thirty-four miles a day to hear you plead law in Booneville, and +listening to your speeches at the bar first inspired me with the +determination to be a lawyer.'" + +Lincoln's love for his gentle mother, and his grief over her untimely +death, is a touching story. Attacked by a fatal disease, the life of +Nancy Hanks wasted slowly away. Day after day her son sat by her bed +reading to her such portions of the Bible as she desired to hear. At +intervals she talked to him, urging him to walk in the paths of honor, +goodness, and truth. At last she found rest, and her son gave way to +grief that could not be controlled. In an opening in the timber, a short +distance from the cabin, sympathizing friends and neighbors laid her +body away and offered sincere prayers above her grave. The simple +service did not seem to the son adequate tribute to the memory of the +beloved mother whose loss he so sorely felt, but no minister could be +procured at the time to preach a funeral sermon. In the spring, however, +Abraham Lincoln, then a lad of ten, wrote to Elder Elkin, who had lived +near them in Kentucky, begging that he would come and preach a sermon +above his mother's grave, and adding that by granting this request he +would confer a lasting favor upon his father, his sister, and himself. +Although it involved a journey of more than a hundred miles on +horseback, the good man cheerfully complied. Once more the neighbors and +friends gathered about the grave of Nancy Hanks, and her son found +comfort in their sympathy and their presence. The spot where Lincoln's +mother lies is now enclosed within a high iron fence. At the head of the +grave a white stone, simple, unaffected, and in keeping with the +surroundings, has been placed. It bears the following inscription: + + NANCY HANKS LINCOLN, + MOTHER OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN, + DIED OCTOBER 5, A.D. 1818. + AGED THIRTY-FIVE YEARS. + _Erected by a friend of her martyred son_. + +Lincoln always held the memory of his mother in the deepest reverence +and affection. Says Dr. J.G. Holland: "Long after her sensitive heart +and weary hands had crumbled into dust, and had climbed to life again in +forest flowers, he said to a friend, with tears in his eyes, 'All that I +am or ever hope to be I owe to my sainted mother.'" + +The vacant place of wife and mother was sadly felt in the Lincoln cabin, +but before the year 1819 had closed it was filled by a woman who nobly +performed the duties of her trying position. Thomas Lincoln had known +Mrs. Sarah Johnston when both were young and living in Elizabethtown, +Kentucky. They had married in the same year; and now, being alike +bereaved, he persuaded her to unite their broken households into one. + +By this union, a son and two daughters, John, Sarah, and Matilda, were +added to the Lincoln family. All dwelt together in perfect harmony, the +mother showing no difference in the treatment of her own children and +the two now committed to her charge. She exhibited a special fondness +for the little Abraham, whose precocious talents and enduring qualities +she was quick to apprehend. Though he never forgot the "angel mother" +sleeping on the forest-covered hill-top, the boy rewarded with a +profound and lasting affection the devoted care of her who proved a +faithful friend and helper during the rest of his childhood and youth. +In her later life the step-mother spoke of him always with the tenderest +feeling. On one occasion she said: "He never gave me a cross word or +look, and never refused, in fact or appearance, to do anything I +requested of him." + +The child had enjoyed a little irregular schooling while living in +Kentucky, getting what instruction was possible of one Zachariah Birney, +a Catholic, who taught for a time close by his father's house. He also +attended, as convenience permitted, a school kept by Caleb Hazel, nearly +four miles away, walking the distance back and forth with his sister. +Soon after coming under the care of his step-mother, the lad was +afforded some similar opportunities for learning. His first master in +Indiana was Azel Dorsey. The sort of education dispensed by him, and the +circumstances under which it was given, are described by Mr. Ward H. +Lamon, at one time Lincoln's law-partner at Springfield, Illinois. "Azel +Dorsey presided in a small house near the Little Pigeon Creek +meeting-house, a mile and a half from the Lincoln cabin. It was built of +unhewn logs, and had holes for windows, in which greased paper served +for glass. The roof was just high enough for a man to stand erect. Here +the boy was taught reading, writing, and ciphering. They spelt in +classes, and 'trapped' up and down. These juvenile contests were very +exciting to the participants, and it is said by the survivors that Abe +was even then the equal, if not the superior, of any scholar in his +class. The next teacher was Andrew Crawford. Mrs. Gentry says he began +teaching in the neighborhood in the winter of 1822-3. Crawford 'kept +school' in the same little school-house which had been the scene of +Dorsey's labors, and the windows were still adorned with the greased +leaves of old copybooks that had come down from Dorsey's time. Abe was +now in his fifteenth year, and began to exhibit symptoms of gallantry +toward the other sex. He was growing at a tremendous rate, and two years +later attained his full height of six feet and four inches. He wore low +shoes, buckskin breeches, linsey-woolsey shirt, and a cap made of the +skin of a 'possum or a coon. The breeches clung close to his thighs and +legs, and failed by a large space to meet the tops of his shoes. He +would always come to school thus, good-humoredly and laughing. He was +always in good health, never sick, had an excellent constitution and +took care of it." + +Crawford taught "manners"--a feature of backwoods education to which +Dorsey had not aspired. Crawford had doubtless introduced it as a +refinement which would put to shame the humble efforts of his +predecessor. One of the scholars was required to retire, and then to +re-enter the room as a polite gentleman is supposed to enter a +drawing-room. He was received at the door by another scholar and +conducted from bench to bench until he had been introduced to all the +young ladies and gentlemen in the room. Lincoln went through the ordeal +countless times. If he took a serious view of the performance it must +have put him to exquisite torture, for he was conscious that he was not +a perfect type of manly beauty. If, however, it struck him as at all +funny, it must have filled him with unspeakable mirth to be thus gravely +led about, angular and gawky, under the eyes of the precise Crawford, to +be introduced to the boys and girls of his acquaintance. + +While in Crawford's school the lad wrote his first compositions. The +exercise was not required by the teacher, but, as Nat Grigsby has said, +"he took it up on his own account." At first he wrote only short +sentences against cruelty to animals, but at last came forward with a +regular composition on the subject. He was annoyed and pained by the +conduct of the boys who were in the habit of catching terrapins and +putting coals of fire on their backs. "He would chide us," says Grigsby, +"tell us it was wrong, and would write against it." + +One who has had the privilege of looking over some of the boyish +possessions of Lincoln says: "Among the most touching relics which I saw +was an old copy-book in which, at the age of fourteen, Lincoln had +taught himself to write and cipher. Scratched in his boyish hand on the +first page were these lines: + + _Abraham Lincoln + his hand and pen. + he will be good but + god knows When_" + +The boy's thirst for learning was not to be satisfied with the meagre +knowledge furnished in the miserable schools he was able to attend at +long intervals. His step-mother says: "He read diligently. He read +everything he could lay his hands on, and when he came across a passage +that struck him he would write it down on boards, if he had no paper, +and keep it until he had got paper. Then he would copy it, look at it, +commit it to memory, and repeat it. He kept a scrap-book into which he +copied everything which particularly pleased him." Mr. Arnold further +states: "There were no libraries and but few books in the back +settlements in which Lincoln lived. If by chance he heard of a book that +he had not read he would walk miles to borrow it. Among other volumes +borrowed from Crawford was Weems's Life of Washington. He read it with +great earnestness. He took it to bed with him in the loft and read till +his 'nubbin' of candle burned out. Then he placed the book between the +logs of the cabin, that it might be near as soon as it was light enough +in the morning to read. In the night a heavy rain came up and he awoke +to find his book wet through and through. Drying it as well as he could, +he went to Crawford and told him of the mishap. As he had no money to +pay for the injured book, he offered to work out the value of it. +Crawford fixed the price at three days' work, and the future President +pulled corn for three days, thus becoming owner of the coveted volume." +In addition to this, he was fortunate enough to get hold of Ĉsop's +Fables, Pilgrim's Progress, and the lives of Benjamin Franklin and Henry +Clay. He made these books his own by conning them over and over, copying +the more impressive portions until they were firmly fixed in his memory. +Commenting upon the value of this sort of mental training, Dr. Holland +wisely remarks: "Those who have witnessed the dissipating effect of many +books upon the minds of modern children do not find it hard to believe +that Abraham Lincoln's poverty of books was the wealth of his life. The +few he had did much to perfect the teaching which his mother had begun, +and to form a character which for quaint simplicity, earnestness, +truthfulness, and purity, has never been surpassed among the historic +personages of the world." + +It may well have been that Lincoln's lack of books and the means of +learning threw him upon his own resources and led him into those modes +of thought, of quaint and apt and logical reasoning, so +peculiar to him. At any rate, it is certain that books can no more make +a character like Lincoln than they can make a poet like Shakespeare. + + "By books may Learning sometimes befall, + But Wisdom never by books at all,"-- + +a saying peculiarly true of a man such as Lincoln. + +A testimonial to the influence of this early reading upon his childish +mind was given by Lincoln himself many years afterwards. While on his +way to Washington to assume the duties of the Presidency he passed +through Trenton, New Jersey, and in a speech made in the Senate Chamber +at that place he said: "May I be pardoned if, upon this occasion, I +mention that away back in my childhood, in the earliest days of my being +able to read, I got hold of a small book--such a one as few of the +younger members have seen, Weems's Life of Washington. I remember all +the accounts there given of the battle-fields and struggles for the +liberties of the country; and none fixed themselves upon my imagination +so deeply as the struggle here at Trenton. The crossing of the river, +the contest with the Hessians, the great hardships endured at that time, +all fixed themselves in my memory more than any single Revolutionary +event; and you all know, for you have all been boys, how these early +impressions last longer than any others. I recollect thinking then, boy +even though I was, that there must have been something more than common +that these men struggled for. I am exceedingly anxious that that thing +which they struggled for, that something even more than National +Independence, that something that held out a great promise to all the +people of the world for all time to come, I am exceedingly anxious that +this Union, the Constitution, and the liberties of the people, shall be +perpetuated in accordance with the original idea for which that struggle +was made." + +Another incident in regard to the ruined volume which Lincoln had +borrowed from Crawford is related by Mr. Lamon. "For a long time," he +says, "there was one person in the neighborhood for whom Lincoln felt a +decided dislike, and that was Josiah Crawford, who had made him pull +fodder for three days to pay for Weems's Washington. On that score he +was hurt and mad, and declared he would have revenge. But being a poor +boy, a fact of which Crawford had already taken shameful advantage when +he extorted three days' labor, Abe was glad to get work anywhere, and +frequently hired out to his old adversary. His first business in +Crawford's employ was daubing the cabin, which was built of unhewn logs +with the bark on. In the loft of this house, thus finished by his own +hands, he slept for many weeks at a time. He spent his evenings as he +did at home,--writing on wooden shovels or boards with 'a coal, or keel, +from the branch.' This family was rich in the possession of several +books, which Abe read through time and again, according to his usual +custom. One of the books was the 'Kentucky Preceptor,' from which Mrs. +Crawford insists that he 'learned his school orations, speeches, and +pieces to write.' She tells us also that 'Abe was a sensitive lad, never +coming where he was not wanted'; that he always lifted his hat, and +bowed, when he made his appearance; and that 'he was tender and kind,' +like his sister, who was at the same time her maid-of-all-work. His pay +was twenty-five cents a day; 'and when he missed time, he would not +charge for it.' This latter remark of Mrs. Crawford reveals the fact +that her husband was in the habit of docking Abe on his miserable wages +whenever he happened to lose a few minutes from steady work. The time +came, however, when Lincoln got his revenge for all this petty +brutality. Crawford was as ugly as he was surly. His nose was a +monstrosity--long and crooked, with a huge mis-shapen stub at the end, +surmounted by a host of pimples, and the whole as blue as the usual +state of Mr. Crawford's spirits. Upon this member Abe levelled his +attacks, in rhyme, song, and chronicle; and though he could not reduce +the nose he gave it a fame as wide as to the Wabash and the Ohio. It is +not improbable that he learned the art of making the doggerel rhymes in +which he celebrated Crawford's nose from the study of Crawford's own +'Kentucky Preceptor.'" + +Lincoln's sister Sarah was warmly attached to him, but was taken from +his companionship at an early age. It is said that her face somewhat +resembled his, that in repose it had the gravity which they both +inherited from their mother, but it was capable of being lighted almost +into beauty by one of her brother's ridiculous stories or sallies of +humor. She was a modest, plain, industrious girl, and was remembered +kindly by all who knew her. She was married to Aaron Grigsby at +eighteen, and died a year later. Like her brother, she occasionally +worked at the houses of the neighbors. She lies buried, not with her +mother, but in the yard of the old Pigeon Creek meeting-house. + +A story which belongs to this period was told by Lincoln himself to Mr. +Seward and a few friends one evening in the Executive Mansion at +Washington. The President said: "Seward, you never heard, did you, how I +earned my first dollar?" "No," rejoined Mr. Seward. "Well," continued +Mr. Lincoln, "I belonged, you know, to what they call down South the +'scrubs.' We had succeeded in raising, chiefly by my labor, sufficient +produce, as I thought, to justify me in taking it down the river to +sell. After much persuasion, I got the consent of mother to go, and +constructed a little flatboat, large enough to take a barrel or two of +things that we had gathered, with myself and the bundle, down to the +Southern market. A steamer was coming down the river. We have, you know, +no wharves on the Western streams; and the custom was, if passengers +were at any of the landings, for them to go out in a boat, the steamer +stopping and taking them on board. I was contemplating my new flatboat, +and wondering whether I could make it stronger or improve it in any way, +when two men came down to the shore in carriages with trunks. Looking at +the different boats, they singled out mine and asked, 'Who owns this?' I +answered somewhat modestly, 'I do.' 'Will you take us and our trunks to +the steamer?' asked one of them. 'Certainly,' said I. I was glad to have +the chance of earning something. I supposed that each of them would give +me two or three bits. The trunks were put on my flatboat, the passengers +seated themselves on the trunks, and I sculled them out to the steamer. +They got on board, and I lifted up their heavy trunks and put them on +the deck. The steamer was about to put on steam again, when I called out +to them that they had forgotten to pay me. Each man took from his pocket +a silver half-dollar and threw it into the bottom of my boat. I could +scarcely believe my eyes. Gentlemen, you may think it a little thing, +and in these days it seems to me a trifle; but it was a great event in +my life. I could scarcely credit that I, a poor boy, had earned a dollar +in less than a day,--that by honest work I had earned a dollar. The +world seemed wider and fairer to me. I was a more hopeful and confident +being from that time." + +Notwithstanding the limitations of every kind which hemmed in the life +of young Lincoln, he had an instinctive feeling, born perhaps of his +eager ambition, that he should one day attain an exalted position. The +first betrayal of this premonition is thus related by Mr. Arnold: + +"Lincoln attended court at Booneville, to witness a murder trial, at +which one of the Breckenridges from Kentucky made a very eloquent speech +for the defense. The boy was carried away with admiration, and was so +enthusiastic that, although a perfect stranger, he could not resist +expressing his admiration to Breckenridge. He wanted to be a lawyer. He +went home, dreamed of courts, and got up mock trials, at which he would +defend imaginary prisoners. Several of his companions at this period of +his life, as well as those who knew him after he went to Illinois, +declare that he was often heard to say, not in joke, but seriously, as +if he were deeply impressed rather than elated with the idea: 'I shall +some day be President of the United States.' It is stated by many of +Lincoln's old friends that he often said while still an obscure man, +'Some day I shall be President.' He undoubtedly had for years some +presentiment of this." + +At seventeen Lincoln wrote a clear, neat, legible hand, was quick at +figures and able to solve easily any arithmetical problem not going +beyond the "Rule of Three." Mr. Arnold, noting these facts, says: "I +have in my possession a few pages from his manuscript 'Book of Examples +in Arithmetic' One of these is dated March 1, 1826, and headed +'Discount,' and then follows, in his careful handwriting: 'A definition +of Discount,' 'Rules for its computation,' 'Proofs and Various +Examples,' worked out in figures, etc.; then 'Interest on money' is +treated in the same way, all in his own handwriting. I doubt whether it +would be easy to find among scholars of our common or high schools, or +any school of boys of the age of seventeen, a better written specimen of +this sort of work, or a better knowledge of figures than is indicated by +this book of Lincoln's, written at the age of seventeen." + +In March, 1828, Lincoln went to work for old Mr. Gentry, the founder of +Gentryville. "Early the next month the old gentleman furnished his son +Allen with a boat and a cargo of bacon and other produce with which he +was to go to New Orleans unless the stock should be sooner disposed of. +Abe, having been found faithful and efficient, was employed to accompany +the young man. He was paid eight dollars per month, and ate and slept on +board." The entire business of the trip was placed in Abraham's hands. +The fact tells its own story touching the young man's reputation for +capacity and integrity. He had never made the trip, knew nothing of the +journey, was unaccustomed to business transactions, had never been much +upon the river, but his tact and ability and honesty were so far trusted +that the trader was willing to risk the cargo in his care. The delight +with which the youth swung loose from the shore upon his clumsy craft, +with the prospect of a ride of eighteen hundred miles before him, and a +vision of the great world of which he had read and thought so much, may +be imagined. At this time he had become a very tall and powerful young +man. He had reached the height of six feet and four inches, a length of +trunk and limb remarkable even among the tall race of pioneers to which +he belonged. + +Just before the river expedition, Lincoln had walked with a young girl +down to the river to show her his flatboat. She relates a circumstance +of the evening which is full of significance. "We were sitting on the +banks of the Ohio, or rather on the boat he had made. I said to Abe that +the sun was going down. He said to me, 'That's not so; it don't really +go down; it seems so. The earth turns from west to east and the +revolution of the earth carries us under; we do the sinking, as you call +it. The sun, as to us, is comparatively still; the sun's sinking is only +an appearance.' I replied, 'Abe, what a fool you are!' I know now that I +was the fool, not Lincoln. I am now thoroughly satisfied that he knew +the general laws of astronomy and the movements of the heavenly bodies. +He was better read then than the world knows or is likely to know +exactly. No man could talk to me as he did that night unless he had +known something of geography as well as astronomy. He often commented or +talked to me about what he had read,--seemed to read it out of the book +as he went along. He was the learned boy among us unlearned folks. He +took great pains to explain; could do it so simply. He was diffident, +too." + +But another change was about to come into the life of Abraham Lincoln. +In 1830 his father set forth once more on the trail of the emigrant. He +had become dissatisfied with his location in southern Indiana, and +hearing favorable reports of the prairie lands of Illinois hoped for +better fortunes there. He parted with his farm and prepared for the +journey to Macon County, Illinois. Abraham visited the neighbors and +bade them goodbye; but on the morning selected for their departure, when +it came time to start, he was missing. He was found weeping at his +mother's grave, whither he had gone as soon as it was light. The thought +of leaving her behind filled him with unspeakable anguish. The household +goods were loaded, the oxen yoked, the family got into the covered +wagon, and Lincoln took his place by the oxen to drive. One of the +neighbors has said of this incident: "Well do I remember the day the +Lincolns left for Illinois. Little did I think that I was looking at a +boy who would one day be President of the United States!" + +An interesting personal sketch of Thomas Lincoln is given by Mr. George +B. Balch, who was for many years a resident of Lerna, Coles County, +Illinois. Among other things he says: "Thomas Lincoln, father of the +great President, was called Uncle Tommy by his friends and Old Tom +Lincoln by other people. His property consisted of an old horse, a pair +of oxen and a few sheep--seven or eight head. My father bought two of +the sheep, they being the first we owned after settling in Illinois. +Thomas Lincoln was a large, bulky man, six feet tall and weighing about +two hundred pounds. He was large-boned, coarse-featured, had a large +blunt nose, florid complexion, light sandy hair and whiskers. He was +slow in speech and slow in gait. His whole appearance denoted a man of +small intellect and less ambition. It is generally supposed that he was +a farmer; and such he was, if one who tilled so little land by such +primitive modes could be so called. He never planted more than a few +acres, and instead of gathering and hauling his crop in a wagon he +usually carried it in baskets or large trays. He was uneducated, +illiterate, content with living from hand to mouth. His death occurred +on the fifteenth day of January, 1851. He was buried in a neighboring +country graveyard, about a mile north of Janesville, Coles County. There +was nothing to mark the place of his burial until February, 1861, when +Abraham Lincoln paid a last visit to his grave just before he left +Springfield for Washington. On a piece of oak board he cut the letters +T.L. and placed it at the head of the grave. It was carried away by some +relic-hunter, and the place remained as before, with nothing to mark it, +until the spring of 1876. Then the writer, fearing that the grave of +Lincoln's father would become entirely unknown, succeeded in awakening +public opinion on the subject. Soon afterward a marble shaft twelve feet +high was erected, bearing on its western face this inscription: + + THOMAS LINCOLN + FATHER OF + THE MARTYRED PRESIDENT. + BORN + JAN. 6th, 1778 + DIED + JAN. 15th, 1851. + LINCOLN. + +"And now," concluded Mr. Balch, "I have given all that can be known of +Thomas Lincoln. I have written impartially and with a strict regard to +facts which can be substantiated by many of the old settlers in this +county. Thomas Lincoln was a harmless and honest man. Beyond this, one +will search in vain for any ancestral clue to the greatness of Abraham +Lincoln." + +After reaching the new home in Illinois, young Lincoln worked with his +father until things were in shape for comfortable living. He helped to +build the log cabin, break up the new land and fence it in, splitting +the rails with his own hands. It was these very rails over which so much +sentiment was expended years afterward at an important epoch in +Lincoln's political career. During the sitting of the State Convention +at Decatur, a banner attached to two of these rails and bearing an +appropriate inscription was brought into the assemblage and formally +presented to that body amid a scene of unparalleled enthusiasm. After +that they were in demand in every State of the Union in which free labor +was honored. They were borne in processions by the people, and hailed by +hundreds of thousands as a symbol of triumph and a glorious vindication +of freedom and of the right and dignity of labor. These, however, were +not the first rails made by Lincoln. He was a practiced hand at the +business. As a memento of his pioneer accomplishment he preserved in +later years a cane made from a rail which he had split on his father's +farm. + +The next important record of Lincoln's career connects him with Mr. +Denton Offutt. The circumstances which brought him into this relation +are thus narrated by Mr. J.H. Barrett: "While there was snow on the +ground, at the close of the year 1830, or early in 1831, a man came to +that part of Macon County where young Lincoln was living, in pursuit of +hands to aid him in a flatboat voyage down the Mississippi. The fact was +known that the youth had once made such a trip, and his services were +sought for this occasion. As one who had his own subsistence to earn, +with no capital but his hands, he accepted the proposition made him. +Perhaps there was something of his inherited and acquired fondness for +exciting adventure impelling him to this decision. With him were also +employed his former fellow-laborer, John Hanks, and a son of his +step-mother named John Johnston. In the spring of 1831 Lincoln set out +to fulfil his engagement. The floods had so swollen the streams that the +Sangamon country was a vast sea before him. His first entrance into that +county was over these wide-spread waters in a canoe. The time had come +to join his employer on his journey to New Orleans, but the latter had +been disappointed by another person on whom he relied to furnish him a +boat on the Illinois river. Accordingly all hands set to work, and +themselves built a boat on that river, for their purposes. This done, +they set out on their long trip, making a successful voyage to New +Orleans and back." + +Mr. Herndon says: "Mr. Lincoln came into Sangamon County down the North +Fork of the Sangamon river, in a frail canoe, in the spring of 1831. I +can see from where I write the identical place where he cut the timbers +for his flatboat, which he built at a little village called Sangamon +Town, seven miles northwest of Springfield. Here he had it loaded with +corn, wheat, bacon, and other provisions destined for New Orleans, at +which place he landed in the month of May, 1831. He returned home in +June of that year, and finally settled in another little village called +New Salem, on the high bluffs of the Sangamon river, then in Sangamon +County and now in Menard County, and about twenty miles northwest of +Springfield." + +The practical and ingenious character of Lincoln's mind is shown in the +act that several years after his river experience he invented and +patented a device for overcoming some of the difficulties in the +navigation of western rivers with which this trip had made him +familiar. The following interesting account of this invention is given: + +"Occupying an ordinary and commonplace position in one of the show-cases +in the large hall of the Patent Office is one little model which in ages +to come will be prized as one of the most curious and most sacred relics +in that vast museum of unique and priceless things. This is a plain and +simple model of a steamboat roughly fashioned in wood by the hand of +Abraham Lincoln. It bears date 1849, when the inventor was known simply +as a successful lawyer and rising politician of Central Illinois. +Neither his practice nor his politics took up so much of his time as to +prevent him from giving some attention to contrivances which he hoped +might be of benefit to the world and of profit to himself. The design of +this invention is suggestive of one phase of Abraham Lincoln's early +life, when he went up and down the Mississippi as a flatboatman and +became familiar with some of the dangers and inconveniences attending +the navigation of the western rivers. It is an attempt to make it an +easy matter to transport vessels over shoals and snags and 'sawyers.' +The main idea is that of an apparatus resembling a noiseless bellows +placed on each side of the hull of the craft just below the water line +and worked by an odd but not complicated system of ropes, valves, and +pulleys. When the keel of the vessel grates against the sand or +obstruction these bellows are to be filled with air, and thus buoyed up +the ship is expected to float lightly and gayly over the shoal which +would otherwise have proved a serious interruption to her voyage. The +model, which is about eighteen or twenty inches long and has the +appearance of having been whittled with a knife out of a shingle and a +cigar-box, is built without any elaboration or ornament or any extra +apparatus beyond that necessary to show the operation of buoying the +steamer over the obstructions. It is carved as one might imagine a +retired railsplitter would whittle, strongly but not smoothly, and +evidently made with a view solely to convey to the minds of the patent +authorities, by the simplest possible means, an idea of the purpose and +plan of the invention. The label on the steamer's deck informs us that +the patent was obtained; but we do not learn that the navigation of the +western rivers was revolutionized by this quaint conception. The modest +little model has reposed here for many years, and the inventor has found +it his task to guide the ship of state over shoals more perilous and +obstructions more obstinate than any prophet dreamed of when Abraham +Lincoln wrote his bold autograph across the prow of his miniature +steamer." + +At the conclusion of his trip to New Orleans, Lincoln's employer, Mr. +Offutt, entered into mercantile trade at New Salem, a settlement on the +Sangamon river, in Menard County, two miles from Petersburg, the county +seat. He opened a store of the class usually to be found in such small +towns, and also set up a flouring-mill. In the late expedition down the +Mississippi Mr. Offutt had learned Lincoln's valuable qualities, and was +anxious to secure his help in his new enterprise. Says Mr. Barrett: "For +want of other immediate employment, and in the same spirit which had +heretofore actuated him, Abraham Lincoln entered upon the duties of a +clerk, having an eye to both branches of his employer's business. This +connection continued for nearly a year, all duties of his position being +faithfully performed." It was to this year's humble but honorable +service of young Lincoln that Mr. Douglas tauntingly alluded in one of +his speeches during the canvass of 1858 as 'keeping a groggery.' + +While engaged in the duties of Offutt's store Lincoln began the study of +English grammar. There was not a text-book to be obtained in the +neighborhood; but hearing that there was a copy of Kirkham's Grammar in +the possession of a person seven or eight miles distant he walked to +his house and succeeded in borrowing it. L.M. Green, a lawyer of +Petersburg, in Menard County, says that every time he visited New Salem +at this period Lincoln took him out upon a hill and asked him to explain +some point in Kirkham that had given him trouble. After having mastered +the book he remarked to a friend that if that was what they called a +science he thought he could "subdue another." Mr. Green says that +Lincoln's talk at this time showed that he was beginning to think of a +great life and a great destiny. Lincoln said to him on one occasion that +all his family seemed to have good sense but somehow none had ever +become distinguished. He thought perhaps he might become so. He had +talked, he said, with men who had the reputation of being great men, but +he could not see that they differed much from others. During this year +he was also much engaged with debating clubs, often walking six or seven +miles to attend them. One of these clubs held its meetings at an old +store-house in New Salem, and the first speech young Lincoln ever made +was made there. He used to call the exercising "practicing polemics." As +these clubs were composed principally of men of no education whatever, +some of their "polemics" are remembered as the most laughable of farces. +Lincoln's favorite newspaper at this time was the "Louisville Journal." +He received it regularly by mail, and paid for it during a number of +years when he had not money enough to dress decently. He liked its +politics, and was particularly delighted with its wit and humor, of +which he had the keenest appreciation. + +At this era Lincoln was as famous for his skill in athletic sports as he +was for his love of books. Mr. Offutt, who had a strong regard for him, +according to Mr. Arnold, "often declared that his clerk, or salesman, +knew more than any man in the United States, and that he could out-run, +whip, or throw any man in the county. These boasts came to the ears of +the 'Clary Grove Boys,' a set of rude, roystering, good-natured +fellows, who lived in and around Clary's Grove, a settlement near New +Salem. Their leader was Jack Armstrong, a great square-built fellow, +strong as an ox, who was believed by his followers to be able to whip +any man on the Sangamon river. The issue was thus made between Lincoln +and Armstrong as to which was the better man, and although Lincoln tried +to avoid such contests, nothing but an actual trial of strength would +satisfy their partisans. They met and wrestled for some time without any +decided advantage on either side. Finally Armstrong resorted to some +foul play, which roused Lincoln's indignation. Putting forth his whole +strength, he seized the great bully by the neck and holding him at arm's +length shook him like a boy. The Clary Grove Boys were ready to pitch in +on behalf of their champion; and as they were the greater part of the +lookers-on, a general onslaught upon Lincoln seemed imminent. Lincoln +backed up against Offutt's store and calmly awaited the attack; but his +coolness and courage made such an impression upon Armstrong that he +stepped forward, grasped Lincoln's hand and shook it heartily, saying: +'Boys, Abe Lincoln is the best fellow that ever broke into this +settlement. He shall be one of us.' From that day forth Armstrong was +Lincoln's friend and most willing servitor. His hand, his table, his +purse, his vote, and that of the Clary Grove Boys as well, belonged to +Lincoln. The latter's popularity among them was unbounded. They saw that +he would play fair. He could stop a fight and quell a disturbance among +these rude neighbors when all others failed." + +Under whatever circumstances Lincoln was forced into a fight, the end +could be confidently predicted. He was sure to thrash his opponent and +gain the latter's friendship afterwards by a generous use of victory. +Innumerable instances could be cited in proof of this statement. It is +related that "One day while showing goods to two or three women in +Offutt's store, a bully came in and began to talk in an offensive +manner, using much profanity and evidently wishing to provoke a quarrel. +Lincoln leaned over the counter and begged him, as ladies were present, +not to indulge in such talk. The bully retorted that the opportunity had +come for which he had long sought, and he would like to see the man who +could hinder him from saying anything he might choose to say. Lincoln, +still cool, told him that if he would wait until the ladies retired he +would hear what he had to say and give him any satisfaction he desired. +As soon as the women were gone the man became furious. Lincoln heard his +boasts and his abuse for a time, and finding that he was not to be put +off without a fight, said, 'Well, if you must be whipped, I suppose I +may as well whip you as any other man.' This was just what the bully had +been seeking, he said; so out of doors they went. Lincoln made short +work of him. He threw him upon the ground, and held him there as if he +had been a child, and gathering some 'smart-weed' which grew upon the +spot he rubbed it into his face and eyes until the fellow bellowed with +pain. Lincoln did all this without a particle of anger, and when the job +was finished went immediately for water, washed his victim's face and +did everything he could to alleviate his distress. The upshot of the +matter was that the man became his life-long friend and was a better man +from that day." + +The chief repute of a sturdy frontiersman is built upon his deeds of +prowess, and the fame of the great, rough, strong-limbed, kind-hearted +Titan was spread over all the country around. Says Mr. Lamon: "On one +occasion while he was clerking for Offutt a stranger came into the store +and soon disclosed the fact that his name was Smoot. Abe was behind the +counter at the moment, but hearing the name he sprang over and +introduced himself. Abe had often heard of Smoot and Smoot had often +heard of Abe. They had been as anxious to meet as ever two celebrities +were, but hitherto they had never been able to manage it. 'Smoot,' said +Lincoln, after a steady survey of his person, 'I am very much +disappointed in you; I expected to see an old Probst of a fellow.' +(Probst, it appears, was the most hideous specimen of humanity in all +that country). 'Yes,' replied Smoot, 'and I am equally disappointed, for +I expected to see a good-looking man when I saw you.' A few neat +compliments like the foregoing laid the foundation of a lasting intimacy +between the two men, and in his present distress Lincoln knew no one who +would be more likely than Smoot to respond favorably to an application +for money." 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 +appearance in the Legislature.' I then loaned him two hundred dollars, +which he returned to me according to promise." + +Lincoln's old friend W.G. Greene relates that while he was a student at +the Illinois College at Jacksonville he became acquainted with Richard +Yates, then also a student. One summer while Yates was his guest during +the vacation, Greene took him up to Salem and made him acquainted with +Lincoln. They found the latter flat on his back on a cellar door reading +a newspaper. Greene introduced the two, and thus began the acquaintance +between the future War-Governor of Illinois and the future President. + +Lincoln was from boyhood an adept at expedients for avoiding any +unpleasant predicament, and one of his modes of getting rid of +troublesome friends, as well as troublesome enemies, was by telling a +story. He began these tactics early in life, and he grew to be +wonderfully adept in them. If a man broached a subject which he did not +wish to discuss, he told a story which changed the direction of the +conversation. If he was called upon to answer a question, he answered it +by telling a story. He had a story for everything; something had +occurred at some place where he used to live that illustrated every +possible phase of every possible subject with which he might have +connection. He acquired the habit of story-telling naturally, as we +learn from the following statement: "At home, with his step-mother and +the children, he was the most agreeable fellow in the world. He was +always ready to do everything for everybody. When he was not doing some +special act of kindness, he told stories or 'cracked jokes.' He was as +full of his yarns in Indiana as ever he was in Illinois. Dennis Hanks +was a clever hand at the same business, and so was old Tom Lincoln." It +was while Lincoln was salesman for Offutt that he acquired the +_sobriquet_ of "Honest Abe." Says Mr. Arnold: "Of many incidents +illustrating his integrity, one or two may be mentioned. One evening he +found his cash overran a little, and he discovered that in making change +for his last customer, an old woman who had come in a little before +sundown, he had made a mistake, not having given her quite enough. +Although the amount was small, a few cents, he took the money, +immediately walked to her house, and corrected the error. At another +time, on his arrival at the store in the morning, he found on the scales +a weight which he remembered having used just before closing, but which +was not the one he had intended to use. He had sold a parcel of tea, and +in the hurry had placed the wrong weight on the scales, so that the +purchaser had a few ounces less of tea than had been paid for. He +immediately sent the quantity required to make up the deficiency. These +and many similar incidents are told regarding his scrupulous honesty in +the most trifling matters. It was for such things as these that people +gave him the name which clung to him as long as he lived." + +It was in the summer of 1831 that Abraham Lincoln performed his first +official act. Minter Graham, the school-teacher, tells the story. "On +the day of the election, in the month of August, Abe was seen loitering +about the polling place. It was but a few days after his arrival in New +Salem. They were 'short of a clerk' at the polls; and, after casting +about in vain for some one competent to fill the office, it occurred to +one of the judges that perhaps the tall stranger possessed the needful +qualifications. He thereupon accosted him, and asked if he could write. +He replied, 'Yes, a little.' 'Will you act as clerk of the election +to-day?' said the judge. 'I will try,' returned Abe, 'and do the best I +can, if you so request.'" He did try accordingly, and, in the language +of the schoolmaster, "performed the duties with great facility, +firmness, honesty, and impartiality. I clerked with him," says Mr. +Graham, "on the same day and at the same polls. The election books are +now in the city of Springfield, where they can be seen and inspected any +day." + +That the foregoing anecdotes bearing on the early life of Abraham +Lincoln are approximately correct is borne out by Lincoln himself. At +the urgent request of Hon. Jesse W. Fell, of Bloomington, Illinois, +Lincoln wrote a sketch of himself to be used during the campaign of +1860. In a note which accompanied the sketch he said: "Herewith is a +little sketch, as you requested. There is not much to it, for the +reason, I suppose, that there is not much of me. If anything be made out +of it I wish it to be modest and not to go beyond the material." The +letter is as follows: + + I was born Feb. 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My parents + were both born in Virginia, of undistinguishable families--second + families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth + year, was of a family of the name of Hanks, some of whom now reside + in Adams, and others in Macon Counties, Illinois. My paternal + grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, emigrated from Rockingham County, + Virginia, to Kentucky, about 1781 or '2, where, a year or two + later, he was killed by Indians, not in battle, but by stealth, + when he was laboring to open a farm in the forest. His ancestors, + who were Quakers, went to Virginia from Berks County, Pennsylvania. + An effort to identify them with the New England family of the same + name, ended in nothing more than a similarity of Christian names in + both families, such as Enoch, Levi, Mordecai, Solomon, Abraham, and + the like. + + My father, at the death of his father, was but six years of age, + and he grew up literally without education. He removed from + Kentucky to what is now Spencer County, Indiana, in my eighth year. + We reached our new home about the time the State came into the + Union. It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals + still in the woods. There I grew up. There were some schools, so + called, but no qualification was ever required of a teacher beyond + 'readin', writin' and cipherin'' to the Rule of Three. If a + straggler, supposed to understand Latin, happened to sojourn in the + neighborhood, he was looked upon as a wizard. There was absolutely + nothing to excite ambition for education. Of course when I came of + age I did not know much. Still, somehow, I could read, write, and + cipher to the Rule of Three, but that was all. I have not been to + school since. The little advance I now have upon this store of + education, I have picked up from time to time under the pressure of + necessity. + + I was raised to farm work, which I continued till I was twenty-two. + At twenty-one I came to Illinois, and passed the first year in + Macon County. Then I got to New Salem, at that time in Sangamon, + now in Menard County, where I remained a year as a sort of clerk in + a store. Then came the Black Hawk War, and I was elected a Captain + of Volunteers--a success which gave me more pleasure than any I + have had since. I went through the campaign, was elated, ran for + the Legislature the same year (1832), and was beaten--the only time + I have ever been beaten by the people. The next, and three + succeeding biennial elections, I was elected to the Legislature. I + was not a candidate afterwards. During this legislative period I + had studied law, and removed to Springfield to practice it. In + 1846 I was once elected to the Lower House of Congress, but was not + a candidate for re-election. From 1849 to 1854, both inclusive, + practiced law more assiduously than ever before. Always a Whig in + politics, and generally on the Whig electoral tickets, making + active canvasses. I was losing interest in politics, when the + repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused me again. What I have + done since then is pretty well known. + + If any personal description of me is thought desirable, it may be + said, I am in height, six feet, four inches, nearly; lean in flesh, + weighing, on an average, one hundred and eighty pounds; dark + complexion, with coarse black hair, and gray eyes. No other marks + or brands recollected. + + Yours very truly, + A. LINCOLN. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + + A Turn in Affairs--The Black Hawk War--A Remarkable Military + Manoeuvre--Lincoln Protects an Indian--Lincoln and + Stuart--Lincoln's Military Record--Nominated for the + Legislature--Lincoln a Merchant--Postmaster at New Salem--Lincoln + Studies Law--Elected to the Legislature--Personal + Characteristics--Lincoln's Love for Anne Rutledge--Close of + Lincoln's Youth. + +The spring of 1832 brought a new turn in Lincoln's career. The year had +been one of great advancement in many respects. He had made new and +valuable acquaintances, read many books, mastered the grammar of his own +tongue, won a multitude of friends. Those who could appreciate +intelligence and character respected him, and those whose highest ideas +of a man related to his physical prowess were devoted to him. Everyone +trusted him. He was judge, arbitrator, referee, authority in all +disputes, games, and matches whether of man-flesh or horse-flesh. He was +the peacemaker in all quarrels. He was everybody's friend--the +best-natured, most sensible, best-informed, most modest, unassuming, +kindest, gentlest, roughest, strongest, best young fellow in all New +Salem or the region about. But Mr. Offutt's trading enterprises ended +disastrously in the year 1832. The store was closed, the mill was shut +down, and Lincoln was out of business. + +At the very moment, however, that he found himself adrift Illinois was +filled with excitement over the Black Hawk War. The centre of alarm was +in the Rock Valley, in the northern part of the State, which had been +formerly the home of the Sac tribe of Indians. Discontented with their +life on the reservation west of the Mississippi, to which they had been +removed, the Sacs, with several other tribes, resolved to recover their +old hunting-grounds. The warlike chief, Black Hawk, was at the head of +the revolt, and his march toward the Rock river was signalized by a +number of massacres. Governor Reynolds of Illinois issued a proclamation +calling for volunteers to aid the regular troops in the emergency. +Lincoln was one of the first to answer the call, the brave "Clary Grove +Boys" also coming promptly to the rescue. "The volunteers gathered," +writes Mr. Arnold, "at Rushville, in Schuyler County, at which place +they were to be organized, and elected officers. Lincoln was a candidate +for the place of captain, and in opposition to him was one William +Kirkpatrick. The mode of election was novel. By agreement, each +candidate walked off to some distance and took position by himself. The +men were then to form, and those who voted for Kirkpatrick were to range +on a line with their candidate. When the lines were formed, Lincoln's +was three times as long as that of Kirkpatrick, and so Lincoln was +declared elected. Speaking of this affair when President, he said that +he was more gratified with this his first success than with any other +election of his life. Neither Lincoln nor his company was in any +engagement during the campaign, but there was plenty of hardships and +fatigue, and some incidents occurred to illustrate his courage and power +over men." + +Many years afterward--in fact, while Lincoln was President--he referred +to those early scenes in a way that illustrates his wonderful memory and +his power of recalling the minutest incidents of his past life. Meeting +an old Illinois friend, he naturally fell to talking of Illinois, and +related several stories of his early life in that region. Particularly +he remembered his share in the Black Hawk War. He referred to his part +of the campaign lightly, and said that he saw but very little fighting. +But he remembered coming on a camp of white scouts one morning just as +the sun was rising. The Indians had surprised the camp and killed and +scalped every man. "I remember just how those men looked," said Lincoln, +"as we rode up the little hill where their camp was. The red light of +the morning sun was streaming upon them as they lay, heads toward us, on +the ground, and every man had a round red spot on the top of his head, +about as big as a dollar, where the redskins had taken his scalp. It was +frightful, but it was grotesque, and the red sunlight seemed to paint +everything all over." Lincoln paused as if recalling the vivid picture, +and added, somewhat irrelevantly, "I remember that one man had buckskin +breeches on." + +Lincoln also told a good story of his first experience in drilling raw +troops during the Black Hawk War. He was crossing a field with a front +of twenty men when he came to a gate through which it was necessary to +pass. In describing the incident he said: "I could not, for the life of +me, remember the proper word of command for getting my company +_endwise_, so that it could pass through the gate. So, as we came near +the gate, I shouted, 'Halt! this company is dismissed for two minutes, +when it will fall in again on the other side of the gate.'" The +manoeuvre was successfully executed. + +During this campaign an incident occurred which well serves to show +Lincoln's keen sense of justice, his great common sense, and his +resoluteness when aroused. One day there came to the camp an old Indian, +footsore and hungry. He was provided with a letter of safe-conduct from +General Cass; but there was a feeling of great irritation against the +Indians, and the men objected strongly to receiving him. They pronounced +him a spy and his passport a forgery, and were rushing upon the +defenseless Indian to kill him, when the tall figure of their captain, +Lincoln, suddenly appeared between them and their victim. His men had +never seen him so aroused, and they cowed before him. "Men," said he, +"this must not be done! He must not be killed by us!" His voice and +manner produced an effect on the mob. They paused, listened, fell back, +and sullenly obeyed him, although there were still some murmurs of +disappointed rage. At length one man, probably thinking he spoke for the +crowd, cried out: "This is cowardly on your part, Lincoln!" Lincoln only +gazed with contempt on the men who would have murdered one unarmed +Indian but who quailed before his single hand. "If any man thinks I am a +coward," said he, "let him test it." "Lincoln," was the reply, "you are +larger and heavier than any of us." "That you can guard against," +responded the captain. "Choose your weapons!" The insubordination ended, +and the word "coward" was never associated with Lincoln's name again. He +afterward said that at this time he felt that his life and character +were both at stake, and would probably have been lost had he not at the +supreme moment forgotten the officer and asserted the man. His men could +hardly have been called soldiers. They were merely armed citizens, with +a military organization in name only. Had he ordered them under arrest +he would have created a serious mutiny; and to have them tried and +punished would have been impossible. + +It was while Lincoln was a militia captain that he made the acquaintance +of a man who was destined to have an important influence on his life. +This was Major John T. Stuart, afterwards his law-partner. Stuart was +already a lawyer by profession. During the Black Hawk War he commanded +one of the Sangamon County companies, and was soon afterward elected +major of a spy battalion formed from some of these companies. He had the +best of opportunities at this time to observe the merits of Captain +Lincoln, and testifies that the latter was exceedingly popular among the +soldiers on account of his excellent care of the men in his command, his +never-failing good nature, and his ability to tell more stories and +better ones than any man in the service. He was popular also among these +hardy men on account of his great physical strength. For several years +after the Black Hawk War Lincoln retained his military title and was +usually addressed as "Captain Lincoln." But this in time was +discontinued. Stuart's title of "Major," on the contrary, adhered to him +through life. He was best known as "Major Stuart" down to the time of +his death, which occurred early in the winter of 1886. + +The time for which Captain Lincoln's company enlisted soon ran by, but +the trouble with the Indians not being ended Governor Reynolds called +for a second body of volunteers. Lincoln again responded, and was +enrolled as a private in the independent company commanded by Elijah +Iles of Springfield. A note of this occurrence, made in 1868 by Captain +Iles, contains the following statement: "The term of Governor Reynolds's +first call being about to expire, he made a second call, and the first +levy was disbanded. I was elected a captain of one of the companies. We +were mustered into service on the 29th of May, 1832, at the mouth of Fox +river, now Ottawa, by Lieutenant Robert Anderson, Assistant Inspector +General in the United States Army." + +One day during the Black Hawk War there were in the camp on Rock river +four men afterward famed in the history of the country. It was while +Lincoln was a member of the company under command of Captain Iles. These +men were Lieutenant Colonel Zachary Taylor, Lieutenant Jefferson Davis, +Lieutenant Robert Anderson, and Private Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln and +Anderson did not meet again until 1861, after the latter had evacuated +Fort Sumter. Major Anderson then visited Washington and called at the +White House to pay his respects to the President. After having expressed +his thanks to Anderson for his conduct in South Carolina, Lincoln said, +"Major, do you remember ever meeting me before?" "No, Mr. President, I +do not remember having had the pleasure before," said Anderson. "Well," +said Lincoln, "my memory is better than yours. You mustered me into the +service of the United States in 1832 at Dixon's Ferry, during the Black +Hawk War." + +Lincoln displayed the same courage and fidelity in performing the duties +of a soldier that had marked his conduct in all other relations of life. +Father Dixon, the guide who was attached to Captain Iles's company of +mounted rangers, remarks that in their marches when scouts were sent +forward to examine thickets and ravines in which it was thought the +enemy might be lurking it often became necessary for many of the men to +dismount and attend to their riding gear. Whenever Lincoln was detailed +for such service, however, his saddle was always in order. + +During the contest between General Lewis Cass and General Zachary Taylor +for the Presidency, in the year 1848, Lincoln made a speech in Congress +in which he referred to his services in the Black Hawk War with +characteristic humor: + +"By the way, Mr. Speaker," he said, "did you know that I am a military +hero? Yes, sir. In the days of the Black Hawk War I fought, bled, and +came away. Speaking of General Cass's career reminds me of my own. I was +not at Stillman's defeat, but I was about as near it as Cass was to +Hull's surrender, and, like him, I saw the place very soon afterwards. +It is quite certain that I did not break my sword, for I had none to +break. But I bent my musket pretty badly on one occasion. If Cass broke +his sword the idea is that he broke it in desperation. I bent my musket +by accident. If General Cass went ahead of me in picking whortleberries, +I guess I surpassed him in charges upon the wild onions. If he saw any +live fighting Indians, it is more than I did, but I had a good many +bloody struggles with the mosquitos, and although I never fainted from +loss of blood I can truly say that I was often very hungry. Mr. Speaker, +if I should ever conclude to doff whatever our Democratic friends may +suppose there is in me of black-cockade Federalism, and thereupon they +shall take me up as their candidate for the Presidency, I protest they +shall not make fun of me as they have of General Cass by attempting to +write me into a military hero." + +Lincoln's popularity among his comrades in the field was so great that +at the close of his military service, which had lasted three months, he +was nominated as a candidate for the State Legislature. "His first +appearance on the stump in the course of the canvass was at Pappsville, +about eleven miles west of Springfield, upon the occasion of a public +sale. The sale over, speech-making was about to begin, when Lincoln +observed some strong symptoms of inattention in his audience which had +taken that particular moment to engage in a a general fight. Lincoln saw +that one of his friends was suffering more than he liked, and stepping +into the crowd he shouldered them sternly away from his man until he met +a fellow who refused to fall back. Him he seized by the nape of the neck +and the seat of his breeches, and tossed him 'ten or twelve feet +easily.' After this episode--as characteristic of him as of the +times--he mounted the platform and delivered with awkward modesty the +following speech: 'Gentlemen and Fellow-Citizens, I presume you all know +who I am. I am humble Abraham Lincoln. I have been solicited by my +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.'" + +Lincoln's friend, Mr. A.Y. Ellis, who was with him during a part of +this campaign, says: "He wore a mixed-jeans coat, claw-hammer style, +short in the sleeves and bobtail,--in fact, it was so short in the tail +that he could not sit down on it,--flax and tow linen pantaloons, and a +straw hat. I think he wore a vest, but I do not remember how it looked. +He wore pot-metal boots. I went with him on one of his electioneering +trips to Island Grove, and he made a speech which pleased his party +friends very well, although some of the Jackson men tried to make sport +of it. He told several good anecdotes in the speech, and applied them +very well, I thought." + +The election took place in August, and although Lincoln was defeated he +received two hundred and seventy-seven out of the two hundred and +eighty-four votes cast in his precincts. He was so little known outside +of New Salem that the chances of election were hopelessly against him, +yet the extraordinary evidence of favor shown by the vote of his +fellow-townsmen was a flattering success in the midst of defeat. His +failure to be elected, however, left him once more without occupation. +He was without means, and felt the necessity of undertaking some +business that would provide him an income, however small. It seems that +at this time he considered seriously learning the blacksmith's trade, +but while entertaining the idea an event occurred which opened the way +in another direction. The particulars of this event are given by Mr. +W.G. Greene. "A man named Reuben Radford," says Mr. Greene, "was the +keeper of a small store in the village of New Salem. A friend told him +to look out for the 'Clary Grove boys' or they would smash him up. He +said he was not afraid. He was a great big fellow. But his friend said, +'They don't come alone. If one can't whip you, two or three can, and +they'll do it.' One day he left his store in charge of his brother, with +injunctions that if the 'Clary Grove boys' came he must not let them +have more than two drinks apiece. All the stores in those days kept +liquor to sell and had a corner for drinking. The store was nicely +fitted up, and had many things in glass jars nicely labelled. The 'Clary +Grove boys' came, and took two drinks each. The clerk refused them any +more as politely as he could. Then they went behind the counter and +helped themselves. They got roaring drunk and went to work smashing +everything in the store. The fragments on the floor were an inch deep. +They left and went off on their horses whooping and yelling. Coming +across some herds of cattle, they took the bells from their necks, +fastened them to the tails of the leaders, and chased them over the +country yelling like mad. Radford heard them, and, mounting his horse, +rode in hot haste to the store. I had been sent that morning with grist +to the mill, and had to pass the store. I saw Radford ride up, his horse +a lather of foam. He dismounted, and looked in upon the wreck through +the open door He was aghast at the sight, and said, 'I'll sell out this +thing to the first man that comes along.' I rode up and said, 'I'll give +you four hundred dollars for it.' 'Done!' said he. 'But,' I said, 'I +have no money. I must have time.' 'How much?' 'Six months.' 'Agreed.' He +drew up a note for four hundred dollars at six months, and I signed it. +I began to think I was stuck. Then the boys came in, and among them was +Lincoln. 'Cheer up, Billy,' he said. 'It's a good thing. We'll take an +inventory.' 'No more inventories for me,' said I, not knowing what he +meant. He explained that we should take an account of stock to see how +much was left. We found that it amounted to about twelve hundred +dollars. Lincoln and Berry consulted over it, and offered me two hundred +and fifty dollars for my bargain. I accepted, stipulating that they +should assume my notes. Berry was a wild fellow--a gambler. He had a +fine horse, with a splendid saddle and bridle. He turned over the horse +as part pay. Lincoln let Berry run the store, and it soon ran out. I +had to pay the note. Lincoln said he would pay it some day and did, with +interest." This ended Lincoln's brief career as a country merchant. + +Many of the anecdotes in the foregoing pages touch upon Lincoln's +ambition to fit himself for a public speaker. Even at this early day the +settlers in New Salem were infected with the general desire to join in +the march toward intellectual improvement. To aid in this object, they +had established a club entitled the New Salem Literary Society. Before +this association, the studious Lincoln was invited to speak. Mr. R.B. +Rutledge, the brother of Anne Rutledge, says of the event: "About the +year 1832 or 1833, Mr. Lincoln made his first effort at public speaking. +A debating club, of which James Rutledge was president, was organized +and held regular meetings. As Lincoln arose to speak, his tall form +towered above the little assembly. Both hands were thrust down deep in +the pockets of his pantaloons. A perceptible smile at once lit up the +faces of the audience, for all anticipated the relation of some humorous +story. But he opened up the discussion in splendid style, to the +infinite astonishment of his friends. As he warmed with his subject, his +hands would forsake his pockets and enforce his ideas by awkward +gestures, but would very soon seek their easy resting-places. He pursued +the question with reason and argument so pithy and forcible that all +were amazed. The president, after the meeting, remarked to his wife that +there was more in Abe's head than wit and fun; that he was already a +fine speaker; that all he lacked was culture to enable him to reach the +high destiny which he knew was in store for him." + +On the 7th of May, 1833, Lincoln was appointed postmaster at New Salem +by President Jackson. The duties of the position were light, there being +only a weekly mail, and the remuneration was correspondingly small. +"The office was too insignificant to be considered politically, and it +was given to the young man because everybody liked him, and because he +was the only man willing to take it who could make out the returns. He +was exceedingly pleased with the appointment, because it gave him a +chance to read every newspaper that was taken in the vicinity. He had +never been able to get half the newspapers he wanted, and the office +gave him the prospect of a constant feast. Not wishing to be tied to the +office, as it yielded him no revenue that would reward him for the +confinement, he made a post-office of his hat. Whenever he went out, the +letters were placed in his hat. When an anxious looker for a letter met +the postmaster he found also the post-office, and the public official, +taking off his hat, looked over and delivered the mail wherever the +public might find him. He kept the office until it was discontinued, or +was removed to Petersburg." + +A small balance due the government remained in the hands of Lincoln at +the discontinuance of the office. Time passed on, and he had removed to +Springfield and was practicing law, having his place of business in Dr. +Henry's office. Meanwhile his struggle with poverty was unabated, and he +had often been obliged to borrow money from his friends to purchase the +barest necessities. It was at this juncture that the agent of the United +States called for a settlement of his post-office accounts. The +interview took place in the presence of Dr. Henry who thus describes it: +"I did not believe he had the money on hand to meet the draft, and I was +about to call him aside and loan him the money, when he asked the agent +to be seated a moment. He went over to his trunk at his boarding-house +and returned with an old blue sock with a quantity of silver and copper +coin tied up in it. Untying the sock, he poured the contents on the +table and proceeded to count the coin, which consisted of such silver +and copper pieces as the country people were then in the habit of using +in paying postage. On counting it up, there was found the exact amount +of the draft to a cent, and in the identical coin which had been +received. He never, under any circumstances, used trust funds." + +When Lincoln was about twenty-three years of age, some time in 1832, he +began studying law, using an old copy of Blackstone's Commentaries which +he had bought at auction in Springfield. This work was soon mastered, +and then the young man looked about him for more. His friend of the +Black Hawk War, Major John T. Stuart, had a considerable law library for +those days, and to him Lincoln applied in his extremity. The library was +placed at his disposal, and thenceforth he was engrossed in the +acquisition of its contents. But the books were in Springfield, where +their owner resided; and New Salem was some fourteen miles distant. This +proved no obstacle in the way of Lincoln, who made nothing of the walk +back and forth in the pursuit of his purpose. Mr. Stuart's partner, Mr. +H.C. Dummer, who took note of the youth in his frequent visits to the +office, describes him as "an uncouth looking lad, who did not say much, +but what he did say he said straight and sharp." "He used to read law," +says Henry McHenry, "barefooted, seated in the shade of a tree just +opposite Berry's grocery, and would grind around with the shade, +occasionally varying his attitude by lying flat on his back and putting +his feet up the tree," a situation which might have been unfavorable to +mental application in the case of a man with shorter extremities. "The +first time I ever saw Abe with a law-book in his hand," says Squire +Godbey, "he was sitting astride Jake Bates's woodpile in New Salem. Says +I, 'Abe, what are you studying?' 'Law,' says Abe. 'Good God Almighty!' +responded I." It was too much for Godbey; he could not suppress the +exclamation of surprise at seeing such a figure acquiring learning in +such an odd situation. Mr. Arnold states that Lincoln made a practice +of reading in his walks between Springfield and New Salem; and so +intense was his application and so absorbed was he in his study that he +would pass his best friends without observing them, and some people said +that Lincoln was going crazy with hard study. + +He soon began to make a practical application of his legal knowledge. He +bought an old form-book and began to draw up contracts, deeds, leases, +mortgages, and all sorts of legal instruments for his neighbors. He also +began to exercise his forensic ability in trying small cases before +justices of the peace and juries, and soon acquired a local reputation +as a speaker, which gave him considerable practice. But he was able in +this way to earn scarcely money enough for his maintenance. To add to +his means, he took up the study of surveying, and soon became, like +Washington, a skilful and accurate surveyor. John Calhoun, an +intelligent and courteous gentleman, was at that time surveyor of the +county of Sangamon. He became interested in Lincoln and appointed him +his deputy. His work was so accurate and the settlers had such +confidence in him that he was much sought after to survey, fix, and mark +the boundaries of farms, and to plot and lay off the town of Petersburg. +His accuracy must have been attained with some difficulty, for when he +began to survey his chain was a grape-vine. He did not speculate in the +land he surveyed. Had he done so the rapid advance in the value of real +estate would have made it easy for him to make good investments. But he +was not in the least like one of his own appointees when President,--a +surveyor-general of a Western territory, who bought up much of the best +land, and to whom the President said, "I am told, sir, you are _monarch +of all you survey_." + +The nomination of Lincoln for the State Legislature on his return from +the Black Hawk War was premature. The people of New Salem voted for him +almost to a man, but his acquaintance had not then extended into the +surrounding district far enough to insure his election. In the campaign +of 1834 the choice of a candidate again fell upon him, and this time +there was a prospect of success. Lincoln entered into the contest with +earnestness, and used every legitimate means to secure a victory. Mr. +Herndon relates the following incident of this campaign: "Lincoln came +to my house, near Island Grove, during harvest. There were some thirty +men in the field. He had his dinner, and then went out into the field +where the men were at work. I introduced him, and the boys said they +would not vote for a man unless he could 'make a hand.' 'Well, boys,' he +said, 'if that is all that is needed I am sure of your votes.' He took +hold of the cradle and led the way all around with perfect ease. The +boys were satisfied. I don't think he lost a vote in that crowd. The +next day there was speaking at Berlin. He went from my house with Dr. +Barnett, who had asked me who this man Lincoln was. I told him he was a +candidate for the Legislature. He laughed and said, 'Can't the party +raise better material than that?' I said, 'Go to-morrow and hear him +before you pass judgment.' When he came back I said, 'Doctor, what have +you to say now?' 'Why, sir,' he said, 'he is a perfect _take-in_. He +knows more than all the rest of them put together.'" + +The result of the election was that Lincoln was chosen to represent the +Sangamon district. When the Legislature convened at the opening session, +he was in his place in the lower house; but he bore himself quietly in +his new position. He had much to learn in his novel situation as one of +the lawmakers of the State, and as a co-worker with an assembly +comprising the most talented and prominent men gathered from all parts +of Illinois. He was keenly watchful of the proceedings of the House, +weighing every measure with scrutinizing sagacity, but except in the +announcement of his vote his voice was seldom heard. At the previous +session, Mr. G.S. Hubbard, afterwards a well-known citizen of Chicago, +had exerted himself to procure the passage of an act for the +construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. His effort was +defeated; but he continued, as a lobbyist, to push the measure during +several winters, until it was finally adopted. Lincoln lent him +efficient aid in the accomplishment of his object. "Indeed," remarks Mr. +Hubbard, "I very much doubt if the bill could have passed as easily as +it did without his valuable help." "We were thrown much together," +continues Mr. Hubbard, "our intimacy increasing. I never had a friend to +whom I was more warmly attached. His character was almost faultless; +possessing a warm and generous heart, genial, affable, honest, courteous +to his opponents, persevering, industrious in research, never losing +sight of the principal point under discussion, aptly illustrating by his +stories which were always brought into good effect. He was free from +political trickery or denunciation of the personal character of his +opponents. In debate he was firm and collected. 'With malice toward +none, with charity for all,' he won the confidence of the public, even +his political opponents." + +Of all the stories of Lincoln's boyhood and youth, the most profoundly +touching is that of his love for Anne Rutledge. The existence of this +romance was brief, but it is believed by many that it was the memory of +it which threw over Lincoln that indescribable melancholy which seemed +to shadow his whole life. The Rutledges from whom Anne was descended +were an eminent family of the Carolinas. She was about nineteen years +old when Lincoln knew her first. It was shortly after the Black Hawk +War. She was a winsome girl, with fair hair and blue eyes, and Lincoln's +heart was captivated by her sweet face and gentle manners. So attractive +a girl was not, of course, without suitors, and Anne had been wooed by +one James McNeill, a young man who had come to New Salem soon after the +founding of the town. He had been more than ordinarily successful, and +had bought a large farm a few miles north of the village. He was +unmarried--at least he so represented himself--and paid devoted +attention to Anne. They were engaged, although both had acquiesced in +the wishes of Anne's parents that they should not be married until she +was older. + +About this time Lincoln appeared in New Salem and went to board at the +Rutledge tavern. Here he saw Anne, and was much in her company. During +the next year McNeill became restless and discontented. He said it was +because he wanted to see his people. So he decided to go East on a +visit. He sold out his interests in New Salem--an act not at all +necessary if he were going only on a visit, and which in the light of +after events had much significance--telling Anne that it was his hope to +bring his father and mother back with him and establish them upon his +farm. "This done," he said, "we will be married." He then set out on his +journey. + +It was late in the summer before Anne heard from him. He explained that +he had been taken ill with chills and fever on the way, and had been +long delayed in getting home. But the long wait had been a great strain +upon Anne. Lincoln, meanwhile, had become the postmaster in New Salem, +and it was to him that Anne came to inquire for letters. He watched her +anxiety with sympathy, and in a way became her confidant. His tender +heart, which never could resist suffering, was deeply touched at sight +of her distress. Finally McNeill's letters ceased altogether; and then +Anne confided to Lincoln something which McNeill had told her before he +left, and which until now she had kept secret,--namely, that his name +was not McNeill but McNamar. He had explained to her that he had made +this change because his father had failed in business and that as his +oldest son it was his duty to retrieve the family fortunes. So he had +changed his name, and come West, hoping to return in a few years to his +family a rich man. All this Anne had believed, and had not repeated +until now. + +All New Salem joined in declaring McNamar an impostor and his story a +fabrication. "Who knew how many wives he had?" they said. With one +accord Anne's friends denounced him; and although his story turned out +afterward to be not altogether false, it is small wonder that Anne +herself at last came to believe that either he was dead or had ceased to +love her. + +While matters were in this state, Lincoln ventured to show his love for +Anne. It was a long time before she would listen; but, convinced at last +that her former lover had deserted her, she promised, in the spring of +1835, to become his wife. But Lincoln had nothing on which to support a +family,--in fact, could hardly support himself. Besides, Anne was +anxious to go to school another year. So it was decided that she should +spend the winter in an academy in Jacksonville, while Lincoln devoted +himself to the study of the law. Then, when she should return from +school, he would be a member of the bar and they could be married. + +A happy spring and summer followed. All their friends took an interest +in the lovers, and their prospects seemed bright. But Anne's health +began to fail. She could not rid herself of her haunting memories. There +was a possibility that she had wronged McNamar. What if he should love +her still, and should return and find her wedded to another? Had she +wronged both men? In her thoughts was perpetual conflict. The old love +still persisted. Her conscience troubled her. She doubted, and was +morbidly melancholy. All this wore upon her; she fell ill. At last her +condition became grave, then hopeless. Lincoln was sent for. Anne's last +hour was passed alone with him. She died at sunset, August 25, 1835. An +old neighbor who saw Lincoln just after his parting with the dying girl +says: "There were signs of the most terrible distress in his face. His +grief became frantic. He lost all self-control, even the consciousness +of his own identity; and his closest friends in New Salem pronounced him +insane, crazy, mad. They watched him with especial vigilance on dark and +stormy days. At such times he raved piteously, often saying, 'I can +never be reconciled to having the snow fall and the rain beat upon her +grave.'" His old friend, Bowlin Greene, alone seemed possessed of the +power to quiet him. He took him to his own home and kept him for several +weeks, an object of undisguised solicitude. At last it seemed safe to +permit him to return to his old haunts. Greene urged him to go back to +the law; and he did so, but he was never the same man again. He was +thin, haggard, and careworn. He was as one who had been at the brink of +the grave. A long time afterward, when the grass had for nearly thirty +years grown over the grave of Anne Rutledge, Lincoln was one day +introduced to a man named Rutledge in the White House. He looked at him +a moment, then grasped his hand and said with deep feeling: "I love the +name of Rutledge to this day. Anne was a lovely girl. She was natural, +well-educated. She would have made a good, loving wife. I did honestly +and truly love her, and I think often, often of her now." Mr. Herndon +has said that the love and the death of this young girl shattered +Lincoln's purposes and tendencies. "He threw off his infinite sorrow +only by leaping wildly into the political arena. He needed whip and spur +to save him from despair." + +The period of Abraham Lincoln's boyhood and youth had closed when he +stood by the grave of Anne Rutledge. He had long been a man in stature. +He was now a man in years; yet the rough path he had been forced to +travel had made his progress toward maturity painfully slow. In spite +of his low birth, of his dire poverty, of the rudeness and illiteracy of +his associates, of the absence of refinement in his surroundings, of his +scanty means of education, of his homely figure and awkward manners, of +his coarse fare and shabby dress, he dared to believe there was an +exalted career in store for him. He hewed out the foundations for it +with indomitable spirit. It was to be grounded on manly virtues. It +seems as though the boy felt the consecration of a high destiny from the +very dawn of his intelligence, and it set him apart, secure amid the +temptations and safe from the vices that corrupt many men. In the rough +garb of the backwoodsman he preserved the instincts of a gentleman. He +was the companion of bullies and boors. He shared their work and their +sports, but he never stooped to their vulgarity. He very seldom drank +with them, and they never heard him speak an oath. He could throw the +stoutest in a wrestling match, and was ready, when brought to it, to +whip any insolent braggart who made cruel use of his strength. He never +flinched from hardship or danger, yet his heart was as soft and tender +as a woman's. The great gentle giant had a feeling of sympathy for every +living creature. He was not ashamed to rock a cradle, or to carry a pail +of water or an armful of wood to spare a tired woman's arms. Though +destitute of worldly goods, he was rich in friends. All the people of +his acquaintance knew they could count on his doing the right thing +always, so far as he was able. Hence they trusted and loved him; and the +title of "Honest Abe," which he bore through life, was a seal of +knighthood rarer and prouder than any king or queen could confer with +the sword. Abraham Lincoln was one of nature's noblemen. He showed +himself a hero in every circumstance of his boyhood and youth. The +elements of greatness were visible even then. The boy who was true to +duty, patient in privation, modest in merit, kind to every form of +distress, determined to rise by wresting opportunities from the +grudging hand of fate, was sure to make a man distinguished among his +fellows,--a man noted among the great men of the world, as the boy had +been among his neighbors in the wilds of Spencer County and New Salem. + +The site of the town where Lincoln spent the last three years of the +period covered in this portion of his biography is now a desolate waste. +A gentleman who visited the spot during the summer of 1885 thus +describes the mournful scene: "From the hill where I sit, under the +shade of three trees whose branches make one, I look out over the +Sangamon river and its banks covered apparently with primeval forests. +Around are fields overgrown with weeds and stunted oaks. It was a town +of ten or twelve years only. It began in 1824 and ended in 1836. Yet in +that time it had a history which the world will not let die as long as +it venerates the memory of the noble liberator and martyr President, +Abraham Lincoln." + + + + +CHAPTER III + + + Lincoln's Beginning as a Lawyer--His Early Taste for + Politics--Lincoln and the Lightning-Rod Man--Not an + Aristocrat--Reply to Dr. Early--A Manly Letter--Again in the + Illinois Legislature--The "Long Nine"--Lincoln on His Way to the + Capital--His Ambition in 1836--First Meeting with Douglas--Removal + of the Illinois Capital--One of Lincoln's Early + Speeches--Pro-Slavery Sentiment in Illinois--Lincoln's Opposition + to Slavery--Contest with General Ewing--Lincoln Lays out a + Town--The Title "Honest Abe." + +Abraham Lincoln's career as a lawyer covered a period of a quarter of a +century, beginning about 1834 or '35, and ending with his election to +the Presidency, in November, 1860. When he began his professional life +he was an obscure and unpromising youth of twenty-five, with but little +learning and fewer accomplishments, and without advantages of social +influence or wealthy friends. Step by step, with patient industry and +unflinching determination, he climbed the ladder of professional +advancement until he stood among the foremost lawyers of the West. He +had, indeed, won a national reputation; and when he laid aside his law +books, a mature man of fifty, it was to enter upon the great honors and +responsibilities of the Presidency of the American Republic. + +Lincoln was devoted to his profession, and his success in it was earned +by hard and constant application. But his natural taste for politics led +him to take a full share in the activities of political life. He had +already served a term in the Illinois Legislature (1834-35), and so well +satisfied were his constituents that they renominated him for the +succeeding term. In the canvass which followed he distinguished himself +as a stump-speaker; showing, by his tact and ability, by the skill and +ingenuity with which he met his opponents in debate, by his shrewdness +in attack and readiness in retort, how much he had profited by the +training of the previous years. + +An incident illustrating his ready wit and his keen insight into human +nature occurred early in this campaign, at Springfield, where a public +discussion was held between the opposing candidates. An interesting +version of this incident is given by Mr. Arnold: "There lived at this +time in the most pretentious house in Springfield a prominent citizen +named George Forquer. He had been long in public life, had been a +leading Whig--the party to which Lincoln belonged--but had lately gone +over to the Democrats, and had received from the Democratic +administration an appointment to the lucrative post of Register of the +Land Office at Springfield. Upon his handsome new house he had lately +placed a lightning-rod, the first one ever put up in Sangamon County. As +Lincoln was riding into town with his friends, they passed the fine +house of Forquer, and observed the novelty of the lightning-rod, +discussing the manner in which it protected the house from being struck +by lightning. In this discussion there were seven Whig and seven +Democratic candidates for the lower branch of the Legislature; and after +several had spoken it fell to Lincoln to close the arguments. This he +did with great ability. Forquer, though not a candidate, then asked to +be heard for the Democrats in reply to Lincoln. He was a good speaker +and well-known throughout the county. His special task that day was to +attack and ridicule the young man from Salem. Turning to Lincoln, who +stood within a few feet of him, he said: 'This young man must be taken +down, and I am truly sorry that the task devolves upon me.' He then +proceeded, in a very overbearing way, and with an assumption of great +superiority, to attack Lincoln and his speech. Lincoln stood calm, but +his flashing eye and pale cheek showed his indignation. As soon as +Forquer had closed he took the stand and first answered his opponent's +arguments fully and triumphantly. So impressive were his words and +manner that a hearer believes that he can remember to this day, and +repeat, some of the expressions. Among other things, he said: 'The +gentleman commenced his speech by saying that this _young_ man--alluding +to me--must be taken down. I am not so young in years as I am in the +tricks and trades of a politician; but,' said he, pointing to Forquer, +'live long or die young, I would rather die now, than, like the +gentleman, change my politics for a three thousand dollar office, and +then feel obliged to erect a lightning-rod over my house to protect a +guilty conscience from the vengeance of an offended God!'" + +"It is difficult to-day," says Mr. Arnold, "to appreciate the effect on +the old settlers, of this figure. This lightning-rod was the first which +most of those present had ever seen. They had slept all their lives in +their cabins in conscious security. Here was a man who seemed, to these +simple-minded people, to be afraid to sleep in his own house without +special and extraordinary protection from Almighty God. These old +settlers thought nothing but the consciousness of guilt, the stings of a +guilty conscience, could account for such timidity. Forquer and his +lightning-rod were talked over in every settlement from Sangamon to the +Illinois and the Wabash. Whenever he rose to speak thereafter, they +said, 'There is the man who dare not sleep in his own house without a +lightning-rod to keep off the vengeance of the Almighty.'" + +Another amusing incident of the same campaign, and one which illustrates +Lincoln's love of a practical joke, is given as follows: "Among the +Democrats stumping the county at this time was one Dick Taylor, a most +pompous person, who was always arrayed in the richest attire--ruffled +shirts, seals, etc., besides a rich embroidered vest. Notwithstanding +this array, he made great pretentions of being one of the 'hard-handed +yeomanry,' and ridiculed with much sarcasm the 'rag barons' and +'manufacturing lords' of the Whig party. One day, when he was +particularly aggravating in a speech of this kind, Lincoln decided on a +little sport, and sidling up to Taylor suddenly threw open the latter's +coat, showing to the astonished spectators a glittering mass of ruffled +shirt, gold watch, and glittering jewels. The crowd shouted +uproariously. Lincoln said: 'While he [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 flatboat at eight dollars a month, and had only one pair of +breeches to my name, and they were buckskin,--and if you know the nature +of buckskin, when wet and dried by the sun it will shrink,--and mine +kept shrinking until they left several inches of my legs bare between +the tops of my socks and the lower part of my breeches. Whilst I was +growing taller, they were becoming 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.'" + +"The Saturday evening preceding the election," says Mr. Lamon, "the +candidates were addressing the people in the Court House at Springfield. +Dr. Early, one of the candidates on the Democratic side, made some +charge which Mr. N.W. Edwards, one of the candidates on the Whig side, +deemed untrue. Edwards climbed on a table, so as to be seen by Early and +by everyone in the house, and at the top of his voice told Early that +the charge was false. The excitement that followed was intense--so much +so that fighting men thought a duel must settle the difficulty. Lincoln, +by the programme, followed Early. He took up the subject in dispute and +handled it fairly and with such ability that everyone was astonished +and pleased. So that difficulty ended there. Then for the first time, +aroused by the excitement of the occasion, he spoke in that tenor +intonation of voice that ultimately settled down into that clear, shrill +monotone style that afterwards characterized his public speaking, and +enabled his audience, however large, to hear distinctly the lowest sound +of his voice." Mr. Arnold says that Lincoln's reply to Dr. Early was +"often spoken of as exhibiting wonderful ability, and a crushing power +of sarcasm and ridicule. When he began he was embarrassed, spoke slowly +and with some hesitation and difficulty. But becoming excited by his +subject, he forgot himself entirely, and went on with argument and wit, +anecdote and ridicule, until his opponent was completely crushed. Old +settlers of Sangamon County who heard this reply speak of his personal +transformation as wonderful. When Lincoln began, they say, he seemed +awkward, homely, unprepossessing. As he went on, and became excited, his +figure rose to its full height and became commanding and majestic. His +plain face was illuminated and glowed with expression. His dreamy eye +flashed with inspiration, and his whole person, his voice, his gestures, +were full of the magnetism of powerful feeling, of conscious strength +and true eloquence." + +The inflexible honesty and fine sense of honor which lay at the +foundation of Lincoln's character are nobly exhibited in the following +letter to a former friend but now political opponent, Col. Robert Allen: + + DEAR COLONEL:--I am told that during my absence last week, you + passed through this place, and stated publicly that you were in + possession of a fact or facts which, if known to the public, would + entirely destroy the prospects of N.W. Edwards and myself at the + ensuing election, but that through favor to us you would forbear to + divulge them. No one has needed favors more than I, and generally + few have been less unwilling to accept them; but in this case + favor to me would be injustice to the public, and therefore I must + beg your pardon for declining it. That I once had the confidence of + the people of Sangamon County is sufficiently evident; and if I + have since done anything, either by design or misadventure, which + if known would subject me to a forfeiture of that confidence, he + who knows of that thing and conceals it is a traitor to his + country's interest. + + I find myself wholly unable to form any conjecture of what fact or + facts, real or supposed, you spoke. But my opinion of your veracity + will not permit me for a moment to doubt that you at least believed + what you said. I am flattered with the personal regard you + manifested for me; but I do hope that on more mature reflection you + will view the public interest as a paramount consideration, and + therefore determine to let the worst come. + + I assure you that the candid statement of facts on your part, + however low it may sink me, shall never break the ties of personal + friendship between us. + + I wish an answer to this, and you are at liberty to publish both if + you choose. + + Very respectfully, + A. LINCOLN. + + COL. ROBERT ALLEN. + +The campaign resulted in Lincoln's election to the Legislature of 1836. +The nine delegates from Sangamon County happened to be men of remarkable +stature, each one measuring six feet or more in height; and very +naturally they were nicknamed the "Long Nine." Lincoln overtopped all +the rest, and as a consequence was called "the Sangamon Chief." The +State capital was then at Vandalia; and Lincoln's journey there from +Springfield was made mainly on foot. As he was trudging along the muddy +road, he fell in with Judge John Dean Caton, one of the early lawyers of +Illinois, afterwards Chief Justice of the State, who became an intimate +friend of Lincoln. Judge Caton gives an interesting account of their +first meeting, which occurred at this time. "I first met Mr. Lincoln," +says Judge Caton, "about the last of November, 1835, when on my way to +Vandalia to join the Supreme Court, which met there the first Monday in +December, at the same time as the meeting of the Legislature. There were +a great many people and all sorts of vehicles on the road from +Springfield to Vandalia. The roads were very bad, and most of the +passengers got out and walked a considerable portion of the distance. It +seemed almost like the movement of a little army. While walking thus +along the side of the road I met Mr. Lincoln for the first time, and in +the course of a two days' journey we became quite well acquainted. If he +had been admitted to the bar at that time, he had not become known as a +lawyer out of his own immediate circuit. He was going to Vandalia as a +member of the Legislature. He was one of the 'Long Nine,' as it was +called, from Sangamon County, who by their successful manoeuvring and +united efforts succeeded in getting the seat of government moved from +Vandalia to Springfield. During my stay of a few weeks in Vandalia I +frequently met Mr. Lincoln. He was a very pleasant companion; but as we +walked along the road on the occasion referred to, talking about +indifferent subjects, nothing impressed me with any idea of his future +greatness." + +When Lincoln took his seat in the first session of the new Legislature +at Vandalia, his mind was full of new projects. His real public service +was now about to begin, and having spent his time in the previous +Legislature mainly as an observer and listener he was determined during +this session to identify himself conspicuously with the "liberal" +progressive legislation, dreaming of a fame far different from that he +actually obtained as an anti-slavery leader. As he remarked to his +friend Speed, he hoped to obtain the great distinction of being called +"the De Witt Clinton of Illinois." + +It was at a special session of this Legislature that Lincoln first saw +Stephen A. Douglas, his great political antagonist of the future, whom +he describes as "the _least_ man" he ever saw. Douglas had come into the +State from Vermont only the previous year, and having studied law for +several months considered himself eminently qualified to be State's +attorney for the district in which he lived. General Linder says of the +two men at this time: "I here had an opportunity, better than any I had +previously possessed, of measuring the intellectual stature of Abraham +Lincoln. He was then about twenty-seven years old--my own age. Douglas +was four years our junior; consequently he could not have been over +twenty-three years old. Yet he was a very ready and expert debater, even +at that early period of his life. He and Lincoln were very frequently +pitted against each other, being of different politics. They both +commanded marked attention and respect." + +A notable measure effected by the "Long Nine" during this session of the +Legislature was the removal of the State Capital from Vandalia to +Springfield. It was accomplished by dint of shrewd and persistent +management, in which Lincoln was a leading spirit. Mr. Robert L. Wilson, +one of his colleagues, says: "When our bill to all appearance was dead +beyond resuscitation, and our friends could see no hope, Lincoln never +for a moment despaired. Collecting his colleagues in his room for +consultation, his practical common-sense, his thorough knowledge of +human nature, made him an overmatch for his compeers, and for any man I +have ever known." + +Lincoln's reputation as an orator was gradually extending beyond the +circle of his friends and constituents. He was gaining notice as a ready +and forcible speaker, with shrewd and sensible ideas which he expressed +with striking originality and independence. He was invited to address +the Young Men's Lyceum at Springfield, January 27, 1837, and read a +carefully prepared paper on "The Perpetuation of Our Political +Institutions," which was afterwards published in the Springfield +"Weekly Journal." The address was crude and strained in style, but the +feeling pervading it was fervent and honest, and its patriotic sentiment +and sound reflection made it effective for the occasion. A few +paragraphs culled from this paper, some of them containing remarkable +prophetic passages, afford a clue to the stage of intellectual +development which Lincoln had reached at the age of twenty-seven, and an +interesting contrast with the terser style of his later years. + + 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 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. We, when mounting the stage of existence, found ourselves + the legal inheritors of these fundamental blessings. We toiled not + in the acquisition or establishment of them; they are a legacy + bequeathed us by a once hardy, brave and patriotic, but now + lamented and departed race of ancestors. Theirs was the task (and + nobly they performed it) to possess themselves, and, through + themselves, us, of this goodly land, and to uprear upon its hills + and valleys a political edifice of liberty and equal rights; 'tis + ours only to transmit these--the former unprofaned by the foot of + an invader, the latter undecayed by the lapse of time and untorn by + usurpation--to the latest generation that fate shall permit the + world to know. This task, gratitude to our fathers, justice to + ourselves, duty to posterity, all imperatively require us + faithfully to perform. + + How, then, shall we perform it? At what point shall we expect the + approach of danger? Shall we expect some transatlantic military + giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never! All the + armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined, with all the treasure + of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest, with a + Bonaparte for a commander, could not, by force, take a drink from + the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a + thousand years! At what point, then, is the approach of danger to + be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, _it must spring up + amongst ourselves_. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be + our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation + of free men, we must live through all time, or die by suicide. I + hope I am not over-wary; but, if I am not, there is even now + something of ill-omen amongst us. I mean the increasing disregard + for law which pervades the country, the growing disposition to + substitute the wild and furious passions in lieu of the sober + judgment of the courts, and the worse than savage mobs for the + executive ministers of justice. This disposition is awfully fearful + in any community; and that it now exists in ours, though grating to + our feelings to admit it, it would be a violation of truth and an + insult to our intelligence to deny. Accounts of outrages committed + by mobs form the every-day news of the times. They have pervaded + the country from New England to Louisiana; they are neither + peculiar to the eternal snows of the former, nor the burning sun of + the latter. They are not the creature of climate; neither are they + confined to the slaveholding or non-slaveholding States. Alike they + spring up among the pleasure-hunting masters of Southern slaves and + the order-loving citizens of the land of steady habits. Whatever + their course may be, it is common to the whole country. Here, then, + is one point at which danger may be expected. The question recurs, + How shall we fortify against it? The answer is simple. Let every + American, every lover of liberty, every well-wisher to his + posterity, swear by the blood of the Revolution, never to violate + in the least particular the laws of the country, and never to + tolerate their violation by others. As the patriots of + 'seventy-six' did to the support of the Declaration of + Independence, so to the support of the Constitution and the Laws + let every American pledge his life, his property, and his sacred + honor; let every man remember that to violate the law is to trample + on the blood of his father, and to tear the charter of his own and + his children's liberty. Let reverence for the laws be breathed by + every American 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, and 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. + +During the years of Lincoln's service in the Illinois Legislature the +Democratic party was strongly dominant throughout the State. The feeling +on the subject of slavery was decidedly in sympathy with the South. A +large percentage of the settlers in the southern and middle portions of +Illinois were from States in which slave labor was maintained; and +although the determination not to permit the institution to obtain a +foothold in the new commonwealth was general, the people were opposed to +any action which should affect its condition where it was already +established. During the sessions of 1836-7 resolutions of an extreme +pro-slavery character were carried through the Legislature by the +Democratic party, aiming to prevent the Abolitionists from obtaining a +foothold in the State. Lincoln could not conscientiously support the +resolutions, nor hold his peace concerning them. He did not shrink from +the issue, but at the hazard of losing his political popularity and the +gratifying prospects that were opening before him he drew up a protest +against the pro-slavery enactment and had it entered upon the Journal of +the House. The state of public opinion in Illinois at that time may be +judged by the fact that of the hundred Representatives in the House +_only one_ had the courage to sign the protest with him. Lincoln's +protest was as follows: + + _March 3, 1837_. + + The following protest, presented to the House, was read and ordered + to be spread on the journals, to wit: + + Resolutions upon the subject of domestic slavery having passed both + branches of the General Assembly at its present session, the + undersigned hereby protest against the passage of the same. + + 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 its evils. + + They believe that the Congress of the United States has no power, + under the Constitution, to interfere with the institution 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 protest. + + (Signed) + DAN STONE, + A. LINCOLN, + _Representatives from the County of Sangamon._ + +The great financial panic which swept over the country in 1837 rendered +expedient an extra session of the Legislature, which was called together +in July. General Lee D. Ewing had been elected to this session from +Fayette County for the express purpose of repealing the law removing the +capital from Vandalia to Springfield. "General Ewing was," says Mr. +Linder, "a man of considerable notoriety, popularity, and talents. He +had been a member of Congress from Illinois, and had filled various +State offices in his time. He was a man of elegant manners, great +personal courage, and would grace either the _salons_ of fashion or the +Senate chamber at Washington. The Legislature opened its special session +(I was there as a spectator), and General Ewing sounded the tocsin of +war. He said that 'the arrogance of Springfield, its presumption in +claiming the seat of government, was not to be endured; that the law had +been passed by chicanery and trickery; that the Springfield delegation +had sold out to the internal improvement men, and had promised their +support to every measure that would gain them a vote to the law removing +the seat of government.' He said many other things, cutting and +sarcastic. Lincoln was chosen by his colleagues to reply to Ewing; and +I want to say here that this was the first time that I began to conceive +a very high opinion of the talents and personal courage of Abraham +Lincoln. He retorted upon Ewing with great severity, denouncing his +insinuations imputing corruption to him and his colleagues, and paying +back with usury all that Ewing had said, when everybody thought and +believed that he was digging his own grave; for it was known that Ewing +would not quietly pocket any insinuations that would degrade him +personally. I recollect his reply to Lincoln well. After addressing the +Speaker, he turned to the Sangamon delegation, who all sat in the same +portion of the house, and said: 'Gentlemen, have you no other champion +than this coarse and vulgar fellow to bring into the lists against me? +Do you suppose that I will condescend to break a lance with your low and +obscure colleague?' We were all very much alarmed for fear there would +be a personal conflict between Ewing and Lincoln. It was confidently +believed that a challenge must pass between them; but friends on both +sides took the matter in hand, and it was settled without anything +serious growing out of it." + +When the legislative session ended, in February, 1837, Lincoln returned +to a job of surveying which he had begun a year before at Petersburg, +near his old home at Salem. He spent a month or two at Petersburg, +completing the surveying and planning of the town. That his work was +well and satisfactorily done is attested by many--among them by Mr. John +Bennett, who lived in Petersburg at the time. "My earliest acquaintance +with Lincoln," says Mr. Bennett, "began on his return from Vandalia, +where he had spent the winter as a member of the Legislature from +Sangamon County. Lincoln spent most of the month of March in Petersburg, +finishing up the survey and planning of the town he had commenced the +year before. I was a great deal in his company, and formed a high +estimate of his worth and social qualities, which was strengthened by +many years of subsequent social intercourse and business transactions, +finding him always strictly honest. In fact, he was now generally spoken +of in this region as 'Honest Abe.' After Menard County was formed out of +a portion of Sangamon County, and the county seat established at +Petersburg, Mr. Lincoln was a regular attendant at the courts. I was +then keeping a hotel, and he was one of my regular customers. Here he +met many of his old cronies of his early days at Salem, and they spent +the most of the nights in telling stories or spinning long yarns, of +which Mr. Lincoln was particularly fond." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + + Lincoln's Removal to Springfield--A Lawyer without Clients or + Money--Early Discouragements--Proposes to Become a + Carpenter--"Stuart & Lincoln, Attorneys at Law"--"Riding the + Circuit"--Incidents of a Trip Round the Circuit--Pen Pictures of + Lincoln--Humane Traits--Kindness to Animals--Defending Fugitive + Slaves--Incidents in Lincoln's Life as a Lawyer--His Fondness for + Jokes and Stories. + +Lincoln's removal from New Salem to Springfield, where his more active +life as a lawyer began, occurred in April, 1837, soon after the +completion of his survey work at Petersburg. The event was closely +connected with the removal of the State capital from Vandalia to +Springfield, the law for which was passed at the legislative session of +1836-7. As has been stated, Lincoln was a member of that Legislature and +was active in procuring the passage of the bill. The citizens of +Springfield were very desirous of the removal of the capital to their +town, and many of them were present at the session when the measure was +up for discussion. They had thus become acquainted with Lincoln; they +were favorably impressed as to his abilities and character, and pleased +with his efforts in the matter in which they were so greatly interested. +Through their influence and encouragement he chose Springfield as his +future home. + +Lincoln's first interview, after his arrival in Springfield, was with +Mr. Joshua F. Speed, with whom he already had a slight acquaintance, and +who details the circumstances of their meeting. "He had ridden into +town," says Mr. Speed, "on a borrowed horse, with no earthly property +save a pair of saddle-bags containing a few clothes. I was a merchant at +Springfield, and kept a large country store, embracing dry goods, +groceries, hardware, books, medicines, bed-clothes, mattresses,--in +fact, everything that country people needed. Lincoln came into the store +with his saddle-bags on his arm, and said he wanted to buy the fixings +for a single bed. The mattresses, blankets, sheets, coverlid, and +pillow, according to the figures made by me, would cost seventeen +dollars. He said that was perhaps cheap enough, but small as the sum was +he was unable to pay it. But if I would credit him till Christmas and +his experiment as a lawyer was a success, he would pay then; adding, in +the saddest tone, 'If I fail in this, I do not know that I can ever pay +you.' As I looked up at him I thought then, and think now, that I never +saw a sadder face. I said to him, 'You seem to be so much pained at +contracting so small a debt, I think I can suggest a plan by which you +can avoid the debt and at the same time attain your end. I have a large +room with a double bed up-stairs which you are very welcome to share +with me.' 'Where is your room?' said he. 'Up-stairs,' said I, pointing +to a pair of winding stairs which led from the store to my room. He took +his saddle-bags on his arm, went up-stairs, set them down on the floor, +and came down with the most changed countenance. Beaming with pleasure, +he exclaimed, 'Well, Speed, I'm moved!' Lincoln was then twenty-eight +years old. He was a lawyer without a client, with no money, all his +earthly wealth consisting of the clothes he wore and the contents of his +saddle-bags." + +Lincoln shared the same room with Mr. Speed during his early residence +in Springfield, taking his meals with his companion at the house of Mr. +William Butler, with whom he boarded for five years. His professional +advancement at first was slow, and he had periods of great +discouragement. An old settler of Illinois, named Page Eaton, says: "I +knew Lincoln when he first came to Springfield. He was an awkward but +hard-working young man. Everybody said he would never make a good +lawyer because he was too honest. He came to my shop one day, after he +had been here five or six months, and said he had a notion to quit +studying law and learn carpentering. He thought there was more need of +carpenters out here than lawyers." Soon after Lincoln's settlement in +Springfield, he formed a law partnership with Major John T. Stuart, whom +he had known for some years and who already had a good position at the +bar. This partnership began, according to the statement of Major Stuart, +on April 27, 1837. It continued just four years, when it was dissolved, +and Lincoln and Judge Stephen T. Logan became partners. This latter +partnership continued about two years, when, on September 20, 1843, the +firm of Lincoln & Herndon was formed, and it continued to the time of +Lincoln's death. + +When Lincoln began to practice law, it was the custom in Illinois to +"ride the circuit," a proceeding of which the older communities of the +East know nothing. The State of Illinois, for instance, is divided into +a number of districts, each composed of a number of counties, of which a +single judge, appointed or elected as the case may be, for that purpose, +makes the circuit, holding courts at each county seat. Railroads being +scarce, the earlier circuit judges made their trips from county to +county on horseback or in a gig; and the prominent lawyers living within +the limits of the circuit made the tour of the circuit with the judge. +It is said that when Lincoln first began to "ride the circuit" he was +too poor to own a horse or vehicle, and was compelled to borrow from his +friends. But in due time he became the proprietor of a horse, which he +fed and groomed himself, and to which he was very much attached. On this +animal he would set out from home, to be gone for weeks together, with +no baggage but a pair of saddle-bags containing a change of linen, and +an old cotton umbrella to shelter him from sun or rain. When he got a +little more of this world's goods he set up a one-horse buggy, a very +sorry and shabby-looking affair which he generally used when the weather +promised to be bad. The other lawyers were always glad to see him, and +landlords hailed his coming with pleasure; but he was one of those +gentle, uncomplaining men whom they would put off with indifferent +accommodations. It was a significant remark of a lawyer who was +thoroughly acquainted with his habits and disposition that "Lincoln was +never seated next the landlord at a crowded table, and never got a +chicken-liver or the best cut from the roast." Lincoln once remarked to +Mr. Gillespie that he never felt his own unworthiness so much as when in +the presence of a hotel clerk or waiter. If rooms were scarce, and one, +two, three, or four gentlemen were required to lodge together in order +to accommodate some surly man who "stood upon his rights," Lincoln was +sure to be one of the unfortunates. Yet he loved the life of the +circuit, and never went home without reluctance. + +In describing the many experiences of the lawyers who travelled the +circuits at this period, Mr. Arnold says: "The State was settled with a +hardy, fearless, honest, but very litigious population. The court-house +was sometimes framed and boarded, but more frequently it was built of +logs. The judge sat upon a raised platform behind a rough board, +sometimes covered with green baize, for a table on which to write his +notes. A small table stood on the floor in front for the clerk. In the +center of the room was another larger table around which in rude chairs +the lawyers were grouped, too often with their feet on top of it. Rough +benches were placed there for the jury, the parties to the suit, +witnesses and bystanders. The court-rooms were nearly always crowded for +here were rehearsed and acted the dramas, the tragedies, and the +comedies of real life. The court-house has always been a very attractive +place to the people of the frontier. It supplied the place of theatres, +lecture and concert rooms, and other places of interest and amusement in +the older settlements and towns. The leading lawyers and judges were the +star actors, and had each his partisans. Hence crowds attended the +courts to see the judges, to hear the lawyers contend, with argument and +law and wit, for success, victory, and fame. The merits and ability of +the leading advocates, their success or discomfiture in examining or +cross-examining a witness, the ability of this or that one to obtain a +verdict, were canvassed at every cabin-raising, bee, or horse-race, and +at every log-house and school in the county. Thus the lawyers were +stimulated to the utmost exertion of their powers, not only by +controversy and desire of success, but by the consciousness that their +efforts were watched with eagerness by friends, clients, partisans, or +rivals. From one to another of these rude court-houses the gentlemen of +the bar passed, following the judge around his circuits from county to +county, travelling generally on horseback, with saddle-bags, brushes, an +extra shirt or two, and perhaps two or three law books. Sometimes two or +three lawyers would unite and travel in a buggy, and the poorer and +younger ones not seldom walked. But a horse was not an unusual fee, and +in those days when horse thieves as clients were but too common, it was +not long before a young man of ability found himself well mounted. + +"There was very great freedom in social intercourse. Manners were rude, +but genial, kind, and friendly. Each was always ready to assist his +fellows, and selfishness was not tolerated. The relations between the +bench and bar were familiar, free and easy. Flashes of wit and humor and +repartee were constantly exchanged. Such was the life upon which Lincoln +now entered; and there gathered with him around those pine tables of the +frontier court-house a very remarkable combination of men, men who +would have been leaders of the bar at Boston or New York, Philadelphia +or Washington; men who would have made their mark in Westminster Hall, +or upon any English circuit. At the capital were John T. Stuart, Stephen +T. Logan, Edward D. Baker, Ninian W. Edwards, Josiah Lamborn, and many +others. Among the leading lawyers from other parts of the State who +practiced in the Supreme and Federal Courts at the capital were Stephen +A. Douglas; Lyman Trumbull, for many years chairman of the judiciary +committee of the United States Senate; O.H. Browning, Senator and member +of the Cabinet at Washington; William H. Bissell, Member of Congress, +and Governor of the State; David Davis, justice of the Supreme Court, +Senator and Vice-President of the United States; Justin Butterfield of +Chicago, and many others almost or quite equally distinguished. This +'circuit riding' involved all sorts of adventures. Hard fare at +miserable country taverns, sleeping on the floor, and fording streams, +were every-day occurrences. All such occurrences were met with good +humor and often turned into sources of frolic and fun. In fording +swollen streams, Lincoln was frequently sent forward as a scout or +pioneer. His extremely long legs enabled him, by taking off his boots +and stockings, and by rolling up or otherwise disposing of his trousers, +to test the depth of the stream, find the most shallow water, and thus +to pilot the party through the current without wetting his garments." + +A gentleman who lived in one of the judicial circuits of Illinois in +which Lincoln had an extensive though not very lucrative practice gives +some graphic and interesting reminiscences. "The terms of the court were +held quarterly and usually lasted about two weeks. They were always +seasons of great importance and much gayety in the little town that had +the honor of being the county seat. Distinguished members of the bar +from surrounding and even from distant counties, ex-judges and +ex-Members of Congress, attended and were personally and many of them +popularly known to almost every adult, male and female, of the limited +population. They came in by stages and on horseback. Among them the one +whose arrival was looked forward to with the most pleasurable +anticipations, and whose possible absence--although he almost never was +absent--was feared with the liveliest emotions of anxiety, was 'Uncle +Abe,' as he was lovingly called by us all. Sometimes he might happen to +be a day or two late. Then, as the Bloomington stage came in at sundown, +the bench and bar, jurors and citizens, would gather in crowds at the +hotel where he always put up, to give him a welcome if, happily, he +should arrive, and to experience the keenest feelings of disappointment +if he should not. If he arrived, as he alighted and stretched out both +his long arms to shake hands with those nearest to him and with those +who approached, his homely face handsome in its broad and sunshiny +smile, his voice touching in its kindly and cheerful accents, everyone +in his presence felt lighter in heart and more joyous. He brought light +with him. He loved his fellow-men with all the strength of his great +nature, and those who came in contact with him could not help +reciprocating the love." + +Another old friend describes Lincoln as being at this time "very plain +in his costume, as well as rather uncourtly in his address and general +appearance. His clothing was of home Kentucky jean, and the first +impression made by his tall, lank figure upon those who saw him was not +specially prepossessing. He had not outgrown his hard backwoods +experience, and showed no inclination to disguise or to cast behind him +the honest and manly though unpolished characteristics of his earlier +days. Never was a man further removed from all snobbish affectation. As +little was there, also, of the demagogue art of assuming an uncouthness +or rusticity of manner and outward habit with the mistaken notion of +thus securing particular favor as 'one of the masses.' He chose to +appear then, as in all his later life, precisely what he was. His +deportment was unassuming, though without any awkwardness of reserve." + +Mr. Crane, an old settler of Tazewell County, says he used to see +Lincoln when passing through Washington, in that county, on his way to +attend court at Metamora; and he remembers him as "dressed in a homespun +coat that came below his knees and was out at both elbows." + +Lincoln's tenderness of heart was displayed in his treatment of animals, +toward which he was often performing unusual acts of kindness. On one +occasion, as Mr. Speed relates, Lincoln and the other members of the +Springfield bar had been attending court at Christiansburg, and Mr. +Speed was riding with them toward Springfield. There was quite a party +of these lawyers, riding two by two along a country lane. Lincoln and +John J. Hardin brought up the rear of the cavalcade. "We had passed +through a thicket of wild plum and crab-apple trees," says Mr. Speed, +"and stopped to water our horses. Hardin came up alone. 'Where is +Lincoln?' we inquired. 'Oh,' replied he, 'when I saw him last he had +caught two young birds which the wind had blown out of their nests, and +he was hunting the nest to put them back.' In a short time Lincoln came +up, having found the nest and placed the young birds in it. The party +laughed at him; but he said, 'I could not have slept if I had not +restored those little birds to their mother.'" + +Again, as Dr. Holland narrates, "Lincoln was one day riding by a deep +slough or pit in which, to his exceeding pain, he saw a pig struggling, +and with such faint efforts that it was evident that he could not +extricate himself. Lincoln looked at the pig and the mud that enveloped +him, and then looked ruefully at some new clothes in which he had but a +short time before enveloped himself. Deciding against the claims of the +pig he rode on; but he could not get rid of the vision of the poor +brute, and at last, after riding two miles, he turned back, determined +to rescue the animal at the expense of his new clothes. Arrived at the +spot, he tied his horse, and coolly went to work to build of old rails a +passage to the bottom of the hole. Descending on these rails, he seized +the pig and dragged him out, but not without serious damage to the +clothes he wore. Washing his hands in the nearest brook and wiping them +on the grass, he mounted his gig and rode along. He then fell to +examining the motive that sent him back to the release of the pig. At +the first thought it seemed to be pure benevolence; but at length he +came to the conclusion that it was selfishness, for he certainly went to +the pig's relief in order (as he said to the friend to whom he related +the incident) to 'take a pain out of his own mind.'" + +Instances showing the integrity, candor, unselfishness, and humanity of +Lincoln's conduct in his law practice could be multiplied indefinitely. +The following are given by Dr. Holland: "The lawyers of Springfield, +particularly those who had political aspirations, were afraid to +undertake the defense of anyone who had been engaged in helping off +fugitives slaves. It was a very unpopular business in those days and in +that locality; and few felt that they could afford to engage in it. One +who needed such aid went to Edward D. Baker, and was refused, distinctly +and frankly on the ground that as a political man he could not afford +it. The man applied to an ardent anti-slavery friend for advice. He +spoke of Mr. Lincoln, and said, 'He's not afraid of an unpopular case. +When I go for a lawyer to defend an arrested fugitive slave, other +lawyers will refuse me. But if Mr. Lincoln is at home he will always +take my case.'" + +An old woman of seventy-five years, the widow of a revolutionary +pensioner, came tottering into his law office one day, and told him that +a certain pension agent had charged her the exorbitant fee of two +hundred dollars for collecting her pension. Lincoln was satisfied by +her representations that she had been swindled, and finding that she was +not a resident of the town, and that she was poor, gave her money, and +set about the work of procuring restitution. He immediately entered suit +against the agent to recover a portion of his ill-gotten money. This +suit was one of the most remarkable that Lincoln ever conducted. The day +before the case came up he asked his partner, Mr. Herndon, to get him a +"Life of Washington," and he spent the whole afternoon reading it. His +speech to the jury was long remembered. The whole court-room was in +tears as he closed with these words: "Gentlemen of the jury. Time rolls +by. The heroes of '76 have passed away. They are encamped on the other +shore. This soldier has gone to his rest, and now, crippled, blinded, +and broken, his widow comes to you and to me, gentlemen of the jury, to +right her wrongs. She was not always as you see her now. Once her step +was elastic. Her face was fair. Her voice was as sweet as any that rang +in the mountains of old Virginia. Now she is old. She is poor and +defenceless. Out here on the prairies of Illinois, hundreds of miles +from the scenes of her childhood, she appeals to you and to me who enjoy +the privileges achieved for us by the patriots of the Revolution for our +sympathetic aid and manly protection. I have but one question to ask +you, gentlemen of the jury. Shall we befriend her?" During the speech +the defendant sat huddled up in the court-room, writhing under the lash +of Lincoln's tongue. The jury returned a verdict for every cent that +Lincoln had asked. He became the old lady's surety for costs, paid her +hotel bill and sent her home rejoicing. He made no charges for his own +or his partner's services. A few days afterwards Mr. Herndon picked up a +little scrap of paper in the office. He looked at it a moment, and burst +into a roar of laughter. It was Lincoln's notes for the argument of this +case. They were unique:--"No contract--Not professional +services--Unreasonable charges--Money retained by Deft not given by +Pl'ff.--Revolutionary War--Describe Valley Forge--Ice--Soldiers' +bleeding feet--Pl'ff's husband--Soldiers leaving home for the +army--_Skin Def't_--Close." + +In his Autobiography, Joseph Jefferson tells how he visited Springfield +with a theatrical company in the early days (1839) and planned to open a +theatrical season in that godly town. But "a religious revival was in +progress, and the fathers of the church not only launched forth against +us in their sermons, but got the city to pass a new law enjoining a +heavy license against our 'unholy' calling. I forget the amount, but it +was large enough to be prohibitory." The company had begun the building +of a new theatre; and naturally the situation was perplexing. In the +midst of their trouble, says Mr. Jefferson, "a young lawyer called on +the Managers. He had heard of the injustice, and offered, if they would +place the matter in his hands, to have the license taken off,--declaring +that he only wanted to see fair play, and he would accept no fee whether +he failed or succeeded. The case was brought up before the council. The +young lawyer began his harangue. He handled the subject with tact, +skill, and humor, tracing the history of the drama from the time when +Thespis acted in a cart, to the stage of to-day. He illustrated his +speech with a number of anecdotes, and kept the council in a roar of +laughter. His good humor prevailed, and the exorbitant tax was taken +off. This young lawyer was very popular in Springfield, and was honored +and beloved by all who knew him; and after the time of which I write he +held rather an important position in the Government of the United +States. He now lies buried in Springfield, under a monument +commemorating his greatness and his virtues,--and his name was Abraham +Lincoln." + +Judge Gillespie tells a good story, to the effect that Lincoln and +General U.P. Linder were once defending a man who was being tried on a +criminal charge before Judge David Davis, who said at dinner-time that +the case must be disposed of that night. Lincoln suggested that the best +thing they could do would be to run Benedict, the prosecuting attorney, +as far into the night as possible, in hopes that he might, in his rage, +commit some indiscretion that would help their case. Lincoln began, but +to save his life he could not speak one hour, and the laboring oar fell +into Linder's hands. "But," said Lincoln, "he was equal to the occasion. +He spoke most interestingly three mortal hours, about everything in the +world. He discussed Benedict from head to foot, and put in about +three-quarters of an hour on the subject of Benedict's whiskers." +Lincoln said he never envied a man so much as he did Linder on that +occasion. He thought he was inimitable in his capacity to talk +interestingly about everything and nothing, by the hour. + +But if Lincoln had not General Linder's art of "talking against time," +his wit often suggested some readier method of gaining advantage in a +case. On one occasion, a suit was on trial in the Circuit Court of +Sangamon County, in which Lincoln was attorney for the plaintiff, and +Mr. James C. Conkling, then a young man just entering practice, was +attorney for the defendant. It was a jury trial, and Lincoln waived the +opening argument to the jury, leaving Mr. Conkling to sum up his case +for the defense. The latter spoke at considerable length, in a +sophomoric style, laboring under the impression that unless he made an +extraordinary exertion to influence the jury he would be quite eclipsed +by Lincoln in his closing speech. But he was completely taken back by +the unlooked-for light manner in which Lincoln treated the case in his +closing. Lincoln proceeded to reply but, in doing so he talked on +without making the slightest reference to the case on hearing or to the +argument of Mr. Conkling. His summing-up to the jury was to the +following effect: "Gentlemen of the jury: In early days there lived in +this vicinity, over on the Sangamon river, an old Indian of the Kickapoo +tribe by the name of Johnnie Kongapod. He had been taken in charge by +some good missionaries, converted to Christianity, and educated to such +extent that he could read and write. He took a great fancy to poetry and +became somewhat of a poet himself. His desire was that after his death +there should be placed at the head of his grave an epitaph, which he +prepared himself, in rhyme, in the following words: + + "'Here lies poor Johnnie Kongapod; + Have mercy on him, gracious God, + As he would do if he were God + And you were Johnnie Kongapod.'" + +Of course all this had no reference to the case, nor did Lincoln intend +it should have any. It was merely his way of ridiculing the eloquence of +his opponent. The verdict of the jury was for the plaintiff, as Lincoln +expected it would be; and this was the reason of his treating the case +as he did. + +A story somewhat similar to the above was told by the late Judge John +Pearson shortly before his death. In the February term, 1850, of the +Circuit Court of Vermilion County, Illinois, a case was being tried in +which a young lady had brought suit for $10,000 against a recreant lover +who had married another girl. The amount sued for was thought to be an +enormous sum in those days, and the ablest talent to be found was +brought into requisition by both sides. Richard Thompson and Daniel W. +Voorhees were associated with O.L. Davis for the fair plaintiff. H.W. +Beckwith, Ward Lamon, and Abraham Lincoln were for the defendant. The +little town of Danville was crowded with people from far and near who +had come to hear the big speeches. The evidence brought out in the +trial was in every way against the defendant, and the sympathy of the +public was, naturally enough, with the young lady plaintiff. Lincoln and +his associate counsel plainly saw the hopelessness of their cause; and +they wisely concluded to let their side of the case stand upon its +merits, without even a plea of extenuating circumstances. Voorhees was +young, ambitious, and anxious to display his oratory. He arranged with +his colleagues at the beginning that he should make a speech, and he +spent several hours in his room at the hotel in the preparation of an +oratorical avalanche. It became generally known that Dan was going to +out-do himself, and the expectation of the community was at its highest +tension. The little old court-house was crowded. The ladies were out in +full force. Voorhees came in a little late, glowing with the excitement +of the occasion. It had been arranged that Davis was to open, Lincoln +was to follow, and Voorhees should come next. Mr. Davis made a clear +statement of the case, recited the character of the evidence, and closed +with a plain logical argument. Then Lincoln arose, and stood in silence +for a moment, looking at the jury. He deliberately re-arranged some of +the books and papers on the table before him, as though "making a good +ready," as he used to say, and began in a spirited but deliberate way: +"Your Honor, the evidence in this case is all in, and doubtless all +concerned comprehend its fullest import without the aid of further +argument. Therefore we will rest our case here." This move, of course, +cut off all future discussion. Voorhees, with his load of pyrotechnics +was shut out. An ominous silence followed Lincoln's remark; then +Voorhees arose, white with rage, and entered a protest against the +tactics of the defense. All the others were disappointed, but amused, +and the only consolation that Voorhees got out of this affair was a +verdict for the full amount claimed by his client. But he never forgave +Lincoln for thus "nipping" his great speech "in the bud." + +Mr. Wickizer gives a story which illustrates the off-hand readiness of +Lincoln's wit. "In the court at Bloomington Mr. Lincoln was engaged in a +case of no great importance; but the attorney on the other side, Mr. S., +a young lawyer of fine abilities, was always very sensitive about being +beaten, and in this case he manifested unusual zeal and interest. The +case lasted until late at night, when it was finally submitted to the +jury. Mr. S. spent a sleepless night in anxiety, and early next morning +learned, to his great chagrin, that he had lost the case. Mr. Lincoln +met him at the court-house and asked him what had become of his case. +With lugubrious countenance and melancholy tone, Mr. S. said, 'It's gone +to hell!' 'Oh, well!' replied Lincoln, 'Never mind,--you can try it +again there!'" + +Lincoln was always ready to join in a laugh at his own expense, and used +to tell the following story with intense enjoyment: "In the days when I +used to be 'on the circuit' I was accosted in the cars by a stranger who +said, 'Excuse me, sir, but I have an article in my possession which +belongs to you.' 'How is that?' I asked, considerably astonished. The +stranger took a jack-knife from his pocket. 'This knife,' said he, 'was +placed in my hands some years ago with the injunction that I was to keep +it until I found a man uglier than myself. I have carried it from that +time to this. Allow me to say, sir, that I think you are fairly entitled +to the property.'" + +Mr. Gillespie says of Lincoln's passion for story-telling: "As a boon +companion, Lincoln, although he never drank liquor or used tobacco in +any form, was without a rival. No one would ever think of 'putting in' +when he was talking. He could illustrate any subject, it seemed to me, +with an appropriate and amusing anecdote. He did not tell stories merely +for the sake of telling them, but rather by way of illustration of +something that had happened or been said. There seemed to be no end to +his fund of stories." Mr. Lamon states: "Lincoln frequently said that he +lived by his humor and would have died without it. His manner of telling +a story was irresistibly comical, the fun of it dancing in his eyes and +playing over every feature. His face changed in an instant; the hard +lines faded out of it, and the mirth seemed to diffuse itself all over +him like a spontaneous tickle. You could see it coming long before he +opened his mouth, and he began to enjoy the 'point' before his eager +auditors could catch the faintest glimpse of it. Telling and hearing +ridiculous stories was one of his ruling passions." A good illustration +of this fondness for story-telling is given by Judge Sibley, of Quincy, +Illinois, who knew Lincoln when practicing law at Springfield. One day a +party of lawyers were sitting in the law library of the court-house at +Springfield, awaiting the opening of court, and telling stories to fill +the time. Judge Breese of the Supreme bench--one of the most +distinguished of American jurists, and a man of great personal +dignity--passed through the room where the lawyers were sitting, on his +way to open court. Lincoln, seeing him, called out in his hearty way, +"Hold on, Breese! Don't open court yet! Here's Bob Blackwell just going +to tell a new story!" The judge passed on without replying, evidently +regarding it as beneath the dignity of the Supreme Court to delay +proceedings for the sake of a story. