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diff --git a/42526-0.txt b/42526-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f3ba4a8 --- /dev/null +++ b/42526-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13741 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42526 *** + + ABRAHAM LINCOLN + + + + +Uniform with This Volume + + +GEORGE WASHINGTON + +By PAUL LEICESTER FORD + + "This work challenges attention for the really valuable + light which it throws upon the character of George Washington." + + --_Philadelphia Bulletin._ + + +THOMAS JEFFERSON + +By WILLIAM ELEROY CURTIS + + "The volume is particularly worth reading because it revives + the many-sided nature and activity of a truly great man." + --_Springfield Republican. + + "A most readable and entertaining volume. Jefferson will + stand higher in popular estimation because of the human touch in + the picture." + + --_Brooklyn Eagle._ + + +[Illustration: Copyright, 1891, by M. P. Rice + +ABRAHAM LINCOLN + +From an original, unretouched negative made in 1864] + + + + + ABRAHAM LINCOLN + + BY + + WILLIAM ELEROY CURTIS + + AUTHOR OF "THOMAS JEFFERSON", "THE TURK AND HIS LOST + PROVINCES", "THE UNITED STATES AND FOREIGN + POWERS", ETC. + + _WITH TWENTY-FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS_ + + [Illustration] + + PHILADELPHIA & LONDON + J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY + + + COPYRIGHT, 1902, BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY + + PRINTED BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY + AT THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS + PHILADELPHIA, U.S.A. + + + + + He knew to bide his time, + And can his fame abide, + Still patient in his simple faith sublime, + Till the wise years decide. + 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. + + --_Lowell, Commemoration Ode_ + + + + +Contents + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I.--THE MAN AND HIS KINDRED 13 + + II.--THE LEADER OF THE SPRINGFIELD BAR 56 + + III.--A GREAT ORATOR AND HIS SPEECHES 86 + + IV.--A PRAIRIE POLITICIAN 129 + + V.--A PRESIDENT AND HIS CABINET 179 + + VI.--A COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF AND HIS GENERALS 229 + + VII.--HOW LINCOLN APPEARED IN THE WHITE HOUSE 277 + + VIII.--THE EMANCIPATION OF THE SLAVES 314 + + IX.--A MASTER IN DIPLOMACY 342 + + X.--LINCOLN'S PHILOSOPHY, MORALS, AND RELIGION 370 + + + + +List of Illustrations + + + PAGE + + ABRAHAM LINCOLN _Frontispiece_ + + From an original, unretouched negative made in 1864, + when he commissioned Ulysses S. Grant Lieutenant-General + and commander of all the armies of the republic. + + THE BIRTHPLACE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 20 + + This cabin was long ago torn down, but the logs were + saved, and in August, 1895, it was rebuilt on the + original site. + + ROCK SPRING FARM, KENTUCKY, WHERE ABRAHAM LINCOLN WAS BORN 22 + + From a photograph taken in September, 1895. + + ROCK SPRING ON THE FARM WHERE LINCOLN WAS BORN 26 + + From a photograph taken in September, 1895. The spring + is in a hollow at the foot of the gentle slope on which + the house stands. + + FAC-SIMILE OF AN INVITATION TO A SPRINGFIELD COTILLION + PARTY 38 + + By special permission, from the collection of C. F. + Gunther, Esq., Chicago. + + MARY TODD LINCOLN, WIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 44 + + From a photograph by Brady in the War Department + Collection. + + ABRAHAM LINCOLN EARLY IN 1861, WHEN HE FIRST BEGAN TO + WEAR A BEARD 60 + + From a photograph in the collection of H. W. Fay, Esq., + De Kalb, Illinois. By special permission. + + ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN THE SUMMER OF 1860 75 + + From a negative taken for M. C. Tuttle, of St. Paul, + Minnesota, for local use in the presidential campaign. + + ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN 1858 100 + + From a photograph owned by Hon. William J. Franklin, + Macomb, Illinois, taken in 1866 from an ambrotype made + in 1858 at Macomb. By special permission. + + ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN 1861 125 + + Copied from the original in the possession of Frank A. + Brown, Esq., Minneapolis, Minnesota. + + ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S HOUSE AT SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS 156 + + The tree in front of the house was planted by Lincoln. + + ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN 1861 169 + + From a photograph by Klauber, of Louisville, Kentucky, + taken especially for Mrs. Lucy G. Speed, in + acknowledgment of an Oxford Bible received from her + twenty years before. Reproduced by special permission + of James B. Speed, Esq., of Louisville, Kentucky. + + MONTGOMERY BLAIR, POSTMASTER-GENERAL 187 + + From a photograph by Brady. + + GIDEON WELLES, SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 196 + + From a photograph by Brady. + + WILLIAM H. SEWARD, SECRETARY OF STATE 201 + + From a photograph by Brady. + + GENERAL GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN AT THE HEAD-QUARTERS OF + GENERAL MORELL'S BRIGADE, MINOR'S HILL, VIRGINIA 206 + + From a contemporary photograph by M. B. Brady. + + EDWIN M. STANTON, SECRETARY OF WAR 224 + + From a photograph by Brady. + + GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT 254 + + From an original, unretouched negative made in 1864, + when he was commissioned Lieutenant-General and + commander of all the armies of the republic. + + GRAND REVIEW OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC BY PRESIDENT + LINCOLN AT FALMOUTH, VIRGINIA, IN APRIL, 1863 271 + + From a drawing by W. R. Leigh. + + PRESIDENT LINCOLN AND HIS SON "TAD" 287 + + From a photograph by Brady, now in the War Department + Collection, Washington, D. C. + + JOHN WILKES BOOTH 311 + + From a photograph by Brady. + + ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN 1864 320 + + From a photograph in the War Department Collection. + + FAC-SIMILE OF LETTER BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN TO HON. MICHAEL + HAHN, FIRST FREE STATE GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA 338 + + By special permission of John M. Crampton, Esq., New + Haven, Connecticut. + + SALMON P. CHASE, SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY 356 + + From a photograph by Brady. + + + + +A Lincoln Calendar + + + Born February 12, 1809 + + Removed to Indiana 1816 + + Nancy Hanks Lincoln died 1817 + + Thomas Lincoln married Sally Bush Johnston 1819 + + First trip to New Orleans 1828 + + Removed to Illinois March, 1830 + + Went to New Salem March, 1831 + + Second trip to New Orleans April, 1831 + + Enters Offutt's store August, 1831 + + Candidate for Legislature March, 1832 + + Black Hawk War April, 1832 + + Defeated for Legislature August, 1832 + + Buys store with Berry 1832 + + Appointed Postmaster May, 1833 + + Appointed Surveyor November, 1833 + + Elected to Legislature August, 1834 + + Removed to Springfield April, 1837 + + Re-elected to Legislature 1836-1838-1840 + + First meets Douglas in debate December, 1839 + + Duel with Shields 1842 + + Married November 4, 1842 + + Partnership with Logan 1842 + + Defeat for Congressional nomination 1844 + + Elected to Congress 1846 + + Candidate for United States Senator 1855 + + Assists organization of Republican party February 22, 1856 + + Delegate to Philadelphia Convention June 17, 1856 + + Challenges Douglas to joint debate July 17, 1858 + + Second defeat for Senator January, 1859 + + Cooper Institute speech February 27, 1860 + + Nominated for President May 16, 1860 + + Elected President November 6, 1860 + + Leaves Springfield for Washington February 11, 1861 + + Arrival at Washington February 23, 1861 + + Inaugurated President March 4, 1861 + + Renominated for President June 8, 1864 + + Re-elected President November 8, 1864 + + Second inauguration March 4, 1865 + + Assassinated April 14, 1865 + + + + +Abraham Lincoln + + + + +I + +THE MAN AND HIS KINDRED + + +This is not a conventional biography. It is a collection of sketches in +which an attempt is made to portray the character of Abraham Lincoln +as the highest type of the American from several interesting points of +view. He has doubtless been the subject of more literary composition +than any other man of modern times, although there was nothing eccentric +or abnormal about him; there were no mysteries in his career to excite +curiosity; no controversies concerning his conduct, morals, or motives; +no doubt as to his purposes; and no difference of opinion as to his +unselfish patriotism or the success of his administration of the +government in the most trying period of its existence. Perhaps there is +no other man of prominence in American history, or in the history of the +human family, whose reputation is more firmly and clearly established. +There is certainly none more beloved and revered, whose character is so +well understood and so universally admired, and whose political, moral, +and intellectual integrity is so fully admitted by his opponents as well +as his supporters. + +Of such a man, wrote a well-known writer, the last word can never +be said. Each succeeding generation may profit by the contemplation +of his strength and triumphs. His rise from obscurity to fame and +power was almost as sudden and startling as that of Napoleon, for it +may truthfully be said that when Mr. Lincoln was nominated for the +Presidency he was an unknown man. He had occupied no important position; +he had rendered no great public service; his reputation was that of a +debater and politician, and did not become national until he delivered +a remarkable speech at Cooper Union, New York. His election was not due +to personal popularity, nor to the strength of the party he represented, +nor to the justice of his cause; but to factional strife and jealousies +among his opponents. When the American people were approaching the +greatest crisis in their history, it was the hand of Providence that +turned the eyes of the loyal people of the North to this plain man of +the prairies, and his rugged figure rose before them as if he were +created for their leader. + +Napoleon became dizzy; yielded to the temptations of power, betrayed +his people, grasped at empire, and fell; but the higher Lincoln rose +the more modest became his manners, the more serene his temper, the +more conspicuous his unselfishness, the purer and more patriotic his +motives. With masterful tact and force he assumed responsibilities that +made men shudder. The captain of a company of uncouth volunteers began +to organize vast armies, undertook the direction of military campaigns +and of a momentous civil war, and conducted the diplomatic relations +of a nation with skill and statesmanship that astonished his ministers +and his generals. He, an humble country lawyer and local politician, +suddenly took his place with the world's greatest statesmen, planned +and managed the legislation of Congress, proposed financial measures +that involved the wealth of the nation, and alone, in the midst of +the confusion of war and the clamor of greedy politicians and the +dissensions of his advisers, solved problems that staggered the wisest +minds of the nation. The popular story-teller of the cross-roads, the +crack debater of the New Salem Literary Club, became an orator of +immortal fame. The rail-splitter of the Sangamon became the most honored +and respected man of his generation. + +Such men are not accidents. The strength of a structure depends upon +the material used and the treatment it has received. Poor material may +be improved and good material is often spoiled in the making; but only +when the pure metal has passed through the fire and the forge is it fit +to sustain a severe strain. Thus Abraham Lincoln, unconscious of his +destiny, by the struggles and privations of his early life was qualified +for the task to which Infinite Wisdom had assigned him. + +Abraham Lincoln's father was descended from Samuel Lincoln, who +emigrated from the west of England a few years after the landing of the +Pilgrims and settled at the village of Hingham, on the south shore of +Massachusetts Bay, between Boston and Plymouth. Eight men bearing that +name came over on the same ship and are supposed to have been related. +An army of their descendants is scattered over the Union. One of them, +Samuel Lincoln, left a large family which has produced several prominent +figures besides a President of the United States. One of his grandsons +in the third generation, Levi Lincoln, was recognized for a generation +as the leader of the New England bar. He was Secretary of State and +Attorney-General in the Cabinet of President Jefferson, a member of the +Legislature of Massachusetts, and one of the ablest and most influential +men of his day. + +The fourth son of Samuel Lincoln, Mordecai, I, acquired wealth as a +manufacturer. His eldest son, who inherited his name, moved to Berks +County, Pennsylvania, and had a son named John, who took up a tract of +land in Virginia about the year 1760, where, like the rest of his name, +he raised a large family. John Lincoln, II, his second son, became +prominent in public affairs, and was a member of the Convention that +framed the first Constitution of the State of Pennsylvania. + +On July 10, 1760, Abraham, I, the third of the five sons of John +Lincoln, II, married Anna Boone, a cousin of Daniel Boone, the most +famous of American pioneers, and his father gave him a farm in the +Shenandoah Valley. By frequent intermarriages between the Boones and the +Lincolns they were closely allied. By the will of Mordecai Lincoln, II, +his "loving friend and neighbor George Boone" was made executor of his +estate and Squire Boone, father of the celebrated Daniel, was appointed +to make an inventory of the property. Hananiah Lincoln was a partner of +Daniel Boone in the purchase of a tract of land on the Missouri River in +1798, and it was there that the great woodsman died. + +The name Abraham was a favorite among the Lincoln family. It occurs +frequently in their genealogy. A young man named Abraham Lincoln +distinguished himself for courage and brutality on the Confederate side +during the Civil War. He killed a Dunkard preacher whom he suspected of +furnishing information to the Union army. The Union President received +several letters of offensive tone from his kinsman in the South during +the earlier part of his administration. + +The farm of Abraham Lincoln, I, in the Shenandoah Valley, was on the +great national highway along which the course of empire took its +westward way, and, infected by continual contact with the emigrants and +encouraged by the greatest of American pioneers, he sold the property +his father had given him, packed his wife and five children into a +Conestoga wagon, and followed the great migration until it led him +to what is now Hughes Station, Jefferson County, Kentucky, where he +entered a large tract of land and paid for it one hundred and sixty +pounds "in current money." The original warrant, dated March 4, 1780, +is still in existence. By the blunder of a clerk in the Land Office the +name was misspelled Linkhorn, and Abraham, I, was too careless or busy +to correct it, for it appears that way in all the subsequent records. +Hananiah Lincoln, the partner of Daniel Boone, furnished the surveyor's +certificate. + +Four years later, in the spring of 1784, occurred the first tragedy +in the annals of the Lincoln family. Abraham, I, with his three sons, +were at work clearing ground upon his farm when they were attacked by +a wandering squad of Indians. The first shot from the brush killed the +father. Mordecai, III, the eldest son, started to the house for his +rifle; Josiah ran to the neighbors for assistance, leaving Thomas, a +child of six, alone with his father. After Mordecai had recovered his +rifle he saw an Indian in war-paint appear upon the scene, examine the +dead body of his father, and stoop to raise the lad from the ground. +Taking deliberate aim at a white ornament that hung from the neck of the +savage, he brought him down and his little brother escaped to the cabin. +The Indians began to appear in the thicket, but Mordecai, shooting +through the loopholes of the cabin, held them off until Josiah returned +with reinforcements. + +From circumstantial evidence we must infer that Anna Lincoln was a poor +manager, or perhaps she suffered from some misfortune. All we know is +that she abandoned the farm in Jefferson County and moved south into +the neighboring county of Washington, where she disappears from human +knowledge. Her eldest son, Mordecai, III, appears to have inherited +his father's money, as the rules of primogeniture prevailed in those +days. He was sheriff of Washington County, a member of the Kentucky +Legislature, and tradition gives him the reputation of an honorable +and influential citizen. Late in life he removed to Hancock County, +Illinois, where he died and is buried. Josiah, the second son, crossed +the Ohio River and took up a homestead in what is now called Harrison +County, Indiana. Mary, the eldest daughter, married Ralph Crume, and +Nancy, the fourth child, married William Brumfield. Their descendants +are still found in Hardin, Washington, and other counties in that +neighborhood. + +Explanations are wanting for the circumstance that Thomas, the youngest +son and brother of this prosperous family, whose father was slain +before his eyes when he was only six years old, was turned adrift, +without home or care, for at ten years of age we find him "a wandering, +laboring boy" who was left uneducated and supported himself by farm +work and other menial employment, and learned the trades of carpenter +and cabinet-maker. But he must have had good stuff in him, for when he +was twenty-five years old he had saved enough from his wages to buy a +farm in Hardin County. Local tradition, which, however, cannot always +be trusted, represents him to have been "an easy going man, and slow to +anger, but when 'roused a formidable adversary." He was above the medium +height, had a powerful frame, and, like his immortal son, had a wide +local reputation as a wrestler. + +While learning his trade in the carpenter shop of Joseph Hanks, Thomas +Lincoln married Nancy Hanks, his own cousin, and the niece of his +employer. He probably met her at the house of Richard Berry, with whom +she lived, and must have seen a good deal of her at the home of her +uncle. At all events, the cousins became engaged; their nuptial bond was +signed according to the law on June 10, 1806, and two days later they +were married by the Rev. Jesse Head, at the home of Richard Berry, near +Beechland, Washington County, Kentucky. + +Nancy Hanks was descended from William Hanks, who came to this country +in 1699 and settled at Plymouth, Massachusetts. Four of his five sons +moved to Amelia County, Virginia, where they had a large tract of land. +One of their descendants, Joseph Hanks, married Nancy Shipley, and in +1789 moved to Kentucky with a large party of his relatives. In 1793 he +died, leaving eight children, who were scattered among their relatives, +and Nancy, the youngest, when nine years old, found a home with her +aunt, Lucy Shipley, the wife of Richard Berry. She is represented to +have been a sweet-tempered and handsome woman, of intellect, appearance, +and character superior to her position; and could even read and write, +which was a remarkable accomplishment among the women of that day. She +taught her husband to write his name. But she had no means whatever, +being entirely dependent upon her uncle, and it is probable that she was +willing to marry even so humble a husband as Thomas Lincoln, for the +sake of securing independence and a home. + +Thomas Lincoln took his wife to a little log cabin in a hamlet called +Elizabethtown, probably because he thought that it would be more +congenial for her than his lonely farm in Hardin County, which was +fourteen miles away; and perhaps he thought that he could earn a better +living by carpenter work than by farming. Here their first child, Sarah, +was born about a year after the marriage. + +Thomas Lincoln either failed to earn sufficient money to meet his +household expenses or grew tired of his carpenter work, for, two years +later, he left Elizabethtown and moved his family to his farm near +Hodgensville, on the Big South Fork of Nolen Creek. It was a miserable +place, of thin, unproductive soil and only partly cleared. Its only +attraction was a fine spring of water, shaded by a little grove, which +caused it to be called "Rock Spring Farm." The cabin was of the rudest +sort, with a single room, a single window, a big fireplace, and a huge +outside chimney. + +In this cabin Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, and here he +spent the first four years of his childhood. It was a far reach to the +White House. Soon after his nomination for the Presidency he furnished +a brief autobiography to Mr. Hicks, an artist who was painting his +portrait, in which he said,-- + + "I was born February 12, 1809, in then Hardin County, + Kentucky, at a point within the now County of Larue, a mile or + a mile and a half from where Hodgen's mill now is. My parents + being dead, and my own memory not serving, I know no means of + identifying the precise locality. It was on Nolen Creek. + + "A. LINCOLN. + + "June 14, 1860." + +The precise spot has since been clearly identified, and the cabin was +still standing after his death. + +In 1813 the family removed to a more comfortable home on Knob Creek, six +miles from Hodgensville, where Thomas Lincoln bought a better farm of +two hundred and thirty-eight acres for one hundred and eighteen pounds +and gave his note in payment. This was Abraham Lincoln's second home, +and there he lived for four years. + +We know little about his childhood, except that it was of continual +privation in a cheerless home, for Thomas Lincoln evidently found it +difficult to supply his family with food and clothing. Mr. Lincoln +seldom talked freely of those days, even to his most intimate friends, +although from remarks which he dropped from time to time they judged +that the impressions of his first years were indelible upon his +temperament and contributed to his melancholy. On one occasion, being +asked if he remembered anything about the War of 1812, he said that when +a child, returning from fishing one day, he met a soldier in the road +and, having been admonished by his mother that everybody should be good +to the soldiers, he gave him his fish. + +[Illustration: Copyright, 1900, by McClure, Phillips & Co. + +THE BIRTHPLACE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN] + +Thomas and Nancy Lincoln had three children. Sarah, the eldest, at the +age of fourteen married Aaron Griggsby and died in childbirth a year +later. Thomas, the third child, died when only three days old. + +When Abraham was about seven years old his father became restless and +went across the river into Indiana to look for a new home. It has been +represented by some of Lincoln's biographers that the motive of his +removal was his dislike of slavery; that he wished to remove his son +from its influence; but Lincoln attributed the determination to other +reasons, particularly his father's difficulty in securing a valid +title to his land. It is quite as probable that, like other men of his +temperament, he thought he could do better in a new place; like other +rolling stones, that he could gather more moss in a new soil. He found +a purchaser for his farm who gave him in payment twenty dollars in +money and ten barrels of whiskey, which Thomas Lincoln loaded upon a +flat-boat, with his household furniture, floating it down Knob Creek to +Rolling Fork, to Salt River, to the Ohio River, and down the Ohio to +Thompson's Ferry in Perry County, Indiana. The boat upset on the way +and part of the whiskey and some of his carpenter tools were lost. He +plunged into the forest, found a location that suited him about sixteen +miles from the river, called Pigeon Creek, where he left his property +with a settler, and, as his boat could not float upstream, he sold it +and walked back to Hodgensville to get his wife and two children. He +secured a wagon and two horses, in which he carried his family and +whatever of his household effects were then remaining. + +Arriving at his location, which was a piece of timber land a mile and +a half east of what is now Gentryville, Spencer County, he built a log +cabin fourteen feet square, open to the weather on one side, and without +windows or chimney. This was Abraham Lincoln's third home, and the +family lived in that rude, primitive way for more than a year, managing +to raise a patch of corn and a few vegetables during the following +summer, which, with corn meal ground at a hand grist-mill seven miles +away, were their chief food. Game, however, was abundant. The streams +were full of fish and wild fruits could be gathered in the forest. The +future President of the United States slept upon a heap of dry leaves +in a narrow loft at one end of the cabin, to which he climbed by means +of pegs driven into the wall. A year after his arrival Thomas Lincoln +entered the quarter section of land he occupied and made his first +payment under what was familiarly known as the "two-dollar-an-acre law," +but it was eleven years before he could pay enough to obtain a patent +for half of it. He then erected a permanent home of logs which was +comparatively comfortable and was perhaps as good as those occupied by +most of his neighbors. + +In the fall of 1818 the little community of pioneers was almost +exterminated by an epidemic known as "milk sickness," and among the +victims was Nancy Hanks Lincoln, who was buried with her neighbors in a +little clearing in the forest in a coffin made of green lumber, cut with +a whip-saw by her husband. There were no ceremonies at her burial, but +several months later Abraham, then ten years old, wrote to Parson David +Elkin, the itinerant Free-will Baptist preacher at Hodgensville, of his +mother's death, and begged him to come to Indiana and preach her funeral +sermon. Nancy Lincoln must have been highly esteemed or this poor parson +would not have come a hundred miles through the wilderness in answer +to this summons from her child, for several months later he appeared +according to appointment, and all the settlers for many miles around +assembled to hear him. It was the most important event that had ever +occurred in the community and was remembered longer than any other. + +[Illustration: Copyright, 1900, by McClure, Phillips & Co. + +ROCK SPRING FARM, KENTUCKY, WHERE ABRAHAM LINCOLN WAS BORN + +From a photograph taken in September, 1895. The cabin in which Lincoln +was born is seen to the right, in the background] + +The death of Mrs. Lincoln left the child Sarah, then only eleven years +old, to care for the household, and, with the assistance of her brother, +she struggled through the next year until the autumn of 1819, when +their father returned to Hodgensville and married Sally Bush Johnston, +a widow with three children (John, Sarah, and Matilda), whom he had +courted before he married Nancy Hanks. She seems to have been a woman +of uncommon energy and nobility of character, and in after-life her +step-son paid her a worthy tribute when he said that the strongest +influence which stimulated and guided him in his ambition came from her +and from his own mother. Under her management conditions improved. She +brought a little property and some household goods into the family as +well as three children, stimulated her husband to industry, and taught +his children habits of order, cleanliness, and thrift. There was never +any friction between her and her step-children, and her own brood, John, +Sarah, and Matilda, were received cordially and treated with affection. +Nor in their after-lives was any distinction made by either of the +parents. The step-mother recognized in Abraham a boy of unusual talent, +and encouraged and assisted him by every means within her power. + +Abraham's life was spent at hard labor. He was a boy of unusual stature +and, from the time he was ten years old, did a man's work. He learned +all the tricks in the trades that a pioneer's son must know; hired out +upon the neighboring farms when there was nothing for him to do at home, +and his wages (twenty-five cents a day) were paid to his father. He +cared little for amusement, and hunting, which was the chief recreation +of young men of his age, had no attractions for him. In his brief +autobiography, which was prepared for the newspapers the day after his +nomination for the Presidency, he says,-- + +"A flock of wild turkeys approached the new log cabin, and Abraham, +with a rifle gun, standing inside, shot through the cracks and killed +one of them. He has never since pulled a trigger on any larger game." +He joined in the rude amusements and sports of the community like other +boys and enjoyed them. His quick intelligence, ready sympathy, wit, +humor, and generous disposition made him a great favorite. He was the +best talker and story-teller in the neighborhood. His tall stature and +unusual strength made him a leader in athletic sports, and his studious +habits and retentive memory gave him an advantage among his comrades, a +few of whom had a little, but the most of them no education. His less +gifted comrades recognized his ability and superiority; they learned to +accept his opinions and to respect his judgment. He became an instructor +as well as a leader, and the local traditions represent him as a sort +of intellectual phenomenon, whose wit, anecdotes, doggerel verses, +practical jokes, muscular strength, and skill made him the wonder of the +community and are a part of the early history of that section. + +When he was sixteen he operated a ferry-boat at the mouth of Anderson's +Creek, transporting passengers across the Ohio River, and it was then +that he earned the first money that he could claim as his own. One +evening in the White House, while he was President, he told the story +to several members of his Cabinet, and Mr. Secretary Seward gives the +following account of it: + +"I was contemplating my new flat-boat, and wondering whether I could +make it stronger or improve it in any particular, when two men came down +to the shore in carriages with trunks, and looking at the different +boats singled out mine, and asked: 'Who owns this?' I answered, somewhat +modestly, 'I do.' 'Will you,' said one of them, 'take us and our trunks +out to the steamer?' '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 flat-boat, and 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 +deck. The steamer was about to put on steam again, when I called out +that they had forgotten to pay me. Each of them took from his pocket +a silver half-dollar and threw it on the floor of my boat. I could +scarcely believe my eyes as I picked up the money. Gentlemen, you may +think it was a very little thing, and in these days it seems to me a +trifle; but it was the most important incident 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 fairer +and wider before me. I was a more hopeful and confident being from that +time." + +When he was nineteen Mr. Gentry, the most prominent man in the +neighborhood, from whom the town of Gentryville was named, and who kept +the "store," embarked in a new enterprise, and sent Abraham with his son +Allen upon a flat-boat to New Orleans with a load of bacon, corn meal, +and other provisions, paying him eight dollars a month and his passage +home on a steamboat. Thus the future President obtained his first +glimpse of the world outside the Indiana forest, and the impressions +left upon his mind by this experience were never effaced. It was the +beginning of a new life for him and the awakening of new ambitions. + +"He was a hired man merely," wrote Lincoln of himself nearly thirty +years afterwards, "and he and a son of the owner, without any other +assistance, made the trip. The nature of part of the 'cargo load,' as +it was called, made it necessary for them to linger and trade along the +sugar-coast, and one night they were attacked by seven negroes with +intent to kill and rob them. They were hurt some in the mêlée, but +succeeded in driving the negroes from the boat, and then 'cut cable,' +'weighed anchor,' and left." + +The prairies of Illinois were becoming a great temptation to pioneers +in those days, and the restless disposition of Thomas Lincoln could not +be restrained; so he and several of his relatives joined the migration, +making a party of thirteen. Lincoln himself tells the story in these +words: + +"March 1st, 1830, Abraham having just completed his twenty-first year, +his father and family, with the families of the two daughters and +sons-in-law of his step-mother, left the old homestead in Indiana and +came to Illinois. Their mode of conveyance was wagons drawn by ox-teams, +and Abraham drove one of the teams. They reached the county of Macon, +and stopped there some time within the same month of March. His father +and family settled a new place on the north side of the Sangamon River, +at the junction of the timber land and prairie, about ten miles westerly +from Decatur. Here they built a log cabin, into which they removed, and +made sufficient of rails to fence ten acres of ground, fenced and broke +the ground, and raised a crop of sown corn upon it in the same year." + +[Illustration: Copyright, 1900, by McClure, Phillips & Co. + +ROCK SPRING ON THE FARM WHERE LINCOLN WAS BORN + +From a photograph taken in September, 1895] + +The sons-in-law of his step-mother referred to were Dennis Hanks and +Levi Hall, who had married Sarah and Matilda, Lincoln's step-sisters. +Hanks was a son of the Joseph Hanks with whom Thomas Lincoln learned the +carpenter's trade in Kentucky. Another son, John Hanks, was a member +of the family, and it was he who appeared at the State convention at +Decatur, May 9, 1860, bearing two weather-worn fence-rails decorated +with streamers and a banner inscribed to the effect that they were from +the identical lot of three thousand rails which Lincoln had cut on the +Sangamon River in 1830. This dramatic scene was devised by Richard J. +Oglesby, afterwards Governor and United States Senator, and one of +Lincoln's most ardent admirers and faithful supporters. Little did +Lincoln dream when he was splitting rails in the walnut woods with John +Hanks that he and his companion would appear in a drama of national +interest with samples of their handiwork to electrify the country with +enthusiasm and confer upon the long-legged farmer boy the sobriquet of +"The Illinois Rail-Splitter." + +Delegates had been elected to the second National Republican Convention +to be held at Chicago a week later, when Mr. Oglesby arose and announced +in a serious and mysterious manner that an old citizen of Macon County +had something to present to the Convention. Then, with great dramatic +effect, John Hanks entered, bearing the relics which were to become the +symbols of the National Convention. The assembly was transformed into a +tumult, and Lincoln was brought to the platform, where, when order could +be restored, he said,-- + +"Gentlemen: I suppose you want to know something about those things. +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; fact is, I +don't think they are a credit to the maker [and his awkward frame shook +with suppressed laughter]; but I know this, I made rails then and I +think I could make better ones than these now." + +The rails were taken to the National Convention at Chicago and had a +prominent place at the Illinois head-quarters, where, trimmed with +flowers and lighted by tapers by enthusiastic ladies, they were the +subject of much private and newspaper attention. Later in the campaign +they were sent from place to place in the country and other rails +from the old farm were also used as campaign emblems. A Philadelphia +speculator sent to Illinois and purchased a car-load of them. + +Through the remainder of the year and the following winter (1830-31) +young Lincoln was employed about his father's new home and at intervals +assisted the neighbors in farm work in company with John Hanks. When he +reached his twenty-first year he started out for himself according to +the custom of the country. He was the most promising young man in that +neighborhood. He had a better education than any of the community, his +intellectual and conversational powers were beyond all rivalry, and his +physical strength and endurance were remarkable even among the giants of +those days. He stood six feet four inches in his stockings, and could +outlift, outwork, outrun, and outwrestle every man of his acquaintance. +And his pride in his physical accomplishments was greater than in his +intellectual attainments. For a man of his natural modesty he was very +vain of his stature and strength, and was accustomed to display and +boast of them even after he became President. He retained his muscular +strength to the end of his life, although he then took very little +physical exercise. The muscles of his body were like iron. General Veile +says that he could take a heavy axe and, grasping it with his thumb and +forefinger at the extreme end of the handle, hold it out on a horizontal +line from his body. "When I was eighteen years of age I could do this," +he said with pride, "and I have never seen the day since when I could +not do it." The attachés of the office of the Secretary of War relate +curious stories of his frequent displays of muscular strength when he +visited the War Department to read the despatches from his generals. +He frequently astonished visitors at the Executive Mansion by asking +them to measure height with him, and one day shocked Senator Sumner by +suggesting that they stand back to back to see which was the taller. A +delegation of clergymen appeared at the White House one morning bursting +with righteous indignation because slavery was still tolerated in the +rebellious States and bearing a series of fervid resolutions demanding +immediate abolition. One of the number was a very tall man, and the +President could scarcely wait until he had completed his carefully +prepared oration presenting the memorial. As soon as he had uttered the +last word, Mr. Lincoln asked eagerly,-- + +"Mr. Blank, how tall are you?" + +The clergyman turned scarlet and looked around at his colleagues in +amazement. + +"I believe I am taller than you," continued the President. "What is your +height?" + +"Six feet three inches," responded the divine with evident irritation. + +"Then I outmeasure you by an inch," said Mr. Lincoln with a satisfied +air, and proceeded to explain the situation as to slavery. + +A similar scene occurred on another occasion when, however, the visitor +happened to be a trifle taller than the President. One of his friends +who was present says that the latter showed more irritation than he +had ever seen him exhibit before; nor did he forget it, but the next +time his friend called he referred to the matter and remarked that he +considered himself the tallest man in Washington, although he didn't +pretend to be as handsome as General Scott. + +When the notification committee came from the Chicago Convention to his +home at Springfield, they were presented one after another to their +candidate, and, as Governor E. D. Morgan, of New York, reached him, he +asked his height and weight. Mr. Morgan gave the information with some +amusement, whereupon Lincoln remarked,-- + +"You are the heavier, but I am the taller." + +In 1859, when he went to Milwaukee to deliver an address at a State +fair, a cannon-ball tosser in a sideshow interested him more than +anything else on the grounds. Lincoln insisted upon testing the weights +he handled, and was quite chagrined because he was not able to throw +them about as easily as the professional. As they parted he remarked in +his droll way,-- + +"You can outlift me, but I could lick salt off the top of your hat." + +Thomas Lincoln did not remain long at his home on the bluffs overlooking +the Sangamon River. He was always afflicted with the fever of unrest. +Like so many of his class, he continued to advance westward, keeping on +the skirmish line of the frontier. He removed three times after he came +to Illinois in search of better luck, and never found it. He owned three +farms, but never paid for any of them, and was always growing poorer and +signing larger mortgages. Finally, when he had reached the end of his +credit, Lincoln bought him a tract of forty acres near Farmington, Coles +County, where he lived until January 17, 1851, long enough to enjoy the +satisfaction of seeing his son one of the foremost men in the State. He +was buried near the little hamlet. His wife survived both him and her +famous step-son, and was tenderly cared for as long as the latter lived. +Before starting for his inauguration he paid her a visit, in February, +1861, when they spent the day in affectionate companionship. She had a +presentiment that she should never see him again and told him so, but +neither dreamed that he would die first. She lived until April, 1869, a +pious, gentle, intelligent, and well-loved woman, and was buried beside +her husband. Robert T. Lincoln has erected a monument over their graves. + +John Johnston, Lincoln's step-brother, was an honest, but uneasy and +shiftless man, and gave him a great deal of trouble. He lived with his +mother and step-father most of his life, but never contributed much +to their support, and was always in debt, although Lincoln several +times give him means to make a fresh start. Lincoln's letters to his +step-brother, several of which have been preserved, throw considerable +light upon his character. + +In 1851, after Thomas Lincoln's death, Johnston proposed to leave his +mother and go to Missouri, where he thought he could do better than +in Illinois, and asked permission to sell the farm which Lincoln had +bought to secure his step-mother a home for life. + +"You propose to sell it for three hundred dollars," wrote Lincoln in +his indignation, "take one hundred dollars away with you, and leave her +two hundred dollars at eight per cent, making her the enormous sum of +sixteen dollars a year. Now, if you are satisfied with seeing her in +that way I am not." + +Then Johnston proposed that Lincoln should lend him eighty dollars to +pay his expenses to Missouri. + +"You say you would give your place in heaven for seventy or eighty +dollars," Lincoln wrote his step-brother. "Then you value your place in +heaven very cheap, for I am sure you can, with the offer I make, get +seventy or eighty dollars for four or five months' work. What I propose +is that you shall go to work 'tooth and nail' for somebody who will +give you money for it.... I now promise you, that for every dollar you +will, between this and the first of May, get for your own labor, either +in money or as your own indebtedness, I will then give you one other +dollar.... In this I do not mean that you shall go off to St. Louis, or +the lead mines in California, but I mean for you to go at it for the +best wages you can get close at 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 just as deep as +ever." + +A few months later Lincoln wrote Johnston again in regard to his +contemplated move to Missouri: + +"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 anybody 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 cannot get along anywhere. +Squirming and crawling about from place to place can do you 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 you will get for the land you will spend in moving to Missouri, and +the other half you will eat, drink, and wear out, and no foot of land +will be bought. Now, I feel it my duty to have no hand in such a piece +of foolery." + +Shortly after leaving his father's primitive home in the spring of 1831, +Lincoln obtained employment with Denton Offutt, a trader and speculator, +who, having heard that he had already made a voyage on a flat-boat from +Indiana to New Orleans, engaged him for a similar expedition, in company +with John D. Johnston, his step-brother, and John Hanks, his cousin, +for twelve dollars a month each with their return expenses. It took +some time to build the boat, and at the very beginning of the voyage +it stuck midway across a dam at the village of New Salem. The bow was +high in the air, the stern was low in the water, and shipwreck seemed +absolutely certain when Lincoln's ingenuity rescued the craft. Having +unloaded the cargo, he bored a hole in the bottom at the end extending +over the dam; then he tilted up the boat and let the water run out. That +being done, the boat was easily shoved over the dam and reloaded. This +novel exhibition of marine engineering so impressed the inhabitants of +the neighborhood that Abraham Lincoln's genius was discussed at every +fireside for months thereafter, and he gained a reputation at New Salem +that proved to be of great value. He was so much interested in what he +had done that twenty years later he developed the idea and applied for a +patent for a curious contrivance for lifting flat-boats over shoals. + +The journey to New Orleans was a valuable experience. Lincoln's first +actual contact with the system of slavery made him an abolitionist for +life, and the impressions he received were retained throughout his +entire career. He returned to St. Louis by steamer, walked across the +country to New Salem, and became a clerk in the store of Denton Offutt, +measuring calico, weighing out sugar and nails, tending a grist-mill, +and making himself useful to his employer and popular with the people. + +The following year he engaged in a mercantile adventure on his own +account at New Salem which failed disastrously, and found himself loaded +with obligations which, in humorous satire upon his own folly, he called +"the national debt." His creditors accepted his notes in settlement, and +during the next seventeen years he paid them in instalments unto the +uttermost farthing, although the terrible responsibility darkened all +the days of his life. + +"That debt," he once said to a friend, "was the greatest obstacle I +have ever met in my life; I had no way of speculating, and could not +earn money except by labor, and to earn by labor eleven hundred dollars +besides my living seemed the work of a lifetime. There was, however, but +one way. I went to the creditors, and told them that if they would let +me alone I would give them all I could earn over my living, as fast as I +could earn it." + +As late as 1849, when a member of Congress, so we are informed by Mr. +Herndon, he sent home money saved from his salary to be applied on these +obligations. Only a single creditor refused to accept his promises. +A man named Van Bergen, who bought one of his notes on speculation, +brought suit, obtained judgment against him, and levied upon the horse, +saddle, and instruments used by him daily in surveying, and with which, +to use his own words, he "kept body and soul together." + +James Short, a well-to-do farmer living a few miles north of New Salem, +heard of the trouble which had befallen his young friend, and, without +advising Lincoln, attended the sale, bought in the horse and surveying +instruments for one hundred and twenty dollars, and turned them over to +their former owner. After Lincoln left New Salem James Short removed to +the far West, and one day thirty years later he received a letter from +Washington, containing the surprising but gratifying announcement that +he had been commissioned as Indian agent. + +It was this honorable discharge of the obligations in which he became +involved through the rascality of another man that gave Lincoln the +sobriquet of "Honest Old Abe," which one of his biographers has said +"proved of greater service to himself and his country than if he had +gained the wealth of Crooesus." + +It was while he was struggling along, trying to do business with his +partner Berry, that he was appointed postmaster at New Salem, which +office he continued to hold until it was discontinued in May, 1836. His +duties as postmaster, as well as his compensation, were very light, +because there were only two or three hundred patrons of the office and +their correspondence was limited. He carried their letters around in his +hat and read all of their newspapers before he delivered them. + +A widely circulated story that Lincoln was once a saloon-keeper was +based upon the fact that the firm of Berry & Lincoln obtained a license +to sell liquors, which was the practice of all country storekeepers in +those days; but, as a matter of fact, the firm never had money or credit +sufficient to obtain a stock of that class of goods, and committed the +offence only by intention. + +In the great debate in 1858, Douglas, in a patronizing manner and +a spirit of badinage, spoke of having known Lincoln when he was a +"flourishing grocery-keeper" at New Salem. Lincoln retorted that he had +never been a "flourishing" grocery-keeper; but added that, if he had +been, it was certain that his friend, Judge Douglas, would have been his +best customer. + +His employment as surveyor began in 1834 and continued for several +years while he was serving in the Legislature. John Calhoun, the County +Surveyor, from whom he received an appointment as deputy, was a man +of education and talent, and an ambitious Democratic politician who +afterwards played a prominent part in the Kansas conspiracy. + +Judge Stephen T. Logan saw Lincoln for the first time in 1832. He +thus speaks of his future partner: "He was a very tall, gawky, and +rough-looking fellow then; his pantaloons didn't meet his shoes by +six inches. But after he began speaking I became very much interested +in him. He made a very sensible speech. His manner was very much the +same as in after-life; that is, the same peculiar characteristics +were apparent then, though of course in after-years he evinced more +knowledge and experience. But he had then the same novelty and the same +peculiarity in presenting his ideas. He had the same individuality that +he kept through all his life." + +Like other famous men of strong character and intellectual force, +Lincoln was very sentimental, and had several love-affairs which caused +him quite as much anxiety and anguish as happiness. The scene of his +first romance was laid in Indiana when he was a barefooted boy, and was +afterwards related by him in these words: + +"When I was a little codger, one day a wagon with a lady and two girls +and a man broke down near us, and while they were fixing up, they cooked +in our kitchen. The woman had books and read us stories, and they were +the first I had ever heard. I took a great fancy to one of the girls; +and when they were gone I thought of her a great deal, and one day, when +I was sitting out in the sun by the house, I wrote out a story in my +mind. I thought I took my father's horse and followed the wagon, and +finally I found it, and they were surprised to see me. I talked with the +girl and persuaded her to elope with me; and that night I put her on my +horse, and we started off across the prairie. After several hours we +came to a camp; and when we rode up we found it was the one we had left +a few hours before, and we went in. The next night we tried again, and +the same thing happened--the horse came back to the same place; and then +we concluded that we ought not to elope. I stayed until I had persuaded +her father to give her to me. I always meant to write that story out and +publish it, and I began once, but I concluded that it was not much of a +story. But I think that was the beginning of love with me." + +David R. Locke, of Toledo (Petroleum V. Nasby), said, "I was in +Washington once more in 1864, when the great struggle was nearer its +close. My business was to secure a pardon for a young man from Ohio +who had deserted under rather peculiar circumstances. When he enlisted +he was under engagement to a young girl, and went to the front very +certain of her faithfulness. It is needless to say that the young girl, +being exceptionally pretty, had another lover. Taking advantage of the +absence of the favored lover, the discarded one renewed his suit with +great vehemence, and rumors reached the young man at the front that his +love had gone over to his enemy, and that he was in danger of losing her +entirely. He immediately applied for a furlough, which was refused him, +and, half mad and reckless of consequences, deserted. He married the +girl, but was immediately arrested as a deserter, tried, found guilty, +and sentenced to be shot. I stated the circumstances, giving the young +fellow a good character, and the President at once signed a pardon, +saying,-- + +"'I want to punish the young man; probably in less than a year he will +wish I had withheld the pardon. We can't tell, though. I suppose when I +was a young man I should have done the same fool thing.'" + +Among his acquaintances at New Salem while he was clerk, postmaster, and +surveyor was a blue-eyed girl named Anne Rutledge, who, according to the +local traditions, was very beautiful and attractive. Her father, James +Rutledge, was one of the founders of the village and kept the tavern at +which Lincoln was a regular boarder. He came of a distinguished family +and was especially proud of the fact that his grandfather was one of +the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Before Lincoln met his +daughter she had become engaged to John McNeill, _alias_ McNamara, one +of the wealthiest and most prosperous of the young men in that part of +Illinois. After the announcement of their engagement, McNeill went East +to arrange certain business affairs before settling down permanently +in Illinois. At first he wrote frequently to his sweetheart, but the +intervals between letters grew longer and longer, and finally they +ceased altogether. + +About this time young Lincoln appeared upon the scene, and, of course, +as there were no secrets among neighbors in those days, he was informed +of the story. The poor girl's sorrow awakened a sympathy which soon +ripened into love. He saw her constantly at her father's tavern, sat +by her side at breakfast, dinner, and supper, and usually spent his +evenings with her upon the tavern steps or wandering in the lanes of +the neighborhood. It was a long time before the girl would listen to +his suit; but, convinced that her former lover was either dead or had +deserted her, she finally yielded and promised to become Lincoln's wife. +As she desired to complete her education, she went to Jacksonville to +spend the winter in an academy while he went to Springfield to attend +the session of the Legislature and continue his law studies, it being +agreed that in the spring, when he had been admitted to the bar, they +should be married; but in the mean time the girl fell ill and died. +The neighbors said that her disease was a broken heart, but the doctors +called it brain fever. Lincoln's sorrow was so intense that his friends +feared suicide. It was at this time that the profound melancholy which +he is believed to have inherited from his mother was first developed. +He never fully recovered from his grief, and, even after he had been +elected President, told a friend, "I really loved that girl and often +think of her now, and I have loved the name of Rutledge to this day." + +He finally recovered his spirits and continued his law studies, +politics, and surveying. He removed to Springfield two years later, +became a partner of one of the leading attorneys of the State, and +took quite an active part in the social affairs of the State capital. +Although careless of forms and indifferent to the conventionalities +of the day, he was recognized as a rising man, and his humor and +conversational powers made him a great favorite. His name appears +frequently in the reports of social events at that time; he was an +habitual speaker at public banquets and one of the managers of a +cotillion party given at the American House, December 16, 1839. + +[Illustration: + + COTILLION PARTY. + + The pleasure of your Company is respectfully solicited at + a Cotillion Party, to be given at the "American House", on + to-morrow evening at 7 o'clock, P. M. + + December 16th, 1839 + + M. H. RIDGELY, + J. A. M'CLENNAND, + R. ALLEN, + N. H. WASH, + F. W. TOLD, + G. A. DOUGLASS, + W. S. PRENTICE, + N. W. EDWARDS, + J. E. SPEED, + J. SHIELDS, + E. D. TAYLOR, + E. H. MERRYMAN, + N. E. WHITESIDE, + M. EASTHAM, + J. R. DILLER, + A. LINCOLN, + + Managers. + + Copyright, 1900, by McClure, Phillips & Co. + + AN INVITATION TO A SPRINGFIELD COTILLION PARTY + + By special permission, from the collection of C. F. Gunther, + Esq., Chicago +] + +About a year after the death of Anne Rutledge he became involved +in a rather ludicrous complication with Miss Mary Owens. It was an +undignified and mortifying predicament, but the way he carried himself +showed his high sense of honor and obedience to his convictions of duty. +It began with a jest. The young lady had visited Springfield, where she +had received considerable attention, and Mrs. Able, her sister, before +starting for a visit to Kentucky, told Lincoln that she would bring her +sister back with her if he would agree to marry her. The bantering offer +was accepted, and a few months later he learned with consternation that +the young lady expected him to fulfil the agreement. Lincoln was +greatly distressed, but his sense of honor would not permit him to deny +his obligations. To Mrs. O. H. Browning, whose husband was afterwards +a United States Senator and a member of the Cabinet, he explained his +predicament, as follows: "I had told her sister that I would take her +for better or for worse, and I make a point of honor and conscience in +all things to stick to my word, especially if others had been induced to +act on it, which in this case I have no doubt they had, for I was now +fairly convinced that no other man on earth would have her, and hence +the conclusion they were bent on holding me to my bargain. At once I +determined to consider her my wife, and this done, all my powers of +discovery were put to work in search of perfections in her which might +be fairly set off against her defects." + +She was several years his senior and not personally attractive, but he +assumed that she was an honorable woman with an affectionate regard +for him, and wrote her with the utmost candor, explaining his poverty +and the sacrifices that she would have to make in marrying him. "I am +afraid you would not be satisfied," he wrote; "you would have to be poor +without the means of hiding your poverty. Do you believe you could bear +that patiently? Whatever woman may cast her lot with mine, should any +ever do so, it is my intention to do all in my power to make her happy +and contented; and there is nothing I could imagine that would make me +more unhappy than to fail in the effort. I know I should be much happier +with you than the way I am, provided I saw no signs of discontent in +you. What you have said to me may have been in the way of a jest, +or I may have misunderstood it. If so, then let it be forgotten; if +otherwise, I much wish you would think seriously before you decide. What +I have said I will most positively abide by, provided you wish it. My +opinion is that you had better not do it. You have not been accustomed +to hardship, and it may be more severe than you now imagine. I know you +are capable of thinking correctly on any subject, and if you deliberate +maturely upon this before you decide, then I am willing to abide your +decision." + +Miss Owens was evidently not pleased with the situation, and replied +with equal candor, telling Lincoln, among other unpleasant things, +that she never had any intention or desire to marry him, for he +was "deficient in those little links which go to make up a woman's +happiness." He rejoiced at his release, but her words stung, and he +wrote Mrs. Browning, "I was mortified in a hundred different ways. My +vanity was deeply wounded by the reflection that I had so long been too +stupid to discover her intentions, and at the same time never doubting +that I understood them perfectly; and also that she, whom I had taught +myself to believe nobody else would have, had actually rejected me with +all my fancied greatness. And, to cap the whole, I then for the first +time began to suspect that I was a little in love with her. But let it +go; I will try and outlive it. Others have been made fools of by girls, +but this can never with truth be said of me. I most emphatically, in +this instance, made a fool of myself. I have now come to the conclusion +never again to think of marrying, and for this reason, I never can be +satisfied with any one who would be blockhead enough to have me." + +But it was not long before he was again involved in the chains of Cupid. +Miss Mary Todd, also of Kentucky, came to Springfield to visit her +sister, the wife of Ninian W. Edwards, one of Lincoln's colleagues in +the Legislature. She received much attention from the most prominent +young men in Springfield, including Stephen A. Douglas, James Shields, +and other of Lincoln's political associates and rivals; but it was +soon apparent that she preferred him, and against the protests of +Mr. and Mrs. Edwards, who were familiar with his hopeless pecuniary +circumstances, they became engaged. + +The course of their love did not run smooth. Their tastes were +different. Miss Todd was absorbed in social pleasures and demanded +admiration and devotion. Lincoln was absorbed in his studies and +political affairs and was not so ardent a lover as she desired. +Misunderstandings and reproaches were frequent, and at last Lincoln +became so thoroughly convinced that they were unsuited to each other +that he asked to be released from the engagement. The young woman +consented with tears of anger and grief, and Lincoln, having discovered, +when it was too late, the depth of her love for him, accused himself of +a breach of honor so bitterly that it preyed upon his mind. He wrote +Joshua F. Speed, of Kentucky, who was the most intimate friend he had, +and whose brother was afterwards a member of his Cabinet, "I must regain +my confidence in my own ability to keep my resolves when they are made. +In that ability I once prided myself as the only or the chief gem of my +character. That gem I have lost. How and where you know too well. I have +not yet regained it, and until I do I cannot trust myself in any matter +of much importance." + +Everybody in Springfield knew of the broken engagement and that it +was the cause of Mr. Lincoln's intense remorse and melancholy. He +did not deny or attempt to disguise it. He wrote Mr. Stuart, his law +partner, three weeks after the fatal first of January, "I am now the +most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to +the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on earth. +Whether I shall ever be better, I cannot tell; I awfully forebode that I +shall not. To remain as I am is impossible; I must die or get better." +To other of his intimates he spoke with equal freedom of the sense of +dishonor and despair that possessed him, and they persuaded him to +visit his friend Speed, who carried him off to Kentucky and kept him +for several months. The visit did much to brighten his spirits, and +his own distress was forgotten in his efforts to comfort Speed, who in +the meantime had become engaged, was afraid that he did not love his +sweetheart well enough to marry her, and confided his doubts to Lincoln. + +In the mean time Miss Todd appears to have regained her self-possession +and calmly awaited the will of the fates who were to restore relations +with her sensitive and remorseful lover. The incident which finally +brought them together was a comedy of national interest. + +Among the most conspicuous Democratic politicians in Illinois at that +time was James Shields, an impulsive Irishman of diminutive stature who +was afterwards a general in two wars and a member of the United States +Senate from two States. His ardent admiration for the ladies and his +personal eccentricities exposed him to ridicule, about which he was +very sensitive, and when he found himself the subject of a satirical +letter and doggerel poem in a Springfield newspaper he became enraged, +called upon the editor, and demanded the name of the author. The satires +happened to have been the joint composition of Miss Todd and Julia +Jayne, one of her girl friends, who afterwards became the wife of Lyman +Trumbull. In his dilemma the editor asked the advice of Mr. Lincoln, who +replied,-- + +"Tell Shields that I wrote them." + +Whereupon he received a challenge which was promptly accepted. According +to the code, Lincoln, being the party challenged, was entitled to the +choice of weapons, and, as he did not believe in duelling, he tried to +compel Shields to withdraw his challenge by proposing the most absurd +conditions, which, however, Shields accepted without appearing to +perceive the purpose of his antagonist. Lincoln was a very tall man +with unusually long arms. Shields was very short,--so short that his +head did not reach to Lincoln's shoulder,--yet the conditions were that +they should go down to an island in the Mississippi River and fight +with broadswords across a plank set up on edge, and whichever of the +contestants retreated three feet back of the plank lost the battle. + +The parties actually went across the country,--a journey of three days +on horseback,--the plank was set on edge, and the battle was about to +begin when mutual friends intervened and put an end to the nonsense. One +of the spectators described the scene in most graphic language; how the +two antagonists were seated on logs while their seconds arranged the +plank. "Lincoln's face was grave and serious," he said, "although he +must have been shaking with suppressed amusement. Presently he reached +over and picked up one of the swords, which he drew from its scabbard. +Then he felt along the edge of the weapon with his thumb like a barber +feels of the edge of his razor, raised himself to his full height, +stretched out his long arm, and clipped off a twig above his head +with the sword. There wasn't another man of us who could have reached +anywhere near that twig, and the absurdity of that long-reaching fellow +fighting with cavalry sabres with Shields, who could walk under his arm, +came pretty near making me howl with laughter. After Lincoln had cut off +the twig, he returned the sword solemnly to the scabbard and sat down +again on the log." + +Upon the return of the duelling party to Springfield, several +conflicting explanations were made by friends, the supporters of Lincoln +making the affair as ridiculous as possible, while the defenders of +Shields endeavored to turn it to his credit. It was Lincoln's last +personal quarrel. Happily, more ink than blood was shed, but the +gossips of Springfield were furnished the most exciting topic of the +generation, and Miss Todd and Mr. Lincoln, who had been estranged for +nearly a year, were brought together with mutual gratification. On +November 4, 1842, they were married at the residence of Mr. Edwards, the +brother-in-law of the bride, and Mr. Lincoln's melancholy disappeared +or was dissipated by the sunshine of a happy home. He took his bride to +board at the Globe Tavern, where, he wrote his friend Speed, the charges +were four dollars a week for both, and returned to the practical routine +of his daily life with the patience, industry, and intelligence which +were his greatest characteristics. His partnership with Stuart lasted +four years until the latter was elected to Congress, when a new one was +formed with Judge Stephen T. Logan, who had studied Lincoln's character +and learned his ability while presiding upon the circuit bench. + +[Illustration: MARY TODD LINCOLN, WIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN + +From a photograph by Brady in the War Department Collection] + +Mr. Lincoln's talent was acknowledged by every one who knew him. He +was rapidly assuming leadership in politics and at the bar. Compared +with most of his neighbors and associates he was a man of learning, +and his wisdom and sense of justice made him an umpire and arbitrator +in all forms of contest from wrestling matches to dissensions among +husbands and wives. His gentle sympathy, sincerity, candor, and fearless +honesty were recognized and appreciated by the entire community. No +man in Springfield or in that part of the State where he was best +known ever questioned his word or his integrity of character. With the +encouragement of Judge Logan, he undertook a deeper and more serious +study of the law, and the eminence of his partner brought to the firm +much lucrative business which Lincoln was able to manage. His income +increased in a corresponding manner, and he was able to indulge his wife +and family in greater comforts and luxuries; but at the same time he +was very poor. His step-mother and step-brother were burdens upon him; +he was still struggling to pay what he called "the national debt" as +rapidly as possible, and laid aside every cent he could spare from his +household expenses for that purpose. + +But he was never a money-maker. That talent was sadly lacking in him +as in other great men. While he was in New York to make his Cooper +Institute speech in the spring of 1860, he met an old acquaintance from +Illinois, whom he addressed with an inquiry as to how he had fared +since leaving the West. "I have made a hundred thousand dollars and +lost all," was his reply. Then, turning questioner, he said, "How is it +with you, Mr. Lincoln?" "Oh, very well," he said; "I have a 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." + +With the fee received from one of his earliest important cases he +purchased a modest frame house in an unfashionable part of Springfield, +which was afterwards enlarged, and was his only home. It was also the +only piece of property he ever owned, with the exception of two tracts +of wild land in Iowa which he received from Congress for his services in +the Black Hawk War. In that house he received the committee that came to +notify him of his nomination for the Presidency, and its members were +impressed with the simplicity of his life and surroundings. It was more +comfortable than commodious, and not unlike the residences of well-to-do +members of his profession throughout the country. He lived well, he was +hospitable to his friends, and Mrs. Lincoln took an active part in the +social affairs of the community. + +One who often visited him, referring to "the old-fashioned hospitality +of Springfield," writes, "Among others I recall with a sad pleasure the +dinners and evening parties given by Mrs. Lincoln. In her modest and +simple home, where everything was so orderly and refined, there was +always on the part of both host and hostess a cordial and hearty Western +welcome which put every guest perfectly at ease. Their table was famed +for the excellence of many rare Kentucky dishes, and for venison, wild +turkeys, and other game, then so abundant. Yet it was her genial manner +and ever-kind welcome, and Mr. Lincoln's wit and humor, anecdote and +unrivalled conversation, which formed the chief attraction." + +They had four children: Edward Baker, born March 10, 1846, who died in +infancy; William Wallace, born December 21, 1850, died in the White +House February 20, 1862; Thomas, born April 4, 1853, died in Chicago +July 15, 1871; and Robert Todd, the only survivor, born August 1, +1843, a graduate of Harvard University and a lawyer by profession. +He filled with distinction the office of Secretary of War during +the administrations of Presidents Garfield and Arthur, was minister +to England under President Harrison, and now resides in Chicago as +President of the Pullman Sleeping Car Company. + +Mr. Lincoln was very fond of his children, and many anecdotes are +related of his adventures with them. He frequently took his boys about +with him, finding more satisfaction in their companionship than among +his old associates. He seldom went to his office in the morning without +carrying his youngest child down the street on his shoulder, while the +older ones clung to his hands or coat-tails. Every child in Springfield +knew and loved him, for his sympathy seemed to comprehend them all. It +has been said that there was no institution in Springfield in which +he did not take an active interest. He made a daily visit to a drug +store on the public square which was the rendezvous of politicians and +lawyers, and on Sunday morning was always to be found in his pew in the +First Presbyterian Church. He was one of the most modest yet the most +honored member of the community, and his affection for his neighbors +could have been no better expressed than in his few words of farewell +when he left Springfield for his inauguration at Washington: + +"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." + +Mrs. Lincoln died at the residence of her sister, Mrs. Ninian W. +Edwards, in Springfield, July 16, 1882. Dr. Thomas W. Dresser, her +physician during her last illness, says of her, "In the late years of +her life mental peculiarities were developed which finally culminated +in a slight apoplexy, producing paralysis of which she died. Among +the peculiarities alluded to, one of the most singular was the habit +she had during the last year or so of her life of immuring herself +in a perfectly dark room and, for light, using a small candle-light, +even when the sun was shining bright out of doors. No urging would +induce her to go out into the fresh air. Another peculiarity was the +accumulation of large quantities of silks and dress goods in trunks +and by the cart-load, which she never used and which accumulated until +it was really feared that the floor of the storeroom would give way. +She was bright and sparkling in conversation, and her memory remained +singularly good up to the very close of her life. Her face was animated +and pleasing, and to me she was always an interesting woman; and while +the whole world was finding fault with her temper and disposition, it +was clear to me that the trouble was really a cerebral disease." + +In appearance Lincoln was a very plain man. Folks called him ugly, but +his ugliness was impressive. He was gaunt and awkward, his limbs and +arms were very long, his hands and feet were large, and his knuckles +were prominent. His neck was long, the skin was coarse and wrinkled and +the sinews showed under it. There was so little flesh upon his face that +his features were more pronounced than they otherwise would have been. +His nose and chin were especially prominent. In all his movements he was +as awkward as he was uncouth in appearance, but it was an awkwardness +that was often eloquent. + +General Fry left this pen portrait: "Lincoln was tall and thin; his long +bones were united by large joints, and he had a long neck and an angular +face and head. Many likenesses represent his face well enough, but none +that I have ever seen do justice to the awkwardness and ungainliness +of his figure. His feet, hanging loosely to his ankles, were prominent +objects; but his hands were more conspicuous even than his feet,--due, +perhaps, to the fact that ceremony at times compelled him to clothe them +in white kid gloves, which always fitted loosely. Both in the height +of conversation and in the depth of reflection his hand now and then +ran over or supported his head, giving his hair habitually a disordered +aspect." + +Mr. Lincoln's indifference about dress did not improve his appearance. +His old-fashioned "stovepipe hat" was as familiar an object around +Washington as it was in Springfield, and his family and associates +were unable to induce him to purchase a new one. He usually wore a suit +of broadcloth with a long frock coat, the customary garments of the +legal profession in the West and South in those days, and, instead of +an overcoat, a gray shawl which was more than half the time hanging +carelessly over one shoulder. + +He enjoyed jokes at the expense of his personal appearance, and used to +appropriate to himself this ancient incident which has been told of so +many other ugly men. "In the days when I used to be on the circuit," he +often said, "I was once 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 until +this. Allow me now to say, sir, that I think you are fairly entitled to +the property.'" + +Another of his stories about himself concerned a certain honest old +farmer who, visiting the capital for the first time, was taken by the +member from his "deestrick" to some large gathering at which he was told +he could see the President. Unfortunately, Mr. Lincoln did not appear; +and the Congressman, being a bit of a wag and not liking to have his +constituent disappointed, pointed out a gentleman of a particularly +round and rubicund countenance. The worthy farmer, greatly astonished, +exclaimed, "Is that Old Abe? Well, I do declare! He's a better-looking +man than I expected to see; but it does seem as if his troubles had +driven him to drink." + +One night Lincoln had a dream which he used to relate with great gusto +to his friends and family. He said that he was in some great assembly +and the crowd opened to let him pass. One of the multitude remarked, +"He is a common-looking fellow," whereupon Lincoln turned and rebuked +him, saying, "Friend, the Lord prefers common-looking people; that is +why he made so many of them." + +As is well known, Mr. Lincoln's nature sought relief in trying +situations by recalling incidents or anecdotes of a humorous character. +It was his safety-valve, and when his memory awakened the story he +sought, there would be a sudden and radical transformation of his +features. His face would glow, his eyes would twinkle, and his lips +would curl and quiver. His face was often an impenetrable mask, and +people who watched him when a perplexing question was proposed, or when +he was in doubt as to his duty, could never interpret what was going +on in his mind. He never declined to face any person, however annoying +or dangerous, and this faith in his own strength sufficed to guide him +through some of the severest trials that have ever fallen to the lot of +a public man. + +At times Mr. Lincoln stood almost transfigured, and those who were with +him declare that his face would light up with a beauty as if it were +inspired. When in repose it wore an expression of infinite sadness, +which was due to his natural melancholy temperament as well as to +the continual strain of anxiety and his familiarity with the horrors +inseparable from war. There was no heart so tender for the sufferings +and sorrows of the soldiers and their families in all the country, and +he seemed to share the anguish of the broken-hearted mothers whose sons +had fallen in battle or were starving in prison beyond his rescue. +When death entered his own household his sorrow could scarcely be +measured; his sympathetic soul yielded so often to importunities that +his generals declared that he was destroying the discipline of the army. +His own career had been an incessant struggle, a ceaseless endeavor, +and his tenderness is traceable to impressions thus formed. No man +ever occupied a similar position whose experience had been so closely +parallel with that of the plain people he represented. Nowhere in all +literature can be found a more appropriate or touching expression of +sympathy than his letter to Mrs. Bixby, of Boston, who, it was then +supposed, had given five sons to her country: + + "DEAR MADAM:--I have been shown, in the files 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 words of mine which should attempt to + beguile you from a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain + from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the + thanks of the Republic that they have died to save. I pray that + our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, + and leave you 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, + "ABRAHAM LINCOLN." + +Mr. D. R. Locke (Petroleum V. Nasby), of whose writings he was so fond, +said, "Those who accuse Lincoln of frivolity never knew him. I never +saw a more thoughtful face, I never saw a more dignified face, I never +saw so sad a face. He had humor of which he was totally unconscious, +but it was not frivolity. He said wonderfully witty things, but never +from a desire to be witty. His wit was entirely illustrative. He used +it because, and only because, at times he could say more in this way +and better illustrate the idea with which he was pregnant. He never +cared how he made a point so that he made it, and he never told a story +for the mere sake of telling a story. When he did it, it was for the +purpose of illustrating and making clear a point. He was essentially +epigrammatic and parabolic. He was a master of satire, which at times +was as blunt as a meat-axe and at others as keen as a razor; but it was +always kindly except when some horrible injustice was its inspiration, +and then it was terrible. Weakness he was never ferocious with, but +intentional wickedness he never spared." + +One day the Hon. Thaddeus Stevens called at the White House with +an elderly lady in great trouble, whose son had been in the army, +but for some offence had been court-martialled and sentenced either +to death or imprisonment at hard labor for a long term. There were +extenuating circumstances, and after a full hearing the President +said, "Mr. Stevens, do you think this is a case which will warrant my +interference?" "With my knowledge of the facts and parties," was the +reply, "I should have no hesitation in granting a pardon." "Then," +returned Mr. Lincoln, "I will pardon him," and he proceeded forthwith +to execute the paper. The gratitude of the mother was too deep for +expression, save by tears, and not a word was said until half-way down +the stairs, when she suddenly broke forth, in an excited manner,-- + +"I knew it was a Copperhead lie!" + +"What do you mean, madam?" asked Mr. Stevens. + +"Why, they told me he was an ugly looking man," she replied with +vehemence. "He is the handsomest man I ever saw in all my life." + +The doorkeepers at the White House had standing orders that, no matter +how great might be the throng, the President would see every person who +came to him with a petition for the saving of life. A woman carrying a +baby came three days in succession. Her husband had deserted from the +army, and had been caught and sentenced to be shot. While going through +the anteroom, Mr. Lincoln heard the child cry, rang a bell, and, when +the doorkeeper came, asked,-- + +"Daniel, is there a woman with a baby in the anteroom? Send her to me at +once." + +She went in, told her story, and the President pardoned her husband. As +she came out from his presence her lips were moving in prayer and the +tears were streaming down her cheeks. + +"Madam, it was the baby that did it!" said the messenger. + +Mr. A. B. Chandler, who had charge of the telegraph office at the War +Department, says that on several occasions Lincoln came to the office +near midnight with a message written by his own hand in order that +there should be no mistake or delay in sending respite to a condemned +soldier. "I think," said Mr. Chandler, "he never failed to interpose his +power to prevent the execution of a soldier for sleeping at his post, +or any other than a wilful and malicious act; and even in such cases, +when brought to his attention, he made the most careful review of the +facts, and always seemed more anxious to find the offender innocent than +guilty; and when guilty he was disposed to take into consideration, +as far as possible, any extenuating circumstances in favor of the +wrong-doer. + +"On New Year's morning, 1864," continued Mr. Chandler, "Mr. Lincoln was +about opening the door of the military telegraph office. A woman stood +in the hall, crying. Mr. Lincoln had observed this, and as soon as he +was seated he said to Major Eckert, 'What is the woman crying about just +outside your door? I wish you would go and see,' said Mr. Lincoln. So +the major went out and learned that the woman had come to Washington +expecting to be able to go to the army and see her soldier husband, +which was not altogether unusual for ladies to do while the army was in +the winter-quarters; but very strict orders had recently been issued +prohibiting women from visiting the army, and she found herself with her +child, in Washington, incurring more expense than she supposed would +be necessary, with very little money, and in great grief. This being +explained to the President, he said, in his frank, off-hand way, 'Come, +now, let's send her down: what do you say?' + +"The major explained the strict orders that the Department had issued +lately, the propriety of which Mr. Lincoln recognized, but he was still +unwilling to yield his purpose. Finally the major suggested that a leave +of absence to come to Washington might be given the woman's husband. +The President quickly adopted the suggestion, and directed that Colonel +Hardie, an assistant adjutant-general on duty in an adjoining room, +should make an official order permitting the man to come to Washington." + +But when provoked, or when his sense of justice was violated, Lincoln +showed a terrible temper. It is related that on one occasion when the +California delegation in Congress called upon him to present a nominee +for an office, they disputed the right of Senator Baker, of Oregon, +to be consulted respecting the patronage of the Pacific coast. One of +them unwisely attacked the private character and motives of the Oregon +Senator, forgetting that he had been one of Lincoln's oldest and closest +friends in Illinois. The President's indignation was aroused instantly, +and he defended Baker and denounced his accusers with a vehemence that +is described as terrible. The California delegation never questioned the +integrity of his friends again. + +"Of all public men," said John B. Alley, "none seemed to have so little +pride of opinion. He was always learning, and did not adhere to views +which he found to be erroneous, simply because he had once formed and +held them. I remember that he once expressed an opinion to me, on an +important matter, quite different from what he had expressed a short +time before, and I said, 'Mr. President, you have changed your mind +entirely within a short time.' He replied, 'Yes, I have; and I don't +think much of a man who is not wiser to-day than he was yesterday.' A +remark full of wisdom and sound philosophy. Mr. Lincoln was so sensible, +so broad-minded, so philosophical, so noble in his nature, that he saw +only increasing wisdom in enlarged experience and observation." + +Senator Conners, of California, said, "One morning I called on the +President to talk with him on some public business, and as soon as +we met he began by asking if I knew Captain Maltby, now living in +California, saying, 'He is visiting here and his wife is with him.' +I replied that I knew of him, and had heard he was in Washington. He +said that when he first came to Springfield, where he was unknown, and +a carpet-bag contained all he owned in the world, and he was needing +friends, Captain Maltby and his wife took him into their modest +dwelling; that he lived with them while he 'put out his shingle' and +sought business. + +"He had known Maltby during the period of the Black Hawk War. No one +was ever treated more kindly than he was by them. He had risen in +the world and they were poor, and Captain Maltby wanted some place +which would give him a living. 'In fact,' said he, 'Maltby wants to +be Superintendent of the Mint at San Francisco, but he is hardly +equal to that. I want to find some place for him, and into which he +will fit, and I know nothing about these things.' I said, 'There is +a place--Superintendent of Indian Affairs in California--where the +incumbent should be superseded for cause, and the place is simply a +great farm, where the government supplies the means of carrying it +on; there is an abundance of Indian labor, and making it produce and +accounting for the products are the duties principally.' He replied, +'Maltby is the man for this place,' and he was made entirely happy by +being able to serve an old and good man." + + + + +II + +THE LEADER OF THE SPRINGFIELD BAR + + +Abraham Lincoln inherited his love of learning from his mother, who was +superior in intelligence and refinement to the women of her class and +time. His ambition to become a lawyer was inspired by a copy of the +Revised Statutes of Indiana which accidentally fell into his hands when +he was a mere boy in the swampy forests of the southern section of that +State. In the brief autobiography already referred to, which he prepared +for the newspapers to gratify public curiosity when he was nominated as +a candidate for President, he says that he "went to school by littles; +in all, it did not amount to more than a year," and he afterwards told +a friend that he "read through every book he ever heard of in that +country for a circuit of fifty miles." These included Weems's "Life of +Washington," Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," Æsop's "Fables," "Robinson +Crusoe," a History of the United States whose author is not named, the +Bible, and the Statutes of Indiana. + +This is the catalogue he gave of the books he knew in his youth. His +biographer included Plutarch's "Lives," and when the advanced sheets +of the campaign sketch reached Lincoln he gave a curious exhibition of +his habitual accuracy by calling attention to the fact that this was +not exact when it was written, "for, up to that moment in my life, I +had never seen that early contribution to human history; but I want +your book, even if it is nothing more than a mere campaign sketch, to +be faithful to the facts, and, in order that the statement might be +literally true, I secured the book (Plutarch's 'Lives') a few weeks ago +and have sent for you to tell you that I have just read it through." + +It is quite remarkable that a country lad, almost illiterate, should +have found a volume of statutes interesting reading, but Lincoln read +and reread it until he had almost committed its contents to memory, and +in after-years, when any one cited an Indiana law, he could usually +repeat the exact text and often give the numbers of the page, chapter, +and paragraph. The book belonged to David Turnham, who seems to have +been a constable or magistrate in that part of Indiana, and this +volume constituted his professional library. The actual copy is now +preserved in the library of the New York Law Institute. The binding +is worn and the title-page and a few leaves at the end are missing. +Besides the statutes as enacted up to 1824, it contains the Declaration +of Independence, the Constitutions of the United States and the State +of Indiana, and the Act of Virginia, passed in 1783, by which "The +territory North Westward of the river Ohio" was conveyed to the United +States, and the ordinance of 1787 for governing that territory, of which +Article VI. reads: + +"There shall neither be slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said +territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crime, whereof the party +shall be duly convicted; provided always, that any person escaping +into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed, in any +one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed, +and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as +aforesaid." + +It is an interesting coincidence that Abraham Lincoln should not only +have received the impressions which guided him in the choice of his +career from this volume, but also his first knowledge of the legal side +of slavery. Before he finished that book he knew the principles upon +which the government of the United States was founded and how they were +applied in the States. Its contents were fastened upon his memory by +copying long extracts with a quill of a turkey-buzzard and ink home-made +from the juice of the brier root. When he had no paper he wrote upon +a shingle, and, after he had committed to memory the paragraphs so +preserved, he would shave off the shingle with his knife and write +others. When he was in the field ploughing or cultivating he took a book +with him, and when he stopped to rest would pull it from his pocket and +read until it was time to resume work again. In after-life, even when +he came to the White House, he used to speak of the impressions made +upon his mind by the "Life of Washington," and always contended that it +was better for the young men of the country to regard Washington in the +light of a demigod, as Parson Weems describes him, than to shake their +faith in the greatest hero of American history by narrating his mistakes +and follies as if he were a common man. + +He never lost his love for "Pilgrim's Progress" or "Robinson Crusoe." +The characters in both were real to him, and to the end of his days he +could repeat Æsop's "Fables" verbatim. + +In those days schools were very scarce and poor; the teachers were +usually incompetent itinerant adventurers or men too lazy or feeble to +do the manual labor required of frontiersmen. They were paid a trifling +fee for each scholar and "boarded 'round." Nothing was expected of +them in the way of education beyond a knowledge of the three R's, and +Lincoln, of all famous self-made men, owed the least of his intellectual +strength and knowledge to teachers and books and the most to observation +and human contact. When he was upon his eventful "speaking trip," as +he called it, in New England, in the spring of 1860, a clergyman of +Hartford was so impressed by the language and logic of his address that +he inquired where he was educated. Mr. Lincoln replied,-- + +"Well, as to education, the newspapers are correct. I never went to +school more than six months in my life. I can say this: that among +my earliest recollections I remember how, when a mere child, I used +to get irritated when anybody talked to me in a way that I could not +understand. I can remember going to my little bedroom, after hearing the +neighbors talk of an evening with my father, and spending no small part +of the night trying to make out what was the exact meaning of some of +their, to me, dark sayings. + +"I could not sleep, although I tried to, when I got on such a hunt for +an idea until I had caught it; and when I thought I had got it I was +not satisfied until I had repeated it over and over again, until I had +put it in language plain enough, as I thought, for any boy I knew to +comprehend. This was a kind of passion with me, and it has stuck by me; +for I am never easy now, when I am handling a thought, until I have +bounded it north and bounded it south and bounded it east and bounded it +west." + +Among the papers of the late Charles Lanman there is a sketch of +Mr. Lincoln, written in his own hand. Mr. Lanman was editor of the +_Congressional Directory_ at the time that Mr. Lincoln was elected to +Congress, and, according to the ordinary custom, forwarded to him, as +well as to all the other members-elect, a blank to be filled out with +facts and dates which might be made the basis for a biographical sketch +in the _Directory_. Lincoln's blank was returned promptly filled up in +his own handwriting, with the following information: + +"Born February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. + +"Education defective. + +"Profession, lawyer. + +"Military service, captain of volunteers in the Black Hawk War. + +"Offices held: postmaster at a very small office; four times a member +of the Illinois Legislature, and elected to the Lower House of the next +Congress." + +Mr. Leonard Swett, who was closely identified with Mr. Lincoln for many +years, says,-- + +"In the fall of 1853, as I was riding with Mr. Lincoln, I said, 'I have +heard a great many curious incidents of your early life, and I would be +obliged if you would begin at your earliest recollection and tell me the +story of it continuously.' + +"'I can remember,' he said, 'our life in Kentucky: the cabin, the +stinted living, the sale of our possessions, and the journey with my +father and mother to Southern Indiana.' I think he said he was then +about six years old. Shortly after his arrival in Indiana his mother +died. 