"-•

UBFURV j

VMV

U

THE

LINCOLN MEMORIAL:

ALBUM-IMMORTELLES.

ORIGINAL LIFE PICTURES, WITH AUTOGRAPHS,

FROM THE HANDS AND HEARTS OF EMINENT

AMERICANS AND EUROPEANS,

CONTEMPORARIES OF THE GREAT MARTYR TO LIBERTY,

Cincoln.

TOGETHER WITH EXTRACTS FROM HIS SPEECHES,
LETTERS AND SAYINGS,

COLLECTED AND EDITED

BY

OSBORN H. OLDROYD.

WITH AN INTRODUCTON BY

MATTHEW SIMPSON, D.D., LT,D..

AND A SKETCH OF THE PATRIOT'S LIFE BY
HON. ISAAC N. ARNOLD.

D L. GUERNSEY, PUBLISHER
61 .CORNHILL, BOSTON. MASS.

\SO1,I> nSLY HY SUBSCRIPTION.}

COPYRIGHT.
OSBORN H. OLDROYIX

1882.

TO

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE,

THESE

LITERARY IMMORTELLES TO ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
THE PRESIDENT

WHO ROSE FROM THE RANKS OF THE PLAIN PEOPLE;

THE PATRIOT

WHO GAVE HIS LIFE FOR HIS COUNTRY;

AND

THE LIBERATOR

WHO BOUND UP THE UNION, AND UNBOUND THE SIAVES,

ARE

DcMcatci).

PREFACE.

IN offering this volume to the public a few words
from the editor may not seem out of place.
On the fifteenth day of April, 1880, I was standing
near the monument of Abraham Lincoln, waiting for the
Lincoln Guard of Honor to begin their first memorial
service on the fifteenth anniversary of the death of
Abraham Lincoln. The gathering was a small one, it
being only about twenty-two minutes after seven o'clock
in the morning. As I gazed on the pinnacle of the
towering shaft, that marks the resting-place of him
whom I had learned to love in my boyhood's years,
when, in the spirited campaign of 1860, "Old Abe" was
the watchword of every Republican, I fell to wondering
whether it might not be possible for me to contribute
my mite toward adding luster to the fame of this
great product of American institutions. I had begun
as early as 1860 to collect trophies from his campaign,
and had ever since then carefully preserved every article
I could secure that related in any way to his memory.
The first thought that came into my mind, as I stood
looking at that noble monument, was that of building a
Memorial Hall in which to preserve the memorials I then
possessed and those which I might subsequently secure,
and I then and there adopted this plan. I have con-
tinued up to this time to gather Lincoln mementos,
and have now in my possession nearly two thousand
books, sermons, eulogies, poems, songs, portraits, badges,
autograph letters, pins, medals, envelopes, statuettes,

[Yl

vi PREFACE.

etc., etc. The fact is, I have collected everything I could
find sacred to Lincoln's memory, from a newspaper scrap
to his large cook-stove and other household articles. I
desire here to thank the many friends to whom I am
under obligations for valuable contributions. I have the
promise of several more, that will be sent me in due
time, and I shall always be thankful for any Lincoln
relic sent me, no matter how trifling it may seem to the
owner. The accumulation of Lincoln relics induced me
to collect the opinions of the great men of the world
in regard to the noble martyr, in order to demonstrate
how universally Mr. Lincoln was beloved and respected.
Letters were sent to distinguished persons East aptl West,
North and South in our country, as well as to persons in
England, requesting them to express their estimate of
Lincoln's public and private character and of his ser-
vices ; and the more than two hundred responses to be
found in this volume, over the fac-similes of the writer's
names, shows the unexpected success I met with in this
effort. Their publication in book form, together with
the other reminiscences of Lincoln found in this volume,
will, I have no doubt, be approved by the public. It has
been my purpose to produce a work the contents of
which might in some degree shed luster on the name of
the immortal emancipator, and the external appearance
of which might be an ornament in any house or library.
How far I have succeeded in attaining the goal of my
ambition, of this a generous public will have to judge.
Surely the gathering of the material for this volume has
been the greatest pleasure of my life. It has been a
source of profound gratification to me, not only to
receive the many tributes of great men's thoughts upon
the life and character of Lincoln, but also to visit the
old friends of his boyhood and listen to their simple and
unvarnished stories illustrating the goodness of his heart.
What a noble example was his whole life ! I have often
thought what a beautiful book for boys might be made
out of the boyhood of Lincoln if the past were collected

PREFACE. vii

and properly presented. All the friends of his youth
whom I have seen give testimony of the purity and
nobleness of his character ; they say he always wanted
to see fair play and that he was honest and upright in
all things. He found great delight in helping any one
in need. An old friend of Mr. Lincoln's, now living in
Petersburg, 111., told me how he at one time was build-
ing a house and was unable to make a brace fit. Mr.
Lincoln happened to come that way, and the former
said to him that if he would cut him a brace he would
vote for him the first time he ran for President. Lincoln
took a slate and pencil, and after getting the distance
between the joists, he estimated its dimensions, made a
pattern and the brace slipped in, a perfect fit. " I did
not vote for Lincoln," added the man who related the
story, " as I promised to do, but I have regretted it
ever since." Few better examples of industry could be
furnished to young men than the life of Lincoln. He
was always as busy as a bee. He always carried some
good book in his pocket, and when not otherwise engaged
he would read, and was usually seen reading when going
to and from his work. It is hoped that the sketch of
Lincoln given in this work, the many extracts from his
speeches, and the numerous thoughts and utterances in
reference to his life and character by the foremost men
of our time may be made accessible to the youth of our
land, in order that thus many a young heart may be
stimulated to industry, honesty, goodness and patriotism,
and may find encouragement for higher aspirations and
good deeds. The names of some persons will be missed
in this work by many of the readers. In reference to this
I have only to say that the fault is not mine. For some
reason or other they did not respond to my urgent
solicitations. It now remains to me to express my most
hearty thanks to all those persons who have so kindly
aided me in the preparation of this volume. I am
particularly indebted for their special interest to Rev.
Matthew Simpson, Hon. I. N. Arnold, Prof. Rasmus B.

viii PREFACE.

Anderson, Benson J. Lossing. LL.D., Rev. Theo. L.
Cuyler, T. W. S. Kidd, Joshua F. Speed, Joseph Gilles-
pie and Jesse W. Fell. Their generous assistance has
been a great comfort and help to me.

All I ask is that with the sale of this book I may
realize some funds with which to build a Memorial Hall,
where I may display to the public, free of charge, my life
work in the collection of memorials and souvenirs of
Abraham Lincoln, which will in due time be bequeathed
to the public.

I am aware that there are many imperfections in all
human enterprises, and am not blind to the faults of
this work, but I can truly say that it has not been under-
taken for the purpose of making money, but solely as an
outcome of my enthusiasm and reverence for its great
hero. I have spared neither pains nor expense, and, in
view of this fact, it may not seem immodest if I bespeak
for my effort the generosity of the critic and the liberality
of the public.

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, JULY, 1882.

GENERAL CONTENTS.

PACK

AUTHOR'S PREFACE, 5

INDEX TO THE WRITINGS AND SPEECHES OF

•

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 11

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS, . 15

INTRODUCTION BY BISHOP SIMPSON, 23

LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD, . 29

MISCELLANEOUS, 70

INDEX

TO THE

WRITINGS, SPEECHES AND SAYINGS

BY

Ctncoln.

First Political Speech when a Candidate for the Illinois

Legislature in 1832 76

Extract from a speech delivered December, 1839 ... 78
Resolutions upon slavery in the Illinois Legislature . . 80
An address before the Springfield Washingtonian Temper-
ance Society, February 22, 1842 ..... 84
Speech at Peoria, Illinois, October 16, 1854 .... 98
Extract from a speech at Springfield, Illinois, June 26, 1857 100
Letter to Hon. Stephen A. Douglas ..... 102
Extract from a speech at Springfield, Illinois, June 17, 1858 . 106
Extract from a speech at Chicago, Illinois, July to, 1858 . 108
Extract from a speech delivered at Springfield, Illinois,

July 17, 1858 112

Extract from a speech at Ottawa, Illinois, August 21, 1858 . 114

Extract from a speech at Freeport, Illinois, August 27, 1858. n6

Extract from a speech at Galesburg, Illinois, October 7, 1858 120

Extract from a speech at Quincy, Illinois, October 13, 1858 . 124

Speech at Alton, Illinois, October 15, 1858 . . . 130

Extract from a speech at Columbus, Ohio, September, 1859 132

Extract from a speech at Cincinnati, Ohio, September, 1859 134

[xi]

xii INDEX.

PAGE

Extract from a speech at Jonesboro, Illinois, September 15

1858 : 138

Extract from an address at Cooper Institute, February 27,

1860. .......... 140

Address to the citizens of Springfield, on his departure for

Washington, February u, 1861 142

Letter of Acceptance .148

Speech at Toledo, Ohio ... .... 150

Speech at Indianapolis, Indiana 152

Speech to the members of the Legislature of Indiana, who

waited upon him at his hotel 158

Speech at Cincinnati, Ohio ....... 160

Speech to the Ohio State Senate 162

Speech at Steubenville, Ohio 164

Speech at Pittsburgh, Pa. 166

Speech at Cleveland, Ohio 168

Speech at Buffalo, N. Y. 170

Speech at Syracuse, N. Y. . . . . . . .174

Speech at Utica, N. Y. • 176

Speech from the steps of the Capitol, Albany, N. Y. . .178

Speech in the Assembly Hall at Albany, N. Y. . . . 180

Speech at Poughkeepsie, N. Y 182

Speech at Peekskill, N. Y 184

Reply to the Mayor of New York ..... 186

Speech to various Republican Associations, New York. . 192

Speech at Newark, New Jersey. . . ... 194

Speech in the Senate Chamber, Trenton, New Jersey . . 196
Speech at Trenton, New Jersey, delivered in the House of

Assembly. 198

Address to the Mayor and Citizens of Philadelphia. . . 200

Speech in Independence Hall, at Philadelphia. . . . 202

Speech before Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Feb.. 1861 204

Speech at Lancaster, Pennsylvania 206

Speech before the Legislature of Pennsylvania, at Harris-
burg, February 22, 1861 208

Speech to the Mayor and Common Council of Washington 210

Proclamation, April 15, 1861 212

INDEX. xiii

PAGH

Reply to Governor Hicks and Mayor Brown. . . . 216
Message to Congress, in extra session, July 4, 1861 . 222
Personal Conference with the Representatives from the Bor-
der States 224

Reply to Horace Greeley 226

Reply to a Religious Delegation 228

First Inaugural Address ....... 230

Abolishing Slavery in the District of Columbia . . . 234

First Annual Message to Congress, December 3, 1861 . 236
Proclamation, relative to General Hunter's order declaring

slaves within his department free 244

Reading the Emancipation Proclamation to his Cabinet,

September 22, 1862 ........ 246

Reply to the Resolutions of the East Baltimore Methodist

Conference of 1862 24$

To the Synod of Old School Presbyterians, Baltimore. . 254

Reply to the Committee of the Lutheran Synod of 1862 . 256

Second Annual Message to Congress, December i, 1862 . 258

Emancipation Proclamation, January i, 1863. . . . 262

Reply to an invitation to preside over a meeting of the

Christian Commission ....... 266

Reply to address from workingmen, Manchester, England 268

Remarks made to some friends New Year's evening, 1863 . 270

From the letter to Erastus Corning and others . . . 272

Response to a serenade . 278

The President's Dispatch ....... 280

Proclamation .......... 282

Reply to a Committee of the Presbyterian Church . . 284

Letter to General Grant 288

A Proclamation, July 15, 1863 290

Presentation of a Commission as Lieutenant-General to

U. S. Grant 292

Letter to James C. Conkling 294

Reply to the letter of Governor Seymour, of New York . 296

Address on the Battle-Field of Gettysburg .... 298

Third Annual Message to Congress .... 300

Speech at a Ladies' Fair in Washington . . . 310

xiv INDEX.

Letter to A. G. Hodges ....... 312

Speech at the opening of a Fair in Baltimore, April, 1864 . 314

Reply to a Committee from the Methodist Conference . . 316

Response to a delegation of the National Union League . 318

Speech at the Philadelphia Fair ...... 320

From his Letter of Acceptance ...... 322

Saving a Life ... ....... 324

To whom it may concern ....... 324

Speech to a serenading club of Pennsylvanians . . . 326

Address to the Political Clubs ...... 332

Interview with a gentleman ..... . v 334

Letter to Mrs. Eliza P. Gurney ....... 338

Reply to a committee of loyal colored people of Baltimore 340

Remarks to the iSpth New York Regiment .... 342

Speech to the i64th Ohio ....... 344

Reply to a company of clergymen ..... 346

Speech to the i48th Ohio regiment ..... 354

Remarks to a serenading party at the White House . . 356

Observance of the Sabbath ....... 358

Letter to Mrs. Bixby, of Boston ...... 360

Remarks to a delegation from Ohio ..... 362

Fourth Annual Message to Congress, December 6th, 1864 . 364

Reply to an Illinois clergyman ..... , 366

Instructions to Wm. H. Seward, at the Meeting of Messrs.

Stevens, Hunter and Campbell, at Fortress Monroe, Va. 368

Second Inaugural Address, delivered March 3, 1865 . . 370

Remarks upon the fall of Richmond ..... 372

A Verbal Message given to Hon. Schuyler Colfax . . 374
Remark previous to attending the theater on the night of

his assassination ........ 375

Fac-simile of the play-bill at Ford's Theater on the night

of April 14, 1865 ........ 376

Fac-simile Letter to J. W. Fell, 1859 ..... 479

Autobiography of Abraham Lincoln, in Fac-Simile . , 480

ALPHABETICAL

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS.

Arnold, Isaac N., Author 29

Anderson, Rasmus B., Author 77

Ayres, R. B., Major-General . . . . -79

Abbott, Lyman, Author and Divine 81

Adams, Charles Francis, ex-Min. to England . . 83
Arthur, T. S., Author . . . . . . -99

Affleck, W. B., Lecturer 123

Allyn, Robert, Professor ...... 139

Andrews, Israel Ward, College President . . . 388

Avery, John, Professor . . . . . . 525

Anthony, Henry B., Statesman . . . . . 515

Botta, Anna C., Authoress . . . . 71

Bennett, H. S., Chaplain Fisk University . . . 105

Blanchard, Rufus, Author . . . . . . 153

Bellows, Henry W., Divine ..... 169

Burnam, C. F., Lawyer 171

Bradley, Joseph P., Justice Sup. Court . . 173

Burnside, Ambrose E., Major-General . . . 175
Bright, John, Member of Parliament . . .179

Bascom, John, College President .... 185

Bennett, Emerson, Editor 249

Boutwell, George S., Statesman . . . . \ . 267

Barnum, P. T., Showman 319

Barnes, S. G., Professor 331

Bailey, J. M., Journalist 331

Bancroft, Cecil F. P., Professor 339

Bedell, Gregory T., Divine 341

Bradley, W. O., Lawyer 361

[xv]

xviii LIST Of CONTRIBUTORS.