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + + Lincoln in the Legislature--Eight Consecutive Years of Service--His + Influence in the House--Leader of the Whig Party in Illinois--Takes + a Hand in National Politics--Presidential Election in 1840--A "Log + Cabin" Reminiscence--Some Memorable Political Encounters--A Tilt + with Douglas--Lincoln Facing a Mob--His Physical Courage--Lincoln + as a Duellist--The Affair with General Shields--An Eye-Witness' + Account of the Duel--Courtship and Marriage. + +In 1838 Lincoln was for a third time a candidate for the State +Legislature. Mr. Wilson, one of his colleagues from Sangamon County, +states that a question of the division of the county was one of the +local issues. "Mr. Lincoln and myself," says Mr. Wilson, "among others +residing in the portion of the county which sought to be organized into +a new county, opposed the division; and it became necessary that I +should make a special canvass through the northwest part of the county, +then known as Sand Ridge. I made the canvass. Mr. Lincoln accompanied +me, and being personally acquainted with everyone we called at nearly +every house. At that time it was the universal custom to keep some +whiskey in the house for private use and to treat friends. The subject +was always mentioned as a matter of politeness, but with the usual +remark to Mr. Lincoln, 'We know you never drink, but maybe your friend +would like to take a little.' I never saw Mr. Lincoln drink. He often +told me he never drank; had no desire for drink, nor for the +companionship of drinking men." + +The result of this canvass was that Lincoln was elected to the +Legislature for the session of 1838-39. The next year he was elected +for the session of 1840-41. This ended his legislative service, which +comprised eight consecutive years, from 1834 to 1841. In these later +sessions he was as active and prominent in the House as he had been in +the earlier times when a member from New Salem. + +Lincoln's faculty for getting the better of an adversary by an apt +illustration or anecdote was seldom better shown than by an incident +which occurred during his last term in the Legislature. Hon. James C. +Conkling has given the following graphic description of the scene: "A +gentleman who had formerly been Attorney-General of the State was also a +member. Presuming upon his age, experience, and former official +position, he thought it incumbent upon himself to oppose Lincoln, who +was then one of the acknowledged leaders of his party. He at length +attracted the attention of Lincoln, who replied to his remarks, telling +one of his humorous anecdotes and making a personal application to his +opponent which placed the latter in such a ridiculous attitude that it +convulsed the whole House. All business was suspended. In vain the +Speaker rapped with his gavel. Members of all parties, without +distinction, were compelled to laugh. They not only laughed, they +screamed and yelled; they thumped upon the floor with their canes; they +clapped their hands and threw up their hats; they shouted and twisted +themselves into all sorts of contortions, until their sides ached and +the tears rolled down their cheeks. One paroxysm passed away, but was +speedily succeeded by another, and again they laughed and screamed and +yelled. Another lull occurred, and still another paroxysm, until they +seemed to be perfectly exhausted. The ambition of Lincoln's opponent was +abundantly gratified, and for the remainder of the session he lapsed +into profound obscurity." + +In June, 1842, ex-President Van Buren was journeying through Illinois +with a company of friends. When near Springfield they were delayed by +bad roads, and were compelled to spend the night at Rochester, some +miles out. The accommodations at this place were very poor, and a few of +the ex-President's Springfield friends proposed to go out to meet him +and try to aid in entertaining him. Knowing Lincoln's ability as a +talker and story-teller, they begged him to go with them and aid in +making their guest at the country inn pass the evening as pleasantly as +possible. Lincoln, with his usual good nature, went with them, and +entertained the party for hours with graphic descriptions of Western +life, anecdotes and witty stories. Judge Peck, who was of the party, and +a warm friend of the ex-President, says that Lincoln was at his best. +There was a constant succession of brilliant anecdotes and funny +stories, accompanied by loud laughter in which Van Buren took his full +share. "He also," says the Judge, "gave us incidents and anecdotes of +Elisha Williams, and other leading members of the New York bar, going +back to the days of Hamilton and Burr. Altogether there was a right +merry time. Mr. Van Buren said the only drawback upon his enjoyment was +that his sides were sore from laughing at Lincoln's stories for a week +thereafter." + +Lincoln's eight years of legislative service had given him considerable +reputation in politics, and he had become the acknowledged leader of the +Whig party in Illinois. In the exciting Presidential campaign of 1840, +known as the "Log Cabin" campaign, he took a very active part. He had +been nominated as Presidential Elector on the Harrison ticket, and +stumped a large portion of the State. A peculiarly interesting +reminiscence of Lincoln's appearance on one occasion during the "Log +Cabin" campaign is furnished by Mr. G.W. Harris, who says: "In the fall +of the year 1840 there came into the log school-house in a village in +Southern Illinois where I, a lad, was a pupil, a tall, awkward, +plain-looking young man dressed in a full suit of 'blue jean.' +Approaching the master, he gave his name, and, apologizing for the +intrusion, said, 'I am told you have a copy of Byron's works. I would +like to borrow it for a few hours.' The book was produced and loaned to +him. With his thanks and a 'Good-day' to the teacher, and a smile such +as I have never seen on any other man's face and a look that took in all +of us lads and lassies, the stranger passed out of the room. This was +during a Presidential canvass. Isaac Walker, candidate for Democratic +Elector, and Abraham Lincoln, candidate for Whig Elector, were by +appointment to discuss political matters in the afternoon of that day. I +asked for and got a half-holiday. I had given no thought to the matter +until the appearance of Lincoln (for he it was) in the school-room. But, +something in the man had aroused, not only in me but in others of the +scholars, a strong desire to see him again and to hear him speak. Isaac +Walker in his younger days had been a resident of the village. Lincoln +was aware of this, and shrewdly suspected that Walker in his remarks +would allude to the circumstance; so, having the opening speech, he +determined to 'take the wind out of his sails.' He did so--how +effectually, it is hardly necessary for me to say. He had borrowed +Byron's works to read the opening lines of 'Lara': + + "He, their unhoped, but unforgotten lord, + The long self-exiled chieftain, is restored. + There be bright faces in the busy hall, + Bowls on the board, and banners on the wall; + + * * * * * + + "He comes at last in sudden loneliness, + And whence they know not, why they need not guess; + They more might marvel, when the greeting's o'er, + Not that he came, but came not long before." + +During this period Lincoln continued to enjoy the hospitality of Mr. +Speed at Springfield. "After he made his home with me," says Mr. Speed, +"on every winter's night at my store, by a big wood fire, no matter how +inclement the weather, eight or ten choice spirits assembled, without +distinction of party. It was a sort of social club without organization. +They came there because they were sure to find Lincoln. His habit was to +engage in conversation upon any and all subjects except politics. But +one evening a political argument sprang up between Lincoln and Douglas, +which for a time ran high. Douglas sprang to his feet and said: +'Gentlemen, this is no place to talk politics; we will discuss the +questions publicly with you.'" A few days later the Whigs held a meeting +and challenged the Democrats to a joint debate. The challenge was +accepted. Douglas, Lamborn, Calhoun, and Jesse Thomas were deputed by +the Democrats to meet Logan, Baker, Browning, and Lincoln on the part of +the Whigs. The intellectual encounter between these noted champions is +still described by those who witnessed it as "the great debate." It took +place in the Second Presbyterian church at Springfield, and lasted eight +nights, each speaker occupying a night in turn. Mr. Speed speaks thus of +Lincoln's effort: "Lincoln delivered his speech without manuscript or +notes. He had a wonderful faculty in that way. He might be writing an +important document, be interrupted in the midst of a sentence, turn his +attention to other matters entirely foreign to the subject on which he +was engaged, and then take up his pen and begin where he left off +without reading the previous part of the sentence. He could grasp, +exhaust, and quit any subject with more facility than any man I have +ever seen or heard of." The subjoined paragraphs from the speech above +referred to show the impassioned feeling which Lincoln poured forth that +night. Those familiar with his admirable style in his later years would +scarcely recognize him in these florid and rather over-weighted periods: + + Many free countries have lost their liberty, and ours may lose + hers; but if she shall, be it 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 + corruption 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 living thing; + while on its bosom are riding, like demons on the waves of hell, + the imps of the Evil Spirit, and fiendishly torturing and taunting + all those who dare resist its destroying course with the + hopelessness 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 will. The probability that we may fall in the struggle ought + not to deter us from the support of a cause which we deem to be + just. It shall not deter me. If I ever feel the soul within me + elevate and expand to those dimensions not wholly unworthy of its + Almighty architect, it is when I contemplate the cause of my + country deserted by all the world beside, and I, standing up boldly + and alone, hurling defiance at her victorious oppressors. And here, + without contemplating consequences, before high Heaven and in the + face of the whole world, I swear eternal fidelity to the just + cause, as I deem it, of the land of my life, my liberty, and my + love. And who that thinks with me will not fearlessly adopt the + oath I take? Let none falter who thinks he is right, and we may + succeed. But if, after all, we shall fail, be it so. We shall have + the proud consolation of saying to our conscience and to the + departed shade of our country's freedom, that the cause approved by + our judgments and adored by our hearts in disaster, in chains, in + torture, and in death, we never failed in defending. + +In this canvass Lincoln came again into collision with Douglas, the +adversary whom he had met two years before and with whom he was to +sustain an almost life-long political conflict. He also had occasion to +show his courage and presence of mind in rescuing from a mob his +distinguished friend, Col. E.D. Baker, afterwards a Senator of the +United States. "Baker was speaking in a large room," says Mr. Arnold, +"rented and used for the court sessions, and Lincoln's office was in an +apartment over the court-room, communicating with it by a trap-door. +Lincoln was in his office listening to Baker through the open trap-door, +when Baker, becoming excited, abused the Democrats, many of whom were +present. A cry was raised, 'Pull him off the stand!' The instant Lincoln +heard the cry, knowing a general fight was imminent, his athletic form +was seen descending from above through the opening of the trap-door, +and, springing to the side of Baker, and waving his hand for silence, he +said with dignity: '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. I am here to protect him, and no man shall +take him from this stand if I can prevent it.' Quiet was restored, and +Baker finished his speech without further interruption." + +A similar occurrence, happening about the same period, is detailed by +General Linder: "On a later occasion, when Colonel Baker and myself were +both battling together in the Whig cause, at a convention held in +Springfield, I made a speech at the State House, which I think now, +looking back at it from this point, was the very best I ever made in my +life. While I was addressing the vast assembly some ruffian in the +galleries flung at me a gross personal insult accompanied with a threat. +Lincoln and Colonel Baker, who were both present and were warm personal +and political friends of mine, anticipating that I might be attacked +when I left the State House, came upon the stand a little while before I +concluded my speech and took their station on each side of me. When I +was through, and after my audience had greeted me with three hearty +cheers, each took one of my arms, and Lincoln said to me: 'Linder, Baker +and I are apprehensive that you may be attacked by some of those +ruffians who insulted you from the galleries, and we have come up to +escort you to your hotel. We both think we can do a little fighting, so +we want you to walk between us until we get you to your hotel. Your +quarrel is our quarrel and that of the great Whig party of this nation. +Your speech upon this occasion is the greatest that has been made by any +of us, for which we wish to honor and defend you.' This I consider no +ordinary compliment, coming from Lincoln, for he was no flatterer nor +disposed to bestow praise where it was undeserved. Colonel Baker +heartily concurred in all he said, and between those two glorious men I +left the stand and we marched out of the State House through our +friends, who trooped after us evidently anticipating what Lincoln and +Baker had suggested to me, accompanying us to my hotel." + +That Lincoln had an abundance of physical courage, and was well able to +defend himself when necessity demanded, is clear from the incidents just +given. Mr. Herndon, his intimate friend, adds his testimony on this +point. As Lincoln was grand in his good nature, says Mr. Herndon, so he +was grand in his rage. "Once I saw him incensed at a judge for giving an +unfair decision. It was a terrible spectacle. At another time I saw two +men come to blows in his presence. He picked them up separately and +tossed them apart like a couple of kittens. He was the strongest man I +ever knew, and has been known to lift a man of his own weight and throw +him over a worm fence. Once in Springfield the Irish voters meditated +taking possession of the polls. News came down the street that they +would permit nobody to vote but those of their own party. Mr. Lincoln +seized an axe-handle from a hardware store and went alone to open a way +to the ballot-box. His appearance intimidated them, and we had neither +threats nor collisions all that day." + +An unsuspected side of Lincoln's character was shown, at this period of +his life, in the affair with General Shields. With all his gentleness +and his scrupulous regard for the rights of others, Lincoln was not one +to submit to being bullied; while his physical courage had been proved +in many a rough--and--tumble encounter, often against heavy odds, with +the rude and boisterous spirits of his time. These encounters were +usually with nature's weapons; but in the Shields affair--duel, it was +sometimes called--he showed that he would not shrink from the use of +more deadly weapons if forced to do so. In judging this phase of his +character, account must be taken of his Kentucky birth and origin, and +of the customs and standards of his time. James Shields (afterwards a +distinguished Union General and U.S. Senator) was at this time (1842) +living at Springfield, holding the office of State Auditor. He is +described as "a gallant, hot-headed bachelor, from Tyrone County, +Ireland." He was something of a beau in society, and was the subject of +some satirical articles which, in a spirit of fun, Miss Mary Todd +(afterwards Mrs. Lincoln) had written and published in a local journal. +Shields was furious, and, demanding the name of the writer, Lincoln sent +him word that he would assume full responsibility in the matter. A +challenge to a duel followed, which Lincoln accepted and named +broadswords as the weapons. General Linder states that Lincoln said to +him that he did not want to kill Shields, and felt sure he could disarm +him if they fought with broadswords, while he felt sure Shields would +kill him if pistols were the weapons. It seems that Lincoln actually +took lessons in broadsword exercise from a Major Duncan; and at the +appointed time all parties proceeded to the chosen field, near Alton. +But friends appeared on the scene while the preliminaries were being +arranged, and succeeded in effecting a reconciliation. Major Lucas, of +Springfield, who was on the field, stated that he "had no doubt Lincoln +meant to fight. Lincoln was no coward, and he would unquestionably have +held his own against his antagonist, for he was a powerful man and well +skilled in the use of the broadsword. Lincoln said to me, after the +affair was all over, 'I could have split him in two.'" But there can be +little doubt that he was well pleased that the affair proved a +bloodless one. + +The mention of Miss Mary Todd, in the preceding paragraph, brings us to +Lincoln's marriage with that lady, which occurred in 1842, he being then +in his thirty--fourth year. Miss Todd was the daughter of the Hon. +Robert T. Todd, of Lexington, Kentucky. She came to Springfield in 1839, +to live with her sister, Mrs. Ninian W. Edwards. "She was young," says +Mr. Lamon, "just twenty-one,--her family was of the best and her +connections in Illinois among the most refined and distinguished people. +Her mother having died when she was a little girl, she had been educated +under the care of a French lady. She was gifted with rare talents, had a +keen sense of the ridiculous, a ready insight into the weaknesses of +individual character, and a most fiery and ungovernable temper. Her +tongue and her pen were equally sharp. Highbred, proud, brilliant, +witty, and with a will that bent every one else to her purpose, she took +Lincoln captive. He was a rising politician, fresh from the people, and +possessed of great power among them. Miss Todd was of aristocratic and +distinguished family, able to lead through the awful portals of 'good +society' whomsoever they chose to countenance. It was thought that a +union between them could not fail of numerous benefits to both parties. +Mr. Edwards thought so; Mrs. Edwards thought so; and it was not long +before Mary Todd herself thought so. She was very ambitious, and even +before she left Kentucky announced her belief that she was destined to +be the wife of some future President. For a while she was courted by +Douglas as well as by Lincoln. Being asked which of them she intended to +have, she answered, 'The one that has the best chance of being +President.' She decided in favor of Lincoln; and in the opinion of some +of her husband's friends she aided to no small extent in the fulfilment +of the prophecy which the bestowal of her hand implied." Mrs. Edwards, +Miss Todd's sister, has related that "Lincoln was charmed with Mary's +wit and fascinated with her quick sagacity, her will, her nature and +culture. I have happened in the room," she says, "where they were +sitting, often and often, and Mary led the conversation. Lincoln would +listen, and gaze on her as if drawn by some superior power--irresistibly +so. He listened, but seldom said a word." + +Preparations were made for the marriage between Lincoln and Miss Todd. +But they were interrupted by a painful occurrence--a sudden breaking out +of a fit of melancholy, or temporary insanity, such as had afflicted +Lincoln on a former occasion. This event has been made the subject of no +little gossip, into which it is not now necessary or desirable to go, +further than to mention that at about this time Lincoln seems to have +formed a strong attachment for Miss Matilda Edwards, a sister of Ninian +W. Edwards; and that the engagement with Miss Todd was for a time broken +off. In consequence of these complications, Lincoln's health was +seriously affected. He suffered from melancholy, which was so profound +that "his friends were alarmed for his life." His intimate companion, +Mr. Speed, endeavored to rescue him from the terrible depression, urging +that he would die unless he rallied. Lincoln replied, "I am not afraid +to die, and would be more than willing. But I have an irrepressible +desire to live till I can be assured that the world is a little better +for my having been in it." + +Mr. Herndon gives as his opinion that Lincoln's insanity grew out of a +most extraordinary complication of feelings--aversion to the marriage +proposed, a counter--attachment to Miss Edwards, and a revival of his +tenderness for the memory of Anne Rutledge. At all events, his +derangement was nearly if not quite complete. "We had to remove razors +from his room," says Mr. Speed, "take away all knives, and other +dangerous things. It was terrible." Mr. Speed determined to do for him +what Bowlin Greene had done on a similar occasion at New Salem. Having +sold out his store on the first of January, + +1841, he took Lincoln with him to his home in Kentucky and kept him +there during most of the summer and fall, or until he seemed +sufficiently restored to be given his liberty again, when he was brought +back to Springfield. His health was soon regained, and on the 4th of +November, 1842, the marriage between him and Miss Todd was celebrated +according to the rites of the Episcopal Church. After the marriage +Lincoln secured pleasant rooms for himself and wife at the Globe Tavern, +at a cost of four dollars a week. In 1844 he purchased of the Rev. +Nathan Dressar the plain dwelling which was his home for the ensuing +seventeen years, and which he left in 1861 to enter the White House. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + + Lincoln in National Politics--His Congressional + Aspirations--Law-Partnership of Lincoln and Herndon--The + Presidential Campaign of 1844--Visit to Henry Clay--Lincoln Elected + to Congress--Congressional Reputation--Acquaintance with + Distinguished Men--First Speech in Congress--"Getting the Hang" of + the House--Lincoln's Course on the Mexican War--Notable Speech in + Congress--Ridicule of General Cass--Bill for the Abolition of + Slavery--Delegate to the Whig National Convention of 1848--Stumping + the Country for Taylor--Advice to Young Politicians--"Old Abe"--A + Political Disappointment--Lincoln's Appearance as an Office Seeker + in Washington--"A Divinity that Shapes our Ends." + +In the spring of 1843 Lincoln was among the nominees proposed to +represent the Sangamon district in Congress; but Col. Edward D. Baker +carried the delegation, and was elected. In writing to his friend Speed, +Lincoln treated the circumstance with his usual humor. "We had," he +says, "a meeting of the Whigs of the county here last Monday to appoint +delegates to a district convention. 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 delegates; so that in getting +Baker the nomination I shall be 'fixed' a good deal like a fellow who is +made groomsman to the man who 'cut him out' and is marrying his own +girl." + +On the 20th of September, 1843, the partnership between Lincoln and +Judge Logan was dissolved; and the same day a new association was formed +with William H. Herndon, a relative of one of Lincoln's former friends +of Clary Grove. It is said that in spite of their close friendship Mr. +Herndon could not understand it when Lincoln one day plunged up the +office stairs and said, "Herndon, should you like to be my partner?" +"Don't laugh at me, Mr. Lincoln," was the response. Persistent +repetition of the question could hardly gain a hearing; but at last Mr. +Herndon said: "Mr. Lincoln, you know I am too young, and I have no +standing and no money; but if you are in earnest, there is nothing in +this world that would make me so happy." Nothing more was said till the +papers were brought to Herndon to sign. The partnership of "Lincoln & +Herndon" was a happy one, and continued until Lincoln became President, +a period of nearly eighteen years. + +The life of Henry Clay, which Lincoln read in his boyhood, had filled +him with enthusiasm for the great Whig leader; and when the latter was +nominated for the Presidency, in 1844, there was no more earnest +adherent of his cause than the "Sangamon Chief," as Lincoln was now +called. Lincoln canvassed Illinois and a part of Indiana during the +campaign, meeting the chief Democratic speakers, and especially Douglas, +in debate. Lincoln had not at this time heard the "silvery-tongued +orator" of Kentucky; but two years later the opportunity was afforded +and eagerly embraced. It is possible, as Dr. Holland remarks, that he +"needed the influence of this visit to restore a healthy tone to his +feelings, and to teach him that the person whom his imagination had +transformed into a demigod was only a man, possessing the full measure +of weaknesses common to men. In 1846 Lincoln learned that Clay was to +deliver a speech at Lexington, Kentucky, in favor of gradual +emancipation. This event seemed to give him an excuse for breaking away +from his business and satisfying his desire to look his demigod in the +face and hear the music of his eloquence. He accordingly went to +Lexington, and arrived there in time to attend the meeting. On returning +to his home from this visit he did not attempt to disguise his +disappointment. Clay's speech was written and read; it lacked entirely +the fire and eloquence which Lincoln had anticipated. At the close of +the meeting Lincoln secured an introduction to the great orator and as +Clay knew what a friend Lincoln had been to him, he invited his admirer +and partisan to Ashland. No invitation could have delighted Lincoln +more. But the result of his private intercourse with Clay was no more +satisfactory than that which followed the speech. Those who have known +both men will not wonder at this; for two men could hardly be more +unlike in their motives and manners than the two thus brought together. +One was a proud man; the other was a humble man. One was princely in his +bearing; the other was lowly. One was distant and dignified; the other +was as simple and approachable as a child. One received the deference of +men as his due; the other received it with an uncomfortable sense of his +unworthiness. A friend of Lincoln, who had a long conversation with him +after his return from Ashland, found that his old enthusiasm was gone. +Lincoln said that though Clay was polished in his manners, and very +hospitable, he betrayed a consciousness of superiority that none could +mistake." + +For two years after the Presidential contest between Clay and Polk, +Lincoln devoted himself assiduously to his law practice. But in 1846 he +was again active in politics, this time striving for a seat in the +National Congress. His chief opponent among the Whig candidates was his +old friend John J. Hardin, who soon withdrew from the contest, leaving +Mr. Lincoln alone in the field. The candidate on the Democratic ticket +was Peter Cartwright, the famous Methodist preacher. It was supposed +from his great popularity as a pulpit orator that Mr. Cartwright would +run far ahead of his ticket. Instead of this, Lincoln received a +majority of 1,511 in his district, which in 1844 had given Clay a +majority of only 914 and in 1848 had allowed the Whig candidate for +Congress to be defeated by 106 votes. + +Lincoln took his seat in the Thirtieth Congress in December, 1847, the +only Whig member from Illinois. Among the notable members of this +Congress were ex-president John Quincy Adams; Andrew Johnson, elected +Vice-President with Lincoln on his second election; A.H. Stephens, +afterwards Vice-President of the Confederacy; Toombs, Rhett, Cobb, and +others who afterwards became leaders of the Rebellion. In the Senate +were Daniel Webster, Simon Cameron, Lewis Cass, Mason, Hunter, John C. +Calhoun, and Jefferson Davis. + +Lincoln entered Congress as the Illinois leader of the Whig party. He +was reputed to be an able and effective speaker. In speaking of the +impression he made upon his associates, the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop +says: "I recall vividly the impressions I then formed both of his +ability and amiability. We were old Whigs together, and agreed entirely +upon all questions of public interest. I could not always concur in the +policy of the party which made him President, but I never lost my +personal regard for him. For shrewdness, sagacity, and keen practical +sense, he has had no superior in our day or generation." + +Alexander H. Stephens, writing seventeen years after Lincoln's death, +recalled their service together in Congress. "I knew Mr. Lincoln well +and intimately," said Mr. Stephens. "We both were ardent supporters of +General Taylor for President in 1848. Lincoln, Toombs, Preston, myself, +and others, formed the first Congressional Taylor Club, known as 'The +Young Indians,' and organized the Taylor movement which resulted in his +nomination. Mr. Lincoln was careless as to his manners and awkward in +his speech, but possessed a strong, clear, vigorous mind. He always +attracted and riveted the attention of the House when he spoke. His +manner of speech as well as of thought was original. He had no model. He +was a man of strong convictions, and what Carlyle would have called an +_earnest_ man. He abounded in anecdote. He illustrated everything he +was talking about by an anecdote, always exceedingly apt and pointed; +and socially he always kept his company in a roar of laughter." + +Alluding to his first speech in Congress--on some post-office question +of no special interest--Lincoln wrote to his friend Herndon that his +principal object was to "get the hang of the House"; adding that he +"found speaking here and elsewhere about the same thing. I was about as +badly scared as when I spoke in court, but no more so." + +Lincoln's mental power, as well as his self-confidence, developed +rapidly under the responsibilities of his new position. During his term +of service in the House he was zealous in the performance of his duties, +alert to seize every opportunity to strike a blow for his party and +acquit himself to the satisfaction of his constituents. In January, +1848, he made a telling speech in support of the "Spot Resolutions," in +which his antagonism to the course of the Administration in regard to +the war on Mexico was uncompromisingly announced. These resolutions were +offered for the purpose of getting from President Polk a statement of +facts regarding the beginning of the war. In this speech Lincoln warned +the President not to try to "escape scrutiny by fixing the public gaze +upon the exceeding brightness of military glory--that attractive rainbow +that rises in showers of blood, that serpent's eye that charms but to +destroy." In writing, a few days after the delivery of this speech, to +Mr. Herndon, Lincoln said: "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. If you had skulked one +vote you would have had to skulk many more before the end of the +session. Richardson's resolutions, introduced before I made any move or +gave any vote upon the subject, make a direct question of the justice +of the war; so no man can be silent if he would. You are compelled to +speak; and your only alternative is to tell the _truth_ or tell a _lie_. +I cannot doubt which you would do." + +Lincoln's position on the Mexican War has been generally approved by the +moral sense of the country; but it gave his political enemies an +opportunity, which they were not slow to improve, for trying to make +political capital out of it and using it to create a prejudice against +him. Douglas in particular never missed an opportunity of referring to +it. In the great joint debate in 1858 he spoke of Lincoln's having +"distinguished himself in Congress by his opposition to the Mexican War, +taking the side of the common enemy against his own country." No better +refutation of these oft-repeated charges could be made than that given +by Lincoln himself on this occasion. "The Judge charges me," he said, +"with having, while in Congress, opposed our soldiers who were fighting +in the Mexican War. I will tell you what he can prove by referring to +the record. You remember I was an old Whig; and whenever the Democratic +party tried to get me to vote that _the war had been righteously begun_ +by the President, I would not do it. But whenever they asked for any +money or land-warrants, or anything to pay the soldiers, I gave _the +same vote that Judge Douglas did_. Such is the truth, and the Judge has +a right to make all he can out of it." + +The most ambitious utterance of Lincoln during this term in Congress was +that of July 27, 1848, when he took for his subject the very +comprehensive one of "The Presidency and General Politics." It was a +piece of sound and forcible argumentation, relieved by strong and +effective imagery and quiet humor. A considerable portion of it was +occupied with an exposure of the weaknesses of General Cass, the +Presidential candidate opposed to General Taylor. Lincoln ridiculed Cass +with all the wit at his command. An extract from this speech has +already been quoted in this work, in the account of Lincoln in the Black +Hawk War. Another passage, equally telling, relates to the vacillating +action of General Cass on the Wilmot Proviso. After citing a number of +facts in reference to the case, Lincoln says: "These extracts show that +in 1846 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-gad waving in his face, and to hear +indistinctly a voice saying, 'Back! Back, sir! Back a little!' He shakes +his head and bats his eyes and blunders back to his position of March, +1847. But still the gad 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 gad is still and the +voice soothingly says, 'So! Stand still at that!'" + +Again, after extended comment on the extra charges of General Cass upon +the Treasury for military services, he continued in a still more +sarcastic vein: "But I have introduced General Cass's accounts here +chiefly to show the wonderful physical capacities of the man. They show +that he not only did the labor of several men _at the same time_, but +that he often did it _at several places_ many hundred miles apart _at +the same time_. And at eating, too, his capacities are shown to be quite +as wonderful. From October, 1821, to May, 1822, he ate ten rations a day +in Michigan, ten rations a day here in Washington, and near five +dollars' worth a day besides, partly on the road between the two places. +And then there is an important discovery in his example--the art of +being paid for what one eats, instead of having to pay for it. +Hereafter if any nice young man shall owe a bill which he cannot pay in +any other way he can just board it out. Mr. Speaker, we have all heard +of the animal standing in doubt between two stacks of hay and starving +to death. The like of that would never happen to General Cass. Place the +stacks a thousand miles apart, he would stand stock-still midway between +them and eat them _both at once;_ and the green grass along the line +would be apt to suffer some, too, at the same time. By all means make +him President, gentlemen. He will feed you bounteously--if--if--there is +any left after he shall have helped himself." + +Lincoln's most important act in the Congress of 1848-9 was the +introduction of a bill for the gradual abolition of slavery in the +District of Columbia. But the state of feeling on the subject of +emancipation was so feverish at the time that the bill could not even be +got before the House. + +The Whig National Convention met at Philadelphia the first of June, to +nominate a candidate for the Presidency. Lincoln attended the Convention +as a delegate from Illinois. During the campaign of 1848 he labored +earnestly for the election of General Taylor. This campaign made him +known more generally throughout the country, as he spoke in New York and +New England as well as in Illinois and the West. + +While in Washington, Lincoln kept up a free correspondence with his +friend and law-partner Herndon, which affords many interesting glimpses +of his thoughts and views. In one of these letters, endeavoring to +incite Herndon to political ambition, he wrote: "Nothing could afford me +more satisfaction than to learn that you and others of my young friends +at home were doing battle in the contest, endearing themselves to the +people and taking a stand far above any I have ever been able to reach +in their admiration. I cannot conceive that other old men feel +differently. Of course, I cannot demonstrate what I say; but I was young +once, and I am sure I was never ungenerously thrust back. The way for a +young man to rise is to improve himself in every way he can, never +suspecting that anybody wishes to hinder him. Allow me to assure you +that suspicion and jealousy never did help any man in any situation. +There may sometimes be ungenerous attempts to keep a young man down; and +they will succeed, too, if he allows his mind to be diverted from its +true channel, to brood over the attempted injury. Cast about and see if +this feeling has not injured every person you have ever known to fall +into it. Now, in what I have said I am sure you will suspect nothing but +sincere friendship. I would save you from a fatal error. You have been a +laborious, studious young man. You are far better informed on almost all +subjects than I have ever been. You cannot fail in any laudable object +unless you allow your mind to be improperly directed. I have some the +advantage of you in the world's experience, merely by being older; and +it is this that induces me to offer you this advice." + +It will be observed that, in this letter Lincoln speaks of himself as an +"old man." This had been a habit with him for years; and yet at this +date he was under thirty-nine. He was already beginning to be known as +"Old Abe." Hon. E.B. Washburne states that he remembers hearing him thus +called, in Chicago, in July, 1847. "One afternoon," says Mr. Washburne, +"several of us sat on the sidewalk under the balcony in front of the +Sherman House, and among the number was the accomplished scholar and +unrivalled orator, Lisle Smith, who suddenly interrupted the +conversation by exclaiming, 'There is Lincoln on the other side of the +street! _Just look at old Abe!_' And from that time we all called him +'Old Abe.' No one who saw him can forget his personal appearance at that +time. Tall, angular, and awkward, he had on a short-waisted, thin, +swallow-tail coat, a short vest of the same material, thin pantaloons +scarcely coming down to his ankles, a straw hat, and a pair of brogans, +with woollen socks." + +During the summer following the expiration of Lincoln's term in Congress +(March 4, 1849) he made a strong effort to secure the position of +Commissioner of the General Land Office, but without success. The place +was given to Justin Butterfield of Chicago. It was a severe +disappointment to Lincoln. Major Wilcox, who at the period referred to +lived in McDonough County, Illinois, and in early days was a Whig +politician, visited Washington to aid Lincoln in seeking this +appointment, and has furnished a graphic account of the circumstances +and of Lincoln's appearance at the national capital in the novel +capacity of an office-seeker. Major Wilcox says that in June, 1849, he +went to Washington and had an interview with the newly-inaugurated +President, General Taylor, regarding Lincoln's appointment to the +desired office. The interview was but partially satisfactory, the +President remarking that he was favorable to Lincoln, but that Mr. +Butterfield was very strongly urged for the place and the chances of +appointment were in his favor. Lincoln had arranged to be in Washington +at a time specified, after Major Wilcox should have had opportunity to +look the ground over. Major Wilcox says that he went to the railroad +depot to meet Lincoln at the train. It was in the afternoon, towards +night. The day had been quite warm, and the road was dry and dusty. He +found Lincoln just emerging from the depot. He had on a thin suit of +summer clothes, his coat being a linen duster, much soiled. His whole +appearance was decidedly shabby. He carried in his hand an old-fashioned +carpet-sack, which added to the oddity of his appearance. Major Wilcox +says if it had been anybody else he would have been rather shy of being +seen in his company, because of the awkward and unseemly appearance he +presented. Lincoln immediately began to talk about his chances for the +appointment; whereupon Major Wilcox related to him everything that had +transpired, and what President Taylor had said to him. They proceeded at +once to Major Wilcox's room, where they sat down to look over the +situation. Lincoln took from his pocket a paper he had prepared in the +case, which comprised eleven reasons why he should be appointed +Commissioner of the General Land Office. Amongst other things Lincoln +presented the fact that he had been a member of Congress from Illinois +two years; that his location was in the West, where the government lands +were; that he was a native of the West, and had been reared under +Western influences. He gave reasons why the appointment should be given +to Illinois, and particularly to the southern part of the State. Major +Wilcox says that he was forcibly struck by the clear, convincing, and +methodical statement of Lincoln as contained in these eleven reasons why +he should have the appointment. But it was given to Mr. Butterfield. + +After Lincoln became President, a Member of Congress asked him for an +appointment in the army in behalf of a son of the same Justin +Butterfield. When the application was presented, the President paused, +and after a moment's silence, said: "Mr. Justin Butterfield once +obtained an appointment I very much wanted, in which my friends believed +I could have been useful, and to which they thought I was fairly +entitled. I hardly ever felt so bad at any failure in my life. But I am +glad of an opportunity of doing a service to his son." And he made an +order for his commission. In lieu of the desired office, General Taylor +offered Lincoln the post of Governor, and afterwards of Secretary, of +Oregon Territory; but these offers he declined. In after years a friend +remarked to him, alluding to the event: "How fortunate that you +declined! If you had gone to Oregon you might have come back as +Senator, but you would never have been President." "Yes, you are +probably right," said Lincoln; and then, with a musing, dreamy look, he +added: "I have all my life been a fatalist. What is to be, will be; or, +rather, I have found all my life, as Hamlet says,-- + + 'There's a divinity that shapes our ends, + Rough-hew them how we will.'" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + + Lincoln again in Springfield--Back to the Circuit--His Personal + Manners and Appearance--Glimpses of Home-Life--His Family--His + Absent-Mindedness--A Painful Subject--Lincoln a Man of + Sorrows--Familiar Appearance on the Streets of Springfield--Scenes + in the Law-Office--Forebodings of a "Great or Miserable End "--An + Evening with Lincoln in Chicago--Lincoln's Tenderness to His + Relatives--Death of His Father--A Sensible Adviser--Care of His + Step-Mother--Tribute from Her. + +Retiring, somewhat reluctantly, from Washington life, which he seems to +have liked very much, Lincoln returned to Springfield in 1849 and +resumed the practice of the law. He declined an advantageous offer of a +law-partnership at Chicago, made him by Judge Goodrich, giving as a +reason that if he went to Chicago he would have to sit down and study +hard, and this would kill him; that he would rather go around the +circuit in the country than to sit down and die in a big city. So he +settled down once more in the rather uneventful and fairly prosperous +life of a country lawyer. + +A gentleman who knew Lincoln intimately in Springfield, in his maturity, +has given the following capital description of him. "He stands six feet +four inches high in his stockings. His frame is not muscular, but gaunt +and wiry; his arms are long, but not disproportionately so for a person +of his height; his lower limbs are not disproportioned to his body. In +walking, his gait, though firm, is never brisk. He steps slowly and +deliberately, almost always with his head inclined forward and his hands +clasped behind his back. In matters of dress he is by no means precise. +Always clean, he is never fashionable; he is careless, but not slovenly. +In manner he is remarkably cordial and at the same time simple. His +politeness is always sincere but never elaborate and oppressive. A warm +shake of the hand and a warmer smile of recognition are his methods of +greeting his friends. At rest, his features, though those of a man of +mark, are not such as belong to a handsome man; but when his fine dark +gray eyes are lighted up by any emotion, and his features begin their +play, he would be chosen from among a crowd as one who had in him not +only the kindly sentiments which women love but the heavier metal of +which full-grown men and Presidents are made. His hair is black, and, +though thin, is wiry. His head sits well on his shoulders, but beyond +that it defies description. It nearer resembles that of Clay than that +of Webster; but it is unlike either. It is very large, and +phrenologically well proportioned, betokening power in all its +developments. A slightly Roman nose, a wide-cut mouth, and a dark +complexion, with the appearance of having been weather-beaten, complete +the description." + +Of Lincoln's life at this period, another writer says: "He lived simply, +comfortably, and respectably, with neither expensive tastes nor habits. +His wants were few and simple. He occupied a small unostentatious house +in Springfield, and was in the habit of entertaining, in a very simple +way, his friends and his brethren of the bar during the terms of the +court and the sessions of the Legislature. Mrs. Lincoln often +entertained small numbers of friends at dinner and somewhat larger +numbers at evening parties. In his modest and simple home everything was +orderly and refined, and there was always, on the part of both Mr. and +Mrs. Lincoln, a cordial and hearty Western welcome which put every guest +at ease. Yet it was the wit and humor, anecdote, and unrivalled +conversation of the host which formed the chief attraction and made a +dinner at Lincoln's cottage an event to be remembered. Lincoln's income +from his profession was now from $2,000 to $3,000 per annum. His +property consisted of his house and lot in Springfield, a lot in the +town of Lincoln which had been given to him, and 160 acres of wild land +in Iowa which he had received for his services in the Black Hawk War. He +owned a few law and miscellaneous books. All his property may have been +of the value of $10,000 or $12,000." + +Lincoln was at this time the father of two sons: Robert Todd, born on +the 1st day of August, 1843; and Edward Baker, born on the 10th of +March, 1846. In a letter to his friend Speed, dated October 22 of the +latter year, Lincoln writes: "We have another boy, born the 10th of +March. He is very much such a child as Bob was at his age, rather of a +_longer_ order. Bob is 'short and low,' and I expect he always will be. +He talks very plainly, almost as plainly as anybody. He is quite smart +enough. I sometimes fear he is one of the little _rare-ripe_ sort that +are smarter at about five than ever after. He has a great deal of that +sort of mischief that is the offspring of much animal spirits. Since I +began this letter a messenger came to tell me Bob was lost; but by the +time I reached the house his mother had found him and had him whipped. +By now, very likely, he is run away again." + +December 21, 1850, a third son, William Wallace, was born to him; and on +April 4, 1853, a fourth and last child, named Thomas. + +"A young man bred in Springfield," says Dr. Holland, "speaks of a vision +of Lincoln, as he appeared in those days, that has clung to his memory +very vividly. The young man's way to school led by the lawyer's door. On +almost any fair summer morning he would find Lincoln on the sidewalk in +front of his house, drawing a child backward and forward in a little +gig. Without hat or coat, wearing a pair of rough shoes, his hands +behind him holding to the tongue of the gig, and his tall form bent +forward to accommodate himself to the service, he paced up and down the +walk forgetful of everything around him and intent only on some subject +that absorbed his mind. The young man says he remembers wondering in his +boyish way how so rough and plain a man should happen to live in so +respectable a house. The habit of mental absorption, or +'absent-mindedness' as it is called, was common with him always, but +particularly during the formative periods of his life. The New Salem +people, it will be remembered, thought him crazy because he passed his +best friends in the street without seeing them. At the table, in his own +family, he often sat down without knowing or realizing where he was, and +ate his food mechanically. When he 'came to himself' it was a trick with +him to break the silence by the quotation of some verse of poetry from a +favorite author. It relieved the awkwardness of the situation, served as +a 'blind' to the thoughts which had possessed him, and started +conversation in a channel that led as far as possible from the subject +that he had set aside." + +Mr. Lamon has written with great freedom of the sorrow that brooded over +Lincoln's home. Some knowledge of the blight which this cast upon his +life is necessary for a right interpretation of the gloomy moods that +constantly oppressed him and left their indelible impress on his face +and character. Mr. Lamon states unreservedly that Lincoln's marriage was +an unhappy one. The circumstances preceding his union with Miss Todd +have been related. Mr. Lamon says: "He was conscientious and honorable +and just. There was but one way of repairing the injury he had done Miss +Todd, and he adopted it. They were married; but they understood each +other, and suffered the inevitable consequences. Such troubles seldom +fail to find a tongue; and it is not strange that in this case neighbors +and friends, and ultimately the whole country, came to know the state of +things in that house. Lincoln scarcely attempted to conceal it. He +talked of it with little or no reserve to his wife's relatives, as well +as to his own friends. Yet the gentleness and patience with which he +bore this affliction from day to day and from year to year was enough to +move the shade of Socrates. It touched his acquaintances deeply, and +they gave it the widest publicity." Mrs. Colonel Chapman, daughter of +Dennis Hanks and a relative of Lincoln, made him a long visit previous +to her marriage. "You ask me," says she, "how Mr. Lincoln acted at home. +I can say, and that truly, he was all that a husband, father, and +neighbor should be, kind and affectionate to his wife and child ('Bob' +being the only one they had when I was with them), and very pleasant to +all around him. Never did I hear him utter an unkind word." + +It seems impossible to arrive at all the causes of Lincoln's melancholy +disposition. He was, according to his most intimate friends, totally +unlike other people,--was, in fact, "a mystery." But whatever the +history or the cause,--whether physical reasons, the absence of domestic +concord, a series of painful recollections of his mother, of early +sorrows and hardships, of Anne Rutledge and fruitless hopes, or all +these combined,--Lincoln was a terribly sad and gloomy man. "I do not +think that he knew what happiness was for twenty years," says Mr. +Herndon. "'_Terrible_' is the word which all his friends used to +describe him in the black mood. 'It was terrible! It was terrible!' said +one to another." Judge Davis believes that Lincoln's hilarity was mainly +simulated, and that "his stories and jokes were intended to whistle off +sadness." "The groundwork of his social nature was sad," says Judge +Scott. "But for the fact that he studiously cultivated the humorous, it +would have been very sad indeed. His mirth always seemed to me to be put +on; like a plant produced in a hot-bed, it had an unnatural and +luxuriant growth." Mr. Herndon, Lincoln's law-partner and most intimate +friend, describes him at this period as a "thin, tall, wiry, sinewy, +grizzly, raw-boned man, looking 'woe-struck.' His countenance was +haggard and careworn, exhibiting all the marks of deep and protracted +suffering. Every feature of the man--the hollow eyes, with the dark +rings beneath; the long, sallow, cadaverous face intersected by those +peculiar deep lines; his whole air; his walk; his long silent reveries, +broken at long intervals by sudden and startling exclamations, as if to +confound an observer who might suspect the nature of his +thoughts,--showed he was a man of sorrows, not sorrows of to-day or +yesterday, but long-treasured and deep, bearing with him a continual +sense of weariness and pain. He was a plain, homely, sad, weary-looking +man, to whom one's heart warmed involuntarily because he seemed at once +miserable and kind." + +Mr. Page Eaton, an old resident of Springfield, says: "Lincoln always +did his own marketing, even after he was elected President and before +he went to Washington. I used to see him at the butcher's or baker's +every morning, with his basket on his arm. He was kind and sociable, +and would always speak to everyone. He was so kind, so childlike, that +I don't believe there was one in the city who didn't love him as a +father or brother." "On a winter's morning," says Mr. Lamon, "he could +be seen wending his way to the market, with a basket on his arm and at +his side a little boy whose small feet rattled and pattered over the +ice-bound pavement, attempting to make up by the number of his short +steps for the long strides of his father. The little fellow jerked at +the bony hand which held his, and prattled and questioned, begged and +grew petulant, in a vain effort to make his father talk to him. But +the latter was probably unconscious of the other's existence, and +stalked on, absorbed in his own reflections. He wore on such occasions +an old gray shawl, rolled into a coil and wrapped like a rope around +his neck. The rest of his clothes were in keeping. 'He did not walk +cunningly--Indian-like--but cautiously and firmly.' His tread was even +and strong. He was a little pigeon-toed; and this, with another +peculiarity, made his walk very singular. He set his whole foot flat +on the ground, and in turn lifted it all at once--not resting +momentarily upon the toe as the foot rose nor upon the heel as it +fell. He never wore his shoes out at the heel and the toe, as most men +do, more than at the middle. Yet his gait was not altogether awkward, +and there was manifest physical power in his step. As he moved along +thus, silent and abstracted, his thoughts dimly reflected in his sharp +face, men turned to look after him as an object of sympathy as well as +curiosity. His melancholy, in the words of Mr. Herndon, '_dripped from +him_ as he walked.' If, however, he met a friend in the street, and +was roused by a hearty 'Good-morning, Lincoln!' he would grasp the +friend's hand with one or both of his own, and with his usual +expression of 'Howdy! howdy!' would detain him to hear a story; +something reminded him of it; it happened in Indiana, and it must be +told, for it was wonderfully pertinent. It was not at home that he +most enjoyed seeing company. He preferred to meet his friends +abroad,--on a street-corner, in an office, at the court-house, or +sitting on nail-kegs in a country store." Mrs. Lincoln experienced +great difficulty in securing the punctual attendance of her husband at +the family meals. Dr. Bateman has repeatedly seen two of the boys +pulling with all their might at his coat-tails, and a third pushing in +front, while _paterfamilias_ stood upon the street cordially shaking +the hand of an old acquaintance. + +After his breakfast-hour, says Mr. Lamon, he would appear at his office +and go about the labors of the day with all his might, displaying +prodigious industry and capacity for continuous application, although he +never was a fast worker. Sometimes it happened that he came without his +breakfast; and then he would have in his hands a piece of cheese or +bologna sausage, and a few crackers, bought by the way. At such times he +did not speak to his partner, or his friends if any happened to be +present; the tears perhaps struggling into his eyes, while his pride was +struggling to keep them back. Mr. Herndon knew the whole story at a +glance. There was no speech between them, but neither wished the +visitors at the office to witness the scene. So Lincoln retired to the +back office while Mr. Herndon locked the front one and walked away with +the key in his pocket. In an hour or more the latter would return and +perhaps find Lincoln calm and collected. Otherwise he went out again and +waited until he was so. Then the office was opened and everything went +on as usual. + +"His mind was filled with gloomy forebodings and strong apprehensions of +impending evil, mingled with extravagant visions of personal grandeur +and power. He never doubted for a moment that he was formed for some +'great or miserable end.' He talked about it frequently and sometimes +calmly. Mr. Herndon remembers many of these conversations in their +office at Springfield and in their rides around the circuit. Lincoln +said the impression had grown in him all his life; but Mr. Herndon +thinks it was about 1840 that it took the character of a 'religious +conviction.' He had then suffered much, and considering his +opportunities he had achieved great things. He was already a leader +among men, and a most brilliant career had been promised him by the +prophetic enthusiasm of many friends. Thus encouraged and stimulated, +and feeling himself growing gradually stronger and stronger in the +estimation of 'the plain people' whose voice was more potent than all +the Warwicks, his ambition painted the rainbow of glory in the sky, +while his morbid melancholy supplied the clouds that were to overcast +and obliterate it with the wrath and ruin of the tempest. To him it was +fate, and there was no escape or defense. The presentiment never +deserted him. It was as clear, as perfect, as certain as any image +conveyed by the senses. He had now entertained it so long that it was as +much a part of his nature as the consciousness of identity. All doubts +had faded away, and he submitted humbly to a power which he could +neither comprehend nor resist. He was to fall,--fall from a lofty place +and in the performance of a great work." + +On one occasion Lincoln visited Chicago as counsel in a case in the +U.S. District Court. The Hon. N.B. Judd, an intimate friend, was also +engaged upon the case, and took Mr. Lincoln home with him as a guest. +The following account of this visit is given by Mrs. Judd in Oldroyd's +Memorial Album: "Mr. Judd had invited Mr. Lincoln to spend the evening +at our pleasant home on the shore of Lake Michigan. After tea, and until +quite late, we sat on the broad piazza, looking out upon as lovely a +scene as that which has made the Bay of Naples so celebrated. A number +of vessels were availing themselves of a fine breeze to leave the +harbor, and the lake was studded with many a white sail. I remember that +a flock of sea-gulls were flying along the beach, dipping their beaks +and white-lined wings in the foam that capped the short waves as they +fell upon the shore. Whilst we sat there the great white moon appeared +on the rim of the eastern horizon and slowly crept above the water, +throwing a perfect flood of silver light upon the dancing waves. The +stars shone with the soft light of a midsummer night, and the breaking +of the low waves upon the shore added the charm of pleasant sound to the +beauty of the night. Mr. Lincoln, whose home was far inland from the +great lakes, seemed greatly impressed with the wondrous beauty of the +scene, and carried by its impressiveness away from all thought of jars +and turmoil of earth. In that mild, pleasant voice, attuned to harmony +with his surroundings, as was his wont when his soul was stirred by +aught that was lovely or beautiful, Mr. Lincoln began to speak of the +mystery which for ages enshrouded and shut out those distant worlds +above us from our own; of the poetry and beauty which was seen and felt +by seers of old when they contemplated Orion and Arcturus as they +wheeled, seemingly around the earth, in their nightly course; of the +discoveries since the invention of the telescope, which had thrown a +flood of light and knowledge on what before was incomprehensible and +mysterious; of the wonderful computations of scientists who had measured +the miles of seemingly endless space which separated the planets in our +solar system from our central sun, and our sun from other suns. He +speculated on the possibilities of knowledge which an increased power of +the lens would give in the years to come. When the night air became too +chilling to remain longer on the piazza we went into the parlor. Seated +on the sofa, his long limbs stretching across the carpet and his arms +folded behind him, Mr. Lincoln went on to speak of other discoveries, of +the inventions which had been made during the long cycles of time lying +between the present and those early days when the sons of Adam began to +make use of material things about them and invent instruments of various +kinds in brass and gold and silver. He gave us a short but succinct +account of all the inventions referred to in the Old Testament, from the +time when Adam walked in the garden of Eden until the Bible record +ended, 600 B.C. I said, 'Mr. Lincoln, I did not know you were such a +Bible student.' He replied: 'I must be honest, Mrs. Judd, and tell you +just how I come to know so much about these early inventions.' He then +went on to say that in discussing with some friend the relative age of +the discovery and use of the precious metals he went to the Bible to +satisfy himself and became so interested in his researches that he made +memoranda of the different discoveries and inventions. Soon after, he +was invited to lecture before some literary society, I think in +Bloomington. The interest he had felt in the study convinced him that +the subject would interest others, and he therefore prepared and +delivered his lecture on The Age of Different Inventions. 'Of course,' +he added, 'I could not after that forget the order or time of such +discoveries and inventions.'" + +In all the years that had passed since Lincoln left his father's humble +house, he had preserved an affectionate interest in the welfare of its +various members. He paid them visits whenever he could find opportunity, +and never failed to extend his aid and sympathy whenever needed. He had +risen to success in his profession, was widely known throughout his +section, and though still a poor man he had good prospects and +considerable influence. Yet he ever retained a considerate regard and +remembrance for the poor and obscure relatives he had left plodding in +the humble ways of life. He never assumed the slightest superiority to +them. Whenever, upon his circuit, he found time, he always visited them. +Countless times he was known to leave his companions at the village +hotel after a hard day's work in the court-room and spend the evening +with these old friends and companions of his humbler days. On one +occasion, when urged not to go, he replied, "Why, Aunt's heart would be +broken if I should leave town without calling upon her,"--yet he was +obliged to walk several miles to make the call. As his fortunes improved +he often sent money and presents to his father and step-mother, bought +land for them, and tried in every way to make them comfortable and +happy. The father was gratified at these marks of affection, and felt +great pride in the rising prosperity of his son. Mr. Herndon says that +"for years Lincoln supported or helped to support his aged father and +mother. It is to his honor that he dearly loved his step-mother, and it +is equally true that she idolized her step-son. He purchased a piece of +property in Coles County as a home for his father and mother, and had +it deeded in trust for their use and benefit." + +In 1851 Lincoln's father died, at the age of seventy-three. The +following letter, written a few days before this event, reveals the +affectionate solicitude of the son: + + Springfield, Jan. 12,1851. + + DEAR BROTHER:--On the day before yesterday I received a letter from + Harriet, written at Greenup. She says she has just returned from + your house, and that father is very low and will hardly recover. + She also says that you have written me two letters, and that, + although you do not expect me to come now, you wonder that I do not + write. I received both your letters; and although I have not + answered them, it is not because I have forgotten them, or not been + interested about them, but because it appeared to me I could write + nothing which could do any good. You already know I desire that + neither father nor mother shall be in want of any comfort, either + in health or sickness, while they live; and I feel sure you have + not failed to use my name, if necessary, to procure a doctor or + anything else for father in his present sickness. My business is + such that I could hardly leave home now, if it were not, as it is, + that my wife is sick a-bed. I sincerely hope father may yet recover + his health; but, at all events, tell him to remember to call upon + and confide in our great and good and merciful Maker, who will not + turn away from him in any extremity. He notes the fall of a + sparrow, and numbers the hairs of our heads; and He will not forget + the dying man who puts his trust in Him. Say to him, that if we + could meet now it is doubtful whether it would not be more painful + than pleasant; but that if it be his lot to go now he will soon + have a joyous meeting with loved ones gone before, and where the + rest of us, through the help of God, hope ere long to join them. + + Write me again when you receive this. + + Affectionately, + A. LINCOLN. + +The step-brother, John Johnston, to whom the foregoing letter is +addressed, was the cause of considerable anxiety to Lincoln. It was with +him that their parents resided, and frequent were his appeals to +Lincoln to extricate him from some pecuniary strait into which he had +fallen through his confirmed thriftlessness and improvidence. "John +Johnston," Mr. Herndon says, "was an indolent and shiftless man, one who +was 'born tired.' Yet he was clever, generous and hospitable." The +following document affords a hint of Lincoln's kindly patience as well +as of his capacity for sound practical advice when it was much needed: + + DEAR JOHNSTON:--Your request for eighty dollars I do not think it + best to comply with now. At the various times when I have helped + you a little you have said to me, 'We can get along very well now'; + but in a very short time I find you in the same difficulty again. + Now, this can only happen by some defect in your conduct. What that + defect is, I think I know. You are not lazy, and still you are an + idler. I doubt whether, since I saw you, you have done a good whole + day's work in any one day. You do not very much dislike to work, + and still you do not work much, merely because it does not seem to + you that you could get much for it. This habit of uselessly wasting + time is the whole difficulty; and it is vastly important to you, + and still more so to your children, that you should break the + habit. It is more important to them, because they have longer to + live, and can keep out of an idle habit before they are in it + easier than they can get out after they are in. You are now in need + of some money; and what I propose is that you shall go to work, + 'tooth and nail,' for somebody who will give you money for it. Let + father and your boys take charge of things at home, prepare for a + crop, and make the crop, and you go to work for the best + money-wages, or in discharge of any debt you owe, that you can get; + and, to secure you a fair reward for your labor, I now promise you, + that, for every dollar you will, between this and the first of next + May, get for your own labor, either in money or as your own + indebtedness, I will then give you one other dollar. By this, if + you hire yourself at ten dollars a month, from me you will get ten + more, making twenty dollars a month for your work. In this I do not + mean you shall go off to St. Louis, or the lead-mines, or the + gold-mines in California; but I mean for you to go at it, for the + best wages you can get, close to home, in Coles County. Now, if you + will do this you will soon be out of debt, and, what is better, you + will have a habit that will keep you from getting in debt again. + But if I should now clear you out of debt, next year you would be + in just as deep as ever. You say you would almost give your place + in heaven for $70 or $80. Then you value your place in heaven very + cheap; for I am sure you can, with the offer I make, get the + seventy or eighty dollars for four or five months' work. You say, + if I will furnish you the money, you will deed me the land, and if + you don't pay the money back, you will deliver possession. + Nonsense! If you can't now live with the land, how will you then + live without it? You have always been kind to me, and I do not mean + to be unkind to you. On the contrary, if you will but follow my + advice, you will find it worth more than eighty times eighty + dollars to you. + + Affectionately your brother, + A. LINCOLN. + +In other letters he wrote even more sharply to his thriftless +step-brother. + + Shelbyville, Nov. 4, 1851 + + DEAR BROTHER:--When I came into Charleston, day before yesterday, I + learned that you are anxious to sell the land where you live, and + move to Missouri. I have been thinking of this ever since, and + cannot but think such a notion is utterly foolish. What can you do + in Missouri better than here? Is the land any richer? Can you + there, any more than here, raise corn and wheat and oats without + work? Will any body there, any more than here, do your work for + you? If you intend to go to work, there is no better place than + right where you are; if you do not intend to go to work, you can + not get along anywhere. Squirming and crawling about from place to + place can do no good. You have raised no crop this year; and what + you really want is to sell the land, get the money and spend it. + Part with the land you have, and, my life upon it, you will never + after own a spot big enough to bury you in. Half of what you will + get for the land you will spend in moving to Missouri, and the + other half you will eat and drink and wear out, and no foot of + land will be bought. Now, I feel it is my duty to have no hand in + such a piece of foolery. I feel that it is so even on your own + account, and particularly on mother's account. The eastern forty + acres I intend to keep for mother while she lives; if you will not + cultivate it, it will rent for enough to support her; at least, it + will rent for something. Her dower in the other two forties she can + let you have, and no thanks to me. Now, do not misunderstand this + letter. I do not write it in any unkindness. I write it in order, + if possible, to get you to face the truth, which truth is, you are + destitute because you have idled away all your time. Your thousand + pretences for not getting along better are all nonsense. They + deceive nobody but yourself. _Go to work_ is the only cure for your + case. + + Sincerely yours, + A. LINCOLN. + +In still another letter he reveals his tender solicitude for his +step-mother, as well as his care for his step-brother's unfortunate +children. + + Shelbyville, Nov. 9, 1851 + + DEAR BROTHER:--When I wrote you before, I had not received your + letter. I still think as I did; but if the land can be sold so that + I get $300 to put at interest for mother, I will not object, if she + does not. But before I will make a deed, the money must be had, or + secured beyond all doubt, at ten per cent. As to Abram, I do not + want him on my own account; but I understand he wants to live with + me, so that he can go to school, and get a fair start in the world, + which I very much wish him to have. When I reach home, if I can + make it convenient I will take him, provided there is no mistake + between us as to the object and terms of my taking him. + + In haste, as ever, + A. LINCOLN. + +In speaking of Lincoln's regard for his step-mother, it is interesting +also to learn her opinion of him. A gentleman visiting the old lady +after her son's death says: "She is eighty-four years old, and quite +feeble. She is a plain, unsophisticated old lady, with a frank, open +countenance, a warm heart full of kindness toward others, and in many +respects very much like the President. Abraham was evidently her idol; +she speaks of him still as her 'good boy,' and with much feeling said, +'He was always a good boy, and willing to do just what I wanted. He and +his step-brother never quarrelled but once, and that, you know, is a +great deal for step-brothers. I didn't want him elected President. I +knowed they would kill him.'" She died in April, 1869, and was buried by +the side of her husband, Thomas Lincoln. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + + Lincoln as a Lawyer--His Appearance in Court--Reminiscences of a + Law-Student in Lincoln's Office--An "Office Copy" of Byron--Novel + way of Keeping Partnership Accounts--Charges for Legal + Services--Trial of Bill Armstrong--Lincoln before a Jury--Kindness + toward Unfortunate Clients--Refusing to Defend Guilty + Men--Courtroom Anecdotes--Anecdotes of Lincoln at the Bar--Some + Striking Opinions of Lincoln as a Lawyer. + +The ten years following the close of Lincoln's Congressional service, in +1849, were given to the uninterrupted practice of the law, to which he +devoted himself laboriously and successfully, though not with great +pecuniary gains. His legal fees were regarded by his brethren at the bar +as "ridiculously small." His practice had extended to the Supreme Court +of his State and to the United States District and Circuit Courts, and +he was occasionally retained for cases in other States. With greater +love of money and less sympathy for his fellows, he might have acquired +a fortune in his profession. + +Lincoln never speculated. Apparently he had no great desire to acquire +wealth. He had many opportunities in the days of the State's early +growth to make good and safe investments, but he never took advantage of +them. Many of his fellow lawyers were becoming wealthy, but Lincoln +still rode the circuit wearing the familiar gray shawl about his +shoulders, carrying a carpet-bag filled with papers and a change of +underclothing, and a faded, green cotton umbrella with "A. Lincoln" in +large white muslin letters on the inside. The knob was gone from the +handle of the umbrella and a piece of twine kept it from falling open. A +young lawyer who saw him for the first time thus--one who grew to love +him and who afterwards gave his life for the Union--in relating the +circumstance a long time afterward, exclaimed: "He was the _ungodliest_ +figure I ever saw." + +An interesting and vivid description of Lincoln's personal appearance +and manner in the trial of a case is furnished by one who was a witness +of the scenes which he so admirably describes. The writer says: "While +living in Danville, Illinois, in 1854, I saw Abraham Lincoln for the +first time. The occasion of his visit was as prosecutor of a slander +suit brought by Dr. Fithian against a wealthy farmer whose wife died +under the doctor's hands. The defense was represented by Edward A. +Hannegan, of Indiana, ex-United States Senator and afterward Minister to +Berlin, an able and eloquent man; and O.B. Ficklin, who, after Douglas +and Lincoln, was considered the best lawyer in Illinois. Lincoln had all +he could do to maintain himself against his two formidable adversaries, +but he was equal to the occasion. The trial lasted three or four days, +the examination of witnesses consuming most of the time. In this part of +the work Lincoln displayed remarkable tact. He did not badger the +witnesses, or attempt to confuse them. His questions were plain and +practical, and elicited answers that had a direct bearing upon the case. +He did nothing for effect, and made no attempt to dazzle the jury or +captivate the audience. When he arose to speak he was confronted by an +audience that was too numerous for all to find seats in the court-room. +He was attired in a fine broadcloth suit, silk hat, and polished boots. +His neck was encircled by an old-fashioned silk choker. He perspired +freely, and used a red silk handkerchief to remove the perspiration. His +clothes fitted him, and he was as genteel-looking as any man in the +audience. The slouchy appearance which he is said to have presented on +other occasions was conspicuously absent here. As he stood before the +vast audience, towering above every person around him, he was the centre +of attraction. I can never forget how he looked, as he cast his eyes +over the crowd before beginning his argument. His face was long and +sallow; high cheek bones; large, deep-set eyes, of a grayish-brown +color, shaded by heavy eyebrows; high but not broad forehead; large, +well-formed head, covered with an abundance of coarse black hair, worn +rather long, through which he frequently passed his fingers; arms and +legs of unusual length; head inclined slightly forward, which made him +appear stoop-shouldered. His features betrayed neither excitement nor +anxiety. They were calm and fixed. In short, his appearance was that of +a man who felt the responsibility of his position and was determined to +acquit himself to the best of his ability. I do not remember the points +of his speech; but his manner was so peculiar, so different from that of +other orators whom I have heard, that I can never forget it. He spoke +for almost two hours, entirely without notes and with an eloquence that +I have never heard surpassed. He was all life, all motion; every muscle +and fibre of his body seemed brought into requisition. His voice was +clear, distinct, and well modulated. Every word was clean-cut and +exactly suited to its place. At times he would stoop over until his +hands almost swept the floor. Then he would straighten himself up, fold +his arms across his breast, and take a few steps forward or back. This +movement completed, he would fling his arms above his head, or thrust +them beneath his coat-tails, elevating or depressing his voice to suit +the attitude assumed and the sentiment expressed. Arms and legs were +continually in motion. It seemed impossible for him to stand still. In +the midst of the most impassioned or pathetic portions of his speech, he +would extend his long arms toward the judge or jury, and shake his bony +fingers with an effect that is indescribable. He held his audience to +the last; and when he sat down there was a murmur of applause which the +judge with difficulty prevented from swelling to a roar. The argument +must have been as able as the manner of the speaker was attractive, for +the verdict was in favor of his client. + +"When he had retired to his hotel after the trial, and while conversing +with a number of gentlemen who had called to pay their respects to him, +Lincoln was informed that an old colored woman, who had known him years +before in Kentucky, wished to see him. She was too feeble to come to +him, and desired him to go to her. Ascertaining where she lived, Lincoln +started at once, accompanied by a boy who acted as pilot. He found the +woman in a wretched hovel in the outskirts of the town, sick and +destitute. He remembered her very well, as she had belonged to the owner +of the farm upon which Lincoln was born. He gave her money to supply her +immediate wants, promised her that he would see she did not suffer for +the necessaries of life, and when he returned to town hunted up a +physician and engaged him to give the old woman all the medical +attention that her case demanded." + +Mr. G.W. Harris, whose first meeting with Lincoln in a log school-house +has been previously described in these pages, subsequently became a +clerk in Lincoln's law-office at Springfield, and furnishes some +excellent reminiscences of that interesting period. "A crack-brained +attorney who lived in Springfield, supported mainly by the other lawyers +of the place, became indebted, in the sum of two dollars and fifty +cents, to a wealthy citizen of the county, a recent comer. The creditor, +failing after repeated efforts to collect the amount due him, came to +Mr. Lincoln and asked him to bring suit. Lincoln explained the man's +condition and circumstances, and advised his client to let the matter +rest; but the creditor's temper was up, and he insisted on having suit +brought. Again Lincoln urged him to let the matter drop, adding, 'You +can make nothing out of him, and it will cost you a good deal more than +the debt to bring suit.' The creditor was still determined to have his +way, and threatened to seek some other attorney who would be more +willing to take charge of the matter than Lincoln appeared to be. +Lincoln then said, 'Well, if you are determined that suit shall be +brought, I will bring it; but my charge will be ten dollars.' The money +was paid him, and peremptory orders were given that the suit be brought +that day. After the client's departure, Lincoln went out of the office, +returning in about an hour with an amused look on his face. I asked what +pleased him, and he replied, 'I brought suit against ----, and then +hunted him up, told him what I had done, handed him half of the ten +dollars, and we went over to the squire's office. He confessed judgment +and paid the bill.' Lincoln added that he didn't see any other way to +make things satisfactory for his client as well as the rest of the +parties. + +"Mr. Lincoln had a heart that was more a woman's than a man's--filled to +overflowing with sympathy for those in trouble, and ever ready to +relieve them by any means in his power. He was ever thoughtful of +others' comforts, even to the forgetting of himself. In those early days +his face wore a sad look when at rest--a look that made you feel that +you would like to take from him a part of his burden. One who knew him +then and had known his career since would be inclined to think that he +already felt premonitions of the heavy burdens that his broad shoulders +were to bear, and the sorrows that his kind heart would have to endure. + +"Mr. Lincoln was fond of playing chess and checkers, and usually acted +cautiously upon the defensive until the game had reached a stage where +aggressive movements were clearly justified. He was also somewhat fond +of ten-pins, and occasionally indulged in a game. Whatever may have been +his tastes in his younger days, at this period of his life he took no +interest in fishing-rod or gun. He was indifferent to dress, careless +almost to a fault of his personal appearance. The same indifference +extended to money. So long as his wants were supplied--and they were few +and simple--he seemed to have no further use for money, except in the +giving or the lending of it, with no expectation or desire for its +return, to those whom he thought needed it more than he. Debt he +abhorred, and under no circumstances would he incur it. He was +abstemious in every respect. I have heard him say that he did not know +the taste of liquor. At the table he preferred plain food, and a very +little satisfied him. + +"Under no circumstances would he, as an attorney, take a case he knew to +be wrong. Every possible means was used to get at the truth before he +would undertake a case. More cases, by his advice, were settled without +trial than he carried into the courts; and that, too, without charge. +When on one occasion I suggested that he ought to make a charge in such +cases, he laughingly answered, 'They wouldn't want to pay me; they don't +think I have earned a fee unless I take the case into court and make a +speech or two.' When trivial cases were brought to him, such as would +most probably be carried no farther than a magistrate's office, and he +could not induce a settlement without trial, he would generally refer +them to some young attorney, for whom he would speak a good word at the +same time. He was ever kind and courteous to these young beginners when +he was the opposing counsel. He had a happy knack of setting them at +their ease and encouraging them. In consequence he was the favorite of +all who came in contact with him. When his heart was in a case he was a +powerful advocate. I have heard more than one attorney say that it was +little use to expect a favorable verdict in any case where Lincoln was +opposing counsel, as his simple statements of the facts had more weight +with the jury than those of the witnesses. + +"As a student (if such a term could be applied to Mr. Lincoln) one who +did not know him might have called him indolent. He would pick up a book +and run rapidly over the pages, pausing here and there. At the end of an +hour--never, as I remember, more than two or three hours--he would close +the book, stretch himself out on the office lounge, and with hands under +his head and eyes shut he would digest the mental food he had just +taken. + +"In the spring of 1846, war between the United States and Mexico broke +out. Mr. Lincoln was opposed to the war. He looked upon it as +unnecessary and unjust. Volunteers were called for. John J. Hardin, who +lost his life in that war, and Edward D. Baker, who was killed at Ball's +Bluff during our Civil War--both Whigs--were engaged in raising +regiments. Meetings were held and speeches made. At one of them, after +Baker and others had spoken, Lincoln, who was in the audience, was +called for, and the call was repeated until at last he ascended the +platform. He thanked the audience for the compliment paid him in the +wish they had expressed to hear him talk, and said he would gladly make +them a speech if he had anything to say. But he was not going into the +war; and as he was not going himself, he did not feel like telling +others to go. He would simply leave it to each individual to do as he +thought his duty called for. After a few more remarks, and a story 'with +a nib to it,' he bowed himself off the platform. + +"About a year after this, Mr. Lincoln was seeking to be nominated as a +candidate for Congress. Finding the writing of letters (at his +dictation) to influential men in the different counties and even +precincts of the district somewhat burdensome, I suggested printing +circulars. He objected, on the ground that a printed letter would not +have the same effect that a written one would; the latter had the +appearance of personality, it was more flattering to the receiver, and +would more certainly gain his assistance, or at least his good-will. In +discussing the probabilities of his nomination, I remarked that there +was so much unfairness, if not downright trickery, used that it appeared +to me almost useless to seek a nomination without resort to similar +means. His reply was: 'I want to be nominated; I would like to go to +Congress; but if I cannot do so by fair means, I prefer to stay at +home.' He was nominated, and in the following fall was elected by a +majority over three times as large as the district had ever before +given. + +"Mr. Lincoln, like many others in their callow days, scribbled verses; +and so far as I was capable of judging, their quality was above the +average. It was accidentally that I learned this. In arranging the books +and papers in the office, I found two or three quires of letter-paper +stitched together in book form, nearly filled with poetical effusions in +Mr. Lincoln's handwriting, and evidently original. I looked through them +somewhat hurriedly, and when Lincoln came in I showed him the +manuscript, asking him if it was his. His response was, 'Where did you +find it?' and rolling it up, he put it in his coat-tail pocket; and I +saw it no more. Afterwards, in speaking of the matter to Mr. Lincoln's +partner, he said, 'I believe he has at times scribbled some verses; but +he is, I think, somewhat unwilling to have it known.'" + +Lincoln's love of poetry is further shown by the following incident, +related by a gentleman who visited the old law-office of Lincoln & +Herndon, at Springfield. He says: "I took up carelessly, as I stood +thinking, a handsome octavo volume lying on the office table. It opened +so persistently at one place, as I handled it, that I looked to see what +it was, and found that somebody had thoroughly thumbed the pages of 'Don +Juan.' I knew Mr. Herndon was not a man to dwell on it, and it darted +through my mind that perhaps it had been a favorite with Lincoln. 'Did +Mr. Lincoln ever read this book?' I said, hurriedly. 'That book!' said +Herndon, looking up from his writing and taking it out of my hand. 'Oh, +yes; he read it often. It is the office copy.'" Lincoln was so fond of +the book that he kept it ready to his hand. + +Mr. John T. Stuart, Lincoln's first law-partner, says of him that his +accounts were correctly kept, but in a manner peculiar to himself. Soon +after their law-partnership was formed, Mr. Stuart was elected to +Congress, thereafter spending much of his time in Washington. Lincoln +conducted the business of the firm in his absence. When Mr. Stuart +reached home, at the close of the first session of Congress, Lincoln +proceeded to give him an account of the earnings of the office during +his absence. The charges for fees and entry of receipts of money were +not in an account book, but stowed away in a drawer in Lincoln's desk, +among the papers in each case. He proceeded to lay the papers before Mr. +Stuart, taking up each case by itself. The account would run in this +way: + + Fees charged in this case................$ + Amount collected.........................$ + Stuart's half............................$ + +The half that belonged to Mr. Stuart would invariably accompany the +papers in the case. Lincoln had the reputation of being very moderate in +his charges. He was never grasping, and seemed incapable of believing +that his services could be worth much to anyone. + +One of the most famous cases in which Lincoln engaged was that of +William D. Armstrong, son of Jack and Hannah Armstrong of New Salem, the +child whom Lincoln had rocked in the cradle while Mrs. Armstrong +attended to other household duties. Jack Armstrong, it will be +remembered, was an early friend of Lincoln's, whom he had beaten in a +wrestling-match on his first arrival in New Salem. He and his wife had +from that time treated the youth with the utmost kindness, giving him a +home when he was out of work, and showing him every kindness it was in +their power to offer. Lincoln never forgot his debt of gratitude to +them; and when Hannah, now a widow, wrote to him of the peril her boy +was in, and besought him to help them in their extremity, he replied +promptly that he would do what he could. The circumstances were these: +"In the summer of 1857, at a camp-meeting in Mason County, one Metzgar +was most brutally murdered. The affray took place about half a mile from +the place of worship, near some wagons loaded with liquor and +provisions. Two men, James H. Norris and William D. Armstrong, were +indicted for the crime. Norris was tried in Mason County, convicted of +manslaughter, and sentenced to the penitentiary for a term of eight +years. The popular feeling being very high against Armstrong in Mason +County, he took a change of venue to Cass County, and was there tried +(at Beardstown) in the spring of 1858. Hitherto Armstrong had had the +services of two able counsellors; but now their efforts were +supplemented by those of a most determined and zealous volunteer. The +case was so clear against the accused that defense seemed almost +useless. The strongest evidence was that of a man who swore that at +eleven o'clock at night he saw Armstrong strike the deceased on the +head; that the moon was shining brightly, and was nearly full; and that +its position in the sky was just about that of the sun at ten o'clock in +the morning, and by it he saw Armstrong give the mortal blow." This was +fatal, unless the effect could be broken by contradiction or +impeachment. Lincoln quietly looked up an almanac, and found that at the +time this witness declared the moon to have been shining with full light +there was no moon at all. Lincoln made the closing argument. "At first," +says Mr. Walker, one of the counsel associated with him, "he spoke very +slowly and carefully, reviewing the testimony and pointing out its +contradictions, discrepancies and impossibilities. When he had thus +prepared the way, he called for an almanac, and showed that at the hour +at which the principal witness swore he had seen, by the light of the +full moon, the mortal blow given, _there was no moon_. The last fifteen +minutes of his speech were as eloquent as I ever heard; and such were +the power and earnestness with which he spoke to that jury, that all sat +as if entranced, and, when he was through, found relief in a gush of +tears." Said one of the prosecutors: "He took the jury by storm. There +were tears in Mr. Lincoln's eyes while he spoke, but they were genuine. +His sympathies were fully enlisted in favor of the young man, and his +terrible sincerity could not help but arouse the same passion in the +jury. I have said a hundred times that it was Lincoln's speech that +saved that man from the gallows." "Armstrong was not cleared by any want +of testimony against him, but by the irresistible appeal of Mr. Lincoln +in his favor," says Mr. Shaw, one of the associates in the prosecution. +His mother, who sat near during Lincoln's appeal, says: "He told the +stories about our first acquaintance, and what I did for him and how I +did it. Lincoln said to me, 'Hannah, your son will be cleared before +sundown.' He and the other lawyers addressed the jury, and closed the +case. I went down to Thompson's pasture. Stator came to me and told me +that my son was cleared and a free man. I went up to the court-house; +the jury shook hands with me, so did the court, so did Lincoln. We were +all affected, and tears were in Lincoln's eyes. He then remarked to me, +'Hannah, what did I tell you? I pray to God that William may be a good +boy hereafter; that this lesson may prove in the end a good lesson to +him and to all.' After the trial was over, Lincoln came down to where I +was in Beardstown. I asked him what he charged me; told him I was poor. +He said, 'Why, Hannah, I shan't charge you a cent--never. Anything I can +do for you I will do willingly and without charges.' He wrote to me +about some land which some men were trying to get from me, and said, +'Hannah, they can't get your land. Let them try it in the Circuit Court, +and then you appeal it. Bring it to the Supreme Court, and Herndon and I +will attend to it for nothing.'" + +Lincoln regarded himself not only as the legal adviser of unfortunate +people, but as their friend and protector; and he would never press them +for pay for his services. A client named Cogdal was unfortunate in +business, and gave Lincoln a note in payment of legal fees. Soon +afterwards he met with an accident by which he lost a hand. Meeting +Lincoln some time after, on the steps of the State House, the kind +lawyer asked him how he was getting along. "Badly enough," replied Mr. +Cogdal. "I am both broken up in business and crippled." Then he added, +"I have been thinking about that note of yours." Lincoln, who had +probably known all about Mr. Cogdal's troubles, and had prepared himself +for the meeting, took out his pocket-book, and saying, with a laugh, +"Well you needn't think any more about it," handed him the note. Mr. +Cogdal protesting, Lincoln said, "Even if you had the money, I would not +take it," and hurried away. + +Mr. G.L. Austin thus describes an incident of Lincoln's career at the +bar: "Mr. Lincoln was once associated with Mr. Leonard Swett in +defending a man accused of murder. He listened to the testimony which +witness after witness gave against his client, until his honest heart +could stand it no longer; then, turning to his associate, he said: +'Swett, the man is guilty; you defend him; I can't.' Swett did defend +him, and the man was acquitted. When proffered his share of the large +fee, Lincoln most emphatically declined it, on the ground that 'all of +it belonged to Mr. Swett, whose ardor and eloquence saved a guilty man +from justice.'" + +At a term of court in Logan County, a man named Hoblit had brought suit +against a man named Farmer. The suit had been appealed from a justice of +the peace, and Lincoln knew nothing of it until he was retained by +Hoblit to try the case in the Circuit Court. G.A. Gridley, then of +Bloomington, appeared for the defendant. Judge Treat, afterwards on the +United States bench, was the presiding judge at the trial. Lincoln's +client went upon the witness stand and testified to the account he had +against the defendant, gave the amount due after allowing all credits +and set-offs, and swore positively that it had not been paid. The +attorney for the defendant simply produced a receipt in full, signed by +Hoblit prior to the beginning of the case. Hoblit had to admit the +signing of the receipt, but told Lincoln he "supposed the cuss had lost +it." Lincoln at once arose and left the court-room. The Judge told the +parties to proceed with the case; and Lincoln not appearing, Judge Treat +directed a bailiff to go to the hotel and call him. The bailiff ran +across the street to the hotel, and found Lincoln sitting in the office +with his feet on the stove, apparently in a deep study, when he +interrupted him with: "Mr. Lincoln, the Judge wants you." "Oh, does he?" +replied Lincoln. "Well, you go back and tell the Judge I cannot come. +Tell him I have to _wash my hands_." The bailiff returned with the +message, and Lincoln's client suffered a non-suit. It was Lincoln's way +of saying he wanted nothing more to do with such a case. + +Lincoln would never advise clients into unwise or unjust lawsuits. He +would always sacrifice his own interests, and refuse a retainer, rather +than be a party to a case which did not command the approval of his +sense of justice. He was once waited upon by a lady who held a +real-estate claim which she desired to have him prosecute, putting into +his hands, with the necessary papers, a check for two hundred and fifty +dollars as a retaining fee. Lincoln said he would look the case over, +and asked her to call again the next day. Upon presenting herself, he +told her that he had gone through the papers very carefully, and was +obliged to tell her frankly that there was "not a peg" to hang her claim +upon, and he could not conscientiously advise her to bring an action. +The lady was satisfied, and, thanking him, rose to go. "Wait," said +Lincoln, fumbling in his vest pocket; "here is the check you left with +me." "But, Mr. Lincoln," returned the lady, "I think you have earned +that." "No, no," he responded, handing it back to her; "that would not +be right. I can't take pay for doing my duty." To a would-be client who +had carefully stated his case, to which Lincoln had listened with the +closest attention, he said: "Yes, there is no reasonable doubt that I +can gain your case for you. I can set a whole neighborhood at +loggerheads; I can distress a widowed mother and her six fatherless +children, and thereby get for you six hundred dollars, which rightfully +belongs, it appears to me, as much to the woman and her children as it +does to you. You must remember that some things that are _legally_ right +are not _morally_ right. I shall not take your case, but will give you a +little advice, for which I will charge you nothing. You seem to be a +sprightly, energetic man. I would advise you to try your hand at _making +six hundred dollars some other way_." + +Senator McDonald states that he saw a jury trial in Illinois, at which +Lincoln defended an old man charged with assault and battery. No blood +had been spilled, but there was malice in the prosecution, and the chief +witness was eager to make the most of it. On cross-examination, Lincoln +"gave him rope" and drew him out; asked him how long the fight lasted +and how much ground it covered. The witness thought the fight must have +lasted half an hour and covered an acre of ground. Lincoln called his +attention to the fact that nobody was hurt, and then with an inimitable +air asked him if he didn't think it was "a mighty small crop for an acre +of ground." The jury rejected the prosecution's claim. + +Many of the stories told of Lincoln at the bar are extremely +ridiculous, and represent him in anything but a dignified light. But +they are a part of the character of the man, and should be given +wherever there is reason to suppose they are genuine. Besides, they are +usually full of a humor that is irresistible. Such an incident is given +by the Hon. Lawrence Weldon, Lincoln's old friend and legal associate in +Illinois. "I can see him now," says Judge Weldon, "through the decaying +memories of thirty years, standing in the corner of the old court-room, +and as I approached him with a paper I did not understand, he said: +'Wait until I fix this plug for my _gallus_, and I will pitch into that +like a dog at a root.' While speaking, he was busily engaged in trying +to connect his suspender with his trousers by making a 'plug' perform +the function of a button. Lincoln liked old-fashioned words, and never +failed to use them if they could be sustained as proper. He was probably +accustomed to say 'gallows,' and he never adopted the modern word +'suspender.'" + +On a certain occasion Lincoln appeared at the trial of a case in which +his friend Judge Logan was his opponent. It was a suit between two +farmers who had had a disagreement over a horse-trade. On the day of the +trial, Mr. Logan, having bought a new shirt, open in the back, with a +huge standing collar, dressed himself in extreme haste, and put on the +shirt with the _bosom at the back_, a linen coat concealing the blunder. +He dazed the jury with his knowledge of "horse points"; and as the day +was sultry, took off his coat and "summed" up in his shirt-sleeves. +Lincoln, sitting behind him, took in the situation, and when his turn +came he remarked to the jury: "Gentlemen, Mr. Logan has been trying for +over an hour to make you believe he knows more about a horse than these +honest old farmers who are witnesses. He has quoted largely from his +'horse doctor,' and now, gentlemen, I submit to you," (here he lifted +Logan out of his chair, and turned him with his back to the jury and +the crowd, at the same time flapping up the enormous standing collar) +"what dependence can you place in his horse knowledge, when he _has not +sense enough to put on his shirt_?" Roars of laughter greeted this +exposition, and the verdict was given to Lincoln. + +The preceding incident leads to another, in which Lincoln himself +figures as a horse-trader. The scene is a very humorous one; and, as +usual in an encounter of wit, Lincoln came out ahead. He and a certain +Judge once got to bantering each other about trading horses; and it was +agreed that the next morning at nine o'clock they should make a trade, +the horses to be unseen up to that hour,--and no backing out, under a +forfeit of twenty-five dollars. At the hour appointed the Judge came up, +leading the sorriest looking specimen of a nag ever seen in those parts. +In a few minutes Lincoln was seen approaching with a _wooden saw-horse_ +upon his shoulders. Great were the shouts and the laughter of the crowd; +and these increased, when Lincoln, surveying the Judge's animal, set +down his saw-horse, and exclaimed: "Well, Judge, this is the first time +I ever _got the worst of it_ in a horse-trade!" + +There has been much discussion as to Lincoln's rank and ability as a +lawyer. Opinion among his contemporaries seems to have been somewhat +divided. Mr. Herndon felt warranted in saying that he was at the same +time a very great and a very insignificant lawyer. His mind was logical +and direct. Generalities and platitudes had no charm for him. He had the +ability to seize the strong points of a case and present them with +clearness and compactness. His power of comparison was great. He rarely +failed in a legal discussion to use this mode of reasoning. Yet he knew +practically nothing of the rules of evidence, of pleading, of practice, +as laid down in the text-books, and seemed to care little about them. +Sometimes he lost cases of the plainest justice which the most +inexperienced lawyer could have won. He looked upon two things as +essential to his success in a case. One was time; he was slow in +reasoning and slow in speech. The other was confidence that the cause he +represented was just. "If either of these were lacking," said Mr. +Herndon, "Lincoln was the weakest man at the bar. When it fell to him to +address the jury he often relied absolutely on the inspiration of the +moment,--but he seldom failed to carry his point." + +Among the great number of opinions of Lincoln's rank as a lawyer, +expressed by his professional brethren, a few may properly be given in +closing this chapter, which is devoted chiefly to Mr. Lincoln's +professional career. First we may quote the brief but emphatic words of +the distinguished jurist, Judge Sidney Breese, Chief Justice of +Illinois, who said: "For my single self, I have for a quarter of a +century regarded Mr. Lincoln as the finest lawyer I ever knew, and of a +professional bearing so high-toned and honorable, as justly, and without +derogating from the claims of others, entitling him to be presented to +the profession as a model well worthy of the closest imitation." + +Another distinguished Chief Justice, Hon. John Dean Caton; says: "In +1840 or 1841, I met Mr. Lincoln, and was for the first time associated +with him in a professional way. We attended the Circuit Court at +Pontiac, Judge Treat presiding, where we were both engaged in the +defense of a man by the name of Lavinia. That was the first and only +time I was associated with him at the bar. He practiced in a circuit +that was beyond the one in which I practiced, and consequently we were +not brought together much in the practice of the law. He stood well at +the bar from the beginning. I was a younger man, but an older lawyer. He +was not admitted to the bar till after I was. I was not closely +connected with him. Indeed, I did not meet him often, professionally, +until I went on the bench in 1842; and he was then in full practice +before the Supreme Court, and continued to practice there regularly at +every term until he was elected President. Mr. Lincoln understood the +relations of things, and hence his deductions were rarely wrong from any +given state of facts. So he applied the principles of law to the +transactions of men with great clearness and precision. He was a close +reasoner. He reasoned by analogy, and enforced his views by apt +illustration. His mode of speaking was generally of a plain and +unimpassioned character, and yet he was the author of some of the most +beautiful and eloquent passages in our language, which, if collected, +would form a valuable contribution to American literature. The most +punctilious honor ever marked his professional and private life." + +The Hon. Thomas Drummond, for many years Judge of the United States +District Court at Chicago, said: "It is not necessary to claim for Mr. +Lincoln attributes or qualities which he did not possess. He had enough +to entitle him to the love and respect and esteem of all who knew him. +He was not skilled in the learning of the schools, and his knowledge of +the law was acquired almost entirely by his own unaided study and by the +practice of his profession. Nature gave him great clearness and +acuteness of intellect and a vast fund of common-sense; and as a +consequence of these he had much sagacity in judging of the motives and +springs of human conduct. With a voice by no means pleasing, and, +indeed, when excited, in its shrill tones sometimes almost disagreeable; +without any of the personal graces of the orator; without much in the +outward man indicating superiority of intellect; without great quickness +of perception,--still, his mind was so vigorous, his comprehension so +exact and clear, and his judgments so sure, that he easily mastered the +intricacies of his profession, and became one of the ablest reasoners +and most impressive speakers at our bar. With a probity of character +known to all, with an intuitive insight into the human heart, with a +clearness of statement which was itself an argument, with an uncommon +power and facility of illustration, often, it is true, of a plain and +homely kind, and with that sincerity and earnestness of manner to carry +conviction, he was perhaps one of the most successful jury lawyers we +have ever had in the State. He always tried a case fairly and honestly. +He never intentionally misrepresented the testimony of a witness or the +arguments of an opponent. He met both squarely, and, if he could not +explain the one or answer the other, substantially admitted it. He never +misstated the law according to his own intelligent view of it. Such was +the transparent candor and integrity of his nature that he could not +well or strongly argue a side or a cause that he thought wrong. Of +course, he felt it his duty to say what could be said, and to leave the +decision to others; but there could be seen in such cases the inward +struggle in his own mind. In trying a cause he might occasionally dwell +too long or give too much importance to an inconsiderable point; but +this was the exception, and generally he went straight to the citadel of +a cause or a question, and struck home there, knowing if that were won +the outwork would necessarily fall. He could hardly be called very +learned in his profession, and yet he rarely tried a cause without fully +understanding the law applicable to it. I have no hesitation in saying +he was one of the ablest lawyers I have ever known. If he was forcible +before the jury he was equally so with the court. He detected with +unerring sagacity the marked points of his opponents' arguments, and +pressed his own views with overwhelming force. His efforts were quite +unequal, and it may have been that he would not on some occasions strike +one as at all remarkable; but let him be thoroughly aroused, let him +feel that he was right and that some great principle was involved in his +case, and he would come out with an earnestness of conviction, a power +of argument, and a wealth of illustration, that I have never seen +surpassed.... Simple in his habits, without pretensions of any kind, and +distrustful of himself, he was willing to yield precedence and place to +others, when he ought to have claimed them for himself. He rarely, if +ever, sought office except at the urgent solicitations of his friends. +In substantiation of this, I may be permitted to relate an incident +which now occurs to me. Prior to his nomination for the Presidency, and, +indeed, when his name was first mentioned in connection with that high +office, I broached the subject upon the occasion of meeting him here. +His response was, 'I hope they will select some abler man than myself.'" + +Mr. C.S. Parks, a lawyer associated with Lincoln for some years, +furnishes the following testimony concerning his more prominent +qualities: "I have often said that for a man who was for a quarter of a +century both a lawyer and a politician he was the most _honest_ man I +ever knew. He was not only morally honest, but intellectually so. He +could not reason falsely; if he attempted it, he failed. In politics he +would never try to mislead. At the bar, when he thought he was wrong, he +was the weakest lawyer I ever saw." + +Hon. David Davis, afterwards Associate Justice U.S. Supreme Court and +U.S. Senator, presided over the Eighth Judicial Circuit of Illinois +during the remaining years of Lincoln's practice at the bar. He was +united to Lincoln in close bonds of friendship, and year after year +travelled with him over the circuit, put up with him at the same hotels, +and often occupied the same room with him. "This simple life," says +Judge Davis, "Mr. Lincoln loved, preferring it to the practice of the +law in the city. In all the elements that constitute the great lawyer, +he had few equals. He seized the strong points of a cause, and presented +them with clearness and great compactness. He read law-books but +little, except when the cause in hand made it necessary; yet he was +unusually self-reliant, depending on his own resources, and rarely +consulting his brother lawyers either on the management of his case or +the legal questions involved. He was the fairest and most accommodating +of practitioners, granting all favors which he could do consistently +with his duty to his client, and rarely availing himself of an unwary +oversight of his adversary. He hated wrong and oppression everywhere, +and many a man, whose fraudulent conduct was undergoing review in a +court of justice, has withered under his terrific indignation and +rebuke." + +Mr. Speed says: "As a lawyer, after his first year he was acknowledged +to be among the best in the State. His analytical powers were +marvellous. He always resolved every question into its primary elements, +and gave up every point on his own side that did not seem to be +invulnerable. One would think, to hear him present his case in the +court, he was giving his case away. He would concede point after point +to his adversary. But he always reserved a point upon which he claimed a +decision in his favor, and his concessions magnified the strength of his +claim. He rarely failed in gaining his cases in court." + +The special characteristics of Lincoln's practice at the bar are thus +ably summed up: "He did not make a specialty of criminal cases, but was +engaged frequently in them. He could not be called a great lawyer, +measured by the extent of his acquirement of legal knowledge; he was not +an encyclopĉdia of cases; but in the clear perception of legal +principles, with natural capacity to apply them, he had great ability. +He was not a case lawyer, but a lawyer who dealt in the deep philosophy +of the law. He always knew the cases which might be quoted as absolute +authority, but beyond that he contented himself in the application and +discussion of general principles. In the trial of a case he moved +cautiously. He never examined or cross-examined a witness to the +detriment of his side. If the witness told the truth, he was safe from +his attacks; but woe betide the unlucky and dishonest individual who +suppressed the truth or colored it against Mr. Lincoln's side. His +speeches to the jury were very effective specimens of forensic oratory. +He talked the vocabulary of the people, and the jury understood every +point he made and every thought he uttered. I never saw him when I +thought he was trying to make an effort for the sake of mere display; +but his imagination was simple and pure in the richest gems of true +eloquence. He constructed short sentences of small words, and never +wearied the minds of the jury by mazes of elaboration." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + + Lincoln and Slavery--The Issue Becoming More Sharply + Defined--Resistance to the Spread of Slavery--Views Expressed by + Lincoln in 1850--His Mind Made Up--Lincoln as a Party Leader--The + Kansas Struggle--Crossing Swords with Douglas--A Notable Speech by + Lincoln--Advice to Kansas Belligerents--Honor in Politics--Anecdote + of Lincoln and Yates--Contest for the U.S. Senate in + 1855--Lincoln's Defeat--Sketched by Members of the Legislature. + +At the death of Henry Clay, in June, 1852, Lincoln was invited to +deliver a eulogy on Clay's life and character before the citizens of +Springfield. He complied with the request on the 16th of July. The same +season he made a speech before the Scott Club of Springfield, in reply +to the addresses with which Douglas had opened his extended campaign of +that summer, at Richmond, Virginia. Except on these two occasions, +Lincoln took but little part in politics until the passage of the +Nebraska Bill by Congress in 1854. The enactment of this measure +impelled him to take a firmer stand upon the question of slavery than he +had yet assumed. He had been opposed to the institution on grounds of +sentiment since his boyhood; now he determined to fight it from +principle. Mr. Herndon states that Lincoln really became an anti-slavery +man in 1831, during his visit to New Orleans, where he was deeply +affected by the horrors of the traffic in human beings. On one occasion +he saw a slave, a beautiful mulatto girl, sold at auction. She was felt +over, pinched, and trotted around to show bidders she was sound. Lincoln +walked away from the scene with a feeling of deep abhorrence. He said to +John Hanks, "_If I ever get a chance to hit that institution, John, I'll +hit it hard_!" Again, in the summer of 1841, he was painfully impressed +by a scene witnessed during his journey home from Kentucky, described in +a letter written at the time to the sister of his friend Speed, in which +he says: "A fine example was presented on board the boat for +contemplating the effect of conditions upon human happiness. A man had +purchased twelve negroes in different parts of Kentucky, and was taking +them to a farm in the South. They were chained six and six together; a +small iron clevis was around the left wrist of each, and this was +fastened to the main chain by a shorter one, at a convenient distance +from the others, so that the negroes were strung together like so many +fish upon a trot-line. In this condition they were being separated +forever from the scenes of their childhood, their friends, their fathers +and mothers, brothers and sisters, and many of them from their wives and +children, and going into perpetual slavery." + +Judge Gillespie records a conversation which he had with Lincoln in 1850 +on the slavery question, remarking by way of introduction that the +subject of slavery was the only one on which he (Lincoln) was apt to +become excited. "I recollect meeting him once at Shelbyville," says +Judge Gillespie, "when he remarked that something must be done or +slavery would overrun the whole country. He said there were about six +hundred thousand non-slaveholding whites in Kentucky to about +thirty-three thousand slaveholders; that in the convention then recently +held it was expected that the delegates would represent these classes +about in proportion to their respective numbers; but when the convention +assembled, there was not a single representative of the non-slaveholding +class; everyone was in the interest of the slaveholders; 'and,' said he, +'the thing is spreading like wildfire over the country. In a few years +we will be ready to accept the institution in Illinois, and the whole +country will adopt it.' I asked him to what he attributed the change +that was going on in public opinion. He said he had recently put that +question to a Kentuckian, who answered by saying, 'You might have any +amount of land, money in your pocket, or bank-stock, and while +travelling around nobody would be any wiser; but if you had a darkey +trudging at your heels, everybody would see him and know that you owned +a slave. It is the most ostentatious way of displaying property in the +world; if a young man goes courting, the only inquiry is as to how many +negroes he owns.' The love for slave property was swallowing up every +other mercenary possession. Its ownership not only betokened the +possession of wealth, but indicated the gentleman of leisure who scorned +labor. These things Mr. Lincoln regarded as highly pernicious to the +thoughtless and giddy young men who were too much inclined to look upon +work as vulgar and ungentlemanly. He was much excited, and said with +great earnestness that this spirit ought to be met, and if possible +checked; that slavery was a great and crying injustice, an enormous +national crime, and we could not expect to escape punishment for it. I +asked him how he would proceed in his efforts to check the spread of +slavery. He confessed he did not see his way clearly; but I think he +made up his mind that from that time he would oppose slavery actively. I +know that Lincoln always contended that no man had any right, other than +what mere brute force gave him, to hold a slave. He used to say it was +singular that the courts would hold that a man never lost his right to +property that had been stolen from him, but that he instantly _lost his +right to himself_ if he was stolen. Lincoln always contended that the +cheapest way of getting rid of slavery was for the nation to buy the +slaves and set them free." + +While in Congress, Lincoln had declared himself plainly as opposed to +slavery; and in public speeches not less than private conversations he +had not hesitated to express his convictions on the subject. In 1850 he +said to Major Stuart: "The time will soon come when we must all be +Democrats or Abolitionists. When that time comes, _my mind is made up_. +The slavery question cannot be compromised." The hour had now struck in +which Lincoln was to espouse with his whole heart and soul that cause +for which finally he was to lay down his life. In the language of Mr. +Arnold, "He had bided his time. He had waited until the harvest was +ripe. With unerring sagacity he realized that the triumph of freedom was +at hand. He entered upon the conflict with the deepest conviction that +the perpetuity of the Republic required the extinction of slavery. So, +adopting as his motto, 'A house divided against itself cannot stand,' he +girded himself for the contest. The years from 1854 to 1860 were on his +part years of constant, active, and unwearied effort. His position in +the State of Illinois was central and commanding. He was now to become +the recognized leader of the anti-slavery party in the Northwest, and in +all the Valley of the Mississippi. Lincoln was a practical statesman, +never attempting the impossible, but seeking to do the best thing +practicable under existing circumstances. He knew that prohibition in +the territories would result in no more slave states and no slave +territory. And now, when the repeal of the Missouri Compromise shattered +all parties into fragments, he came forward to build up the Free Soil +party and threw into the conflict all his strength and vigor. The +conviction of his duty was deep and sincere. Hence he pleaded the cause +of liberty with an energy, ability, and power which rapidly gained for +him a national reputation. Conscious of the greatness of his cause, +inspired by a genuine love of liberty, animated and made strong by the +moral sublimity of the conflict, he solemnly announced his determination +to speak for freedom and against slavery until--in his own +words--wherever the Federal Government has power, 'the sun shall shine, +the rain shall fall, and the wind shall blow upon no man who goes forth +to unrequited toil.'" + +The absorbing political topic in 1855 was the contest in Kansas, which +proved the battle-ground for the struggle over the introduction of +slavery into the territories north of the line established by the +"Missouri Compromise." Lincoln's views on the subject are defined in a +notable letter to his friend Joshua Speed, a resident of Kentucky. The +following passages show, in Lincoln's own words, where he stood on the +slavery question at this memorable epoch: + + SPRINGFIELD, AUGUST 24, 1855. + + Dear Speed:--You know what a poor correspondent I am. Ever since I + received your very agreeable letter of the twenty-second of May, I + have been intending to write you in answer to it. You suggest that + in political action now, you and I would differ. You know I dislike + slavery, and you fully admit the abstract 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 themselves interested, you would see the Union + dissolved. I am not aware that any one is bidding you yield that + right--very certainly I am not. I leave the 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 carried back to + their stripes and unrequited toil; but I bite my lip and keep + quiet. 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 continual torment to me; and I see something like it + every time I touch the Ohio, or any other slave border. 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 + people of the North do crucify their feelings in order to maintain + their loyalty to the Constitution and the Union. + + I do oppose the extension of slavery, because my judgment and + feelings so prompt me; and I am under no obligations to the + contrary. If for this you and I must differ, differ we must. You + say, if you were President you would send an army and hang the + leaders of the Missouri outrages upon 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 unfairly--that is, by the very means for which 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 + practical one. In your assumption that there may be a fair decision + of the slavery question in Kansas, I plainly see you and I would + differ about the Nebraska law. I look upon that enactment not as a + law but a violence from the beginning. It was conceived in + violence, passed in violence, is maintained in violence, and is + being executed in violence. I say it was conceived in violence, + because the destruction of the Missouri Compromise under the + Constitution was nothing less than violence. It was passed in + violence, because it could not have passed at all but for the votes + of many members in violent disregard of the known will of their + constituents. It is maintained in violence, because the elections + since clearly demand its repeal; and the demand is openly + disregarded. That Kansas will form a slave constitution, and with + it will ask to be admitted into the Union, I take to be already a + settled question, and so settled by the very means you so pointedly + condemn. By every principle of law ever held by any court, North or + South, every negro taken to Kansas is free; yet in utter disregard + of this--in the spirit of violence merely--that beautiful + Legislature gravely passes a law to hang any man who shall venture + to inform a negro of his legal rights. This is the substance and + real object of the law. If, like Haman, they should hang upon the + gallows of their own building, I shall not be among the mourners + for their fate. In my humble sphere I shall advocate the + restoration of the Missouri Compromise so long as Kansas remains a + Territory; and, when, by all these foul means, it seeks to come + into the Union as a slave State, I shall oppose it.... You inquire + where I now stand. That is a disputed point. I think I am a Whig; + but others say there are no Whigs, and that I am an Abolitionist. + When I was in Washington I voted for the Wilmot Proviso as good as + forty times, and I never heard of any attempt to unwhig me for + that. I now do no more than oppose the extension of slavery. I am + not a Know-Nothing--that is certain. How could I be? How can anyone + who abhors the oppression of the 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 'all 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 equals, except negroes and foreigners + and Catholics.' When it comes to that, I should prefer emigrating + to some other country where they make no pretense of loving + liberty--to Russia for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, + and without the base alloy of hypocrisy. + + Your friend forever, + A. LINCOLN. + +Lincoln was soon accorded an opportunity to cross swords again with his +former political antagonist, Douglas, who had lately come from his place +in the Senate Chamber at Washington, where he had carried the obnoxious +Nebraska Bill against the utmost efforts of Chase, Seward, Sumner, and +others, to defeat it. As Mr. Arnold narrates the incident,--"When, late +in September, 1854, Douglas returned to Illinois he was received with a +storm of indignation which would have crushed a man of less power and +will. A bold and courageous leader, conscious of his personal power over +his party, he bravely met the storm and sought to allay it. In October, +1854, the State Fair being then in session at Springfield, with a great +crowd of people in attendance from all parts of the State, Douglas went +there and made an elaborate and able speech in defense of the repeal of +the Missouri Compromise. Lincoln was called upon by the opponents of +this repeal to reply, and he did so with a power which he never +surpassed and had never before equalled. All other issues which had +divided the people were as chaff, and were scattered to the winds by the +intense agitation which arose on the question of extending slavery, not +merely into free territory, but into territory which had been declared +free by solemn compact. Lincoln's speech occupied more than three hours +in delivery, and during all that time he held the vast crowd in the +deepest attention." + +Mr. Herndon said of this event: "This anti-Nebraska speech of Mr. +Lincoln was the profoundest that he made in his whole life. He felt +burning upon his soul the truths which he uttered, and all present +felt that he was true to his own soul. His feelings once or twice came +near stifling utterance. He quivered with emotion. He attacked the +Nebraska Bill with such warmth and energy that all felt that a man of +strength was its enemy, and that he intended to blast it, if he could, +by strong and manly efforts. He was most successful, and the house +approved his triumph by loud and continued huzzas, while women waved +their white handkerchiefs in token of heartfelt assent. Douglas felt +the sting, and he frequently interrupted Mr. Lincoln; his friends felt +that he was crushed by the powerful argument of his opponent. The +Nebraska Bill was shivered, and, like a tree of the forest, was torn +and rent asunder by hot bolts of truth. At the conclusion of this +speech, every man, woman, and child felt that it was unanswerable." In +speaking of the same occasion, Mr. Lamon says: "Many fine speeches +were made upon the one absorbing topic; but it is no shame to any one +of these orators that their really impressive speeches were but +slightly appreciated or long remembered beside Mr. Lincoln's splendid +and enduring performance,--enduring in the memory of his auditors, +although preserved upon no written or printed page." + +A few days after this encounter, Douglas spoke in Peoria, and was +followed by Lincoln with the same crushing arguments that had served him +at the State Fair, and with the same triumphant effect. His Peoria +speech was written out by him and published after its delivery. A few +specimens will show its style and argumentative power. + + Argue as you will, and as long as you will, this is the naked front + and aspect of the measure; and in this aspect it could not but + produce agitation. Slavery is founded in the selfishness of man's + nature; opposition to it, in his love of justice. These principles + are an eternal antagonism; and when brought into collision so + fiercely as slavery extension brings them, shocks, throes, and + convulsions must ceaselessly follow. Repeal the Missouri + Compromise; repeal all compromises; repeal the Declaration of + Independence; repeal all past history,--you still cannot repeal + human nature. It still will be the abundance of man's heart, that + slavery extension is wrong; and out of the abundance of his heart, + his mouth will continue to speak.... When Mr. Pettit, in connection + with his support of the Nebraska Bill, called the Declaration of + Independence 'a self-evident lie,' he only did what consistency and + candor require all other Nebraska men to do. Of the forty-odd + Nebraska Senators who sat present and heard him, no one rebuked + him.... If this had been said among Marion's men, Southerners + though they were, what would have become of the man who said it? If + this had been said to the men who captured Andre, the man who said + it would probably have been hung sooner than Andre was. If it had + been said in old Independence Hall seventy-eight years ago, the + very doorkeeper would have throttled the man, and thrust him into + the street.... Thus we see the plain, unmistakable spirit of that + early age towards slavery was hostility to the principle, and + toleration only by necessity. But now it is to be transformed into + a 'sacred right.' Nebraska brings it forth, places it on the high + road to extension and perpetuity, and with a pat on its back says + to it: 'Go, and God speed you.' Henceforth it is to be the chief + jewel of the nation, the very figurehead of the ship of state. + Little by little, but steadily as man's march to the grave, we have + been giving the old for the new faith. Nearly eighty years ago we + began by declaring that all men are created equal; but now from + that beginning we have run down to that other declaration, 'that + for _some_ men to enslave others is a sacred right of + self-government.' ... In our greedy chase to make profit of the + negro, let us beware lest we cancel and tear to pieces even the + white man's charter of freedom.... 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 native land. But, if they were all landed + there in a day, they would all perish in the next ten days; and + there are not surplus shipping and surplus money enough to carry + them there in many times ten days. What then? Free them all, and + keep them among us as underlings? Is it quite certain that this + betters their condition? 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 white + people will not. A universal feeling, whether well or ill founded, + cannot be safely disregarded. We cannot then 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. + + Our Republican robe is soiled--trailed in the dust. Let us repurify + it. Let us turn and wash it white, in the spirit, if not the blood, + of the Revolution. Let us turn slavery from its claims of 'moral + right,' back upon its existing legal rights and its arguments of + 'necessity.' Let us return it to the position our fathers gave it, + and there let it rest in peace. Let us re-adopt the Declaration of + Independence, and with it the practices and policy which harmonize + with it. Let North and South--let all Americans--let all lovers of + liberty everywhere--join in the great and good work. If we do + this, we shall not only have saved the Union, but we shall have so + saved it as to make and to keep it forever worthy of the saving. We + shall have so saved it that the succeeding millions of free and + happy people, the world over, shall rise up and call us blessed to + the latest generations. + +It was in one of these speeches that Lincoln's power of repartee was +admirably illustrated by a most laughable retort made by him to Douglas. +Mr. Ralph E. Hoyt, who was present, says: "In the course of his speech, +Mr. Douglas had said, 'The Whigs are all dead.' For some time before +speaking, Lincoln sat on the platform with only his homely face visible +to the audience above the high desk before him. On being introduced, he +arose from his chair and proceeded to straighten himself up. For a few +seconds I wondered when and where his head would cease its ascent; but +at last it did stop, and 'Honest Old Abe' stood before us. He commenced, +'Fellow-citizens: My friend, Mr. Douglas, made the startling +announcement to-day that the Whigs are all dead. If this be so, +fellow-citizens, you will now experience the novelty of hearing a speech +from a dead man; and I suppose you might properly say, in the language +of the old hymn: + + "Hark! from the tombs a doleful sound!"' + +This set the audience fairly wild with delight, and at once brought them +into full confidence with the speaker." + +Hating slavery though he did, Lincoln was steadily opposed to all forms +of unlawful or violent opposition to it. At about the time of which we +are speaking a party of Abolitionists in Illinois had become so excited +over the Kansas struggle that they were determined to go to the aid of +the Free-State men in that territory. As soon as Lincoln learned of this +project, he opposed it strongly. When they spoke to him of "Liberty, +Justice, and God's higher law," he replied in this temperate and +judicious strain: + +Friends, you are in the minority--in a sad minority; and you can't hope +to succeed, reasoning from all human experience. You would rebel against +the Government, and redden your hands in the blood of your countrymen. +If you have the majority, as some of you say you have, you can succeed +with the ballot, throwing away the bullet. You can peaceably, then, +redeem the Government and preserve the liberties of mankind, through +your votes and voice and moral influence. _Let there be peace_. In a +democracy, where the majority rule by the ballot through the forms of +law, these physical rebellions and bloody resistances are radically +wrong, unconstitutional, and are treason. Better bear the ills you have +than fly to those you know not of. Our own Declaration of Independence +says that governments long established should not be resisted for +trivial causes. Revolutionize through the ballot-box, and restore the +Government once more to the affection and hearts of men, by making it +express, as it was intended to do, the highest spirit of justice and +liberty. Your attempt, if there be such, to resist the laws of Kansas by +force, will be criminal and wicked; and all your feeble attempts will be +follies, and end in bringing sorrow on your heads, and ruin the cause +you would freely die to preserve. + +No doubt was felt of Lincoln's sympathies; indeed, he is known to have +contributed money to the Free-State cause. But it is noticeable that in +this exciting episode he showed the same coolness, wisdom, moderation, +love of law and order that so strongly characterized his conduct in the +stormier period of the Civil War, and without which it is doubtful if he +would have been able to save the nation. + +Some interesting recollections of the events of this stirring period, +and of Lincoln's part in them, are given by Mr. Paul Selby, for a long +time editor of the "State Journal" at Springfield, and one of +Lincoln's old-time friends and political associates. "While Abraham +Lincoln had the reputation of being inspired by an almost unbounded +ambition," says Mr. Selby, "it was of that generous quality which +characterized his other attributes, and often led him voluntarily to +restrain its gratification in deference to the conflicting aspirations +of his friends. All remember his magnanimity towards Col. Edward D. +Baker, when the latter was elected to Congress from the Springfield +District in 1844, and the frankness with which he informed Baker of +his own desire to be a candidate in 1846--when for the only time in +his life, he was elected to that body. In 1852, Richard Yates of +Jacksonville, then recognized as one of the rising young orators and +statesmen of the West, was elected to Congress for the second time +from the Springfield District. It was during the term following this +election that the Kansas-Nebraska issue was precipitated upon the +country by Senator Douglas, in the introduction of his bill for the +repeal of the Missouri Compromise. Yates, in obedience to his +impulses, which were always on the side of freedom, took strong ground +against the measure--notwithstanding the fact that a majority of his +constituents, though originally Whigs, were strongly conservative, as +was generally the case with people who were largely of Kentucky and +Tennessee origin. In 1854 the Whig party, which had been divided on +the Kansas-Nebraska question, began to manifest symptoms of +disintegration; while the Republican party, though not yet known by +that name, began to take form. At this time I was publishing a paper +at Jacksonville, Yates's home; and although from the date of my +connection with it, in 1852, it had not been a political paper, the +introduction of a new issue soon led me to take decided ground on the +side of free territory. Lincoln at once sprang into prominence as one +of the boldest, most vigorous and eloquent opponents of Mr. Douglas's +measure, which was construed as a scheme to secure the admission of +slavery into all the new territories of the United States. At that +time Lincoln's election to a seat in Congress would probably have been +very grateful to his ambition, as well as acceptable in a pecuniary +point of view; and his prominence and ability had already attracted +the eyes of the whole State toward him in a special degree. Having +occasion to visit Springfield one day while the subject of the +selection of a candidate was under consideration among the opponents +of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, I encountered Mr. Lincoln on the street. +As we walked along, the subject of the choice of a candidate for +Congress to succeed Yates came up, when I stated that many of the +old-line Whigs and anti-Nebraska men in the western part of the +district were looking to him as an available leader. While he seemed +gratified by the compliment, he said: 'No; Yates has been a true and +faithful Representative, and should be returned.' Yates was +renominated; and although he ran ahead of his ticket, yet so far had +the disorganization of the Whig party then progressed, and so strong a +foothold had the pro-slavery sentiment obtained in the district, that +he was defeated by Major Thomas L. Harris, of Petersburg, whom he had +defeated when he first entered the field as a candidate four years +before. While it is scarcely probable that Lincoln, if he had been a +candidate, could have changed the result, yet the prize was one which +he would then have considered worth contending for; and if the +nomination could have been tendered him without doing injustice to his +friend, he would undoubtedly have accepted it gladly and thrown all +the earnestness and ability which he possessed into the contest. This +instance only illustrates a feature of his character which has so +often been recognized and commented upon--his generosity toward those +among his political friends who might be regarded as occupying the +position of rivals." + +In 1854, during Lincoln's absence from Springfield, he was nominated as +a candidate for the State Legislature. It was in one of Lincoln's +periods of profound depression, and it was with the greatest difficulty +that he could be persuaded to accept the nomination. "I went to see +him," says one of his close political friends, Mr. William Jayne, "in +order to get his consent to run. This 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 persuasions 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.'" His name, however, was allowed to +stand, and he was elected by about 600 majority. But Lincoln was then +extremely desirous of succeeding General James Shields, whose term in +the United States Senate was to expire the following March. The Senate +Chamber had long been the goal of his ambition. He summed up his +feelings in a letter to Hon. N.B. Judd, some years after, saying, "I +would rather have a full term in the United States Senate than the +Presidency." He therefore resigned his seat in the Legislature--the fact +that a majority in both houses was opposed to the Nebraska Bill allowing +him to do so without injury to his party--and became a candidate for the +Senate. But the act was futile. When the Legislature met, in February, +1855, to make choice of a Senator, a clique of anti-Nebraska Democrats +held out so firmly against the nomination of Lincoln that there was +danger of the Whigs leaving their candidate altogether. In this dilemma +Lincoln was consulted. Mr. Lamon thus describes the incident: "Lincoln +said, unhesitatingly, 'You ought to drop me and go for Trumbull; that is +the only way you can defeat Matteson.' Judge Logan came up about that +time, and insisted on running Lincoln still; but the latter said, 'If +you do, you will lose both Trumbull and myself; and I think the cause in +this case is to be preferred to men.' We adopted his suggestion, and +took up Trumbull and elected him, although it grieved us to the heart to +give up Lincoln." Mr. Parks, a member of the Legislature at this time, +and one of Lincoln's intimate friends, said: "Mr. Lincoln was very much +disappointed, for I think it was the height of his ambition to get into +the United States Senate. Yet he manifested no bitterness toward Mr. +Judd or the other anti-Nebraska Democrats by whom politically he was +beaten, but evidently thought their motives were right. He told me +several times afterwards that the election of Trumbull was the best +thing that could have happened." + +Hon. Elijah M. Haines, ex-Speaker of the Illinois Legislature, a +resident of the State for over half a century, and one of Lincoln's +early friends, was a member of the Legislature during the Senatorial +struggle just referred to. His familiarity with all its incidents lends +value to his distinct and vivid recollections. "Abraham Lincoln had been +elected a member of the House on the Fusion ticket, with Judge Stephen +T. Logan, for the district composed of Sangamon County," writes Mr. +Haines. "But it being settled that the Fusion party--which was an +anti-Douglas combination, including Whigs, Free-Soilers, Know-Nothings, +etc.--would have a majority of the two houses on ballot, Mr. Lincoln was +induced to become a candidate for United States Senator, for the support +of that party. He therefore did not qualify as a member. Although Mr. +Lincoln never acquired the reputation of being an office-seeker, yet it +happened frequently that his name would be mentioned in connection with +some important position. He became quite early in life one of the +prominent leaders of the Whig party of the State, and for a long time, +in connection with a few devoted associates, led the forlorn hope of +that party. During a period of about twenty years there was seldom more +than one Whig member in the Illinois delegation of Congressmen. The +Sangamon district, in which Mr. Lincoln lived, was always sure to elect +a Whig member when the party was united; but it contained quite a number +of aspiring Whig orators, and there was a kind of understanding between +them that no one who attained the position of Representative in Congress +should hold it longer than one term; that he would then give way for the +next favorite. Mr. Lincoln had held the position once, and its return to +him was far in the future. The Fusion triumph in the Legislature was +considered by the Whig element as a success, in which they acknowledged +great obligation to Mr. Lincoln. That element in the Fusion party +therefore urged his claims as the successor of General Shields. His old +associate and tried friend in the Whig cause, Judge Logan, became the +champion of his interests in the House of Representatives. I was present +and saw something of Mr. Lincoln during the early part of the session, +before the vote for Senator was taken. He was around among the members +much of the time. His manner was agreeable and unassuming; he was not +forward in pressing his case upon the attention of members, yet before +the interview would come to a close some allusion to the Senatorship +would generally occur, when he would respond in some such way as this: +'Gentlemen, that is rather a delicate subject for me to talk upon; but I +must confess that I would be glad of your support for the office, if you +shall conclude that I am the proper person for it.' When he had +finished, he would generally take occasion to withdraw before any +discussion on the subject arose. When the election of Senator occurred, +in February, Lincoln received 45 votes--the highest number of any of +the candidates, and within six votes of enough to secure his election. +This was on the first ballot, after which Lincoln's votes declined. +After the ninth ballot, Mr. Lincoln stepped forward--or, as Mr. Richmond +expresses it, _leaned_ forward from his position in the lobby--and +requested the committee to withdraw his name. On the tenth ballot Judge +Trumbull received fifty-one votes and was declared elected." Thus were +Lincoln's political ambitions again frustrated. But their realization +was only delayed for the far grander triumph that was so soon to come, +although no man then foresaw its coming. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + + Birth of the Republican Party--Lincoln One of Its Fathers--Takes + His Stand with the Abolitionists--The Bloomington + Convention--Lincoln's Great Anti-Slavery Speech--A Ratification + Meeting of Three--The First National Republican + Convention--Lincoln's Name Presented for the + Vice-Presidency--Nomination of Fremont and Dayton--Lincoln in the + Campaign of 1856--His Appearance and Influence on the + Stump--Regarded as a Dangerous Man--His Views on the Politics of + the Future--First Visit to Cincinnati--Meeting with Edwin M. + Stanton--Stanton's First Impressions of Lincoln--Regards Him as a + "Giraffe"--A Visit to Cincinnati. + +The year 1856 saw the dissolution of the old Whig party. It had become +too narrow and restricted to answer the needs of the hour. A new +platform was demanded, one that would admit the great principles and +issues growing out of the slavery agitation. A convention of the Whig +leaders throughout the country met at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on the +22d of February of that year, to consider the necessity of a new +organization. A little later, Mr. Herndon, in the office of Lincoln, +prepared a call for a convention at Bloomington, Illinois, "summoning +together all those who wished to see the government conducted on the +principles of Washington and Jefferson." This call was signed by the +most prominent Abolitionists of Illinois, with the name of A. LINCOLN at +the head. The morning after its publication, Major Stuart entered Mr. +Herndon's office in a state of extreme excitement, and, as the latter +relates, demanded: "'Sir, did Mr. Lincoln sign that Abolition call which +is published this morning?' I answered, 'Mr. Lincoln did not sign that +call.' 'Did Lincoln authorize you to sign it?' '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 when +conservatism was a crime and a blunder.' 'You, then, take the +responsibility of your acts, do you?' 'I do, most emphatically.' +However, I instantly sat down and wrote to Mr. Lincoln, who was then in +Pekin or Tremont--possibly at court. He received my letter, and +instantly replied, either by letter or telegraph--most likely by +letter--that he adopted _in toto_ what I had done, and promised to meet +the radicals--Lovejoy and such like men--among us." Mr. Herndon adds: +"Never did a man change as Lincoln did from that hour. No sooner had he +planted himself right on the slavery question than his whole soul seemed +burning. _He blossomed right out._ Then, too, other spiritual things +grew more real to him." + +Mr. Herndon had been an Abolitionist from birth. It was an inheritance +with him; but Lincoln's conversion was a gradual process, stimulated and +confirmed by the influence of his companion. "From 1854 to 1860," says +Mr. Herndon, "I kept putting into Lincoln's hands the speeches and +sermons of Theodore Parker, Wendell Phillips, and Henry Ward Beecher. I +took 'The Anti-Slavery Standard' for years before 1856, 'The Chicago +Tribune,' and 'The New York Tribune'; kept them in my office, kept them +purposely on my table, and would read to Lincoln the good, sharp, solid +things, well put. Lincoln was a natural anti-slavery man, as I think, +and yet he needed watching,--needed hope, faith, energy; and I think I +_warmed him_." + +It is stated that "when Herndon was very young--probably before Mr. +Lincoln made his first protest in the Legislature of the State in behalf +of liberty--Lincoln once said to him: 'I cannot see what makes your +convictions so decided as regards the future of slavery. What tells you +the thing must be rooted out?' 