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LINCOLN ROOM
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
LIBRARY
C
/
/ ' ' C-A^^v. C~y\
PART I
LIFE, ANECDOTES AND
TRIBUTES
LINCOLN THE PRESIDENT
From an Engraving after a Photograph by Brady
This familiar likeness is said to have been
taken af the request of Secretary Seward
THE WORKS OF
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Abraham Lincoln: The True
Story of a
Great Life
WITH CRITICAL ESTIMATES
ANECDOTES
AND STORIES
Early Speeches, 1832-1856
Introductions and
Special Anicles by
Theodore Roose\elt
WlLl.AM H. TaFT
Charles E. Hughes
Joseph H. Choate
Henry Watterson
Robert G. Ingersoll
And
Others
Managi
ng Editors
JOHN H.
CLIFFORD
MARION
M. MILLER
Volume I
NEWTON .^- CARTW RIGHT
156 FIFTH A\"ENUF., NEW YORK
Copyright, 1907
By Current Literature Publishing Company
Copyright, 1908
By The University Society Inc.
^73. 7/,^ 3
V, I
PREFACE
In the preparation of this Life of Abraham
Lincoln the object of the editors has been to
make as nearly as possible a distinctively personal
biography. It is not intended to present a his-
tory of the origin and early development of the
Republican party, of anti-slavery discussions, or
of the Civil War. The main purpose is to make
intimately known to the reader the man Abra-
ham Lincoln from his infancy to his death.
His ancestry, parentage, childhood and youth ;
his surroundings and occupations, and the society
in which he lived, in Kentucky, Indiana, and Illi-
nois; the laborer, flatboatman, storekeeper, sol-
dier, legislator, lawyer ; the lone student, making
the most of his scanty opportunities through all
the vicissitudes of his strange life — such topics
are familiarly treated, and the pictures of early
hardship and struggle supply a most impressive
background for the study of that grand career
whose culmination placed him among "the choice
and master spirits of this age" and of all ages.
No novel of frontier life could be so captivat-
ing as the story of the rail-splitter who proved
himself "a true-born king of men.'' The editors
have endeavored to give this great life-story
largely through the recitals of those who knew
Lincoln well in all the periods of his growth and
activity. Incidents, anecdotes, peculiar experi-
ences, personal intercourse, interspersed with his
m
iv PREFACE
own unique sayings, both serious and humorous
— these features render this, in the better sense,
a "story-Hfe" of Abraham Lincohi, himself the
most famous story-teller of his time.
Besides the biography proper, comprised in
twenty-six short chapters, this volume contains
a liberal collection of the most treasured sto-
ries and anecdotes either told by Lincoln or con-
cerning him. Every effort has been made to
include only such "Lincoln stories" as have
well-established authenticity.
Here also are estimates of Lincoln's character
and achievements as presented in the eloquent
tribute of Robert G. IngersoU and the memo-
rable eulog}'- pronounced by Henry Watterson.
The life of Lincoln cannot be fully understood
without a study of his letters and speeches, in-
cluding the great debates with Stephen A. Doug-
las. As a stump speaker and an orator of sin-
gular eft'ectiveness Lincoln left the impress of
his genius on the body politic no less plainly
marked than the influence of his character and
deeds.
Owing to the comparative brevity of the pres-
ent Life, it has been deemed best to give here
but few quotations from speeches and letters, but
in the other volumes of this series all the speeches
are included, together with as many of the letters
as are considered interesting or important. Read
in connection with the Life, these will leave little
wanting that is needful to a full appreciation of
the personality and public services of the "first
American."
For instance, the reader of the chapter entitled
"Widening Renown" should also read not only
the speeches delivered by Lincoln in Ohio after
PREFACE V
the famous debates, but likewise the Cooper
Union (Institute) address and letters written
at the period of its delivery. Those who are
interested in the chapter that tells of Lincoln's
love-affairs should read in connection therewith
his letters to Speed, to Mrs. Browning, and to
jMiss Owens.
The editors have received from many publish-
ers kind permission to use material contained in
more elaborate biographies. Special acknowl-
edgment is made to the A. C. ;McClurg Company
for selections from Arnold's Life of Abraham
Lincoln; to the N. D. Thompson Company for
excerpts from The Evcry-Day Life of Abraham
Lincoln, by Francis F. Browne ; to the Baker and
Taylor Company for passages taken from the
Life of Lincoln, by Henry C. Whitney : and to
others, for similar favors, thanks are likewise
due.
Considerable use has been made of interesting
material found in Lamon's Life of Lincoln, espe-
cially such as relates to Lincoln's earlier years.
From the excellent biographies by Herndon and
Weik, Joseph H. Barrett, and James Morgan —
each admirable in many respects — important
facts, observations, incidents, and anecdotes have
been borrowed. The editors also acknowledge
their indebtedness to Ida M. Tarbell's Life of
Lincoln, than which they have found none more
complete and satisfactory.
While nearly all the biographies of Lincoln
heretofore published have been carefully con-
sulted, and choice extracts taken from many of
them, it does not appear necessary to mention
every work thus drawn upon. Particular credit,
however, must be given to these: Abraham Lin-
VI
PREFACE
coin: a History, by John G. Nicolay and John
Hay; The True Abraham Lincoln, by WilHam
Eleroy Curtis ; Six Months in the IVhite House,
by F. B. Carpenter ; Lincoln: Master of Men, by
Alonzo Rothschild; Abraham Lincoln, by Henry
Ketcham; Recollections of Abraham Lincoln,
bv Joshua R. Speed ; Reminiscences of Abraham
Lincoln, by distinguished men of his time, edited
by Allen Thorndike Rice; and Recollections of
the Civil War, by Charles A. Dana.
John H. Clifford.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
PAGB
1.
Ancestry of Abraham Lincoln
I
II.
Birth and Early Life ....
ID
III.
Life in Indiana
19
IV.
Early Life in Illinois: Laborer and
Storekeeper
40
V.
Soldier, Postmaster, and Surveyor
57
VI.
Lincoln Enters Politics: State Legisla-
tor
7°
VII.
Lincoln as a Lawyer ....
84
VIII.
Life on the Circuit ....
98
IX.
In Congress
105
X.
The Debates with Douglas .
III
XI.
Widening Renown
123
XII.
Love Affairs and Marriage
136
XIII.
Education and Literary Traits
151
XIV.
Personal Characteristics: Physical and
Mental
160
XV.
Personal Characteristics: Moral and
Religious ......
168
XVI.
Nomination and Election
177
XVII.
The President Elect ....
190
XVIII.
Journey to AYashington and Inaugura-
tion
198
XIX.
The President and His Cabinet .
208
XX.
Civil War Begins : Fall of Fort Sumter
217
vu
Vlll
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
XXI.
XXII.
XXIII.
XXIV.
XXV.
XXVI.
Lincoln and His Generals
Lincoln and His Soldiers
Defeats and Victories
The Emancipator .
Reelection : End of the War
Death of Lincoln: the Nation's Sorrow
PAGE
227
243
253
263
271
281
Tributes and Stories:
The Greatness of Abraham Lincoln
A Man Inspired of God
Additional Lincoln Stories
297
324
338
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
CHAPTER I
Ancestry of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of
the United States, was born in a log cabin in
the backwoods of Kentucky on the 12th day of
February, 1809. He was born to a very humble
station in life, and his early surroundings were
rude and rough, but his ancestors for generations
had been of that tough fibre, and vigorous physi-
cal organization and mental energy, so often
found among the pioneers on the frontier of
American civilization.
His forefathers removed from Massachusetts
to Pennsylvania in the first half of the seven-
teenth century; and from Pennsylvania some
members of the family moved to Virginia, and
settled in the valley of the Shenandoah, in the
county of Rockingham, whence his immediate
ancestors came to Kentucky. For several genera-
tions they kept on the crest of the wave of
Western settlement.
The family were English, and came from
Norfolk County, England, about the year 1638,
when they settled in Hingham, Mass. Mordecai
Lincoln, the English emigrant to Massachusetts,
removed afterward to Pennsylvania, and was
the great-great-grandfather of the President.
His son John, who was the great-grandfather of
the President, moved to Virginia, and had a son
Abraham., the grandfather of the President. He
2 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
and his son Thomas moved, in 1782, from Rock-
ingham County, Va., to Kentucky.
These ancestors of the President were rough,
hardy, fearless men, and familiar with wood-
craft ; men who could endure the extremes of
fatigue and exposure, who knew how to find food
and shelter in the forest; brave, self-reliant,
true and faithful to their friends, and dangerous
to their enemies.
The grandfather of the President and his son
Thomas emigrated to Kentucky in 1781 or 1782,
and settled in Mercer County. This grandfather
is named in the sur^^eys of Daniel Boone as hav-
ing purchased of the United States five hundred
acres of land. A year or two after this settle-
ment in Kentucky, Abraham Lincoln, having
erected a log cabin near "Bear Grass Fort," the
site of the present city of Louisville, began to
open up his farm.
THE DEATH OF LINCOLN'S GRANDFATHER
"One morning, in the year 1784," as related by
iS^icolay and Hay, "Lincoln's grandfather Abra-
ham started with his three sons, Mordecai,
Josiah, and Thomas, to the edge of the clearing,
and began the day's work. A shot from the
brush killed the father ; Mordecai, the eldest son,
ran instinctively to the house, Josiah to the neigh-
boring fort for assistance, and Thomas, the
youngest, a child of six, was left with the corpse
of his father. Mordecai, reaching the cabin,
seized the rifle, and saw through the loophole
an Indian in his war-paint stooping to raise the
child from the ground. He took deliberate aim
at a white ornament on the breast of the savage
ANCESTRY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 3
and brought him down. The little boy, thns
released, ran to the cabin, and Mordecai, from the
loft, renewed his fire upon the savages, who be-
gan to show themselves from the thicket, until
Josiah returned with assistance from the stockade,
and the assailants fled. This tragedy made an
indelible impression on the mind of Mordecai.
Either a spirit of revenge for his murdered
father, or a sportsmanlike pleasure in his suc-
cessful shot, made him a determined Indian-
stalker, and he rarely stopped to inquire whether
the red man who came within range of his rifle
was friendly or hostile."
UNCLE MORDECAI
Striking characteristics appear to have been
noted" in all the Lincolns of whom we have any
accounts. Some reminiscences related of Mor-
decai, after he had reached manhood, give a
pleasing glimpse of the boy who showed such
coolness and daring on the occasion that ended
his father's life. The following is taken from
F. F. Browne's interesting Evcry-Day Life of
Abraham Lincoln. "He was naturally a man of
considerable genius," says one who knew him.
"He was a man of great drollery, and it would
almost make you laugh to look at him. I never
saw but one other man whose quiet, droll look
excited in me the same disposition to laugh, and
that was Artemus Ward. Mordecai was quite a
story-teller, and in this Abe resemliled his 'Uncle
I\Iord' as we called him. He was an honest man,
as tender-hearted as a woman, and to the last
degree charitable and benevolent. . . . Abe
Lincoln had a very high opinion of his uncle, and
4 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
on one occasion remarked, 'I have often said that
Uncle ^lord had run off with all the talents of
the family.' "
THOMAS LINCOLN
Thomas Lincoln was but six years old when
• he lost his father, and of the early life of the
boy we have no knowledge but what can be
learned of the general lot of his class and of the
habits and modes of living then prevalent among
the Kentucky pioneers. "He grew up," says his
son, the great Abraham Lincoln, "literally with-
out education." After his father's death, Thomas
Lincoln was, as William E. Curtis tells us,
^'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 him-
self by farm work and other menial emplo}'ment,
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 repu-
tation as a wrestler."
MARRIAGE TO NANCY HANKS
In 1806 Thomas Lincoln, being then twenty-
eight years of age, was married to Nancy Hanks,
who was a native of A'irginia. The couple
settled in what was then Hardin County, Ken-
ANCESTRY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 5
tucky. It does not appear that the parents of
Miss Hanks ever removed to Kentucky, though
others of the family did so. Of the history of
her ancestry we have no definite particulars.
Her position in life appears to have been not dis-
similar to that of her husband. She has been
described as "a handsome young woman of lowly
condition but possessing qualities of intellect and
character above the average." As she died at an
early age, having passed her days, from the time
of her marriage, on obscure frontiers, few recol-
lections of her remain. She was brought up
from early years by an aunt.
At the time of her marriage Nancy Hanks
was in her twenty-third year. William H.
Herndon tells us that she was above the ordinary
height in stature, weighed about one hundred and
thirty pounds, was slenderly built, and had much
the appearance of one inclined to consumption.
Her skin was dark ; hair dark brown ; eyes gray
and small ; forehead prominent ; face sharp and
angular, with a marked expression of melancholy
which fixed itself in the memory of every one who
ever saw or knew her. Though her life Vv^as
seemingly beclouded by a spirit of sadness, she
was in disposition amiable and generally cheer-
ful. "Mr. Lincoln himself," says Herndon, "said
to me in 1851, on receiving the news of his
father's death, that whatever might be said of
his parents, and however unpromising the early
surroundings of his mother may have been, she
/ was highly intellectual by nature, had a strong
memory, acute judgment, and was cool and
heroic. From a mental standpoint she no doubt
rose above her surroundings, and had she lived,
the stimulus of her nature would have accelerated
6 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
her son's success, and she would have been a
much more ambitious prompter than his father
ever was."
In the midst of her household cares she under-
took to teach her husband to read and write, and
also gave her children a start in learning-. Of
her the President, nearly half a century after
her death, is said to have remarked to William
H. Seward, "All that I am or hope to be, I owe
to my angel mother — blessings on her memory."
ABRAHAM AS AUTOBIOGRAPHER
Abraham Lincoln himself never manifested
much interest in his genealogy. At one time he
did give out a brief statement of matters
concerning his ancestors because he was led to
believe that it might be useful for campaign
purposes in the great struggle that brought to
him the Presidency. But at another time, when
questioned on this head, we are told that he
replied, "It is a great piece of folly to attempt to
make anything out of me or my early life. It
can all be condensed into a single sentence, and
that sentence you will find in Gray's 'Elegy' : 'The
short and simple annals of the poor.' That's
my life, and that's all you or any one else can
make out of it."
PERSONALITY OF THOMAS LINCOLN
Thomas Lincoln was not tall and thin, like
Abraham, but comparatively short and stout,
standing about five feet ten inches in his shoes.
His hair was dark and coarse, his complexion
brown, his face round and full, his eyes gray,
ANCESTRY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 7
and his nose large and prominent. He weighed,
at different times, from one hundred and seventy
to one hundred and ninety-six pounds. He was
built so "tight and compact," that Dennis Hanks
declares he never could find the points of separa-
tion between his ribs, though he felt for them
often. He was a little stoop-shouldered, and
walked with a slow, halting step. But he was
sinewy and brave, and, his habitually peaceable
disposition once fairly overborne, was a tremen-
dous man in a rough-and-tumble fight. He
thrashed the monstrous bully of Breckinridge
County in three minutes, and came off without a
scratch.
His vagrant career had supplied him with an
inexhaustible fund of anecdotes, which he told
cleverly and well. He loved to sit about at
"stores" or under shade-trees and "spin yams" —
a propensity that atoned for many sins and made
him extremely popular. In politics he was a
Democrat — a Jackson Democrat. In religion he
was nothing at times, and a member of various
denominations by turns — a Freewill Baptist in
Kentucky, a Presbyterian in Indiana, and a Disci-
ple — vulgarly called Campbellite — in Illinois. In
this last communion he appears to have died.
THE MOTHER OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Mrs. Lincoln, the mother of the President, is
said to have been in her youth a woman of beauty.
She was by nature refined and of far more than
ordinary intellect. Her friends spoke of her as
being a person of marked and decided character.
She was unusually intelligent, reading all the
books she could obtain, and was a woman of deep
8 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
religious feeling, of exemplary character, and
most tenderly devoted to her family. Her home
indicated a degree of taste and a love of
beauty exceptional in the wild settlement in which
she lived, and, judging from her early death, it
is probable that she was of a physique less hardy
than that of most of those by whom she was
surrounded. But in spite of this she had been
reared where the very means of existence were to
be obtained but by a constant struggle, and she
had learned to use the rifle and the tools of the
backwoods farmer, as well as the distaff, the
cards, and the spinning wheel. She could not
only kill the wild game of the woods, but she
could also dress it. make of the skins clothes for
her family and prepare the flesh for food. Hers
was a strong, self-reliant spirit, which com-
manded the respect as w'ell as the love of the
rugged people among whom she lived.
THOMAS LIXCOLX AND HIS WIFE
The following account of this interesting couple
in the early days of their life together appears in
the Reminiscences of Lincoln's Cousin and Play-
mate, Dennis Hanks, as written down by Mrs.
Eleanor Atkinson, in 1889, and published in the
American Magazine, February. 1908.
"Looks didn't count them days, nowhow. It
was stren'th an' work an' daredevil. A lazy man
or a cow-ard was jist pizen. an' a spindlin' feller
had to stay in the settlemints. The clearin's
hadn't no use fur him. Tom was strong, an' he
wasn't lazy nor afeerd o' nothin', but he was kind
o' shif'less — couldn't git nothin' ahead, an' didn't
keer putickalar. Lots o' them kind o' fellers in
ANCESTRY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN g
arly days, 'druther hunt an' fish, an' I reckon they
had their use. They killed off the varmints an*
made it safe fur other fellers to go into the woods
with an ax.
"When Nancy married Tom he was workin'
in a carpenter shop. It wasn't Tom's fault he
couldn't make a livin' by his trade. Thar was
sca'cel}- any money in that kentry. Every man
had to do his own tinkerin', an' keep everlastin'ly
at work to git enough to eat. So Tom tuk up
some land. It was mighty ornery land, but it
was the best Tom could git, when he hadn't much
to trade fur it.
"Pore? We was all pore, them days, but the
Lincolns was porer than anybody. Choppin'
trees an' grublDin' roots an' split'tin' rails an'
huntin' an' trappin' didn't leave Tom no time.
. . . It was all he could do to git his fambly
enough to eat and to kiver 'em. Nancy was
turrible ashamed o' the w-ay they lived, but she
knowed Tom was doin' his best, an' she wasn't
the pesterin' kind. She was purty as a pictur an'
smart as you'd find 'em anywhere. She could
read an' write. The Hankses was some smarter'n
the Lincolns. Tom thought a heap o' Nancy, an'
he was as good to her as he knowed how. He
didn't drink or swear or play kyards or fight, an'
them was drinkin', cussin', quarrelsome days.
Tom was popylar, an' he could lick a bully if he
had to. He jist couldn't git ahead, somehow."
CHAPTER II
Birth and Early Life of Abraham Lincoln
It has been ascertained that about a year after
his marriage Thomas Lincoln, actuated by a rov-
ing disposition, also by his inherited land-hunger,
removed his family to a little piece of ground on
which a clearing had been made and a cabin
built, situated on the south branch of Nolin Creek,
three miles from Hodgenville, now the county-
seat of Larue County, Kentucky, According to
Ward H. Lamon, who recorded so many interest-
ing reminiscences of the President, it is not known
what estate Thomas Lincoln had, or attempted to
get, in this land. It is said that lie bought it,
but was unable to pay for it. It was very poor,
and the landscape of which it formed a part was
extremely desolate. It was then nearly destitute
of timber, though since partially covered in spots
by a young and stunted growth of post-oak and
hickory. On every side the eye rested only upon
weeds and low bushes, and a kind of grass that
has been described as "barren grass." It was,
on the whole, as bad a piece of ground as there
was in the neighborhood, and would hardly have
sold for a dollar an acre. The general appear-
ance of the surrounding country was not much
better. A few small but pleasant streams — Nolin
Creek and its tributaries — wandered through the
valleys. The land was generally what is called
"rolling" — dead levels interspersed by little
BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE OF LINCOLN ii
hillocks. Nearly all of it was arable ; but, except
the margins of the watercourses, not much of it
was sufficiently fertile to repay the labor of
tillage. It had no grand, unviolated forests to
allure the hunter, and no great bodies of deep
and rich soils to tempt the husbandman. Here
it was only by incessant labor and thrifty habits
that an ordinary living could be wrung from the
earth.
THE CABIN HOME
The family lived in a miserable cabin. It stood
on a little knoll in the midst of a barren glade.
Such was the mean and narrow tenement which
sheltered the infancy of one of the greatest polit-
ical chieftains of modem times. Near by, a
"romantic spring" gushed from beneath a rock,
and sent forth a slender but silvery stream,
meandering through those dull and unsightly
plains. As it furnished almost the only pleasing
feature in the melancholy desert through which
it flowed, the place was called after it. "Rock
Spring Farm." After a while it occurred to the
proprietor that a few trees would look well, and
might even be useful, if planted in the vicinity of
his bare house-yard. This enterprise he actually
achieved ; and three decayed pear-trees, situated
on the "edge" of what was formerly a rye-
field, remained after him as the only memorials
of him or his family to be seen about the
premises. They were his sole permanent im-
provement.
In that solitary cabin, on this desolate spot,
Abraham Lincoln, perhaps the most illustrious
man of his century, was born, as already said, on
the twelfth day of February, 1809.
12 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
A BETTER DWELLING-PLACE
The Lincolns remained on Nolin Creek till
'Abraham was four years old. They then re-
moved to a place much more picturesque, and of
far greater fertility. It was situated about six
miles from Hodgenville, on Knob Creek, a clear
stream falling into the Rolling Fork, a branch of
the Salt River, a short distance above the pres-
ent town of New Haven. Their new farm was
well timbered and more hilly than that on Nolin
Creek. It contained some rich valleys, which
promised such excellent yields, that Lincoln be-
stirred himself most vigorously, and actuallv got
into cultivation the whole of six acres, lying ad-
vantageously up and down the branch. This,
however, was not all the work he did, for he still
continued to potter occasionally at his trade ;
but, no matter what he turned his hand to, his
gains were always insignificant. He was satisfied
with indifferent shelter, and a diet of "corn-bread
and milk" was all he asked. John Hanks naively
observes, that "happiness was the end of life with
him." The land he now lived upon (two hundred
and thirty-eight acres) he had pretended to buy
from a Mr. Slater. The purchase must have
been a mere speculation, with all the payments
deferred, for the title remained in Lincoln but
a single year. The deed was made to him
September 2, 1813 ; and October 27, 1 814, he con-
veyed two hundred acres to Charles Milton, leav-
ing thirty-eight acres of the tract unsold. No
public record discloses what he did with the re-
mainder. If he retained any interest in it for the
time, it was probably permitted to be sold for
taxes. The last of his voluntary transactions, in
BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE OF LINCOLN 13
regard to this land, took place two years before
his removal to Indiana; after which he appears
to have continued in possession as the tenant of
Milton.
LINCOLN AT SCHOOL
In those days there were no common schools
in that country. The principal reliance for ac-
quiring the rudiments of learning was the same
as that to which the peasant-poet of Ayrshire was
indebted. Education was by no means disre-
garded, nor did young Lincoln, poor as were his
opportunities, grow up an illiterate boy, as some
have supposed. Competent teachers were ac-
customed to ofifer themselves then, as in later
years, who opened private schools for a neighbor-
hood, being supported by tuition-fees or subscrip-
tion. During his boyhood days in Kentucky,
Abraham Lincoln attended, at dififerent times, at
least two schools of this description, of which he
always retained clear and grateful recollections.
One of these was kept by Zachariah Riney, whose
influence was never wholly effaced from Lincoln's
memory. Though this teacher was himself an
ardent Catholic, he made no proselyting efforts in
his school, and when any little religious cere-
monies, or perhaps mere catechizing and the like,
were to be gone through with, all Protestant
children, of whom it is needless to say that young
Abraham was one, were accustomed to retire, by
permission or command. Riney was a man of
excellent character, deep piety, and fairly edu-
cated. The still existing town of Rineyville, in
Hardin County, is a tribute to his name.
Another teacher, on whose instructions the boy
afterward attended while living in Kentucky, was
14 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
named Caleb Hazel. His was also a neighbor-
hood school, sustained by private patronage.
With the aid of these two schools, and with
such further assistance as he received at home,
no doubt Abraham Lincoln had become able to
read well at the age of seven. That he was not
a dull or inapt scholar, is manifest from his sub-
sequent attainments. With the allurements of the
rifle and the wild game that then abounded in the
country, however, and with the meagre advan-
tages he had in regard to books, it is certain that
his perceptive faculties and his muscular powers
were much more fully developed by exercise than
his scholastic talents.
Abraham Lincoln's mother was persistent irP
her determination to educate her children, and
although the father's enthusiasm was spasmodic
and unreliable, still he would occasionally glow
with pride in his educational plans for his bright,
intelligent boy. At the age of forty-five Lincoln
told Leonard Swett that the siunmnin bonum of
his father's ambition was to give his boy a first-
rate education, and that his ne plus tiltra of such
an edvtcation was to "larn to cipher clean through
the 'rithmetic."
While he lived in Kentucky young Lincoln
never saw even the exterior of what was properly
a church edifice. The religious services he at-
tended were held either at a private dwelling, or
in some log schoolhouse, or in the open grove.
nancy's "boy baby"
Dennis Hanks's account of the birth of his
cousin Abraham is given in the most character-
istic manner, as follows, by Eleanor Atkinson.
BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE OF LINCOLN 15
'Tom an' Nancy lived on a farm about two
miles from us when Abe was born. I ricollect
Tom comin' over to our house one cold mornin'
in Feb'uary an' say in' kind o' slow, 'Nancy's got
a boy baby.'
"Mother got flustered an' hurried up 'er work
to go over to look after the little feller, but I
didn't have nothin' to wait fur, so I cut an' run
the hull two mile to see my new cousin.
"You bet I was tickled to death. Babies wasn't
as common as blackberries in the woods o' Kain-
tucky. Mother come over and washed him an'
put a yaller flannen petticoat on him, an' cooked
some dried berries with wild honey fur Nancy,
an' slicked things up an' went home. An' that's
all the nuss'n either of 'em got. . . .
"I rolled up in a b'ar skin an' slep' by the fire-
place that night, so's I could see the little feller
when he cried and Tom had to git up an' tend to
him. Nancy let me hold him purty soon. Folks
often ask me if Abe was a good-lookin' baby.
Well, now, he looked just like any other baby, at
fust — like red cherry pulp squeezed dry. An' he
didn't improve none as be growed older. Abe
never was much fur looks. I ricollect how Torn
joked about Abe's long legs when he was toddlin'
round the cabin. He growed out o' his clothes
faster'n Nancy could make 'em.
"But he was mighty good comp'ny, solemn as
a papoose, but interr^/ed in everythin'. An' he
always did have fits o' cuttin' up. I've seen him
when he was a little feller, settin' on a stool,
starin' at a visitor. All of a sudden he'd bust out
laughin' fit to kill. If he told us what he was
laughin' at, half the time we couldn't see no
joke. . . .
i6 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
"Abe never give Nancy no trouble after he
could walk excep' to keep him in clothes. Most
o' the time we went bar'foot. Ever wear a wet
buckskin glove? Them moccasins wasn't no
putection ag'inst the wet. Birch bark with hick-
ory bark soles, strapped on over yarn socks, beat
buckskin all holler, fur snow. Abe 'n' me got
purty handy contrivin' things that way. An' Abe '
was right out in the woods, about as soon's he
was weaned, fishin' in the crick, settin' traps fur
rabbits an' muskrats, goin' on coon-hunts with
Tom an' me an' the dogs, follerin' up bees to
find bee trees, an' drappin' corn fur his pappy.
Mighty inter^.?fin' life fur a boy, but thar was a
good many chances he wouldn't live to grow up.'^
LITTLE ABE SAVED FROM DROWNING
In his Best Lincoln Stories, J. E. Gallaher pub-
lishes the following narrative :
"The only one of young Lincoln's playmates
now living [1884 J is an old man nearly a hun-
dred years old, named Austin Gollaher, whose
mind is bright and clear, and who never tires
telling of the days Lincoln and he were 'little
tikes' and played together. This old man, who "
yet lives in the log house in which he has always '
lived, a few miles from the old Lincoln place, tells \
entertaining stories about the President's boy-
hood."
"I once saved Lincoln's life," relates Mr. Gol-
laher. "We had been going to school together
one year ; but the next year we had no school, be-
cause there were so few scholars to attend, there
being only about twenty in the school the year
before.
BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE OF LINCOLN 17
"Consequently Abe and I had not much to do ;
but as we did not go to school and our mothers
were strict with us, we did not get to see each
other very often. One Sunday morning my
mother waked me up early, saying she was going
to see Mrs. Lincoln, and that I could go along.
Glad of the chance, I was soon dressed and ready
to go. After my mother and I got there, Abe and
I played all through the day.
"While we were wandering up and down the
little stream called Knob Creek, Abe said : 'Right
up there' — pointing to the east — 'we saw a covey
of partridges yesterday. Let's go over.' The
stream was too wide for us to jump across.
Finally we saw a foot-log, and we concluded to
try it. It was narrow, but Abe said, 'Let's coon
it.'
"I went first and reached the other side all
right. Abe went about half-way across, when he
got scared and began trembling. I hollered to
him, 'Don't look down nor up nor sideways, but
look right at me and hold on tight !' But he fell
off into the creek, and as the water was about
seven or eight feet deep (I could not swim, and
neither could Abe), I knew it would do no good
for me to go in after him.
"So I got a stick — a long water-sprout — and
held it out to him. He came up, grabbing with
both hands, and I put the stick into his hands.
He clung to it, and I pulled him out on the bank,
almost dead. I got him by the arms and
shook him well, and then I rolled him on the
ground, when the water poured out of his
mouth.
"He was all right very soon. We promised
each other that we would never tell anybody
i8 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
about it, and never did for years. I never told
any one of it until after Lincoln was killed."
Abraham's first farm work
The boy Lincoln, as Ida M. Tarbell, in her
well-known biography, tells us, learned to know
his father's farm from line to line, and years
after, when President of the United States, he
recalled in a conversation at the White House,
in the presence of Dr. J. J. Wright of Emporia,
Kan., the arrangement of the fields and an in-
cident of his own childish experience as a farm-
er's son. "Mr. President," one of the visitors had
asked, "how would you like when the war is over
to visit your old home in Kentucky?" "I would
like it very much," Mr. Lincoln replied. "I re-
member that old home very well. Our farm was
composed of three fields. It lay in the valley sur-
rounded by high hills and deep gorges. Some-
times when there came a big rain in the hills the
water would come down through the gorges and
spread all over the farm. The last, thing that I
remember of doing there was one Saturday after-
noon ; the other boys planted the corn in what we
called the big field — it contained seven acres — and
I dropped the pumpkin-seed. I dropped two
seeds in every other hill and every other row.
The next Sunday morning there came a big rain
in the hills ; it did not rain a drop in the valley,
but the water coming through the gorges washed
ground, corn, pumpkin-seeds and all clear off the
field."
CHAPTER III
Life in Indiana
Unsatisfactory results of his years of toil on
the lands of Nolin Creek, or a restless spirit of
adventure and fondness for more stirring pioneer
experiences than this region continued to aflFord,
or, as some say, his inherited land-hunger, led
Thomas Lincoln, now nearly forty years of age,
with a son beginning to be an efficient helper in
the labors of the farm, to seek a new place of
abode beyond the Ohio River.
THE WEST IN 1816
It is scarcely possible to conceive the peculiar
conditions of what was the far western portion of
the country when the Lincolns made this removal.
Enough, however, can be realized to give us some
understanding of Abraham's continual privations
and struggles. In the first place, we must re-
member that he lived in the woods. The West
of that day was not wild in the sense of being
wicked, criminal, ruffian. Morally, if not intel-
lectually, the people of that region would com-
pare well with the rest of the country, then or
now. Although there was little schooling and
no literary training, the woodsman had an edu-
cation of his own. The region was wild in the
sense that it was almost uninhabited and untilled.
The forests, extending from the mountains on the
east to the prairies in the west, were almost un-/
20 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
broken and were the abode of wild birds and
beasts.
One year after Lincoln's birth, the population
of Kentucky, white and colored, averaged ten per-
sons to the square mile. When the Lincolns re-
moved to Indiana, which in the same year became
a State of the Union, its population averaged less
than three persons to the square mile. The popu-
lation of Illinois was still more thinly scattered.
POOR CONVENIENCES
In these regions there were few roads of any
kind, and none that could be called good, for the
mud of Indiana and Illinois was deep and tena-
cious. There were good saddle-horses, a suf-
ficient number of oxen, and rude carts. Loco-
motives — not to speak of bicycles, automobiles,
etc. — were still in the future. The first railroad
in Indiana — a very primitive affair — was con-
structed in 1847. Carriages perhaps there were,
but a good carriage would have been a superfluity
on those primitive roads.
Young Lincoln's only pen was the goose-quill,
and his ink was home-made. Paper was scarce,
expensive, and, while of good material, poorly
made. Newspapers were unknown in that forest
land, and books were few and far between.
The rude farmers had scythes and sickles, but
of a grade that would not be salable to-day at
any price. Those men little dreamed of our won-
drous agricultural implements and machinery. As
little could their wives and daughters imagine
such superseders of their needles as sewing and
knitting machines. In the woods thorns were
used for pins.
LIFE IN INDIANA 21
Guns were flint-locks. Tinder-boxes were
used till friction-matches came. Artificial light
was supplied chiefly from the open fireplace,
though tallow dips were known and sometimes
^ used. Moulded candles, oil, gas, electricity —
'' these illuminants followed, one by one, down to
our own day.
In that locality there were no mills for weav-
ing cotton, linen, or woolen fabrics. All weaving
was done with the hand-loom, and the common
fabric of the region was linsey-woolsey — made of
linen and woolen mixed — and usually not dyed.
Antiseptics were unknown ; a severe surgical
operation was likely to mean death for the pa-
tient ; and ether, chloroform, and other anaes-
thetics were yet to be discovered.
As to food, wild game was abundant, but the
kitchen-garden was not developed, and there were
no importations. No oranges, lemons, bananas ;
no canned goods ! Crusts of rye bread were
browned, ground, and boiled to make "coffee."
Herbs of the woods were dried and steeped for
tea, and the root of the sassafras furnished an-
other substitute for the fragrant Oriental bever-
age. Slippery-elm soaked in cold water sufficed
for lemonade. Milk-houses were built over
springs when possible, and the milk-vessels were
carefully covered to keep out snakes and other
vermin.
Whiskey was almost universally used. Indeed,
in spite of the constitutional "sixteen-to-one," it
w^as locallv used as the standard of value. The
use of quinine, which came to be general through-
out that entire region, was of later date.
The schools, as we have seen, were primitive
and inadequate. Itinerant preachers went about,
22 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
holding "revival meetings," but church buildings
were rare and of the rudest construction. There
were no regular means of travel, and even the
carriers of the Post-OfBce Department were slow
in reaching those remote communities.
It is not easv for us, in the midst of the com-
forts and luxuries of a later civilization, to
realize the conditions of Western life previous to
1825. But the situation must be imderstood if
one is to know the life of the boy Lincoln.
THE BACKWOODS GARB
His cap in winter was of coonskin, with the
tail of the animal hanging down behind. In sum-
mer he wore a misshapen straw hat with no band.
His shirt of linsey-woolsey was of no color what-
ever, unless it were the "color of dirt." His
breeches were of deerskin with the hair outside.
In dry weather these were well enough, but when
wet they hugged the wearer with a clammy em-
brace, and the victim might have sighed in vain
for sanitary underwear. These breeches were
held up bv one suspender. The hunting-shirt
was likewise of deerskin. The stockings — he
had no stockings. His shoes were cowhide,
though moccasins made by his mother were
substituted in dry weather. There was usually
a space of several inches between the breeches
and the shoes, exposing a tanned and bluish
skin. For about half the year he went bare-
foot.
Such were the surroundings of Lincoln's early
childhood, and into an environment of the same
sort he passed when his father left Kentucky, to
make a new home in the wilds of Indiana.
LIFE IN INDIANA 23
WRECKAGE AND SALVAGE
In his frequent changes of occupation, Thomas
Lincohi had become somewhat of a waterman.
As a tiatboatman he had made one trip — perhaps
a second — to New Orleans. It was therefore
natural that when, in the fall of 1816, he finally
determined to emigrate, he should attempt to
transport his goods by water. He built himself
a rickety boat, and launched it on the Rolling
Fork, at the mouth of Knob Creek, half a mile
from his cabin. Some of his personal property,
including carpenter's tools, he put on board, and
the rest he traded for four hundred gallons of
whiskey. With this crazy craft and its queer
cargo, he put out into the stream alone, floating
with the current down the Rolling Fork, then
down Salt River, and reaching the Ohio without
mishap. But here his boat capsized and much of
his liquid cargo was lost, likewise some of his
other effects. He fished up a few of the tools and
part of the whiskey, righted the boat, and floated
down to a landing at Thompson's Ferry, two and
a half miles west of Troy, in Perry County, In-
diana. Here he sold his treacherous boat, and,
leaving his remaining property in the care of a
settler named Posey, trudged off in search of
a "location" in the wilderness. He found a place
that he thought would suit him, only sixteen
miles from the river. He then turned about, and
walked all the way back to Knob Creek, in Ken-
tucky, where he took a fresh start with his wife
and children.
"packing" to posey's
This time Thomas Lincoln loaded what little
he had left upon two horses, and "packed through
24 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
to Posey's." Besides clothing and bedding, the
family carried such cooking utensils as would be
needed by the way, and would be indispensable
when they reached their destination. The stock
was not large. It consisted of "one oven and
lid, one skillet and lid, and some tinware." They
camped out nights, and of course cooked their
own food. Thomas Lincoln's skill as a hunter
must now have stood him in good stead.
When they got to Posey's, Lincoln hired a
wagon, and loading on it the whiskey and other
things he had stored there, went on toward the
place which has since become famous as the
"Lincoln Farm." He was now making his way
through an almost untrodden wilderness. There
was no road, and for part of the distance not
even a foot-trail. He was slightly assisted by a
path of a few miles in length, which had been
"blazed out" by an earlier settler named Hos-
kins. But he was obliged to suffer long delays,
and to cut out a passage for the wagon with his
ax. At length, after many detentions and diffi-
culties, he reached the point where he intended to
make his future home. It was situated between
the forks of Big Pigeon and Little Pigeon creeks,
a mile and a half east of Gentryville, now in
Spencer County, a village which grew up after-
ward, and now numbers several hundred inhabi-
tants. The whole country was covered with a
dense forest of oaks, beeches, walnuts, sugar-
maples, and nearly all other varieties of trees that
flourish in North America. The woods were
usually open and devoid of underbrush; the
trees were of the largest growth, and beneath
their deep shade was spread out a rich green-
sward. The natural grazing was very good, and
LIFE IN INDIANA 25
hogs found sustenance in the prodigious quantity
of mast. There was occasionally a little glade or
prairie set down in the midst of this vast ex-
panse of forest. One of these, not far from the
Lincoln place, was a famous resort for deer, and
the hunters knew it well for its numerous licks.
Upon this prairie the militia musters were had at
a later day, and from it the south fork of the
Pigeon came finally to be known as the "Prairie
Fork."
THE INDIANA HOME
Thomas Lincoln located his dwelling on a
gentle hillock having a slope on every side. The
spot was very beautiful and the soil was excellent.
The selection was wise in every respect but one.
There was no water near except what was col-
lected in holes in the ground after a rain, and
that was very foul, and had to be strained before
using. At a later period we find Abraham and
his sister carrying water from a spring situated a
mile away. Dennis Hanks asserts that Tom Lin-
coln "riddled his land like a honeycomb," in
search of good water, and was at last sorely
tempted to employ a Yankee who came around
with a divining-rod, and declared that for the
small consideration of five dollars in cash, he
would make his rod point to a cool, flowing
spring beneath the surface.
Here Thomas Lincoln built "a half-faced
camp" — a cabin enclosed on three sides and open
on the fourth. It was built, not of logs, but of
poles, and was therefore denominated a "camp'"
to distinguish it from a "cabin." It was about
fourteen feet square and had no floor.
In 1817 Thomas Lincoln provided a better shel-
26 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
ter for his family by building a log cabin. This
second dwelling was a rough log house ; the tim-
bers were not hewed ; and until after the arrival
of Sally Bush, in 1819, it had neither floor, door,
nor window. It stood about forty yards from
what Dennis Hanks calls that "darned little half-
faced camp." It was "right in the bush" — in the
heart of a virgin wilderness. There were only
seven or eight older settlers in the neighborhood
of the two Pigeon creeks. Lincoln had had
some previous acquaintance with one of them,
a Mr. Thomas Carter ; and it is highly probable
that nothing but this trivial circumstance induced
him to settle here.
In the fall of 181 7 Thomas and Betsy Spar-
row came out from Kentucky, and took up their
abode in the old camp which the Lincolns had
just deserted for the cabin. Betsy was the aunt
who had raised Nancy Hanks. She had done the
same in part for our friend Dennis Hanks, who
was the offspring of another sister, and she now
brought him with her. Dennis thus became the
constant companion of young Abraham ; and after
all the other members of that family, as originally
settled in Indiana, were dead, Dennis became a
most important witness as to this period of Abra-
ham Lincoln's life.
SCHOOL AND READING
For some time after the settlement in In-
diana, there was no school in that primitive,
sparsely settled neighborhood, but when Abra-
ham was eleven years of age there was a school
opened in a log shanty about one and a half miles
distant from his home, by one Hazel Dorsey — the
LIFE IN INDIANA 27
term "Hazel/' which formed a component part
of the teacher's name, being supposed to refer to
a species of twig whose use in the rude school-
room was auxiliary to good scholarship. Andrew
Crawford was Abraham's next teacher, his minis-
trations occurring in the winter of 1822-23, as
nearly as can be defined. Finally one Swaney
opened a school, pronounced by him skulc, about
five miles from the Lincoln home in 1826, which
Lincoln attended for a very short time, and these
three schools in Indiana and the two in Kentucky
comprise all that he ever attended ; the total time
consumed (as Lincoln told Swett) being about
four months in all. And such schools !
In those days books were rare and his library
was small but select. It consisted at first of three
volumes, the Bible, ^sop's Fables, and Pilgrim's
Progress. He read and digested them until they
were his own. Better books he could not have
found in all the universities of Europe, and we
begin to understand where he got his moral vi-
sion, his precision of English style, and his
shrewd humor.
Later he borrowed from a neighbor, Josiah
Crawford, a copy of Weems's Life of IV asking-
ton. In lieu of a bookcase he tucked this, one
night, into the chinking of the cabin. A rain-
storm ruined it, and Lincoln having no money
wherewith to repay Crawford for the loss, it was
agreed that Abraham should recompense him
by pulling fodder for three days.
Still later Abraham had a life of Henry Clay,
whom he almost idolized. His one poet was
Burns, whom he learned by heart, and ever after
ranked next to Shakspeare.
Having no slate, he did his "sums" in the sand
jiS ABRAHAM LINCOLN
•on the ground, or on a wooden shovel, which,
after it was covered on both sides, he scraped
â– down so as to erase the work. A note-book is
preserved, containing, along with examples in
arithmetic, this boyish doggerel :
Abraham Lincoln
his hand and pen.
he will be good, but
god knows When.
The penmanship bears a striking resemblance
i;o that in later life.
THE mother's death
In 1818 the milk-sickness wrought fatalities in
that region. Mr. and Mrs. Sparrow were at-
tacked by it and were removed, for better care, to
the home of the Lincolns, where they soon died.
Mrs. Lincoln was smitten by the same scourge.
There was no doctor to be had, the nearest one
being thirty-five miles away, and the mother of
the future President did not long survive.
The widowed husband was undertaker. With
his own hands he rived the planks, made the cof-
fin, and buried Nancy Hanks, that remarkable
woman. There was no pastor, no funeral service.
It is said that several months later Abraham "in-
duced a traveling preacher to accompany him to
the grave and there" give to the dead mother
more solemn rites.
Nancy Hanks Lincoln did her duty lovingly.
In later years the nation joined with her son in
paying honor to her memory.
the desolated home
The loss of his mother was the first great grief
<of young Abraham, then not quite ten years old.
LIFE IN INDIANA 29;
The love of reading acquired through her in-
spiration and help was of itself enough, in his
condition, to justify his saying:
"All that I am or" hope to be, I owe to my angel
mother."
His recollection of her seemed always to be
quite clear and vivid, and he ever spoke of her
with tenderness and reverence.
What could be done as housekeeper by a girl
of twelve, Sarah, Abraham's sister, did for more
than a year ; but a matron's care was too visibly
lacking^ and the father decided to ask the help
and hand of one he had early known as Sally
Bush, then living in widowhood at Elizabethtowai,.
Kv. She had married Daniel Johnston, the jailer,
who died leaving three children and a little
property.
His widow continued to live at Elizabethtown
till December 2, 1819. Thomas Lincoln re-
turned to this place on the first day of _ December,
and inquired for the residence of Widow John-
ston. He was not slow to present himiself be-
fore her. then occurred the following courtship,
as related by Samuel Haycraf t, clerk of the Court
of Hardin County:
"He said to her : 'I am a lone man. and you
are a lone w^oman. I have knowed you from a
girl, and you have knowed me from a boy ; and
i have come all the way from Indiana to ask if
vou'll marrv me right off. as Tve no time to lose.'
"To which she replied: 'Tommy Lincoln, I
have no objection to marrying you, but I cannot
do it right off, for I owe several little debts
Nvhich must first be paid.'
"The gallant man promptly said : 'Give me a
list of vour debts.'
30 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
"The list was furnished, and the debts were paid
the same evening. The next morning, December 2,
1819, 1 issued the hcense, and the same day they
were married, bundled up, and started for home."
THE NEW MOTHER
Mrs. Johnston has been called a "poor widow,"
but she possessed goods which, in the eyes of
Tom Lincoln, were almost of unparalleled mag-
nificence. Among other things, she had a bureau
that cost forty dollars ; and he informed her, on
their arrival in Indiana, that, in his deliberate
opinion, it was little less than sinful to be the
owner of such a thing. He demanded that she
should turn it into cash, which she positively
refused to do. She had quite a lot of other
articles, however, which he thought well enough
in their way, and some of which were sadly
needed in his miserable cabin in the wilds of
Indiana. Dennis Hanks speaks with great
rapture of the "large supply of household goods"
which she brought out with her. There was "one
fine bureau, one table, one set of chairs, one large
clothes-chest, cooking utensils, knives, forks,
bedding, and other articles." It was a glorious
day for little Abe and Sarah and Dennis when
this wondrous collection of rich furniture arrived
in the Pigeon Creek settlement. But all this
wealth required extraordinary means of trans-
portation ; and Lincoln had recourse to his
brother-in-law, Ralph Krume, who lived just
over the line, in Breckinridge County. Krume
came with a four-horse team, and moved Mrs.
Johnston, now Mrs. Lincoln, with her family
and effects, to the home of her new husband in
Indiana. Mrs. Lincoln's own goods furnished
LIFE IN INDIANA 3t
the cabin with tolerable decency. She made
Lincoln put down a floor, and hang windows and
doors. It was in the depth of winter ; and the
children, as they nestled in the warm beds she
provided them, enjoying the strange luxury of
security from the cold winds of December, must
have thanked her from the bottoms of their
newly comforted hearts. She had brought a son
and two daughters of her own — John, Sarah, and
Matilda ; but little Abe and his sister, the ragged
and hapless little strangers to her brood, were
given an equal place in her affections. They
were half naked, and she clad them from the
stores of clothing she had laid up for her own.
They were dirty, and she washed them ; they had
been ill-used, and she treated them with motherly
tenderness. In her own modest language, she
"made them look a little more human." "In
fact," says Dennis Hanks, "in a few weeks all
had changed ; and where everything was want-
ing, now" all was snug and comfortable. She
was a woman of great energy, of remarkable
good sense, very industrious and saving, and also
very neat and tidy in her person and manners,
and' knew exactly how to manage children. She
took an especial liking to young Abe. Her love
for him was warmly returned, and continued to
the day of his death. But few children love their
parents as he loved his stepmother. She soon
dressed him up in entire new clothes, and from
that time on he appeared to lead a new life. He
was encouraged by her to study, and any wish
on his part was gratified when it could be done.
The two sets of :hildren got along finely together,
as if they had all been the children of the same
parents."
32 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Says a biographer of Lincoln : "The influence
upon the growing- lad of two such women as
Nancy Hanks and Sally Bush was worth more
than that of the best-appointed college in all the
land."
GROWTH IX STATURE AXD MIND
The boy grew into youth, and he grew very
fast. \\'hile still in his teens he reached the full
stature of his manhood, six feet and four inches.
His strength was astonishing, and many stories
were told of this and subsequent periods to illus-
trate his physical prowess. Like his father, it is
said, he was usually victorious in muscular con-
tests.
During the period of his growth into youth he
spent much of his time in reading, talking, and,
after a fashion, making speeches. He also did
some writing, and his political writings won
great admiration from his neighbors. He occa-
sionally wrote satires which, while not refined,
were verv stinging. This would not be worth
mentioning were it not for the fact that it shows
that from boyhood he knew the force of this
formidable weapon which later he used with so
much skill. The country store furnished the
frontier substitute for the club, and there the men
were wont to congregate. Young Lincoln was
the life of the gatherings, being an expert story-
teller and having a plentiful supply of humorous
anecdotes. His speech-making proved so attract-
ive that his father was forced to forbid him to
practice it during working hours because the men
would always leave their work to listen to him.
During these years he had no regular employ-
LIFE IN 'INDIANA zs
ment, but did odd jobs wherever he got a chance.
At one time he worked on a ferryboat for 37I
cents a day.
STIRRED BY AN ORATOR
When sixteen years old, Lincohi had his
first lesson in oratory. He attended court at
Boonville, county-seat of Warrick County, and
heard a case in which one of the aristocratic
Breckinridges of Kentucky was attorney for the
defence. The power of his oratory was a revela-
tion to the lad. At its conclusion the awkward,
ill-dressed, bashful, but enthusiastic young Lin-
coln pressed forward to ofifer his congratulations
and thanks to the eloquent lawyer, who haughtily
brushed by him without accepting the profifered
hand. In later years the men met again, this
time in the White House. The President re-
minded Breckinridge of the incident, which the
latter had no desire to recall.
FLATBOATMAN
When about nineteen years old, Lincoln made
his first voyage down the Ohio and Mississippi
rivers. Two incidents are worth recording of
this trip. The purpose was to find, in New
Orleans, a market for produce, which was simply
floated down stream on a flatboat. The crew
consisted of himself and young Gentry, son of
James Gentry, Lincoln's employer for this under-
taking.
Near Baton Rouge they had tied up for the
night in accordance with the custom of flatboat
navigation. It is said that in the night they were
34 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
awakened by a gang- of seven ruffian negroes who
had come aboard to loot the stuff. Lincoln
shouted, "Who's there ?" Receiving no reply, he
seized a handspike and beat off the intruders ;
then the boatmen loosed their craft and floated
safely to their destination.
The goods were sold profitably at New Orleans,
and the return trip was made by steamboat. The
steamboats then used on the Ohio and ^Mississippi
rivers were primitive affairs, awkward and slow,
and subject to frequent boiler-explosions. With-
out further mishap, however, Lincoln and Gentry
duly reached home after their successful expedi-
tion.
THE stepmother's TRIBUTE
As Lincoln was now nearing his majority, this
is a fitting place to present the testimony of Sally
Bush, his stepmother, concerning him. "Abe,"
she tells us, "was a good boy, and I can say what
scarcely one woman — a mother — can say in a
thousand : Abe never gave me a cross word or
look, and never refused, in fact or appearance,
to do anything I requested him. I never gave
him a cross word in all my life. . . . He was
a dutiful son to me always. I think he loved me
truly. I had a son John, who was raised with
Abe. Both were good boys ; but I must say, both
being now dead, that Abe was the best boy I ever
saw, or expect to see."
THE BOY WAS FATHER OF THE MAN
Lincoln came into the estate of manhood mor-
ally clean. He had formed no habits that would
cause years of struggle to overcome, he had com-
LIFE IN INDIANA 35.
mitted no deed that would bring the blush of
shame to his cheek, he was as free from vice
as from crime. He was not profane, was no
brawler, never gambled, and he was honest and
truthful. He had a genius for making friends,
and was the centre of his social circle. With-
out a thought of the great responsibilities await-
ing him, he had thus far fitted himself well for
the future by his faithfulness in such duties as
fell to him.
HOME-MADE WRITING MATERIALS ; W^EBSTER S
"speller" ; "ARABIAN NIGHTS"
As to the material with which Lincoln learned
to write, "Uncle" Dennis says : "Sometimes he
would write with a piece of charcoal, or the p'int
of a burnt stick, on the fence or floor. We got a
little paper at the covmtry town, and I made ink
out of blackberry brier-root and a little copperas
in it. It was black, but the copperas would eat
the paper after a while. I made his first pen out
of a turkey-buzzard feather. We had no geese
them days. After he learned to write he was
scratchin' his name everywhere ; sometimes he
would write it on the white sand down by the
crick bank, and leave it till the waves would blot
it out.
"His first reading-book was Webster's 'Speller.'
Then he got hold of a book — I can't ricollect the
name. It told a yarn about a feller, a nigger or
suthin', that sailed a flatboat up to a rock, and
the rock was magnetized and drawed the nails
out of his boat, an' he got a duckin', or drownded,
or suthin', I forget now. [It was the Arabian
Nights.] Abe would lay on the floor with a.
36 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
•chair under his head, and laugh over them stories
by the hour. I told him they was likely lies from
«nd to end ; but he learned to read right well in
them."
A SCHOOL OF MANNERS
One of Lincoln's teachers, Andrew Crawford,
taught "manners" in his school — a new feature
of backwoods education. According to Lamon,
â– one of the scholars was required to retire, and re-
enter as a polite gentleman is supposed to enter
a drawing-room. He was received at the door
by another scholar, and conducted from bench to
bench, till he had been introduced to all the
"young ladies and gentlemen" in the room. Abe
went through the ordeal many times. If he took a
serious view of the business, it must have put him
to exquisite torture ; for he was conscious that
he was not a perfect type of manly beauty, with
his long legs and blue shins, his small head, his
great ears, and shriveled skin. If, however, it
struck him as at all funny, it must have filled
him with unspeakable mirth, and given rise to
many antics, tricks, and sly jokes, as he was
gravely led about, shamefaced and gawky, under
the very eye of the precise Crawford, to be intro-
duced to the boys and girls of his most ancient
acquaintance.
But, though Crawford inculcated manners, he
by no means neglected spelling. Abe was a good
speller, and liked to use his knowledge, not
only to secure honors for himself, but to help
Tiis less fortunate schoolmates out of their troub-
les, and he was exceedingly ingeniovis in the
selection of expedients for conveying prohibited
hints. One day Crawford gave out the difficult
LIFE IN INDIANA 37
word defied. A large class was on the floor, but
they all provokingly failed to spell it. D-e-f-i-d-e^
said one ; d-e-f-y-d-e, said another ; d-e-f-y-d,
d-e-f-y-e-d, cried another and another. But it
was all wrong ; it was shameful, that, among all
these big boys and girls, nobody could spell
"defied" ; and Crawford's wrath gathered in
clouds over his terrible brow. He made the help-
less culprits shake with fear. He declared he
would keep the whole class in all day and all
night if 'defied" was not spelled. There was
among them a Miss Roby, a girl fifteen years of
age, whom we must suppose to have been pretty,
for Abe was evidently half in love with her. "I
saw Lincoln at the window," says she. "He had
his finger in his eye, and a smile on his face ; I
instantly took the hint, that I must change the
letter y into an i. Hence I spelled the word — the
class let out. I felt grateful to Lincoln for this
simple thing."
LINCOLN AS A STRONG MAN
"Abe," we are told, "had now become not only
the longest, but' also the strongest, man in the
settlement." Some of his reported feats almost
surpass belief, and those who beheld them with
their own eyes stood amazed. Richardson, a
neighbor, declares that he could carry a load to
which the strength of "three ordinary men"
would scarcely be equal. He saw him quietly
pick up and walk away with "a chicken-house,
made up of poles pinned together, and covered,
that weighed at least six hundred, if not much
more." At another time the Richardsons were
building a corn-crib ; Abe was there, and, seeing
38 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
three or four men preparing "sticks" upon which
to carry some huge posts, he reUeved them of
.all further trouble b}^ shouldering the posts,
single-handed, and walking away with them to
the place where they were wanted. "He could
strike with a maul," says old Mr. Wood, "a
heavier blow than any man. He could sink an
ax deeper into wood than any man I ever saw."
MAN-OF-ALL-WORK
In 1825 Abraham was employed by James
Taylor, who lived at the mouth of Anderson's
Creek. He was paid six dollars a month, and
remained for nine months. His principal busi-
ness was the management of a ferry-boat which
Mr. Taylor had plying across the Ohio, as well
as Anderson's Creek. But, in addition to this,
he was required to do all sorts of farm work,
and even to perform some menial services about
the house. He was hostler, ploughman and
ferryman, and man-of-all-work. He ground corn
with a hand-mill, or "grated" it when too young
to be ground ; rose early, built fires, put on the
water in the kitchen, "fixed around generally."
and had things prepared for cooking before the
mistress of the house was stirring. He slept
^lp-stairs with young Green Taylor, who says that
he usually read "till near midnight," notwith-
standing the necessity for being out of his bed
before day. Green was somewhat disposed to ill-
use the poor hired boy, and once struck him with
an ear of hard corn, and cut a deep gash over
"his eye. He makes no comment upon this un-
•generous act, except that "Abe got mad," but did
not thrash him.
LIFE IN INDIANA 39
ABE OPPOSES CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
While in Crawford's school, the lad made his
first essay in writing compositions. The exer-
cise was not required by the teacher, but "he took
it up on his own account." He first wrote short
sentences against "cruelty to animals," and at
last came forward with a regular composition on
the subject. He was very much annoyed and
pained by the conduct of the boys, who were in
the habit of catching terrapins and putting coals
of fire on their backs. "He would chide us,"
says Nat Grigsby, "tell us it was wrong, and
would write against it."
One day his stepbrother, John D. Johnston^
"caught a terrapin, and brought it to the place
where Abe was 'preaching,' threw it against the
tree, and crushed the shell. It suffered much,
quivered all over. Abe then preached against
crueltv to animals, contending that an ant's life
was as sweet to it as ours to us."
DEATH OF Lincoln's sister
Abraham's sister Sarah was warmly attached
to her brother. "It is said that her face some-
what resembled his. In repose it had the gravity
which they both, perhaps, inherited from their
mother, but it was capable of being lighted al-
most into beauty by one of Abe's ridiculous
stories or rapturous sallies of humor. She was
a modest, plain, industrious girl, and is kindly
remembered by all who knew her. She was
married to Aaron Grigsby at eighteen, and died
a year after. Like Abe, she occasionally worked
out at the houses of the neighbors. She lies
buried, not with her mother, but in the yard of
the old Pigeon Creek meeting-house."
CHAPTER IV
Early Life in Illinois : Laborer and Storekeeper
The continued prevalence of the milk-sickness,
with which Nancy Hanks, the Sparrows, and
others had died, was more than a sufficient reason
for a new removal, now in contemplation by
Thomas Lincoln. From the first settlement in
Indiana, every member of his family, except per-
haps Abe and himself, had suffered with it. The
cattle, which, it is true, were of little pecuniary
value, and raised with great ease and little cost,
were swept away by it in great numbers through-
out the whole neighborhood. It was an awful
scourge, and common prudence suggested flight.
It is wonderful that it took a constitutional mover
thirteen years to make up his mind to escape from
it.
Dennis Hanks explained the removal as
follows :
"What made Thomas Lincoln leave? The
reason is this : We were perplexed by a disease
called milk-sick. I miyself being the oldest, I
was determined to leave, and hunt a country
where the milk-sick was not. I married his eldest
daughter. I sold out, and they concluded to go
with me. I was tolerably popular at that time,
for I had some money. ]\Iy wife's mother could
not think of parting with her, and w^e ripped
up stakes, and started to Illinois, and landed at
Decatur. This is the reason for leaving Indiana.
I am to blame for it, if any. As for getting more
EARLY LIFE IN ILLINOIS 41
land, this was not the case, for we could have
entered ten thousand acres of the best land.
When we left, it was on account of the milk. I
had four good milch cows, too, with it in one
week, and eleven young calves. This Was enough
to run me. Besides, liked to have lossed my own
life with it. This reason was enough (ain't it?)
for leaving."
THE ILLINOIS HOME
In the spring of 1830, before the winter had
fairly broken up, Thomas Lincoln and Abe, Dennis
Hanks, and Levi Hall, like Dennis, second cousin
to Abe, with their respective families — thirteen
persons in all — took the road for Illinois. Dennis
and Levi were married to the daughters of Mrs.
Lincoln. Hall had one son, and Dennis a con-
siderable family of sons and daughters.
Nancy Lincoln's cousin John Hanks had gone
to the new country in the fall of 1828, and settled
near Decatur, whence he wrote Thomas Lincoln
all about it, and advised him to come there.
Dennis, whether because of the persuasions of
John, or some observations made in a flying trip
on his own account, was very full of the move,
and would hear of no delay. Lincoln sold his
farm to Gentry, senior, if, indeed, he had not
done so before, and his corn and hogs to Dave
Turnham. The corn brought only ten cents a
bushel, and, according to the price-list furnished
by Dennis Hanks, the stock must have gone at
figures equally mean.
Lincoln took with him to Illinois "some stock-
cattle, one horse, one bureau, one table, one
clothes-chest, one set of chairs, cooking utensils,
42 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
clothing/' etc. The goods of the three famihes —
Hanks, Hall, and Lincoln — were loaded on a
wagon belonging to Lincoln. This wagon was
"ironed," a noticeable fact in those primitive days,
and "was positively the first one that he ever
owned."- It was drawn by four yoke of oxen —
two of them Lincoln's and two of them Hanks's.
We have no particulars of the journey, except
that Abe held the "gad" and drove the team ;
that the mud was very deep, that the spring
freshets were abroad, and that in crossing the
swollen and tumultuous Kaskaskia, the Avagon
and oxen were nearly swept away. On the first
day of March, 1830, after fifteen days' tedious
and heavy travel, they arrived at John Hanks's
house, four miles northwest of Decatur. Lincoln
settled (if anything he did may be called settling)
at a point ten miles west of Decatur. Here John
Hanks had cut some logs in 1829, which he now
gave to Lincoln to build a house with. With the
aid of John, Dennis, Abe, and Hall, a house was
erected on a small blufif, on the north bank of
the north fork of the Sangamon. Abe and John
took the four yoke of oxen and "broke up" fifteen
acres of land, and then split rails enough to fence
it in.
LEAVING FATHER AND MOTHER
Abe was now over twenty-one. He had done
something more than his duty by his father ; and
as that worthy was now again placed in a situa-
tion where he might do well if he chose, Abe came
to the conclusion that it was time for him to be-
gin life on his own account. It must have cost
him some pain to leave his good stepmother ; but
beyond that, all the old ties were probably broken
EARLY LIFE IN ILLINOIS 43
without a single regret. From the moment he was
a free man, foot-loose, able to go where, and to
do what, he pleased, his success in those things
which lay nearest his heart — public and social
preferment — was astonishing to himself as well
as to others.
Abe left the Lincoln family late in IMarch, or
early in April, 1830. He did not go far away, but
took jobs wherever he could get them, showing
that he had separated himself from the family,
not merely to rove, but to labor, and be an inde-
pendent man. He made no engagement of a
permanent character during this summer : his
work was all done "by the job." All this while
he clung close to John Hanks, and either worked
where he did, or not far away. In the winter
following, he was employed by a Major Warrick
to make rails, and walked daily three miles to his
work, and three miles back again.
DEATH OF THOMAS LINCOLN
Thomas Lincoln, after Abraham left him,
moved at least three times in search of a
"healthy" location, and finally got himself fixed
near Goose Nest Prairie, in Coles County, where
he died of a disease of the kidneys, in 1851, at
the age of seventy-three. The little farm (forty
acres) upon which his days were ended, he had,
with his usual improvidence, mortgaged to the
School Commissioners for two hundred dollars —
its full value. Induced by love for his step-
mother, Abraham had paid the debt and taken a
deed for the land, "with a reservation of a life-
estate therein, to them, or the survivor of them."
At the same time (1841), he gave a helping hand
44 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
to John D. Johnston. This he did by binding
himself to convey the land to him, or his heirs,
after the death of "Thomas Lincoln and his wife,"
upon payment of the two hundred dollars, which
was really advanced to save John's mother from
utter penury. No matter how much .the land
might appreciate in value, John was to have it
upon these terms, and no interest was to be paid
by him, "except after the death of the survivor,
as aforesaid." This, to be sure, was a great
bargain for John, but he made haste to assign
his bond to another person for "fifty dollars paid
in hand."
As soon as Abraham got a little up in the world,
he began to send his stepmother money, and he
continued to do so till his own death ; but it is
said to have "done her no good," for it only
served to tempt certain persons about her, and
with whom she shared it, to continue in a life of
idleness. At the close of the Black Hawk War,
Lincoln went to see them for a few days, and
afterward, when a young lawyer, making the
circuits with the courts, he visited them when-
ever the necessities of his practice brought him
to their neighborhood. He did his best to serve
Mrs. Lincoln and her son John, but took little
notice of his father, although he wrote him an
exhortation to believe in God when he thought he
was on his death-bed.
AGAIN TO NEW ORLEANS
In February, 1831, one Denton Offutt wanted
to engage John Hanks to take a flatboat to New
Orleans. John was not well disposed to the busi-
ness ; but Offutt came to the house, and would
EARLY LIFE IN ILLINOIS 45
take no denial ; made much of John's fame as a
river-man, and at length persuaded him to pre-
sent the matter to Abe and John D. Johnston.
He did so. The three friends discussed the ques-
tion with great earnestness : it was no slight affair
to them, for they were all young and poor. At
length they agreed to Ofifutt's proposition, and
that agreement was the turning-point in Abe's
career. They were each to receive fifty cents a
day, and the round sum of sixty dollars divided
among them for making the trip. These were
wages such as Abe had never received before,
and might have tempted him to a much more
difficult enterprise. When he went with Gentry
his pay was much smaller, and he had no such
company and assistance as he was to have now.
But Ofi'utt, who is described as "a bibulous, devil-
may-care sort of person," was lavish with his
money, and generous bargains like this ruined him
a little while after.
In March, Hanks, Johnston, and Lincoln went
down the Sangamon in a canoe to Jamestown
(then Judy's Ferry), five miles east of Spring-
field. Thence they walked to Springfield, and
found ]\Ir. Offutt comforting himself at "Elliott's
tavern in Old Town." He had contracted to have
a boat ready at the mouth of Spring Creek, but,
not looking after it himself, was, of course, "disap-
pointed." There was only one way out of the
trouble : the three hands must build a boat. They
went to the mouth of Spring Creek, five miles
north of Springfield, and there consumed two
weeks cutting the timber from "Congress land."
In the mean time, Abe walked back to Judy's
Ferry, by way of Springfield, and brought down
the canoe which they had left at the former place.
46 ABRAHAM LIXCOLN
The timber was hewed and scored, and then
"rafted down to Sangamontown." At the month
of Spring Creek they had been compelled to walk
a full mile for their meals ; but at Sangamontown
they built a shanty and boarded themselves.
**Abe was elected cook," and performed the duties
of the office much to the satisfaction of the party.
The lumber was sawed at Kirkpatrick's mill, a
mile and a half from the shanty. Laboring under
many disadvantages like this, they managed to
complete and launch the boat in about four weeks
from the time of beginning.
Offutt was with the party at this point. He
was a Whig, and so was Abe ; but Abe could not
hear Jackson wrongfully abused, especially where
a lie and malice did the abuse. Out of this
difference arose some disputes, which served to
enliven the camp, as well as to arouse Abe's
ire, and keep him in practice in the way of
debate.
In those days Abe, as usual, is described as be-
ing "funny, jokey, full of yarns, stories, and rigs" ;
as being "long, tall, and green," "frequently quot-
ing poetry," and "reciting proselike orations."
They had their own amusements.
Loaded with barrel-pork, hogs, and corn, the
boat set out from Sangamontown as soon as
finished. Offutt was on board to act as his own
merchant, intending to pick up additions to his
cargo along the banks of the two Illinois rivers
down which he was about to pass. On April 19
they arrived at New Salem, a little village
destined to be the scene of six eventful years of
Lincoln's life, which immediately followed the
conclusion of the present trip. Here the boat
stuck on the mill-dam that crossed the Sangamon.
EARLY LIFE LY ILLINOIS 47
Oflfutt declared that when he got back from New
Orleans, he would build a steamboat for the navi-
gation of the Sang-amon, and make Abe captain ;
he would build it with runners for ice, and rollers
for shoals and dams, for with "Abe in command,
by thunder, she'd have to go."
From this point they sped very rapidly down
the Sangamon and the Illinois. Having con-
structed curious-looking sails of plank, "and
sometimes cloth," they were a "sight to see," as
they "rushed through Beardstown," where "the
people came out and laughed at them." They
swept by Alton and Cairo, and other considerable
places, without tying up, but stopped at Memphis,
Vicksburg, and Natchez.
SHOCKED BY SLAVERY
In due time they arrived at New Orleans.
"There it was," says John Hanks, "we saw
negroes chained, maltreated, whipped, and
scourged. Lincoln saw it; his heart bled; said
nothing much; was silent from feeling; was sad,
looked bad, felt bad; was thoughtful and ab-
stracted. I can say, knowing it, that it was on
this trip that he formed his opinions of slavery.
It run its iron in him then and there — May, 1831.
I have heard him say so often and often."
JOHN AND ABE
Abe never worked again in company with his
friend and relative, good old John Hanks. Here
their paths separated : Abe's began to ascend the
heights, while John's continued along the com-
mon level. They were in the Black Hawk War
48 ABRAHAM LIXCOLN
during the same campaign, but not in the same
division. But they corresponded, and from 1833
met at least once a year, till Abe was elected
President. Then Abe, delighting to honor those
of his relatives who were worthy of it, invited
John to go with him to see his stepmother. John
also went to the inauguration at Washington,
and tells, with pardonable pride, how he "was in
his [Abe's] rooms several times." He then re-
tired to his old home in Macon County, until the
assassination and the great funeral, wdien he
came to Springfield to look in the blackened face
of his old friend, and witness the last ceremonies
of his splendid burial.
AT NEW SALEM
When Denton Offutt's boat arrived there, New
Salem was in the second year of its existence, and
had then quite a population. So notable and un-
usual an occurrence as a flatboat, and especially
one fast on their mill-dam, aroused the curiosity
of the citizens, and brought the entire hamlet to
the river banks, where Lincoln, in the role of
commander, was the most conspicuous object.
So he was not forgotten, when, in August there-
after, he walked into the town with a bundle in
a handkerchief slung across his shoulder, and
joined the little knot of idlers sitting on the
shady side of Hill's store. He opened out his
Pandora's box of jokes, affiliated with the crowd
at once, and, "as the setting sun cast his length-
ened shadow athwart the little village, it showed
no sign of his parting from them."
Lincoln gave no intimation as to what brought
him there, but soon endeared himself to all by;
EARLY LIFE IN ILLINOIS 49
exhibiting great muscular strength, bonhomie,
and his propensity to entertain by anecdote.
The country about New Salem was not very
important in a commercial sense, but in the vil-
lage were four "general stores" — stores in which
almost everything needed in such a community
was kept for sale. The town flourished — at least,
survived — about through the period that Lincoln
dwelt there, after which it disappeared. Lincoln
was ready to take any work that would get him a
living. The success of the expedition to New
Orleans had won the admiration of Offutt, who
gave Lincoln a clerkship in his store.
A WRESTLING MATCH
Ofifutt's admiration of the young clerk did him
credit, but his voluble expression of it was not
judicious. He bragged that Lincoln was smart
enough to be President, and that he could run
faster, jump higher, throw farther, and "wrastle"
better than any man in the country. In the
neighborhood was a gang of rowdies, kind at
heart but very rough, known as "the Clary's
Grove boys." They put up a giant, Jack Arm-
strong, as their champion against Abe, and ar-
ranged a "wrastling" match. When Lincoln
seemed to be getting the better of his antagonist,
the "boys" crowded in and interfered, wdiile
Armstrong attempted a foul. Lincoln was furi-
ous. Putting forth all his strength he lifted Jack
up and shook him as a terrier shakes a rat. The
crowd set out to mob Abe, who backed up against
a wall and awaited the onset. Armstrong was
the first to recover his good sense. Exclaim-
ing, "Boys, Abe Lincoln's the best fellow that
50 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
ever broke into the settlement,"' he held out his
hand to Lincoln, who received it with perfect
good nature. From that day these boys never
lost their admiration for him.
KEEPING STORE
Some anecdotes connected with his work in the
store are worth preserving because they illustrate
traits of his character. He once sold a half-
pound of tea to a customer. The next morning,
as he was tidying up the store, he saw, by the
weights which remained in the scales, that he had
inadvertently given her four, instead of eight,
ounces. He instantly weighed out the balance
and carried it to -her, not waiting for his break-
fast.
At another time, when he counted up his cash
at night, he discovered that he had charged a
customer an excess of six and a quarter cents.
He closed up the store at once and walked to the
home of the customer and returned the money.
One incident illustrates his chivalry. While he
was waiting upon some women, a ruffian came
into the store using vulgar language. Lincoln
asked him to desist, but he became more abusive
than ever. After the women had gone, Lincoln
took him out of the store, threw him on the
ground, rubbed smartweed in his face and eyes
till he howled for mercy, and then he gave the
fellow a lecture that did him more good than a
volume of Chesterfield's letters would have done.
Some time after Offutt's store had "winked
out," while Lincoln was looking for employment
there came a chance to buy a half-interest in
another store, the other half being owned bv an
EARLY LIFE LV ILLINOIS 51
idle, dissolute fellow named Berry, who ulti-
mately drank himself into his grave. Later, an-
other opening came in the following way : The
store of one Radford had been wrecked by the
horse-play of a party of ruffians, and the lot was
bought by a Mr. Greene for four hundred dol-
lars. He employed Lincoln to make an invoice of
the goods and he in turn offered Greene two hun-
dred and fifty dollars for the bargain and the
offer was accepted. But that was not the last
investment. The fourth and only remaining store
in the hamlet was owned by one Rutledge. This
also was bought out by the firm of Berry & Lin-
coln. Thus they came to have the monopoly of
the mercantile business in the hamlet of New
Salem.
PROMISSORY NOTES
In all these transactions not a dollar in money
changed hands. Men bought with promissory
notes and sold for the same consideration. The
mercantile venture was not successful. Berry was
drinking and loafing, and Lincoln, who did not
work as faithfullv for himself as for another,
was usually reading or telling stories. So when
a couple of strangers, Trent by name, offered to
buy out the store, the oft"er was accepted and
more promissory notes changed hands. About
the time these last notes came due, the Trent
brothers disappeared between two days. Then
Berry died.
Lincoln was left with an assortment of promis-
sory notes. With one exception his creditors told
him to pay when he was able. He promised to
put all of iiis earnings, in excess of modest living
expenses, into the payment of these obligations.
pMlVERSn^f OF
52 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
It was the burden of many years and he always
called it "the national debt." But he kept his
word, paying both principal and the high rate
of interest till 1848. Then after fifteen years,
when a member of Congress, he paid the last
cent.
His only further experience in navigation was
the piloting of a Cincinnati steamboat up the
Sangamon River (during the high water in
springtime), to show that that stream was
navigable. Nothing came of it, however, and
Springfield was never made the head of naviga-
tion, as some had hoped to see it become.
HOW HE SAVED A DOG
One day, when the Lincoln family were on the
journey to their Illinois home, Abraham per-
formed a characteristic act that shows his tender-
ness of heart. It is related by William H. Hern-
don. Lincoln said the ground had not yet yielded
up the frosts of winter ; that during the day the
roads would thaw out on the surface, and at night
freeze over again, thus making traveling, espe-
cially with oxen, painfully slow and tiresome.
There were, of course, no bridges, and the
partv were consequently driven to ford the
streams, unless by a circuitous route they could
avoid them. In the early part of the day the
latter were also frozen slightly, and the oxen
would break through a square yard of thin ice at
every step. Among other things which the party
brought with them was a pet dog, which trotted
along after the wagon. One day the little fellow
fell behind and failed to catch up until after they
had crossed the stream. Missing him, they
EARLY LIFE IN ILLINOIS S3
looked back, and there on the opposite bank he
stood, whining and jumping about in great dis-
tress. The water was running over the broken
edges of the ice, and the poor animal was afraid
to cross. It would not pay to turn the oxen and
wagon back to ford the stream again in order to
recover a dog, so the majority, in their anxiety to
move forward, decided to go on without him.
"But I could not endure the idea of abandoning
even a dog," said Lincoln. "Pulling off shoes
and socks, I waded across the stream and tri-
umphantly returned with the shivering animal un-
der my arm. His frantic leaps of joy and other
evidences of a dog's gratitude amply repaid me
for all the exposure I had undergone."
THE rail-splitter's JEANS
According to George Close, the partner of Lin-
coln in the rail-splitting business, who is cited
by William D. Howells, Lincoln was at this time
a farm laborer, working from day to day, for
different people, chopping wood, mauling rails,
or doing whatever was to be done. The country
was poor, and hard work was the common lot;
the heaviest share fell to young unmarried men,
with whom it was a continual struggle to earn
a livelihood. Lincoln and Close made about one
thousand rails together for James Hawks and
William Miller, receiving their pay in homespun
clothing. Lincoln's bargain with Miller's wife
was that he should have one yard of brown jeans
(richly dyed with walnut bark) for every four
hundred rails made, until he should have enough
for a pair of trousers. As Lincoln was already
of great altitude, the number of rails that went
54 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
to the acquirement of his pantaloons was neces-
sarily immense.
"the big snow"
The new settlers did indeed escape the milk-
sickness, but they encountered a disease which
was nearly as bad. The fall of 1830 Avas an un-
usually severe season for chills and fever, and
Thomas and his family were so sorely afflicted
with it as to become thoroughly discouraged.
Their sorry little cabin presented a melancholy
sight : the father and mother both shaking at
once, and the married daughter, who came to
minister to their sufferings, not much better off.
So terribly did they suffer that the father vowed
a vow that as soon as he got able to travel he
would "git out o' thar!"
The winter season came on and was one of
"ethereal mildness" up to Christmas, when a ter-
rible and persistent snowstorm set in, and lasted
without intermission for forty-eight hours, leav-
ing between three and four feet on the ground on
the level, a depth never attained before nor since,
and remaining so for over two months. Its effect
upon the rural districts was disastrous : the wheat ,
crops were totally ruined ; cattle, hogs, and even j
horses perished ; all sorts of provisions gave out. â–
There was no means of getting help from abroad.
In some places teams would bear up on the crust
of the snow ; in others, there was no road com-
munication at all, and athletic men would be com-
pelled to journey on foot to neighbors for food.
Many perished on the prairie from cold. Some
even perished in their houses from hunger. Sel-
fishness was banished bv the common calamity.
EARLY LIFE LV ILLINOIS 55
Charity was universal ; the people in the whole in-
terior district of the State were made kin by that
one touch of nature — "the big snow."
WRESTLING WITH NEEDHAM
Sometime in June, 183 1, Offutt's party, re-
turning from the South, took passage on a steam-
boat going up the Mississippi, and remained to-
gether till they reached St. Louis, where Ofi'utt
left the others, and Abe, Hanks, and Johnston
started on foot for the interior of Illinois. At
Edwardsville, twenty-five miles out, Hanks took
the road to Springfield, and Abe and Johnston
took that to Coles County, where Tom Lincoln
had moved since Abraham's departure from home.
Scarcely had Abe reached Coles County, and
begun to think what next to turn his hand to,
when he received a visit from a famous wrestler,
one Daniel Needham, who regarded him as a
growing rival, and had a fancy to try him a fall
or two. He considered himself "the best man"
in the county, and the report of Abe's achieve-
ments filled his big breast with envious pains.
His greeting was friendly and hearty, but his
challenge was rough and peremptory. Abe met
him by public appointment in the "greenwood,"
at Wabash Point, where he threw his antagonist
twice, with such ease that Needham's pride was
more hurt than his body.
"Lincoln," said he, "you have thrown me twice,
but you can't whip me." "Needham," replied
Abe, "are you satisfied that I can throw you? If
you are not, and must be convinced through a
thrashing, I will do that, too, for your sake."
Needham surrendered with such grace as he
could command.
S6 â– ABRAHAM LINCOLN
INTRODUCTION TO SHAKESPEARE AND BURNS
There lived at New Salem at this time, and for
some years afterward, a festive gentleman named
Kelso, a school-teacher, a merchant, or a vaga-
bond, according to the run of his somewhat vari-
able "luck." When other people got drunk at
New Salem, it was the usual custom to tussle and
fight, and tramp each other's toes, and pull each
other's noses ; but when Kelso got drunk, he as-
tonished the rustic community with copious quo-
tations from Robert Burns and William Shake-
speare — authors little known among the literary
men of New Salem.
Besides Shakespeare and Burns, Kelso was
likewise very fond of fishing, and could catch his
game when no other man could "get a bite."
Lincoln hated fishing with all his heart. But it
is the testimony of the countryside, from Peters-
burg to Island Grove, that Kelso "drew Lincoln
after him by his talk" ; that they became exceed-
ingly intimate ; that they loitered away whole
days together, along the banks of the quiet
streams ; that Lincoln learned to love our "divine
William" and "Scotia's bard." Finally he and
Kelso boarded at the same place.
Kelso disappeared suddenly from New Salem.
A few faint , traces of him have been found in
Missouri, and but for the humble boy to whom
he was once a gentle master, no human being
would now bestow a thought upon his name. In
short, as Lincoln himself said, Kelso literally
"petered out."
CHAPTER V
Soldier, Postmaster, and Surveyor
Abraham Lincoln had grown rapidly in
favor with the people in and around New Salem.
He was decidedly the most popular man that ever
lived there. He could do more to quell a riot,
compromise a feud, and keep peace among the
neighbors generally, than any one else ; and these
were services most agreeable for him to perform.
HOW HE STUDIED
His storekeeping duties did not require the
whole of his time. While in the employ of Ofifutt,
hands being scarce, Abe turned in and cut down
trees, and split enough rails for Offutt to make
a pen sufficiently large to contain a thousand
hogs. Here was a fine opportunity to remedy
some of the defects in his education. He could
read, write, and cipher as well as most men ; but
as his popularity was growing daily, and his am-
bition keeping pace, he feared that he might soon
be called to act in some public capacity which
would require him to speak his own language
with some regard to the rules of grammar — of
which, according to his own confession, he knew
nothing at all. He carried his troubles to Mr.
Graham, the schoolmaster, saying, "I have a no-
tion to study English grammar." "If you expect
to go before the public in any capacity," replied
Mr. Graham, "I think it the best thing you can
58 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
do." "If I had a grammar," replied Abe, "I
would commence now." There was no grammar
to be had about New Salem; but the school-
master, having kept the run of that species of
property, gladdened Abe's heart by telling him
that he knew where there was one. Abe rose
from the breakfast at which he was sitting, and
learning that the book was at Vaner's, only six
miles distant, set off after it as hard as he could
tramp. He soon returned and announced, with
great pleasure, that he had it. "He then turned
his immediate and most undivided attention" to
the study of it. Sometimes he would lie under a
shade-tree in front of the store, and pore over the
book ; at other times a customer would find him
stretched on the counter intently engaged in the
same way. But the store was a bad place for
study ; and he was often seen quietly slipping out
of the village, as if he wished to avoid observa-
tion, when, if successful in getting off alone, he
would spend hours in the woods, "mastering a
book," or in a state of profound abstraction. He
continued the habit of sitting up late at night;
but, as lights were as necessary to his purpose
as they were expensive, the village cooper per-
mitted him to sit in his shop, where he burnt
the shavings, and kept a blazing fire to read by,
when every one else was in bed. His friends the
Greenes lent him books ; the schoolmaster gave
him instructions in the store, on the road, or in
the meadows : every visitor to New Salem who
made the least pretension to scholarship was way-
laid by Abe, and required to explain something
which he could not understand. The result of
it all was, that the village and the surrounding
country wondered at his growth in knowledge,
SOLDIER, POSTMASTER, AND SURVEYOR S9
and he soon became as famous for the goodness
of his understanding as for the muscular power
of his body, and the unfailing humor of his talk.
THE BLACK HAWK WAR
In 1 83 1 the Black Hawk War broke out, and
the following year saw Lincoln enlisted in a com-
pany from Sangamon. Notwithstanding his
want of military experience, he had been elected
captain of a militia company on the occasion of
a muster at Clary's Grove the fall before, and
now his friends put him up for the captaincy of
this company about to enter active service. Wil-
liam Kirkpatrick, the candidate against him, made
a poor showing. Lincoln, it is said, had once
worked for Kirkpatrick, and suffered some indig-
nities at his hands. However this may have been,
when Lincoln had distanced Kirkpatrick, and was
chosen his captain by the suffrages of men who
had been intimate with the other long before they
had ever heard of Abe, he spoke of Kirkpatrick
spitefully, referred in no gentle terms to some old
dispute, and said, "Fll be damned but I've beat
him!"
Troops rendezvoused at Beardstown and Rush-
ville were formed into four regiments and a spy
battalion. Captain Lincoln's company was at-
tached to the regiment of Colonel Samuel Thomp-
son. The whole force was placed under the com-
mand of General Whiteside.
THE CAPTAIN FACES HIS MEN
In "this so-called war, replete with wild inci-
dents and some massacre," Lincoln, hampered,
as were other ofificers, by want of discipline
6o ABRAHAM LINCOLN
among the recruits, faithfully performed his
part, figuring creditably in some exciting epi-
sodes.
One day, during the many marches and coun-
termarches, an old Indian found his way into the
camp, weary, hungry, and helpless. He pro-
fessed to be a friend of the whites ; and, although
it was an exceedingly perilous experiment for one
of his race, he ventured to throw himself upon
the mercy of the soldiers. But the men first mur-
mured, and then broke out into fierce cries for his
blood. "We have come out to fight the Indians."
said they, "and by God we intend to do it!"' The
poor Indian threw down before his assailants a
soiled and crumpled paper, which he implored
them to read before his life was taken. It
was a letter of character and safe-conduct from
General Cass, pronouncing him a faithful man,
â– who had done good service in the cause for
which this army was enlisted. But it was too late :
the men refused to read it. or thought it a forgery,
and were rushing with fury upon the defenceless
old savage, when Captain Lincoln bounded be-
tween them and their appointed victim. "^Men,"
said he, and his voice for a moment stilled the
agitation around him, "fJiis must not be done:
he must not be shot and killed by ns." "But."
said some of them, "the Indian is a damned spy."
Lincoln knew that his own life was now in only
less danger than that of the poor creature that
crouched behind him, but his firmness subdued
most of the turbulent men. One of them, how-
ever, a little bolder than the rest, but evidently
feeling that he spoke for the whole, cried out,
"This is cowardly on your part, Lincoln!"
Whereupon the tall Captain looked down con-
SOLDIER, POSTMASTER, AND SURVEYOR 6i
temptuously upon these "soldiers" who would
have murdered a defenceless old Indian. "If any
man thinks I am a coward, let him test it," said
he. "Lincoln," responded a new voice, "you are
larger and heavier than we are." "This you can
guard against : choose your weapons," returned
the Captain. There was no more disaffection in
Lincoln's camp, and the word "coward" was
never coupled with his name again. He often
declared that his life and character were both at
stake, and would probably have been lost, had he
not at that critical moment forgotten the officer
and asserted the man.
CAMPAIGN SPORTS
"During this short Indian campaign," says a
participant, "we had some hard times — often
hungry ; but we had a great deal of sport, espe-
cially of nights — foot-racing, some horse-racing,
jumping, telling anecdotes, in which Lincoln beat
all, keeping up a constant laughter and good
humor all the time; among the soldiers some
card-playing, and wrestling, in which Lincoln
took a prominent part. I think it safe to say he
was never thrown in a wrestle. While in the
army, he kept a handkerchief tied around him
near all the time for wrestling purposes, and
loved the sport as well as any one could. He
was seldom ever beat jumping. During the
cam.paign, Lincoln himself was always ready for
an emergency. He endured hardships like a good
soldier : he never complained, nor did he fear dan-
ger. When fighting was expected, or danger ap-
prehended, Lincoln was the first to say, 'Let's go.'
He had the confidence of every man of his com-
62 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
pany, and they strictly obeyed his orders at a
word. His company was all young men, and full
of sport."
LINCOLN AND GENERAL CASS
After all, Lincoln did not see much of the war.
His only ''casualty" came after its close. He had
been mustered out, and his horse was stolen, so
that he was compelled to walk most of the way
home. After the expiration of his term of enlist-
ment he reenlisted as a private. As he saw no
fighting, the war was to him almost literally a
picnic. But in 1848, when he was in Congress,
the friends of General Cass were trying to make
political capital out of his alleged military ser-
vices. This brought from Lincoln a speech that
showed he had not lost the power of satire which
he possessed while a lad in Indiana :
"Did you know, Mr. Speaker, I am a military
hero? In the days of the Black Hawk War I
fought, bled, and — came away. I was not at
Stillman's defeat, but I was about as near it as
General Cass was to Hull's surrender ; and, like
him, I saw the place very soon afterward. It
is quite certain I did not break my sword, for I
had none to break, but I bent my musket pretty
bad on one occasion. 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 strug-
gles 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 sup-
pose there is of black-cockade Federalism about
SOLDIER, POSTMASTER, AND SURVEYOR 63
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 Gen-
eral Cass, by attempting to write me into a mili-
tary hero."
THE POSTMASTER
On Mav 7, 1833, Lincoln was appointed post-
master at New Salem. His political opinions
were not extreme ; and the Jackson administra-
tion could find no man who was at the same time
more orthodox and equally competent to perform
the duties of the office. He was not able to rent
a room, and the business is said to have been car-
ried on in his hat ; but it appears probable that he
kept the office in Mr. Hill's store, for Lincoln was
appointed in place of Hill's partner, John Mc-
Namar, who had resigned to go east. He held
the position till late in 1836, when New Salem
partially disappeared, and the office was removed
to Petersburg.
The mail arrived duly once a week, and the
labors of distributing and delivering it were by
no means great. But Lincoln was determined
that the dignity of the place should not sufifer
while he was the incumbent. He therefore made
up for the lack of real business by deciphering the
letters of the uneducated portion of the commu-
nity, and by reading the newspapers aloud to the
assembled inhabitants in front of Hill's store.
When Lincoln quit the office, he owed the Gov-
ernment a small balance which some obstacle pre-
vented his placing to the credit of the Post-Office
Department ; so he wrapped it up in a scrap of
paper, indicated its ownership by a memorandum,
and laid it by. When years thereafter an agent
•64 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
-of the Department called on him for settlement,
Lincoln withdrew from a safe place this identi-
cal parcel, and paid it over.
His easy good nature was sometimes imposed
upon by inconsiderate acquaintances ; and ]\Ir.
Hill relates one of the devices by which he sought
to stop the abuse. ''One Elmore Johnson, an
ignorant but ostentatious, proud man, used to go
to Lincoln's post-office every day, — sometimes
three or four times a day — and inquire, 'Anything
for me ?' This bored Lincoln, yet it amused him.
Lincoln fixed a plan — wrote a letter to Johnson as
coming from a negress in Kentucky, saying many
good things about oppossum, dances, corn-shuck-
ings, etc. ; 'John's ! come and see me ; and old
master won't kick you out of the kitchen any
more !' Elmore took it out ; opened it ; couldn't
read a word ; pretended to read it ; went away ;
got some friends to read it : they read it correctly ;
he thought the reader was fooling him, and went
to others with the same result. At last he said
he would get Lincoln to read it, and presented it
to Lincoln. It was almost too much for Lincoln,
but he read it. The man never asked afterward,
^Anything here for me ?' "
THE SURVEYORSHIP
His "war" service finished, Lincoln had his liv-
ing to make, a running board-bill to pay, and
nothing to pay it with. He was, it is true, in the
hands of excellent friends, so far as the greater
part of his indebtedness v\'as concerned ; but he
was industrious by nature, and wanted to be
working, and paying as he went. He would not
have forfeited the good opinion of those confiding
SOLDIER, POSTMASTER, AND SURVEYOR 65
neighbors for a lifetime of ease and luxury. It
was therefore a most happy thing for him, and
he felt it to be so, when he attracted the attention
of John Calhoun, the Surveyor of Sangamon
County.
In the early thirties, when the State of Illinois
was being settled with great rapidity, the demand
for surveyors was greater than the supply. John
Calhoun was in urgent need of a deputy, and
Lincoln was named as a man likely to be able
to fit himself for the duties on short notice. He
was appointed. He borrowed the necessary book
and went to work in dead earnest to learn the
science. Day and night he studied till his friends,
noticing the wearing efifect on his health, became
alarmed. But by the end 'of six weeks, an almost
incredibly brief period of time, he was ready for
work.
It is certain that his outfit was of the simplest
description, and there is a tradition that at first,
instead of a surveyor's chain he used a long,
straight, wild-grape vine. Those who understand
the conditions and requirements of surveying in
early days say that this is not improbable. A
more important fact is that Lincoln's surveys
have never been called in question, which is some-
thing that can be said of few frontier surveyors.
Though he learned the science in so short a time,
yet here, as always, he was thorough.
"Of course," says Lamon, "he made some
money, merely pay for his work ; but it is a
remarkable fact that, with his vast knowledge of
the lands in Sangamon and adjacent counties, he
[never made a single speculation on his own ac-
count. It was not long until he acquired a con-
siderable private business,"
66 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
SOLD UP
It was said in the preceding chapter that to the
holders of Lincoln's notes who consented to await
his ability to pay, there was one exception. In
the latter part of 1834 Lincoln's personal property
was sold under the hammer, and by due process
of law, to meet the judgment obtained by Van
Bergen on a note assigned to him by Radford.
Everything he had was taken ; but it was the sur-
veyor's instruments which it hurt him most to
part with, for by their use he was making a toler-
able living, and building up a respectable busi-
ness. This time, however, rescue came from an
unexpected quarter. A neighbor, James Short,
bought in the instruments and returned them to
Lincoln. He never forgot this kindness, and
Avhen President he appointed Short to an Indian
agency.
Lincoln had many residences at New Salem ; in
fact, there were many homes always eager to wel-
come him as an inmate. He lived at Bowlin
Greene's, Jack Armstrong's, Rowan Herndon's,
and at the tavern kept by James Rutledge. Part
of the time he slept in the loft over a store ; in-
deed for a time he slept on the counter of Offutt's
store,
AT JACK Armstrong's
Lincoln had no friend more intimate than Jack
Armstrong, and none that valued him more
highly. Until he finally left New Salem for
Springfield, he "rusticated" occasionally at Jack's
hospitable cabin, situated "four miles in the
country," as the polished metropolitans of New
Salem would say. Jack's wife, Hannah, liked
Abe, and enjoyed his visits not less than Jack did.
SOLDIER, POSTMASTER, AND SURVEYOR 67
"Abe would come out to our house," she says^
"drink milk, eat mush, corn-bread and butter,
bring the children candy, and rock the cradle
while I got him something to eat. I foxed his
pants ; made his shirts. He has gone with us tO'
father's; he would tell stories, joke people, girls
and boys, at parties. He would nurse babies —
do anything to accommodate anybody. I had no
books about my house ; loaned him none. We
didn't think about books and papers. We
worked; had to live. Lincoln has staid at our
house two or three weeks at a time."
MORE FEATS OF STRENGTH
Lincoln was often seen in the old mill on the
river-bank to lift a box of stones weighing from
a thousand to twelve hundred pounds. Of course
it was not done by a straight lift of the hands ;
he '"was harnessed to the box with ropes and
straps." It was even said he could easily raise a
barrel of whiskey to his mouth when standing
upright, and take a drink out of the bung-hole ;
but of course one cannot believe it. Frequent
exhibitions of strength doubtless had much to do
with his unbounded influence over the rougher
class of men.
JUDGMENT AND FAIRNESS
He possessed the judicial quality of mind in a
degree so eminent, and it was so universally
recognized, that he never could attend a horse-
race without being importuned to act as a judge,
or witness a bet without assuming the responsi-
68 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
bility of a stakeholder. "In the spring or sum-
mer of 1832," says Henry McHenry, "I had a
horse-race with George Warburton. I got Lin-
coln, who was at the race, to be a judge of the
race, much against his will and after hard persua-
sion. Lincoln decided correctly ; and the other
judge said, 'Lincoln is the fairest man I ever
had to deal with : if Lincoln is in this country
when I die, I want him to be my administrator,
for he is the only man I ever met with that was
wholly and unselfishly honest.' "
"honest abe"
"The year that Lincoln was in Denton Ofifutt's
store," says J. G. Holland, "was one of great ad-
vances in many respects. He had made new and
valuable acquaintances, read many books, mas-
tered the grammar of his own tongue, won mul-
titudes of friends, and become ready for a step
still further in advance. Those who could appre-
ciate brains respected him, and those whose ideas
of a man related to his muscles were devoted to
him. It was while he was performing the work
of the store that he acquired the sobriquet, 'Hon-
est Abe' — a characterization that he never dis-
honored, and an abbreviation that he never out-
grew. He was judge, arbitrator, referee, umpire,
authority, in all disputes, games and matches of
man-flesh, horseflesh, a pacificator in all quarrels ;
everybody's friend ; the best-natured, the most
sensible, the best-informed, the most modest and
unassuming, the kindest, gentlest, roughest,
strongest, best fellow in all New Salem and the
region round about."
SOLDIER, POSTMASTER, AND SURVEYOR 69
A trifling incident exhibited the force of Lin-
coln's will and the high estimation in which he
was held by his followers. There was in Captain
Henry L. Webb's company from Union County
a very strong and athletic man named Nathan- M,
Thompson, nicknamed "Dow" Thompson. The
question of comparative muscular strength aris-
ing between him and Lincoln, they resorted to a
wrestling match, in order to decide it.
After struggling for a while with no advantage
either way, Lincoln said : "This is the strongest
man I ever met."
Soon thereafter, amid great and growing ex-
citement, Lincoln was fairly thrown. This was
for the first time in his life. The wrestlers took
hold again, and a second time Lincoln was
thrown. Instantly a hundred men jerked off
their coats crying. "Foul!" An equal number on
the other side followed suit, crying, "We'll see if
it was."
A deadly fight seemed imminent, but Lincoln
commanded attention, and said : "Boys, this
man can throw me fairly, if he didn't do it this
time ; so let us give up that I was beat fairly."
CHAPTER \T
Lincoln Enters Politics : State LrCgislator
About the year 1832 or 1833, Lamon tells us.
Lincoln made his first effort at public speaking
in a debating club of which James Rutledge, the
founder of New Salem, was president. It was
organized and held regular meetings. As he arose
to speak, Lincoln's form towered above the little
assembly. Both hands were thrust down deep
in the pockets of his pantaloons. A perceptible
smile at once lit up the faces of the audience,
for all anticipated the relation of some humorous
story. But he opened up the discussion in splen-
did style, to the great astonishment of his friends.
As he warmed with his subject, his hands would
forsake his pockets and would enforce his
ideas by awkward gestures, but would very
soon seek their easy resting-places. He pursued
the question with reason and argument so pithy
and forcible that all were amazed. The presi-
dent of the club, at his fireside after the meet-
ing, remarked to his wife, that there was more
in Abe's head than wit and fun ; that he was
already a fine speaker ; that all he lacked was
culture to enable him to reach the high destiny
which he knew was in store for him. From that
time Rutledge took a deeper interest in him, and
soon afterward urged him to announce himself
as a candidate for the Legislature. This he at
first declined to do, averring that it was impos-
sible to be elected. It was suggested that a can-
LINCOLN ENTERS POLITICS 7^
vass of the county would bring him prominently
before the people, and in time would do him
good. He reluctantly yielded to the solicitations
of his friends, and made a partial canvass.
FIRST STUMPING EXPERIENCE
Lincoln made his first appearance on the
stump a few miles from Springfield, on the oc-
casion of a public sale. The sale over, speech-
making was about to begin, when Lincoln ob-
served strong symptoms of inattention in his
audience, who had taken that particular moment
to engage in what James A. Herndon called "a
general fight." Lincoln saw that one of his
friends was sufifering more than he liked in the
melee, and stepping into the crowd, he shoul-
dered them sternly away from his man, until
he met a fellow who refused to fall back : him
he seized by the nape of the neck and the seat
of his breeches, and tossed him "ten or twelve
feet easily." After this episode — as character-
istic of him as of the times — he mounted the
platform and delivered, with awkward modesty^
the following speech :
"Gentlemen and fellow-citizens : I presume
you all know who I am. I am humble Abraham
Lincoln. I have been solicited by many friends
to become a candidate for the Legislature. My
politics are short and sweet, like the old woman's
dance. I am in favor of a national bank. I
am in favor of the internal-improvement system
and a high protective tariff. These are my sen-
timents and political principles. If elected, I
shall be thankful ; if not, it will be all the same."'
In these few sentences he espoused the lead-
72 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
ing principles of the ^^'hig party — Clay's
"American System" — in full. In his view the
internal-improvement system required the dis-
tribution of the proceeds of the sales of the pub-
lic lands among the States.
His friend A. Y. Ellis, who was with him
during a part of this campaign, says : "He wore
a mixed jeans coat, claw-hammer style, short in
the sleeves, and bobtail — in fact, it was so short
in the tail he could not sit on it — flax and tow
linen pantaloons, and a straw hat. I think he
wore a vest, but do not remember how it looked.
He then wore pot-metal boots."
ELECTIONEERING METHODS
The young candidate's methods of election-
eering are thus described by Aliss Tarbell :
"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. If the
degree of physical strength was the test for a
candidate, he was ready to lift a weight, or
wrestle with the countryside champion ; if the
amount of .grain a man could cut would recom-
mend him, he seized the cradle and showed the
swath he could cut." Row Herndon gives an
instance of the last-named mode of candidating:
"He came to my house, near Island Grove, dur-
ing 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
LINCOLN ENTERS POLITICS 73
cradle, and led the way all the round with per-
fect ease. The boys were satisfied, and I don't
think he lost a vote in the crowd.
"The next day." continues Herndon, "he was
speaking at Berlin. He went from my house
with Dr. Barnett, [who] had asked me who this
man Lincoln was. I told him that he was a
candidate for the Legislature. He laughed and
said, 'Can't the party raise no better material
than that?' I said, 'Go to-morrow, and hear all
before you pronounce judgment.' When he
came back, I said, 'Doctor, what say you now?'
'Why, sir,' said he, 'he is a perfect take-in: he
knows more than all of them put together.' "
Lincoln had but ten days to devote to the can-
vass. The time was insufficient, and he was
defeated. The vote against him was chiefly in
the outlying region where he was little known.
It must have been gratifying to him that in his
own precinct, where he was so well known, he
received the almost unanimous vote of all par-
ties. Biographers dift'er as to the precise num-
ber of votes in the New Salem precinct, but by
Nicolay and Hay it is given as 277 for Lincoln
and three against him. Of this election Lincoln
himself (speaking in the third person) said:
"This was the only time Abraham was ever de-
feated on the direct vote of the people."
His next political experience was as candidate
for the Legislature in 1834. As before, he an-
nounced his own candidacy. But this time he
made a diligent canvass of the district. When
the election came off he was not only successful
but ran ahead of his ticket.
74 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
EXCHANGE OF COMPLIMENTS
One day in 1832, while Lincoln was "clerk-
ing" for Offutt, a stranger came into the store,
and soon disclosed the fact that his name was
Smoot. Abe was behind the counter at the mo-
ment ; but, hearing the name, he sprang over
and introduced himself. Abe had often heard
of Smoot, and Smoot had often heard of Abe.
They had been as anxious to meet as ever two
celebrities were ; but hitherto they had never
been able to manage it. "Smoot," said Lincoln,
after a steady survey of his person, "I am very
much disappointed in you : I expected to see an
old Probst of a fellow." (Probst, it appears,
was the most hideous specimen of humanity in
all that country.) "Yes," replied Smoot; "and
I am equally disappointed, for I expected to see
a good-looking man when I saw you." A few
neat compliments like the foregoing laid the
foundation of a lasting intimacy between the
two men.
"After he was elected to the Legislature,"
says Smoot, "he came to my house one day in
company with Hugh Armstrong. Says he,
'Smoot, did you vote for me?' I told him I did.