'It was pretty pinching times at first in Indiana, getting the +cabin built, and the clearing for the crops, but presently we got +reasonably comfortable, and my father married again.' + +"He had very faint recollections of his own mother, he was so young when +she died; but he spoke most kindly of her and of his step-mother, and +her cares for him in providing for his wants. + +"'My father,' he said, 'had suffered greatly for the want of an +education, and he determined at an early day that I should be well +educated. And what do you think his ideas of a good education were? We +had a dog-eared arithmetic in our house, and father determined that +somehow, or somehow else, I should cipher clear through that book.' + +"With this standard of an education, he started to a school in a +log-house in the neighborhood, and began his educational career. He +had attended this school but about six weeks, however, when a calamity +befell his father. He had endorsed a man's note in the neighborhood for +a considerable amount, and the prospect was he would have it to pay, +and that would sweep away all their little possessions. His father, +therefore, explained to him that he wanted to hire him out and +receive the fruits of his labor and his aid in averting this calamity. +Accordingly, at the expiration of six weeks, he left school and never +returned to it again." + +[Illustration: Copyright, 1900 by McClure, Phillips & Co. + +ABRAHAM LINCOLN EARLY IN 1861, WHEN HE FIRST BEGAN TO WEAR A BEARD + +From a photograph in the collection of H. W. Fay, Esq., De Kalb, +Illinois. By special permission] + +He first attended school when he was about seven years old and still +living in Kentucky. It was held in a little log-hut near their cabin, +and was taught by Zachariah Riney, an Irish Catholic of whom he retained +a pleasant memory, for it was there that he learned to read. The next +year Caleb Hazel opened a school about four miles distant, which Lincoln +attended for three months with his sister Sarah, and both of them +learned to write. He had no more teaching while he lived in Kentucky, +except from his mother. There is no record of his schooling in Indiana, +but the neighbors testify that in his tenth year he attended school for +a few months in a small cabin of round logs about a mile and a half from +the rude home of his father; there he went again for a few months when +he was fourteen years old, and again in 1826, when he was seventeen, to +a man named Swaney, who taught at a distance of four miles and a half +from the Lincoln cabin. He had little encouragement from his father, +for the latter considered the daily walk of nine miles and the six +hours spent in the school-room a waste of time for a boy six feet tall. +His step-mother, however, endeavored to encourage and protect him in +his efforts to learn, and they studied together. He read her the books +he borrowed, and they used to discuss the unintelligible passages. He +was not remarkably quick at learning. On the contrary, his perceptions +were rather dull; but that is often an advantage to a studious mind, as +everything increases in value with the effort required to attain it. +His memory was good, his power of reasoning was early developed, and a +habit of reflection was acquired at an early age. He once remarked to +a friend that his mind did not take impressions easily, but they were +never effaced. "I am slow to learn, and slow to forget that which I +have learned," he said. "My mind is like a piece of steel--very hard to +scratch anything on it, and almost impossible after you get it there +to rub it out." The fact that he never abandoned an idea until it was +thoroughly understood was the foundation of a healthy mental growth. + +At this time, when he was seventeen years old, he had a general +knowledge of the rudiments of learning. He was a good arithmetician, he +had some knowledge of geography and history, he could "spell down" the +whole county at spelling-school, and wrote a clear and neat hand. His +general reading embraced poetry and a few novels. He even attempted to +make rhymes, although he was not very successful. He wrote several prose +compositions, and it is related that "one of the most popular amusements +in the neighborhood was to hear Abe Lincoln make a comic speech." + +Lincoln received no more teaching, but continued his reading and study +until his family removed to Illinois. When he went to New Salem, after +he had made his second voyage to New Orleans, and was waiting for Denton +Offutt to open his store, a local election was held. One of the clerks +of election being unable to attend, Menton Graham, the other clerk, who +was also the village school-master, asked Lincoln if he could write. + +"I can make a few rabbit tracks," was the reply, and upon that admission +he was sworn into his first office. + +Thus began one of the most useful friendships he ever enjoyed, for +Graham was an intelligent and sympathetic friend who inspired the future +President with ambition, nourished his appetite for knowledge, loaned +him books, assisted him in his studies, heard him recite, corrected his +compositions, and was his constant companion while he was clerking in +Offutt's store. One day Graham told him that he ought to study grammar, +and the next morning Lincoln walked six miles to a neighboring town +to obtain a copy of Kirkham's "Grammar." This volume was found in his +library after his death. It was Graham, too, who in six weeks taught +him the science of surveying after Lincoln was appointed deputy to John +Calhoun. From none of his many friends did he receive more valuable +counsel and assistance. + +After he was admitted to the bar and became a member of the Legislature, +he continued a regular course of study, including mathematics, logic, +rhetoric, astronomy, literature, and other branches, devoting a certain +number of hours to it every day. He followed this rule even after his +marriage, and several years after his return from Congress he joined a +German class which met in his office two evenings a week. + +His early friends have always contended that his devotion to study +hastened the failure of the mercantile enterprise which caused him so +much anxiety and left the burden of debt upon his shoulders which he +carried so many years; for when he should have been attending to the +store and watching the dissolute habits of his partner, he was absorbed +in his books. + +His ambition to be a lawyer was stimulated by a curious incident that +occurred soon after he went into partnership with Berry. He related it +himself in these words: + +"One day a man who was migrating to the West drove up in front of my +store with a wagon which contained his family and household plunder. +He asked me if I would buy an old barrel for which he had no room in +his wagon, and which he said contained nothing of special value. I did +not want it, but to oblige him I bought it, and paid him, I think, +half a dollar for it. Without further examination I put it away in the +store and forgot all about it. Some time after, in overhauling things, +I came upon the barrel, and emptying it upon the floor to see what it +contained, I found at the bottom of the rubbish a complete edition of +Blackstone's 'Commentaries.' I began to read those famous works, and I +had plenty of time; for during the long summer days, when the farmers +were busy with their crops, my customers were few and far between. The +more I read"--this he said with unusual emphasis--"the more intensely +interested I became. Never in my whole life was my mind so thoroughly +absorbed. I read until I devoured them." + +It was while he was still a deputy surveyor that Lincoln was elected to +the Legislature, and in his autobiographical notes he says, "During the +canvass, in a private conversation, Major John T. Stuart (one of his +fellow-candidates) encouraged Abraham to study law. After the election +he borrowed books of Stuart, took them home with him and went at it in +good earnest. He never studied with anybody. As he tramped back and +forth from Springfield, twenty miles away, to get his law books, he read +sometimes forty pages or more on the way. The subject seemed to be never +out of his mind. It was the great absorbing interest of his life." The +rule he gave twenty years later to a young man who wanted to know how to +become a lawyer, was the one he practised: "Get books and read and study +them carefully. Begin with Blackstone's 'Commentaries,' say twice, take +Chitty's 'Pleadings,' Greenleaf's 'Evidence,' and Story's 'Equity,' in +succession. Work, work, work is the main thing." + +Immediately after his election he went to Springfield and was admitted +to the bar on September 9, 1836. His name first appears upon the list +of the attorneys and counsellors-at-law published at the opening of the +next term, March 1, 1837. As there was no lawyer in the neighborhood +of New Salem, and none nearer than Springfield, Lincoln had obtained a +little practice in petty cases before the village magistrate, and it is +stated that, poor as he was, he never accepted a fee for such services +because he felt that he was fully paid by the experience. + +For a long time he was in doubt as to the expediency of abandoning his +work as surveyor, which brought him from twelve to fifteen dollars a +month, for the uncertain income of a lawyer, for he was still burdened +by debt, and was constantly called upon for money by his step-mother +and step-brother; but John T. Stuart, with whom he had been associated +in politics and in the Black Hawk War, and who had proved to be a true +friend, offered him a partnership, and Stuart was one of the leading +lawyers of the State. Therefore, Lincoln decided to take the chances, +and, on April 15, 1837, rode into Springfield, says his friend Joshua +Speed, "on a borrowed horse, with no earthly property save a pair of +saddle-bags containing a few clothes." + +His first case was that of Hawthorne vs. Woolridge, his first fee was +three dollars, and he made his first appearance in court in October, +1836. We do not know the details. He created a sensation the following +summer, and for the first time revealed some of the characteristics +which afterwards made him famous by his merciless pursuit of a rascal +named Adams who had swindled the widow of one Joseph Anderson out of +some land. His treatment of this case advertised him far and wide in +the country around Springfield as a shrewd practitioner and a man of +tireless energy, and it doubtless brought him considerable business. +The account-book of Stuart & Lincoln is still preserved, and shows that +their fees were very small,--not exceeding sixteen hundred dollars for +the year and seldom more than ten dollars in a case; while many of them +were traded out at the town groceries, and, in the case of farmers, were +paid in vegetables, poultry, butter, and other produce. But that was the +custom of the time, and at that date a fee of one hundred dollars was as +rare as one of ten thousand dollars now. + +In those days, because of the scattering population and the absence of +transportation facilities, it was customary for courts to travel in +circuits, each circuit being presided over by a judge who went from +one county-seat to another twice a year to hear whatever cases had +accumulated upon the docket. Springfield was situated in the Eighth +Judicial Circuit, which at that time was one hundred and fifty miles +square, including fifteen counties comprising the central part of +Illinois. As there were no railroads, the judge travelled on horseback +or in a carriage, followed by a number of lawyers. The best-known +lawyers had central offices at Springfield and branch offices at the +different county-seats, where they were represented permanently by +junior partners, who prepared their cases and attended to litigation of +minor importance. + +When the county-seat was reached the judge was given the best room at +the hotel and presided at the dining-room table, surrounded by lawyers, +jurors, witnesses, litigants, prisoners out on bail, and even the men +who drove their teams. The hotels were primitive and limited, and, +as the sitting of a court usually attracted all the idle men in the +vicinity, the landlords were taxed to accommodate their guests, and +packed them in as closely as possible; usually two in a bed and often +as many as could find room on the floor. The townspeople made the +semi-annual meeting of the court an occasion for social festivities, +the judge being the guest of honor at dinners, receptions, quiltings, +huskings, weddings, and other entertainments, while the lawyers ranked +according to their social standing and accomplishments. + +In some of the towns there was no court-house, and trials were held in a +church or a school-house, and sometimes, when the weather was favorable, +in the open air. + +When there was no entertainment of an evening, the members of the bar +and their clients who were not preparing for a trial on the morrow +amused themselves by playing cards, telling stories, and discussing +public affairs, so that all who "followed the circuit" became +thoroughly acquainted and each was estimated according to his true +value. Trials of general interest were attended by the entire cavalcade, +but dull arguments and routine business attracted the attention of those +only who were personally concerned. In the mean time the rest of the +party would sit around the tavern or court-house yard, entertaining +themselves and one another in the most agreeable manner, and naturally +Mr. Lincoln's talents as a story-teller made him popular and his +personal character made him beloved by every one with whom he came in +contact. The meeting of the Supreme Court once a year at Springfield +was the great event, next to the assembling of the Legislature, and +served as a reunion of the ablest men in the State. These usually had +causes to try or motions to submit, or if they had none would make some +excuse for attending the gathering. The Supreme Court Library was their +rendezvous, and Lincoln was the centre of attraction, even when he was a +young man; when he became older his presence was regarded as necessary +to a successful evening. His stories were as much a part of these annual +gatherings as the decisions of the court, and after this custom became +obsolete the older lawyers retained with an affectionate interest the +memories of their association with him. + +David Davis, afterwards Justice of the United States Supreme Court and +a member of the United States Senate from Illinois, presided over the +Eighth Circuit for many years while Lincoln was in practice, and was +one of his most ardent admirers and devoted friends. It is said that +he would not sit down at the table for dinner or supper until Lincoln +was present. One day, during the trial of a cause, when Lincoln was the +centre of a group in a distant corner of the court-room, exchanging +whispered stories, Judge Davis rapped on the bench and, calling him by +name, exclaimed,-- + +"Mr. Lincoln, this must stop! There is no use in trying to carry on two +courts; one of them will have to adjourn, and I think yours will have to +be the one;" and as soon as the group scattered, Judge Davis called one +of the group to the bench and asked him to repeat the stories Lincoln +had been telling. + +Books of reminiscences written by the men who lived in Illinois in those +days are filled with anecdotes of him, and, even now, it is common in +arguments before the courts in that part of the State to quote what +Lincoln said or did under similar circumstances, and his opinions have +the force of judicial decisions. + +In his autobiography, Joseph Jefferson tells an interesting story of the +experience of his father's theatrical company when it was travelling +through Illinois in 1839. He was then a child of ten years. After +playing at Chicago, Quincy, Peoria, and Pekin, the company went to +Springfield, where the presence of the Legislature tempted the elder +Jefferson and his company to remain throughout the season. There was no +theatre, so they built one; it was scarcely completed before a religious +revival turned the influence of the church people against their +performances so effectually that a law was passed by the municipality +imposing a license which was practically prohibitory. In the midst of +their troubles, says Jefferson, a young lawyer called on the managers +and offered, if they would place the matter in his hands, to have the +license revoked, declaring that he only desired to see fair play, and +would accept no fee whether he failed or succeeded. The young lawyer +handled the case with tact, skill, and humor, in his argument 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 pointed anecdotes +which kept the City Council in a roar of laughter. "This good-humor +prevailed," relates the famous actor, "and the exhibition tax was taken +off." The young lawyer was Lincoln. + +Many of the reminiscences relate to Lincoln's skill at +cross-examination, in which, it is asserted, he had no equal at the +Illinois bar. Judge Davis declared that he had the rare gift of +compelling a witness, either friendly or unfriendly, to tell the whole +truth, and seldom resorted to the browbeating tactics so often used by +attorneys. He never irritated a witness, but treated him so kindly and +courteously as to disarm him of any hostile intention. + +He never used a word which the dullest juryman could not understand. A +lawyer quoting a legal maxim one day in court, turned to Lincoln and +said, "That is so, is it not, Mr. Lincoln?" + +"If that's Latin," Lincoln replied, "you had better call another +witness." + +Mr. T. W. S. Kidd says that he once heard a lawyer opposed to Lincoln +trying to convince a jury that precedent was superior to law, and that +custom made things legal in all cases. When Lincoln rose to answer, he +told the jury he would argue his case in the same way. Said he, "Old +Squire Bagly, from Menard, came into my office and said, 'Lincoln, I +want your advice as a lawyer. Has a man what's been elected justice of +the peace a right to issue a marriage license?' I told him he had not; +when the old squire threw himself back in his chair very indignantly, +and said, 'Lincoln, I thought you was a lawyer. Now, Bob Thomas and me +had a bet on this thing, and we agreed to let you decide; but if this is +your opinion I don't want it, for I know a thunderin' sight better, for +I have been squire now eight years and have done it all the time.'" + +Lincoln always felt and frequently expressed a deep sense of gratitude +to Judge Stephen T. Logan, his second partner, with whom he became +associated in 1841. Judge Logan was the recognized head of his +profession in the central part of the State, a man of high ideals, +noble character, and excellent professional habits. Such example +and instruction were of the greatest service in forming Lincoln's +professional habits, because he was naturally careless in his methods, +and at that period of his life was inclined to depend upon his wits +rather than his knowledge and to indulge in emotional bursts of oratory +rather than simple, convincing logic. He attributed his superior faculty +in presenting a case to Judge Logan's instructions. Nor was he the only +man who owed much of his success in life to this great preceptor. Four +of Judge Logan's law students found their way to the United States +Senate and three were Governors of States. + +When Lincoln's experience in Congress had extended his reputation, +broadened his ideas, and given him a better knowledge of men and things, +his practical value as a partner was recognized by the members of one +of the most prominent law firms in Chicago, who invited him to join +them; but he declined on the ground that his family ties as well as his +professional connections were in Springfield, and he feared that his +health would not endure the close confinement of a city office. + +Among Lincoln's manuscripts after his death were found a few pages of +notes evidently intended or, perhaps, used at some time for a lecture to +law students, and which express in a very clear manner his opinions as +to the ethics of practice. His words should be printed upon card-board +and hung in every law office in the land. + +"... Extemporaneous speaking should be practised and cultivated. It is +the lawyer's avenue to the public. However able and faithful he may be +in other respects, people are slow to bring him business if he cannot +make a speech. And yet, there is not a more fatal error to young lawyers +than relying too much on speech-making. If any one, upon his rare +powers of speaking, shall claim an exemption from the drudgery of the +law, his case is a failure in advance. Discourage litigation. Persuade +your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how +the nominal winner is often a real loser--in fees, expenses, and waste +of time. As a peacemaker, the lawyer has a superior opportunity of +being a good man. There will still be business enough. Never stir up +litigation. A worse man can scarcely be found than one who does this. +Who can be more nearly a fiend than he who habitually overhauls the +register of deeds in search of defects in titles, whereon to stir up +strife and put money in his pocket? A moral tone ought to be infused +into the profession which should drive such men out of it.... There is +a vague popular belief that lawyers are necessarily dishonest. I say +vague because, when we consider to what extent confidence and honors +are reposed in and conferred upon lawyers by the people, it appears +improbable that their impression of dishonesty is very distinct and +vivid. Yet the impression is common,--almost universal. Let no young man +choosing the law for a calling for a moment yield to the popular belief. +Resolve to be honest at all events; and if, in your own judgment, you +cannot be an honest lawyer, resolve to be honest without being a lawyer. +Choose some other occupation rather than one in the choosing of which +you do, in advance, consent to be a knave." + +Lincoln and McClellan first met three or four years before the war, +when the latter was Vice-President and Chief Engineer of the Illinois +Central Railroad and the former was attorney for that company. General +McClellan, in his autobiography, gives an account of his relations with +Lincoln at that time, but they were never intimate. + +In 1859, when Lincoln appeared for the Illinois Central Railroad in +a case which it did not wish to try at that term, he remarked to the +court,-- + +"We are not ready for trial." + +"Why is not the company ready to go to trial?" remarked Judge Davis. + +"We are embarrassed by the absence of Captain McClellan," was Lincoln's +reply. + +"Who is Captain McClellan and why is he not here?" asked Judge Davis. + +"All I know," said Mr. Lincoln, "is that he is the engineer of the +railroad, and why he is not here deponent saith not." + +It has been frequently said that General McClellan refused to pay +Lincoln a fee charged for trying a case for the Illinois Central +Railroad, but it is not true. At the time referred to (1855) Captain +McClellan was in the regular army and a military attaché in Europe +during the Crimean War. It was, however, the only time that Lincoln sued +for a fee, and the circumstances were as follows. By its charter the +Illinois Central Railroad was exempt from taxation on condition that it +pay into the State treasury seven per cent. of its gross earnings. The +officials of McLean County contended that the Legislature of the State +had no authority to exempt or remit county taxes, and brought a suit +against the road to compel payment. Lincoln defended the company, won +the case, and presented a bill for two thousand dollars. An official +of the railroad, whose name has been forgotten, declined payment on +the ground that it was as much as a first-class lawyer would charge. +Lincoln was so indignant that he withdrew the original bill of charges, +consulted professional friends, and later submitted another for five +thousand dollars with a memorandum attached, signed by six of the most +prominent lawyers in the State, giving as their opinion that the fee was +not unreasonable. As the company still refused to pay, Lincoln sued and +recovered the full amount. + +Lincoln's theory regarding fees for professional services is expressed +in the notes of the law lecture previously referred to, and was as +follows: + +"The matter of fees is important, far beyond the mere question of bread +and butter involved. Properly attended to, fuller justice is done to +both lawyer and client. An exorbitant fee should never be claimed. As +a general rule, never take your whole fee in advance, nor any more +than a small retainer. When fully paid beforehand, you are more than +a common mortal if you can feel the same interest in the case as if +something was still in prospect for you as well as for your client. And +when you lack interest in the case the job will very likely lack skill +and diligence in the performance. Settle the amount of fee and take a +note in advance. Then you will feel that you are working for something, +and you are sure to do your work faithfully and well. Never sell a fee +note,--at least not before the consideration service is performed. It +leads to negligence and dishonesty,--negligence by losing interest in +the case, and dishonesty in refusing to refund when you have allowed the +consideration to fail." + +If a client was poor he charged him accordingly, and if he was unable to +pay asked nothing for his services. It was one of his theories that a +lawyer, like a minister of the Gospel or a physician, was in duty bound +to render service whenever called upon, regardless of the prospects +of compensation, and in several cases he offered his services without +compensation to people who had suffered injustice and were unable to +pay. As a rule, his fees were less than those of other lawyers of his +circuit. Justice Davis once remonstrated with him, and insisted that he +was doing a grave injustice to his associates at the bar by charging so +little for his services. From 1850 to 1860 his income varied from two +to three thousand dollars, and even when he was recognized as one of +the ablest lawyers of the State his fee-book frequently shows charges +of three dollars, five dollars, and one dollar for advice, although he +never went into court for less than ten dollars. During that period +he was at the height of his power and popularity, and lawyers of less +standing and talent charged several times those amounts. But avarice +was the least of his faults. + +While he was President a certain Senator was charged with an attempt +to swindle the government out of some millions. Discussing the scandal +one day with some friends, he remarked that he could not understand why +men should be so eager after wealth. "Wealth," said he, "is simply a +superfluity of what we don't need." + +An examination of the dockets of the Illinois Supreme Court shows that +during a period of twenty years, beginning with 1840 and ending with his +election to the Presidency, he had nearly one hundred cases before that +court, which is an unusual record and has been surpassed by few lawyers +in the history of the State and by none of his contemporaries. It was +declared, in an oration delivered by one of his associates, that "In his +career as a lawyer he traversed a wide range of territory, attended many +courts and had a variety of cases, and in all his conflicts at the bar +he was successful in every case where he ought to have been." + +When he went to Washington to become President his debts were entirely +paid and he was worth about ten thousand dollars in real estate and +other property. + +[Illustration: Copyright, 1900, by McClure, Phillips & Co. + +ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN THE SUMMER OF 1860 + +From a negative taken for M. C. Tuttle, of St. Paul, Minnesota, for +local use in the presidential campaign] + +A singular story is told of a case in which a good many prominent men +were involved besides Lincoln. Abraham Brokaw, of Bloomington, loaned +five hundred dollars to one of his neighbors and took a note, which +remained unpaid. Action was brought, the sheriff levied on the property +of the debtor and collected the entire amount, but neglected to turn the +proceeds over. Brokaw employed Stephen A. Douglas, who collected the +amount from the bondsman of the sheriff, but returned to his seat in the +Senate at Washington without making a settlement. Like some other great +men, Douglas was very careless about money matters, and, after appealing +to him again and again, Brokaw employed David Davis to bring suit +against the Senator. Being an intimate friend and fellow-Democrat, +Davis disliked to appear in the case, and by his advice Brokaw engaged +the services of Lincoln. The latter wrote to Douglas at Washington +that he had a claim against him for collection and must insist upon +prompt payment. Douglas became very indignant and reproached Brokaw for +placing such a political weapon in the hands of an abolitionist. Brokaw +sent Douglas's letter to Lincoln, and the latter employed "Long John" +Wentworth, then a Democratic member of Congress from Chicago, as an +associate in the case. Wentworth saw Douglas, persuaded him to pay the +money, and forwarded five hundred dollars to Lincoln, who, in turn, paid +it to Brokaw and sent him a bill of three dollars and fifty cents for +professional services. + +Lincoln's greatest legal triumph was the acquittal of an old neighbor +named Duff Armstrong, who was charged with murder, and several witnesses +testified that they saw the accused commit the deed one night about +eleven o'clock. Lincoln attempted no cross-examination, except to +persuade them to reiterate their statements and to explain that they +were able to see the act distinctly because of the bright moonlight. +By several of the prosecuting witnesses he proved the exact position +and size of the moon at the time of the murder. The prosecution there +rested, and Lincoln, addressing the court and the jury, announced that +he had no defence to submit except an almanac, which would show that +there was no moon on that night. The State's attorney was paralyzed, but +the court admitted the almanac as competent testimony, and every witness +was completely impeached and convicted of perjury. The verdict was not +guilty. + +One of the most important cases in which Lincoln was ever engaged +involved the ownership of a patent for the reaping machines manufactured +by Cyrus H. McCormick, of Chicago, who sued John Manny, of Rockford, +for infringement. McCormick was represented by E. N. Dickerson and +Reverdy Johnson. Manny was represented by Edwin M. Stanton, who +was afterwards Lincoln's Secretary of War; Peter H. Watson, who +was afterwards Assistant Secretary of War; and George Harding, of +Philadelphia. The case was tried in Cincinnati, and, to his intense +disappointment and chagrin, Lincoln was not allowed to make an argument +he had prepared because the court would not permit four arguments on +one side and only two on the other. Lincoln was extremely anxious to +meet in debate Reverdy Johnson, of Baltimore, who was then regarded by +many as the leader of the American bar; but he accepted the situation +gracefully though regretfully, watched the case closely as it proceeded, +took careful notes which he furnished Mr. Harding, and gave the latter +the benefit of his written argument, but requested him not to show it to +Mr. Stanton. There is no doubt that he felt that Mr. Stanton had been +guilty of professional discourtesy in refusing to insist that the court +hear Lincoln as well as himself, believing that this concession would +have been granted if the demand had been pressed, or if Mr. Stanton had +proposed that the time allowed for argument be divided. Mr. Stanton was +not unaware of Lincoln's wishes, for they were fully explained to him by +Mr. Harding, who urged him to give Lincoln an opportunity to speak, but, +being the senior counsel in the case, he assigned Mr. Harding, who was a +patent expert, to submit the technical side of the case, and assumed the +entire responsibility of making the legal argument himself. + +This incident is particularly interesting in connection with the future +relations between the two men, and it is certain that Lincoln was +profoundly impressed with Mr. Stanton's ability in the presentation of +his case. The matter was never alluded to by either during their long +and intimate association at Washington. A young lawyer from Rockford who +had studied with Lincoln was in Cincinnati at the time and attended the +trial. When the court adjourned after Stanton's argument they walked +together to their hotel. Mr. Emerson says that Lincoln seemed dejected, +and, turning to him suddenly, exclaimed in an impulsive manner,-- + +"Emerson, I am going home to study law." + +"'Why,' I exclaimed, 'Mr. Lincoln, you stand at the head of the bar in +Illinois now! What are you talking about?' + +"'Ah, yes,' he said, 'I do occupy a good position there, and I think +I can get along with the way things are done there now. But these +college-trained men, who have devoted their whole lives to study, are +coming West, don't you see? And they study their cases as we never +do. They have got as far as Cincinnati now. They will soon be in +Illinois.' Another long pause; then stopping and turning towards me, his +countenance suddenly assuming that look of strong determination which +those who knew him best sometimes saw upon his face, he exclaimed, 'I am +going home to study law! I am as good as any of them, and when they get +out to Illinois I will be ready for them.'" + +While Mr. Lincoln was not a sensitive man in the ordinary sense of that +term, he felt keenly his own deficiencies in education; nor did he lose +this feeling when his ability as a statesman was recognized by the +entire universe and he held the destiny of a nation in his grasp. Once, +when a famous lawyer called at the White House and referred courteously +to his eminent position at the bar, he replied, "Oh, I am only a +mast-fed lawyer," referring to his limited education. "Mast" is a kind +of food composed of acorns, grass, and similar natural substances which +was commonly given to cattle and hogs in Indiana and other frontier +States when he was a boy. + +Conscious of his deficiencies, he never ceased to be a student. Until +the very day of his death he was eager to acquire knowledge, and no new +subject was ever presented to him without exciting his inquisitiveness +and determination to learn all there was to know about it. Of this +characteristic he once remarked to a friend,-- + +"In the course of my law reading I constantly came upon the word +demonstrate--I thought at first that I understood its meaning, but soon +became satisfied that I did not. I consulted Webster's Dictionary. That +told of certain proof, 'proof beyond the probability of doubt;' but I +could form no sort of idea what sort of proof that was. + +"I consulted all the dictionaries and books of reference I could find, +but with no better results. You might as well have defined blue to a +blind man. At last I said, 'Lincoln, you can never make a lawyer if you +do not understand what demonstrate means;' and I left my situation in +Springfield, went home to my father's house, and stayed there until I +could give any proposition in the six books of Euclid at sight. I then +found out what demonstrate meant, and went back to my law studies." + +He met every new question with the same disposition, and nobody +ever knew better how to dig for the root of a subject than he. When +his children began to go to school, he used to study with them, and +frequently referred to the many interesting points of information and +the valuable knowledge he acquired in that way. The lawyers who were +associated with him upon the circuit relate how often he was accustomed +to pull a book from his pocket whenever he had an idle moment, and it +was quite as frequently a treatise on astronomy or engineering or a +medical lecture as a collection of poems or speeches. + +But, with all his modesty and diffidence, he never hesitated to meet +with confidence the most formidable opponent at the bar or on the stump, +and frequently, when reading accounts of litigation in which famous +lawyers were engaged, he would express a wish that he might some time +"tackle" them in a court-room. He once said that in all his practice at +the bar he had never been surprised by the strength of the testimony or +the arguments of his adversary, and usually found them weaker than he +feared. This was due to a habit he acquired early in his practice of +studying the opposite side of every disputed question in every law case +and every political issue quite as carefully as his own side. When he +had an important case on hand he was accustomed to withdraw himself into +a room where he would not be disturbed, or, what he liked better, to +get out into the fields or the woods around Springfield where there was +nothing to distract his thoughts, in order to "argue it out in my own +mind," as he put it; and when he returned to his house or his office he +would usually have a clear conception of his case and have formed his +plan of action. + +He argued great causes in which principles were involved with all the +zeal and earnestness that a righteous soul could feel. Trifling causes +he dismissed with the ridicule in which he was unsurpassed, and his +associates relate many incidents when a verdict was rendered in a gale +of laughter because of the droll tactics used by Lincoln. He never +depended upon technicalities or the tricks of the profession. He never +attempted to throw obstacles in the way of justice, or to gain an +unfair advantage of his adversaries, but was capable of executing legal +manooeuvres with as much skill as any of his rivals. He adapted himself +to circumstances with remarkable ease, and his thorough knowledge of +human nature enabled him to excite the interest and sympathy of a jury +by getting very close to their hearts. He argued much from analogy; he +used old-fashioned words and homely phrases which were familiar to the +jurymen he desired to impress, and illustrated his points by stories, +maxims, and figures often droll and sometimes vulgar, because he knew +that he could make it plainer to them in that way and that they would +better understand the force and bearing of his arguments. He relied more +upon this method of convincing a jury than upon exhibitions of learning +or flights of eloquence, and his acquaintance with human nature was even +more intimate than his knowledge of the law. + +Few of his speeches at the bar have been preserved, but his +contemporaries have left us many interesting reminiscences of his +originality and power. His ungainly form and awkward gesticulations +enhanced the force of his arguments and attracted the attention and +sympathy of a country jury more than the most graceful manners and +elegant rhetoric could have done. It was always his rule, in presenting +a case, to cut out all of the "dead wood" and get down to "hard pan," +as he called it, as soon as possible. In making such concessions he +would establish a position of fairness and honesty, and often disarmed +his opponent by leaving the impression that he had accidentally "given +away his case." Then he would rely upon his remarkable habit of order +and command of logic to bring his evidence forward in a clear and strong +light, keeping unnecessary details away from the attention of the +jury and pressing only the essential points with which he expected to +convince them. Sometimes, when his opponent seemed to have captured a +verdict, he would abandon his serious argument and begin to tell stories +one after another with more or less application, until by such diversion +he had effaced from the minds of the jury every impression that the +other side had made. + +Justice Lawrence Weldon, of the United States Court of Claims, in his +reminiscences says, "One of the most interesting incidents in my early +acquaintance with Mr. Lincoln was a lawsuit in which Mr. Lincoln was +counsel for the plaintiff and I was counsel for the defendant. Even +then, in a trial that was the sensation of an obscure village on the +prairies, Mr. Lincoln showed that supreme sense of justice to God and +his fellow-men. + +"It was a family quarrel between two brothers-in-law, Jack Dungee and +Joe Spencer. Dungee was a Portuguese, extremely dark-complexioned, but +not a bad-looking fellow; and after a time he married Spencer's sister, +with the approval of Spencer's family. I don't remember the origin of +the quarrel, but it became bitter; and the last straw was laid on when +Spencer called Dungee a 'nigger' and followed it up, they say, by adding +'a nigger married to a white woman.' The statute of Illinois made it +a crime for a negro to marry a white woman, and, because of that, the +words were slanderous. Dungee, through Mr. Lincoln, brought the suit for +slander. Judge David Davis was on the bench, and the suit was brought in +the De Witt Circuit Court. When the case came up, Mr. Moore and myself +appeared for the defence and demurred to the declaration, which, to +the annoyance of Mr. Lincoln, the court sustained. Whatever interest +Mr. Lincoln took in the case before that time, his professional pride +was aroused by the fact that the court had decided that his papers +were deficient. Looking across the trial table at Moore and myself and +shaking his long, bony finger, he said, 'Now, by jing, I will beat you +boys!' + +"At the next term of the court Mr. Lincoln appeared with his papers +amended, and fully determined to make good his promise to 'beat the +boys!' and we thought his chances pretty good to do it, too. We knew our +man was a fool not to have settled it, but still we were bound to defend +and clear him if we could. + +"In the argument of the case on the testimony Mr. Lincoln made a most +powerful and remarkable speech, abounding in wit, logic, and eloquence +of the highest order. His thoughts were clothed in the simplest garb of +expression and in words understood by every juror in the box. After +the instructions were given by the court the jury retired, and in a few +moments returned with a judgment for the plaintiff, in a sum which was a +large amount for those days. + +"Mr. Lincoln's advice to his client was that Dungee agree to remit +the whole judgment, by Spencer paying the costs of the suit and Mr. +Lincoln's fee. Mr. Lincoln then proposed to leave the amount of his +fee to Moore and myself. We protested against this, and insisted that +Mr. Lincoln should fix the amount of his own fee. After a few moments' +thought he said, 'Well, gentlemen, don't you think I have honestly +earned twenty-five dollars?' We were astonished, and had he said one +hundred dollars it would have been what we expected. The judgment was +a large one for those days; he had attended the case at two terms of +court, had been engaged for two days in a hotly contested suit, and his +client's adversary was going to pay the bill. The simplicity of Mr. +Lincoln's character in money matters is well illustrated by the fact +that for all this he charged twenty-five dollars." + +Justice David Davis, of the Supreme Court of the United States, said, +"In all the elements that constitute the great lawyer he had few equals. +He was great both at _nisi prius_ and before an appellate tribunal. He +seized the strong points of a cause and presented them with clearness +and great compactness. His mind was logical and direct, and he did +not indulge in extraneous discussion. Generalities and platitudes had +no charms for him. An unfailing vein of humor never deserted him; and +he was able to claim the attention of court and jury, when the cause +was the most uninteresting, by the appropriateness of his anecdotes. +His power of comparison was large, and he rarely failed in a legal +discussion to use that mode of reasoning. The framework of his mental +and moral being was honesty, and a wrong cause was poorly defended by +him. He hated wrong and oppression everywhere, and many a man whose +fraudulent conduct was undergoing review in a court of justice has +writhed under his terrific indignation and rebukes. The people where +he practised law were not rich, and his charges were always small. +When he was elected President, I question whether there was a lawyer +in the circuit, who had been at the bar so long a time, whose means +were not larger. It did not seem to be one of the purposes of his life +to accumulate a fortune. In fact, outside of his profession, he had no +knowledge of the way to make money, and he never even attempted it." + +Lincoln was associated at the Springfield bar with many famous men, +and there was a keen rivalry among them. Stephen A. Douglas, David +Davis, James Shields, Edward D. Baker, John M. Palmer, Lyman Trumbull, +Oliver H. Browning, Shelby M. Cullom, and others afterwards sat in the +United States Senate and some of them held positions in the Cabinets +of Presidents. Others were afterwards Governors of States and members +of the House of Representatives; others led armies during the war with +Mexico and the war between the States. One of the strongest groups of +men that ever gathered at the capital of a State was to be found in +Springfield in those days, and Lincoln was their equal in ability and +learning and the superior of many of them in the qualities that make +a statesman. They recognized him as their superior on many occasions, +and whether or not he was the ablest lawyer on the circuit, there was +never any doubt that he was the most popular. He was always a great +favorite with the younger members of the bar because of his sympathy +and good-nature. He never used the arts of a demagogue; he was never a +toady; he was always ready to do an act of kindness; he was generous +with his mind and with his purse; although he never asked for help, was +always ready to give it; and while he received everybody's confidence, +he rarely gave his own in return. Whatever his cares and anxieties may +have been, he never inflicted them upon others; he never wounded by his +wit; his humor was never harsh or rude; he endeavored to lighten the +labors and the cares of others, and beneath his awkward manner was a +gentle refinement and an amiable disposition. + +For twenty-five years he practised at the Springfield bar. He was not +a great lawyer according to the standard of his profession, but the +testimony of his associates is that he was a good one, enjoying the +confidence of the judiciary, the bar, and the public to a remarkable +degree. He was conspicuous for several honorable traits, and, above +all, for that sense of moral responsibility that can always distinguish +between duty to a client and duty to society and the truth. On the +wrong side of a case he was always weak, and, realizing this, he often +persuaded his clients to give up litigation rather than compel him to +argue against truth and justice. + +Leonard Swett, of Chicago, for years an intimate associate, and himself +one of the most famous of American lawyers, says that, "sometimes, after +Lincoln entered upon a criminal case, the conviction that his client was +guilty would affect him with a sort of panic. On one occasion he turned +suddenly to his associate and said, 'Swett, the man is guilty; you +defend him, I can't,' and so gave up his share of a large fee. + +"At another time, when he was engaged with Judge S. C. Parks in +defending a man accused of larceny, he said, 'If you can say anything +for the man, do it, I can't; if I attempt it, the jury will see I think +he is guilty, and convict him.' + +"Once he was prosecuting a civil suit, in the course of which evidence +was introduced showing that his client was attempting a fraud. Lincoln +rose and went to his hotel in deep disgust. The judge sent for him; he +refused to come. 'Tell the judge,' he said, 'my hands are dirty; I came +over to wash them.' We are aware that these stories detract something +from the character of the lawyer; but this inflexible, inconvenient, and +fastidious morality was to be of vast service afterwards to his country +and to the world. The fact is that, with all his stories and jests, his +frank companionable humor, his gift of easy accessibility and welcome, +he was a man of grave and serious temper and of unusual innate dignity +and reserve. He had few or no special intimates, and there was a line +beyond which no one ever thought of passing." + +Mr. Chauncey M. Depew said, "He told me once that, in his judgment, +one of the two best things he ever originated was this. He was trying +a cause in Illinois where he appeared for a prisoner charged with +aggravated assault and battery. The complainant had told a horrible +story of the attack, which his appearance fully justified, when +the district attorney handed the witness over to Mr. Lincoln for +cross-examination. Mr. Lincoln said he had no testimony, and unless +he could break down the complainant's story he saw no way out. He had +come to the conclusion that the witness was a bumptious man, who rather +prided himself upon his smartness in repartee, and so, after looking at +him for some minutes, he inquired, 'Well, my friend, what ground did you +and my client here fight over?' The fellow answered, 'About six acres.' +'Well,' said Mr. Lincoln,'don't you think this is an almighty small crop +of fight to gather from such a big piece of ground?' The jury laughed, +the court and district attorney and complainant all joined in, and the +case was laughed out of court." + + + + +III + +A GREAT ORATOR AND HIS SPEECHES + + +The fame of Abraham Lincoln as an orator was made secure by his debate +with Douglas in 1858, his political speech at Cooper Institute in +February, 1860, his oration at the dedication of the Soldiers' Cemetery +at Gettysburg in 1863, and his second inaugural address in March, 1865. +Neither of these four distinct examples of argument and eloquence has +ever been surpassed in their separate fields. That was the judgment of +his contemporaries, and it is confirmed by the succeeding generation, +not only of his own countrymen, but of competent critics throughout the +English-speaking world. His style commanded the highest praise from the +French Academy. It was commended as a model for the imitation of princes. + +His debate with Douglas was a gladiatorial combat between oratorical +Titans. It had no precedent and has not been repeated. His speech +at Cooper Institute, as an example of political reasoning, made him +pre-eminent upon what the Americans call the "stump." His historical +analysis, concise statement, faultless logic, and irresistible +conclusions made it a model which has been studied and imitated by +campaign speakers ever since its delivery. The brief oration at +Gettysburg, covering only thirty lines of print, ranks with the noblest +utterances of human lips. No orator of ancient or modern times produced +purer rhetoric, more beautiful sentiment, or elegant diction. + +Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Many passages in his letters, messages, and +speeches ... are destined to wide fame. What pregnant definitions, +what unerring common sense, what foresight, and on great occasions +what lofty and, more than national, what human tones. His brief speech +at Gettysburg will not easily be surpassed by words on any recorded +occasion." + +The occasion was the dedication of the battle-field as a soldiers' +cemetery, November 19, 1863. Edward Everett delivered a masterly +oration, and President Lincoln, being present, was introduced for a few +remarks. With profound earnestness and solemnity he spoke five minutes +to a breathless audience. His remarks were so brief that it is possible +and appropriate to include them here. They could not be considered out +of place in any volume of literature on any subject. They cannot be +printed or read too often: + +"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 for 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 advanced. 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 next day Mr. Everett, who was considered one of the most +accomplished of American orators, sent Lincoln a note in which he said,-- + +"Permit me to express my great admiration of the thoughts expressed +by you with such eloquence, simplicity, and appropriateness at the +consecration of the cemetery. I should be glad if I could flatter myself +that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion in two hours as +you did in two minutes." + +It has always been a popular impression that Lincoln's speech was +written upon the cars, _en route_ to Gettysburg from Washington on +the morning of the ceremonies, but General Fry, of the army, who was +detailed from the War Department as his escort on that occasion and was +with him every moment, says that he has no recollection of seeing him +writing or even reading a manuscript, nor was there any opportunity +during the journey for him to do so. Colonel Hay, his private secretary, +says that he wrote out a brief speech at the White House before leaving +Washington, and, as usual on such occasions, committed it to memory; but +the inspiration of the scene led him to make material changes, and the +version given here, copied from Nicolay and Hay's Biography, was written +out by the President himself after his return. While it may not be +exact, it is nearly accurate. + +The _London Times_ pronounced Lincoln's second inaugural address to be +the most sublime state paper of the century. Equally competent critics +have called it a masterpiece of political literature. The following +extract will show its style and sentiment: + +"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 +prayers 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 +offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man +by whom the offence cometh.' If we shall suppose that American slavery +is one of those offences 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 both North and South this terrible +war, as the woe due to those by whom the offence 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 with 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 his orphan--to +do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among +ourselves, and with all nations." + +General Sherman described it accurately when he said, "I have seen and +heard many of the famous orators of the century, but Lincoln's speeches +surpassed them all. They have never been equalled. It was not his +scholarship; it was not rhetoric; it was not elocution; it was the +unaffected and spontaneous eloquence of the heart. There was nothing of +the mountain-torrent in his manner; it was rather the calm flow of the +river." + +Lincoln's own comments upon his inaugural address, like everything he +ever said about himself, are unique. In reply to a complimentary letter +from Thurlow Weed, he wrote, "I expect the latter to wear as well as, +perhaps better than, anything I have produced; but I believe it is not +immediately popular. Men are not flattered by being shown that there +has been a difference of purpose between the Almighty and them. To deny +it, however, in this case, is to deny that there is a God governing the +world. It is a truth which I thought needed to be told, and, as whatever +of humiliation there is in it falls most directly on myself, I thought +others might afford for me to tell it." + +Messrs. Hay and Nicolay, who were nearer to him and knew him better than +any other men, say, "Nothing would more have amazed Mr. Lincoln than +to hear himself called a man of letters; but this age had produced few +greater writers. Emerson ranks him with Æsop; Montalembert commends his +style as a model for princes. It is true that in his writing the range +of subjects is not great. He was chiefly concerned with the political +problems of the time and the moral considerations involved in them. But +the range of treatment is remarkably wide, running from the wit, the +gay humor, the florid eloquence of his stump speeches to the marvellous +sententiousness and brevity of the address at Gettysburg and the +sustained and lofty grandeur of his second inaugural; while many of his +phrases have already passed into the daily use of mankind." + +But he made other speeches, equally admirable, and some of them +unsurpassed by the greatest political or platform orators. Wendell +Phillips, Henry Ward Beecher, Robert G. Ingersoll, James G. Blaine, +Benjamin Harrison, and others who have gained fame for oratory have +each given testimony for the simple yet sublime eloquence of the great +master. Many critics consider Lincoln's Peoria speech of 1854 the ablest +political argument ever delivered, and assert that no master of logic in +the world could have answered it. One of its epigrams has been quoted +thousands of times. "When the white man governs himself," he said, +"that, I acknowledge, is self-government; but when the white man governs +himself and another man besides, that I call despotism." + +If Lincoln had been born in old England or in New England, if he had +been educated at a university, if he had spent his childhood and youth +in luxury and under refining influences, he might have been a greater +orator, statesman, and politician than he was, but a nature and a mind +like his required the discipline and conditions which he passed through +to attain their full development. It is an interesting subject of +speculation, concerning other self-taught men as well as Lincoln; but, +as a rule, the most powerful minds and the most influential characters +have been without the training of the schools, and by contact with +gentler and refining influences Lincoln might have acquired polish at +the cost of his rugged greatness, his quaint habits of thought and +odd but effective phrases, the homely illustrations, and the shrewd +faculty of appealing to the simple every-day experience of the people +to convince them of the force of his facts and the soundness of his +reasoning. His logic was always as clear as his candor. He never failed +to state the argument of his adversary as fairly and as forcefully as +his own. His power of analysis was extraordinary. He used the simplest +words in the language, but they strengthened every case he stated, +and no fact, or anecdote, or argument ever lost force or effect from +his style of presentation. It has frequently been asserted--and his +speeches, state papers, and private correspondence are sufficient +proof--that he could state a proposition more clearly and forcibly than +any man of his time; yet his language was that of "the plain people," +as he used to call them. This faculty was doubtless due to his early +experience among the illiterate classes on the frontier, and certain +errors of grammar and construction which are familiar to all who have +lived among that portion of the population frequently occurred in his +compositions. At one time during his early days as a speaker he adopted +the flamboyant redundancy of style that is still popular in the South +and certain parts of the West, and often used many of the familiar +tricks of emotional orators; but his own common sense and the advice +of Judge Logan, his law partner, soon corrected this fault, and he +studied a simpler style which was much more effective. If he had been +less gifted in language he would have been quite as clear in statement, +quite as persuasive in his presentation of an argument, because he aimed +not to excite admiration, but to be understood. His earnestness was not +intended to excite the emotions, but to appeal to the reasoning powers +of the persons addressed, and his knowledge of human nature taught him +how the mind of the average man worked. At the same time he could reach +the most accomplished scholar and the most thoughtful philosopher. For +example, his letters in explanation of his delay in proclaiming freedom +to the slaves, especially that addressed to Mr. Greeley in 1863, are +masterpieces of clear and forcible writing. + +One reason for Lincoln's power over his audiences was his intense +sincerity. He carried his conscience into every discussion, he took no +position that he did not believe was right, and he made no statements +that he did not believe to be fair and true. Another was the sympathy +he excited; when he related a story he laughed all over, and his own +enjoyment was so contagious that the effect was greatly increased. + +He once said to Mr. Depew, in reference to some criticisms which had +been made upon his story-telling, "They say I tell a great many stories; +I reckon I do, but I have found in the course of a long experience that +common people"--repeating it--"common people, take them as they run, +are more easily influenced and informed through the medium of a broad +illustration than in any other way, and as to what the hypercritical few +may think I don't care." + +His pathos was quite as effective as his humor. His natural tenderness, +his affectionate disposition, his poetic temperament, his sympathy for +the weak and the sorrowful, and his comprehensive love of all that was +good inspired him with a power to touch the hearts of the people as no +other man in this country has ever been able to do. James H. McVicker, +the famous actor, once told the author that the most marvellous +exhibition of elocution he ever witnessed was Lincoln's recitation of +the Lord's Prayer, and said that Lincoln told him at the time that it +was the sublimest composition in the English language. + +Lincoln had the advantage of a photographic memory which could retain +almost any passage in literature, and he was able to repeat long +passages from Shakespeare and other plays and poems which pleased him. +It was only necessary for him to read them over once or twice and they +remained in his memory forever. He developed this faculty early in life, +and it was the greatest enjoyment allowed the humble people among whom +he lived to hear him recite passages from the books he had read and +declaim selections from "The Kentucky Preceptor," which was a standard +text-book in those days. He could repeat with effect all the poems and +speeches in other school-readers, and his talent at mimicry furnished +amusement for the neighborhood. The traditions of Gentryville tell us +that the neighbors seldom gathered for a "raising," or a "quilting," +or a "paring," or a "husking-bee" without hearing Abe Lincoln "take +off" the itinerant preachers and politicians whose peculiarities had +attracted his attention and appealed to his sense of humor. He attended +all the trials in the neighborhood, and frequently walked fifteen miles +to the town of Boonevile when court was in session there. His faculty +was so well known in that part of the State that the lawyers and others +who gathered on such occasions would invariably induce him to make a +stump speech or imitate some backwoods orator. His essays and rhymes +were much admired, and an itinerant Baptist preacher was so impressed +with one of his speeches on temperance that he sent it to friends in +Ohio, where it was published in a newspaper; the first of his writings +to appear in print. Another essay on "National Politics," written when +he was nineteen, gave him great local reputation for literary talent. +One of the lawyers who practised in that circuit and was considered a +very high authority declared that "the world couldn't beat it." + +It is also related that he frequently interrupted harvesting, threshing, +and other business events which drew the neighbors together by +delivering political speeches, burlesquing local orators and preachers, +and repeating doggerels of his own composition that referred to local +affairs. His humor often exceeded his discretion, and we are told of +coarse satires and rhymes which excited the amusement and admiration of +a community, but did him no credit. Sometimes these ebullitions of wit +involved him in trouble, particularly on two occasions when he wrote +some verses about the deformed nose of his employer, of which the owner +was very sensitive. + +Lincoln never attempted serious oratory until he went to New Salem, +where he discovered Shakespeare and Burns, whose writings had a +powerful influence upon his literary style and taste. These eminent +authorities were introduced to him by a worthless loafer and fisherman +named Jack Kelso, who was too lazy to work, but had a love of learning +and literature and an unusually good education for his time and +surroundings. Mutual tastes brought the two together, and Lincoln would +sit evening after evening on the porch of Offutt's store or lie all +day Sunday on the ground under the shade of a tree listening to Kelso +discourse upon his favorite authors and repeat over and over the poems +of Burns and fine passages from Shakespeare which he had committed to +memory long before. There is no doubt that Burns, Shakespeare, and Kelso +seriously interfered with the grocery business and contributed to the +financial disaster which terminated Lincoln's first and only commercial +enterprise. It was a long time before he obtained copies of his favorite +poets, but no books were prized more highly by any man. + +Lincoln's first experience in debate was gained while he was a clerk in +Offutt's store and attended the meetings of a debating club, which were +held at different places in the neighborhood and sometimes so far away +that he was compelled to walk seven or eight miles for the privilege. +He used to call it "practising polemics." Occasionally the club met in +a vacant store at New Salem, and Lincoln's first serious speech was +delivered on one of those occasions. + +His first political speech was delivered at Pappsville, where a +crowd had been attracted by an auction sale. He was then beginning +his first campaign for the Legislature, and although his remarks are +not remembered, an incident of the occasion remains one of the most +precious heritages of that neighborhood. While he was speaking, one of +his friends became involved in a fight on the edge of the audience, +and when the orator saw that he was getting the worst of it, Lincoln +suspended his remarks, jumped from the dry-goods box which served as +his platform, seized the assailant of his friend by the collar and the +seat of his trousers, threw him ten or twelve feet, resumed his place, +and finished his argument. + +In the reminiscences of Joshua Speed, who was perhaps the most intimate +friend Lincoln ever knew, is an account of a great mass-meeting at +Springfield at which Lincoln made a speech that produced a lasting +impression and "used up" George Forquer, a prominent lawyer and +politician, so completely that he was practically driven out of the +campaign. Forquer had been a Whig, but changed his politics, and was +rewarded by the Democrats with an appointment as Register of the United +States Land Office. He owned and occupied one of the finest houses in +Springfield and attached to its chimney the only lightning-rod in that +part of the State. Forquer had made a long address at the meeting and +Lincoln had been assigned to the duty of answering him. Forquer alluded +to this arrangement in a contemptuous manner, and spoke slightingly of +Lincoln's youth and inexperience. When Lincoln came to reply he admitted +his youth and inexperience, which, he added, were faults that would be +corrected by time, and then said,-- + +"I am not so young in years as I am in the tricks and trade of the +politician; but whether I live long or die young, I would rather die +now than change my politics for an office worth three thousand dollars +a year, and have to erect a lightning-rod over my house to protect my +conscience from an offended God." + +The people of Springfield appreciated this hit so keenly and quoted +it so freely that Forquer was compelled to retire from the canvass to +escape ridicule. + +From this time on Lincoln was always on the stump whenever there was a +political contest in Central Illinois, and was recognized as one of the +ablest, as he was one of the most popular and effective, campaigners. +His speeches began to show maturer intellect, a more careful study and +expanding power, and his hold upon his friends and his influence in his +party and with the public at large were increasing with every political +campaign. As early as 1837, when he was a candidate for Speaker of the +Lower House of the Legislature, he had acquired considerable reputation. +In the fall of that year, with a few other young men of Springfield, +he organized a lyceum for mutual improvement, and his ability was +recognized when he was the first of its members to be invited to make a +public address, which was carefully prepared and delivered in January, +1838. The subject was "The Perpetuation of our Political Institutions," +and it created such an impression that it was published in full in the +_Sangamon Journal_, February 3, 1838. Few men of twenty-nine years, +with the advantage of a university education and a complete library +for reference, could produce so profound and statesmanlike a paper, +and his philosophical analysis of the principles of the Declaration of +Independence and his conception of the political duty of the citizen +were remarkable for their truth and force. + +Lincoln had acquired such great fame as a speaker that in 1840 he was +named upon the Harrison electoral ticket, with the stipulation that +he should canvass the State. He was then only thirty-one years old, +but was regarded as the ablest of the Whig stumpers in Illinois. In +the Clay campaign of 1844, in the Taylor campaign of 1848, and in the +Scott campaign of 1852 he devoted almost his entire time to political +work, for which he received no compensation. Ambitious politicians and +loyal party men were expected to contribute their services free and pay +their own expenses in those days, and while Lincoln's pocket suffered, +his fame and popularity spread, and he had the satisfaction of knowing +that in all the State no man possessed the confidence of the public so +completely as he and none was listened to with more attention or greater +respect. In 1856, during the Frémont campaign, he was recognized as the +foremost leader on the Republican side, and had a narrow escape from +being nominated for Vice-President. + +While in Congress he made three set speeches in the Hall of +Representatives, all carefully prepared and written out. The first was +an elaborate defence of Whig doctrines and an historical discussion +of the Mexican War, the next was on the general subject of internal +improvement, and the third was a humorous and satirical criticism of +General Cass, the Democratic candidate for President. All of these +speeches were printed in pamphlet form for home circulation and were not +intended to influence the action of the House. His first participation +in debate was, however, a great success. Soon after the Presidential +campaign of 1848 opened, Representative Iverson, of Georgia, accused the +Whigs of "having taken shelter under the military coat-tails of General +Taylor," their Presidential candidate. This seemed to touch Lincoln's +sense of humor, and he made a brief reply, taking "Military Coat-Tails" +as his text. Ben Perley Poore, the famous newspaper correspondent, who +was then in his prime, describes the scene as follows: + +"He had written the heads of what he intended to say on a few pages of +foolscap paper, which he placed on a friend's desk, bordering on an +alley-way, which he had obtained permission to speak from. At first +he followed his notes; but, as he warmed up, he left his desk and his +notes, to stride down the alley towards the Speaker's chair, holding +his left hand behind him so that he could now and then shake the tails +of his own rusty, black broadcloth dress-coat, while he earnestly +gesticulated with his long right arm, shaking the bony index-finger at +the Democrats on the other side of the chamber. Occasionally, as he +would complete a sentence amid shouts of laughter, he would return up +the alley to his desk, consult his notes, take a sip of water, and start +off again." + +The _Baltimore American_ called it "the crack speech of the day," and +said of Lincoln: "He is a very able, acute, uncouth, honest, upright +man and a tremendous wag withal.... Mr. Lincoln's manner was so +good-natured, and his style so peculiar, that he kept the House in a +continuous roar of merriment for the last half-hour of his speech. He +would commence a point in his speech far up one of the aisles, and keep +on talking, gesticulating, and walking until he would find himself, at +the end of a paragraph, down in the centre of the area in front of the +clerk's desk. He would then go back and take another head, and work down +again. And so on, through his capital speech." + +Referring to another brief speech made in defence of his Committee on +Post Roads, Lincoln wrote a friend at home, "As to speech-making, by +way of getting the hand of the House, I made a little speech two or +three days ago on a post-office question of no general interest. I find +speaking here and elsewhere about the same thing. I was about as badly +scared, and no worse, as I am when I speak in court. I expect to make +one within a week or two in which I hope to succeed well enough to wish +you to see it." + +The speech he was then preparing was delivered four days later. It was +his first formal appearance in Congress, and, according to custom, he +finished the occasion by a series of resolutions referring to President +Polk's declaration that the war of 1848 had been begun by Mexico's +"invading our territory and shedding the blood of our citizens on our +own soil," and calling upon him to give the House specific information +as to the invasion and bloodshed. These resolutions were frequently +referred to afterwards in his political contests, and were relied upon +to sustain a charge of lack of patriotism during the Mexican War made by +Mr. Douglas against their author. + +Like all young members of the House of Representatives, Lincoln was +compelled to remain in the background most of the time; but he learned +a great deal in his brief experience, and created such an impression +by his speeches that upon the adjournment he was invited to enter the +Presidential campaign of 1848 in New England, making his first speech +at Worcester, where the meeting was presided over by ex-Governor Levi +Lincoln, who was also a descendant of Samuel Lincoln, of Hingham. The +New England newspapers and people gave him many compliments and in +subsequent campaigns repeated their invitations. + +[Illustration: Copyright, 1895 by S. S. McClure Co. + +ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN 1858 + +From a photograph owned by Hon. William J. Franklin, Macomb, Illinois, +taken in 1866 from an ambrotype made in 1858 at Macomb. By special +permission] + +The first collision between Lincoln and Douglas occurred during the +Harrison Presidential campaign of 1840, and from that time they were +regarded as active rivals. These two remarkable men became acquainted +in 1834 during Lincoln's first session in the Legislature at Vandalia, +then the capital of Illinois. Mr. Douglas was four years younger and +equally poor. In his youth he had been apprenticed to a cabinet-maker +in Vermont, had studied law under very much the same difficulties as +Lincoln, was admitted to the bar as soon as he was twenty-one, and came +to Springfield, with no acquaintances and only thirty-seven cents in his +pocket, to contest for the office of State attorney with John J. Hardin, +one of the most prominent and successful lawyers of the State. By the +use of tactics peculiar to his life-long habits as a politician, he +secured the appointment, made a successful prosecutor, and in 1836 was +elected to the Legislature, and occupied a position on the Democratic +side of that body similar to that occupied by Lincoln on the Whig side. +In 1837 he secured from President Van Buren the appointment of Register +of the Public Land Office, and made Springfield his home. In the fall +of the same year he was nominated to Congress against John T. Stuart, +Lincoln's law partner and friend, and the campaign which followed was +one of the most remarkable in the history of the State, with Lincoln, +as usual, the conspicuous figure upon the Whig stump. When the vote +was counted, Stuart received a majority of only fourteen out of a total +of thirty-six thousand. + +Douglas charged fraud, and his reckless attack upon the integrity of +Stuart aroused in Lincoln's breast a resentment which never died. From +that time he regarded Douglas with strong dislike and disapproval, +and, although his natural generosity as well as his sense of propriety +silenced his tongue in public, he never concealed from his friends his +conviction that Douglas was without political morals. At the same time +he recognized the ability and power of "the Little Giant" as Douglas +was already called, and no one estimated more highly his ability as +an orator and his skill as a debater. Personally, Douglas was a very +attractive man. He had all the graces that Lincoln lacked,--short +and slight of stature, with a fine head, a winning manner, graceful +carriage, a sunny disposition, and an enthusiastic spirit. His personal +magnetism was almost irresistible to the old as well as the young, and +his voice was remarkable for its compass and the richness of its tones. +On the other hand, Lincoln was ungainly and awkward; his voice was not +musical, although it was very expressive; and, as I have before said, he +often acknowledged that there was no homelier man in all the States. + +Douglas recognized an antagonist who was easier to avoid than to meet, +and attempted to keep Lincoln out of his path by treating him as an +inferior. On one occasion, when both happened to be in the same town, +there was a strong desire among the people to hear them discuss public +questions. The proposition irritated Judge Douglas, who, with his usual +arrogance, inquired,-- + +"What does Lincoln represent in this campaign? Is he an abolitionist or +a Whig?" + +The committee replied that Lincoln was a Whig, whereupon Douglas +dismissed the subject in his pompous way, saying,-- + +"Oh, yes, I am now in the region of the Old Line Whig. When I am in +Northern Illinois I am assailed by an abolitionist, when I get to the +centre I am attacked by an Old Line Whig, when I go to Southern Illinois +I am beset by an Anti-Nebraska Democrat. It looks to me like dodging a +man all over the State. If Mr. Lincoln wants to make a speech he had +better get a crowd of his own, for I most respectfully decline to hold a +discussion with him." + +Lincoln calmly ignored this assumption of superiority at the time, but +never failed to punish Mr. Douglas for it when they met upon the stump, +and, according to the testimony of their contemporaries, he was equal to +his able and adroit opponent from the beginning of their rivalry either +in the court-room, or in a rough-and-tumble debate, or in the serious +political discussion of great political questions. Only one of Lincoln's +speeches of this period of his life is preserved. That is an address +delivered at a sort of oratorical tournament at Springfield. There was +such a demand for it that a few days after its delivery he wrote out as +much as he could remember and the Whig managers printed it in pamphlet +form as a campaign document; but it was the last time he indulged in +the old-fashioned flights of eloquence. From that hour the topics he +discussed demanded his serious attention and his closest argument, and +he spoke to convince, not to excite admiration or merely to stir the +emotions of his audiences. + +In 1854 the moral sense of the nation was shocked by the repeal of +what is called "The Missouri Compromise." That was a law passed in +1820 for the admission of the Territory of Missouri to the Union as +a slave State, upon a condition that slavery should not go north of +its northern boundary, latitude 36° 30'. Lincoln shared the national +indignation. Douglas, then in the United States Senate, was one of the +advocates of the repeal, and his powerful influence in Congress made +it possible. As soon as the action of Congress was announced, the +entire country was plunged into a discussion of the question on the +platform, in the pulpit, in the press, in the debating societies, by the +firesides, at the corner groceries, at the post-office, and wherever +people met together. Lincoln took no public part in the controversy for +several months, but during the interval studied the question in its +moral, historical, and constitutional bearings, and while the Democrats +accused him of "mousing around" the libraries of the State-House, he was +preparing himself for a controversy which he knew was sure to come. + +That fall (1854) Richard Yates was up for Congress and Lincoln took +the stump in his behalf. In the mean time Mr. Douglas was speaking in +other sections of the State, but came to Springfield to attend the State +Agricultural Fair, and, being a United States Senator and a political +idol, was of course a great attraction. He made a speech justifying +the action of Congress, and, by common impulse, the opponents of the +repeal called upon Lincoln to answer him. There is no doubt of the zeal +and ardor with which he accepted the invitation, and he spoke for four +hours, as one of his friends testifies, "in a most happy and pleasant +style, and was received with abundant applause." At times he made +statements which brought Senator Douglas to his feet, and their passages +at arms created much excitement and enthusiasm. It was evident that the +force of Lincoln's argument surprised and disconcerted Mr. Douglas, for +he insisted upon making a two-hours' rejoinder, which of itself was a +confession of his defeat. + +Lincoln's triumph on this occasion placed him at the head of the +political debaters of the State, and, in order that Mr. Douglas might +have another chance to retrieve himself, they met again twelve days +later at Peoria. Lincoln yielded to Douglas the advantage of the opening +and closing speeches, explaining that he did so from selfish motives, +because he wanted to hold the Democratic portion of the audience through +his own speech. At the request of the Whig leaders and politicians in +other parts of the State who had not been able to hear the discussion, +Mr. Lincoln wrote out his speech from memory and we have it in full. It +was by far the ablest and most profound composition he had produced up +to that time, and even now, after the lapse of half a century, it is +recognized as a model of political argument. He here rose from the rank +of the politician to that of the statesman, and never fell below it in +his future addresses. Lincoln and Douglas were understood by themselves +as well as by the public to be contesting for a seat in the United +States Senate, and the latter was so alarmed by Lincoln's unexpected +manifestation of power that he sought an interview on the pretence of +friendship and persuaded him into an agreement that neither should +make any more speeches before the actual campaign began,--an agreement +violated by Douglas during the next week. + +Horace White, now editor of the _New York Evening Post_, says of the +speech just mentioned, "I was then in the employ of the _Chicago Evening +Journal_. I had been sent to Springfield to report the political +doings of State Fair week for that newspaper. Thus it came about that +I occupied a front seat in the Representatives' Hall, in the old +State-House, when Mr. Lincoln delivered the speech already described +in this volume. The impression made upon me by the orator was quite +overpowering. I had not heard much political speaking up to that time. +I have heard a great deal since. I have never heard anything since, +either by Mr. Lincoln, or by anybody, that I would put on a higher +plane of oratory. All the strings that play upon the human heart and +understanding were touched with masterly skill and force, while beyond +and above all skill was the overwhelming conviction pressed upon the +audience that the speaker himself was charged with an irresistible and +inspiring duty to his fellow-men. Having, since then, heard all the +great public speakers of this country subsequent to the period of Clay +and Webster, I award the palm to Mr. Lincoln as the one who, although +not first in all respects, would bring more men of doubtful or hostile +leanings around to his way of thinking by talking to them on a platform +than any other." + +The next occasion upon which Lincoln displayed unusual power as an +orator was the Bloomington Convention for the organization of the +Republican party early in 1856. Never was an audience more completely +electrified by human speech. The Convention, which was composed of +former members of all political parties had adopted the name Republican, +had taken extreme grounds against slavery, and had launched a new +political organization; but it contained many discordant, envious, and +hostile elements. Those who had watched the proceedings were anxious +and apprehensive of dissension and jealousy, and Lincoln, with his +acute political perceptions, realized the danger, perhaps, more keenly +than any other man in the assembly. He saw before him a group of +earnest, zealous, sincere men, willing to make tremendous sacrifices +and undertake Titanic tasks, but at the same time most of them clung +to their own theories and advocated their individual methods with a +tenacity that promised to defeat their common purpose. Therefore, when +he arose in response to the unanimous demand for a speech from the great +orator of Springfield, his soul was flooded with a desire and a purpose +to harmonize and amalgamate the patriotic emotions of his associates. He +realized that it was a crisis in the history of his country, and rose to +the full height of the occasion. + +Those who were present say that at first he spoke slowly, cautiously, +and in a monotone, but gradually his words grew in force and intensity +until he swept the discordant souls of the assembly together and his +hearers "arose from their chairs with pale faces and quivering lips and +pressed unconsciously towards him." His influence was irresistible. +Even the trained reporters, accustomed to witness the most touching and +impressive scenes with the indifference of their profession, dropped +their pencils, and what was perhaps the greatest speech of Lincoln's +entire career was unreported. Joseph Medill, afterwards editor of the +_Chicago Tribune_, who was then a reporter for that paper, says,-- + +"I did make a few paragraphs of what Lincoln said in the first eight +or ten minutes, but I became so absorbed in his magnetic oratory that +I forgot myself and ceased to take notes. I well remember that after +Lincoln sat down, and calm had succeeded the tempest, I waked out of a +sort of hypnotic trance, and then thought of my report to the _Tribune_. +It was some sort of satisfaction to find that I had not been 'scooped,' +as all the newspaper men present had been equally carried away by the +excitement caused by the wonderful oration and had made no report or +sketch of the speech." + +But every reporter and editor went home bursting with enthusiasm, and +while none of them could remember it entire, fragments of "Lincoln's +Lost Speech," as it was called, floated through the entire press of the +United States. No one was more deeply moved than Lincoln himself, and, +although continually appealed to by his political associates and the +newspapers, he admitted his inability to reproduce his words or even his +thoughts after the inspiration under which he had spoken expired. But +his purpose was accomplished. Those who assumed the name "Republicans" +were thereafter animated by a single purpose and resolution. + +As in former campaigns, Lincoln was placed upon the electoral ticket and +made fifty or more speeches in Illinois and the adjoining States for +Frémont in his contest against Buchanan for the Presidency in 1856. + +Soon after the inauguration of President Buchanan, the Supreme Court +of the United States delivered an opinion in that famous trial known +as the Dred Scott case which created intense excitement. A slave of +that name sued for his freedom on the ground that his master had taken +him from Missouri to reside in the State of Illinois and the Territory +of Wisconsin, where slavery was prohibited by law. Judge Taney and a +majority of the Supreme bench, after hearing the case argued twice by +eminent counsel, decided that a negro was not entitled to bring suit in +a court. In addition, it indirectly announced its opinion that under the +Constitution of the United States neither Congress nor a territorial +Legislature had any power to prohibit slavery within Federal territory. +The people of the North cried out in protest, the people of the South +defended the decision as just and righteous altogether, and then began +a series of discussion which ended only with the emancipation of the +bondsmen. + +Senator Douglas was left in a curious situation, for he had justified +the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, which prohibited the extension +of slavery, on the ground of popular sovereignty, holding that under +the Constitution each Territory was authorized to decide the question +for itself, and in defence of that position he had made many speeches. +It became necessary, therefore, for him to reconcile it with the +decision of the Supreme Court, which he attempted to do by an able +argument at Springfield shortly after. It was the first presentation +of his ingenious and celebrated "Freeport Doctrine," which, briefly, +was that while the Supreme Court was correct in its interpretation of +the Constitution, a Territory cannot be divested of its right to adopt +and enforce appropriate police regulations. As such regulations could +only be made by Legislatures elected by a popular vote, he argued, the +great principle of popular sovereignty and self-government was not only +sustained, but was even more firmly established by the Dred Scott +decision. + +This argument naturally excited the interest of Lincoln, who answered it +in an elaborate speech two weeks later, and thus forced the issue into +the campaign for the election of a Legislature which was to choose the +successor of Mr. Douglas in the United States Senate. Douglas was in an +unpleasant predicament. He was compelled to choose between the favor +and support of the Buchanan administration and that of the people of +Illinois. As the latter alternative was necessary to his public career, +he adopted it, and when Congress met he attacked the administration +with his usual force and ability. His course was approved by a large +majority of the Democratic party in Illinois, but stimulated the hope +of the Republicans of that State that they might defeat him and elect +Abraham Lincoln, who was entitled to the honor because he had yielded +his priority of claim to Lyman Trumbull in 1854 and was now recognized +as the foremost champion of the new Republican party in Illinois. +Therefore, when the Republican State Convention met in June, 1858, it +adopted by acclamation a resolution declaring that he was the first and +only choice of the Republican party for the United States Senate. + +Mr. Herndon, Lincoln's law partner, says,-- + +"He had been led all along to expect his nomination to the Senate, and +with that in view had been earnestly and quietly at work preparing +a speech in acknowledgment of the honor about to be conferred upon +him. This speech he wrote on stray envelopes and scraps of paper, as +ideas suggested themselves, putting them into that miscellaneous and +convenient receptacle, his hat. As the Convention drew near he copied +the whole on connected sheets, carefully revising every line and +sentence, and fastened them together for reference during the delivery +of the speech and for publication. A few weeks before the Convention, +when he was at work on the speech, I remember that Jesse K. Dubois, +who was Auditor of the State, came into the office and, seeing Lincoln +busily writing, inquired what he was doing or what he was writing. +Lincoln answered gruffly, 'It's something you may see or hear some time, +but I'll not let you see it now.' After the Convention Lincoln met him +on the street and said, 'Dubois, I can tell you what I was doing the +other day when you came into my office. I was writing that speech, and I +knew if I read the passage about 'the house divided against itself' to +you, you would ask me to change or modify it, and that I was determined +not to do. I had willed it so, and was willing, if necessary, to perish +with it.' + +"Before delivering his speech he invited a dozen or so of his friends to +the library of the State-House, where he read and submitted it to them. +After the reading he asked each man for his opinion. Some condemned +and no one endorsed it. Having patiently listened to these various +criticisms from his friends, all of which, with a single exception, +were adverse, he rose from his chair, and after alluding to the careful +study and intense thought he had given the question, he answered all +their objections substantially as follows: 'Friends, this thing has been +retarded long enough. The time has come when those sentiments should be +uttered; and if it is decreed that I should go down because of this +speech, then let me go down linked to the truth--let me die in the +advocacy of what is just and right.'" + +After completing its routine work, the Convention adjourned to meet +in the Hall of Representatives at Springfield that evening to hear +Lincoln's speech, and it was anticipated with intense interest and +anxiety because the gentlemen whom Lincoln had taken into his confidence +had let it be known that he was to take a very radical position. It was +the most carefully prepared speech he ever made, although he delivered +it from memory, and after a few opening sentences he uttered this bold +and significant declaration which evoked an enthusiastic response from +all of the free States of the Union: + +"'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 until it shall become alike lawful in all the +States, old as well as new, North as well as South." + +Shortly after this event, Senator Douglas returned from Washington and +took the stump, attracting immense crowds and exciting great enthusiasm. +His speeches, however, were evasive and contained much special pleading +as well as misstatement. Lincoln watched him closely, and, recognizing +that Douglas was fighting unfairly, decided to bring him to terms. Hence +he addressed him a challenge to joint debate. Judge Weldon, who was +living in Illinois at the time, tells the story as follows: + +"We wrote Mr. Lincoln he had better come and hear Douglas speak at +Clinton, which he did. There was an immense crowd for a country town, +and on the way to the grove where the speaking took place, Mr. Lincoln +said to me,-- + +"'Weldon, I have challenged Judge Douglas for a discussion. What do you +think of it?' + +"I replied, 'I approve your judgment in whatever you do.' + +"We went over a little to one side of the crowd and sat down on one of +the boards laid on logs for seats. Douglas spoke over three hours to an +immense audience, and made one of the most forcible speeches I ever +heard. As he went on he referred to Lincoln's Springfield speech, and +became very personal, and I said to Mr. Lincoln,-- + +"'Do you suppose Douglas knows you are here?' + +"'Well,' he replied, 'I don't know whether he does or not; he has not +looked in this direction. But I reckon some of the boys have told him I +am here.' + +"When Douglas finished there was a tremendous shout for 'Lincoln,' which +kept on with no let up. Mr. Lincoln said,-- + +"'What shall I do? I can't speak here.' + +"'You will have to say something,' I replied. 