iWMu i wmn wn «IOT MMhmn Lincoht and Oovei mnent mr>A,1Mriek .i - i ..,i i,-', ij • • • 3 •••»•» ••* • j 1858 Photograph by Fassett from original in possession of Chicago Historical Society Abraham Lincoln and Constitutional Government By Bartow A. Ulrich PART ONE Published by Chicago Legal News Sold by A. C. McClurg & Co. £f 7 COPYRIGHT 1916 BY BARTOW A. ULRICH *?* /# T DEDICATE This life of Abraham Lincoln and treatise on constitu- tional government to the Press Club of Chicago, which bears in its hand the ever brilliant torch of intel- ligence, knowledge and lib- erty that enlightens the world and defends the rights of the people. 493787 Part I Abraham Lincoln Preface vii PREFACE. There have been so many books, essays, and speeches written about the immortal Abraham Lincoln, that one might well ask why I should attempt at this late day the difficult task of adding one more to the thousands already in existence. In answer I will say that whenever I return to the sacred precincts and final rest- ing place of one whom I knew and admired in my early years, whose imperishable fame and illustrious services never will be forgotten, nor whose memory will ever perish from the his- tory of the world, I feel impelled to add one more laurel wreath to that victorious brow, and to recount a few more cherished memories of that useful, unselfish, and patriotic life; and above all to show what he accomplished to advance and per- petuate constitutional government in the world. A thousand years from now, and longer, Springfield and the tomb of Lincoln will be the Mecca of countless lovers of liberty and justice from all over the world, who will come here to visit and express their devotion to the great Mastermind of the Nine- teenth Century, who saved the Union during its most perilous days, and liberated four million slaves from a degrading bondage. This republic and the entire world owe a great debt of gratitude for the kindly manner in which, at an early date, Springfield re- ceived and appreciated the latent talent of the young, honest, and homely man who had the good fortune to make his home there. He was fortunate in meeting such friends as John T. Stuart, William Butler, Joshua Speed, Lyman Trumbull, O. H. Browning, Judge David Davis, Edward B. Baker, and Leonard Swett, all of whom aided him greatly in getting a start in life. "Everbody in Springfield knew the story of how Lincoln rode from New Salem to Springfield on a borrowed horse with a pair of old saddle bags, two or three law books and a few pieces of nondescript clothing and about $7 in his pocket. Every one knew, too, how he found that he could not scrape together $17 for bed- room furniture and how his friend Speed offered him half his own bed in a room over the latter's store. He and Speed both took their meals with William Butler, who was afterwards treas- urer of Illinois." There may be those who deem it a great privilege to visit the tomb of Peter the Great, founder of the despotism of Russia, or the tomb of Frederick the Great, founder of the reigning family of Prussia, or the tomb of Napoleon, victor in many viii Preface battles, but I consider Lincoln superior in his achievements for the universal good of humanity to any one of these proud and overpowering masters of men, and would therefore rather visit his than any of their final resting places. However, no one will cherish for a moment the idea that the immortal Lincoln rests within the dust under his tomb at Oak Ridge, for Lincoln still lives. No assassin's knife or pistol can harm him now. He lives in the minds and hearts of countless millions throughout the nations which encircle the globe, and he will continue so to live for many decades to come. His deeds live to overcome tyranny and human oppression in this and other lands, and to fight their advancement at every step. At his call, contained in his immortal words and works, today, if needed, a great army of men will arise, as in the days of the Civil War, to put down the enemies of freedom and progress. God grant that the day may not be near when this call will be needed in the land, made sacred by the blood of heroes of the Revolution and of the Civil War, yet it may be nearer than we know. In order to comprehend the lives and characters of Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Oliver Cromwell, Martin Luther, Peter the Great, or other world rulers or reformers, one must realize and admit that there exists outside the control of man, a universal mind, acting above and beyond human foresight, but using as instruments suitable personages to accomplish great and far-reaching results. In order to gain a certain well-defined ob- ject which dominates them, the lives of these men demonstrate, or carry out to its legitimate purpose, a principle, thus fulfilling the designs of a universal governing power superior to themselves. Thus governments are established and religions propagated for the advancement, up-building, and regeneration of the world of mankind. Houston Stewart Chamberlain, in his work entitled "The Foundation of the Nineteenth Century," says : "Nature knows no greater power than that of one great, strong man." When a great ruler, powerful in mind and body, endowed with extraordinary ability and character, is born into this world, it does not necessarily ' follow that his parents should be the occupants of the palace of an emperor, the owners of the luxuri- ous dwelling of a multi-millionaire, or the favorite citizens of a populous city, for some of the world's greatest characters have been born in simple dwellings, of parents possessing no other qualifications to favor them than honesty and respectability. The parents of Abraham Lincoln were residents of the humble log cabin, now prominent in. the history of the United States as the birthplace of many celebrated people, its location in the virgin Preface ix forest near a sparkling river, uncontaminated by the overgrowth of humanity. Thus young Lincoln was chosen from the west- ern wilds of America. "And the Lord said unto Samuel, * * * Fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-le-hemite, for I have provided me a king among his sons/' (And Jesse sent and brought to him David, the shepherd boy.) "Now he was ruddy and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he." When the boundless prairies, the primeval forests, and the rushing rivers of the unsubdued West and South had done their work in building up physically this future president and emanci- pator, when his vigorous and clear intellect was ready to fulfill its purpose, he strode bravely into the camp of modern enter- prise and civilization, and in a short time became its leading spirit. Those who considered themselves qualified to hold the place of superiority above the masses, and regarded themselves as patricians, on account of their birth or their wealth, found in the case of this man of humble origin, that he was their superior, notwithstanding his lack of advantages and social position in early life. They would have barred him out of their clubs, their exclusive circles, the halls of congress and the state legislature, on account of his want of so-called gentle breeding, but the peo- ple, the voters, for whom he acted, soon placed him in the front ranks. The aristocracy of nature is superior to the aristocracy of wealth or imperial grandeur. The phrase, "all men are created equal", which is inserted in the Declaration of Independence, has been and is a source of annoyance to many in this country who would be aristocrats, and especially to those residing in the slave states at that time. The wealthy citizens of New York, Baltimore, Charleston, Richmond, and Boston, at the time of Lincoln, did not consider him their social equal when they first met him; but when they heard his eloquence, became acquaint- ed with his character, and knew of his achievements, they re- alized that he was a man of great ability and destined to fill an important place in his country's history. Originally starting with great natural gifts, in their development, he was surpassed by few men of his time. There ever seems to be in this world a continual controversy over the equality, or inequality, of mankind, but a truly noble na- ture, reared apart from the corrupting and enervating influences of civilization, is often found superior to the child of fortune, educated amid the luxury of culture and refinement. Abraham Lincoln was the personification of the ideal of personal liberty, Preface and the equality of all men in the sphere of political rights, under the constitution of the United States. No law existed then, or exists today, to prevent the election of the people's choice to any of the different legislative branches of government, or even to the presidential chair. In one of Lincoln's addresses to one of the regiments, August 22, 1864, he said, "I happen, temporarily, to occupy this White House. I am a living witness that any one of your children may look to come here, as my father's child has. It is in order that each one of you may have, through this free government which we have enjoyed, an open field and a fair chance for your industry, enterprise, and intelligence; that you may all have equal privileges in the race of life, with all its desirable human aspirations. It is for this the struggle should be main- tained, that we may not lose our birthright — not only for one, but for two or three years. The nation is worth fighting for, to secure such an inestimable jewel." BARTOW A. ULRICH. Chicago, Illinois, 1916. Contents xi CONTENTS. PARTI. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Preface vii Chapter I. First meeting with Abraham Lincoln I Carl Schurz on Lincoln's personal appearance 3 Peter Vredenburg's reminiscences 4 Fourth of July in Heidelberg 4 Stephen A. Douglas 5 Lincoln on Temperance : . . . 5 The Little Still-house 6 Lincoln on the liquor question 7 The petty practitioners of a petty town 8 The Lincoln-Shields "Duel" 9 The Springfield bar 11 Lincoln's rise from obscurity 11 Lincoln and Douglas 12 Horace White's recollections 13 Personal appearance of Douglas 14 Lincoln's associates at Springfield 16 Chapter II. Organization of the Republican party. 19 Founded on the Declaration of Independence 19 State Fair at Springfield, October, 1854 19 The name "Republican" 20 Illinois editors and the Nebraska Bill 21 Editors at Decatur advised by Lincoln 22 Lincoln declines to be a candidate for office 23 Pennsylvania editors meet at Pittsburg 23 Anti-Nebraska convention at Bloomington, 1856 24 Call for a national convention 25 First Republican county convention 26 Resolutions of the Bloomington convention 27 The "lost speech" 28 Delegates at the Bloomington convention 29 The Bloomington ticket 31 "Deacon" Tyrell 32 xii Contents Republican meeting in Rock Island 32 "Germans mostly anti-Christians and Republicans" 33 The national election of 1856 33 Lincoln's address at Chicago 34 Anniversary of the Republican party 35 Chapter III. Chicago National Republican Convention, i860 37 Lincoln accepts the nomination 38 Stephen A. Douglas 39 Douglas sustains Lincoln 40 Celebration of the Douglas Centennial in Chicago 42 Chapter IV. Secession cabal at Washington 45 Jefferson Davis and secession 47 Graft in the national government 51 Lincoln's characteristics 52 Chapter V. Events of the war 55 Fort Sumter 59 President Lincoln's proclamation calling for troops 59 The cabinets of Lincoln and Davis compared 61 Chapter VI. Colonel Ellsworth and the Marshall House tragedy 67 Last reunion of the Ellsworth Zouaves 74 Poem written at the time of Ellsworth's death 70 Poem written at the commencement of the civil war 75 Chapter VII. Lincoln's intuition and character 79 Farewell address at Springfield 82 First message to Congress, July 4, 1861 82 Need of preparation 83 The call for troops 84 The draft riots 85 Vallandigham's arrest 86 Chapter VIII. General McClellan and General Grant 89 Lincoln praises Grant 90 Contents xiii Meade reproved 91 The kind of whiskey Grant drank good for others 91 Lincoln again praises Grant 92 Lincoln's humanity 93 Chapter IX. The Trent affair 97 The Treaty of Ghent . . 98 Lincoln's desire for reconciliation 99 Thanksgiving proclamation, 1863 100 The Gettysburg Address 100 Proclamation of thanksgiving for Union victories 101 Lincoln's faith in God 101 National fast day, 1861 102 Belief in prayer 103 The question of slavery 104 Chapter X. Influence of West Point on democracy 109 College training versus the Declaration of Independence no Chapter XL Emancipation of the Negro in the United States and other countries 117 Ambition of Jefferson Davis and other Southern leaders. . . 118 Northern leaders stood for liberty and union 119 The nations abolish slavery 120 Czar Alexander II. and the emancipation of the serfs 122 Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation 124 Negro Fellowship League celebrates 127 Reminiscences of the rebel conspiracy to burn Chicago 127 Chapter XII. Thesis on government used as campaign document in 1864. . 129 The National Republican Convention of 1864 129 A Lincoln story — "More light and less noise" 130 The discontented four hundred 131 Letter to Greeley 131 Chapter XIII. The Presidential Campaign of 1864 — an original campaign document 133 Speech before the Athens Union League 139 New Year's address, 1865 , 142 xiv Contents Chapter XIV. Last interview with Lincoln 145 Counting the electoral vote 146 Lincoln's response to the committee of notification 147 Chapter XV. President Lincoln enters Richmond 149 Capture of Jefferson Davis 150 Assassination of President Abraham Lincoln 151 PART II. CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT. Preface i Chapter I. Comparison of different forms of government 155 Chapter II. Representative democracy 157 Divine right of kings 160 Chapter III. The imperial trust 163 Waechter's project of a federation of the states of Europe. . . 165 The Passing of Royalty 167 Chapter IV. (the new representative democracy 169 Chapter V. Events leading to the birth of the nation 175 Adoption of the Constitution 177 Powers of the government 178 De Tocqueville on the American Judiciary 180 Constituent and law-making power 181 Chief Justice Marshall on the judicial power 182 Lincoln and the Dred Scott decision 186 The "grandfather clause" 187 Cabinet officers and Congress 189 Power of the executive 192 Contents xv The referendum 192 The Civil Code of Switzerland 193 Stability of our Constitution 194 Part of Washington's Farewell Address 195 Chapter VI. Criticism on Constitution 197 State and National Control 200 Department of Agriculture 201 Letter of H. D. Sackett on Forest Taxation in the U. S 202 Mormonism 199 Conservation applied to children 206 Limitation of State Constitution 211 Chapter VII. National vs. state sovereignty 213 Reconciliation 219 Growth of the South 218 Chapter VIII. Causes which led to the rebellion 221 Honorable Robert T. Lincoln's letter 223 Abraham Lincoln, loyal to the Constitution 223 Writ of Habeas Corpus, suspended 225- Influence of our Constitution 225- The Holy Alliance and the Monroe Doctrine 227 Pan- Americanism and the Monroe Doctrine 229 Origin of the step 230 Pan-American growth 230 Mr. Hall on the new Monroe Doctrine argued before Politi- cal Science Academy 232 President Wilson's Latin- American policy 232 We must not retrograde 233 Chapter IX. The Thirteenth Amendment 237 The Fourteenth Amendment 238 The Fifteenth Amendment 240 The Sixteenth Amendment 241 The Seventeenth Amendment 242 The Proposed Referendum 244 The Proposed Female Suffrage 244 The Proposed Federal Control of Child Labor 244 Hobson's proposed amendment for nation-wide prohibition . . 244 Resolution to extend suffrage to women 245 xvi Contents Chapter X. Switzerland 247 The Swiss federation 248 Constitution of the Swiss federation 250 The Swiss confederation 250 The Landegemeinde 256 Chapter XL Portugal 261 Revolution of the 5th of October, 1910, by A. C. Courrage. . 263 Constitution of Portugal 263 Chapter XII. France, a republic . 283 Constitution of France, 1791 284 The Brumaire Decree, 1799 285 Constitution of 1799 286 Senatus-Consultum, 1804 286 Napoleon compared to Washington 287 Louis Napoleon 294 Imperial policy of Louis Napoleon 291 Adolph Theirs on Modern France History 295 The present Constitution 299 The Civil Code 307 Arstide Braind — formed a new ministry, 1916 308 President Poincare predicts end of war 309 Anniversary of Franco-Prussian War 309 See new France rising out of war 311 Chapter XIII. Constitution of Norway 315 Introduction by Peter B. Olson 315 Other Constitutions. China 333 Japan 336 German government 339 Prussia 341 Ottoman Empire 370 New Zealand 386 Iceland ■ 395 Belgium 397 Abraham Lincoln 1 CHAPTER I. MEETING ABRAHAM LINCOLN WHEN I WAS SEVEN YEARS OLD AT SPRINGFIELD, 1845. LYMAN TRUMBULL, STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS, GEN. SHIELDS, O. M. BROWNING, MISS JULIA JAYNE AND MRS. LINCOLN AT SOCIAL GATHERINGS. PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS. SKETCHES OF SOME OF LINCOLN^ CONTEMPORARIES IN SPRINGFIELD. LINCOLN-SHIELDS DUEL. REFERENCES TO LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS DEBATES BY HORACE WHITE, 1913. When about seven years old I remember Abraham Lincoln as one of a number of politicians and members of the legislature in Springfield who visited our home in Second street. This must have been prior to his term in the House of Representatives in Washington. Among our guests were frequently Stephen A. Douglas, Lyman Trumbull, James Shields, and others who later became famous. Among the friends of my sisters who were at these social gatherings, were Mrs. Lincoln, formerly Miss Todd, Mrs. Trumbull, formerly Miss Julia Jayne and Mrs. N. W. Edwards, sister of Miss Todd. Springfield was very new and primitive in those days. There were not many amusements, except the simple ones we provided for ourselves. The social gatherings in the home gave more pleasure than all the artificially stimulated outside entertainment does nowadays. I remember the first time I met Abraham Lincoln. It was just such an old-fashioned party to which he had been invited at our house. I was a little lad and had been sent up to bed before the party began. But one of the guests had failed to come, and the company wished to dance the quadrille. My sister came upstairs and dragged me out of bed to complete the figure of the quadrille. I slipped hurriedly into my clothes and crept downstairs, half awake, yawning, and not in the best of tempers. Mr. Lincoln was leaning against the fireplace in the sitting room. I remember that I was particularly impressed by his height. He towered above everybody else in the room. He had a very charming manner and was really the life of the party and made all the guests laugh with his inexhaustible fund of stories and anecdotes. His strong face lighted up radiantly and he had one of the most agreeable smiles I have ever seen. Of course I can't say that his grace of manner can be stretched •2:-. Abraham Lincoln to include the way he went through the stately and dignified steps of the quadrille. Mr. Whitney in his book entitled, "On the Circuit with Lin- coln," speaks of Lincoln as having often engaged in social sports before he came to Springfield. He took part in the games and dances at weddings, husking bees, etc. He says : "Mrs. Lincoln was a Miss Todd, born in 1818, being nine years Lincoln's junior. She was the daughter of Robert S. Todd. She came of an old Virginia family on one side, and had direct connection through another line with General Andrew Porter of Pennsylvania, a well-known soldier of the Revolution. Miss Todd was accomplished in music, dancing, the languages, and the arts and refinements of life. Her acquaintance with Lincoln began in Springfield and in a short time ripened into friend- ship, affection and love with occasional lapses in favor of Stephen A. Douglas and other swains then in vogue at the capital. Miss Todd was acquainted with Lincoln for two or three years pre- vious to their marriage." He undoubtedly took part with her in the social entertainments of the select circle in Springfield where there were the usual quadrilles and dances popular at that time. That which impressed itself on my memory more than anything else was the towering figure of Mr. Lincoln, standing by a man- tlepiece in our parlor, with his elbow resting upon it, quietly overlooking the guests of the evening. He was rather awkward in society. Few realized then that he would become our future president and the great character in history into which he devel- oped. He possessed a large fund of good humor, and conse- quently always was a welcome visitor. He used this gift later to great advantage in trying times after he became president. When overcome with anxiety, humor was to him a relief and he often turned the prevailing gloom into a moment of enjoyment by reciting some amusing story applicable to the occasion. Mr. John Hay and Mr. John G. Nicolay, both of whom I knew intimately in Springfield, state in their history of Abraham Lin- coln: "He was (in 1849) s ^ tne center of interest of every social group he encountered, whether on the street or in the parlor. Serene and bouyant of temper, cordial and winning of language, charitable and tolerant of opinion, his very presence dif- fused a glow of confidence and kindness. Wherever he went he left an ever-widening ripple of smiles, jests and laughter. His radiant good fellowship was beloved by political opponents and partisan friends." I often saw Mr. Lincoln with one of his sons on the side-porch of his home in Eighth street, and on the street between his home and law office. He always had a pleasant word or a joke to tell when meeting those he knew, and his kind but rather plain face Abraham Lincoln would light up with a smile. He was six feet, four inches tall, and very strong, having developed to a great degree physically when young through hard work on the farm and in the forest, as well as by his several ventures with flatboats on the Mississippi river. This superior prowess and vitality often was not fully realized by his opponents until they came into personal contact with him. During these days he did not always dress in the fashionable style of lawyers like Douglas and Trumbull, and often wore a coat which was rather the worse for wear. Had Mr. Lincoln employed a good barber and an artistic tailor his large strong body, like that of George Washington's or Czar Alexander II., would not have seemed so awkward as it looked in ready made clothes which did not fit. It must have been about this time when moving unostenta- tiously among his neighbors and friends, that his mind was oc- cupied with the great issues which were pending and which would soon bring about the great Civil War with himself as the master spirit. It is stated that he said to his partner, Mr. Hern- don, whom I also knew : "How hard, Oh, 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, dead to its own death struggle, made known by a universal cry ! What is to be done ? Is any- thing to be done? Who could do anything? And how is it to be done ? Did you ever think of these things ?" Abraham Lincoln proved that human intelligence, when used in alignment with a higher power in the endeavor to do right, dom- inates men and nations. He proved also, like Shakespeare, that the great universities of his age had no monopoly in in- tellectual achievements. His intuitive understanding of meta- physics revealed to him the living divinity in his own breast. But I hardly know any better way of describing his personal appearance than by quoting from Carl Schurz : " 'There he stood, overtopping by several inches all those sur- rounding him. Although measuring something over six feet my- self, I had, when standing quite near him, to throw my head backward in order to look into his eyes. That swarthy face, with its strong features, its deep furrows and its benignant, melancholy eyes, is now familiar to every American. It may be said that the whole civilized world knows and loves it. At that time he was clean shaven and looked even more haggard and careworn than later, when his face was framed in whiskers. On his head he wore a somewhat battered stovepipe hat. His neck emerged long and sinewy from a white collar turned down over a thin black tie. His lank, ungainly body was clad in a musty black frock coat with sleeves that should have been longer, but his arms were so long that the sleeves of a store coat could hardly have been ex- Abraham Lincoln pected to cover them all the way down to the wrist. On his left arm he carried a gray woolen shawl, which evidently served him for an overcoat in chilly weather. His left hand carried a cotton umbrella of the bulging kind, and also a black satchel that bore the marks tif long and hard usage.' " PERSONAL REMINISCENSES NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED. When twelve years old said my old friend, Peter Vredenburgh, of Springfield, Illinois, I was present at the trial of a Mr. Ross. After the prisoner was brought in Mr. Lanterman ap- peared, accompanied by Abraham Lincoln. He seemed to be thor- oughly impressed with the seriousness of the case. He took off his tall hat, removing from it a large bandanna handkerchief and a bundle of papers. He finally addressed the court in a serious manner, while the feeling and sympathy he displayed was very effective. The way he addressed Mr. Lanterman, the father of the girl Mr. Ross had married when he already had another wife, and the questions he asked him brought tears to my eyes. He said: "Do you know this man (pointing to Mr. Ross) the defendant?" The old man replied, "I know him to my sor- row." After Mr. Lanterman was through, Mr. Lincoln had witnesses to prove the man's name was Ross Dawson and that he had another wife living. Ross was convicted of bigamy and sent to the pentitentiary for the maximum time. I don't think any one in the court was more grieved over the case than Mr. Lincoln and his appearance left a lasting impression on my mind. CELEBRATION OP FOURTH OP JULY IN PlElDELBERG. While Abraham Lincoln was seeking knowledge and educating himself under many disadvantages in his rude surroundings, Jef- ferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Beauregard and Buckner were being thoroughly trained at the expense of the United States at West Point, and many of the sons of southern chivalry, in the sunny, luxurious South, were being educated by their wealthy parents to lord it over and to live off the labor of their inherited, so- called slave property, and to regard themselves as the exclusive aristocrats of the nation. They were taught to look down with contempt upon the poor non-slave holders of their own states and to hate the anti-slavery yankees of the North. I myself met sev- eral of these buds of southern chivalry while studying at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. In 1859 the American stu- Abraham Lincoln dents there and in adjoining cities celebrated the Fourth of July. We chartered a small steamer, put the United States flag at one end and the flag of Baden at the other, and steamed up the' Necker to a beautiful garden and resort on its bank. Toasts and speeches were in order. Many ladies and gentlemen, citizens of the United States, were invited and were present. The late Judge Henry M. Shepard, then a student of Heidelberg, and Frederick W. Matteson son of former Governor Matteson of Illinois; also a student at Heidelberg, joined in this Fourth of July celebration. The German newspapers made some very flattering references to the occasion. As it was just previous to the Civil War there were two factions in Heidelberg, one representing the South and one the North. The young men from the South would not join us in our patriotic celebration, but had a dinner by themselves at a public house in Heidelberg. Being on friendly terms with several of them and before starting with my friends from the North, I took a friendly glass of wine with them at the hotel and tried to persuade them to join us ; but they declined the invita- tion, thus showing the animus of the southern mind and its preju- dice against the North. STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS — LINCOLN AND TEMPERANCE. I heard Judge Stephen A. Douglas, with whom Lincoln was debating the great issues of the day, speak in Springfield. He was a short, thickset man, with a large head covered with an abundance of black hair which shook like the mane of a lion when he was delivering his eloquent address. He was a powerful speaker and a well educated man of great natural ability. In regard to Douglas, I remember that he smoked a great deal and after speaking in public as soon as a favorable opportunity presented itself, he would visit a certain grocery store across the street from the state house and take a drink of Bourbon whiskey. It was customary in those days to sell whiskey in family grocer- ies. Mr. Lincoln was entirely free from these habits, as there is an abundance of proof. February 22, 1842, Mr. Lincoln delivered an address before the Washingtonian Temperance Society, Spring- field, 111., which is contained in a book giving the speeches and letters, 1832-1865, published by J. M. Dent & Co., New York, in Everybody's Library, edited by Ernest Rhys. He commenced, "Although the temperance cause has been in progress for twenty years it is apparent to all that it is just now being crowned with a degree of success hitherto unparalleled." Abraham Lincoln This is a long address and shows Mr. Lincoln's views at that time on this vital question. THE UTTLE STIIX-HOUSE. A Sun correspondent asked if it was true as stated in F. F. Browne's "The Everyday Life of Lincoln" that in the canvass for senator in 1858 Douglas accused Lincoln of "keeping a groggery." The mythology of Lincoln, aside from the false quotations which are always turning up, seems inexhaustible, and the "groggery" is an old figure in it. The Pittsfield Eagle has looked up the Lin- coln-Douglas debates again, and finds Douglas at Ottawa Aug. 21, 1858, protesting that he meant no unkindness to his opponent, whom he had known for almost twenty-five years : "There were many points of sympathy between us when we first got acquainted. We were both comparatively boys and both struggling with poverty in a strange land. I was a school teacher in the town of Winchester and he was a flourishing grocery keeper in the town of Salem." Of course if he kept a grocery in the days of his young man- hood, he sold rum. Wet goods were an invaluable source of at- traction of custom in the "store." Deacons vended "W. I." or whiskey or gin. A grocer, a grog-seller; but Lincoln speaking whimsically in the third person in this same Ottawa debate, de- nied that he had ever kept a grocery: "The judge is woefully at fault about his early friend Lincoln being a 'grocery keeper.' I don't know as it would be a great sin if I had been, but he is mistaken. Lincoln never kept a gro- cery anywhere in the world. It is true that Lincoln did work the latter part of one winter in a little still-house up at the end of the hollow." From this little still-house at the end of the hollow grew Doug- las's "grocery," which was transformed into a "groggery." It is possible enough that Lincoln's "saloon license" exists in facsimile as an ornament of saloons. The House that Jack Built is the pro- gressive order of the architecture of myth. Our Massachusetts contemporary quotes, without naming, a precaution we regret, a mythical anecdote begotten of the grocery-groggery myth: "In one of the famous debates Douglas accused Lincoln of having sold liquor over the bar. Lincoln retorted by saying, 'Mr. Douglas is quite right. I did sell liquor over a bar. But while I was on the inside selling it, Mr. Douglas was on the outside drinking it/ " Abraham Lincoln So the Lincoln legend-making, or folk-history, goes on. Pos- sibly some wag will yet build the little still-house up at the end of the hollow, discover it, and get an association to buy it. The renewed interest in Lincoln's "liquor license" may indicate that he is to figure as a witness against the drys. — [New York Sun.] uncoln on the; liquor question. Hon. James S. Ewing, former minister to Belgium, said in his address on Lincoln in Bloomington, 1899, "I heard Mr. Lincoln define his position on the liquor question. This is authentic as it came from Mr. Lincoln himself. I am referring to a demo- cratic meeting: the committee had placed on the sideboard in Judge Douglas's room (probably without his knowledge) a pitcher of water, some glasses, and a decanter of red liquor. As visitors called, they were invited to partake. Most of them de- clined. When Mr. Lincoln arose to go, Mr. Douglas said: 'Mr. Lincoln, won't you take something?' Mr. Lincoln said, 'No, I thank you.' Mr. Douglas said, 'What! Are you a member of a temperance society?' 'No !' said Mr. Lincoln, 'I am not a mem- ber of any temperance society, but I am temperate in this, that I do not drink anything.' " I remember in Springfield that it was customary on New Year's day for the gentlemen to call on the ladies. Many of the ladies had wine which they gave to their callers, and the result was that before night, many of the gentlemen showed the effect of taking too many drinks. It was commonly known among the ladies who the gentlemen were who refused wine, also those who refused to serve wine, among the latter being my mother who always refused to serve wine to callers. It was my impression that Lincoln was among those who did not participate. Lincoln was a man of the people, all his sympathies and activ- ities being exerted towards advocating what he thought was right, and to their best interests. Douglas was more of an aristo- crat and favored at first the lordly slave holders of the South. Lincoln was a born statesman and leader, but he possessed as well, a pure and grand character which overtowered every other motive in life. It is this character that lives and attracts the ad- miration of the world. He would have been a blessing to any age or nation. Lincoln, like Oliver Cromwell, was a born leader of men, and originator of strategic movements in emergencies. He had an indomitable will, and was determined to carry out his purposes over any and all difficulties. Abraham Lincoln THE PETTY PRACTITIONERS OP A PETTY TOWN. The Hon. James Bryce was mistaken when he stated in his introduction to the speeches of Lincoln that "even after Lincoln had gained some legal practice there was for many years no one for him to mix with except the petty practitioners of a petty town, men nearly all of whom knew little more than he did himself." When an Englishman, unfamiliar with the conditions that existed in Illinois and especially in Springfield at the time of Lincoln, would make such a statement it proves that he knew nothing of the array of talent and of the university trained minds that gave dignity and legal standing to the courts and bar of Sangamon County at the time of Lincoln. Otherwise, the introduction by the eminent diplomat and author, whose "American Commonwealth" I have read and stud- ied with benefit, is very interesting and truthful. Mr. Whitney in his book on "Life on the Circuit with Lincoln" says : "that in the lower house of the Illinois Legislature there were many men of both political parties who afterward became distinguished in the political history of the state. Among them may be mentioned Lyman Trumbull, John J. Hardin, William H. Bissell, afterward Governor of Illinois, Edward D. Baker, John T. Stewart, William H. Richardson, Lewis W. Ross, Robert Smith, Samuel D. Marshall, James Semple and James Shields. In fact, the Springfield bar of those days numbered among its mem- bers many men of more than common ability. Some of the names were soon familiar to the whole country. It was not because his competitors were few and weak that Lincoln attained the first rank as a lawyer, but because he had to fight his way against men in every way capable of testing his powers to the utmost, and men who had far superior advantages in education than he had received." Many of these men subsequently became members of Congress. The Hon. Schuyler Colfax states in his reminiscences of Abra- ham Lincoln, Chapter X, in the book published by Allen Thorn- dyke Rice, that he (Lincoln) "in the frequent law contests at the bar waged with men who afterwards attained brilliant distinction in law and politics and in eloquence, in the sharp antagonism of debate with one of the ablest and most adroit of American stump speakers, Judge Douglas, he was intellectually armed and equipped for the responsibilities by which he was to be environed in the dark and perilous times of the Civil War." Leonard Swett states in the same book published by Allen Thorndyke Rice, that for eleven years Lincoln and himself trav- eled the eighth judicial circuit in Illinois and tried suits together or opposed to each other. Leonard Swett was a highly educated Abraham Lincoln man who attended North Yarmouth Academy and Waterville College, Maine. He read law with Messrs. Howard and Shepley at Portland, Maine, was volunteer soldier in the Mexican War and at its close settled in Bloomington in 1848. The bar of that circuit embraced many men of marked ability, including David Davis, judge of the Superior Court and senator of the United States, Edward D. Baker, member of congress from Sangamon district; David W. Voorhees, Stephen T. Logan, John T. Stuart, and U. F. Linder, with all of whom Abraham Lincoln came into contact during his practice of law. John T. Stuart, who was at one time the law partner of Abra- ham Lincoln, was born November 10, 1807. He was of Scotch Irish descent, and his father was a Presbyterian minister. He was graduated from Centre College, Kentucky, and was admitted to the bar in 1826. He maintained a high place in his profession which he held actively for sixty years. He was elected to the legislature in 1832 and 1836; elected to congress against Stephen A. Douglas in 1838, and held office two terms ; he was then elected state senator, 1848 to 1852, and again elected to congress in 1862. Mr. Stuart first met Lincoln during the Black Hawk War. He subsequently induced him to study law, lent him the necessary books, and afterwards took him into partnership in his law firm, which lasted until April, 1841. THE UNCOLN-SHIELDS "dUEi/' James Shields, while auditor in Springfield in 1837, challenged Abraham Lincoln to fight a duel, which, at the time, created a great deal of excitement in Springfield. He objected to some articles he claimed Lincoln had written reflecting upon his charac- ter. He was a prominent member of the social circle in Spring- field and quite a beau among the ladies. A full account of this duel can be found in the interesting book "Life on the Circuit with Lincoln" by Henry C. Whitney, who gives a very vivid pic- ture of the circle of acquaintances in which Lincoln moved as a prominent character. When James Shields, afterward a senator from three states and a general in two wars, when a young man in Springfield, de- manded the author of a clever pasquinade written by two ladies who afterwards severally became Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Trum- bull, Lincoln promptly caused himself to be announced as the responsible party, and when the duel was forced upon him, he rehabilitated the injured honor of the gallant suitor by unhes- itatingly accepting. Lincoln carefully and methodically put himself in training and 10 Abraham Lincoln wrote out the following "instructions" for the guidance of his second, Dr. Merriman: 1. Weapon: Cavalry broad sword of the larger size, precisely equal in all respects, and such as are now used by the Cavalry Company of Jacksonville. 2. Position: A plank ten feet long and from nine to twelve inches broad, to be firmly fixed on edge on the ground as the line between us, which neither is to pass his foot over upon forfeit of his life. Next a line drawn on the ground on either side of said plank and parallel, each at the distance of the whole length of the sword, and three feet additional from the plank; and the passing of his own line by either party during the fight shall be deemed a surrender of the contest. 3. Time: On Thursday evening at five o'clock, if you can get it so; but in no case to be at a greater distance than Friday evening at five o'clock. 