'\\^ell,' says he, 'you must loan me money to buy
suitable clothing, for I want to make a decent
appearance in the Legislature.' I then loaned
him two hundred dollars, which he returned to
(Hie according to promise."
VOCATION SETTLED
Though Lincoln probably did not realize it,
this election put an end forever to his drifting,
LINCOLN ENTERS POLITICS 75
desultory, frontier life. Up to this point he was
always looking for a job. From this time on
he was not passing from one thing to another.
In this country politics and law are closely allied.
This twofold pursuit, politics for the sake of
law, and law for the sake of politics, consti-
tuted Lincoln's vocation for the rest of his life.
VANDALIA AND THE VANDALIANS
The capital of Illinois at this time was Van-
dalia, a village said to be named after the Van-
dals by innocent citizens who were pleased with
the euphony of the word but did not know who
the Vandals were. Outwardly the village was
rough and forbidding, and many of the Solons
were attired in coonskin caps and other rude
apparel. The fashionable clothing, which came
to be generally adopted as men grew "genteel,"
was blue jeans. Even these "store clothes" were
as yet comparatively unknown.
But one must not be misled by appearances in
a frontier town. Frontier life has a marvelous
influence in developing brains. In the collection
of men at Vandalia were more than a few who
afterward came to have national influence and
reputation.
LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS
Apart from Lincoln himself, the most promi-
nent member of the Legislature was his antago-
nist, Stephen A. Douglas, whom perhaps no man
in the history of our political system ever sur-
passed in astuteness. The personal appearance
of Douglas, who was five feet and one inch
high, and then weighed about one hundred
76 • ABRAHAM LINCOLN
pounds, greatly amused Lincoln. Douglas was
active, adroit, and insinuating, and Lincoln pro-
nounced him to be "the least man he ever saw,"
little dreaming of the time to come, when this
same dwarf was to bear him on his shoulders
to the Executive Mansion,
LEGISLATIVE CAREER COMPLETED
Lincoln was reelected to the Legislature as
often as he was willing to be a candidate, and
served continuously for eight years. One ses-
sion was much like another, and of his legis-
lative experience only two prominent facts need
be narrated. One was the removal of the capi-
tal to Springfield, To Lincoln was entrusted
the difficult task of accomplishing this — difficult,
because there were almost as many claims for
the honor of being the capital city as there were
towns and villages in the central part of the
State. He was entirely successful, and thence-
forward he was inseparably connected with
Springfield. It was his home as long as he lived,
and there his remains were buried.
The prophetic event of his legislative work
was what is known as the Lincoln-Stone pro-
test. This looks to-day so harmless that it is
not easy to understand the situation in 1837.
The pro-slavery feeling was running high ; an
abolitionist was looked on as a monster and a
menace to national law and order. It was in
that year that the Reverend Elijah P. Love joy
was murdered — martyred — at Alton, 111. The
Legislature had passed pro-slavery resolutions.
There were many in the Legislature who did
not approve of these, but in the condition of
LINCOLN ENTERS POLITICS 7 7
public feeling it was regarded as political sui-
cide to express opposition openly. There was
no politic reason why Lincoln should protest.
His protest could do no practical good. To
him it was solely a matter of conscience. Slav-
ery was wrong, the resolutions were wrong, and
to him it became necessary to enter the protest.
He succeeded in getting but one man to join
him, and he did so because he was about to with-
draw from politics and therefore had nothing
to lose. Here is the document as it was spread
on the journal :
"Resolutions upon the subject of domestic slav-
ery 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 above resolutions is their
reason for entering this protest.
(Signed) "Dan Stone,
"A. Lincoln,
"Representatives from the county of Sanga-
mon."
78 ABRAHAM LIXCOLN
LIGHTXIXG-ROD POLITICS
In 1836 Lincoln made an electioneering speech
Avhich was fortunately heard by Joshua Speed,
and he has given an account of it. At that time
lightning-rods were rare and attracted an un-
reasonable amount of attention. George For-
quer, a man of wealth and ability, who had been
a \\ hig, but had turned his coat and received
the appointment of Register of the Land Office,
was Lincoln's opponent. He had recently rodded
his house — and every one knew it. This man
made a speech partly in ridicule of Lincoln, his
bigness, his awkwardness, his dress, his youth.
Lincoln heard him through without interruption,,
then took the stand and said :
"The gentleman commenced his speech by say-
ing that this young man would have to be taken
down, and he was sorry the task devolved upon
him. I am not so young in years as I am in the
tricks and trades of a politician ; but live long or
die voung, I would rather die now than, like the
gentleman, change my politics and simultaneous
with the change receive an office worth three
thousand dollars a vear. and then have to erect a
lightning-rod over my house to protect a guilty
conscience from an offended God."
It need hardly be said that that speech clung
to its victim like a bur. Wherever he went,
some one would be found to tell about the guilty
conscience and the lightning-rod. The house
and its lightning-rod were long a centre of in-
terest in Springfield. A'isitors to the city were
taken to see the house and its lightning-rod,
while the story was told with great relish.
LINCOLN ENTERS POLITICS 79
HOW LINCOLN SUCCEEDED
In no element of political controversy did Lin-
coln fail during this canvass. He was, as there-
after, clear and skilful in statement and logical
in discussion ; he generally preserved his equa-
nimity and good humor, and discomfited his
enemies, but when it was apparent that forbear-
ance had ceased to be a virtue, Lincoln made
points and gained friends by the force, spirit,
and defiance of his replies. In his first and sec-
ond canvass he was bashful and timid, and con-
fined himself to the strictly rural districts; this
time he put away his maiden reserve, and spoke
as unrestrainedly at Springfield as at New
Salem. He gained the approval and applause
of his friends and the respect and fear of his
enemies, and became, by that very canvass, a
leader of his party in Sangamon County, which
distinction he never lost.
"the long nine"
Of the Sangamon County legislators chosen
at this time, seven Representatives, including
Lincoln, and two Senators, were men over six
feet in height. This group became known as the
"Long Nine" and was otherwise distinguished
in what was a remarkable legislative body. One
member of the "Long Nine" was Robert L. Wil-
son, from whom, as quoted by Henry C. Whit-
ney, we have the following description of Lin-
coln.
8o ABRAHAM LINCOLN
A BORN POLITICIAN
"From Air. \Mlson," says \A'hitney, "whom T
knew intimately in after life, I learned much of
the career of the great President in those early
days, ^^'ilson said : 'Lincoln was a natural de-
bater ; he was always ready and always got right
down to the merits of his case, without any non-
sense or circumlocution. He was quite as much
at home in the Legislature as at New Salem ; he
had a quaint and peculiar way, all his own, of
treating a subject, and he frequently startled us
by his modes — but he was always right. He
seemed to be a born politician. We followed his
lead, but he followed nobody's lead ; he hewed
the way for us to follow, and we gladly did so.
He could grasp and concentrate the matters un-
der discussion, and his clear statement of an
intricate or obscure subject was better than an
ordinary argument. It may almost be said that
he did our thinking for us, but he had no arro-
gance, nothing of the dictatorial ; it seemed the
right thing to do as he did. He excited no envy
or jealousy. He was felt to be so much greater
than the rest of us that we were glad to abridge
our intellectual labors by letting him do the
general thinking for the crowd. He inspired
absolute respect, although he was utterly care-
less and negligent. We would ride while he
would walk, but we recognized him as a master
in logic ; he was poverty itself when I knew him,
but still perfectly independent. He would bor-
row nothing and never ask favors. He seemed
to glide along in life without any friction or
efifort.' "
LINCOLN ENTERS POLITICS 8i
A TTLT WITH TAYLOR
The campaign above dwelt on was a vituper-
ative one. Whitney's account, which here fol-
lows, is graphic enough to bring the times and
the men clearly before us. Among the Demo-
cratic orators was Edmund D. Taylor, a pro-
fessional politician, having held office for most
of his life; in fact, both he and his brother had
a weakness for land-office appointments, and
one or the other, and sometimes both, were con-
stantly feeding, in some way, at the public crib.
So Taylor, in one of his speeches, took occa-
sion to appeal to the prejudices of the people by
calling the Whigs "English aristocrats," anl
speaking of them as bankers, capitalists, toadies
to the English, etc., and to laud his party as the
lover of the poor man, plain manners, honest
workmen, etc. In point of fact. Taylor himself,
with a strange inconsistency of conduct, was a
consummate fop. He never appeared in public
without a ruffled shirt, a blue coat and brass but-
tons, and a gold-headed cane. This habit he
persisted in to his ninetieth year, when, with his
oiled and glossy locks and erect deportment, he
would easily pass for a youth of sixty. When
Taylor had concluded this demagogic appeal,
Lincoln caught the lower e(\g,c of his vest and
sutldenly jerked it open, exhibiting a huge ruflled
shirt and a ponderous gold watch-chain with a
lot of ornamental appendages, which Taylor had
designed to conceal for the occasion, to the dire
confusion of Taylor and the infinite merriment
of the crowd. Then Lincoln "sailed into" the
pretensions launched forth by Taylor, in this
style : "And here's Dick Taylor charging us with
82 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
aristocracy and gilt manners, and claiming to be
an exponent of the farmers and cattle-raisers ;
and while he's doing this, he stands in a hundred-
dollar suit of clothes in a dancing master's pomp
and parade, with a ruffled shirt just such as his
master, General Jackson, wears, and a gold log-
chain around his neck to keep his watch from
being stole by some of us, and with a big gold-
headed cane. And while he was raised in this
style, I was a-steering a flatboat down the river
for eight dollars a month, with a torn shirt, one
pair of buckskin breeches, and a zi.'arunis as my
only suit. The Bible says, 'By their fruits ye
shall know them' ; now I have got on my best
to-day, and Taylor has got on his shabbiest.
You can judge which one of us is the aristocrat
by our appearance."
THE "skinning OF THOMAS"
Jesse B. Thomas, a leader of the Democracy,
in the absence of Lincoln made a good deal of
sport of him, which some friends of the la^er
reported in time for him to reach the meeting
before it broke up. As soon as Thomas had
concluded, there were vociferous shouts for Lin-
coln from all over the house. He was on hand.
Having heard of Thomas's line of remark, he
was wrought up to his extremest tension, and
abused Thomas in a merciless way. He mim-
icked Thomas perfectly, showed off all his pecul-
iarities and weaknesses, and kept the audience
in a roar of derision at poor Thomas, who was
in full view during the whole scene, and could
not escape. It was a long time before this in-
. cident, called the "skinning of Thomas," was
LINCOLN ENTERS POLITICS 83
forgotten in Springfield; but Lincoln himself, to
whose nature the attack was entirely foreign,
after it was over felt very sorry for it, and even
went so far as to apologize to Thomas.
LEAVING NEW SALEM
The time came at last when Mr. Lincoln must
leave the place where he had lived for nearly
six years — where he had evolved from a mere
adventurer to a lawyer and a legislator. He had
served two terms in the Legislature, and had
acquired considerable distinction ; he had seen the
rise, growth, development and decay of New Sa-
lem ; and he probably foresaw its speedy down-
fall, for Petersburg had been established, and was
growing at the expense of the earlier settlement.
And so, immediately after the adjournment
of the Legislature in March, 1837, Lincoln sold
his compass, chain, marking-pins, and Jacob's
staff; packed his little clothing and few effects
into his saddle-bags, borrowed a horse of his
friend Bowlin Greene and bade adieu to the
scene of so much of life, so much of sorrow, to
him. In less than a year from that time New
Salem ceased to exist.
When Bowlin Greene died, Lincoln was in-
vited by the Masons, under whose auspices
Greene was buried, to make a funeral address ;
he manfully attempted it and ignominiously
failed. His feelings overpowered him as the
past rose in his memory, and the disinterested
affection of his departed friend passed in review
before him; his sobs choked his utterance, and
he withdrew from the mournful scene to accom-
pany Mrs. Greene to her desolate home.
CHAPTER VII
Lincoln as a Lawyer
Since the versatile powers of Abraham Lin-
coln have come to be better understood by those
who have made a special study of his life, his
legal experience has been treated as not the least
important part of the training that fitted him for
his supreme task. Lamon tells interesting things
about this phase of Lincoln's career.
READING LAW
He began to read law while he lived with
Herndon. Some of his acquaintances insist that
he began even earlier than this, and assert, by
way of proof, that he was known to borrow a
well-worn copy of Blackstone from A. \'.
Bogue, a pork-dealer at Beardstown. At all
events, he now went to work in earnest, and
studied law as faithfully as if he had never
dreamed of any other business in life. As a
matter of course, his slender purse was unequal
to the purchase of the needful books. This cir-
cumstance, however, gave him little trouble ; for,
although he was short of funds, he was long in
the legs, and had nothing to do but to walk oflf
to Springfield, where his friend. John T. Stuart,
cheerfully loaned him books. Mr. Stuart's part-
ner, H. C. Dumm.er, says, "He was an uncouth-
looking lad, did not say much, but what he did
say he said straight and sharp."
LINCOLN AS A LAWYER 85
"He used to read law," says Henry McHenry,
*'in 1832 or 1833, barefooted, seated in the shade
of a tree, and would grind around with the
shade, just opposite Berry's grocery-store, a few
feet south of the door." He occasionally varied
the attitude by lying flat on his back, and "put-
ting his feet tip the tree" — a situation which
might have been unfavorable to mental applica-
tion in the case of a man with shorter ex-
tremities.
"The first time I ever saw Abe with a law
book in his hand," says Squire Godbey, "he was
sitting astride of Jake Bales's woodpile in New
Salem. Says I, 'Abe, what are you studying?'
^Law,' says Abe. 'Great God Almighty!" re-
sponded I." It was too much for Godbey: he
could not suppress the blasphemy at seeing such a
figure acquiring science in sucli an odd situation.
Minter Graham asserts that Abe did a little
"of what we call sitting up to the fine gals of
Illinois" ; but, according to other authorities, he
always had his book with him "when in com-
pany," and would read and talk alternately. He
carried it along in his walks to the woods and
the river ; read it in daylight under the shade-
tree by the grocery, and at night by any friendly
light he could find.
Abe's progress in the law was as surprising
as the intensity of his application to study. He
never lost a moment that might be improved.
It is even said that he read and recited to him-
self on the road and by the wayside as he came
down from Springfield with the books he had
borrowed from Stuart. The first time he went
up he had "mastered" forty pages of Blackstone
before he got back.
86 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
PRELIMINARY PRACTICE
It was not long until, with his restless desire
to be doing something practical, he began to
turn his acquisitions to account in forwarding
the business of his neighbors. He wrote deeds,
contracts, notes, and other legal papers for
them, "using a small dictionary and an old
form-book" ; "pettifogged" incessantly before
the justice of the peace, and probably assisted
that functionary in the administration of justice
as much as he benefited his own clients. This
species of country "student's" practice was en-
tered upon very early, and kept up until long
after he was quite a distinguished man in the
Legislature. But in all this he was only trying
himself : as he was not admitted to the bar until
1837, he did not regard it as legitimate practice,
and never charged a penny for his services. Al-
though this fact is mentioned by a great number
of persons, and the generosity of his conduct
much enlarged upon, it is seriously to be re-
gretted that no one has furnished us with a cir-
cumstantial account of any of his numerous
cases before the magistrate.
GENERAL STUDY AND READING
But Mr. Lincoln did not confine himself en-
tirely to the law. He was not yet quite through
with Kirkham nor the schoolmaster. The "valu-
able copy" of the grammar "he delighted to pe-
ruse" is still in the possession of R. B. Rutledge,
with the thumb-marks of the President all over
it. "He also studied natural philosophy, chem-
istry, astronomy, etc. He had no regular teacher,
LINCOLN AS A LAWYER 87
but perhaps received more assistance from Min-
ter Graham than from any other person."
He read with avidity all the newspapers that
came to New Salem — chiefly the Sangamon
Journal, the Missouri Republican, and the Louis-
ville Journal. The last-named was his favorite.
Its wit and anecdotes were after his own heart,
and he was a regular subscriber for it through
several years when he could ill afford a luxury
so costly.
LAW PARTNERSHIP
In the year of his admission to the bar Lincoln
entered into partnership with John T. Stuart of
Springfield. Stuart wished to get into politics,
and it was essential that he should have a trust-
worthy partner. So the firm of Stuart and Lin-
coln was established in 1837 and lasted for four
years. In 1841 Lincoln became a partner of
Stephen T. Logan, and this connection also
lasted about four years. In 1845 was established
the firm of Lincoln and Herndon, which con-
tinued formally till the President's death.
After a brief period Lincoln himself got
deeper into politics, and consequently neglected
the law more or less. But late in 1848, or early
in 1849, he returned to the law with renewed
vigor and zeal, giving it his undivided attention
for six years. It was the repeal of the Missouri
Compromise that called him back into the arena
of politics.
HOW LINCOLN "mOVED"
His partnership with Stuart of course neces-
sitated his removal to Springfield. This event,
small in itself, gives such a pathetic picture of
88 ABRAHAM LINCOLX
his povert}% and his cheerful endurance, that it
is Avell worth narrating. It is preserved by
Joshua F. Speed, who became, and through life
continued, Lincoln's fast friend.
"He rode into town," says Speed, "on a bor-
rowed horse, without earthly goods but a pair
of saddle-bags, two or three law books, and
some clothing in his saddle-bags. He came into
my store, set his saddle-bags on the counter,
and said :
" 'Speed, tell me what the furniture for a sin-
gle bedroom will cost."
"I took my pencil, figured it up. and found it
would cost seventeen dollars.
''Lincoln replied : 'It is cheap enough, but I
want to say, cheap as it is, I have not the money
to pay. But if you will credit me until Christ-
mas, and my experiment here is a success, I will
pay you then. If I fail, I will probably never
be able to pay you.'
"The voice was so melancholy. I felt for him."
Lincoln was evidently suffering from one of
his fits of depression and sadness. Speed kindly
replied :
"I have a very large double bed which you are
perfectly welcome to share with me, if you
choose."
"Where is your bed?" said Lincoln.
"Up-stairs." replied Speed.
He took his saddle-bags on his arm. went up-
stairs, placed them on the floor, and came down,
laughing, saying: "Speed. I am moved." The
ludicrous idea of "moving" all his goods and
chattels, by taking his saddle-bags up-stairs,
made him as mirthful as he had been melan-
choly.
LINCOLN AS A LAWYER 89.
From that time on, Springfield was his home
until when, twenty-three years thereafter, he left
his humble residence to occupy the White House
as President of the United States. When he
thus settled and became established in the pro-
fession of the law, Springfield was not a large
city, but it was a very active one, and was the
capital of the State. Lincoln was favorably
known there because, as previously stated, he
had been chiefly instrumental in getting the
capital moved to that place from Vandalia. His
first law partner was very helpful to him, and
he had abundant reason all his life to be thank-
ful for the friendship of Joshua F. Speed.
THE LAWYER AND HIS FEES
In his law practice Lincoln never could bring^
himself to charge large fees. Lamon, who was
his limited partner (with the ofifice in Danville
and Bloomington) for many years, tells one in-
stance that illustrates this trait. There was a
case of importance for which the fee was fixed
in advance at $250, a very moderate fee under
the circumstances. It so happened that the case
was not contested, and the business required only
a short time. The client cheerfully paid the fee
as agreed. As he went away Lincoln asked his
partner how much he charged. He replied,
"$250." "Lamon," he said, "that is all wrong.
Give him back at least half of it." Lamon pro-
tested that it was according to agreement and the
client was satisfied". "That may be, but / am not
satisfied. This is positively wrong. Go, call him
back and return him half the money at least, or
I will not receive one cent of it for my share."
90 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
The largest fee he ever received was from the
Ilhnois Central Railroad. The case was tried at
Bloomington before the Supreme Court, and was
won for the road. Lincoln went to Chicago and
presented a bill for $2,000 at the offices of the
company. "Why," said the official, in real or
feigned astonishment, "this is as much as a
first-class lawyer would have charged."
Lincoln was greatly depressed by this rebuff,
and would have let the matter drop then and
there had not his neighbors heard of it. They
persuaded him to raise the fee to S5.000, and six
leading lawyers of the State testified that that
sum was a moderate charge. Lincoln sued the
road for the larger amount and won his case. It
is interesting to recall the fact that at that time
the vice-president of the railroad was George
B. McClellan.
CONSCIENCE VERSUS CLIENTAGE
Lincoln put his conscience into his legal prac-
tice. He held (with Blackstone) that law is
for the purpose of securing justice, and he would
never make use of any technicality for the pur-
pose of thwarting justice. When others manoeu-
vered, he met them by straightforward dealing.
He never did or could take an unfair advantage.
On the wrong side of a case he was worse than
useless to his client, and he knew it. He would
never take such a case if it could be avoided.
His partner Herndon tells how he gave some
free and unprofessional advice to one who of-
fered him such a case : "\^es, there is no reason-
able doubt but that I can gain your case for you.
I can set a whole neighborhood at loggerheads ;
LIXCOLX AS A LAWYER gz
I can distress a widowed mother and her six
fatherless children, and thereby get for you six
hundred dollars, which rightfully belongs, it
appears to me, as much to them as it does to
you. I shall not take your case, but will give
a little advice for nothing. You seem a spright-
ly, energetic man. I would advise you to try
your hand at making six hundred dollars in some
other way,"
Sometimes, after having entered on a case, he
discovered that his clients had imposed on him.
In his indignation he has even left the court-
room. Once when the judge sent for him he
refused to return. "Tell the judge my hands
are dirty ; I came over to wash them."
LIXCOLX'S SELF-SURREXDER
The most important lawsuit in which Lincoln
was ever engaged was the AlcCormick case.
]\IcCormick instituted a suit against one Manny
for alleged infringement of patents. McCormick
virtually claimed the monopoly of the manufac-
ture of harvesting machines. The suit involved
a large sum of money, besides incidental consid-
erations. The leading attorney for the plaintiff
was Reverdy Johnson, one of the foremost at
the bar in the entire country. It was the oppor-
tunity of crossing swords with Johnson that
more than anything else stirred Lincoln's inter-
est. With him, for the defence, was associated
Edwin 'SI. Stanton.
The case was to be tried at Cincinnati, and all
parties were on hand. Lincoln gave an extraor-
dinary amount of care to the preparation of the
case. But some little things occurred. Through
92 ABRAHAM LJXCOLX
an open doorway he heard Stanton make some
scornful remarks of him — ridiculing his awk-
ward appearance, and particularly his dress, for
Lincoln wore a linen duster, soiled and disfigured
by perspiration. When the time came for ap-
portioning the speeches, Lincoln, although he
was thoroughly prepared and by the customs of
the bar it was his right to make the argument,
courteously offered the privilege to Stanton, who
promptly accepted. It was a great disappoint-
ment to Lincoln to miss thus the opportunity of
arguing with Reverdy Johnson. Neither did
Stanton know what he missed. Nor did John-
son know what a narrow escape he had.
PER CONTRA
On December 3. 1839, Air. Lincoln was ad-
mitted to practice in the Circuit Court of the
L^nited States ; and on the same day the names
of Stephen x\. Douglas, S. H. Treat, Schuyler
Strong, and two other gentlemen were placed
on the same roll.
The first speech he delivered in the Supreme
Court of the State was one the like of which
will never be heard again, and must have led the
judges to doubt the sanity of the new attorney.
Wc give it in the form in which it appears to be
authenticated by Judge Treat:
"A case being called for hearing in the Court,
IVIr. Lincoln stated that he appeared for the ap-
pellant, and was ready to proceed with the argu-
ment. He then said, 'This is the first case I have
ever had in this Court, and I have therefore ex-
amined it with great care. As the Court will
perceive, by looking at the abstract of the record,
LINCOLN AS A LAWYER 93-
the only question in the case is one of authority.
I have not been able to find any authority sus-
taining my side of the case, but I have found
several cases directly in point on the ot!icr side.
I will now give these cases, and then submit the
case/ "
WAS '.IXCOLN A GREAT LAWYER?
For many years Judge David Davis was the
near friend and the intimate associate of ^Ir.
Lincoln. He presided in the court where Lin-
coln was oftenest heard : year in and year out
thev traveled together from town to town, from
county to county, riding frequently in the same
conveyance, and lodging in the same room. We
may fairly consider him a competent judge of
the professional character of Mr. Lincoln.
At Indianapolis, Judge Davis spoke of Lin-
coln as follows :
"In all the elements that constitute the great
lawyer, he had few equals. He was great both
at nisi prills and before an appellate tribunal.
He seized the strong points of a cause, and pre-
sented them with clearness and great compact-
ness. His mind was logical and direct, and he
did not indulge in extraneous discussion. Gen-
eralities and platitudes had no charms for him.
.\n unfailing vein of humor never deserted him;
and he was always able to chain the attention of
court and jury, when the cause was the most un-
interesting, by the appropriateness of his anec-
dotes.
"His power of comparison was large, and he
rarely failed in a legal discussion to use that
mode of reasoning. â– The framework of his men-
tal and moral being was honesty, and a wrong
•94 ABRAHAM LIXCOLN
•cause was poorly defended by him. The ability
which some eminent lawyers possess, of explain-
ing away the bad points of a cause by ingenious
sophistry, was denied him. In order to bring
into full activity his great powers, it was neces-
sary that he should be convinced of the right
and justice of the matter which he advocated.
When so convinced, whether the cause was great
or small, he was usually successful. He read
law books but little, except when the cause in
hand made it necessary ; yet he was usually self-
reliant, depending on his own resources, and
rarely consulting his brother lawyers, either on
the management of his case or on the legal ques-
tions involved.
"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 re-
"bukes. He was the most simple and unosten-
tatious of men in his habits, having few wants,
and those easily supplied. To his honor be it
said, that he never took from a client, even when
the cause was gained, more than he thought the
service was worth and the client could reason-
ably afiFord to pay. The people where he prac-
tised 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 as 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 AS A LAWYER 95
WORSTED IN A HORSE-TRADE
When Lincoln was a young lawyer in Illinois,
he and a certain judge got to bantering each
other about trading horses; and it was agreed
that the next morning at nine o'clock they should
make a trade, the horses to be unseen up to
that hour, and no backing out, under a forfeiture
of twenty-five dollars.
At the hour appointed, the judge came up,
leading the "sorriest" looking specimen of_ a
horse ever seen in those parts. In a few min-
utes Mr. Lincoln was seen approaching with a
wooden sawhorse on his shoulder.
Loud were the shouts and laughter of the
crowd, and both were greatly increased when
Lincoln, on surveying the judge's animal, set
down the sawhorse and exclaimed :
"Well, Judge, this is the first time I ever got
the worst of it in a horse-trade."
SETTLING AN ANCIENT CONTROVERSY
Whenever the people of Lincoln's neighbor-
hood engaged in dispute ; whenever a bet was ta
be decided ; when they dififered on points of re-
ligion or politics ; when they wanted to get out
of trouble, or desired advice regarding anything
on the earth, below it, above it, or under the sea,
they went to "Abe."
Two fellows, after a hot dispute lasting some
hours, over the problem as to how long a man's
legs should be in proportion to the size of his.
body, stamped into Lincoln's office one day and
put the question to him.
Lincoln listened gravely to the arguments ad-
96 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
vanced by both contestants, spent some time in
"reflecting" upon the matter, and then, turning
around in his chair and facing the disputants,
delivered his opinion with all the gravity of a
judge sentencing a fellow-being to death.
"This question has been a source of contro-
versy," he said, slowly and deliberately, "for un-
told ages, and it is about time it should be
definitely decided. It has led to bloodshed in
the past, and there is no reason to suppose it
will not lead to the same in the future.
"After much thought and consideration, not
to mention mental worry and anxiety, it is my
opinion, all side issues being swept away, that a
-man's lower limbs, in order to preserve harmony
of proportion, should be at least long enough to
reach from his body to the ground."
AN AD CAPTANDUM VICTORY
Once, wdien Lincoln was pleading a case, the
opposing lawyer had all the advantage of the
law ; the weather was warm, and his opponent,
as was permissible in frontier courts, pulled off
his coat and vest as he grew warm in the argu-
ment.
At that time shirts with buttons behind were
imusual. Lincoln took in the situation at once.
Knowing the prejudices of the primitive people
against pretension of all sorts, or any affectation'
of superior social rank, he arose and said :
"Gentlemen of the jury, having justice on my
side, I don't think you will be at all influenced
by the gentleman's pretended knowledge of the
law, when you see he does not even Iviiow which
side of his shirt should be in front."
LIXCOLN AS A LAJJ'YER 97
There was a general laugh, and Lincoln's case
was won.
EQUITY AGAINST TECHNICALITY
A lawyer who studied in Mr. Lincoln's office
tells a story illustrative of the tenderness of
Lincoln's conscience. After listening one day
for some time to a client's statement of his case,
Lincoln, who had been staring at the ceiling,,
suddenly swung round in his ch?.ir and said:
"Well, you have a pretty good case in tech-
nical law, but a pretty bad one in equity and
justice. You'll have to get some other fellow
to win this case for you. I couldn't do it. All
the time, while talking to that jury, Fd be think-
ing: 'Lincoln, you're a liar,' and I believe I
should forget myself and say it out loud."
CHAPTER Vni
Life on the Circuit
Lamon tells us that "when Air. Lincohi first
"began to 'ride the circuit,' he was too poor to
own horse-flesh or vehicle, and was compelled
to borrow from his friends. But in due time he
became the proprietor of a horse, which he fed
and groomed himself, and to which he was very
much attached. On this animal he would set
out from home, to be gone for weeks together,
with no baggage but a pair of saddle-bags, con-
taining a change of linen, and an old cotton um-
brella to shelter him from sun or rain. When
he got a little more of this world's goods, he
set up a one-horse bugg}- — a very sorry and
shabby-looking affair, which he generally used
when the weather promised to be bad. But
the lawyers were always glad to see him, and
the landlords hailed his coming with pleas-
ure."
Courts lasted nearly six months in the year,
and the judge and lawyers generally contrived
to spend as many Sundays at home as they
â– could. Lincoln did not join in this effort, but
when he set out on a tour of the circuit, gen-
•erally continued till the end.
PLAIX LIVING AND PRUDENCE
He was utterly indifferent as to the appear-
ance or merits of any tavern or place he stopped
LIFE ON THE CIRCUIT 99'
at ; it was a matter of no consequence to him
whether a caravansary was good, bad, or indif-
ferent — the chief soHcitude with him was the
magnitude of the bill, for from necessity he
was very prudent in his expenditures, and so
would stop at the cheaper taverns. He did not,
however, violate good policy in that regard, and
whenever it was convenient, roomed with the
judge while out on the circuit, the general
knowledge of this fact being helpful in the way
of securing business from people who argued
therefrom that advantages accrued to him in
consequence.
Judge Davis told Henry C. Whitney that he
never saw Lincoln angry at poor accommoda-
tions on the circuit but once. They arrived at
Charleston on a cold, wet afternoon, chilled
through and uncomfortable ; the landlord was
away ; there were no fires nor wood. Lincoln
was thoroughly incensed ; he threw off his coat,
went to the woodpile, and cut wood with an
ax for an hour. Davis built a fire, and when
the landlord made his appearance late, Lincoln
gave him a good scoring.
PRIMITIVE COURT-HOUSES
The court-houses were sometimes framed and
boarded, but more frequently of logs. The judge
sat upon a raised platform, behind a rough
board, sometimes covered with green baize, for
a table on which to write his notes. A small
table stood on the fioor in front, for the clerk,,
and another larger one in front of the clerk and
in the area in the centre of the room, around
which in rude chairs the lawyers were grouped,.
joo ABRAHAM LIXCOLX
too often with their feet on top of it. Rough
benches were placed there for the jury, parties,
witnesses, and bystanders.
The court-house, as Arnold observes, has al-
ways been very attractive to the people of the
frontier, supplying the place of theatres, lecture
and concert rooms, etc., that add to the social
facilities of older settlements and towns. The
leading lawyers and judges were the star actors,
and had each his partisans. Hence crowds at-
tended the courts to see the judges, to hear the
lawyers contend with argument, and law, and
wit for success, victory, and fame.
From one to another of these rude court-
houses, the gentlemen of the bar passed, follow-
ing the judge around his circuit from county to
county, traveling generally on horseback, with
saddle-bags, brushes, an extra shirt or two. and
perhaps two or three law books. Sometimes two
or three lawyers would unite and travel in a
bugg}-, and the poorer and younger ones not
seldom walked.
THE TALL PILOT
This "circuit-riding" involved all sorts of ad-
ventures. Hard fare at miserable country tav-
erns, sleeping on the floor, and fording swollen
streams were every-day occurrences. All such
experiences were met with good humor and often
turned into sources of frolic and fun. In ford-
ing swollen streams, Lincoln was frequently sent
forward as a pioneer. His extremely long legs
enabled him, by taking off his boots and stock-
ings, and by rolling up or otherwise disposing of
his trousers, to test the depth of the stream, find
LIFE ON THE CIRCUIT lor
the most shallow water, and thus to pilot the
party through the current without wetting his
garments.
SAVING THE BIRDS
One day Lincoln, Baker. Hardin, Speed, and
others were riding on horseback along the road,
two-and-two, some distance from Springfield.
In passing a thicket of wild-plum and crab-apple
trees, Lincoln and Hardin being in the rear, the
former discovered by the roadside two young
birds not old enough to fly. They had been
shaken from their nest by a recent gale.
"The old bird," said Mr. Speed, "was flutter-
ing about and wailing as a mother ever does for
her babes. Lincoln stopped, hitched his horse^
caught the birds, hunted the nest, and placed
them in it. The rest of us rode on to a creek,-
and while the horses were drinking, Hardin
rode up.
"'Where is Lincoln?' said one.
" 'Oh, when I saw him last he had two little
birds in his hand hunting for their nest.' "
In perhaps an hour he came. They laughed
at him. He said, with much emphasis :
"Gentlemen, you may laugh, but I could not
have slept well to-night if I had not saved those
birds. Their cries would have rung in my
ears."
This act was characteristic, and illustrates a
tenderness of heart that never failed him.
COMPARATIVE CRIMINALITY
Lincoln had assisted in the prosecution of a
man who had robbed his neighbor's hen-roosts.
:io2 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Jogging home along the highway, the foreman
of the jury, that had convicted the hen-stealer
compHmented Lincohi on the zeal and ability of
the prosecution, and then remarked :
''Why, when the country was young, and I
was stronger than I am now, I didn't mind pack-
ing off a sheep now and then — but, stealing
hens !" — the good man's scorn could not find
words to express his opinion of a man who
would steal hens.
LINCOLN S READY WIT
Lamon testifies that "Air. Lincoln was from
the beginning of his circuit-riding the light and
life of the court. The most trivial circumstance
furnished a background for his wit. The fol-
lowing incident, which illustrates his love of a
joke, occurred in the early days of our acquaint-
ance. I, being at the time on the infant side
of twenty-one, took particular pleasure in ath-
letic sports. One day when we w^ere attending
the circuit court which met at Bloomington, 111.,
I was wrestling near the court-house with some
one who had challenged me to a trial, and in
the scuffle made a large rent in the rear of my
trousers. Before I had time to make any change
I was called into court to take up a case. The
evidence was finished. I being the prosecuting
attorney at the time, got up to address the jury.
Having on a short coat, my misfortune was
rather apparent.
"One of the lawyers, for a joke, started a sub-
scription paper, which was passed from one
member of the bar to another as they sat by a
long table fronting the bench, to buy a pair of
LIFE ON THE CIRCUIT loj.
pantaloons for Lamon^ — he being, the paper said,
'a poor but worthy young man.' Several put down
their names with some ridiculous subscription^
and finally the paper was laid by some one in
front of Mr. Lincoln, he being engaged in writ-
ing at the time. He quietly glanced over the-
paper, and, immediately taking up his pen, wrote
after his name,
" 'I can contribute nothing to the end in
view !'
THE FAITHFUL FRIEND
Although the humble condition and disrepu-
table character of some of his relations and con-
nections were the subject of constant annoyance
and most painful reflections, Lincoln never tried
to shake them off, and never abandoned them
when they needed his assistance. A son of his
stepbrother John D. Johnston was arrested for
stealing a watch. Air. Lincoln went to address
a mass-meeting in the town where the boy was
in jail. He waited until the dusk of the even-
ing, and then, in company with Mr. H. C. Whit-
ney, visited the prison. "Lincoln knew he wa&
guilty," says Mr. Whitney, "and was very deeply
affected — more than I ever saw him. At the
next term of the court, upon the State's Attor-
ney's consent, Lincoln and I went to the prose-
cution witnesses and got them to come into open
court and state that they did not care to prose-
cute." The boy was released ; and that evening,
as the lawyers were leaving the town in their
buggies, Mr. Lincoln was observed to get down
from his, and walk back a short distance to a
poor, distressed-looking young man who stood
by the roadside. It was young Johnston, Mr^
104 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Lincoln engaged for a few moments apparently
in earnest and nervous conversation with him,
then giving him some money, and returning to
his bugg}', drove on.
A TRAVELING STUDENT
It is well known that Lincoln used to carry
with him, on what J\Ir. Stuart calls "the tramp
around the circuit," ordinary school-books — from
Euclid down to an English grammar — and study
them as he rode along, or at intervals of leisure
in the towns where he stopped. He supple-
inented these with a copy of Shakespeare, got
much of it by rote, and recited long passages
from it to any chance companion by the way.
THE ABLE AX MAN
He was intensely fond of cutting wood with
an ax; and he was often seen to jump from his
"buggy, seize an ax out of the hands of a road-
side chopper, take his place on the log in the
â– most approved fashion, and, with his tremen-
dous long strokes, cut it in two before the man
,<:ould recover from his surprise.
CHAPTER IX
In Congress
When in 1846 a Congressional election en-
gaged the attention of political workers in Lin-
coln's district, he and his friend Judge Logan
were both candidates for the nomination, but
the latter withdrew, in consequence, probably,
of an agreement that he should run next time.
Logan presented Lincoln's name to the conven-
tion, which met at Petersburg in May, and he
was unanimously nominated.-
The Democrats nominated the Reverend Peter
Cartwright, the most eminent and widely known
Methodist preacher in the State. Cartwright
was an untiring worker and personally very pop-
ular, owing to his force of character. The can-
vass on both sides was made with great vigor
and spirit, not to say acrimony. Cartwright,
says Whitney, appealed to the prejudices of the
religious community against Lincoln, branding
him as an infidel, which was a more terrible
accusation then than now. That the reverend
gentleman took no pride in this canvass is patent
in this, that in an autobiography published by
him afterward the circumstance is not alluded
to at all. Lincoln was elected by an unprece-
dented majority — 1.5 11 votes — the usual major-
ity in the district being about 500. This was a
great honor, in view of the kind of canvass
which was made against him.
io6 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
TAKES HIS SEAT
In December, 1847, Lincoln took his seat in
Congress — the only Whig member from IlHnois.
His great rival, Douglas, had already run a bril-
liant career in the House, and now for the first
time had become a member of the United States
Senate. These two had met at Vandalia, and
in the Illinois Legislature had always been rivals,
and each was now the acknowledged leader of his
party in Illinois. The Democratic party had,
since the year 1836, been strongly in the major-
ity, and Douglas in his State, more than any
other man, directed and controlled it. Among
Lincoln's colleagues in Congress from Illinois,
were John Wentworth, John A. jNIcClernand, and
William A. Richardson. This Congress had
among its members many very distinguished
men. Among them were ex-President John
Quincy Adams; Robert C. Winthrop, Speaker;
Jacob Collamer, Postmaster-General ; Andrew
Johnson, elected Vice-President with Lincoln on
his second election ; Alexander H. Stephens,
Vice-President of the Confederacy; besides
Toombs, Rhett, Cobb, and other prominent lead-
ers in the rebellion.
In the Senate were Daniel Webster, John P.
Hale, John A. Dix, Simon Cameron, Lewis Cass,
Thomas H. Benton, John C. Calhoun, and Jef-
ferson Davis. Lincoln entered Congress with
the reputation of being an able and effective
popular speaker. "It is curious," says Arnold,
"to learn the impression which this prairie or-
ator, with no college culture, made upon his
associates." Arnold adds the interesting account
that substantially follows.
IN CONGRESS 107
WINTHROP AND STEPHENS ON LINCOLN
Robert C. Winthrop, a scholarly and conserva-
tive man, representing the intelligence of Bos-
ton, says, when writing thirty-four years there-
after: "I recall vividly the impressions I then
formed, both of his ability and amiability. We
were old Whigs together, and agreed entirely
upon all questions of public interest. I could
not always concur in the policy of the party
which made him President, but I never lost my
personal regard for him. For shrewdness and
sagacity, and keen practical sense, he has had
no superior in our day and generation."
Alexander H. Stephens, writing seventeen
years after Lincoln's death, and recalling their
service together in Congress, from 1847 to 1849,
says :
"I knew Mr. Lincoln well and intimately, and
we were both ardent supporters of General Tay-
lor for President in 1848.
"Mr. Lincoln was careful as to his manners,
awkward in his speech, but was possessed of a
very strong, clear, vigorous mind. He always at-
tracted and riveted the attention of the House
when he spoke. His manner of speech as well
as thought was original. He had no model. He
was a man of strong convictions, and what Car-
lyle would have called an earnest man. He
abounded in anecdote. He illustrated everything
he was talking about by an anecdote, always ex-
ceedingly apt and pointed, and socially he always
kept his company in a roar of laughter."
io8 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
SPEAKING IN CONGRESS
Lincoln took a more prominent part in the de-
bates than is usual for new members. On Janu-
ary 8, 1848, writing to his young partner, Hern-
don, he says : "By way of experiment, and of
getting 'the hang of the house,' I made a little
speech two or three days ago on a post-office
question of no general interest." (He was sec-
ond on the Committee of Post-Offices and Post-
Roads.) "I find speaking here and elsewhere
almost the same thing. I was about as badly
scared, and no more than when I speak in court."
Writing to his partner again soon after, he gave
the young gentleman some very good advice.
"The way for a young man to rise," said he,
"is to improve himself every way he can, never
suspecting anybody wishes to hinder him. Al-
low me to assure you that suspicions and jeal-
ousy never did help any man in any station."
On January 12, 1848, he made an able and
elaborate speech on the Mexican War, which
established his reputation in Congress as an able
debater. Douglas, long afterward, iii their joint
debate at Ottawa, charged him with taking the
side of the enemy against his own country in
this Mexican War. To which Lincoln replied :
"I was an old Whig, and whenever the Demo-
cratic party tried to get me to vote that the war
had been righteously begun by the President, I
would not do it. But when they asked money,
or land-warrants, or anything to pay the sol-
diers, I gave the same vote that Douglas did."
IN CONGRESS 109
ABOLITION BILL
The most important and significant act of
Lincoln at this Congress, was the introduction
by him into the House, of a bill to abolish slav-
ery in the District of Columbia. The bill pro-
vided that no person from without the District
should be held to slavery within it, and that no
person born thereafter within the District should
be held to slavery. It provided for the gradual
emancipation of all the slaves in the District,
with compensation to their masters, and that the
act should be submitted to a vote of the people
of the District.
Even this bill, mild as it was, would not be
tolerated by the slave States, and their opposi-
tion was so decided and unanimous that he was
not able even to bring it to a vote. He also at
about that time voted against paying for slaves
lost by officers in the Seminole War. His term
as member of Congress expired ]\Iarch 4, 1849,
and he was not a candidate for reelection.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY FOR THE CONGRESSIONAL
DIRECTORY
Among the papers of the late Charles Lan-
man 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 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 promptly filled
no ABRAHAM LINCOLN
np in his own handwriting, with the following
information :
"Born February 12, 1809, in Hardin County,
Kentucky.
"Education defective.
"Profession, lawyer.
"Alilitary service, Captain of Volunteers in
Black Hawk War.
"Offices held: Postmaster at a ver}^ small of-
fice ; four times a member of the Illinois Legis-
lature, and elected to the Lower House of the
next Congress."
CHAMPION STORY-TELLER OF THE CAPITOL
During the Christmas holidays Mr. Lincoln
found his way into the small room used as the
post-office of the House, where a few jovial
raconteurs used to meet almost every morning,
after the mail had been distributed into the
members' boxes, to exchange such new stories
as any of them might have acquired since they
last met. After modestly standing at the door for
several days, j\lr. Lincoln was "reminded" of a
story, and by New Year's he was recognized as
the champion story-teller of the Capitol.
Mr. Lincoln boarded with Mrs. Spriggs, on
Capitol Hill, where he had as messmates the
veteran Joshua R. Giddings of Ohio ; John
Blanchard, John Dickey, A. R. Mcllvaine, John
Strohm, and James Pollock, of Pennsylvania;
Llisha Embree of Indiana; and P. W. Tomp-
kins of Mississippi — all Whigs.
CHAPTER X
The Debates with Douglas
The Illinois Republican State convention that
met at Springfield on June i6, 1858, nominated
Lincoln by acclamation "as the first and only
choice" of the Republican party for United
States Senator. This time-honored phrase was
used sincerely on that occasion. There was
great enthusiasm, absolute unanimity.
On the evening of the following day he ad-
dressed the convention in a speech which has
become historic. His opening words were :
*Tf we could first know where we are and
whither we are tending, we could better judge
what to do and how to do it. We are now far
into the fifth year since a policy was initiated,
with the avowed object and confident promise of
putting an end to the slavery agitation. Under
the operation of that policy, that agitation has
not only not ceased, but has constantly aug-
mented. In my opinion it will not cease until a
crisis shall have been reached and passed. 'A
house divided against itself cannot stand.' I be-
lieve this Government cannot endure perma-
nently 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
112
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
that it is in the course of ultimate extinction ; or
its advocates will push it forward till it shall be-
come alike lawful in all the States, old as well
as new, North as well as South."
This speech came quickly to be known as "the
house-divided-against-itself speech." By that
name it is still known. Concluding he said :
"Our cause, then, must be entrusted to and con-
ducted by its own undoubted friends, those
whose hands are free, whose hearts are in the
work, who do care for the result. , . . The re-
sult is not doubtful. We shall not fail. If we
stand firm we shall not fail. Wise counsels may
accelerate or mistakes delay it, but sooner or
later the victory is sure to come."
CHALLENGE TO DOUGLAS
On July 9 Douglas made an elaborate speech
in Chicago. Lincoln was in the audience. It
was unofficially arranged that he should reply.
He did so the following evening. A week later
a similar thing occurred in Springfield. Doug-
las made a speech in the afternoon to which
Lincoln replied in the evening. Shortly after
this Lincoln wrote Douglas a letter proposing a
series of joint discussions, or challenging him
to a series of joint debates. Douglas replied in
a patronizing and irritating tone, asked for a
slight advantage in his own favor, but he ac-
cepted the proposal. He did not do it in a very
gracious manner, but he did it. They arranged
for seven discussions in towns, the locations
being scattered fairly over the entire territory
of the State.
THE DEBATES WITH DOUGLAS 113
THE TRAVELING RIVALS
At the outset Douglas had the advantage of
prestige. Nothing succeeds Hke success. Doug-
las had all his life had little but success. He
twice had missed the nomination for the Presi-
dency, but he was still the most formidable man
in the Senate. He was very popular in his own
State. He was everywhere greeted by large
crowds, with bands of music and other demon-
strations. He always traveled in a special car,
and often in a special train, which was freely
placed at his disposal by the Illinois Central Rail-
road. Lincoln traveled by accommodation train,
freight-train, or wagon, as best he could. As
both the men were every day speaking independ-
ently between the debates, the question of trans-
portation was serious. The inconveniences of
travel made a great drain upon nervous force
and health. One day when the freight-train
bearing Lincoln was side-tracked to let his
rival's special train roll by, he good-humoredly
remarked that Douglas "did not smell any roy-
alty in this car."
METHODS COMPARED
The methods of the two men were as diverse
as their bodily appearance. Douglas was mas-
ter of the art of "making the worse appear the
better reason." He was able to misstate his
antagonist's position so shrewdly as to deceive
the very elect. And with equal skill he could
escape from the real meaning of his own state-
ments. Lincoln's characterization is apt: "Judge
Douglas is playing cuttlefish — a small species of
114 ABRAHAM LIXCOLN
fish that has no mode of defending itself when
pursued except by throwing out a black fluid
which makes the water so dark the enemy can-
not see it, and thus it escapes."'
Lincoln's method was to hold the discussion
down to the point at issue with clear and for-
cible statement. He arraigned the iniquity of
slavery as an offence against God. He made
the phrase "all men"' of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence include the black as well as the white.
Said he: "There is no reason in the world why
the negro is not entitled to all the natural rights
enumerated in the Declaration of Independence
— the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness. ... In the right to eat the bread,
without the leave of anybody else, which his own
hand earns, he is my equal, and the equal of
Judge Douglas, and the equal of every living
man."
These debates occupied seven different even-
ings of three hours each. The speeches were
afterward published in book form and had a
wide circulation. The speeches, numbering
twenty-one in all, filled a large volume. It is
not the purpose of this chapter to give an out-
line of the debates, for they will be found in
full in another volume of the present edition.
Here it is only intended to give a general idea
of their result. Out of them came one promi-
nent eff'ect, which so influenced the careers of
the two men that it must be briefly recorded.
This went by the name of the "Freeport doc-
trine."'
THE DEBATES WITH DOUGLAS nS
CROSS-QUESTIONING
In the first debate Douglas had asked Lincoln
a series of questions. The trickery of these
questions was in the innuendo. They began,
"I desire to know whether Lincoln stands to-
day, as he did in 1854, in favor of," etc. Doug-
las then quoted from the platform of a conven-
tion which Lincoln had not attended, and with
which he had nothing to do. Lincoln denied
these insinuations, and said that he had never
favored those doctrines ; but the trick succeeded,
and the impression was made that Douglas had
cornered him. The questions, to all intents and
purposes, were a forgery. This forgery was
quickly exposed by a Chicago paper, and the
result was not helpful to Douglas. It was made
manifest that he was not conducting the debates
in a fair and manly way.
Further than this, the fact that these questions
had been asked gave Lincoln, in turn, the right
to ask questions of Douglas. This right he used.
For the next debate, which was to be at Free-
port, he prepared, among others, the following
question : "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?" If this were answered
"No," it would alienate the citizens of Illinois.
If it were answered "Yes," it would alienate the
Democrats of the South.
On the way to Freeport he met a number of
friends and took counsel of them. When he
read question number two. the one above quoted,
his friends earnestly and unanimously advised
ii6 ABRAHAM LIXCOLN
him not to put that question. ''If you do,"' said
they, "you never can be Senator."' To which
Lincoln repHed : "Gentlemen, I am killing larger
game. If Douglas answers, he can never be
President, and the battle of i860 is worth a
hundred of this."
AFTER THE BATTLE
It is not probable that Lincoln expected to be
in i860 the nominee of the Republican party,
but he did see the danger of the election of
Douglas to the Presidency. He was willing to
surrender the senatorial election to save the
country from a Douglas administration. The
sacrifice was made. The prediction proved true.
Lincoln lost the senatorship, Douglas lost the
Presidency.
The popular verdict, as shown in the election,
was in favor of Lincoln. The Republicans polled
125,430 votes; the Douglas Democrats, 121,609,
and the Buchanan Democrats, 5,071. But the
apportionment of the legislative districts was
such that Douglas had a majority on the joint
ballot of the Legislature. He received 54 votes
to 46 for Lincoln. This secured his reelection
to the Senate.
The popular verdict outside the State of Illi-
nois was in favor of Lincoln. The Republican
party circulated the volume containing the full
report of the speeches. It does not appear that
the Democrats did so. This forces the conclu-
sion that the intellectual and moral victory was
on the side of Lincoln.
THE DEBATES WITH DOUGLAS 117
LINCOLN" AXD DOUGLAS CONTRASTED
The opposite qualities of the debaters are well
shown in the following statements by a shrewd
observer, David R. Locke, once known all over
the country for his clever writings under the
pseudonym of "Petroleum \". Nasby " :
The difference between the two men was illus-
trated that day in their opening remarks. Lin-
coln said (I quote from memory) :
'T have had no immediate conference with
Judge Douglas, but I am sure that he and I
will agree that your entire silence when I speak
and he speaks will be most agreeable to us."
Douglas said at the beginning of his speech :
"The highest compliment you can pay me is by
observing a strict silence. / desire rather to be
heard than applauded."
The inborn modesty of the one and the bound-
less vanity of the other could not be better illus-
trated. Lincoln claimed nothing for himself —
Douglas spoke as if applause niust follow iiis
utterances.
The character of the two men was still better
illustrated in their speeches. The self-sufficiency
of Douglas in his opening might be pardoned, for
he had been fed on applause ; . . . but his being
a popular idol could not justify the demagogy
that saturated the speech itself. Douglas was
the demagogue all the way through. There was
no trick of presentation that he did not use.
He suppressed facts, twisted conclusions, and
perverted history. He wriggled and turned and
dodged; he appealed to prejudices; in short, it
was evident that what he was laboring for was
Douglas and nothing else. . . .
ii8 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Lincoln, on the other hand, kept strictly to the
questions at issue, and no one could doubt but
that the cause for which he was speaking was
the only thing he had at heart ; that his personal
interests did not weigh a particle. . . . He knew
that the people had intelligence enough to strike
the average correctly. His great strength was
in trusting the people instead of considering
them as babes in arms. He did not profess to
know everything.
The audience admired Douglas, but they re-
spected his simple-minded opponent.
STOXIXG STEPHEN
In one of the debates, it is said, Douglas
led off with so captivating a discourse that his
opponent's adherents believed the battle was
fairly won. But Lincoln got up as soon as the
cheers died away, looking taller and more angu-
lar than ever. Taking off his long linen duster,
he dropped it on the arm of a young bystander,
remarking in his far-pervading voice :
"Hold my coat zuhile I stone Stephen!"
This went far toward annulling the good ef-
fect of Stephen A. Douglas's harangue and Lin-
coln was heard with keen attention.
THE SIXTH JOIX'T DEBATE, AT OUIX'CY
Our account of this debate is taken from The
Reminiscences of Carl Schurz, a fascinating
work by a public man who knew Lincoln's char-
acter well, and who has written elsewhere of
the great President with high appreciation and
brilliant analvsis.
THE DEBATES UTTH DOUGLAS 119
The great debate took place in the afternoon
on the open square, where a large pine-board
platform had been built for the committee of
arrangements, the speakers, and the persons they
wished to have with them. I thus was favored
with a seat on that platform. In front of it
many thousands of people were assembled, Re-
publicans and Democrats standing peaceably
together, only chaffing one another now and then
in a good-tempered way.
As the champions arrived they were demon-
stratively cheered by their adherents. The pre-
siding officer agreed upon by the two parties
called the meeting to order and announced the
program of proceedings. ]\Ir. Lincoln was to
open with an allowance of an hour, and Senator
Douglas was to follow with a speech of one
hour and a half, and Mr. Lincoln was to speak
half an hour in conclusion. The first part of
Mr. Lincoln's opening address was devoted to a
refutation of some things Douglas had said at
previous meetings. This refutation may, indeed,
have been required for the settlement of disputed
points, but it did not strike me as anything ex-
traordinary, either in substance or in form. . . .
There was, however, in all he said, a tone of
earnest truthfulness, of elevated, noble senti-
ment, and of kindly sympathy, which added
greatly to the strength of his argument, and
became, as in the course of his speech he
touched upon the moral side of the question in
debate, powerfully impressive. . . .
When Lincoln had sat down amid the enthu-
siastic plaudits of his adherents, I asked myself
with some trepidation in my heart, "What will
Douglas say now?" . . .
12G ABRAHAM LIXCOLN
No more striking contract could have been
imagined than that between those two men as
they appeared upon the platform. By the side
of Lincoln's tall, lank, and ungainly form, Doug-
las stood almost like a dwarf, very short of stat-
ure, but square-shouldered and broad-chested,
a massive head upon a strong neck, the very
embodiment of force, combativeness, and staying
power. . . . \A'hile he w^as listening to Lincoln's
speech, a contemptuous smile now and then flitted
across his lips, and when he rose, the tough
parliamentary gladiator, he tossed his mane with
an air of overbearing superiority, of threatening
defiance, as if to say, "How dare any one stand
up against me?" . . .
No language seemed too offensive for him.
and even inoffensive things he would sometimes
bring out in a manner which sounded as if in-
tended to be insulting; and thus he occasionally
called forth, instead of applause from his
friends, demonstrations of remonstrance from
the opposition. But his sentences were well put
together, his points strongly accentuated, his
argumentation seemingly clear and plausible, his
sophisms skilfully woven so as to throw the de-
sired flood of darkness upon the subject and
thus beguile the untutored mind, his appeals to
prejudice unprincipled and reckless, but shrewdly
aimed, and his invectives vigorous and exceed-
ingly trying to the temper of the assailed party.
On the whole, his friends were well pleased with
his performance, and rewarded him with vocif-
erous cheers.
But then came Lincoln's closing speech of half
an hour, which seemed completely to change the
temper of the atmosphere. He replied to Doug-
THE DEBATES U'lTH DOUGLAS 121
las's arguments and attacks with rapid thrusts
so deft and piercing, with humorous retort so
quaint and pat, with witty iUustrations so cUnch-
ing, and he did it all so good-naturedly, that the
meeting, again and again, broke out into bursts
of delight by which even many of his opponents
were carried away, while the scowl on Douglas's.
face grew darker and darker.
LINCOLN THE ORATOR
If the question still be asked, Was Lincoln an
orator? the answer must be: Yes, at times as
great as the greatest of orators. He was always
simple, earnest, and entirely sincere. At times
he rose to the very highest eloquence — on rare
occasions when greatly moved. When carried
away by some great theme, with some vast audi-
ence before him, he seemed at times like one
inspired. He would begin in a diffident and
awkward manner, but, as he became absorbed
in his subject, then would come that wonder-
ful transformation, of which many have spoken.
Self-consciousness, diffidence, and awkwardness
disappeared. His attitude became dignified, his
figure seemed to expand, his features were illu-
minated, his eyes blazed with excitement, and
his action became bold and commanding. Then
his voice and everything about him became elec-
tric, his cadence changed with every feeling,
and his whole audience became completely mag-
netized. Every sentence called forth a respon-
sive emotion. To see Lincoln, on such great
occasions, on an open prairie, the central figure
of ten thousand people, every sound but that of
his voice hushed to perfect silence, every eye
122 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
bent upon him, every ear open, eager to catch
each word, his voice clear and powerful, and of
a key that could be distinctly heard by all the
vast multitude, was to see a prophet with a mes-
sage inspired. To hear him on such occasions,
speaking on the great themes of freedom and
slavery, was to think of Demosthenes thunder-
ing against Philip ; better than that, it was like
hearing Patrick Henry plead for American
liberty.
CHAPTER XI
Widening Renown
In September, 1859, Lincoln made a few mas-
terly speeches in Ohio, where Douglas had pre-
ceded him on his new hobby of "squatter sover-
eignty," or "unfriendly legislation." Lincoln
spoke at Columbus, Cincinnati, and several other
places, each time devoting the greater part of
his address to Douglas and his theories, as if the
habit of combating that illustrious chieftain were
hard to break.
In December he went to Kansas, speaking at
Elwood, Donaphan, Troy, Atchison, and twice
at Leavenworth. Wherever he went he was met
by vast assemblages of people. His speeches
were principally repetitions of those previously
made in Illinois ; but they were very fresh and
captivating to his new audiences. These jour-
neys, which turned out to be continuous ova-
tions, spread his name and fame far beyond the
limits to which they had heretofore been re-
stricted.
NEW YORK INVITATION
It was in October, 1859. that Lincoln received
an invitation to speak in New York. It de-
lighted him. No event of his life had given him
more heartfelt pleasure. He went straight to
his office, and Herndon says he "looked pleased,
not to say tickled. He said to me, 'Billy, I am
invited to deliver a lecture in New York. Shall
124 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
I go?' 'By all means,' I replied; 'and it is a
good opening too.' 'If you were in my fix, what
subject would you choose?' said Lincoln. 'Why,
a political one : that's your forte,' I answered."
Lincoln wrote, in response to the invitation,
that he would avail himself of it the coming
February, provided he might be permitted to
make a political speech, in case he found it in-
convenient to get up one of another kind. He
had purposely set the day far ahead, that he
might thoroughly prepare himself ; and it may
safely be said that no effort of his life cost him
so much labor as this. Some of the party man-
agers who were afterward put to work to verify
its statements, and get it out as a campaign docu-
ment, are said to have been three weeks in find-
ing the historical records consulted by him.
THE COOPER UNION (INSTITUTE) SPEECH
On February 25, i860, he arrived in New
York. It was Saturday, and he spent the whole
day in revising and retouching bis speech. The
next day he heard Beecher preach, and on Mon-
day wandered about the city to see the sights.
When the committee under whose auspices he
was to speak waited upon him, they found him
dressed in a sleek and shining suit of new black,
covered with very apparent creases and wrinkles,
acquired by being packed too closely and too
long in his little valise. He felt uneasy in his
new clothes and in a strange place. His con-
fusion was increased when the reporters called
to get the printed slips of his speech in advance
of its delivery. Mr. Lincoln knew nothing of
such a custom among the orators, and had no
WIDENING RENOWN 125
slips. He was. in fact, not quite sure that the
press would desire to publish his speech. When
he reached the Cooper Institute, and was ushered
into the vast hall, he was surprised to see the
most cultivated men of the city awaiting him on
the stand, and an immense audience assembled
to hear him. Mr. Bryant introduced him as "an
eminent citizen of the West, hitherto known to
you only by reputation."
The speech then delivered (reprinted in an-
other volume of this series) was strictly intel-
lectual from beginning to end. Though Lincoln
was not known in New York, Douglas was. So
he fittingly took his start with a quotation from
Douglas — words uttered at Columbus a few
months before : "Our fathers, when they framed
the Government under which we live, under-
stood this question [the question of slavery] just
as well, and even better, than we do now." To
this proposition Lincoln assented. That raised
the inquiry, What was their understanding of
the question? This was a historical question,
and could be answered only by honest and pains-
taking research.
HOW IT WAS RECEIVED
Not only was this speech received with un-
bounded enthusiasm by the mass of the people,
but it was a revelation to the more intellectual
and cultivated. Lincoln afterward told of a pro-
fessor of rhetoric at Yale College who was pres-
ent. He made an abstract of the speech and the
next day presented it to the class as a model of
cogency and finish. This professor followed
Lincoln to Meriden to hear him again.
126 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
The morning after its delivery the New York
Tribune presented a report of the speech, and
in doing so, said, "the tones, the gestures, the
kindHng eye, and the mirth-provoking look defy
the reporter's skill. ... No man ever before
made such an impression on his first appeal to
a New York audience." The Evening Post said,
"'We have made room for Mr. Lincoln's speech,
notwithstanding the pressure of other matters;
and our readers will see that it was well worthy
of the deep attention with which it was heard."
For the publication of such arguments the editor
was "tempted to wish" that his columns "were
indefinitely elastic." These are fair examples of
the general tone of the press.
NEW ENGLAND TOUR
From New York Mr. Lincoln traveled into
New England, to visit his son Robert, who was
a student at Harvard ; but he was overwhelmed
with invitations to address Republican meetings.
In Connecticut he spoke at Hartford, Norwich,
New Haven, Meriden, and Bridgeport ; in Rhode
Island, at Woonsocket; in New Hampshire, at
Concord and Manchester. Everywhere the peo-
ple poured out in multitudes, and the press lav-
ished encomiums. Upon his speech at Manchester,
the Mirror, a neutral paper, passed the follow-
ing criticisms of his style of oratory — criticisms
familiar enough to the people of his own State :
"He spoke an hour and a half with great fair-
ness, great apparent candor, and with wonderful
interest. He did not abuse the South, the ad-
ministration, or the Democrats, or indulge in
any personalities, with the exception of a few
WIDENING RENOWN 127
hits at Douglas's notions. He is far from pre-
possessing in personal appearance, and his voice
is disagreeable ; and yet he wins your attention
and good will from the start. At the close of
this Eastern tour Lincoln had become prominent
as a "Presidential possibility."
"the greatest man since ST. PAUL"
This is the testimony of one who was present
on that historic occasion, as given by Noah
Brooks in his Abraham Lincoln and the Dozun-
fall of Slavery.
"When Lincoln rose to speak, I was greatly
disappointed. He was tall, tall — oh, how tall I
— and so angular and awkward that I had, for
an instant, a feeling of pity for so ungainly a
man. His clothes were black and ill-fittings
badly wrinkled — as if they had been jammed
carelessly into a small trunk. His bushy head,
with stiff black hair thrown back, was balanced
on a long and lean head-stalk, and when he
raised his hands in an opening gesture, I no-
ticed that they were very large. He began in
a low tone of voice — as if he were used to speak-
ing outdoors, and was afraid of speaking too
loud. He said, 'Mr. Checrman' instead of 'Mr.
Chairman' and employed many other words
with an old-fashioned pronunciation. I said to
myself:
" 'Old fellow, you won't do ; it's all very well
for the wild West, but this will never go down
in New York.'
"But pretty soon he began to get into his sub-
ject; he straightened up, made regular and
graceful gestures ; his face lighted as with an
128 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
inward fire ; the whole man was transfigured.
I forgot his clothes, his personal appearance, his
individual peculiarities. Presently, forgetting
myself. I was on my feet with the rest, yelling
like a wild Indian, cheering this wonderful man.
In the close parts of his argument, you could
hear the gentle sizzling of the gas-burners.
When he reached a climax the thunders of ap-
plause were terrific. It was a great speech.
"When I came out of the hall, my face glow-
ing with excitement and my frame all a-quiver.
a friend, with his eyes aglow, asked me what I
thought of Abe Lincoln the rail-splitter. I said :
" 'He's the greatest man since St. Paul.' And
I think so yet."
LINCOLN AND THE BIRTH OF THE REPUBLICAN
PARTY
The growing influence and widening recogni-
tion of Lincoln had not, as we know, been due
to any sudden or fortuitous turn in his career
to this time. In order to get a better view of his
advance toward the larger political field in which
he was to become the commanding figure, it may
be well here to go back a few years and trace
his connection with the beginnings of the great
party that he led to its first national victory.
The year 1856 saw the dissolution of the old
\Miig party. It had become too narrow and
restricted to answer the needs of the hour. A
new platform was demanded, that would admit
the great principles and issues growing out of
the slavery agitation. A convention of the \Miig
leaders throughout the country met at Pittsburg.
Pa., on February 22, 1856, to consider the neces-
WIDENING RENOWN 129
sity of a new organization. A little later, Mr.
Herndon, in the office of Mr. Lincoln, called a
convention at Bloomington, 111., "summoning to-
gether all those who wished to see the Govern-
ment conducted on the principles of Washing-
ton and Jefferson."
The call was signed by the most prominent
abolitionists of Illinois, with the name of A.
Lincoln at the head. The morning after its pub-
lication, Major Stuart entered Mr. Herndon's
office in a state of extreme excitement, and, as
the latter relates, demanded : " 'Sir, did Mr. Lin-
coln sign that abolition call which is published
this morning?' I answered, 'Mr. Lincoln did not
sign that call.' 'Did Lincoln authorize you to
sign it?' 'No, he never authorized me to sign
it.' 'Then do you know that you have ruined
]Mr. Lincoln ?' 'I did not know that I had ruined
]\Ir. Lincoln ; did not intend to do so ; thought he
was a made man by it ; that the time had come
when conservatism was a crime and a blunder.'
'You, then, take the responsibility of your acts,
do you?' 'I do, most emphatically.' However,
I instantly sat down and wrote to Mr. Lincoln,
who was then in Pekin or Tremont †” possibly at
court. He received my letter, and instantly re-
plied, either by letter or telegraph — most likely
by letter — that he adopted, in toto, what I had
done, and promised to meet the radicals — Love-
joy and such like men- — among us." Mr. Hern-
don adds: "Never did a man change as Lincoln
did from that hour. No sooner had he planted
himself right on the slavery question than his
whole soul seemed burning. He blossomed right
out. Then, too, other spiritual things grew more
real to him."
I30 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
ANTI-SLAVERY LITERATURE
Mr. Herndon had been an abolitionist from
birth. It was an inheritance with him ; but Lin-
coln's conversion was a gradual process, stimu-
lated and confirmed by the influence of his
companion. "From 1854 to i860," says Mr.
Herndon, "I kept putting into Lincoln's hands the
speeches and sermons of Theodore Parker, Wen-
dell Phillips, and Henry Ward Beecher. I took
the Anti-slavery Standard for years before 1856,
the Chicago Tribune, and the Nezv York Tri-
bune ; kept them in my office ; kept them pur-
posely on my table, and would read to Lincoln
the good, sharp, and solid things well put. Lin-
coln was a natural anti-slavery man. as I think,
and yet he needed watching — needed hope, faith,
energ}'; and I think I warmed Jiini."
herxdon's "bone philosophy"
It is stated that "when Herndon was very
, young — probably before Mr. Lincoln made his
first protest in the Legislature of the State in
'behalf of liberty — Lincoln once said to him: 'I
cannot see what makes your convictions so de-
cided as regards the future of slavery. \Miat
tells you the'thing must be rooted out?' T feel
it in my bones,' was Herndon's emphatic answer.
'This continent is not broad enough to endure
the contest between freedom and slavery!' It
was almost in these very words that ^Iv. Lincoln
afterward opened the great contest between
Douglas and himself. From this time forward j
he submitted all public questions to what he
called "the test of Bill Herndon's bone philoso-
WIDENING RENOWN 131
phy ; and their arguments were close and pro-
tracted."
Long before Mr. Herndon published the call
for the Bloomington convention, he had said to a
deputation of men from Chicago, in answer to
the inquiry whether j\Ir. Lincoln could be trusted
for freedom: "Can you trust yourselves? If you
can, you can trust Lincoln forever."
THE BLOOMINGTON' CONVENTION — LINCOLN'S
GREAT SPEECH
The convention met at Bloomington, May 29,
1856; "and it was there." says Mr. Herndon, in
one of his lectures, "that Lincoln was baptized,
and joined our church. He made a speech to
us. I have heard or read all of Mr. Lincoln's
great speeches ; and I give it as my opinion that
the Bloomington speech was the grand effort of
his life. Heretofore, and up to this moment, he
had simply argued the slavery question on
grounds of policy — on what are called the states-
man's grounds — never reaching the question of
the radical and eternal right. Now he was newly
baptized and freshly born ; he had the fervor of
a new convert; the smothered flame broke out;
enthusiasm unusual to him blazed up; his eyes
were aglow with inspiration; he felt justice; his
heart was alive to the right ; his sympathies burst
forth ; and he stood before the throne of the eter-
nal Right, in presence of his God, and then and
there unburdened his penitential and fired soul.
"This speech was fresh, new, genuine, odd,
original; filled with fervor not unmixed with
a divine enthusiasm ; his head breathing out
through his tender heart its truths, its sense oi
132 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
right, and its feeling of the good and for the
good. This speech was full of fire and energy
and force ; it was logic ; it was pathos ; it was
enthusiasm; it was justice, equity, truth, right.
] and good, set ablaze by the divine fires of a soul
" maddened by wrong ; it was hard, heavy, knotty.
' gnarly, edged, and heated. I attempted for
about fifteen minutes, as was usual with me, to
take notes ; but at the end of that time I threw
pen and paper to the dogs, and lived only in the
inspiration of the hour. If Mr. Lincoln was six
feet four inches high usually, at Bloomington
he zi'as seven feet, and inspired at that. From
that day to the day of his death, he stood firm on
the right. He felt his great cross, had his great
idea, nursed it, kept it, taught it to others, and
in his fidelity bore witness of it to his death, and
finally sealed it with his precious blood."
FOLLOWING Lincoln's lead
The committee on resolutions, at the conven-
tion, found themselves, after hours of discussion,
unable to agree ; and at last they sent for Lin-
coln. He suggested that all could unite on the
principles of the Declaration of Independence
and hostility to the extension of slavery. "Let
us," said he, "in building our new party, make
our corner-stone the Declaration of Indepen-
dence ; let us build on this rock, and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against us." The prob-
lem was mastered, and the convention adopted
the following:
"Resolved, That we hold, in accordance with
the opinions and practices of all the great states-
men of all parties for the first sixty years of
WIDENING RENOWN 133
tlie administration of the Government, that, un-
der the Constitution, Congress possesses full
power to prohibit slavery in the Territories ; and
that while we will maintain all constitutional
rights of the South, we also hold that justice,
humanity, the principles of freedom, as ex-
pressed in our Declaration of Independence and
our national Constitution, and the purity and per-
petuity of our Government, require that that
power should be exerted to prevent the extension
of slavery into Territories heretofore free."
The Bloomington convention concluded its work
by choosing delegates to the Republican national
convention to be held at Philadelphia the follow-
ing month, for the nomination of candidates for
the Presidency and Vice-Presidency of the
United States. And thus was organized the
Republican party in Illinois, which revolution-
ized the State and elected Lincoln to the Presi-
dency. Lincoln's speech to this convention has
rarely been equaled. "Never," says one of the
delegates, "was an audience more completely
electrified by human eloquence. Again and
again, during the delivery, the audience sprang
to their feet, and by long-continued cheers, ex-
pressed how deeply the speaker had aroused
them."
FIRST REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION : FRE-
MONT AND DAYTON
The first national convention of the Republi-
can party met at Philadelphia, in June, 1856, and
adopted a declaration of principles substantially
based upon those of the Bloomington convention.
John C. Fremont was nominated as candidate
134 ABRAHAM LIXCOLN
for President. Among the names presented for
Vice-President was that of Abraham Lincoln.
He received, however, but no votes, against 259
for Mr. Dayton, and 180 scattered; and Mr.
Dayton was unanimously declared the nominee.
When the news reached Mr. Lincoln, in Illi-
nois, that he had received no votes, some of the
lawyers in the court-house insisted that it must
have been their Lincoln; but he said, "Xo, it
could not be ; it must have been the great [Levi]
Lincoln of Massachusetts !" He was then in one
of his melancholy moods, full of depression and
despondency.
LINCOLN ON THE POLITICAL FUTURE
Noah Brooks made Mr. Lincoln's acquaint-
ance at a Republican mass-meeting during the
campaign of 1856. After Lincoln had spoken,
and while some of the other orators were enter-
taining the audience, the two drew a little off
from the crowd and fell into a discussion over
the political situation and prospects. "We
crawled under the pendulous branches of a tree,"
says ]\Ir. Brooks, "and Lincoln, lying flat on the
i ground, with his chin in his hands, talked on,
rather gloomily as to the present, but absolutely
confident as to the future. I was dismayed to
find that he did not believe it possible that Fre-
mont could be elected. As if half pitying my
youthful ignorance, but admiring my enthusiasm,
he said, 'Don't be discouraged if we don't carry
the day this year. We can't do it, that's certain.
\Y& can't carry Pennsylvania ; those old Whigs
down there are too strong for us. But we shall,
sooner or later, ekct our President. I feel con-
WIDENING RENOWN 13S
fident of that.' 'Do you think we shall elect a
Free-soil President in i860?' I asked, 'Well, I
don't know. Everything depends on the course
of the Democracy. There's a big anti-slavery
element in the Democratic party, and if we could
get hold of that we might possibly elect our man
in i860. But it's doubtful, very doubtful. Per-
haps we shall be able to fetch it by 1864; perhaps
not. As I said before, the Free-soil party is
bound to win in the long run. It may not be in
my day ; but it will be in yours, I do really be-
lieve.' " The defeat of Fremont soon verified
Lincoln's prediction on that score. And the pos-
sibility of i860 — could he have had some pre-
vision of its fulfilment, notwithstanding his ex-
pressed doubt?
CHAPTER XII
Love Affairs and Marriage
We have already spoken of James Rutledge
as the founder of New Salem. At one time,
along with his other business — which appears
to have been quite extensive and various — Mr.
Rutledge kept the tavern, the small house with
four rooms on the main street of New Salem,
just opposite Lincoln's grocery. There Mr.
Lincoln came to board late in 1832, or early in
1833. The family consisted of the father,
mother, and nine children — three of them born
in Kentucky and six in Illinois ; three grown up,
and the rest quite young. Ann, the third child,
was born January 7, 1813, and was about nine-
teen years of age when Mr. Lincoln came to
live in the house.
When Ann was just turned of seventeen, and
still attending the school of that redoubtable
pedagogue Minter Graham, there came to New
Salem a young gentleman of singular enterprise,
tact, and capacity for business. He engaged
board with Mr. Rutledge's friend and partner,
James Cameron, and gave out his name as John
McNeil. He came to New Salem with no other
capital than good sense and an active and plucky
spirit ; but somehow fortune smiled indiscrimi-
nately on all his endeavors, and very soon — as
early as the latter part of 1832 — he found him-
self a well-to-do and prosperous man, owning
LOJ'E AFFAIRS AND MARRIAGE 137
a snug farm seven miles north of New Salem,
and a half-interest in the largest store of the
place,
JOHN MCNAMAR
In the mean time ]\IcXeil and his partner,
Hill, had both fallen in love with Ann Rutledge,
and both courted her with devoted assiduity.
But the contest had long since been decided in
favor of McNeil, and Ann loved him with all
her susceptible and sensitive heart. When the
time drew near for McNeil to depart, he con-
fided to Ann a strange story — and, in the eyes
of a person less fond, a very startling story. His
name was not John McNeil at all, but John
McNamar. His family was a highly respectable
one in the State of New York; but a few years
before his father had failed in business, and
there was great distress at home. He (John)
then conceived the romantic plan of running
away, and, at some undefined place in the far
West, making a sudden fortune with which to
retrieve the family disaster. He fled accord-
ingly, changed his name to avoid the pursuit of
his father, found his way to New Salem, and —
she knew the rest. He was now able to perform
that great act of filial piety which he set out to
accomplish, would return at once to the relief
of his parents, and, in all human probability,
bring them back with him to his new home in ,
Illinois. At all events, she might look for his
return as speedily as the journey could be male
with ordinary diligence ; and thenceforward
there should be no more partings between him
and his fair Ann. She believed this tale, because
she loved the man that told it ; and she would
1^8 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
have believed it all the same if it had been ten
times as incredible.
McNamar wrote to Ann that there was sick-
ness in the family, and he could not return at
the time appointed. Then there were other and
still other postponements ; "circumstances over
which he had no control" prevented his depar-
ture from time to time, until years had rolled
away, and Ann's heart had grown sick with hope
deferred. She never quite gave him up. but
continued to expect him until death terminated
her melancholy watch. His inexplicable delay,
however, the infrequency of his letters, and their
unsatisfactory character^ — these and something
else had broken her attachment, and toward the
last she waited for him only to ask a release
from the engagement, and to say that she pre-
ferred another and a more urgent suitor.
LINCOLN AND ANN RUTLEDGE
^^'hen Mr. Lincoln first saw Ann she was
probably the most refined woman with whom
he had then ever spoken' — a modest, delicate
creature, fascinating by reason of the mere con-
trast with the rude people by whom they were
both surrounded. She had a secret, too, and a
sorrow — the unexplained and painful absence of
McNamar — which no doubt made her all the
more interesting to him whose spirit was often
even more melancholy than her own. It would
be difficult to trace the growth of an attach-
ment at a time and place so distant ; but it actu-
ally grew, and became an intense and mutual
passion.
It is probable that the family looked upon
LOI'E AFFAIRS AND MARRIAGE 139
McNamar's delay with more suspicion than Ann
did herself. At all events, all her adult relatives
encouraged the suit which Lincoln early began
to press ; and as time, absence, and apparent
neglect gradually told against McNamar. she
listened to him with growing interest, until, in
1835, we find them formally and solemnly be-
trothed.
Ann now waited only for the return of Mc-
Namar to marry Lincoln. She was urged to
marry immediately, without regard to anything
but her own happiness ; but she said she could
not consent to it until McNamar came back and
released her from her pledge. At length, how-
ever, as McNamar's reappearance became more
and more hopeless, she took a different view of
it, and then thought she would become Abe's
wife as soon as he found the means of a decent
livelihood.
Ann's death : Lincoln's grief
In the summer of 1835 Ann showed unmis-
takable symptoms of failing health, attributable,
as most of the neighborhood believed, to the dis-
tressing attitude she felt bound to maintain be-
tween her two lovers. On August 25 in that
year she died of what the doctors chose to call
brain-fever,
A few days before her death Lincoln was
summoned to her bedside. What happened in
that solemn conference was known only to him
and the dying girl. But when he left her, and
stopped at the house of John Jones, on his way
home, Jones saw signs of the most terrible dis-
tress in his face and his conduct. When Ann
140 ABRAHAM LIXCOLN
actually died, and was buried, his grief became
frantic: he lost all self-control, even the con-
sciousness of identity, and every friend he had
in New Salem declared that Lincoln was crazy.
"He was watched with especial vigilance," as
William Greene tells us, "during storms, fogs,
damp, gloomy v^^eather, for fear of an accident/'
At such times he raved piteously, declaring,
among other wild expressions of his woe, "I can
never be reconciled to have the snow, rains, and
storms to beat upon her grave!"
"The death of Ann Rutledge," says Ida M.
Tarbell, "plunged Lincoln into the deepest
gloom. He was seen walking alone by the river
and through the woods, muttering strange things
to himself. He seemed to his friends to be in
the shadow of madness. They kept a close
watch over him, and at last Bowlin Greene, one
of the most devoted friends Lincoln then had.
took him home to his little log cabin, half a mile
north of Xew Salem. Here, under the loving
care of Greene and his good wife Xancy, Lin-
coln remained until he was once more master of
himself.
"But though he had regained self-control, his
grief was deep and bitter. Ann Rutledge was
buried in Concord cemetery, a country burying-
ground seven miles northwest of New Salem.
To this lonely spot Lincoln frequently journeyed
to weep over her grave. 'Aly heart is buried
there,' he said to one of his friends.
"When McNamar returned (for McNamar's
story was true, and two months after Ann Rut-
ledge died he drove into Xew Salem with his
widowed mother and his brothers and sisters in
the 'prairie schooner' beside him) and learned of
LOVE AFFAIRS AND MARRIAGE 141
Ann's death, he 'saw Lincoln at the post-office,'
as he afterward said, and 'he seemed desolate
and sorely distressed.'
"In later life, when Lincoln's sorrow had be-
come a memory, he told a friend who questioned
him: 'I really and truly loved the girl and think
often of her now.' There was a pause, and then
the President added :
" 'And I have loved the name of Rutledge to
this day.' "
Lincoln's favorite poem
"With all his love of fun and frolic," says
Isaac N. Arnold, "with all his wit and humor,
with all his laughter and anecdotes, Lincoln,
from his youth, was a person of deep feeling,
and there was alwavs mingled with his mirth,
sadness and melancholy. He always associated
with the memory of Ann Rutledge the plaintive
poem which in his hours of melancholy he so
often repeated, and whose familiar first stanzas
are as follows :
Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?
Like a swift fleeting meteor, a fast flying cloud,
A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave,
He passeth from life to his rest in the grave.
The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade.
Be scattered around, and together be laid,
And the young and the old, and the low and the high
Shall moulder to dust and together shall lie.
"Lincoln loved at twilight, or when in the
country, or in solitude, or when with some con-
fi lential friend, to repeat this poem. I think
he exaggerated its merits, and I attribute his
142 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
great love of the poem to its association with
Ann Rutledge." It has been surmised that the
Hnes may also have been dear to Miss Rutledge
herself, and that Lincoln may have prized them
more on that account.
I
MARY OWENS
About three-quarters of a mile north of
Bowlin Greene's, and on the summit of a hill, '
stood the house of Bennett Able, a small frame
building eighteen by twenty feet. Able and his
wife were warm friends of Mr. Lincoln ; and
many of his rambles through the surrounding
country, reading and talking to himself, termi-
nated at their door, where he always found the
latch-string on the outside, and a hearty wel-
come within. In October, 1833, Mr. Lincoln
met there Miss Mary Owens, a sister of Mrs.
Able, and, as we shall presently learn from his
own words, admired her, although not extrava-
gantly. She remained but four weeks, and then
went back to her home in Kentucky.
Miss Owens's mother being dead, her father
married again; and Miss Owens, for good rea-
sons of her own, thought she would rather live
with her sister than with her stepmother. Ac-
cordingly, in the fall of 1836, she reappeared at
Abie's.
LINCOLN AND MARY OWENS
Thereafter Mr. Lincoln was unremitting in his
attentions to her ; and wherever she went he was
at her side. She had many relatives in the neigh-
borhood — the Bales, the Greenes, the Grahams —
and if she went to spend an afternoon or an
LOl'E AFFAIRS AND MARRIAGE 143
evening with any of these, Lincohi was very
Hkely to be on hand to conduct her home. He
asked her to marry him; but she prudently
evaded a positive answer till she could make up
her mind about questionable points of his char-
acter. She did not think him coarse or cruel;
but she did think him thoughtless, careless, not
altogether as polite as he might be — in short,
"deficient," as she expresses it, "in those httle
links which make up the great chain of woman's
happiness." His heart was good, his principles
were high, his honor sensitive; but still, in the
eyes of this refined young lady, he did not seem
to be quite the gentleman. "He was lacking in
the smaller attentions"; and, in fact, the whole
affair is explained when she tells us that ''his
education zt'cis different from" hers.
WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN
"It appears to me conclusive," says Whitney,
"that if Lincoln had dealt with this estimable
and refined young lady in a spirit of his usual
candor and naturalness, and had properly wooed
her, there would have been no difficulty in the
way of a match. Lincoln felt a sense of infe-
riority, for which the fair charmer gave no oc-
casion, and he only played at courting, not press-
ing his suit in the manly and dignified way so
characteristic of him in other roles.
"For instance, Nancy Greene was carrying a
heavy child from her house, up a steep hill, to
Abie's house, and was accompanied by Miss
Owens. It was evident that Mrs. Greene was
very much exhausted, yet Lincoln, who joined
and accompanied them, made no offer of assist-
144 ABRAHAM LIXCOLN
ance. ]\Iiss Owens could not fail to take note of
her gallant's delinquency, and told her sister, who
repeated it to Lincoln, that she did not think
Lincoln would make a good husband. Yet his
reason was, as he informed Greene, who in-
formed me. that he was ashamed to be seen by a ,
lady of Miss Owens's culture carrying a baby. •.
At another time ^^liss Owens, with Lincoln as
her escort, went out riding with a party. In
crossing a deep stream, Lincoln forged on ahead,
leaving his partner to get on as she could. Being
reproved for this, he told her she was smart
enough to get over alone; but the probabilities
are that he had embarked upon, and was lost in
the midst of, some reflections, or else he felt that
his awkwardness in attempting to be gallant to a
cultured lady would be worse than neglect. . . .
"Lincoln wrote her some letters after he set-
tled in Springfield as a lawyer, but they were of
a decidedly repelling character; and the lady
took him at his word. As I have said, he felt
himself beneath her in a social sense, and the
mistakes, misunderstandings, and contretemps
which arose from this anomalous condition of
afifairs prevented, in my judgment, a matri-
monial union which would have been con-
genial and prosperous, for ]\Iiss Owens was pol-
ished, brilliant, and amiable, and Lincoln had
nearly every element to make a good husband."
PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Born in the humblest circumstances, unedu-
cated, poor, acquainted with flatboats and gro-
ceries, but a stranger to the drawing-room, it
was natural that Lincoln should seek in a matri-
LOI'E AFFAIRS AND MARRIAGE i45
monial alliance those social advantages which he
felt were necessary to his political advancement.
This was, in fact, his own view of the matter,
and it was strengthened and enforced by the
counsels of those whom he regarded as friends.
MARY TODD
In 1839 Miss Mary, daughter of Hon. Robert
S. Todd of Lexington, Ky., came to live with
her sister, Mrs. Ninian ^V. Edwards, at Spring-
field. She was young — just twenty-one — her
family was of the best, and her connections in
Illinois among the most refined and distinguished
people. She was gifted with rare talents, had a
keen sense of the ridiculous, a ready insight into
the weaknesses of individual character, and a
most fiery and ungovernable temper. Her tongue
and her pen were equally sharp. High-bred,
proud, brilliant, witty, and with a will that often
swayed others to her purpose, she took Mr. Lin-
coln captive, although he proved a vacillating
lover.
Mr. Lincoln was a rising politician, fresh from
the people, and possessed of great power among
them : Miss Todd was of aristocratic and dis-
tinguished family, able to lead through the awful
portals of "good society" whomsoever they chose
to countenance. She was very ambitious, and
even before she left Kentucky announced her
belief that she was "destined to be the wife of
some future President."
"Her sister's spacious dwelling," says James
Morgan, "was the social centre of the town, and
Miss Todd never was without attentions and
admirers. In an open competition among them,
146 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Lincoln, poor and awkward, would have been
easily distanced, for in her train were graceful
courtiers like Stephen A. Douglas. Notwith-
standing her pride of family, for she was de-
scended from governors and generals, her inter-
est was enlisted in the character of the former
wood-chopper, and the bright promise of future
distinction which he wore excited her ambition.
"irresolution and misery
"Her family did not look kindly upon her
preference for him, and the halting and doubt-
ing suitor himself would have discouraged a less
resolute woman. She and Lincoln were not
only opposites in breeding but in temperament
as well, and the course of their love never ran
smoothly. \\'hether in his conflicting emotions
and morbid presentiments of unhappiness he
failed her on the appointed wedding day, his-
tory is not certain. There is no question, how-
ever, that he brought his relations with her to
an abrupt end, and plunged into a period of
desperate melancholy.
"Friends watched him and cared for him with
anxious solicitude. He wrote to his partner,
then in Congress, that he was the most miser-
able man living, and that if his misery were dis-
tributed among the human family, there would
not be one cheerful face on earth. He could
not tell if he would ever recover; T awfully
forebode I shall not.' ...
"After months of this unhappy mood a good
friend, who was going to Kentucky to see his
betrothed, took Lincoln with him. There the
heart- sick patient gained some relief amid new
LOVE AFFAIRS AND MARRIAGE i47
scenes and faces, and most of all in striving to
cure his friend, who was strangely stricken with
the same tormenting doubts in his own love-
affair. When he had seen this case end in a
happy marriage and he had returned to Illinois,
he wrote to the bridegroom with glowing satis-
faction : 'I always was superstitious. I believe
God made me one of the instruments of bring-
ing you and Fanny together, which union I have
no doubt he had foreordained. Whatever he
designs, he will do for me yet.'
"Ever present in his mind was the sad plight
in which he had placed jMiss Todd. It was a
wound in his honor. He reproached himself
for even wishing to be happy when he thought
of her whom he had made unhappy. 'That,' he
wrote, 'still kills my soul.' When he heard, after
a year, that she had taken a short journey and
had said she enjoyed it, he exclaimed, 'God be
praised for that.' "
QUARREL WITH SHIELDS
Among the admirers of Miss Todd was James
Shields, a red-haired little Irishman, with a pep-
pery temper and an air of inordinate vanity. He
must have had genuine ability in some direc-
tions, or else he was wonderfully lucky, for he
was not only a general in the Mexican War and
also (in the Federal army) in the Civil War,
but likewise an office-holder of one kind or an-
other, in different States of the Union, during
a great part of his life.
At this particular time Shields was Auditor of
the State of Illinois. The State finances were
in a shocking condition. The State banks were
1 48 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
not a success, and the paper currency was nearly
worthless, but it was the only money in use, and
it was the money of the State. In these circum-
stances, the Governor, Auditor, and Treasurer
issued a circular forbidding the payment of
State taxes in the State currency. This was
clearly an outrage upon the taxpayers.
Against this Lincoln protested. Not by seri-
ous argument, but by the merciless satire which
he knew so well how to use upon occasion.
Under the pseudonym of "Aunt Rebecca," he
wrote a letter to the Sangamon Journal. The
letter was written in the style of Josh BilHngs,
and purported to come from a widow residing
in the "Lost Townships." It was an attempt
to laugh down the unjust measure, and in pur-
suance of this the writer plied Shields with ridi-
cule. The town was convulsed with laughter,
and Shields with fury. The wrath of the little
Irishman was funnier than the letter, and the
joy of the neighbors increased.
MARY TODD HELPS ON THE SPORT
Miss Todd and her friend Miss Jayne, after-
ward wife of Senator Lyman Trumbull, entered
into the spirit of the fun. They wrote a letter
in which "Aunt Rebecca" proposed to soothe his
injured feelings by accepting Shields as her hus-
band. This was followed by a doggerel rhyme
celebrating the event.
Shields's fury knew no bounds. He went to
the editor of the paper and demanded the name
of the author of the letters. The editor con-
sulted with Lincoln, who was unwilling to per-
mit any odium to fall on the ladies, and sent
LOVE AFFAIRS AND MARRIAGE 149
word to Shields that he would hold himself re-
sponsible for those letters.
THE UNFOUGHT DUEL
If Shields had not been precisely the kind of
man he was, the matter might have been ex-
plained and settled amicably. But no, he must
have blood. He sent an insulting and peremp-
torv challenge. When Lincoln became convinced
that a duel was necessary, he exercised his right,
as the challenged party, of choosing the weapons.
He selected "broadswords of the largest size."
This was another triumph of humor. The mid-
get of an Irishman was to be pitted against the
giant of six feet four inches, who possessed the
strength of a Hercules, and the weapons were —
'"broadswords of the largest size."
The bloody party repaired to Alton, and thence
to an island or sand-bar on the Missouri side of
the river. There a reconciliation was effected,
honor was satisfied all around, and they returned
home in good spirits. For some reason Lincoln
was always ashamed of this farce. Why, we do
not know. It may have been because he was
drawn into a situation in which there was a
possibility of his shedding human blood. And
he who was too tender-hearted to shoot wild
game could not make light of that situation.
MARRIAGE OF LINCOLN AND MARY TODD
The engagement between Lincoln and Miss
Todd was renewed, and they were quietly mar-
ried at the home of the bride's ?ister, ]\Irs. Ed-
wards, November 4, 1842. Lincoln made a
I50 ABRAHAM LIXCOLN
loyal, true, indulgent husband. Mrs. Lincoln
made a home that was hospitable, cultured, un-
ostentatious. They lived together till the tragic
death of the President, more than twenty-two
years later.
ROBERT TODD LINCOLN
They had four children, all boys. Onl}- the
eldest, Robert Todd Lincoln, grew to manhood.
He has had a career which is, to sav the least,
creditable to the name he bears. For a few
months at the close of the war he was on the
staff of General Grant. He was Secretary of
War under Garfield, and retained the office
through the Administration of Arthur. Under
President Harrison, from 1889 to 1893, he was
Minister to England. He is a lawyer by profes-
sion, residing in Chicago — the city that loved his
father — and at the present writing is president
of the Pullman Company.
CHAPTER XIII
Education and Literary Traits
The power to which Lincohi attained in fitting
language to thought is a matter of general won-
der. It made him the matchless story-teller, and
gave sublimity to his graver addresses. His thor-
oughness and accuracy were a source of ad-
miration and delight to scholars. He had a mas-
terful grasp of great subjects. He was able to
look at events from all sides, so as to appreciate
how they would appear to different grades of
intelligence, different classes of people, different
sections of the country. More than once this
many-sidedness of his mind saved the country
from ruin. Wit and humor are usually joined
with their opposite, pathos, and it is therefore
not surprising that, being eminent in one, he
should possess all three characteristics. In his
conversation humor frequently predominated ; in
his public speeches pure reasoning often deep-
ened to pathos.
HOW LINCOLN EDUCATED HIMSELF
The following account of Lincoln's self-educa-
tion is given by Hamilton Wright Mabie :
"Abraham Lincoln is often numbered among
the uneducated, and his career is pointed out
among those careers which are supposed to stimu-
late men who rely wholly on natural capacity,
native pluck, and ambition. All these qualities
152 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Abraham Lincoln had, but I venture to say that
no man in Abraham Lincohi's time was better
educated than he, and perhaps no man was so
well educated as he to do the work which God
appointed him to do. . . .
"few books, but sufficient
"Lincoln had a few books. It has been said
that only three books are necessary to make a
library — the Bible, Shakespeare, and Black-
stone's Commentaries. All these books Lincoln
had. But Lincoln had other books as well. He
had, to begin with, that great literature in sixty-
six volumes, with which many of us are now
so unfamiliar, that we call the Bible : a library
which includes almost every literary form, which
touches the loftiest heights of human aspiration,
and sounds the depths of human experience, and
conveys truth to us in the noblest eloquence both
of prose and verse. This library was sufficient
in itself for a man who could read it as Lincoln
could, without the aid of commentaries, and with
the flash of the imagination, the power of going
to the place where a book lives, which is worth
all other kinds of power in dealing with a book.
Such a man could be lifted out of provincialism,
not only into the great movement of the world,
but into the companionship of some of the loft-
iest souls that have ever lived, by this single
book. And then he had that mine of knowledge
and life and of character, ^'Esop's Fables, at his
fingers' ends, so that in all his talk, and in later
life, these fables served the happiest uses of
illustration ; and he had that masterpiece of clear
presentation, Robinson Crusoe. He was inti-
EDUCATION AND LITERARY TRAITS 153
mately familiar with that well of English mi-
defiled, which I think more than any other influ-
ence colored and shaped his style, Bunyan's
Pilgrim's Progress.
"thorough mastery of reading
"He borrowed that old-fashioned book which
is responsible for a great deal of misinformation
— Weems's Life of IVasJiington — and when in
1 86 1 he spoke in the Senate at Trenton he said
that so thoroughly had he absorbed that book
that he could see Washington crossing the Dela-
ware, and he could recall all the details of the
brilliant march on Trenton and the brilliant
march on Princeton. Later he came upon
Shakespeare and Burns, whom he learned after-
ward to love, and whom he knew so intimately
that he became an acute critic of both writers.
Now, the man who knows his Shakespeare
knows pretty much all that is to be known of
life ; and if he can put the Bible back of it he
has a complete education.
"what he told the professor
"Years afterward, when he was making those
marvelous speeches which began in Cooper
Union, a professor of English in one of our
universities who went to hear him, attracted by
his attitude on public questions, was astonished
at his command of English, the purity, lucidity,
and persuasiveness of his style. He heard him
three times in succession, and then called at his
hotel and sent up his card, and when Air. Lin-
coln came into the room he said to him, 'Mr.
154 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Lincoln, I have come here to ask you a single
question: where did you get your style?' Mr.
Lincoln was astonished to know he had such a
thing as style, but the question being pressed
home to him, he thought a minute and said:
'When I was a boy I began, and kept up for
many years afterward, the practice of taking
note of every word spoken during the day or
read during the day which I did not understand,
and after I went to bed at night I thought of it
in connection with the other words until I saw
its meaning, and then I translated it into some
simpler word which I knew.'
"the best education
"Now, if you knew The Pilgrim's Progress by
heart, and if you made it a practice every night
to translate everything you had heard during the
day into language of the quality of The Pilgrim's
Progress, there is no English education, I ven-
ture to say, in any university, which would so
thoroughly equip you to a command of language
and the power of persuasion. And that was the
way that Abraham Lincoln learned to use the
kind of English that he had at his fingers' ends."
THE SECOND INAUGURAL
Consider Lincoln's second inaugural, delivered
March 4, 1865. There was in this little to dis-
cuss, for he had no new policy to proclaim, he
was simply to continue the policy of the past four
years, of which the country had shown its ap-
proval by reelecting him. The end of the war
was almost in sight ; it would soon be finished.
EDUCATION AND LITERARY TRAITS iSS
In this address breathes a spirit of grandeur.
Isaiah was a prophet who was also a statesman.
Lincoln — we say it with reverence — was a states-
man who was also a prophet. He had foresight-
He had fusight. He saw the hand of God shap-
ing events; he saw the spirit of God in events.
Such is his spiritual elevation of thought, such
his tenderness of yearning, that there is no one
but Isaiah to whom we may fittingly compare
him, in the manly piety of his closing words in
this inaugural :
"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."
The study of his principal speeches and papers
(contained in the present edition) wall enable one
to understand the salient points of his political
philosophy, and incidentally the secret of his in-
tellectual development. These are not enough
completely to show the man Lincoln, but they do
give a true idea of the great statesman. They
show a symmetrical and wonderful growth.
Great as was his "House-divided-against-itself"
speech (1858), there is yet a wide difference
between that and the second inaugural ; and the
seven years intervening accomplished this growth
of mind and of spirit only because they were
years of great stress.
Apart from all his other utterances, by reason
of its tender associations, but one with the sec-
ond inaugural in its noble strain, stands the ad-
156 ABRAHAM LIXCOLN
â– dress at the dedication of Gettysburg Cemetery,
November 19, 1863. This was not intended for
an oration. Edward Everett was the orator of
the occasion. Lincohi's part was to pronounce
the formal words of dedication. It was a busy
time — ah times were busy with him. but this
was unusually busy — and he wrote the address
on a sheet of foolscap, in such odd moments as
he could command. In form it is prose, but in
effect it is a poem. Alany of its sentences are
rhythmical. The occasion lifted him into a
higher realm of thought. The hearers were im-
pressed by his unusual gravity and solemnity of
manner quite as much, perhaps, as by the words
themselves. They were awed, many were moved
to tears. The address follows in full.
THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS
"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers
brought forth on this continent a new nation,
conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the propo-
sition that all men are created equal. Xow we
are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether
that nation, or any nation so conceived and so
dedicated, can long endure. \\'e are met on a
great battlefield 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 con-
secrate — 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
EDUCATION AND LITERARY TRAITS iST
long remember, what we say here, but it cart
never forget what they did here. It is for us, the
Hving, rather, to be dedicated here to the un-
finished 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."
COMPARISONS
The simplicity and sublimity of these sen-
tences, which for their purpose have never, ac-
cording to Charles Sumner, been equaled since
Simonides wrote the epitaph for the Spartans
who fell at Thermopylae, surpass our power of
characterization. It is worth while, however, to
call attention to the fact that three-quarters of
the address is composed of Anglo-Saxon words
of one syllable !
At the moment of its delivery the address was
not generally appreciated. But after a few days
the public awoke to the fact that Lincoln's "few
remarks" were immeasurably superior to Ever-
ett's brilliant and learned oration. Sumner, as
we have said, compared it to the words of Si-
monides, and it has also been compared to the
oration of Pericles in memory of the Athenian
dead who fell in the Peloponnesian War. Com-
petent judges have said that there has been no
158 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
memorial oration from that date to Lincoln's
Gettysburg Address of equal power. The two
orations are very different: Lincoln's was less
than three hundred words long, that of Pericles
near three thousand. But both orators alike ap-
preciated the glory of sacrifice for one's country.
And it is safe to predict that this Gettysburg
Address, brief, hastily prepared, underestimated
by its author, will last as long as the Republic
itself, as long as English speech shall endure.
Lincoln's style compared with seward's
Secretary Seward was a brilliant scholar, a pol-
ished writer, a trained diplomatist. But in liter-
ary matters Lincoln was plainly the master and
Seward was the pupil. We select from an ad-
mirable article by Richard Watson Gilder, en-
titled "Lincoln as a Writer," the following pas-
sage comparing the literary style of these two
men.
"The first inaugural concludes with a passage
•of great tenderness. We learn from Nicolay
and Hay that the suggestion of that passage, its
first draft indeed, came from Seward. But com-
pare this first draft with the passage as amended
and adopted by Lincoln ! This is Seward's :
" T close. We are not, we must not be, aliens
â– or enemies, but fellow-countrymen and brethren.
Although passion has strained our bonds of af-
fection too hardly, they must not, I am sure they
will not, be broken. The mystic chords which,
proceeding from so many battlefields and so
many patriot graves, pass through all the hearts
and all hearths in this broad continent of ours,
will yet again harmonize in their ancient music
EDUCATION AND LITERARY TRAITS 159
when breathed upon by the guardian angel of the
nation.' And this is Lincohi's :
" 'I am loath to close. We are not enemies^
but friends. We must not be enemies. Though
passion may. have strained, it must not break our
bonds of affection. The mystic chords of mem-
ory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot
grave to every living heart and hearthstone all
over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus
of the Union when again touched, as surely they
will be, by the better angels of our nature.' "
It requires no trained critical faculty to see
that this passage as amended by Lincoln is a
marked improvement on the original by Seward.
It shows that Lincoln had by far the better com-
mand of vigorous, precise, and melodious Eng-
lish.