'Suppose you get up and +say that you will speak this evening at the court-house yard.' + +"Mr. Lincoln mounted the board seat, and as the crowd got sight of his +tall form the shouts and cheers were wild. As soon as he could make +himself heard he said,-- + +"'This is Judge Douglas's meeting. I have no right, therefore, no +disposition to interfere. But if you ladies and gentlemen desire to hear +what I have to say on these questions, and will meet me this evening at +the court-house yard, east side, I will try to answer this gentleman.' + +"Lincoln made a speech that evening which in volume did not equal the +speech of Douglas, but for sound and cogent argument was the superior. +Douglas had charged Mr. Lincoln with being in favor of negro equality, +which was then the bugbear of politics. In his speech that evening Mr. +Lincoln said,-- + +"'Judge Douglas charges me with being in favor of negro equality, and +to the extent that he charges I am not guilty. I am guilty of hating +servitude and loving freedom; and while I would not carry the equality +of the races to the extent charged by my adversary, I am happy to +confess before you that in some things the black man is the equal of +the white man. In the right to eat the bread his own hands have earned +he is the equal of Judge Douglas or any other living man.' + +"When Lincoln spoke the last sentence he had lifted himself to his +full height, and as he reached his hands towards the stars of that +still night, then and there fell from his lips one of the most sublime +expressions of American statesmanship. The effect was grand, the cheers +tremendous." + +Senator Douglas accepted the challenge, and the famous debate was +arranged which for public interest and forensic ability has never +been surpassed or equalled in any country. Seven dates and towns were +selected, and the debaters were placed on an equal footing by an +arrangement that alternately one should speak an hour in opening and the +other an hour and a half in reply, the first to have half an hour in +closing. + +In addition to his seven meetings with Douglas, Lincoln made thirty-one +other set speeches arranged by the State Central Committee during the +campaign, besides many brief addresses not previously advertised. +Sometimes he spoke several times a day, and was exposed to a great +deal of discomfort and fatigue which none but a man of his physical +strength could have endured. He paid his own expenses, travelled by +ordinary cars and freight trains, and often was obliged to drive in +wagons or to ride horseback to keep his engagements. Mr. Douglas enjoyed +a great advantage. He had been in the Senate several years and had +influential friends holding government offices all over the State, who +had time and money to arrange receptions and entertainments and lost no +opportunity to lionize him. Every Federal official, for weeks before +the joint meetings, gave his attention to the arrangements and was +held responsible by Mr. Douglas for securing a large and enthusiastic +Democratic audience. He was accompanied by his wife, a beautiful +and brilliant woman, and by a committee of the most distinguished +Democratic politicians in the State. He travelled in a special train +furnished by the Illinois Central Railroad, and in charge of Captain +George B. McClellan, who was then its general manager. Every employee +of that road was a partisan of Douglas, voluntary or involuntary, and +several times Lincoln was compelled to suffer unnecessary delay and +inconvenience because of their partisanship. Many a time when he was +trying to get a little sleep in a wayside station, while waiting for +a connection, or lay in a bunk in the caboose of a freight train, the +special car of his opponent, decorated with flags and lithographs, would +go sweeping by. + +A gentleman who accompanied him during the canvass relates this: +"Lincoln and I were at the Centralia Agricultural Fair the day after +the debate at Jonesboro. Night came on and we were tired, having been +on the fair grounds all day. We were to go north on the Illinois +Central Railroad. The train was due at midnight, and the depot was full +of people. I managed to get a chair for Lincoln in the office of the +superintendent of the railroad, but small politicians would intrude so +that he could scarcely get a moment's sleep. The train came and was +filled instantly. I got a seat near the door for Lincoln and myself. +He was worn out, and had to meet Douglas the next day at Charleston. +An empty car, called a saloon car, was hitched on to the rear of the +train and locked up. I asked the conductor, who knew Lincoln and myself +well,--we were both attorneys of the road,--if Lincoln could not ride +in that car; that he was exhausted and needed rest; but the conductor +refused. I afterwards got him in by stratagem." + +The meetings were attended by enormous crowds. People came twenty and +thirty miles in carriages and wagons, devoting two or three days to +the excursion, and the local excitement was intense. The two parties +endeavored to excel each other in processions, music, fireworks, and +novel features. At each town salutes would be fired and an address +of welcome delivered by some prominent citizen. Sometimes committees +of ladies would present the speakers bouquets of flowers, and on one +occasion they wound garlands around the lank and awkward form of the +future President, much to his embarrassment and dismay. After a debate +at Ottawa, the enthusiasm was so great that a party of his admirers +carried him on their shoulders from the meeting to the house where he +was being entertained. + +Lincoln did not underrate the ability or the advantages of his opponent. +He realized fully the serious character and importance of the contest +in which he was engaged. He was aware that the entire country was +watching him with anxious eyes, and that he was addressing not only the +multitudes that gathered around the platforms, but the entire population +of the United States. He knew also that whatever he might say would have +a permanent effect upon the fortunes of the Republican party, then only +two years old, not to speak of his own personal destiny. + +He knew Douglas as well and perhaps better than Douglas knew himself. +They had been acquainted from boyhood, and their lives had run in +parallels in a most remarkable manner. They had met at the threshold of +their political careers. They had served together in the Legislature +twenty-three years before. They were admitted to practice at the bar +of the Supreme Court together. They had been rivals for the hand of +the same lady, as related in a previous chapter. They served together +in Congress. They had met repeatedly, and had measured strength in the +Legislature, in the courts, and on the platform. They had always been +upon outwardly friendly terms, but each knew that the other disliked him +intensely. It is probable that his inquisitive nature and analytical +habits gave Lincoln a better knowledge of the strong and weak points of +his antagonist. He was very thorough in whatever he undertook, while +Douglas was more confident and careless in his preparation. Lincoln +knew that in the whole field of American politics there was no man so +adroit or aggressive or gifted in the tricks and strategy of debate, +and in this contest Douglas showed his fullest power. Lincoln's talents +and habits were entirely different. He indulged in no tricks and made +no effort to dazzle audiences. His fairness of statement and generosity +were well known and understood by Mr. Douglas, who took advantage +of them. His high standard of political morals and his devotion to +constitutional principles were equally well understood, and Douglas took +advantage of those also. + +Douglas electrified the crowds with his eloquence and charmed them +by his grace and dexterity. He was forcible in statement, aggressive +in assertion, and treated Lincoln in a patronizing and contemptuous +manner; but Lincoln's simplicity of statement, his homely illustrations, +quaint originality, and convincing logic were often more forcible than +the lofty flights of eloquence in which his opponent indulged. He was +more careful and accurate in his statement of facts, and his knowledge +of the details of history and the legislation of Congress was a great +advantage, for he convicted Douglas of misrepresentation again and +again, although it seemed to have had no effect whatever upon the +confidence of the latter's supporters. As usual, Mr. Lincoln kept close +to the subject and spoke to convince and not to amuse or entertain. When +one of his friends suggested that his reputation for story-telling was +being destroyed by the seriousness of his speeches, Lincoln replied that +this was no time for jokes. + +One of the gentlemen who accompanied Mr. Lincoln has given us the +following description of his appearance and manner of speaking: "When +standing erect he was six feet four inches high. He was lean in flesh +and ungainly in figure: thin through the chest, and hence slightly +stoop-shouldered. When he arose to address courts, juries, or crowds +of people his body inclined forward to a slight degree. At first he +was very awkward, and it seemed a real labor to adjust himself to the +surroundings. He struggled for a time under a feeling of apparent +diffidence and sensitiveness, and these only added to his awkwardness. +When he began speaking, his voice was shrill, piping, and unpleasant. +His manner, his attitude, his dark, yellow face wrinkled and dry, +his oddity of pose, his diffident movements,--everything seemed to +be against him, but only for a short time. After having arisen, he +generally placed his hands behind him, the back of his left hand +in the palm of his right, the thumb and fingers of his right hand +clasped around the left arm at the wrist. For a few moments he played +the combination of awkwardness, sensitiveness, and diffidence. As he +proceeded he became somewhat animated, and to keep in harmony with his +growing warmth his hands relaxed their grasp and fell to his side. +Presently he clasped them in front of him, interlocking his fingers, +one thumb meanwhile chasing the other. His speech now requiring more +emphatic utterance, his fingers unlocked and his hands fell apart. +His left arm was thrown behind, the back of his hand resting against +his body, his right hand seeking his side. By this time he had gained +sufficient composure, and his real speech began. He did not gesticulate +as much with his hands as he did with his head. He used the latter +frequently, throwing it with vim this way and that. This movement was a +significant one when he sought to enforce his statement. It sometimes +came with a quick jerk, as if throwing off electric sparks into +combustible material. He never sawed the air nor rent space into tatters +and rags, as some orators do. He never acted for stage effect. He was +cool, considerate, reflective--in time self-possessed and self-reliant. +His style was clear, terse, and compact. In argument he was logical, +demonstrative, and fair. He was careless of his dress, and his clothes, +instead of fitting, as did the garments of Douglas on the latter's +well-rounded form, hung loosely on his giant frame. + +"As he moved along in his speech he became freer and less uneasy in his +movements; to that extent he was graceful. He had a perfect naturalness, +a strong individuality; and to that extent he was dignified. There was +a world of meaning and emphasis in the long, bony finger of his right +hand as he dotted the ideas on the minds of his hearers. Sometimes, +to express joy or pleasure, he would raise both hands at an angle of +about fifty degrees, the palms upward. If the sentiment was one of +detestation,--denunciation of slavery, for example,--both arms, thrown +upward and the fists clinched, swept through the air, and he expressed +an execration that was truly sublime. This was one of his most effective +gestures, and signified most vividly a fixed determination to drag down +the object of his hatred and trample it in the dust. He always stood +squarely on his feet, toe even with toe; that is, he never put one +foot before the other. He neither touched nor leaned on anything for +support. He made but few changes in his positions and attitudes. He +never ranted, never walked backward and forward on the platform. To ease +his arms he frequently caught hold, with his left hand, of the lapel of +his coat, keeping his thumb upright and leaving his right hand free to +gesticulate. The designer of the monument erected in Chicago has happily +caught him in just this attitude. As he proceeded with his speech the +exercise of his vocal organs altered somewhat the tone of his voice. It +lost in a measure its former acute and shrilling pitch, and mellowed +into a more harmonious and pleasant sound. His form expanded, and, +notwithstanding the sunken breast, he rose up a splendid and imposing +figure. His little gray eyes flashed in a face aglow with the fire of +his profound thoughts, and his uneasy movements and diffident manner +sunk themselves beneath the wave of righteous indignation that came +sweeping over him. Such was Lincoln the orator." + +Mr. Lincoln's own impressions were expressed to a friend as follows: +"Senator Douglas is of world-wide renown," he said. "All of the anxious +politicians of his party, or who have been of his party for years +past, have been looking upon him as certainly at no distant day to be +President of the United States. They have seen in his round, jolly, +fruitful face post-offices, land-offices, marshalships, and Cabinet +appointments, chargé-ships and foreign missions, bursting and sprouting +out in wonderful exuberance ready to be laid hold of by their greedy +hands. And as they have been gazing upon this attractive picture so +long, they cannot, in the little distraction that has taken place in +the party, bring themselves to give up the charming hope; but with +greedier anxiety they rush about him, sustain him, and give him marches, +triumphal entries, and receptions beyond what even in the days of +highest prosperity they could have brought about in his favor. On the +contrary, nobody has ever expected me to be President. In my poor, lean, +lank face nobody has ever seen that any cabbages were sprouting out. +These are disadvantages, all taken together, that the Republicans labor +under. We have to fight this battle upon principle, and principle alone." + +As a rule, when both occupied the same platform their manners and +language were very courteous; but occasionally, when speaking elsewhere, +Mr. Douglas lost his temper and indulged in personal attacks upon his +opponent. Mr. Horace White, who reported the debate for one of the +Chicago papers, describes one of these occasions as follows; + +"We arrived at Havana while Douglas was still speaking. I strolled up to +the Douglas meeting just before its conclusion, and there met a friend +who had heard the whole. He was in a state of high indignation. He said +that Douglas must certainly have been drinking before he came on the +platform, because he had called Lincoln 'a liar, a coward, a wretch, +and a sneak.'" When Mr. Lincoln replied, on the following day, he took +notice of Douglas's hard words in this way: + +"I am informed that my distinguished friend yesterday became a little +excited, nervous(?) perhaps, and that he said something about fighting, +as though looking to a personal encounter between himself and me. Did +anybody in this audience hear him use such language? ['Yes, yes.'] I am +informed, further, that somebody in his audience, rather more excited +or nervous than himself, took off his coat and offered to take the job +off Judge Douglas's hands and fight Lincoln himself. Did anybody here +witness that warlike proceeding? [Laughter and cries of 'Yes.'] Well, I +merely desire to say that I shall fight neither Judge Douglas nor his +second. I shall not do this for two reasons, which I will explain. In +the first place, a fight would prove nothing which is in issue in this +election. It might establish that Judge Douglas is a more muscular man +than myself, or it might show that I am a more muscular man than Judge +Douglas; but that subject is not referred to in the Cincinnati platform, +nor in either of the Springfield platforms. Neither result would prove +him right nor me wrong. And so of the gentleman who offered to do his +fighting for him. If my fighting Judge Douglas would not prove anything, +it would certainly prove nothing for me to fight his bottle-holder. My +second reason for not having a personal encounter with Judge Douglas is +that I don't believe he wants it himself. He and I are about the best +friends in the world, and when we get together he would no more think of +fighting me than of fighting his wife. Therefore when the Judge talked +about fighting he was not giving vent to any ill-feeling of his own, but +was merely trying to excite--well, let us say enthusiasm against me on +the part of his audience. And, as I find he was tolerably successful in +this, we will call it quits." + +The crisis of the debate came at Freeport on August 27, 1858, when +Lincoln proposed a series of questions for Douglas to answer. At the +previous meeting at Ottawa, Douglas propounded a series of questions for +Lincoln which were designed to commit him to strong abolition doctrines. +He asked whether Lincoln was pledged to the repeal of the fugitive-slave +law, to resist the admission of any more slave States, to the abolition +of slavery in the District of Columbia, to the prohibition of the +slave-trade between the States, to the prohibition of slavery in the +Territories, and to oppose the acquisition of any new Territory unless +slavery was prohibited therein. Lincoln replied with great candor that +he was pledged to no proposition except the prohibition of slavery in +all the Territories of the United States. It was then that he turned +upon Douglas with four questions, the second of which was laden with the +most tremendous consequences not only to the debaters personally, but to +the entire nation and the cause of human freedom: + +"Can the people of a United States Territory in any lawful way, against +the wish of any citizen of the United States, exclude slavery from its +limits prior to the formation of a State Constitution?" + +In proposing this question Lincoln rejected the advice and disregarded +the entreaties of his wisest friends and most devoted adherents, for +they predicted that it would give Douglas an opportunity to square +himself with the people of Illinois and to secure his re-election to the +United States Senate. Lincoln replied,-- + +"I am killing larger game; if Douglas answers he can never be President, +and the battle of 1860 is worth a hundred of this." + +This prediction, which was afterwards fulfilled, shows Lincoln's +remarkable political foresight perhaps better than any single incident +in his career. A private letter, written more than a month before, shows +that Lincoln had long and carefully studied the probable consequences +of the answer that Douglas must make to such an interrogatory, and its +fatal effect upon his political fortunes; for, even then, he foresaw +that Douglas was to be the Democratic candidate for the Presidency of +the United States, and that his reply would deprive him of the support +of more than half of the members of that party. With extraordinary +sagacity, he pointed out that Douglas would eagerly seize upon such an +opportunity as this interrogatory afforded to place himself right before +his constituents in Illinois, and thus would recover his popularity and +insure his re-election to the Senate. And he was confident that Douglas +was so shortsighted as to do this and then trust to his cunning to set +himself right afterwards with the people of the slave States, which +Lincoln believed would be impossible. But even he did not realize the +tremendous and far-reaching results of his inquiry, for the answer which +Douglas gave split the Democratic party into irreconcilable factions, +and enabled the Republican minority to select the President of the +United States at the most critical period of the nation's history, and +thus to save the Union. + +"You will have hard work to get him [Douglas] directly to the point +whether a territorial Legislature has or has not the power to exclude +slavery," said Lincoln to a friend; "but if you succeed in bringing +him to it, though he will be compelled to say it possesses no such +power, he will instantly take the ground that slavery cannot exist in +the Territories unless the people desire it, and so give it protection +by territorial legislation. If this offends the South, he will let it +offend them, as, at all events, he means to hold on to his chances in +Illinois." And that was exactly what Douglas did do. He repeated the +sophism he had advanced in his speech at Springfield on the Dred Scott +decision the previous year, and said,-- + +"It matters not what way the Supreme Court may hereafter decide as to +the abstract question whether slavery may or may not go into a Territory +under the Constitution; the people have the lawful means to introduce +it or exclude it as they please, for the reason that slavery cannot +exist a day or an hour anywhere unless it is supported by local police +regulations. Those police regulations can only be established by the +local Legislature, and if the people are opposed to slavery, they will +elect representatives to that body who will, by unfriendly legislation, +effectually prevent the introduction of it into their midst. If, on the +contrary, they are for it, their legislation will favor its extension." + +The supporters of Douglas shouted with satisfaction at the clever way in +which he had escaped the trap Lincoln had set for him. His re-election +to the Senate was practically secured, and Lincoln had been defeated +at his own game. Lincoln's friends were correspondingly depressed, and +in their despondency admitted that their favorite had no longer any +prospect of election; that he had thrown his own chances away. + +Mr. Douglas was re-elected; but when Congress met in December, and he +was removed by the Democratic caucus from the chairmanship of the Senate +Committee on Territories, which he had held for eleven years, because he +had betrayed the slave-holders in his answer to Lincoln, at Freeport, +the Republicans of Illinois began to realize the political sagacity of +their leader. Then when, for the same reason, the Democratic National +Convention at Charleston was broken up by the Southern delegates rather +than accept Douglas as the Democratic candidate for the Presidency, +Lincoln's reputation as a political prophet was established. + +In 1861 Lincoln asked Joseph Medill, of the _Chicago Tribune_, if he +recalled his opposition to putting that fatal question to Douglas. + +"Yes," replied Medill, "I recollect it very well. It lost Douglas the +Presidency, but it lost you the Senatorship." + +"Yes," said Mr. Lincoln. "And I have won the place he was playing for." + +Douglas was the regular Democratic candidate for President against +Lincoln in 1860, but was opposed by the Southern faction. At Lincoln's +inauguration he appeared with his usual dignity, and stood beside +his rival upon the platform. As a member of the Senate he criticised +Lincoln's policy until hostilities actually broke out, when his +patriotism overcame his partisanship and he became an earnest supporter +of the government. On the evening of April 14, the day of the fall of +Sumter, he called at the White House by appointment and spent two hours +alone with the President. Neither ever revealed what occurred at the +interview, but it was not necessary. From that hour until his death on +June 3 following he stood by Lincoln's side in defence of the Union. His +last public utterance was a patriotic speech before the Legislature on +April 25, urging the people of Illinois to stand by the flag. His last +interview with Lincoln occurred a few days previous. + +"Douglas came rushing in," said the President afterwards, "and said he +had just got a telegraph message from some friends in Illinois urging +him to come out and help set things right in Egypt, and that he would go +or stay in Washington, just where I thought he could do the most good. +I told him to do as he chose, but that he would probably do best in +Illinois. Upon that he shook hands with me and hurried away to catch the +next train. I never saw him again." + +The country at large had watched the debate between Lincoln and Douglas +with profound interest, and thinking men of both parties realized that +a new leader as well as a great orator and statesman had appeared +upon the horizon. Lincoln was overwhelmed with congratulations and +invitations came from every direction to make speeches and deliver +lectures, but most of them were declined. He spoke twice in Ohio, at +Columbus and at Cincinnati, where he excited great enthusiasm and left +so deep an impression that the State Committee published his speeches +and the debate with Douglas as a campaign document. In December he went +to Kansas and delivered five lectures, and in the spring of 1860 he +received an invitation from a young men's association in Brooklyn to +deliver a lecture in Plymouth Church, of which Henry Ward Beecher was +then pastor. They offered a fee of two hundred dollars which was very +acceptable because his practice had been sadly neglected and he was +feeling very poor. At the same time his natural diffidence made him +reluctant to appear before an Eastern audience, and when he arrived in +New York and discovered that he was to speak in Cooper Institute instead +of in Brooklyn, he was fearful that he had made a mistake. Henry C. +Bowen invited him to be his guest in Brooklyn, but he declined, saying +that he was afraid his lecture would not be a success and he must give +his whole time to revising it. He was afraid his audience would be +disappointed and the young men who had kindly invited him would suffer +financially. + +[Illustration: Copyright, 1896, by S. S. McClure Co. + +ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN 1861 + +Copied from the original in the possession of Frank A. Brown, Esq., +Minneapolis, Minnesota] + +This was perhaps the first time Lincoln ever misjudged his situation. +His intuitions as well as his reasoning powers were usually very +accurate, but in this case they were far out of the way, for when he +arrived at Cooper Institute he was amazed to find the immense hall +crowded with the representatives of the culture, commerce, finance, and +industry of the metropolis. It was a notable audience in many respects. +He was escorted to the platform by Horace Greeley and David Dudley +Field, and introduced by William Cullen Bryant. Every man of importance +in New York City was present, many of them, no doubt, attracted by +curiosity to see and hear the homely lawyer from the prairies of whom +they had read in the newspapers. But he captivated his audience from +the start. Every hearer was impressed not only with his convincing +arguments, but with his dignity and eloquence. + +Lincoln began his address in a low monotone, and was evidently +embarrassed, but the respectful attention with which he was heard gave +him confidence, his tones rose in strength and gained in clearness, and +his awkward manner disappeared, as it always did when his consciousness +was lost in the earnest presentation of his thoughts. His style was so +simple, his language so unstudied and terse, his illustration so quaint +and apt, his reasoning so concise and compact that his critics asked +themselves and one another, as Henry M. Field says, "What manner of +man is this lawyer from the West who has set forth these truths as we +have never heard them before?" Lincoln made no effort at display. He +estimated the intelligence of his hearers accurately, and introduced +neither anecdote nor witticism, nor is there a figure of speech or +a poetic fancy in the first half of his oration. There was no more +sentiment than he would have introduced in a legal argument before the +Supreme Court, but he nevertheless arrested and held the attention of +his hearers, and they gave abundant testimony that they recognized +him as a master. No man ever made a more profound impression upon an +American audience. His speech was published in full in four of the +morning papers and extracts were copied widely throughout the country. + +The Honorable Joseph H. Choate, ambassador to Great Britain, himself one +of the most eminent of American orators, in an address at Edinburgh in +1900, has given us the following graphic description of Lincoln's Cooper +Institute speech: + +"It is now forty years since I first saw and heard Abraham Lincoln, but +the impression which he left on my mind is ineffaceable. After his great +successes in the West he came to New York to make a political address. +He appeared in every sense of the word like one of the plain people +among whom he loved to be counted. At first sight there was nothing +impressive or imposing about him, except that his great stature singled +him out from the crowd; his clothes hung awkwardly on his giant frame, +his face was of a dark pallor, without the slightest tinge of color; his +seamed and rugged features bore the furrows of hardship and struggle; +his deep-set eyes looked sad and anxious; his countenance in repose gave +little evidence of that brainpower which had raised him from the lowest +to the highest station among his countrymen. As he talked to me before +the meeting he seemed ill at ease, with that sort of apprehension which +a young man might feel before presenting himself to a new and strange +audience whose critical disposition he dreaded. + +"It was a great audience, including all the noted men--all the learned +and cultured--of his party in New York: editors, clergymen, statesmen, +lawyers, merchants, critics. They were all very curious to hear him. +His fame as a powerful speaker had preceded him, and exaggerated rumor +of his wit had reached the East. When Mr. Bryant presented him on the +high platform of the Cooper Institute a vast sea of eager, upturned +faces greeted him, full of intense curiosity to see what this rude +child of the people was like. He was equal to the occasion. When he +spoke he was transformed; his eye kindled, his voice rang, his face +shone and seemed to light up the whole assembly. For an hour and a half +he held his audience in the hollow of his hand. His style of speech +and manner of delivery were severely simple. What Lowell called 'the +grand simplicities of the Bible,' with which he was so familiar, were +reflected in his discourse. With no attempt at ornament or rhetoric, +without parade or pretence, he spoke straight to the point. If any +came expecting the turgid eloquence or the ribaldry of the frontier, +they must have been startled at the earnest and sincere purity of his +utterances. It was marvellous to see how this untutored man, by mere +self-discipline and the chastening of his own spirit, had outgrown all +meretricious arts, and found his way to the grandeur and strength of +absolute simplicity. + +"He spoke upon the theme which he had mastered so thoroughly. He +demonstrated by copious historical proofs and masterly logic that the +fathers who created the Constitution in order to form a more perfect +union, to establish justice, and to secure the blessings of liberty +to themselves and their posterity, intended to empower the Federal +government to exclude slavery from the Territories. In the kindliest +spirit, he protested against the avowed threat of the Southern States to +destroy the Union if, in order to secure freedom in those vast regions, +out of which future States were to be carved, a Republican President +were elected. He closed with an appeal to his audience, spoken with all +the fire of his aroused and kindling conscience, with a full outpouring +of his love of justice and liberty, to maintain their political purpose +on that lofty and unassailable issue of right and wrong which alone +could justify it, and not to be intimidated from their high resolve and +sacred duty by any threats of destruction to the government or of ruin +to themselves. He concluded with this telling sentence, which drove the +whole argument home to all our hearts: + +"'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.' + +"That night the great hall, and the next day the whole city, rang +with delighted applause and congratulations, and he who had come as a +stranger departed with the laurels of a great triumph." + +While in New York he visited the Five Points House of Industry, and the +following account of what occurred is given by a teacher there: "Our +Sunday-School in the Five Points was assembled, one Sabbath morning, +when I noticed a tall, remarkable man enter the room and take a seat +among us. He listened with fixed attention to our exercises, and his +countenance expressed such genuine interest that I approached him and +suggested that he might be willing to say something to the children. +He accepted the invitation with evident pleasure, and, coming forward, +began a simple address which at once fascinated every little hearer and +hushed the room into silence. His language was strikingly beautiful and +his tones musical with the intensest feeling. The little faces around +him would droop into sad conviction as he uttered the sentences of +warning, and would brighten into sunshine as he spoke cheerful words +of promise. Once or twice he attempted to close his remarks, but the +imperative shouts of 'Go on!' 'Oh, do go on!' would compel him to +resume. As I looked upon the gaunt and sinewy frame of the stranger +and marked his powerful head and determined features, now touched into +softness by the impressions of the moment, I felt an irresistible +curiosity to learn something more about him, and when he was quietly +leaving the room I begged to know his name. He courteously replied,-- + +"'Abraham Lincoln, from Illinois.'" + +Lincoln received many invitations to speak in New England and delivered +addresses in all of the prominent cities, where he created the same +favorable impression and awakened the same popular enthusiasm. + +After his inauguration as President, Lincoln made no formal speeches +except his two inaugural addresses, but scarcely a week passed that he +did not deliver some pleasant little speech from the balcony of the +White House or at one of the military camps, and during his journey +to Washington he was especially happy in his treatment of the serious +questions which were troubling the public mind. + + + + +IV + +A PRAIRIE POLITICIAN + + +When Abraham Lincoln was twenty-two years old and a clerk in Denton +Offutt's store he offered himself to the voters of New Salem and +vicinity as a candidate for the Illinois Legislature. It was the year +that the Whigs held their first National Convention and nominated +Henry Clay as their candidate for President; and from that time, as +has been seen, Lincoln made politics as well as law a profession, and +participated actively in every campaign until he was elected President. + +In those days nominations for office were made by announcement and not +by conventions, and, according to custom, with thirteen other citizens +fired with similar ambition, Lincoln issued a circular or "handbill," +as it was familiarly called, setting forth in quaint and characteristic +candor his "sentiments with regard to local affairs." It was his +platform, and no utterance of his entire life is more interesting than +the few personal remarks which he addressed to his neighbors: + +"Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether it be true +or not, I can say, for one, that I have no other so great as that of +being truly esteemed of my fellow-men by rendering myself worthy of +their esteem. How far I shall succeed in gratifying this ambition is +yet to be developed. I am young, and unknown to many of you. I was +born, and have ever remained, in the most humble walks of life. I have +no wealthy or popular relations or friends to recommend me. My case +is thrown exclusively upon the independent voters of the county, and +if elected they will have conferred a favor upon me for which I shall +be unremitting in my labors to compensate. But if the good people in +their wisdom shall see fit to keep me in the background, I have been too +familiar with disappointments to be very much chagrined." + +It was an audacious act for a young man who had been in the county +only about nine months to aspire to the honor and responsibility of a +law-maker, but, compared with his neighbors, Lincoln's qualifications +were conspicuous. He could read and write, had a fair knowledge of +literature, had read two or three law-books, was a practical surveyor, +and by reason of his two journeys to New Orleans had seen a good +deal more of the world than any one in that neighborhood. But these +qualifications did not count for much in comparison with his ability +as a public speaker and his faculty of doing things which had already +made him a reputation throughout the county. Although his advantages +had been limited, they were superior to those enjoyed by three-fourths +of the young men in Sangamon County, and for education, experience, +and other qualifications he surpassed a majority of the members of +the Legislature. There were only a few men of culture and education +in that body. It was chiefly made up of illiterate pioneers who mixed +politics with farming and carried on their campaigns at camp-meetings, +horseraces, country stores, and taverns, and resorted to every +subterfuge that their shrewd minds could invent to secure votes. At the +same time they were generally honest, patriotic, and earnest for the +welfare of their constituents and their personal characters commanded +the esteem and confidence of the public. Among such men Lincoln's talent +for talking and writing, his knowledge of poetry and literature, and, +more than all, his genius as a story-teller excited admiration and +respect, and he was regarded as the most promising young man in the +neighborhood. His announcement "handbill" discussed the several topics +which at that time were being agitated, such as the improvement of the +Sangamon River. He related his experience with flat-boats, and declared +that by straightening the channel and clearing away the drift-wood +the stream could be made navigable. "The improvement of the Sangamon +River," he sagely remarked, "is an object much better suited to our +infant resources" than the construction of a railway, and, indeed, it +was fifteen years later that the first whistle of a locomotive was heard +in Illinois. He took broad grounds in favor of internal improvements, +advocated a law prohibiting money-loaners from charging exorbitant rates +of interest, and favored liberal appropriations for education. + +"For my part," he said, "I desire to see the time when education, and +by its means morality, sobriety, enterprise, and industry, shall become +much more general than at present, and should be gratified to have it in +my power to contribute something to the advancement of any measure which +might have a tendency to accelerate that happy period." + +Perhaps, if he could have made a thorough campaign and extended his +acquaintance and popularity throughout the county, he might have been +elected, but just a month after his announcement was published he went +off to the Black Hawk War (as is told in Chapter VI.) and did not +return until a few days before the election, so that his canvass was +limited. It was long enough, however, for him to make a record as a +man of moral courage and ability. Although the great majority of the +population were Democrats, he boldly declared himself a Whig, which must +have cost him many votes. National issues were not usually brought into +local politics, but the contest between Clay and Jackson was animated +and bitter; the Democrats were despotic and intolerant towards the +opposition, and were so much in the majority that a Whig had very little +consideration. Lincoln has left us a brief account of the campaign, in +which he says that he ran as "an avowed Clay man," and in his speeches +advocated the principles and policy of Henry Clay's platform. "I am +in favor of a national bank; I am in favor of an internal improvement +system and a high protective tariff," he announced boldly, and it must +have cost him a severe struggle with his ambition to have placed himself +upon the unpopular side and to have joined a hopeless minority at the +beginning of his political career; but he obeyed his convictions, and +nothing better illustrates the stuff of which the man was made. + +The returns show that out of 2168 votes Lincoln received only 657, less +than one-third of the whole. In New Salem, where he lived, he received +all but three of the votes cast, although a few months later Andrew +Jackson carried the same precinct with 185 votes against 70 for Henry +Clay. + +This was the only time that Abraham Lincoln was defeated on a direct +vote of the people. He was greatly gratified by the evidence of his +popularity, and was confident that if he could extend his acquaintance +through the county he would be successful at the next election; but +how was he to get a living in the mean time? Offutt's store had failed +and he was out of employment. He describes the situation himself as +follows: "He was now without means and out of business, but was anxious +to remain with his friends, who had treated him with so much generosity, +especially as he had nothing elsewhere to go to. He studied what he +should do; thought of learning the blacksmith trade, thought of trying +to study law, rather thought he could not succeed at that without a +better education." + +It was a crisis in his life, but he was conscious of his own ability +and his faith in himself was strong. If his judgment had been equally +accurate, he would have been saved great anxiety and trouble, for it was +at this time that he was induced to go into the mercantile speculation +which turned out so badly. He managed to make a living, however, and +pull through, and when the campaign of 1834 came it was a matter of +course that he should again be a candidate for the Legislature. He spent +almost the entire summer electioneering, most of the time in those parts +of the county where he was least acquainted, appealing for votes in his +own peculiar way. It was a rough-and-tumble canvass, often in company +with other candidates. "Wherever he saw a crowd of men, he joined them, +and he never failed to adapt himself to their point of view in asking +for votes," says one of his friends. "If the degree of physical strength +was their test for a candidate, he was ready to lift a weight or wrestle +with any countryside champion. If the amount of grain a man could cut +would recommend him, he seized the cradle and showed the swath he could +cut." One of the farmers of the neighborhood tells this story: + +"He [Lincoln] came to my house, near Island Grove, during harvest. There +were some thirty men in the field. He got his dinner and went out in +the field where the men were at work. I gave him an introduction, and +the boys said that they could not vote for a man unless he could make a +hand. 'Well, boys,' said he, 'if that is all, I am sure of your votes.' +He took hold of the cradle, and led the way all the round with perfect +ease. The boys were satisfied, and I don't think he lost a vote in the +crowd." + +Thirteen candidates were contesting for the four seats in the +Legislature and all were engaged in the campaign, besides candidates for +Governor, for Congress, and for the State Senate. When the votes were +counted, Lincoln's name headed the list. He received 1376, considerably +more than a majority, and more than double the total he had received at +the election two years before. + +At this point Lincoln's political career actually begins, and although +during his first session in the Legislature he showed no particular +talent and took a modest position in the background, he secured the +respect of his colleagues both for his abilities and his character, and +among them were several men who afterwards became almost as prominent +as himself. They included future governors, generals, senators, judges, +and cabinet ministers. In this and future sessions of the Legislature +he sat beside Stephen A. Douglas, afterwards United States Senator and +Democratic candidate for the Presidency against Lincoln; Edward D. +Baker, Senator from both Illinois and Oregon, who was killed at the +battle of Ball's Bluff; Orville H. Browning, afterwards United States +Senator and Secretary of the Interior; John A. McClernand, for several +years a member of the House of Representatives and a major-general in +the Civil War; John Logan, father of the late General John A. Logan; +Robert M. Cullom, father of Senator Shelby M. Cullom, and others of +comparative distinction. These were new associates for the poor young +man, and more to his taste as well as his advantage. From this time he +cultivated men from whom he could learn, but never lost his affection +for those who had shared his humble hardships. He was re-elected to +the Legislature four successive terms, in 1836, 1838, and 1840, and +spent eight years in the service of his State, making many mistakes and +enjoying several triumphs, growing in the esteem and confidence of the +people, extending his usefulness and influence, and gradually advancing +to a high place among the leaders of the Whig party, which was rapidly +gaining in strength. + +Among the interesting features of Lincoln's legislative career is a +declaration in favor of a limited woman suffrage which appeared in his +"handbill" in the campaign of 1836, when he was twenty-seven years old +and unmarried. + +"I go for all sharing the privileges of the government who assist in +bearing its burdens," he said; "consequently I go for admitting all +whites to the right of suffrage who pay taxes or bear arms, by no means +excluding females." + +The Legislature of 1836 and 1837 was responsible for many "wild-cat" +schemes which brought disaster upon the people of the young State, +and Lincoln was guilty of the same folly and lack of judgment which +characterized his associates. It should be said, however, that he was +enthusiastically supported by his constituents and public opinion +generally, and believed that he was doing the best that could be done +for the community. + +His greatest triumph was won as the leader of the movement to remove the +State capital from Vandalia to Springfield. Being given the management +of the bill, he applied all his energy and ability to the task, here +showing the same strategic genius which was afterwards demonstrated +in the management of the war. His plan of campaign was simple but +shrewd. He first persuaded the Legislature to pass a bill removing the +capital from Vandalia, then he secured a succession of votes upon other +locations, and finally succeeded in carrying a direct vote in favor of +Springfield, which was accomplished by his personal influence. Jesse +K. Dubois, who represented another part of the State, says, "We gave +the vote to Lincoln because we liked him, because we wanted to oblige +him, our friend, and because we wanted to recognize him as our leader," +which is a great tribute considering the fact that the delegation from +Sangamon County was an unusually strong one. It was famous for the +stature of its nine members, which, combined, was fifty-five feet. The +delegation was known as "the Long Nine." + +When the law was signed the citizens of Springfield tendered a banquet +to their representatives, and among the toasts was this: + +"Abraham Lincoln: one of Nature's noblemen; he has fulfilled the +expectations of his friends and disappointed the hopes of his enemies." + +In 1838 and again in 1840 Lincoln was the Whig candidate for Speaker +of the House of Representatives, which was the highest tribute his +colleagues could pay him and illustrates his rapid advancement in +influence. Nor did he take this leading position without rivalry. There +were strong men among the Whigs of Illinois even at that date. That +party represented the wealth, education, and culture of the State, as +the Republican party does to-day, while the masses of the people were +Democrats. Notwithstanding this rivalry, he pushed rapidly forward, and +the qualities which he had shown from the beginning of his political +career were strengthened by experience, knowledge, and self-confidence. +His kindly disposition and good-nature, his wit and his stories, his +willingness to accept any responsibility that might be thrust upon him +or undertake any duty, no matter how laborious or disagreeable, and his +determination to succeed in everything he attempted made him a leader; +while his skill in debate, in parliamentary tactics, and political +organization made his co-operation necessary to the success of any +movement. + +Lincoln organized the Whig party in Illinois. Up to 1832 the convention +system was unknown. In that year it was introduced by the Democrats +and was denounced with great vigor by the Whigs, who declared it an +invention "intended to abridge the liberties of the people by depriving +individuals of the privilege of becoming candidates for office, and +depriving them of the right to vote for candidates of their own choice;" +nevertheless, all good Whigs, and Lincoln among them, immediately +recognized the advantages of the new plan. It concentrated the strength +of a party upon single candidates for offices instead of allowing +it to be scattered and wasted upon several who voluntarily offered +themselves. The "machine" organized by Jackson's supporters worked well; +Lincoln watched it closely, and although he was reluctant to accept the +principle, he was compelled to admit the advantage of the practice, +and prepared, at the request of his fellow-Whigs, a confidential +circular which formed the basis of a remarkably complete and effective +organization of the Whig party in the State. + +In 1841, the year previous to his marriage, Lincoln was offered the Whig +nomination for Governor, but declined it. He also declined renomination +for the Legislature the following year, and became a candidate for +Congress. He did not wait to be invited, but sought the nomination and +managed his own canvass. He never believed in concealing his ambition; +he was never guilty of false modesty; he held that it was an honorable +aspiration, and acted accordingly; but, to his disappointment, Sangamon +County was instructed for his friend and colleague, Edward D. Baker. He +was the more sensitive because he, "a stranger, friendless, uneducated, +penniless boy, working on a flat-boat at ten dollars a month," he wrote +a friend, had "been put down here as the candidate of pride, wealth, and +aristocratic family distinction. Yet so, chiefly, it was. There was, +too, the strangest combination of church influence against me. Baker is +a Campbellite, and therefore, as I suppose, with few exceptions, got all +that church. My wife has some relations in the Presbyterian churches and +some with the Episcopal churches; and therefore, wherever it would tell, +I was set down as either the one or the other, while it was everywhere +contended that no Christian ought to go for me, because I belonged to no +church, was suspected of being a deist, and had talked about fighting a +duel. With all these things Baker, of course, had nothing to do. Nor do +I complain of them. As to his own church going for him, I think that was +right enough, and as to the influences I have spoken of in the other, +though they were very strong, it would be grossly untrue and unjust to +charge that they acted upon them in a body, or were very near so. I only +mean that those influences levied a tax of a considerable per cent. +upon my strength throughout the religious community." + +Lincoln was appointed a delegate to the Convention and instructed to +look after Baker's interests. This, he said, "was a good deal like +acting as bridegroom for a man who has cut you out;" but he was loyal +and energetic and as skilful as usual, although unsuccessful. J. M. +Ruggles, one of the delegates, says, "The ayes and noes had been taken +and there were fifteen votes apiece, and one in doubt that had not +arrived. That was myself. I was known to be a warm friend of Baker, +representing people who were partial to Hardin. As soon as I arrived +Baker hurried to me, saying, 'How is it? It all depends on you.' On +being told that, notwithstanding my partiality for him, the people +I represented expected me to vote for Hardin, and that I would have +to do so, Baker at once replied, 'You are right--there is no other +way.' The Convention was organized, and I was elected secretary. Baker +immediately arose and made a most thrilling address, thoroughly arousing +the sympathies of the Convention, and ended by declining his candidacy. +Hardin was nominated by acclamation and then came the episode. + +"Immediately after the nomination, Mr. Lincoln walked across the room +to my table and asked if I would favor a resolution recommending Baker +for the next term. On being answered in the affirmative, he said, 'You +prepare the resolution, I will support it, and I think we can pass it.' +The resolution created a profound sensation, especially with the friends +of Hardin. After an excited and angry discussion, the resolution passed +by a majority of one." + +Thus Lincoln defeated his own prospects for a Congressional nomination +for four years. Baker was elected in 1844, and then his turn came in +1846, when the Democrats gave him for a competitor the famous Methodist +circuit rider, Peter Cartwright, one of the best-known and beloved men +of that period on the frontier. He was the highest type of the itinerant +preacher. For sixty years he travelled on horseback throughout the +Western country, marrying the young people, baptizing their children, +burying the dead, preaching by the wayside and in the forests, and +when he died in 1872, at eighty-seven years of age, the record of his +ministry showed that he had admitted to the church twelve thousand +persons, had preached fifteen thousand sermons, and a procession of one +hundred and twenty-nine children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren +followed him to his grave. With all his piety and devotion to the +Methodist Church, Peter Cartwright was an ardent admirer of Andrew +Jackson and a Democrat of the most intolerant pro-slavery type. He +probably had a larger acquaintance than any other man in the State, was +an exhorter of magnetic intensity, and his energy was unsurpassed; but, +nevertheless, Lincoln defeated him by 1511 majority when Henry Clay +carried the district by only 914. + +When the Thirtieth Congress was called to order on December 6, 1847, +Abraham Lincoln answered to his name. The rolls also bore the name of +Stephen A. Douglas, but before the House of Representatives met he had +been elected to the United States Senate. Lincoln was the only Whig +member from Illinois. In those days the House met in the old Hall of +Representatives, now used for statuary, and he was so unfortunate as to +draw one of the most undesirable seats far in the background. He was +assigned to the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads, at the foot of +the list, attended its meetings regularly, and occasionally took part +in the debates on the bills appropriating money for the support of the +postal service and other matters pertaining to that committee. He also +was a member of the Committee on Expenditures in the War Department, +which, however, never met. He devoted a good deal of time trying to +secure amendments to the laws relating to bounty lands for soldiers, +a subject of which he had some personal knowledge, having himself +received a patent for some wild land in Iowa. He looked after certain +grants of land made to railroads in Illinois, and endeavored to protect +actual settlers who might possibly have been interfered with. During his +first session he made the personal acquaintance of but few members, and +lived at a quiet Congressional boarding-house kept by a Mrs. Sprigg, on +Capitol Hill, where his messmates were Joshua R. Giddings, of Ohio, and +several other Whigs. His favorite place of resort was the post-office +of the House of Representatives, where he was in the habit of meeting +and exchanging stories with several congenial spirits. Among them +were Robert Toombs and Alexander H. Stephens, who, like himself, were +destined to become conspicuous figures in the great impending drama. +Several writers have described encounters between Lincoln and Jefferson +Davis at this period, but they were imaginary. Although Mr. Davis was +appointed to the Senate the same year, it is not probable that he ever +met the obscure member of the Lower House from Illinois. + +From the recollections of his colleagues we have many incidents and +anecdotes of more or less interest, which show that he retained the same +unassuming, simple habits that characterized him as a member of the +Legislature. + +Daniel Webster, who was then in the Senate, used occasionally to have +Lincoln at one of his pleasant Saturday breakfasts, where the Western +Congressman's humorous illustrations of the events of the day, sparkling +with spontaneous and unpremeditated wit, would give great delight +to "the solid men of Boston" assembled around the festive board. At +one time Lincoln had transacted some legal business for Mr. Webster +connected with an embryo city laid out where Rock River empties into the +Mississippi. Mr. Fletcher Webster had gone there for a while; but Rock +Island City was not a pecuniary success, and much of the land on which +but one payment had been made reverted to the original owners. Lincoln +had charged Mr. Webster for his legal services ten dollars, which the +great expounder of the Constitution regarded as too small a fee, and he +would frequently declare that he was still Lincoln's debtor. + +The librarian of the United States Supreme Court remembers that Lincoln +came to the library one day for the purpose of procuring some law-books +which he wanted to take to his room for examination. He placed them in a +pile on the table, tied them up with a large bandanna handkerchief from +his pocket, and, putting a stick which he had brought with him through a +knot in the handkerchief, shouldered his burden and marched off to his +room. In a few days he returned the books in the same way. + +He saw very little of the social life of the capital, although Mrs. +Lincoln was with him during the long session. His experience was similar +to that of the average green Congressman who comes to Washington +unheralded and who is compelled to live on his salary. The only social +adventure of which we have any knowledge was in attending the inaugural +ball, March 4, 1849, of which Mr. E. B. Washburne writes,-- + +"A small number of mutual friends, including Mr. Lincoln, made up a +party to attend Taylor's inauguration ball together. It was by far the +most brilliant inauguration ball ever given. Of course Mr. Lincoln had +never seen anything of the kind before. One of the most modest and +unpretending persons present, he could not have dreamed that like honors +were to come to him almost within a little more than a decade. He was +greatly interested in all that was to be seen, and we did not take our +departure until three or four o'clock in the morning. When we went to +the cloak and hat room, Mr. Lincoln had no trouble in finding his short +coat, which little more than covered his shoulders, but after a long +search was unable to find his hat. After an hour he gave up all idea of +finding it. Taking his cloak on his arm, he walked out into Judiciary +Square, deliberately adjusted it on his shoulders, and started off +bareheaded for his lodgings. It would be hard to forget the sight of +that tall and slim man, with his short cloak thrown over his shoulders, +starting for his long walk home on Capitol Hill, at four o'clock in the +morning, without any hat on." + +After the election of President Taylor, in 1848, Lincoln, being the +only Whig member of Congress from Illinois, was required to recommend +candidates for office and practically controlled the patronage of the +State. He was not a civil service reformer. Even while he was President +he adhered to the time-honored doctrine that the victors in politics, +as in war, were entitled to the spoils, while at the same time he +endeavored to get the most efficient men available for the public +offices and recognized merit as the first claim for promotion. While in +Congress he performed his duty with absolute fairness to his political +foes and with loyalty to his political friends so far as he was able +to control appointments. Some of his recommendations are unique, for +example: + +"I recommend that William Butler be appointed Pension Agent for the +Illinois agency when the place shall be vacant. Mr. Hurst, the present +incumbent, I believe has performed his duties very well. He is a decided +partisan, and I believe expects to be removed. Whether he shall be, I +submit to the Department. This office is not confined to my district, +but pertains to the whole State; so that Colonel Baker has an equal +right with myself to be heard concerning it. However, the office is +located here (at Springfield), and I think it is not probable that any +one would desire to remove from a distance to take it." + +In another instance he writes the Secretary of Interior, "I recommend +that Walter Davis be appointed Receiver of the Land Office at this +place, whenever there shall be a vacancy. I cannot say that Mr. Herndon, +the present incumbent, has failed in the proper discharge of any of the +duties of the office. He is a warm partisan, and openly and actively +opposed to the election of General Taylor. I also understand that since +General Taylor's election he has received a reappointment from Mr. Polk, +his old commission not having expired. Whether this is true the records +of the Department will show. I may add that the Whigs here almost +universally desire his removal." + +In another case he forwards the recommendations of the man whom he does +not prefer, with an endorsement calling attention to the importance of +the writers, and adding, "From personal knowledge I consider Mr. Bond +every way worthy of the office and qualified to fill it. Holding the +individual opinion that the appointment of a different gentleman would +be better, I ask especial attention and consideration of his claims, and +for the opinions expressed in his favor by those over whom I can claim +no superiority." + +In all his communications to the Executive Department concerning +appointments to office, he never claims a place because of his position +and influence; nor does he demand patronage on behalf of his party or +his State; nor does he ask for the removal of an incumbent, although in +several cases he says that it is desired by the public and the patrons +of the office. He always puts himself in the position of an adviser +to the government, and modestly expresses his opinion as to the best +man for appointment. If there are two candidates, he describes their +qualifications with evident candor and fairness. + +Lincoln was tendered the Governorship of Oregon, and might have been +Commissioner of the General Land Office under President Taylor, but, +fortunately, resisted the temptation. + +Amos Tuck, of New Hampshire, in his memoirs, says, "In December, 1847, +I made my first visit to Washington, and at the same time took my +seat as a member of the House of Representatives. The representation +of New Hampshire was equally divided, or rather was half Democratic, +Messrs. Peaslee and Johnson, and half opposition, Mr. Wilson, Whig, +and myself, Independent Democrat. It was the second Congress in Mr. +Polk's administration, and the Mexican War was at its height. Robert C. +Winthrop was Speaker. + +"The most distinguished man by far, member of the House, was John +Quincy Adams. By general consent he had for years occupied the seat of +his choice, one of the two largest on the floor, in the second row of +seats, the first fronting the Speaker at the left. New members were +anxious to see Mr. Adams, the honored ex-President, politically the +most distinguished man of the country. He was old and feeble, but clear +in mind and decided in all his views as he had been in the days of his +vigor. He made one short speech early in the session, but could be heard +only by a few near him, and in the month of February following died in +the Speaker's room at the Capitol. + +"I was late in arriving.... In the fourth seat at my left sat a new +member from Illinois, the only Whig from that State, a tall, awkward, +genial, good fellow, the future President of the United States, Abraham +Lincoln. He was then thirty-nine years old, bore all the signs of scanty +preparation for influential position, and excited attention only as the +lone star of Illinois Whigs and as an agreeable specimen of frontier +character. He was not regarded as a man of mark, nor did the thought +seem to have entered his own mind of ever taking a high position in the +country. Mr. Lincoln had no opportunity, if he had then had the ability, +which I do not think he possessed at that time, of distinguishing +himself. I remember that the good-will of his acquaintances was strong +in his favor. He made one set speech, near the close of the session, +wherein he made sundry telling points against the Democrats, delivering +it in the open area in front of the clerk's desk, and created much +amusement by the aptness of his illustrations, walking around in +front of the Democratic members, singling out individuals specially +responsible for unsound and inconsistent doctrines. He was good-natured, +enjoyed his own wit, heartily joined in the amusement he excited in +others, and sat down amid the cheers of his friends. The friendship +formed between Mr. Lincoln and myself in that Congress continued through +his life. Alexander H. Stephens and Robert Toombs, of Georgia, were +likewise members of the Thirtieth Congress, as they had been of the +previous Congress. They were both Whigs, the leading men in the House +of their party in the South, but more wedded to slave interests than to +their political party." + +His term in Congress ended on March 4, 1849, and he was not a candidate +for re-election. A year before he had contemplated the possibility of +entering the field again. He then wrote to his friend and partner, +Herndon, "It is very pleasant for me to learn from you that there are +some who desire that I should be re-elected. I made the declaration that +I would not be a candidate again, more from a wish to deal fairly with +others, to keep peace among our friends, and keep the district from +going to the enemy, than for any cause personal to myself, so that, if +it should so happen that nobody else wishes to be elected, I could not +refuse the people the right of sending me again. But to enter myself as +a competitor of others, or to authorize any one so to enter me, is what +my word and honor forbid." + +Upon returning from Congress in the spring of 1849, Lincoln renewed +his law practice and devoted himself exclusively to it, taking no part +in politics and having all that he could do in court until there was a +great upheaval in the political situation caused by the repeal of the +Missouri Compromise. This so aroused his patriotism and indignation +against the Democratic party that he went back to the stump and the +committee-room and again became the recognized leader of the Whig party +in Illinois. All through Illinois and other States in the neighborhood +the Whig politicians turned to him for counsel, which was due to his +reputation for wisdom and sagacity. It has been said that Lincoln +intended to retire from politics, and he wrote a friend that he "had +lost interest until the repeal of the Missouri Compromise;" but his +ambition as well as his interest soon revived, for we find him in 1854 +the most prominent candidate of the Whig party for the United States +Senate. + +There was an exciting canvass of the State. He entered into it with +great enthusiasm, spoke in nearly every county, and it was agreed +by all concerned that if the Republican and Anti-Nebraska Democrats +should carry the Legislature, Lincoln would be elected to succeed +General Shields. He expected it himself, and his defeat brought him +more disappointment and chagrin than any other event in his life. It +was a painful experience, but he accepted the result with his usual +good-nature and philosophy, and his conduct under the most trying +circumstances added lustre to his reputation as a patriotic, honorable, +unselfish man, and he never forgot his obligation to those who stood by +him in the contest. + +With his usual candor, he had addressed letters to the Whigs and +Anti-Nebraska men who had been elected to the Legislature, asking their +support. The replies were almost without exception favorable and in some +cases enthusiastic. He was personally known to almost every member, and +by his voice and advice had assisted all the Whig candidates during the +campaign. But, unfortunately, a complication arose which embarrassed +them and him. He had been elected as one of the members from Sangamon +County, and the Constitution of the State contained a clause making +members of the Legislature and other officials ineligible to the United +States Senate. The highest authorities pronounced this provision +unconstitutional because the Senate alone was authorized to decide +the qualifications of its own members and a State Legislature had no +jurisdiction over the subject; but, rather than run the risk of taking +the election into the courts, Lincoln decided to resign, relying upon +the majority of 650 votes, which had been cast for him, to elect another +Whig in his place. Very little interest was taken in the canvass. The +Democrats appeared inclined to let the contest go by default. That +disarmed the leaders of the Whig party and made the rank and file +indifferent. For the first and only time in his political career Lincoln +was caught napping. The Democrats nominated a candidate at the very last +moment, plunged into a hasty but energetic canvass, got out a full vote, +and elected his successor by 60 majority, which lost the Legislature +to the Whigs and left them dependant upon their Free-Soil Democratic +allies. The members of that party in other parts of the State were very +indignant and blamed Lincoln for this unlooked-for result. + +He was still further embarrassed by the unauthorized and impertinent +act of a small group of abolitionists who met in Springfield before +the session of the Legislature, passed resolutions endorsing Lincoln +as their candidate for the Senate, and, without consulting him, +appointed him a member of their State Central Committee. There were only +twenty-six in the assembly,--earnest, eager men, and radical in their +views,--and although Lincoln's policy of recognizing the constitutional +authority for slavery was well known to them, they admired his ability +and the able fight he was making against the extension of the system in +the Territories. He was not aware that his name appeared in the list of +the abolitionist committee until several weeks after the Convention had +adjourned. In fact, very little notice was taken of its meetings, and +its action was discovered by the Democrats before it was known to the +Whigs. Lincoln immediately wrote a letter declining to serve and saying +that he was perplexed to understand why his name was used, because +he supposed that his position on the slavery question was not at all +satisfactory to their party. But, notwithstanding his disavowal, five +Anti-Nebraska Democrats refused under any circumstances to support him +for Senator, but cast their votes for Lyman Trumbull. Lincoln was voted +for by the other Free-Soilers and Shields by the Democrats. In a letter +to Mr. Washburne, written on the evening after the election, Lincoln +gives this description of the close of the fight: + +"In the mean time our friends, with a view of detaining our expected +bolters, had been turning from me to Trumbull until he had risen to 35 +and I had been reduced to 15. These would never desert me except by my +direction; but I became satisfied that if we could prevent Matteson's +election one or two ballots more, we could possibly not do so a single +ballot after my friends should begin to return to me from Trumbull. So +I determined to strike at once; and accordingly advised my remaining +friends to go for him, which they did, and elected him on that, the +tenth ballot. Such is the way the thing was done. I think you would +have done the same under the circumstances, though Judge Davis, who +came down this morning, declares he never would have consented to the +47 (opposition) men being controlled by the 5. I regret my defeat +moderately, but am not nervous about it. Perhaps it is well for our +grand cause that Trumbull is elected." + +And it turned out well for Lincoln, too, because if he had been elected +Senator at that time he would never have taken the part he did in the +organization of the Republican party, he would never have had the joint +debate with Senator Douglas, and in all probability would not have been +elected President. Lincoln resumed the practice of his profession, +but did not retire from politics again. He took an active interest in +every campaign, devoting much of his time to committee work and to +the preparation of political literature, extending his acquaintance +and increasing his popularity. In the winter of 1855 he attended a +meeting of Free-Soil editors at Decatur, who decided upon organizing a +Republican party in Illinois and called a convention of all who believed +in resisting the extension of slavery to meet at Bloomington in May. + +Lincoln was present, made a remarkable speech, which is described in +Chapter III., was sent as a delegate to the First National Republican +Convention at Philadelphia, and, much to his surprise, received 110 +votes for Vice-President on the ticket with Frémont. He was made an +elector, canvassed the State thoroughly, making more than fifty set +speeches during the campaign, and served as a member of the State +Committee. + +Mr. Horace White, editor of the _New York Evening Post_, then connected +with the _Chicago Tribune_, gives his recollections of Lincoln in the +campaign: "I was Secretary of the Republican State Committee of Illinois +during some years when he was in active campaign work. He was often +present at meetings of the committee, and took part in the committee +work. His judgment was very much deferred to in such matters. He was one +of the shrewdest politicians in the State. Nobody had more experience +in that way, nobody knew better than he what was passing in the minds +of the people. Nobody knew better how to turn things to advantage +politically, and nobody was readier to take such advantage, provided +it did not involve dishonorable means. He could not cheat people out +of their votes any more than he could out of their money. Mr. Lincoln +never gave his assent, so far as my knowledge goes, to any plan or +project for getting votes that would not have borne the full light of +day. + +"I never heard him express contempt for any man's honest errors, +although he would sometimes make a droll remark or tell a funny story +about them. Deference to other people's opinions was habitual to him. +There was no calculation, no politics in it. It was part and parcel of +his sense of equal rights. His democracy was of the unconscious kind--he +did not know anything different from it." + +In the fall of 1858 there was an election of the Illinois Legislature +which would choose a successor to Senator Douglas, whose term of service +was to expire March 3, 1859. The Republican party at that time was +thoroughly organized and presented a united and enthusiastic front, with +encouraging prospects of victory, and Lincoln was again its candidate +for the United States Senate. The sympathy of his associates and the +people generally over his defeat three years before, their appreciation +of his services, their admiration for his ability, and their confidence +in his integrity and judgment made him the unanimous choice, and for +the first time in history the State Republican Convention passed a +resolution to that effect. Then followed the most extraordinary canvass +that has ever taken place in any of the States of the Union,--the +joint debate between Lincoln and Douglas which is described in Chapter +III., followed by Lincoln's second defeat for the Senate. Many of +Lincoln's friends believed that he might have been elected but for the +interference of Horace Greeley, Seward, Colfax, Burlingame, and other +earnest Republicans and antislavery men of national prominence, who +urged the people of Illinois to support Douglas because he had opposed +the Buchanan administration and had been denounced by the slave-holders +of the South. But, while Lincoln was deeply wounded by this betrayal +of what he considered a vital political principle, he realized that +the existing apportionment of the State made his election improbable +because it had been based upon the census of 1850 and gave the southern +and Democratic counties an excessive representation over the northern +Republican counties, which had more rapidly increased in population. The +Republican State officers were chosen by a considerable majority, but +the Democrats had eight majority in the Legislature, and Mr. Douglas was +elected. + +Lincoln had passed through an intense canvass, equally trying to +his physical and mental endurance, and his strength as well as his +temper were sorely tried; but he was never more composed, patient, +and philosophical, and to his friends he wrote hopeful and cheerful +letters, taking greater satisfaction in the reputation he had made and +the results he had accomplished than he would have felt in a commission +as United States Senator. As he told many people, he was not trying to +defeat Douglas for Senator so much as to prevent his election to the +Presidency, and he succeeded in doing so. The attention of the entire +country had been drawn to the canvass in Illinois, Lincoln's name had +become known everywhere throughout the country, and, as a Chicago editor +wrote him, "You have at once sprung from the position of a capital +fellow and a leading lawyer of Illinois to a national reputation." + +Another friend wrote him, "You have made a noble canvass, which, if +unavailing in this State, has earned you a national reputation and made +you friends everywhere." + +Lincoln's own view of the case is expressed in a letter to a friend as +follows: "I wished, but I did not much expect, a better result.... I am +glad I made the late race. It gave me a hearing on the great and durable +question of the age, which I could have had in no other way; and though +I now sink out of view, and shall be forgotten, I believe I have made +some marks which will tell for the cause of civil liberty long after I +am gone." + +The folly of the Eastern Republicans in encouraging the election of +Douglas was demonstrated immediately after the election, when that +gentleman started upon a tour through the South and made a series of +speeches in which he endeavored to convince the slave-holders that he +was their best friend and should be their candidate for the Presidency. +At the same time Lincoln was invited to speak in the Eastern States, +and, after his address in Cooper Institute, New York City, made a +tour through New England, creating great interest and making many +friends. He became a national character, and his advice was sought by +national leaders, to whom his sagacity was immediately apparent. He +spent a great deal of time and wrote many letters during the winter of +1858-59, harmonizing the Republican party, concentrating its efforts, +and reconciling local prejudices and preferences which conflicted +and imperilled its success at the next election. He seemed gifted +with foresight that was almost prophetic, for he pointed out with +extraordinary accuracy the probable policy which would be pursued by the +Democrats, and his suggestions as to the best means for the Republicans +to adopt were broad, wise, and statesmanlike. For example, referring +to a provision adopted by Massachusetts to restrict naturalization, he +wrote, "Massachusetts is a sovereign and independent State, and it is no +privilege of mine to scold her for what she does. Still, if from what +she has done an inference is sought to be drawn as to what I would do, I +may, without impropriety, speak out. I say, then, that, as I understand +the Massachusetts provision, I am against its adoption in Illinois, or +in any other place where I have a right to oppose it. Understanding the +spirit of our institutions to aid at the elevation of men, I am opposed +to whatever tends to degrade them. I have some little notoriety for +commiserating the oppressed condition of the negro; and I should be +strangely inconsistent if I could favor any project for curtailing the +existing rights of white men, even though born in different lands and +speaking different languages from myself." + +He wrote from Springfield to Schuyler Colfax (afterwards Vice-President +of the United States), July 6, 1859, "Besides a strong desire to make +your personal acquaintance, I was anxious to speak with you on politics +a little more fully than I can well do in a letter. My main object in +such conversation would be to hedge against divisions in the Republican +ranks generally, and particularly for the contest of 1860. The point +of danger is the temptation in different localities to 'platform' for +something which will be popular just there, but which, nevertheless, +will be a firebrand elsewhere, and especially in a national convention. +As instances, the movement against foreigners in Massachusetts; in +New Hampshire, to make obedience to the fugitive-slave law punishable +as a crime; in Ohio, to repeal the fugitive-slave law; and squatter +sovereignty in Kansas. In these things there is explosive matter enough +to blow up half a dozen national conventions, if it gets into them; and +what gets very rife outside of conventions is very likely to find its +way into them." + +The idea of making Lincoln a Presidential candidate seems to have +occurred to a great many people at about the same time, and shortly +after his inauguration a regiment might have been organized of the +friends who first named him. There are, however, some letters preserved +which show that the suggestion had been made to him early in 1859, long +before the Cooper Institute address; indeed, immediately after the close +of the Senatorial fight in 1858 an editorial friend in Illinois wrote +him as follows: "I would like to have a talk with you on political +matters, as to the policy of announcing your name for the Presidency, +while you are in our city. My partner and myself are about addressing +the Republican editors of the State on the subject of a simultaneous +announcement of your name for the Presidency." + +To this Lincoln replied, "As to the other matter you kindly mention, I +must in candor say that I do not think myself fit for the Presidency. I +certainly am flattered and gratified that some partial friends think of +me in that connection; but I really think it best for our cause that no +concerted effort, such as you suggest, should be made." + +It would seem from other remarks made at the time that he was planning +another fight with Douglas and had the patience to wait six years to +renew the contest. He wrote several friends that he intended to fight +in the ranks, and declined to be a candidate for the Senate against +Trumbull; but while he was writing those letters, about January 1, 1860, +there was a conference at Springfield of the Republican leaders of +the State, said to have been called by Mr. Norman B. Judd, at which a +serious and organized effort was begun to secure his nomination. One of +the gentlemen present says, "We asked him if his name might be used in +connection with the nomination. With characteristic modesty, he doubted +whether he could get the nomination even if he wished it, and asked +until the next morning to answer us whether his name might be announced. +The next day he authorized us, if we thought proper to do so, 'to place +him in the field.' In answer to a question whether he would accept a +nomination for Vice-President if he could not be put on the first place +on the ticket, he replied that if his name were used for the office of +President he would not permit it to be used for any other office, no +matter how honorable it might be." + +From this time Lincoln exerted every proper means to secure success. He +did not repose idly in his Springfield office and allow his friends to +do the work, but was quite as active and vigilant in his own behalf +as any of his supporters, and managed the campaign himself. He had +no funds, however, no literary bureau, no head-quarters or personal +organization; nearly every letter he sent out on the subject was written +with his own hand, and he used plain and characteristic language asking +for the support of his friends in Illinois and other States. Whether +his intention was to disarm jealousy, or whether he actually believed +that his nomination was impossible, he intimated to several of his +correspondents that he desired to make a brave show at the Chicago +Convention because of the prestige it would give him in his future +fight for the Senate. And to another he wrote, "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." + +He even sent money from his own small means to pay the expenses of +friends who were working in his interest. On March 10, 1860, he wrote to +a gentleman in Kansas, "Allow me to say that I cannot enter the ring on +the money basis,--first, because in the main it is wrong; and secondly, +I have not and cannot get the money. I say in the main the use of money +is wrong, but for certain objects in a political contest is both right +and indispensable. With me, as with yourself, this long struggle has +been one of great pecuniary loss. I now distinctly say this; if you +shall be appointed a delegate to Chicago I will furnish one hundred +dollars to bear the expense of the trip." + +Nevertheless, Kansas instructed her delegation for Seward, whereupon +Lincoln wrote a consoling letter to his friends and said, "Don't stir +them up to anger, but come along to the Convention and I will do as I +said about expenses." There is nothing to show whether the offer was +accepted, but, with his usual gratitude for favors received or intended, +he appointed his Kansas friend to a lucrative office within ten days +after his inauguration, and frequently consulted him about the patronage +in that State. + +The Illinois State Convention gave Lincoln a hearty endorsement and sent +an enthusiastic delegation to Chicago composed of personal friends of +great ability, political experience, and personal influence, and by a +combination with Chase from Ohio, Cameron from Pennsylvania, Bates from +Missouri, and other anti-Seward candidates, he was nominated for the +office of President of the United States. The credit of his success was +claimed by many; several accounts of bargains have passed into history, +and other fictitious explanations for his nomination have been printed +from time to time, but we have the authority of David Davis, Norman B. +Judd, and other friends who were authorized to speak for him, as well +as his own testimony, that after the Convention adjourned he was free +from all obligations except the gratitude he was glad to offer to his +supporters. + +[Illustration: ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S HOUSE AT SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS + +The tree in front of the house was planted by Lincoln] + +The evening of the second day after the nomination brought to +Springfield a committee of notification composed of some of the most +distinguished men of that day and others who were destined to play a +conspicuous part in national affairs. George Ashmun, of Massachusetts, +was the chairman; Governor Boutwell, afterwards United States Senator +and Secretary of the Treasury; Samuel Bowles, editor of the _Springfield +Republican_; Carl Schurz, of Wisconsin; Gideon Welles, of Connecticut; +Amos Tuck, of New Hampshire; William M. Evarts and Governor Edwin D. +Morgan, of New York; "Pig-Iron" Kelley, of Pennsylvania; Francis P. +Blair, of Missouri; and others were of the party. Most of them were +disappointed at the result of the Convention and distrustful of the +strength and ability of the prairie lawyer as a candidate. He received +them, however, with simple dignity. They were invited to deliver their +message at his modest home, and appeared there a few moments after +their arrival in Springfield, to find him surrounded by his family and a +few intimate friends. They saw a man of unprepossessing appearance, with +long limbs, large hands and feet, stooping shoulders, coarse features, +and a shock of rebellious hair. He was the last man in the world, +perhaps, to judge by appearances, that this committee would have chosen +as a Presidential candidate; but when he began to speak in reply to Mr. +Ashmun, a change seemed to come over him. The rugged face and awkward +figure were transformed, and the members of the committee recognized at +once that they were in the presence of a man who was master of himself +and possessed a strength they had not suspected. And when they left +Springfield, almost without exception, they were convinced of the wisdom +of his nomination. + +The opposing candidates prepared long letters of acceptance explanatory +of their views and defining their purposes, but Lincoln had already +recognized the wisdom of reticence, and the night of his nomination, +standing in his own doorway, he told his neighbors and friends who +called to congratulate him and demanded a speech that "the time comes +upon every man when it is best to keep his lips closed. That time has +come to me." Hence his letter of acceptance was the briefest ever +written by a Presidential candidate. After one formal introductory +phrase, it reads: + + "The declaration of principles which accompanies your letter + meets my approval, and it shall be my care not to violate it + or disregard it in any way or part. Imploring the assistance + of Divine Providence, and with due regard for 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 of prosperity, and harmony of all, I am + most happy to co-operate for the practical success of the + principles declared by the convention. Your obliged friend and + fellow-citizen, + + "A. LINCOLN." + +This letter was not shown to any one of Lincoln's friends, with the +exception of Dr. Newton Bateman, State Superintendent of Education and +an intimate friend, to whom Lincoln said,-- + +"Mr. School-master, here is my letter of acceptance. And I wouldn't like +to have any mistakes in it. I am not very strong on grammar and I wish +you would see if it is all right." + +Mr. Bateman suggested one change, so that it would read "it shall be my +care not to violate," instead of "it shall be my care to not violate." + +"So you think I better put those two little fellows end to end, do you?" +replied Lincoln, taking his pen and making the change suggested. + +Lincoln's nomination made very little difference in his daily life. He +turned his law practice over to his partner, employed John G. Nicolay, a +clerk in the office of the Secretary of State, as his private secretary, +was given the use of the Governor's room at the State-House for an +office, and devoted his entire time to the reception of visitors and +correspondence concerning the campaign. His door stood always open. +There was not even an usher. Everybody came and went as freely as when +he was a candidate for the Legislature or engaged in his practice. +He was the same Abraham Lincoln he had always been, except a little +more serious because of increasing responsibilities, and a little more +dignified because he was sensible of the honor that had been conferred +upon him; but his old friends detected no change in the man, and dropped +in to exchange gossip whenever they came to town. Distinguished visitors +came from a distance,--statesmen, politicians, wire-pullers, newspaper +correspondents, men with great purposes and ambitions, adventurers, +lion-hunters, and representatives of all classes and conditions, who +usually seek the acquaintance of influential and prominent men and +worship a rising sun. He told each a story and sent him away, pleased +with his person and impressed with his character. His correspondence had +increased enormously and every letter received a polite reply, but he +maintained his policy of reticence and gave no indication of his plans +or purposes. + +One day, while a group of distinguished politicians from a distance were +sitting in the Governor's room, chatting with Lincoln, the door opened +and an old lady in a big sunbonnet and the garb of a farmer's wife came +in. + +"I wanted to give you something to take to Washington, Mr. Lincoln," +she said, "and these are all I had. I spun the yarn and knit them socks +myself." And with an air of pride she handed him a pair of blue woollen +stockings. + +Lincoln thanked her cordially for her thoughtfulness, inquired after the +folks at home, and escorted her to the door as politely as if she had +been Queen of England. Then, when he returned to the room, he picked up +the socks, held them by the toes, one in each hand, and with a queer +smile upon his face remarked to the statesmen around him,-- + +"The old lady got my latitude and longitude about right, didn't she?" + +Such incidents occurred nearly every day and were a source of great +pleasure to the President, who was never happier than when in the +company of "the plain people," as he called them. + +No one man of honest intentions visited him without feeling the better +for it and being impressed with his ability, his courage, and his +confidence. From the beginning he never doubted his own success. He +realized that the Democratic party was hopelessly split and that, while +the factions, if combined, might embrace a majority of the voters of +the country, the Republicans would have a plurality, and his reasoning +was so plausible that he convinced his visitors of the truth of his +convictions. He never showed the slightest annoyance at the attacks that +were continually made upon his reputation and record, and demonstrated +his coolness, self-poise, and wisdom by declining to defend himself +or offer explanations. His theory was expressed to a friend who wrote +him with great concern about a charge that had been made against his +integrity. + +"I have made this explanation to you as a friend," he wrote, "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." + +The greater number of inquiries related to his position and intentions +towards slavery, and to every one he gave a similar answer, that he +had defined his position again and again in his speeches before his +nomination, and "Those who will not read or heed what I have already +publicly said would not read or heed a repetition of it. 