-NRLF B M MOD S7M NOAH BROOKS SflU LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ SANTA CRUZ < z o Gift oi George W. Waldron H DC rn SANTA CRUZ BUST OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN BY MAX BACH MANN (Copyright, 1908, by Max Bachmann) Centennial Mtion Abraham Lincoln The Nation's Leader in the Great Struggle through which was Maintained the Existence of the United States By Noah .Brooks / nt Author of "American Statesmen," "Henry Knox," "Washington in Lincoln's Time," " History of the United States," etc. G. P. Putnam's Sons New York and London Ube Imicfcerbocfeer press COPYRIGHT BY G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS ttbe fmfcfccrbocfeer press, ew tforft B TO THE MEMORY OF "TAD PREFACE TO NEW EDITION. TTHE character of Abraham Lincoln, as the years * pass, becomes grander and more heroic; and, as is usual when a commanding figure slowly rises conspicuous in the history of humanity, traditions and myths are already beginning to cluster around his illustrious personality. The simplest truth is always best; and the simpler and more direct the biographical sketch of Abraham Lincoln, the more deeply will his image be impressed upon the heart of that "common people" whom he loved so well and of which he was the noblest representative. In this book it has been the author's aim to present such a picture of Lincoln and his times as shall leave upon the mind of the reader a definite and authoritative likeness of the man whose name is now enrolled highest among the types of our national ideals. PREFACE. IN writing this brief biography, I have been moved * by a desire to give to the present generation, who will never know aught of Abraham Lincoln but what is traditional, a lifelike picture of the man as many men knew him. To do this, it has been necessary to draw material from various sources, to paint in a background of the history of the times in which he lived, and to place the illustrious subject in his true relation, as far as possible, to the events in which he was so large a participant. So far as I have been able, I have subordinated the events to the man. In the preparation of the work, I have been greatly helped by many authors ; and I have been especially indebted to the writings of Colonel Ward H. Lamon, the Hon. Isaac N. Arnold, Dr. J. G. Holland, John G. Nicolay, and Colonel John Hay. It was my good fortune to know Lincoln with some degree of inti- macy, our acquaintance beginning with the Fremont campaign of 1856, when I was a resident of Illinois, and continuing through the Lincoln-Douglas can- vass, two years later. That relation became more intimate and confidential when, in 1862, I met Lincoln in Washington, and saw him almost daily until his tragical death. This preliminary egotism may be pardoned by way of explanation of the fact that many things relating to his early life, herein set vii viii Preface down, were derived from his own lips, often during hours of secluded companionship. If this little book shall give new and inspiring views of Lincoln to the English-speaking people, I shall be grateful that I have been permitted to write it. NOAH BROOKS. CONTENTS CHAPTER I THE LINCOLN ANCESTRY PAGE Condition of the People at the End of the War for Indepen- dence Migrations of the Earlier Lincolns A Tragedy in the Wilderness Abraham Lincoln's Parents in Kentucky Birth of the Future President The Old Kentucky Home Another Migration A Great Disaster in Indiana . . I CHAPTER II THE BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN The Lincoln Home in Indiana Hard Times The Boy of the Backwoods Log Cabin Building Abraham Lincoln's First Letter - The Funeral in the Wilderness The Boy's First 12 Book . . . ; , <: . CHAPTER III YOUNG MANHOOD Thomas Lincoln's Second Marriage Improvements in the Back- woods Home More Books for the Boy His Horizon Enlarges He Learns to be Thorough Down the Missis- sippi A Glimpse of Slavery Coming out of the Wilderness 27 CHAPTER IV THE LINCOLNS IN ILLINOIS The Land of Full-Grown Men Lincoln Attains his Majority Striking Out for Himself Another River Voyage An Odd Introduction to New Salem Some Rough and Tumble Discipline The Backwoodsman Conquers Friends He Van- quishes English Grammar 43 ix- x Contents CHAPTER V A PLUNGE INTO POLITICS PAGB Young Lincoln's Growing Passion for Knowledge Candidate for the State Legislature Captain in the Black Hawk War A Gathering of Men Since Famous Hardships of the Volunteer Soldiers Stump-Speaking and Defeat Lincoln as a Country Merchant Lawyer and Surveyor . . 54 CHAPTER VI THE YOUNG POLITICIAN Elected to the Legislature Stump Speaker and Political De- bater Encounters on the Stump The Lincoln-Stone Pro- test against Slavery "The Long Nine" Removal of the State Capital to Springfield Compliments to the Sangamon Chief Lincoln a Full-Fledged Lawyer Riding the Illinois Circuit Distinguished Associates at the Bar Lincoln as a Harrison Man 70 CHAPTER VII WINNING HIS WAY His First Love Affair A Disappointment Dark Days The Lincoln-Shields "Duel" Good Advice on the Subject of Quarrelling Lincoln and Van Buren A Roadside Sympo- sium Congressional Expectations So CHAPTER VIII THE RISING POLITICIAN Lincoln's Admiration of Henry Clay An Irresponsive Idol Slavery and the Tariff Lincoln Elected to Congress The Mexican War A Queer Nickname Rise of the Free-Soil Party Election of General Taylor Return to Springfield The Boys of Lincoln A Shiftless Relative ... 99 CHAPTER IX LINCOLN THE LAWYER An Honest Advocate and Counsellor " The Snow Boys " and Old Man Case Famous Lawsuits about Negroes Jack Armstrong's Son on Trial for Murder Lincoln's Vindication of his Old Friend How the Attorney Looked and Spoke . 121 Contents xi CHAPTER X A GREAT AWAKENING PAGB Stupor Before Excitement A Dead Sea of Politics Repeal of the Missouri Compromise The Migration to Kansas Lincoln and Douglas Meet Again A Memorable Debate Lincoln Withdraws from the Canvass Lyman Trumbull Elected to the Senate 131 CHAPTER XI THE KANSAS STRUGGLE Freedom and Slavery Wrestle with Each Other "Bleeding Kansas" The Troubles of Slave-Owners The Irrepressible Conflict Lincoln's Slowness and Reticence . . . 144 CHAPTER XII THE COMING MAN Birth of the Republican Party Nomination of Fre"mont The Party Lines Drawn A Virulent Campaign Election of James Buchanan Kansas Reluctant to Consent to Slavery . . .' . . . . ^ . . .153 CHAPTER XIII LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS The Famous Contest for the Senatorship A Battle of Giants Douglas and Lincoln Compared Two Self-made Men Lincoln's Autobiography A Series of Famous Debates The Country Intent on the Struggle A Great Lesson in American Politics. . . , . . . . .161 CHAPTER XIV AFTER A GREAT STRUGGLE Condition of the Two Contestants The Crocodile and the Negro Douglas in the South Lincoln Nominated by Illi- nois Republicans The Rail-Splitting Candidate Some Pithy Sayings Lincoln Speaks in New York The Man from Illinois 179 Contents CHAPTER XV ELECTED TO THE PRESIDENCY PAGB Rending of the Democratic Party The National Convention of 1860 Lincoln Nominated at Chicago A Memorable Scene Popular Enthusiasm Four Tickets in the Field Lincoln's Great Triumph . 189 CHAPTER XVI AFTER THE ELECTION The President-Elect and the Office-Seekers A Policy Demand- ed Treason in Buchanan's Cabinet Organization of the Rebel Confederacy Alarm in the North The Star of the West Fired On A Peace Congress in the Face of War . 203 CHAPTER XVII FROM SPRINGFIELD TO WASHINGTON Lincoln's Farewell to his Fellow-Townsmen Prayers for the President-Elect Rush of the People to See Him A Series of Remarkable Speeches Why the President Would Wear a Beard Rumors of Assassination The Night Journey from Harrisburg to the Capital . . . . 2 19 CHAPTER XVIII LINCOLN'S INAUGURATION A Notable Gathering in Washington The First Inaugural Address How it was Received North and South Precau- tions against Plots Formation of the Cabinet Represen- tative Men .......... 236 CHAPTER XIX PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN In the White House Assembling of the Rebel Congress Rebel Emissaries Sent to Washington A Vigorous Policy Clam- ored for The First Gun at Sumter Great Excitement throughout the Republic A Nation in Arms Attack on the Sixth Massachusetts Notable Deaths . . . .251 Contents xiii CHAPTER XX BEGINNING OF THE GREAT STRUGGLE PAGB The Combatants Face to Face The First Battle of Bull Run The Sting of Defeat George B. McClellan Effect of the Great Disaster A Message to Congress Men and Money Voted How Foreign Nations Regarded the Struggle Seizure and Release of Mason and Slidell . . . .275 CHAPTER XXI THE SLAVERY QUESTION ARISES Fre*mont's Troubles in Missouri His Policy Disapproved by the President General Hunter's Proclamation Revoked Irritation in the Border States Lincoln Invites a Con- ference Arming the Freedmen Proposed Lincoln's Letter to Horace Greeley The Emancipation Proclamation Issued 293 CHAPTER XXII A DIFFICULT MILITARY SITUATION Creation and Equipment of an Army The Federal Military Plan Retirement of General Scott General McClellan in Full Command Appearance of General U. S. Grant Fall of Forts Henry and Donelson Criticism of McClellan Death of the President's Son Willie Military Operations on the Peninsula McClellan's Extraordinary Delays His Advice to the President Halleck Made General-in-Chief A Conference of Loyal Governors The Second Bull Run Defeat Antietam McClellan Relieved of His Command . 318 CHAPTER XXIII THE TURNING OF THE TIDE The Battle of Fredericksburg Rise of the Peace Party Fac- tions in Congress The Battle of Chancellorsville A Con- scription Ordered and Martial Law Declared Colored Troops Enlisted Great Financial Measures Afoot Vallan- digham's Expulsion and Return Growth of the Anti-War Sentiment Fall of Vicksburg and Battle of Gettysburg Popular Rejoicings The President's Proclamation of Thanks- giving Draft Riots in New York Lincoln's Address on the Field of Gettysburg Grant and Sherman in the West 349 Contents CHAPTER XXIV POLITICAL COMPLICATIONS PAOE A "President-Making" Congress Activity of Lincoln's Op- ponents Grant Appointed Lieutenant-General Beginning of an Aggressive Campaign Federal Successes in the Southwest Sheridan in the Valley of the Shenandoah Political Troubles in Missouri Lincoln Renominated Mc- Clellan the Democratic Nominee A Diversion in Favor of Fremont Peace Negotiations at Niagara Five Hundred Thousand Men Called Out Lincoln Re-elected Renewed Talk of Peace A Peace Conference at Hampton Roads "The President's Last, Shortest, and Best Speech" The Second Inauguration 382 CHAPTER XXV THE FAMILY IN THE WHITE HOUSE Plain Living and Simple Manners Lincoln's Kindness and His Righteous Wrath The Sons of Lincoln The Boy of the White House Threats of Assassination The President's Dealings with Office-Seekers Sundry Anecdotes . .415 CHAPTER XXVI THE PRESIDENT AND HIS CABINET Popular Expectation that Secretary Seward would be the Leading Spirit of the New Administration Mr. Lincoln's Firmness and Kindness with the Secretary of State Mr. Stanton's Criticisms of Lincoln Why Secretary Cameron left the Cabinet The Exit of Postmaster-General Blair Secretary Chase's Restiveness His Subsequent Appoint- ment as Chief- Justice The President Deferred to the Ministers 427 CHAPTER XXVII END OF A STRANGE EVENTFUL HISTORY Symptoms of a Collapse of the Confederacy Lee Seeks a Parley with Grant The Fall of Richmond Flight of the Rebel Contents xv PAGB Government Lincoln in the Former Rebel Capital He Goes to the Front The Surrender of Lee Great Joy of the People The National Capital in a Frenzy of Delight Lincoln's Last Public Speech His Death and Funeral Conclusion . . . . . . . . 441 INDEX 459 ILLUSTRATIONS. FACING PAGE Bust of Abraham Lincoln . . Frontispiece By Max Bachmann. (Copyright, 1908, by Max Bachmann.) Lincoln's Wrestle with Armstrong . . .120 Front the drawing by A. Frederick. A Mississippi Fiat-Boat . . . . . 200 From a drawing by W. J . Wilson. Abraham Lincoln and His Son " Tad" . . 384 From an oil painting by F. B. Carpenter. (Courtesy of W. C. Crane t Esq.) xvii ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE DOWNFALL OF AMERICAN SLAVERY BY NOAH BROOKS The Life of Abraham Lincoln. CHAPTER I. THE LINCOLN ANCESTRY. Condition of the People at the End of the War for Independence- Migrations of the Earlier Lincolns A Tragedy in the Wilderness Abraham Lincoln's Parents in Kentucky Birth of the Future President The Old Kentucky Home Another Migration A Great Disaster in Indiana. AT the end of the war of the American Revolution the condition of the people of the United States was one of deep poverty. The credit of the govern- ment was not good. Money was scarce. There was no mint for coinage of American specie, and the paper currency authorized by the Continental Con- gress was very low in value. Immediately after the end of the war, the young republic had had a slight wave of prosperity. Various kinds of useful manu- factures had been established, and people dwelling in cities were at ease, and they who dwelt on planta- tions and farms were plentifully supported by the yields of their acres, flocks, and herds. But this did not last long. Very soon the coun- try was deluged with English goods, and, instead of being large exporters, the people of the United States imported more than they sent away. During 2 Abraham Lincoln the two years next succeeding the declaration of peace, the value of goods imported from England was about thirty million dollars, while those exported did not amount to nine millions. At the beginning of 1783, the public debt of the republic was about forty-two millions, and the debts of the separate States, added together, were about one half of that sum. Specie went rapidly out of the country to pay for imports, and the almost worthless currency remaining was all that the people had for daily use. So great was this depression among the towns and villages of the old thirteen States that many families began to turn their eyes and thoughts westward, where, it was said, was a land of plenty. There, at least, the soil yielded abundantly; the forests were filled with game, the rivers with fish, and the prime necessities of human life were easily met. Among those who went with this wave of Western migration was the family of Lincoln, from which was to spring, in years to come, the President of illustrious name. The Lincolns originally came from England, settling in Hingham, Massachusetts, about the year 1638. Thence to Pennsylvania went Mordecai Lin- coln, the great-great-grandfather of the President. The later Lincolns who moved westward in 1782, at the period of which we have just spoken, were Abraham Lincoln and Mordecai, Josiah, and Thomas, his sons. They went from Rockingham County, Virginia, to Mercer County, Kentucky, in the year before mentioned. At that time, Kentucky was a part of the great State of Virginia. It was almost an untrodden wilderness, and the few settlers who The Lincoln Ancestry 3 were scattered over its vast area were brave, hardy, adventurous, and sometimes terrible men. To the savages who roamed the forests they were indeed a terror and a constant threat. The Indians, irritated by the unceasing incoming of the whites, and vainly thinking that they could stem the tide that poured in upon them, were always at war with the intruders, and they omitted no opportunity to pick them off singly, or to drive them out by sudden and deadly attacks on small settlements. Abraham Lincoln, grandfather of the President, entered four hundred acres of land on the south side of Licking Creek, under a government warrant. He built a log cabin near the military post known as Fort Beargrass, the site of the present city of Louis- ville, Kentucky. Here the family began to open their farm, breaking up the virgin soil and planting their first crops. In the second year of their Ken- tucky settlement, Abraham Lincoln and his son Thomas being at work in the field, a sneaking Indian waylaid the twain, and, firing from the brush, killed the father at his task. Mordecai and Josiah, the elder brothers, were chopping in the forest near at hand, and, while Josiah ran to the fort for help, Mordecai dashed into the cabin and seized the ever- ready rifle. Looking through one of the port -holes cut in the logs, he saw the Indian, who, taking advan- tage of the flight of the boys, had seized little Tom, then only six years old, and was making off with him to the woods. Levelling his rifle, Mordecai shot and killed the Indian, and, as he dropped to the ground, the boy, liberated by the death of his would-be captor, 4 Abraham Lincoln sprang to his feet and fled to the cabin, where the future father of the President was clasped in his mother's arms. Josiah speedily returned from the fort with a party of settlers, who took up the bodies of Abraham Lincoln and his slayer. This scene, as may be imagined, made a deep im- pression on the minds of the three boys. It is said that Mordecai, standing over the form of his slain father, on the soil to be known for generations there- after as "the dark and bloody ground," vowed that that precious life should be richly paid for in Indian blood. Certain it is that, from that time forth, Mordecai Lincoln was the mortal enemy of the red man, and many an Indian fell before his terrible rifle. By this lamentable death, the widow of Abraham Lincoln was left alone to care for five children Mordecai, Josiah, Thomas, Mary, and Nancy. Of their struggles and hardships we know nothing positively; but these can be imagined. Poverty oppressed the entire republic. In the wilderness of Kentucky there were few gleams of light : no schools, scanty means for acquiring even the art of reading and writing, and no apparent need of the higher branches of a common-school education. In the hard, rude life of the frontier, in ignorance and poverty, the father of the President grew to man's estate. In later years, his son Abraham, asked to tell what he knew of his father's life, said: "My father, at the time of the death of his father, was but six years old, and he grew up literally without educa- tion." He was a tall, well-built, and muscular man, quick with his rifle, an expert hunter, good-natured The Lincoln Ancestry 5 and easy-going, but neither industrious nor enter- prising. Unable to read until after his marriage, he invariably put on his lack of education all respon- sibility for his failures in life ; and these were many. To his credit it should be said that he resolved that no child of his should ever be crippled as he had been for lack of knowledge of the commonest rudiments of learning. While yet a lad, he hired himself to his uncle, Isaac Lincoln, then living on a claim that he had taken on Watauga Creek, a branch of the Holston River. Manual labor filled the years of Tom's young man- hood. Felling forests, breaking up the soil, building the rude cabins of the time, and rearing the crops needed for the sustenance of the hardy settlers and their broods these were the occupations of those years. The woods were thickly tenanted by bears, deer, catamounts, and other wild creatures, and so far as hunting was a diversion from toil, this amuse- ment was ready in abundance. But hunting was necessary for procuring meat for the table and furs and skins for clothing and for barter with distant trading-posts. Thomas Lincoln was a laboring man, working for others, and compelled to take for wages whatever he could get in a region where every man wrought with his own hands and few hired from others. Thomas Lincoln was married, in 1806, to Nancy Hanks, formerly of Virginia. The young bride was taken by her husband to a rude log cabin that he had built for himself near Nolin Creek, in what is now Larue County, Kentucky. The region was well 6 Abraham Lincoln covered with timber, and, where cleared and planted, bore good harvests. It was a picturesque and roll- ing country, and some of the hills rise to the dignity of mountains. One of these is called Shiny Moun- tain and another is known as Blue Ball. Here and there were clearings, and smiling fields were gradu- ally taking the place of pathless woods. In this cabin, February 12, 1809, was born Abra- ham Lincoln, who was to be the i6th President of the United States. While he was yet an infant, the family removed to another log cabin, not far distant, and in these two homes Abraham Lincoln spent the first seven years of his life. One sister, Sarah, was a year older than he; and one brother, Thomas, two years younger, died in infancy. Mrs. Lincoln was described by her son Abraham as of medium stature, dark, with soft and rather mirthful eyes. She was a woman of great force of character and passionately fond of reading. Every book on which she could lay hands was eagerly read, and her son said, years after- wards, that his earliest recollection of his mother was of his sitting at her feet with his sister, drinking in the tales and legends that were read or related to them by the house-mother. Theirs was a very humble and even poverty- stricken home. The mother was used to the rifle, and not only did she bring down the bear, or deer, and dress its flesh for the family table, but her skilful hand wrought garments and' moccasins and head- gear from the skins. The most vivid impression that we have of the mother of Abraham Lincoln is one of sadness, toil, and unremitting anxiety. That was a The Lincoln Ancestry 7 hard life for a sensitive and slender woman which was led by the mother of the President. The country was very poor in all that makes life easy. The little family was far from any considerable settle- ment. Father and mother were alike religious and resolved to bring up their children in the fear of God ; but places of worship, schools, and all the means of even a common education were not near at hand. Mrs. Lincoln taught her two children their first lessons in the alphabet and spelling. When Abra- ham was in his seventh year, Zachariah Riney came into the vicinity and the lad was sent to his school. Riney was a Catholic, and the Protestant children that attended his humble school were withdrawn from the little log schoolhouse whenever any relig- ious exercises were held. In later years, Lincoln spoke of this his first schoolmaster with respect and esteem, although Riney did not long continue to teach the future President. Later on, Caleb Hazel, a spirited and manly young fellow, succeeded Riney as teacher, and Abraham attended his school three months. So rare were opportunities for going to school in those days, that Lincoln never forgot the lessons he learned of Caleb Hazel and the pleasure that he felt in that great event of his life going to school. In those primitive times, preaching was usually had under the trees or in the cabins of those few who were so fortunate as to have a bigger roof than most of their neighbors. Lincoln was a full-grown lad when he first saw a church, and it was only from the lips of wandering preachers, devoted men of God, 8 Abraham Lincoln that he heard the words of Christian doctrine, re- proof, and admonition. At long intervals, Parson Elkin, a Baptist preacher, took his way through the region in which the Lincolns lived, and young Abraham, fascinated by hearing long discourses fall from the lips of the speaker, apparently without any previous study or preparation, never failed to travel far, if necessary, to attend on his simple services. The boy's first notions of public speaking were taken from the itinerant, and years afterwards the Presi- dent referred to the preacher as the most wonderful man known to his boyish experience. Thomas Lincoln wearied of his Kentucky home. There was great trouble in getting land titles ; even Daniel Boone, the pioneer and surveyor of the land, upon whom had been conferred a great grant, was shorn of much of his lawful property, and a cloud was laid on nearly every man's right to own his home- stead. Slavery, too, was asserting itself in the region, and, although a dislike for the institution of slavery did not unsettle Thomas Lincoln, it is likely that the fact that he was too poor to own slaves, and would be brought into direct relations with men who could own this peculiar kind of property, helped to make him dissatisfied with his surroundings. But the real cause of his hankering after a new home was probably his thriftlessness. Like many another pioneer, he saw something better far ahead. The tales of wonderfully rich soil, abundant game, fine timber, and rich pasturage that came to Kentucky from Indiana were just like the rosy reports of the riches and attractions of Kentucky that had enticed The Lincoln Ancestry 9 the elder Lincolns from their home in Virginia, years before. So Thomas resolved to "pull up stakes" and move on, still to the westward. Thomas found a new-comer who was willing to take his partly-improved farm and log cabin for ten barrels of whiskey and twenty dollars in cash. This represented three hundred dollars in value, and was the price that he had set upon his homestead. Whiskey made from corn was, in those days, one of the readiest forms of currency in the trading and barter continually going on among the settlers; and,- even where drunkenness was almost unknown, the fiery spirit was regarded as a perfectly legitimate article of daily use and a substitute for money in trade. Aided by his boys, Thomas Lincoln built a flatboat, and, launching it on the turbid waters of the Rolling Fork, which empties into the Ohio, he loaded it with his ten barrels of whiskey and the heavier articles of household furniture. Then, push- ing off alone, but followed by the hurrahs of his two children, he floated safely down to the Ohio. Here he met with a great disaster. Caught between eddying currents, and entangled in the snags and "sawyers" that beset the stream, Lincoln's frail craft was upset and much of his stuff was lost. With assistance, the boat was righted, and, with what had been saved from the wreck, Thomas Lincoln landed at Thompson's Ferry, found an ox-cart to transport his slender stock of valuables into the forest, and finally piled them in an oak-opening in Spencer County, Indiana, about eighteen miles from the river, io Abraham Lincoln Left at home, in their dismantled cabin, with a scanty supply of provisions, the mother and little ones made the most of their time. The two children attended Caleb Hazel's school, but Abraham found time to snare game for the family dinner-pot, and, in an emergency, the house-mother could knock over a deer at long range. One bedticking, filled with dried forest leaves and husks, sufficed for their rest at night, and, bright and early in the morning, the future President was out in the nipping autumn air, chopping wood for the day's fire. As the time drew near for the father's return, Mrs. Lincoln, leading her living boy, paid her last visit to the grave of the little one whom she had lost in infancy. And his sad mother's prayers and tears by the side of the un- marked mound in the wilderness, soon to be left behind by the emigrants, made an impression on the mind of the lad that time never effaced. But when Thomas Lincoln returned to his small brood, it was not with any boastfulness. He had met with what was to them a great loss. Much of their meagre stock of household stuff and farming tools was at the bottom of the Ohio River. Leaving the rescued fragments in care of a friendly settler, he had made a bee-line for the old Kentucky home; and here he was with a flattering report of the rich- ness of the land to which they were bound to go. It was a long journey that was before them. Pro- curing two horses, and loading them with the house- hold stuff and wardrobe of the family, Thomas Lincoln, wife, and two children took up their line of march for the new home in Indiana. At night they The Lincoln Ancestry n slept on the fragrant pine twigs; and by day they plodded their way toward the Ohio River. They were like true soldiers of fortune, subsisting on the country through which they marched. Here and there it was needful to clear their way through tangled thickets, and now and again they came to streams that must be forded or swum. By all sorts of expedients, the little family contrived to get on from day to day, occupying a week in this transit from one home to another. The nights were cool but pleasant. No rain fell on them in the way, and when, after a week of free and easy life in the woods, they came to the bank of the river and looked over into the promised land, they saw nothing but forest, almost trackless forest, stretching far up and down the stream, silent save for its ripplings and the occasional note of some wandering bird. CHAPTER II. THE BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN. The Lincoln Home in Indiana Hard Times The Boy of the Back- woods Log Cabin Building Abraham Lincoln's First Letter- The Funeral in the Wilderness The Boy's First Book. INDIANA had been admitted into the Union as a State, and the tide of immigration setting into the new State was full and far-spreading. But neigh- bors were not uncomfortably near the Lincolns in their new home. Picking up their property left in charge of one of the scattered settlers by Thomas Lincoln on his first visit, the forlorn family pushed on into the wilderness, where, on a grassy knoll in the heart of the untrodden forest, they fixed upon the site of their future dwelling-place. A slight hunter's camp was all that could be built to shelter the new settlers during their first winter in the woods of Southern Indiana. This was what was sometimes called a "half -faced camp/' open on one side and that the lower. Four uprights, forked at the top, formed the corner-posts, the rear being higher than the front. On these corner-poles were laid the cross-pieces needed to form the edges of the roof, and across these were the sloping rafters, covered with split "shakes," or thin slabs from the trees felled by the hardy backwoodsman and his boy. The Boyhood of Lincoln , 13 Poles set up against the outer framework and ''chinked in" with chips and clay made a shelter from the blasts that howled around. The open front was partially screened with "pelts," as the half- dressed skins of wild animals were called. A fire- place of sticks and clay, with a chimney of the same materials, occupied one corner of the hut. Here the future President of the republic spent his first winter in the new State of Indiana. Let us consider the lad and some of the circum- stances of the time. He was now in his eighth year, tall, ungainly, fast-growing, long-legged, and clad in the garb of the frontier. Cotton and linen goods were scarce and costly in those primitive days and in that far-off wilderness. Abraham wore a shirt of linsey-woolsey, a fabric home-spun of mixed cotton and wool, and dyed, if at all, with colors obtained from the roots and barks of the forest. According to his own statement, he never wore stockings until he was ' ' a young man grown. ' ' His feet were covered with rough cowhide shoes, but oftener with mocca- sins fashioned deftly by his mother's hands. Deer- skin leggings, or breeches, and a hunting-shirt of the same material completed his outfit, except for the coon-skin cap that adorned his shaggy head, the tail of the animal hanging down behind, at once an ornament and a convenient handle when occasion required. A rifle only was needed to finish this picture of a backwoodsman in miniature. But the lad did not take kindly to hunting. He pursued the wild-woods game only when the family demand for meat could 14 Abraham Lincoln not be satisfied in any other way. Once, as he used to tell of himself, while yet a child, he caught a glimpse of a flock of wild turkeys feeding near the camp, and, venturously taking down his father's rifle from its pegs on the wall, he took aim through a chink in the cabin and killed a noble bird. It was his first shot at a living thing, and he never forgot the mingled pain and pleasure that it brought pain because he dreaded to take life, and pleasure because he had brought down his game. It was a poor time all over the land in those early years of the Lincoln family in Indiana. The War of 1812 had just closed. The consequences of the long embargo, when all American ports were closed to commerce, none coming in and none going out, were still felt in every town, city, and hamlet in the land. The manufacturing industries of the republic were feeble, and imported articles were so dear as to be out of the reach of all but the rich. Thorns were used for pins, slices of cork covered with cloth, or in- geniously fashioned bits of bone, did duty for buttons; except in times of plenty, crusts of rye bread were substituted for coffee, and leaves of sundry dried herbs took the place of Bohea tea. Corn whiskey tempered with water was a com- mon drink, and the stuff was one of the readiest forms of business currency in the country of the West. As we have seen, the West was productive of the means of sustaining life. The woods swarmed with bears, deer, woodchucks, raccoons, wild turkeys, and other creatures, furry or feathered, useful for the The Boyhood of Lincoln 15 table or for furnishing forth the scanty wardrobe of the settlers. None need starve, so long as snares and ammunition were handy for the hunter and trapper. But it was a hard life, hard for children, and hardest of all for women. No neighbor dropped in for a few minutes' friendly gossip, with the small news of the day. No steamboat vexed the waters of the Western rivers, the first steam craft of any kind having been put on Lake Erie as late as 1818. A letter, pro- vided the rude settler knew how to write, took weeks, even months, in a leisurely journey of one hundred miles. Only as a faint echo from out of another world came the news of domestic politics, foreign complications, and national affairs. James Madison was President of the United States, and Congress and the country were stirred greatly over the admission of Missouri, the extension of slavery westward of the Mississippi River, and other matters of great moment then and thereafter. It was in the autumn of 1816 that the Lincolns took up their abode in the wilds of Indiana. In February of the following year, Thomas Lincoln, with the slight assistance of little Abe, felled the logs needed for a substantial cabin. These were cut to the proper lengths, notched near the ends so as to fit into each other when laid up; and then the neigh- bors from far and near were summoned to the "raisin'," which was an event in those days for much rude jollity and cordial good-fellowship. A raising was an occasion for merry-making, as well as for hard work; and these opportunities for social gatherings, few as they were, were enjoyed by young 1 6 Abraham Lincoln and old. The helpful settlers " snaked " the logs out of the woods, fitted the sills in their places, rolled the other logs up by means of various rude con- trivances, and, before nightfall, had in shape the four walls of the log cabin, with the gables fixed in posi- tion, and poles fastened on with wooden pins to serve as rafters, and even some progress was made in the way of covering the roof. The floor of this primitive habitation was the solid ground, pounded hard. The cracks between the bark-covered logs were "chinked" with thin strips of wood split from the plentiful timber. Similar labor "rived" or split the "shakes" with which the roof was covered and from which the swinging door was made. Later on, after his second marriage, when Thomas Lincoln felt in a more industrious mood, huge slabs of wood, split from oak and hickory logs and known as "puncheons," were laid on floor joists of logs and were loosely pinned in place by long wooden pegs. In mature life, years afterwards, when the pioneer boy had become the tenant of the White House at Washington, he could remember how he lay in bed, of a cold morning, listening for his mother's footsteps rattling the slabs of the puncheon floor, as she came to rouse him from a pretended sleep. Boys who have never lived in the Western wilder- ness can have no notion of the meagre fare, the rude- ness of the furniture, and the absence of those things which we call the necessities of life, that character- ized the humble homes of the Indiana settlers of those distant days. In one corner of the cabin, two of its The Boyhood of Lincoln 17 sides formed by the walls thereof, was built the bed- stead of the father and mother. Only one leg was needed, and this was driven down into the ground, a forked top giving a chance to fit in the cross-pieces that served for foot and side of this simple bit of furniture. From these to the logs at the side and head of the bedstead were laid split "shakes," and sometimes thongs of deerskin were laced back and forth after the fashion of bedcording. On this was placed the mattress, filled with dried leaves, corn-husks, or whatever came handy. The children's bed, a smaller contrivance, was sometimes fixed in another corner, but when the wintry wind whistled around the cabin, and the dry snow sifted through the cracks, the little ones stole over to the parental bed for warmth. In making all these preparations for home-life under their own roof, little Abe took an active part. He early learned the use of the axe, the maul, and the wedge. With the "froe," a clumsy iron tool, something like a long wedge with a wooden handle fitted into one end, he was taught to "rive" the shingle from the slab ; and with maul and wedges a highly-prized possession he mastered the art of splitting rails and billets of wood for building pur- poses from the logs drawn from the forest. In labors like these the lad hardened his sinews, toughened his hands, and imbibed a knowledge of woodcraft and the practical uses of every variety of timber which he never lost while he lived. He knew every tree, bush, and shrub, by its foliage and bark, as far as he could see it. The mysterious 1 8 Abraham Lincoln juices that gave healing to wounds and bruises, the roots that held medicinal virtues in their sap, and the uses to which every sort of woody fibre was best adapted, were all familiar to him. It was impossible that a boy, so imaginative and full of fancy as young Abe certainly was, should grow up in these forests and shades without imbibing some queer notions, as the country folk said, about men and things. The times were superstitious. Men saw all sorts of signs and omens in clouds, in plants, and in other objects of nature. To the ignorant, the woods were peopled with strange and uncanny creatures, and Indian legends and stories were told of many a stretch of trackless forest. Even to the ear of the most practical of mankind there is an awesome solitude in unexplored forest wilderness; and the sighing of the winds, the roar of night- growling animals, the hollow murmur of distant streams, and the indescribable hum that goes up con- tinually from the hidden life of the forest are ever after in the memory of those who have spent much of their childhood in scenes like these. It was from the trackless forest that stretched around their home, only faintly scarred by the woodman's axe, that the Lincoln family drew their sustenance and their cloth- ing, even the simple remedies that they required in time of sickness. And it was a school in which the brooding lad took in many a lesson, and which sug- gested many a thought that could not be expressed in words. Here he acquired habits of reflection, for it must be confessed that he did not like work any better than other boys of his age, and he did like to The Boyhood of Lincoln 19 spend idle hours in roaming the wild-woods; and Lincoln never to the latest day of his life forgot the traditions and the scenery of the wilderness in which his childhood was spent, never lost the les- son of God's greatness and man's insignificance that the boundless forest, with its occasional glimpses of blue above and far-reaching vistas ahead, taught him. It was during their first year in Indiana, and when Abraham was in his tenth year, that the children suffered their first great sorrow and loss. Hard work, exposure, and continual anxiety had told on the good mother, and when, during the summer of 1818, a mysterious disease called "the milk-sick" appeared in the region, the overworked woman was stricken down with it. Exactly what "the milk-sick" was, nobody nowadays seems to know. No physician acknowledges any such form of sickness; but there are traditions of it yet extant in the Western States, and Mr. Lincoln, later in life, described it as resem- bling a quick consumption. Cattle as well as human beings were destroyed by it, and in the far-off wilder- ness it was not then uncommon to find an entire household prostrated with the disease, while flocks and herds were dying uncared for. It was a sad and gloomy time all through southern Indiana and Kentucky when "the milk-sick" raged. Nancy Lincoln, smitten with the disorder, was nursed and tended by her husband and children. No doctor ever came into that distant wilderness, and no help could be procured from any source. In the preceding autumn, Mrs. Betsy Sparrow and her 20 Abraham Lincoln husband and her little nephew, Dennis Hanks, had followed the Lincolns into Indiana and were settled not far away in the half -faced camp. Dennis Hanks was Abraham's playmate and distant cousin, for Mrs. Sparrow was Nancy Lincoln's aunt. The Sparrows, man and wife, were taken down with "the milk- sick" and were removed to the Lincoln cabin, with little Dennis Hanks, for better attendance. With plague-stricken Thomas and Betsy Sparrow and Mrs. Lincoln, the cares of housekeeping and nursing, and the duty of providing for this feeble household, poor Thomas Lincoln, unthrifty that he was, had his hands full. The children were all small, and thus early in life did Abraham find how hard was the lot of the poor. Mr. and Mrs. Sparrow first died, and were buried on a little knoll in the forest within seeing distance of the cabin. On the 5th of October, a few days later, Nancy Lincoln died; and she too was buried in the forest, under the shade of a spreading and majestic sycamore. There were no funeral ceremonies, for there was no man of God to conduct them. And when the wayworn form of the mother was lowered into the grave, enclosed in the rude casket of wood shaped by the hands of Thomas Lincoln, and all was over, little Abraham Lincoln, sitting alone on the mound of fresh earth until the shadows grew deep and dark in the forest, and the sound of night-birds began to echo through the dim aisles, wept his first bitter tears. Doubtless, he thought of all that his mother, the faithful teacher and devoted Christian guide and friend, had been to him. Long after, The Boyhood of Lincoln 21 when the spot where she was buried * had been covered by the wreck of the forest and almost hidden, her son was wont to say, with tear-dimmed eyes, 11 All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother." It was the custom of those days, and of that country, to have a funeral sermon preached by way of memorial, any time within the year following the death of a person. So, as soon as the good mother was buried, Abraham Lincoln composed what he used to say was his first letter, and addressed it to Parson Elkin, the Kentucky Baptist preacher who had some- times tarried with the Lincolns in their humble home in Kentucky. It was a great favor to ask of the good man; for his journey to preach a sermon over the grave of Nancy Lincoln would take him one hundred miles or more, far from his customary "stamping-ground." But, in due time, Abraham received an answer to his letter, and the parson promised to come when his calls of duty led him near the Indiana line. Early in the following summer, when the trees were in the greenest and the forest was most beauti- ful, the preacher came on his errand of kindness. It was a bright and sunny Sabbath morning, when, due notice having been sent around through all the region, men, women, and children gathered from far and near to hear the funeral sermon of Nancy Lincoln. There was the hardy forest ranger, come in * A stone has been placed over the site of the grave by Mr. P. E. Studebacker of South Bend, Indiana. The stone bears the following inscription: "Nancy Hanks Lincoln, died October 5th, A.D. 1818, aged 35 years. Erected by a friend of her martyred son, 1879." 22 Abraham Lincoln from his far-wandering quests to hear. There were the farmers and their families, borne hither in rude and home-made carts, new-comers some of them, and homesick for their distant birthplaces two hundred of them, all told, some on foot, and some on horseback, and others drawn in ox-carts. All were intent on the great event of the season the preach- ing of Nancy Lincoln's funeral sermon. The waiting congregation was grouped around on "downtrees," stumps, and knots of bunch-grass, or on wagon-tongues, waiting for 'the coming of the little procession. The preacher led the way from the Lincoln cabin, followed by Thomas Lincoln, his son Abraham, his daughter Sarah, and little Dennis Hanks, bereft now of father and mother and a mem- ber of the Lincoln household. Tears shone on the sun-browned cheeks of the silent settlers as the good preacher told of the virtues and the patiently borne sufferings and sorrows of the departed mother of Abraham Lincoln. And every head was bowed in reverential solemnity as he lifted up his voice in prayer for the motherless children and the widowed man. To Abraham, listening as he did to the last words that should be said over the grave of his mother, this was a very memorable occasion. He had fulfilled a pious duty in bringing the preacher to the place where she was laid. And as the words, wonderful to him, dropped from the speaker's lips, he felt that this was the end, at last, of a lovely and gentle life. He might be drawn into busy and trying scenes hereafter, and he might have many and mighty cares laid on him, but that scene in the forest The Boyhood of Lincoln 23 by the lonely grave of his mother was never to be forgotten. It was a miserable household that was left for the three youngsters when shiftless Thomas Lincoln was the only reliance of the little brood. We can im- agine how unkempt and ragged the three became, left almost wholly to themselves. Sarah, scarcely twelve years old, was the housekeeper. Abe, two years younger, came next, and Dennis Hanks, eighteen months younger than young Lincoln, was the infant of the family. Thomas Lincoln did not brood long over his loneliness. His was a cheerful temper, and he hoped that the good Lord would send them help, somehow and some day ; but how and when, he never stopped to think. Deer-flesh and the birds of the forest, broiled on the coals, were the staple of their daily food. The father knew better than Sarah did how to mix an ash-cake of corn-meal, and with milk from the cow, and an occasional slab of "side-meat," or smoked side of pork, the family was never long hungry. It was primitive and hard fare. But a boy might nourish himself on that and live to be President. Little Abraham had what was more to him than meat and drink books. Boys of the present age, turning over languidly the piles of books at their command, beautiful, entertaining, instructive, and fascinating, gay with binding and pictures, would stand aghast at the slimness of the stock that made Abraham Lincoln's heart glad. The first books he read were the Bible, ALsop's Fables, and The Pilgrim's Progress. On these three books was formed the 24 Abraham Lincoln literary taste of Abraham Lincoln. He might have fared worse. He thought himself the most fortunate boy in the country, and so good use did he make of these standard works that he could repeat from memory whole chapters of the Bible, many of the most striking passages of Bunyan's immortal book, and every one of the fables of ^Esop. He early took to the study of the lives and char- acters of eminent men, and a life of Henry Clay, which his mother had managed to buy for him, was one of his choicest treasures. From the day of his first reading the biography of the great Kentuckian, Lincoln dated his undying admiration for Henry Clay. Ramsay's Life of Washington was another book early found among the settlers and devoured with a book-hunger most pathetic. Hearing of an- other life of Washington, written by Weems, young Lincoln went in pursuit of it and joyfully carried it home in the bosom of his hunting shirt. Reading this by the light of a "tallow-dip," or home-made candle, until the feeble thing had burned down to its end, Abraham tucked the precious volume into a chink in the log wall of the cabin and went to sleep. A driving storm came up in the night, and the book was soaked through and ruined when the eager boy sought for it in the early morning light. Here was a great misfortune! It was a borrowed book, and honest Abe was in despair over its destruction in his hands. With a heavy heart, he took it back to its owner. Mr. Crawford, who had lent it, looked at Abraham with an assumed severity, and asked him what he proposed to do about it. The lad offered The Boyhood of Lincoln 25 to do anything that Mr. Crawford thought fair and just. A settlement was made, young Abe covenant- ing to pull "fodder," or corn-stalks, for three days, by way of settlement. "And does that pay for the book, or for the dam- age done to it?" asked the shrewd boy, taking his first lessons in worldly wisdom. "Wai, I allow," said the kindly owner of the precious book, "that it won't be much account to me or anybody else now, and the bargain is that you pull fodder three days, and the book is yours." This was the first book that Abraham Lincoln ever earned and paid for, and, discolored and blis- tered though it was, it was to him of value incalcu- lable. He laid to heart the lessons of the life of Washington, and, years after, standing near the battle-ground of Trenton, and recalling the pages of the book hidden in the crevices of the log cabin in the Indiana wilderness, he said : "I remember all the accounts there given of the battlefields and the struggles for the liberties of the country, and none fixed themselves so deeply as the struggle here at Trenton, New Jersey. I recollect thinking then, boy even though I was, that there must have been something more than common that those men struggled for." The boy had begun to think for himself when he was searching for an explanation of the fervor and determination with which the fathers of the republic endured hardship and manfully plunged into the desperate struggle. And wheresoever the story of Abraham Lincoln's 26 Abraham Lincoln life shall be told, this account of his first precious possession shall be also narrated for a memorial of him. It is an odd fact, that may as well be recorded here, that Lincoln, as boy and man, almost invariably read aloud. When he studied it helped him, he said, 'to fix in his mind the matter in hand, if, while it passed before his eyes, he heard his own voice re- peating what it so much desired to learn. CHAPTER III. YOUNG MANHOOD. Thomas Lincoln's Second Marriage Improvements in the Backwoods Home More Books for the Boy His Horizon Enlarges He Learns to be Thorough Down the Mississippi A Glimpse of Slavery Coming out of the Wilderness. JN the autumn of 1819, Thomas Lincoln went off 'somewhere into Kentucky, leaving the children to take care of themselves. What he went for, and where he went, the youngsters never thought of ask- ing. But in December, early one morning, they heard a loud halloo from the edge of the forest; and, dashing to the door, they beheld the amazing sight of the returning traveller perched in a four-horse wagon, a pretty-looking woman by his side, and a stranger driving the spanking team. Was it a miracle? We might think so if we knew Thomas Lincoln as well as his son did afterwards ; for Thomas had returned with a step-mother for his little ones. He had married, in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Mrs. Sally Johnston, formerly Miss Sally Bush. It is be- lieved that to Miss Sally Thomas Lincoln had paid court before he married her who was the mother of Abraham Lincoln. She had been known to the lad, years ago, in Kentucky; and now that she had come to be the new mother to Abe and his sister, they were glad to see her. 28 Abraham Lincoln The gallant four-horse team was the property of Ralph Krume, who had married Sally Johnston's sister; and in the wagon was stored what seemed to these children of the wilderness a gorgeous array of housekeeping things. There were tables and chairs, a bureau with real drawers that pulled out and dis- closed a stock of clothing, crockery to replace the rude tins that were used in the Lincoln homestead, bedding, knives and forks, and numerous things that to people nowadays are thought to be among the necessaries of life, but which Nancy Lincoln had been compelled to do without. By what magic Thomas Lincoln had persuaded this thrifty and ' ' forehanded ' ' widow to leave her home in Kentucky, and migrate to the comfortless wilderness of Indiana, we can only guess. But Thomas was of a genial and even jovial disposition, and he had allured the good woman to come and save his motherless bairns from utter destitution and neglect. The new Mrs. Lincoln, if she was disappointed in the home she found in Indiana, never showed her disappointment to her step-children. She took hold of the duties and labors of the day with a cheerful readiness that was long and gratefully remembered by her step-son, at least. They were good friends at once. Of him she said, years after : " He never gave me a cross word or look, and never refused, in fact or appearance, to do anything I requested of him." Of her he said: "She was a noble woman, affection- ate, good, and kind, rather above the average woman, as I remember women in those days." Mrs. Lincoln brought with her three children by her first Young Manhood 29 marriage, John, Sarah, and Matilda Johnston, whose ages were not far from those of the three children found in the Lincoln homestead. The log cabin was full to overflowing. The three boys, Abraham Lin- coln, John Johnston, and Dennis Hanks, were sent to the loft over the cabin to sleep. They climbed up a rude ladder built against the inner side of the log house ; and their bed, a mere sack of dry corn- husks, was so narrow that when one turned over all three turned. Nevertheless, there was an abundance of covering for the children, all. The new mother had at once insisted that the openings in the cabin should be filled with glass and sashes instead of loosely hung sheets of muslin. The rickety frame covered with split shakes, that had served as a door, with its clumsy wooden hasp, was taken away, and "a battened door " of matched boards, with a wooden latch of domestic make, replaced it. Mats of deer- skin were put down on the puncheon floor, and an aspect of comfort, even luxury, was spread around. It seems to have been an harmonious household. If there were any family jars, history makes no men- tion of them. And we must remember that that history has come down to us in the reports of two of those who were most interested in the household Abraham Lincoln and his step-mother. About this time young Abe made the acquaintance of a new source of pleasure, James Fenimore Cooper's Leather-Stocking Tales, then novelties in the litera- ture of the United States. Over these he hung with rapturous delight. He had seen something of the fast-receding Indian of the American forests; and 30 Abraham Lincoln he had heard, many a time, of his father's thrilling escape from the red man's clutches, and of his grand- father's cruel death in the Kentucky "clearing"; and when he withdrew his fascinated attention from the vivid pages of Cooper's novel, he almost expected to see the painted savages lurking in the outskirts of the forest so near at hand. Another book, borrowed from one of the few and distant neighbors, was Burns' 's Poems, a thick and chunky volume, as he afterwards described it, bound in leather and printed in very small type. This book he kept long enough to commit to memory almost all its contents. And ever after, to the day of his death, some of the familiar lines of the Scottish poet were as ready on his lips as those of Shakespeare, the only poet who was, in Lincoln's opinion, greater than Robert Burns. His step-mother said of him: "He read every- thing he could lay his hands on, and when he came across a passage that struck him, he would write it down on boards, if he had no paper, and keep it by him until he could get paper. Then he would copy it, look at it, commit it to memory, and repeat it." In this way he collected a great many things from books that he did not own and could not keep. We have heard of writers and scholars who make a com- monplace book in which may be recorded things noteworthy and memorable. Abraham Lincoln, at the age of ten, kept such a book. It was first written on wooden "shakes" with charcoal. Trans- ferred to paper with pen and ink, and repeated often, the noble thoughts and melodious lines of famous Young Manhood 31 men had already become a part of the education of the President that was to be. But although young Lincoln devoured books with a hunger that was almost pathetic, and sorely tried his eyes with study by the light of blazing pine- knots on the hearth, he was no milksop, no weakly bookworm. In the athletic sports of the time, and in the manual dexterity so helpful in those frontier pursuits, he was the master of every other boy of his age. He had learned the use of tools, could swing the maul and chip out "shakes" and shingles, lay open rails and handle logs as well as most men. Although not a quarrelsome boy, he could "throw" any of his weight and years in the neighborhood, and far and near "Abe Lincoln" was early known as a capital wrestler and a tough champion at every game of muscular skill. School and its coveted facilities for getting know- ledge was now within reach. Hazel Dorsey was the name of a new schoolmaster on Little Pigeon Creek, a mile and a half from the Lincoln homestead; and thither was sent the brood of young ones belong- ing to the Lincoln family. These backwoods child- ren had the unusual luxury of going all together to a genuine school. True the schoolhouse was built of logs; but all the youngsters of the school came from log cabins; and even the new meeting-house, which was an imposing affair for those woods, was log-built up to the gables, and thence finished out with the first sawn lumber ever used to any con- siderable extent in the region. Young Abraham made the most of his opportu- 32 Abraham Lincoln nities, and, when he found the days too short for his school studies and his tasks about the farm, he sat up by the fire of "lightwood" late into the night. What dreams had come to him in those far-off days ? Did he begin to think that he might "be somebody" in the great and busy world of which he had heard faint echoes ? It would seem likely. Following the plow, or whirling the mighty maul, as he wrought at splitting rails, he pondered deeply the lessons that he had learned at school and from the few books at his command. When he was a grown man, it fell to his lot to pronounce a eulogy on Henry Clay, whom he had learned to idolize in his youth; and the growing young statesman said of Clay, among other things: "His example teaches us that one can scarcely be so poor but that, if he will, he can acquire sufficient education to get through the world re- spectably." If the example of Abraham Lincoln, the admirer and eulogist of Henry Clay, teaches any- thing to the boys of this generation, it teaches just what he said of Henry Clay's life. As his mental vision widened, there was nothing too abstruse for Lincoln to grapple with, nothing so far out of the knowledge of those about him that he could not take it up. Algebra, Euclid, Latin, came later on in life ; but even in his early youth, hearing of these, he re- solved to master them as soon as he could get the needed books. Through all the wide neighborhood, Abe Lincoln was known as an honest, laborious, and helpful lad. Coming home one night, when the early winter frosts were sharp and nipping, he and a comrade found by Young Manhood 33 the roadside the horse of one of the settlers who was a notorious drunkard. There had been a house- raising in the vicinity, and the rider, overcome with the strong drink too common on those semi-festive occasions, had probably fallen off and been left by his steed, while passing through the woods. Young Lincoln was for hunting up the missing man. "Oh, come along home,'* said his companion; "what business is it of yours if he does get lost?" "But he will freeze to death, if he is left on the trail this cold night." The kind-hearted young fellow, hater though he was of the stuff that had laid low his neighbor, was too compassionate to leave its victim to freeze. He found the man, took him, all unconscious as he was, on his own stalwart back, and actually carried him eighty rods to the nearest house, where, after sending word to his father that he must stay out all night, he sat by the half -frozen man and brought him back to consciousness and restored faculties. He saved the life of the sinner while he hated the sin. Before he was seventeen years old, he attended court in Boonville, the county-seat of Warrick, where a man was on trial for murder. It was his first look into what seemed to him the great world outside the wilderness. An accident led him into the vicinity, and, hearing that one of the famous Breckinridges of Kentucky was to speak for the de- fence, he went on to Boonville, and, open-mouthed with wonder, heard the first great speech of his life. He could not restrain his admiration, and when the arguments were over and the case had gone to the 34 Abraham Lincoln jury, and the eminent lawyer, flushed with conscious pride, was passing out of the courthouse, he was in- tercepted by a tall, overgrown youth, exceedingly awkward, horny-handed and evidently of the "poor white" class. The youth, his face shining with honest enthusiasm, held out his brown hand to the well-dressed lawyer, and told him how much he had enjoyed his wonderful speech. The aristocratic Breckinridge stared with surprise at the intrusive stranger, and haughtily brushed by the future President of the United States. This was not the boy's first lesson in social distinctions, but it was his first lesson in oratory; and he was just as grateful to Breckinridge as he would have been if the great man had been as gracious then as he was years after, when he was reminded by the President, in Wash- ington, of an incident in Boonville which the Breck- inridge had forgotten and the Lincoln could notf orget. From that time, young Lincoln practised speech- making. He took up any topic that happened to be uppermost in the rural neighborhood a question of roads, or trails, the school-tax, a bounty on wolves or bears offered by the Legislature, or any kindred question of the day; or he got up mock trials, ar- raigned imaginary culprits, and, himself, acted as prosecuting attorney, counsel for the defendant, judge, and foreman of the jury, making their appro- priate addresses in due course. He threw himself into these debates with so much ardor that his father was obliged to interfere and forbid the speeches dur- ing hours for work. The old man grumbled : ' ' When Abe begins to speak, all hands flock to hear him." Manhood 35 One notable thing about this young man was that when he began to study anything he was not satis- fied until he got to the bottom of it. He went to the roots of things. He wrote and rewrote all that he wanted to commit to memory. He could not give up any difficult problem. He kept at it until he had mastered it; and in a community that was pretty dark in all matters of book-learning he seldom had any help outside of his book. He found time, now and again, of an evening, to lounge with the other young fellows in the country store at the crossroads, and, beardless youngster though he was, he delighted the rude backwoodsmen and settlers with his homely wit and wisdom. He was accounted as being deeply learned, too, in that benighted region. Great things were prophesied of the lad. Never neglecting any task on the farm, never shirking any duty however unwelcome, young Lin- coln studied almost incessantly. One of the com- panions of his boyhood, Dennis Hanks, said of him: "He was always reading, writing, ciphering, and writing poetry.'* In a wonderfully strange school God was training the President that should be. There is in existence a manuscript book of Lin- coln's, begun when he was seventeen years old, and containing various mathematical problems under the title of " Book of Examples in Arithmetic." One of these, dated March i, 1826, is headed "Discount," and is divided as follows : "A Definition of Discount," "Rules for its Computation," and "Proofs and Various Examples," all worked out in neat and cor- rect figures. Following this is "Interest on Money." 36 Abraham Lincoln And all this was carefully kept for ready reference by the boy who was busily studying how to be master of everything he attempted to learn. When he was President, somebody came to him with a story about a plot to accomplish some mischief in the govern- ment. Lincoln listened to what was a very super- ficial and ill-informed story, and then said: " There is one thing that I have learned and you have n't. It is only one word 'thorough." Then bringing his hand down on the table with a thump to em- phasize his meaning, he added, "Thorough!'* We know now where Abraham Lincoln learned to be thorough. It was when he was building his character. It was about this time, when he was eighteen years old, that he conceived the mighty plan of building a boat and taking down the river some of the products of the home farm. He had had furtive glimpses of the busy life outside the woods of southern Indiana, and he longed for a closer look at it. The little craft was built, chiefly by his own hands, and, loaded with bacon, "garden truck," and such odds and ends as were thought available for market, was paddled down stream to the nearest trading-post. We have no record of the result of the voyage, except that it was on this momentous occasion that young Lincoln felt the greed of money waked within him. Never avaricious, never stingy, Lincoln was so trained to habits of frugality that he always, to use a common expression, "looked twice at a dollar before parting with it." Loitering on the river bank, after he had sold his little cargo, he saw what was to him then an Young Manhood 37 unusual sight, a steamer coming down the river. Two men came to the river's edge seeking a boat to take them to the approaching steamboat. In all the throng of small craft, they singled out Lincoln's. Without waiting to strike a bargain, he sculled the two passengers and their trunks out to the boat, and when he had put them on board with their luggage, what was his astonishment to find in his hand, as his fee, two silver half-dollars! "I could scarcely believe my eyes," he said, when telling this adventure, years afterward, to Secretary Seward. "You may think it a very little thing; but it was the most important incident in my life. I could scarcely believe that I, a poor boy, had earned a dollar in less than a day. The world seemed wider and fairer before me. I was a more hopeful and confident being from that time." The boy was waking to the possibilities of man- hood. The two shining silver coins, honestly earned, lying in his palm, were tokens of what might come hereafter to well-directed labor. It was one year later, when Lincoln was nineteen years old, that he made his second voyage. This was a great event in the young backwoodsman's career. Mr. Gentry, the owner of the neighborhood store, looking about him for a trustworthy man to take a flatboat, or "broad-horn," to New Orleans with a cargo of produce, could think of nobody so safe as young Lincoln. Abraham had not been much away from home, had no familiarity with business or with river navigation, and had never even seen the lower Mississippi. But the trader knew 38 Abraham Lincoln his man, and an offer to Lincoln, placing him in full charge of the venture, was accepted, as he afterwards said, with a beating heart. His good-fortune seemed wonderful. It was not the money to be made that young Abraham was thinking of; it was the delight of seeing the world. And when Lincoln and his companion, y ung Allen Gentry, cut loose from Gentryville and slowly drifted down Little Pigeon Creek into the Ohio, on a voyage of eighteen hundred miles, not Columbus sailing forth into unknown seas, nor the master of the first steamship that ploughed the Atlantic, could have been more impressed with the mightiness of the prospect before him, than the backwoods boy on his first expedition from the forests of southern Indiana. It was a momentous trip, but solely because it opened a new field to the wide-open eyes of the youthful voyagers. As they descended the mighty Father of Waters, then flowing unvexed to the sea, plantations began to dot the landscape. Here and there friendly or inquisitive settlers came down to the bank to ask them about their "load/* as a cargo is called on the Western waters. Or, when they made fast to the most convenient tree at nightfall, a far-wandering hunter came to share "pot-luck" and the gossip of the region with the youthful adven- turers. In this way they picked up a store of in- formation, useful and otherwise, and many a queer tale of frontier and settler's life, which at least one of the party held fast ever after in his tenacious memory. Now and again, too, they passed, or were passed by, other flatboats, and much rude chaffing Young Manhood 39 and hailing in outlandish slang went on from boat to boat. One incident, however, was more exciting and dangerous than the fresh-water navigators had bar- gained for. Tied up to a bank at night, as was their custom, the twain slept soundly after their day of toil, when they were waked by a scrambling near at hand. Springing to his feet, Abraham shouted, "Who 's there?" There was no reply, and, seizing a handspike, he made ready for an attack. Seven negroes, evidently on an errand of plunder, now ap- peared. Abe held himself ready to * ' repel boarders, ' ' and the first man that jumped on board was received with a heavy blow that knocked him into the water. A second, a third, and a fourth, essaying the same thing, were similarly received. The other three, seeing that they were no match for the tall back- woodsman and his ally, took to their heels, pursued by Abe and Allen. Overtaking the negroes, a hand- to-hand fight ensued, but the thieves finally fled again, leaving on the future President a scar that he carried to his grave. The voyage to the lower Mississippi and return occupied three months. The cargo was sold to good advantage before reaching New Orleans. Then, the empty boat being disposed of, for it would not pay to take it home up-stream, the two adventurers, elated with their first notable success, made their way homeward by steamboat. They had seen a bit of the great world. And Abraham Lincoln had seen what he never forgot, his first close view of human slavery: slaves toiling on the plantations, slaves 4 Abraham Lincoln bending beneath their tasks on the levees of the river towns, and, what was more memorable than all, slaves in squads and coffles, torn from old homes and families far away, bound up the river on the steam- boats that were now frequent on the busy Mississippi. He who was to be known through all coming time as The Emancipator had made his first study of his fellow-man in hopeless bondage. It is well to consider here that Abraham Lincoln, up to this point, was what is called a self-made man in the strictest sense of that word. What he had learned, he had learned of himself. What he knew, he knew with absolute accuracy. Self-taught and self-dependent, he had all his resources, mental, moral, and physical, well in hand. So self-reliant and yet, withal, so modest and diffident a character was probably never known before. Growing up in the almost trackless forest, he had absorbed the in- fluences of the wild-wood. He had been held close to nature, had had as much time for solitary medita- tion as was wholesome for him; and he had never been for an hour dependent on other people, or on other than the humblest means, for intellectual stimulus. Such as he was, it may be said, God had made and nurtured him in the wilderness. The man that was within him was thoroughly original. He was not a copy of any man, nor the imitator of any human being. Henceforth he was not to be hidden in the back- woods. The backwoods, indeed, had begun to recede before the onward march of civilization. Im- migration was streaming into Indiana. It could be Young Manhood 41 no longer said of the settlers along Pigeon Creek that they were so far apart that the smoke of one fireside could not be seen from the next nearest. There were neighborhoods almost populous; and with these came social sports and occasional visitings, house-raisings, husking-bees, Sabbath worship, and something like a neighborly intimacy. In these changes the stalwart young pioneer, now six feet four inches tall, cut no mean figure. He could out- run and outwalk any one of his comrades, and, as has been said by those who knew him then, ' ' he could strike the hardest blow with axe or matil, jump higher and farther than any of his fellows, and there was no one, far or near, that could lay him on his back." These accomplishments, we may be sure, counted for much in a community where physical endurance and muscular strength were needed for every day's duties. But the honest-eyed and kindly youth, strong though he was, had a gentle manner that en- deared him to everybody that came in contact with him. He had a wonderful power of narration. The fables of JEsop were new as they fell from his lips. A grotesque incident, a comical story, or one of the frontier traditions learned from his mother, was a dramatic entertainment in his hands. He kept his audiences at the country store until midnight, says one of his comrades, listening to his shrewd wisdom, native wit, and vivid recitals. Poor Dennis Hanks, weary and sleepy, was often obliged to trudge home without him, after vainly trying to coax the eloquent and fascinating story-teller from the group of which he was the admired centre. 42 Abraham Lincoln Unconsciously to himself, this simple-hearted and humble-minded young man was absorbing into his own experience the rude lore of the backwoodsman. He was studying character, filling his mind with facts and experiences; and in after years, in other scenes and in a far busier life than this, the fresh and original pictures that he sketched in speech or story came from the panorama of human action unrolled before him in old Kentucky and southern Indiana. CHAPTER IV. THE LINCOLNS IN ILLINOIS. The Land of Full-Grown Men Lincoln Attains his Majority Strik- ing Out for Himself Another River Voyage An Odd Introduc- tion to New Salem Some Rough and Tumble Discipline The Backwoodsman Conquers Friends He Vanquishes English Grammar. ONCE more the Lincoln family "pulled up stakes" and moved westward. This time it was to Illinois, which, in the Indian vernacular, sig- nifies "the land of the full-grown men," that the easily-entreated Thomas Lincoln went. Thomas Hanks, one of the most steady and well-balanced of this somewhat erratic group of people, had gone to Macon County, Illinois, in the autumn of 1829. He had been so favorably impressed with what he saw and heard that he had written to Thomas Lincoln to come on and bring the family. It does not appear to have required much persuasion ever to induce Thomas Lincoln to change his place. He had made no progress in Indiana beyond providing for their actual wants. He could do no worse in Illinois, ac- counts of which as a land literally flowing with milk and honey were already spreading over the older States. So, in the spring of 1830, as soon as the frost was out of the ground, Lincoln, having sold crops, hogs, and farm improvements to Mr. Gentry, 44 Abraham Lincoln packed all his remaining earthly possessions, and those of his sons-in-law, into a wagon and set his face westward. The migrating family was as follows: Thomas Lincoln and Sarah, his wife ; his only son, Abraham, John Johnston, Mrs. Lincoln's son; Mrs. Hall and Mrs. Hanks, daughters of Mrs. Lincoln, and their husbands. Sarah Lincoln, Abraham's sister, had married Aaron Grigsby, a few years before, and had died recently. These eight people took their weary way across the fat and oozy prairies, black with rich loam, bound for the new land of Canaan. Two weeks of tiresome travel were consumed in reaching the place selected for them on the public lands near the village of Decatur, Macon County, by Thomas Hanks. The entire ''outfit," consisting of one wagon drawn by four yoke of oxen, driven by Abraham Lincoln, came to anchor, as it were, on a patch of bottom-land hitherto untouched by the hand of man. Young Lincoln had settled finally in the State that in years to come was to borrow new lustre from his name. Undreaming of future greatness, the stalwart young fellow lent a hand in the raising of the cabin that was to be the home of the family. And when this work was done, and the immigrants were securely under cover, he and Thomas Hanks ploughed fifteen acres of the virgin soil, cut down and split into rails sundry walnut logs of the adjacent forest, worked out rails, and fenced his father's first Illinois farm. Now it was time for young Abraham to strike out for himself. He had thought of doing that before, but had been reminded that he was a servant to his The Lincolns in Illinois 45 father until he was twenty-one years old. He was now in his twenty-second year, able and anxious to make his own living. During the summer of 1830 he worked at odd jobs in the neighborhood, always alert and cheerful, ready to turn his hand to any honest bit of work, and soon growing in favor with the rude and simple pioneers of southern Illinois. They were shrewd at making a bargain, necessarily compelled to be chary with their little hard-earned cash, greatly given to trade and barter, ingenious with every known implement of the rudest sort of labor, free from fear of theft or malicious violence, and fond of roystering and the rough sports of the frontier. As in all new countries, game was abund- ant, and, although the days when skins were made into garments had passed, hunting still supplied many a family with the staple articles of diet. The flesh of wild beasts and birds was supplemented by the slab-like sides of smoked pork, and the corn that grew thickly in the unctuous fields of the new-comers furnished bread for the eater and seed for the sower. In scenes like these Abraham Lincoln now grew to man's estate. The tall young fellow speedily made a name for himself as one of the most obliging, un- gainly, strong, long-legged, and cheery fellows in the Sangamon country. It was not until the winter of the deep snow that Lincoln undertook any scheme other than the desultory employment that he found among the farmers from day to day. "The winter of the deep snow ' ' was that of 1 83 0-3 1 . This is unto this day a memorable period of time in central Illinois. It marks an historical epoch as distinct as 46 Abraham Lincoln' the great fire did in London, years before. The snow- fall began on Christmas day. It continued until the snow was three feet deep on a level. Then came a drizzling rain that froze as it fell, the thermometer sinking to twelve degrees below zero. The intense cold, the difficulty of getting about, made that win- ter famous forever after in the annals of the country. Herds of deer were easily caught and killed, im- prisoned as they were in the icy crust that broke beneath their sharp feet. Game of all kinds was slaughtered by the thousands of head by the hungry settlers, as they came out of their scattered villages in search of food, and from that day large game never again was so plenty in the State. Roads were finally broken from cabin to cabin and from hamlet to hamlet by "wallowing," as it was called the entire population, men, women, children, dogs, oxen, and horses, turning out en masse and trampling down and kicking out the snow. Long after plough- ing had begun, next spring, the muddy-white founda- tions of these rural roads remained, unmelted, to stretch across the black soil of the prairies. During the winter of the deep snow, young Lincoln made the acquaintance of Denton Offutt, a small trader of the region. Hearing that Lincoln and Hanks were "likely young fellows," Offutt proposed that they should take a boatload of provisions to New Orleans for him. The boys were right glad to take such an offer, especially as Offutt agreed to "find them" that is to say, to furnish their food and to pay them fifty cents a day, and, if the venture was successful, to give them a further reward of The Lincolns in Illinois 47 twenty dollars each. This was great prospective riches to the youngsters, neither of whom had ever had so much money at one time. John Johnston, Abraham's foster-brother, was added to the crew, and, having built their flatboat, the party, Offutt, Abraham Lincoln, John Hanks, and John Johnston, embarked on the roaring, raging Sangamon at Springfield. Although the river was, to use a cur- rent Western expression, booming with the spring freshets, when the frail craft reached New Salem, a mushroom village not far below the point of depart- ure, it stuck on a milldam, and there it stuck and hung, apparently hopeless of ever getting off. The population of New Salem came down to the river's margin, commented on the disaster, chaffed and hectored the shipwrecked mariners, and generally made merry over the affair, to the annoyance of the owner. But "the bow oar," a giant, as the shore people thought him, rolled up his trousers, waded into the stream, unloaded the barge, whose nose was well out of water while her stern was well under it, bored holes to let out the flood, and rigged up a con- trivance to hoist the boat over the dam. This done, the craft was again loaded, the holes being plugged, and, amidst the cheers of the critical population, the voyagers shot down stream on their rejoicing way. Years after, when Lincoln was a practising lawyer, he whittled out a model of his invention for hoisting vessels over shoals and had it patented in Washing- ton. The curious visitor to the Patent Office in the national capital is shown to-day a little wooden boat and an odd combination of strips and bars by which, 48 Abraham Lincoln as Mr. Lincoln afterwards said, a man might lift himself over a rail-fence by the waistband of his breeches. The adventurers had a swift and prosperous voy- age down the river to New Orleans. This was Lin- coln's second visit to the land of slavery. He saw more of the peculiar institution than before. He saw men and women whipped, bought, and sold, families separated, children torn from their parents and wives from their husbands, without any sign of compunction on the part of buyers, sellers, and owners. It was a thrilling sight to the young pioneer of the West. In later years John Hanks said: " Lincoln saw it ; his heart bled ; said nothing much, was silent, looked bad. I can say it, knowing him, that it was on this trip that he formed his opinions of slavery. It run its iron into him then and there, May, 1831." There is a tradition that it was during this visit to Louisiana that Lincoln met an aged negress who pretended to be a Voudoo seeress, or fortune-teller, and that she said to him: "You will be President, and all the negroes will be free." This is not au- thenticated. It is not unlikely that the seeress had said that same thing to a great many young men. We do know that Lincoln was always superstitious. He was brought up to regard signs and wonders, dreams and fortune-tellings. If he did hear this from the Voudoo woman, he would be sure to remember it all his days. And he never spoke of it to his most intimate friends in later years. On his return from New Orleans, so well had The Lincolns in Illinois 49 Lincoln commended himself to Offutt that that worthy man engaged him to take charge of a small country store which he had opened at New Salem, and the little community that had witnessed the struggle and triumph of the long-legged young giant on Rutledge's dam now made the acquaintance of the hero of that exploit at closer range. He at once established himself as a favorite with the people, who, rude and rough though they were, readily ap- preciated the good qualities of any stranger that came among them. All were strangers to each other at first, in those changeable times. Villages grew and fell into nothingness again ; large tracts of land were covered with cabins of settlers and were again depopulated as the fancy of the wandering tribes seized them. New Salem was very new when Lin- coln was stuck on the dam before it; he spent only a short time there, giving it an immortality of name that few villages ever earn ; it faded away into nothingness and its site was forgotten, after he went away. In managing the country store, as in everything that he undertook for others, Lincoln did his very best. He was honest, civil, ready to do anything that should encourage customers to come to the place, full of pleasantries, patient, and alert. On one occasion, finding, late at night, when he counted over his cash, that heiiad taken a few cents from a customer more than was due, he closed the store and walked a long distance to make good the deficiency. At another time, discovering on the scales, in the morning, a weight with which he had weighed out a So Abraham Lincoln package of tea for a woman, the night before, he saw that he had given her too little for her money; he weighed out what was due and carried it to her, much to the surprise of the woman, who had not known that she was short in the amount of her pur- chase. Innumerable incidents of this sort are related of Lincoln ; and we should not have space to tell of the alertness with which he sprung to protect defenceless women from insult, or feeble children from tyranny; for in the rude community in which he lived the rights of the defenceless were not always respected as they should have been. There were bullies then, as now. Lincoln soon had a taste of the quality of some of these. Not far from New Salem was a group of farms in what was known as Clary's Grove. The " Clary's Grove boys," as the overgrown young men of the settlement were called, were rude, boisterous, swaggering, and tremendous fighters. They cast their eyes on the young stranger at Offutt's store, so well liked by the women, and resolved that he should be "taken down a peg." Stories of young Lincoln's prowess in wrestling had gone abroad, perhaps, and the conceit which the boys of Clary's Grove thought was in the stranger was to be taken out of him. Jack Armstrong, the bully of the band, was pitched upon to lay low Abe Lincoln. The crowd gathered around to see the sport, but the stalwart young Kentuckian soon showed that he was more than a match for the champion of Clary's Grove. Jack Armstrong was slowly sinking under the vigorous wrestling of the long-limbed Lincoln, and the entire The Lincolns in Illinois 51 gang were ready to break in and overwhelm him. Jack resorted to foul play, in his desperation, and Lincoln, stung by this meanness, seized the bully by the throat, with both hands, and, putting forth all his giant strength, flung him in the air, shaking him as though he were a child, the legs of the champion whirling madly over his head. At this astounding performance, the gang of Clary's Grove broke into the circle, and Lincoln, backing against the store, calmly waited their onset ; but Jack Armstrong, with what breath remained to him, warned off his com- rades, and, touched by a feeling of chivalry, shook his adversary by the hand, crying: "Boys, Abe Lincoln is the best fellow that ever broke into this settlement! He shall be one of us!" That settled it. Out of the fight that he had tried to avoid, Lincoln emerged as champion. Thenceforth, no truer friend, no more devoted ally than Jack Arm- strong to Abraham Lincoln ever lived. In later days, when Lincoln was out of money, out of work, all that Jack had was his. And when, at very rare intervals, some reckless fellow disregarded Lincoln's claim to championship, he quickly learned from the patient, long-suffering young giant, when he had been pressed too far, that this man was the toughest athlete in that settlement. The reader should not be misled with a notion that Lincoln loved fighting and strife ; far from it, he was always a man of peace. It was only when he was pushed and provoked beyond endurance that he burst upon his tormentor and punished him so thoroughly and speedily that, as the saying is, he did 52 Abraham Lincoln not know what hurt him, and when the punishment was over, the good-natured young giant was ready to soothe the feelings of the vanquished. When he had knocked down and mauled a bully, and had rubbed his face with smart-weed, by way of ridicu- lous discipline, he let him up, helped him to compose his disorder and brought him water to assuage the woes of his irritated countenance. Lincoln was no fighter. He was brave, absolutely unafraid of any- body or anything. He never played cards, nor gam- bled, nor smoked, nor used profane language, nor addicted himself to any of the rude vices of the times. But far and wide he was reckoned a hero, worshipped by the stalwart wrestlers and runners of the region, cordially liked by the women, respected as a rising and brave young fellow by the elders, and earning for himself the title that stuck to him through life, "honest Abe." Abe Lincoln became, by general consent, the peace- maker, the arbitrator of all the petty quarrels of the neighborhood. Shunning vulgar brawls himself, he attempted to keep others out of them. An abso- lutely honest man, he advised exact justice to all who sought his advice ; and, whenever there was too much violence developed in debate around Offutt's store door, the tall form of the young manager was sure to be seen towering over the conflict ; and when argument failed to quell the disturbance, the terrific windmill of those long arms invariably brought peace. In all his activities, however, Lin- coln never for one moment knew what it was to "let up " on his reading and studies. There is some- The Lincolns in Illinois 53 thing saddening in the record of his struggles to master everything that he thought worth knowing that was within his reach. Very poor he was, but he skimped himself and went without what many boys would call necessary clothing to subscribe to the Louisville Courier, then edited by that famous Whig George D. Prentice, a witty and most brilliant man. This was, as he afterwards said, his greatest luxury. He read every word, and some of its articles were committed to memory by sheer force of habit. Pon- dering over the editorial articles of his favorite newspaper, he attempted to discover how they were constructed, and what were the rules by which lan- guage was composed and sentences framed. Appli- cation to the village schoolmaster gave him a hint as to grammar, and he was not satisfied until he had hunted down, somewhere in the region, a copy of "Kirkham's Grammar." This he carried home, borrowed, in great triumph, nor did he pause until he had mastered its contents. Speaking of it, long afterwards, he said that he was surprised to find how little there was in a work that was made so much of by the schoolmaster. He had "collared" it in a week, and had returned the book to its owner. CHAPTER V. A PLUNGE INTO POLITICS. Young Lincoln's Growing Passion for Knowledge Candidate for the State Legislature Captain in the Black Hawk War A Gather- ing of Men Since Famous Hardships of the Volunteer Soldiers Stump-Speaking and Defeat Lincoln as a Country Merchant Lawyer and Surveyor. UP to this time, Lincoln had never held any office, except that of an occasional clerk of election. So far as we know, he never had any ambition for office-holding. But the spring of 1 83 2 found him out of business, out of work. Offutt's store had gone to pieces, that gentleman's numerous irons in the fire having at last proved too many for him. If ever Lincoln was at liberty to try his hand at politics, this was the time. He had been trained, or rather had grown up, in the backwoods, had gradually made the acquaintance of mankind, had meditated and read as no young man ever before had meditated and read, and had accustomed himself to speak extemporane- ously. He was a good story-teller, alert, quick- witted, full of apt illustration and anecdote, was so close a student of human nature that he was always able to adapt himself to his little audience, whether it was the group of loungers about the blacksmith's shop at the crossroads, or the knot of farm laborers that gathered about to hear him "make a speech" 64 A Plunge into Politics 55 on internal improvements. And, above all, by his unvarying good-nature and helpfulness, he had made friends of all who ever met him. One historian, who happened to see him about this time, says he found him lying on a trundle-bed, reading intently while he rocked a cradle with his foot. He had plenty of leisure; he was ready to lend a hand (or foot) to any overworked housewife, but he could not neglect his book. Always a book was ready to his hand, and it is said of him that when he had nothing else to do he laid himself at length in the shade of a tree, wheeling around with the sun all day long, reading, reading, always reading. At the bottom of a barrel of " trash " that Offutt had bought of some speculative person, or had taken in exchange for goods, Lincoln found two old law books. On these he fell like a hungry child, and he never left them until he had mastered their contents, dry and indigestible though they might have seemed to the average youngster of his day. In this way, Lincoln had absorbed a great deal of useful knowledge. He was always thirsty for information. If he heard of a new book and new books were pretty scarce in those days he was restless until he had got a sight at it. For this purpose he walked many a mile, count- ing no labor, no privation, anything if it brought him nearer the coveted information of men and things. He was accounted very learned by those of his neighbors who knew aught of his studies; not that his knowledge was aired with any pride, but they argued that nobody could read so much as he and not be very erudite. And in the village debates, 56 Abraham Lincoln held in the country store or at other lounging-places, the admiring community united in the verdict that "Abe Lincoln could out-argue any ten men in the settlement." Lincoln resolved to become a candidate for repre- sentative to the Legislature, and in a circular, dated March 9, 1832, he appealed to his friends and fellow- citizens to vote for him. He had by this time be- come a pronounced Whig in politics, following in the footsteps of his great chief and pattern, Henry Clay. But he hoped, and not without reason, to secure many of the votes of those who knew and liked him for his manly and admirable qualities. Before the election came on, however, there was a call for volun- teers to repel hostile Indians. The famous chief Black Hawk was on the warpath. During the pre- vious year, the Sacs, of whom Black Hawk was the recognized leader, had given much trouble to the settlers along the east bank of the Mississippi, in Illinois. By treaty, the band had gone to the west of the river and had given up all claim to their old hunting-grounds and corn-fields on the other side of the stream; but they insisted that they had been wrongfully dealt with by the white man, and that they still had a right to "make corn" in their old haunts. It is a matter of record, too, that they had been shamefully treated by some of the settlers, and that, on the least provocation, they were made to suffer the white man's vengeance. These troubles came to a head in May, 1832, when Black Hawk, at the head of about forty braves, crossed the Missis- sippi near the mouth of the Rock River, in the A Plunge into Politics 57 northern part of the State, and pursued his way up- stream in a leisurely manner. The governor of the State called for two thousand volunteers. The country was panic-stricken. Lincoln was among the first to volunteer. Whether he went from pure love of adventure, or because he thought his services in the expected war would help him in his canvass, we can only guess. At the head of a party of Sangamon County men, among whom were many of the Clary's Grove boys, Lincoln made his way to the north, where General Atkinson, then in command of the small United States force operat- ing in the region, was encamped. The company was organized in Rushville, Schuyler County, and Lin- coln was chosen captain. The only other candidate for martial honors was one Kirkpatrick, a substan- tial trader from the New Salem country, with whom Lincoln had had a slight difference before that, owing to Kirkpatrick' s overbearing manners towards the young backwoodsman. The Clary's Grove boys insisted that nobody but Lincoln should lead them to the war. Word was given that all in favor of Lincoln should range themselves by his side, as he stood on the village green, and all who favored Kirk- patrick should take position near him. When the lines were formed, Lincoln's was three times as long as Kirkpatrick's, and so he was joyfully declared to be elected. This unsought honor, the first elective office that he ever held, gave Lincoln so much pleas- ure that years after, when he was President, he said that nothing that came to him afforded him so much solid satisfaction. 