4. Place: Within three miles of AltCit, on the opposite side of the river, the particular spot to be agreed upon by you. 5. Any preliminary detail coming within the above rules you are at liberty to make at your discretion. Lincoln said to Linder, "I didn't want to kill Shields and felt sure I should disarm him, having had about a month to learn the broad sword exercise: furthermore, I didn't want the damned fellow to kill me, which I rather think he would have done if we had selected pistols." James Shields was born in 1810 in Tyrone County, Ireland, emigrated to America in 1826, practiced law in Kaskaskia, Illi- nois, 1832, elected to the Legislature in 1836, state auditor 1837, judge of Superior Court, 1843, Brigadier-General United States Army 1846, served under General Zachary Taylor and General Winfield Scott; was United States senator from the state of Minnesota 1858- 1860, governor of Oregon Territory 1848. In the Civil War Brigadier-General 1862, head of division-General Nathaniel B. Banks, Army of the Shenandoah Valley; resigned March, 1863 and settled in Carrolton, Missouri. Member of leg- islature 1 874- 1 879. The statue of Gen. James Shields, first United States senator from Minnesota, which has been placed in a niche in the rotunda of the state capitol, was unveiled in the presence of nearly 400 persons, says the Journal, including members of the Loyal Legion and the G. A. R., who supplied the fund for the statue, state officials and friends of the Shields family. Lieut. Samuel Appleton, state commander of the Loyal Legion, formally presented the statue to Gov. A. O. Eberhart, represent- ing the state, and the Governor responded. Misses Ellen and Abraham Lincoln 11 Florence Shields of St. Paul, grandnieces of General Shields, un- veiled the bronze effigy of the soldier and statesman. A close study of the speeches of Abraham Lincoln during his contests with Stephen A. Douglas will show what a thorough knowledge he possessed of the great questions which attracted the attention of the people of his time. They show the immense amount of material he had collected from every available source bearing upon the questions at issue. TH^ SPRINGFIELD BAR. Mr. William O. Stoddard, one of Lincoln's historians says: "The Springfield bar in those days numbered among its members many men of more than common ability. There were some in- deed whose names were soon to be familiar to the whole country. It was not therefore because his competitors were few and weak that Lincoln advanced to the foremost position as a sound and able lawyer. From the outset he was compelled to fight his way against men in every way capable of testing his powers to the utmost, and there was none of them whose apparent educa- tional advantages had not been greater than his own." Although Lincoln did not have the advantages of many of those with whom he came in contact, he quickly grasped and obtained knowledge from every available source, not only from books, but from asso- ciation with men of superior talent and education, especially when in Springfield and while traveling the eighth judicial cir- cuit of Illinois who became prominent in later years. Abraham Lincoln was not only a remarkable character, but he was the result of the immediate incidents of the times surround- ing him. He was carried forward on the crest of a great wave of popular revolution and was its controlling spirit. Lincoln's rise from obscurity. From the time he delivered his now world-famous speeches in opposition to Judge Douglass, who was aiming for the presidency and who favored the extension of slavery into the Territories, 1854 until the surrender of Richmond in 1865, eleven years, a startling change in the history of the United States was brought about by him, in co-operation with the loyal people of the country. The democratic party, at first all-powerful on both sides of Mason and Dixon's line, was swept out of power, — slavery so strongly intrenched in the South and boldly threatening to encroach upon the North was absolutely obliterated, the defiant southern slave 12 Abraham Lincoln aristocracy was forced to submit or be utterly destroyed in person and property, the Emancipation Proclamation was issued and the United States Constitution itself revised to conform to the very ideas and principles of Lincoln, as set forth in 1854-1860 when he was scarcely known outside of Illinois. Here was a man who came from comparative obscurity, born in a log cabin in the forest of the then far West, with no cultured parents to train him excepting the good influence of his step- mother, or give him the advantages of a liberal education, and who, by applying himself with earnestness to study with scarcely any outside help, continually mastering useful information gained from every available source including the law, finally rose above the rude environment of his early days and at last accomplished the great object of his life, for which he firmly believed he was destined by his heavenly Father whom he always reverenced and in whom he had boundless faith. UNCOIvN AND DOUGLAS. I well remember the excitement in politics about the Kansas- Nebraska bill advocated by Douglas, who was scheming to be elected president and wished to gain the support of the South, the talk about state sovereignty, the slave question, and the Dred Scott decision. A close study of the speeches of Abraham Lin- coln during his contest with Judge Douglas will show that he was thoroughly informed as to the history of his country and the great principles underlying our representative democracy. He severely criticised the decision of the Supreme Court and was not afraid to arraign Chief Justice Taney before the bar of public opinion. He said, "the sacredness that Judge Douglas throws around this decision is a degree of sacredness that has never been thrown be- fore around any other decision. Chief Justice Taney insists that negroes are no part of the people who made, or for whom was made, the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution of the United States. On the contrary Judge Curtis in his dissenting opinion shows that in five of the then thirteen states free negroes were voters." The election of Lincoln in i860, for whom I voted in 1864, was a protest against the Supreme Court decisions in the Dred Scott case. The result was that slavery was never extended into the Territories, and this famous decision was practically an- nulled by the will of the majority carried out through Abraham Lincoln. Referring to Douglases speeches, he said: "He doesn't care whether slavery is voted up or voted down in the territory. If it Abraham Lincoln 13 is wrong he cannot say that the people have a right to do wrong. It is the eternal struggle between these two principles, right and wrong, throughout the world. The one is the common right of humanity and the other the divine right of kings. It is the same spirit that says, you toil and work and earn bread and I'll eat it. No matter in what shape it comes, whether from the mouth of a king, or from one race of men as an apology for enslaving another race, it is the same hypocritical principle." When Judge Stephen A. Douglas, and later, other prominent advocates of slavery came in contact with his master mind, which by its own efforts had acquired a vast fund of legal and politi- cal information, they were resisted and overpowered in a manner not expected. He advanced step by step, at first arguing the case with Douglas with the people listening ; then, after election defining the position of the seceding states, and finally forcing them to yield and un- willingly accept his position. Stump speaking was then customary and the woods near Spring- field often reverberated with oratory delivered on stumps in the groves near Springfield and at the County Fair, slavery and state rights being the chief subjects. There were no questions to be de- bated then concerning great trusts, there was no Standard Oil company, Steel or Tobacco trust, multimillionaires who tried to control the money market, nor national banks, but we had plenty of wild cat currency, good one day, of no account the next. Messrs. Nicolay and Hay state in their history of Lincoln : "In 1838 wheat was 50^ a bushel, rye was 354*, corn and oats 25^, butter was 8$ a pound, and eggs were 8<£ a dozen and pork was 2l /2^ a pound." Eggs and butter were plentiful and cheap in those anti-bellum times and there were few large cold storage warehouses where goods could be accumulated to accommodate large combines. We had a stage coach with two or four lively horses, and Lincoln had to use these or a horse and buggy when making the circuit to try law cases. There were no aeroplanes or automobiles, and few railroads. There were no great monop- olies ; every man had an even chance in business, the worst cloud on the horizon being the slave question, and Lincoln and Douglas were hard at work thrashing out the pros and cons of this problem. WAR TIME WRITER TELLS OF LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS. Fifty-six years ago Horace White reported for The Tribune the epoch making debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas. Recently, before an audience of old and young 14 Abraham Lincoln at the Chicago Historical society, Mr. White, who has been in more recent years a famous New York editor, retold the story of the politics that made Lincoln president and cost the "Little Giant" the honor. More than half a century of reflection has mellowed Mr. White's views of the political struggle, but his memory is unim- paired. His descriptions proved that age has not withered his "nose for the news," but he was able to editorialize to an extent probably not permitted by his editorial superiors even in those bitter days. In leading up to his description of the debates, Mr. White sketched the growth of slavery in America, and the incidents lead- ing up to the repeal of the Missouri compromise. Lincoln he described as having served one term in congress and little known. Douglas was the reverse, "his advance being so rapid that it seemed as if he had only to ask to be given his choice at the hands of his fellow citizens," as Mr. White described him. (Chicago Tribune, Feb. 13, 1913.) DOUGLAS LIKE A UON. "Douglas had a large head surmounted by a mane, giving the impression of a lion about to roar or devour its prey," continued the speaker. "He was but 5 feet 4 inches in height, but he earned the title of the 'little giant.' He was probably the biggest man in the United States, but he was color blind to the moral principles of slavery. "Lincoln was then in Springfield, a lawyer, with a far from lucrative practice, but possessing a great reputation as a story tell- er. He was first of all a politician, using the word in its best sense. But for the repeal of the Missouri compromise he probably would have remained a country lawyer, riding the central Illinois circuit and entertaining tavern loungers with funny stories. He would have been unsung and unheard of. But he believed the country could not exist, half free and half slave, and he told some friends so, but was advised to keep his views quiet." The seven joint debates of 1858 were but a continuation of discussions by the same "champions" in 1854, and Mr. White is believed to be the only living man who heard all these famous efforts. HOOTED DOWN IN CHICAGO. "Douglas came home to Illinois in 1854 to defend his course in the Nebraska bill," Mr." White continued, "and spoke in Chicago, but he was practically hooted from the platform. He spoke at Abraham Lincoln 15 Springfield, and the following day Lincoln replied in the same hall and in Douglas's presence. It was a great speech and the first that gave a true measure of his ability. I was then 20 years of age, and the impression I received was overwhelming. That im- pression has lost nothing by the passage of time. Lincoln was then 45, and at the maturity of his powers. "Between 1854-58 came the war in Kansas and the birth of the Republican party. Seward, Greely, and other eastern Repub- lican leaders advised joining forces to re-elect Douglas to the senate, but the Illinois forces, feeling they knew Douglas better, were working for Lincoln. CHALLENGE COMES FROM LINCOLN. "The debates were the result of a challenge by Lincoln. Doug- las's forces were against acceptance, not because they thought he would be worsted by Lincoln, but because his great fame would draw thousands who would otherwise never hear Lincoln. But the challenge was accepted, though limited to seven debates. All were held at the open air. "The first meeting was held at Ottawa on August 21 with im- mense attendance. "Douglas opened with his remarkable fluency that covered many rocks and quicksands, and attacked Lincoln's stand that the government could not exist half free and half slave. 'Didn't Washington, Hamilton, Jefferson, and Jay in drawing the con- stitution leave each state free to choose ?' he asked. He ended in a whirlwind of applause and Lincoln started in. Lincoln had a high pitched falsetto voice that resembled the pipe of a boat- swain's whistle, and he often had to stop for repairs in the middle of a sentence. Both mind and body worked more slowly than in Douglas's case. No one ever caught Douglas napping and he was quick as a flash in answering questions and making his in- terrupters feel their inferiority. EARNESTNESS WINS HEARERS. "What Lincoln lacked in mental agility he made up in moral force and earnestness, and he responded to Douglas's attacks by saying the 'Little Giant's' arguments were 'a specious and fantas- tic array of words by which a man might prove a horse chestnut to be a chestnut horse.' "Six days later they met at Freeport in the most famous debate of the seven because of the question put by Lincoln to Douglas 16 Abraliam Lincoln as to the powers of the people of a territory to exclude slavery from their borders and Douglas's remedy of local police regula- tion and popular sovereignty. Although Douglas's answer at Freeport cost him the presidential nomination, two years later it saved him the senatorship." The third debate was at Jonesboro. In "Egypt," where Repub- lican votes were always recorded as "scattering," Mr. White said the attendance was small, but Lincoln "demolished" his op- ponent's Freeport speech. Then came the fourth meeting at Charleston, Coles county. The fifth was at Galesburg, the sixth at Qttincy, and the last at Alton. "Douglas did not make an engaging picture in the debates," said Mr. White, "but he won according to the rules of the game. Douglas had a majority of three in the senate and five in the house, but Lincoln had a popular plurality of more than 4000. Providence directed events better than we could have done. Had Douglas lost the senatorship he would not have had the strength to split the Democratic party. Had Lincoln been elected senator he probably would not have been nominated for the presidency. "Douglas's day of glory came later when Sumter was fired on and he aligned himself with Lincoln and came home to hold the state in the Union. I heard him address the legislature, and I cannot conceive that Demosthenes, Patrick Henry, or any other orator could have surpassed his remarkable outburst of passion, perspiration, and patriotism and his tremendous earnestness. He was the only man who could have held the southern counties of Illinois for the union, and he did it." THERE WERE GIANTS IN THOSE DAYS. Whitney, in his "Life on the Circuit with Lincoln" says : "While Mr. Lincoln was not profoundly versed in black letter, or yet case law, still he effectively met the best of the profession, at first in fourteen and thereafter in eight different counties, as well as the several circuit riders. In his own county he was an- tagonized by Logan, Stewart, Edwards, Lamborn, Broadwell, Baker and Hay ; in Shelby he was confronted by Anthony, Thorn- ton, and Samuel W. Moulton; in Macon County, by Richard J. Oglesby, Benedict, Brower, Bunn, and Seth Post ; in Coles County, by General Linder, and O. B. Ficklin ; in Danville, by Oliver L. Davis, John J. Brown, and Isaac P. Walker; in Clinton, by Clif- ton H. Moore, and Solomon Lewis : in Bloomington, by Gridley, Judge Scott, William H. Hannah, Amos McWilliams and Win- kezer; in Mt. Pulaski by Samuel C. Post and in Champaign by William J. Cowers; while, generally, in the later days on the Abraham Lincoln 17 circuit, Leonard J. Swett antagonized him in most of the cases of importance in all courts." "There were giants in those days. Those were great men, in fact three of them were at times supreme judges, four of them be- came congressmen, three United States senators, and one a gover- nor. Two or three of them were among the best lawyers in the state, or any other state." Abraham Lincoln, was a man who stood up and boldly executed the laws and compelled obedience to a government organized by the people, for the people. Though continually surrounded by scheming and treacherous politicians, corrupting and perverting the legislative and judicial branches of the government in order to foster and perpetuate slav- ery in the United States he rose above and overpowered all his opponents, and after a bitter struggle against opposition and seem- ingly insurmountable difficulties, struck the shackles from the slave and left the nation, in fact as well as in name, a nation of free men. He not only gave liberty to the negro, but he gave a more enduring freedom to every living and every future citizen and inhabitant of our great republic, if not of the world. As Abraham Lincoln grew in physical proportion and strength externally, his inner consciousness, his mental and spiritual being, was developing rapidily under his own self-culture and masterful endeavor to become a well-informed citizen of this great republic. Step by step he mounted upward until he was able through his studious investigation of the laws and history of the political is- sues of the day, to meet and overcome some of the greatest or- ators and politicians of his day. Abraham Lincoln 19 CHAPTER II. ORGANIZATION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY LINCOLN'S NOMINA- TION — Douglas's nomination — Lincoln's election — DOUGLAS STANDS BY THE UNION AND ADVISES OTHERS TO DO SO APRIL 23, ANNIVERSARY OF DOUGLASES BIRTHDAY THE REPUBLICAN PARTY FOUNDED ON THE DECLARATION OP INDE- PENDENCE. On October 15, 1854, a mass convention of the anti-Nebraska men, was held at Springfield, when the following resolution was adopted: "First, resolved, that we believe this truth to be self- evident, that when parties become subversive of the ends for which they are established, or incapable of restoring the govern- ment to the true principles of the Constitution, it is the right and duty of the people to dissolve the political bonds by which they may have been connected therewith, and to organize new parties upon such principles and with such views as the exigencies of the nation may demand. ,, BEGINNING OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY A MEMORABLE GATHERING. The following is copied from a pamphlet published by William A. Meese, Moline, Illinois. The first state fair was being held at Springfield during the time the above convention was in session, and the 4th of October had been advertised as the day when Senator Douglas and others would speak. Rumor was current that both Judges Breese and Trumbull would be there to answer Douglas. There was a large attendance from all over the state. Senator Douglas arrived but Breese and Trumbull failed to appear. Abraham Lincoln, who was present, consented to discuss the questions of the day with Mr. Douglas. This was the first measuring of strength of the two master minds, who had such a large part in shaping the future destinies of this country. The debate was held in the hall of rep- resentatives. Mr. Lincoln opened the discussion in a speech of two hours. He (a Whig) claimed to be national in his views; was opposed to disturbing slavery where it existed in the states ; would sustain an efficient slave law, because of the clear grant of power in the 20 ' Abraham Lincoln constitution for the recovery of fugitives from labor ; believed that congress had power, and should exercise it, to prohibit slavery in the territories, citing the ordinance of 1787. He also took the broad ground derived from the Declaration of Independence, that the white man had no right to impose laws upon the blacks for their government without their consent ; and concluded with a vigorous attack upon Douglas personally, taking as his text the celebrated apostrophe of that gentleman in 1849, tnat the Missouri compromise was canonized in the hearts of the American people, which no ruthless hand could dare to be reckless enough to disturb. He spoke with singular power, and being deeply moved himself, carried his audience with him step by step in rapt atten- tion, by his eloquence, until his argument broke like a sun over their understanding. Mr. Lincoln's speech was heartily endorsed by the convention. Mr. Douglas in answer, showed that the principle of legislation in the adjustment measures of 1850, supported by patriot whigs and democrats alike as a finality, was precisely the same as that embodied in the Kansas-Nebraska bill, and that the insertion of the words declaring the Missouri line inoperative and void by a southern whig, was mere surplusage, and did not change the legal effect at all ; that aside from these words the act was the same in its grant of legislative powers as that of Utah and New Mexico, which had met the approbation of all parties except ultra abolition- ists. The argument of his adversary, his friends claimed, was met, point by point, repelling his assaults and exposing his sophistry in a scathing and triumphant manner, as only the 'Little Giant,' with his ready powers of debate, of all men in America could have done, carrying conviction home to the minds of his hearers until their pent up enthusiasm knowing no bounds, burst forth in ringing applause from a thousand throats. THE NAME) REPUBLICAN. Who first suggested the name Republican for the anti-Kansas- Nebraska partisans is not definitely known, but on March 29th, 1854, Major Alvin E. Bovay of Ripon, Wisconsin, wrote to the New York Tribune, urging Horace Greeley to recommend this name for the new party that it was proposed to form. The first state convention to adopt the name republican was that of Michi- gan at Jackson on July 6th, 1854. Wisconsin followed July 13th, and Vermont adopted the name the same day. Abraham Lincoln 21 THE FIRST CALL. There seems to have been a general understanding for a united effort to organize a national anti-slavery party, for we hear of gatherings being called at or about the same time in various states. In this state credit is due to a newspaper man. Some time before the holidays in December, 1855, Paul Selby, then editor of "The Morgan (now Jacksonville) Journal," for- merly a Whig paper, but then an independent, published an article in which he called for a meeting of the anti-Nebraska editors of Illinois for the purpose of agreeing upon a campaign for the fol- lowing year. The following is the article published: "All editors in Illinois opposed to the Nebraska bill are re- quested to meet in convention at Decatur, Illinois, on the 226. of February next, for the purpose of making arrangement for the organization of the Anti-Nebraska forces in this state for the coming contest. All editors favoring the movement will please forward a copy of their papers containing their approval to the office of The Illinois State Chronicle, Decatur." This call was published in and endorsed by the following news- papers : The Morgan Journal, Jacksonville. The Chronicle, Winchester. The Illinois State Chronicle, Decatur. The Quincy Whig, Quincy. The Gazette, Lacon. The Pike County Free Press, Pittsfield. The Tribune, Chicago. The Staats Zeitung, Chicago. The Republican, Oquawka. The Republican, Peoria. The Prairie State, Danville. The Advertiser, Rock Island. The Fultonian, Fulton, Vermont county. The Journal (German), Freeport. The Beacon, Freeport. The Pantagraph, Bloomington. The True Democrat, Joliet. The Telegraph, Lockport. The Gazette, Kankakee. The Guardian, Aurora. The Telegraph, Dixon. The Gazette, Waukegan. The Chronicle, Peru. The Advocate, Belleville. The Journal, Chicago. The Journal, Sparta. 22 Abraham Lincoln editors meet. The editorial convention met at Decatur February 22, 1856. A severe snowstorm which fell the night before had blockaded many of the railroads. Mr. Paul Selby in his account of this meeting said : "The early arrivals included Dr. Charles H. Ray of the Trib- une and George Schneider of the Staats Zeitung, Chicago : V. Y. Ralston of the Quincy Whig; O. P. Wharton of the Rock Island Advertiser; T. J. Pickett of the Peoria Republican; E. C. Daugherty of the Register, and E. W. Blaisdell of the Republican, Rockford; Charles Faxon of the Princeton Post; A. N. Ford of the Lacon Gazette; B. F. Shaw of the Dixon Telegraph; W. J. Usrey of the Decatur Chronicle, and Paul Selby of the Morgan Journal." An organization was effected with Paul Selby as chairman and Mr. Usrey as secretary, while, according to its official report, Messrs. Ray, Schneider, Ralston, Wharton, Daugherty and Pick- ett were appointed a committee on resolutions, and Messrs. Faxon, Ford and Shaw on credentials. The most important work of the convention was done through its committee on resolutions. Abraham Lincoln was present and was in conference with this committee, and it is claimed he dic- tated the policy of the convention. The platform, while disavowing any intention to interfere in the internal affairs of any state in reference to slavery, protested against the introduction of slavery into territory already free, or its further extension; demanded the restoration of the Missouri compromise; insisted upon the maintenance of the doctrine of the Declaration of Independence as essential to freedom of speech and of the press, and, "it recognizes freedom as the rule, and slavery as the exception, made and provided for as such, and that it nowhere sanctions the idea of property in man as one of its principles ;" declared in favor of the widest toleration in mat- ters of religion and for the protection of the common school sys- tem, which was a protest against "Know-Nothingism," which had swept over the country during the preceding two years, and con- cluded with a demand for "reform in the administration of the state government" as second only in importance to slavery exten- sion itself. O. P. Wharton, of the Rock Island Advertiser, was one of the nine men who drafted the resolutions. A state central committee consisting of the following gentle- men was appointed:. First District— S. M. Church, Rockford. Second District — W. B. Ogden, Chicago. Abraham Lincoln 23 Third District— C. D. A. Parks, Joliet. Fourth District — T. J. Pickett, Peoria. Fifth District — Edward A. Dudley, Quincy. Sixth District— W. H. Herndon, Springfield. Seventh District — R. J. Oglesby, Decatur. Eighth District — Joseph Gillespie, Edwardsville. Ninth District — D. L. Phillips, Jonesboro. For the State at Large — Gustavus Koerner, Belleville, and Ira O. Wilkinson, Rock Island. The convention then adopted the following: "Resolved. That this convention recommend a state delegate convention to be held on Thursday, the 29th day of May next, in the city of Bloomington, and that the state central committee be requested to fix the ratio of representation for that conven- tion, and take such steps as may seem desirable to bring about a full representation from the whole state." LINCOLN DECLINES TO BE A CANDIDATE. In the issue of Tuesday morning, February 26, 1856, the Rock Island Advertiser gave nearly a two-column report of the proceedings of the Anti-Nebraska Editorial convention. In this report it says : "Abraham Lincoln of Springfield was present and addressed the convention at the request of the editors, in which address he avowed his determination of not allowing his name to be used during the coming political canvass as a candidate for any office. He declared his preference for Col. Wm. H. Bissel for governor and expressed his conviction that he could be elected and was the man for the times." THE PITTSBURG MEETING. On the same day that the Illinois editors were in session, there was a similar convention held by the Anti-Nebraska editors of the state of Pennsylvania at Pittsburg, called "for the purpose of perfecting the national organization and providing for a na- tional delegate convention of the republican party to nominate candidates for the presidency and vice presidency. ,, The proceedings of the Pittsburg convention are of special interest from the fact that Illinois men were present. Mr. Gid- dings introduced to the Pittsburg gathering the Rev. Mr. Love- joy of Illinois. He said : "The places of the most of those patri- 24 Abraham Lincoln ots who were about to be shot down in Kansas, would be supplied by other free men. He was willing to go as captain or private. He would rather be there weltering in blood than to see a set of drunken ruffians take the government out of the hands of the people of Kansas." Mr. Charding of Illinois also addressed the convention, and J. S. McMillan of this state acted as one of the vice presidents, while Judge Edwin S. Leland of Ottawa was made one of the national committeemen. This convention issued a call for a na- tional convention to be held in Philadelphia on June 17th to nom- inate candidates for the presidency and vice presidency. The following call was issued by the state central committee of Illinois : ANTI-NEBRASKA STATE CONVENTION. "A state convention of the Anti-Nebraska party in Illinois will he held in the city of Bloomington on Thursday, the 29th day of May, 1856, for the purpose of choosing candidates for state of- ficers, appointing delegates to the national convention, transact- ing such other business as may properly come before the body. The committee has adopted as the basis of representation the ratio of one delegate to every 6000 inhabitants, and an addition- al delegate for every fractional number of 2000 and over; but counties that contain less than 6000 inhabitants are entitled to one delegate." The call was signed by: Wm. B. Ogden S. M. Church F. A. Dudley Thos. J. Pickett R. J. Oglesby G. D. A. Parks Ira. O. Wilkinson W. H. Herndon Joe Gillespie D. L. Phillips Ira O. Wilkinson, one of the committee at large, was for many years a judge of our circuit court and leader of the Rock Island county bar. Rock Island county was entitled to three delegates. The following call was published in the Rock Island Advertiser and Moline Workman : REPUBLICAN CONVENTION. "The state central committee having called the state conven- tion of the republican party to a meeting at Bloomington on the 29th day of May next, the republicans of Rock Island county are required to meet at the courthouse in Rock Island on Satur- Abraham Lincoln 25 day, the ioth day of May, next, to choose delegates to attend the state convention. It is desired that all parts of the county will be fully represented. John W. Spencer, Joesph Jackman, John V. Cook, county committee. Rock Island, April 9, 1856." FOR A NATIONAL CONVENTION. In the same paper is a call "to the people of the United States without regard to past political differences or divisions, but who are opposed to the repeal of the Missouri compromise, to the policy of the present administration to the extension of slavery into the territory, in favor of the admission of Kansas as a free state, and restoring the use of the federal government to the times of Washington and Jefferson ; are invited by the national committee appointed by the Pittsburg convention on the 226. day of Feb- ruary, 1856, to send from each state three delegates from every congressional district, and six delegates at large to meet in Phila- delphia on the 17th day of June, next for the purpose of recom- mending candidates to be supported for the offices of president and vice president." Twenty-two states, including the District of Columbia, signed the call through conmmitteemen. E. S. Leland appears for Illi- nois. ANTI-NEBRASKA. An article in the Chicago Tribune in May of that year shows the sentiment prevalent at that time and it further indicates that those favorable to the formation of this new party were decided on a leader in this state. "THE BLOOMINGTON CONVENTION— Only two weeks will intervene between the present time and the day fixed for holding the anti-Nebraska state convention at Bloomington. But, though the time is short, we wish to correct one apprehen- sion that has gone abroad in relation to the proposed gathering. It is this: That the convention is to be exclusively republican. Such is not the case. The republicans, so far as we are informed, consent to be represented there purely as anti-Nebraska men, and if there is anything in their political creed which points to more radical measures than old-line whigs and anti-Nebraska demo- crats can consent to, they have expressed their willingness, with- out dissent, to put such things in abeyance, and unite upon the platform upon which all northern men, who are not avowedly pro-slavery, ought to stand. As one of the organs of the repub- 26 Abraham Lincoln lican opinion, we have no hesitation in saying that we advise our friends throughout the state to such a course of action. We say- further, that we know of no man who is identified with the re- publican party who desires or would accept a nomination from the convention, for any place whatever. The republicans of the north wish to testify their sincerity by taking the places of pri- vates in the ranks, reserving the right to do battle wherever the fight is fiercest. They expect that the nominee for governor will possibly be a man who differs with them upon some matters con- nected with national politics, but they do not demand uniformity of belief — do not expect it. We know not who may be on the ticket with Colonel Bissel, and we do not care what they are called, or what may be their political antecedents, so that they are men of personal and political integrity, who may be depend- ed upon to carry out the views that they will announce. The re- publicans ask nothing." COUNTY CONVENTION. On Saturday, May 10, at 2 o'clock the first republican county convention of Rock Island county was held at the Rock Island county court house. John G. Powers was chairman and O. P. Wharton, editor of the Advertiser, was secretary. A. F. Perkins of Moline, George W. Pleasants and John W. Spencer of Rock Island were appointed a committee to select three delegates to attend the convention at Bloomington. This committee presented the names of N. C. Tyrell of Moline, R. H. Andrews of Rock Island and J. V. Cook of Camden, who were elected by the convention. THE STATE CONVENTION. The Rock Island Advertiser of Tuesday, June 3, 1856, gives a lengthy report, covering three columns, of the Bloomington con- vention. As delegates from Rock Island county it reports as present N. C. Tyrell, R. H. Andrews and J. V. Cook, while Ira O. Wilkinson is mentioned as one of the state central committee- men at large. The Advertiser in speaking of the meeting says : "It was by far the largest political convention that has convened for the nomination of state officers within the borders of Illinois. Po- litical tricksters had no hand or part in its doings, and from its patriotic resolves, we are assured that the sovereign people have made known their will." Abraham Lincoln 27 the: resolutions. The following were the resolutions which were unanimously adopted at the state convention: "Whereas, The present administration has prostituted its pow- ers and devoted all its energies to the propagation of slavery, and to its expansion into territories heretofore dedicated to freedom, against the known wishes of the people of such territories, to the suppression of freedom of speech, and of the press; and to the revival of the odious doctrine of constructive treason, which has always been the resort of tyrants, and their most powerful engine of injustice and oppression; and, "Whereas, We are convinced that an effort is making to sub- vert the principles, and ultimately to change the form of our government, and which it becomes all patriots who love their country and the cause of human freedom to resist; therefore, "Resolved, That foregoing all former differences of opinion upon other questions, we pledge ourselves to unite in opposition to the present administration and to the party which upholds and supports it, and to use all honorable and constitutional means to wrest the government from the unworthy hands which now con- trol it, and bring it back in its administration to the principles and practices of Washington, Jefferson and their great and good compatriots of the revolution ; "Resolved, That we hold, in accordance with the opinion 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 whilst we will maintain all constitu- tional rights of the south, we also hold that justice, humanity, the principles of freedom as expressd in our Declaration of In- dependence and our national Constitution, and the purity and perpetuity of our government, require that power should be ex- erted to prevent the extension of slavery into territories hereto- fore free: "Resolved, That the repeal of the Missouri compromise was unwise unjust and injurious, an open and aggravated violation of the plighted faith of the states, and that the attempt of the pres- ent administration to force slavery into Kansas against the known wishes of the legal voters of that territory, is an arbitrary and tyrannous violation of the rights of the people to govern them- selves, and that we will strive by all constitutional means, to se- cure to Kansas and Nebraska the legal guarantee against slavery of which they were deprived at the cost of the violation of the plighted faith of the nation. "Resolved, That we are devoted to the Union, and will to the 28 Abraham Lincoln last extremity defend it against the efforts now being made by the disunionists of the admintration to compass its dissolution, and that we will support the constitution of the United States in all its provisions; regarding it as the sacred bond of our Union and the only safeguard for the preservation of the rights of our- selves and posterity. "Resolved, That we are in favor of the immediate admission of Kansas as a member of this confederacy, under the constitu- tion adopted by the people of said territory. "Resolved, That the spirit of our institutions, as well as the constitution of our country guarantee the liberty of conscience as well as political freedom, and that we will proscribe no one, by legislation or otherwise, on account of religious opinions, or in consequence of place of birth. "Resolved, That in Lyman Trumbull, our distinguished sena- tor, the people of Illinois have an able and consistent exponent of their principles, and that his course in the senate meets with our unqualified approbation/' Although this convention was not called republican, the name not appearing in the proceedings, yet it was well understood that republican was to be the name of the new party and this conven- tion would select delegates to attend the national republican convention at Philadelphia. On motion of John Wentworth of Cook the following resolution was adopted : "Resolved, That the delegates in attendance from the several congressional districts be requested to suggest the name of one person from each congressional district for presidential elector, and three persons for delegates to the national convention to be held at Philadephia on the 17th proximo, and that a committee of nine, consisting of one from each congressional district, be appointed by the chair to recommend two such electors and six such delegates for the state at large." Jerome J. Beardsley of Rock Island was elected as the presi- dential elector from this (then Second) district, and T. J. Pick- ett, then of Peoria, was selected as a delegate td the national re- publican convention at Philadelphia. THE LOST SPEECH. It was at this convention that Abraham Lincoln made his famous speech, no copy of which Was ever published, and which has gone down in history as "The Lost Speech." The editor of the Democratic Press of Chicago in an editorial in his paper on May 31, 1856, said: "Abraham Lincoln of Springfield was next called out, and Abraham Lincoln 29 made the speech of the occasion. Never has it been our fortune to listen to a more eloquent and masterly presentation of a sub- ject. I shall not mar any of its fine proportions or brilliant pas- sages by attempting even a synopis of it. Mr. Lincoln must write it out and let it go before all the people. For an hour and a half he held the assemblage spellbound by the power of his argument, the intense irony of his invective, and the deep earnest- ness and fervid brilliancy of his eloquence. When he concluded, the audience sprang to their feet and cheer after cheer told how deeply their hearts had been touched, and their souls warmed up to a generous enthusiasm." the: delegates. The following is a list of the counties represented and the names of the delegates present at the convention: Adams— A. Williams, W. B. Powers, E. A. Dudley, Jno. Till- son, A. G. Person, George W. Burns, James T. Furness and O. H. Browning. Bond — J. F. Alexander. Boone — Luther W. Lawrence and Ralph Roberts. Bureau — Charles C. Kelsey, George RadclifT and Geo. W. Stipp, Jr. Calhoun— F. W. Kersting. Carroll— D. H. Wheeler. Cass — B. R. Frohook. Champaign — J. W. Jaquith, Elisha Harkness. Christian — W. G. Crosswaithe. Coles — T. A. Marshall, A. Compton, William Glasgow, George C. Harding. Cook — G. Goodrich, F. C. Sherman, Wm. A. James, A. H. Dolton, James McKie, Geo. Schneider, John Wentworth, C. H. Ray, J. L. Scripps, C. L. Wilson, Samuel Hoard, A. Aikin, H. H. Yates, I. N. Arnold, N. B. Judd, J. W. Waughop, Mark Skinner. DeKalb) — Wm. Patton, Wm. J. Hunt, James H. Beveridge. DeWitt— S. F. Lewis, J. F. Lemon. DuPage— W. B. Blanchard, S. P. Sedwick, J. W. Smith. Edgar— L. Munsell, R. B. Southerland. Edwards — Wm. Pickering. Fulton— W. P. Kellogg, Robert Carter, S. N. Breed, T. N. Hassan, H. O. Phelps. Greene — Daniel Bowman, Joshua W. Armstrong. Grundy — Robert Longworth, William T. Hopkins. Hancock— John Rise, S. W. King, S. Worley, A. Simpson. 