CHAPTER XIV
Personal Characteristics : Physical and
Mental
In considering Lincoln's great stature of six
feet and four inches, it has been often noted that
his length of leg was out of all proportion to his
body-length, and his figure and movements have
commonly been described as awkward. Expert
students of anatomy and eminent artists have
nevertheless credited him with admirable physi-
cal proportions and endowments, including a
natural grace, but with characters so unique as to
escape recognition by eyes accustomed to see men
cast in the ordinary mould.
His usual weight was about one hundred
and eighty pounds. He was thin through the
breast, narrow across the shoulders, and had the
general appearance of a consumptive subject.
Standing up, he stooped slightly forward ; sitting
down, he usually crossed his long legs, or threw
them over the arms of the chair, as the most
convenient mode of disposing of them. His
"head was long, and tall from the base of the
brain and the eyebrow" ; his forehead high and
narrow, but inclining backward as it rose. The
size of his hat was seven and an eighth. There
Avas a large mole on his right cheek, and an un-
commonly prominent Adam's apple on his throat.
His countenance was haggard and careworn,
exhibiting all the marks of deep and protracted
suffering. Every feature of the man — the hoi-
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS i6it
low eyes, with the dark rings beneath ; the long,,
sallow, cadaverous face, intersected by peculiar
deep lines ; his whole air ; his walk ; his long,,
silent reveries, broken at long intervals by sud-
den and startling exclamations, as if to confound
an observer who might suspect the nature of his
thoughts — showed he was a man of sorrows, not
sorrows of to-day or yesterday, but long-treas-
ured and deep, bearing with him a continual,
sense of weariness and pain.
THE EVERY-DAY LINCOLN
On a winter's morning, when he lived in
Springfield, this man could be seen wending his-
way to the market, with a basket on his arm,
and a little boy at his side, whose small feet
rattled and pattered over the ice-bound pave-
ment, attempting to make up by the number of
his short steps for the long strides of his father.
The little fellow jerked at the bony hand which
held his, and prattled and questioned, begged
and grew petulant, in a vain effort to make his
father talk to him. But the latter was probably
unconscious of the other's existence, and stalked
on, absorbed in his own reflections.
As he moved along thus silent, abstracted, his
thoughts dimly reflected in his sharp face, men
turned to look after him as an object of sym-
pathy as well as curiosity: "his melancholy," in
the words of Mr. Herndon, "drippeci from him
as he walked." If, however, he met a friend
in the street, and was roused by a loud, hearty
"Good-morning, Lincoln !" he would grasp the
friend's hand with one or both of his own, and
with his usual expression of "Howdy, howdy,'"
1 62 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
would detain him to hear a story : something
reminded him of it ; it happened in Indiana, and
it must be told, for it was wonderfully pertinent.
IX HIS OFFICE
After his breakfast-hour, he would appear at
his office, and go about the labors of the day with
all his might, displaying prodigious industry and
capacity for continuous application, although he
never was a fast worker. Sometimes it hap-
pened that he came without his breakfast ; and
then he would have in his hands a piece of
cheese, or Bologna sausage, and a few crackers,
bought by the way. At such times he did not
speak to his partner Herndon, nor to his friends,
if any happened to be present: the tears were,
perhaps, struggling into his eyes, while his pride
was struggling to keep them back. Mr. Hern-
don knew the whole story at a glance : there was
no speech between them ; but neither wished the
visitors to the office to witness the scene ; and,
therefore, IMr. Lincoln retired to the back office,
W'hile Mr. Herndon locked the front one. and
walked away with the key in his pocket. In an
hour or more the latter would return, and per-
haps find Mr. Lincoln calm and collected ; other-
wise he went out again, and waited until he was
so. Then the office was opened, and everything
went on as usual.
When ]\Ir. Lincoln had a speech to write,
which happened very often, he would put down
each thought, as it struck him, on a small strip
of paper, and, having accumulated a number of
these, generally carried them in his hat or his
pockets until he had the whole speech composed
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 165
in this odd way, when he would sit down at his
table, connect the fragments, and then write out
the whole speech on consecutive sheets in a
plain, legible handwriting.
IN HIS HOME
Mrs. Chapman, daughter of Dennis Hanks,
and therefore a relative of ]\Ir. Lincoln, made
him a long visit previous to her marriage. "You
ask me," she said to an inquirer, "how Mr. Lin-
coln acted at home. I can say, and that truly,.
he was all that a husband, father, and neighbor
should be — kind and affectionate to his wife and
child ('Bob' being the only one they had when
I was with them), and very pleasant to all
around him. Never did I hear him utter an
unkind word. For instance: one day he under-
took to correct his child, and his wife was deter-
mined that he should not, and attempted to take
it from him ; but in this she failed. She then
tried 'tongue-lashing,' but met with the same
fate; for J\Ir. Lincoln corrected his child as a
father ought to do, in the face of his wife's
anger, and that, too, without even changing his
countenance or making any reply to his wife.
"His favorite way of reading, when at home,
was lying down on the floor. I fancy I see him
now, lying full-length in the hall of his old house
reading. When not engaged reading law books,
he would read literary works, and was very fond
of reading poetry, and often, when he would be.
or appear to be, in deep study, commence and
repeat aloud some piece that he had taken a
fancy to. He often told laughable jokes and sto-
ries when he thought we were looking gloomy.""
i64 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
LITERARY TASTES
Some of Air. Lincoln's literary tastes indicated
strongly his prevailing gloominess of mind. He
read Byron extensively, especially Child e Har-
old, The Dream, and Don Juan. Burns, as we
have seen, was one of his earliest favorites.
"'Holy Willie's Prayer" he memorized. Of
Shakespeare, he especially liked Macbeth, King
Lear, and The Merry Wives of Windsor. But
whatever was suggestive of death, the grave, the
sorrows of man's days on earth, charmed his dis-
consolate spirit, and captivated his sympathetic
heart. Solemn-sounding rhymes, with no merit
tut the sad music of their numbers, were more
enchanting to him than the loftiest songs of the
masters. Of these were, "Oh! Why should the
Spirit of Alortal be Proud?" and a pretty com-
monplace little piece, entitled "The Inquiry." To
take an example of high-class poetry, one verse
of Holmes's "Last Leaf" he thought "inexpress-
ibly touching."
The mossy marbles rest
On the lips that he has prest
In their bloom ;
And the names he loved to hear
Have been carved for many a year
On the tomb.
HUMOR
Lincoln frequently said that he lived by his
humor, and would have died without it. His
manner of telling a story was irresistibly comical,
the fun of it dancing in his eyes and playing
over every feature. His face changed in an in-
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 165
stant, the hard lines faded out of it. and the
mirth seemed to diffuse itself all over him, "Hke
a spontaneous tickle." You could see it coming
long before he opened his mouth, and he began
to enjoy the point before his eager auditors could
catch the faintest glimpse of it. Telling and
hearing ridiculous stories was one of his ruling
passions.
Judges, lawyers, jurors, and suitors carried
home with them select budgets of his stories, to
be retailed to itching ears as "Old Abe's last."
When the court adjourned from village to vil-
lage, the taverns and the groceries left behind
were filled with the sorry echoes of his "best."
He generally located his little narratives with'
great precision — in Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois ;
and if he was not personally "knowing" to the
facts himself, he was intimately acquainted with
a gentleman who was.
Lincoln used his stories variously — to illus-
trate or convey an argument; to make his opin-
ions clear to another, or conceal them alto-
gether ; to cut off a disagreeable conversation,
or to end an unprofitable discussion ; to cheer his
own heart, or simply to amuse his friends. But
most frequently he had a practical object in view,,
and employed them simply "as labor-saving con-
trivances."
THE POLITICIAN
"Lincoln," says Charles A. Dana, in his Rec-
ollections of the Civil IVor, "was a supreme poli-
tician. He understood politics because he un-
derstood human nature. I had an illustration
of this in the spring of 1864. The Administra-
tion had decided that the Constitution of the
1 66 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
United States should be amended so that slavery-
should be prohibited. This was not only a
change in our national policy^ it was also a most
important military measure. It was intended
not merely as a means of abolishing slavery for-
ever, but as a means of affecting the judgment
and the feelings and the anticipations of those
in rebellion. It was believed that such an
amendment to the Constitution would be equiva-
lent to new armies in the field, that it would be
worth at least a million men, that it would be
an intellectual army that would tend to paralyze
the enemy and break the continuity of his ideas.
"In order thus to amend the Constitution, it
was necessary first to have the proposed amend-
ment approved by three-fourths of the States.
When that question came to be considered, the
issue was seen to be so close that one State more
was necessary. The State of Nevada was organ-
ized and admitted to the Union to answer that
purpose. I have sometimes heard people com-
plain of Nevada as superfluous and petty, not
big enough to be a State ; but when I hear that
complaint, I always hear Abraham Lincoln say-
ing :
" Tt is easier to admit Nevada than to raise
another million soldiers.' "
PROFOUND IN THOUGHT, STRONG IN STATEMENT
Lincoln was in no sense a brilliant conversa-
tionalist, yet he was so logical in his discourse
and his illustrations were so pertinent, that he
always commanded the attention, and seldom
failed to excite the admiration of his listeners.
John B. Alley tells us that in conversation with
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 167
some of the most eminent Senators during Lin-
coln's Administration, it was remarked that the
President had said some things which exhibited
more profound thought, more intellectual grasp.
and more power of statement than anything that
had ever been said before. The Gettysburg Ad-
dress may well be cited in support of such
judgment.
HIS PATIENCE ABUSED
"He was an exceedingly patient and even-
tempered man," says Alley. "I have often seen
him placed in the most provoking and trying
positions, and never but once knew him to lose
his temper. That was the day after he had re-
ceived very bad news from the army. A couple
of office-seekers who knew him well intercepted
him, on his way from the White House to the
War Department, and teased him for an office
which he told them he could not give. They
persisted â– in their importunity until it was tm-
bearable. The President, evidently worn out by
care and anxiety, turned upon them, and such
an angry and terrific tirade, against those two
incorrigible bores, I never before heard from the
lips of mortal man."
CHAPTER XV
Personal Characteristics : Moral and
Religious
The sobriquet "Honest Abe," which his neigh-
bors fastened on Lincoln in his youth, was never
lost, shaken off, or outgrown. It meant some-
thing more than such exactness of commercial
honesty as forbade him to touch a penny of the
funds that remained over from the extinct post-
office of New Salem, though the Government
was for years negligent in the matter of settling
up. In youth, as we have seen, he always in-
sisted on fairness in sports, so that he came to
be the standing umpire of the neighborhood. The
same honesty came out also in his practice of
the law, when he would not lend his influence
to further scoundrel schemes, nor consent to take
, an unfair advantage of an opponent.
HIS PUBLIC PROBITY
But the glory of his honesty appeared in his
Administration. It is a remarkable fact that
there was never any suspicion, even among his
enemies, that he used the high powers of his
office for gain, or for the furtherance of his
political ambition. When contracts, to the
amount of many millions of dollars, were being
constantly given out for a period of four years,
there was never a thought that a dishonest dol-
Jar would find its way, either directly or indi-
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 169
rectly, into the hands of the President, or with
his consent into the hands of his friends. When
he was a candidate for reelection he was fully
SiW are that some officials of high station were
using their influence for the purpose of injuring
him. It was in his power to dismiss these in
disgrace, and they deserved it. This he refused
to do. So long as they did well their official
duties he overlooked their injustice to him. No
President has surpassed him in the cleanness of
his record, and only Washington, perhaps, has
equaled him.
HIS MAGNANIMITY AND FORBEARANCE
The greatness of Lincoln's spirit was shown
in the forming of his Cabinet and in his relations
with its members. Certain acts on the part of
Seward and Chase would have led almost any
other man in the President's place to dismiss
them summarily. But, thanks to Lincoln's pa-
tience and sagacity, Seward, as Secretary of
State, became not only useful to the country, but
devotedly loyal to his chief. After Chase's vol-
untary retirement from the Treasury Depart-
ment, Lincoln appointed him Chief Justice. To
his credit be it said that he adorned the judi-
ciary, although he never did appreciate the man
who saved him from oblivion, if not disgrace.
Up to the year 1862, Lincoln's only personal
knowledge of Stanton was such as to recall occa-
sions of resentment, but when he believed that
Stanton would make a good Secretary of War
he did not hesitate to appoint him. It is safe to
say that this appointment gave Stanton the great-
est surprise of his life.
I70 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
FIRMNESS IN THE RIGHT
The President was always ready to set aside
his own preference, and to do the expedient
thing, when no moral principle was involved.
When such a principle was involved he was
ready to stand alone against the world. He was
never known to betray cowardice. In early
youth he championed the cause of temperance in
a community where the use of liquors was almost
universal. In the Illinois Legislature and in Con-
gress he expressed his repugnance to the insti-
tution of slavery, although this expression could
do him no possible good politically, while it
might do him infinite harm. When he practised
law, he was one of comparatively few lawyers
of ability w^ho did not dread the odium sure to
attach to those who befriended negroes.
In 1861 he stood out almost alone against the
clamors of his constituents and directed the re-
lease of ]\Iason and Slidell.
PERSONAL HABITS
Personally he was a clean man. The mascu-
line vices w^ere abhorrent to him. He was not
profane. He was not vulgar. He was as far
removed from suspicion as Caesar could have
demanded of his wife. He did not drink intoxi-
cants. When a young man, he could not be
tricked into swallowing whiskey. At the close
of the war a barrel of whiskey was sent him
from some cellar in Richmond, as a souvenir of
the fall of the city, but he declined to receive it.
If wine was served at the table of the White
House, it was in deference to foreign guests.
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS lyr
As a matter of courtesy he went through the
form of touching the glass to his hps, but he
nevtr drank. How widely in such things his
life separated him from many of his associates !
The atmosphere of the White House has been
sweeter and purer ever since he occupied it, and
this is largely due to the influence of his own
incorruptible purity.
TRIUMPHS OF COURAGE
''Dining with Air. Herndon in Springfield."
says Thomas Hicks, "I asked about his [Lin-
coln's] courage; he answered me by saying:
'Lincoln never had any personal fear, and he
has the courage of a lion. In the old political
struggles in this State, I have seen him go upon
the platform, when a dozen revolvers were
drawn on him, but before he had spoken twenty
words they would go back into the pockets of
their owners ; and such were the methods of his
eloquence that, likely as not these men would
be the first to shake hands with him when he
came among them after the meeting. Lincoln
is a number one man in every way.' "
Isaac N. Arnold describes the way in which,
during an Illinois canvass in 1840, Lincoln pro-
tected Edward D. Baker from a mob which
threatened to drag him off the stand. Baker
was speaking in a large room, rented and used
for the court sessions, and Lincoln's office was
in an apartment over the court-room, and com-
municating with it by a trap-door. Lincoln was
in his office, listening to Baker through the open
trap-door, when Baker, becoming excited, abused
the Democrats, many of whom were present. A
172 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
cry was raised, "Pull him off the stand!" The
instant Lincoln heard the cry, knowing a general
fight was imminent, his athletic form was seen
descending from above through the opening of
the trap-door, and springing to the side of Baker,
and waving his hand for silence, he said with
dignity: "Gentlemen, let us not disgrace the age
and country in which we live. This is a land
where freedom of speech is guaranteed. Baker
has a right to speak, and a right to be permitted
to do so. I am here to protect him, and no man
shall take him from this stand if I can prevent
it." Quiet was restored, and Baker finished his
speech without further interruption.
THE PRESIDENT AND THE CHILDREN
Dana, in his Recollections, narrates the fol-
lowing pleasing incidents :
"It was not only in matters of life and death
that Mr. Lincoln was merciful. He was kind
at heart toward all the world. I never heard him
say an unkind thing about anybody. Now and
then he would laugh at something jocose or
satirical that somebody had done or said, but it
was always pleasant humor. He would never
allow the wants of any man or woman to go
unattended to if he could help it. I noticed his
sweetness of nature particularly with his little
son, a child at that time perhaps seven or nine
years old, who used to roam the departments,
and whom everybody called 'Tad.' He had a
defective palate, and couldn't speak very plainly.
Often I have sat by his father, reporting to him
some important matter that I had been ordered
to inquire into, and he would have this boy on his
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 173
knee. While he would perfectly understand the
report, the striking thing about him was his
affection for the child.
"He was good to everybody. Once there was
a great gathering at the White House on New
Year's Day, and all the diplomats came in their
uniforms, and all the officers of the army and
navy in Washington were in full costume. A
little girl of mine said, 'Papa, couldn't you take
me over to see that?' I said, 'Yes'; so I took
her over and put her in a corner, where she be-
held this gorgeous show, ^^'hen it was finished,
I went up to jNIr. Lincoln and said, 'I have a
little girl here who wants to shake hands with
you.' He went over to her, and took her up
and kissed her and talked to her. She will never
forget it if she lives to be a thousand years old."
Lincoln's religious views
Jesse W. Fell of Illinois, who had the best
opportunities of knowing Lincoln intimately,
makes the following statement of his religious
opinions, derived from repeated conversations
with him on the subject:
"On the innate depravity of man, the char-
acter and office of the great Head of the Church,
the atonement, the infallibility of the written
revelation, the performance of miracles, the na-
ture and design of present and future rewards
and punishments (as they are popularly called),
and many other subjects, he held opinions utterly
at variance with what are usually taught in the
Church. I should say that his expressed views
on these and kindred topics were such as, in the
estimation of most believers, would place him
174 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
entirely outside the Christian pale. Yet, to my
mind, such was not the true position, since his
principles and practices and the spirit of his
whole life were of the very kind we universally
agree to call Christian ; and I think this conclu-
sion is in no wise afifected by the circumstance
that he never attached himself to any religious
society whatever.
"His religious views were eminently practical,
and are summed up, as I think, in these two
propositions: 'the Fatherhood of God, and the
brotherhood of man.' He fully believed in a
superintending and overruling Providence, that
guides and controls the operations of the world,
but maintained that law and order, and not their
violation or suspension, are the appointed means
by which this providence is exercised."
According to his law partner, Herndon, "in
one sense of the word, Mr. Lincoln was a Uni-
versalist, and in another sense he was a Uni-
tarian ; but he was a theist, as we now un-
derstand that word ; he was so fully, freely,
unequivocally, boldly, and openly, when asked for
his views. Mr. Lincoln," continues Herndon,
"was supposed by many people to be an atheist.
I can put that supposition at rest forever. I hold
a letter of Mr. Lincoln in my hand, addressed to
his stepbrother, John D. Johnston, and dated the
twelfth day of January, 185 1. He had heard
from Johnston that his father, Thomas Lincoln,
was sick, and that no hopes of his recovery were
entertained. Mr. Lincoln wrote back to Mr.
Johnston these words :
" T sincerely hope that father may yet recover
his health ; but, at all events, tell him to remem-
ber to call upon and confide in One great and
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS i75
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 many loved ones gone before, and
where the rest of us, through the help of God,
hope ere long to join them. A. Lincoln.'
"... It has been said to me that Mr. Lincoln
wrote the above letter to an old man simply to
cheer him up in his last moments, and that the
writer did not believe what he said. The ques-
tion is. Was Mr. Lincoln an honest and truthful
man? If he was, he wrote that letter honestly,
believing it. It has to me the sound, the ring,
of an honest utterance. I admit that Mr. Lin-
coln, in his moments of melancholy and terrible
gloom, was living on the borderland between
theism and atheism — sometimes quite wholly
dwelling in atheism. In his happier moments he
would swing back to theism, and dwell lovingly
there. It is possible that Mr. Lincoln was not
always responsible for what he said or thought,
so deep, so intense, so terrible, was his melan-
choly. I maintain that Mr. Lincoln was a deeply
religious man at all times and places, in spite of
his tra)isiciit dotibts."'
THE "SUNDAY ORDER"
The religious strain that runs through Lin-
coln's papers and addresses is known to all, and
it need not be dwelt on here. But the "Sunday
176 ABRAHAM LIXCOLN
Order." which follows, should have special re-
membrance, as showing how the President in
war-time was practically mindful of religious
things.
"The importance for man and beast of the
prescribed weekly rest, the sacred rights of
Christian soldiers and sailors, a becoming defer-
ence 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 re-
duced to the measure of strict necessity. The
discipline and character of the national forces
should not suffer, nor the cause they defend be
imperiled, by the profanation of the day or the
name of the Most High."
CHAPTER XYI
Nomination and Election
At the beginning of the year i860 Lincoln
was in no sense in the race for the Presidential
nomination. About that time a list of twenty-
one names of possible condidates was published
in New York ; Lincoln's name was not on the
list. A list of thirty-five was published in Phila-
delphia. Lincoln's name w^as not on that list.
After the speech at Cooper Institute the New
York Evening Fosi mentioned Lincoln's name
along with others. That was the only case in the
East.
In Illinois his candidacy developed in Febru-
ary and came to a head at the Republican State
convention at Decatur. Lincoln's name had been
prominent in the preceding local conventions,
and the enthusiasm was growing. When Abra-
ham Lincoln came into this convention he was
greeted with an outburst of enthusiasm. After
order had been restored, the chairman, Governor
Oglesby, announced that an old-time Macon
County Democrat desired to make a contribution
to the convention. The offer being accepted, a
banner was borne up the hall upon two old
fence-rails. This, of course, was especially cal-
culated to rouse the members of the conven-
tion to the highest pitch of excitement. The
whole afifair was gaily decorated and the in-
scription was :
178 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
THE RAIL CANDIDATE
FOR PRESIDENT IN i860.
Two Rails from a Lot of 3,000 Made in 1830 by
Thos. Hanks and Abe Lincoln — Whose
Father was the First Pioneer of
Macon County.
This incident was the means of enlarging the
sobriquet "Honest Abe" to "Honest Old Abe,
the Rail-splitter." The enthusiasm over the rails
spread far and wide. That he had split rails,
and that he even had done it well, was no test
of his statesmanship. But it was a reminder of
his humble origin, and it attached him to the
common people, between whom and himself
there had always been a warm feeling of mutual
sympathy.
THE NATIONAL CONVENTION AND ITS NOMINEE
The second Republican national convention
met in Chicago, May 16, i860. A temporary
wooden structure, called a wigwam, had been
built for the purpose. It was, for those days,
a very large building, and would accommodate
about ten thousand persons.
The most prominent candidate for the nomi-
nation was William H. Seward of New York.
He had had thirty years of experience in political
life. He was a man of wide learning, fine cul-
ture, unequaled as a diplomatist ; he was a pa-
triot, a statesman, and loyal to the principles of
the Republican party. He had a plurality of the
delegates by a wide margin, though not a major-
NOMINATION AND ELECTION 179
ity. It seemed a foregone conclusion that he
would be nominated, Horace Greeley, who was
determinedly opposed to him, gave up the contest
and telegraphed to his paper, the Nczv York Trib-
une, that Seward would be nominated. The op-
position, he said, could not unite on any one man.
The next most prominent name was Lincoln's.
He had the full delegation of Illinois, who, at
Decatur, had been instructed to vote for him as
"the first and only choice" of the State. He had
many votes, too, from the neighboring States.
Besides these two candidates before the con-
vention, there were half a dozen others, all
"favorite sons" of their own States, but at no
time developing any great strength.
Now came in a political ruse which has been
often used in later years. Seward's friends had
taken to Chicago an army of claqueurs, number-
ing nearly or quite two thousand. These were
distributed through the audience and were ap-
parently under orders to shout whenever Sew-
ard's name was mentioned. This gave the ap-
pearance of spontaneous applause and seemed to
arouse great enthusiasm for the candidate.
Lincoln's friends soon came to understand the
situation and planned to beat their rivals at their
own game. They sent out into the country and
secured two men with phenomenal voices. It
was said, with playful exaggeration, that these
two men could shout so as to be heard across
Lake Michigan. They were mafle captains of
two stentorian bands of followers. These were
placed on opposite sides of the auditorium and
were instructed to raise the shout at a precon-
certed signal and keep it up as long as desired.
The plan worked.
,i8o ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Leonard Swett describes the result: "Caleb B.
Smith of Indiana then seconded the nomination
of Lincoln, and the West came to his rescue. No
mortal before ever saw such a scene. The idea
of us Hoosiers and Suckers being out-screamed
would have been as bad to them as the loss of
their man. Five thousand people at once leaped
to their seats, women not wanting in the num-
ber, and the wild yell made soft vesper breath-
ings of all that had preceded. No language can
describe it. A thousand steam-whistles, ten acres
of hotel gongs, a tribe of Comanches headed by
a choice vanguard from pandemonium, might
have mingled in the scene unnoticed."
GIDDINGS AND CURTIS
A dramatic scene had occurred at the adop-
tion of the platform. When the first resolution
was read, Joshua R. Giddings, an old-time abo-
litionist of the extreme type, moved as an amend-
ment to incorporate the words from the Declara-
tion of Independence which announce the right
of all men to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness." The hostility to this amendment was
not so much owing to an objection to the phrase,
as to its being introduced upon the motion of so
extreme a partisan as Giddings. The new party
was made up of men of various old parties, and
it was important that the moderate Democrats
should not be antagonized by the extreme abo-
litionists. The motion was lost by a decided
vote, and the old man, almost broken-hearted,
left the hall amid the protestations of his asso-
ciates.
Then came to his rescue a man, about thirty-
NOMINATION AND ELECTION i8r
six years of age. not yet widely knowa, but who
afterward more than once decidedly influenced
Republican conventions at a critical stage of
their proceedings. It was George William Cur-
tis of New York. When the second resolution
was under consideration he presented the amend-
ment of Giddings in a form slightly modified.
He then urged it in an impassioned speech, and
by his torrent of eloquence carried the enthu-
siasm of the convention with him. "I have to
ask this convention," he concluded, "whether they
are prepared to go upon the record before the
country as voting down the words of the Decla-
ration of Independence. ... I rise simply to
ask gentlemen to think well before, upon the free
prairies of the West, in the summer of i860,
they dare to wince and quail before the assertion
of the men of Philadelphia in 1776 — before they
dare to shrink from repeating the words that
these great men enunciated."
The amendment was adopted in a storm of
applause. Giddings, overjoyed at the result, re-
turned to the hall. He threw his arms about
Curtis and, with deep emotion, exclaimed — "God
bless you, my boy ! You have saved the Repub-
lican party. God bless you!"
THE BALLOTING
On the first ballot Seward received 173^, and
Lincoln 102. The rest were scattering. On the
second ballot Seward received 184^, and Lincoln
181. Seward was still ahead, but Lincoln had
made by far the greater gain. On the third bal-
lot Seward received 180. and Lincoln 231^. But
this ballot was not announced. The delegates
1 82 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
kept tally during the progress of the vote. When
it became evident that Lincoln was almost nomi-
nated, while the feeling of expectancy was at the
highest degree of tension, an Ohio delegate
mounted his chair and announced a change of
four Ohio votes from Chase to Lincoln. There
was instantly a break. On every side delegates
announced their change of votes to Lincoln.
The result was evident to every one, and after .
a moment's pause, the crowd went mad with '
joy.
REJOICINGS AT THE NEWS
During all this time Lincoln remained at
Springfield, where he was in telegraphic com-
munication with his friends at Chicago, though
not by private wire. At the time of his nomi-
nation he had gone from his office to that of the
Sangamon Journal. A messenger boy came
rushing up to him, carrying a telegram and ex-
claiming, "You are nominated !" The friends
who were present joyously shook his hands and
uttered their eager congratulations. Lincoln
thanked them for their good wishes, and said :
"There is a little woman on Eighth Street who
will be glad to hear this, and I guess Til go up i
and carry her the news." Pocketing the tele- j
gram, he walked home. i
At the wigwam, the news spread quickly. A
man had been stationed on the roof as picket.
He shouted, "Hallelujah! Abe Lincoln is nomi-
nated. Fire the cannon!" The frenzy of joy
spread to the immense throng of citizens outside
the wigwam, then through the city, then through
the State, then through the neighboring States.
At Washington that night some one asked, "Who
NOMINATION AND ELECTION 183
is this man Lincoln, anyhow?" Douglas replied,
"There won't be a tar-barrel left in Illinois to-
night." With unprecedented enthusiasm the
Republican party started on this campaign,
which led to its first victory in the election of
Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, and Hannibal
Hamlin of Maine.
"no bargains"
In his interesting book Six Months in the
White House, F. B. Carpenter records the fol-
lowing significant incident.
"Among my visitors in the early part of May
was the Hon. Mr. Alley, of Massachusetts, who
gave me a deeply interesting inside glimpse of
the Chicago Republican convention of i860.
The popular current had, at first, set very
strongly in favor of Mr. Seward, who, many
supposed, would be nominated almost by accla-
mation. The evening before the balloting the
excitement was at the highest pitch. Mr. Lin-
coln was telegraphed at Springfield, that his
chances with the convention depended on ob-
taining the votes of two delegations which were
named in the despatch ; and that, to secure this
support, he must pledge himself, if elected, to
give places in his Cabinet to the respective heads
of those delegations. A reply was immediately
returned over the wires, characteristic of the
man. It was to this effect :
" 7 authorize no bargains and zvill be bound
by none. . ^ . . , „
â– ^ A. Lmcoln. "
184 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
THE FORMAL NOTIFICATION
After the nomination the committee of the
convention duly called on Lincoln to give him
the formal notification. This committee in-
cluded some men already widely known, and
still more so later. Among them were three
from ^Massachusetts : George Ashmun, who pre-
sided over the Chicago convention, Samuel
Bowles, editor of the Springfield Republican,
and George S. Boutwell. Other members of
the com.mittee were Gideon Welles, Carl Schurz,
Francis P. Blair, and W. ]\I. Evarts. The
chairman of this committee notified Lincoln of
his nomination in a brief speech, to which he
responded with equal brevity. Even these few
words impressed his hearers with a sense of
dignity and manliness which they were only too
glad to perceive. Said Mr. Boutwell : "\\'hy,
sir. they told me he was a rough diamond.
Nothing could have been in better taste than
that speech."
One who had opposed Lincoln in the conven-
tion said : "We might have done a more daring
thing [than nominate him], but we certainly
could not have done a better thing." Carl
Schurz evidently shared this feeling.
COMPARATIVE ALTITUDES
Judge Kelley of Pennsylvania was a very tall
man and was proud of the fact. During the
brief ceremony he and Lincoln had been meas-
uring each other with the eye, and at its con-
clusion the President elect demanded:
"Wliat's your height?"'
NOMINATION AND ELECTION 185
"Six feet three. What is yours, Mr. Lin-
cohi ?"
"Six feet four."
"Then," said the Judge, "Pennsylvania bows
to IlHnois. j\ly dear man, for many years my
heart has been aching for a President I could
look up to, and I've found him at last in the
land where we thought there were none but
little giants," alluding to Douglas, popularly
known as the "Little Giant."
The general feeling of the committee was that
the convention had made no mistake. This feel-
ing quickly spread throughout the entire party.
Some of Seward's friends wanted him to run on
an independent ticket. It is to his credit that he
scouted the idea.
DIVIDED DEMOCRATS
The Democrats, at least the opponents of Lin-
coln, were divided into three camps. The first
was the regular party, headed by Douglas. The
second was the bolting party of fire-eaters, who
nominated Breckinridge. The third was the
party that nominated Bell and Everett. This
was wittily called the Kangaroo ticket, because
the tail was the most important part. Lincoln's
popular vote at the November election was about
forty per cent, of the total. It was plain that
if his supporters held together and his oppo-
nents were divided, he could readily get a plu-
rality. There were attempts on the part of the
opponents of Lincoln to run fusion tickets in
New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, so
as to divert the electoral votes from him ; but
these came to nothing more than that New
1 86 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Jersey diverted three of her seven electoral
votes.
A curious feature of the campaign was that
all four candidates declared emphatically for the
Union. Breckinridge, who was the candidate of
the Southern disunionists, wrote: "The Consti-
tution and the equality of the States, these are
symbols of everlasting union." Lincoln himself
could hardly have used stronger language. Some
were doubtless deceived by these protestations,
but not Douglas. He declared : "I do not be-
lieve that every Breckinridge man is a dis-
unionist, but I do believe that every disunionist
in America is a Breckinridge man,"
AWAITING THE EVENT
During the period of nearly six months be-
tween nomination and election, Lincoln continued
simple, patient, wise. He was gratified by the
nomination. He was not elated, for he was not,
in the ordinary sense, an ambitious man. He
felt the burden of responsibility. He was a far-
seeing statesman, and no man more distinctly
realized the coming conflict. He felt the call
of duty, not to triumph, but to sacrifice.
There was no unnecessary change in his sim-
ple manners and unpretentious mode of living.
Friends and neighbors came, and he was glad to
see them. He answered the door-bell himself and
accompanied visitors to the door. Some of his
friends, desiring to save his strength in these
little matters, procured a negro valet, Thomas
by name ; but Abraham continued to do most of
the duties that by right belonged to Thomas.
The campaign was one of great excitement.
NOMINATION AND ELECTION 1S7
Lincoln's letter of acceptance was of the briefest
description and simply announced his -adherence
to the platform. For the rest, his previous utter-
ances in the debates with Douglas, the Cooper
Institute speech, and other addresses, were in
print, and he was content to stand by the record.
He showed his wisdom in refusing to be di-
verted, or to allow his party to be diverted, from
the one important question of preventing the fur-
ther extension of slavery. The public were not
permitted to lose sight of the fact that this was
the real issue.
THE MOMENTOUS ELECTION
The election occurred on the sixth day of No-
vember. Lincoln received 1,866,452 popular
votes, and one hundred and eighty electoral votes.
Douglas received 1,375,157 popular votes, and
twelve electoral votes. Breckinridge received
847,953 popular votes, and seventy-two electoral
votes. Bell received 590,631 popular votes, and
thirty-nine electoral votes.
Lincoln carried all the free States, except that
in New Jersey the electoral vote was divided, he
receiving four out of seven. In the fifteen slave
States he received no electoral vote. In ten
States not one person had voted for him.
Of the 303 electoral votes he had received 180,
while the aggregate of all against him numbered
123, giving him an absolute majority of 57. The
electoral vote was duly counted in the joint ses-
sion of the two Houses of Congress February
13, 1861, and it was officially announced that
Abraham Lincoln, having received a majority of
the votes of the Presidential electors, was duly
1 88 ABRAHAM LIXCOLN
elected President of the United States for four
years, beginning ]\Iarch 4, 1861.
"mary, mary! we are elected!"
On the day of the election, Lincoln said he was
calm and sure of the result. The first news he
received, mostly from New York, was unfavor-
able, and he felt a little discouraged. Later the
despatches indicated a turn in the tide, and when
he learned of his election he said his heart over-
flowed with thanksgiving to God for his provi-
dential goodness to our beloved country. He
continued :
"I cannot conceal the fact that I was a very
happy man," and he added, with much feeling,
''who could help being so under such circum-
stances?" He then said that "the enthusiastic
greetings of his neighbors and friends during the
evening, at the Club," together with the numer-
ous telegrams which poured in upon him, "well-
nigh upset him with joy."
At a late hour he left the club-rooms and went
home to talk over matters with his wife. Before
going to the Club that evening to get the election
news as it came in, he said :
"I told my wife to go to bed, as probably I
should not be back before midnight. When at
about twelve o'clock the news came informing
me of my election, I said : 'Boys, I think I will go
home now : for there is a little woman there who
would like to hear the news.' The Club gave me
three rousing cheers, and then I left. On my
arrival I went to my bedroom and found my
wife sound asleep. I gently touched her shoul-
der and said ']Mary' ; she made no answer. I
NOMINATION AND ELECTION 189
spoke again, a little louder, saying, 'i\Iary, Mary!
tve are elected!' Well, ... I then went to bed,
but before I went to sleep I selected every mem-
ber of my Cabinet, save one. I determined on
Seward for my Secretary of State, Chase for
Secretary of the Treasury, Welles, whose ac-
quaintance I made in Hartford, for Secretary of
the Navy, and Blair and others for the other
positions. . . . ]\Iy Cabinet was substantially
fixed upon that night. I wanted Seward, for I
had the highest respect for him, and the utmost
confidence in his ability. I wanted Chase, also ;
I considered him one of the ablest, best, and most
reliable men in the country, and a good repre-
sentative of the progressive, anti-slavery element
of the party."
In a word, he said he "wanted all his com-
petitors to have a place in his Cabinet in order
to create harmony in the party."
CHAPTER XVII
The President Elect
The election over, Lincoln was sorely be-
set by office-seekers. Individuals, deputations,
"delegations," from all quarters, pressed in upon
him in a manner that might have killed a man
of less robust constitution. The hotels of Spring-
field were filled with gentlemen who came with
light baggage and heavy schemes. The party
had never been in office : a "clean sweep" of the
"ins" was expected ; and all the "outs" were
patriotically anxious to take the vacant places.
It was a party that had never fed ; and it was
voraciously hungry. Lincoln and Artemus Ward
saw a great deal of fun in it; and in all human
probability it was the fun alone that enabled
Lincoln to bear it.
Judge Davis said that Lincoln had determined
to appoint "Democrats and Republicans alike to
office." Many things confirm this statement.
Lincoln felt deeply the responsibility of his great
trust ; and he felt still more keenly the supposed
impossibility of administering the Government
for the sole benefit of an organization which had
no existence in one-half of the Union. He was
therefore willing not only to appoint Democrats
to office, but to appoint them to the very highest
offices within his gift. At this time he thought
very highly of Alexander H. Stephens of
Georgia, and would gladly have taken him into
THE PRESIDENT ELECT 191
his Cabinet but for the fear that Georgia might
secede, and take Stephens along with her.
VISITS OLD FRIENDS AND RELATIONS
After his election, Lincoln began to think very
tenderly of his friends and relatives in Coles
County, especially of his good stepmother and
her daughters. By the first of February, he con-
cluded that he could not leave his home to as-
sume the vast responsibilities that awaited him
without paying them a visit. Accordingly, he
left Springfield on the first day of that month,
and went straight to Charleston, where Colonel
Chapman and his family resided. He was ac-
companied by Mr. Marshall, the State Senator
from that district, and was entertained at his
house. The people crowded to see him ; and he
was serenaded by "both the string and brass
bands of the town, but declined making a speech."
Early the next morning, he repaired "to his
cousin, Dennis Hanks" ; and the jolly Dennis had
the satisfaction of seeing a grand levee under his
own roof.
It was all very pleasant to Lincoln to see such
multitudes of familiar faces smiling upon his
wonderful successes. But the chief object of his
solicitude was not here. Mrs. Lincoln, his step-
mother, lived in the southern part of the county,
and he was all impatience to see her. As soon,
therefore, as he had taken a frugal breakfast
with Dennis, he and Colonel Chapman started
off in a "two-horse buggy" toward Farmington,
where the stepmother was living with her daugh-
ter, Mrs. Moore. They had much difficulty in
crossing the Kickapoo River, which was running
192 ABRAHAM LIXCOLN
full of ice ; but they finally made the dangerous
passage, and arrived at Farmington in safety.
The meeting between him and the old lady was
of a most affectionate and tender character. She
fondled him as her own "Abe," and he her as
his own mother. It was soon arranged that she
should return with him to Charleston, so that
they might enjoy by the way the unrestricted and
uninterrupted intercourse which they both de-
sired above all things, but which they were not
likely to have where the people could get at him.
Then Lincoln and Colonel Chapman drove to the
house of John Hall, who lived "on the old Lin-
coln farm," where Abe split the celebrated rails,
and fenced in the little clearing in 1830. Thence
they went to the spot where old Tom Lincoln was
buried. The grave was unmarked and utterly
neglected. Abraham said he wanted to "have it
enclosed, and a suitable tombstone erected." He
told Colonel Chapman to go to a marble-dealer,
ascertain the cost of the work proposed, and
write him in full. He would then send Dennis
Hanks the money, and an inscription for the
stone ; and Dennis would do the rest.
MOTHER AND SON
The parting between Lincoln and his mother
was very touching. She embraced him with deep
emotion, and said she was sure she would never
behold him again, for she felt that his enemies
would assassinate him. He replied, "No, no,
mamma : they will not do that. Trust in the
Lord, and all will be well : we will see each other
again." Inexpressibly affected by this new evi-
dence of her tender attachment and deep concern
THE PRESIDEXT ELECT 193
for his safety, he gradually and reluctantly with-
drew himself from the arms of the woman who
had been as devoted to him as his own mother
before her, and he departed feeling still more
oppressed by the heavy cares which time and
events were rapidly augmenting.
The fear that Lincoln would be assassinated
was not peculiar to his stepmother. It was
shared by very many of his neighbors at Spring-
field ; and the friendly warnings he received were
as numerous as they were silly and gratuitous.
FOUR MONTHS OF ANXIETY
Four months would not ordinarily be consid-
ered a long period of time. But when one is
compelled to see the working of a vast amount
of mischief, powerless to prevent it, and know-
ing one's self to be the chief victim of it all, the
time is long. Such was the fate of Lincoln.
The election was not the end of a life of toil and
struggle, it was the beginning of a new career of
sorrow. The period of four months between the
election and the inauguration could not be de-
voted to rest or to the pleasant plans for a pros-
perous term of service. A scheme was develop-
ing for the disruption of the Government. The
excuse was Lincoln's election. But he was for
four months only a private citizen. He had no
power. He could only watch the growing mis-
chief and realize that he was the ultimate victim.
BUCHANAN AND HIS BOURBON CABINET
Buchanan, who was then President, had a
genius for doing the most unwise thing. He was
194 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
a Northern man with Southern principles, and
this may have unfitted him to see things in their
true relations. He certainly was putty in the
hands of those who wished to destroy the Union,
and his vacillation precisely accomplished what
they wished.
President Buchanan sent in his annual mes-
sage to Congress December 3, i860. In his dis-
cussion of the subject of slavery, he recom-
mended that it be extended to the Territories —
the very thing that the people had just voted
should not be done. Concerning secession, he
said in substance that the Government had the
power to suppress revolt, but that it could not
use that power in reference to South Carolina,
the State then under consideration. The seces-
sionists had apparently tied the hands of the
executive effectually.
Now observe what was going on in the Cabi-
net. Lewis Cass had been Secretary of State,
but resigned in indignation over the inaction of
the President when he failed to succor the forts
in Charleston (S. C.) harbor. He was succeeded
by Jeremiah S. Black, who, as Attorney-General,
had given to Buchanan an opinion that the Fed-
eral Government had no power to coerce a seced-
ing State.
Howell Cobb, Secretary of the Treasury, hav-
ing wasted the funds and destroyed the credit
of the Government, resigned and left an empty
treasury.
John B. Floyd, Secretary of War, was not the
least active. He carried out fully the plan which
Jefferson Davis had begun to operate several
years before. Northern arsenals were stripped
of arms and ammunition, which were sent to the
THE PRESIDENT ELECT 19S
South for storage or use. The number of regu-
lar troops was small, but the few soldiers there
were, he scattered in distant places, so that they
should be out of reach. They were not to be
available for the use of the Government until the
conspirators should have time to complete their
work.
Not worse, perhaps, but more flagrant, was the
action of the Secretary of the Interior, Thomp-
son of Mississippi. With the advice and consent
of Buchanan, he left his post at Washington to
visit North Carolina and help on the work of
secession, and then returned and resumed his
official prerogatives under the Government he
had sworn to sustain.
Meanwhile Isaac Toucey, Secretary of the
Navy, had been prevailed on to put the navy
out of reach. The armed vessels were sent to
the ends of the earth. At the first critical period
only two were available to the Government.
WHAT WAS GOING ON IN CONGRESS
Congress was very busy doing nothing. Both
Senate and House raised committees for the pur-
pose of devising means of compromise. But
every measure of concession was promptly voted
down by the body that had appointed the com-
mittees. In the Senate the slave power was in
full control. In the House the slave power was
not in majority, but its servants enjoyed the ad-
vantage of being able to work together, while
the Representatives of the free States were usu-
ally divided among themselves.
On January 7, 1861, Senator Yulee, of Florida,
wrote: "By remaining in our places until the 4th
196 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
of March, it is thought we can keep the hands
of Mr. Buchanan tied, and disable the Repubh-
cans from effecting any legislation which will
strengthen the hands of the incoming Adminis-
tration."
On December 14, i860, thirty of the Southern
Senators and Representatives had issued a cir-
cular to their constituents. They said that argu-
ment was exhausted, that all hope of relief was
extinguished, that the Republicans would grant
nothing satisfactory, and that the honor, safety,
and independence of the Southern people re-
quired the organization of a Southern Confed-
eracy.
South Carolina was the first to act. Six days
later that State passed the ordinance of seces-
sion.
Upon this, one of the extreme delinquents was
forced out of the Cabinet. Floyd, the Secretary
of War, was displaced by Holt, a loyal man.
Floyd, however, had done nearly all the mischief
he could have done. Stanton had already re-
placed Black as Attorney-General.
The conspirators then held a caucus. It is
supposed that this caucus was held in one of the
rooms of the Capitol. At all events it was held
in the city of \\'ashington. It was composed of
the extreme Southern Congressmen. It decided
to recommend immediate secession, the forma-
tion of the Southern Confederacy, and, not least,
that the Congressmen should remain in their
seats to keep the President's hands tied. The
committee to carry out these plans consisted of
Jeft"erson Davis, Slidell, and Mallory. By the
first day of February, seven States had passed
ordinances of secession.
THE PRESIDENT ELECT 197
LINCOLN S PREDICAMENT
'All this preparation for dissolving the Union
was going on during the four months Lincoln
was waiting for the appointed time when he
should enter upon his Presidential duties. Im-
agine a man looking upon a house he was shortly
to occupy, and seeing vandals applying the torch
and ax of destruction, while he was not per-
mitted to go to the rescue, all the while knowing
that he would be held accountable for the preser-
vation of the building. So the helpless Lincoln
saw this work of destruction going on at W^ash-
ington. It was plain that the mischief ought to
be, and could be, stopped. But Buchanan would
not stop it, and till ]\Iarch 4 Lincoln, we repeat,
was a private citizen and could do nothing for
its prevention.
CHAPTER XVIII
Journey to Washington and Inauguration
On February ii, 1861, the arrangements for
Lincoln's departure from Springfield were com-
pleted. It was intended to occupy the time re-
maining between that date and March 4 with a
grand tour from State to State and city to city.
Having reached the train made ready for him,
Lincoln ascended the rear platform, and, facing
about to the throng which had closed around
him, drew himself up to his full height, removed
his hat, and stood for several seconds in pro-
found silence.
To those who were anxiously waiting to catch
words upon which the fate of the nation might
hang, it seemed long until he had mastered his
feelings sufficiently to speak. At length he began
in a husky tone of voice, and slowly and impres-
sively delivered his farewell to his neighbors.
Imitating his example, every man in the crowd
stood with his head uncovered in the fast-falling
rain.
"Friends : No one who has never been placed
in a like position can understand my feelings at
this hour, nor the oppressive sadness I feel at this
parting. For more than a quarter of a century
I have lived among you, and during all that time
I have received nothing but kindness at your
hands. Here I have lived from my youth, until
now I am an old man. Here the most sacred
ties of earth were assumed. Here all mv chil-
JOURNEY AND INAUGURATION 199
dren were born ; and here one of them Hes bur-
ied. To you, dear friends, I owe all that I have,
all that I am. All the strange, checkered past
seems to crowd now upon my mind. To-day I
leave you. I go to assume a task more difficult
than that which devolved upon Washington.
Unless the great God, who assisted him, shall be
with and aid me, I must fail ; but if the same
omniscient mind and almighty arm that directed
and protected him shall guide and support me,
I shall not fail — I shall succeed. Let us all pray
that the God of our fathers may not forsake us
now. To him I commend you all. Permit me
to ask that, w^ith equal security and faith, you
will invoke his wisdom and guidance for me.
With these few words I must leave you : for how
long I know not. Friends, one and all, I must
now bid you an affectionate farewell."
" It was a most impressive scene," said a local
newspaper. "We have known Mr. Lincoln for
many years ; we have heard him speak upon a
hundred dift'erent occasions ; but we never saw
him so profoundly affected, nor did he ever utter
an address which seemed to us so full of simple
and and touching eloquence, so exactly adapted
to the occasion, so worthy of the man and the
hour."
The party was in charge of Colonel Ward H.
Lamon, afterward Marshal of the District of
Columbia. He was a trained athlete, a Hercules
in strength, a man who knew not what fear was,
and, with an enthusiasm akin to religious zeal,
he was devoted to his chief soul and body.
200 ABRAHAM LIXCOLN
SPEECHES OX THE WAY
During the memorable journey Lincoln made
many brief speeches. These were closely scanned
in the hope of finding some intimation of his
inaugural. But not one such word escaped him.
He declared that though he had in his day done
much hard work, this was the hardest work he
had ever done — to keep speaking without saying
anything. It was not quite true that he did not
say anything, for the speeches were thoughtful
and full of interest. But he did not anticipate
his inaugural, and to that the popular curiosity
was alive. He did not say the things that were
uppermost in his mind.
At Trenton, N. J., historic in the annals of the
Revolutionary \\'ar, he spoke with simple candor
of the influence upon his own life of Weems's
Life of Washington, one of the first books he
ever read. The audience broke into cheers, loud
and long, when he appealed to them to stand by
him in the discharge of his patriotic duty. 'T
shall endeavor," said he, "to take the ground I
deem most just to the North, the East, the \Vest,
the South, and the whole country. _ I take it, I
hope, in good temper; certainly with no malice
toward any section. I shall do all that may be
in my power to promote a peaceful settlement of
all our difficulties. The man does not live who
is more devoted to peace than I am, none who
would do more to preserve it : but it may_ be
necessary to put the foot down firmly. And if I
do my duty and do right, you will sustain me,
will you not?"
JOURNEY AND INAUGURATION 201
ASSASSINATION PLOT
At Philadelphia matters became more ex-
citing. There Lincoln's friends were informed
of a plot to assassinate him as he passed through
Baltimore. This information came to them from
a variety of sources entirely independent, and the
various stories so nearly agreed in substance that
they could not be disregarded. Alost important
of the informants was Allan Pinkerton of Chi-
cago, one of the most famous detectives in the
world. He had been personally with his assist-
ants in Baltimore and knew the details of the
plot. But Lincoln was neither suspicious nor
timid, and was therefore disinclined to pay heed
to the warnings of Pinkerton.
But the members of the party were deeply
concerned about the Baltimore revelations. It
was hard to get Lincoln to take them seriously.
V\\\h. difificulty was he persuaded to follow Pin-
kerton's plan and enter Washington secretly.
He consented to do this only out of considera-
tion for the judgment of others. On one thing,
however, Lincoln was firm. He had made cer-
tain appointments for speaking en route which
he would not abandon. His promise had been
given and would be kept. "These appointments,"
said he, "I will keep // it costs me my life."
These words suggest that he may have realized
the danger more than he was willing to show.
THE LOST "certificate"
An incident occurred at Harrisburg which
made a great stir in the little party. This was
nothing less than the loss of the manuscript of
202 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
the inaugural address. This precious document
Lincohi himself had carried in a satchel. This
satchel he had given to his son Robert to hold.
When Robert was asked for it, it was missing.
He "thought he had given it to a waiter — or
somebody." This was one of the rare occasions
on which Lincoln lost control of his temper,
and for about one minute he addressed the
careless young man with great plainness of
speech.
A little later the satchel was found, and it
was not again entrusted to Robert. His father
kept it in his own hands. After the nervous
strain was over, the humor of the situation grew
on Lincoln and reminded him of a little story,
which he told in substance as follows.
A man had saved up his earnings until they
reached the sum of fifteen hundred dollars. This
was deposited for safe-keeping in a bank. The
bank failed and the man received as his share ten
per cent, or one hundred and fifty dollars. This
he deposited in another bank. The second bank
also failed and the poor fellow again received ten
per cent, or fifteen dollars. When this remnant
of his fortune was paid over to him, he held it
in his hand, looking at it thoughtfully. Finally
he said: "Now, I've got you reduced to a port-
able shape, so I'll put you in my pocket." Suit-
ing the action to the word, Lincoln took from the
satchel his "certificate of moral character, writ-
ten by himself," as he described it, and carefully
put it in the inside pocket of his vest. No fur-
ther mishap came to that document.
It is positively asserted by Lamon, who knew
whereof he spoke, that there was no time, from
the moment of leaving Springfield to his death,
JOURNEY AND INAUGURATION 203
when Lincoln was free from clanger of murder.
Yet he never could be prevailed on to accept pre-
cautions.
PREJUDICE DISARMED
As an illustration of the prejudice against Lin-
coln at the South, the following incident is re-
lated by one of his biographers, Isaac N. Arnold.
Two or three days before the inauguration on
March 4, 1861, and while Abraham Lincoln was
staying at Willard's Hotel, a distinguished South
Carolina lady — one of the Howards^ — the widow
of a Northern scholar — called upon him out of
curiosity. She was very proud, aristocratic, and
quite conscious that she had in her veins the
blood of "a// the Hozvards" and she was curious
to see a man who had been represented to her
as a monster, a mixture of the ape and the tiger.
She was shown into the parlor where were
Air. Lincoln, and Senators Seward, Hale, Chase,
and other prominent members of Congress. As
Mr. Seward, whom she knew, presented her to
the President elect, she hissed in his ear: "I am
a South Carolinian." Instantly reading her char-
acter, he turned and addressed her with the
greatest courtesy, and dignified and gentlemanly
politeness. After listening a few moments, as-
tonished to find him so dififerent from what he
had been described to her, she said :
"Why, Mr. Lincoln, you look, act, and speak
like a kind, good-hearted, generous man."
"And did you expect to meet a savage?"
said he.
"Certainly I did, or even something worse,"
replied she. "I am glad I have met you," she
continued, "and now the best way to preserve
204 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
peace, is for you to go to Charleston, and show
the people what you are, and tell them you have
no intention of injuring them."
Returning home, she found a part}' of seces-
sionists, and on entering the room she exclaimed :
"I have seen him! I have seen him!"'
"\\'ho?" they inquired.
"That terrible monster, Lincoln, and I found
him a gentleman, and I am going to his first
levee after his inauguration."'
PRE-IN AUGURAL INCIDENTS
When he reached W^ashington, every official
courtesy was shown to the President elect. The
outgoing President and Cabinet received him
politely. He had many supporters and some per-
sonal friends in both Houses of Congress. These
received him with enthusiasm, while his oppo-
nents were not uncivil. The members of the
Supreme Court greeted him with a measure of
cordiality. Both Douglas and Breckinridge, the
defeated candidates at the late election, called
on him. The so-called Peace Conference had
brought together many men of local influence,
who seized the opportunity of making his ac-
c}uaintance. So the few days passed busily as
the time for inaugviration approached.
Of course anxiety and even excitement were
not unknown. One instance is enough to relate
here. Arrangements were about concluded for
the Cabinet appointments. The most important
selection was for the Secretary of State. This
position had been tendered to Seward months
before and had by him been accepted. The sub-
sequent selections had been made in view of the
JOURNEY AND INAUGURATION 205
fact that Seward was to fill this position. On
Saturday, j\Iarch 2, while only a few hours re-
mained before the inauguration, Seward sud-
denly withdrew his promised acceptance. This
utterly upset the balancings on which Lincoln
had so carefully worked for the last four months,
and was fitted to cause consternation. Lincoln's
comment was : "I can't afford to have Seward
take the first trick." So he sent him an urgent
personal note on the morning of March 4, re-
questing him to withdraw this refvisal. Seward
acceded to this and the matter was arranged
satisfactorily.
INAUGURAL CEREMONIES
The inauguration day had arrived, and at noon
on that day the Administration of James Bu-
chanan was to come to a close, and that of Abra-
ham Lincoln was to take its place.
The morning opened pleasantly. At an early
hour he gave his inaugural address its final revi-
sion. Extensive preparations had been made to
render the occasion as impressive as possible.
By nine o'clock the procession had begun to
form, and at eleven o'clock it commenced to
move toward Willard's Hotel, where Lincoln had
rooms. President Buchanan remained for a
while at the Capitol, signing bills. At half-past
twelve he called for J\Ir. Lincoln ; and, after a
delay of a few moments, both descended, and
entered the open barouche in waiting for them.
Shortly after, the procession took up its line of
march for the Capitol.
The Senate remained in session till twelve
o'clock, when 'Mr. Breckinridge, in a few well-
2o6 ABRAHAM LIXCOLN
chosen words, bade the Senators farewell, and
then conducted his successor, Air. Hamlin, to the
chair. At this moment, members and members
elect of the House of Representatives, and the
Diplomatic Corps, entered the chamber. At
thirteen minutes to one, the Judges of the Su- ,
preme Court were announced ; and on their 1
entrance, headed by the venerable Chief Justice ,
Taney, all on the floor arose, while they moved \
slowly to the seats assigned them at the right i
of the Vice-President, bowing to that officer as
they passed. At fifteen minutes past one, the
j\Iarshal-in-chief entered the chamber, ushering
in the President and President elect. ]\Ir. Lin-
coln looked pale, and wan, and anxious. In a
few moments, the Alarshal led the way to the
platform at the eastern portico of the Capitol,
where preparations had been made for the in-
auguration ceremony ; and he was followed by
the Judges of the Supreme Court, Sergeant-at-
Arms of the Senate, the Committee of Arrange-
ments, the President and President elect, Vice-
President, Secretary of the Senate, Senators,
Diplomatic Corps, Heads of Departments, and
others in the chamber.
On arriving at the platform, Air. Lincoln was
introduced to the assembly, by the Hon. E. D.
Baker, United States Senator from Oregon.
Stepping forward, in a manner deliberate and
impressive, he read in a clear, penetrating voice,
his inaugural address, which will be found in
another volume of this series.
The address was listened to closely through-
out. Immediately upon its conclusion the speak-
er was sworn into office by Chief Justice Taney,
whose name is connected with the famous Dred
JOURNEY AND INAUGURATION 207
Scott decision. Tames Buchanan was now a
private citizen and the pioneer rail-sphtter was
at the head of the United States.
LOYALTY OF DOUGLAS : HIS DEATH
In all the thousands of people there assembled,
there was no one who listened more intently
than Stephen A. Douglas. At the conclusion he
warmly grasped the President's hands, con-
gratulated him upon the inaugural, and pledged
him that he would stand by him and support him
in upholding the Constitution and enforcing the
laws. The clearness, the gentleness, the mag-
nanimity, the manliness expressed in this inaugu-
ral address of his old rival, won him over at
last, and he pledged him here his fealty. For a
few months, while the storm was brewing,
Douglas was inactive, so that his influence
counted on the side of the hostile party, the
partv to which he had always belonged. But
when war actually broke out, he hastened to
stand by the President, and right nobly did he
redeem the promise he had given. Had he lived,
there are few men whose influence would have
been more weighty in the Union cause. An un-
timely death cut him off at the beginning of this
patriotic activity. His last public act was to
address to the Legislature of Illinois a masterly
plea for the support of the war for the Union-
He died in Chicago, June 3, 1861.
CHAPTER XIX
The President and His Cabinet
The selection of a Cabinet was a difficult and
delicate task. It must be remembered that Lin-
coln confronted a solid South, backed by a di-
vided North. In fifteen States he had received
not a single electoral vote, and in ten of these
not a single popular vote. That was the solid
South.
It is plain that unless Lincoln could, in a large
measure, unite the various classes of the North,
his utter failure would be a foregone conclusion.
He saw this with perfect clearness. His lirst
move was in the selection of his Cabinet. Its
members were taken not only from the various
geographical divisions of the country, but also
from the divers political divisions of his party.
It was his purpose to have the secretaries not
simply echoes of himself, but able and repre-
sentative men of various types of political opin-
ion. At the outset this did not meet the ap-
proval of his friends. Later, its wisdom was
apparent.
The names submitted to the Senate on ]\Iarch
5 were : for Secretar>' of State, W'illiam H.
Seward of New York ; for Secretary of the
Treasury, Salmon P. Chase of Ohio ; for Secre-
tary of War, Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania ;
for Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles of
Connecticut ; for Secretary- of the Interior. Caleb
B. Smith of Indiana ; for Attorney-General, Ed-
THE PRESIDENT AND HIS CABINET 209
ward Bates of INIissouri; for Postmaster-Gen-
eral, Alontgomery Blair of Maryland.
All these names were confirmed by the Senate
the next day. Of the variety of the selection,
Lincoln said, "I need them all. They enjoy the
confidence of their several States and sections,
and they will strengthen the Administration.
The times are too grave and perilous for ambi-
tious schemes and rivalries." To all who were
associated with him in the Government, he said,
"Let us forget ourselves and join hands, like
brothers, to save the Republic. If we succeed,
there will be glory enough for all." He play-
fully spoke of this Cabinet as his happy family.
The only one who withdrew early from this
number was Cameron. He was accused of vari-
ous forms of corruption, especially of giving fat
government contracts to his friends. Whether
these charges were true or not, we cannot say.
But in the following January he resigned and
was succeeded by Edwin M. vStanton, a lifelong
Democrat, one who had accepted office under
Buchanan. Probably no person was more amazed
at this choice than Stanton himself. But he
patriotically accepted the call of duty. With
unspeakable loyalty and devotion he served his
chief and his country to the end.
seward's presumption
The President's first encounter of authority
with a member of his Cabinet was brought on
by Secretary Seward. The incident is here given
in the words of the distinguished editor and
publicist, Henry Watterson.
The men Lincoln had invited to become mem-
2IO ABRAHAM LINCOLN
bers of his political family each thought himself
greater than his chief. They should have heard
the voice and seen the hand of a man born to
command. From the day Abraham Lincoln en-
tered the White House to the hour he went
thence to his death, there was not a moment
when he did not control the situation and all his
official dependents.
Mr. Seward was the first to yield to his own
presumption. One of the most extraordinary in-
cidents that ever passed between a ruler and his
subordinate came about within thirty days after
the beginning of the new Administration.
On April i Mr. Seward submitted to Mr. Lin-
coln a memorandum, entitled "Some Thoughts
for the President's Consideration." He began
this by saying: "We are at the end of a month's
administration, and yet without a policy either
domestic or foreign." Then follows a series of
remarkable suggestions. They are for the most
part flimsy and irrelevant ; but two of them are
so ridiculous that I quote them as specimens.
Mr. Seward writes as follows :
"We must change the question before the
public from one upon slavery, or about slavery,
to one upon union or disunion, and I would
demand explanations from Spain and France,
energetically, at once, . . . and, if satisfactory
explanations are not received from Spain and
France, I would convene Congress and declare
war against them. ... I would seek explana-
tions from Great Britain and Russia, and send
agents into Canada, Mexico, and Central Ameri-
ca to arouse a vigorous spirit of continental in-
dependence on this continent against European
intervention."
THE PRESIDENT AND HIS CABINET 211
Indeed ! At the very moment this advice was
seriously given the President by the Secretary of
State the Southern Confederacy had been estab-
lished, and Europe was most keen for a pretext
to interfere to effect the dissolution of the Union
and defeat the republican form of government
in America. The Government of the United
States had only to menace France and Spain, to
wink its eye at England and Russia, to raise up a
four-sided alliance of monarchy against democ-
racy and bring down upon itself the navies of
Europe, and thus assure and confirm the Gov-
ernment of the Southern Confederacy.
In closing his astonishing advice, Mr. Seward
adds: "But whatever policy we adopt, there must
be an energetic prosecution of it. For this pur-
pose 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, all debates on it must end, and
all agree and abide. It is not in my special prov-
ince; but I neither seek to evade nor assume
responsibility."
If Mr. Seward had blandly said : " Mr. Lin-
coln, you are a failure as President; just turn
over the management of affairs to me, and the
rest shall be forgiven." he could hardly have
spoken more offensively.
HOW THE PRESIDENT ANSWERED SEWARD
Now let us see how a great man carries him-
self at a critical moment under extreme provoca-
tion. Here is the answer Mr. Lincoln sent Mr.
Sevv'ard that very night :
2 12 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
"Executive Mansion, April i, 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, 'we
are at the end of a month's administration and
yet without a policy, either domestic of foreign.'
"At the beginning of that month, in the In-
augural, I said : 'The power confided to me will
be used to hold, occupy, and possess the prop-
erty 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
urge, with the single exception that it does not
propose to abandon Fort Sumter. . . .
"Upon your closing propositions that 'what-
ever policy we adopt, there must be an energetic
prosecution of it' ; . . . Tt must be somebody's
business' ; . . . 'Either the President must do it
... or devolve it upon some member of his
Cabinet' ; 'Once adopted, debates must end, and
all agree and abide'; I remark that if this be
done I must do it. When a general line of pol-
icy is adopted, I apprehend there is no danger of
its being changed without good reason, or con-
tinuing 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 AXD HIS CABINET 213
Nicolay and Hay state that in this letter not
a word was omitted that was necessary, and
there is not an alkision in it that could be dis-
pensed with. It concluded the argument. Mr.
Lincoln never mentioned it. From that time on
the understanding between them was cordial
and agreeable. About eight weeks later, on May
21, Mr. Seward placed before the President the
draft of a letter of instructions to Charles Fran-
cis Adams, United States Minister to England.
Mr. Lincoln did not scruple to change its char-
acter and purpose by altering the text. ... It is
well understood that if that letter had gone as
Mr. Seward wrote it, a war with England would
have been inevitable. . . . Even in the substitu-
tion of one word for another, Mr. Lincoln
evinced a grasp both upon the situation and the
language, of which Mr. Seward, with all his
experience and learning, appears to have been
oblivious. It is said that in considering this
document, sitting with his head bowed and pen-
cil in hand, Mr. Lincoln was heard to repeat
softly to himself: "One war at a time — one war
at a time."
So far as is known, neither Lincoln nor Sew-
ard ever made any reference to this correspon-
dence. The result was worth while. It bound
Seward to his President with hoops of steel.
For four long, weary, trying years he served his
chief with a loyal devotion which did credit to
both men. The hallucination that he was pre-
mier was forever dispelled from Seward's mind.
A public observer wrote : "There can be no
doubt of it any longer. This man from Illinois
is not in the hands of ]\Ir. Seward."
214 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
THE MASTER MIND OF THE CABINET
Says Titian J. Coffey, in his Reminiscences of
Abraham Lincoln: I often heard the Attorney-
General (Bates) say on his return from impor-
tant Cabinet meetings that the more he saw of
Mr. Lincoln the more he was impressed with the
clearness and vigor of his intellect and the
breadth and sagacity of his views, and he would
add: "He is beyond question the master mind of
the Cabinet."
No man could talk with him on public ques-
tions without being struck with the singular lu-
cidity of his mind and the rapidity with which
he seized upon the essential point.
"stanton's nearly always right!"
Some of Lincoln's biographers are enthusias-
tic admirers of Stanton, who seems never, untiy
the close of the war, to have entertained cordial
feelings toward the President. On some occa-
sions Lincoln's patience with the Secretary of
War is rather astonishing than admirable. A
committee, headed by Mr. Love joy, brought the
Secretary an important order of the President's
and met with a flat refusal to obey :
"But we have the President's order," said
Love joy.
"Did Lincoln give you an order of that kind ?"
Slid Stanton.
"He did, sir."
"Then he is a blanked fool," said the irate
Secretary.
The conversation was immediately reported to
the President.
THE PRESIDENT AND HIS CABINET 215
'"Did he say I was a blanked fool?" asked the
President, 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 blanked fool, then I
must be one, for he is nearly always right, and
generally says what he means. I will step over
and see him."
The President probably wished to conceal
from strangers, at some sacrifice of personal dig-
nity, the possibility of divisions in the Cabinet.
THE PRESIDENT COMPARES HIMSELF TO BLONDIN
AVhen differences in the Cabinet became dan-
gerous enough to threaten its dissolution, Lin-
coln ceased to call his constitutional advisers
together, and for over a year they had no formal
Cabinet session. Twenty United States Sena-
tors called upon him in a body, intent on com-
plaining of Stanton's conduct of the war. The
President's sense of humor did not desert him,
and he told a story about Blondin crossing
Niagara.
"Would you," said he, "when certain death
waited on a single false step, would you cry out,
'Blondin, stoop a little more ! Go a little faster !
Slow up ! Lean more to the north ! Lean a little
more to the south'? No; you would keep your
mouths shut.
"Now, we are doing the best we can. We
are pegging away at the rebels. We have just
as big a job on hand as was ever intrusted to
mortal hands to manage. The Government is
carrying an immense weight; so, don't badger
2i6 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
it. Keep silent, and we will get you safe
across,"
No delegation of Senators ever again at-
tempted to dictate to Abraham Lincoln the man-
ner in which our end of the Civil War should
be conducted,
staxton's obstixacy
Assistant Adjutant-General Long narrates the
following incident. Some outsiders had per-
suaded Lincoln to adopt a certain line of policy
which apparently was impolitic, and Stanton re-
fused to carry out the order. The President
called on the great war Secretary, who substan-
tially demonstrated to him that he was wrong,
and repeated that he shouldn't carry out the or-
der. Lincoln sat carelessly on a lounge nursing
his left leg, and said : "I reckon it'll have to be
done, i\Ir. Secretary." "Well, I sha'n't do it,"
said Stanton. It was getting unpleasant for the
Adjutant-General, and he started to go. As he
passed through the door, he heard the President
say good-humoredly, "I reckon you'll have to do
it, ^Lr. Secretary." In half an hour the order
came over, signed by Stanton.
Another story, although it is worn thread-
bare, should be repeated here. It is said that
Lincoln sent some one to Stanton for some ac-
tion and the party returned saying that the Sec-
retary wouldn't do it. "Then I can't help you,"
said Lincoln, "for I have very little influence
with this Administration." And another story
is also told of the President waiting to complete
some action till Stanton had temporarily left the
capital, and then putting it through under the
sanction of the Assistant Secretarv of War.
CHAPTER XX
Civil War Begins : Fall of Fort Sumter
When Lincoln took the Government at
Washington, it may well be believed that he
found matters in a condition decidedly chaotic.
His task was many-sided, a greater task, as he
had justly said, than that of Washington. First,
of the fifteen slave States seven had seceded. It
was his purpose to hold the remaining eight, or
as many of them as possible. Of this number,
Delaware and Maryland could have been held by
force. Kentucky and Missouri, though slave
States, remained in the Union. The Union
party in Tennessee, under the lead of Andrew
Johnson, made a strong fight against secession^
but failed to prevent the passage of the ordi-
nance.
The next task of Lincoln was to unite the
North as far as possible. The difficulty of doing
this has already been set forth. On the other
hand there was in the North a sentiment that
had been overlooked. It was devotion to the
flag. Benjamin F. Butler, though an ardent
Democrat, had cautioned his Southern brethren,
that while they might count on a large pro-
slavery vote in the North, war was a different
matter. The moment you fire on the flag, he
said, you unite the North ; and if war comes,
slavery goes.
Not the least task of the President was in
dealing with foreign nations. The sympathies
2i8 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
of these, especially England and France, were
ardently with the South. They would eagerly
grasp at the slightest excuse for acknowledging
the Southern Confederacy as an independent na-
tion. It was a delicate and difficult matter so
to guide affairs that the desired excuse for this
could not be found.
DEFENCE, BUT NOT AGGRESSION
Lincoln held steadily to the two promises of
his inaugural. First, that he would hold the
United States forts, and second, that he would
not be the aggressor. "In your hands, my dis-
satisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is
the momentous issue of civil war. The Gov-
ernment will not assail you. You can have no
conflict without being yourselves the aggressors.
You have no oath registered in heaven to de-
stroy the Government ; while I have the most
solemn one to 'preserve, protect, and defend' it."
To this plan he adhered. If there was to be
war it must be begim by the enemies of the coun-
try, and the Government would patiently bear
outrages rather than do a thing which could be
tortured into an appearance of "invading the
South'' or being an aggressor of any sort.
FORT SUMTER
^Meanwhile, Major Anderson was beleaguered
in Fort Sumter. He had a handful of men, 76
combatants and 128 all told. He had insuflicient
ammunition and was nearly out of provisions.
Lincoln at last concluded to "send bread to
Sumter" — surely not a hostile act. Owing to
CIVIL WAR BEGINS 219
complications which he inherited from Buchan-
an's Administration, he had given to Governor
Pickens of South CaroHna a promise that he
would not attempt to relieve Sumter without
first giving him notice. He now sent him notice
that there would be an attempt to provision
Sumter peaceably if possible, otherwise by force.
All this while the Southerners were busy per-
fecting their fortifications, which were now over-
whelmingly better, both in number and in com-
pleteness of appointment, than the one fort held
by the United States that rightfully controlled
the entire harbor. General Beauregard was in
command of the military forces. He sent to
Major Anderson a summons to surrender. The
latter replied that if he received from Wash-
ington no further direction, and if he was not
succored by the 15th of the month, April, he
would surrender on honorable terms. It was
characteristic of the Southern general that he
intercepted ]Major Anderson's mail before noti-
fying him of hostilities. It was characteristic
of Lincoln that he sent notice to Governor
Pickens of the intended provisioning of the
fort.
On Friday, April 12, 1861, at 3:30 p.m..
General Beauregard gave notice to Major An-
derson that he would open fire on Fort Sumter
in one hour. Promptly at the minute the first
gun was fired and the war had begun. Bat-
teries from various points poured shot and shell
into Sumter till nightfall caused a respite.
The next day the officers' quarters were set on
fire, either by an exploding shell or by hot shot.
The men fought the flames gallantly, but the
wind was unfavorable. Then the water-tanks
2 20 ABRAHAM LIXCOLN
were destroyed. As the flames approached the
magazine, the powder had to be removed ; as
they approached the places where the powder
was newly stored, it had to be thrown into the
sea to prevent explosion. In the mean time the
stars and stripes were floating gloriously. The
flag-pole had been struck seven times on Friday.
It was struck three times the next day. The
tenth shot did the work, the pole broke and the
flag fell to the ground at one o'clock Saturday
afternoon. An officer and some men seized the
flag, rigged up a jury-mast on the parapet, and
soon it was flying again.
But ammunition was gone, the fire was not
extinguished, and there was no hope of relief.
Negotiations were opened, and terms of surren-
der were arranged by eight o'clock that even-
ing. The next day, Sunday, April 14, the gar-
rison saluted the flag as it was lowered, and then
marched out. prisoners of war. Sumter had
fallen. The Administration had not invaded or
threatened invasion, but the South had fired on
the flag.
EFFECT, SOUTH AND NORTH
The efi'ect of the fall of Sumter was amazing.
In the South it was hailed with ecstatic delight,
especiallv in Charleston. There was a popular
demonstration at ]\Iontgomery, Ala., the pro-
visional seat of the Confederate Government.
The eft'ect upon the North was no less pro-
found. There was a perfect storm of indigna-
tion against the people who had presumed to
fire on the flag. Butler's prediction proved to be
nearlv correct. This did unite the North in de-
fence of the flag. Butler was a conspicuous
CIVIL WAR BEGINS 221
example of this effect. Though a Breckinridge
Democrat, he promptly oft'ered his services for
the defence of the country.
It was recollected throughout the North that
Lincoln had been conciliatory to a fault toward
the South. Conciliation had failed because that
was not what the Southerners wanted. They
wanted war and by them was war made. This
put an end forever to all talk of concession and
compromise.
WHAT THE PRESIDENT HAD ALREADY DONE
At the date of the fall of Sumter, Lincoln had
been in office less than six weeks. In addition
to routine work, to attending to extraordinary
calls in great numbers, he had accomplished cer-
tain very important things. He had the loyal
devotion of a Cabinet noted for its ability and
diversity. He had the enthusiastic confidence of
the doubtful minds of the North. He had made
it impossible for the European monarchies to
recognize the South as a nation. So far as our
country was concerned, he might ask for any-
thing, and he got what he asked. These were
no mean achievements. The far-seeing states-
man had played for this and had won.
UPRISING OF THE NORTH
The indignation caused by the fall of Sumter
was followed by an outburst of patriotism
through the entire North such as is not witnessed
many times in a century. On Sunday morning,,
April 14, it was known tl>flt terms of surrender
had been arranged. On that day and on many
222 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
succeeding Sundays the voices from a thousand
pulpits sounded with the certainty of the bugle
the call to the defence of the flag. Editors echoed
the call. Such newspapers as were suspected of
secession tendencies were compelled to hoist the
American flag. For the time at least, enthusi-
asm and patriotism ran very high. Those who
were decidedly in sympathy with the South re-
mained quiet, and those who were of a doubtful
mind were swept along with the tide of popular
feeling. The flag had been fired on. That one
fact unified the Xorth.
DOUGLAS SUPPORTS THE PRESIDENT
On that same evening Senator Douglas ar-
ranged for a private interview with President
Lincoln. For two hours these men, rivals and
antagonists of many years, were in confidential
conversation. What passed between them no
man knows, but the result of the conference was
quickly made public. Douglas came out of the
room as determined a "war Democrat" as could
be found between the oceans. He himself pre-
pared a telegram which was everywhere pub-
lished, declaring that he would sustain the Presi-
dent in defending the Constitution.
Lincoln had prepared his call for 75,000 vol-
luiteer troops. Douglas thought the number
should have been 200,000. So it should and
doubtless it would have been but for certain in-
iquities of Buchanan's maladministration. There
were no arms, accoutrements, clothing, available
for the L'nion armies. Floyd had well-nigh
stripped the Xorthern arsenals.
Seventv-five thousand was about five times the
CIJ'IL WAR BEGINS 223
number of soldiers then in the army of the
United States. Though the number of volun-
teers was small, their proportion to the regular
army was large.
CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS
That night Lincoln's call and Douglas's in-
dorsement were sent over the wires. Next
morning the two documents were published ia
every daily paper north of Mason and Dixon's
line.
This call for troops met wdth prompt response.
The various Governors of the Northern States
offered many times their quota. The first in the
field was Alassachusetts. This was due to the
foresight of ex-Governor Banks. He had for
years kept the State militia up to a high degree
of efficiency. When rallied upon this he ex-
plained that it was to defend the country against
a rebellion of the slaveholders which was sure
to come.
THE BALTIMORE MOB
The call for volunteers was published on the
morning of April 15. By ten o'clock the Sixth
Massachusetts regiment began to rendezvous.
In less than thirty-six hours the regiment was
ready and off for Washington. It was every-
where cheered with much enthusiasm, until it
reached Baltimore, where the reception was of a
very different sort. Some ruffians of that city
had planned to assassinate Lincoln in Febru-
ary, and now, gathering a mob, they attacked
the soldiers who were hastening to the de-
fence of the national capital. Here was the
224 ABRAHAM LIXCOLN
iirst bloodshed of the war. . The casualties of
the regiment were four killed and thirty-six
Avounded.
When the regiment reached Washington, the
march from the railway station was very solemn.
Behind the marching soldiers followed the
.stretchers bearing the wounded. The dead had
been left behind. Governor Andrew's despatch
to Alayor Brown — '"Send them home tenderly"
— elicited the sympathy of millions of hearts.
The IMayor of Baltimore and the Governor of
IMaryland sent a deputation to Lincoln to ask
that no more troops be brought through that
city. The President made no promise, but he
.said he was anxious to avoid all friction and
would do the best he could. He added playfully
that if he granted that, they would be back next
day to ask that no troops be sent around Balti-
more.
That was exactly what occurred. The com-
mittee were back the next day protesting against
permitting any troops to cross the State of
IMaryland. Lincoln replied that, as they couldn't
march around the State, nor tunnel under it, nor
fly over it, he guessed they would have to march
across it.
It was arranged that for the time being the
troops should be brought to Annapolis and
transported thence to Washington by water.
This was one of the many remarkable instances
•of forbearance on the part of the Government.
There was a great clamor at the Xorth for ven-
geance upon Baltimore for its crime, and a de-
mand for sterner measures in future. But the
President was determined to show all possible
conciliation in this case, as he did in a hundred
CIVIL WAR BEGINS 225
others. These actions bore good fruit. It se-
cured to him the confidence of the people to a
degree that could not have been foreseen.
"contrabands''
Very early in the war the question of slavery
confronted the generals. In May, only about
two months after the inauguration, Generals
Butler and McClellan dealt with the subject, and
their methods were as widely different as well
could be. When Butler was in charge of Fort
Monroe, three negroes fled to that place for
refuge. They said that Colonel Mallory had set
them to. work upon the Confederate fortifica-
tions. A flag of truce was sent in from the
Confederate lines demanding the return of the
negroes. Butler replied: "I shall retain the ne-
groes as contraband of war. You were using
them upon your batteries ; it is merely a question
whether they shall be used for or against us."
From that time the word contraband was used
in common speech to indicate an escaped slave.
DEATH OF COLONEL ELLSWORTH
The early victims of the war caused deep and
profound sympathy. The country was" not yet
used to carnage. The expectancy of a people
not experienced in war was at high tension, and
the deaths which at any time would have pro-
duced profound feeling were emphatically im-
pressive at that time.
One of the first martyrs of the war was
Ephraim Elmer Ellsworth. He was young,
handsome, impetuous. In Chicago he had or-
2 26 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
ganized a company of cadet zouaves that drew
great crowds at every public drill.
In 1 86 1 Ellsworth was employed in the office
of Lincoln and Herndon in Springfield. 111.
When the President elect journeyed to Wash-
ington, Ellsworth, to whom Lincoln was deeply
attached, made one of his party. At the out-
break of hostilities he raised a zouave regiment
of firemen in Xew York, and became its colonel.
On the right bank of the Potomac, six miles
below Washington, was Alexandria. The keeper
of the Marshall House, a hotel in that place, had
run up a secession fiag on the mast at the top
of the building. This flag floated day after day
in full sight of Lincoln and Ellsworth and many
others.
Ellsworth led an advance upon Alexandria on
the evening of May 23. The next morning, as
usual, the secession flag floated tauntingly from
the Marshall House. Ellsworth's blood was up and
he resolved to take down that flag and hoist the
stars and stripes with his own hand. Taking with
him two soldiers, he accomplished his purpose.
Returning by a spiral stairway, he carried the
Confederate flag in his hand. The proprietor of
the hotel came out froni a place of concealment,
placed his double-barreled shotgun almost against
Ellsworth's body, and fired. The assassin was
instantly shot down by private Brownell, but
Ellsworth was dead.
The body was removed to Washington, where
it lay in state in the White House till burial.
The President, amid all the cares of that busy
period, found time to sit many hours beside the
body of his friend, and at the burial he appeared
as chief mourner.
CHAPTER XXI
Lincoln and His Generals
The kindness and patience of President Lin-
coln in dealing with the generals who did not
succeed is, as Helen Nicolay has said, "the won- '
der of all who study the history of the Civil
War. The letters he wrote to them show, better
than whole volumes of description could do, the
hopeful and forbearing spirit in which he sought
to aid them. Mr. Lincoln's nature was too for-
giving, and the responsibility that lay upon him
was too heavy for personal resentment."
JOHN CHARLES FREMONT
At the opening of the war Fremont was in
Paris and was at once summoned home. He
arrived in this country about July i, 1861, and
the President appointed him Alajor-General in
the regular army. On July 3 he was assigned to
the Western Department, with headquarters at
St. Louis. This department included the State
of Illinois and extended as far west as the Rocky
Mountains.
Generals Lyon, Hunter, and others were sore
pressed in Missouri. They needed the presence
of their commander and they needed him at once.
Fremont was ordered to proceed to his post im-
mediately. This order he did not obey. He
could never brook authority, and he was not in
the habit of rendering good reasons for his acts
22 8 'ABRAHAM LINCOLN
of disobedience. Though he was aware that the
need of his presence was urgent, he dalHed about
Washington a long time and then proceeded west
Avith leisure, arriving in St. Louis nearly three
Aveeks later than he should have done.
Though Fremont had so unaccountably de-
layed, yet when he came he was received with
confidence and enthusiasm. Lincoln gave to him,
as he did to all his generals, almost unlimited
authority to act. His instructions were general,
and the commander was left to work out the
details in his own way. All that the President
required was that something should be done suc-
cessfully in the prosecution of the war.
The first thing Fremont did in ^Missouri was
to quarrel with his best friends, the Blair family.
This is important chiefly as indicating his in-
ability to hold the confidence of intelligent and
influential men. About this time Lincoln wrote
to General Hunter the following personal let-
ter, which showed well how things were likely
to go.
"j\Iy dear Sir : General Fremont needs assist-
ance which it 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. His cardinal mistake is that he
isolates himself and allows no one to see him,
by which he does not know what is going on in
the very matter he is dealing with. He needs to
liave by his side a man of large experience. \\"\\\
you not, for me, take that place?"
The next move of Fremont was to issue a
proclamation of emancipation. This was prop-
erly a civil act. while Fremont was an officer of
military, not civil, authority. The act was un-
LINCOLN AND HIS GENERALS 229.
authorized ; the President was not even con-
sulted.
When this came to the knowledge of the Presi-
dent he took prompt measures to counteract it
in a way that would accomplish the greatest good
with the least harm. He wrote to the General :
"Allow me, therefore, to ask that you will, as
of your own motion, modify that paragraph so
as to conform to the first and fourth sections of
the act of Congress entitled, 'An act to confis-
cate property used for insurrectionary purposes,'
approved August 6, 1861, and a copy of which act
I herewith send you. This letter is written in
a spirit of caution, and not of censure."
But Fremont was willing to override both
President and Congress, and declined to make
the necessary modifications. Matters grew no
better with him, but much worse, for three
months. The words of Nicolay and Hay are
none too strong: "He had frittered away his
opportunity for usefulness and fame; such an
opportunity, indeed, as rarely comes."
On October 21 the President sent by special
messenger an order relieving General Fremont
and placing Hunter temporarily in command.
Fremont had one more chance. He was
placed in command of a corps in Virginia. There
he disobeyed orders in a most flagrant manner,
and by so doing permitted Jackson and his army
to escape. He was superseded by Pope, but de-
clining to serve under a junior officer, resigned.
And that was the end of Fremont as a public
man.
27,0 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
GEORGE B. MCCLELLAX
McClellan was a very different man from Fre-
mont. Though he was as nearly as possible op-
posite in his characteristics, still it was not easier
to get along with him. He was a man of bril-
liant talents, fine culture, and charming person-
ality. Graduating from West Point in 1846. he
went almost immediately into the Mexican War,
where he earned his captaincy.
At the outbreak of the Civil War this captain
was by the Governor of Ohio commissioned as
Major-General, and a few days later he received
from Lincoln the commission of Major-General
in the United States Army.
He was sent to West \^irginia with orders to
drive out the enemy. This he achieved in a short
time, and for it he received the thanks of Con-
gress. He was rapidly promoted from one posi-
tion to another until age and infirmity compelled
the retirement of that grand old warrior, Win-
field Scott, whereupon he was made General-in-
chief of the armies of the United States.
As already intimated, it was Lincoln's habit to
let his generals do their work in their own way,
only insisting that they should accomplish visible
and tangible results. This method he followed
with McClellan, developing it with great patience
under trying circumstances. On this point there
is no better witness than McClellan himself. To
his wife he wrote: "They give me my way in
everything, full swing and unbounded con-
fidence." Later he expressed contempt for the
President who "showed him too much defer-
ence."
Listead of calling on the President to re-
LINCOLN AND HIS GENERALS a.-;!
port, McClellan made it necessary for the Presi-
dent to call on him. At other times he would
keep the President waiting while he affected
to be busy with subordinates. Once, indeed, he
left the President waiting while he went to bed.
All this Lincoln bore with his accustomed pa-
tience. He playfully said, when remonstrated
with, that he would gladly hold McCIellan's horse
if he would only win the battles. This McClel-
lan failed to do, and when he was finally relieved,
he had worn out even the President's patience.
mcclellan's conceit
"McClellan,"' says Miss Tarbell, "seems to
have felt from the first that Mr. Lincoln's kind-
ness was merely a personal recognition of his
own military genius. He had conceived the
idea that it was he alone who was to save the
country."
"The people call upon me to save the country,"
he wrote to his wife. "I must save it, and can-
not respect anything that is in the way." . . .
"The President cannot or will not see the true
state of affairs."
Lincoln, in his anxiety to know the details of
the work in the army, went frequently to Mc-
CIellan's headquarters. That the President had
a serious purpose in these visits AlcClellan did
not see.
"I enclose a card just received from 'A. Lin-
coln,' " he wrote to his wife one day; "it shows
too much deference to be seen outside."
In another letter to Mrs. McClellan he spoke
of being "interrupted" by the President and Sec-
retary Seward, "who had nothing particular to
2^2 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
say," and again of concealing himself, "to dodge
all enemies in the shape of 'browsing' Presidents,
€tc." His plans he kept to himself, and when
in the Cabinet meetings, to which he was con-
stantly summoned, military matters were dis-
cussed, he seemed to feel that it was an encroach-
ment on his special business.
"I am becoming daily more disgusted with this
Administration — perfectly sick of it," he wrote
at another time; and a few days later: "I was
obliged to attend a meeting of the Cabinet at
8 P.M., and was bored and annoyed. There are
some of the greatest geese in the Cabinet I have
ever seen — enough to tax the patience of Job."
"a great engineer"
Because of McClellan's "masterly inactivity"
the words, "All quiet along the Potomac" became
a byword of bitterness throughout the North.
Lincoln said one day with a sad smile: "Mc-
Clellen is a great engineer, but he has a special
talent for a stationary engine."
ULYSSES S. GRANT
At the very time the Army of the Potomac
was apparently doing nothing — winning no vic-
tories, destroying no armies, making no perma-
nent advances — there was a man in the West
who was building up for himself a remarkable
reputation. He was all the while winning vic-
tories, destroying armies, making advances. The
instant one thing was accomplished he turned his
energies to a new task. This was Grant.
He was a graduate of West Point, had seen
LINCOLN AND HIS GENERALS 233
service in the Mexican War, and ultimately rose
to the grade of captain. At the outbreak of the
war he was in business with his father in Galena,
111, Lincoln kept watch of him. He began to
think that Grant was the man who should com-
mand the armies.
Lincoln's acknowledgment
The President's trustful way of dealing with
his generals is so well illustrated in a letter to
Grant that, for this reason, as well as for the
intrinsic interest of the letter, it is here given
in full.
"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 in-
estimable 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 trans-
ports, 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 north-
ward, east of the Big Black, 1 thought it was a
mistake. I now wish to make the personal ac-
knowledgment that you were right and I was
wrong."
There was surely no call for this confession,
no reason for the letter, except the bigness of the
writer's heart. It was just such a letter as a
234 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
father might write a son. It was the production
of a high grade of manliness.
THE PRESIDENT DEFENDS GRANT
Prominence always brings envy, fault-finding,
hostility. From this Grant did not escape. The
more brilliant and uniform his successes, the
more clamorous a certain class of people became.
When they argued that Grant could not possibly
be a good soldier, Lincoln replied, "I like him; he
fights." When they charged him with drunken-
ness, Lincoln jocularly proposed that they ascer-
tain the brand of the whiskey he drank and buy
up a large amount of the same sort to send to
his other generals, so that they might win vic-
tories like him !
Grant's important victories in the West came
in rapid and brilliant succession. Forts Henry
and Donelson were captured in February, 1862.
The battle of Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing, was
fought in April of the same year. Vicksburg
surrendered July 4, 1863. And the battle of
Chattanooga took place in November of that
year.
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL
In February, 1864, Congress passed an act
creating the office of Lieutenant-General. The
President approved that act on Washington's
birthday, and nominated Grant for that office.
The Senate confirmed this nomination on March
2, and Grant was ordered to report at Wash-
ington.
With his usual promptness he started at once
for the capital, arriving there March 8. The
LINCOLN AND HIS GENERALS 235
laconic conversation which took place between
the President and the general has been reported
about as follows:
"\Miat do you want me to do?"
"To take Richmond. Can you do it?"
"Yes, if you furnish me troops enough."
DUTY FIRST
As soon as he received his commission. Grant
visited the Army of the Potomac. Upon his
return Mrs. Lincoln planned to give a dinner in
his honor. But this was not to his taste. He
said, "Mrs. Lincoln must excuse me. I must
be in Tennessee at a given time."
"But," replied the President, "we can't excuse
you. Mrs. Lincoln's dinner without you would
be Hamlet with Hamlet left out."
"I appreciate the honor Mrs. Lincoln would do
me," he said, "but time is very important now —
and really — Mr. Lincoln — I have had enough of
this show business."
On March 17 General Grant assumed com-
mand of the armies of the United States with
headquarters in the field. He was evidently in
earnest. As Lincoln had cordially offered help
and encouragement to all the other generals, so
he did to Grant. The difference between one
general and another was not due to Lincoln's
oft"er of help, or refusal to give it, but there was
a difference in the way in which his offers were
received and acted upon.
236 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
THE PRESIDENT STUDIES MILITARY SCIENCE
It has been recorded that Lincohi had, for the
sake of comprehending the significance of one
word, mastered Euchd after he became a lawyer.
There is a similar evidence of the same thor-
oughness and force of will. During the months
when the Union armies were accomplishing noth-
ing, he procured the necessary books and set him-
self, in the midst of all his administrative cares,
to the task of learning the science of war. That
he achieved more than ordinary success will now
surprise no one who is familiar with his char-
acter. His military sagacity is attested by so
high an authority as General Sherman. Other
generals have expressed their surprise and grati-
fication at his knowledge and penetration in mili-
tary affairs.
GREAT FELLOW-WORKERS
Side by side Lincoln and Grant labored, each
in his own department, until the war was ended
and their work was done. Though so different,
they were actuated by the same spirit. Not even
the Southern generals themselves had deeper
sympathy with, or greater tenderness for, the
mass of the Confederate soldiers. It was the
same magnanimity in Lincoln and Grant that
sent the conquered army, after final defeat, back
to the industries of peace that the men might
be able to provide against their sore needs.
WILLIAM T. SHERMAN
Norman Hapgood, in his excellent Abraham
Lincoln, gives us some pleasant glimpses of the
LINCOLN AND HIS GENERALS 237
President's relations with General Sherman,
which we take the liberty of presenting here.
General Sherman first met Lincoln in March,
1 86 1, when he was introduced by his brother
John, who said, "INIr. President, this is my
brother, Colonel Sherman, who is just up from
Louisiana ; he may give you some information
you want."
"Ah," said Lincoln, "how are they getting
along down there?"
"They think they are getting along swim-
mingly — they are preparing for war."
"Oh, well," replied the President, "I guess
we'll manage to keep house."
The young soldier was disgusted enough, and
emphatically told his brother what he thought of
politicians in general.
After Bull Run Sherman received a pleasanter
impression of his chief. He saw him riding one
day with Seward in an open hack and asked if
they were going to his camps.
"Yes," said Lincoln; "we heard that you had
got over the big scare, and we thought we would
come over and see the boys."
As always after a defeat, the President wanted
to encourage everybody, and wished to address
the soldiers. Sherman asked him to discourage
cheering, noise, or other confusion, saying they
had had enough of that before Bull Run to ruin
any lot of fighting men. Lincoln took the sug-
gestion with good nature. He then made from
his carriage what Sherman calls "one of the
neatest, best, and most feeling addresses I ever
listened to." At one or two points the soldiers
began to cheer. "Don't cheer, boys," said Lin-
coln, "I confess I rather like it myself, but Colo-
238 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
nel Sherman here says it is not military, and I
guess we had better defer to his opinion." In
conclusion, he told the men that as he was their
Commander-in-chief, he was determined the sol-
diers should have everything the law allowed,
and requested them to appeal to him personally
if they were wronged. "The eftect of this
speech," says Sherman, "was excellent."
Later an officer forced his way through the
crowd, and said, "Air. President, I have a griev-
ance." He then told that Colonel Sherman had
threatened to shoot him. After looking at him,
and then at Sherman, Lincoln, stepping toward
the officer, said, in a stage whisper, "Well, if I
were you, and he threatened to shoot. I wouldn't
trust him, for I believe he would do it."
The officer left and the men laughed. Sher-
man explained the facts, and Lincoln said, "Of
course, I didn't know anything about it, but I
thought you knew your own business best."
Lincoln's relations to Sherman after he came
to high command were of the most friendly sort.
He told him later in the war that he was always
grateful to him and to Grant because they never
scolded him.
AN ANTICLIMAX
"Lincoln," says Noah Brooks, "always com-
posed slowly, and he often wrote and rewrote
his more elaborate productions several times. I
happened to be with him often while he was
composing his message to Congress, which was
sent in while Sherman was on his march through
Georgia. There was much speculation as to
where Sherman had gone, and the secret was
very well preserved. The President hoped, from
LINCOLN AND HIS GENERALS 239
day to da}', that Sherman would be heard from,
or that something would happen to enlighten
'and possibly congratulate the country,' as he
put it. But December came and there were no
tidings from Sherman, though everybody was
hungry with expectation, and feverish with anx-
iety.
"The President's message was first written with
pencil on stiff sheets of white pasteboard, or box-
board, a good supply of which he kept by him.
These sheets, five or six inches wide, could be
laid on the writer's knee, as he sat comfortably
in his armchair, in his favorite position, with his
legs crossed. One night, taking one of these
slips out of his drawer, with a great affectation
of confidential secrecy, he said:
" T expect you want to know all about Sher-
man's raid?'
"Naturally I answered in the affirmative, when
he said :
" 'Well, then, I'll read you this paragraph from
my message.'
"The paragraph, however, was curiously non-
committal, merely referring to 'General Sher-
man's attempted march of three hundred miles
directly through the insurgent region,' and gave
no indication whatever of the direction of the
march, or of the point from which news from
him was expected.
"Laying the paper down and taking off his
spectacles, the President laughed heartily at my
disappointment, but added, kindly,
" 'Well, my dear fellow, that's all that Con-
gress will know about it, anyhow.' "
240 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
THE PRESIDENT S WAR DESPATCHES
Lincoln was sometimes critical and even sar-
castic when events moved slowly, or when un-
satisfactory results that seemed to be demanded
by the immediate conditions were lacking, but
he never failed to commend when good news
came, as in the following:
"August 17, 1864, 10.30 A.M.
"Lieutenant-General Grant, City Point, \^a. :
I have seen your despatch expressing unwilling-
ness to break your hold where you are. Neither
am I willing. Hold on with a bulldog grip, and
chew and choke as much as possible.
"A. Lincoln."
ADVICE TO HOOKER
On June 5, 1863, Lincoln warned General
Hooker not to run any risk of being entangled
on the Rappahannock "like an ox jumped half
over a fence and liable to be torn by dogs, front
and rear, without a fair chance to gore one way
or kick the other."'
June 10 he warned Hooker not to go south
of the Rappahannock upon Lee's moving north
of it. "I think Lee's army, and not Richmond
is your true objective point. If he comes toward
the upper Potomac, follow on his flank, and on
the inside track, shortening your lines while he
lengthens his. Fight him. too, when opportunity
oilers. If he stay where he is. fret him, and fret
him."
June 14 he says: "So far as we can make out
here, the enemy have ]\Iilroy surrounded at ^^'in-
LINCOLN AND HIS GENERALS 241
Chester and Tyler at Martinsburg. If they could
hold out for a few days, could you help them?
If the head of Lee's army is at ]\Iartinsburg, and
the tail of it on the plank road between Freder-
icksburg and Chancellorsville, the animal must
be very slim somewhere; could you not break
him?"
HOW LINCOLN SWORE
On one occasion, Lincoln, when entering the
telegraph office, was heard to remark to Secre-
tary Seward, "By jings! Governor, we are here
at last." Turning to him in a reproving manner,
Mr. Seward said, "Mr. President, where did you
learn that inelegant expression?" Without re-
plying to the Secretary, ]\Ir. Lincoln addressed
the operators, saying:
"Young gentlemen, excuse me for swearing
before you. 'By jings' is swearing, for my good
mother taught me that anything that had a 'by'
before it was swearing."
The only time, however, that Lincoln was ever
heard really to swear in the telegraph office was
on the occasion of his receiving a telegram from
Burnside, who had been ordered a week before
to go to the relief of Rosecrans, at Chattanooga,
then in great danger of an attack from Bragg. On
that day Burnside telegraphed from Jonesboro,
farther away from Rosecrans than he was when
he received the order to hurry toward him.
When Burnside's telegram was placed in Lin-
coln's hands he said, "Damn Jonesboro." He
then telegraphed Burnside;
242
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
"September 21. 1863.
"If you are to do any good to Rosecrans it will
not do to waste time with Jonesboro. . . .
"A. Lincoln."
AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK
An officer of low volunteer rank persisted in
telling and retelling his troubles to the President
on a summer afternoon when Lincoln was tired
and careworn. After listening patiently, he
finally turned upon the man, and, looking wear-
ily out upon the broad Potomac in the distance,
said in a peremptory tone that ended the inter-
view:
"Now, my man, go away, go away! I cannot
meddle in your case. I could as easily bail out
the Potomac River with a teaspoon as to attend
to all the details of the army."
CHAPTER XXII
Lincoln and His Soldiers
I Lincoln's life, says James Morgan, in his
^ Abraham Lincoln, was filled with striking con-
trasts. For this careless captain of a company
of unruly rustics in the Black Hawk War to be-
come the Commander-in-chief of a million sol-
diers, a mightier force of warriors than any
conquering monarch of modern times ever as-
sembled, was perhaps the strangest fortune that
befell him. In four years he called to his com-
mand two and a half millions of men, probably
a greater number than followed the eagles of
Napoleon in all his twenty years of campaigning
from Areola to Waterloo.
Yet, as Morgan tells us, this unparalleled mar-
tial power never touched the ambition of Lin-
coln. He cared nothing for the pomp of arms,
the pride of rank, or the glory of war. This
man, who could say to ten hundred thousand
armed troops, go, and they would go, come, and
they would come, held himself to be no more
than the equal of the least among them. While
he stood toward all as a comrade rather than a
commander, they looked up to him in perfect
trust, and delighted to hail him as "Father
Abraham."
It was enough for him to touch his hat to a
general, but he liked to bare his head to the
boys in the ranks. He himself created generals
244 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
by the hundreds, but in his eyes the private sol-
dier was the handiwork of the Ahiiighty.
If he passed the White House guard twenty
times a day, he always saluted its members. He
knew by name every man in the company which
watched over him in his rest at the Soldiers'
Home, and was the real friend of all, heartily
enjoying an occasional cup of coffee at their
mess and the little jokes they played on one
another. If any were missing, he noticed their
absence, and if they were sick, he never forgot
to ask about them.
The many military hospitals, crowded with
human suffering, that sprang up in Washington,
were his special care. He visited and cheered
the wounded, pausing beside their cots of pain,
bending upon them his pitying gaze and laying
his great hand tenderly on their fevered brows.
He remembered and watched those who were in
peril of death, and eagerly welcomed any signs
of improvement in their condition, while he
joked with those who were well enough to take
a joke.
The sympathy of most men who get to be
presidents, governors, or statesmen can be
reached only through their heads. It becomes
a thing of the mind, filtered and cooled by an
intellectual process. Lincoln's sympathies al-
ways remained where nature herself placed them,
in the heart, and thence they freely flowed, un-
hindered by reflection and calculation. Kind-
ness with him was an impulse and not a duty.
His benevolence was far from scientific, yet he
was so shrewd a judge of human nature that he
seldom was cheated.
The stone walls of the White House no more
LINCOLN AND HIS SOLDIERS 245
shut him in from his fellows, from the hopes and
sorrows, the poverty and the pride of the plain
people, than did the unhewn logs behind which
he shivered and hungered in his boyhood home.
A mother's tears, a baby's cry, a father's plea, an
empty sleeve, or a crutch never failed to move
him.
These beautiful tributes of Morgan are jus-
tified by all that other biographers of Lincoln
have told, by all that his reverent countrymen
so well know of his character and life,
THE president's LOVE FOR THE SOLDIERS
To their Commander-in-chief the boys in blue
were as sons. On him as on no one else the
burden of the nation's troubles rested. It may
with reverence be said that he "bore our sor-
rows, he carried our grief," Not only was this
true in general, but in specific cases his actions
showed it. \\'hen soldiers were under sentence
from court-martial — many of them mere boys —
the sentence came to Lincoln for approval. If
he could find any excuse whatever for pardon
he would grant it. His tendency to pardon, his
leaning toward the side of mercy, became pro-
verbial, and greatly annoyed some of the gen-
erals who feared military discipline would be
destroyed. But he would not turn a deaf ear
to the plea of mercy, and he could not see in it
any permanent danger to the Republic, One or
two examples will stand fairly for a large num-
ber. When a boy was sentenced to death for de-
sertion, he said:
"Must I shoot a simple-minded soldier boy
who deserts, and not touch a hair of the wily
246 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
agitator who induces him to desert ? I think that
in such a case, to silence the agitator and save
the boy, is not only constitutional, but withal a
great mercy."'