'If they hear +not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one +rose from the dead.'" + +He kept his finger upon the pulse of the country, and none of the +managers of either party was so well informed as to the situation and +sentiment in different sections as he. The Republican politicians soon +discovered this fact and came to him more and more for advice and +instruction. Even Thurlow Weed, who was supposed to be the shrewdest +politician in the country, recognized a master and sought counsel from +him regarding the management of the campaign in New York. Wherever he +detected a weak spot, he sent a word of warning and advice: wherever +there were local dissensions, he restored harmony with his tact and +good-nature. Thus was Lincoln the manager of his own campaign; more so, +perhaps, than any man who was ever elected President. But at the same +time he made one great mistake. He had heard the threat of secession so +long that he had grown indifferent to it, and he told everybody that +"The people of the South have too much sense to attempt the ruin of the +government." + +The election occurred on November 6, 1860, and the result was what he +had expected since his nomination. The Republican electors did not +receive a majority by nearly a million votes, but the division of the +Democrats left them a plurality. + +The city of Springfield had never cast so large a vote for any candidate +for office up to that time, and it celebrated its triumph with a jubilee +of rejoicing. The people called Lincoln from his house and demanded a +speech, but he asked to be excused. He thanked them for their support +and congratulations, and remarked, "In all our rejoicing let us +neither express nor cherish any hard feeling towards any citizen who +has differed from us. Let us at all times remember that all American +citizens are brothers of a common country and should dwell together in +the bonds of fraternal feeling." + +After the excitement had quieted down, Lincoln resumed his former habits +and daily routine. Springfield was crowded with politicians those +days,--office-seekers and advisers, men who came to ask favors and to +offer them. The announcement of his election had been the signal for +the conspirators in the South to throw off their masks. During long +years of controversy, the pro-slavery party had a hope of ultimate +triumph, but until the actual election of Lincoln there was no actual +treason or revolutionary act. Four days after the Senators from South +Carolina resigned, six weeks later that State declared its separation +from the Union and organized an independent government, and, while he +was still waiting at Springfield, Lincoln read the newspaper reports of +conventions in all the Gulf States, at which they also declared their +independence. But he was obliged to sit inactive and helpless; unable to +do anything to check the dissolution of the Union, although appeals came +from every quarter. He described his situation to an old friend who came +to see him at Springfield. + +"Joe," he said, sadly, "I suppose you have forgotten the trial down in +Montgomery County where your partner gave away your case in his opening +speech. I saw you motioning to him and how uneasy you were, but you +couldn't stop him, and that's just the way with Buchanan and me. He is +giving away the case and I can't stop him." + +It was not the Republicans of the North alone that appealed to Lincoln. +Unionists of the South came to him for pledges that he would do nothing, +for assurances that there was nothing to fear from his election, and he +went so far as to make an exception in their case to gratify them. In +December he wrote a letter to Alexander H. Stephens, whom he had known +and admired in Congress, marked "For your eye only," in which he stated +his position in the most positive and unmistakable language, and asked, +"Do the people of the South really entertain fears that a Republican +administration would directly or indirectly interfere with the slaves? +If they do, I wish to assure you as once a friend, and still, I hope, +not an enemy, that there is no cause for such fears. The South would be +in no more danger in this respect than it was in the days of Washington. +I suppose, however, that this does not meet the case. You think slavery +is right and ought to be extended, while we think it is wrong and ought +to be restricted. That, I suppose, is the rub. It is certainly the only +substantial difference between us." + +General Duff Green came to Springfield in December, 1860, as an emissary +from President Buchanan to invite the President-elect to Washington +for a conference upon the situation, with the hope that his presence +there might prevent civil war, and General Green was bold enough to +tell him that, if he did not go, "upon his conscience must rest the +blood that would be shed." Here Lincoln's political shrewdness and +diplomacy were demonstrated in as conspicuous a manner, perhaps, as +at any other crisis in his life. He detected at once the intention to +unload upon him the responsibility for disunion and war, and met it +with a counter-proposition which must have excited the admiration of +the conspirators who were trying to entrap him. He received General +Green with great courtesy, heard him with respectful attention, and +gave him a letter in which he said that he did not desire any amendment +to the Constitution, although he recognized the right of the American +people to adopt one; that he believed in maintaining inviolate the +rights of each State to control its own domestic institutions; and +that he considered the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of +any State or Territory as the gravest of crimes. While those were his +sentiments, and while they indicated the policy he should pursue as +President, he would not consent to their publication unless the Senators +from Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas would +sign a pledge which he had written below his signature to this letter +and upon the same piece of paper. It was a pledge "to suspend all +action for the dismemberment of the Union until some act deemed to be +violative of our rights shall be done by the incoming administration." +Thus the responsibility was thrown back upon the representatives of the +seceding States, and it is unnecessary to say that Duff Green's mission +to Springfield was not considered a success by the rebel leaders. In +order to protect himself, Lincoln sent a copy of his letter to Senator +Trumbull, calling his attention to the fact that part of its text and +all of its sentiment were copied from the Chicago platform. + +By this time Lincoln had become thoroughly convinced that the Southern +leaders were in earnest and that nothing could prevent the secession +of their States, although he continued his efforts to reassure them +and to apply every means his ingenuity could suggest to reconcile them +to the situation. Notwithstanding all his anxiety, his sense of humor +remained, and, as was his habit, he illustrated the situation with a +story about a pious man named Brown who was on a committee to erect a +bridge over a very dangerous river. They called in an engineer named +Jones, who had great confidence in himself, and, after the difficulties +had been explained, asked him whether he was able to build the bridge. +Jones was a profane man, and replied that he would build a bridge to +hell if he could get a contract, or words to that effect. The churchmen +were horrified, and when the contractor retired, Brown attempted to +allay their indignation by saying all the good things he could remember +or invent about Jones. At the same time he was a very cautious man and +would not commit himself to any doubtful proposition. + +"I know Jones," he said, "and he is a man who will keep his promises. If +he agrees to build a bridge to Hades he will do it, although I have my +doubts about the 'butments on the infernal side." + +The infinite patience exhibited by Lincoln during this period of anxious +helplessness, amidst the clamors of office-seekers, the importunities of +sincere but timid men who besought him to yield to the South and avoid +trouble and bloodshed, the threats of his enemies, the intrigues of the +politicians, the conspiracies of the disunionists, showed his strength +of character and sense of discretion, and did much to establish him in +the confidence of the public. He indulged neither in hope nor fear, he +made no boasts, he showed no alarm, he answered neither yea nor nay, but +maintained complete self-control and waited for his time to come. To +intimate friends who possessed his confidence he never failed to assert +his determination to maintain the Union, no matter what it cost, and to +resist to the end every proposition for dissolution or dismemberment, +but his words were as gentle and as kindly as they were firm. + +"The right of a State to secede is not an open or debatable question," +he said. "That was fully discussed in Jackson's time and denied not +only by him but by the vote of Congress. It is the duty of a President +to execute the laws and maintain the existing government. He cannot +entertain any proposition for dissolution or dismemberment. He was not +elected for any such purpose. As a matter of theoretical speculation it +is probably true that if the people, with whom the whole question rests, +should become tired of the present government they might change it in +the manner prescribed by the Constitution." + +At the same time, without being dictatorial, he kept the Republican +leaders inspired with his own confidence and determination and +endeavored to prevent them from the mistake of yielding to compromise +or making concessions. He wrote Representative Washburne with emphasis, +"Prevent our friends from demoralizing themselves and their cause +by entertaining propositions for compromise of any sort on slavery +extensions. There is no possible compromise upon it but what puts us +under again, and all our work to do over again. On that point hold firm +as a chain of steel." + +To Seward he wrote, "I say now, as I have all the while said, that +on the question of extending slavery I am inflexible. I am for no +compromise which assists or permits the extension of the institution on +soil owned by the nation." + +He knew what was going on under the direction of the disloyal members +of Buchanan's Cabinet. He was aware that the Northern States were being +stripped of arms and ammunition and that large quantities of military +stores were being sent South where they could easily be seized when the +time came. He knew also that disloyal officers of the army were being +placed in command of the forts and military posts in the South, and +other strategical points, and he asked Washburne to present his respects +to General Scott, "and tell him confidentially that I should be obliged +to him to be as well prepared as he can either to hold or retake the +forts as the case may require after the inauguration." + +Mr. Seward and other Republican leaders were apprehensive lest an +attempt be made to prevent the counting of the electoral vote and the +inauguration of Lincoln. The secessionists controlled both Houses and +could have prevented constitutional proceeding if they had chosen to do +so, but offered no interference. Mr. Seward always claimed--and he had +an excessive degree of admiration for his own acts--that a speech which +he made at the Astor House in January deceived the secession leaders +into permitting the vote to be canvassed and Lincoln inaugurated. "When +I made that speech the electoral vote was not counted," said Mr. Seward +with pride, "and I knew it never would be if Jeff Davis believed there +would be war. I had to deceive Davis and I did it. That's why I said it +would all be settled in sixty days." + +The will of the people to make Abraham Lincoln President was carried +into effect upon February 13, 1861, when the Congress of the United +States met in joint session and declared him duly elected. + +Mr. Seward and other Republican leaders had urged Lincoln to come to +Washington early in February, but the latter, with his usual judgment +and common sense, declined to depart from ordinary usage, and politely +explained his own feeling that he ought not to appear in Washington +until he had been formally declared President. When that formality had +been completed, he bade his old friends good-by and began a memorable +journey, taking a circuitous route in order to gratify the people of +the Northern States, who wished to see the President-elect, and gathered +at every station through which he passed, hoping to hear his voice +or catch a glimpse of his face. He made about thirty speeches on the +journey, and every time he spoke it was to stimulate the patriotism +and the determination of the people to preserve the Union. The address +delivered in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, was perhaps the most +notable, as it was the longest, because he was deeply moved by the date +and the place, for it was Washington's birthday. Among other things, he +said,-- + +"All the political sentiments I entertain have been drawn, so far as I +have been able to draw them, from the sentiments which originated in +and were given to the world from this hall. I have never had a feeling, +politically, that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the +Declaration of Independence. It was that which gave promise that in +due time the weight would be lifted from the shoulders of all men and +that all should have an equal chance. Now, my friends, can this country +be saved on that basis? If it can, I will consider myself one of the +happiest men in the world if I can help to save it. If it cannot be +saved upon that principle, it will be truly awful. But if this country +cannot be saved without giving up that principle, I was about to say I +would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it. Now, in my +view of the present aspect of affairs, there is no need of bloodshed and +war. There is no necessity for it. I am not in favor of such a course; +and I may say in advance that there will be no bloodshed unless it be +forced upon the government. The government will not use force unless +force is used against it. + +"My friends, this is wholly an unprepared speech. I did not expect to +be called upon to say a word when I came here. I supposed it was merely +to do something towards raising a flag--I may, therefore, have said +something indiscreet. [Cries of 'No! no!'] But I have said nothing but +what I am willing to live by, and, if it be the pleasure of Almighty +God, to die by." + +The manner in which Lincoln came into Washington has been the subject +of abundant discussion and criticism, but long ago the public mind +settled down to a mature opinion that he did exactly right, and that a +President-elect of the United States, particularly at such a critical +juncture, should not take any risks or omit any precautions for his +personal safety. Lincoln himself, long after, declared that he did not +then and never did believe that he would have been assassinated, but +always thought it wise to run no risk when no risk was necessary. Wisdom +justifies such a rule, while the tragic experience of the American +people has left no doubt of it. The facts were that an Italian barber +named Ferrandini, an outspoken secessionist working at a Baltimore +hotel, had submitted to an organization of Southern sympathizers a +wild plan for intimidating the Union people of Maryland and the North, +which included the blowing up of all the bridges around Washington, the +kidnapping of several prominent Republicans, and the assassination of +Lincoln, General Scott, and Hamlin, the President and Vice-President +elect. This would leave the capital open to the Southern leaders, throw +the entire government into confusion, and prevent interference from +the North with any revolutionary plans which Jefferson Davis might be +contemplating. + +[Illustration: Copyright, 1900, by McClure, Phillips & Co. + + For Mrs. Lucy G. Speed, from whose pious hand I accepted the + present of an Oxford Bible twenty years ago. Washington, D.C. + October 3, 1861 + + A. Lincoln. + +From a photograph by Klauber, Louisville, Kentucky. Reproduced by +special permission of James B. Speed, Esq.] + +Just how much encouragement Ferrandini received from the Southern +sympathizers in Baltimore and Washington is not known, but he was the +captain of a military company whose members were pledged to prevent +the inauguration of Lincoln or any abolitionist President. When Allan +Pinkerton learned of his suggestions, he reported the matter at once +to Mr. Felton, President of the railroad that connected Baltimore +with Philadelphia. Mr. Pinkerton's disclosures were confirmed by +detectives employed by Governor Hicks, of Maryland, and the military +authorities at Washington, although neither knew that the others were at +work on the case. After consultation with his friends, Lincoln decided +not to take any chances, and it was arranged that, after the ceremonies +at Harrisburg were concluded, he should return to Philadelphia with a +single companion and take the regular midnight train to Washington, +leaving the rest of his party to continue in the special train according +to the original itinerary. Lincoln wore no disguise, no deception was +practised upon any one, and the only unusual occurrence that night was +the disconnection of the telegraph wires just outside of Philadelphia +and Harrisburg, so that, in case the change of plan was discovered, the +news could not reach Baltimore until Lincoln had passed through that +city. Mr. Seward and Mr. Washburne were the only persons to meet the +President-elect at the station, and they had been advised of his coming +only a few hours before by Mr. Seward's son, who had come by a previous +train from Harrisburg. + +The week before the inauguration was a busy one for the President-elect. +A great deal of his time was occupied by visits of ceremony and +consultations with Republican leaders about the composition of his +Cabinet, the terms of his inaugural, and the policy to be pursued by +the new administration. March 4 Mr. Buchanan escorted him from the +Executive Mansion to the Capitol, where the oath was administered to +him by Chief-Justice Taney, and, standing upon a platform at the east +portico of the unfinished Capitol, he was introduced to the multitude by +his old friend, Edward D. Baker, while Stephen A. Douglas, his opponent +for the Presidency, stood at his left hand and held his hat. The public +curiosity to see the President-elect reached its climax as he made his +appearance. All sorts of stories had been told and believed about his +personal appearance. His character had been grossly misrepresented and +maligned in both sections of the Union, and the hysterical condition +of the country naturally whetted the appetite of men of all parties to +see and hear the man who was now the central figure of the republic. The +tone of moderation, tenderness, and good-will which breathed through +his inaugural speech made a profound impression in his favor, while +his voice rang out over the acres of people before him with surprising +distinctness, and was heard in the remotest parts of his audience. + +No inaugural address before or since has been awaited with so much +anxiety and interest. It was expected that in this, his first +official utterance, the new President would outline the policy of his +administration and determine whether the country should have war or +peace. Thousands of men were eager for an intimation of what he intended +to say, and an accurate forecast was worth millions of dollars to the +stock market; but not a word nor a thought leaked out. The document was +written with Lincoln's own hand upon the backs of envelopes and other +scraps of paper from time to time as ideas suggested themselves and he +determined what to say, and finally, as the time of his departure from +Springfield approached, he put them together in a little bare room in +a business block over the store of his brother-in-law, where he was +accustomed to retire when he wanted to be alone or had to do writing of +importance. Only two persons knew of this retreat. + +When the manuscript was finished it was intrusted to Mr. William H. +Bailhache, editor of the _Illinois State Journal_, who put it in type +himself, assisted by a veteran compositor, also an old friend of +Lincoln. After taking a dozen proof-slips, the type was distributed. +Judge David Davis and one or two other friends read it in Springfield. +Orville H. Browning read it on the journey to Washington, and upon +the morning of his arrival at the capital, a copy was handed to Mr. +Seward, who spent an entire Sunday revising it. His amendments and +suggestions were almost as voluminous as the original document. Lincoln +adopted either in whole or in part nearly all of them, except where they +affected the style or changed the policy indicated. The most important +changes made were to modify the declaration of his intentions to recover +and hold the fortifications and property which had been seized by the +secessionists and to speak of the exercise of power in that direction +with some ambiguity and a hint at forbearance. + +During all his life at the White House Lincoln took an active part +in political affairs. He never forgot that he was the President of +the whole country; but at the same time he considered it necessary +to its salvation to establish the Republican party upon a firm and +permanent basis, and for that purpose a more complete and thorough +organization was necessary. He knew the value of an organization of +trained politicians and of political discipline as well as any man in +public life. He was thoroughly a practical politician and as skilful +in execution as he was in planning. He knew how to manipulate men and +direct movements as well as Thurlow Weed, and no man in the Cabinet +or in either House of Congress was more adroit in accomplishing his +purposes. He never failed to carry through Congress any measure that +he considered important; he never failed to obtain the confirmation +of a nominee. He used the patronage of his office to strengthen the +Republican party because he believed it essential to the salvation of +his country. He possessed a political tact so subtle and masterful that +it enabled him to reconcile rivalries and enemies, to unite conflicting +purposes, and to bring to his support men of implacable hostility, who +never realized his purpose until his object was accomplished, and then +it was such as they almost invariably approved. He was candid when +candor was necessary, he was mysterious when he believed it wise to +excite curiosity, and he was determined and often arbitrary with men +whom he thought would be most impressed that way. His greatest quality, +the most valuable talent he possessed, was his ability to fathom the +human heart, to understand its weakness and its strength, so that he +could measure the influence that must be exerted and the methods by +which it could be induced to assist him in his direction of affairs. + +His lowly birth and early experience were of great advantage to him in +understanding human nature, and he looked to the great masses of "the +plain people" as well as to the Almighty for guidance, and had full +faith in their honesty and capacity. Before he acted upon any important +question he felt the public pulse, and when he thought the people were +ready he acted, and not before. While he was a great leader, a shrewd +and deep manipulator of public opinion, he often said, in his quaint +way, that it was possible to fool a part of the people all the time, +and all of the people part of the time; but no man could fool all the +people all the time. With his great common sense, he endeavored to +discover what was in the public mind and how the public conscience +would regard certain measures proposed, and waited for it to point out +his path of duty. The atmosphere of Washington never affected him; he +was self-contained and indifferent to social and other influences that +usually exercise much force upon public men. + +His sympathies were tender, and his desire to contribute to the +happiness of every one made it difficult for him to say "No;" but this, +his greatest weakness, was never shown in the direction of the military +or political policy of the government. On the contrary, the man who +would violate the laws of war and imperil the discipline of an army by +pardoning a deserter or commuting the sentence of some poor wretch who +was sentenced to be shot would not permit delegations of United States +Senators to move him one atom from what he deemed best to be done. He +carried this principle into his appointments to office also. During +the Presidential canvass of 1864, when a quarrel between the Weed and +Fenton factions of the Republican party endangered the ticket in New +York, Lincoln sent for the Senator. What occurred we do not know; but +Mr. Fenton started immediately for New York with Mr. Nicolay, and the +latter returned to Washington with the resignation of Rufus F. Andrews, +a friend of Mr. Fenton, who had been surveyor of the port, and Abram +Wakeman, Mr. Weed's choice for the office, was appointed at once. From +that time forward Mr. Weed was earnest in his support of the Republican +ticket. Senator Fenton, in his reminiscences, says, "The small majority +in New York in November, less than 7000 for the Republican ticket, +served to illustrate Mr. Lincoln's political sagacity and tact. He was +always a politician as well as a statesman, and but for his intervention +at that time the electoral vote of New York might have been cast for +the Democratic candidate, and no one dare measure the effect of such an +event upon the war." + +President Lincoln never hesitated to use the patronage of the government +for political purposes. He held that the government of the United States +is a political organization, and that the political opinions of those +intrusted with its administration in those critical days were of as much +consequence as their integrity or intelligence. As a consequence, he +made his appointments first from among those whom he believed would give +him the most efficient support in his efforts to save the Union, and +second to those who believed in the principles and the measures of the +party with which he was identified. He would have rejected with scorn +the demands of the civil service reformers of the present day. Public +opinion was not then educated up to the existing standard of political +morality. At the same time, his keen sense of justice required him to +recognize and reward merit and efficiency even among his political +opponents. + +He had a sly way of stating his intentions, and he often expressed +great truths in an odd way. Soon after his arrival in Washington the +Massachusetts delegation in the Peace Congress called upon him to +recommend Salmon P. Chase for Secretary of the Treasury. Lincoln heard +them respectfully, and then, with a twinkle in his eye, remarked,-- + +"Gentlemen, of course, you would not expect me to tell you who is going +to be in the Cabinet; but, from what I hear, I think Mr. Chase's chances +are about one hundred and fifty for any other man's hundred for that +place." + +One day, at Cabinet meeting, Mr. Chase was reproaching himself for +failing to write a letter that he had intended to send that day, when +Lincoln observed,-- + +"Never be sorry for what you don't write; it is the things you do write +that you are usually sorry for." + +The President enforced political discipline among the subordinates of +the government. Representative George W. Julian, of Indiana, relates +this incident: + +"After my nomination for re-election in the year 1864, Mr. Holloway, who +was holding the position of Commissioner of Patents, and was one of the +editors of a Republican newspaper in my district, refused to recognize +me as the party candidate, and kept the name of my defeated competitor +standing in his paper. It threatened discord and mischief, and I went to +the President with these facts, and on the strength of them asked for +Mr. Holloway's removal from office. + +"'Your nomination,' said Mr. Lincoln, 'is as binding on Republicans as +mine, and you can rest assured that Mr. Holloway shall support you, +openly and unconditionally, or lose his head.' + +"This was entirely satisfactory; but after waiting a week or two for +the announcement of my name, I returned to the President with the +information that Mr. Holloway was still keeping up his fight, and that +I had come to ask of him decisive measures. I saw in an instant that his +ire was roused. He rang the bell for his messenger, and said to him in a +very excited and emphatic way,-- + +"'Tell Mr. Holloway to come to me!' + +"The messenger hesitated, looking somewhat surprised and bewildered, +when Mr. Lincoln said in a tone still more emphatic,-- + +"'_Tell Mr. Holloway to come to me!_' + +"It was perfectly evident that the business would now be attended to, +and in a few days my name was duly announced and the work of party +insubordination ceased." + +The late Chief-Justice Cartter, of the District of Columbia, once called +upon Lincoln with a party of politicians to secure the appointment of +a gentleman who was opposed by the Senators from his State. Lincoln +suggested that they ought to get the Senators on their side. They +replied that, owing to local complications, such a thing was impossible. +Lincoln retorted that nothing was impossible in politics; that the +peculiarities of the Senator referred to were well known, and that by +the use of a little tact and diplomacy he might be brought around, in +which case there would be no doubt about the appointment. To clinch his +argument Lincoln told a story of James Quarles, a distinguished lawyer +of Tennessee. Quarles, he said, was trying a case, and after producing +his evidence rested; whereupon the defence produced a witness who swore +Quarles completely out of court, and a verdict was rendered accordingly. +After the trial one of his friends came to him and said,-- + +"Why didn't you get that feller to swar on your side?" + +"I didn't know anything about him," replied Quarles. "I might have told +you about him," said the friend, "for he would swar for you jest as +hard as he'd swar for the other side. That's his business. Judge, that +feller takes in swarrin' for a living." + +Representative John B. Alley, of Massachusetts, who was himself famous +as a politician, said, "Mr. Lincoln was a thorough and most adroit +politician as well as statesman, and in politics always adopted the +means to the end, fully believing that in vital issues 'success was +a duty.' In illustration of this feeling and sentiment, I need only +refer to his action and conduct in procuring the passage of the +constitutional amendment abolishing slavery. It required a two-thirds +vote of Congress to enable the amendments to the Constitution to be sent +to the Legislatures for ratification, and there were two votes lacking +to make two-thirds, which Lincoln said 'must be procured.' Two members +of the House were sent for and Lincoln said that those two votes must be +procured. When asked 'How?' he remarked,-- + +"'I am President of the United States, clothed with great power. The +abolition of slavery by constitutional provision settles the fate, for +all coming time, not only of the millions now in bondage, but of unborn +millions to come--a measure of such importance that _those two votes +must be procured_. I leave it to you to determine how it shall be done; +but remember that I am President of the United States, clothed with +immense power, and I expect you to procure those votes.'" + +These gentlemen understood the significance of the remark. The votes +were procured, the constitutional amendment was passed, and slavery was +abolished forever. + +"Senator Sumner and myself," continued Mr. Alley, "called upon him one +morning to urge the appointment of a Massachusetts man to be a secretary +of legation, chiefly upon the ground of his superior qualifications. +But Mr. Lincoln said, emphatically, 'No;' that he should give the place +to an applicant from another State who was backed by strong influence, +although he acknowledged that he did not think him fit for the position. + +"We were naturally indignant, and wished to know if one of acknowledged +fitness was to be rejected because he was a Massachusetts man, and one +whom he was willing to say was not fit was to be appointed. 'Yes,' +said the President, 'that is just the reason,' and facetiously added, +'I suppose you two Massachusetts gentlemen think that your State +could furnish suitable men for every diplomatic and consulate station +the government has to fill.' We replied that we thought it could. He +appeased our displeasure by saying he thought so too, and that he +considered Massachusetts the banner State of the Union, and admired its +institutions and people so much that he sent his 'Bob,' meaning his son +Robert, to Harvard for an education." + +The Presidential campaign of 1864 was fought on one issue only, and that +was the success of the war, although Lincoln, in his annual message +to Congress in the December following, declared that "No candidate +for any office whatever, high or low, has ventured to seek votes on +the avowal that he was for giving up the Union." Nevertheless, the +Democrats nominated McClellan and attempted to discredit the patriotism +and the ability of Lincoln. Similar attempts were made in his own party +by the radical antislavery element and the friends of Secretary Chase +and numerous disappointed contractors and politicians, but they made +hardly a ripple upon the great current of public opinion which swept +on irresistible to the Convention. Lincoln did nothing to promote his +candidacy, but made no secret of his desire for a re-election, and +himself suggested the most effective argument in his own support when +he recalled the homely proverb of his youth that "It is bad policy to +swap horses while crossing a stream." He placed no obstacles in the +way of Mr. Chase, and when warned that General Grant might aspire to +the Presidency, replied, "If he takes Richmond, let him have it." +He admonished the officials of the administration against too much +activity and rebuked them for opposing his enemies. He made no speeches +of importance during the campaign, but on several occasions addressed +delegations which visited Washington, appeared at sanitary fairs for the +benefit of sick soldiers, responded to serenades, and whenever custom or +courtesy required him to appear in public he did so without reference to +political results. + +In August, 1864, the political horizon was very dark, and the President +himself, who was always the most hopeful and confident of men, almost +entirely lost heart. Having convinced himself that the campaign was +going against him, he deliberately laid down a line of duty for +himself, and at the Cabinet meeting on August 23 he requested each one +of his ministers to write their names upon a folded sheet of paper +in such a way that the seal could not be broken without mutilating +their autographs. He made no explanation of its contents or of his +reason for desiring them to attest it, but after the election it was +disclosed that the mysterious paper contained a pledge from himself and +his administration loyally to accept any verdict which the people of +the country might pronounce upon their efforts to save the Union, and +to continue their labors with zealous loyalty until relieved by their +successors. The pledge closed as follows: + +"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 +so co-operate with the President-elect as to save the Union between the +election and the inauguration, as he will have secured the election on +such ground that he cannot possibly save it afterwards." + + + + +V + +A PRESIDENT AND HIS CABINET + + +Lincoln tells us that before he left the telegraph office at Springfield +on the night of the election in November, 1860, he had practically +selected his Cabinet. The superintendent of the telegraph company gave +him a room from which all other visitors were excluded, and, with +no company but two operators, he read the reports as they came in. +Between times he had plenty of opportunity for meditation, and, always +confident, the returns soon convinced him of his election and his mind +naturally turned upon the next important act for him to perform. "When +I finally left that room," he said afterwards, "I had substantially +completed the framework of my Cabinet as it now exists." + +To begin with, he decided to offer posts of honor to those who had been +his rivals for the Presidential nomination,--Seward, Chase, Cameron, +and Bates,--and to fill the remaining places with representatives of +the various elements that had combined to form the Republican party. It +was to be a composite Cabinet, purely political, including no intimate +friends, no personal adherents, and in the entire list there was not +one with whom he ever had confidential relations. His plan seems to +have been to combine, as one of his secretaries said, the experience +of Seward, the integrity of Chase, the popularity of Cameron, and to +hold the West with Bates, attract New England with Welles, please the +Whigs through Smith, and convince the Democrats through Blair. Lincoln +always had a great respect for names. No one had studied more closely +the careers of American politicians, although his personal acquaintances +outside of his own State were limited, and he was more familiar with +the personal qualifications and political records of the gentlemen he +had chosen than were they with his. Perhaps he overestimated their +ability and the value of their advice, as he was likely to do because +of his own modesty and inexperience. He saw distinctly the impending +crisis, and felt the need of support from leaders of experience, +ability, and influence, as well as popular sympathy. But at the same +time the combination he selected had in it all the seeds of disaster +because of personal jealousy, previous political rivalry, and the +intrigues of their henchmen. Yet by his great tact, patience, and +strength of purpose he made them instruments of his will. As finally +chosen, his Cabinet represented every faction of the new Republican +party and the ablest representative of each division as evenly as an odd +number could. When reminded that he had selected four Democrats and only +three Whigs, he promptly replied that he was himself a Whig, and hoped +that he should often be at Cabinet meetings to make the parties even. +This was a famous jest during the early part of the administration. + +Although he had decided in his own mind upon five of seven of his future +advisers before the votes that elected him were counted, he treated with +patience and courtesy the crowds of politicians that came from different +parts of the country to advise and persuade him in the interest of their +friends. He listened attentively to all that his visitors had to say and +gave their suggestions careful reflection. He said to Thurlow Weed that +he supposed the latter had some experience in cabinet-making, and, as he +had never learned that trade himself, he was disposed to avail himself +of the suggestions of friends. The making of a Cabinet, he added, was by +no means as easy as he had supposed, partly, he believed, because, while +the population had increased, great men were scarcer than they used to +be. + +He was extremely anxious to get two Southerners for the Cabinet, as he +believed that such an act might go far to reconcile the loyal people +of that section to his election and establish him in their confidence, +but from the beginning he saw that his hopes were not to be realized. +In order to draw out public sentiment, he wrote a brief anonymous +editorial for the _Illinois State Journal_ on the subject, in which he +asked whether it was known that any Southern gentlemen of character +would accept such an appointment, and, if so, on what terms would they +surrender their political differences to Mr. Lincoln or Mr. Lincoln to +them. + +"There are men in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee," +said Thurlow Weed, "for whose loyalty under any circumstances and in any +event I would vouch." + +"Let's have the names of your white blackbirds," replied Lincoln, and +Weed gave him four, Mr. Seward suggested several, and Mr. Greeley +suggested five. Of all the gentlemen named, Lincoln preferred John A. +Gilmer, of North Carolina, with whom he had served in Congress, and +who had been a prominent leader of the Whig party in that State. He +invited Gilmer to Springfield, but the latter would not come, and after +canvassing the various suggestions which were made him, he found that he +must limit his choice to the border States, and selected Edward Bates, +of Missouri, and Montgomery Blair, of Maryland. + +Mr. Bates was an able lawyer and a highly respected and popular +antislavery Whig from a slave State. He had been a candidate for the +Presidential nomination at Chicago, and had received 48 votes out of +465 cast by delegates from Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, Texas, Oregon, +Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Early in December he sent word to Mr. +Bates that he would be in St. Louis the next day to consult him about +matters of importance; but Mr. Bates would not permit him to make the +journey, and started at once for Springfield. They had been acquainted +for several years and were very good friends, and after cordial +greetings, Lincoln explained that he would like to have Mr. Bates accept +the post of Attorney-General in his Cabinet, for which the latter was +in every way qualified, and which he would find congenial. Mr. Bates +accepted, and the next day the announcement was given to the newspapers +for the purpose of quieting the demands of the conservative Republicans +and antislavery Whigs in the border States for recognition. + +A few days later he offered a Cabinet position to Caleb B. Smith, +of Indiana, without assigning him to any particular portfolio. This +was done to relieve him from the pressure that was being brought by +Schuyler Colfax, whose friends were exceedingly persistent. Mr. Colfax +was very much disappointed, and attributed his failure to obtain the +appointment to Lincoln's resentment towards him because he had favored +the re-election of Douglas to the United States Senate in 1858. Lincoln +was not aware of this supposition until after he had entered upon his +duties as President, when he showed his candor and good-nature by +writing a friendly letter to Mr. Colfax explaining that "a tender of +the appointment was not withheld in any part because of anything that +happened in 1858. Indeed, I should have decided as I did, easier than +I did, had that matter never existed. I had partly made up my mind in +favor of Mr. Smith--not conclusively, of course--before your name was +mentioned in that connection. When you were brought forward I said, +'Colfax is a young man already in a position, is running a brilliant +career, and is sure of a bright future in any event. With Smith it is +now or never.' I now have to beg that you will not do me the injustice +to suppose for a moment that I remember anything against you in malice." + +Mr. Smith did not remain in the Cabinet a great while, however. The +duties of Secretary of the Interior were arduous and uncongenial, +and he retired in December, 1862, at his own request, to accept an +appointment to the United States District bench. He was succeeded by +John P. Usher, also of Indiana, who continued in office until after the +inauguration of Johnson, although he tendered his resignation early +in 1865 to relieve President Lincoln from the criticism of having +two members of his Cabinet from Indiana, Hugh McCulloch having been +appointed Secretary of the Treasury. The President was reluctant to let +Mr. Usher go, but accepted his resignation, and, for some reason never +explained, fixed May 15, 1865, as the day when it should take effect. +When that day arrived Lincoln had no further need of his services. + +Mr. Bates proved a strong supporter of the war. He was a man of +determination and belligerent disposition, notwithstanding his +conservative education; and although he came from a slave State, he was +one of the most radical of the President's advisers whenever the slavery +question came up. When the Emancipation Proclamation was first proposed, +Mr. Bates and Mr. Stanton were the only members of the Cabinet who gave +it their unreserved approval, while Mr. Chase, who came nearer to being +the representative of the abolition faction than any other member, and +Mr. Seward, who was supposed to be the most radical of Republicans, were +opposed to it. + +Among Mr. Stanton's papers is a curious memorandum which throws a +search-light upon his position and that of some of his colleagues. + + "Tuesday, July 22. + + "The President proposes to issue an order declaring free all + slaves in States in rebellion on the ---- day of ----. + + "The Attorney-General and Stanton are for its immediate + promulgation. + + "Seward against it; argues strongly in favor of cotton and + foreign governments. + + "Chase silent. + + "Welles-- + + "Seward argues--That foreign nations will intervene to + prevent the abolition of slavery for sake of cotton. Argues in + a long speech against its immediate promulgation. Wants to wait + for troops. Wants Halleck here. Wants drum and fife and public + spirit. We break up our relations with foreign nations and the + production of cotton for sixty years. + + "Chase thinks it a measure of great danger, and would lead + to universal emancipation.--The measure goes beyond anything I + have recommended." + +However, before 1864 Mr. Bates grew weary of his official labors and +expressed to the President his desire to retire. He was offered a vacant +judgeship in Missouri, but declined it on the ground that he could not +work in harmony with the radicals who were in control of politics there. +When he retired the Cabinet was left without a Southern member. + +A few days before the meeting of the Supreme Court, in December, 1864, +Lincoln sent for Titian J. Coffey, the Assistant Attorney-General, and +said,-- + +"My Cabinet has shrunk up North, and I must find a Southern man. I +suppose if the twelve apostles were to be chosen nowadays the shrieks of +locality would have to be heeded. I have invited Judge Holt to become +Attorney-General, but he seems unwilling to undertake the Supreme Court +work. I want you to see him, remove his objection if you can, and bring +me his answer." + +"I then had charge of the government cases in the Supreme Court, and +they were all ready for argument," said Mr. Coffey. "I saw Judge Holt, +explained the situation, and assured him that he need not appear in +court unless he chose to do so. He had, however, decided to decline the +invitation, and I returned to the President and so informed him. + +"'Then,' said the President, 'I will offer it to James Speed, of +Louisville, a man I know well, though not so well as I know his brother +Joshua. I slept with Joshua for four years, and I suppose I ought to +know him well. But James is an honest man and a gentleman, and if he +comes here you will find he is one of those well-poised men, not too +common here, who are not spoiled by a big office.'" + +Mr. Speed accepted the appointment and served until after the +assassination. + +The relations between several of the members of Lincoln's Cabinet were +from the beginning to the end unfriendly, and no President without the +tact, patience, and forbearance of Lincoln could have controlled them. +He treated them all with unvarying kindness, and although he never +disclosed any desire or intention to dominate, and, in fact, invariably +yielded on matters of little importance, he was always their master, +and on matters of great importance they were compelled to submit to his +will. It is the highest testimony to their confidence in him that even +those who had retired at his wish never afterwards failed to show him +respect and even affection, and none of them ever retired from his post +from feelings of dissatisfaction with the orders or the treatment he +received from him. + +During the early days of his administration he had a higher opinion +of his advisers than they had of him, which was because they did not +yet know one another. He recognized them as men who had made honorable +records in the United States Senate and in other eminent positions, +while they regarded him as an ordinary frontier lawyer, without +experience, and the struggle for ascendancy and control puzzled a good +many people from time to time. Mr. Seward was looked upon as the chief +pillar of the temple for many months, Mr. Stanton's iron will was +constantly felt by the public, Mr. Chase was regarded as an eminent +statesman; but in all the critical issues of the war the uncouth Western +lawyer, without experience in statecraft or executive administration, +unused to power, asserted and maintained his official supremacy, and +every member of his Cabinet yielded implicit obedience. They recognized +his unselfish purpose, his purity of character, his keen perception, his +foresight, and his common sense, and were usually willing to accept his +judgment. While others fretted and became confused in the emergencies +that overwhelmed them, Lincoln was never liable to excitement or +impulsive action. + +[Illustration: MONTGOMERY BLAIR, POSTMASTER-GENERAL + +From a photograph by Brady] + +At the beginning of his administration the entire organization of +the government was in a chaotic state. The Buchanan administration +had filled the offices with Democrats and Southern sympathizers, who +resigned immediately after Lincoln's inauguration and left their affairs +in utter confusion. Their places had to be filled with untrained men +who did not understand their duties and had not been accustomed to +official labor or discipline. It would have been remarkable if they had +conducted the routine work without friction, but the urgency and the +magnitude of the responsibility and labor that were thrown upon them +was more than a trained corps of officials could have executed without +confusion and delay. The President was probably the only man connected +with the government that did not lose his self-control. During all +that most trying period, as was the case throughout his life, he was +composed, serene, and confident. Oftentimes, when subordinate officials +and outsiders came to him raging with indignation, he heard them with +patience, replied with a jest on his lips, and quieted their nerves by +talking of commonplace matters. His Cabinet officers were often fretful, +and there was continual friction between the several departments. +Several times it almost reached the breaking-point. But Lincoln +soothed and satisfied all parties without taking the side of either. + +Montgomery Blair, of Maryland, was not only a representative of the +border State aristocracy, but belonged to one of the most prominent +Democratic families in the country, was one of the founders of the +Republican party, and was first known to Lincoln as the attorney who +argued Dred Scott's case in the Supreme Court. He was a graduate of +West Point Military Academy, had several years of military training in +Indian campaigns, had studied law, and was appointed a judge of the +Court of Common Pleas when he was a very young man. President Buchanan +made him solicitor of the Court of Claims, but removed him because of +his opposition to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. This made a +Republican of Blair, and, with the exception of his brother Francis P. +Blair, of Missouri, and Cassius M. Clay, of Kentucky, he was the most +conspicuous antislavery man in all the Southern States. + +Blair could not be appointed to the Cabinet without a bitter +controversy. He was opposed by Henry Winter Davis, one of the most able +and brilliant young Whigs in the House of Representatives, and by other +partisans in Maryland, who fought so hard and so persistently as to +involve several of the leading Whigs of the country on his side, while +the former Democrats in the Republican party rallied to the support of +Blair. Davis had the powerful sympathy of Seward and Chase, Benjamin +F. Wade, and other prominent abolitionists, and it became no longer +a matter of personal rivalry between Blair and Davis, but a struggle +for supremacy between the Whigs and the Democrats for the control of +the administration. During the few days before the inauguration it +seemed as if the Republican party would be split in twain, or at least +that the entire Cabinet slate would be destroyed if either Blair or +Davis received an appointment. Lincoln seemed to be the only man in +Washington who was not involved in the controversy. He watched the +situation with keen eyes, however, and was alert for every event or +incident that might have a serious effect upon his administration; but +his mind was made up, and when Norman B. Judd came bursting into his +bedroom at Willard's Hotel on the night of March 3, to inquire in great +excitement if he had decided to nominate Davis instead of Blair, Lincoln +replied calmly but with emphasis,-- + +"When that slate breaks again it will break at the top." + +Mr. Blair was a loyal and useful member of the Cabinet, and from the +beginning was in favor of prompt and energetic measures against the +secessionists. He had been a Democrat of the Jackson type, and urged +Lincoln to adopt Jackson's vigorous policy against nullification. It +might have been wiser and better for the country, it might have saved +lives and money, sorrow and tears, if his advice had been adopted. He +understood the South better than Seward or Chase or any other member +of the Cabinet; but conditions would not permit the adoption of his +energetic policy, and he became very restless. His temper and his +character were revealed in a memorandum which he submitted with his +colleagues at the request of Lincoln, concerning setting forth his views +of the course that should be pursued. + +Mr. Blair wrote,-- + + "_First._ As regards General Scott, I have no confidence + in his judgment on the questions of the day. His political + views control his judgment, and his course, as remarked on + by the President, shows that whilst no one will question his + patriotism, the results are the same as if he were in fact + traitorous. + + "_Second._ It is acknowledged to be possible to relieve Fort + Sumter. It ought to be relieved without reference to Pickens or + any other possession. South Carolina is the head and front of + this rebellion, and when that State is safely delivered from the + authority of the United States it will strike a blow against our + authority, from which it will take us years of bloody strife to + recover." + +He opposed the Emancipation Proclamation on the ground of policy, and +made an earnest effort to convince Lincoln that it was a mistake to +take such radical action at that particular junction. He had been an +emancipationist for years, the principle of the measure he approved, but +he thought the time was inopportune, because he feared that it would +drive the border States over to the Confederacy. + +Mr. Blair was constantly coming into collision with Mr. Stanton. Like +two flints, they struck fire whenever they met, and often engaged in +acrimonious discussions at Cabinet meetings over actual or fancied +grievances on the part of Mr. Blair, who felt that Mr. Stanton was +continually interfering with his prerogatives. Mr. Blair's enmity to Mr. +Seward was equally strong and often developed in an embarrassing manner, +while the hostility between Mr. Chase and himself was concealed under +the thinnest veneer of politeness. + +In the summer of 1864 Mr. Blair desired to have certain orders issued +relating to the postal service within the lines of the army. A draft of +the proposed orders was made, but Mr. Stanton declined to issue them. +General Markland, who was in charge of the army mails, says, "When I +returned to Mr. Blair with the information that the orders would not +be issued by the Secretary of War, he said, 'We will see,' and wrote +a letter to Mr. Lincoln, which he gave to me to deliver with the +accompanying papers. When I delivered the letter, Mr. Lincoln read it +carefully and handed it back to me, saying,-- + +"'What is the matter between Blair and Stanton?' "I told him all I knew +in reference to the proposed orders. He then said, 'If I understand +the case, General Grant wants the orders issued, and Blair wants them +issued, and you want them issued, and Stanton won't issue them. Now, +don't you see what kind of a fix I will be in if I interfere? I'll +tell you what to do. If you and General Grant understand one another, +suppose you try to get along without the orders, and if Blair or Stanton +makes a fuss, I may be called in as a reference, and I may decide in +your favor.' The orders were never issued, and pleasant relations were +maintained on that score all around." + +Mr. Blair was not popular with the Union people of the North. The public +distrust is strikingly illustrated by the following anecdote from +the reminiscences of Henry Ward Beecher: "There was some talk, early +in 1864, of a sort of compromise with the South. Blair had told the +President he was satisfied that if he could be put in communication with +some of the leading men of the South in some way or other, that some +benefit would accrue. Lincoln had sent a delegation to meet Alexander +Stephens, and that was all the North knew. We were all very much excited +over that. The war lasted so long, and I was afraid Lincoln would be +so anxious for peace, and I was afraid he would accept something that +would be of advantage to the South, so I went to Washington and called +upon him. I said to him, 'Mr. Lincoln, I come to you to know whether +the public interest will permit you to explain to me what this Southern +commission means? I am in an embarrassing position as editor and do not +want to step in the dark.' Well, he listened very patiently, and looked +up to the ceiling for a few moments, and said, 'Well, I am almost of a +mind to show you all the documents.' + +"'Well, Mr. Lincoln, I should like to see them if it is proper.' He went +to his little secretary and came out and handed me a little card as long +as my finger and an inch wide, and on that was written,-- + + "'You will pass the bearer through the lines' [or something + to that effect]. + + "'A. LINCOLN.' + +"'There,' he said, 'is all there is of it. Now, Blair thinks something +can be done, but I don't; but I have no objection to have him try his +hand. He has no authority whatever but to go and see what he can do.'" + +The President was continually receiving letters, resolutions, and even +delegations demanding the removal of his Postmaster-General, and Mr. +Blair did not improve the situation by his own conduct. He continued to +write letters and make speeches, and indulged in caustic and sometimes +cruel criticism of his colleagues and the Republican leaders in +Washington until the situation became so strained that the President +was compelled to ask his resignation. Before this was done, however, +a little incident occurred which forcibly illustrates the President's +patience, dignity, and at the same time his determination. The incident +is probably without parallel in the history of the government. + +General Halleck, in command of the army, called the attention of the +Secretary of War to a speech made by Mr. Blair just after General +Early's raid upon Washington and the destruction of Mr. Blair's property +over the District border in Maryland, in which the army and its +commander were denounced for cowardice and inefficiency. General Halleck +declared that if the charge was true the names of the officers should be +stricken from the rolls of the army. If it were not true, he said, the +slanderer should be dismissed from the Cabinet. + +Secretary Stanton handed the letter to the President without comment, +whereupon Lincoln replied to General Halleck: + +"Whether the remarks were really made I do not know, nor do I suppose +such knowledge is necessary to a correct response. If they were made, +I do not approve them; and yet, under the circumstances, I would not +dismiss a member of the Cabinet therefor. I do not consider what may +have been hastily said in a moment of vexation at so severe a loss is +sufficient ground for so grave a step. Besides this, truth is generally +the best vindication against slander. I propose continuing to be myself +the judge as to when a member of the Cabinet shall be dismissed." + +Not satisfied with this, the President, when the Cabinet came together, +read them this impressive little lecture: + +"I must myself be the judge how long to retain and when to remove any +of you from his position. It would greatly pain me to discover any of +you endeavoring to procure another's removal, or in any way to prejudice +him before the public. Such endeavor would be a wrong to me, and, much +worse, a wrong to the country. My wish is that on this subject no remark +be made or question asked by any of you, here or elsewhere, now or +hereafter." + +This occurred in July, but Mr. Blair continued to exasperate every +person with whom he came in contact. He accused Seward, Stanton, and +Chase of a conspiracy to break down the administration, and wearied +the President with his suspicions of the motives and actions of all +the leading Republicans of the country, until Lincoln finally wrote +him a kindly letter, saying, "You have generously said to me more than +once that whenever your resignation could be a relief to me it was at +my disposal. The time has come. You know very well that this proceeds +from no dissatisfaction of mine with you personally or officially. Your +uniform kindness has been unsurpassed by that of any other friend." + +Mr. Blair's loyalty to Lincoln and the Union was in no way affected by +his dismissal. He immediately took the stump in behalf of Lincoln's +re-election and his personal fidelity and friendship were never +shaken. Lincoln offered him the choice between the Austrian and Spanish +missions, but he declined the honor with thanks. + +Mr. Blair's successor was William Dennison, of Ohio, a man of the +highest character, who had been Governor of that State at the outbreak +of the war, and had sustained the administration at Washington with +great ability and loyalty. He was a man of fine presence, winning +manners, and amiable disposition, wise in counsel, and energetic in +action. + +Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania, was a candidate for the Presidential +nomination at Chicago and received fifty votes. His friends reached +some sort of an understanding with David Davis, who was looked upon +as Lincoln's personal representative at the Convention, under which +they transferred their votes to the latter, although it was distinctly +understood that Davis had no authority to make pledges or promises and +could only recommend to Lincoln that Mr. Cameron be recognized in as +honorable and notable a manner as possible. It was, however, perfectly +natural for the President to select a member of his official family +from a State of such importance as Pennsylvania, and Mr. Cameron was +recognized as the representative of the protective tariff element in the +Republican party. Hence, after a "balancing of matters," as he called +it, he invited Mr. Cameron to Springfield during the holidays in 1860, +had a frank talk with him, and tendered him a seat in the Cabinet either +as Secretary of the Treasury or Secretary of War, "which of the two I +have not yet definitely decided." + +There was a volcanic eruption in Pennsylvania after the announcement, +and bitter hostility was immediately developed among the members of +Mr. Cameron's own party, headed by the newly elected Governor and +chairman of the Republican State Committee, who protested against his +appointment, and claimed the right to be consulted if a member of the +Cabinet was to be selected from their State. Being a strict party man, +the President recognized their claim, and therefore wrote a polite and +friendly note to Mr. Cameron, explaining that it was impossible to take +him into the Cabinet under the circumstances, and suggesting that he +decline the appointment. "Better do this at once," he wrote, "before +things change so that you cannot honorably decline and I be compelled to +openly recall the tender. No person living knows or has an intimation +that I write this letter." This, of itself, is sufficient answer to the +frequent charge that there was a corrupt bargain at Chicago between +Lincoln and Cameron. + +As might be expected, Mr. Cameron was deeply disappointed, and +sent a friend to Springfield to demand a further explanation of +the President-elect. Whereupon Lincoln wrote a conciliatory reply, +expressing regret that Mr. Cameron's feelings were wounded by the tone +of his letter, and saying that it had been written "under great anxiety, +and perhaps I was not so guarded in its terms as I should have been. +My great object was to have you act quickly, if possible, before the +matter should be complicated with the Pennsylvania Senatorial election. +Destroy the offensive letter or return it to me. I say to you now that +I have not doubted that you would perform the duties of a department +ably and faithfully. Nor have I for a moment intended to ostracize your +friends. If I should make a Cabinet appointment for Penn. before I reach +Washington, I will not do so without consulting you and giving all the +weight to your views and wishes which I consistently can. This I have +always intended." + +This was purely personal, and attached to it was a letter in more formal +language which Mr. Cameron was authorized to show to his friends. In it +Lincoln stated that Mr. Cameron came to Springfield by his invitation +and not upon any suggestion of his own; that he had been offered an +appointment in the Cabinet, but that complications had arisen which made +it necessary to recall the offer. + +In this way Mr. Cameron was "let down easy," and while he did not +conceal his disappointment and chagrin, he kept his temper and conducted +himself in so dignified a manner that Lincoln was greatly impressed. +Cameron's enemies, still fearing that he might be taken into the +Cabinet, resorted to despicable measures to prejudice Lincoln against +him, while, on the other hand, he was earnestly defended by some of the +best people of Pennsylvania; hence the President decided to revive his +original plan, and placed Mr. Cameron's name on the slate as Secretary +of War. + +It proved to be an unfortunate decision, for before active hostilities +began it had been clearly demonstrated that he was not qualified to +fill that important post. Scandals and dissensions of the most serious +character were immediately developed in the War Department, so that +Congress appointed a special committee to make an investigation. Its +report was sensational and was too grave for Lincoln to overlook. About +the time the report was made Mr. Cameron took the liberty to announce in +his annual report the policy of the administration in regard to arming +the negroes and enlisting them in the military service. So radical an +announcement, without even consulting him, was not only a shock to +Lincoln, but passed the limits of his forbearance. Fortunately, Mr. +Cameron's report had not reached the public. Printed copies had been +sent to the press to be published as soon as the telegraph had announced +that the President's message had been read in Congress. Every copy was +recalled to Washington, the objectionable paragraphs were modified, a +new edition was published, and Mr. Cameron expressed a wish to exchange +the onerous responsibilities of the War Department for a foreign +mission. Lincoln wrote him a brief note, keeping up the pretence by +saying, "As you have more than once expressed a desire for a change of +position, I can now gratify you consistently with my view of the public +interest. I therefore propose to nominate you to the Senate next Monday +as Minister to Russia." + +As was the case with Mr. Blair, the dissolution of relations caused no +break in the friendship between the President and his former minister. +Cameron remained one of the most devoted of Lincoln's supporters and one +of the most earnest and effective advocates of his renomination to the +Presidency. + +Gideon Welles was altogether the most agreeable and satisfactory of the +fifteen members of Lincoln's official advisers. He invariably sustained +him in any position that he took or in any measure that he desired. +He gave him consistent and cordial support and the least trouble and +anxiety of any of his official family. Mr. Welles was selected as the +representative of New England. Amos Tuck, of New Hampshire, George +Ashmun, of Boston, and several other eminent gentlemen were also under +consideration. + +[Illustration: GIDEON WELLES, SECRETARY OF THE NAVY + +From a photograph by Brady] + +The morning after his speech in Hartford, in the spring of 1860, Lincoln +took a long stroll through the principal streets of that beautiful +city. As he approached the hotel he stepped into a book-store, where a +gentleman who had been in his audience the evening before approached and +introduced himself. There seemed to be a mutual attraction, and for two +hours they discussed various subjects of interest, politics, law, and +literature. The next time they met was after the Chicago Convention, to +which Mr. Welles was a delegate, and during the campaign they exchanged +frequent letters, until Lincoln was thoroughly convinced of the fitness, +availability, and character of the Connecticut lawyer for a position in +his Cabinet. The special knowledge of maritime law shown by the latter +seems to have suggested his assignment to the Navy Department. + +Mr. Welles showed a vigorous determination, a high sense of patriotism, +and great executive ability from the start, but almost immediately +after the organization of the Cabinet came into collision with Mr. +Seward because of the interference of the latter with naval affairs, +and they never became friends. Notwithstanding the intensity of their +hostility, however, both remained through the entire administration, +and were the only members of the original Cabinet who continued in that +relation until Lincoln's death. Although there were many complaints +of his arrogant manner and irritable temper, Mr. Welles always showed +a loyal affection for the President, and in August, 1862, refused to +sign the "round robin" which Seward and Chase had prepared, demanding +the dismissal of General McClellan. He agreed heartily with them, but +refused to sign because of his deep respect for the President and a fear +of wounding his feelings. + +The first member of the Cabinet selected was William H. Seward. There +was no delay, doubt, or hesitation in Lincoln's intention to offer +him the highest honor in his gift from the hour that he received the +news of his nomination, and it was entirely fitting that it should be +so. At that time Mr. Seward was pre-eminent among the members of the +Republican party. He was its leader in the Senate and was recognized as +its logical candidate for the Presidency. He had the largest number of +supporters at the Convention, and was defeated only by a combination of +the minority. He had been longer in public life, was higher in official +rank, and had been more conspicuous and successful in statesmanship +than any other of Lincoln's supporters; he had been Governor of the +greatest State in the Union, and was just completing his second term in +the United States Senate. He had the best organization behind him that +had ever been known in American politics up to that time, with Thurlow +Weed, recognized as the most consummate politician in the country, as +his manager. It certainly would have been strange if the President-elect +had not selected such a man as Secretary of State. Nevertheless, there +was considerable opposition to Seward's appointment in his own State +as well as elsewhere. It came from personal jealousy and enmity, and +also from patriotic and honorable people who feared that he might +dominate the administration, they not liking his methods; but Lincoln +did not hesitate. He wrote Mr. Seward at once after the election, asking +permission to nominate him as Secretary of State, and saying that such +had been his intention from the day of the nomination at Chicago. +"With the belief that your position in the public eye, your integrity, +ability and learning and great experience, all combine to render it an +appointment pre-eminently fit to be made." + +Mr. Seward took three weeks for reflection, and with "much +self-distrust" finally relieved Lincoln's anxiety by admitting, in a +lofty manner, that he considered it his duty to accept. The tone of this +letter did not please Lincoln; and from that moment, with the instinct +of self-protection which he often displayed,--and his instincts were +exceedingly accurate,--he was on his guard in dealing with the great man +from New York. Nevertheless, he treated him with frankness and delicate +courtesy and continued to correspond with him concerning confidential +matters. + +Upon his arrival in Washington he immediately handed a copy of his +inaugural address to his future Secretary of State, and the latter +revised it in such a vigorous and arrogant manner that the unfavorable +impression was deepened. Mr. Seward was always at hand to offer advice +and give directions upon every subject. Lincoln listened with respectful +attention, but continued to exercise his own judgment, and the spirit +of independence he showed concerning several matters which Mr. Seward +undertook to decide for him so alarmed the latter that two days before +the inauguration he wrote a polite note asking leave to withdraw his +acceptance of the office of Secretary of State. The note was received +on Saturday. Any other man but Lincoln would have been disconcerted, at +least, and would have immediately sought advice and assistance; but he +did not mention the matter to any one, nor did he make any reply until +Monday morning. Then, while waiting at Willard's Hotel for President +Buchanan to escort him to the Capitol, he dictated a brief note, saying, +"I feel constrained to beg that you will countermand the withdrawal. +The public interest, I think, demands that you should, and my personal +feelings are deeply enlisted in the same direction." + +He handed the note to Mr. Nicolay, saying, "I can't afford to let Seward +take the first trick." + +After the return of the inaugural procession to the White House the two +men had a long and confidential talk. No one knows what they said to +each other, but Mr. Seward accepted the office and his nomination was +sent to the Senate the next morning. + +Mr. Seward at once assumed that he was Prime Minister with independent +and autocratic powers. He sent agents upon secret missions, he indicated +to his visitors the policy of the administration,--and made pledges on +behalf of the President without consulting him. He opened negotiations +with the secession leaders upon his own responsibility. He issued orders +to officers of the army and navy over the heads of his associates in +charge of those departments, and gave assurances to the representatives +of foreign governments without the approval or even the knowledge of the +President. He seemed cheerfully to assume responsibility for the entire +government, and did not hesitate to permit the official representatives +of the Southern States and the public generally to presume that he and +not Lincoln was the highest and final authority. He even attempted to +deceive his wife on this subject. "I will try to save freedom and my +country," he wrote her. "I have assumed a sort of dictatorship.... It +seems to me if I am absent only eight days, this administration, the +Congress and the District would fall into consternation and despair.... +I am the only hopeful, calm, and conciliatory person here...." Again he +writes, "Only the soothing words which I have spoken have saved us and +carried us along thus far. And still again the cares chiefly fall on me." + +Secretary Welles wrote a book to describe the controversies between +Mr. Seward and the rest of the Cabinet, in which he shows a good deal +of resentment but a good deal of truth. Mr. Seward's moral perceptions +were obscured by the responsibilities and power that had been assumed +by him. Although he did not suspect it, he was gradually drifting into +a collision with a stronger character than his own, and but for the +magnanimity and generous nature of the President, his political career +might have been swallowed up in his vanity and arrogance. + +[Illustration: WILLIAM H. SEWARD, SECRETARY OF STATE + +From a photograph by Brady] + +Upon April 1, after the new administration had been in control for +a little more than three weeks, under the title "Some Thoughts for +the President's Consideration," he submitted the most extraordinary +proposition that appears among the archives of the Department of State. +Assuming that he, and not Lincoln, was responsible for the conduct of +the administration and the management of the government; writing as if +he were the Prime Minister and Lincoln an impotent king; he laid down +his plan of action and the line of policy he intended to pursue. He +proposed that Lincoln should practically relinquish his Presidential +responsibilities and authority; that he should repudiate the party that +had elected him; that he should ignore the principles upon which the +Presidential campaign had been fought and surrender the moral triumph +of the victory; that he should convene Congress and declare war against +Great Britain, Russia, France, and Spain, and endeavor to negotiate +for an offensive and defensive alliance with Canada, Mexico, and Central +America against Europe. The following is the text: + + "SOME THOUGHTS FOR THE PRESIDENT'S CONSIDERATION, APRIL 1, + 1861. + + "_First._ We are at the end of a month's administration, and + yet without a policy, either domestic or foreign. + + "_Second._ This, however, is not culpable, and it has even + been unavoidable. The presence of the Senate, with the need to + meet applications for patronage, have prevented attention to + other and more grave matters. + + "_Third._ But further delay to adopt and prosecute our + policies for both domestic and foreign affairs would not only + bring scandal on the administration, but danger upon the country. + + "_Fourth._ To do this we must dismiss the applicants for + office. But how? I suggest that we make the local appointments + forthwith, leaving foreign or general ones for ulterior and + occasional action. + + "_Fifth._ The policy at home. I am aware that my views are + singular, and perhaps not sufficiently explained. My system is + built upon this idea as a ruling one,--namely, that we must + + "CHANGE THE QUESTION BEFORE THE PUBLIC FROM ONE UPON + SLAVERY, OR ABOUT SLAVERY, for a question upon UNION OR DISUNION: + + "In other words, from what would be regarded as a party + question, to one of patriotism or union. + + "The occupation or evacuation of Fort Sumter, although not + in fact a slavery or a party question, is so regarded. Witness + the temper manifested by the Republicans in the free States, and + even by the Union men in the South. + + "I would therefore terminate it as a safe means for + changing the issue. I deem it fortunate that the last + administration created the necessity. + + "For the rest, I would simultaneously defend and re-enforce + all the ports in the Gulf, and have the navy recalled from + foreign stations to be prepared for a blockade. Put the island + of Key West under martial law. + + "This will raise distinctly the question of union or + disunion. I would maintain every fort and possession in the + South. + + + "FOR FOREIGN NATIONS. + + "I would demand explanations from Spain and France, + categorically, at once. + + "I would seek explanations from Great Britain and Russia, + and send agents into Canada, Mexico, and Central America to + rouse a vigorous continental spirit of independence on this + continent against European intervention. + + "And, if satisfactory explanations are not received from + Spain and France, + + "Would convene Congress and declare war against them. + + "But whatever policy we adopt, there must be an energetic + prosecution of it. + + "For this purpose it must be somebody's business to pursue + and direct it incessantly. + + "Either the President must do it himself, and be all the + while active in it, or + + "Devolve it on some member of his Cabinet. Once adopted, + debates on it must end, and all agree and abide. + + "It is not my especial province; but I neither seek to evade + nor assume responsibility." + +It is impossible for any one to conceive the feelings of the President +when he read this boastful and insolent document. But his self-control +was so perfect, his anxiety to preserve harmony among those who were +trying to save the Union was so great, and his patience so limitless +that he returned the memorandum to Mr. Seward with the following firm +and conclusive but courteous rebuke, and the subject was never alluded +to again by either of them: + + "EXECUTIVE MANSION, April 1, 1861. + + "HON. W. H. SEWARD. + + "MY DEAR SIR: Since parting with you, I have been + considering your paper dated this day, and entitled 'Some + Thoughts for the President's Consideration.' The first + proposition in it is, '_First._ We are at the end of a month's + administration, and yet without a policy, either domestic or + foreign.' + + "At the beginning of that month, in the inaugural, I said, + '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.' This had your distinct + approval at the time; and taken in connection with the order I + immediately gave General Scott, directing him to employ every + means in his power to strengthen and hold the forts, comprises + the exact domestic policy you now urge, with the single + exception that it does not propose to abandon Fort Sumter. + + "Again, I do not perceive how the reinforcement of Fort + Sumter would be done on a slavery or party issue, while that of + Fort Pickens would be on a more national and patriotic one. + + "The news received yesterday in regard to San Domingo + certainly brings a new item within the range of our foreign + policy; but up to that time we have been preparing circulars and + instructions to ministers and the like, all in perfect harmony, + without even a suggestion that we had no foreign policy. + + "Upon your closing proposition--that 'whatever policy we + adopt, there must be an energetic prosecution of it. + + "'For this purpose it must be somebody's business to pursue + and direct it incessantly. + + "'Either the President must do it himself, and be all the + while active in it, or + + "'Devolve it on some member of his Cabinet. Once adopted, + debates on it must end, and all agree and abide.'