MM

Hazen, William B., Major-General ... . 343
Hancock, Winfield S., Major-General v . .311

Hall, Newman, Divine ...... 430

Harrington, C. S., Professor 435

Hayes, Rutherford B., ex-President « . . . 437

Howells, William D., Author 407

Holland, J. G. Author ...... 465

Howard, O. O., Major-General 392

Hopkins, Louisa Parsons, Authoress . . . 397

Houk, Leonidas C., Member of Congress . . 444

Hatch, Rufus, Banker 514

Herndon, Wm. H., Lawyer 526

Julian, George W., Member of Congress . . . 253

Judd, Mrs. Norman B 520

Kirkwood, Samuel J., ex-Secretary of Interior . . 207
Kautz, August V., Major-General . . . .401

Kidd, T. W. S., Editor 448

Lossing, Benson J., Historian 327

Lanman, Charles, Author 151

Lippincott, Charles E., General .... 410

Larcom, Lucy, Authoress 571

Longfellow, Henry W., Poet 466

Meigs, M. C., Quartermaster-General . . . . in

M'Culloch, Hugh, ex-Sec'y of Treasury . . . 117
Merritt, Wesley, Brevet Major-General . . .127

Morrill, Lot M., Statesman 137

Minier, George W., Merchant ..... 187
Maynard, Horace, ex-Postmaster-General . .271

Meyer, Albert J., U. S. Signal Officer . . . 297

Martindale, E. B., General 309

Morton, Levi P., Minister to France . . . . 311

McLellan, Isaac, Poet 313

Murdoch, James E., Elocutionist .... 347

Morey, William C., Professor 317

Marvin, James, Professor 391

Mead, C. M., Professor 391

Merrick, Frederick, ex-College President . . 428

LIST OF. CONTRIBUTORS. xix

PAOK

McCook, Anson G., Member of Congress . . . 465

Matthews, Stanley, U. S. Senator .... 433

Miller, Samuel F., Justice Supreme Court . . 443

McNeely, William, Farmer 393

Northrop, Cyrus, Professor . . . . . 229

New, John C., ex-U. S. Treasurer .... 416

Newton, William Wilberforce, Divine . . . 404

Nance, George Washington, Farmer . . . 556

Oglesby, Richard J., ex-Governor of Illinois . . . 227

Phelps, Elizabeth Stuart, Authoress . . . 21
Pagliardirri, Tito, . . . . . . .72

Pike, Albert, Author 255

Phillips, Wendell, Author and Orator . . . 281
Porter, Noah, Author and Professor . . .281

Prime, Samuel Irenaeus, Author, Editor . . . 285

Pratt, C. E., Brigadier-General .... 287

Palmer, Ray, Poet and Divine .... 289

Payne, C. A., College President .... 299

Porter, Robert P., Journalist . . . . .512

Pomeroy, E. C., Teacher ...... 560

Porter, David D., Admiral 399

Rice, Alexander H., ex-Governor of Mass. . . . 378

Ramsey, Alexander, ex-Secretary of War . . 287

Rector, Henry M., ex-Governor of Arkansas . . 505

Ross, Alexander Milton, Physician . . . 418

Rollins, James S., Member of Congress . . . 490

Simpson, M., Author and Divine 23

Speed, Joshua F., Lawyer ...... 143

Stoneman, George, Major-General .... 221

Stephens, Alexander H., Statesman .... 241

Shuman, Andrew, ex-Lieut. Gov. of Illinois . . 245

Schaff, Philip, Author and Divine . . . 253

Sturtevant, J. M., College President .... 273

Shrigley, James, Divine . . . . . 335

Spinner, F. E., ex-U. S. Treasurer .... 363

Sherman, William T., General 367

Schofield, Glenni W., Member of Congress . . 369

xx LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS.

F101

Smith, Richard, Journalist 417

Scott, L., Divine 405

Strong, William, Justice Supreme Court . . . 406
Smyth, Frederick, ex-Governor of N. H. . .412

Sherman, John, ex-Sec'y U. S. Treasury . . . 428
Swisshelm, Jane Gray, Authoress .... 413

Stoddard, W. O., Author 434

Smith, William F., Major-General .... 555

Trovvbridge, John Townsend, Author .... 157
Taylor, A. A. E., College President . . . .386
Townsend, E. D., Adjutant-General . . . 504

Townsend, George Alfred, Poet and Novelist . .5*3

Volk, Leonard W., Sculptor 217

Whittier, John G., Poet 101

Warner, Charles Dudley, Author . . . .129
Winthrop, Robert C., Statesman . . 7 .165

Warren, William F., Professor 167

Williams, S. Wells, Author 177

Walker, William, Lawyer 213

Wood, Fernando, Member of Congress . . . 398
Woodford, Stewart L., General .... 445
Warner, Willard, U. S. Senator .... 439
Waite, Morrison R., Chief Justice .... 467
Wheildon, William Willder, Author .... 440

THE angels of your thoughts are climbing still
The shining ladder of his fame,
And have not reached the top, nor ever will,

While this low life pronounces his high name.

But yonder, where they dream, or dare, or do,

The "good " or "great " beyond our reach,

To talk of him must make old language new
In heavenly, as it did in human, speech.

ANDOVER, MASS., NOVEMBER, 1881.

[xxi]

INTRODUCTION.

nr^HE name of Abraham Lincoln is imperishable.
•*• His fame is world-wide. Born in comparative
poverty, trained in obscurity, mingling with the sons of
toil in early manhood, he yet rose to one of earth's
proudest positions, and at his death the world. was in
tears. He was not born great, as the heir of a great
name, or of an estate ; yet he was born great in having
a strong intellect and a noble heart. Without the sur-
rounding of friends, without the influence of wealth, he
rose slowly but surely. Step by step he ascended the
great pyramid until he stood upon its lofty summit. As
we read history, how few names survive. Multiplied
millions pass away in every generation ; a few hundreds
only are honored by coming ages. In early history the
names which live are chiefly those of warriors or founders
of nations ; but Lincoln was no warrior ; he drew no
sword ; he fought no bloody battles ; he had no stars
upon his breast. Others, as the founders of schools of

philosophy, have left a name ; as Plato, and Socrates, and

[xxiii]

x x I v IN TROD UC T1ON.

Aristotle. You hear of Croesus through his untold
wealth ; but Lincoln was neither teacher nor millionaire.
First, his name lives through his honesty and unselfish-
ness, in his business, in his profession of the law, and in
all his transactions among men, he gained the grand title
of honest. His word was not doubted. No man believed
that he ever betrayed any trust.

When in after life he had millions under his control,
not even an enemy whispered a suspicion of his illegally
or selfishly controlling a dollar of public money. If an
honest man is the noblest work of God, then Mr. Lin-
coln's title to high nobility is clear and unquestioned.

In his busiest moment, in his most anxious hours
during the war, he was ever ready to listen to the story
of distress ; many a widow's heart was cheered by his
words and acts of kindness.

Secondly, he adhered firmly to what he believed to be
right Endowed with strong intellectual powers, which
he had carefully exercised, he loved to study great prin-
ciples. Deeply interested in the welfare of the
nation, he inquired how it might become strong and be
perpetuated. He followed not the crowd ; he sought
not personal popularity ; he had faith in the ultimate
triumph of truth and right. Perceiving the antagonism
between slave labor and free labor, espousing the cause
of equal rights and of human freedom, he early became

INTRODUCTION. xxv

the opponent of the encroachments of the slave power.
He stood firmly with a small minority while others
quailed before an imperious and threatening majcrity.
He risked his position as a leader, his reputation as a
statesman, as he disputed the right of slavery to the
territories, and championed the cause of freedom. In his
speeches which he made through his State are embodied
most noble sentiments and trenchant thoughts ; and
though unpopular for a time, his sentiments became the
sentiments of the great West.

Thirdly, when, in a season of great national excite-
ment, he was unexpectedly called to the Presidency of the
nation, he left his Western home with a presentiment
that he would probably never return. The dangers of
rebellion and civil war were before him. Threats of
treachery and assassination were heard. But he deter-
mined, if needful, to lay down his life for the nation.
He was not a warrior, but he was a hero. Through the
weary years of that fearful war he bore anxieties and
labors, and passed through perils that were exhausting
and fearful. He lived to see the cause of the nation
triumph, to behold the nation victorious, and coming
peace smiled upon the land. Just at that moment the
hand of the assassin sped the fatal ball. He died a
martyr for his country.

Fourthly, in that terrible contest he had the dis-

xxvi INTRODUCTION.

tinguished honor and power of showing that "the pen is
mightier than the sword." Fearful had been the contest.
Disaster had sometimes attended our armies ; despond-
ency brooded over the minds of the people until he
issued the famous Proclamation of Emancipation. That
act became the turning-point of the war. Four millions
of men were changed by it from slaves to citizens.
Manacles were melted by its electric thrill. Success
began to crowa the movements of the army, and soon
triumph rested on our banners.

Nor was it only from the millions of slaves that chains
had been removed ; the whole nation had been in bond-
age ; free speech had been suppressed. Men dared not
utter their convictions. An inquisition had been made
in the postal service ; the pulpit had frequently been
over-awed by excited assemblies and utterances. Our
great nation was reproached by the nations of the earth
as violating the principles of freedom by holding men in
slavery. The Proclamation of Emancipation not only
freed the slave, but freed the nation. Free speech was
restored. The pulpit and the press were unshackled.
The dark blot that had rested upon our national honor
was removed, and the nation stood proudly a united and
free people among the nations of the earth. This act
linked the name of Lincoln with the rights and progress
of humanity, and while human freedom and true progress

INTRODUCTION. xxvii

continue shall that name be held in reverence. We look
not only to the past, but his life is a living power for the
present and the future. It is a glowing commentary on
the principles of the American Government and on the
possibilities of human elevation. In older nations the
rulers are found in hereditary families, among names
that have been noble for generations ; where wealth has
been accumulated, and centuries of honored memories
have clustered around the name. Mr. Lincoln's eleva-
tion shows that in America every station in life may be
honorable ; that there is no barrier against the humblest ;
but that merit, wherever it exists, has the opportunity to
be known. His life also is an inspiration for the young.
There are few, indeed, more humble in their birth, more
obscure in their early associations, more pressed with
life's surroundings and cares, with fewer apparent pros-
pects of success ; to all these his example and his eleva-
tion becomes a living power. What he became they
may aspire to be ; and the humblest youth looking
through the coming years beholds the possibility of
occupying any position to which his talents and his
efforts may fit him.

Nor is it uninstructive to see how a name unknown
but a few years before may become wo'rld-wide. As a
President of the United States his position was equal,
at least, to that of the monarchs of Europe; and yet

x x v i i i IN TROD UCTION.

those monarchs had been unwilling to recognize as an
equal the President of a youthful nation, whose term of
office was limited to a few years. But when suddenly
smitten, the national sympathy of the masses and of the
monarchs was strongly touched ; words of sympathy and
condolence were sent from nearly every throne, and the
masses of the people in all their associations joined in the
general mourning, recognizing that a friend of humanity
had fallen. It is very fitting that proper mementos
should be prepared and widely diffused. The volume
now offered to the public embraces some of these me-
mentos, and is a collection of some of the best thoughts
and utterances in reference to his distinguished career.
It is hoped that it may have a wide circulation, and may
stimulate many a youthful heart to noble aspirations and
to noble deeds.

PHILADELPHIA, 1882.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

BY HON. ISAAC N. ARNOLD.

r I ^H E noblest inheritance we, Americans, derive from
-L our British ancestors is the memory and example
of the great and good men who adorn your history.
They are as much appreciated and honored on our side
of the Atlantic as on this. In giving to the English-
speaking world Washington and Lincoln we think we
repay, in large part, our obligation. Their pre-eminence
in American history is recognized, and the republic, which
the one founded and the other preserved, has, already,
crowned them as models for her children.

In the annals of almost every great nation some
names appear standing out clear and prominent, names
of those who have influenced or controlled the great
events which make up history. Such were Wallace and
Bruce in Scotland, Alfred and the Edwards, William
the Conqueror, Cromwell, Pitt, Nelson and Wellington,
in England, and such, in a still greater degree, were
Washington and Lincoln.

I am here, from near his home, with the hope that

[29]

30 S.BR.IHAM LINCOLN.

I may, to some extent, aid you in forming a just and
true estimate of Abraham Lincoln. I knew him, some-
what intimately, in private and public life for more
than twenty years. We practiced law at the same bar,
and during his administration, I was a member of Con-
gress, seeing him and conferring with him often, and
therefore, I may hope without vanity, I trust, that I
shall be able to contribute something of value in
enabling you to judge of him. We in America, as well
as you in the old world, believe that "blood will tell;"
that it is a great blessing to have had an honorable
and worthy ancestry. We believe that moral principle,
physical and intellectual vigor, in the forefathers are
qualities likely to be manifested in the descendants.
Fools are not the fathers or mothers of great men. I
claim for Lincoln, humble as was the station to which
he was born and rude and rough as were his early
surroundings, that he had such ancestors. I mean that
his father and mother, his grandfather and grand-
mother, and still further back, however humble and
rugged their condition, were physically and mentally
strong, vigorous men and women ; hardy and successful
pioneers on the frontier of American civilization.
They were among the early settlers in Virginia, Ken-
tucky, and Illinois, and knew how to take care of them-
selves in the midst of difficulties and perils ; how to
live and succeed when the weak would perish. These
ancestors of Lincoln, for several generations, kept on
the very crest of the wave of Western settlements —
on the frontier, where the struggle for life was hard
and the strong alone survived.

BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 31

His grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, and his father,
Thomas, were born in Rockingham County, Vir-

ginia.

About 1781, while his father was still a lad, his grand-
father's family emigrated to Kentucky, and was a contem-
porary with Daniel Boone, the celebrated Indian fighter
and early hero of that State. This, a then wild and
wooded territory, was the scene of those fierce and
desperate conflicts between the settlers and the Indians
which gave it the name of " The dark and bloody
ground."

When Thomas Lincoln, the father of the President,
was six years old, his father (Abraham, the grandfather
of the President) was shot and instantly killed by an
Indian. The boy and his father were at work in the corn-
field, near their log-cabin home. Mordecai, the elder
brother of the lad, at work not far away, witnessed the
attack. He saw his father fall, and ran to the cabin, seized
his ready-loaded rifle and springing to the loop-hole cut
through the logs, he saw the Indian, who had seized the
boy, carrying him away. Raising his rifle and aiming at
a silver medal, conspicuous on the breast of the Indian,
he instantly fired. The Indian fell, and the lad, springing
to his feet, ran to the open arms of his mother, at the
cabin door. Amidst such scenes, the Lincoln family nat-
urally produced rude, rough, hardy, and fearless men,
familiar with wood-craft ; men who could meet the
extremes of exposure and fatigue, who knew how to find
food and shelter in the forest ; men of great powers of
endurance — brave and self-rejiant, true and faithful to
their friends and dangerous to their enemies. Men with

o

32 ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

minds to conceive and hands to execute bold enter-
prises.

It is a curious fact that the grandfather, Abraham
Lincoln, is noted on the surveys of Daniel Boone as hav-
ing purchased of the Government five hundred acres of
land. Thomas Lincoln, the father, was also the purchaser
of government land, and President Lincoln left, as a part
of his estate, a quarter-section (one hundred and sixty
acres), which he had received from the United States for
services rendered in early life as a volunteer soldier, in tjie
Black- Hawk Indian war. Thus for three generations the
Lincoln family were land-owners directly from the Gov-
ernment.

Such was the lineage and family from which President
Lincoln sprung. Such was the environment in which his
character was developed.

He was born in a log-cabin, in Kentucky, on the I2th
of February, 1809.

It will aid you in picturing to yourself this young man
and his surroundings, to know that, from boyhood to the
age of twenty-one, in winter his head was protected from
the cold by a cap made of the skin of the coon, fox, or
prairie-wolf, and that he often wore the buckskin breeches
and hunting-shirt of the pioneer.