'I feel it in my bones,' was Herndon's +emphatic answer. 'This continent is not broad enough to endure the +contest between freedom and slavery!' It was almost in these very words +that Lincoln afterwards opened the great contest with Douglas. From this +time forward he submitted all public questions to what he called 'the +test of Bill Herndon's _bone philosophy_'; and their arguments were +close and protracted." + +Lincoln's attitude on slavery aroused formidable opposition among his +friends, and even in his own family. Mrs. Lincoln was decidedly +pro-slavery in her views. Once while riding with a friend she said: "If +my husband dies, his spirit will never find me residing outside the +limits of a slave State." But opposition, whether from without or +within, could never swerve him from a course to which conscience and +reason clearly impelled him. Long before Mr. Herndon published the call +for the Bloomington convention, he had said to a deputation of men from +Chicago, in answer to the inquiry whether Lincoln could be trusted for +freedom: "Can you trust yourselves? If you can, you can trust Lincoln +forever." + +The convention met at Bloomington, May 29, 1856. One of its chief +incidents was a speech by Lincoln. This speech was one of the great +efforts of his life, and had a powerful influence on the convention. +"Never," says one of the delegates, "was an audience more completely +electrified by human eloquence. Again and again his hearers sprang to +their feet, and by long continued cheers expressed how deeply the +speaker had aroused them." "It was there," says Mr. Herndon in one of +his lectures, "that Lincoln was baptized and joined our church. He made +a speech to us. I have heard or read all of Mr. Lincoln's great +speeches; and I give it as my opinion that the Bloomington speech was +the grand effort of his life. Heretofore, and up to this moment, he had +simply argued the slavery question on grounds of policy,--on what are +called the _statesman's_ grounds,--never reaching the question of the +radical and eternal right. Now he was newly baptized and freshly born; +he had the fervor of a new convert; the smothered flame broke out; +enthusiasm unusual to him blazed up; his eyes were aglow with +inspiration; he felt a new and more vital justice; his heart was alive +to the right; his sympathies burst forth; and he stood before the throne +of the eternal Right, in presence of his God, and then and there +unburdened his penitential and fired soul. This speech was fresh, new, +genuine, odd, original; filled with fervor not unmixed with a divine +enthusiasm; his head breathing out through his tender heart its truths, +its sense of right, and its feeling of the good and for the good. This +speech was full of fire and energy and force; it was logic; it was +pathos; it was enthusiasm; it was justice, equity, truth, right, and +good, set ablaze by the divine fires of a soul maddened by wrong; it was +hard, heavy, knotty, gnarly, edged, and heated. I attempted for about +fifteen minutes, as was usual with me then, to take notes; but at the +end of that time I threw pen and paper to the dogs, and lived only in +the inspiration of the hour. If Mr. Lincoln was six feet four inches +high usually, _at Bloomington he was seven feet_, and inspired at that. +From that day to the day of his death, he stood firm on the right. He +felt his great cross, had his great idea, nursed it, kept it, taught it +to others, and in his fidelity bore witness of it to his death, and +finally sealed it with his precious blood." + +The committee on resolutions at the convention found themselves, after +hours of discussion, unable to agree; and at last they sent for Lincoln. +He suggested that all could unite on the principles of the Declaration +of Independence and hostility to the extension of slavery. "Let us," +said he, "in building our new party make our cornerstone the +Declaration of Independence; let us build on this rock, and the gates of +hell shall not prevail against us." The problem was mastered, and the +convention adopted the following: + + _Resolved_, That we hold, in accordance with the opinions and + practices of all the great statesmen of all parties for the first + sixty years of the administration of the government, that under the + Constitution Congress possesses full power to prohibit slavery in + the territories; and that while we will maintain all constitutional + rights of the South, we also hold that justice, humanity, the + principles of freedom, as expressed in our Declaration of + Independence and our National Constitution, and the purity and + perpetuity of our government, require that that power should be + exerted to prevent the extension of slavery into territories + heretofore free. + +The Bloomington convention concluded its work by choosing delegates to +the National Republican convention to be held at Philadelphia the +following month, for the nomination of candidates for the Presidency and +Vice-presidency of the United States. And thus was organized the +Republican party in Illinois, which revolutionized the politics of the +State and elected Lincoln to the Presidency. + +The people of Bloomington seem to have had but little sympathy with this +convention. A few days later, Herndon and Lincoln tried to hold a +ratification meeting; but only three persons were present--Lincoln, +Herndon, and John Pain. "When Lincoln came into the court-room where the +meeting was to be held," says Herndon, "there was an expression of +sadness and amusement 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 thought it would be. I knew that Herndon +and myself would come, but I did not know that anyone else would be +here; and yet another has come--you, John Pain. These are sad times, +and seem out of joint. All seems 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. And now let us +adjourn and appeal to the people.'" + +The National convention of the Republican party met at Philadelphia in +June, 1856, and adopted a declaration of principles substantially based +upon those of the Bloomington convention. John C. Fremont was nominated +as candidate for President. Among the names presented for Vice-president +was that of Abraham Lincoln, who received 110 votes. William L. Dayton +received 259 votes and was unanimously declared the nominee. Fremont and +Dayton thus became the standard-bearers of the new national party. When +the news reached Lincoln, in Illinois, that he had received 110 votes as +nominee for the Vice-presidency, he could not at first believe that he +was the man voted for, and said, "No, it could not be; it must have been +the great Lincoln of Massachusetts!" He was then in one of his +melancholy moods, full of depression and despondency. + +In the stirring presidential campaign of 1856, Lincoln was particularly +active, and rendered most efficient service to the Republican party. He +spoke constantly, discussing the great question of "slavery in the +territories" in a manner at once original and masterly. A graphic +picture of one of these campaign gatherings is furnished by Hon. William +Bross, afterwards Lieutenant-Governor of Illinois. "I first met Mr. +Lincoln, to know him," says Governor Bross, "at Vandalia, the old +capital of the State, in October, 1856. There was to be a political +meeting in front of the old State House, in the center of the square, at +2 o'clock. Soon after that hour the sonorous voice of Dr. Curdy rang +through the town: 'O, yes! O, yes! All ye who want to hear public +speaking, draw near!' The crowd at once began to gather from all sides +of the square. The Doctor then introduced the first speaker, and he +proceeded to make the best presentation he could of the principles of +the newly-formed Republican party, and the reasons why Fremont, 'the +gallant pathfinder of the West,' should be elected President. About the +time the first speaker closed his remarks, Hon. Ebenezer Peck and +Abraham Lincoln arrived and took the stand; and both made able and +effective speeches. After that, Lincoln and I frequently met during the +canvass, and often afterwards I spoke with him from the same platform. +The probable result of an election was often canvassed, and a noticeable +fact was that in most cases he would mark the probable result below +rather than above the actual majority." + +Some lively reminiscences of Lincoln's appearance and efforts in this +campaign are given by Mr. Noah Brooks, the well-known journalist and +author, who at that time lived in Northern Illinois and attended many of +the great Republican mass-meetings. "At one of these great assemblies in +Ogle County," says Mr. Brooks, "to which the country people came on +horseback, in farm wagons, or afoot, from far and near, there were +several speakers of local celebrity. Dr. Egan of Chicago, famous for his +racy stories, was one; and Joe Knox of Bureau County, a stump speaker of +renown, was another attraction. Several other orators were 'on the +bills' for this long-advertised 'Fremont and Dayton rally,' among them +being a Springfield lawyer who had won some reputation as a close +reasoner, and a capital speaker on the stump. This was Abraham Lincoln, +popularly known as 'Honest Abe Lincoln.' In those days he was not so +famous in our part of the State as the two speakers whom I have named. +Possibly he was not so popular among the masses of the people; but his +ready wit, his unfailing good humor, and the candor which gave him his +character for honesty, won for him the admiration and respect of all +who heard him. I remember once meeting a choleric old Democrat striding +away from an open-air meeting where Lincoln was speaking, striking the +earth with his cane as he stumped along, and exclaiming, 'He's a +dangerous man, sir! A d----d dangerous man! He makes you _believe_ what +he says, in spite of yourself!' It was Lincoln's manner. He admitted +away his whole case apparently--and yet, as his political opponents +complained, he usually carried conviction with him. As he reasoned with +his audience, he bent his long form over the railing of the platform, +stooping lower and lower as he pursued his argument, until, having +reached his point, he clinched it, usually with a question, and then +suddenly sprang upright, reminding one of the springing open of a +jack-knife blade. At the Ogle County meeting to which I refer, Lincoln +led off, the raciest speakers being reserved for the latter part of the +political entertainment. I am bound to say that Lincoln did not awaken +the boisterous applause which some of those who followed him did, but +his speech made a more lasting impression. It was talked about for weeks +afterward in the neighborhood, and it probably changed many votes; for +that was the time when Free-soil votes were being made in Northern +Illinois." + +Mr. Brooks had made Lincoln's acquaintance early in the day referred to; +and after Lincoln had spoken, and while some of the other orators were +entertaining the audience, the two drew a little off from the crowd and +fell into a discussion over the political situation and prospects. "We +crawled under the pendulous branches of a tree," says Mr. Brooks, "and +Lincoln, lying flat on the ground, with his chin in his hands, talked +on, rather gloomily as to the present but absolutely confident as to the +future. I was dismayed to find that he did not believe it possible that +Fremont could be elected. As if half pitying my youthful ignorance, but +admiring my enthusiasm, he said, 'Don't be discouraged if we don't +carry the day this year. We can't do it, that's certain. We can't carry +Pennsylvania; those old Whigs down there are too strong for us. But we +shall sooner or later elect our President. I feel confident of that.' +'Do you think we shall elect a Free-soil President in 1860?' I asked. +'Well, I don't know. Everything depends on the course of the Democracy. +There's a big anti-slavery element in the Democratic party, and if we +could get hold of that we might possibly elect our man in 1860. But it's +doubtful, very doubtful. Perhaps we shall be able to fetch it by 1864; +perhaps not. As I said before, the Free-soil party is bound to win in +the long run. It may not be in my day; but it will be in yours, I do +really believe.'" The defeat of Fremont soon verified Lincoln's +prediction on that score. + +A peculiarly interesting episode of Lincoln's life belongs to this +period, though unrelated to political events. This was the meeting, in a +professional way, with Edwin M. Stanton, at that time a prominent lawyer +of Pittsburgh, afterwards the great War Secretary of President Lincoln's +cabinet. The circumstances were briefly these: Among Lincoln's law cases +was one connected with the patent of the McCormick Reaper; and in the +summer of 1857 he visited Cincinnati to argue the case before Judge +McLean of the United States Circuit Court. It was a case of great +importance, involving the foundation patent of the machine which was +destined to revolutionize the harvesting of grain. Reverdy Johnson was +on one side of the case, and E.M. Stanton and George Harding on the +other. It became necessary, in addition, to have a lawyer who was a +resident of Illinois; and inquiry was made of Hon. E.B. Washburne, then +in Congress, as to whether he knew a suitable man. The latter replied +that "there was a man named Lincoln at Springfield, who had considerable +reputation in the State." Lincoln was retained in the case, and came on +to Cincinnati with a brief. Stanton and Harding saw in their associate +counsel "a tall, dark, uncouth man, who did not strike them as of any +account, and, indeed, they gave him hardly any chance." An interesting +account of this visit, and of various incidents connected with it, has +been prepared by the Hon. W.M. Dickson of Cincinnati. "Mr. Lincoln came +to the city," says Mr. Dickson, "a few days before the argument took +place, and remained during his stay at the house of a friend. The case +was one of large importance pecuniarily, and in the law questions +involved. Reverdy Johnson represented the plaintiff. Mr. Lincoln had +prepared himself with the greatest care; his ambition was to speak in +the case, and to measure swords with the renowned lawyer from Baltimore. +It was understood between his client and himself, before his coming, +that Mr. Harding of Philadelphia was to be associated with him in the +case, and was to make the 'mechanical argument.' Mr. Lincoln was a +little surprised and annoyed after reaching Cincinnati, to learn that +his client had also associated with him Mr. Edwin M. Stanton, of +Pittsburgh, and a lawyer of our own bar; the reason assigned being that +the importance of the case required a man of the experience and power of +Mr. Stanton to meet Mr. Johnson. The reasons given did not remove the +slight conveyed in the employment, without consultation with Lincoln, of +this additional counsel. He keenly felt it, but acquiesced. The trial of +the case came on; the counsel for defense met each morning for +consultation. On one of these occasions one of the counsel moved that +only two of them should speak in the case. This motion was also +acquiesced in. It had always been understood that Mr. Harding was to +speak to explain the mechanism of the reapers. So this motion excluded +either Mr. Lincoln or Mr. Stanton. By the custom of the bar, as between +counsel of equal standing and in the absence of any action of the +client, the original counsel speaks. By this rule Mr. Lincoln had +precedence. Mr. Stanton suggested to Mr. Lincoln to make the speech. Mr. +Lincoln answered, 'No; you speak,' Mr. Stanton replied, 'I will,' and +taking up his hat, said he would go and make preparation. Mr. Lincoln +acquiesced in this, but was deeply grieved and mortified; he took but +little more interest in the case, though remaining until the conclusion +of the trial. He seemed to be greatly depressed, and gave evidence of +that tendency to melancholy which so marked his character. His parting +on leaving the city cannot be forgotten. Cordially shaking the hand of +his hostess, he said: 'You have made my stay here most agreeable, and I +am a thousand times obliged to you; but as for repeating my visit, I +must say to you I never expect to be in Cincinnati again. I have nothing +against the city, but things have so happened here as to make it +undesirable for me ever to return.' Thus untowardly met for the first +time, Lincoln and Stanton. Little did either then suspect that they were +to meet again on a larger theatre, to become the chief actors in a great +historical epoch." + +If Lincoln was "surprised and annoyed" at the treatment he received from +Stanton, the latter was no less surprised, and a good deal more +disgusted, on seeing Lincoln and learning of his connection with the +case. He made no secret of his contempt for the "long, lank creature +from Illinois," as he afterwards described him, "wearing a dirty linen +duster for a coat, on the back of which the perspiration had splotched +wide stains that resembled a dirty map of the continent." He blurted out +his wrath and indignation to his associate counsel, declaring that if +"that giraffe" was permitted to appear in the case he would throw up his +brief and leave it. Lincoln keenly felt the affront, but his great +nature forgave it so entirely that, recognizing the singular abilities +of Stanton beneath his brusque exterior, he afterwards, for the public +good, appointed him to a seat in his cabinet. + +Lincoln, says Mr. Dickson, "remained in Cincinnati about a week, moving +freely about. Yet not twenty men in the city knew him personally, or +knew he was here; not a hundred would have known who he was had his name +been given to them. He came with the fond hope of making fame in a +forensic contest with Reverdy Johnson. He was pushed aside, humiliated +and mortified. He attached to the innocent city the displeasure that +filled his bosom, and shook its dust from his feet." + +In his Autobiography, Moncure D. Conway records a glimpse of Lincoln +during his Cincinnati visit that seems worth transcribing. "One warm +evening in 1859, passing through the market-place in Cincinnati, I found +there a crowd listening to a political speech in the open air. The +speaker stood on the balcony of a small brick house, some lamps +assisting the moonlight. Something about the speaker, and some words +that reached me, led me to press nearer. I asked the speaker's name, and +learned that it was Abraham Lincoln. Browning's description of the +German professor, 'Three parts sublime to one grotesque,' was applicable +to this man. The face had a battered and bronzed look, without being +hard. His nose was prominent, and buttressed a strong and high forehead. +His eyes were high-vaulted, and had an expression of sadness; his mouth +and chin were too close together, the cheeks hollow. On the whole, +Lincoln's appearance was not attractive until one heard his voice, which +possessed variety of expression, earnestness, and shrewdness in every +tone. The charm of his manner was that he had no manner; he was simple, +direct, humorous. He pleasantly repeated a mannerism of his +opponent,--'This is what Douglas calls his '_gur-reat per-rinciple.'_ +But the next words I remember were these: '_Slavery is wrong_.'" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + + The Great Lincoln-Douglas Debate--Rivals for the U.S. + Senate--Lincoln's "House-Divided-against-Itself" Speech--An + Inspired Oration--Alarming His Friends--Challenges Douglas to a + Joint Discussion--The Champions Contrasted--Their Opinions of Each + Other--Lincoln and Douglas on the Stump--Slavery the Leading + Issue--Scenes and Anecdotes of the Great Debate--Pen-Picture of + Lincoln on the Stump--Humors of the Campaign--Some Sharp + Rejoinders--Words of Soberness--Close of the Conflict. + +The year 1858 is memorable alike in the career of Lincoln and in the +political history of the country. It was distinguished by the joint +discussions between the two great political leaders of Illinois, which +rank among the ablest forensic debates that have taken place since the +foundation of the republic. The occasion was one to call out the +greatest powers of the two remarkable men who there contested for +political supremacy. It was not alone that Lincoln and Douglas were +opposing candidates for a high office--that of Senator of the United +States: they were the champions and spokesmen of their parties at a +critical period when great issues were to be discussed and great +movements outlined and directed. It was naturally expected that the +winner in the contest would become the political leader of his State. +Little was it imagined that the loser would become the leader and savior +of the Nation. + +On the 21st of April the Democratic convention of Illinois met at +Springfield and announced Stephen A. Douglas, then United States +Senator, as its choice for another term. June 16 the Republican +convention met at the same place and declared unanimously that "Abraham +Lincoln is our first and only choice for United States Senator to fill +the vacancy about to be created by the expiration of Mr. Douglas's term +of office." For a number of days previous to the meeting of the +Republican convention Lincoln had been engaged in preparing a speech for +the occasion. It was composed after his usual method--the separate +thoughts jotted down as they came to him, on scraps of paper at hand at +the moment, and these notes were arranged in order and elaborated into a +finished essay, copied on large sheets of paper in a plain and legible +handwriting. This was the speech which afterwards came to be so +celebrated as the "house-divided-against-itself" speech. Lincoln was +gravely conscious of its unusual importance, and gave great care and +deliberation to its composition. The evening of June 16--the day of his +nomination by the convention--Lincoln went to his office, accompanied by +his friend Herndon, and having locked the door proceeded to read his +speech. Slowly and distinctly he read the first paragraph, and then +turned to Herndon with, "What do you think of that?" Mr. Herndon was +startled at its boldness. "I think," said he, "it is all true. But is it +entirely politic to read or speak it as it is written?" "That makes no +difference," said Lincoln. "That expression is a truth of all human +experience,--'a house divided against itself cannot stand.' The +proposition is indisputably true, and has been true for more than six +thousand years; I want to use some universally known figure, expressed +in simple language, that may strike home to the minds of men in order to +rouse them to the peril of the times." Mr. Herndon was convinced by +Lincoln's language, and advised him to deliver the speech just as it was +written. Lincoln was satisfied, but thought it would be prudent to +consult a few other friends in the matter, and about a dozen were called +in. "After seating them at the round table," says John Armstrong, one of +the number, "he read that clause or section of his speech which reads, +'a house divided against itself cannot stand,' etc. He read it slowly +and cautiously, so as to let each man fully understand it. After he had +finished the reading, he asked the opinions of his friends as to the +wisdom or policy of it. Every man among them condemned the speech in +substance and spirit, especially that section quoted above, as unwise +and impolitic if not untrue. They unanimously declared that the whole +speech was too far in advance of the times. Herndon sat still while they +were giving their respective opinions of its unwisdom and impolicy; then +he sprang to his feet and said, 'Lincoln, deliver it _just as it reads_. +If it is in advance of the times, let us lift the people to its level. +The speech is true, wise, and politic, and will succeed now or in the +future. Nay, it will aid you, if it will not make you President of the +United States.' Mr. Lincoln sat still a moment, then rose from his +chair, walked backwards and forwards in the hall, stopped, and said: +'Friends, I have thought about this matter a great deal, have weighed +the questions from all corners, and am thoroughly convinced the time has +come when this speech should be uttered; and if it be that I must go +down because of it, then let me go down linked to truth--die in the +advocacy of what is right and just. This nation cannot live on +injustice; "a house divided against itself cannot stand," I say again +and again.' This was spoken with emotion--the effects of his love of +truth, and sorrow from the disagreement of his friends." + +On the next evening the speech was delivered to an immense audience in +the hall of the House of Representatives at Springfield. "The hall and +lobbies and galleries were even more densely crowded and packed than at +any time during the day," says the official report; and as Lincoln +"approached the speaker's stand, he was greeted with shouts and hurrahs, +and prolonged cheers." The prophetic sentences which dropped first from +the lips of the speaker were freighted with a solemn import which even +he could scarcely have divined in full. The seers of old were not more +inspired than he who now, out of the irresistible conviction of his +heart, said to his surprised and unbelieving listeners: + + If we could first know where we are and whither we are tending, we + could then better judge what to do and how to do it. We are now far + on in the fifth year since a policy was initiated with the avowed + object and confident promise of putting an end to slavery + agitation. Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has + not only not ceased, but has constantly augmented. In my opinion it + will not cease until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. + 'A house divided 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 it will 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 in course of + ultimate extinction, 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. + +Mr. Jeriah Bonham, an old citizen of Illinois, relates that he was +present as a delegate at the Springfield convention and heard the famous +speech of Lincoln. According to Mr. Bonham, "The speech was prepared +with unusual care, every paragraph and sentence carefully weighed. The +firm bedrock of principles, the issues of the campaign on which he +proposed to stand and fight his battles, were all well considered, and +his arguments were incontrovertible. In that memorable speech culminated +all the grand thoughts he had ever uttered, embodying divinity, +statesmanship, law, and morals, and even fraught with prophecy. As he +advanced in this argument he towered to his full height, forgetting +himself entirely as he grew warm in his work. Men and women who heard +that speech well remember the wonderful transformation wrought in +Lincoln's appearance. The plain, homely man towered up majestically; his +face lit as with angelic light; the long, bent, angular figure, like the +strong oak of the forest, stood erect, and his eyes flashed with the +fire of inspiration." + +The party that had nominated Lincoln for the Senate was not prepared to +endorse his restriction of the coming struggle to the single issue of +the slavery question. His friends dreaded the result of his +uncompromising frankness, while politicians quite generally condemned +it. Even so stanch a friend as Leonard Swett, whose devotion to Lincoln +never wavered throughout his whole career, shared these apprehensions. +Says Mr. Swett: "The first ten lines of that speech defeated him. The +sentiment of the 'house divided against itself' seemed wholly +inappropriate. It was a speech made at the commencement of a campaign, +and apparently made for the campaign. Viewing it in this light alone, +nothing could have been more unfortunate or inappropriate. It was saying +the wrong thing first; yet he felt that it was an abstract truth, and +that standing by the speech would ultimately find him in the right +place. I was inclined at the time to believe these words were hastily +and inconsiderately uttered; but subsequent facts have convinced me they +were deliberate and had been well matured." + +A few days after the delivery of this speech, a gentleman named Dr. Long +called on Lincoln and gave him a foretaste of the remarks he was to hear +during the next few months. "Well, Lincoln," said he, "that foolish +speech of yours will kill you--will defeat you in this contest, and +probably for all offices for all time to come. I am sorry, sorry, very +sorry. I wish it was wiped out of existence. Don't you wish so too?" +Laying down the pen with which he had been writing, and slowly raising +his head and adjusting his spectacles, Lincoln replied: "Well, Doctor, +if I had to draw a pen across and erase my whole life from existence, +and I had one poor gift or choice left as to what I should save from the +wreck, _I should choose that speech_, and leave it to the world +unerased." + +The Senatorial campaign was now well begun. Douglas opened it by a +speech at Chicago on the 9th of July. Lincoln was present, and on the +next evening spoke in reply from the same place--the balcony of the +Tremont House. A week later Douglas spoke at Bloomington, with Lincoln +again in the audience. The notion of a joint discussion seems to have +originated with Lincoln, who on the 24th of July addressed a note to +Douglas as follows: + + HON. S.A. DOUGLAS--My Dear Sir:--Will it be agreeable to you to + make an arrangement for you and myself to divide time, and + address the same audiences during the present canvass? Mr. Judd, + who will hand you this, is authorized to receive your answer, + and, if agreeable to you, to enter into the terms of such + arrangement. Your obedient servant, A. LINCOLN. + +The result of this proposal was an agreement that there should be a +joint discussion between the two candidates in each of the seven +Congressional districts in which they had not both already been heard. +Places were named and dates fixed extending to the middle of October. It +was agreed that the opening speech on each occasion should occupy one +hour; the reply, one hour and a half; the close, half an hour; and that +Mr. Douglas should have the first and last voice in four of the seven +meetings. + +The champions who were thus to enter the lists in a decisive trial of +forensic strength and skill are forcibly contrasted by Mr. Speed, who +says: "They were the respective leaders of their parties in the State. +They were as opposite in character as they were unlike in their persons. +Lincoln was long and ungainly; Douglas was short and compact. Douglas, +in all elections, was the moving spirit and manager. He was content +with nothing short of a blind submission to himself. He could not +tolerate opposition to his will within his party organization. He held +the reins and controlled the movements of the Democratic chariot. With a +large State majority, with many able and ambitious men in it, he stepped +to the front in his youth and held his place till his death. Lincoln, on +the other hand, shrank from any controversy with his friends. His party +being in a minority in the State, he was forced to the front because his +friends thought he was the only man with whom they could win. In a +canvass his friends had to do all the management. He knew nothing of how +to reach the people except by addressing their reason. If the situation +had been reversed--Lincoln representing the majority and Douglas the +minority--I think it most likely Lincoln would never have had the place. +He had no heart for a fight with friends." + +The Hon. James G. Blaine has given a masterly description and analysis +of the comparative powers of the two illustrious debaters. Douglas, says +Mr. Blaine, "was everywhere known as a debater of singular skill. His +mind was fertile in resources. He was a master of logic. No man +perceived more quickly than he the strength or the weakness of an +argument, and no one excelled him in the use of sophistry and fallacy. +Where he could not elucidate a point to his own advantage, he would +fatally becloud it for his opponent. In that peculiar style of debate +which in intensity resembles a physical combat, he had no equal. He +spoke with extraordinary readiness. There was no halting in his phrase. +He used good English, terse, vigorous, pointed. He disregarded the +adornments of rhetoric--rarely used a simile. He was utterly destitute +of humor, and had slight appreciation of wit. He never cited historical +precedents except from the domain of American politics. Inside that +field his knowledge was comprehensive, minute, critical; beyond it his +learning was limited. He was not a reader. His recreations were not in +literature. In the whole range of his voluminous speaking, it would be +difficult to find either a line of poetry or a classical allusion. But +he was by nature an orator, and by long practice a debater. He could +lead a crowd almost irresistibly to his own conclusions. He could, if he +wished, incite a mob to desperate deeds. He was, in short, an able, +audacious, almost unconquerable opponent in public discussion. It would +have been impossible to find any man of the same type able to meet him +before the people of Illinois. Whoever attempted it would probably have +been destroyed in the first encounter. But the man who was chosen to +meet him, who challenged him to the combat, was radically different in +every phase of character. Scarcely could two men be more unlike in +mental and moral constitution than Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. +Douglas. Lincoln was calm and philosophic. He loved the truth for the +truth's sake. He would not argue from a false premise, or be deceived +himself or deceive others by a false conclusion. He had pondered deeply +on the issues which aroused him to action. He had given anxious thought +to the problems of free government, and to the destiny of the Republic. +He had marked out a path of duty for himself, and he walked it +fearlessly. His mental processes were slower but more profound than +those of Douglas. He did not seek to say merely the thing which was best +for that day's debate, but the thing which would stand the test of time +and square itself with eternal justice. He wished nothing to appear +white unless it was white. His logic was severe and faultless. He did +not resort to fallacy, and could detect it in his opponent and expose it +with merciless directness. He had an abounding sense of humor, and +always employed it in illustration of his argument--but never for the +mere sake of provoking merriment. In this respect he had the wonderful +aptness of Franklin. He often taught a great truth with the felicitous +brevity of an Aesop fable. His words did not flow in an impetuous +torrent, as did those of Douglas; but they were always well chosen, +deliberate and conclusive." + +Mr. Arnold, in the course of an extended comparison, says: "At the time +of these discussions, both Lincoln and Douglas were in the full maturity +of their powers. Douglas was forty-five and Lincoln forty-nine years of +age. Physically and mentally, they were as unlike as possible. Douglas +was short, not much more than five feet high, with a large head, massive +brain, broad shoulders, a wide, deep chest, and features strongly +marked. He impressed every one, at first sight, as a strong, sturdy, +resolute, fearless man. Lincoln's herculean stature has already been +described. A stranger who listened to him for five minutes would say: +'This is a kind, genial, sincere, genuine man; a man you can trust, +plain, straightforward, honest, and true.' If this stranger were to hear +him make a speech, he would be impressed with his clear good sense, by +his wit and humor, by his general intelligence, and by the simple, +homely, but pure and accurate language he used. In his long residence at +Washington, Douglas had acquired the bearing and manners of a gentleman +and a man of the world. But he was always a fascinating and attractive +man, and always and everywhere personally popular. He had been for years +carefully and thoroughly trained on the stump, in Congress, and in the +Senate, to meet in debate the ablest speakers in the State and Nation. +For years he had been accustomed to meet on the floor of the Capitol the +leaders of the old Whig and Free-soil parties. Among them were Webster +and Seward, Fessenden and Crittenden, Chase, Trumbull, Hale and others +of nearly equal eminence; and his enthusiastic friends insisted that +never, either in single conflict or when receiving the assault of the +senatorial leaders of a whole party, had he been discomfited. His style +was bold, vigorous, and aggressive; at times even defiant. He was ready, +fluent, fertile in resources, familiar with national and party history, +severe in denunciation, and he handled with skill nearly all the weapons +of debate. His iron will and restless energy, together with great +personal magnetism, made him the idol of his friends and party. His +long, brilliant, and almost universally successful career, gave him +perfect confidence in himself, and at times he was arrogant and +overbearing.... Lincoln also was a thoroughly trained speaker. He had +met successfully, year after year, at the bar and on the stump, the +ablest men of Illinois and the Northwest, including Lamborn, Stephen T. +Logan, John Calhoun, and many others. He had contended, in generous +emulation, with Hardin, Baker, Logan, and Browning; and had very often +met Douglas, a conflict with whom he always courted rather than shunned. +His speeches, as we read them to-day, show a more familiar knowledge of +the slavery question than those of any other statesman of our country. +This is especially true of the Peoria speech and the Cooper Institute +speech. Lincoln was powerful in argument, always seizing the strong +points, and demonstrating his propositions with a clearness and logic +approaching the certainty of mathematics. He had, in wit and humor, a +great advantage over Douglas. Then he had the better temper; he was +always good humored, while Douglas, when hard pressed, was sometimes +irritable. Douglas perhaps carried away the more popular applause; +Lincoln made the deeper and more lasting impression. Douglas did not +disdain an immediate _ad captandum_ triumph; while Lincoln aimed at +permanent conviction. Sometimes, when Lincoln's friends urged him to +raise a storm of applause, which he could always do by his happy +illustrations and amusing stories, he refused, saying, 'The occasion is +too serious; the issues are too grave. I do not seek applause, or to +amuse the people, but to _convince_ them.' It was observed in the +canvass that while Douglas was greeted with the loudest cheers, when +Lincoln closed the people seemed serious and thoughtful, and could be +heard all through the crowd, gravely and anxiously discussing the +subjects on which he had been speaking." + +Soon after the arrangements for the debate had been made, Senator +Douglas visited Alton, Illinois. A delegation of prominent Democrats +there paid their respects to him, and during the conversation one of +them congratulated Douglas on the easy task he would have in defeating +Lincoln; at the same time expressing surprise at the champion whom he +had selected. Douglas replied: "Gentlemen, you do not know Mr. Lincoln. +I have known him long and well, and I know that I shall have anything +but an easy task. I assure you I _would rather meet any other man in the +country than Abraham Lincoln."_ This was Douglas's mature opinion of +the man of whom, years before, he had said, in his characteristic way: +"Of all the d----d Whig rascals about Springfield, Abe Lincoln is the +ablest and honestest." On another occasion, Douglas said: "I have known +Lincoln for nearly twenty-five years. There were many points of sympathy +between us when we first got acquainted. We were both comparatively +boys, and both struggling with poverty in a strange land. I was a +school-teacher in the town of Winchester, and he a flourishing +grocery-keeper in the town of Salem. He was more successful in his +occupation than I was in mine, and hence more fortunate in the world's +goods. Lincoln is one of those peculiar men who perform with admirable +skill everything they undertake. I made as good a school-teacher as I +could, and when a cabinet-maker I made as good bedsteads and tables as I +could--although my old boss says that I succeeded better with _bureaus_ +and _secretaries_ than with anything else. But I believe that Lincoln +was always more successful in business than I, for his business enabled +him to get into the Legislature. I met him there, however, and had a +sympathy with him because of the up-hill struggle we both had had in +life. He was then just as good at telling an anecdote as now. He could +beat any of the boys in wrestling or running a foot-race, in pitching +quoits or pitching a copper; and the dignity and impartiality with which +he presided at a horse-race or fist-fight excited the admiration and won +the praise of everybody that was present. I sympathized with him because +he was struggling with difficulties, and so was I. Mr. Lincoln served +with me in the Legislature of 1836; then we both retired, and he +subsided, or became submerged, and was lost sight of as a public man for +some years. In 1846, when Wilmot introduced his celebrated proviso, and +the Abolition tornado swept over the country, Lincoln again turned up as +a Member of Congress from the Sangamon district. I was then in the +Senate of the United States, and was glad to welcome my old friend." + +Lincoln, in a speech delivered two years before the joint debate, had +spoken thus of Senator Douglas: "Twenty-two years ago, Judge Douglas and +I first became acquainted; we were both young then--he a trifle younger +than I. Even then, we were both ambitious--I perhaps quite as much as +he. With me, the race of ambition has been a failure--a flat failure; +with him, it has been one of splendid success. His name fills the +nation, and is not unknown even in foreign lands. I affect no contempt +for the high eminence he has reached; so reached that the oppressed of +my species might have shared with me in the elevation, I would rather +stand on that eminence than wear the richest crown that ever pressed a +monarch's brow." + +A few days before the first discussion was to take place, Lincoln, who +had become conscious that some of his party friends distrusted his +ability to meet successfully a man who, as the Democrats declared and +believed, had never had his equal on the stump, met an old friend from +Vermilion County, and, shaking hands, inquired the news. His friend +replied, "All looks well; our friends are wide awake, but they are +looking forward with some anxiety to these approaching joint discussions +with Douglas." A shade passed over Lincoln's face, a sad expression came +and instantly passed, and then a blaze of light flashed from his eyes, +and with his lips compressed and in a manner peculiar to him, half +serious and half jocular, he said: "My friend, sit down a minute, and I +will tell you a story. You and I, as we have travelled the circuit +together attending court, have often seen two men about to fight. One of +them, the big or the little giant, as the case may be, is noisy and +boastful; he jumps high in the air, strikes his feet together, smites +his fists, brags about what he is going to do, and tries hard to +'_skeer_' the other man. The other man says not a word; his arms are at +his side, his fists are clenched, his teeth set, his head settled firmly +on his shoulders; he saves his breath and strength for the struggle. +_This man will whip,_ as sure as the fight comes off. Good-bye, and +remember what I say." + +The spirit and purpose with which Lincoln went into the contest are +shown also in the following words: "I shall not ask any favors at all. +Judge Douglas asks me if I wish to push this matter to the point of +personal difficulty. I tell him, _No!_ He did not make a mistake, in one +of his early speeches, when he called me an 'amiable' man, though +perhaps he did when he called me an 'intelligent' man. I again tell him, +_No!_ I very much prefer, when this canvass shall be over, however it +may result, that we at least part without any bitter recollections of +personal difficulties." + +The speeches in these joint discussions were entirely extemporaneous in +form, yet they were reported and printed in all the prominent papers in +the West, and found eager readers throughout the country. The voice and +manner, which add so much to the effect of a speaker, could not be +reproduced on the printed page; nor could full justice be done, in a +hasty transcript, to the force and fitness of the language employed. +Still, the impressions of those who heard them at the time, as well as +later and cooler analyses of them, have agreed in pronouncing these +debates among the most able and interesting on record. The scenes +connected with the different meetings were intensely exciting. Vast +throngs were invariably in attendance, while a whole nation was watching +the result. "At Freeport," says an observer, "Mr. Douglas appeared in an +elegant barouche drawn by four white horses, and was received with great +applause. But when Mr. Lincoln came up, in a 'prairie schooner,'--an +old-fashioned canvas-covered pioneer wagon,--the enthusiasm of the vast +throng was unbounded." + +At Charleston Lincoln opened and closed the day's debate. It was the +fourth discussion, and there was no more doubt of his ability to sustain +the conflict. According to Mr. Arnold, "Douglas's reply to Lincoln was +mainly a defense. Lincoln's close was intensely interesting and +dramatic. His logic and arguments were crushing, and Douglas's evasions +were exposed with a power and clearness that left him utterly +discomfited. Republicans saw it. Democrats realized it, and a sort of +panic seized them, and ran through the crowd of upturned faces. Douglas +realized his defeat, and, as Lincoln's blows fell fast and heavy, he +lost his temper. He could not keep his seat; he rose and walked rapidly +up and down the platform, behind Lincoln, holding his watch in his hand, +and obviously impatient for the call of _'time.'_ A spectator says: 'He +was greatly agitated, his long grizzled hair waving in the wind, like +the shaggy locks of an enraged lion.' It was while Douglas was thus +exhibiting to the crowd his eager desire to stop Lincoln, that the +latter, holding the audience entranced by his eloquence, was striking +his heaviest blows. The instant the secondhand of his watch reached the +point at which Lincoln's time was up, Douglas, holding up the watch, +called out: 'Sit down, Lincoln, sit down! Your time is up!' Turning to +Douglas, Lincoln said calmly: 'I will. I _will_ quit. I believe my time +_is_ up.' 'Yes,' said a voice from the platform, 'Douglas has had +enough; it is time you let up on him.'" + +The institution of slavery was, of course, the topic around which +circled all the arguments in these joint discussions. It was the great +topic of the hour--the important point of division between the +Republican and Democratic parties. Lincoln's exposition of the subject +was profound and masterly. At the meeting in Quincy the issue was +defined and the argument driven home with unsparing logic and +directness. In closing the debate, he said: + + I wish to return to Judge Douglas my profound thanks for his + public annunciation here to-day, to be put on record, that his + system of policy in regard to the institution of slavery + contemplates that it shall last _forever_. We are getting a + little nearer the true issue of this controversy, and I am + profoundly grateful for this one sentence. Judge Douglas asks + you, 'Why cannot the institution of slavery, or, rather, why + cannot the nation, part slave and part free, continue as our + fathers made it forever?' In the first place, I insist that our + fathers _did not_ make this nation half slave and half free, or + part slave and part free. I insist that they found the + institution of slavery existing here. They did not make it so, + but they left it so, because they knew of no way to get rid of it + at that time. When Judge Douglas undertakes to say that, as a + matter of choice, the fathers of the Government made this nation + part slave and part free, he assumes what is historically a + _falsehood_. More than that; when the fathers of the Government + cut off the source of slavery by the abolition of the + slave-trade, and adopted a system of restricting it from the new + Territories where it had not existed, I maintain that they placed + it where they understood, and all sensible men understood, it was + in the course of ultimate extinction; and when Judge Douglas asks + me why it cannot continue as our fathers made it, I ask him why + he and his friends could not let it remain as our friends made + it? It is precisely all I ask of him in relation to the + institution of slavery, that it shall be placed upon the basis + that our fathers placed it upon. Mr. Brooks, of South Carolina, + once said, and truly said, that when this Government was + established, no one expected the institution of slavery to last + until this day; and that the men who formed this Government were + wiser and better than the men of these days; but the men of these + days had experience which the fathers had not, and that + experience had taught them the invention of the cotton-gin, and + this had made the perpetuation of the institution of slavery a + necessity in this country. Judge Douglas could not let it stand + upon the basis on which our fathers placed it, but removed it, + and put it upon the cotton-gin basis. It is a question, + therefore, for him and his friends to answer--why they could not + let it remain where the fathers of the Government originally + placed it. + +In these debates Lincoln often seemed like one transfigured--carried +away by his own eloquence and the force of his conviction. He said to a +friend during the canvass: "Sometimes, in the excitement of speaking, I +seem to see the end of slavery. I feel that the time is soon coming when +the sun shall shine, the rain shall fall, on no man who shall go forth +to unrequited toil.... How this will come, when it will come, by whom it +will come, I cannot tell;--but that time will surely come." Again, at +the first encounter at Alton, he uttered these pregnant sentences: + + On this subject of treating slavery as a wrong, and limiting its + spread, let me say a word. Has anything ever threatened the + existence of this Union save and except this very institution of + slavery? What is it that we hold most dear among us? Our own + liberty and prosperity. What has ever threatened our liberty and + prosperity, save and except this institution of slavery? If this + is true, how do you propose to improve the condition of things by + enlarging slavery?--by spreading it out and making it bigger? You + may have a wen or cancer upon your person, and not be able to cut + it out lest you bleed, to death; but surely it is no way to cure + it to ingraft it and spread it over your whole body--that is no + proper way of treating what you regard a wrong. This peaceful way + of dealing with it as a wrong--restricting the spread of it, and + not allowing it to go into new countries where it has not already + existed--that is the peaceful way, the old-fashioned way, the way + in which the fathers themselves set us the example. Is slavery + wrong? That is the real issue. That is the issue that will + continue in this country when these poor tongues of Judge Douglas + and myself shall be silent. It is the eternal struggle between + these two principles--right and wrong--throughout the world. They + are two principles that have stood face to face from the + beginning of time; and will ever continue to struggle. The one is + the common right of humanity, and the other the divine right of + kings. It is the same principle, in whatever shape it develops + itself. It is the same spirit that says: 'You work, and toil, and + earn bread, and I'll eat it.' No matter in what shape it comes, + whether from the mouth of a king who seeks to bestride the people + of his own nation and live by the fruit of their labor, or from + one race of men as an apology for enslaving another race, it is + the same tyrannical principle. + +On still another occasion he used these unmistakable words: + + My declarations upon this subject of negro slavery may be + misrepresented, but cannot be misunderstood. I have said that I + do not understand the Declaration to mean that all men were + created equal in all respects. They are not our equal in color. + But I suppose that it does mean to declare that all men are + created equal in some respects; they are equal in their right to + 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' Certainly the + negro is not our equal in color, perhaps not in many other + respects; still, _in the right to put into his mouth the bread + that his own hands have earned, he is the equal of every other + man, white or black_. + +It is not in the scope of this narrative to print extended quotations +from the speeches made in this memorable contest, but rather to give +such reminiscences and anecdotes, and description by eye-witnesses, as +will best serve to bring the scenes and actors vividly to mind. +Fortunately, many such records are still in existence, and from them +some most entertaining personal accounts have been obtained. Among these +is an impressive pen-picture of Lincoln on the stump, as admirably +sketched by the Rev. Dr. George C. Noyes, of Chicago. "Mr. Lincoln in +repose," says Dr. Noyes, "was a very different man in personal +appearance from Mr. Lincoln on the platform or on the stump, when his +whole nature was roused by his masterful interest in the subject of his +discourse. In the former case he was, as has often been described, a man +of awkward and ungainly appearance and exceedingly homely countenance. +In the latter case, he was a man of magnificent presence and remarkably +impressive manner. The writer retains to this day a very vivid +impression of his appearance in both these characters, and both on the +same day. It was in Jacksonville, in the summer of 1858, and during the +great contest with Douglas, when the prize contended for was a seat in +the United States Senate. The day was warm; the streets were dusty, and +filled with great crowds of people. When Lincoln arrived on the train +from Springfield, he was met by an immense procession of people on +horseback, in carriages, in wagons and vehicles of every description, +and on foot, who escorted him through the principal streets to his +hotel. The enthusiasm of the multitude was great; but Lincoln's +extremely homely face wore an expression of sadness. He rode in a +carriage near the head of the procession, looking dust-begrimed and worn +and weary; and though he frequently lifted his hat in recognition of the +cheers of the crowds lining the streets, I saw no smile on his face, and +he seemed to take no pleasure in the demonstrations of enthusiasm which +his presence called forth. His clothes were very ill-fitting, and his +long arms and hands protruded far through his coat sleeves, giving him a +peculiarly uncouth appearance. Though I had often seen him before, and +had heard him in court--always with delight in his clearness and cogency +of statement, his illuminating humor, and his conspicuous fairness and +candor--yet I had never before seen him when he appeared so homely; and +I thought him about the ugliest man I had ever seen. There was nothing +in his looks or manner that was prepossessing. Such he appeared as he +rode in the procession on the forenoon of that warm summer day. His +appearance was not different in the afternoon of that day, when, in the +public square, he first stood before the great multitude who had +assembled there to hear him. His powers were aroused gradually as he +went on with his speech. There was much play of humor. 'Judge Douglas +has,' he said, 'one great advantage of me in this contest. When he +stands before his admiring friends, who gather in great numbers to hear +him, they can easily see, with half an eye, all kinds of _fat offices_ +sprouting out of his fat and jocund face, and, indeed, from every part +of his plump and well-rounded body. His appearance is therefore +irresistibly attractive. His friends expect him to be President, and +they expect their reward. But when I stand before the people, not the +sharpest vision is able to detect in my lean and lank person, or in my +sunken and hollow cheeks, _the faintest sign or promise_ of an office. I +am not a candidate for the Presidency, and hence there is no beauty in +me that men should desire me.' The crowd was convulsed with laughter at +this sally. As the speech went on, the speaker, though often impressing +his points with apposite and laughter-provoking stories, grew more and +more earnest. He showed that the government was founded in the interest +of freedom, not slavery. He traced the steady aggressions of the slave +power step by step, until he came to declare and to dwell upon the fact +of the irrepressible conflict between the two. Then, as he went on to +show, with wonderful eloquence of speech and of manner, that the country +must and would ultimately become, not all slave, but all free, he was +transfigured before his audience. His homely countenance fairly glowed +with the splendor of his prophetic speech; and his body, no longer +awkward and ungainly, but mastered and swayed by his thought, became an +obedient and graceful instrument of eloquent expression. The whole man +seemed to speak. He seemed like some grand Hebrew prophet, whose face +was glorified by the bright visions of a better day which he saw and +declared. His eloquence was not merely that of clear and luminous +statement, felicitous illustration, or excited yet restrained feeling; +it was the eloquence also of _thought_. With something of the +imaginative, he united rare dialectic power. He felt the truth before he +expounded it; but when once it was felt by him, then his logical power +came into remarkably effective play. Step by step he led his hearers +onward, till at last he placed them on the summit whence they could see +all the landscape of his subject in harmonious and connected order. Of +these two contrasted pictures of Lincoln, it is only the last which +shows him as he was in his real and essential greatness. And not this +fully; for it was in his character that he was greatest. He was not +merely a thinker, but a thinker for man, directing his thought to the +ends of justice, freedom, and humanity. If he desired and sought high +position, it was only that he might thus better serve the cause of +freedom to which he was devoted. From the time when he withdrew, in a +spirit of magnanimity that was never appreciated, in favor of a rival +candidate for the United States Senate, it was evident that the _cause_ +was more to him than any personal advantage or advancement." + +Another graphic description of Lincoln's appearance and manner on the +stump is given by Mr. Jeriah Bonham, whose account of the famous +"house-divided-against-itself" speech has already found a place in this +narrative. "When Mr. Lincoln took the stand," says Mr. Bonham, "he did +not, on rising, show his full height, but stood in a stooping posture, +his long-tailed coat hanging loosely around his body, and descending +over an ill-fitting pair of pantaloons that covered his not very +symmetrical legs. He began his speech in a rather diffident manner, +seeming for awhile at a loss for words; his voice was irregular, even a +little tremulous, as he began his argument. As he proceeded he seemed to +gain more confidence, his form straightened up, his face brightened, his +language became free and animated. Soon he had drawn the attention of +the crowd by two or three well-told stories that illustrated his +argument; and then he became eloquent, carrying his audience at will, as +tumultuous applause greeted every telling point he made." + +Mrs. John A. Logan, in her "Recollections of a Soldier's Wife," says: "I +always like to think of Mr. Lincoln as he was when I saw him with the +eyes of an opponent. His awkwardness has not been exaggerated, but it +gave no effect of self-consciousness. There was something about his +ungainliness and his homely face which would have made anyone who simply +passed him in the street remember him. His very awkwardness was an asset +in public life, in that it attracted attention to him. Douglas, on the +other hand, won by the magnetism of his personality. Lincoln did not +_seem_ to have any magnetism, though of course he actually did have the +rarest and most precious kind. Give Mr. Lincoln five minutes and Mr. +Douglas five minutes before an audience which knew neither, and Mr. +Douglas would make the greater impression. But give them each an hour, +and the contrary would be true." + +In the party that attended Lincoln in the Senatorial campaign was the +Hon. Andrew Shuman, afterwards Lieutenant-Governor of Illinois and one +of the veteran journalists of Chicago. Mr. Shuman was detailed to report +the joint debates for his paper; and he accompanied Lincoln through +nearly all of the campaign, travelling with him by night--sometimes +occupying the same room, and when in crowded quarters the same bed. He +thus saw much of Lincoln, and had the best of opportunities for studying +his character; not only hearing all his public speeches, but having long +conversations with him in private, and listening to the stories, +anecdotes, and gay or grave discourse by which the journeys and the +frequent "waits" were enlivened. The group consisted of several +gentlemen, including Norman B. Judd of Chicago, afterwards a member of +Congress; Robert R. Hitt, who was Lincoln's shorthand reporter, +afterwards member of Congress from Illinois; Mr. Villard, later the +President of the Northern Pacific Railroad, then a newspaper +correspondent; Mr. Shuman; and, at various times, other politicians and +journalists. Of this party Lincoln was always the leading spirit in +conversation. He would tell stories himself, and draw out stories from +others; and his laugh, though not the loudest, was always the heartiest. +Then he would pass to soberer themes, and discuss them with a tinge of +that melancholy which, however he might be surrounded, never seemed far +distant from him. At night, stopping at the country tavern or at some +friend's house, the evenings would be spent in discussion and +story-telling, or perhaps in a humorous review of the events of the +day; and after retiring, Lincoln would entertain his companion, often +far into the night, discoursing on many varied subjects,--politics, +literature, views of human life and character, or the prominent men and +measures then before the country. + +One day, according to Governor Shuman, Lincoln had been announced to +speak in a town in the extreme southern part of Illinois, in the very +heart of "Egypt," where there was a strong pro-slavery sentiment; and +it was feared there might be trouble, as Lincoln's anti-slavery +tendencies were well known. To make matters worse, a party of +Kentuckians and Missourians had come over to attend the meeting, and +it was noised about that they would not allow Lincoln to speak. He +heard of it, and both he and his friends were somewhat apprehensive of +trouble. The place of the meeting was a grove in the edge of the town, +the speakers occupying an improvised stand. The gathering was a large +one, and it had every appearance of a Southern crowd. It was customary +in those times for the men in that section of the country to carry +pistols and ugly-looking knives strapped to their persons, on public +occasions. It was a semi-barbarous community, and their hatred of the +Abolitionists, as they called all anti-slavery men, was as intense as +was their love of bad whiskey. Lincoln privately told his friends, who +in that locality were very few in number, that "if only they will give +me a fair chance to say a few opening words, I'll fix them all right." +Before mounting the speaker's stand he was introduced to many of the +crowd, and shook their hands in the usual Western way. Getting a small +company of the rough-looking fellows around him, he opened on them. +"Fellow-citizens of Southern Illinois--fellow-citizens of the State of +Kentucky--fellow-citizens of Missouri," he said, in a tone more of +conversation than of oratory, looking them straight in the eye, "I am +told that there are some of you here present who would like to make +trouble for me. I don't understand why they should. I am a plain, +common man, like the rest of you; and why should not I have as good a +right to speak my sentiments as the rest of you? Why, good friends, I +am one of you; I am not an interloper here! I was born in Kentucky, +raised in Illinois, just like the most of you, and worked my way right +along by hard scratching. I know the people of Kentucky, and I know +the people of Southern Illinois, and I think I know the Missourians. I +am one of them, and therefore ought to know them, and they ought to +know me better, and if they did know me better they would know that I +am not disposed to make them trouble; then why should they, or any one +of them, want to make trouble for me? Don't do any such foolish thing, +fellow-citizens. Let us be friends, and treat each other like friends. +I am one of the humblest and most peaceable men in the world--would +wrong no man, would interfere with no man's rights; and all I ask is +that, having something to say, you will give me a decent hearing. And, +being Illinoisans, Kentuckians, and Missourians--brave and gallant +people--I feel sure that you will do that. And now let us reason +together, like the honest fellows we are." Having uttered these words, +his face the very picture of good-nature and his voice full of +sympathetic earnestness, he mounted the speaker's stand and proceeded +to make one of the most impressive speeches against the further +extension of slavery that he ever made in his life. He was listened to +attentively; was applauded when he indulged in flashes of humor, and +once or twice his eloquent passages were lustily cheered. His little +opening remarks had calmed the threatening storm, had conquered his +enemies, and he had smooth sailing. From that day to the time of his +death, Abraham Lincoln held a warm place in the respect of very many +of those rough and rude "Egyptians," and he had no warmer supporters +for the Presidency, or while he was President, than they were. + +Mr. Leonard Volk, the sculptor who afterwards made an excellent bust of +Lincoln, says: "My first meeting with Abraham Lincoln was in 1858, when +the celebrated Senatorial contest opened between him and Stephen A. +Douglas. I was invited by the latter to accompany him and his party by a +special train to Springfield, to which train was attached a platform-car +having on board a cannon, which made considerable noise on the journey. +At Bloomington we all stopped over night, as Douglas had a speech to +make there in the evening. The party went to the Landon House--the only +hotel, I believe, in the place at that time. While we were sitting in +the hotel office after supper, Mr. Lincoln entered, carrying an old +carpet-bag in his hand, and wearing a weather-beaten silk hat--too +large, apparently, for his head--a long, loosely-fitting frock-coat of +black alpaca, and vest and trousers of the same material. He walked up +to the counter, and, saluting the clerk pleasantly, passed the bag over +to him, and inquired if he was too late for supper. The clerk replied +that supper was over, but perhaps enough could be 'scraped up' for him. +'All right,' said Mr. Lincoln; 'I don't want much.' Meanwhile, he said, +he would wash the dust off. He was certainly very dusty; it was the +month of June, and quite warm. While he was so engaged, several old +friends, who had learned of his arrival, rushed in to see him, some of +them shouting, 'How are you, Old Abe?' Mr. Lincoln grasped them by the +hand in his cordial manner, with the broadest and pleasantest smile on +his rugged face. This was the first good view I had of the 'coming man.' +The next day we all stopped at the town of Lincoln, where short speeches +were made by the contestants, and dinner was served at the hotel; after +which, as Mr. Lincoln came out on the plank-walk in front, I was +formally presented to him. He saluted me with his natural cordiality, +grasping my hand in both his large hands with a vice-like grip, and +looking down into my face with his beaming, dark, full eyes, said: 'How +do you do? I am glad to meet you. I have read of you in the papers. You +are making a statue of Judge Douglas for Governor Matteson's new house.' +'Yes, sir,' I answered; 'and sometime when you are in Chicago, and can +spare the time, I would like to have you sit to me for a bust.' 'Yes, I +will, Mr. Volk; I shall be glad to, the first opportunity I have.' All +were soon on board the long train, crowded with people, going to hear +the speeches at Springfield. The train stopped on the track, near +Edward's Grove, in the northern outskirts of the town, where staging was +erected and a vast crowd waited under the shade of the trees. On leaving +the train, most of the passengers climbed over the fences and crossed +the stubble-field, taking a short-cut to the grove,--among them Mr. +Lincoln, who stalked forward alone, taking immense strides, the +before-mentioned carpet-bag and an umbrella in his hands, and his coat +skirts flying in the breeze. I managed to keep pretty close in the rear +of the tall, gaunt figure, with the head craned forward, apparently much +over the balance, like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, that was moving +something like a hurricane across that rough stubble-field." + +The contest between Lincoln and Douglas seemed to be, as expressed by +Dr. Newton Bateman, "one between sharpness and greatness." Lincoln +seemed to Dr. Bateman, "a man strongly possessed by a belief to which he +was earnestly striving to win the people over; while the aim of Mr. +Douglas seemed rather to be simply to defeat Mr. Lincoln." Yet, although +Lincoln was usually earnest and considerate of his opponent, he could, +when occasion required, bring his powers of humor and sarcasm into play +in a very effective manner. A few pointed illustrations may be given. In +his speech at Galesburg, Douglas sneeringly informed the citizens that +"Honest Abe" had been a liquor-seller. Lincoln met this with the candid +admission that once in early life he had, under the pressure of poverty, +accepted and for a few months held a position in a store where it was +necessary for him to retail liquor. "But the difference between Judge +Douglas and myself is just this," he added, "that while I was _behind_ +the bar, he was _in front_ of it." + +At the close of the joint discussion at Alton, Douglas led off with a +speech an hour long, in which he showed no little irritability. The +campaign was evidently wearing on him. Lincoln, on the contrary, was in +capital spirits. "He sat taking in the speech of Douglas with seeming +immobility," says Mr. Jeriah Bonham, who was present, "and when it was +ended, he rose to reply. As in the opening of all his speeches, he spoke +slowly, did not rise to his full height, leaning forward in a stooping +posture at first, his person showing all the angularities of limb and +face. For the first five or ten minutes he was both awkward and +diffident, as in almost monotonous tones he began to untangle the meshes +of Douglas's sophistry. Proceeding, he gained confidence gradually; his +voice rang out strong and clear; his tall form towered to its full +height; his face grew radiant with impassioned feeling, as he poured +forth an outburst of crushing argument and inspiring eloquence. The +people became wild with enthusiasm, but his voice rang loud above their +cheers. Frequently in his speech he would turn toward Douglas, and say +with emphasis, 'You _know_ these things are so, Mr. Douglas!' or 'You +know these things are _not_ so, Mr. Douglas!' At one time he bent his +long body over his adversary, pouring in his arguments so sharply, that +Douglas, chafing under the attack, rose to explain; but Lincoln would +not allow it. 'Sit down, Mr. Douglas!' said he peremptorily. 'I did not +interrupt you, and you shall not interrupt me. You will have +opportunity to reply to me--if you can--in your closing speech.'" + +A good story is told of the occasion on which Lincoln and Douglas spoke +in Chicago. A well-known citizen who on account of his age was known +familiarly as "Father Brewster"--a man of standing, and a member of the +Board of Education--was one of the listeners on the platform. Lincoln +admired the old gentleman very much, and the admiration was mutual. They +sat together while Douglas made the opening speech. He spoke for more +than an hour, and never more brilliantly. When Lincoln's turn came he +could see that Father Brewster was exceedingly anxious as to the +outcome. Lincoln arose, let out all the joints in his long body, slowly +removed his overcoat and laid it across Mr. Brewster's knees. "Father +Brewster," he said, "will you hold my overcoat _while I stone Stephen?_" +Everybody shouted and cheered, and even Douglas joined in the laugh at +his own expense. + +Beneath the humors and excitements of the campaign, the prevailing tone +of Lincoln's thought was deeply serious and reflective. Toward the +close, when indications pointed to his defeat for the Senate, he seemed +somewhat depressed, and occasionally his old habitual melancholy would +steal over him and impart to his words a touching pathos. On such an +occasion, in one of the smaller cities of Illinois, Douglas, having the +first speech, made an unusually brilliant effort. He carried the crowd +with him; and when Lincoln rose to reply, it was evident that he felt +his disadvantage--felt, too, that do what he would final defeat was +probable. He made a good speech, but not one of his best. Concluding his +argument, he stopped and stood silent for a moment, looking around upon +the throng of half-indifferent, half-friendly faces before him, with +those deep-sunken weary eyes that always seemed full of unshed tears. +Folding his hands, as if they too were tired of the hopeless fight, he +said, in his peculiar monotone: "My friends, it makes little +difference, very little difference, whether Judge Douglas or myself is +elected to the United States Senate; but the great issue which we have +submitted to you to-day is far above and beyond any personal interests +or the political fortunes of any man. And, my friends, that issue will +live and breathe and burn when the poor, feeble, stammering tongues of +Judge Douglas and myself are silent in the grave." The crowd swayed as +if smitten by a mighty wind. The simple words, and the manner in which +they were spoken, touched every heart to the core. + +Lincoln spoke in all about fifty times during the campaign. At its +close, says Mr. Arnold, "both Douglas and Lincoln visited Chicago. +Douglas was so hoarse that he could hardly articulate, and it was +painful to hear him attempt to speak. Lincoln's voice was clear and +vigorous, and he really seemed in better tone than usual. His dark +complexion was bronzed by the prairie sun and winds; his eye was clear, +his step firm, and he looked like a trained athlete, ready to enter, +rather than one who had closed, a conflict." + +Of the speeches in this campaign, Mr. Henry J. Raymond, the +distinguished journalist, pronounced the following well-considered +opinion: "While Douglas fully sustained his previous reputation, and +justified the estimate his friends had placed upon his abilities, he +labored under the comparative disadvantage of being much better known to +the country at large than was his antagonist. During his long public +career, people had become partially accustomed to his manner of +presenting arguments and enforcing them. The novelty and freshness of +Lincoln's addresses, on the other hand, the homeliness and force of his +illustrations, their wonderful pertinence, his exhaustless humor, his +confidence in his own resources, engendered by his firm belief in the +justice of the cause he so ably advocated, never once rising, however, +to the point of arrogance or superciliousness, fastened upon him the +eyes of the people everywhere, friends and opponents alike. It was not +strange that more than once, during the course of the unparalleled +excitement which marked this canvass, Douglas should have been thrown +off his guard by the singular self-possession displayed by his +antagonist, and by the imperturbable firmness with which he maintained +and defended a position once taken. The unassuming confidence which +marked Lincoln's conduct was early imparted to his supporters, and each +succeeding encounter added largely to the number of his friends, until +they began to indulge the hope that a triumph might be secured in spite +of the adverse circumstances under which the struggle was commenced." + +Samuel Bowles, editor of the Springfield (Mass.) "Republican," said that +Lincoln "handled Douglas as he would an eel--by main strength. +Sometimes, perhaps, he handled him so strongly that he _slipped through +his fingers_." + +"In this canvass," says Mr. Lamon, "Mr. Lincoln earned a reputation as a +popular debater second to that of no man in America--certainly not +second to that of his famous antagonist. He kept his temper; he was not +prone to personalities; he was fair, frank, and manly; and, if the +contest had shown nothing else, it would have shown at least that 'Old +Abe' could behave like a gentleman under very trying circumstances. His +marked success in these discussions was probably no surprise to the +people of the Springfield district, who knew him as well as they did Mr. +Douglas, or even better. But in the greater part of the State, and +throughout the Union, the series of brilliant victories successively won +by an obscure man over an orator of such wide experience and renown was +received with exclamations of astonishment alike by listeners and +readers." + +Caleb Cushing, the distinguished Massachusetts lawyer, was one of those +acute minds whose attention was attracted to Lincoln by his debates +with Douglas. Mr. Cushing said that these debates showed Lincoln to be +the superior of Douglas "in every vital element of power"; and added +that "the world does not yet know how much of a man Lincoln really is." +It was soon to know him much more clearly. In less than two years after +the great debate this lately obscure Illinois lawyer was elected +President of the United States. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + + A Year of Waiting and Trial--Again Defeated for the + Senate--Depression and Neglect--Lincoln Enlarging His + Boundaries--On the Stump in Ohio--A Speech to Kentuckians--Second + Visit to Cincinnati--A Short Trip to Kansas--Lincoln in New York + City--The Famous Cooper Institute Speech--A Strong and Favorable + Impression--Visits New England--Secret of Lincoln's Success as an + Orator--Back to Springfield--Disposing of a Campaign + Slander--Lincoln's Account of His Visit to a Five Points Sunday + School. + +On the 2d of November, 1858, the State election was held in Illinois. +The chief significance of this election was due to the fact that the +Legislature then chosen would decide whether Douglas or Lincoln should +be sent to the Senate at Washington. The result showed that Lincoln had, +by his hard efforts, won a victory for his cause and for his party, but +not for himself. The Republican State ticket was elected by a majority +of about 4,000 votes; but in the Legislature a number of members held +over from the election of two years before, and the Republican gains, +though considerable, were not quite sufficient to overcome this adverse +element. When the Legislature met, Douglas was re-elected to the Senate +by a small majority. It is said that Lincoln was deeply grieved by his +defeat. When some one inquired of him how he felt over the result, he +answered that he felt "like the boy that stubbed his toe,--'it hurt too +bad to laugh, and he was too big to cry!'" + +A few days after his return to Springfield, there was pressed on the +attention of the defeated candidate a matter which must have been +peculiarly unwelcome at the time, but which was accepted with habitual +fortitude. What this matter was is revealed in the following letter: + + SPRINGFIELD, NOV. 16, 1858. + + HON. N.B. JUDD--_My Dear Sir_:--Yours of the 15th is just received. + I wrote you the same day. As to the pecuniary matter, I am willing + to pay according to my ability, but I am the poorest hand living to + get others to pay. I have been on expense so long, without earning + anything, that I am absolutely without money now for even household + expenses. Still, if you can put in two hundred and fifty dollars + for me towards discharging the debt of the committee, I will allow + it when you and I settle the private matter between us. This, with + what I have already paid with an outstanding note of mine, will + exceed my subscription of five hundred dollars. This, too, is + exclusive of my ordinary expenses during the campaign, all of + which, being added to my loss of time and business, bears pretty + heavily upon one no better off than I am. But as I had the post of + honor, it is not for me to be over-nice. + + You are feeling badly. _And this, too, shall pass away;_ never + fear. + + Yours as ever, + A. LINCOLN. + +Hon. E.M. Haines, who was a member of the Legislature of 1858-9, and a +supporter of Lincoln for the Senate, states that Lincoln seemed greatly +depressed by his defeat, and that his friends were also somewhat +disheartened regarding his future prospects, and neglected him to some +extent. "Some time after the Senatorial election," says Mr. Haines, +"Governor Bissell gave a reception at his house, which I attended with +my wife. After we had paid our respects to the Governor and Mrs. +Bissell, we passed on to an adjoining room, where there was quite a +throng of people engaged in conversation. Mr. Lincoln was standing near +the centre of the room, entirely alone, with his usual sad countenance, +and apparently unnoticed by anyone. I said to my wife, 'Here is Mr. +Lincoln; he looks as if he had lost all his friends; come and have an +introduction to him, and cheer him up.' Mr. Lincoln received us very +cordially, and we entered into a general conversation, apparently +unnoticed, and attracting no attention from others as they passed and +repassed around us. Dancing was going on in the adjacent rooms, and Mr. +Lincoln invited my wife to join him in the dancing, which she did, and +he apparently took much pleasure in the recreation. My wife afterwards +related to me much that Mr. Lincoln said in their conversation during +the evening. His despondency became much dispelled after they became +engaged in conversation; indeed, she said that he seemed to be putting +forth an effort to get out of the gloomy condition which had come upon +him from the result of his Senatorial canvass. He had occasion during +their conversation to refer to his age, remarking incidentally that he +was almost fifty years old; whereupon, as if suddenly reflecting that +his age was a good part of a man's life, and as if unwilling to +relinquish his hold upon the future, he suddenly braced himself up, and +said, 'But, Mrs. Haines, I feel that I am good for another fifty years +yet.'" + +During the winter following the Senatorial debate Lincoln was occupied +with his private affairs. The love of public speaking had become so +strong with him that he prepared a lecture and delivered it to the +public at several places during the winter. It was somewhat humorous in +character, but was not much of a success, and he soon declined further +invitations to deliver it. To one correspondent he wrote, in March, +1859: "Your note, inviting me to deliver a lecture in Galesburg, is +received. I regret to say that I cannot do so now. I must stick to the +courts for awhile. I read a sort of a lecture to three different +audiences during the last month and this; but I did so under +circumstances which made it a waste of time, of no value whatever." + +The following autumn (1859) Senator Douglas visited Ohio and made +speeches for the Democratic party there. From the Republican ranks there +arose a cry for Lincoln, whose superiority to Douglas in the great +debate of the preceding year was still fresh in the public mind. He +promptly answered it, and spoke in that State with marked effect. At +Cincinnati he addressed himself especially to Kentuckians, and said, in +a strain which is now seen to be prophetic: + + I should not wonder if there were some Kentuckians in this + audience; we are close to Kentucky; but whether that be so or not, + we are on elevated ground, and by speaking distinctly I should not + wonder if some of the Kentuckians would hear me on the other side + of the river. For that purpose I propose to address a portion of + what I have to say to the Kentuckians. I say, then, in the first + place, to the Kentuckians, that I am what they call, as I + understand it, a 'Black Republican.' I think slavery is wrong, + morally and politically. I desire that it should be no further + spread in these United States, and I should not object if it should + gradually terminate in the whole Union. While I say this for + myself, I say to you Kentuckians, that I understand you differ + radically with me upon this proposition; that you believe slavery + is a good thing; that slavery is right; that it ought to be + extended and perpetuated in this Union. Now, there being this broad + difference between us, I do not pretend, in addressing myself to + you Kentuckians, to attempt proselyting you; that would be a vain + effort. I will tell you, so far as I am authorized to speak for the + opposition, what we mean to do with you. We mean to treat you, as + nearly as we possibly can, as Washington, Jefferson, and Madison + treated you. We mean to leave you alone, and in no way to interfere + with your institution; to abide by all and every compromise of the + Constitution, and, in a word, coming back to the original + proposition, to treat you, so far as degenerated men (if we have + degenerated) may, according to the examples of those noble + fathers--Washington, Jefferson and Madison. We mean to remember + that you are as good as we; that there is no difference between + us, other than the difference of circumstances. We mean to + recognize and bear in mind always, that you have as good hearts in + your bosoms as other people, or as we claim to have, and treat you + accordingly. We mean to marry your girls, when we have a + chance--the white ones, I mean--and I have the honor to inform you + that I once did have a chance in that way. I have told you what we + mean to do. I want to know now what _you_ mean to do. I often hear + it intimated that you mean to divide the Union whenever a + Republican, or anything like it, is elected President of the United + States. [A voice--'That is so.'] 'That is so,' one of them says; I + wonder if he is a Kentuckian? [A voice--'He is a Douglas man.'] + Well, then, I want to know what you are going to do with your half + of it? Are you going to split the Ohio down through, and push your + half off a piece? Or are you going to keep it right alongside of us + outrageous fellows? Or are you going to build up a wall some way + between your country and ours, by which that movable property of + yours can't come over here any more, to the danger of your losing + it? Do you think you can better yourselves on that subject by + leaving us here under no obligation whatever to return those + specimens of your movable property that come hither? You have + divided the Union because we would not do right with you, as you + think, upon that subject; when we cease to be under obligations to + do anything for you, how much better off do you think you will be? + Will you make war upon us and kill us all? Why, gentlemen, I think + you are as gallant and as brave men as live; that you can fight as + bravely in a good cause, man for man, as any other people living; + that you have shown yourselves capable of this upon various + occasions; but man for man, you are not better than we are, and + there are not so many of you as there are of us. You will never + make much of a hand at whipping us. If we were fewer in numbers + than you, I think that you could whip us; if we were equal, it + would likely be a drawn battle; but being inferior in numbers, you + will make nothing by attempting to master us. + +The Hon. W.M. Dickson, whose interesting account of Lincoln's first +visit to Cincinnati and the disappointments attending it has already +been given in this narrative, says of this second visit as contrasted +with the obscurity of the first: "Lincoln returned to the city with a +fame wide as the continent, with the laurels of the Douglas contest on +his brow, and the Presidency almost in his grasp. He returned, greeted +with the thunder of cannon, the strains of martial music, and the joyous +plaudits of thousands of citizens thronging the streets. He addressed a +vast concourse on Fifth Street Market; was entertained in princely style +at the Burnet House; and there received with courtesy the foremost +citizens, come to greet this Western rising star." + +In December of the same year Lincoln visited Kansas and addressed the +people of that troubled State upon the political questions then before +the country. At Leavenworth, Atchison, Elwood, and other places, he was +met by large gatherings of eager listeners who were charmed and +convinced by his fresh and reassuring utterances. His journeys were +complete ovations, and he returned to Illinois leaving a host of new +friends behind him. As several of Lincoln's biographers make no +reference to his Kansas visit, and the entire matter seems more or less +obscured, the following letter, lately written by Mr. Harry W. Stewart, +of Carlsbad, New Mexico, is of much interest: "I have recently seen a +reference to Lincoln's visit to Kansas as if the fact were not clearly +established. In this connection I may offer a personal recollection of +my father, James G. Stewart, who was a physician practicing in the +little town of Elwood, Kansas, from 1856 to 1860. He said that both +Lincoln and Seward came out and spoke in St. Joseph, Mo., just across +the river from Elwood. On each occasion a large following of 'free +state' men went over to St. Jo to hear the speech and incidentally to +support the speaker in case of violence, which had been freely +predicted. According to this reminiscence, Lincoln crossed the Missouri +into Kansas, my father having the honor of taking him in a buggy to a +small town fourteen miles distant from Elwood in Doniphan County. They +drove out to Troy, where Mr. Lincoln made a speech. From here I think he +went on to Lawrence and other places before returning to St. Joseph, but +have no account of his movements beyond Troy. I think it was in the year +1858 and must have been in the summer time, for the party took Mr. +Lincoln over the Missouri on a ferry. It did not make trips oftener than +about once in two hours. When Lincoln came to the bank on the Missouri +side the boat had just gone. There was no waiting-room or benches to sit +on and some of the party were inclined to think they were in hard luck. +When Lincoln found out how it was, he said: 'It's all right. We'll sit +right down on the sand and wait for the boat.' Then they all sat down on +the ground and listened to genuine Lincoln stories till the time was up. +My father often spoke with delight of this incident. I have looked in +vain in Lincoln histories for a more definite account of this Kansas +trip. Of the actual fact there can be no doubt." + +Lincoln's fame, as we have seen, had now extended to the East, where he +seems to have been looked upon as a rising man and an interesting figure +in national politics. Invitations to visit the East now began to reach +him. In the following February (1860) he went to Brooklyn, for the +purpose of delivering a lecture in Mr. Beecher's church. The invitation +had given him much pleasure, and he prepared himself thoroughly; indeed, +it is said that no effort of his life cost him so much labor as this. In +the Plymouth congregation of Brooklyn there was an association of young +men which was successful in getting an annual course of six lectures of +the highest order. This association discerned in Lincoln a man worthy of +a place in its course, and invited him to give such a lecture. +Meanwhile, some prominent Republican politicians of New York had heard +of him as a possible candidate for the Presidency, and desired him to +make a speech in that city in order to determine whether he would be the +man to present to the Republican National convention in case Mr. Seward +could not be nominated. Lincoln informed these gentlemen of his Brooklyn +engagement, but said he would speak in New York if the Brooklyn club +gave its consent. That club agreed to this arrangement; and thus it was +decided that Lincoln's speech should be delivered in New York City, +instead of Brooklyn, as had been first intended. Mr. R.C. McCormick, who +was a member of the committee in charge of the arrangements, says: "When +Mr. Lincoln came to New York City, there was some confusion in the +arrangements. He had at first been invited to appear in Brooklyn, but +upon deliberation his friends thought it best that he should be heard in +New York. Reaching the Astor House on Saturday, February 25, he was +surprised to find by announcement in the public prints that he was to +speak at the Cooper Institute. He said he must review his address if it +was to be delivered in New York. What he had prepared for Mr. Beecher's +church-folks might not be altogether appropriate to a miscellaneous +political audience. Saturday was spent in a review of the speech, and on +Sunday morning he went to Plymouth church, where apparently he greatly +enjoyed the service. On Monday morning I waited upon him with several +members of the Young Men's Republican Union, into whose hands the +preparations for the meeting at the Cooper Institute had fallen. We +found him in a suit of black, much wrinkled from its careless packing in +a small valise. He received us cordially, apologizing for the awkward +and uncomfortable appearance he made in his new suit, and expressing +himself surprised at being in New York. His form and manner were indeed +very odd, and we thought him the most unprepossessing public man we had +ever met. I spoke to him of the manuscript of his forthcoming address, +and suggested to him that it should be given to the press at his +earliest convenience, in order that it might be published in full on the +morning following its delivery. He appeared in much doubt as to whether +any of the papers would care to print it; and it was only when I +accompanied a reporter to his room and made a request for it, that he +began to think his words might be of interest to the metropolitan +public. He seemed wholly ignorant of the custom of supplying slips to +the different journals from the office first putting the addresses in +type, and was charmingly innocent of the machinery so generally used, +even by some of our most popular orators, to give success and _éclat_ to +their public efforts. The address was written upon blue foolscap paper, +all in his own hand, and with few interlineations. I was bold enough to +read portions of it, and had no doubt that its delivery would create a +marked sensation throughout the country. Lincoln referred frequently to +Douglas, but always in a generous and kindly manner. It was difficult to +regard them as antagonists. Many stories of the famous Illinois debates +were told us, and in a very short time his frank and sparkling +conversation won our hearts and made his plain face pleasant to us all. +During the day it was suggested that he should be taken up Broadway and +shown the city, of which he knew but little--stating, I think, that he +had been here but once before. At one place he met an Illinois +acquaintance of former years, to whom he said, in his dry, good-natured +way: 'Well, B., how have you fared since you left Illinois?' To which B. +replied, 'I have made a hundred thousand dollars, and lost all. How is +it with you, Mr. Lincoln?' 'Oh, very well,' said Lincoln. 'I have the +cottage at Springfield, and about eight thousand dollars in money. If +they make me Vice-president with Seward, as some say they will, I hope I +shall be able to increase it to twenty thousand; and that is as much as +any man ought to want.' We visited a photographic establishment upon +the corner of Broadway and Bleeker streets, where he sat for his +picture, the first taken in New York. At the gallery he met and was +introduced to Hon. George Bancroft, and had a brief conversation with +that gentleman, who welcomed him to New York. The contrast in the +appearance of the men was most striking; the one courtly and precise in +his every word and gesture, with the air of a trans-Atlantic statesman; +the other bluff and awkward, his very utterance an apology for his +ignorance of metropolitan manners and customs. 'I am on my way to +Massachusetts,' he said to Mr. Bancroft, 'where I have a son at school, +who, if report be true, already knows much more than his father.'" + +On the evening of February 27 a large and brilliant audience gathered at +Cooper Institute, to hear the famous Western orator. The scene was one +never to be forgotten by those who witnessed it. Upon the platform sat +many of the prominent men of the Republican party, and in the body of +the hall were many ladies. The meeting was presided over by the +distinguished citizen and poet William Cullen Bryant, of whom Mr. +Lincoln afterward said, "It was worth a journey to the East merely to +see such a man." The orator of the evening was introduced by Mr. Bryant +with some very complimentary allusions, especially to his controversy +with Douglas. "When Mr. Lincoln came on the platform and was introduced +by Mr. Bryant," says one who was present, "he seemed a giant in contrast +with him. His first sentence was delivered in a peculiarly high-keyed +voice, and disappointed us. In a short time the sharp points of his +address began to come, and he had not been speaking for half an hour +before his audience seemed wild with enthusiasm." Another account says: +"His manner was, to a New York audience, a very strange one, but it was +captivating. He held the vast meeting spell-bound, and as one by one +his oddly expressed but trenchant and convincing arguments confirmed the +soundness of his political conclusions, the house broke out in wild and +prolonged enthusiasm. I think I never saw an audience more thoroughly +carried away by an orator." This speech was full of trenchant passages, +which called forth tumultuous applause. The following is a specimen: + + I defy anyone to show that any living man in the whole world ever + did, prior to the beginning of the present century (and I might + almost say prior to the beginning of the last half of the present + century), declare that, in his understanding, any proper division + of local from Federal authority, or any part of the Constitution, + forbade the Federal Government to control slavery in the Federal + territories. To those who now so declare, I give not only our + fathers who framed the government under which we live, but with + them all other living men within the century in which it was + framed, among whom to search, and they shall not be able to find + the evidence of a single man agreeing with them. + +Referring to the South, and the growing political discontent in that +quarter, he said: + + Let all who believe that our fathers understood this question just + as well as, and even better than, we do now, speak as they spoke + and act as they acted upon it. This is all Republicans ask--all + Republicans desire--in relation to slavery. As those fathers marked + it, so let it be again marked, as an evil not to be extended, but + to be tolerated and protected only because, and so far as, its + actual presence among us makes that toleration and protection a + necessity. Let all the guarantees those fathers gave it be not + grudgingly but fully and fairly maintained. + +His counsel to the young Republican party was timely and full of wisdom. + + A few words now to Republicans: It is exceedingly desirable that + all parts of this great Confederacy shall be at peace, and in + harmony one with another. Let us Republicans do our part to have it + so. Even though much provoked, let us do nothing through passion + and ill-temper. Even though the Southern people will not so much as + listen to us, let us calmly consider their demands, and yield to + them, if in our deliberate view of our duty we possibly can. + +The address closed with the following impressive words: + + Wrong as we think slavery is, we can yet afford to let it alone + where it is, because that much is due to the necessity arising from + its actual presence in the nation; but can we, while our votes will + prevent it, allow it to spread into the National Territories, and + to overrun us here in these free States? If our sense of duty + forbids this, then let us stand by our duty, fearlessly and + effectively. Let us be diverted by none of those sophistical + contrivances wherewith we are so industriously plied and + belabored--contrivances such as groping for some middle ground + between the right and the wrong, vain as the search for a man who + should be neither a living man nor a dead man,--such as a policy of + 'don't care' on a question about which all true men do care,--such + as Union appeals, beseeching true Union men to yield to + Disunionists, reversing the divine rule, and calling not the + sinners but the righteous to repentance,--such as invocations of + Washington, imploring men to unsay what Washington said and undo + what Washington did. Neither let us be slandered from our duty by + false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of + destruction to the Government nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us + have faith that right makes might; and in that faith, let us to the + end dare to do our duty as we understand it. + +The Cooper Institute speech made a profound impression upon the public. +All who saw and heard Lincoln on that occasion felt the influence of his +strange but powerful personality; and acute minds recognized in the +unsophisticated Western lawyer a new force in American politics. This +speech made Lincoln known throughout the country, and undoubtedly did +more than anything else to secure him the nomination for the Presidency. +Aside from its extensive publication in the newspapers, various editions +of it appeared in pamphlet form, one of the best of which was issued by +Messrs. C.C. Nott and Cephas Brainard, who appended to their edition an +estimate of the speech that is well worth reprinting here: "No one who +has not actually attempted to verify its details can understand the +patient research and historical labor which it embodies. The history of +our earlier politics is scattered through numerous journals, statutes, +pamphlets, and letters; and these are defective in completeness and +accuracy of statement, and in indexes and tables of contents. Neither +can any one who has not travelled over this precise ground appreciate +the accuracy of every trivial detail, or the self-denying impartiality +with which Mr. Lincoln has turned from the testimony of 'the fathers' on +the general question of slavery to present the single question which he +discusses. From the first line to the last, from his premises to his +conclusion, he travels with a swift, unerring directness which no +logician ever excelled,--an argument complete and full, without the +affectation of learning, and without the stiffness which usually +accompanies dates and details. A single easy, simple sentence of plain +Anglo-Saxon words contains a chapter of history that, in some instances, +has taken days of labor to verify, and must have cost the author months +of investigation to acquire; and though the public should justly +estimate the labor bestowed on the facts which are stated, they cannot +estimate the greater labor involved on those which are omitted--how many +pages have been read--how many works examined--what numerous statutes, +resolutions, speeches, letters, and biographies have been looked +through. Commencing with this address as a political pamphlet, the +reader will leave it as an historical work--brief, complete, profound, +impartial, truthful,--which will survive the time and the occasion that +called it forth, and be esteemed hereafter no less for its intrinsic +worth than for its unpretending modesty." + +Lincoln's oldest son, Robert, was at this time a student in Harvard +University, and, chiefly to visit him, Lincoln made a brief trip to New +England. While there he spoke at Concord and Manchester in New +Hampshire; at Woonsocket in Rhode Island; and at Hartford, New Haven, +Norwich, Meriden, and Bridgeport in Connecticut. These speeches were +heard with delight by large audiences, and received hearty praise from +the press. At Manchester, "The Mirror," a neutral paper, published the +following remarks on Lincoln's style of oratory: "He spoke an hour and a +half, with great fairness, great apparent candor, and with wonderful +interest. He did not abuse the South, the administration, or the +Democrats, nor indulge in any personalities, with the exception of a few +hits at 'Douglas's notions.' He is far from prepossessing in personal +appearance, and his voice is disagreeable; and yet he wins attention and +good-will from the start. He indulges in no flowers of rhetoric, no +eloquent passages. He is not a wit, a humorist, or a clown; yet so fine +a vein of pleasantry and good-nature pervades what he says, gliding over +a deep current of poetical arguments, that he keeps his hearers in a +smiling mood, ready to swallow all he says. His sense of the ludicrous +is very keen; and an exhibition of that is the clincher of all his +arguments--not the ludicrous acts of persons, but ludicrous ideas. For +the first half-hour his opponents would agree with every word he +uttered; and from that point he began to lead them off little by little, +until it seemed as if he had got them all into his fold." + +The Rev. John. P. Gulliver, of Norwich, Connecticut, has given a most +interesting reminiscence of Lincoln's speech in that city while on his +tour through New England. On the morning following the speech he met +Lincoln on a railroad train, and entered into conversation with him. In +speaking of his speech, Mr. Gulliver remarked to Lincoln that he thought +it the most remarkable one he ever heard. "Are you sincere in what you +say?" inquired Lincoln. "I mean every word of it," replied the minister; +"indeed, I learned more of the art of public speaking last evening than +I could from a whole course of lectures on rhetoric." Then Lincoln +informed him of a "most extraordinary circumstance" that had occurred at +New Haven a few days previous. A professor of rhetoric in Yale College, +he had been told, came to hear him, took notes of his speech, and gave a +lecture on it to his class the following day, and, not satisfied with +that, followed him to Meriden the next evening and heard him again for +the same purpose. All this seemed to Lincoln to be "very extraordinary." +He had been sufficiently astonished by his success in the West, but he +had no expectation of any marked success in the East, particularly among +literary and learned men. "Now," said Lincoln, "I should like very much +to know what it is in my speech which you thought so remarkable, and +which interested my friend the professor so much." Mr. Gulliver's answer +was: "The clearness of your statements, the unanswerable style of your +reasoning, and especially your illustrations, which were romance and +pathos and fun and logic all welded together." After Mr. Gulliver had +fully satisfied his curiosity by a further exposition of the +politician's peculiar power, Lincoln said: "I am much obliged to you for +this. I have been wishing for a long time to find someone who would make +this analysis for me. It throws light on a subject which has been dark +to me. I can understand very readily how such a power as you have +ascribed to me will account for the effect which seems to be produced +by my speeches. I hope you have not been too flattering in your +estimate. Certainly I have had a most wonderful success for a man of my +limited education." Mr. Gulliver then inquired into the processes by +which he had acquired his education, and was rewarded with many +interesting details. When they were about to part, the minister said: +"Mr. Lincoln, may I say one thing to you before we separate?" +"Certainly; anything you please," was the response. "You have just +spoken," said Mr. Gulliver, "of the tendency of political life in +Washington to debase the moral convictions of our representatives there, +by the admixture of considerations of mere political expediency. You +have become, by the controversy with Mr. Douglas, one of our leaders in +this great struggle with slavery, which is undoubtedly the struggle of +the nation and the age. What I would like to say is this, and I say it +with a full heart: Be true to your principles, and we will be true to +you, and God will be true to us all." Mr. Lincoln, touched by the +earnestness of his interlocutor, took his hand in both his own, and, +with his face full of sympathetic light, exclaimed: "I say _amen_ to +that! _amen to that_!" + +After the New England tour, Lincoln returned to his home in Springfield. +As often happens, those least appreciative of his success were his own +neighbors; and certain reflections gained vogue concerning his motives +in visiting the East. It was charged that he had been mercenary; that +his political speeches had been paid for. Something of this sort having +been brought to Lincoln's notice, he disposed of the matter in the +following manly and characteristic letter: + + C.F. McNEILL, ESQ.--_Dear Sir:_--Reaching home yesterday, I found + yours of the 23d March, enclosing a slip from the 'Middleport + Press.' It is not true that I ever charged anything for a political + speech in my life; but this much is true: Last October I was + requested by letter to deliver some sort of speech in Mr. Beecher's + church in Brooklyn, $200 being offered in the first letter. I wrote + that I could do it in February, provided they would take a + political speech if I could find time to get up no other. They + agreed; and subsequently I informed them the speech would have to + be a political one. When I reached New York, I learned for the + first time that the place was changed to Cooper Institute. I made + the speech, and left for New England, where I have a son at school, + neither asking for pay nor having any offered me. Three days after, + a check for $200 was sent me, and I took it, and did not know it + was wrong. My understanding now is--though I knew nothing of it at + the time--that they did charge for admittance at the Cooper + Institute, and that they took in more than twice $200. I have made + this explanation to you as a friend; but I wish no explanation made + to our enemies. What they want is a squabble and a fuss; and that + they can have if we explain; and they cannot have it if we don't. + When I returned through New York from New England, I was told by + the gentleman who sent me the check that a drunken vagabond in the + club, having learned something about the $200, made the exhibition + out of which the 'Herald' manufactured the article quoted by the + 'Press' of your town. My judgment is, and therefore my request is, + that you give no denial, and no explanations. + + Thanking you for your kind interest in the matter, I remain, + + Yours truly, A. LINCOLN. + +It appears that on the Sunday which Lincoln spent in New York City he +visited a Sunday School in the notorious region called Five Points, and +there made a short address to the scholars. After his return to +Springfield, one of his neighbors, hearing of this, thought it would be +a good subject for bantering Lincoln about, and accordingly visited him +for that purpose. This neighbor was generally known as "Jim," just as +Lincoln was called "Abe." The following account of his visit, furnished +by Mr. Edward Eggleston, shows that he did not derive as much fun from +the "bantering" as he had expected: "He started for 'Old Abe's' office; +but bursting open the door impulsively, found a stranger in conversation +with Mr. Lincoln. He turned to retrace his steps, when Lincoln called +out, 'Jim! What do you want?' 'Nothing.' 'Yes, you do; come back.' After +some entreaty 'Jim' approached Mr. Lincoln, and remarked, with a twinkle +in his eye, 'Well, Abe, I see you have been making a speech to Sunday +School children. What's the matter?' 'Sit down, Jim, and I'll tell you +all about it.' And with that Lincoln put his feet on the stove, and +began: 'When Sunday morning came, I didn't know exactly what to do. Mr. +Washburne asked me where I was going. I told him I had nowhere to go; +and he proposed to take me down to the Five Points Sunday School, to +show me something worth seeing. I was very much interested by what I +saw. Presently, Mr. Pease came up and spoke to Mr. Washburne, who +introduced me. Mr. Pease wanted us to speak. Washburne spoke, and then I +was urged to speak. I told them I did not know anything about talking to +Sunday Schools, but Mr. Pease said many of the children were friendless +and homeless, and that a few words would do them good. Washburne said I +must talk. And so I rose to speak; but I tell you, Jim, I didn't know +what to say. I remembered that Mr. Pease said they were homeless and +friendless, and I thought of the time when I had been pinched by +terrible poverty. And so I told them that I had been poor; that I +remembered when my toes stuck out through my broken shoes in winter; +when my arms were out at the elbows; when I shivered with the cold. And +I told them there was only one rule; that was, always do the very best +you can. I told them that I had always tried to do the very best I +could; and that, if they would follow that rule, they would get along +somehow. That was about what I said. And when I got through, Mr. Pease +said it was just the thing they needed. And when the school was +dismissed, all the teachers came up and shook hands with me, and thanked +me; although I did not know that I had been saying anything of any +account. But the next morning I saw my remarks noticed in the papers.' +Just here Mr. Lincoln put his hand in his pocket, and remarked that he +had never heard anything that touched him as had the songs which those +children sang. With that he drew forth a little book, saying that they +had given him one of the books from which they sang. He began to read a +piece with all the earnestness of his great, earnest soul. In the middle +of the second verse his friend 'Jim' felt a choking in his throat and a +tickling in his nose. At the beginning of the third verse he saw that +the stranger was weeping, and his own tears fell fast. Turning toward +Lincoln, who was reading straight on, he saw the great blinding tears in +his eyes, so that he could not possibly see the pages. He was repeating +that little song from memory. How often he had read it, or how long its +sweet and simple accents continued to reverberate through his soul, no +one can know." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + + Looking Towards the Presidency--The Illinois Republican Convention + of 1860--A "Send-Off" for Lincoln--The National Republican + Convention at Chicago--Contract of the Leading Candidates--Lincoln + Nominated--Scenes at the Convention--Sketches by + Eye-Witnesses--Lincoln Hearing the News--The Scene at + Springfield--A Visit to Lincoln at His Home--Recollections of a + Distinguished Sculptor--Receiving the Committee of the + Convention--Nomination of Douglas--Campaign of 1860--Various + Campaign Reminiscences--Lincoln and the Tall Southerner--The Vote + of the Springfield Clergy--A Graceful Letter to the Poet + Bryant--"Looking up Hard Spots." + +In the latter part of the year 1859, after Lincoln had gained +considerable national prominence through events already briefly +narrated, some of his friends began to consider the expediency of +bringing him forward as a candidate for the Presidency in 1860. The +young Republican party had thus far been in the minority, and the +necessity was generally felt of nominating a man who would not render +himself objectionable by advocating extreme or unpopular measures. The +subject was mentioned to Lincoln, but he seems not to have taken it very +seriously. He said that there were distinguished men in the party who +were more worthy of the nomination, and whose public services entitled +them to it. Toward spring in 1860 Lincoln consented to a conference on +the subject with some of his more intimate friends. The meeting took +place in a committee-room in the State House. Mr. Bushnell, Mr. Hatch +(then Secretary of State), Mr. Judd (Chairman of the Republican State +Central Committee), Mr. Peck, and Mr. Grimshaw were present. They were +unanimous in opinion as to the expediency and propriety of making +Lincoln a candidate. But he was still reluctant; he doubted that he +could get the nomination even if he wished it, and asked until the next +morning to consider the matter. The next day he authorized his friends +to work for him, if they so desired, as a candidate for the Presidency, +at the National Republican convention to be held in May at Chicago. + +It is evident that while Lincoln had no serious expectation of receiving +the nomination, yet having consented to become a candidate he was by no +means indifferent on the subject. The following confidential letter to +his friend N.B. Judd shows his feelings at this time. + + SPRINGFIELD, ILL., FEBRUARY 9, 1860. + + HON. N.B. JUDD--_Dear Sir_:--I am not in a position where it would + hurt much for me not to be nominated on the national ticket; but I + am where it would hurt some for me not to get the Illinois + delegates. What I expected when I wrote the letter to Messrs. Dole + and others is now happening. Your discomfited assailants are more + bitter against me, and they will, for revenge upon me, lay to the + Bates egg in the South and the Seward egg in the North, and go far + towards squeezing me out in the middle with nothing. Can you not + help me a little in this matter in your end of the vineyard? (I + mean this to be private.) + + Yours as ever, A. LINCOLN. + +It would seem that the original intention of Lincoln's friends had been +to bring him out as a candidate for the Vice-Presidency. Hon. E.M. +Haines states that as early as the spring of 1859, before the +adjournment of the Legislature of which he was a member, some of the +Republican members discussed the feasibility of urging Lincoln's name +for the Vice-Presidency. Lincoln appears not to have taken very strongly +to the suggestion. "I recollect," says Mr. Haines, "that one day Mr. +Lincoln came to my desk in the House of Representatives, to make some +inquiry regarding another member; and during the conversation, referring +to his growing reputation, I remarked to him that I did not know that +we would be able to make him President, but perhaps we could do the next +best thing, and make him Vice-President. He brightened up somewhat, and +answered by a story which I do not clearly recall, but the application +of which was that he scarcely considered himself a big enough man for +President, while the Vice-Presidency was scarcely big enough office for +one who had aspired to a seat in the Senate of the United States." + +On the 9th and 10th of May, 1860, the Republicans of Illinois met in +convention at Decatur. Lincoln was present, although he is said to have +been there as a mere spectator. It was, Mr. Lamon tells us, "A very +large and spirited body, comprising the most brilliant as well as the +shrewdest men in the party. It was evident that something of more than +usual importance was expected to transpire. A few moments after the +convention organized, 'Old Abe' was seen squatting, or sitting on his +heels, just within the door of the convention building. Governor Oglesby +rose and said, amid increasing silence, 'I am informed that a +distinguished citizen of Illinois, and one whom Illinois will ever +delight to honor, is present; and I wish to move that this body invite +him to a seat on the stand.' Here the Governor paused, as if to work +curiosity up to the highest point; then he shouted the magic name, +'_Abraham Lincoln_!' A roar of applause shook every board and joist of +the building. The motion was seconded and passed. A rush was made for +the hero, who still sat on his heels. He was seized and jerked to his +feet. An effort was made to 'jam him through the crowd' to his place of +honor on the stage; but the crowd was too dense. Then he was +'boosted'--lifted up bodily--and lay for a few seconds sprawling and +kicking upon the heads and shoulders of the great throng. In this manner +he was gradually pushed toward the stand, and finally reached it, +doubtless to his great relief, 'in the arms of some half-dozen +gentlemen,' who set him down in full view of his clamorous admirers. +'The cheering was like the roar of the sea. Hats were thrown up by the +Chicago delegation, as if hats were no longer useful.' Mr. Lincoln rose, +bowed, smiled, blushed, and thanked the assembly as well as he could in +the midst of such a tumult. A gentleman who saw it all says, 'I then +thought him one of the most diffident and worst-plagued men I ever saw.' +At another stage of the proceedings, Governor Oglesby rose again with +another provoking and mysterious speech. 'There was,' he said, 'an old +Democrat outside who had something he wished to present to the +convention.' 'Receive it!' 'Receive it!' cried some. 'What is it?' 'What +is it?' yelled some of the lower Egyptians, who seemed to have an idea +that the 'old Democrat' might want to blow them up with an infernal +machine. The door opened; and a fine, robust old fellow, with an open +countenance and bronzed cheeks, marched into the midst of the +assemblage, bearing on his shoulder 'two small triangular heart rails,' +surmounted by a banner with this inscription: '_Two rails from a lot +made by Abraham Lincoln and John Hanks, in the Sangamon Bottom, in the +year 1830_.' The sturdy rail-bearer was old John Hanks himself, enjoying +the great field-day of his life. He was met with wild and tumultuous +cheers, prolonged through several minutes; and it was observed that the +Chicago and Central-Illinois men sent up the loudest and longest +cheering. The scene was tempestuous and bewildering. But it ended at +last; and now the whole body, those in the secret and those out of it, +clamored for a speech from Mr. Lincoln, who in the meantime 'blushed,' +but seemed to shake with inward laughter. In response to the repeated +calls he rose and said: 'Gentlemen, I suppose you want to know something +about those things' (pointing to old John and the rails). 'Well, the +truth is, John Hanks and I did make rails in the Sangamon Bottom. I +don't know whether we made those rails or not; the fact is, I don't +think they are a credit to the makers' (laughing as he spoke). 'But I do +know this: I made rails then, and I think I could make better ones than +these now.' By this time the innocent Egyptians began to open their +eyes; they saw plainly enough the admirable Presidential scheme unfolded +to their view. The result of it all was a resolution declaring that +'Abraham Lincoln is the first choice of the Republican party of Illinois +for the Presidency, and instructing the delegates to the Chicago +convention to use all honorable means to secure his nomination, and to +cast the vote of the State as a unit for him.'" + +On the 16th of May, 1860, the National Republican convention met at +Chicago. An immense building called "The Wigwam," erected for the +occasion, was filled with an excited throng numbering fully twelve +thousand. After the usual preliminaries the convention settled down to +the serious work of nominating a candidate for the Presidency. From the +outset the contest was clearly between Abraham Lincoln of Illinois and +William H. Seward of New York. On the first ballot, Seward's vote of +173-1/2 was followed by Lincoln with 102--the latter having more than +double the vote of his next competitor, Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania +(51 votes), who was followed by Salmon P. Chase of Ohio (49 votes) and +Edward Bates of Missouri (48 votes). A contrast between these two +remarkable men, Seward and Lincoln, now political antagonists but soon +to be intimately associated at the head of the Government--one as +President and the other as his prime minister--is most interesting and +instructive. Seward was a trained statesman and experienced politician +of ripe culture and great sagacity, the acknowledged leader of the +Republican party, New York's ex-Governor and now its most distinguished +Senator. His position and career were therefore far more conspicuous +than those of Lincoln. His supporters in the convention were +well-organized, bold, confident, and expected that he would be nominated +by acclamation. Lincoln, on the other hand, was still essentially a +country lawyer, who had come into prominence mainly as the competitor of +Senator Douglas in Illinois in 1858. With all his native strength of +mind and force of character, he was, compared with the polished Seward, +a rude backwoodsman, unskilled in handling the reins of government, +unfamiliar with the wiles of statecraft, and unused to the company of +diplomats and social leaders. His political reputation, and his support +in the convention, were chiefly Western. Yet his Cooper Institute +speech, delivered three months before the convention met, had done much +for him in the East; and the homely title of "Honest Old Abe" had +extended throughout the free States. Unlike Seward, he had no political +enemies, and was the second choice of most of the delegates whose first +choice was some other candidate. + +In political management and strategy the Western men at the convention +soon showed that they were at best a match for those from the East. Soon +after the opening of the convention, Lincoln's friends saw that there +was an organized body of men in the crowd who cheered vociferously +whenever Seward's name was mentioned. "At a meeting of the Illinois +delegation at the Tremont House," says Mr. Arnold, "on the evening of +the first day, at which Judd, Davis, Cook and others were present, it +was decided that on the second day Illinois and the West should be +heard. There was then living in Chicago a man whose voice could drown +the roar of Lake Michigan in its wildest fury; nay, it was said that his +shout could be heard on a calm day across that lake. Cook of Ottawa knew +another man living on the Illinois river, a Dr. Ames, who had never +found his equal in his ability to shout and hurrah. He was, however, a +Democrat. Cook telegraphed to him to come to Chicago by the first +train. These two men with stentorian voices met some of the Illinois +delegation at the Tremont House, and were instructed to organize each a +body of men to cheer and shout, which they speedily did, out of the +crowds which were in attendance from the Northwest. They were placed on +opposite sides of the Wigwam, and instructed that when they saw Cook +take out his white handkerchief they were to cheer and not to cease +until he returned it to his pocket. Cook was conspicuous on the +platform, and at the first utterance of the name of Lincoln, +simultaneously with the wave of Cook's handkerchief, there went up such +a cheer, such a shout as had never before been heard, and which startled +the friends of Seward as the cry of 'Marmion' on Flodden Field 'startled +the Scottish foe.' The New Yorkers tried to follow when the name of +Seward was spoken, but, beaten at their own game, their voices were +drowned by the cheers for Lincoln. This was kept up until Lincoln was +nominated, amidst a storm of applause probably never before equalled at +a political convention." + +The result on the first ballot, with Seward leading Lincoln by 71-1/2 +votes, has already been given. On the second ballot Seward gained 11 +votes, giving him 184-1/2; while Lincoln made the astonishing gain of 78 +votes, giving him a total of 181 and reducing Seward's lead of 71-1/2 +votes to 3-1/2 votes. There was no longer doubt of the result. The third +ballot came, and Lincoln, passing Seward who had fallen off 3-1/2 votes +from the previous ballot, ran rapidly up to 231-1/2 votes--233 being the +number required to nominate. Lincoln now lacked but a vote and a half to +make him the nominee. At this juncture, the chairman of the Ohio +delegation rose and changed four votes from Chase to Lincoln, giving him +the nomination. The Wigwam was shaken to its foundation by the roaring +cheers. The multitude in the streets answered the multitude within, and +in a moment more all the volunteer artillery of Chicago joined in the +grand acclamation. After a time the business of the convention +proceeded, amid great excitement. All the votes that had heretofore been +cast against Lincoln were cast for him before this ballot concluded. The +convention completed its work by the nomination of Hannibal Hamlin of +Maine for Vice-President. + +Mr. F.B. Carpenter, who was present at Lincoln's nomination, furnishes a +graphic sketch of this dramatic episode. "The scene surpassed +description. Men had been stationed upon the roof of the Wigwam to +communicate the result of the different ballots to the thousands +outside, far outnumbering the packed crowd inside. To these men one of +the secretaries shouted: 'Fire the salute! Lincoln is nominated!' Then, +as the cheering inside died away, the roar began on the outside, and +swelled up from the excited masses like the noise of many waters. This +the insiders heard, and to it they replied. Thus deep called to deep +with such a frenzy of sympathetic enthusiasm that even the thundering +salute of cannon was unheard by many on the platform. When the +excitement had partly subsided, Mr. Evarts of New York arose, and in +appropriate words expressed his grief that Seward had not been +nominated. He then moved that the nomination of Abraham Lincoln be made +unanimous. Governor John A. Andrew of Massachusetts and Hon. Carl Schurz +of Wisconsin seconded the motion, and it was carried. Then the +enthusiasm of the multitude burst out anew. A large banner, prepared by +the Pennsylvania delegation, was conspicuously displayed, bearing the +inscription, 'Pennsylvania good for twenty thousand majority for the +people's candidate, Abe Lincoln.' Delegates tore up the sticks and +boards bearing the names of their several States, and waved them aloft +over their heads. A brawny man jumped upon the platform, and pulling +his coat-sleeves up to his elbows, shouted: 'I can't stop! Three times +three more cheers for our next President, Abe Lincoln!' A full-length +portrait of the candidate was produced upon the platform. Mr. Greeley +telegraphed to the N.Y. Tribune: 'There was never another such scene in +America.' Chicago went wild. One hundred guns were fired from the top of +the Tremont House. At night the city was in a blaze of glory. Bonfires, +processions, torchlights, fire-works, illuminations and salutes, 'filled +the air with noise and the eye with beauty.' 'Honest Old Abe' was the +utterance of every man in the streets. The Illinois delegation before it +separated 'resolved' that the millennium had come." + +Governor Andrew, who was destined to have highly important and intimate +relations with Lincoln during the Civil War, records his first +impressions of him in a few vivid sentences. "Beyond the experiences of +the journey from Boston to Chicago," says Andrew's biographer, "beyond +even the strain and excitement of those hours in caucus and convention, +was the impression made on him by Lincoln as he saw him for the first +time." Andrew was one of the committee of delegates who went to +Springfield to notify Lincoln of his nomination at Chicago. He and the +other delegates, he says, "saw in a flash that here was a man who was +master of himself. For the first time they understood that he whom they +had supposed to be little more than a loquacious and clever State +politician, had force, insight, conscience; that their misgivings were +vain.... My eyes were never visited with the vision of a human face in +which more transparent honesty and more benignant kindness were combined +with more of the intellect and firmness which belong to masculine +humanity. I would trust my case with the honesty and intellect and heart +and brain of Abraham Lincoln as a lawyer; and I would trust my country's +cause in the care of Abraham Lincoln as its chief magistrate, while the +wind blows and the water runs." + +Dr. J.G. Holland gives a vivid picture of Lincoln's reception of the +exciting news. "In the little city of Springfield," says Dr. Holland, +"in the heart of Illinois, two hundred miles from where these exciting +events were in progress, sat Abraham Lincoln, in constant telegraphic +communication with his friends in Chicago. He was apprised of the +results of every ballot, and with some of his friends sat in the +'Journal' office receiving and commenting upon the dispatches. It was +one of the decisive moments of his life--a moment on which hung his fate +as a public man, his place in history. He fully appreciated the +momentous results of the convention to himself and the nation, and +foresaw the nature of the great struggle which his nomination and +election would inaugurate. At last, in the midst of intense excitement, +a messenger from the telegraph office entered with the decisive dispatch +in his hand. Without handing it to anyone, he took his way solemnly to +the side of Mr. Lincoln, and said: 'The convention has made a +nomination, and Mr. Seward is--the second man on the list.' Then he +jumped upon the editorial table and shouted, 'Gentlemen, I propose three +cheers for Abraham Lincoln, the next President of the United States!' +and the call was boisterously responded to. He then handed the dispatch +to Mr. Lincoln, who read it in silence, and then aloud. After exchanging +greetings and receiving congratulations from those around him, he strove +to get out of the crowd, and as he moved off he remarked to those near +him: 'Well, there is a little woman who will be interested in this news, +and I will go home and tell her,' and he hurried on, with the crowd +following and cheering." + +As soon as the news spread about Springfield a salute of a hundred guns +was fired, and during the afternoon Lincoln's friends and neighbors +thronged his house to tender their congratulations and express their +joy. "In the evening," says one narrator, "the State House was thrown +open and a most enthusiastic meeting held by the Republicans. At the +close they marched in a body to the Lincoln mansion and called for the +nominee. Mr. Lincoln appeared, and after a brief, modest, and hearty +speech, invited as many as could get into the house to enter; the crowd +responding that after the fourth of March they would give him a larger +house. The people did not retire until a late hour, and then moved off +reluctantly, leaving the excited household to their rest." + +Among the more significant and intimate of the personal reminiscences of +Lincoln are those by Mr. Leonard W. Volk, the distinguished sculptor +already mentioned in these pages. Mr. Volk arrived in Springfield on the +day of Lincoln's nomination, and had some unusually interesting +conversation with him. He had already, only a month before, made the +life-mask of Lincoln that became so well and favorably known. It is one +of the last representations showing him without a beard. The +circumstances and incidents attending the taking of this life-mask, as +narrated by Mr. Volk, are well worth reproducing here. "One morning in +April, 1860," says Mr. Volk, "I noticed in the paper that Abraham +Lincoln was in Chicago,--retained as one of the counsel in a 'Sand-bar' +trial in which the Michigan Central Railroad was either plaintiff or +defendant. I at once decided to remind him of his promise to sit to me, +made two years before. I found him in the United States District Court +room, his feet on the edge of the table, and his long dark hair standing +out at every imaginable angle. He was surrounded by a group of lawyers, +such as James F. Joy, Isaac N. Arnold, Thomas Hoyne, and others. Mr. +Arnold obtained his attention in my behalf, when he instantly arose and +met me outside the rail, recognizing me at once with his usual grip of +both hands. He remembered his promise, and said, in answer to my +question, that he expected to be detained by the case for a week. He +added: 'I shall be glad to give you the sittings. When shall I come, and +how long will you need me each time?' Just after breakfast every morning +would, he said, suit him the best, and he could remain till court opened +at ten o'clock. I answered that I would be ready for him the next +morning (Thursday). 'Very well, Mr. Volk, I will be there, and I'll go +to a barber and have my hair cut before I come.' I requested him not to +let the barber cut it too short, and said I would rather he would leave +it as it was; but to this he would not consent.... He was on hand +promptly at the time appointed; indeed, he never failed to be on time. +My studio was in the fifth story. There were no elevators in those days, +and I soon learned to distinguish his step on the stairs, and am sure he +frequently came up two, if not three, steps at a stride. When he sat +down the first time in that hard, wooden, low-armed chair which I still +possess, and which has been occupied by Douglas, Seward, and Generals +Grant and Dix, he said, 'Mr. Volk, I have never sat before to sculptor +or painter--only for daguerreotypes and photographs. What shall I do?' I +told him I would only take the measurements of his head and shoulders +that time, and that the next morning I would make a cast of his face, +which would save him a number of sittings. He stood up against the wall, +and I made a mark above his head, and then measured up to it from the +floor and said: 'You are just twelve inches taller than Judge Douglas; +that is, just six feet four inches.' + +"Before commencing the cast next morning, and knowing Mr. Lincoln's +fondness for a story, I told him one in order to remove what I thought +an apprehensive expression--as though he feared the operation might be +dangerous. He sat naturally in the chair when I made the cast, and saw +every move I made in a mirror opposite, as I put the plaster on without +interference with his eyesight or his free breathing through the +nostrils. It was about an hour before the mould was ready to be removed, +and being all in one piece, with both ears perfectly taken, it clung +pretty hard, as the cheek-bones were higher than the jaws at the lobe of +the ear. He bent his head low, and worked the cast off without breaking +or injury; it hurt a little, as a few hairs of the tender temples pulled +out with the plaster and made his eyes water. + +"He entered my studio on Sunday morning, remarking that a friend at the +hotel (Tremont House) had invited him to go to church, 'but,' said Mr. +Lincoln, 'I thought I'd rather come and sit for the bust. The fact is,' +he continued, 'I don't like to hear cut-and-dried sermons. No--when I +hear a man preach, I like to see him act as _if he were fighting bees_!' +And he extended his long arms, at the same time suiting the action to +the words. He gave me on this day a long sitting of more than four +hours, and when it was concluded we went to our family apartment to look +at a collection of photographs which I had made in 1855-6-7 in Rome and +Florence. While sitting in the rocking-chair, he took my little son on +his lap and spoke kindly to him, asking his name, age, etc. I held the +photographs up and explained them to him; but I noticed a growing +weariness, and his eyelids closed occasionally as if he were sleepy, or +were thinking of something besides Grecian and Roman statuary and +architecture. Finally he said, 'These things must be very interesting to +you, Mr. Volk; but the truth is, I don't know much of history, and all I +do know of it I have learned from law books.' + +"The sittings were continued daily till the Thursday following; and +during their continuance he would talk almost unceasingly, telling some +of the funniest and most laughable of stories, but he talked little of +politics or religion during these sittings. He said, 'I am bored nearly +every time I sit down to a public dining-table by some one pitching into +me on politics.' Many people, presumably political aspirants with an eye +to future prospects, besieged my door for interviews, but I made it a +rule to keep it locked, and I think Mr. Lincoln appreciated the +precaution. On our last sitting I noticed that Mr. Lincoln was in +something of a hurry. I had finished the head, but desired to represent +his breast and brawny shoulders as nature presented them; so he stripped +off his coat, waistcoat, shirt, cravat, and collar, threw them on a +chair, pulled his undershirt down a short distance, tying the sleeves +behind him, and stood up without a murmur for an hour or so. I then said +I had done, and was a thousand times obliged to him for his promptness +and patience, and offered to assist him to re-dress, but he said, 'No, I +can do it better alone.' I kept at my work without looking toward him, +wishing to catch the form as accurately as possible while it was fresh +in my memory. He left hurriedly, saying he had an engagement, and with a +cordial 'Good-bye! I will see you again soon,' passed out. A few minutes +after, I recognized his steps rapidly returning. The door opened and in +he came, exclaiming, 'Hello, Mr. Volk! I got down on the sidewalk, and +found I had forgotten to put on my undershirt, and thought it wouldn't +do to go through the streets this way.' Sure enough, there were the +sleeves of that garment dangling below the skirts of his broadcloth +frock-coat! I went at once to his assistance, and helped to undress and +re-dress him all right, and out he went with a hearty laugh at the +absurdity of the thing." + +Returning to the visit with Lincoln at Springfield on the day of his +nomination, Mr. Volk says. "The afternoon was lovely--bright and sunny, +neither too warm nor too cool; the grass, trees, and the hosts of +blooming roses, so profuse in Springfield, appeared to be vying with +the ringing bells and waving flags. I went straight to Mr. Lincoln's +unpretentious little two-story house. He saw me from his door or window +coming down the street, and as I entered the gate he was on the platform +in front of the door, and quite alone. His face looked radiant. I +exclaimed: 'I am the first man from Chicago, I believe, who has the +honor of congratulating you on your nomination for President.' Then +those two great hands took both of mine with a grasp never to be +forgotten. And while shaking them, I said: 'Now that you will doubtless +be the next President of the United States, I want to make a statue of +you, and shall do my best to do you justice.' Said he, 'I don't doubt +it, for I have come to the conclusion that you are an honest man,' and +with that greeting I thought my hands were in a fair way of being +crushed. I was invited into the parlor, and soon Mrs. Lincoln entered, +holding a rose-bouquet in her hand, which she presented to me after the +introduction; and in return I gave her a cabinet-size bust of her +husband, which I had modelled from the large one, and happened to have +with me. Before leaving the house it was arranged that Mr. Lincoln would +give Saturday forenoon to obtaining full-length photographs to serve me +for the proposed statue. On Saturday evening, the committee appointed by +the convention to notify Mr. Lincoln formally of his nomination, headed +by Mr. Ashmun of Massachusetts, reached Springfield by special train, +bearing a large number of people, two or three hundred of whom carried +rails on their shoulders, marching in military style from the train to +the old State House Hall of Representatives, where they stacked them +like muskets. The evening was beautiful and clear, and the entire +population was astir. The bells pealed, flags waved, and cannon +thundered forth the triumphant nomination of Springfield's distinguished +citizen. The bonfires blazed brightly, and especially in front of that +prim-looking white house on Eighth street. The committee and the vast +crowd following it passed in at the front door, and made their exit +through the kitchen door in the rear, Mr. Lincoln giving them all a +hearty shake of the hand as they passed him in the parlor. By +appointment, I was to cast Mr. Lincoln's hands on the Sunday following +this memorable Saturday, at nine A.M. I found him ready, but he looked +more grave and serious than he had appeared on the previous days. I +wished him to hold something in his right hand, and he looked for a +piece of pasteboard, but could find none. I told him a round stick would +do as well as anything. Thereupon he went to the wood-shed, and I heard +the saw go, and he soon returned to the dining-room (where I did the +work), whittling off the end of a piece of broom-handle. I remarked to +him that he need not whittle off the edges. 'Oh, well,' said he, 'I +thought I would like to have it nice.' When I had successfully cast the +mould of the right hand, I began the left, pausing a few moments to hear +Mr. Lincoln tell me about a scar on the thumb. 'You have heard that they +call me a rail-splitter, and you saw them carrying rails in the +procession Saturday evening; well, it is true that I did split rails, +and one day, while I was sharpening a wedge on a log, the axe glanced +and nearly took my thumb off, and there is the scar, you see.' The right +hand appeared swollen as compared with the left, on account of excessive +hand-shaking the evening before; this difference is distinctly shown in +the cast. That Sunday evening I returned to Chicago with the moulds of +his hands, three photographic negatives of him, the identical black +alpaca campaign suit of 1858, and a pair of Lynn newly-made pegged +boots. The clothes were all burned up in the great Chicago fire. The +casts of the face and hands I saved by taking them with me to Rome, and +they have crossed the sea four times. The last time I saw Mr. Lincoln +was in January, 1861, at his house in Springfield. His little parlor +was full of friends and politicians. He introduced me to them all, and +remarked to me aside that since he had sat to me for his bust, eight or +nine months before, he had lost forty pounds in weight. This was easily +perceptible, for the lines of his jaws were very sharply defined through +the short beard which he was allowing to grow. Then he turned to the +company and explained in a general way that I had made a bust of him +before his nomination, and that he was then giving daily sittings to +another sculptor; that he had sat to him for a week or more, but could +not see the likeness, though he might yet bring it out. 