58 Abraham Lincoln Lincoln's company was mustered into the service of the United States at Dixon's Ferry, Rock River, by Robert Anderson, a lieutenant and assistant in- spector-general of the army. The little force re- ported to Colonel Zachary Taylor, U. S. Army. In later years, Robert Anderson commanded at Fort Sumter when the first gun of the rebellion was fired. As " Rough and Ready" General Taylor was en- deared to the hearts of his countrymen, and he was elected to the Presidency in 1848. The campaign against Black Hawk was short and decisive. Two incidents are related of Lincoln. An aged Indian, half -starved and alone, came into camp one day, bearing a safe-conduct from General Cass. The soldiers, infuriated by some recent atrocities of Black Hawk's men, fell upon him and would have killed him. Lincoln, hearing the tumult, burst excitedly into the group and, throwing up their levelled muskets with his own hands, cried: "Boys! You shall not do this thing! You shall not shoot at this Indian!" For an instant, he stood defiantly between the red refugee and his assailants, sheltering him from their ready weapons, and it was for a time doubtful if both would not bite the dust. But the men, seeing the courage and manliness of their cap- tain, lowered their guns and turned sullenly away. One of Lincoln's faithful comrades, Bill Green, said of this: " I never saw Lincoln so roused before." When Lincoln was in the White House he told this story : The only time he ever saw blood in this cam- paign was one morning when, marching up a little valley that makes into the Rock River bottom, to A Plunge into Politics 59 reinforce a squad of outposts that were thought to be in danger, they came upon the tent occupied by the other party, just at sunrise. The men had neglected to place any guard at night, and had been slaughtered in their sleep. As the reinforcing party came up the slope on which the camp had been made, Lincoln saw them all lying with their heads toward the rising sun, and the round red spots that marked where they had been scalped gleamed more redly yet in the ruddy light of the sun. This was Lincoln's first glimpse of what war might be, and years afterwards, when the land was being desolated, he recalled it with a certain shudder. The guide, philosopher, and friend of the troops was John Dixon, even then known as Father Dixon, the pioneer, who kept a ferry on the Rock River, at the point where the Galena wagon-road to the lower part of the State crossed the stream. Father Dixon was well known to the Indians as "Na-chu-sa," or "the white-haired." On that historic spot, where met Lieutenant-Colonel Zachary Taylor, Lieutenant Jefferson Davis, Lieutenant Robert Anderson, and Private Abraham Lincoln, now stands the city of Dixon, in Lee County. At that time it was only a hamlet of log houses that marked the spot, and the rope-ferry of Father Dixon was all the means of com- munication between the shores now spanned by sundry railroad and wagon thoroughfares. The ad- vance guard of all scouting parties, according to Father Dixon, was Lincoln, whose keen eyes and subtle woodcraft enabled him to detect signs of Indians that less skilful observers would fail to note. 60 Abraham Lincoln At night, loitering around the camp-fire, the volunteer soldiers drank in with delight the jests and stories of the tall captain. ^Esop's fables in new dress he gave them, or he recounted the tales of war, humor, and wild adventure that he had brought away with him from Kentucky and Indiana. It was related of him, too, that his inspiration was never stimulated by recourse to the whiskey-jug. When his grateful and delighted auditors pressed this on him, he had one reply: " Thank you, I never drink it." During the short campaign, the time for which the men enlisted expired, and some of the tired soldiers gladly went home. But Lincoln again re-enlisted, this time serving as a private, and he was a second time mustered in by Lieutenant Anderson. The fighting, however, was practically over, and Lincoln and his comrade George W. Harrison started for New Salem, having been mustered out at White- water. In 1848, while Lincoln was in Congress, General Lewis Cass was a candidate for the Presidency, and his friends made much of his military record. To Lincoln's mind, ever disposed to the humorous side of things, this seemed absurd, and, addressing the Chair, one day, in the course of debate, he said: " 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 afterwards. It is quite certain I did not break my sword, for I had none to break, but I bent my musket pretty badly on one A Plunge into Politics 61 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 struggles with the mosquitoes; and although I never fainted from loss of blood, I can truly say I was often very hungry. Mr. Speaker, if ever I should conclude to doff whatever our Democratic friends may suppose there is of black-cockade Federalism about me, and thereupon they shall take me up as their candidate for the Presi- dency, I protest that they shall not make fun of me, as they have of General Cass, by attempting to write me into a military hero." On their way home, the two heroes of the Black Hawk war had their only horse stolen from them. They had been proceeding in the manner known as "ride and tie," taking alternate spells on the horse's back; now they were forced to take "shanks mare " and they made their weary way to Sangamon County, where the tall champion story-teller and debater had only ten days to make his canvass for the seat in the Legislature to which he aspired. Part of the way down the Illinois they floated in a canoe that they bought at a great bargain, and then they walked across country for New Salem. The election soon came on, and, although Lincoln received a majority of the votes of his own precinct, he was not chosen to the Legislature. For member of Congress, both candidates together received in New Salem 206 votes; Lincoln received 207. This tribute to his personal popularity gratified Lincoln very much. He had not built great hopes on his election, and he 62 Abraham Lincoln was not seriously disappointed by his failure to get a majority of all the votes in the district. In those primitive days, it was not usual for candidates to expend much money in a canvass, and this fact did not make Lincoln's defeat so great a misfortune to him as it might have been under other circumstances. In his speeches, we are told, Lincoln announced himself opposed to the party then in power. In the circular before mentioned he had taken ground as a Whig; and in one of the few speeches of which we have scanty reports he said: "I am in favor of a national bank ; I am in favor of the internal improve- ment system, and of a protective tariff. These are my sentiments and political principles. ' ' They were sentiments and principles exactly opposed to the party in power. Andrew Jackson was President of the United States. He had informed the Demo- cratic party with a spirit of proscription, and it had been publicly announced that every man who was not a " whole-hog Jackson man" was to be whipped out of place and office "like dogs out of a smoke- house ' ' was the homely and striking phrase used. It cost some effort, perhaps, for a poor and compara- tively unknown young man, without family friends to back him, to cast in his lot with the despised minority. But in that path Lincoln followed. Lincoln's canvass brought him into contact with many of the prominent men of that part of the State. His speeches were argumentative, interspersed with racy anecdotes, full of humor, and more diffuse, per- haps, than those delivered in later years. He had already won a local repute for his shrewd reasoning, A Plunge into Politics 63 and one who often heard him at that time has borne testimony to the convincing character of his logic. Dr. A. G. Henry, an intimate friend and neighbor, said that men whose principles were opposed to Lincoln's sometimes refused to hear him speak. "He makes me believe him whether I will or no," said one of these unwilling "whole-hog Jackson men." Of his personal appearance, another, Judge S. T. Logan, said: "He was a very tall, gawky, and awkward-looking young fellow then ; his pantaloons did n't meet his shoes by six inches. But after he began speaking, I became very much interested in him. ' ' Lincoln's manner when ' ' on the stump' ' was that of a man wholly at ease, awkward although his personal appearance may have been. In those far-off days, on the frontiers of the new country, people were careless of dress, rude in man- ners, and free and easy in their relations with each other. To take the stump was to mount the most convenient object around which people could gather, even the stump of a newly felled tree, and address the voters assembled in a homely, off-hand, and ar- gumentative manner, urging the reasons why the speaker should be chosen to the place for which he was a candidate. It was not uncommon for the audience to ask questions of the speaker, while he was in full tide of his address. Lincoln always answered these queries, when they were not imperti- nent, with ready good-humor and generally with what was called "an actual settler of an argument." On one occasion, seeing from his elevation that a friend of his in the crowd before him had been 64 Abraham Lincoln attacked by a ruffianly fellow, and was getting the worst of it, Lincoln descended from his temporary rostrum, seized the assailant by the scruff of the neck, threw him about ten feet, and then, having dis- charged his duty as a keeper of the peace, calmly remounted the stump and went on with his speech as if nothing had happened to interrupt it. A man who, on fit occasions, was as ready with his muscle as with his mental power had many friends in the frontier region. Defeated in his race for the Legislature, a dis- banded volunteer, with his late employer in bank- ruptcy, Lincoln was forced to look around him for some means of livelihood. He had none. He had dabbled in politics and done some campaigning, and these occupations had unfitted him for resuming his place as a day laborer. Money was scarce with everybody in those parts. Most financial transac- tions required nothing more substantial than notes of hand that passed from one to the other, mere prom- ises to pay, which might or might not be made good in the future. In this way Lincoln bought the half- interest of one of the Herndon brothers in their country store. Somehow, he was attracted to mer- cantile pursuits. The business gave him ample leisure for study. Customers were never too numer- ous. The store of a neighboring merchant, one Radford, had become offensive to the Clary's Grove boys, for some unexplained reason, and they promptly wrecked it, staving in the windows and prying out one corner of its foundations. Radford thought it best to move from thence, and he sold his A Plunge into Politics 65 stock to a chance passenger named Greene, the price being two hundred dollars on paper. Lincoln was called in to make an inventory of the contents of the damaged building, and, being fascinated with the possibilities of the stock, he offered two hundred and fifty dollars for the lot. Greene gladly accepted the proposition, and gave full possession of the es- tablishment to Lincoln, making fifty dollars on his bargain also on paper. For not a cent of hard money changed hands, the consideration being, as usual, a note of hand. In this venture Lincoln had a partner, one Berry, an idle and dissolute fellow, from whom he was soon obliged to separate, and in a very short time the enterprise, begun with so much promise and so many expectations, fell into ruin, and the goods were sold in lots to suit purchasers, to close out the concern. Lincoln was again on the world without occupation, and loaded down with debts incurred in this latest speculation. The store, as he expressed it, had " winked out/' and he had no immediate recourse. He had read law books in a desultory and unaided way, and now he tackled them with more energy than ever, dimly realizing that here, at least, was a gleam of leading light for him. He borrowed every book on law that he could find, the attorneys of the region round about good-naturedly lending him whatever they had. In his quest for informa- tion of this sort, he often walked from New Salem to Springfield, a distance of fourteen miles. He also bought an old book of legal forms, and amused himself and his neighbors with drawing up 66 Abraham Lincoln imaginary deeds, wills, and conveyances in which fictitious property was disposed of at tremendous prices; this by way of practice. But, whenever an opportunity occurred, the people went to "Abe Lincoln" for advice and assistance in the selling or mortgaging of real estate, and thus he gradually worked his way into something like a business. His fees, he used to say, were generally necessaries of life turned in to the family with whom he happened to board. He also undertook small cases on trial before the justice of the peace, and, to use his own figure of speech, "tried on a dog" his legal eloquence and lore. He was trying himself in these paths into which he was to enter for life by and by. And it is worthy of remark that Lincoln's friends and asso- ciates unite in saying that he never undertook a case that was not founded on justice and right, and that when he did argue to a jury, as he sometimes did, the impression was that he sincerely believed every- thing he said. He was making reputation, as well as preparing himself for work in his destined field. And, in the matter of counsel, he was, as well as in more violent quarrels and disputes, "everybody's friend." About this time, too, that is to say, in 1833, he undertook the study of surveying, and, as in other undertakings, he succeeded so well that he soon became an expert. His instruments were few and simple ; contemporaries have said that his first chain was a grape-vine. But maps and plots of land surveyed by Lincoln, still extant, show a neatness and semblance of accuracy that testify to the rigid care that he always exercised in all his work. Mr. A Plunge into Politics 67 John Calhoun, county surveyor, was at this period a useful friend to young Lincoln. The region round about was full of mushroom cities springing up in a day; they had to be surveyed in order that their fortunate owners could describe to the guileless new arrivals the location of streets, public squares, and other features of future magnificence laid down on paper. Lincoln became an assistant to Calhoun, and, when occasion required, was a surveyor "on his own hook." In May, 1833, Andrew Jackson being President, Abraham Lincoln was appointed postmaster of New Salem. The office had very small revenues and no political importance. It was given to Lincoln be- cause all his neighbors wanted him to have it, and he was the only man willing to take it and able to make out the necessary returns to the post-office department. The mail was light, and Lincoln, as tradition runs, generally carried the post-o'ffice in his hat. He could not keep at home, of course, and when a villager met him and asked if there were letters for him, the postmaster gravely searched through his hat for an answer. But there were news- papers brought to New Salem by this weekly mail, and Lincoln religiously made it his duty to read them all before they could be called for; this, he used to say, made the office worth more to him than many times the amount of the money income could have been. In course of time, the population of New Salem migrated to other and more promising localities, and the post-office was discontinued. In later years, an agent of the Post-office Department 68 Abraham Lincoln hunted up the ex-postmaster and demanded the small balance due to the government ; the amount was seventeen dollars and some odd cents. His friend and neighbor Dr. A. G. Henry happened to be present when the agent made this unexpected demand, and, knowing Lincoln's extreme poverty, took him aside and offered to lend him the sum required. "Hold on a minute," said Lincoln, "and let 's see how we come out/' Going to his sleeping- room, he brought out an old stocking and, untying it, poured on the table the exact amount, just as it had been paid to him in pennies and small silver pieces. Many a time had Lincoln been in bitter want, many a time hard-pressed for money; but the receipts of the little post-office were to him a sacred trust to be kept until required of him. The debt incurred by the "winking out" of the store of Berry and Lincoln pressed upon him. So vast did it seem that he was accustomed to speak of it as "the national debt." But, unlike most na- tional debts, it was ultimately paid. In the course of business, the notes that he and Berry had given for the stock-in-trade fell into the hands of a person who was more than usually impatient; for every man's credit, in those days, was unlimited. The creditor in this case seized Lincoln's horse, saddle, and bridle, and sold them under a sheriff's execu- tion. One of Lincoln's steadfast friends, Bolin Greene, attended the sale, from which Lincoln, greatly cast down in his mind, absented himself. Greene bought the outfit, and, to Lincoln's great surprise and relief, gave them to him with the in- A Plunge into Politics 69 junction: "Pay for them, Abe, when you get ready, and if you never get ready, it 's all the same to me." Not long after this, Bolin Greene, long be his name remembered! died, and Lincoln was asked by his townsmen of New Salem to deliver a eulogy at his burial. The rising young lawyer attempted the grateful task, but his voice failed him. The tears ran down his cheeks as he rose to speak, and, over- come with emotion, he sat down without saying a word. More eloquent than words, his tears spoke his affection for the man who had been his friend in need. CHAPTER VI. THE YOUNG POLITICIAN. Elected to the Legislature Stump Speaker and Political Debater Encounters on the Stump The Lincoln-Stone Protest against Slavery "The Long Nine" Removal of the State Capital to Springfield Compliments to the Sangamon Chief Lincoln a Full-Fledged Lawyer Riding the Illinois Circuit Distinguished Associates at the Bar Lincoln as a Harrison Man. FN 1834 Lincoln again became a candidate for the * Legislature. This was to be expected. On the previous occasion he had made what was a very good run, although, as we have seen, he had a very few days in which to finish his canvass after returning from the wars. The election took place in August, and, after a sharp fight, Lincoln was elected. Many Democrats, we are told, voted for him from purely personal and friendly reasons, and he was sure of the united support of the Whigs. The four successful candidates, with their votes, were as follows: Lincoln, 1376; Dawson, 1370; Carpenter, 1170; Stuart, 1164; Lincoln thus leading the poll. To say that Lincoln was elated would faintly express his satis- faction over this great but not unexpected triumph. He was now twenty-five years old, hardy, in perfect health, manly, tolerably self-possessed, and not ashamed to address himself to the discussion of any of the questions of the day, and fully competent to 70 The Young Politician 71 hold his own with the general run of debaters on the stump, or in the Legislature. He had mastered the elementary law-books, was familiar with legal phrases and forms, knew every rod of the country roundabout the region from which he was a representative, and, above all, knew the people, their wants, their hopes, fears, aspirations, habits, and manner of life. With a few books he was on the most intimate terms. These were the Bible, Shakespeare, Burns, ^Esop and The Pilgrim's Progress. He was honest, truthful, kind-hearted, patient, long-suffering, brave, and tender. Without forming his literary style on any model, indeed scarcely even thinking of style, he had insensibly acquired a method of expressing himself, both in reading and writing, which may well serve as an example for the youth of to-day. He used only words of one syllable, where that was practi- cable, and, instead of diluting his thoughts with many words, he went straight to the point, concisely and without any delay. He was awkward in ap- pearance, diffident,. and, while not unduly distrustful of himself, always preferred another before him- self, and ever showed himself ready to give place to others. Above all, and to the latest day of his life, Lincoln was not ashamed to confess his ignorance of any subject; he never lost an opportunity to get instruction. The capital of Illinois was then at Vandalia. The Legislature was made up of men who, like Lincoln, had been selected from their fellows by friends and neighbors, chiefly for personal reasons, and by the free suffrages of the voters. What are now known 72 Abraham Lincoln as machine politics, in which corrupt and selfish party interests are concerned, were unknown in those primitive days. The members came together, passed the laws thought most needful for the people, and then went home. Clad in a suit of decent but not especially elegant blue jeans, Lincoln, with his commanding height, was a marked figure in the Legislature. But we do not learn that he was re- markable for anything else but his height, then six feet and four inches. If he created any impression otherwise, it was when, the day's session over, he tilted his chair back in some place where the budding statesmen chiefly congregated, and entertained them with stories of which the repute has lasted long. But the tall young backwoodsman, now passing into the era of statesmanship, was keenly alive to all that was going on. He held his place in the legislative debates, but he listened to others. He introduced few bills, but he narrowly observed what other men were doing in this direction ; and, while he said little, he took in everything and thought a great deal. The session of that winter was not lost to him. Next year he was again nominated for the Legisla- ture and was again elected, this time receiving, as in 1834, the largest vote of any candidate voted for in the region. In his appeal to the voters, that year, Lincoln said: "I go for all sharing the privileges of the government who assist in bearing its burdens. Consequently, I go for admitting all whites to the right of suffrage who pay taxes or bear arms (by no means excluding females) . ' ' And again : ' ' Whether elected or not, I go for distributing the proceeds of The Young Politician 73 the sales of the public lands to the several States, to enable our State, in common with other States, to dig canals and construct railroads without borrowing money and paying interest on it." At that time there were two great questions before the people: one was the right to vote of persons not born in the United States ; and the other was the policy of mak- ing public improvements, such as those named by Lincoln, at public expense. Henry Clay was Lin- coln's model and example in politics. And, in tak- ing a broad and liberal view on these two leading questions, Lincoln was not only most outspoken and resolute, but he was following in the footsteps of the great Whig chief. Nevertheless, many of Lincoln's friends were amazed at the audacity and seemingly needless courage of the young candidate for legisla- tive honors. During his canvass, Lincoln made additions to his reputation for ready wit and humor. On one occa- sion he was pitted against George Forquer, who, from being a leading Whig, had become a bitter " whole-hog Jackson man," and had been rewarded for his apostasy with a good office. Forquer was not a candidate in this canvass, but was called in to "boom" the Democratic nominee against Lincoln. Riding into Springfield, where the meeting was to be held, Lincoln's attention was drawn to Forquer's fine house, on which was a lightning-rod, then a great novelty in those parts. Lincoln had been allotted to close the debate, and Forquer, who spoke next before him, devoted himself to "taking down" the young man from New Salem. He ridiculed his 74 Abraham Lincoln dress, manners, and rough personal appearance, and, with much pomposity, derided him as an uncouth youngster. Lincoln, on rising to reply, stood for a moment with flashing eyes and pale cheeks, betray- ing his inward but unspoken wrath. He began by answering very briefly this ungenerous attack. He said: " I am not so young in years as I am in the tricks and the trades of a politician ; but, live long or die young, I would rather die now, than, like that gentleman, change my politics, and with the change receive an office worth three thousand dollars a year, and then feel obliged to erect a lightning-rod over my house to protect a guilty conscience from an offended God." The effect upon the simple audience, gathered there in the open air, was electrical. Here was a pompous and vain-glorious man, who, as the settlers thought, could not sleep in his fine house, compared with which their rude cabins were poor indeed, without setting up this unusual and heaven-defying instru- ment. When Forquer rose to speak, later on in the canvass, and in other years, people said: "That 's the man who dared not sleep in his own house with- out a lightning-rod to keep off the vengeance of the Almighty." At another time, Lincoln met on the stump Colonel Richard Taylor, a self -conceited and dandified man, who wore a gold chain, ruffled shirt, and other adorn- ments to which the men of southern Illinois were quite unaccustomed. It was the business of the Democrats to rate themselves as the hard-working The Young Politician 75 bone and sinew of the land, while the Whigs were stigmatized as aristocrats, ruffled-shirted gentry. This was Colonel Taylor's role, and he spoke with his finery concealed under a long surtout. But, making a sweeping gesture, Taylor's surtout became torn open, and his gorgeous array of chains, seals, pendants, and ruffles burst forth, to his manifest dis- may. While he paused in embarrassment, Lincoln seized upon the opportunity, and, standing in full view, with his coarse attire and rough appearance strongly contrasting with the dandified Colonel, cried, laying his hand on his jeans-clad breast: "Here is your aristocrat, one of your silk-stocking gentry, at your service." Then, spreading out his hands, bronzed and gaunt with toil : ' ' Here is your rag-baron with lily-white hands. Yes, I suppose, according to my friend Taylor, I am a bloated aristocrat!" It was a long time before the amiable Colonel Taylor heard the last of that exposure and humiliation. In the Legislature to which Lincoln was now elected were not a few men whom we shall meet later on in this strange, eventful history. One of these was Edward D. Baker, a wonderful orator, after- wards Lincoln's associate in the law, and subse- quently United States Senator from Oregon, a general in the army, and killed at Ball's Bluff. Another was Stephen Arnold Douglas; others were John J. Hardin, James Shields, William A. Richardson, John Logan, and John A. McClernand. From Sangamon County there were two senators and seven repre- sentatives in the House, nine in all, and each man 76 Abraham Lincoln very tall, Lincoln being the tallest of the nine, and familiarly known as "the Sangamon chief," more on account of his height than from his mental leader- ship. The combined height of this tall delegation was fifty-five feet. No wonder that it was popularly known as "the Long Nine." One of the most not- able achievements of Sangamon County's "Long Nine" that winter was the removal of the capital of the State from Vandalia, Macon County, to Spring- field, Sangamon County, a triumph for which Lincoln received generous credit from his admiring colleagues of the delegation. At this session, too, Lincoln put himself on record for the first time as opposed to the further extension of the American system of human slavery. The temper of the times, at least in that region, was favorable to slavery. Illinois and Indiana were affected by the proslavery influences of their nearest neighbors, Kentucky and Missouri, rivals in trade and commerce. The legislation of these two States was designed to encourage slaveholding in the slave- holding States and discourage all antislavery agita- tion in non-slaveholding States. For at that time a few bold men had begun to teach that slavery was wrong, unjustifiable, even wicked. The entrance of free colored people into Illinois was forbidden by statute, and the infamous "black laws," long remem- bered with shame as designed to curry favor with slaveholding neighbors across the border, were enacted. Certain resolutions on the subject of slavery were passed by the Illinois Legislature dur- ing the session of which we are writing; what they The Young Politician 77 were, we cannot tell, for they have vanished into oblivion; but undoubtedly they were intended to convince slaveholding customers and traders that Illinois could be relied upon to stem the rising tide of antislavery in the North. As their answer to these utterances, Abraham Lincoln and Dan Stone, the only men who dared to put themselves on record in this way, drew up and signed the following paper: "MARCH 3, 1837. "Resolutions upon the subject of domestic slavery having passed both branches of the General Assembly at its present session, the undersigned hereby protest against the passage of the same. " They believe that the institution of slavery is founded on both injustice and bad policy, but that the promulga- tion 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 con- tained in the above resolutions is their reason for entering this protest. (Signed) "DAN STONE, "A. LINCOLN, "Representatives from the county of Sangamon." 78 Abraham Lincoln This protest was received and ordered to be spread on the journals of the House, much to the regret of some of Lincoln's more timorous friends, who probably did not believe that slavery could pass away from the face of the land during the time of any then living. At this late day, the paper reads like a very harmless and even over-cautious document. But it was, for those times, a bold and dangerous thing to say that the institution of slavery was founded on injustice and bad policy. Men had been mobbed and treated with violence for saying no more than this, so intolerant and brutal was the spirit of the slave-owning and slavery-defending class. So far as we know, this was Lincoln's first blow at the institution that was bound to disappear before his life and work were ended. On the whole, the doings of Lincoln and the other members of the "Long Nine" were highly accept- able to the people of Sangamon County. The Lin- coln-Stone protest was looked upon as a harmless vagary, soon to be forgotten, and already over- shadowed by the greatness of the feat of moving the State capital to Springfield. The long-limbed group was hailed with great acclaim, and numerous feasts and festivities were given in their honor. Of the toasts offered in praise of "the Sangamon chief" were these that have come down to us from those faroff days in 1837: "Abraham Lincoln: he has fulfilled the expectations of his friends and disap- pointed the hopes of his enemies." "A. Lincoln: one of nature's noblemen." In April, 1837, Lincoln went to Springfield, the The Young Politician 79 new capital of the State, where he established him- self in the practice of law, and where he remained until his election to the Presidency. He had man- aged, crippled though he was with "the national debt," to earn a scanty livelihood, and to keep good his credit. But the new venture was a doubtful one, and he undertook it with many misgivings. He rode into town on a borrowed horse, his earthly pos- sessions packed in a pair of saddle-bags fastened to the crupper of his saddle. Tying the horse to a fence- post, Lincoln sought the store of his friend Mr. Joshua F. Speed, formerly of Kentucky, and asked for information concerning board and lodging. He proposed to hire a room, furnish it, and, as he ex- pressed it, "browse around'* for his sustenance. To his great dismay, the price of the barest necessaries in the way of furniture would be seventeen dollars ; and Mr. Speed included these articles in his pro- miscuous stock-in-trade. Lincoln said, sadly: "It is cheap enough, but I want to say that, cheap as it is, I have not the money to pay for it. 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." Impressed by Lincoln's sadness, Speed replied: "I have a very large double bed which you are per- fectly welcome to share with me, if you choose." ' ' Where is your bed ? ' ' asked Lincoln. "Upstairs," replied Speed. Lincoln took his saddle-bags on his arm and went upstairs, set them on the floor, took a swift survey of the premises, and Bo Abraham Lincoln then came down again, good-humoredly laughing, and said: " Speed, I am moved." And Lincoln was then settled in his new quarters with his steadfast friend Mr. Speed. The new capital of Illinois was a large village, its population being about eighteen thousand. It was the county-seat of Sangamon, and the United States Court for that circuit was held there. These, with the annual session of the Legislature, imparted to the embryo metropolis considerable importance. Men famous afterwards in the history of the county, State, and the republic were found among the assem- blies of the citizens. Some social grandeur was ap- parent, and Lincoln has recorded his notion that Springfield was putting on pretensions to elegance. To the shy son of the Kentucky backwoods, doubt- less, there was a great deal of "flourishing about" among the people of the capital; but we must make allowance for the fact that Springfield, like Lincoln, was only just emerging from the backwoods. The courthouse was built of logs, and this was true of nearly all the courthouses on the circuit. The judge sat at a cloth-covered table, behind a rail that sepa- rated the awful majesty of the bench from the bar and people. The rest of the space was occupied by a promiscuous crowd, and it was a very dull day when the courthouse audience did not press hardly upon the accommodations allotted for clerk, bar, and official attendants at the trial. For the courthouse afforded, in those days of few amusements, almost the only in-door entertainment of the people. Here they found tragedy, comedy, elocution, contests of The Young Politician 81 wit and logic, and all that material for neighborhood gossip that is needed so keenly in sparsely settled communities. The lawyers rode horseback from courthouse to courthouse, trying cases and following the presiding judges in their circuit. Each limb of the law carried with him, in his saddle-bags, a change of raiment, a few lawbooks, and the articles of use indispensable to the hard-faring traveller. Manners were simple, even rude, but kindly and hospitable. It was on these long jaunts, travelled in company with judges, witnesses, and jurymen, that Lincoln picked up a vast proportion of the stories of wild Western life and manners, that, in after years, made him famous as an impromptu story-teller. Once, Lincoln, hav- ing assisted the prosecuting attorney in the trial of a man who had appropriated some of the tenants of his neighbor's chicken-house, fell in, next day, jogging along the highway, with the foreman of the jury who had convicted the hen-stealer. The man compli- mented Lincoln on the zeal and ability of the prose- cution, and remarked : ' ' Why, when the country was young and I was stronger than I am now, I did n't mind backing off a sheep now and again. But stealing hens!" The good man's scorn could not find words to express his opinion of a man who would steal hens. On another occasion, while riding the circuit Lin- coln was missed from the party, having loitered, ap- parently, near a thicket of wild plum-trees where the cavalcade had stopped to water their steeds. One of the company, coming up with the others, 6. 82 Abraham Lincoln reported, in answer to questions: "When I saw him last, 'he had caught two young birds that the wind had blown out of their nest, and was hunting for the nest to put them back." The men rallied Lincoln on his tender-heartedness,when he caught up with them. But he said: "I could not have slept unless I had restored those little birds to their mother." Lincoln formed a law partnership with John T. Stuart, of Springfield, in April, 1837, and this relation continued until April, 1841, when Lincoln associated himself in business with Stephen T. Logan. This partnership was dissolved in September, 1843, when the law firm of Abraham Lincoln and William H. Herndon was formed, and this copartnership was not dissolved until the death of Lincoln, in 1865. As a lawyer, Lincoln soon proved that the quali- ties that had won him the title of honest Abe Lincoln, when he was a store-keeper, still stuck to him. He was an honest lawyer; he never undertook a case of doubtful morality. If it was a criminal whom he was defending, and he became convinced of the guilt of the prisoner, he lost all heart in the case. No fee, no expectation of winning fame for his shrewdness, would induce him to undertake a suit in which it would be necessary to resort to quibbles and nice little tricks to win. Perhaps there was less of that sort of legal management in those days than now. But he certainly never did resort to it. And, as those who practised at the bar when he did have left this record of him, it is evident that he was thought to be peculiar, different from the rest of his associates. There were men of ability and skill in the circuit in The Young Politician 83 those days. Some of them became famous in later years. Among these were Lyman Trumbull, after- wards United States Senator from Illinois; O. H. Browning, Senator, and Secretary of the Interior under Lincoln's administration; W. H. Bissell, Representative in Congress, and Governor of the State ; David Davis, Senator, acting Vice-President, and also a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; Stephen A. Douglas, Senator, and a candi- date for the Presidency. So far as we know, none of these men, afterwards eminent in their time, had any expectation of their future successes in public life. But the modest Lincoln was in training for his ex- alted station : and it is worth while to note here that his associations were those that inspired and lifted him up, not dragged him down. It is likely that he regarded those about him with a respect akin to awe and that he never hoped at that time to be equal to them in reputation. How they regarded him, it is not necessary to inquire, except to know that no- body ever thought that he would, in time, distance them all in the race for distinction. He determined to excel, not to outstrip anybody; to do his best, leaving the results to God. Long after he had be- come President, he said that the true rule of life was to do one's " level best," leaving the rest to take care of itself. He believed that the best preparation for the duties of to-morrow was the faithful perform- ance of the duties of to-day. When we look at what young Lincoln had accom- plished at the time of which we are writing, we shall see that he had already begun to evince great talent, 84 Abraham Lincoln although he may not have been a man of mark. For example, in 1837, when he was not yet twenty-eight years old, he was asked to deliver a lecture before an association of young men in Springfield. He chose for his theme "The Perpetuation of our Political In- stitutions, "rather an ambitious topic, one might say. But it was not a crude effort. Considering that it was the work of a self-taught man, who had never seen the inside of a college, it was remarkable as a piece of literary composition. It was the address of a thinking man, an ardent and devoted patriot. In order that the reader may have some notion of the earlier beginnings of Lincoln's statesmanship, one extract from this speech is subjoined. Alluding to our Revolutionary ancestors, he said : " In history, we hope, they will be read of and recounted so long as the Bible shall be read. But even granting 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 testimonies to its own authenticity in the limbs mangled, in the scars of wounds received in the midst of the very scene 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 fortress of strength ; but what the invading The Young Politician 85 foeman could never do, the silent artillery of that time has done the levelling of its walls. They are gone. They were a forest of giant oaks; but the resistless hurricane has swept over them and left only here and there a lonely trunk despoiled of its verdure, shorn of its foliage, un- shading 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." A little later, in 1839, there was a remarkable debate in the Illinois Legislature, in which the Demo- cratic disputants were Stephen A. Douglas, John Calhoun, Josiah Lamborn, and Jesse B. Thomas. The Whig speakers were Stephen T. Logan, Edward D. Baker, Orville H. Browning, and Abraham Lin- coln. All of these men were conspicuous figures in Illinois politics, and most of them became celebrated throughout the country in after years. During the debate, one of the speakers taunted the other side with the hopelessness of their cause and the fewness of their numbers. In replying to him, Lincoln said : " Address that argument to cowards and knaves. With the free and the brave it will effect nothing. It may be true ; if it must, let it. Many free countries have lost their liberty, and ours may lose hers; but, if she shall, let it be my proudest plume, not that I was the last to desert, but that I never deserted her." Martin Van Buren was then President, and all who opposed his administration were denounced and per- secuted with a virulence unknown in these more liberal days. Alluding to this Lincoln said : ' ' Bow to it I never will. Here, before heaven, and in the face of the world, I swear eternal fidelity to the just cause 86 Abraham Lincoln of the land of my life, my liberty, and my love. . . . The cause approved of by our judgment and our hearts, in disaster, in chains, in death, we never faltered in defending." In 1840, the country was deeply stirred by the Presidential campaign of that year. Martin Van Buren was nominated by the Democrats, and General William H. Harrison by the Whigs. Lincoln was one of the Presidential electors on the Harrison ticket, and he took a lively interest in the canvass, making speeches and going on long expeditions for the sake of his candidate. Harrison lived in Ohio, where he had been one of the earlier pioneers. The dwelling of the pioneer, of course, was a log cabin; his favorite drink was supposed to be "hard" or sour, fermented apple cider. In a very short time the Harrison campaign became "the log-cabin and hard- cider campaign." Even in the staid, old-fashioned cities and towns of the Eastern States, log cabins were built for rallying-places. Barrels of hard cider were kept on tap, and, instead of the customary tin cup for drinking purposes, gourds were ostentatious- ly hung out. Coon-skins were nailed on the outer walls of these symbolic log cabins. In some places extravagant expedients were resorted to in order to rouse public enthusiasm. In Boston, for example, a huge ball was made by covering a wood frame- work, some fifty feet in circumference, with painted cloth; and on the ends was lettered the legend, "This is the ball that is rolling on." The novel device was rolled through the streets of the city, on the occasion of a log-cabin parade, the big ball being The Young Politician 87 guided by ropes hitched to its axis. Campaign songsters, flags, and all sorts of inventions to stir up the people, were scattered broadcast all over the country. Lincoln threw himself heart and soul into this extraordinary and memorable canvass. At a great meeting in Springfield, Edward Baker, Lincoln's close friend, was speaking in a large room next below the floor on which Lincoln's office was. A trap-door, once used for ventilating purposes, was cut in the ceiling over the spot where the speaker stood. Lincoln raised this slightly and listened to Baker's harangue. Presently, Baker, losing his temper, assailed the Democrats very hotly, and, as some of these were present, they made a rush for the speaker, crying: "Pull him off the platform!" To their intense surprise, the trap-door was lifted, and Lin- coln's large feet, well known by their proportions, appeared; then his legs, and finally his body, slid down, and the tall son of the backwoods stood defiantly by the side of Baker. Quieting the rising tide by a wave of his hand, Lincoln said: "Gentle- men, 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." Lincoln had sufficient reputation for courage and muscle, as well as for fairness, to warrant that Baker should have no further interruption. CHAPTER VII. WINNING HIS WAY. His First Love Affair A Disappointment Dark Days The Lincoln- Shields "Duel" Good Advice on the Subject of Quarrelling Lincoln and Van Buren A Roadside Symposium Congressional Expectations. WHILE Lincoln was living in New Salem, he became tenderly attached to a young lady of that village, Miss Ann Rutledge. It is not known that the pair were ever engaged to be married, but it is known that a very cordial affection existed between the twain. At that time, Lincoln, who was ever looking on the dark and practical side of life, was in no condition to marry; he was not only poor, but was burdened with debts, and with a very uncertain future before him. It is hardly likely that he would have engaged himself to marry while his prospects in life were so very dim and discouraging. But Miss Rutledge died suddenly, and while yet in the bloom of youth. This sad event impressed Lincoln with the deepest melancholy, and it is said that he never was as cheerful afterwards. To the day of his death, it is likely, the taking out of life of Ann Rutledge, who seems to have been cut down most untimely, was to Lincoln a forcible lesson of the vanity of human 39 Winning His Way 89 expectations. It was at this time, so far as we know, that an old poem, beginning with the line "Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?" greatly impressed him with its sadness and pathetic reminders of death, decay, and disappointment. The poem sunk insensibly into his memory, and it was a favorite with him ever after. It does not appear that Lincoln was ever what is called "a lady's man." He delighted in the society and conversation of cultivated and sprightly women, always, but he was not greatly addicted to such society when a young man making his way in the world. He was obliged to live laborious days, and sit up far into the night pursuing his studies, his reading, his course of thought. But in 1840 there came to Springfield from Kentucky his destiny in the person of Miss Mary Todd. She was a daughter of Robert Todd. It was one of her relatives, John Todd, who gave name to Lexington, Kentucky. When, at the breaking out of the Revolution, John Todd was encamped hard by the site of the present city, he heard from the far East the news of the battle of Lexington, and he bestowed on the settlement yet unborn the title it wears unto this day. The Todd family was one of ancient and honorable standing in Kentucky. Mary Todd's sister was the wife of Ninian W. Edwards, a man of substance in Spring- field, and it was to visit her that Miss Todd had reached the Illinois capital. Mary Todd was courted and flattered by the young men of Springfield, and as the young ladies of those 90 Abraham Lincoln days were more interested in politics than many of the present age, she soon made the acquaintance of Abraham Lincoln, then regarded as a rising man. It will never be known just how a matrimonial engagement between Lincoln and Miss Todd became settled and then unsettled. It may be sufficient for us to know that after the engagement was fixed there was a misunderstanding betwixt the two, and that Lincoln released the young lady from the engage- ment, and that she declined to be released. Im- mediately after, he fell into a state of the most profound melancholy. He was tortured with the idea that he might have been bound by other obligations, or that he was not wholly a free man. Certain it is that he was so affected by what seems to have been a needless remorse, that his mind was in danger of being unsettled. In this pitiable plight, his friend Joshua F. Speed, who had closed out his business in Springfield, returned to Kentucky, taking Lincoln with him. There, in the restful quiet of the Speed mansion, Lincoln recovered his mental health and vigor, and then returned to Springfield. At that time a well-known character in the city was James Shields, a brisk and hot-headed young man from the County Tyrone, Ireland. Shields was an active Democrat, ever dipping into all sorts of adventures, and he had lately been elected State Auditor, an office of some importance, with a good income attached to it. Lincoln anonymously printed in the Sangamon Journal a witty letter purporting to come from "The Lost Townships," in which the writer, who pretended to be a widow with political Winning His Way 91 ideas in her head, bewailed the hard times and the evil results of Democratic rule. In that letter some satirical allusions were made to the heady young Democratic Auditor, who was a fair mark for ridicule, as he was most sensitive, as well as of a fiery disposition. Shields was frantic with rage. He vapored through the town, threatening death and destruction to the unknown author of the satire. The shot was followed by another, in which the widow of "The Lost Townships" offered to square matters by marrying Shields. These two letters, which were the talk of the town, so tickled the fancy of Miss Todd and another young lady that they con- cocted a series of lampoons, verses, and skits, all of which, like the little barbed weapons flung by a bull- fighter, were designed to infuriate the rearing and plunging Shields. In a rage, he went to the editor of the journal, and demanded to know the name of the author of these attacks. The editor, in great distress of mind, applied to Lincoln for advice. Shields would fight. The editor would not fight. Lincoln told him to say that Abraham Lincoln was responsible for the whole business from first to last. Being so informed, Shields challenged Lincoln to mortal combat. Lincoln accepted. In those days, and in those regions, duelling was not only common, but it was very highly thought of as a means of setting a man right when his honor had been assailed before the community. It seems strange, now, to think that Lincoln could have accepted a challenge to fight a duel. But it was the custom of the country, although contrary to the 92 Abraham Lincoln laws. And perhaps Lincoln felt that there would be no duel. Shields was a famous boaster. He and his friends made great ado about the coming duel, so that the affair was very widely advertised. Lincoln, being the challenged party, had the choice of weapons and he chose "cavalry broadswords of the largest size." If he had really desired to hew down Shields, he might have done so, for, in his stout hands and with his long arms, he could have mowed down any man of ordinary build before he could have got near Lincoln. But the fight did not come off. At the last moment, Shields was ready to accept from Lincoln the explanation that the letters from "The Lost Townships" were only intended for political effect and not to reflect on the personal character of Mr. Shields. Lincoln was no wrangler, and it is very likely that he was greatly disturbed by this unseemly quarrel, the first and the last of the sort that he ever had ; and, if he could have escaped from the duel without degradation, he would have done so. It ended without humiliation to him except so far as he felt humbled by having been drawn into a silly fracas in which nobody could gain any credit to him- self. Curiously enough, the seconds in this bloodless affair fell into a wordy quarrel, and a vigorous cor- respondence, which at one time threatened to result in a real duel, was kept up for several weeks after the famous "Lincoln and Shields duel" was declared "off." But nothing serious came of this after-clap. Years after, when he was President of the republic, Lincoln had occasion to reprimand a young officer of the army who had been brought before a court- Winning His Way 93 martial for a quarrel with a brother officer. Pos- sibly, these words, addressed to the culprit, may have been suggested by his own unwelcome ex- perience : " The advice of a father to his son, ' Beware of entrance to a quarrel, but being in, bear it that the opposed may beware of thee,' is good, but not the best. Quarrel not at all. No man resolved to make the most of himself can spare time for personal contention. Still less can he afford to take all the consequences, including the vitiating of his temper and the loss of self-control. Yield larger things to which you can show no more than equal right ; and yield lesser ones though clearly your own. Better give your path to a dog than be bitten by him in con- testing for the right. Even killing the dog would not cure the bite." But out of the Shields affair, we may understand, issued the marriage of Lincoln and Miss Todd. The young lady was bright, vivacious, and roguish. Her knight had shown his readiness to fight for her, although, with genuine Kentucky spirit, she had declared her own willingness to cross weapons with the redoubtable young Irishman, if need be. The paper duel took place late in September; the young couple were married November 4, 1840. The newly married pair took lodgings in the Globe Tavern, a well-known and modest boarding-place not far from the statehouse. In a letter written to a friend, about this time, Lincoln speaks of his happiness in the married state, of his comforts, and of the cheap- ness of their living, which, he says, "is only four dollars a week for board and lodging." On these 94 Abraham Lincoln modest terms did the future President begin married life. Mrs. Lincoln was indeed a helpmate. Her good management and thoughtfulness admirably supple- mented her husband's unworldly absent-mindedness. They were always what some people call "an old- fashioned couple," content with each other, a devoted husband and wife, to the end of their life together. To Lincoln's inexpressible satisfaction, Harrison was elected in 1840. The hard-cider and log-cabin campaign was not fought through, however, without many a hard struggle. The Democrats were over- whelmed at last. The Whigs, after their long ex- clusion from power, were correspondingly elated. It was during this canvass that the old term of derision "Locofoco" was again applied to the Democrats. In 1834, so runs the tale, a party of Democratic agitators were assembled in Tammany Hall, New York, resolved on some very high-handed political measure. The more moderate, after vainly attempt- ing to stem the tide, turned off the gas all at once. In those days, friction matches were a new invention and were called "Locofoco matches," probably from the Latin loco foco, in lieu of fire. Those who were in favor of extreme measures drew their '" Loco- focos" from their pockets, relighted the gas, and the radicals carried their point. From this, the term Locofoco spread all over the country; and it is worthy of remark that Mr. Lincoln, clinging as he did to old-fashioned phrases, frequently, even during the Civil War, referred to Democrats by their old name of Locofocos. The log-cabin campaign having terminated to Winning His Way 95 Lincoln's satisfaction, he spent the winter of his first year of marriage very happily, as well as very busily. Yet he found time to write an occasional newspaper article on the growing power of the political South, and, later on, to compose and deliver a very excellent temperance address. About this time, too, possibly this very winter, he wrote a lecture for a lyceum, designed to show that there was nothing new under the sun, that everything that was claimed as a new invention had existed at some period, possibly very remote, in the history of the world. This lecture was not intended to be taken in cold-blooded earnest, but as a bit of pleasantry, mixed with much sober fact. The temperance address, however, was a serious composition. Lincoln never, even to the day of his death, could be persuaded to partake of spirits or wine. He set out in life, surrounded by drunkards and moderate tipplers, determined that he would resist the temptation to drink of these insidious beverages. He made no promises, but, after a few years of manhood (as he used to say), when his associates had become accustomed to his abstemious habits, he had neither temptation nor de- sire to drink. That part of Lincoln's lecture which was delivered in the Second Presbyterian Church, Springfield, February 22, 1842 that refers to the drinking usages of society is interesting. He said: " 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 g6 Abraham Lincoln 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 stage of existence, we found intoxicating liquor recognized by everybody, used by everybody, repudiated 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 homeless loafer, it was constantly found. Physicians prescribed it in this, that, and the other disease ; government provided it for soldiers and sailors ; and to have a rolling or raising, a husking or 'hoe-down* 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 respect- able. Large and small manufactories of it were every- where erected, in which all the earthly goods 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 nation 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 ploughs, beef, bacon, or any other of the real necessities of life. Universal public opinion not only tolerated, but recog- nized and adopted its use." In June, 1842, Lincoln met Martin Van Buren, then out of office. It was the first time that Lincoln had ever seen the much-hated Democratic ex-Presi- dent, and he was accustomed to say, in after years, that it was no wonder that Van Buren's admirers called him "the little magician/' for, according to Winning His Way 97 Lincoln, Van Buren's manners were so affable and delightful that "he could charm the birds off the trees." But, if Lincoln was pleased with Van Buren, the ex-President was no less gratified by his meeting with the young Whig leader of central Illinois. Being weatherbound at a small town not far from Springfield, the ex-President was forced to remain overnight. Some of his Springfield friends hearing of Mr. Van Buren's plight, made up a party, and, taking with them some refreshments, left Springfield for the village aforementioned. Knowing Lincoln's good-nature, as well as his powers of entertaining, they besought his assistance to lighten the weary hours of the ex-President's stay at the wretched inn where he was detained. Lincoln, always ready to do a good turn, went out with the party, and, as it is recorded by one of the company, entertained the wayfarers far into the night with Western anecdotes, funny stories, and graphic descriptions of wild life on the frontier. Van Buren was surprised and de- lighted, saying that the only drawback to his enjoy- ment was that his sides were sore, from laughing at Lincoln's stories, for a week thereafter. The Demo- cratic ex-President and the Whig leader parted on such excellent terms that they ever after cherished pleasant recollections of that night. Lincoln had long desired to go to Congress, but it so happened that his dearest friends, also Whigs, were equally anxious to go from the district in which they all lived. This was known as the Sangamon district, and from 1839 to 1850 it was represented by men of marked ability. Edward D, Baker was chosen in 98 Abraham Lincoln 1 843 . He had been preceded by Stephen A. Douglas. He was succeeded by Abraham Lincoln. In the various moves made to secure the nomination for Congress, Lincoln's fairness and magnanimity were conspicuous. The district was strongly Whig, and a nomination was almost an election. But Lincoln, always preferring his friend before himself, loyally supported each of his most intimate associates, and thought his to be the better claim. On one occa- sion, having been a candidate for the nomination to Congress, Lincoln was elected as a delegate to the nominating convention, and was instructed to vote for E. D. Baker. Of this predicament he good- naturedly said: "I shall be fixed a good deal like the fellow who is made groomsman to the man who cut him out and is marrying his girl." At this time, 1842, John J. Hardin was nominated and elected. He was one of Lincoln's truest friends ; he was sub- sequently killed at the battle of Buena Vista, during the Mexican War. CHAPTER VIII. THE RISING POLITICIAN. Lincoln's Admiration of Henry Clay An Irresponsive Idol Slavery and the Tariff Lincoln Elected to Congress The Mexican War A Queer Nickname Rise of the Free-Soil Party Election of Gen. Taylor Return to Springfield The Boys of Lincoln A Shiftless Relative. IT was said of Lincoln that he was a born politician and that, as a political prophet, he made few mistakes. But he was deeply and overwhelmingly disappointed, in 1844, when his idol, Henry Clay, was defeated for the Presidency by James K. Polk of Tennessee. For once, Lincoln had no doubts, ap- parently, as to the success of a campaign on which he had staked so great expectations. But Clay was defeated, and the Whigs, plunged into the depths of grief, went to the length, in some localities, of wear- ing mourning badges to show the hoplessness of their woe. Clay was the idol of those who had supported him for the Presidency; and Lincoln, sincere as was his personal disappointment and grief, was only one of thousands who felt as he did. The defeat was unexpected, and its very unexpectedness made it harder to bear. Long after this, Lincoln was ac- customed to refer to the defeat of Clay as one of his keenest personal sorrows. It is very likely, however, that the edge of this 99 ioo Abraham Lincoln grief was made less sharp by Clay's own conduct. In 1846, Lincoln, learning that Clay was to speak in Lexington, Kentucky, made a pilgrimage to that place in order that he might hear the voice, grasp the hand, and look in the magnetic eyes of his adored leader. Clay's speech was on the subject of coloniz- ing Africa with emancipated American slaves, an expedient then attracting much attention in the republic as a possible solution of the problem of American slavery, now becoming more and more difficult and more than ever discussed. Clay's speech, on this occasion, was written out and was read in a cold manner, very unlike what Lincoln had expected of the fiery and impetuous Kentucky orator. Lincoln, who had come so far to hear what was a very commonplace address, was disappointed. Never- theless, when the meeting was dissolved, he sought the much-wished-for introduction to Clay. The Kentuckian, knowing how true a friend was the Illinois Whig leader, invited him to accompany him to Ashland, the seat of the Clay family. We may imagine the elation with which Lincoln accepted this unexpected invitation from the object of his wor- ship. But more disillusion was in store for him. Clay was proud, distant, and haughty in his manner, and he evidently regarded Lincoln as a clodhopper, a rude backwoodsman, whose personal affection for "the great Whig chief" must be rewarded by a few curt words of welcome. He was conceited in himself, impatient of suggestions or advice from others. Lincoln was humble, conscious of his own short- comings. Clay was sufficient unto himself. Lin- The Rising Politician 101 coin's invariable habit was to defer to others. Clay, in the fulness of his popularity, accepted the defer- ence offered him as his due. Lincoln felt that his hero-worship was an egregious blunder. He went back to Springfield, as he afterwards expressed it, "with the enthusiasm all oozed out of him." The man who was to be President had learned a lesson from him who never could be President. It was a lesson never forgotten. In 1846, Lincoln was nominated for Congress, and one object of his ambition was within reach. His competitor on the Democratic ticket was Peter Cart- wright, a backwoods preacher and exhorter, famous in his time for the vigor with which he pursued every topic to which he addressed himself. It was thought that Cartwright would poll a very much larger vote than that usually given to a Democratic candidate in the district, possibly might be elected. But Lincoln astonished his opponents by the fulness of his vote. His majority over Cartwright was sixteen hundred and eleven, considerably more than any other Whig candidate had a right to expect. When Lincoln took the "stump " for himself in the canvass, he had a plenty of material for his addresses to the people. During the preceding winter, the new State of Texas had been admitted to the Union, a measure to which Lincoln, and other Whigs, was bitterly opposed. Texas had first seceded from Mexico, and, after a sharp war, had gained something that was akin to independence. At least, the war was temporarily suspended, according to Mexican notions of the position of affairs, and the new State 102 Abraham Lincoln proposed to join the family of the United States. After various expedients had been tried without success, the Democratic administration of the Govern- ment finally did secure the annexation of Texas. This was done in order that a new slave State might be added to the Union. The increase of population in the North, so much more rapid than it was in the South, made it necessary that something should be done to maintain the political strength of the slave States. The work of achieving the independence of Texas was accomplished largely by Americans, and it was felt that this was only to prepare the way to bring the young republic into the Union. This suspicion was certainty when the Southern States insisted that Texas should be brought into the Federal Union, without delay. This was finally brought about, and Mexico, which had agreed to a cessation of hostilities for a time, immediately began a war with Texas and the United States. This, and a reduction of the tariff on imported goods, for which the Democrats were responsible, gave the Whigs ammunition for their political campaign; and we can understand how vigorously Lincoln used it in his canvass. In fact, the encroachments of slavery were exciting alarm and uneasiness among the more thoughtful and observant of the people of the free States. Mr. Lincoln, who apparently believed that slavery could not be abolished without changing the Constitution of the United States, was as uneasy as any other man, and his speeches were all aimed, although indirectly, at that power. The Congress to which Lincoln was elected was The Rising Politician 103 the Thirtieth, and Lincoln took his seat in it Decem- ber 6, 1847. He was very much at home there, for he had then been repeatedly a member of the State Legislature, had "stumped" Illinois from one end to the other, had made a great many public speeches, had met all the leading men of that region, and had been accustomed to hold his own in debate. Add to all this the fact that he had, ever since boyhood, been a diligent, almost hungry, student of political affairs, and had heard them discussed in public places, or had read in the newspapers, and we shall see that he was no tyro in affairs that were likely to come before Congress. He was familiar with all the great questions, had debated them before the people, and had so studied the history of his country that he knew all that had happened to lead up to the crisis in which the republic then found itself with a for- eign war on its hands and a new State in the Union, the admission of which a great many public men, in and out of Congress, regarded as a misfortune to the republic. James K. Polk was President of the United States, and, disappointed by a failure to dis- pose of the Mexican question before he took office, his messages to Congress were designed to show that the war with Mexico was a just one, and that he had been right in all that he had done to make that war inevitable. Lincoln's acute mind saw the inconsistency of the President's position, and, in order to bring from President Polk, if possible, a statement of the facts on which he had pretended to base his messages, Lincoln, as soon as he had fairly become used to his 104 Abraham Lincoln seat, introduced a series of resolutions asking the President for information. These resolutions were prefaced by a clear statement of the situation, as it appeared to him, together with sundry extracts from the President's messages of that year and the year next preceding. The aim of these resolutions will be seen by quoting the first three, as follows: "That the President of the United States be respect- fully requested to inform this house : " First. Whether the spot on which the blood of our citi- zens was shed, as in his messages declared, was or was not within the territory of Spain, at least after the treaty of 1819, until the Mexican revolution. " Second. Whether this spot is or is not within the territory which was wrested from Spain by the revolu- tionary government of Mexico. " Third. Whether that spot is or is not within a settle- ment of people, which settlement has existed ever since long before the Texas revolution and until its inhabitants fled before the approach of the United States army." The questions were never answered. No answer was probably expected. It was seen that if the President or the President's friends should undertake to reply, and admit the real facts, the position taken by Mr. Polk, and those who defended the war, would be surrendered. So, not being able to make answer to the only Whig representative from Illinois, the tall backwoods lawyer, they contented them- selves with giving him a nickname. As he had used the word "spot" several times in the resolutions and in the speech that followed, he was known for a The Rising Politician 105 time, at least, as "Spot Lincoln." The speech, which was delivered in the succeeding January, was a masterly one, reviewing the causes of the Mexican War and severely arraigning the administration for its persistence in the matter of the annexation of Texas, and thus involving the country in a bloody and causeless fight with Mexico. It is well to bear in mind that there were many eminent men in Congress in those days. In the Senate were Daniel Webster, Lewis Cass, John A. Dix, Thomas H. Benton, John C. Calhoun, Jefferson Davis, Stephen Arnold Douglas, and other well- known statesmen. In the House of Representatives were such men as ex-President John Quincy Adams, Caleb B. Smith, afterwards a member of Lincoln's cabinet, John G. Palfrey, Robert C. Winthrop, An- drew Johnson, elected Vice-President of the United States when Lincoln was chosen for his second term ; Alexander H. Stephens, afterwards Vice-President of the Southern Confederacy; Robert Toombs, the Southern slaveholder who promised to have his slaves mustered to roll-call on Bunker Hill; Howell Cobb, afterwards a general in the rebel army, and many others famous in the stormy times then mak- ing ready in the distance. In this illustrious com- pany of legislators, Lincoln was recognized as a man of marked ability. Speaking of him, long after- wards, Alexander H. Stephens said: " He always attracted 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 io6 Abraham Lincoln of strong convictions and what Carlyle would have called an earnest man. He abounded in anecdote, tEe illus- trated everything he was talking about with an anecdote, always exceedingly apt and pointed; and socially he always kept his company in a roar of laughter." We see that many of the traits of the pioneer boy still stuck to the mature man, now in Congress. Lincoln took part in the debates of the House rather more frequently than most new members did then, or do in these later days. Some of his speeches, to be found in the printed record of Congress, show char- acteristic touches of humor. For example, speaking of the attempt to make a military hero of General Lewis Cass, who was to be the next Democratic can- didate for President, and who was said to have been an important figure in a small fight on the Canadian border, Lincoln said, with rough sarcasm: "He invaded Canada without resistance, and he out- vaded without pursuit." "He was volunteer aid to General Harrison on the day of the battle of the Thames, and as you said, in 1840, that Harrison was picking whortleberries, two miles off, while the battle was fought, I suppose it is a just conclusion with you to say that Cass was aiding Harrison to pick whortleberries." It is to be noticed that Lincoln, while he disap- proved of the Mexican War, always voted to reward the bravery of the soldiers who fought the battles and who were not in any way responsible for the war. Later, when he and Douglas were holding a political discussion, Douglas reproached Lincoln The Rising Politician 107 with being an enemy of his country during the Mexi- can War. Lincoln replied: "I was an old Whig, and when the Democratic party tried to get me to vote that the war had been righteously begun by the President, I would not do it. But when they asked for money, or land warrants, or anything to pay the soldiers, I gave the same vote that Douglas did." This was true, but it must be admitted that Whig politicians who disapproved of the war, and were compelled by public opinion to vote for war sup- plies, had a hard time of it. If this was true of the Whigs, Lincoln showed, with great force and caustic scorn, that the Democratic President was also in great perplexity. Speaking of the President's strug- gles to set himself right, when he knew that he was wrong, Lincoln said: " He knows not where he is." " All this shows that the President is by no means satisfied with his positions. First, he takes up one, and, in attempting to argue us into it, he argues himself out of it. Then he 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 time before cast off. His mind, tasked beyond its powers, is running hither and thither, like some tortured thing on a burning surface, finding no position on which it can settle down and be at ease." This speech was made in the House of Represent- atives after Taylor had been nominated at Phila- delphia by the Whigs in 1848. Clay had been supported in that convention as a candidate more fit io8 Abraham Lincoln than Taylor ; but Taylor had won fame on the field of Buena Vista, during the Mexican War, and he had not been in favor of carrying that war forward to the banks of the Rio Grande, the disputed boundary between Texas and Mexico. He was urged in the convention as the most available man for the nomi- nation, and the word "availability" was repeated with much scorn by Mr. Clay's friends afterwards. Lincoln was a delegate to the Whig convention that nominated Taylor, and he was enthusiastically in favor of the "Hero of Buena Vista," as the General was styled by his admirers. General Taylor's man- ners were very blunt, and his usual address was abrupt. His followers gave him the title of "Rough and Ready," and the name was used as a battle-cry all through the campaign. Indeed, the Whigs re- sorted to all the tricks and devices that had made the "Log-Cabin and Hard-Cider" campaign of Har- rison and Tyler so successful. Lincoln was not only enthusiastically in favor of Taylor's nomination, but he was confident of his election. In a letter to a friend, written a few days after the Philadelphia convention, he said that, in his opinion, the Whigs would have "a most overwhelming and glorious tri- umph," and he added: "One unmistakable sign is that all the odds and ends are with us Barn- burners, Native Americans, Tyler men, disappointed office-seeking Locofocos, and the Lord knows what. This is important, if in nothing else, in showing which way the wind blows." This queer list of party factions shows how par- ties were then beginning to break up. The Barn- The Rising Politician 109 burners were the antislavery seceders from the Democratic party in New York. The Tyler men were those who adhered to the fortunes and alleged principles of John Tyler, who, having been elected Vice-President with General Harrison by the Whigs, afterward became President by the death of Harri- son, and then went over to the Democratic party, taking with him a fraction of his own party. In August of that year, 1848, the New York anti- slavery Democrats assembled at Buffalo, New York, and organized the Free-Soil party. It was pledged, not to the abolition of slavery, but to its restriction to the territory it already occupied. The new party was determined that the soil of the territories then in existence, and thereafter to be acquired, should be free; that there should be no more slave labor outside of the States in which slavery existed, and that every citizen of the United States should have full liberty to speak his sentiments concerning any topic before the people, even concerning slavery. The slaveholders had begun to suppress newspapers that were against slavery, and to oppress men who dared to say that slavery was not right and just. The battle-cry of the Free-Soilers in that canvass was "Free Soil, Free Labor, and Free Speech. '* They nominated Martin Van Buren for President and Charles Francis Adams for Vice-President. The Free-Soilers of that day included many eminent men, some of whom had come out of the Democratic party on account of its cringing attitude to slavery in the United States. Among the Free-Soilers were Salmon P. Chase, afterward Chief Justice of the Supreme no Abraham Lincoln Court of the United States; Charles Sumner; Henry Wilson, afterward Senator from Massachusetts, and then Vice -President of the republic; William Cullen Bryant; John P. Hale, then and afterward a Sena- tor from New Hampshire ; and many others. The Democrats, meantime, had nominated for President Lewis Cass. This gentleman, as we have seen, had had a very slight taste of war in the skir- mish known as the battle of the Thames; and, as the Whig candidate was hurrahed for as a military hero, the Democrats attempted very unsuccessfully to give Cass a military reputation. The experiment failed. The slavery question, which could not any longer be kept down, was judiciously omitted from the platforms of the Whigs and the Democrats. The Free-Soilers were sufficiently outspoken in their plat- form; but we shall find that the speakers of the other two parties, after all, were obliged to say something about the great but much-dreaded ques- tion. William H. Seward, afterwards Senator and Secretary of State, said, in a speech supporting Tay- lor's candidacy: "Freedom and slavery are two antagonistic elements of society in America." "The party of freedom seeks complete and universal eman- cipation." Daniel Webster, who also supported Taylor, insisted that the Whigs were the real Free- Soilers. Lincoln avowed himself to be "a Northern man, or, rather, a Western Free-State man, with a constituency I believe to be, and with personal feel- ings I know to be, against the extension of slavery." The Congressional recess began in August, and Lin- coln went immediately to New England, where he The Rising Politician in took the stump for Taylor. His speeches were char- acterized by their keenness of analysis, wit, humor, and unanswerable logic. He was in close communi- cation with the Whig leaders in Illinois, and con- tinually wrote them, giving them advice, counsel, and hints for the conduct of the campaign. Some of these letters are very interesting as showing the thoroughness of Lincoln's methods. In a letter to his partner, W. H. Herndon, he says: "Let every one play the part he can play best. Some can speak, some can sing, and all can halloo." When he had filled his engagements in New England and New York he returned at once to Illinois, where he threw himself into the canvass with great fervor, speaking day and night until the election, which occurred in November, 1848. When the votes were counted, it was found that General Taylor was elected, having 163 electors, while Cass had 137. Van Buren, not having carried any one State, had no electors. Of the total number of votes cast in all the States, Taylor had 1,360,752; Cass had 1,219,962; Van Buren had 291,342. Great was the joy of the Whigs; bonfires and illumina- tions flamed, and the Whig newspapers broke out with cuts, big type, and other devices to show mani- fest exultation, unknown in these days. There was a general feeling of satisfaction all over the North, for it was felt that the election of Taylor would, somehow, prevent the further extension of slavery. In fact, although probably very few, except such shrewd politicians as Lincoln, saw it, the triumph of the Whigs, assisted by the Free-Soil party, was ii2 Abraham Lincoln making ready for the formation of a new party that was to bring to pass what none then thought possible the abolition of slavery. It should be borne in mind that the votes cast for Van Buren would have elected Cass had they all been given to him. And the bulk of those votes had come out of the Demo- cratic party. When Congress reassembled in December of that year, after the Presidential election, the aspect of things was materially changed. Lincoln and other ardent Whigs were no longer in a hopeless minority in the country, and the Northern Democrats, who believed that they had been sacrificed in the interest of Southern slavery, were angry and sullen. They were ready to wreak their spite on their Southern Democratic friends. One of these, Mr. Root of Ohio, very soon introduced a resolution favoring the organization of the new Territories, California and New Mexico, with constitutions that should exclude slavery; this caused great uproar. The Territories in question had been acquired by the treaty under which the quar el with Mexico was settled; and it had been hop^d and expected by the South that slavery would ^e extended there, as it had been in Texas. When the Root resolution came to a vote in the House, the Southern men were solidly against it; eight Northern Democrats were with those of the South; and all the Whigs from the North and all the Northern Democrats but the eight referred to voted for it. The resolution, however, got no far- ther than the Senate, where it was killed by the slavery majority. The Rising Politician 113 In this, as in all measures designed to cripple the institution of slavery, Lincoln voted with the friends of freedom, although he did not take an active part in the debate. He seemed to be w iting and watch- ing, after his usual cautious fashion. Later in the session, he introduced a bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia. He thought it a shame and a disgrace that traffic in slaves should be carried on right under the shadow of the Capitol in which the National Congress assembled to transact the public business. And, like many another Northern man, his heart was stirred with indignation to see coffles, or gangs, of slaves, handcuffed and linked in chains, passing through the streets of Washington on the way to the South. This was a good time to test the feeling of the House of Representatives. His bill provided that no person from without the District should be held to slavery in it; and that no person thereafter born in the District , should be held in slavery anywhere. It also provided for the gradual emancipation of the slaves then in the District, the owners of the same being paid for them by the Gov- ernment of the United States. The bill was to be voted on by the inhabitants of the District before it should be a law. The bill seems to us, in these days of enlightenment, very moderate. It recognized property in persons, for it provided that the Govern- ment should buy and free the slaves. But the bill was framed so that it might, if possible, pass Con- gress, not as an expression of what Lincoln thought was just and right to the slave and the slaveholder. But, temperate though the bill was, it excited a ii4 Abraham Lincoln storm of opposition. The Southern members were determined that no bill that was calculated to weaken slavery in any way, or to imply that slavery was not everything that was lovely and of good report, should ever pass Congress, if they could help it. Lincoln's bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia never came to a vote. Soon after, Con- gress adjourned and Lincoln, his term of office being out, went home to Illinois. When he was to return to the national capital, twelve years later, it would be to remain until slavery was abolished from one end of the republic to the other. Lincoln was not a candidate for re-election. As his was the only Whig district in the State, and was full of ambitious and able men who were Whigs, it had become the custom of the party to give the office of Congressman to no man twice in succession. -Any man who wanted it for a second time was thought greedy. Edward D. Baker had just re- turned from the Mexican War, covered with the honors he had gained on the battlefield of Cerro Gordo. He was nominated , and elected to succeed Lincoln. For the first and last time in his life, Lin- coln became an applicant to an appointive office. Taylor was now President, and, according to the custom of the time, all the Democrats were to be turned out of office and their places given to Whigs who had done service in the campaign. Lincoln, with a plenty of ideas concerning ptiblic improve- ments and with some experience as a surveyor of lands, thought he would like to be the Commissioner of the General Land Office, a place in which he The Rising Politician 115 would have charge of the sale and distribution of the lands belonging to the United States Government. To the surprise of his friends, and to his own great disappointment, which he did not attempt to con- ceal, Lincoln was refused the office he sought, but was offered that of Governor of the Territory of Oregon. This place, however, he declined. It was not to his taste, and, most likely, he was beginning to see that he had a greater work on this side of the Rocky Mountains. Moreover, Mrs. Lincoln was de- cidedly opposed to going to the Pacific coast. She had had enough of frontier life. Years afterward, when her husband had become President, she did not fail to remind him that her advice, when he was wavering, had restrained him from "throwing him- self away" on a distant territorial governorship. The bait held out to Lincoln at that time was that Oregon would soon come into the Union as a State and that he could probably return as a United States Senator. This glittering prospect made him pause until his wife's opposition determined him. It is a curious coincidence that, when Lincoln was Presi- dent, Edward D. Baker, who was Lincoln's friend and his successor in Congress, went to Oregon from California and was elected United States Senator from that State. During Lincoln's term in Congress, lasting from December, 1847, to March, 1849, he retained his home in Springfield, his wife being in Washington with him only on brief visits* Their eldest son, Robert Todd, was born August i, 1843; the second, Edward Baker, was born March 10, 1846; the third, n6 Abraham Lincoln William Wallace, December 21, 1850; and the fourth, Thomas, April 4, 1853. Of these, the second died in infancy; the third died while his father was President; the fourth survived his father, dying at the age of nineteen. The eldest, Robert, Secretary of War under Garfield and under Arthur, is the sole survivor of the family. When Lincoln returned to Springfield from Congress, he found his law practice fallen away, so that, to use his own expression, he had to begin all over again. But he had gained reputation during his Congressional term, and he rebuilt his practice with ready skill and untiring in- dustry. He had bought a house and lot in Spring- field, and there established himself and his family under a roof of his own, which he was never to leave until he left it for the last time, when he went to take up his residence in the White House at Wash- ington. We are told that it was a pleasant and sunny home, where love and order reigned. In the society of his children Lincoln took great delight. It cannot be said that his was a stern rule. It was well-nigh impossible for him to exercise any right of government with his children. They were passion- ately fond of their father; but it must be admitted that censorious visitors sometimes went away won- dering why he so "indulged'* his boys. Perhaps he remembered his own hard childhood and the scanty joys and comforts of those dark years. As we have seen, Mr. Lincoln's father, Thomas Lincoln, was se Jed near Decatur, Macon County, Illinois, where his son Abraham, assisted by Thomas Hanks, had fenced in, with rails of their own split- The Rising Politician 117 ting, a small section of a new farm. After Abraham went out to seek his own fortune, his father moved several times, never long satisfied to remain in one place. He finally settled in " Goose Nest Prairie," a small fanning community in Coles County, Illinois, where he remained until his death, in 1851, at the. age of seventy-three. Whatever he had thought of the abilities of his son, who had bothered him with his youthful habit of speech-making and his pro- clivity to "talking politics," Thomas Lincoln lived to see him one of the best-known men and leading lawyers of the State. As soon as he could spare any- thing from his own earnings, after his load of debt was lifted, Lincoln helped his parents continually. He bought lands for them, sent them good gifts, and in many ways showed his filial affection to the end of their stay on earth. It may be said here that there were other members of the Lincoln family, not holding so strong a claim on Abraham's generosity, that were helped by the warm-hearted man. John Johnston, Abraham's step-brother, appears to have been an unthrifty and easy-going person who needed a lift, and got it, now and again, from the frugal and not over-rich Spring- field lawyer. In a letter to John, written about the time when he returned from Congress, Lincoln said: "At the various times when I have helped you a little, you have said to me, 'We can get along very well now/ but in a short time I find you in the same difficulty again." And in the most friendly and affectionate way he went on to show how the diffi- culty was in his unwillingness to work for small pay, n8 Abraham Lincoln work for small things, work for what could be got then, rather than wait for something better to turn up. Later, in November, 1851, Lincoln wrote to John, giving him much wholesome advice, as follows : "DEAR BROTHER: When I came into Charleston, day before yesterday, I learned that you are anxious to sell the land where you live and move to Missouri. I have been thinking of this ever since, and cannot but think such a notion is utterly foolish. What can you do in Missouri better than here? Is the land any richer? Can you there, any more than here, raise corn and wheat and oats without work? Will anybody there, any more than here, do your work for you? If you intend to go to work, there is no better place than right where you are ; if you do not intend to go to work, you cannot get along anywhere. Squirming and crawling about from place to place can do no good. You have raised no crop this year, and what you really want is to sell the land, get the money, and spend it. Part with the land you have, and, my life upon it, you will never after own a spot big enough to bury you in. Half you will get for the land you will spend in mov- ing to Missouri, and the other half you will eat and drink and wear out, and no foot of land will be bought. Now, I feel it is my duty to have no hand in such a piece of foolery. I feel that it is so even on your own account, and particularly on mother's account. The eastern forty acres I intend to. keep for mother while she lives. If you will not cultivate it, it will rent for enough to support her ; at least it will rent for something. Her dower in the other two forties she can let you have, and no thanks to me. Now, do not misunderstand this letter. I do not write it in any unkindness. I write it in order, if possible, The Rising Politician 119 to get you to face the truth, which truth is, you are desti- tute because you have idled away all your time. Your thousand pretences deceive nobody but yourself. Go to work, is the only cure for your case.'' We shall understand Lincoln better from this let- ter to his step-brother. It shows him to be inde- pendent, self-reliant, and disposed to make his own way in the world without calling on others to carry him along, as so many young men are in the habit of doing. There are other letters extant that show that Lincoln had repeatedly assisted this same step- brother; and this letter gives touching evidence of his care and anxiety for his step-mother. None of these were kin to Lincoln, but they were, all the same, a charge upon his generosity and affection, just as though they were of the same blood. Brought up in a hard school, Lincoln was early taught many practical lessons in frugality and economy ; but his natural kindliness and open-handedness were never spoiled by penury and need. He never, so say his contemporaries, was able to make any money out- side of his profession. The only possession he ever had that was not gained by sheer hard work was a tract of wild land in Iowa, given to him by the United States Government (as it was to each volun- teer), for his services in the Black Hawk war. When he went to Washington to take the Presidency, the sum total of all his wealth in goods, chattels, lands, and cash was valued at a sum not so great as a single fee sometimes paid in these later days to a lawyer of the standing and ability he had at that time. 120 Abraham Lincoln Lincoln was thrifty only in the sense of working hard for what he got and never spending for that which was not absolutely needful for the comfort and happiness of those dependent upon him. Parsimoni- ous he never was. CHAPTER IX. LINCOLN THE LAWYER. An Honest Advocate and Counsellor The Snow Boys and Old Man Case Famous Lawsuits about Negroes Jack Armstrong's Son on Trial for Murder Lincoln's Vindication of His Old Friend How the Attorney Looked and Spoke. JV/IENTION has already been made of Lincoln's * * * immovable honesty. This was not only con- spicuous in his dealings with men, but in his course as a politician and a lawyer. No man more than he ever made so many concessions to his opponents in a discussion, and yet succeeded in convincing those who were to be carried by his argument, whether it was a jury in a law-case, or an audience of the people in a political canvass. Sometimes, those who were with him, but did not, perhaps, understand his methods, were dismayed as they heard him give away point after point in the case that he presented. Their surprise, therefore, was very great when he began to sum up and, by the force of his reasoning, won his suit. This was because he knew his case thoroughly; he did not wait until its weak points were disclosed by the speaker on the other side. He relied on what lawyers call the equity of the case that he presented to the minds of men ; and he was sure to go to the very bottom of things before he got through. It was the natural habit of his mind 121 122 Abraham Lincoln to look at the objections that might be found against any given course rather than to the advantages and attractions of the same. People who knew him only on the surface, as it were, said that he looked on the dark side of things. This was not exactly true. He considered difficulties, in order that he might be pre- pared for failure and disappointment. He never forgot the advice of Captain Davy Crockett: "Be sure you are right, then go ahead." Honest himself, he was intolerant of dishonesty in others; and not a few cases are mentioned of his fairly blazing with wrath when he presented to a jury the facts which showed the craft and wickedness of those who would escape their just deserts. He seemed to seize upon all the salient points of his opponent's case, before even they had attracted the attention of the counsel for the other side. And, what was remarkable, he seldom appealed to the native sense of justice which is hidden in a jury without success. A good instance of this was shown in the suit of an old man named Case, brought against "the Snow boys," to recover the amount of a note given by them for three yoke of oxen and a "breaking plough." This team was used for break- ing up the soil of the virgin prairie and was abso- lutely needful as part of the outfit of a prairie farmer, in those days. The Snow boys were not of age. They had bought the team and had given their note for the amount of the purchase money, and, being unable to pay when the note became due, they were sued for the money. Their counsel appeared in court and set up the plea that the defendants were Lincoln the Lawyer 123 infants, or minors, when the note was given, and were, therefore, in law, incompetent to make a con- tract, and that the note was void. As counsel for Case, Lincoln produced in court the note signed by the Snow boys. It was admitted that the note was given in payment for the plough and oxen. Then the defendants' counsel offered to prove that they were under age when they signed the note. " Yes," said Lincoln, "I guess we will admit that." "Is there a count in the declaration for oxen and plough sold and delivered?" asked the justice. 