He grew up to be a man of majestic stature and Her-
culean strength. Had he appeared in England or Nor-
mandy, some centuries ago, he would have been the
founder of some great baronial family, possibly of a
\ royal dynasty.* He could have wielded, with ease, the
two-handed sword of Guy, the great Earl of Warwick, or
the battle-axe of Richard of the Lion-heart.

BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 33

HIS EDUCATION AND TRAINING.

The world is naturally interested in knowing what
was the education and training which fitted Lincoln for
the great work which he accomplished. On the extreme
frontier, the means of book-learning was very limited.
The common free schools, which now closely follow the
heels of the pioneer and organized civil government, and
prevail all over the United States, had not then reached
the Far West. An itinerant school-teacher wandered
occasionally into a settlement, opened a private school
for a few months, and, at such, Lincoln attended at differ-
ent times, in all about twelve months. His mother, who
was a woman of practical good sense, of strong physical
organization, of deep religious feeling, gentle and self-
reliant, taught him to read and write.

Although she died when he was only nine years old,
she had already laid deep the foundations of his excel-
lence. Perfect truthfulness and integrity, love of justice,
self-control, reverence for God, these constituted the solid
basis of his character. These were all implanted and
carefully cultivated by his mother, and he always spoke
of her with the deepest respect and the most tender affec-
tion. "All that I am, or hope to be," said he, when
President, " I owe to my sainted mother."

He early manifested the most eager desire to learn,
but there were no libraries, and few books in the back
settlements in which he lived. Among the stray volumes
which he found in the possession of the illiterate families
by which he was surrounded, were ./Esop's Fables, Bun-
yan's Pilgrim's Progress, a life of Washington, the poems

3

34 ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

of Burns, and the Bible. To these his reading was con-
fined, and he read them over and over again, until they
became as familiar almost as the alphabet. His memory
was marvelous, and I never yet met the man more
familiar with the Bible than Abraham Lincoln. This
was apparent in after life, both from his conversation and
writings, scarcely a speech or state paper of his in which
illustrations and illusions from the Bible cannot be
found.

While a young man, he made for himself, of coarse
paper, a scrap-book, into which he copied everything
which particularly pleased him. He found an old English
grammar, which he studied by himself; and he formed,
from his constant study of the Bible, that simple, plain,
clear Anglo-Saxon style, so effective with the people. He
illustrated the maxim that it is better to know thoroughly
a few good books than to skim over many. When fifteen
years old, he began (with a view of improving himself) to
write on various subjects and to practice in making politi-
cal and other speeches. These he made so amusing and
attractive that his father had to forbid his making them
in working-hours, for, said he, " when Abe begins to speak,
all the hands flock to hear him." His memory was so
retentive that he could repeat, verbatim, the sermons and
political speeches which he heard.

While his days were spent in hard manual labor, and
his evenings in study, he grew up strong in body, health-
ful in mind, with no bad habits ; no stain of intemperance,
profanity or vice of any kind. He used neither tobacco
nor intoxicating drinks, and, thus living, he grew to be
six feet four inches high, and a giant in strength. In all

BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 35

athletic sports he had no equal. I have heard an old
comrade say, "he could strike the hardest blow with the
woodman's axe, and the maul of the rail-splitter, jump
higher, run faster than any of his fellows, and there were
none, far or near, who could lay him on his back." Kind
and cordial, he early developed so much wit and humor,
such a capacity for narrative and story-telling, that he was
everywhere a most welcome guest.

A LAND SURVEYOR.

Like Washington, he became, in early life, a good prac-
tical surveyor, and I have in my library the identical
book from which, at eighteen years of age, he studied the
art of surveying. By his skill and accuracy, and by the
neatness of his work, he was sought after by the settlers,
to survey and fix the boundaries of their farms, and in
this way, in part, he earned a support while he studied
law. In 1837, self-taught, he was admitted and licensed,
by the Supreme Court of Illinois, to practice law.

A LAWYER.

It is difficult for me to describe, and, perhaps, more
difficult for you to conceive the contrast when Lincoln
began to practice law, between the forms of the adminis-
tration of justice in Westminster Hall, and in the rude
log court-houses of Illinois. I recall to-day what was said
a few years ago by an Illinois friend, when we visited, for
the first time, Westminster Abbey, and as we passed into
Westminster Hall. "This," he exclaimed, "this is the

36 ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

grandest forum in the world. Here Fox, Burke, and
Sheridan hurled their denunciations against Warren Hast-
ings. Here Brougham defended Queen Caroline. And
this," he went on to repeat, in the words of Macaulay,
(words as familiar in America as here), " This is the great
hall of William Rufus, the hall which hav§_resounded with
acclamations at the inauguration of thirty kings, and
which has witnessed the trials of Bacon and Somers and
Strafford and Charles the First." "And yet," I replied,
" I have seen justice administered on the prairies of Illi-
nois without pomp or ceremony, everything simple to
rudeness, and yet when Lincoln and Douglass led at that
bar, I have seen justice administered by judges as pure,'
aided by advocates as eloquent, if not as learned, as any
who ever presided, or plead, in Westminster Hall."

The common law of England (said to be the perfection
of human wisdom) was administered in both forums, and
the decisions of each tribunal were cited as authority in
the other ; both illustrating that reverence for, and obedi-
ence to, law, which is the glory of the English-speaking
race.

Lincoln was a great lawyer. He sought to convince
rather by the application of principle than by the citation
of authorities. On the whole, he was stronger with the
jury than with the court. I do not know that there has
ever been, in America, a greater or more successful advo-
cate before a jury, on the right side, than Abraham
Lincoln. He had a marvelous power of conciliating and
impressing every one in his favor. A stranger entering the
court, ignorant of the case, and listening a few moments
to Lincoln, would find himself involuntarily on his side

MY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 37

and wishing him success. He was a quick and accurate
reader of character, and 'seemed to comprehend, almost
intuitively, the peculiarities of those with whom he came
in contact. His manner was so candid, his methods so
direct, so fair, he seemed so anxious that truth and
justice should prevail, that every one wished him success.
He excelled in the statement of his case. However com-
plicated, he would disentangle it, and present the impor-
tant and turning-point in a way so clear that all could
understand. Indeed, his statement often alone won his
cause, rendering argument unnecessary. The judges
would often stop him by saying, " If that is the case,
brother Lincoln, we will hear the other side."

His ability in examining a witness, in bringing out
clearly the important facts, was only surpassed by his
skillful cross-examinations, He could often compel a wit-
ness to tell the truth, where he meant to lie. He could
make a jury laugh, and generally weep, at his pleasure.
On the right side, and when fraud or injustice were to be
exposed, or innocence vindicated, he rose to the highest
range of eloquence, and was irresistible. But he must
have faith in his cause to bring out his full strength. His
wit and humor, his quaint and homely illustrations, his
inexhaustible stores of anecdote, always to the point,
added greatly to his power as a jury-advocate.

He never misstated evidence or misrepresented his
opponent's case, but met it fairly and squarely.

He remained in active practice until his nomination,
in May, 1860, for the presidency. He was employed in
the leading cases in both the federal and state courts,
and had a large clientelage not only in Illinois, but

38 ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

was frequently called, on special retainers, to other
States.

AN ILLINOIS POLITICIAN.

By his eloquence and popularity he becameTearly in
life, the leader of the old Whig party, in Illinois. He
served as member of the State Legislature, was the
candidate of his party for speaker, presidential elector,
and United States senator, and was a member of the
lower house of Congress.

SLAVERY.

When the independence of the American republic
was established, African slavery was tolerated as a local
and temporary institution. It was in conflict with the
moral sense, the religious convictions of the people, and
the political principles on which the government was
founded.

But having been tolerated, it soon became an organ-
ized aggressive power, and, later, it became the master
of the government. Conscious of its inherent weakness,
it demanded and obtained additional territory for its
expansion. First, the great Louisiana territory was
purchased, then Florida, and then Texas.

By the repeal, in 1854, of the prohibition of slavery
north of the line of 36°, 30' of latitude (known in Amer-
ica as the " Missouri Compromise"), the slavery question
became the leading one in American politics, and the
absorbing and exciting topic of discussion. It shattered
into fragments the old conservative Whig party, with

BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 39

\vhich Mr. Lincoln had, theretofore, acted. It divided
the Democratic party, and new parties were organized
upon issues growing directly out of the question of
slavery.

The leader of that portion of the Democratic party
which continued, for a time, to act with the slavery party,
<iwas Stephen Arnold Douglas, then representing Illinois
in the United States Senate. He was a bold, ambitious,
able man, and had, thus far, been uniformly successful.
He had introduced and carried through Congress,
against the most vehement opposition, the repeal of the
law prohibiting slavery, called the Missouri Compromise.

»

THE CONTEST BETWEEN FREEDOM AND SLAVERY IN THE

TERRITORIES.

The issue having been now distinctly made between
freedom and the extension of slavery into the territories,
Lincoln and Douglas, the leaders of the Free-soil and
Democratic parties, became more than ever antagonized.
The conflict between freedom and slavery now became
earnest, fierce, and violent, beyond all previous political
controversies, and from this time on, Lincoln plead the
cause of liberty with an energy, ability, and eloquence,
which rapidly gained for him a national reputation.
From this time on, through the tremendous struggle, it
was he who grasped the helm and led his party to victory.
Conscious of a great cause, inspired by agenerous love of
liberty, and animated by the moral sublimity of his great
theme, he proclaimed his determination, ever thereafter,
"to speak for freedom, and against slavery, until every-

40 ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

where the sun shall shine, the rain shall fall, and the wind
blow upon no man who goes forth to unrequited toil."

THE LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS DEBATE.

The great debate between Lincoln and Douglas, in
1858, was, unquestionably, both with reference to the.
ability of the speakers and its influence upon opinion and
events, the most important in American history. I do
not think I do injustice to others, nor over-estimate their
importance, when I say that the speeches of Lincoln pub-
lished, circulated, and read throughout the Free States,
did more than any other agency in creating the public
opinion, which prepared the way for the overthrow of
slavery. The speeches of J ohn Quincy Adams, and those
of Senator Sumner, were more learned and scholarly,
and those of Lovejoy and Wendell Phillips were more
vehement and impassioned ; Senators Seward, Chase, and
Hale spoke from a more conspicuous forum, but Lincoln's
speeches were as philosophic, as able, as earnest as any,
and his manner had a simplicity and directness, a clear-
ness of illustration, and his language a plainness, a vigor,
an Anglo-Saxon strength, better adapted than any other,
to reach and influence the understanding and sentiment
of the common people.

At the time of this memorable discussion, both Lincoln
and Douglas were in the full maturity of their powers,
Douglas being forty-five and Lincoln forty-nine years old.
Douglas had had a long training and experience as a
popular speaker. On the hustings (stump, as we say in
America) and in Congress, and, especially in the United

BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 4'

States Senate, he had been accustomed to meet the ablest
debaters of his State and of the Nation.

His friends insisted that never, either in conflict with
a single opponent, or when repelling the assaults of a
whole party, had he been discomfited. His manner was
bold, vigorous, and aggressive. He was ready, fertile in
resources, familiar with political history, strong and severe
in denunciation, and he handled, with skill, all the
weapons of the dialectician. His iron will, tireless energy,
united with physical and moral courage, and great per-
sonal magnetism, made him a natural leader, and gave
him personal popularity.

Lincoln was also now a thoroughly trained speaker.
He had contended successfully at the bar, in the legisla-
ture, and before the people, with the ablest men of the
West, including Douglas, with whom he always rather
sought than avoided a discussion. But he was a courte-
ous and generous opponent, as is illustrated by the follow-
ing beautiful allusion to his rival, made in 1856, in one
of their joint debates. " Twenty years ago, Judge Doug-
las and I first became acquainted ; we were both young
then ; he a trifle younger than I. Even then, we were
both ambitious, I, perhaps, quite as much as he. With
me, the race of ambition has been a flat failure. With
him, it has been a splendid success. His name fills the
nation, and it is not unknown -in foreign lands. I affect
no contempt for the high eminence he has reached ; so
reached, that the oppressed of my species might have
shared with me in the elevation, I would rather stand on
that eminence than wear the richest crown that ever
pressed a monarch's brow."

42 ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

We know, and the world knows, that Lincoln did
reach that high, nay, far higher eminence, and that he
did reach it in such away that the "oppressed" did share
with him in the elevation.

Such were the champions who, in 1858, were to dis-
cuss, before the voters of Illinois, and with the whole
nation as spectators, the political questions then pending,
and especially the vital questions relating to slavery. It
was not a single combat, but extended through a whole
campaign.

On the return of Douglas from Washington, to
Illinois, in July, 1858, Lincoln and Douglas being candi-
dates for the Senate, the former challenged his rival to a
series of joint debates, to be held at the principal towns
in the State. The challenge was accepted, and it was
agreed that each discussion should occupy three hours,
that the speakers should alternate in the opening and the
close — the opening speech to occupy one hour, the reply
one hour and a-half, and the close half an hour. The
meetings were held in the open air, for no hall could hold
the vast crowds which attended.

In addition to the immense mass of hearers, reporters,
from all the principal newspapers in the country, attended,
so that the morning after each debate, the speeches were
published, and eagerly read by a large part, perhaps a
majority, of all the voters -of the United States.

The attention of the American people was thus
arrested, and they watched with intense interest, and
devoured every argument of the champions.

Each of these great men, I doubt not, at that time,
sincerely believed he was right. Douglas's ardor, while

BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 43

in such a conflict, would make him think, for the time
being, he was right, and I knoiv that Lincoln argued for
freedom against the extension of slavery with the most
profound conviction that on the result hung the fate of
his country. Lincoln had two advantages over Douglas;
he had the best side of the question, and the best temper.
He was always good-humored, always had an apt story
for illustration, while Douglas sometimes, when hard
pressed, was irritable.

Douglas carried away the most popular applause, but
Lincoln made the deeper and more lasting impression.
Douglas did not disdain an immediate ad captandum
triumph, while Lincoln aimed at permanent conviction.
Sometimes, when Lincoln's friends urged him to raise a
storm of applause (which he could always do by his
happy illustrations and amusing stories), he refused, say-
ing the occasion was too serious, the issue too grave.
" I do not seek applause," said he, " nor to amuse the
people ; I want to convince them."

It was often observed, during this canvass, that while
Douglas was sometimes greeted with the loudest cheers,
when Lincoln closed, the people seemed solemn and
serious, and could be heard, all through the crowd,
gravely and anxiously discussing the topics on which he
had been speaking.

Douglas secured the immediate object of the strug-
gle, but the manly bearing, the vigorous logic, the hon-
esty and sincerity, the great intellectual powers, exhibited
by Mr. Lincoln, prepared the way, and, two years later,
secured his nomination and election to the presidency.
It is a touching incident, illustrating the patriotism of

44 ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

both these statesmen, that, widely as they differed, and
keen as had been their rivalry, just as soon as the life of
the republic was menaced by treason, they joined
hands, to shield and save the country they loved.

The echo and the prophecy of this great debate was
heard, and inspired hope in the far-off cotton and rice-
fields of the South. The toiling blacks, to use the words
of Whittier, began hopefully to pray :

" We pray de Lord He gib us signs

Dat some day we be free.
De Norf wind tell it to de pines,
De wild duck to de sea.

"We link it when de church-bell ring,

We dream it in de dream,
De rice-bird mean it when he sing,
De eagle when he scream."

THE COOPER INSTITUTE SPEECH.