30 Abraham Lincoln Henderson — W. D. Henderson. Henry— J. H. Howe, J. M. Allen. Iroquois — W. P. Pearson, J. B. Joiner, I. Bennett. Jersey — Thomas Cummings, M. Corey. Jo Daviess — Adolph Meyer, T. B. Lewis, H. S. Townsend, T. Spraggins. Kane— I. A. W. Buck, S. C. Morey, G. W. Waite, A. Adams, W. R. Baker. Kankakee — A. W. Mack, Daniel Parker. Kendall — J. M. Crothers, J. B. Lowry. Knox— T. J. Hale, D. H. Frisbie, Jesse Perdue, C. J. Sellon. Lake— E. P. Perry, N. C. Geer, Wm. B. Dodge. LaSalle — D. L. Hough, J. A. McMillan, David Strawn, Burton C. Cook, Elmer Baldwin, C. H. Gilman. Lee — E. M. Ingals, J. V. Eustace. Livingston — J. H. Dart, David McWilliams. Logan — J. L. Dugger, S. C. Parks. McDonough — L. H. Waters, J. E. Wyne. McHenry— S. P. Hegale, Anthony Woodspur, C. W. Craig, Wesley Diggins, Dr. Abularr, A. C. Joslyn. McLean — James Gilmore Sr., Dr. Harrison Noble, Wm. W. Orme, delegates; A. T. Briscoe, Green B. Larrison, David Cheney, alternates. Macon — W. J. Usrey, I. C. Pugh. Macoupin — J. M. Palmer, John Logan, Samuel Brown, Thom- as B. Lofton, P. B. Solomon, J. D. Marshall, James Wolfe. Madison— F. S. Rutherford, H. King, George Smith, M. G. Atwood, H S. Baker, George T. Brown, John Tirble, Gershon Flagg. Marion — D. K. Green, T. W. Jones, S. W. Cunningham. Marshall— Robert Boal, J. C. Tozier. Mason— H. O'Neal, R. P. Gatton. Menard — M. T. Morris, George Collier. Mercer — John W. Miles, L. W. Meyers. Montgomery — WickclifT Kitchell, J. W. Cassady, J. T. Eccles. Morgan— R. Yates, J. W. King, M. H. Cassell, J. B. Duncan, J. J. Cassell, R. McKee, M. J. Pond, A. P. Wood, I. L. Morrison, James Green, William L. Sargeant, J. W. Strong, James Lang- ley, E. Lusk, B. F. Stevenson, J. N. D. Stout, A. Bulkley, B. F. Ford, J. Metcalf, J. Graham. Moultrie — John A. Freeland. Ogle— Charles C. Royce, F. A. McNeil, G. W. Southwick. Peoria— J. D. Arnold, B. L. T. Bourland, R. Scholst, George T. Harding, T. J. Pickett. Piatt— P. K. Hall. Abraham Lincoln 31 Pike — John G. Nicolay, Wm. Ross, M. Ross, J. Grimshay, T. Worthington, W. E. Elder, J. Hall, M. J. Noyes, D. H. Gilmer, O. M. Hatch. Putnam — B. C. Lundy. Randolph — Thomas McClurken, Casper Horn, J. C. Holbrook, F. B. Anderson, B. J. F. Hanna. Rock Island— N. C. Tyrell, R. H. Andrews, John V. Cook, Ira O. Wilkinson. St. Clair — Dr. Charles Vincenz, J. B. Hoppe, Francis Wenzell, N. Miles, F. A. Carpenter. Sangamon — A. Lincoln, Wm. H. Herndon, J. C. Conkling, Preston Breckenridge, Wm. Jayne, R. H. Ballinger, Pascal P. Enos, Wm. H. Bailhache, E. L. Baker, Peter Earnest, J. B. Weber. Schuyler— John Clark, N. G. Wilcox. Scott — N. M. Knapp, John Moses, James B. Young, M. James Stark — T. J. Henderson. Stephenson — M. P. Sweet, John H. Davis, George Nolbrecht, H. N. Hibbard. Tazewell— D. Cheever, D. Kyes, H. Clark, George W. Shaw, John M. Busch. Union— D. L. Phillips. Vermilion — Joseph Peters, Martin Bourchall, A. T. Harrison. Warren — A. C. Harding, E. A. Paine. Washington — J. Miller, D. Kennedy. Whiteside — William Manahan, William Protrow. Will— G. D. A. Parks, W. Wright, J. T. Daggett, Wm. B. Hewitt, H. T. Logan, A. Mcintosh, S. Anderson, J. O. Norton, Ichabod Coddings, P. Stewart. Winnebago — F. Burnass, W. Lyman, S. M. Church, T. D. Robertson. Woodford— C. D. Banta, R. T. Cassell. Total number of delegates — 251. THE TICKET. William H. Bissell of St. Clair county was nominated for governor; Frances A. Hoffman of DuPage for lieutenant gov- ernor, but subsequently the name of John Wood of Adams was substituted; O. M. Hatch of Pike, for secretary of state; Jesse K. Dubois of Lawrence, for auditor ; William H. Powell of Peo- ria for superintendent of public instruction, and James Miller for state treasurer. Abraham Lincoln, O. H. Browning, Richard Yates, John M. Palmer, Owen Love joy, Lyman Trumbull, John Wentworth and Ira O. Wilkinson were among the strong men who shaped the policy of this new party. 32 Abraham Lincoln THE ROCK ISLAND DELEGATES. Rock Island county's three delegates were ardent abolition- ists. John V. Cook was afterward county clerk. R. H. Andrews was an attorney living in Rock Island and died the following Au- gust. Nathan C. Tyrell lived in Moline and was best known as Deacon and Squire Tyrell. He was a strong abolitionist and was one of the main agents in the operation of the "underground railway" in this locality. The deacon was comparatively a poor man, and while he gave twenty-five dollars toward assisting the Free-Soil people of Kansas, he could scarce afford it. In those days to get to Bloomington from Moline one had either to go by stage via Peoria, or by rail to LaSalle and then on the Illinois Central to Bloomington. The deacon was bound to at- tend the convention, and not having the money, started out on foot and walked the entire distance. On the return trip, he walked from Bloomington to Peoria, and from there he worked his passage on a boat to LaSalle, from where he paid his fare to Moline. Deacon Tyrell was a man of strong prin- ciples. He attended the Bloomington convention because he be- lieved it was his duty, and his course stands out in strong contrast to many of the delegates of today. ROCK ISLAND MEETINGS. On Thursday, June 12, there was held in the court house yard in Rock Island, an immense republican gathering of the people of that county. Gen. James H. Lane of Kansas and Joseph Knox, attorney of Rock Island, addressed the meeting. Hon. Ira O. Wilkinson was president of the gathering. George Mix- ter and John Deere of Moline were vice presidents. Major J. M. Allen and O. P. Wharton were secretaries. Mr. Knox had until this meeting been a democrat, and he ad- dressed his audience for nearly two hours. The Advertiser in speaking of his speech said : "His desertion of the Douglas fortunes in this state is the severest blow that they have yet received. He is a warm person- al friend of the 'Little Giant/ But his love for his country like that of Brutus compelled the sacrifice and we honor him for the noble manner in which he did and now maintains himself." Mass meetings were held in all parts of the county, which were addressed by Joseph Knox, Ira O. Wilkinson, J. J. Beardsley, George Mixter, George W. Pleasants, Robert V. Smith and others. On March 21 there was held another large republican anti- Abraham Lincoln 33 Nebraska meeting at the court house in Rock Island. John W. Spencer was president, Capt. T. J. Robinson and S. S. Guyer vice presidents, and O. P. Wharton secretary. J. J. Beardsley was the first speaker and the press reports say: "He responded in a speech of probably an hour in length of great power — log- ical, historical, truthful, eloquent — convincing. "George W. Pleasants upon call of the audience followed Mr. Beardsley in a speech of about one hour and a half, embodying one of the most eloquent and searching appeals to the common sense and patriotism of the people to which we have ever had the pleasure of listening." THE GERMANS. The German-American citizens of this county like their brothers all over the country were abolitionists, and this was a source of considerable annoyance to the democrats. As an ex- ample, I quote from the Rock Island Argus of April 15th 1856: "It is a singular fact that the German adherents to the nigger worshippers are mostly anti-Christians and devoted followers of King Gambrinus; and the Americans (Know-Nothings) are mostly Puritans and Maine lawites. Yet both join hand in hand, under the misapplied name of 'republican' to beat the democracy, the only national party and true friends of liberty. Les ex- tremes se touchent." THE NATIONAL ELECTION. James Buchanan was the democratic candidate for president in 1856. Millard Fillmore was the native American, and on June 17th at Philadelphia the anti-slavery democrats and whigs of the north met and organized the national republican party, and nom- inated John C. Fremont for president. While Buchanan carried the state by a plurality of 9164 over Fremont, the entire republi- can state ticket of Illinois was elected, Bissell receiving a majority of 4697 over W. A. Richardson, the democratic candidate. Rock Island county in 1850 had only 6937 people and in 1856 our population was 16,217. The county gave Fremont 1308 votes; Buchanan 955; Fillmore 251. For governor Bissell re- ceived 1359; Richardson 958; Morris 230. For congress J. F. Farnsworth received 1302 votes, a majority of 340 over J. Van Nortwick. Thomas J Henderson was elected to the state sen- ate, receiving 1304 votes. J. B. Hawley was elected state's at- torney. 34 Abraham Lincoln The Camden (now Milan) precinct poll books were thrown out by the judges on account of informalities, the judges not be- ing sworn. This precinct gave a majority of from 28 to 55 demo- cratic. SOME ILLINOIS editors. O. P. Wharton, the editor of the Rock Island Advertiser, was an Ohio man, coming to Rock Island in September, 1853, when he purchased a half interest in this paper. He continued in its publication until the spring of 1858 when the paper suspended. Mr. Wharton then left Rock Island. Mr. Wharton was a pro- nounced anti-slavery man and did much to strengthen the cause. In 1900 he was editor of the Journal and Local of Sandusky, Ohio. From August, 1854, to February, 1857, Amos Smith published in Moline, The Moline Workman. Mr. Smith was a native of New Jersey, and was one of Parson Hitchcock's most ardent ad- mirers. His paper fairly bristled with abolition arguments, and he had much to do with forming the anti-slavery sentiment in Moline. One of his contemporary editors in this county, in speaking of his paper in 1870, said: "The Workman in its po- litical tone was decidedly Anti-Slavery." T. J. Pickett, who was editor of the Peoria Republican, one of the newspapers to sign the call in February, 1856, was born in Kentucky and became in February, 1859, a citizen of the city of Rock Island where he started the Rock Island Register. He was in i860 elected state senator from this county. His term ex- tended through the 226. and 23d general assemblies, and in 1861 he was government agent at the island of Rock Island. In 1862 Mr. Pickett enlisted in the civil war and was afterward elected lieutenant colonel of the 69th Illinois infantry, and afterward promoted to the colonelcy of the I32d Illinois infantry. After the war he came to Rock Island and in 1866 was government agent on the island. In 1866 he returned to Paducah, Kentucky. Lincoln's address. On December 10th, 1856, the republicans of Illinois celebrated their victory with a banquet in Chicago. Among the speakers was Abraham Lincoln.- The concluding portion of his address is worthy of wider dissemination Mr. Lincoln said: Abraham Lincoln 35 "All of us who did not vote for Mr. Buchanan, taken together, are a majority of 400,000. But in the late contest we were di- vided between Fremont and Fillmore. Can we not come together for the future? Let everyone who really believes, and is re- solved, that free society is not, and shall not be, a failure, and who conscientiously declares that in the past contest he has done only what he thought best — let every such an one have charity to believe that every one can say as much. Thus let by-gones be by-gones. Let past differences as nothing be, and with steady eye on the real issue, let us re-inaugurate the good old 'central ideas' of the republic. We can do it. The human heart is with us — God is with us. We shall again be able, not to declare that 'all States, as States, are equal/ nor yet that 'all citizens, as citi- zens, are equal,' but to renew the broader, better declaration, in- cluding both these and much more, that 'all men are created equal.' n ANNIVERSARY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. The republican party dates its birth from the republican na- tional convention held at Philadelphia on June 17th, 1856. Yet the republican party in Illinois was born May 29th, 1856, at Bloomington, and as well said by Mr. Benjamin F. Shaw : "No human agency in all the tide of times has accomplished more in modifying 'Man's inhumanity to man, which makes countless thousands mourn,' than the republican party. Its efforts have been in a spirit of pure patriotism and the universal brotherhood of man." Abraham Lincoln 37 CHAPTER III. THE) NATIONAL, REPUBLICAN CONVENTION AT CHICAGO HORACE GREEL,EY, THURL,OW WEED, EDWARD BATES, WIUJAM M. EVARTS, JOSHUA R. GIDDINGS, CARL, SCHURZ, AND OTHER HISTORICAL, CHARACTERS PRESENT — STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS. I remember the Wigwam, and the great Republican convention held in Chicago on May 16, i860. The Republican state conven- tion was held in Decatur on the 10th of May. I was studying law in the office of James C. Conkling of Springfield and I had read Kent and was reading Blackstone, two volumes of which I had already finished. When Mr. Conkling went to New York to deliver speeches for Mr. Lincoln, I was left in charge of his office. Lincoln remained at home during the canvass, but kept strict watch concerning the events of the presidential campaign. Mr. Elihu B. Washburne in his reminiscences of Lin- coln says : "The most thrilling event was the monster Republican mass meeting held at Springfield during the canvass. It was a meeting in which the whole state participated and was more in the nature of a personal ovation to Lincoln than a political gathering. Mr. Lincoln, surrounded by some intimate friends, sat on the balcony of his modest home and was deeply touched by the manifestations of personal and political friendship." Lincoln went down to Decatur and was present when the two old rails were brought into the convention hall with the inscrip- tion, now famous, "Abraham Lincoln, the rail candidate for the Presidency in i860. Two rails from a lot of 3,000, made in 1830 by Thomas Hanks and Abe Lincoln, whose father was the first pioneer of Macon county." The Republican Convention met in Chicago May 16, i860, and nominated Abraham Lincoln as President, and Hannibal Hamlin Vice-President. William H. Seward, who received on the first ballot 1733^ votes, to Lincoln's 102, was afterwards made Secre- tary of State, and Mr. S. T. Chase, who received 49 votes on the first ballot, was made Secretary of the Treasury, and Simon Cameron, who received 6o 1 /2 votes upon the first ballot, was made Secretary of War. The number necessary for a choice was 233. On the third ballot Lincoln had 231%, and before figures were removed a dele- 38 Abraham Lincoln gate from Ohio changed four votes from Chase to Lincoln. Wil- liam M. Evarts finally moved to make the vote unanimous. When the national convention was held at Chicago, in the Wigwam, an enormous building erected just to hold the large crowds that attended the convention, Lincoln remained in Spring- field. Lincoln was in the office of the Sangamon Journal at the time of the second ballot. Mr. Lincoln read the telegraph noti- fying him of his nomination, and without stopping to receive the congratulations of his friends he said, "There is a little woman down at our house who will like to hear of this. I'll go down and tell her/' An interesting letter from Mr. Clinton L. Conkling, son of James C. Conkling, one of the electors in 1864. Clinton Lodge, Wequetonsing, Michigan. Sept. 2, 1915. Bartow A. Ulrich, Esq., Chicago, 111. My Dear Mr. Ulrich: Yours of Aug. 30th has been forwarded to me here, from Springfield. For the true statement of how Mr. Lincoln received the news of his first nomination, see transactions of Illinois State Histor- ical Society. No special wire was at his disposal in Springfield. I was in the telegraph office when the news came and had seen Mr. Lin- coln but a moment before and rushed out and met him on the sidewalk. I was the first to tell him of his nomination. Yours truly, Clinton L. Conkling. There surely never has been a party national convention held in our country amid such popular enthusiasm as that which met the delegates on their arrival in Chicago, surrounded them during their whole stay in the city, and accompanied them to their homes. The building of the great "Wigwam" had been the subject of many telegrams and letters sent all over the country which cre- ated a popular interest in it. The outside attendance was im- mense. Among the delegates were Horace Greeley, Thurlow Weed, Edward Bates, afterwards attorney-general, William M. Evarts, Joshua R. Giddings, Carl Schurz, Henry S. Love, Mont- gomery Blair, afterwards postmaster-general, Caleb B. Smith, afterwards secretary of the interior, and O. H. Browning, also secretary of the interior. The result is well-remembered by all. Mr. Seward failed by sixty votes to receive a majority on the first ballot. Abraham Lincoln was nominated on the third ballot, amid a scene of en- Abraham Lincoln 39 thusiastic excitement which a similar event has never produced before or since. In Chapter IX, under the heading of Convention i860, in his book entitled Illini, Mr. Clark E. Carr, graphically describes the Convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln. He says : "Never before did a candidate for nomination to the office of President of the United States have such sagacious and earnest supporters as Abraham Lincoln." May 19, i860, Mr. Ashmum, Chairman of the States Delega- tion announced to Mr. Lincoln at his residence, his nomination. Mr. Lincoln replied as follows : "Mr. Chairman, and gentlemen of the Committee, I tender you, and through you, the Republican National Convention and all people represented in it, my pro- foundest thanks for the high honor done me, which you formally announce. Deeply and even painfully sensible of the deep re- sponsibility which is inseparable from the honor, a responsibility which I could almost wish could have fallen upon some one of the far more eminent and experienced statesmen whose distinguished names were before the Convention, I shall, by your leave, con- sider more fully the resolutions of the Convention, denominated the platform, and without unreasonable delay, respond to you, Mr. Chairman, in writing, not doubting that the platform will be found satisfactory and the nomination accepted. Now, I will not defer the pleasure of taking you and each of you by the hand." STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS. The Democratic national convention met at Charleston in April, but the slavery question caused a split. The "seceders" ad- journed to Baltimore, where Stephen A. Douglas was nominated, June 18. The pro-slavery democrats withdrew and nominated John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky. The Constitutional Union democrats, or whigs, had already nominated John Bell, of Ten- nessee. Mr. J. P. Usher states, in his reminiscences of Lincoln, that "during the canvass which terminated in the election of Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Douglas omitted no occasion to express his devotion to the preservation of the Union. He traversed the whole coun- try and in all his speeches left no room to doubt his stand by the government, no matter who was elected. The pledges he then made he kept, and they were of immense value to the Union cause, and for them Mr. Lincoln never failed to express his grati- fication and his obligation to Mr. Douglas. No single act of Douglas's life so strongly marked his gift of leadership as that 40 Abraham Lincoln by which he accepted a new issue and without a moment's hesita- tion came forward and placed himself by the side of Lincoln in defense of the government, the first as well as the greatest of war democrats." Judge Douglas said, in a speech delivered at Norfolk, Virginia, "that it is the duty of the President of the United States, and all others in authority under him, to enforce the laws, and, I, as in duty bound by my oath of fidelity to the constitution, would do all in my power to aid the government of the United States in maintaining the laws against all resistance to them, come from what quarter it might. In other words, I think the President, whoever he may be, should treat all attempts to break up the Union by resistance to the laws, as Old Hickory treated the milliners in 1832." At the special session of the House of Representatives of Illi- nois, he made a strong and patriotic speech for a united effort in resisting the attempts of the slave power to destroy the Union. He advised his democratic friends not to allow their opposition to the republican party to turn them into traitors to their coun- try. (From Judge Franklin Blade's Personal Recollections of Lincoln.) "Having through a friend signified his desire for an interview, Douglas went to the executive mansion between seven and eight o'clock on this Sunday evening, April 14, and being gladly re- ceived by the president, these two remarkable men sat in con- fidential interview without a witness for nearly two hours. "Judge Douglas wrote the following despatch to the Associated Press which appeared the next morning, April 18, 1861. 'Senator Douglas called on the President and had an interesting conversa- tion on the present condition of the country. The substance of it was, on the part of Douglas, that while he was unalterably op- posed to the administration in all its political issues, he was pre- pared to fully sustain the President in the exercise of all his constitutional functions, to preserve the Union, maintain the government, and defend the Federal Capital if firm policy and prompt action was necessary. The capital was in danger and must be defended at all hazards and at any expense of men and money. He spoke of the present and future without any refer- ence to the past/ " "On the following morning, side by side with Lincoln's pro- clamation, the whole country read the telegraphic announce- ment of the interview and the authorized declaration. Douglas nobly redeemed the promises he had given Lincoln. He finally died at his home in Chicago, June 3, 1861. "Douglas said to the republicans in the House of Representa- tives in Washington after Lincoln was nominated : 'Well, gentle- Abraham Lincoln 41 men, you have nominated a very able and a very honest man/ " (Senator A. B. Alley.) George Ashmum of Massachusetts furnished a copy of this des- patch to Mr. I. N. Arnold, who included it in his Life of Abra- ham Lincoln. "He made a speech at Springfield when war was declared, call- ing upon all his democratic adherents to come out boldly and fight in defense of the Union. This was a powerful incentive and many obeyed the call. When the Missouri compromise was repealed, the South stood solidly for Douglas, but when he held that slavery could not be taken into the new states created out of the territories unless they voted for it, they abandoned him. He advocated the right of new states to decide as to slavery or not. ,, illinoisans celebrate centennial anniversary oe stephen a. douglas's birth. A grandson of Stephen A. Douglas, of greater stature than his illustrious forebear, but with many of the Douglas features which recalled to old-timers the famous opponent of Lincoln with vividness, came from Greensboro, N. C., to Chicago and heard "The Little Giant" of Illinois politics lauded by those who had known and loved him on the centennial anniversary of his birth. The grandson, Martin F. Douglas, last night read a letter pre- pared by his father, Robert M. Douglas, the senator's only sur- viving son, in which was contained reminiscences of the elder Douglas and thanks to the Chicago Historical Society, which had charge of the day's memorial exercises, for bringing to public attention the honor of the name. The reading was in the histor- ical society's building, Dearborn avenue and West Ontario street. Sitting in the audience were Henry E. Hamiliton, organizer of the "Douglas Invincibles," and Horatio L. Wait, one of the mili- tary guard on the night of June 4, 1861, over Douglas's body in Bryan Hall. "The very manner and gestures !" exclaimed both, startling the young man's hearers, as the speaker emphasized his talk by movement of hand and body. "He's a grandson of Senator Douglas, all right," added Henry Greenebaum, who made speeches for Douglas when the latter campaigned against Lincoln. The mannerisms and expression of the young man were called those of his grandparent also by Cojonel Francis A. Eastman, 42 Abraham Lincoln Professor Elias A. Colbert, William J. Onahan, Redmond Prinde- ville and others who were friends of the elder Douglas. Colonel Clark E. Carr of Galesburg, a Douglas orator and per- sonal friend, eulogized the Illinois political giant of earlier days and concluded an address containing many anecdotes and histori- cal incidents of Douglas's career with a solemn recital of his last moments, when Douglas, dying from over-exertion in appealing to his followers in the Wigwam to stand by the nation and govern- ment, gave as his last message to his sons : "Tell them to obey the laws and uphold the Constitution/' These words, engraved on his tomb, reflected the sentiments of the crowd of old and young that gathered in the afternoon at Thirty-fifth street and the lake to hear praises sung by his old- time friends and admirers. He was called the man who made a Lincoln possible, one of America's greatest statesmen and a man of highest patriotism. Vice-President Marshall, writing to the Chicago Historical Society, said: "This great and good man has not received that fair meed of honor which the American Republic owes him." The anniversary was observed also by the Iroquois Club at a luncheon. While the Illinois legislature was celebrating the Douglas cen- tennial today, Representative E. Williams of Illinois was eulo- gizing the "Little Giant" in the House of Representatives. After describing Stephen A. Douglas's early career, Mr. Williams said in part : "His rise was phenomenal. The history of this country with all its splendid opportunities and brilliant men fails to record another instance of such rapid progress and achievement." United States Senators Lawrence Y. Sherman and James Hamiliton Lewis of Illinois and James A. Reed of Missouri were among the speakers at a notable celebration before the joint as- sembly today of the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Stephen A. Douglas. Other speakers were Robert D. Douglas, a grandson of Stephen A. Douglas and a former attorney-general of South Carolina; William L. Davidson of Lewistown, a veteran Democratic editor who knew Douglas, and Everett Jennings of Chicago. Governor Dunne was the presiding officer. Justices of the Supreme Court, state officers and many promi- nent politicians from all parts of the state were present. Several men whose memory runs back to the time of the Lincoln and Douglas debates occupied seats of honor on the speakers' rostrum. Governor Dunne read a telegram from former Senator Shelby M. Cullom, who regretted his inability to be present. Senator Lewis said "Douglas had believed the United States Abraham Lincoln 43 should not meddle in other nations' affairs nor tolerate interfer- ence. Douglas was lauded as the highest type of statesman and patriot and as a masterly friend of home rule and state self-government by the speakers of various political faiths, praising especially his support of Lincoln once the civil war had begun. He compared the Senate in the days of Douglas, Trumbull, Webster and Clay with the present day estimate, saying: "In those days the United States Senate in influencing the opin- ion of the American citizen was the most powerful legislative body in the world, but in affecting the market rates of stock spec- ulation it was of little consideration, as it should have been. The reverse is seen in the present day. In matters of finance and stock market gambling the United States Senate is the most po- tent in its least expression of legislation of all tribunals. But such has been its course in later days that in the influencing of the political opinions of the citizen, the United States Senate of today is the least potent of any legislative body in the world." Senator Sherman concluded his address by quoting from Doug- las's speech on judicial recall and the "recall of judicial decisions," as follows : "The right and province of expounding the Constitution and construing the law is vested in the judiciary established by the Constitution." — (Chicago Record-Herald, i ^-) Abraham Lincoln • 45 CHAPTER IV. SECESSION CABAL AT WASHINGTON HOWELL COBB, SECRETARY OF TREASURY, JOHN B. FLOYD, SECRETARY OF WAR UNDER PRESI- DENT BUCHANAN AMONG CONSPIRATORS ALSO JEFFERSON DAVIS, U. S. SENATOR AND ROBERT TOOMBS, U. S. SENATOR — CAPT. SHAEFER DEFEATS PLAN TO CAPTURE WASHINGTON VIRGINIA SECESSION ORDINANCE LIBERATION OF SERFS BY CZAR NICHOLAS. District Attorney Robert Ould advised President Buchanan in February 1861 not to grant the order of the Inspector-General to issue arms to the District of Columbia's troops in i860 when Washington was threatened by the rebels in office in the Capital. Their plan was to seize the public departments at the proper mo- ment, and obtain possession of the seal of the government. Shae- fer, with the National Volunteers, was to accomplish this. He was assisted in his treasonable movements by the Secretary of War, John B. Floyd, who directed the Chief of Ordnance to cause to be issued to Capt. Shaefer all the ordnance stores he might require for his company. He also nominated Capt. Shaefer to the President for the Commission of Major in the District of Columbia's militia, which was finally granted, but subsequently recalled by Charles O. Stone, who was appointed Inspector-Gen- eral, as Shaefer would not take the oath of loyalty. Senator Summer stated to Senator Wilson, that in the month of Jan. 1861 he called on Mr. Stanton at the department : That the latter made an appointment to see him at his apartment late that night, and at this conference described the determination of the southern leaders and developed particularly their plan to ob- tain possession of the nation's capitol and the nation's archives, so that they might substitute themselves for the existing government ! "That the secession of Maryland was confidently relied upon by them is well known, and if it could have been accomplished before the count of the electoral vote, which was to take place on the 13th of Feb., the rebel plan was understood to include the seizure of the capitol," said Stephen A. Douglas in his last public speech May 1, 1861 at Chicago. (Life of Stanton by Gorman). "If the disunion candidate in the presidential contest had carried the united south, the scheme was, the northern candidate being 46 Abraham Lincoln successful, to seize the capital last spring and by a united South and divided North, hold it." (Douglas, Chicago Speech.) Stanton, Black and Holt co-operated to arouse the President to the necessity of guarding the Capital and a few hundred troops served to remind the conspirators that there would be two sides to the question; if force should attempt in Washington, what had already been done in the cotton states. There was a regular secession cabal formed at Washington to assist the conspirators. It was composed of John B. Floyd, Sec- retary of War in Buchanan's Cabinet and afterwards General in the Confederate Army, Secretary Cobb, Secretary Jacob Thomp- son, Jefferson Davis, U. S. Senator, Robert Toombs, U. S. Sena- tor who was finally expelled from the Senate, afterwards Brig- adier-General in the Rebel Army, Vice-President Breckinridge and others. Floyd was succeeded by Joseph Holt of Kentucky and finally by the loyal and competent Edwin M. Stanton. Messrs. Nicolay and Hay state that : "Floyd lost no opportun- ity to favor the conspirators. He sold them at one time five thousand muskets; then delivered five thousand from Boston Range Arsenal, advanced quotas of arms to southern states and ordered the Washington Navy Yard to manufacture howitzers and fuses for Virginia." Secretary Floyd's note was substituted for one million dollars worth of Indian trust bonds, embezzled from the Interior De- partment. Jacob Thompson, Secretary of the Interior at the time, must have known how the bonds were taken. He subsequently went over to the rebels. The day before Charleston passed the secession ordinance Floyd ordered one hundred and twenty-three cannons transferred from the Pittsburg Arsenal to the southern coast. This order was, however, subsequently countermanded by Secretary Stan- ton. Howard Cobb was Secretary of the Treasury, and at this time issued a six column secession address but he was soon there- after succeeded by John A. Dix of New York. He also subse- quently joined the rebel army. Jefferson Davis was in the U. S. Senate from Mississippi. He maintained that the states possessed the right to secede from the general government, if they so desired. He also held that slaves could be taken into the territories and retained as slaves. Davis made a motion in regard to the Compromise Bill, "that nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent said territorial leg- islature passing such laws as may be necessary for the protec- tion of the rights of property, (meaning slaves) of any kind which may have been, or may be hereafter, conformable to the constitution, and laws of. the United States, held in or introduced into said territory." Senator Chase proposed the following Abraham Lincoln 47 amendment : "that nothing herein contained shall be construed as authorizing, or permitting the introduction of slavery, or the hold- ing of persons as property in said territory." Mr. Chase de- clared that "the South will dissolve the Union. Their cry never astonishes, nor alarms me; shall we yield to the outcry? For one, I say never ! In my judgment, it is time to pause. We have yielded point by point. We have crowded concession on conces- sion, until duty, patriotism, shame, demand that we shall stop. We of the west are in the habit of looking upon the Union, as we look upon the arch of heaven, without thought that it can ever decay or fall." Chase and Seward delivered two great speeches against the compromise. "The principal of the Wilmot Proviso which was being dis- cussed was that freedom was a normal condition of annexed ter- ritory." (Albert Bushnell Hart, Life of Chase.) President Buchanan continually looked to the southern Senators for advice. Jefferson Davis states in his book that Buchanan sub- mitted his message to him to read before it was sent to the Senate, on one occasion, and "finally accepted all the modifications which he, Davis suggested." (Rise and Fall of the Confederate Gov- ernment, by Jefferson Davis, Vol. I, Page 59.) John B. Floyd, Secretary of War, arranged to supply Thomas F. Dayton and Senator Wigfall of Texas, twenty thousand mus- kets for Texas and South Carolina. Vice-President John C. Breckenridge and Gen. Joseph E. John- ston, President of Board of Ordinance, Officers Wm. H. Trosatt, Assistant Secretary of State, and Howell Cobb of Ga., Secre- tary of Treasury under Buchanan, all joined the Rebel army afterwards. The following is what Jefferson Davis said about State rights in the Senate when he withdrew from that body, January 21st, 1861: "To the South has been proclaimed the theory that all men are created free and equal and this made the basis of attack upon her social institutions ; and the sacred Declaration of Independence has been invoked to maintain the position of the equality of the races. The Declaration of Independence is to be construed by the circum- stances for which it was made." "At a cabinet meeting to consider sending assistance to Fort Sumter, Stanton instantly changed the tone of debates and in the discussion as to the binding force of a shuffling unofficial agree- ment to leave Fort Sumter unprotected, thundered out the blunt truth to Floyd and Thompson, that they were advocating the com- mission of a crime, for which if committed they ought to be hanged, and were urging the president to an act of treason, for 48 Abraham Lincoln which, if performed, he could be impeached, removed from office and punished under the penal code." "Floyd, who had up to that very time passed as a unionist, now appeared in his true character, and gave up the contest by resign- ing. Thompson soon followed on a false pretense and Thomas, Cobb's successor soon followed him. The President then sur- rounded himself with a patriotic cabinet and thus escaped the fate that false friends had been preparing for him." (Gorman's Life of Stanton.) "The Virginia secession ordinance, though secretly adopted be- came quickly known to the people of Richmond. It was immedi- ately announced to the State-Rights Convention in session in an- other hall, and Governor Fletcher, Senator Mason, Ex-President Tyler, and Ex-Governor Wise from the convention, soon ap- peared there and glorified the event with speeches — the latter commenting on the blindness which had prevented Virginia from seizing Washington before the republican hordes got possession of it." (Nicolay and Hay's Abraham Lincoln.) Following is a "Declaration of Causes" : "That the several states entered into the union as sovereignties ; that in forming the federal government they delegated to it only specific powers for specific ends; that the federal government was not a sovereign over sovereignties, but was only an agent between them; that there existed no common arbiter to adjudge differences ; that each state or sovereignty might judge for itself any violation of the common agreement and choose its own mode of redress; conse- quently that each state might adhere to or recede from the union at its own sovereign will and pleasure." The leaders of the southern rebellion lacked real statesmenship and a clear understanding of the basic principles of government. While all civilized monarchical nations, except Russia and Brazil, had abolished slavery, these modern statesmen proposed to found a republic with slavery as its corner stone. These two systems are antagonistic. They were a century behind the time. They declared the states individual entities, or sovereignties, in direct opposition to the intention of the statesmen who substituted the former articles of confederation for a constitution prepared for a united country called the United States of America, with a com- plete national government. They attempted to found a system of government similar to a monarchy with all of the elements of feudal despotism, with a formula prepared for a representative democracy. Even the constitution of the United States was in- consistent before the amendment giving universal suffrage, as it failed to prohibit slavery. Had these short-sighted leaders of the South been successful, there would have been continual war between these sovereign Abraham Lincoln 49 communities, just as there has been continual war between the several sovereign states of Europe, none of them satisfied with the property they have, always wanting their neighbors.' Austria, Russia, Germany, Italy, France, England, Belgium and Turkey, with all of the smaller states, have been wrangling with each other century after century. They will continue to do so until kings, emperors and czars are abolished. It is only by having one strong government over the entire coun- try comprising the United States, with all the powers necessary for maintaining a nation delegated to it, that the broad area ex- tending from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the Northern Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, can be kept from the continual dis- putes about territory prevailing on the continent of Europe. To show his position Jefferson Davis quoted the following words of President Jefferson : "The communities were declaring their independence ; the people of those communities were assert- ing that no man was born booted and spurred to ride over the rest of mankind; that men were created equal — meaning the men of a political community; that there was no divine right to rule ; that no man inherited the right to govern ; that there were no classes by which power and place descended in families, but that all stations were equally within the grasp of each member of the body politic. These were the great principles they an- nounced ; they were the purposes for which they made their dec- laration; these were the ends to which their denunciation was directed." Jefferson Davis held that: "They have no reference to the slave ; else how happens it, that, among the items of arraignment against George the Third, he endeavored to do just what the North has been endeavoring of late to do, stir, up insurrec- tion among our slaves." "Had the declaration announced that the negroes were free and equal, how was the prince to be arraigned for raising insur- rection among them? They, the negroes were not put upon the footing of equality with white men." He said: "Secession is to be justified upon the basis that the states are sovereign. There was a time when none denied it — the inalienable rights of the people of the states will prevent any one from denying that each state is sovereign, and thus may reclaim the grants which it has made to any agent whatsoever. A state finding herself in the condition in which Mississippi has judged she is, claims to be exempt from any duty to execute the laws of the United States within its limits." These were the views of Jefferson Davis when President of the Southern Confederacy. They were directly opposite to the views of Jefferson and Lincoln, presidents of the United States. On 50 Abraham Lincoln these conflicting opinions, held by the two different presidents at the time, the war was commenced and was fought until the South- ern Confederacy was over-thrown by military force, and the authority of the United States government re-established. Jefferson Davis, as President of the Southern Confederacy, was given almost unlimited power to raise, by draft or otherwise sol- diers for the southern army. All white men between eighteen and twenty-five were drafted, but owners of estates were allowed ex- emption by paying a tax of $500.00 if they were obliged to stay at home. Davis was almost a dictator. The secession convention of the cotton states had appointed delegates equal in number to the former senators and representa- tives in congress. These sat in Montgomery, Alabama, on the 4th day of February, 1861, to form a Southern Confederacy, so that it would be fully organized before the 4th of March and be- fore Lincoln came into power. The people, however, were not called upon to vote for the declaration of secession in the first six states. Governor Huston of Texas objected to secession, and submitted the ordinance to the voters of his state. About the time the South was entering into a war to maintain slavery, Czar Alexander II., in his manifesto said, "That a peo- ple in which a majority of the agricultural classes was sub- jected to serfage, could not rival the European nations in intellect- ual progress, and it is clear that in modern warfare success is the resultant of all the moral and material forces of the state." The Czar liberated 45,863,086 serfs, being the unfreed popula- tion of Russia. 