--I remark + that if this must be done, I must do it. When a general line + of policy is adopted, I apprehend that there is no danger of + its being changed without good reason, or continuing to be a + subject of unnecessary debate; still, upon points arising in its + progress I wish, and suppose I am entitled to have, the advice + of all the Cabinet. + + "Your obedient servant, + "A. LINCOLN." + +The President never revealed this amazing incident to anybody but Mr. +Nicolay, and it was never suspected by any member of his Cabinet until +the correspondence was published by Nicolay and Hay in the _Century +Magazine_, nearly thirty years after. Mr. Seward recognized his master +at last and wrote his wife, "Executive force and vigor are rare +qualities. The President is the best of us." + +From that time there were no serious differences between the President +and his Secretary of State, although they frequently differed upon +matters of policy as well as details of administration. Mr. Seward was +loyal, devoted, and always respectful to his chief. + +The same cannot be said of Secretary Chase. He also had been a rival +of Lincoln for the Presidential nomination in 1860, and had gone into +the Cabinet feeling that his supporters from Ohio had made Lincoln's +nomination possible and that he was entitled to special consideration +for that reason. He supported Lincoln cordially through the campaign, +and among the first telegrams of congratulation received by the +President-elect was one from him which read, "I congratulate you and +thank God. The great object of my wishes and labors for nineteen years +is accomplished in the overthrow of the slave power. The space is +now clear for the establishment of the policy of freedom on safe and +firm grounds. The lead is yours. The responsibility is great. May God +strengthen you for your great duties." + +After January 1 following the election, Mr. Chase was invited to +Springfield, and upon his arrival the President-elect waived all +ceremony and called upon him at his hotel. "I have done with you," +said he, "what I would not have ventured to do with any other man in +the country,--sent for you to ask you whether you will accept the +appointment of Secretary of the Treasury without, however, being exactly +prepared to offer it to you." Concerning this conversation Mr. Chase +wrote to a friend as follows: + +"He said he had felt bound to offer the position of Secretary of State +to Mr. Seward as the generally recognized leader of the Republican +party, intending, if he declined it, to offer it to me. He did not wish +that Mr. Seward should decline it, and was glad that he had accepted, +and now desired to have me take the place of Secretary of the Treasury." + +Mr. Chase told the President-elect that he was not prepared to give +a definite answer because he wanted to ask the advice of friends and +be governed by the course of events. He valued the trust and its +opportunities, but was reluctant to leave the Senate. No further +communication took place between the two on the subject; but, assuming +that Mr. Chase had accepted, Lincoln sent his name to the Senate on +March 5 with those of other members of his Cabinet. + +From the beginning of the administration Mr. Chase advocated a radical +policy; was very urgent in advocating the relief of Fort Sumter and +pushing the war, while Seward hung back. Mr. Chase's policy was +presented in a memorandum, with similar ones from other members of the +Cabinet, at the request of the President, in March, and reads as follows: + +"If war is to be the consequence of an attempt to provision Fort +Sumter, war will just as certainly result from the attempt to maintain +possession of Fort Pickens. + +"I am clearly in favor of maintaining Fort Pickens and just as clearly +in favor of provisioning Fort Sumter. If that attempt should be resisted +by military force, Fort Sumter should, in my judgment, be reinforced. + +"If war is to be the result, I perceive no reason why it may not be +best begun by military resistance to the efforts of the administration +to sustain troops of the Union, stationed under the authority of the +government, in a fort of the Union, in the ordinary course of service." + +[Illustration: GENERAL GEORGE B. McCLELLAN AT THE HEAD-QUARTERS OF +GENERAL MORRELL'S BRIGADE, MINOR'S HILL, VIRGINIA + +From a photograph by M. B. Brady] + +In the beginning Mr. Chase was a very strong supporter of General +McClellan and frequently called the attention of the latter to his +obligations to him. "The country was indebted to me," he wrote +McClellan, "in some considerable degree for the change of your +commission from Ohio into a commission of major-general of the army +of the Union;" and he wrote a friend the good news, "McClellan is +Commander-in-Chief! let us thank God and take courage!" but this was +his habit. He invariably worshipped the rising sun, and was usually +one of the first to turn his back upon old friends when they met +with misfortunes. He usually cultivated the closest relations with +those generals who had grievances against the administration. His +correspondence and his diary, as published by his chosen biographer, are +full of caustic and unkind criticisms of his chief. He received many +letters containing violent abuse of the President and his colleagues +in the government, and neither defended them nor rebuked the writers. +He records in his diary a conversation with an officer who, meeting +him, the Secretary of the Treasury, for the first time, was rude enough +to utter a gross insult directed at the President. In his comments +Mr. Chase seems to approve the remarks, and describes the President's +assailant as "well read and extremely intelligent." But Mr. Chase +never defended his colleagues when they were attacked. In reply to a +violent criticism from an enemy of the administration, he wrote, "I am +not responsible for the management of the war and have no voice in it, +except that I am not forbidden to make suggestions, and do so now and +then when I can't help it." + +He soon lost his confidence in and admiration for McClellan, however, +and in his criticisms concerning his dilatory tactics was the most +bitter of all the Cabinet. He once drew up a paper, which he induced +several of his colleagues to sign, demanding McClellan's removal. He +continually offered advice and suggestions, and when they were not +accepted he usually took the trouble to record his resentment in his +diary or to express it in vigorous terms in a letter to some friend. + +Chase was in favor of the unconditional emancipation of the slaves, and +when the President laid before the Cabinet the Emancipation Proclamation +he writes in his diary, "I said that I should give to such a measure my +cordial support, but I should prefer that no expression on the subject +of compensation should be made, and I thought that the measure of +emancipation could be better and more quickly accomplished by allowing +generals to organize and arm the slaves and by directing the commanders +of departments to proclaim emancipation within their districts as soon +as practicable. But I regarded this as so much better than inaction on +the subject that I could give it my entire support." + +The President was not unaware of the disposition of Mr. Seward to +criticise himself and the members of his Cabinet, but placed so high +a value upon his ability and his importance to the government that he +treated him with the same patience that he did Mr. Stanton and others +who were critical and petulant concerning his deliberation and other +peculiarities. The extent to which this forbearance was exercised may +be illustrated by a note addressed to the President by his Secretary of +the Treasury, April 25, 1861, in which the latter was guilty of such +bad taste and impertinence that Lincoln would have been justified in +asking his instant resignation. Mr. Chase held the President practically +responsible for the demoralized condition of affairs in the country and +for all that had happened before his inauguration as well as since, +and said, "Let me beg of you to remember that the disunionists have +anticipated us in everything, and that as yet we have accomplished +nothing but the destruction of our own property. Let me beg of you to +remember also that it has been a darling object with the disunionists to +secure the passage of a secession ordinance by Maryland.... Save us from +this new humiliation. You alone can give the word." + +Mr. Chase was in consultation with the President daily, he had been +consulted about every situation and movement, he was quite as familiar +with what had been done and what was intended as the President himself, +and the reasons which prompted him to address his chief in such a manner +can only be conjectured. It is believed that he was prompted to do so +by one of the many hostile critics of the administration, and wrote the +letter without realizing its tone and impertinence. But Lincoln received +it with his usual complacency, made no complaint to any one about it, +and calmly filed it away among his other correspondence. + +Like Mr. Seward, he went into the Cabinet with the opinion that the +President was incapable and inexperienced, and that it was his duty to +support and assist him in the management of the government; but, unlike +Mr. Seward, he was never able to rid himself of a sense of his own +superiority. He had an honest conviction that he was more competent and +would make a much better President himself, and that if his advice were +accepted and his suggestions carried out, the war would be brought to a +close much sooner than otherwise. He lacked confidence in his colleagues +also and never lost an opportunity to express it. He considered himself +their superior in zeal, ability, and devotion to the general welfare. +He imagined that every disaster which occurred in the field was due to +the refusal of the President and the Secretary of War to carry out the +plans he suggested, and that every victory could be directly attributed +to his wise counsel. This was not known at the time. Had it been, the +people of the country would have been less charitable towards Mr. Chase. +His egotism, jealousy, contempt, and hostility towards Lincoln and +his fellow-members of the Cabinet were not fully disclosed until the +publication of his biography, which contained extracts from his diary +and copies of his voluminous correspondence. + +The President would not allow the conduct or the disposition of +his Secretary of the Treasury to make the slightest difference +in his treatment of that official or to affect the policy of his +administration, for in his management of the finances, without previous +experience or preparation, Mr. Chase had shown genius equal to that +of Alexander Hamilton, unswerving integrity, and untiring industry. +So highly did Lincoln esteem his public services in this respect that +he would have forgiven him anything; and Mr. Chase not only had his +constant support, but he was less interfered with in the administration +of his department than any other member of the Cabinet. + +Mr. Chase began a serious and systematic canvass for the Presidential +nomination as early as the fall of 1863, and although he continued +to delude himself and assure his friends that he was indifferent to +advancement and anxious only for the public good, he found plenty of +leisure in the midst of his arduous duties and immense responsibilities +to write hundreds of letters to friends in different parts of the Union +pointing out the mistakes of the President and leaving the irresistible +conclusion that he was the only man capable of saving the country. Many +of these letters are published in his biography, and it is inexplicable +that he preserved the documentary evidence of his treachery, and even +more remarkable that his family thus exposed him to public censure and +contempt. + +Although Lincoln had the full confidence of the loyal people of the +North, many disappointed politicians and other citizens in different +parts of the country were dissatisfied with his management of affairs. +The critics naturally gravitated together and sought to organize a +movement to prevent his renomination. They found it difficult to contend +against the popularity of the President, and looked among the discordant +elements for a standard-bearer. Neither in Congress nor in the army +was there any one who was willing to undertake the hopeless task until +some of the leaders consulted Mr. Chase and, to their surprise, found +him so indiscreet and disloyal as to encourage their opposition to the +administration of which he was a member, and so foolish as to believe +that he was strong enough to lead them to victory. + +Mr. Chase fell willingly into the trap, although he continued to protest +his loyalty and attachment to Lincoln. His only excuse was that the +President's intellect and capacity for government were inferior to his +own, and in its great emergency his beloved country needed the strongest +man. He wrote his son-in-law, Governor Sprague, of Rhode Island, "If +I were controlled by merely personal sentiments I would prefer the +re-election of Mr. Lincoln to that of any other man, but I think a man +of different qualities from those the President has will be needed for +the next four years." + +President Lincoln was fully informed concerning every movement Mr. Chase +made, for the latter was surrounded by false friends who were willing +to destroy him. However, he rebuked the tale-bearers and discouraged all +conversation concerning the ambition of his Secretary of the Treasury, +and when the criticisms uttered by Mr. Chase of himself and the members +of his Cabinet were brought to his attention, he declined to listen to +them. + +"I have determined," he said, "to shut my eyes so far as possible to +everything of the sort. Mr. Chase makes a good Secretary and I shall +keep him where he is. If he becomes President, all right. I hope +we may never have a worse man. I am entirely indifferent as to his +success or failure in these schemes as long as he does his duty at the +head of the Treasury Department." He appointed Chase's partisans and +wire-pullers to office as fast as the latter proposed them, although +he knew perfectly well what he was doing. He was more amused than +otherwise at the protestations of his own friends; but all the time he +was conscious that he had every reason for magnanimity. With his usual +political perspicuity, he was perfectly confident of his own nomination +and re-election, and recognized that Chase was daily making mistakes +that were fatal to his own political prospects. He endeavored to conceal +his knowledge, and avoided explanations from his Secretary of the +Treasury until the publication of a secret circular in the Washington +newspapers signed by Senator Pomeroy, of Kansas, compelled Mr. Chase to +allude to the subject. It was a spiteful, unjust, and untruthful attack +upon the President, and proposed the nomination of Mr. Chase as his +successor, appealing to patriotic citizens to organize in his support +and correspond with the chairman of his committee. + +Mr. Chase at once disavowed all knowledge of or responsibility for this +circular, but explained that he had yielded to the urgent solicitations +of friends and had consented to be a candidate for the Presidential +nomination. "If there is anything in my action or position which in +your judgment will prejudice the public interest under my charge, I +beg you to say so. I do not wish to administer the Treasury Department +one day without your entire confidence. For yourself I cherish sincere +respect and esteem and, permit me to add, affection." + +The next day the President acknowledged the receipt of this letter and +promised to answer it more fully later, which he did, saying,-- + +"... My knowledge of Mr. Pomeroy's letter having been made public came +to me only the day you wrote; but I had, in spite of myself, known of +its existence several days before. I have not yet read it, and I think +I shall not. I was not shocked or surprised by the appearance of the +letter, because I had had knowledge of Mr. Pomeroy's committee, and of +secret issues which I supposed came from it, and of secret agents who I +supposed were sent out by it, for several weeks. I have known just as +little of these things as my friends have allowed me to know. They bring +the documents to me, but I do not read them: they tell me what they +think fit to tell me, but I do not inquire for more.... + +"Whether you shall remain at the head of the Treasury Department is a +question which I will not allow myself to consider from any stand-point +other than my judgment of the public service, and, in that view, I do +not perceive occasion for a change." + +If anything was needed to complete the collapse of the plans of Mr. +Chase, the reputation of the man who signed the circular was sufficient. +As fast as conventions were held delegations were instructed for +Lincoln. The Republican members of the Ohio Legislature were so fearful +lest they might be suspected of sympathizing with the ambition of Mr. +Chase that they held a caucus and unanimously endorsed the President. +Even little Rhode Island, supposed to be a pocket borough absolutely +controlled by its Governor, who was a son-in-law of Mr. Chase, bolted +and declared for Lincoln. The Secretary of the Treasury, left without +a supporter in the Republican party, sought consolation from the +Democrats, but they repudiated him and selected as their candidate +General McClellan, a man who had been alternately eulogized and +anathematized by him. + +The retirement of Mr. Chase from the Cabinet was due to his +determination to control the patronage of the Treasury Department in +the State of New York without reference to the wishes of Mr. Morgan and +Mr. Harris, the Senators from that State. There was also friction over +Treasury appointments in other parts of the country. Mr. Chase's failure +as a Presidential candidate made him very irritable, and whenever the +President or any member of the Cabinet offered the slightest opposition +to his plans or wishes, he showed so much temper that it was impossible +to get along with him except by conceding all his demands. Lincoln, +valuing his services in the Treasury so highly, endeavored to gratify +him as far as possible, and assured other members of his Cabinet +that, as Mr. Chase's ability, industry, and integrity were beyond +question, he had a right to select men for whose proper conduct he was +responsible. But when Mr. Chase invaded the political provinces of the +members of the Senate, the President found it difficult to reconcile +the differences, and on two occasions the Secretary of the Treasury +tendered his resignation rather than yield what he considered to be +his right to select all of his subordinates. Maunsell B. Field, the +Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, quotes Lincoln as saying, "I went +directly up to him [Chase] with the resignation in my hand, and putting +my arm around his neck, said, 'Here is a paper with which I wish to have +nothing to do. Take it back and be reasonable.' I had to plead with him +a long time, but I finally succeeded, and heard nothing more of that +resignation." + +But this state of affairs could not endure. There came an occasion upon +which the President was not able to give way, and when the two New York +Senators objected to the appointment of the same Maunsell B. Field as +Assistant Treasurer of New York, he was compelled to recognize their +wishes. He wrote Mr. Chase, "As the proverb goes, no man knows so well +where the shoe pinches as he who wears it. I do not think Mr. Field +a very proper man for the place, but I would trust your judgment and +forego this were the greater difficulty out of the way.... Strained +as I already am at this point, I do not think that I can make this +appointment in the direction of still greater strain." But Mr. Chase +felt that the President was acting badly and must be disciplined, and so +he resigned again. To submit to Mr. Chase under the circumstances would +be to abdicate in his favor and to offend his loyal supporters in New +York; hence, without hesitation, he wrote Mr. Chase as follows: "Of all +I have said in commendation of your ability and fidelity I have nothing +to unsay, yet you and I have reached a point of mutual embarrassment +in our official relations which it seems cannot be overcome or longer +sustained consistently with the public service." + +Mr. Chase was taken entirely by surprise. He supposed that the +President, like himself, believed that his presence in the Treasury +Department was indispensable to the salvation of the government. +Governor Todd, of Ohio, was nominated as his successor, but declined, +and the President then sent to the Senate the nomination of William +Pitt Fessenden, a Senator from Maine and chairman of the Committee on +Finance, entirely without that gentleman's knowledge. + +After the President's secretary had left for the Capitol with the +nomination, Mr. Fessenden appeared at the White House and, after +preliminary conversation, suggested the appointment of Hugh McCulloch, +who had served with great ability since the beginning of the war as +Comptroller of the Currency. Lincoln listened to his eulogy of Mr. +McCulloch with a gentle smile, and then informed him that he had already +sent his own name to the Senate. Mr. Fessenden protested and declared +that he would decline. + +"If you decline," replied the President, "you must do it in open day, +for I cannot recall the nomination." + +The significance and appropriateness of Mr. Fessenden's nomination +to succeed Mr. Chase was immediately recognized as a _coup d'état_ +on the part of the President, and the former could not decline the +responsibility. He served for only a few months, however, and was +succeeded by Hugh McCulloch. + +Mr. Chase could not suppress his sense of injury or cease talking +about it. After he left the Cabinet, his criticisms of the President +personally and the administration of the government became more frequent +and bold than ever; but as soon as the death of Chief-Justice Taney of +the Supreme Court was announced, he immediately claimed the vacancy. +Notwithstanding all that had occurred, he was willing to forgive and +forget, provided the President would make him Chief-Justice. Samuel +Bowles, editor of the _Springfield Republican_, writes on December 4, +1864, two months after Taney's death, "Chase is going around peddling +his grief in private ears and sowing dissatisfaction about Lincoln. +Oh, how little great men can be!" The President at once made up his +mind to appoint Mr. Chase, but would not announce his intention until +he had heard the views of every Republican of importance. In the mean +time Mr. Chase was appealing to his friends for support and endorsement +and prophesying disasters for the government unless his appointment was +made. One day Mr. Nicolay brought the President a letter from Mr. Chase. + +"What is it about?" inquired Lincoln. + +"Simply a kind and friendly letter." + +"File it with the other recommendations," was the laconic reply. + +On December 6, when the Senate met, Mr. Chase's nomination appeared +among others. It was written out in Lincoln's own hand instead of upon +a printed blank, as was customary. The nomination was confirmed without +reference to a committee, and the same evening Mr. Chase wrote the +President a very grateful acknowledgment. "Be assured," he said, "that +I apprize your confidence and good-will more than any nomination to +office." + +Lincoln afterwards told Mr. Boutwell that he never had any intention +of refusing the office to Mr. Chase. "There were three reasons why he +should be appointed and one reason why he should not be," said the +President. "In the first place, he occupies a larger space in the public +mind with reference to the office than any other person. Then we want +a man who will sustain the Legal Tender Act and the Proclamation of +Emancipation. We cannot ask a candidate what he would do, and if we did +and he should answer we should only despise him for it. But Chase wants +to be President, and if he does not give that up it will be a great +injury to him and a great injury to me. He can never be President." + +Among the most urgent friends of Mr. Chase were Senator Sumner and +Representative Alley, of Massachusetts, who went to Washington to plead +with the President in his behalf. + +"We found, to our dismay," said Mr. Alley, "that the President had +heard of the bitter criticisms of Mr. Chase upon himself and his +administration. Mr. Lincoln urged many of Mr. Chase's defects, to +discover, as we afterwards learned, how his objection could be answered. +We were both discouraged and made up our minds that the President did +not mean to appoint Mr. Chase. It really seemed too much to expect of +poor human nature. But early one morning in the following December I +went to the White House, found the President in his library, and was +cordially received. As I entered he made to me this declaration: + +"'I have something to tell you that will make you happy. I have just +sent Mr. Chase word that he is to be appointed Chief-Justice, and you +are the first man I have told of it.' + +"I said, 'Mr. President, this is an exhibition of magnanimity and +patriotism that could hardly be expected of any one. After what he has +said against your administration, which has undoubtedly been reported +to you, it was hardly to be expected that you would bestow the most +important office within your gift on such a man.' + +"His quaint reply was, 'Although I may have appeared to you and to Mr. +Sumner to have been opposed to Chase's appointment, there never has been +a moment since the breath left old Taney's body that I did not conceive +it to be the best thing to do to appoint Mr. Chase to that high office; +and to have done otherwise I should have been recreant to my convictions +of duty to the Republican party and to the country.' + +"I repeated again my sense of his magnanimity and his patriotism in +making the appointment. + +"He replied, 'As to his talk about me, I do not mind that. Chase is, on +the whole, a pretty good fellow and a very able man. His only trouble is +that he has "the White House fever" a little too bad, but I hope this +may cure him and that he will be satisfied.'" + +One would suppose, after this exhibition of magnanimity on the part +of the President, that he would escape the criticism of Mr. Chase at +least, but the latter still considered himself the inspired critic +of the administration and sought the Democratic nomination for the +Presidency. Nor was this all. His decisions upon the bench were in +direct contradiction to the positions he had taken as a member of the +Cabinet. He had criticised the President for his weakness in refusing to +attack the doctrine of State rights, yet, on the first opportunity, he +appeared as the judicial champion and defender of that doctrine; from +his place on the bench he declared unconstitutional the Legal Tender Act +which he had himself assisted in preparing and whose passage through the +House of Representatives had been secured by his personal influence. +While he was Secretary of the Treasury he sustained and encouraged Mr. +Stanton in the exercise of the "war power" more earnestly and took more +radical grounds than any other member of the Cabinet, yet when those +very transactions came before the Supreme Court he denounced them as +illegal and unjustified. The only explanation, the only apology that +could be made by the friends of Mr. Chase was that his mind was soured +by disappointment. He was a man of unbounded ambition, he had been +working all his life to become President, he was convinced of his own +great talents, and could not reconcile himself to disappointment. + +President Lincoln's character and methods are nowhere better illustrated +than in the story of his relations with Edwin M. Stanton, his +great Secretary of War, a man of intense personality, of arbitrary +disposition, impetuous in action, impatient under restraint, and +intolerant of opposition. Combined with these qualities Mr. Stanton had +great learning, unselfish patriotism, and conscientious convictions +of duty. He was a native of Ohio, a graduate of Kenyon College, and +when still young in years attained a high rank in the practice of his +profession of the law, making his head-quarters first at Pittsburgh and +in 1856 at Washington. He was born and bred in Democratic principles, +but had a profound hatred of slavery, and during the administration of +President Buchanan was pronounced in his opposition to the disunion +schemes of the Southern politicians. + +Shortly after the election in 1860, when the situation at Washington +was becoming critical, President Buchanan sought his advice, and Mr. +Stanton prepared an argument to prove that a State could be coerced into +remaining in the Union. A few weeks later Mr. Buchanan called him into +his Cabinet as Attorney-General, and he immediately joined with the +loyal members of the Cabinet and the Republican leaders in Congress in +vigorous efforts to save the Union. But after Lincoln was inaugurated +Mr. Stanton became the most scornful and unsparing critic of the new +administration. He called the President an imbecile, charged Cameron +with corruption, and declared that the administration was treating +the treasure of the nation as booty to be divided among thieves. He +predicted disaster in every direction; he declared that in less than +thirty days Jefferson Davis would be in possession of Washington, and +used the most intemperate and unjust language that his lips could frame +in his comments upon the character and the conduct of the President and +his advisers. Therefore, when he was invited to succeed Mr. Cameron, +the chief object of his detestation and attack, he was placed in a +peculiar situation, but was broad-minded enough to appreciate Lincoln's +magnanimity, and accepted the war portfolio as the highest duty that +could be assigned to a citizen. He wrote ex-President Buchanan, "My +accession to my present position was quite as sudden and unexpected +as the confidence you bestowed upon me in calling me to your Cabinet. +And the responsible trust was accepted in both instances from the same +motives and will be executed with the same fidelity to the Constitution +and the laws." In another letter he wrote, "I knew that everything that +I cherish and hold dear would be sacrificed by accepting office, but I +thought I might help to save the country, and for that I was willing to +perish." + +When some one objected to Stanton's appointment on account of his +ungovernable temper, and stated that he was in the habit of jumping up +and down when he lost his patience, Lincoln replied,-- + +"Well, if he gets to jumping too much, we will treat him as they used to +treat a minister I knew out West. He would get so excited and wrought up +at revival meetings that they had to put bricks in his pockets to keep +him down. But I guess we will let Stanton jump a while first." + +Lincoln and his new Secretary of War had met before, and the President +had no reason to be friendly towards him. The story is told in the +chapter relating to Lincoln's legal career. But the President was +willing to submerge his personal feelings in his patriotism in order to +secure the support and assistance of a man for whose ability, energy, +and patriotism he had the highest respect. He selected Mr. Stanton for +the same reason that he retained McClellan in command and postponed the +Emancipation Proclamation. He was not thinking of himself, but of his +country. He was not seeking a friend or an agreeable companion, but +a man of executive ability, iron will, stern integrity, and physical +endurance to relieve him from what was becoming an unendurable burden; +for, up to this time, he had borne almost alone the responsibility +for military movements in the field as well as the organization and +equipment of the army. Months before he had foreseen that Mr. Cameron +must soon leave the Cabinet, and had been on the lookout for a suitable +Secretary of War. With the silent sagacity and foresight that were +among his most remarkable characteristics, he had searched the list of +public men, and, finding no one available among his friends, had gone +over into the ranks of his opponents and had chosen perhaps the most +unfriendly and vigorous critic of his administration. He had learned +of Mr. Stanton's tremendous energy and keen perceptions and recognized +at once how useful those traits would be in the War Department; while +his fearless candor, his indifference to criticism, and the public +confidence in his integrity were qualities equally valuable under the +circumstances. + +Within a few weeks he was satisfied of the accuracy of his judgment +in making the selection, and their daily intercourse brought the two +men into relations which could not have existed between men of weaker +character. Unlike Mr. Chase, his colleague of the Treasury Department, +Mr. Stanton had the highest admiration for Lincoln's ability and +judgment, and his imperious will and stubborn convictions would not have +yielded to any one else. On the other hand, no one appreciated so much +as Lincoln the genuine worth, the deep sincerity, and the rare ability +to organize and execute that existed in his new Secretary of War. There +were continual differences of opinion between them. Men of strong +character seldom think alike, and with his peculiar temperament and +impulsive disposition Mr. Stanton could not have served under a chief +less amiable and considerate than Lincoln. + +There is no doubt that the President's patience was often sorely tried, +but the same spirit that governed him when he invited Mr. Stanton into +the Cabinet continued to recognize the necessity of toleration and +forbearance. While he usually yielded to his War Secretary in details, +in matters of supreme importance he invariably insisted upon following +his own judgment, and with a gentle but unyielding firmness compelled +Mr. Stanton to submit to his will. For example, Mr. Stanton refused to +carry out an order of the President concerning the enlistment of rebel +prisoners of war who wished to enter the service of the Union, and +when the order was repeated, refused a second time. General Fry, the +Provost-Marshal-General, who was present at the interview, describes the +incident as follows: + +"'Now, Mr. President, those are the facts, and you must see that your +order cannot be executed,' exclaimed Stanton. + +"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.' + +"Lincoln fixed his eyes 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 realized that he was overmatched. He had made a square issue +with the President and had been defeated, notwithstanding the fact that +he was in the right. 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." + +The President "always liked to get something on Stanton," as he used to +say. Judge Shellabarger, of Ohio, relates this incident: + +"A young man in the army, Ben Tappan, wanted a transfer from the +volunteer service to the regular army, retaining his rank of Lieutenant +and with staff duty. There was some regulation against such transfer; +but Tappan's step-father, Frank Wright, thought it could be done. He +had been to Secretary Stanton, who was an uncle of Tappan by marriage, +and, on account of this so-called relationship, the Secretary declined +to act in the matter. Wright and I therefore went up to the White House +to see the President about it. After talking it over, Mr. Lincoln told +a story, the application of which was that the army was getting to be +all staff and no army, there was such a rush for staff duty by young +officers. However, he looked over Lieutenant Tappan's paper, heard +what Secretary Stanton had told us about his delicacy in transferring +Lieutenant Tappan against the regulation because of his relationship by +marriage. Then Mr. Lincoln wrote across the application something like +the following endorsement: + + "'Lieutenant Tappan, of ---- Regiment Volunteers, desires + transfer to ---- Regiment, Regular service, and assigned + to staff duty with present rank. If the only objection is + Lieutenant Tappan's relationship to the Secretary of War, that + objection is overruled. + + "'A. LINCOLN.' + +"Of course this threw the responsibility of breaking the regulation on +Secretary Stanton. We never heard anything more about the transfer." + +General Fry says, "A story has long been current that Lincoln sent +an application for office with a note to the Secretary of War, +directing that a letter of appointment be prepared for the man to the +office he sought; that the applicant returned to the President and +announced that Stanton refused to obey the order; that the President +looked disappointed, but merely expressed his regret at the result, +and remarked that he had not much influence with the administration. +The anecdote has generally been interpreted as meaning that Lincoln +could not control Stanton. The inference is erroneous. Lincoln, so +far as I could discover, was in every respect the actual head of the +administration, and whenever he chose to do so he controlled Stanton as +well as all the other Cabinet ministers." + +Ex-Representative John A. Kasson, of Iowa, says, "Numerous officers in +the field had written me to have Colonel ----, of ---- Iowa Regiment, +promoted to be a brigadier-general. The colonel deserved the promotion, +but it was difficult to obtain. At last there came an Iowa resignation, +and I went to the President, who signed an order to the Secretary of +War to let Colonel ---- have the commission in place of the resigning +brigadier. Mr. Stanton was seated on a sofa talking with a friend. I +told him my errand, and handed him the President's order. He glanced at +it, and said, in an angry tone,-- + +"'I shan't do it, sir; I shan't do it!' and passed the paper up to his +clerk. + +"Utterly amazed at these words, and indignant at his tone, I inquired +why he refused to obey the President's order. + +"'It isn't the way to do it, sir, and I shan't do it.' + +"I was going on to speak of the merits of the officer and of the +proceeding, my wrath rising, when he cut me off with,-- + +"'I don't propose to argue the question with you, sir; I shan't do it.' + +"Utterly indignant, I turned to the clerk and asked to withdraw the +paper. + +"'Don't you let him have it, sir,' said Stanton; 'don't let him have it.' + +"The clerk, whose hands were trembling like an Eastern slave before his +pasha, withdrew the document which he was in the act of giving to me. I +felt my indignation getting too strong for me, and, putting on my hat +and turning my back to the Secretary, I slowly went to the door, with +set teeth, saying to myself, 'As you will not hear me in your own forum, +you shall hear from me in mine.' + +"A few days later, after recovering my coolness, I reported the affair +to the President. A look of vexation came over his face. Then he gave me +a positive order for the promotion of the colonel to be a brigadier, and +told me to take it over to the War Department. I replied that I could +not speak again with Mr. Stanton till he apologized for his insulting +manner to me on the previous occasion. + +"'Oh,' said the President, 'Stanton has gone to Fortress Monroe and +Dana is acting. He will attend to it for you.'" + +[Illustration: EDWIN M. STANTON, SECRETARY OF WAR + +From a photograph by Brady] + +Judge Usher, Lincoln's Secretary of the Interior, says, "Chief among his +great characteristics were his gentleness and humanity, and yet he did +not hesitate promptly to approve the sentences of Kennedy and Beall. +During the entire war there are but few other evidences to be found of a +willingness on his part that any one should suffer the penalty of death. +His great effort seemed to be to find some excuse, some palliation for +offences charged. He strove at all times to relieve the citizens on both +sides of the inconveniences and hardships resulting from the war. It has +often been reported that Secretary of War Stanton arbitrarily refused to +carry out his orders. In all such cases reported it will be found that +the President had given directions to him to issue permits to persons +who had applied to go through the lines into the insurgent districts. +The President said at one time, referring to Stanton's refusal to +issue the permits and the severe remarks made by the persons who were +disobliged,-- + +"'I cannot always know whether a permit ought to be granted, and I want +to oblige everybody when I can, and Stanton and I have an understanding +that if I send an order to him that cannot be consistently granted, he +is to refuse it, which he sometimes does; and that led to a remark which +I made the other day to a man who complained of Stanton, that I hadn't +much influence with this administration, but expected to have more with +the next.'" + +Mr. George W. Julian, a Representative in Congress, said, "I called on +the President respecting the appointments I had recommended under the +conscription law, and took occasion to refer to the failure of General +Frémont to get a command. He said he did not know where to place him, +and that it reminded him of the old man who advised his son to take a +wife, to which the young man responded, 'Whose wife shall I take?' + +"At another time," said Mr. Julian, "a committee of Western men, headed +by Mr. Lovejoy, procured from the President an important order looking +to the exchange 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 done before the President, but was met +by 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 Congressman from Illinois 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.'" + +Mr. Stanton was entirely without a sense of humor, and was the only +member of the Cabinet who could not tolerate and could never understand +Lincoln's stories and the reasons for his frequent resort to comic +anecdotes and books of humor to relieve his mind from anxiety and the +terrible strain that was always upon him. He never told a story himself, +and would not waste his time listening to stories from others. With +his unsympathetic disposition and nerveless constitution he could not +understand the need of relaxation, and his serious mind regarded with +disapproval and even contempt the simple remedies which the President +applied as relief to his anxieties and care. Charles A. Dana, who was +Mr. Stanton's assistant in the War Department, referring to this fact in +his reminiscences, says,-- + +"The political struggle (November, 1864) had been most intense, and the +interest taken in it, both in the White House and in the War Department, +had been almost painful. I went over to the War Department about +half-past eight in the evening and found the President and Mr. Stanton +together in the Secretary's office. General Eckert, who then had charge +of the telegraph department of the War Office, 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 quite 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 the fire of his indignation at what seemed to him to be +mere nonsense. The idea that when the safety of the republic was thus +at issue, when the control of an empire was to be determined by a few +figures brought in by the telegraph, the leader, the man most deeply +concerned, not merely for himself but for his country, could turn aside +to read such balderdash and to laugh at such frivolous jests, was to his +mind something most repugnant and damnable. He could not understand, +apparently, that it was by the relief which these jests afforded to the +strain of mind under which Lincoln had so long been living and to the +natural gloom of a melancholy and desponding temperament--this was Mr. +Lincoln's prevailing characteristic--that the safety and sanity of his +intelligence were maintained and preserved." + + + + +VI + +A COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF AND HIS GENERALS + + +When President Lincoln, confronted by the infirmities and incapacity +of General Scott and the jealousy and rivalry of the younger officers +of the army, was compelled to assume the direction of the conduct of +the war, he was entirely ignorant of military affairs, except for the +experience he had gained in his youth during the Black Hawk War, which, +however, was more of a frontier frolic than a serious campaign. His own +account of it is found in the autobiography he furnished to the press +after his nomination to the Presidency: + +"Abraham joined a volunteer company, and to his own surprise was elected +captain of it. He says he has not since had any success in life which +gave him so much satisfaction. He went into the campaign, served nearly +three months, met the ordinary hardships of such an expedition, but was +in no battle." + +We know from others that Lincoln was one of the first to enlist, and +that it was something besides ambition which led him to seek the +captaincy of his company. During his first year in Illinois he worked +for a time in a saw-mill run by a man named Kirkpatrick, who promised +to buy him a cant-hook with which to move heavy logs. Lincoln offered +to move the logs with his own common handspike, provided Kirkpatrick +would give him in cash the two dollars which a cant-hook would cost. +Kirkpatrick agreed to do so, but never did, and Lincoln always bore him +a grudge. When the volunteers from Sangamon County assembled on the +green to elect their officers, Lincoln discovered that Kirkpatrick was +the only candidate for captain, and remarked to his friend and neighbor, +Green,-- + +"Bill, I believe I can make Kirkpatrick pay me that two dollars he owes +me on the cant-hook or I'll run against him for captain." + +So he and Green began immediately to "hustle" for votes, and when the +order was given for the men to assemble at the side of their favorite +candidate for captain, three-fourths of them came to Lincoln, and he led +them over the prairies and through the wilderness to the rendezvous. He +had no knowledge of military tactics and did not even know the order +to give. He used to describe his blunders with great amusement, and +one that he enjoyed particularly was a device to get his men through +a gate-way into an enclosure. They were marching across a field four +abreast, and Lincoln could not remember the proper command for changing +them into single file, "or getting the company through the gate +endwise," as he described it. "So, as we came near the gate, I shouted, +'The company is dismissed for two minutes, when it will fall in again on +the other side of the gate.'" + +This ingenuity did not save him from disgrace on other occasions, and +once he was severely punished by being deprived of his sword on account +of a violation of discipline. But these punishments did not seem to +diminish the respect in which he was held by his company. They were +proud of his wit, his strength, and his learning, and throughout their +lives they remained devotedly attached to him because of his personal +qualities. One day an Indian fugitive took refuge in the camp, and the +soldier frontiersmen, with more or less experience of the treachery and +cruelty of the savage, saw no reason why they should not put him out +of the way at once, especially as they had come out to kill Indians; +but Lincoln's humanity and sense of justice revolted at the murder of a +helpless savage, and, at the risk of his life, he defied the entire camp +and saved the Indian. + +At the end of their term of service his company was mustered out, and +most of the volunteers, seeing no prospect of glory or profit, started +towards home; but Captain Lincoln re-enlisted the same day as a private, +and often spoke of the satisfaction he felt when relieved of the +responsibility of command. He served through the campaign. He was the +strongest man in the army and the best wrestler, with the exception of a +man named Thompson, who once threw him on the turf. + +Black Hawk was captured through the treachery of his allies. Lincoln's +battalion was mustered out at Whitewater, Wisconsin, by Lieutenant +Robert Anderson, who, twenty-nine years later, was to stand with him +as the most interesting figure upon the national stage. A story that +Lincoln was mustered into the service by Jefferson Davis has been widely +published. It was a natural mistake, however, because Davis, then a +lieutenant in the army, was stationed at a fort near Rock Island, but +during the summer of the Black Hawk War he was on leave of absence +and did not join his regiment until long after the Sangamon County +volunteers had returned to their homes. However, Lincoln was to see and +meet several interesting characters, including Colonel Zachary Taylor, +whom he afterwards supported for President, General Winfield Scott, +another Whig candidate for the Presidency and the commander of the +army at the beginning of his administration, Lieutenant Albert Sidney +Johnston, afterwards a Confederate general, and others of fame. + +Lincoln never permitted any one to call him "captain," and when in +Congress in 1848 he made a political speech in which he ridiculed +the efforts of the friends of General Cass to obtain some political +advantage from that eminent gentleman's services in a similar capacity. +He said,-- + +"If General Cass went in advance of me picking whortleberries, I guess +I surpassed him in charges on the wild onions. If he saw any live, +fighting Indians, it was more than I did, but I had a good many bloody +struggles with the mosquitoes; and although I never fainted from loss +of blood, I can truly say I was often very hungry. If ever I should +conclude to doff whatever our Democratic friends may suppose there is +of black-cockade Federalism about me, and thereupon they shall take me +up as their candidate for the Presidency, I protest that they shall not +make fun of me, as they have of General Cass, by attempting to write me +into a military hero." + +When compelled to supervise the enlisting and equipment of a great army +and plan campaigns that were to determine the destiny and the happiness +and prosperity of the people, he was entirely without preparation or +technical knowledge of the science of war, and could only rely upon his +common sense and apply to military affairs the experience he had gained +in politics. His talent developed rapidly, however, until he became +recognized as the ablest strategist of the war, not excepting Grant or +Sherman. His correspondence with his generals, his memoranda concerning +the movements of troops, his instructions to the Secretary of War, the +plans he suggested, and the comments and criticisms he made upon those +of others indicate the possession of a military genius which in actual +service would have given him a high reputation. In times of crisis his +generals found him calm and resourceful; in great emergencies he was +prompt, cool, and clear-sighted; and under the shock of defeat he was +brave, strong, and hopeful. + +Soon after his inauguration he began to realize the magnitude of +the struggle and the responsibilities which rested upon him. He was +convinced that the government was in the right, but determined that +there should be no mistake on this point; therefore he gave the South +every liberty and indulgence that could possibly be granted. He +determined that the "overt act" should be committed by the South, that +there should be no excuse to accuse the government of "invasion" or an +attempt at "subjugation," and for that reason he delayed the attempt +to reinforce and provision Fort Sumter. When the public understood the +moral issues involved he gave the order, because he knew that he would +be supported by a united North. In his inaugural address he said, "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." And that +solemn pledge he endeavored to fulfil even at the risk of Northern +criticism and the loss of the military posts at Charleston and other +points in the South. + +It was a disheartening and almost impossible situation for the new +administration. President Lincoln and General Scott were left almost +entirely dependent upon strangers and men of no experience who had +been appointed for political reasons rather than for capacity or +knowledge. Nearly all the trained officers of the army resigned as +fast as their native States seceded; officers of Northern birth and +sympathies had been sent to distant posts so that they could not +interfere with the treasonable designs of Secretary Floyd during the +Buchanan administration. Confusion, corruption, and complications were +unavoidable, and caused the President unutterable anxiety and distress. +Ignorance and zeal often provoked more trouble than could be corrected, +and jealousy, rivalry, and partisanship made matters worse. + +The political problems alone would have been as great a load as mortal +man might have been expected to carry, but his perplexities were +increased, his time occupied, and his patience sorely tested by such +an undignified and unpatriotic clamor for offices as has never been +exceeded in the history of our government. The Democratic party had +been in power for many years. Every position in the gift of President +Buchanan had been filled with a Democrat, many of them Southern +sympathizers, and now hordes of hungry Republicans besieged the White +House demanding appointments. The situation was described by the +President in a single ejaculation. A Senator who noticed an expression +of anxiety and dejection upon his face, inquired,-- + +"Has anything gone wrong, Mr. President? Have you heard bad news from +Fort Sumter?" + +"No," answered the President, solemnly. "It's the post-office at +Jonesville, Missouri." + +The area of the country was vast; the seat of war stretched from the +Atlantic to the Missouri River, with a strip of States undecided +in their purpose which must be carefully handled to prevent them +from joining the Confederacy. With inexperienced and incompetent +commanders, a divided Cabinet, public clamor dinning in his ears, and +his mind harassed by other cares and perplexities, it was difficult to +develop a military policy and plan a campaign for the suppression of +the rebellion. Even if the situation had been divested of political +significance, it would have taxed the genius of a Napoleon. The coast +line to be protected was more than three thousand six hundred miles +long, the frontier line was nearly eight thousand miles, and the +field of operation covered an area larger than the whole of Europe. +Furthermore, it was a political war, and everything must be planned +with a view to political consequences. It was not a struggle between +rival powers, nor for conquest, but for the preservation of the Union, +and from the beginning President Lincoln appreciated that the common +interests and the general welfare required that the integrity of the +country be preserved with as little loss and as little punishment as +possible to either side. Whatever damage was done must be repaired at +the end by a reunited country; whatever was destroyed was a common loss. +The war was a family affair, in which the sufferings and sorrows and +material losses must be equally shared. With all these considerations +in his mind, he undertook to guide the government in such a way as to +prevent the dissolution of the Union and at the same time accomplish +the overthrow of the slave power and the removal of that curse from the +American people. + +General Scott, like General Sherman, had accurately measured the +requirements of the situation. Their experience and military instincts +taught them that it was to be a long and a tedious struggle, and they +urged deliberation and preparation as absolutely necessary to success. +But, when General Sherman's opinion was made public, he was called a +lunatic, and General Scott's practical plan of military operations +was defeated by public ridicule. General Sherman demanded two hundred +thousand men before attempting a campaign in the Mississippi Valley. +General Scott called for only one hundred thousand men, but said they +would be required for three years, and advised that they be distributed +among ten or fifteen healthy camps for four months until they could be +organized, drilled, and acclimated; then, after the navy had blockaded +the harbors of the Southern coast, he proposed to move his army down +both banks of the Mississippi River, establishing strong posts at +frequent intervals to protect that stream until New Orleans was captured +and occupied; he then proposed to move his army gradually eastward from +the Mississippi and southward from the Potomac, slowly closing in upon +the Confederacy until its military power was paralyzed. Notwithstanding +the sorrows and anxieties of the North, the people howled with derision +at this thorough, practical plan of the old veteran. The comic papers +took it up and published cartoons representing a monster serpent with +General Scott's head, coiled around the cotton States, and they called +it "Scott's Anaconda." In the same breath they demanded a battle. "On to +Richmond," they cried, and President Lincoln yielded to the clamor. The +battle of Bull Run was fought, with its disastrous consequences. The +lesson was valuable, as it taught the President that public opinion was +not a safe guide to follow in military operations. + +It must be remembered that in the midst of the most appalling situation +in American history Lincoln stood practically alone because of a divided +Cabinet and the age and infirmities of General Scott, then seventy-five +years old, quite feeble in body and irritable of temper. The President +had great respect for him and confidence in his patriotism and military +judgment. He had supported Scott for President in 1852, had been in +correspondence with him before the inauguration, and had encouraged him +in his futile efforts to check the treasonable transactions of Secretary +Floyd and other conspirators; but he soon discovered that the venerable +warrior was in no condition to perform labor or assume responsibility. +Yet he was reluctant to do anything to wound his pride or reflect upon +his present ability. This increased the embarrassment and difficulties +of the situation. General Scott recognized and appreciated Lincoln's +consideration, but refused to resign or retire until finally driven from +his post by McClellan. + +At the White House, shortly after the battle of Bull Run, the old +veteran, after listening to criticisms directed at the President for +permitting the Union army to suffer defeat, broke out in his wrath,-- + +"Sir, I am the greatest coward in America. I will prove it. I fought +this battle, sir, against my judgment; I think the President of the +United States ought to remove me to-day for doing it. As God is my +judge, after my superiors had determined to fight it, I did all in my +power to make the army efficient. I deserve removal because I did not +stand up when my army was not in a condition for fighting and resist to +the last." + +"Your conversation seems to imply that I forced you to fight this +battle," suggested the President. + +"I have never served a President who has been kinder to me than you +have been," replied the general, avoiding the question. + +The battle of Bull Run was fought to gratify the politicians. It was +the only time the President yielded to public clamor, and he always +regretted it. It was a political movement. When he assembled a council +of war five days previous, the commanders declared that they had force +enough to overcome the enemy; but General Scott was positive that such +a victory could not be decisive, and advised a postponement of active +hostilities for a few months until the army could be placed in a better +condition. The Cabinet and the military committees of Congress feared +that public sentiment in the North would not consent to the delay, and +that the Confederate leaders would make such good use of it that the +results of an offensive movement would be more doubtful then than now, +hence an order for the advance was given. The President did not rebuke +General Scott for his indignant outbreak, because he felt that his words +were true. + +The President suffered great anxiety during that eventful Sunday, but +exhibited his usual self-control, and attended church with Mrs. Lincoln. +After his noon dinner he walked over to the head-quarters of the army, +where he found General Scott taking a nap, and woke him up to ask his +opinion. The old gentleman was not only hopeful but confident, for one +of his aides had arrived with a report that General McDowell was driving +everything before him. The President's mind was relieved and about four +o'clock he went out to drive. At six o'clock Secretary Seward staggered +over the threshold of the White House and nervously asked for the +President. When told that he was driving, he whispered to the private +secretary,-- + +"Tell no one, but the battle is lost; McDowell is in full retreat, and +calls on General Scott to save the capital." + +When the President drove up to the portico a few minutes later he +listened in silence to the message, but his head hung low as he crossed +the White House grounds to head-quarters. There the disaster was +confirmed, and he conferred long and anxiously with General Scott and +Secretary Cameron as to the next duty. Towards midnight he returned to +the White House and heard the accounts of members of Congress and others +who had gone out to witness the battle. His long frame lay listlessly +upon a couch, but his mind was active, his calmness and resolution had +not been disturbed, and before he slept that night he had planned the +reorganization of the army, and from that time undertook the direction +of military as well as civil and diplomatic affairs; consulting freely +with Senators and Representatives and officers of the army as he did +with his constitutional advisers, but relying upon his own judgment more +and more. + +A gleam of hope arose in his mind that he might be relieved of much +detail by George B. McClellan, a brilliant young officer, who had been +called to Washington and appointed a major-general. + +McClellan was a graduate of West Point, had served with distinction in +the Mexican War, had been a member of a military commission to inspect +the armies of Europe, had observed the conduct of the Crimean War, had +been engaged in various scientific and diplomatic duties, had resigned +from the army to become Chief Engineer of the Illinois Central Railroad +when only thirty-one years old, was elected its Vice-President at +thirty-two, and made President of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad +when he was thirty-four. He had made a brief but dashing campaign +in West Virginia, and was credited with saving that State to the +Union. His brilliant professional attainments, the executive ability +he had displayed in railway management, combined with attractive +personal qualities and influential social connections, made him the +most conspicuous officer in the Union army and naturally excited +the confidence of the President, who gave him a cordial welcome and +intrusted him with the most responsible duties, making him second only +to General Scott in command. + +Unfortunately, however, the honors which were showered upon McClellan +turned his head, and the young commander not only failed to comprehend +the situation and his relations to the President and General Scott, but +very soon developed signs of vanity and insubordination which caused +the President great concern. He saw himself followed and flattered by +statesmen, politicians, and soldiers of twice his age and experience. +The members of the Cabinet and even the President himself came to his +residence to ask his advice, and the venerable hero of the Mexican +War deferred to his judgment and accepted his suggestions without +hesitation. McClellan was the idol of the army and a magnet that +attracted all the interest, influence, and ambition that were centred at +Washington at that period of the war. His state of mind and weakness of +character were exhibited in letters he wrote to his family at this time, +which, by a lamentable error of judgment, were afterwards printed in his +biography. + +On July 27 he wrote his wife, "I find myself in a new and strange +position here, President, Cabinet, General Scott and all deferring to +me. By some strange operation of magic I seem to have become the power +of the land." + +A little later he wrote, "They give me my way in everything, full swing +and unbounded confidence. Who would have thought when we were married +that I should so soon be called upon to save my country?" Ten days after +his appointment he declared, "I would cheerfully take the dictatorship +and agree to lay down my life when the country is saved." + +Very soon, however, the tone of his letters began to change. The +President, General Scott, and the Cabinet had evidently begun to detect +his weakness and egotism and no longer accepted his own estimate of his +ability and importance. To the President's profound disappointment, he +realized within a few days that McClellan was not a staff that could +be leaned upon, while General Scott's admiration and confidence in his +young lieutenant were shaken at their first interview. + +With the air of an emperor McClellan began to issue extraordinary +demands upon the President, the War Department, and the Treasury. It +soon became apparent that he desired and expected to be placed in +command of the greatest army of history; that he intended to organize +and equip it according to the most advanced scientific theories; and +when the President, the Secretary of War, and General Scott objected +to the magnitude of his plans, pointed out their impracticability, +and urged him to do something to check the alarming movements of the +Confederates, he was seized with a delusion which remained with him to +the end, that they were endeavoring to thwart and embarrass him. The +tone of his letters to his wife was radically changed. + +"I am here in a terrible place," he said; "the enemy have from three to +four times my force; the President and the old General will not see the +true state of affairs." + +"I am weary of all this," he said a week later, "and disgusted with this +administration,--perfectly sick of it;" and he declared that he remained +at the head of affairs only because he had become convinced that he +was alone the salvation of the country. He expressed especial contempt +for the President, and said, "There are some of the greatest geese in +the Cabinet I have ever seen,--enough to tax the patience of Job." The +incompetence and stupidity of the President, he wrote, was "sickening in +the extreme, and makes me feel heavy at heart when I see the weakness +and unfitness of the poor beings who control the destinies of this +country." + +He wrote other friends that his wisdom alone must save the country, that +he spent his time "trying to get the government to do its duty, and was +thwarted and deceived by these incapables at every turn." He demanded +that all recruits be sent to his army and that all supplies be issued +to him, as if the armies in the Mississippi Valley could take care of +themselves. He demanded that "the whole of the regular army, old and +new, be at once ordered to report here," and that the trained officers +be assigned to him. "It is the task of the Army of the Potomac to decide +the question at issue," he declared. When advice and suggestions were +offered him he rejected them contemptuously, and announced that whenever +orders were issued to him he exercised his own judgment as to obedience. + +General McClellan's vanity and presumption might have been overlooked +by General Scott, but his insulting remarks could not be excused. Their +relations reached an acute stage in August, 1861, notwithstanding the +President's efforts at reconciliation. Again and again he apologized +for and explained away the rudeness of the younger officer towards his +superior; and General Scott, realizing the President's embarrassment, +begged to be relieved from active command because of his age and +infirmities. Perhaps it would have been wiser if the wishes of the aged +general had been complied with, for he was now practically helpless, +fretful, and forgetful, and his sensitiveness made it necessary to +consult him upon every proposition and admit him to every conference. +Finally, McClellan's contemptuous indifference, persistent disrespect, +and continual disobedience provoked General Scott beyond endurance, and +on the last day of October he asked that his name be placed on the list +of army officers retired from active service. + +"For more than three years," he wrote, "I have been unable from a +hurt to mount a horse or to walk more than a few paces at a time and +that with much pain. Other and new infirmities, dropsy, and vertigo, +admonish me that repose of mind and body are necessary to add a little +more to a life already protracted much beyond the usual span of man." + +Lincoln, however, continued to consult him, and in June, 1862, made a +visit to West Point for the purpose of asking his advice upon certain +military movements then in contemplation. General Scott outlived him, +and was the most distinguished figure at the obsequies of the martyred +President at New York City in April, 1865. + +After General Scott's retirement McClellan assumed even greater +importance in his own eyes, and treated the President in the same +contemptuous manner; yet the latter's indulgence was inexhaustible, +and he would not even allow personal indignity to himself to interfere +with his relations with the commander of his army. He was accustomed +to visit army head-quarters and General McClellan's residence in the +most informal manner, entering both without notification of his coming, +and, if the general was not in, returning to the White House; but one +night in November, 1861, he called at General McClellan's residence on a +matter so important that he decided to await the latter's return from a +wedding. Although informed that the President had been waiting an hour, +McClellan went directly by the drawing-room upstairs, and when a servant +went to remind him that the President wished to see him, the general +sent down word that he was retiring and would like to be excused. +Lincoln did not mention the insult. No one could have detected any +difference in his treatment of General McClellan thereafter, except that +he never entered his house again, and after that date when he wanted +to see him sent for him to come to the Executive Mansion. On another +occasion when the young general treated him with similar arrogance, +Governor Dennison, of Ohio, and General Mitchell remonstrated, but the +President replied cheerfully,-- + +"Never mind; I will hold McClellan's horse if he will only bring us +success." + +But he did not bring success, and the public as well as both Houses +of Congress became very impatient about the idleness and delay of the +Army of the Potomac. McClellan's "All quiet on the Potomac" became a +slang phrase as notorious as General Butler's "contraband." Newspaper +artists and cartoonists made him the subject of ridicule, committees +of Senators and Representatives waited upon him, Legislatures passed +resolutions, but he was no more affected by those promptings than he had +been by the entreaties and admonitions of the President. When positive +orders were issued, McClellan refused to obey them, or obeyed them in +such a manner as to defeat their purpose. A committee of Congress was +appointed to make an investigation. The President began to lose his +patience, and declared that "if something were not done the bottom would +drop out of the whole affair. If McClellan did not want to use the army +he would like to borrow it, provided he could see how it could be made +to do something." McClellan replied that his forces were insufficient; +that he was outnumbered by the enemy. Finally, at a conference with the +Cabinet, Secretary Chase, who had been his most enthusiastic admirer, +but had lost all confidence in McClellan, asked the general point-blank +what he intended to do and when he intended to do it. McClellan refused +to answer the question unless the President ordered him to do so. The +latter, with his usual consideration, attempted to protect the general, +and in a conciliatory way asked whether he had resolved in his own mind +when he would be able to make a forward movement. McClellan replied in +the affirmative, but would give no further information. The President +urged him to do so, but he continued to refuse, whereupon the former +remarked,-- + +"Then I will adjourn the meeting." + +The President waited a few weeks longer, and, as nothing was done, +issued his famous Special War Order No. 1, in which he ordered the +celebration of Washington's birthday, 1862, by a general movement of all +the land and naval forces of the United States; but even then McClellan +reported that he would be obliged to fall back until he could construct +a railway. + +"What does this mean?" asked the President, when Secretary Stanton read +him the despatch. + +"It means that it is a damn fizzle!" exclaimed the Secretary of War. "It +means that he does not intend to do anything." + +The President then issued General War Order No. 2, reorganizing the Army +of the Potomac, and followed it with General War Order No. 3, which +directed a movement in ten days; but still McClellan blocked the way, +and continued to drill his troops, dig entrenchments, and write insolent +letters to the President and Secretary of War. + +"Had I twenty thousand or even ten thousand fresh troops to use +to-morrow I could take Richmond," he telegraphed Secretary Stanton. "If +I save this country now I tell you plainly that I owe no thanks to you +or any other person in Washington. You have done your best to sacrifice +this army." + +The Secretary's rage may be imagined, and he would have had McClellan +arrested and sent before a court-martial; but Lincoln's patience yet +prevailed, and he crossed the Potomac for a personal conference with +his insubordinate commander, urging him to make a forward movement. +The members of the Cabinet drew up an indignant protest demanding the +immediate removal of McClellan from command, but decided not to hand it +to the President. + +Finally, the Army of the Potomac was compelled to follow Lee northward, +and after the battle of Antietam the President telegraphed McClellan: +"Please do not let him [the enemy] get off without being hurt." +Two weeks later he again visited the camp, and, after reviewing and +inspecting the troops, remarked,-- + +"It is called the Army of the Potomac, but is only McClellan's +body-guard." + +President Lincoln's warmest defenders cannot excuse his procrastination +with McClellan upon any other ground than excessive caution. They +know that he acted against his own judgment; that he was convinced of +McClellan's unfitness within three months after he had placed him in +command, and that the conviction grew upon him daily, but his fear of +offending public opinion and wounding McClellan's vanity led him to +sacrifice the interests of the government and unnecessarily prolong the +war. The same criticism can be made of his treatment of other generals +intrusted with the command of the army. Of all his officers, no one ever +possessed the full confidence of the President except General Grant. + +While McClellan was in command Lincoln studied the military situation +with characteristic thoroughness and penetration, and drew up memoranda +in detail as to the movements of the army. He also gave his opinion as +to what the enemy would do under the circumstances. These memoranda were +rejected by McClellan in a contemptuous manner, but since they have +become public they have commanded the respect and admiration of the +ablest military critics. + +The President's troubles were not confined to the Army of the Potomac, +nor were they bounded by the Alleghany Mountains, but extended wherever +there were military movements; wherever there were offices to be +filled the same conditions existed; the same jealousies, rivalries, +and incompetence interfered with the proper administration of the +government. And the most popular heroes, the idols of the public, +invariably caused the most confusion and showed the most flagrant +indiscretion and incompetence. Second only in popularity to McClellan, +perhaps even higher in the esteem of the Republican party, was John C. +Frémont, the first candidate of that party for the Presidency, a man +whose adventures as an explorer had excited the admiring interest of +every school-boy, and whose activity in making California a state had +given him a reputation for romance, gallantry, and patriotism. He was +"the Pathfinder," and second only to Daniel Boone as a frontier hero. +Seward had pressed him for appointment as Secretary of War; at one time +Lincoln put him down on the slate as minister to France, and when the +war broke out his name was among the first to suggest itself to the +people as that of a savior of the country. He had been in France during +the winter, and had sailed for home when Sumter was fired upon. + +Upon his arrival in New York he was handed a commission as major-general +in the regular army and orders to take command in the Mississippi +Valley. It was an opportunity that any soldier might have envied, and +the President expected him to proceed at once to his head-quarters at +St. Louis, where his presence was imperatively needed; but the ovations +he received in the East and the adulation that was paid him everywhere +were too gratifying for his self-denial, and it was not until he +received peremptory orders, twenty-five days after his appointment, that +he proceeded leisurely westward to find his department in a state of +the greatest confusion and apprehension. Instead, however, of devoting +himself to the task of organization and getting an army into the field +to quell disloyal uprisings and exterminate the bushwhackers who were +burning towns, plundering farm-houses, tearing up railroads, murdering +loyal citizens, and committing other crimes, he remained in St. Louis, +taking more interest in political than in military questions, issuing +commissions to his friends, and giving contracts with such a lavish +hand and in such an irregular way as to provoke protest from the +accounting officers of the government. Political intrigue and distrust +were so prevalent that Frémont was accused of an ambition to lead a new +secession movement, separate the Western States from the Union, and +establish an empire under his own sovereignty similar to that of which +Aaron Burr is supposed to have dreamed. + +President Lincoln watched with anxiety and sorrow the dethronement of +another popular idol, and defended and protected Frémont with the same +charity and patience he had shown to McClellan. Instead of removing him +from command, as he should have done, he endeavored to shield him from +the consequences of his mismanagement, and sent General David Hunter, +an old friend and veteran officer in whom he had great confidence, this +request: + +"General Frémont needs assistance which is difficult to give him. He +is losing the confidence of men near him, whose support any man in his +position must have to be successful.... He needs to have by his side a +man of large experience. Will you not for me take that place? Your rank +is one grade too high to be ordered to it; but will you not serve your +country and oblige me by taking it voluntarily." + +With this letter General Hunter went to St. Louis to try and save +Frémont, but it was too late. Frémont's principal political backing came +from the Blair family, who were also his warmest personal friends; but, +when they endeavored to advise and restrain him, a quarrel broke out +and Frémont placed General Frank P. Blair under arrest. Blair preferred +formal charges against his commander; and his father and brother, the +latter being Postmaster-General, demanded Frémont's removal on account +of incapacity. Then, to increase Lincoln's anxieties and perplexities, +Mrs. Jessie Benton Frémont, the daughter of Senator Benton and a +romantic figure in American history, appeared in Washington to conduct +her husband's side of the quarrel, denouncing the Blairs and all other +critics with unmeasured contempt and earnestness. + +The President confesses that he was exasperated almost beyond endurance. +Mrs. Frémont, he says, "sought an audience with me at midnight, and +attacked me so violently with many things that I had to exercise all the +awkward tact I had to avoid quarrelling with her. She more than once +intimated that if General Frémont should decide to try conclusions with +me, he could set up for himself." + +While the weary President was spending sleepless nights planning the +reorganization of the Army of the Potomac and an offensive campaign to +satisfy public clamor, he endeavored to arbitrate the quarrel between +Frémont and the Blairs. In the midst of his efforts at conciliation, +General Frémont startled the country and almost paralyzed the President +by issuing an emancipation proclamation and an order that all persons +found with arms in their hands should be shot. The President wrote +him a gentle but firm remonstrance, "in a spirit of caution and not +of censure," he said, and sent it by special messenger to St. Louis, +"in order that it may certainly and speedily reach you." Mrs. Frémont +brought the reply to Washington. It was an apology mixed with defiance. +Frémont asserted that he had acted from convictions of duty with +full deliberation, and proceeded at length to argue the justice and +expediency of the step; and he was as much encouraged in his defiance as +Lincoln was embarrassed by the radical Republican leaders and newspapers +of the North. Frémont's proclamation was revoked by order of the +President, but it was not so easy to correct the mistakes he had made in +administration. Finally, after long deliberation and upon the advice of +three experienced officers in whom he had great confidence and who had +been with Frémont and were familiar with his conduct and the political +and military situation, the President relieved him from command. + +Frémont accepted the inevitable with dignity. He issued a farewell +address to his army, was given ovations by radical Republicans in +different parts of the country, but was not again intrusted with an +independent command. + +After he arose from his sleepless bed the morning following the battle +of Bull Run, Lincoln devoted every spare moment to the study of the +map of the seat of war and to reading military history. A shelf in his +private library was filled with books on tactics, the histories of great +campaigns, and such military authorities upon the science of warfare +as might afford him ideas, valuable information, and suggestions. He +undertook the preparation of a plan of campaign precisely as he had been +accustomed to prepare for a trial in court, and before many days his +quick perceptions, his retentive memory, and his reasoning powers had +given him wider knowledge than was possessed by any of his generals. +He did not fail to consult every person in whom he had confidence +both upon abstract military questions and geographical and political +conditions, and before long he developed a plan which he submitted +to the military committees of Congress a few days after Congress +assembled in December, 1861. Several of the most influential Senators +and Representatives who did not belong to the committees were invited +to be present. He proposed, first to maintain the military force along +the Potomac to menace Richmond; second, to move an army from Cairo +southward within easy communication of a flotilla upon the Mississippi; +and, third, to send an army from Cincinnati eastward to Cumberland +Gap in East Tennessee. Preliminary to the latter movement he proposed +the construction of a railway from Cincinnati to Knoxville by way of +Lexington, Kentucky, in order to avoid the difficulties and delays of +transportation through the mountains, and military authorities now +agree that if his advice had been followed the war would have been +shortened at least two years. Mr. Nicolay, his private secretary, +reports the substance of the President's appeal to Congress, as he stood +before a map of Tennessee in the President's room at the Capitol: + +"I am thoroughly convinced that the closing struggle of the war will +occur somewhere in this mountain country. By our superior numbers +and strength we will everywhere drive the rebel armies back from the +level districts lying along the coast, from those lying south of +the Ohio River, and from those lying east of the Mississippi River. +Yielding to our superior force, they will gradually retreat to the +more defensible mountain districts, and make their final stand in that +part of the South where the seven States of Virginia, North Carolina, +South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia come +together. The population there is overwhelmingly and devotedly loyal to +the Union. The despatches from Brigadier-General Thomas of October 28 +and November 5 show that, with four additional good regiments, he is +willing to undertake the campaign and is confident he can take immediate +possession. Once established, the people will rally to his support, and +by building a railroad, over which to forward him regular supplies and +needed reinforcements from time to time, we can hold it against all +attempts to dislodge us, and at the same time menace the enemy in any +one of the States I have named." + +There was no response to this appeal, except from the Senators and +Representatives from East Tennessee, where nearly the entire population +were loyal to the Union. One of the motives of the President in planning +this campaign was to protect them from the raids of the Confederate +cavalry. The Congressmen who heard him, however, were determined to +gratify the public demand for an assault upon Richmond. All eyes were +upon the Army of the Potomac, and it was popularly believed that if an +assault were made and the Confederate capital captured, the rebellion +would be promptly crushed. The President then undertook to carry out his +plan with the forces at his disposal, but General Buell was too stubborn +and too slow, either refusing to carry out his orders or wasting his +time and strength in arguments against the practicability of the plan. +If the same time, money, and military strength that were expended in +his attempted march from Corinth to East Tennessee during the following +summer had been devoted to the construction of a railroad, as proposed +by the President, the entire situation in the Mississippi Valley would +have been changed, and the battles which made Grant, Thomas, and Sherman +famous would never have been fought. This is the opinion of the military +experts after a quarter of a century of controversy, and the longer the +subject is discussed the more firmly established is the verdict in favor +of the wisdom and practicability of Lincoln's plan. + +General McClellan was not the only military commander to annoy and +perplex the President by procrastination and argument. The official +records of the war at this time are filled with letters and telegrams +addressed by Lincoln to Buell and Halleck, appealing to them to +obey his orders and move towards the enemy. Buell kept promising to +do so, but his delay was exasperating, and, differing in opinion +from his superiors, he was, like McClellan, continually guilty of +insubordination. Halleck, who was considered one of the ablest and +best-equipped officers in the Union army, and was intended to be the +successor of General Scott, was equally dilatory, although he had a +better excuse, because, when he assumed command at St. Louis, succeeding +General Frémont, he found the whole department in a deplorable +condition, and was working with great energy and ability to organize +and equip an army for the field. It is undoubtedly the case that both +Buell and Halleck lacked confidence in the President's military capacity +and placed a higher value upon their own judgment; but, whether the +President realized this or not, he laid out the plan of a campaign and +gave orders to both generals to co-operate in a joint land and river +expedition up the Tennessee or Cumberland River. Neither made the +slightest preparation for it or communicated with each other on the +subject,--an act of insubordination that would not have been tolerated +in any other country in the world. Then, when the President began to +press his generals, Halleck excused himself for refusing to carry out +his orders on the ground that it was bad strategy, and Buell made no +reply whatever. + +The patience of the President seemed inexhaustible. He kept his temper, +and finally persuaded General Halleck to make a demonstration, which +resulted in the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson and the famous +campaign of General Grant in the early spring of 1862. The results of +that campaign might have been much more conclusive had General Buell +obeyed orders and responded to the appeals of General Halleck for +assistance and to the President's orders for him to co-operate. Lincoln +watched every step of the march with anxious interest, and his telegrams +show that he anticipated Grant's movements with remarkable accuracy. His +suggestions show how familiar he was with the country and the location +of the Confederate forces. One of his telegrams to Halleck illustrates +his knowledge of detail. It reads,-- + +"You have Fort Donelson safe, unless Grant shall be overwhelmed from +outside; to prevent which latter will, I think, require all the +vigilance, energy, and skill of yourself and Buell, acting in full +co-operation. Columbus will not get at Grant, but the force from Bowling +Green will. They hold the railroad from Bowling Green to within a few +miles of Fort Donelson, with the bridge at Clarksville undisturbed. +It is unsafe to rely that they will not dare to expose Nashville to +Buell. A small part of their force can retire slowly towards Nashville, +breaking up the railroad as they go, and keep Buell out of that city +twenty days. Meantime, Nashville will be abundantly defended by forces +from all south and perhaps from here at Manassas. Could not a cavalry +force from General Thomas on the upper Cumberland dash across, almost +unresisted, and cut the railroad at or near Knoxville, Tennessee? In +the midst of a bombardment at Fort Donelson, why could not a gunboat +run up and destroy the bridge at Clarksville? Our success or failure at +Fort Donelson is vastly important, and I beg you to put your soul in the +effort. I send a copy of this to Buell." + +Imagine his sensations when he received a reply from General Halleck: +"Make Buell, Grant, and Pope major-generals of volunteers and give me +command in the West. I ask this in return for Fort Henry and Donelson." + +The President realized the situation, made the promotions, consolidated +the different departments west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, placed +Halleck in command, and directed him to take advantage of "the golden +opportunity;" but the latter was too deliberate, and it required only +a brief experience to demonstrate that he was unfit to command troops +in the field. He was called to Washington, placed at the head-quarters +of the army to succeed General McClellan, and Grant was left in command +of the army in Tennessee, where he undertook the task of opening the +Mississippi in his own way, having the full confidence of the President. + +It is quite remarkable that from the beginning Lincoln's confidence in +Grant was firm and abiding. This may have been partly due to the strong +endorsements he had received from Representative Washburne and other +mutual friends, although Grant was not highly regarded at home at that +time, and found difficulty in obtaining a commission from the Governor +of Illinois. President Lincoln had never seen him until he came East to +take command of the army, and had heard evil as well as good reports +concerning that silent but stubborn soldier who was working his way +down the banks of the Mississippi and closing around Vicksburg. There +is no evidence, however, except his own words, that Lincoln's faith in +him was ever shaken. He gave Grant no orders, sent him no telegrams +or letters such as he had written to Halleck, Buell, Rosecrans, and +other commanders in the West, and there must have been some reason for +his not doing so. We are left only the inference that his sagacity +taught him that Grant was not a man to be interfered with; and although +his patience, like that of the rest of the country, was being sorely +tried by the lack of tangible results in the West, he waited until the +problem was worked out and then wrote Grant the following candid and +characteristic letter: + + "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 service you have done the country. I wish + 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." + +[Illustration: Copyright, 1901, by M. P. Rice + +GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT + +From an original, unretouched negative made in 1864, when he was +commissioned Lieutenant-General and commander of all the armies of the +republic] + +Such letters are very seldom written by the rulers of nations to the +commanders of their armies. Confirming the obligation, and as a reward +for the victories of Donelson, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga, the President +recommended the revival of the rank of lieutenant-general, which had +been conferred only upon Washington and Scott. His recommendation was +adopted by Congress, Grant was called to Washington, and at a public +reception at the White House on March 8, 1864, he met Lincoln for the +first time. On the following day he was formally invested with his new +rank and authority by the President in the presence of the Cabinet +and several civil and military officials. It was not often that such +formalities occurred at the capital of the simple republic. Lincoln was +very much averse to formalities of all kinds. His democratic spirit +led him to avoid parade, but here was an occasion which his political +instincts taught him might be used to impress the country; hence the +unusual ceremony was arranged. + +General Grant did not reach Washington until the early evening of March +8, 1864, and the reception at the White House began at eight o'clock. +A message from the White House notified him that the President desired +his attendance if he was not too tired by his journey; so, immediately +after his arrival he took a hasty supper, changed his travel-worn +uniform for a fresh one, and, in company with an aide-de-camp, reached +the White House about half-past nine o'clock. The cheers that greeted +him as he was recognized by the crowd about the portico reached the +President's ears, but that was the only announcement of the approach of +the latest popular hero. General Grant took his place in line with the +other guests and slowly passed through the corridor and anteroom to the +door of the Blue Parlor where the President stood, with Mrs. Lincoln +and the ladies of the Cabinet at his side, receiving his guests and +shaking hands with them as they passed before him. He recognized Grant +without an introduction, being familiar with his portraits, and these +two remarkable men gazed into each other's eyes in an inquiring way for +a moment, while the people watched them with absorbing interest. After +exchanging the ordinary phrases of greeting, the President introduced +General Grant to Mr. Seward, and the latter led him into the East +Room, where he was received with cheer after cheer, and, blushing with +embarrassment, was compelled to stand upon a sofa where people could see +him, because he was so short of stature that he was hidden in the throng. + +The President asked Grant to remain after the close of the reception, +and they had a long conference. As Grant was leaving the White House +the President explained to him the reasons for the formality that would +be observed in presenting his commission as lieutenant-general on the +following day. + +"I shall make a very short speech to you," said he, "to which I desire +that you should make a brief reply for an object; and that you may be +properly prepared to do so I have written what I shall say, only four +sentences in all, which I will read from my manuscript as an example +which you may follow, and also read your reply, as you are perhaps not +so much accustomed to public speaking as I am, and I therefore give you +what I shall say so that you may consider it. There are two points that +I would like to have you make in your answer: first, to say something +which shall prevent or obviate any jealousy of you from any of the other +generals in the service; and, second, something which shall put you on +as good terms as possible with the Army of the Potomac. If you see any +objection to this, be under no restraint whatever in expressing that +objection to the Secretary of War." + +General Grant and Mr. Stanton left the White House together. The next +day, at one o'clock, in presence of the Cabinet, General Halleck, +two members of Grant's staff, and the President's private secretary, +the commission of lieutenant-general was formally delivered by the +President. Mr. Lincoln said,-- + +"General Grant, the nation's appreciation of what you have done, and +its reliance upon you for what remains to do 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 had written his speech on half of a sheet of note-paper, +in lead-pencil, but when he came to read it he was as embarrassed as +Washington was when the House of Burgesses at Williamsburg tendered him +its thanks after the Braddock campaign. He found his own writing very +difficult to read, but what he said could hardly have been improved: + +"Mr. President, I accept this 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 expectation. 