4 'Yes," said Lincoln; "and I have only one or two questions to ask of the witness who has been called by the defendants' counsel to prove the age of his clients." "Where is that prairie team now?" asked Lincoln. "On the farm of the Snow boys." "Have you seen any one breaking prairie with it lately?" "Yes," said the witness, "the boys were breaking up with it yesterday." "How old are the boys now?" "One is a little over twenty-one, and the other is near twenty-three." "That is all," said Lincoln. "Gentlemen," said Lincoln to the jury, "these boys never would have tried to cheat old farmer Case out of these oxen and that plough, but for the advice of counsel. It was bad advice, bad in morals, bad in law. The law never sanctions cheating, and a lawyer must be very smart indeed to twist it so 124 Abraham Lincoln that it will seem to do so. The judge will tell you, what your own sense of justice has already told you, that these Snow boys, if they were mean enough to plead the baby act, when they came to be men would have taken the plough and oxen back. They cannot go back on their contract and also keep what the note was given for." Without leaving their seats, the jury, made up of men of the neighborhood, gave a verdict for Lin- coln's client, old farmer Case. A more celebrated case was that which Lincoln tried in 1841, and was known as that of Bailey vs. Cromwell. A negro girl named Nancy had been sold, as a slave, or indentured servant, by Cromwell to Bailey, and a promissory note taken in payment. The note was not paid when it became due, and suit was brought in the Tazewell County Court, Illinois, to recover the amount, and judgment was given for the plaintiff. The case was then taken to the Su- preme Court of the State, and Lincoln appeared for the maker of the note, Bailey. He argued that the girl could not be held in slavery, since, under what was known as the Ordinance of 1787, slavery was prohibited in the Northwestern Territory, of which Illinois was a part, as well as by the constitution of that State, which expressly prohibited slavery. He insisted that, as the consideration for which the note was given was a human being, and, under the laws of Illinois, a human being could not be bought and sold, the note was void. A human being could not be an object of sale and transfer in a free State. It will be noticed that this involved some of the questions Lincoln the Lawyer 125 which Lincoln afterwards took so large a part in discussing. His argument, covering as it did the existence and the rights claimed for human slavery under the constitution of a State, the Ordinance of 1787, and the law of nations, was very carefully con- structed. The court reversed the judgment and the note was thus declared void, as Lincoln had alleged that it was. At that time, the case attracted great attention from its novelty as well as its importance. Lincoln was then thirty-two years of age, and his connection with so weighty and grave a suit un- doubtedly occasioned him a very careful and thor- ough examination of the questions related to slavery. Another slave case in which Lincoln was concerned was more interesting, because his heart was engaged when the legal aspect of the affair had disappeared. An old slave woman, living near Springfield, had been born in slavery in Kentucky, and, with her children, had passed into the possession of a man named Hinkle. Hinkle had moved into Illinois, bringing his slaves with him; but, as he could not hold them there, he had given them their freedom. In course of time, a son of the woman had hired himself as a cabin waiter on a steamboat and had voyaged down the Mississippi. At New Orleans the boy had gone ashore, forgetting, or not knowing, that he was liable to arrest. In accordance with the custom of the times, he was seized by the police and locked up, the rules of the city requiring that any colored person found at large, after night, without a written pass from his owner, should be confined in the "calaboose." After some delay, the boy was 126 Abraham Lincoln brought out, tried, and sentenced to pay a fine. Meanwhile the steamboat had left, and the boy was liable to be sold into slavery to pay his fine. Word was sent to the boy's mother, in Illinois, and, in her extremity, she came to Lincoln, who had gained some reputation as being one of the very few lawyers in Springfield who dared to undertake a case in- volving what were called the rights of slavery. Lin- coln was very much moved, and he besought his partner, Mr. W. H. Herndon, to go and see the Gov- ernor and ask if there was no way by which a free negro, held in duress in New Orleans, could be brought home. The Governor regretted very much to say that there was no remedy provided by the constitution or the laws for such a state of facts. He could do nothing. Lincoln rose to his feet, in great excitement, and said: "By the Almighty! 1 11 have that negro back soon, or I '11 have a twenty years* excitement in Illinois until the Governor does have a legal and constitutional right to do some- thing in the premises !" The twenty years' excite- ment came in due time, but, meanwhile, the two lawyers sent money of their own to New Orleans, entrusting the case to a correspondent ; the fine and other expenses were paid and the boy sent home to his grateful mother. It is related of Edward D. Baker, Lincoln's friend and comrade, that, being once asked to undertake a suit in which the rights of a fugitive slave were in- volved, he said that, as a public man and a politician, he did not dare to take it. An antislavery friend of the man who was in trouble was next applied to for Lincoln the Lawyer 127 advice, and he said : ' ' Go to Lincoln. He 's not afraid of an unpopular case. When I go for a lawyer to defend an arrested fugitive slave, other lawyers will refuse me, but if Lincoln is at home he will always take my case." The reader will remember that the leader of "the Clary's Grove boys," Jack Armstrong, became Lin- coln's steadfast friend and ally, after the tussle be- tween him and young Lincoln, in Salem, during Lincoln's rough apprenticeship in the company of the frontiersmen. When Jack Armstrong was married, and had become a steady-going householder, his home was always open to the welcome visits of his old friend. Here, when lack of employment cast him down, Lincoln found a harbor of rest and refuge. It was in Mrs. Jack Armstrong's house that a chance visitor first saw Lincoln, prone on a trundle-bed, rocking a cradle with one foot while he read aloud. And in later years, when Jack Armstrong was dead and his boy had grown to man's estate, his mother came to Lincoln in great trouble. Her son, William D. Armstrong, had been arrested for murder. Lin- coln knew nothing of the case, but he undertook it, and, after looking into the facts, became assured that the lad was innocent. It appeared that young Armstrong, in company with some of his mates, had visited a camp-meeting and had become involved in a quarrel. The diffi- culty was prolonged into the night, and, in the course of the fracas, a mortal blow was dealt to a young man on the opposite side of the dispute, what- ever it was. The evidence against the prisoner was 128 Abraham Lincoln solid and substantial, although chiefly circumstan- tial, except that one witness did swear that he saw the prisoner inflict the fatal blow with a slung-shot, by "the light of the moon, which was shining brightly." Lincoln surprised everybody by his calm, merciless, and destructive analysis of the evi- dence, which, to him, looked like a conspiracy against young Armstrong. But when he came to the evi- dence of the man who had made oath that he beheld the blow delivered by the light of the brightly shining moon, he called for an almanac and showed that on the night in question there was no moon at all! The climax was reached, and the jury brought in a ver- dict of "not guilty." The widow had not been able to endure the suspense in court, and had gone out into a pasture to weep and pray alone. Before the sun went down, a messenger came running to her with the glad tidings: "Bill is free; your son is cleared." For this inestimable service Lincoln would take no fee. No record of the argument in the case has been left, but one who heard it says his plea was irresistible. Even before he reached the climax of his argument, by his manly eloquence he had succeeded in convincing the jury, as he had con- vinced himself, that young Armstrong was innocent. And this was done, too, when popular prejudice was all against the prisoner, and when, in consequence of the prevailing belief in his guilt, Lincoln had been obliged to have the trial moved to another circuit. It has been said that Lincoln resorted to a trick and introduced an old almanac to deceive the jury. But to those who knew him, this tale is simply incred- Lincoln the Lawyer 129 ible. Lincoln never employed unworthy tricks. The foreman of the jury afterwards offered to make affidavit that the almanac used by Lincoln was of the year of the murder. While we are considering Mr. Lincoln as a lawyer, it may be as well to read what an eminent judge said of him. When the news of Lincoln's death, in 1865, was officially noted in the courts of the State, Judge Drummond, of Chicago, said: "I have no hesitation in saying that he was one of the ablest lawyers I have ever known." And, speaking of his personal appearance and manner at the bar, the Judge said: 1 ' With a voice by no means pleasant, and, indeed, when excited, in its shrill tones sometimes almost disagreeable, without any of the personal graces of the orator, without much in the outward man indicating superiority of intellect, without great quickness of perception, still, his mind was so vigorous, his comprehension so exact and clear, and his judgment so sure, that he easily mastered the intricacies of his profession, and became one of the ablest reasoners and most impressive speakers at our bar." " He always tried a case fairly and honestly. He never intentionally misrepresented the evidence of a witness or the argument of an opponent. He met them squarely, and if he could not explain the one or answer the other, substantially admitted it. He never misstated the law according to his own intelligent view of it." Lincoln's voice was not sonorous, and at times it rose to a high, somewhat shrill key. In ordinary conversation his tones were agreeable, and his enun- ciation clear. When excited, in speaking, he rose to a commanding height, so that one aged man hear- 130 Abraham Lincoln ing him speak from a political platform, for the first time after he had become famed in his own State, said: "He seemed to be about twenty foot high!" At such times Lincoln no longer was the homely and ungainly man that he was reputed to be. His eyes flashed fire; his appearance underwent a change as though the inspired mind had transformed the body; his face, darkened with malarial influences and seamed with the wrinkles of premature age, was transfigured with that mysterious "inner light " which some observers have said reminded them of a flame glowing within a half -transparent vase. To the end of his life Lincoln adhered to the old-fash- ioned pronunciation of many familiar words. With him a chair was a " cheer "; legislature was "legis- latur," and so on. In presenting a close argument he would stoop over towards his auditors, lower and lower, until he had got to the point where the demon- stration was shot home upon those who had followed him. Then, with a sudden jerk, he would straighten himself up, as somebody has said, "like a jack- knife." Unconscious although this was, it was very effective. CHAPTER X. A GREAT AWAKENING. Stupor Before Excitement A Dead Sea of Politics Repeal of the Missouri Compromise The Migration to Kansas Lincoln and Douglas Meet Again A Memorable Debate Lincoln Withdraws from the Canvass Lyman Trumbull Elected to the Senate. IN 1850 it looked to the eyes of most men that human slavery was forever fixed in this country. Congress had passed a series of measures that were supposed to settle everything, but which satisfied neither the slave States nor the free States, although the friends of human freedom were deeply discour- aged by the enactment of the so-called compromise. Mr. W. H. Herndon relates that as he and Lincoln were wayfaring together that year Lincoln gloomily said: " How hard, ah, how hard it is to die and leave one's country no better than if one had never lived in it! The world is dead to hope, deaf to its own death struggle, made known by a universal cry. What is to be done ? Is anything to be done ? Who can do anything? And how is it to be done? Do you ever think of these things?" In that year Thomas Lincoln died. Burdened with many cares, Lincoln could not go to see his father, who was reported to him as lying very low in health. To the ill-faring step-brother, John 131 132 Abraham Lincoln Johnston, Lincoln wrote while his father was yet alive : " I sincerely hope that father may yet recover his health; but, at all events, tell him to remember to call upon and confide in our good and great and merciful Father and Maker, who will not turn away from him in any extremity. He notes the fall of the 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 joyful meeting with the loved ones gone before, and where the rest of us, through the mercy of God, hope ere long to join them.'' In 1852 Lincoln accepted the place of elector on the Whig ticket in his State. As he was wont to say, he was "a standing candidate for Whig elector, but seldom elected anybody." This time, as was ex- pected, the Whig candidate was defeated, and the Democratic nominee, Franklin Pierce, was chosen. Lincoln, although accepting with reluctance the nomination on the electoral ticket of his party, took small part in a campaign in which he could have had no heart. His party's platform had closed his mouth on the only subject on which he felt very deeply. In fact, the whole country seemed to be waiting in dumb silence as if anticipating the storm that was brewing. As Lincoln could not speak on the slavery issue, he could not readily find other topics with which the people could be stirred. During the two years next succeeding there was very little to rouse A Great Awakening 133 a man of Lincoln's warm and deep emotional nature. He stuck to his calling, and diligently pursued it, practising at Springfield and before the Supreme Court of the State. In 1854 came the great awakening. Once more the battle was to be fought between slavery and freedom. By what was called the Missouri Compro- mise, enacted in 1820, slavery was put forever out of the Northwestern Territory. This had already been secured by what is known as the Ordinance of 1787 ; but when Missouri was admitted to the family of States, in 1820, it was as a slave State. If Mis- souri had come in as a free State, the balance of power would have been f rever after with the free States. By the compromise under which Missouri came in, it was agreed that in all the territory north of the northern boundary of that State, slavery should be forever prohibited. In 1854 the new Ter- ritories of Kansas and Nebraska were knocking at the door for admittance. As these lay to the north of Missouri they were included in the prohibition of slavery. Stephen Arnold Douglas, Senator from Illinois, introduced in the Senate a bill organizing the two Territories, and leaving the question of slavery to be settled by the voters of the region. This was a repeal of the much-vaunted Missouri Com- promise, which positively prohibited slavery in those Territories. Words can but feebly describe the excitement that this bold and unexpected concession to the slave States created throughout the North. It had been thought that the Missouri Compromise gave slavery 134 Abraham Lincoln an undue advantage. It gave that accursed institu- tion one more State. To repeal it now would be to remove the barrier that pent the flood of slavery in its present limits, and throw open to it an area as great as that covered by the thirteen original States. Amidst the most intense excitement, Douglas's bill was finally passed through Congress on the 8th of May, 1854. The event was celebrated by the boom- ing of an artillery salute fired on Capitol Hill, Wash- ington. That boom was the death-knell of slavery in the United States. Instantly the whole North was aflame. Douglas was everywhere denounced for having sold his birth- right as a free man for a mess of pottage. It was generally believed that his course had been prompted by a desire to gain the support of the slave States in his plans to be elected President of the republic. With wonderful skill and audacity, he defended him- self from the attacks that were rained down upon him. He insisted that the popular will should be sovereign, and that that will should determine whether slavery or freedom should rule in each com- munity. The settlers in a territory were called "squatters." The slavery question, under the new order of things, was to be left to them. The friends of the Douglas programme invented as a watchword the phrase "squatter sovereignty." And this, with the next best phrase, "popular sovereignty," was heard in every political discussion from one end of the country to the other. Then began a race to take possession of the new Territory. From the Northern States went large A Great Awakening 135 numbers of people bent on being early on the ground to occupy the soil for freedom; and from the slave States migrated others equally resolved to secure the young Territory for the dominion of slavery. Kan- sas, being readiest of access, received the full volume of the wave of immigration. The free-State men moved from the Western States nearest; northern Illinois and Iowa more especially contributing com- panies of actual settlers, as they called themselves, to distinguish themselves from those who were merely temporary occupants of the promised land. But even as far off as New England were formed organizations to assist those who would go to help swell the free population of Kansas. Missouri and Arkansas, however, both slave States, and both hav- ing a large uneasy, floating population, had the ad- vantage which those conditions gave them, and their people, fired with a determination to save the Terri- tory for slavery, swarmed over the border. These movements, which began almost as soon as the bill passed Congress, occupied the summer of that year. Before three months had passed "free-State men" and "proslavery men " had become familiar words all over the West. Lincoln, placidly engaged in his customary voca- tions, but ever watchful of the progress of events, was roused to tense attentiveness. He was still a Whig in name, but the Whig party was dying. From its ruins was to spring a new and vigorous organiza- tion, to the leadership of which, in his own State, he must move. Congress adjourned in August, and the great chiefs 136 Abraham Lincoln hurried home, astonished by the angry roar that came up from the people of the North. Douglas, dismayed by the burst of wrath directed against him as a Northern man with Southern principles, hast- ened to Illinois, confident that, with his crafty logic and audacious declamation, he could convince the people that the Kansas-Nebraska Bill did not con- tain the pernicious and destructive influences that they believed it did. In Chicago, where he first tarried, his constituents refused to hear him. The walls were placarded with hostile words against him, and angry denunciations were heaped upon him. He was not permitted to speak, and he went on to Springfield. Early in October, 1854, the great agricultural fair of the State, at which men were wont to gather from every part of Illinois, was held in Springfield. This was Douglas's opportunity, and he eagerly embraced it. It was noised abroad that Douglas was to speak to the people in justification of his course and in defence of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. By common consent, all eyes were turned to Lincoln as the speaker best qualified to answer the plausible and overbearing Senator from Illinois. The day came, and, amidst an excitement that only those who witnessed this great conflict between the two intel- lectual giants of the West can fully understand, Douglas began his defence. He was the Democratic leader of the West, the acknowledged head of his party in the North, so that men had begun to call themselves " Douglas Democrats." He was self- confident, wilful, at times arrogant and overbearing, A Great Awakening 137 and full of all manner of guile and political expedi- ents. He had already spoken in various parts of the State, but with little effect. This was to be his supreme effort. No report of the speech has been preserved to us; but we know that Douglas's at- tempt to make it appear that the repeal of the Mis- souri Compromise was made in the interest of the whole people and not in the interest of slavery was ingenious, plausible, and as effective as it could have been in the hands of any living man. That the at- tempt was vain was owing to the immovable fact that the repeal did open to slavery territories that had been closed against it. On the next day Lincoln replied to Douglas. All accounts agree in saying that his was a wonderful and a memorable speech. With his customary fair- ness, he said that he did not wish to present any- thing but the truth, the whole truth, and that if Mr. Douglas, who was present, should detect him in making any error he would be glad to be corrected on the spot. Douglas availed himself of this invita- tion to interrupt Lincoln frequently, to ask him impertinent questions, and endeavor to break him down by distracting his thought from the matter in hand. Finally Lincoln lost patience, severely tried by these unfair tactics, and said: " Gentlemen, I cannot afford to spend my time in quibbles. I take the responsibility of asserting the truth myself, re- lieving Judge Douglas from the necessity of his im- pertinent corrections/' From this point he was allowed to speak without interruption to the end of his speech, which occupied three hours and ten 138 Abraham Lincoln minutes in delivery. The sensation produced by this speech, so convincing, so powerful in its logic, and so tremendous in its array of facts and argu- ments, was indescribable. At last the lion had been roused. Stung by the superciliousness and pre- tended contempt as well as by the dishonest course of Douglas towards him, Lincoln rose to the occasion and spoke as he never spoke before. The enthusiasm of his audience was raised to fever heat. It is a misfortune that we have no report of that first great speech of his life. But contemporary criticism re- mains. The Springfield Journal, next day, said: "Lincoln quivered with feeling and emotion. The whole house was as still as death. He attacked the bill with unusual warmth and energy, and all felt that a man of strength was its enemy, and that he meant to blast it if he could by strong and manly efforts. He was most successful ; and the house approved the glorious triumph of truth by loud and long-continued huzzas. Women waved their white handkerchiefs in token of woman's silent but heartfelt consent." "Mr. Lincoln exhibited Douglas in all the attitudes he could be placed in a friendly debate. He exhibited the bill in all its aspects to show its humbuggery and falsehoods, and when thus torn to rags, cut into slips, held tip to the gaze of the vast crowd, a kind of scorn was visible upon the face of the crowd, and upon the lips of the most eloquent speaker." "At the conclusion of the speech, every man felt that it was un- answerable that no human power could overthrow it or trample it tinder foot. The long and repeated applause evinced the feelings of the crowd, and gave token, too, of the universal assent to Lincoln's whole argument; and every mind present did homage to the man who took A Great Awakening 139 captive the heart and broke like a sun over the under- standing." It was in the? course of this famous address that Lincoln uttered one of those pithy sayings of his which have since been identified with his name. Douglas dwelt long and ingeniously on his favorite doctrine that the right to introduce human slavery into a territory or community, by vote of the people, was acknowledgment of the right of popular sover- eignty. He insisted that it was an insult to the emi- grants to Kansas and Nebraska to intimate that they were not able to govern themselves, voting slavery in or out as they chose. Replying to this Lincoln said: "I admit that the emigrant to Kansas and Nebraska is competent to govern himself; but" and here the speaker rose to his full and towering height "I deny his right to govern any other person without that person's consent." That was the vital point in the whole matter. It showed the fallacy and the sophistry of so-called popular sovereignty. Douglas would not recognize the inherent wicked- ness and wrongfulness of slavery. Lincoln did. Perhaps we shall understand both of these men and motives better by accepting what Lincoln said some time later in this debate ; for Lincoln was un- doubtedly just to Douglas. He said, speaking of Douglas's remark that this government was made for the white man, and not for the negro: " Why, in point of fact, I think so too ; but in this remark of Judge Douglas there is a significance which I think is the key to the great mistake (if there is any such mistake) 140 Abraham Lincoln which he has made in this Nebraska measure. It shows that the Judge has no vivid impression that the negro is a human ; and, consequently, has no idea that there can be any moral question in legislating about him. In his view the question whether a new country shall be slave or free is a matter of as utter indifference as it is whether his neighbor shall plant his farm with tobacco or stock it with horned cattle." At the close of Lincoln's speech Douglas felt that he was crushed. Excited, angry, and with lowering brows, he took the platform and said that he had been abused. Then, as if seeing that the vast au- dience before him would detect the misstatement, for they had paid close attention to all that had been said, he added, "but in a perfectly courteous manner." He then attempted to make some reply to Lincoln's masterly and unanswerable speech. He faltered, then plucked up enough bravado to say that he would continue his address in the evening. When evening came, Douglas was not there, and the remarks promised were never made. Lincoln had agreed to speak in Peoria, 111., on Monday, October i6th. Thither Douglas followed him, as if determined to see his own annihilation. Douglas spoke for three hours in the afternoon, and Lincoln followed in the evening, speaking three hours also. The result was the same as at Spring- field. Lincoln's speech was materially different, but it was, as subsequently written out by him, more skilful and elaborate in its treatment of the great question. Those who heard both of these memo- rable addresses have said that the Peoria speech, A Great Awakening 141 while perfect in its construction, a marvel of logical force, was not so stirring as that delivered at Spring- field. It was, however, distinguished above all others for its manifestation of a full and exhaustive knowledge of the slavery question and of all that had at that time grown out of it. Probably no other man then living could have produced so complete and comprehensive a view of the subject presented, both as to itself and its collateral branches. At the close of this speech, Douglas said to Lin- coln: "You understand this question of prohibiting slavery in the Territories better than all the opposi- tion in the Senate of the United States. I cannot make anything by debating it with you. You, Lin- coln, have, here and at Springfield, given me more trouble than all the opposition in the Senate com- bined." He then appealed to Lincoln's magnanim- ity, as we are told by at least one historian (Mr.W. H. Herndon), to agree that there should be no more joint discussions, and to this Lincoln assented. It is likely, however, that some other motive was pre- sented to move Lincoln's mind to this agreement. At any rate, although they had appointed one more joint debate, it was not held, and both withdrew for the time being. The Legislature elected that year was to choose a successor to James Shields, then a Senator from Illinois, a Democratic colleague with Douglas. This was the same belligerent Shields who, some years before, had proposed to fight a duel with the young lawyer Lincoln. He was a candidate for re-election, but Lincoln's bout with Douglas, and the fierce i4 2 Abraham Lincoln excitement that swept the country, had endangered his chances. It is not certain, perhaps, whether the friendship of Douglas or the opposition of Lincoln was the more destructive of Shields 's chances for a renewal of his term in the Senate of the United States. Fortunately for the Democrats, they had several senators in the Legislature of the State whose terms would not expire until the following year; otherwise, the Legislature would have been revolutionized; but, in the various composite ele- ments in the Legislature, there was a clear majority of two against Douglas, or, rather, against any man that had Douglas's advocacy. Lincoln led the oppo- sition, and, by general consent, was selected as can- didate for the Senate against Shields. The two old-time antagonists had met again. When the Legislature came together the anti-Douglas men were not united. Lyman Trumbull, an able lawyer and accomplished debater, was one of the candi- dates of the opponents of Douglas men ; Lincoln was the other. On the first ballot Lincoln received forty- five votes, Trumbull five, and Shields forty-one, and there were some scattering votes. Repeated ballot- ings produced no other result, until Joel A. Matteson, Democrat, had been substituted for Shields, who was withdrawn. On the tenth ballot, Lincoln having besought his friends to go for Trumbull, or Matteson would assuredly be elected, Trumbull received fifty- one votes, Matteson forty-seven, and one vote was cast for a man who was not a candidate. Thus the contest terminated by the election of a man who was inflexibly opposed to the Douglas policy, and who, A Great Awakening 143 later on, was to be a conspicuous figure in the Senate during Lincoln's Presidential term. To Lincoln's unselfish devotion to principle was this triumphant success of the new spirit of the freemen of Illinois largely due. He ardently desired the senatorial office, for he felt that in it he could accomplish great things for free government. He relinquished all his chances, and implored his friends, who were many and steadfast, to leave him and vote for Trumbull, rather than endanger the cause in which they were all so deeply concerned. This generous concession solidified the jarting elements of the new party and made its after-successes possible. Nor is this gener- osity lessened by the fact that Judge Trumbull had never been the political friend of Lincoln, but his opponent, and sometimes his unfriendly critic. CHAPTER XI. THE KANSAS STRUGGLE. Freedom and Slavery Wrestle with Each Other "Bleeding Kansas" The Troubler of Slave-Owners The Irrepressible Conflict Lincoln's Slowness and Reticence. MEANWHILE, immigrants from free States and slave States were pouring into Kansas. In spite of the incursions of the proslavery men, the hardy immigrants from Iowa, northern Illinois, and New England were clearly in the majority. Some- thing must be done to stem this tide and to turn it back upon the free States. Violence was readily resorted to. The swashbucklers who trooped over the border from Missouri and Arkansas were as ready to stuff ballot-boxes with fraudulent votes and mob free-State men as they were to vote. One thing they would not do work. The free-State men were indeed actual settlers. They took up land, planted crops, and built log cabins for their families, evi- dently intending to stay. The borderers, on the other hand, were rough riders, sportsmen, gamblers. They spent their time in drinking, shooting, scouring the country for prey, and terrifying helpless women and children. One of their favorite expressions was that they "would make it hot for any Abolitionist," and another was that they "would cut the heart out of any man who voted the Abolition ticket." Ag- The Kansas Struggle 145 gressiveness like this soon engendered hatreds. The proslavery men were known as "border ruffians," and the free-State men were commonly called "Abolitioners." ! Under the lead of the notorious "Dave" Atchison of Missouri, a Senator of the United States, secret societies, known as "Blue Lodges," were formed for the purpose of ridding the country of the hated free- State men. Steamers bound up the Missouri River, laden with free-State immigrants and their movable property, were stopped by these ruffians, who swarmed on board, drove off the immigrants, put their cattle and goods ashore, and compelled the officers of the steamers, who were only too willing to be an unresisting party to this outrage, to go on and leave their passengers behind. The border ruf- fians had on their side the influence of the United States officials, the Missouri State government, and the State militia. They rode across the border, burning fields of grain and cabins of the free -State men, killing or running off their animals, and devas- tating the country for miles around. Under the leadership of Atchison and another of his kidney, one Stringfellow, raids were planned for long forays into the Territory, the raiders returning into Missouri under the cover of the night, or camping in secluded places along the border, ready for another excursion. On the free-State side were such men as "Jim" Lane, afterward a Senator from Kansas, and a redoubt- able fighter; John Brown, then called Ossawattomie Brown, from his pitching his tent on the Kansas stream of that name; Charles Robinson, afterward 146 Abraham Lincoln the Governor of the free State; Silas C. Pomeroy, afterward Senator from the new State; and others whose names are gratefully remembered by the early settlers of that dark and troublous time. When the local elections came on, the border ruf- fians showed that they were more than a match for the law-abiding and orderly free-State men. These were astounded by the audacity and coolness with which the border men took possession of the polls, voted as often as they pleased, and carried things generally with a high hand. In one instance, for example, the borderers brought with them a direc- tory of the city of St. Louis, and put page after page of names from that book upon the poll-list, with votes for the proslavery candidates for office and for slavery, in precincts where there were but few votes. In another precinct, they formed a lane of their gangs, leading up to the door of the log cabin where the ballot-box was put. When the voter approached, he was obliged to show his ballot ; if it was for slavery, he was permitted to deposit it in the box; if not, he was jocularly lifted to the roof of the cabin, where a squad of stalwart men received him, hurried him over the ridge-pole, and slid him down on the other side, when he was permitted to escape, glad to get away with his life. Outrages like these were committed every day, and in more than one in- stance, death followed the least resistance to tyranny. Massacres were frequent, and the soil of the un- happy young Territory was literally wet with blood. The watchword "Bleeding Kansas/' which was de- rided then and afterward by the friends of slavery, The Kansas Struggle 147 described in a terse phrase the condition of the region where the battle of freedom was being fought. In these disturbances, a son of Ossawattomie Brown was slain, and the father made a vow to avenge on slavery the death of his son. Ruined homesteads were to be seen on every hand, and for a time the borderers, with the National Government at their back and the militia troops of Missouri within as- sisting distance, carried the day. Slavery was " voted up" by such means as have been described, and a government was established on the basis of the right of any man to own human beings in the new territory of Kansas. The story of these shame- ful wrongs and outrages was spread abroad and made a profound impression all over the country. But the raiders did not stay on the soil they had apparently conquered for slavery. They went back to their haunts on the Missouri side of the border, and after a while the institution for which they had committed so many crimes grew more and more feeble. The slaves ran away, for there were free States near at hand where they could hide, and pursuit in so unsettled a condition of the country was almost hopeless. President Pierce, and President Buchanan after him, appointed governor after governor. The Territory must be saved to slavery ; but this was more than any governor could accomplish. And when the exactions of the pro- slavery party at Washington became more oppres- sive, each governor resigned and went home. Kan- sas was grimly called "the graveyard of territorial governors." 148 Abraham Lincoln All this time Kansas was merely a Territory, sub- ject to the rule of Congress, and governed by officers appointed by the President not by men elected by the people. The time would come when the Territory must be admitted into the family of States, and be allowed to choose its own Legislature, governor, and other officers. Slavery must be fixed upon the people before that time arrived. The free-State men, in their desperation, organized a State govern- ment, framed a constitution with slavery left out, and elected a Governor, Charles Robinson. They established their State capital at Topeka. The regular territorial Legislature and seat of govern- ment were established at Lecompton. To say that t Lincoln's heart was stirred by the daily report of outrages committed in Kansas, for the sake of slavery, feebly expresses the indignation with which he was inflamed. Yet, cool and calm, logical and shrewd, as he always was, he made no inflammatory speeches, and showed in public no signs of the ex- citement that reigned within. About that time, he wrote a letter to his well-beloved friend Joshua Speed, of Kentucky one who not only lived in a slave State, but was still attached to the interests of slavery. The following extract indicates the posi- tion which these two friends then held towards slavery in Kansas : " You say if Kansas fairly votes herself a free State, as a Christian you will rather rejoice at it. All decent slave- holders talk that way, and I do not doubt their candor. But they never vote that way. Although in a private letter or conversation you will express your preference The Kansas Struggle 149 that Kansas shall be free, you would vote for no man for Congress who would say the same thing publicly. No such man could be elected, from any district of any slave State. You think Stringfellow & Co. ought to be hung; and yet you will vote for the exact type and representa- tive of Stringfellow. The slave-breeders and slave- traders are a small and detested class among you, and yet in politics they dictate the course of all of you, and are as completely your masters as you are the masters of your own negroes." Up to the time of the setting up of the Kansas in- famy, Lincoln was still reckoned as a Whig. That party, to be sure, was in a dying condition. But no new party had been formed to take its place, or to receive those who were to come out from it. The election of Trumbull, as Senator from Illinois, was the only election of a Democrat who was opposed to the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. It astonished the friends of Douglas, who had not believed that the opposition could accomplish anything so formidable as this. But, after all, the defeat of Lincoln showed that there was only a split in the Democratic party, as men then regarded the political situation. What did Lincoln propose to do about slavery? Would he abolish it altogether, and so put an end to this everlasting agitation? He was shrewd enough to know that the country could no longer live in peace half slave and half free. There was no doubt that he would do whatever he could to prevent the fur- ther extension of slavery into Territories that were hereafter to become States. But he knew that slavery, confined to the States in which it existed, 150 Abraham Lincoln would swell, and chafe, and threaten continually to break over its bounds. In the speech delivered at Peoria, in October, 1854, Lincoln said: " If all earthly power were given me, I should not know what to do as to the existing institution. My first impulse would be to free all the slaves and send them to Liberia to their own native land. But, if they were all landed there in a day, they would all perish in the next ten days ; and there is not surplus shipping and surplus money enough to carry them there in many times ten days. What then?" This was a question that Lincoln could not answer. But, it must be remembered, this was in 1854. To those who know what Lincoln did when he became President, and who know how slavery came to an end during his term in the Presidential office, his reluctance to join what was at that time known as the Abolition party may seem difficult of ex- planation. But Lincoln was a statesman. If he could have had supreme power, as he expressed it, he would have undoubtedly made the slaves free. But, as he did not have that power, it was his mis- sion, clearly, to move in such a way as to bring to pass, as soon as might be, the time when slaves should be freed without violence, if possible, and certainly without war. At once, as we have seen, he took his stand against any further extension of slavery. He knew better, probably, than anybody else did that if slavery were shut out of the Terri- tories it would, in the course of time, die of itself. As he repeatedly expressed it, we could not exist The Kansas Struggle as a nation half slave and half free. "A house divided against itself cannot stand." Now, how- ever, the old Whig party was in ruins. A new party, pledged to oppose all further extension of slavery, was to rise and assert itself. It may be said that this party occupied a middle ground be- tween the Democratic party (pledged as that was, in fact, to the support of slavery) and the Abolition- ists, pledged to destroy slavery instantly and by every possible means. It must be apparent, then, to any one who has followed this history, that Lincoln was the natural leader of the Free-Soil party. In no other part of the country could be found any man who had so carefully studied the question of American slavery, as it was related to our system of government and to the political parties of the time, as Lincoln. More- over, he was animated by a sincere love of liberty, and he was a shrewd and even cunning politician. As we have seen, he was early in politics, having amused himself with these matters from his boy- hood. Not at once, however, did he take the place of leader. Not at once did he throw in his fortunes with those who were to be the leaders of the new Free-Soil party. He always moved slowly and with a deliberation that deceived many and annoyed not a few. They thought him too slow, over-cautious, even waiting to see which was to be the winning side. Nothing could be more unjust. Much of his supposed hesitancy was to wait the inevitable con- sequence of events. And it will help us to a better understanding of Lincoln's purposes if we bear in 152 Abraham Lincoln mind that, from the first, he saw that a conflict of some kind was sure to come. But the time came when he took his final stand and declared that he must thenceforth be the champion of freedom against slavery until, to use his own memorable words, "the sun shall shine, the rain shall fall, and the wind shall blow upon no man who goes forth to unrequited toil. 1 ' CHAPTER XII. THE COMING MAN. Birth of the Republican Party Nomination of Fremont The Party Lines Drawn A Virulent Campaign Election of James Bu- chanan Kansas Reluctant to Consent to Slavery. A CONVENTION of men opposed to the Kansas- Nebraska measure was called to meet in Bloomington, Illinois, May 29, 1856. It was a meet- ing, in fact, of such persons residing in Illinois as were opposed to the further extension of slavery. Naturally the assemblage was made up of men who were divided on many of the minor questions re- lating to the conflict of slavery and freedom, and, in fact, it soon became evident that they could not unite on any declaration of principles beyond that of hostility to slavery and all measures for its ex- tension, without much difficulty. Lincoln was sent for, and, finding the managers of this mass-meeting in trouble, he proposed the following. He said: " Let us, in building our new party, make our corner- stone the Declaration of Independence. Let us build on this rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against us." This simple and sufficient "platform" met the approval of all who heard it. The convention, if it may be dignified by that name, adopted the following resolution, which was only an expansion of Lincoln's idea: 153 i54 Abraham Lincoln " Resolved, That we hold, in accordance with the opinions and practices of all the great statesmen of all parties for the first sixty years of the administration of the government, that, under the Constitution, Congress possesses full power to prohibit slavery in the Territories ; and that, while we will maintain all constitutional rights of the South, we also hold that justice, humanity, the principles of freedom, as expressed in our Declaration of Independence and our national Constitution, and the purity and perpetuity of our government require that that power should be exerted to prevent the extension of slavery into Territories heretofore free." The Republican party was born. Rising in the midst of that convention, which was an assembly vast in proportions, of the most ardent friends of freedom and some of the ablest leaders of public opinion, Lincoln made a masterly speech, kindling, thrilling, and stimulating. Like so many of his earlier addresses in the cause of Republican institutions, no report of the speech has been left us. One who was present at the meeting says of the address : 11 Never was an audience more completely electrified by human eloquence. Again and again, during the progress of its delivery, they sprang to their feet and upon the benches, and testified, by long-continued shouts and the waving of hats, how deeply the speaker had wrought upon their minds and hearts. It fused the mass of hitherto incongruous elements into perfect homogeneity, and from that day to the present they have worked together in harmonious and fraternal union." Similar proceedings had taken place in other The Coming Man 155 States, each State organizing its party for freedom in its own way. The first national convention of the Republican party met in Philadelphia, June 17, 1856. John Charles Fremont, of California, was nominated for President, and William L. Dayton, of New Jersey, for Vice-President. Lincoln's Illinois friends, ever on the lookout for a chance to promote what they thought were his interests, made an effort to have him made the candidate for Vice- President. Mr. Dayton received 259 votes and Lin- coln no votes, there being many votes scattered among leading members of the new party. When Lincoln, who remained in Springfield, heard of the votes cast for " Lincoln" for Vice-President, he said, unconscious of his growing fame, "That is probably the distinguished Mr. Lincoln of Massachusetts." The Democratic convention, in the meantime,, had met in Cincinnati, June 2, 1856, and had nominated James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, for President j and John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, for Vice- President. Douglas, Lincoln's frequent adversary, had reason to expect that he might be named for the Presidency as a reward for his advocacy of measures designed to carry slavery into the new Territories. This honor was denied him. On the sixteenth and next to the last ballot, Buchanan re- ceived 1 68 votes, of which 121 were from the free States, and 47 were from the slave States. Douglas received 122 votes, of which 49 were from free States, and 73 from slave States. The Republican party, in their platform of principles, denied the authority of Congress, or of any Territorial Legislature, of any 156 Abraham Lincoln individual or association of individuals, to give legal existence to slavery in any Territory of the United States. They furthermore declared that "the Con- stitution confers upon Congress sovereign power over the Territories of the United States for their government," and that in the exercise of that power it is both the right and the duty of Congress to pro- hibit in the Territories "those twin relics of barbarism polygamy and slavery. " On the other hand, the Democratic convention adopted a skilfully worded platform of principles, the verbiage of which was designed to conceal ideas. The time for outspoken utterances on the all-absorbing subject of slavery evidently had not come. But the platform was an unmistakable indorsement of the doctrine that the people of Kansas and Nebraska could, as Douglas had said, vote slavery up or down, as they chose. The lines between the two parties were, after all, pretty sharply drawn. There was a third party in the field that year, its members calling themselves the American party, their principal article of faith being the restriction of the right to vote to native-born citizens, to a great degree, foreigners being allowed to use that right very sparingly. The American party nomi- nated Fillmore and Donelson, Mr. Fillmore being the Vice-President who had succeeded to the Presiden- tial office on the death of General Taylor. There were, of course, many Whigs who did not see that their party was dead; and these were relied on to vote for Fillmore, who was elected with Taylor on the Whig ticket in 1848. The Coming Man 157 Lincoln, as usual, was an elector from his State, being at the head of the Republican electoral ticket in Illinois. He took an active part in the canvass, speaking from one end of the State to the other, almost continually, through the summer of 1856. His speeches were remarkable for their clearness, closeness of logic, and merciless dissection of the arguments and measures of the proslavery Democ- racy under the local leadership of Douglas. There was much material for the exercise of his peculiar powers. The South and their Democratic allies in the North were forcing slavery into the Territories, and the work of their creatures in Kansas had deluged that region with blood. At that very time the fair young Territory was torn and wounded with civil war. There was a determination to compel the people of the Territory to adopt slavery as the rule, although, under Douglas's specious plea of popular sovereignty, the question was to be left to the whole people to choose between free institutions and slav- ery. During this campaign, while Lincoln was speaking in one of the southern counties of the State, where the proslavery sentiment was yet strong, a man in the audience called out to him: "Mr. Lincoln, is it true that you entered this State barefoot, driving a yoke of oxen?" Lincoln paused for an instant, as if at a loss whether to take notice of a question so impertinent and so evidently mali- cious, and then said that he presumed that there were at least a dozen men in the crowd before him by whom he could prove that he did, if this were needful to the case in hand. But, as usual when he 158 Abraham Lincoln was interrupted, he gathered new force from the cruelty of the attempt to disconcert him, and, rising to his full height, he described with glowing elo- quence what freedom had done for him, what it did for any man, and showed how slavery debased and dragged down black and white together; and he asked if it were not natural that he should hate slavery and continue to agitate the question of its final extinction. " Yes," said he, "we will speak for freedom and against slavery as long as the Con- stitution of our country guarantees free speech, until everywhere on this broad land the sun shall shine and the rain shall fall and the wind shall blow upon no man that goes forth to unrequited toil." The virulence of the campaign was excessive. In default of arguments with which to overthrow the Republicans, the proslavery party resorted to the most offensive epithets and phrases to hurl at the opposition. Fremont had once headed an expedi- tion to California across the great American plains, and he and his party suffered incredible hardships. He had opened the first trial across the continent, through the then trackless wilderness. His admir- ing and his enthusiastic followers now called him the "Pathfinder." To them he was a gallant hero. The opposition party called him "a mule-eating Black Republican," and his party was known as the "Woolly-Horse" party, on account of some tales of a woolly horse having been found by the explorers. The election resulted as Lincoln had pri- vately predicted that it would, in the election of James Buchanan. The last fight for freedom had begun, The Coming Man 159 and the returns showed that every slave State but one had voted for the Democratic candidate. The total number of electoral votes for Buchanan was 174, the following slave States having voted for him: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia. The free States for Buchanan were: California, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania. The free States voting for Fremont were: Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin; a total of 114 votes against Buchanan's 174. Mary- land, a slave State, cast its electoral vote of eight for Fillmore. Thus Buchanan had the votes of four- teen slave States and five free States ; Fremont, the votes of eleven free States; and Fillmore, that of one slave State. Reckoning up the number of voters in all the States, we find that Buchanan had, all told, 1,838,169 votes, Fremont had 1,341,264, and Fillmore had 874,534. In Illinois, Bissell, the Re- publican candidate for governor, was elected, al- though the electoral vote of the State was given to Buchanan. Meanwhile, the fight between freedom and slavery still went on in Kansas. The proslavery men, by denying the right of suffrage to the free-State men, managed to elect a Legislature, which assembled at Lecompton, and which was known as "the bogus Legislature." A State constitution was also framed, with the legalization of slavery in it, as a matter of course. The free-State men refused to recognize the 160 Abraham Lincoln legality of any of these doings, or to participate in the mock elections. They called a mass-meeting of the actual settlers, elected delegates to a constitu- tional convention, which assembled at Topeka and framed a constitution excluding slavery from the Territory. Thenceforth politicians were known as "Lecompton" or "Anti-Lecompton," as they fa- vored or opposed the proposition to admit slavery into Kansas. The Topeka Constitution was sub- mitted to the people and almost unanimously adopted. The people next proceeded to elect officers under the free-State constitution. The Topeka Con- stitution was the work of the real people of Kansas, marshalled in numbers. The Lecompton Constitu- tion was voted for by a mere handful of the persons nominally resident in the Territory. Both of these instruments were sent to Washington for the ap- proval of Congress. Robert J. Walker, who had been appointed governor of the Territory by Presi- dent Buchanan, made haste to go to Washington to protest against the acceptance of the Lecompton Constitution, as he knew it to be false and fraudulent as an exposition of the sentiments and wishes of the people of the Territory. Before he reached the national capital, the President had recommended Congress to accept the Lecompton Constitution. The free-State officers, acting under the Topeka Consti- tution, were declared guilty of treason and were arrested and lodged in jail. The Legislature was dispersed by the regular army of the United States, acting under the orders of the President. Kansas was to be dragooned into accepting slavery as a State, CHAPTER XIII. LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS. The Famous Contest for the Senatorship A Battle of Giants Doug- las and Lincoln Compared Two Self-made Men Lincoln's Auto- biography A Series of Famous Debates The Country Intent on the Struggle A Great Lesson in American Politics. ONCE more were Lincoln and Douglas to be pitted against each other. In 1858, the sena- torial term of Douglas was drawing to a close. He desired to be re-elected and to have the indorsement of the people of Illinois. Seeing how the Lecompton Constitution had been lawlessly framed, and realiz- ing that slavery thus forced upon Kansas had already made hosts of converts to the Republican party, he had begun to differ, personally, with the President. He soon, by his votes in the Senate, showed that he was opposed to the Lecompton Constitution. It was inconsistent for him to labor against that which his own Kansas-Nebraska Bill had made possible. But this he did, and not a few Republicans in the East- ern States thought that he would hereafter be with them. They advised that the Illinois Republicans should vote for him. He was now an Anti-Lecomp- ton Democrat, as the phrase went; he was sure, so they thought, for freedom as against slavery. The Republicans of Illinois knew Douglas better. They refused to trust him, and when their convention 1 62 Abraham Lincoln met, June 16, 1858, they declared that Abraham Lincoln was their first and only choice for the United States Senate to fill the vacancy about to be created by the expiration of Mr. Douglas's term of office. The Anti-Lecompton Democrats of the State, two months before, had similarly nominated Douglas to succeed himself. Lincoln realized that this was to be a mighty struggle. None better than he understood and ap- preciated the great abilities and craftiness of Doug- las. None better than he knew how tender the people of Illinois yet were on the subject of human slavery, half afraid of the stale epithet of "Aboli- tionist." He framed his speech to the convention that had nominated him, putting into it his final platform, the platform from which he was to speak to the people during the coming canvass. The men who were to choose a senator himself or Douglas were not yet chosen, except a few in the upper house, who held over from the previous year. It was to the people who elected senators and repre- sentatives in the Legislature that he and Douglas were to appeal. Lincoln read the manuscript of his speech to his partner, Mr. W. H. Herndon. That gentleman was somewhat dismayed by the very first paragraph. It was almost an indorsement of the old antislavery doctrine of disunion; for in it was the since-famous declaration: "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government can- not endure permanently half slave and half free." Mr. Herndon said this was all true; but he was doubtful if it was discreet to say so at that time. Lincoln and Douglas 163 Alluding to the phrase "a house divided, ".etc., Lin- coln said: "The proposition has been true for six thousand years. I will deliver this speech as it is written." And he did. In the course of that address he said: " I do not expect the Union to be dissolved. I do not expect the house to fall. But I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it forward till it shall become lawful in all States, old as well as new, North as well as South." When Douglas opened the campaign, as he did in Chicago early in the following month, he promptly took up this utterance of Lincoln's as admitting, and even advocating, a war of sections, North against the South. We shall see later on how Lincoln an- swered this misrepresentation. When this memorable debate began, Lincoln and Douglas were both in the full maturity of their physi- cal and intellectual powers. Douglas was forty-five years old, and Lincoln was forty-nine. Douglas was a native of Vermont. He had been apprenticed to a cabinet-maker, and had migrated at the age of twenty to Illinois, where he earned his first money as a clerk at an auction sale. Like Lincoln, then, he was a self-made man, risen to eminence by the sheer force of character and genius. At the age of twenty -two he was elected Attorney-General of the 164 Abraham Lincoln young State. Resigning this office, he was chosen to the State Legislature, where he speedily made his mark as a shrewd politician, a ready debater, and a thoroughly "good fellow." Here it was that he first met Lincoln Lincoln, who was to be his life-long adversary in the field of American politics. Subsequently he was elected Representative in Con- gress three times in succession. Before the time came for him to take his seat in the House of Repre- sentatives, after his third election, Douglas was chosen Senator of the United States from Illinois. He was now at the end of his second term as Sena- tor, and was ready to appeal to the people to choose members of the Legislature who should return him to the Senate. Douglas was frank, hearty, and affable in his manners. Although in debate he was overbearing and imperious, towards his friends he was familiar, and even affectionate. He was a bold, dashing, and fearless debater, fluent, never hesitat- ing for a word or phrase, aggressive, and sometimes arrogant, full of all manner of guile, yet impressing every one with his apparent sincerity and transpar- ency of character. So attractive was he that he bound his friends to him, as it were, with hooks of steel. Small of stature, with long and grizzled hair, at the time this chapter of history opens his ad- mirers called him "The Little Giant of Illinois." This was the man who was to meet Lincoln in a popular canvass, in which the whole State was to be traversed. Lincoln was, as we know, of almost herculean build. His head was massive, poised on a very long Lincoln and Douglas 165 neck, with stiff and obstinate hair that usually stood up in irregular waves. His face was dark and seamed, his eyes deep-set beneath overhanging and shaggy brows, beardless, and with a far-away look on his often-sad features at times that struck even the most casual observer as profoundly pathetic. His manner, when he was alert, was bright, and when with his congenial associates, even jovial. In speaking he impressed every one with his directness, simplicity, good sense, clearness of statement, wit and humor, and purity and accuracy of language. At this time he was asked for a brief biographical sketch of himself. He complied with the following, which is inserted here at a point that must be reck- oned as one of the crises in the history of Abraham Lincoln, son of the Kentucky backwoodsman: " I was born Feb. 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks, some of whom now reside in Adams, and others in Macon, Counties, Illinois. My paternal grand- father, Abraham Lincoln, emigrated from Rockingham County, Virginia, to Kentucky about 1781 or '2, where, a year or two later, he was killed by Indians, not in battle but by stealth, when he was laboring to open a farm in the forest. His ancestors, who were Quakers, went to Virginia from Berks County, Pennsylvania. An effort to identify them with the New England family of the same name ended in nothing more definite than a similarity of Christian names in both families, such as Enoch, Levi, Mordecai, Solomon, Abraham, and the like. 1 66 Abraham Lincoln " My father, at the death of his father, was but six years of age, and he grew up literally without education. He removed from Kentucky, to what is now Spencer County, Indiana, in my eighth year. We reached our new home about the time the State came into the Union. It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There I grew up. There were some schools so-called, but no qualification was ever required of a teacher beyond 'readin,' writin', and cipherin' ' to the Rule of Three. If a straggler supposed to understand Latin happened to sojourn in the neighborhood, he was looked upon as a wizard. There was absolutely nothing to excite ambition for education. Of course, when I came of age I did not know much. Still, somehow, I could read, write, and cipher to the Rule of Three ; but that was all. I have not been to school since. The little advance I now have upon this store of education I have picked up from time to time under the pressure of necessity. " I was raised to farm work, which I continued till I was twenty-two. At twenty-one I came to Illinois, and passed the first year in Macon County. Then I got to New Salem, at that time in Sangamon, now in Menard County, where I remained a year as sort of clerk in a store. Then came the Black Hawk war, and I was elected a Captain of Volunteers, a success which gave me more pleasure than any I have had since. I went [through] the campaign, was elated, ran for the Legislature the same year (183 2), and was beaten the only time I have ever been beaten by the people. The next and three succeed- ing biennial elections I was elected to the Legislature. I was not a candidate afterwards. During this legislative period I had studied law and removed to Springfield to practise it. In 1846 I was once elected to the Lower Lincoln and Douglas 167 House of Congress. Was not a candidate for re-election. From 1849 to 1854, both inclusive, practised law more assiduously than ever before. Always a Whig in politics, and generally on the Whig electoral tickets, making active canvasses. I was losing interest in politics, when the repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused me again. What I have done since then is pretty well known. " If any personal description of me is thought desirable, it may be said I am in height six feet four inches, nearly ; lean in flesh, weighing, on an average, one hundred and eighty pounds ; dark complexion, with coarse black hair and gray eyes. No other marks or brands recollected. " Yours, very truly, "A. LINCOLN/* Not long before the opening of the debate between Lincoln and Douglas, the Supreme Court of the United States, Chief Justice Taney delivering the opinion, had decided virtually that, by virtue of the Constitution of the republic, slavery existed in all the Territories, and that Congress had no right to prohibit it. This was known as the Dred Scott de- cision. A negro of that name sued for his freedom and that of his wife and children, claiming that by his having been carried by his owner into a Territory north of the northern boundary of Missouri, wherein slavery was excluded by the Missouri Compromise, he had become freed by the operation of the law. This decision made slavery national, freedom local. Obviously, then, the two important topics before the country were the effect that the Dred Scott decision would have upon slavery and freedom, and the struggle in Kansas. Although Douglas was now 1 68 Abraham Lincoln an Anti-Lecompton Democrat, he was to be taken to task before the country for the result in Kansas of his advocacy of what he called popular sover- eignty. This had made the Lecompton infamy pos- sible. He also approved the Dred Scott decision; but the dogma laid down in that decision effectually killed his own doctrine of popular sovereignty. It put slavery into all the Territories of the United States before the people of those Territories could have an opportunity of saying whether it should be voted up or down. Replying to Douglas's speech in which that orator accused Lincoln of advocating disunion of the States, Lincoln said that he believed that the framers of the Constitution expected that, in course of time, slavery would become extinct; they had decreed that slavery should not go into territory where it had not already gone, and that when he had said that the opponents of slavery would place that institution where the public mind would rest in the expectation of its ultimate extinction, he only meant to say that they would place it where the fathers of the Republic originally placed it. In Douglas's speech, as was common in those days, when men were cornered for want of logical answers to Repub- lican arguments, the speaker had intimated that Lincoln was in favor of a complete equality of the black and the white races. In his reply, Lincoln said: "I protest, now and forever, against that counterfeit logic which presumes that because I do not want a negro woman for a slave, I do necessarily want her for a wife. My understanding is that I Lincoln and Douglas 169 need not have her for either; but, as God made us separate, we can leave one another alone, and do one another much good thereby/' This was the opening of the great debate in Chi- cago in the summer of 1858. A few days later Douglas spoke at Bloomington, and then in Spring- field, on each occasion devoting himself to Lincoln's previous speeches. Lincoln spoke in Springfield also ; and, addressing himself to the expectation that Douglas would, some day, be President of the United States, and that the anxious politicians of his party were waiting for that event with great hopefulness, Lincoln said: " They have seen, in his round, jolly, fruitful face, post- offices, land-offices, marshalships, and cabinet appoint- ments, chargeships and foreign missions, bursting and sprouting out, in wonderful luxuriance, ready to be laid hold of by their greedy hands. And as they have been gazing upon this attractive picture so long, they cannot, in the little distraction that has taken place in the party, bring themselves to give up the charming hope ; but with greedier anxiety they rush about him, sustain him, and give him marches, triumphal entries, and receptions, beyond what, even in the days of his highest prosperity, they could have brought about in his favor. On the contrary, nobody has ever expected me to be President. In my poor, lean, lank face nobody has ever seen that any cabbages were sprouting out." All this, however, was a contest at which both disputants were, so to speak, at arm's length from each other. Lincoln wanted a closer wrestle with 1 70 Abraham Lincoln the * ' Little Giant. ' ' Accordingly, he addressed a note to Douglas asking him if he would agree to a joint canvass of the State, each speaking from the same platform and each having his own quota of time allotted him. Douglas objected to this arrange- ment, several reasons, satisfactory to himself, being given. But, after some negotiation, arrangements were made by which a joint debate was fixed for seven different points, the first being at Ottawa, August 21, 1858, and the last at Alton, October 1 5th. Meanwhile both speakers were industriously canvassing the State, each in his own way and in- dependently of the other. The joint debate between these two men attracted the attention of the entire country. It was a battle of the giants. Nothing like it has ever before or since been seen in the Republic. The gravest issues those of freedom and slavery were involved in the discussion. All men saw that this debate was likely .to settle the greatest question that had come before the people since the adoption of the Consti- tution; not that it would settle it as a judicial decree would settle it, but it was seen that out of this contest must issue the ultimate truth, the truth on which parties in future must stand or fall. Lin- coln travelled in an unostentatious and inexpensive manner. Douglas moved from point to point on a special railway train, accompanied by a brass band and cannon, with the blare and volleying of which his entrance to town was heralded. Douglas did not always observe the proprieties of debate; and too often the unmannerly followers of the "Little Lincoln and Douglas 171 Giant'* insolently interrupted the opponent of their chieftain. Lincoln during this memorable canvass was shamefully belied and misrepresented; but no word of remonstrance or complaint ever escaped his lips. Douglas resorted to the use of unworthy epi- thets and insinuations. He continually harped on the assertion that the Republicans were in favor of negro social equality, and he invariably referred to them as " Black Republicans," and employed other terms to express his contempt. Now that we can look back upon this remarkable episode in the history of American politics, it must be admitted that Lincoln's bearing, deportment, and general behavior were all superior to Douglas's. The dig- nity, immovable good-humor, and gentleness with which Lincoln bore himself commend him to the affection and respect of the student of history. Mr. Douglas in these debates contended that each State had a right to decide for itself just what rights, if any, it should give to the negro; that the negro had no natural equality; that the people of each Territory had a right to say whether they would have slavery or not; and that the Union and the government could exist forever, so far as he could see, half slave and half free. Especially did he in- sist that those who differed with him were in favor of negro social equality the admission of negroes to the homes and bosoms of those who were in favor of limiting slavery to the States in which it then existed, or of excluding it from the Territories. Lin- coln, on the other hand, planted himself squarely on the Declaration of Independence: that all men 172 Abraham Lincoln were born free, and that they all had certain rights from which they could not be justly deprived, such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The negro, he insisted, was a man. Slavery was wrong, and it should at least be confined in the States in which it already existed; it should not be the nat- ural condition of things in the Territories, as the Dred Scott decision made it. On this point, he sharply arraigned Douglas for his inconsistency. Douglas clamored for popular sovereignty, the right of the voters in a Territory to say whether slavery should exist with them or not, and the Dred Scott decision declared that slavery was already in the Territories. This, said Lincoln, is declaring that the people have a right to drive away that which has a right to go there. It will be seen, therefore, that Douglas, by ac- cepting the Dred Scott decision, admitted that slav- ery was the natural condition of things in a Territory, while at the same time he contended for the right, under the name of popular sovereignty, of a people of a Territory to say whether they would have that which they already had, whether they liked it or not. This glaring inconsistency we may be sure was made conspicuous by Lincoln's merciless logic. It was Lincoln's manifest purpose to compel Doug- las to desert his seeming indifference to slavery, and to say whether he thought it right or wrong in itself. In his view, the Dred Scott decision and the Douglas idea of popular sovereignty could not be held to- gether in one man's belief. So he framed questions designed to bring the matter before Douglas in such Lincoln and Douglas 173 a shape as to oblige him to admit or deny the ab- stract rights of slavery. Lincoln's friends remon- strated with him. "If. you put that question to him," they said, "he will perceive that the answer giving practical force and effect to the Dred Scott decision in the Territories inevitably loses him the battle; and he will therefore reply by offering the decision as an abstract principle, but denying its practical application. He will say that the decision is just and right, but it is not to be put into force and effect in the Territories." "If he takes that shoot," said Lincoln, "he can never be President." Lincoln's anxious friends replied: "That is not your lookout; you are after the senatorship." "No, gentlemen," said he, "I am killing larger game. The battle of 1860 is worth a hundred of this." Did Lincoln, even then, see so far ahead as to perceive that he might be the Republican candidate for the Presidency in 1860? Did he see that it was necessary that Douglas should be "killed off," as a possible Democratic candidate against him? We cannot tell. Lincoln was a wise man, and some of his sayings were like prophecies. We know that Lincoln did put those questions to Douglas; that Douglas answered them in such a manner as to ruin his chances with the South, which was watch- ing this contest with vigilance, and that that answer made his support by the South in 1860 an utter impossibility. On the points here indicated, the seven joint de- bates usually turned. Everybody felt that Lincoln was, to use the common expression of the country, i?4 Abraham Lincoln "getting -the best" of Douglas. At some times, in- deed, Douglas, by his manner, showed that he thought so too. For example, at Charleston, 111., when they were in their fourth meeting, Lincoln's reply to Douglas was powerful and intense in its vigor. Douglas's evasions and shifty tricks were exposed with a clearness of logic that was wonder- ful, and so convincing that everybody saw it; even Douglas's friends seemed to be seized with a panic, and the great assembly was stirred with a strange tremor. Douglas realized his overthrow, his in- ability to reply, although he had the closing of that day's debate. He lost his temper, left his seat, and, watch in hand, paced up and down the rear of the platform, behind the speaker, his impatience mani- fest in his manner. One who saw the remarkable scene says: "He was greatly agitated, his long grizzled hair waving in the wind, like the shaggy locks of an enraged lion." This took place when Lincoln was striking his heaviest blows, his pitiless reasoning falling like a maul, as some one said, upon the unresponsive log of Douglas's argument. The instant that the hands of Douglas's watch marked the moment for Lincoln to stop, he turned the time- piece towards Lincoln and eagerly cried: "Sit down, Lincoln, sit down; your time is up." Turning his face, lighted with the fire of his own inspiration, to the speaker behind him, Lincoln calmly said: "I will. I will quit. I believe my time is up." "Yes," said one on the platform, "Douglas has had enough. It is time you let him up." Lincoln and Douglas 175 These debates, as we have said, attracted great and earnest attention all over the country. They were made the occasion of vast outpourings of the people of the State and of the neighboring region. The two men were always promptly on the field to fulfil their engagements ; and they invariably found a tremendous concourse of people waiting to hear them. In those days, railroads were not so numer- ous as now, although the great trunk lines were in existence. People rode long distances in farm- wagons, and the neighborhood of a town in which one of the great debates was to be held indicated the deep interest that the population took in what was going on. Companies of men from a distance camped for the night by creeks 'and under the trees, patiently enduring fatigue and privation that they might hear the mighty truths discussed that so in- timately concerned the national well-being. Never before in the history of the Republic had so good an opportunity come for the teaching of the common people the sublime principles that underlie our free government. Never before were the elementary ideas of popular government so lucidly, so eloquently, and so attractively set before the men and women of a great, thoughtful, and liberty-loving commu- nity. The echo of the controversy penetrated every nook and corner of the Republic, until weary slaves on distant plantations heard the whisper of their coming freedom; for this was but a