'But,' continued +Mr. Lincoln, 'in two or three days after Mr. Volk began my bust, there +was the animal himself!' And this was about the last, if not the last, +remark I ever heard him utter, except the good-bye and his good wishes +for my success." + +Saturday, May 19, the committee of the Chicago convention arrived at +Springfield to notify Mr. Lincoln of his nomination. The Hon. George +Ashmun, as chairman of the committee, delivered the formal address, to +which Lincoln listened with dignity, but with an air of profound +sadness, as though the trials in store for him had already "cast their +shadows before." In response to the address, Lincoln said: + + MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN OF THE COMMITTEE:--I tender to you and + through you to the Republican National convention, and all the + people represented in it, my profoundest thanks for the high honor + done me, which you now formally announce. Deeply and even painfully + sensible of the great responsibility which is inseparable from this + high honor--a responsibility which I could almost wish had fallen + upon some one of the far more eminent men and experienced statesmen + whose distinguished names were before the convention--I shall, by + your leave, consider more fully the resolutions of the convention, + denominated the platform, and, without unnecessary and + unreasonable delay, respond to you, Mr. Chairman, in writing, not + doubting that the platform will be found satisfactory, and the + nomination gratefully accepted. And now I will not longer defer the + pleasure of taking you, and each of you, by the hand. + +A letter was then handed Lincoln containing the official notice, +accompanied by the resolutions of the convention. To this letter he +replied, a few days later, as follows: + + SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, MAY 23, 1860. + + SIR--I accept the nomination tendered to me by the convention over + which you presided, of which I am formally apprised in a letter of + yourself and others acting as a Committee of the Convention for + that purpose. The declaration of principles and sentiments which + accompanies your letter meets my approval, and it shall be my care + not to violate it, or disregard it in any part. Imploring the + assistance of Divine Providence, and with due regard to the views + and feelings of all who were represented in the convention, to the + rights of all the States and Territories and people of the nation, + to the inviolability of the Constitution, and the perpetual union, + harmony and prosperity of all, I am most happy to co-operate for + the practical success of the principles declared by the convention. + +In June Mr. Douglas was nominated for the Presidency by the Democratic +convention, which met at Baltimore on the 18th. Mr. Douglas made a +personal canvass, speaking in most of the states, North and South, and +exerting all the powers of which he was master to win success. The +campaign, as Mr. Arnold states, "has had no parallel. The enthusiasm of +the people was like a great conflagration, like a prairie fire before a +wild tornado. A little more than twenty years had passed since Owen +Lovejoy, brother of Elijah Lovejoy, on the bank of the Mississippi, +kneeling on the turf not then green over the grave of the brother who +had been killed for his fidelity to freedom, had sworn eternal war +against slavery. From that time on, he and his associate Abolitionists +had gone forth preaching their crusade against oppression, with hearts +of fire and tongues of lightning; and now the consummation was to be +realized of a President elected on the distinct ground of opposition to +the extension of slavery. For years the hatred of that institution had +been growing and gathering force. Whittier, Bryant, Lowell, Longfellow, +and others, had written the lyrics of liberty; the graphic pen of Mrs. +Stowe, in 'Uncle Tom's Cabin,' had painted the cruelties of the overseer +and the slaveholder; but the acts of slaveholders themselves did more to +promote the growth of anti-slavery than all other causes. The +persecutions of Abolitionists in the South; the harshness and cruelty +attending the execution of the fugitive laws; the brutality of Brooks in +knocking down, on the floor of the Senate, Charles Sumner, for words +spoken in debate: these and many other outrages had fired the hearts of +the people of the free States against this barbarous institution. +Beecher, Phillips, Channing, Sumner, and Seward, with their eloquence; +Chase with his logic; Lincoln, with his appeals to the principles of the +Declaration of Independence, and to the opinions of the founders of the +republic, his clear statements, his apt illustrations, and, above all, +his wise moderation,--all had swelled the voice of the people, which +found expression through the ballot-box, and which declared that slavery +should go no further." + +Among the various reminiscences of the memorable Presidential campaign +of 1860, some of peculiar interest are furnished by Dr. Newton Bateman, +President of Knox College, Illinois. Dr. Bateman had known Lincoln since +1842; and from the year 1858, when Dr. Bateman was elected State +Superintendent of Public Instruction in Illinois, to the close of +Lincoln's residence in Springfield in 1861, they saw each other daily. +The testimony of so intimate an acquaintance, and one so well qualified +to judge the character and abilities of men, is of unusual value; and it +is worth noting that Dr. Bateman remarks that, while he was always an +admirer of Lincoln, yet the greatness of the man grew upon him as the +years pass by. In his professional and public work, says Dr. Bateman, +Lincoln not only proved himself equal to every emergency and to every +successive task, but made, from the outset, the impression upon the mind +of those who knew him of being in possession of great reserve force. +Perhaps the secret of this lies in part in the fact that he was +accustomed to ponder deeply upon the ultimate principles of government +and society, and strove to base his discussions upon the firm ground of +ethical truth. Says Dr. Bateman, "He was the saddest man I ever knew." +It was a necessity of his nature to be much alone; and he said that all +his serious work--by which he meant the process of getting down to the +bed-rock of first principles--must be done in solitude. Upon one +occasion he called Dr. Bateman to him, and spent more than two hours in +earnest conversation upon the most serious themes. At the close, Dr. +Bateman said: "I did not know, Mr. Lincoln, that it was your habit to +think so deeply upon this class of subjects." "Didn't you?" said Mr. +Lincoln. "I can almost say that I think of _nothing else_." + +One day there entered Lincoln's room a tall Southerner, a Colonel +Somebody from Mississippi, whose eye's hard glitter spoke supercilious +distrust and whose stiff bearing betokened suppressed hostility. It was +beautiful, says Dr. Bateman, to see the cold flash of the Southerner's +dark eye yield to a warmer glow, and the haughty constraint melt into +frank good-nature, under the influence of Lincoln's words of simple +earnestness and unaffected cordiality. They got so far in half an hour +that Lincoln could say, in his hearty way: "Colonel, how tall are you?" +"Well, taller than you, Mr. Lincoln," replied the Mississippian. "You +are mistaken there," retorted Lincoln. "Dr. Bateman, will you measure +us?" "You will have to permit me to stand on a chair for that," +responded the Doctor. So a big book was adjusted above the head of each, +and pencil marks made at the respective points of contact with the white +wall. Lincoln's altitude, as thus indicated, was a quarter inch above +that of the Colonel. "I knew it," said Lincoln. "They raise tall men +down in Mississippi, but you go home and tell your folks that _Old Abe +tops you a little_." The Colonel went away much mollified and impressed. +"My God!" said he to Dr. Bateman, as he went out. "There's going to be +war; but could my people know what I have learned within the last hour, +there need be no war." + +During the Presidential campaign, the vote of the city of Springfield +was canvassed house by house. There were at that time twenty-three +clergymen residing in the city (not all pastors). All but three of these +signified their intention to vote _against_ Lincoln. This fact seemed to +grieve him somewhat. Soon after, in conversing upon the subject with Dr. +Bateman, he said, as if thinking aloud: "These gentlemen know that Judge +Douglas does not care a cent whether slavery in the territories is voted +up or voted down, for he has repeatedly told them so. They know that I +_do_ care." Then, drawing from a breast pocket a well-thumbed copy of +the New Testament, he added, after a pause, tapping upon the book with +his bony finger: "I do not so understand this book." + +The poet Bryant was conspicuous among the prominent Eastern men who +favored Lincoln's nomination for the Presidency in 1860. He had +introduced Lincoln to the people of New York at the Cooper Institute +meeting of the previous winter, and was a firm believer in the Western +politician. After the convention Mr. Bryant wrote Lincoln a most +friendly and timely letter, full of good feeling and of wise advice. +Especially did he warn Lincoln to be cautious in committing himself to +any specific policy, or making pledges or engagements of any kind. Mr. +Bryant's letter contained much political wisdom, and was written in that +scholarly style for which he was distinguished. But it could not surpass +the simple dignity and grace of Lincoln's reply: + + SPRINGFIELD, ILL., JUNE 28, 1860. + + Please accept my thanks for the honor done me by your kind letter + of the 16th. I appreciate the danger against which you would guard + me; nor am I wanting in the _purpose_ to avoid it. I thank you for + the additional strength your words give me to maintain that + purpose. + + Your friend and servant, A. LINCOLN. + +Mr. A.J. Grover relates that about this time he met Lincoln, and had a +memorable conversation with him on the Fugitive Slave Law. Lincoln +detested this law, but argued that until it was declared +unconstitutional it must be obeyed. This was a short time after the +rescue of a fugitive slave at Ottawa, Illinois, by John Hossack, James +Stout, Major Campbell, and others, after Judge John D. Caton, acting as +United States Commissioner, had given his decision remanding him to the +custody of his alleged owner; and the rescuers were either in prison or +out on bail, awaiting their trials. Says Mr. Grover: "When Mr. Lincoln +had finished his argument I said, 'Constitutional or not, I will never +obey the Fugitive Slave Law. I would have done as Hossack and Stout and +Campbell did at Ottawa. I will never catch and return slaves in +obedience to any law or constitution. I do not believe a man's liberty +can be taken from him constitutionally without a trial by jury. I +believe the law to be not only unconstitutional, but most inhuman.' +'Oh,' said Mr. Lincoln, and I shall never forget his earnestness as he +emphasized it by striking his hand on his knee, 'it is ungodly! it is +ungodly! no doubt it is ungodly! but it is the law of the land, and we +must obey it as we find it.' I said: 'Mr. Lincoln, how often have you +sworn to support the Constitution? We propose to elect you President. +How would you look taking an oath to support what you declare is an +ungodly Constitution, and asking God to help you?' He felt the force of +the question, and, inclining his head forward and running his fingers +through his hair several times, seemed lost in reflection; then he +placed his hand upon my knee and said, very earnestly: 'Grover, it's no +use to be always _looking up these hard spots_!'" In the terrible years +then almost upon him, Lincoln found many such "hard spots" without +taking the trouble to look them up. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + + Lincoln Chosen President--The Election of 1860--The Waiting-time at + Springfield--A Deluge of Visitors--Various Impressions of the + President-elect--Some Queer Callers--Looking over the Situation + with Friends--Talks about the Cabinet--Thurlow Weed's Visit to + Springfield--The Serious Aspect of National Affairs--The South in + Rebellion--Treason at the National Capital--Lincoln's Farewell + Visit to his Mother--The Old Sign, "Lincoln & Herndon"--The Last + Day at Springfield--Farewell Speech to Friends and Neighbors--Off + for the Capital--The Journey to Washington--Receptions and Speeches + along the Route--At Cincinnati: A Hitherto Unpublished Speech by + Lincoln--At Cleveland: Personal Descriptions of Mr. and Mrs. + Lincoln--At New York City: Impressions of the New President--Perils + of the Journey--The Baltimore Plot--Change of Route--Arrival at the + Capital. + +The Presidential campaign of 1860, with its excitements and struggles, +its "Wide-awake" clubs and boisterous enthusiasm throughout the North, +and its bitter and threatening character throughout the South, was at +last ended; and on the 6th of November Abraham Lincoln was elected +President of the United States.[A] His cause had been aided not a little +by an unexpected division in the Democratic party. Douglas had been +nominated for the Presidency by this party in its convention at +Baltimore on the 18th of June; but he was bitterly opposed by the +extreme slavery element of the Democracy, and this faction held a +convention of its own at Baltimore ten days later and nominated for +President John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky. There was still another +party, though a very minor one, in the field--the "Constitutional Union +Party," based chiefly on a desire to avoid the issue of slavery in +national politics--which on the 9th of May had nominated John Bell of +Tennessee as its candidate for the Presidency, with Edward Everett of +Massachusetts for the Vice-Presidency. There were thus four tickets in +the field--the Republican, including if not representing the +anti-slavery element in the North; the Democratic, which was pro-slavery +in its tendencies but had so far failed to satisfy the Southern +wing--now grown alarmed and restless at the growth and tendencies of the +Republican party--that this element nominated as a third ticket an +out-and-out pro-slavery candidate; and (fourth) a "Constitutional Union" +ticket, representing a well-meant but fatuous desire to keep slavery out +of national politics altogether. + +This eventful contest was therefore determined largely on sectional +lines, with slavery as the great underlying issue. Lincoln's +gratification at his election was not untempered with disappointments. +While he had a substantial majority of the electoral vote (180 to 123), +the popular vote was toward a million (930,170), more against him than +for him. Fifteen States gave him no electoral vote, and in nine States' +he received not a single popular vote. The slave States--"the Solid +South"--were squarely against him. Lincoln saw the significance of this, +and it filled him with regret and apprehension. But he faced the future +without dismay, and with a calm resolve to do his duty. With all his +hatred of slavery, loyalty to the Constitution had always been paramount +in his mind; and those who knew him best never doubted that it would +continue so. + +Lincoln took no active part in the campaign, preferring to remain +quietly at his home in Springfield. Scarcely was the election decided +than he was beset with visitors from all parts of the country, who came +to gratify curiosity or solicit personal favors of the incoming +President. The throng became at last so great, and interfered so much +with the comfort of Lincoln's home, that the Executive Chamber in the +State House was set apart as his reception room. Here he met all who +chose to come--"the millionaire and the menial, the priest and the +politician, men, women, and children, old friends and new friends, those +who called for love and those who sought for office. From morning until +night this was his occupation; and he performed it with conscientious +care and the most unwearying patience." The situation at the Lincoln +home at this time, and the spirit prevailing there, is well depicted by +one of these callers, Mr. R.C. McCormick, whose interesting account of +his meeting with Lincoln in New York City has already been quoted in +these pages. "In January, 1861," says Mr. McCormick, "at the instance of +various friends in New York who wished a position in the Cabinet for a +prominent Kentuckian, I went to Springfield armed with documents for his +consideration. I remained there a week or more, and was at the Lincoln +cottage daily. Of the numerous formal and informal interviews that I +witnessed, I remember all with the sincerest pleasure. I never found the +man upon whom rested the great responsibilities of the nation impatient +or ill-humored. The plainest and most tedious visitors were made welcome +and happy in his presence; the poor commanded as much of his time as the +rich. His recognition of old friends and companions in frontier life, +whom many elevated as he had been would have found it convenient to +forget, was especially hearty. His correspondence was already immense, +and the town was alive with cabinet-makers and office-seekers; but he +met all with a calm temper." Mr. Don Piatt relates that he had met +Lincoln during the Presidential campaign, and had been invited to visit +Springfield. He did so, and was asked to supper at the Lincoln house. +"It was a plain, comfortable structure," says Mr. Piatt, "and the supper +was mainly of cake, pies, and chickens, the last evidently killed in the +morning, to be eaten that evening. After the supper we sat far into the +night, talking over the situation. Mr. Lincoln was the homeliest man I +ever saw. His body seemed to me a huge skeleton in clothes. Tall as he +was, his hands and feet looked out of proportion, so long and clumsy +were they. Every movement was awkward in the extreme. He sat with one +leg thrown over the other, and the pendent foot swung almost to the +floor. And all the while two little boys, his sons, clambered over those +legs, patted his cheeks, pulled his nose, and poked their fingers in his +eyes, without reprimand. He had a face that defied artistic skill to +soften or idealize. It was capable of few expressions, but those were +extremely striking. When in repose, his face was dull, heavy, and +repellent. It brightened like a lit lantern when animated. His dull eyes +would fairly sparkle with fun, or express as kindly a look as I ever +saw, when moved by some matter of human interest." + +Hon. George W. Julian, of Indiana, was another visitor to the Lincoln +home in January. He says: "I had a curiosity to see the famous +'rail-splitter,' as he was then familiarly called, and as a member-elect +of the Thirty-seventh Congress I desired to form some acquaintance with +the man who was to play so conspicuous a part in the impending national +crisis. On meeting him I found him far better looking than the campaign +pictures had represented him. His face, when lighted up in conversation, +was not unhandsome, and the kindly and winning tones of his voice +pleaded for him like the smile that played about his rugged features. +He was full of anecdote and humor, and readily found his way to the +hearts of those who enjoyed a welcome to his fireside. His face, +however, was sometimes marked by that touching expression of sadness +which became so noticeable in the years following. On the subject of +slavery I was gratified to find him less reserved and more emphatic than +I had expected. I was much pleased with our first Republican Executive, +and I returned home more fully inspired than ever with the purpose to +sustain him to the utmost in facing the duties of his great office." + +The wide range of these callers and their diverse errands are +illustrated by examples furnished by Mr. Lamon. Two tall, ungainly +fellows,--"Suckers," as they were called,--entered Lincoln's room one +day while he was engaged in conversation with a friend. They lingered +bashfully near the door, and Lincoln, noticing their embarrassment, rose +and said good-naturedly, "How do you do, my good fellows? What can I do +for you? Will you sit down?" The spokesman of the pair, the shorter of +the two, declined to sit, and explained the object of the call. He had +had a talk about the relative height of Lincoln and his companion, and +had asserted his belief that they were of exactly the same height. He +had come in to verify his judgment. Lincoln smiled, then got his cane, +and placing the end of it upon the wall said, "Here, young man, come +under here!" The young man came under the cane, as Lincoln held it, and +when it was perfectly adjusted to his height Lincoln said, "Now come out +and hold up the cane." This he did, while Lincoln stepped under. Rubbing +his head back and forth to see that it worked easily under the +measurement, he stepped out, and declared that the young man had guessed +with remarkable accuracy--that he and the tall fellow were exactly of +the same height. Then he shook hands with them and sent them on their +way. The next caller was a very different person--an old and modestly +dressed woman who tried to explain that she knew Lincoln. As he did not +at first recognize her, she tried to recall to his memory certain +incidents connected with his rides upon the circuit--especially his +dining at her house upon the road at different times. Then he remembered +her and her home. Having fixed her own place in his recollection, she +tried to recall to him a certain scanty dinner of bread and milk that he +once ate at her house. He could not remember it--on the contrary, he +only remembered that he had always fared well at her house. "Well," said +she, "one day you came along after we had got through dinner, and we had +eaten up everything, and I could give you nothing but a bowl of bread +and milk; you ate it, and when you got up you said it was _good enough +for the President of the United States_." The good woman, remembering +the remark, had come in from the country, making a journey of eight or +ten miles, to relate to Lincoln this incident, which in her mind had +doubtless taken the form of prophecy. Lincoln placed her at her ease, +chatted with her of old times, and dismissed her in the most happy and +complacent frame of mind. + +Among the judicious friends of Lincoln who gave him timely counsel at +this important epoch of his life was Judge John D. Caton, who, though a +Democrat, was a far-sighted man who saw plainly the tendency of +political affairs and was anxious for the preservation of the Union. "I +met Lincoln in Springfield," writes Judge Caton, "and we had a +conference in the law-library. I told him it was plain that he had a war +on his hands; that there was a determination on the part of the South to +secede from the Union, and that there would be throughout the North an +equal determination to maintain the Union. I advised him to avoid +bringing on the war by precipitate action, but let the Southerners begin +it; to forbear as long as forbearance could be tolerated, in order to +unite the North the more effectually to support his hands in the +struggle that was certain to come; that by such a course the great body +of the people of the North, of all parties, would come to his support. +Mr. Lincoln listened intently, and replied that he foresaw that the +struggle was inevitable, but that it would be his desire and effort to +unite the people in support of the Government and for the maintenance of +the Union; that he was aware that no single party could sustain him +successfully, and that he must rely upon the great masses of the people +of all parties, and he would try to pursue such a course as would secure +their support. The interview continued perhaps an hour." + +Judge David Davis, a most intimate and confidential friend of Lincoln, +states that the latter was firmly determined to appoint "Democrats and +Republicans alike to office." Mr. Lamon corroborates the statement, +pointedly remarking: "He felt that his strength lay in conciliation at +the outset; that was his ruling conviction during all those months of +preparation for the great task before him. It showed itself not only in +the appointments which he sought to make but in those which he did make. +Harboring no jealousies, entertaining no fears concerning his personal +interests in the future, he called around him the most powerful of his +late rivals--Seward, Chase, Bates--and unhesitatingly gave into their +hands powers which most Presidents would have shrunk from committing to +their equals, and much more to their superiors, in the conduct of public +affairs." In a noted instance where the most powerful influence was +brought to bear upon Lincoln to induce him to make what he regarded as +an unworthy appointment, he exclaimed: "All that I am in the world--the +Presidency and all else--I owe to the opinion of me which the people +express when they call me 'Honest Old Abe.' Now, what would they think +of their _honest_ Abe if he should make such an appointment as the one +proposed?" + +Hon. Leonard Swett, who knew Lincoln from 1848 to the time of his death, +and had "traveled the circuit" with him in Illinois, relates that soon +after the election he and Judge Davis advised Lincoln to consult Thurlow +Weed regarding the formation of the Cabinet and on political affairs +generally. "Mr. Lincoln asked me," says Mr. Swett, "to write Mr. Weed +and invite him to a conference at Lincoln's house in Springfield. I did +so, and the result was that Judge Davis, Thurlow Weed, and myself spent +a whole day with him in discussing the men and measures of his +administration. At that meeting, which took place in less than a month +after Lincoln's election, or early in December, 1860, Lincoln became +convinced that war was imminent between the North and the South. Mr. +Weed was a very astute man, and had a wonderful knowledge of what was +going on. He told Lincoln of preparations being made in the Southern +States that could mean nothing less than war. It was a serious time with +all of us, of course, but Lincoln took it with the imperturbability that +always distinguished him." + +The account given by Thurlow Weed, the veteran New York editor and +journalist, of his visit to Lincoln on this occasion is of peculiar +interest. Mr. Weed remained in Springfield two or three days in close +consultation with the President-elect, the formation of the new Cabinet +being the subject principally discussed. After expressing gratification +at his election, and an apprehension of the dangers which threatened the +incoming administration, says Mr. Weed, in his autobiography, "Mr. +Lincoln remarked, smiling, that he supposed I had had some experience in +cabinet-making; that he had job on hand, and as he had never learned +that trade he was disposed to avail himself of the suggestions of +friends. The question thus opened became the subject of conversation, at +intervals, during that and the following day. I say at intervals, +because many hours were consumed in talking of the public men connected +with former administrations, interspersed, illustrated, and seasoned +pleasantly with Mr. Lincoln's stories, anecdotes, etc. And here I feel +called upon to vindicate Mr. Lincoln, as far as my opportunities and +observation go, from the frequent imputation of telling indelicate and +ribald stories. I saw much of him during his whole Presidential term, +with familiar friends and alone, when he talked without restraint; but I +_never heard him use a profane or indecent word, or tell a story that +might not be repeated in the presence of ladies_." + +"Mr. Lincoln observed," continues Mr. Weed, "that the making of a +Cabinet, now that he had it to do, was by no means as easy as he had +supposed; that he had, even before the result of the election was known, +assuming the probability of success, fixed upon the two leading members +of his Cabinet, but that in looking about for suitable men to fill the +other departments he had been much embarrassed, partly from his want of +acquaintance with the prominent men of the day, and partly because he +believed that while the population of the country had immensely +increased _really great men were scarcer than they used to be_.... As +the conversation progressed, Lincoln remarked that he intended to invite +Governor Seward to take the State Department and Governor Chase the +Treasury Department, remarking that aside from their long experience in +public affairs and their eminent fitness they were prominently before +the people and the convention as competitors for the Presidency, each +having higher claims than his own for the place which he was to occupy. +On naming Hon. Gideon Welles as the man he thought of as the +representative of New England in the Cabinet, I remarked that I thought +he could find several New England gentlemen whose selection for a place +in his Cabinet would be more acceptable to the people of New England. +'But,' said Mr. Lincoln, 'we must remember that the Republican party is +constituted of two elements, and that we must have men of Democratic as +well as of Whig antecedents in the Cabinet.' ... In the course of our +conversations Mr. Lincoln remarked that it was particularly pleasant to +him to reflect that he was coming into office unembarrassed by promises. +He owed, he supposed, his exemption from importunities to the +circumstance that his name as a candidate was but a short time before +the people, and that only a few sanguine friends anticipated the +possibility of his nomination. 'I have not,' said he, 'promised an +office to any man, nor have I, but in a single instance, mentally +committed myself to an appointment.'" + +"In this way two days passed very pleasantly," says Mr. Weed, "the +conversation being alternately earnest and playful. I wish it were +possible to give, in Mr. Lincoln's amusing but quaint manner, the many +stories, anecdotes, and witticisms with which he interlarded and +enlivened what with almost any of his predecessors in the high office of +President would have been a grave, dry consultation. The great merit of +Mr. Lincoln's stories, like Captain Bunsby's opinion, 'lays in the +application on it.' They always and exactly suited the occasion and the +object, and none to which I ever listened seemed far-fetched or +pointless. I will attempt to repeat one of them. If I have an especial +fondness for any particular luxury, it manifests itself in a remarkable +way when properly made December sausages are placed before me. While at +breakfast, Judge Davis, noticing that, after having been bountifully +served with sausage, like Oliver Twist I wanted some more, said, 'You +seem fond of our Illinois sausages.' To which I responded affirmatively, +adding that I thought the article might be relied on where pork was +cheaper than dogs. 'That,' said Mr. Lincoln, 'reminds me of what +occurred down at Joliet, where a popular grocer supplied all the +villagers with sausages. One Saturday evening, when his grocery was +filled with customers for whom he and his boys were busily engaged in +weighing sausages, a neighbor with whom he had had a violent quarrel +that day, came into the grocery and made his way up to the counter +holding by the tail two enormous dead cats which he deliberately threw +on to the counter, saying, 'This makes seven to-day. I'll call around +Monday and get my money for them.'" + + * * * * * + +During the months intervening between his election and his departure for +Washington, Lincoln maintained a keen though quiet watchfulness of the +threatening aspect of affairs at the national capital and throughout the +South. He was careful not to commit himself by needless utterances as to +his future policy; but in all his demeanor, as a friend said, he +displayed the firmness and determination, without the temper, of +Jackson. In December following his election he wrote the following +letters to his intimate friend, Hon. E.B. Washburne, then a member of +Congress from Illinois: + + SPRINGFIELD, ILL., Dec. 13, 1860. + + HON. E.B. WASHBURNE--_My Dear Sir_: Your long letter received. + Prevent, as far as possible, any of our friends from demoralizing + themselves and our cause by entertaining propositions for + compromise of any sort on the slavery extension. There is no + possible compromise upon it but which puts us under again, and + leaves us all our work to do over again. Whether it be a Missouri + line, or Eli Thayer's Popular Sovereignty, it is all the same. Let + either be done, and immediately filibustering and extending slavery + recommences. On that point hold firm, as with a chain of steel. + + Yours as ever, A. LINCOLN. + + + SPRINGFIELD, ILL., Dec. 21, 1860. + + HON. E.B. WASHBURNE--_My Dear Sir_: Last night I received your + letter giving an account of your interview with General Scott, and + for which I thank you. Please present my respects to the General, + and tell him confidentially that I shall be obliged to him to be as + well prepared as he can to either _hold_ or retake the forts, as + the case may require, at and after the inauguration. + + Yours as ever, A. LINCOLN. + +The Southern States, led on by South Carolina, which formally severed +its connection with the Union November 17, 1860 (only eleven days after +Lincoln's election), were preparing to dissolve their alliance with the +Free States. Mississippi passed the ordinance of secession January 9, +1861; Florida followed on the 10th; Alabama on the 11th; Georgia on the +19th; Louisiana on the 25th; and Texas on the 1st day of February. The +plans of the seceders went on, unmolested by the Buchanan +administration. Southerners in the Cabinet and in Congress conspired to +deplete the resources of the Government, leaving it helpless to contest +the assumptions of the revolted States. The treasury was deliberately +bankrupted; the ships of the navy were banished to distant ports; the +Northern arsenals were rifled to furnish arms for the seceded States; +the United States forts and armaments on the Southern coast were +delivered into the hands of the enemy, with the exception of Fort +Sumter, which was gallantly held by Major Robert Anderson. While this +system of bold and unscrupulous treachery was carried on by men in the +highest places of trust, the chief executive of the nation remained a +passive spectator. The South was in open rebellion, and the North was +powerless to interfere. The weeks prior to the inauguration of the new +administration dragged slowly along, each day adding fresh cause for +anxiety and alarm. + +Amidst these portentous scenes Lincoln, watching them from a distance, +maintained his calm and vigilant attitude. No one knew better than he +the significance of these ominous events that were taking place at the +nation's capital and in the disaffected States; but there was nothing he +could do about them. His time for action had not yet come. He said +little, but enough to show unmistakably what he thought of the situation +and what course he had resolved upon to meet it. As early as December +17, 1860--a little more than a month after his election--in writing to +Thurlow Weed, he said: "_My opinion is that no State can in any way get +out of the Union without the consent of the other States_; and that _it +is the duty of the President to run the machine as it is_." He had been +made the pilot of the ship of State, and his duty and purpose were to +save the vessel.[B] Upon this mighty task were concentrated all the +powers of his intellect and will; and through all the desperate voyage +that followed he never wavered or faltered in his course, from the time +of his supreme resolve, made in the quiet of his country home, to the +hour when + + "From fearful trip the victor ship came in with object won"-- + +but with her more than heroic but now victorious Captain "fallen cold +and dead" upon her deck. + +As the winter wore away, and the time for Lincoln's inauguration as +President drew near, he began making preparation for leaving the +familiar scenes where his life had thus far been spent. Early in +February he made a parting visit to his relatives in Coles County, to +whom in this hour of grave trial and anxiety his heart turned with fresh +yearning. He spent a night at Charleston, where his cousin Dennis Hanks, +and Mrs. Colonel Chapman, a daughter of Dennis, resided. We are told +that "the people crowded by hundreds to see him; and he was serenaded by +'both the string and brass bands of the town, but declined making a +speech." The following morning he passed on to Farmington, to the home +of his beloved step-mother, who was living with her daughter, Mrs. +Moore. Mr. Lamon relates that "the meeting between him and the old lady +was of a most affectionate and tender character. She fondled him as her +own 'Abe,' and he her as his own mother. Then Lincoln and Colonel +Chapman drove to the house of John Hall, who lived on the old 'Lincoln +farm' where Abe split the celebrated rails and fenced in the little +clearing in 1830. Thence they went to the spot where Lincoln's father +was buried. The grave was unmarked and utterly neglected. Lincoln said +he wanted to 'have it enclosed, and a suitable tombstone erected,'" and +gave the necessary instructions for this purpose. "We then returned," +says Colonel Chapman, "to Farmington, where we found a large crowd of +citizens--nearly all old acquaintances--waiting to see him. His +reception was very enthusiastic, and seemed to gratify him very much. +After taking dinner at his stepsister's (Mrs. Moore's), he returned to +Charleston. Our conversation during the trip was mostly concerning +family affairs. On the way down to Farmington Mr. Lincoln spoke to me of +his step-mother in the most affectionate manner; said she had been his +best friend, and that no son could love a mother more than he loved her. +He also told me of the condition of his father's family at the time he +married his step-mother, and of the change she made in the family, and +of the encouragement he had received from her.... He spoke of his +father, and related some amusing incidents of the bull-dog's biting the +old man on his return from New Orleans; of the old man's escape, when a +boy, from an Indian who was shot by his uncle Mordecai, etc. He spoke of +his uncle Mordecai as being a man of very great natural gifts. At +Charleston we found the house crowded by people wishing to see him. The +crowd finally became so great that it was decided to hold a public +reception at the Town Hall that evening at seven o'clock; until then +Lincoln wished to be left with relatives and friends. At the Town Hall +large numbers of people from the town and surrounding country, +irrespective of party, called to see him. His reception by his old +acquaintances was very gratifying to him." + +A characteristic anecdote showing Lincoln's friendship and love of old +associations is told among those relating to his last days at +Springfield. When he was about to leave for Washington he went to the +dingy little law office, sat down on the couch, and said to his +law-partner, Herndon, "Billy, you and I have been together nearly twenty +years, and have never 'passed a word.' Will you let my name stay on the +old sign till I come back from Washington?" The tears started to Mr. +Herndon's eyes. He put out his hand. "Mr. Lincoln," said he, "I will +never have any other partner while you live"; and to the day of the +assassination all the doings of the firm were in the name of "Lincoln & +Herndon." + +Governor Bross, of Illinois, relates that he was with Lincoln at +Springfield on the day before he left for Washington. "We were walking +slowly to his home from some place where we had met, and the condition +and prospects of the country, and his vast responsibility in assuming +the position of President, were the subjects of his thoughts. These were +discussed with a breadth and anxiety full of that pathos peculiar to Mr. +Lincoln in his thoughtful moods. He seemed to have a thorough prescience +of the dangers through which his administration was to pass. No +President, he said, had ever had before him such vast and far-reaching +responsibilities. He regarded war--long, bitter, and dreadful--as almost +sure to come. He distinctly and reverently placed his hopes for the +result in the strength and guidance of Him on whom Washington relied in +the darkest hours of the Revolution. He would take the place to which +Providence and his countrymen had called him, and do the best he could +for the integrity and the welfare of the Republic. For himself, he +scarcely expected ever to see Illinois again." + +On the morning of the 11th of February, 1861, Lincoln left his home in +Springfield for the scene where he was to spend the most anxious, +toilsome, and painful years of his life. An elaborate programme had been +prepared for his journey to Washington, which was to conduct him through +the principal cities of Indiana, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, +Pennsylvania, and Maryland, and consume much of the time intervening +before the 4th of March. Special trains, preceded by pilot-engines, +were prepared for his accommodation. He was accompanied at his departure +by his wife and three sons, and a party of friends, including Governor +Yates, ex-Governor Moore, Dr. W.M. Wallace (his brother-in-law), N.B. +Judd, O.H. Browning, Ward H. Lamon, David Davis, Col. E.E. Ellsworth, +and John M. Hay and J.G. Nicolay, the two latter to be his private +secretaries. Mr. Lamon thus graphically describes the incidents of his +leave-taking: "It was a gloomy day; heavy clouds floated overhead, and a +cold rain was falling. Long before eight o'clock a great mass of people +had collected at the railway station. At precisely five minutes before +eight, Mr. Lincoln, preceded by Mr. Wood, emerged from a private room in +the depot building, and passed slowly to the car, the people falling +back respectfully on either side, and as many as possible shaking his +hands. Having reached the train, he ascended the rear platform, and, +facing about to the throng which had closed around him, drew himself up +to his full height, removed his hat, and stood for several seconds in +profound silence. His eye roved sadly over that sea of upturned faces, +as if seeking to read in them the sympathy and friendship which he never +needed more than then. There was an unusual quiver in his lip, and a +still more unusual tear on his shriveled cheek. His solemn manner, his +long silence, were as full of melancholy eloquence as any words he could +have uttered. What did he think of? Of the mighty changes which had +lifted him from the lowest to the highest estate on earth? Of the weary +road which had brought him to this lofty summit? Of his poor mother +lying beneath the tangled underbrush in a distant forest? Of that other +grave in the quiet Concord cemetery? Whatever the character of his +thoughts, it is evident that they were retrospective and sad. To those +who were anxiously waiting to catch his words it seemed long until he +had mastered his feelings sufficiently to speak. At length he began, in +a husky voice, and slowly and impressively delivered his farewell to his +neighbors. Imitating his example, many in the crowd stood with heads +uncovered in the fast-falling rain." Abraham Lincoln spoke none but true +and sincere words, and none more true and heartfelt ever fell from his +lips than these, so laden with pathos, with humility, with a craving for +the sympathy of his friends and the people, and for help above and +beyond all earthly power and love. + + _My Friends_:--No one not in my position can realize the sadness I + feel at this parting. To this people I owe all that I am. Here I + have lived more than a quarter of a century. Here my children were + born, and here one of them lies buried. I know not how soon I shall + see you again. I go to assume a task more difficult than that which + has devolved upon any other man since the days of Washington. He + never would have succeeded except for the aid of Divine Providence, + upon which he at all times relied. I feel that I cannot succeed + without the same Divine blessing which sustained him; and on the + same Almighty Being I place my reliance for support. And I hope + you, my friends, will all pray that I may receive that Divine + assistance, without which I cannot succeed, but with which success + is certain. Again I bid you an affectionate farewell. + +The route chosen for the journey to Washington, as has been stated, was +a circuitous one. It seems to have been Lincoln's desire to meet +personally the people of the great Northern States upon whose devotion +and loyalty he prophetically felt he must depend for the salvation of +the Republic. Everywhere he met the warmest and most generous greetings +from the throngs assembled at the railway stations in the various cities +through which he passed. At Indianapolis, where the first important halt +was made, cannon announced the arrival of the party, and a royal welcome +was accorded the distinguished traveler. In this, as in the other cities +at which he stopped, Lincoln made a brief address to the people. His +remarks were well considered and temperate; his manner was serious, his +expressions thoughtful and full of feeling. He entreated the people to +be calm and patient; to stand by the principles of liberty inwrought +into the fabric of the Constitution; to have faith in the strength and +reality of the Government, and faith in his purpose to discharge his +duties honestly and impartially. He referred continually to his trust in +the Almighty Ruler of the Universe to guide the nation safely out of its +present peril and perplexity. "I judge," he said at Columbus, "that all +we want is time and patience, and a reliance in that God who has never +forsaken His people." Again, he said: "Let the people on both sides keep +their self-possession, and just as other clouds have cleared away in due +time, so will this; and this great nation shall continue to prosper as +heretofore." Alluding more definitely to his purposes for the future, he +declared: "I shall do all that may be in my power to promote a peaceful +settlement of all our difficulties. The man does not live who is more +devoted to peace than I am--none who would do more to preserve it. _But +it may be necessary to put the foot down firmly_." + +At the conclusion of Lincoln's speech at Columbus, a tremendous crowd +surged forward to shake his hand. Says Dr. Holland: "Every man in the +crowd was anxious to wrench the hand of Abraham Lincoln. He finally gave +both hands to the work, with great good nature. To quote one of the +reports of the occasion: 'People plunged at his arms with frantic +enthusiasm, and all the infinite variety of shakes, from the wild and +irrepressible pump-handle movement to the dead grip, was executed upon +the devoted _dexter_ and _sinister_ of the President. Some glanced at +his face as they grasped his hand; others invoked the blessings of +heaven upon him; others affectionately gave him their last gasping +assurance of devotion; others, bewildered and furious, with hats crushed +over their eyes, seized his hands in a convulsive grasp, and passed on +as if they had not the remotest idea who, what, or where they were.' The +President at last escaped, and took refuge in the Governor's residence, +although he held a levee at the State House in the evening, where in a +more quiet way he met many prominent citizens." + +At Cincinnati, where Lincoln had had so distasteful an experience a few +years before, a magnificent ovation greeted him. The scene is described +by one who witnessed it--Hon. William Henry Smith, at that time a +resident of Cincinnati. "It was on the 13th of February that Mr. Lincoln +reached the Queen City. The day was mild for mid-winter, but the sky was +overcast with clouds, emblematic of the gloom that filled the hearts of +the unnumbered thousands who thronged the streets and covered the +house-tops. Lincoln rode in an open carriage, standing erect with +uncovered head, and steadying himself by holding on to a board fastened +to the front part of the vehicle. A more uncomfortable ride than this, +over the bouldered streets of Cincinnati, cannot well be imagined. +Perhaps a journey over the broken roads of Eastern Russia, in a +tarantass, would secure to the traveler as great a degree of discomfort. +Mr. Lincoln bore it with characteristic patience. His face was very sad, +but he seemed to take a deep interest in everything. It was not without +due consideration that the President-elect touched on the border of a +slave State on his way to the capital. In his speech in reply to the +Mayor of Cincinnati, recognizing the fact that among his auditors were +thousands of Kentuckians, he addressed them directly, calling them +'Friends,' 'Brethren.' He reminded them that when speaking in Fifth +Street Market square in 1859 he had promised that when the Republicans +came into power they would treat the Southern or slave-holding people as +Washington, Jefferson, and Madison treated them; that they would +interfere with their institutions in no way, but abide by all and every +compromise of the Constitution, and 'recognize and bear in mind always +that you have as good hearts in your bosoms as other people, or as we +claim to have, and treat you accordingly.' Then, to emphasize this, he +said--in a passage omitted by Mr. Raymond and all other biographers of +Lincoln-- + + And now, fellow-citizens of Ohio, have you who agree in political + sentiment with him who now addresses you ever entertained other + sentiments towards our brethren of Kentucky than those I have + expressed to you? [_Loud and repeated cries of 'No!' 'No!'_] If + not, then why shall we not, as heretofore, be recognized and + acknowledged as brethren again, living in peace and harmony, one + with another? [_Cries of 'We will!'_] I take your response as the + most reliable evidence that it may be so, along with other + evidence, trusting to the good sense of the American people, on all + sides of all rivers in America, under the Providence of God, who + has never deserted us, that we shall again be brethren, forgetting + all parties--ignoring all parties. + +"This statesmanlike expression of conservative opinion," continues Mr. +Smith, "alarmed some of the Republicans, who feared that the new +President might sell out his party; and steps were taken, later in the +day, to remind him of certain principles deemed fundamental by those who +had been attracted to the party of Freedom. The sequel will show how +this was done, and how successfully Mr. Lincoln met the unexpected +attack. In the evening I called, with other citizens, at Mr. Lincoln's +rooms at the Burnet House to pay my respects. Mr. Lincoln had put off +the melancholy mood that appeared to control him during the day, and was +entertaining those present with genial, even lively, conversation. The +pleasant entertainment was interrupted by the announcement that a +delegation of German workingmen were about to serenade Mr. Lincoln. +Proceeding to the balcony, there were seen the faces of nearly two +thousand of the substantial German citizens who had voted for Mr. +Lincoln because they believed him to be a stout champion of free labor +and free homesteads. The remarks of their spokesman, Frederick +Oberkleine, set forth in clear terms what they expected. He said: + + We, the German free workingmen of Cincinnati, avail ourselves of + this opportunity to assure you, our chosen Chief Magistrate, of our + sincere and heartfelt regard. You earned our votes as the champion + of Free Labor and Free Homesteads. Our vanquished opponents have, + in recent times, made frequent use of the terms "Workingmen" and + "Workingmen's Meetings," in order to create an impression that the + mass of workingmen were _in favor of compromises between the + interests of free labor and slave labor, by which the victory just + won would be turned into a defeat_. This is a despicable device of + dishonest men. _We spurn such compromises. We firmly adhere to the + principles which directed our votes in your favor. We trust that + you, the self-reliant because self-made man, will uphold the + Constitution and the laws against secret treachery and avowed + treason_. If to this end you should be in need of men, the German + free workingmen, with others, will rise as one man at your call, + ready to risk their lives in the effort to maintain the victory + already won by freedom over slavery. + +"This was bringing the rugged issue boldly to the front, and challenging +the President-elect to meet the issue or risk the loss of the support of +an important section of his own party. Oberkleine spoke with great +effect, but the remarks were hardly his own. Some abler man had put into +his mouth these significant words. Mr. Lincoln replied, very +deliberately, but without hesitation, as follows: + + MR. CHAIRMAN:--I thank you, and those you represent, for the + compliment paid me by the tender of this address. In so far as + there is an allusion to our present national difficulty, and the + suggestion of the views of the gentlemen who present this address, + I beg you will excuse me from entering particularly upon it. I deem + it due to myself and the whole country, in the present + extraordinary condition of the country and of public opinion, that + I should wait and see the last development of public opinion before + I give my views or express myself at the time of the inauguration. + I hope at that time to be false to nothing you have been taught to + expect of me. [_Cheers_.] + + I agree with you, Mr. Chairman, and with the address of your + constituents, in the declaration that workingmen are the basis of + all governments. That remark is due to them more than to any other + class, for the reason that there are more of them than of any other + class. And as your address is presented to me not only on behalf of + workingmen, but especially of Germans, I may say a word as to + classes. I hold that the value of life is to improve one's + condition. Whatever is calculated to advance the condition of the + honest, struggling laboring man, so far as my judgment will enable + me to judge of a correct thing, I am for that thing. + + An allusion has been made to the Homestead Law. I think it worthy + of consideration, and that the wild lands of the country should be + distributed so that every man should have the means and opportunity + of benefiting his condition. [_Cheers_.] I have said that I do not + desire to enter into details, nor will I. + + In regard to Germans and foreigners, I esteem foreigners no better + than other people--nor any worse. [_Laughter and cheers_.] They are + all of the great family of men, and if there is one shackle upon + any of them it would be far better to lift the load from them than + to pile additional loads upon them. [_Cheers_.] And inasmuch as the + continent of America is comparatively a new country, and the other + countries of the world are old countries, there is more room here, + comparatively speaking, than there is elsewhere; and if they can + better their condition by leaving their old homes, there is nothing + in my heart to forbid them coming, and I bid them all God speed. + [_Cheers_.] Again, gentlemen, thanking you for your address, I bid + you good night. + +"If anyone," says Mr. Smith, "had expected to trap Mr. Lincoln into +imprudent utterances, or the indulgence of the rhetoric of a demagogue, +this admirable reply showed how completely they were disappointed. The +preservation of this speech is due to my accidental presence. The +visitation of the Germans was not on the programme, and none of the +representatives of the press charged with the duty of reporting the +events of the day were present. Observing this, I took short-hand notes +on the envelope of an old letter loaned me for the occasion, and +afterwards wrote them out. The words of Mr. Lincoln, exactly as spoken, +are given above." + +At Cleveland the party remained over for a day, and Lincoln was greeted +with the usual friendly enthusiasm. An immense crowd met him at the +depot, and he was escorted to the Weddell House, where a reception was +given him in the evening. Hon. A.G. Riddle, then a resident of +Cleveland, and a newly elected member of the Congress which was to share +with Lincoln the burdens and responsibilities of the Civil War, was +present on that occasion, and furnishes the following interesting +personal recollections of it: "I saw Abraham Lincoln for the first time, +at the Weddell House that evening. He stood on the landing-place at the +top of a broad stairway, and the crowd approached him from below. This +gave him an exaggerated advantage of his six feet four inches of length. +The shapelessness of the lathy form, the shock of coarse black hair +surmounting the large head, the retreating forehead--these were not +apparent where we stood. My heart sprang up to him--the coming man. Of +the thousand times I afterward saw him, the first view remains the most +distinct impression; and never again to me was he more imposing. As we +approached, someone whispered of me to him; he took my hand in both his +for an instant, and we wheeled into the already crowded rooms. His +manner was strongly Western; his speech and pronunciation Southwestern. +Wholly without self-consciousness with men, he was constrained and ill +at ease when surrounded, as he several times was, by fashionably dressed +ladies. One incident of the evening I particularly recall. Ab McElrath +was in the crowd--a handsome giant, an Apollo in youth, of about Mr. +Lincoln's height. What brought it about, I do not know; but I saw them +standing back to back, in a contest of altitude--Mr. Lincoln and Ab +McElrath--the President-elect, the chosen, the nation's leader in the +thick-coming darkness, and the tavern-keeper and fox-hunter. The crowd +applauded. + +"Mr. Lincoln presented me to the gentlemen of his party--Mr. Browning, +Mr. Judd, and Mr. Lamon, I remember, as I later became very well +acquainted with them; also the rough-looking Colonel Sumner of the army. +Mr. Lincoln invited me to accompany him for at least a day on his +eastward journey. I joined him the next morning at the station. The +vivacity of the night before had utterly vanished, and the rudely +sculptured cliffy face struck me as one of the saddest I had ever seen. +The eyes especially had a depth of melancholy which I had never seen in +human eyes before. Some things he wished to know from me, especially +regarding Mr. Chase, whom, among others, he had called to Springfield. +He asked me no direct questions, but I very soon found myself speaking +freely to him, and was able to explain some not well-known features of +Ohio politics--and much to his satisfaction, as he let me see. There was +then some talk of Mr. Seward, and more of Senator Cameron. All three had +been his rivals at Chicago, and were, as I then thought, in his mind as +possible Cabinet ministers; although no word was said by him of such an +idea in reference to either. Presently he conducted me to Mrs. Lincoln, +whom I had not before seen. Presenting me, he returned to the gentlemen +of the party, and I saw little more of him except once when he returned +to us, before I left the train. Mrs. Lincoln impressed me very +favorably, as a woman of spirit, intelligence, and decided opinions, +which she put very clearly. Our conversation was mainly of her husband. +I remarked that all the likenesses I had ever seen of him did him +injustice. This evidently pleased her. I suggested that a full beard +from the under lip down (his face was shaven) would relieve and help him +very much. This interested her, and we discussed it and the character +of his face quite fully. The impression I then formed of this most +unfortunate lady was only deepened by the pleasant acquaintance she +permitted, down to the time of the national calamity, which unsettled +her mind as I always thought." + +Of the New York City visit, an excellent account is given by the +distinguished preacher and writer, Dr. S. Irenĉus Prime. "The country +was at that moment," says Dr. Prime, "in the first throes of the great +rebellion. Millions of hearts were beating anxiously in view of the +advent to power of this untried man. Had he been called of God to the +throne of power at such a time as this, to be the leader and deliverer +of the people? As the carriage in which he sat passed slowly by me on +the Fifth avenue, he was looking weary, sad, feeble, and faint. My +disappointment was excessive; so great, indeed, as to be almost +overwhelming. He did not look to me to be the man for the hour. The next +day I was with him and others in the Governor's room in the City Hall, +when the Mayor of the city made an official address. Mr. Lincoln's reply +was so modest, firm, patriotic, and pertinent, that my fears of the day +before began to subside, and I saw in this new man a promise of great +things to come. It was not boldness or dash, or high-sounding pledges; +nor did he while in office, with the mighty armies of a roused nation at +his command, ever assume to be more than he promised in that little +upper chamber in New York, on his journey to the seat of Government, to +take the helm of the ship of state then tossing in the storm." + +Before the end of the journey, strong fears prevailed in the minds of +Lincoln's friends that an attempt would be made to assassinate him +before he should reach Washington. Every precaution was taken to thwart +such endeavor; although Lincoln himself was disturbed by no thought of +danger. He had done, he contemplated doing, no wrong, no injustice to +any citizen of the United States; why then should there be a desire to +strike him down? Thus he reasoned; and he was free from any dread of +personal peril. But the officials of the railroads over which he was to +pass, and his friends in Washington, felt that there was cause for +apprehension. It was believed by them that a plot existed for making +away with Lincoln while passing through Baltimore, a city in the heart +of a slave State, and rife with the spirit of rebellion. Detectives had +been employed to discover the facts in the matter, and their reports +served to confirm the most alarming conjectures. A messenger was +despatched from Washington to intercept the Presidential party and warn +Lincoln of the impending danger. Dr. Holland states that "the detective +and Mr. Lincoln reached Philadelphia nearly at the same time, and there +the former submitted to a few of the President's friends the information +he had secured. An interview between Mr. Lincoln and the detective was +immediately arranged, and took place in the apartments of the former at +the Continental Hotel. Mr. Lincoln, having heard the officer's statement +in detail, then informed him that he had promised to raise the American +flag on Independence Hall the following morning--the anniversary of +Washington's birthday--and that he had accepted an invitation to a +reception by the Pennsylvania Legislature in the afternoon of the same +day. 'Both of these engagements I will keep,' said Mr. Lincoln, '_if it +costs me my life_.' For the rest, he authorized the detective to make +such arrangements as he thought proper for his safe conduct to +Washington." + +In the meantime, according to Dr. Holland, General Scott and Senator +Seward, both of whom were in Washington, learned from independent +sources that Lincoln's life was in danger, and concurred in sending Mr. +Frederick W. Seward to Philadelphia to urge upon him the necessity of +proceeding immediately to Washington in a quiet way. The messenger +arrived late on Thursday night, after Lincoln had retired, and requested +an audience. Lincoln's fears had already been aroused, and he was +cautious, of course, in the matter of receiving a stranger. But +satisfied that the messenger was indeed the son of Mr. Seward, he +received him. Nothing needed to be done except to inform him of the plan +entered into with the detective, by which the President was to arrive in +Washington early on Saturday morning, in advance of his family and +party. + +On the morning of the 22d, Lincoln, as he had promised, attended the +flag-raising at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the historic building +in which had been adopted the Declaration of Independence. The occasion +was a memorable one, and Lincoln's address eloquent and impressive. "All +the political sentiments I entertain," said he, "have been drawn from +the sentiments which were given to the world from this hall." He spoke +calmly but firmly of his resolve to stand by the principles of the +immortal Declaration and of the Constitution of his country; and, as +though conscious of the dangers of his position, he added solemnly: "I +have said nothing but what I am willing to live by, _and, if it be the +pleasure of Almighty God, to die by_." + +From Philadelphia Lincoln went immediately to Harrisburg, and attended +the reception given him by the Pennsylvania Legislature, in the +afternoon of the same day. Then, leaving his hotel in the evening, +attended only by Mr. Lamon and the detective (Mr. Allan Pinkerton), he +was driven to the depot, where he took the regular train for Washington. +The train passed through Baltimore in the night, and early the next +morning (February 23) reached the capital. Mr. Washburne, who had been +notified to be at the depot on the arrival of the train, says: "I +planted myself behind one of the great pillars in the old Washington and +Baltimore depot, where I could see and not be observed. Presently, the +train came rumbling in on time. When it came to a stop I watched with +fear and trembling to see the passengers descend. I saw every car +emptied, and there was no Mr. Lincoln. I was well-nigh in despair, and +when about to leave I saw three persons slowly emerge from the last +sleeping-car. I could not mistake the long, lank form of Mr. Lincoln, +and my heart bounded with joy and gratitude. He had on a soft +low-crowned hat, a muffler around his neck, and a short overcoat. Anyone +who knew him at that time could not have failed to recognize him at +once; but I must confess he looked more like a well-to-do farmer from +one of the back towns of Jo Daviess County, coming to Washington to see +the city, take out his land warrant and get the patent for his farm, +than the President of the United States. The only persons that +accompanied Mr. Lincoln were Pinkerton, the well-known detective, and +Ward H. Lamon. When they were fairly on the platform, and a short +distance from the car, I stepped forward and accosted the President: +'How are you, Lincoln?' At this unexpected and rather familiar +salutation the gentlemen were apparently somewhat startled; but Mr. +Lincoln, who had recognized me, relieved them at once by remarking in +his peculiar voice: 'This is only Washburne!' Then we all exchanged +congratulations, and walked out to the front of the depot, where I had a +carriage in waiting. Entering the carriage (all four of us), we drove +rapidly to Willard's Hotel, entering on Fourteenth Street, before it was +fairly daylight." + +General Stone, who was in command at Washington at that time, states +that both General Scott and himself "considered it almost a certainty +that Mr. Lincoln could not pass through Baltimore alive on the day +fixed," and adds: "I recommended that Mr. Lincoln should be officially +warned; and suggested that it would be best that he should take the +train that evening from Philadelphia, and so reach Washington early the +next day. General Scott directed me to see Mr. Seward, to whom he wrote +a few lines, which he handed me. I did not succeed in finding Mr. Seward +until past noon. I handed him the General's note. He listened +attentively to what I said, and asked me to write down my information +and suggestions. Then, taking the paper I had written, he hastily left. +The note I wrote was what Mr. Frederick Seward carried to Mr. Lincoln in +Philadelphia. Mr. Lincoln has stated that it was _this note_ which +induced him to change his journey as he did. _The stories of disguises +are all nonsense_. Mr. Lincoln merely took the sleeping-car in the night +train." + +There is little doubt that the fears of Lincoln's friends regarding his +passage through Baltimore were well grounded; and that but for the +timely warnings and precautions the assassination of April, 1865, might +have taken place in February of 1861. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + + Lincoln at the Helm--First Days in Washington--Meeting Public Men + and Discussing Public Affairs--The Inauguration--The Inaugural + Address--A New Era Begun--Lincoln in the White House--The First + Cabinet--The President and the Office-seekers--Southern Prejudice + against Lincoln--Ominous Portents, but Lincoln not Dismayed--The + President's Reception Room--Varied Impressions of the New + President--Guarding the White House. + +The week following Lincoln's arrival in Washington, and preceding his +inauguration, was for him one of incessant activity. From almost the +first moment he was engrossed either in preparations for his +inauguration and the official responsibilities which would immediately +follow that event, or in receiving the distinguished callers who +hastened to meet him and in discussing with them the grave aspects of +political affairs. Without rest or opportunity to survey the field that +lay before him, or any preparations save such as the resources of his +own strong character might afford him, he was plunged instantly into the +great political maelstrom in which he was to remain for four long years, +and whose wild vortex might well have bewildered an eye less sure, a +will less resolute, and a brain less cool than his. As Emerson put it, +"The new pilot was hurried to the helm in a tornado." + +"Mr. Lincoln's headquarters," says Congressman Riddle of Ohio, "were at +Willard's Hotel; and the few days before the inauguration were given up +to a continuous reception in the broad corridor of the second floor, +near the stairway. I remember a notable morning when the majestic +General Scott, in full dress, sword, plumes, and bullion, came to pay +his respects to the incoming President. The scene was impressive. By the +unknown law that ruled his spirits, Mr. Lincoln was at his best, +complete master of himself and of all who came within the magic of his +presence. Never was he happier, speaking most of the time, flashing with +anecdote and story. That time now seems as remote as things of a hundred +years ago. The war antiquated all that went before it. The Washington, +the men, the spirit of that now ancient time, have faded past all power +to recall and reproduce them. The real Washington was as essentially +Southern as Richmond or Baltimore. 'Lincoln and his vandals,' fresh from +the North and West, were thronging the wide, squat, unattractive city, +from which the bolder and braver rebel element had not yet departed." + +Dr. George B. Loring, of Massachusetts, who was one of the first to meet +Lincoln after his arrival in Washington, says: "I saw him on his +arrival, and when he made his first appearance in a public place. I was +standing in the upper hall of Willard's Hotel, conversing with a friend +and listening to the confused talk of the crowded drawing-room +adjoining. As we stood there, a tall and awkward form appeared above the +stairs, especially conspicuous, as it came into view, for a new and +stylish hat. It was evidently President Lincoln, whom neither of us had +seen before. As soon as his presence was known, the hall was thronged +from the drawing-rooms. He seemed somewhat startled by the crowd, did +not remove his hat, wended his way somewhat rapidly and with mere +passing recognition, and took shelter in his room. When the crowd had +dispersed, my friend and myself--although we had opposed his +election--called upon him to pay our respects. He received us with great +cordiality, spoke freely of the difficulties by which he was surrounded, +and referred with evident satisfaction to the support he had received +in Massachusetts. 'I like your man Banks,' said he, 'and have tried to +find a place for him in my Cabinet; but I am afraid I shall not quite +fetch it.' He bore the marks of anxiety in his countenance, which, in +its expression of patience, determination, resolve, and deep innate +modesty, was extremely touching." + +Before leaving Springfield Lincoln had prepared his inaugural message +with great care, and placed it in a "gripsack" for transportation to +Washington. An odd incident, by which the message came near being lost +on the journey, was afterwards related by Lincoln to a friend. When the +party reached Harrisburg Lincoln asked his son Robert where the message +was, and was taken aback by his son's confession that in the excitement +caused by the enthusiastic reception he believed he had let a waiter +have the gripsack. Lincoln, in narrating the incident, said: "My heart +went up into my mouth, and I started downstairs, where I was told that +if a waiter had taken the gripsack I should probably find it in the +baggage-room. Going there, I saw a large pile of gripsacks and other +baggage, and thought that I discovered mine. My key fitted it, but on +opening there was nothing inside but a few paper collars and a flask of +whisky. A few moments afterward I came across my own gripsack, with the +document in it all right." + +The fourth of March soon came, and with it the impressive ceremonies of +Lincoln's inauguration as President. A good description of the scene is +given by Dr. J.G. Holland. "The morning broke beautifully clear, and it +found General Scott and the Washington police in readiness. In the +hearts of the surging crowds there was anxiety; but outside all looked +as usual on such occasions, with the exception of an extraordinary +display of soldiers. The public buildings, the schools, and most of the +places of business, were closed during the day, and the stars and +stripes were floating from every flag-staff. There was a great desire to +hear Lincoln's inaugural; and at an early hour Pennsylvania Avenue was +full of people wending their way to the east front of the Capitol where +it was to be delivered. As the Presidential party reached the platform +erected for the ceremonies, Senator Baker of Oregon, one of Lincoln's +old friends and political rivals in Illinois, introduced him to the +assembly. There was not a very hearty welcome given to the President as +he stepped forward to read his inaugural. The reading was listened to +with profound attention, those passages which contained any allusion to +the Union being vociferously cheered. None listened more carefully than +Mr. Buchanan and Judge Taney, the latter of whom, with noticeable +agitation, administered the oath of office to Mr. Lincoln when his +address was ended." + +Another eye-witness has described the dramatic scene, and the principal +actors in it, in the following graphic paragraphs: "Near noon I found +myself a member of the motley crowd gathered around the side entrance to +Willard's Hotel. Soon an open barouche drove up, and the only occupant +stepped out. A large, heavy, awkward-moving man, far advanced in years, +short and thin gray hair, full face plentifully seamed and wrinkled, +head curiously inclined to the left shoulder, a low-crowned, +broad-brimmed silk hat, an immense white cravat like a poultice +thrusting the old-fashioned standing collar up to the ears, dressed in +black throughout, with swallow-tail coat not of the newest style. It was +President Buchanan, calling to take his successor to the Capitol. In a +few minutes he reappeared, with Mr. Lincoln on his arm; the two took +seats side by side, and the carriage rolled away, followed by a rather +disorderly and certainly not very imposing procession. I had ample time +to walk to the Capitol, and no difficulty in securing a place where +everything could be seen and heard to the best advantage. The attendance +at the inauguration was, they told me, unusually small; many being kept +away by anticipated disturbance, as it had been rumored--not without +good grounds--that General Scott himself was fearful of an outbreak, and +had made all possible military preparations to meet the emergency. A +square platform had been built out from the steps to the eastern +portico, with benches for distinguished spectators on three sides. +Senator Douglas, the only one I recognized, sat at the extreme end of +the seat on the right of the narrow passage leading from the steps. +There was no delay, and the gaunt form of the President-elect was soon +visible, slowly making his way to the front. To me, at least, he was +completely metamorphosed--partly by his own fault, and partly through +the efforts of injudicious friends and ambitious tailors. He was raising +(to gratify a very young lady, it is said) a crop of whiskers, of the +blacking-brush variety, coarse, stiff, and ungraceful; and in so doing +spoiled, or at least seriously impaired, a face which, though never +handsome, had in its original state a peculiar power and pathos. On the +present occasion the whiskers were reinforced by brand-new clothes from +top to toe; black dress coat instead of the usual frock; black cloth or +satin vest, black pantaloons, and a glossy hat evidently just out of the +box. To cap the climax of novelty, he carried a huge ebony cane, with a +gold head the size of an egg. In these, to him, strange habiliments, he +looked so miserably uncomfortable that I could not help pitying him. +Reaching the platform, his discomfort was visibly increased by not +knowing what to do with hat and cane; and so he stood there, the target +for ten thousand eyes, holding his cane in one hand and his hat in the +other, the picture of helpless embarrassment. After some hesitation, he +pushed the cane into a corner of the railing, but could not find a place +for the hat, except on the floor, where I could see he did not like to +risk it. Douglas, who fully took in the situation, came to the rescue of +his old friend and rival, and held the precious hat until the owner +needed it again; a service which, if predicted two years before, would +probably have astonished him. The oath of office was administered by +Chief Justice Taney, whose black robes, attenuated figure, and +cadaverous countenance reminded me of a galvanized corpse. Then the +President came forward and read his inaugural address in a clear and +distinct voice. It was attentively listened to by all; but the closest +listener was Douglas, who leaned forward as if to catch every word, +nodding his head emphatically at those passages which most pleased him. +I must not forget to mention the presence of a Mephistopheles in the +person of Senator Wigfall of Texas, who stood with folded arms leaning +against the doorway of the Capitol, looking down upon the crowd and the +ceremony with a contemptuous air which sufficiently indicated his +opinion of the whole performance. To him, the Southern Confederacy was +already an accomplished fact." + +"Under the shadow of the great Eastern portico of the Capitol," says +General John A. Logan, "with the retiring President and Cabinet, the +Supreme Court Justices, the Foreign Diplomatic Corps, and hundreds of +Senators, Representatives, and other distinguished persons filling the +great platform on either side and behind them, Abraham Lincoln stood +bareheaded before full thirty thousand people, upon whose uplifted faces +the unveiled glory of the mild Spring sun now shone--stood reverently +before that far greater and mightier Presence termed by himself, 'My +rightful masters, the American people'--and pleaded in a manly, +earnest, and affectionate strain with 'such as were dissatisfied' to +listen to the 'better angels' of their nature. 'Temperate, reasonable, +kindly persuasive'--it seems strange that Lincoln's inaugural address +did not disarm at least the personal resentment of the South toward him, +and sufficiently strengthen Union-loving people there against the +red-hot Secessionists, to put the 'brakes' down on rebellion." + +The address was devoted almost exclusively to the great absorbing topic +of the hour--the attempt of the Southern States to withdraw from the +Union and erect an independent republic. The calm, firm, moderate, +judicious spirit which pervaded Lincoln's address is apparent in the +following quotations, which contain its most significant and memorable +passages: + + _Fellow-Citizens of the United States_:--In compliance with a + custom as old as the Government itself, I appear before you to + address you briefly, and to take in your presence the oath + prescribed by the Constitution of the United States to be taken by + the President "before he enters on the execution of his office." + ... Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern + States, that by the accession of a Republican Administration their + property and their peace and personal security are to be + endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such + apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has + all the while existed and been open to their inspection. It is + found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses + you. I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that + "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the + institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I + have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do + so." Those who nominated and elected me did so with full knowledge + that I had made this and many similar declarations, and have never + recanted them.... I now reiterate these sentiments; and, in doing + so, I only press upon the public attention the most conclusive + evidence of which the case is susceptible, that the property, + peace, and security of no section are to be in anywise endangered + by the now incoming Administration. I add, too, that all the + protection which, consistently with the Constitution and the laws, + can be given, will be cheerfully given to all the States, when + lawfully demanded, for whatever cause--as cheerfully to one section + as to another.... I hold that, in contemplation of universal law, + and of the Constitution, _the Union of these States is perpetual_. + Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of + all National Governments. It is safe to assert that no Government + proper ever had a provision in its organic law for its own + termination. Continue to execute all the express provisions of our + National Constitution, and the Union will endure forever.... I + therefore consider that, in view of the Constitution and the laws, + the Union is unbroken, and to the extent of my ability I shall take + care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that + the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the States. + Doing this I deem to be only a simple duty on my part; and I shall + perform it, so far as practicable, unless my rightful masters, the + American people, shall withhold the requisite means, or, in some + authoritative manner, direct the contrary. I trust this will not be + regarded as a menace, but only as the declared purpose of the Union + that it will constitutionally defend and maintain itself. In doing + this, there need be no bloodshed or violence; and there shall be + none, unless it be forced upon the national authority. The power + confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the + property and places belonging to the Government, and to collect the + duties and imposts; but beyond what may be but necessary for these + objects, there will be no invasion, no using of force against or + among the people anywhere.... Physically speaking, we cannot + separate. We cannot remove our respective sections from each other, + nor build an impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may + be divorced, and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of + each other; but the different parts of our country cannot do this. + They cannot but remain face to face; and intercourse, either + amicable or hostile, must continue between them. It is impossible, + then, to make that intercourse more advantageous or more + satisfactory after separation than before. Can aliens make treaties + easier than friends can make law? Can treaties be more faithfully + enforced between aliens than laws can among friends? Suppose you go + to war, you cannot fight always; and when, after much loss on both + sides and no gain on either, you cease fighting, the identical old + questions, as to terms of intercourse, are again upon you.... This + country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit + it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Government, they + can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their + revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it. I cannot be + ignorant of the fact that many worthy and patriotic citizens are + desirous of having the National Constitution amended. While I make + no recommendation of amendments, I fully recognize the rightful + authority of the people over the whole subject, to be exercised in + either of the modes prescribed in the instrument itself; and I + should, under existing circumstances, favor rather than oppose a + fair opportunity being afforded the people to act upon it.... The + Chief Magistrate derives all his authority from the people, and + they have conferred none upon him to fix terms for the separation + of the States. The people themselves can do this also, if they + choose; but the Executive, as such, has nothing to do with it. His + duty is to administer the present Government as it came to his + hands, and to transmit it, unimpaired by him, to his successor.... + By the frame of the Government under which we live, the same people + have wisely given their public servants but little power for + mischief; and have, with equal wisdom, provided for the return of + that little to their own hands at very short intervals. While the + people retain their virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any + extreme of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the + Government in the short space of four years. + + My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon this whole + subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time. If there be + an object to hurry any of you in hot haste to a step which you + would never take deliberately, that object will be frustrated by + taking time; but no good can be frustrated by it. Such of you as + are now dissatisfied still have the old Constitution unimpaired, + and, on the sensitive point, the laws of your own framing under it; + while the new administration will have no immediate power, if it + would, to change either. If it were admitted that you who are + dissatisfied hold the right side in the dispute, there still is no + single good reason for precipitate action. Intelligence, + patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never + yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust, in + the best way, all our present difficulty. + + In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, + is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail + you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the + aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the + Government; while I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, + protect, and defend" it. + + I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be + enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break, our + bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from + every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and + hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of + the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the + better angels of our nature. + +At the close of the address, which was delivered with the utmost +earnestness and solemnity, Lincoln, "with reverent look and impressive +emphasis, repeated the oath to preserve, protect, and defend the +Constitution of his country. Douglas, who knew the conspirators and +their plots, with patriotic magnanimity then grasped the hand of the +President, gracefully extended his congratulations, and the assurance +that in the dark future he would stand by him, and give to him his +utmost aid in upholding the Constitution and enforcing the laws of his +country." + +"At the inauguration," says Congressman Riddle, "I stood within a yard +of Mr. Lincoln when he pronounced his famous address. How full of life +and power it then was, with the unction of his utterance! Surely, we +thought, the South, which rejected the concessions of Congress, would +accept him. How dry and quaint, yet ingenious, much of that inaugural +appears to me now, when the life and soul seem to have gone out of it! A +sad thing--a spectre of the day--will forever haunt my memory: Poor old +President Buchanan, short, stout, pale, white-haired, yet bearing +himself resolutely throughout, linked by the arm to the new President, +into whom from himself was passing the qualifying unction of the +Constitution, jostled hither and thither, as already out of men's sight, +yet bravely maintaining the shadow of dignity and place. How glad he +must have been to take leave of his successor at the White House when +all was ended!" + +The formalities of the inauguration concluded, Lincoln passed back +through the Senate Chamber, and, again escorted by Mr. Buchanan, was +conducted to the White House, where the cares and anxieties of his +position immediately descended upon him. "Strange indeed," says General +Logan, "must have been the thoughts that crowded through the brain and +oppressed the heart of Abraham Lincoln that night--his first at the +White House. The City of Washington swarmed with rebels and rebel +sympathizers, and all the departments of Government were honeycombed +with treason and shadowed with treachery and espionage. Every step +proposed or contemplated by the Government would be known to the +so-called Government of the Confederate States almost as soon as thought +of. All means to thwart and delay the carrying out of the Government's +purposes that the excuses of routine and red tape admitted of would be +used by the traitors within the camp to aid the traitors without. No one +knew all this better than Mr. Lincoln. With no army, no navy, not even a +revenue cutter left--with forts and arsenals, ammunition and arms, in +possession of the South, with no money in the National Treasury, and the +National credit blasted--the position must, even to his hopeful nature, +have seemed desperate. Yet even in this awful hour, he was sustained by +confidence in the good effects of his conciliatory message to the South, +and by his trust in the patriotism of the people and the Providence of +God." + +Mr. Welles, the incoming Secretary of the Navy, in writing of the period +immediately following the inauguration, says: "A strange state of things +existed at that time in Washington. The atmosphere was thick with +treason. Party spirit and old party differences prevailed amidst the +accumulating dangers. Secession was considered by most persons as a +political party question, not as rebellion. Democrats to a large extent +sympathized with the Rebels more than with the Administration. The +Republicans, on the other hand, were scarcely less partisan and +unreasonable ... clamorous for the removal of all Democrats, +indiscriminately, from office." + +The President's first official act was the announcement of his Cabinet, +which was composed of the following persons: William H. Seward, +Secretary of State; Simon Cameron, Secretary of War; Salmon P. Chase, +Secretary of the Treasury; Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy; Caleb +B. Smith, Secretary of the Interior; Montgomery Blair, Postmaster +General; and Edward Bates, Attorney General. Lincoln had selected these +counselors with grave deliberation. In reply to the remonstrances urged, +on political grounds, against the appointment of one or two of them, he +had said: "The times are too grave and perilous for ambitious schemes +and personal rivalries. I need the aid of all of these men. They enjoy +the confidence of their several States and sections, and they will +strengthen the administration." On another occasion he remarked: "It +will require the utmost skill, influence, and sagacity of all of us, to +save the country; let us forget ourselves, and join hands like brothers +to save the Republic. If we succeed, there will be glory enough for +all." + +Speculations have been almost endless as to how the Cabinet came to be +made up as it was. But the truth is, according to Secretary Welles, that +it was practically made up in Springfield almost as soon as Lincoln +found himself elected. In Lincoln's own words, as given by Mr. Welles: +"On the day of the Presidential election the operator of the telegraph +in Springfield placed his instrument at my disposal. I was there without +leaving, after the returns began to come in, until we had enough to +satisfy us how the election had gone. This was about two in the morning +of Wednesday. I went home, but not to get much sleep; for I then felt, +as I never had before, the responsibility that was upon me. I began at +once to feel that I needed support,--others to share with me the burden. +This was on Wednesday morning, and before the sun went down I had made +up my Cabinet. It was almost the same that I finally appointed." + +The only two members of the Cabinet who served from the beginning to the +end of Lincoln's administration were Welles and Seward. Stanton was not +appointed until January 13, 1862, succeeding Simon Cameron. Chase left +the Treasury Department to become Chief Justice, and was succeeded in +the Treasury Department by ex-Governor Fessenden of Vermont, who in his +turn was succeeded by Hugh McCulloch. The Attorney General's chair was +filled successively by Bates and Speed. Caleb B. Smith was the first +Secretary of the Interior, succeeded (January 1, 1863) by John P. Usher. +The first Postmaster General was Montgomery Blair, who was followed +(September 4, 1864) by ex-Governor Dennison of Ohio. The appointment +that gave the greatest surprise of any in the Cabinet was that of +Stanton as Secretary of War. Stanton had been in Buchanan's cabinet as +Attorney General. He had been outspoken, almost brutal, in his scornful +hostility to Lincoln, and the appointment by him was as great a surprise +to Stanton as his acceptance of it was to everyone. When asked, somewhat +incredulously, what he would do as War Secretary Stanton replied, "_I +will make Abe Lincoln President of the United States_." Of the character +of this remarkable man, Mr. Alonzo Rothschild, in his interesting study +of the relations between Lincoln and Stanton ("Lincoln, Master of Men," +p. 229), says: "Intense earnestness marked Stanton's every act. So +sharply were all his faculties focused upon the purpose of the hour +that he is to be classed among the one-idea men of history. Whatever +came between him and his goal encountered an iron will.... Quick to +penetrate through the husks of fraud into the very nubbin of things, he +was even more swiftly moved by relentless wrath to insist upon exposure +and punishment. The brief career [as Attorney General] in Buchanan's +cabinet had been long enough to demonstrate his almost savage hostility +toward official dishonesty, as well as his moral courage to grapple with +treason in high places. Above all, he evinced a loyalty to the Union +that rose above the party creed of a lifetime--that might demand of him +any sacrifice however great." + +The first weeks of President Lincoln's residence in the Executive +Mansion were occupied with the arduous work of selecting loyal and +capable men for responsible positions in the Government service. The +departments at Washington were filled with disloyal men, who used the +means and influence pertaining to their places to aid the rebellious +States. It was of vital importance that these faithless officials should +be removed at the earliest moment, and their positions filled with men +of tried integrity. Lincoln desired to appoint for this purpose stanch, +competent, and trustworthy citizens, regardless of party distinctions. +But the labor involved in this duty was enormous and exhausting. There +was a multitude of vacant places, there were difficult questions to be +considered in a majority of cases, and there was a host of applicants +and their friends to be satisfied. Mr. Charles A. Dana relates a +circumstance which hints at the troubles encountered by Lincoln in this +province of his Presidential duties. "The first time I saw Mr. Lincoln," +says Mr. Dana, "was shortly after his inauguration. He had appointed Mr. +Seward to be his Secretary of State; and some of the Republican leaders +of New York, who had been instrumental in preventing Mr. Seward's +nomination to the Presidency and in securing that of Mr. Lincoln, had +begun to fear that they would be left out in the cold in the +distribution of the offices. Accordingly several of them determined to +go to Washington, and I was asked to go with them. We all went up to the +White House together, except Mr. Stanton, who stayed away because he was +himself an applicant for office. Mr. Lincoln received us in the large +room upstairs in the east wing of the White House, where the President +had his working office, and stood up while General Wadsworth, who was +our principal spokesman, stated what was desired. After the interview +was begun, a big Indianian, who was a messenger in attendance in the +White House, came into the room and said to the President, 'She wants +you.' 'Yes, yes,' said Mr. Lincoln, without stirring. Soon afterward the +messenger returned again, exclaiming, 'I say she wants you.' The +President was evidently annoyed, but instead of going out after the +messenger he remarked to us: 'One side shall not gobble up everything. +Make out a list of the places and men you want, and I will endeavor to +apply the rule of give and take.' General Wadsworth answered: 'Our party +will not be able to remain in Washington, but we will leave such a list +with Mr. Carroll, and whatever he agrees to will be agreeable to us.' +Mr. Lincoln continued, 'Let Mr. Carroll come in to-morrow, and we will +see what can be done.'" + +Lincoln was regarded with violent animosity by all who were in sympathy +with the peculiar prejudices of the slave States. The inhabitants of the +District of Columbia looked upon him with especial dislike. He was to +them an odious embodiment of the abhorred principles of Abolitionism. As +an illustration of this bitter feeling, Mr. Arnold narrates the +following anecdote: "A distinguished South Carolina lady--one of the +Howards--the widow of a Northern scholar, called upon him out of +curiosity. She was very proud and aristocratic, and was curious to see a +man who had been represented to her as a monster, a mixture of the ape +and the tiger. She was shown into the room where were Mr. Lincoln and +Senators Seward, Hale, Chase, and other prominent members of Congress. +As Mr. Seward, whom she knew, presented her to the President, she hissed +in his ear: 'I am a South Carolinian.' Instantly reading her character, +he turned and addressed her with the greatest courtesy, and dignified +and gentlemanly politeness. After listening a few moments, astonished to +find him so different from what he had been described to her, she said: +'Why, Mr. Lincoln, you look, act, and speak like a kind, good-hearted, +generous man.' 'And did you expect to meet a savage?' said he. +'Certainly I did, or even something worse,' replied she. 'I am glad I +have met you,' she continued, 'and now the best way to preserve peace is +for you to go to Charleston and show the people what you are, and tell +them you have no intention of injuring them.' Returning home, she found +a party of Secessionists, and on entering the room she exclaimed, 'I +have seen him! I have seen him!' 'Who?' they inquired. 'That terrible +monster, Lincoln, and I found him a gentleman, and I am going to his +first levee after his inauguration.' At his first reception, this tall +daughter of South Carolina, dressing herself in black velvet, with two +long white plumes in her hair, repaired to the White House. She was +nearly six feet high, with black eyes and black hair, and in her velvet +and white feathers she was a striking and majestic figure. As she +approached the President he recognized her immediately. 'Here I am +again,' said she, 'that South Carolinian.' 'I am glad to see you,' +replied he, 'and to assure you that the first object of my heart is to +preserve peace, and I wish that not only you but every son and daughter +of South Carolina were here, that I might tell them so.' Mr. Cameron, +Secretary of War, came up, and after some remarks he said, 'South +Carolina [which had already seceded] is the prodigal son.' 'Ah, Mr. +Secretary,' said she, 'if South Carolina is the prodigal son, Uncle Sam, +our father, ought to divide the inheritance, and let her go; but they +say you are going to make war upon us; is it so?' 'Oh, come back,' said +Lincoln, 'tell South Carolina to come back now, and we will kill the +fatted calf.'" + +The impression which Lincoln made on those who met him at the outset of +his career as President, and their varied comments and descriptions, are +matters of peculiar interest. At first, many people did not understand +him--hardly knew what to make of a personality so unlike any they had +ever seen in high places before. But he soon began to show those +qualities of calm self-reliance, quickness to grasp the essential +factors of a situation and readiness to meet it, courage, patience, +firmness, breadth of view and kindliness, practical tact and wisdom, +which were a surprise to all who knew him, and are now seen to be but a +rapid and logical unfolding, under the stimulus of his enormous +responsibilities, of his great natural powers. The test had come, the +crisis was upon him; and he met them marvelously well. + +General W.T. Sherman contributes an interesting reminiscence at this +point. "One day," says General Sherman, "my brother, Senator Sherman, +took me with him to see Mr. Lincoln. We found the room full of people. +Mr. Lincoln sat at the end of a table, talking with three or four +gentlemen, who soon left. John walked up, shook hands, and took a chair +near him, holding in his hand some papers referring to minor +appointments in the State of Ohio, which formed the subject of +conversation. Mr. Lincoln took the papers, said he would refer them to +the proper heads of departments, and would be glad to make the +appointments asked for, if not already promised. John then turned to me, +and said, 'Mr. President, this is my brother, Colonel Sherman, who is +just up from Louisiana; he may give you some information you want.' +'Ah!' said Mr. Lincoln, 'how are they getting along down there?' I said, +'They think they are getting along swimmingly--they are preparing for +war.' 'Oh, well!' said he, '_I guess we'll manage to keep house_.' I was +silenced, said no more to him, and we soon left. I was sadly +disappointed, and remember that I broke out on John, cursing the +politicians generally, saying, 'You have got things in a ---- of a fix, +and you may get them out as best you can,' adding that the country was +sleeping on a volcano that might burst forth at any minute, but that I +was going to St. Louis to take care of my family, and would have no more +to do with it. John begged me to be more patient, but I said I would +not; that I had no time to wait, that I was off for St. Louis; and off I +went." + +The apartment which Lincoln used as an office in which to transact daily +business and to receive informal visits was on the second floor of the +White House. Its simple equipments are thus described by Mr. Arnold: "It +was about twenty-five by forty feet in size. In the centre, on the west, +was a large white marble fireplace, with big old-fashioned brass +andirons, and a large and high brass fender. A wood fire was burning in +cool weather. The large windows opened on the beautiful lawn to the +south, with a view of the unfinished Washington Monument, the +Smithsonian Institution, the Potomac, Alexandria, and on down the river +toward Mt. Vernon. Across the Potomac were Arlington Heights and +Arlington House, late the residence of Robert E. Lee. On the hills +around, during nearly all Lincoln's administration, were the white tents +of soldiers, field fortifications and camps, and in every direction +could be seen the brilliant colors of the national flag. The furniture +of this room consisted of a large oak table covered with cloth, +extending north and south; and it was around this table that the Cabinet +sat when it held its meetings. Near the end of the table, and between +the windows, was another table, on the west side of which the President +sat in a large armchair, and at this table he wrote. A tall desk with +pigeon-holes for papers stood against the south wall. The only books +usually found in this room were the Bible, the United States Statutes, +and a copy of Shakespeare. There were a few chairs and two plain +hair-covered sofas. There were two or three map frames, from which hung +military maps on which the position and movements of the armies were +traced. On the mantel was an old and discolored engraving of General +Jackson and a later photograph of John Bright. Doors opened into this +room from the room of the Secretary, and from the outside hall running +east and west across the House. A bell cord within reach of his hand +extended to the Secretary's office. A messenger who stood at the door +opening from the hall took in the cards and names of visitors. Here, in +this plain room, Lincoln spent most of his time while President. Here he +received everyone, from the Chief Justice and Lieutenant-General to the +private soldier and humblest citizen. Custom had fixed certain rules of +precedence, and the order in which officials should be received. Members +of the Cabinet and the high officers of the army and navy were +generally promptly admitted. Senators and members of Congress were +received in the order of their arrival. Sometimes there would be a crowd +of them waiting their turn. While thus waiting, the loud ringing laugh +of Mr. Lincoln would be heard by the waiting and impatient crowd. Here, +day after day, often from early morning to late at night, Lincoln sat, +listened, talked, and decided. He was patient, just, considerate, and +hopeful. The people came to him as to a father. He saw everyone, and +many wasted his precious time. Governors, Senators, Congressmen, +officers, clergymen, bankers, merchants--all classes approached him with +familiarity. This incessant labor, the study of the great problems he +had to decide, the worry of constant importunity, the quarrels of +officers of the army, the care, anxiety, and responsibility of his +position, wore upon his vigorous frame." + +Mr. Ben. Perley Poore states that "the White House, while Mr. Lincoln +occupied it, was a fertile field for news, which he was always ready to +give those correspondents in whom he had confidence; but the +surveillance of the press--first by Secretary Seward, and then by +Secretary Stanton--was as annoying as it was inefficient.... Often when +Mr. Lincoln was engaged, correspondents would send in their cards, +bearing requests for some desired item of news or for the verification +of some rumor. He would either come out and give the coveted +information, or he would write it on the back of the card and send it to +the owner. He wrote a legible hand, slowly and laboriously perfecting +his sentences before he placed them on paper. The long epistles that he +wrote to his generals he copied himself, not wishing anyone else to see +them, and these copies were kept in pigeon-holes for reference.... Mr. +Lincoln used to wear at the White House in the morning, and after +dinner, a long-skirted faded dressing-gown, belted around his waist, and +slippers. His favorite attitude when listening--and he was a good +listener--was to lean forward, and clasp his left knee with both hands, +as if fondling it, and his face would then wear a sad and wearied look. +But when the time came for him to give an opinion on what he had heard, +or to tell a story which something 'reminded him of,' his face would +lighten up with its homely, rugged smile, and he would run his fingers +through his bristly black hair, which would stand out in every direction +like that of an electric experiment doll." + +John G. Nicolay, afterward Lincoln's private secretary, says: "The +people beheld in the new President a man six feet four inches in height, +a stature which of itself would be hailed in any assemblage as one of +the outward signs of leadership; joined to this was a spare but muscular +frame, and large strongly-marked features corresponding to his unusual +stature. Quiet in demeanor but erect in bearing, his face even in repose +was not unattractive; and when lit up by his open, genial smile, or +illuminated in the utterance of a strong or stirring thought, his +countenance was positively handsome. His voice, pitched in rather a high +key, but of great clearness and penetration, made his public remarks +audible to a wide circle of listeners." + +Henry Champion Deming says of Lincoln's appearance at this time: +"Conceive a tall and giant figure, more than six feet in height, not +only unencumbered with superfluous flesh, but reduced to the minimum +working standard of cord and sinew and muscle, strong and indurated by +exposure and toil, with legs and arms long and attenuated, but not +disproportionately to the long and attenuated trunk; in posture and +carriage not ungraceful, but with the grace of unstudied and careless +ease rather than of cultivated airs and high-bred pretensions. His dress +is uniformly of black throughout, and would attract but little attention +in a well-dressed circle, if it hung less loosely upon him, and if the +ample white shirt collar were not turned over his cravat in Western +style. The face that surmounts this figure is half Roman and half +Indian, bronzed by climate, furrowed by life struggles, seamed with +humor; the head is massive and covered with dark, thick, and +unmanageable hair; the brow is wide and well developed, the nose large +and fleshy, the lips full, cheeks thin and drawn down in strong, corded +lines, which, but for the wiry whiskers, would disclose the machinery +which moves the broad jaw. The eyes are dark gray, sunk in deep sockets, +but bright, soft and beautiful in expression, sometimes lost and half +abstracted, as if their glance was reversed and turned inward, or as if +the soul which lighted them was far away. The teeth are white and +regular, and it is only when a smile, radiant, captivating, and winning +as was ever given to mortal, transfigures the plain countenance, that +you begin to realize that it is not impossible for artists to admire and +women to love it." + +Mr. John Bigelow, who was appointed consul to Paris in 1861, and was +afterwards minister to France, describes in his "Retrospections of an +Active Life" his first visit to Lincoln and the impressions gained by +him at that early period in Lincoln's official career. "The day +following my arrival in Washington Preston King, Senator from New York, +invited me to go with him to be presented to President Lincoln, an +invitation which of course I embraced with alacrity; for as yet I had +not met him, and knew him only by his famous senatorial campaign against +Douglas in Illinois and the masterly address which he delivered at the +Cooper Institute shortly before his nomination in New York.... The new +President received us in his private room at an early hour of the +morning; another gentleman was with him at the time, a member of the +Senate, I believe. We were with him from a half to three-quarters of an +hour. The conversation, in which I took little or no part, turned upon +the operations in the field. I observed no sign of weakness in anything +the President said; neither did I hear anything that particularly +impressed me, which, under the circumstances, was not surprising. What +did impress me, however, was what I can only describe as a certain lack +of sovereignty. He seemed to me, nor was it in the least strange that he +did, like a man utterly unconscious of the space which the President of +the United States occupied that day in the history of the human race, +and of the vast power for the exercise of which he had become personally +responsible. This impression was strengthened by Mr. Lincoln's modest +habit of disclaiming knowledge of affairs and familiarity with duties, +and frequent avowals of ignorance, which, even where it exists, it is as +well for a captain as far as possible to conceal from the public. The +authority of an executive officer largely consists in what his +constituents think it is. Up to that time Mr. Lincoln had had few +opportunities of showing the nation the qualities which won all hearts +and made him one of the most conspicuous and enduring historic +characters of the century." + +Some uncommonly vivid "first impressions" of Lincoln are given in the +Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who early in February of 1862 made a +visit to Washington for the purpose of delivering a lecture before the +Smithsonian Institution--a lecture which Lincoln is said to have +attended. A day or two afterwards Emerson was taken by Senator Sumner of +Massachusetts to call at the White House. "The President impressed me," +says Emerson, "more favorably than I had hoped. A frank, sincere, +well-meaning man, with a lawyer's habit of mind, good clear statement of +his facts; correct enough, not vulgar, as described, but with a sort of +boyish cheerfulness, or that kind of sincerity and jolly good meaning +that our class-meetings on Commencement Days show, in telling our old +stories over. When he has made his remark he looks up at you with great +satisfaction, and shows all his white teeth, and laughs.... When I was +introduced to him he said, 'Oh, Mr. Emerson, I once heard you say in a +lecture that a Kentuckian seems to say by his air and manners, "Here am +I; if you don't like me, the worse for you."'" (The point of this of +course is that Lincoln was himself a Kentuckian.) A day or two later +Emerson again called on the President, this time in the company of +Secretary Seward. It being Sunday evening, Seward asked the President if +he had been to church, to which the latter answered that he had +not--that he had been reading, for the first time, Senator Sumner's +speech in the Senate on the Trent affair. This was followed by some +general conversation on the Trent affair, in which the President +expressed his gratification at the friendly attitude taken in the matter +by France and Spain. + +Private Secretary Hay thus writes of Lincoln's character and +disposition: "All agree that the most marked characteristic of Mr. +Lincoln's manners was his simplicity and artlessness; this immediately +impressed itself upon the observation of those who met him for the first +time, and each successive interview deepened the impression. People +seemed delighted to find in the ruler of the nation freedom from +pomposity and affectation, mingled with a certain simple dignity which +never forsook him. Though oppressed with the weight of responsibility +resting upon him as President of the United States, he shrank from +assuming any of the honors, or even the titles, of the position. After +years of intimate acquaintance with Mr. Lincoln, the writer cannot now +recall a single instance in which he spoke of himself as President, or +used that title for himself except when acting in an official capacity. +He always spoke of his position and office vaguely, as, 'this place,' +'here,' or other modest phrase. Once, speaking of the room in the +Capitol used by the Presidents of the United States during the close of +a session of Congress, he said, 'That room, you know, that they +call'--dropping his voice and hesitating--'the President's room.' To an +intimate friend who addressed him always by his own proper title, he +said, 'Now call me Lincoln, and I'll promise not to tell of the breach +of etiquette--if _you_, won't--and I shall have a resting-spell from +"Mister President."' With all his simplicity and unacquaintance with +courtly manners, his native dignity never forsook him in the presence of +critical polished strangers; but mixed with his angularities and +_bonhomie_ was something which spoke the fine fiber of the man; and +while his sovereign disregard of courtly conventionalities was somewhat +ludicrous, his native sweetness and straightforwardness of manner served +to disarm criticism and impress the visitor that he was before a man +pure, self-poised, collected, and strong in unconscious strength. Of +him, an accomplished foreigner, whose knowledge of the courts was more +perfect than that of the English language, said, 'He seems to me one +grand _gentilhomme_ in disguise.'" Mr. Hay adds that Lincoln's +simplicity of manner "was marked in his total lack of consideration of +what was due his exalted station. He had an almost morbid dread of what +he called 'a scene'--that is, a demonstration of applause, such as +always greeted his appearance in public. The first sign of a cheer +sobered him; he appeared sad and oppressed, suspended conversation, and +looked out into vacancy; and when it was over, resumed the conversation +just where it was interrupted, with an obvious feeling of relief.... +Speaking of an early acquaintance who was an applicant for an office +which he thought him hardly qualified to fill, the President said, +'Well, now, I never thought M---- had any more than average ability, +when we were young men together; really I did not.' [A pause.] 'But, +then, I suppose he thought just the same about me; he had reason to, +and--here I am!'" + +General Carl Schurz says: "In the White House, as in his simple home in +Springfield, Mr. Lincoln was the same plain, unaffected, unpretentious +citizen. He won the admiration and affection of even the most +punctilious of the foreign diplomats by the tenderness of his nature and +the touching simplicity of his demeanor.... He was, in mind and heart, +the very highest type of development of a plain man. He was a born +leader of men, and the qualities that made him a leader were of the +plain, common-sense type.... Lincoln had one great advantage over all +the chief statesmen of his day. He had a thorough knowledge of the plain +people. He knew their habits, their modes of thought, their unfailing +sense of justice and right. He relied upon the popular feeling, in great +measure, for his guidance." + +Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe said of the qualities which Lincoln exhibited +in the White House: "Lincoln is a strong man, but his strength is of a +peculiar kind; it is not aggressive so much as passive; and among +passive things, it is like the strength not so much of a stone buttress +as of a wire cable. It is strength swaying to every influence, yielding +on this side and on that, to popular needs, yet tenaciously and +inflexibly bound to carry its great end.... Slow and careful in coming +to resolutions, willing to talk with every person who has anything to +show on any side of a disputed subject, long in weighing and pondering, +attached to constitutional limits and time-honored landmarks, Lincoln +certainly was the _safest_ leader a nation could have at a time when the +_habeas corpus_ must be suspended and all the constitutional and minor +rights of citizens be thrown into the hands of their military leader. A +reckless, bold, theorizing, dashing man of genius might have wrecked our +Constitution and ended us in a splendid military despotism." + +The fear lest the virulent enemies of the administration should attempt +to assassinate Lincoln was so wide-spread that military measures were +enforced to protect him from secret assault. General Charles P. Stone, +to whom the duty was entrusted of establishing the necessary +precautions, has furnished a brief report on the subject. "From the +first," says General Stone, "I took, under the orders of the +General-in-chief, especial care in guarding the Executive +Mansion--without, however, doing it so ostentatiously as to attract +public attention. It was not considered advisable that it should appear +that the President of the United States was, for his personal safety, +obliged to surround himself by armed guards. Mr. Lincoln was not +consulted in the matter. But Captain Todd, formerly an officer of the +regular army, who was, I believe, the brother-in-law of Mr. Lincoln, was +then residing in the Presidential Mansion, and with him I was daily and +nightly in communication, in order that in case of danger one person in +the President's household should know where to find the main body of the +guard, to the officer commanding which Captain Todd was each night +introduced. Double sentries were placed in the shrubbery all around the +mansion, and the main body of the guard was posted in a vacant +basement-room, from which a staircase led to the upper floors. A person +entering by the main gate and walking up to the front door of the +Executive Mansion during the night could see no sign of a guard; but +from the moment anyone entered the grounds by any entrance, he was under +the view of at least two riflemen standing silent in the shrubbery, and +any suspicious movement on his part would have caused his immediate +arrest; while inside, the call of Captain Todd would have been promptly +answered by armed men. The precautions were taken before Fort Sumter was +fired on, as well as afterward. One night near midnight," continues +General Stone, "I entered the grounds for the purpose of inspecting the +guard, and was surprised to see a bright light in the East room. As I +entered the basement I heard a loud noise, as of many voices talking +loudly, mingled with the ringing of arms, coming from the great +reception room. On questioning the commander of the guard, I learned +that many gentlemen had entered the house at a late hour, but they had +come in boldly; no objection had been made from within, but on the +contrary Captain Todd had told him all was right. I ascended the +interior staircase and entered the East room, where I found more than +fifty men, among whom were Hon. Cassius M. Clay and General Lane. All +were armed with muskets, which they were generally examining, and it was +the ringing of many rammers in the musket barrels which had caused the +noise I had heard. Mr. Clay informed me that he and a large number of +political friends, _deeming it very improper that the President's person +should in such times be unguarded_, had formed a voluntary guard which +would remain there every night and see to it that Mr. Lincoln was well +protected. I applauded the good spirit exhibited, but did not, however, +cease the posting of the outside guards, nor the nightly inspections +myself as before, until the time came when others than myself became +responsible for the safety of the President." + +It is stated that Lincoln "had an almost morbid dislike to an escort, or +guard, and daily exposed himself to the deadly aim of an assassin." To +the remonstrances of friends, who feared his constant exposure to +danger, he had but one answer: "If they kill me, the next man will be +just as bad for them; and in a country like this, where our habits are +simple, and must be, assassination is always possible, and will come if +they are determined upon it." A cavalry guard was once placed at the +gates of the White House for a while, and Lincoln said that he "worried +until he got rid of it." He once remarked to Colonel Halpine: "It would +never do for a President to have guards with drawn sabers at his door, +as if he fancied he were, or were trying to be, or were assuming to be, +an emperor." While the President's family were at their summer-house, +near Washington, he rode into town of a morning, or out at night, +attended by a mounted escort; but if he returned to town for a while +after dark, he rode in unguarded, and often alone, in his open carriage. +On more than one occasion, the same writer tells us, he "has gone +through the streets of Washington at a late hour of the night with the +President, without escort, or even the company of a servant, walking all +the way, going and returning. Considering the many open and secret +threats to take his life, it is not surprising that Lincoln had many +thoughts about his coming to a sudden and violent end. He once said that +he felt the force of the expression, 'To take one's life in his hand'; +but that he would not like to face death suddenly. He said that he +thought himself a great coward physically, and was sure that he would +make a poor soldier, for unless there was something inspiriting in the +excitement of a battle he was sure that he would drop his gun and run at +the first symptom of danger. That was said sportively, and he added, +'Moral cowardice is something which I think I never had.'" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + + Civil War--Uprising of the Nation--The President's First Call for + Troops--Response of the Loyal North--The Riots in + Baltimore--Loyalty of Stephen A. Douglas--Douglas's Death--Blockade + of Southern Ports--Additional War Measures--Lincoln Defines the + Policy of the Government--His Conciliatory Course--His Desire to + Save Kentucky--The President's First Message to Congress--Gathering + of Troops in Washington--Reviews and Parades--Disaster at Bull + Run--The President Visits the Army--Good Advice to an Angry + Officer--A Peculiar Cabinet Meeting--Dark Days for Lincoln--A + "Black Mood" in the White House--Lincoln's Unfaltering + Courage--Relief in Story-telling--A Pretty Good Land + Title--"Measuring up" with Charles Sumner--General Scott "Unable as + a Politician"--A Good Drawing-plaster--The New York Millionaires + who Wanted a Gunboat--A Good Bridge-builder--A Sick Lot of + Office-seekers. + +The Confederate attack upon Fort Sumter--a United States fort situated +at the mouth of Charleston Harbor, South Carolina--April 12, 1861, was +the signal that civil war had actually begun. Lincoln had thus far +maintained a conciliatory policy toward the States in rebellion, hoping +to the last that good sense and reason prevailing over rash and violent +impulses would induce them to resume their allegiance to the Government. +Their resort to arms and capture of forts and property of the United +States decided the course of the administration; and on the 15th of +April--forty-two days after his accession to the Presidency--Lincoln +issued a proclamation asking for the immediate enlistment of 75,000 +volunteers,[C] and summoning Congress to convene in an extra session on +the 4th of July. The call was sent forth in the following form: + + PROCLAMATION. + + _By the President of the United States_. + + WHEREAS, the laws of the United States have been for some time past + and now are opposed and the execution thereof obstructed in the + States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, + Louisiana and Texas, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed + by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers + vested in the marshals by law; now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, + President of the United States, in virtue of the power in me vested + by the Constitution and the laws, have thought fit to call forth, + and hereby do call forth, the militia of the several States of the + Union, to the aggregate number of seventy-five thousand, in order + to suppress said combinations and to cause the laws to be duly + executed. + + The details of this object will be immediately communicated to the + State authorities through the War Department. I appeal to all loyal + citizens to favor, facilitate, and aid this effort to maintain the + honor, the integrity and existence of our National Union, and the + perpetuity of popular government, and to redress wrongs already + long enough endured. I deem it proper to say that the first service + assigned to the forces hereby called forth will probably be to + repossess the forts, places, and property which have been seized + from the Union; and in every event the utmost care will be + observed, consistently with the objects aforesaid, to avoid any + devastation, any destruction of, or interference with, property, or + any disturbance of peaceful citizens of any part of the country; + and I hereby command the persons composing the combinations + aforesaid to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective + abodes, within twenty days from this date. + + Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents an + extraordinary occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the power in me + vested by the Constitution, convene both Houses of Congress. The + Senators and Representatives are, therefore, summoned to assemble + at their respective chambers, at twelve o'clock, noon, on Thursday, + the fourth day of July next, then and there to consider and + determine such measures as, in their wisdom, the public safety and + interest may seem to demand. + + In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal + of the United States to be affixed. + + Done at the City of Washington, this fifteenth day of April, in the + year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and of + the independence of the United States the eighty-fifth. + + _By the President_, ABRAHAM LINCOLN. + WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. + +The issue of this proclamation created the wildest enthusiasm throughout +the North. Scarcely a voice was raised against it, as it was seen to be +a measure of absolute necessity and of self-defense on the part of the +Government. "Every Northern State," says Mr. Henry I. Raymond, +"responded promptly to the President's demand, and from private persons, +as well as by the Legislatures, men, arms, and money were offered in +unstinted profusion, and with the most zealous alacrity, in support of +the Government. Massachusetts was first in the field, and on the first +day after the issue of the proclamation her Sixth regiment, completely +equipped, started from Boston for the national capital. Two more +regiments were also made ready, and took their departure within +forty-eight hours." + +The Sixth Massachusetts regiment was attacked on its way to Washington, +on the 19th of April, by a mob in Baltimore, carrying a Confederate +flag, and several of its members were killed or severely wounded. +"This," continues Mr. Raymond, "inflamed to a still higher point the +excitement which already pervaded the country. The whole Northern +section of the Union felt outraged that troops should be assailed and +murdered on their way to protect the capital of the nation. In Maryland, +where the secession party was strong, there was also great excitement, +and the Governor of the State and the Mayor of Baltimore united in +urging, for prudential reasons, that no more troops should be brought +through that city." In answer to the remonstrances of Governor Hicks and +a committee from Maryland, who presented their petition in person, +Lincoln, intent on avoiding every cause of offense, and with a +forbearance that now seems incredible, replied: "Troops must be brought +here; but I make no point of bringing them through Baltimore. Without +any military knowledge myself, of course I must leave details to General +Scott. He hastily said this morning, in the presence of these gentlemen, +'March them around Baltimore, and not through it.' I sincerely hope the +General, on fuller reflection, will consider this practical and proper, +and that you will not object to it. By this, a collision of the people +of Baltimore with the troops will be avoided, unless they go out of +their way to seek it. I hope you will exert your influence to prevent +this. Now and ever, I shall do all in my power for peace, consistently +with the maintenance of the Government." + +One of the most encouraging incidents of this opening chapter of the war +was the announcement that Stephen A. Douglas, the great leader of the +Democracy and the life-long political opponent of Lincoln, had declared +his purpose to stand by the Government. The effect of this action, at +this crisis, was most salutary; it ranged the Northern Democrats with +the defenders of the Union, and gave Lincoln a united North as the act +of no other individual could have done. From that time until his death +Douglas never faltered in his loyalty, and stood by the Government with +a zeal and patriotism which were above all lower considerations of +person or of party. On Sunday, the 14th of April, when Washington was +thrilling with excitement over the fall of Fort Sumter, Douglas called +on the President and after a brief conversation authorized a statement +to be telegraphed throughout the country that he was "fully prepared to +sustain the President in the exercise of all his Constitutional +functions, to preserve the Union, maintain the Government, and defend +the Federal capital. A firm policy and prompt action were necessary. The +capital was in danger, and must be defended at all hazards, and at any +expense of men and money." Faithful to his pledge, Douglas immediately +set out upon a tour through the Northwest, to strengthen, by his words +and presence, the spirit of loyalty among the people. He made a series +of eloquent speeches on his journey to Chicago, where he arrived worn +and spent with the fatigue and excitement of his undertaking. It was the +last and noblest service of his life. Illness ensued, and after a few +weeks of suffering he passed away, June 3, at the age of forty-eight. +His death was an irreparable loss, mourned by the President and the +nation. + +The President's call for troops was succeeded on the 19th of April by a +proclamation declaring a blockade of Southern ports. The text of this +document is historically important, as definitely formulating the +attitude and policy of the Government. + + _Whereas_, An insurrection against the Government of the United + States has broken out in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, + Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, and the laws + of the United States for the collection of the revenue cannot be + efficiently executed therein, conformably to that provision of the + Constitution which requires duties to be uniform throughout the + United States: + + _And whereas_, A combination of persons, engaged in such + insurrection, have threatened to grant pretended letters of marque + to authorize the bearers thereof to commit assaults on the lives, + vessels, and property of good citizens of the country lawfully + engaged in commerce on the high seas, and in waters of the United + States: + + _And whereas_, An Executive Proclamation has already been issued, + requiring the persons engaged in these disorderly proceedings to + desist therefrom, calling out a militia force for the purpose of + repressing the same, and convening Congress in extraordinary + session to deliberate and determine thereon: + + Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, + with a view to the same purposes before mentioned, and to the + protection of the public peace, and the lives and property of quiet + and orderly citizens pursuing their lawful occupations, until + Congress shall have assembled and deliberated on the said unlawful + proceedings, or until the same shall have ceased, have further + deemed it advisable to set on foot a blockade of the ports within + the States aforesaid, in pursuance of the laws of the United + States, and of the laws of nations in such cases provided. For this + purpose a competent force will be posted so as to prevent entrance + and exit of vessels from the ports aforesaid. If, therefore, with a + view to violate such blockade, a vessel shall approach or shall + attempt to leave any of the said ports, she shall be duly warned by + the commander of one of the blockading vessels, who shall indorse + on her register the fact and date of such warning; and if the same + vessel shall again attempt to enter or leave the blockaded port, + she will be captured and sent to the nearest convenient port, for + such proceedings against her and her cargo, as prize, as may be + deemed advisable. + + And I hereby proclaim and declare, that if any person, under the + pretended authority of said States, or under any other pretense, + shall molest a vessel of the United States, or the persons or cargo + on board of her, such person will be held amenable to the laws of + the United States for the prevention and punishment of piracy. + + _By the President_, ABRAHAM LINCOLN. + WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. + WASHINGTON, April 19, 1861. + +On the 27th of April the President issued a proclamation by which the +blockade of Southern ports was extended to the ports of North Carolina +and Virginia. And on the 16th of May, by another proclamation, the +President directed the commander of the United States forces in Florida +to "permit no person to exercise any office or authority upon the +islands of Key West, Tortugas, and Santa Rosa, which may be inconsistent +with the laws and Constitution of the United States; authorizing him, at +the same time, if he shall find it necessary, to suspend the writ of +_habeas corpus_, and to remove from the vicinity of the United States +fortresses all dangerous and suspected persons." + +The Virginia Convention which passed the ordinance of secession (April +17) having appointed a committee to wait upon the President and +"respectfully ask him to communicate to this Convention the policy which +the Federal Executive intends to pursue in regard to the Confederate +States," Lincoln in reply thus clearly outlined the policy and purposes +of the Government: + + In answer I have to say, that having at the beginning of my + official term expressed my intended policy as plainly as I was + able, it is with deep regret and mortification I now learn there is + great and injurious uncertainty in the public mind as to what that + policy is and what course I intend to pursue. Not having as yet + seen occasion to change, it is now my purpose to pursue the course + marked out in the Inaugural Address. I commend a careful + consideration of the whole document as the best expression I can + give to my purposes. As I then and therein said, I now repeat: "The + power confided in me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess + property and places belonging to the Government, and to collect the + duties and imposts; but beyond what is necessary for these objects + there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the + people anywhere." By the words "property and places belonging to + the Government," I chiefly allude to the military posts and + property which were in possession of the Government when it came + into my hands. But if, as now appears to be true, in pursuit of a + purpose to drive the United States authority from these places, an + unprovoked assault has been made upon Fort Sumter, I shall hold + myself at liberty to repossess, if I can, like places which had + been seized before the Government was devolved upon me; and in any + event I shall, to the best of my ability, repel force by force. In + case it proves true that Fort Sumter has been assaulted, as is + reported, I shall, perhaps, cause the United States mails to be + withdrawn from all the States which claim to have seceded, + believing that the commencement of actual war against the + Government justifies and possibly demands it. I scarcely need to + say that I consider the military posts and property situated within + the States which claim to have seceded, as yet belonging to the + Government of the United States as much as they did before the + supposed secession. Whatever else I may do for the purpose, I shall + not attempt to collect the duties and imposts by any armed invasion + of any part of the country; not meaning by this, however, that I + may not land a force deemed necessary to relieve a fort upon the + border of the country. From the fact that I have quoted a part of + the Inaugural Address, it must not be inferred that I repudiate any + other part, the whole of which I reaffirm, except so far as what I + now say of the mails may be regarded as a modification. + + ABRAHAM LINCOLN. + +In the early period of Lincoln's administration he was hopeful that many +serious phases of the threatened trouble might be averted, and that the +better judgment of the citizens of the South might prevail. "For more +than a month after his inauguration," says Secretary Welles, "President +Lincoln indulged the hope, I may say felt a strong confidence, that +Virginia would not secede but would adhere to the Union.... That there +should be no cause of offense, no step that would precipitate or justify +secession, he enjoined forbearance from all unnecessary exercise of +political party authority." But he was very decided and determined as to +what his duty was and what his action would be if the secessionists and +disunionists pressed their case. He said: "The disunionists did not want +me to take the oath of office. I have taken it, and I intend to +administer the office for the benefit of the people, in accordance with +the Constitution and the law." He was especially anxious that Kentucky +should not be plunged into a rebellious war, as he saw that this State +would be of the utmost importance to the Union cause. Soon after the +bombardment of Fort Sumter a conference was held between the President +and a number of prominent Kentuckians then in Washington, at which +Lincoln expressed himself in the most earnest words. Kentucky, he +declared, "must not be precipitated into secession. She is the key to +the situation. With her faithful to the Union, the discord in the other +States will come to an end. She is now in the hands of those who do not +represent the people. The sentiment of her State officials must be +counteracted. We must arouse the young men of the State to action for +the Union. We must know what men in Kentucky have the confidence of the +people, and who can be relied on for good judgment, that they may be +brought to the support of the Government at once." He paid a high +tribute to the patriotism of the Southern men who had stood up against +secession. "But," said he, "they are, as a rule, beyond the meridian of +life, and their counsel and example do not operate quickly, if at all, +on the excitable nature of young men who become inflamed by the +preparations for war, and who in such a war as this will be, if it goes +on, are apt to go in on the side that gives the first opportunity. The +young men must not be permitted to drift away from us. I know that the +men who voted against me in Kentucky will not permit this Government to +be swept away by any such issue as that framed by the disunionists." + +As Mr. Markland, a prominent Kentuckian, relates, in his reminiscences +of the period: "Immediately a campaign for the Union was begun in +Kentucky. The State could not be dragooned into open secession, +therefore the neutrality policy was adopted. That policy was more +rigidly observed by Mr. Lincoln than it was by his opponents, but he was +not misled by it. Judge Joseph Holt made eloquent appeals for the Union +through the columns of the press and from the forum, as did the Speeds, +the Goodloes, and many others of prominence. Rousseau, Jacobs, +Poundbaker, and others, stood guard in the Legislature, and by their +eloquence stayed the tide of disunion there. The labors of Judge Holt, +the Speeds, the Goodloes, Cassius M. Clay, and their followers, had +brought forth fruit for the Union. The patriotic men in the Legislature +had done their work well. The men in the camps on the north side of the +Ohio river moved over into Kentucky, and the invasion of Confederates +which was to sweep Kentucky into secession was at an end. Kentucky was +saved to the Union by the wise counsel and pacific policy of Abraham +Lincoln." + +A special session of Congress convened on the 4th of July, in obedience +to the summons of the President in his proclamation of April 15. The +following day the message of the Executive rehearsed to the joint Houses +the circumstances which had rendered their assembling necessary. It +portrayed in clear and succinct words the situation of affairs, the +aggressive acts of the States aiming to disrupt the Federal Union, and +the measures adopted by the administration to frustrate their attempts. +The assailants of the Government, said the President, "have forced upon +the country the distinct issue, 'immediate dissolution or blood.' And +this issue embraces more than the fate of these United States. It +presents to the whole family of man the question whether a +constitutional Republic or Democracy--a Government of the people by the +same people--can or cannot maintain its territorial integrity against +its own domestic foes. It presents the question whether discontented +individuals, too few in numbers to control administration according to +organic law in any case, can always, upon the pretenses made in this +case, or on any other pretenses, or arbitrarily, without any pretense, +break up their Government, and thus practically put an end to free +government upon the earth. It forces us to ask, 'Is there, in all +Republics, this inherent and fatal weakness? Must a Government, of +necessity, be too strong for the liberties of its own people, or too +weak to maintain its own existence?'" The message requested of Congress +"the legal means for making this contest a short and decisive one; that +you place at the control of the Government, for the work, at least four +hundred thousand men and $400,000,000. That number of men is about +one-tenth of those of proper ages within the regions where, apparently, +all are willing to engage; and the sum is less than a twenty-third part +of the money value owned by the men who seem ready to devote the whole. +A debt of $600,000,000 now is a less sum per head than was the debt of +our Revolution when we came out of that struggle; and the money value in +the country now bears even a greater proportion to what it was then than +does the population. Surely each man has as strong a motive now to +preserve our liberties as each had then to establish them." The message +dwelt upon the encouraging facts "that the free institutions we enjoy +have developed the powers and improved the condition of our whole people +beyond any example in the world. Of this we now have a striking and an +impressive illustration. So large an army as the Government has now on +foot was never before known without a soldier in it but had taken his +place there of his own free choice. But more than this; there are many +single regiments whose members, one and another, possess full practical +knowledge of all the arts, sciences, professions, and whatever else, +whether useful or elegant, is known in the world; and there is scarcely +one from which there could not be selected a President, a Cabinet, a +Congress, and perhaps a Court, abundantly competent to administer the +Government itself." Finally, and eloquently, the message demonstrated +the significance of the war in its effect upon the liberties and +prayers of all mankind. This message again illustrates Lincoln's +singular power of stating clearly and convincingly the nature and +exigencies of the struggle for the Preservation of the Union. Said he: + + This is essentially a people's contest. On the side of the Union it + is a struggle for maintaining in the world that form and substance + of government whose leading object is to elevate the condition of + men; to lift artificial weights from all shoulders; to clear the + paths of laudable pursuits for all; to afford all an unfettered + start and a fair chance in the race of life. Yielding to partial + and temporary departures, from necessity, this is the leading + object of the Government for whose existence we contend. I am most + happy to believe that the plain people understand and appreciate + this. It is worthy of note that while, in this the Government's + hour of trial, large numbers of those in the army and navy who have + been favored with the offices have resigned and proved false to the + hand which had pampered them, not one common soldier or common + sailor is known to have deserted his flag. Great honor is due to + those officers who remained true, despite the example of their + treacherous associates; but the greatest honor, and most important + fact of all, is the unanimous firmness of the common soldiers and + common sailors. To the last man, so far as known, they have + successfully resisted the traitorous efforts of those whose + commands but an hour before they obeyed as absolute law. This is + the patriotic instinct of plain people. They understand, without an + argument, that destroying the Government which was made by + Washington means no good to them. Our popular Government has often + been called an experiment. Two points in it our people have already + settled--the successful establishing and the successful + administering of it. One still remains--its successful maintenance + against a formidable internal attempt to overthrow it. It is now + for them to demonstrate to the world that those who can fairly + carry an election can also suppress a rebellion; that ballots are + the rightful and peaceful successors of bullets; and that when + ballots have fairly and constitutionally decided, there can be no + successful appeal back to bullets; that there can be no successful + appeal, except to ballots themselves, at succeeding elections. Such + will be a great lesson of peace: teaching men that what they cannot + take by an election, neither can they take by a war; teaching all + the folly of being the beginners of a war. + +Through the early summer of 1861 Washington was alive with preparations +for a military movement against the enemy in Virginia. Troops from the +North were constantly arriving, and as rapidly as possible were assigned +to different organizations and drilled in the art of war. "Few +comparatively know or can appreciate the actual condition of things and +the state of feeling of the members of the Administration in those +days," says Secretary Welles. "Nearly sixty years of peace had unfitted +us for any war; but the most terrible of all wars, a civil war, was upon +us, and it had to be met. Congress had adjourned without making any +provision for the storm, though aware it was at hand and soon to burst +upon the country. A new Administration, its members scarcely acquainted +with each other, and differing essentially in the past, was compelled to +act, promptly and decisively." The burden upon the President began to +grow tremendous; but he did not shrink or falter. + + Upon his back a more than Atlas-load, + The burden of the Commonwealth, was laid; + He stooped, and rose up to it, though the road + Shot suddenly downwards, not a whit dismayed. + +He labored incessantly in urging forward the preparations for the great +struggle which, however he might regret it, he now saw was inevitable. +He was in daily conference with the officers of the army and of the War +Department, and was present at innumerable reviews and parades of the +soldiers. The 4th of July was memorable for a grand review of all the +New York troops in and about the city. It was a brilliant and impressive +scene. Says a spectator, Hon. A.G. Riddle: "As they swept +past--twenty-five thousand boys in blue--their muskets flashing, bands +playing, and banners waving, I stood near a distinguished group +surrounding the President, and noted his countenance as he turned to the +massive moving column. All about him were excited, confident, exultant. +He stood silent, pale, profoundly sad, as though his prophetic soul saw +what was to follow. He seemed to be gazing beyond the splendid pageant +before him, upon things hidden from other eyes. Was there presaged to +him a vision of that grander review of our victorious armies at the +close of the war, which he was not to see?" + +A few days later, all the troops in Washington crossed the Long Bridge +and marched, gallant and exultant, straight toward the enemy in +Virginia. The advance of our army resulted, on the 21st of July, in the +shameful disaster at Bull Run. The North was filled with surprise and +dismay, and even the stoutest hearts were burdened with anxiety for the +future. Lincoln at first shared somewhat in the general depression, but +his elastic spirits quickly rallied from the shock. Three or four days +after the battle, some gentlemen who had been on the field called upon +him. He inquired very minutely regarding all the circumstances of the +affair, and after listening with the utmost attention, said, with a +touch of humor: "So it's your notion that we _whipped the rebels_, and +then _ran away from them_!" Not long after this, the President made a +personal visit to the army in Virginia. General Sherman, at that time +connected with the Army of the Potomac, says: "I was near the +river-bank, looking at a block-house which had been built for the +defense of the aqueduct, when I saw a carriage coming by the road that +crossed the Potomac river at Georgetown by a ferry. I thought I +recognized in the carriage the person of President Lincoln. I hurried +across a bend, so as to stand by the roadside as the carriage passed. I +was in uniform, with a sword on, and was recognized by Mr. Lincoln and +Mr. Seward, who rode side by side in an open hack. I inquired if they +were going to my camp, and Mr. Lincoln said: 'Yes; we heard that you had +got over the big scare, and we thought we would come over and see the +boys.' The roads had been much changed and were rough. I asked if I +might give directions to his coachman; he promptly invited me to jump +in, and to tell the coachman which way to drive. Intending to begin on +the right and follow round to the left, I turned the driver into a +side-road which led up a very steep hill, and, seeing a soldier, called +to him and sent him up hurriedly to announce to the Colonel whose camp +we were approaching that the President was coming. As we slowly ascended +the hill, I discovered that Mr. Lincoln was full of feeling, and wanted +to encourage our men. I asked if he intended to speak to them, and he +said he would like to. I asked him then to please discourage all +cheering, noise, or any sort of confusion; that we had had enough of it +before Bull Run to ruin any set of men, and that what we needed were +cool, thoughtful, hard-fighting soldiers--no more hurrahing, no more +humbug. He took my remarks in the most perfect good-nature. Before we +had reached the first camp, I heard the drum beating the 'assembly,' saw +the men running for their tents, and in a few minutes the regiment was +in line, arms presented, and then brought to an 'order' and 'parade +rest.' Mr. Lincoln stood up in the carriage, and made one of the +neatest, best, and most feeling addresses I ever listened to, referring +to our late disaster at Bull Run, the high duties that still devolved on +us, and the brighter days yet to come. At one or two points the soldiers +began to cheer, but he promptly checked them, saying: 'Don't cheer, +boys. I confess I rather like it myself, but Colonel Sherman here says +that it is not military; and I guess we had better defer to his +opinion.' In winding up, he explained that, as President, he was +commander-in-chief; that he was resolved that the soldiers should have +everything that the law allowed; and he called on one and all to appeal +to him personally in case they were wronged. The effect of this speech +was excellent. We passed along in the same manner to all the camps of my +brigade; and Mr. Lincoln complimented me highly for the order, +cleanliness, and discipline that he observed. Indeed, he and Mr. Seward +both assured me that it was the first bright moment that they had +experienced since the battle." + +"In the crowd at Fort Corcoran," continues General Sherman, "I saw an +officer with whom I had had a little difficulty that morning. His face +was pale and his lips were compressed. I foresaw a scene, but sat on the +front seat of the carriage as quiet as a lamb. This officer forced his +way through the crowd to the carriage, and said: 'Mr. President, I have +a cause of grievance. This morning I went to speak to Colonel Sherman, +and he threatened to shoot me.' Mr. Lincoln, who was still standing, +said, 'Threatened to _shoot you_?' 