Early in the war he pardoned a boy who was
sentenced to be shot for sleeping at his post as
sentinel. By way of explanation the President
said : "I could not think of going into eternity
with the blood of that poor young man on my
skirts. It is not to be wondered at that a boy,
raised on a farm, probably in the habit of going
to bed at dark, should, when required to watch,
fall asleep ; and I cannot consent to shoot him for
such an act." The sequel is romantic. The dead
body of this boy was found among the slain on
the field of the battle of Fredericksburg. Next
his heart was a photograph of the President
on which he had written "God bless President
Abraham Lincoln !"
HIS TENDER COMPASSION
In November, 1864, he wrote to ^Irs. Bixby,
of Boston, ]\Iass., the following letter which
needs no comment or explanation :
"Dear Madam : I have been shown, in the files
of the War Department, a statement of the Ad-
jutant-General of ]\Iassachusetts, that you are
the mother of five sons who have died gloriously
on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruit-
less must be any words of mine which should
attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss
so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from
tendering to you the consolation that may be
found in the thanks of the Republic they died to
LINCOLN AND HIS SOLDIERS 247
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."
THE PRICE OF PARDOX
The account of Lincoln's interview with \\"\\~
Ham Scott, a boy from a \'ermont farm, who,
after marching forty-eight hours without sleep,
volunteered to stand guard for a sick comrade,
is a very touching story. Weariness overcame
the young soldier, he was found asleep at his
post, near the enemy, and was tried and sen-
tenced to be shot. The President heard of the
case, went to the tent where Scott was imder
guard, and talked to him kindly, asking about
his home, his schoolmates, and particularly about
his mother. The lad took her picture from his
pocket and showed it to him in silence. Lincoln
was deeply moved. As he rose to leave, he laid
his hand on the prisoner's shoulder.
"My boy," he said, "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 your regiment.
Now, I want to know what you intend to pay
for all this?"
The lad could hardly speak, but at last replied
that he did not know. He and his people were
poor, he said, but they would do what they
could. There was his pay, and a little in the
2 48 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
savings-bank. They could borrow something
by a mortgage on the farm. Perhaps his com-
rades would help. If the President would wait
till pay-day possibly they might get together
five or six hundred dollars. Would that be
enough? The President shook his head and
answered :
"My bill is a great deal more than that; it is
a very large one. Your friends cannot pay it,
nor your family, nor your farm. There is only
one man in the world who can pay it, and his
name is William Scott. If from this day he does
his duty so that when he comes to die he can
truly say, T have kept the promise I gave the
President ; I have done my duty as a soldier,'
then the debt will be paid."
Returning to his regiment, William Scott paid
the debt in full when, a few months later, he
gave up his life on the battlefield.
IGNORING TECHNICALITY
For terseness, decision, and sensibleness de-
fiant of military punctilio, nothing could surpass
the following note sent by the President to the
Secretary of War.
"I personally wish Jacob Freese of New Jer-
sey appointed colonel of a colored regiment, and
this regardless of whether he can tell the exact
color of Julius Csesar's hair."
"l don^t believe shooting will do him any
good"
'A Senator in Washington, learning that a
young soldier whom he had induced to enlist had
LINCOLN AND HIS SOLDIERS 249
been sentenced to be shot, went to the Secretary
of War and urged a reprieve. The Secretary
repHed :
"Too many cases of this kind have been let
off, and it is time an example was made."
Finding that all his arguments were in vain^
the Senator said :
"Well, ]\Ir. Secretary, the boy is not going to
be shot — of that I give you fair warning!"
Leaving the War Department, he went directly
to the White House, although the hour was late.
After a long parley with the sentry on duty, he
passed in. The President had retired ; but the
Senator pressed his way through all obstacles
to his sleeping-apartment. In an excited man-
ner he stated that the despatch announcing the
hour of execution had but just reached him.
"This man must not be shot, Mr. President,"
said he. "I can't help what he may have done.
Wliy, he is an old neighbor of mine ; I can't
allow him to be shot!"
Lincoln had remained in bed, quietly listening
to the protestations of his old friend, who had
been in Congress with him, and at length said :
"Well, I don't believe shooting will do him any
good. Give me that pen."
And so saying, he prolonged another poor fel-
low's lease of life.
THE WOUNDED CONFEDERATE BOY
On one occasion, when wounded soldiers were
being removed, as a stretcher was passing Mr.
Lincoln, he heard the voice of a suffering lad
calling to his mother in agonizing tones. His
great heart filled. He forgot the crisis of the
250 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
hour. Stopping the carriers, he knelt, and bend-
ing over the boy, asked tenderly :
"What can I do for you, my poor child?"
"Oh, you will do nothing for me," the boy re-
plied. "You are a Yankee. I cannot hope my
message to my mother will ever reach her."
Mr. Lincoln, in tears, with a voice of tenderest
love, convinced the boy of his sincerity, and the
lad gave his good-by words without reserve.
These the President directed to be copied and
sent that night, under a flag of truce, into .the
enemy's lines.
JUSTICE FOR ALL
Senator J. F. Wilson, in pleading the cause of
a soldier wrongfully accused of desertion, and
flnding the Secretary of War inexorable, "ap-
pealed to Caesar," and procured an overriding
order from the President, which Stanton finally
obeyed. When Wilson announced the result to
Mr. Lincoln, the President said:
"Well, I am glad you stuck to it, and that it
ended as it did ; for I meant it should so end,
though I had to give it personal attention. A
private soldier has as much right to justice as a
major-general."
"put yourself in his place"
The following incident is related by David R.
Locke ("Petroleum V. Nasby").
I was in Washington once more in 1864. . . .
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
LINCOLN AND HIS SOLDIERS 251
to the front very certain of her faith fnhiess, as
a young man should be, and he made an excel-
lent soldier. ... It is needless to say that the
young girl had another lover whom she had re-
jected for the young volunteer. . . . Taking ad-
vantage of the absence of the favored suitor, the
discarded one renewed his suit with great vehe-
mence, and rumors reached the young man at
the front that his love had gone over to the
enemy, and that he was in danger of losing her
altogether.
He immediately applied for a furlough, which
was refused him, and, half mad and reckless of
consecjuences, he deserted. He found the infor-
mation he had received to be partially true, but
he came in time. 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.
'T 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."
HARDTACK NOT GENERALS
Lincoln particularly liked a joke at the ex-
pense of the dignity of some high civil or mili-
tary official. One day, not long before his sec-
ond inauguration, he asked a friend if he had
heard about Stanton's meeting a picket on Broad
River, South Carolina, and then told this story:
"General Foster, then at Port Royal, escorted
2^2
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
the Secretary up the river, taking a quarter-
master's tug. Reaching the outer Hnes on the
river, a picket roared from the bank, 'Who have
you got on board that tug?' The severe and
dignified answer was, 'The Secretary of War
and ]\Iajor-General Foster.' Instantly the picket
roared back, 'We've got major-generals enough
up here — whv don't vou bring us up some hard-
tack?"
The story tickled Lincoln mightily, and he told
it until it was replaced by a new one.
CHAPTER XXIII
Defeats and Victories
The first great battle of the Civil War was
that of Bull Run, so called from the name of the
small stream near which it was fought, July 21,
1 86 1. The battlefield was in Virginia, some
thirty miles southwest of Washington.
NO "picnic"
It is not within the scope of this volume to
enter into the details of this or any battle. There-
fore, a few words must suffice here. The Con-
federates were all day receiving fresh reinforce-
ments. The Federals had been on their feet since
two o'clock in the morning. By three o'clock in
the afternoon, after eleven hours of activity and
five hours of fighting in the heat of a July day
in Virginia, these men were tired, thirsty, hun-
gry — worn out. Then came the disastrous panic
and the demoralization. A large portion of the
army started in a race for Washington, the civil-
ians in the lead.
The disaster was terrible, but there is nothing
to gain by magnifying it. Some of the oldest
and best armies in the world have been broken
into confusion quite as badly as this army of
raw recruits. They did not so far lose heart
that they were not able to make a gallant stand
at Centerville and successfully check the pursuit
of the enemy. It was said that Washington was
254 ABRAHAM LIXCOLN
at the mercy of the Confederates, but it is more
likely that they had so felt the valor of the foe
that they were unfit to pursue the retreating
army. It was a hard battle on both sides. Xo
one ever accused the Confederates of cowardice,
and they surely wanted to capture Washington.
That they did not do so is ample proof that the
battle was not a picnic to them. It had been
boasted that one Southern man could whip five
Northern men. This catchy phrase fell into
disuse.
Although the victorious forces were eilfective-
ly checked at Centerville. those who fled in ab-
solute rout and uncontrollable panic were enough
to give the occasion a lasting place in history.
Loyal citizens who had gone to see the battle had
not enjoyed their trip. Northern soldiers who
had thought that this war was a sort of picnic
had learned that the foe was formidable. The
Administration that had expected to crush the in-
surrection by one decisive blow became vaguely
conscious of the fact that the war was here to
stay months and years.
The effect of the battle of Bull Run on the
South was greatly to encourage its people and
add to their enthusiasm. The effect on the North
was to deepen the determination to save the flag,
to open the people's eyes to the fact that the
Southern power was strong. \\'ith renewed zeal
they girded themselves for the conflict.
THE BURDENED PRESIDENT
But the great burden fell on Lincoln. He was
disappointed that the insurrection was not and
could not be crushed bv one decisive blow. There
DEFEATS AND VICTORIES 255
was need of more time, more men, more money,
and more blood must be shed. These thoughts
and the relative duties were to him, with his pe-
culiar temperament, a severer trial, perhaps, than
they could have been to any other man living.
He would not shrink from doing his full duty,
however difficult its performance might be.
It made an old man of him. The night before
he decided to send provisions to Sumter he slept
not a wink. That was one of many nights when
he did not sleep, and there were many mornings
when he tasted no food. But weak, fasting,
worn, aging as he was, he was always at his post
of duty. The most casual observer could see the
inroads which these mental cares made upon his
giant body.
THE MIDDLE PERIOD
The middle period of the war was gloomy and
discouraging. Antietam, to be sure, was won
from Lee by IMcClellan (September 17, 1862),
but the fruits of the victory were lost — the Army
of the Potomac was too much exhausted, it was
said, for pursuit. For many months the hostile
armies continued facing each other, and for the
most part they were much nearer Washington
than Richmond.
Meantime summer, fall, and winter were pass-
ing by and there was no tangible evidence that
the Government would ever be able to maintain
its authority. All this time the Army of the
Potomac was magnificent in numbers, equipment,
intelligence. The one thing it needed was lead-
ership. The South had generals of the first
grade. The generalship of the North had not
yet fully developed.
256 ABRAHAM LIXCOLN
TRYING OUT THE GEXERALS
Lincoln held on to McClellan as long as it was
possible to do so. He never resented that offi-
cer's personal discourtesies. He never wearied
of the fruitless task of urging him on. Except
among Northern Democrats with Southern sym-
pathies, who from the first were sure of only
one thing — that the war was a failure — the clam-
or for the removal of IMcClellan was well-nigh
unanimous. To this clamor Lincoln yielded
only when it became manifestly foolish longer
to resist it.
But who should take McClellan's place? In
all the armies there was at that time no general
whose successes were so conspicuous as to point
him out as the coming man. But there were
generals who had done and then were doing
good service. General Ambrose E. Burnside
was at the height of his achievements. He was
accordingly appointed to succeed McClellan.
Burnside's one battle as commander of the
Armv of the Potomac was fought against Lee
at Fredericksburg, on December 13, 1862, and
resulted in his being repulsed with terrible
slaughter.
The next experiment was with General Joseph
Hooker, a valiant and able man, whose warlike
qualities are indicated by his well-earned sobri-
quet of "Fighting Joe," although he had his lim-
itations. When appointing him to the command
Lincoln wrote him a personal letter. This letter
(given elsewhere in the present edition) is a per-
fect illustration of the kindly patience of the man
in whom so much patience was required.
The first effect of this letter was to subdue the
DEFEATS AND VICTORIES 257
fractious spirit of the fighter. He said : "That
is just such a letter as a father might write to
a son. It is a beautiful letter, and although I
think he was harder on me than I deserved, I
will say that I love the man who wrote it."
It was in January, 1863, that Hooker took
command of the Army of the Potomac, with
Lee for his great opponent. Three months later
he had it in shape for the campaign, and Lincoln
went down to see the review. It was indeed a
magnificent army, an inspiring sight.
But soon (May 2-4) came Chancellorsville
with its sickening consequences. When the news
of Hooker's defeat came to Washington, the
President, with streaming eyes, could only ex-
claim : "My God, my God! what will the coun-
try say?"
Hooker was succeeded in June by General
George G. Meade, "four-eyed George," as he
was playfully called by his loyal soldiers, in allu-
sion to his eye-glasses. Under him, a few days
later (July 1-3), the great battle of Gettysburg
was fought, and a most important but dearly
won victory achieved. But here, as at Antietam,
the triumph was bitterly marred by the disap-
pointment that followed. The victorious army
let the defeated army get away. The excuse
was much the same as at Antietam — the Federal
troops were tired out. But it may be assumed
that the defeated army was also tired. Again was
lost what appears to have been a golden oppor-
tunity to destroy Lee's army and end the war.
Here were three men — Burnside, Hooker, and
IMeade — all good men and gallant soldiers. But
not one of them was able successfully to com-
mand so large an army, or to do the thing that
258 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
appeared to be most needed — to capture Rich-
mond. The future hero had not yet won the
attention of the country.
DARK DAYS
In the mean time aflfairs were very dark for
the Administration. Up to the summer of 1863,
as we have seen, they had been growing darker
and darker. Some splendid mihtary success had
been accomplished in the West, but in Mrginia
the Confederate army was almost within sight
of the capital, and the Western victories did not
have as much influence as they should have had.
The President did what he could. He had
thus far held the divided North, and prevented
a European alliance with the Confederates. He
now used, one by one, the most extreme meas-
ures. He suspended the writ of habeas corpus,
declared or authorized martial law, authorized
the confiscation of the property of those who
were giving aid and comfort to the enemy, called
! for troops by conscription when volunteering
-' ceased, and enlisted negro troops. Any person
who studies the character of Abraham Lincoln
will realize that these measures, or most of them,
came from him with great reluctance. He was
not a man who would readily or lightly adopt
such means. They meant that the country was
pressed, hard pressed. They were extreme meas-
ures, not congenial to his accustomed lines of
thought. They were military necessities.
But what Lincoln looked for, longed for, was
the man who could skilfully and successfully use
the great Army of the Potomac. He had not
yet been discovered.
DEFEATS AND VICTORIES 259
A BREAK IN THE CLOUDS
Let US return briefly to the battle of Gettys-
burg. When General Meade accepted the re-
sponsibility of commanding the Army of the
Potomac, he did so in a modest and soldierly
spirit, and he quit himself like a man. When
Lee invaded Pennsylvania his objective point
was not known. He might capture Harrisburg
or Philadelphia, or both. He would probably
desire to cut off all communication with Wash-
ington. The only thing to do was to overtake
him and force a battle. He himself realized this
and was fully decided not to give battle but fight
only on the defensive. Curiously enough, Meade
also decided not to attack, but to fight on the
defensive. The result was Gettysburg, and the
battle was not fought in accordance with the
plan of either commander. Uncontrollable events
forced the conflict then and there.
RESULTS AT GETTYSBURG
The scope of this volume does not permit the
description of this great battle, and only some
of the results may be given. The evening of
July I closed in with the Union army holding
out, but with the advantages, such as they were,
on the Confederate side. The second day the
fight was fiercely renewed and closed with no
special advantage on either side. On the third
day it was still undecided till, in the afternoon,
the climax came in Pickett's famous charge.
This was made by the very flower of the Con-
federate army, and the hazard of the charge
was taken by General Lee against the earnest
2 6o ABRAHAM LINCOLN
advice of Longstreet. The brave men who made
the desperate attempt were repulsed and routed,
and that decided the battle. Lee's armv was
turned back and the invasion was a failure.
Gettysburg was the greatest battle ever fought
in the western hemisphere, and has been ranked
among the decisive battles of the world. The
troops numbered between 70,000 and 80,000 on
each side. When the enemy was in retreat, not
all that President Lincoln could say availed to
persuade Meade to renew the attack. When Lee
reached the Potomac he found the river so swol-
len as to be impassable. He could only wait
for the waters to subside or for time to impro-
vise a pontoon bridge.
When, after waiting for ten days, Meade was
finally aroused to make the attack, he was just
one day too late. Lee had got his army safely
into \'irginia^ and the war was not over.
FALL OF VICKSBURG
On the afternoon of July 3, almost at the very
time that Pickett was making his charge, there
was in progress, a thousand miles to the south-
west, an event of almost equal importance to the
Union cause with the battle of Gettysburg. Just
outside the fortifications of Vicksburg, under an
oak-tree. General Grant had met the Confederate
General Pemberton, to negotiate terms of sur-
render after protracted operations against the
place. Vicksburg commanded the Mississippi
River and was supposed to be impregnable. Few
cities have been situated more favorably to resist
either attack or siege. But Admiral Porter got
his gunboats below the city, running the batteries
DEFEATS AND VICTORIES 261
ill the night, and Grant's investment was com-
plete. The enemy's forces were ahnost starved
out, and at last they found their condition to be
hopeless.
General Grant occupied Vicksburg July 4, and
the magnanimous conquerors treated its brave
defenders with all permissible consideration. The
account by Nicolay and Hay ends with the fol-
lowing grateful reflection: "It is not the least
of the glories gained by the Army of the Ten-
nessee in this wonderful campaign that not a
single cheer went up from the Union ranks, not
a single word [was spoken] that could offend
their beaten foes."
The sequel to this victory came ten months
later in Sherman's march to the sea, not less
thrilling in its conception and dramatic in its
execution than any battle or siege. Much fight-
ing skilful generalship, long patience were re-
quired before this crowning act could be accom-
plished, but it came in due time and was one of
the finishing blows to the Confederacy. It came
as a logical result of the fall of Vicksburg.
After the Gettysburg and Vicksburg triumphs,
the feeling was general throughout the North
that we were now on the way to a successful
issue of the war. The end was almost in sight.
THANKSGIVING
On July 15, 1863, the President issued a
proclamation, designating August 6 as a day of
thanksgiving. Later in the year he issued an-
other thanksgiving proclamation, designating the
last Thursday in November. Previous to that
time, certain' States, and not a few individuals.
262 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
were in the habit of observing a thanksgiving day
in November. Indeed, the custom, in a desultory
way, dates back to Plymouth Colony. But these
irregular and uncertain observances never took
on the semblance of a national holiday. The
national Thanksgiving dates from the proclama-
tion issued October 3, 1863. From that day to
this, every President has every year followed
that example.
It is now plain that after July 4, 1863, the
final result of the Civil War was no longer doubt-
ful. So Lincoln felt. There were indeed some
who continued to cry that the war was a failure,
but in such cases the wish may have been father
to the thought.
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT
Besides, the commander for whom the Presi-
dent and the country had been so long and anx-
iously looking was gradually revealing himself,
and was at length to assume his place at the head
of victorious Federal armies. General Grant,
I who had done excellent work before he took
Vicksburg, continued his successful activities.
, After the fall of Vicksburg he was placed in
command of the Military Division of the Mis-
sissippi, and with able subordinates he conducted
the operations that resulted in the final defeat
of General Bragg at Chattanooga. Grant was
made Lieutenant-General, and in March, 1864,
he took command of the armies of the United
States, thereafter having his headquarters with
the Army of the Potomac, which at last he was
to lead to victory.
CHAPTER XXIV
The Emancipator
The institution of slavery was hateful to the
humane and liberty-loving nature of Lincoln.
But he knew that "slavery was tolerated by the
Constitution, and by special laws enacted within
its provisions, though he believed that the later
expansion of the system was contrary to the spirit
and intent of the' men who framed the Consti-
tution. He believed that slaveholders had legal
rights which should be respected by all orderly
citizens. His sympathy with the slave did not
cripple his consideration for the slaveholder who
had inherited property in that form, and under
a constitution and laws which he did not orig-|
inate and for which he was not responsible. t
Lincoln would destroy slavery root and branch,
but he would do it in a manner conformable to
the Constitution, not in violation of it. He would
exterminate it, but he would not so do it as to
impoverish law-abiding citizens whose property
was in slaves. He would eliminate slavery, but
not in a way to destroy the country, for that •
would entail more mischief than benefit. To use
a figure, he would throw Jonah overboard, but
he would not upset the ship in the act.
REASONS FOR DELAY
In the early part of the war there were cer-
tain attempts at emancipation which Lincoln held
2 64 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
in check for the reason that the time for them
had not arrived. Were the Union destroyed, it
would be the death-blow to the cause of eman-
cipation. At the same time not a few slavehold-
ers were loyal men. To alienate these by pre-
mature action would be disastrous. The only
wise plan was to wait patiently till a sufificient
number of these could be depended on in the
emergency of emancipation. This was what
Lincoln was doing.
To the loyal slaveholders of the border States
he made a proposal of compensated emancipation
which, to his great disappointment, they rejected.
In view of this unwise course, he cautioned them
that worse troubles for them might follow.
All this time, while holding back the eager
spirits of the abolitionists, he was preparing for
his final stroke. But it was of capital impor-
tance that this should not be premature. AIc-
Clellan's failure to take Richmond, and his per-
sistent delay, hastened the result. The Northern
people became more and more impatient. They
felt that something radical must be done, and
that quickly. But it was still necessary that Lin-
coln should be patient. As the bravest fireman
is the last to leave the burning structure, so the
wise statesman must hold himself in check until
the success of an important measure is assured
beyond a doubt.
QUESTION BEFORE THE CABINET
As the dreadful summer of 1862 advanced,
Lincoln noted surely that the time was at hand
when emancipation would be the master stroke.
In discussing the possibilities of this measure he
THE EMANCIPATOR 26?
D
seemed to take the opposite side. This was a
fixed habit with him. He drew out the thoughts
of other people. He was enabled to see the sub-
ject from all sides. Even after his mind was
made up to do a certain thing, he would still
argue against it. But in any other sense than
this he took counsel of no one upon the emanci-
pation measure. The work was his work. He
presented his tentative proclamation to the Cab-
inet on July 22, 1862. The story of this con-
ference is best told in Lincoln's words, as given
by F. B. Carpenter in his Six Months in the
White House.
Lincoln's own story about the emancipation
proclamation
"It had got to be midsummer, 1862. Things
had gone on from bad to worse, until I felt that
we had reached the end of our rope on the plan
of operations we had been pursuing ; that we had
about played our last card, and must change our
tactics or lose the game !
'T now determined upon the adoption of the
emancipation policy ; and, without consultation
with or knowledge of the Cabinet, I prepared
the original draft of the proclamation, and, after
much anxious thought, called a Cabinet meeting
upon the subject. This was the last of July or
the first part of August, 1862. , . . This Cabinet
meeting took place, I think, on a Saturday. All
were present excepting Mr. Blair, the Postmas-
ter-General, who . . . came in subsequently.
"I said to the Cabinet that I had resolved upon
this step, and had not called them together to
ask their advice, but to lay the subject-matter
2 66 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
of a proclamation before them ; suggestions . . .
would be in order, after they had heard it read.
. . . Various suggestions were offered. Secre-
tary Chase wished the language stronger in ref-
erence to the arming of the blacks. Mr. Blair,
after he came in^ deprecated the policy, on the
ground that it would cost the Administration the
fall elections. Nothing, however, was offered
that I had not fully anticipated and settled in
my own mind, until Secretary Seward spoke. He
said in substance :
" '^Ir. President, I approve of the proclama-
tion, but I question the expediency of its issue
at this juncture. The depression of the public
mind, consequent upon our repeated reverses, is
so great that I fear the effect of so important
a step. It may be viewed as the last measure
of an exhausted Government, a cry for help ; the
Government stretching forth its hands to Ethio-
pia, instead of Ethiopia stretching forth her hands
to the Government,' His idea," said the Presi-
dent, "was that it would be considered our last
shriek, on the retreat.
" 'Now,' continued jMr. Seward, 'while I ap-
prove the measure, I suggest, sir, that you post-
pone its issue, until you can give it to the coun-
try supported by military success, instead of
issuing it, as it would be now, upon the greatest
disasters of the war !' "
Air. Lincoln continued : "The wisdom of the
views of the Secretary of State struck me with
very great force. It was an aspect of the case
that, in all my thought upon the subject, I had
entirely overlooked. The result was that I put
the draft of the proclamation aside, as you do
your sketch for a picture, waiting for a victory.
THE EMANCIPATOR 267
From time to time I added or changed a line,
touching it up here and there, anxiously watch-
ing the progress of events.
"Well, the next news we had was of Pope's
disaster at Bull Run [second Battle of Bull Run,
August 30, 1862]. Things looked darker than
ever. Finally, came the week of the battle of
Antietam. I determined to wait no longer. The
news came, I think, on Wednesday, that the ad-
vantage was on our side. I was then staying at
the Soldiers' Home. Here I finished writing the
second draft of the preliminary proclamation ;
came up on Saturday ; called the Cabinet together
to hear it, and it was published the following
Monday."
Seward's amendment
At the final meeting of September 20 another
interesting incident occurred in connection with
Secretary Seward. The President had written
the important part of the proclamation in these
words :
"That, on the first day of January, in the year
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any
State or designated part of a State, the people
whereof shall then be in rebellion against the
United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and
forever free ; and the Executive Government of
the United States, including the military and
naval authority thereof, will recogni:;e the free-
dom of such persons, and will do no act or acts
to repress such persons, or any of them, in
any efforts they may make for their actual free-
dom."
"When I finished reading this paragraph," re-
2 68 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
sumed Mr, Lincoln, "Mr, Seward stopped me
and said, 'I think, Mr. President, that you should
insert after the word "recognize," in that sen-
tence, the words "and maintain." ' I replied that
I had already fully considered the import of that
expression, in this connection, but I had not in-
troduced it, because it was not my way to
promise what I was not entirely sure that I
could perform, and I was not prepared to say
that I thought we were exactly able to main-
tain this.
"But," said he, "Seward insisted that we ought
to take this ground ; and the words finally went
m!"
SIGNING THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION
The roll containing the Emancipation Procla-
mation was taken to Mr, Lincoln at noon on the
first day of January, 1863, by Secretary Seward
and his son Frederick. As it lay unrolled be-
fore him, Mr. Lincoln took a pen, dipped it in
the ink, moved his hand to the place for the
signature, held it a moment, then removed his
hand and dropped the pen. After a little hesi-
tation he again took up the pen and went through
the same movement as before. Mr. Lincoln then
turned to Mr. Seward and said :
"I have been shaking hands since nine o'clock
this morning, and my right arm is almost para-
lyzed. If my name ever goes into history it will
be for this act, and my whole soul is in it. If
my hand trembles when I sign the Proclamation,
all who examine the document hereafter will say,
'He hesitated.' "
He then turned to the table, took up the pen
again, and slowly, firmly, wrote Abraham Lin-
THE EMANCIPATOR 269
coin, with which the whole world is now familiar.
He then looked up, smiled, and said :
"That will do!"
VIA CHICAGO
He was just as ready to answer, instanter, the
affirmation of his opponents as he was to present
and vindicate his own. This striking peculiarity
of Mr. Lincoln's mental operations throws a
flood of light upon the searching questions he
propounded to the Chicago ministers who called
on him, in September, 1862, to demand of him
a proclamation of emancipation. After listening
to their appeal, he replied, pointedly :
"Now, gentlemen, if I cannot enforce the Con-
stitution down South, how am I to enforce a
mere Presidential proclamation? Won't the
world sneer at it as being as powerless as the
Pope's bull against the comet?" and they went
away sorrowing, in the erroneous belief that he
had decided the case adversely.
One of these ministers felt it his duty to make
a more searching appeal to the President's con-
science. Just as they were retiring, he turned
[ and said to Mr. Lincoln :
"What you have said to us, Mr. President,
compels me to say to you in reply, that it is a
message to you from our Divine blaster, 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 Mas-
ter, is' it not odd that the only channel he could
2-jo ABRAHAM LIXCOLN
send it by was the roundabout route by way of
that awful wicked city of Chicago?''
what's IX A NAME?
President Lincohi repHed to a deputation, one
of many who called to urge immediate emanci-
pation when the proposition was not yet framed
as a bill :
"If I issue a proclamation now, as you sug-
gest, it will be . . . ineffectual. ... It cannot
be forced. Now, by way of illustration, how
many legs will a sheep have if vou call his tail
a leg?"
They all answered: "Five."
"You are mistaken," said Lincoln, "for calling
a tail a leg does not make it one."
CHAPTER XXV
Reelection : End of the War
It was Lincoln's life-long habit to keep him-
! self close to the "plain people." He loved them.
' He declared that the Lord must love them or he
would not have made so many of them. He had
a profound realization of their importance to the
national prosperity. It was their instincts that
formed the national conscience. Their votes had
elected him; their arms had defended the capi-
tal; on their loyalty he counted for the ultimate
triumph of the Union cause. As his adminis-
trative policy progressed it was his concern not
to outstrip them so far as to lose their support.
In other words, he was to lead them, not run
away from them.
I UNION AND SLAVERY
Lincoln, shrewdly and fairly, analyzed the
factions of loyal people as follows : "We are in
civil war. In such cases there always is a main
question ; but in this case that question is a per-
plexing compound — L^^nion and slavery. It thus
becomes a question not of two sides merely, but
of at least four sides, even among those who are
for the L^nion, saying nothing of those who are
against it. Thus —
"Those who are for the Union with, but not
without, slavery ;
"Those for it without, but not with ;
272 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
"Those for it with or without, but prefer it
with ; and
"Those for it with or without, but prefer it
without.
"Among these again is a subdivision of those
who are for gradual, but not for immediate, and
those who are for immediate, but not for gradual,
extinction of slavery."
OPPOSITION TO THE PRESIDENT
One man who was in the political schemes of
that day says that in Washington there were
only three prominent politicians who were not
seriously discontented with and opposed to Lin-
coln. The three named were Conkling, Sumner,
and Wilson. Though there was undoubtedly a
larger number who remained loyal to their chief,
yet the discontent was general. The President
himself felt this. Nicolay and Hay have pub-
lished a note which impressively tells the sorrow-
ful story :
"Executive ]\Iansion,
"Washington, August 23, 1864.
"This morning, as for some days past, it seems
exceedingly probable that this Administration
will not be reelected. Then it will be my duty to
so cooperate with the President elect as to save
the Union between the election and the inaugura-
tion, as he will have secured his election on such
ground that he cannot possibly save it afterward.
"A. Lincoln."
Early in the year the discontent had broken
out in a disagreeable and dangerous form. The
REELECTION : END OF THE WAR 273
malcontents were casting about to find a candi-
date who would defeat Lincoln.
UNANIMOUS RENOMINATION
The Republican national convention assembled
in Baltimore, June 7, 1864. Lincoln's name was
presented, as in i860, by the State of Illinois.
On the first ballot he received every vote except
those from Missouri. Then the Missouri dele-
gates changed their votes and he was nominated
unanimously.
"not best to swap horses"
In reply to congratulations, he said, 'T do not
allow myself to suppose that either the conven-
tion or the [National Union] League have con-
cluded to decide that I am either the greatest or
best man in America, but rather that they have
concluded that it is not best to swap horses while
crossing the river, and have further concluded
that I am not so poor a horse that they might
not make a botch of it trying to swap."
That homely figure of "swapping horses while
crossing the river" caught the attention of the
country. It is doubtful if ever a campaign
speech, or any series of campaign speeches, was
so ef^'ective in winning and holding votes as that
one phrase.
WAR GOVERNORS
But the prospects during the summer — for
there was a period of five months from the nomi-
nation to the election — were anything but cheer-
ing. At this crisis there developed a means of
2 74 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
vigorous support which had not previously been
estimated at its full value. In every loyal State
there was a "war Governor," though a certain
group bore this title by preeminence. Upon
these executives the burdens of the war had
rested so heavily that they understood, as they
could not otherwise have done, the superlative
weight of cares that pressed on the President,
and they saw more clearly than they otherwise
could have seen, the danger in swapping horses
while crossing the river. These Governors ral-
lied with unanimity to sustain the President.
And the "plain people."' as well as the leading
patriots, were roused to support him.
LIXCOLX REELECTED
The Democrats nominated ]\IcClellan on the
general theory that the war was a failure. As
election day approached, the increased vigor with
which the war was prosecuted made it look less
like a failure, even though final success was not
in sight. The result of the election was what in
later days would be called a landslide. There
were 233 electors. Of this number 212 were
for Lincoln. The loyal Xorth was back of him.
He might now confidently gird himself for fin-
ishing the work.
Such was his kindliness of spirit that he was
not unduly elated by success, and never, either in
trial or achievement, did he become vindictive or
revengeful. After the election he was serenaded,
an i in acknowledgment he made a little speech.
Among other things he said, "Xow that the
election is over, may not all, having a common
interest, reunite in a common eflfort to save our
REELECTION : END OF THE WAR 275
common country? For my own part, I have
striven, and will strive, to place no obstacle in
the way. So long as I have been here / have not
willingly planted a thorn in a)iy man's bosom."
THE WAR NEARLY OVER
As the year 1864 neared its close, military
events manifestly approached a climax. In 1861
the armies of both North and South were mainly
composed of raw troops. But both sides now
had armies of seasoned veterans ; the generals
had been thoroughly tried, and their abilities
were known.
The North now also had a strong navy. The
Mississippi River was open from Alinnesota to
the Gulf of Mexico. Every Southern port was
more or less closely blockaded, and the Federal
Government was daily increasing its advantages.
The financial problem was perhaps the most
serious of all, but in this respect the South was
suffering more than the North. In fact, on the
Southern side matters were growing desperate.
The factor of time now counted against the
South, for except in military discipline its
chances had not improved during the progress
of the war. There was little hope either of for-
eign intervention or of eft'ectual reaction in the
North.
In August, 1864, Admiral Farragut stopped
blockade-running at Mobile, captured the Con-
federate ironclad Tennessee, and compelled the
surrender of Forts Gaines and Morgan and
other defences of Mobile Bay. General Grant
with his veterans was face to face with General
Lee and his veterans in \' irginia. General Sher-
276 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
man, with his splendid army, in the fall struck
through the territory of the Southern Confed-
eracy, and on December 21 he captured Savan-
nah — his "Christmas gift" to the President and
the Union.
The principal thing now to be done was the
destruction of the Confederate forces in Vir-
ginia. That and that only could end the war.
The sooner it should be done the better. Grant's
spirit cannot in a hundred pages be better ex-
pressed than in his well-known declaration, 'T
propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all
summer." It did take all summer and all win-
ter too, for the Confederates as well as the Fed-
erals had continued to be good fighters.
"let DAVIS go"
As the end came in sight, an awkward ques-
tion arose : What shall we do with Jefferson
Davis — if we catch him? This reminded the
President of a little story. 'T told Grant," he
said, "the story of an Irishman who had taken
Father Mathew's pledge. Soon thereafter, be-
coming very thirsty, he slipped into a saloon and
applied for a lemonade, and while it was being
mixed he whispered to the bar-tender, 'Av ye
could drap a bit o' brandy in it, all unbeknown
to meself, I'd make no fuss about it.' My notion
was that if Grant could let Jeff Davis escape all
unbeknown to himself, he was to let him go. I
didn't want him." Subsequent events proved the
sterling wisdom of this suggestion, for the coun-
try had no use for Davis when he was caught.
REELECTION : END OF THE WAR 277
SURRENDER OF LEE
Late in March, 1865, the President decided to
take a short vacation, said to be the first he had
had since entering the White House in 1861.
With a few friends he went to City Point on the
James River, where Grant had his headquarters.
General Sherman came up for a conference. The
two generals were confident that the end of the
w^ar was near, but they were also certain that
there must be at least one more great battle.
"Avoid this if possible," said the President.
"No more bloodshed, no more bloodshed."
On the second day of April both Richmond and
Petersburg were evacuated. On the 9th Lee sur-
rendered at Appomattox Court House. The
President was determined to see Richmond, and
started for the city under the care of Admiral
Porter.
THE PRESIDENT IN RICHMOND
The grandeur of the triumphal entry of the
President and his party into Richmond was en-
tirely moral, not in the least spectacular. There
were no triumphal arches, no martial music, no
applauding multitudes, no vast cohorts with fly-
ing banners and glittering arms. Only a few
American citizens, in plain clothes, on foot, es-
corted by ten marines. The central figure was
that of a man remarkably tall, homely, ill-
dressed, but with a countenance radiating joy
and good will. It was only thirty-six hours
since Jefferson Davis had fled, and the Confed-
erates had set fire to the city, which was still
burning.
278 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
THE FLAG ON SUMTER: THE WAR OVER
Johnston did not surrender to Sherman until
April 26, when Lee's surrender necessitated his.
It was now seen that it was a matter of but a
few days when the rest also would surrender.
On Good Friday, April 14 — a day glorious in
its beginning, tragic at its close — the newspapers
throughout the North published an order of the
Secretary of War stopping the draft and the
purchase of arms and munitions of war. The
Government had decreed that at twelve o'clock
noon of that day the stars and stripes should be
raised above Fort Sumter. The orator of the
occasion was the eloquent Henry Ward Beecher.
And the flag was raised by Major (now General)
Anderson, whose staunch loyalty and heroic de-
fence linked his name inseparably with that of
Fort Sumter.
The war was over and Lincoln at once turned
his attention to the duties of reconstruction.
THE QUIET-MIXDED MAX
About midnight on the day of the election in
1864, it was certain that Lincoln had been re-
elected, and the few gentlemen left in the War
Office congratulated him very warmly on the
result. Lincoln took the matter very calmly.
showing not the least elation or excitement, but
said that he would admit that he was glad to be
relieved of all suspense, and that he was grateful
that the verdict of the people was likely to be
so full, clear, and unmistakable that there could
be no dispute.
About two o'clock in the morning a messenger
REELECTION : END OF THE WAR 279
came over to the War Office from the White
House with the news that a crowd of Pennsyl-
vanians were serenading his empty chamber,
whereupon he went home, and in answer to re-
peated calls he made a happy little speech full
of good feeling and cheerfulness. He wound
up his remarks by saying:
"If I know my heart, my gratitude is free from
any taint of personal triumph. I do not impugn
the motives of any one opposed to me. It is no
pleasure to me to triumph over any one, but I
give thanks to the Almighty for this evidence of
the people's resolution to stand by free govern-
ment and the rights of humanity."
THE president's HAPPIEST DAY
Lincoln, says James ]\I. Scovel, "had a 'spirit
touched to fine issues,' and felt keenly and in-
tensely the woes of others. During the spring
following Curtin's reelection as Governor of
Pennsylvania, I found the President, fresh as
a May morning, looking out of the east window
of the White House, on the fragrant, opening
bloom of the lilac-bushes beneath his window.
Only that day he had received the assurance that
the spirit of nationality had proved stronger than
the power of faction, and was fully informed that
Chase, Ben Wade, and 'Pathfinder' Fremont
w^ere all out of the Presidential race, and his
nomination before the June convention to be held
at Baltimore would be practically unanimous.
As I entered the room, he rose and pushed a
chair, with his feet, across the room, close to his
own. There was a suspicious moisture in his
eyes as he grasped both of my hands in both of
2 8o ABRAHAM LINCOLN
his own (a habit of ]Mr. Lincoln's when greatly
moved by joy or sorrow).
" 'God bless you, young man,' he exclaimed.
'How glad I am you came ! This is the happiest
day of my life; for I no longer doubt the prac-
tical unanimity of the people, who are willing I
should have the chance to finish the big job I
undertook nearly four years ago.' "
CHAPTER XXVI
Death of Lincoln: the Nation's Sorro\Ar
Between Springfield and Washington, as Lin-
coln made that memorable journey to his first
inauguration, there were at least three known
attempts upon his life, and when we consider the
number and bitterness of his enemies, and the
desperate character of some of them, the won-
der is that he was not assassinated long before
1865. There were multitudes of ruffians in
Washington and elsewhere, who had murder in
their hearts and deadly weapons within easy
reach. He lived and toiled in danger for four
years, and was reluctant to accept even a nomi-
nal body-guard. The striking parallel between
him and William the Silent will occur to the
reader. He, like Lincoln, would take no pre-
caution. He exposed himself freely, and there
were plots almost innumerable against his life
before he was slain. Such persons seem to have
invisible defenders.
A.PRESAGEFUL DREAM
Lincoln shared the impressibility of the com-
munity in which he grew up. Being unusually
outspoken, he often told of impressions which
another would not have mentioned. Various ac-
counts have been given of premonitions that
came to him of his tragic death, and not long
before that event he told of a dream he had had
282 ABRAHAM LIXCOLN
a few nights since, in which he saw his end ter-
ribly prefigured. "I slept no more that night,"
he said ; "and although it was only a dream, I
have been strangely annoyed by it ever since."
THE FATAL DAY
In spite of all. he was in excellent spirits on
Good Friday, April 14, 1865. The burdens and
sorrows of bloodshed had made an old man of
him. But the war was at an end, the Stars and
Stripes were floating over Sumter, the Union was
saved, and slavery \vas doomed. There came
back into his eyes the light that had long been
absent. Those who were about him said the
elasticity of his movements and joyousness of
his manner were marked. "His mood all day
was singularly happy and tender."
The events of the day were simple. It was
the day of the regular meeting of the Cabinet.
Grant, who had arrived in Washington that
morning, attended this meeting. It was the
President's idea that the leaders of the Con-
federacy should be allowed to escape — much as
he had already jocularly advised Grant to let
Jefif Davis escape "all unbeknown to himself."
He spoke plainly on the subject. "Xo one need
expect me to take any part in hanging or killing
these men, even the worst of them. Enough
lives have been sacrificed." After the discussion
of various matters, when the Cabinet adjourned
till the following Tuesday, the last words he ever
uttered to them were that "they must now begin
to act in the interests of peace."
For the evening of that Friday ]\Irs. Lincoln
had got up a theatre party — the President was
DEATH OF LINCOLN 285
always fond of the diversion of the theatre. The
party was to include General and Airs. Grant.
But the General's plans required him to go that
evening to Philadelphia, and so Alajor Rathbone
and Miss Harris were substituted. This party
went to Ford's Theatre, and occupied the upper
proscenium box on the right of the stage.
THE ASSASSIK
About ten o'clock, John Wilkes Booth, an
actor about twenty-six years of age, belonging
to a family of famous players, glided along the
corridor toward that box. Being well known
by the employees of the theatre, he was suffered
to proceed without hindrance. Passing through
the corridor door he fastened it shut by means of
a bar that fitted into a niche previously prepared,
and making an effectual barricade. A hole had
been bored through the door leading into the box
so that he could survey the inmates without at-
tracting their attention. With a pistol in one
hand and a dagger in the other he noiselessly
entered the box and stood directly behind the
President who was enjoying the humor of the
comedy.
AWFULNESS OF THE TRAGEDY
"The awful tragedy in the box," say Nicolay
and Hay, "makes everything else seem pale and
unreal. Here were five human beings in a nar-
row space — the greatest man of his time, in the
glory of the most stupendous success in our his-
tory, the idolized chief of a nation already
mighty, with illimitable vistas of grandeur to
come ; his beloved wife, proud and happy ; a pair
2 84 ABRAHAM LIXCOLX
of betrothed lovers, with all the promise of fe-
licity that youth, social position, and wealth
could give them ; and this young actor, hand-
some as Endymion upon Latmos, the pet of his
httle world. The glitter of fame, happiness, and
ease was upon the entire group, but in an instant
everything was to be changed with the blinding
swiftness of enchantment. Quick death was to
come on the central figure of that company — the
central figure, we believe, of the great and good
men of the century. Over all the rest the black-
est fates hovered menacingly — fates from which
a mother might pray that kindly death would
save her children 'in their infancy. One was to
wander with the stain of murder on his soul,
with the curses of a world upon his name, with
a price set upon his head, in frightful physical
pain, till he died a dog's death in a burning barn ;
the stricken wife was to pass the rest of her
days in melancholy and madness ; of those two
young lovers, one was to slay the other, and
then end his life a raving maniac."
THE PRESIDE XT SHOT : HIS MURDERER KILLED
Booth's pistol was thrust near to the back of
the head of the unsuspecting victim — that kind
man who had "never willingly planted a thorn
in any man's bosom," who could not bear to
witness suffering even in an animal. The report
of the pistol was somewhat muffled and was un-
noticed by the majority of the audience. The
ball penetrated the President's brain ; he uttered
no word or sound ; "his head drooped forward
slightly, his eyes closed." Major Rathbone took
in the situation and sprang at the murderer, who
DEATH OF LINCOLN 285
slashed him savagely with the dagger, tore him-
self free, and leaped over the balustrade upon
the stage. It was not a high leap for an athletic
young man, but his spur caught in a flag with
which the box was draped, so that he did not
strike quite squarely on his feet. The result was
that he broke his leg. But, gathering himself up,
he flourished his dagger, declaiming the motto of
\'irginia Sic scuipcr tyrannis (Thus ever to ty-
rants), and before the audience could realize
what was done, he disappeared. He ran out of
the rear of the theatre where a fleet horse was
in waiting. He mounted and rode for his life.
For eleven days he was in hiding, suffering all
the while agonies from his broken leg, which
could be but imperfectly cared for. He was
finally cornered in a barn, the barn was set on
fire, and while thus at bay he was shot down.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN DEAD
Aid came at once to the President, but the
surgeons saw at a glance that the wound was
mortal. Mr. Lincoln was carried to a small
house across the street and laid upon a bed in
a little room at the rear of the hall on the ground
floor. "The door was guarded, and none ad-
mitted but the friends. ]Most of the Cabinet
officers had reached there as soon as the inani-
mate form of the President. The Surgeon-Gen-
eral of the army had also come, and he was
making a thorough examination of the wound.
At length, looking into the anxious faces that
sought his, he said to Stanton, T fear there is
no hope.' The Secretary of War exclaimed in
tones of anguish, 'No! no! General! oh, no!'
2 86 ABRAHAM LIXCOLN
while convulsive sobs shook his burly frame.
Senator Sumner sat on the bed, holding one of
the dying man's hands and crying bitterly." "As
the dawn came," says John G. Xicolay, "and the
lamplight grew pale, his pulse began to fail ; but
his face, even then, was scarcely more haggard
than those of the sorrowing men around him.
His automatic moaning ceased, a look of un-
speakable peace came upon his woun features,
and at twenty-two minutes after seven he died.
Stanton broke the silence by saying: 'Xow he be-
longs to the ages.' "
THE president's LAST DAY
After the Cabinet meeting on April 14, the
President went to drive with Airs. Lincoln, ex-
pressing a wish that no one should accompany
them, and evidently desiring to converse alone
with her. "]\Iary," said he, "we have had a hard
time of it since we came to Washington, but the
war is over, and with God's blessing we may
hope- for four years of peace and happiness, and
then we will go back to Illinois and pass the rest
of our lives in quiet."
He spoke of his old Springfield home, and
recollections of his early days, his little brown
cottage, the law office, the court-room, the green
bag for his briefs and law papers, his adventures
when riding on the circuit, came thronging back
to him. The tension under which he had so long
been kept was removed and he was like a boy
out of school.
"We have laid by," said he to his wife, "some
money, and during this term we will try and
save up more, but shall not have enough to sup-
DEATH OF LINCOLN 287
port us. We will go back to Illinois, and I will
open a law office at Springfield or Chicago, and
practise law, and at least do enough to help give
us a livelihood."
Such were the dreams, the day-dreams of Lin-
coln, the last day of his life. In imagination he
was again in his prairie home, among his law
books, and in the courts with his old friends.
Mrs. Lincoln noticed that the President, dur-
ing this afternoon drive was in unusually good
spirits, and remarked to him that he was in a like
mood just before the fatal illness of their son
\\'illie. But no kindly premonition warned her
of the particular danger to be avoided. In the
joyous excitement of the time even the devotee
seemed to forget the wonted associations of
Good Friday.
FINAL ACTS OF MERCY
During the afternoon the President signed a
pardon for a soldier sentenced to be shot for
desertion, remarking as he did so:
"Well, I think the boy can do us more good
above ground than under ground."
He also approved an application for the dis-
charge, on taking the oath of allegiance, of a
Confederate prisoner, on whose petition he
wrote :
"Let it be done."
LETTING THE "eLEPHANT" ESCAPE
"On the afternoon of April 14," says Dana.
"I got a telegram from the Provost Marshal in
Portland, Me., saying: 'I have positive informa-
tion that Jacob Thompson will pass through
288 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Portland to-night, in order to take a steamer for
England. What are your orders?'
"Jacob Thompson, of Mississippi, had been
Secretary of the Interior in President Buchanan's
administration. He was a conspicuous secession-
ist, and for some time had been employed in
Canada as a semi-diplomatic agent of the Con-
federate Government. He had been organizing
all sorts of trouble and getting up raids, of which
the notorious attack on St. Albans, Vt., was a
specimen. I took the telegram and went down
and read it to Mr. Stanton. His order was
prompt: 'Arrest him!' But as I was going out
of the door he called to me and said: 'No, wait;
better go over and see the President.'
"At the White House all the work of the day
was over, and I went into the President's busi-
ness room without meeting any one. Opening
the door, there seemed to be no one there, but,
as I was turning to go out, Mr. Lincoln called
to me from a little side room, where he was
washing his hands.
" 'Hallo, Dana !" said he. 'What is it? What's
up?'
"Then I read him the telegram from Portland.
"'What does Stanton say?' he asked.
" 'He says arrest him, but that I should refer
the question to you.'
" 'Well,' said the President slowly, wiping his
hands, 'no, I rather think not. When you've got
an elephant by the hind leg, and he's trying to
run away, it's best to let him run,' "
DEATH OF LINCOLN 22,^
THE MOURNING NATION
On Friday evening there had been general re-
joicing throughout the North. On Saturday
morning there rose to heaven a great cry of dis-
tress. For the telegraph had carried the heavy
news to every city and commercial centre. The
shock plunged the whole community, in the
twinkling of an eye, from the heights of exulta-
tion into the abyss of grief.
Little business was done that day. Offices,
stores, exchanges were deserted. Men gathered
in knots and conversed in low tones. By noon
there was scarcely a public building, store, or
residence in any Northern city that was not
draped in mourning. The poorer classes pro-
cured bits of black crape or the like and tied
them to their door-knobs. The plain people were
orphaned. "Father Abraham" was dead.
Here and there some Southern sympathizer
ventured to express exultation — a very rash
thing to do. Forbearance had ceased to be a
virtue, and in nearly every such case the crowd
threatened a lynching and the offender was
thankful to escape alive.
Though this wave of sorrow swept over the
land from ocean to ocean, it was naturally more
manifest in Washington than elsewhere. There
the crime had been committed. There the Presi-
dent's figure was a familiar sight and his voice
was a familiar sound. There the tragedy was
more vivid. In the middle of the morning a
squad of soldiers bore the lifeless body to the
White House. It lay there in state until the day
of the funeral, Wednesday. It is safe to say that
on the intervening Sunday there was hardly a
2 90 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
pulpit in the North from which, by sermon and
prayer, were not expressed the love of the chief.
On Wednesday, the day of the funeral in Wash-
ington, all the churches in the land were invited
to join in solemnizing the occasion.
THE FUNERAL
The funeral service was held in the East room
of the White House, conducted by the President's
pastor. Dr. Gurley, and his eloquent friend.
Bishop Simpson, of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. Mrs. Lincoln, prostrated by the shock,
was unable to be present, and little Tad would
not come. Only Robert, a recent graduate of
Harvard and at the time a member of Grant's
staff, was there to represent the family.
After the service, which was brief and simple,
the body was reyerently borne, with a military
cortege, to the Capitol, where it was placed in
the rotunda till the evening of the next day.
There, as at the White House, vast multitudes
passed to look upon that grave, sad, kindly face.
The negroes came in great numbers, sobbing out
their grief over the death of their emancipator.
The soldiers, who remembered so well his "God
bless you, boys!" manifested equal sorrow.
There also were neighbors, friends, and the gen-
eral public, mingling in the assemblage of
mourners.
THROUGH CITIES AND STATES
It was arranged that the cortege should jour-
ney to Springfield as nearly as possible over the
same route, reversed, as that taken by the Presi-
dent to Washington in i86i — Baltimore, Harris-
DEATH OF LINCOLN 291
burg, Philadelphia, Xew York, Albany, Cleve-
land, Columbus, Indianapolis, and Chicago. In.
the party there were three of those who had es-
corted him to Washington — David Davis, W. H.
Lamon, and General Hunter.
At eight o'clock on Friday, April 21, the funer-
al train left Washington. It is hardly too much
to say that it was a funeral procession two ,
thousand miles in length. All along the route
people turned out, not daunted by darkness and
rain — for it rained much of the time — and stood
with streaming eyes to watch the train go by.
At the larger cities named, the procession paused
and the body lay for some hours in state while
the people came in crowds so great that it seemed
as if they included the whole community. At
Columbus and Indianapolis those in charge said
that it seemed as if the entire population of the
State came to do him honor.
Xaturally the ceremonies were most elaborate
in Xew York city. But at Chicago the grief
was most unrestrained and touching. He was
there among his neighbors and friends. It was
the State of Illinois that had given him to the
nation and the world. Her people had the claim
of fellow-citizenship ; he was one of them. As a
citizen of the State of which Chicago was the
leading city, he had passed all his public life.
The neighboring States sent thousands of peo-
ple, for he was a Western man like themselves,
and for the forty-eight hours that he lay in state
a continuous stream of all sorts and conditions
of men passed by sorrowing.
In all these cities not a few mottoes were dis-
played. Alost of these were from his own writ-
ings, such as, "With malice toward none, with
292 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
charity for all"; and, "We here highly resolve
that these dead shall not have died in vain."
Another was from the Bible: "He being dead
3-et speaketh"; and another from Shakespeare:
His life was gentle, and the elements
So mix'd in him. that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world, This was a man !
HOME AND REST
His final resting-place was Springfield. Here,
and in all the neighboring country, he was known
to all. He had always a kind word for every
one, and his goodness had not been forgotten.
Those whom he had befriended had delighted
to tell of it. They came to do honor not merely
to the great statesman, but to the beloved friend,
the warm-hearted neighbor. Many could remem-
ber his grave face as he stood on the platform of
the car that rainy morning in February. 1861,
and said affectionately to his friends, 'T must
leave you : for how long I know not." Between
the two days, what a noble life had been lived!
\Miat services had been rendered to his country
and to mankind !
THE world's tributes
"The funeral pageant was at an end," says
Ida ]\I. Tarbell, "but the mourning was not si-
lenced. From every corner of the earth came to
the family and to the Government tributes to the
greatness of the character and life of the mur-
dered man. IMedals were cast, tablets engraved,
parchments engrossed. At the end of the year,
when the State Department came to publish the
DEATH OF LINCOLN 293.
diplomatic correspondence of 1865, there was a
volume of over seven hundred pages, containing
nothing but expressions of condolence and sym-
pathy on Lincoln's death. Nor did the mourn-
ing and the honor end there. From the day of
his death until now the world has gone on rear-
ing monuments to Abraham Lincoln."
TRIBUTES AND STORIES
THE GREATNESS
OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN'
By Robert G. Ingersoll
On the 12th of February, 1809, two babes
were born — one in the woods of Kentucky, amid
the hardships and poverty of pioneers ; one in
England, surrounded by wealth and culture.
One was educated in the University of Nature,
the other at Cambridge. One associated his
name with the enfranchisement of labor, with
the emancipation of millions, with the salvation
of the Republic. He is known to us as Abraham
Lincoln. The other broke the chains of super-
stition and filled the world with intellectual
light, and he is known as Charles Darwin.
Nothing is grander than to break chams from
the bodies of men — nothing nobler than to de-
stroy the phantoms of the soul. Because of
these two men the nineteenth century is illustri-
ous.
A few men and women make a nation glorious
— Shakespeare made England immortal, \'"ol-
taire civilized and humanized France ; Goethe,
' Copyrighted, 1894, by Robert G. Ingersoll. Printed
from the Dresden Edition of The Complete Works of Rob-
ert G. Ingersoll by special permission. Portions of this ad-
dress, as delivered by its author, are here omitted — mainly
parts of letters and speeches quoted from Lincoln, and
discussions on slavery, etc., elsewhere presented or treated
in this series.
2 98 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
Schiller and Humboldt lifted Germany into the
light. Angelo, Raphael, Galileo and Bruno
crowned with fadeless laurel the Italian brow,
and now the most precious treasure of the Great
Republic is the memory of Abraham Lincoln.
Every generation has its heroes, its icono-
clasts, its pioneers, its ideals. The people al-
ways have been and still are divided, at least
into two classes — the many, who with their backs
to the sunrise worship the past, and the few. who
keep their faces toward the dawn — the many,
who are satisfied with the world as it is ; the few,
who labor and suffer for the future, for those
to be, and who seek to rescue the oppressed, to
destroy the cruel distinctions of caste, and to
civilize mankind.
Yet it sometimes happens that the liberator
of one age becomes the oppressor of the next.
His reputation becomes so great — he is so re-
vered and worshiped — ^that his followers, in his
name, attack the hero who endeavors to take an-
other step in advance.
The heroes of the Revolution, forgetting the
justice for which they fought, put chains upon
the limbs of others, and in their names the lovers
of liberty were denounced as ingrates and
traitors.
During the Revolution our fathers, to justify
their rebellion, dug down to the bed-rock of hu-
man rights and planted their standard there.
They declared that all men were entitled to lib-
erty and that government derived its power
from the consent of the governed. But when
victory came, the great principles were forgot-
ten and chains were put upon the limbs of men.
Both of the great political parties were con-
THE GREATNESS OF LINCOLN 299
trolled by greed and selfishness. Both were the
defenders and protectors of slavery. For nearly
three-quarters of a century these parties had
control of the Republic. The principal object
of both parties was the protection of the infa-
mous institution. Both were eager to secure the
Southern vote and both sacrificed principle and
honor upon the altar of success.
At last the Whig party died and the Republi-
can was born. This party was opposed to the
further extension of slavery. The Democratic
party of the South wished to make the " divine
institution " national — while the Democrats of
the North wanted the question decided by each
Territory for itself.
Each of these parties had conservatives and
extremists. The extremists of the Democratic
party were in the rear and wished to go back ;
the extremists of the Republican party were in
the front, and wished to go forward. The ex-
treme Democrat was willing to destroy the
Union for the sake of slavery, and the extreme
Republican was willing to destroy the Union for
the sake of liberty.
Neither party could succeed without the votes
of its extremists. . . .
Lincoln was educated in the University of
Nature — educated by cloud and star — by field
and winding stream — by billowed plains and sol-
emn forests — by morning's birth and death of
day — by storm and night — by the ever eager
Spring — by Summer's wealth of leaf and vine
and flower — the sad and transient glories of the
Autumn woods — and Winter, builder of home
and fireside, and whose storms without create
the social warmth within.
300 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
He was perfectly acquainted with the poHti-
cal questions of the day — heard them discussed
at taverns and country stores, at voting- places
and courts and on the stump. He knew all the
arguments for and against, and no man of his
time was better equipped for intellectual con-
flict. He knew the average mind — the thoughts
of the people, the hopes and prejudices of his fel-
low-men. He had the power of accurate state-
ment. He was logical, candid and sincere. In
addition, he had the "touch of nature that makes
the whole world kin."
In 1858 he was a candidate for the Senate
against Stephen A. Douglas.
The extreme Democrats would not vote for
Douglas, but the extreme Republicans did vote
for Lincoln. Lincoln occupied the middle
ground, and was the compromise candidate of
his own party. He lived for many years in the
intellectual territory of compromise — in a part
of our country settled by Northern and South-
ern men — where Northern and Southern ideas
met, and the ideas of the two sections were
brought together and compared.
The sympathies of Lincoln, his ties of kindred,
were with the South. His convictions, his sense
of justice, and his ideals^ were with the North.
He knew the horrors of slavery, and he felt the
unspeakable ecstasies and glories of freedom.
He had the kindness, the gentleness, of true
greatness, and he could not have been a master ;
he had the manhood and independence of true
greatness, and he could not have been a slave.
He was just, and was incapable of putting a
burden upon others that he himself would not
willingly bear.
THE GREATNESS OF LINCOLN 301
He was merciful and profound, and it was not
necessary for him to read the history of the
world to know that liberty and slavery could
not live in the same nation, or in the same
brain. Lincoln was a statesman. And there
is this difference between a politician and a
statesman. A politician schemes and works in
every way to make the people do something for
him. A statesman wishes to do something for
the people. With him place and power are
means to an end, and the end is the good of h.\i
country.
In this campaign Lincoln demonstrated three
things — first, that he was the intellectual su-
perior of his opponent ; second, that he was
right; and third, that a majority of the voters oi
Illinois were on his side.
In i860 the Republic reached a crisis. The
conflict between liberty and slavery could nc
longer be delayed. For three-quarters of a
century the forces had been gathering for the
battle.'
After the Revolution, principle was sacrificed
for the sake of gain. The Constitution contra-
dicted the Declaration. Liberty as a principle
was held in contempt. Slavery took possessior
of the Government. Slavery made the laws,
corrupted courts, dominated Presidents and de-
moralized the people.
I do not hold the South responsible for slav-
ery any more than I do the North. The fact
is, that individuals and nations act as they must.
There is no chance. Back of every event — of
every hope, prejudice, fancy and dream — of
everv opinion and belief — of every vice and vir-
tue — of every smile and curse, is the efficient
302 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
cause. The present moment is the child, and the
necessary child, of all the past. . . .
It is not a common thing to elect a reallv
great man to fill the highest official position. I
do not say that the great Presidents have been
chosen by accident. Probably it would be bet-
ter to say that they were the favorites of a happy
chance.
The average man is afraid of genius. He
feels as an awkward man feels in the presence
of a sleight-of-hand performer. He admires
and suspects. Genius appears to carry too much
sail — to lack prudence, has too much courage.
The ballast of dullness inspires confidence.
By a happy chance Lincoln was nominated
and elected in spite of his fitness — and the pa-
tient, gentle, just and loving man was called
upon to bear as great a burden as man has ever
borne. . . .
When Lincoln became President, he was
held in contempt by the Sovith — underrated by
the North and East — not appreciated even by his
Cabinet — and yet he was not only one of the
wisest, but one of the shrewdest of mankind.
Knowing that he had the right to enforce the
laws of the Union in all parts of the United
States and Territories — knowing, as he did, that
the secessionists were in the wrong, he also knew
that they had sympathizers not only in the Xorth,
but in other lands.
Consequently, he felt that it was of tlie utmost
importance that the South should fire the first
shot, should do some act that would solidify tlie
Xorth, and gain for us the justification of the
civilized world.
He proposed to give food to the soldiers at
THE GREATNESS OF LINCOLN 303
Sumter. He asked the advice of all his Cabi-
net on this question, and all, with the exception
of Montgomery Blair, answered in the nega-
tive, giving their reasons in writing. In spite of
this, Lincoln took his own course — endeavored
to send the supplies, and while thus engaged,
doing his simple duty, the South commenced
actual hostilities and fired on the fort. The
course pursued by Lincoln was absolutely right,
and the act of the South to a great extent soHdi-
fied the North, and gained for the Republic the
justification of a great number of people in other
lands.
At that time Lincoln appreciated the scope
and consequences of the impending conflict.
Above all other thoughts in his mind w^as this :
"This conflict will settle the question, at least
for centuries to come, whether man is capable
of governing himself, and consequently is of
greater importance to the free than to the en-
slaved."
He knew what depended on the issue and said :
"We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last,
best hope of earth."
Then came a crisis in the North. It became
clearer and clearer to Lincoln's mind, day by
day, that the rebellion was slavery, and that it
v/as necessary to keep the border States on the
side of the Union. For this purpose he proposed
a scheme of emancipation and colonization — a
scheme by which the owners of slaves should
be paid the full value of what they called their
"property."
He knew that if the border States agreed to
gradual emancipation, and received compensa-
tion for their slaves, they would be forever lost
304 TRIBUTES AXD STORIES
to the Confederacy, whether secession succeeded
or not. It was objected at the time, by some,
that the scheme was far too expensive ; but Lin-
coln, wiser than his advisers — far wiser than his
enemies — demonstrated that from an econom-
ical point of view his course was best.
He proposed that $400 be paid for slaves, in-
cluding men, women and children. This was
a large price, and yet he showed how much
cheaper it was to purchase than to carry on the
war.
At that time, at the price mentioned, there
W'Cre about S750.000 worth of slaves in Dela-
ware. The cost of carrying on the war was at
least two millions of dollars a day, and for one-
third of one day's expenses all the slaves in
Delaware could be purchased. He also showed
that all the slaves in Delaware, Maryland, Ken-
tucky, and ^Missouri could be bought, at the
same price, for less than the expense of carry-
ing on the war for eighty-seven days.
This was the wisest thing that could have
been proposed, and yet such was the madness of
the South, such the indignation of the Xorth,
that the advice was unheeded.
Again, in July, 1862, he urged on the Repre-
sentatives of the border States a scheme of grad-
ual compensated emancipation ; but the Repre-
sentatives were too deaf to hear, too blind to
see. . . .
On the 22d of July, 1862, Lincoln sent word
to the members of his Cabinet that he wished to
see them : It so happened that Secretary Chase
was the first to arrive. He found Lincoln read-
ing a book. Looking up from the page, the
President said: "Chase, did you ever read this
THE GREATNESS OF LINCOLN 30 S
book?" "What book is it?" asked Chase.
"Artemus Ward," replied Lincohi. "Let me
read you this chapter, entitled 'Wax Wurx in
Albany.' " And so he began reading while the
other members of the Cabinet one b}- one came
in. At last Stanton told Mr. Lincoln that he
was in a great hurry, and if any business was to
be done he would like to do it at once. Where-
upon Mr. Lincoln laid down the open book,
opened a drawer, took out a paper and said:
"Gentlemen, I have called you together to no-
tify you what I have determined to do. I want
no advice. Nothing can change my mind."
He then read the Proclamation of Emancipa-
tion. Chase thought there ought to be some-
thing about God at the close, to which Lincoln
replied: "Put it in, it won't hurt it." It was
also agreed that the President would wait for a
victory in the field before giving the Proclama-
tion to the world.
The meeting was over, the members went
their way. Mr. Chase was the last to go, and as
he went through the door looked back and saw
that Mr. Lincoln had taken up the book and was
again engrossed in the "Wax Wurx in Albany."
This was on the 226. of July, 1862. On the
22d of August of the same year — after Lincoln
wrote his celebrated letter to Horace Greeley,
in which he stated that his object was to save
the Union ; that he zcoiild save it unth slavery if
he could; that if it was necessary to destroy
slavery in order to save the Union, he would ;
in other words, he would do what was necessary
to save the Union. . . ,
Lincoln was by nature a diplomat. He knew
the art of sailing against the wind. He had as
3o6 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
much shrewdness as is consistent with honesty.
He understood, not only the rights of indi-
viduals, but of nations. In all his correspondence
with other governments he neither wrote nor
sanctioned a line which afterward was used to
tie his hands. In the use of perfect English he
easily rose above all his advisers and all his
fellows.
No one claims that Lincoln did all. He
could have done nothing without the generals
in the field, and the generals could have done
nothing without their armies. The praise is due
to all — to the private as much as to the officer ;
to the lowest who did his duty, as much as to
the highest.
My heart goes out to the brave private as
much as to the leader of the host.
But Lincoln stood at the centre and with in-
finite patience, with consummate skill, with the
genius of goodness, directed, cheered, consoled,
and conquered. . . .
Lincoln always saw the end. He was un-
moved by the storms and currents of the times.
He advanced too rapidly for the conservative
politicians, too slowly for the radical enthusi-
asts. He occupied the line of safety, and held
by his personality — by the force of his great
character, by his charming candor — the masses
on his side.
The soldiers thought of him as a father.
All who had lost their sons in battle felt that
they had his sympathy — felt that his face was
as sad as theirs. They knew that Lincoln w^as
actuated by one motive, and that his energies
were bent to the attainment of one end — the sal-
vation of the Republic.
THE GREATNESS OF LINCOLN 307
They knew that he was kind, sincere, and mer-
ciful. They knew that in his veins there was
no drop of tyrants' blood. They knew that he
used his power to protect the innocent, to save
reputation and life — that he had the brain of a
philosopher — the heart of a mother.
During all the years of war, Lincoln stood the
embodiment of mercy, between discipline and
death. He pitied the imprisoned and condemned.
He took the unfortunate in his arms, and was
the friend even of the convict. He knew temp-
tation's strength — the weakness of the will —
and how in fury's sudden flame the judgment
drops the scales, and passion — blind and deaf —
usurps the throne.
One day a woman, accompanied by a Senator,
called on the President. The woman was the
wife of one of Alosby's men. Her husband had
been captured, tried, and condemned to be shot.
She came to ask for the pardon of her husband.
The President heard her story and then asked
what kind of a man her husband was. 'Ts he
intemperate, does he abuse the children and beat
you?" "No, no," said the wife, "he is a good
man, a good husband, he loves me and he loves
the children, and we cannot live without him.
The only trouble is that he is a fool about poli-
tics — I live in the North, born there, and if I
get him home, he will do no more fighting for
the South." "Well," said Mr. Lincoln, after ex-
amining the papers, "I will pardon your husband
and turn him over to you for safe keeping."
The poor woman, overcome with joy, sobbed as
though her heart would break.
"My dear woman," said Lincoln, "if I had
known how badly it was going to make you feel,
3oS TRIBUTES AND STORIES
I never would have pardoned him." "You do
not understand me," she cried between her
sobs. "You do not understand me." "Yes, yes,
I do," answered the President, "and if you do
not go away at once I shall be crying with
you."
On another occasion, a member of Congress,
on his way to see Lincoln, found in one of the
anterooms of the White House an old white-
haired man, sobbing — his wrinkled face wet with
tears. The old man told him that for several
days he had tried to see the President — that he
wanted a pardon for his son. The Congressman
told the old man to come with him and he would
introduce him to Mr. Lincoln. On being intro-
duced, the old man said : "Mr, Lincoln, my wife
sent me to you. We had three boys. They all
joined your army. One of 'em has been killed,
one's a-fighting now, and one of 'em, the young-
est, has been tried for deserting and he's going
to be shot day after to-morrow. He never de-
serted. He's wild, and he may have drunk too
much and wandered off, but he never deserted.
'Tain't in the blood. He's his mother's favor-
ite, and if he's shot, I know she'll die." The
President, turning to his secretary, said : "Tele-
graph General Butler to suspend the execution
in the case of [giving his name] until
further orders from me, and ask him to an-
swer "
The Congressman congratulated the old man
on his success — but the old man did not respond.
He was not satisfied. "Mr. President," he be-
gan, "I can't take that news home. It won't sat-
isfy his mother. How do I know but what you'll
give further orders to-morrow?" "My good
THE GREATNESS OF LIXCOLN 309
man," said Air. Lincoln, "I have to do the best
I can. The generals are complaining because I
pardon so man}-. They say that my mercy de-
stroys discipline. Now, when you get home you
tell his mother what you said to me about my
giving further orders, and then you tell her that
I said this: Tf your son lives until they get fur-
ther orders from me. that when he does die
people will say that old Ivlethuselah was a baby
compared to him.' "
The pardoning power is the only remnant
of absolute sovereignty that a President has.
Through all the years, Lincoln will be known as
Lincoln the loving, Lincoln the merciful.
Lincoln had the keenest sense of humor, and
always saw the laughable side even of disaster.
In his humor there was logic and the best of
sense. No matter how complicated the ques-
tion, or how embarrassing the situation, his hu-
mor furnished an answer and a door of escape.
Vallandigham was a friend of the South, and
did what he could to sow the seeds of failure.
In his opinion everything, except rebellion, was
unconstitutional.
He was arrested, convicted by a court mar-
tial, and sentenced to imprisonment.
There was doubt about the legality of the trial,
and thousands in the North denounced the whole
proceeding as tyrannical and infamous. At the
same time millions demanded that \'allandigham
should be punished.
Lincoln's humor came to the rescue. He dis-
approved of the findings of the court, changed
the punishment, and ordered that Mr. Vallan-
digham should be sent to his friends in the
South. Those who regarded the act as uncon-
3IO TRIBUTES AND STORIES
stitntional almost forgave it for the sake of its
humor.
Horace Greeley always had the idea that he
was greatly superior to Lincoln, because he lived
in a larger town, and for a long time insisted
that the people of the North and the people of
the South desired peace. He took it upon him-
self to lecture Lincoln. Lincoln, with that won-
derful sense of humor, united with shrewdness
and profound \visdom, told Greeley that, if the
South really wanted peace, he (Lincoln) desired
the same thing, and was doing all he could to
bring it about. Greeley insisted that a commis-
sioner should be appointed, with authority to
negotiate with the representatives of the Con-
federacy. This was Lincoln's opportunity. He
authorized Greeley to act as such commis-
sioner. The great editor felt that he was caught.
For a time he hesitated, but finally went, and
found that the Southern commissioners were
willing to take into consideration anv offers of
peace that Lincoln might make, consistent with
the independence of the Confederacy.
The failure of Greeley was humiliating, and
the position in which he was left, absurd.
Again the humor of Lincoln had triumphed.
Lincoln, to satisfy a few fault-finders in the
North, went to Grant's headquarters and met
some Confederate commissioners. He urged
that it was hardly proper for him to negotiate
with the representatives of rebels in arms — that
if the South wanted peace, all they had to do
was to stop fighting. One of the commissioners
cited as a precedent the fact that Charles the
First negotiated with rebels in arms. To which
Lincoln replied that Charles the First lost his
THE GREATNESS OF LINCOLN 31 1
head. The conference came to nothing-, as Mr.
Lincoln expected.
The commissioners, one of them being Alex-
ander H. Stephens, who, when in good health,
weighed about ninety pounds, dined with the
President and General Grant. After dinner, as
thev were leaving, Stephens put on an English
ulster, the tails of which reached the ground,
while the collar was somewhat above the wear-
er's head.
As Stephens went out, Lincoln touched Grant
and said: "Grant, look at Stephens. Did you
ever see as little a nubbin with as much
shuck?"
Lincoln always tried to do things in the easiest
way. He did not waste his strength. He was
not particular about moving along straight lines.
He did not tunnel the mountains. He was will-
ing to go around, and reach the end desired as a
river reaches the sea.
One of the most wonderful things ever done
bv Lincoln was the promotion of General
Hooker, After the battle of Fredericksburg,
General Burnside found great fault with Hook-
er, and wished to have him removed from the
Army of the Potomac. Lincoln disapproved of
Burnside's order, and gave Hooker the com-
mand. He then wrote Hooker this memorable
letter :
'T have placed you at the head of the Army
of the Potomac. Of course I have done this
upon what appear to me to be sufficient reasons,
and yet I think it best for you to know that
there are some things in regard to which I am
not quite satisfied with you. I believe you to be
a brave and skilful soldier — which, of course, I
312 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
like. I also believe you do not mix politics with
your profession — in which you are right. You
have confidence — 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 Gen-
eral Burnside's^. command of the army you have
taken counsel of your ambition to thwart 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 say-
ing 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 com-
mand. Only those generals who gain successes
can set up dictators. What I now ask of you is
military successes, and I will risk the dictator-
ship. 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 com-
manders. I much fear that the spirit which you
have aided to infuse into the army, of criticising
their commander and withholding confidence in
him, will now turn upon you. I shall assist you,
so far as I can, to put it down. Neither you,
nor Napoleon, if he were alive, can 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 vigi-
lance go forward and give us victories."
This letter has, in my judgment, no parallel.
The mistaken magnanimity is almost equal to
the prophecy :
"I much fear that the spirit which you have
aided to infuse into the army, of criticising their
THE GREATNESS OF LINCOLN 2>^z
commander and withholding confidence in him,
will now turn upon you."
Chancellorsville was the fulfilment.
Mr. Lincoln was a statesman. The great
stumbling-block — the great obstruction — in Lin-
coln's way, and in the way of thousands, was
the old doctrine of States' Rights.
This doctrine was first established to protect
slavery. It was clung to to protect the inter-
state slave trade. It became sacred in connec-
tion with the Fugitive Slave Law, and it was
finally used as the corner-stone of secession.
This doctrine was never appealed to in defence
of the right — always in support of the wrong.
For many years politicians upon both sides of
this question endeavored to express the exact
relations existing between the Federal Govern-
ment and the States, and I know of no one who
succeeded except Lincoln. In his message of
i86], delivered on July the 4th, the definition is
given, and it is perfect:
"Whatever concerns the whole should be con-
fided to the whole — to the General Government.
Whatever concerns only the State should be left
exclusively to the State."
When that definition is realized in practice,
this country becomes a nation. Then we shall
know that the first allegiance of the citizen is
not to his State, but to the Republic, and that
the first duty of the Republic is to protect the
citizen, not only when in other lands, but at
â– home, and that this duty cannot be discharged
by delegating it to the States.
Lincoln believed in the sovereignty of the peo-
ple — in the supremacy of the nation — in the ter-
ritorial integrity of the Republic.
314 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
A great actor can be known only when he has
assumed the principal character in a great drama.
Possibly the greatest actors have never appeared,
and it may be that the greatest soldiers have
lived the lives of perfect peace. Lincoln as-
sumed the leading part in the greatest drama
ever enacted upon the stage of this continent.
His criticisms of military movements, his cor-
respondence with his generals and others on the
conduct of the war, show that he was at all times
master of the situation — that he was a natural
strategist, that he appreciated the difficulties and
advantages of every kind, and that in "the still
and mental" field of war he stood the peer of
any man beneath the flag.
Had McClellan followed his advice, he would
have taken Richmond.
Had Hooker acted in accordance with his sug-
gestions, Chancellorsville would have been a
victory for the nation.
Lincoln's political prophecies were all fulfilled.
We know now that he not only stood at the
top. but that he occupied the centre, from first
to last, and that he did this by reason of his
intelligence, his humor, his philosophy, his cour-
age and his patriotism.
In passion's storm he stood, unmoved, patient,
just and candid. In his brain there was no
cloud, and in his heart no hate. He longed
to save the South as well as North, to see the
nation one and free.
He lived until the end was known.
He lived until the Confederacy was dead —
until Lee surrendered, until Davis fled, until the
doors of Libby Prison were opened, until the
Republic was supreme.
THE GREATNESS OF LINCOLN 315
He lived until Lincoln and Liberty were vmited
forever.
He lived to cross the desert — to reach the
palms of victory — to hear the murmured music
of the welcome waves.
He lived until all loyal hearts were his — until
the history of his deeds made music in the souls
of men — until he knew that on Columbia's Cal-
endar of worth and fame his name stood first.
He lived until there remained nothing for him
to do as great as he had done.
What he did was worth living for, worth dy-
ing for.
He lived until he stood in the midst of uni-
versal Joy, beneath the outstretched wings of
Peace — the foremost man in all the world.
And then the horror came. Night fell on
noon. The Savior of the Republic, the breaker
of chains, the liberator of millions, he who had
"assured freedom to the free," was dead.
Upon his brow Fame placed the immortal
wreath, and for the first time in the history of
the world a nation bowed and wept.
The memory of Lincoln is the strongest, ten-
derest tie that binds all hearts together now, and
holds all States beneath a nation's flag.
Abraham Lincoln — strange mingling of mirth
and tears, of the tragic and grotesque, of cap
and crown, of Socrates and Democritus, of
-i^sop and ]Marcus Aurelius, of all that is gentle
and just, humorous and honest, merciful, wise,
laughable, lovable and divine, and all conse-
crated to the use of man ; while through all, and
over all, were an overwhelming sense of obliga-
tion, of chivalric loyalty to truth, and upon all,
the shadow of the tragic end.
3i6 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
Nearly all the great historic characters are
impossible monsters, clisproportioned by flattery,
or by calumny deformed. We know nothing of
their peculiarities, or nothing but their peculiar-
ities. About these oaks there clings none of the
earth of humanity.
Washington is now only a steel engraving.
About the real man who lived and loved and
hated and schemed, we know but little. The
glass through which we look at him is of such
high magnifying power that the features are ex-
ceedingly indistinct.
Hundreds of people are now engaged in
smoothing out the lines of Lincoln's face — forc-
ing all features to the common mould — so that
he may be known, not as he really was, but, ac-
cording to their poor standard, as he should have
been.
Lincoln was not a type. He stands alone —
no ancestors, no fellows, no successors.
He had the advantage of living in a new
country, of social equality, of personal freedom,
of seeing in the horizon of his future the per-
petual star of hope. He preserved his individ-
uality and his self-respect. He knew and min-
gled with men of every kind ; and, after all,
men are the best books. He became acquainted
with the ambitions and hopes of the heart, the
means used to accomplish ends, the springs of
action, and the seeds of thought. He was fa-
miliar with nature, with actual things, with
common facts. He loved and appreciated the
poem of the year, the drama of the seasons.
In a new country, a man must possess at
least three virtues — honesty, courage, and gen-
erosity. In cultivated society, cultivation is
THE GREATNESS OF LINCOLN 3-^T
often more important than soil. A well-exe-
cuted counterfeit passes more readily than a
blurred genuine. It is necessary only to observe
the unwritten laws of society — to be honest
enough to keep out of prison, and generous
enough to subscribe in public — where the sub-
scription can be defended as an investment.
In a new country, character is essential ; in the
old, reputation is sufficient. In the new, they
find what a man really is ; in the old, he gener-
ally passes for what he resembles. People sepa-
rated only by distance are much nearer together
than those divided by the walls of caste.
It is no advantage to live in a great city, where
poverty degrades and failure brings despair.
The fields are lovelier than paved streets, and
the great forests than walls of brick. Oaks and
elms are more poetic than steeples and chimneys.
In the country is the idea of home. There
you see the rising and setting sun ; you become
acquainted with the stars and clouds. The con-
stellations are your friends. You hear the rain
on the roof and listen to the rhythmic sighing
of the winds. You are thrilled by the resur-
rection called Spring, touched and saddened by
Autumn — the grace and poetry of death. Every
field is a picture, a landscape; every landscape
a poem ; every flower a tender thought, and every
forest a fairy-land. In the country you preserve
your identity — your personality. There you are
an aggregation of atoms, but in the city you are
only an atom of an aggregation.
In the country you keep your cheek close to
the breast of Nature. You are calmed and en-
nobled by the space, the amplitude and scope
of earth and sky — by the constancy of the stars.
3i8 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
Lincoln never finished his education. To the
night of his death he was a pupil, a learner,
an inquirer, a seeker after knowledge. You have
no idea how many men are spoiled by what is
called education. For the most part, colleges are.
places where pebbles are polished and diamond?
are dimmed. If Shakespeare had graduated al
Oxford, he might have been a quibbling attor-
ney, or a hypocritical parson.
Lincoln was a great lawyer. There is noth-
ing shrewder in this world than intelligent hon-
esty. Perfect candor is sword and shield.
He understood the nature of man. As a law-
yer he endeavored to get at the truth, at the
very heart of a case. He was not willing even
to deceive himself. No matter what his inter-
est said, what his passion demanded, he was great
enough to find the truth and strong enough to
pronounce judgment against his own desires.
Lincoln was a many-sided man, acquainted
with smiles and tears, complex in brain, single
in heart, direct as light ; and his words, candid
as mirrors, gave the perfect image of his thought.
He was never afraicl to ask — never too dignified
to admit that he did not know. No man had
keener wit, or kinder humor.
It may be that humor is the pilot of reason.
People without humor drift unconsciously into
absurdity. Humor sees the other side — stands
in the mind like a spectator, a good-natured
critic, and gives its opinion before judgment is
reached. Humor goes with good nature, and
good nature is the climate of reason. In anger,
reason abdicates and malice extinguishes the
torch. Such was the humor of Lincoln that he
could tell even unpleasant truths as charmingly
THE GREATNESS OF LINCOLN 319
as most men can tell the things we wish to
hear.
He was not solemn. Solemnity is a mask
worn by ignorance and hypocrisy — it is the pref-
ace, prologue, and index to the cunning or the
stupid.
He was natural in his life and thought — mas-
ter of the story-teller's art. in illustration apt, in
application perfect, liberal in speech, shocking
Pharisees and prudes, using any word that wit
could disinfect.
He was a logician. His logic shed light. In
its presence the obscure became luminous, and
the most complex and intricate political and
metaphysical knots seemed to untie themselves.
Logic is the necessary product of intelligence
and sincerity. It cannot be learned. It is the
child of a clear head and a good heart.
Lincoln was candid, and with candor often
deceived the deceitful. He had intellect with-
out arrogance, genius without pride, and religion
without cant — that is to say, without bigotry and
without deceit.
He was an orator — clear, sincere, natural. He
did not pretend. He did not say what he thought
others thought, but what he thought.
If you wish to be sublime you must be natural
— you must keep close to the grass. You must
sit by the fireside of the heart ; above the clouds
it is too cold. You must be simple in your
speech ; too much polish suggests insincerity.
The great orator idealizes the real, transfigures
the common, makes even the inanimate throb
and thrill, fills the gallery of the imagination
with statues and pictures perfect in form and
color, brings to light the gold hoarded by mem-
320 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
ory the miser, shows the glittering coin to the
spendthrift hope, enriches the brain, ennobles
the heart, and quickens the conscience. Between
his lips words bud and blossom.
If you wish to know the difference between
an orator and an elocutionist — between what is
felt and what is said — between what the heart
and brain can do together and what the brain
can do alone — read Lincoln's wondrous speech
at Gettysburg, and then the oration of Edward
Everett.
The speech of Lincoln will never be forgot-
ten. It will live until languages are dead and
lips are dust. The oration of Everett will never
be read.
The elocutionists believe in the virtue of voice,
the sublimity of syntax, the majesty of long sen-
tences, and the genius of gesture.
The orator loves the real, the simple, the nat-
tiral. He places the thought above all. He
knows that the greatest ideas should be ex-
pressed in the shortest words — that the greatest
statues need the least drapery.
Lincoln was an immense personality — firm but
not obstinate. Obstinacy is egotism — firmness,
heroism. He influenced others without effort,
unconsciously ; and they submitted to him as men
submit to nature — unconsciously. He was severe
with himself, and for that reason lenient with
others.
He appeared to apologize for being kinder
than his fellows.
He did merciful things as stealthily as others
committed crimes.
Almost ashamed of tenderness, he said and did
the noblest words and deeds with that charming
THE GREATNESS OF LINCOLN 321
confusion, that awkwardness, that is the perfect
grace of modesty.
As a noble man, wishing to pay a small debt
to a poor neighbor, reluctantly offers a hundred-
dollar bill and asks for change, fearing that he
may be suspected either of making a display of
wealth or a pretence of payment, so Lincoln
hesitated to show his wealth of goodness, even
to the best he knew.
A great man stooping, not wishing to make
his fellows feel that they were small or mean.
By his candor, by his kindness, by his perfect
freedom from restraint, by saying what he
thought, and saying it absolutely in his own way,
he made it not only possible, but popular, to be
natural. He was the enemy of mock solemnity,
of the stupidly respectable, of the cold and for-
mal.
He wore no official robes either on his body
or his soul. He never pretended to be more or
less, or other, or different, from what he really
was. He had the unconscious naturalness of
Nature's self.
He built upon the rock. The foundation was
secure and broad. The structure was a pyramid,
narrowing as it rose. Through days and nights
of sorrow, through years of grief and pain, with
unswerving purpose, "with malice toward none,
with charity for all," with infinite patience, with
unclouded vision, he hoped and toiled. Stone
after stone was laid, until at last the Proclama-
tion found its place. On that the Goddess stands.
He knew others, because perfectly acquainted
with himself. He cared nothing for place, but
everything for principle ; little for money, but
everything for independence. Where no prin-
3 22 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
ciple was involved, easily swayed — willing to go
slowly, if in the right direction — sometimes will-
ing to stop ; but he would not go back, and he
would not go wrong.
He was willing to wait. He knew that the
event was not waiting, and that fate was not
the fool of chance. He knew that slavery had
defenders, but no defence, and that they who at-
tack the right must wound themselves. He was
neither tyrant nor slave. He neither knelt nor
scorned. With him, men were neither great
nor small — they were right or wrong.
Through manners, clothes, titles, rags and race
he saw the real — that which is. Beyond accident,
policy, compromise and war he saw the end.
He was patient as Destiny, whose undecipher-
able hieroglyphs were so deeply graven on his
sad and tragic face.
Nothing discloses real character like the use of
power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle.
IMost people can bear adversity. But if you wish
to know what a man really is, give him power.
This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lin-
coln that, having almost absolute power, he
never abused it, except on the side of mercy.
Wealth could not purchase, power could not
awe, this divine, this loving man.
He knew no fear except the fear of doing
wrong. Hating slavery, pitying the master —
seeking to conquer, not persons, but prejudices
— he was the embodiment of the self-denial, the
courage, the hope and the nobility of a nation.
He spoke not to inflame, not to upbraid, but
to convince.
He raised his hands, not to strike, but in bene-
diction.
THE GREATNESS OF LINCOLN 323
He longed to pardon.
He loved to see the pearls of joy on the cheeks
of a wife whose husband he had rescued from
death.
Lincoln was the grandest figure of the fiercest
civil war. He is the gentlest memory of our
world.
A MAN INSPIRED OF GOD
By Henry Watterson
Amid the noise and confusion, the clashing of
intellects like sabres bright, and die booming of
the big oratorical guns of the North and the
South, now definitely arrayed, there came one day
into the Northern camp one of the oddest figures
imaginable ; the figure of a man who, in spite of
an appearance somewhat at outs with Hogarth's
line of beauty, wore a serious aspect, if not an
air of command, and, pausing to utter a single
sentence that might be heard above the din,
passed on and for a moment disappeared. The
sentence was pregnant with meaning. The man
bore a commission from God on High ! He said ;
"A house divided against itself cannot stand, I
believe this Government cannot endure perma-
nently half free and half slave. 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." He was Abraham Lincoln.
How shall I describe him to you ? Shall I speak
of him as I first saw him immediately on his ar-
rival in the national capital, the chosen President
of the United States, his appearance quite as
strange as the story of his life, which was then
but half known and half told, or shall I use
'^ Reprinted by permission of Mr. Watterson. The parts
omitted are chiefly such as relate to matters sufficiently
dealt with in other places in the present edition.
A MAN INSPIRED OF GOD 325
the words of another and more graphic word-
painter?
In January, 1861, Colonel A. K. McClure, of
Pennsylvania, journeyed to Springfield, 111., to
' meet and confer with the man he had done so
much to elect, but whom he had never personally
known. "I went directly from the depot to Lin-
coln's house," says Colonel McClure, "and rang
the bell, which was answered by Lincoln himself
opening the door. I doubt whether I wholly
concealed my disappointment at meeting him.
Tall, gaunt, ungainly, ill-clad, with a homeliness
of manner that was unique in itself, I confess
that my heart sank within me as I remembered
that this was the man chosen by a great nation
to become its ruler in the gravest period of its
history. I remember his dress as if it were but
yesterday — snufif-colored and slouchy pantaloons ;
open black vest, held by a few brass buttons;
straight or evening dress-coat, with tightly fitting
sleeves to exaggerate his long, bony arms; all
supplemented by an awkwardness that was un-
common among men of intelligence. Such was
the picture I met in the person of Abraham Lin-
coln. We sat down in his plainly furnished par-
lor, and were uninterrupted during the nearly
four hours I remained with him, and, little by
little, as his earnestness, sincerity, and candor
were developed in conversation, I forgot all the
grotesque qualities which so confounded me
when I first greeted him. Before half an hour
had passed I learned not only to respect, but,
indeed, to reverence the man."
* A graphic portrait, truly, and not unlike. I
recall him, two months later, a little less un-
couth, a little better dressed, but in singularity
32 6 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
and in angularity much the same. All the world
now takes an interest in every detail that con-
cerned him, or that relates to the weird tragedy
of his life and death.
Two or three years ago I referred to Abraham
Lincoln — in a casual way — as one "inspired of
God." I was taken to task for this and thrown
upon my defence. Knowing less then than I now
know of ]\Ir. Lincoln, I confined myself to the
superficial aspects of the case ; to the career of
a man who seemed to have lacked the opportu-
nity to prepare himself for the great estate to
which he had come, plucked as it were from
obscurity by a caprice of fortune.
Accepting the doctrine of inspiration as a law
of the universe, I still stand to this belief ; but I
must qualify it as far as it conveys the idea that
]\Ir. Lincoln was not as well equipped in actual
knowledge of men and afifairs as any of his con-
temporaries. Mr. Webster once said that he had
been preparing to make his reply to Hayne for
thirty years. ]\Ir. Lincoln had been in uncon-
scious training for the Presidency for thirty
years. His maiden address as a candidate for
the Legislature, issued at the ripe old age of
twenty-three, closes with these words, "But if
the good people in their wisdom shall see fit to
keep me in the background, I have been too fa-
miliar with disappointment to be very much cha-
grined." The man who wrote that sentence,
thirty years later wrote this sentence : "The mys-
tic chords of memory, stretching from every
battlefield and patriot grave to every living
heart and hearthstone all over this broad land,
will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when
again touched, as surely they will be, by the
A MAN J X SPIRED OF GOD 3^7
better angels of our nature." Between those
two sentences, joined by a kindred, sombre
thought, flowed a hfe-current, "strong, without
rage, without o'erflowing, full," pausing never
for an instant; deepening while it ran, but no-
wise changing its course or its tones ; always the
same ; calm ; patient ; affectionate ; like one born
to a destiny, and, as in a dream, feeling its resist-
less force.
I met the newly elected President the after-
noon of the day in the early morning of which he
liad arrived in Washington. It was a Saturday,
I think. He came to the Capitol .under Mr.
Seward's escort, and, among the rest, I was pre-
sented to him. His appearance did not impress
me as fantastically as it had impressed Colonel
McClure. I was more familiar with the West-
ern type than Colonel McClure, and while Mr.
Lincoln was certainly not an Adonis, even after
prairie ideals, there was about him a dignity that
commanded respect.
I met him again the forenoon of March 4 in
his apartment at Willard's Hotel as he was pre-
paring to start to his inauguration, and was
touched by his unaffected kindness ; for I came
with a matter recjuiring his immediate attention.
He was entirely self-possessed ; no trace of ner-
vousness ; and very obliging. I accompanied the
cortege that passed from the Senate chamber to
the vast portico of the Capitol, and, as Mr. Lin-
coln removed his hat to face the vast multitude in
front and below, I extended my hand to receive
it, but Judge Douglas, just beside me, reached
over my outstretched arm and took the hat, hold-
ing it throughout the delivery of the inaugural
address. 1 stood near enough to the speaker's
328 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
elbow not to obstruct a«y gestures he might
make, though he made but few ; and then it was
that I began to comprehend something of the
power of the man.
He dehvered that inaugural address as if he
had been delivering inaugural addresses all his
life. Firm, resonant, earnest, it announced the
coming of a man ; of a leader of men ; and in its
ringing tones and elevated style, the gentlemen
he had invited to become members of his political
family — each of whom thought himself a bigger
man than his master — might have heard the voice
and seen the hand of a man born to command.
Whether they did or not, they very soon ascer-
tained the fact. From the hour Abraham Lin-
coln crossed the threshold of the White House
to the hour he went thence to his death, there
was not a moment when he did not dominate the
political and military situation and all his official
subordinates.
Always courteous, always tolerant, always
making allowance, yet always explicit, his was the
master spirit, his the guiding hand ; committing
to each of the members of his Cabinet the details
of the work of his own department ; caring noth-
ing for petty sovereignty ; but reserving to him-
self all that related to great policies, the starting
of moral forces and the moving of organized
ideas.
I want to say just here a few words about ]\Ir.
Lincoln's relation to the South and the people of
the South.
He was, himself, a Southern man. He and all
his tribe were Southerners, x^lthough he left
Kentucky when but a child, he was an old child;
he never was very young; and he grew to man-
A MAN INSPIRED OF GOD 329
hood in a Kentucky colony ; for what was IIH-
nois in those days but a Kentucky colony, grown
since somewhat out of proportion ? He was in
no sense what we in the South used to call "a
poor white." Awkward, perhaps ; ungainly, per-
haps, but aspiring; the spirit of a hero beneath
that rugged exterior ; the soul of a prose-poet
behind those heavy brows ; the courage of a lion
back of those patient, kindly aspects ; and, be-
fore he was of legal age, a leader of men. His
first love was a Rutledge ; his wife was a Todd.
Let the romancist tell the story of his romance.
I dare not. No sadder idyl can be found in all
the short and simple annals of the poor.
We know that he was a prose-poet ; for have
we not that immortal prose-poem recited at Get-
tysburg? We know that he was a statesman ; for
has not time vindicated his conclusions? But the
South does not know, except as a kind of hear-
say, that he was a friend ; the sole friend who
had the power and the will to save it from itself.
He was the one man in public life who could
have come to the head of affairs in 1861, bring-
ing with him none of the embittered resentments
growing out of the anti-slavery battle. While
Seward. Chase, Sumner, and the rest had been
engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the South-
ern leaders at \A'ashington, Lincoln, a philosopher
and a statesman, had been observing the course
of events from afar, and like a philosopher and
a statesman. The direst blow that could have
been laid upon the prostrate South was delivered
by the assassin's bullet that struck him down.
But I digress. Throughout the contention that
preceded the war, amid the passions that at-
tended the war itself, not one bitter, proscriptive
330 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
word escaped the lips of Abraham Lincoln, while
there was hardly a day that he was not project-
ing his great personality between some Southern
man or woman and danger.
Under date of February 2, 1848, from the hall
of the House of Representatives at W'ashington,
while he was serving as a member of Congress,
he wrote this short note to his law partner at
Springfield :
"Dear William : I take up my pen to tell you
that ]Mr. Stephens, of Georgia, a little, slim, pale-
faced, consumptive man, with a voice like Lo-
gan's" (that was Stephen T., not John A.), "has
just concluded the very best speech of an hour's
length I ever heard. 'My old, withered, dry eyes"
(he was then not quite thirty-nine years of age)
"are full of tears yet."
From that time forward he never ceased to
love Stephens, of Georgia.
After that famous Hampton Roads confer-
ence, when the Confederate Commissioners,
Stephens, Campbell, and Hunter, had traversed
the field of official routine with ]\Ir. Lincoln, the
President, and Mr. Seward, the Secretarj^ of
State, Lincoln, the friend, still the old A\'hig
colleague, though one was now President of the
L'nited States and the other A'ice-President of
the Southern Confederacy, took the "slim, pale-
faced, consumptive man" aside, and. pointing to
a sheet of paper he held in his hand, said :
"Stephens, let me write 'Union' at the top of that
page, and you may write below it whatever else
you please."
In the preceding conversation Mr. Lincoln had
intimated that payment for the slaves was not
outside a possible agreement for reunion and
A MAN INSPIRED OF GOD zi''
peace. He based that statement upon a plan he
already had in hand, to appropriate four hundred
millions of dollars to this purpose.
There are those who have put themselves to
the pains of challenging this statement of mine.
It admits of no possible equivocation. Mr. Lin-
coln carried with him to Fort Monroe two docu-
ments that still stand in his own handwriting;
one of them a joint resolution to be passed
by the two Houses of Congress appropriating
the four hundred millions, the other a proclama-
tion to be issued by himself, as President, when
the joint resolution had been passed. These
formed no part of the discussion at Hampton
Roads, because ]\Ir. Stephens told Mr. Lincoln
they were limited to treating upon the basis of
the recognition of the Confederacy, and to all
intents and purposes the conference died before
it was actually born. But Mr. Lincoln was so
filled with the idea that next day, when he had
returned to Washington, he submitted the two
documents to the members of his Cabinet. Ex-
. cepting Mr. Seward, they were all against him.
He said : "Why, gentlemen, how long is the war
going to last? It is not going to end this side
of a hvmdred days, is it? It is costing us four
millions a day. There are the four hundred
millions, not counting the loss of life and prop-
erty in the meantime. But you are all against
me, and I will not press the matter upon you."
I have not cited this fact of history to attack,
or even to criticise, the policy of the Confed-
erate Government, but simply to illustrate the
wise magnanimity and justice of the character
of Abraham Lincoln. For my part, I rejoice
that the war did not end at Fort ]\Ionroe — or any
332 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
other conference — but that it was fought out to
its bitter and logical conclusion at Appomattox.
It was the will of God that there should be, as
God's own prophet had promised, "a new birth
of freedom," and this could only be reached by
the obliteration of the very idea of slavery.
God struck Lincoln down in the moment of his
triumph, to attain it; he blighted the South to
attain it. But he did attain it. And here we
are this night to attest it. God's will be done on
earth as it is done in heaven. But let no South-
ern man point finger at me because I canonize
Abraham Lincoln, for he was the one friend we
had at court when friends were most in need ; he
was the one man in power who wanted to pre-
serve us intact, to save us from the wolves of
passion and plunder that stood at our door ; and
as that God, of whom it has been said that
"whom he loveth he chasteneth," meant that the
South should be chastened, Lincoln was put out
of the way by the bullet of an assassin having"
neither lot nor parcel, North or South, but a
winged emissary of fate, flown from the shadows
of the mystic world which ^schylus and Shake-
speare created and consecrated to tragedy!
One thinks now that the world in which
Abraham Lincoln lived might have dealt more
gently by such a man. He was himself So gentle
— so upright in nature and so broad of m.ind — so
sunny and so tolerant in temper — so simple and
so unaffected in bearing — a rude exterior cover-
ing an undaunted spirit, proving by his every
act and word that —
The bravest are the tenderest,
The loving are the daring.
A MAN INSPIRED OF GOD 2>32,
Though he was a party leader, he was a typical
and patriotic American, in whom even his ene-
mies might have found something to respect and
admire. But it could not be so. He committed
one grievous offence ; he dared to think and he
was not afraid to speak ; he was far in advance
of his party and his time ; and men are slow to
forgive what they do not readily understand.
Yet, all the while that the waves of passion
were breaking against his sturdy figure, reared
above the dead level, as a lone oak upon a sandy
beach, not one harsh word rankled in his heart
to sour the milk of human kindness that, like a
perennial spring from the gnarled roots of some
majestic tree, flowed thence. He would smooth
over a rough place in his official intercourse with
a funny story fitting the case in point, and they
called him a trifler. He would round off a logi-
cal argument with a familiar example, hitting
the nail squarely on the head and driving it home,
and they called him a buft'oon. Big wigs and
little wigs were agreed that he lowered the dig-
nity of debate ; as if debates were intended to
mystify, and not to clarify truth. Yet he went
on and on, and never backward, until his time
was come, when his genius, fully ripened, rose
to emergencies. Where did he get his style?
Ask Shakespeare and Burns where they got their
style. Where did he get his grasp upon affairs
and his knowledge of men? Ask the Lord God
who created miracles in Luther and Bonaparte !
What was the mysterious power of this mys-
terious man, and whence? His was the genius
of common, sense ; of common sense in action; of
common sense in thought; of common sense en-
riched by experience and unhindered by fear.
334 TRIBUTES AXD STORIES
"He was a common man," says his friend,
Joshua Speed, "expanded into giant proportions ;
well acquainted with the people, he placed his
hand on the beating pulse of the nation, judged
of its disease, and was ready with a remedy."
Inspired he was truly, as Shakespeare was in-
spired ; as Mozart was inspired ; as Burns was
inspired ; each, like him, sprung directly from
the people.
I look into the crystal globe that, slowly turn-
ing, tells the story of his life, and I see a little
heart-broken boy, weeping by the outstretched
form of a dead mother, then bravely, nobly
trudging a hundred miles to obtain her Christian
burial. I see this motherless lad growing to
manhood amid scenes that seem to lead to noth-
ing but abasement ; no teachers ; no books ; no
chart, except his own untutored mind ; no com-
pass, except his own undisciplined will ; no light,
save light from Heaven ; yet, like the caravel of
Columbus, struggling on and on through the
trough of the sea, always toward the destined
land. I see the full-grown man, stalwart and
brave, an athlete in activity of movement and
strength of limb, yet vexed by weird dreams
and visions; of life, of love, of religion, some-
times verging on despair. I see the mind, grown
at length as robust as the body, throw oft" these
phantoms of the imagination and give itself
wholly to the workaday uses of the world ; the
rearing of children ; the earning of bread ; the
multiplied duties of life. I see the party leader,
self-confident in conscious rectitude ; original,
because it was not his nature to follow ; potent,
because he was fearless, pursuing his convictions
with earnest zeal, and urging them upon his fel-
A MAN INSPIRED OF GOD 335
lows with the resources of an oratory which was
hardly more impressive than it was many-sided.