preparation of the larger struggle that was to come. When the joint discussion was agreed upon, many of Lincoln's friends, even among those who knew 1 76 Abraham Lincoln him well, were timorous of the future, doubtful of the result. They loved and trusted Lincoln, but they were afraid of Douglas Douglas, the powerful and influential Senator, who had never yet been defeated, and who bore down all opposition. Just before the first meeting of the two disputants, a friend of Lincoln's met him at a great political gather- ing in Springfield, and expressed to him, as delicately as possible, the fears of those who loved him so well, for Lincoln was ever a dearly beloved man to those who knew him. Greeting this man, and hearing from him that his old acquaintances were looking forward with some anxiety to the approaching dis- cussion, a shade of sadness flitted over Lincoln's careworn face; then a light flashed from his eyes, and his lips quivered. In the half-jocular, half- serious manner that was so peculiar to him, he said, with lips compressed: " My friend, sit down here a minute and I will tell you a story. You and I have travelled the circuit together, attending court, and have often seen two men about to fight. One of them, the big or the little giant, as the case may be, is noisy and boastful ; he jumps high in the air and strikes his feet together, smites his fists together, brags about what he is going to do, and tries hard to sheer the other man. The other says not a word. His arms are at his side, his fists are clenched, his teeth set, his head settled firmly on his shoulders; he saves his breath and strength for the struggle. This man will whip, just as sure as the fight comes off. Good-bye, and remember what I say." From that time the man who sat with Lincoln in Lincoln and Douglas 177 the hotel doorway and heard the prophecy from his unboastful friend never doubted that the victory would be with the speaker. Nevertheless, Douglas was elected United States Senator. In the State Legislature were several senators holding over from a previous year. They were Democrats, although the districts from which they had been elected were now Republican. The dividing of the State into districts was also unfair to the party that supported Lincoln, so that Demo- cratic votes counted for more in the Legislature than the same number of Republican votes. When the returns were all in, it was found that 126,048 had voted for Lincoln and 121,940 for Douglas. So, although Douglas was subsequently chosen Senator by the Legislature, Lincoln won the moral victory. All over the Republic it was felt that he had come off conqueror in the field of debate, had worsted the hitherto unconquerable Douglas, the " Little Giant," and had made for himself a name that should endure so long as men love liberty and regard justice. In one of the later speeches of this wonderful debate Lincoln said : " I say to you, that in this mighty issue it is nothing to the mass of the people of the nation whether Judge Douglas or myself are or shall ever be heard of after this night. It may be a trifle to us, but, in connection with this mighty issue upon which, perhaps, hang the destinies of the nation, the United States senatorship is absolutely nothing." During this debate, many points made by Lin- coln were suggestive of his early training : his figures 1 78 Abraham Lincoln of speech were almost always drawn from his per- sonal experience in the backwoods, on the farm, or from his more recent studies in American history. To one who has followed the history of the man, an examination of these remarkable traces of Lincoln's mental habits and earlier pursuits is exceedingly interesting. For example, after he had been ad- mitted to the bar, noticing the frequent use of the word ''demonstrate," and feeling that a mathemati- cal proposition, as demonstrated, was a good illus- tration of the power of truth, he manfully went at the study of Euclid, and, to use his own expression, 11 collared it" before he left it. In the debates with Douglas he was irritated with Douglas's constant iteration of the charge that he, Lincoln, had in- dorsed certain statements of Senator TrumbuU's, that were, as Douglas said, untrue. Finally, Lincoln said: "Why, sir, there is not a single statement in TrumbuU's speech that depends on Trumbull's veracity. Why does not Judge Douglas answer the facts? ... If you have studied geometry, you remember that by a course of reasoning Euclid proves that all the angles in a triangle are equal to two right angles. Euclid has shown how to work it out. Now, if you undertook to disprove that pro- position, to prove that it was erroneous, would you do it by calling Euclid a liar? That is the way Judge Douglas answers Trumbull." CHAPTER XIV. AFTER A GREAT STRUGGLE. Condition of the Two Contestants The Crocodile and the Negro Douglas in the South Lincoln Nominated by Illinois Republi- cans The Rail-Splitting Candidate Some Pithy Sayings Lin- coln Speaks in New York The Man from Illinois. THE election was over, and the two champions were left in a condition that varied with each. It had been a long and exhaustive struggle, but it was observed of Lincoln that, though weary, he appeared more like an athlete just entering a struggle, not just coming out of one. His sinewy form was as erect and elastic as ever, his eye was bright, and his face, though naturally sallow, was lighted with animation. Here his early training and abstemious habits stood him in good stead. He had "never applied hot and rebellious liquors to his blood/' and in this time of sore trial he came out unscathed. The hundred days of a tense and exciting canvass left no mark on him. Douglas, on the other hand, was badly shattered ; his voice was almost gone, and he scarcely spoke above a whisper. He showed great fatigue, and he sought rest and repose as soon as he could get away from his friends. But Douglas, too, had an iron constitution, and he soon rallied his physical forces, and was himself again after a few days of rest. Later on, he went through several of I7Q i8o Abraham Lincoln the Southern States, descending towards the Gulf of Mexico by the Mississippi River. At various points down the stream he was received with acclaim, and his speeches manifested his desire to recover with the slave-owning people of the South whatever he might have lost in the debate on the free soil of Illinois. He said at Memphis, Tenn., for example, that wherever the climate and soil of a State or Territory made it for the interest of the people to encourage slave labor, there they would have a slave code. At that time, the Buchanan adminis- tration cherished, among other darling plans for the acquisition of more slave territory, one for the pur- chase of Cuba. Douglas said that this was neces- sary. In New Orleans, he said that wherever a race showed itself incapable of self-government, the stronger race must govern it; and that the negro was of such a race. Indeed, his speeches were all designed to strengthen himself with men who be- lieved that slavery was right, just, and needful to the white race. It was during this brief tour that Douglas made use of the famous " crocodile" figure of speech, afterwards taken up by Lincoln. Douglas said : "As between the crocodile and the negro, I take the side of the negro ; but, as between the negro and the white man, I would go for the white man, every time." Lincoln, at home, noted that; and afterwards, when he had occasion to refer to the remark, he said: " I believe that this is a sort of proposition in proportion, which may be stated thus : ' As the negro is to the white man, so is the crocodile to the negro; and as the negro After a Great Struggle 181 may rightfully treat the crocodile as a beast or reptile, so the white man may rightfully treat the negro as a beast or reptile.' Now, my brother Kentuckians, who believe in this, you ought to thank Judge Douglas for having put that in a much more taking way than any of yourselves have done." This, however, was somewhat later in the year. Lincoln now belonged, apparently, to politics. He resumed his practice of law, and to all appearances had given up thoughts of political preferment; but he did not conceal his regret at the failure of his party to carry the Legislature and secure his own election to the United States Senate. When asked by a friend how he felt when his defeat was assured by the returns of the election, he said, in his usual good-natured and jocose way, that he felt "like the boy who stubbed his toe, too badly to laugh and too big to cry." By this time, we must remember, he was accustomed to defeat. He had been in a minority too long to regard the victory of others over him as an unmixed evil. Lincoln's affability, perfect simplicity, good-nat- ure, and home-like freedom of manner had by this time made him, as it were, an inmate of every household in the West. Everybody among those plain people recognized him as "one of us," a man to be loved and admired, and not at a distance either. The Lincoln-Douglas debate, however, gave him a wider fame. The speeches had been so exten- sively read, and the joint canvass was in itself so unique an affair to Eastern people, that they all thought they knew now the two men who had 1 82 Abraham Lincoln figured on this national stage. Invitations came pour- ing upon Lincoln from all over the Northern States, seeking to secure his services in the battle being fought in each State. During the winter of 1858-9, he devoted himself to his own private affairs, listen- ing, we may suppose, to the beating of the popular heart as indicated in the newspapers and in the po- litical meetings that the excited condition of public affairs made it necessary to hold all over the country. In May, 1859, he was called upon to say, as a possible candidate for the Presidency, what were his views concerning the attempts made in some States to curtail the political privileges of naturalized for- eigners. Dr. Theodor Canisius, a German citizen of Illinois, wrote him a letter asking him what he thought of such an attempt as this, lately made in Massachusetts. Lincoln, while declining to criticise Massachusetts, said he should be sorry to see any such proposition brought up in Illinois, and he would oppose it wherever he had the right to do so. "As I understand the spirit of our institutions," said he, "it is designed to promote the elevation of men. I am, therefore, hostile to anything that tends to their debasement. It is well known that I deplore the de- pressed condition of the blacks, and it would, therefore, be very inconsistent for me to look with approval upon any measure that infringes upon the inalienable rights of white men, whether or not they are born in another land or speak a different language from our own." The Republicans of Illinois held their annual con- vention in Decatur, Macon County, May 10, 1859. After a Great Struggle 183 Lincoln was present, and as soon as his tall form was seen on the platform, the entire assemblage, forgetting everything else, rose as one man and cheered and cheered again, until, as one who was present has said, "it seemed as if they never would stop." Not often do men who have passed through defeat receive such a greeting as that given to the non-elected candidate for United States Senator. When order was restored, the Republican Governor of the State, Richard Oglesby, said that there was at the door an old-time Macon County Democrat who had a contribution to make to the convention. The curiosity of the delegates was stimulated, and they looked to see two ancient fence rails, decorated with ribbons of red, white, and blue, borne into the hall by Thomas Hanks, on the rails being the inscription: " Abraham Lincoln, the Rail Candidate for the Presidency in 1860. Two rails from a lot of three thousand, made in 1830 by Thomas Hanks and Abe Lincoln, whose father was the first pioneer in Macon County." This was Lincoln's first public nomination to the Presidency. The effect of the demonstration can only be faintly imagined. These were rails split by Lincoln and Hanks when, as we know, young Abraham tarried with his father, after building a log cabin and ploughing their first field in Illinois, long enough to fence in a small parcel of land sown with grain. Years after, Lin- coln, being asked if he supposed those were the veritable rails that he and Hanks had made, said: "I wouldn't make my affidavit that they were. But Hanks and I did make rails on that piece of 1 84 Abraham Lincoln ground, although I think I could make better rails now; and I did say that if there were any rails that we had split, I would n't wonder if those were the rails." Lincoln did not believe in what we call " stage tricks," and he was not greatly pleased with the rail incident, although he was gratified by the enthusi- asm of his friends when they saw this evidence of his humble and useful youthful toil. He took good care to say that the introduction of these reminders of the past life of the young backwoodsman was a surprise to him. He never ceased to be sorry that, when he was obliged to split rails, he could not have been in college, or devoting his time to great and useful study. But for all that, from that day for- ward Lincoln was hailed as "the rail-splitter of Illinois." And when he became in fact a regular candidate before the people, some said: "Will he split the Union as he used to split rails?" During the winter of 1859-60, Lincoln visited, for the first time in his life, the Territory of Kansas, for which he had done so much. Tremendous en- thusiasm greeted him wherever he appeared. In Leavenworth, it is said, notwithstanding a great storm that raged in the streets, he was met by a great procession of people who escorted him to his hotel, vast throngs being gathered on the sidewalks cheering, every available coign of vantage being occupied by persons greedy for a sight of him. In September, 1859, Lincoln spoke several times in Ohio, and, being near the Kentucky border, at Cincinnati he addressed a part of his speech to After a Great Struggle 185 natives of that State, asking them, among other things, what they would do with their part of the Union, if they took it away, as they were now be- ginning to threaten that they would. "Are you going to keep it alongside of us outrageous fellows?" he asked. "Or are you going to build up a wall, some way, between your country and ours, by which that movable property of yours can't come over here any more, to the danger of your losing it?" Early in 1860, Lincoln received an invitation to speak in Plymouth Church, of which Henry Ward Beecher was pastor, in Brooklyn. He accepted the invitation, but the place of assembling was subse- quently changed to the Cooper Union, one of the largest halls in the United States. It was filled when Lincoln, somewhat dismayed by this his first introduction to the people of the Eastern States, rose to speak. He had been presented to the audience by William Cullen Bryant, poet and editor. On the platform and around him were some of the great men of the age and city jurists, scholars, orators, and critics. He had prepared a very differ- ent sort of speech from that which some before him had expected. This was not a crowd to be amused with queer stories, rough wit, and comical anecdotes. The speech was one of the most remarkable ever delivered in the city of New York. It was a masterly exposition of the history of the early days of the Republic, when our political institutions were in pro- cess of formation, special reference being made to the slavery question as then considered. It was a scholarly, skilfully framed, and closely logical 1 86 Abraham Lincoln address. His style of delivery was so fresh and vigorous, his manner of illustration so clear and easily understood, that the audience drank in every word with delight. The vast auditorium was as hushed as death (save for Lincoln's own voice) when he was drawing out some fine point, some new line of argument supported by facts hitherto unknown or forgotten ; and irrepressible thunders of applause burst forth when, the way being cleared, the proposition sought to be established was set before the people. This is the testimony of one who was present on that historic occasion: "When Lincoln rose to speak, I was greatly disap- pointed. He was tall, tall oh, how tall! 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- fitting, badly wrinkled as if they had been jammed carelessly into a small trunk. His bushy head, with the 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 noticed that they were very large. He began in a low tone of voice as if he were used to speak- ing out-doors and was afraid of speaking too loud. He said 'Mr. Cheerman,' instead of 'Mr. Chairman/ and employed many other words with an old-fashioned pro- nunciation. 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 subject ; he straightened up, made regular and grace- ful gestures ; his face lighted as with an inward fire ; the whole man was transfigured. I forgot his clothes, his personal appearance, and his individual peculiarities. After a Great Struggle 187 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 applause were terrific. It was a great speech. When I came out of the hall, my face glowing 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." The impression made by Lincoln on the much- dreaded Eastern people was highly favorable to his training, ability, and genius. The backwoodsman at last had conquered one of the most critical and cultivated audiences to be gathered in the RepuHic. It may be said here that Lincoln took for his theme that night the saying of his old adversary, Douglas : "Our fathers, when they framed the government under which we live, understood this question [the question of slavery] just as well, and even better than we do now.'* This, as Lincoln said, gave him and Douglas a common starting-point for discussion. His speech was devoted, for the most part, to an inquiry into what the fathers who framed the government thought of and did about slavery; and he showed, by conclusive and irrefutable argument and citations from history, that the fathers, whom Douglas so confidently referred to, acted as though they believed that the Federal Government had no power to put slavery into the Territories. The next section of his speech was a kindly and almost affectionate address to the people of the South. 1 88 Abraham Lincoln The concluding part was addressed to Republicans, and he closed with these words: " Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government. Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it." All who read or heard that speech marvelled greatly at its pure logic, its keen analysis, and its lucid and unimpeachable English. It was widely circulated next day in the morning newspapers of the city, and went far and wide as a campaign docu- ment from the rooms of the Republican Committee. A professor of rhetoric in Yale College came to hear Lincoln. He was so impressed by what he heard that he took out his note-book, made notes of the address, and next day gave this to his class as a model; and, not satisfied with that, followed him to Meriden, Connecticut, where he again drank in the orator's marvellous eloquence. All this was to Lin- coln "very extraordinary," as he expressed it. He had never, in his modest estimate of his own abilities, expected to create any such marked impression in the East. He had imbibed the current half -jealous notions of the West, whose people too commonly regarded their brothers of the Eastern States as more likely to estimate a man by what he seemed to be than by what he did. He went home gratified by his discovery that he was recognized as an original and powerful man, gifted with genius, and com- mending himself to the people by his great-hearted- ness and native nobility. CHAPTER XV. ELECTED TO THE PRESIDENCY. Rending of the Democratic Party The National Convention of 1860 Lincoln Nominated at Chicago A Memorable Scene Popu- lar Enthusiasm Four Tickets in the Field Lincoln's Great Triumph. IN the spring of 1860 the South was dismayed. All * hope of securing Kansas as a slave State was gone. A hostile majority in the House of Repre- sentatives made impossible the admission of Kansas under the odious and fraudulent Lecompton Con- stitution. The purchase of Cuba was now also im- possible. California had long since been admitted as a free State, in spite of the threats and promises of the pro-slavery administration. All schemes for the acquiring of hew territory for the expansion of the slave power had failed utterly. A new President was about to be chosen. The Democratic party was rent into two seemingly forever irreconcilable parties Lecomptoh and Anti-Lecompton. Threats of secession were freely made. Many thought that these were mere bluster, words intended to be taken back if the South could be reassured. And some timorous people wanted the South to be reassured. In his Cooper Union speech, Lincoln, addressing himself to the threatening class, said: "You say you will destroy the Union; and then you 189 Abraham Lincoln say the great crime of having destroyed it will be put upon us. That is cool. A highwayman holds a pistol to my ear, and mutters through his teeth : ' Stand and deliver, or I shall kill you, and then you will be a murderer.' To be sure, what the robber demanded of me my money was my own ; but it was no more my own than my vote is my own; and a threat of death to me to extort my money, and threat of destruction to the Union to extort my vote, can scarcely be distinguished in principle." With these mutterings in the air, the Democratic convention to nominate a candidate for the Presi- dency assembled in Charleston, South. Carolina, April 23, 1860. It does not now seem likely that the Northern and the Southern leaders expected to be able to unite on any candidate. Douglas was the one man most prominent in the party. The Northern Democrats would have him and no other. But his speeches during the canvass with Lincoln, as well as his later opposition to the Lecompton Constitution for Kansas, had ruined his chances with the South. Nothing short of an unconditional declaration in favor of slavery would satisfy these determined champions of slavery. After days of fruitless discussion, the Democratic convention was torn into pieces. The pro-slavery delegates with- drew in a body, and organized in another building what they called a "constitutional convention." No nominations were made, however, at that time, and the convention adjourned to meet in Richmond, Virginia. The other wing of the party remained in convention in Charleston, and, after fifty-seven un- successful ballotings, they, too, gave it up and ad- Elected to the Presidency 191 journed to meet in Baltimore, June i8th. May gth, there met in Baltimore a convention of elderly Whigs and " Know- Nothings, " who nominated John Bell, of Tennessee, for President, and Edward Everett, of Massachusetts, for Vice-President. This was the so-called conservative ticket, intended to pour oil on the troubled waters, and elect a President that should have no ideas, no notions, no policy, on the subject of slavery. The Richmond convention, composed of pro- slavery Democrats, nominated John C. Breckin- ridge, afterward a Rebel general, for President. Subsequently, the regular convention, as it was to be considered (although only the anti-Lincoln Dem- ocrats were left in it), met in Baltimore, and nomi- nated Stephen A. Douglas for President. The breach between the Northern and Southern Democrats was complete, irreparable. There was intense excitement all over the Republic when the Republican national convention assembled in Chicago, June 17, 1860. Everybody felt that a crisis in the affairs of the nation had now come. The Democratic party was hopelessly divided on the great and vital question of human slavery. At that time there were nearly four millions of human beings held in bondage in the United States, bought and sold as if they were cattle, or chattels. The States in which slavery was recognized as a divine and righteous institution were solidly united in an attempt to force that institution into the free Terri- tories, and so make the laws of the free Republic that slave property would be safe everywhere, that black i9 2 Abraham Lincoln men and women should be sacred as property in every State in the Union, and no fugitive from bondage should be safe anywhere on any rood of land over which the American flag waved. The party now about to set its candidates in the field was irrevocably opposed to the further extension of the alleged rights of slavery in any direction what- ever. No man could be nominated by that party who was not irretrievably and unmistakably in favor of the fundamental principle to which, through Lin- coln's advice, it had been already pledged, that "all men are endowed by their Creator with certain in- alienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." The city of Chicago was crowded with strangers from every part of the United States. It was es- timated that twenty thousand people were gathered in and around the vast building, called the "Wig- wam," in which the convention was to be held, only a small portion of whom could obtain admittance. The platform of resolutions adopted by the con- vention contained the political principles that had already been announced in many different forms by Lincoln, during his unparalleled canvass of the Northern States. Joshua R. Giddings, of Ohio, an old-time anti-slavery man, offered for the conven- tion one more plank, the phrase from the Declara- tion of Independence affirming the birthright of freedom granted to every man. Strange to say, there was some opposition to the adoption of this immortal sentence. There lingered in the conven- tion some little element of timidity on the anti- Elected to the Presidency 193 slavery issue. A few men in the party were yet afraid of being confounded with the long-hated and dreaded "Abolitionists." George W. Curtis, an impetuous and eloquent young delegate from New York, made an impassioned plea for the phrase offered by Giddings. It was accepted, and the whole series of ringing and courageous resolutions were adopted by the convention amid the wildest enthusiasm. A tremendous roar went up from the assembled thousands in the building. Other throngs without took up the cheer, and a vast wave of sound went thundering down the lake-side, telling the world that at last a great national party had asserted in unmistakable language the right of man to freedom. Then the balloting began. Mr. William M. Evarts, of New York, placed before the convention the name of William H. Seward, of that State. In like man- ner, Mr. Judd, of Illinois, nominated Abraham Lin- coln. Mr. Dayton, of New Jersey, Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania, Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, Ed- ward Bates, of Missouri, and John McLean, of Ohio, were subsequently named. But only the names of Seward and Lincoln, the two great leaders of the new party, provoked much enthusiasm. When these were mentioned, their friends sent up shouts that reverberated like the surges of the sea smiting on the shore. Now the audience adjusted itself to the real business of the day. Telegraph operators sat ready with their instruments to send the news abroad. An army of newspaper reporters, their pencils poised to note events that were coming, 194 Abraham Lincoln crowded the platform allotted to the press. The air was hushed. Everybody knew that the supreme moment had arrived. A great act in the drama of national history was about to begin. The roll of the States was called for the first ballot. It was evident that this would be inconclusive; but every ear was strained to catch the slightest whisper from the delegations that were to cast the vote of their several States. Now and again a roar of applause would break forth, as if the delegates were unable to restrain themselves, intense as was their desire to hear the result from each other. Such a burst went up whenever New York steadily cast her seventy votes for Seward, the well-beloved son of the Em- pire State. And such a burst shook the air when Indiana and Illinois gave their solid votes to Lincoln. The first ballot was as follows : William H. Seward, one hundred and seventy-three and a half ; Abraham Lincoln, one hundred and two; Edward Bates, forty-eight; Simon Cameron, fifty and a half; Sal- mon P. Chase, forty-nine. The remaining forty-two votes were scattered among John McLean, Benjamin F. Wade, William L. Dayton, John M. Reed, Jacob Collamer, Charles Sumner, and John C. Fremont. There was no choice, two hundred and thirty-three of the total four hundred and sixty-five votes cast being necessary to nominate. On the second ballot, Lincoln gained seventy-nine votes from Vermont, New Hampshire, and Pennsyl- vania, receiving one hundred and eighty-one, all told. Seward gained eleven, having one hundred and eighty-four and a half, all told. The third Elected to the Presidency 195 ballot began amid the most tense interest, for all felt that this must determine the contest for the nomination. Thousands on the floor and in the galleries followed the ballotings with their pencils, silently keeping tally of the votes as they were an- nounced to the chairman by the spokesmen of the several delegations of the States. Before the secre- taries could figure up and verify the result, it was whispered about the convention, which fairly trem- bled with suppressed excitement, that Lincoln came near to a nomination. He had two hundred and thirty-one and a half votes, lacking only a vote and a half of the nomination. Then, while the house was as still as if it were empty, Mr. Carter, of Ohio, rose and said that four of the votes of that State were changed to Abraham Lincoln. The work was done* Lincoln was nominated. Turning his face upward to a skylight in the roof, where stood an intent watchman, one of the secre- taries cried, ' ' Fire the salute ! Lincoln is nominated ! ' ' The elate watchman fled along the roof of the Wig- wam and shouted the glad tidings to those below. Inside the building, after an instant's pause, like that in the midst of a storm, a hurricane of en- thusiasm, almost maddening, broke forth. Men flung away their hats, danced in a wild delirium of delight, hugged and kissed each other, and cheered and cheered again, as if they could find no vent to their overpowering joy. The vast Wigwam shook with the torrent of noise. Without, surging crowds broke forth into answering roars as the cheering inside died away, and this was taken up by those 196 Abraham Lincoln within, and thus tumult replied to tumult. On the roof of a great hotel, not far away, a battery of cannon volleyed and thundered ; the multitudinous wave of sound spread through the city, its streets and lanes, and drifted far over Lake Michigan, tell- ing the world that Lincoln, the beloved, the great, grand man, scarce known outside of his own repub- lic, was nominated. And in this way, the son of Thomas Lincoln, the backwoodsman, stepped out upon the mighty stage on which was to be enacted one of the most tremendous tragedies the world has ever seen. The convention adjourned for an hour, and later 'in the day Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, was nomi- nated for Vice-President with Lincoln. At home, in Springfield, Lincoln waited in a newspaper office, surrounded by friends, for the news that should make him the national candidate of his party, or place him on the retired list of American politicians. At last, a messenger, bearing the fateful message in his hand, came in from the telegraph office, with difficulty keeping his face from showing his inward excitement. With great solemnity, he advanced to Lincoln's side and said: "The convention has made a nomination, and Seward is the second man on the list." Then jumping on a table, he cried: ' ' Three cheers for Abraham Lincoln, the next Presi- dent of the United States!" We can imagine with what a hearty good-will those cheers were given, and how the notes thereof rang out in the streets of Springfield and were echoed far and wide. After shaking hands with his friends and receiving their Elected to the Presidency 197 fervent congratulations, Lincoln pocketed the tele- gram, and, saying " There is a little woman on Eighth Street who would like to hear about this," walked home to tell the news to his household. It was the duty of the convention to give Lincoln formal and official notice of his nomination. A committee, with Mr. George Ashmun, of Massachu- setts, at its head, was accordingly appointed to wait upon the nominee and serve him with the usual notice. Meantime, however, the citizens of Spring- field had fired a salute of one hundred guns to speak their joy over the nomination of one who was un- doubtedly their popular idol. Then a vast con- course of the people streamed up the street where Lincoln's humble cottage stood, and invaded the hospitable home, as many as could crowd in, eager to take his hand and tell him how glad they were that this great honor had been laid upon him. Some of his devoted Springfield admirers, thinking that a delegation from the great national convention would expect to receive a more liberal supply of refresh- ment than the total abstainers of the Lincoln family would be likely to have in the house, sent him a supply of wines for this occasion. These unfamiliar fluids gave Lincoln some uneasiness, and, accepting the advice of another, he sent them to their donors, with a courteous explanation of his inability to use them. He had never offered wines to his friends; he could not do it now. The committee arrived. They drank the health of the President that was to be, in water from the spring. On the 23d of June, Lincoln wrote a formal letter 198 Abraham Lincoln accepting the nomination to the Presidency. It was a very short and straightforward document. He accepted the platform of principles laid down by the convention and concluded in the following words : " Imploring the assistance of Divine Providence, and with due regard to the views and feelings of all who were represented in the convention, to the rights of all the States and Territories and people of the nation, to the inviolability of the Constitution, and the perpetual union, harmony, and prosperity of all, I am most happy to co- operate for the practical success of the principles declared by the convention." The Presidential canvass of that year was unique in the history of the American Republic. The en- thusiasm of the people of the free States broke over all bounds. To use a common Western expression, it swept the country like a prairie fire. The friends of freedom organized semi-military companies, the like of which have appeared in political campaigns since that day. These were called "Wide-awakes," and, uniformed and carrying torches at night, or bannerets in the daytime, they turned out in vast numbers whenever there was a demonstration by the Republicans; and this was very often. Cam- paign songs were composed, set to music, and sung all over the North, the rousing choruses being taken up and made as familiar to everybody as household words. The log cabin of the Harrison campaign was brought out to do duty again as a token of the humble origin of the candidate. Rails and rail- splitting were popular symbols, and innumerable de- Elected to the Presidency 199 vices were invented to rouse to a still higher pitch the fervor of the Republicans, and to sweep into the onrushing wave the halting and the vacillating. It must not be understood that there was no oppo- sition to Lincoln. On the contrary, as the election returns showed, there was a very strong opposition ; and the leaders of this party manifested their hatred of the Republicans and their candidate by the most violent and abusive language. The terms " Black Republicans," "Negro Lovers," and the like were among the least offensive of the epithets showered upon the members and candidates of the new, ag- gressive party. Douglas, to the surprise of many of his best friends and followers, took the stump in his own behalf. It had never been the usage for a Presidential candidate to speak in advocacy of his own election, although men had often done this, especially in the West, when they were candidates for less important offices. Many felt that this was a doubtful experiment for Douglas to make; and many said that it showed how desperate was his case. His speeches were designed to prove that he was the only safe candidate before the people, Breckinridge representing the sectionalism of slavery, and Lincoln the sectionalism of anti-slavery; but it appeared that both sections of the country had re- solved to have no more experiments. This time the question of slavery extension or slavery limita- tion was to be settled forever. Lincoln stayed quietly at home, although he was sometimes well-nigh overwhelmed with visitors from every part of the Union. Some of these came from 2oo Abraham Lincoln idle curiosity ; some to put in a good word for them- selves, in case the candidate should be chosen and have offices to fill. Others came honestly encouraging the candidate, now widely celebrated and so greatly loved as a man of the people. A handsome room in the State capitol was assigned to Lincoln, and here he received his visitors during the exciting months that intervened between the nomination in June and the election in November. But he made no speeches, and refrained, with his usual wisdom, from making any public demonstration whatever. When the votes were in, at the end of that famous canvass, it was found that Lincoln had one hundred and eighty of the electoral votes of the States, and 1,866,452 men had voted for him. Breckinridge had seventy-two electoral votes, and he had been the express choice of 847,953 voters. Douglas had twelve electoral votes; his popular vote was 1,375,- 157. Bell had thirty-nine electoral votes, and a popular vote of 590,631. Lincoln had received a majority of the electoral votes, but it will be noticed that he had not a majority of all the votes of the people, the four candidates in the field having divided the popular votes unusually; but, notwithstanding this, he had the largest popular vote that had been polled, at that time, for any Presidential candidate. Lincoln took his election with a composure not untinged with sadness. A tremendous responsibility was now certain to be placed upon him. The South had openly and repeatedly declared an intention to break up the Union, by leaving it, in case of the election of the Republican candidate. He was op- Elected to the Presidency 201 pressed with many weighty and anxious thoughts. On the day when the news came of his triumph, a strange thing happened to him. Years after, when he had been nominated and elected a second time to the Presidency, he told this story to the writer of these pages: " It was just after my election in 1860, when the news had been coming in thick and fast all day, and there had been a great ' Hurrah, boys! ' so that I was well tired out, and went home to rest, throwing myself down on a lounge in my chamber. Opposite where I lay was a bureau, with a swinging glass upon it " [and here he got up and placed furniture to illustrate the position] "and, look- ing in that glass, I saw myself reflected, nearly at full length; but my face, I noticed, had two separate and distinct images, the tip of the nose of one being about three inches from the tip of the other. I was a little bothered, perhaps startled, and got up and looked in the glass, but the illusion vanished. On lying down again I saw it a second time plainer, if possible, than before; and then I noticed that one of the faces was a little paler, say five shades, than the other. I got up and the thing melted away, and I went off, and in the excitement of the hour forgot all about it nearly, but not quite, for the thing would once in a while come up, and give me a little pang, as though something uncomfortable had happened. Later in the day I told my wife about it, and a few days after I tried the experiment again, when [with a laugh], sure enough, the thing came again ; but I never succeeded in bringing the ghost back after that, though I once tried very industriously to show it to my wife, who was worried about it somewhat. She thought it was 'a sign' that I was to be elected to a second term of office, and that the 202 Abraham Lincoln paleness of one of the faces was an omen that I should not see life through the last term." With his usual good-sense, Lincoln studied this for a while and came to the conclusion that it was an optical illusion caused by a flaw in the mirror. Mrs. Lincoln thought it was "a warning," and that it signified that her husband would have to be twice President and would not live through his second term. As both of these persons talked with the writer about the matter, and this story was told in an article written by him in Harper's Magazine, in July, 1865, while Mrs. Lincoln was yet alive to see it, the facts are here set down as originally stated. CHAPTER XVI. AFTER THE ELECTION. The President-Elect and the Office-Seekers A Policy Demanded Treason in Buchanan's Cabinet Organization of the Rebel Con- federacy Alarm in the North The Star of the West Fired On A Peace Congress in the Face of War. IT is difficult for anybody, at this distance of time, * and when all things are at peace throughout the Republic, to realize how great was the burden placed upon Lincoln by his election to the Presidency. There were two great troubles the office-seekers and the impending war. The first of these, of course, was the smaller, but it was none' the less a grievous trial. For, in addition to the strain that it brought upon his patience, it interfered very seriously with his attempt to think over the greater and far more trying questions that must soon be settled. Lincoln was good-natured, patient, kind, desirous of doing whatever was asked of him, in reason. It was always irksome for him to refuse a favor, even when the petitioner was not altogether reasonable or de- serving. He disliked to refer applicants to others, his subordinates. He never turned a deaf ear to any petitioner, however humble, however importunate. It was truly said of him that his patience was almost infinite. It is easy to see, therefore, how difficult it ., 203 204 Abraham Lincoln was for his immediate friends to protect him from the incursions of curiosity-seeking and office-seeking visitors, then and afterwards. But, with all his good-humored and cheerful man- ner towards those who came, it soon became evident that he did not intend to promise places as readily as a spendthrift, newly come into an inheritance, might spread abroad his gold. He was sublimely wise in his treatment of all who came to him, listen- ing to their "claims" (for all had these) and always manifesting the native kindness that distinguished him. But men who had been on familiar terms with him, who had met him "riding the circuit," had lis- tened to his unfailing good stories, had done his party real service in the late fight, or had been friendly neighbors, soon learned that these were not sufficient to extort from him the promise of a good office when he should be in the place where offices were to be given out. He manifested his generosity towards his opponents by sketching out a programme that included in the office-holders of his administra- tion many who had opposed the Republican party in its very latest canvass. He would have, if possi- ble, one or two Southern men of prominence in his Cabinet; and he would not disturb many, then in office, who had proved themselves honest, faithful, and competent public servants. When this outline of policy was disclosed, some of his friends were not only disappointed, but irritated. Not that they wanted offices for themselves or their associates, but it was contrary to the policy and the practice of the time and of all who had occupied the Presiden- After the Election 205 tial office in recent years. Nobody had then even suggested that variety of reform that was afterwards known as the Civil-Service Reform. A Democratic Secretary of State, William L. Marcy, had invented the taking phrase, "To the victors belong the spoils," and Democratic Presidents, from Andrew Jackson down, had rigidly enforced the doctrine taught by that maxim. President Buchanan had been un- usually severe in his treatment of office-holders who differed with him and his administration in matters of political policy. During the time when the schism in the Democratic party was widening the breach between "Lecompton Democrats" and "Anti-Le- compton Democrats," Buchanan and his secretaries had made strict inquisition among all office-holders for those who espoused the cause of Douglas and those who represented what was loosely called Douglas Democracy. In California, for example, David C. Broderick, an Anti-Lecompton Democrat, and a friend of Douglas, had been elected to the United States Senate. The other Senator from that State was William M. Gwin, a Southerner by birth and devoted to the slave-holding interest. All the official patronage of the State was handed over to Gwin, and the recommendations to office by Brod- erick were treated with contemptuous indifference. In course of time, so furious were the Lecompton Democrats against their opponents within the Demo- cratic party, Broderick was inveigled into a duel by the friends of the Buchanan administration, and was cruelly killed by a judge, who, when the war broke out, became an officer in the Rebel army. 206 Abraham Lincoln In such a condition of affairs as this, with all the public offices filled with the appointees of a pre- scriptive and unrelenting partisan administration, most Republican leaders were unable to see why Lincoln should hesitate to make "a clean sweep" when he came into power. Of course, those patri- otic gentlemen who had expected the rewards of office could not possibly understand why a single Democrat should be allowed to stay in office after the newly elected President should himself be fairly installed; and it is not too much to say that there were many of these applicants who, temporarily, at least, were more concerned about the just disposition of the offices than they were about the condition of the whole country, now trembling on the brink of civil war. Then, again, since matters had grown so grave, thousands of well-meaning people were ex- ceedingly anxious to know what Lincoln proposed to do in case the Southern States should secede from the Union. Would he make any concessions in order to keep them from taking this step? What would he offer them to induce them to stay in the Union? There were many ready to advise the President-elect; and some of them offered the most fantastic counsel. More than one timorous soul proposed that, now that the principle of self-govern- ment had been vindicated at the polls, and the people had expressed their hostility to slavery, Lincoln might show his magnanimity and patriotism by re- signing the Presidency, and demand a new election on the basis of reconciliation with the South. But while to some of these more absurd sugges- After the Election 207 tions Lincoln gave a ready and decisive answer, on the whole, he maintained the same sagacious silence that he had kept while the canvass for the Presidency was going on. To all comers he said, in effect, that it would be time to indicate what his policy was to be when he had taken office at Washington. He told applicants that his past record, his public utterances, and his speeches ought to make manifest what his course as President would be. Beyond that, he would say nothing. His inaugural address must needs be the first official declaration of his intentions, purposes, wishes, and desires. Many of these inquisitive inquirers were put off with a comical story or a bit of wise humor ; and they did not like it any better that their rebuff should take this shape. They went home and sourly re- ported that the President-elect was a buffoon, a joker, a merry-andrew. There were not a few who were glad to hear anything to the discredit of Lin- coln, and so it came to pass that a grave injustice was done him, long before he took his seat in the Presidential chair. Perhaps Lincoln sometimes made the mistake natural to men of a natural and un- affected turn of mind, and presumed that the good- sense of his visitors would make allowance for an artful sportiveness and fancy. But many of these went away troubled in mind and full of wrong no- tions of Lincoln. Nobody that ever knew Lincoln could possibly have said of him that he was a trifler or an inveterate joker. He was a serious and deeply grave man, when seriousness and gravity were in order ; and much of his playfulness was assumed for 208 Abraham Lincoln a purpose, or to lighten his load of care and divert his mind from heavy troubles. On the whole, those who knew him best unite in saying that his disposi- tion was a sad one by nature. How Lincoln regarded religion and religious things at this time may be best illustrated in a report from Mr. Newton Bateman, of Illinois, regarding a con- versation he held with Lincoln just before the elec- tion of November, 1860. Mr. Bateman was State Superintendent of Public Schools, and occupied an office near the apartment surrendered to Lincoln in the statehbuse during the campaign. The Repub- lican Committee had made a careful canvass of the city of Springfield, showing how nearly every man was to vote at the Presidential election. Lincoln turned over the leaves of this book, one day, while Mr. Bateman was in his company, the two men being alone together. Lincoln scanned the list of the Springfield clergymen, and, with a sad face, said that of the twenty all but three were against him, and that very many of the members of the churches of these clergymen were also arrayed on that side. "I am not a Christian," he said. "God knows I would be one. But I have carefully read the Bible, and I do not so understand this book" ; and here he drew a New Testament from his bosom. "These men well know," he continued, "that I am for free- dom in the Territories, freedom everywhere as far as the Constitution and the laws will permit, and that my opponents are for slavery. They know this; and yet, with this book in their hands, in the light of which human knowledge cannot live a moment, they After the Election 209 are going to vote against me. I do not understand it at all." Here his voice was choked with emotion, and he rose and walked about the room until he regained his self-possession. Then, with his face wet with tears, he continued: " I know there is a God, and that He hates injustice and slavery. I see the storm coming, and I know His hand is in it. If He has a place and work for me, and I think He has, I believe I am ready. I am nothing, but truth is every- thing. I know I am right, because I know that liberty is right, for Christ teaches it, and Christ is God. I have told them that a house divided against itself cannot stand, and Christ and reason say the same thing; and they will find it so. Douglas does n't care whether slavery is voted up or voted down, but God cares, and humanity cares, and I care ; and with God's help I shall not fail. I may not see the end, but it will come and I shall be vindicated; and these men will find that they have not read their Bibles aright." Much of this, and other words to the same import, was said as if Lincoln was thinking aloud, soliloquiz- ing, as was sometimes his wont. Then he went on, saying: "Doesn't it appear strange that men can ignore the moral aspects of this contest ? A revela- tion could not make it plainer to me that slavery or this Government must be destroyed. The future would be something awful, as I look at it, but for this rock on which I stand," alluding to the Testa- ment which he held in his hand; "especially with the knowledge of how these ministers are going to 210 Abraham Lincoln vote. It seems as if God had borne with this thing [slavery] until the very teachers of religion had come to defend it from the Bible, and to claim for it a divine character and sanction ; and now the cup of iniquity is full, and the vials of wrath will be poured out." ' These words, like many others of Lincoln's, uttered before he was chosen to the Presidency even before he was nominated, as some of them were, indicate almost a certain knowledge of coming events which is very like prophecy. It is not un- likely that Lincoln saw long before anybody else did that he would be the nominee of his party in 1860, and it is certain that he saw that his election was assured as soon as the nominations were all made. There is something awful in his standing here at the parting of the ways, his private life on the one hand and his public life on the other, and solemnly pre- dicting, as it were, the day of wrath that was coming upon the people of the United States. Not in the South alone, but even in New England, were found clergymen who taught and preached that slavery was right and just, of divine origin, and that men who raised their hands against it were guilty of a species of high treason. Lincoln had looked into the heart of things; and, like Thomas Jefferson, regard- ing this great wrong against humanity, he trembled for his country when he remembered that God is just. Threats of leaving the Union came loud and vociferous from the slave States as soon as Lincoln's election was assured and the returns were all in. It After the Election 211 is more than likely that these threats were only in consequence of a long-laid plan to leave the Union on the very first offering of an excuse. The South could not live amicably alongside of free territory. Lincoln spoke only the absolute truth when he said that the Government could exist no longer half slave and half free. Now that the triumph of what they called a sectional party had given them an excuse, they were ready to go; but they must needs make a great deal of bluster about it. They went out with a grand display of resolutions and fiery speeches. Meanwhile, however, the allies of treason and re- bellion in the Cabinet were doing what they could to make things easier for the Rebel States when the final blow should come. John B. Floyd, a Southern man, was Secretary of War, and he scattered the army all over the South, one of its largest sections being sent as far away as possible in the interior of Texas, so that it should not be at hand when the new President should come to the national capital. Floyd also moved large quantities of arms and munitions of war from the forts and arsenals in the North to those in the South. Mr. Isaac Toucey, a Northern man, but completely in the hands of the conspirators, sent the little navy of the United States to the four quarters of the globe, so that no naval force should be available when the conspiracy should be ripe. Howell Cobb, of Georgia, afterwards a general in the Rebel army, was then Secretary of the Treasury, and after he had purposely involved the national finances in difficulty, he resigned. He left the Treasury empty. Attorney-General Black had given 212 Abraham Lincoln his official opinion that neither Congress nor the President could carry on any war against any State. James Buchanan, a weak old man, was nominally President, but the conspirators in the Cabinet carried forward their plans with a high hand. Everything that happened in governmental circles in Washing- ton was immediately known in the councils of the secessionists, South Carolina being the hotbed of treason. The Southern Senators and Representa- tives, almost without exception, remained in Wash- ington, occupying their desks in the Senate and House, drawing pay and official perquisites up to the last moment ; and, holding possession of the Gov- ernment as these men did, they were at the same time plotting to overthrow it. Some of the Northern Democrats who had stood by Buchanan and his party until now began to murmur at his supple willingness to help the cause of the rebellion, now assuming formidable proportions. Lewis Cass, Secretary of State, resigned because the President refused to send reinforcements to Major Anderson, who was shut up with a little force in Fort Moultrie, Charleston Harbor. This is the same Anderson, then a lieutenant, who mustered Abraham Lincoln into the service of the United States, at Dixon's Ferry, during the Black Hawk war. As soon as South Carolina should secede from the Union, Fort Moultrie and other fortifications in Charleston Harbor were certain to be seized. Mr. Black, too, resigned, and Edwin M. Stanton, a staunch Demo- crat and Unionist, was appointed in his place. Gen- eral John A. Dix, of New York, succeeded Howell After the Election 213 Cobb as Secretary of the Treasury. It was this un- flinching Union man, General Dix, who, while in the Cabinet of Buchanan, sent to the commander of a threatened revenue cutter the famous despatch: "If any man attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the spot! " Joseph Holt, of Ken- tucky, also a strong Union man, took the office of Secretary of War, made vacant by Floyd, who had added official dishonesty to treason. Stanton, in the Attorney-General's office, was a very different sort of man from Black, who had re- tired to Pennsylvania. The infamous Jacob Thomp- son, who kept his office of Secretary^ of the Interior for the purpose, apparently, of helping his fellow- conspirators in the slave States, advised a surrender of the forts in Charleston Harbor and the withdrawal of Major Anderson and his little force. Stanton said to the President: " Mr. President, it is my duty, as your legal adviser, to say that you have no right to give up the property of the Government, or abandon the soldiers of the United States to its enemies ; and the course proposed by the Secretary of the Interior, if followed, is treason, and will involve you, and all concerned, in treason." For the first time, treason had been called by its right name in the Cabinet councils of James Bu- chanan. It was none too soon. The traitors now saw that their work in Washington must close ; the times were ripe for open revolt; and while some waited until the open secession of their States called them home, others hastened southwards, eagerly 214 Abraham Lincoln taking part in what they fondly deemed to be the formation of a new and prosperous confederacy. According to the programme of the secessionists, South Carolina led off in the formal proceedings of leave-taking. That State had long been the home of disunion, and there was a certain propriety in con- ceding to it the leadership of the new movement. The ordinance of secession was adopted by South Caro- lina November 17, 1860. Mississippi followed Janu- ary 9, 1861; Florida, January loth; Alabama, January nth; Georgia, January igth; Louisiana, January 25th; and Texas, February ist. So that by the time Lincoln was ready to go to Washington to take the oath of office, seven States had declared themselves out of the Union. They did not at once form a separate confederacy, but each State de- clared itself independent of the union of the States to which each had belonged. Thus in South Caro- lina, after the ordinance of secession had been passed, declaring that the union then subsisting between South Carolina and other States under the name of the United States of America was dissolved, Pickens, Governor of the State, issued a proclamation de- claring South Carolina to be "a free, sovereign, and independent State." This action filled the city of Charleston, the headquarters of rebellion, with de- lirious joy and every manifestation of delight. Popular gatherings of every description and private festivities celebrated the event to which the people of that devoted city had so long looked forward with eager expectation. Hatred for the union of the States was evinced in every possible way, the Amer- After the Election 215 ican flag being covered with indignity of the most childish description. At one of the secession balls the dancers went through the idle ceremony of dancing on the flag, spread out on the floor of the room. On the 4th of February, 1861, representatives of the seceding States assembled in Montgomery, Ala- bama, formed a confederacy of States, and elected Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, provisional President, and Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, Vice-Presi- dent. This is the same Davis who was engaged in the Black Hawk war when Lincoln was, being then an officer of the United States army. He had been educated at the West Point Military Academy at the expense of the Republic. The machinery of the new confederacy was now set up, and, by appointing secretaries for the different executive departments of the government, Davis took the first step in the direction of putting that machinery in action. Lincoln, at Springfield, lingering in his home until such time as was necessary for him to depart for Washington, beheld all these revolutionary proceed- ings with profound anxiety. He was powerless to lift a hand against the traitors who were seeking the destruction of the Federal Union, for, although he had been called to be President of the United States, he was as yet a private citizen. ' And while the loyal people of the Republic longed and prayed for a strong man at the helm of the National Government, and waited for the fourth of March to come and see Abraham Lincoln in the chair of state, he remained passive, counselling patience and moderation to all 2i6 Abraham Lincoln with whom he came in contact, and framing in his mind the pleading, expostulating, and generous in- augural address that he subsequently delivered. Jefferson Davis, on the other hand, gave voice to the hatred and vindictiveness of the slavery leaders, when, on his way from his home to be inatigurated in Montgomery, he said: "We will carry the war where it is easy to advance, where food for the sword and the torch awaits our armies in the densely populated cities." On the one side were forbear- ance, magnanimity, and Christian patience. On the other side were hatred, vaporing, and threats of violence. But it should not be hastily assumed that all the Southern men of prominence were in this frame of mind. There were among them not a few who re- garded these delirious performances with inexpres- sible sadness, and who looked on the acts of secession as supreme folly. Thus Alexander H. Stephens, one of the ablest of the Southern leaders, endeavored to dissuade the convention of his State from passing the ordinance of secession. He knew Lincoln well ; and he knew his generosity, his justness, and his ardent patriotism. Speaking to the convention, Stephens said: "Pause, I entreat you, and consider for a moment what reasons you can give that will even satisfy you in your calmer moments what reasons you can give to your fellow-sufferers in the calamity that it will bring upon us. What reasons can you give to the nations of the earth to justify it?" And, speaking of the slave property, to pre- serve which the South proposed to invite war, he After the Election 217 said that they might lose all, and have their last slave wrenched from them by stern military rule, "or by the vindictive decree of a universal emanci- pation, which may reasonably be expected to follow." Lincoln had, from the first, believed that the Gov- ernment could not exist half slave and half free. By the act of rebellion against the Union, the Southern States were inviting war; and war, as their future Vice- President now told them, might reasonably be expected to bring universal emancipation of the slaves. Stephens put into the form of words what Lincoln had seen from afar was possible. Lincoln knew that in the shock of war slavery must go down ; but he resolutely set his face against doing any- thing that should hasten the day of emancipation except by such means as he believed to be constitu- tional and lawful. He determined to preserve, if possible, the Union. Slavery must take care of it- self ; he would not touch it. The South rushed upon its doom. Meanwhile, sundry well-intentioned men were doing what they thought best to counteract the wave of hostility that had begun to rise in the North. A steamer chartered by the government to take pro- visions to the United States troops shut up in Charleston Harbor had been fired on from the Rebel works on the shore, and the attitude of the South was gradually growing more and more warlike. This kindled indignation and bitterness in the Northern States. A peace congress assembled in Washington to concert measures for the averting of war. Union meetings were held in New York and other large 2i8 Abraham Lincoln cities in the free States, everybody being desirous, apparently, of doing whatever could reasonably be done to pacify the South, angry at the election of a * ' sectional candidate. ' ' The Southerners forgot that they had made freedom sectional. It should be said, also, that in communities where the trade and commerce of the Southern people had been large, there was something like a panic at the near prospect of a war with the slave States. Cotton, that great staple of the Gulf States, was one of the great needs of the manufacturing States of the North. The Southern States did not manufacture many goods, and their dependence on the North was also one reason why these latter should not go to war. They would lose their profitable customers. Thus the desire in the North for peace was natural and strong. CHAPTER XVII. FROM SPRINGFIELD TO WASHINGTON. Lincoln's Farewell to His Fellow-Townsmen Prayers for the Presi- dent-Elect Rush of the People to See Him A Series of Remark- able Speeches Why the President Would Wear a Beard Rumors of Assassination The Night Journey from Harrisburg to the Capital. ON the nth of February, 1861, Lincoln, accom- panied by his family and a few personal friends, left his modest and happy home in Spring- field for the national capital. No man can know what sad forebodings, what thoughts of possible disaster to him, to his country, and to his beloved family may have oppressed his mind, as he looked for the last time on the familiar scenes of his Illinois home. Already threats of assassination had been whispered abroad, and it had been boasted by the enemies of the Union that Lincoln would never reach Washington alive. And, in any case, the certain approach of war was now a matter weighing on every heart, and the man who was to conduct the affairs of the nation, under God, was bowed down with this great anxiety as he bade farewell to his fellow- townsmen. As if conscious that this was indeed a last parting, his voice trembled and his eyes were suffused with moisture as he spoke from the platform 219 22o Abraham Lincoln of the railway train these beautiful words, breathing a spirit of Christian trust and manly affection for his friends and neighbors: " My friends, no one not in my situation can appreciate my feelings of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when or whether ever I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of that Divine Being who ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance, I cannot fail. Trusting in Him, who can go with me, and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell/' It is good to remember that this last request of Lincoln of his neighbors and townsmen was heeded. From that day to the dark hour when his earthly re- mains were brought back to be laid in the earth, from innumerable homes went up the daily prayer for the President of the United States in his sore need. And not only from the people of Illinois, who loved this man so well, but from every nook and corner of the land of liberty and freedom, were the petitions of faithful Christian men and women offered continually for him, for his counsellors, and all others in authority. Passing from Illinois, on his way to the national From Springfield to Washington 221 capital, Lincoln traversed the States of Indiana, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. Enthusiasm and curiosity combined to draw prodigious crowds to the stations through which Lincoln's train passed, or stopped. The outpouring of the people was something unprece- dented. The crowds continually called for a speech. They could not understand why Lincoln, the master orator of the West, should not make haste to reply to their demand for a speech. He was reluctant to break his rule not to outline any part of his future policy. But the burning questions of the hour would not be evaded ; and, if he spoke at all, he must needs touch on some of these. At Indianapolis, where he was greeted with great acclamation, and was escorted to his hotel by a procession of the mem- bers of the Legislature of the State, he broke his rule, and said a few words about "invasion" and "coer- cion." At that time these phrases were on every man's lips. The South and its friends in the North were very much exercised at the suggestion that the North, that is to say, the Government of the United States, would "invade" the States that had seceded, for the purpose of maintaining the authority of the United States. It had been expressly declared by those who were President Buchanan's legal advisers that it was neither lawful, nor constitutional, nor possible, for the Government of the United States to "coerce" any State that chose to leave the Union. The professed friends of peace and union rang the changes on these two words. Coercion, they said, was wrong, and the invasion of a State was 222 Abraham Lincoln unconstitutional and wicked, even treasonable. Lin- coln said: "What, then, is 'coercion'? What is 'invasion'? Would the marching of an army into South Carolina, without the consent of her people, and with hostile intent toward them, be invasion? I certainly think it would, and it would be coercion also if the South Carolinians were forced to submit. But if the United States should merely hold and retake its own forts and other property, and collect the duties on foreign importations, or even with- hold the mails from places where they were habitually violated, would any or all of these things be invasion or coercion? . . . Upon what principle, what rightful principle, may a State, being no more than one-fiftieth part of the nation in soil and population, break up the nation, and then coerce a proportionably larger sub- division of itself in the same way?" It will be noticed that Lincoln asserted nothing. He asked these questions and left them for the people to think about. This was one of his favorite methods of putting a case. He made no arrogant assertions, no "thus-saith-the-Lord" declarations. He pre- ferred, whenever that was possible, to leave the case with the people to decide for themselves, having first cleared the ground by asking a few weighty questions. At other points, Lincoln was called upon to address the throngs that pressed to see him, to hear his voice. It was contrary to his nature to dis- appoint them; and, although he made no more re- marks like those at Indianapolis to indicate what his public policy might be, he responded whenever the From Springfield to Washington 223 time allowed him. Thus at Lawrenceburgh, Indiana, he said, in the course of a very brief speech: "Let me tell you that if the people remain right, your public men can never betray you. If, in my brief term of office, I shall be wicked or foolish, if you remain right and true and honest, you cannot be betrayed. My power is temporary and fleeting ; yours as eternal as the principles of liberty." At Cincinnati, the great city of Ohio, the populace went wild with enthusiasm. Nothing like it had ever before been seen in the beautiful and easily- moved "Queen City of the West," as its people are proud to call their home. Lincoln was almost bodily carried to his hotel, so vast was the pressure of the wave of people that surged in volumes through the gayly decorated streets. At night the buildings were illuminated, and the city wore a festal appearance while the party tarried. Lincoln made a little speech full of good feeling; and, as he was now on the borders of Kentucky, a slave State, in which were not a few who longed to take the State out of the Union, he addressed himself to Kentuckians, his old- time friends, with peculiar warmth and tenderness. Referring to the words that he had used when speaking to the South aforetime, he said: " Fellow- citizens of Kentucky may I call you such ? In my new position I see no occasion, and I feel no inclina- tion, to retract a word of this. If it shall not be made good, be assured that the fault will not be mine." In this way, making an enthusiastic pro- gress, but constantly pleading for peace, good-will, 224 Abraham Lincoln forbearance, and patriotic concessions to the right- eousness of the cause of liberty, Lincoln approached the scene of his future labors. At every point where he could be induced to stop, even for an hour or two, the greetings of affection and respect were unmistakable, and it is likely that Lincoln was glad of this opportunity to show him- self to the people, and to speak reassuring words. It is more than likely that, averse as he was to display, he would have hurried on to Washington, but for the fact, more clear in his mind than in the minds of others, that this was his last opportunity to say a few words to "the plain people," on whom he relied so thoroughly, and in whose patriotism he confided so much. Thus at Pittsburg he said he was gratified deeply by the information that the magnificent recep- tion tendered him was by citizens generally, without distinction of party. And he added: "If we don't all join now to save the good old ship of the Union, this voyage, nobody will have a chance to pilot her on another voyage." It is very likely, by the way, that Lincoln had in his mind at that time the stanza of Longfellow's Building of the Ship, which, later in the course of his life, he was fond of reciting: "Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State! Sail on, O Union, strong and great! Humanity with all its fears, With all the hopes of future years, Is hanging breathless on thy fate!" An entertaining incident occurred at North East station, a minor point between Erie, Pennsylvania, From Springfield to Washington 225 and Buffalo, New York. Up to the time of his nomi- nation for the Presidency, Lincoln's face was clean- shaven. As his neck was long and his cheeks rather hollow and dusky, it must be admitted that the advice given him by an unknown admirer during the cam- paign was very good. A young girl, writing from this same North East station, counselled him, in a simple little letter, that if he would let his whiskers grow, he would look very much better. Lincoln followed her advice, after consulting his wife ; and bearing in mind the name of the place whence the writer had advised him, he now asked that a little stop might be made there. In response to the tumultuous greeting of the assembled crowds, he said, after a few words, that he had received a letter from a fair young towns- woman of theirs, who, among other things, had ad- monished him to raise whiskers, and that he had, as they would see, followed her counsel. If she were in the assemblage before him, he would be glad to wel- come her. In answer to this unexpected request, a blushing little damsel made her way to the Presi- dent, was assisted to the platform of the railway-car, and kissed by the President-elect, to the great delight of the crowd, who cheered heartily as Lincoln and his young correspondent met for the first and last time. At Albany, the capital of the great State of New York, he was met by the usual vast crowds, and he had accepted the invitation of the State, tendered him by the Governor, Hon. E. D. Morgan, afterwards known as the redoubtable, generous, and patriotic "War Governor" of the Empire State. Lincoln's is- 226 Abraham Lincoln speech at this point, delivered in the statehouse, was characterized by a beautiful simplicity and diffidence. He said that he was awed by the influ- ences of the place in which he spoke, associated as it was in his mind with some of the great men of the nation, and he was disposed to shrink from address- ing the audience. Then he added: "It is true that, while I hold myself, without mock-modesty, the humblest of all the individuals who have ever been elected President of the United States, I yet have a more difficult task to perform than any one of them has encountered. " Then, alluding to the prevailing anxiety to hear some exposition of his future policy, he said : "I deem it just to the country, to myself, to you, that I should see everything, hear everything, and have every light that can possibly be brought within my reach, to aid me before I shall speak officially, in order that when I do speak, I may have the best means of taking true and correct grounds/' This was always, to the last of his life, Lincoln's way. He would do nothing in a hurry. He was given, as might be expected, a wonderfully fine reception in the great metropolis of New York. Under very different circumstances from those of his last visit did he now return to the chief city of the Republic. Then he was comparatively a stranger; his address at Cooper Union had been his first intro- duction to the people of the Eastern States. Now he came as the elected choice of the nation, chief magistrate of the Republic. At that time, Fernando Wood, who was for a time in favor of making New York a free and independent city of the Republic, From Springfield to Washington 227 like Antwerp and others, was mayor, and in his official capacity he received the President-elect. Mr. Wood dwelt with some emphasis on the fact that New York was the chief port, as well as the chief city, of the United States, and that it was greatly con- cerned that there should be peace always; he said that war would be destructive of its highest interests. In his response, Lincoln said, with his usual shrewd- ness and wisdom, after renewing his expressions of devotion to the Union, that the whole country, as well as the great city of New York, was concerned in the preservation of the Union under which all the States had acquired their due measure of greatness. And he added : 11 1 understand the ship to be made for the carrying and the preservation of the cargo, and so long as the ship can be saved with the cargo, it should never be abandoned, unless there appears to be no possibility of its preserva- tion, and it must cease to exist, except at the risk of throwing overboard both freight and passengers. So long, then, as it is possible that the prosperity and the liberties of the people be preserved in this Union, it shall be my purpose at all times to use all my powers to aid in its perpetuation." Earlier in this story, we have seen how Lincoln dwelt on his study of the character of Washington, as it was drawn in the first book which, as the poor boy of the backwoods, was his first literary possession Weems's Life of Washington. At Trenton, New Jersey, where he was in sight of some of the most famous battle-fields of the Revolutionary War, Lin- coln recalled to the minds of the people before him 228 Abraham Lincoln the fact that very few of the States among the old thirteen original States had more battle-fields within their limits than New Jersey. And he added: " May I be pardoned if upon this occasion I mention that, away back in my childhood, the earliest days of my being able to read, I got hold of a small book, such a one as few of these younger members have ever seen, Weems's Life of Washington. I remember all the accounts there given of the battle-fields and struggles for the liberties of the country, and none fixed themselves upon my imagina- tion so deeply as the struggle here at Trenton, New Jersey. The crossing of the river, the contest with the Hessians, the great hardships endured at that time, all fixed them- selves on my memory more than any single Revolutionary event ; and you know, for you have all been boys, how these early impressions last longer than any others. I recollect thinking then, boy even though I was, that there must have been more than common that those men strug- gled for. I am exceedingly anxious that that thing they struggled for, that something even more than national in- dependence, that something that held out a great promise to all the people of the world to all time to come I am ex- ceedingly anxious that this Union, the Constitution, and the liberties of the people, shall be perpetuated in accord- ance with the original idea for which the struggle was made; and I shall be most happy indeed if I shall be an humble instrument in the hands of the Almighty, and of this His almost chosen people, for perpetuating the object of that great struggle." The poor boy, grown to man's estate, undoubtedly recalled to mind, as he spoke to the Legislature and the people of New Jersey, some of the trials and From Springfield to Washington 229 boyish griefs of the time when, with the rain-stained book of Weems in his hand, he went sorrowfully to ask its surly owner what was to be done to meet this irreparable disaster; and Lincoln, President-elect, had carried all through life what was better than the lesson of that dark, childish trouble the lesson of the lives of the patriot fathers of the Republic. There had been vague rumors and suspicions afloat concerning a conspiracy to assassinate the President- elect while he should be on his way to Washington. Lincoln himself paid very little heed to these rumors. It was always difficult for him to place upon his own person the value and importance of the office he held. Even later, when he had been in his exalted position for years, he seemed incapable of realizing that he was, in his own proper person, a man of great importance to the people. But, as the party drew near the seat of government, which was almost, in point of fact, within the Rebel lines, with the re- bellious State of Virginia on the south and the turbulent and disloyal State of Maryland on the north, the whispers of conspiracy and plot became more and more articulate. The nest of the conspir- acy seemed to be in Baltimore, and all indications pointed directly to that city of slaveholders and un- disguised sympathizers with rebellion. The Union element in Baltimore, which asserted itself after- wards, was cowed and silenced by the more noisy and riotous portion of the population. To all in- tents, the city was a hotbed of rebellion. Personal friends employed detectives to follow up the slight clews which were given them, and it was 230 Abraham Lincoln absolutely settled that there was a plot to assassinate Lincoln as he passed through Baltimore. This in- formation, with evidence establishing it beyond a doubt, was laid before Lincoln on his arrival in Philadelphia. At the same time, Gen. Winfield Scott, then commanding the army of the United States, and residing in Washington, was by his secret agents apprised of the existence of the plot aforementioned. Here were two independent sources of information, and, in conjunction with Senator Seward, of New York, a trusty messenger, Mr. Frederick W. Seward, was sent to Philadelphia, by Gen. Scott and Mr. Seward, to warn Lincoln, and to urge him to take every precaution to avoid danger on his way to Washington. Lincoln was very much disturbed by these two confirmatory reports. He was still unwilling to believe that any attempt would be made to waylay and murder him; and he could not persuade himself that any one so base and wicked as to take his life causelessly could be found. He had agreed to meet the citizens of Philadelphia at Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Inde- pendence was written and signed, and to raise a flag over that historic building on Washington's birth- day, February 226.. He had also accepted an invi- tation to meet the Legislature of Pennsylvania, at Harrisburg, the State capital, on the afternoon of that day. To all expostulations and advice, the President-elect said: "Both of these appointments I shall keep, if it costs me my life." The flag-raising took place as previously arranged. Lincoln was formally presented to a great company of people, From Springfield to Washington 231 gathered from far and wide, among them doubtless being some of the men who were concerned in the assassination plot. With cheerfulness and dignity, Lincoln made an admirable address. Standing in the room where the immortal Declaration was signed, weighed down with contending emotions, not the least oppressive of which, we may be sure, was that inspired by his patriotic advocacy of the principle laid down in that famous Declaration, Lincoln again pleaded for the maintenance of the doctrines of universal liberty. It was this, he said, that gave promise thc*t in due time the weight should be lifted from the shoulders of all men. And he added: "If this country cannot be saved without giving up that principle, I was about to say I would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it." Only those few who knew at that time of the wicked plot against his life, noticed the allusion to what was evidently in Lincoln's mind the danger of assassination that then menaced him. Passing out upon a platform that had been built in front of Independence Hall, Lincoln took hold of the halyards and ran to the top of the flag-staff the beautiful banner of stars and stripes that had been prepared for this special occasion. Amid the cheers of the vast multitude, the national ensign, now an object of hatred and contempt in so many States of the Union, floated brilliantly from the mast-head, raised by the willing hands of the man who, of all others in the Republic, had been most faithful to the principles and sentiments of the Declaration pro- claimed from this sacred spot. 232 Abraham Lincoln Later in the day, when Lincoln addressed the as- sembled Legislature of the State, in Harrisburg, he said, speaking of the flag-raising: " Our friends there had provided a magnificent flag of the country. They had arranged it so that I was given the honor of raising it to the head of its staff. And when it went up I was pleased that it went to its place by the strength of my own feeble arm. When, according to the arrangement, the cord was pulled, and it flaunted glori- ously to the wind without an accident, in the bright glowing sunshine of the morning, I could not help hop- ing that there was in the entire success of that beautiful ceremony at least something of an omen of what is to come. Nor could I help feeling then, as I often have felt, that in the whole of that proceeding I was a very humble instrument. I had not provided the flag ; I had not made the arrangements for elevating it to its place. I had ap- plied but a very small portion of my feeble strength in raising it. In the whole transaction I was in the hands of the people who had arranged it; and if I can have the same generous cooperation of the people of the nation, I think the flag of our country may yet be kept flaunting gloriously." When Lincoln had been welcomed to Harrisburg, on his arrival, the Speaker had uttered some words, rather unadvisedly perhaps, as to the military sup- port that Pennsylvania would give the imperilled Union in case of need. Right royally did the State fulfil that implied promise ; but Lincoln deprecated any reference to the possibility, much more to the probability, that we should have a war with the From Springfield to Washington 233 South. And in his speech at the State capitol he said: " I recur for a moment to some words uttered at the hotel in regard to what has been said about the military support which the General Government may expect from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in a proper emergency. To guard against any possible mistake do I recur to this. It is not with any pleasure that I contemplate the pos- sibility that a necessity may arise in this country for the use of the military arm. While I am exceedingly gratified to see the manifestation upon your streets of your military force here, and exceedingly gratified at your promise here to use that force upon a proper emergency while I make these acknowledgments, I desire to repeat, in order to preclude any possible misconstruction, that I do most sincerely hope that we shall have no use for them ; that it will never become their duty to shed blood, and most especially never to shed fraternal blood. I promise that, so far as I may have wisdom to direct, if so painful a result shall in any wise be brought about, it shall be through no fault of mine." The general expectation was that Lincoln, with the party that had come on from the West with him, should take a late train that night for Washing- ton, passing through Baltimore. In order to frus- trate the plans of the conspirators, it was privately arranged that he should take an earlier train and depart from Harrisburg without the usual public announcement being given by telegraph. Accord- ingly, the telegraph wires were cut in every direc- tion. Harrisburg was isolated from the rest of the country, so far as this means of communication was 234 Abraham Lincoln concerned, and Lincoln, accompanied by two of three devoted personal friends, took a special train to Philadelphia, drove at once to the railway station, found ready the Washington train, and so passed through Baltimore hours before he was expected to arrive there. There have been many absurd stories circulated since then as to Lincoln being compelled to assume a disguise for this dangerous part of the journey. It is sufficiently disgraceful to the Republic of the United States that its lawfully elected chief magistrate should have been put in danger of his life when proceeding from his home to the seat of govern- ment. But the tales of a masquerading disguise, donned for this occasion, were invented, for the most part, by those who secretly sympathized with the would-be assassins. Unfortunately, some of these idle tales have survived, to be repeated by careless writers. Speaking of this sad episode long afterwards, Lin- coln said: "I did not then, nor do I now, believe I should have been assassinated had I gone through Baltimore as first contemplated, but I thought it wise to run no risk where no risk was necessary." Washington was surprised to wake up early on the morning of February 23, 1861, to find that the President-elect, so soon to be President in fact, had arrived safely. His family came on soon after him, and the party were installed at temporary quarters in a hotel, pending his formal inauguration into the great office to which he had been chosen. Washing- ton was intensely secession in its social sympathies. It had been dominated for years by the Southern From Springfield to Washington 235 and slaveholding element. The leaders of society hated the " Black Republicans" and all connected with them. They were glad that a war for slavery was coming, and they showed their disloyalty to the Union by every possible means, serious or silly. The Rebels had adopted Dixie as a " national" air for the new confederacy, and this and other alleged Rebel tunes poured from the windows of the houses of the Rebel-sympathizers, day and night, until some of the regiments that occupied Washington later in the year took up the so-called Rebel strains and made them too common to be regarded any longer as exclusively Rebel property. These envenomed and irritated people were at a loss for slanders vile enough and epithets unsavory enough to express their de- testation of Lincoln and all that appertained to him. To this day, undoubtedly, many honest and worthy people entertain false notions of Lincoln, his family, his antecedents, and his conduct in office, derived from the malicious gossip of those who hoped, for a time, that he would be sent back to Illinois dead or alive, and that " President Davis" would come and take his place. All this was of short duration. The truth of history sooner or later is vindicated. But it is worth while to put on record, as a faithful chronicle of the time, the fact that no man was more thoroughly misunderstood or more bitterly maligned than was Abraham Lincoln when, on the brink of civil war, he took up the reins of government. CHAPTER XVIII. LINCOLN'S INAUGURATION. A Notable Gathering in Washington The First Inaugural Address How it was Received North and South Precautions against Plots Formation of the Cabinet Representative Men. IT was a notable gathering of men that was assem- bled about Lincoln when he was inaugurated President of the United States, March 4, 1861. Among these were many whose names will always hold place in the history of our country. James Buchanan, the weak and irresolute, was just relin- quishing the reins of government to the new man "from the West." Taney, Chief Justice of the United States, whose name is forever linked with the Dred Scott decision, administered the oath of office to the incoming President. W. H. Seward, formerly Governor of and then Senator from New York, soon to be Secretary of State, was there. Senators Sum- ner and Wilson, of Massachusetts, early Free-Soilers, and each destined to occupy prominent places in the management of public affairs, were also there. Senator "Ben" Wade, of Ohio, another Free-Soil leader; General Scott, the great military leader of the time; Stephen A. Douglas, Lincoln's old rival; Edward D. Baker, Lincoln's friend and dearly- beloved companion, and many more who were 236 Lincoln's Inauguration 237 either famous then or subsequently became so, these all formed a group of historic interest. The ceremony of inauguration took place on a platform constructed at the east front of the Capitol, then not fully finished, overlooking a large and open esplanade, at the outer verge of which a marble statue of Wash- ington shone whitely in the brilliant sunshine. Curiosity to see the face of the new President, and anxiety to hear what he might say, had drawn enor- mous crowds to the national capital. The pressure of people was something unprecedented, even in Washington, where the inauguration of an adminis- tration had always been a great event, once in four years. The multitudes of office-hunters doubtless added greatly to the press of people. The major portion of the crowd that thronged the capital was made up of people who were profoundly impressed with a sense of the gravity of the occasion, the solemnity of the crisis through which the nation was now about to pass. Treason lurked in every quarter. Not only were the departments of the Government and the halls of Congress poisoned by the presence of open or secret Rebels, but many officers of the army and navy were ready to serve in the ranks of the seceders. Some of these had already accepted ap- pointments and commissions from the so-called ''Confederate States of America," while they were yet in the service of the Republic. Men distrusted each other. Spies were known to be about, and sus- picions of a plot to assassinate the President-elect were rife. Even while the eager throngs surged about the platform, high above their heads, on which 238 ? Abraham Lincoln Lincoln stood with his friends around him, many a man half-expected that he might hear a gunshot, or see a sudden rush of conspirators from the marble colonnades that formed the picturesque back- ground of the scene. Doubtless, much of this ap- prehension was not well-founded. It is the unknown that is most dreaded. So many stories, more or less exaggerated, had been put into circulation concern- ing the plans of the conspirators, their possible plots and desperate hatred, that a suspense, most painful and tense, pervaded the people. All over the coun- try, on that famous day, hundreds of thousands of patriotic citizens waited with almost suspended breath, to hear portentous news from Washington. In the midst of that vast concourse Lincoln stood, calm, dignified, self-possessed, undaunted, and un- shrinking. The fateful hour had come. He stood on the threshold of the high office which he was never to surrender but with his life. His mind was more occupied with the grave events slowly unfolding in the history of his country than with anything per- sonal to himself. He was about to outline and define his future policy, to give formal expression to his feelings and sentiments, to indicate, as far as this was possible in an inaugural address, what course he would pursue to the States that had declared them- selves outside of the American Union. Many people, ardent friends and followers of Lincoln, were even then afraid that he would take what they called a " radical" view of the situation, and would say some- thing to anger and exasperate the sullen and hostile Rebels. They were needlessly alarmed. Lincoln's Lincoln's Inauguration 239 oration was a model of a generous, pleading, kindly, and withal reasoning address. His arguments were more implied than assertive, put in his favorite form of questions, rather than in declarations. Clearly, he hoped, as many others then did, that reason and persuasiveness might yet be brought to bear upon the masses of the Southern people so that they would forsake their wilful leaders, or brush them aside and declare for the Union. To reach these, through their judgment and their patriotism, was the main purpose of Lincoln's inaugural ad- dress. This was a disappointment to the Southern leaders, and great pains were taken to suppress or distort some portions of the oration when it was subsequently printed in the South. Lincoln took occasion, early in this address, to re- assure the Southern people of his intention to let slavery alone where it then existed. It had been said that the accession to the Presidency of a man who had been nominated by the Republicans was, in itself, a threat against slavery; that he would urge legislation to abolish domestic servitude, and would instantly begin his administration with measures designed to encourage slave insurrections and a general unsettlement of Southern institutions. To dispel this delusion, which had been industriously fostered, Lincoln said: " Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States that, by the accession of a Republican ad- ministration, their property and their peace and personal security are to be endangered. There never has been 240 Abraham Lincoln any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed, and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now ad- dresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that 'I have no purpose, directly or in- directly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists : I believe I have no lawful right to do so. Those who nominated and elected me did so with the full knowledge that I had made this and many similar declarations, and had never recanted them." These were reassuring words ; words anxiously de- signed to conciliate the South, to remove possible misapprehensions, and allay groundless suspicions. We shall see how ineffectual they were to change the determination of the men who had resolved upon rebellion. In like manner he committed himself to the doctrine, enunciated in the Federal Constitution, that a slave who escapes from a slave State into a free State is not thereby made free ; for the doctrine of the Republicans was that only the voluntary bringing of a slave into free territory emancipated him. And it was shocking to some of Lincoln's more radical friends that he should thus justify the Fugitive Slave law as constitutional. Lincoln merely insisted on such an administration of the law that no free man, under any circumstances, should be sur- rendered as a slave. He traced the process by which the Union of the States had been formed and the Constitution had become the fundamental law of the Republic, from which he argued that an act of secession, so-called, Lincoln's Inauguration 241 was of no effect ; that no State could leave the Union without the assent of the other States of that Union. This is the way he put the case: "It follows from these views that no State, upon its own mere motion, can lawfully get out of the Union ; that resolves and ordinances to that effect are legally void; and that acts of violence within any State, or States, against the authority of the United States are insurrection- ary, or revolutionary, according to circumstances." Then Lincoln, having shown by a clear and luminous argument that no State could "lawfully get out of the Union/' proceeded to say that the oath to sup- port the Constitution expressly enjoined on him the duty of seeing that the laws of the United States were faithfully executed in all the States ; and that he should do this until the sovereign people, the rightful masters, should refuse to supply him with the means of enforcing that authority or in some authontative manner direct to the contrary. But he immediately added, as if solicitous that his peace- ful and amicable intentions should be fully appre- ciated : "I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the declared purpose of the Union that it will constitutionally defend and maintain itself. In doing this there need be no bloodshed or violence, and there shall be none unless it is forced upon the na- tional authority," It was this express, solemn, and emphatic de- claration of the incoming President that discon- certed the Rebel leaders. They had expected that Lincoln would threaten ; but, with his usual sagacity, he laid upon his enemies, the enemies of the Union, 16. 