'Yes, sir, he threatened to shoot +me.' Mr. Lincoln looked at him, then at me; and stooping his tall, spare +form toward the officer, said to him in a loud stage-whisper, easily +heard for some yards around: 'Well, if I were you, and he threatened to +shoot, _I would not trust him_, for _I believe he would do it_.' The +officer turned about and disappeared, and the men laughed at him. Soon +the carriage drove on, and as we descended the hill I explained the +facts to the President, who answered, 'Of course I didn't know anything +about it, but I thought you knew your own business best.' I thanked him +for his confidence, and assured him that what he had done would go far +to enable me to maintain good discipline; and it did." + +The days following the Bull Run disaster were full of depression and +discouragement, but Lincoln bore up bravely. He began to feel the +terrible realities of his position, and saw himself brought face to face +with the most awful responsibilities that ever rested upon human +shoulders. A disrupted Union, the downfall of the great American +Republic, so long predicted by envious critics of our institutions, +seemed about to be accomplished. At the best, the Union could be saved +only by the shedding of seas of priceless blood and the expenditure of +untold treasures. And _he_ must act, control, choose, and direct the +measures of the Government and the movements of its vast armies. And +what if all should fail? What if the resources of the Government should +prove inadequate, and its enemies too powerful to be subdued by force? +No wonder he was appalled and well-nigh overwhelmed by the dark prospect +before him. + +Rev. Robert Collyer tells of seeing Lincoln in the summer of 1861, on +the steps of the White House, "answering very simply and kindly to the +marks of respect some soldiers had come to pay him, who stood in deep +ranks on the grass, that had been top-dressed with compost enough to +cover the whole District of Columbia, as the chairman of the committee +that had to pass the account told me. And once, curiously, I saw _only +his feet_. It was soon after the battle of Bull Run, when some say that +_we_ ran, and some say that _they_ ran. And all was quiet on the +Potomac; but the nation was stamping and champing the bit. And passing +the White House one day, I saw three pairs of feet on the sill of an +open window; and pausing for a moment, a good-natured fellow said, +'_That's the Cabinet a sittin_', and _them big feet's old Abe's.'_ So, +lecturing in Boston not long after, I said, like a fool as I was, +'That's about all they are good for in Washington, to point their feet +out o' window and talk, but go nowhere and do nothing.' When, indeed, +the good President's heart was even then breaking with anxiety and +trouble." + +"One day," says Mr. A.G. Riddle, "I called at the White House to present +a distinguished stranger, who had important matters to bring to Mr. +Lincoln's notice. It was evening--cold, rainy, and cheerless. The +Executive Mansion was gloomy and silent. At Mr. Lincoln's door we were +told by the attendant to enter. We found the room quite dark, and +seemingly vacant. I advanced a step or two, to determine if anyone were +present, and was arrested by a strange apparition, at first not +distinguishable: the long, seemingly lifeless, limbs of a man, as if +thrown upon a chair and left to sprawl in unseemly disorder. A step +further, and the fallen head disclosed the features of the President. I +turned back; a word from my companion reached the drooping figure, and a +sepulchral voice bade us advance. We came upon a man, in some respects +the most remarkable of any time, in the hour of his prostration and +weakness--in the depths of that depression to which his inherited +melancholy at times reduced him, now perhaps coming to overwhelm him as +he thought of the calamities of his country." + +An old and intimate friend from Springfield, who visited Lincoln at this +period, found the door of his office in the White House locked; but +going through a private room and a side entrance, he found the President +lying on a sofa, evidently greatly disturbed and much excited, +manifestly displeased with the outlook. Jumping up from his reclining +position, he advanced, saying: "You know better than any man living that +from my boyhood up my ambition was to be President. I am President of +one part of this divided country at least; but look at me! I wish I had +never been born! I've a white elephant on my hands, one hard to manage. +With a fire in my front and rear, having to contend with the jealousies +of the military commanders, and not receiving that cordial co-operation +and support from Congress that could reasonably be expected, with an +active and formidable enemy in the field threatening the very life-blood +of the Government, my position is anything but a bed of roses." + +But in the darkest hours of the nation's peril, Lincoln never wavered in +his purpose. Anxious and careworn, his heart bleeding with grief for the +losses of our brave soldiers, and harassed by the grave duties +constantly demanding his attention, he had but one purpose,--to go on +unfalteringly and unhesitatingly in his course until the supremacy of +the Government was restored in every portion of its territory. He wrote +in a private letter: "I expect to maintain this contest until +successful, or till I die, or am conquered, or my term expires, or +Congress or the country forsake me." + +Besides his invincible will and courage, Lincoln had one important +resource in his dark hours, an ever-ready relief for his overcharged +emotions. Byron said that he sometimes laughed in order that he might +not weep. Lincoln's life-long solace was his love of story-telling. Hon. +Hugh McCulloch, afterward Secretary of the Treasury, relates that about +a week after the battle of Bull Run he called at the White House, in +company with a few friends, and was amazed when, referring to something +which had been said by one of the company about the battle that was so +disastrous to the Union forces, the President remarked, in his usual +quiet manner, "That reminds me of a story," which he told in a manner so +humorous as almost to lead his listeners to believe that he was free +from care and apprehension. Mr. McCulloch could not then understand how +the President could feel like telling a story, when Washington was in +danger of being captured and the whole North was dismayed. He learned +his mistake afterwards, however, and perceived that his estimate of +Lincoln before his election was well grounded, and that he possessed +even higher qualities than he had been given credit for; that he was "a +man of sound judgment, great singleness and tenacity of purpose, and +extraordinary sagacity; that story-telling was to him a safety-valve, +and that he indulged in it, not only for the pleasure it afforded him, +but for a temporary relief from oppressing cares." It is related that on +the morning after the battle at Fredericksburg, Hon. I.N. Arnold, then a +member of Congress from Illinois, called on the President, and to his +amazement found him engaged in reading "Artemus Ward." Making no +reference to that which occupied the universal thought, he asked Mr. +Arnold to sit down while he read to him Artemus' description of his +visit to the Shakers. Shocked at this proposition, Mr. Arnold said: "Mr. +President, is it possible that with the whole land bowed in sorrow and +covered with a pall in the presence of yesterday's fearful reverse, you +can indulge in such levity?" Throwing down the book, with the tears +streaming down his cheeks and his huge frame quivering with emotion, +Lincoln answered: "Mr. Arnold, if I could not get momentary respite from +the crushing burden I am constantly carrying, my heart would break!" + +Ralph Waldo Emerson said: "His broad good humor, running easily into +jocular talk, in which he delighted, and in which he excelled, was a +rich gift to this wise man. It enabled him to keep his secret, to meet +every kind of man, and every rank in society; to take off the edge of +the severest decisions, to mask his own purpose and sound his companion, +and to catch, with true instinct, the temper of every company he +addressed. And, more than all, it is to a man of severe labor, in +anxious and exhausting crises, the natural restorative, good as sleep, +and is the protection of the overdriven brain against rancor and +insanity." + +Even amidst the stern realities of war, Lincoln was keenly appreciative +of anything that disclosed the comic or grotesque side of men or +happenings,--largely, doubtless, for the relief afforded him. At the +beginning of Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania, in June, 1863, when the +Union forces under Colonel Milroy were driven out of Harper's Ferry by +the Confederates, great consternation and alarm were caused by reports +that the Army of the Potomac had been routed and was retreating before +Lee, who was pressing forward toward Harrisburg, the capital of +Pennsylvania. Mr. Welles records in his Diary (June 17, 1863) that he +was at the War Department with the President and Secretary Stanton, when +"a messenger came in from General Schenck, declaring that the +stragglers and baggage-trains of Milroy had run away in affright, and +squads of them on different parallel roads had alarmed each other, and +each fled in terror with all speed to Harrisburg. This alone was +asserted to be the basis of the great panic which had alarmed +Pennsylvania and the country. The President," continues Mr. Welles, "was +in excellent humor. He said this flight would be a capital joke for +Orpheus C. Kerr[D] to get hold of. He could give scope to his +imagination over the terror of broken squads of panic-stricken +teamsters, frightened at each other and alarming all Pennsylvania. +General Meigs, who was present, inquired with great simplicity who this +person (Orpheus C. Kerr) was. 'Why,' said the President, 'have you not +read those papers? They are in two volumes; anyone who has not read them +is a heathen.' He said he had enjoyed them greatly--except when they +attempted to play their wit on him, which did not strike him as very +successful, but rather disgusted him. 'Now, the hits that are given to +you, Mr. Welles, or to Chase,' he said, 'I can enjoy; but I daresay they +may have disgusted you while I was laughing at them. So _vice versa_ as +regards myself.'" + +Hon. Lawrence Weldon relates that on one occasion he called upon the +President to inquire as to the probable outcome of a conflict between +the civil and military authorities for the possession of a quantity of +cotton in a certain insurrectionary district. As soon as the inquiry had +been made, Lincoln's face began lighting up, and he said: "What has +become of our old friend Bob Lewis, of DeWitt County? Do you remember a +story that Bob used to tell us about his going to Missouri to look up +some Mormon lands that belonged to his father? You know that when +Robert became of age he found among the papers of his father a number of +warrants and patents for lands in Northeast Missouri, and he concluded +the best thing he could do was to go to Missouri and investigate the +condition of things. It being before the days of railroads, he started +on horseback, with a pair of old-fashioned saddlebags. When he arrived +where he supposed his land was situated, he stopped, hitched his horse, +and went into a cabin standing close by the roadside. He found the +proprietor, a lean, lank, leathery looking man, engaged in the pioneer +business of making bullets preparatory to a hunt. On entering, Mr. Lewis +observed a rifle suspended in a couple of buck-horns above the fire. He +said to the man, 'I am looking up some lands that I think belong to my +father,' and inquired of the man in what section he lived. Without +having ascertained the section, Mr. Lewis proceeded to exhibit his title +papers in evidence, and, having established a good title, as he thought, +said to the man, 'Now, that is my title. What is yours?' The pioneer, +who had by this time become somewhat interested in the proceedings, +pointed his long finger toward the rifle. Said he, 'Young man, do you +see that gun?' Mr. Lewis frankly admitted that he did. 'Well,' said he, +'that is my title, and if you don't get out of here pretty d----d quick +you will feel the force of it.' Mr. Lewis very hurriedly put his title +papers in his saddlebags, mounted his pony and galloped down the road, +and, as Bob says, the old pioneer snapped his gun twice at him before he +could turn the corner. Lewis said that he had never been back to disturb +that man's title since. 'Now,' said Mr. Lincoln, 'the military +authorities have the same title against the civil authorities that +closed out Bob's Mormon title in Missouri.'" Judge Weldon says that +after this anecdote he understood what would be the policy of the +Government in the matter referred to as well as though a proclamation +had been issued. + +The tedium of meetings of the Cabinet was often relieved, and +troublesome matters before it were illuminated, by some apt and pithy +story. Secretary Welles tells of such an occasion when "Seward was +embarrassed about the Dominican [_sic_] question. To move either way +threatened difficulty. On one side was Spain, on the other side the +negro. The President remarked that the dilemma reminded him of the +interview between two negroes, one of whom was a preacher endeavoring to +admonish and enlighten the other. 'There are,' said Josh the preacher, +'two roads for you, Joe. Be careful which you take. One ob dem leads +straight to hell, de odder go right to damnation.' Joe opened his eyes +under the impressive eloquence and visions of an awful future, and +exclaimed, 'Josh, take which road you please; I go troo de wood.' 'I am +not disposed to take any new trouble,' said the President, 'just at this +time, and shall neither go for Spain nor the negro in this matter, but +shall take to the woods.'" + +It is related that Charles Sumner, who was a very tall man, and proud of +his height, once worried the President about some perplexing matter, +when Lincoln sought to change the subject by abruptly challenging his +visitor to measure backs. "Sumner," said Mr. Lincoln, "declined to stand +up with me, back to back, to see which was the tallest man, and made a +fine speech about this being the time for uniting our fronts against the +enemy, and not our backs. But I guess he was afraid to measure, though +he is a good piece of a man. I have never had much to do with Bishops +where I live, but, do you know, Sumner is _my idea of a Bishop_." + +A good story of President Lincoln and General Scott is reported by +Major-General Keyes, who at the beginning of the war was on the staff of +General Scott, then commander-in-chief of the armies of the United +States. "I was sent," says General Keyes, "by my chief to the President +with a message that referred to a military subject, and that led to a +discussion. Finding that Mr. Lincoln's observations were beginning to +tangle my arguments, I said, 'That is the opinion of General Scott, and +you know, Mr. President, he is a very able military man.' 'Well,' said +the President, 'if he is as _able_ a military man as he is _unable_ as a +politician, I give up.' This was said with an expression of the eye, +which he turned on me, that was peculiar to him, and which signified a +great deal. The astounding force of Mr. Lincoln's observation was not at +all diminished by the fact that I had long suspected that my chief +lacked something which is necessary to make a successful politician." + +Among the numerous delegations which thronged Washington in the early +part of the war was one from New York, which urged very strenuously the +sending of a fleet to the southern cities--Charleston, Mobile, and +Savannah--with the object of drawing off the rebel army from Washington. +Lincoln said the object reminded him of the case of a girl in New Salem, +who was greatly troubled with a "singing" in her head. Various remedies +were suggested by the neighbors, but nothing seemed to afford any +relief. At last a man came along--"a common-sense sort of man," said he, +inclining his head towards his callers pleasantly,--"who was asked to +prescribe for the difficulty. After due inquiry and examination, he said +the cure was very simple. 'What is it?' was the question. 'Make a +plaster of _psalm-tunes_, and apply to her feet, and draw the singing +_down_,' was the rejoinder." Still better was his reply to another +delegation of New York millionaires who waited upon him in 1862, after +the appearance of the rebel ram "Merrimac," and represented to him that +they were very uneasy about the unprotected situation of their city, +which was exposed to attack and bombardment by rebel rams; and they +requested him to detail a gun-boat to defend the city. The gentlemen +were fifty in number, very dignified and respectable in appearance, and +stated that they represented in their own right $100,000,000. Lincoln +did not wish to offend these gentlemen, and yet he intended to give them +a little lesson. He listened with great attention, and seemed to be much +impressed by their presence and their statements. Then he replied, very +deliberately: "Gentlemen, I am by the Constitution commander-in-chief of +the army and navy of the United States; and, as a matter of law, can +order anything done that is practicable to be done. But, as a matter of +fact, I am not in command of the gun-boats or ships of war; as a matter +of fact, I do not know exactly where they are, but presume they are +actively engaged. It is impossible for me, in the present condition of +things, to furnish you a gun-boat. The credit of the Government is at a +very low ebb; greenbacks are not worth more than forty or fifty cents on +the dollar; and in this condition of things, if I was worth half as much +as you, gentlemen, are represented to be, and as badly scared as you +seem to be, I _would build a gun-boat and give it to the Government._" A +gentleman who accompanied the delegation says he never saw one hundred +millions sink to such insignificant proportions, as the committee +recrossed the threshold of the White House, sadder but wiser men. + +"Mr. Lincoln had his joke and his 'little story' over the disruption of +the Democracy. He once knew, he said, a sound churchman, of the name of +Brown, who was the member of a very sober and pious committee, having +in charge the erection of a bridge over a dangerous and rapid river. +Several architects had failed, and at last Brown said he had a friend +named Jones who had built several bridges, and could undoubtedly build +that one. So Mr. Jones was called in. 'Can you build this bridge?' +inquired the committee. 'Yes,' replied Jones, 'or any other. I could +build a bridge to h--l, if necessary.' The committee were shocked, and +Brown felt called upon to defend his friend. 'I know Jones so well,' +said he, 'and he is so honest a man, and so good an architect, that if +he states soberly and positively that he can build a bridge to ... to +... the infernal regions, why, I believe it; but I feel bound to say +that I have my doubts about the abutment on the other side.' 'So,' said +Mr. Lincoln, 'when politicians told me that the Northern and Southern +wings of the Democracy could be harmonized, why, I believed them, of +course; but I always had my _doubts about the abutment on the other +side._'" + +A delegation once called on Lincoln to ask the appointment of a +gentleman as commissioner to the Sandwich Islands. They presented their +case as earnestly as possible, and, besides his fitness for the place, +they urged that he was in bad health and a residence in that balmy +climate would be of great benefit to him. The President closed the +interview with the good-humored remark: "Gentlemen, I am sorry to say +that there are eight other applicants for that place, and they are _all +sicker than your man._" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + + Lincoln's Wise Statesmanship--The Mason and Slidell + Affair--Complications with England--Lincoln's "Little Story" on the + Trent Affair--Building of the "Monitor"--Lincoln's Part in the + Enterprise--The President's First Annual Message--Discussion of the + Labor Question--A President's Reception in War Time--A Great + Affliction--Death in the White House--Chapters from the Secret + Service--A Morning Call on the President--Goldwin Smith's + Impressions of Lincoln--Other Notable Tributes. + +In November of 1861 occurred one of the most important and perilous +episodes of the war; one whose full significance was not understood, +except by a few cool heads, until long afterwards. Two influential +Southern politicians, Mason and Slidell, had been sent by the +Confederate Government as Commissioners to Great Britain and France, to +try to secure the recognition of the Confederacy; and while on board the +British steamer "Trent" they were taken prisoners by the U.S. steamer +"San Jacinto," and were brought to Washington. Great Britain loudly +protested against what she regarded as an unwarrantable seizure of +passengers under the British flag, and for a time excitement ran high +and war with England seemed almost inevitable. Fortunately for our +country, the controversy was amicably settled by the surrender of the +prisoners, without any sacrifice of the dignity of the Government of the +United States. As stated by "Hosea Biglow,"-- + + We gave the critters back, John, + Cos Abraham thought 't was right; + It wa'nt your bullyin' clack, John, + Provokin' us to fight. + +The statesmanship displayed by our Government throughout this difficult +affair was of the highest order. Credit for it has been given to Mr. +Seward, the Secretary of State, by whom the correspondence and +negotiations were conducted. Few men could have managed these details +better; yet the course that was so happily determined on was undoubtedly +due to the good sense and shrewd wisdom of the President. He not only +dictated the policy to be followed by Mr. Seward in his despatches to +the American Minister in London, but the more important documents were +revised and materially altered by Lincoln's own hand. His management of +the Trent affair alone, it has been said, would suffice to establish his +reputation as the ablest diplomatist of the war. Coming, as it did, at a +time when Lincoln was overwhelmed with the burden of home affairs, it +showed the surprising resources of his character. The readiness and +ability with which he met this perilous emergency, in a field in which +he had had absolutely no experience or preparation, was equaled only by +his cool courage and self-reliance in following a course radically +opposed to the prevailing public sentiment, to the views of Congress, +and to the advice of his own Cabinet. The Secretary of the Navy had +hastened to approve officially the act of Captain Wilkes, commander of +the "San Jacinto," and Secretary Stanton "cheered and applauded" it. +Even Mr. Seward, cautious and conservative diplomat as he was, at-first +"opposed any concession or surrender of the prisoners." But Lincoln said +significantly, "_One war at a time_." Events have long since afforded +the most ample vindication of his course in this important matter. He +avoided a foreign war, while at the same time, by committing Great +Britain to the doctrine of "peace between neutrals," gained a +substantial diplomatic victory over that government. + +An excellent account of the circumstances of the Trent affair is given +by Benson J. Lossing, the author and historian, who was in Washington +when the events occurred. "The act of Captain Wilkes," says Mr. Lossing, +"was universally applauded by all loyal Americans, and the land was +filled with rejoicings because two of the most mischievous men among the +enemies of the Government were in custody. For the moment, men did not +stop to consider the law or the expediency involved in the act. Public +honors were tendered to Captain Wilkes, and resolutions of thanks were +passed by public bodies. The Secretary of the Navy wrote him a +congratulatory letter on the 'great public services' he had rendered in +'capturing the rebel emissaries, Mason and Slidell,' and assured him +that his conduct had 'the emphatic approval of the department.' The +House of Representatives tendered him their thanks for the service he +had done. But there was one thoughtful man in the nation, in whom was +vested the tremendous executive power of the Republic at that time, and +whose vision was constantly endeavoring to explore the mysteries of the +near future, who held calmer and wiser thoughts than most men at that +critical moment, because his feelings were kept in subjection to his +judgment by a sense of heavy responsibility. That man was Abraham +Lincoln. The writer was in the office of the Secretary of War when the +telegraphic despatch announcing the capture of Mason and Slidell was +brought in and read. He can never forget the scene that ensued. Led by +Secretary Stanton, who was followed by Governor Andrew of Massachusetts +and others who were present, cheer after cheer was heartily given by the +company. A little later, the writer was favored with a brief interview +with the President, when the clear judgment of that far-seeing and +sagacious statesman uttered through his lips the words which formed the +suggestion of, and the keynote to, the judicious action of the Secretary +of State afterwards. 'I fear the traitors will prove to be white +elephants,' said Mr. Lincoln. 'We must stick to American principles +concerning the rights of neutrals,' he continued. 'We fought Great +Britain for insisting, by theory and practise, on the right to do just +what Captain Wilkes has just done. If Great Britain shall now protest +against the act, and demand their release, we must give them up, +apologize for the act as a violation of our own doctrines, and thus +_forever bind her over to keep the peace in relation to neutrals_, and +so acknowledge that she has been wrong for sixty years.' Great Britain +did protest and make the demand, and at the same time made preparations +for war against the United States. On the same day that Lord John +Russell sent the protest and demand to Lord Lyons, the British Minister +at Washington, Secretary Seward forwarded a despatch to Minister Adams +in London, informing him that this Government disclaimed the act of +Captain Wilkes, and giving assurance that it was ready to make a +satisfactory arrangement of all difficulties arising out of the +unauthorized act. These despatches passed each other in mid-ocean. The +Government, in opposition to popular sentiment, decided at once to +restore Mason and Slidell to the protection of the British flag. It was +soon afterwards done, war between the two nations was averted, and, in +the language of President Lincoln, the British Government was 'forever +bound to keep the peace in relation to neutrals.' The wise statesmanship +exhibited at that critical time was originated by Abraham Lincoln." + +Lincoln once confessed that the Trent affair, occurring as it did at a +very critical period of the war, had given him great uneasiness. When +asked whether it was not a great trial to surrender the two captured +Commissioners, he said: "Yes, that was a pretty bitter pill to swallow, +but I contented myself with believing that England's triumph in the +matter would be short-lived, and that after ending our war successfully +we could if we wished call England to account for the embarrassments she +had inflicted upon us. I felt a good deal like the sick man in Illinois +who was told he probably hadn't many days longer to live, and that he +ought to make peace with any enemies he might have. He said the man he +hated worst of all was a fellow named Brown, in the next village, and he +guessed he had better begin on him. So Brown was sent for, and when he +came the sick man began to say, in a voice as meek as Moses', that he +wanted to die at peace with all his fellow-creatures, and hoped he and +Brown could now shake hands and bury all their enmity. The scene was +becoming altogether too pathetic for Brown, who had to get out his +handkerchief and wipe the gathering tears from his eyes. It wasn't long +before he melted and gave his hand to his neighbor, and they had a +regular love-feast. After a parting that would have softened the heart +of a grindstone, Brown had about reached the room door, when the sick +man rose up on his elbow and said, 'But, see here, Brown, if I _should_ +happen to get well, mind _that old grudge stands_!' So I thought if this +nation should happen to get well, we might want that old grudge against +England to stand." + +Other controversies with England arose during the progress of the +war--over the fitting out of Confederate cruisers at English ports to +prey upon the commerce of the United States, over captured mails, +etc.--in which all of Lincoln's sagacity and patience were needed to +avert an open rupture with the British government. That the strain was +severe and the danger great is made clear by an entry in Mr. Welles's +Diary, in which he says: "We are in no condition for a foreign war. Torn +by dissensions, an exhausting civil war on our hands, we have a gloomy +prospect, but a righteous cause that will ultimately succeed. God alone +knows through what trials, darkness, and suffering we are to pass." +Again, in dealing with the French invasion of Mexico, Lincoln--as Mr. +John Bigelow (then minister to France) puts it--"wisely limited himself +to a firm repetition of the views and principles held by the United +States in relation to foreign invasion," and thereby gained a diplomatic +victory. How well "the old grudge against England" stood is shown by the +substantial damages obtained from her, some years after the war, on the +claims against the Alabama and other privateers, the foundations of +which had been wisely laid by President Lincoln. + +In the autumn of 1861 was originated the plan of a new naval vessel, +which became the "Monitor"--the forerunner of the modern iron-clad, and +the formidable little craft that beat back the "Merrimac" ram at Hampton +Roads, March 9, 1862, saved the Federal Navy, and revolutionized naval +architecture. The interesting story of the project, and of Lincoln's +relation to it, is thus told: "The invention belongs to Captain John +Ericsson, a man of marvelous ability and most fertile brain; but the +creation of the 'Monitor' belongs to two distinguished iron-masters of +the State of New York, viz.: the Hon. John F. Winslow and his partner in +business, the Hon. John A. Griswold. These two gentlemen were in +Washington in the autumn of 1861, for the adjustment of some claims +against the Government for iron plating furnished by them for the +war-ship 'Galena.' There, through Mr. C.S. Bushnell, the agent of +Captain Ericsson, they learned that the plans and specifications for a +naval machine, or a floating iron battery, presented by Captain +Ericsson, found no favor with the special board appointed by Congress in +1861 to examine and report upon the subject of iron-clad ships of war. +Ericsson and his agent, Mr. Bushnell, were thoroughly disheartened and +demoralized at this failure to interest the Government in their plans. +The papers were placed in the hands of Messrs. Winslow and Griswold, +with the earnest request that they would examine them, and, if they +thought well of them, use their influence with the Government for their +favorable consideration. Mr. Winslow carefully read the papers and +became satisfied that Ericsson's plan was both feasible and desirable. +After conference with his friend and partner, Mr. Griswold, it was +determined to take the whole matter to President Lincoln. Accordingly, +an interview was arranged with Mr. Lincoln, to whom the plans of Captain +Ericsson were presented, with all the unction and enthusiasm of an +honest and mastering conviction, by Mr. Winslow and Mr. Griswold, who +had now become thoroughly interested in the undertaking. The President +listened with attention and growing interest. When they were done, Mr. +Lincoln said, 'Gentlemen, why do you bring this matter to me? Why not +take it to the Department having these things in charge?' 'It has been +taken already to the Department, and there met with a repulse, and we +come now to you with it, Mr. President, to secure your influence. We are +here not simply as business men, but as lovers of our country, and we +believe most thoroughly that here is something upon which we can enter +that will be of vast benefit to the Republic,' was the answer. Mr. +Lincoln was roused by the terrible earnestness of Mr. Winslow and his +friend Griswold, and said, in his inimitable manner, 'Well, I don't know +much about ships, though I once contrived a canal-boat--the model of +which is down in the Patent Office--the great merit of which was that it +could run where there was no water. But I think there is something in +this plan of Ericsson's. I'll tell you what I will do. I will meet you +to-morrow at ten o'clock, at the office of Commodore Smith, and we will +talk it all over.' The next morning the meeting took place according to +the appointment. Mr. Lincoln was present. The Secretary of the Navy, +with many of the influential men of the Navy Department, also were +there. The office where they met was rude in its belongings. Mr. Lincoln +sat upon a rough box. Mr. Winslow, without any knowledge of naval +affairs other than that which general reading would give, entered upon +his task with considerable trepidation, but his whole heart was in it, +and his showing was so earnest, practical, and patriotic, that a +profound impression was made. 'Well,' said Mr. Lincoln, after Mr. +Winslow had finished, 'well, Commodore Smith, what do you think of it?' +The Commodore made some general and non-committal reply, whereupon the +President, rising from the box, added, 'Well, I think there is something +in it. Good morning, gentlemen,' and went out. From this interview grew +a Government contract with Messrs. Winslow and Griswold for the +construction of the 'Monitor,' the vessel to be placed in the hands of +the Government within a hundred days at a cost of $275,000. The work was +pushed with all diligence till the 30th of January, 1862, when the ship +was launched at Greenpoint, one hundred and one days from the execution +of the contract, thus making the work probably the most expeditious of +any recorded in the annals of mechanical engineering." + +At the assembling of Congress in December, 1861, Lincoln presented his +first Annual Message. Among its most noteworthy passages was that which +touched upon the relations between labor and capital--a subject so +prominent in our later day. It was alluded to in its connection with the +evident tendency of the Southern Confederacy to discriminate in its +legislation in favor of the moneyed class and against the laboring +people. On this point the President said: + + In my present position, I could scarcely be justified were I to + omit raising a warning voice against this approach of returning + despotism. It is not needed nor fitting here, that a general + argument should be made in favor of popular institutions; but there + is one point, with its connections, not so hackneyed as most + others, to which I ask a brief attention. It is the effort to place + _capital_ on an equal footing with, if not above, _labor_, in the + structure of government. It is assumed that labor is available only + in connection with capital; that nobody labors unless somebody + else, owning capital, somehow, by the use of it, induces him to + labor. This assumed, it is next considered whether it is best that + capital shall _hire_ laborers, and thus induce them to work by + their own consent, or _buy_ them, and drive them to it without + their consent. Having proceeded so far, it is naturally concluded + that all laborers are either hired laborers or what we call slaves. + And further, it is assumed that whoever is once a hired laborer is + fixed in that condition for life. Now, there is no such relation + between capital and labor as assumed; nor is there any such thing + as a free man being fixed for life in the condition of a hired + laborer. Both these assumptions are false, and all inferences from + them are groundless. Labor is prior to and independent of capital. + Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if + labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and + deserves much the higher consideration. Capital has its rights, + which are as worthy of protection as any other rights. Nor is it + denied that there is, and probably always will be, a relation + between labor and capital, producing mutual benefits. The error is + in assuming that the whole labor of community exists within that + relation. A few men own capital, and those few avoid labor + themselves, and, with their capital, hire or buy another few to + labor for them. A large majority belong to neither class--neither + work for others, nor have others working for them. In most of the + Southern States, a majority of the whole people of all colors are + neither slaves nor masters; while in the North, a large majority + are neither hirers nor hired. Men, with their families--wives, + sons, and daughters--work for themselves, on their farms, in their + houses, and in their shops, taking the whole product to themselves, + and asking no favors of capital on the one hand, nor of hired + laborers or slaves on the other. It is not forgotten that a + considerable number of persons mingle their own labor with + capital--that is, they labor with their own hands, and also buy or + hire others to labor for them; but this is only a mixed, not a + distinct class. No principle stated is disturbed by the existence + of this mixed class. Again, as has already been said, there is not, + of necessity, any such thing as the free hired laborer being fixed + to that condition for life. Many independent men everywhere in + these States, a few years back in their lives, were hired laborers. + The prudent, penniless beginner in the world labors for wages + awhile, saves a surplus with which to buy tools or land for + himself; then labors on his own account another while, and at + length hires another new beginner to help him. This is the just and + generous and prosperous system, which opens the way to all, gives + hope to all, and consequent energy and progress and improvement of + condition to all. No men living are more worthy to be trusted than + those who toil up from poverty--none less inclined to take, or + touch, aught which they have not honestly earned. Let them beware + of surrendering a political power which they already possess, and + which, if surrendered, will surely be used to close the door of + advancement against such as they, and to fix new disabilities and + burdens upon them till all of liberty shall be lost. + + The struggle _of_ to-day is not altogether _for_ to-day--it is for + a vast future also. With a reliance on Providence, all the more + firm and earnest, let us proceed in the great task which events + have devolved upon us. + +The reception given at the White House on New Year's day, 1862, was a +brilliant and memorable affair. It was attended by distinguished army +officers, prominent men from civil life, and the leading ladies of +Washington society. "Army uniforms preponderated over black dress coats, +and the young Germans of Blenker's division were gorgeously arrayed in +tunics embroidered with gold on the collars and cuffs, sword-belts of +gold lace, high boots, and jingling spurs." It was such a scene as that +before the battle of Waterloo, when the + + ... capital had gathered then + Her beauty and her chivalry, and bright + The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men; + A thousand hearts beat happily; and when + Music arose, with its voluptuous swell, + Soft eyes looked love to eyes that spake again, + And all went merry as a marriage bell. + +How many of these brave men were destined never to see another New +Year's day; and how many of those soft eyes would soon be dimmed with +tears! Something of this feeling must have come over the sad soul of +Lincoln. An eye-witness says that he "looked careworn and thoughtful, if +not anxious; yet he had a pleasant word for all." + +Early in 1862 an event occurred which added to the sorrow that seemed +to enshroud the life of Lincoln, and afforded a glimpse into the depths +of his tender and sorrowful nature. It was the death of his son Willie, +a bright and promising boy, to whom his father was devotedly attached. +"This," says Dr. J.G. Holland, "was a new burden; and the visitation +which, in his firm faith in Providence, he regarded as providential, was +also inexplicable. Why should he, with so many burdens upon him, and +with such necessity for solace in his home and his affections, be +brought into so tender a trial? It was to him a trial of faith, indeed. +A Christian lady of Massachusetts, who was officiating as nurse in one +of the hospitals, came in to attend the sick children. She reports that +Mr. Lincoln watched with her about the bedside of the sick ones, and +that he often walked the room, saying sadly: 'This is the hardest trial +of my life. Why is it? Why is it?' In the course of conversations with +her, he questioned her concerning her situation. She told him she was a +widow, and that her husband and two children were in heaven; and added +that she saw the hand of God in it all, and that she had never loved Him +so much before as she had since her affliction. 'How is that brought +about?' inquired Mr. Lincoln. 'Simply by trusting in God, and feeling +that He does all things well,' she replied. 'Did you submit fully under +the first loss?' he asked. 'No,' she answered, 'not wholly; but as blow +came upon blow, and all were taken, I could and did submit, and was very +happy.' He responded, 'I am glad to hear you say that. Your experience +will help me to bear my afflictions.' On being assured that many +Christians were praying for him on the morning of the funeral, he wiped +away the tears that sprang in his eyes, and said, 'I am glad to hear +that. I want them to pray for me. I need their prayers.' As he was +going out to the burial, the good lady expressed her sympathy with him. +He thanked her gently, and said, 'I will try to go to God with my +sorrows.' A few days afterward she asked him if he could trust God. He +replied, 'I think I can. I will try. I wish I had that childlike faith +you speak of, and I trust He will give it to me.' And then he spoke of +his mother, whom so many years before he had committed to the dust among +the wilds of Indiana. In this hour of his great trial, the memory of her +who had held him upon her bosom and soothed his childish griefs came +back to him with tenderest recollections. 'I remember her prayers,' said +he, 'and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my +life.'" + +An interesting passage in the secret history of the war at this period +is narrated by one of the chief actors, Mr. A.M. Ross, a distinguished +ornithologist of Canada, whose contribution embodies also so many +interesting details of Lincoln's daily life that it seems worth giving +rather fully. A few months after the inauguration of President Lincoln, +Mr. Ross received a letter from the Hon. Charles Sumner, requesting him +to come to Washington at his earliest convenience. "The day after my +arrival in Washington," says Mr. Ross, "I was introduced to the +President. Mr. Lincoln received me very cordially, and invited me to +dine with him. After dinner he led me to a window, distant from the rest +of the party, and said: 'Mr. Sumner sent for you at my request; we need +a confidential person in Canada to look after our interests, and keep us +posted as to the schemes of the Confederates in Canada. You have been +strongly recommended to me for the position. Your mission shall be as +confidential as you please; no one here but your friend Mr. Sumner and +myself shall have any knowledge of your position. Think it over +tonight, and if you can accept the mission come up and see me at nine +o'clock tomorrow morning.' When I took my leave of him, he said, 'I hope +you will decide to serve us.' The position thus offered was one not +suited to my tastes, but, as Mr. Lincoln appeared very desirous that I +should accept it, I concluded to lay aside my prejudices and accept the +responsibilities of the mission. I was also persuaded to this conclusion +by the wishes of my friend, Mr. Sumner. + +"At nine o'clock next morning, I waited upon the President, and +announced my decision. He grasped my hand in a hearty manner, and said: +'Thank you, thank you; I am glad of it. You must help us to circumvent +the machinations of the rebel agents in Canada. There is no doubt they +will use your country as a communicating link with Europe, and also with +their friends in New York. It is quite possible, also, that they may +make Canada a base from which to harass and annoy our people along the +frontier.' + +"After a lengthy conversation relative to private matters connected with +my mission, I rose to leave, when he said, 'I will walk down to +Willard's with you; the hotel is on my way to the Capitol, where I have +an engagement at noon.' Before we reached the hotel a man came up to the +President and thrust a letter into his hand, at the same time applying +for some office in Wisconsin. I saw that the President was offended at +the rudeness, for he passed the letter back without looking at it, +saying, 'No, sir! I am not going to open shop here.' This was said in a +most emphatic manner, but accompanied by a comical gesture which caused +the rejected applicant to smile. As we continued our walk, the President +spoke of the annoyances incident to his position, saying: 'These +office-seekers are a curse to the country; no sooner was my election +certain, than I became the prey of hundreds of hungry, persistent +applicants for office, whose highest ambition is to feed at the +Government crib.' When he bade me good-bye, he said, 'Let me hear from +you once a week at least.' As he turned to leave me, a young army +officer stopped him and made some request, to which the President +replied with a good deal of humor, 'No, I can't do that; I must not +interfere; they would scratch my eyes out if I did. You must go to the +proper department.' + +"Some time later," says Mr. Ross, "I again visited Washington. On my +arrival there (about midnight) I went direct to the Executive Mansion, +and sent my card to the President, who had retired. In a few minutes the +porter returned and requested me to accompany him to the President's +office, where Mr. Lincoln would shortly join me. The room into which I +was ushered was the same in which I had spent several hours with the +President on the occasion of my first interview with him. Scattered +about the floor and lying open on the table were several military maps +and documents, indicating recent use. In a few minutes the President +came in and welcomed me in a most friendly manner; I expressed my regret +at disturbing him at such an hour. He replied in a good-humored manner, +saying, 'No, no! You did right; you may waken me up whenever you please. +I have slept with one eye open ever since I came to Washington; I never +close both, except when an office-seeker is looking for me.' I then laid +before the President the 'rebel mail.' He carefully examined the address +of each letter, making occasional remarks. At length he found one +addressed to Franklin Pierce, ex-President of the United States, then +residing in New Hampshire; and another to ex-Attorney-General Cushing, a +resident of Massachusetts. He appeared much surprised, and remarked +with a sigh, but without the slightest tone of asperity, 'I will have +these letters enclosed in official envelopes, and sent to these +parties.' When he had finished examining the addresses, he tied up all +those addressed to private individuals, saying, 'I won't bother with +them; but these look like official letters; I guess I'll go through them +now.' He then opened them, and read their contents, slowly and +carefully. While he was thus occupied, I had an excellent opportunity of +studying this extraordinary man. A marked change had taken place in his +countenance since my first interview with him. He looked much older, and +bore traces of having passed through months of painful anxiety and +trouble. There was a sad and serious look in his eyes that spoke louder +than words of the disappointments, trials, and discouragements he had +encountered since the war began. The wrinkles about the eyes and +forehead were deeper; the lips were firmer, but indicative of kindness +and forbearance. The great struggle had brought out the hidden riches of +his noble nature, and developed virtues and capacities which surprised +his oldest and most intimate friends. He was simple, but astute; he +possessed the rare faculty of seeing things just as they are. He was a +just, charitable, and honest man. + +"When Mr. Lincoln finished reading the letters, I rose to go, saying +that I would go to Willard's, and have a rest. 'No, no,' said the +President, 'it is now three o'clock; you shall stay with me while you +are in town; I'll find you a bed'; and leading the way, he took me into +a bedroom, saying, 'Take a good sleep; you shall not be disturbed.' +Bidding me 'good night,' he left the room to go back and pore over the +rebel letters until daylight, as he afterwards told me. I did not awaken +from my sleep until eleven o'clock in the forenoon, soon after which Mr. +Lincoln came into my room, and laughingly said, 'When you are ready, +I'll pilot you down to breakfast,' which he did. Seating himself at the +table near me, he expressed his fears that trouble was brewing on the +New Brunswick border; he said he had gathered further information on +that point from the correspondence, which convinced him that such was +the case. He was here interrupted by a servant, who handed him a card, +upon reading which he arose, saying, 'The Secretary of War has received +important tidings; I must leave you for the present; come to my room +after breakfast and we'll talk over this New Brunswick affair." + +"On entering his room again, I found him busily engaged in writing, at +the same time repeating in a low voice the words of a poem which I +remembered reading many years before. When he stopped writing I asked +him who was the author of that poem. He replied, 'I do not know. I have +written the verses down from memory, at the request of a lady who is +much pleased with them.' He passed the sheet, on which he had written +the verses, to me, saying, 'Have you ever read them?' I replied that I +had, many years previously, and that I should be pleased to have a copy +of them in his handwriting, when he had time and an inclination for such +work. He said, 'Well, you may keep that copy, if you wish.'" + +Hon. William D. Kelly, a Member of Congress from Pennsylvania, relates +that during the time of McClellan's Peninsular campaign he called at the +White House one morning, and while waiting to see the President, Senator +Wilson of Massachusetts entered the chamber, having with him four +distinguished-looking Englishmen. The President, says Mr. Kelly, "had +evidently had an early appointment, and had not completed his toilet. He +was in slippers, and his pantaloons, when he crossed one knee over the +other, disclosed the fact that he wore heavy blue woollen stockings. It +was an agreeable surprise to learn that the chief of the visiting party +was Professor Goldwin Smith of Canada, one of the firmest of our British +friends. As the President rose to greet them, he was the very +impersonation of easy dignity, notwithstanding the negligence of his +costume. With a tact that never deserted him, he opened the conversation +with an inquiry as to the health of his friend John Bright, whom he said +he regarded as a friend of our country and of freedom everywhere. The +visitors having been seated, the magnitude of recent battles was +referred to by Professor Smith as preliminary to the question whether +the enormous losses which were so frequently occurring would not so +reduce the industrial resources of the North as to affect seriously the +prosperity of individual citizens and consequently the revenue of the +country. He justified the question by proceeding to recite the number of +killed, wounded, and missing, reported after some of the great battles +recently fought. There were two of Mr. Lincoln's official friends who +lived in dread of his little stories. Neither of them was gifted with +humor, and both could understand his propositions, which were always +distinct and clean cut, without such familiar illustrations as those in +which he so often indulged; and they were chagrined whenever they were +compelled to hear him resort to his stories in the presence of +distinguished strangers. They were Senator Wilson of Massachusetts and +Mr. Stanton, Secretary of War; and, as Professor Smith closed his +arithmetical statement, the time came for the Massachusetts Senator to +bite his lips, for the President, crossing his legs in such a manner as +to show that his blue stockings were long as well as thick, said that, +in settling such matters as that, we must resort to 'darkey arithmetic.' +'To darkey arithmetic!' exclaimed the dignified representative of the +learning and higher thought of Great Britain and her American Dominion. +'I did not know, Mr. President, that you have two systems of arithmetic' +'Oh, yes,' said the President; 'I will illustrate that point by a little +story. Two young contrabands, as we have learned to call them, were +seated together, when one said to the other, "Jim, do you know +'rithmetic?" Jim answered, "No; what is 'rithmetic?" "Well," said the +other, "it's when you add up things. When you have one and one, and you +put dem togedder, dey makes two. And when you subtracts things, when if +you have two things and you takes one away, only one remains." "Is dat +'rithmetic?" "Yah." "Well, 'tain't true, den. It's no good!" Here a +dispute arose, when Jim said, "Now, you 'spose three pigeons sit on that +fence, and somebody shoot one of dem; do t'other two stay dar? I guess +not! dey flies away quickern odder feller falls." And, Professor, +trifling as the story seems, it illustrates the arithmetic you must use +in estimating the actual losses resulting from our great battles. The +statements you have referred to give the killed, wounded, and missing at +the first roll-call after the battle, which always exhibits a greatly +exaggerated total, especially in the column of missing.'" + +Mr. Goldwin Smith, the gentleman referred to in the foregoing anecdote, +has summarized his impressions of Lincoln in the following paragraph: +"Such a person as Abraham Lincoln is quite unknown to our official +circles or to those of Continental nations. Indeed, I think his place in +history will be unique. He has not been trained to diplomacy or +administrative affairs, and is in all respects one of the people. But +how wonderfully he is endowed and equipped for the performance of the +duties of the chief executive officer of the United States at this time! +The precision and minuteness of his information on all questions to +which we referred was a succession of surprises to me." + +Still terser, but hardly less expressive, is Emerson's characterization +of Lincoln as one who had been "permitted to do more for America than +any other American man." + +A striking passage by Mr. Norman Hapgood should have place among these +tributes. "Lincoln had no artificial aids. He merely proved the weapon +of finest temper in the fire in which he was tested. In the struggle for +survival in a national upheaval, he not only proved the living power of +integrity and elasticity, but he easily combined with his feats of +strength and shrewdness some of the highest flights of taste. As we look +back across the changes of his life,--see him passing over the high +places and the low, and across the long stretches of the prairie; +spending years in the Socratic arguments of the tavern, and anon holding +the rudder of state in grim silence; choosing jests which have the +freshness of earth, and principles of eternal right; judging potentates +and laborers in the clear light of nature, and at ease with both; alone +by virtue of a large and melancholy soul, at home with every man by +virtue of love and faith,--this figure takes its place high in our minds +and hearts, not solely through the natural right of strength and +success, but also because his strength is ours, and the success won by +him rested on the fundamental purity and health of the popular will of +which he was the leader and the servant. Abraham Lincoln was in a deep +and lasting sense the first American." + +Mr. John Bigelow, already quoted in these pages, summarized Lincoln's +character and achievements in a passage of singular eloquence and force. +"Lincoln's greatness must be sought for in the constituents of his moral +nature. He was so modest by nature that he was perfectly content to +walk behind any man who wished to walk before him. I do not know that +history has made a record of the attainment of any corresponding +eminence by any other man who so habitually, so constitutionally, did to +others as he would have them do to him. Without any pretensions to +religious excellence, from the time he first was brought under the +observation of the nation he seemed, like Milton, to have walked 'as +ever in his great Taskmaster's eye.' St. Paul hardly endured more +indignities and buffetings without complaint. He was not a learned man. +He was not even one who would deserve to be called in our day an +educated man--knew little rather than much of what the world is proud +of. He had never been out of the United States, or seen much of the +portion of them lying east of the Alleghany Mountains. But the spiritual +side of his nature was so highly organized that it rendered superfluous +much of the experience which to most men is indispensable--the choicest +prerogative of genius. It lifted him unconsciously above the world, +above most of the men who surrounded him, and gave him a wisdom in +emergencies which is bestowed only on those who love their fellow-man as +themselves.... In the ordinary sense of the word, Mr. Lincoln was not a +statesman. Had he come to power when Van Buren did, or when Cleveland +did, he would probably have left Washington at the close of his term as +obscure as either of them. The issues presented to the people of the +United States at the Presidential election of 1860 were to a larger +extent moral questions, humanly speaking, than were those presented at +any other Presidential election. They were: first, the right of the +majority to rule; second, the right of eight millions, more or less, of +our fellow-beings to their freedom; and, third, the institutions and +traditions which Washington planted and Jefferson watered, with the +sacrifices necessary for their preservation. These questions +subordinated all other political issues, and appealed more directly and +forcibly to the moral sentiments of this nation than any issues they had +ever before been called to settle either at the ballot-box or by force +of arms. A President was needed at Washington to represent these moral +forces. Such a President was providentially found in Lincoln ... a +President who walked by faith and not by sight; who did not rely upon +his own compass, but followed a cloud by day and a fire by night, which +he had learned to trust implicitly." + +A very graphic summing-up of Lincoln in person and character is that of +Mr. John G. Nicolay, one of his private secretaries, who knew him +intimately and understood him well. "President Lincoln was of unusual +stature, six feet four inches, and of spare but muscular build," says +Mr. Nicolay. "He had been in youth remarkably strong and skilful in the +athletic games of the frontier, where, however, his popularity and +recognized impartiality oftener made him an umpire than a champion. He +had regular and prepossessing features, dark complexion, broad, high +forehead, prominent cheek bones, gray, deep-set eyes, and bushy, black +hair, turning to gray at the time of his death. Abstemious in his +habits, he possessed great physical endurance. He was almost as +tender-hearted as a woman. 'I have not willingly planted a thorn in any +man's bosom,' he was able to say. His patience was inexhaustible. He had +naturally a most cheerful and sunny temper, was highly social and +sympathetic, loved pleasant conversation, wit, anecdote, and laughter. +Beneath this, however, ran an undercurrent of sadness; he was +occasionally subject to hours of deep silence and introspection that +approached a condition of trance. In manner he was simple, direct, void +of the least affectation, and entirely free from awkwardness, oddity, +or eccentricity. His mental qualities were a quick analytic perception, +strong logical powers, a tenacious memory, a liberal estimate and +tolerance of the opinions of others, ready intuition of human nature; +and perhaps his most valuable faculty was rare ability to divest himself +of all feeling or passion in weighing motives of persons or problems of +state. His speech and diction were plain, terse, forcible. Relating +anecdotes with appreciating humor and fascinating dramatic skill, he +used them freely and effectively in conversation and argument. He loved +manliness, truth, and justice. He despised all trickery and selfish +greed. In arguments at the bar he was so fair to his opponent that he +frequently appeared to concede away his client's case. He was ever ready +to take blame on himself and bestow praise on others. 'I claim not to +have controlled events,' he said, 'but confess plainly that events have +controlled me.' The Declaration of Independence was his political chart +and inspiration. He acknowledged a universal equality of human rights. +'Certainly the negro is not our equal in color,' he said, 'perhaps not +in many other respects; still, in the right to put into his mouth the +bread that his own hands have earned, he is the equal of every other +man, white or black.' He had unchanging faith in self-government. 'The +people,' he said, 'are the rightful masters of both congresses and +courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who +pervert the Constitution.' Yielding and accommodating in non-essentials, +he was inflexibly firm in a principle or position deliberately taken. +'Let us have faith that right makes might,' he said, 'and in that faith +let us to the end dare to do our duty as we understand it.' ..." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + + Lincoln and his Cabinet--An Odd Assortment of + Officials--Misconceptions of Rights and Duties--Frictions and + Misunderstandings--The Early Cabinet Meetings--Informal + Conversational Affairs--Queer Attitude toward the War--Regarded as + a Political Affair--Proximity to Washington a Hindrance to Military + Success--Disturbances in the Cabinet--A Senate Committee Demands + Seward's Removal from the Cabinet--Lincoln's Mastery of the + Situation--Harmony Restored--Stanton becomes War Secretary--Sketch + of a Remarkable Man--Next to Lincoln, the Master-mind of the + Cabinet--Lincoln the Dominant Power. + +President Lincoln's Cabinet, while containing men of marked ability and +fitness for their positions, was in some respects about as ill-assorted +and heterogeneous a body of men as were ever called to serve together as +ministers and advisers of a great government. Its selection was a +surprise to the country. Mr. John Bigelow said it "had the appearance of +being selected from a grab-bag." "Not one of the members," continues Mr. +Bigelow, "was a personal or much of a political friend of Mr. Lincoln; +not one of them had ever had any experience or training in any executive +office, except Welles of Connecticut, if he could be claimed as an +exception because of having served three years in a bureau of the Navy +in Washington. Of military administration, still less of actual war, no +member knew anything by experience. The heads of the two most important +departments, the Secretaries of State and the Treasury, were both +disappointed candidates for the chair occupied by Mr. Lincoln. It was +nothing less than Providential that the President was so happily +constituted as neither to share nor to provoke any of the jealousies or +envies of either of them, and by his absolute freedom from every selfish +impulse gradually compelled them all to look up to him as the one person +in whose singleness of eye they could all and always confide. Not +immediately, but in the course of two or three years, they got into the +habit of turning to him like quarrelling children to their mother to +settle all the questions that temporarily divided them." + +These Cabinet ministers were a devoted and patriotic body of men, but +their misconceptions of their respective rights and duties were at first +grotesque. Mr. Seward, a man of far greater administrative experience +than Lincoln, assumed that he, rather than the President, was to be the +master mind of the new administration. "Premier" he at first called +himself. Mr. Stanton, the Secretary of War, thought the Navy should be a +sort of adjunct to the War Department--an error of which Secretary +Welles of the Navy Department speedily relieved him. These two men were +altogether too unlike to get on well together. The cold and somewhat +stately Welles was repelled by Stanton's impulsiveness and violence, +while Stanton was exasperated by Welles's calmness and lack of +excitability. "Lincoln's ministers had no idea that he towered above +them," says Mr. John T. Morse, Jr., "and no one of them was at all +overawed by him in those days. Presiding over them at the Cabinet, +casually meeting them, chatting with them or lounging as was his habit +in Stanton's room, Lincoln seemed only officially superior to them. One +of them had expected to be President, and another meant to be; a third +dared to be insolent and unruly; it seemed to be only by a chance of +politics that these men stood to him as junior partners to a senior, or +like a board of directors to the president of a corporation." + +The unfriendly feeling existing between members of the Cabinet comes +out in many entries in Welles's Diary. "Pressing, assuming, violent, +impatient, intriguing, harsh, and arbitrary," are examples of the terms +in which Stanton is spoken of by Welles His contempt for the Committee +on the Conduct of the War is expressed in no less stinging words. The +members of this committee "are most of them narrow and prejudiced +partisans, mischievous busybodies, and a discredit to Congress. Mean and +contemptible partisanship colors all their acts." It is amusing to note +that while Secretary Welles was thus outspoken in his criticisms of +others, he himself did not escape calumny. One critic (Thurlow Weed, +who, it may be remembered, had objected to Welles's appointment to a +Cabinet position when Lincoln suggested it to him in their consultation +at Springfield before the inauguration) declared that "It is worse than +a fault, it is a crime, to keep that old imbecile at the head of the +Navy Department." And another critic expressed the uncomplimentary +opinion that "If Lincoln would send old Welles back to Hartford, it +would be better for the Navy and for the country." + +The accounts of the earliest Cabinet meetings, as given by Secretary +Welles, who was nearly always present, are full of interest. "Cabinet +meetings, which at that exciting period should have been daily, were +infrequent, irregular, and without system," says Mr. Welles. "The +Secretary of State notified his associates when the President desired a +meeting of the heads of Departments. It seemed unadvisable to the +Premier--as he liked to be called and considered--that the members +should meet often, and they did not. Consequently there was very little +concerted action. At the earlier meetings there was little or no +formality; the Cabinet meetings were a sort of privy council or +gathering of equals, much like a Senatorial caucus, where there was no +recognized leader and the Secretary of State put himself in advance of +the President. No seats were assigned or regularly taken. The Secretary +of State was invariably present some little time before the Cabinet +assembled, and from his former position as the chief executive of the +largest State in the Union as well as from his recent place as a +Senator, and from his admitted experience and familiarity with affairs, +assumed, and was allowed, as was proper, to take the lead in +consultations and also to give tone and direction to the manner and mode +of proceedings. The President, if he did not actually wish, readily +acquiesced in, this. Mr. Lincoln, having never had experience in +administering the Government, State or National, deferred to the +suggestions and course of those who had. Mr. Seward was not slow in +taking upon himself to prescribe action and to do most of the talking, +without much regard to the modest chief, but often to the disgust of his +associates, particularly Mr. Bates, who was himself always courteous and +respectful, and to the annoyance of Mr. Chase, who had had, like Mr. +Seward, experience as a chief magistrate. Discussions were desultory and +without order or system; but in the summing-up and conclusions the +President, who was a patient listener and learner, concentrated results, +and often determined questions adverse to the Secretary of State, +regarding him and his opinions, as he did those of his other advisers, +for what they were worth and generally no more." + +It was perhaps natural, in a country so long free from wars as ours had +been, that the Civil War should be regarded as a sort of political +affair to be directed from Washington rather than by commanders in the +field. For the first year or so the feeling was quite general that +military affairs should be directed by Congress, acting through its +Committee on the Conduct of the War, and by the Secretary of War, who +complained bitterly that he was not allowed to assume control of +military movements and that his plans were thwarted by McClellan (whom +he especially hated). The President himself did not escape this +condemnation. The feeling at this time is expressed in a sentence in +Stanton's complaint, reflected through Chase, that "the President takes +counsel of none but army officers in army matters." Chase declared to +Welles, according to the latter, that the Treasury as well as other +departments "ought to be informed of the particulars of every movement." +The generals engaged in planning the campaigns and fighting the battles +of the war, and their commander-in-chief the President, could hardly +fail to find their task an uphill one when ideas so naïve and fatuous as +these prevailed. It is no wonder that General Grant recorded in his +Memoirs the opinion that the great difficulty with the Army of the +Potomac during the first year of the war was its proximity to +Washington; that the conditions made success practically impossible; and +that neither he, nor General Sherman, nor any officer known to him, +could have succeeded in General McClellan's place, under the conditions +that then existed. Gradually, and by slow and often painful experience, +a clearer conception of the meaning and methods of war prevailed. In +this, as in so many things, Lincoln's insight was first and surest. By +patience, tact, shrewdness, firmness, and diplomatic skill, he held the +Cabinet together and stimulated its members to their best efforts for +the common cause. + +But the personal frictions and dissensions in the Cabinet, and the more +or less meddlesome attitude of leaders in the Senate and the House, at +times sorely tried the strength and patience of the harassed President, +compelling him to act the part of peacemaker, and sometimes of judge and +arbiter as well. At one time Secretary Stanton threatened to resign; and +Chase declared that in that case he should go with him. Stanton and +Welles were in frequent antagonism, Welles stating in his Diary that +Stanton assumed, or tried to assume, that the Navy should be subject to +the direction of the War Department. Seward was "meddlesome" toward +other departments; "runs to the President two or three times a day; +wants to be Premier," etc., says Welles. "Between Seward and Chase there +was perpetual rivalry and mutual but courtly distrust; they entered the +Cabinet as rivals, and in cold courtesy so continued." The most serious +of these Cabinet embroglios occurred late in December of 1862, while +Lincoln was well-nigh overwhelmed by Burnside's dreadful repulse at +Fredericksburg. The gist of the affair, as given by Mr. Welles, is that +the opposition to Seward in the Senate grew to such a point that a +committee was appointed to wait on the President and request Seward's +removal from the office of Secretary of State. The President, Mr. Welles +tells us, was "shocked and grieved" at this demonstration. He asked all +the members of his Cabinet to meet the Senate committee with him. All +the members of the Cabinet were present except Seward, who had already +sent the President his resignation. The meeting was attended also by +Senators Collamer, Fessenden, Harris, Trumbull, Grimes, Howard, Sumner, +and Pomeroy. The President, says Mr. Welles, opened the subject for +which the meeting was called, taking a conciliatory tone toward the +Senators, and requesting from each in turn an expression of opinion as +to the wisdom of dropping Seward from the Cabinet. Most of them were +strongly of the opinion that Seward ought to go. The President presented +his own views, which were, in effect, that it would be a mistake to let +Seward leave the Cabinet at that particular time. "He managed his own +case," says Mr. Welles, "speaking freely, and showing great tact, +shrewdness, and ability." The meeting continued until nearly midnight, +and the matter was left still in the President's hands. The next morning +Mr. Welles called early at the White House and found Lincoln practically +decided not to accept Seward's resignation, saying that it would never +do to take the course prescribed by the Senators; that "the Government +would cave in; it could not stand--would not hold water; the bottom +would be out," etc. He requested Welles to go at once to Seward and ask +him not to press his resignation. Lincoln's intuitional mind seemed at +once to connect Secretary Chase with the attack on Seward. Before Welles +left the room, the President rang a bell and directed that a message be +sent to Chase requesting him to come at once to the White House. When +Welles returned from his interview with Seward, who readily promised to +withdraw his resignation at the President's request, he found both Chase +and Seward waiting for the President. The latter soon came in, and his +first words were to ask Welles if he "had seen the man," to which Welles +answered that he had, and that he assented to what had been asked of +him. The dramatic scene that followed is thus described by Mr. Welles in +his Diary: "The President turned to Chase and said, 'I sent for you, for +this matter is giving me great trouble.' Chase said he had been +painfully affected by the meeting last evening, which was a total +surprise to him; and, after some not very explicit remarks as to how he +was affected, informed the President he had prepared his resignation of +the office of Secretary of the Treasury. 'Where is it?' said the +President quickly, his eye lighting up in a moment. 'I brought it with +me,' said Chase, taking the paper from his pocket; 'I wrote it this +morning.' 'Let me have it,' said the President, reaching his long arm +and fingers toward Chase, who held on, seemingly reluctant to part with +the letter, which was sealed, and which he apparently hesitated to +surrender. Something further he wished to say; but the President was +eager and did not perceive it, and took and hastily opened the letter. +'This,' said he, looking toward me with a triumphant air, 'cuts the +Gordian Knot. I can now dispose of this subject without difficulty, I +see my way clear.' Chase sat by Stanton, fronting the fire; the +President beside the fire, his face toward them, Stanton nearest him. I +was on the sofa, near the east window. 'Mr. President,' said Stanton, +with solemnity, 'I informed you day before yesterday that I was ready to +tender you my resignation. I wish you, sir, to consider my resignation +at this time in your possession.' 'You may go to your department,' said +the President; 'I don't want yours. This,' holding out Chase's letter, +'is all I want; this relieves me; my way is clear; the trouble is ended. +I will detain neither of you longer.' We all rose to leave," concludes +Mr. Welles. "Chase and myself came downstairs together. He was moody and +taciturn. Someone stopped him on the lower stairs, and I passed on." + +A few days later, the President requested both Seward and Chase to +withdraw their resignations and resume their duties. This was done, and +the trouble was ended for the time. Both Secretaries had got their +lessons, and profited by them. By the exercise of tact and patience, +with firmness and decision when required, the President had let it be +known that he was the head and chief of the Administration. + +Next to the President, it was not Secretary Seward, the "Premier" as he +wished to be regarded, but the War Secretary, Stanton, who was the +master-mind of the Cabinet. He was the incarnation of energy, the +embodiment of patriotic zeal. With all his faults of temper and +disposition, he was a man of singular fitness for the responsible +position he occupied, and his services to the Government can hardly be +overestimated. He had been a Democrat, a member of Buchanan's Cabinet, +and was, says Dr. Holland, "the first one in that Cabinet to protest +against the downright treason into which it was drifting. He was a man +of indomitable energy, devoted loyalty, and thorough honesty. +Contractors could not manipulate him, traitors could not deceive him. +Impulsive, perhaps, but true; wilful, it is possible, but placable; +impatient, but persistent and efficient,--he became at once one of the +most marked and important of the members of the Cabinet." Lincoln and +Stanton together were emphatically "a strong team." + +Stanton was not a member of Lincoln's first Cabinet, but came into it at +the beginning of 1862, in place of Simon Cameron, who had just been +appointed Minister to Russia. A very interesting account of Cameron's +personal relations with Lincoln, the causes that led to his retirement +from the Cabinet, and the appointment of Stanton in his place, is given +by Cameron himself. He had been the choice of the Pennsylvania +delegation for President, at the Chicago Convention in 1860, and it was +largely due to him that Lincoln received the nomination. "After the +election," said Mr. Cameron, "I made a trip to the West at Mr. Lincoln's +request. He had, by letter, tendered me the position of either Secretary +of War or Secretary of the Treasury; but when I went to see him he said +that he had concluded to make Mr. Seward Secretary of State, and he +wanted to give a place to Mr. Chase. 'Salmon P. Chase,' said he, 'is a +very ambitious man.' 'Very well,' said I, 'then the War Department is +the place for him. We are going to have an armed conflict over your +election, and the place for an ambitious man is in the War Department. +There he will have lots of room to make a reputation.' These thoughts of +mine, that we were to have war, disturbed Mr. Lincoln very much, and he +seemed to think I was entirely too certain about it. Finally, when he +came to make up his Cabinet, doubtless remembering what I had said about +the War Department, he appointed me Secretary of War." + +"There has been," continues Mr. Cameron, "a great deal of misstatement +as to Mr. Stanton's appointment as my successor. Stanton had been my +attorney from the time I went into the War Department until he took my +place as Secretary. I had hardly made a move in which the legality of +any question could arise. I had taken his advice. I believed in the +vigorous prosecution of the war from the start, while Mr. Seward +believed in dallying and compromising, and Mr. Chase was constantly +agitated about the expenditure of money; therefore it was that I was +careful to have the advice of an able lawyer. When the question of +changing me from the War Department to the Russian mission came up, Mr. +Lincoln said to me, 'Whom shall I appoint in your place?' My prompt +response was, 'Edwin M. Stanton.' 'But,' said he, 'I had thought of +giving it to Holt.' 'Mr. Lincoln,' said I, 'if I am to retire in the +present situation of affairs, it seems but proper that a friend of mine, +or at least a man not unfriendly to me, should be appointed in my place. +If you give Mr. Stanton the position, you will not only accomplish this +object but will please the State of Pennsylvania and also get an +excellent officer.' 'Very well,' said Mr. Lincoln, 'you go and see him, +and if he will accept the place he shall have it.' I left the White +House and started to find Stanton, passing through the Treasury +Department on my way. As I passed Mr. Chase's office, I stepped in and +told him what had occurred between the President and myself. He said, +'Let's send for Stanton; bring him here and talk it over.' 'Very well,' +said I, and a messenger was at once sent. Stanton came immediately, and +I told him of the conference between the President and myself. He agreed +to accept. We walked to the White House, and the matter was settled. + +"One of the troubles in the Cabinet which brought about this change was +that I had recommended in my annual report, in the fall of 1861, that +the negroes should be enlisted as soldiers after they left their +masters. This advanced step was regarded by most of the Cabinet with +alarm. Mr. Lincoln thought it would frighten the border States out of +the Union, and Mr. Seward and Mr. Chase thought it would never do at +all." + +Just before the retirement of Mr. Cameron, a number of influential +Senators waited upon the President and represented to him that inasmuch +as the Cabinet had not been chosen with reference to the war and had +more or less lost the confidence of the country, and since the President +had decided to select a new war minister, they thought the occasion was +opportune to change the whole seven Cabinet ministers. They therefore +earnestly advised him to make a clean sweep, select seven new men, and +so restore the waning confidence of the country. The President listened +with patient courtesy, and when the Senators had concluded, he said, +with a characteristic gleam of humor in his eye: "Gentlemen, your +request for a change of the whole Cabinet because I have made one +change, reminds me of a story I once heard in Illinois of a farmer who +was much troubled by skunks. They annoyed his household at night, and +his wife insisted that he should take measures to get rid of them. One +moonlight night he loaded his old shot-gun and stationed himself in the +yard to watch for the intruders, his wife remaining in the house +anxiously awaiting the result. After some time she heard the shotgun go +off, and in a few minutes the farmer entered the house. 'What luck had +you?' said she. 'I hid myself behind the woodpile,' said the old man, +'with the shot-gun pointed toward the hen-roost, and before long there +appeared, not one skunk, but _seven_. I took aim, blazed away, and +killed one--and he raised such a fearful smell I concluded it was best +to let the other six alone.'" The Senators retired, and nothing more was +heard from them about Cabinet reconstruction. + +Of the character and abilities of Secretary Stanton, and the relations +between him and the President, General Grant has admirably said: "I had +the fullest support of the President and Secretary of War. No General +could want better backing; for the President was a man of great wisdom +and moderation, the Secretary a man of enormous character and will. Very +often where Lincoln would want to say _Yes_, his Secretary would make +him say _No_; and more frequently, when the Secretary was driving on in +a violent course, the President would check him. United, Lincoln and +Stanton made about as perfect a combination as I believe could, by any +possibility, govern a great nation in time of war.... The two men were +the very opposite of each other in almost every particular, except that +each possessed great ability. Mr. Lincoln gained influence over men by +making them feel that it was a pleasure to serve them. He preferred +yielding his own wish to gratify others, rather than to insist upon +having his own way. It distressed him to disappoint others. In matters +of public duty, however, he had what he wished, but in the least +offensive way. Mr. Stanton never questioned his own authority to +command, unless resisted. He cared nothing for the feeling of others." +In a further comparison of the two men, General Grant said: "Lincoln was +not timid, and he was willing to trust his generals in making and +executing plans. The Secretary [Stanton] was very timid, and it was +impossible for him to avoid interfering with the armies covering the +capital when it was sought to defend it by an offensive movement against +the army guarding the Confederate capital. He could see our weakness, +but he could not see that the enemy was in danger. The enemy would not +have been in danger if Mr. Stanton had been in the field." + +With all his force of character, and his overbearing disposition, +Stanton did not undertake to rule the President--though this has +sometimes been asserted. He would frequently overawe and browbeat +others, but he was never imperious in dealing with Lincoln. Mr. Watson, +for some time Assistant Secretary of War, and Mr. Whiting, Solicitor of +the War Department, with many others in a position to know, have borne +positive testimony to this fact. Hon. George W. Julian, a member of the +House Committee on the Conduct of the War, says: "On the 24th of March, +1862, Secretary Stanton sent for the Committee for the purpose of having +a confidential conference as to military affairs. Stanton was thoroughly +discouraged. He told us the President had gone back to his first love, +General McClellan, and that it was needless for him or for us to labor +with him." This language clearly shows that Lincoln, not Stanton, was +the dominant mind. + +Wherever it was possible, Lincoln gave Stanton his own way, and did not +oppose him. But there were occasions when, in a phrase used by Lincoln +long before, it was "necessary to _put the foot down firmly_." Such an +occasion is described by General J.B. Fry, Provost Marshal of the United +States during the war. An enlistment agent had applied to the President +to have certain credits of troops made to his county, and the President +promised him it should be done. The agent then went to Secretary +Stanton, who flatly refused to allow the credits as described. The agent +returned to the President, who reiterated the order, but again without +effect. Lincoln then went in person to Stanton's office. General Fry was +called in by Stanton to state the facts in the case. After he concluded, +Stanton remarked that Lincoln must see, in view of such facts, that his +order could not be executed. What followed is thus related by General +Fry: "Lincoln sat upon a sofa, with his legs crossed, and did not say a +word until the Secretary's last remark. Then he said, in a somewhat +positive tone, 'Mr. Secretary, I reckon you'll have to execute the +order.' Stanton replied, with asperity, 'Mr. President, I cannot do it. +The order is an improper one, and I cannot execute it.' Lincoln fixed +his eye upon Stanton, and in a firm voice and with an accent that +clearly showed his determination, he said, 'Mr. Secretary, _it will have +to be done_.' Stanton then realized that he was overmatched. He had made +a square issue with the President, and had been defeated. Upon an +intimation from him, I withdrew, and did not witness his surrender. A +few minutes after I reached my office I received instructions from the +Secretary to carry out the President's order." + +Vice-President Wheeler relates a characteristic incident illustrating +the relations between Lincoln and Stanton. The President had promised +Mr. Wheeler an appointment for an old friend as army paymaster, stating +that the Secretary of War would instruct the gentleman to report for +duty. Hearing nothing further from the matter, Mr. Wheeler at length +called upon the Secretary and reminded him of the appointment. Mr. +Stanton denied all knowledge of the matter, but stated, in his brusque +manner, that the name would be sent in, with hundreds of others, to the +Senate for its consideration. Mr. Wheeler argued that his friend had +been appointed by the Commander-in-chief of the Army, and that it was +unjust to ask him to wait for the tardy action of the Senate upon the +nomination, and that he was entitled to be mustered in at once. But all +in vain; the only reply that could be got from the iron Secretary was, +"You have my answer; no argument." Mr. Wheeler went to the chief clerk +of the department, and asked for the President's letter directing the +appointment. Receiving it, he proceeded to the White House, although it +was after executive hours. "I can see Mr. Lincoln now," says Mr. +Wheeler, "as he looked when I entered the room. He wore a long calico +dressing-gown, reaching to his heels; his feet were encased in a pair of +old-fashioned leathern slippers, such as we used to find in the old-time +country hotels, and which had evidently seen much service in +Springfield. Above these appeared the home-made blue woollen stockings +which he wore at all seasons of the year. He was sitting in a splint +rocking-chair, with his legs elevated and stretched across his office +table. He greeted me warmly. Apologizing for my intrusion at that +unofficial hour, I told him I had called simply to ascertain which was +the paramount power in the Government, he or the Secretary of War. +Letting down his legs and straightening himself up in his chair, he +answered, 'Well, it is generally supposed _I am_. What's the matter?' I +then briefly recalled the facts attending Sabin's appointment, when, +without comment, he said, 'Give me my letter.' Then, taking his pen, he +indorsed upon it: + + Let the within named J.A. Sabin be mustered AT ONCE. It is due to + him and to Mr. W., under the circumstances. + + A. LINCOLN." + +Armed with this peremptory order, Mr. Wheeler called on Stanton the next +morning. The Secretary was furious. He charged Mr. Wheeler with +interfering with his prerogatives. Mr. Wheeler remarked that he would +call the next morning for the order to muster in. He called accordingly, +and, handing him the order, in a rage, Stanton said, "I hope I shall +never hear of this matter again." + +It is related by Hon. George W. Julian, already quoted, that on a +certain occasion a committee of Western men, headed by Mr. Lovejoy, +procured from the President an important order looking to the exchange +and transfer of Eastern and Western soldiers, with a view to more +effective work. "Repairing to the office of the Secretary, Mr. Lovejoy +explained the scheme, as he had before done to the President, but was +met with a flat refusal. 'But we have the President's order, sir,' said +Lovejoy. 'Did Lincoln give you an order of that kind?' said Stanton. 'He +did, sir.' 'Then he is a d----d fool,' said the irate Secretary. 'Do you +mean to say the President is a d----d fool?' asked Lovejoy, in +amazement. 'Yes, sir, if he gave you such an order as that.' The +bewildered Illinoisan betook himself at once to the President, and +related the result of his conference. 'Did Stanton say I was a d----d +fool?' asked Lincoln, at the close of the recital. 'He did, sir, and +repeated it.' After a moment's pause, and looking up, the President +said, 'If Stanton said I was a d----d fool, then _I must be one_, for he +is nearly always right, and generally says what he means. _I will step +over and see him_.'" The two men met, and the matter was easily +adjusted. It was this rare combination of good-humor and firmness with +an understanding of the other's trials and appreciation of his good +qualities, that reduced the friction of official life and enabled +Lincoln and Stanton to work together, in the main harmoniously and +efficiently, in their great task of prosecuting the war and maintaining +the integrity of the Union. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + Lincoln's Personal Attention to the Military Problems of the + War--Efforts to Push forward the War--Disheartening + Delays--Lincoln's Worry and Perplexity--Brightening + Prospects--Union Victories in North Carolina and + Tennessee--Proclamation by the President--Lincoln Wants to See for + Himself--Visits Fortress Monroe--Witnesses an Attack on the Rebel + Ram "Merrimac"--The Capture of Norfolk--Lincoln's Account of the + Affair--Letter to McClellan--Lincoln and the Union Soldiers--His + Tender Solicitude for the Boys in Blue--Soldiers Always Welcome at + the White House--Pardoning Condemned Soldiers--Letter to a Bereaved + Mother--The Case of Cyrus Pringle--Lincoln's Love of Soldiers' + Humor--Visiting the Soldiers in Trenches and Hospitals--Lincoln at + "The Soldiers' Rest." + +Early in 1862 Lincoln began giving more of his personal attention to +military affairs. He was dissatisfied with the slow movements and small +achievements of our armies, and sought to infuse new zeal and energy +into the Union commanders. He also began a careful study of the great +military problems pressing for solution; and he seemed resolved to +assume the full responsibilities of his position, not only as the civil +head of the Government but as the commander-in-chief of the armies and +navies of the United States. In this he was influenced by no desire for +personal control of the commanders in the field or interference with +their plans; he always preferred to leave them the fullest liberty of +action. But he felt that the situation demanded a single head, ready and +able to take full responsibility for the most important steps; and, true +to himself and his habits of a lifetime, he neither sought +responsibility nor flinched from it. + +The leading officers of the Union army were mostly young and +inexperienced men, and none of them had as yet demonstrated the capacity +of a great commander. At best it was a process of experiment, to see +what generals and what strategic movements were most likely to succeed. +In order to be able to judge correctly of measures and men, Lincoln +undertook to familiarize himself with the practical details of military +affairs and operations. Here was developed a new and unsuspected phase +of his character. The plain country lawyer, unversed in the art of war, +was suddenly transformed into the great civil ruler and military +chieftain. "He was already," says Mr. A.G. Riddle, "one of the wariest, +coolest, and most skilful managers of men. _A born strategist_, he was +now rapidly mastering the great outline ideas of the art of war." "The +elements of selfishness and ferocity which are not unusual with +first-class military chiefs," said General Keyes, a prominent officer of +the Union army, "were wholly foreign to Lincoln's nature. Nevertheless, +_there was not one of his most trusted warlike counselors in the +beginning of the war who equaled him in military sagacity_." His +reliance, in the new duties and perils that confronted him, was upon his +simple common-sense, his native power of judgment and discernment. +"Military science," says a distinguished officer, "is common-sense +applied to the affairs of war." While Lincoln made no claim to technical +knowledge in this sphere, and preferred to leave details to his +subordinates, he yet developed an insight into military problems and an +understanding of practical operations in the field which enabled him not +only to approve or disapprove judiciously, but to direct and plan. A +striking confirmation of this is given by Mr. J.M. Winchell, who thus +relates what happened in a personal interview with the President: + + "I was accompanied by one of Mr. Lincoln's personal friends; and + when we entered the well-known reception-room, a very tall, lanky + man came quickly forward to meet us. His manner seemed to me the + perfection of courtesy. I was struck with the simplicity, kindness, + and dignity of his deportment, so different from the clownish + manners with which it was then customary to invest him. His face + was a pleasant surprise, formed as my expectations had been from + the poor photographs then in vogue, and the general belief in his + ugliness. I remember thinking how much better-looking he was than I + had anticipated, and wondering that anyone should consider him + ugly. His expression was grave and care-worn, but still enlivened + with a cheerfulness that gave me instant hope. After a brief + interchange of commonplaces, he entered on a description of the + situation, giving the numbers of the contending armies, their + movements, and the general strategical purposes which should govern + them both. Taking from the wall a large map of the United States, + and laying it on the table, he pointed out with his long finger the + geographical features of the vicinity, clearly describing the + various movements so far as known, reasoning rigidly from step to + step, and creating a chain of probabilities too strong for serious + dispute. His apparent knowledge of military science, and his + familiarity with the special features of the present campaign, were + surprising in a man who had been all his life a civilian, engrossed + with politics and the practise of the law, and whose attention must + necessarily be so much occupied with the perplexing detail of + duties incident to his position. It was clear that he made the + various campaigns of the war a subject of profound and intelligent + study, forming opinions thereon as positive and clear as those he + held in regard to civil affairs." + +Toward the end of January, 1862, Lincoln sought to overcome the inertia +that seemed settling upon the Union forces by issuing the "President's +General Order, No. I," directing that, on the 22d day of February +following, "a general movement of the land and naval forces of the +United States" be made against the insurgent forces, and giving warning +that "the heads of departments, and especially the Secretaries of War +and of the Navy, with all their subordinates, and the General-in-Chief, +with all other commanders and subordinates of land and naval forces, +will severally be held to their strict and full responsibilities for +prompt execution of this order." This order, while it doubtless served +to infuse activity into commanders and officials, did not result in any +substantial successes to our arms. The President, worn by his ceaseless +activities and anxieties, seems to have been momentarily disheartened at +the situation. Admiral Dahlgren, who was in command of the Washington +navy-yard in 1862, narrates that one day, at this period, "the President +drove down to see the hundred-and-fifty-pounder cannon fired. For the +first time I heard the President speak of the bare possibility of our +being two nations--as if alluding to a previous suggestion. He could not +see how the two could exist so near each other. He was evidently much +worried at our lack of military success, and remarked that '_no one +seemed ready_.'" + +It is difficult to portray the worry and perplexity that beset Lincoln's +life, and the incessant demands upon his attention, in his efforts to +familiarize himself, as he felt compelled to do, with the practical +operations of the war. Admiral Dahlgren, who saw him almost daily, +relates that one morning the President sent for him, and said, "Well, +Captain, here's a letter about some new powder." He read the letter and +showed the sample of powder,--adding that he had burned some of it and +it did not seem a good article; there was too much residuum. "Now I'll +show you," said he. So he got a small sheet of paper and placed some of +the powder on it, then went to the fire, and with the tongs picked up a +coal, which he blew, with his spectacles still on his nose; then he +clapped the coal to the powder, and after the explosion, remarked: +"There is too much left there." There is something almost grotesque, but +touching and pathetic as well, in this picture of the President of the +United States, with all his enormous cares and responsibilities, engaged +in so petty a matter as testing a sample of powder. And yet so great was +his anxiety for the success of the armies and navies under his control +that he wished to become personally satisfied as to every detail. He did +not wish our armies or our war-vessels to lose battles on account of bad +powder. "At another time," Admiral Dahlgren has related, "the President +sent for me regarding some new invention. After the agent of the +inventor left, the President began on army matters. 'Now,' said he, 'I +am to have a sweat of five or six days'" (alluding to an impending +battle, for the result of which he was very anxious). Again: "The +President sent for me. Some man in trouble about arms; President holding +a breech-loader in his hand. He asked me about the iron-clads, and +Charleston." And again: "Went to the Department and found the President +there. He looks thin, and is very nervous. Said they were doing nothing +at Charleston, only asking for one iron-clad after another. The canal at +Vicksburg was of no account, and he wondered how any sensible man could +favor it. He feared the favorable state of public expectation would pass +away before anything was done. Then he leveled a couple of jokes at the +doings at Vicksburg and Charleston." No wonder the sympathetic +Dahlgren, witnessing the sufferings of the tortured President, should +exclaim: "_Poor gentleman_! How thin and wasted he is!" + +The gloomy outlook in the Spring of 1862 was relieved by the substantial +victories of General Burnside in North Carolina and of General Grant in +Tennessee. The President was cheered and elated by these successes. It +is related that General Burnside, visiting Washington at this time, +called on the President, and that "the meeting was a grand spectacle. +The two stalwart men rushed into each other's arms, and warmly clasped +each other for some minutes. When General Burnside was about to leave, +the President inquired, 'Is there anything, my dear General, that I can +do for you?' 'Yes! yes!' was the quick reply, 'and I am glad you asked +me that question. My three brigadiers, you know; everything depended on +them, and they did their duty grandly!--Oh, Mr. President, we owe so +much to them! I should so much like, when I go back, to take them their +promotions.' 'It shall be done!' was Lincoln's hearty response, and on +the instant the promotions were ordered, and General Burnside had the +pleasure of taking back with him to Foster, Reno, and Parke their +commissions as Major-Generals." + +Our brightening prospects impelled the President to issue, on the 10th +of April, the following proclamation, breathing his deeply religious +spirit: + + It has pleased Almighty God to vouchsafe signal victories to the + land and naval forces engaged in suppressing an internal rebellion, + and at the same time to avert from our country the dangers of + foreign intervention and invasion. It is therefore recommended to + the people of the United States that at their next weekly + assemblages in their accustomed places of public worship which + shall occur after the notice of this Proclamation shall have been + received, they especially acknowledge and render thanks to our + Heavenly Father for these inestimable blessings; that they then and + there implore spiritual consolation in behalf of all those who have + been brought into affliction by the casualties and calamities of + sedition and civil war; and that they reverently invoke the Divine + guidance for our national counsels, to the end that they may + speedily result in the restoration of peace, harmony, and unity + throughout our borders, and hasten the establishment of fraternal + relations among all the countries of the earth. + + ABRAHAM LINCOLN. + +Early in May the President determined on a personal visit to Fortress +Monroe, in order to learn what he could from his own observation of +affairs in that region. The trip was a welcome respite from the cares +and burdens of official life, and he gave himself up, as far as he +could, to its enjoyment. The Secretary of War (Stanton) and the +Secretary of the Treasury (Chase) accompanied the President. A most +interesting account of the expedition is given by General Viele, who was +a member of the party and thus had an opportunity to observe Lincoln +closely. "When on the afternoon of May 4," says General Viele, "I was +requested by the Secretary of War to meet him within an hour at the +navy-yard, with the somewhat mysterious caution to speak to no one of my +movements, I had no conception whatever of the purpose or intention of +the meeting. It was quite dark when I arrived there simultaneously with +the Secretary, who led the way to the wharf on the Potomac, to which a +steamer was moored that proved to be a revenue cutter, the 'Miami.' We +went on board and proceeded at once to the cabin, where to my surprise I +found the President and Mr. Chase, who had preceded us. The vessel +immediately got under way and steamed down the Potomac.... After supper +the table was cleared, and the remainder of the evening was spent in a +general review of the situation, which lasted long into the night. The +positions of the different armies in the field, the last reports from +their several commanders, the probabilities and possibilities as they +appeared to each member of the group, together with many other topics, +relevant and irrelevant, were discussed, interspersed with the usual +number of anecdotes from the never-failing supply with which the +President's mind was stored. It was a most interesting study to see +these men relieved for the moment from the surroundings of their onerous +official duties. The President, of course, was the centre of the +group--kind, genial, thoughtful, tender-hearted, magnanimous Abraham +Lincoln! It was difficult to know him without knowing him intimately, +for he was as guileless and single-hearted as a child; and no man ever +knew him intimately who did not recognize and admire his great +abilities, both natural and acquired, his large-heartedness and +sincerity of purpose.... He would sit for hours during the trip, +repeating passages of Shakespeare's plays, page after page of Browning, +and whole cantos of Byron. His inexhaustible stock of anecdotes gave to +superficial minds the impression that he was not a thoughtful and +reflecting man; whereas the fact was directly the reverse. These +anecdotes formed no more a part of Mr. Lincoln's mind than a smile forms +a part of the face. They came unbidden, and, like a forced smile, were +often employed to conceal a depth of anxiety in his own heart, and to +dissipate the care that weighed upon the minds of his associates. Both +Mr. Chase and Mr. Stanton were under great depression of spirits when we +started, and Mr. Chase remarked with a good deal of seriousness that he +had forgotten to write a very important letter before leaving. It was +too late to remedy the omission, and Mr. Lincoln at once drove the +thought of it from his mind by telling him that a man was sometimes +lucky in forgetting to write a letter, for he seldom knew what it +contained until it appeared again some day to confront him with an +indiscreet word or expression; and then he told a humorous story of a +sad catastrophe that happened in a family, which was ascribed to +something that came in a letter--a catastrophe so far beyond the region +of possibility that it set us all laughing, and Mr. Chase lost his +anxious look. That reminded Mr. Stanton of the dilemma he had been +placed in, just before leaving, by the receipt of a telegram from +General Mitchell, who was in Northern Alabama. The telegram was +indistinct, and could not be clearly understood; there was no time for +further explanation, and yet an immediate answer was required; so the +Secretary took the chances and answered back, 'All right; go ahead.' +'Now, Mr. President,' said he, 'if I have made a mistake, I must +countermand my instructions.' 'I suppose you meant,' said Mr. Lincoln, +'that it was all right if it was good for him, and all wrong if it was +not. That reminds me,' said he, 'of a story about a horse that was sold +at the cross-roads near where I once lived. The horse was supposed to be +fast, and quite a number of people were present at the time appointed +for the sale. A small boy was employed to ride the horse backward and +forward to exhibit his points. One of the would-be buyers followed the +boy down the road and asked him confidentially if the horse had a +splint. 'Well, mister,' said the boy, 'if it's good for him he's got it, +but if it isn't good for him he hasn't.' 'And that's the position,' said +the President, 'you seem to have left General Mitchell in. Well, +Stanton, I guess he'll come out right; but at any rate you can't help +him now.' ... Mr. Lincoln always had a pleasant word to say the last +thing at night and the first thing in the morning. He was always the +first one to awake, although not the first to rise. The day-time was +spent principally upon the quarter-deck, and the President entertained +us with numerous anecdotes and incidents of his life, of the most +interesting character. Few were aware of the physical strength possessed +by Mr. Lincoln. In muscular power he was one in a thousand. One morning, +while we were sitting on deck, he saw an axe in a socket on the +bulwarks, and taking it up, he held it at arm's length at the extremity +of the helve with his thumb and forefinger, continuing to hold it there +for a number of minutes. The most powerful sailors on board tried in +vain to imitate him. Mr. Lincoln said he could do this when he was +eighteen years of age, and had never seen a day since that time when he +could not.[E] + +"It was late in the evening," continues General Viele, "when we arrived +at Fortress Monroe.... Answering the hail of the guard-boats, we made a +landing, and the Secretary of War immediately despatched a messenger for +General Wool, the commander of the fort; on whose arrival it was +decided to consult at once with Admiral Goldsborough, the commander of +the fleet, whose flag-ship, the 'Minnesota,' a superb model of naval +architecture, lay a short distance off the shore. The result of this +conference was a plan to get up an engagement the next day between the +'Merrimac' and the 'Monitor,' so that during the fight the 'Vanderbilt,' +which had been immensely strengthened for the purpose, might put on all +steam and run her down. Accordingly, the next morning, the President and +party went over to the Rip Raps to see the naval combat. The 'Merrimac' +moved out of the mouth of the Elizabeth river, quietly and steadily, +just as she had come out only a few weeks before when she had sunk the +'Congress' and the 'Cumberland.' She wore an air of defiance and +determination even at that distance. The 'Monitor' moved up and waited +for her. All the other vessels got out of the way to give the +'Vanderbilt' and the 'Minnesota' room to bear down upon the rebel terror +as soon as she should clear the coast line. It was a calm Sabbath +morning, and the air was still and tranquil. Suddenly the stillness was +broken by the cannon from the vessels and the great guns from the Rip +Raps, that filled the air with sulphurous smoke and a terrific noise +that reverberated from the fortress and the opposite shore like thunder. +The firing was maintained for several hours, but all to no purpose; the +'Merrimac' moved sullenly back to her position. It was determined that +night that on the following day vigorous offensive operations should be +undertaken. The whole available naval force was to bombard Sewall's +Point, and under cover of the bombardment the available troops from +Fortress Monroe were to be landed at that point and move on Norfolk. +Accordingly, the next morning a tremendous cannonading of Sewall's +Point took place. The wooden sheds at that place were set on fire and +the battery was silenced. The 'Merrimac,' coated with mail and lying low +in the water, looked on but took no part. Night came on, and the +cannonading ceased. It was so evident that the 'Merrimac' intended to +act only on the defensive, and that as long as she remained where she +was no troops could be landed in that vicinity, that they were ordered +to disembark. That night the President, with the Secretary of War and +the Secretary of the Treasury, went over on the 'Miami' to the Virginia +shore, and by the light of the moon landed on the beach and walked up +and down a considerable distance to assure himself that there could be +no mistake in the matter. How little the Confederacy dreamed what a +visitor it had that night to the 'sacred soil.'" + +The following morning an advance was made upon Norfolk by the route +proposed by General Viele. The attempt was successful, and before night +our forces were in control of the captured city. Some time after +midnight, as General Viele records, "with a shock that shook the city, +and with an ominous sound that could not be mistaken, the magazine of +the 'Merrimac' was exploded, the vessel having been cut off from +supplies and deserted by the crew; and thus this most formidable engine +of destruction, that had so long been a terror, not only to Hampton +Roads, but to the Atlantic coast, went to her doom, a tragic and +glorious _finale_ to the trip of the 'Miami.'" + +Secretary Chase had accompanied the expedition against Norfolk, +returning to Fortress Monroe with General Wool immediately after the +surrender of the city. The scene which ensued on the announcement of the +good tidings they brought back to the anxious parties awaiting news of +them was thus described by the President himself: "Chase and Stanton had +accompanied me to Fortress Monroe. While we were there, an expedition +was fitted out for an attack on Norfolk. Chase and General Wool +disappeared about the time we began to look for tidings of the result, +and after vainly waiting their return till late in the evening, Stanton +and I concluded to retire. My room was on the second floor of the +Commandant's house, and Stanton's was below. The night was very +warm,--the moon shining brightly,--and, too restless to sleep, I sat for +some time by the table, reading. Suddenly hearing footsteps, I looked +out of the window, and saw two persons approaching, whom I knew by their +relative size to be the missing men. They came into the passage, and I +heard them rap at Stanton's door and tell him to get up and come +upstairs. A moment afterward they entered my room. 'No time for +ceremony, Mr. President,' said General Wool; 'Norfolk is ours!' Stanton +here burst in, just out of bed, clad in a long night-gown which nearly +swept the floor, his ear catching, as he crossed the threshold, Wool's +last words. Perfectly overjoyed, he rushed at the General, whom he +hugged most affectionately, fairly lifting him from the floor in his +delight. The scene altogether must have been a comical one, though at +the time we were all too greatly excited to take much note of mere +appearances." + +Lincoln's general grasp of military strategy, and his keen understanding +of the specific problems confronting the Army of the Potomac in the +critical autumn of 1862, are well indicated in the following +communication to General McClellan: + + EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, + October 13, 1862 + + MY DEAR SIR:--You remember my speaking to you of what I called your + over-cautiousness. Are you not over-cautious when you assume that + you cannot do what the enemy is constantly doing? Should you not + claim to be at least his equal in prowess, and act upon the claim? + + As I understand, you telegraphed General Halleck that you cannot + subsist your army at Winchester unless the railroad from Harper's + Ferry to that point be put in working order. But the enemy does now + subsist his army at Winchester, at a distance nearly twice as great + from railroad transportation as you would have to do, without the + railroad last named. He now wagons from Culpepper Court-House, + which is just about twice as far as you would have to do from + Harper's Ferry. He is certainly not more than half as well provided + with wagons as you are. I certainly should be pleased for you to + have the advantage of the railroad from Harper's Ferry to + Winchester; but it wastes all the remainder of autumn to give it to + you, and, in fact, ignores the question of _time_, which cannot and + must not be ignored. + + Again, one of the standard maxims of war, as you know, is, "to + operate upon the enemy's communications as much as possible, + without exposing your own." You seem to act as if this applies + _against_ you, but cannot apply in your _favor_. Change positions + with the enemy, and think you not he would break your communication + with Richmond within the next twenty-four hours? You dread his + going into Pennsylvania. But if he does so in full force, he gives + up his communications to you absolutely, and you have nothing to do + but to follow and ruin him; if he does so with less than full + force, fall upon and beat what is left behind all the easier. + Exclusive of the water line, you are now nearer Richmond than the + enemy is, by the route that you _can_ and he _must_ take. Why can + you not reach there before him, unless you admit that he is more + than your equal on the march? His route is the _arc_ of a circle, + while yours is the _chord_. The roads are as good on yours as on + his. + + You know I desired, but did not order, you to cross the Potomac + below instead of above the Shenandoah and Blue Ridge. My idea was, + that this would at once menace the enemy's communications, which I + would seize if he would permit. If he should move northward, I + would follow him closely, holding his communications. If he should + prevent our seizing his communications, and move toward Richmond, I + would press closely to him, fight him if a favorable opportunity + should present, and at least try to beat him to Richmond on the + inside track. I say "try," for if we never try, we shall never + succeed. If he make a stand at Winchester, moving neither north nor + south, I would fight him there, on the idea that if we cannot beat + him when he bears the wastage of coming to us, we never can when we + bear the wastage of going to him. This proposition is a simple + truth, and is too important to be lost sight of for a moment. In + coming to us, he tenders us an advantage which we should not waive. + We should not so operate as to merely drive him away. As we must + beat him somewhere, or fail finally, we can do it, if at all, + easier near to us than far away. If we cannot beat the enemy where + he now is, we never can, he again being within the intrenchments of + Richmond. Recurring to the idea of going to Richmond on the inside + track, the facility of supplying from the side away from the enemy + is remarkable, as it were, by the different spokes of a wheel, + extending from the hub toward the rim, and this whether you move + directly by the chord, or on the inside arc, hugging the Blue Ridge + more closely. The chord-line, as you see, carries you by Aldie, + Haymarket, and Fredericksburg, and you see how turnpikes, + railroads, and finally the Potomac by Aquia Creek, meet you at all + points from Washington. The same, only the lines lengthened a + little, if you press closer to the Blue Ridge part of the way. The + gaps through the Blue Ridge I understand to be about the following + distances from Harper's Ferry, to wit: Vestal's, five miles; + Gregory's, thirteen; Snicker's, eighteen; Ashby's, twenty-eight; + Manassas, thirty-eight; Chester, forty-five; and Thornton's, + fifty-three. I should think it preferable to take the route nearest + the enemy, disabling him to make an important move without your + knowledge, and compelling him to keep his forces together for dread + of you. The gaps would enable you to attack if you should wish. For + a great part of the way you would be practically between the enemy + and both Washington and Richmond, enabling us to spare you the + greatest number of troops from here. When, at length, running to + Richmond ahead of him enables him to move this way, if he does so, + turn and attack him in the rear. But I think he should be engaged + long before such point is reached. It is all easy if our troops + march as well as the enemy, and it is unmanly to say they cannot do + it. This letter is in no sense an order. + + Yours truly, A. LINCOLN. + MAJOR-GENERAL MCCLELLAN. + +Throughout the entire war President Lincoln was always keenly solicitous +for the welfare of the Union soldiers. He knew that upon them everything +depended; and he felt bound to them not only by official relations, but +by the tenderer ties of human interest and love. In all his +proclamations and public utterances he gave the fullest credit to the +brave men in the field, and claimed for them the country's thanks and +gratitude. His sympathy for the soldiers was as tender as that of a +woman, and his tears were ever ready to start at the mention of their +hardships, their bravery, their sufferings and losses. Nothing that he +could do was left undone to minister to their comfort in field or camp +or hospital. His most exacting cares were never permitted to divert his +thoughts from them, and his anxious and tender sympathy included all +whom they held dear. Said Mr. Riddle, in a speech in Congress in 1863: +"Let not the distant mother, who has given up a loved one to fearful +death, think that the President does not sympathize with her sorrow, and +would not have been glad--oh, how glad--to so shape events as to spare +the sacrifices. And let not fathers and mothers and wives anywhere think +that as he sees the long blue regiments of brave ones marching away, +stepping to the drum-beat, he does not contemplate them and feel his +responsibility as he thinks how many of them shall go to nameless +graves, unmarked save by the down-looking eyes of God's pitying angels." +The feeling of the soldiers toward Lincoln was one of filial respect and +love. He was not only the President, the commander-in-chief of all the +armies and navies of the United States, but their good "Father Abraham," +who loved every man, even the humblest, that wore the Union blue. + +Of Lincoln's personal relations with the soldiers, enough interesting +anecdotes could be collected to fill a volume. He saw much of them in +Washington, as they marched through that city on their way to the front, +or returned on furlough or discharge, or filled the overcrowded +hospitals of the capital. Often they called upon him, singly or with +companions; and he always had for them a word, however brief, of +sympathy and cheer. He was always glad to see them at the White House. +They were the one class of visitors who seldom came to ask for favors, +and never to pester him with advice. It was a real treat for the harried +President to escape from the politicians and have a quiet talk with a +private soldier. Among the innumerable petitioners for executive +clemency or favor, none were so graciously received as those who +appeared in behalf of soldiers. It was half a victory to say that the +person for whom the favor was desired was a member of the Union army. + +As he wrote the pardon of a young soldier, sentenced to be shot for +sleeping while on sentinel duty, the President remarked to a friend +standing by: "I could not think of going into eternity with the blood of +that poor young man on my hands. It is not to be wondered at that a boy +raised on a farm, probably in the habit of going to bed at dark, should, +when required to watch, fall asleep; and I cannot consent that he be +shot for such an act." The youth thus reprieved was afterwards found +among the slain on the field of Fredericksburg, with a photograph of +Lincoln, on which he had written, "God bless President Lincoln," worn +next his heart. + +Rev. Newman Hall, of London, has repeated in a sermon an anecdote told +him by a Union general. "The first week of my command," said the +officer, "there were twenty-four deserters sentenced by court martial to +be shot, and the warrants for their execution were sent to the President +to be signed. He refused. I went to Washington and had an interview. I +said: 'Mr. President, unless these men are made an example of, the army +itself is in danger. Mercy to the few is cruelty to the many.' He +replied: 'Mr. General, there are already too many weeping widows in the +United States. For God's sake, don't ask me to add to the number, for _I +won't do it_.'" + +It came to the knowledge of Lincoln that a widow living in Boston--a +Mrs. Bixby--had lost five sons in the service of their country. Without +delay he addressed to the bereaved mother the following touching note: + + I have been shown on the file of the War Department a statement of + the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts, that you are the mother of + five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel + how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should + attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming; + but I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may + be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray + that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your + bereavements, and leave only the cherished memory of the loved and + lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so + costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom. + + Yours, very sincerely and respectfully, + A. LINCOLN. + +A case of unusual interest is that of Cyrus Pringle, a Vermont Quaker +who was drafted into the military service in 1863, and refused to serve +on the ground that his religion and his conscience would not permit him +to bear arms. His story, as recorded in his diary, was given to the +world after his death ("Atlantic Monthly," February, 1913). In spite of +his protests, Pringle was taken South and forced to wear a uniform and +carry a gun, though he refused to use it or even to clean it. His +obstinacy, as it was supposed to be, caused him much suffering, +sometimes even physical punishment, all of which he bore patiently, +believing that if he was steadfast in his faith relief would somehow +come. It did come, but not until--after five months of hardship and +distress of mind and body--his case, with that of other Quakers, finally +reached the President. "I want you to go and tell Stanton," said Lincoln +to the gentleman who had presented the case to him, "that it is my wish +that all those young men be sent home at once." The gentleman went to +Stanton with the message, but Stanton was unwilling to obey it. While +they were arguing the matter, the President entered the room. "_It is my +urgent wish_," said he. Stanton yielded, and the unfortunate Quakers +were given permission to return to their homes--none too soon to save +the life of Pringle, who records in his diary: "Upon my arrival in New +York I was seized with delirium, from which I only recovered after many +weeks, through the mercy and favor of Him who in all this trial had been +our guide and strength and comfort." + +Anything that savored of the wit and humor of the soldiers was +especially relished by Lincoln. Any incident that showed that "the boys" +were mirthful and jolly amidst their privations seemed to commend itself +to him. There was a story of a soldier in the Army of the Potomac, +carried to the rear of battle with both legs shot off, who, seeing a +pie-woman hovering about, asked, "Say, old lady, are them pies _sewed_ +or _pegged_?" And there was another one of a soldier at the battle of +Chancellorsville, whose regiment, waiting to be called into the fight, +was taking coffee. The hero of the story put to his lips a crockery mug +which he had carried, with infinite care, through several campaigns. A +stray bullet, just missing the coffee-drinker's head, dashed the mug +into fragments and left only its handle on his finger. Turning his head +in that direction, the soldier angrily growled, "Johnny, you can't do +that again!" Lincoln, relating these two stories together, said, "It +seems as if neither death nor danger could quench the grim humor of the +American soldier." + +A juvenile "brigadier" from New York, with a small detachment of +cavalry, having imprudently gone within the rebel lines near Fairfax +Court House, was captured by "guerillas." Upon the fact being reported +to Lincoln, he said that he was very sorry to lose the horses. "What do +you mean?" inquired his informant. "Why," rejoined the President, "I can +make a 'brigadier' any day; but those horses cost the government a +hundred and twenty-five dollars a head!" + +Lincoln was especially fond of a joke at the expense of some high +military or civil dignitary. He was intensely amused by a story told by +Secretary Stanton, of a trip made by him and General Foster up the +Broad river in North Carolina, in a tug-boat, when, reaching our +outposts on the river bank, a Federal picket yelled out, "Who have you +got on board that tug?" The severe and dignified answer was, "The +Secretary of War and Major-General Foster." Instantly the picket roared +back: "We've got Major-Generals enough up here--_why don't you bring us +up some hardtack?_" + +On one occasion, when the enemy were threatening the defenses of +Washington, the President made a personal visit to the men in the +trenches, for the purpose, as he stated, of "encouraging the boys." He +walked about among them, telling them to hold their ground and he would +soon give them reinforcements. His presence had a most inspiring effect, +and the trenches were held by a few hundred soldiers of the Invalid +Corps until the promised help came and the enemy withdrew. + +On a visit to City Point, Lincoln called upon the head surgeon at that +place and said he wished to visit all the hospitals under his charge. +The surgeon asked if he knew what he was undertaking; there were five or +six thousand soldiers at that place, and it would be quite a tax upon +his strength to visit all the wards. Lincoln answered, with a smile, +that he guessed he was equal to the task; at any rate he would try, and +go as far as he could; he should never, probably, see the boys again, +and he wanted them to know that he appreciated what they had done for +their country. Finding it useless to try to dissuade him, the surgeon +began his rounds with the President, who walked from bed to bed, +extending his hand and saying a few words of sympathy to some, making +kind inquiries of others, and welcomed by all with the heartiest +cordiality. After some hours the tour of the various hospitals was made, +and Lincoln returned with the surgeon to his office. They had scarcely +entered, however, when a messenger came saying that one ward had been +overlooked, and "the boys" wanted to see the President. The surgeon, who +was thoroughly tired, and knew Lincoln must be, tried to dissuade him +from going; but the good man said he must go back; "the boys" would be +so disappointed. So he went with the messenger, accompanied by the +surgeon, shook hands with the gratified soldiers, and then returned to +the office. The surgeon expressed the fear that the President's arm +would be lamed with so much hand-shaking, saying that it certainly must +ache. Lincoln smiled, and saying something about his "strong muscles," +stepped out at the open door, took up a very large heavy axe which lay +there by a log of wood, and chopped vigorously for a few moments, +sending the chips flying in all directions; and then, pausing, he +extended his right arm to its full length, holding the axe out +horizontally, without its even quivering as he held it. Strong men who +looked on--men accustomed to manual labor--could not hold the axe in +that position for a moment. + +In summer Lincoln's favorite home was at "The Soldiers' Rest," a place a +few miles out of Washington, on the Maryland side, where old and +disabled soldiers of the regular army found a refuge. It was a lovely +spot, situated on a beautifully wooded hill, reached by a winding road, +shaded by thick-set branches. On his way there he often passed long +lines of ambulances, laden with the suffering victims of a recent +battle. A friend who met him on such an occasion, says: "When I met the +President, his attitude and expression spoke the deepest sadness. He +paused, and, pointing his hand-towards the wounded men, he said: 'Look +yonder at those poor fellows. I cannot bear it! This suffering, this +loss of life, is dreadful!' Recalling a letter he had written years +before to a suffering friend whose grief he had sought to console, I +reminded him of the incident, and asked him: 'Do you remember writing to +your sorrowing friend these words: "And this too shall pass away. Never +fear. Victory will come."' 'Yes,' replied he, '_victory will come, but +it comes slowly_.'" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + + + Lincoln and McClellan--The Peninsular Campaign of 1862--Impatience + with McClellan's Delay--Lincoln Defends McClellan from Unjust + Criticism--Some Harrowing Experiences--McClellan Recalled from the + Peninsula--His Troops Given to General Pope--Pope's Defeat at + Manassas--A Critical Situation--McClellan again in Command--Lincoln + Takes the Responsibility--McClellan's Account of his + Reinstatement--The Battle of Antietam--The President + Vindicated--Again Dissatisfied with McClellan--Visits the Army in + the Field--The President in the Saddle--Correspondence between + Lincoln and McClellan--McClellan's Final Removal--Lincoln's + Summing-up of McClellan--McClellan's "Body-guard." + +President Lincoln's relations with no other person have been so much +discussed as those with General McClellan. Volumes have been written on +this subject; many heated and intemperate words have been uttered and +wrong conclusions reached. Whatever defects may have marked McClellan's +qualities as a soldier, he must remain historically one of the most +conspicuous figures of the war. He organized the largest and most +important of the Union armies, and was its first commander in the field. +He was one of the two out of the five commanders of the Army of the +Potomac, before Grant, who led that army to victory; the other three +having led it only to disastrous defeat. Great things were expected of +him; and when he failed to realize the extravagant expectations of those +who thought the war should be ended within a year, he received equally +extravagant condemnation. It is noticeable that this condemnation came +chiefly from civilians--from politicians, from Congress, from the press: +not the best judges of military affairs. His own army--the men who were +with him on the battlefield and risked their lives and their cause under +his leadership--never lost faith in him. Of all the commanders of the +Army of the Potomac, he was the one most believed in by his troops. Even +after his removal, at a grand review of the army by the President, after +the battle of Fredericksburg, it was not for the new commander, +Burnside, but the old commander, McClellan, that the troops gave their +heartiest cheers. It is worth remembering also that the war was not +ended until two and a half years after McClellan's retirement, and until +trial after trial had been made and failure after failure had been met +in the effort to find a successful leader for our armies. The initial +task of organization, of creating a great army in the field, fell upon +him--a task so well performed that General Meade, his first efficient +successor, said, "Had there been no McClellan there could have been no +Grant, for the army [organization] made no essential improvements under +any of his successors." And Grant, the last and finally victorious of +these successors--who was at one time criticized as being "as great a +discouragement as McClellan"--recorded in his Memoirs the conviction +(already quoted in these pages) that the conditions under which +McClellan worked were fatal to success, and that he himself could not +have succeeded in his place under those conditions. + +It is not in the province of the present narrative to enter into a +consideration of the merits or demerits of McClellan as a soldier, but +to treat of his personal relations with President Lincoln. Between the +two men, notwithstanding many sharp differences of opinion and of +policy, there seems to have been a feeling of warm personal friendship +and sincere respect. Now that both have passed beyond the reach of +earthly praise or blame, we may well honor their memory and credit each +with having done the best he could to serve his country. + +McClellan was appointed to the command of the Union armies upon the +retirement of the veteran General Scott, in November of 1861. He had +been but a captain in the regular army, but his high reputation and +brilliant soldierly qualities had led to his being sent abroad to study +the organization and movements of European armies; and this brought him +into prominence as a military man. It was soon after McClellan took +command that President Lincoln began giving close personal attention to +the direction of military affairs. He formed a plan of operations +against the Confederate army defending Richmond, which differed entirely +from the plan proposed by McClellan. The President's plan was, in +effect, to repeat the Bull Run expedition by moving against the enemy in +Virginia at or hear Manassas. McClellan preferred a transference of the +army to the region of the lower Chesapeake, thence moving up the +Peninsula by the shortest land route to Richmond. (This was a movement, +it may be remarked, which was finally carried out before Richmond fell +in 1865.) The President discussed the relative merits of the two plans +in the following frank and explicit letter to McClellan: + + EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D.C., + February 3, 1862. + + MAJOR-GENERAL MCCLELLAN. + + MY DEAR SIR: You and I have distinct and different plans for a + movement of the Army of the Potomac; yours to be done by the + Chesapeake, up the Rappahannock to Urbana, and across to the + terminus of the railroad on the York river; mine to move directly + to a point on the railroad southwest of Manassas. If you will give + me satisfactory answers to the following questions, I shall gladly + yield my plan to yours: + + 1st. Does your plan involve a greatly larger expenditure of _time_ + and _money_ than mine? + + 2d. Wherein is a victory more certain by your plan than mine? + + 3d. Wherein is a victory _more valuable_ by your plan than mine? + + 4th. In fact, would it not be _less_ valuable in this, that it + would break no great line of the enemy's communication, while mine + would? + + 5th. In case of a disaster, would not a retreat be more difficult + by your plan than mine? + + Yours truly, ABRAHAM LINCOLN. + +To this communication McClellan made an elaborate reply, discussing the +situation very fully, and answering the inquiries apparently to the +satisfaction of the President, who consented to the plan submitted by +McClellan and concurred in by a council of his division commanders, by +which the base of the Army of the Potomac should be transferred from +Washington to the lower Chesapeake. Yet Lincoln must have had misgivings +in the matter, for some weeks later he wrote to McClellan: "You will do +me the justice to remember I always insisted that going down the bay in +search of a field, instead of fighting at or near Manassas, was only +shifting, and not surmounting, a difficulty; that we would find the same +enemy, and the same or equal intrenchments, at either place." + +After the transfer of the Army of the Potomac to the Peninsula there was +great impatience at the delays in the expected advance on Richmond. The +President shared this impatience, and his despatches to McClellan took +an urgent and imperative though always friendly tone. April 9 he wrote: +"Your despatches, complaining that you are not properly sustained, while +they do not offend me, do pain me very much. I suppose the whole force +which has gone forward for you is with you by this time. And, if so, I +think it is the precise time for you to _strike a blow_. By delay, the +enemy will relatively gain upon you--that is, he will gain faster by +fortifications and reinforcements than you can by reinforcements alone. +And once more let me tell you, it is indispensable to you that you +_strike a blow_.... I beg to assure you that I have never written to you +or spoken to you in greater kindness of feeling than now, nor with a +fuller purpose to sustain you, so far as, in my most anxious judgment, I +consistently can. But you _must act_." + +While Lincoln was thus imperative toward McClellan, he would not permit +him to be unjustly criticized. Considerable ill-feeling having been +developed between McClellan and Secretary Stanton, which was made worse +by certain meddlesome persons in Washington, the President took +occasion, at a public meeting, to express his views in these frank and +manly words: "There has been a very wide-spread attempt to have a +quarrel between General McClellan and the Secretary of War. Now, I +occupy a position that enables me to observe that these two gentlemen +are not nearly so deep in the quarrel as some pretending to be their +friends. General McClellan's attitude is such that, in the very +selfishness of his nature, he cannot but wish to be successful, as I +hope he will be; and the Secretary of War is in precisely the same +situation. If the military commanders in the field cannot be successful, +not only the Secretary of War but myself, for the time being the master +of them both, cannot but be failures. I know General McClellan wishes to +be successful, and I know he does not wish it any more than the +Secretary of War wishes it for him, and both of them together no more +than I wish it. Sometimes we have a dispute about how many men General +McClellan has had, and those who would disparage him say he has had a +very large number, and those who would disparage the Secretary of War +insist that General McClellan has had a very small number. The basis for +this is, there is always a wide difference, and on this occasion perhaps +a wider one than usual, between the grand total on McClellan's rolls and +the men actually fit for duty; and those who would disparage him talk of +the grand total on paper, and those who would disparage the Secretary of +War talk of those at present fit for duty. General McClellan has +sometimes asked for things that the Secretary of War did not give him. +General McClellan is not to blame for asking what he wanted and needed, +and the Secretary of War is not to blame for not giving when he had none +to give." + +The summer of 1862 was a sad one for the country, and peculiarly sad for +Lincoln. The Army of the Potomac fought battle after battle, often with +temporary successes, but without apparent substantial results; while +many thousands of our brave soldiers perished on the field, or filled +the hospitals from the fever-swamps of the Chickahominy. The terrible +realities of that dreadful summer, and their strain on Lincoln, are well +shown in the following incident: Colonel Scott, of a New Hampshire +regiment, had been ill, and his wife nursed him in the hospital. After +his convalescence, he received leave of absence, and started for home; +but by a steamboat collision in Hampton Roads, his noble wife was +drowned. Colonel Scott reached Washington, and learning, a few days +later, of the recovery of his wife's body, he requested permission of +the Secretary of War to return for it. A great battle was imminent, and +the request was denied. Colonel Scott thereupon sought the President. It +was Saturday evening; and Lincoln, worn with the cares and anxieties of +the week, sat alone in his room, coat thrown off, and seemingly lost in +thought, perhaps pondering the issue of the coming battle. Silently he +listened to Colonel Scott's sad story; then, with an unusual irritation, +which was probably a part of his excessive weariness, he exclaimed: "Am +I to have no rest? Is there no hour or spot when or where I may escape +these constant calls? Why do you follow me here with such business as +this? Why do you not go to the War-office, where they have charge of all +this matter of papers and transportation?" Colonel Scott told of Mr. +Stanton's refusal; and the President continued: "Then probably you ought +not to go down the river. Mr. Stanton knows all about the necessities of +the hour; he knows what rules are necessary, and rules are made to be +enforced. It would be wrong for me to override his rules and decisions +in cases of this kind; it might work disaster to important movements. +And then, you ought to remember that I have other duties to attend +to--heaven knows, enough for one man!--and I can give no thought to +questions of this kind. Why do you come here to appeal to my humanity? +Don't you know that we are in the midst of war? That suffering and death +press upon all of us? That works of humanity and affection, which we +would cheerfully perform in days of peace, are all trampled upon and +outlawed by war? That there is no room left for them? There is but one +duty now--_to fight_. The only call of humanity now is to conquer peace +through unrelenting warfare. War, and war alone, is the duty of all of +us. Your wife might have trusted you to the care which the Government +has provided for its sick soldiers. At any rate, you must not vex me +with your family troubles. Why, every family in the land is crushed with +sorrow; but they must not each come to me for help. I have all the +burden I can carry. Go to the War Department. Your business belongs +there. If they cannot help you, then bear your burden, as we all must, +until this war is over. Everything must yield to the paramount duty of +finishing the war." Colonel Scott withdrew, crushed and overwhelmed. The +next morning, as he sat in his hotel pondering upon his troubles, he +heard a rap at his door, and opening it found to his surprise the +President standing before him. Grasping his hands impulsively and +sympathetically, Lincoln broke out: "My dear Colonel, I was a brute last +night. I have no excuse for my conduct. Indeed, I was weary to the last +extent; but I had no right to treat a man with rudeness who had offered +his life for his country, much more a man who came to me in great +affliction. I have had a regretful night, and come now to beg your +forgiveness." He added that he had just seen Secretary Stanton, and all +the details were arranged for sending the Colonel down the Potomac and +recovering the body; then, taking him in his carriage, he drove to the +steamer's wharf, where, again pressing his hand, he wished him God-speed +on his sad errand. + +Such were Lincoln's harrowing experiences; and thus did his noble and +sympathetic nature assert itself over his momentary weakness and +depression. + +In August of 1862 General McClellan was ordered to withdraw his army +from the Peninsula. "With a heavy heart," says McClellan, "I +relinquished the position gained at the cost of so much time and blood." +Without being removed from his command, his troops were taken away from +him and sent to join General Pope, who had been placed in command of a +considerable force in Virginia, for the purpose of trying the +President's favorite plan of an advance on Richmond by way of Manassas. +Either from a confusion of orders or a lack of zeal in executing them, +the Union forces failed to co-operate; and Pope's expected victory +(Manassas, August 30) proved a disastrous and humiliating defeat. His +army was beaten and driven back on Washington in a rout little less +disgraceful than that of Bull Run a year before. This battle came to be +known as the "Second Bull Run." + +Thus the autumn of 1862 set in amidst gloom, disorder, and dismay. Our +armies in and around the national capital were on the defensive; while +the victorious Lee, following up his successes at Manassas, was invading +Maryland and threatening Washington and the North. The President was +anxious; the Cabinet and Congress were alarmed. The troops had lost +confidence in General Pope, and there was practically no one in chief +command. The situation was most critical; but Lincoln faced it, as he +always did, unflinchingly. He took what he felt to be the wisest and at +the same time the most unpopular step possible under the circumstances: +he placed McClellan in command of all the troops in and around +Washington. It was a bold act, and required no ordinary amount of moral +courage and self-reliance. Outside the army, it was about the most +unpopular thing that could have been done. McClellan was disliked by all +the members of the Cabinet and prominent officials, and with especial +bitterness by Secretary Stanton. Secretary Welles speaks, in his Diary, +of "Stanton's implacable hostility to McClellan," and records his belief +that "Stanton is determined to destroy McClellan." Welles relates that +on the very day of Pope's defeat at Manassas, Secretary Stanton, +accompanied by Secretary Chase, called on him and asked him to join in +signing a communication to the President demanding McClellan's immediate +dismissal from command of the Army of the Potomac, saying all the +members of the Cabinet would sign it. The document was in Stanton's +handwriting. Welles, though far from friendly toward McClellan, refused +to sign the paper, and the matter was dropped. Welles adds the comment, +"There was a fixed determination to remove, and, if possible, to +disgrace, McClellan." + +When it was rumored in Washington that McClellan was to be reinstated, +everyone was thunderstruck. A Cabinet meeting was held on the second day +of September, at which the President, without asking anyone's opinion, +announced that he had reinstated McClellan. Regret and surprise were +openly expressed. Mr. Stanton, with some excitement, remarked that no +such order had issued from the War Department. The President then said, +with great calmness, "No, Mr. Secretary, _the order was mine, and I will +be responsible for it to the country_." He added, by way of explanation, +that, with a retreating and demoralized army tumbling in upon the +capital, and alarm and panic in the community, something had to be done, +and as there did not appear to be anyone else to do it he took the +responsibility on himself. He remarked that McClellan had the confidence +of the troops beyond any other officer, and could, under the +circumstances, more speedily and effectually reorganize them and put +them in fighting trim than any other general. "This is what is now +wanted most," said he, "and these were my reasons for placing McClellan +in command." + +Perhaps at no other crisis of the war did Lincoln's strength of +character and power of making quick and important decisions in the face +of general opposition, come out more clearly than on this occasion. +Secretary Welles, who was present at the dramatic and stormy Cabinet +meeting referred to, says: "In stating what he had done, the President +was deliberate, but firm and decisive. His language and manner were kind +and affectionate, especially toward two of the members, who were greatly +disturbed; but every person present felt that he was truly the chief, +and every one knew his decision was as fixed and unalterable as if +given out with the imperious command and determined will of Andrew +Jackson. A long discussion followed, closing with acquiescence in the +decision of the President. In this instance the President, unaided by +others, put forth with firmness and determination the executive +will--the _one-man_ power--against the temporary general sense of the +community, as well as of his Cabinet, two of whom, it has been generally +supposed, had with him an influence almost as great as the Secretary of +State. They had been ready to make issue and resign their places unless +McClellan was dismissed; but knowing their opposition, and in spite of +it and of the general dissatisfaction in the community, the President +had in that perilous moment exalted him to new and important trusts." + +It appears from the statement of General McClellan, made shortly before +his death, that on the morning of his reinstatement (before the Cabinet +meeting just described) the President visited him at his headquarters, +near Washington, to ask if he would again assume command. "While at +breakfast, at an early hour," says McClellan, "I received a call from +the President, accompanied by General Halleck. The President informed me +that Colonel Kelton had returned and represented the condition of +affairs as much worse than I had stated to Halleck on the previous day; +that there were 30,000 stragglers on the roads; that the army was +entirely defeated and falling back to Washington in confusion. He then +said that he regarded Washington as lost, and asked me if I would, under +the circumstances, consent to accept command of all the forces. Without +a moment's hesitation, and without making any conditions whatever, I at +once said that I would accept the command, and would stake my life that +I would save the city. Both the President and Halleck again asserted +their belief that it was impossible to save the city, and I repeated my +firm conviction that I could and would save it. They then left, the +President verbally placing me in entire command of the city and of the +troops falling back upon it from the front." + +The result of the reappointment of McClellan soon vindicated the wisdom +of the step. He possessed the confidence of the army beyond any other +general at that time, and was able to inspire it with renewed hope and +courage. Leaving Washington on the 7th of September, in command of +Pope's beaten and disintegrated forces which he had to reorganize on the +march, he within two weeks met the flushed and lately victorious troops +of Lee and Jackson and fought the bloody but successful battle of +Antietam (September 17, 1862), which compelled Lee to retreat to the +southern side of the Potomac, and relieved Washington of any immediate +danger. + +After the Antietam campaign, the Army of the Potomac rested awhile from +its exhausting and disorganizing labors. Supplies and reinforcements +were necessary before resuming active operations. This delay gave rise +to no little dissatisfaction in Washington, where a clamor arose that +McClellan should have followed up his successes at Antietam by +immediately pursuing Lee into Virginia. In this dissatisfaction the +President shared to some extent. He made a personal visit to the army +for the purpose of satisfying himself of its condition. Of this occasion +McClellan says: "On the first day of October, his Excellency the +President honored the Army of the Potomac with a visit, and remained +several days, during which he went through the different encampments, +reviewed the troops, and went over the battle-field of South Mountain +and Antietam. I had the opportunity, during this visit, to describe to +him the operations of the army since it left Washington, and gave him +my reasons for not following the enemy after he recrossed the Potomac." + +Before the grand review that was to be made by the President, some of +McClellan's staff, knowing that the General was a man of great endurance +and expertness in the saddle, laughed at the idea of Lincoln's +attempting to keep up with him in the severe ordeal of "riding down the +lines." "They rather hinted," says a narrator, "that the General would +move somewhat rapidly, to test Mr. Lincoln's capacity as a rider. There +were those on the field, however, who had seen Mr. Lincoln in the saddle +in Illinois; and they were confident of his staying powers. A splendid +black horse, very spirited, was selected for the President to ride. When +the time came, Mr. Lincoln walked up to the animal, and the instant he +seized the bridle to mount, it was evident to horsemen that he 'knew his +business.' He had the animal in hand at once. No sooner was he in the +saddle than the coal-black steed began to prance and whirl and dance as +if he was proud of his burden. But the President sat as unconcerned and +fixed to the saddle as if he and the horse were one. The test of +endurance soon came. McClellan, with his magnificent staff, approached +the President, who joined them, and away they dashed to a distant part +of the field. The artillery began to thunder, the drums beat, and the +bands struck up 'Hail to the Chief,' while the troops cheered. Mr. +Lincoln, holding the bridle-rein in one hand, lifted his tall hat from +his head, and much of the time held it in the other hand. Grandly did +Lincoln receive the salute, appearing as little disturbed by the dashing +movements of the proud-spirited animal as if he had passed through such +an ordeal with the same creature many times before. Next came a further +test of endurance--a long dash over very rough untraveled ground, with +here and there a ditch or a hole to be jumped or a siding to be passed. +But Mr. Lincoln kept well up to McClellan, who made good time. Finally, +the 'riding down the lines' was performed, amidst the flaunting of +standards, the beating of drums, the loud cheering of the men and rapid +discharges of artillery, startling even the best-trained horses. Lincoln +sat easily to the end, when he wheeled his horse into position to +witness the vast columns march in review. McClellan was surprised at so +remarkable a display of horsemanship. Mr. Lincoln was a great lover of +the horse, and a skilled rider. His awkwardness of form did not show in +the saddle. He always looked well when mounted." + +After the President's return to Washington he began urging McClellan to +resume active operations; desiring him to "cross the Potomac, and give +battle to the enemy or drive him south." On the 13th of October he +addressed to him the long letter quoted at the end of the preceding +chapter. Subsequent communications from the President to McClellan +showed more and more impatience. On the 25th he telegraphed: "I have +just read your despatch about sore-tongue and fatigued horses. Will you +pardon me for asking what the horses of your army have done since the +battle of Antietam that fatigues anything?" And the next day, after +receiving McClellan's answer to his inquiry, he responded: "Most +certainly I intend no injustice to anyone, and if I have done any I +deeply regret it. To be told, after more than five weeks' total inaction +of the army, and during which period we had sent to that army every +fresh horse we possibly could, amounting in the whole to 7,918, that the +cavalry horses were too much fatigued to move, presented a very +cheerless, almost hopeless, prospect for the future, and it may have +forced something of impatience into my despatches. If not recruited and +rested then, when could they ever be? _I suppose the river is rising, +and I am glad to believe you, are crossing._" But McClellan did not +cross; his preparations for a new campaign were not yet complete; and +the President, at last losing patience, removed him from command, and +put Burnside in his place, November 5, 1862. And a disastrous step this +proved to be. Burnside was under peremptory orders from Washington to +move immediately against the Confederate forces. The result was the +ill-advised attack upon Fredericksburg (December 12, 1862) and +Burnside's bloody repulse. The movement was made against the judgment of +the army officers then, and has been generally condemned by military +critics since. Secretary Welles thus guardedly commented upon it in his +Diary: "It appears to me a mistake to fight the enemy in so strong a +position. They have selected their own ground, and we meet them there." +But it was McClellan's unwillingness to do the very thing that Burnside +is censured for having done, and that proved so overwhelming a disaster, +that was the occasion for McClellan's removal. + +A good illustration of Lincoln's disappointed, perhaps unreasonable, +state of mind before McClellan's removal is furnished by Hon. O.M. +Hatch, a former Secretary of State of Illinois and an old friend of +Lincoln's. Mr. Hatch relates that a short time before McClellan's +removal from command he went with President Lincoln to visit the army, +still near Antietam. They reached Antietam late in the afternoon of a +very hot day, and were assigned a special tent for their occupancy +during the night. "Early next morning," says Mr. Hatch, "I was awakened +by Mr. Lincoln. It was very early--daylight was just lighting the +east--the soldiers were all asleep in their tents. Scarce a sound could +be heard except the notes of early birds, and the farm-yard voices from +distant farms. Lincoln said to me, 'Come, Hatch, I want you to take a +walk with me.' His tone was serious and impressive. I arose without a +word, and as soon as we were dressed we left the tent together. He led +me about the camp, and then we walked upon the surrounding hills +overlooking the great city of white tents and sleeping soldiers. Very +little was spoken between us, beyond a few words as to the pleasantness +of the morning or similar casual observations. Lincoln seemed to be +peculiarly serious, and his quiet, abstract way affected me also. It did +not seem a time to speak. We walked slowly and quietly, meeting here and +there a guard, our thoughts leading us to reflect on that wonderful +situation. A nation in peril--the whole world looking at America--a +million men in arms--the whole machinery of war engaged throughout the +country, while I stood by that kind-hearted, simple-minded man who might +be regarded as the Director-General, looking at the beautiful sunrise +and the magnificent scene before us. Nothing was to be said, nothing +needed to be said. Finally, reaching a commanding point where almost +that entire camp could be seen--the men were just beginning their +morning duties, and evidences of life and activity were becoming +apparent--we involuntarily stopped. The President, waving his hand +towards the scene before us, and leaning towards me, said in an almost +whispering voice: 'Hatch--Hatch, what is all this?' 'Why, Mr. Lincoln,' +said I, 'this is the Army of the Potomac' He hesitated a moment, and +then, straightening up, said in a louder tone: 'No, Hatch, no. This is +_General McClellan's body-guard_.' Nothing more was said. We walked to +our tent, and the subject was not alluded to again." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + + + Lincoln and Slavery--Plan for Gradual Emancipation--Anti-slavery + Legislation in 1862--Pressure Brought to Bear on the Executive--The + Delegation of Quakers--A Visit from Chicago Clergymen--Interview + between Lincoln and Channing--Lincoln and Horace Greeley--The + President's Answer to "The Prayer of Twenty Millions of + People"--Conference between Lincoln and Greeley--Emancipation + Resolved on--The Preliminary Proclamation--Lincoln's Account of + It--Preparing for the Final Act--The Emancipation + Proclamation--Particulars of the Great Document--Fate of the + Original Draft--Lincoln's Outline of his Course and Views regarding + Slavery. + +The emancipation of slaves in America--the crowning act of Lincoln's +eventful career and the one with which his fame is most indissolubly +linked--is a subject of supreme interest in a study of his life and +character. For this great act all his previous life and training had +been but a preparation. From the first awakening of his convictions of +the moral wrong of human slavery, through all his public and private +utterances, may be traced one logical and consistent development of the +principles which at last found sublime expression in the Proclamation of +Emancipation. In this, as always, he was true to his own inner +promptings. He would not be hurried or worried or badgered into +premature and impracticable measures. He bided his time; and when that +time came the deed was done, unalterably and irrevocably: approved by +the logic of events, and by the enlightened conscience of the world. + +The final Emancipation Proclamation was issued on the first day of +January, 1863. The various official measures that preceded it may be +briefly sketched, together with closely related incidents. As early as +the autumn of 1861 the problem of the relation of the war to slavery was +brought forcibly to the President's attention by the action of General +J.C. Frémont, the Union commander in Missouri, who issued an order +declaring the slaves of rebels in his department free. The order was +premature and unauthorized, and the President promptly annulled it. +General Frémont was thus, in a sense, the pioneer in military +emancipation; and he lived to see the policy proposed by him carried +into practical operation by all our armies. Lincoln afterwards said: "I +have great respect for General Frémont and his abilities, but the fact +is that the pioneer in any movement is not generally the best man to +carry that movement to a successful issue. It was so in old times; Moses +began the emancipation of the Jews, but didn't take Israel to the +Promised Land after all. He had to make way for Joshua to complete the +work. It looks as if the first reformer of a thing has to meet such a +hard opposition and gets so battered and bespattered that afterward when +people find they have to accept his reform they will accept it more +easily from another man." + +Lincoln at first favored a policy of gradual emancipation. In a special +message to Congress, on the 6th of March, 1862, he proposed such a plan +for the abolition of slavery. "In my judgment," he remarked, "gradual, +and not sudden, emancipation is better for all." He suggested to +Congress the adoption of a joint resolution declaring "that the United +States ought to co-operate with any State which may adopt a gradual +abolition of slavery, giving to such State pecuniary aid to compensate +for the inconvenience, public and private, produced by such change of +system." In conclusion he urged: "In full view of my great +responsibility to my God and to my country, I earnestly beg the +attention of Congress and the people to this subject." + +On the 16th of April of this year, Congress passed a bill abolishing +slavery in the District of Columbia--a measure for which Lincoln had +himself introduced a bill while a member of Congress. In confirming the +act as President, he remarked privately: "Little did I dream in 1849, +when as a member of Congress I proposed to abolish slavery at this +capital, and could scarcely get a hearing for the proposition, that it +would be so soon accomplished." + +Emancipation measures moved rapidly in 1862. On June 19 Congress enacted +a measure prohibiting slavery forever in all present and future +territories of the United States. July 17 a law was passed authorizing +the employment of negroes as soldiers, and conferring freedom on all who +should render military service, and on the families of all such as +belonged to disloyal owners. Two days later, in a conference appointed +by him at the Executive Mansion, the President submitted to the members +of Congress from the Border States a written appeal, in which he said: + + Believing that you, in the border States, hold more power for good + than any other equal number of members, I feel it a duty which I + cannot justifiably waive, to make this appeal to you.... I intend + no reproach or complaint when I assure you that, in my opinion, if + you all had voted for the resolution in the gradual emancipation + message of last March, the war would now be substantially ended. + And the plan therein proposed is yet one of the most potent and + swift means of ending it. Let the States which are in rebellion see + definitely and certainly that in no event will the States you + represent ever join their proposed confederacy, and they cannot + much longer maintain the contest.... If the war continues long, as + it must if the object be not sooner attained, the institution in + your States will be extinguished by mere friction and abrasion, by + the mere incidents of the war. It will be gone, and you will have + nothing valuable in lieu of it. Much of its value is gone already. + How much better for you and for your people to take the step which + at once shortens the war and secures substantial compensation for + that which is sure to be wholly lost in any other event! How much + better to thus save the money which else we sink forever in the + war! How much better to do it while we can, lest the war ere long + render us pecuniarily unable to do it! How much better for you as + seller, and the nation as buyer, to sell out and buy out that + without which the war could never have been, than to sink both the + thing to be sold and the price of it in cutting one another's + throats!... I do not speak of emancipation _at once_, but of a + _decision_ to emancipate _gradually_.... Upon these considerations + I have again begged your attention to the message of March last. + Before leaving the capital, consider and discuss it among + yourselves. You are patriots and statesmen, and as such I pray you + consider this proposition, and at the least commend it to the + consideration of your States and people. As you would perpetuate + popular government for the best people in the world, I beseech you + that you do in nowise omit this. Our common country is in great + peril, demanding the loftiest views and boldest action to bring a + speedy relief. Once relieved, its form of government is saved to + the world, its beloved history and cherished memories are + vindicated, and its happy future fully assured and rendered + inconceivably grand. To you, more than any others, the privilege is + given to assure that happiness and swell that grandeur, and to link + your own names therewith forever. + +In an interview with Mr. Lovejoy and Mr. Arnold, of Illinois, the day +following this conference, Lincoln exclaimed: "Oh, how I wish the +border States would accept my proposition! Then you, Lovejoy, and you, +Arnold, and all of us, would not have lived in vain! The labor of your +life, Lovejoy, would be crowned with success. You would live to see the +end of slavery." + +The first occasion on which the President definitely discussed +emancipation plans with members of his Cabinet, according to Secretary +Welles, was on the 13th of July, 1862. On that day, says Mr. Welles, +"President Lincoln invited me to accompany him in his carriage to the +funeral of an infant child of Mr. Stanton. Secretary Seward and Mrs. +Frederick Seward were also in the carriage. Mr. Stanton occupied at that +time for a summer residence the house of a naval officer, some two or +three miles west or northwest of Georgetown. It was on this occasion and +on this ride that he first mentioned to Mr. Seward and myself the +subject of emancipating the slaves by proclamation in case the Rebels +did not cease to persist in their war on the Government and the Union, +of which he saw no evidence. He dwelt earnestly on the gravity, +importance, and delicacy of the movement; said he had given it much +thought, and had about come to the conclusion that it was a military +necessity absolutely essential for the salvation of the Union; that we +must free the slaves or be ourselves subdued, etc.... This was, the +President said, the first occasion when he had mentioned the subject to +anyone, and wished us to frankly state how the proposition struck us. +Mr. Seward said the subject involved consequences so vast and momentous +that he should wish to bestow on it mature reflection before giving a +decisive answer; but his present opinion inclined to the measure as +justifiable, and perhaps he might say expedient and necessary. These +were also my views. Two or three times on that ride the subject, which +was of course an absorbing one for each and all, was adverted to; and +before separating, the President desired us to give the question special +and deliberate attention, for he was earnest in the conviction that +something must be done. It was a new departure for the President, for +until this time, in all our previous interviews, whenever the question +of emancipation or the mitigation of slavery had been in any way alluded +to, he had been prompt and emphatic in denouncing any interference by +the General Government with the subject. This was, I think, the +sentiment of every member of the Cabinet, all of whom, including the +President, considered it a local, domestic question, appertaining to the +States respectively, who had never parted with their authority over it. +But the reverses before Richmond, and the formidable power and +dimensions of the insurrection, which extended through all the Slave +States, and had combined most of them in a confederacy to destroy the +Union, impelled the Administration to adopt extraordinary measures to +preserve the national existence. The slaves, if not armed and +disciplined, were in the service of those who were, not only as field +laborers and producers, but thousands of them were in attendance upon +the armies in the field, employed as waiters and teamsters, and the +fortifications and intrenchments were constructed by them." + +It has been shown again and again, by the words of Lincoln and by the +testimony of his friends, that he heartily detested the practice of +slavery, and would joyfully have set every bondman free. Before his +nomination for the Presidency--indeed, from the very beginning of his +public life--he had repeatedly put himself on record as opposed to +slavery, but perhaps nowhere more tersely and unequivocally than in +these words: "There is no reason in the world why the negro is not +entitled to all the natural rights enumerated in the Declaration of +Independence--the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. +_I hold that he is as much entitled to them as the white man._" But his +respect for the laws of the land deterred him from measures that might +seem of doubtful constitutionality, and he waited patiently until the +right hour had struck before he issued the edict of emancipation so +eagerly demanded by a large class of earnest and loyal people at the +North. Many of these people, misunderstanding his views and intentions, +were very impatient; and their criticisms and expostulations were a +constant burden to the sorely tried Executive. + +In June of this year (1862) the President was waited on by a deputation +of Quakers, or Friends, fifteen or twenty in number, who had been +charged by the Yearly Meeting of their association to present a "minute" +to the President on the subject of slavery and the duty of immediate +emancipation. The visit of these excellent people was not altogether +timely. Bad news had been received from McClellan's army on the +Peninsula, and Lincoln was harassed with cares and anxieties. But he +gave the deputation a cordial though brief greeting, as he announced +that he was ready to hear from the Friends. In the reading of the +minute, it appeared that the document took occasion to remind the +President that, years before, he had said, "I believe that this +Government cannot permanently endure half slave and half free," and from +this was implied a suggestion of his failure to perform his duty as he +had then seen it. Lincoln was decidedly displeased with this criticism; +and after the document had been read to the close, he received it from +the speaker, then drawing himself up, he said, with unusual severity of +manner: "It is true that on the 17th of June, 1858, I said, 'I believe +that this Government cannot permanently endure half slave and half +free,' but I said it in connection with other things from which it +should not have been separated in an address discussing moral +obligations; for this is a case in which the repetition of half a truth, +in connection with the remarks just read, produces the effect of a whole +falsehood. What I did say was, 'If we could first know where we are, and +whither we are tending, we could better judge what to do and how to do +it. We are now far into the fifth year since a policy was initiated with +the avowed object and confident promise of putting an end to the slavery +agitation. Under the operation of that policy this agitation has not +only not ceased but has constantly augmented. In my opinion it will not +cease until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. "A house +divided against itself cannot stand." I believe that this Government +cannot permanently endure 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 will 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 in the course of ultimate extinction, 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.' Take this statement +as a whole, and it does not furnish a text for the homily to which this +audience has listened." + +As Lincoln concluded, he was turning away, when another member of the +delegation, a woman, requested permission to detain him with a few +words. Somewhat impatiently he said, "I will hear the Friend." Her +remarks were a plea for the emancipation of the slaves, urging that he +was the appointed minister of the Lord to do the work, and enforcing her +argument by many Scriptural citations. At the close he asked, "Has the +Friend finished?" and receiving an affirmative answer, he said: "I have +neither time nor disposition to enter into discussion with the Friend, +and end this occasion by suggesting for her consideration the question +whether, if it be true that the Lord has appointed me to do the work she +has indicated, it is not probable that He would have communicated +knowledge of the fact to me as well as to her?" + +Something like the same views were expressed by Lincoln, on another +occasion, when, in response to a memorial presented by a delegation +representing most of the religious organizations of Chicago, he said, +respectfully but pointedly: "I am approached with the most opposite +opinions and advice, and by religious men who are certain they represent +the Divine Will.... I hope it will not be irreverent in me to say that +if it be probable that God would reveal His will to others, on a point +so closely connected with my duty, it might be supposed he would reveal +it directly to me.... If I can learn His will, I will do it. These, +however, are not the days of miracles, and I suppose I am not to expect +a direct revelation. I must study the plain physical facts of the case, +and learn what appears to be wise and right.... Do not misunderstand me +because I have mentioned these objections. They indicate the +difficulties which have thus far prevented my action in some such way as +you desire. I have not decided against a proclamation of emancipation, +but hold the matter in advisement. The subject is in my mind by day and +by night. Whatever shall appear to be God's will, I will do." + +About this period the President had a very interesting conversation with +Rev. William Henry Channing, in which the question of emancipation was +frankly discussed. Mr. M.D. Conway, who was present at the interview, +says: "Mr. Channing having begun by expressing his belief that the +opportunity of the nation to rid itself of slavery had arrived, Mr. +Lincoln asked how he thought they might avail themselves of it. Channing +suggested emancipation, with compensation for the slaves. The President +said he had for years been in favor of that plan. When the President +turned to me, I asked whether we might not look to him as the coming +deliverer of the nation from its one great evil? What would not that man +achieve for mankind who should free America from slavery? He said, +'Perhaps we may be better able to do something in that direction after a +while than we are now.' I said: 'Mr. President, do you believe the +masses of the American people would hail you as their deliverer if, at +the end of this war, the Union should be surviving and slavery still in +it?' 'Yes, if they were to see that slavery was on the down hill.' I +ventured to say: 'Our fathers compromised with slavery because they +thought it on the down hill; hence war to-day.' The President said: 'I +think the country grows in this direction daily, and I am not without +hope that something of the desire of you and your friends may be +accomplished. When the hour comes for dealing with slavery, _I trust I +shall be willing to do my duty, though it costs my life_. And, +gentlemen, lives will be lost.' These last words were said with a smile, +yet with a sad and weary tone. During the conversation Mr. Lincoln +recurred several times to Channing's suggestion of pecuniary +compensation for emancipated slaves, and professed profound sympathy +with the Southerners who, by no fault of their own, had become socially +and commercially bound up with their peculiar institution. Being a +Virginian myself, with many dear relatives and beloved companions of my +youth in the Confederate ranks, I responded warmly to his kindly +sentiments toward the South, albeit feeling more angry than he seemed +to be against the institution preying upon the land like a ghoul. I +forget whether it was on this occasion or on a subsequent one when I was +present that he said, in parting: 'We shall need all the anti-slavery +feeling in the country, and more; you can go home and try to bring the +people to your views; and you may say anything you like about me, if +that will help. Don't spare me!' This was said with some laughter, but +still in earnest." + +One of the severest opponents of President Lincoln's policy regarding +slavery was Horace Greeley. He criticized Lincoln freely in the New York +"Tribune," of which he was editor, and said many harsh and bitter things +of the administration. Lincoln took the abuse good-naturedly, saying on +one occasion: "It reminds me of the big fellow whose little wife was +wont to beat him over the head without resistance. When remonstrated +with, the man said, 'Let her alone. It don't hurt me, and it does her a +power of good.'" + +In August, 1862, Mr. Greeley published a letter in the New York +"Tribune," headed "The prayer of twenty millions of people," in which he +urged the President, with extreme emphasis, to delay the act of +emancipation no longer. Lincoln answered the vehement entreaty in the +following calm, firm, and explicit words: + + EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, + Friday, Aug. 22, 1862. + + HON. HORACE GREELEY. + + DEAR SIR: I have just read yours of the 19th instant, addressed to + myself, through the New York Tribune. + + 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 believe to be falsely drawn, I do + not now and here argue against 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 be right. + + As to the policy I "seem to be pursuing," as you say, I have not + meant to leave anyone in doubt. I would save the Union. I would + save it in the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the + national authority can be restored, the nearer the Union will + be--the Union as it was. If there be those who would not save the + Union unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not + agree 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, and not + either to save or destroy slavery._ If I could save the Union + without freeing any slave, I would do it. And if I could save it by + freeing all the slaves, I would do it. And if I could save it by + freeing some, and leaving others alone, I would do that. + + What 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 believe what I am doing hurts the cause; and + shall do more whenever I believe doing more will help the cause. I + shall try 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 view of official + duty, and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal + wish that all men everywhere could be free. + + Yours, + A. Lincoln. + +Mr. Greeley being dissatisfied with Lincoln's explanation, and the +"Tribune" still teeming with complaints and criticisms of the +administration, Lincoln requested Mr. Greeley to come to Washington and +make known in person his complaints, to the end that they might be +obviated if possible. The editor of the "Tribune" came. Lincoln said: +"You complain of me. What have I done, or omitted to do, which has +provoked the hostility of the 'Tribune'?" The reply was, "You should +issue a proclamation abolishing slavery." Lincoln answered: "Suppose I +do that. There are now twenty thousand of our muskets on the shoulders +of Kentuckians, who are bravely fighting our battles. Every one of them +will be thrown down or carried over to the rebels." The reply was: "Let +them do it. The cause of the Union will be stronger if Kentucky should +secede with the rest than it is now." Lincoln answered, "Oh, I can't +think that." + +It is evident that these solicitations and counsellings from outside +persons were unnecessary and idle. Lincoln's far-seeing and practical +mind had already grasped, more surely than had his would-be advisers, +the ultimate wisdom and justice of the emancipation of the slaves. But +he was resolved to do nothing rashly. He would wait till the time was +ripe, and then abolish slavery on grounds that would be approved +throughout the world: he would destroy slavery as a necessary step to +the preservation of the Union. In the first year of the war he had said +to a Southern Unionist, who warned him against meddling with slavery, +"_You must not expect me to give up this Government without playing my +last card._" This "last card" was undoubtedly the freeing of the slaves; +and when the time came, Lincoln played it unhesitatingly and +triumphantly. How strong a card it was may be judged by a statement made +in Congress by Mr. Ashmore, a Representative from South Carolina, who +said shortly before the war: "The South can sustain more men in the +field than the North can. _Her four millions of slaves alone will enable +her to support an army of half a million._" This view makes the issue +plain. If the South could maintain armies in the field supported, or +partly supported, by slave labor, it was as much the right and the duty +of the Government to destroy that support as to destroy an establishment +for the manufacture of arms or munitions of war for the Southern armies. +The logic of events had demonstrated the necessity and justice of the +measure, and Lincoln now had with him a Cabinet practically united in +its favor. The case was well stated by Secretary Welles--perhaps the +most cool-headed and conservative member of Lincoln's Cabinet--at a +Cabinet meeting held six or eight weeks after the Emancipation measure +had been brought forward by the President. Mr. Welles, as he relates in +his Diary, pointed out "the strong exercise of power" involved in the +proposal, and denied the power of the Executive to take such a step +under ordinary conditions. "But," said Mr. Welles, "the Rebels +themselves had invoked war on the subject of slavery, had appealed to +arms, and must abide the consequences." Mr. Welles admitted that it was +"an extreme exercise of war powers" which he believed justifiable "under +the circumstances, and in view of the condition of the country and the +magnitude of the contest. The slaves were now an element of strength to +the Rebels--were laborers, producers, and army attendants; they were +considered as _property_ by the Rebels, and _if property_ they were +subject to confiscation; if not property, but _persons_ residing in the +insurrectionary region, we should invite them as well as the whites to +unite with us in putting down the Rebellion." This view was in the main +concurred in by the Cabinet members present, and greatly heartened the +President in his course. On the 22d of September, 1862, he issued what +is known as the "Preliminary Proclamation." The text of this momentous +document is as follows: + + I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, and + Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy thereof, do hereby proclaim + and declare that hereafter, as heretofore, the war will be + prosecuted for the object of practically restoring the + constitutional relations between the United States and each of the + States and the people thereof, in which States that relation is or + may be suspended or disturbed. + + That it is my purpose, upon the next meeting of Congress, to again + recommend the adoption of a practical measure tendering pecuniary + aid to the free acceptance or rejection of all slave States, so + called, the people whereof may not then be in rebellion against the + United States, and which States may then have voluntarily adopted, + or thereafter may voluntarily adopt, immediate or gradual + abolishment of slavery within their respective limits; and that the + effort to colonize persons of African descent, with their consent, + upon this continent or elsewhere, with the previously obtained + consent of the governments existing there, will be continued. + + That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one + thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves + within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof + shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be + then, thenceforward, and forever FREE; and the Executive government + of the United States, including the military and naval authority + thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, + and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, + in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. + + That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by + proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in + which the people thereof respectively shall then be in rebellion + against the United States; and the fact that any State, or the + people thereof, shall on that day be, in good faith, represented in + the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at + elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State + shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong + countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such + State, and the people thereof, are not in rebellion against the + United States. + + That attention is hereby called to an act of Congress entitled "An + act to make an additional article of war," approved March 13, 1862, + and which act is in the words and figures following: + + _Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the + United States of America in Congress assembled_, That hereafter the + following shall be promulgated as an additional article of war, for + the government of the army of the United States, and shall be + obeyed and observed as such. + + ARTICLE.--All officers or persons in the military or naval service + of the United States are prohibited from employing any of the + forces under their respective commands for the purpose of returning + fugitives from service or labor who may have escaped from any + persons to whom such service or labor is claimed to be due, and any + officer who shall be found guilty by a court-martial of violating + this article shall be dismissed from the service. + + SEC. 2. _And be it further enacted_, That this act shall take + effect from and after its passage. + +Also to the ninth and tenth sections of an act entitled "An act to +suppress insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and +confiscate property of rebels, and for other purposes," approved July +17, 1862, and which sections are in the words and figures following: + + SEC. 9. _And be it further enacted_, That all slaves of persons who + shall hereafter be engaged in rebellion against the government of + the United States or who shall in any way give aid or comfort + thereto, escaping from such persons and taking refuge within the + lines of the army; and all slaves captured from such persons or + deserted by them, and coming under the control of the government of + the United States; and all slaves of such persons found _on_ [or] + being within any place occupied by rebel forces, and afterwards + occupied by the forces of the United States, shall be deemed + captives of war, and shall be forever free of their servitude, and + not again held as slaves. + + SEC. 10. _And be it further enacted_, That no slave, escaping into + any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, from any other + State, shall be delivered up, or in any way impeded or hindered of + his liberty, except for crime, or some offense against the laws, + unless the person claiming said fugitive shall first make oath that + the person to whom the labor or service of such fugitive is alleged + to be due is his lawful owner, and has not borne arms against the + United States in the present rebellion, nor in any way given aid + and comfort thereto; and no person engaged in the military or naval + service of the United States shall, under any pretense whatever, + assume to decide on the validity of the claim of any person to the + service or labor of any other person, or surrender up any such + person to the claimant, on pain of being dismissed from the + service. + + And I do hereby enjoin upon and order all persons engaged in the + military and naval service of the United States to observe, obey, + and enforce, within their respective spheres of service, the act + and sections above recited. + + And the Executive will in due time recommend that all the citizens + of the United States who shall have remained loyal thereto + throughout the rebellion, shall (upon the restoration of the + constitutional relation between the United States and their + respective States and people, if that relation shall have been + suspended or disturbed) be compensated for all losses by acts of + the United States, including the loss of slaves. + + In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the + seal of the United States to be affixed. + + Done at the city of Washington, this twenty-second day of + September, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and + sixty-two, and of the Independence of the United States the + eighty-seventh. + + _By the President_: ABRAHAM LINCOLN. + + WILLIAM H. SEWARD, _Secretary of State_. + +Lincoln's own account of this proclamation, and of the steps that led +to it, is given as reported by Mr. F.B. Carpenter. "It had," said +Lincoln, "got to be midsummer, 1862. Things had gone on from bad to +worse, until I felt that we had reached the end of our rope on the plan +of operations we had been pursuing; that we must change our tactics and +play our last card, or lose the game. I now determined upon the adoption +of the emancipation policy; and, without consultation with, or the +knowledge of, the Cabinet, I prepared the original draft of the +proclamation, and, after much anxious thought, called a Cabinet meeting +upon the subject. This was the last of July, or the first part of the +month of August, 1862. This Cabinet meeting took place, I think, upon a +Saturday. All were present excepting Mr. Blair, the Postmaster general, +who was absent at the opening of the discussion, but came in +subsequently. I said to the Cabinet that I had resolved upon this step, +and had called them together, not to ask their advice, but to lay the +subject-matter of a proclamation before them; suggestions as to which +would be in order, after they had heard it read. Mr. Lovejoy was in +error when he informed you that it excited no comment, excepting on the +part of Secretary Seward. Various suggestions were offered. Secretary +Chase wished the language stronger in reference to the arming of the +blacks. Mr. Blair, after he came in, deprecated the policy, on the +ground that it would cost the administration the fall elections. +Nothing, however, was offered that I had not already fully anticipated +and settled in my own mind, until Secretary Seward spoke. He said in +substance: 'Mr. President, I approve of the proclamation, but I question +the expediency of its issue at this juncture. The depression of the +public mind, consequent upon our repeated reverses, is so great that I +fear the effect of so important a step. It may be viewed as the last +measure of an exhausted government, a cry for help; the government +stretching forth its hands to Ethiopia, instead of Ethiopia stretching +forth her hands to the government.' 'His idea,' said the President, 'was +that it would be considered our last _shriek_ on the retreat.' (This was +his precise expression.) 'Now,' continued Mr. Seward, 'while I approve +the measure, I suggest, sir, that you postpone its issue until you can +give it to the country supported by military success, instead of issuing +it, as would be the case now, upon the greatest disasters of the war!'" +Lincoln continued: "The wisdom of the view of the Secretary of State +struck me with very great force. It was an aspect of the case that, in +all my thought upon the subject, I had entirely overlooked. The result +was that I put the draft of the proclamation aside, waiting for a +victory. From time to time I added or changed a line, touching it up +here and there, anxiously waiting the progress of events. Well, the next +news we had was of Pope's disaster at Bull Run. Things looked darker +than ever. Finally, came the week of the battle of Antietam. I +determined to wait no longer.[F] The news came, I think, on Wednesday, +that the advantage was on our side. I was then staying at the Soldiers' +Home (three miles out of Washington). Here I finished writing the second +draft of the preliminary proclamation; came up on Saturday; called the +Cabinet together to hear it; and it was published the following Monday." + +Another interesting incident occurred at this Cabinet meeting in +connection with Secretary Seward. The President had written the +important part of the proclamation in these words: "That on the first +day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and +sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated +part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against +the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever FREE; and +the Executive Government of the United States, including the military +and naval authority thereof, will _recognize_ the freedom of such +persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of +them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom." "When I +finished reading this paragraph," remarked Lincoln, "Mr. Seward stopped +me, and said, 'I think, Mr. President, that you should insert after the +word "_recognize_" "_and maintain_."' I replied that I had already fully +considered the import of that expression in this connection, but I had +not introduced it, because it was not my way to promise what I was not +entirely _sure_ that I could perform, and I was not prepared to say that +I thought we were exactly able to maintain this. But Seward insisted +that we ought to take this ground, and the words finally went in." + +The special Cabinet meeting to which Lincoln here refers was one of +uncommon interest even in that day of heroic things. An account of it is +given by Secretary Welles, who was present. "At the Cabinet meeting of +September 22," says Mr. Welles in his Diary, "the special subject was +the Proclamation for emancipating the slaves after a certain date, in +States that shall then be in rebellion. For several weeks the subject +has been suspended, but the President says never lost sight of. In +taking up the Proclamation, the President stated that the question was +finally decided, the act and the consequences were his, but that he +felt it due to us to make us acquainted with the fact and to invite +criticism on the paper which he had prepared. There were, he had found, +not unexpectedly, some differences in the Cabinet, but he had, after +ascertaining in his own way the views of each and all, individually and +collectively, formed his own conclusions and made his own decisions. In +the course of the discussion on this paper, which was long, earnest, +and, on the general principle involved, harmonious, he remarked that he +had made a vow, a covenant, that if God gave us the victory in the +approaching battle, he would consider it an indication of Divine will, +and that it was his duty to move forward in the cause of emancipation. +It might be thought strange, he said, that he had in this way submitted +the disposal of important matters when the way was not clear to his mind +what he should do. God had decided his questions in favor of the slaves. +He was satisfied it was right; and he was confirmed and strengthened in +his action by the vow and the results. His mind was fixed, his decision +made, but he wished his paper announcing his course to be as correct in +terms as it could be made without any change in his determination. He +read the document. One or two unimportant amendments suggested by Seward +were approved. It was then handed to the Secretary of State to publish +to-morrow." + +The discussion of Emancipation brought up at once the problem of what +should be done with the freed negroes. The very next day after the +preliminary proclamation was issued (September 23, 1862), the President +presented the matter to the assembled Cabinet. Deportation was +considered, and some of those present urged that this should be +compulsory. The President, however, would not consider this; the +emigration of the negroes, he said, must be voluntary, and without +expense to themselves. It was proposed to deport the freedmen to Costa +Rica, where a large tract of land (known as the Chiriqui Grant) had been +obtained from the government of Central America. Lincoln favored this in +a general way. He "thought it essential to provide an asylum for a race +which we had emancipated but which could never be recognized or admitted +to be our equals," says Mr. Welles. But there was some doubt as to the +validity of the title to the Costa Rica lands, and the matter was +dropped. + +In his second annual message to Congress, transmitted to that body in +December, 1862, Lincoln touched, in conclusion, upon the great subject +of Emancipation, in these words of deep import: + + I do not forget the gravity which should characterize a paper + addressed to the Congress of the nation by the Chief Magistrate of + the nation. Nor do I forget that some of you are my seniors, nor + that many of you have more experience than I in the conduct of + public affairs. Yet I trust that in view of the great + responsibility resting upon me, you will perceive no want of + respect to yourselves in any undue earnestness I may seem to + display.... The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the + stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we + must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think + anew and act anew. + + Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and + this administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No + personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another + of us. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down, in + honor or dishonor, to the latest generation. We say we are for the + Union. The world will not forget that we say this. We know how to + save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We--even + we here--hold the power and bear the responsibility. In giving + freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free--honorable alike + in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or + meanly lose, the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed, + this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just--a + way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God + must forever bless. + +An immense concourse attended the reception at the White House on the +first day of 1863, and the President stood for several hours shaking +hands with the endless train of men and women who pressed forward to +greet him. The exhausting ceremonial being ended, the proclamation which +finally and forever abrogated the institution of slavery in the United +States was handed to him for his signature. "Mr. Seward," remarked the +President, "I have been shaking hands all day, and my right hand is +almost paralyzed. If my name ever gets into history, it will be for this +act, and my whole soul is in it. If my hand trembles when I sign the +proclamation, those who examine the document hereafter will say I +hesitated." Then, resting his arm a moment, he turned to the table, took +up the pen, and slowly and firmly wrote, ABRAHAM LINCOLN. He smiled as, +handing the paper to Mr. Seward, he said, "That will do." A few hours +after, he remarked: "The signature looks a little tremulous, for my hand +was tired; but my resolution was firm. I told them in September that if +they did not return to their allegiance I would strike at this pillar of +their strength. And now the promise shall be kept, and not one word of +it will I ever recall." + +The text of the great Emancipation Proclamation is as follows: + + Whereas, on the 22d day of September, in the year of our Lord one + thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by + the President of the United States, containing, among other things, + the following, to-wit: + + That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord + one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons + held as slaves within any States or designated part of a + State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion + against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward + and forever free; and the Executive Government of the + United States, including the military and naval authority + thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such + persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such + persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for + their actual freedom. + + That the Executive will, on the first day of January + aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and + parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof + respectively shall then be in rebellion against the + United States; and the fact that any State, or the people + thereof, shall on that day be in good faith represented + in the Congress of the United States, by members chosen + thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified + voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in + the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed + conclusive evidence that such State, and the people + thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United + States. + + Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United + States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief + of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed + rebellion against the authority and Government of the United + States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing + said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of + our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in + accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the + full period of one hundred days, from the day first above + mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States + wherein the people thereof respectively are this day in + rebellion against the United States, the following, to-wit: + Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the parishes of St. Bernard, + Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, + Ascension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, Ste. Marie, St. + Martin, and Orleans, including the city of New Orleans), + Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North + Carolina, and Virginia (except the forty-eight counties + designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, + Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Anne, and + Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and + which excepted parts are for the present left precisely as if + this proclamation were not issued. + + And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do + order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said + designated States and parts of States are and henceforward shall + be FREE; and that the Executive Government of the United States, + including the military and naval authorities thereof, will + recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons. + + And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to + abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defense; and + I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor + faithfully for reasonable wages. + + And I further declare and make known that such persons, of + suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of + the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and + other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. + + And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, + warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke + the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of + Almighty God. + + In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my name, and caused the + seal of the United States to be affixed. + + Done at the City of Washington, this first day of January, in + the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, + and of the independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. + + _By the President_: ABRAHAM LINCOLN. + + WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. + +It is stated that Lincoln gave the most earnest study to the composition +of the Emancipation Proclamation. He realized, as he afterwards said, +that the proclamation was the central act of his administration and the +great event of the nineteenth century. When the document was completed a +printed copy of it was placed in the hands of each member of the +Cabinet, and criticisms and suggestions were invited. Mr. Chase +remarked: "This paper is of the utmost importance, greater than any +state paper ever made by this Government. A paper of so much importance, +and involving the liberties of so many people, ought, I think, to make +some reference to Deity. I do not observe anything of the kind in it." +Lincoln said: "No, I overlooked it. Some reference to Deity must be +inserted. Mr. Chase, won't you make a draft of what you think ought to +be inserted?" Mr. Chase promised to do so, and at the next meeting +presented the following: "And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an +act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, +I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of +Almighty God." When Lincoln read the paragraph, Mr. Chase said: "You may +not approve it, but I thought this, or something like it, would be +appropriate." Lincoln replied: "I do approve it; it cannot be bettered, +and I will adopt it in the very words you have written." + +To a large concourse of people who, two days after the proclamation was +issued, assembled before the White House, with music, the President +said: "What I did, I did after a very full deliberation, and under a +heavy and solemn sense of responsibility. I can only trust in God I have +made no mistake." That he realized to the full the gravity of the step +before taking it is shown again in an incident related by Hon. John +Covode, who, calling on the President a few days before the issue of the +final proclamation, found him walking his room in considerable +agitation. Reference being made to the forthcoming proclamation, Lincoln +said with great earnestness: "I have studied that matter well; my mind +is made up--it _must be done_. I am driven to it. There is to me no +other way out of our troubles. But although my duty is plain, it is in +some respects painful, and I trust the people will understand that I act +not in anger but in expectation of a greater good." + +Mr. Ben. Perley Poore makes the interesting statement that "Mr. Lincoln +carefully put away the pen which he had used in signing the document, +for Mr. Sumner, who had promised it to his friend, George Livermore, of +Cambridge, the author of an interesting work on slavery. It was a steel +pen with a wooden handle, the end of which had been gnawed by Mr. +Lincoln--a habit that he had when composing anything that required +thought." + +In response to a request of the ladies in charge of the Northwestern +Fair for the Sanitary Commission, which was held in Chicago in the +autumn of 1863, Lincoln conveyed to them the original draft of the +proclamation; saying, in his note of presentation, "I had some desire to +retain the paper; but if it shall contribute to the relief or comfort of +the soldiers, that will be better." The document was purchased at the +Fair by Mr. Thomas B. Bryan, and given by him to the Chicago Historical +Society. It perished in the great fire of October, 1871. + +More than a year after the issue of the Emancipation Proclamation, +Lincoln, in writing to a prominent Kentucky Unionist, gave a synopsis of +his views and course regarding slavery, which is so clear in statement, +and so forceful and convincing in logic, that a place must be given it +in this chapter. + + I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is + wrong. I cannot remember when I did not so think and feel; and yet + I have never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me an + unrestricted, right to act officially upon this judgment and + feeling. It was in the oath I took that I would, to the best of my + ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the + United States. I could not take the office without taking the oath. + Nor was it my view that I might take an oath to get power, and + break the oath in using the power. I understood, too, that in + ordinary civil administration this oath even forbade me to + practically indulge my primary abstract judgment on the moral + question of slavery. I had publicly declared this many times and in + many ways. And I aver that, to this day, I have done no official + act in mere deference to my abstract judgment and feeling on + slavery. I did understand, however, that my oath to preserve the + Constitution to the best of my ability imposed upon me the duty of + preserving, by every indispensable means, that Government--that + Nation of which that Constitution was the organic law. Was it + possible to lose the nation and yet preserve the Constitution? By + general law, life _and_ limb must be protected; yet often a limb + must be amputated to save a life; but a life is never wisely given + to save a limb. I felt that measures, otherwise unconstitutional, + might become lawful, by becoming indispensable to the preservation + of the Constitution, through the preservation of the nation. Right + or wrong, I assumed this ground, and now avow it. I could not feel + that, to the best of my ability, I had even tried to preserve the + Constitution, if, to save slavery, or any minor matter, I should + permit the wreck of government, country, and constitution, + altogether. When, early in the war, General Frémont attempted + military emancipation, I forbade it, because I did not then think + it an indispensable necessity. When a little later, General + Cameron, then Secretary of War, suggested the arming of the blacks, + I objected, because I did not yet think it an indispensable + necessity. When, still later, General Hunter attempted military + emancipation, I again forbade it, because I did not yet think the + indispensable necessity had come. When, in March and May and July, + 1862, I made earnest and successive appeals to the border States to + favor compensated emancipation, I believed the indispensable + necessity for military emancipation and arming the blacks would + come, unless averted by that measure. They declined the + proposition; and I was, in my best judgment, driven to the + alternative of either surrendering the Union, and with it the + Constitution, or of laying strong hand upon the colored element. I + chose the latter. In choosing it, I hoped for greater gain than + loss; but of this I was not entirely confident. More than a year of + trial now shows no loss by it in our foreign relations, none in our + home popular sentiment, none in our white military force, no loss + by it anyhow or anywhere. On the contrary, it shows a gain of quite + a hundred and thirty thousand soldiers, seamen, and laborers. These + are palpable facts, about which, as facts, there can be no + cavilling. We have the men; and as we could not have had them + without the measure. + + And now let any Union man who complains of the measure, test + himself by writing down in one line that he is for subduing the + rebellion by force of arms; and in the next, that he is for taking + three hundred and thirty thousand men from the Union side, and + placing them where they would be but for the measure he condemns. + If he cannot face his case so stated, it is only because he cannot + face the truth. + + I attempt no compliment to my own sagacity. I claim not to have + controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled + me. Now, at the end of three years' struggle, the nation's + condition is not what either party or any man devised or expected. + God alone can claim it. Whither it is tending seems plain. If God + now wills the removal of a great wrong, and wills also that we of + the North, as well as you of the South, shall pay fairly for our + complicity in that wrong, impartial history will find therein new + causes to attest and revere the justice and goodness of God. + + Yours truly, + A. LINCOLN + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + + + President and People--Society at the White House in 1862-3--The + President's Informal Receptions--A Variety of + Callers--Characteristic Traits of Lincoln--His Ability to Say _No_ + when Necessary--Would not Countenance Injustice--Good Sense and + Tact in Settling Quarrels--His Shrewd Knowledge of Men--Getting Rid + of Bores--Loyalty to his Friends--Views of his Own + Position--"Attorney for the People"--Desire that they Should + Understand him--His Practical Kindness--A Badly Scared + Petitioner--Telling a Story to Relieve Bad News--A Breaking Heart + beneath the Smiles--His Deeply Religious Nature--The Changes + Wrought by Grief. + +In a work which is not intended to cover fully the events of a great +historic period, but rather to trace out the life of a single individual +connected with that period, much must be included which, although not +possessing special historical significance, cannot be overlooked in a +personal study of the subject of the biography. Lincoln's life as +President was by no means made up of Cabinet meetings, official messages +and proclamations, or reviews of armies; interspersed with these +conspicuous acts was a multitude of less heroic but scarcely less +interesting details, with incidents and experiences humorous or sad, but +all, even the most trivial, being expressions of the life and character +of the man whom we are seeking to portray. + +"Society," as now understood at the national capital, had but little +existence during the war. At the White House there were the usual +President's receptions, which were quite public in character and were +largely attended. Aside from these democratic gatherings there was +little enough of gaiety. The feeling that prevailed is shown by an +incident that occurred during the winter of 1862-3, when a good deal of +clamor was raised over a party given by Mrs. Lincoln, at which, it was +asserted, dancing was indulged in; and Mrs. Lincoln was severely +censured for what was regarded as inexcusable frivolity. Hon. A.G. +Riddle, who was present on the occasion referred to, states positively +that there was no dancing; the party was a quiet one, intended only to +relieve the rather dull and formal receptions. But the President was +pained by the rumors that "fashionable balls" were permitted at the +White House in war-time; and the party was not repeated. + +It was the custom of President Lincoln to open, twice a week, the doors +of his office in the Executive Mansion for the admission of all visitors +who might wish to speak with him. These brief interviews, quite devoid +of ceremony, seemed to reveal the man in his true character, and to set +forth the salient traits that fitted him for his great position, and +endeared him so greatly to the popular heart. They showed how easily +accessible he was to all classes of citizens, how readily he could adapt +himself to people of any station or degree, how deep and true were his +human sympathies, how quickly and keenly he could discriminate +character, and how heartily he detested meanness and all unworthy acts +and appliances to compass a selfish or sordid end. On these occasions, +as may well be imagined, many curious incidents occurred. Lincoln was +usually clad "in a black broadcloth suit, nothing in his dress +betokening disregard of conventionality, save perhaps his neat cloth +slippers, which were doubtless worn for comfort. He was seated beside a +plain cloth-covered table, in a commodious arm-chair." As each visitor +approached the President he was greeted with an encouraging nod and +smile, and a few moments were cordially given him in which to state the +object of the visit; the President listening with the most respectful +and patient attention, and deciding each case with tact, sympathy, and +good humor. "His _Yes_," says Mr. Riddle, "was most gracious and +satisfactory; his _No_, when reached, was often spoken by the +petitioner, and left only a soothed disappointment. He saw the point of +a case unerringly. He had a confidence in the homely views and speech of +the common people, with whom his heart and sympathies ever were." + +At these informal meetings with people who usually wanted some favor +from him, no case was too trivial to receive his attention. Taking +advantage of the opportunity, there came one day, says Mr. C. Van +Santvoord, "a sturdy, honest-looking German soldier, minus a leg, who +hobbled up to the President on crutches. In consideration of his +disabled condition, he wanted some situation about Washington, the +duties of which he might be able to discharge; and he had come to the +President, hoping that he would provide the desired situation for him. +On being interrogated as to how he had lost his leg, he answered that it +was the effect of a wound received in battle, mentioning the time and +the place. 'Let me look at your papers,' said Mr. Lincoln. The man +replied that he had none, and that he supposed his word would be +sufficient. 'What!' exclaimed the President, 'no papers, no credentials, +nothing to show how you lost your leg! How am I to know that you did not +lose it by a trap after getting into somebody's orchard?' This was +spoken with a droll expression which amused the bystanders, all except +the applicant, who with a very solemn visage earnestly protested the +truth of his statement, muttering something about the reasons for not +being able to produce his papers. 'Well, well,' said the President, 'it +is a little risky for an army man to be wandering around without papers +to show where he belongs and what he is, but I will see what can be +done for you.' And taking a blank card from a little pile of similar +blanks on the table, he wrote some lines upon it, addressed it, and +handing it to the man bade him deliver it to a certain quartermaster, +who would attend to his case." + +The President could, however, be emphatic and even severe when necessary +on such occasions. One day, we are told, "he was approached by a man +apparently sixty years of age, with dress and manner which showed that +he was acquainted with the usages of good society, whose whole exterior, +indeed, would have favorably impressed people who form opinions from +appearances. The object of his visit was to solicit aid in some +commission project, for the success of which Mr. Lincoln's favor was +regarded as essential. The President heard him patiently, but demurred +against being connected with or countenancing the affair, suggesting +mildly that the applicant would better set up an office of the kind +described, and run it in his own way and at his own risk. The man +pleaded his advanced years and obscurity as a reason for not attempting +this, but said if the President would only let him use his name to +advertise and recommend the enterprise, he would then, he thought, need +nothing more. At this the eyes of the President flashed with sudden +indignation, and his whole aspect and manner underwent a portentous +change. 'No!' he broke forth, with startling vehemence, springing from +his seat under the impulse of his emotion. 'No! I'll have nothing to do +with this business, nor with any man who comes to me with such degrading +propositions. What! Do you take the President of the United States to be +a commission broker? You have come to the wrong place; and for you and +every one who comes for such purposes, there is the door!' The man's +face blanched as he cowered and slunk away confounded, without uttering +a word. The President's wrath subsided as speedily as it had risen." + +Another example of Lincoln's power to dispose summarily of people who +tried his patience too far is given by Secretary Welles, who records +that a Mrs. White--a sister or half-sister of Mrs. Lincoln--made herself +so obnoxious as a Southern sympathizer in Washington in 1864, that the +President sent her word that "if she did not leave forthwith she might +expect to find herself within twenty-four hours in the Old Capitol +Prison." + +With all his kindness and desire to do what was asked of him, Lincoln +could not be persuaded to consent to anything which he felt to be +distinctly wrong, regardless of any unfavorable consequences which his +refusal might bring upon himself. When the members of Congress from +Minnesota, late in 1862, called on him in a body to urge him to order +the execution of three hundred Indian prisoners, captured in their State +and charged with great atrocities, he positively refused, although +realizing that it might cost him the support of those members of the +House, which he greatly needed at that time. + +"The President is always disposed to mitigate punishments and grant +favors," says a member of his Cabinet. "As a matter of duty and +friendship, I one day mentioned to him the case of Laura Jones, a young +lady residing in Richmond and there engaged to be married, who came up +three years ago to attend her sick mother and had been unable to pass +through the lines and return. A touching appeal was made by the poor +girl, who truly says her youth is passing. The President at once said he +would give her a pass. I told him her sympathies were with the +secessionists. But he said he would let her go; the war had depopulated +the country and prevented marriages enough, and if he could do a +kindness of this sort he would do it." + +Another applicant for a pass through the lines was less fortunate than +the one just noted. One day, in the spring of 1862, a gentleman from +some Northern city entered Lincoln's private office, and earnestly +requested a pass to Richmond. "A pass to Richmond!" exclaimed the +President. "Why, my dear sir, if I should give you one it would do you +no good. You may think it very strange, but there's a lot of fellows +between here and Richmond who either can't read or are prejudiced +against every man who totes a pass from me. I have given McClellan and +more than two hundred thousand others passes to Richmond, _and not a +single one of 'em has got there yet!_" + +Lincoln sometimes had a very effective way of dealing with men who asked +troublesome or improper questions. A visitor once asked him how many men +the rebels had in the field. The President replied, very seriously, +"_Twelve hundred thousand_, according to the best authority." The +interrogator blanched in the face, and ejaculated, "Good heavens!" "Yes, +sir, twelve hundred thousand--no doubt of it. You see, all of our +generals, when they get whipped, say the enemy outnumbered them from +three or five to one, and I must believe them. We have four hundred +thousand men in the field, and three times four makes twelve. Don't you +see it?" + +Among the many illustrations of the sturdy sense and firmness of +Lincoln's character, the following should be recorded: During the early +part of 1863 the Union men in Missouri were divided into two factions, +which waged a bitter controversy with each other. General Curtis, +commander of the military district comprising Missouri, Kansas, and +Arkansas, was at the head of one faction, while Governor Gamble led the +other. Their differences were a source of great embarrassment to the +Government at Washington, and of harm to the Union cause. The President +was in constant receipt of remonstrances and protests from the +contesting parties, to one of which he made the following curt reply: + + Your despatch of to-day is just received. It is very painful to me + that you, in Missouri cannot, or will not, settle your factional + quarrel among yourselves. I have been tormented with it beyond + endurance, for months, by both sides. Neither side pays the least + respect to my appeals to reason. I am now compelled to take hold of + the case. + + A. LINCOLN. + +The President promptly followed up this warning by removing General +Curtis, and appointing in his place General Schofield, to whom he soon +after addressed the following letter: + + EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, + May 27, 1863. + + GENERAL J.M. SCHOFIELD. + + DEAR SIR: Having removed General Curtis and assigned you to the + command of the Department of the Missouri, I think it may be of + some advantage to me to state to you why I did it. I did not remove + General Curtis because of my full conviction that he had done wrong + by commission or omission. I did it because of a conviction in my + mind that the Union men of Missouri, constituting, when united, a + vast majority of the people, have entered into a pestilent, + factious quarrel among themselves; General Curtis, perhaps not of + choice, being the head of one faction, and Governor Gamble that of + the other. After months of labor to reconcile the difficulty, it + seemed to grow worse and worse, until I felt it my duty to break it + up somehow, and as I could not remove Governor Gamble, I had to + remove General Curtis. Now that you are in the position, I wish you + to undo nothing merely because General Curtis or Governor Gamble + did it, but to exercise your own judgment, and do right for the + public interest. Let your military measures be strong enough to + repel the invaders and keep the peace, and not so strong as to + unnecessarily harass and persecute the people. It is a difficult + _rôle_, and so much greater will be the honor if you perform it + well. If both factions, or neither, shall abuse you, you will + probably be about right. Beware of being assailed by one and + praised by the other. + + Yours truly, A. LINCOLN. + +Firm and unyielding as he was when necessity compelled him to be, +Lincoln was by nature a peace-maker, and was ever anxious that personal +differences be adjusted happily. In his efforts to this end he never +failed to show tact and shrewdness, and would if necessary sacrifice his +own preferences in the interests of peace and harmony. A characteristic +instance of the exercise of these traits occurred in connection with the +Missouri troubles just referred to. General Schofield's course in +command of his department proved satisfactory, and he had been nominated +for a Major-General's commission. He was, however, a somewhat +conservative man, and in spite of his efforts to carry out the +President's injunctions of impartiality, he had given offense to certain +Missouri radicals, who now opposed his promotion, and were able to exert +sufficient influence in the Senate to prevent the confirmation of his +appointment as a Major-General. The Missouri delegation appealed to the +more radical Senators, and the nomination was "hung up" for about six +weeks. Lincoln was very desirous that it should be confirmed, and the +Missouri Congressmen were equally bent on its defeat. In this dilemma, +Lincoln sent for Senator Zack Chandler of Michigan, and proposed a +compromise. "General Rosecrans," said he, "has a great many friends; he +fought the battle of Stone River and won a brilliant victory, and his +advocates begin to grumble about his treatment. Now, I will tell you +what I have been thinking about. If you will confirm Schofield in the +Senate, I will remove him from the command in Missouri and send him down +to Sherman. That will satisfy the radicals. Then I will send Rosecrans +to Missouri, and that will please the latter's friends. In this way the +whole thing can be harmonized." As soon as the Senate grasped the plan +of the President there was no longer any opposition to the confirmation +of Schofield. He was sent to join Sherman in the South, Rosecrans was +appointed to the command in Missouri, and everything worked harmoniously +and pleasantly as the President had predicted and desired. + +Secretary Welles remarks that "the President was a much more shrewd and +accurate observer of the characteristics of men--better and more +correctly formed an estimate of their power and capabilities--than the +Secretary of State or most others. Those in the public service he +closely scanned, but was deliberate in forming a conclusion adverse to +any one he had appointed. In giving or withdrawing confidence he was +discriminating and just in his final decision, careful never to wound +unnecessarily the sensibilities of any of their infirmities, always +ready to praise, but nevertheless firm and resolute in discharging the +to him always painful duty of censure, reproof, or dismissal." As an +instance of this sure judgment of the abilities and characters of men, +Mr. Welles gives an anecdote relating to the naval movement under +Admiral Du Pont, against Charleston, S.C. "One day," says Mr. Welles, +"the President said to me that he had but slight expectation that we +should have any great success from Du Pont. 'He, as well as McClellan,' +said Mr. Lincoln, 'hesitates--has _the slows_. McClellan always wanted +more regiments; Du Pont is everlastingly asking for more +gun-boats--more iron-clads. He will do nothing with any. He has +intelligence and system and will maintain a good blockade. You did well +in selecting him for that command, but he will never take Sumter or get +to Charleston. He is no Farragut, though unquestionably a good routine +officer, who obeys orders and in a general way carries out his +instructions.'" The outcome of events proved the soundness of Lincoln's +judgment. + +Loyalty to his friends was always a strong trait of Lincoln's character. +It was put to the proof daily during his life in Washington. Mr. Gurdon +S. Hubbard, in a brief but interesting memorial, relates one or two +interviews held with the President, in which the simplicity of his +character and his fidelity to old friendships appear very conspicuously. +Mr. Hubbard's acquaintance with Lincoln was of long standing. "I called +on him in Washington the year of his inauguration," says Mr. Hubbard, +"and was alone with him for an hour or more. I found him greatly +changed, his countenance bearing an expression of great mental anxiety. +The whole topic of our conversation was the war, which affected him +deeply.... Two years after, I again visited Washington, and went to the +White House to pay my respects, in company with my friend Thomas L. +Forrest. It was Saturday; and, as usual, about six o'clock the band from +the navy-yard appeared and began to play. The President, with +Adjutant-General Thomas, was seated on the balcony. The crowd was great, +marching compactly past the President, the men raising their hats in +salutation. As my friend and myself passed he said to me, 'The President +seems to notice you--turn toward him.' 'No,' I said, 'I don't care to be +recognized.' At that instant Mr. Lincoln started from his seat, +advancing quickly to the iron railing, and leaning over, beckoning with +his long arm, called: 'Hubbard! Hubbard! come here!' I left the ranks +and ascended the stone steps to the gate of the balcony, which was +locked, General Thomas saying, 'Wait a moment, I will get the key.' +'Never mind, General,' said Mr. Lincoln, 'Hubbard is used to jumping--he +can scale that fence.' I climbed over, and for about an hour we +conversed and watched the large crowd, the rebel flag being in sight on +Arlington Heights. This was the last time I ever saw his face in life." + +It was noted by those about Lincoln during his residence at the White +House that he usually avoided speaking of himself as President or making +any reference to the office which he held. He used some such roundabout +phrase as "since I came into this place," instead of saying "since I +became President." The war he usually spoke of as "this great trouble," +and he almost never alluded to the enemy as "Confederates" or "the +Confederate Government." He had an unconquerable reluctance to appear to +lead public opinion, and often spoke of himself as the "attorney for the +people." Once, however, when a Senator was urging on him a certain +course which the President was not disposed to pursue, the Senator said, +"You say you are the people's attorney. Now, you will admit that this +course would be most popular." "But I am not going to let my client +manage the case against my judgment," Lincoln replied quickly. "As long +as I am attorney for the people I shall manage the case to the best of +my ability. They will have a chance to put me out by and by if my +management is not satisfactory." + +The President was so tormented by visitors seeking interviews for every +sort of frivolous and impertinent matter, that he resorted sometimes, in +desperation, to curious and effective inventions to rid himself of the +intolerable nuisance. At one time, when he was importuned by some +influential people to interfere to prevent the punishment of certain +persons convicted of fraudulent dealings with the government--a class of +cases too common at that time--the President wrote Secretary Welles that +he desired to see the records of the case before it was disposed of. +Upon Mr. Welles calling upon him with the desired information, the +President said, as if by way of apology, "There was no way to get rid of +the crowd that was upon me but by sending you a note." On another +occasion, when he had been quite ill, and therefore less inclined than +usual to listen to these bores, one of them had just seated himself for +a long visit, when the President's physician happened to enter the room, +and Lincoln said, holding out his hands, "Doctor, what are these +blotches?" "That's varioloid, or mild small-pox," said the doctor. +"They're all over me. It is contagious, I believe," said Lincoln. "Very +contagious, indeed!" replied the doctor. "Well, I can't stop, Mr. +Lincoln; I just called to see how you were," said the visitor. "Oh, +don't be in a hurry, sir!" placidly remarked the Executive. "Thank you, +sir; I'll call again," replied the visitor, executing a masterly retreat +from the White House. "Some people," said the President, looking after +him, "said they could not take very well to my proclamation; but now, I +am happy to say, I have _something that everybody can take_." + +Among the innumerable nuisances and "cranks" who called on Lincoln at +the White House, were the many who sought to win his favor by claiming +to have been the first to suggest his nomination as President. One of +these claimants, who was the editor of a weekly paper published in a +little village in Missouri, called one day, and was admitted to +Lincoln's presence. He at once began explaining that he was the man who +first suggested Lincoln's name for the Presidency, and pulling from his +pocket an old, worn, defaced copy of his paper, exhibited to the +President an item on the subject. "Do you really think," said Lincoln, +"that announcement was the occasion of my nomination?" "Certainly," said +the editor, "the suggestion was so opportune that it was at once taken +up by other papers, and the result was your nomination and election." +"Ah, well," said Lincoln, with a sigh, and assuming a rather gloomy +countenance, "I am glad to see you and to know this; but you will have +to excuse me, I am just going to the War Department to see Mr. Stanton." +"Well," said the editor, "I will walk over with you." The President, +with that apt good nature so characteristic of him, took up his hat and +said, "Come along." When they reached the door of the Secretary's +office, Mr. Lincoln turned to his companion and said, "I shall have to +see Mr. Stanton alone, and you must excuse me," and taking him by the +hand he continued, "Good-bye. I hope you will feel perfectly easy about +having nominated me; don't be troubled about it; _I forgive you_." + +A gentleman who, after the dreadful disaster at Fredericksburg, called +at the White House with news direct from the front, says that Lincoln +appeared so overwhelmed with grief that he was led to remark, "I +heartily wish I might be a welcome messenger of good news instead,--that +I could tell you how to conquer or get rid of these rebellious States." +Looking up quickly, with a marked change of expression, Lincoln said: +"That reminds me of two boys in Illinois who took a short cut across an +orchard, and did not become aware of the presence of a vicious dog until +it was too late to reach either fence. One was spry enough to escape the +attack by climbing a tree; but the other started around the tree, with +the dog in hot pursuit, until by making smaller circles than it was +possible for his pursuer to make, he gained sufficiently to grasp the +dog's tail, and held with desperate grip until nearly exhausted, when he +hailed his companion and called to him to come down. 'What for?' said +the boy. 'I want you to help me let this dog go.' If I could only let +them go!" said the President, in conclusion; "but that is the trouble. I +am compelled to hold on to them and make them stay." + +In speaking of Lincoln's fortitude under his trials and sufferings, Mrs. +Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote: "Although we believe he has never made any +religious profession, we see evidence that in passing through this +dreadful national crisis he has been forced by the very anguish of the +struggle to look upward, where any rational creature must look for +support. No man has suffered more and deeper, albeit with a dry, weary, +patient pain, that seemed to some like insensibility. 'Whichever way it +ends,' he said to the writer, 'I have the impression that I sha'n't last +long after it's over.' After the dreadful repulse of Fredericksburg, his +heavy eyes and worn and weary air told how our reverses wore upon him; +and yet there was a never-failing fund of patience at bottom that +sometimes rose to the surface in some droll, quaint saying or story, +that forced a laugh even from himself." + +The care and sorrow which Lincoln was called upon to endure in the +responsibilities of his high position graved their melancholy marks on +each feature of his face. He was a changed man. A pathetic picture of +his appearance at this time is given by his old friend, Noah Brooks, +whose description of him as he appeared in 1856, on the stump in Ogle +County, has already been given a place in these pages. "I did not see +Lincoln again," says Mr. Brooks, "until 1862, when I went to Washington +as a newspaper correspondent from California. When Lincoln was on the +stump in 1856, his face, though naturally sallow, had a rosy flush. His +eyes were full and bright, and he was in the fulness of health and +vigor. I shall never forget the shock which the sight of him gave me six +years later in 1862, I took it for granted that he had forgotten the +young man whom he had met five or six times during the Frémont and +Dayton Campaign. He was now President, and was, like Brutus, 'vexed with +many cares.' The change which a few years had made was simply appalling. +His whiskers had grown and had given additional cadaverousness to his +face as it appeared to me. The light seemed to have gone out of his +eyes, which were sunken far under his enormous brows. But there was over +his whole face an expression of sadness, and a far-away look in the +eyes, which were utterly unlike the Lincoln of other days. I was +intensely disappointed. I confess that I was so pained that I could +almost have shed tears." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + + + Lincoln's Home-life in the White House--Comfort in the + Companionship of his Youngest Son--"Little Tad" the Bright Spot in + the White House--The President and his Little Boy Reviewing the + Army of the Potomac--Various Phases of Lincoln's Character--His + Literary Tastes--Fondness for Poetry and Music--His Remarkable + Memory--Not a Latin Scholar--Never Read a Novel--Solace in + Theatrical Representation--Anecdotes of Booth and + McCullough--Methods of Literary Work--Lincoln as an Orator--Caution + in Impromptu Speeches--His Literary Style--Management of his + Private Correspondence--Knowledge of Woodcraft--Trees and Human + Character--Exchanging Views with Professor Agassiz--Magnanimity + toward Opponents--Righteous Indignation--Lincoln's Religious + Nature. + +Of the two sons left to Lincoln after the death of Willie in 1862, +Robert, the older, was a student in Harvard College until appointed to +service on the staff of General Grant; and "Little Tad," or Thomas, the +youngest, was the only one remaining in the White House during the last +hard years. He was ten years old in 1863, a bright and lovable child, +with whom his father was associated in constant and affectionate +companionship. The boy was much with him in his walks and journeys about +Washington, and even in his visits to the army in the field. The father +would often gain a brief respite from his heavy cares by sharing in the +sports and frolics of the light-hearted boy, who was a general favorite +at the White House, where he was free to go and come at will. No matter +who was with the President, or how intently he might be absorbed, little +Tad was always welcome. "It was an impressive and affecting sight," says +Mr. Carpenter, an inmate of the White House for several months, "to see +the burdened President lost for the time being in the affectionate +parent, as he would take the little fellow in his arms upon the +withdrawal of visitors, and caress him with all the fondness of a mother +for the babe upon her bosom." Hon. W.D. Kelley, a member of Congress at +that time, says: "I think no father ever loved his children more fondly +than he. The President never seemed grander in my sight than when, +stealing upon him in the evening, I would find him with a book open +before him, with little Tad beside him. There were, of course, a great +many curious books sent to him, and it seemed to be one of the special +delights of his life to open those books at a time when his boy could +stand beside him, and they could talk as he turned over the pages, the +father thus giving to the son a portion of that care and attention of +which he was ordinarily deprived by the heavy duties pressing upon him." +Tad lived to be eighteen years old, dying in Chicago in 1871. It was +well said of him that he "gave to the sad and solemn White House the +only comic relief it knew." + +When President Lincoln visited General Hooker's headquarters with the +Army of the Potomac, just before the battle of Chancellorsville, little +Tad went with him, and rode with his father and General Hooker through +the grand reviews that were held. "Over hill and dale," says a member of +the Presidential party, "dashed the brilliant cavalcade of the +General-in-Chief, surrounded by a company of officers in gay attire and +sparkling with gold lace, the party being escorted by the Philadelphia +Lancers, a showy troop of soldiers. In the midst, or at the head, rose +and fell, as the horses galloped afar, the form of Lincoln, conspicuous +by his height and his tall black hat. And ever on the flanks of the +hurrying column flew, like a flag or banneret, Tad's little gray +riding-cloak. The soldiers soon learned of Tad's presence in the army, +and wherever he went on horseback he easily divided the honors with his +father. The men cheered and shouted and waved their hats when they saw +the dear face and tall figure of the good President, then the +best-beloved man in the world; but to these men of war, far away from +home and children, the sight of that fresh-faced and laughing boy seemed +an inspiration. They cheered like mad." + +There were various phases of Lincoln's character, as manifested during +his life in the White House, that afford material for an interesting +study. It has been said of him that he lacked imagination. This was +certainly not one of the faculties of his mind which had been largely +cultivated. He relied more upon the exercise of reason and logic, in all +his intellectual processes, than upon fancy or imagination. Still, there +are often striking figures of speech to be met with in his writings, and +he had a great fondness for poetry and music. He had studied Shakespeare +diligently in his youth, and portions of the plays he repeated with +singular accuracy. He had a special liking for the minor poems of Thomas +Hood and of Oliver Wendell Holmes. Dr. Holmes, writing in July, 1885, +says that of all the tributes received by him, the one of which he was +most proud was from "good Abraham Lincoln," who had a great liking for +the poem of "The Last Leaf," and "repeated it from memory to Governor +Andrew, as the Governor himself told me." Mr. Arnold says: "He had a +great love for poetry and eloquence, and his taste and judgment were +excellent. Next to Shakespeare among the poets, his favorite was Burns. +There was a lecture of his upon Burns full of favorite quotations and +sound criticisms." His musical tastes, says Mr. Brooks, who knew him +well, "were simple and uncultivated, his choice being old airs, songs, +and ballads, among which the plaintive Scotch songs were best liked. +'Annie Laurie,' 'Mary of Argyle,' and especially 'Auld Robin Gray,' +never lost their charm for him; and all songs which had for their theme +the rapid flight of time, decay, the recollections of early days, were +sure to make a deep impression. The song which he liked best, above all +others, was one called 'Twenty Years Ago'--a simple air, the words to +which are supposed to be uttered by a man who revisits the playground of +his youth. I remember that one night at the White House, when a few +ladies were with the family, singing at the piano-forte, he asked for a +little song in which the writer describes his sensations when revisiting +the scenes of his boyhood, dwelling mournfully on the vanished joys and +the delightful associations of forty years ago. It is not likely that +there was much in Lincoln's lost youth that he would wish to recall; but +there was a certain melancholy and half-morbid strain in that song which +struck a responsive chord in his heart. The lines sank into his memory, +and I remember that he quoted them, as if to himself, long afterward." + +Lincoln's memory was extraordinarily retentive, and he seemed, without +conscious effort, to have stored in his mind almost every whimsical or +ludicrous narrative which he had read or heard. "On several occasions," +says Mr. Brooks, "I have held in my hand a printed slip while he was +repeating its contents to somebody else, and the precision with which he +delivered every word was marvellous." He was fond of the writings of +"Orpheus C. Kerr" and "Petroleum V. Nasby," who were famous humorists at +the time of the Civil War; and he amused himself and others in the +darkest hours by quoting passages from these now forgotten authors. +Nasby's letter from "Wingert's Corners, Ohio," on the threatening +prospects of a migration of the negroes from the South, and the +President's "evident intenshun of colonizin' on 'em in the North," he +especially relished. After rehearsing a portion of this letter to his +guests at the Soldiers' Home one evening, a sedate New England gentleman +expressed surprise that he could find time for memorizing such things. +"Oh," said Lincoln, "I don't. If I like a thing, it _just sticks_ after +once reading it or hearing it." He once recited a long and doleful +ballad, something like "Vilikins and his Dinah," the production of a +rural Kentucky bard, and when he had finished he added with a laugh, "I +don't believe I have thought of that before for forty years." Mr. Arnold +testifies that "although his reading was not extensive, yet his memory +was so retentive and so ready that in history, poetry, and in general +literature, few if any marked any deficiency. As an illustration of the +powers of his memory, may be related the following: A gentleman called +at the White House one day, and introduced to him two officers serving +in the army, one a Swede and the other a Norwegian. Immediately he +repeated, to their delight, a poem of some eight or ten verses +descriptive of Scandinavian scenery, and an old Norse legend. He said he +had read the poem in a newspaper some years before, and liked it, but it +had passed out of his memory until their visit had recalled it. The two +books which he read most were the Bible and Shakespeare. With these he +was perfectly familiar. From the Bible, as has before been stated, he +quoted frequently, and he read it daily, while Shakespeare was his +constant companion. He took a copy with him almost always when +travelling, and read it at leisure moments." + +Lincoln was never ashamed to confess the deficiencies in his early +education. A distinguished party, comprising George Thompson, the +English anti-slavery orator, Rev. John Pierpont, Oliver Johnson, and +Hon. Lewis Clephane, once called upon him, and during the conversation +Mr. Pierpont turned to Mr. Thompson and repeated a Latin quotation from +the classics. Mr. Lincoln, leaning forward in his chair, looked from one +to the other inquiringly, and then remarked, with a smile, "_Which_, I +suppose you are both aware, _I_ do not understand." + +While Edwin Forrest was playing an engagement at Ford's Theatre, Mr. +Carpenter spoke to the President one day of the actor's fine +interpretation of the character of Richelieu, and advised him to witness +the performance. "Who wrote the play?" asked the President of Mr. +Carpenter. "Bulwer," was the reply. "Ah!" he rejoined; "well, I knew +Bulwer wrote novels, but I did not know he was a play-writer also. It +may seem somewhat strange to say," he continued, "but _I never read an +entire novel in my life_. I once commenced 'Ivanhoe,' but never finished +it." + +Among the few diversions which Lincoln allowed himself in Washington was +an occasional visit to the theater to witness a representation of some +good play by a favorite actor. He felt the necessity of some relaxation +from the terrible strain of anxiety and care; and while seated behind +the screen in a box at the theatre he was secure from the everlasting +importunities of politicians and office-seekers. He could forget himself +and his problems while watching the scenes on the mimic stage before +him. He enjoyed the renditions of Booth with great zest; yet after +witnessing "The Merchant of Venice" he remarked on the way home: "It was +a good performance, but I had a thousand times rather read it at home, +if it were not for Booth's playing. A farce or a comedy is best +_played_; a tragedy is best _read_ at home." He was much pleased one +night with Mr. McCullough's delineation of the character of "Edgar," +which the actor played in support of Edwin Forrest's "Lear." He wished +to convey his approval to the young actor, and asked Mr. Brooks, his +companion at the moment, with characteristic simplicity, "Do you suppose +he would come to the box if we sent word?" Mr. McCullough was summoned, +and, standing at the door of the box in his stage attire, received the +thanks of the President, accompanied with words of discriminating praise +for the excellence of his delineation. + +With his keen sense of humor, Lincoln appreciated to the utmost the +inimitable presentation of "Falstaff" by a well-known actor of the time. +His desire to accord praise wherever it was merited led him to express +his admiration in a note to the actor. An interchange of slight +civilities followed, ending at last in a singular situation. Entering +the President's office late one evening, Mr. Brooks noticed the actor +sitting in the waiting-room. Lincoln inquired anxiously if there were +anyone outside. On being told, he said, half sadly, almost desperately, +"Oh, I can't see him; I can't see him! I was in hopes he had gone away." +Then he added, "Now, this illustrates the difficulty of having pleasant +friends in this place. You know I liked him as an actor, and that I +wrote to tell him so. He sent me a book, and there I thought the matter +would end. He is a master of his place in the profession, I suppose, and +well fixed in it. But just because we had a little friendly +correspondence, such as any two men might have, he wants something. What +do you suppose he wants?" I could not guess, and Lincoln added, "Well, +he wants to be consul at London. Oh, dear!" + +Lincoln was not a ready writer, and when preparing documents or speeches +of special importance he altered and elaborated his sentences with +patient care. His public utterances were so widely reported and so +mercilessly discussed that he acquired caution in expressing himself +without due preparation. It is stated, on what seems sufficient +authority, that his Gettysburg speech, brief and simple as it is, was +rewritten many times before it finally met his approval. He began also +to be guarded in responding to demands for impromptu speeches, which +were constantly being called for. Mr. Brooks relates that "once, being +notified that he was to be serenaded, just after some notable military +or political event, he asked me to come to dinner, 'so as to be on hand +and see the fun afterward,' as he said. He excused himself as soon as we +had dined, and while the bands were playing, the crowds cheering and the +rockets bursting outside the house, he made his reappearance in the +parlor with a roll of manuscript in his hand. Perhaps noticing a look of +surprise on my face, he said, 'I know what you are thinking about. You +think it mighty queer that an old stump-speaker like myself should not +be able to address a crowd like this outside without a written speech. +But you must remember that in a certain way I am talking to the country, +and I have to be mighty careful. Now, the last time I made an off-hand +speech, in answer to a serenade, I used the phrase, as applied to the +rebels, "turned tail and ran." Some very nice Boston folks, I am grieved +to hear, were very much outraged by that phrase, which they thought +improper. So I resolved to make no more impromptu speeches if I could +help it.'" + +In all Lincoln's writings, even his most important state papers, his +chief desire was to make himself clearly understood by the common +reader. He had a great aversion to what he called "machine writing," and +used the fewest words possible to express his meaning. He never +hesitated to employ a homely expression when it suited his purpose. In +his first message the phrase "sugar-coated" occurred; and when it was +printed, Mr. Defrees, the Public Printer, being on familiar terms with +the President, ventured an objection to the phrase--suggesting that +Lincoln was not now preparing a campaign document or delivering a stump +speech in Illinois, but constructing an important state paper that would +go down historically to all coming time; and that therefore he did not +consider the phrase "sugar-coated" as entirely a becoming and dignified +one. "Well, Defrees," replied Lincoln, good-naturedly, "if you think the +time will ever come when the people will not understand what +'sugar-coated' means, I'll alter it; otherwise, I think I'll let it go." + +On the same subject, Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe says: "Our own +politicians were somewhat shocked with his state papers at first. 'Why +not let _us_ make them a little more conventional, and file them to a +classical pattern?' 'No,' was his reply, 'I shall write them myself. +_The people will understand them_.' 'But this or that form of expression +is not elegant, not classical.' '_The people will understand it_,' has +been his invariable reply. And whatever may be said of his state papers +as compared with the classic standards, it has been a fact that they +have always been wonderfully well understood by the people, and that +since the time of Washington the state papers of no President have more +controlled the popular mind. One reason for this is that they have been +informal and undiplomatic. They have more resembled a father's talk to +his children than a state paper. They have had that relish and smack of +the soil that appeal to the simple human heart and head, which is a +greater power in writing than the most artful devices of rhetoric. +Lincoln might well say with the apostle, 'But though I be rude in +speech, yet not in knowledge, but we have been thoroughly _made manifest +among you_ in all things.' His rejection of what is called 'fine +writing' was as deliberate as St. Paul's, and for the same +reason--because he felt that he was speaking on a subject which must be +made clear to the lowest intellect, though it should fail to captivate +the highest. But we say of Lincoln's writing, that for all true manly +purposes there are passages in his state papers that could not be better +put; they are absolutely perfect. They are brief, condensed, intense, +and with a power of insight and expression which make them worthy to be +inscribed in letters of gold." + +Hon. William J. Bryan, certainly a competent judge of oratory, says of +Lincoln as an orator: "Brevity is the soul of wit, and a part of +Lincoln's reputation for wit lies in his ability to condense a great +deal into a few words. He was epigrammatic. His Gettysburg speech is the +world's model in eloquence, elegance, and condensation. He was apt in +illustration--no one more so. A simple story or simile drawn from +every-day life flashed before his hearers the argument that he wanted to +present. He made frequent use of Bible language, and of illustrations +drawn from Holy Writ. It is said that when he was preparing his +Springfield speech of 1858 he spent hours in trying to find language +that would express the central idea--that a republic could not +permanently endure part free and part slave. Finally a Bible passage +flashed through his mind, and he exclaimed, 'I have found it--_a house +divided against itself cannot stand_.' Probably no other Bible passage +ever exerted as much influence as this one in the settlement of a great +controversy." + +Lincoln was a tireless worker, and delegated no duties to others which +he could perform himself. His health seemed to bear the strain of his +terrible burdens wonderfully well. There are but few references anywhere +to his being incapacitated by illness. One such reference occurs in +Welles's Diary, dated March 14, 1865: "The President was somewhat +indisposed, but not seriously ill. The members [of the Cabinet] met in +his bedroom." His correspondence was extensive and burdensome, and as a +rule he wrote his most important letters with his own hand, frequently +going to the trouble of taking copies, which were filed with careful +order in a cabinet, the interior of which was divided into pigeon-holes. +These pigeon-holes, as Mr. Brooks tells us, "were lettered in +alphabetical order, but a few were devoted to individuals. Horace +Greeley had a pigeon-hole by himself; so did each of several generals +who wrote often to him. One compartment, labelled 'W. & W.,' excited +much curiosity, but I never asked what it meant, and one night, being +sent to the cabinet for a letter which the President wanted, he said, 'I +see you looking at my "W. & W." Can you guess what that stands for?' Of +course it was useless to guess. 'Well,' said he, with a roguish twinkle +of the eye, 'that's Weed and Wood--Thurlow and Fernandy.' Then he added, +with an indescribable chuckle, 'That's a pair of 'em.' When asked why he +did not have a letter-book and copying-press, he said, 'A letter-book +might be easily stolen and carried off, but that stock of filed letters +would be a _back-load_.'" + +A lady who once rode with Lincoln, in the Presidential carriage, to the +Soldiers' Home, gives some interesting details concerning his knowledge +of woodcraft. "Around the 'Home,'" says this lady, "grows every variety +of tree, particularly of the evergreen class. Their branches brushed +into the carriage as we passed along, and left with us that pleasant +woodsy smell belonging to fresh leaves. One of the ladies, catching a +bit of green from one of these intruding branches, said it was cedar, +and another thought it spruce. 'Let me discourse on a theme I +understand,' said the President. 'I know all about trees, by right of +being a backwoodsman. I'll show you the difference between spruce, +pine, and cedar, and this shred of green, which is neither one nor the +other, but a kind of illegitimate cypress.' He then proceeded to gather +specimens of each, and explain the distinctive formation of foliage +belonging to every species. 'Trees,' he said, 'are as deceptive in their +likeness to one another as are certain classes of men, amongst whom none +but a physiognomist's eye can detect dissimilar moral features until +events have developed them. Do you know it would be a good thing if in +all the schools proposed and carried out by the improvement of modern +thinkers, we could have _a school of events_?' 'A school of events?' +repeated the lady addressed. 'Yes,' he continued, 'since it is only by +that active development that character and ability can be tested. +Understand me, I now mean men, not trees; _they_ can be tried, and an +analysis of their strength obtained less expensive to life and human +interests than man's. What I say now is a mere whim, you know; but when +I speak of a school of events, I mean one in which, before entering real +life, students might pass through the mimic vicissitudes and situations +that are necessary to bring out their powers and mark the calibre to +which they are assigned. Thus, one could select from the graduates an +invincible soldier, equal to any position, with no such word as fail; a +martyr to right, ready to give up life in the cause; a politician too +cunning to be outwitted; and so on. These things have all to be tried, +and their sometime failure creates confusion as well as disappointment. +There is no more dangerous or expensive analysis than that which +consists of _trying a man_.'" + +Among Lincoln's callers one Sunday evening, was the distinguished +scientist Louis Agassiz. The two men were somewhat alike in their +simple, shy, and unpretending nature, and at first felt their way with +each other like two bashful schoolboys. Lincoln began conversation by +saying to Agassiz, "I never knew how to pronounce your name properly; +won't you give me a little lesson at that, please?" Then he asked if the +name were of French or Swiss derivation, to which the Professor replied +that it was partly of each. That led to a discussion of different +languages, the President speaking several words in different languages +which had the same root as similar words in our own tongue; then he +illustrated that by one or two anecdotes. But he soon returned to his +gentle cross-examination of Agassiz, and found out how the Professor +studied, how he composed, and how he delivered his lectures; how he +found different tastes in his audiences in different portions of the +country. When afterwards asked why he put such questions to his learned +visitor, he said, "Why, what we got from him isn't printed in the books; +the other things are." But Lincoln did not do all the questioning. In +his turn, Agassiz asked Lincoln if he had ever engaged in lecturing. +Lincoln gave the outline of a lecture, which he had partly written years +before, to show the origin of inventions and prove that there is nothing +new under the sun. "I think I can show," said he, "at least, in a +fanciful way, that all the modern inventions were known centuries ago." +Agassiz begged that Lincoln would finish the lecture sometime. Lincoln +replied that he had the manuscript somewhere in his papers, "and," said +he, "when I get out of this place, I'll finish it up, perhaps." + +So great was Lincoln's magnanimity, and so keen his sense of justice, +that he never allowed personal considerations to influence his official +acts. It is probably true that it was easy for him to forgive an injury; +but he was incapable of using his position as President to gratify his +private resentments. It was once represented to him that a recent +appointee to an important office had been bitterly opposed to him +politically. "I suppose," said he, "the Judge did behave pretty ugly; +but that wouldn't make him any less fit for this place, and I have a +Scriptural authority for appointing him. You recollect that while the +Lord on Mount Sinai was getting out a commission for Aaron, that same +Aaron was at the foot of the mountain making a false god, a golden calf, +for the people to worship; yet Aaron got his commission, you know." At +another time, when remonstrated with upon the appointment to place of +one of his former opponents, he said: "Nobody will deny that he is a +first-rate man for the place, and I am bound to see that his opposition +to me personally shall not interfere with my giving the people a good +officer." And on another similar occasion, when remonstrated with by +members of his Cabinet, he said: "Oh, I can't afford to punish every +person who has seen fit to oppose my election. We want a competent man +in this office, and I know of no one who could perform the duties better +than the one proposed." + +With all his self-abnegation, Lincoln could be stern when the occasion +warranted it. As an illustration the following incident is related: An +officer who had been cashiered from the service, forced himself several +times into Lincoln's presence, to plead for a reversal of his sentence. +Each time he read a long argument attempting to prove that he had +received unjust treatment. The President listened to him patiently; but +the facts, on their most favorable showing, did not seem to him to +sanction his interference. In the last interview, the man became angry, +and turning abruptly said: "Well, Mr. President, I see you are +determined not to do me justice!" This was too much, even for the +long-suffering Lincoln. Manifesting, however, no more feeling than that +indicated by a slight compression of the lips, he quietly arose, laid +down a package of papers he held in his hands, and then, suddenly +seizing the disgraced officer by the coat collar, he marched him +forcibly to the door, saying, as he ejected him into the passage, "Sir, +I give you fair warning never to show yourself in this room again. I can +bear censure, but not insult!" In a whining tone the man begged for his +papers, which he had dropped. "Begone, sir," said the President, "your +papers will be sent to you. I wish never to see your face again!" + +Much has been said about Lincoln's views on religion. Like many other +great men, he was not what might technically be called a Christian. He +was a religious man in spirit and by nature; yet he never joined a +church. Mrs. Lincoln says that he had no religious faith, in the usual +acceptation of the word, but that religion was a sort of poetry in his +nature. "Twice during his life," she said, "he seemed especially to +think about it. Once was when our boy Willie died. Once--and this time +he thought of it more deeply--was when he went to Gettysburg." But +whatever his inner thoughts may have been, no man on earth had a firmer +faith in Providence than Abraham Lincoln. Perhaps he did not himself +know just where he stood. He believed in God--in immortality. He did not +believe in eternal punishment, but was confident of rest and peace after +this life was over. He may not have felt certain of the divine origin of +all parts of the Bible, but he valued its precepts, and his whole life +gave evidence of faith in a higher power than that of man. Mr. Nicolay, +his secretary, testifies that "his nature was deeply religious, but he +belonged to no denomination; he had faith in the eternal justice and +boundless mercy of Providence, and made the Golden Rule of Christ his +practical creed." And Dr. Phillips Brooks, in an eloquent and expressive +passage, calls him "Shepherd of the people--that old name that the best +rulers ever craved. What ruler ever won it like this President of ours? +He fed us faithfully and truly. He fed us with counsel when we were in +doubt, with inspiration when we sometimes faltered, with caution when we +would be rash, with calm, clear, trustful cheerfulness through many an +hour when our hearts were dark. He fed hungry souls all over the country +with sympathy and consolation. He spread before the whole land feasts of +great duty and devotion and patriotism on which the land grew strong. He +fed us with solemn, solid truths. He taught us the sacredness of +government, the wickedness of treason. He made our souls glad and +vigorous with the love of Liberty that was in his. He showed us how to +love truth, and yet be charitable; how to hate wrong and all oppression, +and yet not treasure one personal injury or insult. He fed all his +people, from the highest to the lowest, from the most privileged down to +the most enslaved. 'He fed them with a faithful and true heart.'" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + + + Trials of the Administration in 1863--Hostility to War + Measures--Lack of Confidence at the North--Opposition in + Congress--How Lincoln felt about the "Fire in the Rear"--Criticisms + from Various Quarters--Visit of "the Boston Set"--The Government on + a Tight-rope--The Enlistment of Colored Troops--Interview between + Lincoln and Frederick Douglass--Reverses in the Field--Changes of + Military Leaders--From Burnside to Hooker--Lincoln's First Meeting + with "Fighting Joe"--The President's Solicitude--His Warning Letter + to Hooker--His Visit to the Rappahannock--Hooker's Self-confidence + the "Worst Thing about Him"--The Defeat at Chancellorsville--The + Failure of our Generals--"Wanted, a Man." + +It is impossible, without a close study of the inner history of the war +and of the acts of the administration, to conceive of the harassing and +baffling difficulties which beset President Lincoln's course in every +direction, and of the jealous, narrow, and bitter opposition which his +more important measures provoked. As the struggle advanced he found in +his front a solid and defiant South, behind him a divided and +distrustful North. What might be called the party of action and of +extreme measures developed a sharp hostility to the President. He would +not go fast enough to suit them; they thought him disposed to +compromise. They began by criticizing his policy, and his methods of +prosecuting the war; from this they passed rapidly to a criticism of the +President himself. In the affectionate admiration felt for him now, +people have forgotten how weak and poor and craven they found him then. +So far had this disapproval and hostility gone, that early in 1863 we +find Mr. Greeley searching everywhere for a fitting successor to Lincoln +for the Presidency at the next term. There were but few men in high +official station in Washington who at that time unqualifiedly sustained +him. In the House of Representatives there were but two members who +could make themselves heard, who stood actively by him. This matter, +long since forgotten, must be recalled to show clearly the President's +straits, and his action and bearing amidst his difficulties. It should +be remembered that party lines, which disappeared at the beginning of +the war, were again clearly drawn; and the Democratic wing of Congress, +under the leadership of Vallandigham of Ohio, actively opposed many of +the necessary measures for the prosecution of the war. The cry had +already been raised in Congress, "The South cannot be subjugated"; and +every fresh disaster to the national arms was hailed as proof of the +assertion. + +The effect of this abuse and opposition was exceedingly painful to +Lincoln. He said: "I have been caused more anxiety, I have _passed more +sleepless nights_, on account of the temper and attitude of the +Democratic party in the North regarding the suppression of the rebellion +than by the rebels in the South. I have always had faith that our armies +would ultimately and completely triumph; but these enemies in the North +cause me a great deal of anxiety and apprehension. Can it be that there +are opposing opinions in the North as to the necessity of putting down +this rebellion? How can men hesitate a moment as to the duty of the +Government to restore its authority in every part of the country? It is +incomprehensible to me that men living in their quiet homes under the +protection of laws, in possession of their property, can sympathize with +and give aid and comfort to those who are doing their utmost to +overthrow that Government which makes life and everything they possess +valuable." + +In January, 1863, a party of distinguished gentlemen from Boston +visited the national capital, in order to confer with the President on +the workings of the emancipation policy. They made the visit chiefly at +the suggestion of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who during all the trying years +of the war never lost faith in Lincoln's honesty and sense of justice. +Secretary Stanton made no secret of his opposition to these gentlemen, +who were spoken of rather slightingly as "that Boston set." The "Boston +set" were uncompromising abolitionists, and nothing would satisfy them +but immediate and aggressive measures for enforcing the policy of +emancipation. As it was the President's instinct to feel his way slowly +in pushing on the great measures necessary to the safe guidance of the +nation in its perilous crisis, they were naturally dissatisfied with his +conservative methods and tendencies. The visitors--including Senator +Wilson, Wendell Phillips, Francis W. Bird, Elizur Wright, J.H. +Stephenson, George L. Stearns, Oakes Ames, and Moncure D. Conway--called +on the President one Sunday evening, at the White House. "The President +met us," says Mr. Conway, "laughing like a boy, saying that in the +morning one of his children had come to inform him that the cat had +kittens, and now another had just announced that the dog had puppies, +and the White House was in a decidedly sensational state. Some of our +party looked a little glum at this hilarity; but it was pathetic to see +the change in the President's face when he presently resumed his burden +of care. We were introduced by Senator Wilson, who began to speak of us +severally, when Mr. Lincoln said he knew perfectly who we were, and +requested us to be seated. Nothing could be more gracious than his +manner, or more simple. The conversation was introduced by Wendell +Phillips, who, with all his courtesy, expressed our gratitude and joy +at the Proclamation of Emancipation, and asked how it seemed to be +working. The President said that he had not expected much from it at +first, and consequently had not been disappointed; he had hoped, and +still hoped, that something would come of it after awhile. Phillips then +alluded to the deadly hostility which the proclamation had naturally +excited in pro-slavery quarters, and gently hinted that the Northern +people, now generally anti-slavery, were not satisfied that it was being +honestly carried out by all of the nation's agents and Generals in the +South. 'My own impression, Mr. Phillips,' said the President, 'is that +the masses of the country generally are dissatisfied chiefly at our lack +of military successes. Defeat and failure in the field make everything +seem wrong.' His face was now clouded, and his next words were somewhat +bitter. 'Most of us here present,' he said, 'have been nearly all our +lives working in minorities, and many have got into a habit of being +dissatisfied.' Several of those present having deprecated this, the +President said, 'At any rate, it has been very rare that an opportunity +of "running" this administration has been lost.' To this Mr. Phillips +answered, in his sweetest voice: 'If we see this administration +earnestly working to free the country from slavery and its rebellion, we +will show you how we can "run" it into another four years of power.' The +President's good humor was restored by this, and he said: 'Oh, Mr. +Phillips, I have ceased to have any personal feeling or expectation in +that matter--I do not say I never had any--so abused and borne upon as I +have been.' ... On taking our leave we expressed to the President our +thanks for his kindly reception, and for his attention to statements of +which some were naturally not welcome. The President bowed graciously at +this, and, after saying he was happy to have met gentlemen known to him +by distinguished services, if not personally, and glad to listen to +their views, added, 'I must bear this load which the country has +intrusted to me as well as I can, and do the best I can with it.'" + +To another self-constituted delegation--this time from the West--who +called at the White House one day, excited and troubled about some of +the commissions or omissions of the administration, the President, after +hearing them patiently, replied: "Gentlemen, suppose all the property +you were worth was in gold, and you had put it in the hands of Blondin +to carry across the Niagara river on a rope; would you shake the cable, +or keep shouting out to him, 'Blondin, stand up a little +straighter!--Blondin, stoop a little more--go a little faster--lean a +little more to the north--lean a little more to the south'? No! you +would hold your breath as well as your tongue, and keep your hands off +until he was safe over. The Government is carrying an immense weight. +Untold treasures are in their hands. They are doing the very best they +can. Don't badger them. Keep silence, and we'll get you safe across." + +In 1863 the Government, following logically the policy of the +Emancipation act, began the experiment of introducing colored soldiers +into our armies. This caused not only intense anger at the South, but +much doubt and dissatisfaction at the North. To discuss some of the +practical and difficult questions growing out of this measure, Frederick +Douglass, the most distinguished representative of the race which +America had so long held in chains, was presented to the President. The +account of the conference, given by Douglass, is singularly interesting. +He says: "I was never more quickly or more completely put at ease in the +presence of a great man than in that of Abraham Lincoln. He was seated, +when I entered, in a low arm-chair, with his feet extended on the +floor, surrounded by a large number of documents and several busy +secretaries. The room bore the marks of business, and the persons in it, +the President included, appeared to be much overworked and tired. Long +lines of care were already deeply written on Mr. Lincoln's brow, and his +strong face, full of earnestness, lighted up as soon as my name was +mentioned. As I approached and was introduced to him, he arose and +extended his hand, and bade me welcome. I at once felt myself in the +presence of an honest man--one whom I could love, honor, and trust, +without reserve or doubt. Proceeding to tell him who I was and what I +was doing, he promptly but kindly stopped me, saying: 'I know who you +are, Mr. Douglass; Mr. Seward has told me all about you. Sit down; I am +glad to see you.' I urged, among other things, the necessity of granting +the colored soldiers equal pay and promotion with white soldiers, and +retaliation for colored prisoners killed by the enemy. Mr. Lincoln +admitted the justice of my demand for equal pay and promotion of colored +soldiers, but on the matter of retaliation he differed from me entirely. +I shall never forget the benignant expression of his face, the tearful +look of his eye, and the quiver in his voice, when he deprecated a +resort to retaliatory measures. 