In February, 1860, Mr. Lincoln was called to address
the people of New York, and, speaking to a vast audi-
ence, at the Cooper Institute (the Exeter Hall of the
United States), the poet Bryant presiding, he made,
perhaps, the most learned, logical, and exhaustive
speech to be found in American anti-slavery litera-
ture. The question was, the power of the National
Government to exclude slavery from the territories.
The orator from the prairies, the morning after this
speech, awoke to find himself famous.

He closed with these words, " Let us have faith that
right makes might, and in that faith let us, to the end,
do our duty as we understand it."

BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 45

This address was the carefully finished product of,
not an orator and statesman only, but also of an accurate
student of American history. It confirmed and elevated
the reputation he had already acquired in the Douglas
debates, and caused his nomination and election to the
presidency.

If time permitted, I would like to follow Mr. Lincoln,
step by step, to enumerate his measures one after another,
until, by prudence and courage, and matchless states-
manship, he led the loyal people of the republic to the
final and complete overthrow of slavery and the resto-
ration of the Union.

From the time he left his humble home, in Illinois,
to assume the responsibilities of power, the political
horizon black with treason and rebellion, the terrific
thunder-clouds, — the tempest which had been gathering
and growing more black and threatening for years, now
ready to explode, — on and on, through long years of
bloody war, down to his final triumph and death — what
a drama! His eventful life terminated by his tragic
death, has it not the dramatic unities and the awful
ending of the Old Greek tragedy?

V

HIS FAREWELL TO HIS NEIGHBORS,

I know of nothing, in history, more pathetic than the
scene when he bade good-bye to his old friends and
neighbors. Conscious of the difficulties and dangers
before him, difficulties which seemed almost insurmount-
able, with a sadness as though a presentiment that he
should return no more was pressing upon him, but with

46 ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

a deep religious trust which was characteristic, on the
platform of the rail-carriage, which was to bear him away
to the capital, he paused and said, " No one can realize
the sadness I feel at this parting. Here I have lived more
than a quarter of a century. Here my children were
born, and here one of them lies buried. I know not how
soon I shall see you again. I go to assume a task more
difficult than that which has devolved upon any other
man since the days of Washington. He never would
have succeeded but for the aid of Divine Providence,
upon which, at all times, he relied. I

hope you, my dear friends, will all pray that I may receive
that Divine assistance, without which I cannot succeed,
but with which, success is certain."

And as he waved his hand in farewell to the old
home, to which he was never to return, he heard the
response from many old friends, " God bless and keep
you." "God protect you from all traitors." His neigh-
bors "sorrowing most of all," for the fear "that they
should see his face no more."

HIS INAUGURAL AND APPEAL FOR PEACE.

*

In his inaugural address, spoken in the open air, and
from the eastern portico of the Capitol, and heard by
thrice ten thousand people, on the very verge of civil
war, he made a most earnest appeal for peace. He gave
the most solemn assurance, that " the property, peace,
and security of no portion of the republic should be
endangered by his administration." But he declared,
with firmness, that the union of the States must be " per-

BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 47

petual," and that he should "execute the laws faithfully
in every State." " In doing this," said he, " there need be
no bloodshed nor violence, nor shall there be, unless
forced upon the national authority." In regard to the
difficulties which thus divided the people, he appealed to
all to abstain from precipitate action, assuring them that
intelligence, patriotism, and a firm reliance on Him, who
has never yet forsaken the republic, " were competent
to adjust, in the best way, all existing troubles."

His closing appeal, against civil war, was most touch-
ing, " In your hands," said he, and his voice for the first
time faltered, " In your hands, and not in mine, are the
momentous issues of civil war." " You can

have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors."
" I am," continued he, "loath to close; we are
not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies.
Though passion may strain, it must not break, the bonds
of affection."

The answer to these appeals was the attack upon
Fort Sumter, and immediately broke loose all the mad-
dening passions which riot in blood and carnage and
civil war.

I know not how I can better picture and illustrate
the condition of affairs, and of public feeling, at that
time, than by narrating two or three incidents.

DOUGLAS'S PROPHECY, JANUARY i, 1861.

In January, 1861, Senator Douglas, then lately a can-
didate for the presidency, with Mrs. Douglas, one of the
beautiful and fascinating women in America, a relative

48 ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

of Mrs. Madison, occupied, at Washington, one of the
most magnificent blocks of dwellings, called the " Minne-
sota Block." On New Year's day, 1861, General Charles
Stewart, of New York, from whose lips I write an
account of the incident, says,

" I was making a New Year's call on Senator Doug-
las ; after some conversation, I asked him,

" ' What will be the result, Senator, of the efforts of
Jefferson Davis, and his associates, to divide the Union ?'
We were," said Stewart, " sitting on the sofa together,
when I asked the question. Douglas rose, walked
rapidly up and down the room for a moment, and then
pausing, he exclaimed, with deep feeling and excitement:

" ' The Cotton States are making an effort to draw in
the Border States, to their schemes of secession, and I
am but too fearful they will succeed. If they do, there
will be the most fearful civil war the world has ever seen,
lasting for years.'

" Pausing a moment, he looked like one inspired,
while he proceeded : * Virginia, over yonder, across the
Potomac/ pointing toward Arlington, 'will become a char-
nel-house— but in the end the Union will triumph. They
will try,' he continued, ' to get possession of this capital,
to give them prestige abroad, but in that effort they will
never succeed ; the North will rise en masse to defend it.
But Washington will become a city of hospitals, the
churches will be used for the sick and wounded. This
house,' he continued, ' the Minnesota Block, will be
devoted to that purpose before the end of the war.'

" Every word he said was literally fulfilled — all the
churches nearly were used for the wounded, and the

BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 49

Minnesota Block, and the very room in which this decla-
ration was made, became the ' Douglas Hospital.'

" What justification for all this ? ' said Stewart.

" 'There is no justification,' replied Douglas.

" ' I will go as far as the Constitution will permit to
maintain their just rights. But,' said he, rising upon his
feet and raising his arm, 'if the Southern States attempt
to secede, I am in favor of their having just so many
slaves, and just so much slave territory, as they can hold
at the point of the bayonet, and no more.' '

WILL THE NORTH FIGHT?

Many Southern leaders believed there would be no
serious war, and labored industriously to impress this
idea on the Southern people.

Benjamin F. Butler, who, as a delegate from Massa-
chusetts, to the Charlestown Convention, had voted
many times for Breckenridge, the extreme Southern
candidate for president, came to Washington, in the win-
ter of 1860-1, to inquire of his old associates what they
meant by their threats.

"We mean," replied they, "we mean separation — a
Southern Confederacy. We will have our independence,
a Southern government — with no discordant elements."

"Are you prepared for war?" said Butler, coolly.

" Oh, there will be no war ; the North won't fight."

" The North will fight," said Butler; " the North will
send the last man and expend the last dollar to maintain
the Government."

"But," replied Butler's Southern friends, "the North
can't fight, we have too many allies there."

4

50 ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

"You have friends," responded Butler, "in the North,
who will stand by you so long as you fight your battles
in the Union, but the moment you fire on the flag, the
North will be a unit against you. And," Butler con-
tinued, "you may be assured that if war comes, slav-
ery ends"

THE SPECIAL SESSION OF CONGRESS, JULY, 1 86 1

On the brink of this civil war, the President sum-
moned Congress to meet on the 4th of July, 1861, the
anniversary of our independence. Seven States had
already seceded, were in open revolt, and the chairs of
their representatives, in both houses of Congress, were
vacant. It needed but a glance at these so numerous
vacant seats to realize the extent of the defection, the
gravity of the situation, and the magnitude of the impend-
ing struggle. The old pro-slavery leaders were absent,
some in the rebel government, set up at Richmond,
and others marshalling troops in the field. Hostile
armies were gathering, and from the dome of the Cap-
itol, across the Potomac and on toward Fairfax, in
Virginia, could be seen the Confederate flag.

Breckenridge, late the Southern candidate for Presi-
dent, now Senator from Kentucky, and soon to lead a
rebel army, still lingered in the Senate. Like Catiline
among the Roman Senators, he was regarded with
aversion and distrust. Gloomy and, perhaps, sorrowful
he said, " I can only look with sadness on the melancholy
drama that is being enacted."

Pardon the digression, while I relate an incident
which occurred in the Senate, at this special session.

BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 51

Senator Baker, of Oregon, was making a brilliant and
impassioned reply to a speech of Breckenridge, in which
he denounced the Kentucky Senator, for giving aid and
encouragement to the enemy, by his speeches. At
length he paused, and, turning toward Breckenridge, and
fixing his eye upon him, asked, " What would have been
thought if, after the battle of Cannae, a Roman Senator
had risen, amidst the Conscript Fathers, and denounced
the war, and opposed all measures for its success."

Baker paused, and every eye in the Senate, and in
the crowded galleries, was fixed upon the almost solitary
senator from Kentucky. Fessenden broke the painful
silence, by exclaiming, in low deep tones, which gave
expression to the thrill of indignation which ran through
the hall, " He would have been hurled from the Tarpeian
Rock."

Congress manifested its sense of the gravity of the
situation by authorizing a loan of two hundred and fifty
millions of 'dollars, and enpowering the President to call
into the field five hundred thousand men, and as many
more as he might deem necessary.

SURRENDER OF MASON AND SLIDELL.

No act of the British Government, since the " stamp
act" of the Revolution, has ever excited such intense
feeling of hostility toward Great Britain, as her haughty
demand for the surrender of Mason and Slidell. It
required nerve, in the President, to stem the storm of
popular feeling and yield to that demand, and it was,
for a time, the most unpopular act of his administra-

52 ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

tion. But when the excitement of the day had passed,
it was approved by the sober judgment of the nation.

Prince Albert is kindly and gratefully remembered in
America, where it is believed that his action, in modify-
ing the terms of that demand, probably saved the United
States and Great Britain from the horrors of war.

LINCOLN AND THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY.

When in June, 1858, at his home in Springfield,
Mr. Lincoln startled the people with the declaration,
" This government cannot endure, permanently, half slave
and half free," and when, at the close of his speech, to those
who were laboring for the ultimate extinction of slavery,
he exclaimed, with the voice of a prophet, " We shall
not fail, if we stand firm, we shall not fail. Wise
councils may accelerate, or mistakes delay, but sooner
or later, the victory is sure to come ;" he anticipated
success, through years of discussion, and final triumph
through peaceful and constitutional means by the ballot.
He did not foresee, nor even dream (unless in those
dim mysterious shadows, which sometimes startle by
half revealing the future), his own elevation to the
presidency. He did not then suspect that he had been
appointed by God, and should be chosen by the people,
to proclaim the emancipation of a race, and to save his
country. He did not foresee that slavery was so soon
to be destroyed, amidst the flames of war which itself
kindled.

HIS MODERATION.

He entered upon his administration with the single

BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 53

purpose of maintaining national unity, and many
reproached and denounced him for the slowness of his
anti-slavery measures. The first of the series was the abo-
lition of slavery at the National Capitol. This act gave
freedom to three thousand slaves, with compensation to
their loyal masters. Contemporaneous with this was
an act conferring freedom upon all colored soldiers who
should serve in the Union armies and upon their
families. The next was an act which I had the honor
to introduce, prohibiting slavery in all the territories,
and wherever the National Government had jurisdiction.
But the great, the decisive act of his administration,
was the " Emancipation Proclamation."

EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.

The President had urged, with the utmost earnest-
ness, on the loyal slave-holders of the Border States,
gradual and compensated emancipation, but in vain. He
clearly saw, all saw, that the slaves, as used by the Con-
federates, were a vast power, contributing immensely
to their ability to carry on the war, and that, by declar-
ing their freedom, he would convert millions of freedmen
into active friends and allies of the Union. The people
knew that he was deliberating upon the question of issu-
Union men of the Border States made an appeal to him
to withhold the edict, and suffer slavery to survive.

They selected John J. Crittenden, a venerable and
eloquent man, and their ablest statesman, to make, on the
floor of Congress, a public appeal to the President, to
withhold the proclamation. Mr. Crittenden had been

54 ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

governor of Kentucky, her senator in Congress, attor-
ney-general of the United States, and now, in his old
age, covered with honors, he accepted, like John Quincy
Adams, a seat in Congress, that in this crisis he might
help to save his country.

He was a sincere Union man, but believed it unwise
to disturb slavery. In his speech he made a most
eloquent and touching appeal, from a Kentuckian to a
Kentuckian. He said, among other things, " There is a
niche, near to that of Washington, to him who shall save
his country. If Mr. Lincoln will step into that niche,
the founder and the preserver of the Republic shall stand
side by side." Owen Lovejoy, the brother

of Elijah P. Lovejoy, who had been mobbed and mur-
dered because he would not surrender the liberty of the
press, replied to Crittenden. After his brother's murder,
kneeling upon the green sod which covered that brother's
grave, he had taken a solemn vow, of eternal war upon
slavery. Ever after, like Peter the Hermit, with a heart
of fire and a tongue of lightning, he had gone forth,
preaching his crusade against slavery. At length, in his
reply, turning to Crittenden, he said, "The gentleman
from Kentucky says he has a niche for Abraham Lin-
coln, where is it ? "

Crittenden pointed toward heaven.

Lovejoy continuing said, " He points upward, but, sir !
if the President follows the counsel of that gentleman,
and becomes the perpetuator of slavery, he should point
downward, to some dungeon in the temple of Moloch,
who feeds on human blood, and where are forged chains
for human limbs ; in the recesses of whose temple woman

BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 55

is scourged and man tortured, and outside the walls are
lying dogs, gorged with human flesh, as Byron describes
them, lying around the walls of Stamboul." " That,"
said Lovejoy, " is a suitable place for the statue of him
who would perpetuate slavery."

" I, too," said he, ''have a temple for Abraham Lin-
coln, but it is in Freedom's holy fane,
not surrounded by slave fetters and chains, but with the
symbols of freedom — not dark with bondage, but radiant
with the light of Liberty. In that niche he shall stand
proudly, nobly, gloriously, with broken chains and slave's
whips beneath his feet. That is a fame

worth living for, aye, more, it is a fame worth dying for,
though that death led through Gethsemane and the
agony of the accursed tree."

" It is said," continued he, "that Wilberforce went up
to the judgment-seat with the broken chains of eight
hundred thousand slaves ! Let Lincoln make himself
the Liberator, and his name shall be enrolled, not only
in this earthly temple, but it shall be traced on the living
stones of that temple which is reared amid the thrones
of Heaven."

Lovejoy's prophecy has been fulfilled — in this world —
you see the statues to Lincoln, with broken chains at his
feet, rising all over the world, and — in that other world —
few will doubt that the prophecy has been realized.

In September, 1862, after the Confederates, by their
defeat at the great battle of Antietam, had been driven
back from Maryland and Pennsylvania, Lincoln issued
the Proclamation. It is a fact, illustrating his character,
and showing that there was in him what many would call

56 ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

a tinge of superstition, that he declared, to Secretary
Chase, that he had made a solemn vow to God, saying,
" if General Lee is driven back from Pennsylvania, I
will crown the result with the declaration of FREEDOM
TO THE SLAVE." The final Proclamation was issued on
the first of January, 1863. In obedience to American
custom, he had been receiving calls on that New Year's
day, and, for hours, shaking hands. As the paper was
brought to him by the Secretary of State, to be signed, he
said, " Mr. Seward, I have been shaking hands all day,
and my right hand is almost paralyzed. If my .name
ever gets into history, it will be for this act, and my whole
soul is in it. If my hand trembles when I sign the proc-
lamation, those who examine the document hereafter,
will say, ' he hesitated.' "

Then, resting his arm a moment, he turned to the
table, took up the pen, and slowly and firmly wrote
Abraham Lincoln. He smiled as, handing the paper to
Mr. Seward, he said, " that will do."