242 Abraham Lincoln the responsibility of beginning the war, if war was to be. Lincoln was always, as we have seen, fair and generous in his treatment of his opponents. This generosity breathed in every line of his inaugural address. Nevertheless, nothing would move him to surrender a principle once accepted as truth. Pass- ing from this pleading for full faith and confidence in his peaceable intentions, he immediately added: "The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belong- ing to the Government." The men who, even then, were planning to seize forts, arsenals, and other gov- ernmental property, as their "share" of the property of the old Union, were doubtless glad to hear this utterance. They wanted war. Lincoln said that there would be no invasion ; but this property of the Republic would be held and defended. The Rebel leaders knew that they were ready to seize this prop- erty, and that bloodshed and violence must needs come. Lincoln's plea for peace, while it was pur- posely designed to appease the South, had the effect of turning upon the Rebel leaders the responsibility of beginning and inviting hostilities. Lincoln also argued against the possibility of a complete separation of the Northern States and the Southern States, even should both consent, or agree, to such an attempt at a division of the Republic. "Physically speaking," he said, "we cannot sepa- rate ; we cannot remove our respective sections from each other, nor build an impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorced, and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each Lincoln's Inauguration 243 other, but the different parts of our country cannot do this." And he showed that they must remain face to face, either as friends or enemies, and that there must be intercourse between the two ; and that it would not be possible to make that intercourse more advantageous as aliens than it then was as friends. Lincoln showed his undying faith in the people by saying, after he had argued pleadingly for his proposition that the whole matter in dispute should be left to the people: "While the people retain their virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme wickedness or folly, can very seri- ously injure the Government in the short space of four years." As Lincoln's voice, trained to open-air speaking, rang out, clear and resonant, above the vast throngs of people before him, the feelings of those who heard him were deeply stirred. The intense, passionate love for the Union that had been developed since its existence had been threatened, manifested itself in spontaneous cheering whenever any allusion to that sacred compact fell on their ears. Everybody hoped for the best hoped that the Union might be saved and war averted. But it was also true that the people cheered lustily at every expression of the new President's determination to maintain the dignity of the Government and defend the public property. It was evident that those who heard the inaugural ad- dress were, like Lincoln, glad to avail themselves of every honorable device to keep the peace and avoid war, but likewise determined to surrender no vital principle for the sake of present peace. Lincoln's 244 Abraham Lincoln voice was naturally plaintive, and it sounded sadly and with pathetic pleading as he ended his address with the eloquent words: " I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic cords of memory, stretching from every battle- field and patriot grave to every living heart and hearth- stone 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." The oration was done. Its affectionate and tender appeal fell on unheeding ears, so far as it was ad- dressed to the South and to the Southern leaders. They were resolved on war war for which they had long been secretly preparing. Their response to these loving words was only in terms of coarse jest and derision. But a responsive shout of approval went up from the loyal North. Lincoln's speech was especially indorsed by the calm judgment of patriotic people. And among those who pressed about Presi- dent Lincoln, when he had solemnly taken his oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the Republic, was Stephen A. Doulgas, Lincoln's ancient opponent in the field of politics. When Lin- coln rose to begin his address, he held his hat in his hand. Looking about in the press for a place to bestow his head-covering, his eye caught that of Douglas, who immediately reached forward and took it; and he held Lincoln's hat while he delivered his inaugural oration. When it was finished, Douglas Lincoln's Inauguration 245 restored the hat to its owner, and, at the same time, grasped the new President's hand and warmly assured him that he, his sometime political rival, not only congratulated him on his accession to high office, but pledged him that he would stand by him and give him hearty support in upholding the Constitu- tion and enforcing the laws of the country. The two men clasped hands, and the "Sangamon Chief" and the "Little Giant of Illinois " were friends ever after. It had been feared that some attempt would be made on Lincoln's life while on his way to or from the Capitol, where the inauguration ceremony took place. Gen. Scott, who was in charge of the military arrangements, used every possible precaution to thwart any such plot as might have been on foot. But, even then, many timid people were afraid that sharp-shooters might be concealed on the roofs or in the upper floors of the houses along the route of the procession, and fire at Lincoln as he' was slowly driven to and fro. Therefore, everybody felt relieved when the ceremony was over and President Lincoln was safely in the White House, his family about him, and his term of office formally begun. Mr. Buchanan the outgoing President, accompanied Mr. Lincoln to the Capitol and returned with him to the White House, where, after shaking hands with his suc- cessor, ex-President Buchanan left him. He was undoubtedly glad to lay down the cares of the Government ; and, having so administered affairs as to make things very difficult for him who came after him in office, he went away leaving few people to 246, Abraham Lincoln regret his going out of office. Buchanan went out of place when the affairs of the Government were in the most hopeless condition of disorder and confusion. Lincoln came in when treason was rampant in every department of the Government ; the army and navy were scattered far and wide; the national treasury was empty and the national credit at a very low ebb ; an armed rebellion was threatening the existence of the Union and the permanency of the Government ; and many people who were not friends of the seces- sionists were uncertain whether the National Govern- ment had the lawful right, if it had the power, to prevent the Southern States from going out of the Union and staying out of it, as they proposed to do. Even at this late day, when Lincoln was inaugurated, there were not a few loyal men who thought that it would be best, rather than resort to blows, to say to the Southern States, "Erring sisters, go in peace." Lincoln could not possibly take that view of the case. How would he try to preserve the Federal Union? Everybody was asking this grave question. The first duty of the President was the formation of his Cabinet. These were the men selected for the purpose of assisting Lincoln in carrying on the Government in the trying times that were coming: Secretary of State, William H. Seward; Secretary of War, Simon Cameron; Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase; Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles; Postmaster-General, Montgomery Blair; Secretary of the Interior, Caleb B. Smith; Attorney- General, Edward Bates. It will be noticed that of these seven men, four Lincoln's Inauguration 247 Seward, Chase, Bates, and Cameron had been candidates for the Presidential nomination when Lincoln was, in 1860; but Mr. Cameron's candidacy was not very seriously pressed. Many of Lincoln's friends were troubled by his having selected for Cabinet councillors men who were ambitious of occupying the Presidential office, and who might prove mischievous by scheming for the next nomina- tion, which would be made in 1864. Mr. Seward and Mr. Chase, especially, were men who each had a great political following, and who might naturally be active in schemes to secure the Presidential office by and by. But, although Lincoln's friends were thus disturbed, the President was sure he was right. It was necessary, he thought, to unite in the support of his administration all the factions and all the con- tending interests of the loyal States, as far as that was possible. With one exception, that of Mr. Welles, each man in the Cabinet represented a large political following and a different section of the country at large. Lincoln said to his personal advisers: ''The times are too grave and perilous for ambitious schemes and personal rivalries." He could not believe it possible that statesmen of the ability and renown of those whom he had called around him could cherish plans for their personal aggrandizement while the life of the Republic was in danger. "I need them all," he said; ''they enjoy the confidence of their several States and sections, and they will strengthen the administration." To others associated with him in the management of affairs, he said:. "Let us for- get ourselves and join hands, like brothers, to save 248 Abraham Lincoln the Republic. If we succeed, there will be glory enough for all." It is not generally the custom of our people to call any man the leader of the Cabinet, the premier, but Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, was a statesman of commanding ability and wisdom; and his high qualities as a scholar, diplomatist, writer, and speaker, unquestionably adorned his office and shed lustre on the Lincoln administration. During his term, for the first time in our history, the Secretary of State was often spoken of as "the premier," although that title was never officially recognized. Mr. Seward had been Governor of the great State of New York, and Senator of the United States. A skilful politician and a most persuasive orator, he had done much to consolidate and harmonize the Republican party. His selection to what is popu- larly regarded as the first place in the Cabinet greatly pleased the people. Of the other members of the Cabinet, Mr. Chase was probably the best known and respected, after Mr. Seward. He, too, had been Governor of his State (Ohio) as well as Senator of the United States. He was a more advanced, or radical, Republican than any of his colleagues in the Cabinet, having been regarded as an Abolitionist. He framed the plat- form of the Liberty, or Free-Soil, party that was adopted in Buffalo in 1848. He was a lawyer of profound learning, and his mind was judicial and well-balanced. He had had much to do with the upbuilding of the Republican party, and, like Mr. Seward, had been the beloved candidate of many Lincoln's Inauguration 249 ardent party men when Lincoln was made the final choice of the organization. Mr. Cameron, as Secre- tary of War, was also an active and useful politician and leader of men. He was accused of giving out profitable contracts and lucrative offices to his friends, as he had the power to do ; and, after a few months of service, he retired from the War Depart- ment, giving place to Edwin M. Stanton, who had been Buchanan's Attorney -General toward the stormy close of that administration. The Blair family, always Democratic, had exercised great influence in national affairs, Francis P. Blair, senior, having been a close friend of President Andrew Jackson, and, as editor of the Washington Globe, a leader of public opinion. The sons, Montgomery and Francis P. Blair, junior, were active and zealous politicians. Montgomery, as Postmaster-General, represented Maryland, one of the border States. New England was represented in Gideon Welles, of Connecticut, as Secretary of the Navy. Mr. Caleb B. Smith, Secretary of the Interior, was of Illinois, and had been in Congress when Lincoln represented the Sangamon district in that body. Edward Bates, whom many supported for the Presidential nomina- tion in 1860, was a gentleman of refinement, great learning, and dignity. He was a lawyer, and, as Attorney-General, had served his country with eminent skill. He was formerly a Whig, and, being of Missouri, was a border State representative. Thus, the States represented in the Cabinet by these men, all of them amply qualified for the proper discharge of their duties, were New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, 250 Abraham Lincoln Maryland, Connecticut, Illinois, and Missouri. Mr. Stanton, who subsequently succeeded Mr. Cameron in the War Department, was a resident of Ohio. It will be seen that these seven men represented a great variety of political sentiments and opinions. They did not always agree. Lincoln sometimes facetiously referred to the Cabinet as the Happy Family. By those who knew Seward and did not know Lincoln, it was supposed that the former would be virtually the President, and that beyond the signing of important papers Lincoln would have very little to do with shaping the policy of the administra- tion. Mr. Seward undertook to revise and rewrite the inaugural address above described. Subse- quently, he mapped out a plan of administrative operations for the President, volunteering to take the general direction of affairs, if this were required of him. It was not required of him, and they who had expected that Mr. Seward or anybody else would act as President in place of Lincoln were soon undeceived. By his vigor, firmness, and unshrink- ing determination, Lincoln speedily showed the world that he, and not another, was the President of the United States. CHAPTER XIX. PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN. In the White House Assembling of the Rebel Congress Rebel Emis- saries Sent to Washington A Vigorous Policy Clamored for The First Gun at Sumter Great Excitement throughout the Republic A Nation in Arms Attack on the Sixth Massachu- setts Notable Deaths. WHEN he installed himself in the White House, the official residence of Presidents of the United States, Lincoln found that two lamentable features of affairs were really not wholly unobjection- able, from one point of view. He was surrounded by hordes of office-seekers ; the country was on the brink of war. Nevertheless, with his ready way of finding something encouraging, even in calamities, he said that if the people of the loyal States did not have implicit confidence in the stability of the Union and the Government they would not flock in such numbers to Washington to hunt for places under that Government. And, although Buchanan's ad- ministration had gone out of power leaving every- thing in the wildest confusion, it had left no policy for Lincoln to revoke or modify. As he expressed it, there was nothing to be undone. Buchanan had merely let things drift. The Rebels, meanwhile, had been busily engaged in beginning their so-called Confederacy. But they made very little progress. .351 252 Abraham Lincoln No troops had been sent against them. They had no "armed invader*' to repel, as they had expected. Although the bulk of the United States army was practically in their hands, they had no excuse for fighting, none for that invasion of the North which their leaders had promised and some of their allies in the free States had expected. The Rebel Congress assembled at Montgomery, and, on the ninth of March, 1861, passed a bill for the organization of an army. This was an insurrec- tionary measure, and was intended to draw the fire, so to speak, of the Government. But no steps were taken by Lincoln. Next, two commissioners, or emissaries, Mr. Forsyth of Alabama, and Mr. Craw- ford of Georgia, were sent to Washington to nego- tiate a treaty with the United States Government, just as if they represented a foreign government. They presented themselves at the State Department, but no official reception was accorded them, and when they applied to Lincoln, the President refused to see them, but sent them, with a certain grim humor, a copy of his inaugural address as an intima- tion of the views which, as President of the United States, he had just enunciated. They were in a quandary. Doubtless they expected to be arrested, as they might have been, being openly in rebellion against the Government and liable to be tried for treason. Still, the President did nothing. The commissioners dallied in the national capital for a time, in communication with their friends in the South, and gleaning what information they could. In order to delay their departure, they had asked President Abraham Lincoln 253 that the reply of the Secretary of State, Mr. Seward, should be given to them as late as the eighth of April, and this request was acceded to. It was, taken altogether, a most extraordinary situation. Several States of the Union were formally in revolt against the Government of the Republic, with a so- called Congress in session, a full-fledged Government in running order, an army and navy in process of formation, and diplomatic agents at the capital of the nation. Lincoln made no sign. While the commissioners, Forsyth and Crawford, were hanging about Washington, Mr. Talbot, a lieutenant in the United States army, had been sent to Charleston, South Carolina, by the President, to notify the authorities of that State and Gen. Beau- regard, commander of the Rebel forces, that Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, would be provisioned at all hazards. This determination of the Govern- ment was also communicated to Forsyth and Craw- ford in Washington. On the eighth of April, Secre- tary Seward's formal reply was given to the com- missioners, although it was dated March fifteenth. In the document, which was a memorandum merely, Mr. Seward formally told the commissioners that they could have no recognition from the Govern- ment of the United States. In their reply, the commissioners said that they had expected the document earlier, although they acknowledged that they had, as they expressed it, "consented" to a delay; and they intimated that this delay had been availed of by the United States Government to prepare for war. Referring to 254 Abraham Lincoln President Lincoln's expressed intention to send relief to Fort Sumter, they said that this was, in effect, "a declaration of war against the Confederate States/' and that, as representatives of their people, they accepted "the gage of 'battle there thrown down to them." They accordingly departed to their own country, hopeful that the Government had forced upon them an attitude of defence. Still, no overt act of warfare was permitted by Lincoln, who patiently waited for the Rebels to fire the first gun. He had not long to wait. The city of Charleston was seething with a mob of secessionists, impatient for the war to open. The newspapers and the more prominent leaders clamored for hostilities to be begun by the Southern States. In a public speech, delivered in Charleston, April 10, 1 86 1, Mr. Roger A. Pryor, of Virginia, declared that no terms of agreement could be acceptable to the South short of recognition of the Confederacy. Other Southerners expressed similar opinions. The senti- ment in the South was overwhelmingly in favor of beginning active hostilities against "the old Union," as the phrase went. The leaders were determined, if possible, to trick the President into giving them a pretext for war. On his part he was equally determined that the overt act, for which everybody was waiting and about which everybody was talking, should come from the Rebels. The delay was exasperating to many of the people of the loyal States. Men clamored for "a vigorous policy," although just such a policy had been dis- tinctly laid down in the inaugural of the President. President Abraham Lincoln 255 They wanted something done, and they could not see why Lincoln should wait. The newspapers and public speakers of the North generally demanded that the traitors should be arrested and punished. Especially was the attention of the whole people, North and South, fixed upon Fort Sumter, where Major Robert Anderson was in command of a very small force of United States troops. The Rebels regarded the occupation of that fort as a standing menace to the city of Charleston, and they had, moreover, all along insisted that all forts, arsenals, and other public property of the United States within the limits of the so-called Confederacy were now the property of the seceded States, being their 1 'share" of the joint property of the now divided Union. The garrison of Fort Sumter had been on the mainland previously, but when the troubles began, Major Anderson moved his command to Fort Sumter one night, to the great wrath of the Rebels, who construed this as "an overt act" of hostility from the Government of the United States. The Major Anderson to whom reference is here made is the same who, as Lieutenant Anderson, swore Abraham Lincoln into the military service of the United States during the Black Hawk war, in 1832. Since that time many changes had occurred. One of the three regular officers who were at Dixon's Ferry, preparing for the war with Black Hawk's men, was now in command of beleaguered Sumter. Another, Zachary Taylor, had been President of the United States, and was dead. Another, Jefferson Davis, was President of the Rebel Confederacy. And 256 Abraham Lincoln the volunteer captain was President of the United States. The Rebels erected batteries on the land command- ing Fort Sumter, and their guns were trained upon the fortification with a view to compelling its sur- render. The feeling of the men who were nearest to the President was that the fort should be reinforced and provisioned and held at all hazards. It was the pivotal point of the impending struggle, it was said, and the fort should be held as a token that the authority of the Government was yet unbroken in the South. Fort Pickens, in the harbor of Pensacola, had been relieved by orders from Washington, and the Rebels were greatly enraged thereat. General Scott, on the other hand, advised that the fort in Charles- ton Harbor should be abandoned, as a military necessity. Finally, President Lincoln notified Beau- regard, commanding the Rebel forces at Charleston, that Fort Sumter would shortly be provisioned. This would be an act of humanity. The garrison were suffering for lack of food. But the Rebel authorities were determined to consider the sending of provisions to Sumter as that "overt act " for which they had been so long waiting. Accordingly, Beau- regard, April 1 2th, sent a message to Anderson demanding the surrender of Fort Sumter. Anderson declined to surrender. He was then asked if he would evacuate the fort, to which he replied that he would leave it on the i5th, provided he did not receive instructions to the contrary, or succor from the North before the day arrived. Beauregard then sent word in a despatch, dated at Charleston, President Abraham Lincoln 257 April 12, 1861, 3:30 A.M., that in one hour he would open fire on Fort Sumter. At half -past four in the morning, true to his word, Beauregard fired the first gun. An aged secessionist Ruffin by name was permitted the privilege of firing the first gun. It was said that this was the final knell of the Union, and many estimable men and women in Charleston, as well as throughout the South, envied the amateur gunner that which was thought to be a very precious and glorious privilege. The fort was feebly de- fended. The entire force left to man the fortifica- tions in Charleston Harbor by the treacherous Floyd, Buchanan's Secretary of War, was only sixty-five men, instead of the one thousand or more usually required. The troops were now nearly famished, and, after a few replies to the fierce cannonading from the Rebel batteries, the flag of the United States fell from Fort Sumter. On the following day, April 1 3th, according to stipulations under which Anderson had surrendered, the flag was again hoisted and saluted with fifty guns. Then the brave fellows marched out, and the fortress was in possession of the troops of the Rebel Confederacy. No words can accurately describe the burst of patriotic wrath that now swept over the North. The Rebels had insulted the flag of the Republic, had driven a little fragment of the widely scattered army out of one of the national defences, and had hoisted over that work the new-fangled emblem of a power that could never be recognized as lawful by any citizen of the United States. Up to that moment there had been many loyal persons who 258 Abraham Lincoln were doubtful as to the right of the National Govern- ment to " coerce" a State. The doctrines so sedu- lously preached during Buchanan's last days in office had many supporters in the free States. Even up to the day before Sumter fell, prominent politicians were found in the North ready to advocate the organization of a great compromise party, with the Union so reconstructed that slavery would be recog- nized and protected everywhere by the law of the land. In an instant, as it were, all this rubbish was swept away by the flood-tide of patriotism that rose in the States of the North. With a certain passionateness that would listen no longer to talk of compromise, the loyal people demanded that the insult to the Republic should be avenged and the culprits pursued. Up to that time, there had been no preparations for war except those that were privately and even secretly carried on by the orders of Lincoln, who knew that the day was coming when the Rebels would take the responsibility of beginning the war. Now, in consequence of his long-suffering forbearance and his wise slowness, the gun had been fired by them. The North was all aflame. Party ties disappeared. There was but one party that for the preservation of the Union, the defence of the insulted Republic. In the rush and clamor of an excited public opinion, the voice of partisanship was hushed. Nobody dared to whisper a word about the unlawfulness of coercion, or the impolicy of pro- voking the people of the seceded States. There was but one voice, and that demanded that treason should be suppressed. President Lincoln issued a President Abraham Lincoln 259 call for seventy-five thousand troops, in a procla- mation dated April 15, 1861. In that document, after reciting the fact that powerful combinations to obstruct the execution of the laws of the United States existed in certain specified States, the Presi- dent appealed to all loyal citizens to promote, as far as possible, the effort made to defend and protect the national Union and to redress wrongs already long enough endured. He declared, furthermore, as follows: 1 ' I deem it proper to say that the first service assigned to the force hereby called forth will probably be to repossess the forts, places, and property which have been seized from the Union ; and in every case the utmost care will be observed, consistently with the objects aforesaid, to avoid any devastation, any destruction of, or interference with, property, or any disturbance of peaceful citizens of any part of the country." Even in this extreme and trying moment, with the full assurance of a long war before him, Lincoln was determined that nobody should justly say that he had let loose the dogs of war without anxious desire to save from harm all innocent persons. In this proclamation, also, the persons in rebellion against the Government were exhorted and commanded to lay down their arms and disperse. At the same time, in view of the gravity of the crisis that had arisen, both houses of Congress were summoned to meet at the national capital, July 4, 1861. The South had been long preparing for war. The Northern States were almost wholly unprepared. 260 Abraham Lincoln Members of Buchanan's Cabinet, who had had facilities for doing so, had crowded into the States of the South every valuable means of assault and defence that the Government owned. In the North, Lincoln's call for men was received with tremendous enthusiasm. In the South, it was greeted with shrieks of derision. In the border States (the States lying between those that were already, as they believed, out of the Union, and the free States) the call for troops was received with coldness. The attitude of these States Virginia, Missouri, Tennes- see, Maryland, and others had been an object of great anxiety to the President and his advisers. Indeed, for a long time after the war actually began, what the border States would say and do was thought to be of very great importance. If they joined the Rebel Confederacy, all was lost. If they preserved a neutral attitude, it was felt that their inclinations would be towards the Rebels, and that their territory would be a convenient camping-ground for men bent upon an invasion of the loyal North. This latter idea was industriously cultivated in the South, and newspapers and speakers of that time constantly referred to the certainty that the Confederate flag would soon float over the Capitol at Washington, and that Lincoln and his Cabinet would become fugitives. The Governor of Delaware issued a call for troops to defend the property and citizens of that State from violence, and, taking the ground that he had no authority to respond with State troops to a call from the National Government, he said that troops volunteering might choose between defending home President Abraham Lincoln 261 interests and offering their services to the National Government. The Governor of Maryland called out four regiments of militia to serve within the limits of the State. The Governor of Virginia replied to the call in a letter addressed to the President, in which he denounced Lincoln's call for troops as an attempt to subjugate the South ; and he defied the adminis- tration in bitter terms. The Governor of North Carolina replied in a similar vein, declaring that he would be no party to "this war upon the liberties of a free people." The Governor of Kentucky made answer that that State would "furnish no troops for the wicked purpose of subduing her sister Southern States." The Governors of Tennessee and Arkansas replied in a like strain ; and the Governor of Missouri, who afterwards took part in the war against the Government, said: "Your requisition is illegal, unconstitutional, revolutionary, inhuman, diabolical, and cannot be complied with." These singular utterances of Governors of States forming parts of the American Republic are of inter- est now as showing, in some degree, the condition of feeling that existed along that line between the old cotton -growing, slave-breeding section of the Union and the free States of the North. Far different was the response from the loyal North. Massachusetts was the first to reply with troops ready for the march. John A. Andrew, then and afterwards a devoted friend of the Union, and a patriot of unswerving fidelity, was Governor of the State. He responded with four regiments of men within forty-eight hours after Lincoln's proclamation 262 Abraham Lincoln was received. It should be said here that the readi- ness of Massachusetts to answer with fighting men was largely due to the vigilance of Nathaniel P. Banks, who, when Governor of that State, some years before, placed the militia on a footing of such effi- ciency as to armament and drill that they were pre- pared for the call which, as he had long believed, must eventually come. The Governor of Rhode Island, William Sprague, called the Legislature together, offered the Government one thousand infantry and a battalion of artillery, and, placing himself at the head of these forces, marched to Washington. Governor Morgan, of New York, and Governor Curtin, of Pennsylvania, responded with a like promptness and with the tender of the vast resources of these two great States. It was a Pennsylvania regiment, hastily despatched, that first reached the national capital, just in time to defeat a seizure by the Rebel forces. In the North- west, where Lincoln was idolized by the people, the rush to arms in defence of the Union was wonderful. Under the call for men, Ohio's quota was thirteen thousand men. Within a week after that call was issued, seventy-one thousand had offered their ser- vices to the Governor of that State, the patriotic Dennison. This fiery and determined temper prevailed throughout the free States of the North. It is no exaggeration to say that men fought for the privilege of fighting for the country and the flag. Those who were compelled to remain behind regarded their more fortunate fellow-townsmen with envy. Lincoln had President Abraham Lincoln 263 called for seventy-five thousand. More than five hundred thousand had sprung to arms in response to the call. Those who were chosen were the citizen soldiers of the Republic. They were drawn from homes and families in which the lessons of patriotism had been taught them from childhood. They were the sons of honorable men and won n, many of whom were the direct lineal descendants of those who fought for the independence of the Republic. They went forth to battle for the imperilled Union fol- lowed by the prayers and cheered by the willing con- sent of fathers and mothers. Such an outpouring has never been seen elsewhere on the face of the earth. " Liberty and Union" was the watchword of these ardent men. In the churches, prayers were continually offered for the maintenance and preserva- tion of the Union and the safety and triumph of the armies defending it. Great moneyed corporations proffered loans to the impoverished National Govern- ment. State Legislatures and capitalists subscribed vast sums of money for the same purpose, and to provide for the families of those who had gone to the war. In the streets, in the houses of the people, and in every place of public amusement war-songs were sung, war-cries were shouted, and the popular idol of the hour was the volunteer bound for the devious verge of battle to be fought. Senators, members of Congress, civilians of prominence in the nation, and men who could not possibly have been expected to enlist in the war, pressed to Washington, pleading for some opportunity to serve the Government. Arms for this great multitude were not readily obtainable, 264 Abraham Lincoln and the State which, like Massachusetts, had been ready betimes, occupied an enviable position among its sister States. Just before the gun was fired on Sumter, Lincoln was seeing his darkest days. He was profoundly de- pressed. While he yet retained his abiding faith in the loyal people, he was, nevertheless, somewhat influenced by the croakings and the lamentations of some of those who were around him and who were despondent over the difficulties of the situation. In the midst of this gloom, while doubt and uncertainty hung like a mist over the nation, obscuring cheerful sights and magnifying shadows, the voice of a mighty people, as the voice of one man, burst upon the ear of the melancholy President. A great and free people, determined that the slaveholders' rebellion should be crushed, encouraged and stimulated the President of the Republic. The tread of hundreds of thousands of feet resounded along the highways and byways of the North. It was the tread of the mighty army that should never retire until the country was saved from disunion and the flag had been restored to the staff from which it had been lowered in disgrace. Great intensity was added to this feeling when one of the regiments marching to the relief of Washington was fired upon by a secession mob in Baltimore. This was the 6th Massachusetts regiment, the first to be despatched to the national capital. The march of this fine body of men was a novel and startling event in the history of the country. Everywhere it provoked a fresh burst of patriotism. Its route to the borders of the free States was one line of glorious President Abraham Lincoln 265 welcome and cheer. Women thronged to the railway trains bearing these young heroes, offering gifts and refreshments, and vast crowds greeted them with flags, music, and words of hearty encouragement. The sight and the news of their march awoke thou- sands of other young men to dreams of mighty deeds, and another impetus was given to the volunteering movement all over the land. The march of this com- pact body of men through the great metropolitan city of New York was an event long to be remem- bered by those who beheld it. The merchant forsook his ledger and the workman his bench to look upon the wonderful spectacle of a regiment of fighting men on the way to the front of battle. Tidings of its coming awoke the rough and traitorous element of the population of Baltimore, the same city which had threatened the life of Lincoln when he was en route for the national capital. A mob, carrying a Rebel flag and hurriedly armed, attacked the regiment in transit, and, on the nineteenth of April, several members of the 6th Massachusetts were killed in the streets of that city. Others were wounded, and the city was in an uproar, the more conspicuous por- tion of the people declaring that further passage of troops was not to be permitted. This event produced a prodigious sensation throughout the whole land. In the North, the feel- ing was one of burning indignation. In the South, there was great rejoicing. The deluded Rebels saw in the affair confirmation of their belief that no loyal troops would be allowed to pass over the soil of a border State to the defence of the capital. Maryland 266 Abraham Lincoln was a slaveholding State. In the recent election for President, Lincoln had been given only about two thousand votes of its ninety-two thousand cast for the various candidates. Mr. Hicks, the Governor of the State, was thoroughly frightened, and he im- plored the President that no more troops should be permitted to pass through Baltimore. He would not be answerable for the consequences. He even suggested that the "dispute" between the North and South should be referred to the British Minister in Washington, Lord Lyons, for arbitration. As to the bringing of troops through Baltimore, Lincoln said that he did not insist on that, if it could be' avoided, and he left the matter to General Scott, who had said that men could be carried around the city, and all possibility of a collision avoided, unless the citizens sought occasion for a quarrel. As for the proposition to submit the matters in dispute to arbi- tration, Lincoln, with his usual wisdom, referred Governor Hicks to the Secretary of State. In an admirable reply to the Governor, Secretary Seward, referring to the burning of the capital of Maryland by the British, in the war of 1812, said that "there had been a time when a general of the American Union, with forces designed for the defence of its capital, was not unwelcome anywhere in Maryland" ; and he added that ' ' if all the other nobler sentiments of Maryland had been obliterated, one, at least, it was hoped would remain, and that was that no do- mestic contention should be referred to any foreign arbitrament, least of all to that of a European monarchy." President Abraham Lincoln 267 The attack on the 6th Massachusetts was fol- lowed by the destruction of the bridges that connect Baltimore with the Northern and Western States. For a time, railway communication with the national capital was interrupted and the danger to that city was for a time heightened. Its sole defence, during those days of peril, was a small but loyal body of volunteer troops under the command of Colonel Charles P. Stone, an officer who had rendered the country most valuable service in detecting and dis- arming a conspiracy headed by men who subse- quently fled into the Rebel Confederacy. This con- spiracy had for its object the seizure of the capital and the public property. The railways being de- stroyed, troops were compelled to go around Balti- more by sea. In spite of the protests of Governor Hicks, General B. F. Butler, commanding the Massachusetts regiments and the yth New York, took his men to Annapolis, the capital of Maryland, by water, and thence sent them to the defence of Washington. One dark and stormy night, General Butler marched into Baltimore, seized and occupied Federal Hill, a fortified position commanding the city. The Rebels were overawed. Many of them were arrested and lodged in jail; others fled into the Confederacy. The conspiracy was broken up, and thenceforward Union troops went unmolested through Baltimore. In due time, the loyal elements of the population of the State asserted themselves, and Maryland, true to the Union, refused to pass any act of hostility to the Government, and furnished thousands of troops, subsequently, for the defence 268 Abraham Lincoln of the integrity of the Republic. During the war, Governor Hicks, his term of office having expired, was elected to the United States Senate, and there served his country faithfully until his death. Another remarkable event that marked the recog- nition of a state of war was a proclamation issued by President Lincoln, April 19, 1861, declaring the ports of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina in a state of blockade and closed against the commerce of the world. A week later, Virginia and North Carolina having been swept into the whirlpool of secession by the arts of the Rebel leaders, the ports of those two common- wealths were added to the list of blockaded points by a supplementary proclamation by the President. Another call for troops was issued by President Lin- coln, May 3, 1 86 1, thirty-nine regiments of infantry and one regiment of cavalry being asked for ; and at the same time eighteen thousand volunteer seamen were called for. The President also directed a con- siderable increase of the regular army, bringing the maximum efficiency of the force up to 22,714 men. The war had fairly begun. The seaports of the States that had passed acts of secession were closed to prevent communication with the rest of the world. The national capital was occupied by troops. Ample provision was made for the army and navy of the Republic. While the Virginia convention was in session, that body sent a delegation to wait upon President Lin- coln to ask him what policy he intended to pursue towards the so-called Confederate States. We may President Abraham Lincoln 269 suppose that, as the convention was intended by the Rebel leaders to pass an ordinance of secession de- claring Virginia out of the Union, this message to Lincoln was merely a pretext for such action. Lin- coln gave a formal and written reply to the request, in which, after expressing his surprise and regret that he had not already been sufficiently understood, he said that his policy had been outlined very fully and clearly, as he thought, in his inaugural address. And he added: "As I then and therein said, the power confided in me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess property and places belonging to the Govern- ment and to collect duties and imposts ; but beyond what is necessary for these objects, there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among people anywhere." Furthermore, he declared that it was his purpose to repossess Fort Sumter and all other places seized and taken from the Government, and he would meet force with force, so far as that was needed to accomplish that purpose. In consequence of the seizure of Fort Sumter, he said, it might be found needful to withdraw the service of the United States mails from the States that pretended to have seceded from the Union. He closed by saying that he would not attempt to collect the revenues by armed invasion of any part of the country; his ob- vious meaning being that force would only be used to recapture military posts seized by the Rebels. This was certainly clear enough for any candid person's understanding. Lincoln's policy, again and again declared, was to defend the public property. If force was employed to seize it, he must use force 270 Abraham Lincoln to retake it or to defend it against all comers. Up to that time, as will be noticed, the mails had been carried through all the States under the direction of a Postmaster-General appointed by President Lin- coln, just as though nothing had happened to disturb the relations existing between the so-called Confederate States and the National Government. Lincoln clung with great patience to the notion, en- tertained by many, that the rebellious States might be won back to their allegiance, and, even if he did not really expect that happy issue of all these troubles, he was determined to do nothing that should make it difficult or impossible. The Rebel leaders were burning to begin an aggressive war. The President was anxious to have no step taken, under authority of the Government, that should have the effect of provoking war. The Rebels longed for an excuse to begin fighting. Lincoln was determined to do nothing except what was absolutely necessary to maintain the rights and dignities of the United States Government. It was all in vain. The reply of Lincoln to the Virginia delegates fell on unheeding ears. By a vote of eighty-eight to fifty-five that State "went out of the Union,'' as the current phrase was, and Virginia was made thereafter the main battle-field of the war. Richmond, the capital of the State, became the capital of the Confederacy, the offices of that organi- zation being moved from Montgomery, Alabama, to the city. The vote was taken on the iyth of April, and the Confederate capital was transferred on the 2 ist of the following month. Meanwhile, the Rebels President Abraham Lincoln 271 had seized Harper's Ferry, Virginia, an important strategic point on the border of the State, well stocked with arms and materials for their manufac- ture; also Gosport Navy Yard, near Norfolk, Vir- ginia. Both of these points were of great value to the Rebels. The navy yard was the depot of stores and property guns, ships, ammunition, and vari- ous naval equipments valued at eight or ten mil- lions of dollars. It had been left defenceless by the treachery of former members of the National Govern- ment; additional treachery and treason threw it into the hands of the Rebels. With Harper's Ferry, its arsenal and its military supplies, and the Gosport Navy Yard and its ships and naval stores in their hands, although damaged by fire, the boastful Rebels now believed themselves invincible. They promised to hoist their flag on the Capitol at Washington; "perhaps on Faneuil Hall, in Boston," said some of the more sanguine of the leaders. Early in the momentous summer of 1861, there occurred two deaths that came very near to Lincoln. Among those who had accompanied the President- elect on his journey from Illinois to the national capital was Elmer E. Ellsworth, a young man who had been employed in the law office of Lincoln & Herndon, Springfield. He was a brave, handsome, and impetuous youth, and was among the first to offer his services to the President in defence of the Union, as soon as the mutterings of war were heard. Before the war, he had organized a company of zouaves from the Chicago firemen, and had de- lighted and astonished many people by the exhibi- 272 Abraham Lincoln tions of their skill in the evolutions through which they were put while visiting some of the chief cities of the Republic. Now, being commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States army, he went to New York and organized a similar regiment, known as the nth New York, from the firemen of that city. Colonel Ellsworth's Zouaves, on the evening of May 23d, were sent with a considerable force to occupy the heights overlooking Washington and Alexandria, on the banks of the Potomac, opposite the national capital. Next day, seeing a Rebel flag flying from the Marshall House, a tavern in Alexan- dria, kept by a secessionist, he went up through the building to the roof and pulled it down. While on his way down the stairs, with the flag in his arms, he was met by the tavern-keeper, who shot and killed him instantly. Ellsworth fell, dyeing the Rebel flag with the blood that gushed from his heart. The tavern-keeper was instantly killed by a shot from private Brownell, of the Ellsworth Zouaves, who was at hand when his commander fell. The death of Ellsworth, needless though it may have been, caused a profound sensation throughout the country, where he was well known. He was among the very first martyrs of the war, as he had been one of the first volunteers. Lincoln was overwhelmed with sorrow. He had the body of the lamented young officer taken to the White House, where it lay in state until the burial took place, and, even in the midst of his in- creasing cares, he found time to sit alone and in grief -stricken meditation by the bier of the dead young soldier of whose career he had cherished so President Abraham Lincoln 273 great hopes. The life-blood from Ellsworth's heart had stained not only the Rebel flag, but a gold medal found under his uniform, bearing the legend "Non solum nobis, sed pro patria" " Not for ourselves alone, but for the country." On the third of June died Stephen Arnold Douglas, after a few days of illness. On the fourteenth of April, in company with a friend, he had called upon Lincoln at the White House, to offer his sympathy and advice. The country was ablaze with excite- ment. Fort Sumter had been fired on, and, even as these two eminent men sat together in council Lincoln and Douglas, former foes in politics, now united in a common purpose the tramp of armed men, on the way to the front, was beginning to be heard. Douglas warmly, and even affectionately, commended the course pursued by Lincoln up to that time, although he said he would have called for two hundred thousand men instead of seventy-five thousand if he were in the President's place. Warmed by his unmistakable devotion to his country, Douglas enlarged upon the theme and gave Lincoln many suggestions of practical value. After the interview had closed and Douglas had departed, the gentlemen with him asked that the details of the notable meet- ing be sketched in the form of a despatch and given to the country, in the belief that the loyal sentiment would be thereby strengthened. This was done, and the despatch, having been read and approved by Douglas, was transmitted through the Associated Press agency at Washington, with precisely the effect upon the people that was expected of it. Dur- 18. 274 Abraham Lincoln ing the following month, Douglas addressed large meetings of Union men in Ohio and Illinois, urging such measures as would strengthen the hands of those who were carrying on the government of the Republic. Towards the latter part of May he sick- ened, and died, as before said, June 3d, greatly lamented by his fellow-countrymen, among whom the sad-hearted Lincoln mourned with a great and exceeding sorrow. CHAPTER XX. BEGINNING OF THE GREAT STRUGGLE. The Combatants Face to Face The First Battle of Bull Run The Sting of Defeat George B. McClellan Effect of the Great Disas- ter A Message to Congress Men and Money Voted How For- eign Nations Regarded the Struggle Seizure and Release of Mason and Slidell. AT last, then, freedom and union, for which Lincoln had so long and so zealously contended, stood to defend itself against slavery and disunion. The arena was transferred from the West to the wider plane of the Republic. Jefferson Davis, a man of high culture, educated at the Military Academy of the United States, familiar with high politics and conversant with persons of social dignity, himself an aristocrat, was now pitted against the man who had been born in the obscurity of the American back- woods, reared in a life of poverty and privation, edu- cated by dint of hard struggles and under unfriendly circumstances, and coming late into the possession of those advantages, social and mental, which are denied to the children of adversity. Davis and his followers had set up the plea that a State was sover- eign, that the Union was subject to the State, and that the rights of any single State were paramount to all others that could be considered by the citizens thereof. Lincoln, on the other hand, had always 375 276 Abraham Lincoln insisted that the nation, composed of the people of the several States, was the paramount authority. He held that no State could leave the Union, and, by so leaving, break it up and dissolve the bond, without being committed thereby to an act of treason. One of his familiar illustrations of this his position was that as a county, a political subdivision of a State, could not lawfully leave that State, so an indi- vidual State could not lawfully leave the Republic of States, thereby coercing a dissolution of that Repub- lic. What Davis would have done, if, after the so- called Confederacy had been established, some one State should have seceded from it, was never clearly understood. This advocate of State rights never had a good opportunity of showing how he would have wrestled with that problem. When these two hostile camps, freedom and slavery, were pitched against each other, in the sum- mer of 1 86 1, the population of the States in rebellion was 9,103,333, of which more than one third were slaves. The population of the loyal and free States was 22,046,472. This disparity in the number liable to be drawn into battle attracted the attention of the Rebel leaders, and it excited the alarm of some of those who were likely to be called on to fight for the Confederacy. These timorous persons were cheered by the common remark that one Southern man was equal to at least five " Yankees " of the North, a say- ing that undoubtedly helped many young and inex- perienced recruits to bear the early burdens of the Civil War, as the Rebel army was formed. When some of these, later on, were captured and taken Beginning of the Great Struggle 277 north, they saw with amazement the crowds that filled the large cities, just as though other thousands of men were not absent fighting the battles of the Union. They felt and said that they had been im- posed upon, and that the number of men of the loyal States, fit for duty, was so enormously greater than that of the South that their cause was hopeless from the first. The slaves of the South were thought by the people of that region to be an element of strength. The slaveholders relied on the faithful attachment of these unfortunate creatures, a reliance that was seldom misplaced. The slaves had once been taught that the "Abolitionists" were a species of monsters that infested the North and devoured escaped black people. And, so long as they had food and protec- tion from their masters, the bondmen did not leave their masters, even when the war began. They were useful in making preparations for battles, marches, and sieges. They were teamsters, workmen on forts, and diggers of intrenchments. In the eyes of all the people, North and South, the slaves were still prop- erty. And it was the custom of most officers of the United States army to give up the few fugitive ne- groes that came into their lines. Gen. B. F. Butler, however, while in command at Fortress Monroe, Vir- ginia, perceived that the slaves were used by the Rebels precisely as horses or mules would have been ; they were employed in promoting the efficiency of the Rebel military works. Accordingly, when slaves came into his lines, he refused to give them up, declaring that, like war material, they were "contra- 278 Abraham Lincoln band of war." This was a new idea, and from that time the African slave inside of the Union lines was known as a contraband. The word not only gave a new name to the escaping slave, but it suggested a line of policy that afterwards troubled greatly the warlike slaveholders and the Rebel leaders. They had no longer any power to enforce the law concern- ing fugitive slaves, about which they had once been much concerned. The battle of Bull Run, begun on the nineteenth of July and ended on the twenty-first, was a great defeat to the Union forces, although the losses on each side were not far from equal. But it was the first real advance of the Army of the Potomac, which had been accumulating on the soil of Virginia and around Washington. Both sides had been making large and hurried preparations for this fight, and the newspapers of the North had been clamorous for an advance upon the Rebel capital by the Union troops. The Rebels had been more and more defiant, con- fident, and threatening. They had withdrawn their forces from Harper's Ferry, taking with them what war material had been spared by the flames, and were now concentrating for an attack on the Federal cap- ital, or, as they expressed it, to repel the invader. The first call of troops issued by Lincoln was for men to serve for three months, and the time of some of these was now about to expire. The first flush of their military enthusiasm had passed. They were still raw and undisciplined. Indeed, so far as the rank and file were concerned, they knew nothing whatever of the stern realities of war, and they were Beginning of the Great Struggle 279 impatient of military discipline. Many of the officers were lately from civil life and were unfamiliar with their duties. And the people at home, equally inexperienced, but more impatient, demanded that the army should do something to justify its existence and its cost. Lincoln viewed the situation with great anxiety. He knew that the army, portentous as it appeared, was not in a condition to risk a great battle ; and yet it might be attacked any day. He was excessively desirous of meeting the expectations of the people, without whose hearty cooperation no forces could be maintained. The Union troops held Fortress Mon- roe and the region round about, a defeat at Big Bethel, which happened on the tenth of June, having been incurred while the troops at that point were endeavoring to extend our lines. They also guarded Baltimore and its approaches, and were driving the Rebels from the western part of Virginia, under Gen. Geo. B. McClellan, a very capable young officer of the regular army. It seemed imperatively needful, whatever were the objections and the dangers, that an advance should be made in Virginia. On the other side, there was much boasting and confidence. Although the rank and file of the Rebel army were as raw and untrained as ours, they were officered by men who had been professionally edu- cated to the military service, among them being Generals Johnston, Beauregard, Stonewall Jackson, Longstreet, Kirby Smith, Ewell, Jubal Early, Lee, Holmes, Evans, Elzey, Jordan, and others of less note. They were commanded by Gen. Beauregard, 280 Abraham Lincoln who was subsequently joined by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. The two commands thus consolidated numbered 18,000 of the rank and file, with forty-four guns. The Union forces were commanded by Gen. Irvin McDowell, and numbered 17,676 of the rank and file, with twenty-four guns. Gen. Patterson, in command of a contingent of Union forces, was ex- pected to hold in check the troops under Johnston, who was at Winchester, on the left of the Rebel line, their right being at Manassas, under Beauregard. At first, the attack of the Union forces was successful, but the tide turned in favor of the Rebels. The ar- rangements for the supplying of McDowell's men were imperfect ; Patterson did not hold Johnston in check, and the first weakening of the Union lines became a rout. The troops broke and fled in the wildest confusion, some of them abandoning their arms in their flight, but many marching off the field in good order. In a few hours, the great army upon which Lincoln had rested so many hopes, and of which the people expected such great things, was pouring into Washington over the bridges of the Potomac and filling the capital with most exag- gerated and alarming stories of defeat. Many civilians,, members of Congress, and visitors, had gone out to see the fight. These, in their reckless haste to reach a place of safety, added to the panic and confusion. An overturned carriage in the way caused a block of the retreat on that line, and terror almost ludicrous seized upon the fugitives. But the Rebels, not knowing their own advantage, did not pursue, and Washington, then at their mercy, was Beginning of the Great Struggle 281 left unattacked. The panic on the Union side of the lines was no stranger than the ignorance that pre- vailed on the other. The Rebels, complete though their means of secur- ing information was supposed to be, believed that they were opposed by at least 50,000 men, as reports of their commanding generals subsequently showed. The Union loss in this memorable defeat was 460 killed, 1124 wounded, and 1312 captured or missing, being a total of 2896. The Rebel loss in killed was 387, in wounded 1582, and 13 captured or missing, being a total of 1982. The difference in the return of "captured or missing," comparing the Union and the Rebel figures, is suggestive. It was facetiously said that some of the Union soldiers were so "de- moralized" that they never ceased running until they reached their own homes. Certain it is that more than one regiment whose time was out shouldered arms and marched off the field before the fight was fairly begun. The effect of the disaster upon the loyal people was not unlike that of the firing of the first gun on Sumter. It is difficult to determine whether wrath or mortification was the more prominent throughout the North, at this time. It was mortifying to the national pride that the first considerable battle had gone against the defenders of the Union; but the very danger of the situation only inspired the loyal people to renewed activity. The rush of volunteers was unprecedented. Popular indignation somewhat recklessly expended itself on the alleged incompe- tence of military commanders and advisers, as well as on the Rebels. Some of those who had clamored 282 Abraham Lincoln for an advance forgot that they had incited what was now thought to be a premature and ill-advised move- ment, and insisted that the blame lay with those who had conducted the ill-starred advance upon the Rebel lines. But public opinion, although fickle and unjust towards some of the able and devoted mili- tary men engaged in the battle of Bull Run, did not slacken in the direction of the real defence of the Union. The disaster dismayed for a time the people, and it greatly encouraged the Rebels and their sym- pathizers in the North; but more troops and more military material were eagerly furnished, and the tide of determined patriotism rose even higher than ever before. Upon Lincoln the effect of the Bull Run defeat was most depressing. It was well for him that he had an unshakable faith in the sturdy patriotism and the hearty support of the people. Even in the midst of his sorrows, he felt that the nation would rally, as it subsequently did, to the defence of the national in- tegrity. He lamented, with a bitterness that none but those who knew his gentle and kind heart could understand, the needless sacrifice of human life; for, unaccustomed as the people then were to war and its deadliness, the list of killed at Bull Run seemed most dreadful and gory. But most of all he feared the effect of this their first success upon the minds of the Rebels of the South. He was hoping, always hoping, that the Southern people might yet see the error of their ways and return to the fold of the Union. Their elation over the defeat of the Federal troops, he knew, put further off than ever all Beginning of the Great Struggle 283 prospect of this greatly desired object of his prayers. But even then, doubtless, there were some among the friends and advisers of Lincoln who thought they saw in this defeat some grains of consolation. If the war were to be ended then and there, slavery would be saved alive ; a long war would certainly kill the cursed institution that had caused the war. One or two naval and military expeditions were fitted out at once. Fort Hatteras, on the coast of North Carolina, was captured from the Rebels by one of these, and later, Port Royal, South Carolina, was surrendered to the Union forces. In the meanwhile, General McClellan had driven the Rebels out of that part of the State of Virginia that lies west of the Blue Ridge, and the inhabitants, mcrt of whom had been loyal to the Union, repudiated the ordinance of seces- sion that had been passed by the Richmond conven- tion, and organized a new and independent State, to be known as West Virginia, of which Mr. Francis H. Pierpont was the first provisional governor. Subse- quently Congress ratified the act of separation "as a war measure/* and West Virginia has remained an independent State unto this day. Congress was in session when the battle of Bull Run was fought, having, as before said, been called together on the fourth of July. By this time the country had become somewhat accustomed to the idea that civil war was necessary to preserve the Union. The result justified Lincoln's wise patience. He had been expected by many impetuous persons to call Congress together as soon as Sumter was fired upon. He had waited for further developments, 284 Abraham Lincoln although he was besought by some of his immediate friends to convene Congress at once. His message to Congress was a calm and almost colorless history of the struggle, up to that date. After reciting the events that had taken place, he declared that the Rebels had forced the issue of war or dissolution of the Union, and that this issue " embraced more than the fate of these United States. It presents to the whole family of man the question whether a constitutional republic or democracy a government of the people by the same people can or cannot maintain its territorial integrity, against its own domestic foes. It presents the question whether discontented individuals, too few in numbers to control administration according to organic law in any case, can always, upon the pretences made in this case, or on any other pretences, or arbitrarily, without any pretence, break up their government, and thus practically put an end to free government upon the earth. It forces us to ask, ' Is there in all republics this inherent and fatal weakness?' 'Must a government, of necessity, be too strong for the liberties of its own people or too weak to maintain its own existence? ' ' It will be noticed that in this message, as shown by the above extract, Lincoln was only enforcing here just such ideas of self-government as, during all his life, he had been so clearly expounding to the people ; and here, too, will be seen the germ of the famous speech that he pronounced on the field of Gettysburg, years after, when the war was nearly over. Alluding to the attempt of some of the border States, notably Kentucky, to maintain a system of neutrality, Lincoln employed once again a figure Beginning of the Great Struggle 285 familiar to those who have followed his course of thought. He said that the notion that these border States could maintain a neutral ground over which no armies, Federal or Rebel, should be allowed to pass, was not to be entertained for a moment. This would be " building an impassable wall along the line of separation, and yet not quite an impassable one, for, under the guise of neutrality, it would tie the hands of Union men, and freely pass supplies from among them to the insurrec- tionists, which it could not do to an open enemy. At a stroke, it would take all the trouble off the hands of secession, except only what proceeds from external blockade." This message gave great satisfaction to the country, especially that part which may be considered as an answer to the artful and insidious plea made in the message of Jefferson Davis, President of the so-called Confederate States. Davis had argued that the right of secession was a right for which American citizens, as defenders of popular liberty, were bound to fight, if necessary. Lincoln said, in the message from which we have been quoting, that it was a sophism, false reasoning, to say that a State may peaceably get out of the Union of the States, pretending that this getting out was constitutional and right. "The sophism," he said, "is that any State of the Union may, consistently with the national Constitution, and therefore lawfully and peacefully, withdraw from the Union without consent of the Union or any other State. 286 Abraham Lincoln The little disguise, that the supposed right is to be ex- ercised only for just cause, themselves to be the judges of its justice, is too thin to merit any notice. With rebellion thus sugar-coated they have been drugging the public mind of their section for more than thirty years, and until at length they have brought many good men to a willing- ness to take up arms against the Government the day after some assemblage of men has enacted the farcical pretence of taking their State out of the Union, who would have, could have, been brought to no such thing the day before." Nothing could be more clear than the terms and illustrations which Lincoln employed in this message. In the sentence just quoted, the phrase ''sugar- coated" appears. When this caught the eye of the public printer, Mr. Defrees, who had confidential relations with the President, he ventured to say, in answer to Lincoln's question how he liked the message, that the phrase was hardly dignified. " Well, Defrees," said the President, with great good- nature, "if you think the time will ever come when the people will not understand what 'sugar-coated' means, I '11 alter it; otherwise, I think I will let it go." The phrase was allowed to stand, and thus it went to Congress and to the world. Congress responded very readily and liberally to the requests of the President for men and money. He asked for four hundred millions of dollars and four hundred thousand men. Congress appro- priated five hundred million dollars, and authorized him to call half a million of troops. The nation was now very much in earnest, and had settled to the belief that the war would be a long one. Recruiting Beginning of the Great Struggle 287 went on very briskly, and the country was alive with the sounds of preparation. In every village and hamlet in the Northern States there were organized societies to help on the good cause. For a time, at least, it seemed as if the people, men and women, had laid aside their usual amusements and employments and had devoted themselves exclusively to the busi- ness of helping to put down the rebellion. The most popular song at that time was that which had for its refrain " We 're coming, Father Abraham, Six hundred thousand strong." It was a matter of great concern to both of the combatants, North and South, that the issue between the Government of the United States and that of the Rebel Confederacy should be considered by foreign nations in a way favorable to either one or the other. The National Government had declared a blockade of all the Southern ports. The Rebels had no navy; but the National Government did have a small naval force, and it was daily growing larger. Would other nations recognize that such a blockade existed? Or would they disregard it and sail their ships into the closed ports just as if there were no blockade? If the Rebel Confederacy were recognized as a nation, the United States Government would be compelled to prove, by a strong navy and with an actual closing of the ports, that the blockade was effectual. Other- wise the powers that recognized the so-called Con- federate States would send their vessels into those ports, supplying the Rebels with all they needed. 288 Abraham Lincoln President Lincoln, very early in the beginning of the conflict, showed his anxiety on this point. But soon, almost as soon as hostilities began, the govern- ments of England and France recognized the Rebel Government as a belligerent power, with the same rights on sea and land that it would have had if it were an independent nation. This was a severe blow to the Government of the United States and to the administration . While the country, North and South, was discuss- ing what was sometimes called "the paper blockade,'* the Rebel Government sent to Europe, as envoys, James M. Mason and John Slidell. These men had been members of the United States Senate, and had left Washington at the beginning of the war to take sides with their States. By the Rebel Government Mason was sent to England and Slidell to France, to induce, if possible, those great powers to recognize the Confederacy as a nation. First sailing for Cuba, the two envoys took passage on the British packet- ship Trent for St. Thomas, a British port, intending to sail thence for England. This was on the 7th of November, 1861. On the following day, the Trent was overhauled by the United . States man-of-war San Jacinto, Captain Wilkes, who, having fired a shot across the bows of the Trent to bring her to, sent a boat alongside and took off the two envoys and their secretaries and carried them to Boston, where they were lodged in Fort Warren. This event created great excitement and enthu- siasm throughout the country. The action of the English and French Governments had aroused the Beginning of the Great Struggle 289 wrath of the people, and the capture was regarded by many as a threatening answer to those govern- ments. The people everywhere were filled with ani- mated joy over the capture of the Rebel envoys. The demand of the British Government that the envoys, having been taken from under the British flag, and in spite of the protests of the commander of the Trent, should be surrendered, only inflamed the popular indignation. "They shall never be given up!" was the cry everywhere. The Rebels, on the other hand, were overjoyed at the turn that affairs had taken. They said that there would now be war between England and the United States, and, in the commotion, their Confederacy would secure inde- pendence. In England, very few men, apparently, sympathized with the United States in its struggle to preserve the Union, and the seizure of Mason and Slidell was regarded as a menace, an insult. The London newspapers declared that the war would now be terrible ; the power of England would be with the South, and the result would be the eternal divi- sion of the States, North and South. None of these things seemed to move the people of the loyal States. They were determined that the envoys should never be surrendered. Congress passed a vote of thanks to Captain Wilkes. The Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Gideon Welles, wrote him a letter congratulating him on "the great public ser- vice" he had rendered to the country, and Mr. Stanton, who afterwards replaced Mr. Cameron as Secretary of War, cordially approved of the capture of the Rebel emissaries. Secretary Seward was also 290 Abraham Lincoln opposed to making any concession to the demands of the British Government. In the midst of all this excitement and debate, Lincoln remained thoughtful, anxious, determined. From the first he was doubtful of the lawfulness of the seizure. And, as he examined the case and studied its bearings, he became convinced that the emissaries must be given up. Now that the world has seen and acknowledged the justice as well as the wisdom of Lincoln's position, we may well admire the courage and the sagacity with which he stood out for what was then regarded as a cowardly and ill-advised action. He was firm in the face of popu- lar clamor and popular rage. And it is difficult for those who did not feel the influence of those exciting times to realize how easy it would have been to swim with the tide and rush into a war with England, as our people were then bent on doing. Said Lincoln: ''Once we fought Great Britain for doing just what Captain Wilkes has done. If Great Britain protests against this act and demands their release, we must adhere to our principles of 1812. We must give up these prisoners. Besides, one war at a time." This declaration from Lincoln filled the country with dismay. Give up the Rebel emissaries? The thought was madness. If the proposition had come from any man but Abraham Lincoln, it would have been laughed down, overwhelmed with popular deri- sion, no matter what was the official function of the man who made it. As it was, not a few of the more radical and violent politicians were greatly incensed against the President. Thus John P. Hale, as Sena- Beginning of the Great Struggle 291 tor from New Hampshire, said: "If this administra- tion will not listen to the voice of the people, they will find themselves engulfed in a fire that will con- sume them like stubble ; they will be helpless before a power that will hurl them from their places." Nevertheless, Lincoln remained firm. The envoys must be surrendered. Lincoln could not follow the dictates of passion or prejudice in this matter; and it required a lofty regard for what was right, just, and expedient for him to rise above the commotions of the hour and insist that the claim of Great Britain must be allowed at any cost of private resentment. Secretary Seward was won over to Lincoln's view of the case, and, in a paper of singular ingenuity and skill, he gave answer to the demand of the British Government. The envoys were surrendered. Great was the derision of the Rebels over this act. Great also was the wrath and humiliation of most of the loyal people of the North. The Rebel Govern- ment, always hoping for full recognition and assist- ance from foreign governments, were dismayed and angry that this provocation to war had been averted by Lincoln's sagacity and sense of justice. They heaped upon his head every possible epithet to de- note their contempt and hatred. And in the North, it must be admitted, men were slow in arriving at the rational conclusion that Lincoln had done the Republic a service invaluable. His enemies and critics were clamorous and bitter. But, serene, con- fident of the strength of the position he had taken in this weighty affair, Lincoln remained silent ; he waited for time to vindicate the wisdom of his course. 292 Abraham Lincoln During all those years of darkness and trial, the attitude of the European governments was most un- friendly towards the United States. Our envoys were, however, instructed to assure the courts to which they were sent, that under no circumstances would the Government of the United States consent that the Civil War should be regarded by any foreign nation as other than a domestic disturbance, to be dealt with after our own ideas of public policy, and to be ended by an exercise of the sovereign power of the Republic. But it required all of Lincoln's mag- nanimity, all his wisdom, all his influence with the people of the United States, to restrain and guide public opinion so that the Republic should not be hurried into an unnecessary war. Smarting under repeated insults offered to the American name and flag in foreign lands, Americans everywhere were irritated and resentful towards English leaders and European governments. But Lincoln never, as President, allowed his resentments to influence his public policy. As the man Lincoln had been pa- tient under great provocation, forgiving, kind, and merciful, so the President showed in his high office the same noble qualities, the same elevated character. CHAPTER XXI. THE SLAVERY QUESTION ARISES. Fremont's Troubles in Missouri His Policy Disapproved by the President Gen. Hunter's Proclamation Revoked Irritation in the Border States Lincoln Invites a Conference Arming the Freedmen Proposed Lincoln's Letter to Horace Greeley The Emancipation Proclamation Issued. JVFEW trials of patience and sagacity now arose. 