'Once begun,' said he, 'I do not know +where such a measure would stop.' He said he could not take men out and +kill them in cold blood for what was done by others. If he could get +hold of the persons who were guilty of killing the colored prisoners in +cold blood, the case would be different; but he could not kill the +innocent for the guilty. Afterwards we discussed the means most +desirable to be employed outside the army to induce the slaves in the +rebel States to come within the Federal lines. The increasing opposition +to the war in the North, and the mad cry against it because it was +being made an abolition war, alarmed Mr. Lincoln, and made him +apprehensive that a peace might be forced upon him which would leave +still in slavery all who had not come within our lines. What he wanted +was to make his proclamation as effective as possible in the event of +such a peace. He said, in a regretful tone, 'The slaves are not coming +into our lines as rapidly and numerously as I had hoped.' I replied that +the slaveholders knew how to keep such things from their slaves, and +probably very few knew of his proclamation. 'Well,' he said, 'I want you +to set about devising some means of making them acquainted with it, and +for bringing them into our lines.' What he said showed a deeper moral +conviction against slavery than I had ever seen before in anything +spoken or written by him. I listened with the deepest interest and +profoundest satisfaction, and, at his suggestion, agreed to undertake +the organizing of a band of scouts, composed of colored men, whose +business should be, somewhat after the original plan of John Brown, to +go into the rebel States beyond the lines of our armies, carry the news +of emancipation, and urge the slaves to come within our boundaries." + +Frederick Douglass once remarked that Lincoln was one of the few white +men he ever passed an hour with who failed to remind him in some way, +before the interview terminated, that he was a negro. "He always +impressed me as a strong, earnest man, having no time or disposition to +trifle; grappling with all his might the work he had in hand. The +expression of his face was a blending of suffering with patience and +fortitude. Men called him homely, and homely he was; but it was +manifestly a human homeliness. His eyes had in them the tenderness of +motherhood, and his mouth and other features the highest perfection of a +genuine manhood." + +As though the political difficulties that beset President Lincoln in +the first half of 1863 were not discouragement enough, they were +attended by disheartening reverses to our arms. It will be remembered +that on the removal of General McClellan from command of the Army of the +Potomac, in November, 1862, General Burnside succeeded him. The change +proved an unfortunate one. General Burnside was an earnest and gallant +soldier, but was not equal to the vast responsibilities of his new +position. It is said, to his credit, that he was three times offered the +command of the Army of the Potomac, and three times he declined. Finally +it was pressed upon him by positive orders, and he could no longer, +without insubordination, refuse it. In addressing General Halleck, after +his appointment, he said: "Had I been asked to take it, I should have +declined; but being ordered, I cheerfully obey." After his fearful +defeat at Fredericksburg (December 13, 1862), he said: "_The fault was +mine_. The entire responsibility of failure must rest on my shoulders." +By his manly and courageous bearing, and the strong sincerity of his +character, he retained the respect and sympathy of the President and of +the country. He immediately retired from command of the Army of the +Potomac, which, under his brief leadership, had fought the most bloody +and disastrous battle in its history. + +General Joseph Hooker, the fourth commander of the heroic but +unfortunate Army of the Potomac, was appointed to that position by +President Lincoln in January, 1863. The two men had met briefly early in +the war, when Hooker, then living in California, hastened to Washington +to offer his services to the Government; but for some reason General +Scott disliked him, and his offer was not accepted. After some months, +Hooker, giving up the idea of getting a command, decided to return to +California; but before leaving he called to pay his respects to the +President. He was introduced as "Captain Hooker." The President, being +pressed for time, was about to dismiss him with a few civil phrases; +when, to his surprise, Hooker began the following speech: "Mr. +President, my friend makes a mistake. I am not 'Captain Hooker,' but was +once 'Lieutenant-Colonel Hooker' of the regular army. I was lately a +farmer in California. Since the rebellion broke out I have been trying +to get into the service; but I find I am not wanted. I am about to +return home; but before going, I was anxious to pay my respects to you, +and to express my wishes for your personal welfare and success in +quelling this rebellion. And I want to say one word more. I was at Bull +Run the other day, Mr. President, and it is no vanity in me to say _am a +d----d sight better general than you had on that field_." This was said, +not in the tone of a braggart, but of a man who knew what he was talking +about; and, as the President afterward said, he appeared at that moment +as if perfectly able to make good his words. Lincoln seized his hand, +making him sit down, and began an extended chat. The result was that +Hooker did not return to California, but in a few weeks _Captain_ Hooker +was _Brigadier-General_ Hooker. He served with distinction under +McClellan in the Peninsular campaign and at Antietam, and commanded the +right wing of the army at Fredericksburg. He had come to be known as +"Fighting Joe Hooker," and was generally regarded as one of the most +vigorous and efficient Generals of the Union army. + +Such was the man who, in one of the darkest hours of the Union cause, +was selected to lead once more the Army of the Potomac against the +enemy. This army, since its defeat at Fredericksburg, had remained +disorganized and ineffective. Its new commander, unlike his predecessor +Burnside, was full of confidence. The President, made cautious by +experience, deemed it his duty to accompany the appointment by some +timely words of warning; and accordingly he addressed to General Hooker +the following frank, manly, and judicious letter. + + EXECUTIVE MANSION WASHINGTON, D.C. + January 26, 1863. + + MAJOR-GENERAL HOOKER. + + GENERAL:--I have placed you at the head of the Army of the Potomac. + Of course, I have done this upon what appear to me to be sufficient + reasons; and yet I think it best for you to know that there are + some things in regard to which I am not satisfied with you. I + believe you to be a brave and skilful soldier, which of course I + like. I also believe that you do not mix politics with your + profession, in which you are right. You have confidence in + yourself, which is a valuable if not indispensable quality. You are + ambitious, which, within reasonable bounds, does good rather than + harm; but I think that during General Burnside's command of the + army you have taken counsel with your ambition, and thwarted him as + much as you could, in which you did a great wrong to the country + and to a most meritorious and honorable brother officer. I have + heard, in such a way as to believe it, of your recently saying that + both the army and the Government needed a dictator. Of course, it + was not for this, but in spite of it, that I have given you the + command. Only those generals who gain success can be dictators. + What I now ask from you is military success, and I will risk the + dictatorship. The Government will support you to the utmost of its + ability, which is neither more nor less than it has done and will + do for all commanders. I much fear that the spirit which you have + aided to infuse into the army, of criticizing their commander and + withholding confidence from him, will now turn upon you. I shall + assist you, as far as I can, to pull it down. Neither you nor + Napoleon, if he were alive again, could get any good out of an + army while such a spirit prevails in it. And now, beware of + rashness. _Beware of rashness_; but with energy and sleepless + vigilance, go forward and give us victories. + + Yours very truly, + A. LINCOLN. + +In all Lincoln's writings there are few things finer than this letter. +In its candor and friendliness, its simplicity and deep wisdom, and its +clearness of expression, it is almost perfect; and the President's deep +solicitude for the safety of the army and anxiety for its success give a +pathetic touch to the closing sentences. This solicitude found partial +relief in a personal inspection of the Army of the Potomac, which was +made in April, just before the battle of Chancellorsville, and occupied +five or six days. The President was accompanied by Attorney-General +Bates, Mrs. Lincoln, his son Tad, and Mr. Noah P. Brooks. The first +night out was spent on the little steamer which conveyed the party to +their destination. After all had retired to rest except the anxious +President and one or two others, Lincoln gave utterance to his +deep-seated apprehensions in the whispered query to his friend, "How +many of our monitors will you wager are at the bottom of Charleston +Harbor?" "I essayed," writes Mr. Brooks, "to give a cheerful view of the +Charleston situation. But he would not be encouraged. He then went on to +say that he did not believe that an attack by water on Charleston could +ever possibly succeed. He talked a long time about his 'notions,' as he +called them; and at General Halleck's headquarters next day, the first +inquiries were for 'rebel papers,' which were usually brought in from +the picket lines. These he examined with great anxiety, hoping that he +might find an item of news from Charleston. One day, having looked all +over a Richmond paper several times without finding a paragraph which he +had been told was in it, he was mightily pleased to have it pointed out +to him, and said, 'It is plain that newspapers are made for newspaper +men; being only a layman, it was impossible for me to find that.'" + +The out-door life, the constant riding, and the respite from the +monstrous burdens at the capital, appeared to afford mental and physical +benefit to the worn President. But in answer to a remark expressing this +conviction, he replied sadly, "I don't know about 'the rest' as you call +it. I suppose it is good for the body. But the tired part of me is +_inside_ and out of reach." "He rode a great deal," says Mr. Brooks, +"while with the army, always preferring the saddle to the elegant +ambulance which had been provided for him. He sat his horse well, but he +rode hard, and during his stay I think he regularly used up at least one +horse each day. Little Tad invariably followed in his father's train; +and, mounted on a smaller horse, accompanied by an orderly, the +youngster was a conspicuous figure, as his gray cloak flew in the wind +while we hung on the flanks of Hooker and his generals." + +General Hooker was now planning his great movement against Richmond, and +talked freely of the matter with the President, In the course of a +conversation, Lincoln casually remarked, "If you get to Richmond, +General." But Hooker interrupted him with--"Excuse me, Mr. President, +but there is no 'if' in the case. _I am going straight to Richmond, if I +live_!" Later in the day, Lincoln, privately referring to this +self-confidence of the General, said to Mr. Brooks, rather mournfully, +"It is about the worst thing I have seen since I have been down here." +In further illustration of Hooker's confidence in himself, Mr. Brooks +says: "One night, Hooker and I being alone in his hut, the General +standing with his back to the fireplace, alert, handsome, full of +courage and confidence, said laughingly, 'The President says you know +about that letter he wrote me on taking command.' I acknowledged that +the President had read it to me. The General seemed to think that the +advice was well-meant, but unnecessary. Then he added, with that +charming assurance which became him so well, 'After I have been to +Richmond, I am going to have that letter printed.'" But all that came of +Hooker's confidence, after three months of elaborate preparation, was a +grand forward movement into Virginia and another bloody and humiliating +defeat for the heroic but unfortunate army under his command. + +The first of May, 1863, the Army of the Potomac under Hooker met the +Army of Northern Virginia under Lee and Jackson, near Chancellorsville, +Virginia. It was here that Jackson executed his brilliant and successful +flank movement around the Union right, ensuring a victory for his side +but losing his own life. After a contest of several days, involving the +fruitless sacrifice of thousands of gallant soldiers, Hooker's army fell +back and recrossed the Rappahannock.[G] + +The news of this fresh disaster was an almost stunning shock to +President Lincoln. During the progress of the battle he was under a +cruel strain of anxiety and suspense. Secretary Welles, who was with +him a part of the time, says: "He had a feverish eagerness for facts; +was constantly up and down, for nothing reliable came from the front." +Mr. Noah Brooks relates that in company with an old friend of Lincoln's +he was waiting in one of the family rooms of the White House. "A door +opened and Lincoln appeared, holding an open telegram in his hand. The +sight of his face and figure was frightful. He seemed stricken with +death. Almost tottering to a chair, he sat down; and then I mechanically +noticed that his face was of the same color as the wall behind him--not +pale, not even sallow, but gray, like ashes. Extending the despatch to +me, he said, with a hollow, far-off voice, 'Read it--news from the +army.' The telegram was from General Butterfield, I think, then chief of +staff to Hooker. It was very brief, simply saying that the Army of the +Potomac had 'safely recrossed the Rappahannock,' and was now at its old +position on the north bank of that stream. The President's friend, Dr. +Henry, an old man and somewhat impressionable, burst into tears,--not so +much, probably, at the news as on account of its effect upon Lincoln. +The President regarded the old man for an instant with dry eyes, and +said, '_What will the country say? Oh, what will the country say_?' He +seemed hungry for consolation and cheer, and sat a little while talking +about the failure. Yet it did not seem that he was disappointed so much +for himself, but that he thought the country would be." + +Lincoln's anxiety regarding the effect at the North of these repeated +reverses was not without sufficient cause. Aside from those who were +positively opposed to the war, the loyal people were wearying of the +useless slaughter, the unavailing struggles, of the gallant soldiers. +The growing distrust of the capacity of their military leaders was also +keenly felt. The feeling of that time is so well expressed in a stirring +poem entitled "Wanted, a Man," written by Mr. E.C. Stedman, that it is +given place here. It has an additional personal interest connected with +President Lincoln in the fact that he was so impressed with the piece +that he read it aloud to his assembled Cabinet. + + Back from the trebly crimsoned field + Terrible words are thunder-tost; + Full of the wrath that will not yield, + Full of revenge for battles lost! + Hark to their echo, as it crost + The Capital, making faces wan: + End this murderous holocaust; + Abraham Lincoln, give us a MAN! + + Give us a man of God's own mould, + Born to marshal his fellow-men; + One whose fame is not bought and sold + At the stroke of a politician's pen; + Give us the man of thousands ten, + Fit to do as well as to plan; + Give us a rallying-cry, and then, + Abraham Lincoln, give us a MAN! + + No leader to shirk the boasting foe, + And to march and countermarch our brave + Till they fall like ghosts in the marshes low, + And swamp-grass covers each nameless grave; + Nor another, whose fatal banners wave + Aye in Disaster's shameful van; + Nor another, to bluster, and lie, and rave,-- + Abraham Lincoln, give us a MAN! + + Hearts are mourning in the North, + While the sister rivers seek the main, + Red with our life-blood flowing forth-- + Who shall gather it up again? + Though we march to the battle-plain + Firmly as when the strife began, + Shall all our offerings be in vain?-- + Abraham Lincoln, give us a MAN! + + Is there never one in all the land, + One on whose might the Cause may lean? + Are all the common ones so grand, + And all the titled ones so mean? + What if your failure may have been + In trying to make good bread from bran, + From worthless metal a weapon keen?-- + Abraham Lincoln, find us a MAN! + + O, we will follow him to the death, + Where the foeman's fiercest columns are! + O, we will use our latest breath, + Cheering for every sacred star! + His to marshal us high and far; + Ours to battle, as patriots can + When a Hero leads the Holy War!-- + Abraham Lincoln, give us a MAN! + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + + + The Battle-summer of 1863--A Turn of the Tide--Lee's Invasion of + Pennsylvania--A Threatening Crisis--Change of Union + Commanders--Meade succeeds Hooker--The Battle of + Gettysburg--Lincoln's Anxiety during the Fight--The Retreat of + Lee--Union Victories in the Southwest--The Capture of + Vicksburg--Lincoln's Thanks to Grant--Returning + Cheerfulness--Congratulations to the Country--Improved State of + Peeling at the North--State Elections of 1863--The Administration + Sustained--Dedication of the National Cemetery at + Gettysburg--Lincoln's Address--Scenes and Incidents at the + Dedication--Meeting with Old John Burns--Edward Everett's + Impressions of Lincoln. + +Midsummer of 1863 brought a turn in the tide of military affairs. It +came none too soon for the safety of the nation. The repeated reverses +to the Union arms ending with the shocking disasters at Fredericksburg +and Chancellorsville--although slightly relieved by the costly success +of Stone River--had seemed to throw the chances of war in favor of the +South; and the Union cause was at the crisis of its fate. But now +fortune smiled upon the North, and its lost hope and lost ground were +regained at Gettysburg and Vicksburg. These great battles are justly +regarded as marking the turning-point of the war. It was yet far from +finished; there remained nearly two years of desperate fighting, with +heroic struggles and terrible sacrifice of life, before the end should +come. But from this time the character of the struggle seemed to change. +The armies of the South fought, not less desperately, but more on the +defensive; and their final overthrow was in all human probability +chiefly a question of time. + +Emboldened by his success at Chancellorsville in May, General Lee again +assumed the offensive, and recrossed the Potomac river into Maryland. +Late in June he invaded Pennsylvania, and occupied a position +threatening Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. The situation was +most critical. If Lee could once more beat the Army of the Potomac, as +he had done so many times, these three great cities, and even New York, +might be at his mercy. The feeling in Washington is reflected in entries +made at the time in Mr. Welles's Diary. "Something of a panic pervades +the city," says Mr. Welles. "Singular rumors reach us of Rebel advances +into Maryland. It is said they have reached Hagerstown, and some of them +have penetrated as far as Chambersburg in Pennsylvania.... The city is +full of strange, wild rumors of Rebel raids in the vicinity and of +trains seized in sight of the Capital. The War Department is wholly +unprepared for an irruption here, and J.E.B. Stuart might have dashed +into the city to-day [June 28] with impunity.... I have a panic +telegraph from Governor Curtin of Pennsylvania, who is excitable and +easily alarmed, entreating that guns and gunners may be sent from the +Navy Yard at Philadelphia to Harrisburg without delay.... I went again, +at a late hour, to the War Department, but could get no facts or +intelligence from the Secretary. All was vague, opaque, thick darkness. +I really think Stanton is no better posted than myself, and from what +Stanton says am afraid Hooker does not comprehend Lee's intentions nor +know how to counteract them. It looks to me as if Lee was putting forth +his whole energy and force in one great and desperate struggle which +shall be decisive." + +Following Lee, the Army of the Potomac, under General Hooker, also +recrossed the Potomac, and pursued the enemy by a somewhat parallel +route, but keeping carefully between him and Washington. The occasion +was one calling for the best resources of a great military commander; +and General Hooker, realizing his unfitness for the responsibility, +asked to be relieved of the command. Thus was thrown upon the President +the hazardous necessity of changing commanders upon the very eve of a +great battle. It was a terrible emergency. Even the stout-hearted +Stanton was appalled. He afterward stated that when he received the +despatch from Hooker, asking to be relieved, his heart sank within him, +and he was more depressed than at any other moment of the war. "I could +not say," said Mr. Stanton, "that any other officer knew General +Hooker's plans, or the position even of the various divisions of the +army. I sent for the President to come at once to the War Office. It was +in the evening, but the President soon appeared. I handed him the +despatch. As he read it his face became like lead, and I said, 'What +shall be done?' He replied instantly, '_Accept his resignation._'" + +Immediately an order was sent to Major-General George G. Meade, one of +the most efficient of the corps commanders of the Army of the Potomac, +appointing him to the chief command. Meade was a quiet, unassuming man, +very unlike Hooker. Three days after assuming command, he led his army +against the Southern host at Gettysburg, where, after a most bloody and +memorable battle of three days' duration (July 1, 2, and 3, 1863), was +won the first decisive victory in the history of the gallant Army of the +Potomac. Lee retired, with disastrous losses, across the Potomac to +Virginia; and Washington and the North breathed free again. + +Senator Chandler of Michigan, speaking of the terrible strain on Lincoln +during the progress of the battle of Gettysburg, said: "I shall never +forget the painful anxiety of those few days when the fate of the nation +seemed to hang in the balance; nor the restless solicitude of Mr. +Lincoln, as he paced up and down the room, reading despatches, +soliloquizing, and often stopping to trace the position of the +contending armies on the map which hung on the wall; nor the relief we +all felt when the fact was established that victory, though gained at +such fearful cost, was indeed on the side of the Union." + +Amidst the murk and gloom of those dark days in Washington, when the +suspense was breathless and the heart of the nation responded in muffled +beats to the dull booming of the cannon of Meade and Lee at Gettysburg, +an episode occurred, with Lincoln as the central figure, which reveals +perhaps more poignantly than any other in his whole career the depths of +feeling in that tender and reverential soul. On Sunday evening, July +4,--the fourth day of that terrible battle, with nothing definite yet +known of the result,--the President drove out in a carriage, in company +with two daughters of Secretary Stanton, to the line of defenses near +Arlington. It was toward sundown; and a brigade of troops were forming +in position for an evening parade or review. The commander of the +brigade, General Tannatt, recognizing the President and his party, rode +up to the carriage and invited them to witness the parade. The President +assented. His face was drawn and haggard in its expression of anxiety +and sorrow. As it was Sunday evening, some of the regimental bands +played familiar religious pieces. The President, hearing them, inquired +of General Tannatt if any of his bands could play "Lead Kindly Light." +Then in a low voice and with touching accents he repeated, as if to +himself, the familiar lines--never more expressive or appropriate than +now,-- + + Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom, + Lead thou me on. + + * * * * * + + Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see + + The distant scene,--one step enough for me. + +As the sweet strains of the familiar hymn floated on the evening air, +Lincoln's sad face became sadder still, and tears were seen coursing +down his cheeks. What emotions were his, who can tell, as he thought of +that great battle-field not far away, its issues yet unknown, its ground +still covered with dead and wounded soldiers whose heroic deeds--to use +his noble words spoken a few months later on that historic field--"have +consecrated it far above our power to add or detract." + +General Tannatt, who knew Lincoln well and had spoken with him many +times, never saw him again; and his view of that tragic, tear-wet face +remains to him a vivid and precious memory.[H] + +While the eyes of the nation were fastened upon the great drama being +enacted near the capital, events scarcely less momentous were occurring +in the Southwest. The campaign against Vicksburg, the great Confederate +stronghold on the Mississippi river, had been in active progress, under +the personal command of General Grant, for several months. The +importance of this strategic point was fully understood by the enemy, +and it was defended most stubbornly. At first Grant's plans proved +unsuccessful; the cutting of canals and opening of bayous failed--as +President Lincoln had expected and predicted. But these failures only +served to develop the unsuspected energy of Grant's character and the +extent of his military resources. He boldly changed his entire plan of +operations, abandoned his line of communication, removed his army to a +point _below_ Vicksburg and attacked the city in the rear. With dogged +persistence he pressed forward, gaining point by point, beating off +General Johnston's forces on one side and driving Pemberton before him +into Vicksburg; until finally, by the aid of Admiral Porter's gunboats +on the Mississippi, he had entirely invested the city. Gradually and +persistently his lines closed in, pushed forward by assault and siege; +until Vicksburg accepted its doom, and on the 4th of July, 1863,--the +day of Lee's retreat from Gettysburg,--the city and garrison surrendered +to the victorious Grant. + +Lincoln's exuberant joy over the capture of Vicksburg is revealed in an +entry made at the time in Mr. Welles's Diary. "I was handed a despatch +from Admiral Porter, communicating the fall of Vicksburg on the Fourth +of July," says Mr. Welles. "I immediately returned to the Executive +Mansion. The President was detailing certain points relative to Grant's +movements on the map to Chase and two or three others, when I gave him +the tidings. Putting down the map he rose at once, said he would drop +these topics, and added, 'I myself will telegraph this news to General +Meade.' He seized his hat, but suddenly stopped, his countenance beaming +with joy; he caught my hand, and throwing his arm around me, exclaimed, +'What can we do for the Secretary of the Navy for this glorious +intelligence? He is always giving us good news. I cannot, in words, tell +you my joy over this result. It is great, Mr. Welles, it is great!' ... +We walked the lawn together. 'This,' said he, 'will relieve Banks. It +will inspire me.'" + +The Union victories at Vicksburg and Gettysburg caused great rejoicing +at the North, and gave added zest to the celebration of the national +patriotic holiday. President Lincoln, mindful of the "almost +inestimable services," as he termed them, of General Grant, and as it +was his wont to do in such circumstances, made haste to acknowledge his +own and the country's indebtedness to the man who had accomplished a +great deed. He addressed to the conqueror of Vicksburg the following +letter: + + EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D.C. + July 13, 1863. + + MAJOR-GENERAL GRANT. + + MY DEAR GENERAL:--I do not remember that you and I ever met + personally. I write this now as a grateful acknowledgment for the + almost inestimable services you have done the country. I write to + say a word further. When you first reached the vicinity of + Vicksburg, I thought you should do what you finally did--march the + troops across the neck, run the batteries with the transports, and + thus go below; and I never had any faith, except a general hope + that you knew better than I, that the Yazoo Pass expedition, and + the like, could succeed. When you got below, and took Port Gibson, + Grand Gulf, and vicinity, I thought you should go down the river, + and join General Banks, and when you turned northward, east of the + Big Black, I feared it was a mistake. I now wish to make the + personal acknowledgment that you were right and I was wrong. + + Yours truly, A. LINCOLN. + +An officer who was the first from Grant's army to reach Washington after +the surrender of Vicksburg, has recorded the circumstances of his +interview with the President. "Mr. Lincoln received me very cordially," +says this officer, "and drawing a chair near to himself and motioning me +to be seated said, 'Now I want to hear all about Vicksburg.' I gave him +all the information I could, though he appeared to be remarkably well +posted himself. He put to me a great many questions in detail touching +the siege, the losses, the morale of the army, its sanitary condition, +the hospital service, and General Grant. Said he: 'I guess I was right +in standing by Grant, although there was great pressure made after +Pittsburg Landing to have him removed. I thought I saw enough in Grant +to convince me that he was one on whom the country could depend. That +'unconditional surrender' message to Buckner at Donelson suited me. It +indicated the spirit of the man." + +It is interesting to note that before the capture of Vicksburg the +protracted campaign had occasioned no little dissatisfaction with +General Grant; the President had been importuned to remove him, and had +much formidable opposition to encounter in his determination to stand by +him. Only a few days before the capitulation of the beleaguered city, +Senator Wade of Ohio--"Bluff Ben Wade," as he was termed--called upon +the President and urged Grant's dismissal; to which Lincoln +good-naturedly replied, "Senator, that reminds me of a story." "Yes, +yes," rejoined Wade petulantly, "that is the way it is with you, sir, +all _story--story_! You are the father of every military blunder that +has been made during the war. You are on your road to h--l, sir, with +this Government, and you are not a mile off this minute." Lincoln calmly +retorted, "Senator, that is just about the distance from here to the +Capitol, is it not?" The exasperated Wade grabbed his hat and rushed +angrily from the White House. + +It is not pleasant to record that the cordial and generous +congratulations to Grant for his achievements at Vicksburg were in +marked contrast to the rather grudging recognition of Meade's much more +important and hard-won victory at Gettysburg. In the latter case the +despatches from Washington took the form not so much of acknowledgments +of what had been done as of complaints at what had not been done. It is +hard to believe that the President dictated, or even authorized, the +ill-timed and peevish despatch sent to General Meade[I] by the +inopportune Halleck, a few days after the battle of Gettysburg, in which +the victor on that desperate field is officially informed that "the +escape of Lee's army has created great dissatisfaction in the mind of +the President, and it will require an active and energetic pursuit to +remove the impression that it has not been sufficiently active before." +To this extraordinary message Meade at once made a simple and manly +rejoinder in which he said: "Having performed my duty conscientiously +and to the best of my ability, the censure of the President, as conveyed +in your despatch, is in my judgment so undeserved that I feel compelled +most respectfully to ask to be immediately relieved from the command of +this army." Halleck replied, rather ineptly, that his despatch had not +been intended as a censure, but as a "stimulus," and was not regarded as +a sufficient cause for Meade's request to be relieved. When one thinks +of the ill-fortunes of the Army of the Potomac under previous +commanders, and of the unlikelihood of finding a successor to Meade as +capable as he had shown himself to be, one shudders at the chances of +what might have happened had another change of leaders been forced upon +that long-suffering and now victorious army. General Meade did not press +his resignation after Halleck's conciliatory telegrams, and remained in +immediate command of the Army of the Potomac until the close of the +war--Grant's accession to the chief command of all the armies having +marked the end of the well-meant but often ill-advised and troublesome +interference with military affairs from Washington. + +Mr. Isaac R. Pennypacker, in his Life of General Meade, speaks of +Halleck and other prominent officials in Washington in these terms: +"Possessing much of the skill of the lawyer and disputant, Halleck was +without military ability. The Secretary of War, like many other men who +exercise vast power, was not great enough to refrain from the use of his +authority in matters where his knowledge and experience did not qualify +him to form the soundest views. Acting with these military authorities +were men like Wade and Chandler, whose patriotism was of the exuberant +kind, whose judgment in military affairs was without value, but whose +personal energy impelled them to have a controlling hand, if possible, +in the conduct of the war." + +Lincoln's dissatisfaction with General Meade after the battle of +Gettysburg was due, as we now see, to his elation over the splendid +victory for the Union, his intense desire for further and overwhelming +successes, and his failure (a quite natural one) to realize that what +might seem desirable and feasible viewed from Washington might look very +different to the practical and experienced men actually on the ground +and familiar as he could not be with all the factors in the +situation.[J] "He thought," wrote General Halleck in an explanatory +letter sent to Meade two weeks after his despatch of censure, "that +Lee's defeat was so certain that he felt no little impatience at his +unexpected escape." Among military authorities, such a retreat as that +of Lee after Gettysburg is hardly regarded as an "escape." If it were, +then great must be the fault of Lee as a general in allowing the +defeated armies of Burnside and Hooker to "escape" after the battles of +Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, where their repulse was much worse +than was Lee's at Gettysburg. That Lincoln's first feelings of +disappointment and dissatisfaction with General Meade were greatly +modified with fuller knowledge of the actual situation after the battle +of Gettysburg is shown by a remark made by him to Senator Cameron, +referring to Meade: "Why should we censure a man who has done so much +for his country because he did not do a little more?" And if any debt +of recognition or of gratitude yet remained due from him, it was more +than paid a few months later in the unsurpassed tribute at Gettysburg to +"the brave men, living and dead," who gained the victory on that +hallowed field. + +The improved condition of public affairs, and the increasing +cheerfulness of the President, after the victories at Gettysburg and +Vicksburg, are exhibited in a letter written by him a few weeks later to +friends at Springfield, Illinois, who had urgently invited him to attend +"a mass-meeting of Unconditional Union men" at his old home. In this +letter he took occasion to declare his sentiments on various questions +paramount at the time. Among these was the subject of a compromise with +the South, against which he argued with great force and feeling. Again, +he defended the Emancipation Proclamation, a measure to which many Union +men were still unreconciled. He referred also to the arming of the +negroes as a just and wise expedient; finally concluding with these +expressive and felicitous words: + + The signs look better. The Father of Waters again goes unvexed to + the sea. Thanks to the great Northwest for it; nor yet wholly to + them. Three hundred miles up they met New England, Empire, + Keystone, and Jersey, hewing their way right and left. The sunny + South, too, in more colors than one, also lent a helping hand. On + the spot, their part of the history was jotted down in black and + white. The job was a great national one, and let none be slighted + who bore an honorable part in it. And while those who have cleared + the great river may well be proud, even that is not all. It is hard + to say that anything has been more bravely and well done than at + Antietam, Murfreesboro, Gettysburg, and on many fields of less + note. Nor must Uncle Sam's web-feet be forgotten. At all the + watery margins they have been present, not only on the deep sea, + the broad bay, and the rapid river, but also up the narrow, muddy + bayou, and wherever the ground was a little damp they have been and + made their tracks. Thanks to all. For the great Republic--for the + principle it lives by and keeps alive--for man's vast + future--thanks to all. Peace does not appear so distant as it did. + I hope it will come soon and come to stay; and so come as to be + worth the keeping in all future time. It will then have been proved + that among freemen there can be no successful appeal from the + ballot to the bullet, and that they who take such appeal are sure + to lose their case and pay the cost. And there will be some black + men who can remember that, with silent tongue, and clinched teeth, + and steady eye, and well-poised bayonet, they have helped mankind + on to this great consummation; while I fear there will be some + white ones unable to forget that with malignant heart and deceitful + speech they have striven to hinder it. Still, let us not be + over-sanguine of a speedy final triumph. Let us be quite sober. Let + us diligently apply the means, never doubting that a just God, in + His own good time, will give us the rightful result. + +In a public proclamation, issued October 3, the President gives more +formal expression to his satisfaction and gratitude, and calls upon the +loyal people of the Union to unite in a day of thanksgiving for the +improved prospects of the country. + + The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the + blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these + bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to + forget the source from which they come, others have been added + which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to + penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible + to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a + civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes + seemed to invite and provoke the aggressions of foreign states, + peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been + maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony + has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military + conflict, while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the + advancing armies and navies of the Union. The needful diversion of + wealth and strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the + national defense has not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the + ship. The axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the + mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have + yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has + steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in + the camp, the siege, and the battle-field; and the country, + rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is + permitted to expect a continuance of years with large increase of + freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand + worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the + Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, + hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and + proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully + acknowledged, as with one heart and voice, by the whole American + people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of + the United States, and also those who are at sea, and those who are + sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last + Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and prayer to + our beneficent Father, who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend + to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him + for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with + humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, + commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, + orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in + which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the + interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the + nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the + divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, + tranquility, and union. + +The brightening prospects of the Union cause quickly produced a better +state of feeling at the North. In the fall elections of 1863, every +State except New Jersey gave solid majorities on the Republican side, +thus strengthening the administration and giving the President welcome +assurances of popular approval. He had awaited with special anxiety the +returns from Ohio, where the contest was fraught with peculiar +significance. The Democrats had chosen for their candidate the notorious +peace-at-any-price Vallandigham, against whom the Republicans had placed +John Brough of Cleveland. On the night of the election, about ten +o'clock, a message clicked on the wires in the telegraph office of the +latter city, saying, "Where is John Brough? A. Lincoln." Brough was at +hand, and directly the electric voice inquired, "Brough, about what is +your majority now?" Brough replied, "Over 30,000." Lincoln requested +Brough to remain at the office during the night. A little past midnight +the question came again from Lincoln, "Brough, what is your majority by +this time?" Brough replied, "Over 50,000." And the question was thus +repeated and answered several times, with rapidly increasing majorities, +till five o'clock in the morning, when the question came again, "Brough, +what is your majority now?" The latter was able to respond, "Over +100,000." As soon as the words could be flashed back over the wire, +there came: "_Glory to God in the highest. Ohio has saved the Nation. A. +Lincoln_." + +The day after the election in Ohio (October 14, 1863) Lincoln said to +Secretary Welles that he had felt more anxiety in regard to the results +than he had in 1860 when he was chosen President. He could not have +believed four years ago, he said, that one genuine American would or +could be induced to vote for such a man as Vallandigham. Yet he had been +made the candidate of a large party, and received a vote that is a +discredit to the country. Mr. Welles adds: "The President showed a good +deal of emotion as he dwelt on this subject." + +After the battle of Gettysburg, a portion of the ground on which the +engagement was fought was purchased by the State of Pennsylvania for a +burial-place for the Union soldiers who were slain in that bloody +encounter. The tract included seventeen and a half acres adjoining the +town cemetery. It was planned to consecrate the ground with imposing +ceremonies, in which the President, accompanied by his Cabinet and a +large body of the military, was invited to assist. The day appointed was +the 19th of November; and the chief orator selected was Massachusetts' +eloquent son, Hon. Edward Everett. Following him it was expected that +the President would add some testimonials in honor of the dead. + +Lincoln and Everett were representatives of two contrasting phases of +American civilization: the one, an outgrowth of the rough pioneer life +of the West; the other, the product of the highest culture of the East. +They had met for the first time on this memorable day. Everett's oration +was a finished literary production. Smooth, euphonious, and elegant, it +was delivered with the silvery tones and the graceful gestures of a +trained and consummate speaker. When he had finished, and the applause +that greeted him had died away, the multitude called vociferously for an +address from Lincoln. With an unconscious air, the President came +forward at the call, put his spectacles on his nose, and read, in a +quiet voice which gradually warmed with feeling, while his careworn face +became radiant with the light of genuine emotion, the following brief +address: + + Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this + continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the + proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a + great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so + conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great + battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of + that field as a final resting-place of those who here gave their + lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and + proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense we cannot + dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The + brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated + it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will + little note nor long remember what we _say_ here, but it can never + forget what they _did_ here. It is for us, the living, rather, to + be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here + have thus far so nobly carried on. It is rather for us to be here + dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these + honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which + they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly + resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this + nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that + government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not + perish from the earth. + +The simple and sublime words of this short address shook the hearts of +the listeners, and before the first sentence was ended they were under +the spell of a mighty magician. They stood hushed, awed, and melted, as +the speaker enforced the solemn lesson of the hour, and brought home to +them, in plain unvarnished terms, the duty which remained for them to +do--to finish the work which the dead around them had given their lives +to carry on. It was one of the briefest of the many speeches with which +Lincoln had swayed the impulses and opinions of crowds of his +fellow-men, but it is the one which will be remembered above all others +as hallowed by the truest and loftiest inspiration. As the final +sentence ended, amid the tears and sobs and cheers of the excited +throng, the President turned to Mr. Everett, and, grasping his hand, +exclaimed with sincerity, "I congratulate you on your success." Mr. +Everett responded in the fervor of his emotion, "Ah, Mr. President, how +gladly would I exchange all my hundred pages to have been the author of +your twenty lines!" + +Of all Lincoln's public utterances, this is unquestionably the most +remarkable. The oration, brief and unpretending as it is, will remain a +classic of the English language. "The Westminster Review," one of the +foremost of the great English quarterlies, said of it: "It has but one +equal, in that pronounced upon those who fell in the first year of the +Peloponnesian War; and in one respect it is superior to that great +speech. It is not only more natural, fuller of feeling, more touching +and pathetic, but we know with absolute certainty that _it was really +delivered_. Nature here takes precedence of art--even though it be the +art of Thucydides." + +"An illustration of the difference between oratory and inspiration" is +Mr. John Bigelow's happy characterization of the Gettysburg address. "It +was," he adds, "one of the most momentous incidents in the history of +the Civil War. It may be doubted whether anything had then, or has +since, been said of that national strife conceived upon a higher and +wiser spiritual plane.... It is perhaps, on the whole, the most enduring +bit of eloquence that has ever been uttered on this continent; and yet +one finds in it none of the tricks of the forum or the stage, nor any +trace of the learning of the scholar, nor the need of it." + +Major Harry T. Lee, who was himself a participant in the battle of +Gettysburg and occupied a seat on the platform at the dedication, says +that the people listened with marked attention through the two hours of +Everett's noble and scholarly oration; but that when Lincoln came +forward, and in a voice burdened with emotion uttered his simple and +touching eulogy on "the brave men, living and dead, who struggled here," +there was scarcely a dry eye in the whole vast audience. + +Mr. John Russell Young, afterwards U.S. Minister to China, was present +at the Gettysburg dedication, and says: "I sat behind Mr. Lincoln while +Mr. Everett delivered his oration. I remember the great orator had a way +of raising and dropping his handkerchief as he spoke. He spoke for two +hours, and was very impressive, with his white hair and venerable +figure. He was a great orator, but it was like a bit of Greek +sculpture--beautiful, but cold as ice. It was perfect art, but without +feeling. The art and beauty of it captured your imagination and +judgment. Mr. Everett went over the campaign with resonant, clear, +splendid rhetoric. There was not a word or a sentence or a thought that +could be corrected. You felt that every gesture had been carefully +studied out beforehand. It was like a great actor playing a great +part.... Mr. Lincoln rose, walked to the edge of the platform, took out +his glasses, and put them on. He was awkward. He bowed to the assemblage +in his homely manner, and took out of his coat pocket a page of +foolscap. In front of Mr. Lincoln was a photographer with his camera, +endeavoring to take a picture of the scene. We all supposed that Mr. +Lincoln would make rather a long speech--a half-hour at least. He took +the single sheet of foolscap, held it almost to his nose, and in his +high tenor voice, without the least attempt at effect, delivered that +most extraordinary address which belongs to the classics of literature. +The photographer was bustling about, preparing to take the President's +picture while he was speaking, but Mr. Lincoln finished before the +photographer was ready." + +It is stated that when President Lincoln reached the town of Gettysburg, +on his way to attend the exercises at the cemetery, he inquired for "Old +John Burns," the hero of the battle of Gettysburg, who left his farm and +fought with the Union soldiers upon that bloody field. The veteran was +sent for; and on his arrival the President showed him marked attention, +taking him by the arm and walking with him in the procession through the +streets to the cemetery. + +Edward Everett, who was associated with Lincoln during these two or +three days, says of the impression the President made on him: "I +recognized in the President a full measure of the qualities which +entitle him to the personal respect of the people. On the only social +occasion on which I ever had the honor to be in his company, viz., the +Commemoration at Gettysburg, he sat at the table of my friend David +Willis, by the side of several distinguished persons, foreigners and +Americans; and in gentlemanly appearance, manners, and conversation, he +was the peer of any man at the table." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + + + Lincoln and Grant--Their Personal Relations--Grant's Successes at + Chattanooga--Appointed Lieutenant-general--Grant's First Visit to + Washington--His Meeting with Lincoln--Lincoln's First Impressions + of Grant--The First "General" Lincoln Had Found--"That Presidential + Grub"--True Version of the Whiskey Anecdote--Lincoln Tells Grant + the Story of Sykes's Dog--"We'd Better Let Mr. Grant Have his Own + Way"--Grant's Estimate of Lincoln. + +From the hour of Grant's triumph at Vicksburg to the close of the war, +Lincoln never withdrew his confidence from the quiet, persistent, +unpretending man who led our armies slowly but surely along the path of +victory. As soon as the campaign at Vicksburg was over, Grant's sphere +of operations was enlarged by his appointment to the command of the +military division of the Mississippi. In November following he fought +the famous battles of Chattanooga, including Lookout Mountain and +Missionary Ridge; and, aided by his efficient corps commanders, Sherman, +Thomas, and Hooker, gained a succession of brilliant victories for the +Union cause. The wisdom of Grant's policy of concentration and "fighting +it out" had now become apparent. + +President Lincoln had watched closely the progress of these events, and +had come to recognize in Grant the master spirit of the war, on the +Northern side. Accordingly he determined to give him general command of +all the Union armies. In December, 1863, a bill was introduced in the +Senate by Hon. E.B. Washburne, of Illinois, and passed both houses of +Congress, creating the rank of Lieutenant-General in the army. +President Lincoln approved the act, and immediately nominated Grant for +the position. The nomination was confirmed; and on the 17th of March, +1864, Grant issued his first order as Lieutenant-General, assuming +command of the armies of the United States, and announcing that his +headquarters would be in the field and until further orders with the +Army of the Potomac. Of this army he shrewdly remarked that it seemed to +him it "had never fought its battles _through_." He proposed, first of +all, to teach that army "not to be afraid of Lee." "I had known him +personally," said Grant, "and _knew that he was mortal_." With +characteristic energy he formed a simple but comprehensive plan of +operations both East and West; sending Sherman on his great march to +Atlanta and the sea, while he, with the Army of the Potomac, pushed +straight for Richmond. These operations were vigorously urged, and when +they were ended the war was ended. It was but little more than a year +from the date of Grant's commission as Lieutenant-General till he +received Lee's surrender at Appomattox. + +Immediately upon Grant's appointment as Lieutenant-General, he was +summoned to Washington. It was his first visit to the capital since the +war began, and he was a stranger to nearly everyone from the President +down. He arrived in the city on the 8th of March (1864), taking quarters +at Willard's Hotel, where, when he went in to dinner, none knew "the +quiet, rather stumpy-looking man, who came in leading a little boy--the +boy who had ridden by his father's side through all the campaign of +Vicksburg." But soon it was whispered about who was in the room, and +there was a loud call for three cheers for Ulysses S. Grant, which were +given with a will. In the evening General Grant attended a reception at +the White House, passing in with the throng alone and unannounced. The +quick eye of the President discovered the identity of the modest +soldier, and he was most heartily welcomed. "As soon as it was known +that he was present, the pressure of the crowd to see the hero of +Vicksburg was so great that he was forced to shelter himself behind a +sofa. So irrepressible was the desire to see him that Secretary Seward +finally induced him to mount a sofa, that this curiosity might be +gratified. When parting from the President, he said, 'This has been +rather the warmest campaign I have witnessed during the war.'" A graphic +account of this interesting event is given by Secretary Welles, who +records in his Diary (March 9, 1864): "Went last evening to the +Presidential reception. Quite a gathering; very many that are not +usually seen at receptions were attracted thither, I presume, from the +fact that General Grant was expected to be there. He came about +half-past nine. I was near the centre of the reception-room, when a stir +and buzz attracted attention, and it was whispered that General Grant +had arrived. The room was not full, the crowd having passed through to +the East Room. I saw some men in uniform standing at the entrance, and +one of them, a short, brown, dark-haired man, was talking with the +President. There was hesitation, a degree of awkwardness, in the +General. Soon word was passed around--'Mr. Seward, General Grant is +here,' and Seward, who was just behind me, hurried and took the General +by the hand and led him to Mrs. Lincoln, near whom I was standing. The +crowd gathered around the circle rapidly, and it being intimated that it +would be necessary the throng should pass on, Seward took the General's +arm and went with him to the East Room. There was clapping of hands in +the next room as he passed through, and all in the East Room joined in +it as he entered." + +The next day at noon the General waited on the President to receive his +commission. The interview took place in the Cabinet room. There were +present, besides the members of the Cabinet, General Halleck, a member +of Congress, two of General Grant's staff-officers, his eldest son, +Frederick D. Grant, and the President's private secretary. The ceremony +was simple, the President saying, as he proffered the papers: "The +nation's appreciation of what you have done, and its reliance upon you +for what remains to be done in the existing great struggle, are now +presented with this commission, constituting you Lieutenant-General in +the Army of the United States. With this high honor devolves upon you +also a corresponding responsibility. As the country herein trusts you, +so, under God, it will sustain you. I scarcely need to add that with +what I here speak for the nation goes my own hearty personal +concurrence." The General responded briefly, promising to "accept the +commission with gratitude for the high honor conferred. With the aid of +the noble armies that have fought on so many fields for our common +country, it will be my earnest endeavor not to disappoint your +expectations. I feel the full weight of the responsibilities now +devolving on me, and I know that if they are met it will be due to those +armies, and above all to the favor of that Providence which leads both +nations and men." + +Before assuming personal command of the Army of the Potomac, as he had +determined to do, General Grant found it necessary to return once more +to the West. In his parting interview with Lincoln, he was urged to +remain to dinner the next day and meet a brilliant party whom the lady +of the White House had invited to do him special honor. The General +answered, apologetically: "Mrs. Lincoln must excuse me. I must be in +Tennessee at a given time." "But we can't excuse you," said the +President. "Mrs. Lincoln's dinner without you would be Hamlet with +Hamlet left out." "I appreciate the honor Mrs. Lincoln would do me," +said the General, "but time is very important now. I ought to be at the +front, and a dinner to me means a million dollars a day lost to the +country." Lincoln was pleased with this answer, and said cheerfully, +"Well, we'll have the dinner without you." + +After Lincoln's first meeting with General Grant he was asked regarding +his personal impressions of the new commander. He replied, "Well, I +hardly know what to think of him. He's the quietest little fellow you +ever saw. He makes the least fuss of any man I ever knew. I believe on +several occasions he has been in this room a minute or so before I knew +he was here. It's about so all around. The only evidence you have that +he's in any particular place is that he makes things move." To a +subsequent inquiry as to his estimate of Grant's military capacities, +Lincoln responded, with emphasis: "Grant is the first General I've had. +_He's a General_." "How do you mean, Mr. Lincoln?" his visitor asked. +"Well, I'll tell you what I mean," replied Lincoln. "You know how it's +been with all the rest. As soon as I put a man in command of the army, +he'd come to me with the plan of a campaign, and about as much as to +say: 'Now I don't believe I can do it, but if you say so I'll try it +on,' and so put the responsibility of success or failure on me. They all +wanted _me_ to be the General. Now, it isn't so with Grant. He hasn't +told me what his plans are. I don't know and I don't want to know. I am +glad to find a man who can go ahead without me. When any of the rest set +out on a campaign they'd look over matters and pick out some one thing +they were short of and they knew I couldn't give them, and tell me they +couldn't hope to win unless they had it--and it was most generally +cavalry. Now when Grant took hold I was waiting to see what his pet +impossibility would be, and I reckoned it would be cavalry, of course, +for we hadn't horses enough to mount what men we had. There were fifteen +thousand men, or thereabouts, up near Harper's Ferry, and no horses to +put them on. Well, the other day Grant sent to me about these very men, +just as I expected; but what he wanted to know was whether he could make +infantry of 'em or disband 'em. He doesn't ask impossibilities of me, +and he's the first General I've had that didn't." On another occasion +Lincoln said of Grant: "The great thing about him is his cool +persistency of purpose. He is not easily excited, and he has the grip of +a bulldog. _When he once gets his teeth in, nothing can shake him off_." + +The President's satisfaction with the new commander was speedily +communicated to him in a characteristically frank manner, in a letter +dated April 30, 1864. + + LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT:-- + + Not expecting to see you before the Spring campaign opens, I wish + to express in this way my entire satisfaction with what you have + done up to this time, so far as I understand it. The particulars of + your plan I neither know nor seek to know. You are vigilant and + self-reliant; and, pleased with this, I wish not to obtrude any + restraints or constraints upon you. While I am very anxious that + any great disaster or capture of our men in great numbers shall be + avoided, I know that these points are less likely to escape your + attention than they would be mine. If there be anything wanting + which is in my power to give, do not fail to let me know it. And + now, with a brave army and a just cause, may God sustain you. + + Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN. + +General Grant himself wrote, on this point: "In my first interview with +Mr. Lincoln alone, he stated to me that he had never professed to be a +military man, or to know how campaigns should be conducted, and never +wanted to interfere in them; but that procrastination on the part of +commanders, and the pressure of the people at the North and Congress, +_which was always with him_, forced him into issuing his series of +'Military Orders'--one, two, three, etc. He did not know but they were +all wrong, and did know that some of them were. All he wanted or had +ever wanted was someone who would take the responsibility and act, and +call on him for all the assistance needed, pledging himself to use all +the power of the government in rendering such assistance.... The +President told me he did not want to know what I proposed to do. But he +submitted a plan of campaign of his own which he wanted me to hear and +then do as I pleased about. He brought out a map of Virginia on which he +had evidently marked every position occupied by the Federal and +Confederate armies up to that time. He pointed out on the map two +streams which empty into the Potomac, and suggested that the army might +be moved on boats and landed between the mouths of these streams. We +would then have the Potomac to bring our supplies, and the tributaries +would protect our flanks while we moved out. I listened respectfully, +but did not suggest that the same streams would protect Lee's flanks +while he was shutting us up." + +General Horace Porter, for some time Grant's chief of staff, says: "The +nearest Mr. Lincoln ever came to giving General Grant an order for the +movement of troops was during Early's raid upon Washington. On July 10, +1864, he telegraphed a long despatch from Washington, which contained +the following language: 'What I think is that you should provide to +retain your hold where you are, certainly, and bring the rest with you +personally, and make a vigorous effort to defeat the enemy's force in +this vicinity. I think there is really a fair chance to do this, if the +movement is prompt. This is what I think--given upon your +suggestion,--and is not an order.' Grant replied that on reflection he +thought it would have a bad effect for him to leave City Point, then his +headquarters, in front of Richmond and Petersburg; and the President was +satisfied with the dispositions which Grant made for the repulse of +Early without taking command against him in person." + +A curious incident revealing the intense interest with which Lincoln +watched the career of Grant is related by Mr. J. Russell Jones, an old +and trusted friend of the President, who joined the army at Vicksburg in +time to witness its final triumph. Soon after Mr. Jones's return to +Chicago, the President summoned him to Washington. With eager haste, +after the first salutations were over, Lincoln declared the object for +which he had secured the interview: "'I have sent for you, Mr. Jones, to +know if that man Grant wants to be President.' Mr. Jones, although +somewhat astonished at the question and the circumstances under which it +was asked, replied at once, 'No, Mr. President.' 'Are you sure?' queried +the latter. 'Yes,' said Mr. Jones, 'perfectly sure. I have just come +from Vicksburg. I have seen General Grant frequently, and talked fully +and freely with him about that and every other question; and I know he +has no political aspirations whatever, and certainly none for the +Presidency. His only desire is to see you re-elected and to do what he +can under your orders to put down the rebellion and restore peace to the +country.' 'Ah, Mr. Jones,' said Lincoln, 'you have lifted a great weight +off my mind, and done me an immense amount of good; for I tell you, my +friend, no man knows how deeply that Presidential grub gnaws till he has +had it himself.'" We cannot believe that Lincoln cherished any feeling +of jealousy of the rising commander, or desired to interfere with +whatever political ambition he might nourish. It was rather his desire +to be assured of the single-hearted purpose of a military leader whom he +had trusted and to whom he wished to confide still more important +services in the conduct of the war. + +It may be remembered that early in the war an anecdote went the rounds +of the press to the effect that, in reply to a complaint that Grant had +been guilty of drunkenness in the campaigns in the West, Lincoln +remarked that he would "like to find out what kind of liquor Grant +drank," so that he might "send some of it to the other Generals." The +true version of that characteristic anecdote is this, as given by the +late Judge T. Lyle Dickey, who was a Judge of the Illinois Supreme Court +at the time of his death, and at the time of Grant's famous Vicksburg +campaign was on the General's staff as chief of cavalry. Judge (then +Colonel) Dickey had been sent to Washington with private despatches for +the President and the Secretary of War. Lincoln and Dickey had been +intimate friends for years, and during the latter's visit to the former +on that occasion, Dickey remarked, "I hear that some one has been trying +to poison you against Grant by reporting that he gets drunk. I wish to +assure you, Mr. President, that there is not a scintilla of truth in the +report." "Oh, Colonel," replied the President, "we get all sorts of +reports here, but I'll say this to you: that if those accusing General +Grant of getting drunk will tell me _where he gets his whiskey_, I will +get a lot of it and send it around to some of the other Generals, who +are badly in need of something of the kind." + +After Lincoln and General Grant had become personally intimate, they had +many enjoyable conversations and exchanges of anecdotes. Lincoln +especially enjoyed telling the General of the various persons who had +come to him with complaints and criticisms about the Vicksburg campaign. +"After the place had actually surrendered," said the President, "I +thought it was about time to shut down on this sort of thing. So one +day, when a delegation came to see me, and had spent half an hour trying +to show me the fatal mistake you had made in paroling Pemberton's army, +and insisting that the rebels would violate their paroles and in less +than a month confront you again in the ranks and have to be whipped all +over again, I thought I could get rid of them best by telling them a +story about Sykes's dog. 'Have you ever heard about Sykes's yellow dog?' +said I to the spokesman of the delegation. He said he hadn't. 'Well, I +must tell you about him,' said I. 'Sykes had a yellow dog he set great +store by, but there were a lot of small boys around the village, and +that's always a bad thing for dogs, you know. These boys didn't share +Sykes's views, and they were not disposed to let the dog have a fair +show. Even Sykes had to admit that the dog was getting unpopular; in +fact, it was soon seen that a prejudice was growing up against that dog +that threatened to wreck all his future prospects in life. The boys, +after meditating how they could get the best of him, finally fixed up a +cartridge with a long fuse, put the cartridge in a piece of meat, +dropped the meat in the road in front of Sykes's door, and then perched +themselves on a fence a good distance off with the end of the fuse in +their hands. Then they whistled for the dog. When he came out he scented +the bait, and bolted the meat, cartridge and all. The boys touched off +the fuse with a cigar, and in about a second a report came from that dog +that sounded like a small clap of thunder. Sykes came bouncing out of +the house, and yelled: "What's up! Anything busted?" There was no +reply, except a snicker from the small boys roosting on the fence; but +as Sykes looked up he saw the whole air filled with pieces of yellow +dog. He picked up the biggest piece he could find--a portion of the +back, with a part of the tail still hanging to it, and, after turning it +around and looking it all over, he said, "Well, I guess he'll never be +much account again--_as a dog_." And I guess Pemberton's forces will +never be much account again--_as an army._' The delegation began looking +around for their hats before I had quite got to the end of the story, +and I was never bothered any more about superseding the commander of the +Army of the Tennessee." + +When General Grant was ready to begin active operations with the Army of +the Potomac, he sent forward all available men from Washington. +Secretary Stanton, anxious about the safety of the city, said to Grant +one day: "General, I suppose you have left us enough men to strongly +garrison the forts?" "No, I can't do that," was Grant's quiet answer. +"Why not? Why not?" repeated the Secretary nervously. "Because I have +already sent the men to the front." Said the Secretary, still more +nervously: "That won't do. It's contrary to my plans. I cannot allow it. +I will order the men back." To this Grant returned with quiet +determination: "I shall need the men there, and you cannot order them +back." "Why not? Why not?" cried the Secretary. "I believe that I rank +the Secretary in this matter," remarked Grant. "Very well, we will see +the President about that," responded the Secretary sharply. "I will have +to take you to the President." "That is right. The President ranks us +both." So they went to the President; and the Secretary, turning to +General Grant, said, "Now, General, state your case." But the General +calmly replied, "I have no case to state. I am satisfied as it is." +This threw the burden of statement on Secretary Stanton, and was +excellent strategy. Meanwhile, General Grant had the men. When the +Secretary had concluded, Lincoln crossed his legs, rested his elbow on +his knee, and said in his quaint way and with a twinkle in his eye: +"Now, Mr. Secretary, you know we have been trying to manage this army +for nearly three years, and you know we haven't done much with it. We +sent over the mountains and brought Mr. Grant, as Mrs. Grant calls him, +to manage it for us; and now I guess we'd better let Mr. Grant _have his +own way_." And Mr. Grant had it. + +The favorable opinion which Lincoln held of Grant was strongly +reciprocated. A short time before the former's death, Grant said: "I +regard Lincoln as one of the greatest of men. He is unquestionably the +greatest man I have ever encountered. The more I see of him and exchange +views with him, the more he impresses me. I admire his courage, and +respect the firmness he always displays. Many think from the gentleness +of his character that he has a yielding nature; but while he has the +courage to change his mind when convinced that he is wrong, he has all +the tenacity of purpose which could be desired in a great statesman. His +quickness of perception often astonishes me. Long before the statement +of a complicated question is finished, his mind will grasp the main +points, and he will seem to comprehend the whole subject better than the +person who is stating it. He will take rank in history alongside of +Washington." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + + + Lincoln's Second Presidential Term--His Attitude toward it--Rival + Candidates for the Nomination--Chase's Achillean Wrath--Harmony + Restored--The Baltimore Convention--Decision "not to Swap Horses + while Crossing a Stream"--The Summer of 1864--Washington again + Threatened--Lincoln under Fire--Unpopular Measures--The President's + Perplexities and Trials--The Famous Letter "To Whom It May + Concern"--Little Expectation of Re-election--Dangers of + Assassination--"A Thrilling Experience"--Lincoln's Forced + Serenity--"The Saddest Man in the World"--A Break in the + Clouds--Lincoln Vindicated by Re-election--Cheered and + Reassured--More Trouble with Chase--Lincoln's Final Disposal of + him--The President's Fourth Annual Message--His Position toward the + Rebellion and Slavery Reaffirmed--Colored Folks' Reception at the + White House--Passage of the Amendment Prohibiting Slavery--Lincoln + and the Southern Peace Commissioners--The Meeting in Hampton + Roads--Lincoln's Impression of A H. Stephens--The Second + Inauguration--Second Inaugural Address--"With Malice toward None, + with Charity for All"--An Auspicious Omen. + +The year 1864 witnessed another Presidential election, and one which +was attended by the most novel and extraordinary circumstances. It was +held while a considerable portion of the people were engaged in armed +rebellion against the authority of the National Government; and it was +not participated in by the voters of several entire States. Aside from +these unique features, it marked a most critical epoch in the history +of the country, and in that of Abraham Lincoln as well. The policy and +acts of the administration, even the question of the further +prosecution of the war, were to be submitted to the sovereign tribunal +of the people; and with their verdict would be recorded also the +popular measure of approval or disapproval of President Lincoln. Those +who knew him best during his first official term pronounce him +singularly free from plans and calculations regarding his own +political future. He was too absorbed in public cares and duties, too +nearly crushed by the great burdens resting upon him, to give thought +or attention to questions of personal ambition. It had never been his +aim, during his Presidential life, to look far ahead. He was content +to deal wisely and soberly with important questions as they arose from +day to day and hour to hour; to adapt himself and his actions to the +exigencies of the present, and in that way to earn security for the +future. He himself said, using a forcible and apt illustration +borrowed from his early life: "The pilots on our Western rivers steer +from _point to point_, as they call it--setting the course of the boat +no farther than they can see; and that is all I propose to do in the +great problems that are set before me." + +Such a policy as that outlined by Lincoln, embraced in his homely and +characteristic phrase of "pegging away," caused him to be greatly +misunderstood and even distrusted in some quarters. As the time for the +new election drew near, there was very pronounced dissatisfaction with +him, particularly in New England. It was said of him, among other +things, that he "lacked the essential qualities of a leader." Mr. Henry +Greenleaf Pearson, the biographer of Governor Andrew of Massachusetts, +illuminates this point in a few instructive sentences. "To comprehend +this objection, which to us seems so astonishingly wide of the mark," +says Mr. Pearson, "we must realize that whenever a New Englander of that +generation uttered the word 'leader' his mind's eye was filled with the +image of Daniel Webster. Even those who called the fallen statesman +'Ichabod' could not forget his commanding presence, his lofty tone about +affairs of state, his sonorous professions of an ideal, his whole _ex +cathedra_ attitude. All these characteristics supplied the aristocratic +connotation of the word 'leader.' Of the broad democratic meaning of the +term, the world had as yet received no demonstration. That Lincoln was +in very truth the 'new birth of a new soil,' Lowell, with the advantage +of literary detachment, was one of the first to discover and proclaim, +both in his political essays and in the splendid stanzas of the +'Commemoration Ode.'" + +While Lincoln seemingly gave little heed to the question of a second +Presidential term, it must not be inferred that he was indifferent +regarding it. His nature was one of those strong ones which, though +desiring approbation, are yet able to live without it. His whole life +had been a schooling in self-reliance and independence, and the last +three years especially had rendered him an adept in that stern +philosophy. But he was thoroughly human, and deep down in his nature was +a craving for human sympathy and support. Knowing that he had done his +best and was entitled to the full approval of his countrymen, he no +doubt felt that it would be a pleasant thing to receive that approval by +being called to serve them for another term. To one friend he remarked, +using his old figure of "the people's attorney," "If the people think I +have managed their case for them well enough to trust me to _carry it up +to the next term_, I am sure I shall be glad to take it." He evidently +dreaded the rebuke that would be implied in a failure to be renominated; +yet it seemed unbecoming to him, in the critical condition of the +country, to make any personal effort to that end. To these +considerations were added his extreme weariness and longing for release +from his oppressive burdens. He was also, as Mr. Welles records in his +Diary, "greatly importuned and pressed by cunning intrigues." + +From these various complications, Lincoln's embarrassment and +perplexity as the time for holding the Republican Convention drew near +were extreme. A journalistic friend (Mr. J.M. Winchell), who had a +lengthy conversation with him on the subject, gives what is no doubt a +correct idea of his state of mind at that period. "Mr. Lincoln received +me," says Mr. Winchell, "kindly and courteously; but his manner was +quite changed. It was not now the country about which his anxiety +prevailed, but himself. There was an embarrassment about him which he +could not quite conceal. I thought it proper to state in the outset that +I wished simply to know whatever he was free to tell me in regard to his +own willingness or unwillingness to accept a renomination. The reply was +a monologue of an hour's duration, and one that wholly absorbed me, as +it seemed to absorb himself. He remained seated nearly all the time. He +was restless, often changing position, and occasionally, in some intense +moment, wheeling his body around in his chair and throwing a leg over +the arm. This was the only grotesque thing I recollect about him; his +voice and manner were very earnest, and he uttered no jokes and told no +anecdotes. He began by saying that as yet he was not a candidate for +renomination. He distinctly denied that he was a party to any effort to +that end, notwithstanding I knew that there were movements in his favor +in all parts of the Northern States. These movements were, of course, +without his prompting, as he positively assured me that with one or two +exceptions he had scarcely conversed on the subject with his most +intimate friends. He was not quite sure whether he desired a +renomination. Such had been the responsibility of the office--so +oppressive had he found its cares, so terrible its perplexities--that he +felt as though the moment when he could relinquish the burden and +retire to private life would be the sweetest he could possibly +experience. But, he said, he would not deny that a re-election would +also have its gratification to his feelings. He did not seek it, nor +would he do so; he did not desire it for any ambitious or selfish +purpose; but after the crisis the country was passing through under his +Presidency, and the efforts he had made conscientiously to discharge the +duties imposed upon him, it would be a very sweet satisfaction to him to +know that he had secured the approval of his fellow citizens and earned +the highest testimonial of confidence they could bestow. This was the +gist of the hour's monologue; and I believe he spoke sincerely. His +voice, his manner, gave his modest and sensible words a power of +conviction. He seldom looked me in the face while he was talking; he +seemed almost to be gazing into the future. I am sure it was not a +pleasant thing for him to seem to be speaking in his own behalf. For +himself, he affirmed that he should make no promises of office to anyone +as an inducement for support. If nominated and elected, he should be +grateful to his friends; but the interests of the country must always be +first considered." + +The principal candidates talked of as successors to Lincoln were +Secretary Chase, General Frémont, and General Grant. Of the latter, +Lincoln said, with characteristic frankness and generosity: "If he could +be more useful as President in putting down the rebellion, I would be +content. He is pledged to our policy of emancipation and the employment +of negro soldiers; and if this policy is carried out, it will not make +much difference who is President." But General Grant's good sense +prevailed over his injudicious advisers, and he promptly refused to +allow his name to be presented to the convention. + +The most formidable candidate for the Republican nomination was +Secretary Chase. The relations between him and the President had not +latterly been very harmonious; and the breach was greatly widened by a +bitter personal assault on Mr. Chase by General F.P. Blair, a newly +elected Congressman from Missouri, made on the floor of the House, about +the middle of April, under circumstances which led Mr. Chase to believe +that the President inspired, or at least approved, the attack. Mr. Chase +was very angry, and an open rupture between his friends and those of the +President was narrowly averted. Mr. Riddle, Congressman from Mr. Chase's +State (Ohio), relates that on the evening after General Blair's +offensive speech he was to accompany Mr. Chase on a visit to Baltimore. +"I was shown," says Mr. Riddle, "to the Secretary's private car, where I +found him alone and in a frenzy of rage. A copy of Blair's speech had +been shown him at the station, and I was the sole witness of his +Achillean wrath. He threatened to leave the train at once and send the +President his resignation; but was persuaded to go on to Baltimore. He +wished to forward his resignation from there, but concluded to withhold +it till his return to Washington the next day. At Baltimore," continues +Mr. Riddle, "I excused myself, and took the return train for Washington. +I did not overestimate the danger to the Union cause. It would be a +fatal error to defeat Mr. Lincoln at the Baltimore Convention; yet how +could he succeed, with the angry resignation of Mr. Chase, and the +defection of his friends--the powerful and aggressive radicals? Reaching +Washington, I went to the White House direct. I knew the President could +not have been a party to Blair's assault, and I wanted his personal +assurances to communicate to Mr. Chase at the earliest moment. I was +accompanied by Judge Spaulding, an eminent member of the House, fully +sharing Mr. Chase's confidence, and somewhat cool toward the President. +We found Mr. Lincoln drawn up behind his table, with papers before him, +quite grim, evidently prepared for the battle which he supposed awaited +him. Without taking a seat, hat in hand, I stated frankly, not without +emotion, the condition of affairs,--the public danger, my entire +confidence in him, my sole purpose there, the reason of Judge +Spaulding's presence, and that we were there in no way as +representatives of Mr. Chase. Mr. Lincoln was visibly affected. The +tones of confidence, sympathy, personal regard, were strangers to him at +that time. Softening, almost melting, he came round to us, shook our +hands again and again, returned to his place, and standing there, took +up and opened out, from their remote origin, the whole web of matters +connected with the present complication. He spoke an hour--calm, clear, +direct, simple. He reprehended Blair severely, and stated that he had no +knowledge of his speech until after Blair left Washington. We were +permitted to communicate this to Mr. Chase. He was satisfied with the +President's explanation, and at the Baltimore Convention my large +acquaintance enabled me to open the way for Governor Dennison of Ohio to +become its presiding officer. All recognized the good effect of the +organization of that body by the friends of Mr. Chase." + +The National Republican Convention which met at Baltimore on the 8th of +June adopted resolutions heartily approving the course of the +administration and especially the policy of emancipation, and completed +its good work by nominating Abraham Lincoln as its candidate for +President for another term. Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, was nominated +for Vice-President. That Lincoln was gratified at this proof of +confidence and esteem there can be no doubt. In his acceptance of the +nomination, he said, with the most delicate modesty: "I view this call +to a second term as in no wise more flattering to myself than as an +expression of the public judgment that I may better finish a difficult +work than could one less severely schooled to the task." And with +characteristic humor, he thanked a visiting delegation for their good +opinion of him, saying, "I have not permitted myself to conclude that I +am the best man in the country; but I am reminded of the old Dutch +farmer who remarked to a companion that _it was not best to swap horses +while crossing a stream_." + +In July, 1864, great excitement and alarm were occasioned in +Washington by a body of Confederate cavalry under General Early, who +actually attacked the fortifications of the city, cut off its railroad +communication with the North, and ravaged the country about with fire +and sword. For several days skirmishing was going on between the +raiders and the troops in our fortifications. The fact that the +President himself was under fire from the enemy on this occasion gave +the episode a decided thrill of realism. He, with other government +officials--largely, no doubt, from motives of curiosity--visited the +scene of the disturbance and witnessed the miniature but sometimes +spirited engagements. Among these visitors was Secretary Welles, who +thus records his experiences (Diary, July 12, 1864): "Rode out today +to Fort Stevens. Looking out over the valley below, where the +continual popping of pickets was going on, I saw a line of our men +lying close near the bottom of the valley. Senator Wade came up beside +me. We went into the Fort, where we found the President, who was +sitting in the shade, his back against the parapet toward the +enemy.... As the firing from the Fort ceased, our men ran to the +charge and the Rebels fled. We could see them running across the +fields, seeking the woods on the brow of the opposite hills. Below, +we could see here and there some of our own men bearing away their +wounded comrades. Occasionally a bullet from some long-range rifle +passed over our heads. It was an interesting and exciting spectacle." +Another account says: "President Lincoln visited the lines in person, +and refused to retire, although urged to do so. He exposed himself +freely at Fort Stevens, and a surgeon standing alongside of him was +wounded by a ball which struck a gun and glanced." A gentleman named +Neill, who lived in the country, about twelve miles from the city, +gives a vivid conception of the imminence of the danger. "After +breakfast, on Tuesday, July 12," says Mr. Neill, "I went as usual in a +railway car to the city, and before noon my house was surrounded by +General Bradley Johnson's insurgent cavalry, who had made an attempt +to capture the New York express train, and had robbed the country +store near by of its contents. The presence of the cavalry stopped all +travel by railroad; and Senator Ramsey of Minnesota, who happened to +be in Washington, could find no way to the North except by descending +the Potomac to its mouth and then ascending Chesapeake Bay to +Baltimore. While the cavalry was in the fields around my home, the +enemy's infantry was marching toward the capital by what was called +the Seventh Street road, and they set fire to the residence of Hon. +Montgomery Blair, who had been Postmaster-General. As I sat in my room +at the President's, the smoke of the burning mansion was visible; but +business was transacted with as much quietness as if the foe were +hundreds of miles distant. Mr. Fox, the assistant Secretary of the +Navy, had in a private note informed the President that if there +should be a necessity for him to leave the city he would find a +steamer in readiness at the wharf at the foot of Sixth Street. About +one o'clock in the afternoon of each day of the skirmishing, the +President would enter his carriage, and drive to the forts, in the +suburbs, and watch the soldiers repulse the invaders." For several +days Washington was in great danger of capture. Nearly all the forces +had been sent forward to reinforce Grant, and the city was +comparatively defenseless. But its slender garrison, mostly raw +recruits, held out gallantly under the encouragement of the President, +until Grant sent a column to attack Early, who promptly withdrew, and +the crisis was over. This was the last time the enemy threatened the +national capital. From that time he had enough to do to defend +Richmond. + +Lincoln labored under deep depression during the summer of 1864. The +Army of the Potomac achieved apparently very little in return for its +enormous expenditure of blood and treasure. Until the victories of +Farragut in Mobile Bay, late in August, and Sherman at Atlanta a few +days later, the gloom was unrelieved. The people were restless and +impatient, and vented their displeasure upon the administration, holding +it responsible for all reverses and disappointments, and giving grudging +praise for success at any point. The popular displeasure was increased +by the President's call for 500,000 additional troops, made July 18,--a +measure which some of his strongest friends deprecated, as likely to +jeopardize his re-election in November. "It is not a personal question +at all," said Lincoln. "It matters not what becomes of _me. We must have +the men_. If I go down, I intend to go like the Cumberland, with my +colors flying." To the question, When is the war to end? he said, +"Surely I feel as deep an interest in this question as any other can; +but I do not wish to name a day, a month, or a year, when it is to end. +We accepted this war _for an object_--a worthy object; and the war will +end _when that object is attained_. Under God, I hope it _never will +end until that time_." + +The President's mind seemed constantly weighted with anxiety as to the +movements and fortunes of our armies in the field. He could not sleep at +night under this crushing load. Secretary Welles's Diary gives frequent +instances of this. Once, after an engagement between the Western armies, +the President, says Mr. Welles, "came to me with the latest news. He was +feeling badly. Tells me a despatch was sent to him at the Soldiers' Home +last night shortly after he got asleep, and so disturbed him that he had +no more rest, but arose and came to the city and passed the remainder of +the night awake and watchful." At another time, after a desperate battle +between Grant and Lee, Mr. Welles says: "The President came into my room +about one P.M. and told me he _had slept none last night._ He lay down +for a short time on the sofa in my room, and detailed all the news he +had gathered." + +Ex-Governor Bross of Illinois furnishes an account of an interview with +Lincoln during this dark period: "The last time I saw Mr. Lincoln, till, +as a pallbearer, I accompanied his remains to their last resting-place, +was in the early part of August, 1864. It was directly after the +frightful disaster at Petersburg, and I was on my way to the front, to +recover, if possible, the body of my brother, Colonel John A. Bross, who +fell there at the head of his regiment. I found the President with a +large pile of documents before him. He laid down his pen and gave me a +cordial but rather melancholy welcome, asking anxiously for news from +the West. Neither of us could shut our eyes to the gloom which hung over +the entire country. The terrible losses of the Wilderness, and the awful +disaster at Petersburg, weighed heavily upon our spirits. To a question, +I answered that the people expected a still more vigorous prosecution +of the war; more troops and needful appliances would, if called for, be +forthcoming. 'I will tell you what the people want,' said the President, +'they want, and must have, _success_. But whether that come or not, I +shall stay _right here_ and do my duty. Here I shall be; and they may +come and hang me on that tree' (pointing out of the window to one), +'but, God helping me, I shall never desert my post.' This was said in a +way that assured me that these were the sentiments of his inmost soul." + +The President, about this time, was greatly worried by Horace Greeley +and others, who importuned him to receive negotiations for peace from +the Confederate authorities. He at length said to Mr. Greeley, "I not +only intend a sincere effort for peace, but you shall be a personal +witness that it is made." On the same day that the call for additional +troops was made, the President issued, through Mr. Greeley, the famous +letter, "To Whom It May Concern," promising safe conduct to any person +or persons authorized to present "any proposition which embraces the +restoration of peace, the _integrity of the whole Union_, and the +_abandonment of slavery_." Nothing came of the proposed negotiations, +except to stop for a time the mischievous fault-finding; which was, of +course, the result aimed at by Lincoln. The act was severely condemned +by many Republicans; but Lincoln only said, "It is hardly fair for them +to say the letter amounts to _nothing_. It will shut up Greeley, and +satisfy the people who are clamoring for peace. That's _something_, +anyhow!" + +So much blame was heaped upon the Government, and so great was the +dissatisfaction at the North, that Lincoln looked upon the election of +his competitor, General McClellan, and his own retirement, as not +improbable. An incident in evidence of his discouragement is related by +Secretary Welles. Entering the Executive office one day, Mr. Welles was +asked to write his name across the back of a sealed paper which the +President handed him. The names of several other members of the Cabinet +were already on the paper, with the dates of signature. After the +election, Lincoln opened the document in the presence of his Cabinet and +read to them its contents, as follows: + + EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, + August 23, 1864. + + This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable + that this administration will not be re-elected. Then it will be my + duty to co-operate with the President-elect so as to save the Union + between the election and the inauguration. + + A. LINCOLN. + +By this careful prevision had Lincoln pledged himself to give to his +successor that unselfish and patriotic assistance of which he himself +had stood so sorely in need. + +As the desperation of the South and the opposition to Lincoln at the +North increased, fears were entertained by his friends that an attempt +might be made upon his life. Lincoln himself paid but little heed to +these forebodings of evil. He said, philosophically: "I long ago made up +my mind that if anybody wants to kill me, he will do it. If I wore a +shirt of mail and kept myself surrounded by a bodyguard, it would be all +the same. There are a thousand ways of getting at a man if it is desired +that he should be killed. Besides, in this case, it seems to me, the man +who would succeed me would be just as objectionable to my enemies--if I +have any." One dark night, as he was going out with a friend, he took +along a heavy cane, remarking good-humoredly that "mother" (Mrs. +Lincoln) had "got a notion into her head that I shall be assassinated, +and to please her I take a cane when I go over to the War Department at +nights--when I don't forget it." + +It is probable that the attempts upon the life of President Lincoln were +more numerous than is generally known. An incident of a very thrilling +character, which might easily have involved a shocking tragedy, is +related by Mr. John W. Nichols, who from the summer of 1862 until 1865 +was one of the President's body-guard. "One night, about the middle of +August, 1864," says Mr. Nichols, "I was doing sentinel duty at the large +gate through which entrance was had to the grounds of the Soldiers' +Home, near Washington, where Mr. Lincoln spent much time in summer. +About eleven o'clock I heard a rifle-shot in the direction of the city, +and shortly afterwards I heard approaching hoof-beats. In two or three +minutes a horse came dashing up, and I recognized the belated President. +The horse he rode was a very spirited one, and was Mr. Lincoln's +favorite saddle-horse. As horse and rider approached the gate, I noticed +that the President was bareheaded. As soon as I had assisted him in +checking his steed, the President said to me: 'He came pretty near +getting away with me, didn't he? He got the bit in his teeth before I +could draw the rein.' I then asked him where his hat was; and he replied +that somebody had fired a gun off down at the foot of the hill, and that +his horse had become scared and had jerked his hat off. I led the animal +to the Executive Cottage, and the President dismounted and entered. +Thinking the affair rather strange, a corporal and myself started off to +investigate. When we reached the place whence the sound of the shot had +come--a point where the driveway intersects, with the main road--we +found the President's hat. It was a plain silk hat, and upon examination +we discovered a _bullet-hole_ through the crown. We searched the +locality thoroughly, but without avail. Next day I gave Mr. Lincoln his +hat, and called his attention to the bullet-hole. He made some humorous +remark, to the effect that it was made by some foolish marksman and was +not intended for him; but added that he wished nothing said about the +matter. We all felt confident it was an attempt to kill the President, +and after that he never rode alone." + +Amidst his terrible trials, Lincoln often exhibited a forced and +sorrowful serenity, which many mistook for apathy. Even his oldest and +best friends were sometimes deceived in this way. Hon. Leonard Swett +relates a touching instance: "In the summer of 1864, when Grant was +pounding his way toward Richmond in those terrible battles of the +Wilderness, myself and wife were in Washington trying to do what little +two persons could do toward alleviating the sufferings of the maimed and +dying in the vast hospitals of that city. We tried to be thorough and +systematic. We took the first man we came to, brought him delicacies, +wrote letters to his friends, or did for him whatever else he most +needed; then the next man, and so on. Day after day cars and ambulances +were coming in, laden with untold sorrows for thousands of homes. After +weeks of this kind of experience my feelings became so wrought up that I +said to myself: The country cannot long endure this sacrifice. In mercy, +both to North and South, every man capable of bearing arms must be +hurried forward to Grant to end this, fearful slaughter at the earliest +possible moment. I went to President Lincoln at the White House, and +poured myself out to him. He was sitting by an open window; and as I +paused, a bird lit upon a branch just outside and was twittering and +singing most joyously. Mr. Lincoln, imitating the bird, said: '_Tweet, +tweet, tweet_; isn't he singing sweetly?' I felt as if my legs had been +cut from under me. I rose, took my hat, and said, 'I see the country is +safer than I thought.' As I moved toward the door, Mr. Lincoln called +out, in his hearty, familiar way, 'Here, Swett, come back and sit down.' +Then he went on: 'It is impossible for a man in my position not to have +thought of all those things. Weeks ago every man capable of bearing arms +was ordered to the front, and everything you have suggested has been +done.'" + +The burdens borne by Lincoln seemed never to tell so seriously on his +strength and vitality as in this terrible battle-summer of 1864. For him +there had been no respite, no holiday. Others left the heat and dust of +Washington for rest and recuperation; but he remained at his post. The +demands upon him were incessant; one anxiety and excitement followed +another, and under the relentless strain even his sturdy strength began +to give way. "I sometimes fancy," said he, with pathetic good-humor, +"that every one of the numerous grist ground through here daily, from a +Senator seeking a war with France down to a poor woman after a place in +the Treasury Department, darted at me with thumb and finger, picked out +_their especial piece of my vitality_, and carried it off. When I get +through with such a day's work there is only one word which can express +my condition, and that is _flabbiness_." Once Mr. Brooks "found him +sitting in his chair so collapsed and weary that he did not look up or +speak when I addressed him. He put out his hand, mechanically, as if to +shake hands, when I told him I had come at his bidding. Presently he +roused a little, and remarked that he had had '_a mighty hard day_.'" +Mr. Riddle, who saw him at this period, after some months' absence, says +he was shocked, on gaining admission to the President, "by his +appearance--that of a _baited, cornered man_, always on the defense +against attacks that he could not openly meet and defy or punish." Mr. +Carpenter, an inmate of the White House, says: "Absorbed in his papers, +he would become unconscious of my presence, while I intently studied +every line and shade of expression in that furrowed face. There were +days when I could scarcely look into it without crying. During the first +week of the battles of the Wilderness he scarcely slept at all. Passing +through the main hall of the domestic apartment on one of these days, I +met him, clad in a long morning wrapper, pacing back and forth a narrow +passage leading to one of the windows, his hands behind him, great black +rings under his eyes, his head bent forward upon his breast,--altogether +such a picture of the effects of sorrow, care, and anxiety as would have +melted the hearts of the worst of his adversaries, who so mistakenly +applied to him the epithets of tyrant and usurper." + +Mr. Edward Dicey, the English historian, says: "Never in my knowledge +have I seen a sadder face than that of the late President during the +time his features were familiar to me. It is so easy to be wise after +the event; but it seems to me now that one ought somehow to have +foreseen that the stamp of a sad end was impressed by nature on that +rugged, haggard face. The exceeding sadness of the eyes and their +strange sweetness were the one redeeming feature in a face of unusual +plainness, and there was about them that odd, weird look, which some +eyes possess, of seeming to see more than the outer objects of the world +around." + +Lincoln's family and friends strove to beguile him of his melancholy. +They took him to places of amusement; they walked and drove with him in +the pleasantest scenes about the capital; and above all, they talked +with him of times past, seeking to divert his mind from its present +distress by reviving memories of more joyous days. His old friends were, +as Mr. Arnold states, "shocked with the change in his appearance. They +had known him at his home, and at the courts in Illinois, with a frame +of iron and nerves of steel; as a man who hardly knew what illness was, +ever genial and sparkling with frolic and fun, nearly always cheery and +bright. Now they saw the wrinkles on his face and forehead deepen into +furrows; the laugh of old days was less frequent, and it did not seem to +come from the heart. Anxiety, responsibility, care, thought, disasters, +defeats, the injustice of friends, wore upon his giant frame, and his +nerves of steel became at times irritable. He said one day, with a +pathos which language cannot describe, 'I feel as though I shall _never +be glad again_.'" + +Hon. Schuyler Colfax repeats a similarly pathetic expression which fell +from the lips of the afflicted President. "One morning," says Mr. +Colfax, "calling upon him on business, I found him looking more than +usually pale and careworn, and inquired the reason. He replied with the +bad news he had received at a late hour the previous night, which had +not yet been communicated to the press, adding that he had not closed +his eyes or breakfasted; and, with an expression I shall never forget, +he exclaimed, 'How willingly would I exchange places today with the +soldier who sleeps on the ground in the Army of the Potomac!'" + +A lady who saw Lincoln in the summer of 1864 for the first time, and who +had expected to see "a very homely man," says: "I was totally unprepared +for the impression instantly made upon me. So bowed and sorrow-laden was +his whole person, expressing such weariness of mind and body, as he +dropped himself heavily from step to step down to the ground. But his +face!--oh, the pathos of it!--haggard, drawn into fixed lines of +unutterable sadness, with a look of loneliness, as of a soul whose depth +of sorrow and bitterness no human sympathy could ever reach. I was so +penetrated with the anguish and settled grief in every feature, that I +gazed at him through tears, and felt I had stepped upon the threshold of +a sanctuary too sacred for human feet. The impression I carried away was +that I had seen, not so much the President of the United States, as _the +saddest man in the world_." + +The changes in Lincoln's appearance were noted in the subdued, refined, +purified expression of his face, as of one struggling almost against +hope, but still patiently enduring. Mr. Brooks says, "I have known +impressionable women, touched by his sad face and his gentle bearing, to +go away in tears." Another observer, Rev. C.B. Crane, wrote at the time: +"The President looks thin and careworn. His form is bowed as by a +crushing load; his flesh is wasted as by incessant solicitude; and his +face is thin and furrowed and pale, as though it had become +spiritualized by the vicarious pain which he endured in bearing on +himself all the calamities of his country." Truly it might be said of +him, in the words of Matthew Arnold: + + With aching hands and bleeding feet + We dig and heap, lay stone on stone; + We bear the burden and the heat + Of the long day, and wish 't were done. + Not till the hours of light return + All we have built do we discern. + +In the tragic experiences of Lincoln in these dark days, the outlook was +less gloomy than it had seemed to his tortured soul. He was even then, +as Mr. John Bigelow puts it, "making for himself a larger place in +history than he had any idea of." He "builded better than he knew"; and +the "hours of light" were soon to come when he would know what he had +built and see the signs that promised better things. The Presidential +election of 1864 demonstrated the abiding confidence of the people in +him and his administration. Every loyal State but three--New Jersey, +Delaware, and Kentucky--gave him its electoral vote; and his popular +majority over McClellan, the Democratic candidate, was upwards of +400,000. Lincoln was cheered but not exultant at the news. Late in the +evening of election day (November 8, 1864) he said, in response to +public congratulations: "I am thankful to God for this approval of the +people. But while deeply grateful for this mark of their confidence in +me, if I know my own heart my gratitude is free from any taint of +personal triumph. It is not in my nature to triumph over anyone; but I +give thanks to Almighty God for this evidence of the people's resolution +to stand by free government and the rights of humanity." + +While the election returns were coming in, early in the evening, Lincoln +was at the War Department with a little group assembled to hear them +read. How different the scene from that in the quiet country town where +he had waited for the returns on a similar occasion four years before! +Then all was peace--the lull before the storm. Now the storm had broken, +and its greatest fury was raging about that patient and devoted man who +waited to hear the decision of the nation's supreme tribunal--the voice +of the people whose decree would settle the fate of himself and of the +country. Mr. Charles A. Dana, Assistant Secretary of War, who was in the +group, gives this description of the scene: "General Eckert was coming +in continually with telegrams containing election returns. Mr. Stanton +would read them, and the President would look at them and comment upon +them. Presently there came a lull in the returns, and Mr. Lincoln called +me up to a place by his side. 'Dana,' said he, 'have you ever read any +of the writings of Petroleum V. Nasby?' 'No, sir,' I said, 'I have only +looked at some of them, and they seemed to me funny.' 'Well,' said he, +'let me read you a specimen,' and pulling out a thin yellow-covered +pamphlet from his breast pocket he began to read aloud. Mr. Stanton +viewed this proceeding with great impatience, as I could see; but Mr. +Lincoln paid no attention to that. He would read a page or a story, +pause to con a new election telegram, and then open the book again and +go ahead with a new passage. Finally Mr. Chase came in; and presently +Mr. Whitelaw Reid, and then the reading was interrupted. Mr. Stanton +went to the door and beckoned me into the next room. I shall never +forget his indignation at what seemed to him disgusting nonsense." + +The morning following the election one of his private secretaries, Mr. +Neill, coming to the Executive office earlier than usual, found Lincoln +at his table engaged in his regular routine of official work. "Entering +the room," says Mr. Neill, "I took a seat by his side, extended my hand, +and congratulated him upon the vote, for the country's sake and for his +own sake. Turning away from the papers which had been occupying his +attention, he spoke kindly of his competitor, the calm, prudent General, +and great organizer." + +The importance of Lincoln's re-election, to the country and to himself, +is forcibly stated by General Grant and Secretary Seward. The former +telegraphed from City Point, the day following: "The victory is worth +more to the country than a battle won." And the same evening, at a +public gathering held to celebrate the event, Mr. Seward said: "The +election has placed our President beyond the pale of human envy or human +harm, as he is above the pale of human ambition. Henceforth all men will +come to see him as we have seen him--a true, loyal, patient, patriotic, +and benevolent man. Having no longer any motive to malign or injure him, +detraction will cease, and Abraham Lincoln will take his place with +Washington and Franklin and Jefferson and Adams and Jackson--among the +benefactors of the country and of the human race." + +Lincoln evidently felt greatly reassured by the result of what had +seemed to him a very doubtful contest; but with the return of +cheerfulness came also the dread of continuing his official labors. He +began to long and plan for that happy period at the end of the second +term when he should be free from public burdens. "Mrs. Lincoln desired +to go to Europe for a long tour of pleasure," says Mr. Brooks. "The +President was disposed to gratify her wish; but he fixed his eyes on +California as a place of permanent residence. He had heard so much of +the delightful climate and the abundant natural productions of +California that he had become possessed of a strong desire to visit the +State and remain there if he were satisfied with the results of his +observations. 'When we leave this place,' he said, one day, 'we shall +have enough, I think, to take care of us old people. The boys must look +out for themselves. I guess mother will be satisfied with six months or +so in Europe. After that I should really like to go to California and +take a look at the Pacific coast.'" + +After the Baltimore Convention, Mr. Chase proposed to resign his +position as Secretary of the Treasury, but he was persuaded by +influential friends of himself and Lincoln to reconsider his +determination. Chief among these friends was Hon. John Brough, the +sturdy "War Governor" of Ohio. Later in the summer of 1864 the relations +between the President and Secretary Chase again became inharmonious; the +latter determined a second time to resign, and communicated that fact +in a confidential letter to Governor Brough. Hon. Wm. Henry Smith, at +that time Ohio's Secretary of State, and intimately acquainted with the +circumstances as they occurred, says: "Mr. Brough went directly to +Washington to bring about another reconciliation. After talking the +matter over with Mr. Chase and Mr. Stanton, he called on the President +and urged a settlement that would retain the services of Mr. Chase in +the Treasury Department. Mr. Lincoln was very kind, and admitted the +force of all that was urged; but finally said, with a quiet but +impressive firmness, 'Brough, I think you had better _give up the job_ +this time.' And thereupon he gave reasons why it was unwise for Mr. +Chase to continue longer in the Cabinet." + +In the autumn, the Chief-Justiceship became vacant by the death of Judge +R.B. Taney (October 11, 1864), and the friends of Mr. Chase, who was +then in retirement, desired his elevation to that honorable seat. +Congressman Riddle, who was designated to present the matter to the +President, says: "After hearing what I had to say, Mr. Lincoln asked, +'Will this content Mr. Chase?' 'It is said that those bitten of the +Presidency die of it,' I replied. His smile showed he would not take +that answer. I added: 'Mr. Chase is conscious of ability to serve the +country as President. We should expect the greatest from him.' 'He would +not disappoint you, were it in his reach. But I should be sorry to see a +Chief-Justice anxious to _swap_ for it.' I said then what I had already +said to Mr. Chase: that I would rather be the Chief Justice than the +President. I urged that the purity and elevation of Mr. Chase's +character guaranteed the dignity of the station from all compromise; +that momentous questions must arise, involving recent exercises of +power, without precedents to guide the court; that the honor of the +Government would be safe in the hands of Mr. Chase. 'Would you _pack_ +the Supreme Court?' he asked, a little sharply. 'Would you have a Judge +with no preconceived notions of law?' was my response. 'True, true,' was +his laughing reply; 'how could I find anyone, fit for the place, who has +not some definite notions on all questions likely to arise?'" + +The proposed appointment of Mr. Chase as Chief-Justice was severely +criticized by certain friends of Lincoln, who believed Mr. Chase was +personally hostile to the President, and could not understand the +latter's magnanimity in thus ignoring personal considerations. When told +of these criticisms, Lincoln said: "My friends all over the country are +trying to put up the bars between me and Governor Chase. I have a vast +number of messages and letters from men who think they are my friends, +imploring and warning me not to appoint him. Now I know more about +Governor Chase's hostility to me than any of these men can tell me; but +_I am going to nominate him_." Which he did, and Chase became +Chief-Justice in December, 1864. + +The withdrawal of Secretary Chase from the Cabinet was soon followed by +that of Postmaster-General Blair, who was succeeded by ex-Governor +Dennison of Ohio. Blair received, says Mr. Welles in his Diary, a letter +from the President, which, though friendly in tone, informed him that +the time had arrived when it seemed best that he should retire, and +requesting his resignation, which was promptly given. Mr. Welles says +that the President subsequently informed him that "Mr. Chase had many +friends who felt wounded that he should have left the Cabinet, and left +alone. The friends of Blair had been his assailants, and the President +thought that if he also left the Cabinet Chase and his friends would be +satisfied and the administration would be relieved of irritating +bickerings. The relations of Blair with Stanton also were such that it +was difficult for the two to remain." A little later came the +resignation of Attorney-General Bates, which, says Mr. Welles, "has +initiated more intrigues. A host of candidates are thrust +forward--Evarts, Holt, Gushing, Whiting, and the Lord knows who, are all +candidates." This gives but a faint idea of the embarrassments and +dissensions among Lincoln's friends and official advisers, and of the +ceaseless efforts and infinite tact that were needed to maintain a +decent degree of harmony among them. + +Early in December the President submitted to Congress his fourth annual +message--a brief and businesslike statement of the prospects and +purposes of the Government. Its first sentence is: "The most remarkable +feature in the military operations of the year is General Sherman's +attempted march of three hundred miles directly through the insurgent +region." Then follows a reference to the important movements that had +occurred during the year, "to the effect of moulding society for +durability in the Union." The document closes with the following +explicit statement: "In presenting the abandonment of armed resistance +to the national authority, on the part of the insurgents, as the only +indispensable condition to ending the war on the part of the Government, +I _retract nothing_ heretofore said as to slavery. If the people should, +by whatever mode or means, make it an executive duty to re-enslave such +persons, _another, and not I_, must be their instrument to perform it. +In stating a single condition of peace, I mean simply to say that the +war will cease on the part of the Government whenever it shall have +ceased on the part of those who began it." + +New Year's day, 1865, was marked by a memorable incident. Among the +crowds gathered in the White House grounds stood groups of colored +people, watching with eager eyes the tide of people flowing in at the +open door to exchange salutations with the President. It was a privilege +heretofore reserved for the white race; but now, as the line of visitors +thinned, showing that the reception was nearly over, the boldest of the +colored men drew near the door with faltering step. Some were in +conventional attire, others in fantastic dress, and others again in +laborers' garb. The novel procession moved into the vestibule and on +into the room where the President was holding the republican court. +Timid and doubting, though determined, they ventured where their +oppressed and down-trodden race had never appeared before, and with the +keen, anxious, inquiring look on their dark faces, seemed like a herd of +wild creatures from the woods, in a strange and dangerous place. The +reception had been unusually well attended, and the President was nearly +overcome with weariness; but when he saw the dusky faces of his unwonted +visitors, he rallied from his fatigue and gave them a hearty welcome. +They were wild with joy. Thronging about him, they pressed and kissed +his hand, laughing and weeping at once, and exclaiming, "God bless Massa +Linkum!" It was a scene not easy to forget: the thanks and adoration of +a race paid to their deliverer. + +Ever since issuing the Emancipation Proclamation Lincoln had earnestly +desired that that measure should be perfected by a Constitutional +amendment forever prohibiting slavery in the territory of the United +States. He had discussed the matter fully with his friends in Congress, +and repeatedly urged them to press it to an issue. Just before the +Baltimore Convention, he urged Senator Morgan of New York, chairman of +the National Republican Committee, to have the proposed amendment made +the "key-note of the speeches and the key-note of the platform." +Congressman Rollins of Missouri relates that the President said to him, +"The passage of the amendment will _clinch the whole matter_." The +subject was already definitely before Congress. In December, 1863, joint +resolutions for this great end had been introduced in the House by Hon. +James M. Ashley of Ohio, and in the Senate by Hon. Charles Sumner of +Massachusetts and Hon. J.B. Henderson of Missouri. Senator Trumbull of +the Judiciary Committee, to whom the Senate resolutions were referred, +reported a substitute for the amendment, which, in April, 1864, passed +the Senate by a vote of thirty-eight to six; but reaching the House, +June 15, it failed to get the necessary two-thirds vote and was +defeated. At the next session of Congress the resolutions were again +presented to the House, and after a protracted debate were passed +(January 13, 1865) by a vote of one hundred and nineteen to fifty-six. +Illinois was the first State to ratify the amendment; and others +promptly followed. Lincoln was grateful and delighted. He remarked, +"This ends the job"; adding, "I feel proud that Illinois is a little +ahead." + +Overtures having been made, through General Grant, for a meeting between +the President and certain "peace commissioners" representing the +belligerents, Lincoln, anxious that nothing should be left undone that +might evidence his desire to bring the war to a close, consented to the +interview. On the morning of February 2, 1865, he left Washington, quite +privately, in order to accomplish his mission without awakening the +gossip and criticism which publicity would excite. At Fortress Monroe he +was joined by Secretary Seward, who seems to have been the only member +of the Cabinet who knew of the President's intention to meet the +Southern Commissioners. Lincoln took the full responsibility, as he +often did when dealing with risky or unpopular measures. "None of the +Cabinet were advised of this move, and without exception I think it +struck them unfavorably that the Chief Magistrate should have gone on +such a mission," is the comment of Secretary Welles,--although he adds, +"The discussion will be likely to tend to peace." + +The next morning (February 3) the President and Mr. Seward received the +Southern Commissioners--Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell--on board the U.S. +steam transport "River Queen" in Hampton Roads. The conference, says +Mr. Seward, "was altogether informal. There was no attendance of +secretaries, clerks, or other witnesses. Nothing was written or read. +The conversation, although earnest and free, was calm and courteous and +kind on both sides. The Richmond party approached the subject rather +indirectly, and at no time did they either make categorical demands or +tender formal stipulations or absolute refusals. Nevertheless, during +the conference, which lasted four hours, the several points at issue +between the Government and the insurgents were distinctly raised and +discussed, fully, intelligently, and in an amicable spirit." + +The meeting was fruitless. The commissioners asked, as a preliminary +step, the recognition of Jefferson Davis as President of the Southern +Confederacy. Lincoln declined, stating that "the only ground on which he +could rest the justice of the war--either with his own people or with +foreign powers--was that it was not a war of conquest, for the States +had never been separated from the Union. Consequently he could not +recognize another government inside of the one of which he alone was +President, nor admit the separate independence of States that were yet a +part of the Union. 'That,' said he, 'would be doing what you have so +long asked Europe to do in vain, and be resigning the only thing the +armies of the Union have been fighting for.' Mr. Hunter, one of the +commissioners, made a long reply to this, insisting that the recognition +of Davis's power to make a treaty was the first and indispensable step +to peace, and referred to the correspondence between King Charles I. and +his Parliament as a trustworthy precedent of a constitutional ruler +treating with rebels. Lincoln's face then wore that indescribable +expression which generally preceded his hardest hits, as he remarked: +'Upon questions of history I must refer you to Mr. Seward, for he is +posted in such things, and I don't pretend to be. My only distinct +recollection of the matter is that _Charles lost his head_.'" + +Alexander H. Stephens, one of the commissioners at the meeting on +board the "River Queen," and the Vice-President of the waning +Confederacy, was a very small man physically, with a complexion so +yellow as to suggest an ear of ripe corn. Lincoln gave the following +humorous account of the meeting with him: "Mr. Stephens had on an +overcoat about three sizes too big for him, with an old-fashioned high +collar. The cabin soon began to get pretty warm, and after a while he +stood up and pulled off his big coat. He slipped it off just about as +you would husk an ear of corn. I couldn't help thinking, as I looked +first at the overcoat and then at the man, 'Well, that's the _biggest +shuck_ and the _smallest nubbin_ I ever laid eyes on.'" + +So strongly were Lincoln's hopes fixed on finding some possible basis +for a peaceful restoration of the Union that a few days after his return +from his meeting with the Southern Peace Commissioners he presented to +the Cabinet (February 5, 1865) a scheme for paying to the Southern +States a partial compensation for the loss of their slaves, provided +they would at once discontinue armed resistance to the Federal +Government. It was, says Mr. Welles, who was present at the meeting +referred to, as "a proposition for paying the expenses of the war for +two hundred days, or four hundred millions of dollars, to the rebellious +States, to be for the extinguishment of slavery. The scheme did not meet +with favor, and was dropped." But it showed, adds Mr. Welles, "the +earnest desire of the President to conciliate and effect peace." + +The evening of March 3, 1865, the President had remained with his +Cabinet at the Capitol until a late hour, finishing the business +pertaining to the last acts of the old Congress. His face had the +ineffaceable care-worn look, yet his manner was cheerful, and he +appeared to be occupied with the work of the moment, to the exclusion of +all thoughts of the future or of the great event of the morrow. + +Rain prevailed during the morning of inauguration day, but before noon +it had ceased falling. The new Senate, convened for a special session, +was organized, and Andrew Johnson was sworn in its presence into the +office of Vice-President. Shortly after twelve o'clock, Lincoln entered +the chamber and joined the august procession, which then moved to the +eastern portico. As Lincoln stepped forward to take the oath of office, +a flood of sunlight suddenly burst from the clouds, illuminating his +face and form as he bowed to the acclamations of the people. Speaking of +this incident next day, he said, "Did you notice that sunburst? It made +my heart jump." Cheers and shouts rent the air as the President prepared +to speak his inaugural. He raised his arm, and the crowd hushed to catch +his opening words. He paused, as though thronging memories impeded +utterance; then, in a voice clear and strong, but touched with pathos, +he read that eloquent and imperishable composition, the Second Inaugural +Address. + + _Fellow-Countrymen:_ At this second appearing to take the oath of + the Presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended + address than there was at the first. Then a statement, somewhat in + detail, of a course to be pursued, seemed fitting and proper. Now, + at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations + have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the + great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the + energies of the Nation, little that is new could be presented. The + progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as + well known to the public as to myself; and it is, I trust, + reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for + the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured. + + On the occasion corresponding to this, four years ago, all thoughts + were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it, + all sought to avoid it. While the inaugural address was being + delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union + without war, insurgent agents were in the city, seeking to destroy + it with war,--seeking to dissolve the Union, and divide the effects + by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would + make war rather than let the Nation survive, and the other would + accept war rather than let it perish; and the war came. One-eighth + of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed + generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. + These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew + that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, + perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the + insurgents would rend the Union by war, while the Government + claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial + enlargement of it. + + Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration + which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause + of the conflict might cease when, or even before the conflict + itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a + result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, + and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the + other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just + God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other + men's faces; but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The + prayer of both could not be answered. That of neither has been + answered fully. The Almighty has his own purposes. "Woe unto the + world because of offenses, for it must needs be that offenses come, + but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall + suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses, which, in + the Providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued + through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He + gives to North and South this terrible war, as the woe due to those + by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure + from those Divine attributes which the believers in a living God + always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, + that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet if God + wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondman's + two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and + until every drop of blood drawn by the lash shall be paid by + another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, + so still it must be said: "The judgments of the Lord are true and + righteous altogether." + + With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the + right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish + the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him + who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and for his + orphan; to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting + peace among ourselves and with all nations. + +This address was probably, next to the Gettysburg oration, Lincoln's +most eloquent and touching public appeal. Gladstone of England said of +it: "I am taken captive by so striking an utterance as this. I see in +it the effect of sharp trial, when rightly borne, to raise men to a +higher level of thought and action. It is by cruel suffering that +nations are sometimes born to a better life. So it is with individual +men. Lincoln's words show that upon him anxiety and sorrow have wrought +their true effect." + +As the procession moved from the Capitol to the White House, at the +close of the inaugural ceremonies, a bright star was visible in the +heavens. The crowds gazing upon the unwonted phenomenon noted it as an +auspicious omen, like the baptism of sunshine which had seemed to +consecrate the President anew to his exalted office. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + + + Close of the Civil War--Last Acts in the Great Tragedy--Lincoln at + the Front--A Memorable Meeting--Lincoln, Grant, Sherman, and + Porter--Life on Shipboard--Visit to Petersburg--Lincoln and the + Prisoners--Lincoln in Richmond--The Negroes Welcoming their "Great + Messiah"--A Warm Reception--Lee's Surrender--Lincoln Receives the + News--Universal Rejoicing--Lincoln's Last Speech to the Public--His + Peelings and Intentions toward the South--His Desire for + Reconciliation. + +Great events crowded upon each other in the last few weeks of the Civil +War; and we must pass rapidly over them, giving special prominence only +to those with which President Lincoln was personally connected. The Army +of the Potomac under Grant, which for nearly a year had been incessantly +engaged with the army of General Lee, had forced the latter, fighting +desperately at every step, back through the Wilderness, into the +defenses about Richmond; and Lee's early surrender or retreat southward +seemed the only remaining alternatives. But the latter course, +disastrous as it would have been for the Confederacy, was rendered +impracticable by the comprehensive plan of operations that had been +adopted a year before. Interposed between Richmond and the South was now +the powerful army of General Sherman. This daring and self-reliant +officer, after his brilliant triumph at Atlanta the previous fall, had +pushed on to Savannah and captured that city also; then turning his +veteran columns northward, he had swept like a dread meteor through +South Carolina, destroying the proud city of Charleston, and then +Columbia, the State capital. General Johnston, with a strong force, +vainly tried to stay his progress through North Carolina; but after a +desperate though unsuccessful battle at Bentonville (March 20, 1865), +the opposition gave way, and the Union troops occupied Goldsboro, an +important point a hundred miles south of Richmond, commanding the +Southern railway communications of the Confederate capital. The +situation was singularly dramatic and impressive. In this narrow theatre +of war were now being rendered, with all the leading actors on the +stage, the closing scenes of that great and bloody tragedy. Grant on the +north and Sherman on the south were grinding Lee and Johnston between +them like upper and nether millstones. + +The last days of March brought unmistakable signs of the speedy +breaking-up of the rebellion. Lincoln, filled with anticipation not +unmixed with anxiety, wished to be at the front. "When we came to the +end of the War and the breaking-up of things," says General Grant, "one +of Lincoln's friends said to me, 'I think Lincoln would like to come +down and spend a few days at City Point, but he is afraid if he does +come it might look like interfering with the movements of the army, and +after all that has been said about other Generals he hesitates.' I was +told that if Lincoln had a hint from me that he would be welcome he +would come by the first boat. Of course I sent word that the President +could do me no greater honor than to come down and be my guest. He came +down, and we spent several days riding around the lines. He was a fine +horseman. He talked, and talked, and talked; he seemed to enjoy it, and +said, 'How grateful I feel to be with the boys and see what is being +done at Richmond!' He never asked a question about the movements. He +would say, 'Tell me what has been done; not what is to be done.' He +would sit for hours tilted back in his chair, with his hand shading his +eyes, watching the movements of the men with the greatest interest." +Another account says: "Lincoln made many visits with Grant to the lines +around Richmond and Petersburg. On such occasions he usually rode one of +the General's fine bay horses, called 'Cincinnati.' He was a good +horseman, and made his way through swamps and over corduroy roads as +well as the best trooper in the command. The soldiers invariably +recognized him, and greeted him, wherever he appeared amongst them, with +cheers that were no lip service, but came from the depth of their +hearts. He always had a pleasant salute or a friendly word for the men +in the ranks." + +Aside from the President's desire to be at the front at this critical +time, he had an almost feverish anxiety to escape from the petty +concerns and details of official life in Washington. In Welles's Diary +is this entry (March 23, 1865): "The President has gone to the front, +partly to get rid of the throng [office-seekers, politicians, etc.] that +is pressing on him. The more he yields, the greater the pressure. It has +now become such that he is compelled to flee. There is no doubt he is +much worn down. Besides, he wishes the war terminated, and, to this end, +that severe terms shall not be exacted of the Rebels." + +Much of the time during the President's visit to the army he had his +quarters on the steamer "River Queen," lying in the James river at City +Point. It was the same vessel on which he had received the Southern +peace commissioners a month before, and the one on which he had made the +journey from Washington. On the 27th of March a memorable interview +occurred in the cabin of this vessel, between President Lincoln, +Generals Grant and Sherman, and Admiral Porter. General Sherman thus +describes the interview: "I left Goldsboro on the 25th of March and +reached City Point on the afternoon of the 27th. I found General Grant +and staff occupying a neat set of log huts, on a bluff overlooking the +James river. The General's family was with him. We had quite a long and +friendly talk, when Grant remarked that the President was near by in a +steamer lying at the dock, and he proposed that we should call at once. +We did so, and found Mr. Lincoln on board the 'River Queen.' We had met +in the early part of the war; he recognized me, and received me with a +warmth of manner and expression that was most grateful. We sat some time +in the after-cabin, and Mr. Lincoln made many inquiries about the events +which attended the march from Savannah to Goldsboro, and seemed to enjoy +the humorous stories about 'our bummers,' of which he had heard much. +When in lively conversation his face brightened wonderfully, but if the +conversation flagged it assumed a sad and sorrowful expression. General +Grant and I explained to him that my next move from Goldsboro would +bring my army, increased to 80,000 men by Schofield's and Terry's +reinforcements, in close communication with Grant's army then investing +Lee and Richmond; and that unless Lee could effect his escape and make +junction with Johnston in North Carolina, he would soon be shut up in +Richmond with no possibility of supplies, and would have to surrender. +Mr. Lincoln was extremely interested in this view of the case, and we +explained that Lee's only chance was to escape, join Johnston, and, +being then between me in North Carolina and Grant in Virginia, he could +choose which to fight. Mr. Lincoln seemed impressed with this; but +General Grant explained that at the very moment of our conversation +General Sheridan was pressing his cavalry across James River from the +north to the south, that with this cavalry he would so extend his left +below Petersburg as to meet the South Shore Road, and that if Lee should +'let go' his fortified lines he (Grant) would follow him so close that +he could not possibly fall on me alone in North Carolina. I in like +manner expressed the fullest confidence that my army in North Carolina +was willing to cope with Lee and Johnston combined, till Grant could +come up. But we both agreed that one more bloody battle was likely to +occur before the close of the war. Mr. Lincoln repeatedly inquired as to +General Schofield's ability to maintain his position in my absence, and +seemed anxious that I should return to North Carolina. More than once he +exclaimed, 'Must more blood be shed? Cannot this last bloody battle be +avoided?' We explained that we had to presume that General Lee was a +real general; that he must see that Johnston alone was no barrier to my +progress, and that if my army of 80,000 veterans should reach Burksville +he was lost in Richmond; and that we were forced to believe he would not +await that inevitable conclusion, but would make one more desperate +effort." + +General Sherman adds this personal tribute to Lincoln to the account of +the interview on board the "River Queen": "When I left Mr. Lincoln I was +more than ever impressed by his kindly nature, his deep and earnest +sympathy with the afflictions of the whole people, resulting from the +war, and by the march of hostile armies through the South. I felt that +his earnest desire was to end the war speedily, without more bloodshed +or devastation, and to restore all the men of both sections to their +homes. In the language of his second inaugural address, he seemed to +have 'charity for all, malice toward none,' and above all an absolute +faith in the courage, manliness, and integrity of the armies in the +field. When at rest or listening, his legs and arms seemed to hang +almost lifeless, and his face was careworn and haggard; but the moment +he began to talk his face lightened up, his tall form, as it were, +unfolded, and he was the very impersonation of good humor and +fellowship. The last words I recall as addressed to me were that he +would feel better when I was back at Goldsboro. We parted at the gangway +of the 'River Queen,' about noon of March 28, and I never saw him again. +Of all the men I ever met, he seemed to possess more of the elements of +greatness, combined with goodness, than any other." + +A few days after the interview described by General Sherman, the +President changed his quarters to the cabin of the "Malvern," Admiral +Porter's flagship. The Admiral says: "The 'Malvern' was a small vessel +with poor accommodations, and not at all fitted to receive high +personages. She was a captured blockade-runner, and had been given to me +as a flag-ship. I offered the President my bed, but he positively +declined it, and elected to sleep in a small state-room outside of the +cabin occupied by my secretary. It was the smallest kind of a room, six +feet long by four and a half feet wide--a small kind of a room for the +President of the United States to be domiciled in; but Mr. Lincoln +seemed pleased with it. When he came to breakfast the next morning, I +inquired how he had slept: 'I slept well,' he answered, 'but you can't +put a long sword into a short scabbard. I was _too long_ for that +berth.' Then I remembered he was over six feet four inches, while the +berth was only six feet. That day, while we were out of the ship, all +the carpenters were put to work; the state-room was taken down and +increased in size to eight feet by six and a half feet. The mattress was +widened to suit a berth of four feet width, and the entire state-room +remodelled. Nothing was said to the President about the change in his +quarters when he went to bed; but next morning he came out smiling, and +said: 'A miracle happened last night; I shrank six inches in length and +about a foot sideways. I got somebody else's big pillow, and slept in a +better bed than I did on the "River Queen."' He enjoyed it greatly; but +I do think if I had given him two fence-rails to sleep on he would not +have found fault. That was Abraham Lincoln in all things relating to his +own comfort. He would never permit people to put themselves out for him +under any circumstances." + +On the 2d of April the stronghold of Petersburg fell into the hands of +the Union troops. Lincoln, accompanied by Admiral Porter, visited the +city. They joined General Grant, and sat with him for nearly two hours +upon the porch of a comfortable little house with a small yard in front. +Crowds of citizens soon gathered at the fence to gaze upon these +remarkable men of whom they had heard so much. The President's heart was +filled with joy, for he felt that this was "the beginning of the end." +Admiral Porter says: "Several regiments passed us _en route_, and they +all seemed to recognize the President at once. 'Three cheers for Uncle +Abe!' passed along among them, and the cheers were given with a vim +which showed the estimation in which he was held by the soldiers. That +evening," continues Admiral Porter, "the sailors and marines were sent +out to guard and escort in some prisoners, who were placed on board a +large transport lying in the stream. There were about a thousand +prisoners, more or less. The President expressed a desire to go on +shore. I ordered the barge and went with him. We had to pass the +transport with the prisoners. They all rushed to the side with eager +curiosity. All wanted to see the Northern President. They were perfectly +content. Every man had a chunk of meat and a piece of bread in his hand, +and was doing his best to dispose of it. 'That's Old Abe,' said one, in +a low voice. 'Give the old fellow three cheers,' said another; while a +third called out, Hello, Abe, your bread and meat's better than +pop-corn!' It was all good-natured, and not meant in unkindness. I could +see no difference between them and our own men, except that they were +ragged and attenuated for want of wholesome food. They were as happy a +set of men as ever I saw. They could see their homes looming up before +them in the distance, and knew that the war was over. 