I see him, the preferred among his fellows, as-
cend the eminence reserved for him, and him
alone of all the statesmen of the time, amid the
derision of opponents and the distrust of sup-
porters, yet unawed and unmoved, because thor-
oughly equipped to meet the emergency. The
same being, from first to last; the poor child
weeping over a dead mother; the great chief
sobbing amid the cruel horrors of war ; flinching
never from duty, nor changing his lifelong ways
of dealing with the stern realities which pressed
upon him and hurried him onward. And, last
scene of all, that ends this strange, eventful his-
tory, I see him lying dead there in the Capitol
of the nation to which he had rendered "the last
full measure of devotion," the flag of his coun-
try around him, the world in mourning, and,
asking myself how could any man have hated
that man, I ask you, how can any man refuse
his homage to his memory? Surely, he was one
of God's own ; not in any sense a creature of
circumstance or accident. Recurring to the doc-
trine of inspiration, I say, again and again, he
was inspired of God, and I cannot see how any
one who believes in that doctrine can believe him
as anything else.
From Caesar to Bismarck and Gladstone the
world has had its statesmen and its soldiers —
men who rose from obscurity to eminence and
power step by step, through a series of geometric
progression as it were, each advancement follow-
ing in regular order one after the other, the whole
obedient to well-established and well-understood
laws of cause and effect. They were not what
336 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
we call "men of destiny." They were "men of
the time." They were men whose careers had a
beginning, a middle, and an end, rounding off
lives with histories, full it may be of interesting
and exciting event, but comprehensive and com-
prehensible ; simple, clear, complete.
The inspired ones are fewer. Whence their
emanation, where and how they got their power,
by what rule they lived, moved, and had their
being, we know not. There is no explication to
their lives. They rose from shadow and they
went in mist. We see them, feel them, but we
know them not. They came, God's word upon
their lips ; they did their office, God's mantle
about them ; and they vanished, God's holy light
between the world and them, leaving behind a
memory, half mortal and half myth. From first
to last they were the creations of some special
Providence, baffling the wit of man to fathom,
defeating the machinations of the world, the
flesh, and the devil, until their work was done,
then passing from the scene as mysteriously as
they had come upon it.
Tried by this standard, where shall we find
an example so impressive as Abraham Lincoln,
whose career might be chanted by a Greek chorus
as at once the prelude and the epilogue of the *
most imperial theme of modern times?
Born as lowly as the Son of God, in a hovel ;
reared in penury, squalor, with no gleam of light
or fair surrounding; without graces, actual or
acquired ; without name or fame or official train-
ing; it was reserved for this strange being, late
in life, to be snatched from obscurity, raised to
supreme command at a supreme moment, and
intrusted with the destiny of a nation.
A MAN INSPIRED OF COD 337
The great leaders of his party, the most expe-
rienced and accomphshed pubhc men of the day,
were made to stand aside ; were sent to the rear,
while this fantastic figure was led by unseen
hands to the front and given the reins of power.
It is immaterial whether we were for him or
against him ; wholly immaterial. That, during
four years, carrying with them such a weight of
responsibility as the world never witnessed be-
fore, he filled the vast space allotted him in the
eyes and actions of mankind, is to say that he
was inspired of God, for nowhere else could he
have acquired the wisdom and the virtue.
V/here did Shakespeare get his genius?
Where did Mozart get his music? Whose hand
smote the lyre of the Scottish ploughman, and
stayed the life of the German priest? God,
God, and God alone ; and as surely as these were
raised up by God, inspired by God, was Abra-
ham Lincoln ; and a thousand years hence, no
drama, no tragedy, no epic poem will be filled
with greater wonder, or be followed by mankind
with deeper feeling than that which tells the
story of his life and death.
ADDITIONAL LINCOLN
STORIES
In inventing stories and skill in telling them
Mr. Lincoln was the acknowledged leader
among his associates. The habit of story-telling,
early formed, became part of his nature, and, as
seen in the narrative of his life, he gave free
rein to it, even when the fate of the nation
seemed to be trembling in the balance. "Some
eight or ten days after the first battle of Bull
Run,"' says George W. Julian, "when Washing-
ton was utterly demoralized by its result, I
called upon him at the White House, in company
with a few friends, and was amazed when, re-
ferring to something which had been said by
one of the company about the battle which was
so disastrous to the Union forces, he remarked,
in his usual quiet manner, 'That reminds me of
a story,' which he told in a manner so humorous
as to indicate that he was free from care and
apprehension. This to me was surprising. I
could not then understand how the President
could feel like telling a story when W'ashing-
ton was in danger of being captured, and the
whole North was dismayed ; and I left the
White House with the feeling that I had been
mistaken in Mr. Lincoln's character, and that
his election might prove to have been a fatal
mistake.
"This feeling was changed from day to day
ADDITIONAL LINCOLN STORIES 339
as the war went on ; but it was not entirely over-
come until I went to Washington in the spring
of 1863, and as an officer of the Government was
permitted to have free intercourse with him. I
then perceived that my estimate of him before
his election was well grounded, and that he pos-
sessed even higher qualities than I had given
hmi credit for; that he was a man of sound judg-
ment, great singleness and tenacity of purpose,
and extraordinary sagacity; that story-telling
was to him a safety-valve, and that he indulged
in it, not only for the pleasure it afforded him,
but for a temporary relief from oppressing
cares ; that the habit had been so cultivated that
he could make a story illustrate a sentiment and
give point to an argument. Many of his stories
were as apt and instructive as the best of iEsop's
fables. . . .
"Senator Lane told me that when he heard a
story that pleased him he took a memorandum
of it, and filed it away among his papers. This
was probably true. At any rate, by some method
or other, his supply seemed inexhaustible, and
always aptly available. He entered into the en-
joyment of his stories with all his heart, and
completely lived over again the delight he had
experienced in telling them on previous occa-
sions. When he told a particularly good story,
and the time came to laugh, he would some-
times throw his left foot across his right knee,
and clenching his foot with both hands and
bending forward, his whole frame seemed to be
convulsed with the effort to give expression to
his sensations. His laugh was like that of the
hero of Sartor Resartns, 'a laugh of the whole
man. from head to heel.' I believe his anec-
340 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
dotes were his great solace and safeguard in sea-
sons of severe mental depression."
LINCOLN CLEAN-MINDED
"Dr. Holland," says F. B. Carpenter, "in his
Life of Abraham Lincoln, I regret to observe,
has thought it worth while to notice the reports,
which in one way and another have obtained
circulation, that the President habitually in-
duleed, in ordinarv conversation, in a class of
objectionable stories.
"]\Ir. Lincoln, I am convinced, has been
greatlv wronged in this respect. Every foul-
mouthed man in the country gave currency to
the slime and filth of his own imagination by
attributing it to the President. It is but simple
justice to his memory that I should state that,
during the entire period of my stay in Washing-
ton, after witnessing his intercourse with nearly
all classes of men, embracing governors, sena-
tors, members of Congress, officers of the army,
and intimate friends, I cannot recollect to have
heard him relate a circumstance to any of them
which would have been out of place uttered in
a ladies' drawing-room. And this testimony is
not unsupported by that of others, well entitled
to consideration. 'Dr. Stone, his family physi-
cian, came in one dav to see my studies. Sitting
in front of that of the President — with whom he
did not sympathize politically — he remarked,
with much feeling:
" 'It is the province of a physician to probe
deeplv the interior lives of men; and I afifirm
that Mr. Lincoln is the purest hearted man with
whom I ever came in contact.'
ADDITIONAL LINCOLN STORIES 341
"Secretary Seward, who of the Cabinet offi-
cers was most intimate with the President, ex-
pressed the same sentiment in still stronger lan-
guage. He once said to the Rev. Dr. Bellows :
" 'Mr. Lincoln is the best man I ever knew !' "
HIS WIT AND SATIRE
'"Those who accuse Lincoln of frivolity," de-
clares David R. Locke ("Petroleum \'. Nasby"),
"never knew him. I never saw a more thought-
ful face. I never saw a more dignified 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 es-
sentially epigrammatic and parabolic. He was
a master of satire, which was at times as blunt
as a meat-ax, and at others as keen as a razor,
but it was always kindly, except when some hor-
rible injustice was its inspiration, and then it
was terrible. Weakness he was never ferocious
with, but intentional wickedness he never spared.
'Tn this interview," says the narrator, "the
name came up of a recently deceased politician
of Illinois, whose undeniable merit was blem-
ished bv overweening vanitv. His funeral was
largely attended.
" 'If General Blank had known how big a
342 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
funeral he would have,' said Air. Lincoln, 'he
would have died years ago.' "
THE SUPERLATIVE DEGREE
Lincoln made his first appearance in society
in Springfield, Illinois. It was not a prepossess-
ing figure which he cut in a ballroom, but still
he was occasionally found there. Aiiss Alary
Todd, who afterward became his wife, was the
magnet which drew the tall, awkward young
man from his den. One evening Lincoln ap-
proached Aliss Todd, and said, in his peculiar
idiom :
"Miss Todd, I should like to dance with you
the worst way."
The young woman accepted the inevitable, and
hobbled around the room with him. When she
returned to her seat, one of her companions
asked, mischievously :
"Well, Alarv, did he 'dance with you the worst
way?'"
"Yes," replied Miss Todd, "the very worst!"
"comparisons ARE ODOROUS"
Lincoln was, naturally enough, much sur-
prised one day when a man of rather forbidding
countenance drew a revolver and thrust the
weapon almost into his face.
"What seems to be the matter?" inquired Lin-
coln, looking at him with all the self-possession
he could muster.
"Well," replied the stranger, who did not ap-
pear to be at all excited, "some years ago I
swore an oath that if I ever came across an
ADDITIONAL LINCOLN STORIES 343
uglier man than myself, I'd shoot him on the
spot."
On hearing this Lincoln's expression lost all
suggestion of anxiety. He said to the stranger:
"Shoot me, then, for if I am an uglier man
than you I don't want to live."
"a seven-foot whistle on a five-foot boiler"
Senator Voorhees told the following story of
Lincoln's speech to the jury in answer to an
oratorical lawyer :
"I recall one story Lincoln told during the
argument in a lawsuit. The lawyer on the other
side was a good deal of a glib talker, but not
reckoned as deeply profound or much of a
thinker. He was rather reckless and irrespon-
sible in his speechmaking also, and would say
anything to a jury which happened to enter his
head. Lincoln in his address to the jury, refer-
ring to all these, said :
" 'My friend on the other side is all right, or
would be all right, were it not for the physico-
mental peculiarity I am about to explain :
" 'His habit — of which you have witnessed a
very painful specimen in his argument to you in
this case — of reckless assertion and statement
without grounds, need not be imputed to him as
a moral fault or blemish. He can't help it. For
reasons which, gentlemen of the jury, you and I
have not time to study here, as deplorable as
they are surprising, the oratory of the gentleman
completely suspends all action of his mind. The
moment he begins to talk his mental operations
cease. I never knew of but one thing which
compared with my friend in this particular.
344 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
That was a steamboat. Back in the days when
I performed my part as a keel boatman I made
the acquaintance of a trifling Httle steamboat
which used to bustle and puiT and wheeze about
in the Sangamon River. It had a five-foot boiler
and a seven-foot whistle, and every time it
whistled the boat stopped.' "
STORY OF ANOTHER STORY
Returning from one of his trips (on the
Eighth Circuit) late one night, iNIr. Lincoln dis-
mounted from his horse at the familiar corner
and then turned to go into the house, but stopped
— a perfectly unknown structure stood before
him.
Surprised, he went across the way and
knocked at a neighbor's door. The family had
retired, and so called out:
"Who's there?"
"Abe Lincoln," was the reply. 'T am looking
for my house. I thought it was across the way,
but when I went away a few weeks ago there
was only a one-story house there, and now it is
two. I must be lost."
His neighbors then explained that Mrs. Lin-
coln had added another story during his absence.
J\Ir. Lincoln laughed and went to his remodeled
house.
A SOCRATIC EXAMINATION
There was an ignorant man who once applied
to President Lincoln for the post of Doorkeeper
to the House. This man had no right to ask
Lincoln for anything. It was necessary to re-
pulse him. But Lincoln repulsed him gently and
lllg
ADDITIONAL LINCOLN STORIES 34s
whimsically, without hurting his feelings, in this
way:
"So you want to be Doorkeeper to the House^
eh ? "
"Yes, Mr. President."
"Well, have you ever been a doorkeeper?
Have you ever had any experience in doorkeep-
?"
'Well, no — no actual experience, sir."
"Any theoretical experience? Any instruc-
tions in the duties and ethics of doorkeeping?"
"Urn— no."
"Have you ever attended lectures on door-
keeping?"
"No, sir."
"Have you read any text-books on the sub-
ject?"
"No."
"Have you conversed with any one who has;
read such a book?"
" No, sir; I'm afraid not, sir."
"Well, then, my friend, don't you see that you
haven't a single qualification for this important
post?" said Lincoln, in a reproachful tone.
"Yes, I do," said the applicant, and he took
leave humbly, almost gratefully.
"l D0N''t care — IF YOU WILL FIGHT FOR THE
country"
"I called on Lincoln at the White House,"
said General Butler, "to make acknowledgments
for my appointment as a Alajor-General. When
he handed me the commission, with some kindly
words of compliment, I replied :
" 'I do not know whether I ought to accept
346 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
this. I received my orders to prepare my bri-
gade 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 counte-
nance,
"I said: 'Besides, Mr. President, you may not
be aware that I was the Breckinridge candidate
for Governor of my State in the last campaign,
and did all I could to prevent your election.'
" 'All the better/ said he. 'I hope your ex-
ample will bring many of the same sort with
you.'
" 'But,' I answered, 'I do not think that I can
support the measures of your Administration,
Mr. President.'
" 'I do not care whether you do or not,' was
the reply, "if you will fight for the country."
THE SANGAMON BARBER
The following story was told by General Hor-
ace Porter in a speech at the Republican Club
in New York.
"Lincoln's stories possessed the true geometri-
cal requisites of excellence. They were never
too long and never too broad. He never forgot
a point. A sentinel who was pacing near a
camp-fire while Lincoln was visiting the field,
listening to the stories he told, made the phil-
osophical remark that that man had a mighty
powerful memory but an awful poor forgettory.
ADDITIONAL LI X COIN STORIES 347-
He did not tell a story for the sake of the anec-
dote but to point a moral or to clinch a fact. I
do not know a more apt illustration than that
which fell from his lips the last time I ever heard
him converse.
"We were discussing the subject of England's
assistance to the South and how after the col-
lapse of the Confederacy England would find she
had aided it but little and only injured herself.
He said, 'That reminds me of a barber in Sanga-
mon County. He had just gone to bed when a
stranger came along and said he must be shaved^
that he had a four days' beard on his face and
was going to a ball and that beard must come
off. Well, the barber reluctantly got up and
dressed and seated the man in a chair with the
back so low that every time he bore down on him
he came near dislocating his victim's neck. He
began by lathering his face, including his nose,
eyes, and ears, stropped his razor on his boot,,
and then made a strike at the man's countenance
as if he had practised mowing on a stubble-field.
" 'He made a broad swath across the right
cheek, carrying away the beard and two warts.
The man in the chair ventured to remark, "You
appear to make everything level as you go."
Said the barber, "Yes, and if this handle don't
break I guess I will get away with what there
is there."
" 'The man's cheeks were so hollow that the
barber could not get down into the valleys with
the razor, and the ingenious idea occurred to him
to stick his finger in the man's mouth and press
out the cheeks. Finally he cut clear through the
cheek and into his own finger. He pulled the
finger out of the man's mouth, snapped the blood
348 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
off, glared at him and said, "There, you lantern-
jawed cuss, you have made me cut my own
iinger."
" 'Now,' said Lincoln, 'England will find that
she has got the South into a pretty bad scrape
by trying to administer to her, and in the end
she will find that she has only cut her own
finger.' "
GENERAL GRANT's LINCOLN STORIES
To General Grant history is indebted for the
two stories that next follow, the applications of
which the General makes clear. They are pre-
served in Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln,
edited by Allen Thorndike Rice.
I
Just after receiving my commission as Lieu-
tenant-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 com-
mander who had sufficient confidence in himself.
Finally, they found a monkey, by the name of
Jocko, who said that he thought he could com-
mand 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
ADDITIOXAL LIXCOLN STORIES 349
called for more. The splicing process was re-
peated 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, re-
plied: ''Mr. President, I will not call for more
assistance unless I find it impossible to do with
what I already have."
II
Upon one occasion, when the President was at
my headquarters at City Point, I took him to
see the work that had been done on the Dutch
Gap Canal. After taking him around and show-
ing 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 ho,t 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
^5o TRIBUTES AND STORIES
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 con-
clusion that there was more iron there than was
needed to form a hammer. Again he heated it,
and thought he would make an ax. After ham-
mering 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 ax
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 tre-
mendous 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.' "
i replied that I was afraid that was about what
we had done with the Dutch Gap Canal.
MOONSHINE EVIDENCE
One of the last criminal cases Lincoln tried
was undertaken for a humble friend, in the midst
of absorbing political activities. The story has
been often told, and is given in the following
manner by James Morgan.
The son of that Jack Armstrong, the champion
of Clary's Grove, whose loyal friendship Lin-
coln had won by beating him in open contest at
ADDITIONAL LINCOLN STORIES 351
New Salem, was on trial for killing a man. Jack
was in his grave, but his widow turned to Lin-
coln to save her boy. He gratefully remembered
that the poor woman had been almost a mother
to him in his friendless days and that her cabin
had been his home when he had no other. He
laid aside all else now and went to her aid. The
defendant's guilt was extremely doubtful.
The chief witness testified that he saw the boy
strike the fatal blow and that the scene occurred
about eleven o'clock at night. Lincoln inquired
how he could have seen so clearly at that late
hour.
"By the moonlight," the witness answered.
"Was there light enough to see everything
that happened?" Lincoln asked.
"The moon was about in the same place the
sun would be at ten o'clock in the morning and
nearly full," the man on the stand replied.
Almost instantly Lincoln held out a calendar.
By this he showed that on the night in question,,
the moon was only slightly past its first quarter,,
that it set within an hour after the fatal occur-
rence, and that it could, therefore, have shed
little or no light on the scene of the alleged mur-
der. The crowded court was electrified by the
disclosure.
"Hannah," whispered Lincoln as he turned to
the mother, "Bill will be cleared before sun-
down."
Then, addressing the jury, he told them how
he had come to the boy's defence, not as a hired
attorney, but to discharge a debt of friendship
incurred in the days when friends were few.
With genuine feeling he summoned up the pic-
ture of the simple past, the old log cabin of the
352 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
Armstrongs, where the good woman now beside
him in her silvered locks had taken him in, and
given him food and shelter, and how she mended
his tattered clothes while he rocked Bill to sleep
in the cradle.
Every member of the jury loved Lincoln and
honored him. With tears of sympathy flowing
down their cheeks, they gladly gave him the ver-
dict which, with his whole heart, he begged from
their hands.
WHOLESALE SLAUGHTER
Returning from off the circuit once Lincoln
said to Henidon :
"Billy, I heard a good story while I was up
in the country. Judge D was compliment-
ing the landlord on the excellence of his beef.
'I am surprised,' he said, 'that you have such
good beef. You must have to kill a whole crit-
ter when you want any.'
" 'Yes,' said the landlord, Sve never kill less
than a whole critter.' "
''dead," yet speakixg
"Fellow-Citizexs : ]\Iy friend, Judge Doug-
las, made the startling announcement to-day that
the Whigs are all dead.
"If that be so, fellow-citizens, you will now
experience the novelty of hearing a speech from
a dead man; and I suppose you might properly
say, in the language of the old hymn :
" 'Hark ! from the tombs a doleful sound.' "
ADDITIOXAL LINCOLN STORIES 353
TAKING SIDES
A member of the church, at a reception, closed
his remarks with the pious hope that "the Lord
is on our side."
"I am not at all concerned about that," com-
mented the President, "for we 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."
HIS ONLY CHANCE
The name of a most virulent and dishonest
official was mentioned — one who, though very
brilliant, was very bad.
"It's a big thing for Blank," said Lincoln,
"that there is such a thing as death-bed repent-
ance."
FOOLING THE PEOPLE
Lincoln was a strong believer in the virtue of
dealing honestly with the people.
"If you once forfeit the confidence of your
fellow-citizens," he said to a caller at the White
House, "you can never regain their respect and
esteem.
"It is true you may fool all the people some of
the time ; you can even fool some of the people
all the time ; but you can't fool all of the people
all the time."
PEACE WITH HONOR
President Lincoln was at all times an advocate
of peace, provided it could be obtained honor-
ably and with credit to the United States. As tO'
^54 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
the cause of the Civil War, which side of Mason
and Dixon's line was responsible for it, who fired
the first shots, who were the aggressors, etc.,
Lincoln did not seem to bother about ; he wanted,
above all things, to preserve the Union. To
illustrate his feeling in the matter, once, when
it was under discussion, he said :
"Now this reminds me of a story I heard once,
when I lived in Illinois. A vicious bull in a pas-
ture took after everybody who tried to cross the
lot, and one day the neighbor of the owner was
the victim. This man was a speedy fellow and
^ot to a friendly tree ahead of the bull, but not
in time to climb the tree. So he led the enraged
animal a merry race around the tree, finally suc-
ceeding in getting the bull by the tail.
"The bull, being at a disadvantage, not able
either to catch the man or release his tail, was
mad enough to eat nails ; he dug up the earth
with his feet, scattered gravel all around, bel-
lowed until you could hear him for two miles or
more, and at length broke into a dead run, the
man hanging onto his tail all the time.
"While the bull, much out of temper, was leg-
ging it to the best of his ability, his tormentor,
still clinging to the tail, asked, 'Darn you, who
commenced this fuss?'
"It's our duty to settle this fuss at the earliest
possible moment, no matter who commenced it.
That's my idea of it."
INSCRIPTION FOR GREENBACKS
At a Cabinet meeting once the advisability of
putting on greenbacks a legend similar to the
*Tn God We Trust" on the silver coins was dis-
.'>â–
ADDITIONAL LINCOLN STORIES 355:
cussed, and the President was asked what his
view was. He replied :
"If you are going- to put a legend on the
greenback, I would suggest that of Peter and
John: 'Silver and gold have I none, but such as
I have give I thee.' " [Acts iii. 6.]
"something that everybody can take''
The President was feeling indisposed, and had
sent for his physician, who soon informed him
that his trouble was varioloid, or a mild form of
smallpox.
"They're all over me. Is it contagious?
asked Mr. Lincoln.
"Yes," answered the doctor, "very, indeed."
"Oh !" said a visitor who had called to see the
President, "I can't stop."
"Don't be in a hurry, sir," said the President,
placidly.
"Thank you, sir — I'll call again !" the visitor
called back as he left abruptly.
"Some people," exclaimed the President, smil-
ing as he looked after the retreating caller, "some
people do not take very well to my Proclama-
tion, but now, I am happy to say, I have soinc-
tliiiig that everybody can take."
END FOR END
Stories are more interesting than logic and far
more effective with the average audience, and
Lincoln's juries usually heard something from
him in the way of an apt comparison or illustra-
tion which impressed his point upon their minds.
On one occasion when he was defending a
35^ TRIBUTES AND STORIES
case of assault and battery it was proved that the
plaintiff had been the aggressor, but the oppos-
ing counsel argued that the defendant might
have protected himself without inflicting injuries
on his assailant.
"That reminds me of the man who was at-
tacked by a farmer's dog, which he killed with
a pitchfork," commented Lincoln.
"'What made you kill my dog?' demanded
the farmer.
" 'What made him try to bite me?' retorted the
offender.
" 'But why didn't you go at him with the other
end of the pitchfork?' persisted the farmer.
" 'Well, why didn't he come at me with his
other end?' was the retort."
"trust-busting"
In the campaign of 1852, Lincoln, in reply to
Douglas's speech, wherein he spoke of confidence
in Providence, replied :
"Let us stand by our candidate C General
Scott) as faithfully as he has always stood by
our country, and I much doubt if we do not per-
ceive a slight abatement of Judge Douglas's con-
fidence in Providence, as well as the people.
"I suspect that confidence is not more firmly
fixed with the Judge than it was with the old
woman whose horse ran away with her in the
l3i-i§g>'- She said she 'trusted in Providence till
the britchen broke,' and then she 'didn't know
what on airth to do !' "
ADDITIONAL LINCOLN STORIES 3 57
THE DOG AND THE BITE
Lincoln's quarrel with Shields was his last
personal encounter. In later years it became his
duty to give an official reprimand to a young
officer who had been court-martialed for a quar-
rel with one of his associates. The reprimand
was probably the gentlest on record :
"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."
EXPENSIVE MULES
The generals of the army were not always
pleased to have Lincoln call them so familiarly,
"my generals."
Walking up Pennsylvania Avenue one evening,
on the road to the \\'hite House, several mem-
bers of Congress were hailed by a courier who
had just dashed across the Long Bridge. He
told them the news he was taking to the War
Department. In the gray of that very morning
a Confederate raid in Falls Church, a little ham-
let a dozen miles away, had surprised and cap-
tured a brigadier-general, and twelve army
mules, and had got into the enemy's lines before
they could be recaptured. As they were going
.3 58 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
to the Executive Chamber, the Congressmen
thought they would tell Mr. Lincoln the news in
advance. He said, instantly, on hearing it :
"How unfortunate ! I can fill his place with
â– one of my generals in five minutes, but those
mules cost us $200 apiece."
OUTSTRIPPING THE STAR
One who was designated by the Secretary of
War as a sort of special escort to accompany
the President from Washington to Gettysburg
iipon the occasion of the first anniversary of the
battle at that place, relates that at the appointed
time he went to the White House, where he
found the President's carriage at the door to
take him to the station ; but he was not ready.
When he appeared it was rather late, and the
€Scort, who felt a due sense of responsibility,
•remarked that he had no time to lose in going
to the train.
''Well," said the President, "I feel about that
as the convict in one our Illinois towns felt when
he was going to the gallows. As he passed along
the road in custody of the sheriff, the people,
eager to see the execution, kept crowding and
pushing past him. At last he called out :
" 'Boys, you needn't be in such a hurry to get
ahead, there zvon't be any fun till I get there.' "
A BARGAIN IS A BARGAIN
Tad, as he was universally called, almost al-
ways accompanied his father upon the various
â– excursions down the Potomac. Once on the
way to Fort Monroe, he became very trouble-
ADDITIONAL LINCOLN STORIES 359
some. The President was much engaged in con-
versation with the party who accompanied him,,
and he at length said :
"Tad, if you will be a good boy, and not dis-
turb me any more till we get to Fort Monroe, I
will give you a dollar."
The hope of reward was effectual for a while
in securing silence, but, boy-like, Tad soon for-
got his promise, and was as noisy as ever. Upon
reaching their destination, however, he said very
promptly :
"Father, I want my dollar."
Mr. Lincoln turned to him with the inquiry :
"Tad, do you think you have earned it?"
"Yes," was the sturdy reply.
Mr. Lincoln looked at him half reproachfully
for an instant, and then taking from his pocket
a dollar note, he said :
"Well, my son, at any rate I will keep my
part of the bargain."
"more light and less noise"
"Wednesday, March 2 (1864)," says F. B. Car-
penter. "I had an unusually long and interesting'
sitting from the President. . . . The news had
been recently received of the disaster under Gen-
eral Seymour in Florida. Alany newspapers
openly charged the President with having sent
the expedition with primary reference to restor-
ing the State in season to secure its vote at the
forthcoming Baltimore convention. Mr. Lincoln
was deeply wounded by these charges. ... A
few days afterward an editorial appeared in the
Neiv York Tribune, which was known not to
favor Lincoln's renomination, entirely exoner-
3'6o TRIBUTES AND STORIES
ating him from blame. I took the article to him
in his study, and he expressed much gratifi-
cation at its candor. In connection with news-
paper attacks he told, during the sitting, this
Story :
" 'A traveler on the frontier found himself out
of his reckoning one night in a most inhospitable
region. A terrific thunderstorm came up, to add
to his trouble. He floundered along until at
length his horse gave out. The lightning af-
forded him the only clew to his way, but the
peals of thunder were frightful. One bolt, which
seemed to crush the earth beneath him. brought
him to his knees. By no means a praying man,
his petition was short and to the point :
" ' "O Lord, if it's all the same to you, give
us a little more light and a little less noise." ' "
"punch's" advice reversed
Critics have arraigned Air. Lincoln for lack of
dignity ; and he used to acknowledge in reply,
that he had never enjoyed a quarter's education
in any dignity school whatever. While his West-
ern training, so full as it had been of independent
individuality, appeared to make the requirements
of etiquette always chafe and gall him, we can
imagine how astonished was Lord Lyons, the
stately British Minister, when he presented the
autograph letter from Queen Victoria, announ-
cing, as is the custom of European monarchies,
the marriage of the Prince of Wales, and adding
that whatever response the President would
make he would immediately transmit to his
royal mistress.
Mr. Lincoln responded instantly, by shaking
ADDITIONAL LINCOLN STORIES 361
the marriage announcement at the bachelor min-
ister before him, saying:
"Lyons, go thou and do likczvise!"
THE president's DIGNITY
A cashiered officer persisted several times in
presenting to the President a plea for his rein-
statement and was finally told that even his own
statement did not justify a rehearing. His final
application being met with silence, he lost his
temper and blurted out:
"Well, Mr. President, I see that you are fully
determined not to do me justice."
Without evincing any emotion, ]Mr. Lincoln
rose, laid some papers on the desk, and suddenly
seizing the officer by the coat-collar, marched him
to the door. After ejecting him into the hall,
he said :
"Sir, I give you fair warning never to show
yourself here again ! I can bear censure, but not
insult."
TEDIOUSNESS OF DETAIL
So voluminous a report was made by a Con-
gressional committee upon a new gun that the
President pathetically said:
"I should want a new lease of life to read this
through. \Miy can't an investigating committee
show a grain of common sense? If I send a
man to buy a horse for me, I expect him to tell
me that horse's points — not how many hairs he
has in his tail."
362 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
HE THAT SHOWED MERCY
A Union officer, in conversation one day, told
this story :
"The first week I was with my command there
M^ere twenty-four deserters sentenced by court-
martial to be shot, and the warrants for their
execution were sent to the President to be signed.
He refused. I went to Washington and had an
interview. I said :
" 'Mr. President, unless these men are made
an ej^ample of, the army itself is in danger.
Mercy to the few is cruelty to the many.'
"He replied: 'Mr. General, there are already
too many weeping widows in the United States.
For God's sak^ don't ask me to add to the num-
ber, for I won't do it!'"
SYKES'S DOG
General Horace Porter tells the following
amusing anecdote.
Lincoln always enjoyed telling General Grant,
after the two had become personally intimate,
how the cross-roads wiseacres had criticised his
campaigns. One day, after dwelling for some
time on this subject, he said to Grant:
"After \'icksburg I thought it was about time
to shut down on this sort of thing, so one day,
when a delegation came to see me and had spent
half an hour in trying to show me the fatal
mistake you had made in paroling Pemberton's
army, and insisting that the rebels would vio-
late their paroles and in less than a month con-
front you again in the ranks, and have to be
whipped all over again, I thought I should get
ADDITIONAL LIXCOLN STORIES 363
rid of them best by telling them a story about
Sykes's dog.
" 'Have you ever heard about Sykes's yellow
dog?' said I to the spokesman of the delegation.
He said he hadn't.
" 'Well, I must tell you about him.' said I.
Sykes had a yellow dog he set great store by,
but there were a lot of small boys around the
village, and that's always a bad thing for dogs,
you know. These boys didn't share Sykes's
views, and they were not disposed to let the dog
have a fair show. Even Sykes had to admit
that the dog was getting unpopular; in fact it
was soon seen that a prejudice was growing up
against that dog that threatened to wreck all his
future prospects in life. The boys, after medi-
tating how they could get the best of him, finally
fixed up a cartridge with a long fuse, put the car-
tridge in a piece of meat, dropped the meat in
the road in front of Sykes's door, and then
perched themselves on a fence a good distance
ofif with the end of the fuse in their hands.
Then they whistled for the dog. When he came
out he scented the bait, and bolted the meat,
cartridge and all. The boys touched off the fuse
with a cigar and in about a second a report came
from that dog that sounded like a small clap of
thunder. Sykes came bounding out of the house,
and veiled :
" 'What's up ! Anything busted?'
"There was no reply except a snicker from the
small boys roosting on the fence, but as Sykes
looked up he saw the whole air filled with
pieces of yellow dog. He picked up the big-
gest piece he could find, a portion of the back
with a part of the tail still hanging to it, and
364 TRIBUTES AXD STORIES
after turning it around and looking it all over
he said :
" '\\>n. I guess he"ll never be much account
again — as a dog!'
" 'And I guess Pemberton's forces will nev^r
be much account again — as an anny!'
"The delegation began looking around for
their hats before I had quite got to the end of
the story, and I was never bothered any more
after that about superseding the commander of
the Army of the Tennessee."'
SKILLET AND AX- HELVE
"The strifes and jars in the Republican party
at this time (1864)," says David R. Locke, ''dis-
turbed him more than anything else, but he
avoided taking sides with any faction. ... I
asked him why he did not take some pronounced
position in one trying encounter between two
very prominent Republicans.
" T learned," said he, 'a great many years ago,
that in a fight between man and wife, a third
party should never get between the woman's
skillet and the man's ax-helve."
COMPUTING THE EXEMY
Toward the close of the great conflict, sur-
mises upon the length of time to which the war
might be protracted were based -on estimates of
the enemy's strength. On being asked, point-
blank, how strong he deemed the Confederates
to be, the President replied offhand :
"They have some 1,200,000 in the field."
"Is it possible! How did you find that out?"'
ADDITIONAL LINCOLN STORIES 365
"Why," said Lincoln, "every Union general I
ever heard tell — w^hen he was licked — says the
rebels outnumbered him three or four to one ;
now, we have at the present time about 400,000
men, and three times that number would be
1,200,000, wouldn't it?"
"don't do it"
One day Secretary Stanton came to him with
a wrathful letter written to a Major-General
who had accused him of favoritism. While
Stanton was reading the letter, which was full
of sharp retorts, Lincoln interrupted him with
favorable comments such as :
"That's right ; give it to him, Stanton !" —
"Just what he deserves!" — "Prick him hard!" —
"Score him!"— "That's first-rate!"— "Good for
you !" — and so on.
\A'hile Stanton, much gratified, was folding up
the letter and putting it into its envelope, the
President asked him :
"\Miat are you going to do with it now?"
"Why, send it, of course," replied Stanton,
looking blank.
"Don't do it," said Lincoln, laughing.
"But you said it was just what he deserved,"
demurred the Secretary.
"Yes, I believe he does deserve it, but you
don't want to send such a letter as that. Put
it in flic stove! That's the way I do when I have
written a letter while I am mad. It is a good
letter, and you have had a good time writing it,
and you feel better, don't you ? It has done you
good and answered its purpose. Nozv burn it!"
ii2ai
3 66 TRIBUTES AXD STORIES
THE PRESIDENT-MAKER
One day, a persevering office-seeker called on
Mr. Lincoln, and, presuming on the activity he
had shown in behalf of the party ticket, asserted
as a reason why the office should be given him,
that he had made ^Ir. Lincoln President.
"So you made me President, did you?" asked
Mr. Lincoln with a twinkle in his eye.
"I think I did," said the applicant.
"Then a pretty mess you've got me into, that's
all !" replied the President, and closed the dis-
cussion.
HIS OWX TAILOR
One of the President's life-guard who was on
duty early in 1865, saw much of ^Iv. Lincoln,
day and night, for several months.
Early one morning he tapped on the Presi-
dent's bedroom door. To his surprise he found
the President of the L'nited States, in dishabille
and carpet slippers, sewing a button on his trou-
sers. With a characteristic twinkle, ]Mr. Lincoln
jauntily exclaimed :
"All right. Just wait a minute while I repair
damages."
A COUNTER-STROKE
Judge Douglas closed a speech with a very
bitter attack upon Lincoln's career. He said that
Lincoln had tried everything and had always been
a failure. He had tried farming, and had failed
at that — had tried flatboating. and had failed at
that — had tried school-teaching, and had failed at
that — had sold liquor in a saloon, and had failed
at that — had tried law, and had failed at that —
ADDITIONAL LINCOLN STORIES 367
and now he had gone into politics, and was
doomed to make the worst faikire of all. "That
is the man," said Judge Douglas, "who wants my
place in the Senate. You don't know him in the
northern part of the State so well as we do who
live in the southern part."
Lincoln seemed to be greatly amused. At
length he rose to reply. He came forward and
said that he was much obliged to Judge Douglas
for the very accurate history that he had taken
the trouble to compile. It was all true — every
word of it. "I have," said Lincoln, "worked on
a farm ; I have split rails ; I have worked on a
flatboat ; I have tried to practise law. There is
just one thing that Judge Douglas forgot to re-
late. He says that I sold liquor over a counter.
He forgot to tell you that, while I was one side
of the counter, the Judge was always on the
other side."
That allusion to Judge Douglas's well-known
infirmity set the whole audience wild. The peo-
ple rent the heavens with their shouts. It was
some time before quiet was restored. Then Mr.
Lincoln delivered one of those masterly orations
that made him famous.
BLESSED BE NOTHING
A reverend gentleman of prominence was pre-
sented to the President, who resignedly had a
chair placed for him, and with patient awaiting
said:
"My dear sir, I am now ready to hear what
you have to say."
"Why, bless you, Mr. President," stammered
the other, with more apprehension than his host,
368 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
"I have nothing to say. I only came to pay my
respects."
"Is that all?" exclaimed the escaped victim,
springing up to take the minister's two hands
with gladness. "It is a relief to find a clergy-
man — or any other man, for that matter — who
has nothing to say. I thought you had come to
preach to me, or to ask for an office."
"my Maryland"
In April, 1861, a deputation of sympathizers
with secession had the boldness to call on Presi-
dent Lincoln and demand a cessation of hostili-
ties until convening of Congress, threatening that
seventy-five thousand Marylanders would contest
the passage of troops over their soil.
"I presume," quietly replied Mr. Lincoln, "that
there is room enough in her soil for seventy-five
thousand graves?"
THE BULL RUNNERS
Shortly after the rout of Bull Run, the par-
ticipants in the panic began to try to palliate the
disaster. The President, listening with sarcasm
in his expression, remarked:
"So it is your notion nozv that we licked the
rebels and then ran away !"
"a good state to move from"
Thurlow Weed, prominent wire-puller, pre-
sented as a preferable puppet to Montgomery
Blair his choice, Henry Winter Davis, upon
which the President said :
ADDITIONAL LINCOLN STORIES 369
"Davis? Judge David Davis put you up to
this. He has Davis on the brain. A Maryland
man who wants to get out! Maryland must be
a good State to move from. Weed, did you ever
hear, in this connection, of the witness in court
asked to state his age? He said sixty. As he
was on the face of it much older, but persisted,
the court admonished him, saying:
" 'The court knows you to be older than
sixty !'
" 'Oh, I understand now,' owned up the old
fellow. 'You are thinking of the ten years I
spent in Maryland; that was so much time lost
and did not count!'"
NO INTERVENTION NEEDED
April, 1862, closed brilliantly for the Union,
as New Orleans was captured. General Porter
Phelps issued a proclamation which freed the
slaves. As on previous occasions, when this
bomb was brought out, the President had di-
rected its being stifled and reserved for his occa-
sion, and there was wonder that he took no of-
ficial notice of the premature flash. Taken to
task by a friendly critic for his odd omission, he
deigned to reply :
"Well, I feel about it a good deal like that big,
burly, good-natured canal laborer who had a lit-
"tle waspy bit of a wife, in the habit of beating
him. (Dne day she put him out of the house and
switched him up and down the street. A friend
met him a day or two after, and rebuked him
with the words :
" 'Tom, as you know, I have always stood
up for you, but I am not going to do so any
3 7° TRIBUTES AND STORIES
longer. Any man may stand for a bullyragging
by his wife, but when he takes a switching from
her right out on the public highway, he deserves
to be horsewhipped.'
"Tom looked up with a wink on his broad face,
and, slapping the interferer on the back with a
leg-of-mutton fist, rejoined :
" 'Why, drop it ! It pleases her and it don't
hurt me!'"
A "misfit" substitute
(Related by the President to "Grace Green-
wood") :
"As I recall it, the story, told very simply and
tersely, but with inimitable drollery, ran that a
certain honest old farmer, visiting the capital
for the first time, was taken by the member of
Congress for his 'deestrict,' to some large gather-
ing or entertainment. He went in order to 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 dis-
appointed, designated Mr. R., of Minnesota. He
was a gentleman of a particularly round and rubi-
cund countenance. The worthy agriculturist,
greatly astonished, exclaimed :
" Ts that old Abe? Well, I du declare! He's
a better-lookin' man than I expected to see ; but
it do seem as how his troubles have druv him to
drink !' "
WANTED TO SEE THEM SPREAD THEMSELVES
It is related that the ushers and secret service
officials on duty at the Executive Mansion dur-
ing the war were prone to congregate in a little
ADDITIONAL LINCOLN STORIES 371
anteroom and exchange reminiscences. This was
directly against instructions by the President.
One night the guard and ushers were gath-
ered in the httle room talking things over, when
suddenly the door opened, and there stood Presi-
dent Lincoln, his shoes in his hand.
All the crowd scattered save one privileged
individual, the Usher Pendel, of the President's
own appointment, as he had been kind to the
Lincoln children.
The intruder shook his finger at him and, with
assumed ferocity, growled:
"Pendel, you people remind me of the boy
who set a hen on forty-three eggs."
''How was that, Islr. President?" asked Pendel.
"A youngster put forty-three eggs under a
hen, and then rushed in and told his mother
what he had done.
" 'But a hen can't set on forty-three eggs,' re-
plied the mother.
" 'No, I guess she can't, but I just wanted to
see her spread herself.'
"That's what I wanted to see you boys do
when I came in," said the President, as he left
for his apartments.
SAFETY IN NEGLECT
Mr. Chase bemoaning that in leaving home he
had in the hurry forgot to write a letter, Lincoln
sagely consoled :
"Chase, never regret what you don't write —
it is what you do write that you are often called
upon to feel sorry for!"
3 72 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
RUNNING FEVER
In debate, at Springfield, III, December, 1839,
Lincoln said :
"There is a malady of vulnerable heels — a spe-
cies of running fever — which operates on sound-
headed and honest-hearted creatures very much
as the cork leg in the song did on its owner.
When he had once got started on it, the more
he tried to stop it, the more it would run aw'ay.
A witty Irish soldier always boasting of his brav-
ery when no danger was nigh, but who invar-
iably retreated without orders at the first charge
of the engagement, being asked by his captain
why he did so, replied :
" 'Captain, I have as brave a heart as Julius
Csesar ever had ; but, somehow or other, when-
ever danger approaches, my cozvardly legs will
run away with me.' "
LET THEM BE SAVED
The Reverend J\Ir. Shrigley, of Philadelphia,
having been appointed hospital chaplain, the
President sent in his name to the Senate. A dep-
utation came on to protest against his confirma-
tion, on the ground that he was a Universalist,
a large-minded man, who did not believe in
endless punishment. Logically, he believed that
"even the rebels will be saved," concluded the
opposition, horrified.
"Well, gentlemen,"' determined the President
gravely, "if that be so, and there is any way
under heaven whereby the rebels can be saved,
then, for God's sake and for their sakes, let the
man be appointed."
ADDITIONAL LINCOLN STORIES 373
PATHOLOGIC PRECEDENCE
A deputation was pressing the claims of a so-
licitor for a consulship, the plea being that his
health would be benefited by residence on these
Fortunate Islands. The Lord Bountiful termi-
nated the interview by lightly saying:
"Gentlemen, I am sorry to say that there are
eight other applicants for the place — and all of
them are sicker than your client !"
TW^ENTY APPLICANTS, NINETEEN ENEMIES
Hampered, harassed, and hounded by office-
seekers, the President once opened his confidence
on this irritating point to a conscientious public
officer. He wished the Senators and others
would start and stimulate public sentiment to-
ward changes in public offices being made on
good and sufficient cause — that is, plainly, never
on party considerations. The ideal civil service,
in a word. Nine-tenths of his vexations were
due to seekers of sinecures.
"It seems to me that such visitors dart at me
and, with finger and thumb, carry ofi^ a portion
of my vitality," was his saying.
His hearer laughed at the image, but the other
pursued earnestly :
'T have made up my mind to make very few
changes in the offices in my gift for my second
term. I think, now, that I shall not move a
single man, except for delinquency. To remove
a man is very easy, but when I go to fill his place,
there are twenty applicants, and of these I must
make nineteen enemies."
3 74 TRIBUTES AXD STORIES
THEX, OR XOT AT ALL
An old man came from Tennessee to beg the
life of his son, death-doomed under the military
code. General Fiske procured him admittance to
the President, who took the petition and prom-
ised to attend to the matter. But the applicant,
in anguish, insisted that a life was at stake — that
to-morrow would not do, and that, in order to be
of any avail, the decision must be made on the
instant.
Lincoln assumed his mollifying air, and in a
soothing tone brought out his universal sooth-
ing-sirup, the little stor\- :
"It was General Fiske, who introduced you,
who told me this. The General began his career
as a colonel, and raised his regiment in ^lissouri.
Having good principles, he made the boys prom-
ise then not to be profane, but let him do all the
swearing for the regiment. For months no vio-
lation of the agreement was reported. But one
dav a teamster, with the foul tongue associated
with their calling and mule-driving, as he drove
his team through a longer and deeper series of
mud-puddles than ever before, unable to restrain
himself, turned himself inside out as a vocal
Vesuvius. It happened, too. that this torrent ^
was heard surging by the Colonel, who called i
him to account.
" 'Well, yes. Colonel/ he acknowledged, T did
vow to let you do all the swearing of the regi- ^
ment: but the cold fact is, that the swearing had'
to be done thar and then, or not at all, to do the
'casion justice — and you were not thar!'
"Xow," summed up Mr. Lincoln to the en-
grossed and semi-consoled parent, "I may not be
ADDITIONAL LINCOLN STORIES 375
there, so do you take this and do the swearing
him off!"
He furnished him with the release autograph,
and sent another mourner on his way rejoicing.
MATCHING STORIES
The President looking in at the telegraph-
room in the White House, happened to find
Major Eckert in. He saw he was counting
greenbacks. So he said jokingly:
"I believe you never come to business now but
to handle money !"
The officer pleaded that it was a mere coin-
cidence, and instanced a story in point:
"A certain tailor in Mansfield, Ohio, was very
stylish in dress and airy in manner. Passing a
storekeeper's door one day, the latter puffed
himself up and emitted a long blow, expressive
of the inflation to oozing-point of the conceited
tailor, who indignantly turned and said : T will
teach you to blow when I am passing!' to which
the storekeeper replied : 'And Fll teach you not
to pass when I am blowing !' "
"Very good !" returned the hearer. "That is
very like a story / heard of a man driving
about the country in an open buggy, caught at
night by a pouring rain. Passing a farmhouse,
a man. apparently struggling with the effects of
whiskey, thrust his head out of a window, and
shouted loudly:
"'Hello!'
"The traveler stopped for all of his hurry for
shelter and asked what was wanted.
" 'Nothing of you !' was the blunt reply.
" 'Well, what in the infernals are you shout-
376 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
ing "Hello" for when people are passing?' an-
grily asked the traveler.
" 'Well, what in the infernals are you passing
for when people are shouting hello ?' "
The rival story-tellers parted "at evens."
MRS. Lincoln's glass hack
President Lincoln had not been in the White
House very long before Airs. Lincoln was seized
with the idea that a fine closed carriage would
be the proper thing for "the first lady in the
land." The President did not care much about
it, but told his wife to order whatever she
wanted.
Lincoln forgot all about the new vehicle, so
he was overcome with astonishment one after-
noon when, having acceded to Mrs. Lincoln's
desire to go driving, he found a beautiful shin-
ing carriage standing before the door of the
White House. Mrs. Lincoln watched him with
an amused smile while he surveyed it, but the
only remark he made was:
"Well, Mary, that's about the slickest glass
hack in town, isn't it?"
A MATTER OF CHOICE
"I met Lincoln again in 1859," said David R.
Locke, "in Columbus, Ohio, where he made a
speech, which was only a continuation of the
Illinois debates of the year before. It is curious
to note in this speech that Lincoln denied being
in favor of negro suffrage, and took pains to
affirm his support of the law of Illinois forbid-
ding the intermarriage of whites and negroes. I
ADDITIONAL LINCOLN STORIES 3II
asked him if such a denial were worth while,
to which he replied :
" 'The law means nothing. 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 if the negro wom-
an can stand it.' "
DEMAND AND SUPPLY
"It was a frequent custom with Lincoln." Miss
Tarbell tells us, "this of carrying his children on
his shoulders. He rarely went down street that
he did not have one of his younger boys mounted
on his shoulder, while another hung to the tail
of his long coat. The antics of the boys with
their father, and the species of tyranny they ex-
ercised over him, are still subjects of talk in
Springfield.
"Mr. Roland Diller, who was a neighbor of
Mr. Lincoln, tells one of the best of the stories.
He was called to the door one day by hearing
a great noise of children crying, and there was
Mr. Lincoln striding by with the boys, both of
whom were wailing aloud :
" 'Why, Mr. Lincoln, what's the matter with
the boys?' he asked.
" 'Just what's the matter with the whole world,'
Lincoln replied; 'I've got three walnuts and each
wants two.' "
A NON-COMMERCIAL RATING
A New York firm applied to Abraham Lincoln
some years before he became President, for in-
formation as to the financial standing of one of
his neighbors. Mr. Lincoln replied :
3 78 TRIBUTES AND STORIES
"I am well acquainted with Mr. Blank, and
know his circumstances.
"First of all, he has a wife and baby; together
they ought to be worth $50,000 to any man.
"Secondly, he has an office in which there is a
table worth $1.50, and three chairs worth, say,
$1.00.
"Last of all, there is in one corner a large rat-
hole, which will bear looking into.
"Respectfully, A. Lincoln."
INVERSE PROPORTION
Lincoln's humor generally freed his criticism*
of all offense.
"Lie can compress the most words into the
smallest ideas of any man I ever met," was per-
haps the severest retort he ever uttered ; but his-
tory has considerately sheltered the identity of
the victim.
PLOUGHING AROUND THE GOVERNOR
An amusing narration of Lincoln's v/as given
to General James B. Fry, who reported it as
follows :
"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 of-
fice, whence, after a stormy interview with Stan-
ton, he went alone to press his ultimatum upon
the highest authority. After I had waited anx-
ADDITIONAL LINCOLN STORIES 379
iously for some hours, expecting important or-
ders 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 g'ood-by.
Neither the business he came upon nor his inter-
view 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 Blank. He went
to your office from the War Departm.ent 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 any-
thing. YoiL know how tliat Illinois farmer man-
aged 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.
'â– ' *'Got rid of it!" said they, "how did you
do it? It v/as 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 — / ploughed around it."
" 'Now,' said Mr. Lincoln, 'don't tell any-
body, but that's the way I got rid of the Govern-
or — / ploughed around him, but it took me three
mortal hours to do it, and I was afraid every
minute he'd see what I was at.' "
PART II
EARLY SPEECHES
1832-1856
CONTENTS
Preface
PAGE
. ix
Introduction
Lincoln and National Unity. By Theodore
Roosevelt ....... xi
Early Speeches, Political Papers, and Legal
Notes (March i, 1832, to ^lay 29, 1856)
Announcement of Candidacy for the State
Legislature. About March i, 1832 . . . i
An Address Delivered in Candidacy for the
State Legislature March 9, 1832 . . . i
Announcement of Political Views in Candidacy
for the State Legislature. June 13, 1836 . . 8
Speech Before the Illinois Legislature upon a
Resolution to Inquire into the Management of
the State Bank. In January, 183^ ... 9
An Address Before the Young Men's Lyceum
of Springfield, 111. January 27, 1837 . . .14
Protest of Representatives Stone and Lincoln
in the Illinois Legislature Against Certain Pro-
Slavery Resolutions of that Body. March 3,
1837 26
Remarks in the Illinois Legislature. January
17, 1839 28
Speech at a Political Discussion in the Hall of
Representatives at Springfield, 111. About De-
cember 20, 1839 . . . . . -29
Circular from Whig State Committee, of which
Lincoln was a Member. Sent to Leading Whigs
in each County. About January i, 1840 . . 60
vi CONTENTS
Ballol-Reform Resolution. Offered in tiie Illi-
nois Legislature. November 28, 1840 . . 63
Remarks on an Election Contest. In the Illinois
Legislature. December 4, 1840 . . . .64
Remarks in Favor of Issue of "Interest Bonds."
In the Illinois Legislature. December 4, 1840. 65
Remarks in Favor of "Canal Scrip." In the
Illinois Legislature. January 23, 1841 . . 66
Against the Subordination of the Judiciary to
the Legislature. An Appeal to the People of
the State of Illinois, Issued by a Committee on
Behalf of the Whig Members of the Legislature,
A. Lincoln being one of the Committee. About
February 8, 1841 . . . . . .67
Against Reorganization of the Judiciary. Ex-
tract from a Protest in the Illinois Legislature
Signed by A. Lincoln and Others. February
26, 1841 72
Address Before the Washingtonian Temperance
Society of Springfield, 111. February 22, 1842 . 7;i
In Favor of Whig Policies. Resolutions
Offered at a Whig Meeting in Springfield, 111.
March i, 1843 86
In Favor of Whig Policies. An Address to the
People of Illinois, Issued by A. Lincoln and
Two Other Members of a Committee Appointed
for the Purpose bv a Whig Meeting at Spring-
field. March 4, 1843 88
Advantages of a Protective Tariff. Notes Jotted
Down while Congressman Elect. About De-
cember I, 1847 ....... lOI
"Spot Resolutions" on Mexican War. Offered
in the United States House of Representatives.
December 22, 1847 . . . . . .113
CONTENTS vii.
On Railroad Mail Contracts. Remarks in the
United States House of Representatives. Janu-
ary 5, 1848 115
Arraignment of President Polk for War
Against INIexico. Speech in the United States
House of Representatives. January 12, 1848 . iig
On Bountv Lands for Soldiers. Remarks Made
in the United States House of Representatives.
March 29, 1848 I33
On Land Grants to States to Aid Internal
Improvements. Remarks ^Nlade in the United
States House of Representatives. May 11,
1848 134
In Favor of Internal Improvements. Speech
in the United States House of Representatives.
June 20, 1848 138
Federal Judiciary Facilities. Remarks Made in
the United States House of Representatives.
June 28, 1848 155
Policies Jotted Down as Appropriate for Gen-
eral Taylor, Whig Candidate for President, to
Enunciate. About July i, 1848 . . .156
Speech in Defence of the Whigs and Their
Presidential Candidate, General Taylor, and in
Ridicule of the Democrats and Their Presi-
dential Candidate, General Cass, Delivered in
the United States House of Representatives.
July 27, 1848 157
The Whigs the True "Free-Soilers." Report
of Speech of Abraham Lincoln, M. C, at Wor-
cester, Mass. September 12, 1848 . . .180
Bill to Abolish Slavery in the District of
Columbia. January 16, 1849 .... 186
On the Bill Granting Lands to the States to
Make Railroads and Canals. Remarks in the
United States House of Representatives. Feb-
ruary 13, 1849 i8g
viii CONTENTS
Resolutions of Sympathy with Hungarian
Revolutionists. About September 12, 1849 • 192
Niagara Falls. Notes for a Popular Lecture.
About July I, 1850 192
Notes for a Law Lecture. About July i, 1850 . 194
Eulogy of Henry Clay. Delivered in the State
House at Springfield, 111. July 16, 1852 . . 197
The Nature and Object of Government, with
Special Reference to Slavery. Fragmentary
Notes. About July i, 1854 ..." 214
The ^Missouri Compromise : the Iniquity of Its
Repeal, and the Propriety of Its Restoration.
Speech at Peoria, 111., in Reply to Senator
Douglas. October 16, 1854 .... 218
Speech Delivered at the First Republican State
Convention of Illinois, Held at Bloomington.
May 29, 1856 275
PREFACE
In the present volume are contained Lincoln's
public addresses ranging from his first recorded
speech, the modest announcement of his candi-
dacy for the Illinois State Legislature, about
March i, 1832, to the famous "Lost Speech" de-
livered at the first Republican State convention
at Bloomington, ]\Iay 29, 1856. This speech
made him a figure in national politics, as indi-
cated by his receiving one hundred and ten votes,,
the second largest number cast, for Vice-Presi-
dent in the Republican national convention of
that year. Here are to be found his speeches in
the State Legislature and in Congress. The vol-
ume also contains such resolutions as the protest
against certain slavery resolutions in the Illinois
House of Representatives — the first of such pro-
tests recorded in the minutes of any State Legis-
lature — and the unanswerable anti-Mexican War
resolutions, known as the "Spot Resolutions"
from the quaint phraseology used by Lincoln in
persistently pressing upon the weak and tender
"spot" in President Polk's justification of the un-
happy conflict. Besides speeches on slavery and
allied subjects, the volume includes arguments
for internal improvements, a protective tariff,
and other policies of the Whig party, of which,
from the beginning of his public career, Lincoln
was a leading figure in Illinois politics. He was
the only Whig Representative from his State in
the Twenty-ninth Congress.
ix
X â– PREFACE
As a sociologist, Lincoln is presented in
speeches dealing .with capitalism ("Perils of
Mobocracy") ; mob rule ("The Perpetuation of
Our Political Institutions") ; and temperance
("Charity in Temperance Reform"). His style
as a popular lecturer is exhibited in his rather
commonplace notes for an address on "Niagara
Falls" ; and the legal habit of his mind is shown
in his sound and practical notes for a law lecture.
A eulogy of Henry Clay, delivered on the death
of that popular idol, is a rather perfunctory per-
formance, since the future emancipator had al-
ready divined the coming of a nobler order of
statesmanship than that represented by the author
of the compromises of 1850.
In Congress Lincoln served as a member of
the Committee on the Post-Office and Post-
Roads. In this capacity he made various re-
ports, some of which, as dealing with special
cases involving no principle, have been omitted
from the present collection.
Likewise, for similar reasons, formal calls for
Whig conventions, signed by Lincoln with
others, and an opinion on the Illinois election
law, signed by him as member of a committee,
have been omitted.
INTRODUCTION
Lincoln and National Unity.
By Theodore Roosevelt.
In his second inaugural, in a speech which
will be read as long as the memory of
this nation endures, Abraham Lincoln closed by
saying :
"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 do all which may achieve and
cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves,
and with all nations."
Immediately after his reelection he had al-
ready spoken thus :
"The strife of the election is but human na-
ture practically applied to the facts of the case.
What has occurred in this case must ever recur
in similar cases. Human nature will not change.
In any future great national trial, compared with
the men of this, we shall have as weak and as
strong, as silly and as wise, as bad and as good.
Let us, th.erefore, study the incidents of this as
philosophy to learn wisdom from, and none of
them as wrongs to be revenged. . . . May not
all having a common interest reunite in a com-
mon eflFort to save our common country? For
my own part. I have striven and shall strive
to avoid placing any obstacle in the way. So
xi
s
xii IXTRODUCTION
long as I have been here I have not wilHngly
planted a thorn in any man's bosom. \\ hile I
am deeply sensible to the high compliment of a
reelection, and duly grateful, as I trust, to Al-
mighty God for having directed my countrymen
to a right conclusion, as I think, for their own
good, it adds nothing to my satisfaction that any
other man may be disappointed or pained by the
result.
"]\Iav I ask those who have not differed with
me to join with me in this same spirit toward
those w^ho have ?"
Lincoln's healing spirit
This is the spirit in which mighty Lincoln
sought to bind up the nation's wounds when its
soul was vet seething with fierce hatreds, with
wrath, with rancor, with all the evil and dread-
ful passions provoked by civil war. Surely this
is the spirit which all Americans should show
now, when there is so little excuse for malice
or rancor or hatred, when there is so little of
vital consequence to divide brother from
brother.
Lincoln, himself a man of Southern birth, did
not hesitate to appeal to the sword when he be-
came satisfied that in no other w^ay could the
Union be saved, for high though he put peace he
put righteousness still higher. He warred for the
Union ; he warred to free the slave and when he
warred he warred in earnest, for it is a sign of
weakness to be half-hearted when blows must be
struck. But he felt only love, a love as deep as
the tenderness of his great and sad heart, for
all his countrvTOen alike in the North and in the
INTRODUCTION xiii
South, and he longed above everything for
the day when they should once more be knit to-
gether in the unbreakable bonds of eternal friend-
ship.
We of to-day, in dealing with all our fellow-
citizens, white or colored. North or South, should
strive to show just the qualities that Lincoln
showed — his steadfastness in striving after the
right, and his infinite patience and forbearance
with those who saw that right less clearlv than
he did ; his earnest endeavor to do what was best,
and yet his readiness to accept the best that was
practicable when the ideal best was unattainable ;
his unceasing effort to cure what was evil,
coupled with his refusal to make a bad situation
worse by any ill-judged or ill-timed effort to
make it better.
GLORY FOR ALL
The great Civil War, in which Lincoln tow-
ered as the loftiest figure, left us not only a re-
united country, but a country which has the
proud right to claim as its own the glory won
alike by those who wore the blue and by those
who wore the gray, by those who followed Grant
and by those who followed Lee ; for both fought
with equal bravery and with equal sincerity of
conviction, each striving for the light as it was
given him to see the light ; though it is now clear
to all that the triumph of the cause of freedom
and of the Union was essential to the welfare
of mankind. We are now one people, a people
with failings which we must not blink, but a
people with great qualities in which we have the
right to feel just pride.
xiv INTRODUCTION
THE RACE PROBLEM
All good Americans who dwell in the North
must, because they are good Americans, feel the
most earnest friendship for their fellow-country-
men who dwell in the South, a friendship all the
greater because it is in the South that we find in
its most acute phase one of the gravest problems
before our people : the problem of so dealing with
the man of one color as to secure him the rights
that no one would grudge him if he were of an-
other color. To solve this problem it is, of
course, necessary to educate him to perform
the duties, a failure to perform which will
render him a curse to himself and to all around
him.
Most certainly all clear-sighted and generovis
men in the North appreciate the difHculty and
perplexity of this problem, sympathize with the
South in the embarrassment of conditions for
which she is not alone responsible, feel an honest
wish to help her where help is practicable, and
have the heartiest respect for those brave and
earnest men of the South who, in the face of fear-
ful difficulties, are doing all that men can do for
the betterment alike of white and of black. The
attitude of the North toward the negro is far
from what it should be, and there is need that the
North also should act in good faith upon the
principle of giving to each man what is justly due
him, of treating him on his worth as a man,
granting him no special favors, but denying him
no proper opportunity for labor and the reward
of labor. But the peculiar circumstances of the
South render the problem there far greater and
far more acute.
INTRODUCTION xv
Neither I nor any other man can say that any
given way of approaching that problem will
present in our times even an approximately per-
fect solution, but we can safely say that there can
never be such solution at all unless we approach
it with the effort to do fair and equal justice
among all men; and to demand from them in
return just and fair treatment for others. Our
effort should be to secure to each man, whatever
his color, equality of opportunity, equality of
treatment before the law. As a people striving
to shape our actions in accordance with the great
law of righteousness we cannot afford to take
part in or be indifferent to the oppression or mal-
treatment of any man who, against crushing dis-
advantages, has by his own industry, energy, self-
respect, and perseverance struggled upward to a
position which would entitle him to the respect
of his fellows, if only his skin were of a different
hue.
"all men up"
Every generous impulse in us revolts at the
thought of thrusting down instead of helping up
such a man. To deny any man the fair treatment
granted to others no better than he is to commit
a wrong upon him — a Avrong sure to react in the
long run upon those guilty of such denial. The
only safe principle upon which Americans can
act is that of "all men up," not that of "some
men down." If in any community the level of
intelligence, morality, and thrift among the col-
ored men can be raised, it is, humanly speaking,
sure that the same level among the whites will
be raised to an even higher degree ; and it is no
less sure that the debasement of the blacks will in
xvi INTRODUCTION
the end carry with it an attendant debasement of
the whites.
The problem is so to adjust the relations be-
tween two races of different ethnic type that the
rights of neither be abridged nor jeoparded; that
the backward race be trained so that it may enter
into the possession of true freedom while the for-
ward race is enabled to preserve unharmed the
high civilization wrought out by its forefathers.
The working out of this problem must necessarilv
be slow; it is not possible in ofThand fashion to
obtain or to confer the priceless boons of free-
dom, industrial efficiency, political capacity, and
domestic morality. Xor is it only necessary to
train the colored man ; it is quite as necessary to
train the white man, for on his shoulders rests
a well-nigh unparalleled sociological responsi-
bility. It is a problem demanding the best
thought, the utmost patience, the most earnest
effort, the broadest charity, of the statesman, the
student, the philanthropist ; of the leaders of
thought in every department of our national life.
The Church can be a most important factor in
solving it aright. But above all else we need for
its successful solution the sober, kindly, steadfast,
unselfish performance of duty by the average
plain citizen in his every-day dealings with his
fellows. . . .
PRESENT DUTY
We can pay most fitting homage to Lincoln's
memory by doing the tasks allotted to us in the
spirit in which he did the infinitely greater and
more terrible tasks allotted to him.
Let us be steadfast for the right ; but let us err
on the side of generosity rather than on the side
INTRODUCTION xvii
of vindictiveness toward those who dift'er from
us as to the method of attaining the right. Let
us never forget our duty to help in uphfting the
lowly, to shield from wrong the humble ; and let
us likewise act in a spirit of the broadest and
frankest generosity toward all our brothers, all
our fellow-countrymen ; in a spirit proceeding
not from weakness but from strength; a spirit
wdiich takes no more account of locality than it
does of class or of creed; a spirit which is reso-
lutely bent on seeing that the Union which
Washington founded and which Lincoln saved
from destruction shall grow nobler and greater
throughout the ages.
FAITH IN THE NATION
I believe in this country with all my heart and
soul. I believe that our people will in the end
rise level to every need, will in the end triumph
over every difficulty that arises before them. I
could not have such confident faith in the destiny
of this mighty people if I had it merely as re-
gards one portion of that people. Throughout
our land things on the whole have grown better
and not worse, and this is as true of one part of
the country as it is of another. I believe in the
Southerner as I believe in the Northerner. I
claim the right to feel pride in his great qualities
and in his great deeds exactly as I feel pride in
the great qualities and deeds of every other
American. For weal or for woe we are knit
together, and we shall go up or go down to-
gether ; and I believe that we shall go up and not
down, that we shall go forward instead of halt-
ing and falling back, because I have an abiding
EARLY SPEECHES
(1832-1856)
"I Am Humble Abraham Lincoln."
Announcement of His Candidacy for the
State Legislature, About March i,
1832.
Fellow-Citizens: I presume you all know who
I am. I am humble Abraham Lincoln. I have
been solicited by many friends to become a can-
didate for the Legislature. My politics are short
and sweet, like the old woman's dance. I am in
favor of a national bank. I am in favor of the
internal improvem.ent system, and a high pro-
tective tariff. These are my sentiments and po-
litical principles. If elected, I shall be thankful ;
if not it will be all the same.
The Improvement of Sangamon River.
An Address Delivered in Candidacy for the
State Legislature. About March i,
1832.*
Fellozv-Siti::cns: Having become a candidate
for the honorable office of one of your represent-
atives in the next General Assembly of this State,
* This address was printed and distributed as a hand-
bill. It excited much interest among Lincoln's pro-
2 EARLY SPEECHES [Mar. r
in accordance with an established custom and the
principles of true Republicanism it becomes my
duty to make known to you, the people whom I
propose to represent, my sentiments with regard
to local affairs.
Time and experience have verified to a demon-
stration the public utility of internal improve-
ments. That the poorest and most thinly popu-
lated countries would be greatly benefited by the
opening of good roads, and in the clearing of
navigable streams within their limits, is what no
person will deny. Yet it is folly to undertake
works of this or any other kind without first
knowing that we are able to finish them, — as
half-finished work generally proves to be labor
lost. There cannot justly be any objection to
having railroads and canals, any more than to
other good things, provided they cost nothing.
The only objection is to paying for them : and
the objection arises from the want of ability to
pay.
With respect to the County of Sangamon,
some more easy means of communication than
it now possesses, for the purpose of facilitating
the task of exporting the surplus products of its
fertile soil, and importing necessary articles from
abroad, are indispensably necessary. A meeting
has beein held of the citizens of Jacksonville and
the adjacent country, for the purpose of deliber-
ating and inquiring into the expediency of con-
structing a railroad from some eligible point on
the Illinois River, through the town .of Jackson-
ville, in jMorgan County, to the town of Spring-
spective constituents, but not enough to induce them
to elect so young a man (he had entered his twenty-
third year a month before) to the Legislature.
1832] SANGAMON RIVER 3
field, in Sangamon County. This is, indeed, a
very desirable object. No other improvement
that reason will justify us in hoping for can equal
in utility the railroad. It is a never-failing
source of communication between places of busi-
ness remotely situated from each other. Upon
the railroad the regular progress of commercial
intercourse is not interrupted by either high or
low water, or freezing weather, which are the
principal difficulties that render our future hopes
of water ciDmmunication precarious and uncer-
tain.
Yet, however desirable an object the con-
struction of a railroad through our country may
be; however high our imaginations may be
heated at thoughts of it, — there is always a heart-
appalling shock accompanying the amount of its
cost, which forces us to shrink from our pleasing
anticipations. The probable cost of this contem-
plated railroad is estimated at $290,000 ; the bare
statement of which, in my opinion, is sufficient to
justify the belief that the improvement of the
Sangamon River is an object much better suited
to our infant resources.
Respecting this view, I think I may say, with-
out the fear of being contradicted, that its navi-
gation may be rendered completely practicable
as high as the mouth of the South Fork, or prob-
ably higher, to vessels of from twenty-five to
thirty tons burden, for at least one half of all
common years, and to vessels of much greater
burden a part of the time. From my peculiar
circumstances, it is probable that for the last
twelve months I have given as particular attention
to the stage of the water in this river as any other
person in the country. In the month of March,
4 EARLY SPEECHES [Mar. i
183 1, in company with others, I commenced the
building of a flatboat on the Sangamon, and fin-
ished and took her out in the course of the spring.
Since that time I have been concerned in the mill
at New Salem. These circumstances are suffi-
cient evidence that I have not been very inatten-
tive to the stages of the water. The time at
which we crossed the mill-dam being in the last
days of April, the water was lower than it had
been since the breaking of winter in February,
or than it was for several weeks after. The prin-
cipal difficulties we encountered in descending
the river were from the drifted timber, which ob-
structions all know are not difficult to be. re-
moved. Knowing almost precisely the height of
water at that time, I believe I am safe in saying
that it has as often been higher as lower since.
From this view of the subject it appears that
my calculations with regard to the navigation of
the Sangamon cannot but be founded in reason;
but, whatever may be its natural advantages, cer-
tain it is that it never can be practically useful to
any great extent without being greatly improved
by art. The drifted timber, as I have before
mentioned, is the most formidable barrier to this
")bject. Of all parts of this river, none will re-
quire so much labor in proportion to make it
navigable as the last thirty or thirty-five miles;
and going with the meanderings of the channel,
when we are this distance above its mouth we
are only between twelve and eighteen miles above
Beardstown in something near a straight direc-
tion ; and this route is upon such low ground as
to retain water in many places during the season,
and in all parts such as to draw two thirds or
three fourths of the river water at all high stages.
I
i832] SANGAMON RIVER §
This route is on prairie-land the whole distance,
so that it appears to me, by removing the turf a
sufficient width, and damming up the old channel,
the whole river in a short time would wash its
way through, thereby curtailing the distance and
increasing the velocity of the current very con-
siderably, while there would be no timber on the
banks to obstruct its navigation in future; and
being nearly straight, the timber which might
float" in at the head would be apt to go clear
through. There are also many places above this
where the river, in its zigzag course, forms such
complete peninsulas as to be easier cut at the
necks than to remove the obstructions from the
bends, which, if done, would also lessen the dis-
tance.
What the cost of this work would be, I am un-
able to say. It is probable, however, that it would
not be greater than is common to streams of the
same length. Finally, I believe the improvement
of the Sangamon River to be vastly important
and highly desirable to the people of the county ;
and, if elected, any measure in the legislature
having this for its object, which may appear ju-
dicious, will meet my approbation and receive my
support.
It appears that the practice of loaning money
at exorbitant rates of interest has already been
opened as a field for discussion; so I suppose I
may enter upon it without claiming the honor, or
risking the danger which may await its first ex-
plorer. It seems as though we are never to have
an end to this baneful and corroding system, act-
ing almost as prejudicially to the general inter-
ests of the community as a direct tax of several
thousand dollars annually laid on each county for
6 EARLY SPEECHES [Mar. i
the benefit of a few individuals only, unless there
be a law made fixing the limits of usury. A law
for this purpose, I am of opinion, may be made
without materially injuring any class of people.
In cases of extreme necessity, there could always
be means found to cheat the law ; while in all
other cases it would have its intended effect. I
would favor the passage of a law on this subject
which might not be very easily evaded. Let it
be such that the labor and difficulty of evading it
could only be justified in cases of greatest neces-
sity.
Upon the subject of education, not presuming
to dictate any plan or system respecting it, I can
only say that I view it as the most important sub-
ject which we as a people can be engaged in.
That every man may receive at least a moderate
education, and thereby be enabled to read the
histories of his own and other countries, by
which he may duly appreciate the value of our
free institutions, appears to be an object of vital
importance, even on this account alone, to say
nothing of the advantages and satisfaction to be
derived from all being able to read the Scriptures,
and other works both of a religious and moral
nature, for themselves.
For my part, 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.
With regard to existing laws, some alterations
are thought to be necessary. Many respectable
1832] SANGAMON RIVER 7
men have suggested that our estray laws, the law
respecting the issuing of executions, the road
law, and some others, are deficient in their pres-
ent form, and require alterations. But, consider-
ing the great probability that the framers of
those laws were wiser than myself, I should pre-
fer not meddling with them, unless they were
first attacked by others ; in which case I should
feel it both a privilege and a duty to take that
stand which, in my view, might tend most to the
advancement of justice.
But, fellow-citizens, I shall conclude. Consid-
ering the great degree of modesty which should
always attend youth, it is probable I have already
been more presuming than becomes me. How-
ever, upon the subjects of which I have treated,
I have spoken as I have thought. I may be
wrong in regard to any or all of them, but, hold-
ing it a sound maxim that it is better only some-
times to be right than at all times to be wrong, so
soon as I discover my opinions to be erroneous,
I shall be ready to renounce them.
Every man is said to have his peculiar ambi-
tion. Whether it be true or not, I can say, for
one, that I have no other so great as that of be-
ing truly esteemed of my fellow-men, by render-
ing 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 re-
mained, in the most humble walks of life. I have
no wealthy or popular relations or friends to
recommend me. ]\Iy 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
8 EARLY SPEECHES [Jan.
to compensate. But, if the good people in their
wisdom shall see fit to keep me in the back-
ground, I have been too familiar with disappoint-
ments to be very much chagrined.
In Favor of Equal Suffrage and Public Im-
provements.
Announcement of Political Views in Candi-
dacy FOR THE State Legislature.*
New Salem, June 13, 1836.
To the Editor of the "Journal" : In your paper
of last Saturday I see a communication, over the
signature of "Many Voters," in which the candi-
dates who are announced in the "Journal" are
called upon to "show their hands." Agreed.
Here's mine.
I go for all sharing the privileges of the gov-
ernment who assist in bearing its burdens. Con-
sequently, I go for admitting all whites to the
right of suffrage who pay taxes or bear arms (by
no means excluding females).
If elected, I shall consider the whole people of
Sangamon my constituents, as well those that op-
pose as those that support me.
While acting as their representative, I shall
be governed by their will on all subjects upon
which I have the means of knowing what their
will is ; and upon all others I shall do what my
own judgment teaches me will best advance their
interests. Whether elected or not, I go for dis-
tributing the proceeds of the sales of the public
lands to the several States, to enable our State,
* At the close of the poll, Lincoln stood second of the
four successful candidates.
i837] STATE BANK g
in common with others, to dig canals and con-
struct railroads without borrowing money and
paying the interest on it.
if alive on the first Monday in November, I
shall vote for Hugh L. White for President.*
Very respectfully,
A. Lincoln.
Perils of Mobocracy.
Speech Before the Illinois Legislature
Upon a Resolution to Inquire Into the
Management of the State Bank-^
. . . I now proceed to the resolution. By
examination it will be found that the first thirty-
three lines, being precisely one third of the whole,
relate exclusively to the distribution of the stock
by the commissioners appointed by the State.
Now, sir, it is clear that no question can arise on
this portion of the resolution, except a question
between capitalists in regard to the ownership of
stock. Some gentlemen have their stock in their
hands, while others, who have more money than
they know what to do with, want it ; and this,
and this alone, is the question to settle which we
are called on to squander thousands of the peo-
* Judge Hugh L. White. Democratic Senator from
Tennessee, 1825 to 1839. was nominated by a combina-
tion of Whigs and anti-Jackson Democrats for Presi-
dent in 1836. He received the electoral votes of Ten-
nessee and Georgia.
t This speech appeared in the Vandalia Free Press
sometime in January. 1837. It was copied by the
Saiigainon Journal of January 28. 1837. It is here given
in part, the omitted portions dealing largHy with local
and transitory conditions.
lO EARLY SPEECHES [Jan.
pie's money. What interest, let me ask, have the
people in the settlement of this question ? What
difference is it to them whether the stock is
owned by Judge Smith or Sam Wiggins ? If any
gentleman be entitled to stock in the bank, which
he is kept out of possession of by others, let him
assert his right in the Supreme Court, and let
him or his antagonist, whichever may be found
in the wrong, pay the costs of suit. It is an old
maxim, and a very sound one, that he that dances
should always pay the fiddler. Xow, sir, in the
present case, if any gentlemen, whose money is a
burden to them, choose to lead off a dance, I am
decidedly opposed to the people's money being
used to pay the fiddler. Xo one can doubt that
the examination proposed by this resolution must
cost the State some ten or twelve thousand dol-
lars ; and all this to settle a question in which the
people have no interest, and about which they
care nothing. These capitalists generally act har-
moniously and in concert to fleece the people, and
now that they have got into a quarrel with them-
selves, we are called upon to appropriate the peo-
ple's money to settle the quarrel. . . .
There are several insinuations in the resolu-
tion, which are too silly to require any sort of no-
tice, were it not for the fact that they conclude by
saying, "to the great injury of the people at
large." In answer to this I would say that it is
strange enough that the people are suft'ering
these "great injuries," and yet are not sensible of
it! Singular indeed that the people should be
writhing under oppression and injury, and yet
not one among them to be found to raise the voice
of complaint. If the Bank be inflicting injury
upon the people, why is it that not a single peti-
1837] STATE BANK li
tion is presented to this body on the subject? If
the Bank really be a grievance, why is it that no
one of the real people is found to ask redress of
it? The truth is, no such oppression exists. If
it did, our people would groan with memorials
and petitions, and we would not be permitted to
rest day or night till we had put it down. The
people know their rights, and they are never
slow to assert and maintain them, when they are
invaded. Let them call for an investigation, and
I shall ever stand ready to respond to the call.
But they have made no such call. I make the
assertion boldly, and without fear of contradic-
tion, that no man who does not hold an office or
does not aspire to one has ever found any fault
with the Bank. It has doubled the prices of the
products of their farms and filled their pockets
with a sound circulating medium, and they are
all well pleased with its operations. No, sir, it is
the politician who is the first to sound the alarm
(which, by the way, is a false one). It is he
who, by these unholy means, is endeavoring to
blow up a storm that he may ride upon and di-
rect. It is he, and he alone, that here proposes
to spend thousands of the people's public treas-
ure, for no other advantage to them than to make
valueless in their pockets the reward of their in-
dustry. ]\Ir. Chairman, this work is exclusively
the work of politicians ; a set of men who have
interests aside from the interests of the people,
and who, to say the most of them, are, taken as
a mass, at least one long step removed from
honest men. I say this with the greater freedom
because, being a politician myself, none can re-
gard it as personal. . . .
I am by no means the special advocate of the
12 EARLY SPEECHES [Jan.
Bank. I have long thought that it would be well
for it to report its condition to the General As-
sembly, and that cases might occur when it might
be proper to make an examination of its affairs
by a committee. Accordingly, during the last
session, while a bill supplemental to the Bank
charter was pending before the House, I offered
an amendment to the same, in these words : "The
said corporation shall, at the next session of the
General Assembly, and at each subsequent Gen-
eral Session, during the existence of its charter,
report to the same the amount of debts due from
said • corporation ; the amount of debts due to the
same ; the amount of specie in its vaults, and an
account of all lands then owned by the same,
and the amount for which such lands have been
taken ; and, moreover, if said corporation shall
at any time neglect or refuse to submit its books,
papers, and all and everything necessary for a
full and fair examination of its affairs, to any
person or persons appointed by the General As-
sembly, for the purpose of making such examina-
tion, the said corporation shall forfeit its char-
ter."
This amendment was negatived by a vote of 34
to 15. Eleven of the 34 who voted against it are
now members of this House ; and though it
would be out of order to call their names, I hope
they will all recollect themselves, and not vote
for this examination to be made without author-
ity, inasmuch as they refused to receive the
authority when it was within their power to
do so.
I have said that cases might occur when an
.examination might be proper; but I do not be-
lieve any such case has now occurred; and if it
1837] STATE BANK 13
has, I should still be opposed to making an ex-
amination without legal authority. I am opposed
to encouraging that lawless and mobocratic
spirit, whether in relation to the Bank or any-
thing else, which is already abroad in the land ;
and is spreading with rapid and fearful impetuos-
ity to the ultimate overthrow of every institution,
of every moral principle, in which persons and
property have hitherto found security.
But supposing we had the authority, I would
ask what good can result from the examination ?
Can we declare the Bank unconstitutional, and
compel it to desist from the abuses of its power,
provided we find such abuses to exist? Can we
repair the injuries which it may have done to in-
dividuals? Most certainly we can do none of
these things. Why, then, shall we spend the
public money in such employment? Oh, say the
examiners, we can injure the credit of the Bank,
if nothing else. Please tell me, gentlemen, who
will suffer most by that? You cannot injure, to
any extent, the stockholders. They are men of
\vealth — of large capital ; and consequently, be-
yond the power of malice. But by injuring the
credit of the Bank you will depreciate the value
of its paper in the hands of the honest and un-
suspecting farmer and mechanic, and that is all
you can do. But suppose you could effect your
whole purpose ; suppose you could wipe the Bank
from existence, which is the grand itltimatiim of
the project, what would be the consequence?
Why, sir, we should spend several thousand dol-
lars of the public treasure in the operation, an-
nihilate the currencv of the State ; render value-
less in the hands of our people that reward of
their former labors; and finally, be once more
14 EARLY SPEECHES [Jan. 27
under the comfortable obligation of paying the
Wiggins loan, principal and interest.
The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions.
An Address Delivered Before the Young
Men's Lyceum of Springfield, III, Janu-
ary 2y, 1837.*
As a subject for the remarks of the evening,
"The perpetuation of our political institutions" is
selected.
In the great journal of things happening under
the sun, we, the American people, find our ac-
count running under date of the nineteenth cen-
tury of the Christian era. We find ourselves in
the peaceful possession of the fairest portion of
the earth as regards extent of territory, fertility
of soil, and salubrity of climate. We find our-
selves under the government of a system of po-
litical institutions conducing more essentially to
the ends of civil and religious liberty than any of
which the history of former times tells us. We,
when mounting the stage of existence, found our-
selves the legal inheritors of these fundamental
blessings. We toiled not in the acquirement or
establishment of them; they are a legacy be-
queathed us by a once hardy, brave, and patriotic,
but now lamented and departed, race of ances-
tors. Theirs was the task (and nobly they per-
formed it) to possess themselves, and through
themselves us, of this goodly land, and to uprear
upon its hills and its valleys a political edifice of
* This society was formed by Lincoln and other
young men in the fall of 1836. The speech was printed
in the Sangamon Journal, February 3, 1838.
i837] LYCEUM ADDRESS .15
liberty and equal rights ; 'tis onrs only to transmit
these— the former unprofaned by the foot of an
invader, the latter undecayed by the lapse of
time and untorn by usurpation — to the latest gen-
eration that fate shall permit the world to know.
This task gratitude to our fathers, justice to our-
selves, duty to posterity, and love for our species
in general, all imperatively require us faithfully
to perform.
How then shall we perform it ? At what point
shall we expect the approach of danger? By
what means shall we fortify against it ? Shall we
expect some transatlantic military giant to step
the ocean and crush us at a blow ? Never ! All
the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined,
with all the treasure of the earth (our own ex-
cepted) in their military chest, with a Bonaparte
for a commander, could not by force take a drink
from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge
in a trial of a thousand years.
At what point then is the approach of danger
to be expected? I answer, If it ever reach us it
must spring up amongst us ; it cannot come from
abroad. If destruction be our lot we must our-
selves be its author and finisher. As a nation of
freemen we must live through all time or die by
suicide.
I hope I am over wary ; but if I am not, there
is even now something of ill omen amongst us.
I mean the increasing disregard for law which
pervades the country — the growing disposition to
substitute the wild and furious passions in lieu of
the sober judgment of courts, and the worse than
savage mobs for the executive ministers of jus-
tice. This disposition is awfully fearful in any
community; and that it now exists in ours,
1 6 EARLY SPEECHES [Jan. 27
though grating to our feeHngs to admit, it would
be a violation of truth and an msult to our intelli-
gence to deny. Accounts of outrages committed
by mobs form the every-day news of the times.
They have pervaded the country from New Eng-
land to Louisiana, they are neither peculiar to the
eternal snows of the former nor the burning suns
of the latter ; they are not the creature of climate,
neither are they confined to the slaveholding or
the non-slaveholding States. Alike they spring
up among the pleasure-hunting masters of
Southern slaves, and the order-loving citizens of
the land of steady habits. Whatever then their
cause may be, it is common to the whole country.
It would be tedious as well as useless to re-
count the horrors of all of them. Those happen-
ing in the State of ]^Iississippi and at St. Louis
are perhaps the most dangerous in example and
revolting to humanity. In the ^Mississippi case
they first commenced by hanging the regular
gamblers — a set of men certainly not following
for a livelihood a very useful or very honest oc-
cupation, but one which, so far from being for-
bidden by the laws, was actually licensed by an
act of the legislature passed but a single year be-
fore. Xext, negroes suspected of conspiring to
raise an insurrection were caught up and hanged
in all parts of the State : then, white men sup-
posed to be leagued with the negroes ; and finally,
strangers from neighboring States, going thither
on business, were in many instances subjected to
the same fate. Thus went on this process of
hanging, from gamblers to negroes, from negroes
to white citizens, and from these to strangers, till
dead men were seen literally dangling from the
boughs of trees upon every roadside, and in nura-
1837] LYCEUM ADDRESS 17
bers that were almost sufficient to rival the native
Spanish moss of the country as a drapery of the
forest.
Turn then to that horror-striking scene at St.
Louis. A single victim only was sacrificed there.
This story is very short, and is perhaps the most
highly tragic of anything of its length that has
ever been witnessed in real life. A mulatto man
by the name of Mcintosh was seized in the street,
dragged to the suburbs of the city, chained to a
tree, and actually burned to death ; and all within
a single hour from the time he had been a free-
man attending to his own business and at peace
with the world.
Such are the efifects of mob law, and such are
the scenes becoming more and more frequent in
this land so lately famed for love of law and
order, and the stories of which have even now
grown too familiar to attract anything more than
an idle remark.
But you are perhaps ready to ask, "What has
this to do with the perpetuation of our political
institutions?" I answer, 'Tt has much to do with
it." Its direct consequences are, comparatively
speaking, but a small evil, and much of its danger
consists in the proneness of our minds to regard
its direct as its only consequences. Abstractly
considered, the hanging of the gamblers at Vicks-
burg was of but little consequence. They consti-
tute a portion of population that is worse than
useless in any community ; and their death, if no
pernicious example be set by it, is never matter
of reasonable regret with any one. If they were
annually swept from the stage of existence by the
plague or smallpox, honest men would perhaps
be much profited by the operation. Similar too
1 8 EARLY SPEECHES [Jan. 27
is the correct reasoning in regard to the burning
of the negro at St. Louis. He had forfeited his
life by the perpetration of an outrageous murder
upon one of the most worthy and respectable
citizens of the city, and had he not died as he did,
he must have died by the sentence of the law in
a very short time afterward. As to him alone, it
was as well the way it was as it could otherwise
have been. But the example in either case was
fearful. When men take it in their heads to-day
to hang gamblers or burn murderers, they should
recollect that in the confusion usually attending
such transactions they will be as likely to hang
or burn some one who is neither a gambler nor a
murderer as one who is, and that, acting upon
the example they set, the mob of to-morrow may,
and probably will, hang or burn some of them by
the very same mistake. And not only so ; the in-
nocent, those who have ever set their faces
against violations of law in every shape, alike
Avith the guilty fall victims to the ravages of mob
law ; and thus it goes on, step by step, till all the
Avails erected for the defense of the persons and
property of individuals are trodden down and
disregarded. But all this, even, is not the full
extent of the evil. By such examples, by in-
stances of the perpetrators of such acts going un-
punished, the lawless in spirit are encouraged to
become lawless in practice ; and having been used
to no restraint but dread of punishment, they
thus become absolutely unrestrained. Having
ever regarded government as their deadliest
bane, they make a jubilee of the suspension of its
operations, and pray for nothing so much as its
total annihilation. While, on the other hand,
good men, men who love tranquillity, who desire
18271 LYCEUM ADDRESS 19
to abide by the laws and enjoy their benefits, who
would gla'dly spill their blood in the defense of
their country, seeing their property destroyed,
their families insulted, and their lives endan-
gered, their persons injured, and seeing nothing
in prospect that forebodes a change for the better,
become tired of and disgusted v^'ith a govern-
ment that offers them nc^ protection, and are not
much averse to a change in which they imagine
they have nothing to lose. Thus, then, by the
operation of this mobocratic spirit which all must
admit is now abroad in the land, the strongest
bulwark of any government, and particularly of
those constituted like ours, may effectually be
broken down and destroyed — I mean the attach-
ment of the people. Whenever this effect shall be
produced among us ; whenever the vicious portion
of [our] population shall be permitted to gather
in bands of hundreds and thousands, and burn
churches, ravage and rob provision stores, throw
printing-presses into rivers, shoot editors, and
hang and burn obnoxious persons at pleasure and
with impunity, depend upon it, this government
cannot last. By such things the feelings of the
best citizens will become more or less alienated
from it, and thus it will be left without friends,
or with too few, and those few too weak to make
their friendship effectual. At such a time, and
under such circumstances, men of sufficient talent
and ambition will not be wanting to seize the op-
portunity, strike the blow, and overturn that fair
fabric which for the last half century has been
the fondest hope of the lovers of freedom
throughout the world.
I know the American people are much attached
to their government; I know they would suffer
20 EARLY SPEECHES [Jan. 27
much for its sake ; I know they would endure
evils long and patiently before they would ever
think of exchanging it for another, — yet, not-
withstanding all this, if the laws be continually
despised and disregarded, if their rights to be
secure in their persons and property are held by
no better tenure than the caprice of a mob, the
alienation of their affections from the govern-
ment is the natural consequence ; and to that,
sooner or later, it must come.
Here, then, is one point at which danger may
be expected.
The question recurs, "How shall w^e fortify
against it?" The answer is simple. Let every
American, every lover of liberty, every well-
wisher to his posterity swear by the blood of the
Revolution never to violate in the least particular
the laws of the country, and never to tolerate
their violation by others. As the patriots of sev-
•enty-six did to the support of the Declaration of
Independence, so to the support of the Constitu-
tion and laws let every American pledge his life,
his propert}'-, and his sacred honor — let every
man remember that to violate the law is to tram-
ple on the blood of his father, and to tear the
charter of his own and his children's liberty. Let
reverence for the laws be breathed by every
American mother to the lisping babe that prattles
on her lap; let it be taught in schools, in semi-
naries, and in colleges ; let it be written in prim-
ers, spelling-books, and in almanacs ; let it be
preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legisla-
tive halls, and enforced in courts of justice. And,
in short, let it become the political religion of the
nation; and let the old and the young, the rich
and the poor, the grave and the gay of all sexes
iSs/] LYCEUM ADDRESS 2r
and tongues and colors and conditions, sacrifice
unceasingly upon its altars.
While ever a state of feeling such as this shall
universally or even very generally prevail
throughout the nation, vain will be every ertort,.
and fruitless every attempt, to subvert our na-
tional freedom.
\Mien I so pressingly urge a strict observance
of all the laws, let me not be understood as say-
ing there are no bad laws, or that grievances may
not arise for the redress of which no legal pro-
visions have been made. I mean to say no such
thing. But I do mean to say that although bad
laws, if they exist, should be repealed as soon as
possible, still, while they continue in force, for
the sake of example they should be religiously
observed. So also in unprovided cases. If such
arise, let proper legal provisions be made for
them with the least possible delay, but till then
let them, if not too intolerable, be borne with.
There is no grievance that is a fit object of
redress by mob law. In any case that may
arise, as, for instance, the promulgation of
abolitionism, one of two positions is necessarily
true — that is, the thing is right within itself, and
therefore deserves the protection of all law and
all good citizens, or it is wrong, and therefore
proper to be prohibited by legal enactments ; and
in neither case is the interposition of mob law
either necessary, justifiable, or excusable.
But it may be asked, "Why suppose danger to
our political institutions ? Have we not preserved
them for more than fifty years? And why may
we not for fifty times as long?"
We hope there is no sufificient reason. We
hope all danger may be overcome; but to con-
22 EARLY SPEECHES [Jan. 27
elude that no danger may ever arise would itself
be extremely dangerous. There are now, and
will hereafter be, many causes, dangerous in their
tendency, which have not existed heretofore, and
which are not too insignificant to merit attention.
That our government should have been main-
tained in its original form, from its establishment
until now, is not much to be wondered at. It had
many props to support it through that period,
which now are decayed and crumbled away.
Through that period it was felt by all to be an
undecided experiment ; now it is understood to be
a successful one. Then, all that sought celebrity
and fame and distinction expected to find them
in the success of that experiment. Their all was
staked upon it ; their destiny was inseparably
linked with it. Their ambition aspired to display
before an admiring world a practical demonstra-
tion of the truth of a proposition which had hith-
erto been considered at best no better than prob-
lematical — namely, the capability of a people to
govern themselves. If they succeeded they were
to be immortalized ; their names were to be trans-
ferred to counties, and cities, and rivers, and
mountains ; and to be revered and sung, toasted
through all time. If they failed, they were to be
called knaves, and fools, and fanatics for a fleet-
ing hour; then to sink and be forgotten. They
succeeded. The experiment is successful, and
thousands have won their deathless names in
making it so. But the game is caught ; and I be-
lieve it is true that with the catching end the
pleasures of the chase. This field of glory is
liarvested, and the crop is already appropriated.
But new reapers will arise, and they too will seek
a field. It is to deny what the history of the
IS.A7] LYCEUM ADDRESS 23
world tells us is true, to suppose that men of am-
bition and talents will not continue to spring up
amongst us. And when they do, they will as
naturally seek the gratification of their ruling
passion as others have done before them. The
question then is, Can that gratification be found
in supporting and maintaining an edifice that has
been erected by others ? Most certainly it cannot.
Many great and good men, sufficiently qualified
for any task they should undertake, may ever be
found whose ambition would aspire to nothing
beyond a seat in Congress, a gubernatorial or a
presidential chair ; but such belong not to the
family of the lion or the tribe of the eagle. What !
think you these places would satisfy an Alexan-
der, a Csesar, or a Napoleon ? Never ! Tower-
ing genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks re-
gions hitherto unexplored. It sees no distinction
in adding story to story upon the monuments of
fame erected to the memory of others. It denies
that it is glory enough to serve under any chief.
It scorns to tread in the footsteps of any prede-
cessor, however illustrious. It thirsts and burns
for distinction ; and if possible, it will have it,
whether at the expense of emancipating slaves or
enslaving freemen. Is it unreasonable, then, to
expect that some man possessed of the loftiest
genius, coupled with ambition sufficient to push
it to its utmost stretch, will at some time spring
up among us? And when such an one does, it
will require the people to be united with each
other, attached to the government and laws, and
generally intelligent, to successfully frustrate his
designs.
Distinction will be his paramount object, and
although he would as willingly, perhaps more so,
.24 EARLY SPEECHES [Jan. 27
acquire it by doing good as harm, yet, that op-
portunity being past, and nothing left to be done
in the way of building up, he would set boldly to
the task of pulling down.
Here then is a probable case, highly danger-
ous, and such an one as could not have well ex-
isted heretofore.
Another reason which once was, but which, to
the same extent, is now no more, has done much
in maintaining our institutions thus far. I mean
the powerful influence which the interesting
scenes of the Revolution had upon the passions
of the people as distinguished from their judg-
ment. By this influence, the jealousy, envy, and
avarice incident to our nature and go common to
a state of peace, prosperity, and conscious
strength, were for the time in a great measure
smothered and rendered inactive, while the deep-
rooted principles of hate, and the powerful motive
of revenge, instead of being turned against each
other, were directed exclusively against the Brit-
ish nation. And thus, from the force of circum-
stances, the basest principles of our nature were
either made to lie dormant, or to become the
active agents in the advancement of the noblest
of causes — that of establishing and maintaining
civil and religious liberty.
But this state of feeling must fade, is fading,
has faded, with the circumstances that produced
it.
I do not mean to say that the scenes of the
Revolution are now or ever will be entirely for-
gotten, but that, like everything else, they must
fade upon the memory of the world, and grow
more and more dim by the lapse of time. In his-
J:ory, we hope, they will be read of, and recounted.
iS37] LYCEUM ADDRESS 25.
so long' as the Bible shall be read ; but even grant-
ing that they will, their influence cannot be what
it heretofore has been. Even then they cannot be
so universally known nor so vividly felt as they
were by the generation just gone to rest. At the
close of that struggle, nearly every adult male
had been a participator in some of its scenes.
The consequence was that of those scenes, in
the form of a husband, a father, a son, or a
brother, a living history was to be found in every
family — a history bearing the indubitable testi-
monies of its own authenticity, in the limbs man-
gled, in the scars of wounds received, in the
midst of the very scenes related — a history, too,
that could be read and understood alike by all,
the wise and the ignorant, the learned and the
unlearned. But those histories are gone. They
can be read no more forever. They were a for-
tress of strength ; but what invading foeman
could never do, the silent artillery of time has
done — the leveling of its walls. They are gone.
They were a forest of giant oaks ; but the all-
restless hurricane has swept over them, and left
only here and there a lonel)^ trunk, despoiled of
its verdure, shorn of its foliage, unshacling and
unshaded, to murmur in a few more gentle
breezes, and to combat with its mutilated limbs
a few more ruder storms, then to sink and be no
more.
They were pillars of the temple of liberty ; and
now that they have crumbled away that temple
must fall unless we, their descendants, supply
their places with other pillars, hewn from the
solid quarry of sober reason. Passion has helped
us, but can do so no more. It will in future be
our enemy. Reason — cold, calculating, unimpas-
26 EARLY SPEECHES [Mar. 3
sioned reason — must furnish all the materials for
our future support and defense. Let those ma-
terials be molded into general intelligence, sound
morality, and, in particular, a reverence for the
Constitution and laws ; and that we improved to
the last, that we remained free to the last, that we
revered his name to the last, that during his long
sleep we permitted no hostile foot to pass over
or desecrate his resting place, shall be that which
to learn the last trump shall awaken our Wash-
ington.
Upon these let the proud fabric of freedom
rest, as the rock of its basis ; and as truly as has
been said of the only greater institution, "the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
Injustice the Foundation of Slavery.
Protest of Representatives Stone and Lin-
coln IN THE Illinois Legislature Against
Certain Pro-Slavery Resolutions of that
Body. March 3, 1837.*
The following protest was presented to the House,
which was read and ordered to be spread on the
journals, to wit :
Resolutions upon the subject of domestic slav-
ery 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
* "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."— VV.
E. Curtis.
1837] SLAVERY PROTEST 27
that the promtilg-ation of abolition doctrines tends
rather to increase than abate its evils.
They believe that the Congress of the United
States has no power under the Constitution to
interfere with the institution of slavery in the
different States.
They believe that the Congress of the United
States has the power, under the Constitution, to
abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, but
that the power ought not to be exercised, unless
at the request of the people of the District.
The difference between these opinions and
those contained in the said resolutions is their
reason for entering this protest.*
Dan Stone,
A. Lincoln,
Representatives from the County of Sangamon.
*The resolutions protested against were as follows :
"Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of
Illinois:
"That we highly disapprove of the formation of Abo-
lition Societies, and of the doctrines promulgated by
them.
"That the right of property in slaves is sacred to
the slaveholding States by the Federal Constitution, and
that they cannot be deprived of that right without their
consent.
"That the General Government cannot abolish slavery
in the District of Columbia against the consent of the
citizens of said District, without a manifest breach of
good faith.
"That the Governor be requested to transmit to the
States of Virginia. Alabama, Mississippi. New York,
and Connecticut a copy of the foregoing report and
resolutions."
128 EARLY SPEECHES [Dec. 20
Against the Sale of State Lands at a Low
Price.
Remarks in the Illinois Legislature. Jan-
uary 17, 1839.
I\Ir. Lincoln, from Committee on Finance, to
which the subject was referred, made a report on
the subject of purchasing of the L'nited States all
the unsold lands lying within the limits of the
State of Illinois, accompanied by resolutions that
this State propose to purchase all unsold lands at
twenty-five cents per acre, and pledging the faith
of the State to carry the proposal into effect if the
government accept the same within two years.
]\Ir. Lincoln thought the resolutions ought to
be seriously considered. In reply to the gentle-
man from Adams, he said that it was not to en-
rich the State. The price of the lands may be
raised, it was thought by some; by others, that
it would be reduced. The conclusion in his mind
"vvas that the representatives in this legislature
from the country in which the lands lie would be
opposed to raising the price, because it would
operate against the settlement of the lands. He
referred to the lands in the military tract. They
had fallen into the hands of large speculators in
consequence of the low price. He was opposed
to a low price of land. He thought it was ad-
verse to the interests of the poor settler, because
speculators buy them up. He was opposed to a
reduction of the price of public lands.
Mr, Lincoln referred to some official docu-
ments emanating from Indiana, and compared
the progressive population of the two States. lUi'
iS39] SUBTREASURY 29;
nois had gained upon that State under the pubHc
land system as it is. His conckision was that ten
years from this time Ilhnois would have no more
public land unsold than Indiana now has. He
referred also to Ohio. That State had sold nearly
all her public lands. She was but twenty years
ahead of us, and as our lands were equally sal-
able — more so, as he maintained — we should
have no more twenty years from now than she
has at present.
]\Ir. Lincoln referred to the canal lands, and
supposed that the policy of the State would be
different in reg^ard to them, if the representatives
from that section of country could themselves
choose the policy ; but the representatives from
other parts of the State had a veto upon it, and
regulated the policy. He thought that if the
State had all the lands, the policy of the legis-
lature would be more liberal to all sections.
He referred to the policy of the General Gov-
ernment. He thought that if the national debt
had not been paid, the expenses of the govern-
ment would not have doubled, as they had done
â– since that debt was paid.
Against the Subtreasury and Other Policies
of the Van Buren Administration.
Speech at a Political Discussion in the
Hall of the House of Representatives at
Springfield, III. About December 20,
1839.*
The subject heretofore and now to be dis-
cussed is the subtreasury scheme of the present
_ * This address, the last of a. series on national poli-
tics by Stephen A. Douglas, and other rising statesmenj.
30 EARLY SPEECHES [Dec. 20
administration, as a means of collecting, safe-
keeping, transferring, and disbursing the reve-
nues of the nation, as contrasted with a national
bank for the same purposes. ]\Ir. [Stephen A.]