1 N The irrepressible slavery question came to the surface and would not be long disregarded. Two generals of the Federal army, McClellan and Fr6- mont, took views on this question that were directly opposed to each other. Lincoln stood between. Mc- Clellan, by a series of brilliant victories in West Virginia, and by his short and pungent bulletins an- nouncing the same, had won the hearts of the people, and had inspired the popular belief that he was the great military genius that was to put down the re- bellion. Fremont, who had been the Presidential candidate of the Republicans four years before Lin- coln's election, had hurried home from Europe on the breaking out of the Rebellion, and had thrown himself enthusiastically into the war for the pre- servation of the Union. Almost on the same day in July, 1 86 1, Fremont was commissioned a major- general and McClellan was assigned to command of the Army of the Potomac, then numbering about 293 294 Abraham Lincoln two hundred thousand men. Fremont was assigned to command of the Department of the West, with headquarters at St. Louis. Missouri was plunged in a state of wild disorder. Murders, neighborhood feuds, assassinations, secret crimes of various de- grees of turpitude, and outrages of every sort were common. The State was classed as doubtful for the Union, being overrun with secessionists, although the local government had not declared for separa- tion. It was time that something vigorous and de- cisive in character should be done. The State was distressed with all the horrors of bloody feuds and guerilla warfare. On the 3ist of August, General Fr6mont issued a proclamation declaring Missouri to be under martial law, defining the lines of the army of occupation, and notifying the people that all persons found within those lines with arms in their hands, unless in the service of the United States, would be put to death. Furthermore, the proclamation declared that the property of all persons in a state of rebellion against the authority of the United States would be seized and confiscated, and that the slaves of such persons would be free under the operation of his proclamation. These declarations fell on the people of the United States with astounding effect. They were, in brief, a proclamation of a policy of confiscation of Rebel property and emancipation of the slaves of Rebels. In the loyal States, the people were thrilled with the thought that a heavy blow had been struck at the institution of slavery. The Rebels, on the other hand, were infuriated. Up to this time, no sacri- The Slavery Question Arises 295 legious hand had been laid on the time-honored right of property in slaves. Here was a proclama- tion of emancipation from a general of the army. For a space, all men held their breath and waited. What would Lincoln say? There were many reasons why he should disap- prove of the proclamation of a policy of emancipa- tion, confiscation, and "no quarter." Congress had already passed a bill to confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes; and the people had become somewhat used to the idea that slaves, as property, employed in military operations, could be confiscated. In the next place, Lincoln was even then trying to soothe the angry and uneasy feelings of the people of the border States and induce them to remain loyal to the Union, and, if possible, prepare the way for a gradual emancipation. The sudden order of Fremont would be sure to make Lincoln's task more difficult. And the notification that armed men inside the lines of the army of occupation would be shot would certainly provoke reprisals from the Rebels. In fact, almost as soon as Fremont's pro- clamation was issued, Jeff. Thompson, a brigadier commanding Rebel forces in Missouri, put forth a counter -proclamation announcing that for every soldier of the State guard, or of the Confederate army, so executed, he would "hang, draw, and quarter a minion of Abraham Lincoln," thereby meaning any person who remained true to the Federal cause. It should be understood that Fremont was very popular in the West, where he was looked upon not only as the ideal soldier, but as a champion and 296 Abraham Lincoln leader of the cause of freedom. His nomination as the Republican candidate for the Presidency, in 1856, gave him a certain political prestige that was not readily weakened, and which undoubtedly still was very dear to him. As the famed " Pathfinder " and explorer, there was some degree of romantic interest attached to his name, and thousands of people who did not consider all the consequences of his acts were ready to cheer whatever he said or did. Lincoln was greatly distressed by this act of insub- ordination (for such it was) on the part of Fre*mont, and was troubled by the necessity of rebuking a man whose services he hoped to find useful in the sup- pression of the Rebellion. But he determined to allow Fremont an opportunity to recall and modify his proclamation. Accordingly, he sent him by a private messenger a letter asking him to make such changes in the proclamation as would conform it to the act of Congress already referred to. " Should you shoot a man, according to the proclamation," said Lincoln, ''the Confederates would very certainly shoot our best men in their hands, in retaliation; and so on, indefinitely. It is, therefore, my order that you allow no man to be shot without first having my approbation or consent." As for the other part of Fremont's manifesto, Lincoln said : "I think there is great danger that the closing paragraph, in relation to the confiscation of property and the liberating of slaves of traitorous owners, will alarm our Southern Union friends and turn them against us; perhaps ruin our rather fair prospect for Kentucky." He asked Fremont (as if The Slavery Question Arises 297 of his own motion, and not with the public under- standing that he had been overruled from Washing- ton) to modify the proclamation so as to have it conformable to the laws of Congress and the rules of war already suggested. At that time there were not a few persons who thought, when the President's letter was made public, that Lincoln desired to have Fremont bear the brunt of the unfriendly criticism that might be made on a modification of his now famous proclamation, while Lincoln should escape that censure. Perhaps Fremont thought this. But Lincoln's kindness of heart undoubtedly did suggest this means of escape for Fremont from the dilemma in which he had been involved. Fremont was fixed, however, in his opinions. He declined to recall or change any part of his admired proclamation; and Lincoln, in an order dated September n, 1861, did so modify the proclamation of Fremont that it should not transcend the provisions of the act of Congress before mentioned. General Fremont sub- sequently wrote to one of the Rebel officers com- manding in Missouri, qualifying and explaining that part of his proclamation relating to shooting pris- oners, and declaring that it was not intended to apply to any men engaged in military operations in the field, or to ignore the ordinary rights of humanity with respect to wounded men. Thus terminated that important and exciting incident. At this point it may as well be recorded that General David Hunter, commanding the Military Department of the South, with headquarters at Hilton Head, S. C., did, in the following May, also 298 Abraham Lincoln issue a proclamation of emancipation not unlike that of Fremont. In this document he recited the fact that martial law had been proclaimed in the States of Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina, and that, as slavery and martial law were incompatible with each other in a free country, all persons in those three States, "heretofore held as slaves, are therefore declared forever free." This extraordinary procla- mation was revoked by Lincoln without delay, and with none of the gentle consideration he had shown to Fremont. Hunter had before him the example of Fremont's being overruled, and Lincoln justly thought that his offence was therefore less excusable than the indiscretion of Fremont. In a proclama- tion issued by the President as. soon as Hunter's manifesto could reach Washington, some doubt was expressed as to the genuineness of the document signed by General Hunter. But the President pro- claimed "that neither General Hunter nor any other commander or p rson has been authorized by the Government of the United States to make proclama- tion declaring the slaves of any State free; and that the supposed proclamation, now in question, whether genuine or false, is altogether void, so far as respects such declaration." He further said, to settle forever all doubt on this grave matter, that he reserved to himself the right to determine whether it should become a necessity, indispensable to the maintenance of the Government, to exercise the sup- posed power of proclaiming emancipation to the slaves. He could not delegate that authority to commanders in the field under any circumstances. The Slavery Question Arises 299 Although Lincoln quoted, for the benefit of these over-hasty generals, the act of Congress relating to the confiscation of Rebel property, it is evident that he would not permit that to stand in the way of an emancipation of the slaves whenever he thought the time had come for that act. He saw from the first that freedom for the slaves would be one of the re- sults of the Rebellion. He looked for that; but he reserved for himself the right of declaring when the time had arrived. Lincoln was a rigid defender of the Constitution, and he had even declared that so long as the Constitution allowed slavery to exist, a law to reclaim fugitive slaves was permissible. And so long as the border States were to be saved to the Union, he was reluctant to allow anything to happen, that he could avert, to alienate and anger the people of those States. He hated slavery, and he would be glad to sweep it from the land ; but his first duty was to the Federal Union; and he declared that if he could save the Union, with or without slavery, he would do that, and that alone. On this line of policy the Secretary of State was instructed to assure the governments of European nations that no change in the domestic institutions of the Southern Spates was proposed. It was true that many persons, hostile to Lincoln, hostile to the Federal Union, both at home and abroad, had all along insisted that the war was waged for the aboli- tion of slavery; and it was not uncommon for these to stigmatize the Union soldiers and the Federal officers as " abolition hirelings.'* General McClellan showed that he was particularly sensitive to re- 300 Abraham Lincoln proaches of this sort, and, in his letters to the Presi- dent, he urged that every assurance be given to pledge the administration to the protection of the peculiar institution. McClellan's attitude upon this question was so marked that many of Lincoln's im- patient friends murmured at the General's being, as they said, more anxious about the rights of the slave- holders than for the prosecution of the war. These attacks upon McClellan, coming as they did when Lincoln was obliged to overrule the doings of Fre- mont, gave the President infinite anxiety, and added to his accumulating burdens. He was brutally criticised by political opponents in the North ; he was reproached by his ardent and indiscreet friends. On the one hand, he was accused of going too fast in the direction of the destruction of slavery. On the other hand, he was bitterly assailed for his slowness in the same direction. The opponents of the war, for these had begun to show themselves, called him an Aboli- tionist. The radical Republicans declared that he was a " pro -slavery Republican." But while these things harassed Lincoln, they did not swerve him in the least from the course he had marked out for himself. In pursuance of his plan to provide for a gradual abolition of slavery, com- pensating the loyal slaveholders for their losses, he sent to Congress, on the 6th of March, 1862, a mes- sage recommending the passage of a joint resolution declaring that the United States ought to cooperate with any State that should institute measures for the gradual emancipation of the slaves, extending to such State pecuniary aid for the compensation of The Slavery Question Arises 301 those whose slaves should be made free by the acts of the States. In that message Lincoln said : " If the proposition contained in the resolution does not meet the approval of Congress and the country, there is an end ; but if it does command such approval, I deem it of importance that the States and people immediately inter- ested should at once be distinctly notified of the fact, so that they may begin to consider whether to accept or reject it." Furthermore, he said that if resistance to the na- tional authority should cease, the war would cease. That was an intimation that if the war ended then, or soon, slavery would be saved unharmed. "If," he added, " resistance continues, the war must also continue ; and it is impossible to foresee all the inci- dents which may attend, and all the ruin which may follow it. Such as may seem indispensable, or may obviously promise great efficiency toward ending the struggle, must and will come." This was rightly understood to mean that it was possible that, if gradual and compensated emancipation were not accepted, slavery would be destroyed by the long continuance of the war. Congress adopted the resolution. The border States, for which it was intended to make provision, regarded the measure with sullen indifference. Most of the border-State men in Congress voted against the resolution or let it severely alone. In his anxiety, Lincoln invited a conference at the White House between himself and the border-State Con- gressmen. He wanted to avert from them, if it 302 Abraham Lincoln were possible, the losses that he saw must fall upon them, sooner or later. If they would only accept the plan that he had outlined for their compensation, in case slavery should be abolished by their own con- sent, all might yet be well. To these representative Congressmen he read a carefully prepared paper, urging upon them the necessity and expediency of their acceding to his plan. He had been, as we have seen, an advocate of the policy of colonization, once proposed by such men as Henry Clay, and, in this address to the border-State men, he said: "Room in South America for colonization can be obtained cheaply and in abundance ; and, when numbers shall be large enough to be company and encouragement for one another, the freed people will not be so reluctant to go." In this remarkable address the President allowed to escape him only one phrase that indicated his own troubles. Speaking of Hunter's emancipation edict, he said that in repudiating it he had given offence and dissatisfaction to many whose support the country could not afford to lose; and he added: "The pressure in this direction is still upon me, and is increasing." The fact was that the loyal people of the country had grown weary of seeing the war delayed, as they believed, by the apparent deter- mination of the Government to protect slavery at all hazards. Many people who were cordial supporters of Lincoln's general policy denounced some of the generals of the army as "slave-catchers" and de- fenders of the peculiar institution. They were almost as unreasonable as the border-State men, who The Slavery Question Arises 33 refused to be moved by the plaintive appeal of the much-harassed President. The conference between the President and the border -State men bore no fruit. The majority of those whom he addressed responded adversely to his appeal. He might have said, then, that the consequences of their refusal were soon to be visited upon them and their con- stituents. He uttered no reproach, no warning. The conference here alluded to took place in July, 1862. It seems strange that the representatives of the border States did not take warning by what had already been done by Congress. A bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia had passed Congress. When Lincoln signed the bill that gave freedom to the slaves at the seat of the National Government, he said: "Little did I dream, in 1849, when I proposed to abolish slavery at this capital, and could scarcely get a hearing for the proposition, that it would be so soon accomplished.'* There was a cer- tain poetic justice that the man who, thirteen years before, had had the courage to ask that slavery be expelled from the capital of the nation should be permitted to set his signature, as President of the United States, to the measure he had vainly prof- fered as a representative of the people. About this time, that is to say, during the summer of 1862, the question of arming the freedmen began to be seriously considered. There were many of these people now inside the lines of the Union army. They acted as hewers of wood and drawers of water; were employed as cooks, teamsters, and laborers. Lincoln immediately favored the proposition to arm 304 Abraham Lincoln some of the thousands of able-bodied colored men who swarmed the Union camps, subsisting on rations furnished them by the Government. He said: "Negroes, like other people, act from motive. Why should they do anything for us if we do nothing for them? If they stake their lives for us, they must be prompted by the strongest of motives, even the promise of freedom. And the promise, being made, must be kept/* With his usual shrewdness, Lincoln saw in the arming of the freedmen another reason, another excuse, for their liberation from the bonds that still were held in reserve for them, as it were. Accordingly, when the proposition authorizing the enlistment of colored troops became a law, it con- tained a clause giving freedom to all who served in the army, and to their families as well. The war yet lagged. Military operations in various parts of the country were carried on without any startling or decisive results, and the Army of the Potomac, commanded by McClellan, from which the people expected so much, remained inactive near Washington. The levying of troops and the collect- ing of new and burdensome taxes went on, to the growing discontent of the people, who naturally asked for what purpose was this expenditure if nothing was done to end the war and restore the Federal authority in the so-called seceded States. This discontent, in many instances, took the form of a protest against Lincoln's hesitation to abolish slavery everywhere by proclamation. By act of Congress, slavery had not only been excluded from the District of Columbia, but, by another act, it was The Slavery Question Arises 305 declared illegal in the Territories of the United States. Probably the best expression of the demand for an emancipation proclamation from the President, made by the more radical of Lincoln's friends, was in a letter addressed to Lincoln and published in the New York Tribune by its editor, Horace Greeley. In his letter Mr. Greeley employed language that was intemperate and even dictatorial. Mr. Lincoln's immediate friends were astonished that he should appear in a newspaper, in reply to a letter addressed to him. But he was preparing the way for the emancipation proclamation which subsequently ap- peared. This was his opportunity to aid in that preparation. Accordingly, under date of August 22, 1862, he sent to Mr. Greeley a letter which may be introduced here as an admirable example of Lincoln's lucidity of style, as well as a good illustra- tion of his frankness and simplicity of character. It may be said, too, that though Lincoln was criticised severely for taking any notice of Mr. Greeley's some- what heated and ungenerous utterances, these critics did not understand that Lincoln was glad of an opportunity to address the people through Mr. Greeley's paper. Following is the letter: " Hon. Horace Greeley: " DEAR SIR: I have just read yours of the nineteenth instant, addressed to myself through the New York Tribune. ' ' If there be in it any statements or assumptions of facts which I may know to be erroneous, I do not now and here controvert them. 306 Abraham Lincoln " If there be any inferences which I may believe to be falsely drawn, I do not now and here argue against them. " If there be perceptible in it an impatient and dicta- torial tone, I waive it in deference to an old friend whose heart I have always supposed to be right. "As to the policy 1 ' seem to be pursuing,' as you say, I have not meant to leave any one in doubt. I would save the Union. I would save it in the shortest way under the Constitution. " The sooner the national authority can be restored, the nearer the Union will be the Union as it was. " If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. " If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. "My paramount object is to save the Union, and not either to save or destroy slavery. " If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it ; if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it ; and if I could do it by freeing some and leav- ing others alone, I would also do that. " What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do be- cause I believe it helps to save this Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. " I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I believe doing more will help the cause. " I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors, and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views. " I have here stated my purpose according to my views The Slavery Question Arises 37 of official duty, and I intend no modification of my oft- expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free. "Yours, "A. LINCOLN." Meanwhile, the Rebel army, tinder General Lee, had achieved some important successes, and, flushed with victory, had crossed the Potomac into Mary- land. A border State, yet loyal to the Union, had been invaded. The news created something like a panic throughout the country. Lincoln was pro- foundly stirred. He had been considering the issuing of a proclamation of emancipation. He had even prepared a draft of such a document. But when others urged it upon him he almost invariably argued against it ; and in this way, as had been his wont when he was in the profession of the law, he found the weakest as well as the strongest points of the case under consideration. He seemed to hesitate. But, as he subsequently admitted, when Maryland was invaded by the Rebel forces, and the national capital was put in jeopardy, he made a solemn vow to God that, if the invader should be expelled, he would thereupon issue the long-deferred proclamation. The battle of South Mountain was fought September 1 4th, the battle of Antietam on the seventeenth of the month. The Rebels were whipped, routed, and broken into pieces. They retreated across the Po- tomac, and Maryland and Pennsylvania were saved. On the twenty-second of September, 1862, the Presi- dent issued his immortal proclamation declaring free- dom to the slaves in bondage. 308 Abraham Lincoln The Emancipation Proclamation was hailed with great acclaim throughout the free States. Bonfires, illuminations, salvos of artillery, and public meetings manifested the people's joy over what was declared to be the downfall of slavery. The "house divided against itself" would no longer exist so divided. In many towns and cities thanksgiving services were held, resolutions of approval and congratulation were adopted, and the President was assured, by every possible form of words, of the hearty coopera- tion of the nation in the work yet remaining to be done. From this time forward, the war took on a new aspect. It was a war for the re-establishment of the Union the Union without slavery. Lincoln, by the terms of his proclamation, exempted from its provisions those States and parts of States in which the Federal authority was acknowledged. He was faithful to his promise not to interfere with the peculiar institution in the loyal States. And in the final issue of the proclamation, New Year's Day, 1863, he mentioned by name the parts of the Federal Union thus exempted. But these exceptions were felt to be comparatively inconsiderable. Virtually, slavery was abolished everywhere. In a few months, at furthest, freedom, not slavery, would be the rule over every inch of territory of the United States, and the ancient reproach would be removed from the Republic. The right of a military power to seize and con- fiscate the property of the persons with which it was contending is unquestioned. Slaves, being regarded as property, were liable to confiscation. According The Slavery Question Arises 39 to the laws of war, the Government of the United States had a clear right to treat the Rebels as public enemies, and the act of emancipation exercised by the President, as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, weakening the power of those public enemies, was strictly in accordance with the laws and usages of civilized nations. In due course of time, however, Congress so exercised its civil power, by the entire abolition of slavery in the Republic, that any possible doubt as to the efficacy of the President's act disappeared. It should be said that the members of the Presi- dent's Cabinet not only cordially approved of the issuing of the proclamation, but they filled their proper functions as advisers of the President in this matter. Lincoln had prepared his proclamation earlier in the year. He was ready to issue it in July. When the subject was laid before the Cabinet for final approval, Secretary Seward strongly urged that its promulgation be postponed for a while. At that time the Rebel army under General Lee was marching northward to invade Pennsylvania. The military fortunes of the Republic were at a low ebb. There was great depression of spirit everywhere. Mr. Seward argued that the issuing of the emanci- pation at that critical juncture would be generally regarded as a cry for help; or, as Lincoln put it, when reporting the fact afterwards, "our last shriek on the retreat." It was then that Lincoln agreed to put off the day of proclamation, and subsequently made the vow to God to issue the portentous and solemn document if Lee should be driven back. It 310 Abraham Lincoln was at Mr. Seward's suggestion, too, that the word "maintain" was inserted, so that the clause thus amended read: "I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States are, and henceforth shall be, free ; and that the executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons." Mr. Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury, penned the concluding paragraph, which, being approved by the President, was added, as fol- lows: "And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God." The words "upon military neces- sity," however, were inserted by Lincoln before the paragraph was adopted by him as a part of this immortal document. The people of foreign countries, especially of Eng- land, poured across the Atlantic their congratu- lations that slavery was at last abolished in the Republic of the United States. Lincoln had been assured by many of the more advanced Republicans who were nearest him, that the British Government would cordially respond to this declaration of uni- versal freedom. In this he was disappointed. Lord John Russell, who, as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, was the official mouthpiece of the British Government in matters outside of the kingdom, in a despatch to the British Minister at Washington, mildly sneered at the proclamation as "a measure of The Slavery Question Arises 3 11 a very questionable kind," "an act of vengeance on the slaveowner." With evident ill-nature and dis- position to cavil, his lordship said: "It professes to emancipate slaves where the United States authori- ties cannot make emancipation a reality, but emanci- pates no one where the decree can be carried into effect." His lordship lived to see the decree carried into effect in every part of the American Republic. But in spite of the unconcealed hostility of govern- ments that bore only ill-will to the Republic, in spite of the moral assistance given by these to the slave- holders' rebellion, the fiat had gone forth throughout all the land that slavery should be no more. For a brief season the hated system clung to the earth on which it had fattened. Thenceforward its struggles were fainter and more faint. The son of the soil, he who embodied in himself the genius of America and its highest manhood, had set his hand to the decree of universal freedom. The preliminary proclamation of September .22, 1862, and the final proclamation,, dated January i, 1863, are as follows: " I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States of America, and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy thereof, do hereby proclaim and declare that here- after, as heretofore, the war will be prosecuted for the object of practically restoring the constitutional relation between the United States and each of the States, and the people thereof, in which States that relation is or may be suspended or disturbed. " That it is my purpose, upon the next meeting of Con- gress, to again recommend the adoption of a practical 312 Abraham Lincoln measure tendering pecuniary aid to the free acceptance or rejection of all slave States, so called, the people where- of may not then be in rebellion against the United States, and which States may then have voluntarily adopted, or thereafter may voluntarily adopt, immediate or gradual abolishment of slavery within their respective limits; and that the effort to colonize persons of African descent with their consent upon this continent or elsewhere, with the previously obtained consent of the Governments existing there, will be continued. "That, on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free ; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. "That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof respectively shall then be in rebellion against the United States ; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be, in good faith, represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evi- dence that such State, and the people thereof, are not in rebellion against the United States. "That attention is hereby called to an act of Congress The Slavery Question Arises 313 entitled 'An act to make an additional article of war/ approved March 13, 1862, and which act is in the words and figures following: " ' Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- tives of the United States of America in Congress assem- bled, that hereafter the following shall be promulgated as an additional article of war, for the government of the army of the United States, and shall be obeyed and observed as such : "' ARTICLE. All officers or persons in the military or naval service of the United States are prohibited from employing any of the forces under their respective com- mands for the purpose of returning fugitives from service or labor who may have escaped from any persons to whom such service or labor is claimed to be due, and any officer who shall be found guilty by a court-martial of violating this article shall be dismissed from service. " ' SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, that this act shall take effect from and after its passage/ " Also to the ninth and tenth sections of an act entitled 1 An act to suppress insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate property of rebels, and for other purposes,' approved July 17, 1862, and which sections are in the words and figures following : " ' SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That all slaves of persons who shall hereafter be engaged in rebellion against the Government of the United States, or who shall in any way give aid or comfort thereto, escaping from such per- sons and taking refuge within the lines of the army ; and all slaves captured from such persons or deserted by them, and coming under the control of the Government of the United States ; and all slaves of such persons found on [or] being within any place occupied by rebel forces and after- wards occupied by the forces of the United States, shall 3H Abraham Lincoln be deemed captives of war, and shall be forever free of their servitude, and not again held as slaves. "'SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That no slave escaping into any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, from any other State, shall be delivered up, or in any way impeded or hindered of his liberty, except for crime, or some offence against the laws, unless the person claiming said fugitive shall first make oath that the person to whom the labor or service of such fugitive is alleged to be due is his lawful owner and has not borne arms against the United States in the present rebellion, nor in any way given aid and comfort thereto; and no person engaged in the military or naval service of the United States shall, under any pretence whatever, assume to decide on the validity of the claim of any per- son to the service or labor of any other person, or sur- render up any such person to the claimant, on pain of being dismissed from the service/ "And I do hereby enjoin upon and order all persons engaged in the military and naval service of the United States to observe, obey, and enforce, within their respec- tive spheres of service, the act and sections above recited. "And the Executive will in due time recommend that all citizens of the United States who shall have remained loyal thereto throughout the rebellion shall (upon the restoration of the constitutional relation between the United States and their States and people, if that relation shall have been suspended or disturbed) be compensated for all losses by acts of the United States, including the loss of slaves. " In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. "Done at the city of Washington this twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand The Slavery Question Arises 315 eight hundred and sixty- two, and the independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. " ABRAHAM LINCOLN. "By the President: " WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State." " WHEREAS, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty- two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States containing, among other things, the following, to wit : " 'That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebel- lion against the United States, shall be then, thencefor- ward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. " ' That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States ; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence 316 Abraham Lincoln that such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States.' "Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Com- mander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and Government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebel- lion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty- three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof, respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit : " Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the city of New Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia (except the forty-eight coun- ties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and which excepted parts are for the present left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued. " And by virtue of the power and for the purpose afore- said, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States are, and henceforward shall be, free; and that the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons. The Slavery Question Arises 317 "And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence ; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages. 11 And I further declare and make known that such per- sons, of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. "And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God. " In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. "Done at the city of Washington this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty- three, and of the independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh. "ABRAHAM LINCOLN.'* CHAPTER XXII. A DIFFICULT MILITARY SITUATION. Creation and Equipment of an Army The Federal Military Plan- Retirement of General Scott General McClellan in Full Com- mand Appearance of General U. S. Grant Fall of Forts Henry and Donelson Criticism of McClellan Death of the President's Son Willie Military Operations on the Peninsula McClellan's Extraordinary Delays His Advice to the President Halleck Made General-in-Chief A Conference of Loyal Governors The Second Bull Run Defeat Antietam McClellan Relieved of His Command. AAT'HILE the steps that led up to the issuing of * * the emancipation proclamation were being taken, Lincoln was greatly troubled by the difficul- ties and dangers of the military situation. The eyes of the people, for the most part, were turned toward Washington, where was the focus of all intelligence relating to the conduct of the war as well as to political affairs. The operations around the national capital were, for various reasons, more interesting than were those of greater real importance in other parts of the country. In that direction, it seemed, nothing was done but to make elaborate and exten- sive preparations. General McClellan was now in the zenith of his fame and popularity. He was yet young, barely turned of thirty-six, but he had already made himself a favorite with the army and the peo- ple. From the first, Lincoln was profoundly anxiovs .318 A Difficult Military Situation 3*9 to find generals who could command popular confi- dence and also win battles. This was not an easy task. The larger number of the men who appeared to be available were not skilled in military tactics and strategy ; they had had very little experience in real war. Of the veterans of the war with Mexico, General Scott and General Wool were now well ad- vanced in years. The abilities of the younger graduates of the Military Academy at West Point had not yet been developed. Affairs were in a con- fused and chaotic condition. Many men fresh from civil life were commissioned as major and brigadier generals. Some of these proved good soldiers, and many of them proved in- competent. The losses entailed by the preliminary trials and schooling of these civilian generals were doubtless very great. When McClellan, fresh from victorious fields, assumed command of the Army of the Potomac, in the summer of 1 86 1, he found a fine body of men, fifty thousand in number, waiting for his organizing hand. Fresh levies of troops were pouring in, and before the year closed, his command was roughly estimated to contain about two hun- dred thousand men. As early as October 27, 1861, General McClellan's official reports to the Secretary of War showed that he had 147,695 men ready for duty; and the arriving levies almost immediately available would increase this number to 168,318. It must be said that the nucleus of this great army was gathered by Lincoln, who, as Commander-in- Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, had strained his authority to the utmost to collect a 320 Abraham Lincoln force for the defence of the capital and to serve as a framework on which should be organized a large and aggressive fighting army. His general plan, adopted after much anxious con- sultation with his most trusted advisers, was as fol- lows : To blockade the entire coast-line of the Rebel States ; to acquire military occupation of the border States so as to protect Union men and repel invasion ; to clear the Mississippi River of Rebel obstructions, thus dividing the Rebel Confederacy and relieving the West, which was deprived of its natural outlet to the sea ; to destroy the Rebel army between Washington and Richmond and capture the Rebel capital. This vast plan had been formed in the mind of Lincoln by the very necessities of the situation. It was con- sidered and brooded over while preparations for its execution were being made, and while the great questions of the emancipation of the slaves and the confiscation of Rebel property were also under con- sideration. If we remember that at this time, also, the foreign relations of the Government were strained, and that the financial resources were severely taxed, we shall have some notion of the prodigious cares that weighed down the man who, far into the morn- ing watch, walked the lonely corridors of the White House, thinking, thinking, while others slept. Early in November, General Scott, who held the highest command in the army of the United States, having been offended by General McClellan, asked to be relieved from active duty, and placed on the retired list. His request was granted ; and Lincoln, accompanied by the members of his Cabinet, visited A Difficult Military Situation 321 the old veteran at his mansion in Washington, and presented to him, in person, a most affectionate and generous farewell address. Subsequently, in a mes- sage to Congress, Lincoln dwelt with warm praise on the services that General Scott had rendered to the country, expressing his belief that, whatever could be done to reward him, the nation would still be in debt to General Scott. McClellan was now in supreme command. Naturally, Lincoln, being a Western man, felt the supreme necessity for the speedy opening of the Mississippi River. The strongest and most numer- ous opponents of the war were in the West, and their complaints of the hardships entailed on the people, in consequence of the prolonged hostilities, seemed to have more influence than in the Eastern States, where those hardships were less perceptible per- haps less real. Lincoln's anxiety was not very well appreciated by the Eastern people, or by the generals and politicians that thronged in Washington. When, in course of time, the river was opened, the elation of the President showed itself in many odd expres- sions. He gloried in the fact that "the Father of Waters went un vexed to the sea." And, in a mes-. sage to Congress, greatly to the scandal of some of the more fastidious of his friends, he referred to the gunboats on the Mississippi as "Uncle Sam's web- feet," that went whither they chose. But, as yet, all this was unaccomplished. In pursuance of his programme, General U. S. Grant, then rising somewhat in the popular esteem, attacked and destroyed Belmont, a military depot of 322 Abraham Lincoln the Rebels, in Missouri; General Garfield defeated Humphrey Marshall at Middle Creek, Kentucky, and General George H. Thomas defeated Generals Zollikoff er and Crittenden at Mill Spring, in the same State. These victories did much to hem the Rebels within the lines of the so-called seceded States, and also crippled them much. This was followed up by the capture of Fort Henry, on the Tennessee, and Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland River. These streams, emptying into the Ohio River, were very necessary to help in military operations against the southwestern Rebel States. The forts were taken and the rivers cleared by General Grant, commanding the land forces, and Admiral Foote, in command of a fleet of ''Uncle Sam's web-feet." Fort Donelson was commanded by the Rebel Generals Buckner and Floyd, the latter being the same traitor who, as Secretary of War, had done his best to hamper the Government while he yet held office under President Buchanan. The Rebel generals asked Grant for a parley to settle terms of surrender. To this Grant replied: "No terms except unconditional surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately on your works." This gave Grant his popular title of "Unconditional Surrender Grant." The Rebels did not wait. Floyd, conscious of the darkness of his guilt, fled in the night with a small force. Buckner surrendered twelve thousand prisoners of war and much material for fighting. This was in February, 1862. Kentucky was now cleared of Rebels, and Tennessee was opened to the occupation of the Federal forces. Early in March, A Difficult Military Situation 3 2 3 Gen. S. R. Curtis -fought the battle of Pea Ridge, and the Union flag was once more floating in the State of Arkansas. A few days later, General John Pope moved down the valley of the Mississippi, and, by a series of successes, yet further broke the armed opposition to the progress of the Federal army and the gunboats. On the 6th of April, 1862, was fought the great and terrible battle of Shiloh, or Pittsburgh Landing, in which the carnage on both sides was awful, and many brave and distinguished officers, including General Albert Sidney Johnston, the Rebel commander, were killed. The defeated Rebels were sent flying to their fortified line at Cor- inth, Miss., where they were attacked by General Halleck, driven out, and compelled to retreat, leaving behind them, in their precipitate flight, a vast accu- mulation of military stores. Thus, by the end of May, 1862, the Rebels saw Missouri, Arkansas, Ken- tucky and Tennessee torn from their grasp, and the United States flag floating once more over these recovered States. That part of the programme which required the blockade and occupation of the Atlantic ports of the Rebel States was not overlooked meanwhile. During the months of March and April, 1862, Roanoke Is- land, N. C., was captured with great stores of arms and ammunition and many prisoners by Admiral Goldsborough and General Burnside. Newbern, N. C., fell next, and Fort Pulaski and Fort Macon, on the same coast-line, soon followed in surrender. In the autumn of 1861, an expedition under General B. F. Butler landed at Ship Island, in the Gulf of 324 Abraham Lincoln Mexico, about midway between New Orleans and Mobile. A f\eet of armed vessels tinder Admiral Farragut soon after arrived, and on the i yth of April Farragut appeared below the forts that guarded the approaches to the city of New Orleans. After bom- barding these, impregnable fortifications for several days, the gallant Admiral resolved to run past them. Making due and skilful preparations for the desperate undertaking, amid a storm of bombs and solid shot Farragut parsed the forts, and, destroying the Rebel fleet above them, ascended the Mississippi, and ap- peared before New Orleans, to the amazement and consternation of its people. Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana, next fell, and the surrender of Natchez, May i2th, opened the Mississippi as far north as Vicksburg, a city which, with its fortifica- tions, now remained almost the sole impediment to the free navigation of the Father of Waters. These events, here noted in the order of their happening, were scattered over several months in their occurrence. Grant fought the battle of Bel- mont in November, 1861. The Mississippi was open as far as Natchez about the middle of May, 1862. Many of the decisive important military and naval operations, therefore, were undertaken in the winter. But May, 1862, found McClellan still inactive before Washington. Is it any wonder that Lincoln, be- sieged as he was by importunities for aggressive movement by the Army of the Potomac, commanded by General McClellan, was greatly troubled by the sluggishness of that large and costly force? The General's headquarters were in the city of Washing- A Difficult Military Situation 325 ton, where he maintained great state, surrounded by a large and brilliant staff, many of whom were gentle- men of distinction, American and foreign. Here was all the show and parade of war, but no fighting. In Washington, too, were the politicians in great num- bers. The former successes of General McClellan had suggested to the minds of many that he would be available as a Presidential candidate, and it was not long before that idea was uppermost in the mind of the General himself. As he was conservative, and opposed to the policy of emancipation, then actively discussed everywhere, and was disposed to regard the institution of slavery as something too sacred to be interfered with or disregarded in the military operations then on foot, he was naturally the choice of the Democratic politicians. It was a long time before the mass of the people lost their faith in McClellan. He was to them still the " Young Napoleon" who had done so much in his earlier campaigns in western Virginia, and who, it was fondly believed, would march directly upon Richmond, when he should once determine to move. Meantime, he wanted many things to perfect his army. When these were furnished, he found that other imperfections were to be removed. People seemed to think that McClellan's inaction was due to the tardiness with which the Government sup- plied his necessary wants. Great was the popular discontent. It would appear that even the brilliant and highly important successes elsewhere availed nothing as long as no portentous movement was made upon Richmond. "On to Richmond!" was 326 Abraham Lincoln the cry of the Northern newspapers and of the politicians. Washington was the centre toward which the active elements of the war constantly tended. Sooner or later, it appeared, everybody went to Washington during the progress of the war. The national capital was not only a vast military camp, it was the place where offices were dispensed, where the friends of those in any of the armies, east or west, went for tidings of their kin, and to secure for these the promotions or the exchanges desired. The seat of government always attracts a prodigious concourse of people from every rank in life. Con- gressmen, ministers to foreign countries, newspaper correspondents, and the infinite variety of men who make and mould public opinion, all were there. These all, though representing every section of the loyal States, clamored for active operations by the vast army that was encamped just across the Potomac River, opposite Washington, and which filled the capital with its gayly uniformed officers, and with showy preparations for a movement that was unaccountably delayed. Lincoln was in frequent and anxious consultation with General McClellan and the other generals and military men gathered at the capital. Lincoln, with that insatiate desire to know all that man could know by hard study, read all the books on war and strategy that he could find, and speedily mastered all that these could teach him. Far into the night, when the ceaseless importunities of those who desired audience with him would allow him an hour or two of seclusion, he pored over books and maps, A Difficult Military Situation 3 2 7 plans of battles and sieges, slowly absorbing the details of military science, as he had, in earlier years in the backwoods, grasped the parts of the various knowledge that he had made his own. McClellan regarded all this with some contempt. He grew impatient of Lincoln's questioning, his suggestions, and his visits. For the President, anxious to avoid taking up too much of the time of the commander, refrained, as far as possible, from sending for the General to come to him. The President humbly went to the head-quarters of the General in Washing- ton. On one occasion, the great General denied him- self to the President on the plea that he was too busy with his staff to receive him; and the President, although he knew that the great man was taking his luncheon with his staff, and so secluded himself, showed no sign of anger or restiveness at this rebuff. With infinite patience, Lincoln did his best to silence criticism of McClellan, while he essayed by all means in his power to induce the General to move the army, that, like a vast holiday-making pageant, still ate and drank, marched to and fro, and maintained a brilliant show on the banks of the Potomac. The only sign of impatience that the President ever showed was once when, a movement seeming im- possible, he grimly said: "If General McClellan has no use for the Army of the Potomac, I should like to borrow it for a little while." Toward the latter part of January, 1862, Lincoln had issued an order specially intended to direct the movements of the Army of the Potomac, in which, among other things, the army was commanded to 328 Abraham Lincoln seize upon and occupy a point on the railroad south- west of Manassas Junction. The details of this movement were to be left to the judgment of the general commanding. To this McClellan demurred, and, in a long letter to the Secretary of War, he detailed his objections, the chief of which was that the roads would be bad at that season of year. He wished that the movement, if it were undertaken, should be by another route that by the lower Rap- pahannock, the base of supplies being at the small town of Urbana. Upon this line he could throw forward somewhere between one hundred and ten thousand and one hundred and forty thousand troops of various arms. In reply, the President ad- dressed a letter to McClellan, in which he said that he would gladly yield his own plan to that of the General if the latter would give a satisfactory answer to the following questions : "i. Does not your plan involve a greatly larger ex- penditure of time and money than mine? "2. Wherein is a victory more certain by your plan than mine? "3. Wherein is a victory more valuable by your plan than mine? "4. In fact, would it not be less valuable in this: that it would break no great line of the enemy's communica- tions, while mine would? "5. In case of disaster, would not a retreat be more difficult by your plan than mine?" This letter was ridiculed by some of the military critics, and the frequent use of the word "plan" was specially the butt of the small wits of the day, A Difficult Military Situation 3 2 9 who recalled Lincoln's use of the word "spot" in his speech on the President's message to Congress con- cerning the Mexican war, while Lincoln was in Con- gress, years before. But others were convinced that the good sense of the President was far more valuable than the masterly inactivity of General McClellan. The General again demurred, but his reply, addressed to the Secretary of War, and not to the President, was not satisfactory, and the President agreed to submit the two plans to a council of war, to consist of twelve general officers. The council decided, by a vote of eight to four, in favor of McClellan's plan, and Lincoln readily acquiesced. Information of these debates having reached the Rebels, they with- drew from Manassas to the farther side of the Rappa- hannock, thereby rendering both plans useless. By this time, two weeks had elapsed since the President's order directing a general advance of all the armies. After the enemy had abandoned his line at Ma- nassas, McClellan moved forward for a day or two, but almost immediately after returned to his in- trenched position at Alexandria, on the Potomac, near Washington. He found that every possible de- vice had been resorted to by the Rebels to exagger- ate their formidable appearance, while they remained at Centreville, near Manassas, wooden guns being among these appearances of defence on the outworks. A greatly inferior force had occupied the works all winter, while McClellan, distrustful of the enemy, had remained quiet on the banks of the Potomac. To add to Lincoln's trials and burthens, he was at this time visited by great domestic affliction. His 33 Abraham Lincoln two younger sons, Willie and Thomas (familiarly known as "Tad"), were stricken by disease. The younger of the two, "Tad," finally rallied and re- covered, but Willie, a bright and beautiful lad, about eleven years old, died, after a few days' illness. The blow was heavy and hard to bear. Lincoln's sorrowful vigil by the bedside of the dying boy was often interrupted that he might consider pressing military events. General McClellan was now in the field, and on the nth of March he was relieved from command of other departments of military activity, and was left in sole and immediate command of the Army of the Potomac, of which he said, in one of his famous bulletins : ' ' The Army of the Potomac is now a real army magnificent in material, admirable in dis- cipline, excellently equipped and armed. Your commanders are all that I could wish." The change of front by the Rebels made necessary a change of the base of operations of the Federal forces, and a council of war, held by direction of the President, decided that the new base should be at Fortress Monroe, at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. In the meantime, the fight between the iron-clad Rebel Merrimac and the Federal Monitor had taken place near Fortress Monroe, the former having been beaten back to Norfolk, where she had been built at the abandoned Federal navy-yard from the hull of a frigate. The new plan of operations proposed cer- tain conditions that should keep the Rebel ram in check. It also proposed that a force large enough to protect Washington should be left near Manassas. A Difficult Military Situation 331 A great fleet of transports was provided for Mc- Clellan to move his troops, in case any new base, or other change of plan, should be deemed necessary. There was much alarm felt in Washington as to the smallness of the force left for the defence of the national capital, but McClellan, in his anxiety to collect an immense army for his offensive operations, was not inclined to spare a larger force for defensive purposes. His immediate field of operations was on the peninsula formed by the York and James Rivers. The enemy were behind a line of intrenchments that stretched across the peninsula, the key of the situa- tion being Yorktown, on this line. McClellan unac- countably delayed any active operations against this line of defence. On the 3d of April, the President ordered the Secretary of War to direct McClellan to begin active operations ; but he demurred, and said to the President, in a letter dated on the $th of that month, that he was sure that the enemy was in large force in front of him, beh nd formidable works. He added: "I am of the opinion I shall have to fight all the available force of the Rebels not far from here." He wanted more men. Lincoln was overwhelmed and in despair at this delay, so inexplicable and apparently so inexcusable. He was confident that General McClellan exaggerated the strength of the force in front of him, and he besought Secretary Stanton to hurry forward every- thing that McClellan seemed to think needful to in- sure the safety of an advance of the Federal army. It afterwards transpired that the Rebel force was only about 9300 effective men. In a report sub- 33 2 Abraham Lincoln sequently made to the Richmond government, by the Rebel General Magruder, he said: "With five thousand men, exclusive of the garrisons, we stopped and held in check over one hundred thousand of the enemy. To my surprise, he [McClellan] permitted day after day to elapse without any assault. " The line held by the Rebels was about thirteen miles long. Much of the force behind that line was scattered to defend points in the rear. McClellan, with his one hundred thousand men, sat down deliberately and began, with shovels and picks, a regular siege. On the gth of April, 1862, Lincoln wrote him a letter full of kindly feeling, but remon- strating with him for his unaccountable reluctance to move. The following extracts will show the gentle- ness and admirable temper of the President: "I suppose the whole force which has gone forward to you is with you by this time, and if so, I think that it is the precise time for you to strike a blow. By delay, the enemy will relatively gain upon you that is, he will gain faster by fortifications and reinforcements than you can by reinforcements alone ; and once more let me tell you, it is indispensable to you that you strike a blow. I am powerless to help this. You will do me the justice to remember I always insisted that going down the bay in search of a field, instead of fighting near Manassas, was only shifting, not surmounting, the difficulty. . . . The country will not fail to note and it is now noting that the present hesitation to move upon an intrenched enemy is but the story of Manassas repeated. I beg to assure you I have never written ... in greater kindness, nor with a fuller purpose to sustain you, so far A Difficult Military Situation 333 as in my most anxious judgment I consistently can. But you must act." In answer to McClellan's importunate call for more troops, the President yielded and sent him General Franklin's division, which had been retained to defend the line between Richmond and Washington. So, on the i3th of April, McClellan's army, according to official reports, had 130,378 men, of whom 112,392 were effective. According to McClellan's letters to the War Department, he was now " confident of results," and was " getting up the heavy guns, mortars, and ammunition quite rapidly." Still he complained of "heavy rains and horrid roads," but he was "making progress all the time," and soon would "be at them." At this time, too, he called for Parrott guns, to the infinite consternation of the President, who wrote him, on the ist of May: "Your call for Parrott guns from Washington alarms me chiefly because it argues indefinite procrastination. Is anything to be done?" Nothing was done, and, on the 25th of May, Lin- coln telegraphed to McClellan : "I think the time is near at hand when you must either attack Richmond or give up the job, and come to the defence of Wash- ington." Meanwhile, the Rebels, disconcerted by the arrival of fresh troops, and beginning to fear an attack, abandoned their line across the peninsula and retreated up to their second line of works. On the 2ist of June, McClellan, from his camp in the field, wrote to the President, asking permission to address him on the subject of "the present state of military 334 Abraham Lincoln affairs throughout the whole country." The Presi- dent, with his unfailing good-nature, replied: "If it would not divert your time and attention from the army under your command, I should be glad to hear your views on the present state of military affairs throughout the whole country. " Another cause of disagreement between Lincoln and McClellan was the organization of the Army of the Potomac into corps. The corps were not of McClellan 's choosing. He applied to the Secretary of War for permission to suspend the organization and to reorganize them. It was well known that the three corps commanders, Sumner, Heintzelman, and Keyes, were not favorites with General McClellan. His plan of reorganization was to drop them out of their commands. On this point Lincoln wrote to McClellan, and, in a very frank and friendly letter, expressed his opinion of McClellan's new scheme. He said, among other things : " I ordered the army-corps organization not only on the unanimous opinion of twelve generals of division, but also on the unanimous opinion of every military man I could get an opinion from, and every modern military book, yourself only excepted. Of course, I did not, on my own judgment, pretend to understand the subject. I now think it indispensable for you to know how your struggle against it is regarded in quarters which we cannot entirely disregard. It is looked upon as merely an effort to pam- per one or two pets, and to persecute and degrade their supposed rivals. I have no word from Sumner, Heintzel- man, or Keyes. The commanders of these corps are, of course, the highest officers with you. But I am constantly A Difficult Military Situation 335 told that you have no consultation or communication with them, that you consult and communicate with nobody but Fitz John Porter, and perhaps General Frank- lin. I do not say that these complaints are true or just ; but, at all events, it is proper that you should know of their existence." After the receipt of this letter, McClellan decided not to make the change in the organization of the army which he had, up to that time, urged was very essential. He created two additional and "pro- visional" corps, one of which was to be commanded by Fitz John Porter and the other by Franklin, the two generals whom Lincoln had mentioned as "pets " to be pampered at the expense of their supposed rivals. It was during a brief sojourn at Fortress Monroe that an affecting incident then occurred. One day Lincoln, to beguile the tedium of waiting, took up a volume of his favorite, Shakespeare, and read aloud to General Wool's aide, Colonel Cannon, who chanced to be near him, several passages from Hamlet and Macbeth; then, after reading from the third act of King John, he closed the book and recalled the lament of Constance for her boy, begin- ning: " And, Father Cardinal, I have heard you say That we shall see and know our friends in heaven. If that be true, I shall see my boy again." ' The words, he said, had reminded him of the many times when, as in a vision, he seemed to see his lost 33 6 Abraham Lincoln boy near him; yet he knew the dream must fade. So saying, he bowed his face in his hands and silently wept. To go back a little in this chapter of military history, in which Lincoln was so deeply interested. On account of the Rebel occupation of Norfolk, and the dread of the Rebel ram Merrimac, lying there ready for a sortie at any time, the line of the James River was impracticable for Federal naval vessels. The capture of Norfolk and the destruction of the ram were indispensable. The President went to Fortress Monroe, and, after a consultation with General Wool, there commanding, an expedition was fitted out against Norfolk. As Lincoln subsequently related to General Garfield how this was an effectual movement, the account written by Garfield may as well be transcribed here : " By the way, Garfield, do you know that Chase, Stan- ton, General Wool, and I had a campaign of our own? We went down to Fortress Monroe in Chase's revenue cutter, and consulted with Admiral Goldsborough on the feasibility of taking Norfolk by landing on the north shore and making a march of eight miles. The Admiral said there was no landing on that shore, and we shcmkl have to double the cape, and approach the place from the south side, which would be a long journey and a difficult one. I asked him if he had ever tried to find a landing, and he replied that he had not. I then told him a story of a feV low in Illinois who had studied law, but had never tried a case. He was sued, and, not having confidence in his ability to manage his own case, employed a lawyer to manage it for him. He had only a confused idea of the A Difficult Military Situation 337 meaning of law terms, but was anxious to make a display of learning, and, on the trial, constantly made suggestions to his lawyer, who paid but little attention to him. At last, fearing that his lawyer was not handling the oppos- ing counsel very well, he lost all his patience, and springing to his feet cried out : * Why don't you go at him with a capias or a sur-rebutter or something, and not stand there like a confounded old nudumpactum ? ' 'Now, Admiral,' said I, 'if you don't know that there is no landing on the north shore, I want you to find out.' The Admiral took the hint ; and taking Chase and Wool along, with a corn- pa ny or two of marines, he went on a voyage of discovery, and Stanton and I remained at Fortress Monroe. That night we went to bed, but not to sleep, for we were very anxious for the fate of the expedition. About two o'clock the next morning I heard the heavy tread of Wool ascend- ing the stairs. I went out into the parlor and found Stanton hugging Wool in the most enthusiastic manner, as he announced that he had found a landing and had captured Norfolk:" The greater part of the month of June, 1862, was spent by the army under McClellan in fighting, ad- vancing, retreating, and in various manoeuvres not readily understood, even at this distance of time. At one time a portion of the troops was within four miles of Richmond without meeting any considerable force of the enemy. The Rebels had sent reinforce- ments to that part of their army that was threatening Washington, and, alarmed by these demonstrations on the peninsula, they began to collect troops to worry McClellan, whose failure to attempt any seri- ous attack was to them inexplicable. On the 2;th of June he announced his intention to retreat to 338 Abraham Lincoln the James River, and, in an extraordinary letter to the Secretary of War, he said: "If I save this army, I tell you plainly I owe you no thanks, nor to any one at Washington. You have done your best to destroy this army." Lincoln was greatly disturbed by the insulting and unjust tone of this despatch. It was a severe tax on his patience to be told by a subordinate officer that he, the President, who had strained all the resources at his command to meet the demands of McClellan, had virtually done nothing for the Army of the Potomac. The army, harassed by the Rebel forces hanging on its rear, and occasionally turning at bay, retreated to Malvern Hill, and the ignoble campaign of the peninsula was over. By this time it had been understood by the politi- cians of the Northern States that McClellan was the candidate of that portion of the Democratic party which was dissatisfied with the war and with the emancipation measures then under contemplation. Accordingly, on the yth of July, writing to the President from Harrison's Landing, McClellan ad- dressed Lincoln at great length, not on the general conduct of the war, but upon the general conduct of the administration. It should be borne in mind that McClellan was yet a young man, not thirty-seven years of age. Excepting his brief and spirited cam- paign in western Virginia, he had had no active military experience, but, as a civil and military engineer, he had seen service. He had had very little to do with politics or statesmanship, and had gained his highest renown as the president of a rail- A Difficult Military Situation 339 road corporation before the war began. But he had now the temerity to offer advice and instruction to President Lincoln and his Cabinet, and to solve, in his camp on the James, problems in statecraft that seemed to the wisest men in the world almost im- possible of solution. To Lincoln he said : "Let neither military disaster, political faction, nor foreign war shake your settled purpose to enforce the equal operation of the laws upon the people of every State." Then, after ad- vising him as to the conduct of the war, the General said: "Neither confiscation of property, political executions of persons, territorial organizations of States, or forcible abolition of slavery should be contemplated for one moment." Then, as if by way of threat, he said that unless his views "should be made known and approved, the effort to obtain the requisite forces will be almost hopeless. A declara- tion of radical views, especially upon slavery, will rapidly disintegrate our present armies." This amazing communication, addressed to the President from a general who had just shown his in- competence to command an army engaged in offen- sive operations, did not anger the patient and much-enduring President. He was discouraged and profoundly depressed. Possibly he would have- re- moved McClellan at this time, as he was importuned to do by many who reflected the impatience of the whole country at the dilatoriness that had char- acterized the operations against the Rebel capital and its lines of communication. In order to see for him- self what was the condition of the army, Lincoln 34 Abraham Lincoln visited the head-quarters of General McClellan at Harrison's Landing, on the 7th of July. Guided by the General, he examined the rosters of the troops, the reports of the chiefs of divisions, and the records which showed the effectiveness of the forces under the command of General McClellan. It was the President's judgment that the army should be recalled to Washington, and in this conclusion he was supported by the corps commanders. To this McClellan was opposed. He was unwilling to aban- don the campaign so auspiciously begun and so ignobly concluded. He wanted Burnside's army, then operating in North Carolina, sent to him ; and, with large reinforcements, he was confident of achieving success, although it was now evident that he had failed more than once to take advantage of the chances offered him to assault Richmond on this line of attack. Returning to Washington, and calling for the records of the War Department that showed the number of troops sent to McClellan in answer to his importunate demands, Lincoln found that McClellan had had one hundred and sixty thousand men with him. He wrote to the General reminding him of this fact, and of the other fact that when he visited the General, a few days before, he found that there were only eighty-six thousand effective men on duty. Making liberal allowance for death by disease and in battle, and for the sick and wounded, fifty thousand men yet remained to be accounted for. Where were these fifty thousand? In reply, McClellan said 38,250 men were absent "by authority." And yet A Difficult Military Situation 341 McClellan complained of his lack of men, and of the failure to give him the army of Burnside, or .of some other general, operating in other and more distant parts of the Republic. Lincoln felt the need of a military adviser who should be always at hand and readily accessible. The successes of the generals in the western part of the Republic, contrasting as they did with the humiliating failures of the campaigns around Wash- ington and in Virginia, suggested the designation of some one of these men to the post to be created. General H. W. Halleck accordingly was called to Washington, on the nth of July, with the rank and title of General-in-Chief. Another Western general called to the East was General John Pope, whose suc- cesses in the valley of the Mississippi had given him fame. General Pope took command of a new military organization of three army corps commanded by Generals Fr6mont, Banks, and McDowell. This was known as the Army of Virginia, and its creation was naturally regarded by McClellan and his partisans with jealousy, a jealousy that was heightened by an intemperate and indiscreet address issued by Pope on taking command. In this address, Pope assumed a tone of confidence and boasting that was appar- ently designed to contrast the deeds he proposed to do with the failures of the Army of the Potomac. This aroused an intense and bitter hostility among the offi- cers of the Army of the Potomac, and greatly vexed and disappointed Lincoln, who, from that moment, was apprehensive that Pope would raise up enemies against himself and impair his usefulness as a soldier. 34 2 Abraham Lincoln On the 28th of June, 1862, there assembled at Altoona, Penn., the famous conference of loyal governors. It was a meeting of the governors of seventeen States to confer on the best means for supporting the President in carrying on the war. They united in an address to the President, assuring him of the readiness of the States to respond to calls for more troops, and to support the most vigorous measures for carrying on the war. Thereupon the President issued a call for three hundred thousand men. Notwithstanding defeats and reverses, delays and sluggishness, the spirit of the country was un- broken. It was felt that this was a struggle for life or death. Pope's command, numbering thirty-eight thousand men, was employed to defend Washington, against which point Lee was now advancing with a large force of the Rebels. Pope was also to hold the valley of the Shenandoah, in which active and aggressive squadrons of Rebel cavalry were manoeuvring. If McClellan now made a bold attack on Richmond from his position on the James, Lee's attention would be diverted from Pope, and keep him on the defensive. But McClellan, it was evident, could not be expected to execute any such movement. The Army of the Potomac was, accordingly, ordered to the line of the Potomac, to support Pope. The situation was full of peril. Lee's army was being massed to crush Pope, before he could be reinforced by McClellan, whose forces were in Virginia, farther from Washing- ton than were Lee's. McClellan was repeatedly ordered to make haste. He delayed and dallied, as A Difficult Military Situation 343 if sullen and unwilling to obey orders. On the of July he was ordered to send away his sick and pre- pare for his return to the Potomac. He waited, and on the 3d of August he was directed to move his army to Acquia Creek, a small stream emptying into the Potomac below Washington. He remonstrated and said he would obey "as soon as circumstances would permit." Again, on the gth of the month, General Halleck, at the direction of the President, admon- ished McClellan of the dangers that menaced Pope, and told him that he must move with all possible celerity. Next day Halleck telegraphed McClellan that the Rebels had crossed the Rapidan and were attacking Pope; and he added: " There must be no further delay in your movements." Still the tardy and slow-moving McClellan did not respond. Fi- nally, on the 23d of August, he sailed from Fortress Monroe, arriving at Acquia Creek on the following day, and at Alexandria on the Potomac on the 27th, nearly one month after receiving his orders. Meanwhile, Pope was being driven towards Wash- ington, assailed in turn by the Rebel forces under Jackson, Longstreet, and Lee. Not one of McClel- lan's trusted and favorite lieutenants came to Pope's relief, although they were within supporting dis- tance. Fitz John Porter heard the guns of the hardly pressed Pope, as well as those of the Rebel army assailing him ; he knew the desperate condition of the Army of Virginia. He refused to go to its relief. For this he was tried by a military court, found guilty, and sentenced to be dismissed from the army. The President approved this sentence. 344 Abraham Lincoln Pope was driven back upon Washington. His humiliation was complete. The army was torn by dissensions and cabals. Party spirit ran high, not only in Congress and in the country, but in the camps around Washington and in Virginia. In the field were disaster and defeat; in the Cabinet, divided counsels; and in Congress, virulent and heated de- bate, and a growing opposition to the war, with, now and again, a recommendation that terms for peace be offered to the Rebel Government. It was a dark and gloomy time. Lincoln, alone in his sublime trust in God and in the righteousness of the cause of the Federal Union, did not hesitate to manifest his unshaken belief in the ultimate triumph of the Federal arms and in the power of the people to quell the slaveholders' rebellion. Men who listened to him, in those days of peril, went away marvelling at his patience, fortitude, and courage. Once more McClellan had an opportunity offered him to achieve a great success. Yielding to what seemed a military necessity, Lincoln placed him at the head of a newly reorganized army. He now had under him the Army of the Potomac, the remnants of Pope's Army of Virginia, and the forces brought from North Carolina by General Burnside. To these were added reinforcements from the raw levies, making the force under McClellan the largest that had ever been massed together in one army more than two hundred thousand, all told. If ever "the young Napoleon" was to win laurels, this was his time and opportunity. But he seemed impatient and discontented that any troops should be under A Difficult Military Situation 345 a command separate from his own. He wished that the force retained in the defence of Washington should be sent to him, saying that the capture of Washington would not be so great a calamity to the country as a single defeat of the Army of the Potomac. He asked that the twelve thousand troops holding Harper's Ferry should be sent to him, and when told that if he would open communications with that point, Harper's Ferry would be included in his com- mand, he failed to take the necessary steps, although he knew that a Rebel force was marching against Harper's Ferry. He delayed, dicl not seize the pre- cious opportunity to strike at Lee's army while it was divided, and did not relieve Harper's Ferry, which, on the i$th of September, surrendered to the Rebels. Lee, meantime, was advancing into Maryland, and it became absolutely imperative that he should be checked. McClellan, finally roused, but one day too late, attacked Lee, and the bloody battle of Antie- tam was fought, September lyth. The Rebels were thoroughly whipped, and began a sullen retreat across the Potomac. It would appear that Mc- Clellan might have followed, one entire corps of his army not having been in the fight. But he remained where he was, and called for more reinforcements. This amazing demand, following the delay to move, alarmed the President, and he made a personal visit to the army to see for himself how affairs stood. On his return to Washington he issued an order, dated October 6, 1862, through General Halleck, directing McClellan to "cross the Potomac and give battle to 346 Abraham Lincoln the enemy or drive him south." This order McClel- lan declined to obey. On the loth of that month, J. E. B. Stuart, a dashing Rebel cavalry officer, crossed the Potomac, going as far north as Cham- bersburg, Penn., which he raided, and made the en- tire circuit of McClellan's army before he recrossed into Virginia. A few days after this daring exploit, which McClel- lan had confidently predicted would end in his " bagging" the whole of Stuart's command, Lincoln wrote a long and friendly letter to McClellan, in which he begged for a forward movement, arguing the case from a military point of view with much acuteness. Still McClellan did not move. He com- plained that his horses were fatigued and had the sore tongue. Lincoln could not help asking what his cavalry had done since the battle of Antietam, fought more than a month before, that they should be fatigued. McClellan showed that he resented this home thrust, and Lincoln, ready to plead his own desire to be exactly just, wrote to the General to say that he was very sorry if he had done the General any injustice. He added, however: "To be told, after five weeks' total inactivity of the army, and during which period we had sent to that army every fresh horse we possibly could, amounting in the whole to 7918, that the cavalry horses were too much fatigued to move, presented a cheerless, almost hope- less; prospect for the future." It may be added to this that the winter was now close at hand, when ac- tive operations in the field, always difficult, would be impossible under McClellan's command. A Difficult Military Situation 347 Finally, on the 5th of November, 1862, just one month after the order to cross had been issued, the army did cross the Potomac. By this time, of course, the Rebels, recovering from their defeat at Antietam, were ready for battle or for a retreat. It was too late. General McClellan was relieved from command of the Army of the Potomac on the 5th of November, and was ordered to Trenton, New Jersey. His military career was closed, and we hear no more of him until he emerged, in 1864, as the Presidential candidate of the Democratic party. This long and interesting chapter of military history is valuable as showing forth th patience, forbearance, and sagacity of Lincoln. Again and again, he was urged by the impatient and fiery spirits around him to remove McClellan, and subject him to trial by court- martial for disobedience of orders. Even those who did not advise these extreme measures with the Gen- eral, counselled the President to withdraw McClellan from command. But Lincoln knew that many of the subordinate commanders in the Army of the Potomac were warm champions of McClellan's military genius, believers in his mysterious power to win great victo- ries. They would support any other commander with lukewarmness, if they supported him at all. There was no such rigid and severe discipline in the Union army as exists in the military organizations of Eu- ropean states. Military councils were something in the nature of condensed town meetings. The rank and file maintained an exchange of sentiment and judgment that corresponded exactly to the public opinion of towns, cities, and other communities. The 348 Abraham Lincoln country was slow to give up its faith in the young General, who, in the very opening of the war, achieved military successes in western Virginia and won for himself a name before other men had had a chance to distinguish themselves. Lincoln was reluctant to rouse animosities and harsh judgments by a removal of McClellan while he yet had a chance to retrieve himself. He remained to encourage popular and military confidence. It was not until McClellan had, so to speak, worn out his reputation, that he was removed. CHAPTER XXIII. THE TURNING OF THE TIDE. The Battle of Fredericksburg Rise of the Peace Party Factions in Congress The Battle of Chancellorsville A Conscription Ordered and Martial Law Declared Colored Troops Enlisted Great Financial Measures Afoot Vallandigham's Expulsion and Re- turn Growth of the Anti-War Sentiment Fall of Vicksburg and Battle of Gettysburg Popular Rejoicings The President's Pro- clamation of Thanksgiving Draft Riots in New York Lincoln's Address on the Field of Gettysburg Grant and Sherman in the West. AMBROSE E. BURNSIDE succeeded McClellan as commander of the Army of the Potomac. General Burnside was a graduate of the United States Military Academy, but had been, like his predecessor, engaged in other pursuits than that of the military service, before the beginning of the war of the Rebellion. He was " every inch a soldier'* in appearance, of fine figure and address, amiable, loyal, and patriotic. He undertook the command of the army with many misgivings. McClellan 's favorite generals, it was probable, would not support him with cordiality, and, although he had proved his ability while handling a corps, as at the battle of Antietam, he took command of the Army of the Potomac with diffidence. Assuring himself, as far as he was able, of the co-operation of his comrades in arms, he as- sumed command, after much persuasion, on the of November, just at the beginning of winter. 349 350 Abraham Lincoln At the outset, there was a disagreement between Burnside, Halleck, and Lincoln as to the best line of attack upon the Rebel forces. Burnside's plan was to make a sudden and aggressive movement towards Richmond by the way of Fredericksburg, on the Rappahannock. Halleck preferred the line reaching through Gordonsville, farther to the west. Lincoln was asked to decide between the two. Inclined as he was to defer to the judgment of the general who was to conduct the movement, he favored Burnside's plan. Accordingly, he went over the situation in council with Halleck, and then wrote to Burnside that Halleck approved the Fredericksburg route, provided Burnside should move with rapidity. Other- wise, he was sure that that route would not be the best. Burnside's army was directed towards Fred- ericksburg, but, owing to a delay in furnishing him with the pontoons required for crossing the river, Lee was able to occupy and fortify the heights above the city, and before Burnside was ready to put in his pontoon bridges, he was confronted with Lee's con- centrated army. Burnside arrived at Falmouth, on the northern side of the Rappahannock, November igth; his pontoons did not arrive until the 25th. The attack was made, in the face of difficulties almost hopeless to overcome, on the i5th of December. Lee occupied the heights above Fredericksburg, his artil- lery commanding every approach from the opposite side of the river. The assault was made, however, and, as many despondent military critics had pre- dicted, the Army of the Potomac was repulsed with frightful slaughter. It was a great disaster. Wash- The Turning of the Tide 351 ington was filled with the wounded who were brought up from the base at Acquia Creek, on the Potomac, and the hospitals, that now occupied churches and other public buildings at the capital, were crowded with the wounded and the dying. Congress was in session, and the politicians of both sides were alert to take advantage of this military reverse to press their several policies upon the attention of the President, Congress, and the country. The year closed in gloom. The Rebels had suc- ceeded in scaring McClellan from Richmond, although he had been within a few miles of the Rebel capital at one time. They had inflicted a severe blow upon the Army of the Potomac under Burnside ; previous to which they had, so to speak, whipped Pope in detail while he was left to struggle against a superior force, his own army being unsupported and brought up in sections to the slaughter. Stonewall Jackson had swept the valley of the Shenandoah, eluding Mc- Dowell and Fremont and driving Banks across the Potomac. Nor was the military situation in the West much more hopeful. Buell had been forced back in Kentucky, and the Rebel General Bragg had entered that State and a provisional Rebel govern- ment had been organized at Frankfort, the capital of Kentucky, an event that was designed to encourage the Rebel element in the border States and the anti- Union element in the North, heretofore somewhat kept under. The cities of Louisville, Kentucky, and Cincinnati, Ohio, were menaced, and it was found needful to fortify them. At the end of December the combined Union forces under Generals Sherman 35 2 Abraham Lincoln and McClernand made a vigorous assault upon the defences of Vicksburg, that city still holding the Mississippi for the Rebels, but were repulsed with much loss. A solitary gleam of light flashed up on the closing of the year, when Rosecrans fought the battle of Stone River, in which the Rebels were de- feated with great loss, but were able, under General Bragg, to retreat to the southward. Meanwhile, the party that hoped for peace on some other terms than those of the overthrow and punish- ment of the Rebels had been gaining ground. When the military successes of the Union cause were pro- nounced, these men kept silence. As soon as the tide of war went with the Rebels, the clamor for a cessation of hostilities and an ending of the sacrifice of life in battle grew loud. Lincoln was besieged, on the one hand, with demands for the reinstatement of McClel- lan and a more vigorous prosecution of the war, and on the other with importunities for an armistice, or truce, during which negotiations for a settlement should be carried on. There was another class who, while calling for more vigorous tactics on the part of the administration, were eager for a change of gen- erals. Among others, General Banks was repre- sented to be the favorite for whom the Army of the Potomac was anxiously waiting. The Peace Demo- crats, as they were called, grew more and more im- portunate for some attempt at settlement that should include leaving undisturbed the peculiar institution, slavery. An interesting correspondence between Lincoln and Fernando Wood, Mayor of New York, took The Turning of the Tide 353 place toward the end of 1862. This was the same Wood who, when Lincoln was first chosen President, had advocated the erection of New York into a free city and its neutrality as a belligerent. He now informed Lincoln that he was credibly informed that the Southern States would send representatives to Congress and resume their old-time relations, pro- vided a full and general amnesty were proclaimed. In his reply, Lincoln said that he strongly suspected that Mr. Wood's information would prove to be without foundation. " Nevertheless," he said, " I thank you for communicat- ing it to me. Understanding the phrase in the paragraph quoted, 'the Southern States would send representatives to the next Congress,' to be substantially the same as that ' the people of the Southern States would cease resistance, and would reinaugurate, submit to, and maintain the national authority, within the limits of such States, under the Constitution of the United States,' I say that in such case the war would cease on the part of the United States, and that if, within a reasonable time, a full and general amnesty were necessary to such an end, it would not be withheld." Wood had quoted from Lincoln's inaugural ad- dress and to this had added many arguments and protestations of the alleged loyal purposes and inten- tions of the Southern people. Lincoln passed by all these, and, returning to the phrases quoted by Wood from the inaugural, as above, gave these as the only reasonable basis on which any hope of an amnesty could be founded. Lincoln thought, and said, 23. 