23,300,000 were crown peasants. 936,477 were peasants of peonage. 20,158,231 were attached to the soil and belonged to proprietors. 1,467,378 were domestic servants. The edict was issued in 1861. Mr. John A. Stephens referring to the war of the South said, to Secretary Chase, "It was a war of the oligarchy against the people; that slavery was the basis of the oligarchy, but that the perpetuation of slavery was not more their object than the despotic power of the class over the mass." Though surrounded by scheming and treacherous politicians and rebel leaders, corrupting and perverting the legislative and judicial brarches of the government before and after his election in order to foster and perpetuate slavery in the United States, Lincoln rose above and overpowered all his opponents, at home and abroad and, after a bitter struggle against opposition and seemingly insurmountable difficulties, struck the shackles from the slave, and left the nation, in fact as well as in name, a nation of free men. He not only gave liberty to the negro slave, but he gave a more enduring freedom to every living and every future citizen and inhabitant of our republic and the world. Abraham Lincoln 51 If owning negroes was an evidence of southern aristocracy, then we should hope to be delivered from such a brand. I emphati- cally deny that the slave owning, so-called aristocrats of the south were justified in their pretenses any more than were the success- ful stockjobbers and monopolistic millionaires of the North who become rapidly rich by overriding the laws of the country and the rules of honest dealing. A CARNIVAL OF FRAUD. While the traitors and rebels were arming and attacking the Union on every side a much worse horde of less courageous ene- mies were preying upon the vitals of the country in every depart- ment of government. Henry S. Alcott, who was appointed by Secretary Stanton to unearth and punish the existing frauds that were being perpetrated, gives a graphic description of his ex- perience under the caption of "Wars, Carnival of Frauds," in the "Annals of the War." He says : "Intrigue held the keys to the kitchen stairs of the White House, shaped legislation, sat cheek by jowl with Congressmen, and se- duced commission officers from the straight path of duty. Our sailors were sent to sea in ships built of green timbers, which were fitted with engines good only for the junk shop, and greased with 'sperm* oil derived from moss-bunkers and the feet of dead horses." "In the Navy Yard there was a system of corrupt bargains between the public servants and contractors, under which goods of inferior quality and short quantity were accepted as the lawful standard and count; public property was purloined and carried off in open daylight." He tells the story of Salmon Kahnstom, "the giver of good din- ners" : "His crime consisted in procuring from landlords — gener- ally German saloon-keepers — their signatures to blank vouchers which his clerks would fill out for one or two thousand dollars each, and then either get unprincipled commissary officers to ap- pend their certificates for an agreed price or forge them. By this device he drew over three hundred thousand dollars from the Mustering and Disbursing office in New York, of which sum the greater proportion was in due time ascertained by me to be fraud. Eight cases of palpable forgery were designated, and the jury after deliberating only twenty minutes, brought in a verdict of guilty. The court promptly sentenced him to ten years' imprison- ment at hard labor at Sing Sing. In a civil suit against him, a large sum of money was recov- ered and paid over into the Treasury by the Trustees of the felon's estate." At Louisville fraud had been perpetrated in the purchase of animals. A captain and assistant quartermaster stood by and 52 Abraham Lincoln both took part in fraudulent adulteration of grain. They were convicted, fined ten thousand dollars and imprisoned for two years. The delinquent horse, mule, hay, grain and other contractors in the Department of the Ohio, were thoroughly punished by fines and imprisonments. In his "Third Semi-Annual Report" to the War Department, Mr. Alcott says: "Evidence was elicited tending to show that the abuses of which the Commission complained, extend over the whole sea-board. The government has been in the habit of paying ruinous prices for the charter of vessels, some of which have been perfectly un- seaworthy. The precious lives of officers and men, and public property to the value of millions of dollars, have been entrusted to rotten steam-boat hulks and greedy speculators and middle- men have been paid for their use, prices of the most extortionate nature." "If we trace the history of some of the most aggressive corpora- tions and monopolies existing today, we will find they had their start during the Civil War, when the two to three billions of government paper was being distributed with a free hand to con- tractors and manufacturers in many cases by dishonest officers. These corporations have not ceased to obtain support from the government to the present day. Vast frauds were perpetrated in Philadelphia in contracts for tents, canvas goods, clothing, shoes, and things of various kinds. In the two years the disbursements of the quartermaster has exceeded two hundred million dollars and were running at the rate of seventy millions annually." Inspectors, contractors, manufacturers, and middlemen were arrested, commission officers displaced, trials were followed by convictions, fines and assessed damages. New inspectors were appointed, new standards established, and abuses were reformed. Secretary of War Stanton, and Secretary of the Navy Wells, were constantly alert and made every effort to check these frauds. The good judgment of President Lincoln was demonstrated in his keeping such honest and loyal secretaries in his cabinet as Stanton, Wells, Seward, Chase and Blair, to guard the interests of the republic against thieves and enemies within, as well as traitors without. mr. Lincoln's characteristics. In Mr. Lincoln's conduct towards his generals, his cabinet and Congress, through his moderation towards the leaders of the re- bellion and his willingness to concede everything that it was Abraham Lincoln 53 proper to concede, if they would peaceably uphold the Union and the Constitution, he continually acted on the basis of high Chris- tian principles. We must acknowledge this to correctly under- stand the life of Lincoln and realize the principles which directed his actions. These were not usually those prompting the am- bitious politicians or public leader. As appears to me, the main principles influencing him are the following : Forgive your enemies. Do good to them who hate you. Do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Do not retaliate, or return evil for evil. Forgive those who trespass against you. In settling a question as to right or wrong, decide for the right, however hazardous this may seem. Make no compromise with wrong for any temporary advantage. Overlook mere personalities in the fight for a great principle. In referring to his correspondence with General Butler, De- cember, 1864, when there was a conflict between civil and mili- tary authorities in West Virginia, Messrs. Nicolay and Hay state : "One is always surprised at the ease with which the President took up these cases of contention between officials, and in a few sentences, pointed out the law and the remedy with such clearness as to make it seem that a child ought not to have erred in the original decision, but more admirable still, is the benignant and charitable spirit with which he overlooked and excused the vanity and petulance which so frequently produced them." The manner in which he overlooked and forgave the continual criticisms and personal slight of Chase and McClellan, while holding official posi- tions under him, shows his self-control and firm adherence to the principles above enumerated. It was the same when dealing with Fremont at the commencement of the War. The following is a message of Lincoln to his cabinet : "I must myself determine how long to retain in and when to remove any of you from this position. It would greatly pain me to discover any of you endeavoring to procure another's re- moval in any way to prejudice him before the public. Such an error would be a wrong to me and much more a wrong to the country. My wish is, that on this subject no remarks are made nor questions asked by any of you here or elsewhere now or here- after." (Nicolay and Hay, Life of Lincoln, Vol. 9, p. 339.) About the close of the war, Abraham Lincoln expressed the hope that there would be no persecution, no bloody work after the war was over. None need expect he would take any part in hang- ing or killing even the worst of these men. "Frighten them out of the country, let down the bars, scare them off," said he, throwing up his hands as if to scare sheep. Enough lives have 54 Abraham Lincoln been sacrificed. We must extinguish our resentment if we expect harmony and union." (Tarbell's Life of Lincoln.) There were few men occupying positions of authority at this critical period who could have been entrusted with the almost despotic discretionary power vested in the President, who would have exercised this power with so much forebearance and wisdom as did this patient and considerate man, ordained to fill the respon- sible position of executive of a great nation, in the midst of a terrible civil war. Amidst the confusion and anarchy prevailing in the government when Lincoln was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1861, he maintained a cool and collected temperament and proceeded to bring order in his administration and obedience to the laws of the country, nearly one-half of which was in open insurrection. He was forced to meet not only armed rebellion in the South, but continual bickering, jealousy and discontent among his own ranks. The country was without an adequate army or navy and its com- manding general was old and unable to assume personal charge of what scanty forces could be collected. The treasury was nearly empty and many forts and arsenals either in the hands of the rebels, or stripped of arms and ammunition. But amidst it all, there was one methodical progressive and commanding mind constantly at work to fulfill the mission for which he was in- tended. Through Lincoln's persistance and faith in ultimate success when all about him was doubt and fear, he finally brought into existence the powerful army well organized and trained by Gen- eral George B. McClellan and other generals, to meet and fi- nally through Grant, Sherman, Sheridan and other aggressive generals, overcome the forces of the Southern Confederacy un- der the very efficient leadership of General Robert E. Lee. Abraham Lincoln 55 CHAPTER V. ABRAHAM LINCOLN APPOINTS HIS CABINET. J EPPERSON DAVIS AP- POINTS HIS CABINET. ROBERT E. LEE APPOINTED TO TAKE COMMAND OP VIRGINIA TROOPS. ENGLAND BUILDS SHIPS POR THE CONFEDERACY AND OTHER EVENTS OP WAR RAPIDLY POL- LOW. NINE SOUTHERN STATES SECEDE. SUMTER PlRED UPON. The public libraries contain many books which give in detail accounts of the events connected with the Civil War. It is not necessary to attempt in this book to re-publish these well known incidents — among these works are : Nicolay and Hay's Abraham Lincoln; Henry C. Whitney's Life of Lincoln, and Life on the Circuit with Lincoln; F. F. Browne's Every-day Life of Lin- coln; W. O. Stoddard's Lincoln; I. N. Arnold's Life of Lincoln; Ida M. Tarbell's Life of Lincoln, and the Annals of the War, published by the Philadelphia Times. Clark E. Carr, The Illini. Those wishing to obtain a correct understanding of the respon- sibilities of Abraham Lincoln as President and Commander-in- Chief of the Army and Navy, should read about the many engage- ments on land and sea between the Union and Confederate forces, ending in the complete exhaustion of the South, and the final victory of the North. His was the controlling mind, directing through the complicated machinery of the numerous departments of the government and the changing events of the army and navy, the movements of the vast array of forces which finally gained the victory desired, and peace and unity was secured. EVENTS OP THE WAR. A resolution offered by Jefferson Davis in the Senate, to ex- tend slavery into the territories was voted down. William L. Yancy, of Alabama, representing the southern states at Charleston, April 23rd, made this the main plank of the democratic party. October 16, i860. Before the beginning of the war, John Brown entered Virginia at Harper's Ferry, in order to incite an insurrection among the slaves, without any warrant or justification, in opposition to law and order. He was captured by Col. Robert E. Lee, under 56 Abraham Lincoln orders from Washington, and after trial he finally was hanged with six other companions, December 7, i860. Congress met at Washington and considered the secession prob- lem. President Buchanan denied the southern states the right to secede but held that congress had no power under the Consti- tution "to coerce into submission a state which is attempting to withdraw, or has actually withdrawn." He said: "The fact is, our Union rests upon public opinion, and can never be cemented by the blood of its citizens shed in civil war." Attorney-General Black sustained him in this view. The House of Representatives appointed a committee of thirty-three members who stated that "any reasonable, proper, and constitutional reme- dies, and effectual guarantees of their political rights and interests should be promptly and cheerfully given to the southern states." December 18, i860: The Senate also appointed a committee which reported later that it was "not able to agree upon any general plan of com- promise." November 8, i860: The Palmetto flag was hoisted in South Carolina and the United States officers there resigned. Senators Chesnut and Hammond resigned. Georgia appropriated $1,000,000 to arm the state. Louisiana appropriated $50,000, for military purposes. December 17th: The South Carolina convention met at Columbia, adjourned and moved to Charleston on account of small-pox. December 20th: South Carolina passed the Ordinance of Secession, and asked the other southern states to meet at Montgomery, Alabama. Howell Cobb and John B. Floyd, Secretary of War, were forced to resign; and Joseph Holt succeeded the latter in the War De- partment. I «! When Lewis Cass resigned, Jeremiah S. Black took his place as Secretary of State and Edwin M. Stanton became Attorney- General in Buchanan's Cabinet. Philip F. Thomas became Sec- retary of the Treasury, taking the place of Howell Cobb. December 31st: The flag of the United States was taken down by rebels from the Arsenal at Charleston. 1861. January 3rd : The Governor of Alabama seized the arsenal at Mt. Vernon, and Forts Pulaski and Jackson were taken by the rebels. Abraham Lincoln 57 January nth: Major Robert Anderson was called upon to surrender Fort Sumter, which he refused to do. January 9th : Mississippi seceded. January 10th: Florida seceded. January nth: Alabama seceded. January 19th : Georgia seceded. January 26th : Louisiana seceded. January 21st: Kansas admitted as a free state. February 1st: Texas seceded. Jefferson Davis leaves the Senate after making a speech giving his views on the Constitution, which he considered warranted the States in seceding from the Union. February 9th: Jefferson Davis chosen President, and Alexander H. Stephens Vice-President, of the provisional government of the Confederate States of America. Convention met at Montgomery, and Davis was inaugurated February 18th. February 19th: Russia frees all the serfs by an imperial ukase issued by the Czar, Alexander II., which liberated 45,863,085 individuals. This was accomplished without bloodshed, under a monarchical govern- ment at a time when nearly half of the States of the Republic took up arms in order to establish, through bloodshed and re- bellion against the government, the extension and permanency of slavery in their boasted free country. February 4 : Delegates from the seceding states met at Montgomery, Ala- bama, in a Constitutional Convention, to organize a provisional government for the Confederate States. On the same day a Peace Conference met at Washington at the request of the Virginia Legislature, but accomplished nothing. March 4th : President Abraham Lincoln was duly inaugurated President of the United States at Washington, where he arrived safely after a perilous journey (a plot being formed to assassinate him) under protection of Pinkerton's detectives. March 6th : The Confederate government issued a call for 100,000 men; 58 Abraham Lincoln 269 officers resigned from the Federal army and joined the Con- federate forces, as well as many West Point graduates. The Army of the Cumberland was established. April nth: Jefferson Davis demanded the surrender of Fort Sumter, which Major Anderson again refused. April 12th: Jefferson Davis issued a proclamation offering "letters of marque and reprisal" under the Confederate States on privateers of all nations. President Lincoln issued a warning to all those who acted under these letters of marque, that they would be "held amenable to the laws of the United States for the prevention and punishment of piracy." Fort Sumter, S. C. April 12, 1861, 3 :20 a. m. Sir: By authority of Brigadier-General Beauregard, command- ing the provisional forces of the Confederate States, we have the honor to notify you that he will open the fire of his batteries upon Fort Sumter in one hour from this time. We have the honor to be, Very respectfully your very obedient servants, James Chesnut, Jr., Aide-de-camp Stephen D. LEE, Captain, C. S. Army, Aide-de-camp. To Major Robert Anderson, U. S. Army, commanding Fort Sumter. "At 4:30 a. m. the silence was broken by the discharge of a mortar from a battery near Fort Johnson within easy range of the work: a shell rose high in the air and broke directly over Fort Sumter ; its echo died away, and all was still again, when suddenly fire was opened from every battery of the enemy." (The first shot against the flag was fired by Edmund Ruffin, of Virginia.) On the 13th Major Anderson consented to evacuate the fort and the garrison was transferred to the large transport lying off the bar and was soon on its way north. Abraham Lincoln 59 FORT SUMTER — A DIARY ENTRY. April 16, 1861, I made the following entry in my journal: "Day before yesterday came the news of the taking of Fort Sumter, and the capture of Major Robert Anderson and his men (this was the officer who twenty-nine years before had signed Abraham Lin- coln's release from service in the Black Hawk War). The bom- bardment of Fort Sumter by the Secessionists has awakened the country from the nightmare of apprehension and indecision which has long paralyzed it. The Lion of the North has been fully aroused. Yesterday came the demand for troops by Lincoln from all the states; he issued a proclamation calling for 75,000 men for three months' service. Things look fearful in every direc- tion concerning the future of our country, and it is only when I turn from the threatening storm and look upon the delightful opening of summer, that I am reminded of the peace and harmony of nature, and hope for a restoration of harmony among my countrymen. The condition of the nation now reminds me of the turmoil of the Atlantic in some terrific storm, several of which I have experienced. I am in hopes this tempest will soon blow over and leave the Union intact, and that in the change that will come the extension of slavery will be checked, or be entirely abol- ished in the United States ; and also that the banking system, or lack of system, with its present evils, will be rectified and the country be put on a sound financial basis, and wild-cat banks be eliminated." "When I reflect upon the present threatened strife between the Southern and the Northern States, I shudder with apprehension for the Union, but every one I meet seems to have full confidence in Lincoln's ability to handle the situation. It has, however, been a time of disorder, and fear of impending evil ever since I ar- rived in America on my return from my two years' absence in Europe." This assault upon a United States fort by the rebels resounded around the world and fired the patriotic hearts of the loyal North. This was a fatal blunder on the part of the South. CALL FOR TROOPS BY THE PRESIDENT OP THE UNITED STATES. Whereas, the laws of the United States have been for some time past, and now are opposed and the execution thereof ob- structed in the States of South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Flor- ida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas by combinations too power- ful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceeding or by the powers vested in the marshals by law. 60 Abraham Lincoln Now Therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, in virtue of the power in me vested led by the Constitution, and the laws, have thought fit to call forth and hereby do call forth, the militia of the several States of the Union, to the ag- gregate number of 75,000, in order to suppress said combinations and to cause the laws to be duly executed. The details of this object will be immediately communicated to the State authorities through the War Department. I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate and aid this effort to main- tain the honor, the integrity and existence of our National Union, and the perpetuity of popular government, and to redress wrongs already long enough endured. I deem it proper to say that the first service assigned to the forces hereby called forth will prob- ably be to repossess the forts, places and property which have been seized from the Union, and in every event the utmost care will be observed constantly with the object aforesaid, to avoid any devastation, any destruction of, or interference with property, or any disturbance of peaceful citizens, in any part of the country; and I hereby command the persons composing the combinations aforesaid to disperse and retire peacefully to their respective abodes in twenty-four days from this date. Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents an extraordinary occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution, convene both Houses of Congress. Senators and Representatives are therefore summoned to assem- ble at their respective chambers at 12 o'clock noon, on Thursday, the 4th day of July next, then and there to consider and deter- mine such measures as in their wisdom the public safety and in- terest may seem to demand. In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this 15th day of April, in the year of our Lord, one thousand, eight hundred and sixty-one, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-fifth. Abraham Lincoln. By the President, William H. Seward, Secretary of State. The actual writing of this extraordinary document was done in the few hours following the arrival of the news of the fall of Fort Sumter, but it presents no marks of sudden or hasty work. (Stoddard.) Abraham Lincoln 61 EVENTS OE THE WAR, CONTINUED. April 17th: Virginia secedes but the western counties remaining loyal and afterwards were formed into a new state called West Virginia. The convention passing the ordinance of secession approved the policy of the President. April 19th: A rigid blockade was declared at all ports within the states of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louis- iana and Texas, and on the 27th of April this was extended to the ports of North Carolina and Virginia. THE TWO PRESIDENTS AND THEIR CABINETS CONTRASTED. Abraham Lincoln — starting as a poor boy born in a log cabin and without illustrious lineage or material advantages, but ac- complishing great things stood before the world as the ideal of American liberty. The forces arrayed against him were aimed against this ideal and not against his personality. Every shot fired by those who seceded from the republic and every discour- agement to the Union from abroad was aimed at liberty and against the bulwarks of a government whose corner stone was independence. Jefferson Davis claimed he was fighting for independence ; this had never been denied him, but he denied it to others. He posed as the liberator of the abused South, which had never been de- prived of liberty, so far as the white race was concerned, except the liberty of slave owners to extend slavery into the territories or into the free states. Many of the generals who were educated and instructed in mili- tary tactics by the United States, instead of defending the Repub- lic, assailed with their battalions the capitol of their own country seeking to destroy the Temple of Liberty and the Union which their forefathers, in some cases of revolutionary times helped to establish. Their fellow countrymen, whom they were attacking, had no desire to take anything from them as they finally were forced to admit when the war was terminated and General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox. They were granted most liberal terms, and Lee and his men were allowed their sidearms, horses and personal effects. In the great tragedy of the Nineteenth Century, culminating in the victory of the Unionists over the Confederates, the citizens of the United States were divided into two distinct and antago- 62 Abraham Lincoln nistic groups; on the one side were the loyal Unionists, Repub- licans and War Democrats; on the other side were the disloyal Secessionists. Abraham Lincoln, being duly elected President, according to the provision of the Constitution in i860, under a strict construc- tion of the Constitution all the citizens of all the states were bound to recognize him as the legitimate head of the nation. William H. Seward was appointed Secretary of State, who as senator had stood for the Union in Washington, and had assisted Lincoln in every way possible during all the plottings and dangers which surrounded him before he took the oath of office, March 4, 1861. Salmon P. Chase was appointed Secretary of the Treasury. For many years he had been an advocate of human liberty, and was opposed to the extension of slavery. He was loyal to the Union from the first. Simon Cameron was appointed Secretary of War, but was soon retired and sent as minister to Russia, being succeeded by Edwin M. Stanton, who had been the watch dog and the con- trolling mind of the War Department under Buchanan, after John B. Floyd was forced out of the Cabinet for disloyalty and fraud. Here Stanton fought the Secessionists whom he found in office in Washington. He proved himself to be a loyal and courageous Secretary of War in the Cabinet during Lincoln's administration and until his chief was assassinated. He then held the same posi- tion under President Andrew Johnson. Gideon Wells was appointed Secretary of the Navy, Caleb B. Smith, Secretary of the Interior, Edward Bates, Attorney-Gener- al and Montgomery Blair, Postmaster-General. This composed Lincoln's Cabinet. By the selection of these men the president showed his wisdom and keen insight into the character and qualifications of the men on whom he had to depend for assistance in their several depart- ments during the fearful crisis which had been precipitated upon the country. Most of those selected had been given superior edu- cational advantages in their early years to those given Mr. Lincoln, and some of these gentlemen presumed at times to be better qual- ified than he was to direct public affairs ; yet, although Mr. Lin- coln would listen to the individual advice of the different mem- bers of the Cabinet, he finally acted with dignity and directness and followed out the course he himself considered in his judg- ment to be right. Jefferson Davis, who was elected President of the Southern Confederacy, was born January 5, 1808 in Christian County, Ken- tucky. He was a cadet .at West Point from 1824 to 1828, ap- pointed by President Monroe, taking the oath of loyalty to the Abraham Lincoln 63 United States, and receiving the advantages of an education at the government's expense which enabled him to hold the different official positions which he subsequently occupied. Robert E. Lee was a classmate of his. Jefferson Davis was a colonel in the Mexican War, where he fought to obtain more territory for slavery; he was a lieutenant of dragoons in the regular army. In 1844 he was elected to the United States House of Representa- tives; for four years he was a representative from Mississippi. In 185^ he was Secretary of War under President Pierce. He was twice United States Senator, 1847-1851 and 1857-1861, and at one time Governor of Mississippi. He was the leading spirit in the rebellion, using all the available men, and all the treasure possessed by the slave states to an- nihilate the government of the United States. He sought to establish an empire in the western world in antagonism to the principles of the Declaration of Independence, with slavery as its corner stone. The cabinet appointed by Jefferson Davis was as follows : Rob- ert Toombs, Secretary of War, who had formerly been a member of the Senate but, favoring disunion, had been expelled. He was a graduate of Union College, 1828, and of the Law University of Virginia, 1830. His term in the United States Senate extended from 1853 t0 1 86 1. He refused to take the oath of allegiance to the United States. After the war he resumed the practice of the law and made a fortune of $500,000. S. K. Mallory was appointed Secretary of the Navy, J. H. Reagan, Postmaster-General, and A. G. Benjamin, Attorney- General. President Davis appointed Robert E. Lee to take command of the Virginia troops. Lee afterwards became the leading figure in the southern army. In January 1861 a provisional government had been organized by the southern states which passed the ordinance of secession. Jurisdiction over public property in the harbor of Charleston was assumed by it, and Brigadier-General G. T. Beauregard, who had resigned his commission in the regular army, was commis- sioned by the Confederate government to go to Charleston and take command of the field of operations. Through the complicity of England, for which she was later compelled to pay an indemnity of 3,000,000 pounds to those who were damaged in the United States by vessels built in England for the Southern Confederacy, the rebel leaders were enabled to fit out privateers and prey upon the merchant vessels of the United States with impunity. Two of these vessels, the Alabama and the Florida, would raise the English flag if it would aid them in their villainous piracy, capture prizes and then run past the United 64 Abraham Lincoln States vessels blockading southern ports. The Lancaster, com- manded by Captain Semmes, did considerable damage until finally it was diasabled by the Tuscarora, the Chippewa, and the Kear- sarge at Gibraltar. Captain Semmes sold his vessel and discharged his men. The Florida, after it had inflicted an immense amount of damage on American shipping was at last destroyed by the United States sloop of war Wachusett in the port of Bahia, Brazil. The Alabama, under charge of Captain Semmes with an English crew and gunners, after driving many United States mer- chant ships from the seas, and destroying many sailing vessels, and every variety of shipping, was at last compelled to encounter the United States sloop of war Kearsarge, commanded by Cap- tain Winslow, beyond the three mile limit, off Cherbourg, France, and was overpowered and sunk. April 16th: Massachusetts Sixth Regiment mustered upon Boston Common, equipped for action, and was on its way to Washington by the 17th; and on the 18th it reached Baltimore and in passing through that city was attacked by a mob of secession sympathizers. The self-control of the troops prevented casualties of any serious nature. The regiment reached Washington without any further interference. April 19th: The New York Seventh Regiment also reached Washington. April 20th: Every precaution was taken and every available means was em- ployed to protect the capital against the threatened attack from the rebels. The rebel Secretary of War boasted that the Confed- erate Bars would soon float over the capitol itself. April 20th : Navy Yard and Gosport, Virginia, burned. April 25th : U. S. arsenal at Harper's Ferry burned. May 6th : Arkansas secedes. May 7th : Tennessee joined the Confederacy. May 20th : North Carolina seceded. May 13th: General Butler, with less than 1000 men, entered Baltimore at night and soon had the city under command with his guns in position. The President authorized him to suspend the writ of habeas corpus. Washington was soon placed in a safe condition and the threat- Abraham Lincoln 65 ened siege raised. A guard was kept at Long Bridge, over the Potomac, to prevent its destruction. May 24th : The Union troops marched into Virginia, and strong earth- works were constructed upon the heights commanding the ap- proaches to Washington on the Virginia side. Events OF 1862. Emperor Louis Napoleon commences his strategic movements in Mexico, which he sought to control; this was considered a violation of the Monroe Doctrine and it was deemed by the United States that he was taking advantage under cover of the Civil War, in order to get a foothold in Mexico, as the United States was using all its military force in fighting the Southern Confederacy. He was cautioned not to interfere with the affairs of Mexico, but did not withdraw until 1864. January 7th: General Curtis, under command of General Halleck, defeats the Rebels at Pea Ridge, Arkansas. General Don Carlos Buell supersedes General W. T. Sher- man in the Department of the Cumberland. February. Fort Henry is captured by General U. S. Grant, also Fort Don- elson, with the aid of Rear- Admiral Andrew Hall Foot with six gun-boats. Brig. General John B. Floyd, Lieut. General Nathaniel B. For- rest and General Gideon J. Pillow, Confederate generals, escaped before the surrender. February 16: General Simon B. Buckner surrendered with 15,000 men. April 6 and 7 : Gen. Albert Sidney Johnson who was in command at the battle of Shiloh, was killed, and the command of the army passed Gen- eral G. T. Beauregard. Confederate loss, 10,700. President Lincoln early in the war determined to obtain con- trol of the Mississippi in its entire length. In pursuance of this plan, Island No. 10 on the north and Forts Jackson and St. Philip on the south had been captured, and New Orleans occupied by our troops. In the spring of 1862, and in the fall of the year, General McClernand was assigned to the command of a river ex- pedition against Vicksburg. He captured Arkansas Post Janu- ary nth, and camped near Vicksburg. Farragut's flagship ac- companied by the "Hartford" and an ironclad gun-boat rapidly passed Port Hudson. Later Porter passed Vicksburg. The Con- federates were driven back from Fort Gibson. MacPherson commanded the road to Vicksburg. 