Douglas has said that we (the Whigs) have not
dared to meet them (the Locos) in argument on
this question. I protest against this assertion. I
assert that we have again and again, during this
discussion, urged facts and arguments against
the subtreasury which they have neither dared
to deny nor attempted to answer. But lest some
may be led to believe that we really wish to avoid
the question, I now propose, in my humble way,
to urge those arguments again ; at the same time
begging the audience to mark well the positions
I shall take and the proof I shall offer to sustain
them, and that they will not again permit ]Mr.
Douglas or his friends to escape the force of
them by a round and groundless assertion that
we "dare not meet them in argument."
Of the subtreasury, then, as contrasted v/ith a
national bank for the before enumerated pur-
poses, I lay down the following propositions, to
wit: (i) It will injuriously affect the comnnu-
nity by its operation on the circulating medium,
(2) It will be a more expensive fiscal agent.
(3) It will be a less secure depository of the pub-
lic money. To show the truth of the first propo-
sition, let us take a short review of our condition
under the operation of a national bank. It was
the depository of the public revenues. Between
the collection of those revenues and the disburse-
ment of them by the government, the bank was
permitted to and did actually loan them out to
was considered the best of all, and in response to a
general demand was ordered to be printed.
1S39J SUBTREASURY 31
individuals, and hence the large amount of money
annually collected for revenue purposes, which
by any other plan would have been idle a great
portion of the time, was kept almost constantly
in circulation. Any person who will reilect that
money is only valuable while in circulation, will
readily perceive that any device which will keep
the government revenues in constant circulation,
instead of being locked up in idleness, is no in-
considerable advantage. By the subtreasury the
revenue is to be collected and kept in iron boxes
until the government wants it for disbursement ;
thus robbing the people of the use of it, while
the government does not itself need it, and while
the money is performing no nobler ofifice than
that of rusting in iron boxes. The natural effect
of this change of policy, every one will see, is to
reduce the quantity of money in circulation. But,
again, by the subtreasury scheme the revenue is
to be collected in specie. I anticipate that this
will be disputed. I expect to hear it said that it
is not the policy of the administration to collect
the revenue in specie. If it shall, I reply that
Mr. \^an Buren, in his message recommending
the subtreasury, expended nearly a column of
that document in an attempt to persuade Con-
gress to provide for the collection of the revenue
in specie exclusively ; and he concludes with
these words : "It m.ay be safely assumed that no
motive of convenience to the citizen requires the
reception of bank paper." In addition to this,
j\Ir. Silas Wright, senator from Xew-York, and
the political, personal, and confidential friend of
]\Ir, Van Buren, drafted and introduced into the
Senate the first subtreasury bill, and that bill pro-
vided for ultimately collecting the revenue in
32 EARLY SPEECHES [Dec. 20
Specie. It is true, I know, that that clause was
stricken from the bill, but it was done by the
votes of the Whigs, aided by a portion only of
the Van Buren senators. No subtreasury bill has
yet become a law, though two or three have been
considered by Congress, some with and some
without the specie clause ; so that I admit there
is room for quibbling upon the question of
whether the administration favor the exclusive
specie doctrine or not ; but I take it that the fact
that the President at first urged the specie doc-
trine, and that under his recommendation the
first bill introduced embraced it, warrants us in
charging it as the policy of the party until their
"head as publicly recants it as he at first espoused
it. I repeat, then, that by the subtreasury the
revenue is to be collected in specie. Now mark
what the effect of this must be. By all estimates
€ver made there are but between sixty and eighty
•millions of specie in the United States. The ex-
penditures of the Government for the year 1838
— the last for which we have had the report —
Avere forty millions. Thus it is seen that if the
whole revenue be collected in specie, it will take
more than half of all the specie in the nation to
do it. By this means more than half of all the
specie belonging to the fifteen millions of souls
who compose the whole population of the country
is thrown into the hands of the public-office hold-
ers, and other public creditors, composing in
number perhaps not more than one quarter of a
million, leaving the other fourteen millions and
three quarters to get along as they best can, with
less than one half of the specie of the country,
and whatever rags and shin plasters they may be
able to put, and keep, in circulation. By this
1839] SUBTREASURY 33
means every office-holder and other pubHc cred-
itor may, and most likely will, set up shaver ; and
a most glorious harvest will the specie-men have
of it, — each specie-man, upon a fair division,
having to his share the fleecing of about fifty-
nine rag-men."" In all candor let me ask, was
such a system for benefiting the few at the ex-
pense of the many ever before devised? And
was the sacred name of Democracy ever before
made to indorse such an enormity against the
rights of the people ?
I have already said that the subtreasury will
reduce the quantity of money in circulation. This
position is strengthened by the recollection that
the revenue is to be collected in specie, so that the
* On January 4. 1839. the Senate of the United States
passed the following resolution, to wit :
"Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury be
directed to communicate to the Senate any information
he may recently have received in respect to the mode
of collecting, keeping, and disbursing public moneys
in foreign countries."
Under this resolution, the secretary communicated to
the Senate a letter, the following extract from which
clearly shows that the collection of the revenue in specie
will establish a sound currency for the office-holders,
and a depreciated one for the people; and that the
office-holders and other public creditors will turn
shavers upon all the rest of the community. Here is the
extract from the letter, being all of it that relates to
the question.
"Hague, October 12, 1838.-
"The financial system of Hamburg is, as far as is
known, very simple, as may be supposed from so small
a territory. The whole amount of Hamburg coined
money is about four and a half millions of marks cur-
rent, or one million two hundred and eight-two thou-
sand five hundred dollars ; and, except under very ex-
traordinary circumstances, not more than one half that
amount is in circulation, and all duties, taxes, and
34 EARLY SPEECHES [Dec. 20
mere amount of revenue is not all that is with-
drawn, but the amount of paper circulation that
the forty millions would serve as a basis to is
withdrawn, which would be in a sound state at
least one hundred millions. When one hundred
millions, or more, of the circulation we now have
shall be withdrawn, who can contemplate with-
out terror the distress, ruin, bankruptcy, and beg-
gary that must follow? The man who has pur-
chased any article — say a horse — on credit, at
one hundred dollars, when there are two hundred
millions circulating in the country, if the quantity
be reduced to one hundred millions by the arrival
of pay-day, will find the horse but sufficient to
pay half the debt; and the other half must either
excise must be paid in Hamburg currency. The conse-
quence is that it invariably commands a premium of one
to three per centum. Every year one senator and ten
citizeiis are appointed to transact the whole of the
financial concern, both as to receipt and disbursement of
the funds, which is always in cash, and is every day
deposited in the bank, to the credit of the chancery;
and, on being paid out, the citizen to whose department
the payment belongs must appear personally with the
check or order, stating the amount and to whom to be
paid. The person receiving very seldom keeps the
monej', preferring to dispose of it to a money-changer at
a premium, and taking other coin at a discount, of
which there is a great variety and a large amount con-
stantly in circulation, and on which in his daily pay-
ment he loses nothing; and those who have p?yments
to make to the government apply to the money-changers
again for Hamburg currency, which keeps it in constant
motion, and I believe it frequently occurs that the bags,
which are sealed and labeled with the amount, are re-
turned again to the bank without being opened.
"With great respect, your obedient servant,
"John Cuthbert.
"To the Hon. Levi Woodbury, Secretary of the Treas-
ury, Washington, D. C."
1839] SUBTREASURY 35
be paid out of his other means, and thereby be-
come a clear loss to him, or go unpaid, and there-
by become a clear loss to his creditor. What I
have here said of a single case of the purchase of
a horse will hold good in every case of a debt
existing at the time a reduction in the quantity
of money occurs, by whomsoever, and for what-
soever, it may have been contracted. It may be
said that what the debtor loses the creditor gains
by this operation ; but on examination this will
be found true only to a very limited extent. It is
more generally true that all lose by it — the cred-
itor bv losing more of his debts than he gains by
the increased value of those he collects ; the
debtor by either parting with more of his prop-
erty to pay his debts than he received in con-
tracting them, or by entirely breaking up his
business, and thereby being thrown upon the
world in idleness.
The general distress thus created will, to be
sure, be temporary, because whatever change
may occur in the quantity of money in any com-
munity, time will adjust the derangement pro-
duced; but while that adjustment is progressing,
all suffer more or less, and very many lose every-
thing that renders life desirable. Why, then,
shall we suffer a severe difficulty, even though it
be but temporary, unless we receive some equiva-
lent for it?
\\'hat I have been saying as to the effect pro-
duced by a reduction of the quantity of money
relates to the whole country. I now propose to
show that it would produce a peculiar and per-
manent hardship upon the citizens of those States
and Territories in which the public lands lie. The
land-offices in those States and Territories, as all
36 EARLY SPEECHES [Dec. 20
know, form the great gulf by which all, or nearly
all, the money in them is swallowed up. When
the quantity of money shall be reduced, and con-
sec|uently everything under individual control
brought down in proportion, the price of those
lands, being fixed by law, will remain as now.
Of necessity it will follow that the produce or
labor that now raises money sufficient to pur-
chase eight}' acres will then raise but sufficient to
purchase forty, or perhaps not that much ; and
this difficulty and hardship will last as long, in
some degree, as any portion of these lands shall
remain undisposed of. Knowing, as I well do,
the difficulty that poor people now encounter in
procuring homes, I hesitate not to say that when
the price of the public lands shall be doubled or
trebled, or, which is the same thing, produce and
labor cut down to one half or one third of their
present prices, it will be little less than impossible
for them to procure homes at all.
In answer to what I have said as to the effect
the subtreasury would have upon the currency,
it is often urged that the money collected for
revenue purposes will not lie idle in the vaults
of the treasury ; and, farther, that a national bank
produces greater derangement in the currency,
by a system of contractions and expansions, than
the subtreasury would produce in any way. In
reply, I need only show that experience proves
the contrary of both these propositions. It is an
imdisputed fact that the late Bank of the United
States paid the government $75,000 annually for
the privilege of using the public money between
the times of its collection and disbursement. Can
any man suppose that the bank would have paid
this sum annually for twenty years, and then
iS39] SUBTREASURY 37
offered to renew its obligations to do so, if in
reality there was no time intervening between
the collection and disbursement of the revenue,
and consequently no privilege of using the money
extended to it? Again, as to the contractions
and expansions of a national bank, I need only
point to the period intervening between the time
that the late bank got into successful operation
and that at which the government commenced
war upon it, to show that during that period no
such contractions or expansions took place. If,
before or after that period, derangement oc-
curred in the currency, it proves nothing. The
bank could not be expected to regulate the cur-
rency, either before it got into successful opera-
tion, or after it was crippled and thrown into
death convulsions, by the removal of the deposits
from it, and other hostile measures of the* gov-
ernment against it. We do not pretend that a
national bank can establish and maintain a
sound and uniform state of currency in the coun-
try, in spite of the National Government ; but we
do say that it has established and maintained
such a currency, and can do so again, by the aid
of that government ; and we further sav that no
duty is more imperative on that government than
the duty it owes the people of furnishing them
a sound and uniform currency.
I now leave the proposition as to the effect of
the subtreasury upon the currency of the coun-
try, and pass to that relative to the additional ex-
pense which must be incurred by it over that in-
curred by a national bank as a fiscal agent of the
government. By the late national bank we had
the public revenue received, safely kept, trans-
ferred, and disbursed, not only without expense.
38 EARLY SPEECHES [Dec. 20
but we actually received of the bank $75,000 an-
nually for its privileges while rendering us those
services. By the subtreasury, according to the
estimate of the Secretary of the Treasury, who is
the warm advocate of the system (and which
estimate is the lowest made by any one), the
same services are to cost $60,000. Mr. Rives,
who, to say the least, is equally talented and hon-
est, estimates that these services, under the sub-
treasury system, cannot cost less than $600,000.
For the sake of liberality, let us suppose that the
estimates of the secretary and Mr. Rives are the
two extremes, and that their mean is about the
true estimate, and we shall then find that when
to that sum is added the $75,000 which the bank
paid us, the difference between the two systems,
in favor of the bank and against the subtreasury,
is $405,000 a year. This sum, though small
when compared to the many millions annually
expended by the General Government, is, when
viewed by itself, very large, and much too large,
when viewed in any light, to be thrown away
once a year for nothing. It is sufficient to pay
the pensions of more than four thousand Revo-
lutionary soldiers, or to purchase a forty-acre
tract of government land for each one of more
than eight thousand poor families.
To the argument against the subtreasury, on
the score of additional expense, its friends, so
far as I know, attempt no answer. They choose,
so far as I can learn, to treat the throwing away
of $405,000 once a year as a matter entirely too
small to merit their Democratic notice.
I now come to the proposition that it would
be less secure than a national bank as a deposi-
tory of the public money. The experience of the
1839] SUBTREASURY 39
past, I think, proves the truth of this. And here,
inasmuch as I rely chiefly upon experience to
establish it, let me ask how is it that we know
anything — that any event will occur, that any
combination of circumstances will produce a cer-
tain result — except by the analogies of past ex-
perience? What has once happened will invari-
ably happen again when the same circumstances
which combined to produce it shall again combine
in the same way. We all feel that we know that
a blast of wind would extinguish the flanie of the
candle that stands by me. How do we know it?
We have never seen this flame thus extinguished.
We know it because we have seen through all
our lives that a blast of wind extinguishes the
flame of a candle whenever it is thrown fully
upon it. Again, we all feel to know that we have
to die. How ? • We have never died yet. We
know it because we know, or at least think we
know, that of all the beings, just like ourselves,
who have been coming into the world for six
thousand years, not one is now living who was
here two hundred years ago. I repeat, then, that
we know nothing of what will happen in future,
but by the analogy of experience, and that the
fair analogy of past experience fully proves that
the subtreasury would be a less safe depository
of the public money than a national bank. Ex-
amine it. By the subtreasury scheme the pub-
lic money is to be kept between the times of its
collection and disbursement, by treasurers of the
mint, custom-house officers, land officers, and
some new officers to be appointed in the same
way that those first enumerated are. Has a year
passed, since the organization of the government,
that numerous defalcations have not occurred
40
EARLY SPEECHES [Dec. 20
among this class of officers? Look at Swart-
wout with his $i,200,0CK3, Price with his 875,000,
Harris with his $109,000, Hawkins with his
Si 00,000, Linn with his 855,000, together with
some twenty-five hundred lesser lights. Place
the public money again in these same hands, and
will it not again go the same way? ]\Iost assur-
edly it will. But turn to the history of the na-
tional banks in this country, and we shall there
see that those banks performed the fiscal opera-
tions of the government through a period of forty
years, received, safely kept, transferred, dis-
bursed an aggregate of nearly five hundred mil-
lions of dollars ; and that, in all this time, and
with all that money, not one dollar, nor one cent,
did the government lose by them. Place the pub-
lic money again in a similar depository, and will
it not again be safe? But, conclusive as the ex-
perience of fift}' years is that individuals are un-
safe depositories of the public money, and of
forty years that national banks are safe deposi-
tories, we are not left to rely solely upon that ex-
perience for the truth of those propositions. If
experience were silent upon the subject, conclu-
sive reasons could be shown for the truth of
them.
It is often urged that to say the public money
will be more secure in a national bank than in the
hands of individuals, as proposed in the subtreas-
ur}^, is to say that bank directors and bank ofti-
cers are more honest than sworn officers of the
governm.ent. Not so. We insist on no such
thing. We say that public officers, selected v.-ith
reference to their capacity and honesty (which,
by the way, we deny is the practice in these
days), stand an equal chance precisely, of being
1839] SUBTREASURY 41
capable and honest with bank officers selected by
the same rule. We further say that with how-
ever much care selections may be made, there
will be some unfaithful and dishonest in both
classes. The experience of the whole world, in
all bygone times, proves this true. The Saviour
of the world chose twelve disciples, and even one
of that small number, selected by superhuman
wisdom, turned out a traitor and a devil. And it
may not be improper here to add that Judas car-
ried the bag — was the subtreasurer of the Sav-
iour and his disciples. We, then, do not say —
nor need we say to maintain our proposition —
that bank officers are more honest than govern-
ment officers selected by the same rule. What
we do say is that the interest of the subtreasurer
is against his duty, while the interest of the bank
is on the side of its duty. Take instances : A
subtreasurer has in his hands one hundred thou-
sand dollars of public money; his duty says,
"You ought to pay this money over," but his in-
terest says, "You ought to run away with this
sum, and be a nabob the balance of your !tfe."
And who that knows anything of human nature
doubts that in many instances interest will pre-
vail over duty, and that the subtreasurer will pre-
fer opulent knavery in a foreign land to honest
poverty at home? But how different is it with
a bank. Besides the government money depos-
ited with it, it is doing business upon a large capi-
tal of its own. If it proves faithful to the gov-
ernment it continues its business ; if unfaithful, it
forfeits its charter, breaks up its business, and
thereby loses more than all it can make by seiz-
ing upon the government funds in its possession.
Its interest, therefore, is on the side of its duty — •
42 EARLY SPEECHES [Dec. 20
is to be faithful to the government, and conse-
quently even the dishonest amongst its managers
have no temptation to be faithless to it. Even if
robberies happen in the bank, the losses are
borne by the bank, and the government loses
nothing. It is for this reason, then, that we
say a bank is the more secure. It is because of
that admirable feature in the bank system which
places the interest and the duty of the depository
both on one side ; whereas that feature can never
enter into the subtreasury system. By the latter
the interest of the individuals keeping the public
money will wage an eternal war with their duty,
and in very many instances must be victorious.
In answer to the argumient drawn from the fact
that individual depositories of public money
have always proved unsafe, it is urged that, even
if we had a national bank, the money has to pass
through the same individual hands that it will
under the subtreasury. This is only partially
true in fact, and wholly fallacious in argument.
It is only partially true in fact, because by the
subtreasury bill four receivers-general are to be
appointed by the President and Senate. These
are new officers, and consequently it cannot be
true that the money, or any portion of it, has
heretofore passed through their hands. These
four new officers are to be located at Xew York,
Boston, Charleston, and St. Louis, and conse-
quently are to be depositories of all the money
collected at or near those points ; so that more
than three fourths of the public money will fall
into the keeping of these four new officers, who
did not exist as officers under the national bank
system. It is only partially true, then, that the
money passes through the same hands, under a
i839] SUBTREASURY 43
national bank, as it would do under the sub-
treasurv. It is true that under either system in-
dividuals must be employed as collectors of the
customs, receivers at the land-offices, etc., but the
difference is that under the bank system the re-
ceivers of all sorts receive the money and pay it
over to the bank once a week when the collec-
tions are large, and once a month when they are
small ; whereas by the subtreasury system indi-
viduals are not only to collect the money, but
they are to keep it also, or pay it over to other in-
dividuals equally unsafe as themselves, to be by
them kept until it is wanted for disbursement. It
is during the time that it is thus lying idle in
their hands that opportunity is afforded and
temptation held out to them to embezzle and
escape with it. By the bank system each col-
lector or receiver is to deposit in bank all the
money in his hands at the end of each month at
most, and to send the bank certificates of deposit
to the Secretary of the Treasury. Whenever
that certificate of deposit fails to arrive at the
proper time, the secretary knows that the officer
thus failing is acting the knave ; and, if he is
himself disposed to do his duty, he has him im-
mediately removed from office, and thereby cuts
him oft' from the possibility of embezzling but
little more than the receipts of a single month.
But by the subtreasury system the money is to
lie month after month in the hands of indi-
viduals ; larger amounts are to accumulate in the
hands of the receivers-general and some others,
by perhaps ten to one, than ever accumulated in
the hands of individuals before ; yet during all
this time, in relation to this great stake, the Sec-
retary of the Treasury can comparatively know
44 EARLY SPEECHES [Dec. 20
nothing. Reports, to be sure, he will have ; but
reports are often false, and always false when
made by a knave to cloak his knavery. Long ex-
perience has shown that nothing short of an ac-
tual demand of the money will expose an adroit
peculator. Ask him for reports, and he will give
them to your heart's content ; send agents to ex-
amine and count the money in his hands, and he
will borrow of a friend, merely to be counted and
then returned, a sufficient sum to make the sum
square. Try what you will, it will all fail till
you demand the money; then, and not till then,
the truth will come.
The sum of the whole matter I take to be this :
Under the bank system, while sums of money, by
the law, were permitted to lie in the hands of in-
dividuals for very short periods only, many and
very large defalcations occurred by those indi-
viduals. Under the subtreasury much larger
sums are to lie in the hands of individuals for
much longer periods, thereby multiplying tempta-
tion in proportion as the sums are larger, and
multiplying opportunity in proportion as the
periods are longer to and for those individuals
to embezzle and escape with the public treasure ;
and therefore, just in the proportion that the
temptation and the opportunity are greater under
the subtreasury than the bank system, will the
peculations and defalcations be greater under the
former than they have been under the latter. The
truth of this, independent of actual experience, is
but little less than self-evident. I therefore leave
it.
But it is said, and truly too, that there is to be
a penitentiary department to the subtreasury.
This, the advocates of the system v>^ill have it.
1839] SUBTREASURY 45
will be a "king cure-all." Before I go farther,
may I not ask if the penitentiary department is
not itself an admission that they expect the pub-
lic money to be stolen? Why build the cage if
they expect to catch no birds ? But as to the
question how effectual the penitentiary will be in
preventing defalcations. How effectual have
penitentiaries heretofore been in preventing the
crimes they were established to suppress? Has
not confinement in them long been the legal pen-
alty of larceny, forgery, robbery, and many other
crimes, in almost all the States ? And yet are not
those crimes committed weekly, daily, — nay, and
even hourly, — in every one of those States?
Again, the gallows has long been the penalty of
murder, and yet we scarcely open a newspaper
that does not relate a new case of that crime. If,
then, the penitentiary has ever heretofore failed
to prevent larceny, forgery, and robbery, and the
gallows and halter have likewise failed to pre-
vent murder, by what process of reasoning, I
ask, is it that we are to conclude the penitentiary
will hereafter prevent the stealing of the public
money? But our opponents seem to think they
answer the charge that the money will be stolen
fully if they can show that they will bring the
oft'cnders to punishment. Not so. Will the pun-
ishment of the thief bring back the stolen money?
No more so than the hanging of a murderer re-
stores his victim to life. What is the object de-
sired? Certainly not the greatest number of
thieves we can catch, but that the money may not
be stolen. If then, any plan can be devised for
depositing the public treasure where it will never
be stolen, never embezzled, is not that the plan
to be adopted? Turn, then, to a national bank,
46 EARLY SPEECHES [Dec. 20
and you have that plan, fully and completely suc-
cessful, as tested by the experience of forty
years.
I have now done with the three propositions
that the subtreasury would injuriously affect the
currency, and would be more expensive and less
secure as a depository of the public money than
a national bank. How far I have succeeded in
establishing their truth, is for others to judge.
Omitting, for v.-ant of time, what I had intended
to say as to the effect of the subtreasury to bring
the public money under the more immediate con-
trol of the President than it has ever heretofore
been, I now ask the audience, when Mr. Calhoun
shall answer me, to hold him to the questions.
Permit him not to escape them. Require him
either to show that the subtreasury would not in-
juriously affect the currency, or that we should in
some way receive an equivalent for that injurious
eft'ect. Require him either to show that the sub-
treasury would not be more expensive as a fiscal
agent than a bank, or that we should in some way
be compensated for that additional expense. And
particularly require him to show that the public
money would be as secure in the subtreasury as
in a national bank, or that the additional insecur-
ity would be overbalanced hy some good results
of the proposed change.
No one of them, in my humble judgment, Avill
he be able to do; and I venture the prediction,
and ask that it may be especially noted, that he
will not attempt to answer the proposition that
the subtreasury woilld be more expensive than a
national bank as a fiscal agent of the govern-
ment.
As a sweeping objection to a national bank.
1839] SUBTREASURY ^^
and consequently an argument in favor of the
subtreasury as a substitute for it, it often has
been urged, and doubtless will be again, that such
a bank is unconstitutional. We have often here-
tofore shown, and therefore need not in detail do
so again, that a majority of the Revolutionary
patriarchs, who ever acted officially upon the
question, commencing with General Washington,
and embracing General Jackson, the larger num-
ber of the signers of the Declaration, and of the
framers of the Constitution, who were in the
Congress of 1791, have decided upon their oaths
that such a bank is constitutional. We have also
shown that the votes of Congress have more
often been in favor of than against its constitu-
tionality. In addition to all this, we have shown
that the Supreme Court — that tribunal which the
Constitution has itself established to decide con-
stitutional questions — has solemnly decided that
such a bank is constitutional. Protesting that
these authorities ought to settle the question, —
ought to be conclusive, — I will not urge them
further now. I now propose to take a view of
the question which I have not known to be taken
by any one before. It is that whatever objection
ever has or ever can be made to the constitution-
ality of a bank, will apply vrith equal force, in its
whole length, breadth, and proportions, to the
subtreasury. Our opponents say there is no ex-
press authority in the Constitution to establish a
bank, and therefore, a bank is unconstitutional ;
but we with equal truth may say there is no ex-
press authority in the Constitution to establish a
subtreasury, and therefore a subtreasury is un-
constitutional. Who, then, has the advantage of
this "express authority" argument? Does it not
48 EARLY SPEECHES [Dec. 20
cut equally both ways ? Does it not wound them
as deeply and as deadly as it does us ? Our posi-
tion is that both are constitutional. The Consti-
tution enumerates expressly several powers
which Congress may exercise, superadded to
which is a general authority "to make all laws
necessary and proper" for carrying into effect all
the powers vested by the Constitution in the Gov-
ernment of the United States. One of the ex-
press powers given Congress is ''to lay and collect
taxes, duties, imports, and excises ; to pay the
debts and provide for the common defense and
general welfare of the United States." Xow,
Congress is expressh^ authorized to make all laws
necessary and proper for carrying this power
into execution. To carr}- it into execution, it is
indispensably necessary to collect, safely keep,
transfer, and disburse a revenue. To do this, a
bank is "necessary and proper." But. say our
opponents, to authorize the making of a bank,
the necessity must be so great that the power
just recited would be nugatory without it; and
that that necessity is expressly negatived by the
fact that they have got along ten whole years
without such a bank. Immediately we turn on
them, and say that that sort of necessity for a
subtreasury does not exist, because we have got
along forty whole years without one. And this
time, it may be observed that we are not merely
equal with them in the argument, but we beat
them forty to ten, or. which is the same thing,
four to one. On examination, it will be found
that the absurd rule which prescribes that before
we can constitutionally adopt a national bank as
a fiscal agent, we must show an indispensabie
necessity for it, will exclude every sort of fiscal
1839] SUBTREASURY 49-
agent that the mind of man can conceive. A
bank is not indispensable, because we can take
the subtreasury; the subtreasury is not indis-
pensable, because we can take the bank. The
rule is too absurd to need further comment.
Upon the phrase "necessary and proper" in the
Constitution, it seems to me more reasonable to
say that some fiscal agent is indispensably neces-
sary ; but inasmuch as no particular sort of agent
is thus indispensable, because some other sort
might be adopted, we are left to choose that sort
of agent which may be most ''proper" on grounds
of expediency. But it is said the Constitution
gives no power to Congress to pass acts of in-
corporation. Indeed! What is the passing an-
act of incorporation but the making of a law ? Is
any one wise enough to tell? The Constitution
expressly gives Congress power "to pass all laws
necessary and proper," etc. If, then, the passing
cf a bank charter be the "making a law necessary
and proper," is it not clearly within the constitu-
tional power of Congress to do so ?
I now leave the bank and the subtreasury to
try to answer, in a brief way, some of the argu-
ments which on previous evenings here have been
urged by Messrs. Lamborn and Douglas. Mr.
Lamborn admits that "errors," as he charitably
calls them, have occurred under the present and
late administrations; but he insists that as great
"errors" have occurred under all administrations.
This we respectfully deny. We admit that errors
may have occurred under all administrations ; but
we insist that there is no parallel between them
and those of the two last. If they can show that
their errors are no greater in number and magni-
tude than those of former times, we call off the
50 EARLY SPEECHES [Dec. 20
dogs. But they can do no such thing. To be
brief, I will now attempt a contrast of the
"errors" of the two latter with those of former
administrations, in relation to the public expendi-
tures only. What I am now about to say as to
the expenditures will be, in all cases, exclusive of
payments on the national debt. By an examina-
tion of authentic public documents, consisting of
the regular series of annual reports made by all
the secretaries of the treasury from the estab'
lishment of the government down to the close
of the year 1838, the following contrasts will be
presented :
(i) The last ten years under General Jackson
and Mr. \'an Buren cost more money than the
first twenty-seven did (including the heavy ex-
penses of the late British war) under Washing-
ton, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison.
(2) The last year of J. Q. Adams's adminis-
tration cost, in round numbers, thirteen millions,
being about one dollar to each soul in the na-
tion ; the last (1838) of Mr. Van Buren's cost
forty millions, being about two dollars and fifty
cents to each soul, and being larger than the ex-
penditure of Mr. Adams in the proportion of five
to two.
(3) The highest annual expenditure during
the late British war — being in 1814, and while we
had in actual service rising 188,000 militia, to-
gether with the whole regular army, swelling the
number to greatly over 200,000, and they to be
clad, fed, and transported from point to point,
with great rapidity and corresponding expense,
and to be furnished with arms and ammunition,
and they to be transported in like manner, and
at like expense — was no more in round numbers
i839] SUBTREASURY 51
than thirty milhons ; whereas the annual expendi-
ture of 1838, under Mr. \^an Buren, and while
we were at peace with every government in the
world, was forty millions ; being over the high-
est year of the late and very expensive war in the
proportion of four to three.
(4) General Washington administered the
government eight years for sixteen millions ; INIr.
Van Buren administered it one year (1838) for
forty millions ; so that Air. Van Buren expended
twice and a half as much in one year as General
Washington did in eight, and being in the pro-
portion of twenty to one ; or in other words, had
General Washington administered the govern-
ment twenty years at the same average expense
that he did for eight, he would have carried us
through the whole twenty for no more money
than Mr. Van Buren has expended in getting us
through the single one of 1838. Other facts
equally astounding might be presented from the
same authentic document ; but I deem the fore-
going abundantly sufficient to establish the prop-
osition that there is no parallel between the
"errors" of the present and late administrations
and those of former times, and that Mr. Van
Buren is wholly out of the line of all precedents.
But Mr. Douglas, seeing that the enormous ex-
penditure of 1838 has no parallel in the olden
times, comes in with a long list of excuses for it.
This list of excuses I will rapidly examine, and
show, as I think, that the few of them which are
true prove nothing, and that the majority of
them are wholly untrue in fact. He first says
that the expenditures of that one year were made
under the appropriations of Congress — one
branch of which was a Whig body. It is true
52 EARLY SPEECHES [Dec. 20
that those expenditures were made under the ap-
propriations of Congress; but it is untrue that
either branch of Congress was a Whig body.
The Senate had fallen into the hands of the ad-
ministration more than a year before, as proven
by the passage of the Expunging Resolution;
and at the time those appropriations were made
there were too few Whigs in that body to make
a respectable struggle, in point of numbers, upon
any question. This is notorious to all. The
House of Representatives that voted those ap-
propriations was the same that first assembled at
the called session of September, 1838. Although
it refused to pass the Subtreasury Bill, a major-
ity of its members were elected as friends of the
administration, and proved their adherence to it
by the election of a Van Buren speaker, and two
Van Buren clerks. It is clear, then, that both
branches of the Congress that passed those ap-
propriations were in the hands of Mr. Van
Buren's friends, so that the Whigs had no power
to arrest them, as ]Mr. Douglas would insist. And
is not the charge of extravagant expenditures
equally well sustained, if shown to have been
made by a Van Buren Congress, as if shown to
have been made in any other way? A \^an
Buren Congress passed the bills, and Mr. Van
Buren himself approved them,, and consequently
the party are wholly responsible for them.
Mr. Douglas next says that a portion of the
expenditures of that year was made for the pur-
chase of public lands from the Indians. Now it
happens that no such purchase was made during
that year. It is true that some money was paid
that year in pursuance of Indian treaties ; but no
more, or rather not as much as had been paid on
iS39] SUBTREASURY
55
the same account in each of several preceding
years.
Next he says that the Florida war created
many millions of this year's expenditure. This is
true, and it is also true that during that and
every other year that that war has existed, it has
cost three or four times as much as it would have
done under an honest and judicious administra-
tion of the government. The large sums fool-
ishly, not to say corruptly, thrown away in that
war constitute one of the just causes of complaint
against the administration. Take a single in-
stance. The agents of the government in con-
nection with that war needed a certain steam-
boat ; the owner proposed to sell it for ten thou-
sand dollars ; the agents refused to give that sum,
but hired the boat at one hundred dollars per day,
and kept it at that hire till it amounted to ninety-
two thousand dollars. This fact is not found in
the public reports, but depends with me, on the
verbal statement of an officer of the navy, who
says he knows it to be true. That the adminis-
tration ought to be credited for the reasonable
expenses of the Florida war, we have never de-
nied. Those reasonable charges, we say, could
not exceed one or two millions a year. Deduct
such a sum from the forty-million expenditure of
1838, and the remainder will still be without a
parallel as an annual expenditure.
Again, Mr. Douglas says that the removal of
the Indians to the country west of the Mississippi
created much of the expenditure of 1838. I have
examined the public documents in relation to this
matter, and find that less was paid for the re-
moval of Indians in that than in some former
years. The whole sum expended on that account
54 EARLY SPEECHES [Dec. 20
in that year did not much exceed one quarter of
a milhon. For this small sum, although we do
not think the administration entitled to credit, be-
cause large sums have been expended in the same
way in former years, we consent it may take one
and make the most of it.
Next, Mr. Douglas says that five millions of
the expenditures of 1838 consisted of the pay-
ment of the French indemnity money to its in-
dividual claimants. I have carefully examined
the public documents, and thereby find this state-
ment to be wholly untrue. Of the forty millions
of dollars expended in 1838, I am enabled to say
positively that not one dollar consisted of pay-
ments on the French indemnities. So much for
that excuse.
Next comes the Post-ofiice. He says that five
millions were expended during that year to sus-
tain that department. By a like examination
of public documents, I find this also wholly un-
true. Of the so often mentioned forty millions,
not one dollar went to the Post-office. I am glad,
however, that the Post-office has been referred
to, because it warrants me in digressing a little to
inquire how it is that that department of the gov-
ernment has become a charge upon the treasury,
whereas under I\Ir. Adams and the presidents
before him it not only, to use a homely phrase,
cut its own fodder, but actually threw a surplus
into the treasury. Although nothing of the forty
millions w^as paid on that account in 1838, it is
true that five millions are appropriated to be so
expended in 1839; showing clearly that the de-
partment has become a charge upon the treasury.
How has this happened ? I account for it in this
way. The chief expense of the Post-office De-
i839l SUBTREASURY 55
partment consists of the payments of contractors
for carrying the mail. Contracts for carrying-
the mails are by law let to the lowest bidders^
after advertisement. This plan introduces com-
petition, and insures the transportation of the
mails at fair prices, so long as it is faithfully ad-
hered to. It has ever been adhered to until ]\Ir.
Barry was made postmaster-general. When he
came into office, he formed the purpose of throw-
ing the mail contracts into the hands of his
friends to the exclusion of his opponents. To
effect this, the plan of letting to the lowest bid-
der must be evaded, and it must be done in this
way; the favorite bid less by perhaps three or
four hundred per cent, than the contract could be
performed for, and consequently shutting out all
honest competition, became the contractor. The
Postmaster-General would immediately add
some slight additional duty to the contract, and
under the pretense of extra allowance for extra
services run the contract to double, triple, and
often quadruple what honest and fair bidders had
proposed to take it at. In 1834 the finances of
the department had become so deranged that
total concealment was no longer possible, and
consequently a committee of the Senate w^ere di-
rected to make a thorough investigation of its
affairs. Their report is found in the Senate Doc-
uments of 1833-4, Vol. V, Doc. 422; which docu-
ments may be seen at the secretary's office, and
I presume elsewhere in the State. The report
shows numerous cases of similar import, of one
of which I give the substance. The contract for
carrying the mail upon a certain route had ex-
pired, and of course was to be let again. The
old contractor offered to take it for $300 a year.
56 EARLY SPEECHES [Dec. 20
the mail to be transported thereon three times a
week, or for $600 transported daily. One James
Reeside bid $40 for three times a week ; or $99
daily, and of course received the contract. C3n
the examination of the committee, it was discov-
ered that Reeside had received for the service on
this route, which he had contracted to render for
less than Sioo, the enormous sum of S1999 ! This
is but a single case. ]\Iany similar ones, cover-
ing some ten or twenty pages of a large volume,
are given in that report. The department was
found to be insolvent to the amount of half a
million, and to have been so grossly mismanaged,
or rather so corruptly managed, in almost every
particular, that the best friends of the Postmas-
ter-General made no defense of his administra-
tion of it. They admitted that he was wholly un-
qualified for that office ; but still he was retained
in it by the President until he resigned it volun-
tarily about a year afterward. And when he re-
signed it, what do you think became of him?
^'S'hy, he sunk into obscurit}^ and disgrace, to be
sure, you will say. , No such thing. \A'ell, then,
what did become of him? Why, the President
immediately expressed his high disapprobation of
his almost unequaled incapacity and corruption
b}'' appointing him to a foreign mission, with a
salary and outfit of $18,000 a ^-ear ! The party
now attempt ta throw Barry oft", and to avoid
the responsibility of his sins. Did not the Presi-
dent indorse those sins when, on the ver}^ heel
of their commission, he appointed their author
to the very highest and most honorable office in
his gift, and which is but a single step behind the
very goal of American political ambition?
I return to another of ]Mr. Douglas's excuses
iS39] SUBTREASURY 57
for the expenditures of 183S, at the same time
announcing the pleasing intelligence that this is
the last one. He says that ten millions of that
year's expenditure was a contingent appropria-
tion, to prosecute an anticipated war with Great
Britain on the Maine boundary question. Few
words will settle this. First, that the ten mil-
lions appropriated was not made till 1839, and
consequently could not have been expended in
1838; second, although it was appropriated, it
has never been expended at all. Those who
heard Mr. Douglas recollect that he indulged
himself in a contemptuous expression of pity for
me. "Now he's got me," thought I. But when
he went on to say that five millions of the expend-
iture of 1838 were payments of the French in-
demnities, which I knew to be untrue; that five
millions had been for the Post-office, which I
knew to be untrue ; that ten millions had been for
the Alaine boundary war, which I not only knew
to be untrue, but supremely ridiculous also; and
when I saw that he was stupid enough to hope
that I would permit such groundless and au-
dacious assertions to go unexposed, — I readily
consented that, on the score both of veracity and
sagacity, the audience should judge whether he
or I were the more deserving of the world's con-
tempt.
Air. Lamborn insists that the difference be-
tween the Van Buren party and the Whigs is that
although the former sometimes err in practice,
they are always correct in principle, whereas the
latter are wrong in principle ; and, better to im-
press this proposition, he uses a figurative ex-
pression in these words : "The Democrats are vul-
nerable in the heel, but they are sound in the head
58 EARLY SPEECHES [Dec. 20
and the heart." The first branch of the figure
— that is, that the Democrats are vulnerable in
the heel — I admit is not merely figuratively, but
literally true. Who that looks but for a moment
at their Swartwouts, their Prices, their Harring-
tons, and their hundreds of others, scampering
away with the public money to Texas, to Europe,
and to every spot of the earth where a villain may
hope to find refuge from justice, can at all doubt
that they are most distressingly affected in their
heels with a species of "running itch." It seems
that this malady of their heels operates on these
sound-headed and honest-hearted creatures very
much like the cork leg in the comic song did on
its owner; which, when he had once got started
on it, the more he tried to stop it, the more it
would run away. At the hazard of wearing this
point threadbare, I will relate an anecdote which
seems too strikingly in point to be omitted. A
witty Irish soldier, who was aways boasting of
his bravery when no danger was near, but who
invariably retreated without orders at the first
charge of an engagement, being asked by his
captain why he did so, replied : "Captain, I have
as brave a heart as Julius Csesar ever had ; but,
somehow or other, whenever danger approaches,
my cowardly legs will run away with it." So
with Mr. Lamborn's party. They take the public
money into their hand for the most laudable pur-
pose that wise heads and honest hearts can dic-
tate ; but before they can possibly get it out
again, their rascally "vulnerable heels" will run
away with them.
Seriously, this proposition of Mr. Lamborn's is
nothing more or less than a request that his party
may be tried by their professions instead of their
18393 SUBTREASURY 59
practices. Perhaps no position that the party as-
sumes is more Hable to or more deserving of ex-
posure than this very modest request ; and noth-
ing but the unwarrantable length to which I have
already extended these remarks forbids me now
attempting to expose it. For the reason given,
I pass it by.
I shall advert to but one more point. Mr.
Lamborn refers to the late elections in the States,
and from their results confidently predicts that
every State in the Union will vote for Mr. Van
Buren at the next presidential election. Address
that argument to cowards and to knaves; with
the free and the brave it will effect nothing. It
may be true ; if it must, let it. Many free coun-
tries have lost their liberty, and ours may lose
hers ; but if she shall, be it my proudest plume,
not that I was the last to desert, but that I never
deserted her, I know that the great volcano at
Washington, aroused and directed by the evil
spirit that reigns there, is belching forth the lava
of political corruption in a current broad and
deep, which is sweeping with frightful velocity
over the whole length and breadth of the land,
bidding fair to leave unscathed no green spot or
living thing; while on its bosom are riding, like
demons on the waves of hell, the imps of that evil
spirit, and fiendishly taunting all those who dare
resist its destroying course with the hopelessness
of their effort ; and, knowing this, I cannot deny
that all may be swept away. Broken by it I, too,
may be ; bow to it I never will. The probability
that we may fall in the struggle ought not to
deter us from the support of a cause we believe,
to be just; it shall not deter me.' If ever I feel
the soul within me elevate and expand to those
6o EARLY SPEECHES [Jan. j
dimensions not wholly unworthy of its almighty
Architect, it is when I contemplate the cause of
my country, deserted by all the world beside, and
I standing up boldly and alone, and hurling de-
fiance at her victorious oppressors. Here with-
out contemplating consequences, before high
heaven and in the face of the world, I swear
eternal fidelity to the just cause, as I deem, it, of
the land of my life, my liberty, and my love.
And who that thinks with me will not fearlessly
adopt the oath that I take ? Let none falter who
thinks he is right, and we may succeed. But if,
after all, we shall fail, be it so. We still shall
have the proud consolation of saying to our con-
sciences, and to the departed shade of our coun-
try's freedom, that the cause approved of our
judgment, and adored of our hearts, in disaster,
in chains, in torture, in death, we never faltered
in defending.
Plan of Organization for Illinois Whigs in the
Harrison Campaign.
Circular from Whig State Committee, of
Which Lincoln Was a Member, to Lead-
ing Whigs in Each County. About Janu-
ary I, 1840.
Confidential.
To Messrs. .
Gentlemen : In obedience to a resolution of the
Whig State Convention, we have appointed you
the Central Whig Committee of your county. The
trust confided to you will be one of watchfulness
and labor ; but we hope the glory of having con-
tributed to the overthrow of the corrupt powers
i84o] WHIG CIRCULAR 6x
that now control our beloved country will be a
sufficient reward for the time and labor you will
devote to it. Our Whig brethren throughout the
Union have met in convention, and after due de-
liberation and mutual concessions have elected
candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency
not only worthy of our cause, but worthy of the
support of every true patriot who would have
our country redeemed, and her institutions hon-
estly and faithfully administered. To overthrow
the trained bands that are opposed to us, whose
salaried officers are ever on the watch, and whose
misguided followers are ever ready to obey
their smallest commands, every Whig must not
only know his duty, but must firmly resolve,
whatever of time and labor it may cost, boldly
and faithfully to do it. Our intention is to or-
ganize the whole State, so that every Whig can
be brought to the polls in the coming presidential
contest. We cannot do this, however, without
your co-operation ; and as we do our duty, so we
shall expect you to do yours. After due delib-
eration, the following is the plan of organization,
and the duties required of each county commit-
tee :
( 1 ) To divide their county into small districts,
and to appoint in each a subcommittee, whose
duty it shall be to make a perfect list of all the
voters in their respective districts, and to ascer-
tain with certainty for whom they will vote. If
they meet with men who are doubtful as to the
man they will support, such voters should be
designated in separate lines, with the name of the
man they will probably support.
(2) It will be the duty of said subcommittee
to keep a constant watch on the doubtful voters,
62 EARLY SPEECHES [Nov. 28
and from time to time have them talked to by
those in whom they have the most confidence,
and also to place in their hands such documents
as will enlighten and influence them.
(3) It will also be their duty to report to you,
at least once a month, the progress they are mak-
ing, and on election days see that every Whig is
brought to the polls.
(4) The subcommittees should be appointed
immediately; and by the last of April, at least,
they should make their first report.
(5) On the first of each month hereafter we
shall expect to hear from you. After the first re-
port of your subcommittees, unless there should
be found a great many doubtful voters, you can
tell pretty accurately the manner in which your
county will vote. In each of your letters to us,
you will state the number of certain votes both
for and against us, as well as the number of
doubtful votes, with your opinion of the manner
in which they will be cast.
(6) When we have heard from all the coun-
ties, we shall be able to tell with similar accuracy
the political complexion of the State. This in-
formation will be forwarded to you as soon as re-
ceived.
(7) Inclosed is a prospectus for a newspaper
to be continued until after the presidential elec-
tion. It will be superintended by ourselves, and
every Whig in the State must take it. It will be
published so low that every one can afford it.
You must raise a fund and forward us for extra
copies, — every county ought to send fifty or one
hundred dollars, — and the copies will be for-
warded to you for distribution among our politi-
cal opponents. The paper will be devoted ex-
i84o] BALLOT RESOLUTION 6$
clusively to the great cause in which we are en-
gaged. Procure subscriptions, and forward them
to us immediately.
(8) Immediately after any election in your
county, you must inform us of its results ; and as
early as possible after any general election we
will give you the like information.
(9) A 'senator in Congress is to be elected by
our next legislature. Let no local interests di-
vide vou ; but select candidates that can succeed.
(10) Our plan of operations will of course be
concealed from every one except our good
friends who of right ought to know them.
Trusting much in our good cause, the strength
of our candidates, and tlie determination of the
Whigs everywhere to do their duty, we go to the
work of organization in this State confident of
success. We have the numbers, and if properly
organized and exerted, with the gallant Harrison
at our head, we shall meet our foes and conquer
them in all parts of the Union.
Address vour letters to Dr. A. G. Henry, R. F.
Barrett, A.' Lincoln, E. D. Baker, J. F. Speed.
Resolution for Ballot Reform.
Offered in the Illinois Legislature. No-
vember 28, 1840.
Resolved, That so much of the governor's
message as relates to fraudulent voting, and
other fraudulent practices at elections, be re-
ferred to the Committee on Elections, with in-
structions to said committee to prepare and re-
port to the House a bill for such an act as rnay
in their judgment afford the greatest possible
64 EARLY SPEECHES [Dec. 4
protection of the elective franchise against all
frauds of all sorts whatever.
Remarks on an Election Contest.
In the House of Representatives, Illinois, De-
cember 4, 1840, on presentation of a report re-
specting petition of H. N. Purple, claiming the
seat of Mr. Phelps from Peoria, Mr. Lincoln
moved that the House resolve itself into Commit-
tee of the Whole on the question, and take it up
immediately. J\Ir. Lincoln considered the ques-
tion of the highest importance, whether an in-
dividual had a right to sit in this House or not.
The course he should propose would be to take
up the evidence and decide upon the facts seri-
atim.
Mr. Drummond wanted time ; they could not
decide in the heat of debate, etc.
Mr. Lincoln thought that the question had bet-
ter be gone into now. In courts of law jurors
were required to decide on evidence, without pre-
vious study or examination. They were required
to know nothing of the subject until the evidence
was laid before them for their immediate de-
cision. He thought that the heat of party would
be augmented by delay.
The Speaker called Mr. Lincoln to order as
being irrelevant ; no mention had been made of
party heat.
Mr. Drummond said he had only spoken of de-
bate.
Mr. Lincoln asked what caused the heat, if it
was not party? Mr. Lincoln concluded by urg-
ing that the question would be decided now bet-
1 840] "INTEREST BONDS" 65
ter than hereafter, and he thought with less heat
and excitement.
(Further debate, in which Lincoln partici-
pated.)
Remarks in Favor of Issue of "Interest
Bonds."
In the Illinois House of Representatives, De-
cember 4, 1840. — House in Committee of the
Whole on the bill providing for payment of in-
terest on the State debt, — Mr. Lincoln moved to
strike out the body and amendments of the bill,
and insert in lieu thereof an amendment which in
substance was that the governor be authorized
to issue bonds for the payment of the interest;
that these be called "interest bonds"; that the
taxes accruing on Congress lands as they become
taxable be irrevocably set aside and devoted as a
fund to the payment of the interest bonds. Mr.
Lincoln went into the reasons which appeared to
him to render this plan preferable to that of
hypothecating the State bonds. By this course
we could get along till the next meeting of the
legislature, which was of great importance. To
the objection which might be urged that these in-
terest bonds could not be cashed, he replied that
if our other bonds could, much more could these,
which offered a perfect security, a fund being
irrevocably set aside to provide for their redemp-
tion. To another objection that we should be
paying compound interest, he would reply that
the rapid growth and increase of our resources
was in so great a ratio as to outstrip the diffi-
culty; that his object was to do the best that
could be done in the present emergency. All
66 EARLY SPEECHES [Feb. 8
agreed that the faith of the State must be pre-
served ; this plan appeared to him preferable to
a hypothecation of bonds, which would have to
be redeemed and the interest paid. How this
was to be done, he could not see ; therefore he
had, after turning the matter over in every way,
devised this measure, which would carry us on
till the next legislature.
CMt. Lincoln spoke at some length, advocating
his measure.)
Lincoln advocated his measure, December ii,
1840.
December 12, 1840. he had thought som,e per-
manent provision ought to be made for the bonds
to be hypothecated, but was satisfied taxation
and revenue could not be connected with it now.
Remarks in Favor of "Canal Scrip."
In the Illinois House of Representatives. Jan-
uary 23. 1841, while discussing the continuation
of the Illinois and ^lichigan Canal, ^Ir. ]\Ioore
was afraid the holders of the "scrip" would lose.
]\Ir. Xapier thought there was no danger of
that; and
]\Ir. Lincoln said he had not examined to see
what amount of scrip would probably be needed.
The principal point in his mind was this, that
nobody was obliged to take "hese certificates. It
is altogether voluntary on their part, and if they
apprehend it will fall on their hands, the}^ will not
take it. Further, the loss, if any there be, will
fall on the citizens of that section of the country.
This scrip is not going to circulate over an ex-
tensive range of country, but will be confined
iS4i] JUDICIARY ADDRESS 67
chiefly to the vicinity of the canal. Now, we find
the representatives of that section of the country
are all in favor of the bill. When we propose to
protect their interests, they say to us : Leave us
to take care of ourselves; we are willing- to run
the risk. And this is reasonable ; we must sup-
pose they are competent to protect their own in-
terests, and it is only fair to let them do it.
Against the Subordination of the Judiciary to
the Legislature.
An Address Issued by a Committee on Behalf
OF the Whig Members of the Legislature,
A. Lincoln Being One of the Committee.
About February 8, 1841.
Appeal to the People of the State of Illinois.
Fellozi'-citiaens: When the General Assembly,
now about adjourning, assembled in November
last, from the bankrupt state of the public treas-
ury, the pecuniary embarrassments prevailing in
every department of society, the dilapidated state
of the public works, and the impending danger
of the degradation of the State, you had a right
to expect that your representatives would lose no
time in devising and adopting measures to avert
threatened calamities, alleviate the distresses of
the people, and allay the fearful apprehensions
in regard to the future prosperity of the State.
It was not expected by you that the spirit of party
would take the lead in' the councils of the State,
and make every interest bend to its demands.
Nor was it expected that any party would as-
sume to itself the entire control of legislation, and
68 EARLY SPEECHES [Feb. 8
convert the means and offices of the State, and
the substance of the people, into ahment for
party subsistence. Neither could it have been
expected by you that party spirit, however strong
its desires and unreasonable its demands, would
have passed the sanctuary of the Constitution,
and entered with its unhallowed and hideous
form into the formation of the judiciary system.
At the early period of the session, measures
were adopted by the dominant party to take pos-
session of the State, to fill all public offices with
party men, and make every measure affecting the
interests of the people and the credit of the State
operate in furtherance of their party views. The
merits of men and measures therefore became
the subject of discussion in caucus, instead of the
halls of legislation, and decisions there made by
a minority of the legislature have been executed
and carried into effect by the force of party dis-
cipline, without any regard whatever to the rights
of the people or the interests of the State. The
Supreme Court of the State was organized, and
judges appointed, according to the provisions of
the Constitution, in 1834. The people have never
complained of the organization of that court ; no
attempt has ever before been made to change
that department. Respect for public opinion, and
regard for the rights and liberties of the people,
have hitherto restrained the spirit of party from
attacks upon the independence and integrity of
the judiciary. The same judges have continued
in office since 1824: their decisions have not been
the subject of complaint among the people; the
integrity and honesty of the court have not been
questioned, and it has never been supposed that
the court has ever permitted party prejudice or
i84i3 JUDICIARY ADDRESS 69
party considerations to operate upon their de-
cisions. The court was made to consist of four
judges, and by the Constitution two form a
quorum for the transaction of business. With
this tribunal, thus constituted, the people have
been satisfied for near sixteen years. The same
law which organized the Supreme Court in 1824
also established and organized circuit courts to
be held in each county in the State, and five cir-
cuit judges were appointed to hold those courts.
In 1826 the legislature abolished these circuit
courts, repealed the judges out of office, and re-
quired the judges of the Supreme Court to hold
the circuit courts. The reasons assigned for this
change were, first, that the business of the coun-
try could be better attended to by the four judges
of the Supreme Court than by the two sets of
judges ; and, second, the state of the public treas-
ury forbade the employment of unnecessary offi-
cers. In 1828 a circuit was established north of
the Illinois River, in order to meet the wants of
the people, and a circuit judge was appointed to
hold the courts in that circuit.
In 1834 the circuit-court system was again
established throughout the State, circuit judges
appointed to hold the courts, and the judges of the
Supreme Court were relieved from the perform-
ance of circuit-court duties. The change was
recommended by the then acting governor of the
State, General W. L. D. Ewing, in the following
terms :
The augmented population of the State, the multi-
plied number of organized counties, as well as the in-
crease of business in all, has long since convinced every-
one conversant with this department of our government
of the indispensable necessity of an alteration in our
70
EARLY SPEECHES [Feb. 8
ludiciary system, and the subject is, therefore, recom-
mended to the earnest patriotic consideration of the
legislature. The present system has never been exempt
from serious and weighty objections. The idea of
appealing from the circuit court to the same judges in
the Supreme Court is recommended by little hopes
of redress to the injured party below. The duties of
the circuit, too, it may be added, consume one-half of
the }-ear. leaving a small and inadequate portion of time
(when that required for domestic purposes is deducted)
to erect, in the decisions of the Supreme Court, a judi-
cial monument of legal learning and research, which the
talent and ability of the court might otherwise be en-
tirely competent to.
With this organization of circuit courts the
people have never complained. The onW com-
plaints which we have heard have come from cir-
cuits which were so large that the judges could
not dispose of the business, and the circuits in
which Judges Pearson and Ralston lately pre-
sided.
Whilst the honor and credit of the State de-
manded legislation upon the subject of the public
debt, the canal, the unfinished public works, and
the embarrassments of the people, the judiciary
stood upon a basis which required no change — no
legislative action. Yet the party in power, neg-
lecting every interest requiring legislative ac-
tion, and wholly disregarding the rights, wishes,
and interests of the people, has, for the unholy
purpose of providing places for its partizans and
supplying them with large salaries, disorganized
that department of the government. Provision is
made for the election of five party judges of the
Supreme Court, the proscription of four circuit
judges, and the appointment of party clerks in
more than half the counties of the State. Men
professing respect for public opinion, and ac-
i84i] JUDICIARY ADDRESS 71
knowledgecl to be leaders of the party, have
avowed m the halls of legislation that the change
in the judiciary was intended to produce political
results favorable to their party and party friends.
The immutable principles of justice are to make
way for party interests, and the bonds of social
order are to be rent in twain, in order that a
desperate faction may be sustained at the ex-
pense of the people. The change proposed in the
judiciary was supported upon grounds so de-
structive to the institutions of the country, and
so entirely at war with the rights and liberties of
the people, that the party could not secure entire
unanimity in its support, — three Democrats of
the Senate and five of the House voting against
the measure. They were unwilling to see the
temples of justice and the seats of independent
judges occupied by the tools of faction. The dec-
larations of the party leaders, the selection of
party men for judges, and the total disregard for
the public will in the adoption of the measure,
prove conclusively that the object has been not
reform, but destruction ; not the advancement of
the highest interests of the State, but the pre-
dominance of party.
We cannot in this manner undertake to point
out all the objections to this party measure ; we
present you with those stated by the Council of
Revision upon returning the bill, and we ask for
them a candid consideration.
Believing that the independence of the ju-
diciary has been destroyed, that hereafter our
courts will be independent of the people, and en-
tirely dependent upon the legislature ; that our
riglits of property and liberty of conscience can
no longer be regarded as safe from the encroach-
72
EARLY SPEECHES [Feb. 22
merits of unconstitutional le.^islation ; and know-
ing of no other remedy which can be adopted con-
sistently with the peace and good order of so-
ciety, we call upon you to avail yourselves of the
opportunity afforded, and, at the next general
election, vote for a convention of the people.
S. H. Little, 1
E, D. Baker, j Committee on behalf
J. J. Hardin, [ of the Whig Mem-
E. B. Webb, f hers of the Legis-
A. Lincoln, | lature.
J. Gillespie, j
Against Reorganization of the Judiciary.
Extract from a Protest in the Illinois
Legislature, Signed by A. Lincoln and
Others. February 26, 1841.
For the reason thus presented, and for others
no less apparent, the undersigned cannot assent
to the passage of the bill, or permit it to become
a law. without this evidence of their disapproba-
tion ; and they now protest against the reorgani-
zation of the judiciary, because — (i) It violates
the great principles of free government by sub-
jecting the judiciary to the legislature. (2) It is
a fatal blow at the independence of the judges
and the constitutional term of their office. (3)
It is a measure not asked for, or wished for, by
the people. (4) It will greatly increase the ex-
pense of our courts, or else greatly diminish their
utility. (5) It will give our courts a political
and partizan character, thereby impairing public
confidence in their decisions. (6) It will impair
our standing with other States and the world.
i842] TEMPERANCE ADDRESS 73
(7) It is a party measure for party purposes,
from which no practical good to the people can
possibly arise, but which may be the source of
immeasurable evils.
The undersigned are well aware that this pro-
test will be altogether unavailing with the ma-
jority of this body. The blow has already fallen,
and we are compelled to stand by, the mournful
spectators of the ruin it wall cause.
[Signed by 35 members, among whom was
Abraham Lincoln.]
Charity in Temperance Reform.
Address Before the Washingtonian Society
OF Springfield, III. February 22, 1842.
Although the temperance cause has been in
progress for near twenty years, it is apparent to
all that it is just now being crowned with a de-
gree of success hitherto unparalleled.
The list of its friends is daily swelled by the
additions of fifties, of hundreds, and of thou-
sands. The cause itself seems suddenly trans-
formed from a cold abstract theory to a living,
breathing, active, and powerful chieftain, going
forth "conquering and to conquer." The citadois
of his great adversary are daily being stormed
and dismantled ; his temple and his altars, where
the rites of his idolatrous w^orship have long
been performed, and where human sacrifices have
long been wont to be made, are daily desecrated
and deserted. The triumph of the conqueror's
fame is sounding from hill to hill, from sea to
sea, and from land to land, and calling millions
to his standard at a blast.
74 EARLY SPEECHES [Feb. 22
For this new and splendid success we heartily
rejoice. That that success is so much greater
now than heretofore is doubtless owing to rational
causes ; and if we would have it continue, we
shall do well to inquire what those causes are.
The warfare heretofore waged against the de-
mon intemperance has somehow or other been
erroneous. Either the champions engaged or the
tactics they adopted have not been the most
proper. These champions for the most part
have been preachers, lawyers, and hired agents.
Between these and the mass of mankind there is
a want of approachability, if the term be admissi-
ble, partially, at least, fatal to their success. They
are supposed to have no sympathy of feeling or
interest with those very persons whom it is their
object to convince and persuade.
And again, it is so common and so easy to
ascribe motives to men of these classes other than
those they profess to act upon. The preacher,
it is said, advocates temperance because he is a
fanatic, and desires a union of the church and
state ; the lawyer from his pride and vanity of
hearing himself speak ; and the hired agent for
his salary. But when one who has long been
known as a victim of intemperance bursts the fet-
ters that have bound him, and appears before his
neighbors "clothed and in his right mind," a re-
deemed specimen of long-lost humanity, and
stands up, with tears of joy trembling in his eyes,
to tell of the miseries once endured, now to be
endured no more forever; of his once naked and
starving children, now clad and fed comfortably ;
of a wife long weighed down with woe, weeping,
and a broken heart, now restored to health, hap-
piness, and a renewed affection; and how easily
i842] TEMPERANCE ADDRESS 75
it is all done, once it is resolved to be done ; how
simple his language ! — there is a logic and an
eloquence in it that few with human feelings can
resist. They cannot say that he desires a union
of church and state, for he is not a church mem-
ber; they cannot say he is vain of hearing him-
self speak, for his whole demeanor shows he
would gladly avoid speaking at all ; they cannot
says he speaks for pay, for he receives none, and
asks for none. Nor can his sincerity in any way
be doubted, or his sympathy for those he would
persuade to im.itate his example be denied.
In my judgment, it is to the battles of this new
class of champions that our late success is
greatly, perhaps chiefly, owing. But, had the
old-school champions themselves been of the
most wise selecting, was their system of tactics
the most judicious? It seems to me it was not.
Too much denunciation against dram-sellers and
dram-drinkers was indulged in. This I think was
both impolitic and unjust. It was impolitic, be-
cause it is not much in the nature of man to be
driven to anything; still less to be driven about
that which is exclusively his own business ; and
least of all where such driving is to be submitted
to at the expense of pecuniary interest or burning
appetite. When the dram-seller and drinker
were incessantly told — not in accents of entreaty
and persuasion, diihdently addressed by erring
man to an erring brother, but in the thundering
tones of anathema and denunciation with which
the lordly judge often groups together all the
crimes of the felon's life, and thrusts them in his
face just ere he passes sentence of death upon
him — that they were the authors of all the vice
and misery and crime in the land ; that they were
76 EARLY SPEECHES [Feb. 23
the manufacturers and material of all the thieves
and robbers and murderers that infest the earth,
that their houses were the workshops of the devil ;
and that their persons should be shunned by all
the good and virtuous, as moral pestilences — I
say, when they were told all this, and in this way,
it is not wonderful that they were slow, very
slow, to acknowledge the truth of such denuncia-
tions, and to join the ranks of their denouncers
in a hue and cry against themselves.
To have expected them to do otherwise than
they did — to have expected them not to meet de-
nunciation with denunciation, crimination with
crimination, and anathema with anathema — was
to expect a reversal of human nature, which is
God's decree and can never be reversed.
When the conduct of men is designed to be
influenced, persuasion, kind, unassuming per-
suasion, should ever be adopted. It is an old and
a true maxim "that a drop of honey catches more
flies than a gallon of gall." So with men. If
you would win a man to your cause, first con-
vince him that you are his sincere friend. There-
in is a drop of honey that catches his heart,
which, say what he will, is the great highroad to
his reason, and which, when once gained, you
will find but little trouble in convincing his judg-
ment of the justice of your cause, if indeed that
cause really be a just one. On the contrary, as-
sume to dictate to his judgment, or to command
his action, or to mark him as one to be shunned
and despised, and he will retreat within himself,
close all the avenues to his head and his heart ;
and though your cause be naked truth itself,
transformed to the heaviest lance, harder than
''Steel, and sharper than steel can be made, and
i842] TEMPERANCE ADDRESS 77
though you throw it with more than herculean
force and precision, you shall be no more able to
pierce him than to penetrate the hard shell of a
tortoise with a rye straw. Such is man, and so
must he be understood by those who would lead
him, even to his own best interests.
On this point the VVashingtonians greatly ex-
cel the temperance advocates of former times.
Those whom they desire to convince and persuade
are their old friends and companions. They
know they are not demons, nor even the worst
of men ; they know that generally they are kind,
generous, and charitable, even beyond the exam-
ple of their more staid and sober neighbors.
They are practical philanthropists ; and they
glow with a generous and brotherly zeal that
mere theorizers are incapable of feeling. Be-
nevolence and charity possess their hearts en-
tirely ; and out of the abundance of their hearts
their tongues give utterance; "Love through all
their actions runs, and all their words are mild.''
In this spirit they speak and act, and in the same
they are heard and regarded. And when such
is the temper of the advocate, and such of the
audience, no good cause can be unsuccessful.
But I have said that denunciations against dram-
sellers and dram-drinkers are unjust, as well as
impolitic. Let us see. I have not inquired at
what period of time the use of intoxicating
liquors commenced ; nor is it important to know.
It is sufficient that to all of us who now inhabit
the world, the practice of drinking them is just
as old as the world itself — that is, we have seen
the one just as long as we have seen the other.
When all such of us as have now reached the
years of maturity first opened our eyes upon the
78 EARLY SPEECHES [Feb. 22
stage of existence, we found intoxicating liquor
recognized by everybody, used by everybody, re-
pudiated by nobody. It commonly entered into
the first draught of the infant and the last
draught of the dying man. From the sideboard
of the parson down to the ragged pocket of the
houseless loafer, it was constantly found. Physi-
cians prescribed it in this, that, and the other
disease ; government provided it for soldiers and
sailors ; and to have a rolling or raising, a husk-
ing or "hoedown," anywhere about without it
was positively insufferable. So, too, it was
everywhere a respectable article of manufacture
and merchandise. The making of it was regarded
as an honorable livelihood, and he who could
make most was the most enterprising and re-
spectable. Large and small manufactories of it
were everywhere erected, in which all the earthly
good of their owners were invested. Wagons
drew it from town to town ; boats bore it from
clime to clime, and the winds wafted it from na-
tion to nation ; and merchants bought and sold it,
by wholesale and retail, with precisely the same
feelings on the part of the seller, buyer, and by-
stander as are felt at the selling and buying of
plows, beef, bacon, or any other of the real neces-
saries of life. Universal public opinion not only
tolerated but recognized and adopted its use.
It is true that even then it was known and
acknowledged that many were greatly injured
by it; but none seemed to think the injury arose
from the use of a bad thing, but from the abuse
of a very good thing. The victims of it were to
be pitied and compassionated, just as are the
heirs of consumption and other hereditary dis-
eases. Their failing was treated as a misfor-
i842] TEMPERANCE ADDRESS 79
tune, and not as a crime, or even as a disgrace.
If, then, what I have been saying is true, is it
v/onderful that some should think and act now
as all thought and acted twenty years ago ? and is
it just to assail, condemn, or despise them for
doing so? The universal sense of mankind on
any subject is an argument, or at least an influ-
ence, not easily overcome. The success of the
argument in favor of the existence of an over-
ruling Providence mainly depends upon that
sense; and men ought not in justice to be de-
nounced for yielding to it in any case, or giving
it up slowly, especially when they are backed by
interest, fixed habits, or burning appetites.
Another error, as it seems to me, into which
the old reformers fell, was the position that all
habitual drunkards were utterly incorrigible,
and therefore must be turned adrift and damned
without remedy in order that the grace of tem-
perance might abound, to the temperate then, and
to all mankind some hundreds of years there-
after. There is in this something so repugnant
to humanity, so uncharitable, so cold-blooded
and feelingless, that it never did nor ever can en-
list the enthusiasm of a popular cause. We could
not love the man who taught it — we could not
hear him with patience. The heart could not
throw open its portals to it, the generous man
could not adopt it — it could not mix with his
blood. It looked so fiendishly selfish, so like
throwing fathers and brothers overboard to
lighten the boat for our security, that the noble-
minded shrank from the manifest meanness of
the thing. And besides this, the benefits of a
reformation to be effected by such a system were
too remote in point of time to warmly engage
8o EARLY SPEECHES [Feb. 22
many in its behalf. Few can be induced to labor
exclusively for posterity ; and none will do it en-
thusiastically. Posterity has done nothinsf for
us ; and theorize on it as we may, practically we
shall do very little for it, unless we are made to
think we are at the same time doing something
for ourselves.
^^'hat an ignorance of human nature does it
exhibit, to ask or expect a whole community to
rise up and labor for the temporal happiness of
others, after themselves shall be consigned to the
dust, a majority of which community take no
pains whatever to secure their own eternal wel-
fare at no more distant day? Great distance in
either time or space has wonderful power to lull
and render quiescent the human mind. Pleasures
to be enjoyed, or pains to be endured, after vre
shall be dead and gone are but little regarded
even in our own cases, and much less in the
cases of others. Still, in addition to this there is
something so ludicrous in promises of good or
threats of evil a great v/ay off as to render the
whole subject with which they are connected
easily turned into ridicule. "Better lay down
that spade you are stealing, Paddy ; if you don't
you'll pay for it at the day of judgment." "Be
the powers, if ye'll credit me so long I'll take an-
other jist."
By the Washingtonians this system of con-
signing the habitual drunkard to hopeless ruin is
repudiated. They adopt a more enlarged philan-
thropy ; they go for present as well as future
good. They labor for all now living, as well as
hereafter to live. They teach hope to all — de-
spair to none. As applying to their cause, they
deny the doctrine of unpardonable sin ; as in
1842] TEMPERANCE ADDRESS 3x
Christianity it is tau.s^ht, so in this they teach —
''While the lamp holds out to burn, The vilest
sinner may return." And, what is a matter of
more profound congratulation, they, by experi-
ment upon experiment and example upon exam-
ple, prove the maxim to be no less true in the
one case than in the other. On every hand we
behold those who but yesterday were the chief of
sinners, now the chief apostles of the cause.
Drunken devils are cast out by ones, by sevens,
by legions; and their unfortunate victims, like
the poor possessed who were redeemed from
their long and lonely wanderings in the tombs,
are publishing to the ends of the earth how great
things have been done for them.
To these new champions and this new system
of tactics our late success is mainly owing, and
to them we must mainly look for the final con-
summation. The ball is now rolling gloriously
on, and none are so able as they to increase its
speed and its bulk, to add to its momentum and
its magnitude — even though unlearned in letters,
for this task none are so well educated. To fit
them for this work they have been taught in the
true school. They have been in that gulf from
which they would teach others the means of
escape. They have passed that prison wall,
which others have long declared impassable ; and
v^ho that has not shall dare to weigh opinions
with them as to the mode of passing
But if it be true, as I have insisted, that those
who have suffered by intemperance personally,
and have reformed, are the most powerful and
efficient instruments to push the reformation to
ultimate success, it does not follow that those
who have not suffered have no part left them to
82 EARLY SPEECHES [Feb. 2a
perform. Whether or not the world would be
vastly benefited by a total and final banishment
from it of all intoxicating drinks seems to me not
now an open question. Three fourths of man-
kind confess the affirmative with their tongues,
and, I believe, all the rest acknowledge it in their
hearts.
Ought any, then, to refuse their aid in doing
what good the good of the whole demands!
Shall he who cannot do much be for that reason
excused if he do nothing? "But," says one,
''what good can I do by signing the pledge? 1
never drink, even without signing." This ques-
tion has already been asked and answered more
than a million of times. Let it be answered once
more. For the man suddenly or in any other way
to break off from the use of drams, who has in-
dulged in them for a long course of years, and
luitil his appetite for them has grown ten or a
hundred-fold stronger, and more craving than
any natural appetite can be, requires a most pow-
erful moral effort. In such an undertaking he
needs every moral support and influence that can
possibly be brought to his aid and thrown around
him. And not only so, but every moral prop
should be taken from whatever argument might
rise in his mind to lure him to his backsliding.
When he casts his eyes around him, he should be
able to see all that he respects, all that he admires,
all that he loves, kindly and anxiously pointing
him onward, and none beckoning him back to his
former miserable "wallowing in the mire."
But it is said by some that men will think and
act for themselves ; that none will disuse spirits
or anything else because his neighbors do ; and
that moral influence is not that powerful engine
i842] TEMPERANCE ADDRESS ^^
contended for. Let us examine this. Let me ask
the man who could maintain this position most
stiffly, what compensation he will accept to go to
church some Sunday and sit during the sermon
with his wife's bonnet upon his head? Not a tri-
fle. I'll venture. And why not? There would be
nothing irreligious in it, nothing immoral, noth-
ing uncomfortable — then why not? Is it not be-
cause there would be something egregiously un-
fashionable in it? Then it is the influence of
fashion ; and what is the influence of fashion but
the influence that other people's actions have on
our actions — the strong inclination each of us
feels to do as we see all our neighbors do ? Nor
is the influence of fashion confined to any partic-
ular thing or class of things ; it is just as strong
on one subject as another. Let us make it as un-
fashionable to withhold our names from the tem-
perance cause as for husbands to wear their
wives' bonnets to church, and instances will be
just as rare in the one case as the other.
"But," say some, "we are no drunkards, and
we shall not acknowledge ourselves such by join-
ing a reformed drunkards' society, whatever our
influence might be." Surely no Christian will
adhere to this objection. If they believe as they
profess, that Omnipotence condescended to take
on himself the form of sinful man, and as such
to die an ignominious death for their sakes,
surely they will not refuse submission to the in-
finitely lesser condescension, for the temporal,
and perhaps eternal, salvation of a large, erring,
and unfortunate class of their fellow-creatures.
Nor is the condescension very great. In my
judgment such of us as have never fallen victims
have been spared more by the absence of appetite
84 EARLY SPEECHES [Feb. 22
than from any mental or moral superiority over
those who have. Indeed, I believe if we take
habitual drunkards as a class, their heads and
their hearts will bear an advantageous compari-
son with those of any other class. There seems
ever to have been a proneness in the brilliant and
warm-blooded to fall into this vice — the demon
of intemperance ever seems to have delighted in
sucking the blood of genius and of generos-
ity. What one of us but can call to mind some
relative, more promising in youth than all his fel-
lows, who has fallen a sacrifice to his rapacity?
He ever seems to have gone forth like the Egyp-
tian angel of death, commissioned to slay, if not
the first, the fairest born of every family. Shall
he now be arrested in his desolating career? In
that arrest all can give aid that will; and who
shall be excused that can and will not? Far
around as human breath has ever blown he
keeps our fathers, our brothers, our sons, and our
friends prostrate in the chains of moral death.
To all the living everywhere we cry, "Come
sound the moral trump, that these may rise and
stand up an exceeding great army." "Come
from the four winds, O breath ! and breathe upon
these slain that they may live." If the relative
grandeur of revolutions shall be estimated by the
great amount of human misery they alleviate,
and the small amount they inflict, then indeed
will this be the grandest the world shall ever have
seen.
Of our political revolution of 76 we are all
justly proud. It has given us a degree of politi-
cal freedom far exceeding that of any other na-
tion of the earth. In it the world has found a
solution of the long-mooted problem as to the
1842] TEMPERANCE ADDRESS 85
capability of man to govern himself. In it was
the germ which has vegetated, and still is to
grow and expand into the universal liberty of
mankind. But, with all these glorious results,
past, present, and to come, it had its evils too. It
breathed forth famine, swam in blood, and rode
in fire ; and long, long after, the orphan's cry and
the widow's wail continued to break the sad
silence that ensued. These were the price, the
inevitable price, paid for the blessings it bought.
Turn now to the temperance revolution. In
it we shall find a stronger bondage broken, a
viler slavery manumitted, a greater tyrant de-
posed ; in it, more of want supplied, more disease
healed, more sorrow assuaged. By it no orphans
starving, no widows weeping. By it, none
wounded in feeling, none injured in interest;
even the dram-maker and dram-seller will have
glided into other occupations so gradually as
never to have felt the change, and will stand
ready to join all others in the universal song of
gladness. And what a noble ally this to the cause
of political freedom ; with such an aid its march
cannot fail to be on and on, till every son of earth
shall drink in rich fruition the sorrow-quenching
draughts of perfect liberty. Happy day when —
all appetites controlled, all poisons subdued, all
matter subjected — mind, all-conquering mind,
shall live and move, the monarch of the world.
Glorious consummation ! Hail, fall of fury !
Reign of reason, all hail !
And when the victory shall be complete, — when
there shall be neither a slave nor a drunkard on
the earth. — how proud the title of that land
which may truly claim to be the birthplace and
the cradle of both those revolutions that shall
86 EARLY SPEECHES [Mar. i
have ended in that victory. How nobly distin-
guished that people who shall have planted and
nurtured to maturity both the political and moral
freedom of their species.
This is the one hundred and tenth anniversary
of the birthday of Washington ; we are met to
celebrate this day. Washington is the mightiest
name of earth — long since mightiest in the cause
of civil liberty, still mightiest in moral reforma-
tion. On that name no eulogy is expected. It
cannot be. To add brightness to the sun or glory
to the name of Washington is alike impossible.
Let none attempt it. In solemn avve pronounce
the name, and in its naked deathless splendor
leave it shining on.
In Favor of a Protective Tariff, National Bank,
and Other Whig Policies.
Resolutions Offered at a Whig Meeting at
Springfield, III. ]\1arch i, 1843.
The object of the meeting was stated by 'Mr. Lin-
coln of Springfield, who offered the following resolu-
tions, which were unanimously adopted :
Rcsoh'cd, That a tariff of duties on imported
goods, producing sufficient revenue for payment
of the necessary expenditures of the National
Government, and so adjusted as to protect
American industry, is indispensably necessary to
the prosperity of the American people.
Resolved, That we are opposed to direct taxa-
tion for the stipport of the National Government.
Resolved, That a national bank, properly re-
stricted, is highly necessary and proper to the
1843] TARIFF RESOLUTIONS 87
establishment and maintenance of a sound cur-
rency, and for the cheap and safe collection,
keeping, and disbursing of the public revenue.
Resolved, That the distribution of the proceeds
of the sales of the public lands, upon the princi-
ples of Mr. Clay's bill, accords with the best in-
terests of the nation, and particularly with those
of the State of Illinois.
Resolved, That we recommend to the Whigs
of each congressional district of the State, to
nominate and support at the approaching elec-
tion a candidate of their own principles, regard-
less of the chances of success.
Resolved, That we recommend to the Whigs
of all portions of the State to adopt and rigidly
adhere to the convention system of nominating
candidates.
Resolved, That we recommend to the Whigs
of each congressional district to hold a district
convention on or before the first jMonday of May
next, to be composed of a number of delegates
from each county equal to double the number of
its representatives in the General Assembly, pro-
vided, each county shall have at least one dele-
gate. Said delegates to be chosen by primary
meetings of the Whigs, at such times and places
as they in their respective counties may see fit.
Said district conventions each to nominate one
candidate for Congress, and one delegate to a
National Convention for the purpose of nominat-
ing candidates for President and Vice-President
of the United States. The seven delegates so
nominated to a national convention to have power
to add two delegates to their own number, and
to fill all vacancies.
Resolved, That A. T. Bledsoe, S. T. Logan,
88 EARLY SPEECHES [Mar. 4
and A. Lincoln be appointed a committee to pre-
pare an address to the people of the State.
Resolved, That N. W. Edwards, A. G. Henry,
James H. Matheny, John C. Doremus, and
James C. Conkling be appointed a Whig Central
State Committee, with authority to fill any va-
cancy that may occur in the committee.
In Favor of a Protective Tariff, a National
Bank, and Other Whig Policies.
An Address to the People of Illinois Issued
BY A. Lincoln and Two Other Members
OF A Committee Appointed for the Pur-
pose BY A Whig Meeting in Springfield.
March 4, 1843.
Address to the People of Illinois.
Fello'W-citi::ens: By a resolution of a meeting
of such of the Whigs of the State as are now at
Springfield, we, the undersigned, were appointed
to prepare an address to you. The performance
of that task we now undertake.
Several resolutions were adopted by the meet-
ing; and the chief object of this address is to
show briefly the reasons for their adoption.
The first of those resolutions declares a tariff
of duties upon foreign importations, producing
sufficient revenue for the support of the General
Government, and so adjusted as to protect
American industry, to be indispensably necessary
to the prosperity of the American people ; and
the second declares direct taxation for a national
revenue to be improper. Those two resolutions
are kindred in their nature, and therefore proper
1843] TARIFF ADDRESS 89
and convenient to be considered together. The
question of protection is a subject entirely too
broad to be crowded into a few pages only, to-
gether with several other subjects. On that
point we therefore content ourselves with giving
the following extracts from the writings of Mr.
Jefferson, General Jackson, and the speech of
Mr. Calhoun :
To be independent for the comforts o£ life, we must
fabricate them ourselves. We must now place the
manufacturer by the side of the agriculturalist. The
grand inquiry now is, Shall we make our own comforts,
or go without them at the will of a foreign nation?
He, therefore, who is now against domestic manu-
factures must be for reducing us either to dependence
on that foreign nation, or to be clothed in skins and to
live like wild beasts in dens and caverns. I am not one
of those ; experience has taught me that manufactures
are now as necessary to our independence as to our com-
fort. — Letter of Mr. Jefferson to Benjamin Austin.
I ask. What is the real situation of the agricul-
turalist? Where has the American farmer a market
for his surplus produce ? Except for cotton, he has
neither a foreign nor a home market. Does not this
clearly prove, when there is no market at home or
abroad, that there is too much labor employed in
agriculture? Common sense at once points out the
remedy. Take from agriculture six hundred thousand
men. women, and children, and you will at once give
a market for more breadstuffs than all Europe now
furnishes. In short, we have been too long subject
to the policy of British merchants. It is time we should
become a little more Americanized, and instead of
feeding the paupers and laborers of England, feed our
own ; or else in a short time, by continuing our present
policy, we shall all be rendered paupers ourselves. — â–
General Jackson's Letter to Dr. Coleman.
When our manufactures are grown to a certain per-
fection, as they soon will be, under the fostering care of
government, the farmer will find a ready market for his
surplus produce, and — what is of equal consequence —
a certain and cheap supply of all he wants; his pros-
90 EARLY SPEECHES [Mar. 4
perity will diffuse itself to every class of the com-
munity. — Speech of Hon. I. C. Calhoun on the Tariff.
The question of revenue we will now briefly
consider. For several years past the revenues of
the government have been unequal to its expendi-
tures, and consequently loan after loan, some-
times direct and sometimes indirect in form, has
been resorted to. By this means a new national
debt has been created, and is still growing on us
\vith a rapidity fearful to contemplate — a rapid-
ity only reasonably to be expected in time of war.
Tliis stage of things has been produced by a pre-
vailing unwillingness either to increase the tariff
or resort to direct taxation. But the one or the
other must come. Coming expenditures must be
met, and the present debt must be paid ; and
money cannot always be borrowed for these ob-
jects. The system of loans is but temporary in
its nature, and must soon explode. It is a system
not only ruinous while it lasts, but one that must
soon fail and leave us destitute. As an individual
who undertakes to live by borrowing soon finds
his original means devoured by interest, and,
next, no one left to borrow from, so must it be
with a government.
We repeat, then, that a tariff sufficient for
revenue, or a direct tax, must soon be resorted
to ; and, indeed, we believe this alternative is now
denied by no one. But which system shall be
adopted? Some of our opponents, in theory, ad-
mit the propriety of a tariff sufficient for a reve-
nue ; but even they will not in practice vote for
such a tariff ; while others boldly advocate direct
taxation. Inasmuch, therefore, as some of them
boldly advocate direct taxation, and all the rest —
.843] TARIFF ADDRESS 91
or so nearly all as to make exceptions needless —
refuse to adopt the tariff, we think it is doinj^:
them no injustice to class them all as advocates
of direct taxation. Indeed, we believe they are
only delaying an open avowal of the system till
they can assure themselves that the people will
tolerate it. Let us, then, briefly compare the two
systems. The tariff is the cheaper system, be-
cause the duties, being collected in large parcels
at a few commercial points, will require com-
paratively few officers in their collection ; while
by the flirect-tax system the land must be literally
covered with assessors and collectors, going
forth like swarms of Egyptian locusts, devouring
every blade of grass and other green thing.
And, again, by the tariff system the whole reve-
nue is paid by the consumers of foreign goods,
and those chiefly the luxuries, and not the neces-
saries, of life. V,y this system the man who con-
tents himself to live upon the proflucts of his own
country j)ays nothing at all. Anrl surely that
country is extensive enough, and its prrjducts
abundant and varied enough, to answer all the
real wants of its people. In short, by this sys-
tem the burthen of revenue falls almost entirely
on the wealthy and luxurious few, while the sub-
.stantial and laboring many who live at home, and
upon home products, go entirely free. By the
direct tax system none can escape. However
strictly the citizen may exclude from his prem-
ises all foreign luxuries, — fine cloths, fine silks,
rich wines, golden chains, and diamond rings, —
still, for the possession of his house, his barn,
and his homespun, he is to be perpetually haunted
and harassed by the tax-gatherer. With these
views we leave it to be determined whether we or
92 EARLY SPEECHES [Mar. 4
our opponents are the more truly democratic on
the subject.
The third resolution declares the necessity and
propriety of a national bank. During the last
fifty years so much has been said and written
both as to the constitutionality and expediency
of such an institution, that we could not hope to
improve in the least on former discussions of the
subject, were we to undertake it. We, therefore,
upon the question of constitutionality content
ourselves with remarking the facts that the first
national bank was established chiefly by the same
men who formed the Constitution, at a time when
that instrument was but two years old, and re-
ceiving the sanction, as president, of the immor-
tal Washington; that the second received the
sanction, as president, of Mr. Madison, to whom
common consent has awarded the proud title of
"Father of the Constitution" ; and subsequently
the sanction of the Supreme Court, the most en-
lightened judicial tribunal in the world. Upon
the question of expediency, we only ask you to
examine the history of the times during the ex-
istence of the two banks, and compare those
times with the miserable present.
The fourth resolution declares the expediency
of Mr. Clay's Land Bill. Much incomprehensible
jargon is often used against the constitutionality
of this measure. We forbear, in this place, at-
tempting an answer to it, simply because, in our
opinion, those who urge it are through party zeal
resolved not to see or acknowledge the truth.
The question of expediency, at least so far as
Illinois is concerned, seems to us the clearest
imaginable. By the bill we are to receive an-
nually a large sum of money, no part of which
1843] TARIFF ADDRESS 93
we otherwise receive. The precise annual sum
cannot be known in advance ; it doubtless will vary
in different years. Still it is something to know
that in the last year — a year of almost unparal-
leled pecuniary pressure — it amounted to more
than forty thousand dollars. This annual in-
come, in the midst of our almost insupportable
difficulties, in the days of our severest necessity,
our political opponents are furiously resolving to
take and keep from us. And for what? Many
silly reasons are given, as is usual in cases where
a single good one is not to be found. One is that
by giving us the proceeds of the lands, we im-
poverish the national treasury, and thereby ren-
der necessary an increase of the tariff. This may
be true ; but if so, the amount of it only is that
those whose pride, whose abundance of means,
prompt them to spurn the manufactures of our
country, and to strut in British cloaks and coats
and pantaloons, may have to pay a few cents
more on the yard for the cloth that makes them.
A terrible evil, truly, to the Illinois farmer, who
never wore, nor ever expects to wear, a single
yard of British goods in his whole life. Another
of their reasons is that by the passage and con-
tinuance of Mr. Clay's bill, we prevent the pas-
sage of a bill which would give us more. This,
if it were sound in itself, is waging destructive
war with the former position; for if Mr. Clay's
bill impoverishes the treasury too much, what
shall be said of one that impoverishes it still
more? But it is not sound in itself. It is not
true that Mr. Clay's bill prevents the passage of
one more favorable to us of the new States. Con-
sidering the strength and opposite interest of the
old States, the wonder is that they ever per-
94 EARLY SPEECHES [Mar. 4
mitted one to pass so favorable as Mr. Clay's.
The last twenty-odd years' efforts to reduce the
price of the lands, and to pass graduation bills
and cession bills, prove the assertion to be true;
and if there were no experience in support of it,
the reason itself is plain. The States in which
none, or few, of the public lands lie, and those
consequently interested against parting with
them except for the best price, are the majority;
and a moment's reflection will show that they
must ever continue the majority, because by the
time one of the original new States (Ohio, for
example) becomes populous and gets weight in
Congress, the public lands in her limits are so
nearly sold out that in every point material to
this question she becomes an old State. She does
not wish the price reduced, because there is none
left for her citizens to buy ; she does not wish
them ceded to the States in which they lie, be-
cause they no longer lie in her limits, and she
will get nothing by the cession. In the nature of
things, the States interested in the reduction of
price, in graduation, in cession, and in all similar
projects, never can be the majority. Nor is there
reason to hope that any of them can ever succeed
as a Democratic party measure, because we have
heretofore seen that party in full power, year
after year, with rriany of their leaders making
loud professions in favor of these projects, and
yet doing nothing. What reason, then, is there
to believe they will hereafter do better ? In every
light in which we can view this question, it
amounts simply to this : Shall we accept our
share of the proceeds under j\Ir. Clay's bill, or
shall we rather reject that and get nothing?
The fifth resolution recommends that a Whig
1843] TARIFF ADDRESS 95
candidate for Congress be run in every district,
regardless of the chances of success. We are
aware that it is sometimes a temporary gratifica-
tion, when a friend cannot succeed, to be able to
choose between opponents ; but we believe that
that gratification is the seed-time which never
fails to be followed by a most abundant harvest
of bitterness. By this policy we entangle our-
selves. By voting for our opponents, such of us
as do it in some measure estop ourselves to com-
plain of their acts, however glaringly wrong we
may believe them to be. By this policy no one
portion of our friends can ever be certain as to
what course another portion may adopt ; and by
this want of mutual and perfect understanding-
our political identity is partially frittered away
and lost. And, again, those who are thus elected
by our aid ever become our bitterest persecutors.
Take a few prominent examples. In 1830 Reyn-
olds was so elected governor; in 1835 w^e ex-
erted our w^hole strength to elect Judge Young
to the United States Senate, which effort, though
failing, gave him the prominence that subse-
quently elected him; in 1836 General Ewing was
so elected to the United States Senate ; and yet let
us ask what three men have been more perse-
veringly vindictive in their assaults upon all our
men and measures than they? During the last
summer the whole State was covered with pam-
phlet editions of misrepresentations against us,
methodized into chapters and verses, written by
two of these same men, — Reynolds and Young,
— in which they did not stop at charging us with
error merely, but roundly denounced us as the
designing enemies of human liberty itself. If it
be the will of Heaven that such men shall politi-
96 EARLY SPEECHES [Mar. 4
cally live, be it so ; but never, never again per-
mit them to draw a particle of their sustenance
from us.
The sixth resolution recommends the adoption
of the convention system for the nomination of
candidates. This we believe to be of the very
first importance. Whether the system is right in
itself we do not stop to inquire ; contenting our-
selves with trying to show that while our oppo-
nents use it, it is madness in us not to defend
ourselves with it. Experience has shown that we
cannot successfully defend ourselves without it.
For examples, look at the elections of last year.
Our candidate for governor, with the approba-
tion of a large portion of the party, took the field
without a nomination, and in open opposition to
the system. Wherever in the counties the Whigs
had held conventions and nominated candidates
for the legislature, the aspirants who were not
nominated were induced to rebel against the
nominations, and to become candidates, as is
said, "on their own hook." And, go where you
w^ould into a large Whig county, you were sure
to find the Whigs not contending shoulder to
shoulder against the common enemy, but divided
into factions, and fighting furiously with one an-
other. The election came, and what was the re-
sult? The governor beaten — the Whig vote be-
ing decreased many thousands since 1840, al-
though the Democratic vote had not increased
any. Beaten almost everywhere for members of
the legislature, — Tazewell, with her four hun-
dred Whig majority, sending a delegation half
Democratic ; Vermillion, with her five hundred,
doing the same ; Coles, with her four hundred,
sending two out of three ; and Morgan, with her
i843] TARIFF ADDRESS 97
two hundred and fifty, sending three out of four,
— and this to say nothing of the numerous other
less glaring examples ; the whole winding up
with the aggregate number of twenty-seven
Democratic representatives sent from Whig
counties. As to the senators, too, the result was
of the same character. And it is most worthy to
be remembered that of all the Whigs in the State
who ran against the regular nominees, a single
one only was elected. Although they succeeded
in defeating the nominees almost by scores, they
too were defeated, and the spoils chucklingly
borne off by the common enemy ?
We do not mention the fact of many of the
Whigs opposing the convention system hereto-
fore for the purpose of censuring them. Far
from it. We expressly protest against such a
conclusion. We know they were generally, per-
haps universally, as good and true Whigs as we
ourselves claim to be. We mention it merely to
draw attention to the disastrous result it pro-
duced, as an example forever hereafter to be
avoided. That ''union is strength" is a truth
that has been known, illustrated, and declared in
various ways and forms in all ages of the world.
That great fabulist and philosopher, ^sop,
illustrated it by his fable of the bundle of sticks ;
and he whose wisdom surpasses that of all phi-
losophers has declared that "a house divided
against itself cannot stand." It is to induce our
friends to act upon this important and univer-
sally acknowedged truth that we urge the adop-
tion of the convention system. Reflection will
prove that there is no other way of practically ap-
plying it. In its application we know there will
be incidents temporarily painful; but, after all,
98 EARLY SPEECHES [Mar. 4
those incidents will be fewer and less intense with
than without the system. If two friends aspire
to the same office it is certain that both cannot
succeed. Would it not, then, be much less pain-
ful to have the question decided by mutual
friends some time before, than to snarl and quar-
rel until the day of election, and then both be
beaten by the common enemy?
Before leaving this subject, we think proper
to remark that we do not understand the resolu-
tion as intended to recommend the application of
the convention system to the nomination of can-
didates for the small offices no way connected
with politics ; though we must say we do not per-
ceive that such an application of it would be
wrong.
The seventh resolution recommends the hold-
ing of district conventions in May next, for the
purpose of nominating candidates for Congress.
The propriety of this rests upon the same reasons
with that of the sixth, and therefore needs no
further discussion.
The eighth and ninth also relate merely to the
practical application of the foregoing, and there-
fore need no discussion.
Before closing, permit us to add a few reflec-
tions on the present condition and future pros-
pects of the Whig party. In almost a-ll the States
we have fallen into the minority, and despond-
ency seems to prevail universally among us. Is
there just cause for this? In 1840 we carried
the nation by more than a hundred and forty
thousand majority. Our opponents charged
that we did it by fraudulent voting; but what-
ever they may have believed, we know the charge
to be untrue. Where, now, is that mighty host?
1843] TARIFF ADDRESS
99
Have they gone over to the enemy? Let the re-
sults of the late elections answer. Every State
which has fallen off from the Whig- cause since
1840 has done so not by giving more Democratic
votes than they did then, but by giving fewer
Whig. Bouck, who was elected Democratic gov-
ernor of New York last fall by more than 15,000
majority, had not then as many votes as he had
in 1840, when he was beaten by seven or eight
thousand. And so has it been in all the other
States which have fallen away from our cause.
From this it is evident that tens of thousands in
the late elections have not voted at all. Who and
what are they? is an important question, as re-
spects the future. They can come forward and
give us the victory again. That all, or nearly all,
of them are Whigs is m.ost apparent. Our oppo-
nents, stung to madness by the defeat of 1840,
have ever since rallied with more than their usual
unanimity. It has not been they that have been
kept from the polls. These facts show what the re-
sult must be, once the people again rally in their
entire strength. Proclaim these facts, and pre-
dict this result ; and although unthinking oppo-
nents may smile at us, the sagacious ones will
"believe and tremble." And why shall the Whigs
not all rally again ? Are their principles less dear
now than in 1840? Have any of their doctrines
since then been discovered to be untrue? It is
true, the victory of 1840 did not produce the
happy results anticipated : but it is equally true,
as we believe, that the unfortunate death of Gen-
eral Harrison was the cause of the failure. It
was not the election of General Harrison that
was expected to produce happy effects, but the
measures to be adopted by his administration. By
loo EARLY SPEECHES [Dec. i
means of his death, and the unexpected course of
his successor, those measures were never
adopted. How could the fruits follow? The
consequences we always predicted would follow
the failure of those measures have followed, and
are now upon us in all their horrors. By the
course of Mr. Tyler the policy of our opponents
has continued in operation, still leaving them
with the advantage of charging all its evils upon
us as the results of a Whig administration. Let
none be deceived by this somewhat plausible,
though entirely false charge. If they ask us for
the sufficient and sound currency we promised,
let them be answered that we only promised it
through the medium of a national bank, which
they, aided by Mr. Tyler, prevented our estab-
lishing. And let them be reminded, too, that
their own policy in relation to the currency has
all the time been, and still is, in full operation.
Let us then again come forth in our might, and
by a second victory accomplish that which death
only prevented in the first. We can do it. When
did the Whigs ever fail if they were fully
aroused and united? Even in single States and
districts, under such circumstances, defeat sel-
dom overtakes them. Call to mind the contested
elections within the last few years, and particu-
larly those of Moore and Letcher from Ken-
tucky; Newland and Graham from North Caro-
lina, and the famous New Jersey case. In all
these districts Locofocoism had stalked omnipo-
tent before; but when the whole people were
aroused by its enormities on those occasions,
they put it down never to rise again.
We declare it to be our solemn conviction, that
the Whigs are always a majority of this nation;
i84-] NOTES ON PROTECTIOJ loi
and that to make them always successful needs
but to get them all to the polls and to vote unit-
edly. This is the great desideratum. Let us
make every effort to attain it. At every election,
let every Whig act as though he knew the result
to depend upon his action. In the great contest
of 1840, some more than twenty-one hundred
thousand votes were cast, and so surely as there
shall be that many, with the ordinary increase
added, cast in 1844, that surely will a Whig be
elected President of the United States.
A. Lincoln,
S. T. Logan,
A. T. Bledsoe.
March 4, 1843.
The Home Market and Other Advantages of a
Protective Tariff.
Notes Jotted Down While Congressman-
Elect. About December i, 1847.
Whether the protective policy shall be finally
abandoned is now the question. — Discussion and
experience already had, and question now in
greater dispute than ever. — Has there not been
some great error in the mode of discussion? —
Propose a single issue of fact, namely: From
1816 to the present, have protected articles cost
us more of labor during the higher than during
the lower duties upon them? — Introduce the evi-
dence. — Analyze this issue, and try to show that
it embraces the true and the whole question of
the protective policy. — Intended as a test of ex-
perience. — The period selected is fair, because it
is a period of peace — a period sufficiently long
I02 EARLY SPEECHES [Dec. i
[to] furnish a fair average under all other causes
operating on prices, a period in which various
modifications of higher and lower duties have oc-
curred. — Protected articles only are embraced.
Show that these only belong to the question. —
The labor price only is embraced. Show this to
be correct.
• • • • •
I suppose the true effect of duties upon prices
to be as follows : If a certain duty be levied upon
an article which by nature cannot be produced in
this country, as three cents a pound upon coffee,
the eft'ect will be that the consumer will pay one
cent more per pound than before, the producer
will take one cent less, and the merchant one cent
less in profits ; in other words, the burden of the
duty will [be] distributed over consumption, pro-
duction, and commerce, and not confined to either.
But if a duty amounting to full protection be
levied upon an article which can be produced
here with as little labor as elsewhere, — as iron, —
that article will ultimately, and at no distant day,
in consequence of such duty, be sold to our peo-
ple cheaper than before, at least by the amount
of the cost of carrying it from abroad.
First. As to useless labor. Before proceed-
ing, however, it may be as well to give a speci-
men of what I conceive to be useless labor. I say,
then, that all carrying, and incidents of carrying,
of articles from the place of their production to
a distant place for consumption, which articles
could be produced of as good quality, in sufficient
quantity and with as little labor, at the place of
consumption as at the place carried from, is use-
less labor. Applying this principle to our own
country by an example, let us suppose that A
i847] NOTES ON PROTECTION 103
and B are a Pennsylvania farmer and a Pennsyl-
vania iron-maker whose lands are adjoining.
Under the protective policy A is furnishing B
with bread and meat, and vegetables and fruits,
and food for horses and oxen, and fresh supplies
of horses and oxen themselves occasionally, and
receiving in exchange all the iron, iron utensils,
tools, and implements he needs. In this process
of exchange each receives the whole of that
which the other parts with, and the reward of
labor between them is perfect — each receiving
the product of just so much labor as he has him-
self bestowed on what he parts with for it. But
the change comes. The protective policy is aban-
doned, and A determines to buy his iron and iron
manufactures of C in Europe. This he can only
do by a direct or an indirect exchange of the
produce of his farm for them. We vv'ill suppose
the direct exchange is adopted. In this A desires
to exchange ten barrels of flour — the precise
product of one hundred days' labor — for the
largest quantity of iron, etc., that he can get. C
also wishes to exchange the precise product, in
iron, of one hundred days' labor for the greatest
quantity of flour he can get. In intrinsic
value the things to be so exchanged are pre-
cisely equal. But before this exchange can
take place, the flour must be carried from Penn-
sylvania to England, and the iron from England
to Pennsylvania. The flour starts. The wagoner
who hauls it to Philadelphia takes a part of it
to pay him for his labor ; then a merchant there
takes a little more for storage and forwarding
commission, and another takes a little more for
insurance ; and then the ship-owner carries it
across the water, and takes a little more of it for
I04 EARLY SPEECHES [Dec. i
his trouble. Still, before it reaches C, it is tolled
two or three times more for storage, drayage,
commission, and so on; so that when C gets it
there are but seven and a half barrels of it left.
The iron, too, in its transit from England to
Pennsylvania goes through the same process of
tolling; so that when it reaches A there are but
three quarters of it left. The result of this case
is that A and C have each parted with one hun-
dred days' labor, and each received but seventy-
five in return. That the carrying in this case was
introduced by A ceasing to buy of B and turning
[to] C; that it was utterly useless; and that it is
ruinous in its effects upon A, are all little less
than self-evident. "But," asks one, "if A is now
only getting three quarters as much iron from C
for ten barrels of flour as he used to get of B,
why does he not turn back to B ?" The answer
is : "B has quit making iron, and so has none to
sell." "But why did B quit making?" "Because
A quit buying of him, and he had no other cus-
tomer to seirto." "But surely A did not cease
buying of B with the expectation of buying of C
on' harder terms?" "Certainly not. Let me tell
you how that was. When B was making iron as
well as C, B had but one customer, this farmer
A; C had four customers in Europe."
. • • • •
It seems to be an opinion very generally enter-
tained that the condition of a nation is best when-
ever it can buy cheapest; but this is not neces-
sarily true, because if, at the same time and by
the same cause, it is comipelled to sell correspond-
ingly cheap, nothing is gained. Then it is said
the best condition is when we can buy cheapest
and sell dearest ; but this again is not necessarily
1847] NOTES ON PROTECTION 105
true, because with both these we might have
scarcely anything- to sell, or, which is the same
thing-, to buy with. To illustrate this, suppose a
man in the present state of things is laboring the
year round, at ten dollars per month, which
amounts in the year to $120. A change in affairs
enables him to buy supplies at half the former
price, to get fifty dollars per month for his labor,
but at the same time deprives him of employ-
ment during all the months of the year but one.
In this case, though goods have fallen one half,
and labor risen five to one, it is still plain that at
the end of the year the laborer is twenty dollars
poorer than under the old state of things.
These reflections show that to reason and act
correctly on this subject we must look not merely
to buying cheap, nor yet to buying cheap and sell-
ing dear, but also to having constant employment,
so that we may have the largest possible amount
of something to sell. This matter of employ-
ment can only be secured by an ample, steady,
and certain market to sell the products of our
labor in.
But let us yield the point, and admit that by
abandoning the protective policy our farmers can
purchase their supplies of manufactured articles
cheaper than by continuing it ; and then let us see
whether, even at that, they will upon the whole be
gainers by the change. To simplify this ques-
tion, let us suppose the whole agricultural interest
of the country to be in the hands of one man,
who has one hundred laborers in his employ; the
whole manufacturing interest to be in the hands
of one other man, who has twenty laborers in his
employ. The farmer owns all the plow and
pasture land, and the manufacturer all the iron-
lo6 EARLY SPEECHES [Dec. i
mines and coal-banks and sites of water-power.