354 Abraham Lincoln that an amnesty would be forthcoming when the Rebels should cease to resist the Federal authority, not before. Wood urged that Lincoln ought to verify, if possible, the statement that the Rebels were ready to consider terms of adjustment and peace. This could only be done by opening a cor- respondence with the Southern leaders. Meantime, military operations must cease. To this Lincoln had but one reply: it was not the time to stop military operations for the purpose of opening negotiations. Here the correspondence ended. But the insistence of the Peace Democrats did not end here. With varying arguments and in various keys, they con- tinued to demand a cessation of hostilities, even until the end of the war. Congress was divided into factions. The Cabinet was not wholly harmonious. The loyal press of the country was bitter and arrogant in its criticisms of the administration. Mr. Greeley declared in favor of foreign intervention, and, in private conversations, reported to the President, deplored the fact that his favorite statesman, Secretary Chase, had not been placed at the head of the Army of the Potomac long before. In the army there were mutterings of dis- content. General Hooker openly derided Burnside as "a butcher," and declared that he had fought the battle of Fredericksburg on his "deportment." Others of the army began to say that the country needed a dictator, a military hero. An old officer of the army was arrested for saying publicly that the Army of the Potomac, with "little Mac" at its head, should "clean out Congress and the White House." The Turning of the Tide 355 In the midst of these disquieting and depressing scenes and rumors, Lincoln alone was calm, resolute, and uncomplaining. He never for an instant re- laxed his efforts to push the war ; never faltered even in the face of what seemed inevitable defeat. To a sympathizing friend who asked how he was getting on with the prosecution of the war, he sadly and grimly said: "Oh, I am just pegging away." And, long after, when the war was wellnigh over, and another friend congratulated him on his pluck and endur- ance in sticking to the work when all seemed hopeless, he said: " Well, there was nothing else to be done." On the 26th of January, 1863, Lincoln wrote to General Hooker the following characteristic letter : " EXECUTIVE MANSION, "WASHINGTON, D. C., January 26, 1863. "Major-General Hooker. " GENERAL: I have placed you at the head of the Army of the Potomac. Of course I have done this upon what appear to me to be sufficient reasons, and yet I think it best for you to know that there are some things in regard to which I am not satisfied with you. I believe you to be a brave and skilful soldier, which of course I like. I also believe that you do not mix politics with your profession, in which you are right. You have confidence in yourself, which is a valuable, if not indispensable quality. You are ambitious, which, within reasonable bounds, does good rather than harm ; but I think that during General Burnside's command of the army you have taken counsel of your ambition and thwarted him as much as you could, in which you did a great wrong to the country and to a most meritorious and honorable brother officer, I have 35 6 Abraham Lincoln 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 the command. Only those generals who gain success can be dictators. What I now ask of you is military success, and I will risk the dictatorship. The Government will support you to the utmost of its ability, which is neither more nor less than it has done and will do for all commanders. I much fear that the spirit which you have aided to infuse into the army, of criticising their commander and withholding confidence from him, will now turn upon you. I shall assist you as far as I can to put it down. Neither you nor Napoleon, if he were alive again, could get any good out of an army while such a spirit prevails in it. And now, beware of rashness. Beware of rashness, but, with energy and sleepless vigilance, go forward and give us victories. " Yours, very truly, "A. LINCOLN/* It must be said that this brotherly and almost affectionate letter, while it was appreciated by its recipient, did not strike him as being particularly pertinent and well-deserved. Just before the battle of Chancellors ville, while Lincoln and a few personal friends were at the head-quarters of the Army of the Potomac on a visit, General Hooker said to one of the party, in the privacy of his tent, late at night: "I suppose you have seen this letter, or a copy of it?" The gentleman replied that he had, and Hooker, with that magnificent air that characterized him, said: 11 After I have been to Richmond I shall have the letter published in the newspapers. It will be amus- The Turning of the Tide 357 ing.'* When this was told to Lincoln, he said, with a sigh: "Poor Hooker! I am afraid he is incor- rigible." During the visit above referred to, the Army of the Potomac was reported to be ready for immediate action. The rosters examined by the President showed 216,718 men on the rolls, of whom 16,000 were on detached service; 136,720 were in active duty, 1771 absent without authority, 26,000 sick, and the actual effective force was 146,000, which number could be increased at any time to 169,000 by calling in the men from outlying stations. The reviews held during the President's stay, which lasted for a whole week, were the last that were had before the battle of Chancellors ville, which was begun late in April. During the reviews the President rode everywhere with General Hooker and his staff, ac- companied by little Tad, his youngest son, who, attended by an orderly, hung on the flanks of the brilliant cavalcade, his gray cloak fluttering in the wind. Often Lincoln turned his face anxiously in the direction of the lad's flight, for the youngster was a fearless rider. The battle of Chancellorsville was another and yet more crushing disaster. Up to a certain point, all went well with the army; but, that being reached, the plan of campaign seemed to crumble, and nothing further was done. There was some delay in return- ing the army to the north bank of the Rappahannock after the repulse that nearly had ended the campaign. No news reached Washington, and an expectation that Hooker would even yet retrieve the admitted 358 Abraham Lincoln disaster was entertained. Lincoln clung desperately to this hope. But, after vainly seeking for informa- tion from the army, Lincoln received, early in the afternoon of May 6th, a despatch from General But- terfield, Hooker's Chief of Staff, announcing that the Army of the Potomac had safely recrossed the Rap- pahannock and was then encamped on its old ground. The President seemed stunned. Taking the despatch in his hand, he passed into another room in the White House, where were two of his intimate friends who had been with him during the recent inspection of the army, and handing it to one of them, he said, by a motion of his lips, "Read it." It was read aloud, and Lincoln, his face ashy gray in hue and his eyes streaming with tears, finally ejaculated: "My God! my God! What will the country say? What will the country say?" He refused to be comforted, for his grief was great. Within an hour, amidst a pouring rain, Lincoln, accompanied by General Halleck, took a small steamer from the Washington navy-yard and was on his way to the army, by the way of Acquia Creek. The wildest rumors flew around the capital; the most credible being that the Secretary of War had resigned, and the President had gone to the front to put Halleck in command. Neither of these things were true; and, as soon as the torn and bleeding Army of the Potomac could be reinforced and re- cruited, it was once more put on a fighting basis. But, for a time, the losses sustained by the Union army, about ten thousand in all, and the disappoint- ment endured by the country, seemed to plunge every The Turning of the Tide 359 loyal element into the deepest gloom, both in the camps and in the towns. It was necessary that stringent measures for the calling out of the available forces of the United States should be taken. A law authorizing a conscription or draft was enacted, being bitterly opposed by the Democrats in Congress. Acting under the provision of the Constitution permitting it, the President suspended the privileges of the writ of habeas corpus, by which the citizen deprived of his liberty could appeal to the courts for an examination into his case. The President, under the same authority, also pro- claimed martial law, under which any offender against the peace and dignity of the United States could be tried and condemned by a court-martial, without the privilege of appealing to the civil courts. These acts, severely criticised at the time, were justified by what are called the war powers of the President of the United States, under the Constitu- tion. Conscription was expected to fill up the armies. Martial law was to arrest and hold mischievous and traitorous persons engaged in obstructing the draft, or otherwise interfering with the operations of the Government. The suspension of the privileges of the writ of habeas corpus made martial law practi- cable. The confiscation of Rebel property, author- ized by Congress, crippled the resources of the Rebels, particularly on the border, and kept in check their sympathizers in the border States. Another im- portant act was the authorizing of the enlistment of negro troops. All of these measures were stead- fastly opposed by those who had opposed the war. 360 Abraham Lincoln The arming of the ex-slaves, and putting upon them the uniform of the United States, was greeted with a cry of rage and execration, North and South. It was not until, somewhat later on, it was found that black men were eligible as substitutes for white men drafted to military service, that the clamor against arming the blacks subsided. From first to last, the number of negro troops enlisted in the war was Among the measures passed by Congress about this time was one authorizing the Secretary of the Treas- ury to borrow money to carry on the war. The total amount which he was given leave to raise on the obligations of the Government of the United States was nine hundred millions of dollars. The bonds were to bear six per cent, interest, and to be redeemed in not less than ten years nor more than forty years. To meet the pressing exigencies of the times, much money being due to the soldiers and sailors, the Secretary was authorized to issue one hundred millions of dollars in United States treasury notes. When the President signed this measure, which he did promptly, he sent to Congress a message in which he expressed his regret that so large an amount of paper money was found needful to be issued. He had already recommended the formation of national banks, with a uniform currency, based on United States bonds, to be deposited by the banks with the treasury of the United States. These and other financial measures were regarded with grave concern by many able financiers. The finances of the country were in a disordered condition. Silver and The Turning of the Tide 361 gold had disappeared from circulation. Even the small change needed in the every-day transactions of the people was now of paper. At first, postage stamps were used for small change, and the word "stamps" was universally used to express the idea of money, in amounts large or small. The fractional notes subsequently issued by the Treasury Depart- ment were popularly called "shin-plasters," and the opponents of the war, who had now also become opponents and enemies of the public credit, took every opportunity to weaken the faith of the people in the circulation of Government paper and excite derision concerning these issues. The prices of everything that entered into the daily uses of the people had greatly increased, so that the cost of living had gone far above real values. Artful politicians fanned the flames of popular dis- content, and every imaginable or real ill was charged to the account of the war. Even the law permitting drafted men to hire substitutes, or escape military service by paying an exemption fine of three hun- dred dollars, was assailed as a provision for the benefit of the rich and the oppression of the poor. In this way agitation against the war was sedulously recommenced, and meetings, some of them violent and almost treasonable in tone, were held in various parts of the country. In the Western States there were formed secret societies for the propagation of seditious doctrines and the encouragement of those who were prepared to resist the Government. Some of these organizations were reputed to hold corre- spondence with the Rebels, and to lend them aid and 362 Abraham Lincoln comfort. Altogether the times were critical. Every man suspected his neighbor's loyalty. One of the most violent and vituperative of these opponents of the war was Clement L. Vallandigham, a Representative in Congress from Ohio. In Congress he had steadily and ardently opposed every measure designed to strengthen the hands of the President and other officers of the Government in the prosecu- tion of the war, and had introduced resolutions of censure directed at the President, on which he had made bitter and excited speeches designed to sow dissension and foment popular discontent. He especially aimed to weaken the Government by dis- couraging enlistments, and excite in the minds of the people, and of the men already in the army, the notion that the war and all the operations of the Government pertaining to it were illegal, unconstitu- tional and wrong. General Burnside, commanding the military de- partment in which the State of Ohio was included, issued an order in which he gave notice that there- after all persons within his lines who should be guilty of acts designed to assist the enemy would be arrested as traitors and spies, tried, and, if convicted, be put to death. Vallandigham immediately de- nounced this order in a flaming speech, in which he called upon the people to resist. He was arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to be confined in some fortress of the United States, to be designated by General Burnside, who named Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, as the place of imprisonment. The President was besieged by men who remonstrated The Turning of the Tide 363 against what they stigmatized as an act of outrageous tyranny. The incident excited much interest and debate all over the country. Lincoln, it was very well understood, would not have originated any such prosecution as that which had now resulted in the placing of Vallandigham in the light of a hero and a martyr. He changed the penalty to an expulsion through the Union lines into the Rebel States. This sentence was carried out and Vallandigham was sent to the Rebel outposts under a guard and flag of truce. Received hospitably by his friends the Rebels, Val- landigham was given a safe-conduct through the Confederacy, and soon appeared in Canada, then a safe refuge for all sorts of fugitives and suspects. Meanwhile, meetings to denounce the expulsion of Vallandigham had been held in various towns and cities, and Lincoln was presented with sundry remonstrances by committees of these gatherings. The Democrats of Ohio nominated Vallandigham for Governor of that State, and sent a deputation to wait on the President to demand a recall of their missing candidate. To this deputation Lincoln said : "Your own attitude encourages desertion, resistance to the draft, and the like, because it teaches those who incline to desert and to escape the draft to believe it is your purpose to protect them." More- over, he told the deputation that his treatment of Vallandigham was "for prevention, not for punish- ment; an injunction to stay an injury"; and he in- timated that his modification of General Burnside's order was a more agreeable way, at least to Mr. Vallandigham, to stay the injury contemplated than 364 Abraham Lincoln imprisonment would have been. Replying to another appeal, in which it was intimated that his reasons for the " persecution" of Vallandigham were selfish, he said that Vallandigham was not arrested because he was likely to damage the political prospects of the administration, but " because he was damaging the army, upon the existence and vigor of which the life of the nation depends." And he added: "Must I shoot a simple-minded soldier boy who deserts, while I must not touch a hair of the wily 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." In course of time, Vallandigham came secretly back to the United States, and soon began to vapor prodigiously as to what he would do if again arrested. By that time, however, his power for mischief was lessened on account of the better condition of public sentiment. Meanwhile, his party had been defeated in Ohio by the phenomenal majority of one hundred thousand for the Republican candidate. The Gov- ernment took no further notice of Vallandigham, and he speedily sank into obscurity. The turning-point in the military history of the re- bellion came during the month of July, 1863. In that month fell Vicksburg, thus opening the Missis- sippi River ; and in that month was fought the bat- tle of Gettysburg, by which the last frantic effort to invade the North was frustrated and an irreparable damage inflicted upon the Rebel cause. Grant had begun, by the end of 1862, to attract the attention of loyal men throughout the Union as The Turning of the Tide 3 6 5 the possible " coming man," for whom all patriots had been looking to lead our armies to victory. Detraction was speedily on his trail, and there were those who sought to destroy him with slander. Some said that his habits were intemperate, to which Lincoln sarcastically said that, if intoxication gave him ability to win such victories as he had accom- plished, he would send some of the same sort of liquor to other generals of the Union army. The outlook was discouraging when, in February, 1863, Grant took command before Vicksburg with the intention of capturing the city. After due preparation, Grant's fleet of gunboats, above Vicksburg, ran the gauntlet of the Rebel batteries, receiving a fire that was terrific. But the fleet succeeded in reaching a point below the city, where a junction was effected with the Union troops that had been marched down by land on the opposite side of the river. The campaign resulted, first, in a complete investment of the city of Vicks- burg, and finally, July 4, 1863, in the surrender of the place, with a large force and ammunition for sixty thousand men. The country was electrified by the announcement of this long-hoped-for victory. The Father of Waters now flowed un vexed to the sea. The Rebel Confederacy was split in twain. Words cannot describe the flame of excitement, the wave of tumultuous joy, that swept through the loyal North when it was known that Vicksburg, the so-called impregnable Gibraltar of the West, had fallen at last. Bells were rung, fireworks lighted, and bonfires set blazing on the hills of the joyful Western States, so long deprived of a natural outlet 366 Abraham Lincoln to the Gulf of Mexico; and everywhere men con- gratulated themselves that the end of the war might soon be seen. In a glow of generous gratitude to Grant for his magnificent services to the country, Lincoln wrote him the following warm-hearted letter: "Mv DEAR GENERAL: I do not remember that you and I ever met personally. I write this now as a grateful acknowledgment for the almost inestimable service you have done the country. I wish to say a word further. When you first reached the vicinity of Vicksburg, I thought you should do what you finally did march the troops across the neck, run the batteries with the 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 northward, east of the Big Black, I thought it was a mistake. I now wish to make the personal acknowledgment that you were right and I was wrong." The battle of Gettysburg was brought on by Lee's attempt to carry the war, as had been often threatened by the Rebels, into the States of the loyal North. Crossing the upper Rappahannock with all the avail- able troops that could be gathered from the region east of the Alleghany Mountains, the Rebel chief passed to the westward of Washington and sent his skirmishers across the Potomac and entered Mary- land at Dranesville. Bodies of cavalry invaded The Turning of the Tide 3 6 7 Pennsylvania; one under Jenkins went as far as Greencastle, in that State, carrying panic and terror wherever it appeared. It was Lee's manifest inten- tion to cut the communications west and north of Baltimore and then push on, possibly engaging in a great battle somewhere near Philadelphia. On the 27th of June, a Rebel army corps, under General Ewell, reached Carlisle, Pa., and his scouts recon- noitred Harrisburg, the capital of the State, the citizens of which hurriedly prepared for an attack. Consternation everywhere prevailed. Meanwhile, General Hooker had been succeeded in command of the Army of the Potomac by General George G. Meade, the failure of Hooker to discover Lee's aims and circumvent them having excited the indignation of the authorities at Washington. Meade 's idea was to prevent the Rebel army from crossing the Susquehanna and striking at Baltimore. He ac- cordingly extended his line so as to occupy the valley between the Susquehanna on the north and the Potomac on the south. He soon found, however, that the Rebel army was being concentrated at Gettysburg, a small city to the north and west of the position occupied by himself. As Meade had also intended to concentrate his forces at the same point, a collision between the two armies became inevitable by this coincidence. The battle-field lies between two small streams, Wil- loughby Run to the west of the town, and Rock Creek on the east. Northwest of the city is a group of hills, Oak Hill, Seminary Hill, and Seminary Ridge, the general direction of the line being north 368 Abraham Lincoln and south. Southeast of this is another group, Cemetery Hill, Cemetery Ridge, Round Top, and Little Round Top. Still farther to the east is a third group, of which Gulp's Hill is the most northerly and Power's Hill the most southerly. This system of hills draws together at one con- verging point all the roads that would be available for a military movement from the north and west (where Lee's army now was being concentrated) towards those parts of Maryland and Pennsylvania that were presumably the objects of his attack. Three turnpikes and seven country roads pass through the town. It was here then that a stand must be made against the farther advance of the invading army. The Rebels were amazed by the richness of the pastoral and farming country in which they found themselves, as contrasted with their own impoverished and battle-swept country. They rioted in agricultural luxury. Fighting began on the ist day of July, the con- flict being precipitated almost by accident. In this preliminary fight, General Reynolds, commanding the First Army Corps of the Federal troops, was killed. The odds were greatly against the Federals, the bulk of their army not having come up. The battle raged all day, the Rebels flinging themselves desperately against the Federal line of defence in the attempt to force their way through the system of hills before-mentioned. Night came with the con- flict still undecided, and to be renewed on the follow- ing day, when the great battle was fought. We need not here recite the oft-told tale of that historic The Turning of the Tide 369 fight that raged around the hills, in which so much valor and desperation were exhibited on both sides. Again night came down on the bloody field to end a conflict that left neither party a decided advantage. The Federal troops had suffered great losses. Nearly all the brigades had been engaged. More than twenty thousand men had been killed, wounded, or captured, and numerous stragglers and deserters, streaming off in the rear towards Baltimore, carried panic and alarm with them. A night council-of-war decided to hold the position and renew the fight next day. The lines were re-formed during the night, and the battle of the 3d of July decided the fate of the Rebel army. It was finally repulsed, after a terrific struggle, and, beaten, broken, bleeding, and decimated, Lee's forces retired sullenly but in good order. The Rebel invasion was over, and Lee's army had suffered a stunning defeat. The effective force under Meade in this three days' battle was from 82,000 to 84,000 men, with 300 pieces of artillery. Lee's effective force was 80,000 men, with 250 guns. The total of killed, wounded, and missing in this fight was about 46,000 men, each side having suffered equally. Twenty generals were lost by the Federal army, six being killed. The Rebels lost seventeen generals, three being killed, thirteen wounded, and one taken prisoner. The number of heavy guns employed during the battle attracted world-wide attention. The artillery duels that occurred during the last two days' fighting were a remarkable feature of the contest. The popular rejoicing over this victory was dimmed 24. 370 Abraham Lincoln somewhat by the failure of Meade to capture, as many supposed he would, the Rebel army, which escaped across the Potomac at Falling Waters, Maryland, where it had been hemmed in by the Federal forces. Escape was thought to be impossible, and Meade consumed some ten days in rallying his army and preparing for another attack. Lincoln was extremely solicitous that as little delay as pos- sible should occur now. Hooker had been relieved of command of the Army of the Potomac, when Meade replaced him, because he had failed to dis- cover Lee's movements and aims. As early as the 4th of June, Washington was filled with rumors of an intended advance of Lee into the Northern States, and Lincoln had been informed of these. But this was nothing new. It was common to expect a "Rebel invasion" that never came. The President felt confident that Hooker was so well informed con- cerning Lee's movements, that, in reply to sugges- tions from friends, he said: " I am sure that nothing of the kind is to take place, unless, indeed, Hooker is again to be out-generalled," referring to the failure at Chancellorsville. Lee's resources for an escape across the Potomac after Gettysburg were thought so inadequate that he might be " bagged " whenever Meade chose to take the steps to accomplish that feat. Lincoln grew more and more urgent. Rumors reached Washing- ton that Lee had already begun to cross, and Halleck, at Lincoln's order, sent messages to Meade informing him of the danger. These warnings were repeated, somewhat to the vexation of General Meade, who The Turning of the Tide 371 had their substance repeated in general orders to his corps commanders, the feeling being that the solicitude in Washington was unwarranted. Never- theless, by means of improvised pontoon bridges, Lee's army successfully escaped into Virginia from Maryland, only one brigade, left to cover the re- treat, being captured as the tardy advance of the Army of the Potomac came up. But, in spite of this, great joy spread through the loyal North. The fall of Vicksburg and the loss inflicted upon the defeated Rebel army of invasion were thought to be harbingers of the day when the war should cease. On the 4th day of July, Lincoln issued an an- nouncement to the people of the United States, briefly but gladly stating the result of the battle of Gettysburg, and saying that the Army of the Poto- mac had been covered with the highest honor. He concluded with these words: "The President espe- cially desires that on this day ' He whose will, not ours, should evermore be done ' be everywhere remem- bered and reverenced with profoundest gratitude.'* That evening, the President was visited by a vast throng of excited and joyful people, and a band played patriotic airs under the White House windows. There had not been of late so many victories for the Federal arms that occasions like these were common. The President appeared at the window, the one central under the portico of the mansion, where he so often afterwards stood to address similar gatherings, and made a short congratulatory address to the multitude. 37 2 Abraham Lincoln He said: "I do most sincerely thank God for the occasion of this call." Then, reminding the people of the day being the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and recalling the immortal words of that Declaration, which were the foundation of his political faith, he said : " How long ago is it ? Eighty- odd years since, on the Fourth of July, for the first time in the history of the world, a nation by its representatives assembled and declared, as a self- evident truth, that all men are created equal. That was the birthday of the United States of America.'* He was deeply moved by the occurrence on this day, above all others in the year, of events calculated to impress upon the minds of Americans the ideas declared in 1776, so dear to every patriotic citizen, so profoundly fixed in his own mind, as the under- lying principles of human political freedom. And, after referring to historic events of national impor- tance related to Independence Day, he added: " And now at this last Fourth of July just passed we have a gigantic rebellion, at the bottom of which is an effort to overthrow the principle that all men are created equal. We have the surrender of a most important position and an army on that very day." The President, it will be noticed, referred to the fall of Vicksburg and the victories in Pennsylvania at the same time, and he alluded to the latter, taking place on the previous days, as the triumph of the Federal arms over those who opposed the Declaration of Independence. On the fifteenth day of July the President issued his proclamation for a day of national thanks- The Turning of the Tide 373 giving, the first of his administration, in which he said: " It has pleased Almighty God to hearken to the sup- plications and prayers of an afflicted people, and to vouch- safe to the army and the navy of the United States victories on the land and on the sea, so signal and so effective as to furnish reasonable ground for augmented confidence that the union of these States will be main- tained, their Constitution preserved, and their peace and prosperity permanently restored. But these victories have been accorded not without sacrifice of 'life, limb, health, and liberty, incurred by brave, loyal, and patriotic citizens. Domestic affliction in every part of the country follows in the train of these fearful bereavements. It is meet and right to recognize and confess the presence of the Almighty Father, and the power of his hand, equally in these triumphs and these sorrows." He then invited all the people to assemble the sixth day of August to "render the homage due to the Divine Majesty for the wonderful things he has done in the nation's behalf, and invoke the influences of his holy spirit to subdue the anger which has so produced and so long sustained a needless and cruel rebellion ; to change the hearts of the insurgents ; to guide the counsels of the Government with wisdom adequate to so great a national emergency, and to visit with tender care and consolation, throughout the length and breadth of our land, all those who, through the vi- cissitudes of marches, voyages, battles, and sieges, have been brought to suffer in mind, body, or estate; and, finally, to lead the whole nation, through paths of 374 Abraham Lincoln repentance and submission to the divine will, back to the perfect enjoyment of union and fraternal peace." Later in the year, on the 3d of October, Lincoln instituted the permanent national festival of Thanks- giving, heretofore observed without any general con- currence. His proclamation set apart the last Thursday in November to be observed as a day of national giving of thanks to God for all his mercies. From that time forward the day has annually been observed as so designated by President Lincoln. Right on the heels of these victories of July, in fact on the very day that Lee recrossed the Potomac (July 1 3th), came dangerous and destructive riots in New York, occasioned by the enforcement of the conscription laws. Opposition to the war had all along been more bitter among certain classes of the foreign population than any other, notwithstanding the fact that some of the most patriotic volunteers in the war, officers and privates, were adopted citizens of the Republic. When it was found necessary to enforce the draft in New York, this opposition took the form of open violence. A mob broke into and set fire to the building in which were the head-quar- ters of the officers who were conducting the drafting operations. The rioters prevented the firemen from subduing the flames, and much property was de- stroyed by fire and by the mob. The criminal classes, like birds of prey, rose at the sight, and for several days the city was almost at the mercy of a mob of desperate men. Murder, pillage, and incendiarism ran riot for a time; the police, nobly although they The Turning of the Tide 375 fought to preserve order, were too few in numbers to quell the disturbances that broke out in various parts of the city. The State militia were absent defending the lines in which the rebellion had been hitherto confined. The fury of the rioters appeared to be especially directed against the colored people. An asylum foi colored half -orphans was set on fire, and its helpless inmates were driven into the streets. Wherever the rioters could find a colored man, he was caught, mal- treated, and in some instances hung to the nearest lamp-post or tree. The worst elements of the city were on top, and for a time it appeared as if a volcano had broken through the social crust of the city. At first the President proposed to send General Kilpatrick, a dashing cavalry officer, to the scene of the riot, thinking that his name would be a terror to the lawless gangs that had ravaged the city. Horatio Seymour, Governor of the State, harangued the mob in dulcet tones, addressing them as ''My friends/* and urging them to disperse. But sterner measures were soon required; troops were recalled from Pennsylvania, and after a demonstration of military force the riot was suppressed and order restored. In August, Lincoln was invited with great urgency to attend a meeting called to assemble in Springfield, Illinois, to concert measures for the maintenance of the Union and to consider the condition of public affairs. In a letter written August 26th, he ex- pressed his regret that he could not attend the meet- ing, and in a few well-chosen sentences he outlined 376 Abraham Lincoln his policy. Alluding to the notion then beginning to be more prevalent than it had been that there might be a peaceful compromise with the Rebels, he asked how such a compromise could disband or expel from Northern soil the Rebel army. He urged that the strength of the rebellion was its army, and that a compromise, to be effective, must be with those who controlled that army. And he promised that any proposition coming from any persons able to control the Rebel forces should be entertained. He showed by many forcible illustrations that war was destructive, and that in time of war property must be destroyed. Taking the common view that slaves are property, he argued that the destruction of African slavery in the Southern States was one of the means adopted for the crippling of the rebellion. And in answer to the oft-repeated assertion that certain objectors would not fight to free negroes, he urged them to fight to save the Union. The closing paragraphs of this letter, admirable examples of Lincoln's homely and forcible figures of speech, were as follows: "The Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea. Thanks to the great Northwest for it ; nor yet wholly to them. Three hundred miles up they met New England, Empire, Keystone, and Jersey, hewing their way right and left. The sunny South, too, in more colors than one, also lent a helping hand. On the spot, their part of the history was jotted down in black and white. The job was a great national one, and let none be slighted who bore an honorable part in it. And while those who have cleared the great river may well be proud, even that is not The Turning of the Tide 377 all. It is hard to say that anything has been more bravely and well done than at Antietam, Murfreesboro, Gettysburg, and on many fields of less note. Nor must Uncle Sam's web-feet be forgotten. At all the watery margins they have been present, not only on the deep sea, the broad bay, and the rapid river, but also up the narrow, muddy bayou, and wherever the ground was a little damp, they have been and made their tracks. Thanks to all. For the great Republic for the principle it lives by and keeps alive for man's vast future thanks to all. " Peace does not appear so distant as it did. I hope it will come soon and come to stay; and so come as to be worth the keeping in all future time. It will then have been proved that among freemen there can be no success- ful appeal from the ballot to the bullet, and that they who take such appeal are sure to lose their case and pay the cost. And there will be some black men who can remem- ber that with silent tongue and clenched teeth and steady eye and well-poised bayonet they have helped mankind on to this great consummation, while I fear there will be some white ones unable to forget that with malignant heart and deceitful speech they have striven to hinder it." On the igth of November, 1863, the battle-field of Gettysburg was solemnly dedicated as a burying- place for the repose of the remains of those who had yielded up their lives on that now historic ground. The services were solemn and impressive. The principal oration was made by Edward Everett, of Massachusetts. A few days before the ceremony Mr. Everett sent the President a copy of his address, printed on one sheet of a Boston newspaper. It was 37$ Abraham Lincoln very long. Lincoln looked it over with great gravity and said: "It was very kind in Mr. Everett to send me this, in order that I might not go over the same ground that he has. There is no danger that I shall. My speech is all blocked out. It is very short." The speech was written out in Washington, but Lincoln revised it somewhat after he reached Gettys- burg. As he read it from the manuscript, he made a few verbal changes. These changes did not appear in the report printed at the time by the newspapers, but they were embodied in the draft made for per- manent publication, afterwards, by Lincoln. As delivered and corrected by its illustrious author, the speech was as follows : "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. "Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle- field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. " But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished The Turning of the Tide 379 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." This wonderful address, so compact of wisdom and the simplest elements of eloquence, was received with becoming solemnity. Many were moved to tears. But it must be admitted that the oration of the silver- tongued Everett, then one of the most admired of American orators, momentarily attracted greater attention. The very shortness of Lincoln's little speech caused it to be almost overlooked at the time. But in a few days, when the people of the country' at large had fairly digested it, and its pa- triotic and human lesson had sunk into the minds of men, public opinion seized upon it and glorified it as one of the few masterpieces in oratory that the world has received. As time has rolled away, these preg- nant sentences have become classic, and generations yet unborn may wonder that they did not at once arouse great enthusiasm. About this time, too, Lincoln put forth another re- markable utterance. In his visits to the army he had been pained to see that the Sabbath was very scantily observed by the men while in camp, and that much and frequent needless profanity disfigured 380 Abraham Lincoln the talk of men and officers. He issued an order. He knew that an army could not be expected to be a strict keeper of the Sabbath, but he saw that many of the occupations of the soldiers were glaringly and unnecessarily out of harmony with the day. But in this letter, for it was only a circular and hardly an order, he said: " The importance for man and beast of the prescribed weekly rest, the sacred rights of Christian soldiers and sailors, a becoming deference to the best sentiment of a Christian people, and a due regard for the Divine will demand that Sunday labor in the army and navy be reduced to the measure of strict necessity. The dis- cipline and character of the national forces should not suffer, nor the cause they defend be imperilled, by the profanation of the day or the name of the Most High." And on the latter-mentioned habit, that of pro- fane swearing, he took occasion to admonish a cer- tain general, himself addicted to the vice, to use his authority to correct it among his men. The year closed auspiciously, so far as military operations in the West were concerned. In October, Grant took command of a large force, being stationed at the head of the military division of the Mississippi, with head-quarters at Louisville, Kentucky. The departments of the Ohio and the Cumberland were merged in this division, General George H. Thomas being in command of the latter army. Hooker, with fifteen thousand men, was sent from the East to the West, and Sheridan and Sherman were sub- ordinate commanders in this new and formidable The Turning of the Tide 381 combination under Grant. The battles of Mission- ary Ridge, Lookout Mountain, and Chattanooga followed, and the Rebels were sent flying out of Ten- nessee. Burnside was shut up in Knoxville, Ten- nessee, for a time, and there was great solicitude all over the country on his account, as his communica- tions with the North were temporarily cut off. One day Washington was startled. The long silence concerning Burnside's movements was broken by an urgent call from him for succor. Lincoln, re- lieved by the news that Burnside was safe, at least, said that he was reminded of a woman who lived in a forest clearing in Indiana, her cabin surrounded by hazel-bushes, in which some of her numerous flock of children were continually being lost. When she heard a squall from one of these in the distance, although she knew that the child was in danger, per- haps frightened by a rattlesnake, she would say: " Thank God! there's one of my young ones that isn't lost." Sherman was sent to the relief of Burnside, and, by forced marches, reached him and sent the Rebel army under Longstreet back into Virginia. The loyal mountaineers were delivered from their persecutors, and Tennessee was delivered from what proved to be the last formidable attempt to hold the State for the Confederacy. CHAPTER XXIV. POLITICAL COMPLICATIONS. A "President-Making" Congress Activity of Lincoln's Opponents Grant Appointed Lieutenant-General Beginning of an Aggres- sive Campaign Federal Successes in the Southwest Sheridan in the Valley of the Shenandoah Political Troubles in Missouri Lincoln Renominated McClellan the Democratic Nominee A Diversion in Favor of Fremont Peace Negotiations at Niagara Five Hundred Thousand Men Called Out Lincoln Re-elected Renewed Talk of Peace A Peace Conference at Hampton Roads "The President's Last, Shortest, and Best Speech" The Second Inauguration. DURING the winter of 1863-4 there was no little President -making in Congress ; for the session before the time for nominating Presidential candidates is usually known as a President-making Congress. This time, however, there was less of this sort of political skirmishing than ever before or since. The Democrats, whose stock-in-trade, so to speak, was opposition to the war, were largely in a minority. The Republicans, although divided in their counsels, were bent on a more energetic support of the ad- ministration than ever, believing as many did that the war was now nearing its close, and that it would really come to an end before the next Presidential term ended March 4, 1869. The Republican op- position to Lincoln came from those who did not consider him sufficiently radical for the time. These demanded radical measures affecting slavery in the 382 Political Complications 383 border States ; and they thought that a more vigor- ous prosecution of the war might be had under the leadership of a more determined and alert President. The radical Republicans, as a rule, favored the nomi- nation of Mr. Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury. Some, however, expressed a preference for General Fremont, whose unfortunate career in Missouri had excited their sympathies, if not their indignation against Lincoln. On his part, Lincoln made no sign of anxiety for a renomination by his party. With more sagacity than most of his friends possessed, and with all the springs of action within his reach, he doubtless knew that events would so shape themselves that his re- nomination was inevitable. He made no secret, among his personal friends, of his desire to be elected to a second term. In conversation with one of these he said: "I am only the people's attorney in this great affair. I am trying to do the best I can for my client the country. But if the people desire to change their attorney, it is not for me to resist or complain. Nevertheless, between you and me, I think the change would be impolitic, whoever might be substituted for the present counsel." To another he said, with his inveterate habit of putting a large truth in the form of a pleasantry : " I don't believe it is wise to swap horses while crossing a stream." In truth, after men had anxiously canvassed the names of all who were in the least worthy to be considered eligible to the Presidency, succeeding Lincoln, they almost invariably returned to him as the only man to be thought of with seriousness. 384 Abraham Lincoln One of the important military events of that winter was the appointment of General Grant to the rank of lietitenant-general. Hitherto, the highest rank in the army had been that of major-general. The title of general-in-chief , borne by Halleck, was tem- porary, a mere expedient, and not distinctly recog- nized by usage. The rank of lieutenant-general was created by act of Congress, with the tacit under- standing that it was to be conferred upon Grant, whose almost unbroken series of victories in the West had by this time convinced the people that here was at last "the coming man " for whom they had so long waited. The act creating the rank, giving its wearer command of all the armies of the United States, was warmly approved by Lincoln, and was zealously sup- ported in Congress by Elihu B. Washburne, of Illi- nois, a steadfast and influential friend of Grant, from the time when this soldier, then unknown and unap- preciated, began his career as Colonel of the Twenty- first Illinois Regiment. On the 22d of February, 1864, the President sent to Congress a message approving the act creating the rank of Lieutenant-General of the Armies of the United States, and nominating U. S. Grant, of Illi- nois, to that rank. The nomination was confirmed on the 2d of March, and the President immediately requested the presence in Washington of the newly appointed Lieutenant-General. It was one of the scandals of the time that army officers of every grade visited the national capital in great numbers to seek promotion in rank or to advance their private ends in some other way. So great an abuse did this self- ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND HIS SON "TAD" FROM AN OIL PAINTING BY F. B. CARPENTER (Courtesy of W. C. Crane, Esq.) Political Complications 3 8 5 seeking become, that the War Department was com- pelled to issue an order forbidding army officers to visit the capital without official permission. Up to that time, Grant had never gone into Washington, nor had he asked for permission. He attended to his duties as a soldier until summoned to the seat of government by the President. Grant arrived in Washington, to accept his new commission, on the 8th of March. That evening there chanced to be a Presidential levee at the White House. It was a public reception, open to all who chose to come. Thither went Grant, entering the reception room unannounced. He was instantly recognized by those who had seen his portraits, printed in the newspapers and circulated by means of the photographs then becoming common. He was greeted very warmly, almost affectionately, by Lincoln, and it was speedily noised about that the hero of Vicksburg was in the rooms, and the pressure to see him was so great that the modest General was induced to stand on a sofa, where he rose above the crowd and was regarded with admiring eyes. When he bade the President good-night, he said : " This is a warmer campaign than I have witnessed during the war." Next day, by appointment, he waited upon the President, who, in the presence of members of the Cabinet and a few personal friends, presented him with his commission, saying: " General Grant, the nation's appreciation of what you have done, and its reliance upon you for what remains to 25- 386 Abraham Lincoln be done in the existing great struggle, are now presented with this commission, constituting you Lieutenant- General in the Army of the United States. With this high honor devolves > upon you also a corresponding responsibility. As the country here intrusts you, so, under God, it will sustain you. I need scarcely add that with what I here speak for the nation goes my own hearty personal concurrence." General Grant accepted the commission in a few modest words expressive of appreciation of the high honor conferred upon him, and acknowledging his sense of responsibility, his dependence upon the valorous armies, and, above all, as he said, "the favor of that Providence which leads both nations and men." The General immediately visited the Army of the Potomac, of which General Meade still retained command. Then he returned to Washing- ton, where, without his knowledge, a dinner had been arranged by Mrs. Lincoln, at the White House, at which he was to be the principal guest. At the close of an important interview with the President, during which the General outlined his plan of military operations, so far as they could be arranged at that time, he announced his intention of leaving at once for the West. Lincoln told him of the expected dinner, but Grant quietly insisted that he must go. "Besides," said the General, "I have had enough of this show business, Mr. President." And the Gen- eral left for the West without waiting for the dinner and the brilliant invited company. This incident greatly pleased Lincoln, who up to that time had not Political Complications 387 met any military officer who was so willing to forego ''the show business." General Sherman was assigned to the command of the military division of the Mississippi, succeeding Grant, who, in an order dated March 17, 1864, took command of the armies of the United States, with head-quarters in the field, and, until further notice, with the Army of the Potomac. Heretofore there had been no concert of action between the armies in the West and those in the East. They had acted independently of each other; and between the two great divisions there had been innumerable jealousies and heart-burnings, both as to relative merits and as to military promotions. Henceforth this was to cease. These bodies would not any longer be, as Grant said, "like a balky team, no two ever pulling together " ; thereby enabling the enemy, who operated on interior lines, to attend to the one, or the other, that happened to be active while the other was not in motion. Henceforth the enemy was to be pressed on all sides, and without cessation. Lincoln, on his part, sent Grant into the field with these words: "You are vigilant and self-reliant. Pleased with this, I wish not to obtrude any restraints or con- straints upon you. If there be anything in my power to give, do not fail to let me know. And now, with a brave army and a just cause, may God sustain you. ' ' When the invincible hero of the West pitched his tent with the Army of the Potomac, on the banks of the Rapidan, everybody felt that the time had now come when the fate of the Confederacy was to be determined. To use Grant's own words, the policy 388 Abraham Lincoln now was "to hammer continuously against armed force of the enemy and his resources, until, by mere attrition, if in no other way, there should be nothing left for him but an equal submission with the loyal section of our common country to the Con- stitution and laws of the land.'* The campaign against the Rebel capital opened in May, Meade commanding the Army of the Potomac, which was now reinforced by the Ninth Corps, under Burnside. The other corps commanders were Han- cock, Warren, and Sedgwick. The army moved at midnight, on the 3d of the month. On the 5th and 6th were fought the bloody battles of the Wilderness, battles that once more filled Washington with wounded, and were the beginning of the long series of struggles with the enemy that resulted at last in his overthrow and surrender. Success generally crowned the Federal arms, and the Rebels were steadily pressed backward upon Richmond, although not without a gallant and desperate resistance. The excitement in Washington at this time was intense. At every sound of victory from the front, the Presi- dent was visited by bands of enthusiastic citizens, who, with music and cheering, invited Lincoln to come to the now historic window of the White House and speak to the crowds. On one of these occasions, May i ith, Lincoln read to the enthusiastic assembly a despatch just received from Grant, in which he said : " Our losses have been heavy, as well as those of the enemy, and I propose to fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer." On another occasion, near the end of the war, Political Complications 389 apparently being at a loss for anything further to say after he had congratulated the people on a victory of the Federal arms, he asked that the band should play Dixie, the favorite air of the Rebels; and he ex- plained his request by saying that he always did like that tune, and "General Grant has captured it now, I believe, and henceforth it is ours by the laws of war." He said, privately, that a speech in reply to a serenade was the most difficult job that he under- took in the line of speech-making. "For," he said, "while I am glad to congratulate the people on our victories, I do not like even to seem to glorify our- selves at the expense of a fallen foe. And, besides, after you have said you are glad, what more is there to say?" Not only with victories of the Army of the Poto- mac, but with those of the armies of the West were the people now glad. Sherman had opened his cam- paign on the western side of the Alleghanies at the same time that Grant had begun his aggressive movements. The Rebels had measurably recovered from their overwhelming defeat at Missionary Ridge, and had filled up their depleted ranks once more. Sherman pressed the enemy, after serious fighting all along the line, driving him back, almost inch by inch, into Georgia, fighting the battles of Resaca, Alla- toona, and around Kennesaw, and finally invested Atlanta. On the 226. of July, Atlanta fell into his hands, and, requiring that important railroad centre for a base of supplies, he sent out the people of the city. It was in vain that the Rebel general, Hood, and the mayor of the city protested against what they 390 Abraham Lincoln called an act of barbarity. In his reply Sherman said that the war must be prosecuted, and that war was barbarous. ; * You cannot qualify war in harsher terms than I will," he said. "War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it; and those who have brought war upon our country deserve all the curses and maledictions that a people can pour out." These sentiments appalled the Rebels, who had been accus- tomed to remonstrate effectively, like so many politicians, when they saw the cause they held being seriously crippled by the tactics of those against whom they defended it. Hood, hoping to drive Sherman to the northward, moved against the Tennessee country once more, passing to the right of Atlanta. The Federal lines, under Thomas and Schofield, were formed in front of Nashville. Then Hood was attacked in his turn, and after a fierce and bloody fight, continuing through two days, the Rebel army under Hood was ignominiously put to flight. The Rebels broke and fled in the utmost confusion, giving up several thousand prisoners and a vast amount of arms, ammunition, and artillery. Some fragments of the once proud army of Hood joined themselves to other organizations, but the army itself disappeared from the campaign. This memorable annihilation of Hood's force astonished and delighted all the loyal people. Lincoln, elated by the defeat of what had so long been a menacing force on the borders of Tennessee, was reminded by its collapse of the fate of a savage dog belonging to one of his neighbors, in the frontier settlement in which he lived in his youth. Political Complications 391 The dog, he said, was the terror of the neighborhood, and its owner, a churlish and quarrelsome fellow, took pleasure in the brute's formidable attitude. Finally, all other means having failed to subdue the creature, a man loaded a lump of meat with a charge of powder, to which was attached a slow fuse. This was dropped where the dreaded dog would find it, and the animal gulped down the tempting bit. There was a dull rumbling, a muffled explosion, and fragments of the dog were seen flying in all directions. The grieved owner, picking up the shattered remains of his cruel favorite, said: "He was a good dog, but, as a dog, his days of usefulness are over." "Hood's army was a good army," said Lincoln, by way of com- ment, ' ' and we were all afraid of it ; but, as an army, its usefulness is gone." Military operations on the line of the James River, Virginia, were a part of Grant's plan, and General B. F. Butler took possession of the City Point, on the James, where Grant subsequently established a base of supplies. Butler, being attacked here, fell back on the peninsula between the James and the Appo- mattox, where, being shut in by a line of Rebel in- trenchments, he was "bottled up" as Grant said at the time. General Hunter was sent to clear the valley of the Shenandoah of the enemy, but, being confronted by a superior force, he was compelled to retire by the way of the Kanawha. The Rebel General Early, being only temporarily delayed by the opposition offered him by the Federal forces under General Lew Wallace, pressed on toward 39 2 Abraham Lincoln Washington, entered Maryland once more, and plundered and burned residences not more than seven miles from the national capital, the house of Mont- gomery Blair being one of these. Grant promptly despatched two army corps, intercepted the Rebel advance, and saved Washington from attack. But it was for a time a season of panic and alarm in the capital. From Fort Stevens, in the outer line of defences, Lincoln saw the repulse of Early and the flight of the Rebels. Later in the year, Grant sent his trusty lieutenant, Sheridan to clear the valley effectually of the raiding Rebels, who gathered their supplies from the rich farms of the Shenandoah region. In August and September of 1864, Sheridan did his work so well that his truthful boast was that a crow flying over the valley would have to carry his rations with him. During this summer, political feeling ran high. The conventions for the nomination of Presidential candidates were drawing near, and all parties were marshalling their forces for the struggle. A con- siderable faction inside the Republican party opposed the renomination of Lincoln. These radicals, as they were called, were the malcontents who were dissatisfied with the policy of the administration, so far as that related to politics. They thought it not sufficiently pronounced, especially as it related to slavery and the treatment of the South and the border States. They were also of the opinion that a more vigorous prosecution of the war was needed. A fierce political quarrel in Missouri, fomented by the friends and the opponents of the Blairs, who were in- Political Complications 393 fluential in the councils of the Government, was also in progress, and the radical Republicans of that State were opposed to Lincoln as well as to the Blairs. Horace Greeley, of the New York Tribune, was one of those who violently spoke and wrote against the renomination. And several active politicians in Washington set on foot measures to defeat that step on the part of the Republican party. Some of these prepared a secret circular designed to solidify the anti-Lincoln feeling and bring about the nomination of Mr. Chase, or some other advanced anti-slavery candidate. Lincoln was not unaware of these movements, but he took no steps to counteract them. When he was told that some of his opponents were considering the name of General Grant as a possible candidate for the Presidency, he said: "If the people think that Gen- eral Grant can end the rebellion sooner by being in this place, I shall be very glad to get out of it." And when remonstrated with, on account of his making appointments of those who were notoriously opposed to his renomination, he said: "If this man is likely to make a good and faithful public officer, as I believe he is, have I any right to inquire further?" In fact, Lincoln trusted the people, and he knew that the people trusted him. The result justified this calm and unruffled confidence. The Republican national convention was held in Baltimore, June 8, 1864. By this time Lincoln's renomination was so assured that almost no man who offered himself as a delegate to that convention was opposed to him. The only strife in the convention was for the honor 394 Abraham Lincoln of being the first to bring Lincoln's name before the delegates for their approval. Lincoln was nomi- nated with scarcely a dissenting vote, and in the midst of a vociferous enthusiasm that rivalled that of the famous Chicago convention of 1860, when the name of the son of the backwoods and the frontier was first brought before the people of the United States as a candidate for the chief magistracy. Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, who had won popular confidence and renown as military governor of that State, was nominated for the Vice-Presidency. This nomination was made from motives of political policy. Johnson, born in a slave State, was a fierce and un- compromising supporter of the Union, and corre- spondingly fierce in his hatred of rebellion. In the coming struggle to make a satisfactory readjust- ment of the terms of union, when the war should be over, it was thought he would strengthen the ad- ministration, as he would now strengthen the ticket. The only votes cast against Lincoln in the conven- tion were those of the Missouri delegation, acting under instructions. In accepting the nomination, Lincoln said: I view this call to a second term as in nowise more flattering to myself than as an expression of the public judg- ment that I may better finish a difficult work than any one less severely schooled to the task." At that time an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, forever prohibiting slavery, was pending, and, referring to that, Lincoln said: ''Such an amendment as is now proposed becomes a fitting and necessary conclusion to the final success of the Political Complications 395 Unron cause. Such alone can meet all cavils. The unconditional Union men, North and South, per- ceive its importance and embrace it. In the joint names of Liberty and Union, let us labor to give it legal form and practical effect/' In August of that year, the Democratic national convention met in Chicago. There were two factions in that party, as in the Republican party, although the Republicans were not seriously disturbed by partisan jealousies. One of the factions was in favor of carrying on the war, the other was inclined to favor a policy of peaceful compromise. Multi- tudes of so-called "War Democrats,'* however, were now virtually acting with the Republicans, man- fully supporting the war policy of the administration and likely to vote for Lincoln's re-election. Speak- ing of the embarrassed position of the Democrats, just before the convention of that party in 1864, Lincoln shrewdly said: "They must nominate a war candidate on a peace platform, or a peace candidate on a war platform, and, so far as I am personally concerned, I don't much care which they do." The result justified Lincoln's sagacity. General George B. McClellan was nominated for the Presi- dency, and the platform declared that, "After four years of failure to restore the Union by war, . . . immediate efforts should be made for a cessation of hostilities, with a view to an ultimate convention of the States, or other practicable means, to the end that peace may be restored on the basis of the Federal Union of the States." The two conventions had now presented the great 39 6 Abraham Lincoln issue to the people. The Baltimore convention that nominated Lincoln had declared for a vigorous pro- secution of the war for the maintenance of the Union under the leadership of Lincoln, who had thus far been at the head of the National Government. The Chicago convention, giving the sentiments and opin- ions of the Democrats, had declared in favor of an armistice, a cessation of hostilities, in order that some form of compromise might be agreed upon, and had nominated McClellan, popularly believed to be a failure as a general. Associated with him, as candidate for the Vice-Presidency, was George H. Pendleton, of Ohio, a Democratic Representative in Congress, who had consistently opposed the war and every legislative act necessary for its mainte- nance. Meanwhile, however, the radical Republicans had held a convention at Cleveland, Ohio, the call for which had declared that the liberties of the people were in danger, and insisted on the * ' one-term princi- ple " being applied to the Presidential office. It was to this convention that Lincoln applied the epithet of the "Cave of Adullam," into which were gathered all who were in distress, or in debt, or trouble, or who had a grievance. General Fremont was nominated for the Presidency, and John Cochrane, of New York, was chosen candidate for the Vice-Presidency. In due course of time, this ticket and the movement that produced it crumbled into pieces, having no reasonable foundation, and the candidates disap- peared beneath the surface of American politics and were heard of no more. Political Complications 397 The condition of the Rebel Confederacy was now growing more and more hopeless, as the lines of the Federal forces, under Grant's management, were tightened around it. Naval successes along the Atlantic coast, and the pressure from every direction on the land, made themselves felt in the heart of the Confederacy. Significantly, as it would appear, the talk in the North about the possibility of securing peace by some sort of compromise grew more and more common. It seemed to be the intention of the Northern friends of the Rebels to make men familiar with this idea. The horrors and miseries of war were dwelt upon with greater persistence as the hope of finally crushing the rebellion became more reasonable. Finally, two Rebel emissaries, Clement C. Clay, of Alabama, and Jacob Thompson, of Mississippi (formerly Secretary of the Interior under President Buchanan), appeared on the Canadian border, not far from Niagara, and put themselves in communica- tion with Horace Greeley, the erratic but patriotic editor. This gentleman, on the yth of July, 1864, wrote to Lincoln, asking him to grant a safe-conduct to these emissaries, in order that they might come to Washington and discuss terms of peace. Mr. Greeley said: " I venture to remind you that our bleeding, bankrupt, almost dying country longs for peace shudders at the prospect of fresh conscriptions, of further wholesale devastations, and of new rivers of human blood; and a widespread conviction that the Government and its sup- porters are not anxious for peace, and do not improve proffered opportunities to achieve it, is doing great harm 398 Abraham Lincoln now, and is morally certain, unless removed, to do far greater in the approaching elections." In his letter Mr. Greeley submitted a basis of negotiations, the first two items of which were the restoration of the Union and the abolition of slavery. To this, Lincoln replied in writing, as follows : "If you can find any person, anywhere, professing to have authority from Jefferson Davis, in writing, embracing the restoration of the Union and the abandonment of slavery, whatever else it embraces, say to him that he may come to me with you." Some correspondence thereupon ensued, and Mr. Greeley went to Niagara Falls to hold an interview with the Rebel emissaries. The President sent, by the hand of Colonel John Hay, one of his private secretaries, the following missive : " EXECUTIVE MANSION, "WASHINGTON, July 18, 1864. " To whom it may concern: "Any proposition which embraces the restoration of peace, the integrity of the whole Union, and the abandon- ment of slavery, and which comes by and with an au- thority that can control the armies now at war against the United States, will be received and considered by the Executive Government of the United States, and will be met on liberal terms on substantial and collateral points ; and the bearer or bearers thereof shall have safe-conduct both ways. "ABRAHAM LINCOLN." It was soon apparent that the agents who desired to go to Washington had no authority whatever to treat for peace.' They insisted that they were in the Political Complications 399 confidential employment of the Richmond govern- ment, but for what purpose they would not declare. They professed great disappointment that there should have been "a rude withdrawal of a courteous overture for negotiation, at the moment when it was likely to be accepted," and they straightway departed to their own place. The fact was that Lincoln was in a far better position to ascertain the desires and wishes of the Rebel leaders than any private citizen could be, and that from the first he knew that no sin- cere proposition, such as Mr. Greeley hoped might be forthcoming, would be made by the government at Richmond. That government was unlikely to con- sent to any terms that would involve its own dissolu- tion. The incident, however, was made much of by the so-called Peace Democrats, as well as by some of the less steady of the Republicans. Experiments like this at Niagara Falls were discussed eagerly by the opponents of Lincoln's re-election, and this dis- cussion influenced the managers of the Democratic convention of that year to declare for a peaceful compromise with the Rebels as if that were possible or practicable. Many leading Republican Congressmen were angry with the President for what they considered his in- discreet negotiations with Rebel envoys. He was not long in finding this out, and one day, after asking a friendly visitor what people were talking about, he said, wearily : " Well, it 's hardly fair to say that this won't amount to anything. It will shut up Greeley, and satisfy the people who are clamoring for peace. That 's something, anyhow." 400 Abraham Lincoln In October of this year Maryland, by a popular vote, amended its constitution, and abolished slavery. This was a gratifying event to all friends of freedom, and Lincoln was greatly elated thereby. To a friend he said: "It is worth many victories in the field. It cleans up a piece of ground." This homely figure, suggested by his backwoods experi- ences, is full of meaning to those who know the almost endless difficulties of clearing a piece of the wilderness and making it fit for good seed. In answer to a serenade from enthusiastic Marylanders, about that time, Lincoln said, referring to a current statement that he would do his best to prevent any successor to himself from taking the office, in case of an election that should defeat him: "I am struggling to maintain the Government, not to overthrow it. I am struggling specially to prevent others from overthrowing it. I therefore say that, if I live, I shall be President until the 4th of next March, and that whoever shall be constitutionally elected in November shall be duly installed on the 4th of March ; and, in the interval, I shall do my utmost that whoever is to hold the helm for the next voyage shall start with the best possible chance for saving the ship." The losses of the war required that fresh levies of troops should be made. Many timid people, anxious for Lincoln's re-election, advised that a call for men and the enforcement of a draft should be put off until after the election had taken place. To such advice Lincoln turned a deaf ear. He replied that more men must be had, if the war was to go on to a Political Complications 401 successful termination, and that the consequences to him, personally, or to the party that had nomi- nated him, were so insignificant, compared with the actual necessities of the country, that he could not for a moment consider them. The call was accordingly issued for five hundred thousand men. If the re- quired number did not appear by the 5th of Septem- ber, 1864, then a draft must be ordered. Lincoln's timorous friends were aghast at the prospect. The election resulted in an overwhelming majority for Lincoln. Every State that voted that year declared for Lincoln and Lincoln's policy, three alone excepted. These were Delaware, Kentucky, and New Jersey. The two first -named were formerly slave-holding States. The total number of votes cast in all the States was 4,015,902, of which Lincoln had a clear majority of 411,428, and 212 of the 233 electoral votes, McClellan having twenty-one electoral votes. Lincoln very naturally felt gratified by this mark of popular approval and confidence. He said this to the first party that came to congratulate him on his re-election a company of Pennsylvanians in Washington. And he added: " 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 government and the rights of humanity." To a personal friend he said: " Being only mortal, after all, I should have been a little mortified if I had been beaten in this canvass before the people; but 402 Abraham Lincoln the sting would have been more than compensated by the thought that the people had notified me that my official responsibilities were soon to be lifted off my back.'* On the day after the election, he asked this friend to send to his old companion, Dr. A. G. Henry, formerly of Springfield, but then in Washing- ton Territory, a despatch, which he would dictate, announcing the result of the election. That matter having been disposed of, the two men fell to talking about the election and the term of office now drawing to an end. Lincoln was in good spirits, and even jovial. Then, with solemn gravity, he said: "I should be the veriest shallow and self-conceited blockhead upon the footstool, if, in my discharge of the duties that are put upon me in this place, I should hope to get along without the wisdom that comes from God and not from men." Lincoln had been tolerably certain of his renomina- tion; he was not wholly confident of his re-election. On the day of the election, he said: "I am just enough of a politician to know that there was not much doubt about the result of the Baltimore con- vention; but about this thing I am not certain. I wish I were certain." This is the cautious way in which Lincoln author- ized the announcement of his re-election to be sent to his old friend on the Pacific border, on the day after the election : "WASHINGTON, November 9, 1864. "To A. G. HENRY, Surveyor-General, "Olympia, Washington Territory. " With returns, and States of which we are confident, Political Complications 403 the re-election of the President is considered certain, while it is not certain that McClellan has carried any State, though the chances are that he has carried New Jersey and Kentucky." When he was reminded that Dr. Henry would pre- fer that the telegram should be verified by Lincoln's signature, he said: " Oh, no, you sign it for me. You see, it is written that way; and though I should like to please the good old doctor, I don't think it would look well for a message from me to go travelling around the country blowing my own horn. You sign the message and I will send it." The result of the Delaware election was in doubt for several days, and when it was definitely decided, Lincoln, even in the midst of his cares and overwhelmed with con- gratulations and visits, recalled the fact that he had omitted to send word to his old friend in the far-off Pacific Territory that three States, instead of two, had voted for McClellan, and a supplementary tele- gram was sent. "Not because the doctor would n't hear of it," he explained, "but because he might think it odd that I should not correct my first state- ment and clear it up." With great persistence the Northern friends of Southern Rebels renewed the talk about peace and compromise, during the winter of 1864-5. The atmosphere of Washington was full of rumors, and, as it subsequently transpired, messengers, more or less official, were flitting between the capital and the Rebel lines. One of these was the venerable Francis P. Blair, senior, a private citizen, with large political influence and experience. Armed with a safe-con- 404 Abraham Lincoln duct, or pass, signed by Lincoln, Mr. Blair went to Richmond, saw Jefferson Davis, and returned to Washington with a letter addressed to himself by the President of the Rebel Confederacy, the contents of which he was authorized to communicate to Lincoln. In that document Davis said that he was willing, and always had been, to send commissioners to Wash- ington "to enter into a conference with a view to secure peace in the two countries." Of course, this phrase "the two countries " showed that Davis was not prepared to discuss peace on any basis of union. But Lincoln, who was weary of the constant criticism of his course by those who insisted that he could end the war honorably, if he chose to, gave Mr. Blair a note in which he stated that he had read the note from Jefferson Davis, and that he, Lincoln, was ready, as he always had been, and would continue to be, to receive any agent or influential person sent to him by the Rebel authorities to treat on terms of peace with a view of securing peace to the people of "our common country." The correspondence thus opened resulted in the de- spatching of three agents by Davis to meet the Presi- dent and confer with him concerning peace, on the basis of Lincoln's letter to Blair. These commission- ers, Messrs. Alexander H. Stephens, R. M. T. Hunter, and John A. Campbell, were received at General Grant's camp and were given Lincoln's basis of agreement, which was as follows: "First. The restoration of the national authority throughout all the States. "Second. No receding by the Executive of the United Political Complications 45 States on the slavery question from the position assumed thereon in the late annual message to Congress and in preceding documents. " Third. No cessation of hostilities, short of the dis- banding of all forces hostile to the Government." Obviously, unless some great change had come over the men who managed the Rebel government, not one of these indispensable conditions could be agreed to by them. They were asked to give up their cherished scheme of a slave confederacy; and they would not be permitted to expect that the military lines now closing in upon them would be in the least relaxed, whatever negotiations might be pending. Secretary Seward was charged by the President with the duty of representing the national authority in the proposed conference. The excite- ment in Washington was very great when it was noised abroad that Seward had gone to Fortress Monroe to meet three Rebel commissioners. But excitement was turned to indignation when it was learned that the President, solicitous as to the com- plexion that the interview might take, had followed the Secretary. The enemies of Lincoln, especially those of the radical class, affected wrath and mortifi- cation that he had so far forgotten his dignity as to meet in amity the representatives of the enemy whom we were fighting in the field. It was also charged that the President, afraid that Seward would not make sufficiently large concessions, had gone to Fortress Monroe to make sure that everything that the Rebel commissioners asked should be granted, if possible. 4o6 Abraham Lincoln Congress was in session and excited politicians went about the Capitol, eagerly discussing the scanty news relating to the conference that had been allowed to leak out. It was a time of general suspense and anxiety. Meanwhile, the President and the Secre- tary of State had met the three Rebel commissioners on board a steamer anchored in the roadstead off Fortress Monroe. The conference lasted several hours, during which the commissioners were ex- plicitly informed that there could be no receding from the position taken by the Government of the United States on the slavery question; that the emancipation proclamation of the President could not be recalled or amended; that Congress had passed an amendment to the Constitution of the United States abolishing slavery; that this amend- ment would doubtless be ratified by the requisite number of the States three fourths of the whole; and that none of these matters could be modified in any way. The commissioners urged in vain that there should be a cessation of hostilities while negotiations were pending, and they manifested willingness to negoti- ate on the basis prepared by Lincoln. But Lincoln saw, as he afterwards declared, that the sole purpose of the conference was to secure an armistice, or truce, under some pretence of debate, during which renewed preparations of war should be made by the almost defeated Rebels. Lincoln turned a deaf ear to all suggestions of this sort; on the contrary, while the matter was yet pending, he wrote to General Grant, saying: "Let nothing that is transpiring Political Complications 407 change, hinder, or delay your military movements or plans." Lincoln saw, from the beginning, that the con- ference would be resultless. Great relief was felt in Washington when the President and the Secretary returned from Fortress Monroe, and the public curiosity to learn what had happened was stimu- lated to a painful pitch. It soon leaked out, how- ever, that the conference had been fruitless, and hostile critics and unfriendly politicians were sure that the President had needlessly abased himself. The House of Representatives passed & resolution calling on the President for a report of his doings, so far as this could be consistent with the public welfare. The documents sent in answer to this request were read to the House in the midst of a breathless silence. The reading of the papers submitted lifted a great load from the minds of loyal men. They saw that the President had not abated one jot or tittle of his official dignity; that his sagacity and shrewdness had been once more triumphantly vindicated, and that the question of peaceful and honorable com- promise was now forever settled. The clamor of the advocates of a peaceful adjustment was effectu- ally silenced. As the reading of the documents went on in the House, the clouds of doubt and sus- picion rolled away; the friends of the President were elated, and, when the reading was concluded, a burst of uncontrollable applause followed, and men saw and honored the wisdom with which Lincoln had conducted the whole affair, from first to last. 408 Abraham Lincoln He had exhausted all honorable means to secure peace. The Vice - President of the Confederacy, Mr. Stephens, who was one of the Rebel commissioners, greatly admired the character of Lincoln, and, on his return to his own place, he authorized a publi- cation of an informal report of the doings at the Hampton Roads conference. It was highly credit- able, on the whole, to Lincoln, and, being repro- duced in Northern newspapers, added to the popular affection for the President. The reproach that Lincoln had gone to assist Seward at the conference was removed when people saw, in Lincoln's instructions to Seward, the phrase "You are not on any account to conclude anything definitely." Another point that attracted general attention and satisfied the people was Lincoln's steadfast and determined refusal to recognize the commissioners as official personages, or representa- tives of official personages. He would not admit the separate independence of any States that were a part of the American Republic. "That," he said, "would be doing what you have so long in vain asked Europe to do, and be resigning the only thing the armies of the Union have been fighting for." In pressing the point upon Lincoln's mind, one of the commissioners, Mr. Hunter, insisted that the recognition of Davis's power to make treaties was the first and indispen- sable step towards peace; and he cited the corre- spondence between King Charles I., of England, and his Parliament as a good precedent justifying him in taking that step. To this Lincoln replied: "Upon Political Complications 409 questions of history I must refer you to Mr. Seward, for he is posted in such things, and I don't pretend to be bright. My only distinct recollection of the matter is that Charles lost his head." That settled Mr. Hunter for a while. About the time that Lincoln was preparing his message to Congress, which assembled in December of that year, Sherman was on his way from Atlanta to the sea. The object of his march was unknown to the general public, but so implicit was the people's confidence in the great General that there was no dis- quiet as to his ultimate success. Some supposed that he would be heard from, after a while, at some point on the Rebel line of the Gulf of Mexico, and others believed that he would come out of "the bowels of the land" at an Atlantic port. On this point Lincoln maintained a strict silence. Sherman had cut loose from all connections, and was plough- ing his way through the heart of the Confederacy. That was all that was known outside of a small official circle. Lincoln delayed the conclusion of his annual message as long as possible, hoping to be able to report in it the successful termination of Sherman's march to the sea. When the message was sent to Congress, he contented himself with a vague reference to Sherman's movements, from which he intimated good results would come. While this message was in course of preparation he had an interview with two ladies, wives of Rebel officers, prisoners of war in one of the Federal strong- holds of the North. Taking one of the stiff strips of cardboard on which his message was first sketched, 410 Abraham Lincoln he wrote out and gave to a personal friend a report of the interview, which he called "the President's last, shortest, and best speech." This he submitted to the critical judgment of his friend, adding that if he thought it worth while it might be printed in the newspapers. It was as follows : " On Thursday of last week two ladies from Tennessee came before the President, asking the release of their hus- bands, held as prisoners of war at Johnson's Island. They were put off until Friday, when they came again, and were again put off until Saturday. At each of the inter- views one of the ladies urged that her husband was a religious man. On Saturday, when the President ordered the release of the prisoners, he said to this lady : 'You say your husband is a religious man ; tell him when you meet him that I say I am not much of a judge of religion, but that, in my opinion, the religion that sets men to rebel and fight against their government because, as they think, that government does not sufficiently help some men to eat their bread in the sweat of other men's faces, is not the sort of religion upon which people can get to heaven.' " It will be seen that one figuie in this little story, that of "eating their bread in the sweat of other men's faces," reappears in Lincoln's second inaugural. The second inauguration of Lincoln took place March 4, 1865. The day was dark and dismal in the opening hours, but the rain ceased when the proces- sion from the White House to the Capitol began to move; and, as Lincoln rose to deliver his inaugural address, the sun burst through the clouds, irradiating the scene with splendor and light. It was a hopeful Political Complications 4 1 * omen, and, speaking of it next day, Lincoln, with tears gathering in his eyes, said : "It made my heart jump! Let us accept it as a good sign, my dear friends." A tinge of superstition pervaded Lin- coln's nature, and more than once he spoke of the sunburst that had illumined the sky as he stood on the steps of the beautiful Capitol to assume the obligations of another term of the Presidency, obligations from which death was so soon to release him. It was a brilliant scene, and many thousands were impressed with the solemnity as well as the joyousness of the occasion, as they called to mind the gloom, doubt, and uncertainty that had charac- terized the first inauguration. With a clear, reso- nant voice, standing bareheaded under the March sky, now softened and suffused with sunlight, Lincoln pronounced his masterly address, as follows: "FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN: At this season, appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office, there is less occa- sion for an extended address than there was at first. Then, a statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed very fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably satis- factory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured. " On the occasion corresponding to this, four years ago, 412 Abraham Lincoln all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it, all sought to avoid it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city, seeking to destroy it with war seeking to dissolve the Union, and divide the effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish; and the war came. One eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. " Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. " Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God, and each invokes his aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces. But let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayer of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. ' Woe unto the world because of offences ; for it must needs be that offences come, but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!' If we shall suppose Political Complications 4 ! 