66 Abraham Lincoln May 7th, Generals MacPherson, McClernand, and Sherman simultaneously moved toward Richmond where the Confeder- ates were massed. Grant assaulted Vicksburg on the 22nd, los- ing 3,000 men. He again decided a siege was necessary. By June 8th the investment was complete, and 30,000 extra troops were ready to repel attacks from the rear. General Pemberton, the Confederate general, whose men had been in the trenches for several weeks, offered to surrender. Pemberton and Grant met and completed negotiation and 24,000 soldiers marched out of the forts on the 4th of Jui : and laid down their arms. Logan's division marched into Vicksburg hoisting the United States flag. Grant was made Major General, Sherman and MacPherson Brigadiers. July 9th, Port Hudson surrendered to General Banks, with 6,000 men, 51 pieces of artillery, 5,000 small arms, and military stores. This opened the entire Mississippi River which had long been the earnest desire of President Lincoln. The election resulted in Lincoln receiving 180 electoral votes; Breckinridge 72; Bell 39; Douglas 12. Lincoln received the vote of every free state except New Jersey, which gave to Douglas all but four votes which she gave to Lincoln. Missouri gave Douglas 9 votes ; those of the other southern states were divided between Bell and Breckinridge. Lincoln, 1,857.610; Douglas, 1,291,574; Breckinridge, 850,082; Bell, 646,124. (Greeley's American Conflict, vol. 1, p. 328.) The election of Abraham Lincoln was a demonstration that the country was opposed to slavery. Up to that time the North had been grossly deceived on the subject. The people had all the time been betrayed by the politicians ; they had been unable to make their sentiment known. The pro-slavery vote was only 22.4 per cent of the total. Breckinridge lacked 135,057 of a majority in the slave states. Neither Mr. Lincoln, nor the Republican Party, thought of any unlawful or over-extreme measure against slavery. The fear- ful responsibility of the terrible conflict must therefore be placed with the secessionists says Mr. Ingersoll. E. R. Ulrich, my brother, then a lumber merchant of Spring- field, together with a number of other business men, presented Abraham Lincoln before he left Springfield with a fine dress- suit which he wore at his first inaugural. Abraham Lincoln 67 CHAPTER VI. COL. ELMER E)U,SWORTH. HIS ASSASSINATION. ZOUAVES HOLD LAST REUNION. St. Louis Globe-Democrat: "Yes/ 5 said Mr. Frederick B. Brownell yesterday, conversing with a Globe-Democrat reporter at his car factory on North Broadway, "the announcement of the appointment of Miss Amelia Jackson the other day to a position in the Patent Office at Washington recalls the tragic incident of Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth's death at the hands of that young lady's father in the Marshall House at Alexandria, Va., in the early days of the War. A mistake has been made, however, in attributing to me the honor of avenging Col. Ellsworth's death. Jackson, the slayer of Col. Ellsworth, was killed by my brother, Lieut. Frank P. Brownell, who now lives at Detroit. He is on the retired army list. Frank was the eldest child of the family. "But first let me say something of Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth and his regiment. Ellsworth was but little over 23 years old when he met his death at the Marshall House, in Alexandria. He was a native of the town of Mechanicsville, twelve miles from Troy. He had nothing but a common-school education. When a mere boy he went to New York City, where he obtained work and la- bored hard in his leisure hours to fit himself to enter West Point. Having no influential friends, he failed to get a cadetship. After about four years in New York, he went to Chicago. He was then about 20 years old. My brother Frank has his diary, given him by the dead officer's parents. The diary shows how deeply the young man was imbued with the military spirit. He seemed to have had a presentiment of the great struggle that was soon to convulse the Nation. It was during those days that he formed his famous company of the Ellsworth Zouaves. My recollection is that he became connected, while in Chicago, with the Adjutant- General's office of Illinois. His company was composed of young men of his own age. He inspired them with the same love of military glory that burned in his own breast. During the day each of the young zouaves worked at his vocation, for, like their captain, they were not rich in the world's goods. At night they drilled several hours in their armory, and there they slept. This was during the time they were preparing for their celebrated tour of the Northern cities. That tour took place in the stormy days 68 Abraham Lincoln of '6o. Every city the handsome Ellsworth and his dashing zouaves visited was wrought up to a frenzy of enthusiasm by the brilliant evolution and marvelous drill of the company. I remem- ber when they came to Troy, the whole town went wild over them. Business was suspended, stores were closed, and merchants and clerks repaired to the field where they were camped, to witness their drilling. "He was a protege of Abraham Lincoln before he was elected President, and the latter may have helped the young men with written recommendations to those in high places in New York, His talents, energy, and indomitable will did the rest. He raised, ecmipped and armed a regiment of nearly 1,200 men in New York City in a few days, when other Colonels were weeks and months in getting their complements of men. "Washington, when Ellsworth's regiment arrived, was one vast military babel. It was full of undisciplined men, camp-followers, and adventurers of every character, and depredations and acts of outlawry were frequent. The Ellsworth Zouaves were recruited mainly from the fire boys of New York. They were full of spirit, wild, and rollicksome. There had been no time to discipline them. Many of the depredations that were committed in Wash- ington in the early days of '61 were attributed to them. Their young commander felt these aspersions keenly. He went in person to President Lincoln and besought him to let his command form the advance of the movement then ordered into Virginia. The President refused, giving as his reason the extreme youth of the commander and the fear that he would not be able to control the wild, insubordinate men under him when they got into hostile ter- ritory. "Then Ellsworth replied: 'Mr. President, if, on this march my men shall be guilty of any act that will reflect disgrace on them or discredit to myself, I pledge you my word of honor they shall be mustered out of service or merged into other com- mands/ "Lincoln granted Ellsworth's request to let his regiment be the vanguard of the army of the United States in its first advance on Richmond. As an incident of the stay of the Ellsworth Zouaves in Washington I will mention that they were quartered in the base- ment of the Capitol. One night Willard's Hotel caught fire. The Zouaves, who were nearly all firemen, rushed to the various en- gine-houses, got out the apparatus, and suppressed the flames al- most before the local Washington firemen were aware that there had been anything unusual going on. "It was early on the morning of the 24th of May, 1861, when the several regiments ordered into Virginia began their march. The advance was made in two columns, one marching by the long Abraham Lincoln 69 bridge into Virginia, the other by the chain bridge from George- town. No trumpet or soul-stirring drum betrayed their move- ments in the darkness. Down the avenue sounded the tread of many feet. The scene at the bridges must have been impressive beyond description. The night was cool and clear, with myriad stars, that veiled their splendor as the moon rolled up the sky on the Virginia side of the Potomac, flecking the river with patches of light, throwing grotesque shadows from the towers and arches of the bridges, and causing the muskets, sabres, and ordnance to glitter with reflected flashes among the compact masses of soldiery moving forward to the ominous accompaniment of clashing sabres and rumbling cannon. The Ellsworth Zouaves went down to Alexandria by steamer. They disembarked in the darkness just before dawn. "At daybreak Col. Ellsworth ordered a squad detained from Company A to proceed up into the town of Alexandria and cut the telegraph wires. There were eight, all told, in the party, in- cluding the Colonel, the Chaplain of the regiment, and a news- paper correspondent. They marched right up the principal street of the town. Col. Ellsworth was the first, perhaps, to espy the Rebel flag floating over the Marshall House. He said nothing until the squad had gone fully a block past the hotel. Then he ordered the men to right about face and marched back to the house over which the insulting emblem floated. As the soldiers entered the house they encountered a man in his shirt-sleeves. He seemed excited, more from fear than anything else. Col. Ells- worth demanded: 'Who hoisted that flag?' " 'I don't know,' said the man ; 'I am only a boarder here.' "The soldiers marched up the stairs. The house was an old- fashioned brick, two stories high, and with an attic from which dormer windows led out upon the roof. Col. Ellsworth borrowed a knife from one of the men named Wisner, mounted the roof, and cut down the flag. Then the return to the street was begun. My brother, Frank E. Brownell led the way; Col. Ellsworth followed with the flag in his hand, and behind him came the news- paper correspondent. "As my brother reached the landing on the stairs, between the second and third stories, the same man whom they had en- countered when they entered the house rushed from a room near the stairway. He held a double-barreled shotgun in his hand, and quick as a flash aimed it at Col. Ellsworth. My brother was armed with an old-fashioned Springfield rifle, with a sword bay- onet fixed on the end of it. His weapon was too long to handle quickly. He stepped back, threw down his gun on the assassin, and, as the latter discharged the deadly contents into the breast of Col. Ellsworth, shot him through the center of the face. 70 Abraham Lincoln Brother Frank did not know, in the excitement, whether he had hit the man or not, and, immediately after firing the shot drove his sword bayonet through the man's (Jackson's) body, pushing him down the remaining section of the stairway. The death of both men was instantaneous. Col. Ellsworth fell forward on his face, flooding the floor with his blood. Jackson, his assassin, fell at the foot of the stairs on his back as soon as the bayonet was withdrawn from his body. Col. Ellsworth's remains were laid out on a bed in one of the rooms of the house in which he was murdered. His death did more to enkindle patriotism and swell the volunteer enlistments in the North than any other incident. I can remember the words of the telegram my brother sent home on the occasion of his killing Jackson. The message was short. It read : " 'Father. Col. Ellsworth was shot dead this morning. I killed his murderer." "Many have blamed Col. Ellsworth for rashness and impetuous- ness in tearing down the Rebel flag. My brother believes he had in mind his promise to the President. He feared his men, seeing the emblem of disloyalty floating about the Marshall House, might be frenzied into committing acts of destruction. He retraced his steps with the purpose of removing the aggravating symbol of re- bellion. The gallant martyr sleeps at Mechanicsville. His blood stained uniform, the Rebel flag he tore from the Marshall House, and the shotgun of Jackson are, I think, inclosed in a glass case in the capitol at Albany." THE FALL OF ELLSWORTH. WRITTEN THE DAY AFTER THE ASSASSINATION OF ELLSWORTH. SCENE I. Headquarters 1st Zouaves, — Camp Lincoln, Washington, May 28th, 1861. Characters — col. Ellsworth, mr. brownELL, capt. john Wiley, and others. Ellsworth, (slowly pacing the room; in an undertone, his eyes bent upon the floor.) My pen beneath the quivering light doth shine, Just used to bid my parents fond adieus, And needeth but my touch again to form Fond lines of comfort to her fearful heart. Note. — No apology is needed for inserting: this youthful production. Every piece of writing, diary, newspaper or hand-bill of the time is a source of history. The above lines were written by the author at the time of the tragedy and published in a local paper. It was also distributed among recruits. I belonged to a Springfield Company of Zouaves before I went to Europe. Abraham Lincoln 71 Her, — did none hear me? Secret is our love. My country, know'st thou what the sacrifice In changeless daring I would make for thee? The rent of youthful loving hearts, how keen! The nightly parting, fearful ne'er again Upon this battle raging earth to meet? Sacrifice, said I ! Ah, glad the death Bestowed for thee, thou banner in the night, Besprinkled o'er with stars that brilliant shine As those that fill yon cloudless realms above! And ye proud lands, that stretch serene around, In gentle slumbers at the midnight watch Death ! Tht word did never thus awake my thoughts ; The warrior's gasp, his groan, his spirit's flight, Ah whence? Why rushes up the tide of life Days, deeds, and thoughts oblivious long. And many cherished ties to earth and life? Why ponders o'er those weeping friends, my mind, That chamber trod by solitary feet ? Nay, let alone the pen, for thou wilt fill Her tender sympathy with thoughtless pain. My mother, thou wilt soothe her early loss, And she will cherish thee, remembering thine. Captain Wilder. Well, Colonel, why dost thou not dress ? 'tis time — Our boys are nearly all now in the ranks. Ellsworth. Why, my good fellow, you have moved so still I thought that I was in the room alone! Ah Captain, I was thinking of the garb I should prefer to robe me in to die ! Captain Wilder. Why, my good fellow, dost thou think of death? Yon beauteous flag shall wave o'er all the land, O'er cities North, and South, and East, and West, And many a traitor to his country's trust Will by the neck be hung, or thrust from thence An exile, branded in the face with shame. I hope, before thou shalt be called to die. 72 Abraham Lincoln ELLS WORTH. If I tomorrow must be shot, I'll die In this same suit, as yet unworn and new. That then will be my end, I have, as 'twere A sure presentiment. Yes, my country needs Immediately my blood, and it shall flow. Captain Wilder. Be not so anxious of so great a grief, Thy country needs thee and thy valiant arm. [Song — "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean," heard in the camp. Exit bothJ] SCENE 2. Alexandria, 5 hours after the preceding. Characters — col. Ellsworth, rev. E. w. dodge, brownell, and others. Body of the regiment landing on the wharf, Dayton, private, great friend to Ellsworth. Ellsworth. First, Winser, we will seize the telegraph, Thus cutting off connection with the South. I think, friend Dodge, and Brownell, we'll suffice For carrying out this end. And you there — Squad in front — just follow us behind. This place seems dreaming yet, unconscious all The treading in its midst of patriot troops, And knoweth not the day. Ha! there! ha! ha! A palmate floating in the lazy breeze. Down, down from yonder height, ye treacherous rag, Signal afar of traitors and their haunts, Long visible from Washington, and camps Of those for honor fighting, and the stars. Come, noble comrades, haste your steps, and we Will drag it in the dust in little time. Brownell and others. Advance — we'll follow. Cursed be the flag ! [They near the Marshall House, over which the secession flag floats.] Abraham Lincoln 73 Ellsworth. Here, here it hangs, above this traitor's house ; And who be ye then stranger, clad so spare ; What flag is that which waveth o'er your head? Flee, flee its shelter, or 'twill see your blood, While dragged along the streets with honest hands ! Jackson. Naught but a traveler stopping for the night, Ellsworth, (springing up stairs.) Comrades, follow. [Gains the roof.'] Winser, hand your knife, That I may snap the cord that doth sustain So vile a sight before the eyes of men. Winser. Here Elmer. Ellsworth. [Cuts the rope and takes the flagJ] Never more unconscious wind Wilt thou assist the waving of these stripes, That did pollute thee with its nervous flap, And dimmed as some dark cloud our country's sky. [Folding the flag, Ellsworth follows Brownell down stairs, and the rest follow. At the landing Jackson springs forward and shoots Ellsworth.] Brownell and others. — Vile assassin Ellsworth. — My God ! [Falls. ] Brownell, (shoots Jackson.) Die! traitor! die! (Thrusts him.) With that, and that, and that, for thy foul deed. See, comrades; weltering in his blood, the youth! Be thou a guard, and I shall quickly load ; We know not who doth lurk about us here. Winser. Poor Elmer ! beauteous, e'en in death, thy face, And mingled with thy blood, yet warm, thy locks Do gather round thy temples dark and rich. Sweet youth ! how sudden was this call for thee ! How innocent the smile, that lingering, throws Such godlike beauty o'er thy soulless form ! 74 Abraham Lincoln Rev. E. W. Dodge. My comrades, let us lift him from this spot See how his blood has purged this crouching flag From all the treason it proclaimed to earth ; Would like a ransom innocently slain, As Christ for sin, he for this land could be, And those who wrongly war, should see the right, And loathe to shed such nobly flowing blood, Or blood of their own youth, who causeless fight, Ne'er injured by the hands they strive against ! [The regiment comes near. Roll of the drum heard. They hear of the fall of their leader and gaining the house crowd to see him. Weeping heard among the Zouaves.] Dayton. Hung be the heaven's with black, turn day to night, Weep ocean, briny tears, and scatter earth Ye falling dews, with sorrowing drops, Dimmed let the moon appear, and wait ye stars, To see him lowered 'neath the crying earth ; And Freedom's daughters, ponder o'er the loss; And youthful heirs of liberty attend, And buckling on your swords, avenge the deed; Ye old men, cherish now your sons the more, And mothers, teach your sons of lasting life; Think, nations all, the gloomy ways of war, In maddened rage bleed not your youths with steel ; Draped be the chair of state with mournful black, Droop flag of Truth, and shield the* slumbering dead. FOUR CHICAGO ZOUAVES HOLD THEIR LAST REUNION. The Chicago Zouaves never will muster again. Four strong, they held their last reunion in the lobby of the Grand Pacific hotel. In 1 86 1 the Ellsworth Zouaves went to the front as the best drilled company in the west. With them went the Lincoln Wide Awakes. There was one member of the latter company present. He drew his chair up to the group of white-haired men and the busi- ness of the reunion was commenced forthwith. Civil war stories were told, the death of E. E. Ellsworth, who was shot while climbing the roof of a house at Alexandria, Va., to pull down the confederate flag and similar anecdotes were recalled. Those present were, Truman D. Cleveland, Maj. Frank E Yates, board of trade; E. Hamilton Hunt, Dr. Charles E. Speer. The Wide Awake was J. B. Ferrus. Abraham Lincoln 75 AN INFORMAL RECEPTION TO COI,. LAFUN. An informal reception was tendered last evening at the Palmer to Col. H. Dwight Laflin, of Saugerties, N. Y., the only surviving commissioned officer of the United States Zouave Cadets, by the surviving members of that organization residing in Chicago. This was the company organized by Col. Ellsworth in the spring of 1857 and which was disbanded at the outbreak of the War, most of the members becoming officers in the Ellsworth Zouaves. There are forty-two survivors of the original company living, of whom twenty-two reside in Chicago and vicinity. The entertain- ment was commenced by serenading Col. Laflin with Nevin's band, after which all repaired to Parlor N and serenaded Gen. Sheridan, who came out in the hallway and acknowledged the compliment by shaking hands all round and chatting with them for some minutes. An adjournment was then had to the club- room, where supper was served. Col. Laflin acknowledged the courtesy extended to him by a few well-chosen remarks. He gave a brief sketch of the early history of the company, with a mention of the celebrated forty-five day trip, and appropriate al- lusions to the lamented Ellsworth. The following members were present: Edwin L. Brand, H. Dwight Laflin, John R. Floyd, Freeman Conner, Clifton T. Whar- ton, George H. Fergus, Charles C. Phillips, William M. Olcott, Samuel S. Boone, Frank E. Yates, Bennet E. Botsford, James A. Clybourn, Harrison Kelley, Edward B. Knox, and W. M. Nevins. POEM WRITTEN AT COMMENCEMENT OF CIVIL WAR. — A. D. AUG. 19, 1862. How changed the scene, in this my native land, From what it was, when sailing from its strand; To seek in distant climes for ancient lore, 'Tis nought but turmoil, fire, and vengeful war. Some rend our flag, our Constitution scorn, And forge the chains for thousands yet unborn. Our sacred laws, they trample 'neath their feet, And slay our patriots, in the battle's heat ; O direful day! O mournful sight to view, A field o'erstrewn with blood like crimson dew ; A mighty nation rending self in twain, Where strife seems useless, and where war seems vain. Hear, gracious God the prayer I breathe to Thee ! Stay Thou the conflict, dry the bloody sea, Let sounds of clashing arms, be heard no more, And peace, triumphant, reign from shore to shore. 76 Abraham Lincoln Let one proud banner float upon the breeze From Southern gulf to glittering Northern seas. Great God make Thou our people truly one, And let them strive for Unity alone; Hush the mad ocean, stay the thunder clouds, And save our people from these bloody shrouds ; Restore the Nation's mind to peace and rest, And calm the turmoil that now stirs its breast ; Our rescued ship guide safely in her path ; With Heaven serene, and ocean void of wrath. Record my prayer, O, heavenly host above ! And for revenge and hatred, teach us love. 'Tis but a day since I a mournful ode, Sang o'er a youth, who once afar abode, In distant climes, where joy did fill his days, And hope beamed 'round him with her glittering rays. He too, is gone, the young, the gallant, brave, Gone to a heaven of rest, laid in a hero's grave, The cannon's roar no more will wake his rest, Nor patriot fires bestir his manly breast. Alone he sleepeth in his warrior's robes The passing wind a requiem o'er him blows. Still is the night, the bustling hosts are gone, And quiet reigns triumphant, here alone ; Fond Memory in her spotless robes beclad, Seats her before me, with a visage sad ; And whispers not her usual notes of love, But chants an ode o'er him now risen above; She counts his virtues, marks his gifted mind, Shows how he honored God, and served mankind ; And tells how, like a free born soul he moved, As well abroad, as in the land he loved. But he is gone, who, with a master hand, Led bravely on his valiant Northern band, Led on to conquer, or in blood to die; Disdaining e'er to turn, disdained to fly ! Ah ! yes, he's gone, his spirit's upward flight Stopped not till entering heaven celestial light ; Stopped not till seated, 'mong that honored band, Who fought on Earth to save their native land. x Why this great change, these dark rebellious clouds, The gloom of war our country now enshrouds? Where is the peaceful land I left behind? I walk its streets, its joy I cannot find. 1 This refers to Major Frederik W. Matteson, son of former Governor Mat- teson, whom I met in Heidelberg. Abraham Lincoln 77 The wonted gay and happy scenes of yore, Have changed to strife and fratricidal war ! Hast thou, wide wand'rer reached thy home again, And dost thou view its ruffled state with pain? Be not dismayed, the future bright doth gleam, From out this gloom fair freedom's star shall beam. In ten years' time, thus, can'st thou truly say, When looking back upon this stormy day : — Heard, gracious God, the prayer I breathed to thee ; Stayed is the conflict, dried the bloody sea; While sounds of clashing arms are heard no more, And peace, triumphant, reigns from shore to shore. While one proud banner floats upon the breeze, From Southern gulf to glittering Northern Seas. Great God ! Thou'st made our people truly one, And they strive now for Unity alone. Hushed the mad ocean, stayed the thunder clouds, And saved our people, from those bloody shrouds ; Restored the nation's mind to peace, and rest, And calmed the turmoil that once stirred its breast Our rescued ship floats safely in her path, With heaven's serene, and ocean, void of wrath. Answered my prayer, O, heavenly host above, And for revenge, and hatred, we'er taught love. Exalted virtues, with the help of God, Far from those lands, where rules a regal rod, Laid deep foundations for a future state, Where Freedom rules, instead of monarch's great. The new-found world, became the favored land, And to its newfound shores, the pilgrim band Came fleeing persecution, o'er the main, To find a home, where they could rear their fane, And worship, unconstrained, as conscience taught, The God Omnipotent, whose praise they sought ! The Mayflower brought them to this western worU, Where they, the banner of their Lord, unfurled. Time fled, and varied peoples filled the land, Who formed small colonies, these by the hand Of the Creator, o'er the sea were brought, And from them, God, a mighty nation wrought, That shook from off its limbs all tyrants' chains, And reared a government, where Freedom reigns. And when the Nation issued from the strife Victorious, and free, with hopeful life, It grasped all means to hold the treasure bought With precious blood, and noble men, and sought 78 Abraham Lincoln Brave George, to give him Presidential power, Then Washington made haughty monarchs cower. Think not, that God will this fair Land forsake, Now in its prime ; His arm will soon o'ertake Its enemies, and baffle all their aims, Raise the poor slave, and shatter all his chains. The glory of our country's father, cast A halo o'er the infant child, to last For ages, if the k child withholds to mar It's brightness, beaming forth from Freedom's star. Abraham Lincoln 79 CHAPTER VII. UNC0I,N S INTUITION. "Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience." — George Washington. Abraham Lincoln knew intuitively the right or wrong of great social problems and acted according to the dictates of his con- science. He drew inspiration from within and decided what to do in emergencies not so much from acquired wisdom as by in- tuition. Where other men resorted to classic lore and worldly scholastic learning, gained from the college or university, Lin- coln communed with himself and ultimately discovered a rule of action and a light to guide him through the perilous laby- rinth of human affairs when besieged by conflicting opinions and surrounded by enemies on every side. His quick application of some story to illustrate his position, served to prove this habit of resorting to intuitive promptings to do certain things or re- fuse to act on the advice of others when such advice did not coincide with his own judgment. In his debates and speeches, it was not so much the letter of the Federal Constitution and legislative acts or glittering gener- alities which directed him as the spirit of justice that sprang spon- taneously from within. Douglas said "He did not care whether slavery was voted up or voted down. This Lincoln could not understand, for if slavery was wrong, according to his intuitive promptings, it should emphatically be voted down. This to him was the only course to pursue. It was axiomatic. His intuition to do what was right and his determination to carry out his conclusions was marvelous and showed the inborn superiority of his magnanimous and exalted character. He was willing to risk his own life to achieve what he had made up his mind was the right course to pursue. It was this that won the hearts of the people everywhere and prompted him to do many merciful and benevolent acts against widespread opposition, and when he was possessed of almost autocratic power. It was this that enabled him finally to bring about the liberation of the slaves and to sign the great charter of emancipation. 80 Abraham Lincoln By comparing the sayings of Abraham Lincoln with those wordly wise sayings of great diplomats like Talleyrand or Vol- taire, or a great judge like Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, it will be easily understood how he differed from them for the better on a question of right or wrong. Talleyrand said, "Speech was given for man to disguise his thoughts." "Society is divided into two classes : The shearers and the shorn. We should always be with the former against the latter." Voltaire said, "They only employ words to disguise their thoughts. Clever tyrants are never punished." Chief Justice Taney said, in the Dred Scott decision, "The Constitution recognizes no difference between such property (meaning slaves), and any other property." This is not the spirit of the United States Constitution nor did it agree with Abraham Lincoln's opinion, or the course he pur- sued when chief executive of the Nation. Lincoln said, "In giving freedom to the slave, we assure free- dom to the free — honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve." "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." "I take the official oath today with no mental reservation and with no purpose to construe the constitution by any hypercritical rule." "I intend no modification of my oft expressed wish that all men everywhere should be free." "With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right." Lincoln was working quietly and rapidly without unnecessary publicity to meet the threatened attacks of the Confederacy, but he acted at all times with due regard to legal technicalities and did not take the initiative at any time in commencing hostilities. This was the wisest course to pursue. In the management of the affairs of the army and navy, and meeting the requirements of every day in the struggle to main- tain the government intact the President assumed and freely used from time to time, all powers required by any emergency as being conferred upon him by the emergency. If these powers were also conferred upon him by the Constitution and the laws, as previously interpreted so much the better for those instruments, and for their previous interpretation. If not, it would answer equally as well if Congress afterward should pass laws covering the matters involved, and if the Constitution should be duly amended at the defective spot, as discovered. Such is the funda- Abraham Lincoln 81 mental law of all human societies in all revolutionary states and conditions. "Lincoln absorbed in and united with his own action as Dic- tator and President, the previous action of the legislative branches of government. Members of Congress were unable to say to each other, the Commander-in-chief has issued a general order embodying and enforcing our legislation. The general order con- tained and embraced such amplifications as rendered a dictatorial proclamation forever independent of legislative act." (Stoddard History. ) To obtain a clear impression of Abraham Lincoln's character, it is necessary to read and study his letters and speeches. These can be found in a book entitled "Speeches and Letters of Abra- ham Lincoln, 1832-1865", published by J. W. Dent and Company, London, and E. P. Dutton & Company, New York. This book was given as a souvenir to those who attended the Centennial An- niversary of Lincoln's birthday at Springfield in 1909, which I attended. Speeches on Lincoln were delivered there by the Risrht Honorable James Bryce, Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from Great Britain; Hon. J. J. Jusse- rand, Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from the French Republic; Hon. Jonathan B. Dolliver, United States senator from Iowa, and William Jennings Bryan. Nicolay and Hay, in their "Abraham Lincoln, a History," not only give extracts from many of Lincoln's speeches and papers, but conscientiously and graphically relate the thrilling incidents of those doubtful and anxious days during the Civil War when a great crisis was forced upon a nation entirely unprepared for the sudden assault made by a powerful and treasonable organized force within its territory which threatened its destruction. They both went with him from Springfield and were with him from first to last as private secretaries, and they personally were acquainted with many of those who were prominent in that ter- rible conflict. All the archives of the government during Lin- coln's administration, as well as his private letters, were open to their inspection when compiling their graphic account of the life of Lincoln and the Civil War. They both were young men of high social and intellectual standing, and few historians who would have undertaken to write the life of Lincoln possessed better facilities, or were better qualified than they to do justice to the subject. I am confident that neither of them was influ- enced by prejudice or partiality in their account of the tragic events that occurred. I often met both these gentlemen when living in Springfield, and knew Mr. Hay intimately before he became Secretary to Lincoln. The last time I met him was in Rome in 1894, at the Hotel Quirinal. I remember we had a 82 Abraham Lincoln long talk about municipal government, on which subject I was then writing. Any one who will take time to read Lincoln's speeches, letters, and messages to Congress, and the Proclamation of Emancipa- tion, will find in them remarkable uniformity, cool deliberation, and a progressive movement of thought and purpose. There is no contradiction nor subterfuge, but a firm determination to carry out a well-defined purpose from the first time he gave utterance in Illinois to his views on slavery, the Constitution and the Union, until the final premature and tragic ending of his active and useful career. In order to give an insight into Lincoln's charac- ter, and to show his humane as well as farseeing and intelligent methods, a number of his letters, proclamation, and speeches are given herewith. Lincoln's farewell address at Springfield, February ii, 1861 . "My friends ; no one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feelings of sadness at this parting. To this place and the kind- ness 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, I may ever return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Wash- ington. Without the assistance of that Divine Being who ever attended him T 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 be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell." This address, in view of subsequent events, is pathetic and touching. It even looks as if Mr. Lincoln had a presentiment of his tragic death. Lincoln's first message to congress, july 4, 1861. Congress assembled July 4th, 1861 and President Lincoln de- livered his first message. He said, "It is thus seen that the assault upon and reduction of Fort Sumter was in no sense a matter of self-defense on the part of the assailants. They well knew that the garrison in the fort could by no possibility commit aggression upon them. They knew — they were expressly notified — that the giving of bread to the few brave and hungry men of the garrison was all which Abraham Lincoln 83 would on that occasion be attempted, unless themselves, by re- sisting so much, should provoke more. They knew that this government desired to keep the garrison in the fort, not to assail them, but merely to maintain visible possession, and thus to preserve the Union from actual and immediate dissolution, trusting, as hereinbefore stated, to time, discussion, and the ballot-box, for final adjustment; and they assailed and reduced the fort for precisely the reverse object, — to drive out the visible authority of the Federal Union, and thus force it to immediate dissolution. * * * That this was their object the Executive well understood ; and having said to them in the inaugural address, "You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors", he took pains not only to keep this declaration good, but also to keep the case so free from the power of ingenious sophistry that the world should not be able to misunderstand it. * * * "By the affair at Fort Sumter, with its surrounding circum- stances, that point was reached. Then and thereby the assail- ants of the government began the conflict of arms, without a p-un in sight, or in expectancy to return their fire, save only the few in the fort sent to that harbour years before for their own protection, and still ready to give that protection in whatever was lawful. In this act, discarding all else, they have forced upon the country the distinct issue, 'immediate dissolution or blood/ " "And this issue embraces more than the fate of the 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 domestice foes. It presents the question whether discontented individuals, too few in number to control administration, according to organic law, in any case, can always, upon the pretences made in this case, or any other pre- tences, or arbitrarily without any pretence, break up their govern- ment, 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 ?' " NEED OF PREPAREDNESS. This precedent enunciated and enforced by Abraham Lincoln, should now be regarded as a fundamental principle of our govern- ment for all time, and if necessary, adhered to in any future, similar emergency. The character of a government, whether 84 Abraham Lincoln democratic or monarchical, should not interfere with its effective- ness and power. A republic should enforce authority and obedience equally as vigorously as a monarchy. Lincoln showed his wisdom and capacity to rule in the great crisis when the states revolted against the government, in stand- ing firm against all opposition from without and from within, and enforcing the supreme law of the land, which was embodied in the constitution. The need of some provision in the United States for an army in case of emergency was seriously manifested during the crisis of the civil war. If a large standing army could not be main- tained, this country should follow the example of Switzerland, and drill all able bodied men so that they could be called upon to defend the nation, if required. All students in public schools and colleges should be thoroughly trained in military tactics, and perhaps put into actual service for a time, so as to fit them for duties, if necessary. Had the United States followed this system previous to 1861, it would have been better prepared to meet the forces that were arrayed against the Union. A powerful navy should be maintained in the Atlantic and Pacific, and naval academies should be established under central government control on the western and eastern coasts of the United States. Submarines and aeroplanes, etc., should be built and ammunition bountifully supplied so as to be always prepared for contingencies. When first threatened by the southern rebels, Lincoln called for 75,000 men, though he had not, under the Constitution, the right to do so; but congress, as soon as it met, immediately rati- fied this act. Later he was voted $500,000,000 for carrying on the war, and authorized to raise an army of 500,000 men. He was Commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy as well as being President of the United States. O. N. Stoddard, one of his historians, and also one of his secretaries, said, "He was, for the time being, an absolute dictator, and was not in any way under the control of any other power in the government. He was a sort of revolutionary dictator. He was ready and willing to use all power given to him by an unwritten commission, to see to it that the commonwealth suffered no harm from its enemies. He was president of the entire country — South as well as North. The power to set aside written law was inherent in the dictator- ship, but could come even to the dictator only from the hands of necessity and to the safety of the commonwealth." The great majority of its members were willing that the Presi- dent assume the power of dictator, while the republic was strug- gling for life. This he practically did, and congress was willing Abraham Lincoln 85 to place in his hands all the dictatorial powers that it was possible to give him. But with all this power given to him, he was no tyrant in any respect, and he used it only for the preservation of the Union. Even the enemies of his country when captured, were treated humanely, unlike those imprisoned by the slaveholders of the South, who had been educated in a school of oppression and slav- ery. To meet and check the influence of such men as C. L. Val- landigham, who were aiding the South while living in the North, he even suspended the writ of habeas corpus. He sent the cul- prit, when convicted, out of Ohio into the southern states where the friends whose cause he was advocating lived. Had Vallandigham, who was in the House of Representatives in i860, lived in the South, advocated the cause of the Union and talked against the South, as he did against the North, he would have been shot, or imprisoned by the Confederate leader. Lincoln was opposed to a system of retaliation, and when the South threatened to shoot Union negro soldiers taken prisoners, there was no retaliatory action taken by the North. The draft was opposed in New York and Governor Seymour requested Mr. Lincoln to suspend the draft, which he refused to do. A riot occurred in New York, the Tribune Office was at- tacked and the colored orphan asylum was burned. Colonel O'Brien and others were murdered by the rioters. Lincoln, with his simple honesty and straight-forwardness, and Grant with his faithfulness to duty and his entire lack of creative imagination and with his happy development of sound common sense, represent the liberal element of the middle and working classes; while Seymour, with his smooth and well-bred insidiousness, characterizes the aristocratical elements of the coun- try, furnished with the thinnest guise of liberalism. Seymour occupied the position of a bitter hater of the Republican party with regard to the war, but he always knew how to subject his hatred to a cool political judgment. In every stage of the great contest he put on the mask best suited to the momentary state of affairs. After having recom- mended in the first months of 1861 simple submission of the North to the South, the adoption of the Constitution of the Con- federacy and the elevation of slavery to a National institution, he attacked the Republican party at the end of the same year, and also in 1862, for conducting the War without sufficient energy and in too weak a manner. In 1863, when Lee invaded Pennsyl- vania, he tried to convince the North that it was entirely defeated and must accept the conditions which the victorious South would dictate. 86 Abraham Lincoln Vallandigham made a speech at Mt. Vernon, Ohio, against "King" Lincoln, and urged the people to "hurl the tyrant from the throne." At the same time a New York paper was sup- pressed for one day for inciting disloyalty. Lincoln ordered the suspension of the habeas corpus. General Burnside's Order Number 38, announced April 13th, 1863, was as follows: "All persons found within our lines, who commit acts for the benefit of the enemies of our country, will be tried and if convicted, will suffer death." He also stated that : "The habit of declaring sympathy for the enemy, was not to be allowed in the Department of the Ohio. It must be distinctly understood that treason, expressed or im- plied, will not be tolerated in this department." Clement L. Vallandigham, formerly member of Congress from Ohio, i860 became liable to the provision of the order and was arrested on account of disloyal and so-called copperhead speeches. He was tried by a military commission and finally convicted of publicly expressing his sympathy for those in arms against the government of the United States, in violation of Order Number 38. He was sentenced to close confinement in some fortress of the United States. On an application for a writ of habeas cor- pus, Judge Humphrey H. Leavitt refused to give it. When the President, as well as Burnside, was attacked by the newspapers of the North, the President wrote to Burnside in answer to a letter from him, tendering his resignation, if he had overstepped his authority, as follows : — "The President directs that without delay you send C. L. Val- landigham with secure guard to the headquarters of Gen. Rose- crans, to be put by him beyond our military lines, and in case of his return within our lines, he be arrested and kept in close custody for the term specified in his sentence." (McPherson's History of the Rebellion, page 162.) He went through the South and was treated civilly, but with great caution by the leaders of the rebellion and finally sailed from Bermuda on the 22nd of June, 1863 and arrived at Halifax on July 5th and then stopped at Windsor, Canada. At this time I was studying at Michigan University in Ann Arbor in the law department, and was told about the banishment of Vallandigham. One day a number of Union boys, including myself, took it into our heads to go over to Windsor and call upon Vallandigham. W T e met him at his hotel, and he was very glad to see us, taking us for sympathizers. He told us his troubles and denounced the action of the President. We did what we could to cheer him up, and then bade him good-bye. Abraham Lincoln 87 LINCOLN STANDS BY THE CONSTITUTION AND THE LAW. Mr. Lincoln said (May 1861) : "For my part, I consider the first necessity that is upon us, is of providing that a popular government is not an absurdity. We must settle this question now, whether in a free government the minority have the right to break it up whenever they please. If we fail, it will go far to prove the incapacity of the people to govern themselves. There may be one consideration used in stay of such final judgment, but that is not for us to use in advance. That is, there exists in our case a vast and far-reaching disturbing element, which the history of no other free nation will probably ever present. That, how- ever, is not for us to say at present. Taking the government as we have found it, we will see if the majority can preserve it." Messrs. Nicolay and Hay state, in their history of Abraham Lincoln, published by the Century Company, that: "Had Lincoln been a careless, reckless man, it is difficult to imagine the dam- age he might have done, or the risk and excess he might have suffered the Government to run into under such conditions as existed at the commencement of the Civil War. In such a whirl Lincoln's steady common sense and caution were a rock of safety for the Nation." "Already at this period (the commencement of his adminis- tration), Lincoln began the display of that rare ability in adminis- tration, which enabled him to smooth mountains of obstacles and bridge rivers of difficulty in his control of men." Lincoln was devoted to the cause of freedom and a democratic form of government or representative republic, and he felt it his duty to the world to maintain the Constitution in its integrity and the Union in its entirety as an example of a model govern- ment for all nations to recognize and copy. ** <*."