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." + +It will be observed that Grant did not comply with the request of the +President, and his speech contains no reference to the subject to which +the President alluded on the previous evening. Grant never offered an +explanation and Lincoln never asked one. Some writers have advanced the +theory that Secretary Stanton, who often differed from the President in +regard to little matters, advised Grant not to refer to such delicate +subjects, but it is more probable that, with his distrust of politicians +and his fear of becoming complicated with them as McClellan and others +had been, the wary warrior thought it wise to be entirely non-committal. +Before leaving his head-quarters in the West, Grant had written Sherman, +"I shall say very distinctly on my arrival there [Washington] that I +shall accept no appointment which will require me to make that city my +head-quarters," and Sherman had urged him to stand by that resolution: +"Do not stay in Washington. Halleck is better qualified than you to +stand the buffets of intrigue and politics." + +After the presentation ceremonies the President and Grant retired +together, and the latter inquired what was expected of him. Lincoln +answered that he was expected to take Richmond; that every one who had +tried it so far had failed, and he asked Grant point-blank if he thought +he could do it. With the same directness and simplicity Grant answered +that he could if he had the troops. The President assured him that he +should have all the troops he needed and that he would not be interfered +with in the management of the campaign. Grant himself says, "I did +not communicate my plans to the President, nor did I to the Secretary +of War, nor to General Halleck;" and the President wrote him that he +neither knew nor wished to know his plan of operations, but wanted to +tender his good wishes and promise every aid which the government could +furnish. "If the results shall be less favorable than I hope and the +government expects," he said, "the fault will not be the fault of the +administration." Under those circumstances Grant assumed command of the +army, and from that time President Lincoln felt himself relieved from +the responsibility of planning and directing military movements. + +After making an inspection of the army, Grant returned to Washington, +had another conference with President Lincoln, established his +head-quarters at Culpeper, and prepared for active operations. On April +30, 1864, the President sent him the following candid letter: + +"Not expecting to see you again 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 constraints or restraints +upon you. While I am very anxious that any great disaster or capture of +our men in great numbers shall be avoided, I know these points are less +likely to escape your attention than they would be mine. If there is +anything wanting which is within 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." + +Grant's immediate reply confessed the groundlessness of his +apprehensions: + +"From my first entrance into the volunteer service of the country to the +present day, I have never had cause of complaint--have never expressed +or implied a complaint against the administration, or the Secretary +of War, for throwing any embarrassment in the way of my vigorously +prosecuting what appeared to me my duty. Indeed, since the promotion +which placed me in command of all the armies, and in view of the great +responsibility and importance of success, I have been astonished at the +readiness with which everything asked for has been yielded, without even +an explanation being asked. Should my success be less than I desire and +expect, the least I can say is, the fault is not with you." + +In his reminiscences, General Grant says, "Just after receiving my +commission as lieutenant-general, the President called me aside to speak +to me privately. After a brief reference to the military situation, he +said he thought he could illustrate what he wanted to say by a story, +which he related as follows: 'At one time there was a great war among +the animals, and one side had great difficulty in getting a commander +who had sufficient confidence in himself. Finally, they found a monkey, +by the name of Jocko, who said that he thought he could command their +army if his tail could be made a little longer. So they got more tail +and spliced it on to his caudal appendage. He looked at it admiringly, +and then thought he ought to have a little more still. This was added, +and again he called for more. The splicing process was repeated many +times, until they had coiled Jocko's tail around the room, filling all +the space. Still he called for more tail, and, there being no other +place to coil it, they began wrapping it around his shoulders. He +continued his call for more, and they kept on winding the additional +tail about him until its weight broke him down.' I saw the point, and, +rising from my chair, replied, 'Mr. President, I will not call for more +assistance unless I find it impossible to do with what I already have.' + +"Upon one occasion," continued Grant, "when the President was at my +head-quarters at City Point, I took him to see the work that had been +done on the Dutch Gap Canal. After taking him around and showing him all +the points of interest, explaining how, in blowing up one portion of the +work that was being excavated, the explosion had thrown the material +back into, and filled up, a part already completed, he turned to me and +said, 'Grant, do you know what this reminds me of? Out in Springfield, +Illinois, there was a blacksmith named ----. One day, when he did not +have much to do, he took a piece of soft iron that had been in his shop +for some time, and for which he had no special use, and, starting up +his fire, began to heat it. When he got it hot he carried it to the +anvil and began to hammer it, rather thinking he would weld it into an +agricultural implement. He pounded away for some time until he got it +fashioned into some shape, when he discovered that the iron would not +hold out to complete the implement he had in mind. He then put it back +into the forge, heated it up again, and recommenced hammering, with an +ill-defined notion that he would make a claw hammer, but after a time he +came to the conclusion that there was more iron there than was needed +to form a hammer. Again he heated it, and thought he would make an axe. +After hammering and welding it into shape, knocking the oxidized iron +off in flakes, he concluded there was not enough of the iron left to +make an axe that would be of any use. He was now getting tired and a +little disgusted at the result of his various essays. So he filled his +forge full of coal, and, after placing the iron in the centre of the +heap, took the bellows and worked up a tremendous blast, bringing the +iron to a white heat. Then with his tongs he lifted it from the bed of +coals, and thrusting it into a tub of water near by, exclaimed with an +oath, "Well, if I can't make anything else of you, I will make a fizzle, +anyhow."'" + +A friend once asked Lincoln whether the story was true that he had +inquired where General Grant got his liquor, so that he might send a +barrel to each of his other generals. Lincoln replied that the story +originated in King George's time. When General Wolfe was accused of +being mad, the King replied, "I wish he would bite some of my other +generals." + +At the dedication of the Lincoln monument at Springfield, October 15, +1874, General Grant said, "From March, 1864, to the day when the hand +of the assassin opened a grave for Mr. Lincoln, then President of +the United States, my personal relations with him were as close and +intimate as the nature of our respective duties would permit. To know +him personally was to love and respect him for his great qualities +of heart and head and for his patience and patriotism. With all his +disappointments from failures on the part of those to whom he had +intrusted commands, and treachery on the part of those who had gained +his confidence but to betray it, I never heard him utter a complaint, +nor cast a censure, for bad conduct or bad faith. It was his nature +to find excuses for his adversaries. In his death the nation lost its +greatest hero; in his death the South lost its most just friend." + +These relations thus established were never disturbed. Grant was +the first of all the generals in whom the President placed implicit +confidence; he was the only one with whom he seemed to feel entirely at +ease; and although their communications were frequent and voluminous, +there was seldom a difference of opinion. They contain no complaint +or reproach, but ring with mutual confidence and appreciation. Seldom +have two men of such remarkable character and ability enjoyed such +unruffled relations. Military history furnishes no similar instance. +Each seemed to measure the other at his full stature and recognize his +strength. There were many busybodies carrying tales and striving to +excite suspicion and jealousy, but their faith could not be shaken or +their confidence impaired. Lincoln's letters to Grant offer a striking +contrast to those addressed to Burnside, Hooker, McClellan, and other +commanders. + +General Ambrose E. Burnside was selected to command the Army of the +Potomac after McClellan was relieved November 5, 1862. He was a +classmate and intimate friend of his predecessor, handsome, brave, +generous, and as modest as McClellan was vain. He not only did not seek +the honor, but declined it twice on the ground that he was not competent +to command so large an army, but finally accepted the responsibility +at the urgent wish of the President, and very soon demonstrated the +mistake. His career was as unfortunate as it was brief, but his manly +report of the unfortunate battle of Fredericksburg did him great credit, +for he assumed all the responsibility for the failure and said nothing +but praise of his men. + +The President replied by a kind and sympathetic despatch after his +failure at Fredericksburg, and fully appreciated his situation. +"Although you were not successful," he said, "the attempt was not an +error nor the failure other than accident. The courage with which you in +an open field maintained the contest against an intrenched foe, and the +consummate skill and success with which you crossed and recrossed the +river in the face of the enemy, show that you possess all the qualities +of a great army, which will yet give victory to the cause of the country +and of popular government." + +Burnside's confession of failure destroyed the confidence of the army in +him, and Burnside realized it. "Doubtless," he said, "this difference +of opinion between my general officers and myself results from a lack +of confidence in me. In this case it is highly necessary that this +army should be commanded by some other officer, to whom I will most +cheerfully give way." + +The President replied, "I deplore the want of concurrence with you +in opinion by your general officers, but I do not see the remedy. Be +cautious, and do not understand that the government or the country is +driving you. I do not yet see how I could profit by changing the command +of the Army of the Potomac, and if I did I would not wish to do it by +accepting the resignation of your commission." + +Nevertheless, it was futile for the President to pretend that Burnside's +usefulness as commander of the army was not at an end, and the latter +determined to bring about a crisis himself by recommending for dismissal +from the army General Joseph Hooker for "unjust and unnecessary +criticisms of the actions of his superior officer.... As unfit to hold +an important commission during a crisis like the present when so +much patience, charity, confidence, consideration, and patriotism are +due from every soldier in the field." Burnside also prepared an order +dismissing nine other generals, and with his usual frankness took them +to Washington and asked the President's approval. As an alternative he +tendered his own resignation. Lincoln realized that a commander who +had lost the confidence of his army and the country at large could not +restore it by punishing his critics, so, in the most kindly manner, +he accepted Burnside's resignation and assigned General Hooker to +command. The President was fully aware of Hooker's weakness, and that +the latter's conduct and language concerning Burnside and himself had +been not only indiscreet and insubordinate, but actually insulting. But +he was willing to overlook all that and confer honor and responsibility +upon him because he believed in his ability and patriotism, and knew +that the soldiers held him in higher esteem than any other general in +the East. But accompanying Hooker's commission was a letter which no +man but Abraham Lincoln could have written without giving offence, and +nothing from the pen of the President at that period of his life better +indicates the complete self-control and self-confidence which possessed +him. + +"I have placed you at the head of the Army of the Potomac," he said. "Of +course I have done this upon what appears to me sufficient reason, and +yet I think it best for you to know that there are some things in regard +to which I am not quite satisfied with you. I believe you to be a brave +and skilful soldier, which, of course, I like. I also believe you do +not mix politics with your profession, in which you are right. You have +confidence in yourself, which is a valuable, if not an 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 of 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 successes can set up dictators. What I now ask of 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 criticising +their commander and withholding confidence from him, will now turn upon +you. I shall assist you as far as I can to put 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." + +General Hooker received this rebuke and admonition in the spirit in +which it was offered; he recognized its justice, and endeavored to +restore himself in the President's estimation; but his first important +movement was defeated by the enemy, and, although it was not so great +a disaster as that of Burnside at Fredericksburg, the battle of +Chancellorsville, in May, 1863, marked the darkest hour in the Civil War +and inspired Lee and the Confederate authorities with confidence of the +ultimate success of the rebellion. Mr. W. O. Stoddard, an inmate of the +White House at that time, has given us the following picture: + +"The darkest hour in the Civil War came in the first week of May, 1863, +after the bloody battle of Chancellorsville. The country was weary of +the long war, with its draining taxes of gold and blood. Discontent +prevailed everywhere, and the opponents of the Lincoln administration +were savage in their denunciation. More than a third of each day's mail +already consisted of measureless denunciation; another large part was +made up of piteous appeals for peace. + +"There were callers at the White House. Members of the Senate and House +came with gloomy faces; the members of the Cabinet came to consult or +condole. The house was like a funeral, and those who entered or left it +trod softly for fear they might wake the dead. + +"That night the last visitors in Lincoln's room were Stanton and +Halleck, and the President was left alone. Not another soul except +the one secretary busy with the mail in his room across the hall. The +ticking of a clock would have been noticeable; but another sound came +that was almost as regular and as ceaseless. It was the tread of the +President's feet as he strode slowly back and forth across his chamber. +That ceaseless march so accustomed the ear to it that when, a little +after twelve, there was a break of several minutes, the sudden silence +made one put down his letters and listen. + +"The President may have been at his table writing, or he may--no man +knows or can guess; but at the end of the minutes, long or short, +the tramp began again. Two o'clock and he was walking yet, and when, +a little after three, the secretary's task was done and he slipped +noiselessly out, he turned at the head of the stairs for a moment. It +was so--the last sound he heard as he went down was the footfall in +Lincoln's room. + +"The young man was there again before eight o'clock. The President's +room was open. There sat Lincoln eating his breakfast alone. He had not +been out of his room; but there was a kind of cheery, hopeful morning +light on his face. He had watched all night, but beside his cup of +coffee lay his instructions to General Hooker to push forward. There was +a decisive battle won that night in that long vigil with disaster and +despair. Only a few weeks later the Army of the Potomac fought it over +again as desperately--and they won it--at Gettysburg." + +From the time when Hooker took command the President kept closer +watch than ever upon the movements of the Army of the Potomac, and +his directions were given with greater detail than before. He had no +confidence in Hooker's ability to plan, although he felt that he was a +good fighter. + +Early in June, 1863, Hooker reported his opinion that Lee intended to +move on Washington, and asked orders to attack the Confederate rear. To +this Lincoln answered in quaint satire, "In case you find Lee coming +north of the Rappahannock I would by no means cross to the south of +it. If he should leave a rear force at Fredericksburg, tempting you +to fall upon it, it would fight you in entrenchments and have you at +a disadvantage, while his main force would in some way be getting an +advantage of you northward. In one word, I would not take any risk of +being entangled upon the river, like an ox would jump half over a fence +and be liable to be torn by dogs front and rear, without a fair chance +to gore one way or kick the other." + +To illustrate how dependent was the commander of the Army of the Potomac +upon Lincoln I give another despatch, sent by the President to Hooker +when the latter proposed to make a dash upon Richmond while Lee was +moving his army westward towards the Shenandoah Valley. + +"If left to me, I would not go south of the Rappahannock upon Lee's +moving north of it. If you had Richmond invested to-day, you would +not be able to take it in twenty days; meanwhile your communications, +and with them your army, would be ruined. I think Lee's army, and not +Richmond, is your true objective point. If he comes towards the upper +Potomac, follow on his flank and on his inside track, shortening your +lines while he lengthens his. Fight him, too, when opportunity offers. +If he stays where he is, fret him and fret him." + +A few days later Lincoln telegraphed Hooker, "If the head of Lee's +army is at Martinsburg and the tail of it on the plank road between +Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the animal must be very slim +somewhere. Could you not break him?" But Hooker made no attempt to do +so, and merely followed Lee northward through Virginia and Maryland +into Pennsylvania, keeping on the "inside track," as Mr. Lincoln +suggested, between the Confederate army and Washington. Before the +battle of Gettysburg, which ended the most aggressive campaign of the +Confederates, a long-standing feud between Hooker and Halleck became +so acute that the President saw that one or the other of them must be +relieved. Hooker, in a fit of irritation because Halleck had declined +to comply with some unimportant request, asked to be relieved from the +command, and the President selected George G. Meade to succeed him. A +few days later the battle of Gettysburg was fought. The vain ambition +of Lee and Davis to raise the Confederate flag over Independence Hall +and establish the head-quarters of the Confederate government in +Philadelphia was dissipated and Lee fell back, leaving two thousand six +hundred killed, twelve thousand wounded, and five thousand prisoners. + +Lincoln's military instincts taught him that the war could be +practically ended there if the advantages gained at Gettysburg were +properly utilized, and so implored Meade to renew his attack. But Meade +held back, Lee escaped, and for once the President lost his patience. In +the intensity of his disappointment he wrote Meade as follows: + +"You fought and beat the enemy at Gettysburg, and, of course, his loss +was as great as yours. He retreated, and you did not, as it seemed +to me, pressingly pursue him; but a flood in the river detained him +till, by slow degrees, you were again upon him. You had at least twenty +thousand veteran troops directly with you and as many more raw ones +within supporting distance, all in addition to those who fought with +you at Gettysburg, while it was not possible that he had received a +single recruit, and yet you stood and let the flood run down, bridges be +built, and the enemy move away at his leisure, without attacking him. +Again, my dear general, I do not believe you appreciate the magnitude +of the misfortune involved in Lee's escape. He was within your easy +grasp, and to have closed upon him would, in connection with our other +late successes, have ended the war. As it is, the war will be prolonged +indefinitely. If you could not safely attack Lee last Monday, how can +you possibly do so south of the river, when you can take with you very +few more than two-thirds of the force you then had in hand? I would be +unreasonable to expect, and I do not expect (that) you can now effect +much. Your golden opportunity is gone, and I am distressed immeasurably +because of it." + +Before the mails left that night Lincoln's wrath was spent, his +amiability was restored, and this letter was never sent. + +It is impossible in the limits of this volume to relate the details +of the war, but from the detached incidents that have been given, and +the narrative of his relations with Scott, McClellan, Frémont, Grant, +and other generals referred to in this chapter, the reader may form +a clear and accurate conception of Abraham Lincoln's military genius +and the unselfish and often ill-advised consideration with which he +invariably treated his commanders. During the last year of the war +the right men seem to have found the right places, and in all the +voluminous correspondence of the President from the White House and +the War Department with Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, and Thomas there +appears to have been a perfect understanding and complete unity of +opinion and purpose between them. He allowed them greater liberty than +other commanders had enjoyed, evidently because they had his confidence +to a higher degree; he never was compelled to repeat the entreaties, +admonitions, and rebukes with which the pages of his correspondence +during the earlier part of the war were filled. His relations with +Sherman cannot better be defined than by the following brief letter: + + "MY DEAR GENERAL SHERMAN: Many, many thanks for your + Christmas gift, the capture of Savannah. When you were about + leaving Atlanta for the Atlantic coast I was anxious, if not + fearful; but feeling that you were the better judge, and + remembering that 'nothing risked, nothing gained,' I did not + interfere. Now, the undertaking being a success, the honor + is all yours, for I believe none of us went farther than to + acquiesce. And taking the work of General Thomas into the count, + as it should be taken, it is, indeed, a great success. Not only + does it afford the obvious and immediate military advantages, + but in showing to the world that your army could be divided, + putting the stronger part to an important new service, and + yet leaving enough to vanquish the old opposing force of the + whole--Hood's army--it brings those who sat in darkness to see a + great light. But what next? I suppose it will be safe if I leave + General Grant and yourself to decide. Please make my grateful + acknowledgments to your whole army, officers and men." + +[Illustration: Copyright, 1900, by McClure, Phillips & Co. + +GRAND REVIEW OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC BY PRESIDENT LINCOLN AT +FALMOUTH, VIRGINIA, IN APRIL, 1863] + +Lincoln's relations with Sheridan were limited. They never met but +twice, and there was very little correspondence between them, the most +notable being the laconic despatch after Sheridan's fight with Ewell at +Sailor's Creek, near the Appomattox. That was one of the last blows +struck at the Confederacy, and Sheridan, realizing the situation, made a +hasty report, ending with the words,-- + +"If the thing is pressed I think Lee will surrender." + +Grant forwarded the despatch to President Lincoln, who instantly +replied,-- + +"Let the thing be pressed." + +When he had read the telegram describing Sheridan's last fight with +Early in the Shenandoah Valley, he remarked that he once knew a man +who loaded a piece of punk with powder, lighted it, clapped it inside +a biscuit, and tossed it to a savage dog that was snarling at him. In +an instant the dog snapped it up and swallowed it. Presently the fire +touched the powder and away went the dog, his head in one place, a leg +here and another there, and the different parts scattered all over the +country. "And," said the man, "as for the dog, as a dog, I was never +able to find him." "And that," remarked the President, "is very much the +condition of Early's army, as an army." + +President Lincoln's appearance in Richmond after the Confederacy fell +to pieces was one of the most dramatic scenes in all history because of +its extreme simplicity and the entire absence of rejoicing or parade. +There was no triumphant entrance, as the world might have expected +when a conqueror occupies the capital of the conquered. Never before +or since has an event of such transcendent significance occurred with +so little ostentation or ceremony. Lincoln was at City Point, the +head-quarters of General Grant, and was lodged upon a little steamer +called the "River Queen" when he heard of the capture of Richmond and +the fire that consumed a large part of that city. The same day he went +up the river without escort of any kind, landed at a wharf near Libby +Prison, found a guide among the colored people that were hanging around +the place, and walked a mile or more to the centre of the city. The +loafers at the wharf soon identified the President and surrounded him, +striving to touch the hem of his garment. To protect the President and +open a passage for him, Admiral Porter called sailors from his boat, who +marched in front and behind him to the town. Lincoln did not realize +the danger that surrounded him; he did not remember that he was in the +midst of a community with whom he was still at war, or that they held +him responsible for the sorrows they had suffered, the distress they had +endured, and the destruction of their property. But, although within an +hour from the time he landed every man, woman, and child knew of his +presence, not a hand was lifted against him, not an unkind word was +said; and, after visiting the head-quarters of General Weitzel, who was +in command of the Union troops, the Capitol of the State which had been +the seat of the Confederate government, the mansion which Jefferson +Davis had occupied, Libby Prison, where so many officers had starved and +died, and holding two important interviews with John A. Campbell, the +Confederate Secretary of War, who had remained in Richmond when the rest +of the government fled, he went leisurely back to his boat, returned to +the steamer, and sailed for Washington, where, only a few days later, +surrounded by his loyal friends and in the midst of an ovation, he was +stricken by the bullet of an assassin. + +Lincoln's personal courage was demonstrated early in life. He never +showed a sense of fear. He never refused a challenge for a trial of +strength, nor avoided an adventure that was attended by danger; and +while President he had no fear of assassination, although he had many +warnings and was quite superstitious. He was accustomed to ridicule +the anxiety of his friends, and when the threats of his enemies were +repeated to him he changed the subject of conversation. Senator Sumner +was one of those who believed that he was in continual danger of +assassination, and frequently cautioned him about going out at night. +When the Senator's anxiety was referred to by friends one evening, the +President said, "Sumner 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." + +In his reminiscences, General Butler says, "He was personally a very +brave man and gave me the worst fright of my life. He came to my +head-quarters and said,-- + +"'General, I should like to ride along your lines and see them, and see +the boys and how they are situated in camp.' + +"I said, 'Very well, we will go after breakfast.' + +"I happened to have a very tall, easy-riding, pacing horse, and, as the +President was rather long-legged, I tendered him the use of him while +I rode beside him on a pony. He was dressed, as was his custom, in a +black suit, a swallow-tail coat, and tall silk hat. As there rode on +the other side of him at first Mr. Fox, the Secretary of the Navy, who +was not more than five feet six inches in height, he stood out as a +central figure of the group. Of course the staff-officers and orderly +were behind. When we got to the line of intrenchment, from which the +line of rebel pickets was not more than three hundred yards, he towered +high above the works, and as we came to the several encampments the boys +cheered him lustily. Of course the enemy's attention was wholly directed +to this performance, and with the glass it could be plainly seen that +the eyes of their officers were fastened upon Lincoln; and a personage +riding down the lines cheered by the soldiers was a very unusual thing, +so that the enemy must have known that he was there. Both Mr. Fox and +myself said to him,-- + +"'Let us ride on the side next to the enemy, Mr. President. You are in +fair rifle-shot of them, and they may open fire; and they must know you, +being the only person not in uniform, and the cheering of the troops +directs their attention to you.' + +"'Oh, no,' he said, laughing; 'the commander-in-chief of the army must +not show any cowardice in the presence of his soldiers, whatever he +may feel.' And he insisted upon riding the whole six miles, which was +about the length of my intrenchments, in that position, amusing himself +at intervals, where there was nothing more attractive, in a sort of +competitive examination of the commanding general in the science of +engineering, much to the amusement of my engineer-in-chief, General +Weitzel, who rode on my left, and who was kindly disposed to prompt me +while the examination was going on, which attracted the attention of Mr. +Lincoln, who said,-- + +"'Hold on, Weitzel, I can't beat you, but I think I can beat Butler.' + +"In the later summer (1863)," continues General Butler, "I was invited +by the President to ride with him in the evening out to the Soldiers' +Home, some two miles, a portion of the way being quite lonely. He had no +guard--not even an orderly on the box. I said to him,-- + +"'Is it known that you ride thus alone at night out to the Soldiers' +Home?' + +"'Oh, yes,' he answered, 'when business detains me until night. I do go +out earlier, as a rule.' + +"I said, 'I think you peril too much. We have passed a half-dozen places +where a well-directed bullet might have taken you off.' + +"'Oh,' he replied, 'assassination of public officers is not an American +crime.' + +"When he handed me the commission (as major-general), with some kindly +words of compliment, I replied, 'I do not know whether I ought to accept +this. I received my orders to prepare my brigade to march to Washington +while trying a cause to a jury. I stated the fact to the court and +asked that the case might be continued, which was at once consented to, +and I left to come here the second morning after, my business in utter +confusion.' + +"He said, 'I guess we both wish we were back trying cases,' with a +quizzical look upon his countenance. + +"I said, 'Besides, Mr. President, you may not be aware that I was the +Breckenridge candidate for Governor in my State in the last campaign, +and did all I could to prevent your election.' + +"'All the better,' said he; 'I hope your example will bring many of the +same sort with you.' + +"'But,' I answered, 'I do not know that I can support the measures of +your administration, Mr. President.' + +"'I do not care whether you do or not,' was his reply, 'if you will +fight for the country.' + +"'I will take the commission and loyally serve while I may, and bring it +back to you when I can go with you no further.' + +"'That is frank; but tell me wherein you think my administration wrong +before you resign,' said he. 'Report to General Scott.' + +"'Yes, Mr. President, the bounties which are now being paid to new +recruits cause very large desertions. Men desert and go home, and get +the bounties and enlist in other regiments.' + +"'That is too true,' he replied, 'but how can we prevent it?' + +"'By vigorously shooting every man who is caught as a deserter until it +is found to be a dangerous business.' + +"A saddened, weary look came over his face which I had never seen +before, and he slowly replied,-- + +"'You may be right--probably are so; but, God help me! how can I have a +butcher's day every Friday in the Army of the Potomac?'" + + + + +VII + +HOW LINCOLN APPEARED IN THE WHITE HOUSE + + +There was very little social life in the White House during the Lincoln +administration. The President gave a few State dinners each year, such +as were required of his official position, held a few public receptions +to gratify the curiosity of the Washington people and strangers in +the city, and gave one ball which excited much criticism from the +religious press and from unfriendly sources. It was represented as a +heartless exhibition of frivolity in the midst of dying soldiers and a +grief-stricken country, and some people even went so far as to declare +the death of Willie Lincoln, about two weeks later, to be a judgment +of God upon the President and Mrs. Lincoln for indulging in worldly +amusements. These thoughtless writers did not know that during the +reception, which was in honor of the diplomatic corps, the President +and Mrs. Lincoln both slipped away from their guests to spend a moment +at the bedside of their child, who was so ill that the postponement of +the entertainment was proposed, but vetoed by the President. The death +of this lad was the greatest sorrow that ever fell upon the President's +heart. + +There was little opportunity for home life at the White House because of +the confusion and distraction caused by the war. The President's labors +were unceasing. He seldom took exercise or indulged in amusements. +Occasionally he attended the theatre when distinguished performers +happened to be in Washington, and usually invited them to his box to +express his thanks for the pleasure they had afforded him and to ask +questions about the play. He was particularly fond of Shakespeare, and +attended the presentation of his plays as frequently as his official +cares would permit; he found great diversion in their study, and could +repeat many passages that he learned from the first copy he had ever +seen while yet a clerk in Denton Offutt's store at New Salem. He had +his own theories regarding Shakespeare, and when a prominent actor or +Shakespearian scholar came his way, invariably discussed with him the +Shakespearian mysteries and the original construction of the plays, with +which he was very familiar. + +He found diversion in comedies, and used to enjoy clever farces as much +as any child. He often took his children to performances at the theatre, +and their presence doubled his own enjoyment. This was practically his +only recreation, except reading Burns, Petroleum V. Nasby, Artemas Ward, +Josh Billings, and other comic writers who appealed to his keen sense +of the ridiculous and diverted his attention from the cares of state +when they were wearing upon him. He was not fond of games, although +he sometimes played backgammon with his boys. For a time he practised +basket-ball for exercise, but did not enjoy it. He had little out-door +life; it was limited to a daily drive to and from the Soldiers' Home +or to some military camp. He enjoyed the saddle and was a good rider, +although in the long-tailed coat and tall silk hat which he always wore +he made a grotesque figure on horseback. He had no taste for hunting or +fishing, never smoked, and was very temperate in his habits. He yearned +for rest, although his physical strength and endurance were beyond +comparison with those of other public men. His labors and sleepless +nights would have broken down any other constitution, and he was often +weary. One day, during an especially trying period, he lifted his tired +eyes from his desk and remarked to his secretary,-- + +"I wish George Washington or some other old patriot were here to take my +place for a while, so that I could have a little rest." + +If Lincoln had accepted the advice of his secretaries and his associates +he might have spared himself a great deal of labor and annoyance. But +he never excused himself from callers in the busiest period of the war; +even when hundreds of important duties were pressing upon him, he never +denied an attentive ear and a cheerful word. He was a genuine democrat +in his feelings and practices, and, regardless of public affairs, +listened patiently and considerately to the humblest citizen who called +at the White House. One day, when his anteroom was crowded with men and +women seeking admission to his presence and he was unusually perplexed +by official problems, a friend remarked,-- + +"Mr. President, you had better send that throng away. You are too tired +to see any more people this afternoon. Have them sent away, for you will +wear yourself out listening to them." + +"They don't want much and they get very little," he replied. "Each one +considers his business of great importance, and I must gratify them. I +know how I would feel if I were in their place." + +At the opening of the administration he was overwhelmed with persistent +office-seekers, and so much of his time was occupied in listening to +their demands and trying to gratify them that he felt that he was not +attending to military affairs and matters of public policy as closely as +he should. He compared himself to a man who was so busy letting rooms +at one end of his house that he had no time to put out a fire that was +destroying the other end. And when he was attacked with the varioloid in +1861 he said to his usher,-- + +"Tell all the office-seekers to come and see me, for now I have +something that I can give them." + +He had a remarkable capacity for work and for despatching business. +Although deliberation was one of his strongest characteristics, he knew +when to act and acted quickly. His brain was as tough and as healthy as +his body. His appetite was always good and healthful. He ate sparingly +of plain, wholesome food, but had no taste for rich dishes. He was +temperate in every way except as concerned his labor, and in that he was +tireless. He had the rare and valuable faculty of laying out work for +others and being able to give instructions clearly and concisely. He +loaded his Cabinet and his secretaries to the limit of their strength, +but was always considerate and thoughtful of their comfort. Three of his +secretaries lived with him in the White House and usually worked far +into the night, and, even after their labors for the day had closed, +Lincoln would often wander around barefooted and in his night-shirt, +too wakeful to seek his own bed, and read poems from Burns, jokes from +Artemas Ward, and the letters of Petroleum V. Nasby to the members of +his household. + +His sense of humor was his salvation. It was the safety-valve by which +his heart was relieved. He was melancholy by nature and inclined to be +morbid, and it was this keen enjoyment of the ridiculous that enabled +him to endure with patience his official trials and anxiety. + +One of the visitors in the early days of the administration says, "He +walked into the corridor with us; and, as he bade us good-by and thanked +---- for what he had told him, he again brightened up for a moment and +asked him in an abrupt kind of way, laying his hand, as he spoke, with a +queer but not uncivil familiarity on his shoulder,-- + +"'You haven't such a thing as a postmaster in your pocket, have you?' + +"---- stared at him in astonishment, and I thought a little in alarm, as +if he suspected a sudden attack of insanity. Then Mr. Lincoln went on,-- + +"'You see, it seems to me kind of unnatural that you shouldn't have at +least a postmaster in your pocket. Everybody I've seen for days past has +had foreign ministers and collectors and all kinds, and I thought you +couldn't have got in here without having at least a postmaster get into +your pocket.'" + +His stories were usually suggested by the conversation or by the +situation in which he was placed; but often, in the company of congenial +friends, he used to sit back in his chair and indulge in what he called +"a good old time;" spinning yarns of his early experiences, describing +the characteristics of odd people he had known, and relating amusing +incidents that occurred daily, even under the shadows and among the +sorrows of war. This habit was the result of his early associations, +when the corner store was the club of the frontiersman and the forum +for intellectual combats as well as the stage for entertainments. There +Lincoln shone as the most brilliant planet that ever illuminated the +communities in which he lived, and there he developed the gift which was +to afford him so much pleasure and so great relief from oppressing care. +He was a poet by nature. He had a deep sentiment and a high appreciation +of the beautiful in literature as well as in life. His soul overflowed +with sympathy, and his great nature was so comprehensive that it could +touch every phase of human interest and meet every class and clan; but +he was a restless listener, and when in the mood for talking it was +difficult to interrupt him. + +Chauncey M. Depew, relating his recollections of Lincoln says that once, +while he was at the White House, "the President threw himself on a +lounge and rattled off story after story. It was his method of relief, +without which he might have gone out of his mind, and certainly would +not have been able to have accomplished anything like the amount of work +which he did. It is the popular supposition that most of Mr. Lincoln's +stories were original, but he said, 'I have originated but two stories +in my life, but I tell tolerably well other people's stories.' Riding +the circuit for many years, and stopping at country taverns where were +gathered the lawyers, jurymen, witnesses, and clients, they would sit up +all night narrating to each other their life adventures; and the things +which happened to an original people, in a new country, surrounded by +novel conditions, and told with the descriptive power and exaggeration +which characterized such men, supplied him with an exhaustless fund of +anecdote which could be made applicable for enforcing or refuting an +argument better than all the invented stories of the world." + +The humorous aspect of an appeal or an argument never failed to strike +him, and he enjoyed turning the point as much as telling a story. Once, +in the darkest days of the war, a delegation of prohibitionists came to +him and insisted that the reason the North did not win was because the +soldiers drank whiskey and thus brought down the curse of the Lord upon +them. There was a mischievous twinkle in Lincoln's eye when he replied +that he considered that very unfair on the part of the Lord, because the +Southerners drank a great deal worse whiskey and a great deal more of it +than the soldiers of the North. + +After the internal revenue laws were enacted the United States marshals +were often sued for false arrest, and Congress appropriated one hundred +thousand dollars to pay the expenses of defending them. Previously +the officials brought into court on such charges appealed to the +Attorney-General to instruct the United States district attorneys to +defend them; but when this appropriation was made, with one accord, they +said that they would hire their own lawyers and applied for the cash; +which reminded the President of a man in Illinois whose cabin was burned +down, and, according to the kindly custom of early days in the West, his +neighbors all contributed something to start him again. In this case +they were so liberal that he soon found himself better off than he had +been before the fire, and got proud. One day a neighbor brought him a +bag of oats, but the fellow refused it with scorn. "No," said he, "I'm +not taking oats now. I take nothing but money." + +One day, just after Lincoln's second inauguration, a Massachusetts +merchant, visiting Washington, noticed the great crowd of office-seekers +waiting for an audience with the President, and decided that he, too, +would like to see him. Writing his name on a card, he added the line, +"Holds no office and wants none." The card was taken to President +Lincoln, who, instantly jumping up, said to the attendant, "Show him +up; he is a curiosity." Passing the long line of office-seekers, the +merchant went up to the President, who said he was refreshed to meet a +man who did not want an office, and urged his stay. A long and pleasant +conversation followed. + +Mrs. McCulloch went to the White House one Saturday afternoon to attend +Mrs. Lincoln's reception, accompanied by Mrs. William P. Dole, whose +husband was Commissioner of Indian Affairs. "There were crowds in and +out of the White House," said Mrs. McCulloch, "and during the reception +Mr. Lincoln slipped quietly into the room and stood back alone, looking +on as the people passed through. I suggested to Mrs. Dole that we should +go over and speak to him, which we did. Mr. Lincoln said, laughingly,-- + +"'I am always glad to see you, ladies, for I know you don't want +anything.' + +"I replied, 'But, Mr. President, I do want something; I want you to do +something very much.' + +"'Well, what is it?' he asked, adding, 'I hope it isn't anything I can't +do.' + +"'I want you to suppress the _Chicago Times_, because it does nothing +but abuse the administration,' I replied. + +"'Oh, tut, tut! We must not abridge the liberties of the press or the +people. But never mind the _Chicago Times_. The administration can stand +it if the _Times_ can.'" + +On a certain occasion the President was induced by a committee of +gentlemen to examine a newly invented "repeating" gun, the peculiarity +of which was that it prevented the escape of gas. After due inspection, +he said,-- + +"Well, I believe this really does what it is represented to do. Now, +have any of you heard of any machine or invention for preventing the +escape of gas from newspaper establishments?" + +However, Lincoln had great respect for the press. He was one day +complaining of the injustice of Mr. Greeley's criticisms and the false +light in which they put him before the country, when a friend, with +great earnestness, suggested,-- + +"Why don't you publish the facts in every newspaper in the United +States? The people will then understand your position and your +vindication will be complete." + +"Yes, all the newspapers will publish my letter, and so will Greeley," +Lincoln replied. "The next day he will comment upon it, and keep it up, +in that way, until at the end of three weeks I will be convicted out of +my own mouth of all the things he charges against me. No man, whether he +be private citizen or President of the United States, can successfully +carry on a controversy with a great newspaper and escape destruction, +unless he owns a newspaper equally great with a circulation in the same +neighborhood." + +[Illustration: PRESIDENT LINCOLN AND HIS SON "TAD" + +From a photograph by Brady, now in the War Department Collection, +Washington, D. C.] + +Colonel John Hay, who resided in the White House during the entire +administration of Lincoln, has given us this graphic picture of the +President's home life and habits: + +"The President rose early, as his sleep was light and capricious. In +the summer, when he lived at the Soldiers' Home, he would take his +frugal breakfast and ride into town in time to be at his desk at eight +o'clock. He began to receive visits nominally at ten o'clock, but long +before that hour struck the doors were besieged by anxious crowds, +through whom the people of importance, Senators and members of Congress, +elbowed their way after the fashion which still survives. On days when +the Cabinet met--Tuesdays and Fridays--the hour of noon closed the +interviews of the morning. On other days it was the President's custom, +at about that hour, to order the doors to be opened and all who were +waiting to be admitted. The crowd would rush in, throng in the narrow +room, and one by one would make their wants known. Some came merely to +shake hands, to wish him Godspeed; their errand was soon done. Others +came asking help or mercy; they usually pressed forward, careless in +their pain as to what ears should overhear their prayer. But there +were many who lingered in the rear and leaned against the wall, hoping +each to be the last, that they might in _tête-à-tête_ unfold their +schemes for their own advantage or their neighbor's hurt. These were +often disconcerted by the President's loud and hearty, 'Well, friend, +what can I do for you?' which compelled them to speak, or retire and +wait for a more convenient season. The inventors were more a source of +amusement than of annoyance. They were usually men of some originality +of character, not infrequently carried to eccentricity. Lincoln had a +quick comprehension of mechanical principles, and often detected a flaw +in an invention which the contriver had overlooked. He would sometimes +go out into the waste fields that then lay south of the Executive +Mansion to test an experimental gun or torpedo. He used to quote with +much merriment the solemn dictum of one rural inventor that 'a gun ought +not to rekyle; if it rekyles at all, it ought to rekyle a little forrid.' + +"At luncheon time he had literally to run the gauntlet through the +crowds that filled the corridors between his office and the rooms at the +west end of the house occupied by the family. The afternoon wore away in +much the same manner as the morning; late in the day he usually drove +out for an hour's airing; at six o'clock he dined. He was one of the +most abstemious of men; the pleasures of the table had few attractions +for him. His breakfast was an egg and a cup of coffee; at luncheon he +rarely took more than a biscuit and a glass of milk, a plate of fruit +in its season; at dinner he ate sparingly of one or two courses. He +drank little or no wine; not that he remained on principle a total +abstainer, as he was during a part of his early life in the fervor of +the 'Washingtonian' reform; but he never cared for wine or liquors of +any sort and never used tobacco. + +"There was little gayety in the Executive House during his time. It was +an epoch, if not of gloom, at least of a seriousness too intense to +leave room for much mirth. There were the usual formal entertainments, +the traditional state dinners and receptions, conducted very much as +they have been ever since. The great public receptions, with their vast, +rushing multitudes pouring past him to shake hands, he rather enjoyed; +they were not a disagreeable task to him, and he seemed surprised when +people commiserated him upon them. He would shake hands with thousands +of people, seemingly unconscious of what he was doing, murmuring some +monotonous salutation as they went by, his eye dim, his thoughts far +withdrawn; then suddenly he would see some familiar face,--his memory +for faces was very good,--and his eye would brighten and his whole form +grow attentive; he would greet the visitor with a hearty grasp and a +ringing word and dismiss him with a cheery laugh that filled the Blue +Room with infectious good-nature. Many people armed themselves with an +appropriate speech to be delivered on these occasions, but unless it was +compressed into the smallest possible space, it never was uttered; the +crowd would jostle the peroration out of shape. If it were brief enough, +and hit the President's fancy, it generally received a swift answer. +One night an elderly gentleman from Buffalo said, 'Up our way we believe +in God and Abraham Lincoln,' to which the President replied, shoving him +along the line, 'My friend, you are more than half right.' + +"During the first year of the administration the house was made lively +by the games and pranks of Mr. Lincoln's two younger children, William +and Thomas: Robert, the eldest, was away at Harvard, only coming home +for short vacations. The two little boys, aged eight and ten, with +their Western independence and enterprise, kept the house in an uproar. +They drove their tutor wild with their good-natured disobedience; they +organized a minstrel show in the attic; they made acquaintance with the +office-seekers and became the hot champions of the distressed. William +was, with all his boyish frolic, a child of great promise, capable of +close application and study. He had a fancy for drawing up railway +time-tables, and would conduct an imaginary train from Chicago to New +York with perfect precision. He wrote childish verses, which sometimes +attained the unmerited honors of print. But this bright, gentle, and +studious child sickened and died in February, 1862. His father was +profoundly moved by his death, though he gave no outward sign of his +trouble, but kept about his work the same as ever. His bereaved heart +seemed afterwards to pour out its fulness on his youngest child. 'Tad' +was a merry, warm-blooded, kindly little boy, perfectly lawless, and +full of odd fancies and inventions, the 'chartered libertine' of the +Executive Mansion. He ran continually in and out of his father's +cabinet, interrupting his gravest labors and conversations with his +bright, rapid, and very imperfect speech,--for he had an impediment +which made his articulation almost unintelligible until he was nearly +grown. He would perch upon his father's knee, and sometimes even on his +shoulder, while the most weighty conferences were going on. Sometimes, +escaping from the domestic authorities, he would take refuge in that +sanctuary for the whole evening, dropping to sleep at last on the floor, +when the President would pick him up and carry him tenderly to bed. + +"Mr. Lincoln spent most of his evenings in his office, though +occasionally he remained in the drawing-room after dinner, conversing +with visitors or listening to music, for which he had an especial +liking, though he was not versed in the science, and preferred simple +ballads to more elaborate compositions. In his office he was not often +suffered to be alone; he frequently passed the evening there with a few +friends in frank and free conversation. If the company was all of one +sort he was at his best; his wit and rich humor had full play; he was +once more the Lincoln of the Eighth Circuit, the cheeriest of talkers, +the riskiest of story-tellers; but if a stranger came in he put on in +an instant his whole armor of dignity and reserve. He had a singular +discernment of men; he would talk of the most important political and +military concerns with a freedom which often amazed his intimates, but +we do not recall an instance in which this confidence was misplaced. + +"Where only one or two were present he was fond of reading aloud. He +passed many of the summer evenings in this way when occupying his +cottage at the Soldiers' Home. + +"He read Shakespeare more than all other writers together. He made no +attempt to keep pace with the ordinary literature of the day. Sometimes +he read a scientific work with keen appreciation, but he pursued no +systematic course. He owed less to reading than most men. He delighted +in Burns; of Thomas Hood he was also excessively fond. He often read +aloud 'The Haunted House.' He would go to bed with a volume of Hood +in his hands, and would sometimes rise at midnight and, traversing +the long halls of the Executive Mansion in his night-clothes, would +come to his secretary's room and read aloud something that especially +pleased him. He wanted to share his enjoyment of the writer; it was +dull pleasure for him to laugh alone. He read Bryant and Whittier with +appreciation; there were many poems of Holmes that he read with intense +relish. 'The Last Leaf' was one of his favorites; he knew it by heart, +and used often to repeat it with deep feeling." + +Ben: Perley Poore, in his reminiscences, says, "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. A censorship +of all matter filed at the Washington office of the telegraph, for +transmission to different Northern cities, was exercised by a succession +of ignorant individuals, some of whom had to be hunted up at whiskey +shops when their signature of approval was desired. A Congressional +investigation showed how stupidly the censors performed their duty. +Innocent sentences which were supposed to have a hidden meaning were +stricken from paragraphs, which were thus rendered nonsensical, and +information was rejected that was clipped in print from the Washington +papers, which it was known regularly found their way into 'Dixie.' + +"When irate correspondents appealed to Mr. Lincoln, he would +good-naturedly declare that he had no control over his secretaries, +and would endeavor to mollify their wrath by telling them a story. One +morning in the winter of 1862, when two angry journalists had undertaken +to explain the annoyances of the censorship, Mr. Lincoln, who had +listened in his dreamy way, finally said,-- + +"'I don't know much about this censorship, but come downstairs and I +will show you the origin of one of the pet phrases of you newspaper +fellows.' + +"Leading the way down into the basement, he opened the door of a larder +and solemnly pointed to the hanging carcass of a gigantic sheep. + +"'There,' said he; 'now you know what "_Revenons à nos moutons_" means. +It was raised by Deacon Buffum at Manchester, up in New Hampshire. Who +can say, after looking at it, that New Hampshire's only product is +granite?'" + +When William Lloyd Garrison came to Washington to thank the President +for issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, he visited Baltimore +expressly for the purpose of inspecting the old jail in which he was +confined for several weeks for being an abolitionist, but, much to +his disappointment, the police in charge would not admit him. During +his interview with the President he complained of this, and Lincoln +remarked,-- + +"You have had hard luck in Baltimore, haven't you, Garrison? The first +time you couldn't get out of prison and the second time you couldn't get +in." + +A woman called at the White House one day to ask the release from prison +of a relative whom she declared was suffering from great injustice. She +was very handsome and attractive and endeavored to use her attractions +upon the President. After listening to her a little while, he concluded, +as he afterwards explained, that he was "too soft" to deal with her, and +sent her over to the War Department with a sealed envelope containing a +card upon which he had written,-- + +"This woman, dear Stanton, is smarter than she looks to be." + +Another woman came to the White House one day on an unusual errand which +the President suspected was a pretext, but he took her at her word and +gave her the following note to Major Ramsey, of the Quartermaster's +Department. + + "MY DEAR SIR:--The lady--bearer of this--says she has two + sons who want to work. Set them at it if possible. Wanting to + work is so rare a merit that it should be encouraged. + + A. LINCOLN." + +A member of Congress from Ohio, and a famous man, by the way, once +entered the Executive Chamber in a state of intoxication,--just drunk +enough to be solemn,--and, as he dropped into a chair, exclaimed in +dramatic tones the first line of the President's favorite poem: + +"'Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?'" + +"I see no reason whatever," retorted the President, in disgust. + +A delegation of clergymen once called to recommend one of their number +for appointment as consul at the Hawaiian Islands, and, in addition to +urging his fitness for the place, appealed to the President's sympathy +on the ground that the candidate was in bad health, and a residence in +that climate would be of great benefit to him. Lincoln questioned the +man closely as to his symptoms, and then remarked,-- + +"I am sorry to disappoint you, but there are eight other men after this +place, and every one of them is sicker than you are." + +A party of friends from Springfield called upon him one day and, as +a matter of gossip, told him of the death and burial of a certain +prominent Illinois politician who was noted for his vanity and love of +praise. After listening to the description of his funeral, the President +remarked,-- + +"If Jim had known he was to have that kind of a funeral, he would have +died long ago." + +One of the telegraph operators at the War Department relates that the +President came over there at night during the war and remarked that he +had just been reading a little book which some one had given to his son +Tad. It was a story of a motherly hen who was struggling to raise her +brood and teach them to lead honest and useful lives, but in her efforts +she was greatly annoyed by a mischievous fox who made sad havoc with her +offspring. "I thought I would turn over to the finis and see how it came +out," said the President. "This is what it said: 'And the fox became a +good fox, and was appointed paymaster in the army.' I wonder who he is?" + +To a deputation that waited upon him to criticise certain acts of his +administration, he made the following response: + +"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 and 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 our hands. We are doing the +very best we can. Don't badger us. Keep quiet, and we will get you safe +across." + +A multitude of authentic anecdotes are told to show Lincoln's kindness +of heart and his disposition to relieve the distress of those who came +to him with stories of wrong or sorrow. His readiness to pardon soldiers +who had been convicted by court-martial and sentenced to death caused +great dissatisfaction at the War Department and among the army officers, +who complained that his interference was destroying the discipline of +the service; but whenever an appeal was made to him he always endeavored +to find some reason, near or remote, for Executive clemency, and if that +was impossible, he invariably gave an order for the postponement of the +penalty until a further investigation could be made. A very flagrant +case was brought to him of a soldier who had demoralized his regiment +by throwing down his gun and running away in battle, and by trying to +shield his own cowardice by inducing others to imitate him. When tried +by court-martial there was no defence. It was shown that he was an +habitual thief, had robbed his comrades, and that he had no parents or +wife or child to excite sympathy. When Judge-Advocate-General Holt laid +the case before Lincoln, he expected him to approve the death-sentence +without hesitation. There was not the slightest excuse for clemency; +the record of the case did not contain a single item of evidence in +the man's favor. The President looked through the documents carefully, +but in vain, to find some reason why the coward should not die. Then, +running his long fingers through his hair, as he often did when puzzled, +he looked up and said,-- + +"The only thing I can do with this, judge, is to put it with my leg +cases." + +"Leg cases!" exclaimed Judge Holt, with a frown at this supposed levity +of the President in a case of life and death. "What do you mean by leg +cases, sir?" + +"Do you see those papers stuffed into those pigeonholes?" +replied Lincoln. "They are the cases that you call +'cowardice-in-the-face-of-the-enemy,' but I call them 'leg cases' for +short; and I will put it to you; I leave it for you to decide for +yourself. If Almighty God gives a man a cowardly pair of legs, how can +he help their running away with him?" + +One day an old man came to him with a sad tale of sorrow. His son had +been convicted of unpardonable crimes and sentenced to death, but he was +an only son, and Lincoln said, kindly,-- + +"I am sorry I can do nothing for you. Listen to this telegram I received +from General Butler yesterday: + + "'President Lincoln, I pray you not to interfere with the + courts-martial of the army. You will destroy all discipline + among our soldiers. + + B. F. BUTLER.'" + +Lincoln watched the old man's grief for a minute, and then exclaimed, +"By jingo! Butler or no Butler, here goes!" Writing a few words he +handed the paper to the old man, reading,-- + + "Job Smith is not to be shot until further orders from me. + + ABRAHAM LINCOLN." + +"Why," said the old man, sadly, "I thought it was a pardon. You may +order him to be shot next week." + +"My old friend," replied the President, "I see you are not very well +acquainted with me. If your son never dies till orders come from me to +shoot him, he will live to be a great deal older than Methuselah." + +One of the most famous cases of pardon was that of William Scott, a +young boy from a Vermont farm, who, after marching forty-eight hours +without sleep, volunteered to stand guard duty for a sick comrade in +addition to his own. Nature overcame him, he was found asleep at his +post within gunshot of the enemy, tried, convicted, and sentenced to +be shot. A day or two before the execution Lincoln happened to visit +that division of the army, and, learning of the case, asked permission +to see the boy. He entered the tent that was used for a prison, talked +to him kindly, inquired about his home, his parents, his schoolmates, +and particularly about his mother, and how she looked. The boy had her +photograph in his pocket and showed it to him, and Lincoln was very much +affected. As he was leaving the tent, he put his hands on the lad's +shoulders and said, with a trembling voice,-- + +"My boy, you are not going to be shot to-morrow. I believe you when you +tell me that you could not keep awake. I am going to trust you and send +you back to the regiment. But I have been put to a great deal of trouble +on your account. I have had to come here from Washington when I had a +great deal to do. Now, what I want to know is, how are you going to pay +my bill?" + +In relating the story afterwards, Scott said, "I could scarcely speak. I +had expected to die, you see, and had got kind of used to thinking that +way. To have it all changed in a minute! But I got it crowded down and +managed to say, 'I am grateful, Mr. Lincoln! I hope I am as grateful +as ever a man can be to you for saving my life. But it comes upon me +sudden and unexpected like. I didn't lay out for it at all; but there is +something to pay you, and I will find it after a little. There is the +bounty in the savings bank, and I guess we could borrow some money by a +mortgage on the farm. Then my pay is something, and if you would wait +until pay day I am sure the boys would help; so we could make it up if +it isn't more than five or six hundred dollars.' 'But it is a great deal +more than that,' he said. 'My bill is a very large one. Your friends +cannot pay it, nor your bounty, nor the farm, nor all your comrades! +There is only one man in all the world who can pay it, and his name is +William Scott! If from this day William Scott does his duty, so that, +when he comes to die, he can look me in the face as he does now, and +say, I have kept my promise, and I have done my duty as a soldier, then +my debt will be paid. Will you make that promise and try to keep it?'" + +The promise was gratefully given. It is too long a story to tell of the +effect of this sympathetic kindness on Private William Scott. After +one of the battles of the Peninsula he was found shot to pieces. He +said, "Boys, I have tried to do the right thing! If any of you have +the chance, I wish you would tell President Lincoln that I have never +forgotten the kind words he said to me at the Chain Bridge; that I have +tried to be a good soldier and true to the flag; that I should have +paid my whole debt to him if I had lived; and that now, when I know I am +dying, I think of his kind face, and thank him again, because he gave me +the chance to fall like a soldier in battle and not like a coward by the +hands of my comrades." + +When Francis Kernan was a member of Congress during the war, a woman +came to him one day and said that her husband had been captured as a +deserter. The next morning he called at the White House and gave the +President the facts. The man had been absent a year from his family, +and, without leave, had gone home to see them. On his way back to +the army he was arrested as a deserter and sentenced to be shot. The +sentence was to be carried out that very day. + +The President listened attentively, becoming more and more interested in +the story. Finally he said, "Why, Kernan, of course this man wanted to +see his family, and they ought not to shoot him for that." So he called +his secretary and sent a telegram suspending the sentence. He exclaimed, +"Get off that just as soon as you can, or they will shoot the man in +spite of me!" The result was the man got his pardon and took his place +again in the army. + +A Congressman who had failed to move Secretary Stanton to grant a +pardon, went to the White House late at night, after the President had +retired, forced the way to his bedroom, and earnestly besought his +interference, exclaiming, earnestly,-- + +"This man must not be shot, Mr. Lincoln." + +"Well," said the President, coolly, "I do not believe shooting will do +him any good," and the pardon was granted. + +The late Governor Rice, of Massachusetts, says, "It happened at one time +that Senator Henry Wilson and myself called to see President Lincoln +on a joint errand. As the door to Mr. Lincoln's room opened, a small +boy, perhaps twelve years old, slipped in between the Senator and +myself. The President appeared to be attracted to the lad, and asked, +'And who is the little boy?' an inquiry which neither the Senator nor +myself could answer. The lad, however, immediately replied that he had +come to Washington in the hope of obtaining a situation as page in the +House of Representatives. The President began to say that he must go to +Captain Goodnow, the head door-keeper of the House, as he had nothing +to do with such an appointment; upon which the lad pulled from his +pockets a recommendation from the supervisors of the town, the minister +of the parish, and others, stating also that his mother was a widow, +and pleading the necessities of the family. The President called the +boy nearer to him, took his recommendation, and wrote upon the back as +follows: + + "'If Captain Goodnow can give this good little boy a place + he will oblige + + A. LINCOLN.'" + +Mr. Titian J. Coffey, who was Assistant Attorney-General, relates that +"in the spring of 1863 a very handsome and attractive young lady from +Philadelphia came to my office with a note from a friend, asking me +to assist her in obtaining an interview with the President. Some time +before she had been married to a young man who was a lieutenant in a +Pennsylvania regiment. He had been compelled to leave her the day after +the wedding to rejoin his command in the Army of the Potomac. After +some time he obtained leave of absence, returned to Philadelphia, and +started on a brief honeymoon journey with his bride. A movement of +the army being imminent, the War Department issued a peremptory order +requiring all absent officers to rejoin their regiments by a certain +day, on penalty of dismissal in case of disobedience. The bride and +groom, away on their hurried wedding-tour, failed to see the order, +and on their return he was met by a notice of his dismissal from the +service. The young fellow was completely prostrated by the disgrace, +and his wife hurried to Washington to get him restored. I obtained for +her an interview with the President. She told her story with simple and +pathetic eloquence, and wound up by saying,-- + +"'Mr. Lincoln, won't you help us? I promise you, if you will restore +him, he will be faithful to his duty.' + +"The President had listened to her with evident sympathy and a +half-amused smile at her earnestness, and as she closed her appeal he +said, with parental kindness,-- + +"'And you say, my child, that Fred was compelled to leave you the day +after the wedding? Poor fellow, I don't wonder at his anxiety to get +back, and if he stayed a little longer than he ought to have done we'll +have to overlook his fault this time. Take this card to the Secretary of +War and he will restore your husband.' + +"She went to the War Department, saw the Secretary, who rebuked her +for troubling the President and dismissed her somewhat curtly. As it +happened, on her way down the War Department stairs, her hopes chilled +by the Secretary's abrupt manner, she met the President ascending. He +recognized her, and, with a pleasant smile, said,-- + +"'Well, my dear, have you seen the Secretary?' + +"'Yes, Mr. Lincoln,' she replied, 'and he seemed very angry with me for +going to you. Won't you speak to him for me?' + +"'Give yourself no trouble,' said he. 'I will see that the order is +issued.' + +"And in a few days her husband was remanded to his regiment. I am sorry +to add that, not long after, he was killed at the battle of Gettysburg, +thus sealing with his blood her pledge that he should be faithful to his +duty." + +Attorney-General Bates, a Virginian by birth, who had many relatives in +that State, one day heard that the son of one of his old friends was a +prisoner of war and not in good health. Knowing the boy's father to be +a Union man, Mr. Bates conceived the idea of having the son paroled and +sent home, of course under promise not to return to the army. He went to +see the President and said,-- + +"I have a personal favor to ask. I want you to give me a prisoner." And +he told him of the case. The President said, "Bates, I have an almost +parallel case. The son of an old friend of mine in Illinois ran off and +entered the rebel army. The young fool has been captured, is a prisoner +of war, and his old broken-hearted father has asked me to send him home, +promising, of course, to keep him there. I have not seen my way clear to +do it, but if you and I unite our influence with this administration I +believe we can manage it together and make two loyal fathers happy. Let +us make them our prisoners." + +Lincoln's reputation for kindness of heart extended even among the +officials of the Confederacy. Mr. Usher, Secretary of the Interior, says +that when he returned from the Peace Conference on the James, in 1864, +where he met Messrs. Stephens, Campbell, and Hunter, he related some of +his conversations with them. He said that at the conclusion of one of +his discourses, detailing what he considered to be the position in which +the insurgents were placed by the law, they replied,-- + +"Well, according to your view of the case, we are all guilty of treason +and liable to be hanged." + +Lincoln replied, "Yes, that is so." And Mr. Stephens retorted,-- + +"Well, we supposed that would necessarily be your view of our case, but +we never had much fear of being hanged while you are President." + +From his manner in repeating this scene he seemed to appreciate the +compliment highly. There is no evidence that he ever contemplated +executing any of the insurgents for their treason. There is no evidence +that he desired any of them to leave the country, with the exception +of Mr. Davis. His great, and apparently his only, object was to have a +restored Union. + +A short time before the capitulation of General Lee, General Grant had +told him that the war must necessarily soon come to an end, and wanted +to know whether he should try to capture Jeff Davis or let him escape +from the country if he would. Mr. Lincoln said,-- + +"About that, I told him the story of an Irishman who had taken the +pledge of Father Mathew. He became terribly thirsty, applied to a +bar-tender for a lemonade, and while it was being prepared whispered +to him, 'And couldn't ye put a little brandy in it all unbeknown to +meself?' I told Grant if he could let Jeff Davis escape all unbeknown to +himself, to let him go. I didn't want him." + +Near the close of the war his old friend, Thomas Gillespie, asked him +what was to be done with the rebels. He answered, after referring to the +vehement demand prevalent in certain quarters for exemplary punishment, +by quoting the words of David to his nephews, who were asking for +vengeance on Shimei because "he cursed the Lord's anointed:" "What +have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be +adversaries unto me? shall there any man be put to death this day in +Israel?" + +But the President could be very stern and determined when he considered +it necessary, although, when compelled by his sense of duty to withhold +a pardon, he usually gave reasons which could not be set aside and +accompanied them by a lesson of value. An officer once complained to +him, with great indignation, that General Sherman was a tyrant and a +bully and unfit to command troops. Lincoln listened attentively until +he had exhausted his wrath, and then inquired quietly if he had any +personal grievance against General Sherman. + +The officer replied that General Sherman had accused him of some +misconduct and threatened to shoot him if it occurred again. + +"If I were in your place," remarked the President, in a confidential +whisper, "I wouldn't repeat that offence, because Sherman is a man of +his word." + +One day Mr. Nicolay brought the President a telegram from Philadelphia, +stating that a man had been arrested in that city for an attempt to +obtain fifteen hundred dollars on Lincoln's draft. + +"I have given no authority for such a draft; and if I had," he added, +humorously, "it is surprising that any man could get the money." + +After a moment's reflection, Mr. Nicolay thought he knew the accused +party. + +"Do you remember, Mr. President, a request from a stranger a few +days since for your autograph? You gave it to him upon a half-sheet +of note-paper. The scoundrel doubtless forged an order above your +signature, and has attempted to swindle somebody." + +"Oh, that's the trick, is it?" said the President. + +"What shall be done with him?" inquired Mr. Nicolay. "Have you any +orders?" + +"Well," replied Mr. Lincoln, pausing between the words, "I don't see but +that he will have to sit upon the blister bench." + +In 1861 E. Delafield Smith was United States District Attorney for the +Southern District of New York. One of the first and most important +of his trials was that of William Gordon for slave-trading. Gordon +was convicted--the first conviction under the slave law that was ever +had in the United States either North or South--and sentenced to be +hanged. An extraordinary effort was made to have Lincoln pardon him. +Mr. Smith deemed it his duty to go to Washington and protest against +clemency. Lincoln took from his desk a reprieve already prepared and +laid it before him. He picked up a pen, and held it in his hand while +he listened to the argument of Mr. Smith on the imperative necessity +of making an example of Gordon, in order to terrorize those who were +engaged in the slave-trade. Then he threw down the pen and remarked,-- + +"Mr. Smith, you do not know how hard it is to have a human being die +when you feel that a stroke of your pen will save him." + +Gordon was executed in New York. + +A volunteer major who had been wounded at Petersburg found himself +mustered out of his regiment on that account, _nolens volens_, and +appealed to the President for an appointment on staff duty, so that +he could still continue to perform service regardless of his physical +incapacity. + +The President took down a large volume of the laws of Congress, opened +to the page and section of the act, put his finger on the line, and read +aloud the words which authorized him to make staff appointments only +on the request of a general commanding a brigade, division, or corps. +The major admitted that he had not brought such an application, for he +had not thought it necessary. "It cannot be done," said the President, +"without such a request. I have no more power to appoint you, in the +absence of such a request, than I would have to marry a woman to any man +she might want for her husband without his consent. Bring me such an +application and I will make it at once, for I see you deserve it." + +The late Governor Rice, of Massachusetts, said, "A mercantile firm in +Boston had an office boy whose duty, among other things, was to take the +mail to and from the post-office. This boy was fresh from the country, +and, seeing his opportunity to get money from the letters intrusted +to him, yielded to the temptation, was detected, convicted, and +imprisoned; but the employers and the jury joined with the boy's father +to obtain his pardon. The father appeared in Washington with a petition +numerously signed. I introduced him to the President, to whom I also +handed the petition. Mr. Lincoln put on his spectacles, threw himself +back in his chair and stretched his long legs and read the document. +When finished, he turned to me and asked if I met a man on the stairs. +'Well,' said Mr. Lincoln, 'his errand was to get a man pardoned, and now +you come to get a boy out of jail. But I am a little encouraged by your +visit. They are after me on the men, but appear to be roping you in on +the boys. The trouble appears to come from the courts. It seems as if +the courts ought to be abolished, anyway; for they appear to pick out +the very best men in the community and send them to the penitentiary, +and now they are after the same kind of boys.'" + +Once he received a message from a zealous Irish soldier with more +courage than brains (or he would not have telegraphed direct to the +President), who had been left behind in the retreat of the army across +the Potomac before the advancing columns of Lee's army, with one gun +of his battery on the bank of the river below Edwards Ferry. It read +about thus: "I have the whole rebel army in my front. Send me another +gun and I assure your honor they shall not come over." This pleased the +President greatly, and he sent him an encouraging reply, suggesting that +he report his situation to his superior officer. + +A rebel raid on Falls Church, a little hamlet a dozen miles +from Washington, had resulted in the surprise and capture of a +brigadier-general and twelve army mules. When Lincoln heard of it he +exclaimed,-- + +"How unfortunate! I can fill that general's place in five minutes, but +those mules cost us two hundred dollars apiece." + +Captain Knight, who was in charge of the guard at the War Department, +said, "Mr. Lincoln's favorite time for visiting the War Department was +between eleven and twelve o'clock at night. His tall, ungainly form +wrapped in an old gray shawl, wearing usually a shockingly bad hat, +and carrying a worse umbrella, came up the steps into the building. +Secretary Stanton, who knew Mr. Lincoln's midnight habits, gave a +standing order that, although Mr. Lincoln might come from the White +House alone (and he seldom came in any other way), he should never be +permitted to return alone, but should be escorted by a file of four +soldiers and a non-commissioned officer. + +"On the way to the White House, Mr. Lincoln would converse with us on +various topics. I remember one night, when it was raining very hard, as +he saw us at the door, ready to escort him, he addressed us in these +words: 'Don't come out in this storm with me to-night, boys; I have my +umbrella, and can get home safely without you.' + +"'But,' I replied, 'Mr. President, we have positive orders from Mr. +Stanton not to allow you to return alone, and you know we dare not +disobey his orders.' + +"'No,' replied Mr. Lincoln, 'I suppose not; for if Mr. Stanton +should learn that you had let me return alone, he would have you +court-martialed and shot inside of twenty-four hours.' + +"I was detailed upon one occasion to escort the President to the +Soldiers' Home," continued Captain Knight. "As we approached the front +gate, I noticed what seemed to be a young man groping his way, as +if he were blind, across the road. Hearing the carriage and horses +approaching, he became frightened, and walked in the direction of the +approaching danger. Mr. Lincoln quickly observed this, and shouted to +the coachman to rein in his horses, which he did as they were about +to run over the unfortunate youth. He had been shot through the left +side of the upper part of the face, and the ball, passing from one side +to the other, had put out both his eyes. He could not have been over +sixteen or seventeen years of age, and, aside from his blindness, he +had a very beautiful face. Mr. Lincoln extended his hand to him, and +while he held it he asked him, with a voice trembling with emotion, his +name, his regiment, and where he lived. The young man answered these +questions and stated that he lived in Michigan; and then Mr. Lincoln +made himself known to the blind soldier, and with a look that was a +benediction in itself, spoke to him a few words of sympathy and bade him +good-by. The following day after his interview with the President he +received a commission as a first lieutenant in the regular army of the +United States, accompanied by an order of retirement upon full pay; and, +if he is living to-day, he is doubtless drawing the salary of a first +lieutenant in the United States army on the retired list." + +The most important battle of the war was fought at the polls in +the Northern States in November, 1864, and from the hour that the +result was announced the Southern Confederacy was doomed. It lost the +confidence and respect of the people within its own jurisdiction and +of the nations of Europe. Several attempts were made by the Southern +leaders to open negotiations for peace, but President Lincoln gave +them plainly to understand that he could not recognize the Confederacy +as anything but a rebellion against the government. Then General Lee +undertook "to meet General Grant with the hope that ... it may be found +practicable to submit the subjects of controversy ... to a convention," +etc. Grant immediately wired Lee's letter to Mr. Stanton, who received +it at the Capitol on the last night of the session of Congress, where +the President, attended by his Cabinet, had gone, as usual, to sign +bills. Having read the telegram, Mr. Stanton handed it to the President +without comment. By this time Lincoln felt himself completely master of +the situation. He knew the people were behind him and would approve +whatever he thought best for the welfare of the country. He had full +confidence in the commanders of his armies and knew that they were +crowding the Confederates into the last ditch. Therefore, for the first +time since the beginning of the war, he could act promptly upon his +individual judgment. Without consulting any one, he wrote the following +despatch, which, without a word, he passed over the table for Stanton to +sign and send: + +"The President directs me to say that he wishes you to have no +conference with General Lee, unless it be for capitulation of General +Lee's army or on some minor or purely military matter. He instructs me +to say that you are not to decide, discuss, or confer upon any political +questions. Such questions the President holds in his own hand and will +submit them to no military conferences or conventions. Meanwhile you are +to press to the utmost your military advantages." + +This little despatch crushed the last hope of the Confederate +authorities; but, before the end could come, Lee resolved to make +one more desperate attempt to escape from the toils in which he was +involved. His assault was made with great spirit on March 25, and +from that day until April 7 there was fighting all along the line. In +the mean time Lincoln went down to City Point, where Grant had his +head-quarters, on the James River a few miles below Richmond, and there +had a conference with the three great heroes of the war, Sherman having +come from North Carolina and Sheridan from the other side of Richmond. +It was a remarkable meeting,--the first and last time these four men +were ever together. + +After the conference, at which Lincoln expressed his sympathy with +the desperate situation in which the Confederates were placed, Grant +sent a note through the lines to Lee, saying, "The results of the +last week must have convinced you of the hopelessness of further +resistance," and added that he regarded it a duty "to shift from myself +the responsibility of any further effusion of blood" by asking Lee's +surrender. Lee replied that he reciprocated the desire to avoid further +bloodshed, and asked for terms. Grant answered that there was only one +condition, that the officers and men surrendered should be disqualified +from taking up arms again. Lee replied the next day that he did not +think the emergency had arisen for the surrender of his army, but +offered to meet Grant at ten o'clock the next morning on the old stage +line to Richmond between the pickets of the two armies. Grant answered +that "the terms upon which peace can be had are well understood. By the +South laying down their arms they will hasten that most desirable event, +save thousands of human lives and hundreds of millions of property." +Lee had hoped to arrest the movement of the Union troops by entering +into negotiations, but found that Grant understood his purpose and was +drawing more closely around him, so he accepted the inevitable and asked +an interview for the surrender of his army. + +The meeting at the McLean mansion at Appomattox has been too often +described to require reference in these pages, except to call attention +to the fact that General Grant's letter accepting the surrender of Lee's +army was in direct violation of the amnesty proclamation of December 8, +1863, and President Lincoln's order sent from the Capital on the night +of March 3. No one knows whether Lincoln ever called his attention to +that fact. There is no record of a reprimand or even a comment from +the President, and it is probable that his joy and gratitude were so +overwhelming that he did not even question the terms. General Grant, +however, in his "Memoirs," says that he was overcome by feelings of +sympathy for his heroic antagonist, and that the closing sentence of his +letter, which practically pardoned the entire army, was written without +a thought of its far-reaching significance. + +President Lincoln was the same man in triumph that he had been in +distress. Neither joy nor grief could disconcert him, but no one +witnessed the enthusiasm of the public over the news from Appomattox +with greater gratification. The story of his visit to Richmond is told +in Chapter VI. Upon his return to Washington he took up at once the +important work of restoring order in the South with as much zeal and +energy as he had shown in the prosecution of the war. + +On April 11, from one of the windows of the White House, in response to +a serenade, he delivered his last speech, in which he departed from the +habit of reticence he had practised throughout the war and expressed +more of his views and purposes than he had ever previously done on a +similar occasion. + +April 14, the anniversary of the evacuation of Fort Sumter, was +celebrated by restoring the identical flag to the staff from which it +had been lowered four years before. General Robert Anderson performed +that thankful duty; the Rev. Matthias Harris, the former chaplain of +Fort Sumter, offered prayer; General E. D. Townsend read the original +despatch announcing the evacuation; and Henry Ward Beecher delivered a +brilliant oration, which concluded with these words: + +"We offer to the President of these United States our solemn +congratulations that God has sustained his life and health under the +unparalleled burdens and sufferings of four bloody years, and permitted +him to behold this auspicious confirmation of that national unity for +which he has waited with so much patience and fortitude, and for which +he has labored with such disinterested wisdom." + +General Grant, who arrived in Washington on the morning of the 14th, +expressed anxiety concerning the situation of General Sherman, because +he had heard nothing from him for several days. The President assured +him that he need have no concern, because the night before he had +dreamed that he was on board a curious vessel sailing rapidly towards a +dark and indefinite shore, and awoke before landing. He said he had had +exactly the same dream before the battles of Antietam, Murfreesborough, +Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and other great victories. Although the members +of the Cabinet were accustomed to similar revelations of that mysticism +which was one of Lincoln's characteristics, they were greatly impressed; +but Grant dismissed it with the comment that there was no victory at +Murfreesborough, and that the battle there had no important results. +The President did not seem to notice this matter-of-fact remark, and +continued to describe his dream and the sensations which followed it, +insisting that Sherman would soon report an important victory, because +he could think of no other possible event to which his dream might +refer. Twelve days later, April 26, came the news of the surrender of +Johnston's army to Sherman and the end of the war. + +In the presence of General Grant, the Cabinet discussed the subject +of reconstruction. As there was a difference of opinion and lack of +information concerning the proposed regulations for governing trade +between the States, the President appointed Mr. Stanton, Mr. Welles, and +Mr. McCulloch a committee to submit recommendations. + +At the previous Cabinet meeting Secretary Stanton had submitted a plan +for the re-establishment of civil government, which was discussed at +length. It was providential, the President said, that Congress would +not sit again for at least seven months, which would allow him time to +restore order and civil authority without interference. He expressed +sympathy with the people of the South and a desire to avoid further +bloodshed and exhibitions of resentment or vindictiveness. He believed +that they needed charity more than censure. He said that he would not +permit the severe punishment of the Southern leaders, notwithstanding +the clamor from the North. No one need expect to take any part in +hanging or killing these men, even the worst of them. + +"Frighten them out of the country!