Each is pushing on in his own way, and obtaining
supplies from the other so far as he needs, —
that is, the manufacturer is buying of the farmer
all the cotton he can use in his cotton-factory ; all
the wool he can use in his woolen establishment ;
all the bread and meat, as well as all the fruits
and vegetables, which are necessary for himself
and all his hands in all his departments ; all the
corn and oats and hay which are necessary for all
his horses and oxen, as well as fresh supplies of
horses and oxen themselves to do all his heavy
hauling about his iron-works and generally of
every sort. The farmer, in turn, is buying of the
manufacturer all the iron, iron tools, wooden
tools, cotton goods, woolen goods, etc., that he
needs in his business and for his hands. But
after a while farmer discovers that were it not for
the protective policy he could buy all these sup-
plies cheaper from a European manufacturer,
owing to the fact that the price of labor is only
one quarter as high there as here. He and his
hands are a majority of the whole, and therefore
have the legal and moral right to have their inter-
est first consulted. They throw off the protective
policy, and farmer ceases buying of home manu-
facturer. Very soon, however, he discovers that
to buy even at the cheaper rate requires some-
thing to buy with, and somxehow^ or other he is
falling short in this particular.
In the early days of our race the Almighty said
to the first of our race, "In the sweat of thy face
shalt thou eat bread" ; and since then, if we ex-
cept the light and the air of heaven, no good
thing has been or can be enjoyed by us without
i847] KG.ES ON PROi'ECTION 107
having first cost labor. And inasmuch as most
good things are produced by labor, it follows that
all such things of right belong to those whose
labor has produced them. But it has so hap-
pened, in all ages of the world, that somf^ have
labored, and others have without labor enj'^yed
a large proportion of the fruits. This is wrong,
and should not continue. To secure to each la-
borer the whole product of his labor, or as nearly
as possible, is a worthy object of any good gov-
ernment.
But then a question arises. How can a govern-
ment best effect this? In our own country, in its
present condition, will the protective principle
advance or retard this object? Upon this sub-
ject the habits of our whole species fall into three
great classes — useful labor, useless labor, and
idleness. Of these the first only is meritorious,
and to it all the products of labor rightfully be-
long ; but the two latter, while they exist, are
heavy pensioners upon the first, robbing it of a
large portion of its just rights. The only remedy
for this is to, so far as possible, drive useless la-
bor and idleness out of existence. And, first, as
to useless labor. Before making war upon this,
we must learn to distinguish it from the useful.
It appears to me that all labor done directly and
indirectly in carrying articles to the place of con-
sumption, which could have been produced in
sufficient abundance, with as little labor, at the
place of consumption as at the place they were
carried from, is useless labor. Let us take a few
examples of the application of this principle to
our own country. Iron, and everything made of
iron, can be produced in sufficient abundance-
and with as little labor, in the United States as
loS EARLY SPEECHES [Dec. i
anywhere else in the world ; therefore all labor
done in bringing iron and its fabrics from a for-
eign coiintrv to the United States is useless labor.
The same precisely may be said of cotton, wool,
and of their fabrics respectively, as well as many
other articles. While the uselessness of the carry-
ing labor is equally true of all the articles men-
tioned, and of many others not mentioned, it is
perhaps more glaringly obvious in relation to the
cotton goods we purchase fromi abroad. The
raw cotton from which they are made itself
grows in our own country, is carried by land and
by water to England, is there spun, wove, dyed,
stamped, etc., and then carried back again and
worn in the very country where it grew, and
partly by the very persons who grew it. Why
should it not be spun, wove, etc., in the very
neighborhood where it both grows and is con-
sumed, and the carrying thereby dispensed with?
Has nature interposed any obstacle? Are not all
the agents — animal-power, water-power, and
steam-power — as good and as abundant here as
elsewhere? Will not as small an amount of hu-
man labor answer here as elsewhere? We may
easily see that the cost of this useless labor is very
heavy. It includes not only the cost of the actual
carriage, but also the insurances of every kind,
and the profits of the merchants through whose
hands it passes. All these create a heavy burden
necessarily falling upon the useful labor con-
nected with such articles, either depressing the
price to the producer or advancing it to the con-
sumer, or, what is more probable, doing both in
part.
i^ A supposed case will serve to illustrate several
points now to the purpose. A, in the interior of
18471 NOTES ON PROTECTION 109
South Carolina, has one hundred pounds of cot-
ton, which we suppose to be the precise product
cf one man's labor for twenty days. B, in Man-
chester. England, has one hundred yards of cot-
ton cloth, the precise product of the same amount
of labor. This lot of cotton and lot of cloth are
precisely equal to each other in their intrinsic
value. But A wishes to part with his cotton for
the largest quantity of cloth he can get. B also
wishes to part with his cloth for the greatest
quantity of cotton he can get. An exchange is
therefore necessary; but before this can be
effected, the cotton must be carried to Manches-
ter, and the cloth to South Carolina. The cotton
starts to Manchester. The man that hauls it to
Charleston in his wagon takes a little of it out to
pay him for his trouble ; the merchant who stores
it a while before the ship is ready to sail takes
a little out for his trouble ; the ship-owner who
carries it across the water takes a little out for
his trouble. Still, before it gets to Manchester
it is tolled two or three times more for drayage,
storage, commission, and so on ; so that when it
reaches B's hands there are but seventy-five
pounds of it left. The cloth, too, in its transit
from Alanchester to South Carolina, goes
through the same process of tolling ; so that when
it reaches A there are but seventy-five yards of it.
Now, in this case, A and B have each parted with
twenty days' labor, and each received but fifteen
in return. But now let us suppose that B has re-
moved to the side of A's farm in South Carolina,
and has there made his lot of cloth. Is it not
clear that he and A can then exchange their cloth
and cotton, each getting the whole of what the
other parts with?
no EARLY SPEECHES [Dec. i
This supposed case shows the utter uselessness
of the carrying labor in all similar cases, and also
the direct burden it imposes upon useful labor.
And whoever will take up the train of reflection
suggested by this case, and run it out to the full
extent of its just application, will be astonished
at the amount of useless labor he will thus dis-
cover to be done in this very way. I am mis-
taken if it is not in fact many times over equal
to all the real want in the world. This useless
labor I would have discontinued, and those en-
gaged in it added to the class of useful laborers.
If I be asked whether I would destroy all com-
merce, I answer, Certainly not ; I would continue
it where it is necessary, and discontinue it where
it is not. An instance : I would continue com-
merce so far as it is employed in bringing us
coffee, and I would discontinue it so far as it is
employed in bringing us cotton goods.
But let us yield the point, and admit that by
abandoning the protective policy our farmers can
purchase their supplies of manufactured articles
cheaper than before ; and then let us see whether,
even at that, the farmers will upon the whole be
gainers by the change. To simplify this question,
Jet us suppose our whole population to consist of
but twenty men. Under the prevalence of the
protective policy, fifteen of these are farmers,
one is a miller, one manufactures iron, one im-
plements from iron, one cotton goods, and one
woolen goods. The farmers discover that, owing
to labor only costing one quarter as much in
Europe as here, they can buy iron, iron imple-
ments, cotton goods, and woolen goods cheaper
when brought from Europe than when made by
their neighbors. They are the majority, and
1847] NOTES ON PROTECTION m
therefore have both the legal and moral right to
have their interest first consulted. They throw
off the protective policy, and cease buying these
articles of their neighbors. But they soon dis-
cover that to buy, and at the cheaper rate, re-
quires something to buy v/ith. Falling short in
this particular, one of these farmers takes a load
of wheat to the miller and gets it made into flour,
and starts, as had been his custom, to the iron
furnace. He approaches the well-known spot,
but, strange to say, all is cold and still as death ;
no smoke rises, no furnace roars, no anvil rings.
After some search he finds the owner of the deso-
late place, and calls out to him, "Come, Vulcan,
don't you want to buy a load of flour?" "Why,"
says Vulcan, 'T am hungry enough, to be sure, —
haven't tasted bread for a week ; but then you see
my works are stopped, and I have nothing to
give you for your flour." "But, Vulcan, why
don't you go to work and get something?" "I
am ready to do so. Will you hire me. farmer?"
"Oh, no, I could only set you to raising wheat,
and you see I have more of that already than I
can get anything for." "But give me employ-
ment, and send your flour to Europe for a mar-
ket." "Why, Vulcan, how silly you talk ! Don't
you know they raise wheat in Europe as well as
here, and that labor is so cheap there as to fix
the price of flour there so low as scarcely to pay
the long carriage of it from here, leaving noth-
ing whatever to me?" "But, farmer, couldn't
you pay to raise and prepare garden stuffs,
and iruits, such as radishes, cabbages. Irish and
sweet potatoes, cucumbers, watermelons and
musk-melons, plums, pears, peaches, apples, and
the like ? All these are good things, and used to
112 EARLY SPEECHES [Dec. 22
sell well." "So they did use to sell well ; but it
was to you we sold them, and now you tell us
3'ou have nothing to buy with. Of course I can-
not sell such things to the other farmers, because
each of them raises enough for himself, and in
fact rather wishes to sell than to buy. Xeither
can I send them to Europe for a market, because,
to say nothing of European markets being
stocked with such articles at lower prices than I
can afford, they are of such a nature as to rot
before they could reach there. The truth is,
Vulcan, I am compelled to quit raising these
things altogether, except a few for my own use ;
and this leaves part of my own time idle on my
hands, instead of my finding employment for
you."
• • • • •
If at any time all labor should cease, and all
existing provisions be equally divided among the
people, at the end of a single year there could
scarcely be one himian being left alive : all would
have perished by want of subsistence. So, again,
if upon such division all that sort of labor which
produces provisions should cease, and each in-
dividual should take up so much of his share as
he could, and carry it continually around his
habitation, although in this carrying the amount
of labor going on might be as great as ever so
long as it could last, at the end of the vear the re-
suit would be precisely the same — that is, none
would be left living.
The first of these propositions shows that uni-
versal idleness would speedily result in universal
ruin ; and the second shows that useless labor is
in this respect the same as idleness. I submit,
then, whether it does not follow that partial idle-
1847] ''SPOT RESOLUTIONS" 115
ness and partial useless labor would, in the pro-
portion of their extent, in like manner result in
partial ruin; whether, if all should subsist upon
the labor that one half should perform, it would
not result in very scanty allowance to the whole.
Believing that these propositions and the con-
clusions I draw from them cannot be successfully
controverted, I for the present assume their cor-
rectness, and proceed to try to show that the
abandonment of the protective policy by the
American government must result in the increase
of both useless labor and idleness, and so, in pro-
portion, must produce want and ruin among our
people.
"Spot Resolutions" on Mexican War.
Offered in the United States House of Rep-
resentatives. December 22, 1847.
Whereas, The President of the United States^
in his message of May 11, 1846, has declared that
"the Mexican Government not only refused to re-
ceive him [the envoy of the United States], or
to listen to his propositions, but, after a long-
continued series of menaces, has at last invaded
our territory and shed the blood of our fellow-
citizens on our own soil."
And again, in his message of December 8,
1846, that "we had ample cause of war against
Mexico long before the breaking out of hostili-
ties ; but even then v\-e forbore to take redress into
our own hands until ^Mexico herself became the
aggressor, by invading our soil in hostile array,
and shedding the blood of our citizens."
And yet again, in his message of December 7,
3 14 EARLY SPEECHES [Jan. 5
1847, that "the Mexican Government refused
even to hear the terms of adjustment which he
[our minister of peace] was authorized to pro-
pose, and finally, under wdiolly unjustifiable pre-
texts, involved the two countries in war, by in-
vading the territory of the State of Texas, strik-
ing the first blow, and shedding the blood of our
citizens on our own soil."
And whereas, This House is desirous to ob-
tain a full knowledge of all the facts which go to
establish whether the particular spot on which
the blood of our citizens was so shed was or was
not at that time our own soil ; therefore.
Resolved, By the House of Representatives,
that the President of the United States be re-
spectfully requested to inform this House —
First. Whether the spot on which the blood of
our citizens was shed, as in his message declared,
was or was not within the territory of Spain, at
least after the treaty of 181 9 until the Mexican
revolution.
Second. Whether that spot is or is not within
the territory which was wrested from Spain by
the revolutionary Government of Mexico.
Third. Whether that spot is or is not within a
settlement of people^ which settlement has ex-
isted ever since long before the Texas revolution,
and until its inhabitants fled before the approach
of the United States army.
Fourth. Whether that settlement is or is not
isolated from any and all other settlements by the
Gulf and the Rio Grande on the south and west,
and by wide uninhabited regions on the north
and east.
Fifth. Whether the people of that settlement,
or a majority of them, or any of them, have ever
i84S] MAIL CONTRACTS 115,
submitted themselves to the JTOvernment or laws
of Texas or of the United States, by consent or
by compulsion, either by accepting office, or vot-
ing at elections, or paying tax, or serving on
juries, or having process served upon them, or in
any other way.
Sixth. Whether the people of that settlement
did or did not flee from the approach of the
United States army, leaving unprotected their
homes and their growing crops, before the blood
was shed, as in the message stated ; and whether
the first blood, so shed, was or was not shed
within the inclosure of one of the people who had
thus fled from it.
Seventh. Whether our citizens, whose blood
was shed, as in his message declared, were or
were not, at that time, armed officers and
soldiers, sent into that settlement by the military
order of the President, through the Secretary of
War.
Eighth. Whether the military force of the
United States was or was not so sent into that
settlement after General Taylor had more than
once intimated to the War Department that, in
his opinion, no such movement was necessary to
the defense or protection of Texas.
On Railroad Mail Contracts.
Remarks in the United States House of
Representatives. January 5, 1848.
J\Ir. Lincoln said he had made an effort some
few days since, to obtain the floor in relation to
this measure [resolution to direct Postmaster-
General to make arrangements with railroad for
ii6 EARLY SPEECHES [Jan. 5
carrying the mails — in Committee of the Whole],
but had failed. One of the objects he had then
had in view was now in a great measure super-
seded by what had fallen from the gentleman
from Virginia who had just taken his seat. He
begged to assure his friends on the other side of
the House that no assault whatever was meant
upon the Postmaster-General, and he was glad
that what the gentleman had now said modified
to a great extent the impression which might
have been created by the language he had used
on a previous occasion. He wanted to state to
gentlemen who might have entertained such im-
pressions, that the Committee on the Post-office
â– was composed of five Whigs and four Demo-
crats, and their report was understood as sus-
taining, not impugning, the position taken by the
Postmaster-General. "That report had met with
the approbation of all the Whigs, and of all the
Democrats also, with the exception of one, and
be wanted to go even further than this. [Inti-
mation was informally given Mr. Lincoln that it
zvas not in order to mention on the floor ivhat had
taken place in committee.] He then observed
that if he had been out of order in what he had
said, he took it all back so far as he could. He
had no desire, he could assure gentlemen, ever to
be out of order — though he never could keep long
in order.
Mr. Lincoln went on to observe that he dif-
fered in opinion, in the present case, from his
honorable friend from Richmond [Mr. Botts].
That gentleman had begun his remarks by saying
that if all prepossessions in this matter could be
removed out of the way, but little difficulty would
be experienced in coming to an agreement. Now,
1848] MAIL CONTRACTS 117
he could assure that gentleman that he had him-
self begun the examination of the subject with
prepossessions all in his favor. He had long
and often heard of him. and, from what he had
heard, was prepossessed in his favor. Of the
Postmaster-General he had also heard, but had
no prepossessions in his favor, though certainly
none of an opposite kind. He differed, however,
with that gentleman in politics, while in this re-
spect he agreed with the gentleman from Vir-
ginia [Mr. Botts], whom he wished to oblige
V'henever it was in his power. That gentleman
had referred to the report made to the House by
the Postmaster-General and had intimated an
apprehension that gentlemen would be disposed
to rely on that report alone, and derive their
views of the case from that document alone.
Now it so happened that a pamphlet had been
slipped into his [Mr. Lincoln's] hand before he
read the report of the Postmaster-General ; so
that, even in this, he had begun with preposses-
sions in favor of the gentleman from Virginia.
As to the report, he had but one remark to
make : he had carefully examined it, and he did
not understand that there was any dispute as to
the facts therein stated — the dispute, if he under-
stood it, was confined altogether to the inferences
to be drawn from those facts. It was a differ-
ence not about facts, but about conclusions. The
facts were not disputed. If he was right in this,
he supposed the House might assume the facts to
be as they were stated, and thence proceed ta
draw their own conclusions.
The gentleman had said that the Postmaster-
General had got into a personal squabble with
the railroad company. Of this Mr. Lincoln
Ii8 EARLY SPEECHES [Jan. 12
knew nothing, nor did he need or desire to know
anything, because it had nothing whatever to do
with a just conclusion from the premises. But
the gentleman had gone on to ask whether so
great a grievance as the present detention of the
Southern mail ought not to be remedied? Mr.
Lincoln would assure the gentleman that if there
was a proper way of doing it, no man was more
anxious than he that it should be done. The re-
port made by the committee had been intended to
yield much for the sake of removing that griev-
ance. That the grievance was very great, there
was no dispute in any quarter. He supposed
that the statements made by the gentleman from
Virginia to show this were all entirely correct in
point of fact. He did suppose that the interrup-
tions of regular intercourse, and all the other in-
conveniences growing out of it, were all as that
gentleman had stated them to be ; and certainly,
if redress could be rendered, it was proper it
should be rendered as soon as possible. The
gentleman said that in order to effect this, no
new legislative action was needed ; all that was
necessary was that the Postmaster-General
should be required to do what the law, as it stood,
authorized and required him to do.
We come then, said I\Ir. Lincoln, to the law.
Now the Postmaster-General says he cannot give
to this company more than two hundred and
thirty-seven dollars and fifty cents per railroad
mile of transportation, and twelve and a half per
cent, less for transportation by steamboats. He
considers himself as restricted by law to this
amount ; and he says, further, that he would not
give more if he could, because in his apprehen-
sion it would not be fair and just.
1848] MEXICAN WAR 119
Arraignment of President Polk for War
Against Mexico.
Speech in the United States House of Rep-
resentatives. January 12, 1848.
Mr. Chairman: Some if not all the gentlemen
on the other side of the House who have ad-
dressed the committee within the last two days
have spoken rather complainingly, if Hiave rightly
understood them, of the vote given a week or ten
days ago declaring that the war with Mexico was
unnecessarily and unconstitutionally commenced
by the President. I admit that such a vote should
not be given in mere party wantonness, and that
the one given is justly censurable, if it have no
other or better foundation. I am one of those
who joined in that vote ; and I did so under my
best impression of the truth of the case. How I
got this impression, and how it may possibly be
remedied, I will now try to show. When the war
began, it was my opinion that all those who be-
cause of knowing too little, or because of know-
ing too much, could not conscientiously oppose
the conduct of the President in the beginning of
it should nevertheless, as good citizens and
patriots, remain silent on that point, at least till
the war should be ended. Some leading Demo-
crats, including ex-President Van Buren, have
taken this same view, as I understand them ; and
I adhered to it and acted upon it, until since I
took my seat here ; and I think I should still ad-
here to it were it not that the President and his
friends will not allow it to be so. Besides the
continual effort of the President to argue every
silent vote given for supplies into an indorse-
ment of the justice and wisdom of his conduct,"
I20 EARLY SPEECHES [Jan. 12
besides that singularly candid paragraph in his
kte message in which he tells us that Congress
v.-ith great unanimity had declared that "by the
act of the Republic of Mexico, a state of war ex-
ists between that Government and the United
States," when the same journals that informed
him of this also informed him that when that
declaration stood disconnected from the question
of supplies sixty-seven in the House, and not
fourteen merely, voted against it ; besides this
open attempt to prove by telling the truth what
he could not prove by telling the whole truth —
demanding of all who w^ill not submit to be mis-
represented, in justice to themselves, to speak
out, — besides all this, one of my colleagues [Mr.
Richardson] at a very early day in the session
brought in a set of resolutions expressly indors-
ing the original justice of the war on the part of
the President. Upon these resolutions when they
shall be put on their passage I shall be compelled
to vote ; so that I cannot be silent if I would.
Seeing this, I went about preparing myself to
give the vote understandingly when it should
come. I carefully examined the President's mes-
sage, to ascertain what he himself had said and
proved upon the point. The result of this exam-
ination was to make the impression that, taking
for true all the President states as facts, he falls
far short of proving his justification; and that
the President would have gone farther with his
proof if it had not been for the small matter that
the truth would not permit him. Under the im-
pression thus made I gave the vote before men-
tioned. I propose now to give concisely the
process of the examination I made, and how I
reached the conclusion I did. The President, in
1848] MEXICAN WAR X2X
his first war message of May, 1846, declares that
the soil was ours on which hostilities were com-
menced by Mexico, and he repeats that declara-
tion almost in the same language in each suc-
cessive annual message, thus showing that he
deems that point a highly essential one. In tl've
importance of that point I entirely agree with the
President. To my judgment it is the very point
upon which he should be justified, or condemned.
In his message of December, 1846, it seems to
have occurred to him, as is certainly true, that
title — ownership — to soil or anything else is not
a simple fact, but is a conclusion following on
one or more simple facts ; and that it was incum-
bent upon him to present the facts from which
he concluded the soil was ours on which the first
blood of the war was shed.
Accordingly, a little below the middle of page
twelve in the message last referred to he enters
upon that task ; forming an issue and introducing
testimony, extending the whole to a little below
the middle of page fourteen. Now, I propose to
try to show that the whole of this — issue and evi-
dence — is from beginning to end the sheerest de-
ception. The issue, as he presents it, is in these
words : "But there are those who, conceding all
this to be true, assume the ground that the true
western boundary of Texas is the Nueces, instead
of the Rio Grande ; and that, therefore, in march-
ing our army to the east bank of the latter river,
we passed the Texas line and invaded the terri-
tory of Mexico." Now this issue is made up of
two affirmatives and no negative. The main de-
ception of it is that it assumes as true that one
river or the other is necessarily the boundary ;
and cheats the superficial thinker entirely out of
r22 EARLY SPEECHES [Jan. 12
the idea that possibly the boundary is somewhere
between the two, and not actually at either. A
further deception is that it will let in evidence
which a true issue would exclude. A true issue
made by the President would be about as fol-
lows : "I say the soil was ours, on which the first
blood was shed ; there are those who say it was
not."
I now proceed to examine the President's evi-
dence as applicable to such an issue. When that
evidence is analyzed, it is all included in the fol-
lowing propositions :
(i) That the Rio Grande was the western
boundary of Louisiana as we purchased it of
France in 1803.
(2) That the Republic of Texas always
claimed the Rio Grande as her western boundary,
(3) That by various acts she had claimed it on
paper.
(4) That Santa Anna in his treaty with Texas
recognized the Rio Grande as her boundary.
(5) That Texas before, and the United States
after, annexation had exercised jurisdiction be-
yond the Nueces — between the two rivers.
(6) That our Congress understood the bound-
ary of Texas to extend beyond the Nueces.
Now for each of these in its turn. His first
item is that the Rio Grande was the western
boundary of Louisiana, as we purchased it of
France in 1803 ; and seeming to expect this to be
disputed, he argues over the amount of nearly a
page to prove it true ; at the end of which he lets
us know that by the treaty of 1819 we sold to
Spain the whole country from the Rio Grande
eastward to the Sabine. Now, admitting for tke
present that the Rio Grande was the boundary of
i84S] MEXICAN WAR 123
Louisiana, what, under heaven, had that to do
with the present boundary between us and j\Iex-
ico? How, Mr. Chairman, the Hue that once di-
vided your land from mine can still be the
boundary between us after I have sold my land to
you is to me beyond all comprehension. And how
any man, with an honest purpose only of proving
the truth, could ever have thought of introducing
such a fact to prove such an issue is equally in-
comprehensible. His next piece of evidence is
that "the Republic of Texas always claimed this
river (Rio Grande) as her western boundary.'^
That is not true, in fact. Texas has claimed it^
but she has not always claimed it. There is at
least one distinguished exception. Her State
constitution — the republic's most solemn and
well-considered act ; that which may, without im-
propriety, be called her last will and testament,
revoking all others — makes no such claim. But
suppose she had always claimed it. Has not
Mexico always claimed the contrary? So that
there is but claim against claim, leaving nothing
proved until we get back of the claims and find
which has the better foundation. Though not in
the order in which the President presents his
evidence, I now consider that class of his state-
ments which are in substance nothing more than
that Texas has, by various acts of her Conven-
tion and Congress, claimed the Rio Grande as
her boundary, on paper. I mean here what he
says about the fixing of the Rio Grande as her
boundary in her old constitution (not her State
constitution), about forming congressional dis-
tricts, counties, etc. Nov/ all of this is but naked
claim : and what I have already said about claims
is strictly applicable to this. If I should claim
124
EARLY SPEECHES [Jan. 12
your land by word of mouth, that certainly would
not make it mine ; and if I were to claim it by a
deed which I had made myself, and with which
you had had nothing to do, the claim would be
quite the same in substance — or rather, in utter
nothingness, I next consider the President's
statement that Santa Anna in his treaty with
Texas recognized the Rio Grande as the western
boundary of Texas. Besides the position so
often taken, that Santa Anna while a prisoner of
war, a captive, could not bind Mexico by a treaty,
which I deem conclusive — besides this, I wish to
say something in relation to this treaty, so called
by the President, with Santa Anna. If any man
would like to be amused by a sight of that little
thing which the President calls by that big name,
he can have it by turning to "Niles's Register,"
Vol. L, p. 336. And if any one should suppose
that "Niles's Register" is a curious repository of
so mighty a document as a solemn treaty between
nations, I can only say that I learned to a toler-
able degree of certainty, by inquiry at the State
Department, that the President himself never
saw it anywhere else. By the way, I believe I
should not err if I were to declare that during the
first ten years of the existence of that document
it was never by anybody called a treaty — that it
was never so called till the President, in his ex-
tremity, attempted by so calling it to wring
something from it in justification of himself in
connection with the Mexican war. It has none of
the distinguishing features of a treaty. It does
not call itself a treaty. Santa Anna does not
therein assume to bind Mexico ; he assumes only
to act as the President-Commander-in-Chief of
the Mexican army and navy; stipulates that the
ii?4S] MEXICAN WAR 125
then present hostilities should cease, and that he
would not himself take up arms, nor influence
the JMexican people to take up arms, against
Texas during the existence of the war of inde-
pendence. He did not recognize the independ-
ence of Texas ; he did not assume to put an end
to the war, but clearly indicated his expectation
of its continuance ; he did not say one word about
boundary, and, most probably, never thought of it.
It is stipulated therein that the ]\Iexican forces
should evacuate the territory of Texas, passing
to the other side of the Rio Grande ; and in an-
other article it is stipulated that, to prevent col-
lisions between the armies, the Texas army
should not approach nearer than within five
leagues — of what is not said, but clearly, from
the object stated, it is of the Rio Grande. Now,
if this is a treaty recognizing the Rio Grande as
the boundary of Texas, it contains the singular
features of stipulating that Texas shall not go
within five leagues of her own boundary.
Next comes the evidence of Texas before an-
nexation, and the United States afterward, exer-
cising jurisdiction beyond the Nueces and be-
tween the two rivers. This actual exercise of
jurisdiction is the very class or quality of evi-
dence we want. It is excellent so far as it goes ;
but does it go far enough ? He tells us it went
beyond the Nueces, but he does not tell us it went
to the Rio Grande. He tells us jurisdiction was
exercised between the two rivers, but he does not
tell us it was exercised over all the territory be-
tween them. Some simple-minded people think
it is possible to cross one river and go beyond it
without going all the way to the next, that juris-
diction may be exercised between two rivers with-
:i26 EARLY SPEECHES [Jan. 12
.<Dut covering all the country between them. I
know a man, not very unlike myself, who exer-
cises jurisdiction over a piece of land between
the Wabash and the ]Mississippi; and yet so far
is this from being all there is between those rivers
that it is just one hundred and fifty-two feet long
by fifty feet wide, and no part of it much within
a hundred miles of either. He has a neighbor be-
tween him and the Mississippi — that is, just
across the street, in that direction — whom I am
sure he could neither persuade nor force to give
up his habitation ; but which nevertheless he
could certainly annex, if it were to be done by
merely standing on his own side of the street and
claiming it, or even sitting down and writing a
deed for it.
But next the President tells us the Congress
of the United States understood the State of
Texas they admitted into the Union to extend
beyond the Nueces. Well, I suppose they did. I
certainly so understood it. But how far beyond?
That Congress did not understand it to extend
clear to the Rio Grande is quite certain, by the
fact of their joint resolutions for admission ex-
pressly leaving all questions of boundary to fu-
ture adjustment. And it may be added that
Texas herself is proved to have had the same un-
derstanding of it that our Congress had, by the
fact of the exact conformity of her new constitu-
tion to those resolutions.
I am now through the whole of the President's
evidence ; and it is a singular fact that if any one
should declare the President sent the army into
the midst of a settlement of Mexican people who
had never submitted, by consent or by force, to
the authority of Texas or of the United States,
1848] MEXICAN WAR 127
and that there and thereby the first blood of the
war was shed, there is not one word in all the
President has said which would either admit or
deny the declaration. This strangle omission it
â– does seem to me could not have occurred but by
design. My way of living leads me to be about
the courts of justice; and there I have some-
times seen a good lawyer, struggling for his
client's neck in a desperate case, employing every
artifice to work round, befog, and cover up with
many words some point arising in the case which
he dared not admit and yet could not deny. Party
bias may help to make it appear so, but with all
the allowance I can make for such bias, it still
does appear to me that just such, and from just
such necessity, is the President's struggle in this
case.
Some time after my colleague [Mr. Richard-
son] introduced the resolutions I have mentioned,
I introduced a preamble, resolution, and interro-
gations, intended to draw the President out, if
possible, on this hitherto untrodden ground. Tq
show their relevancy, I propose to state my un-
derstanding of the true rule for ascertaining the
boundary between Texas and Mexico. It is that
wherever Texas was exercising jurisdiction was
hers ; and wherever Mexico was exercising juris-
diction was hers ; and that whatever separated
the actual exercise of jurisdiction of the one
from that of the other was the true boundary be-
tween them. If, as is probably true, Texas was
exercising jurisdiction along the western bank
of the Nueces, and Mexico was exercising it
along the eastern bank of the Rio Grande, then
neither river was the boundary ; but the unin-
habited country between the two was. The ex-
I £8 EARLY SPEECHES [Jan. 12
tent of our territory in that region depended not
on any treaty-fixed boundary (for no treaty had
attempted it), but on revohition. Any people
anywhere being inclined and having the power
have the right to rise up and shake off the exist-
ing government, and form a new one that suits
them better. This is a most valuable, a most sa-
cred right — a right which we hope and believe is
to liberate the world. Nor is this right confined
to cases in which the whole people of an existing
government may choose to exercise it. Any por-
tion of such people that can may revolutionize
and make their own of so much of the territory as
they inhabit. More than this, a majority of any
portion of such people may revolutionize, putting
down a minority, intermingled with or near about
them, who may oppose this movement. Such
minority was precisely the case of the Tories of
our own revolution. It is a quality of revolutions
not to go by old lines or old laws ; but to break up
both, and make new ones.
As to the country now in question, we bought
it of France in 1803, and sold it to Spain in 1819,
according to the President's statements. After
this, all Mexico, including Texas, revolutionized
against Spain ; and still later Texas revolution-
ized against ^Mexico. In my view, just so far as she
carried her revolution by obtaining the actual,
willing or unwilling, submission of the people, so
far the country was hers, and no farther. Now,
sir, for the purpose of obtaining the very best evi-
dence as to whether Texas had actually carried
her revolution to the place where the hostilities
of the present war commenced, let the President
answer the interrogatories I proposed, as before
mentioned, or some other similar ones. Let him
1S4S] MEXICAN WAR
129
answer fully, fairly, and candidly. Let him an-
swer with facts and not with arguments. Let him
remember he sits where Washington sat, and so
remembering, let him answer as Washington
would answer. As a nation should not, and the
Almighty will not, be evaded, so let him attempt
no evasion — no equivocation. And, if, so an-
swering, he can show that the soil was ours
where the first blood of the war was shed, — that
it was not within an inhabited country, or, if
within such, that the inhabitants had submitted
themselves to the civil authority of Texas or of
the United States, and that the same is true of
the site of Fort Brown, — then I am with him for
his justification. In that case I shall be most
happy to reverse the vote I gave the other day.
I have a selfish motive for desiring that the
President may do this — I expect to gain some
votes, in connection with the vvar, which, with-
out his so doing, will be of doubtful propriety in
my own judgment, but which will be free from
the doubt if he does so. But if he can not or will
not do this, — if on any pretense or no pretense
he shall refuse or omit it — then I shall be fully
convinced of what I more than suspect already —
that he is deeply conscious of being in the wrong ;
that he feels the blood of this war, like the blood
of Abel, is crying to Heaven against him ; that
originally having some strong motive — what, I
will not stop now to give my opinion concerning
— to involve the tv;o countries in a war, and
trusting to escape scrutiny by fixing the public
gaze upon the exceeding brightness of military
glory, — that attractive rainbow that rises in
showers of blood — that serpent's eye that charms
to destroy, — he plunged into it, and has swept on
I30 EARLY SPEECHES [Jan. 12
and on till, disappointed in his calculation of the
ease with which IMexico might be subdued, he
now finds himself he knows not where. How
like the half-insane mumbling of a fever dream is
the whole war part of his late message ! At one
time telling us that ^Mexico has nothing what-
ever that we can get but territory ; at another
showing us how we can support the war by levy-
ing contributions on ^Mexico. At one time urging
the national honor, the security of the future, the
prevention of foreign interference, and even the
good of ]\Iexico herself as among the objects of
the war; at another telling us that "to reject in-
demnity, by refusing to accept a cession of terri-
tory, would be to abandon all our just demands,
and to wage the war bearing all its expenses,
without a purpose or definite object." So then
this national honor, security of the future, and
everything but territorial indemnity may be con-
sidered the no-purposes and indefinite objects of
the war ! But, having it now settled that terri-
torial indemnity is the only object, we are urged
to seize, by legislation here, all that he was con-
tent to take a few months ago. and the whole
province of Lower California to boot, and to still
carry on the war — to take all we are fighting for,
and still fight on. Again, the President is re-
solved under all circumstances to have full terri-
torial indemnity for the expenses of the war ; but
he forgets to tell us how we are to get the excess
after those expenses shall have surpassed the
value of the whole of the ^Mexican territory. So
again, he insists that the separate national exist-
ence of }kIexico shall be maintained ; but he does
not tell us how this can be done, after we shall
have taken all her territory. Lest the questions I
1848] MEXICAN WAR 131
have suggested be considered speculative merely,
let me be indulged a moment in trying to show
they are not. The war has gone on some twenty
months ; for the expenses of which, together with
an inconsiderable old score, the President now
claims about one half of the Mexican territory,
and that by far the better half, so far as concerns
our ability to make anything out of it. It is com-
paratively uninhabited ; so that we could establish
land offices in it, and raise som.e money in that
way. But the other half is already inhabited, as
I understand it, tolerably densely for the nature
of the country, and all its lands, or all that are
valuable, already appropriated as private prop-
erty. How then are we to make anything out of
these lands with this encumbrance on them? or
how remove the encumbrance? I suppose no one
would say we should kill the people, or drive
them out, or make slaves of them; or confiscate
their property. How, then, can we make much
out of this part of the territory? If the prose-
cution of the war has in expenses already equaled
the better half of the country, how long its future
prosecution will be in equaling the less valuable
half is not a speculative, but a practical, question,
pressing closely upon us. And yet it is a question
which the President seems never to have thought
of. As to the mode of terminating the war and
securing peace, the President is equally wander-
ing and indefinite. First, it is to be done by a
more vigorous prosecution of the war in the vital
parts of the enemy's country; and after appar-
ently talking himself tired on this point, the
President drops down into a half-despairing tone,
and tells us that "with a people distracted and
divided by contending factions, and a govern-
132 EARLY SPEECHES [^>Iar. 29
ment subject to constant changes by successive
revolutions, the continued success of our arms
may fail to secure a satisfactory peace." Then
he suggests the propriety of wheedling the
Mexican people to desert the counsels of their
own leaders, and, trusting in our protestations,
to set up a government from which we can secure
a satisfactory peace; telling us that "this may be-
come the only mode of obtaining such a peace."
But soon he falls into doubt of this too ; and then
drops back onto the already half-abandoned
ground of "more vigorous prosecution." All this
shows that the President is in nowise satisfied
with his own positions. First he takes up one,
and in attempting to argue us into it he argues
himself out of it, then seizes another and goes
through the same process, and then, confused at
being able to think of nothing new, he snatches
up the old one again, which he has some tim.e
before cas-t off. His mind, taxed beyond its
power, is running hither and thither, like some
tortured creature on a burning surface, finding
no position on which it can settle down to be at
ease.
Again, it is a singular omission in this message
that it nowhere intimates when the President ex-
pects the war to terminate. At its beginning,
General Scott was by this same President driven
into disfavor, if not disgrace, for intimating that
peace could not be conquered in less than three or
four months. But now, at the end of about
twenty months, during which time our arms have
given us the most splendid successes, every de-
partment and every part, land and water, officers
and privates, regulars and volunteers, doing all
that men could do, and hundreds of things which
i848] BOUNTY LANDS 133
it had ever before been thought men could not
do — after all this, this same President gives a long
message, without showing us that as to the end
he himself has even an imaginary conception. As
I have before said, he knows not where he is. He
is a bewildered, confounded, and miserably per-
plexed man. God grant he may be able to show
there is not something about his conscience more
painful than all his mental perplexity.
Remarks on Bounty Lands for Soldiers.
Made in the United States House of Repre-
sentatives. March 29, 1848.
Upon report of a bill from the Committee on
Judiciary for raising additional military force for
a limited time, etc. (similar bills having been
previously reported from other committees), Mr.
Lincoln made a few remarks. The bill amended
existing legislation so as to grant bounty lands
to such persons as had served for a time as pri-
vates, but had never been discharged as such, be-
cause promoted to office. This amendment he
endorsed, and to it he desired to add two further
amendments. The first of these was, that bounty
lands should be given to the surviving volunteers
of the War of 1812. His friend from Tvlaryland
said there were no such men. He [Mr. L.] did
not say there were many, but he was very confi-
dent there were some. His friend from Ken-
tucky near him [Mr. Gaines] told him he him-
self w^as one. The second additional amendment
was, that persons entitled to bounty land should
by law be entitled to locate these lands in parcels,
134 EARLY SPEECHES [May ii
and not be required to locate them in one -body,
as was provided by the existing law
Now he had carefully drawn up a bill embrac-
ing these three separate propositions, which he
intended to propose as a substitute for all these
bills in the House, or in Committee of the Whole
on the State of the Union, at some suitable time.
If there was a disposition on the part of the
House to act at once on the first amendment sep-
arately, concurring with the gentleman from Ar-
kansas [Mr. JoJinso}i] he should prefer such ac-
tion lest all the amendments should be lost. But
if there was to be a reference he desired to intro-
duce his bill embracing the three propositions,
thus enabling the Committee and the House to
act at the same time, whether favorably or un-
favorably, upon all. He inquired whether an
amendment was now in order.
The Speaker replied in the negative. -
Remarks on Land Grants to States to Aid
Internal Improvements.
In the United States House of Representa-
tives. ]\Iay II, 1848.
A bill for the admission of Wisconsin into the
Union had been passed.
]\Ir. Lincoln moved to reconsider the vote by
W'hich the bill was passed. He stated to the
House that he had made this motion for the pur-
pose of obtaining an opportunity to say a few
words in relation to a point raised in the course
of the debate on this bill, which he would now
proceed to make if in order. The point in the
1S4S] LAND GRANTS TO STATES 135
case to which he referred arose on the amend-
ment that was submitted by the gentleman from
Vermont [Mr. Collamer] in Committee of the
Whole on the State of the Union, and which was
afterward renewed in the House, in relation to the
question whether the reserved sections, which,
by some bills heretofore passed, by which an
appropriation of land had been made to Wiscon-
sin, had been enhanced in value, should be re-
duced to the minimum price of the public lands.
The question of the reduction in value of those
sections w^as to him at this time a matter very
nearly of indifference. He was inclined to desire
that Wisconsin should be obliged by having it re-
duced. But the gentleman from Indiana [ikfr.
C. B. Smith], the chairman of the Committee on
Territories, yesterday associated that question
with the general question, which is now to some
extent agitated in Congress, of making appro-
priations of alternate sections of land to aid the
States in making internal improvements, and en-
hancing the price of the sections reserved ; and
the gentleman from Indiana took ground against
that policy. He did not make any special argu-
ment in favor of Wisconsin, but he took ground
generally against the policy of giving .alternate
sections of land, and enhancing the price of the
reserved sections. Now he [Mr. Lincoln] did
not at this time take the floor for the purpose of
attempting to make an argument on the general
subject. He rose simply to protest against the
doctrine which the gentleman from Indiana had
avowed in the course of what he [Mr. Lincoln]
could not but consider an unsound argument.
It might, however, be true, for anything he
knew, that the gentleman from Indiana might
IS6 EARLY SPEECHES [May ii
convince him that his argument was sound; but
he [Mr. Lincoln] feared that gentleman would
not be able to convince a majority in Congress
that it was sound. It was true the question ap-
peared in a different aspect to persons in conse-
quence of a dift'erence in the point from which
they looked at it. It did not look to persons re-
siding east of the mountains as it did to those
wdio lived among the public lands. But, for his
part, he would state that if Congress would make
a donation of alternate sections of public land for
the purpose of internal improvements in his
State, and forbid the reserved sections being sold
at $1.25, he should be glad to see the appropria-
tion made ; though he should prefer it if the re-
served sections were not enhanced in price. He
repeated, he should be glad to have such appro-
priations made, even though the reserved sec-
tions should be enhanced in price. He did not
wish to be understood as concurring in any inti-
mation that they would refuse to receive such an
appropriation of alternate sections of land be-
cause a condition enhancing the price of the re-
served sections should be attached thereto. He
believed his position would now be understood ;
if not, he feared he should not be able to make
himself understood.
But, before he took his seat he would remark
that the Senate during the present session had
passed a bill making appropriations of land on
that principle for the benefit of the State in which
he resided — the State of Illinois. The alternate
sections were to be given for the purpose of con-
structing roads, and the reserved sections were
to be enhanced in value in consequence. When
that bill came here for the action of this House —
1848] LAND GRANTS TO STATES 137
it had been received, and was now before the
Committee on Pubhc Lands — he desired much to
see it passed as it was, if it could be put in no more
favorable form for the State of Illinois. When
it should be before this House, if any member
from a section of the Union in which these lands
did not lie, whose interest might be less than that
which he felt, should propose a reduction of the
price of the reserved sections to $1.35, he should
be much obliged; but he did not think it would
be well for those who came from the section of
the Union in which the lands lay to do so. He
wished it, then, to be understood that he did not
join in the warfare against the principle which
had engaged the minds of some members of Con-
gress who were favorable to the improvements
in the western country.
There was a good deal of force, he admitted, in
what fell from the chairman of the Committee on
Territories. It might be that there was no pre-
cise justice in raising the price of the reserved
sections to $2.50 per acre. It might be proper
that the price should be enhanced to some extent,
though not to double the usual price ; but he
should be glad to have such an appropriation
with the reserved sections at $2.50; he should be
better pleased to have the price of those sections
at something less ; and he should be still better
pleased to have them without any enhancement
at all.
There was one portion of the argument of the
gentleman from Indiana, the chairman of the
Committee on Territories [Mr. Smith], which he
wished to take occasion to say that he did not
view as unsound. He alluded to the statement
that the General Government was interested in
138 EARLY SPEECHES [June 20
these internal improvements being made, inas-
much as they increased the value of the lands that
were unsold, and they enabled the government to
sell the lands which could not be sold without
them. Thus, then, the government gained by in-
ternal improvements as well as by the general
good which the people derived from them, and
it might be, therefore, that the lands should not
be sold for more than $1.50 instead of the price
being doubled. He, however, merely mentioned
this in passing, for he only rose to state, as the
principle of giving these lands for the purposes
which he had mentioned had been laid hold of
and considered favorably, and as there were some
gentlemen who had constitutional scruples about
giving money for these purchases who would not
hesitate to give land, that he was not willing to
have it understood that he' was one of those who
made war against that principle. This was all he
desired to say, and having accomplished the ob-
ject with which he rose, he withdrew his motion
to reconsider.
In Favor of Internal Improvements.
Speech in the United States House of Rep- ,
resentatives. june 20, 1848.
In Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union,
on the Civil and Diplomatic Appropriation Bill :
Mr. Chairman: I wish at all times in no way
to practise any fraud upon the House or the com-
mittee, and I also desire to do nothing which inay
be very disagreeable to any of the members. I
therefore state in advance that my object in tak-
ing the floor is to make a speech on the general
1848] INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 139
subject of internal improvements ; and if I am
out of order in doing so, I give the chair an op-
portunity of so deciding, and I will take my seat.
The Chair: I will not undertake to anticipate what
the gentleman may say on the subject of internal im-
provements. He will, therefore, proceed in his remarks,
and if any question of order shall be made, the chair
will then decide it.
Mr. Lincoln : At an early day of this session
the President sent us what may properly be
called an internal improvement veto message.
The late Democratic convention, which sat at
Baltimore, and which nominated General Cass
for the presidency, adopted a set of resolutions,
now called the Democratic platform, among
which is one in these words :
That the Constitution does not confer upon the Gen-
eral Government the power to commence and carry on
a general system of internal improvements.
General Cass, in his letter accepting the nomi-
nation, holds this language :
I have carefully read the resolutions of the Demo-
cratic National Convention, laying down the platform
of our political faith, and I adhere to them as firmly
as I approve them cordially.
These things, taken together, show that the
question of internal improvements is now more
distinctly made — has become more intense — than
at any former period. The veto message and the
Baltimore resolution I understand to be, in sub-
stance, the same thing ; the latter being the more
general statement, of which the former is the am-
plification — the bill of particulars. While I know
there are many Democrats, on this floor and else-
where, who disapprove that message, I under-
I40 EARLY SPEECHES [June 20
stand that all who shall vote for General Cass
will thereafter be counted as having approved it,
— as having indorsed all its doctrines. I suppose
all, or nearly all, the Democrats will vote for him.
Many of them will do so not because they like his
position on this question, but because they prefer
him, being wrong on this, to another whom they
consider farther wrong on other questions. In
this way the internal improvement Democrats are
to be, by a sort of forced consent, carried over
and arrayed against themselves on this measure
of policy. General Cass, once elected, will not
trouble him.self to make a constitutional argu-
ment, or perhaps any argument at all, when he
shall veto a river or harbor bill ; he will consider
it a sufficient answer to all Democratic murmurs
to point to Mr. Polk's message, and to the
"Democratic Platform." This being the case, the
question of improvements is verging to a final
crisis ; and the friends of this policy must now
battle, and battle manfully, or surrender all. In
this view, humble as I am, I wish to review, and
contest as well as I may, the general positions of
this veto message. When I say general positions,
I mean to exclude from consideration so much as
relates to the present embarrassed state of the
treasury in consequence of the Mexican War.
Those general positions are that internal im-
provements ought not to be made by the General
Government — First. Because they would over-
whelm the treasury. Second. Because, while
their burdens would be general, their benefits
would be local and partial, involving an obnox-
ious inequality ; and — Third. Because they would
be unconstitutional. Fourth. Because the States
may do enough by the levy and collection of ton-
1848] INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 141
nage duties ; or if not — Fifth. That the Consti-
tution may be amended. "Do nothing at all, lest
you do something wrong," is the sum of these
positions — is the sum of this message. And this,
with the exception of what is said about consti-
tutionality, applying as forcibly to what is said
about making improvements by State authority
as by the national authority; so that we must
abandon the improvements of the country alto-
gether, by any and every authority, or we must
resist and repudiate the doctrines of this mes-
sage. Let us attempt the latter.
The first position is, that a system of internal
improvements would overwhelm the treasury.
That in such a system there is a tendency to un-
due expansion, is not to be denied. Such tend-
ency is founded in the nature of the subject. A
member of Congress will prefer voting for a bill
which contains an appropriation for his district,
to voting for one which does not ; and when a bill
shall be expanded till every district shall be pro-
vided for, that it will be too greatly expanded is
obvious. But is this any more true in Congress
than in a State legislature? If a member of Con-
gress must have an appropriation for his district,
so a member of a legislature must have one for
his county. And if one will overwhelm the na-
tional treasury, so the other will overwhelm the
State treasury. Go where we will, the difficulty
is the same. Allow it to drive us from the halls
of Congress, and it will, just as easily, drive us
from the State legislatures. Let us, then, grap-
ple with it, and test its strength. Let us, judging
of the future by the past, ascertain whether there
may not be, in the discretion of Congress, a suffi-
cient power to limit and restrain this expansive
142 EARLY SPEECHES [June ro
tendency within reasonable and proper bounds.
The President himself values the evidence of the
past. He tells us that at a certain point of our
history more than two hundred millions of dol-
lars had been applied for to make improvements ;
and this he does to prove that the treasury would
be overwhelmed by such a system. Why did he
not tell us how much w^as granted? Would not
that have been better evidence? Let us turn to it,
and see what it proves. In the message the Presi-
dent tells us that "during the four succeeding
years embraced by the administration of Presi-
dent Adams, the power not only to appropriate
money, but to apply it, under the direction and
authority of the General Government, as well to
the construction of roads as to the improvement
of harbors and rivers, was fully asserted and ex-
ercised."
This, then, was the period of greatest enor-
mity. These, if any, must have been the days of
the two hundred millions. And how much do
you suppose was really expended for improve-
ments during that four years ? Two hundred
millions? One hundred? Fifty? Ten? Five?
No, sir; less than two millions. As shown by
authentic documents, the expenditures on im-
provements during 1825, 1826, 1827, and 1828
amounted to one million eight hundred and sev-
enty-nine thousand six hundred and twenty-seven
dollars one cent. These four years were the
period of Mr. Adams's administration, nearly
and substantially. This fact shov/s that when the
power to make improvements "was fully asserted
and exercised," the Congress did keep within rea-
sonable limits ; and what has been done, it seems
to me, can be done again.
1S48] IXTERXAL IMPROl'EMENTS 143
Now for the second portion of the message —
namely, that the burdens of improvements would
be general, while their benefits would be local
and partial, involving an obnoxious inequality.
That there is some degree of truth in this posi-
tion, I shall not deny. No commercial object of
government patronage can be so exclusiveh^ gen-
eral as to not be of some peculiar local advan-
tage. The navy, as I understand it, was estab-
lished, and is maintained at a great annual ex-
pense, partly to be ready for war when war shall
come, and partly also, and perhaps chiefly for the
protection of our commerce on the high seas.
This latter object is, for all I can see, in principle
the same as internal improvements. The driving
a pirate from the track of commerce on the broad
ocean, and the removing a snag from its more
narrow path in the Mississippi River, cannot, I
think, be distinguished in principle. Each is done
to save life and property, and for nothing else.
The navy, then, is the most general in its bene-
fits of all this class of objects ; and yet even the
navy is of some ])eculiar advantage to Charles-
ton, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and
Boston, beyond what it is to the interior towns of
Illinois. The next most general object I can
think of would be improvements on the Mississ-
ippi River and its tributaries. They touch thir-
teen of our States — Pennsylvania, Virginia. Ken-
tucky, Tennessee. Mississippi, Louisiana. Arkan-
sas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin,
and Iowa. Now I suppose it will not be denied
that these thirteen States are a little more inter-
ested in improvements on that great river than
are the remaining seventeen. These instances of
the navy and the Mississippi River show clearly
144 EARLY SPEECHES [June 20
that there is something of local advantage in the
most general objects. But the converse is also
true. Nothing is so local as to not be of some
general benefit. Take, for instance, the Illinois
and Michigan Canal. Considered apart from its
effects, it is perfectly local. Every inch of it is
within the State of Illinois. That canal was first
opened for business last April. In a very few
days we were all gratified to learn, among other
things, that sugar had been carried from New
Orleans through this canal to Buffalo in New
York. This sugar took this route, doubtless, be-
cause it was cheaper than the old route. Suppos-
ing benefit of the reduction in the cost of carriage
to be shared between seller and buyer, the result
is that the New Orleans merchant sold his sugar
a little dearer, and the people of Buffalo sweet-
ened their coffee a little cheaper, than before, —
a benefit resulting from the canal, not to Illinois,
where the canal is, but to Louisiana and New
York, where it is not. In other transactions Illi-
nois will, of course, have her share, and perhaps
the larger share too, of the benefits of the canal ;
but this instance of the sugar clearly shows that
the benefits of an improvement are by no means
confined to the particular locality of the improve-
ment itself.
The just conclusion from all this is that if the
nation refuse to make improvements of the more
general kind because their benefits may be some-
what local, a State may for the same reason re-
fuse to make an improvement of a local kind be-
cause its benefits may be somewhat general. A
State may well say to the nation, "If you will do
nothing for me, I will do nothing for you." Thus
it is seen that if this argument of "inequality" is
1S48] INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 145
sufficient anywhere, it is sufficient everywhere,
and puts an end to improvements altogether. I
hope and beheve that if both the nation and the
States would, in good faith, in their respective
spheres do what they could in the way of nn-
provements, what of inequality might be pro-
duced in one place might be compensated in an-
other, and the sum of the whole might not be very
unequal.
But suppose, after all, there should be some
degree of inequality. Inequality is certainly never
to be embraced for its own sake; but is every
good thing to be discarded which may be insepa-
rably connected with some degree of it? If so,
we must discard all government. This capitoI is
built at the public expense, for the public benefit ;
but does any one doubt that it is of some peculiar
local advantage to the property-holders and busi-
ness people of Washington? Shall we remove it
for this reason? And if so, where shall we set it
down, and be free from the difficulty? To make
sure of our object, shall we locate it nowhere,
and have Congress hereafter to hold its sessions,
as the loafer lodged, "in spots about"? I make
no allusion to the present President when I say
there are few stronger cases in this w^orld of
"burden to the many and benefit to the few," of
"inequality," than the presidency itself is by some
thought to be. An honest laborer digs coal at
about seventy cents a day, while the President
digs abstractions at about seventy dollars a day.
The coal is clearly worth more than the abstrac-
tions, and yet what a monstrous inequality in the
, prices ! Does the President, for this reason, pro-
pose to abolish the presidency? He does not, and
he ought not. The true rule in determining to
146 EARLY SPEECHES [June 20
embrace or reject anything, is not whether it have
any evil in it, but whether it have more of evil
than of good. There are few things wholly evil
or wholly good. Almost everything, especially
of government pohcy, is an inseparable com-
pound of the two; so that our best judgment of
the preponderance between them is continually
demanded. On this principle the President, his
friends, and the world generally act on most sub-
jects. \\'hy not apply it, then, upon this ques-
tion? Why, as to improvements, magnify the
evil, and stoutlv refuse to see anv good in
them ?
^Ir. Chairman, on the third position of the
message — the constitutional question — I have not
much to say. Being the man I am. and speaking
where I do, I feel that in any attempt at an orig-
inal constitutional argument, I should not be, and
ought not to be, listened to patiently. The ablest
and the best of m.en have gone over the -whole
ground long ago. I shall attempt but little more
than a brief notice of what some of them have
said. In relation to ]Mr. Jefferson's views, I read
from ]\Ir. Polk's veto message :
President Jefferson, in his message to Congress in
1806. recommended an amendment of the Constitution,
vith a view to apply an anticipated surplus in the
Treasury "to the great purposes of the public educa-
tion, roads, rivers, canals, and such other objects of
public improvements as it may be thought proper to
add to the constitutional enumeration of the federal
powers" ; and he adds : "I suppose an amendment to
the Constitution, by consent of the States, necessarj-,
because the objects now recommended are not among
those enumerated in the Constitution, and to which it
permits the public moneys to be applied." In 1825, he
repeated in his published letters the opinion that no
such power has been conferred upon Congress.
1S48] INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 147
I introduce this not to controvert just now the
constitutional opinion, but to show that, on the
question of expediency, Air. Jefferson's opinion
was against the present President — that this
opinion of Islr. Jeft'erson, in one branch at least,
is in the hands of ]\Ir. Polk like McFingal's gun
— "bears wide and kicks the owner over."
But to the constitutional question. In 1826
Chancellor Kent first published his "Commen-
taries" on American law. He devoted a portion
of one of the lectures to the question of the
authority of Congress to appropriate public
mone3-s for internal improvements. He men-
tions that the subject had never been brought un-
der judicial consideration, and proceeds to give
a brief summary of the discussion it had under-
gone between the legislative and executive
branches of the government. He shows that the
legislative branch had usually been for, and the
executive against, the power, till the period of
Mr. J. Q. Adams's administration, at which point
he considers the executive influence as with-
drawn from opposition, and added to the support
of the power. In 1844 the chancellor published
a new edition of his "Commentaries,'' in which
he adds some notes of what had transpired on
the question since 1826. I have not time to read
the original text on the notes ; but the whole may
be found on page 267, and the two or three fol-
lowing pages, of the first volume of the edition of
1844. As to what Chancellor Kent seems to con-
sider the sum of the whole, I read from one of
the notes :
Mr. Justice Story, in his commentaries on the Con-
stitution of the United States. Vol. II.. pp. 429-440, and
again pp. 519-538, has stated at large the arguments for
148 EARLY SPEECHES [June ro
and against the proposition that Congress have a
constitutional authority to lay taxes, and to apply the
power to regulate commerce as a means directly to
encourage and protect domestic manufactures ; and
without giving any opinion of his own on the contested
doctrine, he has left the reader to draw his own con-
clusions. I should think, however, from the arguments
as stated, that every mind which has taken no part in
the discussion, and felt no prejudice or territorial bias
on either side of the question, would deem the argu-
ments in favor of the Congressional power vastly su-
perior.
It will be seen that in this extract the power to
make improvements is not directly mentioned ;
but by examining the context, both of Kent and
Story, it will be seen that the power mentioned
in the extract, and the power to make improve-
ments, are regarded as identical. It is not to be
denied that many great and good men have been
against the power ; but it is insisted that quite as
many, as great and as good, have been for it ;
and it is shown that, on a full survey of the
\vhole, Chancellor Kent was of opinion that the
arguments of the latter were vastly superior.
This is but the opinion of a man ; but wlio was
that man? He was one of the ablest and most
learned lawyers of his age, or of any age. It is
no disparagement to Mr. Polk, nor indeed to
any one who devotes much time to politics, to
be placed far beyond Chancellor Kent as a law-
yer. His attitude was most favorable to correct
conclusions. He wrote coolly, and in retirement.
He was struggling to rear a durable monument
of fame; and he well knew that truth and thor-
oughly sound reasoning were the only sure
foundations. Can the party opinion of a party
President on a law question, as this purely is, be
iS48] INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 149
at all compared or set in opposition to that of
sncli a man, in such an attitude, as Chancellor
Kent? This constitutional question will probably
never be better settled than it is, until it shall pass
under judicial consideration ; but I do think no
man who is clear on the questions of expediency
need feel his conscience much pricked upon this.
Mr. Chairman, the President seems to think
that enough may be done, in the way of improve-
ments, by means of tonnage duties under State
authority, with the consent of the General Gov-
ernment. Now I suppose this matter of tonnage
duties is well enough in its own sphere. I sup-
pose it may be efficient, and perhaps sufficient, to
make slight improvements and repairs in harbors
already in use and not much out of repair. But
if I have any correct general idea of it, it must be
wholly inefficient for any general beneficent pur-
poses of improvement. I know very little, or
rather nothing at all, of the practical matter of
levying and collecting tonnage duties ; but I sup-
pose one of its principles must be to lay a duty
for the improvement of any particular harbor
upon the tonnage coming into that harbor ; to do
otherwise — to collect money in one harbor, to be
expended on improvements in another — would
be an extremely aggravated form of that inequal-
ity which the President so much deprecates. If
I be right in this, how could we make any en-
tirely new improvement by means of tonnage
duties? How make a road, a canal, or clear a
greatly obstructed river ? The idea that we could
involves the same absurdity as the Irish bull
about the new boots. "I shall niver git 'em on,"
says Patrick, "till I wear 'em a day or two, and
stretch 'em a little." We shall never make a
I50 EARLY SPEECHES [June ro
canal by tonnage duties until it shall already have
been made awhile, so the tonnage can get into it.
After all the President concludes that possibly
there may be some great objects of improvement
Vv'hich cannot be effected by tonnage duties, and
which it therefore may be expedient for the Gen-
eral Government to take in hand. Accordingly he
suggests, in case any such be discovered, the pro-
priety of amending the Constitution. Amend it
for what? If, like Mr, Jefferson, the President
thought improvements expedient, but not consti-
tutional, it would be natural enough for him to
recommend such an amendment. But hear what
he says in this very message :
In view of these portentous consequences, I cannot but
think that this course of legislation should be arrested,
even were there nothing to forbid it in the fundamental
laws of our Union.
For what, then, would he have the Constitu-
tion amended? With him it is a proposition to
remove one impediment merely to be met by oth-
ers, vvhich, in his opinion, cannot be removed, —
to enable Congress to do what, in his opinion,
they ought not to do if they could,
[Here Mr. Meade of Virginia inquired if Mr. Lincoln
understood the President to be opposed, on grounds of
expediency, to any and every improvement.]
Mr. Lincoln answered : In the very part of his
message of which I am speaking, I understand
him as giving some vague expression in favor of
some possible objects of improvement ; but in do-
ing so I understand him to be directly on the
teeth of his own arguments in other parts of it.
Neither the President nor any one can possibly
specify an improvement which shall not be
1848] INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 151
clearly liable to one or another of the objections
he has urged on the score of expediency. I have
shown, and might show again, that no work — no
object — can be so general as to dispense its bene-
fits with precise equality; and this inequality is
chief among the "portentous consequences" for
which he declares that improvements should be
arrested. No, sir. When the President inti-
mates that something in the way of improve-
ments may properly be done by the General Gov-
ernment, he is shrinking from the conclusions to
which his own arguments would force him. He
feels that the improvements of this broad and
goodly land are a mighty interest ; and he is un-
willing to confess to the people, or perhaps to
himself, that he has built an argument which,
when pressed to its conclusions, entirely annihi-
lates his interest.
I have already said that no one who is satisfied
of the expediency of making improvements needs
be much uneasy in his conscience about its con-
stitutionality. I wish now to submit a few re-
marks on the general proposition of amending
the Constitution. As a general rule, I think we
would much better let it alone. No slight occa-
sion should tempt us to touch it. Better not take
the first step, which may lead to a habit of alter-
ing it. Better, rather, habituate ourselves to
think of it as unalterable. It can scarcely be
made better than it is. New provisions would in-
troduce new difficulties, and thus create and in-
crease appetite for further change. No, sir ; let
it stand as it is. New hands have never touched
it. The men who made it have done their work,
and have passed away. Who shall improve on
what they did?
152 EARLY SPEECHES [June 20
]\Ir. Chairman, for the purpose of reviev;ing
this message in the least possible time, as well as
for the sake of distinctness, I have analyzed its
arguments as well as I could, and reduced them
to the propositions I have stated. I have now ex-
amined them in detail. I wish to detain the com-
mittee only a little while longer with some gen-
eral remarks upon the subject of improvements.
That the subject is a difiFxult one, cannot be de-
nied. Still it is no more difficult in Congress
than in the State legislatures, in the counties, or
in the smallest municipal districts which any-
where exist. All can recur to instances of this
difficulty in the case of county roads, bridges, and
the like. One man is offended because a road
passes over his land, and another is offended be-
cause it does not pass over his ; one is dissatisfied
because the bridge for which he is taxed crosses
the river on a dift'erent road from that which
leads from his house to town ; another cannot
bear that the county should be got in debt for
these same roads and bridges ; while not a few
struggle hard to have roads located over their
lands, and then stoutly refuse to let them be
opened until they are first paid the damages.
Even betv.'een the diff'erent wards and streets of
towns and cities we find this same wrangling and
difficulty. Now these are no other than the very
difficulties against which, and out of which, the
President constructs his objections of "inequal-
ity," "speculation," and "crushing the treasury."
There is but a single alternative about them ; they
are sufficient, or they are not. If sufficient, they
are sufficient out of Congress as well as in it, and
there is the end. We must reject them as insuffi-
cient, or lie down and do nothing by any author-
1848] INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 153
ity. Then, difficalty though there be, let us
meet and encounter it. "Attempt the end, and
never stand to doubt ; nothing so hard, but search
will find it out." Determine that the thing can
and shall be done, and then we shall find the way.
The tendency to undue expansion is unquestion-
ably the chief difficulty.
How to do something, and still not do too
much, is the desideratum. Let each contribute
his mite in the way of suggestion. The late Silas
Wright, in a letter to the Chicago convention,
contributed his, which was worth something;
and I now contribute mine, which may be worth
nothing. At all events, it will mislead nobody,
and therefore will do no harm. I would not bor-
row money. I am against an overwhelming,
crushing system. Suppose that, at each session.
Congress shall first determine how much money
can. for that year, be spared for improvements ;
then apportion that sum to the most important
objects. So far all is easy; but how shall we de-
termine which are the most important? On this
question comes the collision of interests. I shall
be slow to acknowledge that your harbor or your
river is more important than mine, and vice
versa. To clear this difficulty, let us have that
same statistical information which the gentleman
from Ohio [Mr. Vinton'] suggested at the begin-
ning of this session. In that information we shall
have a stern, unbending basis of facts — a basis
in no wise subject to whim, caprice, or local in-
terest. The pre-limited amount of means will
save us from doing too much, and the statistics
will save us from doing what we do in wrong
places. Adopt and adhere to this course, and, it
seems to me, the difficulty is cleared.
154 EARLY SPEECHES [June 28
One of the gentlemen from South CaroHna
[Mr. Rhett] very much deprecates these statis-
tics. He particularly objects, as I understand
him, to counting all the pigs and chickens in the
land. I do not perceive much force in the objec-
tion. It is true that if everything be enumerated,
a portion of such statistics may not be very use-
ful to this object. Such products of the country
as are to be consumed where they are produced
need no roads or rivers, no means of transporta-
tion, and have no very proper connection with
this subject. The surplus — that which is pro-
duced in one place to be consumed in another;
the capacity of each locality for producing a
greater surplus ; the natural means of transporta-
tion, and their susceptibility of. improvement ;
the hindrances, dela3^s. and losses of life and
property during transportation, and the causes of
each, would be among the most valuable statis-
tics in this connection. From these it would
readily appear where a given amount of expendi-
ture would do the most good. These statistics
might be equally accessible, as they would be
equally useful, to both the nation and the ^States.
In this way, and by these means, let the nation
take hold of the larger works, and the States the
smaller ones ; and thus, working in a meeting di-
rection, discreetly, but steadily and firmly, what
is made unequal in one place may be equalized in
another, extravagance avoided, and the wiiole
country put on that career of prosperity which
shall correspond with its extent of territory, its
natural resources, and the intelligence and enter-
prise of its people.
1848] FEDERAL DISCRIMINATION 155
Remarks on Discrimination Between States in
Federal Judiciary Facilities.
In the United States House of Representa-
tives. June 28, 1848.
Discussion as to salary of judge of western
Virginia. — Wishing to increase it from $1800 to
$2500.
Mr. Lincoln said he felt unwilling to be either
unjust or ungenerous, and he wanted to under-
stand the real case of this judicial officer. The
gentleman from Virginia had stated that he had
to hold eleven courts. Now everybody knew
that it was not the habit of the district judges of
the United States in other States to hold any-
thing like that number of courts ; and he there-
fore took it for granted that this must happen
under a peculiar law which required that large
number of courts to be holden every year ; and
these laws, he further supposed, were passed at
the request of the people of that judicial district.
It came, then, to this : that the people in the west-
ern district of \"irginia had got eleven courts to
be held among them in one year, for their own
accommodation ; and being thus better accommo-
dated than their neighbors elsewhere, they
wanted their judge to be a little better paid. In
Illinois there had been, until the present season,
but one district court held in the year. There
were now to be two. Could it be that the western
district of Virginia furnished more business for
a judge than the whole State of Illinois?
156 EARLY SPEECHES [July 27
"Were I President."
Policies Jotted Down as Appropriate for
General Taylor, Whig Candidate for
President, to Enunciate. About July
I, 1848.
The question of a national bank is at rest.
Were I President, I should not urge its reagita-
tion upon Congress ; but should Congress see fit
to pass an act to establish such an institution, I
should not arrest it by the veto, unless I should
consider it subject to some constitutional objec-
tion from which I believe the two former banks
to have been free.
It appears to me that the national debt created
by the war renders a modification of the existing
tariff indispensable ; and when it shall be modi-
fied I should be pleased to see it adjusted with a
due reference to the protection of our home in-
dustry. The particulars, it appears to me, must
and should be left to the untrammeled discretion
of Congress.
As to the Mexican war, I still think the de-
fensive line policy the best to terminate it. In a
final treaty of peace, we shall probably be under
a sort of necessity of taking some territory; but
it is my desire that we shall not acquire any ex-
tending so far south as to enlarge and aggravate
the distracting question of slavery. Should I
come into the presidency before these questions
shall be settled. I should act in relation to them in
accordance with the views here expressed.
Finally, were I President, I should desire the
legislation of the country to rest with Congress,
uninfluenced by the executive in its origin or
i;i48] MILITARY HEROES 157
progress, and undisturbed by the veto unless in
very special and clear cases.
On Military Heroes.
Speech in Defense of the Whigs and Their
Presidential Candidate, General Taylor,
AND IN Ridicule of the Democrats and
Their Presidential Candidate, General
Cass, Delivered in the United States
House of Representatives. July 27, 1848.
General Taylor and the Veto.
Mr. Speaker, our Democratic friends seem to
be in great distress because they think our candi-
date for the presidency don't suit us. Most of
them cannot find out that General Taylor has any
principles at all ; some, however, have discovered
that he has one, but that one is entirely wrong.
This one principle is his position on the veto
power. The gentleman from Tennessee [Mr.
Stanton] who has just taken his seat, indeed, has
said there is very little, if any, difference on this
question between General Taylor and all the
presidents ; and he seems to think it sufficient de-
traction from General Taylor's position on it that
it has nothing new in it. But all others whom I
have heard speak assail it furiously. A new
member from Kentucky [Mr. Clark], of very
considerable ability, was in particular concerned
about it. He thought it altogether novel and un-
precedented for a president or a presidential can-
didate to think of approving bills whose constitu-
tionality may not be entirely clear to his own
mind. He thinks the ark of our safety is gone
158 EARLY SPEECHES [July 27
unless presidents shall alwa3^s veto such bills as
in their judgment may be of doubtful constitu-
tionality. However clear Congress may be on
their authority to pass any particular act, the
gentleman from Kentucky thinks the President
must veto it if he has doubts about it. Now I
have neither time nor inclination to argue with
the gentleman on the veto power as an original
question ; but I wish to show that General Tay-
lor, and not he, agrees with the earlier statesmen
on this question. When the bill chartering the
first Bank of the United States passed Congress,
its constitutionality was questioned. Mr. ]\Iadi-
son, then in the House of Representatives, as
well as others, had opposed it on that ground.
General Washington, as President, was called on
to approve or reject it. He sought and obtained
on the constitutionality question the separate
written opinions of Jefferson, Hamilton, and Ed-
mund Randolph, they then being respectively
Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury,
and Attorney-General. Hamilton's opinion was
for the power; while Randolph's and Jefferson's
w^ere both against it. ]\Ir. Jefferson, after giving
his opinion deciding only against the constitu-
tionality of the bill, closes his letter with the para-
graph which I now read :
It must be admitted, however, that unless the Presi-
dent's mind, on a view of everything which is urged
for and against this bill, is tolerably clear that it is un-
authorized by the Constitution, — if the pro and con.
hang so even as to balance his judgment, — a just re-
spect for the wisdom of the legislature would naturally
decide the balance in favor of their opinion. It is
chiefly for cases where they are clearly misled by error,
ambition, or interest, that the Constitution has placed
a check in the negative of the President.
February 15, 1791. Thomas Jefferson.
1848] MILITARY HEROES 159
General Taylor's opinion, as expressed in his
Allison letter, is as I now read :
The power given by the veto is a high conservative
power; but, in my opinion, should never be exercised
except in cases of clear violation of the Constitution, or
manifest haste and want of consideration by Congress.
It is here seen, that in Mr. Jefferson's opinion,,
if on the constitutionality of any given bill the
President doubts, he is not to veto it, as the gen-
tleman from Kentucky would have him do, but is
to defer to Congress and approve it. And if we
compare the opinions of Jefferson and Taylor, as
expressed in these paragraphs, we shall find them
more exactly alike than we can often find any
two expressions having any literal difference.
None but interested faultfinders, I think, can dis-
cover any substantial variation.
Taylor on Measures of Policy.
But gentlemen on the other side are unani-
mously agreed that General Taylor has no other
principles. They are in utter darkness as to his
opinions on any of the questions of policy which
occupy the public attention. But is there any
doubt as to what he will do on the prominent
questions if elected? Not the least. It is not
possible to know what he will or would do in
every imaginable case, because many questions
have passed away, and others doubtless will arise
which none of us have yet thought of; but on
the prominent questions of currency, tariff, in-
ternal improvements, and Wilmot proviso. Gen-
eral Taylor's course is at least as well defined as
is General Cass's. Why, in their eagerness to get
l6o EARLY SPEECHES [July 2;
at General Taylor, several Democratic members
here have desired to know whether, in case of his
election, a bankrupt law is to be established. Can
they tell us General Cass's opinion on this ques-
tion? [Sojiic member ausivered, "He is against
if."] Aye, how do you know he is? There is
nothing about it in the platform, nor elsewhere,
that I have seen. If the gentleman knows of any-
thing which I do not, he can show it. But to re-
turn. General Taylor, in his Allison letter, says :
Upon the subject of the tariff, the currency, the im-
provement of our great highways, rivers, lakes, and
harbors, the will of the people, as expressed through
their representatives in Congress, ought to be respected
and carried out by the executive.
Now this is the Avhole matter. In substance,
it is this. The people say to General Taylor, 'Tf
you are elected, shall we have a national bank?"
He answers, "Your will, gentlemen, not mine."
"What about the tariff?" "Say yourselves."
"Shall our rivers and harbors be improved?"
"Just as you please. If you desire a bank, an al-
teration of the tariff, internal improvements, any
or all, I will not hinder you. If you do not desire
them, I will not attempt to force them on you.
Send up your members of Congress from the
various districts, with opinions according to your
own. and if they are for these measures, or any
of them, I shall have nothing to oppose ; if they
are not for them, I shall not, b}^ any appliances
whatever, attempt to dragoon them into their
adoption." Xow can there be any difficulty in
understanding this? To you Democrats it may
not seem like principle ; but surely you cannot
fail to perceive the position plainly enough. The
3848] MILITARY HEROES 161
distinction between it and the position of your
candidate is broad and obvious ; and I admit you
have a clear right to show it is wrong if you can ;
but you have no right to pretend you cannot see
it at all. We see it, and to us it appears like
principle, and the best sort of principle at that —
the principle of allowing the people to do as they
please v.'ith their own business. My friend from
Indiana [C. B. Smith] has aptly asked, "Are you
Avilling to trust the people?" Some of you an-
swered substantially, "We are willing to trust the
people ; but the President is as much the repre-
sentative of the people as Congress." In a cer-
tain sense, and to a certain extent, he is the repre-
sentative of the people. He is elected by them,
as well as Congress is ; but can he in the nature of
things, know the W'ants of the people, as well as
three hundred other men, coming from all the
various localities of the nation? If so, where is
the propriety of having a Congress? That the
Constitution gives the President a negative on
legislation, all know ; but that this negative should
be so combined with platforms and other appli-
ances as to enable him, and in fact almost compel
him, to take the whole of legislation into his own
hands, is what we object to, is what General
Taylor objects to, and is what constitutes the
broad distinction between you and us. To thus
transfer legislation is clearly to take it from
those who understand with minuteness the inter-
ests of the people, and give it to one who does
not and cannot so well understand it. I under-
stand your idea that if a presidential candidate
avow his opinion upon a given question, or rather
upon all questions, and the people, with full
knowledge of this, elect him, they thereby dis-
:62 EARLY SPEECHES [July 27
tinctly approve all those opinions. By means of
it, measures are adopted or rejected contrary to
the wishes of the whole of one party, and often
nearly half of the other. Three, four, or half a
dozen questions are prominent at a given time:
the party selects its candidate, and he takes his
position on each of these questions. On all but
one his positions have already been indorsed at
former elections, and his party fully committed
to them ; but that one is new and a large portion
of them are against it. But what are they to do ?
The whole was strung together; and thev must
take all, or reject all. They cannot take what
they like, and leave the rest. What they are al-
ready committed to being the majority, they shut
their eyes, and gulp the whole. Next election,
still another is introduced in the same way. If
we run our eyes along the line of the past, we
shall see that almost if not quite all the articles
of the present Democratic creed have been at first
forced upon the party in this very way. And just
now, and just so, opposition to internal improve-
ments is to be established if General Cass shall be
elected. Almost half the Democrats here are for
improvements; but they will vote for Cass, and
if he succeeds their vote will have aided in clos-
ing the doors against improvements. Xow this
is a process which we think is v.Tong. We pre-
fer a candidate who, like General Taylor, will
allow the people to have their own way, regard-
less of his private opinions: and I should think
the internal-improvem.ent Democrats, at least,
ought to prefer such a candidate. He would
force nothing on them which they don't want,
and he would allow them to have improvements
which their own candidate, if elected, will not.
1848] MILITARY HEROES 16
a
Mr. Speaker, I have said General Taylor's po-
sition is as well defined as is that of General
Cass. In saying this, I admit I do not certainly
know what he would do on the Wilmot proviso.
I am a Northern man, or rather a Western free-
State man, with a constituency I believe to be,
and with personal feelings I know to be, against
the extension of slavery. As such, and with what
information I have, I hope and believe General
Taylor, if elected, would not veto the proviso.
But I do not know it. Yet if I knew he would,
I still would vote for him. I should do so be-
cause, in my judgment, his election alone can de-
feat General Cass ; and because, should slavery
thereby go to the territory we now have, just so
much will "certainly happen by the election of
Cass, and, in addition a course of policy leading
to new wars, new acquisitions of territory and
still further extensions of slavery. One of the
two is to be President. Which is preferable?
But there is as much doubt of Cass on improve-
ments as there is of Taylor on the proviso. I
have no doubt myself of General Cass on this
question ; but I know the Democrats differ among
themselves as to his position. My internal-im-
provement colleague [Mr. IVentworfh] stated on
this floor the other day that he was satisfied Cass
was for improvements, because he had voted for
all the bills that he [Mr. IVenfzi'orth] had. So far
so good. But Mr. Polk vetoed som.e of these very
bills. The Baltimore convention passed a set of
resolutions, among other things, approving these
vetoes, and General Cass declares, in his letter
accepting the nomination, that he has carefully
read these resolutions, and that he adheres to
them as firmly as he approves them cordially. In
1 64 EARLY SPEECHES [Jul,- 27
other words, General Cass voted for the bills, and
thinks the President did right to veto them; and
his friends here are amiable enough to consider
him as being on one side or the other, just as one
or the other may correspond with their own re-
spective inclinations. ]\Iy colleague admits that
the platform declares against the constitutionality
of a general system of improvements ; and that
General Cass indorses the platform ; but he still
thinks General Cass is in favor of some sort of
improvements. Well, Avhat are they? As he is
against general objects, those he is for must be
particular and local. Now this is taking the sub-
ject precisely by the wrong end. Particularity —
expending the money of the whole people for an
object which will benefit only a portion of them —
is the greatest real objection to improvements,
and has been so held by General Jackson, Mr.
Polk, and all others, I believe, till now. But now,
behold, the objects most general — nearest free
from this objection — are to be rejected, while
those most liable to it are to be embraced. To re-
turn : I cannot help believing that General Cass,
when he wrote his letter of acceptance, vrell un-
derstood he was to be claimed by the advocates of
both sides of this question, and that he then
closed the door against all further expressions of
opinion purposely to retain the benefits of that
double position. His subsequent equivocation at
Cleveland, to my mind, proves such to have been
the case.
One word more, and I shall have done with
this branch of the subject. You Democrats, and
your candidate, in the main are in favor of laying
down in advance a platform — a set of party posi-
tions — as a unit, and then of forcing the people,
1S48] MILITARY HEROES 165
by every sort of appliance, to ratify them, how-
ever unpalatable some of them may be. We and
our candidate are in favor of making presidential
elections, and the legislation of the country dis-
tinct matters ; so that the people can elect whom
they please, and afterward legislate just as they
please, without any hindrance, save only so much
as may guard against infractions of the Consti-
tution, undue haste, and want of consideration.
The difference between us is clear as noonday.
That we are right we cannot doubt. We hold the
true Republican position. In leaving the people's
business in their hands, we cannot be wrong.
W'e are willing, and even anxious, to go to the
people on this issue.
Old Horses and Military Coat-tails.
But I suppose I cannot reasonably hope to
convince you that we have any principles. The
most I can expect is to assure you that we think
we have, and are quite contented with them. The
other day one of the gentlemen from Georgia
[Mr. Iverson], an eloquent man, and a man of
learning, so far as I can judge, not being learned
myself, came down upon us astonishingly. He
spoke in what the Baltimore American calls
the "scathing and withering style." At the end
of his second severe flash I was struck blind, and
found myself feeling with my fingers for an as-
surance of my continued existence. A little of
the bone was left, and I gradually revived. He
eulogized Mr. Clay in high and beautiful terms,
and then declared that we had deserted all our
principles, and had turned Henry Clay out, like
an old horse, to root. This is terribly severe.
J
1 66 EARLY SPEECHES [July 27
It cannot be answered by argument — at least I
cannot so answer it. I merely wish to ask the
gentleman if the Whigs are the only party he
can think of who sometimes turn old horses out
to root. Is not a certain Alartin \^an Buren an
old horse which your own party have turned out
to root ? and is he not rooting a little to 3^our dis-
comfort about now? But in not nominating Mr.
Clay we deserted our principles, you say? Ah!
In what? Tell us, ye men of principle, what
prmciple we violated. We say you did violate
prmciple in discarding Van Buren, and we can
tell you how. You violated the primary, the
cardinal, the one great living principle of all
democratic representative government— the prin-
ciple that the representative is bound to carry
out the known will of his constituents. A large
majority of the Baltimore convention of 1844
were, by their constituents, instructed to procure
yan Buren's nomination if they could. In viola-
tion — in utter glaring contempt — of this, you re-
jected him— rejected him, as the gentleman from
New-York [Mr. Birdsall] the other day ex-
pressly admitted, for availability — that same
"general availability" which you charge upon us,
and daily chew over here, as something exceed-
ingly odious and unprincipled. But the gentle-
man from Georgia [Mr. Iverson] gave us a sec-
ond speech yesterday, all well considered and put
down in writing, in which Van Buren \^•as
scathed and withered a "few" for his present
position and movements. I cannot remember the
gentleman's precise language ; but I do remember
he put Van Buren down, down, till he got him
where he was finally to "stink" and "rot."
Mr. Speaker, it is no business or inclination of
184S] MILITARY HEROES 167
mine to defend Martin V"an Buren in the war of
extermination now waging between him and his
old admirers. I say, "Devil take the hindmost"
— and the foremost. But there is no mistaking
the origin of the breach ; and if the curse of
"stinking" and "rotting" is to fall on the first
and greatest violators of principle in the matter,
I disinterestedly suggest that the gentleman from
Georgia and his present co-workers are bound to
take it upon themselves. But the gentleman
from Georgia further says we have deserted all
our principles, and taken shelter under General
Taylor's military coat-tail, and he seems to think
this is exceedingly degrading. Well, as his faith
is, so be it unto him. But can he remember no
other military coat-tail under which a certain
other party have been sheltering for near a quar-
ter of a century? Has he no acquaintance with
the ample military coat-tail of General Jackson?
Does he not know that his own party have run
the five last presidential races under that coat-
tail? And that they are now running the sixth
under the same cover? Yes, sir, that coat-tail
was used not only for General Jackson himself,
but has been clung to, with the grip of death, by
every Democratic candidate since. You have
never ventured, and dare not now venture, from
under it. Your campaign papers have constantly
been "Old Hickories," with rude likenesses of the
old general upon them ; hickory poles and hickory
brooms your never-ending emblems ; Mr. Polk
himself was "Young Hickory," "Little Hick-
ory," or something so ; and even now your cam-
paign paper here is proclaiming that Cass and
Butler are of the true "Hickory stripe." Now,
sir, you dare not give it up. Like a horde of
1 68 EARLY SPEECHES [July 27
hungry ticks you have stuck to the tail of the
Hermitage Hon to the end of his Hfe ; and you are
still sticking to it, and drawing a loathsome sus-
tenance from it, after he is dead. A fellow once
advertised that he had made a discovery by which
he could make a new man out of an old one, and
have enough of the stuff left to make a little
yellow dog. Just such a discovery has General
Jackson's popularity been to you. You not only
twice made President of him out of it, but you
have had enough of the stuff left to make Presi-
dents of several comparatively small men since ;
and it is your chief reliance now to make still
another.
Mr. Speaker, old horses and military coat-tails^
or tails of any sort, are not figures of speech such
as I would be the first to introduce into discus-
sions here ; but as the gentleman from Georgia
has thought fit to introduce them, he and you are
welcome to all you have made, or can make by
them. If you have any more old horses, trot
them out; any more tails, just cock them and
come at us. I repeat, I would not introduce this
mode of discussion here ; but I wish gentlemen
on the other side to understand that the use of
degrading figures is a game at which they may
not find themselves able to take all the winnings.
["We give it up!"] Aye, you give it up, and
well you may ; but for a very different reason
from that which you would have us understand.
The point — the power to hurt — of all figures con-
sists in the truthfulness of their application ; and,
understanding this, you may well give it up.
They are weapons which hit you, but miss us.
I84S3 MILITARY HEROES 169
Military Tail of the Great Michigander.
But in my hurry I was near closing this sub-
ject of miUtary tails before I was done with it.
Tliere is one entire article of the sort I have not
discussed yet, — I mean the military tail you Dem-
ocrats are now engaged in dovetailing into the
great Michigander. Yes, sir; all his biographies
\a.nd they are legion) have him in hand, tying
hivA to a military tail, like so many mischievous
boys tying a dog to a bladder of beans. True
the matenal they have is very limited, but they
drive at it might and main. He invaded Canada
without resistance, and he oufvaded it without
pursuit. As he did both under orders, I suppose
there was to him neither credit nor discredit in
them ; but they constitute a large part of the tail.
He was not at Hull's surrender, but he was close
by; he was volunteer aid to General Harrison
on the day of the battle of the Thames ; and as
you said in 1840 Harrison was picking huckle-
berries two miles off while the battle was fought,
I suppose it is a just conclusion with you to say
Cass was aiding Harrison to pick huckleberries.
This is about all, except the mooted question of
the broken sword. Some authors say he broke it,
some say he threw it away, and some others, who
ought to know, say nothing about it. Perhaps it
would be a fair historical compromise to say, if
he did not break it, he did not do anything else
with it.
By the way, ]\Ir. Speaker, did you know I am
a military hero? Yes, sir; in the days of the
Black Hawk war I fought, bled, and came away.
Speaking of General Cass's career reminds me of
my own. I was not at Stillman's defeat, but I
I70 EARLY SPEECHES [July 27
was about as near it as Cass was to Hull's sur-
render; and, like him, I saw the place very soon
afterward. It is quite certain I did not break my
sword, for I had none to break ; but I bent a
musket pretty badly on one occasion. If Cass
broke his sword, the idea is he broke it in desper-
ation ; I bent the musket by accident. If General
Cass went in advance of me in picking- huckle-
berries, I guess I surpassed him in charges upon
the wild onions. If he saw any live, fighting In-
dians, it was more than I did ; but I had a good
many bloody struggles with the mosquitoes, and
although I never fainted from the loss of blood,
I can truly say I was often very hungry. j^.Ir.
Speaker, if I should ever conclude to doff what-
ever our Democratic friends may suppose there
is of black-cockade federalism about me. and
therefore they shall take me up as their candidate
for the presidency, I protest they shall not make
fun of me, as they have of General Cass, by at-
tempting to write me into a military hero.
Cass on the Wilmot Proviso.
While I have General Cass in hand. I wish to
say a word about his political principles. As a
specimen, I take the record of his progress in the
\\'ilmot proviso. In the Washington Union
of ]\Iarch 2, 1847, there is a report of a speech
of General Cass, made the day before in the Sen-
ate, on the Wilmot proviso, during the delivery
of v/hich ]\Ir. ]\Iiller of New Jersey is reported
to have interrupted him as follows, to wit :
Mr. ^ililler expressed his great surprise at the change
in the sentiments of the senator from ^lichigan, who
had been regarded as the great champion of freedom
18.48] MILITARY HEROES 171
in the Northwest, of which he was a distinguished or-
nament. Last year the senator from Michigan was
imderstood to be decidedly in favor of the Wihnot pro-
viso; and as no reason had been stated for the change,
he [Mr. Miller] could not refrain from the expression
of his extreme surprise.
To this General Cass is reported to have re-
phed as follows, to wit:
Mr. Cass said that the course of the senator from
New Jersey was most extraordinary. Last year he [Mr.
Cass] should have voted for the proposition, had it
come up. But circumstances had altogether changed.
The honorable senator then read several passages from
the remarks, as given above, which he had committed
to writing, in order to refute such a charge as that of
the senator from New Jersey.
In the "remarks above reduced to writing" is
one numbered four, as follows, to wit :
Fourth. Legislation now would be wholly inoperative,
because no territory hereafter to be acquired can be
governed without an act of Congress providing for its
government ; and such an act, on its passage, would
open the whole subject, and leave the Congress called
on to pass it free to exercise its own discretion, en-
tirely uncontrolled by any declaration found on the
statute-book.
In "Niles's Register," Vol. LXXIII., p. 293,
there is a letter of General Cass to Nichol-
son, of Nashville, Tenn., dated December 24.
1847. from which the following are correct ex-
tracts :
The Wilmot proviso has been before the country
some time. It has been repeatedly discussed in Congress
and by the public press. I am strongly impressed with
the opinion that a great change has been going on in
the public mind upon this subject, — in my own as well
as others', — and that doubts are resolving themselves
172 EARLY SPEECHES [July 27
into convictions that the principle it involves should be
kept out of the national legislature, and left to the
people of the confederacy in their respective local gov-
ernments. . . . Briefly, then, I am opposed to the
exercise of any jurisdiction by Congress over this mat-
ter ; and I am in favor of leaving the people of anj'
territory which maj^ be hereafter acquired the right to
regulate it themselves, under the general principles of
the Constitution. Because —
First. I do not see in the Constitution any grant of
the requisite power to Congress ; and I am not disposed
to extend a doubtful precedent beyond its necessity, —
the establishment of territorial governments when
needed, — leaving to the inhabitants all the right com-
patible with the relations they bear to the confedera-
tion.
These extracts show that in 1846 General Cass
was for the proviso at once ; that in March, 1847,
he was still for it, but not just then; and that in
December, 1847, ^""^ ^^'^-^ against it altogether.
This is a true index to the whole man. When
the question was raised in 1846, he was in a
blustering hurry to take ground for it. He
sought to be in advance, and to avoid the uninter-
esting position of a mere follower ; but soon he
began to see glimpses of the great Democratic
ox-goad waving in his face, and to hear indis-
tinctly a voice saying, "Back ! Back, sir ! Back
a little !" He shakes his head, and bats his eyes,
and blunders back to his position of March, 1847;
but still the goad waves, and the voice grows
more distinct and sharper still, "Back, sir! Back,
I say! Further back !" — and back he goes to the
position of December, 1847, ^^ which the goad is
still, and the voice soothingly says, "So ! Stand
at that !"
, Have no fears, gentlemen, of your candidate.
He exactly suits you, and we congratulate you
1848] MILITARY HEROES 173
upon it. However much you may be distressed
about our candidate, you have all cause to be con-
tented and happy with your own. If elected, he
may not maintain all, or even any of his positions
previously taken ; but he will be sure to do what-
ever the party exigency for the time being may
require : and that is precisely what you want.
He and Van Buren are the same "manner of
men" ; and, like Van Buren, he will never desert
you till you first desert him.
Cass on Working and Eating.
Mr. Speaker, I adopt the suggestion of a
friend, that General Cass is a general of splen-
didly successful charges — charges to be sure, not
upon the public enemy, but upon the public treas-
ury. He was Governor of Michigan Territory,
and ex-officio Superintendent of Indian /Vffairs,
from the 9th of October, 1813, till the 31st of
July, 1 83 1 — a period of seventeen years, nine
months, and twenty-two days. During this
period he received from the United States treas-
ury, for personal services and personal expenses,
the aggregate sum of ninety-six thousand and
twenty-eight dollars, being an average of four-
teen dollars and seventy-nine cents per day for
every day of the time. This large sum was
reached by assuming that he was doing service
at several different places, and in several dififer-
ent capacities in the same place, all at the same
time. By a correct analysis of his accounts dur-
ing that period, the following propositions may
be deduced :
First. He Avas paid in three different capacities
during the whole of the time; that is to say — (i)
174 EARLY SPEECHES [July ^7
As governor's salary at the rate per year of
$2000. (2) As estimated for office rent, clerk
hire, fuel, etc., in superintendence of. Indian
affairs in Michigan, at the rate per year of $1500.
(3) As compensation and expenses for various
miscellaneous items of Indian service out of
Michigan, an average per year of $625.
Second. During part of the time — that is, from
the 9th of October, 181 3, to the 29th of May,
1822 — he was paid in four different capacities ;
that is to say, the three as above, and in addition
thereto, the commutation of ten rations per day,
amounting per year to $730.
Third. During another part of the time — that
is, from the beginning of 1822 to the 31st day of
July, 1 83 1 — he was also paid in four different
capacities ; that is to say, the first three, as above
(the rations being dropped after the 29th of May,
1822), and, in addition thereto, for superintend-
ing Indian Agencies at Piqua, Ohio ; Fort
Wayne, Ind. ; nnd Chicago, 111., at the rate
per year of CiSoo. It should be observed
here that the last item, commencing at the be-
ginning of 1822, and the item of rations, ending
on the 29th of May, 1822, lap on each other dur-
ing so much of the time as lies between those two
dates.
Fourth. Still another part of the time — that is,
from the 31st of October, 1821, to the 29th of
]\Iay, 1822 — he was paid in six different capaci-
ties ; that is to say, the three first, as above ; the
item of rations, as above ; and, in addition there-
to, another item of ten rations per day while at
Washington settling his accounts, being at the
rate per year of $730; and also an allowance for
expenses traveling to and from Washington, and
1848] MILITARY HEROES 175
while there, of $1022, being at the rate per year
of $1793.
Fifth. And yet during the little portion of the
time which lies between the ist of January, 1822,
and the 29th of May, 1822, he was paid in seven
different capacities; that is to say, the six last
mentioned, and also, at the rate of $1500 per
year, for the Piqua, Fort Wayne, and Chicago
service, as mentioned above.
These accounts have already been discussed
some here ; but when we are amongst them, as
when we are in the Patent Office, we must peep
about a good deal before we can see all the curi-
osities. I shall not be tedious with them. As to
the large item of $1500 per year — amounting in
the aggregate to $26,715 — for office rent, clerk
hire, fuel, etc., I barely wish to remark that so
far as I can discover in the public documents,
there is no evidence, by word or inference, either
from any disinterested witness or of General
Cass himself, that he ever rented or kept a sepa-
rate office, ever hired or kept a clerk, or even used
any extra amount of fuel, etc., in consequence of
his Indian services. Indeed, General Cass's en-
tire silence in regard to these items, in his two
long letters urging his claims upon the govern-
ment, is, to my mind, almost conclusive that no
such claims had any real existence.
But I have introduced General Cass's accounts
here chiefly to show the wonderful physical
capacities of the man. They show that he not
only did the labor of several men at the same
time, but that he often did it at several places,
many hundreds of miles apart, at the same time.
And at eating, too, his capacities are shown to be
quite as wonderful. From October, 1821, to
176 EARLY SPEECHES [July 27
May, 1822, he eat ten rations a clay in Michigan,
ten rations a day here in \\'ashington, and near
five dollars' worth a day on the road between the
two places ! And then there is an important dis-
covery in his example — the art of being paid for
what one eats, instead of having to pay for it.
Hereafter if any nice young man should owe a
bill which he cannot pay in any other way, he can
just board it out. i\Ir. Speaker, we have all
heard of the animal standing in doubt between
two stacks of hay and starving to death. The
like of that would never happen to General Cass.
Place the stacks a thousand miles apart, he would
stand stock-still midway between them, and eat
them both at once, and the green grass along the
line would be apt to suffer some, too, at the same
time. By all means make him President, gentle-
men. He will feed you bounteously — if — if there
is any left after he shall have helped himself.
The Whigs and the War.
But, as General Taylor is, par excellence, the
hero of the Mexican War, and as you Democrats
say we Whigs have always opposed the war,
you think it must be very awkward and embar-
rassing for us to go for General Taylor. The
declaration that we have always opposed the war
is true or false, according as one may understand
the term "oppose the war." If to say "the
war was unnecessarily and unconstitutionally
commenced by the President" be opposing the
war, then the Whigs have very generally opposed
it. Whenever they have spoken at all, they have
said this ; and they have said it on what has ap-
peared good reason to them. The marching an
:348] MILITARY HEROES 177
army into the midst of a peaceful Mexican settle-
ment, frightening the inhabitants away, leaving
their growing crops and other property to
destruction, to you may appear a perfectly ami-
able, peaceful, unprovoking procedure; but it
does not appear so to us. So to call such an act,
to us appears no otiier than a naked, impudent
absurdity, and we speak of it accordingly. But
if, when the war had begun, and had become the
cause of the country, the giving of our money
and our blood in common with yours, was sup-
port of the war, then it is not true that we have
always opposed the war. With few individual ex-
ceptions you have constantly had our votes here
for all the necessary supplies. And, more than this,
you have had the services, the blood, and the lives
of our political brethren in every trial and on
every field. The beardless boy and the mature
man, the humble and the distinguished — you have
had theiu. Through suffering and death, by dis-
ease and in battle, they have endured, and fought
and fell with you. Clay and Webster each gave a
son, never to be returned. From the State of
my own residence, besides other worthy but less
known Whig names, we sent Marshall, Alorrison,
Baker, and Hardin ; they all fought, and one fell,
and in the fall of that one we lost our best Whig-
man. Nor were the \Miigs few in number, or
laggard in the day of danger. In that fearful,
bloody, breathless struggle at Buena Vista, where
each man's hard task was to beat back five foes
or die himself, of the five high officers who per-
ished, four were Whigs.
In speaking of this, I mean no odious compari-
son between the lion-hearted Whigs and the
Democrats who fought there. On other occa-
178 EARLY SPEECHES [July 27
sions, and among the lower officers and privates
on that occasion, I doubt not the proportion was
different. I wish to do justice to all. I think of
all those brave men as Americans, in whose
proud fame, as an American, I too have a share.
Many of them, Whigs and Democrats, are my
constituents and personal friends ; and I thank
them, — more than thank them, — one and all, for
the high imperishable honor they have conferred
on our common State.
But the distinction between the cause of the
President in beginning the war, and the cause of
the country after it was begun, is a distinction
\vhich you cannot perceive. To you the Presi-
dent and the country seem to be all one. You are
interested to see no distinction between them ;
and I venture to suggest that probably your in-
terest blinds you a little. We see the distinction,
as we think, clearly enough ; and our friends who
have fought in the war have no difficulty in see-
ing it also. What those who have fallen would
say, were they alive and here, of course we can
never know ; but with those who have returned
there is no difficulty. Colonel Haskell and Major
Gaines, members here, both fought in the war, and
one of them underwent extraordinary perils and
hardships ; still they, Hke all other Whigs here,
vote on the record, that the war was unneces-
sarily and unconstitutionally commenced by the
President. And even General Taylor himself,
the noblest Roman of them all, has declared that
as a citizen, and particularly as a soldier, it is
sufficient for him to know that his country is at
war with a foreign nation, to do all in his power
to bring it to a speedy and honorable termination
by the most vigorous and energetic operations,
1S48] MILITARY HEROES 179
without inquiry about its justice, or anything else
connected with it.
j\Ir. Speaker, let our Democratic friends be
comforted with the assurance that we are con-
tent with our position, content with our company,
and content with our candidate ; and that al-
though they, in their generous S3'mpathy, think
we ought to be miserable, we really are not, and
that they may dismiss the great anxiety they
have on our account.
Mr. Speaker, I see I have but three minutes
left, and this forces me to throw out one whole
branch of my subject. A single word on still
another. The Democrats are keen enough to
frequently remind us that we have some dissen-
sions in our ranks. Our good friend from Balti-
more immediately before me [Mr. McLaiic] ex-
pressed some doubt the other day as to which
branch of our party General Taylor would ulti-
mately fall into the hands of. That was a new
idea to me. I knew we had dissenters, but I did
not know they were trying to get our candidate
away from us. I would like to say a word to our
dissenters, but I have not the time. Some such
we certainly have ; have you none, gentlemen
Democrats ? Is it all union and harmony in your
ranks? no bickerings? no divisions? If there be
doubt as to which of our divisions will get our
candidate, is there no doubt as to which of your
candidates will get your party?
Divided Gangs of Hogs!
I have heard some things from New York ;
and if they are true, one might well say of your
party there, as a drunken fellow once said when
i8o EARLY SPEECHES [Sept. 22
"he heard the reading of an indictment for hog-
stealing. The clerk read on till he got to and
through the words, "did steal, take, and carry
away ten boars, ten sows, ten shoats, and ten
pigs," at which he exclaimed, "Well, by golly,
that is the most equally divided gang of hogs I
ever did hear of !" If there is any other gang of
hogs more equally divided than the Democrats of
New York are about this time, I have not heard
of it.
The Whigs the True "Free Soilers."
Heport of Speech of Abraham Lincoln,
M. C, AT Worcester, ]\Iass. September
12, 1848.*
Mr. Kellogg then introduced to the meeting
the Hon. Abraham Lincoln, Whig member of
Congress from Illinois, a representative of free
soil.
Mr. Lincoln has a very tall and thin figure;
with an intellectual face, showing a searching
mind, and a cool judgment. He spoke in a clear
and cool, and very eloquent manner, for an hour
and a half, carrying the audience with him in his
able arguments and brilliant illustrations — only
interrupted by warm and frequent applause. He
tegan by expressing a real feeling of modesty in
addressing an audience "this side of the moun-
'&
* This is the only one of Lincohi's speeches, made in
his canvass of New England in 1848, which has been
preserved. It was considered the most brilliant eflfort
of his tour, however, and the other speeches, delivered
in Boston, Cambridge, Dorchester, Chelsea, and else-
Avhere, were probably repetitions of its substance. The
report here given is from the Boston Advertiser.
1848] WORCESTER SPEECH 181
tains," a part of the country ^vhere, in the opinion
of the people of his section, everybody was sup-
posed to be instructed and wise. But he had de-
voted his attention to the question of the coming
presidential election, and was not unwilling to
exchange with all whom he might the ideas to
which he had arrived. He then began to show
the fallacy of some of the arguments against
General Taylor, making his chief theme the
fashionable statement of all those who oppose
him ("the old Locofocos as well as the new"),
that he has no principles, and that the Whig
party have abandoned their principles by adopt-
ing him as their candidate. He maintained that
General Taylor occupied a high and unexception-
able \\'hig ground, and took for his first instance
and proof of this, Taylor's statement in the Alli-
son letter with regard to the Bank, Tariff, Rivers
and Harbors, etc. — that the will of th.e people
should produce its own results, without Executive
influence. The principle that the people should
do what — under the Constitution — they please, is
a Whig principle. General Taylor not only con-
sents to this, but he appeals to the people to
judge and act for themselves. And this was no
new doctrine for Whigs. It was the "platform"
on which they had fought all their battles, the
resistance of Executive influence, and the prin-
ciple of enabling the ]ieople to frame the govern-
ment according to their will. General Taylor
consents to be the candidate, and to assist the
people to do what they think to be their duty,
and think to be best in their national afTairs, but
because he don't zcanf to fell ivhat zee ought to
do. he is accused of having no principles. The
Whigs have maintained for years that neither
1 82 EARLY SPEECHES [Sept. 12
the influence, the duress, or the prohibition of
the Executive should control the legitimately ex-
pressed will of the people ; and now that on that
very ground, General Taylor says that he should
use the power given him by the people to do, to
the best of his judgment, the will of the people,
he is accused of want of principle and of incon-
sistency in position.