* Abraham Lincoln 89 CHAPTER VIII. GENERAL GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN AND GENERAL U. S. GRANT. October ist, 1862, President Lincoln visited the army to see for himself if it was in good condition to pursue General Lee in- to Virginia. General McClellan says in his general report : "His excellency the President honored the army of the Potomac with a visit and remained several days, during which he went through the differ- ent encampments reviewing the troops, and also went over the battle-field of South Mountain and Antietam. I had the oppor- tunity during the visit to describe to him the operation of the army since it left Washington and gave him my reason for not following the enemy after he crossed the Potomac." In McClellan's own story, he says : "The President more than once assured me that he was fully satisfied with my whole course from the beginning ; that the only fault that he could pos- sibly find was that I was too prone to be sure that everything was ready before action, but that my actions were all right when I started. I said to him that I thought a few experiments with those who acted before they were ready would probably convince him that in the end I consumed less time than they did." After the President's return to Washington, October 5th, General Halleck telegraphed to McClellan under date October 6th. "The President directs that you cross the Potomac and give battle to the enemy or drive him south," etc. (The battle of Antietam, by Jacob D. Cox, Major-General U. S. V., Vol. II.) General McClellan was much censured for his inactivity and for not moving more rapidly against the rebel army, but one thing he accomplished which was of great advantage to the Union and that was that he systematized and drilled the great army of the Potomac which Grant and others used in finally conquering the southern army. By placing General Grant in command of the military divi- sion of the Mississippi which was composed of the departments of the Ohio, the Cumberland, and the Tennessee, superseding Rosecrans with General Thomas, the great victory at Chatta- nooga, November, 1863, under the immediate direction of Gen- eral Grant, assisted by Generals Sheridan, Hooker, Sherman, 90 Abraham Lincoln Thomas, and others, was assured. When the president was so fortunate as to have General Grant and General Sherman to carry on the great campaign of the war, success seemed to favor the Union army, and there was not the delay, uncertainty, and lack of co-operation with the war department as had generally oc- curred when McClellan and some other generals were in com- mand. Letter to General Grant July 13, 1863 : — MY DEAR GENERAL '. I do not remember that you and I ever met personally. I write this now as a grateful acknowledgment for the almost in- estimable service you have done the country. I wish to say a word further. When you first reached the vicinity of Vicks- burg, I thought you should do what you finally did, — march the troops across the neck, run the batteries with the transports and then 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 Fort Gibson, Grand Gulf, and vicinity, I thought you should go down the river and join General Banks, and when you turned north- ward, east of the Big Black, I feared it was a mistake. I now wish to make the personal acknowledgment that you were right and I was wrong. Yours truly, A. Lincoln. After Burnside took possession of Knoxville and repulsed Longstreet, and Chattanooga was captured and the Union flag floated from these places to the Cumberland Gap, the president sent the following dispatch to General Grant, "Understanding that your lodgment at Chattanooga and Knoxville is now secure, I wish to tell you and all under your command of my more than thanks, my profoundest gratitude for the skill, courage, and per- severance with which you and they, through so great difficulties, have effected that important object. God bless you all." General Grant said in his reply, "From my first entrance into the volunteer service of my country to the present day, I have never had cause of complaint — Indeed since the promotion which placed me in command of all the armies, and in view of the great responsibilities and the importance of success, I have been astonished at the readiness with which everything asked for has been yielded without ah explanation being asked." Abraham Lincoln 91 At times the President became very much discouraged at the inaction or injudicious orders of his generals. As an instance of this, was his disappointment when General Meade permitted General Lee to cross the Potomac with his army in retreat after the Battle of Gettysburg. Nicolay and Hay say: "The 1 2th and 13th July, 1863, had been passed by the Presi- dent in intense anxiety, and when on the 14th he heard of Lee's escape he suffered one of the deepest and bitterest disappoint- ments of the War. 'We had them within our grasp/ he said. 'We had only to stretch forth our hands and they were ours, and nothing I could say or do could make the army move.' He had been most unfavorably impressed by a phrase in Meade's gen- eral order after the victory, in which he spoke of 'driving the in- vader from our soil.' This is a dreadful reminiscence of McClel- lan: it is the same spirit that moved him to claim a great vic- tory because Pennsylvania and Maryland were safe, he said, "Will our generals never get that idea out of their heads? The whole country is our soil." He regretted that he had not himself gone to the army and personally issued the order for an attack. "Still," he said "I am very grateful to Meade for the great ser- vice he did at Gettysburg." In Lincoln's correspondence with the generals, General T. W. Sherman said "he shows his remarkable correctness of military views." General W. T. Smith said, "I have long held to the opin- ion that at the close of the war Mr. Lincoln was the superior of his generals, in comprehension of the effect of strategic move- ments and the proper method of following up victories to their legitimate conclusions." It will be interesting to read Lincoln's letter to George B. Mc- Clellan, February 3, 1862, and his proclamation revoking General Hunter's order setting the slaves free without authority, written May 18, 1862. When Lincoln finally issued the Emancipation Proclamation it was not done in a spirit of retaliation, but strictly as a war measure, to facilitate the termination of a bitter struggle to maintain liberty and union for the good of humanity. Although at times even General Grant was attacked by some of the most loyal newspapers and accused of incapacity while members of the cabinet wished to have him superseded by General Sherman or Rosecrans, Lincoln in spite of these attacks to de- stroy his confidence in the great western general, as stated by his historians, stood stoutly by him, saying he should have his chance, and answering the over-zealous people who accused him of intemperance by the famous mot,"If I knew what brand of whiskey he drinks, I would send a barrel of the same sort to 92 Abraham Lincoln some other generals." This was during the campaign of the Bayous, April, 1863. Unlike many rulers holding the exalted position occupied by President Lincoln, who was not only president, but Commander- in-chief of the Army and Navy of the United States with vast discretionary powers vested in him, he was always kind, con- siderate and magnanimous in his treatment and correspondence with his generals, but he was also firm and in a measure insistent upon what he considered the wisest course to pursue. When he had confidence in a commanding officer, he was careful not to interfere with his plans of operation, as the following letter to General Grant illustrates: — LETTER FROM LINCOLN TO GRANT, APRIL 30TH, 1 864. "Not expecting to see you again before the spring campaign opens I wish to express in this way, my entire satisfaction with what you have done up to this time, so far as I understand it. The particulars of your plans I neither know nor seek to know. You are vigilant and self-reliant; and pleased with this, I wish not to intrude any constraint nor restraint upon you. While I am very anxious that any disaster or capture of our men in great numbers shall be avoided, I know these points are less likely to escape your detection than they would be mine. If there is anything wanting which is within my power to give, do not fail to let me know it. And now, with a brave army and a just cause, may God sustain you." There were few men occupying positions of authority at this critical period who could have been intrusted with the almost despotic and discretionary power vested in presidents, who would have exercised this power with as much forbearance and wisdom as did the patient and considerate man ordained to fill the re- sponsible position of the executive of this great nation in such a crisis. The following letter addressed to Secretary Stanton March 1st, 1864, will illustrate the fine sense of justice and human sym- pathy which, amid all his trials and responsibilities, Mr. Lincoln never neglected to carry out himself, or see that those subject to his control also enforced. "my dear sir : — A poor widow, by the name of Baird, has a son in the army, that for some offense has been sent to serve a long time without pay, or at most, with very little pay. I do not like this punish- ment of withholding pay — it falls so very hard upon poor fam- Abraham Lincoln 93 ilies. After he had been serving in this way for several months, at the tearful appeal of the poor mother, I made a direction that he be allowed to enlist a new term, on the same condition as others. She now comes and says she cannot get it acted upon. Please do it." A. LINCOLN. note to secretary stanton; washington, november ii, 1863. "dear sir: I personally wish Jacob Freese of New Jersey, to be appoint- ed colonel of a colored regiment, and this regardless of whether he can or cannot tell the exact shade of Julius Caesar's hair." a. l. LETTER TO THE MOTHER OF FIVE HERO SONS. A remarkable letter written by the President to a mother who lost five sons in Civil War. Executive Mansion, Washington, November 21, 1864. To Mrs. Bixby, Boston Mass. Dear Madam: I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachu- setts that you are the mother of five sons, who have died glori- ously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom. Yours very sincerely and respectfully, A. LINCOLN. 94 Abraham Lincoln A LINCOLN STORY. It appears that during Mr. Lincoln's term at the White House, Mr. Cross was painting his portrait, calling at the Executive Mansion several times a week for this purpose. Mr. Cross had secured the friendship and notice of Mr. Lincoln, owing to hav- ing rescued the President a number of years before while crossing a river, the row-boat having capsized. On this particular morning, when Mr. Cross was hurrying across the City of Washington to keep his appointment, he ran across an elderly lady who stopped the painter and asked him if he could direct her to the Executive Mansion. Mr. Cross said that he, himself, was going there, and would be glad to direct her, and asked "What takes you there, Mother?" She said "I want to see the President about my boy, who is going to be shot as a deserter tomorrow morning." Having reached the White House, Mr. Cross was greeted by the President, who met him at the door in a sort of a lounging robe, which had a big rent in it. Mr. Cross told the President the mission of the old lady, and Lincoln, out of the goodness of his heart, asked her to re- peat her story. He said "Tell me, Mother, all about it." She replied "My boy is a good boy, there is nothing bad about him; I guess he had gotten homesick and wanted to see his mother again, and so he came up North; he is a good boy, Mr. Presi- dent, and I don't want him shot." Mr. Lincoln said "Just a minute," and looking off into space he thought for some time, and then said "Mother, you may have your boy," and thereupon he dispatched a message ordering the release of the young man. The President put off his sitting for his portrait for Mr. Cross that morning, and said "Mr. Cross, take this dear old lady and put her up, — see that she is housed and fed, and when her son gets back to her I want to hear further of his case." A letter written by the president Sept. 28, 1862 and recently published. It was given to the Press by Mr. John Maynard Harmon on Feb. 3, 1916. Strictly private.' Hon. Hanibal Hamlin, my dear sir : Executive Mansion, Washington, Sept. 28, 1862. Your kind letter of the 25th is just received. It is known to some that while I hope something from the proclamation, my expectations are not so sanguine as are those of some friends. Abraham Lincoln 95 The time for its effect Southward has not come; but North- ward — the effect should be instantaneous. It is six days old, and while commendation in newspapers and by distinguished individuals, is all that a vain man could wish, the stocks have declined, and troops come forward more slowly than ever. This, looked soberly in the face, is not very satisfactory. We have fewer troops in the field at the end of the six days than we had at the beginning — the attrition among the old, outnumbering the addition by the new. The North responds to the proclama- tion sufficiently IN BREATH; but breath alone kills no rebels. I wish I could write more cheerfully; nor do I thank you the less for the kindness of your letter. Yours very truly, a. LINCOLN. Abraham Lincoln 97 CHAPTER IX. SETTLEMENT OF TRENT EPISODE. "The Trent affair also shows the control Lincoln maintained over events that were suddenly flung upon him to be met; its early settlement showed the wisdom of the president and his cabinet. Through their deliberations and foresight, the cordial relations were maintained as far as possible which had hereto- fore existed between England and the United States." Henry C. Whitney, in his "Life on the Circuit with Lincoln," (Estes & Lauriat, Boston, gives a clear and truthful description of Lin- coln in his earlier efforts while on the circuit in Illinois. D. MacNeill Fairfax, Rear-Admiral U. S. N., executive officer of the San Jacinto, of which Captain John Wilkes was com- mander, made the following statement in "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War," Vol. II. "At Cienfugos, he, Captain Wilkes, learned that Messrs. Mason and Slidell, Confederate Commissioners to Europe, had reached that port, en route to England. We ascertained that their plan was to leave on the 7th of November in the English steamer Trent, for St. Thomas, on their way to England, and readily calculated when and where in the Bahama Channel we might intercept them. * * * After boarding the Trent, I asked Captain Moir, if I might see the passenger list, saying I had in- formation that Messrs. Mason and Slidell were on board." "The mention of Mr. Slidell's name caused that gentleman to come up and say, 'I am Mr. Slidell; do you want to see me?' Mr. Mason, whom I knew well, also came up at the same time. * * * I informed Captain Moir that I had been sent by my Commander to arrest Mr. Mason and Mr. Slidell." A full ac- count of this affair is given in the second volume of "The An- nals of the War." Mr. John Mason and Mr. James M. Slidell, Confederate Commissioners to Great Britain and France, were taken on board the United States screw sloop of war San Ja- cinto, to Fort Monroe, and afterwards to New York and Boston. A preemptory demand was made by England for their release. The Commissioners were subsequently released without unneces- sary delay by the order of the president after conference with Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State. 98 Abraham Lincoln It was the 16th of November when news of the incident, afterwards known as the Trent affair, reached Washington. "The capture of the Confederate Commissioners on the high seas under a neutral flag, in flagrant violation of the law of nations, a violation, brutal in its method, and useless in its re- sults, most dangerous in its consequences, was hailed by public opinion as a splendid victory for the stars and stripes." "Two men in Washington comprehended from the first the danger to their country of the inconsiderate act of Wilkes. These were Seward and McClellan, the former burdened with an im- mense responsibility, patriotically dissimulated his opinion with extraordinary finesse; he permitted the excitement to spend it- self, and, thanks to the slowness of communication with England, gained time enough to extricate his government at the critical juncture, by enveloping the decision he had succeeded in ex- torting from 'the powers that be' in a specious web of plausi- bilities, calculated to sweeten the bitterness caused at home by England's exactions, and at the same time to satisfy her just demands." "He succeeded in sparing his country and the world the hor- rors of a war, the result of which could hardly be imagined." (Philippe, Count de Paris, Aid-de-Camp to Gen. McClellan). The president disavowed the actions of Captain Wilkes as the arrests were made without authority, and gave up Mason and Slidell, in accordance with the principle on which the War of 1812 was fought, to maintain, namely, the denial of the right to search neutral vessels. Mason and Slidell, who were taken from the Trent in a British vessel, by Capt. Wilkes, November 8, 1862, were sur- rendered on the demand of England, after considerable negotia- tions with England. By acknowledging the right of England in this case, it settled the contention maintained during the War of 1 812 by the United States, which was the cause of that war. Thus England tacitly admitted, or took the position in this case, that foreign nations had no right to search the vessels of another power to obtain possession of their subjects. THE TREATY OF GHENT. The original instructions of President Madison were to insist on the abolition of the forcible impressment at sea as a sine qua non of peace. Later Secretary of State Monroe instructed the commissioners to omit- any stipulation upon the subject of im- pressment if found indispensably necessary to terminate the war. Abraham Lincoln 99 Henry Clay, one of the commissioners, said, "it was a dam- nably bad treaty, and I don't know whether I would stand it or not/' But it was signed. Lincoln's desire for reconciliation. To show the spirit of reconciliation on the part of Lincoln, which also began to prevail among the officers controlling the army, it is in point to state the opinion which was expressed by the Confederate general, Joseph E. Johnson, at the time of his surrender: "United States troops that remained in the south- ern states on military duty, conducted themselves as if they thought that the object of the war had been the restoration of the Union. They treated the people of these states as they would have treated those of Ohio or New York, if stationed among them, as their fellow citizens." The mind of Lincoln must be studied separately, distinctly, and without bias, on account of his early inferior environments. As a matter of fact, the location and surroundings of one's birth have nothing to do with the genius or ability of a person. Trace the ancestry of the most prominent royal families, great statesmen, scholars, generals and scientists, and you will find humble and obscure beginnings. The mind is, as it were, an in- dependent entity, disassociated with material accompaniments. So, in studying Lincoln, one must analyze his thoughts, his prominent mental features and his predominating principles, and forget where he was born or how he was originally pro- vided with goods. His mind could grasp and did grasp with equal, if not superior clearness, strength, and rapidity, all the great principles underlying our system of government, as did the mind of Webster, or Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Mon- roe, or statesmen of his day like W. H. Seward, Lyman Trum- bull, David Davis, or Stephen A. Douglas, all of whom had been favored with more educational advantages than Lincoln. His mind was irrepressible, and constantly alive to all great ques- tions of the day and hour. His mind broke through his ma- terial and at first obscure surroundings like the rays of the sun through the mists about the earth, or the flash of lightning through the clouds in the sky. After the victory at Gettysburg, he expressed a desire that in the customary celebrations of the Fourth of July, it should be acknowledged that, "He whose will, not ours, should every- where be done, be everywhere reverenced with profoundest grati- tude." 100 Abraham Lincoln THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION. On the 15th of July, 1863, Mr. Lincoln issued a proclamation naming the sixth of August "as a day of Thanksgiving and prayer, to render the homage due to the Divine Majesty for the wonder- ful things He has done in the nation's behalf: and invoke the influence of His Holy Spirit to subdue the anger which has 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 vicissitudes of the 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 repentence and submission to the Divine Will, back to the perfect enjoy- ment of a Union and fraternal peace." On the 15th of November, 1862, Lincoln issued the following letter: "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 sentiments 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 meas- ure of strict necessity. The discipline and character of the national forces should not suffer, nor the cause they defend be imperiled, by the profanation of the day, or the name of the Most High." (Stoddard's, "Life of Lincoln.") ADDRESS AT THE DEDICATION OF THE NATIONAL CEMETERY AT GETTYSBURG. NOVEMBER I9TH, 1863. "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon 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 this nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. "But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot conse- crate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our power to add or detract. The world will little note nor Abraham Lincoln 101 long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honoured dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly re- solve 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, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth." This speech is considered one of the masterpieces of English \ literature, and so will be handed down to future generations of f Americans. / LORD CURZON HONORS LINCOLN. Lord Curzon of Kedleston, chancellor of Oxford university, \ delivering the Rhodes lecture on "Parliamentary Eloquence," tonight said he would escape the task of deciding which was the | masterpiece of modern British eloquence by awarding the prize / to the American, Abraham Lincoln. PROCLAMATION. The following proclamation was issued by President Lincoln: "Reliable information being received that the insurgent force is retreating from East Tennessee, under circumstances render- ing it probable that the Union forces cannot be hereafter dis- lodged from that important position, and entertaining this to be of high national consequence, I recommend that all loyal people do, on receipt of this information, assemble at their places of worship, and render special homage and gratitude to Almighty God, for this great advancement of the national cause." The following was repeated by Lincoln at one of the crisis of the war : "God hath spoken once ; twice have I heard this ; that power belongeth unto God." Psalm 62-11. Lincoln's faith in god. "God hath spoken once ; twice have I heard him ; that power belongeth unto God." Psalm 62-11. In his inaugural address March 4th, 1861, Lincoln said : "In- 102 Abraham Lincoln telligence, patriotism, Christianity and a firm reliance on Him, who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust in the best way all our present difficulties. If the Almighty ruler of nations, with His eternal truth and justice, be on our side, the North, or on yours, the South, that truth and justice will surely prevail by the judgment of the Great Tribunal of the American people." September, 1862, Lincoln wrote thus : "The will of God prevails in great tests ; each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. In the present civil war, it is quite possible that God's purpose is something different from the purpose of either party ; and yet the human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best adaptions to effect His purpose. I am almost ready to say that this is probably true: that God wills this contest and wills that it will not end yet. By His mere great power on the minds of the now con- testants, he could have either saved or destroyed the Union with- out a human contest, yet the contest began, and having begun, He could give the final victory to either side any day, yet the contest proceeds." W. O. Stoddard, one of Lincoln's historians, says : "This man who could not lie and did not know how to be a hypocrite, publicly and before the world declared his simple faith both then and afterwards ; so doing he continually called upon his countrymen to join him in acts of repentance, forgiveness, prayer, thanksgiving, hope, trust; reassuring them in God's name when their hearts sank and their own flesh failed." While at Richmond the president said that the terms of sur- render should be liberal. "Get them to plowing once," he said, in Admiral Porter's presence, "and gathering their little crops and eating popcorn at their fireside, and you can't get them to shoulder muskets again for half a century." "They will never shoulder their muskets again in anger, and if General Grant is wise, he will leave them their guns to shoot their own crows, and their horses to plow with. It will do them no harm." He advised to let them down easy. PROCLAMATION FOR A NATIONAL FAST DAY, AUGUST l86l. "Whereas, it is fit and becoming in all peoples, at all times, to acknowledge and revere the Supreme Government of God; to bow in humble submission to His chastisement ; to confess and deplore their sins and transgressions, in the full conviction that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and to pray Abraham Lincoln 103 with all fervency and contrition for the pardon of their past of- fenses, and for a blessing upon their present and prospective action : "And whereas, when our beloved country, once, by the bless- ing of God, united prosperous and happy; is now afflicted with faction and civil war, it is peculiarly fit for us to recognize the hand of God in this terrible visitation, and in sorrowful remem- brance of our own faults and crimes as a nation and as individuals, to humble ourselves before Him, and to pray for His mercy — to pray that we may be spared further punishment, though most fully deserved; that our arms may be blessed and made effectual for the re-establishment of law, order and peace throughout the wide extent of our country; and that the inestimable boon of civil and religious liberty earned His guidance and blessing by the labors and sufferings of our fathers, may be restored in all its original excellence." Some gentlemen from the West called at the White House one day, excited and troubled about some commission or omission of the administration. The president heard them silently and then replied : "Gentlemen, suppose all the property you were worth was in gold, and you had put it in the hands of Blondin, to carry across the Niagara river on a rope, would you shake the cable, or keep shouting at him, 'Blondin, stand up a little straighter — Blondin, stoop a little more — go a little faster — lean a little to the north — lean a little to the south?" "No, you would hold your breath as well as your tongue, and keep your hands off until he was safely over. The govern- ment is carrying an enormous weight, untold treasures are in its hands; they are doing the very best they can. Don't badger them. Keep silence and we will get you safely across." (Tarbell's Life of Lincoln.) LINCOLN BELIEVES IN PRAYER. Mr. W. O. Stoddard, in his "Life of Abraham Lincoln," says : "On the morning of the funeral of Willie, he said of the prayers offered for him by the good people all over the land, 'I am glad to hear that. I want them to pray for me. I need their prayers.' " After the terrible and sanguinary battles of Shiloh and Cor- inth, Mr. Lincoln issued a proclamation for that and all other victories, asking the people to render thanks to our Heavenly Father for these inestimable blessings, and to implore spiritual 104 Abraham Lincoln consolation on behalf of all those who have been brought into affliction by the casualties and calamities of Civil War. Mr. Lincoln said, "I have never had a feeling, politically, that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Dec- laration of Independence." — "I have often inquired of myself, what great principle or idea it was that kept this confederacy so long together." It was not the mere matter of the separa- tion of the colonies from the mother land, but that sentiment in the Declaration of Independence which gave liberty not alone to the people of this country, but hope to all the world, for all future time. Now, my friends, can this country be saved on that basis? If it can, I will consider myself one of the happiest men in the world, if I can help to save it. If it cannot be saved upon that principle, it will be truly awful, but if this country cannot be saved without giving up that principle, I was about to say, I would rather be assassinated on this spot, than surrender it." the: question of slavery. Those who protested against the tyranny of Great Britain and advocated freedom in the early history of the constitution, turned about and immediately undertook to keep in bondage other men in open defiance of the principles of liberty which they advocated in the Declaration of Independence. Abraham Lincoln said that : "He who would be no slave, must consent to have no slaves. Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves ; and, under a just God cannot long retain it." (From letter to a Boston Committee 1859). It took a long time for the punishment of the crime for keep- ing a certain race of men in bondage to react and overtake those who had inherited, or subsequently became possessed of slaves. But when it did come, it surely came with a vengeance, and not only affected them, but the entire nation which had tolerated slavery. The southern slave-holders would have built up a despotic empire in the western hemisphere with slavery as its corner stone. They would have reversed the world's progress, and retarded civ- ilization by returning to the barbarism of the Dark Ages. That, too, at a time when all civilized nations, with the exception of Brazil, had abandoned the system of slavery. It is to be re- membered that Russia liberated the serfs in the year 1861. Although Lincoln was given at the time almost autocratic power for the time-being, he did not abuse it, or use it wrong- fully. This could not be said of the leaders of the Rebellion Abraham Lincoln 105 who immediately created autocratic power over the new South- ern Confederacy. It has been stated by those opposed to giving negroes the right to vote that : "you cannot build in a democracy a nation inside a nation of two antagonistic races. The future American must be either an Anglo-Saxon or a mulatto." The negro race was emancipated in 1862, and given the right of suffrage, and I am safe in saying that there have not been as many mulattoes born since this date as were born when they were under the power of slave masters. The law of natural selection, where men and women are free to choose, will regulate the mar- riage question without any law as to amalgamation. It is only force and interference that destroys this natural law. SOME DEFECTS IN WEST POINT TRAINING. Abraham Lincoln struggled alone, without any outside assist- ance, to fit himself for future usefulness, and to master the knowl- edge that would enable him to maintain the integrity of the Union and the Constitution of the United States, which Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee were to attempt to destroy, after they had been thoroughly educated at West Point, at the expense of the United States government. It is evident from the well-known character and patriotic dem- ocratic and loyal principles adhered to by Abraham Lincoln throughout his useful and eventful career, that he was not trained at West Point in his early manhood, like Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee, Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, Simon Bolivar Buckner, Geo. B. McClellan, and Joseph Hunter. It is stated that the latter once told a friend of Salmon P. Chase, that "Abraham Lincoln was a man irresolute, but of honest inten- tions ; born a poor white in a slave state, and among aristocrats ; kind in spirit and not envious, but anxious for the approval of those especially whom he has been accustomed to look up to, hence solicitous of the support of the slave holders in the border states, and unwilling to offend them; without the large mind necessary to grasp great questions, uncertain of himself, and in many things ready to lean too much on others." Secretary of State Chase wrote in his diary of Gen. Hunter, that "he was a well read and extremely intelligent gentleman." In this connection it will be interesting to read Lincoln's proclamation revoking Hunter's order freeing slaves, May 16, 1862. In a letter to Hon. John Sherman on Sept. 20, 1862, Secretary Chase says : "Speaking of the West, I am reminded that within the last few days I heard an officer say that he heard your brother 106 Abraham Lincoln the General, abuse you roundly at Corinth, as one of the abo- litionists who had brought on this war, saying that he was ashamed to own you for a brother. Is it possible that the pro- slavery views of West Point can have affected him in this way? I hear from all sources that nearly all of the officers in Buell's army, and Buell himself, are pro-slavery to the last degree." Abraham Lincoln, with the knowledge he gained by personal effort, through studying the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the history of its formation, the Federalist, the History of the Revolution and his legal text books, was better qualified mentally and morally to loyally administer the affairs of our representative Republic in accordance with the Constitution, than either Jefferson Davis or Robert E. Lee, with their four years of military training at West Point, under the direct super- vision of the United States Government, which seems to have instilled into the former, at least, a disbelief in the fundamental principles on which the Republic was founded. Each of the latter came out of West Point transformed into a full-fledged aristocrat and each maintained his aristocratic bearing to the end. It may truthfully be added that George B. McClellan and John C. Fre- mont were also affected in a similar manner, unlike General U. S. Grant, who maintained his democratic bearing to the end. MUCH COLLEGE TRAINING UNDEMOCRATIC. West Point is not the only institution of learning subject to criticism. Students now attending lectures in some of our great universities are taught to look upon the Declaration of Independ- ence as a compilation of glittering generalities not to be taken seriously or literally. Mr. Harold Bolce, who attended lectures in many universities, in the Cosmopolitan Magazine, says: "Professor Sumner of Yale has little respect for the great principles of 1776; conspicuous among these historical delusions of colonial times is the doctrine that proclaims that governments get their just powers from the consent of the governed. He claims that this is untrue, that it has been trodden under foot, and it will meet the same fate as the rest of the principles which, seen through the mist of the Revolutionary War, have seemed great to us." He says that the idea that all men are created equal is being gradually dropped for its inherent absurdity. He also says that the terms "democracy," "the people," "Wall Street," "Slave," like the Declaration of Independence, are catch words to advance the welfare of a fantastic government and society. Abraham Lincoln 107 Barrett Wendell of Harvard University tells Harvard students, "The revolution was fought to uphold a delusion and maintain the policy that all men are created equal." Mr. Bolce says that many professors teach that the Declar- ation of Independence is a delusion and the hope of equality fantastic and a menace in a government of the people. But many of them see a great future for America. Professor Sumner thinks that slavery will be reintroduced when coal resources are exhausted. He claims that steam power did away with the need of slavery. He adds that we may at any time, find it expedient to drop the jingle about "a government of the people, by the people, and for the people." When teachings like these are given in our institutions of higher education, it is plain to see that sooner or later those who are inoculated with such ideas gained in prominent univer- sities will clash with the common people unused to such disloyalty to the Declaration of Independence, and another revolution may be the result. Abraham Lincoln 109 CHAPTER X. THE WEST POINT AND ANNAPOUS ALUMNI. DEFECT IN WEST POINT STORY. "A free people ought not only to be armed but disciplined, to which end a uniform and well digested plan is requisite." — GEORGE WASHINGTON. One fact was fully demonstrated during the Civil War, viz: That an efficient army cannot be immediately formed out of private citizens without previous thorough military training, and led successfully against the enemy. It does not matter how patriotic and brave they may be. At this time the country was comparatively young, but over fifty years have been added to its experience. Now every state of a united nation should co- operate with the federal government and maintain an adequate army and navy for defensive purposes. It would be well if our congressmen and presidents when young had all been given advantages of this kind. Prominent officials in nearly all foreign nations, especially on the continent of Europe, have been given military instructions when young. If this had been the case here many of our present representa- tives would not display the ignorance they do on this subject. The presidents of Switzerland are all in accordance with the provisions of the constitution, trained soldiers, like other citzens. The rulers of all European governments are trained military men. We are not so isolated today that we can neglect our coast defenses. We are in the same position as the republic of Switzer- land, surrounded by strong military nations, with great fleets and armies, but on a much broader scale. England, Germany, Russia, France and Japan, have large standing armies and modern navies, which can singly or in conjunction with one or more nations attack our unprotected sea coasts, on the East and West, or on the North, with England's consent, or on the South by Mexico's willingness or assistance. We have no army or navy now of sufficient magnitude to protect the Panama Canal, or repel an attack, or defend our 110 Abraham Lincoln possessions on this Continent and our outlying provinces. Swit- zerland has provided for an adequate army in its constitution, which in this respect