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms +around as if he were driving sheep; "let down the bars; scare them off! +Enough lives have been sacrificed; we must extinguish our resentment if +we expect harmony and union!" + +Secretary Welles records in his diary this extraordinary scene at the +last meeting of the Lincoln Cabinet, and adds that, as the President +dismissed his advisers, he urged them to give the most earnest +consideration to the problem that had been presented by the restoration +of peace. + +The President spent the rest of the day with his son Robert and other +personal friends, violating his rule and refusing to admit any one on +official business. During the afternoon he went with Mrs. Lincoln for +a long drive, and seemed to be in an unusually happy and contented +mood. She said that he talked of going back to Springfield to practise +law. His heart was overflowing with gratitude to the Heavenly Father, +he said, for all His goodness, and particularly for the close of the +war and the triumph of the Union arms, for there would be no further +bloodshed or distress. The members of his family and his secretaries +agree that they never had known him to be in such a satisfied and +contented state of mind. The clouds that had hung over him for four +years had cleared away; the war was over, peace was restored, and the +only duty left to him was extremely grateful to his nature,--the task of +restoring happiness and prosperity. + +[Illustration: JOHN WILKES BOOTH + +From a photograph by Brady] + +After dinner that evening Mr. Colfax and Mr. Ashmun, of the House of +Representatives, who were about to leave Washington for the summer, +came to inquire if the President intended to call an extra session of +Congress. He assured them that he did not; and, as they were leaving +the White House, Ward Lamon, the United States Marshal of the District +of Columbia, and one of his oldest friends, called to ask a pardon for +an old soldier who had been convicted of violating the army regulations. +According to the recollection of Mr. Pendel, one of the President's +messengers, Lincoln told his last story at that time. As he was about to +sign the pardon, he turned to Lamon, saying,-- + +"Lamon, do you know how the Patagonians eat oysters?" + +"No, I do not, Mr. Lincoln," was the reply. + +"It is their habit to open them as fast as they can and throw the shells +out of the window, and when the pile of shells grows to be higher than +the house, why, they pick up stakes and move. Now, Lamon, I felt like +beginning a new pile of pardons, and I guess this is a good one to begin +on." + +The President, Mrs. Lincoln, and General and Mrs. Grant had accepted a +box at Ford's Theatre that evening, and, the fact having been announced +in the newspapers, there was a large attendance. Providentially General +Grant changed his mind at the last moment and took a train for New +York instead. Mrs. Lincoln invited Miss Harris and Major Rathbone, the +daughter and step-son of Senator Ira Harris, of New York, to take the +vacant places, and the party arrived at the theatre shortly after the +curtain rose. About ten o'clock John Wilkes Booth, a dissipated young +actor and fanatical sympathizer of the South, pushed his way through the +crowd to the President's box, showed a card to the usher who had been +placed at the door to keep out inquisitive people, and was allowed to +enter. The eyes of the President and his companions were fixed upon the +stage, so that his entrance was unnoticed. Carrying a knife in his left +hand, Booth approached within arm's length of the President and fired a +pistol; dropping that weapon, he took the knife in his right hand and +struck savagely at Major Rathbone, who caught the blow upon his left +arm, receiving a deep wound. Booth then vaulted over the railing of the +box upon the stage, but his spur caught in the folds of the drapery and +he fell, breaking his leg. Staggering to the footlights, he brandished +his dripping knife, shouted in a tragic manner "_Sic semper tyrannis_," +the State motto of Virginia, and disappeared between the flies. + +Major Rathbone shouted "Stop him!" The actors upon the stage were +stupefied by fright and surprise, and it was several seconds before the +audience realized what had happened. They were brought to their senses +by some one who shouted, "He has shot the President!" Several men jumped +upon the stage in pursuit of the assassin, while three army surgeons +who happened to be present forced their way through the crowd to the +President's box. As soon as a passage could be cleared, the President +was carried across the street and laid upon a bed in a small house, +where Mrs. Lincoln followed him almost overcome by the shock from which +she never recovered. Major Rathbone, exhausted by the loss of blood, was +carried home. Messengers were sent for the Cabinet, for the President's +family physician, and for the Surgeon-General of the army. Robert +Lincoln and John Hay learned the news from the shouts of a frantic crowd +which soon poured through the gates of the White House, and hurried at +once to the little house on Tenth Street. On their way they were told +that most of the Cabinet had been murdered. + +The physicians who surrounded the President's bed pronounced the wound +fatal. The assassin's bullet entered the back of his head on the left +side, passed through the brain, and lodged behind the left ear. But +for his powerful physique and his abundant vitality, it would have +brought instant death. He never recovered consciousness, but lingered +through the night and died at twenty-two minutes past seven in the +morning. Dr. Gurley, pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, +which the President attended, was kneeling in prayer by his bedside; +Surgeon-General Barnes, of the army, had his finger upon the President's +pulse; Robert Lincoln, Senator Sumner, and one of the assistant +secretaries leaned upon the foot of the bed. Colonel Hay describes the +scene as follows: + +"As the dawn came and the lamplight grew pale in the fresher beams, his +pulse began to fail; but his face even then was scarcely more haggard +than those of the sorrowing group of statesmen and generals around him. +His automatic moaning, which had continued through the night, ceased; +a look of unspeakable peace came upon his worn features. At twenty-two +minutes after seven he died. Stanton broke the silence by saying, 'Now +he belongs to the ages.' Dr. Gurley kneeled by the bedside and prayed +fervently. The widow came in from the adjoining room, supported by her +son, and cast herself with loud outcry on the dead body." + + + + +VIII + +THE EMANCIPATION OF THE SLAVES + + +Abraham Lincoln's hatred of slavery was inborn, but its development +began when he saw human beings sold at auction on the levee at New +Orleans and chained and beaten upon the decks of Mississippi River +steamboats on their way to market. These horrors were first witnessed by +him when he made his voyage on the flat-boat from Gentryville, and the +impression was deepened upon his second journey four years later from +New Salem. Even to the day of his death the recollection was vivid. He +alluded to it frequently while the slave problem was perplexing him and +his advisers during the war, and the picture was before his eyes when +he wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. As one of his companions said, +"Slavery ran the iron into him then and there." + +However, the mind of the boy had been prepared for this impression +by the teachings of his mother. In 1804 a crusade against slavery in +Kentucky was started by the itinerant preachers of the Baptist Church, +and the Rev. Jesse Head, the minister who married Thomas Lincoln and +Nancy Hanks, was a bold abolitionist and boldly proclaimed the doctrine +of human liberty wherever he went. Lincoln's father and mother were +among his most devoted disciples, and when he was a mere child Abraham +Lincoln inherited their hatred of human servitude. "If slavery is not +wrong, nothing is wrong," he once said in a speech. "I cannot remember +when I did not think so and feel so." + +Down in a corner of Indiana where the Lincolns lived there were slaves +for years after the admission of the State to the Union, in spite of the +ordinance of 1787 and the statutes which Lincoln read in his youth. Nor +was the fact a secret. The census of 1820 showed one hundred and ninety +slaves, but during the next year the State Supreme Court declared them +free. + +In the following year (1822) occurred a great moral revolution on the +frontier. Then commenced the struggle between the friends and opponents +of slavery which lasted until the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. +Abraham Lincoln, with the preparation I have described, was from the +beginning an active participant, and gradually became a leader in one of +the greatest controversies that has ever engaged the intellectual and +moral forces of the world. + +In 1822, eight years before the Lincoln family left Indiana, an attempt +was made to introduce slavery into Illinois, and was defeated by Edward +Coles, of Virginia, the Governor, who gave his entire salary for four +years to pay the expense of the contest. The antislavery members of the +Legislature contributed a thousand dollars to the fund, which was spent +in the distribution of literature on the subject. For a time the storm +subsided, but the deep hatred of the iniquity was spreading through +the North, and abolition societies were being organized in every city +and village where the friends of human freedom existed in sufficient +numbers to sustain themselves against the powerful proslavery sentiment. +Occasionally there was a public discussion, but the controversy raged +most fiercely at the corner groceries, at the county court-house, and +at other places where thinking men were in the habit of assembling, and +Lincoln was always ready and eager to enter the debates. His convictions +were formed and grew firmer as he studied the question, and his moral +courage developed with them. It was a good deal of an ordeal for an +ambitious young man just beginning his career to attack a popular +institution, in the midst of a community many of whom had been born and +educated in slave States and considered what he believed a curse to be +a divine institution. Nevertheless, the sense of justice and humanity +stimulated Abraham Lincoln to take his place upon the side of freedom, +and he never lost an opportunity to denounce slavery as founded on +injustice and wrong. + +His first opportunity to make a public avowal of his views occurred +in 1838, when the Illinois Legislature passed a series of resolutions +declaring that the right of property in slaves is sacred to the +slave-holding States by the Federal Constitution, and "that we highly +disapprove of the formation of abolition societies and of the doctrines +promulgated by them." Lincoln and five other members of the Legislature +voted against these resolutions; and in order to make his position more +fully understood by his constituents and the members of the Whig party +throughout the State, he prepared a protest, which he persuaded Dan +Stone, one of his colleagues from Sangamon County, to sign with him, +and, at their request, it was spread upon the journal of the House, as +follows: + +"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 reasons for entering this protest." + +This, I am confident, is the first formal declaration against the system +of slavery that was made in any legislative body in the United States, +at least west of the Hudson River. + +A few months after this event occurred the tragic death of the Rev. +Elijah P. Lovejoy, editor of a religious newspaper at Alton, whose +antislavery editorials enraged the proslavery mob, which murdered him +and threw his press and type into the Mississippi River. In this case, +as in many others, the blood of a martyr was the seed of the faith. +The mob that murdered Elijah P. Lovejoy did more to crystallize public +opinion and stimulate the movement than all the arguments and appeals +uttered up to that date. + +After his bold action in the Legislature Lincoln was recognized as the +antislavery leader in the central part of Illinois, but was frequently +the object of criticism because of his conservative views. He argued, +then, as he did twenty-five years later, that the Constitution of the +United States was sacred, and as long as it existed must be obeyed. It +recognized the right to hold slaves in certain States, and therefore +that right could not be denied until the Constitution was appropriately +amended. The friends of freedom were at liberty to denounce the great +wrong, but they must proceed legally in securing its removal. This +position was taken by Lincoln when he was only twenty-eight years +old, and he held it until the abolition of slavery became a military +necessity. At the same time he was patiently and confidently trying to +educate public sentiment and lead the abolition movement in the right +direction. + +Lincoln's second opportunity to place himself formally on record +occurred when he was a member of the House of Representatives, where +the controversy had been carried long before, and had been revived and +vitalized by the treaty with Mexico at the close of the war of 1848, +which added to the United States a territory as large as half of Europe. +The slave-holders immediately demanded it for their own, but in the +previous Congress the Whig and antislavery Democrats had succeeded in +attaching to an appropriation bill an amendment known as the Wilmot +Proviso, which prohibited the extension of slavery into the territory +recently acquired. This had been followed up by the adoption of similar +provisions wherever the Whigs could get an opportunity to attach them +to other legislation. Lincoln used to say that during his two years in +Congress he voted for the Wilmot Proviso in one form or another more +than fifty times. + +Upon his arrival in Washington his horror of the slavery system and the +impressions received during his voyages to New Orleans were revived by +witnessing the proceedings and the distress in the slave-markets of the +national capital, and he determined to devote his best efforts to a +removal of that scandal and reproach. Fifteen years later, in one of his +speeches during the debate with Douglas, he described the slave-shambles +of Washington, and said, "In view from the windows of the Capitol a +sort of negro livery stable where droves of negroes were collected, +temporarily kept, and finally taken to Southern markets, precisely like +droves of horses, has been openly maintained for more than fifty years." + +He believed that Congress had power under the Constitution to regulate +all affairs in the Territories and the District of Columbia, and, after +consulting with several of the leading citizens of Washington, he +introduced a bill for the gradual abolition of slavery in the District +of Columbia. The first two sections prohibit the introduction of slaves +within the limits of the District or the selling of them out of it, +exception being made to the servants of officials of the government +from the slave-holding States. The third section provides for the +apprenticeship and gradual emancipation of children born of slave +mothers after January 1, 1850. The fourth provides full compensation for +all slaves voluntarily made free by their owners. The fifth recognizes +the fugitive-slave law, and the sixth submits the proposition to a +popular vote, and provides that it shall not go into force until +ratified by a majority of the voters of the District. + +This bill met with more violent opposition from other parts of the +country than from the slave-holders who were directly affected. +The people of the South feared that it might serve as a precedent +for similar actions in other parts of the country and stimulate +the antislavery sentiment of the North. On the other hand, the +abolitionists, with that unreasonable spirit which usually governs men +of radical views, condemned the measure as a compromise with wrong, and +declared that they would never permit money from the public treasury +to be expended for the purchase of human beings. No action was taken +in Congress. The bill was referred to the appropriate committee and +was stuffed into a pigeonhole, where it was never disturbed; but it +is a remarkable coincidence that less than fifteen years later it was +Lincoln's privilege to approve an act of Congress for the abolition of +slavery in the District of Columbia. + +It is interesting to watch the development of Lincoln's views on the +slavery question, as revealed by his public utterances and private +letters during the great struggle between 1850 and 1860, until the +people of the republic named him as umpire to decide the greatest +question that ever engaged the moral and intellectual attention of a +people. Here and there appear curious phrases, startling predictions, +vivid epigrams, and unanswerable arguments. For example, in 1855 he +declared that "the autocrat of all the Russias will resign his crown +and proclaim free republicans sooner than will our American masters +voluntarily give up their slaves." A reference to the dates will show +that Alexander II., by imperial decree, emancipated the serfs of Russia +almost upon the same day, at the same hour, that the Southern States +began the greatest war of modern times to protect and extend the +institution of slavery. + +At Rochester, in the summer of 1859, Mr. Seward furnished the Republican +party a watch-cry when he called it "the irrepressible conflict," but +two years before and repeatedly after Lincoln uttered the same idea in +almost the same phrase. In three Presidential campaigns, in two contests +for the Senate, and in almost every local political contest after 1840 +slavery was the principal theme of his speeches, until the Douglas +debate of 1858 caused him to be recognized as the most powerful advocate +and defender of antislavery doctrines. + +Senator Douglas found great amusement in accusing Lincoln of a desire +to establish social equality between the whites and the blacks, and in +his speeches seldom failed to evoke a roar of laughter by declaring that +"Abe Lincoln" and other abolitionists "wanted to marry niggers." Lincoln +paid no attention to this vulgar joke until he saw that it was becoming +serious, and that many people actually believed that the abolitionists +were proposing to do what Douglas had said. He attempted to remove this +impression by a serious discussion of the doctrine of equality, and in +one of his speeches declared, "I protest against the counterfeit logic +which concludes that because I do not want a black woman for a slave +I must necessarily want her for a wife." In another speech he said, +"I shall never marry a negress, but I have no objection to any one +else doing so. If a white man wants to marry a negro woman, let him do +it,--if the negro woman can stand it." + +[Illustration: ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN 1864 + +From a photograph in the War Department Collection] + +At another time he said, "If I saw a venomous snake crawling in the +road, any man would say I might seize the nearest stick and kill it; +but if I found that snake in bed with my children, that would be +another question. I might hurt the children more than the snake, and +it might bite them. Much more, it I found it in bed with my neighbor's +children, and I had bound myself by a solemn compact not to meddle with +his children under any circumstances, it would become me to let that +particular mode of getting rid of that gentleman alone. But if there was +a bed newly made up, to which the children were to be taken, and it was +proposed to take a batch of young snakes and put them there with them, I +take it that no man would question how I ought to decide." + +In his Cooper Union speech may be found his strongest argument. "If +slavery is right, all words, acts, laws, and constitutions against it +are themselves wrong, and should be silenced and swept away. If it is +right, we cannot justly object to its nationality,--its universality. +If it is wrong, they cannot justly insist upon its extension,--its +enlargement. All they ask we could readily grant, if we thought slavery +right; all we ask they could as readily grant, if they thought it wrong. +Their thinking it right, and our thinking it wrong, is the precise +fact upon which depends the whole controversy.... 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 the +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 to 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." + +In a letter dated July 28, 1859, he wrote, "There is another thing +our friends are doing which gives me some uneasiness.... Douglas's +popular sovereignty, accepted by the public mind as a just principle, +nationalizes slavery, and revives the African slave-trade inevitably. +Taking slaves into new Territories, and buying slaves in Africa, are +identical things, identical rights or identical wrongs, and the argument +which establishes one will establish the other. Try a thousand years for +a sound reason why Congress shall not hinder the people of Kansas from +having slaves, and when you have found it, it will be an equally good +one why Congress should not hinder the people of Georgia from importing +slaves from Africa." + +While he was campaigning in Ohio, in 1859, occurred the John Brown +episode at Harper's Ferry, which created intense excitement throughout +the entire country and particularly in the South, where it was +interpreted as an organized attempt of the abolitionists to arouse an +insurrection among the slaves. In his speeches Lincoln did much to +allay public sentiment in Illinois, for he construed the attack upon +Harper's Ferry with his habitual common sense. He argued that it was not +a slave insurrection, but an attempt to organize one in which the slaves +refused to participate, and he compared it with many attempts related +in history to assassinate kings and emperors. "An enthusiast broods +over the oppression of a people until he fancies himself commissioned by +heaven to liberate them. He ventures the attempt, which ends in little +else than his own execution. Orsini's attempt on Louis Napoleon and John +Brown's attempt at Harper's Ferry were, in their philosophy, precisely +the same. The eagerness to cast blame on Old England in one case and +on New England in the other does not disprove the sameness of the two +things." + +It was not long after the inauguration that President Lincoln was +compelled to treat the slavery problem in a practical manner. To him +it ceased to be a question of morals and became an actual, perplexing +problem continually appearing in every direction and in various forms. +The first movement of troops dislodged from the plantations of their +owners a multitude of slaves, who found their way to the camps of the +Union army and were employed as servants, teamsters, and often as +guides. The Northern soldier took a sympathetic interest in the escaped +slave, and as fast as he advanced into slave territory the greater that +sympathy became. A Virginia planter looking for a fugitive slave in a +Union camp was a familiar object of ridicule and derision, and he seldom +found any satisfaction. + +One day the representative of Colonel Mallory, a Virginia planter, came +into the Union lines at Fortress Monroe and demanded three field-hands +who, he asserted, were at that time in the camp. General B. F. Butler, +who was in command, replied that, as Virginia claimed to be a foreign +country, the fugitive-slave law could not possibly be in operation +there, and declined to surrender the negroes unless the owner would take +the oath of allegiance to the United States. A newspaper correspondent, +in reporting this incident, took the ground that, as the Confederate +commanders were using negroes as laborers upon fortifications, under +international law they were clearly contraband of war. A new word was +coined. From that moment, and until the struggle was over, escaped +negroes were known as "contrabands," and public opinion in the North +decided that they were subject to release or confiscation by military +right and usage. General Butler always assumed the credit of formulating +that doctrine, and insisted that the correspondent had adopted a +suggestion overheard at the mess-table; but, however it originated, +it had more influence upon the solution of the problem than volumes +of argument might have had. When it became known among the negroes in +Virginia that the Union troops would not send them back to slavery, +the plantations were deserted and the Northern camps were crowded with +men, women, and children of all ages, who had to be clothed and fed. +General Butler relieved the embarrassment by sending the able-bodied men +to work upon the fortifications, by utilizing the women as cooks and +laundresses, and by permitting his officers to employ them as servants. + +After a time the exodus spread to Washington, and the slaves in that +city began to find their way across the Potomac into the military camps, +which caused a great deal of dissatisfaction and seemed to have an +unfavorable effect upon the political action of Maryland, West Virginia, +Kentucky, and Missouri; so that President Lincoln was appealed to from +all sides to order the execution of the fugitive-slave law in States +which he was trying to keep in the Union. He believed that public +sentiment was growing and would ultimately furnish a solution. He quoted +the Methodist presiding elder, riding about his circuit at the time +of the spring freshets, whose young companion showed great anxiety as +to how they should cross Fox River, then very much swollen. The elder +replied that he had made it the rule of his life never to cross Fox +River until he came to it. + +With the same philosophical spirit, Lincoln made the negro question +"a local issue," to be treated by each commander and the police of +each place as circumstances suggested, and, under his instructions, +the commandant at Washington issued an order that "fugitive slaves +will under no pretext whatever be permitted to reside, or be in any +way harbored, in the quarters and camps of the troops serving in this +department." This served to satisfy the complaints of the Maryland +planters and the slave-holders of the District of Columbia until +Congress passed the confiscation act, which forfeited the property +rights of disloyal owners. That was the first step towards emancipation. + +President Lincoln's plan to invest military commanders with practical +authority to solve the negro problem according to their individual +judgment soon got him into trouble, especially with his Secretary of +War, for the latter, in his report to Congress, without the knowledge of +the President and without consulting him, explained the policy of the +government as follows: + +"If it shall be found that the men who have been held by the rebels as +slaves are capable of bearing arms and performing efficient military +service, it is right, and may become the duty, of the government to arm +and equip them, and employ their services against the rebels, under +proper military regulation, discipline, and command." + +The report did not reach the public; it was suppressed and modified +before being printed in the newspapers; but that paragraph made Mr. +Cameron's resignation necessary. As amended, the report contained +a simple declaration that fugitive and abandoned slaves, being an +important factor in the military situation, would not be returned to +disloyal masters, but would be employed so far as possible in the +services of the Union army, and withheld from the enemy until Congress +should make some permanent disposition of them. + +Lincoln was severely criticised by the antislavery newspapers of the +North. But he did not lose his patience, and in his message to Congress +declared his intention to keep the integrity of the Union prominent "as +the primary object of the contest on our part, leaving all questions +which are not of vital military importance to the more deliberate +action of the Legislature." But while he was writing these guarded and +ambiguous phrases he had already decided to propose a plan of voluntary +abolition for the District of Columbia similar to that he had offered +in Congress thirteen years before. It was a measure of expediency and +delay. He evidently had no expectation that such a proposition would +be adopted. He undoubtedly realized that it was impossible; but his +political sagacity and knowledge of human nature taught him that the +public, to use a homely but significant expression which was familiar to +his childhood, "must have something to chaw on," and further illustrated +his point by reminding a caller how easily an angry dog might be +diverted by throwing him a bone. + +He soon followed this up by proposing to Delaware a scheme for the +purchase by the government of the seventeen hundred and ninety-eight +slaves shown by the census of 1860 to be still held in that State, at +the rate of four hundred dollars per capita. A majority of the Lower +House of the Legislature of Delaware accepted the idea, but the Senate +rejected it and the subject was dropped. But Lincoln did not allow the +minds of his antislavery critics to rest. He kept them busy discussing +new propositions, and on March 6, 1862, sent a special message to the +two Houses of Congress recommending the gradual abolishment of slavery +by furnishing to the several States from the public treasury sufficient +funds "to compensate for the inconveniences, public and private, +produced by such change of system." By this proposition he avoided the +objections to the general government interfering with the domestic +affairs of the States, and left the people of each State to arrange for +emancipation in their own way. "It is proposed as a matter of perfectly +free choice with them," he said in his message, and again called +attention to the probable effects of the war upon the slave situation. +The representatives of the border States in Congress took no heed of +the warning, but the Northern papers devoted a great deal of space to +a discussion of the proposition, and Lincoln's purpose of giving them +something to talk about was accomplished. The most serious objection was +based upon the enormous expenses. As early as 1839 Henry Clay estimated +the value of the slaves at one billion two hundred and fifty million +dollars, and upon the same basis of calculation it must have exceeded +two billion dollars in 1860; but Lincoln answered that one-half day's +cost of the war would pay for all the slaves in Delaware at four hundred +dollars a head, and that eighty-seven days' cost would pay for all the +slaves in the border States. + +He called together the Congressional delegates from the border States +and made an earnest effort to convince them of the expediency of his +plan. The House of Representatives adopted it by a two-thirds vote, +although few of the members from Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri voted +with the affirmative. A month later the resolution was concurred in by +the Senate, and what Thaddeus Stevens, the radical leader of the House, +described as "the most diluted milk-and-water-gruel proposition ever +given to the American people" became a law. + +It is not necessary to say that the Legislatures of the border States +never had an opportunity to take advantage of the proposition; history +moved too fast for them. But Lincoln at once began a systematic campaign +in Congress to secure legislation for the purchase of all the slaves +belonging to loyal owners in the District of Columbia, and that became a +law on April 16, 1862. + +Public opinion was being rapidly educated; the Republican majority in +Congress was pledged to the doctrine of emancipation; the slave-holders +in the border States were being led gradually to realize the inevitable, +and if they had been wise they would promptly have accepted the +generosity of the President's proposition and thus have escaped the +enormous pecuniary losses which they suffered by the Emancipation +Proclamation a little later. + +Before Congress adjourned, laws were passed which materially altered the +situation. The army was prohibited from surrendering fugitive slaves; +the confiscation act was greatly enlarged; all slaves actually employed +in military service by the Confederacy were declared free; the President +was authorized to enlist negro regiments for the war; the Missouri +Compromise was restored; slavery was forbidden in all Territories of the +United States; appropriations were made for carrying into effect the +treaty with Great Britain to suppress the slave-trade; the independence +and sovereignty of Hayti and Liberia, two black republics, were formally +recognized, and two nations of negroes, with negro Presidents, negro +officials, and negro ambassadors, were admitted on an equality into the +sisterhood of civilized nations. Any one who would have predicted such +legislation a year previous would have been considered insane, even six +months previous it would have been declared impossible. + +The next sensation was an emancipation proclamation issued by General +David Hunter, who commanded the Department of the South, which declared +free all persons held as slaves in the States of Georgia, Florida, and +South Carolina. Lincoln promptly vetoed Hunter's order and declared +it unauthorized and void, saying that he reserved to himself, "as +Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy, to declare the slaves of +any State or States free" when "it shall have become a necessity +indispensable to the maintenance of the government." + +This announcement should have satisfied the North and have been a +sufficient warning to the South, because as we read it now we can see +Lincoln's purposes between the lines. + +The President could not permit the Congressional delegations from +the border States to return to their constituents without one more +admonition and one more appeal to their patriotism and their sense of +justice and wisdom. He called them to the White House and read to them a +carefully prepared argument in support of his plan to sell their slaves +to the government. Two-thirds of them united in an explanation of their +reasons for rejecting the scheme on account of its impracticability, and +the remainder promised to submit it to their constituents. The reception +of this last appeal convinced Lincoln that he could do nothing by moral +suasion, and he immediately determined to try the use of force. + +"It has got to be," he told a friend afterwards. "We had played our last +card and must change our tactics or lose the game; and 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." + +On July 22, 1862, he read to his Cabinet the first draft of a +proclamation, not for the purpose of asking their advice, he told them, +but for their information. But every man was pledged to confidence, +and the secret was so well kept that the public had no suspicion of +his intention, and the radical newspapers and abolitionists continued +to criticise and attack him in a most abusive manner. A committee of +clergymen from Chicago came to Washington to urge him to issue an +emancipation proclamation. He received them respectfully, but did not +tell them that their wishes would have been anticipated but for the +defeat of the Union army at the second battle of Bull Run. He made +them an eloquent but evasive speech, and appealed to their good sense. +"Now, gentlemen," he said, "if I cannot enforce the Constitution down +South, how can I enforce a mere Presidential proclamation? I do not want +to issue a document that the whole world will see must necessarily be +inoperative like the Pope's Bull against the comet." + +Mr. Colfax, who accompanied the delegation, says that "one of these +ministers felt it his duty to make a more searching appeal to the +President's conscience. Just as they were retiring, he turned and said +to Mr. Lincoln,-- + +"'What you have said to us, Mr. President, compels me to say, in +reply, that it is a message to you from our Divine Master, through me, +commanding you, sir, to open the doors of bondage that the slave may go +free!' + +"Mr. Lincoln replied instantly, 'That may be, sir, for I have studied +this question by night and by day for weeks and for months; but if it +is, as you say, a message from your Divine Master, is it not odd that +the only channel he could send it by was that roundabout route by that +awfully wicked city of Chicago?' + +"In discussing the question, he used to liken the case to that of the +boy who, when asked how many legs his calf would have if he called his +tail a leg, replied, 'Five.' To which the prompt response was made that +_calling_ the tail a leg would not _make_ it a leg. + +"He sought to measure so accurately, so precisely, the public sentiment +that, whenever he advanced, the loyal hosts of the nation would keep +step with him. In regard to the policy of arming the slaves against the +Rebellion, never, until the tide of patriotic volunteering had ebbed and +our soldiers saw their ranks rapidly melting away, could our colored +troops have been added to their brigades without perilous discontent, if +not open revolt. Against all appeals, all demands, against even threats +of some members of his party, Lincoln stood like a rock on this question +until he felt that the opportune moment had arrived." + +Not only was he denounced by the abolitionists, but by the foremost +leaders of the Republican party, such as Benjamin F. Wade and Horace +Greeley, and received appeals from loyal people of the South, to whom he +replied, with his usual patience, "What is done and omitted about the +slaves is done and omitted on the same military necessity. I shall not +do more than I can, and shall do all that I can, to save the government." + +In his view, military necessity was the only justification for the +violation of the Constitution, which protected the slaves. In the +second place, his delay was due to a doubt whether public sentiment in +the North was prepared for a measure so radical and far-reaching; by +his hope that the people of the border States would soon be willing +to accept the act as a friendly as well as a necessary solution of +a dilemma; and, finally, because of his profound respect for the +Constitution which he had sworn to maintain. He would not free the negro +because the Constitution stood in his way, and only for the sake of the +Union was he willing to override that sacred instrument. This purpose +was tersely expressed when, under great provocation, he allowed himself +to violate his own rule and reply to Horace Greeley, who had attacked +him in an open letter of unjust censure, accusing him of neglecting his +duty. + +"I would save the Union," he said, frankly. "I would save it in the +shortest way under the Constitution. 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 in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not +either to save or to 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 also 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 I 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." + +Contemplating the events in the history of emancipation in a perspective +of forty years, it is difficult to say whether we admire more the skill +with which President Lincoln led public sentiment along with him or the +reticence and dignity with which he restrained his own desire to yield +to the influence of the good people of the North and protect himself +from the clamor of his critics. His letter to Mr. Greeley was not an +argument in a controversy, nor an apology for or defence of his policy; +but he intended it to be a warning to prepare the slave-holders of the +border States and the South for an event which only he and his Cabinet +knew was about to happen, and, at the same time, to divert the attention +of the Union people of the North until a favorable opportunity arrived +for proclaiming freedom. + +Mr. Greeley was not satisfied with the assurances contained in the +letter, and continued to attack the President in a persistent manner. +He was invited to come to Washington and "fight it out in private," but +sent his managing editor instead, who spent an interesting evening and +had an animated argument with the President; but the latter could not +trust him with the momentous secret, and was compelled to wait until +a Union victory offered a favorable opportunity to take the step he +contemplated. As he told the Chicago pastors, he had not decided against +a proclamation of liberty for the slaves, but held the matter under +advisement. "And I can assure you," he added, "that the subject is on my +mind by day and by night; more than any other. Whatever shall appear to +be God's will I will do." + +Accordingly, on September 22, 1862, after the battle of Antietam, he +called his Cabinet together and announced his intention to issue a +proclamation of emancipation. "I have gotten you together to hear what +I have written down," he said. "I do not want your advice about the +main matter, because I have determined that myself. This I say without +intending anything but respect for all of you. I alone must bear the +responsibility for taking the course which I feel I ought to take." + +The preliminary proclamation was issued, and in his annual message to +Congress on December 1, 1862, Lincoln recommended the passage of a joint +resolution proposing a constitutional amendment providing compensation +for every State which would abolish slavery before the year 1900, +another guaranteeing freedom to all slaves that had been released by +the chances of war, and a third authorizing Congress to provide a plan +of colonization for them. His idea was to send them either to Africa, +to the West Indies, or to Central America, and he encouraged several +extensive plans of colonization, which, however, were not carried into +practical operation. In this connection it is interesting to recall +the reminiscences of General Butler, who says that shortly before the +assassination the President sent for him and said,-- + +"'General Butler, I am troubled about the negroes. We are soon to have +peace. We have got some one hundred and odd thousand negroes who have +been trained to arms. When peace shall come I fear lest these colored +men shall organize themselves in the South, especially in the States +where the negroes are in preponderance in numbers, into guerilla +parties, and we shall have down there a warfare between the whites and +the negroes. In the course of the reconstruction of the government it +will become a question of how the negro is to be disposed of. Would +it not be possible to export them to some place, say Liberia or South +America, and organize them into communities to support themselves?' + +"General Butler replied, 'We have large quantities of clothing to clothe +them, and arms and everything necessary for them, even to spades and +shovels, mules, and wagons. Our war has shown that an army organization +is the very best for digging up the soil and making intrenchments. +Witness the very many miles of intrenchments that our soldiers have dug +out. I know of a concession of the United States of Colombia for a tract +of thirty miles wide across the Isthmus of Panama for opening a ship +canal. The enlistments of the negroes have all of them from two or three +years to run. Why not send them all down there to dig the canal? They +will withstand the climate, and the work can be done with less cost to +the United States in that way than in any other. If you choose, I will +take command of the expedition. We will take our arms with us, and I +need not suggest to you that we will need nobody sent down to guard us +from the interference of any nation. We will proceed to cultivate the +land and supply ourselves with all the fresh food that can be raised in +the tropics, which will be all that will be needed, and your stores of +provisions and supplies of clothing will furnish all the rest. Shall I +work out the details of such an expedition for you, Mr. President?' + +"He reflected for some time, and then said, 'There is meat in that +suggestion, General Butler; there is meat in that suggestion. Go and +talk to Seward and see what foreign complications there will be about +it.' + +"But that evening Secretary Seward, in his drive before dinner, was +thrown from his carriage and severely injured, his jaw being broken, and +he was confined to his bed until the assassination of Lincoln and the +attempted murder of himself by one of the confederates of Booth, so that +the subject could never be again mentioned to Mr. Lincoln." + +The final proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863. On the afternoon +of December 31, after the Cabinet meeting was over Lincoln rewrote the +document with great care, embodying in it several suggestions which +had been made by his Cabinet, but rigidly adhering to the spirit of +the original. In his judgment, the time had now come for adopting this +extreme measure, 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." + +The morning of New Year's day was occupied by the official reception, +and the President was kept busy until about three o'clock in the +afternoon, when he went to the Executive Chamber, took the manuscript +from a drawer in his desk, wrote his name, and closed a controversy that +had raged for half a century. He carefully laid away the pen he had used +for Mr. Sumner, who had promised to obtain it for George Livermore, of +Cambridge, Massachusetts, an old abolitionist and the author of a work +on slavery which had greatly interested Lincoln. It was a steel pen with +an ordinary wooden handle, such as is used by school-children and can +be bought for a penny at any stationery store. The end of the holder +showed the marks of Lincoln's teeth, for he had a habit of putting his +pen-holder into his mouth whenever he was puzzled in composition. + +Lincoln's own commentary and explanation of the step which led to this +edict of freedom was written little more than a year later, to a friend, +and should be carefully studied before forming a judgment upon the +reasons for and the consequences of that act: + +"I am naturally antislavery," he said. "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 all together. 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." + +Lincoln did not live to witness the consummation or the consequences of +the edict. The preliminary resolution for a constitutional amendment was +not secured until after a long struggle in Congress and against the most +determined opposition. Were it not for Lincoln's political skill and +tact, it might never have been adopted. The work of ratification by the +loyal States was not completed until December, 1865, when Mr. Seward, +still Secretary of State, issued a proclamation announcing that the +thirteenth amendment had been ratified by twenty-seven of the thirty-six +States then composing the Union, and that slavery and involuntary +servitude were from that time and forever impossible within the limits +of the United States. + +Some one has arranged the Emancipation Proclamation so that its words +form an accurate profile of Abraham Lincoln's face. The picture is +perfect and not a letter of the document is wanting. + +Lincoln's ideas concerning the enfranchisement of the negroes were +expressed in a letter to Governor Hahn congratulating him upon having +his name fixed in history as the first free Governor of the State of +Louisiana, and saying, "Now, you are about to have a convention which, +among other things, will probably define the elective franchise. +I barely suggest for your private consideration whether some of +the colored people may not be let in,--as, for instance, the very +intelligent, and especially those who have fought gallantly in our +ranks. They would probably help, in some trying time to come, to keep +the jewel of liberty safe within the family of freedom. But this is only +a suggestion--not to the public, but to you alone." + +[Illustration: A LETTER TO HON. MICHAEL HAHN, FIRST FREE STATE GOVERNOR +OF LOUISIANA + +By special permission of John M. Crampton, Esq., New Haven, Connecticut] + +On April 11, 1865, he made his last speech. It was delivered from +the portico of the White House in response to an invitation from the +managers of a jubilee celebration over the surrender of Lee's army. +Twice before was he called out by serenading parties, and on both +occasions declined to give more than a few informal expressions of +congratulation and gratitude; but, being pressed by the committee, he +consented to deliver a formal address, and with great care prepared a +manuscript upon the reconstruction problem. It was undoubtedly intended +as a "feeler" to test public sentiment in the North, and that portion of +it which relates to negro suffrage is as follows: + +"We all agree that the seceded States, so called, are out of their +proper relations to the Union, and that the sole object of the +government, civil and military, in regard to those States, is to again +get them into their proper practical relation. I believe it is not +only possible, but in fact easier to do this without deciding, or even +considering, whether those States have ever been out of the Union, +than with it. Finding themselves safely at home, it would be utterly +immaterial whether they had ever been abroad. Let us join in doing the +acts necessary to restoring the proper practical relations between those +States and the Union, and each forever after innocently indulge his own +opinion whether, in doing the acts, he brought the States from without +the Union, or only gave them proper assistance, they never having been +out of it. + +"It is also unsatisfactory to some that the elective franchise is +not given to the colored man. I would myself prefer that it were now +conferred on the very intelligent and those who have served our cause as +soldiers. Still, the question is not whether the Louisiana government, +as it stands, is quite all that is desirable. The question is, Will it +be wiser to take it as it is, and help to improve it, or to reject and +disperse it? + +"Some twelve thousand voters in the heretofore slave State of Louisiana +have sworn allegiance to the Union, assumed to be the rightful political +power of the State, held elections, organized a State government, +adopted a free State Constitution, giving the benefit of public schools +equally to black and white, and empowering the Legislature to confer the +elective franchise upon the colored man. The Legislature has already +voted to ratify the constitutional amendment passed by Congress, +abolishing slavery throughout the nation. These twelve thousand persons +are thus fully committed to the Union and to perpetual freedom in the +States--committed to the very things, and nearly all the things the +nation wants--and they ask the nation's recognition and its assistance +to make good the committal.... We encourage the hearts and nerve the +arms of twelve thousand to adhere to their work, and argue for it, and +proselyte for it, fight for it, and feed it, and grow it, and ripen it +to a complete success. The colored man, too, seeing all united for him, +is inspired with vigilance, and energy, and daring to the same end. +Grant that he desires the elective franchise, will he not obtain it +sooner by saving the already advanced steps towards it than by running +backward over them? Concede that the new government of Louisiana is only +as what it should be as the egg is to the fowl, we shall sooner have the +fowl by hatching the egg than by smashing it." + +We have the testimony of members of the Cabinet that the question of +suffrage was several times discussed, and that Lincoln and Mr. Chase +differed as to constitutional authority and limitations in that matter. +Mr. Chase held that Congress had the right and power to enact such laws +for the government of the people of the States lately in rebellion as +might be deemed expedient to the public safety, including the bestowal +of suffrage upon the negroes; but Lincoln held that the latter right +rested exclusively with the States. In his amnesty proclamation of +December 8, 1863, he said that any provision by which the States shall +provide for the education and for the welfare of "the laboring landless +and homeless class will not be objected to by the national Executive;" +and Mr. Usher, his Secretary of the Interior, says, "From all that +could be gathered by those who observed his conduct in those times, it +seemed his hope that the people in the insurgent States, upon exercising +authority under the Constitution and laws of the United States, would +find it necessary to make suitable provision, not only for the education +of the freedmen, but also for their acquisition of property and security +in its possession, and to secure that would find it necessary and +expedient to bestow suffrage upon them, in some degree at least." + +Mr. Hugh McCulloch, who succeeded Mr. Chase as Secretary of the +Treasury, says, "There is nothing in his record to indicate that he +would have favored the immediate and full enfranchisement of those who, +having been always in servitude, were unfit for an intelligent and +independent use of the ballot. In the plan for the rehabilitation of +the South which he and his Cabinet had partially agreed upon, and which +Mr. Johnson and the same Cabinet endeavored to perfect and carry out, +no provision was made for negro suffrage. This question was purposely +left open for further consideration and for Congressional action, under +such amendments of the Constitution as the changed condition of the +country might render necessary. From some of his incidental expressions, +and from his well-known opinions upon the subject of suffrage and the +States' right to regulate it, my opinion is that he would have been +disposed to let that question remain as it was before the war; with, +however, such amendments of the Constitution as would have prevented +any but those who were permitted to vote in Federal elections from +being included in the enumeration for representatives in Congress, thus +inducing the recent Slave States, for the purpose of increasing their +Congressional influence and power, to give the ballot to black men as +well as white." + + + + +IX + +A MASTER IN DIPLOMACY + + +That rare gift which in the every-day affairs of life is called tact and +in statecraft is known as diplomacy was possessed by Abraham Lincoln +to a degree that was remarkable for a man of his meagre education +and limited experience. Before his nomination to the Presidency his +fame and activity had been almost exclusively provincial, and in a +province which had not yet grown out of the formative period; but he +was a profound student of human nature, and possessed a quality called +sagacity, which is the nearest approach to wisdom and is a gift of +nature. This knowledge and quality were developed during his political +life. A successful politician must be a diplomatist and a statesman. The +English language lacks terms to describe men of Lincoln's attainments. +The French, Spaniards, and Germans have definitions for different grades +of politicians, while the English are limited to that single word, +and apply it to every person who participates in political affairs, +from a ward-worker in the slums of the cities to an occupant of the +Executive chair of the nation. William McKinley, like Abraham Lincoln, +was a consummate politician and at the same time a statesman and a +diplomatist. The dictionary definition of the latter is "a man who has +dexterity or skill in managing negotiations of any kind;" and diplomacy, +by the same authority, is "artful management with a view of securing +advantages." + +According to this definition, Lincoln, as a diplomatist, was unsurpassed +in his generation either at home or abroad, as the history of the +foreign relations of our government during his administration will show. +He guided the foreign policy of the United States from 1861 to 1865 +as closely as he directed its military campaigns until 1864, when he +yielded the responsibility to General Grant; and, although the public +gave the credit to Seward, the members of the Cabinet, the foreign +committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and others +intimately associated with that branch of the administration recognized +his genius in all the larger attributes of diplomacy. The untrained +lawyer from the prairies without hesitation assumed the responsibility +of conducting the foreign policy of the government in the most critical +period of its existence, and revised the diplomatic correspondence of +his Secretary of State, who had the reputation of being one of the most +subtle and far-sighted statesmen of his age. But the developments showed +that Lincoln alone had a complete grasp of a situation unprecedented in +our history. + +He was a diplomatist by nature, and developed the talent early. When +a boy, he was selected as umpire at wrestling-matches, cock-fights, +horse- and foot-races, and other rude sports of the neighborhood because +his associates had confidence in his judgment and honesty. Because he +had tact, in addition to those qualities, he was the peacemaker and +court of appeals in quarrels; the referee in disputes; the arbiter in +controversies concerning literature, theology, woodcraft, and morals. +His decisions were rarely, if ever, questioned. He had a rule for +evading difficulties which was expressed in a homely remark to Mr. +Seward, who jokingly remarked at a Cabinet meeting one day,-- + +"Mr. President, I hear that you turned out for a colored woman on a +muddy crossing the other day." + +"I don't remember," answered Lincoln, musingly; "but I think it very +likely, for I have always made it a rule that if people won't turn out +for me I will for them. If I didn't there would be a collision." + +And he always avoided collisions. It was not because he lacked courage +or confidence. Obstinacy is often mistaken for courage, and, as one +of Lincoln's advisers remarked, "Political graveyards are filled with +buried ambitions and crushed hopes because of that mistake, which Mr. +Lincoln never made." He never allowed an antagonist to fathom his +thoughts or to see the line along which he was working. He gave way in +matters of small importance to secure a firmer position to fight a more +important battle. He overcame obstacles and escaped entanglements by +the exercise of this faculty called diplomacy, without surrendering a +principle or making an important concession. + +General Fry, who was Provost-Marshal of the War Department and received +daily instructions from the President in regard to the draft for troops, +which was one of the most embarrassing and perplexing questions that +arose during the war, illustrates this peculiar trait by an anecdote. He +says,-- + +"Upon one occasion the Governor of a State came to my office bristling +with complaints in relation to the number of troops required from his +State, the details for drafting the men, and the plan of compulsory +service in general. I found it impossible to satisfy his demands, and +accompanied him to the Secretary of War's office, whence, after a stormy +interview with Stanton, he went alone to press his ultimatum upon +the highest authority. After I had waited anxiously for some hours, +expecting important orders or decisions from the President, or at least +a summons to the White House for explanation, the Governor returned, and +said, with a pleasant smile, that he was going home by the next train, +and merely dropped in _en route_ to say good-by. Neither the business he +came upon nor his interview with the President was alluded to. + +"As soon as I could see Lincoln, I said, 'Mr. President, I am very +anxious to learn how you disposed of Governor ----. He went to your +office from the War Department in a towering rage. I suppose you found +it necessary to make large concessions to him, as he returned from you +entirely satisfied.' + +"'Oh, no,' he replied, 'I did not concede anything. You know how that +Illinois farmer managed the big log that lay in the middle of his field? +To the inquiries of his neighbors, one Sunday, he announced that he had +got rid of the big log. "Got rid of it!" said they, "how did you do +it? It was too big to haul out, too knotty to split, and too wet and +soggy to burn; what did you do?" "Well, now, boys," replied the farmer, +"if you won't divulge the secret, I'll tell you how I got rid of it. +_I ploughed around it._" Now,' said Lincoln, 'don't tell anybody, but +that's the way I got rid of Governor ----. _I ploughed around him_, but +it took me three mortal hours to do it, and I was afraid every moment +he'd see what I was at.'" + +Those who were associated with Lincoln noticed the rapid development of +his diplomatic talent. In meeting emergencies he constantly surprised +them by the manifestation of a capacity to grapple with hidden and +unknown difficulties that could have been possessed only by so strong +and deep a nature. His secretaries testify that he could receive any +kind of tidings without emotion or variation in face and manner. +"He never seemed to hear anything with reference to itself," one of +them described it, "but solely with a quick forward grasping for +the consequences; for what must be done next. The announcement of a +defeat or disaster did not bring to him the blow only, but rather the +consideration of a counter-stroke. With a calm, sublime reliance upon +God and the everlasting principles of right, he was able to conduct +the nation through the most tremendous civil war ever waged and never +committed a serious mistake." + +Lincoln was pre-eminently a Democrat because he believed in a government +of the people by the people for the people. His early training, his +contact with "the plain people," as he loved to call them, his knowledge +of their prejudices and preferences, their habits of thought and methods +of judgment, enabled him to judge accurately of public opinion, and his +deep sympathy with them gave him confidence that whatever met their +approval was right and just. That explains his loyal obedience to the +will of the majority, his refusal to adopt radical measures, and his +strength of purpose when he believed that his plans would be approved +by them. His critics asserted that his procrastination with McClellan, +his postponement of the emancipation of the slaves, and his apparent +reluctance to act upon measures which were considered necessary to the +salvation of the country were signs of weakness and cowardice; but no +man ever showed greater courage when he felt that he was right. + +When Lincoln came to Washington he had no experience in diplomacy or +statesmanship; as an attorney, he had dealt only with local and State +statutes; as a legislator, his experience was limited to provincial +affairs; his only knowledge of the operations of the general government +was acquired during the two years he was in Congress and from books that +he read. He had never argued a case before the Supreme Court, he had +never studied international law, he knew nothing of the organization +of armies, and he was unfamiliar with the relations between the Chief +Executive and his Cabinet; but we have seen in Chapter V. how promptly, +firmly, and conclusively, and at the same time with what tact and +diplomacy, he rebuked Seward's suggestion that he should surrender the +prerogatives of his office to the Secretary of State, how positive yet +how gentle was his treatment of Frémont, and how thorough his knowledge +of the laws of nations is disclosed by his correspondence concerning +the movement of troops through Maryland and Virginia, regarding the +suspension of the writ of _habeas corpus_, the arrest of Vallandigham, +and especially in connection with the Emancipation Proclamation. + +President Lincoln made it a rule never to deny or explain any charge +against himself, nor to reply to an attack, except when the fortunes of +his country seemed to be involved; and when he did make a reply it was +always complete and satisfactory. + +Almost the very moment that he crossed the threshold of the White House +Lincoln was confronted with the gravest diplomatic problem of his +experience, and its solution required not only knowledge of precedent +but skill in argument. The claim of the Confederacy to be recognized +as a nation by the powers of Europe had practically been waived by +President Buchanan when he admitted that the Federal government had +no authority to keep a State in the Union if it desired to secede. +This admission had been confirmed by the apparent acquiescence in the +withdrawal of South Carolina and other States; by the organization of +the Confederacy at Montgomery without interference or protest; by the +failure to reinforce Fort Sumter; and by Buchanan's practical abdication +of executive power when, in his message of January 8, 1861, he threw the +entire responsibility of the situation upon Congress. + +All through these rapid and radical changes the foreign powers received +no official explanation or information from the Department of State at +Washington, and were left to draw their own inferences from the news +which appeared in the public press, until February 28, when Jeremiah S. +Black, for a few weeks Secretary of State, issued a circular instructing +our representatives at foreign capitals that the government of the +United States had not relinquished its constitutional jurisdiction +anywhere within its territory and did not intend to do so. In the same +circular he gave instructions that a recognition of the Confederacy +must not be allowed. Upon assuming the duties of Secretary of State, +Mr. Seward hastily confirmed these instructions and expressed the +confidence of the President in the speedy suppression of the Rebellion +and the restoration of the unity and harmony of the nation. From France +and England came non-committal and unsatisfactory replies, and before +Mr. Adams, who had been appointed minister to England, could arrive +in London, an unfriendly ministry issued a proclamation of neutrality +practically recognizing the Confederate States as an independent +government and conceding it the privileges of a belligerent power. +Thus, before it had a single ship afloat, its fleets were tendered the +hospitality of the British ports on terms of equality with the fleets +of the United States. France at once imitated this precipitate action, +which was prompted by the desire of the British manufacturers to secure +free trade and cheap cotton. The Emperor of the French was actuated +by confidence that a division of the American Union would aid in the +advancement of his plans to erect an empire in Mexico. + +Exasperated by the injustice of this action, Mr. Seward wrote Mr. Adams +a despatch which would have imperilled our relations with Great Britain +had it been delivered in its original form. Fortunately, the President +had enjoined the Secretary of State not to send anything of importance +without first submitting it to him; hence Lincoln was able to modify +what Mr. Seward's inflammable temper had suggested and at the same +time add to the force and the dignity of the despatch. A comparison of +the text of the original with the final copy as sent to the American +legation at London demonstrates the superiority of Lincoln's judgment +as well as his mastery of the language of diplomacy. It is remarkable +that a mind untrained to consider the consequences of international +discourtesy and a hand unaccustomed to frame the phrases of diplomacy +should have been so apt and so skilful in removing the sting from the +indignant paragraphs of an experienced statesman without diminishing +their tone, or force, or dignity. + +If the letter, as it came from the hands of Mr. Seward, had been +delivered at the British Foreign Office according to instructions, Mr. +Adams would have burned his bridges behind him. He would have placed +himself in the attitude of breaking off intercourse, and thus made it +impossible for him to use any further influence or even to ascertain the +disposition and intention of the British government. The only thing left +for him would have been to close the legation and return to the United +States. Lincoln's modifications left him free to manage a delicate +situation as circumstances and his own judgment indicated. He was not +only left within the range of personal and diplomatic courtesy, but +by Lincoln's clever phrasing the burden of proof was thrown upon the +British government. + +This skilful use of terms until that time unfamiliar to Lincoln has +always excited the admiration of philologists and diplomatists because +of the nice sense he displayed of the shades of meaning and the effect +of adding emphasis and improving the courtesy of expression at the same +time. The comprehensive knowledge of the situation and the appreciation +of the results which might follow seem almost supernatural in a man who +had been only three months in office, was entirely without experience +in diplomacy, had never before prepared a diplomatic note, and whose +mind was perplexed about home affairs. The highest authorities have +pronounced it the work of a master, as showing a freedom of knowledge of +and insight into foreign affairs, a skill in shaping phrases, a delicate +sense of propriety, an appreciation of the methods of diplomatic +dealings, and a penetration which entitled the President to the highest +honors of statesmanship. + +And thus was a misunderstanding and perhaps a war with England avoided +by a simple change in terms and phrases. We can only conjecture what +might have happened; but, had Seward's despatch been sent as originally +written, it would probably have resulted in the formal recognition and +the success of the Southern Confederacy. + +During the first term of General Grant's administration, Mr. Fish, +then Secretary of State, brought the original manuscript to a Cabinet +meeting, and it excited so much interest that Mr. Boutwell proposed +to have twelve fac-similes made by the photographer of the Treasury +Department. Twelve copies were taken and the negative then destroyed. + +It was not long before the government was again involved in a +complication with Great Britain owing to the zeal of Captain Charles +Wilkes, of the gunboat "San Jacinto," who overhauled the British mail +steamer "Trent" and took from the passenger cabin ex-Senators J. M. +Mason and John Slidell, who had been accredited by the Confederate +government as envoys to the European courts, and had managed to elude +the blockade and sail from Havana. The British government, people, +and press regarded the act as a violation of international law and an +outrage upon the British flag, and preparations for war were begun, +while Lord Lyons, the British minister at Washington, was instructed +to close his legation and return to England unless the prisoners were +released and a satisfactory apology offered within seven days. + +If it had not been for the kindly sympathy of Queen Victoria, President +Lincoln would not have been allowed to apologize; but with her own hand +she modified the instructions to Lord Lyons and gave our government an +opportunity to withdraw from an untenable position. The situation was +exceedingly embarrassing and critical, because the action of Captain +Wilkes was not only applauded by the public, but it was officially +approved by the Secretary of the Navy, and the House of Representatives +unanimously passed a resolution commending him for his brave and +patriotic conduct. + +While the President and his Cabinet no doubt admired Captain Wilkes +for the qualities he had displayed, they were placed in a serious +dilemma because of the energetic and peremptory demands of the British +government. The President took the matter into his own hands, and the +most experienced diplomatist or the most skilful lawyer could not have +prepared a clearer, stronger, more dignified, or courteous despatch +than he wrote for Mr. Seward's signature, suggesting that the matter be +submitted to friendly arbitration. + +"The President is unwilling to believe," he wrote, "that Her Majesty's +government will press for a categorical answer upon what appears to +him to be only a partial record in the making up of which he has been +allowed no part. He is reluctant to volunteer his view of the case, with +no assurance that Her Majesty's government will consent to hear him; +yet this much he directs me to say, that this government has intended +no affront to the British flag or to the British nation; nor has it +intended to force into discussion an embarrassing question; all of +which is evident by the fact hereby asserted, that the act complained +of was done by the officer without orders from, or expectation of, the +government. But, being done, it was no longer left to us to consider +whether we might not, to avoid a controversy, waive an unimportant +though a strict right; because we, too, as well as Great Britain, have +a people justly jealous of their rights, and in whose presence our +government could undo the act complained of only upon a fair showing +that it was wrong, or at least very questionable. The United States +government and people are still willing to make reparation upon such +showing. + +"Accordingly, I am instructed by the President to inquire whether +Her Majesty's government will hear the United States upon the matter +in question. The President desires, among other things, to bring +into view, and have considered, the existing rebellion in the United +States; the position Great Britain has assumed, including Her Majesty's +proclamation in relation thereto; the relation the persons whose seizure +is the subject of complaint bore to the United States, and the object +of their voyage at the time they were seized; the knowledge which the +master of the 'Trent' had of their relation to the United States, and of +the object of their voyage, at the time he received them on board for +the voyage; the place of the seizure; and the precedents and respective +positions assumed in analogous cases between Great Britain and the +United States. + +"Upon a submission containing the foregoing facts, with those set forth +in the before-mentioned despatch to your lordship, together with all +other facts which either party may deem material, I am instructed to say +the government of the United States will, if agreed to by Her Majesty's +government, go to such friendly arbitration as is usual among nations, +and will abide the award." + +This despatch was not sent; nor was it ever submitted to the Cabinet. +Before the opportunity arrived the President was convinced of the danger +of temporizing. Eight thousand troops were despatched from London to +Canada, a British fleet was ordered to American waters, and the export +of arms and ammunition from Great Britain was forbidden. The President's +cool judgment and common sense also taught him that the position of our +government was untenable, and, with his keen perceptions as a lawyer, +he saw how the United States could honorably withdraw and at the same +time use the incident to its own advantage and get the better of the +controversy. + +"We must stick to American principles concerning the rights of +neutrals," he said. "We fought Great Britain for insisting by theory and +practice on the right to do precisely what Captain Wilkes has done. +If Great Britain shall now protest against the act and demand their +release, we must give them up and 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." + +Mr. Seward prepared a long and remarkable presentation of the case of +the United States which is considered one of the ablest of his many +state papers. He admitted that Captain Wilkes had done wrong and had +exceeded his instructions, but asserted that "this government has +neither meditated, nor practised, nor approved any deliberate wrong +in the transaction to which they have called its attention, and, on +the contrary, that what has happened has been simply an inadvertency, +consisting in the departure by the naval officer, free from any wrongful +motive, from a rule uncertainly established, and probably by the +several parties concerned either imperfectly understood or entirely +unknown. For this error the British government has a right to expect +the same reparation that we, as an independent state, should expect +from Great Britain or any other friendly nation in a similar case.... +If I decide this case in favor of my own government, I must disavow +its most cherished principles, and reverse and forever abandon its +essential policy. The country cannot afford the sacrifice. If I maintain +those principles and adhere to that policy, I must surrender the case +itself.... The four persons in question are now held in military custody +at Fort Warren, in the State of Massachusetts. They will be cheerfully +liberated." + +Thus, through Lincoln's penetration and judgment, a great international +peril was not only averted, but Great Britain was forced to relinquish +her own contentions and adopt the American doctrine respecting this +class of neutral rights. + +There were frequent matters of controversy between the British Foreign +Office and the Department of State at Washington during the four years +of war because of the systematic violation of the neutrality laws by +English subjects, and they were aggravated by the unconcealed sympathy +of the British people with the Confederate States. Our government was +ably represented in London by Charles Francis Adams, in whom Lincoln had +great confidence, and his voluminous instructions from time to time, +although prepared by Secretary Seward, were always carefully revised by +the President. Altogether, the diplomatic correspondence during that +period, both in matters of controversy and particularly concerning +offers of mediation in our affairs made by the European powers, shows a +diplomatic penetration and skill which excite the admiration of students. + +Among other perplexing questions with which he was compelled to deal +was the invasion of Mexico and the attempt to establish an empire at +the city of the Montezumas. The President took the most positive and +determined ground in support of the Monroe doctrine--more advanced +than had been attempted at that time. He expressed an unqualified +disapproval of the French invasion; and, although he was not in a +position to intervene with force, lost no opportunity of making known +to the other powers of Europe, and through our minister in Paris to +the Emperor of France himself, that the movement to erect a monarchy +on American soil was repugnant to the United States. To strengthen his +position he suggested that Governor Dennison, who was to be chairman +of the Baltimore Convention in 1864, give a strong endorsement of the +Monroe doctrine in his opening speech, and that the Convention adopt +a resolution declaring that the people of the United States would not +permit the overthrow of a republican government or the establishment of +a monarchy upon the Western continent. + +Early in 1865 Lincoln and Secretary Seward received three peace +commissioners from the Confederacy--Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell,--who +wanted the President to recognize the Southern Confederacy as a foreign +government. Mr. Hunter urged this very strongly, declaring that the +recognition of Jefferson Davis's official authority to make a treaty +was an indispensable step to peace, and referred to the correspondence +between King Charles I. and his Parliament as a trustworthy precedent. +When Mr. Hunter made this point, Lincoln looked up quickly and +remarked,-- + +"Upon questions of history I must refer you to Mr. Seward, for he is +posted on such things and I do not profess to be; but it is my distinct +recollection that, as a result of that correspondence, Charles lost his +head." + +One of the most remarkable examples of Lincoln's tact and diplomacy +is found in his treatment of a Cabinet crisis in December, 1862, when +the danger of a permanent division of the Republican party into two +hostile factions seemed imminent and unavoidable. As the reader has +already learned from this narrative, the Cabinet was never harmonious +or united. It was divided by personal jealousies and rivalries as +well as by differences concerning matters of policy from the day +of the inauguration. Gradually Mr. Seward became the leader of the +conservative and Mr. Chase of the radical element of the Republican +party, and while both conducted the business of their departments with +patriotism, ability, and skill, they were not only mutually hostile, +but suspected each other's motives. From a very early day Mr. Chase +became an outspoken candidate for the Presidential nomination against +Lincoln, and his criticism, as we have learned in Chapter V., included +his fellow-members of the Cabinet. Mr. Seward, on the other hand, was +loyal to the President, but had given great offence to the radical +element of his party by some of his published despatches and private +utterances, particularly one diplomatic note in which he had included +the antislavery men with the secessionists as responsible for bringing +on the war. The dissatisfaction was aggravated by other offences to such +a degree that the Republicans of the Senate called a caucus to consider +the matter and passed a resolution demanding the dismissal of Mr. Seward +from the Cabinet. The cooler members of the Senate succeeded in having +this action reconsidered and a substitute resolution adopted requesting +a reconstruction of the official family. The meaning and intention +of the caucus, however, could not be concealed by this indefinite +resolution, and as soon as Mr. Seward learned of the proceeding, he +and his son, who was Assistant Secretary of State, tendered their +resignations. The President tucked them into a pigeonhole of his desk +without comment. + +The following morning a caucus committee waited upon the President +and presented the resolution, each Senator, in turn, submitting his +personal views as to the unfitness of the Secretary of State to remain +in the administration, chiefly because of his lack of interest in +antislavery measures under consideration which they considered essential +to a successful prosecution of the war. Lincoln listened to them with +respectful attention, asked an opportunity for reflection, and invited +them to return to the White House in the evening for his reply. He +called the Cabinet, except Mr. Seward, together at the same hour, and +when the committee and the ministers met each was greatly surprised to +see the others. + +[Illustration: SALMON P. CHASE, SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY + +From a photograph by Brady] + +The President remarked that he thought it best to fight it out and have +it over, and was determined that every point of difference between them +should be exposed and explained before his guests separated. He read the +resolution of the caucus and then called upon the Senators to explain +themselves, which they did with earnestness. The Cabinet replied with +equal candor,--all except Secretary Chase, who found himself in a +very embarrassing position, because he had been chiefly instrumental +in creating the dissatisfaction by misrepresenting the opinions of +Seward and the rest of his colleagues to his friends in the Senate. He +could not deny it, for the witnesses were present; nor could he defend +himself for doing so. He could only protest against being entrapped in a +mortifying predicament and express his regret that he had attended the +meeting. Without malice, but with the hope of correcting the bad habits +of his Secretary of the Treasury, the President had made sure that he +should be present. + +When everybody had said all that he had to say, Lincoln astonished them +by announcing that he intended to take a vote, and he put the question +directly whether, after the explanations which had been heard, Mr. +Seward should be excused. Senators Grimes, Trumbull, Sumner, and Pomeroy +voted "Yes," Senator Harris "No," and Senators Collamer, Fessenden, and +Howard declined to vote. Mr. Wade, the other member of the committee, +was absent. + +The President decided that the vote had been in favor of Mr. Seward. +While the Senators realized that the President had outwitted them, they, +nevertheless, left the White House satisfied that Seward's position +was untenable, and that after this incident he would be compelled +voluntarily to retire from the Cabinet. As the committee was leaving +the President's room, Senator Trumbull, with great vehemence, accused +Mr. Chase of double-dealing, and the latter, having no defence to the +charge, tendered his resignation the following morning, and was very +much surprised at the alacrity with which the President received it. + +When the Cabinet retired, Lincoln took the resignation of Mr. Seward +from his desk and, holding it up beside that of Mr. Chase, remarked to a +personal friend to whom he had briefly sketched the situation,-- + +"Now I can ride. I have got a pumpkin in each end of my bag." + +A few moments after he sat down at his desk, with his own hand made two +copies of the following note, and sent one to Mr. Seward and the other +to Mr. Chase by messenger: + +"You have respectively tendered me your resignation as Secretary of +State and Secretary of the Treasury of the United States. I am apprized +of the circumstances which render this course personally desirable to +each of you; but, after the most anxious consideration, my deliberate +judgment is that the public interest does not admit of it. I therefore +have to request that you will resume the duties of your departments +respectively." + +Mr. Seward at once recognized the situation and wrote the President, +saying, "I have cheerfully resumed the functions of this department in +obedience to your command," and sent a copy of the note to the Secretary +of the Treasury. + +Mr. Chase, however, was not so frank. He realized that he had made a +serious mistake, and by his duplicity had lost the confidence of the +Republican leaders of the Senate as well as that of his colleagues +in the Cabinet. He suspected that Mr. Seward had somehow obtained an +advantage of him, and he was not sure which way he had better turn; +so he asked time for reflection, and finally wrote a long letter to +the President explaining his situation and his views, and concluded by +saying that he thought both Mr. Seward and himself had better retire. He +did not send the letter at once, but held it until the following day; +and when he learned that Seward's resignation was withdrawn, enclosed it +in another note stating that, while he had not changed his views, he was +ready to resume his post or to retire from it if, in the judgment of the +President, the success of the administration might be promoted thereby. + +This was the end of the episode. The President had cleared up the +misunderstanding between the Cabinet and the Senate and the members of +his own official family by a novel expedient which is often adopted to +reconcile quarrels between children, but was altogether new in diplomacy +and statesmanship. Both sides to the controversy were conscious that +they had placed themselves in the wrong, and, even under their chagrin, +must have recognized the humor of the situation and the diplomatic skill +with which Lincoln had handled it. The President himself was very proud +of his triumph. + +"I do not see how it could have been better," he said afterwards. "If I +had yielded to the storm and dismissed Seward, the thing would all have +slumped over one way, and we should have been left with a scanty handful +of supporters. When Chase gave in his resignation I saw that the game +was in my hands, and I put it through." + +In this case and frequently throughout his administration the President +resorted to the old-fashioned and homely but sensible methods that were +commonly resorted to on the frontier to settle controversies between +neighbors when the courts were scattered and litigation was considered +disreputable. They were new in the administration of a government, but +were none the less effective. + +Lincoln frequently showed that he could easily avoid a direct answer +and evade inquisitive visitors when he thought it was impolitic to make +known his opinions. One of the latter wanted to know his opinion of +Sheridan, who had just come from the West to take command of the cavalry +under Grant. Said Lincoln,-- + +"I will tell you just what kind of a chap he is. He is one of those +long-armed fellows with short legs that can scratch his shins without +having to stoop over to do so." + +One day, when the vain boasting of a certain general was the subject of +discussion, Lincoln was "reminded" of a farmer out in Illinois who was +in the habit of bragging about everything he did and had and saw, and +particularly about his crops. While driving along the road during the +haying season, he noticed one of his neighbors hauling a load of hay +into his barn. He could not resist the opportunity, and commenced to +brag about the size of his hay crop, which, as usual, he asserted to be +larger and better than any ever before known in the county. After he had +finished he asked what kind of a crop his neighbor had put in. + +"The biggest crop you ever see!" was the prompt reply. "I've got so much +hay I don't know what to do with it. I've piled up all I can out-doors +and am going to put the rest of it in the barn." + +Robert Dale Owen, the spiritualist, once read the President a long +manuscript on an abstruse subject with which that rather erratic person +loved to deal. Lincoln listened patiently until the author asked for his +opinion, when he replied, with a yawn,-- + +"Well, for those who like that sort of thing, I should think it is just +about the sort of thing they would like." + +While Lincoln was always very patient, he often adopted droll methods +for getting rid of bores. The late Justice Cartter of the Supreme Court +of the District of Columbia used to relate an incident of a Philadelphia +man who called at the White House so frequently and took up so much of +the President's time that the latter finally lost his patience. One day +when the gentleman was particularly verbose and persistent, and refused +to leave, although he knew that important delegations were waiting, +Lincoln arose, walked over to a wardrobe in the corner of the cabinet +chamber, and took a bottle from a shelf. Looking gravely at his visitor, +whose head was very bald, he remarked,-- + +"Did you ever try this stuff for your hair?" + +"No, sir, I never did." + +"Well," remarked Lincoln, "I advise you to try it, and I will give you +this bottle. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Keep it up. +They say it will make hair grow on a pumpkin. Now take it and come back +in eight or ten months and tell me how it works." + +The astonished Philadelphian left the room instantly without a word, +carrying the bottle in his hand, and Judge Cartter, coming in with the +next delegation, found the President doubled up with laughter at the +success of his strategy. Before he could proceed to business the story +had to be told. + +"His skill in parrying troublesome questions was wonderful," said Mr. +Chauncey M. Depew. "I was in Washington at a critical period of the +war, when the late John Ganson, of Buffalo, one of the ablest lawyers +in our State, and who, though elected as a Democrat, supported all Mr. +Lincoln's war measures, called on him for explanations. Mr. Ganson was +very bald, with a perfectly smooth face, and had a most direct and +aggressive way of stating his views or of demanding what he thought he +was entitled to. He said,-- + +"'Mr. Lincoln, I have supported all of your measures and think I am +entitled to your confidence. We are voting and acting in the dark in +Congress, and I demand to know--I think I have the right to ask and +to know--what is the present situation and what are the prospects and +conditions of the several campaigns and armies.' + +"Mr. Lincoln looked at him quizzically for a moment, and then said, +'Ganson, how clean you shave!' + +"Most men would have been offended, but Ganson was too broad and +intelligent a man not to see the point and retire at once, satisfied, +from the field." + +Senator Fessenden came from the Capitol, one day, in a terrible rage +because Mr. Lincoln had made certain promises, in matters of patronage, +which he considered unjust to himself, and reproached and denounced the +President in intemperate language. Mr. Lincoln made no explanation or +reply, but listened calmly until the fury of the storm was spent, when, +in his droll way, he inquired,-- + +"You are an Episcopalian, aren't you, Fessenden?" + +"Yes, sir. I belong to that church." + +"I thought so. You Episcopalians all swear alike. Seward is an +Episcopalian; Stanton is a Presbyterian. You ought to hear him swear." +And he continued to describe the several varieties of swearing and the +nice distinctions between different kinds of profanity in the most +philosophical manner, until Fessenden's fury was extinguished and he +could discuss the reasons for the offensive appointment in a rational +manner. + +A visitor once asked Lincoln how many men the rebels had in the field. + +He replied, very seriously, "Twelve hundred thousand, according to the +best authority." + +"Good heavens!" + +"Yes, sir, twelve hundred thousand--no doubt of it. You see, all of our +generals, when they get whipped, say the enemy outnumbers 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 make twelve. Don't you +see it?" + +When the Sherman expedition which captured Port Royal went out there was +a great curiosity to know where it had gone. A person with ungovernable +curiosity asked the President the destination. + +"Will you keep it entirely secret?" asked the President. + +"Oh, yes, upon my honor." + +"Well," said the President, "I will tell you." Assuming an air of great +mystery, and drawing the man close to him, he kept him waiting the +revelation with great anxiety, and then said in a loud whisper, which +was heard all over the room, "The expedition has gone to--sea." + +A gentleman asked Lincoln to give him a pass through the Federal lines +in order to visit Richmond. "I should be very happy to oblige you," said +the President, "if my passes were respected; but the fact is, within the +past two years I have given passes to Richmond to two hundred and fifty +thousand men and not one has got there yet." + +A New York firm applied to Lincoln some years before he became President +for information as to the financial standing of one of his neighbors. +This was the answer: + + "Yours of the 10th received. First of all, he has a wife + and baby; together they ought to be worth $500,000 to any man. + Secondly, he has an office in which there is a table worth + $1.50 and three chairs worth, say, $1. Last of all there is + in one corner a large rat hole, which will bear looking into. + Respectfully, + + "A. LINCOLN." + +A certain Senator once called at the White House to persuade Lincoln +to issue an order to the Secretary of War to pay a constituent of his +a considerable sum of money for services which clearly he had not +rendered, the amount being claimed on the ground that he would have +rendered them if he had been permitted to do so. Lincoln heard the +statement of facts and the argument with his usual patience and rendered +his decision as follows: + +"Years ago when imprisonment for debt was legal in some States a +poor fellow was sent to jail by his creditors and compelled to serve +out his debt at the rate of a dollar and a half per day. Knowing the +exact amount of the debt, he carefully calculated the time he would be +required to serve. When the sentence had expired he informed his jailer +of the fact, and asked to be released. The jailer insisted upon keeping +him four days longer. Upon making up his statement, however, he found +that the man was right, and that he had served four days longer than +his sentence required. The prisoner then demanded not only a receipt +in full of his debt, but also payment for four days' extra service, +amounting to six dollars, which he declared the county owed him. + +"Now," said Lincoln, "I think your client has just about as good a claim +for the money as he had." + +"I am very much of your opinion, Mr. President," said the Senator, +soberly, as he retired. + +Mr. Charles A. Dana, Assistant Secretary of War, says, "A spy whom we +employed to report to us the proceedings of the Confederate government +and its agents, and who passed continually between Richmond and St. +Catherines, reporting at the War Department upon the way, had come in +from Canada and had put into my hands an important despatch from Mr. +Clement C. Clay, Jr., addressed to Mr. Benjamin. Of course the seal +was broken and the paper read immediately. It showed unequivocally +that the Confederate agents in Canada were making use of that country +as a starting-point for warlike raids which were to be directed +against frontier towns like St. Albans in Vermont. Mr. Stanton thought +it important that this despatch should be retained as a ground of +reclamation to be addressed to the British government. It was on a +Sunday that it arrived, and he was confined to his house by a cold. At +his direction I went over to the President and made an appointment with +him to be at the Secretary's office after church. At the appointed time +he was there, and I read the despatch to them. Mr. Stanton stated the +reasons why it should be retained, and before deciding the question Mr. +Lincoln turned to me, saying,-- + +"'Well, Dana?' + +"I observed to them that this was a very important channel of +communication, and that if we stopped such a despatch as this it was at +the risk of never obtaining any more information through that means. + +"'Oh,' said the President, 'I think you can manage that. Capture the +messenger, take the despatch from him by force, put him in prison, and +then let him escape. If he has made Benjamin and Clay believe his lies +so far, he won't have any difficulty in telling them new ones that will +answer for this case.' + +"This direction was obeyed. The paper was sealed up again and was +delivered to its bearer. General Augur, who commanded the District, was +directed to look for a Confederate messenger at such a place on the +road that evening. The man was arrested, brought to the War Department, +searched, the paper found upon him and identified, and he was committed +to the Old Capitol Prison. He made his escape about a week later, being +fired upon by the guard. A large reward for his capture was advertised +in various papers East and West, and when he reached St. Catherines with +his arm in a sling, wounded by a bullet which had passed through it, his +story was believed by Messrs. Clay and Jacob Thompson, or, at any rate, +if they had any doubts upon the subject, they were not strong enough to +prevent his carrying their messages afterward. + +"The last time I saw Mr. Lincoln to speak with him," continued Mr. Dana, +"was in the afternoon of the day of his murder. The same Jacob Thompson +was the subject of our conversation. I had received a report from the +Provost-Marshal of Portland, Maine, saying that Jacob Thompson was to +be in that town that night for the purpose of taking the steamer for +Liverpool, and what orders had the Department to give? I carried the +telegram to Mr. Stanton. He said promptly, 'Arrest him;' but as I was +leaving his room he called me back, adding, 'You had better take it +over to the President.' It was now between four and five o'clock in the +afternoon and business at the White House was completed for the day. I +found Mr. Lincoln with his coat off, in a closet attached to his office, +washing his hands. 'Halloo, Dana,' said he, as I opened the door, +'what is it now?' 'Well, sir,' I said, 'here is the Provost-Marshal +of Portland, who reports that Jacob Thompson is to be in that town +to-night, and inquires what orders we have to give.' 'What does Stanton +say?' he asked. + +'Arrest him,' I replied. 'Well,' he continued, drawling his words, 'I +rather guess not. When you have an elephant on hand, and he wants to run +away, better let him run.'" + +When a friend brought to his attention the fact that Secretary Chase +was seeking the nomination for President, the President accepted the +announcement with the utmost good-humor, and said,-- + +"My half-brother was once ploughing corn on a Kentucky farm. I was +driving the horse and he holding the plough. The horse was lazy, but +on one occasion rushed across the field so fast that I, even with my +long legs, could hardly keep pace with him. On reaching the end of the +furrow, I found an enormous chin-fly fastened upon him, and knocked him +off. My brother asked me what I did that for. I told him I didn't want +the old horse bitten in that way. 'Why,' said he, 'that's what makes him +go.' If Mr. Chase has a Presidential chin-fly biting him, I'm not going +to knock him off, if it will only make his department go." + +Coming into the President's room one day, Mr. Stanton said that he +had received a telegram from General Mitchell, in Alabama, asking +instructions. He did not quite understand the situation down there, but, +having full confidence in Mitchell's judgment, had answered, "All right; +go ahead." + +"Now, Mr. President," he added, "if I have made an error, I shall have +to get you to countermand the order." + +"Once at the cross-roads down in Kentucky, when I was a boy, a +particularly fine horse was to be sold," replied Lincoln. "They had +a small boy to ride him up and down. One man whispered to the boy as +he went by, 'Look here, boy, hain't that horse got splints?' The boy +replied, 'Mister, I don't know what splints is; but if it's good for him +he's got it, and if it ain't good for him he ain't got it.' Now," added +Lincoln, "I understand that if this is good for Mitchell it's all right, +but if it's not I have got to countermand it." + +To a deputation who urged that his Cabinet should be reconstructed +after the retirement of Secretary Cameron, the President told this +story: "Gentlemen, when I was a young man I used to know very well one +Joe Wilson, who built himself a log cabin not far from where I lived. +Joe was very fond of eggs and chickens, and he took a very great deal +of pains in fitting up a poultry shed. Having at length got together a +choice lot of young fowls,--of which he was very proud,--he began to be +much annoyed by the depredations of those little black-and-white-spotted +animals which it is not necessary to name. One night Joe was awakened +by an unusual cackling and fluttering among his chickens. Getting up, +he crept out to see what was going on. It was a bright moonlight night, +and he soon caught sight of half a dozen of the little pests, which, +with their dam, were running in and out of the shadow of the shed. Very +wrathy, Joe put a double charge into his old musket and thought he would +'clean Out' the whole tribe at one shot. Somehow he only killed one, and +the balance scampered off across the field. In telling the story Joe +would always pause here and hold his nose. 'Why didn't you follow them +up and kill the rest?' inquired his neighbors. 'Blast it,' said Joe, 'it +was eleven weeks before I got over killin' one. If you want any more +skirmishing in that line you can do it yourselves!'" + +On one occasion some of Lincoln's friends were talking of the diminutive +stature of Stephen A. Douglas, and an argument as to the proper length +of a man's legs. During the discussion Lincoln came in, and it was +agreed that the question should be referred to him for decision. + +"Well," said he, reflectively, "I should think a man's legs ought to be +long enough to reach from his body to the ground." + +A day or two before his inauguration a delegation of merchants and +bankers who had been sent to the Peace Congress called upon Lincoln to +remonstrate against the use of force to restrain the South, and to plead +for a conciliatory policy towards the slave-holders. Mr. William E. +Dodge declared that the whole world was anxiously awaiting the inaugural +address, and added, "It is for you, sir, to say whether the nation shall +be plunged into bankruptcy, and whether the grass shall grow in the +streets of our commercial cities." + +"Then I say it shall not," Lincoln answered coolly, with a twinkle in +his eye. "If it depends upon me, the grass will not grow anywhere except +in the fields and meadows." + +"Then you must yield to the just demands of the South," declared Mr. +Dodge." You must leave her to control her own institutions. You will +admit slave States into the Union on the same conditions as free States. +You will not go to war on account of slavery." + +A sad but stern expression swept over Lincoln's face. "I do not know +that I understand your meaning, Mr. Dodge," he answered, without raising +his voice; "nor do I know what my acts or my opinions may be in the +future, beyond this. If I ever come to the great office of the President +of the United States, I shall take an oath. I shall swear that I will +faithfully execute the office of the President of the United States, and +that I will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend +the Constitution of the United States. That is a great and solemn duty. +With the support of the people and the assistance of the Almighty I +shall undertake to perform it. It is not the Constitution as I should +like to have it, but as it is, that is to be defended. The Constitution +will be preserved and defended until it is enforced and obeyed in every +part of every one of the United States. It must be so respected, obeyed, +and enforced and defended, let the grass grow where it may." + +In 1862 the people of New York City feared bombardment by Confederate +cruisers, and public meetings were held to consider the gravity of +the situation. Finally a delegation of fifty gentlemen, representing +hundreds of millions of dollars, was selected to go to Washington and +persuade the President to detail a gunboat to protect their property. +David Davis, while on the Supreme Bench, went to the White House and +presented them to the President. + +Mr. Lincoln heard them attentively, much impressed, apparently, by the +"hundreds of millions." When they had concluded, he said,-- + +"Gentlemen, I am, by the Constitution, Commander-in-Chief of the Army +and the Navy of the United States, and as a matter of law I can order +anything to be done that is practicable to be done. I am in command of +the gunboats and ships of war; but, as a matter of fact, I do not know +exactly where they are. I presume they are actively engaged, and it +therefore is impossible for me to furnish you a gunboat. 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 were worth half as much as you gentlemen are represented to be, and as +badly frightened as you seem to be, I would build a gunboat and give it +to the government." + +Judge Davis said he never saw one hundred millions sink to such +insignificant proportions as it did when the delegation left the White +House. + + + + +X + +LINCOLN'S PHILOSOPHY, MORALS, AND RELIGION + + +Abraham Lincoln has left us abundant testimony in words and works of +his code of morals and religious creed. He was a man of keen perception +of right and wrong, of acute conscience and deep religious sentiment, +although he was not "orthodox." He declined to join a church because +of conscientious scruples. He would not confess a faith that was not +in him. His reason forbade him to accept some of the doctrines taught +by the Baptist and Christian churches, to which his parents belonged, +and the Presbyterian denomination, of which his wife was a member. +Nevertheless, he was regular and reverential in his attendance upon +worship. Shortly after his marriage he rented a pew in the First +Presbyterian Church of Springfield, and occupied it with his wife and +children at the service each Sunday morning unless detained by illness. +In Washington he was an habitual attendant of the New York Avenue +Presbyterian Church, and his pastor, the Reverend Dr. Gurley, who +was also his intimate friend, tells us that he was "a true believer" +and "entirely without guile." One of Lincoln's mental traits was his +inability to accept or put aside a proposition until he understood it. +His conscience required him to see his way clearly before making a +start, and his honesty of soul would not allow him to make a pretence +that was not well founded. No consideration or argument would induce him +to abandon a line of conduct or accept a theory which his analytical +powers or sense of caution taught him to doubt. + +From his mother he inherited a rigid honesty which was demanded by +public opinion in early days and was the safeguard of the frontier. +There were no locks upon the cabin doors nor upon the stables. A man +who committed a theft would not be tolerated in a community, and if +he took a horse or a cow or any article which was necessary for the +sustenance of a family he was outlawed, if he escaped with his life. +Merchants never thought of locking up their stores, and often left +them entirely unprotected for days at a time while they went to the +nearest source of supply to replenish their stock or were absent for +other reasons. If their patrons found no one to serve them, they helped +themselves, and, as prices varied little from year to year, they were +able to judge for themselves of the value of the goods, and reported the +purchase and paid the bill the next time they found the merchant at home. + +When Abraham Lincoln was clerking for Denton Offutt, he walked three +miles one evening after the store was closed to return a sixpence which +had been overpaid. On another occasion he gave four ounces for half a +pound of tea and delivered the difference before he slept. For this and +other acts of the same sort he became known as "Honest Old Abe," but he +was no more conspicuous for that quality than many of his neighbors. He +was the type and representative of a community which not only respected +but required honesty, and were extremely critical and intolerant +towards moral delinquencies. Accustomed all their lives to face danger +and grapple with the mysterious forces of nature, their personal and +moral courage were qualities without which no man could be a leader +or have influence. A liar, a coward, a swindler, and an insincere man +were detected and branded with public contempt. Courage and truth were +commonplace and recognized as essential to manhood. + +Abraham Lincoln's originality, fearlessness, and self-confidence, his +unerring perceptions of right and wrong, made him a leader and gave +him an influence which other men did not have. He was born in the same +poverty and ignorance, he grew up in the same environment, and his +muscles were developed by the same labor as his neighbors', but his +mental powers were much keener and acute, his ambition was much higher, +and a consciousness of intellectual superiority sustained him in his +efforts to rise above his surroundings and take the place his genius +warranted. Throughout his entire life he adhered to the code of the +frontier. As a lawyer he would not undertake a case unless it was a good +one. He often said he was a very poor man on a poor case. His sense of +justice had to be aroused before he could do his best. If his client +were wrong, he endeavored to settle the dispute the best way he could +without going into court; if the evidence had been misrepresented to +him, he would throw up the case in the midst of the trial and return the +fee. The public knowledge of that fact gave him great influence with the +courts and kept bad clients away from him. + +To a man who once offered him a case the merits of which he did not +appreciate, he made, according to his partner, Mr. Herndon, the +following response: + +"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 rightly belong, it appears to me, as much to them +as it does to you. I shall not take your case, but I will give you a +little advice for nothing. You seem a sprightly, energetic man. I would +advise you to try your hand at making six hundred dollars in some other +way." + +He carried this code of morals into the Legislature, and there are +several current anecdotes of his refusal to engage in schemes that were +not creditable. On one occasion a caucus was held for consultation over +a proposition Lincoln did not approve. The discussion lasted until +midnight, but he took no part in it. Finally, an appeal was made to +him by his colleagues, who argued that the end would justify the means. +Lincoln closed the debate and defined his own position by saying,-- + +"You may burn my body to ashes and scatter them to the winds of heaven; +you may drag my soul down to the regions of darkness and despair to be +tormented forever; but you will never get me to support a measure which +I believe to be wrong, although by doing so I may accomplish that which +I believe to be right." + +Lincoln did not often indulge in hysterical declamation, but that +sentence is worth quoting because it contains his moral code. + +As President he was called upon to deliver a reprimand to an officer who +had been tried by court-martial for quarrelling. It was probably the +"gentlest," say his biographers, Nicolay and Hay, "ever recorded in the +annals of penal discourses." It was as follows: + +"The advice of a father to his son, 'Beware of entrance to a quarrel, +but, being in, bear it that the opposed may beware of thee!' is good, +but not the best. Quarrel not at all. No man resolved to make the most +of himself can spare time for personal contention. Still less can he +afford to take all the consequences, including the vitiating of his +temper and the loss of self-control. Yield larger things to which you +can show no more than equal right, and yield lesser ones, though clearly +your own. Better give your path to a dog than be bitten by him in +contesting for the right. Even killing the dog would not cure the bite." + +Even as a boy in Indiana he acquired a reputation for gentleness, +kindness, and good-nature. He was appealed to by people in trouble, and +his great physical strength and quick intelligence made him a valuable +aid on all occasions. Once he saved the life of the town drunkard, +whom he found freezing by the roadside on a winter night. Picking +him up in his arms, he carried him to the nearest tavern and worked +over him until he revived. The people who lived in the neighborhood +of Gentryville, Indiana, and New Salem, Illinois, where his early +life was spent, have many traditions of his unselfishness and helpful +disposition. He chopped wood for poor widows and sat up all night with +the sick; if a wagon stuck in the mud, he was always the first to offer +assistance, and his powerful arms were equal to those of any three men +in the town. When he was living at the Rutledge tavern at New Salem he +was always willing to give up his bed to a traveller when the house +was full, and to sleep on a counter in his store. He never failed to +be present at a "moving," and would neglect his own business to help a +neighbor out of difficulty. His sympathetic disposition and tender tact +enabled him to enter the lives of the people and give them assistance +without offence, and he was never so happy as when he was doing good. + +His religious training was limited. His father and mother, while in +Kentucky, belonged to the sect known as Free-will Baptists, and when +they went to Indiana they became members of the Predestinarian Church, +as it was called; not from any change in belief, but because it was the +only denomination in the neighborhood. Public worship was very rare, +being held only when an itinerant preacher visited that section. Notice +of his approach would be sent throughout the neighborhood for twenty +miles around, and the date would be fixed as far in advance as possible. +When the preacher appeared he would find the entire population gathered +in camp at the place of meeting, which was usually at cross-roads +where there were fodder for the horses and water for man and beast. +After morning preaching people from the same neighborhood or intimate +acquaintances would gather in groups, open their lunch-baskets, and +picnic together. At the afternoon service children and "confessors" +would be baptized, and towards night the party would separate for their +homes, refreshed in faith and uplifted in spirit. + +When Thomas Lincoln removed to Illinois he united with the Christian +church commonly called "Campbellites," and in that faith he died. + +Abraham Lincoln's belief was clear and fixed so far as it went, but he +rejected important dogmas which are considered essential to salvation +by some of the evangelistic denominations. "Whenever any church will +inscribe over its altar as a qualification for membership the Saviour's +statement of the substance of the law and Gospel, 'Thou shall love the +Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy +mind, and thy neighbour as thyself,' that church will I join with all my +heart and soul." + +He was an habitual reader of the Bible. He was more familiar with its +contents than most clergymen, and considered it the highest example of +literature in existence as well as the highest code of morals. His study +of the Bible and familiarity with its pages are shown in his literary +style and frequent quotations. In 1864 he wrote his old friend, Joshua +Speed, "I am profitably engaged reading the Bible. Take all of this book +upon reason that you can and the balance upon faith and you will live +and die a better man." + +He had no sympathy with theologians. He frequently declared that it was +blasphemy for a preacher to "twist the words of Christ around so as to +sustain his own doctrine," and often remarked that "the more a man knew +of theology the farther he got away from the true spirit of Christ." + +"John," he one day said to a friend, "it depends a great deal how you +state a case. When Daniel Webster did it, it was half argument. Now, +you take the subject of predestination, for example. You may state it +one way and you cannot make much out of it; you state it another and it +seems quite reasonable." + +When he was a young man at New Salem in 1834 Thomas Paine's "Age of +Reason" and Volney's "Ruines" made a great impression upon him, and +he prepared a review of these books, which it is supposed he intended +to read before a literary society that had been organized in the +neighborhood. His friend, Samuel Hill, with his old-fashioned notions +of atheism, got hold of the manuscript and burned it. Lincoln was quite +indignant at the time, but afterwards admitted that Hill had done him +a service. This incident has often been cited as evidence that Lincoln +was an agnostic, just as other incidents in his life have been used +to prove that he was a spiritualist, and still others that he was a +Freemason; but he was none of them. He commended Masonry, but never +joined that order; his inquisitive mind led him to investigate certain +spiritualistic phenomena, and his essay at New Salem was nothing more +than a presentation of the views of two famous unbelievers without +personal endorsement. + +Like Napoleon, Wellington, Bismarck, and other famous men, Lincoln was +very superstitious. That peculiarity appeared frequently during his +life. Even to the very day of his death, as related in Chapter VII., he +told his Cabinet and General Grant of a dream which he was accustomed to +have before important events in the war. A curious incident is related +in his own language: + +"A very singular occurrence took place the day I was nominated at +Chicago, four years ago, of which I am reminded to-night. In the +afternoon of the day, returning home from down town, I went upstairs +to Mrs. Lincoln's reading-room. Feeling somewhat tired, I lay down +upon a couch in the room, directly opposite a bureau, upon which was +a looking-glass. As I reclined, my eye fell upon the glass, and I saw +distinctly two images of myself, exactly alike, except that one was a +little paler than the other. I arose, and lay down again with the same +result. It made me quite uncomfortable for a few moments, but, some +friends coming in, the matter passed out of my mind. The next day, while +walking on the street, I was suddenly reminded of the circumstance, +and the disagreeable sensation produced by it returned. I had never +seen anything of the kind before, and did not know what to make of it. +I determined to go home and place myself in the same position, and if +the same effect was produced, I would make up my mind that it was the +natural result of some principle of refraction of optics which I did not +understand, and dismiss it. I tried the experiment, with a like result; +and, as I had said to myself, accounting for it on some principle +unknown to me, it ceased to trouble me. But some time ago I tried to +produce the same effect here by arranging a glass and couch in the same +position, without success." + +He did not say, at this time, that either he or Mrs. Lincoln attached +any significance to the phenomenon, but it is known that Mrs. Lincoln +regarded it as a sign that the President would be re-elected. + +President Lincoln once invited a famous medium to display his alleged +supernatural powers at the White House, several members of the Cabinet +being present. For the first half-hour the demonstrations were of +a physical character. At length rappings were heard beneath the +President's feet, and the medium stated that an Indian desired to +communicate with him. + +"I shall be happy to hear what his Indian majesty has to say," replied +the President, "for I have very recently received a deputation of our +red brethren, and it was the only delegation, black, white, or blue, +which did not volunteer some advice about the conduct of the war." + +The medium then called for a pencil and paper, which were laid upon the +table and afterwards covered with a handkerchief. Presently knocks were +heard and the paper was uncovered. To the surprise of all present, it +read as follows: + +"Haste makes waste, but delays cause vexations. Give vitality by energy. +Use every means to subdue. Proclamations are useless. Make a bold +front and fight the enemy; leave traitors at home to the care of loyal +men. Less note of preparation, less parade and policy talk, and more +action.--Henry Knox." + +"That is not Indian talk," said the President. "Who is Henry Knox?" + +The medium, speaking in a strange voice, replied, "The first Secretary +of War." + +"Oh, yes; General Knox," said the President. "Stanton, that message is +for you; it is from your predecessor. I should like to ask General Knox +when this rebellion will be put down." + +The answer was oracularly indefinite. The medium then called up +Napoleon, who thought one thing, Lafayette another, and Franklin +differed from both. + +"Ah!" exclaimed the President; "opinions differ among the saints as +well as among the sinners. Their talk is very much like the talk of my +Cabinet. I should like, if possible, to hear what Judge Douglas says +about this war," said the President. + +After an interval, the medium rose from his chair and, resting his left +hand on the back, his right into his bosom, spoke in a voice no one +could mistake who had ever heard Mr. Douglas. He urged the President to +throw aside all advisers who hesitated about the policy to be pursued, +and said that, if victory were followed up by energetic action, all +would be well. + +"I believe that," said the President, "whether it comes from spirit or +human. It needs not a ghost from the bourne from which no traveller +returns to tell that." + +His taint of superstition, like his tendency to melancholy, was +doubtless inherited from his ancestors and was shared by all sensitive +people whose lives were spent in the mysterious solitude and isolation +of the Western frontier. It is manifested by the denizens of the +forests, the mountains, and the plains, and wherever else sensitive +natures are subjected to loneliness and the company of their own +thoughts. Lincoln's mind was peculiarly sensitive to impressions; his +nature was intensely sympathetic, his imagination was vivid, and his +observation was keen and comprehensive. With all his candor, he was +reticent and secretive in matters that concerned himself, and the +struggle of his early life, his dismal and depressing surroundings, +the death of his mother, and the physical conditions in which he was +born and bred were just the influences to develop the morbid tendency +which was manifested on several occasions in such a manner as to cause +anxiety and even alarm among his friends. He realized the danger of +submitting to it, and the cure invented and prescribed by himself was to +seek for the humorous side of every event and incident and to read all +the humorous books he could find. + +His poetic temperament was developed early and frequently manifested +while he was in the White House. He loved melancholy as well as humorous +poems. He could repeat hymns by the hundreds, and quoted Dr. Watts' and +John Wesley's verses as frequently as he did Shakespeare or Petroleum V. +Nasby or Artemas Ward. His favorite poem was "Oh! Why should the Spirit +of Mortal be Proud." + +Judge Weldon, of the Court of Claims, remembers the first time he heard +him repeat it. "It was during a term of court, in the same year, at +Lincoln, a little town named for Mr. Lincoln. We were all stopping at +the hotel, which had a very big room with four beds, called the lawyers' +room. Some of us thin fellows doubled up; but I remember that Judge +Davis, who was as large then as he was afterwards, when a Justice of the +Supreme Bench, always had a bed to himself. Mr. Lincoln was an early +riser, and one morning, when up early, as usual, and dressed, he sat +before the big old-fashioned fireplace and repeated aloud from memory +that whole hymn. Somebody asked him for the name of the author; but he +said he had never been able to learn who wrote it, but wished he knew. +There were a great many guesses, and some said that Shakespeare must +have written it. But Mr. Lincoln, who was better read in Shakespeare +than any of us, said that they were not Shakespeare's words. I made +a persistent hunt for the author, and years after found the hymn was +written by an Englishman, William Knox, who was born in 1789 and died in +1825." + +All his life Lincoln was a temperance man. His first essay was a +plea for temperance. His second was a eulogy of the Declaration of +Independence. He belonged to the Sons of Temperance in Springfield, and +frequently made temperance speeches. Judge Weldon remembers that he was +once in Mr. Douglas's room at Springfield when Lincoln entered, and, +following the custom, Mr. Douglas produced a bottle and some glasses and +asked his callers to join him in a drink. Lincoln declined on the ground +that for thirty years he had been a temperance man and was too old to +change. Leonard Swett says,-- + +"He told me not more than a year before he was elected President that he +had never tasted liquor in his life. 'What!' I said, 'Do you mean to say +that you never tasted it?' 'Yes,' he replied, 'I never tasted it.'" + +In one of his speeches is found this assertion: "Reasonable men have +long since agreed that intemperance is one of the greatest, if not the +greatest, of all evils of mankind." + +Mr. C. C. Coffin, a famous newspaper writer of that time, who +accompanied the notification committee from the Chicago Convention to +Springfield, related in his newspaper a few days later an incident +that occurred on that occasion. He says that after the exchange of +formalities Lincoln said,-- + +"'Mrs. Lincoln will be pleased to see you, gentlemen. You will find her +in the other room. You must be thirsty after your long ride. You will +find a pitcher of water in the library.' + +"I crossed the hall and entered the library. There were miscellaneous +books on the shelves, two globes, celestial and terrestrial, in the +corners of the room, a plain table with writing materials upon it, a +pitcher of cold water, and glasses, but no wines or liquors. There was +humor in the invitation to take a glass of water, which was explained to +me by a citizen, who said that when it was known that the committee was +coming, several citizens called upon Mr. Lincoln and informed him that +some entertainment must be provided. + +"'Yes, that is so. What ought to be done? Just let me know and I will +attend to it,' he said. + +"'Oh, we will supply the needful liquors,' said his friends. + +"'Gentlemen,' said Mr. Lincoln, 'I thank you for your kind intentions, +but must respectfully decline your offer. I have no liquors in my house, +and have never been in the habit of entertaining my friends in that way. +I cannot permit my friends to do for me what I will not myself do. I +shall provide cold water--nothing else.'" + +Colonel John Hay, one of his secretaries and biographers, says, "Mr. +Lincoln was a man of extremely temperate habits. He made no use of +either whiskey or tobacco during all the years I knew him." + +Mr. John G. Nicolay, his private secretary, says, "During all the five +years of my service as his private secretary I never saw him drink a +glass of whiskey and I never knew or heard of his taking one." + +There is not the slightest doubt that Lincoln believed in a special +Providence. That conviction appears frequently in his speeches and +in his private letters. In the correspondence which passed between +him and Joshua Speed during a period of almost hopeless despondency +and self-abasement, Lincoln frequently expressed the opinion that God +had sent their sufferings for a special purpose. When Speed finally +acknowledged his happiness after marriage, Lincoln wrote, "I always was +superstitious. I believe God made me one of the instruments of bringing +your Fanny and you together, and which union I have no doubt He had +foreordained. Whatever He designs He will do for me yet. Stand still and +see the salvation of the Lord is my text just now." + +Later in life, writing to Thurlow Weed, he said, "Men are not flattered +by being shown that there is a difference of purpose between the +Almighty and themselves. To deny it, however, in this case, is to deny +that there is a God governing the world." + +In one of his speeches he said, "I know that the Lord is always on the +side of the right; but it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and +this nation should be on the Lord's side." + +When he learned that his father was very ill and likely to die, he wrote +his step-brother, John Johnston, regretting his inability to come to his +bedside because of illness in his own family, and added,-- + +"I sincerely hope that 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 the many loved ones gone before, +and where the rest of us, through the help of God, hope ere long to join +them." + +At Columbus, Ohio, he said to the Legislature of that State, convened in +joint session in the hall of the Assembly, "I turn, then, and look to +the American people, and to that God who has never forsaken them." + +In the capital of New Jersey, to the Senate, he said, "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 the struggle was made, and I shall be most happy indeed if I shall +be an humble instrument in the hands of the Almighty, and of this, +His almost chosen people, for perpetuating the object of that great +struggle." + +That he believed in the efficacy of prayer there is no doubt. "I +have been driven many times to my knees," he once remarked, "by the +overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and +that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day." + +A clergyman came to Washington from a little village in Central New York +to recover the body of a gallant young captain who had been killed at +the second battle of Bull Run. Having accomplished his errand, he was +presented at the White House by the representative from his district. +The Congressman at once retired, leaving him alone with Lincoln, who +asked in a pleasant tone what he could do for his visitor. + +"I have not come to ask any favors of you, Mr. President," the latter +replied. "I have only come to say that the loyal people of the North are +sustaining you and will continue to do so. We are giving you all that we +have,--the lives of our sons as well as our confidence and our prayers. +You must know that no pious father or mother ever kneels in prayer these +days without asking God to give you strength and wisdom." + +The tears filled Lincoln's eyes as he thanked his visitor and said, "But +for those prayers I should have faltered and perhaps failed long ago. +Tell every father and mother you know to keep on praying and I will +keep on fighting, for I am sure that God is on our side." + +As the clergyman started to leave the room, Lincoln held him by the hand +and said, "I suppose I may consider this a sort of pastoral call." + +"Yes," replied the clergyman. + +"Out in our country," continued Lincoln, "when a parson made a pastoral +call it was always the custom for the folks to ask him to lead in +prayer, and I should like to ask you to pray with me to-day; pray that I +may have strength and wisdom." The two men knelt side by side before a +settee and the clergyman offered the most fervent appeal to the Almighty +Power that ever fell from his lips. As they rose, Lincoln grasped his +visitor's hand and remarked in a satisfied sort of way,-- + +"I feel better." + +In July, 1863, in Washington, D. C., on the Sunday after the battle +of Gettysburg, General Sickles, who had lost a leg, was brought to +Washington. Lincoln called upon him at the hospital, with his son +Tad, and remained an hour or more. He greeted Sickles heartily and +complimented him on his stout fight at Gettysburg. Sickles asked whether +he was not anxious during the Gettysburg campaign. Lincoln gravely +replied that he was not; that some of his Cabinet and many others in +Washington were, but that he himself had had no fears. General Sickles +inquired his reasons. Lincoln hesitated, but finally replied,-- + +"Well, I will tell you how it was. In the pinch of your campaign up +there, when everybody seemed panic-stricken and nobody could tell +what was going to happen, I went into my room one day and locked the +door, and got down on my knees before Almighty God and prayed to Him +mightily for a victory at Gettysburg. I told God that if we were to +win the battle He must do it, for I had done all I could. I told Him +this was His war, and our cause was His cause, but that we couldn't +stand another Fredericksburg or Chancellorsville. And then and there +made a solemn vow to Almighty God that if He would stand by our boys +at Gettysburg I would stand by Him. And He did, and I will. And after +that--I don't know how it was, and I can't explain it, but soon--a sweet +comfort crept into my soul that things would go all right at Gettysburg, +and that is why I had no fears about you." + +Presently General Sickles asked what news he had from Vicksburg. The +President answered that he had none worth mentioning, but that Grant +was still "pegging away" down there. He said he thought a good deal of +him as a general and was not going to remove him, although urged to do +so. "Besides," he added, "I have been praying over Vicksburg also, and +believe our Heavenly Father is going to give us victory there, too, +because we need it to bisect the Confederacy and have the Mississippi +flow unvexed to the sea." + +John G. Nicolay, who probably knew Lincoln as thoroughly and was as +familiar with his opinions as any one, said,-- + +"I do not remember ever having discussed religion with Mr. Lincoln, nor +do I know of any authorized statement of his views in existence. He +sometimes talked freely, and never made any concealment of his belief +or unbelief in any dogma or doctrine, but never provoked religious +controversies. I speak more from his disposition and habits than from +any positive declaration on his part. He frequently made remarks about +sermons he had heard, books he had read, or doctrines that had been +advanced, and my opinion as to his religious belief is based upon such +casual evidences. There is not the slightest doubt that he believed in a +Supreme Being of omnipotent power and omniscient watchfulness over the +children of men, and that this great Being could be reached by prayer. +Mr. Lincoln was a praying man; I know that to be a fact. And I have +heard him request people to pray for him, which he would not have done +had he not believed that prayer is answered. Many a time have I heard +Mr. Lincoln ask ministers and Christian women to pray for him, and he +did not do this for effect. He was no hypocrite, and had such reverence +for sacred things that he would not trifle with them. I have heard him +say that he prayed for this or that, and remember one occasion on which +he remarked that if a certain thing did not occur he would lose his +faith in prayer. + +"It is a matter of history that he told the Cabinet he had promised his +Maker to issue an emancipation proclamation, and it was not an idle +remark. At the same time he did not believe in some of the dogmas of +the orthodox churches. I have heard him argue against the doctrine of +atonement, for example. He considered it illogical and unjust and a +premium upon evil-doing if a man who had been wicked all his life could +make up for it by a few words or prayers at the hour of death; and he +had no faith in death-bed repentances. He did not believe in several +other articles of the creeds of the orthodox churches. He believed +in the Bible, however. He was a constant reader of the Bible and had +great faith in it, but he did not believe that its entire contents +were inspired. He used to consider it the greatest of all text-books +of morals and ethics, and that there was nothing to compare with it in +literature; but, at the same time, I have heard him say that God had too +much to do and more important things to attend to than to inspire such +insignificant writers as had written some passages in the good book. + +"Nor did he believe in miracles. He believed in inexorable laws of +nature, and I have heard him say that the wisdom and glory and greatness +of the Almighty were demonstrated by order and method and not by the +violation of nature's laws. + +"It would be difficult for any one to define Mr. Lincoln's position or +to classify him among the sects. I should say that he believed in a good +many articles in the creeds of the orthodox churches and rejected a good +many that did not appeal to his reason. + +"He praised the simplicity of the Gospels. He often declared that the +Sermon on the Mount contained the essence of all law and justice, and +that the Lord's Prayer was the sublimest composition in human language. +He was a constant reader of the Bible, but had no sympathy with +theology, and often said that in matters affecting a man's relations +with his Maker he couldn't give a power of attorney. + +"Yes, there is a story, and it is probably true, that when he was +very young and very ignorant he wrote an essay that might be called +atheistical. It was after he had been reading a couple of atheistic +books which made a great impression on his mind, and the essay is +supposed to have expressed his views on those books,--a sort of review +of them, containing both approval and disapproval,--and one of his +friends burned it. He was very indignant at the time, but was afterwards +glad of it. + +"The opposition of the Springfield clergy to his election was chiefly +due to remarks he made about them. One careless remark, I remember, was +widely quoted. An eminent clergyman was delivering a series of doctrinal +discourses that attracted considerable local attention. Although Lincoln +was frequently invited, he would not be induced to attend them. He +remarked that he wouldn't trust Brother ---- to construe the statutes +of Illinois and much less the laws of God; that people who knew him +wouldn't trust his advice on an ordinary business transaction because +they didn't consider him competent; hence he didn't see why they did so +in the most important of all human affairs, the salvation of their souls. + +"These remarks were quoted widely and misrepresented to Lincoln's +injury. In those days people were not so liberal as now, and any one who +criticised a parson was considered a sceptic." + +The refusal of the Springfield clergy to support him for President, +to which Mr. Nicolay refers, gave him great concern, and he expressed +himself on that subject quite freely to Mr. Newton Bateman, +Superintendent of Public Instruction for the State of Illinois, who +occupied a room adjoining and opening into the Executive Chamber at +Springfield, which Lincoln used as an office during the Presidential +campaign. + +"Here are twenty-three ministers of different denominations," he said to +Mr. Bateman, showing a polling list, "and all of them are against me but +three, and here are a great many prominent members of churches; a very +large majority are against me. Mr. Bateman, I am not a Christian,--God +knows I would be one,--but I have carefully read the Bible and I do not +so understand this book," and he drew forth a pocket New Testament. +"These men well know," he continued, "that I am for freedom in the +Territories, freedom everywhere as free as the Constitution and the laws +will permit, and that my opponents are for slavery. They know this, and +yet, with this book in their hands, in the light of which human bondage +cannot live a moment, they are going to vote against me; I do not +understand it at all. + +"I know there is a God, and that He hates injustice and slavery. I see +the storm coming, and I know that His hand is in it. If He has a place +and work for me, and I think He has, I believe I am ready. I am nothing, +but Truth is everything; I know I am right, because I know that liberty +is right, for Christ teaches it, and Christ is God. I have told them +that a house divided against itself cannot stand, and Christ and reason +say the same, and they will find it so. + +"Douglas don't care whether slavery is voted up or down, but God cares, +and humanity cares, and I care, and with God's help I shall not fail. +I may not see the end; but it will come, and I shall be vindicated, and +these men will find they have not read their Bible right." + +The influence of the Springfield clergy was, however, scarcely +noticeable. Here and there throughout the country some religious +newspaper, minister, or bigoted layman opposed his election on that +pretext, but the numerical strength of this class of his opponents +was very small; and after the inauguration and the development of the +secession conspiracy the Springfield preachers, like other Christian +people from one end of the North to the other, displayed their +patriotism. As the war progressed the influence of the entire church, +Protestant and Catholic, was given to the support of the President, +except occasionally when some extreme antislavery community would +condemn what they considered the procrastination of the President +concerning the emancipation of the slaves. Scarcely a religious body +ever met without adopting resolutions of sympathy and support, and no +manifestations of loyalty and approval throughout the entire war gave +him greater gratification. His response in each case was a confession of +human weakness and his reliance upon Divine Power. + +In 1863, when the New School Presbyterians embodied their sentiments +of loyalty to the Union in an eloquent memorial to the President, he +replied, "From the beginning I saw that the issues of our great struggle +depended upon Divine interposition and favor.... Relying as I do upon +the Almighty power, and encouraged as I am by these resolutions that you +have just read," etc. + +To a committee of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal +church in 1864 he said, "It is no fault in others that the Methodist +Church sends more soldiers to the field, more nurses to the hospitals, +more prayers to heaven than any other. God bless the Methodist Church! +Bless all the churches; blessed be God who in this great trial giveth us +the churches." + +To the Quakers of Iowa, who had sent him an address through Senator +Harlan, he wrote, "It is most cheering and encouraging for me to +know that, in the efforts which I have made, and am making, for the +restoration of a righteous peace to our country, I am upheld and +sustained by the good wishes and prayers of God's people. No one is +more deeply aware than myself that without His favor our highest wisdom +is but as foolishness, and that our most strenuous efforts would avail +nothing in the shadow of His displeasure." + +One of the most significant of the President's letters, in which he +expresses himself with less than his usual reserve, was written to Mrs. +Gurney, wife of an eminent preacher of the English Society of Friends, +in the autumn of 1864: "I am much indebted to the good Christian people +of the country for their constant prayers and consolations, and to +no one of them more than to yourself. The purposes of the Almighty +are perfect, and must prevail, though we erring mortals may fail to +accurately perceive them in advance. We hoped for a happy termination +of this terrible war long before this; but God knows best, and has +ruled otherwise. We shall yet acknowledge His wisdom and our own error +therein. Meanwhile we must work earnestly in the best lights He gives +us, trusting that so working still conduces to the great ends He +ordains." + +Being requested to preside at a meeting of the Christian Commission +held in Washington on February 22, 1863, he wrote, "Whatever shall tend +to turn our thoughts from the unreasoning and uncharitable passions, +prejudices, and jealousies incident to a great national trouble such as +ours, and to fix them on the vast and long-enduring consequences, for +weal or for woe, which are to result from the struggle, and especially +to strengthen our reliance on the Supreme Being for the final triumph +of the right, cannot but be well for us all." + +Mr. Herndon, his law partner, remembers that he often said that his +creed was the same as that of an old man named Glenn, whom he heard +speak at an experience meeting in Indiana: "When I do good, I feel good, +and when I do bad, I feel bad; and that's my religion." + +Hay and Nicolay, his secretaries, in their biography say, "Lincoln was +a man of profound and intense religious feeling. We have no purpose of +attempting to formulate his creed; we question if he himself ever did +so. We only have to look at his authentic public and private utterances +to see how deep and strong in all the latter part of his life was the +current of his religious thought and emotion. He continually invited +and appreciated at their highest value the prayers of good people. +The pressure of the tremendous problems by which he was surrounded; +the awful moral significance of the conflict in which he was the +chief combatant; the overwhelming sense of personal responsibility, +which never left him for an hour,--all contributed to produce, in a +temperament naturally serious and predisposed to a spiritual view of +life and conduct, a sense of reverent acceptance of the guidance of +a Superior Power. From that morning when, standing amid the falling +snow-flakes on the railway car at Springfield, he asked the prayers +of his neighbors in those touching phrases whose echo rose that night +in invocations from thousands of family altars, to the memorable hour +when on the steps of the National Capitol he humbled himself before his +Creator in the sublime words of the second inaugural, there is not an +expression known to have come from his lips or his pen but proves that +he held himself answerable in every act of his career to a more august +tribunal than any on earth. The fact that he was not a communicant +of any church, and that he was singularly reserved in regard to his +personal religious life, gives only the greater force to these striking +proofs of his profound reverence and faith. + +"In final substantiation of this assertion we publish two papers from +the hand of the President, one official and the other private, which +bear within themselves the imprint of a sincere devotion and a steadfast +reliance upon the power and benignity of an overruling Providence. The +first is an order which he issued on the 16th of November, 1862, on the +observance of Sunday: + +"'The President, Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, desires and +enjoins the orderly observance of the Sabbath by the officers and men +in the military and naval service. The importance for man and beast of +the prescribed weekly rest, the sacred rights of Christian soldiers +and sailors, a becoming deference to the best sentiment of a Christian +people, and a due regard for the Divine will demand that Sunday labor +in the army and navy be reduced to a measure of strict necessity. The +discipline and character of the national forces should not suffer, nor +the cause they defend be imperilled, by the profanation of the day or +name of the Most High.' + +"In September, 1862, while his mind was burdened with the weightiest +question of his life, wearied with all the considerations of law and +expediency with which he had been struggling for two years, he retired +within himself and tried to bring some order into his thoughts by rising +above the wrangling of men and of parties and pondering the relations +of human government to the Divine. In this frame of mind, absolutely +detached from any earthly considerations, he wrote this meditation. It +has never been published. It was not written to be seen of men. It was +penned in the awful sincerity of a perfectly honest soul trying to bring +itself into closer communion with its Maker: + +"'The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to +act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be and one must be +wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. +In the present civil war it is quite possible that God's purpose is +something different from the purpose of either party; and yet the human +instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best adaptation +to effect His purpose. I am almost ready to say that this is probably +true; that God wills this contest, and wills that it shall not end yet. +By His mere great power on the minds of the contestants, He could have +either saved or destroyed the Union without a human contest. Yet the +contest began, and, having begun, He could give the final victory to +either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds.'" + +On September 22, 1862, at a Cabinet meeting, Lincoln submitted his +determination to issue a proclamation of emancipation of the slaves. He +said that his mind was fixed, his decision made, and therefore he did +not ask the opinion of his advisers as to the act, 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. That is the recollection +of Mr. Welles, the Secretary of the Navy, who in his diary refers to +Lincoln's "Covenant with God," as follows: + +"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 matters when the way was not clear to his mind what he +should do. God had decided this question in favor of the slaves. He was +satisfied it was right,--was confirmed and strengthened in his action by +the vow and the results." + +The diary of Secretary Chase for the same day contains a similar account +of the same discussion, and quotes the President as saying,-- + +"When the rebel army was at Frederick, I determined, as soon as +it should be driven out of Maryland, to issue a proclamation of +emancipation, such as I thought most likely to be useful. I said nothing +to any one, but I made the promise to myself and [hesitating a little] +to my Maker. The rebel army is now driven out, and I am going to fulfil +that promise." + +Mr. Usher, the Secretary of the Interior, says that when the draft of +the Emancipation Proclamation was submitted to the Cabinet, Mr. Chase +remarked,-- + +"This paper is one 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 the Deity. I do not observe anything of the kind in it." + +Lincoln said, "No; I overlooked it. Some reference to the 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." + +The reader has perceived from these pages the strength and the weakness +of Abraham Lincoln. His errors were due to mercy and not to malice; to +prudence and not to thoughtlessness or pride; to deliberation and not +to recklessness. Perhaps he might have shortened the war by removing +McClellan and placing in command of the armies before Richmond a +commander of greater force and energy; perhaps he might have abolished +human bondage by earlier action, as demanded by the antislavery element +in the North; but who can tell what disasters might have been caused by +impetuous action? If Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan had been at his side +at the beginning of the war, history might have been different. + +But who is so perfect or so wise as to judge Abraham Lincoln? + +His greatest fault was his inability to suppress his sympathies. He +once said, "If I have one vice, it is not being able to say 'No.' And I +consider it a vice. Thank God for not making me a woman. I presume if He +had He would have made me just as ugly as I am, and nobody would ever +have tempted me." + +On another occasion he said, "Some of our generals complain that I +impair discipline and encourage insubordination in the army by my +pardons and respites; but it rests me after a hard day's work if I can +find some good cause for saving a man's life; and I go to bed happy as I +think how joyous the signing of my name will make him and his family and +his friends." + +And with a happy smile beaming upon his careworn face, he again signed +his name that saved another life. It was his theory that when a man is +sincerely penitent for his misdeeds and gives satisfactory evidence of +it, he can safely be pardoned. + +An old lady came to him with tears in her eyes to express her gratitude +for the pardon of her son, a truant soldier. + +"Good-by, Mr. Lincoln," she said; "I shall probably never see you again +until we meet in heaven." + +He was deeply moved. He took her right hand in both of his and said, "I +am afraid with all my troubles I shall never get to that resting-place +you speak of; but if I do, I am sure I shall find you. That you wish +me to get there is, I believe, the best wish you could make for me. +Good-by." + +To his oldest and most intimate friend he said, "Speed, die when I may, +I want it said of me by those who know me best, that I always plucked a +thistle and planted a flower when I thought a flower would grow." + +His greatness consisted not in his eloquence as an orator, nor his +shrewdness as a lawyer, nor his tact as a diplomatist, nor his genius +in planning and directing military affairs, nor his executive ability, +but in his absolute self-control, his unselfishness, the full maturity +of his wisdom, the strength of his convictions, his sound judgment, his +absolute integrity, his unwavering adherence to the principles of truth, +justice, and honor, his humanity, his love of country, his sublime faith +in the people and in Republican institutions. He was without malice or +the spirit of resentment, without envy or jealousy, and he suppressed +his passions to a degree beyond that of most men. He entered the +Presidency with an inadequate conception of his own responsibilities, +but when he saw his duty he did it with courage, endurance, magnanimity, +and unselfish devotion. In his eulogy of Lincoln, uttered a few days +after the assassination, Ralph Waldo Emerson said,-- + +"He grew according to the need; his mind mastered the problem of the +day; and as the problem grew so did his comprehension of it. Rarely was +a man so fitted to the event. + +"In four years--four years of battle days--his endurance, his fertility +and resources, his magnanimity, were sorely tried and never found +wanting. There, by his courage, his justice, his even temper, his +fertile counsel, his humanity, he stood a heroic figure in the centre of +an heroic epoch." + + + + +Index + + + Acceptance, Lincoln's letter of, 157 + + Adams, Charles Francis, 354 + + ----, John Quincy, 144 + + Address, first inaugural, 170 + + ----, second inaugural, 89 + + Admitted to the bar, 65 + + Advice to young lawyers, 70, 82 + + Alley, John B., 54, 175, 216 + + Amendment, thirteenth, adopted, 337 + + Ancestry of Lincoln, 15 + + Anderson, General Robert, 231, 308 + + Anecdotes of Lincoln, 29, 49, 69, 74, 81, 95, 128, 133, 141, 159, + 161, 164, 175, 178, 220, 222, 226, 234, 259, 278, 280, 290, + 310, 330, 343, 360 + + Anger, Lincoln's, 54 + + Appearance, Lincoln's, 48 + + Argument, Lincoln's method of, 79, 86, 96, 100, 125 + + Arrival at Washington, Lincoln's, 169 + + Assassination conspiracy, 168 + + ---- of Lincoln, 311 + + Atheism, story of Lincoln's, 376 + + Autobiography, Lincoln's, 59 + + + Bailache, William H., 170 + + Baker, Edward D., 54, 83, 134, 137, 169 + + Bar, early practice at, 65, 66, 83 + + Bateman, Dr. Newton, 158, 388 + + Bates, Edward, 181, 298 + + Beecher, Henry Ward, 190 + + Berry and Lincoln, 34, 63 + + Bible, Lincoln's admiration for, 387 + + Birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, 20 + + Bixby, letters to Mrs., 51 + + Black Hawk War, 65, 229 + + Blair, Francis P., 187 + + ----, Montgomery, 181, 187, 191 + + Bloomington Convention, 105, 149 + + Books, Lincoln's early, 56 + + Boone, Daniel, related to Lincoln, 16 + + Booth, John Wilkes, 311 + + Boutwell, George S., 216 + + Boyhood of Lincoln, 21, 24, 60, 93 + + Brown, John, 322 + + Browning, Orville H., 39, 134, 170 + + Bryant, William Cullen, 124 + + Buchanan Cabinet, disloyalty of, 165 + + ---- sends emissary to Lincoln, 162 + + Buell, General, 252 + + Bull Run, battle of, 236 + + Burns, Lincoln's love of, 288 + + Burnside, General, 262 + + Butler, General B. F., 273, 294, 323, 333 + + + Cabin in which Lincoln was born, 19 + + Cabinet, dissensions of, 186, 235, 356 + + ----, selection of, 174, 179, 193 + + Calhoun, John, 35, 63 + + Cameron, Simon, 193, 220, 238, 325 + + Campaign of, Presidential, 1860, 155 + + Campaigning, Lincoln's method of, 96, 133 + + Campaigns, plans of military, 249 + + Campbell, John A., 272 + + Canal, isthmus, 334 + + Candidate for Congress, 137 + + ---- for Legislature, 129 + + ---- for President, 158 + + ---- for Senate, 146, 150 + + Capacity for labor, Lincoln's, 279 + + Capital, removal of Illinois State, 135 + + Cartter, Judge, 175, 360 + + Cartwright, Peter, 138 + + Cass, General, 231 + + Chandler, A. B., 53 + + Character, Lincoln's, 14, 91, 370, 396 + + Chase, Salmon P., 174, 204, 210, 216, 243, 340, 356 + + Chicago Convention (1860), 158 + + Chief-Justice, Chase appointed, 216 + + Children, Lincoln's, 46, 287 + + ----, Lincoln's love of his, 46 + + Choate, Joseph H., 125 + + Christian Commission, 390 + + Church, Lincoln's attendance at, 370 + + Circuit, following the judicial, 67, 83 + + Clergy, opposition of Springfield, 387 + + Coffey, Titian J., 184, 297 + + Coles, Edward, Governor, 315 + + Colfax, Schuyler, 153, 182, 310, 330 + + Colonization, Lincoln advocates negro, 333 + + Confusion in government, 186, 233 + + Congress, speeches in, 98, 145 + + Congressional campaign, 137 + + ---- experience, Lincoln's, 139 + + Conners, Senator, 55 + + Contraband question, the, 323 + + Convention, Bloomington, 156 + + ----, Decatur, 26, 149 + + ----, Illinois State (1860), 156 + + ---- of 1860, National, 27, 158 + + Cooper Institute speech, 86, 124, 321 + + Courage, Lincoln's, 272 + + Creed, Lincoln's, 391 + + + Dana, Charles A., 227, 364 + + Davis, David, 67, 83, 193, 369, 379 + + ----, Henry Winter, 187 + + ----, Jefferson, 140, 231 + + Death, Lincoln's, 313 + + Debate, Lincoln's first, 96 + + ---- with Douglas, 86, 100, 110, 114 + + Debt, Lincoln's, 33 + + Decatur Convention, 149 + + Defeat by people, Lincoln's only, 130 + + Democracy, Lincoln's, 345 + + Dennison, William, 193, 242 + + Depew, Chauncey M., 85, 93, 281, 361 + + Diplomacy, Lincoln's ability in, 342, 346, 351 + + Diplomatist, definition of, 342 + + Disloyalty in Buchanan's Cabinet, 233 + + Dodge, William E., 368 + + Douglas, Stephen A., 40, 74, 83, 86, 100, 107, 114, 122, 134, 151, + 169, 320, 380 + + Dreams, Lincoln's, 308 + + Duel, Lincoln's, 42 + + + Earnings, Lincoln's first, 24 + + Eckert, General, 53, 227 + + Education, Lincoln's, 58, 91 + + Edwards, Ninian W., 40 + + Election declared, Lincoln's, 166 + + ----, Presidential, of 1860, 161 + + Electoral vote counted, 166 + + Emancipation accomplished, 335 + + ----, Lincoln's ideas of, 319 + + ---- proclamation, 183, 329, 335, 394 + + Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 396 + + Emigration of Lincoln family, 17 + + England, diplomatic relations with, 347, 351 + + Essay, Lincoln's first, 94 + + Ethics, Lincoln's legal, 70 + + Experience, Lincoln's legislative, 135 + + ----, ---- Congressional, 139 + + + Farewell to Springfield neighbors, 47 + + Faults, Lincoln's, 395 + + Fees, Lincoln's, 45, 72 + + Fenton, Reuben E., 173 + + Fessenden, William Pitt, 214, 361 + + Field, Munsell B., 213 + + First dollar, Lincoln's, 24 + + ---- lawsuit, Lincoln's, 65 + + Fish, Hamilton, 350 + + Flatboat, Lincoln's, 32 + + Foreign policy, 346 + + Fortune, Lincoln's, 45 + + France, diplomatic relations with, 348 + + "Freeport Doctrine," Douglas's, 107, 120 + + Frémont, General John C., 246 + + Frémont, Mrs., 247 + + Fry, General James F., 88, 221, 344 + + Fugitive-slave law, 323 + + + Garrison, William Lloyd, 290 + + Genius, Lincoln's military, 232, 249, 269 + + Gentry, Mr., 25 + + Gentryville, Indiana, 21, 25, 94 + + Gettysburg speech, 86, 89 + + Giddings, Joshua R., 140 + + Gilmer, John A., 181 + + God, belief in, 370 + + Governorship of Oregon, offered, 137 + + Graham, Menton, 62 + + Grammar, Lincoln's first, 63 + + Grant, General, 177, 232, 245, 252, 253, 260, 300, 308 + + Greeley, Horace, 92, 284, 332 + + Green, General Duff, 162 + + Gurley, Rev. Dr., 313, 370 + + + Hahn, letter to Governor, 337 + + Halleck, General, 191, 251 + + Hanks, Dennis, 26 + + ----, John, 23, 27, 32 + + ----, Nancy, Lincoln's mother, 18, 22 + + Harris, Senator, 311 + + Hay, Colonel John, 88, 284, 311, 381 + + Hayti, recognition of, 328 + + Herndon, W. H., 33, 108, 372 + + Holloway, Commissioner of Patents, 174 + + Holmes's poems, Lincoln's love of, 289 + + Holt, Judge-Advocate-General, 293 + + Home, Lincoln's first, 19 + + ----, Lincoln's second, 20 + + ----, Lincoln's third, 21 + + ----, Lincoln's fourth, 26 + + ----, Lincoln's fifth, 44 + + ----, Lincoln's sixth, 45 + + ---- life, Lincoln's, 45, 227, 284 + + Honesty, Lincoln's, 34, 84, 371 + + Hood's poems, Lincoln's love of, 288 + + Hooker, General Joseph, 263 + + "House divided against itself" speech, 110 + + Humor, Lincoln's, 50, 93, 281, 344, 361 + + Hunter, General David, 247, 328 + + + Illinois Central Railroad, litigation with, 72 + + ---- State Convention of 1860, 156 + + Inauguration, Lincoln's first, 169 + + ----, Lincoln's second, 89 + + Indiana, migration to, 21 + + Indiana, Revised Statutes of, 56 + + Infidelity, story of Lincoln's, 376 + + Invention, Lincoln's, 32 + + + Jefferson, Joseph, reminiscences of, 68 + + Johnson, Reverdy, 76 + + Johnston, General Albert Sidney, 231 + + ----, John, Lincoln's step-brother, 23, 30, 32, 382 + + ----, Sally Bush, 23, 30 + + Judd, Norman B., 154, 188 + + Judicial procedure, early, 66 + + Julian, George W., 174, 225 + + + Kasson, John A., 223 + + Kelso, Jack, 95 + + Kernan, Francis, 296 + + Kindness of heart, Lincoln's, 279, 292, 296 + + + Lamon, Ward, 310 + + Land Office Commissionership, 143 + + Law-books, Lincoln's first, 57, 64 + + Law, how he came to study, 56 + + Lawyer, Lincoln becomes a, 64 + + Learning, Lincoln's love of, 56, 78, 91 + + Lee's surrender, 307 + + Legislature, candidate for, 129 + + Liberia, recognition of, 328 + + Lincoln admitted to the bar, 65 + + ----, ancestry of, 15 + + ----, anger of, 54 + + ---- appointed postmaster, 34 + + ----, arrival in Washington of, 169 + + ----, assassination of, 311 + + ----, atheism of, story of, 376 + + ----, autobiography of, 59 + + ----, birthplace of, 20 + + ----, Black Hawk War, 65, 229 + + ----, boyhood of, 21, 24, 60, 93 + + ----, candidate for President, 158 + + ----, character of, 14, 91, 370, 396 + + ----, code of morals of, 372 + + ----, Congressional experience of, 139 + + ----, courage of, 272 + + ----, creed of, 391 + + ----, death of, 313 + + ----, debate of, with Douglas, 40, 74, 83, 86, 100, 107, 114, 122, + 134, 151, 160, 169, 320, 380 + + ----, diplomacy of, 342, 346, 351 + + ----, duel of, 42 + + ----, education of, 58, 91 + + ----, election of, declared, 166 + + ----, farewell of, to neighbors, 47 + + ----, faults of, 395 + + ----, fees of, 45, 72 + + ----, first campaign of, for Legislature, 129 + + ----, first earnings of, 24 + + ----, first impressions of, of slavery, 314 + + ----, first inauguration of, 169 + + ----, first lawsuit of, 65 + + ----, first meeting of, with McClellan, 71 + + ----, first school of, 61 + + ---- first suggested for President, 153 + + ----, foreign policy of, 346 + + ----, fortune of, 45, 74 + + ----, grandmother of, 17 + + ----, home life of, 45 + + ----, homes of, 19, 20, 21, 26, 44, 45 + + ----, honesty of, 34, 84, 371 + + ----, journey of, to New Orleans, 25 + + ----, kindness of heart of, 279, 292, 296 + + ----, last speech of, 338 + + ----, legal ethics of, 70, 83 + + ----, legal methods of, 74, 79, 83, 86 + + ----, legislative experience of, 135 + + ----, letter of, accepting Presidential nomination, 157 + + ----, "Lost Speech" of, 106 + + ----, love-affairs of, 35, 37, 38, 40 + + ----, love of, for his children, 46, 53 + + ----, ----, for learning, 56, 78, 91 + + ----, marriage of, 44 + + ----, memory of, 93 + + ----, method of argument of, 79, 86, 96, 100, 125 + + ----, military genius of, 232, 249, 269 + + ----, muscular strength of, 28 + + ----, nomination of, for Congress, 138 + + ----, notification of, of nomination to Presidency, 156 + + ----, oratory of, 86, 116 + + ----, Peoria speech of, 91 + + ----, personal appearance of, 48 + + ----, place in history of, 13, 86, 91 + + ----, plans of, for purchasing slaves, 326 + + ----, political career of, 129 + + ----, political sagacity of, 344 + + ----, popularity of, 130 + + ----, receives emissaries from rebel leaders, 163 + + ----, recommendations of, for office, 142 + + ----, religious views of, 370, 381 + + ---- seeks Presidential nomination, 155 + + ----, sisters of, 20, 26 + + ----, speeches of, 95, 97, 100, 114, 125, 133 + + ----, Springfield speech of, 104, 109 + + ----, stature of, 29 + + ----, step-mother of, 23, 30 + + ----, superstitions of, 309 + + ----, surveying of, 34 + + ----, visit to Richmond of, 271 + + ----, weakness of, 395 + + Lincoln, Anna, 17 + + ----, Robert T., 30, 46, 177, 310, 312 + + ----, "Tad", 287 + + ----, Thomas, 17, 21, 30, 375 + + ----, Willie, 277 + + Liquor selling, Lincoln's, 34 + + Literary style, Lincoln's, 86 + + Locke, David R., 36, 51 + + Logan, Stephen T., 35, 44, 69 + + "Lost Speech," Lincoln's, 106 + + Louisiana, reconstruction of, 339 + + Love-affairs, Lincoln's, 35, 38 + + Lovejoy, assassination of, 317 + + Lyons, Lord, 350 + + + Maltby, Captain, 55 + + Markland, General, 189 + + Marriage, Lincoln's, 44 + + Mason-Slidell affair, 350 + + McClellan's first meeting with Lincoln, 71 + + McClellan, General, 197, 206, 238, 250 + + McCulloch, Hugh, 183, 214, 309, 340 + + McCulloch, Mrs., 283 + + McDowell, General, 237 + + McKinley, William, 342 + + Meade, General George C., 268 + + Medill, Joseph, 122 + + Melancholy, Lincoln's, 50 + + Memory, Lincoln's, 93 + + Methods, Lincoln's legal, 74, 79, 83 + + ----, Lincoln's political, 133 + + Mexican question, 354 + + Migration to Illinois, 26 + + Military genius, Lincoln's, 232, 249, 269 + + Missouri Compromise, 102, 146 + + Monroe Doctrine, 354 + + Moral courage, Lincoln's, 130 + + Morals, Lincoln's code of, 372 + + Morgan, E. D., 29 + + Muscular strength, Lincoln's, 28 + + + Negroes, enlistment of, 325 + + New Orleans, Lincoln's journey to, 25, 32, 314, 318 + + Nicolay, John G., 90, 158, 199, 204, 214, 250, 379, 385 + + Nominated for Congress, 138 + + Nomination, notified of Presidential, 156, 380 + + + Office seekers, clamors of, 164, 186, 279 + + Offutt, Denton, 32, 62, 129 + + Oglesby, Richard J., 26 + + Oratory, Lincoln's, 86, 125 + + Oregon, offered governorship of, 143 + + Owen, Robert Dale, 360 + + Owens, Mary, 38 + + + Pardon of soldiers, 36, 52 + + Patent case, Lincoln's, 75 + + Patronage, Lincoln's opinions about, 143 + + Peace Commissioners, 355 + + Peoria speech, Lincoln's, 91 + + Petroleum V. Nasby, 36, 51, 280 + + Philadelphia speech (1860), 167 + + Pinkerton, Allan, 168 + + Platform, Lincoln's first political, 129 + + Poem, Lincoln's favorite, 379 + + Poems, Lincoln's, 94 + + Poetry, love of, 95, 287, 379 + + Politician, definition of, 342 + + Political career, Lincoln's, 129 + + ---- sagacity, Lincoln's, 96, 133, 160, 171, 177, 199, 344 + + Pomeroy, Senator, 211 + + Poore, Ben: Perley, 289 + + Popularity, Lincoln's, 130 + + Porter, Admiral, 272 + + Postmaster, Lincoln appointed, 34 + + Practice, Lincoln's law, 74, 82 + + Prayer, Lincoln's belief in, 382 + + Presbyterian Church, Springfield, 46 + + President, Lincoln elected, 161 + + Presidential nomination, Lincoln seeks, 155 + + Press, Lincoln's respect for, 283, 289 + + Proclamation, Emancipation, 183, 329, 335, 394 + + Property, Lincoln's, 45 + + + Rails that Lincoln split, 26 + + Rathbone, Major, 311 + + Rebel leaders send emissary to Lincoln, 162 + + Recommendations for office, Lincoln's, 142 + + Relatives in Kentucky, 16 + + ---- in Virginia, 16 + + Religious prejudice against, 137 + + ---- views, Lincoln's, 370 + + Republican National Convention (1856), 149 + (1860), 156 + + Rice, Governor, 296 + + Richmond, Lincoln visits, 271 + + Rutledge, Anne, 37 + + + Sagacity, Lincoln's political, 160, 171, 177 + + School, Lincoln's first, 61 + + Scott, General, 229, 235, 242 + + Secession begins, 161 + + Senate, candidate for, 146, 150 + + ----, difficulty with, 356 + + Senatorial campaign, 108, 146 + + Seward, William H., 181, 197, 204, 208, 236, 334, 337, 348, 351, + 355 + + Shakespeare, Lincoln's love of, 288 + + Shellabarger, Judge, 222 + + Sheridan, General, 270, 339 + + Sherman, General, 232, 270, 235, 269, 300 + + Shields, James, 40, 42 + + Short, James, 33 + + Sickles, General Daniel E., 384 + + Sisters, Lincoln's, 20 + + Slavery, Lincoln's first impressions of, 25, 57, 314 + + ----, first protest against, 316 + + ----, Lincoln's plan to abolish, in Washington, 318 + + Slaves, Lincoln's plans for purchase of, 326 + + ----, money value of, 327 + + Smith, Caleb B., 182 + + Social life in Washington, 38, 227 + + Speakership, candidate for, 136 + + Speech at Philadelphia, 167 + + ----, Lincoln's last, 338 + + ----, the "Lost", 106 + + Speeches, campaign, 95, 133 + + ----, first political, 95 + + ---- in Congress, 98, 144, 145 + + ---- in Legislature, 97 + + Speed, James, 185 + + ----, Joshua F., 41, 96, 185, 375, 396 + + Spiritualism, Lincoln's views of, 376 + + Springfield made capital of Illinois, 135 + + ---- speech, Lincoln's, 104, 109 + + Stanton, Edwin D., 183, 189, 218, 224, 244, 253, 290, 298, 309, + 313 + + ----, Lincoln's first meeting with, 76 + + Statesmanship? what is, 342 + + Stature, Lincoln's, 29 + + Stephens, Alexander H., 145, 162, 355 + + Step-mother, Lincoln's, 23, 30 + + Stevens, Thaddeus, 52 + + Stoddard, W. O., 265 + + Strength, muscular, Lincoln's, 28 + + Stuart, John T., 64 + + Study, Lincoln's habits of, 58, 77, 91 + + Stump oratory, Lincoln's, 96, 104, 114, 125, 133 + + Suffrage, negro, Lincoln's views on, 337, 338 + + Sumner, Charles, 176, 216, 272, 334 + + Sunday proclamation, Lincoln's, 392 + + Superstition, Lincoln's, 309, 376 + + Supreme Court, Chase's appointment to, 216 + + Surveying, Lincoln's, 34 + + Swett, Leonard, 60, 84, 380 + + + Tact, Lincoln's, 171, 285, 343, 361 + + "Tad" Lincoln, 287 + + Taney, Chief-Justice, 169 + + Taylor, President, election of, 142 + + Teachers, Lincoln's, 61 + + Temperance, Lincoln's views on, 380 + + Theatre, Ford's, 311 + + Thomas, General, 270 + + Tod, Governor, 214 + + Todd, Miss Mary, 40, 44, 47 + + Tragedy in Lincoln family, 17 + + Trent affair, 350 + + Trumbull, Lyman, 108, 148, 357 + + Tuck, Amos, 144, 176 + + + Usher, John T., 183, 340 + + + Wade, Benjamin F., 187 + + Washburne, E. B., 141, 148, 165, 169, 253 + + Weakness, Lincoln's, 395 + + Webster, Daniel, 140 + + Weed, Thurlow, 160, 171, 173, 181, 197, 382 + + Weldon, Lawrence, 80, 379 + + Welles, Gideon, 184, 196, 310 + + Wentworth, Long John, 75 + + Whig party organized, 136 + + White, Horace, 104, 118, 149 + + Wilkes, Captain Charles, 350 + + Wilson, Henry, 296 + + Wit, Lincoln's, 50, 91, 96 + + + Yates, Richard, 103 + + +THE END + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Simple typographical errors were corrected. + +Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant +preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed. + +"fugitive slave law" and "fugitive-slave law" both appear in the +original book; regularized to "fugitive-slave law" in this eBook. + +"proslavery" and "pro-slavery" both occur in the original book; +unchanged here. + +Letter facing page 168: in handwritten date "October 3, 1861", "3" +(rather than "5") is based on examination of other samples of Lincoln's +handwriting. + +Page 289: "Ben: Perley Poore" did abbreviate his first name with a +colon. His name also appears without a colon on page 98. + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Abraham Lincoln, by William Eleroy Curtis + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42526 *** |