From this day, to its final triumph, the tide of victory
seemed to set more and more in favor of the Union
cause. The capture of Vicksburg, the victory of Gettys-
burg, Chattanooga, Chickamauga, Lookout-Mountain,
Missionary Ridge, Sheridan's brilliant campaign in the Val-
ley of the Shenandoah ; Thomas's decisive victory at
Nashville ; Sherman's march, through the Confederacy, to
the sea ; the capture of Fort McAllister ; the sinking of
the Alabama; the taking of Mobile by Farragut ; the
occupation of Columbus, Charlestown, Savannah ; the
evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond ; the surrender
of Lee to Grant ; the taking of Jefferson Davis a

BY iSAAC AT. ARNOLD. 57

prisoner ; the triumph everywhere of the national arms ;
such were the events which followed (though with delays
and bloodshed) the "Proclamation of Emancipation."

THE AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION.

Meanwhile Lincoln had been triumphantly re-elected ;
Congress had, as before stated, abolished slavery at the
Capital, prohibited it in all the territories, declared all
negro soldiers in the Union armies, and their families,
free, and had repealed all laws which sanctioned or recog-
nized slavery, and the President had crowned and con-
summated all, by the Proclamation of Emancipation.
One thing alone remained to perfect, confirm, and make
everlastingly permanent these measures, and this was to
embody in the Constitution itself, the prohibition of slav-
ery everywhere within the republic.

To change the organic law required the adoption by
a two-thirds vote of a joint resolution, by Congress, and
that this should be submitted to, and ratified by, two-
thirds of the States.

The President, in his annual message and in personal
interviews with members of Congress, urged the passage
of such resolution. To test the strength of the measure,
in the House of Representatives, I had the honor, in
February, 1864, to introduce the following resolution :

" Resolved, That the Constitution should be so
amended as to abolish slavery in the United States
wherever it now exists, and to prohibit its existence in
every part thereof forever " (Cong. Globe, vol. 50, p. 659).
This was adopted by a decided vote, and was the first

58 ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

resolution ever passed by Congress in favor of the entire
abolition of slavery. But, although it received a majority,
it did not receive a majority of two-thirds.

The debates on the Constitutional Amendment
(perhaps the greatest in our congressional history, cer-
tainly the most important since the adoption of the Con-
stitution) ran through two sessions of Congress. Charles
Sumner, the learned Senator from Massachusetts, brought
to the discussion, in the Senate, his ample stores of his-
torical illustration, quoting largely in its favor from the
historians, poets, and statesmen of the past.

The resolution was adopted in the Senate by the
large vote of ayes, 38, noes, 6.

In the lower house, at the first session, it failed to
obtain a two-thirds' vote, and, on a motion to reconsider,
went over to the next session.

Mr. Lincoln again earnestly urged its adoption, and,
in a letter to Illinois friends, he said, " The signs look
better. Peace does not look so distant as

it did. I hope it will come soon, and come to stay, and
so come as to be worth keeping in all future time."

I recall, very vividly, my New Year's call upon the
President, January, 1864. I said :

" I hope, Mr. President, one year from to-day I may
have the pleasure of congratulating you on the occurrence
of three events which now seem probable."

"What are they?" inquired he.

" i. That the rebellion may be entirely crushed.

"2. That the Constitutional Amendment, abolishing
and prohibiting slavery, may have been adopted

BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 59

"3. And that Abraham Lincoln may have been
re-elected President."

" I think," replied he, with a smile, " I would be glad
to accept the first two as a compromise."

General Grant, in a letter, remarkable for that clear
good-sense and practical judgment for which he is distin-
guished, condensed into a single sentence the political
argument in favor of the Constitutional Amendment.
"The North and South," said he, "can never live at
peace with each other except as one nation and that with-
out slavery"

GARFIELD'S SPEECH.

I would be glad to quote from this great debate, but
must confine myself to a brief extract from the speech of
the present President, then a member of the House.
He began by saying, " Mr. Speaker, we shall never know
why slavery dies so hard in this republic, and in this
hall, until we know why sin outlives disaster and Satan
is immortal." " How well do I remember,"

he continued, "the history of that distinguished pre-
decessor of mine, Joshua R. Giddings, lately gone to his
rest, who, with his forlorn hope of faithful men, took his
life in his hands, and, in the name of justice, protested
against the great crime, and who stood bravely in his
place until his white locks, like the plume of Henry of
Navarre, marked where the battle of freedom raged
fiercest." "In its mad arrogance, slavery

'lifted its hand against the Union, and since that fatal day
it has been a fugitive and a vagabond upon the earth."

Up to the last roll-call, on the question of the passage

60 ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

%

cf the resolution, we were uncertain and anxio is about
the result. We needed Democratic votes. We knew
we should get some, but whether enough to carry the
measure none could surely tell.

As the Clerk called the names of members, so perfect
was the silence, that the sound of a hundred pencils keep-
ing tally could be heard through the Hall.

Finally, when the call was completed, and the Speaker
announced that the resolution was adopted, the result
was received by an uncontrollable burst of enthusiasm.
Members and spectators (especially the galleries, which
were crowded with convalescent soldiers) shouted and
cheered, and, before the Speaker could obtain quiet, the
roar of artillery on Capitol Hill proclaimed to the city of
Washington, the passage of the resolution. Congress
adjourned, and we hastened to the White House to con-
gratulate the President on the event.

He made one of his happiest speeches. In his own
peculiar words, he said, " The great job is finished" " I
can not but congratulate," said he, " all present, myself,
the country, and the whole world, on this great moral
victory."

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. »

And now, with an attempt to sketch very briefly some
of his peculiar personal characteristics, I must close.

This great Hercules of a man had a heart as kind
and tender as a woman. Sterner men thought it a
weakness. It saddened him to see others suffer, and he
shrunk from inflicting pain. Let me illustrate his kind-
ness and tenderness by one or two incidents. One sum-

BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 61

mer's day, walking along the shaded path leading from
the Executive mansion to the War-office, I saw the tall,
awkward form of the President seated on the grass under
a tree. A wounded soldier, seeking back-pay and a pen-
sion, had met the President, and, having recognized him,
asked his counsel. Lincoln sat down, examined the
papers of the soldier, and told him what to do, sent him
to the proper bureau with a note, which secured prompt
attention.

After the terribly destructive battles between Grant
and Lee, in the Wilderness of Virginia, after days of
dreadful slaughter, the lines of ambulances, conveying
the wounded from the steamers on the Potomac to the
great field hospitals on the heights around Washington,
would be continuous, — one unbroken line from the wharf
to the hospital. At such a time, I have seen the Pres-
ident in his carriage, driving slowly along the line, and he
looked like one who had lost the dearest members of his
own family. On one such occasion, meeting me, he
stopped and said, " I cannot bear this ; this suffering,
this loss of life — is dreadful."

I recalled to him a line from a letter he had years
before written to a friend, whose great sorrow he had
sought to console. Reminding him of the incident, I
asked him, " So you remember writing to your suffering
friend these words :

" And this too s kail pass away,
Never fear. Victory will come"

In all his State papers and speeches during these
years of strife and passion, there can be found no words

62 ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

of bitterness, no denunciation. When others railed, he
railed not again. He was always dignified, magnanimous,
patient, considerate, manly, and true. His duty was
ever performed " with malice toward none, with charity
for all," and with " firmness in the right as God gives us
to see the right."

NEVER A DEMAGOGUE.

Lincoln was never a demagogue. He respected and
loved the people, but never flattered them. No man
ever heard him allude to his humble life and manual
labor, in a way to obtain votes. None knew better than
he, that splitting rails did not qualify a man for public
duties. He realized painfully the defects of his educa-
tion, and labored diligently and successfully to supply
his deficiencies.

HIS CONVERSATION.

lie had no equal as a talker in social life. His con-
versation was fascinating and attractive. He was full of
wit, humor, and anecdote, and at the same time, original,
suggestive, and instructive. There was in his character
a singular mingling of mirthfulness and melancholy.
While his sense of the ludicrous was keen, and his fun
and mirth were exuberant, and sometimes almost irre-
pressible, his conversation sparkling with jest, story, and
anecdote, and in droll description, he would pass sud-
denly to another mood, and become sad and pathetic ;
a melancholy expression of his homely face would show
that he was "a man of sorrows and acquainted with
grief."

BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 63

HIS STORIES.

The newspapers in America have always been full
of Lincoln's stories and anecdotes, some true and many
fabulous.

He always had a story ready, and, if not, he could
improvise one, just fitted for the occasion. The follow-
ing may, I think, be said to have been adapted:

An Atlantic port, in one of the British provinces,
was, during the war, a great resort and refuge for
blockade-runners, and a large contraband trade was said
to have been carried on from that port with the Con-
federates. Late in the summer of 1864, while the
election of President was pending, Lincoln being a can-
didate, the Governor-General of that province, with some
of the principal officers, visited Washington, and called
to pay their respects to the Executive. Mr. Lincoln had
been very much annoyed by the failure of these officials
to enforce very strictly the rules of neutrality, but he
treated his guests with great courtesy. After a pleasant
interview, the Governor, alluding to the approaching
presidential election, said, jokingly, but with a grain of
sarcasm, " I understand, Mr. President, everybody votes
in this country. If we remain until November, can we
vote?"

" You remind me," replied the President, "of a coun-
tryman of yours, a green emigrant from Ireland. Pat
arrived in New York on election day, and was, perhaps,
as eager as Your Excellency, to vote, and to vote early
and late and often. So, upon his landing at Castle Gar-
den, he hastened to the nearest voting place, and, as he

64 ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

approached, the judge who received the ballots inquired,
' Who do you want to vote for ? on which side are you ?'
Poor Pat was embarrassed ; he did not know who were
the candidates. He stopped, scratched his head, then,
with the readiness of his countrymen, he said :

" ' I am foment the Government, anyhow. Tell me,
if your honor plases, which is the rebellion side, and
I'll tell you how I want to vote. In Ould Ireland, I was
always on the rebellion side, and, by Saint Patrick, I'll
stick to that same in America.'

"Your Excellency," said Mr. Lincoln, "would, I
should think, not beat all at a loss on which side to vote."

THE BOOKS HE READ.

The two books he read most were the Bible and
Shakespeare. With them he was familiar, reading and
quoting from them constantly. Next to Shakespeare,
among the poets, was Burns, with whom he had a hearty
sympathy, and upon whose poetry he wrote a lecture.
He was extremely fond of ballads, and of simple, sad and
plaintive music.

I called one day at the White House, to introduce
two officers of the Union army, both Swedes. Immedi-
ately he began and repeated from memory, to the delight
of his visitors, a long ballad, descriptive of Norwegian
scenery, a Norse legend, and the adventures of an old
Viking among the fiords of the North.

He said he had read the poem in a newspaper, and
the visit of these Swedes recalled it to his memory.

On the last Sunday of his life, as he was sailing up

J3Y ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 65

the Potomac, returning to Washington from his visit to
Richmond, he read aloud many extracts from Mac-
beth, and, among others, the following, and with a tone
and accent so impressive that, after his death, it was
vividly recalled by those who heard him :

" Duncan is in his grave ;
After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well ;
Treason has done his Tyorst : nor steel, nor poison,
Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing,
Can touch him further !"

After his assassination, those friends could not fail to
recall this passage from the same play :

" This Duncan

Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been
So clear in his great office, that his virtues
Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against
The deep damnation of his taking-off."

HIS RELIGION.

It is strange that any reader of Lincoln's speeches
and writings should have had the hardihood to charge
him with infidelity, but the charge, having been repeat-
edly made, I reply, in the light of facts accessible to all,
that no more reverent Christian (not excepting Washing-
ton) ever filled the chair of President. Declarations of
his trust in God, his faith in the efficacy of prayer, per-
vade his speeches and writings. From the time he left
Springfield, to his death, he not only himself continuedly
prayedfor Divine assistance, but never failed to ask the
prayers of others for himself and his country.

His reply to the negroes of Baltimore, who, in 1864,
s

66 ABA AH AM LINCOLN.

presented him with a beautiful Bible, as an expression of
their love and gratitude, ought to have silenced all who
have made such charges. After thanking them, he said,
" This great book is the best gift God has given to man.
All the good from the Saviour of the world is communi-
cated through this book."

When a member of Congress, knowing his religious
character, asked him " Why he did not join some church ?"
Mr. Lincoln replied, " Because I found difficulty, with-
out mental reservation, in giving my assent to their long
and complicated confessions of faith. When any church
will inscribe over its altar the Saviour's condensed state-
ment of law and gospel, ' Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy
mind, and thy neighbor as thyself,' that church will I join
with all my heart."

WHAT HE ACCOMPLISHED.

Let us try to sum up in part what he accomplished.

When he assumed the duties of the Executive, he

•

found an empty treasury, the National credit gone, the
little nucleus of an army and navy scattered and dis-
armed, the officers, who had not deserted to the rebels,
strangers ; the party which elected him in a minority (he
having been elected only because his opponents were
divided between Douglas, Breckenridge, ai:d Everett),
the old Democratic party, which had ruled most of the
time for half a century, hostile, and even that part of it in
the North, from long association, in sympathy with the
insurgents; his own party made up of discordant ele-

BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 67

ments, and neither he nor his party had acquired prestige
and the confidence of the people.

It is the exact truth to say that when he entered the
White House he was the object of personal prejudice to a
majority of the American people, and of contempt to a
powerful minority. He entered upon his task of restor-
ing the integrity of a broken Union, without sympathy
from any of the great powers of Western Europe. Those
which were not hostile manifested a cold neutrality, exhib-
iting toward him and his government no cordial good-will,
nor extending any moral aid. Yet, in spite of all, he
crushed the most stupendous rebellion, supported by
armies more vast, by resources greater, and an organiza-
tion more perfect, than ever before undertook the dis-
memberment of a nation. He united and held together,
against contending factions, his own party, and strength-
ened it by securing the confidence and winning the sup-
port of the best part of all parties. He composed the
quarrels of rival generals ; and, at length, won the respect
and confidence and sympathy of all nations and peoples.
He was re-elected, almost by acclamation, and, after a
series of brilliant victories, he annihilated all armed
opposition. He led the people, step by step, to Emanci-
pation, and saw his work crowned by an amendment of
the Constitution, eradicating and prohibiting slavery for-
ever, throughout the republic.

Such is a brief and imperfect summary of his achieve-
ments during the last five years of his life. And this
good man, when the hour of victory came, made it not the
hour of vengeance, but of forgiveness and reconciliation.
These five years of incessant labor and fearful responsi-

68 ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

bility told even upon his strength and vigor. He left
Illinois, for the Capital, with a frame of iron and nerves
of steel. His old friends, who had known him as a man
who did not know what illness was ; who had seen him
on the prairies before the Illinois courts, full of life, ge-
nial, and sparkling with fun ; now saw the wrinkles on his
forehead deepened into furrows — the laugh of the old days
lost its heartiness ; anxiety, responsibility, care, and hard
work wore upon him, and his nerves of steel at times
became irritable. He had had no respite, had taken no
holidays. When others fled away from the dust and heat
of the Capital, he stayed. He would not leave the helm
until all danger was past, and the good ship of state had
made her port.

I will not dwell upon the unutterable sorrow of the
American people, at his shocking death. But I desire to
express here, in this great city of this grand empire, the
sensibility with which the people of the United States
received, at his death, the sympathy of the English-speak-
ing race.