3 that American slavery is one of these offences which in the providence of God must needs come, but which, hav- ing continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offence came, shall we discern there any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn by the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, that * the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.' "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us 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 orphans, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." It is impossible to describe the effect of the reading of this paper upon those who heard it, and those who subsequently read it. Its lofty tone and grand majesty reminded one of the Hebraic prophecies; and its dispassionate and almost merciless dissection of the issues of the struggle for the preservation of the Union, and the dying contortions of the monster slavery, were received with a feeling of awe. The impression made by the inaugural was profound. It was conclusive of the genius and the intellectual 414 Abraham Lincoln greatness of its author. From that time forth, the world gave among its orators and statesmen a high place to Abraham Lincoln. The noblest and richest type of American manhood had at last reached his culminating period. CHAPTER XXV. THE FAMILY IN THE WHITE HOUSE. Plain Living and Simple Manners Lincoln's Kindness and His Righteous Wrath The Sons of Lincoln The Boy of the White House Threats of Assassination The President's Dealings with Office-Seekers Sundry Anecdotes. SIMPLICITY was the main characteristic of the ^ life of the Lincoln family in the White House. Lincoln's nature, as we have seen, was averse to dis- play of any sort that made him or his prominent in the eyes of men. No man was ever more free from affectation, and the distaste that he felt for form, ceremony, and personal parade was genuine. Yet he was not without a certain dignity of bearing and character that commanded respect. At times, too, he rebuked those who presumed too far on his habitual good-nature and affable kindness. On one occasion a deputation of citizens concerned in the distribution of offices in a distant State waited upon him, with a remonstrance against certain pending appointments. Their objections were committed to writing, and the spokesman of the party read it to the President. It chanced that the paper contained an implied reflection on his old friend, Senator Baker, then a guest in the White House. Lincoln listened silently to the reading of the document, a faint flush 4 l6 Abraham Lincoln mounting his sallow cheeks. Then he said, taking the paper: "Is this paper mine, to do with as I please?" The spokesman replied: "Certainly, Mr. President." The President calmly laid the docu- ment on the blazing coals in the fireplace and said: ' ' Good-morning, gentlemen. ' ' Afterwards, speaking of the anger that the delega- tion were said to have manifested when they went out of the audience-chamber, Lincoln said : " The paper was an unjust attack upon my dearest per- sonal friend, Ned Baker, who was at that time a member of my family. The delegation did not know what they were talking about when they made him responsible, almost abusively, for what I had done, or proposed to do. They told me that that was my paper, to do with as I liked. I could not trust myself to reply in words : I was so angry. That was the whole case." On another occasion, a still more audacious petitioner, introduced by a strong letter from a Senator of the United States, so far forgot himself as to break out with prof ane language in the presence of Lincoln. The President, when the offence was repeated a second time, rose with great dignity, opened the door of the audience-chamber and said: * ' I thought that Senator had sent me a gentle- man. I find I am mistaken. There is the door, sir. Good-evening. ' ' While he was in the White House, as President of the United States, Lincoln had few amusements. The times, so full of trouble, and lamentation for the dead in the war, were not favorable to the giving of The Family in the White House 4 J 7 social or formal entertainments. There were occa- sional dinner parties, and early in the first Presi- dential term there was one large evening party, or ball ; but that was all. He went often to the theatre, usually accompanied only by a friend, and taking pains to enter the place unrecognized. He sought the theatre only as a means of amusing a spare hour, diverting his mind from the cares and sorrows that weighed him down. Naturally fond of music, he was glad, when he had an opportunity, to listen to the singing or the playing of some visitor who might call on the family f .n evening. And he seemed to find his greatest pleasure in simple and pathetic ballad music. Generally, however, he was kept too bus/ in his cabinet, during the evening, to go down to the parlor, wrnre Mrs. Lincoln received her friends. It was her custom, when those called whom she thought the President would liko to see, to send him word; and his ^xcuses, if he did not come, were readily accepted. He cared little for the pleasures of the table, and he seldom partook of any but the plainest and simplest food, even when a more elaborate repast than usual was spread upon the board. Wine was set on the table when those who used it were guests; but Lincoln only maintained the form of touching it. When engrossed with the cares of his office, which was almost habitually, he ate irregularly, and the family were accustomed to see him come to the table or stay away, as it suited his convenience. Even when his anxious wife had sent to his cabinet, where he was engaged, a tray of food, he was often too busy 27. 418 Abraham Lincoln or too abstracted to touch it. And when Mrs. Lin- coln was away from home, as sometimes happened, he neglected his meals altogether, or, as he expressed it, "browsed around," eating when his hunger moved, when and how he could most conveniently. His youngest son, "Tad," as he was called, could bring him out of his working or meditative moods more readily than any other of the family. When the Lincolns entered the White House, in 1861, there were three sons and no other children. The eldest was Robert, eighteen years old; Willie, a little more than ten; and Thomas, or Tad, then nearly eight years old. This little fellow celebrated his eleventh birthday in the White House, April 4, 1863. Robert was a student in Phillips Academy, Exeter, N. H., when his father became President, and he entered Harvard University soon after that time. He was graduated subsequently, studied law, and was ap- pointed Secretary of War, several years after his father's death, serving under President Garfield and President Arthur. Willie, the second son, died in February, 1862, during the darkest and most gloomy time of the long and oppressive era of the war. Possibly this calamity made Lincoln less strict with his youngest boy than he should have been. He found it well- nigh impossible to deny Tad anything. But the little fellow, always a hearty, happy, and lovable boy, did not abuse his privileges. He roamed the White House at will, a tricksy and restless spirit, as well known to habitual visitors as the President him- self. Innumerable stories might be told of the The Family in the White House 419 child's native wit, his courage, his adventurousness, and his passionate devotion to his father. He invaded Cabinet councils with his boyish griefs or tales of adventure, climbed in his father's lap when the President was engaged with affairs of state, and doubtless diverted and soothed the troubled mind of the President, who loved his boy with a certain tenderness that was inexpressible. It was Tad, the mercurial and irrepressible boy of the White House, on friendly terms with the great and the lowly, who gave to the executive mansion almost the only joy- ous note that echoed through its corridors and stately drawing-rooms in those troublous times. The boy survived his father, dying at the age of eighteen years, after the family had left Washington. The President and Mrs. Lincoln usually addressed each other in the old-fashioned manner as " Father" and " Mother," and it was very seldom that Mrs. Lincoln spoke of her husband as "the President." And Lincoln, on his part, never, if he could avoid it, spoke of himself as President. If he had occasion to refer to his high office, he spoke of it as "this place." When the occasion required, however, his native dignity asserted itself, and a certain simple and yet influential grandeur was manifested in his deportment and demeanor. On* so^n forgot in his immediate presence the native ungainliness of his figure, and felt that he was in the personal atmosphere of one of the world's great men. Although Lincoln was genial and free in his manners, even with strangers, there was something in his bearing that forbade familiarity. Much has been said about his 420 Abraham Lincoln disregard for dress and personal appearance, but much of this is erroneous. He was neat in his per- son, scrupulously so, and his garb was that of a gentle- man always. If, in the seclusion of his home, he was sometimes called out late at night, to hear an im- portant message or decide instantly an affair of great moment, and he did not wait to array himself, some- thing was excused to his preoccupation and anxiety. Mrs. Lincoln went to Washington when that city was a hotbed of secession and treason. Many of the women of the time were exceedingly bitter against the new-comers, and they put in circulation a num- ber of injurious and absurd stories concerning the manners and habits of the members of the Lincoln family. When the President became better known, men marvelled at the wantonness and the ground- lessness of the tales that related to him. But Mrs. Lincoln could not enjoy that opportunity of vindi- cating, by her amiable and dignified life, her own much-misrepresented character. To this day, doubt- less, the slanders of the gossips survive in some degree those evil times; and there may be people who really believe that Mrs. Lincoln did not fully sympa- thize with her husband in his sorrows and trials, but secretly favored the rebellion which, if successful, would have expelled Lincoln from Washington, if it had spared his life. The relations of Lincoln and his wife were a model for the married people of the republic of which they were then the foremost pair. In the summer the family lived in a stone cottage on the reservation belonging to the Government, in the suburbs of Washington, known as the Soldiers' The Family in the White House 4 21 Home. A few servants were then kept at the White House, and in case of extraordinary business being on hand the President tarried there all night. But usually he was driven out at the close of the day's work, and the evenings at the Soldiers' Home cottage were often very delightful. The distance from the city kept away importunate office-seekers and other petitioners, and familiar friends would call and help to pass the evening in social chat. One or two would sometimes be invited to spend the night, and the family circle was then more like that of a private household than at any other time during the Presidential term. The drives to and from the Soldiers' Home and the White House were often undertaken in the darkness of late hours, and friends of the President, alarmed by rumors of attempted attacks upon the person of the chief, insisted that he should have a small body- guard of cavalry to accompany him to and fro. The proposition was most unpalatable to Lincoln, and he resisted it as long as he could. When he finally con- sented, the little show of the cavalry escort was almost distressful to him, and he repeatedly ex- pressed his disgust at the ''jingling and the jangling" of the troops. A guard was also mounted at the main entrance of the White House ; and this too annoyed him not a little, especially as it was needful, in the observance of military discipline, that they should salute him when he passed in and out. On one occasion Tad, having been sportively commissioned a lieutenant in the United States army by Secretary Stanton, procured several muskets and drilled the 422 Abraham Lincoln men-servants of the house in the manual of arms without attracting the attention of his father. And one night, to their consternation, he put them on duty and relieved the regular sentries, who, seeing the lad in full uniform, or perhaps appreciating the joke, gladly went to their quarters. Robert Lincoln, hearing of this extraordinary performance, indig- nantly went to his father to remonstrate against the servants being compelled to do special duty when their day's work was done. Tad insisted on his rights as an officer. The President laughed and de- clined to interfere. But when the lad had lost his little authority in his boyish sleep, the Commander- in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States went down and personally discharged the sentries his son had put on post. No warning of suspected attempts upon his life seemed to move Lincoln. In deference to his wife's fears he did sometimes carry a stout cane, when in the darkness and loneliness of the night he took his solitary way through the tree-studded grounds of the White House to confer with the late watchers in the War Department, or at General Halleck's headquar- ters. But he laughed grimly at this slight weapon of defence. Once he said, somewhat seriously: " I long ago made up my mind that if anybody wants to kill me he will do it. If I wore a shirt of mail and kept myself surrounded by a body-guard, it would be all the same. There are a thousand ways of getting at a man if it is desirable that he should be killed. Besides, in this case, it seems to me, the man who would come after me would be just as objectionable to my enemies if I have any." The Family in the White House 4 2 3 If Mr. Lincoln cherished any personal resentments, they were never apparent in his official conduct. A Washington office-holder, who had zealously advo- cated the claims of Mr. Chase to succeed Mr. Lincoln, was subsequently an applicant for a promotion in office. He got what he asked for, and the President, when remonstrated with by a friend who was not so magnanimous, said: ''Well, I suppose Judge E., having been disappointed before, did behave pretty ugly, but that would n't make him any less fit for this place; and I have Scriptural authority for appointing him. You remember that when the Lord was on Mount Sinai getting out a commission for Aaron, that same Aaron was at the foot of the mountain making a false god for the people to worship. Yet Aaron got his commission, you know." Alluding to the pressure for office, applied to him so steadily that he was almost compelled to neglect measures for the maintenance of the Federal Union, he said: "If this keeps on, I shall be in the position of a man who is so busy renting rooms at one end of his house that he has no time to put out the fire that is consuming it at the other end." As Lincoln was no stickler for his own dignities and honors, he was not offended when some of the great civil or military dignitaries of his time were shocked by want of due respect to their official station. When he was leaving Hooker's head- quarters, after a visit, a short time before the battle of Chancellorsville, the troops cheered him right lustily, being drawn up in line; and a soldier in the 424 Abraham Lincoln rank nearest the President added, with a volunteer soldier's freedom of manner, "And send along the greenbacks." Lincoln was greatly amused by the incident, and, explaining to Tad that the men had not been paid, the lad said, with great innocence : "Why don't Governor Chase print some more greenbacks?" Later in the war, Secretary Stanton visited the Federal lines at Port Royal, South Carolina, and was taken up Broad River on board a small steamer. Reaching the pickets, one of them roared from the bank: "Who have you got aboard that tug?" An officer replied, with freezing dignity: "Major- General Foster and the Secretary of War." The picket shouted back, without a sign of abashment: "We 've got major-generals enough up here. Why don't you bring up some hard-tack?" This was reported to Lincoln, who repeated the story with great delight for a long time thereafter. On one occasion, while steaming down the Poto- mac, bound for Fortress Monroe, the President called attention to a vessel which he called a ship. Being told that it was a three-masted schooner, he laughed at his mistake and said: "I shall certainly know a three-masted schooner from a ship the next time I ever see either. When I came into this place I was deplorably ignorant of all marine matters, being only a prairie lawyer. But I do think that I knew the difference between the bow of a ship and her stern, and I don't believe Secretary Welles did." It was, perhaps, a weakness in Lincoln that he seemed to think that he should attend to many of the small details of his office that might have been The Family in the White House 425 turned over to the members of his Cabinet, to be by them referred to their subordinates. If he sent ap- plicants to the departments, it was not until he had made some examination of the case presented. Once, being puzzled by the illegible writing of an application for an office, he indorsed it: "Brigadier- general, I guess." An officer in the army, related to a very distinguished general, reluctant to ask the President for promotion, implored the aid of one of the President's friends. This gentleman, presenting the case to Lincoln, said that the officer in question had remarked that his own relationship to General was a disadvantage, for it kept him down. Lincoln jumped from his chair, and, shrieking with laughter, said: "Keeps him down? Keeps him down? That's all that keeps him up! " An old acquaintance of the President, whom he had not seen for many years, visited Washington. Lincoln desired to give him a place. Thus encour- aged, the visitor, who was an honest man, but wholly inexperienced in public affairs or in business, asked for a high office. The President was aghast, and said: "Good gracious! why didn't he ask to be Secretary of the Treasury and have done with it?" Afterward he said: "Well, now, I never thought M. had anything more than average ability, when we were young men together and he wants to be super- intendent of the mint!" He paused, and added, with a queer smile : "But, then, I suppose he thought the same thing about me, and here I am!" Numberless anecdotes are told of Lincoln's kind- ness of heart. As to appeals to him in behalf of men 426 Abraham Lincoln condemned to death for violations of rules and regu- lations of military discipline, or for the discharge of minors or persons of infirm mind, held to military ser- vice, it may be said in general terms that these were never made in vain. He was readily accessible to petitioners of every grade and rank in life. It was his habit to receive first those who came by special appointment, or were privileged by official station, and then to have the doors of his cabinet opened and all who were in waiting brought in, each in his order, to a general audience. This was very exhausting to the President, especially if he had, as he often had, a weight of apprehension on his mind by reason of some military crisi p or similar complication. Lincoln was accustomed to fits of abstraction from which no ordinary call could rouse him. At such times his eyes had a far-away look, as if his soul were wandering in space and must be deaf to the voice of any caller. Once, at the close of an unusually ex- hausting day, an intimate friend found Lincoln sunk in a state of collapse, as it were, with the old far- away look in his eyes. Being brought back by repeated calls of his name, the President laughed cheerily, and explained that he had had a hard day and his wits "had gone wool-gathering." CHAPTER XXVI. THE PRESIDENT AND HIS CABINET. Popular Expectation that Secretary Seward would be the Leading Spirit of the New Administration Mr. Lincoln's Firmness and Kindness with the Secretary of State Mr. Stanton's Criticisms of Lincoln Why Secretary Cameron lef : the Cabinet The Exit of Postmaster-General Blair Secretary -hase's Restiveness His Subsequent Appointment as Chief-Justice The President De- ferred to the Ministers. PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S relations with his Cabinet ministers were always friendly and cordial. With each member he was habitually frank and sincere in his treatment of all questions that affected the personal relations of each. It was not the habit of any of the Cabinet ministers, excepting Secretary Seward, to visit the White House on purely social and informal errands. Mr. Seward lived not far from the Executive Mansion, and, more than any other of his associates, he was accustomed to make casual calls upon the President and his family. It may be remembered, to the credit of both of these eminent men, that it was Mr. Seward, rather than any other member of the Cabinet, who might have had occasion to feel restive over his own position in the councils of the President. Mr. Seward was the most prominent and conspicuous rival of Mr. Lincoln for the Presidential nomination in 1860. He may have 427 428 Abraham Lincoln felt that his failure to secure that honor was due to an accident rather than to Mr. Lincoln's fitness for the place into which he was installed. We cannot say what was the estimate which Lincoln put on the qualifications of Seward for the Presidential office; but we may be sure that Seward once thought him- self the greater man of the two. Undoubtedly he was not alone in holding that opinion Many patriotic and intelligent men thought Seward was not only the greatest man in the new administration, but they expected and believed that he would be the author and director of its policy. It is possible that this was also Mr. Seward's expectation. Very early in the history of the Lincoln Adminis- tration this question was to be settled once for all. When Mr. Lincoln had written his inaugural address to be delivered March 4, 1861, he submitted it to the criticism of several persons who were near to him, among others, Mr. Seward. Returning the document to the President-elect, Mr. Seward suggested numer- ous changes and emendations, some of which Mr. Lincoln adopted and others he rejected. It may be said that the joint labors of the two resulted in the production of a State paper of great power and dignity; that Mr. Seward's share in this work was, after all, inconsiderable; but the fact that the Presi- dent-elect, then regarded as a raw and unskilled statesman, from whom no greatness could be ex- pected, was willing to accept corrections and sugges- tions from the future Secretary of State was enough to give Mr. Seward encouragement to magnify his office as " premier" of the new administration. The President and His Cabinet 429 The next step in the direction of addition to the dignity and importance of his office was taken by Mr. Seward at the end of the first month of the new administration, April i, 1861. Although State after State had passed ordinances of secession from the Union, public opinion all over the North was in a greatly confused condition. Nobody knew what would be the result of these so-called secessions, whether there would be war, a peaceful breaking up of the Federal Union, or a series of concessions that would pacify the Southern seceders and restore things on a new basis of union. Even patriotic men were in some instances ready to make compromises for the sake of peace, and others equally patriotic were willing that the new administration should secure "peace at any price. " Perhaps as good an illustration as any other of the too prevailing popular opinion about Lincoln's abilities may be found in the letters of Edwin M. Stanton, written about this time. Mr. Stanton was a loyal and upright man, devoted to the cause of the Union; and afterwards, as Secretary of War under President Lincoln, he achieved fame for his hercu- lean labors in defence of that cause. Yet, writing in June, 1 86 1, he gave currency to the belief that the Rebels would be in possession of Washington "within thirty days," and in consequence of that "painful imbecility of Lincoln " to which he referred with grim sarcasm in a letter written about that time. While men were wondering what the new adminis- tration would do, and if it would do anything but parcel out the offices, Secretary Seward wrote for 430 Abraham Lincoln President Lincoln's consideration a memorandum in which the general depression and uncertainty were dwelt upon, and a line of policy was marked out. Briefly, this extraordinary paper proposed that the topic of slavery extension as a political question be laid aside, and "Union or Disunion?" be substituted therefor; and, having set this forth as the local policy, the Secretary proceeded to suggest that ex* planations for alleged unfriendly acts be demanded from the governments of Spain, France, Great Britain, and Russia, that agents be sent to the colo- nial dependencies of some of these to stir up strife, and that, in default of satisfactory replies from Spain and France, war be declared against them. In other words, the newly installed President was asked to turn his back on the party that had elected him, and to divert the attention of the Southern rebels from their rebellion by an invitation to join in a series of foreign wars. This scheme of the Secretary of State had in it a certain suggestion of arrogance, because it contained a very direct hint that he expected to be the officer charged with the duty of carrying out the policy which he had thus boldly outlined. He said that if the President did not choose to manage this under- taking, he should "devolve it on some member of his Cabinet. ' ' He added : ' ' Once adopted, all debates on it must end, and all agree and abide. It is not my especial province. But I neither seek to evade nor assume responsibility/' The President's reply to this amazing communication was simple, direct, and in admirable temper. Having disposed of the Sec- The President and His Cabinet 43 l retary's criticisms on an alleged lack of domestic and foreign policy, Lincoln then took up the scheme outlined by Seward, and said: "I remark that, if this must be done, I must do it." This effectually settled any question which Mr. Seward might have enter- tained in his own mind as to the primacy of any man in that Cabinet. It should be said, to the credit of Lincoln, the wise, kindly, and generous statesman, that until after his death this paper, which might have wrought ruin to its author, remained locked as securely in secrecy as the fact that the newly installed Secretary of State had sought to assert himself as the power behind the throne. And to the end of his own heroic life Lincoln kept his unwavering trust in Seward, who, in his turn, served his country and his illustrious chief with an equally unwavering devotion. Another incident which illustrates the intimacy and candor of the relations existing between the President and Secretary Seward was the revision of an important despatch sent from the Department of State to Mr. Charles Francis Adams, Minister of the United States to Great Britain. This despatch was written in May, 1861, when our relations with several of the greater European powers were in a strained and delicate condition, and there was danger that those powers might interfere in behalf of the Rebel Confederacy and embarrass the Federal cause, if not bring disaster upon it. The Secretary's original draught of that important and memorable despatch, amended and corrected by the President, is still in existence. The Secretary had been rather peremp- tory in some of his statements, and a part of the duty 43 2 Abraham Lincoln of the President, as the document now shows, was to soften these asperities without lowering its tone and without injury to its dignity. For example, where the Secretary had said that the President was " sur- prised and grieved" that Mr. Adams's predecessor in office had not done certain things, Mr. Lincoln sub- stituted the word "regrets" for the stronger phrase; and he changed the word "wrongful," as applied to the possible course of Great Britain, so that that course might appear to be "hurtful." A study of these verbal changes in one of the most important state papers of the Lincoln Administration would be highly useful for one who desires to become ac- quainted with some of the delicate shades of mean- ing of which the English language is capable. And, be it said, this was the work of that "backwoods lawyer" whom so many well-seasoned American statesmen of that time affected to deride. Mr. Cameron, Lincoln's first Secretary of War, was another member of the Cabinet who was early taught that the President, although he wore "a glove of velvet," yet had that "hand of steel" which all must have who would govern well. One of the most vociferous cries of the Southern Confederacy was to the effect that the North was ready to incite a servile war by stirring up and arming the slaves. Conservative men in the North were afraid of this cry, and some of them thought that it was not an unreasonable one. On the other hand, many of the more advanced Republicans early besieged the Presi- dent to take steps to use the freedmen in the military service; Secretary Cameron was one of those who The President and His Cabinet 433 believed that this policy was necessary and just. In his annual report to the President, which was designed to be sent to Congress in December, 1861, Secretary Cameron took the ground that abandoned and fugitive slaves should be formed into marching regiments and employed against the Rebels. This suggestion was premature, and if it had been made public at that time it would have caused a terrible outcry, although the day did come, but long after- wards, when not only the Union armies were rein- forced by black soldiers, but the Rebels began to arrange for a similar contingent for themselves. Secretary Cameron, as if aware that his declaration in favor of arming the freedmen would not be ap- proved by the President, had sent out printed copies of his report in advance of its delivery to Congress, without first submitting it to the President, to whom official usage required that it should be addressed. But the President, not finding the document on his table, made inquiry and was then given a copy of the report, which was to accompany his annual message to Congress. Fortunately, the copies of the War report were still in the hands of postmasters in cities, with directions to deliver to newspaper offices at a certain date. They were all recalled by telegraphic orders, and the document was reprinted with the objectionable parts stricken out. It may be supposed that this incident somewhat nettled Secretary Cameron, who does not appear to have accepted his implied reproof as gracefully as Secretary Seward accepted disapproval of his cher- ished "policy." At any rate, the Secretary of War al 434 Abraham Lincoln soon began to complain of the irksomeness of his official duties, and to signify his desire to go abroad. Accordingly, in January of the following year, the President wrote him a note, and, after referring to the Secretary's frequently expressed desire for a change of place, accepted the situation for him and offered him the post of Minister to Russia. The offer was accepted by General Cameron, who resigned from the Cabinet and went abroad. He was succeeded by Mr. Stanton, who had been Attorney-General during the closing weeks of the Buchanan Admin- istration. It is worthy of remark here that Lincoln's faculty for holding the friendship of those who were once allied to him did not fail him in this instance. Whatever may have been the cause of Cameron's departure from the Cabinet, Lincoln remained his steadfast friend. Several months after Cameron's withdrawal, some of his enemies in Congress made a fierce attack upon him in a series of resolutions con- demning him for certain acts done in the first days of the rebellion. Whereupon the President sent to Congress a special message in which he stated that the transactions complained of were not the exclu- sive work of the Secretary of War, but were ordered by the President, with the full concurrence of all the members of his Cabinet. Cameron gratefully ac- knowledged this unsought and manly defence of his official honor, and remained Lincoln's steadfast friend. Lincoln apparently found Mr. Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury, more difficult to satisfy than any other of the members of his so-called official family. The President and His Cabinet 435 As Governor of the great State of Ohio, United States Senator, and a leader of the advanced wing of the Republican party, Mr. Chase very naturally had had political ambitions ; and these were not laid aside when- he entered the Cabinet. He had a large and admiring following, and many of those who did not like Lincoln's policy of administration turned to Chase as the most promising candidate to succeed Lincoln in office. It is possible that these considera- tions disturbed the serenity of Mr. Chase's mind, and made him at times querulous and petulant. His diary, published after his death, shows that, while he was a member of Lincoln's Cabinet, he was greatly dissatisfied with the conduct of public affairs, and that he longed to take the reins of power and show how the country should be governed. He was so jealous of his own official rights and privileges that he was frequently at odds with the good President, and he more than once resigned his office, or threat- ened to resign it, unless he was permitted to have his own way. He was disturbed by the schemes which well-meaning friends set on foot to make him the Presidential candidate in 1864; and he had for some time advocated the proposition that no man should have a second term of the Presidential office. Finally, in June, 1864, the Secretary once more tendered his resignation, and it was accepted. David Tod, of Ohio, was first nominated by the President to take the place thus made vacant; and on his declining the honor, it was tendered to William Pitt Fessenden, then United States Senator from Maine, and was by him accepted. 436 Abraham Lincoln If Mr. Chase departed from the Cabinet with any unfriendliness towards the President, we may be sure that Lincoln did not hold any such feeling to- wards Chase. When Roger B. Taney, Chief -Justice of the United States, died in 1864, the friends of Mr. Chase clamorously demanded that the ex-Secretary of the Treasury should take the place thus made vacant on the bench of the Supreme Court. Indeed, there was a very general public feeling that this ap- pointment would be a wise one, although Mr. Lin- coln's immediate friends, mindful of Chase's conduct in the Cabinet, remonstrated against his elevation to the lofty post of Chief -Just ice. While this discus- sion was going on, the writer of these lines had occasion to visit the President in his private office. The President, who was in a happy frame of mind, jocularly asked, "What are people talking about now?" His caller replied that they were discussing the probability of Chase's being appointed Chief- Justice. The smile on the President's face faded, and he said with gravity and sadness: "My friends all over the country are trying to put up the bars between me and Governor Chase. I have a vast number of messages and letters, from men who think they are my friends, imploring and warning me not to appoint him." He paused for a moment, and then, pointing to a pile of telegrams and letters on the table, said: "Now, I know meaner things about Governor Chase than any of those men can tell me ; but I am going to nominate him." Three days after that the appointment was made public. Mr. Montgomery Blair was another member of the The President and His Cabinet 437 Cabinet who, after much patient forbearance on the part of President Lincoln, was finally dismissed in such a way as to let him out of the council without in the least injuring his feelings. From the first, Mr. Blair had not been very kindly disposed towards Secretary Chase; these two men represented the extreme wings of the party, Chase being the more radical, and Blair the ultra-conservative. Among other offences of the Postmaster-General was the delivery of a caustic speech at Rockville, Md., during the summer of 1864, in which he set forth his griev- ances against the "radicals/* and assumed, as a member of the Cabinet, to defend the President against the attacks of said " radicals." This grieved and worried the President, and when these things became no longer endurable, the President, towards the end of September, 1864, wrote Mr. Blair a note in which he reminded the Postmaster-General that he (Mr. Blair) had generously offered on more than one occasion to give the President his resignation. "The time has come," continued Lincoln, reminding Mr. Blair that this accepting of a resignation never formally made in writing would be a relief to the Chief Executive. Mr. Blair took his dismissal with- out anger, and he was thereafter a loyal friend of Lincoln to the end. Previous to this departure of Mr. Blair from the Cabinet, there had been some unpleasantness among his colleagues on account of certain remarks which the Postmaster-General was alleged to have made, greatly to the wrath of General Halleck and Secretary Stanton, which last-named functionary Mr. Blair did 438 Abraham Lincoln not love. The matter was brought to the attention of the President, who, at the next meeting of the Cabinet, as if he were aware that some of the members of the Cabinet were hoping that the difficulty would end by crowding the Postmaster- General out, pre- pared a paper, which he read to them, as follows: " I must myself be the judge how long to retain in and when to remove any one of you from his position. It would greatly pain me to discover any of you endeavoring to procure another's removal, or in any way to prejudice him before the public. Such endeavor would be a wrong to me, and, much worse, a wrong to the country. My wish is that on this subject no remark be made nor ques- tion asked by any of you, here or elsewhere, now or hereafter." This remarkable little address should be read by any one who has been led to believe that President Lincoln was without authority in the administration that bears his name. During the great popular depression which pre- vailed just before the Democratic party made its Presidential nomination in 1864, and when the cam- paign of the Republicans lagged with indescribable languor, and the military situation was dark and cloudy, Lincoln began to share in the prevailing impression that he would not be re-elected. Then his enemies circulated the absurd rumor that the President and his Cabinet, being assured of defeat at the polls, would willingly help on the ruin which they had not been able to avert. With these things in view, Mr. Lincoln, on the 23d of August, wrote the following memorandum: The President and His Cabinet 439 " This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceed- ingly probable that this administration will not be re- elected. Then it will be my duty to so co-operate with the President-elect as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration; as he will have secured his election on such ground that he cannot possibly save it afterwards." If Lincoln were defeated by the Democratic candi- date, who had not then been named, the successful nominee must have been pledged to a line of policy which would be destructive of the Union. So, hav- ing pledged himself to co-operation with the Presi- dent-elect, whoever he might be, Mr. Lincoln folded the sheet on which he had written the memorandum above quoted, and, having pasted its edges, re- quested each member of his Cabinet to sign his name on the back thereof, none but the President knowing the contents of the paper. In November, when Lincoln had been re-elected, he recalled to the minds of his Cabinet ministers this incident, reminding them that it had occurred at a time when his ad- ministration, pending the nomination of the Demo- cratic candidate, "had no adversary, and seemed to have no friends. ' ' Then the paper was unsealed, and the ministers present for the first time saw how sin- gularly the President had pledged himself and them to a loyal and sincere acceptance of the result of the Presidential election, whatever that result might be. It may be truly said of Lincoln that, in spite of his alleged slowness, he never took one backward step. Each step was taken with great care, but, having ' ' put his foot down/ ' he was immovable. Neverthe- 440 Abraham Lincoln less, in considering any important move, he con- sulted with his Cabinet ministers frankly and fully, not as some generals held councils of war, abiding by the vote of the majority of those present,but heark- ening to the council and pursuing his own course afterwards. The most striking instance of his open- ness to arguments opposed to his own convictions is that of the proposed payment of a large sum of money to the Rebel States for the extinguishment of slavery within their borders. The President had calculated that this payment would end the war and save many precious lives. He submitted his plan to the Cabinet at a meeting held in February, 1865, very soon after the celebrated conference between himself and the Rebel commissioners at Hampton Roads. To his great surprise, the members of the Cabinet were unanimously opposed to the proposed scheme. They did not believe Congress would be willing to consent to paying the Rebel States for the freeing of their slaves ; and it was urged that if the scheme were made public and failed of consummation it would result in harm. According to the report of those present, Lincoln sadly said: "You are all op- posed to me, and I will not send the message." The document, which was in the form of a message to Con- gress recommending the plan here outlined, was folded by the President, and indorsed with the simple state- ment that the plan therein contained had been unanimously disapproved by the Cabinet. This was Lincoln's simple way of disposing of a matter which he felt he could not undertake to carry through with- out the concurrence of his constitutional advisers. CHAPTER XXVII. END OF A STRANGE EVENTFUL HISTORY. Symptoms of a Collapse of the Confederacy Lee Seeks a Parley with Grant The Fall of Richmond Flight of the Rebel Government Lincoln in the Former Rebel Capital He Goes to the Front The Surrender of Lee Great Joy of the People The National Capital in a Frenzy of Delight Lincoln's Last Public Speech His Death and Funeral Conclusion. THE spring of 1865 opened with every prospect of a speedy and complete ending of the rebellion. Sherman's march to the sea had once more rent the dying Confederacy, even more disastrously than the opening of the Mississippi had previously split it into two large fragments. Everywhere, on land and sea, the arms of the Union had been crowned with victory. Sherman's movements in the Carolinas had compelled the abandonment of Charleston. The capture of Fort Fisher by General Terry had virtu- ally closed the last Atlantic port against possible supplies from abroad for the Rebel forces. The scattered remnants of their armies were forced to concentrate and rally around Lee for the defence of the Rebel capital, and on the 3d of March, the day before the second inauguration of Lincoln, news reached him that Lee had at last sought an interview with Grant for the purpose of seeing if any terms of peace could be considered. True to their settled 441 442 Abraham Lincoln purpose, and desperate to the last, the Rebels sought to make peace for themselves and retain something more than would be exacted by a conqueror. Lin- coln ordered the Secretary of War to send a message to Grant, directing him to hold no conference with Lee, except for the purpose of receiving a capitula- tion of his army, or on some other purely military matter. There must be no discussion of any political question. Such matters the President would hold in his own hands; and, meantime, Grant must press to the utmost his military advantages. On the 27th of March a conference of Lincoln, Grant, and Sherman was held on board of a steamer lying in the James River, near Grant's head-quarters, at which the final and decisive measures of the cam- paign were discussed. Lincoln was informed that one more fierce and bloody battle would be neces- sary; at that prospect his humane spirit revolted, and he exclaimed: ''Must blood be shed? Cannot this bloedy battle be avoided?" It was avoided, as Lincoln had hoped and prayed, by Lee's despairing and unconditional surrender. Sheridan, who had been manoeuvring far to Grant's left, by dint of ten days' rapid marching and almost incessant fighting, had cut off the last avenue of Lee's escape southward with the Army of Virginia, the last prop of the Con- federacy, and had made its surrender merely a matter of a few days, at the furthest. Closely followed by Grant, Sheridan had now drawn a line completely around Lee's army. Lee sent an imperative message to Richmond ordering three hundred thousand rations for his starving army. The message fell into End of a Strange Eventful History 443 Sheridan's hands, and he sent it on with the inten- tion of waylaying and capturing the supplies. This was accomplished, and the Rebel forces were with- out food. The Rebel lines were everywhere drawn in, their forces operating to the north of the James being now joined to the main army. Petersburg fell into the hands of the victorious Union troops, and on Sunday morning, April ~d, the tolling of the bells of Richmond sounded the knell of the rebellion, while the rolling of the drums called the citizens of the Rebel capital t ) rally and take the places of soldiers withdrawn forever. J flhrson Davis, seeing that all was lost, fled in disguise southward, but was sub- sequently captured and sent to Fortress Monroe, a prisoner. On Monday morning, April 3d, the Federal troops, under command of General Weitzel, hoisted the flag of the Union over the building in Richmond that had been occupied by the Rebel congress, and the political power of the Confederacy vanished. Lincoln was at City Point, near Grant's old head-quarters, waiting for the final and great result of all these military movements. Accompanied by Tad, he entered the fallen capital of the Confederacy as soon as possible after the news of its downfall reached him. The scene of his entry has been often described as a triumphal one ; but no representative of a conquer- ing force ever moved with less ceremony and pomp. Unattended, save by a boat's crew from a gun- boat near at hand, and leading his little boy by the hand, Lincoln entered the late capital of the Rebel Confederacy, over which the national ensign now 444 Abraham Lincoln peacefully waved. He walked as one in a dream. Richmond, so long and so painfully the object of Union hopes and desires, was in the hands of the United States, its Congress and bureaus dispersed, and the members of its exploded government fugitives. Multitudes of colored people, apparently the only persons left in the city flocked around the Liberator. They rent the air with their frenzied shouts. They danced, they sang, they prayed for blessings on the head of their deliverer; they wept, kneeling at his feet. In that supreme moment Lincoln was speech- less. He wore no look of triumph over a fallen foe, evidences of whose poverty and great trial were thick about him. The tears streamed down his cheeks, furrowed with many cares, and, simply bow- ing his thanks, or raising his hat to the jubilant and almost hysterical crowds of freed person", he passed on to the interior of the city. The statesman reared by God's wonderful providence and dLciplined in the rough school of adversity, with the memories of his hard struggle in life still upon him, was in the last stronghold of the broken slave power. His life- work was done. Meanwhile, Grant and Sheridan were drawing their lines more closely about the Rebel army under Lee, who, like a hunted fox, vainly turned this way and that to escape the net in which he was enveloped. Grant tarried at Petersburg long enough to meet the President, who pressed on to see him for a moment. The two men met. Lincoln seized Grant by the hands, and poured forth his thanks and con- gratulations with a glowing radiance on his counte- End of a Strange Eventful History 445 nance. Lincoln had hardly expected that the end would have come so suddenly, and that the "one more bloody battle " could have been thus mercifully averted. He had thought that it would be necessary to bring up Sherman's army, now operating to the southward, before the final surrender of Lee's army could be made certain and Richmond captured. But the collapse of the Confederacy had come without much bloodshed at the last. Leaving the President, who returned to Wash- ington, Grant hurried on westward, following the leading columns of infantry, and on the yth of April, 1865, from the little village of Farmville, Virginia, he opened with General Lee the correspondence that resulted in the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, April gth, in the village of Appomattox Court-House, Virginia. The two great and famous generals met face to face. There were no impres- sive doings at the surrender. The terms were un- conditional. The number of men surrendered was over 28,000; and as they were in sore need of food, General Grant ordered that they be supplied at once with rations from the Union army commissariat. It was now the opening of the agricultural year, and many of the Rebel soldiers were in haste to go home and prepare the ground for seeding, so soon did the pursuits of peace follow in the trail of war. Grant permitted them to take with them their own horses to work in the long-neglected fields. The Rebellion was over. The North was delirious with joy. First came the news of the capture of Petersburg, announced in a 446 Abraham Lincoln despatch from President Lincoln to the War Depart- ment, and received in Washington about 10 o'clock in the morning of the 3d of April. Three quarters of an hour later, a despatch from General Weitzel told the glad tidings of the fall of Richmond. Al- though Lee had not been overtaken, these despatches were sufficient to set the people wild. The end of the rebellion was at hand. Davis a fugitive, men recog- nized Lee as the real head of the Rebellion, but did not wait to hear of his surrender. The national capital was in a tumult of excitement and triumph. Thence the wave spread all over the country; the news penetrated remote villages and hamlets in an incredibly short space of time. Flags were spread to the breeze. Guns were fired, and bands, processions, and every outward form of jubilation were used to express the joy of the people. The prevailing feeling was not one of victory over a fallen foe, but of relief that the war was over. No more fighting; no more dying on fields of battle; no more enlistments and drafts; no more anxious measures for the mainte- nance of the Union. The war was over. This was the burden of the song that flowed from the hearts of millions of men and women, relieved at last from an intolerable trial of patience. In Washington the rejoicings took the form of a national celebration; the public departments were closed as for a holiday. Flags flew from all the government buildings, and the War Department or- dered a salute of eight hundred guns, five hundred for Richmond and three hundred for Petersburg. Bands paraded the streets, and the members of the End of a Strange Eventful History 447 Cabinet, in the absence of the President, were called out to address the excited crowds. Congress had ad- journed, but the city was full of Congressmen; and multitudes of men, bent on seeing the end of the Rebellion, as it was celebrated in the capital of the nation, had gone thither. The cheering and the con- gratulations lasted far into the night. The city was given up to a mighty impromptu festivity. On the following day these demonstrations were renewed, and on the night of the 4th of April the city was illuminated. Public and private buildings were a blaze of light, and bonfires, fireworks, and every possible contrivance for the making of light and noise were resorted to by the happy people. Late in the night of April gth, Palm Sunday, the news of the surrender of Lee reached Washington and was communicated to Lincoln, who had returned and was waiting for it. Early on the following morning Washington was startled from its slumbers by the boom of cannon announcing the great news. Once more the capital went wild with joy. The city took a general holiday. Once more the air resounded with the boom of cannon and the blare of martial music. Government clerks assembled in the great rotunda of the Treasury building and sang "Praise God from whom all blessings flow." A great throng of excited citizens, dragging howitzers, poured into the grounds of the White House, rending the air with the explosion of gunpowder and lusty cheering. Lin- coln, radiant with happiness, appeared at the his- toric window under the great porch, and bowed and smiled his thanks. The crowd would not depart 448 Abraham Lincoln without a speech, for which they loudly called. At sight of the well-beloved face, the throng broke into promiscuous cries, blessing the name of Lincoln, shouting all manner of joyous recognition of his ser- vices, and uttering wild and whirling words of love. Men threw up their hats, embraced each other, and stretched forth their hands in passionate adoration of the savior and liberator of his country. When order was restored and, at a motion from Lincoln's hand, a breathless silence fell on the crowd, he brushed the tears from his face, and briefly con- gratulated the people on the grand result that had called out such unrestrained enthusiasm. "But," he said, * ' I understand there is to be a more elaborate celebration of this momentous event later on, and I shall have nothing to say then if it is all dribbled out of me now." This homely saying pleased the peo- ple, who laughed good-humoredly and listened to the few words with which Lincoln concluded, calling for the "captured tune of Dixie," which, he said, was ours by the laws of war. Then the President, wav- ing his hand, proposed three cheers for General Grant and the officers and men under him; then three more for the officers and men of the navy. These were given with a will, and the crowd reluctantly dispersed. On the evening of the nth of April, Washington was illuminated by the Government, and again every possible token of national rejoicing was put into requisition. This was the formal celebration that Lincoln had alluded to and for which he was prepared. Coming into the drawing-room that night, after a End of a Strange Eventful History 449 little company of friends of the family had dined together, he laid a roll of manuscript on a table, and, noticing a look of surprise on the countenance of one of these, he said : " I know what you are thinking about. You think it mighty queer that an old stump-speaker like myself should not be able to address a crowd like this outside without a written speech. But you must remember I am, in a certain way, talking to the country, and I have to be mighty careful. Now, the last time I made an off- hand speech, in answer to a serenade, I used the phrase, as applied to the Rebels, ' turned tail and ran/ Some very nice Boston folks, I am grieved to hear, were very much outraged by that phrase, which they thought improper. So I resolved to make no more impromptu speeches if I could help it.'* Subsequently he said that it was Senator Sumner who had given voice to the complaint of "the nice Boston folks," and with considerable emphasis. It was a notable, even an historic occasion. At last the war was over. Outside of the house was a vast crowd, cheering and shouting with a roar like that of the sea. A small battery from the navy yard occasionally rent the air with a salute, and the clamor of brass bands and the hissing of fireworks added to the confusion and racket in front of the mansion. Lincoln and a few friends lingered until it was time for him to begin his speech. As the little party mounted the stairs to the upper part of the house, there was a tremendous din outside, as if roars of laughter were mingling with the music and cheers. 29. 45 Abraham Lincoln Inside of the house, at one of the front windows on the right of the staircase, was old Edward, the con- servative and dignified butler of the White House, struggling with Tad and trying to drag him back from the window, from which he was waving a Confederate flag, captured in some fight and given to the boy. The crowd recognized Tad, who frantically waved the flag as he fought with Edward, while the people roared with delight. Edward conquered, and, followed by a parting cheer from the throng below, Tad rushed to his father with his complaints. But the President, just then approaching the centre window overlooking the portico, stood with a beaming face before the vast assembly beneath, and the mighty cheer that arose drowned all other sounds. The speech began with the words, " We meet this evening not in sorrow, but in gladness of heart." As Lincoln spoke, the multitude below was as silent as if the great court-yard were deserted. Then as his speech was written on loose sheets, and the candles placed for him were too low, he took a light in his hand and went on with his reading. Soon coming to the end of a page, he found some difficulty in handling the manuscript and holding the candle- stick. A friend who stood behind the drapery of the window reached out and took the candle, and held it until the end of the speech, and the President let the loose pages fall on the floor one by one, Tad picking them up as they fell and impatiently calling for more as they fluttered from his father's hand. The speech, it must be said, was not what the peo- End of a Strange Eventful History 45 l pie had expected. It was not a shout of jubilation and triumph. It was a political address. The Unionists of Louisiana had formed a State Legisla- ture, abolished slavery, and enacted a law giving the blacks the right to vote. Many conservative per- sons thought this was too rapid a movement, and that there was no legal right residing in the so-called Legislature to pass such measures. Much of Lin- coln's speech on this occasion, after a few sentences referring to the great topic of the day, was devoted to a discussion of the Louisiana question, as it was already called. One of his illustrations was this: 1 'Concede that the new government of Louisiana is only to what it should be as the egg is to the fowl, we shall sooner have the fowl by hatching it than by smashing it." This figure of speech was disliked by those who did not agree with Lincoln. Lincoln had made his last speech. Great events hurried after each other from that night to the morn- ing of the 1 4th of April, 1865. These marked the disappearance of the last vestiges of the fallen and broken Confederacy. At noon on the i4th was held the last meeting of the Cabinet, at which General Grant was present. While waiting for the latest arrival of the ministers, Lincoln was observed to wear a grave look. He explained that he had had a strange dream, a remarkable presentiment. What it was he did not say, but abruptly proceeded to business. After the Cabinet meeting, he drove out for an hour with Mrs. Lincoln, talking cheerfully about their plans for the future and what would be possible and best for them and the boys when they 45 2 Abraham Lincoln should finally leave the White House, at the end of his second term. Mrs. Lincoln desired to visit Europe, and Lincoln was not wholly certain whether it would be best to fix his residence finally in his old home in Springfield, or in California, where he thought the boys might have a better start in life than in any of the older portions of the Republic. That night, as had been arranged, Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln, accompanied by General Grant and a few personal friends, were to visit the theatre. The fact had been announced in the newspapers, and an un- usually large audience collected. General Grant was detained by business, and the President, Mrs. Lin- coln, Miss Clara Harris (a daughter of Senator Ira Harris, of New York), and Major Rathbone, of the army, occupied a box near the stage, in the upper tier of boxes. John Wilkes Booth, an actor, had conspired with certain others to take the President's life on the first convenient occasion. This man, so far as known, had no personal grievance of which to complain. He had been possessed by an insane notion that Lincoln was an inhuman tyrant whose death was desirable. He and his companions had made their plans with great care and forethought. On this night he had a fleet horse ready in the rear of the theatre to bear him away when the deed should be done. At half -past ten o'clock in the evening, while those present were absorbed in what was happening on the stage, the assassin, who had passed unnoticed into the rear of the box occupied by the President and his friends, held a pistol within a few inches of the head of End of a Strange Eventful History 453 Lincoln, near the base of the brain, as he crept behind his illustrious victim, and fired. The ball entered the brain, and Lincoln fell forward insensible. The shot startled the great audience, but the posi- tion of the box did not allow many to see what had happened. Major Rathbone sprang to his feet and attempted to seize the assassin, who, drawing a long knife, stabbed Rathbone in the arm, and, profiting by the Major's repulse, jumped from the box to the stage. Striding across the stage, he brandished the knife, crying: "Sic semper tyrannis!" the motto of the State of Virginia "Ever so to tyrants." Then adding, "The South is avenged!" he vanished and was seen no more. In the midst of confusion and lamentation inde- scribable, the insensible form of Lincoln was carried from the theatre to a private residence across the street, and his family were sent for, and members of the Government made haste to assemble. Robert Lincoln, his mother, the secretaries of the President, members of the Cabinet, and a few of the personal friends of the family watched by the bed of the dying President through the night. No human skill could save that precious life, and all that science could do was merely to support the vigorous and well-trained natural powers as they struggled involuntarily with approaching death. The President uttered no word, and gave no sign of being conscious of what had taken place, or of the presence of those about him. The tremulous whispers of medical attendants, the sup- pressed sobs of strong men, and the labored breath- ing of the dying man were the only sounds that broke 454 Abraham Lincoln the stillness of the chamber. At twenty-two minutes past seven o'clock, on the morning of April i5th, the mighty heart had ceased to beat. Lincoln was dead. While this tragedy was taking place in the theatre, other members of the gang had attempted to take the lives of other members of the Government. Plans to assassinate Vice-President Johnson and Secretary Stanton, of the War Department, were turned aside by what seemed to be accidental circumstances. Secretary Seward was confined to his bed by an acci- dent, and one assassin contrived to elude the keeper of the house-door and penetrate to the Secretary's sick-room, where he attacked the invalid and in- flicted several frightful dagger-wounds upon his face and head. Mr. Seward' s son and others of the family were able to thwart the ruffian's purpose and save the life of the venerable Secretary. The would- be assassin escaped for a time, but was afterwards caught. Several of his accomplices were arrested and, after trial and conviction, were put to death, Mr. Seward's assailant among the number. The man who assassinated Lincoln was hunted down finally, caged in a barn in Maryland, and shot like a dog. As the sun rose red over Washington on the morning of April i5th, the body of Lincoln was carried to the White House, followed by a little pro- cession of weeping but stern-faced men. Grief and a vague desire for revenge for this cruel and needless crime struggled for the mastery. This was the feel- ing all over the country, when the heavy tidings of the foul and most unnatural murder went forth over the length and breadth of the land. Flags that had End of a Strange Eventful History 455 been flying in triumph were lowered to half-mast in sorrow. It is no stretch of imagination to say that a great wave of lamentation, spontaneous and exceed- ing bitter, swept over the Republic. Bells were tolled and minute-guns were fired. For days all ordinary business, except that of the most impera- tive importance, was practically suspended, and the nation seemed abandoned to its mighty grief. Andrew Johnson, the Vice-President of the United States, by virtue of his office now succeeded to the Presidency, and, shortly after the body of Lincoln had been borne to the White House, he was sworn into office. On Wednesday, April igth, the funeral of the dead President took place at the White House, in the midst of an assemblage of the chief men of the nation. From the mansion in which the beloved Lincoln had suffered and toiled so much for the good of the people, his form was carried to the Capitol of the nation, in the rotunda of which it lay in state for one day, guarded by a company of high officers of the army and navy and a detachment of soldiers. Thousands of men, women, and children passed through the building to take their last look of the face of Lincoln, white in his coffin. It was a memor- able spectacle, .and sighs and sobs attested the genuine grief of those who crowded in weeping throngs to see the Emancipator for the last time. Lincoln was buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery, near Springfield, Illinois. The funeral train left Washing- ton on the 2ist of April, and traversed nearly the same route that had been passed over by the train 456 Abraham Lincoln that bore him, President-elect, from Springfield to Washington four years before. It was a funeral unique, wonderful. Nearly two thousand miles were traversed; the people lined the entire distance, almost without interval, standing with uncovered heads, mute with grief, as the sombre cortege swept by. Even night and falling showers did not keep them away from the line of the sad procession. Watch-fires blazed along the route in the darkness, and by day every device that could lend picturesqueness to the mournful scene and express the woe of the people was employed. In some of the larger cities the coffin of the illustrious dead was lifted from the funeral train and carried through from one end to the other, attended by mighty processions of citizens, forming a funeral pageant of proportions so magnificent and imposing that the world has never since seen the like. Thus, honored in his funeral, guarded to his grave by famed and battle-scarred generals of the army, Lincoln's body was laid to rest at last near his old home. Friends, neighbors, men who had known and loved homely and kindly honest Abe Lincoln, assem- bled to pay their final tribute of affection and honor at his burying-place. And, with the remains of his darling little son Willie by his side, he was left whose life had begun in the poverty and obscurity of an American wilderness, and ended in the full blaze of the white light that beats upon a place conspicuous in the world's wide fame. In due time a noble monument, reared by the loving hands of the people to whom he had dedicated his life, rose to mark the spot. End of a Strange Eventful History 457 It seemed as if the whole civilized world were arrested in its daily concerns of life by this tragic calamity. From every quarter of the globe, from kings and queens, emperors, senates, and legislative assemblies, from private individuals, high and low, and from convocations of the plain people of many lands, came messages of sympathy, condolence, respect, and sincere sorrow. It was a tribute un- precedented and spontaneous to the ended life and completed services of Abraham Lincoln. The author of this brief biography has imperfectly carried out his purpose if he has failed to show how the character of Lincoln was developed and shaped by his early training; how he was raised up and fitted, in the obscure seclusion of humble life, by the providence of God, for a special and peculiar service ; how he became the type, flower, and representative of all that is worthily American ; how in him the com- monest of human traits were blended with an all- embracing charity and the highest human wisdom; and how, with single-hearted devotion to the right, he lived unselfishly, void of selfish personal ambition, and, dying tragically, left a name to be remembered with love and honor as one of the best and greatest of mankind. INDEX. Altoona, conference of governors at, 342 American party, 156 Anderson, Major Robert, in the Black Hawk War, 58; in Fort Sumter, 255; surrender of, 256 Andrew, John A., Governor of Massachusetts, 261 Antietam, battle of, 307 Anti-Lecompton, 160 Appomattox, surrender at, 445 Arkansas, reply to call for troops, 261; Halleck in, 323 Arming the freedmen, 303 Armstrong, Jack, encounter with Lincoln, 50; Lincoln defends his son on trial for murder, 127 Army of the Potomac, McClellan commander of, 319, 324; pro- posed reorganization of, 334; ordered to support Pope, 342; Lincoln visits, 356; at Gettys- burg, 371; Sabbath-breaking, 379; Grant's headquarters with, 387; Meade in command of, 388; corps commanders of, 388; battles of the Wilderness, 388; at Appomattox, 445 Ashmun, George, chairman of Republican Convention of 1860, 197 Assassination, threats against Lin- coln before inauguration, 219 Atchison, David R., in the Kan- sas troubles, 145 Autobiography, Lincoln's, 165- 167 Awakening on slavery question, 133 Baker, Col. Edward D., law part- ner with Lincoln, 75; Lincoln rescues, from mob, 87; elected to Congress, 97; friendship with Lincoln, 415 Baltimore, Sixth Massachusetts Regiment fired on in, 264 Banks, Gen. Nathaniel P., Gov- ernor of Massachusetts, 262; under Pope, 341 Barn-burners, 108, 109 Bateman, Newton, Lincoln's in- terview with, 208 Beauregard, Gen. P. G. T.,in com- mand at Charleston, 256; de- mands surrender of Fort Sum- ter, 256; at Bull Run, 279 Bell, John, and Edward Everett nominated, 191 Berry, partner of Lincoln, 65 Big Bethel, Federal defeat at, 279 Bissell, William H., Representa- tive in Congress from Illinois, 83 Black Hawk War, 56-60 Black, Jeremiah S., Attorney- General in Buchanan's Cabinet, 211 Blair, Francis P., Sr., visits Rich- mond, 404 Blair, Montgomery, house de- stroyed by Rebels, 392; dis- missed by Lincoln, 437 Blockade of Southern ports de- clared, 268 Bonds, six per cent., ordered, 360 Boone, Daniel, Kentucky pioneer, 8 Boonville, Lincoln attends court at, 33 Booth, John Wilkes, 452 Breckinridge, Robert J., Lincoln meets, at Boonville, 34 Breckinridge, John C., nominated for President, 191 Broderick, David C., his death in California, 205 Brown, John, in Kansas, 145 459 460 Index Browning, O.H., lawyer in Spring- field, 111., 83 Buchanan, James, nominated for President, 155; elected, 158; at Lincoln's inauguration, 236 Buell, Gen. Don Carlos, in Ken- tucky, 351 Bull Run, first battle of, 278; second battle of, 343 Burns's poems, Lincoln reads, 3 Burnside, Gen. Ambrose E., at Roanoke Island, 322; succeeds McClellan, 349; at the battle of Fredericksburg, 350; arrests Vallandigham, 362; in Knox- ville, 381 Butler, Gen. Benjamin F., at An- napolis, 267; Fortress Monroe, 277; Ship Island, 323; City Point, 391 Butterfield, Gen. Daniel, despatch from Army of Potomac, 358 Cabinet, Lincoln's, 246 Call for troops, 259 ; call and draft ordered, 400 Cameron, Simon, Secretary of War, 432; proposes to form negro regiments, 433; ap- pointed Minister to Russia, 434; defended by Lincoln, 434 Camp, half -faced, 12 Cartwright, Peter, candidate for Congress, 101 Cass, Gen. Lewis, in Black Hawk War, 60; Lincoln's sarcasm concerning, 106; nominated for President, no; Secretary of State, 212 Chancellorsville, battle of, 357 Charleston, 111., Lincoln's speech in, 174 Charleston, S. C., Democratic Convention in 1860, 190; har- bor fortifications, 212 Chase, Salmon P., favored by radical Republicans, 383; his dissatisfaction, 435; resigns Treasury portfolio, 435; ap- pointed Chief-Justice, 436 Chicago Convention, 1860, 191; Lincoln nominated by, 195; Hamlin nominated by, 196 Cincinnati menaced by Rebel raids. 351 Clary's Grove boys, 50 Clay, Henry, Lincoln reads life of, 24; Lincoln's eulogy of, 32; de- feated for President, 99 ; visited by Lincoln, 100 Cobb, Howell, Secretary of Treas- ury in Buchanan's Cabinet, 211 Cochrane, John, nominated for Vice-President, 396 Condition of people of the United States in 1789, i Confederacy, Rebel, organized, 214 Confiscation of Rebel property authorized by Congress, 359 Conscription, ordered, 359; riots in New York, 374 "Contraband," first use of the word, 277, 278 Copper Institute, Lincoln's speech in, 185 Cooper's novels read by young Lincoln, 29 Crocodile, Douglas's figure of speech, 180 Curtin, Andrew G., Governor of Pennsylvania, 262 Davis, David, lawyer in Spring- field, 111., 83 Davis, Jefferson, elected Provi- sional President of Confederacy, 215; his threats against the North, 216; plea for State sovereignty, 275, 285; repre- sented at Niagara Falls Con- ference, and visit from F. P. Blair, Sr., 403 et seq. Debt, public, in 1783, 2 Decatur County, 111., Lincoln settles in, 44 Democratic Convention, of 1860, 190; of 1864, 395; Breckin- ridge nominated by, 191; Mc- Clellan nominated by, 395 Dennison, Governor of Ohio, 262 Dix, John A., succeeds Howell Cobb as Secretary of Treasury, 212 Dixie, a national air, 235; cap- tured, 389 Index 461 Dixon, John, guide in Black Hawk War, 39 Donelson, Fort, capture of, 322 Dorsey, Hazel, Lincoln's school- master, 31 Douglas, Stephen A., a lawyer in Springfield, 111., 83; denounced for pro-slavery sentiments, 134; speech in Springfield, 111., 137; with Lincoln in Peoria, 140; opens the joint debate with Lincoln, 163; his early history, 163; elected Senator, 177; nominated for the presidency, 19 1 ; on the stump in 1860, 199 ; at Lincoln's inauguration, 236, 244; death of, 274 Draft, ordered, 359; riots in New York, 374 Early, Jubal A., Rebel general, threatens Washington, 391 Electoral vote, 1856, 159; 1860, 200; 1864, 401 Elkin, Parson, border preacher, 8; funeral sermon at Mrs. Lin- coln's burial, 22 Ellsworth, Elmer, death of, 272 Emancipation, proclamations of Fremont and Hunter, 295, 297; Lincoln's message concerning same, 298; Lincoln considers his proclamation, 307; it is issued, 308; full text of, 311- 3 J 7 Ewell, Richard S., Rebel general, invades Pennsylvania, 367 Farragut, Admiral David G., operations in Gulf of Mexico, 324; at New Orleans, 324 Fessenden, William Pitt, accepts the Treasury, 435 Fillmore, Millard, and Donelson nominated, 156 Fisher, Fort, capture of, 44 1 Floyd, John B., Secretary of War in Buchanan's Cabinet, 211; at Fort Donelson, 322 Forquer, George, Lincoln's en- counter with, 73 Fort Beargrass, 3 | Free Soilers, organize, 109; Lin- coln leader of, 151 Fremont, John C., nominated for President, 1856, 155; anti- slavery views, 293; emancipa- tion proclamation, 294; popu- larity, 295 ; nominated for President, 1864, 396 Garfield, James A., defeats Rebel general, H. Marshall, 322; re- port of Lincoln's capture of Norfolk, 336 Gettysburg, battle of, 366; dedi- cation of cemetery at, 377 Grant, Gen. Ulysses S., his rising, 321; " unconditional surren- der," 322; capture of Forts Henry and Donelson, 322; at Vicksburg, 365 ; Lieutenant- General, 384; at the Rapidan, 387; "fight it out on this line," 388; suggested for the presi- dency, 393; Lee seeks inter- view with, 441; conference with Lincoln and Sherman, 442 ; envelops Lee's army, 444 Greeley, Horace, Lincoln's letter to, 305 ; favors a foreign arbi- tration, 354; opposes Lincoln, 393 ; at Niagara Conference, 398 Greene, Bolin, death of, 68 H Hale, John P., comments on Trent affair, 290, 291 Half -faced camp, 12 Halleck, Henry W., at Corinth, Miss., 323; called to Washing- ton, 341 ; his warning to Meade, 37. Hamlin, Hannibal, nominated Vice-President, 196 Hampton Roads Conference, 405 Hanks, Dennis, 20 Hanks, Nancy, 5 Hanks, Thomas, 43; helping Lin- coln, 44; brings rails into con- vention, 183 Hardin, John J., elected to Con- gress, 98 462 Index Harper's Ferry, seized by Rebels, 270, 271; again in hands of Rebels, 345 Harrison, William Henry, nomi- nated for President, 86; elected 94 Hatteras, Fort, capture of, 283 Hay, Col. John, at Niagara Falls Conference, 398 Hazel, Caleb, Lincoln's school- master, 7, 10 Henry, Fort, capture of, 322 Herndon, William H., Lincoln's partner, 82; report of conver- sation with Lincoln, 131 Holt, Joseph, Secretary of War, 213 Hood, Rebel general, 390 Hooker, Joseph, criticises Burn- side, 354; letter from Lincoln to, 355; at Chancellors ville, 357; succeeded by Meade, 367; in the West, 380 Hunter, David, his emancipation proclamation, 297, 298; in the Valley of the Shenandoah, 39 1 Inauguration of Lincoln, 1861, 236; 1865, 410 Independence Hall, Lincoln at flag-raising, 230 Indiana, early times in, 8; ad- mitted to the Federal Union, 12; condition of, after War of 1812, 14 J Jackson, "Stonewall," in the Shenandoah Valley, 351 Johnson, Andrew, nominated for Vice-President, 394; succeeds Lincoln, 455 Johnston, Albert Sidney, Rebel general in Tennessee, 323; killed at Shiloh, 323 Johnston, John, Lincoln's foster- brother, 47; Lincoln's letter to, 118 K Kansas, migration to, 135; great excitement in, 144; John Brown in, 145 ; election methods . in, 146; governors appointed to, 147; Free-State capital, 148; Lecompton, 148; Lincoln's visit to, 184 Kentucky, part of Virginia, 2; reply to call for troops, 261; provisional Rebel government of, 35i L Lane, James H., in Kansas, 145 Lecompton, pro-slavery capital of Kansas, 148 Lecompton politicians, 160 Lee, Rebel general, in Maryland, 307; seeks an interview with Grant, 441; his surrender, 445 Lincoln, the original family, 2 Lincoln, Abraham, born, 6; boy- hood, 13; early labors, 17; his first letter, 21; motherless, 23; his first books, 23 ; his Weems's Life of Washington, 24; habit of reading aloud, 26; his step- mother, 27-29; reads Cooper's novels, 29; Burns's poems, 30; love of reading, 30; a wrestler, 31; eulogy of Henry Clay, 32; mathematical studies, 3 2 ; saves life of a neighbor, 33; attends court at Boonville, 33; prac- tises speech-making, 34; exam- ples in arithmetic, 35 ; builds a flat-boat, 36; first earnings, 37; second voyage down the Missis- sippi, 37; his bargain with Gentry, 37; adventure with midnight marauders, 39 ; first view of slavery, 39; stalwart young pioneer, 41 ; love of story telling, 41; settlement of Lin- coins in Illinois, 44; strikes out for himself, 44 ; disaster at New Salem, 47; his invention, 47; second visit to the land of slavery, 48 ; the Voudoo seeress, 48; settles in New Salem, 49; encounter with Jack Armstrong 50; as a peacemaker, 52; his newspaper reading, 53; studies grammar, 53; his first law books, 5 5 ; candidate for Legis- lature, 56; in the Black Hawk War, 57-60; defeated for Legis- lature, 61; personal appearance as young man, 63 ; buys a half interest in a country store, 64; Index 463 Lincoln Continued. his studies, 65 ; appointed post- master, 67; settlement of an old account, 68; elected to Legislature, 70; re-elected, 72; his political platform, 72; tilt with George Forquer, 73; en- counter with Col. Richard Taylor, 74; the Lincoln-Stone protest, 77; removes to Spring- field, 78 ; friendship with Speed, 79; travels the circuit, 81; partnership with Stuart, 82; with S. T. Logan, 82; with W. H. Herndon, 82; writes a lec- ture, 84; love for Ann Rutledge 88; matrimonial engagement with Miss Mary Todd, 90; the Shields - Lincoln *' duel," 9 1 ; advice to a young officer, 93; marriage, 93; lecture on drink- ing usages, 95; meets Martin Van Buren', 96; visits Henry Clay, 100; nominated to Con- gress, 101; elected, 102; reso- lutions on the Mexican War, 104; Alexander H. Stephens's opinion of him, 105; Lincoln on Cass, 1 06; on Polk, 107; goes to New England, no; bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, 113; candidate for Land Commissioner, 114; offered governorship of Oregon, 115; letter to his step-brother, 118; value of his Springfield property, 118; the "Snow Doys' " case, 122; case of Nancy, the negro girl, 124; the negro boy seized in New Or- leans, 125; his oratorical man- ner, 130; his despondency, 131; elector on Whig ticket, 132; speaks in Springfield, 137; with Douglas in Peoria, 140; candi- date for the U. S. Senate, 142; letter to Speed, 148; his views on colonization, 150; leader of the Free-Soil party, 151; speech in the Republican Convention, Bloomington, 154; nominated for Senator, 162; Lincoln- Douglas campaign arranged, 163; his autobiography, 165; facetious speech on his political prospects, 169; speech at Charleston, 111., 174; views on naturalized foreigners, 182 ; first named for presidency, 1^3; visits Kansas, 184; speech at Cooper Union, 185; nominated for President at Chicago, 196; accepts nomination, 197, 198; elected President, 200; curious optical illusion, 201; Cabinet- making, 203; his policy, 207; his humor, 207; his religious views, 208; prediction of day of wrath, 209; departure for Washington, 219; threats against his life, 219; journey to Washington, 219-234; inaugu- ration, 236; names his Cabinet, 246; besieged by office-seekers, 251; refuses to receive Rebel emissaries, 252; sends a mes- sage to Charleston, 253; first call for troops, 259; his dark days, 264; declares a blockade, 268; reply to Virginia dele- gates, 269; depressed by Bull Run defeat 282 ; message to Congress, July, 1861, 284; his demand for men and money, 286; overrules Fremont and Hunter, 298; special message to Congress, March, 1862, and border-State conference, 300- 303; letter to Horace Greeley, 305; considers the issuing of an emancipation proclamation, 307; proclamation issued, 307; plan of military operations, 320 ; farewell to Gen. Scott, 321; reads military strategy, 326; letter to McClellan, 328 ; death of his son Willie, 330; letter of re- monstrance to McClellan, 332; sends Franklin's division to Mc- Clellan, 333, causes of disagree- ment with McClellan, 334; his capture of Norfolk, 336; re- ceives McClellan's Harrison Landing letter, 338; visits Mc- Clellan, 339, 340; importuned to reinstate McClellan, 352; correspondence with Fernando Wood, 352; "pegging away/' 355; letter to Hooker, 355; visits Hooker's headquarters, 356; after the battle of Chan- cellorsville, 358; deals with 464 Index Lincoln Continued. Vallandigham, 363; letter to Grant, 366; announces victories of Army of the Potomac, 371; speech at serenade, 371; pro- clamation of Thanksgiving, 372 ; letter to Springfield war meet- ing, 376 ; address at Gettysburg battle-ground, 378; letter about Sabbath-breaking in the army, 380; joke as to Burnside's being lost, 381; "swap horses while crossing a stream," 383; address to Grant, 385; on Hood's defeat, 390; his re- nomination opposed, 392; on Grant's possible nomination, 393; his second nomination, 393; letter accepting nomina- tion, 394; Niagara Falls Con- ference, 398; issues call for 500,000 men, 401; his despatch announcing his election, 402; Hampton Roads Conference, 406 ; reply to two Rebel ladies, 410; second inauguration, 410; family life in the White House, 415 et seq.; his relations to E. D. Baker, 41^; his love of music, 417; his sons, 418; his habits in Washington, 421; details of office work, 426; his relations with his Cabinet, 427; his reply to Seward, 430; re- lations with Seward, 43 1 ; re- vises Seward's foreign despatch, 432; defends Cameron, 434; appoints S. P. Chase Chief- Justice, 436; does not expect re-election, 438; his firmness, 439 ; proposes payment for free- dom of slaves, 440; conference with Grant and Sherman, 442; at City Point, and visits Rich- mond, 443; serenaded on his return, 447; his last speech, 450; his assassination and death, 452-454; his funeral, 455. 45 6 Lincoln, Abraham, grandfather of the President, 3 Lincoln, Josiah, 3 Lincoln, Mary, 4 Lincoln, Mordecai, 3 Lincoln, Nancy, 4 Lincoln, Robert, 418 Lincoln, Thomas, father of the President, his escape from an Indian, 3; a laboring man, 5; marriage, 5; migrates to In- diana, 8-1 1 ; builds a cabin, 15 ; his second marriage, 27; death of, 131 Lincoln, Thomas ("Tad"), 418 Lincoln, Willie, 418 "Loco-Foco," origin of, 94 Logan, Stephen T., associated vr itb Lincoln, 82 Log-cabin, building, 16; cam- paign, 86 "Long Nine," the, 76 "Lost Townships," letters from, 90 Louisville Ky., menaced by Rebels, 351 M McClellan, Gen. George B., in West Virginia, 283; his early fame, 293 ; views on slavery, 293, 300; inactive near Wash- ington, 304; zenith of his fame, 318; choice of Democratic politicians, 325; demurs to plan of operations, 328; letter from Lincoln as to plans, 328; peninsular campaign, 33 i -t scq.; receives Franklin's division, 333; asks permission to give political views to Lincoln, 333; bitter letter to Secretary of War, 338 ; his views on the gen- eral situation, 338; fails to sup- port Pope, 343; at the head of reorganized army, 344; re- lieved of his command, 347* nominated for President, 395 McDowell, Irvin, at Bull Run, 280 Manassas, abandoned by the Rebels, 329 ; its " Quaker guns," 3 2 9 Marcy, William L., Secretary of State, 205 Martial law proclaimed, 359 Maryland, response to call for troops, 261; vote for President in 1860, 266; Seward's rebuke of, 266; invaded by Lee, 307; abolishes slavery, 400 Mason and Slidell, seizure of, etc., 288-291 Index 465 Massachusetts, Sixth Regiment fired on in Baltimore, 264 Meade, George G., succeeds Hooker, 367; at the battle of Gettysburg, 370; warned by Halleck, 370 Mexican War, Lincoln's opposi- tion to, 105 Migration, Western, in 1783, 2 "Milk sick," the, 19 Missouri, reply to call for troops, 261; Fremont in, 294; dis- orders in, 294 Missouri Compromise, repeal of, X 33 Monitor and Merrimac, fight of, 33 Morgan, Edwin D., Governor of New York, 262 N Nancy, negro girl, Lincoln tries case of, 124 Naturalized foreigners, Lincoln's views concerning, 182 Navy yard at Norfolk seized by Rebels, 271 Negro troops enlisted, 359 New Orleans, Lincoln's visit to, 48; slave case in, 125; capture of, 324 New Salem, 111., Lincoln's disaster at, 47 ; he takes up his residence in, 49; is postmaster of, 67 Newspapers suppressed by slave- holders, 109 Niagara Falls Conference, 397 Nohn Creek, the Lincoln residence near, 5 North Carolina, reply to call for troops, 261 Optical illusion, Lincoln's story of, 201 Ordinance of secession adopted, 214 Oregon, Lincoln offered governor- ship of, 115 Patterson, Gen. Robert, at the battle of Bull Run, 280 Peace, Congress in Washington, 217; Democrats, 352 Pea Ridge, battle of, 323 Pendleton, George H., nominated for Vice-President, 396 Peninsular campaign, 331 et sea. Peoria, 111., Lincoln and Douglas in, 140 Pickens, Fort, relieved, 256 Pierpont, Francis H., Governor of West Virginia, 283 Polk, James K., elected President, 99; Lincoln criticises, 107 Pope, Gen. John, on th^ Missis- sippi, 323; called to the East, 341; takes a new command, 341; Army of the Potomac to support him, 342; driven back upon Washington, 343 Porter, Fitz-John, his failure to support Pope, 343 Port Royal, South Carolina, cap- ture of, 283 Preaching, backwoods, 7 Pryor, Roger A., Rebel leader, 254 Public debt, 1783, 2 R Rails and rail-splitting, 198 Rebel Congress at Montgomery, 252 Rebel emissaries in Washington, 252 Rebel leaders, disconcerted by Lincoln, 241 Republican party, birth of, 153; Convention of , 1860, 192; 1864, 393 Richmond, capital of Confeder- acy, 270; capture of, 446 Riney, Zachariah, Lincoln's schoolmaster, 7 Roanoke Island, capture of, 323 Robinson, Charles, early Govern- or of Kansas, 145 146 Rosecrans, W. S., at battle of Stone River, 352 Russell, Lord John, derides Eman- cipation Proclamation, 310 Rutfedge, Ann, Lincoln's early love, 88 S Scott, Dred, decision in case of, 167 466 Index Scott, Winfield, warns Lincoln at Harrisburg, 230; at Lincoln's inauguration, 236; a veteran of the Mexican War, 319; retired, 320 Secession of seven States, 214 Settlers, early, in Indiana, 15 Seward, W. H., supports Gen. Taylor's candidacy, no; candi- date before the Chicago Conven- tion, 1860, 193; as "Premier," 248 ; rebuke to Maryland, 266; at Hampton Roads Con- ference, 406; and Lincoln's in- augural address, 1861, 428; estimate of Lincoln, 428; pro- poses a foreign war. 430; as- sault on, 454 Sheridan, Philip H., in Shenan- doah Valley, 392; encircles Rebel army at Appomattpx, 442; captures Lee's supplies, 443 Sherman, William T., at Vicks- burg, 351, 352; under Grant, 380, 381; succeeds Grant in command of Division of the Mississippi, 387; invests At- lanta, 389 ; march to the sea, 409; conference with Lincoln and Grant, 442 Shields, James, "duel" with Lin- coln, 91; Senator from Illinois, 141 Shiloh, battle of, 323 Ship Island, 323 Slavery, Lincoln's first view of, 39; bill to abolish, in District of Columbia, 113; death knell of, 134; abolished in Maryland, 400 "Snow boys," Lincoln tries suit against, 122 South Mountain, battle of, 307 Sparrow, Mrs. Betsey, 19 Speed, Joshua, Lincoln's friend, 148; Lincoln's letter to, 148 Spencer County, Ind., the Lin- coins in, 9 "Spot" Lincoln, 105 Sprague, William, Governor of Rhode Island, 262 Springfield, 111., Lincoln removes to, 78; first great speech in, 136 Lincoln in, 215; his departure from, 219 Stanton, Edwin M., Attorney- General in Buchanan's Cabinet, 213; Secretary of War under Lincoln, 249; anecdote of, 424; first opinion of Lincoln's war policy, 429 Steamboat, first, on Lake Erie, 15 Stephens, Alexander H., Vice- President of Confederacy, 215; endeavors to dissuade secession 216; at Hampton Roads Con- ference, 404; his report of, 408 Stone, Dan, and Lincoln protest against slavery, 77 Stone, Charles P., in command at Washington, 267 Stone River, battle of, 352 Stuart, James E. B., Rebel gen- eral, raids Chambersburg, Pa., 346 Stuart, John T., Lincoln's part- ner, 82 "Sugar-coated," Lincoln's use of phrase, 286 Sumter, Fort, surrender of, 257 Superstitions of frontier settlers, 18 Surveyor, Lincoln as, 66 Taney, Roger B., Chief -Justice, Dred Scott case, 167 ; succeeded by S. P. Chase, 436 Taylor, Richard, on the stump in Illinois, 74 Taylor, Zachary, in Black Hawk War, 58; nominated for Presi- dent, 107; elected, in Tennessee, reply to call for troops, 261 Texas admitted to the Union, 101 Thanksgiving for Union victories, Thomas, George H., defeats Gen- erals Zollikoffer and Crittenden, 322; in command of Army of the Cumberland, 322; at Nash- ville, 390 Thompson, Jacob, Secretary of Interior in Buchanan's Cabinet, 397 Tod, David, declines the Treasury Todd, Mary, letters from "Lost Townships," 91; marries Lin- coln, 93 Index 467 Topeka, Kan., free-State capital, 148 Toucey, Isaac, Secretary of Navy in Buchanan's Cabinet, 211 Treason in Washington, 246 Trent affair, The, 288-291 Trumbull, Lyman, on Illinois cir- cuit, 83 ; candidate for Senator, 142 Tyler, John, Vice-President and President, 109 V Vallandigham, Clement L., op- poses the war, 362; expelled from the North, 363; nomi- nated for Governor of Ohio, 363; his return to the North, 364 Van Buren, Martin, nominated for President, 86; meets Lin- coln, 96 Vicksburg, assaulted by Sherman, 351, 352; fall of, 364 Virginia, reply to call for troops, 261; convention of 1861, 268; secession of, 270 Vote, electoral, 1856, 159; 1860, 200; 1864, 401 Voudoo seeress, 48 W Washington, treason in, 246; news of Lee's surrender in, 442 Weems, Mason L., Life of Wash- ington, 24; Lincoln's reference to book, 227 Weitzel, Godfrey, in Richmond, 443 Western immigration in 1873, 2 West Virginia organized, 283 Whiskey as currency, 9 "Wide-awakes" organized, 198 Wilderness, battle of the, 388 Wilkes, Captain Charles, and the Trent affair, 288 Wines sent to Lincoln on nomi- nation, 197 Wood, Fernando, favors making New York a free city, 226; his correspondence with Lincoln, 352 THE LINCOLN CENTENNIAL MEDAL A Volume presenting the famous Roine Medal, together with the most noteworthy and characteristic utterances of Abraham Lincoln. BRONZE EDITIpN. Crown 8vo, with the medal in bronze, 2y z inches in diameter, mounted artistically on boards, $5.00 net. SILVER EDITION. 8vo, with the medal in silver, artist^ cally mounted on boards. Limited to 100 signed and num* bered copies, $12.00 net. The exquisite medal of Lincoln, designed expressly for the Lincoln Centennial, by E. F. Roine, the well-known medallist of Paris, is presented in this volume mounted in an artistic and dis- tinctive manner. The following characteristic Lincoln papers are associated with the medal : Letter to Horace Greeley of August, 1862, in regard to the question of Emancipation. Letter to Gen. Joseph Hooker, of January, 1863, at the time of Hooker's appointment to command the Army of the Potomac. Letter of November, 1864, to Mrs. Bixby, the mother of five sons who had been killed during the War. The Second Inaugural Address delivered March 4, 1864. The Emancipation Proclamation of September 22, 1862. The Gettysburg Address, November, 1862. 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