'They will never +shoulder a musket again in anger,' said the President, 'and if Grant is +wise he will leave them their guns to shoot crows with. It would do no +harm.'" + +The next day (April 3) the Union advance, under General Weitzel, reached +and occupied Richmond. Lee was in retreat, with Grant in close pursuit. +When the news of the downfall of the Confederate capital reached Lincoln +on board the "Malvern," he exclaimed fervently: "Thank God that I have +lived to see this! It seems to me I have been dreaming a horrid dream +for four years, and now the nightmare is gone. _I want to see +Richmond._" + +The vessel started up the river, but found it extremely difficult to +proceed, as the channel was filled with torpedoes and obstructions, and +they were obliged to wait until a passage could be cleared. Admiral +Porter thus describes what followed: "When the channel was reported +clear of torpedoes (a large number of which were taken up), I proceeded +up to Richmond in the 'Malvern,' with President Lincoln. Every vessel +that got through the obstructions wished to be the first one up, and +pushed ahead with all steam; but they grounded, one after another, the +'Malvern' passing them all, until she also took the ground. Not to be +delayed, I took the President in my barge, and with a tug ahead with a +file of marines on board we continued on up to the city. There was a +large bridge across the James about a mile below the landing, and under +this a party in a small steamer were caught and held by the current, +with no prospect of release without assistance. I ordered the tug to +cast off and help them, leaving us in the barge to go on alone. Here we +were in a solitary boat, after having set out with a number of vessels +flying flags at every masthead, hoping to enter the conquered capital in +a manner befitting the rank of the President of the United States, with +a further intention of firing a national salute in honor of the happy +result. Mr. Lincoln was cheerful, and had his 'little story' ready for +the occasion. 'Admiral, this brings to my mind a fellow who once came to +me to ask for an appointment as minister abroad. Finding he could not +get that, he came down to some more modest position. Finally he asked to +be made a tide-waiter. When he saw he could not get that, he asked me +for _an old pair of trousers._ It is sometimes well to be _humble_.' + +"I had never been to Richmond before by that route," continues Admiral +Porter, "and did not know where the landing was; neither did the +cockswain nor any of the barge's crew. We pulled on, hoping to see +someone of whom we could inquire, but no one was in sight. The street +along the river-front was as deserted as if this had been a city of the +dead. The troops had been in possession some hours, but not a soldier +was to be seen. The current was now rushing past us over and among +rocks, on one of which we finally stuck; but I backed out and pointed +for the nearest landing. There was a small house on this landing, and +behind it were some twelve negroes digging with spades. The leader of +them was an old man sixty years of age. He raised himself to an upright +position as we landed, and put his hands up to his eyes. Then he +dropped his spade and sprang forward. 'Bress de Lord,' he said, 'dere is +_de great Messiah_! I knowed him as soon as I seed him. He's bin in my +heart fo' long yeahs, an' he's cum at las' to free his chillun from deir +bondage! Glory, Hallelujah!' And he fell upon his knees before the +President and kissed his feet. The others followed his example, and in a +minute Mr. Lincoln was surrounded by these people, who had treasured up +the recollection of him caught from a photograph, and had looked up to +him for four years as the one who was to lead them out of captivity. It +was a touching sight--that aged negro kneeling at the feet of the tall, +gaunt-looking man who seemed in himself to be bearing all the grief of +the nation, and whose sad face seemed to say, 'I suffer for you all, but +will do all I can to help you.' Mr. Lincoln looked down on the poor +creatures at his feet. He was much embarrassed at his position. 'Don't +kneel to me,' he said, 'that is not right. You must kneel to God only, +and thank Him for the liberty you will hereafter enjoy. I am but God's +humble instrument; but you may rest assured that as long as I live no +one shall put a shackle on your limbs, and you shall have all the rights +which God has given to every other free citizen of this Republic.' It was +a minute or two before I could get the negroes to rise and leave the +President. The scene was so touching that I hated to disturb it, yet we +could not stay there all day; we had to move on; so I requested the +patriarch to withdraw from about the President with his companions, and +let us pass on. 'Yes, Mars,' said the old man, 'but after bein' so many +yeahs in de desert widout water, it's mighty pleasant to be lookin' at +las' on our spring of life. 'Scuse us, sir; we means no disrepec' to +Mars Lincoln; we means all love and gratitude.' And then, joining hands +together in a ring, the negroes sang a hymn, with the melodious and +touching voices possessed only by the negroes of the South. The +President and all of us listened respectfully while the hymn was being +sung. Four minutes at most had passed away since we first landed at a +point where, as far as the eye could reach, the streets were entirely +deserted; but now what a different scene appeared as that hymn went +forth from the negroes' lips! The streets seemed to be suddenly alive +with the colored race. They seemed to spring from the earth. They came +tumbling and shouting, from over the hills and from the water-side, +where no one was seen as we had passed. The crowd immediately became +very oppressive. We needed our marines to keep them off. I ordered +twelve of the boat's crew to fix bayonets to their rifles and surround +the President, all of which was quickly done; but the crowd poured in so +fearfully that I thought we all stood a chance of being crushed to +death. At length the President spoke. He could not move for the mass of +people--he had to do something. 'My poor friends,' he said, 'you are +free--free as air. You can cast off the name of slave and trample upon +it; it will come to you no more. Liberty is your birthright. God gave it +to you as He gave it to others, and it is a sin that you have been +deprived of it for so many years. But you must try to deserve this +priceless boon. Let the world see that you merit it, and are able to +maintain it by your good works. Don't let your joy carry you into +excesses. Learn the laws and obey them; obey God's commandments and +thank Him for giving you liberty, for to Him you owe all things. There, +now, let me pass on; I have but little time to spare. I want to see the +capital, and must return at once to Washington to secure to you that +liberty which you seem to prize so highly.' The crowd shouted and +screeched as if they would split the firmament, though while the +President was speaking you might have heard a pin drop." + +Presently the little party was able to move on. "It never struck me," +says Admiral Porter, "there was anyone in that multitude who would +injure Mr. Lincoln; it seemed to me that he had an army of supporters +there who could and would defend him against all the world. Our progress +was very slow; we did not move a mile an hour, and the crowd was still +increasing. It was a warm day, and the streets were dusty, owing to the +immense gathering which covered every part of them, kicking up the dirt. +The atmosphere was suffocating; but Mr. Lincoln could be seen plainly by +every man, woman, and child, towering head and shoulders above that +crowd; he overtopped every man there. He carried his hat in his hand, +fanning his face, from which the perspiration was pouring. He looked as +if he would have given his Presidency for a glass of water--I would have +given my commission for half that. + +"Now came another phase in the procession. As we entered the city every +window flew up, from ground to roof, and every one was filled with +eager, peering faces, which turned one to another, and seemed to ask, +'Is this large man, with soft eyes, and kind, benevolent face, the one +who has been held up to us as the incarnation of wickedness, the +destroyer of the South?' There was nothing like taunt or defiance in the +faces of those who were gazing from the windows or craning their necks +from the sidewalks to catch a view of the President. The look of every +one was that of eager curiosity--nothing more. In a short time we +reached the mansion of Mr. Davis, President of the Confederacy, occupied +after the evacuation as the headquarters of General Weitzel and Shepley. +There was great cheering going on. Hundreds of civilians--I don't know +who they were--assembled at the front of the house to welcome Mr. +Lincoln. General Shepley made a speech and gave us a lunch, after which +we entered a carriage and visited the State House--the late seat of the +Confederate Congress. It was in dreadful disorder, betokening a sudden +and unexpected flight; members' tables were upset, bales of Confederate +scrip were lying about the floor, and many official documents of some +value were scattered about. + +"After this inspection I urged the President to go on board the +'Malvern.' I began to feel more heavily the responsibility resting upon +me through the care of his person. The evening was approaching, and we +were in a carriage open on all sides. He was glad to go; he was tired +out, and wanted the quiet of the flag-ship. I was oppressed with +uneasiness until we got on board and stood on the deck with the +President safe; then there was not a happier man anywhere than myself." + +On Sunday, April 9, the President returned to Washington; and there he +heard the thrilling news that Lee, with his whole army, had that day +surrendered to Grant at Appomattox. Lincoln's first visit, after +reaching the capital, was to the house of Secretary Seward, who had met +with a severe accident during his absence, and was a prisoner in a sick +room. Lincoln's heart was full of joy, and he entered immediately upon +an account of his visit to Richmond and the glorious successes of the +Union army; "throwing himself," as Mr. Carpenter says, "in his almost +boyish exultation, at full length across the bed, supporting his head +upon one hand, and in this manner reciting the story of the collapse of +the Rebellion. Concluding, he lifted himself up and said, 'And now for a +day of Thanksgiving!'" + +In Washington, as in every city and town in the loyal States, there was +the wildest enthusiasm over the good news from the army. Flags were +flying everywhere, cannon were sounding, business was suspended, and the +people gave themselves up to the impulses of joy and thanksgiving. +Monday afternoon the workmen of the navy-yard marched to the White +House, joining the thousands already there, and with bands playing and a +tumult of rejoicing, called persistently for the President. After some +delay Lincoln appeared at the window above the main entrance, and was +greeted with loud and prolonged cheers and demonstrations of love and +respect. He declined to make a formal speech, saying to the excited +throng beneath: + + I am very greatly rejoiced that an occasion has occurred so + pleasurable that the people can't restrain themselves. I suppose + that arrangements are being made for some sort of formal + demonstration, perhaps this evening or to-morrow night. If there + should be such a demonstration, I, of course, shall have to respond + to it, and I shall have nothing to say if I dribble it out before. + I see you have a band. I propose now closing up by requesting you + to play a certain air or tune. I have always thought "Dixie" one of + the best tunes I ever heard. I have heard that our adversaries over + the way have attempted to appropriate it as a national air. I + insisted yesterday that we had fairly captured it. I presented the + question to the Attorney-General, and he gave his opinion that it + is our lawful prize. I ask the band to give us a good turn upon it. + +The band did give "a good turn" not only to "Dixie," but to the +whimsical tune of "Yankee Doodle," after which Lincoln proposed three +cheers for General Grant and all under his command; and then "three more +cheers for our gallant navy," at the close of which he bowed and retired +amid the inspiring strains of "Hail Columbia" discoursed with vigor by +the patriotic musicians. + +As additional despatches were received from the army, the joyful +excitement in Washington increased. Tuesday evening, April 11, the +President's mansion, the Executive Departments, and many of the business +places and private residences, were illuminated, bonfires were kindled, +and fireworks sent off, in celebration of the great event which stirred +the hearts of the people. A vast mass of citizens crowded about the +White House, as Lincoln appeared at the historic East window and made +his last speech to the American public. It was a somewhat lengthy +address, and had been prepared and written out for the occasion. "We +meet this evening, not in sorrow but in gladness of heart," began the +President. "No part of the honor or praise is mine. To General Grant, +his skilful officers and brave men, all belongs." Mr. Brooks, who was in +the White House during the delivery of this address, gives the following +glimpses behind the scenes: "As Lincoln spoke, the multitude was as +silent as if the court-yard had been deserted. Then, as his speech was +written on loose sheets, and the candles placed for him were too low, he +took a light in his hand and went on with his reading. Soon coming to +the end of a page, he found some difficulty in handling the manuscript +and holding the candlestick. A friend who stood behind the drapery of +the window reached out and took the candle, and held it until the end of +the speech, and the President let the loose pages fall on the floor, one +by one, as fast as he was through with them. Presently Tad, having +refreshed himself at the dinner-table, came back in search of amusement. +He gathered up the scattered sheets of the President's speech, and then +amused himself by chasing the leaves as they fluttered from the +speaker's hand. Growing impatient at his father's delay to drop another +page, Tad whispered, 'Come, give me another!' The President made a queer +motion with his foot toward the boy, but otherwise showed no sign that +he had other thoughts than those which he was dropping to the listeners +beneath. Without was a vast sea of upturned faces, each eye fixed on the +form of the President. Around the tall white pillars of the portico +flowed an undulating surface of human beings, stirred by emotion and +lighted with the fantastic colors of fireworks. At the window, his face +irradiated with patriotic joy, was the much-beloved Lincoln, reading the +speech that was to be his last to the people. Behind him crept back and +forth, on his hands and knees, the boy of the White House, gathering up +his father's carefully written pages, and occasionally lifting up his +eager face waiting for more. It was before and behind the scenes. +Sometimes I wonder, when I recall that night, how much of a father's +love and thought of his boy might have been mingled in Lincoln's last +speech to the eager multitude." + +The President's speech on this occasion was largely devoted to the +impending problem of Reconstruction in the South. The problem was +complex and difficult, with no recognized principles or precedent for +guidance. Said Lincoln: "Unlike the case of a war between independent +nations, there is no authorized organization for us to treat with. No +one man has authority to give up the rebellion for any other man. We +simply must begin with and mould from disorganized and discordant +elements. Nor is it a small additional embarrassment, that we, the loyal +people, differ amongst ourselves as to the mode, manner, and measure of +reconstruction. Let us all join in doing the acts necessary to restoring +the proper practical relations between these States and the Union." The +problem thus touched upon was one that had long occupied the thoughts +of Lincoln, especially since the downfall of the Confederacy had been +imminent. His practical and far-seeing mind was already addressing +itself to the new issues, duties, and responsibilities, which he saw +opening before him, and which he well knew would demand all of his +wisdom, firmness, and political sagacity. As was to be expected, a great +diversity of views prevailed. A powerful faction in Congress, +sympathized with by some members of the Cabinet, was for "making treason +odious" and dealing with the insurgent States as conquered provinces +that had forfeited all rights once held under the Constitution and were +entitled only to such treatment as the Government chose to give them. +Lincoln's ideas were very different. His mind was occupied with +formulating a policy having for its object the welfare of the Southern +people and the restoration of the rebellious States to the Union. His +broad and statesmanlike views were outlined, the day after the public +address just referred to, in discussing Secretary Welles's plans for +convening the legislature of Virginia. Says Mr. Welles in his Diary: +"His idea was that the members of the legislature, comprising the +prominent and influential men of their respective counties, had better +come together and undo their own work. Civil government must be +reestablished, he said, as soon as possible; there must be courts, and +law and order, or society would be broken up, the disbanded armies would +turn into robber bands and guerillas, which we must strive to prevent. +These were the reasons why he wished prominent Virginians who had the +confidence of the people to come together and turn themselves and their +neighbors into good Union men." Lincoln had no thought of leaving any of +these questions to the military authorities. In March he had directed a +despatch from Stanton to Grant, saying: "The President wishes you to +have no conference with General Lee, unless it be for the capitulation +of his army, or on some other minor and purely military matter. He +instructs me to say that you are not to decide, discuss, or confer upon +any political question. Such questions the President _holds in his own +hands_, and will submit them to no military conferences or conventions." +During his meeting with Grant at Petersburg the President revealed to +the General many of his plans for the rehabilitation of the South, and +it could easily be seen that a spirit of magnanimity was uppermost in +his heart. And at the conference with Grant, Sherman, and Porter, on +board the "River Queen," the same subject was broached. "Though I cannot +attempt to recall the words spoken by any one of the persons present on +that occasion," says General Sherman, "I know we talked generally about +what was to be done when Lee's and Johnston's armies were beaten and +dispersed. On this point Mr. Lincoln was very full. He said that he had +long thought of it, that he hoped this end could be reached without more +bloodshed, but in any event he wanted us to get the men of the Southern +armies disarmed and back to their homes; that he contemplated no +revenge, no harsh measures, but quite the contrary, and that their +suffering and hardships during the war would make them the more +submissive to law." Says Hon. George Bancroft: "It was the nature of Mr. +Lincoln to forgive. When hostilities ceased he who had always sent forth +the flag with every one of its stars in the field was eager to receive +back his returning countrymen." + +One of the last stories of personal interviews with President Lincoln +relates to his feeling of clemency for the men lately in rebellion. It +is told by Senator Henderson of Missouri. "About the middle of March, +1865," says Senator Henderson, "I went to the White House to ask the +President to pardon a number of men who had been languishing in Missouri +prisons for various offenses, all political. Some of them had been my +schoolmates, and their mothers and sisters and sweethearts had persisted +in appeals that I should use my influence for their release. Since it +was evident to me that the Confederacy was in its last throes, I felt +that the pardon of most of these prisoners would do more good than harm. +I had separated them, according to the gravity of their offenses, into +three classes; and handing the first list to him, I said, 'Mr. +President, the session of the Senate is closed, and I am about to start +for home. The war is virtually over. Grant is pretty certain to get Lee +and his army, and Sherman is plainly able to take care of Johnston. In +my opinion the best way to prevent guerilla warfare at the end of +organized resistance will be to show clemency to these Southern +sympathizers.' Lincoln shook his head and said, 'Henderson, I am deeply +indebted to you, and I want to show it; but don't ask me at this time to +pardon rebels. I can't do it. People are continually blaming me for +being too lenient. Don't encourage such fellows by inducing me to turn +loose a lot of men who perhaps ought to be hanged.' I answered, 'Mr. +President, these prisoners and their friends tell me that for them the +war is over; and it will surely have a good influence now to let them +go.' He replied, 'Henderson, my conscience tells me that I must not do +it.' But I persisted. 'Mr. President, you _should_ do it. It is +necessary for good feeling in Missouri that these people be released.' +'If I sign this list as a whole, will you be responsible for the future +good behavior of these men?' he asked. 'Yes,' I replied, 'I will.' 'Then +I'll take the risk.' He wrote the word _Pardoned_, signed the order of +release, and returned the paper to me. 'Thank you, Mr. President,' I +said, 'but that is not all. I have another list.' 'You're not going to +make me let loose another lot!' he exclaimed. 'Yes,' I answered, 'and my +argument is the same as before. The guilt of these men is doubtful. +Mercy must be the policy of peace.' With the only words approaching +profanity that I ever heard him utter, he exclaimed, '_I'll be durned if +I don't sign it!_ Now, Henderson,' he said, as he handed me the list, +'remember that you are responsible to me for these men, and if they +don't behave '_I'll put you in prison for their sins._'" + +Lincoln's whole feeling toward the vanquished Southern people was one of +peace and magnanimity. While many were clamoring for the execution of +the Southern leaders, and especially Jefferson Davis, Lincoln said, only +a day or two before his death: "This talk about Mr. Davis wearies me. I +hope he will mount a fleet horse, reach the shores of the Gulf of +Mexico, and ride _so far into its waters_ that we shall never see him +again." And then he told a pat story--perhaps his last--of a boy in +Springfield, "who saved up his money and bought a 'coon,' which, after +the novelty wore off, became a great nuisance. He was one day leading +him through the streets, and had his hands full to keep clear of the +little vixen, who had torn his clothes half off him. At length he sat +down on the curb-stone, completely fagged out. A man passing was stopped +by the lad's disconsolate appearance, and asked the matter. 'Oh,' was +the only reply, 'this coon is such a _trouble_ to me!' 'Why don't you +get rid of him, then?' said the gentleman. '_Hush_!' said the boy, +'don't you see he is gnawing his rope off? I am going to let him do it, +and then I will go home and tell the folks _that he got away from me_.'" + +At the last Cabinet meeting ever attended by Lincoln, held in the +morning of the day on which he was shot, the subject of Reconstruction +was again uppermost, and various plans were presented and discussed. +Secretary Stanton brought forward a plan or ordinance which he said he +had prepared with much care and after a great deal of reflection. It was +arranged that a copy of this should be furnished to each member of the +Cabinet, for criticism and suggestion. "In the meantime," says Secretary +Welles, "we were requested by the President to deliberate and carefully +consider the proposition. He remarked that this was _the great question_ +now before us, and _we must soon begin to act_." What that action would +have been had Lincoln lived--what wrong and misery would have been +spared to the South and shame and dishonor to the North--no one can +doubt who comprehends the fibre of that kindly, just, and indomitable +soul. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + + + The Last of Earth--Events of the Last Day of Lincoln's Life--The + Last Cabinet Meeting--The Last Drive with Mrs. Lincoln--Incidents + of the Afternoon--Riddance to Jacob Thompson--A Final Act of + Pardon--The Fatal Evening--The Visit to the Theatre--The Assassin's + Shot--A Scene of Horror--Particulars of the Crime--The Dying + President--A Nation's Grief--Funeral Obsequies--The Return to + Illinois--At Rest in Oak Ridge Cemetery. + +It is something to be ever gratefully remembered, that the last day of +Lincoln's life was filled with sunshine. His cares and burdens slipped +from him like a garment, and his spirit was filled with a blessed and +benignant peace. + +On the morning of that fatal Friday, the 14th day of April, the +President had a long conversation at breakfast with his son Robert, then +a member of Grant's staff, who had just arrived from the front with +additional particulars of Lee's surrender, of which event he had been a +witness. The President listened with close attention to the interesting +recital; then, taking up a portrait of General Lee, which his son had +brought him, he placed it on the table before him, where he scanned it +long and thoughtfully. Presently he said: "It is a good face. It is the +face of a noble, brave man. I am glad that the war is over at last." +Looking upon Robert, he continued: "Well, my son, you have returned +safely from the front. The war is now closed, and we will soon live in +peace with the brave men who have been fighting against us. I trust that +the era of good feeling has returned, and that henceforth we shall live +in harmony together." + +After breakfast the President received Speaker Colfax, spending an hour +or more in discussing his plans regarding the adjustment of matters in +the South. This was followed by an interview with Hon. John P. Hale, the +newly appointed Minister to Spain, and by calls of congratulation from +members of Congress and old friends from Illinois. Afterwards he took a +short drive with General Grant, who had just come to the city to consult +regarding the disbandment of the army and the parole of prisoners. The +people were wild with enthusiasm, and wherever the President and General +Grant appeared they were greeted with cheers, the clapping of hands, +waving of handkerchiefs, and every possible demonstration of delight. + +At the Cabinet meeting held at noon the President was accompanied by +General Grant. The meeting is thus described by one who was present, +Secretary Welles: "Congratulations were interchanged, and earnest +inquiry was made whether any information had been received from General +Sherman. General Grant, who was invited to remain, said he was expecting +hourly to hear from Sherman, and had a good deal of anxiety on the +subject. The President remarked that the news would come soon and come +favorably, he had no doubt, for he had last night his usual dream which +had preceded nearly every important event of the war. I inquired the +particulars of this remarkable dream. He said it was in my +department--it related to the water; that he seemed to be in a singular +and indescribable vessel, but always the same, and that he was moving +with great rapidity toward a dark and indefinite shore; that he had had +this singular dream preceding the firing on Sumter, the battles of Bull +Run, Antietam, Gettysburg, Stone River, Vicksburg, Wilmington, etc. +General Grant remarked, with some emphasis and asperity, that Stone +River was no victory--that a few such victories would have ruined the +country, and he knew of no important results from it. The President said +that perhaps he should not altogether agree with him, but whatever might +be the facts his singular dream preceded that fight. Victory did not +always follow his dream, but the event and results were important. He +had no doubt that a battle had taken place or was about being fought, +'and Johnston will be beaten, for I had this strange dream again last +night. It must relate to Sherman; my thoughts are in that direction, and +_I know of no other very important event which is likely just now to +occur_.'" "Great events," adds Mr. Welles in his Diary, "did indeed +follow; for within a few hours the good and gentle as well as truly +great man who narrated his dream closed forever his earthly career." + +After the Cabinet meeting the President took a drive with Mrs. Lincoln, +expressing a wish that no one should accompany them. His heart was +filled with a solemn joy, which awoke memories of the past to mingle +with hopes for the future; and in this subdued moment he desired to be +alone with the one who stood nearest to him in human relationship. In +the course of their talk together, he said: "Mary, we have had a hard +time of it since we came to Washington; but the war is over, and with +God's blessing we may hope for four years of peace and happiness, and +then we will go back to Illinois and pass the rest of our lives in +quiet." He spoke, says Mr. Arnold, "of his old Springfield home; and +recollections of his early days, his little brown cottage, the law +office, the court room, the green bag for his briefs and law papers, his +adventures when riding the circuit, came thronging back to him. The +tension under which he had for so long been kept was removed, and he was +like a boy out of school. 'We have laid by,' said he to his wife, 'some +money, and during this term we will try and save up more, but shall not +have enough to support us. We will go back to Illinois, and I will open +a law office at Springfield or Chicago, and practise law, and at least +do enough to help give us a livelihood.' Such were the dreams, the +day-dreams of Lincoln, on the last day of his earthly life." + +Mr. Neill, the President's private secretary, states that between three +and four o'clock of this day he had occasion to seek the President to +procure his signature to a paper. "I found," says Mr. Neill, "that he +had retired to the private parlor of the house for lunch. While I was +looking over the papers on his table, to see if I could find the desired +commission, he came back, eating an apple. I told him what I was looking +for, and as I talked he placed his hand upon the bell-pull. I said: 'For +whom are you going to ring?' Placing his hand upon my coat, he spoke but +two words: 'Andrew Johnson.' 'Then,' I said, 'I will come in again.' As +I was leaving the room, the Vice-President had been ushered in, and the +President advanced and took him by the hand." + +Charles A. Dana, the Assistant Secretary of War, says that his last +recollections of President Lincoln are indelibly associated with the +seditious Jacob Thompson. "Late in the afternoon," says Mr. Dana, "a +despatch was received at the War Department from the provost marshal of +Portland, Maine, saying that he had received information that Jacob +Thompson would arrive in Portland during that night, in order to take +there the Canadian steamer which was to sail for Liverpool. On reading +this despatch to Mr. Stanton, the latter said, 'Order him to be +arrested--but no; you had better take it over to the President.' I found +Mr. Lincoln in the inner room of his business office at the White House, +with his coat off, washing his hands preparatory to a drive. 'Hello,' +said he, 'what is it?' Listening to the despatch, he asked, 'What does +Stanton say?' 'He thinks he ought to be arrested,' I replied. 'Well,' he +continued, drawling his words, 'I rather guess not. When you have an +elephant on your hands, and he wants to run away, better let him run.'" + +During the afternoon the President signed a pardon for a soldier +sentenced to be shot for desertion; remarking, as he did so, "Well, I +think the boy can do us more good above ground than under ground." He +also approved an application for the discharge, on taking the oath of +allegiance, of a Southern prisoner, on whose petition he wrote, "_Let it +be done_." This act of mercy was his last official order. + +It had been decided early in the day that the President and Mrs. Lincoln +would attend Ford's Theatre in the evening, to witness the play of "The +American Cousin." Lincoln had invited General Grant to accompany his +party to the theatre, saying that the people would expect to see him and +should not be disappointed. But the General had declined, as Mrs. Grant +was anxious to start that afternoon to visit their children, who were at +school in Burlington, New Jersey. + +As the hour approached for leaving for the theatre, the President was +engaged in a conversation with two friends--Speaker Colfax and Hon. +George Ashmun of Massachusetts. The business on which they had met not +being concluded, the President gave Mr. Ashmun a card on which he had +written these words: "Allow Mr. Ashmun and friend to come in at 9 A.M. +to-morrow--A. Lincoln." He then turned to Mr. Colfax, saying, "You are +going with Mrs. Lincoln and me to the theatre, I hope." Mr. Colfax +pleaded other engagements, when Lincoln remarked: "Mr. Sumner has the +gavel of the Confederate Congress, which he got at Richmond to hand to +the Secretary of War. But I insisted then that he must give it to you; +and you tell him for me to hand it over." He then rose, but seemed +reluctant to go, expressing a half-determination to delay a while +longer. It was undoubtedly to avoid disappointing the audience, to whom +his presence had been promised, that he went to the play-house that +night. At the door he stopped and said to Speaker Colfax, who was about +to leave for the Pacific coast, "Colfax, do not forget to tell the +people in the mining regions, as you pass through, what I told you this +morning about the development when peace comes. I will telegraph you at +San Francisco." + +It was nine o'clock when the Presidential party reached the theatre. The +place was crowded; "many ladies in rich and gay costumes, officers in +their uniforms, many well-known citizens, young folks, the usual +clusters of gaslights, the usual magnetism of so many people, cheerful, +with perfumes, music of violins and flutes--and over all, and saturating +all, that vast, vague wonder, Victory, the Nation's victory, the triumph +of the Union, filling the air, the thought, the sense, with exhilaration +more than all perfumes." As the President entered he was greeted with +tremendous cheers, to which he responded with genial courtesy. The box +reserved for him, at the right of the stage, a little above the floor, +was draped and festooned with flags. As the party were seated, the +daughter of Senator Harris of New York occupied the corner nearest the +stage; next her was Mrs. Lincoln; and behind them sat the President and +Major Rathbone, the former being nearest the door. + + In his quiet chair he sate, + Pure of malice or guile, + Stainless of fear or hate; + And there played a pleasant smile + On the rough and careworn face,-- + For his heart was all the while + On means of mercy and grace. + + The brave old flag drooped o'er him,-- + A fold in the hard hand lay; + He looked perchance on the play,-- + But the scene was a shadow before him, + For his thoughts were far away. + +It was half-past ten o'clock, and the audience was absorbed in the +progress of the play, when suddenly a pistol shot, loud and sharp, rang +through the theatre. All eyes were instantly directed toward the +President's box, whence the report proceeded. A moment later, the figure +of a man, holding a smoking pistol in one hand and a dagger in the +other, appeared at the front of the President's box, and sprang to the +stage, some eight or ten feet below, shouting as he did so, "_Sic semper +tyrannis!_" He fell as he struck the stage; but quickly recovering +himself, sprang through the side-wings and escaped from the theatre by a +rear door. + +At the moment of the assassination a single actor, Mr. Hawk, was on the +stage. In his account of the tragical event he says: "When I heard the +shot fired, I turned, looked up at the President's box, heard the man +exclaim, '_Sic semper tyrannis_!' saw him jump from the box, seize the +flag on the staff, and drop to the stage. He slipped when he struck the +stage, but got upon his feet in a moment, brandished a large knife, +crying, 'The South shall be free,' turned his face in the direction +where I stood, and I recognized him as John Wilkes Booth. He ran towards +me, and I, seeing the knife, thought I was the one he was after, and ran +off the stage and up a flight of stairs. He made his escape out of a +door directly in the rear of the theatre, mounted a horse, and rode off. +The above all occurred in the space of a quarter of a minute, and at the +time I did not know the President was shot." + +Scarcely had the horror-stricken audience witnessed the leap and flight +of the asassin when a woman's shriek pierced through the theatre, +recalling all eyes to the President's box. The scene that ensued is +described with singular vividness by the poet Walt Whitman, who was +present: "A moment's hush--a scream--the cry of murder--Mrs. Lincoln +leaning out of the box, with ashy cheeks and lips, with involuntary cry, +pointing to the retreating figure, '_He has killed the President!_' And +still a moment's strange, incredulous suspense--and then the +deluge!--then that mixture of horror, noises, uncertainty--(the sound, +somewhere back, of a horse's hoofs clattering with speed)--the people +burst through chairs and railing, and break them up--that noise adds to +the queerness of the scene--there is inextricable confusion and +terror--women faint--feeble persons fall and are trampled on--many cries +of agony are heard--the broad stage suddenly fills to suffocation with a +dense and motley crowd, like some horrible carnival--the audience rush +generally upon it--at least the strong men do--the actors and actresses +are there in their play costumes and painted faces, with mortal fright +showing through the rouge--some trembling, some in tears--the screams +and calls, confused talk--redoubled, trebled--two or three manage to +pass up water from the stage to the President's box--others try to +clamber up. Amidst all this, a party of soldiers, two hundred or more, +hearing what is done, suddenly appear; they storm the house, inflamed +with fury, literally charging the audience with fixed bayonets, muskets, +and pistols, shouting, 'Clear out! clear out!'.... And in the midst of +that pandemonium of senseless haste--the infuriated soldiers, the +audience, the stage, its actors and actresses, its paints and spangles +and gaslights,--the life blood from those veins, the best and sweetest +of the land, drips slowly down, and death's ooze already begins its +little bubbles on the lips." + +It appears that Booth, the assassin, had long been plotting the murder +of the President, and was awaiting a favorable moment for its execution. +He had visited the theatre at half-past eleven on the morning of the +14th, and learned that a box had been taken for the President that +evening. He engaged a fleet horse for a saddle-ride in the afternoon, +and left it at a convenient place. In the evening he rode to the +theatre, and, leaving the animal in charge of an accomplice, entered the +house. Making his way to the door of the President's box, and taking a +small Derringer pistol in one hand and a double-edged dagger in the +other, he thrust his arm into the entrance, where the President, sitting +in an arm-chair, presented to his view the back and side of his head. A +flash, a sharp report, a puff of smoke, and the fatal bullet had entered +the President's brain. + +Major Rathbone, who occupied a seat in the President's box, testifies +that he was sitting with his back toward the door, when he heard the +discharge of a pistol behind him, and looking around saw through the +smoke a man between the door and the President. Major Rathbone instantly +sprang toward him and seized him; the man wrested himself from his +grasp, and made a violent thrust at the Major's breast with a large +knife. The Major parried the blow by striking it up, and received a +wound in his left arm. The man rushed to the front of the box, and the +Major endeavored to seize him again, but only caught his clothes as he +was leaping over the railing of the box. Major Rathbone then turned to +the President. His position was not changed; his head was slightly bent +forward, and his eyes were closed. + +As soon as the surgeons who had been summoned completed their hasty +examination, the unconscious form of the President was borne from the +theatre to a house across the street, and laid upon his death-bed. +Around him were gathered Surgeon-General Barnes, Vice-President Johnson, +Senator Sumner, Secretaries Stanton and Welles, Generals Halleck and +Meigs, Attorney-General Speed, Postmaster-General Dennison, Mr. +McCulloch, Speaker Colfax, and other intimate friends who had been +hastily summoned. Mrs. Lincoln sat in an adjoining room, prostrate and +overwhelmed, with her son Robert. The examination of the surgeons had +left no room for hope. The watchers remained through the night by the +bedside of the stricken man, who showed no signs of consciousness; and a +little after seven o'clock in the morning--Saturday the 15th of +April--he breathed his last. + +A vivid account of the death-bed scene, together with particulars of the +attacks upon Secretary Seward and his son Frederick a half-hour later +than the attack upon the President, is furnished in the contemporaneous +record of Secretary Welles, a singularly cool observer and clear +narrator. "I had retired to bed about half-past ten on the evening of +the 14th of April," writes Mr. Welles, "and was just getting asleep when +Mrs. Welles, my wife, said some one was at our door.... I arose at once +and raised a window, when my messenger, James Smith, called to me that +Mr. Lincoln, the President, had been shot; and said Secretary Seward and +his son, Assistant Secretary Frederick Seward, were assassinated.... I +immediately dressed myself, and, against the earnest remonstrance and +appeals of my wife, went directly to Mr. Seward's, whose residence was +on the east side of the square, mine being on the north.... Entering the +house, I found the lower hall and office full of persons, and among them +most of the foreign legations, all anxiously inquiring what truth there +was in the horrible rumors afloat.... At the head of the first stairs I +met the elder Mrs. Seward, who was scarcely able to speak, but desired +me to proceed up to Mr. Seward's room.... As I entered, I met Miss Fanny +Seward, with whom I exchanged a single word, and proceeded to the foot +of the bed. Dr. Verdi, and, I think, two others, were there. The bed was +saturated with blood. The Secretary was lying on his back, the upper +part of his head covered by a cloth, which extended down over his eyes. +His mouth was open, the lower jaw dropping down. I exchanged a few +whispered words with Dr. Verdi. Secretary Stanton, who came after but +almost simultaneously with me, made inquiries in a louder tone till +admonished by a word from one of the physicians. We almost immediately +withdrew and went into the adjoining front room, where lay Frederick +Seward. His eyes were open, but he did not move them, nor a limb, nor +did he speak. Doctor White, who was in attendance, told me he was +unconscious and more dangerously injured than his father.... As we +descended the stairs, I asked Stanton what he had heard in regard to the +President that was reliable. He said the President was shot at Ford's +Theatre, that he had seen a man who was present and witnessed the +occurrence. I said I would go immediately to the White House. Stanton +told me the President was not there but was at the theatre. 'Then,' said +I, 'let us go immediately there.' ... The President had been carried +across the street from the theatre, to the house of a Mr. Peterson. We +entered by ascending a flight of steps above the basement and passing +through a long hall to the rear, where the President lay extended on a +bed, breathing heavily. Several surgeons were present, at least six, I +should think more. Among them I was glad to observe Dr. Hall, who, +however, soon left. I inquired of Dr. H., as I entered, the true +condition of the President. He replied the President was dead to all +intents, although he might live three hours or perhaps longer.... The +giant sufferer lay extended diagonally across the bed, which was not +long enough for him. He had been stripped of his clothes. His large +arms, which were occasionally exposed, were of a size which one would +scarce have expected from his spare appearance. His slow, full +respiration lifted the clothes with each breath that he took. His +features were calm and striking. I had never seen them appear to better +advantage than for the first hour, perhaps, that I was there. After +that, his right eye began to swell and that part of his face became +discolored ... Senator Sumner was there, I think, when I entered. If +not, he came in soon after, as did Speaker Colfax, Mr. Secretary +McCulloch, and the other members of the Cabinet, with the exception of +Mr. Seward. A double guard was stationed at the door and on the +sidewalk, to repress the crowd, which was of course highly excited and +anxious. The room was small and overcrowded. The surgeons and members of +the Cabinet were as many as should have been in the room, but there were +many more, and the hall and other rooms in the front or main house were +full. One of these rooms was occupied by Mrs. Lincoln and her +attendants, with Miss Harris. Mrs. Dixon and Mrs. Kinney came to her +about twelve o'clock. About once an hour Mrs. Lincoln would repair to +the bedside of her dying husband and with lamentations and tears remain +until overcome by emotion.... A door which opened upon a porch or +gallery, and also the windows, were kept open for fresh air. The night +was dark, cloudy, and damp, and about six it began to rain. I remained +in the room until then without sitting or leaving it, when, there being +a vacant chair which some one left at the foot of the bed, I occupied it +for nearly two hours, listening to the heavy groans, and witnessing the +wasting life of the good and great man who was expiring before me.... A +little before seven in the morning I re-entered the room where the dying +President was rapidly drawing near the closing moments. His wife soon +after made her last visit to him. The death-struggle had begun. Robert, +his son, stood with several others at the head of the bed. The +respiration of the President became suspended at intervals, and at last +entirely ceased at twenty-two minutes past seven o'clock." + +The news of the President's assassination flashed rapidly over the +country, everywhere causing the greatest consternation and grief. The +revulsion from the joy which had filled all loyal hearts at the +prospects of peace was sudden and profound. All business ceased, and +gave way to mourning and lamentation. The flags, so lately unfurled in +exultation, were now dropped at half-mast, and emblems of sorrow were +hung from every door and window. Men walked with a dejected air. They +gathered together in groups in the street, and spoke of the murder of +the President as of a personal calamity. The nation's heart was smitten +sorely, and signs of woe were in every face and movement. + +A scene which transpired in Philadelphia, the morning after the murder, +reflects the picture presented in every city and town in the United +States. "We had taken our seats," says the delineator, "in the early car +to ride down town, men and boys going to work. The morning papers had +come up from town as usual, and the men unrolled them to read as the car +started. The eye fell on the black border and ominous column-lines. +Before we could speak, a good Quaker at the head of the car broke out in +horror: 'My God! What's this? _Lincoln is assassinated._' The driver +stopped the car, and came in to hear the awful tidings. There stood the +car, mid-street, as the heavy news was read in the gray dawn of that +ill-fated day. Men bowed their faces in their hands, and on the +straw-covered floor hot tears fell fast. Silently the driver took the +bells from his horses, and we started like a hearse cityward. What a +changed city since the day before! Then all was joy over the end of the +war; now we were plunged in a deeper gulf of woe. The sun rose on a city +smitten and weeping. All traffic stood still; the icy hand of death lay +flat on the heart of commerce, and it gave not a throb. Men stood by +their open stores saying, with hands on each other's shoulders, 'Our +President is dead.' Over and over, in a dazed way, they said the fateful +syllables, as if the bullet that tore through the weary brain at +Washington had palsied the nation. The mute news-boy on the corner said +never a word as he handed to the speechless buyers the damp sheets from +the press; only he brushed, with unwashed hand, the tears from his dirty +cheeks. Groups stood listening on the pavement with faces to the earth, +while one, in choking voice, read the telegrams; then with a look they +departed in unworded woe, each cursing bitterly in his breast the 'deep +damnation of his taking off.' Mill operatives, clerks, workers, school +children, all came home, the faltering voice of the teacher telling the +wondering children to 'go home, there will be no school to-day.' The +housewife looked up amazed to see husband and children coming home so +soon. The father's face frightened her and she cried, 'What is wrong, +husband?' He could not speak the news, but the wee girl with the +school-books said, 'Mamma, they've killed the President.' Ere noon every +house wore crape; it was as if there lay a dead son in every home. For +hours a sad group hung around the bulletins, hoping against hope; then, +when the last hope died, turned sullenly homeward, saying, 'When all was +won, and all was done, then to strike him down!' The flags in the harbor +fell to half-mast; the streets were rivers of inky streamers; from +door-knobs floated crape; and even the unbelled car-horses seemed to +draw the black-robed cars more quietly than before." + +On Saturday the remains were borne to the White House, where they were +embalmed and placed on a grand catafalque in the East Room. Little "Tad" +was overcome with grief. All day Saturday he was inconsolable, but on +Sunday morning the sun rose bright and beautiful and into his childish +heart came the thought that all was well with his father. He said to a +gentleman who called upon Mrs. Lincoln, "Do you think, sir, that my +father has gone to heaven?" "I have not a doubt of it," was the reply. +"Then," said the little fellow in broken voice, "I am glad he has gone +there, for he was never happy after he came here. This was not a good +place for him!" Tuesday the White House was thrown open to admit friends +who desired to look upon the still form as it lay in death. Wednesday, +the 19th, the funeral services took place. Mrs. Lincoln was too ill to +be present; but her two sons sat near the coffin in the East Room. Next +in order were ranged Andrew Johnson (now President) and the members of +the Cabinet, and after them the foreign representatives, the chief men +of the nation, and a large body of mourning citizens. The services were +conducted jointly by the Rev. Dr. Hall, Bishop Simpson, Dr. Gray, and +the Rev. Dr. Gurley, the latter delivering the discourse. At two o'clock +the funeral cortege started for the Capitol, where the remains were to +lie in state until the following morning. The procession was long and +imposing. "There were no truer mourners," says Secretary Welles, "than +the poor colored people who crowded the streets, joined the procession, +and exhibited their woe, bewailing the loss of him whom they regarded as +a benefactor and father. Women as well as men, with their little +children, thronged the streets, sorrow and trouble and distress depicted +on their countenances and in their bearing. The vacant holiday +expression had given way to real grief." The body was borne into the +rotunda, amidst funeral dirges and military salutes; and the religious +exercises of the occasion were concluded. A guard was stationed near the +coffin, and the public were again admitted to take their farewell of the +dead. While these obsequies were being performed at Washington, similar +ceremonies were observed in every part of the country. It had been +decided to convey the remains of Lincoln to the home which he left four +years before with such solemn and affectionate words of parting. The +funeral train left Washington on the 21st. Its passage through the +principal Eastern States and cities of the Union was a most mournful and +impressive spectacle. The heavily craped train, its sombre engine +swathed in black, moved through the land like an eclipse. At every point +vast crowds assembled to gain a tearful glimpse as it sped past. + + Over the breast of the spring, the land, amid cities, + Amid lanes and through old woods, where lately the + violets peep'd from the ground, spotting the + gray debris, + Amid the grass in the fields each side of the lanes, + passing the endless grass, + Passing the yellow-spear'd wheat, every grain from + its shroud in the dark-brown fields uprisen, + Passing the apple-tree blows of white and pink in the + orchards, + Carrying a corpse to where it shall rest in the grave, + Night and day journeys a coffin. + + Coffin that passes through lanes and streets, + Through day and night with the great cloud darkening + the land, + With the pomp of the inloop'd flags, with the cities + draped in black, + With the show of the States themselves as of crape-veil'd + women standing, + With processions long and winding and the flambeaus + of the night, + With the countless torches lit, with the silent sea of + faces and the unbared heads, + With the waiting depot, the arriving coffin, and the + sombre faces, + With dirges through the night, with the thousand + voices rising strong and solemn, + With all the mournful voices of the dirges pour'd + around the coffin, + The dim-lit churches and the shuddering organs-- + With the tolling, tolling bells' perpetual clang. + +At the principal cities delays were made to enable the people to pay +their tribute of respect to the remains of their beloved President. +Through Baltimore, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, the train passed to New +York City, where a magnificent funeral was held; thence along the shore +of the Hudson river to Albany, thence westward through the principal +cities of New York, Ohio, and Northern Indiana, the cortege wended its +solemn way, reaching, on the 1st of May, the city of Chicago. Here very +extensive preparations for funeral obsequies had been made by the +thousands who had known him in his life, and other thousands who had +learned to love him and now mourned his death. + +On the 3d of May the funeral train reached Springfield, where old +friends and neighbors tenderly received the dust of their beloved dead. +Funeral services were held, and for twenty-four hours the catafalque +remained in the hall of the House, where thousands of tear-dimmed eyes +gazed for the last time upon the familiar face. Then, on the morning of +the 4th of May, a sorrowing procession escorted the remains to the +beautiful grounds of Oak Ridge Cemetery, to rest at last from the care +and tumult of a troubled life. To this hallowed spot have come the +gray-haired soldiers of that stormy war, reverently to salute their +great commander's tomb. Here shall long be paid the loving homage of the +dusky race that he redeemed. And pilgrims from every land, who value +human worth and human liberty, bring here their tributes of respect. And +here, while the Government that he saved endures, shall throng his +patriot countrymen, not idly to lament his loss, but to resolve _that +from this honored dead they take increased devotion to that cause for +which he gave the last full measure of devotion; that the dead shall not +have died in vain; that the nation, under God, shall have a new birth of +freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the +people, shall not perish from the earth_. + + + + +NOTES + +[A] The popular vote was as follows: Lincoln, 1,857,610; Douglas, +1,291,574; Breckenridge, 850,082; Bell, 646,124. Of the electoral +votes, Lincoln had 180; Breckenridge, 72; Bell, 39; and Douglas, +12. + +[B] On the very day of Lincoln's arrival in Washington, he said to +some prominent men who had called upon him at his hotel, "As the +country has placed me at the helm of the ship, I'll try to steer +her through." + +[C] This first call for troops was supplemented a month later (May +16) by a call for 42,034 volunteers for three years, for 22,114 +officers and men for the regular army, and 18,000 seamen for the +navy. + +[D] Orpheus C. Kerr (_Office Seeker_) was the pseudonymn of Robert +H. Newell, a popular humorist of the war period, who dealt +particularly with the comic aspects of Washington and army life. + +[E] Lincoln never lost his interest in exhibitions of physical +strength, and involuntarily he always compared its possessor with +himself. On one occasion--it was in 1859--he was asked to make an +address at the State Fair of Wisconsin, which was held at +Milwaukee. Among the attractions was a "strong man" who went +through the usual performance of tossing iron balls and letting +them roll back down his arms, lifting heavy weights, etc. +Apparently Lincoln had never seen such a combination of strength +and agility before. He was greatly interested. Every now and then +he gave vent to the ejaculation, "By George! By George!" After the +speech was over, Governor Hoyt introduced him to the athlete; and +as Lincoln stood looking down at him from his great height, +evidently pondering that one so small could be so strong, he +suddenly gave utterance to one of his quaint speeches. "Why," he +said, "I could lick salt off the top of your hat!" + +[F] Hon. George S. Boutwell of Massachusetts stated Lincoln said to +him personally: "When Lee came over the river, I made a resolution +that if McClellan drove him back I would send the proclamation +after him. The battle of Antietam was fought Wednesday, and until +Saturday I could not find out whether we had gained a victory or +lost a battle. It was then too late to issue the proclamation that +day; and the fact is, I fixed it up a little on Sunday, and Monday +I let them have it." + +[G] The cause of General Hooker's seeming stupefaction at the +critical point of the Chancellorsville battle has been much +discussed but never satisfactorily explained. It has been thought +that he was disabled by the shock of a cannon-ball striking a post +or pillar of the house where he had his headquarters. An +interesting entry in Welles's Diary, made soon after the battle, +reflects somewhat the feeling at the time. "Sumner expresses an +absolute want of confidence in Hooker; says he knows him to be a +blasphemous wretch; that after crossing the Rappahannock and +reaching Centreville, Hooker exultingly exclaimed, 'The enemy are +in my power, and God Almighty cannot deprive me of them.' I have +heard before of this, but not so direct and positive. The sudden +paralysis that followed, when the army in the midst of a successful +career was suddenly checked and commenced its retreat, has never +been explained. Whiskey is said by Sumner to have done the work. +The President said that if Hooker had been killed by the shot which +knocked over the pillar that stunned him, we should have been +successful." + +[H] General T.R. Tannatt, a graduate of West Point in 1858, is now +(1913) an active and honored citizen of Spokane, Washington. + +[I] The criticism of Meade for not attacking Lee before he +recrossed the Potomac is based on the assumption that the attack +must be successful. On this point Meade's words to Halleck, written +in reply to the latter's conciliatory letter of July 28, can hardly +be ignored. "Had I attacked Lee the day I proposed to do so, and in +the ignorance that then existed of his position, I have every +reason to believe the attack would have been unsuccessful, and +would have resulted disastrously. This opinion is founded on the +judgment of a number of distinguished officers after inspecting +Lee's vacated works and position. Among these officers I could name +Generals Sedgwick, Wright, Slocum, Hays, Sykes, and others." In +other words the attack which Meade has been so severely blamed for +not making might have ended in reversing the results at Gettysburg, +losing all we had gained at such terrible cost, placed Washington +and other Northern cities in far more deadly peril, and changing +the whole subsequent issues of the war. + +[J] A curious revelation of the estimate of General Halleck held by +at least one member of the Cabinet, and of the relations between +Halleck and the President, is found in Welles's Diary in the record +of a rather free conversation with the President during the anxious +period about the time of the battle of Gettysburg. Says Mr. Welles: +"I stated I had observed the inertness if not the incapacity of the +General-in-Chief, and had hoped that he [the President], who had +better and more correct views, would issue peremptory orders. The +President immediately softened his tone, and said, 'Halleck knows +better than I what to do. He is a military man, has had a military +education. I brought him here to give me military advice. His views +and mine are widely different. It is better that I, who am not a +military man, should defer to him, rather than he to me.' This," +continues Mr. Welles, "is the President's error. His own +convictions and conclusions are infinitely superior to Halleck's; +even in military operations, more sensible and more correct +always.... Halleck has no activity; never exhibits sagacity or +foresight." And in another place in the same Diary we are given +this singular picture by a Cabinet minister of the man who was at +that moment the General-in-Chief of the Union armies and the +military adviser of the President: "Halleck sits and smokes, and +swears, and scratches his arm, but exhibits little military +capacity or intelligence; is obfuscated, muddy, uncertain, stupid +as to what is doing or to be done." + + + + +INDEX + + +_[The abbreviation "L.," as used in this index, refers in every case to +the subject of this biography_.] + +Abolitionists, + Bloomington convention, 165-169; + crusade against slavery, 244-245; + "Boston set" visits L., 482-484 + +Adams, Charles Francis, 343 + +Adams, John Quincy, 100, 549 + +Agassiz, Louis, visits L., 475-476 + +Alabama, secedes, 261 + +Allen, Robert, L's letter to, 59 + +Ames, Dr., 232 + +Ames, Oakes, 482 + +Anderson, Robert, + meetings with L., 39-40; + holds Fort Sumter, 262 + +Andrew, John A., + mentioned, 234, 342, 466; + impression of L., 235 + +Anecdotes of L., + Aaron's commission from the Lord, 477; + Abolitionist call for a convention, 165-166; + About his wealth, 216; + Actor who wanted consulship, 470; + Anderson and L's good memory, 39-40; + Anxiety during summer of 1864, 542-546; + Artemus Ward, reading of, 332-333; + Attorney for the people, 459; + Authenticity of, 32; + Baker rescued from opponents, 91; + "Biggest shuck and smallest nubbin," 556; + Birds restored to nest, 76; + Black Hawk War, 37, 38, 40; + Bob Lewis and the Mormon lands, 334-335; + Booth's acting, 469; + Bores, getting rid of, 460; + Breach of promise suit, 81-82; + Bread and butter dinner, 255; + Bullet-hole through L's hat, 541-542; + Burnside's brigadiers, promoted, 385; + Butterfield's son, appointment, 107; + "Cabinet a-sittin'," 330; + Call for additional troops "not a personal question," 537; + Cashiered officer, censured, 477-478; + Challenge to work in field for votes, 48; + "Charles I. lost his head," 556; + Chase's appointment as chief-justice, 550-551; + Client's fee divided with defendant, 128-129; + Cogdal note returned by L., 136; + Confederate soldiers greeting at Petersburg, 567-568; + Congress, first speech in, 101; + Credits of troops, Stanton overmatched, 376; + Coward, "If any man calls me coward let him test it," 38; + Darkey arithmetic, 357-358; + Dennis Hanks' recollections, 6-9; + Douglas reproved, 203; + Dreams significant, 583-584; + DuPont's slowness, 457-458; + Earning the first dollar, 17-18; + Editor who nominated L., 460-461; + Election clerk, first official act, 32; + Five Points Sunday School visit, 225-226; + Forced serenity deceptive, 542; + Free-soil party, prediction, 172-174; + Gavel of Confederate congress, 586-587; + Gettysburg battle, L's anxiety during, 499-500; + "Give and take" rule for office-seekers, 295-296; + Government on a tight rope, 484; + Grant accused of drunkenness, 524; + Grant invited to dinner, 520-521; + Grant's ability to manage the army, 526-527; + Grant's political aspirations, 523; + Greeley's criticism, 429; + Gunboat advice to New Yorkers, 338; + Herndon's convictions on slavery, 166-167; + Hooker's appointment, 487-488; + Hooker's self-confidence, 491-492; + Horsemanship tested by McClellan, 415-416; + Horses captured by guerillas, 399; + Horse-trading, 140; + Ignorance of Latin admitted, 468-469; + Impromptu speeches written, 471; + Inaugural message, loss of, 283; + Indian protected by L., 37; + Jack-knife given him because of ugliness, 83; + Jacob Thompson, proposed arrest, 585-586; + Jefferson Davis and the troublesome coon story, 580; + Johnnie Kongapod, 81; + Joseph Jefferson and his players, 79; + Kerr's papers enjoyed, 334; + Kindness to birds, 76; + Kindness to old colored woman, 128; + Kindness to old John Burns, 515; + Last drive with wife, 584-585; + Law cases refused on moral grounds, 137-138; + Lawsuits, gaining advantage in, 80-82; + Lee, attitude of L. toward, 582; + Lightning rod and Forquer, 56-57; + Logan and his shirt, 139-140; + "Long sword in a short scabbard," 566-567; + Loyalty to old friends, Hubbard, 458-459; + McClellan's body-guard, 417-418; + McClellan's fatigued horses, 416; + McClellan's pass to Richmond, 454; + McCormick reaper case, 173-175; + McCullough thanked by L., 469-470; + Major-generals and hard tack, 400; + Manners, first lesson, 13; + Measuring backs with Sumner, 336; + Measuring height with Ab McElrath, 274-275; + Measuring height with a Southerner, 247; + Measuring height with a young "Sucker," 254; + Meeting with Smoot, 29-30; + Mrs. White, southern sympathizer, 453; + "Monarch of all you survey," 47; + Name refused for commercial use, 452; + Negroes at White House reception, 552-553; + Negroes welcome their "Great Messiah," 569-571; + Noisy and boastful fighter, 189; + Office-seeker from Wisconsin repulsed, 353; + Office-seeker, unfit, 307; + Old sign, "Lincoln and Herndon," 264-265; + Old woman and the bread and milk, 255; + One-legged soldier, lack of credentials, 451-452; + Oratorical success discussed with Gulliver, 222-223; + Pardon for deserters, 397; + Pardon for young soldier, 396-397; + Pardoning prisoners of war, 578-580; + Pass given Laura Jones, Southerner, 453; + Paymaster, appointment, 377-378; + Philadelphia receives news of L's death, 594-596; + Pig rescued from a pit, 76-77; + Pigeon holes versus letter files, 474; + Powder sample, testing, 383-384; + Quaker demand for emancipation, 425-427; + Quakers sent home, 398; + Rail making, 230-231; + Reading Nasby during election returns, 548; + Rebel mail examined, 354-355; + Rebels number twelve hundred thousand, 454; + Revolutionary War defended, 77-78; + Sandwich Islands, commissioner, applicants, 339; + School of events, suggestion, 475; + Scott's request concerning wife's body, 408-410; + Scott "unable as a politician," 337; + Sherman and the officer, 328-329; + Sherman after Bull Run, 327-329; + Sherman's visit from Louisiana, 299; + Sitting for life-mask, 237-243; + Skunks, shooting, 373-374; + Slave girl sold, 147; + Slavery speech criticised by Long, 181-182; + Soldiers' humor, 399, 400; + "Something everybody can take," 460; + South Carolina lady's visit, 297-298; + Stanton calls L. a d----d fool, 378; + "Stoning Stephen," 204; + Storekeeper in New Salem, 43; + Strength, physical, 92-93; + Stump speech, first appearance, 41; + Sun doesn't set, 20; + Swapping horses mid stream, 535; + Sykes's yellow dog 525-526; + Tad and the scattered pages of L's speech, 575-576; + Tad's grief over death of father, 596; + "Taking the wind out of his sails," 88; + Talking against time, 80; + Taylor's fine clothes, 57-58; + Thrashing a bully, 28-29; + "To whom it may concern," 539; + Trousers requested by office-seeker,569; + Trust in God, 351-352; + Use of old-fashioned words, 139; + Used on adversaries, 86; + Verses written from memory, 356; + Vicksburg, joy of L., 501; + Wade's effort to remove Grant, 503; + Weem's life of Washington, 15; + Whigs all dead, 157; + Wood-craft knowledge, 474-475; + Wrestling match with Jack Armstrong, 28 + +Antietam, battle of, 414, 437; + L's dream, 583 + +Appomattox, Lee's surrender at, 573 + +Armstrong, Hannah, 133-135 + +Armstrong, Hugh, 30 + +Armstrong, Jack, trial of strength, 28; +early friend, 133 + +Armstrong, John, quoted, 178 + +Armstrong, William D., defended by L., +133-135 + +Arnold, Isaac N., quoted, 3, 14, 19, 31, 56, +59, 72, 150, 153, 185, 190, 205, 232, 244, +297-298, 299-301, 332-333, 422-423, +466-467, 468, 545, 584-585; + interview with L., 422-423; + mentioned, 237 + +Arnold, Matthew, quoted, 546 + +Ashley, Hon. James M., constitutional +amendment introduced by, 554 + +Ashmore, Congressman, of South Carolina, +quoted, 431 + +Ashmun, George, mentioned, 241-243, 586 + +Austin, G.L., quoted, 136 + + +Baker, Edward D., mentioned, 74, 186; + refuses to defend slaves, 77; + Whig debater, 89; + personal and political friend of L., 91; + elected congressman, 97; + killed at Balls' Bluff, 131; + magnanimity of L. towards, 159; + introduced L. at inauguration, 284 + +Balch, George B., quoted, 21-23 + +Baltimore, republican convention at, 1864, 534 + +Bancroft, George, contrasted with L., 217; + quoted, 578 + +Banks, Nathaniel P., 501 + +Barnes, Surgeon-General, 591 + +Barrett, J.H., quoted, 23-24, 26 + +Bateman, Newton, quoted, 202-203, 245-247 + +Bates, Edward, candidate for president,231; + made attorney general, 293, 294; + characterized, 366; + visits army with L., 490; + resignation, 552 + +Beckwith, H.W., 81 + +Beecher, Henry Ward, abolition sermons read by L., 166; + invites L. to speak in his church, 214; + eloquent abolitionist, 245 + +Bell, John, nominated for president, 251 + +Bennett, John, impressions of L., 67-68 + +Bible, L's knowledge of, 118; + L. quotes from, 473; + L's opinion of, 478 + +Bigelow, John, quoted, 303-304, 345, 359-361, 363-364, 513, 514, 546-547 + +Bird, Francis, W., 482 + +Birney, Zachariah, L's school-master, 11 + +Bissell, William H., mentioned, 74-209 + +Bixby, Mrs., 397-398 + +Black Hawk War, L's military experience in, 35-40 + +Blaine, James G., compares Lincoln and Douglas, 183-185 + +Blair, F.P., attacks Chase, 533; + reprehended by L., 534 + +Blair, Montgomery, made postmaster general, 293-294; + arming of negroes deprecated by, 436; + residence fired, 536; + resignation, 551 + +Bloomington Convention, 165-169 + +Bonham, Jeriah, quoted, 180, 197, 203 + +Boone, Daniel, 2 + +Booneville, Ind., L. attends court, 9, 19 + +Booth, Edwin, L's enjoyment of his acting, 469 + +Booth, John Wilkes, assassination of L., 588-590 + +Boston delegation, conference with L., 482 + +Boutwell, George S., quoted, 437 + +Bowles, Samuel, quoted, 206 + +Brainard and Knott, quoted, 220 + +Breckenridge, John A., early influence on L., 9, 19 + +Breckenridge, John C, nominated for president, 250 + +Breese, Sidney, dignity, 84; + quoted, 141 + +Brewster, Father, 204 + +Bright, John, 357 + +Brooklyn, L's lecture trip, 214-215 + +Brooks, Senator, knocks down Sumner, 245; + quoted, 192 + +Brooks, Noah P., 470; + quoted, 171-173, 462-463, 466-467, 471, 474, 490, 491-492, 493, 543, 546; + describes L's last speech, 575-576 + +Brooks, Phillips, quoted, 478-479 + +Bross, John A., 538 + +Bross, William, first meeting with L., 170; + interview with L., 265, 538-539 + +Brough, John, victorious governor of Ohio, 510; + effort to reconcile L. and Chase, 549 + +Brown, John, 485 + +Browne, Francis Fisher, biographical sketch, v-vii + +Browning, O.H., mentioned, 74-186; + Whig debater, 89; + inaugural party, member of, 266, 275 + +Browning Robert, L's fondness for his poetry, 387 + +Bryan, Thomas B., purchases MS. of emancipation proclamation, 445 + +Bryan, William J., on L. as an orator, 473 + +Bryant, William Cullen, + presided over Cooper Institute meeting, 217; + abolitionist, 245; + favored L. for presidency, 247-248 + +Buchanan, James, + mentioned, 294, 295; + treachery during his administration, 261-262; + escorts L. to Capitol, 284-286; + characterized, 291; + escorts L. to White House, 292 + +Bull Run, battle of, + depression after, 326-437; + L's dream, 583, + second battle, 411 + +Bulwer-Lytton, mentioned, 469 + +Burns, John, 515 + +Burns, Robert, L's fondness for his poetry, 466 + +Burnside, Ambrose E., + Fredericksburg repulse, 368,487,488; + victories in N.C., 385; + unpopularity, 404; + replaces McClellan, 417; + L's opinion of, 487 + +Bushnell, C.S., agent for Ericsson, 345, 346 + +Butler, William, L. boards with, in Springfield, 70 + +Butterfield, Daniel, 493 + +Butterfield, Justin, + mentioned, 74; + appointed commissioner of land office, 106; + son of, desires appointment, 107 + +Byron, Lord, + L's fondness for his poetry, 132; + quoted, 350 + + +Cabinet, + L's political rivals chosen, 256; + L's non-partisan ideas, 256, 259; + makeup discussed with Weed, 257-259; + with Riddle, 275; + Banks considered, 283; + final appointments and how decided, 293; + changes during administration, 294; + meetings enlivened by stories, 336; + L's relations with, 363; + misconceptions of rights and duties, 364; + unfriendly feeling between members, 365; + earliest meetings informal, 365-366; + attitude toward the war, 366-367; + personal dissensions, 367-370; + Seward's removal demanded, 368; + Chase and Seward resignations, 368-370; + Stanton the master-mind, 370-371; + Cameron's relations with L., 371-373; + Stanton succeeds Cameron, 372-373; + Senators advise reconstruction of, 373-374; + Stanton's relations with L., 374-379; + opposes L's reinstatement of McClellan, 412-413; + attitude toward emancipation, 432; + preliminary proclamation discussed, L's own account, 436-438; + second draft discussed, 437-439, 444; + disposal of freedmen discussed, 439-440; + Chase finally disposed of, 549-550; + Blair succeeded by Dennison, 551; + Bates resigns, 552; + ignored by L., 555; + last meeting attended by L., 580-581, 583-584 + +Calhoun, John C, + mentioned, 186; + appoints L. deputy surveyor, 47; + democratic debater, 89; + congressman, 100 + +California, L.'s desire to live in, 549 + +Cameron, Simon, + mentioned, 506; + congressman, 100; + presidential candidate, 231; + cabinet possibility, 275; + secretary of war, 293, 294, 298; + retirement from the cabinet, 371-373; + advocates arming the blacks, 447 + +Campbell, Major, rescues fugitive slaves, 248 + +Campbell, John A., Southern peace commissioner, 555 + +Canada, rebel agents in, 352-353 + +Capital and labor. _See_ Labor and capital + +Carpenter, Francis B., + mentioned, 469; + quoted, 234, 436-437, 464-465, 544, 573 + +Cartwright, Peter, 99 + +Cass, Lewis, mentioned, 100; + ridiculed by L., 102-104 + +Caton, John Dean, + first meeting with L., 60-61; + opinion of L. as lawyer, 141-142; + fugitive slave decision, 248; + advice on war policy, 255-256 + +Chancellorsville, battle of, 492-494, 496-497, 506 + +Chandler, Zack, + aids L. in Schofield matter, 456; + quoted, 498-499; + lack of military judgment, 505 + +Channing, William Henry, + abolitionist, 245; + conversation with L. on slavery, 427-428 + +Chapman, Colonel, quoted, 263-264 + +Chapman, Mrs., 263; + quoted, 113 + +Charleston, L's opinion of situation, 490-491 + +Chase, Salmon P., + mentioned, 185, 501, 548; + opposes Nebraska bill, 153; + presidential candidate, 231-233, 532; + logic of, 245; + cabinet possibility, 258-275, 371; + secretary of the treasury, 293, 294, 297; + rivalry with Seward, 366-370; + upholds Stanton, 368; + resignation and withdrawal, 369-370; + consulted about Stanton, 373; + opposes negro enlistment, 373; + visits Fortress Monroe with L., 386-392; + opinion of emancipation proclamation, 436; + contribution to emancipation proclamation, 444; + rupture with Lincoln, 532-534; + second resignation offered, 549; + accepted, 550; + appointed Chief Justice, 550-551; + quoted, 367 + +Chattanooga, Grant's success, 516 + +Chicago, + L. visits N.B. Judd, 117-118; + national republican convention, 231-237; + memorial on emancipation, 427; + Northwestern fair, 445; + funeral services for L., 598 + +Chicago Historical Society, owned emancipation proclamation MS., 445 + +Cincinnati, + L's first visit, 173-176; + L's second visit, 213; + visits on inaugural journey, 270-273; + +City Point, visited by L., 562-566 + +Civil War, + L's peace pleas before war, extract, 158, 270; + L. foresees coming struggle, 255-256; + L. promises to promote peace, 268; + workingmen offer support for freedom, 271-273; + L's reluctance to express opinion, 272-273; + L's peace plea in inaugural speech, 287-291; + Washington swarms with rebels, 292; + desperate condition of treasury, 292; + secession a political issue, 292-293 + Stanton's loyalty to Union, 295; + faithless officials in departments, 295; + L's conquest of a South Carolinian, 297-298 + Louisiana's war preparations, 299; + Sumter attack, 312; + call for volunteers, 312-314; + Massachusetts first in field, 314; + Baltimore attack, 315; + Douglas stands by government, 315-316; + Washington thrills over Sumter, 316; + blockade of Southern ports, proclamation, 318 + Key West, Tortugas, and Santa Rosa proclamation, 318; + Virginia asks expression of federal policy, 318; + L's reply, 319-320; + L's hope for Union, 320; + L's desire to retain Kentucky, 320-321; + Kentucky saved to Union, 321-322; + special session of Congress, 322; + L's appeal for funds and men, 323-325; + preparations, 325-326; + review of N.Y. troops, 326; + Bull Run, 326; + L. visits army in Virginia, 327-329; + L's anxiety after Bull Run, 329-331; + Harper's Ferry, 333-334; + fleet urged to draw rebels from Washington, 337; + L. refuses gun-boat to New Yorkers, 338; + Trent affair, Mason and Slidell, 340-345; + English neutrality established, 343; + English controversies, 344-345 + Ericsson's "Monitor,", 345-347; + Ross's mission to Canada; 352-355; + L's reply on number of losses, 357-358; + friction concerning direction, 366-368; + negro enlistment, recommended, 373; + Sabin's appointment, 377-378 + inertia of proceedings, 380-381; + L. develops military sagacity, 381-385; + brightening prospects, proclamation, 385-386; + L. visits Fortress Monroe, 386-392; + Merrimac and Monitor, 390-391; + Norfolk captured, 390-391; + L's letter to McClellan on over-cautiousness, 392-395 + L's sympathy for soldiers, 395-402; + visits hospitals, 400-401; + L's letter to McClellan concerning route to Richmond, 405-407; + impatience over approach to Richmond, 406-408; + strain of summer of 1862, 408; + refusal of leave for Scott, 408-410; + McClellan's army ordered withdrawn, 410; + Pope's defeat at Manassas, 410-411; + McClellan's reinstatement, 411-413; + Washington peril, 413; + Antietam victory, 414; + L. visits Army of Potomac, 414-416; + Fredericksburg attacked, 417; + L's dissatisfaction with McClellan, 418; + Missouri factional quarrels, 454-457; + L's dissatisfaction with DuPont, 457-458; + Fredericksburg, L's grief over, 461-462; + L's visit to army before Chancellorsville, 465-466; + L's method criticised, 480-484, 485; + negro enlistment, 484-486; + retaliation opposed by L., 485; + Fredericksburg defeat, 487, 488; + Hooker succeeds Burnside, 487-490; + naval operations, 490; + Chancellorsville defeat, 492-494; + defeat, dissatisfaction of North, 493-494; + turning-point of war, 496; + Pennsylvania invaded, 497; + Northern fear of Lee, 497; + Hooker succeeded by Meade, 497-498; + Gettysburg, 498-499; + Vicksburg campaign, 500-503; + L's joy over victory, 501; + Wade urges Grant's dismissal, 503; + Gettysburg victory, 503-504; + Washington criticisms, 505; + Meade's leadership, 504-507; + Chancellorsville defeat, 506; + Fredericksburg defeat, 506; + L. against compromise, 507; + brightening prospects after elections, 510; + L's confidence in Grant, 516, 520-521; + Grant's victories after Vicksburg, 516; + his plans, 516-517; + Grant's commission received, 519; + L's plan of campaign for Grant, 522; + Early's raid, L's plan against, 522; + Grant's reply, 523; + Vicksburg, criticisms of campaign, anecdote, 525-526; + Grant and Stanton clash, 526-527; + Early's attack on Washington, 525-537; + call for additional troops, July 18, 1864, 537; + gloomy prospects, 537-539, 542-546; + Wilderness and Petersburg losses, 538-539; + peace negotiations, "To whom it may concern,", 539; + effect of L's re-election, 548; + Sherman's march to the sea, 552; + L's conditions for peace, 552; + peace negotiations with Southern commissioners, 554-557; + Lee's last efforts, 561-562; + closing events, 562; + L. visits army, 562-573; + fall of Petersburg, 567; + fall of Richmond, 568; + Lee's surrender, 573; + end of war, 573-576; + pardoning prisoners, 578-580. + _See also_ Emancipation; Secession + +Clary Grove boys, + attack on L., 27-28; + volunteers in Black Hawk War, 36; + smash store in New Salem, 42-43 + +Clay, Cassius M., 309-322 + +Clay, Henry, + influence of speeches on L., 8; + L's admiration and disillusion, 98-99; + gradual emancipation speech, 98; + L's eulogy of, 147 + +Clephane, Lewis, 468-469 + +Cleveland, Grover, 360 + +Cleveland, Ohio, visit on inaugural journey, 274-275 + +Clinton, DeWitt, 61 + +Cobb, Howell, distinguished in civil war, 100 + +Cogdal's note, 136 + +Colfax, Schuyler, + interview with L., 545, 583, 586-587; + L.'s death-bed, 591, 593 + +Collamer, Jacob, 368 + +Collyer, Robert, quoted, 329 + +Columbus, Ohio, welcome on inaugural journey, 268-269 + +Confederate States, + considered a fact by Wigfall, 286; + knowledge of Union moves, 292; + Trent affair, 340-345; + favored capital, 348; + Canadian machinations, 352-353 + +Congress, + special session, July 4,1861, 322; + emancipation measures, 421 + +Conkling, James C., 80; + quoted, 86 + +Constitution, slavery amendment, 553-554 + +Constitutional Union Party, 251 + +Conway, Moncure D., + impression of L., 176; + interview with L., 482-484; + quoted, 427-429 + +Cook, Mr., of Illinois, 232, 233 + +Cooper Institute speech, 215-221, 223-224, 232 + +Costa Rica, asylum for freedom, 440 + +Covode, John, 445 + +Crane, C.B., quoted, 546 + +Crawford, Andrew, L's schoolmaster, 12 + +Crawford, Josiah, incident of the ruined book, 14-16 + +Crawford, Mrs. Josiah, quoted, 16 + +Crittenden, John J., 185 + +Curdy, Dr., 170 + +Curtin, Andrew G., 497 + +Curtis-Gamble controversy, 454-456 + +Cushing, Caleb, 354; + candidate for attorney general, 552; + quoted, 207 + + +Dahlgren, John A., quoted, 383, 384, 385 + +Dana, Charles A., quoted, 295, 547-548, 585-586 + +Davis, David, + mentioned, 74; + quoted, 113, 144-145, 256; + advised L. on cabinet; 257; + member of inaugural party, 266 + +Davis, Jefferson, + in Black Hawk War, 39; + in senate, 100; + recognition asked by Southern commissioners, 555-556; + mansion occupied by Weitzel, 572 + L's clemency toward, 580 + +Davis, O.L., 81 + +Dayton, William L., vice-presidential nominee, 170 + +Defrees, public printer, objects to L's colloquialisms, 471-472 + +Deming, Henry Champion, quoted, 302-303 + +Democratic Party, + dominates Illinois, 65; + pro-slavery tendencies, 251; + rebel sympathisers, 292; + opposes congressional war measures, 481 + +Dennison, William, + postmaster general, 294; + presides over Baltimore convention, 534; + replaces Blair, 551; + at L's death-bed, 591 + +Dicey, Edward, quoted, 544 + +Dickey, T. Lyle, quoted, 524 + +Dickson, W.M., quoted, 174, 176, 213 + +District of Columbia, slavery abolished, 421 + +Dixon, Father, quoted, 40 + +Dominican question, Seward's embarrassment, 336 + +Dorsey, Azel, L's schoolmaster, 12 + +Douglas, Stephen A., + mentioned, 74, 285; + groggery taunt about L., 26; + L's first impression of, 62, 188; + debates with L., 89-90, 153-154, 177, 182-207; + courts Mary Todd, 94; + Mexican War, blames L. for opposition, 102; + opens campaign, 1852, 147; + defends Missouri compromise, 154-155, 157, 159; + claims Whigs are dead, 157; + senatorial nomination, 177; + oratory compared with L., 182-207; + debater and orator, 183-184, 186, 190, 205; + appearance and characteristics, 185-186, 188-189, 190-191; + quoted, 187-188; + senator in 1846, 188; + magnetism, 197; + re-elected senator in 1858, 208; + speeches in Ohio in 1859, 211; + L's attitude toward, 216; + democratic nominee for president, 244; + magnanimity, 291; + sustains the government, 315-316; + death, 316 + +Douglass, Frederick, + conference with L., 484-486; + impression of L., 486 + +Dresser, Rev. Nathan, residence of, in Springfield, purchased by L., 96 + +Drummond, Thomas, quoted, 142-144 + +Dummer, H.C., quoted, 46 + +Duncan, Major, teaches L. use of broadsword, 93 + +DuPont, Admiral, characterized by L., 457-458 + + +Early, Dr., L's reply to, 58-59 + +Early, Jubal A., raid on Washington, 522, 535 + +Eaton, Page, quoted, 70, 114 + +Eckert, General, 547 + +Edwards, Matilda, admired by L., 95 + +Edwards, Ninian W., + mentioned, 74; + candidate for legislature, 58 + +Edwards, Mrs. Ninian W., sister of Mary Todd, 94 + +Egan, Dr., of Chicago, 171 + +Eggleston, Edward, quoted, 225 + +Elkin, Elder, funeral services for Nancy Hanks, 10 + +Ellis, A.Y., quoted, 42 + +Ellsworth, E.E., member of inaugural party, 266 + +Emancipation, + discussion of measures, 419-448; + Frémont's proclamation, 420; + gradual, advocated, 420-423; + first discussed by L. with cabinet members, 423-424; + military, authorized, 421; + Quaker delegation demands, 425-427; + Chicago clergymen demand, 427; + Lincoln and Channing interview, 427; + Lincoln and Greeley, 429-431; + Greeley's "Prayer of twenty millions," and L's reply, 429-430; + compensation suggested, 428, 433, 447; + deportation suggested, 439-440; + L's message to congress, 1862, 440-441; + "Boston set" discussed with L., 482-484; + defended by L., 507 + +Emancipation proclamation, + issued, 419; + official measures preceding, 419-422; + preliminary text, 432-435; + L's own account of, 436-438, 444-445; + Seward's view of, 436-437; + Welles's account, 438-439; + text, 441-443; + signed, 441; + pen used, 445 + +Emerson, Ralph Waldo, + quoted, 304-305; + belief in L., 482 + +England, + neutrality established, 343; + controversies with, 344-345 + +Ericsson, John, inventor of "Monitor," 345-346 + +Evarts, Mr., of N.Y., grieved over Seward's defeat, 234 + +Everett, Edward, + nominated for vice-president, 251; + appreciation of L's Gettysburg address, 513; + impression of L., 515 + +Ewing, Lee D., opposed to change in Illinois State capital, 66 + + +Farragut, David G., 537; + compared with DuPont, 458 + +Fell, Jesse W., 32 + +Fessenden, William P., 185, 368; + secretary of the treasury, 294 + +Ficklin, O.B., 126 + +Fithian, Dr., 126 + +Flatboat, constructed by L., 17-18 + +Florida, secedes, 261 + +Ford's Theatre, scene of assassination, 586-591 + +Forquer, George, lightning rod anecdote, 57 + +Forrest, Edwin, 469 + +Forrest, Thomas L., 458 + +Fort Sumter, + held by Anderson, 262; + attack, 312, 316; + L's dream, 583; + +Fortress Monroe, L. visits, 386-392; + +Foster, Major-General, 385, 400 + +Fox, G.V., assistant secretary of the navy, 536 + +Franklin, Benjamin, L. ranked with, 549 + +Fredericksburg, + repulse at, 368; + attacked, 417; + L's grief over, 461-462; + defeat, 487, 488, 506; + +Free-Soil Party, 150, 172, 173 + +Free-state cause, L. sympathises with, 158 + +Freedmen. _See_ Negroes + +Frémont, John C., + nominated for president, 170; + defeated, 173 + pioneer emancipator, 420, 447; + presidential possibility in, 1864, 532 + +Fry, J.B., quoted, 376 + +Fugitive Slave Law, + detested by L., 248-249; + text, 434-435 + +Fusion Party, L. candidate of, for senator, 162 + + +Gamble, Governor, Curtis-Gamble faction, 454-456 + +Gentry, Allen, 19-20 + +Gentry, Mrs. Allen, quoted, 12 + +Georgia, seceded, 261 + +Germans in Cincinnati, welcome L., 271-272 + +Gettysburg, + mentioned, 478, 496; + victory, 498-499, 503-504; + L's feeling during battle, 499-500; + victory cheers L., 507; + battle-field purchase and dedication, 511-515; + L's dream, 583 + +Gettysburg Address, + rewritten many times, 471; + world's model, 473; + text, 512-515 + +Gillespie, Joseph, + quoted, 80, 83; + conversation with L. on slavery, 148-149 + +Grant, Frederick D., 519 + +Grant, Ulysses S., + mentioned, 403, 464, 542; + opinion of McClellan's difficulties, 367, 404; + victories in Tenn., 385; + Vicksburg campaign, 500-502; + L's letter on Vicksburg, 502; + L's dissatisfaction before Vicksburg, 503; + commands military division of Miss., 516; + rank of Lieut.-General created for, 516; + assumes command of army, 517; + summoned to Washington, 517; + at White House reception, 517-518; + receives commission from L., 519; + refusal to dine at White House, 519-520; + L's impressions of personality and military capacities, 510-521; + L.'s letter of commendation, 521; + interview with L. on military matters, Grant's own account, 521-522; + L's suggestion about Early's repulse, 522; + Grant's reply, 523; + L. seeks to know his political aspirations, 523; + true version of whiskey anecdote, 524; + L. tells story of Sykes's dog, 525-526; + dispute with Stanton, 526; + upheld by president, 526-527; + presidential possibility, 532; + attacks Early, 537; + telegram to L. on re-election, 548; + peace overture made through, 554; + forces Lee to Richmond, 561-562; + visited by L. at City Point, 562-563; + interview with L. at City Point, 563-566; + L's visit at Petersburg, 567-568; + Lee's surrender, 573; + praised by L., 574, 575; + instructions for conference with Lee, 577-578; + denies Stone River victory, 583; + drives with L. and attends last cabinet meeting, 583; + declines invitation to theater, 586 + +Grant, Mrs. Ulysses S., 527 + +Gray, Dr., officiated at L's funeral, 597 + +Great Britain. _See_ England + +Gladstone, William Ewart, opinion of second inaugural address, 559-560 + +Globe Tavern, Springfield, Ill., L's first home after marriage, 96 + +Godbey, Squire, quoted, 46 + +Goldsborough, Lewis M., 390 + +Goodrich, Judge, L. declines partnership, 109 + +Greeley, Horace, + opposes L's policy in N.Y. "Tribune," 429-431; + publishes "The prayer of twenty millions," 429; + L's reply, 429-430; + conference with L., 430-431; + L.'s "pigeonhole" for, 474; + seeks successor to L., 480; + peace importunities and L's famous reply, 539; + +Green, L.M., quoted, 27 + +Greene, Bowlin, friend of L., 52 + +Greene, W.G., 30 + +Gridley, G.A., 137 + +Grigsby, Aaron, 17 + +Grigsby, Nat, quoted, 13 + +Griswold, John A., builder of "Monitor," 345-347 + +Grimes, James W., 368 + +Grover, A.J., quoted, 248-249 + +Gulliver, John P., estimate of L's speeches, 221-223 + +Gurley, Rev. Dr., officiated at L's funeral, 597 + + +Haines, Elijah M., quoted, 162-164; 209, 228-229 + +Hale, John P., + mentioned, 185, 297; + calls on L., 583 + +Hall, Doctor, attends L., 593 + +Hall, John, 263 + +Hall, Newman, + quoted, 397; + officiated at L's funeral, 596 + +Halleck, Henry W., + mentioned, 393, 413, 487, 490, 519; + telegrams to Meade, 504-505; + military ability, 505-506; + at L's death-bed, 591 + +Halpine, Colonel, 310 + +Hamlin, Hannibal, nominated for vice-president, 234 + +Hampton Roads, meeting of peace commissioners, 555-557 + +Hanks, Dennis, + recollections of L's boyhood, 6-9; + story-telling ability, 31; + L. visits, 263 + +Hanks, John, + L's fellow-laborer, 24; + bears campaign banner, 230 + +Hanks, Nancy. _See_ Lincoln; Nancy Hanks + +Hannegan, Edward A., 126 + +Hapgood, Norman, quoted, 359 + +Hardin, Colonel, 4 + +Hardin, John J., + mentioned, 186; + congressional candidate, 99; + killed in Mexican War, 131 + +Harding, George, attorney in McCormick Reaper case, 173-174 + +Harper's Ferry, Union forces driven out, 333-334 + +Harris, G.W., quoted, 87-88, 128 + +Harris, Ira, 368; + daughter, 587, 593 + +Harris, Thomas L., 160 + +Harrisburg, L's visit on inaugural journey, 278 + +Hatch, O.M., + mentioned, 227; + quoted, 417-418 + +Hawk, Mr., actor, describes assassination, 588 + +Hay, John M., + private secretary, 266; + quoted, 305-307 + +Hayes, General, 504 + +Hazel, Caleb, L's schoolmaster, 11 + +Henderson, J.B., + constitutional amendment introduced by, 554; + interviews L. about pardons, 578-580 + +Henry, Dr., 493 + +Herndon, William H., + law partnership with L., 71, 97-98; + letter of advice from L., 104-105; + quoted, 24-26, 48, 92, 95, 113, 114, 115, 116, 121, 132, + 140, 154, 165, 166, 167-168, 178; + sympathy for L., 116; + abolitionist efforts, 165-169; + "Lincoln and Herndon" law sign, 264 + +Hitt, Robert R., 198 + +Holland, Josiah G., quoted, 11, 14-15, 76-77, 98, 111, 236, + 268-269, 277-278, 283-284, 351, 371 + +Holmes, Oliver Wendell, L's fondness for his poetry, 466 + +Holt, Joseph, + appeals for Union, 321, 322; + possibility as secretary of war, 372; + candidate for attorney general, 552 + +Homestead law, opinion of L. on, 273 + +Hood, Thomas, L's fondness for his poetry, 466 + +Hooker, Joseph, 463; + visited by L. before Chancellorsville, 465; + interview with L. and promotion, 487-488; + "Fighting Joe Hooker," 488; + L's letter to, 489-490; + Hooker's comment, 492; + accused of drunkenness, 492; + Sumner's opinion of, 492; + self-confidence, 491-492; + unequal to responsibility, 497; + asked to be relieved, 498; + aids Grant in victories, 516 + +Hossack, John, 248 + +"House-Divided-Against-Itself" speech, quoted, 180, 426, 473 + +Howard, Senator, 368 + +Hoyne, Thomas, 237 + +Hoyt, Governor, 389 + +Hubbard, Gurdon S., + quoted, 49; + works for Illinois and Michigan Canal, 49; + interview with L., 458-459 + +Hunter, David, attempts military emancipation, 447 + +Hunter, Robert M.T., Southern peace commissioner, 555-556 + + +Iles, Elijah, service in Black Hawk War, 39 + +Illinois, + Lincoln family settles in, 21; + slavery sentiment, 65-66; + first to ratify 13th amendment, 554 + +Illinois and Michigan Canal, favored by Lincoln, 49 + +Indiana, early home of Lincoln, 6 + +Indianapolis, speech, on inaugural journey, 268 + +Indians, + hostile in Kentucky, 2; + execution refused by L., 453 + +Invention, + L's interest in history of, 118-119; + navigation device, 24-26 + + +Jackson, Andrew, L. compared with, 413, 549 + +Jackson, Thomas Jonathan (Stonewall), 414; + death, 492 + +Jayne, William, quoted, 161 + +Jefferson, Joseph, quoted, 79 + +Jefferson, Thomas, 360; + L. ranked with, 549 + +Johnson, Andrew, + mentioned, 100, 585; + nominated for vice-president, 534; + sworn in, 557; + at L's death-bed, 591; + at funeral, 596 + +Johnson, Bradley, Confederate general, + raid of country around Washington, 536 + +Johnson, Oliver, visit to L., 468-469 + +Johnson, Reverdy, attorney in McCormick case, 173, 174, 176 + +Johnston, Albert Sidney, at Vicksburg, 501 + +Johnston, Joseph E., + mentioned, 578; + Sherman defeats, 561-562; + plan to force surrender, 564-565; + L's dream, 584 + +Johnston, John, + step-brother of L., 24; + indolent and shiftless nature, 121; + L's letters to, 120-123 + +Jones, J. Russell, L. consults about Grant, 523 + +Jones, Laura, L's leniency to, 453 + +Joy, James F., 237 + +Judd, Norman B., + L. visits, 117-118; + member of inaugural party, 266, 275; + mentioned, 161, 162, 189, 227, 232 + +Judd, Mrs. Norman B., quoted, 117-118 + +Julian, George W., quoted, 253-254, 375, 378 + + +Kansas, L's visit to, 213-214 + +Kansas-Nebraska Bill, controversy, 147, 152-155, 159-161 + +Kelly, William D., quoted, 356-358, 465 + +Kelton, Colonel, 413 + +Kentucky, + Lincoln family in, 2; + plea for neutrality, 270; + importance of neutrality, 320-322; + concessions made to, 431 + +"Kerr, Orpheus C," (Robert Henry Newell), 334, footnote; + L's great fondness for his writings, 334, 467 + +Keyes, General, quoted, 381 + +King, Preston, 303 + +Kirkpatrick, William, 36 + +Know-Nothing-Party, 153 + +Knox, Joe, 171 + + +Labor and capital discussed by Lincoln, 348-350 + +Laboring-men, L's speech to Cincinnati Germans, 272-273 + +Lamborn, Josiah, 74, 89, 186 + +Lamon, Ward H., + mentioned, 81; + member of inaugural party, 266, 275, 278; + quoted, 12, 16, 29-30, 58, 84, 112, 114, 115, 154, + 161, 229, 254-255, 256, 263, 266, 267 + +Lane, General, 309 + +Lectures. _See_ Speeches and Lectures + +Lee, Harry T., impression of Gettysburg address, 514 + +Lee, Robert E., + mentioned, 300, 437, 499, 517; + Pennsylvania invasion, 333, 497; + Manassas successes, 411, 414; + Antietam defeat, 414; + Chancellorsville victory, 492; + Gettysburg defeat, 498, 501; + Appomattox surrender, 517, 573; + Richmond, retreat to, 568; + Union plans for capture, 564-565; + Richmond, retreat from, 568; + Grant ordered not to confer with, 577-578; + L's comment on portrait, 582 + +Letters and telegrams, + acceptance of presidential nomination, 244; + correspondence burdensome, 474; + written by hand, 474; + to Bryant concerning party pledges, 248; + to Mrs. Bixby on loss of sons, 397-398; + to Curtis on factional quarrels, 455; + to Douglas, invitation to debate, 182; + telegram to Grant during Early's raid, 522-523; + to Grant after Vicksburg, 502; + to Grant, expressing satisfaction, 521; + to Greeley on emancipation, 429-430; + to Herndon, giving advice, 104-105; + to Hooker, on latter's appointment, 489-490; + to Judd about campaign contribution, 209; + to Judd regarding the presidency, 228; + to Kentucky unionist on slavery, 446-448; + to McClellan on over-cautiousness, 392-395; + to McClellan concerning route to Richmond, 405-407; + to McNeill relating to fees for speeches, 223-224; + to Schofield, advice on factional quarrels, 455-456; + to Speed on slavery, 151-153; + to Speed's sister on slavery, 148; + to Springfield friends after Gettysburg and Vicksburg, 507-508; + to step-brother on death of father, 120-123; + to Washburne, about forts, 261; + to Washburne, against compromises, 260-261; + to Weed on secession, 262; + "To whom it may concern," safe conduct for peace envoys, 539 + +Lewis, Robert, 334 + +Lincoln, Abraham, grandfather of L., + settles in Kentucky, 2; + death, 3 + +LINCOLN, ABRAHAM + CHARACTERISTICS, + inherited, 5, 11; + in boyhood and youth, 9, 16, 20, 35, 49, 53, 75-77; + handwriting, 19; + elements of greatness, 53; + claims to be a fatalist, 108; + absent-mindedness, 112, 114; + debt abhorred, 130; + as a lawyer, 142-146, 235; + as a public speaker, 171-172, 183-188, 194-197, 204-206; + master of himself, 235; + compared with Jackson, 260; + attitude toward public visitors, 301-302; + lack of sovereignty, 304; + simplicity of manner, 305-306; + qualities of a leader, 307-308; + morbid dislike of guard, 310-311; + forbearance, 315, 320; + precision and minuteness of information, 358; + living power of integrity and elasticity, 359; + greatness in moral strength, 359-361; + summed up by Nicolay, 361-362; + peace-maker, 364, 456; + wisdom and moderation, 374; + guileless and single-hearted, 387; + power to make quick and important decisions, 412; + will compared to Andrew Jackson, 413; + easily accessible to visitors, 450; + no case too trivial, 451; + ability to say no, 451,452; + diplomacy in Schofield-Rosecrans episode, 456-457; + loyalty to friends, 458; + fortitude, 462; + imagination versus reason, 466; + tireless worker, 473; + magnanimity toward opponents, 476-477; + stern when necessary, 477-478; + candor and friendliness in criticism, 489-490; + willingness to admit errors, 502; + quickness of perception, 527; + tenacity, 527; + Sherman's tribute, 565-566; + unselfishness, 566-567; + magnanimity toward southern leaders, 580; + clemency in granting pardons, 586 + + _Ambitions_, + presentiment of future greatness, 18-19, 27, 53; + desire to be the "DeWitt Clinton of Illinois," 61; + encouraged by friends, 116; + generous quality of, 159; + senatorial, 161-164; + presidential, 331; + not concerned over political future, 529-532 + _Appearance_, + at fifteen, 12; + at nineteen, 20; + in 1832, 42; + in 1847, 105-106; + in 1849, 109-110, 111; + "man of sorrows," 113-114; + singular walk, 114-115; + on the circuit, 125-127; + face transformed in speaking, 181; + in repose and on the stump, 194-195; + in 1858, 201, 205; + in 1860, 215; + height, 247; + as President-elect, 253-254, 274-275, 279; + arrival at Washington, 282; + inauguration, 285-286; + in his reception room, 302-303; + changed by anxiety, 355; + Nicolay's description, 361; + face a surprise to Winchell, 382; + unconventional dress, 356-357, 377, 450; + changed by grief, 462-463; + Frederick Douglass' impressions, 484, 485, 486; + saddest man in the world, 543-546 + _Courage_, + fighting qualities, 27-29; + encounter with a bully, 29; + in Black Hawk War, 38-40; + rescues Baker from a fight, 91-92; + duel with Shields, 93; + under discouragements, 292, 331; + did not fear attempt upon his life, 540-542 + _Honesty_, + at nineteen, 20; + as a salesman, 31; + "Honest Abe," 31, 53, 68, 171; + trust funds never used, 46; + in voting, 101-102; + as a lawyer, 130, 138, 143; + refused to defend the guilty, 136-137; + intellectual and moral, 144 + _Horsemanship_, 415-416, 491, 562, 563 + _Justice_, + anecdote of Black Hawk War, 38; + refusal to countenance injustice, 130-131, 453; + sense of, 476-478; + injustice to Gen. Meade, 503-506; + _Literary methods_ and _style_, + early example, 63-65; + example from Douglas debates, 89-90; + methods, 470-471; + style, 471-473 + _Kindness_ and _sympathy_, 16; + to animals, 13, 76; + everybody's friend, 35 + in his home, 113 + regard for old friends and relatives, 119, 121-123; + to old colored woman, 128; + to young attorneys, 130; + for Col. Scott, 410 + for soldiers, 395-397, 400-401, 499-500; + embarrassing results of friendliness, 470 + _Melancholy_ and _sadness_, + caused by love of Anne Rutledge, 49; + temporary attack, 95-96; + causes, 112-113; + struggles with, 115-117; + depression in 1854, 161; + evidence of, 170, 175, 198, 246, 361; + over defeat for senate, 204; + on inaugural journey, 266-267; + after Bull Run, 330-331; + over war victims, 401-402, 500; + engraved on features, 462-463; + summer of 1864, 537-538, 542-546; + Matthew Arnold's poem, 546 + _Memory_, + for faces and names, 9, 39, 40; + for events, 36; + retentive, 467, 468 + _Military sagacity_, 380-386, 390-395, 405-407, 411-414, + 416-417, 502, 506 + _Modesty_, + unassuming manner in politics, 163; + about printing speeches, 216; + in regard to presidential nomination, 227-228; + as president, 304, 306, 307, 459; + natural, 360; + about second nomination, 535; + on news of second election, 547 + _Popularity_, + as a young man, 28-29, 75; + in New Salem, 35, 53; + in Black Hawk War, 39, 41; + universal favorite, 130; + in Kansas, 213, 214; + at Republican convention in 1860, 229-230; + among old friends and relatives, 263-264; + Confederate soldiers' greeting at Petersburg, 567-568 + _Physical strength_, + in boyhood, 9; + incidents showing, 91-93, 389, 401 + _Religious nature_, + knowledge of the Bible, 118-119; + shown in letter to step-brother, 120; + reliance on Divine help, 265, 267, 268; + influence of son's death, 351-352; + spirituality highly organized, 360, 361, 362; + religious spirit, 385-386; + shown in fortitude, 462; + quotes the Bible, 473; + his views on, 478-479; + not a church member, 478; + shown in second inaugural address, 557-559 + _Tact_, 357; + in official relations, 368-370, 378; + anecdotes illustrating, 451-457 + _Temperance_, + reply to Douglas's taunt, 83, 85, 130, 203; + _Voice_, + magnetism of, 59; + not pleasing, 142, 221; + clear and vigorous, 205; + high but clear, 302, 515 + _Wit_ and _humor_, + power of satire, 17; + examples of, 56-57; + love of practical joke, 57; + no end to his fund of, 84; + used against adversaries, 87, 139-140, 202-204; + chief attraction at dinners, 110; + cultivated, 113; + stories not always dignified, 139; + repartee, 157; + advantage of L. over Douglas, 86, 195; + indelicacy charge refuted, 258; + safety-valve of L., 332-333; + enjoyment of "Orpheus C. Kerr," 334; + at cabinet meetings, 336; + soldiers' humor appreciated by L., 399-400; + humorists liked by L., 467-468 + PRIVATE LIFE: + ancestry, 1-5; + L's own account, 32-33; + birth, 1,4; + illegitimate parentage legend, 4; + Lincoln family in Kentucky, 4; + removal to Indiana, 5-6; + in Indiana, 6-19; + reminiscences by Dennis Hanks, 7-9; + death of his mother, 10; + love for his mother, 5, 10, 21; + tribute to her influence, 11; + his father remarries, 11; + affection for step-mother, 11, 119, 123, 124, 263; + moves to Macon Co., Ill., 21, 33; + his father's possessions, 21; + death of father, 22; + L. helps build log cabin, 23; + splitting rails, 23; + flatboat voyages down the Mississippi, 23-24; + settles in New Salem, 24-26, 33; + patent for navigation device, 24-26; + athletic skill, 27-29; + first meeting with Smoot, 29; + meets Governor Yates, 30; + love of story-telling, 30-31; + home life, 31, 113, 115; + autobiography, 32-34; + struggle with poverty, 45, 47, 69-71, 209, 225; + love for Anne Rutledge, 49-52; + close of his boyhood and youth, 52-54; + New Salem a desolate waste, 54; + moves to Springfield, 33, 69-70; + struggles of a young lawyer, 69-84; + meeting with Speed, 69; + shares his home, 70, 88; + in state politics, 85-96; + Mary Todd's satirical article, 93; + love affairs with Matilda Edwards and Mary Todd, 94-95; + derangement, 95; + goes to Kentucky with Speed, 96; + marriage to Mary Todd, 95, 96; + lives at Globe Tavern, 96; + purchases Dressar home, 96; + enters national politics, 97-108; + back in Springfield, 109; + simplicity of home life in Springfield, 110; + income from law practice, 110; + property owned, 111; + his children, 111-112; + L. as husband and father, 113; + marriage unhappy, 112-117; + did his own marketing, 114; + visits Chicago, 117; + regard for relatives, 119; + purchases home for father, 119 + letters to step-brother, 120-123; + idol of his step-mother, 123-124; + wealth, not desired by L., 125; + L. as a lawyer, 125-146; + careless about money, 130; + keeping partnership accounts, 133; + anecdote about his wealth, 216; + summer home during presidency, 401; + home life in White House, 464-465; + desire to live in California, 549; + plans for retirement, 584-585. + _Education_, + early education, 7-9, 11-19; + early schools attended, 11-13; + his copy book inscription, 13; + first efforts in composition, 13; + mental training from reading, 14; + scrap-book kept in youth, 14; + handwriting at seventeen, 19; + book of arithmetic examples, 19 + knowledge of astronomy and geology, 20-21; + study of grammar, 26-27; + L.'s own account, 33; + knowledge of drama, 79; + L. as a student, 130-131; + musical taste, 466-467; + unashamed of early deficiencies, 468-469 + _Books_ and _reading_, + influence of first books, 8, 14-16; + his own testimony, 15; + the ruined volume, 14, 16; + method of reading, 131; + wrote verses, 132; + books in White House office, 300; + love for Shakespeare, Browning, and Byron, 387; + memory for poetry, 356; + poets best loved, 466-467; + humorists liked, 467; + best-loved books, 468; + novel reading, 469 + _Employments_, + first work, 16; + first dollar earned, 17-18; + flatboat constructed for commercial enterprise, 17-18; + his first employer, 19-20; + first flatboat journey to New Orleans, 195; + second flatboat journey to New Orleans, 23-34; + clerk at New Salem, 26-34; + Offutt's store closed, 35; + brief career as country merchant, 42-44; + blacksmith trade considered, 42; + surveys and plans Petersburg, 47, 67; + notion to become a carpenter, 71 + _Law career_, + early interest in law, 9, 19; + study and practice, 33-43; + begins study of, 46-47; + begins practice, 47; + period covered, 55; + reverence for law, 64; + in Springfield, 69; + without plans or money, 60-70; + asking credit, 70; + partnership with Stuart and Logan, 71; + with Herndon, 71; + riding the circuit, 71-84; + borrows, then owns a horse, 71; + welcome by other lawyers, 72; + humility, 72; + court scene, 72-73; + freedom in social intercourse, 73; + leading lawyers of the day, 73-74; + adventures and hardships, 74; + popularity and appearance, 75-76; + not afraid of unpopular cases, 77; + wins case of widow of revolutionary pensioner, 77-79; + wins case for Jefferson, 79; + ridiculing the eloquence of opponent, 80-81; + breach of promise suit, 81-82; + ready wit, 83-84; + dissolved partnership with Logan, 97; + partnership with Herndon, 97-98; + declined partnership with Goodrich, 109; + resumes practice in 1849, 109, 125-146; + legal fee ridiculously small, 125; + appearance in court, 125-128; + defending a colored woman, 128; + dividing fee with defendant, 128-129; + refused to take unjust cases, 130-131; + keeping accounts, 1133; + fees moderate, 133; + defends son of Jack Armstrong, 133-136; + would not press for pay, 135-136; + refused to defend guilty, 136-137; + would never advise unwise suits, 137-138; + returns fee, 138; + anecdotes of L. at the bar, 138-140; + his rank as a lawyer, 140-146; + special characteristics, 145 + _Recreations_, + games, 129; + dancing, 210; + theatre, 469-470; + fondness for walking, 46 + PUBLIC LIFE, + _Nicknames_, + "Railsplitter," 9, 23, 230-231; + "Uncle Abe," 75; + "Old Abe," 105; + "Honest Abe," 31, 53, 68, 171 + _Oratory_, + first efforts, 27; + reputation, 62; + spoke without manuscript, 89; + manner of speaking described, 100, 127, 172; + used old-fashioned words, 139, 146; + jury speeches, 146; + eloquence of Bloomington speech, 167-168; + compared with Douglas, 89, 177, 182-207; + Cooper Institute speech, 217-221; + New England tour, 221-223; + W.J. Bryan's opinion, 473; + Gettysburg address, 512-515; + eloquence of second inaugural, 557-559 + _Public questions_, L's views on: + Mexican war, 101-102, 131; + Missouri compromise, 150-160; + Kansas-Nebraska bill, 152-155; + secession views, 262, 287-291, 320-321; + labor and capital, 348-350; + emancipation, 447, 482-484; + reconstruction policy, 576-581 + _Slavery_, + L. opposes pro-slavery enactment in Illinois, 65-66; + attitude shown in Douglas debates, 89-90, 191-194; 205; + sale of slave girl, 147-148; + early views, 148-149; + opposed slavery in Congress and in speeches, 149-151; + views in letters to Speed, 151-153; + argues eternal right at Bloomington Convention, 167-168; + resolution adopted, 169; + "House divided against itself," 177-182; + Cincinnati speech, 211-212; + L.'s policy, 419-446; + Channing interview, 427; + Chicago clergymen's delegation, 427; + Greeley and L., 429-431; + L's own account, 446-448; + 4th annual message, 552 + _Early political career_, + change in views, 8; + made election clerk, 32; + appointed postmaster at Salem, 44; + made deputy surveyor, 47; + natural taste for politics, 55; + candidate for presidential elector, 87; + Whig leader, 87; + canvassed Illinois in Clay-Polk campaign, 99; + leader of Whigs in Congress, 100; + Whig delegate to National Convention, 104; + seeks appointment as land commissioner, 106-107; + little interested in politics until 1854, 147; + building up the Free Soil party, 150; + admits being a Whig, 153, 157; + generosity toward rivals, 160; + considered for vice president, 170, 228-229; + activity in Frémont campaign, 170-173; + no political enemies, 232; + bored with talk on politics, 240 + _Illinois legislature_, + defeat and election, 33; + first candidacy unsuccessful, 41-42, 47; + campaign of 1834, and election, 48; + aids canal bill, 49; + reputation in, 49; + renominated, 1836, 55; + campaign methods, 56-60; + lightning rod anecdote, 56-57; + not an aristocrat, 57-58; + reply to Early, 58-59; + letter to Allen, 59-60; + election, 60; + journey to capital, 60; + meets Judge Caton, 61; + first meeting with Douglas, 61-62; + removal of Illinois Capitol, 62; + an early speech, 62-65; + opposes pro-slavery enactment, 65-66; + contest with Ewing, 66-67; + campaign of 1838 and election, 85; + end of legislative service, 86; + election and resignation, 1864, 160-161; + senatorial contest, 161-161 + _Black Hawk War_, + candidate for captain, 36; + memories of L., 36-37; + first experience drilling troops, 37; + rescues an Indian, 37-38; + meeting with Stuart, 38-39; + L. re-enlists, 39; + recollects Major Anderson after 29 years, 39; + courage as a soldier, 40; + his own account of his service, 40-41; + popularity with comrades, 41 + _Congress_, + aspirations, 97; + elected to lower house, 1846, 34, 99-100, 159; + Whig leader, 100; + reputation in, 100; + first speech, 101; + Mexican War attitude, 101-102; + notable speech and ridicule of Gen. Cass, 102-104; + bill for abolition of slavery, 104; + campaign methods, 131-132; + senatorial contest, 1855, 161-163; + defeated, 164; + senatorial contest with Douglas, 1858, 177-207; + defeated, 208; + depression of L. over, 208-209 + _Presidency_, + presentiment of L. concerning, 18-19; + modest over proposed nomination, 144; + almost in his grasp, 213; + Cooper Institute speech aids toward, 220, 232; + suggested as a candidate, 227-228; + nomination, 231-237; + sittings for life mask, 237-243; + cast of hands, 242; + notified of nomination, 243-244; + opposition of Springfield clergymen, 247; + election, 1860, 250-251; + non-partisan appointments, 256-257; + unembarrassed by promises, 259, 260; + preparation for inauguration, 263; + journey to Washington, 265-280; + stories of disguises, 280; + week preceding inauguration, 281-283; + ceremonies described, 283-292; + oath administered, 284, 291; + first night at the White House, 292; + cabinet appointments, 293; + cabinet changes, 294; + difficulties selecting loyal and capable men, 295; + impression on people, 298-310; + modest as president, 306-307; + fears for attempted assassination, 308-310; + L's dislike for guard, 311; + Civil War begun, 312; + first call for troops, 312-314; + creates excitement, 314; + Boston riots, 315; + loyalty of Douglas, 315-316; + proclamation of blockade of Southern ports, 316-318; + blockade extended, 318; + Virginia convention waits on L., 318; + L's war policy outlined, 319-320; + L's conciliatory course, 320-321; + tries to save Kentucky, 321-322; + special session of Congress, 322; + L's first message, 322-325; + difficulties of a new administration, 325-326; + Bull Run disaster, 326; + visits the army in Virginia, 327; + depression following Bull Run, 329-331; + unfaltering courage, 331; + relief in story-telling, 332-333; + depression relieved by humor, 333-336; + measuring up with Sumner, 336; + diplomacy in Mason and Slidell affair, 340-344; + in French invasion of Mexico, 345; + building the "Monitor," 346-347; + first annual message, 347-350; + reception at White House, 350; + illness and death at the White House, 351-352; + secret service incidents, 352-353; + annoyed by office-seekers, 353; + Mr. Ross at the White House, 353-356; + William Kelley at the White House, 356; + Goldwin Smith's impressions, 356-359; + tributes from Hapgood, Bigelow, and Nicolay, 359-362; + cabinet relations, 363-379; + with Stanton, 364-379; + with Seward, 366-371; + Cameron and Stanton, 371-373; + L. considers McClellan over-cautious, 392-395; + L. visits hospitals, 400-401; + differences of opinion with McClellan, 404; + letter to him about campaign, 405-406; + urges action, 406-407; + L's defence of him, 407; + L. recalls him, 410; + reinstates him, 411-412; + McClellan's own account, 413; + correspondence, 416-417; + L's summing up of McClellan, 417-418; + signs emancipation proclamation, 441; + his life as president, 449; + society at the White House, 449-450; + public receptions, 450; + tact with favor seekers and bores, 451-453; + sense of justice, 453; + answering improper questions, 454; + settles the Curtis-Gamble dispute, 454-457; + appoints Schofield, 455-457; + views of his own position, 459; + dealing with cranks, 459-461; + Fredericksburg disaster, 461-461; + responsibility of his position, 462-463; + home life in the White House, 464-465; + visits Army of the Potomac, 465-466; + tireless worker, 473; + health, 473-474; + his letter file, 474; + Agassiz and L., 475-476; + his official acts not influenced by personal consideration, 476-477; + criticism of the administration, 480-481; + war policy opposed by Greeley, 480; + by high official, 481; + Democrats of the North, 481; + Boston abolitionists, 482-484; + effect of abuse, 481; + Western delegation, 484; + personal responsibility for policy, 484; + interview with Douglas on enlisting colored soldiers, 484-486; + McClellan's removal, 487; + relations with Burnside, 487; + with Hooker, 487-490; + candor and friendliness with officers, 489-490; + visits army of the Potomac, 490-492; + his view of Charleston attack, 490; + effect of Chancellorsville on L. 492-493; + reads Stedman's poem to cabinet, 494-495; + the tide turns, 495; + Lee invades Pennsylvania, 497; + Hooker proves unfit, 497-498; + Meade appointed, 498; + L's feelings during Gettysburg battle, 498-500; + joy over Vicksburg, 501-503; + praise of Grant, 502; + criticism of Meade for Lee's escape, 503-504; + Meade asks to be relieved, 504; + criticism answered, 504; + resignation not insisted upon, 505; + L's opinion modified, 506-507; + improved conditions, 507; + defence of emancipation proclamation, 507-508; + Thanksgiving proclamation, 508-510; + fall election, 1863, 510; + L. upheld, 511; + his own comment, 511; + Gettysburg dedication, 512-515; + relations with Grant, 516-527; + appoints Grant Lieut-General, 516; + summons him to Washington, 517; + Grant receives commission, 517-519; + first meeting with Grant, 520; + L's letter of satisfaction, 521; + military orders issued by L., 522; + interested in Grant's career, 523; + interest in Grant's political aspirations, 523; + Grant-Stanton episode, 526-527; + Grant's opinion of Lincoln, 527; + campaign of 1864, 528-535; + L's attitude toward a second term, 528-532; + New England's attitude toward the administration, 529; + relations with Chase, 532-534, 549-550; + candidates of 1864, 532-533; + L's nomination, 1864, 534; + acceptance speech, 535; + Early's raid, 532-537; + call for more troops, 537; + war policy criticized, 537; + depression of L., 538-539; + campaign of 1864, 539-540; + McClellan a candidate, 539; + L's secret pledge to support successor, 540; + attempt on life, 540-541; + effect of burdens and anxiety during war, 542-546; + election of 1864, victory, 546-549; + Grant's telegram, 548; + Seward's tribute, 548-549; + Chase's resignation, 549-550; + other cabinet changes, 550-552; + fourth annual message, 552; + colored people at White House reception, 552-553; + negotiates with Southern peace commissioners, 554-556; + assumes responsibility for unpopular measures, 554-555; + scheme for compensation emancipation, 556-557; + second inauguration, 557-560; + close of the war, 561-563; + escapes office-seekers, 563; + with Grant, Sherman, and Porter at City Point, 562-566; + on the River Queen, 563-566; + concern about Schofield, 565; + on the Malvern 566-567; + at Petersburg, 567-568; + at Richmond, 568-573; + news of Richmond's fall, 568; + visit to Richmond, 569; + welcomed by the negroes, 571; + Southerners' reception, 572; + joy over Lee's surrender, 573; + scene at Capitol, 574-575; + L.'s speech to the multitude, 576; + reconstruction views, 576-581; + instructions to Grant on final conference with Lee, 577-578; + feeling toward the South, 577-580; + pardoning confederates, 579-580; + the last day: talk with Robert, 582; + receives visitors, 583; + last cabinet meeting, 583-584; + significant dreams, 583-584; + drive with Mrs. Lincoln, 584-585; + last official acts, 585-587; + reaches theatre, 587; + the shot fired, 588; + Booth's escape, 588-589; + Walt Whitman's description, 589; + Booth's plan, 590; + Rathbone's account, 590; + death-bed, 591; + Welles's account, 591-594; + a nation's grief, 594-599; + funeral ceremonies at the White House, 596; + lying in state at Capitol, 597; + funeral train to Springfield, 597-598; + interment, 599 + +Lincoln, Edward Baker, L's son, birth, 111 + +Lincoln, John, L's great-grandfather, 2 + +Lincoln, John, L's half-brother, 11 + +Lincoln, Josiah, L's uncle, 3 + +Lincoln, Mary Todd, L's wife, + published satirical articles about James Shields, 93; + ambitions, 94; + characteristics, 94; + engagement to L. broken, 95; + marriage, 94, 96; + hospitality, 110; + pro-slavery views, 167; + meeting with Volk, 241; + on inaugural journey, 266; + opinion of Riddle on, 275-276; + censured for frivolity, 450; + defines L's religion, 478; + visits Army of Potomac, 490; + receives Grant, 518-520; + fears of L's assassination, 540; + desired to visit Europe, 549; + last drive with L., 584-585; + plans to visit theatre, 586; + at theatre, 587; + shock at assassination, 589; + prostrated by L's death, 591; + at L's death-bed, 593; + unable to attend obsequies, 596 + +Lincoln, Matilda, L's half-sister, 11 + +Lincoln, Mordecai, son of Samuel Lincoln, 2 + +Lincoln, Mordecai, L's uncle, + adventure with Indians, 3; + character, 3-4; + L's characterization of, 5; + opinion of L. about, 264 + +Lincoln, Nancy Hanks, L's mother, + marriage, 4; + slurs upon her name, 4-5; + character and appearance, 5; + Dennis Hanks's opinion of, 7; + death and funeral, 10; + epitaph, 10; + love of L. for, 10, 21; + influence on L., 10-11; + tribute of L. to, 11, 352 + +Lincoln, Robert Todd, L's son, + birth, 111; + student at Harvard, 221; + gripsack anecdote, 283; + student and soldier, 464; + interview with L. about war, 582; + with his mother after assassination, 591; + at L's death-bed, 594 + +Lincoln, Samuel, L's English forbear, 1 + +Lincoln, Sarah, L's half-sister, 11; + death, 17 + +Lincoln, Sarah, L's sister, birth, 4 + +Lincoln, Sarah Johnston, L's step-mother, + marries Thomas Lincoln, 11; + mutual fondness of L. and, 11, 119, 123-124, 263; + quoted, 14; + death, 124; + visit of L. before inauguration, 263 + +Lincoln, Thomas, L's father, + birth, 3; + rescue from Indians, 3; + marriage to Nancy Hanks, 4; + moves to Rock Spring farm, 4; + moves to Indiana, 5-6; + second marriage, 11; + moves to Illinois, 21; + nicknames, 21; + character-sketch, 21-23; + death, 22, 120; + epitaph, 22; + story-telling ability, 31; + death 120; + solicitude for, 120-121; + L. visits grave, 263 + +Lincoln, Thomas, L's son, + birth, 111; + "Little Tad," 464; + companion of father, 464-466, 490, 491; + death, 465; + loved by soldiers, 465-466; + anecdote of L's last speech, 575-576; + grief over death of father, 596 + +Lincoln, William Wallace, L's son, + birth, 111; + death, 351, 464; + influence of death on L., 478 + +Lincoln-Douglas Debates, + comparative powers of speakers, 89, 177, 182-207. + Extracts, Springfield, 89-90; + Peoria, 155-157; + Quincy and Alton, 191-194; 205 + +Linder, General, + quoted, 62, 66, 91; + talks against time, 80 + +Livermore, George, given proclamation pen, 445 + +Logan, John A., quoted, 286, 292 + +Logan, Mrs. John A., quoted, 197 + +Logan, Stephen T., + mentioned, 74, 186; + law partner of L., 71; + Whig debater, 89; + partnership dissolved, 97; + anecdote of shirt, 139; + favors L. for legislature, 161; + elected to legislature, 162; + L's champion in legislature, 163 + +Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, abolitionist, 345 + +Long, Dr., quoted, 181 + +"Long Nine," delegates to senate convention, 1836, 60, 62 + +Lookout Mountain, Grant's success, 516 + +Loring, George B., quoted, 282-283 + +Lossing, Benson J., quoted, 342-343 + +Louisiana, seceded, 261 + +Louisville "Journal," L's liking for, 27 + +Lovejoy, Elijah, 244 + +Lovejoy, Owen, + abolitionist, 244; + mentioned, 378, 422, 423, 436 + +Lowell, James Russell, + abolitionist, 245; + quoted, 340 + +Lucas, Major, quoted, 93 + +Lyons, Lord, 343 + + +McClellan, George B., + mentioned, 356, 375, 488; + Stanton's hostility, 367, 407, 411; + difficulties with Army of Potomac, 367; + letter from L. on over-cautiousness, 392-395; + as a soldier, 403-404; + Meade and Grant quoted, 404; + L's personal regard for, 404; + appointed general of Union armies, 405; + L.'s letter about plan of campaign, 405-406; + urging action, 406-407; + L. defends, 407; + recalled from Peninsula; succeeded by Pope, 410; + reinstated, 411-412; + own account, 413; + Antietam victory, 414; + inaction after Antietam criticized, 414; + quoted on L's visit to army, 414-415; + correspondence with L., 416; + replaced by Burnside, 417; + L's opinion, 417-418, 457-458; + bad news from the Peninsula, 425; + fails to reach Richmond, 454; + removal from Army of the Potomac, 487; + L's presidential competitor, 539; + defeated for presidency, 547 + +McCormick, R.C., quoted, 215, 252 + +McCormick reaper case, in 1857, 173-176 + +McCulloch, Hugh, + quoted, 332; + secretary of the treasury, 294; + at L's death-bed, 591-593 + +McCullough, John Edward, summoned to meet L., 469-470 + +McDonald, Senator, 138 + +McHenry, Henry, quoted, 46 + +McNeill, James, (McNamar), Anne Rutledge's suitor, 49-50 + +Macon County, Ill., Lincoln family settle in, 21 + +Manassas defeat, 410-411 + +Markland, Mr., quoted, 321-322 + +Mason, Senator, 100 + +Mason and Slidell affair, 340-344 + +Massachusetts, first to put regiment in the field in Civil War, 314 + +Meade, George G., + mentioned, 499, 501; + opinion of McClellan, 404; + succeeds Hooker, 498; + criticized for Lee's escape, 503-504; + asks to be relieved, 504; + answers criticism, 504; + does not press resignation, 505; + L.'s opinion modified, 506-507 + +Meigs, Montgomery C., 334; + at L's death-bed, 591 + +"Merrimac," + frightens New Yorkers, 338; + Hampton Roads defeat, 345; + engagement with "Monitor," 390-391 + +Messages and proclamations, + inaugural message, loss feared, 283; + colloquialisms in, 471-473 + +Messages and proclamations, quotations, + inaugural address, 287-291; + volunteers called for, 313-314; + blockade of southern ports, 317-318; + Key West, Tortugas, and Santa Rosa, concerning authority, 318; + Virginia convention, response to, 319-320; + to congress, July 4, 1861, 322-325; + first annual message, 348-350; + President's general order, No. 1, Feb. 22, 1862, 383; + thanksgiving proclamation, April 10, 1862, 385-386; + emancipation, appeal to border states, 421-422; + final proclamation, 433-435, 438, 441-444; + second annual message, 440-441; + Thanksgiving, 1863, 508-510; + fourth annual message, 552; + inaugural address, second, 557-559; + Gladstone's tribute, 559-560. + _See also_ Speeches and Lectures + +Metzgar murder case, 134 + +Mexican War, attitude of L. toward, 101-102, 131 + +Mexico, French invasion, 345 + +"Miami," Federal steamboat, 386, 391 + +Milroy, R.H., 333, 334 + +Milwaukee, speech of L. at State Fair, 389 + +Minnesota, asks execution of Indians, 453 + +Minter, Graham, L's schoolmaster, quoted, 32 + +"Mirror," The Manchester (N.H.), quoted, 221 + +Missionary Ridge, Grant's success, 516 + +Mississippi, seceded, 261 + +Missouri Compromise, views of L. and Douglas, 150-160 + +Missouri, factional quarrels, 454-457 + +Mitchell, General, telegram from, 388, 389 + +"Monitor," + engagement with "Merrimac," 390-391; + origin of, 345-347 + +Moore, Ex-governor, 266 + +Moore, Mrs., step-sister, 263, 264 + +Morgan, Edwin D., 533 + +Morse, John T., quoted, 364 + + +"Nasby, Petroleum V." (David Ross Locke), read by L., 467-468, 548 + +Nebraska Bill. _See_ Kansas-Nebraska Bill + +Negroes, + enlistment in army, 373, 484-486; + justified by L., 507; + New Year's reception, 552-553; + grief over death of L., 597. + _See also_ Emancipation; Slavery + +Neill, Secretary to L., quoted, 536-537, 585 + +New Brunswick affair, 356 + +New England, + dissatisfaction with L., 529, + speeches and visit of L., 221-223 + +New Salem, Ill., + L. settles at, 24; + L. appointed postmaster, 44; + speech of L. before literary society, 44; + now a desolate waste, 54 + +New Year's presidential reception, + in 1862, 350; + in 1863, 441; + in 1865, 552-553 + +New York City, + visit of L. in 1860, 215-221, 225-226; + on inaugural journey, 276; + funeral ceremonies, 598 + +New York "Tribune." _See_ Greeley, Horace + +New York troops, reviewed July 4, 1861, 326 + +Newpapers, + L's favorite newspaper, 27; + surveillance, 301 + +Nichols, John W., quoted, 541-542 + +Nicolay, John G., + L's private secretary, 266; + quoted, 302, 361-362, 478 + +Norfolk captured, 391-392 + +Norris, James H., 134 + +Nott and Brainard, quoted, 220 + +Noyes, George C., quoted, 194 + + +Oberkleine, Frederick, + address to L. at Cincinnati, 271-272; + L's reply, 272-273 + +Office-seekers, + patience of L. toward, 252; + demands of, 296; + annoy L., 353-354; + actor who wanted consulship, 470 + +Offutt, Denton, 26; + relations with L., 23-24; 26, + quoted, 27; + store closed in 1832, 35 + +Oglesby, Richard J., quoted, 229, 230 + +Oregon, federal office offered L., 107 + + +Pain, John, 169 + +Parke, John G., 385 + +Parker, Theodore, abolitionist, 166 + +Parks, C.S., quoted, 144, 162 + +Pearson, John, quoted, 81 + +Pearson, Henry Greenleaf, quoted, 529-530 + +Peck, Ebenezer, + mentioned, 171, 227; + quoted, 87 + +Pemberton, J.C., 501, 525, 526 + +Pennsylvania, invaded by Lee, 497 + +Pennypacker, Isaac R., quoted, 505 + +Petersburg, Ill., surveyed and planned by L., 67 + +Petersburg, Va., victory, and visit by L., 567 + +Philadelphia, + visited on inaugural journey, 277-278; + receives news of L's death, 594-596 + +Phillips, Wendell, + abolitionist, 166, 245; + interview with L., 482-484 + +Piatt, Don, quoted, 252-253 + +Pierce, Franklin, 354 + +Pierpont, John, visits L., 468-469 + +Pinkerton, Allan, 179 + +Polk, James K., campaign, 98-99 + +Pomeroy, Senator, 368 + +Poore, Benjamin Perley, quoted, 301-302, 445 + +Pope, John, + defeat at Manassas, 410-411; + succeeded by McClellan, 411, 414; + Bull Run disaster, 437 + +Porter, D.D., + aids Grant, 501; + interview with L. at City Point, 563-566, 578; + L's visit to the Malvern, 566-567; + visits Petersburg with L., 567-568; + described visit to Richmond with L., 568-573; + interview with L. at City Point, 578; + quoted, 522-523 + +Prime, Irenĉus, quoted, 276 + +Pringle, Cyrus, the case of, 398-399 + +Proclamations. _See_ Messages and Proclamations + + +Quakers, + L's ancestry, 2; + war scruples, 398-399; + demand emancipation, 425-427 + + +Rail-splitting episode, 23 + +Ramsey, Senator, 536 + +Rathbone, Major, + at Ford's Theatre, 587; + struggles with Booth, 590-591 + +Raymond, Henry J., quoted, 205, 314-315 + +Rebellion, War of. _See_ Civil War + +Reconstruction, + L.'s speech on, quoted, 575-576; + policy of L., 576-581 + +Reid, Whitelaw, 548 + +Reno, Jesse L., 385 + +Republican party, + birth of, 159; + organized in Illinois, 169; + national convention in 1856, 170; + asked L. to speak in Ohio, 211; + advice of L. to, 219; + Illinois convention of 1860, 229; + national convention, 1860, 231-237; + growth and tendencies, 251; + fears for L's loyalty, 271; + partisan and unreasonable, 293; + office-seekers, 296; + elections of 1863, 510-511; + national convention of 1864, 534 + +Reynolds, John, call for volunteers, 36, 39 + +Rhett, Robert B., 100 + +Richardson, William A., resolution supported by L., 101 + +Richmond, + plans to capture, 405-407; + fall of, 568; + visited by L., 568-573 + +Riddle, A.G. + part in Lincoln-Chase affair, 533-534; + urges Chase's appointment as chief justice, 550-551; + quoted, 274, 276, 281, 291, 381, 395-396, 450, 451, 543-544 + +Rock Valley, 35 + +Rollins, James S., quoted, 554 + +Rosecrans, W.S., sent to Missouri, 456-457 + +Ross, A.M., quoted, 352-356 + +Rothschild, Alonzo, quoted, 294-295 + +Rousseau, Kentucky legislator, 321 + +Russell, Lord John, protest of, in Trent affair, 343 + +Rutledge, Anne, L's love-affair with, 49-52 + + +Schenck, Robert C., 333 + +Schofield, J.M., + mentioned, 564, 565; + replaces Curtis, L's letter of appointment, 455-457; + joins Sherman, 457; + L's concern about ability, 565 + +Scott, Colonel, refused leave on death of wife, 408-410 + +Scott, Winfield, + L's order to hold or retake forts, 261; + warns L. of danger, 278; + pays respects to L., 281-282; + lacking as politician, 337; + dislike of Hooker, 487 + +Schurz, Carl, + seconded L's nomination, 234; + quoted, 307 + +Secession, + states that withdrew, 261; + attitude of L. toward, 262, 287-291, 320-321; + not considered rebellion, 292 + +Sedgwick, John, view of Meade's failure to attack Lee, 504 + +Selby, Paul, quoted, 158-160 + +Seward, Fanny, 592 + +Seward, Frederick W., + warns L. of danger, 278, 280; + attacked and wounded, 591-592 + +Seward, Mrs. Frederick W., 423 + +Seward, William H., + mentioned, 17, 185, 296, 297, 305, 343, 441, 485, 593; + opposes Nebraska bill, 153; + doubt of his nomination, 215; + statesmanship, 231; + candidate for president, 231-234; + eloquence of, 245; + cabinet possibility, 258, 275; + sends warning to L., 278; + appointment as secretary of state, 293, 294, 295; + press refused information, 301; + diplomacy, credited to, 341; + "Premier," self-styled, 364; + arrogance, 366-368; + rivalry with Chase, 366-370; + resignation, 368; + senate, opposition of, 368; + L's objection to his resignation, 369; + opposes negro enlistment, 373; + emancipation views, 423; + preliminary proclamation views, 436-437, 438; + with Grant at White House reception, 518; + tribute to L. on his re-election, 548-549; + with L. meets peace commission, 554-557; + L's visit, after Richmond, 573; + attacked and wounded, 591-592 + +Seward, Mrs. William H., 592 + +Shakespeare, L's fondness for his works, 387, 466 + +Shepley, General, receives L. at Richmond, 572-573 + +Sherman, John, introduces brother to L., 298-299 + +Sherman, William T., + mentioned, 367, 457, 516, 579; + quoted, 298-299; + march to the sea, 517; + L's opinion, 552; + at Atlanta, 537; + victories after Atlanta, 561-562; + interview with L. at City Point, 563-566, 578; + tribute to L., 565-566; + anxiety of L. and Grant, 583, 584 + +Shields, James, + ridiculed by Mary Todd, 93; + duel with L., 93; + L. wishes to succeed in congress, 161, 163 + +Shuman, Andrew, + reports Lincoln-Douglas debates, 198; + quoted, 199 + +Sibley, Judge, quoted, 84 + +Simpson, Bishop, officiates at L's funeral, 596 + +Slavery, + protest against pro-slavery act in Illinois, 65; + L's defense of fugitive slaves, 77; + Independence Hall flag-raising, 278; + L. introduces bill against, 104; + L's growing opposition to, 147-153; + L's attitude in letter to Speed, 151-153; + Peoria speech, extract, 155-157; + L's growing opposition to, 166-169, 178-182; + knowledge of L. regarding, 186; + Cincinnati speech, 211-212; + Cooper Institute speech, 218-220; + L's hatred for, growing, 245; + fugitive slave law, 248-249, 434-435; + political issue, 251; + attitude of L. toward, 254; + L. opposes compromises, 261; + legislation against, 1862, 421; + L's own account of his views, 446-448; + L's attitude in fourth annual message, 552; + constitutional amendment, 553-554. + _See also_ Emancipation + +Slocum, Henry W., 504 + +Smith, Caleb B., + secretary of the interior, 293, 294; + non-committal on Ericsson's invention, 347 + +Smith, Goldwin, + visits L., 357-358; + quoted, 358-359 + +Smith, James, 591 + +Smith, William Henry, quoted, 269-273, 550 + +Smoot, Coleman, friendship with L., 29-30 + +"Soldiers' Rest," Lincoln's summer home during presidency, 401 + +South Carolina, seceded, 261 + +Southern Confederacy. _See_ Confederate states + +Sparrow, Thomas and Betsy, 6 + +Spaulding, Judge, 533, 534 + +Speeches and lectures, + in congress in 1848, 40; + candidate for member of legislature, 41; + to New Salem literary society, 44; + stump-speaking, 55; + on "Spot Resolutions," 101; + on the presidency and general politics, 102; + age of different inventions, 119; + to Scott club of Springfield, 147; + eulogy on death of Clay, 147; + Bloomington convention, 167-168; + "House-divided-against-itself," 178-182, 473; + lectures in winter of 1859, 210; + political speeches in Ohio, 211; + political speeches in Kansas, 213; + invitation to lecture in Beecher's church, 214; + Cooper Institute speech, 215-221, 223-224; + in New England, 221-223; + accusation of fees received for speeches, 223-224; + Five Points Sunday School, N.Y., talk, 225-226; + inaugural journey, 268-276; + Wisconsin state fair, 389 + +Speeches and lectures, quotations, + influence of Weem's life of Washington, 15; + Perpetuation of our political institutions, 63-65; + Peace plea, 158; + Bloomington ratification meeting, 169-170; + "House-divided-against-itself," 180, 426, 473; + Appeal for a hearing in southern Illinois, 199-200; + Cincinnati, 1859, 211; + Cooper Institute speech, 218-219; + Presidential nomination, response, 243; + Springfield farewell, 267; + Cincinnati in 1861, 270; + Cincinnati, reply to Oberkleine, 272-273; + Philadelphia, on inaugural journey, 278; + after Bull Run, 328; + Slavery, 426; + Emancipation proclamation, speech following, 444-445; + Gettysburg address, + text, 512, + comments, 512-515; + Grant's commission, presentation of, 519; + Richmond, to negroes, 571; + Close of war, 574; + Reconstruction, last speech, 575-576. + _See also_ + Lincoln-Douglas debates; + Messages and proclamations + +Speed, Joshua F., + mentioned, 294, 322; + first interview with L., 69-70; + L's home with, 88; + intimate friend of L., 95-96; + opinion of L's ability as a lawyer, 145-146; + L's letter to sister of Speed, quoted, 148; + L's letter to, on slavery, 151; + compares L. and Douglas, 182-183; + appointed attorney general, 294; + at L's death-bed, 591 + +"Spot Resolutions," speech, 101 + +Springfield, Ill., + L. moves to, 60; + agitation over removal of capital, 62, 66; + removal accomplished, 69; + L. returns to, 109; + L's departure, Feb. 11, 1861, 265-266; + recollections of L. about, 584; + funeral ceremonies for L., 599 + +Stanton, Edwin M., + mentioned, 356, 357, 399, 461, 497; + professional meeting with L., 173-176; + contempt for L., 175; + appointed secretary of war, 294; + member of Buchanan's cabinet, 294, 295; + applicant for office, 296; + press refused information, 301; + Mason and Slidell capture approved, 341; + impulsiveness and violence, 364; + antagonism to Welles, 364, 368; + relations with L., 364-379; + resignation threatened, 368; + resignation withdrawn, 370; + master-mind of cabinet, 370-371; + replaces Cameron in cabinet, 371; + Cameron's own account, 372-373; + Fortress Monroe, visit to, 386-392; + hostility to McClellan, 407, 411-412; + refuses Col. Scott leave of absence, 408-410; + death of his child, 423; + opposes the "Boston set," 482; + discouraged at Hooker's resignation, 498; + dispute with Grant, 526-527; + irritated by L's humor, 548; + relations with Blair, 552; + dispatch to Grant, 577; + reconstruction plan proposed, 581; + at L's death-bed, 591, 593; + at Seward's bedside, 592 + +Steamboat Invention, L's, 24-26 + +Stearns, George L., 482 + +Stedman, E.C., quoted, 494-495 + +Stephens, Alexander H., + mentioned, 100; + opinion of L. as a speaker, 100-101; + Southern peace commissioner, 555; + L's description of, 556 + +Stephenson, J.H., 482 + +Stewart, Harry W., quoted, 213 + +Stewart, James G., recollection of L's visit to Kansas, 213 + +Stone, Charles P., quoted, 280, 308-310 + +Stone River, + costly success, 496; + L's dream, 583; + Grant denies victory, 583 + +Stories told by L., + Bob Lewis and the Mormon lands, 334-335; + Big fellow beaten by little wife, 429; + Boy and the troublesome coon, 580; + Darkey arithmetic, 357-358; + Horse sold at cross-roads, 388; + Johnnie Kongapod, 81; + Jones and his bridge to the infernal regions, 338-339; + Letting the dog go, 461-462; + Plaster of psalm-tunes, 337; + Sausages and cats, 260; + Shooting skunks, 373-374; + Sick man of Illinois and his grudge, 344; + Swapping horses in mid-stream, 535; + Sykes's yellow dog, 525-526; + Taking to the woods, 336 + +Story-telling, + used on troublesome visitors, 30-31; + fondness of L. for, 68, 84, 101, 198; + L. entertains Van Buren, 87; + indelicacy charge refuted, 258; + application of stories, 259; + safety-valve of L., 332-333, 387; + chagrins friends, 357; + relieves bad news by, 461 + +Stowe, Harriet Beecher, + "Uncle Tom's Cabin," 245; + quoted, 307-308, 462, 472-473 + +Stuart, J.E.B., 150, 165, 497 + +Stuart, John T., + mentioned, 74; + L's first acquaintance with, 38; + law partner of L., 71; + on L's method of accounting, 133 + +Sumner, Charles, + mentioned, 304, 305, 352, 368, 445, 586; + opposes Nebraska Bill, 153; + eloquence of, 245; + assault upon, 245; + member of inaugural party, 275; + declined to measure backs with L., 336; + lacks confidence in Hooker, 492; + introduces constitutional amendment, 554; + at L's death-bed, 591 + +Sumter. _See_ Fort Sumter + +Swett, Leonard, + associate of L. in law case, 136; + quoted, 181, 257, 542-543 + +Sykes, George, 504 + + +Taney, R.B., + administered oath of office to L., 284, 286; + death, 550 + +Tannatt, T.R., 499, 500 + +Taylor Club, "the young Indians," 100 + +Taylor, Richard (Dick), L's discomfiture of, 57-58 + +Taylor, Zachary, + Black Hawk War, 39; + presidency supported by L. and Stephens, 100 + +Terry, Alfred H., 564 + +Texas, seceded, 261 + +Thirteenth Amendment passed, 553-554 + +Thomas, Jesse, 89 + +Thomas, George H., 459, 516 + +Thompson George, 468-469 + +Thompson, Jacob, 585-586 + +Thompson, Richard, 81 + +Todd, Captain, guards L. at White House, 308-309 + +Todd, Mary. _See_ Lincoln, Mary Todd + +Todd, Robert S., 94 + +Toombs, Robert, 100 + +Treat, Judge, 137, 141 + +Trent Affair, + friendly attitude of France and Spain, 305; + L's diplomacy in, 340-344 + +Trumbull, Lyman, + mentioned, 74; 185, 368; + elected senator, 161, 162, 164; + substitute amendment introduced by 554 + + +Usher, John D., + appointed secretary of the interior, 294 + + +Vallandigham, Clement L., + opposes war policy, 481; + candidate for governor of Ohio, 510; + L's opinion of, 511 + +Van Buren, Martin, + mentioned, 360; + entertained by L's stories, 87 + +Vandalia, Ill., proposed change of state capital, 62, 66 + +Van Santvoord, C., quoted, 451-452 + +Verdi, Dr., 592 + +Vicksburg, + mentioned, 516, 517, 518, 524; + turning-point in war, 496; + campaign, 500-503; + L's joy over victory, 501, 507; + L. meets criticism with anecdote, 525; + L's dream, 583 + +Viele, General, describes visit to Fortress Monroe, 386-391 + +Virginia Convention, asks expression of Federal policy, 318 + +Volk, Leonard W., + impressions of L., 201-202; + makes cast of L., 237-243 + +Voorhees, Daniel W., 81 + + +Wade, Benjamin, + mentioned, 535; + urges Grant's dismissal, 503; + lack of military judgment, 505 + +Wadsworth, James S., 296 + +Walker, Isaac, recollections of L., 88 + +Washburne, E.B., + mentioned 225; + L's letters to, against compromise, 260-261; + giving orders for Scott, 261; + quoted, 105, 173, 279; + bill creating rank of lieutenant-general, 516 + +Washington, D.C., + L. reluctant to leave in 1849, 109; + L's arrival, Feb. 23, 1861, 279-280; + inaugural week, 281-290; + rebels and rebel sympathizers in, 292; + defenses visited by L., 400; + regarded as lost, 413; + relieved, 414; + society in 1862-1863, 449-450; + Early's attack, 533, 537; + enthusiasm over Lee's surrender, 574-575 + +Washington, George, + mentioned, 360; + influence of Weem's life of W. on L., 8, 15; + life read by L. as case preparation, 78; + L. ranked with, 527, 549 + +Watson, assistant secretary of state, 375 + +Watterson, Henry, quoted 4 + +Webster, Daniel, + mentioned, 100, 185; + considered a leader, 529-530 + +Weed, Thurlow, + mentioned, 474; + quoted, 257-260; + discusses cabinet appointments, 257-259; + L's letter to, Dec. 17, 1860, extract, 262; + objects to Welles, 365 + +Weitzel, Godfrey, + occupies Richmond, 568; + headquarters in Richmond, 572 + +Weldon, Lawrence, quoted, 139, 334 + +Welles, Gideon, + mentioned, 347, 460, 511; + cabinet possibility, 259; + appointed secretary of the navy, 293; + approves Mason and Slidell capture, 341; + calmness of, 364; + antagonism to Stanton, 364, 368; + at L's death-bed, 591-594; + quoted, 292-293, 320, 325, 333, 345, 365-366, 367, + 368-369, 411-412, 412-413, 417, 423-424, 432, 438, + 439, 440, 457-458, 473-474, 492, 493, 497, 501, 506, + 511, 531, 535, 538, 540, 551-552, 555, 556-557, 563, + 577, 581, 583-584, 591-594, 597 + +Welles, Mrs. Gideon, mentioned, 591 + +"Westminster Review," on Gettysburg address, 513 + +Wheeler, William A., quoted, 376-378 + +Whig Party, + L. a delegate to presidential convention, 104; + L. believes he is a Whig, 153, 157; + symptoms of disintegration, 159; + L. a leader, 162-163; + dissolution, 165 + +White, Dr., 592 + +White, Mrs., 453 + +White House, + L.'s first night at, 292, + L's family life, 464-465; + office of L. described, 299-300; + official precedence, 300-301; + New Year's receptions, 350, 441; + society in 1862-63, 449-450; + L's informal receptions, 450-451; + freedom of access, 459-461; + Grant's ovation at reception, 517-518; + reception, 1865, negroes attend, 552-553 + +Whiting, + solicitor of war department, 375; + candidate for attorney general, 522 + +Whitman, Walt, quoted, 263, 589-590, 597-598 + +Whittier, John Greenleaf, abolitionist, 245 + +"Wide-awake" clubs, 250 + +Wigfall, Senator, 286 + +Wilcox, Major, quoted, 106 + +Willard's Hotel, Washington, headquarters of L., 281, 282 + +Willis, David, 515 + +Wilmington, L's dream, 583 + +Wilmot Proviso, L. votes for, 153 + +Wilkes, Charles, 341, 342 + +Wilson, Robert L., quoted, 62, 85 + +Wilson, Henry, 357, 482 + +Winchell, J.M., + quoted, 382; + interview with L., 531 + +Winslow, John F., builder of "Monitor," 345-347 + +Winthrop, Robert C., quoted, 100 + +Wisconsin State Fair, addressed by L. in 1859, 389 + +Wood, Fernando, 474 + +Wool, John E., 392 + +Workingmen, L's speech to, 272-273 + +Wright, Elizur, 492 + +Wright, Horatio, 504 + +Writings. + _See_ Letters and telegrams; + Messages and proclamations; + Speeches and lectures + + +Yates, Richard, + mentioned, 266; + beginning of friendship with L., 30; + opposes Missouri Compromise, 159; + election to Congress, 150 + +"Young Indians," Taylor club, 100 + +Young, John Russell, quoted, 514 + +Young Men's Lyceum, address of L. quoted, 62 + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Every-day Life of Abraham Lincoln +by Francis Fisher Browne + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF LINCOLN *** + +***** This file should be named 14004-8.txt or 14004-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/0/0/14004/ + +Produced by Audrey Longhurst and the PG Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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