That sympathy was most eloquently expressed by all.
It came from Windsor Castle to the White House ; from
England's widowed queen to the stricken and distracted
widow at Washington. From Parliament to Congress,
from the people of all this magnificent empire, as it
stretches round the world, from England to India, from
Canada to Australia, came words of deep feeling, and
they were received by the American people, in their sore
bereavement, as the expression of a kindred race.

I cannot forbear referring in particular to the words
spoken in Parliament on that occasion, by Lords Russell

BY ISAAC N. ARNOLD. 69

and Derby, and, especially, by that great and picturesque
leader, so lately passed away, Lord Beaconsfield. After
a discriminating eulogy upon the late President, and the
expression of profound sympathy, he said :

" Nor is it possible for the people of England, at such
a moment, to forget that he sprang from the same father-
land and spake the same mother-tongue."

God grant that, in all the unknown future, nothing
may ever disturb the friendly feeling and respect which
each nation entertains for the other. May there never be
another quarrel in the family.

CHICAGO, 1882.

70 NOTE FROM RIGHT HON. JOHN BRIGHT.

NOTE FROM THE RIGHT HON. JOHN

BRIGHT.

No. 132 Piccadilly, London,

June 28 1 '/i, '8 1.
DEAR SIR :

I have read with much pleasure your interesting paper
on President Lincoln. I wish all men could read it, for
the life of your great President affords much that tends
to advance all that is good and noble among men. I
thank you for sending me the report of your paper.

I am, very sincerely yours,

JOHN BRCGHT
Hon. ISAAC N. ARNOLD.

LETTER FROM MRS. A. C. BOTTA. 71

LETTER FROM MRS. ANNE C. BOTTA.

Buckingham Palace Hotel,

June 22d, 1 88 1.
MY DEAR MR. ARNOLD :

An hour ago I opened the pamphlet you gave me
yesterday, intending to glance at the contents and lay it
aside to read when I reached home, but I found myself
unable to lay it down until I had carefully read every
word from first to last. It is certainly the most clear,
exhaustive, and eloquent tribute to Mr. Lincoln that I
have ever seen. But the pleasure it has given me is quite
equaled by the pride I feel in knowing that it was
listened to by the London Historical Society, to whom it
must have been as novel as interesting. As a good
American, I thank you cordially for thus giving to the
English people so noble a picture of our great President,
while, at the same time, you presented to them in person
his able friend and coadjutor.

Very truly yours,

ANNE C. BOTTA.

72 TITO PAGLIARDIRRrS ADDRESS.

ADDRESS OF TITO PAGLIARDIRRI, ESQ.,

COUNCIL OF THE ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY, LONDON,

ENGLAND.

MR. CHAIRMAN, LADIES, and GENTLEMEN : — Seldom
have I listened to a paper that has so deeply interested
me. It has given us a living portrait of one of the most
remarkable individualities of recent times — a portrait, too,
traced by the hand of one who, having himself taken a
prominent part in the great national struggle which put
an end to slavery, had constant opportunities of seeing
and studying in every phase of his life the eminent man
he has so graphically portrayed. And though it has been
said that familiarity breeds contempt, and that there is
no hero for his valet, yet men of the Garibaldi and Lin-
coln type, whose influence on their country and mankind
at large is chiefly due to moral force, can only gain by a
closer view of them in their prosaic every-day life.
When we see the gentler feelings of the human heart
combined in a prominent man with a rigid sense of duty
and the intellectual power and perseverance necessary to
fulfill that duty, we not only admire that man but revere
and love him. Hence Abraham Lincoln, the preserver,
as Washington was the founder of the great Union,
always, I must confess, stood higher in my estimation
and love than all the Alexanders, Csesars, and Napoleons

TITO PAGLIARDIRRI'S ADDRESS. 73

who have reddened the pages of history with their bril-
liant exploits.

Before his time, I was often taunted by my French
republican friends for showing but scant enthusiasm for
" La grande Republique Americaine." In answer, I
pointed to the huge black spot which, though it only
covered half, yet extended its moral taint to the whole of
the otherwise glorious Union. That could not be the
model land of Liberty where millions of our fellow-creat-
ures were born to slavery, to be bought and sold like
swine.

But when the great deliverer arose, humble though
his origin, as is that of most deliverers, my sentiments
towards America changed. I hailed him with enthusiasm
and stood almost alone in my circle, composed chiefly of
readers of the conservative and semi-conservative press ;
for, to their shame and ultimate discomfiture, the leading
papers almost all took the wrong side, prophesying con-
tinuous disasters to the anti-slavery party and a consequent
disruption of the Union. Their grand but specious ar-
gument, which misled many honest minds, ignorant of
the history of the several States, was that the South had
as much right to fight for their liberty as the United
States themselves had to fight for their independence
against England. Liberty, indeed! The liberty to per-
petuate the curse of slavery !

But Americans must not judge of British sentiments
by the conservative press, which only represents a portion
of the public, but which, unfortunately, was that which
most easily found its way across the Atlantic. The real
heart of Great Britain was from the beginning with the

74 TITO PAGLIARDIRRI'S ADDRESS.

North. Indeed. Lincoln's warmest sympathizers were
those who suffered most from the direful American civil
contest — the cotton-spinners and the whole body of the
working classes. And as nothing succeeds like success, I
am bound to add that in the process of time the undaunted
determination of the Northern States, under a series of
alarming defeats, with their best-trained generals and offi-
cers, and their chief arsenals, on the side of the slave-
holders, gradually gained for them and for their great
inspirer, Abraham Lincoln, the respect and admiration of
all parties — and this admiration and this respect were
vastly increased when, in the hour of victory, all cries for
vengeance were hushed, and the hand of brotherhood
was held out to the defeated party by the noble-hearted
President, with the full consent of his victorious country-
men.

And now that what was deemed impossible is an ac-
complished fact, viz. : the abomination of slavery erad-
icated forever from the great American Republic, and
peace and prosperity restored throughout the land, I
trust that, in Mr. Arnold's own words, "nothing may
ever disturb the friendly feeling and respect which each
of the great Anglo-Saxon nations entertains for the
other."

Already have they given a striking proof of their
advanced civilization and friendly feelings, and a noble
example to all other civilized nations, in the peaceful set-
tlement of the burning Alabama question, which, but one
generation ago would most certainly have led to an obsti-
nate war, ruinous to both countries. That the decision
of the neutral body of arbitrators was impartial and toler-

TITO PAGLIARDIRRI'S ADDRESS. 75

ably just was proved by its giving at the time entire satis-
faction to neither party, the whole question being, how-
ever, soon after completely dropped, leaving no angry feel-
ings behind, as would have done a war, however success-
ful in the end. May God grant that any future differ-
ences between these two great nations having a common
origin, a common language, a common literature, and so
many institutions in common, be settled in the same just
friendly, and rational manner. No fratricidal war must
or can ever arise between them. All their future battles
must be fought on the peaceful fields of science, literature,
and the industrial arts. Victories on these fields will
benefit both, and the whole human race into the bargain.

I will now conclude these hasty remarks by proposing
a hearty vote of thanks to the Hon. Isaac N. Arnold for
his very valuable and interesting paper.

Which was unanimously adopted.

FIRST POLITICAL ADDRESS.

LINCOLN'S FIRST POLITICAL SPEECH

WHEN A CANDIDATE FOR THE ILLINOIS LEGISLATURE

IN 1832.

" GENTLEMEN, FELLOW-CITIZENS : I presume you know
who I am. I am humble Abraham Lincoln. I have been
solicited by many friends to become a candidate for the
Legislature. My politics can be briefly stated. I am in
favor of the internal improvement system, and a high
protective tariff. These are my sentiments and political
principles. If elected, I shall be thankful ; if not, it will
be all the same."

3 *•§

•«« Is §|

SI ¥J

£. ANDERSON.

77

THE ripest and fairest fruit that has yet 'fallen from
our American tree of civilization is Abraham Lin-
coln. His private character was stainless, his public life
pure, wise, courageous, statesmanlike. In both, he will
shine the brighter as years and centuries roll on. Among
the many orbs that illuminate the pages of our history,
he is the sun himself, whose light was not darkened by
the most cloudy and stormy days of our civil war. When
he had saved our country, and wiped out the black stain
that marred the beauty of so many of our fair states,
envy could find no more shining mark for its poisoned
shafts, and like the good Balder in our ancient mythology,
and like Christ and Socrates of old, he was made to
die, that truth and righteousness might live. I can name
no name of any age or country that in private and public
life outshines that of the great ABRAHAM LINCOLN. His
memory will be cherished by the latest generations of
this eartn.

MADISON, 1880.

78 EXTRACT FROM SPEECH.

EXTRACT FROM A SPEECH DELIVERED
DECEMBER, 1839.

Of the slave power he said, Broken by it ? I, too, may
be asked to bow to it, I never will ! The probability that
we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from
the support of a cause which I deem to be just. It shall
not deter me. If I ever feel the soul within me elevate
and expand to dimensions not wholly unworthy of its
almighty Architect, it is when I contemplate the cause of
my country, deserted by all the world beside, and I stand-
ing up boldly and alone, and hurling defiance at her vic-
torious oppressors. Here, without contemplating conse-
quences, before high Heaven, and in the face of the world,
I swear eternal fidelity to the just cause, as I deem it, of
the land of my life, my liberty, and my love ! »

And who that thinks with me, will not adopt the oath
that I take ? Let none falter who thinks he is fight, and
we may succeed. But if, after all, we shall fall, be it so.
We shall have the proud consolation of saying to our
conscience, and to the departed shade of our country's
freedom, that the course approved by our judgments and
adored by our hearts, in disaster, in chains, in torture, and
in death, We never faltered in defending.

R. S. AY RES.

79

A BRAHAM LINCOLN was a man of noble charao
lY ter, — of lofty aims. He brought to the duties of
the presidential office the highest qualities of manhood,
a wide knowledge of humanity, and a superb courage to
carry out his convictions. It was a most fortunate cir-
cumstance that he was our President during those mo-
mentous years in our country's history.

U. S ARMY,
1882.

8o RESOLUTIONS UPON SLAVERY.

RESOLUTIONS UPON DOMESTIC SLAVERY
IN THE ILLINOIS LEGISLATURE.

March 3, 1837.

The following protest was presented to the House,
which was read and ordered to be spread on the journals,
to wit :

" Resolutions upon the subject of domestic slavery
having passed both branches of the General Assembly,
at its present session, the undersigned hereby protest
against the passage of the same.

" They believe that the institution of slavery is
founded on both injustice and bad policy ; but that the
promulgation of abolition doctrines tends rather to in-
crease than abate its evils.

"They believe that the Congress of the United
States has no power, under the Constitution, to inter-
fere with the institution of slavery in the different States.

"They believe that the Congress of the United
States has the power, under the Constitution, to abolish
slavery in the District of Columbia ; but that the power
ought not to be exercised unless at the request of the
people of said District. The difference between these
opinions and those contained in the said resolutions, is
their reason for entering this protest.
(Signed)

" DAN. STONE,
" A. LINCOLN,
"Representatives from the County of Sangamon."

LYMAN ABBOTT. 81

TO comprehend the current of history sympathetically,
to appreciate the spirit of the age, prophetically, to
know what God, by his providence, is working out in the
epoch and the community, and so to work with him as to
guide the current and embody in noble deeds the spirit of
the age in working out the divine problem, — this is true
greatness. The man who sets his powers, however
gigantic, to stemming the current and thwarting the di-
vine purposes, is not truly great.

Abraham Lincoln was made the Chief Executive of a
nation whose Constitution was unlike that of any other
nation on the face of the globe. We assume that, ordi-
narily, public sentiment will change so gradually that the
nation can always secure a true representative of its pur-
pose in the presidential chair by an election every four
years. Mr. Lincoln held the presidential office at a time
when public sentiment was revolutionized in less than
four years. When he was called to the presidency, only
a very insignificant minority in the nation was willing
that slavery should be interfered with, and only a bare
majority of the loyal North were prepared even to en-
force the laws in rebellious States. Before his term of
office had expired, a great body of the North were ready,
not only to put down rebellion by force of arms, but in
doing this to enfranchise the negro and to put arms into
his hands. It was the peculiar genius of Abraham Lin-
coln, that he was able, by his sympathetic insight, to per-
ceive the change in public sentiment without waiting for

8a LYMAN ABBOTT.

it to be formulated in any legislative action ; to keep
pace with it, to lead and direct it, to quicken laggard
spirits, to hold in the too ardent, too impetuous, and too
hasty ones, and thus, when he signed the emancipation
proclamation, to make his signature, not the act of an
individual man, the edict of a military imperator, but
the representative act of a great nation. He was the
greatest President in American History, because in a
time of revolution he comprehended the spirit of Ameri-
can institutions, grasped the purposes of the American
people, and embodied them in an act of justice and hu-
manity which was in the highest sense the act of the
American Republic.

CORNWALL-ON-H UDSON,

1881.

CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. 83

PERSONALLY I never saw President Lincoln more
than twice in my life, and then for a very few min-
utes. He then frankly told me that my mission to Great
Britain had not been altogether his selection, but I believe
he became well satisfied afterwards. So, on the other
hand, I became from a very lukewarm admirer of his, one
of the most appreciative of his high qualities, and mourn-
ers of his great loss. I shall never forget the moment
when, in London, the tidings of this loss were brought to
me. It seemed as if we were all afloat in the midst of a
boundless ocean.

BOSTON, 1880.

84 AN ADDRESS.

AN ADDRESS

DELIVERED BEFORE THE SPRINGFIELD WASHINGTONIAN
TEMPERANCE SOCIETY, AT THE SECOND PRESBYTER-
IAN CHURCH, ON THE 22D DAY OF FEBRUARY,
1842, BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN, ESQ.

Although the Temperance Cause has been in progress
for nearly twenty years, it is apparent to all that it is just
now being crowned with a degree of success, hitherto
unparalleled.

The list of its friends is daily swelled by the additions
of fifties, of hundreds, and of thousands. The cause
itself seems suddenly transformed from a cold abstract
theory, to a living, breathing, active and powerful chief-
tain, going forth "conquering and to conquer." The
citadels of his great adversary are daily being stormed
and dismantled ; his temples and his altars, where the
rites of his idolatrous worship have long been performed,
and where human sacrifices have long been wont to be
made, are daily desecrated and deserted. The trump of
the conqueror's fame is sounding from hill to hill, from
sea to sea, and from land to land, and calling millions to
his standard at a blast.

For this new and splendid success we heartily rejoice.
That that success is so much greater now, than hereto-
fore, is doubtless owing to rational causes ; and if we
would have it continue, we shall do well to inquire what
those causes are.

AN ADDRESS. 85

The warfare heretofore waged against the demon
hitempe/ance, has, somehow or other, been erroneous.
Either the champions engaged, or the tactics they
adopted, have not been the most proper. These cham-
pions, for the most part, have been preachers, lawyers and
hired agents ; between these and the mass of mankind,
there is a want of approachability, if the term be admis-
sible, partial at least, fatal to their success. They are
supposed to have no sympathy of feeling or interest
with those very persons whom it is their object to con-
vince and persuade.

And again, it is so easy and so common to ascribe
motives to men of these classes, other than those they
profess to act upon. The preacher, it is said, advocates
temperance because he is a fanatic, and desires a union
of the church and state;, the lawyer from his pride, and
vanity of hearing himself speak ; and the hired agent
for his salary.