should be followed by the United States. West Point and Annapolis have in a measure, prepared in the past, a limited number of efficient military and naval officers, who have nobly done their part in meeting those emergencies which have heretofore arisen. But if we had these present training schools duplicated, we would not have had any too many officers and soldiers to meet the demands in the past and a few may have reached Congress and even the president's chair to the best in- terests of the country. In the Spanish War only about one per cent of shots fired by our war ships hit the mark, due to lack of practice. Even the signal corps was so deficient that our fleet fired on one of our ships coming from European waters. All of which shows our need of trained officers. One trained officer at the Naval Academy, commands, drills and makes perfectly drilled men of four or more hundred mid- shipmen. As with a chain letter we can see what these four or more hundred men could do with untrained men and so each year if we graduated two thousand officers, it would be no work for them to properly train thousands of men in a few weeks. The President is Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy, and if not qualified on account of his lack of experience and edu- cation in military affairs, to enable him to successfully direct the policy of the army and navy in time of war, should at least appoint an experienced General as Secretary of War and an able Admiral as Secretary of the Navy. President Lincoln, with all his natural ability and good judg- ment was not able to defeat the Confederate Army until he finally succeeded in finding in Gen. U. S. Grant, a competent acting Commander-in-Chief of the entire Union Army. Stanton, although not a military expert, was able eventually after several years of experience to act judiciously and properly as Secretary of War. Our President and Governors, state Legislatures and Con- gressmen, may study out and enact laws, draft constitutional amendments and make treaties, but all their work will be power- less without an efficient organized military force to compel com- pliance with these laws and treaties. A constitution of the United States would be like a morning mist, or a bunch of straw, and treaties like writings on the sand, "scraps of paper," were there no strong army and navy to enforce these laws and treaties if defied by a foreign or domestic foe. The respect that other nations have for our territory, our assumed Monroe doctrine, and our treaty obligations, will be Abraham Lincoln 111 ignored in this age, by other nations, if interfering with their plans, were we unable to maintain our ground by force. The war of 1812, the Mexican War, the Civil War and the Spanish War were not settled by the statesmen in Congress, who did much to bring about the Civil War, but by the trained officers in the army and navy who were trained at West Point and Ann- apolis. It was U. S. Grant at Vicksburg, who had his training at West Point, in 1843, along with his fellow alumni Gen. W. T. Sherman (1840), Gen. A. J. Smith (1838), Gen. James B. Mc- Pherson (1851), assisted by Rear- Admiral David B. Porter, who became midshipman of the navy in 1829, and Admiral Farragut, who together with other Union officers and soldiers captured the city and fortifications and opened up the Mississippi river to the Union Army. It was Gen. George B. Meade, graduate of West Point in (1835), who led the Union forces at Gettysburg, with Gen. John F. Reynolds (1841), killed at the commencement of the battle, Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock (1854), Rutherford B. Hayes, (an attorney, afterwards president), Gen. Daniel E. Sickles (an at- torney), Gen. John Sedgwick (1837), Gen. Henry W. Slocum (1852), Gen. George Sykes (1842), Gen. Oliver O. Howard (1854), Gen. Carl Schurz a noted German who came to Amer- ica in (1852) with many other Union officers and soldiers, who encountered the well trained forces of Gen. Robt. E. Lee (1829), at Gettysburg, when the great decisive battle was fought that decided the war, the Confederate army being defeated and forced back to the Potomac river. It was General George B. McClellan, a graduate of West Point (1846) who took part in the Mexican War and who later succeeded in organizing and training one of the finest armies in the United States, which was able eventually to conquer, under Grant, Sherman, and other Generals, the efficient army of Gen- eral Robert E. Lee, and finally capture Richmond, the capitol of the Southern Confederacy, and terminating the war. Oliver H. Perry received his commission as midshipman in 1796. His victory on Lake Erie, September 10, 1813, is well known. He secured a vast territory for the United States. Mat- thew Calbraith Perry became midshipman in 1809. His expedi- tion to Japan is well known, (1853) an d he opened that country to the commerce of the world. It was Admiral David G. Farragut who entered the navy at the age of nine years in 1810, under the protection of his name father, then Captain David Porter, who was appointed to the command of the Western Gulf Black Sea Squadron, and reduced the defenses guarding the approach of New Orleans, taking pos- 112 Abraham Lincoln session of that city April 29, 1862. He also subsequently took possession of the port of Mobile, August 5th, 1864. It was Samuel Francis Du Pont, appointed a midshipman in the United States Navy, December 19th, 181 5, who was given command of the South Atlantic Squadron, and captured Forts Walker and Beauregard in 1862. John Adolph Dahlgren entered the navy and passed midship- man in 1832 and was made Rear-Admiral in 1863, and was placed in charge of the South Atlantic blockading squadron. He conducted naval operations at Charleston Harbor and aided Gen- eral W. T. Sherman in his South Carolina and Georgia expedi- tions. Admiral George Dewey who graduated at Annapolis in 1858, achieved distinction and accomplished much for the United States during the Civil War and the Spanish War. He was a Lieuten- ant on the "Mississippi" and was with the West Gulf Squadron in 1862. In 1863 he was at Donaldsonville on a gunboat and at Fort Fisher in 1864 and 1865 on the "Agawam." He served two years on the Kearsarge and the Colorado and two years at the Naval Academy. In 1884 he took charge of the Dolphin in 1884 the Pensacola, in 1896 he was made commodore and in 1898 took charge of the Atlantic Squadron. In 1898 he dis- troyed the Spanish Squadron in Manila Bay. He was promoted to Rear-Admiral and in 1899 made Admiral of the United States Navy. The United States Academy at West Point was established in 1802. Many of the actors in the Mexican War, the War of 1812, and the great tragedy of the Civil War, learned their parts at West Point, in the navy, in the state legislatures and the United States congress. It was Robert E. Lee, a graduate of West Point in 1829, who with other fellow alumni, including U. S. Grant and Geo. B. McClellan, S. B. Buckner, (1840) Confederate, Joseph Hooker, graduating Thomas J. Jackson, known as Stonewall Jackson (1846), Confederate, took part in the Mexican War, Jefferson Davis, Joseph E. Johnston (1829), Confederate, took part in the Mexican War. Palmerton, Sherman, Braxton Bragg (1837), Confederate, who took part in the Mexican War of 1845 an d 1848, and through this War succeeded in adding to the terri- torial possessions of the United States, Texas, in 1845, California and New Mexico in 1848. Two of the principal generals however, who took part in this war did not study at West Point, namely Gen. Winfield Scott, who was a student at William and Mary College in 1805; and General Zachary Taylor who did not receive a college education. Abraham Lincoln 113 Nearly all the generals and other prominent officers in the rebel army were graduates of West Point. Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard (1836, Confederate), was Superin- tendent of the U. S. Military Academy of West Point when he resigned and joined the Confederate Army. General Lee was also at one time at the head of West Point. Admiral W. S. Schley (i860, midshipman), and Admiral W. T. Sampson (Annapolis, i860), took part in the Spanish War. Among others, who might be added to this list of accomplished military leaders are the following: General Nathaniel Lyon (1841), Albert Sidney Johnston (1836), Nelson A. Miles, who entered the army in 1861, George A. Custer (1861), Benjamin F. Butler (attorney), George C. Pickett (1846), James Long- street (1842), James Hooker (1857), George H. Thomas (1840), A. G. Burnside (1841), H. W. Halleck (1832), John Pope (1842), W. S. Rosecrans (1842), Philip H. Sheridan (1858), J. B. Hood (1853). General John C. Fremont was not a graduate of West Point but was a short time in navy, commander in Mis- souri, 1661, etc. Lord High Chancellor Haldane says the "Training System in the United States is far superior to that given in Great Britain f in an article printed in Sunday's Examiner of August 30th 1913. "To come over here and see the liberal manner in which Con- gress provides for the education of the Nation's military officers is enough to make the mouth of an English War Minister water." Such was his comment after he had today inspected the United States Military Academy buildings and grounds and witnessed the maneuvers of the cadet corps. He was welcomed by a salute of nineteen guns. "This visit to West Point," said Lord Hal- dane, brings me back to my old occupation. During the six and one-half years that I served as Secretary of State for War I made a study of the West Point Military Academy. I have no hesitation in telling you that the system here of training officers of all branches of the service together is far superior to our plan of specialization when the cadets enter the academies of Sand- hurst and Woolwich." WEST POINT FOR EACH STATE IS NOW PROJECTED. Washington, Jan. 14, 19 16. — The establishment of a semi-mili- tary school in each state at which a certain number of young men will be given academic and military education at the expense of the state and federal government is the subject of a series of meetings of the House Military Affairs Committee, which began today. 114 Abraham Lincoln The plan is outlined in a bill introduced by Representative Mc- Kellar of Tennessee. It is favored by Chairman Hay of the committee and it is understood the War Department will urge its passage. The purpose of the bill is to provide plenty of trained army officers. The three-year course at the schools is to be modeled on the course at West Point. The students will be chosen by the county and state school authorities, the only condition being that they agree to hold themselves subject to the call of the President to active military service for a period of seven years after gradu- ation. The government will contribute $80,000 a year to each school providing the state contributes $40,000. In addition the federal government will provide uniforms, field equipment and military instructions. WEST POINT BILL PASSED. — LAST BUT ONE OP APPROPRIATION MEASURES GIVEN O. K. BY HOUSE APTER BRIEF POLITICAL DEBATE. Washington, D. C, June 29, 1916. — The last but one of the annual supply measures, the military academy appropriation bill, carrying $1,216,761, was passed today by the house. It was made the vehicle of a brief political debate. Only the general deficiency bill remains to be considered in the house. MARVELOUS CRAPT IS BEING DEVELOPED, SAYS HEAD OP NAVY CON- SULTING BOARD. New York, July 22. — "I have reason to believe that within the next six months a giant Zeppelin will fly across the sea from Ber- lin and land in New York City," Howard E. Coffin, chairman of the naval consulting board's committee on industrial preparedness and former president of the American Engineering society, said today. "Unquestionably it was the arrival of the submarine at Balti- more that scared congress into appropriating millions for army and navy development," he declared. "The quicker the Zeppelin arrives the better, for it will scare us into more preparedness." Abraham Lincoln 115 PREDICTS GREAT AERIAL ARMY. "The $20,000,000 congress has given for aerial development is a tremendous step forward. With this encouragement we engi- neers are starting to standardize and develop aerial development in the United States. Our manufacturers are ready to pour mil- lions into the industry. "Within three years the United States will have an aerial army Europe cannot begin to equal. Within two years great passen- ger carrying airships will follow air routes all over the country. American industries can be coordinated and standardized. Eu- rope's cannot. Europe's aerial development has been neither healthy nor normal. It has been too feverish. The fact that they are fighting among themselves prevents standardization. HINTS AT MARVELOUS CRAFT. "I could take you to a field within a few minutes' ride and show you a fighting aeroplane that outstrips anything the Euro- peans have dreamed of. It has a secret automatic control, by which it can be started in the waters of Lake Michigan, skim the surface for a given number of miles, automatically rise to a given height, go a prearranged and exact distance in one or several directions, and automatically alight at a given point in Texas or elsewhere. This type of aeroplane will be developed into the self-directing aerial torpedo. "We will have dirigibles of the Zeppelin type Germany never will have. A fleet of automatically controlled aeroplanes with machine guns mounted on them and timed to begin their charge after going hundreds of miles to find the enemy without the pres- ence of a single pilot is an imminent probability. "The aerial development may mean the difference between vic- tory and defeat for us. We are getting started." Abraham Lincoln 117 CHAPTER XI PROCLAMATION OF EMANCIPATION. PROCLAMATION OF EMANCIPATION WHEN OTHER COUNTRIES ABOL- ISHED SLAVERY. MEXICAN WAR TO EXTEND SLAVERY IN SOUTH. The preliminary Proclamation of Emancipation was published September 22, 1862, three days after the withdrawal of General Lee into Virginia, and was communicated to the army officially on September 24th. The proclamation took effect Jan. 1, 1863. Although the President had practically decided upon the main features of the Proclamation, he nevertheless called several meet- ings of his cabinet, and submitted first the preliminary proclama- tion, September 22, 1862, and then the final draft of the Proc- lamation, December 30, 1862. He asked each member to write out his opinion and submit the same to him. This was done by Mr. Chase, Mr. Bates, Mr. Wells, Mr. Blair, and Mr. Seward. Messrs. Nicolay and Hay state, "In writing the Proclamation Mr. Lincoln, in substance, followed the suggestions made by the several members of the cabinet as to mere verbal improve- ments, but in regard to the two important changes which had been proposed he adhered rigidly to his own draft." British subjects were prohibited from owning slaves in Amer- ica or elsewhere. Russia and the United States were the last of the civilized nations, with the exception of Brazil, which sub- sequently followed suit, to abolish serfdom and slavery. In Lincoln's speech delivered May 19, 1856, he said: "On the second day of July 1776, a draft of the Declaration of Inde- pendence was reported to Congress by the committee, and in it the slave trade was characterized as an 'execrable commerce/ as a 'piratical warfare,' as a 'cruel war against human nature.' All agreed on this except South Carolina and Georgia, and in order to preserve harmony, and from the necessity of the case, these expressions were omitted." The people of the slave states had the same privilege as those of the free states to move into and settle in Kansas. The former could have done their own work, like the latter who did not depend upon slave labor, or could have hired other men to work for them. At that date slavery had been eliminated from nearly 118 Abraham Lincoln all of the civilized nations and was considered a relic of bar- barism. There was no customary, moral, constitutional, or nat- ural right for any set of men to insist on introducing slavery into a new state or territory because slave owners wished to move into it, any more than that they should claim a right to take their slaves into British possessions or into Mexico, if they wished to live there. Lincoln was not descended from a race of tyrants, nor were his parents slave owners. His mother had not been raised in an environment of luxury and taught to look down upon a less for- tunate neighbor; nor was his father's name linked with disloyal plots, or schemes to pervert justice and the good of his country- men, as were many of the fathers of the leaders of the rebellion. He was an industrious man and did not rely upon slave labor to support him and his family. The War of the rebellion was in one sense, and for the same purpose, a continuation of the war with Mexico, namely: the acquisition of territory for the slaveholding states. Many of the leading men of the South advocated and engaged in the latter war, including Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee, General Zach- ary Taylor, and other southerners who subsequently fought in the rebel ranks. Not satisfied with gaining area in Texas for slavery, the slave states were determined to extend their cherished insti- tution into the territories west of the Mississippi River. The op- ponents of slavery extension had insisted in Congress upon attaching the Wilmot proviso, to a bill to appropriate three mil- lion dollars in order to settle the treaty with Mexico. This proviso in the language quoted from the ordinance of 1787 pro- hibited slavery. It was voted down, however, by a vote of 102 to 97. William H. Seward said in regard to the Mexican War: "I sincerely hope that the experience of the President may instruct his successors for many years to come that war for slavery is behind the spirit of the age." It was well understood in Wash- ington that this was the object of the Mexican War, which war Abraham Lincoln, when in the House of Representatives, con- tinually opposed. Although Seward did not make Abraham Lincoln President, he used all his talent and strength in maintaining him in his endeavor to overcome the power of the South in its endeavor, not only to make permanent in the Southern States the institution of slavery, but to destroy the government itself. Abraham Lincoln 119 JEFFERSON DAVIS, AMBITION. The great ambition of Jefferson Davis who became president of the Southern Confederacy, was to form an oligarchical gov- ernment in which the people were not to be directly represented, but with its powers vested in the slave aristocracy of the South. This empire would include the immense state of Texas and large tracts of territory gained through the Mexican War, exist- ing southern states, containing land purchased by the United States from Napoleon, and as much more territory as could be forced from the United States. All traces of democracy would have been eliminated from the constitution of the Southern Confederacy and the only really free and independent citizens qualified to participate in the government would have been the privileged slave-holding class and their followers. France would have maintained its hold on Mexico and estab- lished a little monarchy, perhaps divided up into several other kingdoms. The Monroe Doctrine completely superseded, the power and supremacy of the United States would have been seriously curtailed, and the cause of liberty weakened through- out the world. During the Pierce and Buchanan administrations, the Southern leaders had full sway in the affairs of government at Washington, and they were continually plotting for one object, which was for the aggrandizement and extension of the slave power of the South. Such were John B. Floyd, Secretary of War; Howell Cobb, Secretary of the Treasury; Jacob Thompson, Secretary of the Interior; and Jefferson Davis, representing Mississippi in the United States Senate. THE NORTHERN LEADERS STOOD FOR LIBERTY AND UNION. While these men and their co-conspirators were busy plotting the over-throw of the Republic, Wm. H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edwin W. Stanton, Lyman Trumbull in Washington and Abraham Lincoln in Illinois were carefully watching them, and preparing to meet and resist their schemes. Salmon P. Chase and Wm. H. Seward, as well as Abraham Lincoln, were not afraid to show their strong opposition to the barbaric system of slavery, which had been out-grown and elimi- nated from nearly all other civilized nations. Seward and Chase both defended Van Zant, a poor farmer, who had loaned his wagon and team to some wretched negroes who were trying to escape from slavery and the boasted republic 120 Abraham Lincoln to Canada where every man was protected in his liberty. All the negroes escaped but one, and his master sued Van Zant for $1200, the value of the slave, and got a judgment. The suit was confirmed in the Supreme Court of the United States, in spite of the able arguments of Chase and Seward. This judgment Van Zant was unable to pay and it practically ruined him. Mrs. Harriet B. Stowe portrayed John Van Zant under the name of John Van Trompe in her story of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Stanton, Holt, and Dix in Buchanan's cabinet were loyal to the Union. Seward stood by the government and acted continu- ally in harmony with Lincoln even before he reached Washington. He made his famous speech in favor of the Union, January 12, 1861. He said, "Union is no more the body than liberty is the soul of the nation. The American citizen has been accustomed to believe the republic immortal. He shrinks from the sight of con- vulsions, indicative of sudden death." He said also, "I there- fore follow the example of the noble senator from Tennessee, Mr. Andrew Johnson, and avow my adherence to the Union in its integrity, and with all its parts, with my friends, with my party, with my state, with my country, or without either, as they may determine: in every event, whether of peace, or war, with every consequence of honor, or dishonor, of life, or death." Grover Cleveland, in his "Life of Alexander H. Stephens," pp. 721-723, states that when Stephens was chosen vice-president, he explained the grounds of secession ; after referring to Thomas H. Jefferson who said that: "The prevailing ideas entertained by him and most of the leading statesmen of the time of the forma- tion of the old constitution were, that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature ; that it was wrong in principle,, socially, morally, and politically" — "our government" said Stephens (The Southern Confederacy) "is founded upon ex- actly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner stone rests upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery — subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first (and he might have added, the last) in the history of the world based upon this great physical, philosophical and moral truth." OTHER NATIONS ABOUSH SLAVERY. On the 20th day of August, 1833, England abolished slavery throughout the British colonies. (3rd and 4th William IV.) and $20,000,000 was granted by Parliament as an indemnity, to Abraham Lincoln 121 the slave proprietors and other pecuniary sufferers by this act. 790,280 slaves being freed. This was accomplished without bloodshed or rebellion on the part of slave owners. If the United States had remained a British colony, this act would also have freed the slaves within their borders. The Emperor of Austria issued a decree utterly abolishing slavery throughout his dominion. "Every man," said his Majesty, "by the right of nature sanctioned by reason, must be considered a free person. Every slave becomes free the moment he treads the Austrian soil, or even an Austrian ship." This should be written in the United States Constitution. On the 18th of Sep- tember, 1829 Guerrero, as president of Mexico, issued a decree abolishing slavery forever in the Republic of Mexico. The United States, however, which claimed to be a democratic government and boasted of its liberty to the world, inviting the citizens of foreign nations to her soil in order to obtain the blessings of liberty, did not abolish slavery and the commerce in human bodies, until after a great civil war, culminating in 1865. The Proclama- tion of Emancipation, however, was issued previous to this, Jan- uary 1, 1863. On October 9, 1807, the King of Prussia decreed, from Mar- timas, 1810, ceases all serfdom in our states. There shall be only free persons." The King of Prussia permitted the peasants and burghers to buy land of the nobles which they could not have done before. The government of Brazil abolished the slave trade March 1, 1830. November, 1803, Santo Domingo changed its name to Hayti, and declared its independence and abolished slavery. One of the first acts of the first Constitutional assembly of- Guatemala was the abolition of slavery. All of the following countries agreed to the abolition of slave trade : Denmark, Aug. 1804; Portugal, Jan. 31, 1823; France, Apr. 1815; Spain, Oct. 31, 1820; The Netherlands, Aug. 14, 1814; Sweden, March 5, 1 81 3. Although the United States maintained slavery as one of the legal institutions of the country, it did agree, by the treaty of Ghent, Dec. 24, 1814, to the suppression of the slave trade. In 1861, Alexander II., emancipated nearly forty-seven million souls, amounting to four-fifths of the population of the Russian Empire. He assigned land to them which he arbitrarily took from the nobles to pay for annually or lease. The Czar paid the noble landlords for these lands and then sold them to the serfs on forty years' time. It was two years after this act of emancipation on the part of the Czar, that the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, issued the emancipation proclamation which liberated 122 Abraham Lincoln the slaves in the Republic of the United States. This was is- sued September 22, 1862. Jefferson Davis, who asserted that he was simply exercising his rights to maintain the independence of the South under the Constitution and the right to maintain slavery, retaliated against this action of the President by ordering that all those who prac- tically put into effect the decree of the proclamation of eman- cipation should be regarded as criminals and treated as such. When we compare Jefferson Davis with the Czar of Russia, it is plain to see which of the two men was the most despotic ruler at this critical period in the world's history. HOW CZAR ALEXANDER IJBERATED THE SERFS. In the History of Russia written by Alfred Rambaud, we find the following reference to the Czar's ukase liberating the serfs. Czar Alexander II., in eighteen hundred and fifty-nine, called a chief committee, composed of twelve persons, over which he presided during its first sessions. He afterwards resigned the presidency to Prince Alexis Orlof. This committee, in con- junction with some of the provincial committees, more than once opposed passive resistance to the beneficent schemes of the sov- ereign. The Emperor went through the provinces, appealing to the conciliatory spirit and devotion of his nobility, reprimanding those who hung back, and reminding them that "reforms came better from above than below." To subdue the resistance of the superior committee, he created another to which the old one was subordinated, and which he packed with men devoted to the new idea. The new "imperial commission" did not content itself with elaborating the materials furnished by the provincial committees. Directly inspired by the Emperor, who sent them his papers on "the progress and issue of the peasant question," they took into their own hands all the points of legislation, by which course they ran the risk of throwing into opposition many proprietors who were well disposed, but who complained that they had never been consulted, and that the commission seemed desirous of de- priving them of the merit of their sacrifices. The commission gradually gave to the reform a more and more radical character. It admitted the principle that the emancipation should not take place gradually, but that the law should insure the immediate abolition of serfdom; that the most effectual measures should be taken to prevent the re-establishment of the seigniorial authority under other forms, by a liberal organization of the rural com- munes; and that the peasant should become a proprietor on the Abraham Lincoln 123 payment of an indemnity. From these deliberations resulted the new law, announced by the manifesto of the nineteenth of Febru- ary, or 3rd of March, 1861, according to the New Style. The fundamental principles of the new legislation may be summed up thus : The peasants hitherto attached to the soil were to be invested with all the rights of free cultivators. The peas- ants, in consideration of certain quit-rents fixed by law, should obtain the full enjoyment of their enclosure or dvor, and also a certain quantity of arable land, sufficient to make certain the accomplishment of their obligations towards the state. It was provided that this "permanent enjoyment," or usufruct, might be exchanged for an "absolute ownership" of the enclosure and the lands, on the payment of purchase-money. The lords were to grant the peasants or the rural communes the land actually occupied by the latter; in each district, however, a maximum and a minimum were to be fixed. On the whole, there was an average of three desiatins and a half, or more than nine English acres, for each male peasant; but it varied from one desiatin to twelve ; that is to say, the peasants in general received less in the Black Land, and more in the less productive zones. The govern- ment was to organize a system of loans, which would permit the peasants immediately to liberate themselves from their lords, though they would remain debtors to the state. The dvorovuie, who were neither attached to the soil, nor members of the com- mune, were to receive only their personal liberty, after they had served their masters for two years. To bring the great work of partition into seigniorial and peasant lands to a happy conclusion, to regulate the amount of the dues, the conditions of re-purchase, and all the questions which might arise from the execution of the law, the temporary magistracy of the mirovuie posredniki, or mediators of peace, was instituted, who showed themselves for the most part honest, patient, impartial, equitable, and who de- served a great part of the honor of this pacific settlement. The peasants, freed from the authority of their former masters, were organized into communes; or, rather, the commune, the mir, which is the primordial and antique element of Slavo-Russian society acquired a new force. It inherited the right of police and of surveillance, held by the lord over his subjects ; it administered and judged with more liberty the suits of the peasants. In ac- cordance with the ancient Slav law, the land bought from the lord remained the common property of all the members of the mir : each peasant held as his private property only his enclosure and the land thereto pertaining. Arable lands are subject, at more or less frequent intervals, to partition among the heads of families, and are possessed by them only by way of usufruct. The law, which does not permit a final partition of the common 124 Abraham Lincoln land, except when two thirds of those interested consent, will long maintain against the destructive action of new manners and new wants this old European institution, which in Western countries has disappeared for centuries, in France especially, and has left no trace, other than in so-called communal properties. The com- munes, freed from the control of the lords, were grouped, as in the case of the imperial domains, into volosti, or districts having from three hundred to two thousand male members; a volost tribunal received the appeal from the communal justices, and a volost municipality was charged to watch over the common in- terests of all the villages under its jurisdiction. The mayor of the commune was called starosta; the head of the volost was called starshina, and was made responsible for the peace and order of the community. The Russian peasants were thus given a complete system of local self-government, of an absolutely rural character, for the former lord was strenuously kept apart from it. Since his ancient domain had been divided into seign- iorial and peasant lands he ceased legally to be an inhabitant of the village. His interests being perfectly distinct from those of the peasants, he was forbidden to meddle either with them, their elections, their administration, or their justice. The great emancipation measure was, in fact, a dissolution of partnership between masters and peasants. It imposed sacrifices on both the interested parties. EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proc- lamation was issued by the President of the United States con- taining, 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 rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Gov- ernment 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 peo- Abraham Lincoln 125 pie 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 countervail- ing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such state and the people thereof are not then in rebellion against the United States. Now therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as commander-in- chief of the army and navy of the United States, in time of actu- al armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for sup- pressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the states and parts of states wherein the people thereof, respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit : Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the parishes of St. Ber- nard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin and Orleans, including the city of New Orleans), Mis- sissippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Car- olina, and Virginia (except the forty-eight counties 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 ex- cepted parts are for the present left precisely as if this proclama- tion were not issued. And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said des- ignated 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 recog- nize and maintain the freedom of said persons. And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free, to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defense ; and I recommend to them that in all cases, when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages. And I further declare and make known that such persons of suitable condition will be received into the army 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 126 Abraham Lincoln 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. By the President; WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. Mr. F. F. Browne, whom I knew intimately for many years in Chicago, says in his carefully compiled book "Everyday Life of Lincoln" : To a large concourse of people who, two days after the proclamation was issued, assembled before the White House, with music, the President said : "What I did, I did after a very full deliberation, and under a heavy and solemn sense of responsi- bility. I can only trust in God I have made no mistake." That he realized to the full the gravity of the step before taking it is shown again in an incident related by Hon. John Covode, who calling on the President a few days before the issue of the final proclamation, found him walking his room in considerable agi- tation. Reference being made to the forthcoming proclamation, Lincoln said with great earnestness : "I have studied that matter well; my mind is made up — it must be done. I am driven to it. There is no other way out of our troubles. But although my duty is plain, it is in some respects painful, and I trust the people will understand that I act not in anger but in expectation of a greater good." Had Mr. Lincoln lived, the re-construction of the southern states would have been accomplished on a more equitable basis and much of the injustice and hardships needlessly inflicted on the exhausted people avoided. Among other things some provision would have been made for the f reedmen besides giving them free- dom. The lands on which they had worked for others should in part have been distributed among them to cultivate on their own account as was done in Russia. They should have been given long time to pay for these lands and the government should have as- sisted them in getting started on the road to independence, if they were willing to support themselves on their own farms. Abraham Lincoln 127 NEGRO FELLOWSHIP LEAGUE CELEBRATE WITH SONG. Chicago's celebration of the anniversary of the emancipa- tion proclamation at Orchestra Hall was made notable by the singing of a chorus of ioo voices organized by Mrs. Ida B. Wells- Barnett, president of the Negro Fellowship league, and instructed by James A. Mundy. The chorus sang compositions by Wagner and Handel as well as an anthem, "Ethiopia Shall Soon Stretch Out Her Hands Unto God," composed by Mr. Mundy. The preliminary announcement made by the celebration com- mittee bears a quotation from Justice Harlan, "The constitution is color blind." The emancipation proclamation was read by Dr. Charles E. Bently. CONSPIRACY TO BURN CHICAGO. Benjamin Jeffrey Sweet who distinguished himself while Com- mandant at Camp Douglas, Chicago, during the years 1864 and 1865, was a young lawyer who was commissioned as Major of the 6th Wisconsin Infantry Volunteers at the outbreak of the War of the Rebellion. Born in Clinton county, New York in 1832, young Sweet came with his family to Wisconsin at an early age, his father being a pioneer missionary to the Indians and settlers of Calumet county. Already a successful young attorney and state senator at Mad- ison in 1861, Mr. Sweet received his commission and entered the army as a major of the 6th Wisconsin Infantry Volunteers. Later he returned to Wisconsin and raised two regiments, going to the front as Colonel of the 21st Infantry. At the famous battle of Perryville, Ky., Colonel Sweet re- ceived two dangerous wounds and in consequence went into the Veteran Reserve Corps and in due time was placed in command of Camp Douglas, near Chicago, being then Colonel of the 8th Regiment U. S. Reserve Corps. At Camp Douglas there was a great prison camp where thou- sands of Confederate prisoners were confined. In the fall of 1864 there was a conspiracy formed by direct influences in Rich- mond, the Confederate Capital, to release the prisoners at Camp Douglas, arm them, sack and burn Chicago, and carry the war in- to the Northwest. Colonel Sweet through his constant vigil- ance and care, ferreted out this conspiracy and at the last mo- ment, just as the blow was about to be struck, arrested the lead- ers, seized the arms stored in Chicago and put an end to the en- terprise. Two confederate Colonels and a number of Northern 128 Abraham Lincoln sympathizers, some of them being Chicagoans of note, were among those arrested. The services of Colonel Sweet were highly appreciated by the United States Government, and he re- ceived his commission as Brigadier General, soon after the crush- ing blow he dealt to the conspirators. It is certain that had the attempt to carry the war into the Northwest been successful, the struggle between the states would have been greatly prolonged. (Note: It was during the troubles in Chicago, incident to the conditions brought about by the Southern sympathizers, that Wilbur F. Story of the Chicago Times nearly lost his life. They were turbulent days in Chicago at this time and the city was patroled by soldiers from the Camp; disorderly mobs were fre- quent and the mob which attacked the Times Building was only one of those which were successfully handled by General Sweet. I, myself, driving down town with my father, once saw him stopped by a mob in front of a bank in which funds were depos- ited for the substitutes. We were driven a little aside where I held the reins and saw my father go up on the balcony, on the 2nd floor of the bank and by his personal efforts, quell and dis- perse a very dangerous looking mob of excited men.) (Miss) A. C. Sweet. General Sweet resigned at the end of the war and entered the practice of law at Chicago. He was later appointed U. S. Pen- sion Agent at Chicago and Supervisor of Internal Revenue and then first Deputy Commissioner of Internal Revenue at Wash., D. C. He died just before his 42nd birthday, January 1st, 1874, at Washington. Abraham Lincoln 129 CHAPTER XII. THESIS ON GOVERNMENT USED AS CAMPAIGN DOCUMENT IN 1864. REPUBLICAN CONVENTION 1 864. CAMPAIGN 1 864. PREE- MONT HEADS THE MALCONTENTS UNCOILS HUMOR. When I returned from Heidelberg I went to the University of Michigan, where I graduated from the law department in 1864. All graduates are required to write a thesis ; and having spent some time previously at the University of Heidelberg, where I became interested in the various forms of government in Europe, I selected for mine 'A Comparison between the Forms of