]\Ir. Lincoln proceeded to examine the absurd-
ity of an attempt to make a platform or creed for
a national party, to all parts of which all must
consent and agree, when it was clearly the inten-
tion and the true philosophy of our government,
that in Congress all opinions and principles
should be represented, and that when the wisdom
of all had been compared and united, the will of
the majority should be carried out. On this
ground he conceived (and the audience seemed
to go with him) that General Taylor held correct,
sound republican principles.
Mr. Lincoln then passed to the subject of
slavery in the States, saying that the people of
Illinois agreed entirely with the people of Mas-
sachusetts on this subject, except perhaps that
they did not keep so constantly thinking about
it. All agreed that slaver}^ was an evil, but that
we were not responsible for it and cannot affect
it in States of this Union where we do not live.
But, the question of the extension of slavery
to new territories of this country, is a part of
our responsibility and care, and is under our con-
trol. In opposition to this, Mr. Lincoln believed
that the self-named "Free Soil" party was far
behind the Whigs. Both parties opposed the ex-
tension. As he understood it, the new party had
no principle except this opposition. If their
i84S] WORCESTER SPEECH 183
platform held any other, it was in such a general
way that it was like the pair of pantaloons the
Yankee peddler offered for sale, "large enough
for any man. small enough for any boy/' They
therefore had taken a position calculated to break
down their single important declared object.
They were working for the election of either
General Cass or General Taylor. The speaker
then went on to show, clearly and eloquently, the
danger of extension of slavery, likely to result
from the election of General Cass. To unite with
those who annexed the new territory to prevent
the extension of slavery in that territory seemed
to him to be in the highest degree absurd and
ridiculous. Suppose these gentlemen succeed in
electing ]\lr. A'an Buren, they had no specific
means to prevent the extension of slavery to New
IMexico and California, and General Taylor, he
confidently believed, would not encourage it, and
would not prohibit its restriction. But if General
Cass was elected, he felt certain that the plans of
farther extension of territory would be encour-
aged, and those of the extension of slavery would
meet no check. The "Free Soil" men in claiming
that name indirectly attempt a deception, by im-
plying that Whigs were not Free Soil men. In
declaring that fhey would "do their duty and
leave the consequences to God," they merely gave
an excuse for taking a course they were not able
to maintain by a fair and full argum.ent. To make
this declaration did not show what their duty
was. If it did we should have no use for judg-
ment, we might as well be made without intellect,
and when divine or human law does not clearly
point out what ;'.j our duty, we have no means of
finding out what it is by using our most intelii-
1 84 EARLY SPEECHES [Sept. 12
gent judgment of the consequences. If there
were divine law, or human law. for voting for
]\Iartin \'an Buren, or if a fair examination of
the consequences and first reasoning would show
that voting for him would bring about the ends
they pretended to wish — then he would give up
the argument. But since there was no fixed law
on the subject, and since the whole probable re-
sult of their action would be an assistance in
electing General Cass, he must say that they were
behind" the Whigs in their advocacy of the
freedom of the soil.
]\Ir. Lincoln proceeded to rally the Buffalo
Convention for forbearing to say anything — after
all the previous declarations of those members
who were formerly Whigs — on the subject of the
Mexican War, because the ^"an Burens had been
known to have supported it. He declared that of
all the parties asking the confidence of the coun-
try, this new one had less of principle than any
other.
He wondered whether it was still the opinion
of these Free Soil gentlemen as declared in the
"whereas" at Buffalo, that the Whig and Demo-
cratic parties -were both entirely dissolved and
absorbed into their own body. Had the Vermont
election given them any light? They had calcu-
lated on'making as great an impression in that
State as in any part o"f the Union, and there their
attempts had been wholly ineft'ectual. Their fail-
tire there was a greater success than they would
find in any other part of the Union.
Mr. Lincoln went on to say that he honestly
believed that all those who wished to keep up the
character of the L^nion ; who did not believe in
enlarging our field, but in keeping our fences
1848] WORCESTER SPEECH 185,
where they are and cultivating our present pos-
sessions, making it a garden, improving the
morals and education of the people ; devoting the
administrations to this purpose ; all real Whigs,
friends of good honest government ; — the race
was ours. He had opportunities of hearing from
almost every part of the Union from reliable
sources and had not heard of a county in which
Vv-e had not received accessions from other
parties. If the true Whigs come forward and
join these new friends, they need not have a
doubt. We had a candidate whose personal char-
acter and principles he had already described,
whom he could not eulogize if he would. Gen-
eral Taylor had been constantly, perseveringly,
quietly standing up, doing his duty, and asking"
no praise or reward for it. He was and must be
just the man to whom the interests, principles,,
and prosperity of the country might be safely in-
trusted. He had never failed in anything he had
undertaken, although many of his duties had
been considered almost impossible.
Mr. Lincoln then went into a terse though
rapid review of the origin of the Mexican War
and the connection of the administration and
General Taylor with it, from which he deduced a
strong appeal to the Whigs present to do their
duty in the support of General Taylor, and closed
with the warmest aspirations for and confidences
in a deserved success.
At the close of this truly masterly and convinc-
ing speech, the audience gave three enthusiastic
cheers for Illinois, and three more for the elo-
quent Whig member from that State.
1 86 EARLY SPEECHES [Jan. i6
Bill to Abolish Slavery in the District of
Columbia.
On January i6, 1849, Mr. Lincoln moved the follow-
ing amendment in the House of Representatives in
Congress, instructing the proper committee to report a
bill for the abolition of slavery in the District of Co-
lumbia, with the consent of the voters of the District,
and with compensation to owners :
Resolved, That the Committee on the District
of Columbia be instructed to report a bill in sub-
stance as follows :
Sec. I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House
of Representatives of the United States, in Con-
gress assembled, That no person not now within
the District of Columbia, nor now owned by any
person or persons now resident within it, nor
hereafter born within it, shall ever be held in
slavery within said District.
Sec. 2. That no person now within said Dis-
trict, or now owned by any person or persons
now resident within the same, or hereafter born
w^ithin it, shall ever be held in slavery without
the limits of said District : Provided, That officers
of the Government of the United States, being
citizens of the slaveholding States, coming into
said District on public business, and remaining
only so long as may be reasonably necessary for
that object, may be attended into and out of said
District, and while there, by the necessary serv-
ants of themselves and their families, without
their right to hold such servants in service being
thereby impaired.
Sec. 3. That all children born of slave mothers
within said District, on or after the first day of
January, in the year of our Lord eighteen hun-
1S49] SLAVERY IN D. C. 187-
dred and fifty, shall be free; but shall be reason-
ably supported and educated by the respective
owners of their mothers, or by their heirs or rep-
resentatives, and shall owe reasonable service as
apprentices to such owners, heirs, or representa-
.tives until they respectively arrive at the age of
years, when they shall be entirely free ; and
the municipal authorities of Washington and
Georgetown, within their respective jurisdic-
tional limits, are hereby empowered and required
to make all suitable and necessary provision for
enforcing obedience to this section, on the part
of both masters and apprentices.
Sec. 4. That all persons now within this Dis-
trict, lawfully held as slaves, or now owned by
any person or persons now resident within said
District, shall remain such at the will of their
respective owners, their heirs, and legal repre-
sentatives : Provided, That such owner, or his
legal representative, may at any time receive
from the Treasury of the United States the full
value of his or her slave, of the class in this sec-
tion mentioned, upon which such slave shall be
forthwith and forever free : And provided fur-
ther, That the President of the United States^
the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of the
Treasury shall be a board for determining the
value of such slaves as their owners may desire
to emancipate under this section, and whose duty
it shall be to hold a session for the purpose on
the first Monday of each calendar month, to re-
ceive all applications, and, on satisfactory evi-
dence in each case that the person presented for
valuation is a slave, and of the class in this sec-
tion mentioned, and is owned by the applicant,
shall value such slave at his or her full cash
-J 88 EARLY SPEECHES [Feb. 13
value, and give to the applicant an order on the
Treasury for the amount, and also to such slave
a certificate of freedom.
Sec. 5. That the municipal authorities of
Washington and Georgetown, within their re-
spective jurisdictional limits, are hereby empow-
ered and required to provide active and efficient
means to arrest and deliver up to their owners
all fugitive slaves escaping into said District.
Sec. 6. That the election officers v/ithin said
District of Columbia are hereby empowered and
required to open polls, at all the usual places of
holding elections, on the first ]\'Ionday of April
next, and receive the vote of every free white
male citizen above the age of twenty-one years,
having resided within said District for the period
of one year or more next preceding the time of
such voting for or against this act, to proceed
in taking said votes, in all respects not herein
specified, as at elections under the municipal laws,
and with as little delay as possible to transmit
correct statements of the votes so cast to the
President of the United States; and it shall be
the duty of the President to canvass said votes
immediately, and if a majority of them be found
to be for this act, to forthwith issue his proclama-
tion giving notice of the fact ; and this act shall
only he in" full force and effect on and after the
day of such proclamation.
Sec. 7. That involuntary servitude for the
punishment of crime, whereof the party shall
have been duly convicted, shall in no wise be pro-
hibited by this act.
Sec. 8. That for all the purposes of this act,
the jurisdictional limits of Washington are ex-
.tend-ed to all parts of the District of Columbia
1S49] RAILROAD LAND GRANT 189.
not now included within the present limits o£
Georgetown.
On the Bill Granting Lands to the States to
Make Railroads and Canals.
Remarks in the United States House of
Representatives. February 13, 1849.
Mr. Lincoln said he had not risen for the pur-
pose of making a speech, but only for the purpose
of meeting some of the objections to the bill. If
he understood those objections, the first was that
if the bill were to become a law, it would be used
to lock large portions of the public lands from
sale, without at last effecting the ostensible object
of the bill — the construction of railroads in the
new States; and secondly, that Congress would
be forced to the abandonment of large portions
of the public lands to the States for which they
might be reserved, without their paying for them.
This he understood to be the substance of the
objections of the gentleman from Ohio to the
passage of the bill.
If he could get the attention of the House for
a few minutes, he would ask gentlemen to tell
us what motive could induce any State legisla-
ture, or individual, or company of individuals, of
the new States, to expend money in surveying
roads which they might know they could not
make? [A voice: They arc not required to make
the road.]
Mr. Lincoln continued : That was not the case
he was making. What motive would tempt any
set of men to go into an extensive survey of a
railroad which they did not intend to make?
I90 EARLY SPEECHES [Feb. 13
"What good would it do? Did men act without
motive ? Did business men commonly go into an
expenditure of money which could be of no ac-
count to them? He generally found that m.sn
who have money were disposed to hold on to it,
unless they could see something to be made by its
investment. He could not see what motive of
advantage to the new States could be subserved
"by merely keeping the public lands out of market,
and preventing their settlement. As far as he
could see, the new States were wholly without
any motive to do such a thing. This, then, he
took to be a good answer to the first objection.
In relation to the fact assumed, that after a
while, the new States having got hold of the
public lands to a certain extent, they would turn
round and compel Congress to relinquish all
claim to them, he had a word to say, by way of
recurring to the history of the past. \Alien was
the time to come (he asked) when the States in
which the public lands Vv'ere situated would com-
pose a majority of the representation in Con-
gress, or anything like it? A majority of Rep-
resentatives would very soon reside west of the
mountains, he admitted ; but would they all come
from States in which the public lands were situ-
ated? They certainly v.'ould not; for, as these
Western States grew strong in Congress, the
public lands passed away from them, and they
got on the other side of the question ; and the
gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Vinton] was an ex-
ample attesting that fact.
2.1r. Vinton interrupted here to say that he had
stood on this question just where he was now,
ior five and twenty years.
jXIr. Lincoln was not making an argument for
1349] RAILROAD LAND GRANT 191
the purpose of convicting the gentleman of any
impropriety at all. He was speaking of a fact
in history, of which his State was an example.
He was referring to a plain principle in the
nature of things. The State of Ohio had now
grown to be a giant. She had a large delegation
on that floor ; but was she now in favor of grant-
ing lands to the new States, as she used to be?
The Xew England States, New York, and the
Old Thirteen were all rather quiet upon the sub-
ject; and it was seen just now that a member
from one of the new States was the first man to
rise up in opposition. And so it would be with
the history of this question for the future. There
never would come a time when the people re-
siding in the States embracing the public lands
would have the entire control of this subject ; and
so it was a matter of certainty that Congress
would never do more in this respect than what
would be dictated by a just liberality. The ap-
prehension, therefore, that the public lands v.-ere
in danger of being wrested from the General
Government by the strength of the delegation in
Congress from the new States, was utterly futile.
There never could be such a thing. If we take
these lands (said he) it will not be without your
consent. We can never outnumber you. The
result is that all fear of the new States turning
against the right of Congress to the public
domain must be efifectually quelled, as those who
are opposed to that interest must always hold a
vast majority here, and they will never surrender
the whole or any part of the public lands unless
they themselves choose to do so. That was all
he desired to say.
-«92 EARLY SPEECHES [July i
l^esolutions of Sympathy with Hungarian
Revolutionists.
About September 12, 1849.
At a meeting to express sympathy with the cause of
Hungarian Freedom, Dr. Todd. Thos. Lewis, Hon. A.
Lincoln, and Wm. Carpenter were appointed a commit-
tee to present appropriate resolutions, which reported
through Hon. A. Lincoln the following:
Resolved, That in their present glorious strug-
gle for liberty, the Hungarians command our
highest admiration and have our warmest sym-
pathy.
Resolved, That they have our most ardent
â– prayers for their speedy triumph and final
success.
Resolved, That the Government of the United
States should acknowledge the independence of
Hungary as a nation of freemen at the very
earliest moment consistent with our amicable re-
lations with the government against which they
are contending.
Resolved, That in the opinion of this meeting,
the immediate acknowledgment of the independ-
ence of Hungary by our government is due from
American freemen to their struggHng brethren,
to the general cause of republican liberty, and not
violative of the just rights of any nation or
people.
Niagara Falls.
Notes for a Popular Lecture. About July
I, 1850.
Niagara Falls ! By what mysterious power is
it that millions and millions are drawn from all
iS5o] NIAGARA FALLS 193
parts of the world to gaze upon Niagara Falls?
There is no mystery about the thing itself. Every
effect is just as any intelligent man, knowing the
causes, would anticipate without seeing it. If
the water moving onward in a great river reaches
a point where there is a perpendicular jog of a
hundred feet in descent in the bottom of the
river, it is plain the water will have a violent and
continuous plunge at that point. It is also plain,
the water, thus plunging, will foam and roar,
and send up a mist continuously, in which last,
during sunshine, there will be perpetual rain-
bows. The mere physical of Niagara Falls is
only this. Yet this is really a very small part of
that world's wonder. Its power to excite reflec-
tion and emotion is its great charm. The geolo-
gist will demonstrate that the plunge, or fall,
was once at Lake Ontario, and has worn its way
back to its present position ; he will ascertain how
fast it is wearing now, and so get a basis for
determining how long it has been wearing back
from Lake Ontario, and finally demonstrate by it
that this world is at least fourteen thousand years
old. A philosopher of a slightly different turn will
say, "Niagara Falls is only the lip of the basin out
of which pours all the surplus water which rains
down on two or three hundred thousand square
miles of the earth's surface." He will estimate
with approximate accuracy that five hundred
thousand tons of water fall with their full weight
a distance of a hundred feet each minute — thus
exerting a force equal to the lifting of the same
weight, through the same space, in the same time.
And then the further reflection comes that this
vast amount of water, constantly pounding down,
is supplied by an equal amount constantly lifted
194
EARLY SPEECHES [July i
up, by the sun ; and still he says, "If this much is
lifted up for this one space of two or three hun-
dred thousand square miles, an equal amount
must be lifted up for every other equal space" ;
and he is overwhelmed in the contemplation of
the vast power the sun is constantly exerting in
the quiet noiseless operation of lifting water up
to be rained down again.
But still there is more. It calls up the indefi-
nite past. When Columbus first sought this con-
tinent — when Christ suffered on the cross — when
]\Ioses led Israel through the Red Sea — nay, even
when Adam first came from the hand of his
Maker : then, as now, Niagara was roaring here.
The eyes of that species of extinct giants whose
bones fih the mounds of America have gazed on
Niagara, as ours do now. Contemporary v^^ith
the first race of men, and older than the first
man, Niagara is strong and fresh to-day as ten
thousand years ago. The ^Mammoth and ]\Iasto-
don, so long dead that fragments of their mon-
strous bones alone testify that they ever lived,
have gazed on Niagara — in that long, long time
never still for a single moment [never dried],
never froze, never slept, never rested.
Principles of Law Practise.
Notes for Law Lecture. About July i, 1850.
I am not an accomplished lawyer. I find quite
as much m.aterial for a lecture in those points
wherein I have failed, as in those wherein I have
been moderately successful. The leading rule
for the lawyer, as for the man of every other
calling, is diligence. Leave nothing for to-mor-
i85o] LAW LECTURE 195
row which can be done to-day. Never let your
correspondence fall behind. Whatever piece of
business you have in hand, before stopping, do
all the labor pertaining to it which can then be
done. When you bring a common-law suit, if
you have the facts for doing so, write the decla-
ration at once. If a law point be involved, ex-
amine the books, and note the authority you rely
on upon the declaration itself, where you are sure
to find it when wanted. The same of defenses
and pleas. In business not likely to be
litigated, — ordinary collection cases, foreclos-
ures, partitions, and the like, — make all ex-
aminations of titles, and note them, and
even draft orders and decrees in advance.
This course has a triple advantage ; it avoids
omissions and neglect, saves your labor when
once done, performs the labor out of court when
you have leisure, rather than in court when you
have not. Extemporaneous speaking should be
practised and cultivated. It is the lawyer's ave-
nue 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 y.oung law-
yers 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 neigh-
bors 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 op-
portunity of being a good man. There will still
be business enough.
196 EARLY SPEECHES [July 16
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 de-
fects 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.
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 verv likelv lack skill and dili2:ence 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.
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 law-
yers by the people, it appears improbable that
their impression of dishonesty is very distinct and
vivid. Yet the impression is common, almost
i852] EULOGY OF CLAY 197
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 law-
yer. Choose some other occupation, rather than
one in the choosing of which you do, in advance,
consent to be a knave.
Eulogy of Henry Clay.
Delivered in the State House at Spring-
field, III. July 16, 1852. Reported in the
Illinois State Journal.
On the fourth day of July, 1776, the people of
a few feeble and oppressed colonies of Great
Britain, inhabiting a portion of the Atlantic coast
of North America, publicly declared their na-
tional independence, and made their appeal to the
justice of their cause and to the God of battles
for the maintenance of that declaration. That
people were few in number and without re-
sources, save only their wise heads and stout
hearts. Within the first year of that declared
independence, and while its maintenance was yet
problematical, — while the bloody struggle be-
tween those resolute rebels and their haughty
would-be masters was still waging, — of undis-
tinguished parents and in an obscure district of
one of those colonies Henry Clay was born. The
infant nation and the infant child began the race
of life together. For three quarters of a century
they have traveled hand in hand. They have
been companions ever. The nation has passed its
perils, and it is free, prosperous, and powerful.
198 EARLY SPEECHES [July 16
The child has reached his manhood, his middle
age, his old age, and is dead. In all that has
concerned the nation the man ever sympathized ;
and now the nation mourns the man.
The day after his death one of the public jour-
nals, opposed to him politically, held the follow-
ing pathetic and beautiful language, which I
adopt partly because such high and exclusive
eulogy, originating with a political friend, might
offend good taste, but chiefly because I could not
in any language of my own so well express my
thoughts :
Alas! who can realize that Henry Clay is dead! Who
can realize that never again that majestic form shall
rise in the council-chambers of his country to beat back
the storms of anarchy which may threaten, or pour the
oil of peace upon the troubled billows as they rasre and
menace around? Who can realize that the workings of
that mighty mind have ceased, that the throbbings of
that gallant heart are stilled, that the mighty sweep of
that graceful arm will be felt no more, and the magic
of that eloquent tongue, which spake as spake no other
tongue besides, is hushed — hushed for ever ! Who can
realize that freedom's champion, the champion of a
civilized world and of all tongues and kindreds of peo-
ple, has indeed fallen ! Alas, in those dark hours of
peril and dread which our land has experienced, and
which she may be called to experience again, to whom
now may her people look up for that counsel and ad-
vice which only wisdom and experience and patriotism
can give, and which only the undoubting confidence of a
nation will receive? Perchance in the whole circle of the
great and gifted of our land there remains but one on
whose shoulders the mighty mantle of the departed
statesman may fall ; one who while we now write is
doubtless pouring his tears over the bier of his brother
and friend — brother, friend, ever, yet in political senti-
ment as far apart as party could make them. Ah, it is
at times like these that the petty distinctions of mere
party disappear. We see only the great, the grand,
the noble features of the departed statesman ; and we
iS52] EULOGY OF CLAY
199
do not even beg permission to bow at his feet and
mingle our tears with those who have ever been his
political adherents — we do [not] beg- this permission,
we claim it as a right, though we feel it as a privilege.
Henrj^ Clay belonged to his country — to the world ;
mere party cannot claim men like him. His career has
been national, his fame has filled the earth, his memory
will endure to the last syllable of recorded time.
Henry Clay is dead ! He breathed his last on yester-
day, at twenty minutes after eleven, in his chamber at
Washington. To those who followed his lead in public
affairs, it more appropriately belongs to pronounce his
eulogy and pay specific honors to the memory of the
illustrious dead. But all Americans may show the grief
which his death inspires, for his character and fame
are national property. As on a question of liberty he
knew no North, no South, no East, no West, but only
the Union which held them all in its sacred circle, so
now his countrymen will know no grief that is not as
wide-spread as the bounds of the confederacy. The
career of Henry Clay was a public career. From his
youth he was devoted to the public service, at a
period, too. in the world's history justh'' regarded as a
remarkable era in human affairs. He witnessed in the
beginning the throes of the French Revolution. He
saw the rise and fall of Napoleon. He was called upon
to legislate for America, and direct her policy when all
Europe was the battle-field of contending dynasties, and
when the struggle for supremacy imperiled the rights
of all neutral nations. His voice spoke war and peace
in the contest with Great Britain.
When Greece rose against the Turks and struck for
liberty, his name was mingled with the battle-cry of
freedom. When South America threw off the thral-
dom of Spain, his speeches were read at the head of her
armies by Bolivar. His name has been, and will con-
tinue to be. hallowed in two hemispheres, for it is
"One of the few, the immortal names
That were not born to die!"
To the ardent patriot and profound statesman, he
added a quality possessed by few of the gifted on earth.
His eloquence has not been surpassed. In the effective
power to move the heart of man, Clay was without an
200 EARLY SPEECHES [July i6
equal, and the heaven-born endowment, in the spirit of
its origin, has been most conspicuously exhibited
against intestine feud. On at least three important oc-
casions he has quelled our civil commotions by a power
and influence which belonged to no other statesman of
his age and times. And in our last internal discord,
when this Union trembled to its centre, in old age he
left the shades of private life, and gave the death-blow
to fraternal strife, with the vigor of his earlier years,
in a series of senatorial efforts which in themselves
would bring immortality by challenging comparison
with the efforts of any statesman in any age. He ex-
orcised the demon which possessed the body politic,
and gave peace to a distracted land. Alas! the achieve-
ment cost him his life. He sank day by day to the
tomb — his pale but noble brow bound with a triple
wreath, put there by a grateful country. May his ashes
rest in peace, w-hile his spirit goes to take its station
among the great and good men who preceded him.
While it is customary and proper upon occa-
sions like the present to give a brief sketch of the
life of the deceased, in the case of Mr. Clay it is
less necessary than most others ; for his biography
has been written and rewritten, and read and re-
read, for the last twenty-five years ; so that, with
the exception of a few of the latest incidents of
his life, all is as well known as it can be. The
short sketch which I give is, therefore, merely to
maintain the connection of this discourse.
Henry Clay was born on the twelfth day of
April, 1777, in Hanover County, Virginia. Of
his father, who died in the fourth or fifth year of
Henry's age, little seems to be known, except
that he was a respectable man and a preacher of
the Baptist persuasion. Mr. Clay's education to
the end of life was comparatively limited. I say
"to the end of life," because I have understood
that from time to time he added something to his
i852] EULOGY OF CLAY 201
education during the greater part of his whole
life. Mr. Clay's lack of a more perfect early
education, however it may be regretted generally,
teaches at least one profitable lesson : it teaches
that in this country one can scarcely be so poor
but that, if he will, he can acquire sufficient edu-
cation to get through the world respectably. In
his twenty-third year, Mr. Clay was licensed to
practise law, and emigrated to Lexington, Ky.
Here he commenced and continued the practice
till the year 1803, when he was first elected to
the Kentucky legislature. By successive elec-
tions he was continued in the legislature till the
latter part of 1806, when he was elected to fill a
vacancy of a single session in the United States
Senate. In 1807 he was again elected to the
Kentucky House of Representatives, and by that
body chosen Speaker. In 1808 he was reelected
to the same body. In 1809 he was again chosen
to fill a vacancy of two years in the United States
Senate. In 181 1 he was elected to the United
States House of Representatives, and on the first
day of taking his seat in that body he was chosen
its Speaker. In 1813 he was again elected
Speaker. Early in 1814, being the period of our
last British war, Mr. Clay was sent as commis-
sioner, with others, to negotiate a treaty of peace,
v/hich treaty was concluded in the latter part of
the same year. On his return from Europe he
v/as again elected to the lower branch of Con-
gress, and on taking his seat in December, 181 5,
was called to his old post — the Speaker's chair,
a position in which he was retained by successive
elections, with one brief intermission, till the in-
auguration of John Ouincy Adams, in March,
1S25. He was then appointed Secretary of State,
202 EARLY SPEECHES [July i6
and occupied that important station till the in-
auguration of General Jackson, in March, 1829,
After this he returned to Kentucky, resumed the
practice of law, and continued it till the autumn
of 1 83 1, when he was by the legislature of Ken-
tucky again placed in the United States Senate.
By a reelection he was continued in the Senate
till he resigned his seat and retired, in March,
1848. In December, 1849, he again took his seat
in the Senate, which he again resigned only a
few months before his death.
By the foregoing it is perceived that the period
from the beginning of Mr. Clay's official life in
1803 to the end of 1852 is but one year short of
half a century, and that the sum of all the inter-
vals in it will not amount to ten years. But mere
duration of time in office constitutes the smallest
part of Mr, Clay's history. Throughout that
long period he has constantly been the most loved
and most implicitly followed by friends, and the
most dreaded by opponents, of all living Ameri-
can politicians. In all the great questions which
have agitated the country, and particularly in
those fearful crises, the Missouri question, the
nullification question, and the late slavery ques-
tion, as connected with the newly acquired terri-
tory, involving and endangering the stability of
the Union, his has been the leading and most con-
spicuous part. In 1824 he was first a candidate
for the Presidency, and was defeated ; and al-
though he was successively defeated for the same
office in 1832 and in 1844, there has never been
a moment since 1824 till after 1848 when a very
large portion of the American people did not
cling ' to him with an enthusiastic hope and
purpose of still elevating him to the Presidency.
i8s2] EULOGY OF CLAY
203
With other men, to be defeated was to be foi\Q'ot-
ten ; but with him defeat was but a trifling inci-
dent, neither changing him nor the world's esti-
mate of him. Even those of both political parties
wdio have been preferred to him for the highest
office have run far briefer courses than he, and
left him still shining high in the heavens of the
political world. Jackson. A'an Buren, Harrison,
Polk, and Taylor all rose after, and set long be-
fore him. The spell — the long-enduring spell —
with which the souls of men were bound to him
is a miracle. Who can compass it? It is prob-
ably true he owed his preeminence to no one
quality, but to a fortunate combination of several,
lie was surpassingly eloquent; but many elo-
quent men fail utterly, and they are not, as a
class, generally successful. His judgment was
excellent; but many men of good judgment live
and die unnoticed. His will was indomitable ;
but this quality often secures to its owner nothing
better than a character for useless obstinacy.
These, then, were Mr. Clay's leading qualities.
No one of them is very uncommon; but all to-
gether are rarely combined in a single individual,
and this is probably the reason why such men as
Henry Clay are so rare in the world.
Mr. Clay's eloquence did not consist, as many
fine specimens of eloquence do, of types and fig-
ures, of antithesis and elegant arrangement of
words and sentences, but rather of that deeply
earnest and impassioned tone and manner which
can proceed only from great sincerity, and a
thorough conviction in the speaker of the justice
and importance of his cause. This it is that truly
touches the chords of sympathy ; and those who
heard ]Mr. Clay never failed to be moved by it,
204 EARLY SPEECHES [July i6
or ever afterward forgot the impression. All his
efforts were made for practical effect. He never
spoke merely to be heard. He never delivered a
Fourth of July oration, or a eulogy on an occa-
sion like this. As a politician or statesman, no
one was so habitually careful to avoid all sec-
tional ground. Whatever he did he did for the
whole country. In the construction of his meas-
ures, he ever carefully surveyed every part of the
field, and duly weighed every conflicting interest.
Feeling as he did, and as the truth surely is, that
the world's best hope depended on the continued
Union of these States, he was ever jealous of and
watchful for whatcA'er might have the slightest
tendency to separate them.
Mr. Clay's predominant sentiment, from first
to last, w^as a deep devotion to the cause of
human liberty — a strong sympathy with the op-
pressed everywhere, and an ardent wish for their
elevation. With him this was a primary and all-
controlling passion. Subsidiary to this was the
conduct of his whole life. He loved his country
partly because it was his own country, and mostly
because it was a free country ; and he burned
with a zeal for its advancement, prosperity, and
glory, because he saw in such the advancement,
prosperity, and glory of human liberty, human
right, and human nature. He desired the pros-
perity of his countrymen, partly because they
v/ere his countrymen, but chiefly to show to the
world that free men could be prosperous.
That his views and measures were always the
wisest needs not to be affirmed ; nor should it be
on this occasion, where so many thinking differ-
ently join in doing honor to his memory. A free
people in times of peace and quiet — when pressed
iSs2] EULOGY OF CLAY
2C5
by no common danger — naturally divide into par-
ties. At such times the man who is of neither
party is not, cannot be, of any consequence. Air.
Clay therefore was of a party. Taking a prom-
inent part as he did, in all the great political
questions of his country for the last half century,
the wisdom of his course on many is doubted and
denied by a large portion of his countrymen ; and
of such it is not now proper to speak particularly.
But there are many others about his course, upon
which there is little or no disagreement amongst
intelligent and patriotic Americans. Of these
last are the war of 1812, the [Missouri question,
nullification, and the now recent compromise
measures. In 1812 Mr. Clav, though not un-
known, was still a young man. Whether we
should go to war with Great Britain being the
question of the day, a minority opposed the decla-
ration of war by Congress, while the majority,
though apparently inclined to war, had for years
wavered, and hesitated to act decisively. ]\Iean-
while British aggressions multiplied, and grew
more daring and aggravated. By Mr. Clay more
than any other man the struggle was brought to
a decision in Congress. The question, being now
fully before Congress, came up in a variety of
ways in rapid succession, on most of which occa-
sions Mr. Clay spoke. Adding to all the logic of
which the subject was susceptible that noble in-
spiration which came to him as it came to no
other, he aroused and nerved and inspired his
friends, and confounded and bore down all op-
position. Several of his speeches on these occa-
sions were reported and are still extant, but the
best of them all never v/as. During its delivery
the reporters forgot their vocations, dropped
2o6 EARLY SPEECHES [July i6
their pens, and sat enchanted from near the be-
ginning to quite the close. The speech now lives
only in the memory of a few old men, and the en-
thusiasm with which thev cherish their recollec-
tion of it is absolutely astonishing. The precise
language of this speech we shall never know ;
but we do know — we cannot help knowing — that
with deep pathos it pleaded the cause of the in-
jured sailor, that it invoked the genius of the
Revolution, that it apostrophized the names of
Otis, of Henry, and of Washington, that it ap-
pealed to the interest, the pride, the honor, and
the glory of the nation, that it shamed and
taunted the timidity of friends, that it scorned
and scouted and withered the temerity of domes-
tic foes, that it bearded and defied the British
lion, and rising and svrelling and maddening in
its course, it sounded the onset, till the charge,
the shock, the steady struggle, and the glorious
victory all passed in vivid review before the en-
tranced hearers.
Important and exciting as was the war ques-
tion of 1812, it never so alarmed the sagacious
statesmen of the country for the safety of the Re-
public as afterward did the ^Missouri question.
This sprang from that unfortunate source of dis-
cord — negro slavery. When our Federal Consti-
tution was adopted, we owned no territory be-
yond the limits or ownership of the States, except
the territory northwest of the River Ohio and
east of the ]\lississippi. What has since been
formed into the States of ]\Iaine, Kentucky, and
Tennessee, was, I believe, within the limits of or
owned by Massachusetts, Virginia, and North
Carolina. As to the Northv/estern Territory,
provision had been made even before the adop-
1852] EULOGY OF CLAY 207
tion of the Constitution that slavery should never
go there. On the admission of States into tlie
Union, carved from the territory we owned be-
fore the Constitution, no question, or at most no
considerable question, arose about slavery —
those which were within the limits of or owned
by the old States following respectively the con-
dition of the parent State, and those within the
Northwest Territory following the previously
made provision. But in 1803 we purchased
Louisiana of the French, and it included with
much more what has' since been formed into the
State of Missouri. With regard to it, nothing
had been done to forestall the question of slavery.
When, therefore, in 181 9, Missouri, having
formed a State constitution, without excluding
slavery, and with slavery already actually exist-
ing within its limits, knocked at the door of the
Union for admission, almost the entire repre-
sentation of the non-slaveholding States objected.
A fearful and angry struggle instantly followed.
This alarmed thinking men more than any pre-
vious question, because unlike all the former, it
divided the country by geographical lines. Other
questions had their opposing partisans in all
localities of the country and in almost every fam-
ily, so that no division of the Union could follow
such without a separation of friends to quite as
great an extent as that of opponents. Not so
with the ^Missouri question. On this a geograph-
ical line could be traced, which in the main would
separate opponents only. This was the danger.
]\Ir. Jefferson, then in retirement, wrote :
I had for a long time ceased to read newspapers or to
pay any attention to public affairs, confident they were
j?o8 EARLY SPEECHES [July i6
in good hands and content to be a passenger in our bark
to the shore from which I am not distant. But this
momentous question, like a fire-bell in the night,
awakened and filled me with terror. I considered it at
once as the knell of the Union. It is hushed, indeed,
for the moment. But this is a reprieve only, not a final
sentence. A geographical line coinciding with a
marked principle, moral and political, once conceived
and held up to the angry passions of men, will never be
obliterated, and every irritation will mark it deeper and
deeper. I can say with conscious truth that there is not
a man on earth who would sacrifice more than I would
to relieve us from this heavy reproach in any practicable
way. The cession of that kind of property — for it is so
misnamed — is a bagatelle which would not cost me a
second thought if in that way a general emancipation
and expatriation could be effected, and gradually and
with due sacrifices I think it might be. But as it is,
we have the wolf by the ears, and we can neither hold
him nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and
self-preservation in the other.
]\Ir. Clay was in Congress, and, perceiving the
danger, at once engaged his whole energies to
avert it. It began, as I have said, in 1819; and
it did not terminate till 1821. Missouri would
not yield the point ; and Congress — that is, a ma-
jority in Congress — by repeated votes showed a
determination not to admit the State unless it
should yield. After several failures and great
labor on the part of Mr. Clay to so present the
question that a majority could consent to the
admission, it was by a vote rejected, and as all
seemed to think, finally. A sullen gloom himg
over the nation. All felt that the rejection of
Missouri was equivalent to a dissolution of the
Union, because those States which already had
what Missouri was rejected for refusing to re-
linquish would go with Missouri. All deprecated
and deplored this, but none saw how to avert it.
i852] EULOGY OF CLAY 209
For the judgment of members to be convinced
of the necessity of yielding was not the whole
difficulty ; each had a constituency to meet and to
answer to. Mr. Clay, though worn down and
exhausted, was appealed to by members to renew
"his efforts at compromise. He did so, and by
some judicious modifications of his plan, coupled
with laborious efitorts with individual members
and his own overmastering eloquence upon that
floor, he finally secured the admission of the
State. Brightly and captivatingly as it had previ-
ously shone, it was now perceived that his great
eloquence was a mere embellishment, or at most
but a helping hand to his inventive genius, and.
his devotion to his country in the day of her ex-
treme peril.
After the settlement of the ]\Iissouri question,
although a portion of the American people have
differed with Mr. Clay, and a majority even ap-
pear generally to have been opposed to him on
questions of ordinar}?- administration, he seems
constantly to have been regarded by all as the
man for a crisis. Accordingly, in the days of
nullification, and more recently in the reappear-
ance of the slavery question connected with our
territory nev/ly acquired of Mexico, the task of
devising a mode of adjustment seems to have
been cast upon Mr. Clay by common consent —
and his performance of the task in each case was
little else than a literal fulfillment of the public
expectation.
Mr. Clay's efforts in behalf of the South Amer-
icans, and afterward in behalf of the Greeks, in
the times of their respective struggles for civil
liberty, are among the finest on record, upon the
noblest of all themes, and bear ample corrobora-
2IO EARLY SPEECHES [July i6
tion of what I have said was his ruling passion —
a love of liberty and right, unselfishly, and for
their own sakes.
Having been led to allude to domestic slavery
so frequently already, I am unwilling to close
without referring more particularly to Mr. Clay's
views and conduct in regard to it. He ever was
on principle and in feeling opposed to slavery.
The very earliest, and one of the latest, public
efforts of his life, separated by a period of more
than fifty years, were both made in favor of
gradual emancipation. He did not perceive that
on a question of human right the negroes were
to be excepted from the human race. And yet
Mr. Clay was the owner of slaves. Cast into life
W'hen slavery was already widely spread and
deeply seated, he did not perceive, as I think no
wise man has perceived, how it could be at once
eradicated without producing a greater evil even
to the cause of human liberty itself. His feeling
and his judgment, therefore, ever led him to op-
pose both extremes of opinion on the subject.
Those who would shiver into fragments the
Union of these States, tear to tatters its now ven-
erated Constitution, and even burn the last copy
of the Bible, rather than slavery should continue
a single hour, together with all their more halting
sympathizers, have received, and are receiving,
their just execration; and the name and opinions
and influence of Mr. Clay are fully and, as I
trust, effectually and enduringly arrayed against
them. But I would also, if I could, array his
name, opinions, and influence against the oppo-
site extreme — against a few but an increasing
number of men who, for the sake of perpetuating
slavery, are beginning to assail and to ridicule the
iS52] EULOGY OF CLAY 211
white man's charter of freedom, the declaration
that "all men are created free and equal." So
far as I have learned, the first American of any
note to do or attempt this was the late John C.
Calhoun ; and if I mistake not, it soon after found
its way into some of the messages of the Gov-
ernor of South Carolina. We, however, look for
and are not much shocked by political eccen-
tricities and heresies in South Carolina. But
only last year I saw with astonishment what
purported to be a letter of a very distinguished
and influential clergyman of Virginia, copied,
with apparent approbation, into a St. Louis
newspaper ; containing the following to me very
unsatisfactory language :
I am fully aware that there is a text in some Bibles
that is not in mine. Professional Abolitionists have
made more use of it than of any passage in the Bible.
It came, however, as I trace it. from Saint Voltaire, and
Avas baptized by Thomas Jefferson, and since almost
universally regarded as canonical authority, "All men
are born free and equal."
This is a genuine coin in the political currency of our
generation. I am sorry to say that I have never seen
two men of whom it is true. But I must admit I never
saw the Siamese Twins, and therefore will not dog-
matically say that no man ever saw a proof of this sage
aphorism.
This sounds strangely in republican America.
The like was not heard in the fresher days of the
republic. Let us contrast with it the language of
that truly national man whose life and death we
now commemorate and lament. I quote from a
speech of Mr. Clay delivered before the Ameri-
can Colonization Society in 1827:
We are reproached with doing mischief by the agita-
tion of this question. The society goes into no house-
512 EARLY SPEECHES [July i6
Tiold to disturb its domestic tranquillity. It addresses
itself to no slaves to weaken their obligations of obedi-
ence. It seeks to affect no man's property. It neither
has the power nor the will to affect the property of any
one contrary to his consent. The execution of its
scheme would augment instead of diminishing the
-\-alue of property left behind. The society, composed of
free men, concerns itself only with the free. Collateral
consequences we are not responsible for. It is not this
society which has produced the great moral revolution
which the age exhibits. What would they who thus
reproach us have done ? If they would repress all ten-
dencies toward liberty and ultimate emancipation, they
must do more than put down the benevolent efforts of
society. They must go back to the era of our liberty
and independence, and muzzle the cannon which thun-
ders its annual joyous return. They must renew the
slave-trade, with all its train of atrocities. They must
suppress the Avorkings of British philanthropJ^ seeking
to meliorate the condition of the unfortunate West In-
dian slave. They must arrest the career of South Amer-
ican deliverance from thraldom. They must blow out
the moral light around us and extinguish that greatest
torch of all w-hich America presents to a benighted
world — pointing the way to their rights, their liberties,
and their happiness. And when they have achieved all
those purposes their work will be yet incomplete. They
must penetrate the human soul, and eradicate the light
of reason and the love of liberty. Then, and not till
then, when universal darkness and despair prevail, can
you perpetuate slavery and repress all sympathy and all
humane and benevolent efforts among free men in be-
half of the unhappy portion of our race doomed to
bondage.
The American Colonization Society was organ-
ized in 1816. ]\Ir. Clay, though not its projector,
was one of its earliest members ; and he died, as
for many preceding years he had been, its presi-
-dent. It was one of the most cherished objects
of his direct care and consideration, and the as-
sociation of his name with it has probably been
its very greatest collateral support. He consid'^
1832] EULOGY OF CLAY 21
.>
ered it no demerit in the society that it tended to
relieve the slaveholders from the troublesome
presence of the free negroes ; but this was far
from being its whole merit in his estimation. In
the same speech from which we have quoted he
says:
There is a moral fitness in the idea of returning to-
Africa her children, whose ancestors have been torn
from her by the ruthless hand of fraud and violence.
Transplanted in a foreign land, they will carry back
to their native soil the rich fruits of religion, civilization,
law. and Hberty. Alay it not be one of the great designs
of the Ruler of the universe, whose ways are often in-
scrutable by short-sighted mortals, thus to transform
an original crime into a signal blessing to that most un-
fortunate portion of the globe?
This suggestion of the possible ultimate re-
demption of the African race and African con-
tinent was made twenty-five years ago. Every
succeeding year has added strength to the hope
of its realization. j\Iay it indeed be realized.
Pharaoh's country was cursed with plagues, and
his hosts were lost in the Red Sea, for striving
to retain a captive people who had already served
them more than four hundred years. jNIay like
disasters never befall us ! If, as the friends of
colonization hope, the present and coming gener-
ations of our countrymen shall by any means suc-
ceed in freeing our land from the dangerous
presence of slavery, and at the same time in re-
storing a captive people to their long-lost father-
land with bright prospects for the future, and
this too so gradually that neither races nor in-
dividuals shall have suffered by the change, it
will indeed be a glorious consummation. And if
to such a consummation the efforts of Mr. Clay
214 EARLY SPEECHES [July i
shall have contributed, it will be what he most
ardently wished, and none of his labors will have
been more valuable to his country and his kind.
But Henry Clay is dead. His long and event-
ful life is closed. Our country is prosperous and
powerful ; but could it have been quite all it has
been, and is, and is to be, without Henry Clay?
Such a man the times have demanded, and such
in the Providence of God was given us. But he
is gone. Let us strive to deserve, as far as
mortals may, the continued care of Divine
Providence, trusting that in future national
emergencies, He will not fail to provide us
the instruments of safety and security.
The Nature and Objects of Government, with
Special Reference to Slavery.
Fragmentary Notes. About July i, 1854.
Government is a combination of the people of
a country to effect certain objects by joint effort.
The best framed and best administered govern-
ments are necessarily expensive ; while by errors
in frame and maladministration most of them are
more onerous than they need be. and some of
them very oppressive. \Miy, then, should we
have government ? Why not each individual take
to himself the whole fruit of his labor, without
having any of it taxed away, in services, corn, or
money? Why not take just so much land as he
can cultivate with his own hands, without buying
it of any one ?
The legitimate object of government is "to do
for the people what needs to be done, but which
they can not, by individual eft'ort, do at all, or do
:8s4] NOTES ON GOVERNMENT
215
so well, for themselves." There are many such
things — some of them exist independently of the
injustice in the world, flaking and maintaining
roads, bridges, and the like ; providing for the
helpless young and afflicted ; common schools ;
and disposing of deceased men's property, are in-
stances.
But a far larger class of objects springs from
the injustice of men. If one people will make
war upon another, it is a necessity with that other
to unite and cooperate for defense. Hence the
military department. If some men will kill, or
beat, or constrain others, or despoil them of prop-
erty, by force, fraud, or non-compliance with con-
tracts, it is a common object with peaceful and
just men to prevent it. Hence the criminal and
civil departments.
The legitimate object of government is to da
for a community of people whatever they need to
have done, but cannot do at all, or cannot so well
do, for themselves, in their separate and indi-
vidual capacities. In all that the people can indi-
vidually do as well for themselves, government
ought not to interfere. The desirable things
which the individuals of a people cannot do, or
cannot well do, for themselves, fall into two
classes : those which have relation to wrongs, and
those which have not. Each of these branches
off into an infinite variety of subdivisions.
The first — that in relation to wrongs — em-
braces all crimes, misdemeanors, and non-per-
formance of contracts. The other embraces all
which, in its nature, and without wrong, requires
combined action, as public roads and highways,
public schools, charities, pauoerism, orphanage.
2i6 EARLY SPEECHES [July i
estates of the deceased, and the machinery of
government itself.
From this it appears that if all men were just,
there still would be some, though not so much,
need of government.
Equality in society alike beats inequalit}^
whether the latter be of the British aristocratic
sort or of the domestic slavery sort. We know
Southern men declare that their slaves are better
off than hired laborers among us. How little
they know whereof they speak ! There is no per-
manent class of hired laborers amongst us.
Twenty-five years ago I was a hired laborer. The
hired laborer of yesterday labors on his own ac-
count to-day, and will hire others to labor for
him to-morrow. Advancement — improvement in
condition — is the order of things in a society of
equals. As labor is the common burden of our
race, so the effort of some to shift their share of
the burden onto the shoulders of others is the
great durable curse of the race. Originally a
curse for transgression upon the whole race,
when, as by slavery, it is, concentrated on a part
only, it becomes the double-refined curse of God
upon his creatures.
Free labor has the inspiration of hope ; pure
slavery has no hope. The power of hope upon
human exertion and happiness is wonderful. The
slave-master himself has a conception of it, and
hence the system of tasks among slaves. The
slave whom you cannot drive with the lash to
break seventy-five pounds of hemp in a day, if
you will task him to break a hundred, and prom-
ise him pay for all he does over, he will break
you a hundred and fifty. You have substituted
1854] NOTES ON GOVERNMENT 217
hope for the rod. And yet perhaps it does not
occur to you that to the extent of your gain in the
case, you have given up the slave system and
adopted the free system of labor.
, • • • •
If A can prove, however conclusively, that he
may of right enslave B, why may not B snatch
the same argument and prove equally that he
may enslave A? You say A is white and B is
black. It is color, then ; the lighter having the
right to enslave the darker? Take care. By
this rule you are to be slave to the first man you
meet with a fairer skin than your own. You do
not mean color exactly? You mean the whites
are intellectually the superiors of the blacks, and
therefore have the right to enslave them? Take
care again. By this rule you are to be slave to
the first man you meet with an intellect superior
to your own. But, say you, it is a question of
interest, and if you make it your interest you
have the right to enslave another. Very well.
And if he can make it his interest he has the
right to enslave you.
• • « • •
The ant who has toiled and dragged a crumb
to his nest will furiously defend the fruit of his
labor against whatever robber assails him. So
plain that the most dumb and stupid slave that
ever toiled for a master does constantly know
that he is wronged. So plain that no one, high
or low, ever does mistake it, except in a plainly
selfish way ; for although volume upon volume is
written to prove slavery a very good thing, we
never hear of the man who wishes to take the
good of it by being a slave himself.
Most governments have been based, practi-
2i8 EARLY SPEECHES [Oct. i6
cally, on the denial of the equal rights of men, as
I have, in part, stated them ; ours began by af-
firming those rights. They said, some men are
too ignorant and vicious to share in government.
Possibly so, said we ; and, by your system, you
would always keep them ignorant and vicious.
We proposed to give all a chance ; and we ex-
pected the weak to grow stronger, the ignorant
wiser, and all better and happier together.
We made the experiment, and the fruit is be-
fore us. Look at it, think of it. Look at it in its
aggregate grandeur, of extent of country, and
•numbers of population — of ship, and steamboat,
and railroad.
The Missouri Compromise: the Iniquity of Its
Repeal, and the Propriety of Its Restora-
tion.
Speech at Peoria, III., in Reply to Senator
Douglas. October i6, 1854.
On Monday, October 16, Senator Douglas, by appoint-
ment, addressed a large audience at Peoria. When he
closed he was greeted with six hearty cheers, and the
band in attendance played a stirring air. The crowd
then began to call for Lincoln, who, as Judge Douglas
had announced, was by agreement to answer him. Mr.
Lincoln took the stand and said :
I do not rise to speak now, if I can stipulate
with the audience to meet me here at half-past
six or at seven o'clock. It is now several minutes
past five, and Judge Douglas has spoken over
three hours. If you hear me at all, I wish you to
hear me through. It will take me as long as it
has taken him. That will carry us beyond eight
o'clock at night. Now, every one of you who can
i854] MISSOURI COMPROMISE 2i9>
remain that long- can just as well get his supper,
meet me at seven, and remain an hour or two
later. The judge has already informed you that
he is to have an hour to reply to me. I doubt
not but you have been a little surprised to learn
that I have consented to give one of his high
reputation and known ability this advantage of
me. Indeed, my consenting to it, though reluc-
tant, was not wholly unselfish, for I suspected,
if it were understood that the judge was entirely
done, you Democrats would leave and not hear
me : but by giving him the close, I felt confident
you would stay for the fun of hearing him skin
me.
The audience signified their assent to the arrange-
ment, and adjourned to seven o'clock p. m., at which
time they reassembled, and IMr. Lincoln spoke sub-
stantially as follows :
The repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and
the propriety of its restoration, constitute the
subject of what I am about to say. As I desire to
present my own connected view of this subject,
my remarks will not be specifically an answer to
Judge Douglas ; yet, as I proceed, the main points
he has presented will arise, and will receive such
respectful attention as I may be able to give them.
I wish further to say that I do not propose to
question the patriotism or to assail the motives
of any man or class of men, but rather to confine
myself strictly to the naked merits of the ques-
tion. I also wish to be no less than national in
all the positions I may take, and whenever I take
ground v/hich others have thought, or may think,
narrow, sectional, and dangerous to the Union,,
I hope to give a reason which will appear suf-
ficient, at least to some, v/hy I think dififerently.
2 20 EARLY SPEECHES [Oct. i6
And as this subject is no other than part and
parcel of the larger general question of domestic
slavery, I wish to make and keep the distinction
between the existing institution and the extension
of it, so broad and so clear that no honest man
can misunderstand me, and no dishonest one suc-
cessfully misrepresent me.
In order to a clear understanding of what the
Missouri Compromise is, a short history of the
preceding kindred subjects will perhaps be
proper.
When we established our independence, we did
not own or claim the country to which this com-
promise applies. Indeed, strictly speaking, the
Confederacy then owned no country at all ; the
States respectively owned the country within
their limits, and some of them owned territory
beyond their strict State limits. Virginia thus
owned the Northwestern Territory — the country
out of which the principal part of Ohio, all Indi-
ana, all Illinois, all Michigan, and all Wisconsin
have since been formed. She also owned (per-
haps within her then limits) what has since been
formed into the State of Kentucky. North Caro-
lina thus owned what is now the State of Ten-
nessee ; and South Carolina and Georgia owned,
in separate parts, what are now Mississippi and
Alabama. Connecticut, I think, owned the little
remaining part of Ohio, being the same where
they now send Giddings to Congress, and beat
all creation in making cheese.
These territories, together with the States
themselves, constitute all the country over which
the Confederacy then claimed any sort of juris-
diction. We were then living under the Articles
=of Confederation, which were superseded by the
1854] MISSOURI COMPROMISE 221
Constitution several years afterward. The ques-
tion of ceding the territories to the General Gov-
ernment was set on foot. Mr. Jefferson, the au-
thor of the Declaration of Independence, and
otherwise a chief actor in the Revolution ; then
a delegate in Congress ; afterward, twice Presi-
dent ; who was, is, and perhaps will continue to
be, the most distinguished politician of our his-
tory; a Virginian by birth and continued resi-
dence, and withal a slaveholder, — conceived the
idea of taking that occasion to prevent slavery
ever going into the Northwestern Territory. He
prevailed on the Virginia legislature to adopt his
views, and to cede the Territory, making the pro-
hibition of slavery therein a condition of the
deed.* Congress accepted the cession with the
condition; and the first ordinance (which the acts
of Congress were then called) for the govern-
ment of the Territory provided that slavery
should never be permitted therein. This is the
famed "Ordinance of '87," so often spoken of.
Thenceforward for sixty-one years, and until,
in 1848, the last scrap of this Territory came
into the Union as the State of Wisconsin, all
parties acted in quiet obedience to this ordinance.
It is now what Jefferson foresaw and intended —
the happy home of teeming millions of free,
white, prosperous people, and no slave among
them.
Thus, with the author of the Declaration of
Independence, the policy of prohibiting slavery
in new territory originated. Thifs, away back
* Mr. Lincoln afterward authorized the correction of
the error into which the report here falls, with regard
to the prohibition being made a condition of the deed.
It was not a condition (Nicolay and Hay).
22 2 EARLY SPEECHES [Oct. i6
±o the Constitution, in the pure, fresh, free breath
of the Revolution, the State of \'irginia and the
National Congress put that policy into practice.
Thus, through more than sixty of the best years
of the republic, did that policy steadily work to
its great and beneficent end. And thus, in those
five States, and in five millions of free, enter-
prising people, we have before us the rich fruits
of this policy.
But now new light breaks upon us. Xow Con-
gress declares this ought never to have been, and
the like of it must never be again. The sacred
right of self-government is grossly violated by it.
We even find some men who drew their first
breath — and every other breath of their lives —
under this very restriction, now live in dread of
absolute suft"ocation if they should be restricted
in the "sacred right" of taking slaves to Ne-
braska. That perfect liberty they sigh for — the
liberty of making slaves of other people — Jeft'er-
son never thought of, their own fathers never
thought of, they never thought of themselves, a
year ago. How fortunate for them they did not
sooner become sensible of their great misery!
Oh, how difficult it is to treat with respect such
assaults upon all we have ever really held sacred !
But to return to history. In 1803 we pur-
•chased what was then called Louisiana, of
France. It included the present States of Loui-
siana, xA.rkansas, ]\Ii:souri, and Iowa; also the
Territory of ]\linnesota, and the present bone of
contention, K*ansas and Nebraska. Slavery al-
ready existed among the French at New Orleans,,
and to som.e extent at St. Louis. In 181 2 Loui-
siana came into the Union as a slave State with-
out controversy. In 1818 or '19, ^Missouri
i854] MISSOURI COMPROMISE 22 j
showed signs of a wish to come in with slavery.
This was resisted by Northern members of Con-
gress ; and thus began the first great slavery agi-
tation in the nation. This controversy lasted sev-
eral months, and became very angry and exciting,
— the House of Representatives voting steadily
for the prohibition of slavery in INIissouri, and
the Senate voting as steadily against it. Threats
of the breaking up of the Union were freely made,
and the ablest public men of the day became seri-
ously alarmed. At length a compromise was
made, in which, as in all compromises, both sides
yielded something. It was a law, passed on the
6th of March, 1820, providing that Missouri might
come into the Union with slavery, but that in all
the remaining part of the territory purchased of
France, which lies north of thirty-six degrees and
thirty minutes north latitude, slavery should
never be permitted. This provision of law is the
"Missouri Compromise." In excluding slavery
north of the line, the same language is employed
as in the ordinance of 1787. It directly applied
to Iowa, Minnesota, and to the present bone of
contention, Kansas and Nebraska. Whether
there should or should not be slavery south of
that line, nothing was said in the law. But
Arkansas constituted the principal remaining
part south of the line ; and it has since been ad-
mitted as a slave State, without serious contro-
versy. More recently, Iowa, north of the line,
came in as a free State without controversy. Still
later, Minnesota, north of the line, had a terri-
torial organization without controversy. Texas,
principally south of the line, and west of Arkan-
sas, though originally within the i)urchase from
France, had, in 1819, been traded off to Spain in
224 EARLY SPEECHES [Oct. i6
our treaty for the acquisition of Florida. It had
thus become a part of Mexico. Mexico revolu-
tionized and became independent of Spain.
American citizens began settling rapidly with
their slaves in the southern part of Texas. Soon
they revolutionized against Mexico, and estab-
lished an independent government of their own,
adopting a constitution with slavery, strongly re-
sembling the constitutions of our slave States.
By still another rapid move, Texas, claiming a
boundary much further west than when we
parted with her in 1819, was brought back to
the United States, and admitted into the Union
as a slave State. Then there was little or no
settlement in the northern part of Texas, a con-
siderable portion of which lay north of the Mis-
souri line; and in the resolutions admitting her
into the Union, the Missouri restriction was ex-
pressly extended westward across her territory.
This was in 1845, ^^h' ^^^^le years ago.
Thus originated the Missouri Compromise;
and thus has it been respected down to 1845.
And even four years later, in 1849, our distin-
guished senator, in a public address, held the
following language in relation to it :
The Missouri Compromise has been in practical
operation for about a quarter of a century, and has re-
ceived the sanction and approbation of men of all par-
ties in every section of the Union. It has allayed all
sectional jealousies and irritations growing out of this
vexed question, and harmonized and tranquilized the
whole country. It has given to Henry Clay, as its
prominent champion, the proud sobriquet of the "Great
Pacificator," and by that title, and for that service, his
political friends had repeatedly appealed to the people
to rally under his standard as a presidential candidate,
as the man who had exhibited the patriotism and power
i854] MISSOURI COMPROMISE 225
to suppress an unholy and treasonable agitation, and
preserve the Union. He was not aware that any man
or any part3\ from any section of the Union, had ever
urged as an objection to Mr. Clay that he was the great
champion of the Missouri Compromise. On the con-
trary, the effort was made by the opponents of Mr.
Clay to prove that he was not entitled to the exclusive
merit of that great patriotic measure ; and that the
honor was equally due to others, as well as to him, for
securing its adoption — that it had its origin in the
hearts of all patriotic men, who desired to preserve and
perpetuate the blessings of our glorious Union — an
origin akin to that of the Constitution of the United
States, conceived in the same spirit of fraternal affec-
tion, and calculated to remove forever the only danger
which seemed to threaten, at some distant day, to sever
the social bond of union. All the evidences of public
opinion at that day seemed to indicate that this Com-
promise had been canonized in the hearts of the Ameri-
can people, as a sacred thing which no ruthless hand
would ever be reckless enough to disturb.
I do not read this extract to involve Judge
Douglas in an inconsistency. If he afterward
thought he had been wrong, it was right for him
to change. I bring this forward merely to show
the high estimate placed on the Missouri Com-
promise by all parties up to so late as the year
1849.
But going back a little in point of time. Our
war with Mexico broke out in 1846. When Con-
gress was about adjourning that session, Presi-
dent Polk asked them to place two millions of
dollars under his control, to be used by him in
the recess, if found practicable and expedient, in
negotiating a treaty of peace with Mexico, and
acquiring some part of her territory. A bill was
duly gotten up for the purpose, and was pro-
gressing swimmingly in the House of Repre-
sentatives, when a member by the name of David
2 26 EARLY SPEECHES [Oct. i6
Wilmot, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, moved
as an amendment, "Provided, that in any
territory thus acquired there shall never be
slavery."
This is the origin of the far-famed Wilmot
proviso. It created a great flutter; but it stuck
like wax, was voted into the bill, and the bill
passed with it through the House. The Senate,
however, adjourned without final action on it,
and so both appropriation and proviso were lost
for the time. The war continued, and at the next
session the President renewed his request for the
appropriation, enlarging the amount, I think, to
three millions. Again came the proviso, and de-
feated the measure. Congress adjourned again,
and the war went on. In December, 1847, the
new Congress assembled. I was in the lower
House that term. The Wilmot proviso, or the
principle of it, was constantly coming up in some
shape or other, and I think I may venture to say
I voted for it at least forty times during the short
time I was there. The Senate, however, held it
in check, and it never became a law. In the
spring of 1848 a treaty of peace was made with
]\Iexico, by which we obtained that portion of
her country which now constitutes the Territories
of New Mexico and Utah, and the present State
of California. By this treaty the Wilmot proviso
was defeated, in so far as it was intended to be
a condition of the acquisition of territory. Its
friends, however, were still determined _ to find
some way to restrain slavery from getting into
the new country. This new acquisition lay
directly west of our old purchase from France,
and extended west to the Pacific Ocean, and was
so situated that if the Missouri line should be ex-
i854] MISSOURI COMPROMISE 227
tended straight west, the new country would be
divided by such extended line, leaving- some
north and some south of it. On Judge Douglas's
motion, a bill, or provision of a bill, passed the
Senate to so extend the Missouri line. The pro-
viso men in the House, including myself, voted
it down, because, by implication, it gave up the
southern part to slavery, while we were bent on
having it all free.
In the fall of 1848 the gold-mines were dis-
covered in California. This attracted people to
it with unprecedented rapidity, so that on, or
soon after, the meeting of the new Congress in
December, 1849, she already had a population of
nearly a hundred thousand, had called a con-
vention, formed a State Constitution excluding
slavery, and was knocking for admission into the
Union. The proviso men, of course, were for
letting her in, but the Senate, always true to the
other side, would not consent to her admission,
and there California stood, kept out of the Union
because she would not let slavery into her bor-
ders. Under all the circumstances, perhaps, this
was not wrong. There were other points of dis-
pute connected with the general question of
slavery, which equally needed adjustment. The
South clamored for a more efficient fugitive-slave
law. The North clamored for the abolition of
a peculiar species of slave-trade in the District of
Columbia, in connection with which, in view from
the windows of the Capitol, a sort of negro
livery-stable, where droves of negroes were col-
lected, temporarily kept, and finally taken to
Southern markets, precisely like droves of horses,
had been openly maintained for fifty years. Utah
and New Mexico needed territorial governments ;
228 EARLY SPEECHES [Oct. i6
and whether slavery should or should not be pro-
hibited within them was another question. The
indefinite western boundary of Texas was to be
settled. She was a slave State, and consequently
the farther west the slavery men could push her
boundar}', the more slave country they secured ;
and the farther east the slavery opponents could
thrust the boundary back, the less slave ground
was secured. Thus this was just as clearly a
slavery question as an}^ of the others.
These points all needed adjustment, and they
were held up, perhaps wisely, to make them help
adjust one another. The Union now, as in 1820,
was thought to be in danger, and devotion to the
Union rightfully inclined men to yield somewhat
in points, where nothing else could have so in-
clined them. A compromise was finally effected.
The South got their new fugitive-slave law, and
the North got California (by far the best part of
our acquisition from I\Iexico) as a free State.
The South got a provision that New ]\Iexico and
Utah, when admitted as States, ma}^ come in
with or without slavery as they may then choose ;
and the North got the slave-trade abolished in the
District of Columbia. The North got the west-
ern boundary of Texas thrown farther back east-
ward than the South desired ; but, in turn, they
gave Texas ten millions of dollars with which to
pay her old debts. This is the compromise of
1850.
Preceding the presidential election of 1852,
each of the great political parties. Democrats and
Whigs, met in convention and adopted resolu-
tions indorsing the compromise of '50, as a "final-
ity," a final settlement, so far as these parties
could make it so, of all slavery agitation. Pre-
1854] MISSOURI COMPROMISE 229
vious to this, in 185 1, the IlHnois legislature had
indorsed it.-
During this long period of time, Nebraska had
remained substantially an uninhabited country,
but now emigration to and settlement within it
began to take place. It is about one third as large
as the present United States, and its importance,
so long overlooked, begins to come to view. The
restriction of slavery by the Missouri Compro-
mise directly applies to it — in fact was first made,
and has since been maintained, expressly for it.
In 1853. a bill to give it a territorial government
passed the House of Representatives, and, in the
hands of Judge Douglas, failed of passing only
for want of time. This bill contained no repeal
of the Missouri Compromise. Indeed, when it
was assailed because it did not contain such re-
peal, Judge Douglas defended it in its existing
form. On January 4, 1854, Judge Douglas in-
troduces a new bill to give Nebraska territorial
government. He accompanies this bill with a
report, in which last he expressly recommends
that the Missouri Compromise shall neither be af-
firmed nor repealed. Before long the bill is so
modified as to make two territories instead of
one, calling the southern one Kansas.
Also, about a month after the introduction of
the bill on the judge's own motion it is so
amended as to declare the Missouri Compromise
inoperative and void ; and, substantially, that the
people who go and settle there may establish
slavery, or exclude it, as they may see fit. In
this shape the bill passed both branches of Con-
gress and became a law.
This is the repeal of the Missouri Compromise.
The foregoing history may not be precisely ac-
230 EARLY SPEECHES [Oct. i&
curate in every particular, but I am sure it is suf-
ficiently so for all the use I shall attempt to make
of it, and in it we have before us the chief ma-
terial enabling us to judge correctly whether the
repeal of the Missouri Compromise is right or
wrong. I think, and shall try to show, that it is
wrong — wrong in its direct effect, letting slavery
into Kansas and Nebraska, and wrong in its
prospective principle, allowing it to spread to
every other part of the wide world where men can
be found inclined to take it.
This declared indifference, but, as I must
think, covert real zeal, for the spread of slavery,
I cannot but hate. I hate it because of the mon-
strous injustice of slavery itself. I hate it because
it deprives our republican example of its just in-
fluence in the world ; enables the enemies of free
institutions with plausibility to taunt us as hypo-
crites ; causes the real friends of freedom to doubt
our sincerity; and especially because it forces so
many good men among ourselves into an open
war with the very fundamental principles of civil
liberty, criticising the Declaration of Independ-
ence, and insisting that there is no right principle
of action but self-interest.
Before proceeding let me say that I think I
have no prejudice against the Southern people.
They are just what we would be in their situa-
tion. If slavery did not now exist among them,
they would not introduce it. If it did now exist
among us, we should not instantly give it up.
This I believe of the masses North and South.
Doubtless there are individuals on both sides who
would not hold slaves under any circumstances,
and others who would gladly introduce slavery
anew if it were out of existence. We know that
1854] MISSOURI COMPROMISE 231
some Southern men do free their slaves, go
North anci become tip-top abolitionists, while
some Northern ones go South and become most
cruel slave-masters.
When Southern people tell us they are no more
responsible for the origin of slavery than we are,
I acknowledge the fact. When it is said that the
institution exists, and that it is very difficult to
get rid of it in any satisfactory way, I can un-
derstand and appreciate the saying. I surely will
not blame them for not doing what I should not
know how to do myself. If all earthly power
were given me, I should not knov*^ what to do as
to the existing institution. My first impulse
would be to free all the slaves, and send them to
Liberia, to their own native land. But a moment's
reflection would convince me that whatever of
high hope (as I think there is) there may be in
this in the long run, its sudden execution is im-
possible. If they were all landed there in a day,
they would all perish in the next ten days ; and
there are not surplus shipping and surplus money
enough to carry them there in many times ten
days. What then ? Free them all, and keep them
among us as underlings ? Is it quite certain that
this betters their condition? I think I would not
hold one in slavery at any rate, yet the point is
not clear enough for me to denounce people
upon. W'hat next? Free them, and make them
politically and socially our equals. My own feel-
ings will not admit of this, and if mine would,
we well know that those of the great mass of
whites will not. Whether this feeling accords
with justice and sound judgment is not the sole
question, if indeed it is any part of it. A uni-
versal feeling, whether well or ill founded, can-
232
EARLY SPEECHES [Oct. i6
not be safely disregarded. We cannot then make
them equals. It does seem to me that systems of
gradual emancipation maght be adopted, but for
their tardiness in this I will not undertake to
judge our brethren of the South.
A\'hen they remind us of their constitutional
rights, I acknowledge them — not grudgingly, but
fully and fairly ; and I would give them any legis-
lation for the reclaiming of their fugitives which
should not in its stringency be more likely to carry
a free man into slavery than our ordinary crimi-
nal laws are to hang an innocent one.
But all this, to my judgment, furnishes no
more excuse for permitting slavery to go into our
own free territory than it would for reviving the
African slave-trade by law. The law which for-
bids the bringing of slaves from Africa, and that
which has so long forbidden the taking of them
into Nebraska, can hardly be distinguished on
any moral principle, and the repeal of the former
could find quite as plausible excuses as that of the
latter.
The arguments by which the repeal of the ]\Iis-
souri Compromise is sought to be justified are
these : First. That the Nebraska country needed
a territorial government. Second. That in vari-
ous ways the public had repudiated that compro-
mise and demanded the repeal, and therefore
should not now complain of it. And. lastly. That
the repeal establishes a principle which is intrin-
sically right.
I will attempt an answer to each of them in its
turn. First then. If that country was in need of
a territorial organization, could it not have had it
as well without as with a repeal ? Iowa and yUn-
nesota, to both of which the ^Missouri restriction
i8s4] MISSOURI COMPROMISE 233
applied, had, without its repeal, each in succes-
sion, territorial organizations. And even the
year before, a bill for Nebraska itself was within
an ace of passing without the repealing clause,
and this in the hands of the same men who are
now the champions of repeal. Why no necessity
then for repeal? But still later, when this very
bill was first brought in, it contained no repeal.
But, say they, because the people had demanded,
or rather commanded, the repeal, the repeal was
to accompany the organization whenever that
should occur.
Now, I deny that the public ever demanded
any such thing — ever repudiated the Missouri
Compromise, ever commanded its repeal. I deny
it, and call for the proof. It is not contended, I
believe, that any such command has ever been
given in express terms. It is only said that it
was done in principle. The support of the Wil-
mot proviso is the first fact mentioned to prove
that the Missouri restriction was repudiated in
principle, and the second is the refusal to extend
the Missouri line over the country acquired from
]\Iexico. These are near enough alike to be treated
together. The one was to exclude the chances of
slavery from the whole new acquisition by the
lump, and the other was to reject a division of
it, by which one half was to be given up to those
chances. Now, whether this was a repudiation
of the Missouri line in principle depends upon
whether the Missouri law contained any principle
requiring the line to be extended over the coun-
try acquired from Mexico. I contend it did not.
I insist that it contained no general principle, but
that it was, in every sense, specific. That its
terms limit it to the country purchased from
234 EARLY SPEECHES [Oct. i6
France is undenied and undeniable. It could
have no principle beyond the intention of those
who made it. They did not intend to extend the
line to country which they did not own. If they
intended to extend it in the event of acquiring
additional territory, why did they not say so?
It was just as easy to say that "in all the country
west of the Mississippi which we now own, or
may hereafter acc[uire, there shall never be
slavery," as to say what they did say; and they
would have said it if they had meant it. An in-
tention to extend the law is not only not men-
tioned in the law, but is not mentioned in any con-
temporaneous history. Both the law itself, and
the history of the times, are a blank as to any
principle of extension ; and by neither the known
rules of construing statutes and contracts, nor
by common sense, can any such principle be in-
ferred.
Another fact showing the specific character
of the [Missouri law — showing that it intended no
more than it expressed, showing that the line v/as
not intended as a universal dividing line between
free and slave territory, present and prospective,
north of which slavery could never go — is the
fact that by that very law Missouri came in as a
slave State, north of the line. If that law con-
tained any prospective principle, the whole law
must be looked to in order to ascertain what the
principle was. And by this rule the South could
fairly contend that inasmuch as they got one slave
State north of the line at the inception of the
law, they have the right to have another given
them north of it occasionally, now and then, in
the indefinite westward extension of the line.
This demonstrates the absurdity of attempting to
i854] MISSOURI COMPROMISE 235
deduce a prospective principle from the Missouri
Compromise line.
When we voted for the Wilmot proviso we
were voting to keep slavery out of the whole
Mexican acquisition, and little did we think we
were thereby voting- to let it into Nebraska, lying
several hundred miles distant. When we voted
against extending the INIissouri line, little did we
think we were voting to destroy the old line, then
of near thirty years' standing.
To argue that we thus repudiated the â– Missouri
Compromise is no less absurd than it would be
to argue that because we have so far forborne to
acquire Cuba, we have thereby, in principle, re-
pudiated our former acquisitions and determined
to throw them out of the Union. No less absurd
than it would be to say that because I may have
refused to build an addition to my house, I there-
by have decided to destroy the existing house !
And if I catch you setting fire to my house, you
will turn upon me and say I instructed you to do
it!
The most conclusive argument, however, that
while for the Wilmot proviso, and while voting
against the extension of the Missouri line, we
never thought of disturbing the original Mis-
souri Compromise, is found in the fact that there
was then, and still is, an unorganized tract of fine
country, nearly as large as the State of Missouri,
lying immediately west of Arkansas and south of
the ^lissouri Compromise line, and that we never
attempted to prohibit slavery as to it. I wish
particular attention to this. It adjoins the origi-
nal Missouri Compromise line by its northern
boundary, and consequently is part of the coun-
try into which by implication slavery was per-
236 EARLY SPEECHES [Oct. 16
mitted to go by that compromise. There it has
lain open ever since, and there it still lies, and
yet no effort has been made at any time to wrest
it from the South. In all our struggles to pro-
hibit slavery within our Mexican acquisitions, we
never so much as lifted a finger to prohibit it as
to this tract. Is not this entirely conclusive that
at all times we have held the Missouri Compro-
mise as a sacred thing, even when against our-
selves as well as when for us?
Senator Douglas sometimes says the Missouri
line itself was in principle only an extension of
the line of the ordinance of '87 — that is to say,
an extension of the Ohio River. I think this is
weak enough on its face. I will remark, how-
ever, that, as a glance at the map will show, the
Missouri line is a long way farther south than the
Ohio, and that if our senator in proposing his ex-
tension had stuck to the principle of jogging
southward, perhaps it might not have been voted
down so readily.
But next it is said that the compromises of '50,
and the ratification of them by both political
parties in '52, established a new principle which
required the repeal of the Missouri Compromise.
This again I deny. I deny it, and demand the
proof. I have already stated fully what the com-
promises of '50 are. That particular part of
those measures from which the virtual repeal of
the Missouri Compromise is sought to be in-
ferred (for it is admitted they contain nothing
about it in express terms) is the provision in the
Utah and New Mexico laws which permits them
when they seek admission into the Union as
States to come in with or without slavery, as they
shall then see fit. Now I insist this provision
â– i834] MISSOURI COMPROMISE 237
was made for Utah and New INIexico, and for no
other place whatever. It had no more direct
reference to Nebraska than it had to the terri-
tories of the moon. But, say they, it had refer-
ence to Nebraska in principle. Let us see. The
North consented to this provision, not because
they considered it right in itself, but because they
were compensated — paid for it.
They at the same time got California into the
Union as a free State, This was far the best
part of all they had struggled for by the Wilmot
proviso. They also got the area of slavery some-
what narrowed in the settlement of the boundary
of Texas. Also they got the slave-trade abol-
ished in the District of Columbia.
For all these desirable objects the North could
afford to yield something; and they did yield to
the South the Utah and New Mexico provision.
I do not mean that the whole North, or even a
majority, yielded, when the law passed ; but
enough yielded, when added to the vote of the
South, to carry the measure. Nor can it be pre-
tended that the principle of this arrangement
requires us to permit the same provision to be
applied to Nebraska, without any equivalent at
all. Give us another free State ; press the
boundary of Texas still further back ; give us
another step toward the destruction of slavery
in the District, and you present us a similar case.
But ask us not to repeat, for nothing, what you
paid for in the first instance. If you wish the
thing again, pay again. That is the principle of
the compromises of '50, if. indeed, they had any
principles beyond their specific terms — it was the
system of equivalents.
Again, if Congress, at that time, intended that
238 EARLY SPEECHES [Oct. 16
all future Territories should, when admitted as
States, come in with or without slavery, at their
own option, why did it not say so? With such a
universal provision, all know the bills could not
have passed. Did they, then — could they — estab-
lish a principle contrary to their own intention?
Still further, if they intended to establish the
principle that, whenever Congress had control,
it should be left to the people to do as they
thought fit with slavery, why did they not author-
ize the people of the District of Columbia,
at their option, to abolish slavery within their
limits ?
I personally know that this has not been left
undone because it was unthought of. It was
frequently spoken of by members of Congress,
and by citizens of Washington, six years ago ;
and I heard no one express a doubt that a sys-
tem of gradual emancipation, with compensation
to owners, would meet the approbation of a large
majority of the white people of the District. But
without the action of Congress they could say
nothing; and Congress said "No." In the meas-
ures of 1850, Congress had the subject of slavery
in the District expressly on hand. If they were
then establishing the principle of allowing the
people to do as they please with slavery, why
did they not apply the principle to that people ?
Again, it is claimed that by the resolutions of
the Illinois legislature, passed in 1851, the repeal
of the Missouri Compromise was demanded.
This I deny also. Whatever may be worked out
by a criticism of the language of those resolu-
tions, the people have never understood them as
being any more than an indorsement of the com-
promises of 1850, and a release of our senators
i8s4] MISSOURI COMPROMISE 239
from voting for the Wilmot proviso. The whole
people are living- witnesses that this only was
their view. Finally, it is asked. "If we did not
mean to apply the Utah and New Mexico pro-
vision to all future Territories, what did we mean
when we, in 1852, indorsed the compromises of
1850?"
For myself I can answer this question most
easily. I meant not to ask a repeal or modifica-
tion of the fugitive-slave law. I meant not to
ask for the abolition of slavery in the District of
Columbia. I meant not to resist the admission
of Utah and New Mexico, even should they ask
to come in as slave States. I meant nothing
about additional Territories, because, as I under-
stood, we then had no Territory whose character
as to slavery was not already settled. As to
Nebraska, I regarded its character as being fixed
by the Missouri Compromise for thirty years —
as unalterably fixed as that of my own home in
Illinois. As to new acquisitions, I said, "Suf-
ficient unto the day is the evil thereof." When
we make new acquisitions, we will, as heretofore,
try to manage them somehow. That is my an-
swer ; that is what I meant and said ; and I appeal
to the people to say each for himself, whether
that is not also the universal meaning of the free
States.
And now, in turn, let me ask a few questions.
If, by any or all these matters, the repeal of the
Missouri Compromise was commanded, why was
not the command sooner obeyed? Why was the
repeal omitted in the Nebraska bill of 1853?
Why was it omitted in the original bill of 1854?
Why in the accompanying report was such a re-
peal characterized as a departure from the course
240 EARLY SPEECHES [Oct. x6
pursued in 1850? and its continued omission
recommended ?
I am aware Judge Douglas now argues that
the subsequent express repeal is no substantial
alteration of the bill. This argument seems won-
derful to me. It is as if one should argue that
white and black are not different. He admits,
however, that there is a literal change in the bill,
and that he made the change in deference to other
senators who would not support the bill without.
This proves that those other senators thought
the change a substantial one, and that the judge
thought their opinions worth deferring to. His
own opinions, therefore, seem not to rest on a
very firm basis, even in his own mind ; and I sup-
pose the world believes, and will continue to be-
lieve, that precisely on the substance of that
change this whole agitation has arisen.
I conclude, then, that the public never de-
manded the repeal of the Missouri Compromise.
I now come to consider whether the repeal,
with its avowed principles, is intrinsically right.
I insist that it is not. Take the particular case.
A controversy had arisen between the advocates
and opponents of slavery, in relation to its es-
tablishment within the country we had purchased
of France. The southern, and then best, part of
the purchase was already in as a slave State.
The controversy was settled by also letting Mis-
souri in as a slave State ; but with the agreement
that within all the remaining part of the pur-
chase, north of a certain line, there should never
be slavery. As to what was to be done with the
remaining part south of the line, nothing was
said ; but perhaps the fair implication was, it
should came in with slavery if it should so choose.
1854] MISSOURI COMPROMISE 241
The southern part, except a portion heretofore
mentioned, afterward did come in with slavery,
as the State of Arkansas. All these many years,
since 1820, the northern part had remained a
wilderness. At length settlements began in it
also. In due course Iowa came in as a free State,
and Minnesota was given a territorial govern-
ment, without removing the slavery restriction.
Finally, the sole remaining part north of the line
— Kansas and Nebraska — was to be organized ;
and it is proposed, and carried, to blot out the old
dividing line of thirty-four years' standing, and
to open the whole of that country to the introduc-
tion of slavery. Now this, to my mind, is mani-
festly unjust. After an angry and dangerous
controversy, the parties made friends by dividing
the bone of contention. The one party first ap-
propriates her own share, beyond all power to be
disturbed in the possession of it, and then seizes
the share of the other party. It is as if two starv-
ing men had divided their only loaf; the one had
hastily swallowed his half, and then grabbed the
other's half just as he was putting it to his mouth.
Let me here drop the main argument, to notice
what I consider rather an inferior matter. It is
argued that slavery will not go to Kansas and
Nebraska, in any event. This is a palliation, a
lullaby. I have some hope that it will not ; but
let us not be too confident. As to climate, a
glance at the map shows that there are five slave
States — Delaware, Alaryland, Virginia, Ken-
tucky, and ]\Iissouri, and also the District of Co-
lumbia, all north of the ]\Iissouri Compromise
line. The census returns of 1850 show that with-
in these there are eight hundred and sixty-seven
thousand two hundred and seventy-six slaves, be-
242 EARLY SPEECHES [Oct. i6
ing more than one fourth of all the slaves in the
nation.
It is not climate, then, that will keep slavery-
out of these Territories. Is there anything in the
peculiar nature of the country? ]\Iissouri ad-
joins these Territories by her entire western
boundary, and slavery is already within every
one of her western counties. I have even heard
it said that there are more slaves in proportion
to whites in the northwestern county of Alissouri,
than within any other county in the State.
Slavery pressed entirely up to the old western
boundary of the State, and when rather recently
a part of that boundary at the northwest was
moved out a little farther west, slavery followed
on quite up to the new line. Now when the re-
striction is removed, what is to prevent it from
going still farther? Climate will not, no peculi-
arity of the country will, nothing in nature will.
Will the disposition of the people prevent it?
Those nearest the scene are all in favor of the
extension. The Yankees who are opposed to it
may be most numerous ; but, in military phrase,
the battle-field is too far from their base of oper-
ations.
But it is said, there now is no law in Nebraska
on the subject of slavery, and that, in such case,
taking a slave there operates his freedom. That
is good book-law, but is not the rule of actual
practice. Wherever slavery is it has been first
introduced without law. The oldest laws we find
concerning it are not laws introducing it, but
regulating it as an already existing thing. A
white man takes his slave to Nebraska now. Who
will inform the negro that he is free ? Who will
take him before court to test the question of
1854] MISSOURI COMPROMISE 243
his freedom? In ignorance of his legal emanci-
pation he is kept chopping, splitting, and plowing.
Others are brought, and move on in the same
track. At last, if ever the time for voting comes
on the question of slavery, the institution already,
in fact, exists in the country, and cannot well be
removed. The fact of its presence, and the diffi-
culty of its removal, will carry the vote in its
favor. Keep it out until a vote is taken, and a
vote in favor of it cannot be got in any popula-
tion of forty thousand on earth, who have been
drawn together by the ordinary motives of emi-
gration and settlement. To get slaves into the
Territory simultaneously with the whites in the
incipient stages of settlement is the precise stake
played for and won in this Nebraska measure.
The question is asked us : "If slaves will go in
notwithstanding the general principle of law
liberates them, why would they not equally go in
against positive statute law — go in, even if the
Missouri restriction were maintained?" I an-
swer, because it takes a much bolder man to ven-
ture in with his property in the latter case than
in the former ; because the positive congressional
enactment is known to and respected by all, or
nearly all, whereas the negative principle that no
law is free law is not much known except among
lawyers. We have some experience of this prac-
tical difference. In spite of the ordinance of '8y,
a few negroes were brought into Illinois, and
held in a state of quasi-slavery, not enough, how-
ever, to carry a vote of the people in favor of the
institution when they came to form a constitution.
But into the adjoining Missouri country, where
there was no ordinance of '87 — was no restric-
tion, they were carried ten times, nay, a hundred
244
EARLY SPEECHES [Oct. i6
times, as fast, and actually made a slave State.
This is fact — naked fact.
Another lullaby argument is that taking slaves
to new countries does not increase their number,
does not make any one slave who would other-
wise be free. There is some truth in this, and I
am glad of it; but it is not wholly true. The
African slave-trade is not yet effectually sup-
pressed ; and if we make a reasonable deduction
for the white people among us who are
foreigners and the descendants of foreigners
arriving here since 1808, we shall find the in-
crease of the black population outrunning that of
the white to an extent unaccountable, except by
supposing that some of them, too, have been com-
ing from Africa. If this be so, the opening of
new countries to the institution increases the de-
mand for and augments the price of slaves, and
so does, in fact, make slaves of freemen, by caus-
ing them to be brought from Africa and sold into
bondage.
But however this may be, we know the open-
ing of new countries to slavery tends to the per-
petuation of the institution, and so does keep men
in slavery who would otherwise be free. This re-
sult we do not feel like favoring, and we are un-
der no legal obligation to suppress our feelings in
this respect.
Equal justice to the South, it is said, requires
us to consent to the extension of slavery to new
countries. That is to say, inasmuch as you do
not object to my taking my hog to Nebraska,
therefore I must not object to you taking your
slave. Now, I admit that this is perfectly logi-
cal, if there is no difference between hogs and
negroes. But while you thus require me to deny
1854] MISSOURI COMPROMISE 245
the humanity of the negro, I wish to ask whether
you of the South, yourselves, have ever been will-
ing to do as much ? It is kindly provided that of
all those who come into the world only a small
percentage are natural tyrants. That percentage
is no larger in the slave States than in the free.
The great majority South, as well as North, have
human sympathies, of which they can no more
divest themselves than they can of their sensi-
bility to physical pain. These sympathies in the
bosoms of the Southern people manifest, in many
ways, their sense of the wrong of slavery, and
their consciousness that, after all, there is human-
ity in the negro. If they deny this, let me ad-
dress them a few plain question";. In 1820 you
joined the North, almost unanimously, in declar-
ing the African slave-trade piracy, and in annex-
ing to it the punishment of death. Why did you
do this ? If you did not feel that it was wrong,
why did you join in providing that men should be
hung for it? The practice was no more than
bringing wild negroes from Africa to such as
would buy them. But you never thought of
hanging men for catching and selling wild horses,
wild buffaloes, or wild bears.
Again, you have among you a sneaking indi-
vidual of the class of native tyrants known as the
"Slave-Dealer." He watches your necessities,
and crawls up to buy your slave, at a speculating
price. If you cannot help it, you sell to him ;
but if you can help it, you drive him from your
door. You despise him utterly. You do not rec-
ognize him as a friend, or even as an honest man.
Your children must not play with his ; they may
rollick freely with the little negroes, but not with
the slave-dealer's children. If you are obliged to
246 EARLY SPEECHES [Oct. i6
deal with him, you try to get through the job
without so much as touching him. It is common
with you to join hands with the men you meet,
"but with the slave-dealer you avoid the ceremony
— instinctively shrinking from the snaky contact.
If he grows rich and retires from business, you
still remember him, and still keep up the ban of
non-intercourse upon him and his family. Now
why is this? You do not so treat the man who
deals in corn, cotton, or tobacco.
And yet again. There are in the United States
and Territories, including the District of Colum-
bia, 433,643 free blacks. At five hundred dol-
lars per head they are worth over two hundred
millions of dollars. How comes this vast amount
of property to be running about without owners ?
We do not see free horses or free cattle running
at large. How is this? All these free blacks
are the descendants of slaves, or have been slaves
themselves ; and they would be slaves now but
for something which has operated on their white
owners, inducing them at vast pecuniary sacrifice
to liberate them. What is that something? Is
there any mistaking it? In all these cases it is
your sense of justice and human sympathy con-
tinually telling you that the poor negro has some
natural right to himself — that those who deny
it and make mere merchandise of him deserve
kickings, contempt, and death.
And now why will you ask us to deny the
humanity of the slave, and estimate him as only
the equal of the hog? Why ask us to do what
you will not do yourselves? Why ask us to do
for nothing what two hundred millions of dollars
could not induce you to do?
But one great argument in support of the re-
1854] MISSOURI COMPROMISE 247
peal of the Missouri Compromise is still to come.
That argument is "the sacred right of self-gov-
ernment." It seems our distinguished senator
^as found great difficulty in getting his antago-
nists, even in the Senate, to meet him fairly on
this argument. Some poet* has said :
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
At the hazard of being thought one of the fools
of this quotation, I meet that argument — I rush
in — I take that bull by the horns. I trust I under-
stand and truly estimate the right of self-govern-
ment. My faith in the proposition that each man
should do precisely as he pleases with all which
is exclusively his own lies at the foundation of
the sense of justice there is in me. I extend the
principle to communities of men as well as to in-
dividuals. I so extend it because it is politically
wise, as well as naturally just: politically wise in
saving us from broils about matters which do not
concern us. Here, or at Washington, I would
not trouble myself with the oyster laws of Vir-
ginia,_ or the cranberry laws of Indiana. The
doctrine of self-government is right, — absolutely
and eternally right, — but it has no just applica-
tion as here attempted. Or perhaps I should
rather say that whether it has such application
depends upon whether a negro is not or is a man.
If he is not a man, in that case he who is a man
may as a matter of self-government do just what
he pleases with him. But if the negro is a man,
is it not to that extent a total destruction of self-
government to say that he too shall not govern
himself? When the white man governs himself,
.* Alexander Pope, in "Essay on Criticism."
248 EARLY SPEECHES [Oct. 16
that is self-government ; but when he governs
himself and also governs another man, that is
more than self-government — that is despotism.
If the negro is a man, why then my ancient faith
teaches me that "all men are created equal," and
that there can be no moral right in connection
w'ith one man's making a slave of another.
Judge Douglas frequently, with bitter irony
and sarcasm, paraphrases our argument by say-
ing: "The white people of Nebraska are good
enough to govern themselves, but they are not
good enough to govern a few miserable ne-
groes !"
Well ! I doubt not that the people of Nebraska
are and will continue to be as good as the average
of people elsewhere. I do not say the contrary.
What I do say is that no man is good enough to
govern another man without that other's consent.
I say this is the leading principle, the sheet-
anchor of American republicanism. Our Decla-
ration of Independence says :
We hold these truths to be self-evident : That all
men are created equal ; that they are endowed b}^ their
Creator with certain inalienable rights ; that among
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
That to secure these rights, governments are instituted
among men, deriving their just powers from the
CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED.
I have quoted so much at this time merely to
show that, according to our ancient faith, the just
powers of governments are derived from the con-
sent of the governed. Now the relation of master
and slave is pro tanto a total violation of this
principle. The master not only governs the slave
without his consent, but he governs him by a set
of rules altogether different from those which he
iS54] MISSOURI COMPROMISE 249
prescribes for himself. Allow all the p^overned
an equal voice in the government, and that, and
that only, is self-government.
Let it not be said I am contending for the es-
tablishment of political and social equality be-
tween the whites and blacks. I have already
said the contrary. I am not combating the argu-
ment of necessity, arising from the fact that the
blacks are already among us ; but I am combating
what is set up as moral argument for allowing
them to be taken where they have never yet been
— arguing against the extension of a bad thing,
which, where it already exists, we must of neces-
sity manage as we best can.
In support of his application of the doctrine of
self-government, Senator Douglas has sought to
bring to his aid the opinions and examples of our
Revolutionary fathers. I am glad he has done
this. I love the sentiments of those old-time men,
and shall be most happy to abide by their opin-
ions. He shows us that when it was in contem-
plation for the colonies to break off from Great
Britain, and set up a new government for them-
selves, several of the States instructed their dele-
gates to go for the measure, provided each State
should be allowed to regulate its domestic con-
cerns in its own way. I do not quote ; but this
in substance. This was right ; I see nothing ob-
jectionable in it. I also think it probable that it
had some reference to the existence of slavery
among them. I will not deny that it had. But
had it any reference to the carrying of slavery
into new countries ? That is the question, and we
will let the fathers themselves answer it.
This same generation of men, and mostly the
same individuals of the generation who declared
25© EARLY SPEECHES [Oct. i6
this principle, who declared independence, who
fought the war of the Revolution through, who
afterward made the Constitution under which
we still live — these same men passed the ordi-
nance of '87, declaring that slavery should never
go to the Xorthwest Territory. I have no doubt
Judge Douglas thinks they were very inconsist-
ent in this. It is a question of discrimination be-
tween them and him. But there is not an inch of
ground left for his claiming that their opinions,
their example, their authority, are on his side in
the controversy.
Again, is not Nebraska, while a Territory, a
part of us? Do we not own the country? And
if we surrender the control of it, do we not sur-
render the right of self-government? It is part
of ourselves. If you say we shall not control it,
because it is only part, the same is true of every
other part ; and when all the parts are gone,
what has become of the whole? What is then
left of us? What use for the General Govern-
ment, when there is nothing left for it to govern ?
But you say this question should be left to the
people of Nebraska, because they are more par-
ticularly interested. If this be the rule, you must
leave it to each individual to say for himself
whether he will have slaves. What better moral
right have thirty-one citizens of Nebraska to say
that the thirty-second shall not hold slaves than
the people of the thirty-one States have to say
that slavery shall not go into the thirty-second
State at all?
But if it is a sacred right for the people of
Nebraska to take and hold slaves there, it is
equally their sacred right to buy them where they
can buy them cheapest; and that, undoubtedly.
i8s4] MISSOURI COMPROMISE 251
will be on the coast of Africa, provided you will
consent not to hang them for going thero- to buy
them.. You must remove this restriction, too,
from the sacred right of self-government. I am
aware, you say, that taking slaves from the States
to Nebraska does not make slaves of freemen;
but the African slave-trader can say just as much.
He does not catch free negroes and bring them
here. He finds them already slaves in the hands
of their black captors, and he honestly buys them
at the rate of a red cotton handkerchief a head.
This is very cheap, and it is a great abridgment
of the sacred right of self-government to hang
men for engaging in this profitable trade.
Another important objection to this application
of the right of self-government is that it enables
the first few to deprive the succeeding many of
a free exercise of the right of self-government.
The first few may get slavery in, and the subse-
quent many cannot easily get it out. How com-
mon is the remark now in the slave States, "If
we were only clear of our slaves, how much bet-
ter it would be for us." They are actually de-
prived of the privilege of governing themselves
as they would, by the action of a very few in
the beginning. The same thing was true of the
whole nation at the time our Constitution was
formed.
Whether slavery shall go into Nebraska, or
other new Territories, is not a matter of exclusive
concern to the people who may go there. The
whole nation is interested that the best use shall
be made of these Territories. We want them
for homes of free white people. This they can-
not be, to any considerable extent, if slavery shall
be planted within them. Slave States are places
252
EARLY SPEECHES [Oct. i6
for poor white people to remove from, not to re-
move to. New free States are the places for
poor people to go to, and better their condition.
For this use the nation needs these Territories.
Still further : there are constitutional relations
between the slave and free States which are de-
grading to the latter. We are under legal obliga-
tions to catch and return their runaway slaves
to them : a sort of dirty, disagreeable job, which,
I believe, as a general rule, the slaveholders will
not perform for one another. Then again, in the
control of the government — the management of
the partnership affairs — they have greatly the
advantage of us. By the Constitution each State
has two senators, each has a number of repre-
sentatives in proportion to the number of its
people, and each has a number of presidential
electors equal to the whole number of its sena-
tors and representatives together. But in ascer-
taining the number of the people for this purpose,
five slaves are counted as being equal to three
whites. The slaves do not vote ; they are only
counted and so used as to swell the influence of
the white people's votes. The practical effect of
this is more aptly shown by a comparison of the
States of South Carolina and Maine. South
Carolina has six representatives, and so has
Maine ; South Carolina has eight presidential
electors, and so has Maine. This is precise equal-
ity so far ; and of course they are equal in sena-
tors, each having two. Thus in the control of
the government the two States are equals pre-
cisely. But how are they in the number of their
white people? Maine has 581,813, while South
Carolina has 274,567; Maine has twice as many
as South Carolina, and 32,679 over. Thus, each
i8s4] MISSOURI COMPROMISE 25^
o
white man in South CaroHna is more than the
double of any man in Maine. This is all because
South Carolina, besides her free people, has 384,-
984 slaves. The South Carolinian has precisely
the same advantage over the white man in every
other free State as well as in Maine. He is more
than the double of any one of us in this crowd.
The same advantage, but not to the same extent,
is held by all the citizens of the slave States over
those of the free ; and it is an absolute truth, with-
out an exception, that there is no voter in any
slave State, but who has more legal power in the
government than any voter in any free State.
There is no instance of exact equality; and the
disadvantage is against us the whole chapter
through. This principle, in the aggregate, gives
the slave States in the present Congress twenty
additional representatives, being seven more than
the whole majority by which they passed the
^\"ebraska bill.
Now all this is manifestly unfair ; yet I do not
mention it to complain of it, in so far as it is al-
ready settled. It is in the Constitution, and I do
not for that cause, or any other cause, propose
to destroy, or alter, or disregard the Constitution.
I stand to it, fairly, fully, and firmly.
But when I am told I must leave it altogether
to other people to say whether new partners are
to be bred up and brought into the firm, on the
same degrading terms against me, I respectfully
demur. I insist that whether I shall be a whole
man, or only the half of one, in comparison with
others, is a question in which I am somewhat
concerned, and one which no other man can have
a sacred right of deciding for me. If I am wrong
in this — if it really be a sacred right of self-gov-
254 EARLY SPEECHES [Oct. i6
ernment in the man who shall go to Nebraska to
decide whether he will be the equal of me or the
double of me, then, after he shall have exercised
that right, and thereby shall have reduced me to
a still smaller fraction of a man than I already
am, I should like for some gentleman, deeply
skilled in the mysteries of sacred rights, to pro-
vide himself with a microscope, and peep about,
and find out, if he can, what has become of my
sacred rights. They wall surely be too small for
detection with the naked eye.
Finally, I insist that if there is anything which
it is the duty of the whole people to never intrust
to any hands but their own, that thing is the
preservation and perpetuity of their own liberties
and institutions. And if they shall think, as I
do, that the extension of slavery endangers them
more than any or all other causes, how recreant
to themselves if they submit the question, and
with it the fate of their country, to a mere hand-
ful of men bent only on self-interest. If this
question of slavery extension were an insignifi-
cant one — one having no power to do harm — it
might be shuffled aside in this way ; but being, as
it is, the great Behemoth of danger, shall the
strong grip of the nation be loosened upon him,
to intrust him to the hands of such feeble
keepers ?
I have done with this mighty argument of
self-government. Go, sacred thing ! Go in
peace.
But Nebraska is urged as a great Union-sav-
ing measure. Well, I too go for saving the
Union. Much as I hate slavery, I would consent
to the extension of it rather than see the Union
dissolved, just as I would consent to any great evil
i8s4] MISSOURI COMPROMISE 255
to avoid a greater one. But when I go to Union-
saving, I must believe, at least, that the means I
employ have some adaptation to the end. To my
mind, Nebraska has no such adaptation.
It hath no relish of salvation in it.
It is an aggravation, rather, of the only one thing
which ever endangers the Union. When it came
upon us, all was peace and quiet. The nation
was looking to the forming of new bonds of
union, and a long course of peace and prosperity
seemed to lie before us. In the whole range of
possibility, there scarcely appears to me to have
been anything out of which the slavery agitation
could have been revived, except the very project
of repealing the Missouri Compromise. Every
inch of territory we owned already had a definite
settlement of the slavery question, by which all
parties were pledged to abide. Indeed, there was
no uninhabited country on the continent which
we could acquire, if we except some extreme
northern regions which are wholly out of the
question.
In this state of affairs the Genius of Discord
himself could scarcely have invented a way of
again setting us by the ears but by turning back
and destroying the peace measures of the past.
The counsels of that Genius seem to have pre-
vailed. The Missouri Compromise was repealed ;
and here we are in the midst of a new slavery
agitation, such, I think, as we have never seen be-
fore. Who is responsible for this? Is it those
who resist the measure, or those who causelessly
brought it forward and pressed it through, hav-
ing reason to know, and in fact knowing, it must
and would be so resisted? It could not but be
256 EARLY SPEECHES [Oct. 16
expected by its author that it would be looked
upon as a measure for the extension of slavery,
aggravated by a gross breach of faith.
Argue as you will and long as you will, this is
the naked front and aspect of the measure. And
in this aspect it could not but produce agitation.
Slavery is founded in the selfishness of man's
nature — opposition to it in his love of justice.
These principles are in eternal antagonism, and
when brought into collision so fiercely as slavery
extension brings them, shocks and throes and
convulsions must ceaselessly follow. Repeal the
Missouri Compromise, repeal all compromises,
repeal the Declaration of Independence, repeal
all past history, you still cannot repeal human
nature. It still will be the abundance of man's
heart that slavery extension is wrong, and out
of the abundance of his heart his mouth will con-
tinue to speak.
The structure, too, of the Nebraska bill is very
peculiar. The people are to decide the question
of slavery for themselves ; but when they are to
decide or how they are to decide, or whether,
when the question is once decided, it is to remain
so or is to be subject to an indefinite succession
of new trials, the law does not say. Is it to be
decided by the first dozen settlers who arrive
there, or is it to await the arrival of a hundred?
Is it to be decided by a vote of the people or a
vote of the legislature, or, indeed, by a vote of
any sort? To these questions the law gives no
answer. There is a mystery about this ; for when
a member proposed to give the legislature ex-
press authority to exclude slavery, it was hooted
down by the friends of the bill. This fact is worth
remembering. Some Yankees in the East are
1854] MISSOURI COMPROMISE 257
sending emigrants to Nebraska to exclude slav-
ery from it; and, so far as I can judge, they ex-
pect the question to be decided by voting in some
way or other. But the Missourians are awake,
too. They are within a stone's-throw of the con-
tested ground. They hold meetings and pass
resolutions, in which not the slightest allusion to
voting is made. They resolve that slavery al-
ready exists in the Territory ; that more shall go
there : that they, remaining in Missouri, will pro-
tect it, and that Abolitionists shall be hung or
driven away. Through all this bowie-knives and
six-shooters are seen plainly enough, but never a
glimpse of the ballot-box.
And. really, what is the result of all this ? Each
party within having numerous and determined
backers without, is it not probable that the con-
test will come to blows and bloodshed? Could
there be a more apt invention to bring about col-
lision and violence on the slavery question than
this Nebraska project is? I do not charge or be-
lieve that such was intended by Congress ; but
if they had literally formed a ring and placed
champions within it to fight out the controversy,
the fight could be no more likely to come ofif than
it is. And if this fight should begin, is it likely
to take a very peaceful, Union-saving turn? Will
not the first drop of blood so shed be the real
knell of the Union?
The [Missouri Compromise ought to be re-
stored. For the sake of the Union, it ought to
be restored. We ought to elect a House of Rep-
resentatives which will vote its restoration. If
by any means we omit to do this, what follows?
Slavery may or may not be established in Ne-
braska. But whether it be or not, we shall have
258 EARLY SPEECHES [Oct. 16
repudiated — discarded from the councils of the
nation — the spirit of compromise ; for who, after
this, will ever trust in a national compromise?
The spirit of mutual concession — that spirit
which first gave us the Constitution, and which
has thrice saved the Union — we shall have
strangled 