But when one who has long been known as a victim
of intemperance bursts the fetters that have bound him,
and appears before his neighbors "clothed and in his right
mind," a redeemed specimen of long-lost humanity, and
stands up with tears of joy trembling in his eyes, to
tell of the miseries once endured, now to be endured no
more forever, of his once naked and starving children,
now clad and fed comfortably, of a wife, long weighed
down with woe, weeping, and a broken heart, now
restored to health, happiness and a renewed affection, and
how easily it is all done, once it is resolved to be done ;
how simple his language ; there is a logic and an eloquence
in it that few with human feelings can resist. They can-

86 AN ADDRESS.

not say that he desires a union of church and state, for
he is not a church-member ; they cannot say he is vain of
hearing himself speak, for his whole demeanor shows he
would gladly avoid speaking at all ; they cannot say he
speaks for pay, for he receives none, and asks for none.
Nor can his sincerity in any way be doubted, or his sym-
pathy for those he would persuade to imitate his example
be denied.

In my judgment it is to the battles of this new class
of champions that our late success is greatly, perhaps
chiefly, owing. But had the old-school champions them-
selves been of the most wise selecting? Was their
system of tactics the most judicious ? It seems to me it
was not. Too much denunciation against dram-sellers
and dram-drinkers was indulged in. This, I think, was
both impolitic and unjust. It was impolitic, because it is
not much in the nature of man to be driven to anything ;
still less to be driven about that which is exclusively
his own business ; and least of all, where such driving is to
be submitted to at the expense of pecuniary interest, or
burning appetite. When the dram-seller and drinker
were incessantly told, not in the accents of entreaty and
persuasion, diffidently addressed by erring man to an
erring brother, but in the thundering tones of anathema
and denunciation, with which the lordly judge often
groups together all the crimes of the felon's life, and
thrusts them in his face just ere he passes sentence of
death upon him, that they were the authors of all the
vice and misery and crime in the land ; that they were the
manufacturers and material of all the thieves and robbers
and murderers that infest the earth ; that their houses

AN ADDRESS. 87

were the work-shops of the devil, and that their persons
should be shunned by all the good and virtuous, as moral
pestilences, — I say, when they were told all this, and in
this way, it is not wonderful that they were slow, very
slow, to acknowledge the truth of such denunciations,
and to join the ranks of their denouncers, in a hue and
cry against themselves.

To have expected them to do otherwise than they did
— to have expected them not to meet denunciation with
denunciation, crimination with crimination, and anathema
with anathema, — was to expect a reversal of human
nature, which is God's decree, and can never be reversed.

When the conduct of men is designed to be influ-
enced, persuasion, kind, unassuming persuasion, should
ever be adopted. It is an old and a true maxim, " that
a drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall."
So with men. If you would win a man to your cause, first
convince him that you are his sincere friend. Therein is
a drop of honey that catches his heart ; which, say what
he will, is the great high road to his reason, and which,
when once gained, you will find but little trouble in cor-
vincing his judgment of the justice of your cause, if,
indeed, that cause really be a just one. . On the contrary,
assume to dictate to his judgment, or to command his
action, or to mark him as one to be shunned and despised,
and he will retreat within himself, close all the avenues
to his head and his heart, and though your cause be naked
truth itself, transformed to the heaviest lance, harder
than steel, and sharper than steel can be made, and
though you throw it with more than herculean force and
precision, you shall be no more able to pierce him, than

88 AN ADDRESS.

to penetrate the hard shell of a tortoise with a rye-straw.
Such is man, and so must he be understood by those who
would lead him, even to his own best interests.

On this point, the Washingtonians greatly excel the
temperance advocates of former times. Those whom
they desire to convince and persuade are their old friends
and companions. They know they are not demons, nor
even the worst of men ; they know that generally they
are kind, generous and charitable, even beyond the
example of their more staid and sober neighbors. They
are practical philanthropists ; and they glow with a gen-
erous and brotherly zeal, that mere theorizers are incap-
able of feeling. Benevolence and charity possess their
hearts entirely ; and out of the abundance of their hearts
their tongues give utterance, " Love through all their
actions run, and all their words are mild :" in this spirit
they speak and act, and in the same they are heard and
regarded. And when such is the temper of the advocate,
and such of the audience, no good cause can be unsuc-
cessful. But I have said that denunciations against dram-
sellers and dram-drinkers are unjust, as well as impolitic.
Let us see.

I have not inquired at what period of time the use of
intoxicating liquors commenced ; nor is it important to
know. It is sufficient that to all of us who now inhabit
the world, the practice of drinking them is just as old as
the world itself — that is, we have seen the one, just as long
as we have seen the other. When all such of us as have
' now reached the years of maturity, first opened our eyes
upon the stage of existence, we found intoxicating liquors
recognized by everybody, used by everybody, repudiated

AN ADDRESS. 89

by nobody. It commonly entered into the first draught
of the infant, and the last draught of the dying man.
From the sideboard of the parson, down to the ragged
pocket of the houseless loafer, it was constantly found.
Physicians prescribed it, in this, that and the other
disease ; Government provided it for soldiers and sailors ;
and to have a rolling or raising, a husking or "hoe-down "
anywhere about without it, was positively unsufferable.
So too, it was everywhere a respectable article of manu-
facture and of merchandise. The making of it was
regarded as an honorable livelihood, and he could make
most, was the most enterprising and respectable. Large
and small manufactories of it were everywhere erected,
in which all the earthly goods of their owners were in-
vested. Wagons drew it from town to town ; boats bore
it from clime to clime, and the winds wafted it from
nation to nation ; and merchants bought and sold it, by
wholesale and retail, with precisely the same feelings on
the part of the seller, buyer and by-stander as are felt at
the selling and buying of plows, beef, bacon, or any other
of the real necessaries of life. Universal public opinion
not only tolerated, but recognized and adopted its use.

It is true, that even then it was known and acknowl-
edged that many were greatly injured by it ; but none
seemed to think the injury arose from the use of a bad
thing, but from the abuse of a very good thing. The
victims of it were to be pitied and compassionated, just
as are the heirs of consumption, and other hereditary
diseases. Their failing was treated as a misfortune, and
not as a crime, or even as a disgrace.

If then, what I have been saying is true, is it wonder-

90 AN ADDRESS.

ful, that some should think and act now, as all thought
and acted twenty years ago, and is it just to assail, con-
demn, or despise them for doing so ? The universal
sense of mankind, on any subject, is an argument, or at
least an influence, not easily overcome. The success of
the argument in favor of the existence of an over-ruling
Providence, mainly depends upon that sense ; and men
ought not, in justice, to be denounced for yielding to it
in any case, or giving it up slowly, especially when they
are backed by interest, fixed habits, or burning appetites.
Another error, as it seems to me, into which the old
reformers fell, was the position that all habitual drunk-
ards were utterly incorrigible, and therefore, must be
turned adrift, and damned without remedy, in order that
the grace of temperance might abound, to the temperate
then, and to all mankind some hundreds of years there-
after. There is in this something so repugnant to
humanity, so uncharitable, so cold-blooded and feeling-
less, that it never did, nor never can enlist the enthusiasm
of a popular cause. We could not love the man who
taught it — we could not hear him with patience. The
heart could not throw open its portals to it, the generous
man could not adopt it, it could not mix with his blood.
It looked so fiendishly selfish, so like throwing fathers
,and brothers overboard, to lighten the boat for our se-
curity— that the noble-minded shrank from the manifest
meanness of the thing. And besides this, the benefits of
a reformation to be effected by such a system, were tco
remote in point of time, to warmly engage many in its
behalf. Few can be induced to labor exclusively for pos-
terity ; and none will do it enthusiastically. Posterity

AN ADDRESS. 91

has done nothing for us ; and theorize on it as we may,
practically we shall do very little for it unless we are made
to think, we are, at the same time, doing something for
ourselves.

What an ignorance of human nature does it exhibit,
to ask or expect a whole community to rise up and labor
for the temporal happiness of others, after themselves
shajl be consigned to the dust, a majority of which com-
munity take no pains whatever to secure their own
eternal welfare at no greater distant day. Great distance
in either time or space has wonderful power to lull and
render quiescent the human mind. Pleasures to be en-
joyed, or pains to be endured, after we shall be dead and
gone, are but little regarded, even in our own cases, and
much less in the cases of others.

Still, in addition to this, there is something so ludicrous,
in promises of good, or threats of evil, a great way off,
as to render the whole subject with which they are con-
nected, easily turned into ridicule. " Better lay down
that spade you're stealing, Paddy — if you don't* you'll
pay for it at the day of judgment." " Be the powers, if
ye'll credit me so long I'll take another jist."

By the Washingtonians this system of consigning the
habitual drunkard to hopeless ruin is repudiated. They
adopt a more enlarged philanthropy, they go for present
as well as future good. They labor for all now living,
as well as hereafter to live. They teach hope to all — de-
spair to none. As applying to their cause, they deny
the doctrine of unpardonable sin ; as in Christianity it is
taught, so in this they teach —

9* AN ADDRESS.

" While the lamp holds out to burn,
The vilest sinner may return."

And, what is a matter of the most profound congratula-
tion, they, by experiment upon experiment, and example
upon example, prove the maxim to be no less true in the
one case than in the other. On every hand we behold
those, who but yesterday were the chief of sinners, now
the chief apostles of the cause. Drunken devils are qast
out by ones, by sevens, by legions ; and their unfortunate
victims, like the poor possessed, who was redeemed from
his long and lonely wanderings in the tombs, are publish-
ing to the ends of the earth how great things have been
done for them.

To these new champions, and this new system of tac-
tics, our late success is mainly owing ; and to them we
must mainly look for the final consummation. The ball
is now rolling gloriously on, and none are so able as they
to increase its speed, and its bulk — to add to its mo-
mentum and its magnitude — even though unlearned in
letters, for this task none are so well educated. To fit
them for this work they have been taught in the true
school. They have been in that gulf, from which they
would teach others the means of escape. They have
passed that prison wall, which others have long declared
impassable ; and who that has not, shall dare to weigh
opinions with them as to the mode of passing ?

But if it be true, as I have insisted, that those who
have suffered by intemperance personally, and have re-
formed, are the most powerful and efficient instruments
to,push the reformation to ultimate success, it does not
follow that those who have not suffered have no part left

AN ADDRESS. 93

them to perform. Whether or not the world would be
vastly benefitted by a total and final banishment from it
of all intoxicating drinks, seems to me not now an open
question. Three-fourths of mankind confess the affirm-
ative with their tongues ; and, I believe, all 'the rest
acknowledge it in their hearts.

Ought any, then, to refuse their aid in doing what
the good of the whole demands ? Shall he who cannot
do much, be, for that reason, excused if he do nothing ?
"But," says one, "what good can I do by signing the
pledge? I never drink, even without signing." This
question has already been asked and answered more than
a million of times. Let it be answered once more. For
the man to suddenly, or in any other way, to break off
from the use of drams, who has indulged in them for a
long course of years, and until his appetite for them has
grown ten or a hundred fold stronger and more craving
than any natural "appetite can be, requires a most power-
ful moral effort. In such an undertaking he needs every
moral support and influence that can possibly be brought
to his aid, and thrown around him. And not only so,
but every moral prop should be taken from whatever
argument might rise in his mind, to lure him to his back-
sliding. When he casts his eyes around him, he should be
able to see all that he respects, all that he admires, all
that he loves, kindly and anxiously pointing him onward,
and none beckoning him back to his former misesaLle
" wallowing in the mire."

But it is said by some, that men will think and act
for themselves ; that none will disuse spirits or anything
else br.cause his neighbors do ; and that moral influence

94 AN ADDRESS.

is not that powerful engine contended for. Let us ex-
amine this. Let me ask the man who could maintain
this position most stiffly, what compensation he will
accept to go to church some Sunday and sit during the
sermon with his wife's bonnet upon his head? Not a
trifle, I'll venture. And why not ? There would be
nothing irreligious in it, nothing immoral, nothing un-
comfortable— then why not ? Is it not because there
would be something egregiously unfashionable in it?
Then it is the influence of fashion ; and what is the
influence of fashion but the influence that other people's
actions have on our own actions — the strong inclination
each of us feels to do as we see all our neighbors do ?
Nor is the influence of fashion confined to any particu-
lar thing or class of things. It is just as strong on one
subject as another. Let us make it as unfashionable to
withhold our names from the temperance pledge, as for
husbands to wear their wives' bonnets to church, and
instances will be just as rare in the one case as the other.

" But," say some, " we are no drunkards, and we shall
not acknowledge ourselves such, by joining a reformed
drunkards' society, whatever our influence might be."
Surely, no Christian will adhere to this objection.

If they believe as they profess, that Omnipotence
condescended to take on himself the form of sinful man,
and, as such, to die an ignominious death for their sakes,
surely, they will not refuse submission to the infinitely
lesser condescension, for the temporal, and perhaps
eternal salvation, of a large, erring, and unfortunate class
of their fellow-creatures. Nor is the condescension very
great. In my judgment such of us as have never fallen

I
AN ADDRESS. 95

victims, have been spared more from the absence of appe
tite, than from any mental or moral superiority over those
who have. Indeed, I believe, if we take habitual drunk-
ards as a class, their heads and their hearts will bear an
advantageous comparison with those of any other class.
There seems ever to have been a proneness in the bril-
liant and warm-blooded to fall into this vice — the demon
of intemperance ever seems to have delighted in sucking
the blood of genius and generosity. What one of us
but can call to mind some relative, more promising in
youth than all his fellows, who has fallen a sacrifice to
his rapacity ? He ever seems to have gone forth like
the Egyptian angel of death, commissioned to slay, if not
the first, the fairest born of every family. Shall he now
be arrested in his desolating career ? In that arrest, all
can give aid that will ; and who shall be excused that can,
and will not ? Far around as human breath has ever
blown, he keeps our fathers, our brothers, our sons, and our
friends prostrate in the chains of moral death. To all
the living, everywhere, we cry, " Come, sound the moral
trump, that these may rise and stand up an exceeding
great army." — " Come from the four winds, O breath ! and
breathe upon these slain, that they may live." If the
relative grandeur of revolutions shall be estimated by the
great amount of human misery they alleviate, and the
small amount they inflict, then, indeed, will this be the
grandest the world shall ever have seen,

Of our political revolution of '76 we are all justly
proud. It has given us a degree of political freedom far
exceeding that of any other nations of the earth. In it the
world has found a solution of the long mooted problem.

96 AN ADDRESS.

as to the capability of man to govern himself. In it was
the germ which has vegetated, and still is to grow and
expand into the universal liberty of mankind,

But, with all these glorious results, past, present, and
to come, it had its evils too. It breathed forth famine,
swam in blood, and rode in fire ; and long, long after, the
orphans' cry and the widows' wail continued to break the
sad silence that ensued. These were the price, the inev-
itable price, paid for the blessings it bought.

Turn now to the temperance revolution. In it we
shall find a stronger bondage broken, a viler slavery man-
umitted, a greater tyrant deposed — in it, more of want
supplied, more disease healed, more sorrow assuaged.
By it, no orphans starving, no widows weeping. By it,
none wounded in feeling, none injured in interest; even
the dram-maker and dram-seller will have glided into
other occupations so gradually as never to have felt the
change, and will stand ready to join all others in the uni-
versal song of gladness. And what a noble ally this, to
the cause of political freedom, with such an aid, its
march cannot fail to be on and on, till every son of earth
shall drink in rich fruition the sorrow-quenching draughts
of perfect liberty. Happy day, when, all appetites con-
trolled, all poisons subdued, all matter subjected, mind,
all-conquering mind, shall live and move, the monarch of
the world ! Glorious consummation ! Hail, fall of fury !
Reign of reason, all hail !