Gov- ernment of the Republic or Representative Democracy of the United States and those of Other Nations.' I have always considered our form of government preferable to any other. It is the abuse of this great inheritance by those upon whose responsibility and votes the government is main- tained that excites criticism. The civil war was progressing toward its close in 1864 when I was at the University, and naturally the critical condition of the nation was on my mind. On my return to Springfield, my home at that time, I called upon the war governor, Richard Yates, and submitted my thesis to him. He read it over and sent me a letter expressing his strong approval, which I published with my thesis as a campaign document, when Abraham Lincoln ran the second time for the Presidency. It was circulated by the Union League. I gave copies to President Lincoln when I called on him in 1865. THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION OP 1864. Mr. Clark E. Carr, in his book entitled, "My Day and Genera- tion," states, that: "the Republican National Convention was called by the National Committee to meet at Baltimore on June 7, 1864. The writer of this was one of the delegates from Illi- nois in that Convention. There was in Illinois scarcely the slight- est opposition to the nomination of Mr. Lincoln. Every republic- an there was enthusiastically for him, and we were by ringing resolutions unanimously instructed to support him. 130 Abraham Lincoln "New Hampshire and Pennsylvania led off in declaring for Mr. Lincoln, on the same day so early as January 5th before the Baltimore Convention. "Joseph Medill of the Chicago Tribune was one of the ablest most earnest, and most persistent supporter of Mr. Lincoln. "Bitter and malignant as was the opposition to the re-nomina- tion of Mr. Lincoln elsewhere, its storm center continued to be in Missouri, culminating, as has been said, in two state republican conventions — the Conservatives favoring him, and the Radicals denouncing him. John G. Nicolay, who was the private secre- tary of the President, appeared in the Convention at the most critical time and on his own authority, he said, 'Advise the Illi- nois delegation to support the Radicals instead of the Conserva- tives.' We had once voted in favor of seating the Radicals. Other delegates followed and they were seated. "The result was that when the time came for the nomination in the great Convention, although a motion was made and stren- uously urged to that effect, it was impossible to re-nominate Mr. Lincoln by acclamation, and the roll had to be called. Mr. Lin- coln received every vote but that of Missouri. Mr. Lincoln re- ceived 484 votes. Missouri gave her 22 votes for General Grant, but before the vote was announced, Missouri changed her vote and, although not by acclamation, Mr. Lincoln was unanimously nominated." Mr. Carr says : "We saw that when we admitted this Radical delegation upon ecmality with all other delegates and gave them a right to be heard, gave them their day in court, they were, like us, committed to the action of the Convention and its candidate, and as loyal Republicans, estopped from casting their fortunes with the third party already in the field." "Mr. Lincoln was great enough and wise enough to see all this. After giving a complimentary vote for Grant, the Radicals changed their vote for Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln at the election carried against General McClellan every electoral vote, except those of New Jersey, Delaware, and Kentucky, and his popular vote was nearly half a million greater than had ever before been received by a presidential candidate." This shows that the great majority of the people, or voters, heartily endorsed the policy of Abraham Lincoln. MORE LIGHT AND LESS NOISE/ AND OTHER LINCOLN ANECDOTES. An editorial in the New York Tribune, opposing Lincoln's re- nomination, is said to have called out from him the following story : Abraham Lincoln 131 "A traveler on the frontier found himself out of his reckon- ing one night in a most inhospitable region. A terrific thunder- storm came up to add to his trouble. He floundered along until his horse at length gave out. The lightning afforded him the on- ly clue to his way, but the peals of thunder were frightful. One bolt, which seemed to crash the earth beneath him, brought him to his knees. By no means a praying man, his petition was short and to the point: 'O Lord, if it is all the same to you, give us a little more light and a little less noise !' " When the time came along in the spring of 1864 for nomina- tions to be made for the Presidential office General J. C. Fre- mont was prominently mentioned by a few of the malcontents, and vociferousness gave color to claims of a support that subse- quent events proved he did not have. John T. Morse, Jr., in his Life of Abraham Lincoln, tells the following story: "At Cleveland on the appointed day the mass convention as- sembled, only the mass was wanting. It nominated Fremont for the Presidency and Gen. John Cochrane for the Vice-presidency ; and thus again the Constitution was ignored by these malcon- tents, for both these gentlemen were citizens of New York, and therefore the important delegation from that State could lawful- ly vote for only one of them. Really the best result which the convention achieved was that it called forth a bit of wit from the President. Some one remarked to him that, instead of the expected thousands, only about four hundred persons had as- sembled. He turned to the Bible which, say Nicolay and Hay, commonly lay on his desk, and read the verse : 'And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him ; and he became a captain over them ; and there were with him about four hundred men/ " "There is but one contingency that can cause your defeat for a second term," one of Lincoln's friends said to him in 1863, "and that is Grant's capture of Richmond and his nomination as an opposing candidate." "Well," replied Mr. Lincoln, shrewdly, "I feel very much about that as the man felt who said he didn't want to die particularly, but if he had got to die, that was precisely the disease he would like to die of." AUTHORITATIVE LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT TO HORACE GREELEY. July 18, 1864, President Lincoln published the following letter as he was informed by Horace Greeley that there were commis- sioners, Clement C. Clay being one of them, from the South, 132 Abraham Lincoln waiting near Niagara Falls in Canada to open up negotiations of peace, if permitted to do so. Mr. John Hay had been sent to meet them and found they had no authority from the Cen fed- erate government to negotiate with United States authorities: 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 abandonment of slavery, and which comes by and with an authority 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." A. LINCOLN. This authorized proposal of peace sent to Horace Greeley who was simply a tool, was part of a plot laid to affect the re-elec- tion of Lincoln for a second term. But it failed of its purpose on account of the bold stand taken by the president showing his willingness to have peace on honorable terms. The president was very much annoyed, Senator Shelby M. Cullom said in his book entitled "Fifty Years of Public Service." "He remarked to me, that while Mr. Horace Greeley means all right, he makes me almost as much trouble as the whole South- ern Confederacy." Abraham Lincoln 133 CHAPTER XIII. THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN 1 864 A SIGNIFICANT CAMPAIGN DOCUMENT — NO ^GERMAN-AMERICANS^ IN THOSE DAYS — A SPEECH AND A POEM. The following campaign document was printed in English and German by me and circulated during the Lincoln campaign of 1864. I gave copies to Mr. Lincoln when I called on him at Washington Feb., 1865. Fellow-countrymen and friends — Let us one and all rally around the old flag of our country, and take in our charge the sacred constitution, and the laws, and place them, with our majority of voices in the hands of those men best qualified to protect and preserve them. Let every citizen above the age of twenty-one cherish the vote granted to him by the constitution, and cast it for those alone who are worthy, honorable, and loyal candidates for state and federal of- fices. Consider the responsibility each and every one of you are under in maintaining and protecting this government under which we live. The vote of the poor man counts as much as that of the rich man, therefore let every vote be carefully weighed, and not placed in the scale of wrong. Our country, as you all know, is in a threatened condition and should we fail now in preserving the union of the states, and the laws which govern them, we will be plunged into an abyss of ruin, and the fall of our glorious temple of liberty will echo in mournful sounds throughout the whole world, and be lament- ed by many generations that will follow after us. The peace and security of the United States has been threat- ened by a great army of rebellious citizens, who rend our con- stitution, and scorn the sacred emblem of our liberty. Shall this rebellious crew be put down and annihilated? Or shall it be permitted to rule? If annihilated who shall be instrumental in doing it, the candidates proposed by the Copperhead party, or those brought forward by the Union party ? Do the Copperhead candidates seem to you to be fit men, with right principles to put down this rebellion? Or do the Union candidates appear as such? The great hobby of the former is peace and their cry is compromise and slavery. While the great principles of the other are liberty, emancipation and Union. 134 Abraham Lincoln My dear countrymen, liberty is the greatest boon that can be bestowed upon man. Liberty of speech, liberty of thought, and liberty of action. Take away these and you reduce a man to a creature but little higher than the brute. He is dumb until bid- den to speak by the ignoble tyrant who holds him in bondage. He is enchained, and unable to use the physical or mental pow- ers granted him by nature, until it shall please the will of the same master of his being. His mind becomes locked and remains as it was, a blank in existence, except when unbolted and com- manded to act by the lord who rules over it. Liberty is the birth- right of every man who breathes the atmosphere of earth, and he who attempts to rob his fellow man of this right, deserves the curse of heaven, and the bitter contempt of all humanity! He deserves to be ground into dust beneath the heels of those he sought to rob of their freedom. Bonaparte, in a proclamation issued in Egypt said that, "all men were equal in the eye of God : wisdom, talents and virtue making the only difference." This is a noble sentiment, and one which if adhered to by Napoleon would have gained for him more favor than he ever received from his fellow men as Emperor. Yet, I say, fellow countrymen, that all men, whether equal in their capacities or not, should be free. No man has the right to dictate to the world who shall be free, and who shall be enslaved. No man has the right to say I shall be free, but my neighbor who has less capacity for the en- joyment of life and for the acquisition of wealth, or learning than I, shall be enslaved. And no man has the right to rob his fellow man of the greatest natural right that he has, which is nothing less than his liberty. Therefore, I say, that the aristoc- racies and monarchies of England, Germany, France and Rus- sia, and the whole catalogue of weak, though ambitious and ty- rannical kings, princes, and nobles of Christendom, should be compelled, together with the slave-holders in the United States, to yield to mankind their birthright. I further affirm, that an administration of a Republic, that holds itself out to the world to be governed by free and enlightened principles, has the right, and is under obligations to crush out slavery in any form within its territory, and that such administration has the right to use all its powers in breaking down tyranny in any and all quarters of the United States. I am not a man who would court the pomp and honors of a throne, or bear with weakness the insolence of the great. I am not a creature to be cowed into submission by the display of aristocratic fools, knaves or tyrants — therefore, I am for the overthrow of the whole system of oppression, no matter where it exists, but am the most anxious for the destruction of that Abraham Lincoln 135 tyranny which I perceive immediately at home. Away with slavery in America ! Away with slavery in the world ! Now in regard to the troubles in the United States, and the manner in which the affairs of our government have been con- ducted under the administration of Abraham Lincoln. It is cer- tain that one of two things must be done, either the Southern States must be permitted to establish a government independent of the United States, but upon its territory, and thereby create two separate and distinct countries where one before existed; the principles of the one being undivided freedom and national independence, while those of the other are slavery, and political aristocracy, or those states must be required, and compelled to remain permanent pillars in the temple of our national existence, abolish slavery, and submit as the other states, to just and equi- table laws and the principles of our constitution. This, gentle- men, is the final issue ; one or the other must be done. Let us grant the Southern States a separate and distinct na- tional existence, and what is the result? We see, as it were England and France, with their continual strifes, transplanted upon this side of the Atlantic, and placed one by the side of the other upon the territory of the United States with not even an English Channel between them to keep them from destroying one another. We see national prejudices growing into bloody wars. We see the clash of different principles and forms of govern- ment that are trying to live side by side. We see the glorious stars and stripes, that have spoken independence for so many years to the oppressed of the world, and the flag that floats over the slave and his master, attempting to wave in the same breeze and nearly over the same territory ; and finally, we see a sure im- possibility, attempting to force itself into a possibility. In his "Inaugural address" Mr. Lincoln said: "Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We cannot remove our respective sections from each other, nor build an impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorced and go out of the presence and out of the reach of each other, but the different parts of our country cannot do this. We cannot but remain face to face ; and intercourse, either amicable or hostile, must continue between them. Is it possible then to make that intercourse more advantageous or more satisfactory after separation than before? Can aliens make treaties better than friends can make laws? Can treaties be more faithfully enforced between aliens, than laws can among friends?" Now instead of imitating Europe, and dividing our territory into separate and insignificant countries, governed by entirely dif- ferent laws and principles, as the secessionists wish, and which their copperhead friends, the opposing candidates would permit, 136 Abraham Lincoln why not influence Europe to fashion her governments after our more enlightened form, and unite those thousand and one quarter section kingdoms into one prominent and well regulated republic- an government, ruled by the common sense of an educated people, and by just, equitable and liberal laws? The separation of the United States into two governments would be but a pre- cedent for a state of things similar to that of Europe, and this, reason would show us to be a retrograde movement in civiliza- tion and enlightenment. Let us now instead of yielding to the unworthy motives of southern leaders, as the compromising, peace begging, and timid- hearted copperhead candidates would have us do if elected to office — which Heaven forbid — let us, I say, and hear me ye im- mortal spirits, who when on earth risked your all, and moistened the earth with your blood to establish this heaven-born govern- ment upon the soil of America ! Let us, I repeat, compel with main force, a recognition of the constitutional authorities of the United States, by each and every state of which that union is composed. Our object accomplished, which is the object of Lincoln's ad- ministration, the preservation of the union of all the states ; the establishment of universal liberty; and the exercise of the just and constitutional authority of our government, and we have the United States one, complete, and perfect nation. It will stand as an example of firmness, and a proof of the capacity of man for self government. It will excite the admiration and respect of the whole civilized world sending the conviction to the mind of every man, of the fact that a free and enlightened government like our own would be at this day, if not before, can stand permanent and secure upon its own glorious foundation, which is the establish- ment of the principle, that all men must be free. The question before us, fellow countrymen, is, who shall man- age the affairs of government for the next four years ; those who advocate Union sentiments and freedom, or those who will force us to acknowledge the right of secession, state rights, and slavery ? THE NOVEMBER ELECTION. UNCONDITIONAL UNION NOMINATIONS. FOR PRESIDENT, ABRAHAM LINCOLN OF ILLINOIS. FOR VICE-PRESIDENT, ANDREW JOHNSON, OF TENNESSEE. Abraham Lincoln 137 For Governor, Richard J. Oglesby. For Lieutenant Governor, William Bross. For Secretary of State, Sharon Tyndale. For Auditor, O. H. Miner. For State Treasurer, James H. Beveridge. For Sup't. Pub. Instruction, Newton Bateman. For Congressman at large, Samuel W. Moulton. Presidential Electors. For the state at large John Dougherty, of Union. Francis A. Hoffman, of Du Page. Benjamin M. Prentiss, of Adams. District Electors. John V. Farwell, 8. Jas. C. Conkling, Anson S. Miller, 9. William Walker, John V. Eustace, 10. Thos. W. Harris, James S. Pogue, 11. N. M. McCurdy, John J. Bennett, 12. A. W. Metcalf, William T. Hopkins, 13. Z. Clifford. Franklin Blade, FOR CONGRESS FROM THE EIGHTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. SHELBY M. CULLOM, of Sangamon County. These are the men who should receive the vote of every loyal and honest man in our state. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Abraham Lincoln, has been tried, and we all know that he has conducted himself nobly during the past four years, whilst the ship of state has been tossed amid the breakers of secession, re- bellion, and slavery, and our whole country seemed on the brink of ruin. If there are some instances when you have thought that he should have acted differently how do you know but that another placed in his trying position would have acted far less wisely? Or how do you know but that his course was right in the end, and you unable to see its propriety from your less ad- vantageous position of observation? Taking the entire course used by Abraham Lincoln during the term of his administration, we cannot but commend and honor him for his straightforward, 138 Abraham Lincoln unrelenting and determined will to execute the laws of our gov- ernment, and to preserve and defend its holy privileges. We, of Illinois, should be proud that a citizen of our state, which has sent forth so many heroes to fight the battles for lib- erty, is now called upon for the renewed services of its distin- guished and noble hearted Lincoln. We should all give him a hearty support, and thereby be doing our country a lasting fa- vor, and be lending our strength for holding together the states of the Union and for preserving the equilibrium of the nation. Under Lincoln's administration a great army and navy has been reared out of the true and loyal materials in the United States, and now stand ready to defend our constitution and enforce the laws of the government. The national finances are in the best condition possible under the circumstances, and although millions have been spent for the support of men, and for the raising of materials for carrying on this war, yet so well is the machinery equipped that it will run without being clogged until the war is ended, or the resources of our nation are exhausted. Why change the President, and thereby alter the entire policy under which we have acted for the past four years? Why not keep everything compact and unchanged until this war is completely over and peace and liberty reign triumphant in the land? A rainbow appears above the horizon of our national ex- istence. Within its colors are innumerable homes looming up with cheerfulness and glory like to the stars that fill the deep con- cave of heaven in the silent night. The virtuous maiden and the gallant youth link their lives together and create a circle of do- mestic bliss. The sound of war has ceased, the terrific clouds that have so long filled the sky with gloom have disappeared and the clear radiance of peace beams forth from the political heav- ens. Commerce and agriculture flourish unmolested, enriching the country, while foreign nations find it to their interest to stretch forward a cordial hand toward us. The chains of slavery have dropped forever from the limbs of the inhabitants of "Free America" while free labor and industry fills the south and north with plenty and cheerfullness. The glorious emblem of our na- tional honor floats triumphantly over the whole of our country from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the lakes to the gulf. Liberty is written across its folds, and every star is there in all its brilliancy. The thoughtful continuance of Abraham Lincoln shines through the bow, and "President of the United States for 1 865-66-67-68' ' is stamped upon a golden medal that rests upon his patriotic breast. Springfield, 111., May 25th, 1864. The Illinois State Convention met at the Capitol for the pur- Abraham Lincoln 139 pose of electing Senators for State offices and for the election of delegates to the Baltimore Convention. I was an attendant most of the time and resolved to work for the straight union ticket and do all in my power to keep Mr. Lincoln in the Presi- dential chair. 1 went to the Governor's levee in the evening with my wife and niece. SPEECH BEFORE THE ATHENS, ILL. UNION LEAGUE, JULY 1 7, 1 863. The following is a transcript of a speech delivered by the writer before the Athens, 111. Union League, July 17, 1863, and published in the Athens Herald: Why should a parcel of scheming politicians anxious after the preference yielded by the people to those whom they think are great benefactors to their country, be permitted to come for- ward and mislead the people by false and treacherous reasonings and cause them, the people, to believe that they are the great pro- tectors of their rights, while they are really only a burden to them, weakening their (the people's) powers and crippling all the wor- thy efforts of the administration. It is a disgrace to Illinois to permit a legislative body convened in its capitol to throw calumny on the government at this time, when at the very best it can only be sustained and kept united by the free co-operation of the whole Northern people in their effort to subdue the present rebellion. I say, it will be a lasting disgrace and it will in a measure coun- teract the gallant bearing of the loyal citizens of the state upon the field of battle. They pretend to fear that their rights are being taken from them — these two-faced seekers after political preference. They no more fear this than they fear that the earth will stop in its course around the sun. There is not one democratic member of the legislature that does not know, as well as he knows that his life is sustained by breathing, that in order to work with any de- gree of force at the North at this time, the people — the great pow- er for good or evil — must be kept united and ever mindful of the fact that at this time under the present circumstances their com- bined efforts will alone save the country. And they know that to let speech after speech, article after article be published in news- papers and showered upon the people, filled with opposition to the just efforts of the administration to subdue the rebellion, is but to permit the power of the people to be divided and wasted in en- dangering the safety of the country. They know this, but still with evil hearts, and selfish plans they do not care what they are 140 Abraham Lincoln doing to destroy the country, just so they can by, this means, ob- tain power and mastery over the people and gain possession of the different branches of the state government. They think, perhaps, that when once in power they can undo the mischief they have done and remedy the evil by their fancied benefits. The people should be warned of these prowlers after the storehouses of the land and see under the glittering, imposing and insinuating arguments, a base and treacherous purpose. Who are these men who spring forward and offer the people, with so much generosity, their assistance in obtaining for them their rights? Who are these lawyers who will defend the right- ful heir from incroachments of unlawful aggressors? Angels in the shape of men from the courts of paradise? or disloyal citi- zens from the marvel of the West — Chicago ? Surely the people who are so unused to the possession of their liberties as the American people, should have some one — & Gowdy — a Fuller — or a Merrick — to tell them when their liberties are being taken from them, and offer their professional services in regaining their law- ful rights, and as a recompense, we, the American people, can give one the president's chair, another the secretary's bureau, and a third the gubernatorial chair of Illinois. This is all they ask, and they are so very patriotic and express such liberal senti- ments. This is all they are working after and the people should not allow themselves to be deceived by them. No one pretends to take away the liberties of the people. All the actions of the ad- ministration only tend to enlarge the bounds of freedom, and to secure its blessings perpetually on this continent. Men should not have the power to act treasonably, nor should they have the right to talk or advocate treason. But denying this right is not infringing upon the rights of the people any more than it would be to deny the right of free men to murder each other with impunity. I think that the people possess the liberty yet of riding these demagogues on rails and sending them back to their law offices and courtrooms in Chicago. I think they still have the liberty of enforcing respect to those lawfully elected to office, even if Mr. Gowdy and his minions do not like it, and they have the liberty and the right too of compelling the editor of the Times to show that respect if they think fit. The administration has far more right to arraign individuals living in the country over which it has jurisdiction and make them give an account of their actions and treasonable speeches, than these individuals have to arraign the administration and attempt to try and condemn legally ap- pointed officials forming this administration. It is evident to Abraham Lincoln 141 my mind that it is nothing but party jealousy and love of power that induces these old time democrats to come forward at this time and speak and act as they do. They should be dealt with severely and be taught that even in a republic respect should be shown to the government and order and obedience enforced. When the people learn to keep these sharks in their places and say to these impudent men who attempt to elbow their way into every position of power, that we do not need their ser- vices, unless they are willing to sustain the government. These would-be politicians are often a great curse to the country. They are the ones who stir up turmoil among the people in or- der to advance their own interests. They are the great lions of destruction that roam about our beautiful constructed temple of liberty and trample its glory under their unholy feet. It was such democrats as Jefferson Davis who originally precipitated the present civil war. They are the ones who grasp after the scepter of power, seeking to gain it through a mastery over the minds of the people. If the people would understand that there is some- thing needed besides talent, intellect, and brilliant mental endow- ments in order to constitute a safe statesman, namely, an honest and true heart, they might be able to select the right men to take charge of the sacred interests of our country. Such an one is Abraham Lincoln, now at the head of the government. Why is it that the ingenious lawyer should always step for- ward and seek to have preference in the management of all these national affairs? Why should his trickery be permitted to de- ceive the people for his selfish interests? Why should not the educated and worthy farmers be chosen, or the practical busi- ness man to take part in the control of the nation? Shall the wily fox of an attorney be allowed always to feed off of the wealth of the government. Now, what with all their elocution and arguments have these pretended defenders of the peoples rights accomplished, that reflects honor upon themselves or advantage to the country? They have so far accomplished nothing good, but have continu- ally hindered those who work and fight for a worthy object by finding fault with them continually. Instead of being a help they are a burden to the country, unwilling to pull the load but drawing back with all their might. These men having shown their true character to the people, these discerning and treach- erous democratic members of the legislature of Illinois of 1863 should be remembered and shunned in the future as dangerous. 142 Abraham Lincoln JANUARY i, 1865. new year's address. Welcome, to thee! Happy New Year! Gilded o'er with hopes so bright; We hail thy dawn with merry cheer, And think in THEE to find delight. We bid the Old Year now adieu, Filled with war and bloody strife, And wish to find within the New, Peace, Prosperity, and Life. OUR COUNTRY. Thou, the best of earth's creations, Country of the brave and free; Fearless of all foreign nations, Strong at home, and bold at sea. Liberty, thy banner seeketh; The oppressed thy shelter seeketh; Peace and love should dwell in thee. Mark the veins of mighty rivers, Hastening through thy body e'er, On whose flow the sunbeam quivers, Gladdening them throughout the year. Mark thy ribs of lofty mountains Holding thee between their strength; Then perceive the welling fountains Gushing from them, that at length — Coursing through thy fruitful regions, Swelling rivers that adorn thee, Ruffled by the breezes pinions Reach the billows of the sea. Mark the princely cities rising On thy hills, and plains, and coast; Science, art, wealth, power comprising, Teaming with a busy host; Filled with learning — arts creations — Grasping oceans with their hands; Trading with all foreign nations, Buying produce of thy lands. Mark thy laws, the work of sages, Gleaned from out the mighty past, Chosen from the lore of ages, Molded in a freeman's cast. Abraham Lincoln 143 See how equity doth glisten; To their Freedom only listen; See what beauties in them hover; Monarch's faults they do not cover; All men equally they measure, And no Lord's or Baron's treasure Keeps one from that fatal measure. Mark how grand thy Constitution, Living in immortal life; Nothing of a Court's pollution Mars its beauty. Is their strife? — Strife, blood, war, and horrid treason — Now for this is there good reason? Some men, like the damned in Milton, Rule or ruin their design; Hurl these from our glorious nation, Else its strength to them resign. In the Constitution, dwelleth Mighty powers; and truth it telleth; Fiercest passions now it quelleth, Yet no rights to treason selleth. Will you ? guardians of this glory, Grant the marring of its name? Making history tell the story, How they sought to soil its fame? Nor be blind to England's envy; Or the scheming of the French: England with her mighty navy Hopes thy power from thee to wrench; And the French are creeping slyly, Handled by their Emperor wily, To the vile rebellious regions, There to swell the rebel legions. Mexico, he now has conquered, And has planted there a throne, Spurning Monroe's doctrine — honored Not enough by men at home, — But which shall remain unshaken, And no force from it be taken. Liberty breaks thrones in pieces, Rends the shackles of the slave; Think not he who holds them ceases To plot our fall this power to save. Ye sons of Liberty, awake! And with free principles all nations shake. 144 Abraham Lincoln the WAR. Thou, O muse ! who tuned for Homer, Dolefully the lyre of war, Make my harp, with stirring humor, Sound abroad that dirge once more. Four years since began the warring, Traitors scaling Freedom's walls; Still its Temples now they're storming, Fighting, till their last one falls. Honor ye, the heroes valiant Who have fought them 'neath the stars ; Gained for Union, conquests brilliant, Following boldly war-god Mars. Sherman's soldiers ! Greet them loudly ! They have fought, and bled most proudly ! And midst blood and battles' clamor, Gained Savannah through their valor; Remember, too, the many conquests Gained within the flitted year; The hero's corps of us requests These victories aloud to cheer. Ah, many battles, bloody, fearful, Many scenes, at home all tearful, Many towns, and cities wasted, Many draughts of anguish tasted, Many souls to judgment hasted — Follow, this dread war 'gainst traitors, 'Gainst misguided Union haters : But we'll leave this doleful subject, Hoping ere this year is o'er, We'll have gained our worthy object, And of war to know no more. HILDENE MANCHESTER VERMONT August 3rd, 1916. David E. Gibson, Esq., Gibson, Sykes & Fowler Studios, Chicago. Dear Sir: Replying to your letter of Aug- ust 1st, in which you enclose a copy of a letter you are sending to Mr. Bartow A. Ul- rica regarding a photograph of President Lincoln; I have no objection to your giv- ing Mr. Ulrich any photograph you have. Very truly yours. /[tfiw\ffi»Kfi s // 1865 From last painting of president in possession of Hon. Robert T. Lincoln Abraham Lincoln 145 CHAPTER XIV. LAST INTERVIEW WITH LINCOLN. Some time after my return from Heidelberg, Germany, I visited Washington, as I was seeking an appointment as consul at one of the German ports. This was in February, 1865, just two months before Mr. Lincoln's assassination. I met Mr. John Hay, then private secretary, whom I knew in Springfield before his appointment, and was taken into the President's au- dience chamber by Congressman Longyear of Michigan. After I was formally introduced, Mr. Lincoln said he knew the members of my family in Springfield very well, and that he had often met them, and spoke especially of my eldest sister Mary, and gave several incidents that had occurred in the Spring- field social life. He told a number of stories and jokes while Congressman Longyear and several others and myself were in the room. He spoke in a very high falsetto key most of the time, and made everyone feel perfectly at home. In regard to this tone of voice, one of Mr. Lincoln's colleagues says: "He used, in his excitement (1836) for the first time that singularly effective clear tenor tone of voice which afterward became so widely known in the political battles of the West." He read over my recommendations, which were signed by Senator Lyman Trumbull, Governor Richard Yates, Lieutenant Governor Bross, formerly of the Chicago Tribune, and others. He said he would try to give me a consulship in Germany. Seeing the German pamphlet which I had prepared, and which had been circulated as a campaign document before his election, he remarked that he had commenced to study that language, but had not advanced further than to say, "Sprechen Sie Deutsch, mein Herr?" He finally doubled up my papers and wrote the following on the back of them : Address to Hon. Wm. H. Sew- ard. "Will the secretary of state please see and hear the bearer, Mr. Ulrich, and oblige him if he conveniently can? He is a young man residing in the place of my residence, Springfield, and of a most respectable family, as he is also himself." Signed, Abraham Lincoln, February 1, 1865. I considered this a very good introduction to the secretary of state, William M. Seward. I subsequently had an interview with Mr. Frederick W. Seward, the secretary's son, who placed 146 Abraham Lincoln my papers on file. He said I would receive a position under the Government, without doubt, in some part of Germany. To His Excellency, Abraham Lincoln, President. We respectfully petition your Excellency to appoint Bartow A. Ulrich of the City of Chicago, a Consul at one of the German sea-port cities. He is familiar with the German language, has traveled in Germany and lived there for two years at Heidelberg. He took great interest in the late Campaign and distributed Ger- man campaign pamphlets of his own production among the Germans of Illinois, advocating your election. He has published an important book used in the Campaign, bearing the endorse- ment of the Honorable Governor Richard Yates, entitled "A Treatise on Government, Showing the Superiority of the United States Government over all others." We are confident that should Mr. Ulrich receive this appoint- ment he will fill it with credit to himself and to his country. He seems qualified, both on account of his knowledge of the Ger- man language and his understanding of the law and general busi- ness. We therefore recommend him to Your Excellency for said position. Respectfully, I. Y. Scammon Richard Yates Geo. C. Bates Wm. Bross Geo. Schneider Lyman Trumbell Charles L. Williams COUNTING THE ELECTORAL VOTE. On February 8, 1865, the capitol was crowded with visitors and congressmen on account of the counting of the presidential vote. I went to the House of Representatives early before the crowd came in. At 12 o'clock the House was called to order, and the Chaplain, Rev. Dr. Channing, delivered a prayer, then the regular business commenced. At one o'clock the members of the Senate marched in, quietly taking their seats with the represent- atives. The Vice-President occupied the speaker's seat, and the tellers took their places in front of him. Then the whole Con- gress of the United States being collected, it was called to order, and the Vice-President commenced opening the envelopes con- taining the electoral votes of each state, handing them to Mr. Trumbull. The returns from the loyal states, including West Virginia, were counted, showing 212 electoral votes for Lincoln and 21 Abraham Lincoln 147 for Gen. George B. McClellan. The Vice-President announced that Abraham Lincoln, of the state of Illinois, having received a majority of the whole number of electoral votes, was duly elected President of the United States, for four years, commenc- ing on the 4th day of March, 1865. Mr. Trumbull read the ballots and announced the results to the vast audience. All the states were for Lincoln and Johnson, ex- cept New Jersey, Delaware, and Kentucky, which three states went for McClellan and Pendleton. After the votes were all separately reported, the total was announced, and the two great bodies, the House and Senate, separated, the senators slowly leaving the hall two by two. I felt highly favored on account of being a witness to this interesting sight which completed the elec- tion of Mr. Lincoln the second time as President of the United States. The following night I attended the reception at the White House, and shook hands with the President and Mrs. Lincoln, who sent her respects to my mother, whom she said she knew very well in Springfield. I met Robert Lincoln, whom I already knew, and Mr. John Hay and Mr. Nicolay. Among the great crowd assembled were many foreign minis- ters with their wives and daughters, as well as congressmen, cab- inet officers, and military men. There was a great crowd in the outer room, but the distinguished personages, including the Sec- retary of State and naval officers were in the blue room. Probably at this time in Washington the plot was being formed by some of his enemies to assassinate Lincoln and some members of the cabinet including Secretary W. H. Seward, but no one seemed to anticipate the terrible calamity which occurred at a time when the fratracidal war seemed to be at an end and peace was dawning upon the country. LINCOLN S RESPONSE TO COMMITTEE NOTIFYING HIM OF HIS RE- ELECTION. "With deep gratitude to my countrymen for this mark of their confidence with a distrust of my own ability to perform the du- ties required, under the most favorable circumstances, and now rendered doubly difficult by existing national perils, yet with a firm reliance on the strength of our free government, and the eventual loyalty of the people to the just principals upon which it is founded, and above all with our unshaken faith in the su- preme ruler of nations, I accept this trust. Be pleased to signify this to the respective Houses of Congress." 148 Abraham Lincoln uncoln's repi