And when the victory shall be complete — when there
shall be neither a slave nor a drunkard on the earth —
how proud the title of that Land, which may truly claim
to be the birth-place and the cradle of both those revo-

AN ADDRESS. 97

lutions that shall have ended in that victory. How
nobly distinguished that people, who shall have planted,
and nurtured to maturity, both the political and moral
freedom of their species.

This is the one hundred and tenth anniversary of the
birthday of Washington — we are met to celebrate this
day. Washington is the mightiest name of earth — long
since mightiest in the cause of civil liberty, still mightiest
in moral reformation. On that name a eulogy is ex-
pected. It cannot be. To add brightness to the sun, or
glory to the name of Washington is alike impossible.
Let none attempt it. In solemn awe pronounce the
name, and in its naked, deathless splendor leave it
shining on.
7

98 SPEECH DELIVERED AT PEORIA.

SPEECH DELIVERED AT PEORIA, ILLINOIS,
OCT. 1 6, 1854.

Finally I insist that if there is any thing which it is
the duty of the whole people to never intrust to any hands
but their own, that thing is the preservation and perpe-
tuity of their own liberties and institutions. And if they
shall think, as I do, that the extension of slavery endan-
gers them, more than any or all other causes, how recreant
to themselves if they submit the question, and with it the
fate of their country, to a mere handful of men, bent only
on temporary self-interest. If this question of slavery
extension were an insignificant one — one having no power
to do harm — it might be shuffled aside in this way ; but
being as it is, the great Behemoth of danger, shall the
strong gripe of the nation be loosened upon him, to
intrust him to the hands of such feeble keepers ? I have
done with this mighty argument of self-government. Go
sacred thing ; Go in peace ! Much as I hate slavery, 1
would consent to the extension of it rather than see the
Union dissolved, just as I would consent to any great evil
to avoid a greater one. But when I go to Union-saving
I must believe, at least, that the means I employ have
some adaptation to the end.

T. S. ARTHUR. 99

AS the years pass, and we look back upon the life and
work of Abraham Lincoln, during the time he was
President of the United States, our admiration and rever-
ence for the man increases. For unselfish devotion to the
public welfare, purity of character, freedom from partisan-
ship and personal ambition, and ability to comprehend and
deal with the. momentous questions at issue in our great
struggle for national existence, he was first among the
ablest statesmen and most loyal men of his time.

NEW YORK, 1880.

ioo EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH.

EXTRACT.FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH,

DELIVERED IN REPRESENTATIVE'S HALL, SPRINGFIELD,
ILLINOIS, JUNE 26, 1857.

In those days, our Declaration of Independence was
held sacred by all, and thought to include all ; but now,
to aid in making the bondage of the negro universal and
eternal, it is assailed and sneered at, and construed, and
hawked at, and torn, till, if its framers could rise from
their graves, they could not at all recognize it. All the
powers of earth seem rapidly combining against him.
Mammon is after him, ambition follows, philosophy fol-
lows, and the theology of the day is fast joining the cry.
They have him in his prison-house ; they have searched
his person, and left no prying instrument with him.
One after another, they have closed the heavy iron doors
upon him ; and now they have him, as it were, bolted in
with a lock of a hundred keys, which can never be un-
locked without the concurrence of every key ; the keys
in the hands of a hundred different men, and they scat-
tered to a hundred different and distant places ; and they
stand musing as to what invention, in all the dominions
of mind and matter, can be produced to make the impos-
sibility of his escape more complete than it is.

JOHN G. WHITTIER.

101

THE weary form, that rested not,
Save in a martyr's grave ;
The care-worn face that none forgot,
Turned to the kneeling slave.

We resi m peace, where his sad eyes
Saw peril, strife and pain ;

His was the awful sacrifice,
And ours, the priceless gain.

DANVERS, i88a

A. LINCOLN.

Chicago, July 24, 1858.
HON. S. A. DOUGLAS.

My Dear Sir : Will it be agreeable to you
to make an arrangement to divide time, and address
the same audience, during the present canvass, etc.?
Mr. Judd is authorized to receive your answer; and
if agreeable to you, to enter into the terms of such
agreement, etc.

A. LINCOLN.

THEO. L. CUYLER. 103

EXTRACT FROM MY SERMON.

HE lived to see the rebellion in its last agonies ; he
lived to enter Richmond amid the acclamations
of the liberated slave ; he lived until Sumter's flag rose
again, like a star of Bethlehem, in the southern sky ; and
then, with the martyr's crown upon his brow, and with four
million broken fetters in his hand, he went up to meet
his God. In a moment his life crystallizes into the pure,
white fame that belongs only to the martyr for truth and
liberty ! Terrible as seems the method of his death to
us, it was, after all, the most fitting and glorious. In
God's sight, Lincoln was no more precious than the hum-
blest drummer-boy, who has bled away his young life on
the sod of Gettysburgh or Chattanooga. He had called
on two hundred thousand heroes to lay down their lives
for their country ; and now he, too, has gone to make
his grave beside them.

"So sleep the brave, who sink to rest,
By all their country's wishes blest."

When that grave, on yonder western prairie, shall
finally yield up its dead, glorious will be his resurrection !
Methinks that I behold the spirit of the great Liberator,
in that judgment scene, before the assembled hosts of
heaven. Around him are the tens of thousands from
whom he struck the oppressor's chain. Methinks I hear
their grateful voices exclaim, "We were an hungered, and

104

THEO. L. CUYLER.

thou gavest us the bread of truth ; we were thirsty for
liberty, and thou gavest us drink ; we were strangers, and
thou didst take us in ; we were sick with two centuries of
sorrow, and thou didst visit us ; we were in the prison-
house of bondage, and thou earnest unto us." And the
King shall say unto him : " In as much as thou done it
unto one of the least of these my brethren, thou hast
done it unto me. Well done, good and faithful servant ;
enter into the joy of the Lord."

BROOKLYN, 1882.

H. S. BENNETT. 105

I HAVE been working for thirteen years in Fisk Uni-
versity, an institution which is devoted to the eleva-
tion of the colored race in the United States. And I am
more and more convinced, from year to year, that no one
can fully comprehend the magnitude and grandeur of the
work achieved by Abraham Lincoln, until he has learned
to look upon him as the colored people regard him. To
the white Northerner he is preserver of the Union and
the martyred President, to the colored people he is their
deliverer, their savior. The name of Abraham Lincoln
is enshrined forever as sacred in the hearts of a grateful
people, whom he has redeemed.

FISK UNIVERSITY,
188o.

io6 EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH.

EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH,

AT SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, JUNE 17, 1858.

" A house divided against itself cannot stand." I
believe this government cannot endure permanently,
half slave, and half free. I do not expect the Union to
be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do
expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one
thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery
will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where
the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the
course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push
it forward till it shall become alike lawful in all the states,
old as well as new, North as well as South.

I have always hated slavery, I think, as much as any
abolitionist.

Our cause, then, must be intrusted to, and conducted
by, its own doubted friends — those whose hands are free,
whose hearts are in the work, — who do care for the result.
Two years ago, the Republicans of the nation mustered
over thirteen hundred thousand strong. We did this
under the single impulse of resistance to a common
danger, with every external circumstance against us. Of
strange, discordant, and even hostile elements, we gath-
ered from the four winds, and formed and fought the bat-
tle through, under the constant hot fire of a disciplined,
proud, and pampered enemy. Did we brave all, then, to

EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 107

falter now, — now, when that same enemy is wavering,
dissevered, and belligerent ? The result is not doubtful.
We shall not fail, — if we stand firm, we shall not fail.
Wise counsels may accelerate, or mistakes delay it, but
sooner or later, the victory is sure to come.

io8 EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH.

EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH

AT. CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, JULY IO, 1858.

Now, it happens that we meet together once every year,
sometimes about the 4th of July, for some reason or other.

These 4th of July gatherings I suppose have their
uses. If you will indulge me, I will state what I suppose
to be some of them. We are now a mighty nation ; we
are thirty, or about one-fifteenth part of the dry land of
the whole earth. We run our memory back over the
pages of history for about eighty-two years, and we con-
sider that we were then a very small people in point of
numbers, vastly inferior to what we are now, with a
vastly less extent of country, with vastly less of every-
thing we deem desirable among men. We look upon the
change as exceedingly advantageous to us and to our
posterity, and we fix upon something that happened
away back, as in some way or other being connected with
this rise of prosperity. We find a race of men living in
that day, whom we claim as our fathers and grandfathers ;
they were iron men ; they fought for the principle that they
were contending for ; and we understood that by what they
then did it has followed that the degree of prosperity
which we now enjoy has come to us. We hold this
annual celebration to remind ourselves of all the good
done in this process of time, of how it was done and who

EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 109

did it, and how we are historically connected with it ; and
we go from these meetings in better humor with ourselves ;
we feel more attached the one to the other ; and more
firmly bound to the country we inhabit. In every way
we are better men in the age and race and country in
which we live, for these celebrations. But after we have
done all this we have not yet reached the world. There
is something else connected with it.

We have, besides these men descended by blood from
our ancestors, among us, perhaps half our people, who are
not descendants at all of these men ; they are men who
have come from Europe — German, Irish, French, and
Scandinavian — men that have come from Europe them-
selves, or whose ancestors have come hither and settled
here, finding themselves our equals in all things. If they
look back through this history to trace their connection
with those days by blood, they find they have none, they
cannot carry themselves back into that glorious epoch
and make themselves feel that they are part of us ; and
when they look through that old Declaration of Independ-
ence, they find that those men say that, " we hold these
truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,"
and then they feel that that moral sentiment taught in
that day evidences their relation to those men ; that it
is the father of all moral principle in them, and they have
a right to claim it as though they were blood of the blood,
and flesh of the flesh, of the men who wrote that declara-
tion, and so they are. That is the electric cord in that decla-
ration that links the hearts of patriotic and liberty-loving
men together, that will link those patriotic hearts as long

no EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH.

as the love of freedom exists in the minds of men through-
out the world.

I am a poor hand to quote Scripture. I will try it
again, however. It is said in one of the admonitions of
our Lord, "As your Father in Heaven is perfect, be ye
also perfect" The Savior, I suppose, did not expect
that any human creature could be perfect as the Father
in Heaven ; but He said, " As your Father in Heaven
is perfect, be ye also perfect." He set that up as a stand-
ard, and he who did most toward reaching that standard,
attained the highest degree of moral perfection. So I
say, in relation to the principle that all men are created
equal, let it be as nearly reached as we can. If we can-
not give freedom to every creature, let us do nothing
that will impose slavery upon any other creature. Let
us then turn this government back into the channel in
which the framers of the Constitution originally placed it.
Let us stand firmly by each other. Let us discard all
this quibbling about this man and the other man, this
race and that race and the other race, being inferior,
and therefore they must be placed in an inferior position —
discarding our standing that we have left us. Let us
discard all these things, and unite as one people through-
out this land, until we shall once more stand up declaring
that all men are created equal. v

M. C. MEJGS. in

MR. LINCOLN, to those who knew him most inti-
mately, was greatest.

They saw and noted the gentleness, charity, love, and
tenderness of his daily life in all his harassing occupa-
tions, while the pages of the history of his times record the
proofs of his courage and wisdom, and of his fidelity to
his country, and to human liberty. He was as eminent
for his patience, as for his patriotism and wisdom.

EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH.

EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH

DELIVERED AT SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, JULY 17, 1858.

Senator Douglas is of world-wide renown. All the
anxious politicians of his party, or who have been of his
party for years past, have been looking upon him as cer-
tainly, at no distant day, to be the President of the United
States. They have seen in his round, jolly, fruitful face,
post-offices, land offices, marshalships, and cabinet appoint-
ments, chargeships, foreign missions, and sprouting out in
wonderful exuberance, ready to be laid hold of by their
greedy hands. And as they have been gazing upon this
attractive picture so long, they cannot, in the little dis-
traction that has taken place in the party, bring them-
selves to give up the charming hope, but with greedier
anxiety they rush about him, sustain him, and give him
marches, triumphal entries, and receptions beyond what,
even in the days of his highest prosperity, they could have
brought about in his favor.

On the contrary, nobody has ever expected me to be
President. In my poor, lean, lank face, nobody has ever
seen that any cabbages were sprouting out. These are
disadvantages, all taken together, that the republicans
labor under : We have to fight this battle upon principle
alone. I am, in a certain sense, made the standard-bearer
in behalf of the republicans. So I hope those with whom
I am surrounded have principle enough to nerve them-

EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 113

selves for the task, and leave nothing undone that can be
fairly done, to bring about the right result.

My declarations upon this subject of negro slavery
may be misrepresented, but cannot be misunderstood. I
have said that I do not understand the Declaration to
mean that all men were created equal in all respects.
They are not our equal in color ; but I suppose that it does
mean to declare that all men are created equal in some
respects ; they are equal in their right to " life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness." Certainly the negro is not our
equal in color, perhaps not in many other respects ; still,
in the right to put into his mouth the bread that his own
hands have earned, he is the equal of c/ery other man,
white or black. . In pointing out that more has been given
you, you cannot be justified in taking away the little which
has been given him. All I ask for the negro is that if
you do not like him, let him alone. If God gave him
but little that little let him enjoy.
8

ii4 EXTRACT FROM MR, LINCOLN'S SPEECH.

EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH

AT OTTAWA, ILLINOIS, AUGUST 21, 1858.

I hold that there is no reason in the world why the
negro is not entitled to all the natural rights enumerated
in the Declaration of Independence, the right to life, lib-
erty, and the pursuit of happiness. I hold, that he is as
much entitled to these, as the white man. I agree with
Judge Douglas, that he is not my equal in many respects,
—certainly not in color — perhaps not in moral or intel-
lectual endowment. But in the right to eat the bread,
without the leave of any body else, which his own hand
earns, he is my equal, and the equal of Judge Douglas,
and the equal of every living man.

THOMAS A. EDISON.

115

THE life and character of Abraham Lincoln, and his
great services to this country during the war of
the rebellion, will stand as a monument long after the
granite monuments erected to his memory have crum-
bled in the dust.

MENLO PARK, 1880.

n6 EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH.

EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH

AT FREEPORT, ILLINOIS, AUGUST 2?, 1858.

I have supposed myself, since the organization of the
Republican party at Bloomington, in May, 1856, bound
as a party man, by the platforms of the party, then, and
since. If, in any interrogatories which I shall answer, I
go beyond the scope of what is within these platforms,
it will be perceived that no one is responsible but myself.

ist. I do not now, nor ever did, stand in favor of the
unconditional repeal of the Fugitive Slave Law.

2d. I do not now, or ever did, stand pledged
against the admission of any more slave States into the
Union.

3d. I do not stand pledged against the admission of
a new State into the Union, with such a Constitution as
the people of that State may see fit to make.

4th. I do not stand to-day, pledged to the abolition
of slavery in the District of Columbia.

5th. I do not stand pledged to the prohibition of
the slave-trade between the different States.

6th. I am implied, if not expressly, pledged to a
belief in the right and duty of Congress to prohibit slav-
ery in all the United States Territories.,

7th. I am not generally opposed to honest acquisi-
tion of territory; and, in any given case, I would or
would not oppose such acquisition, accordingly as I might
think such acquisition would, or would not, aggravate the
slaveiy question among ourselves

HUGH M'CULLOCH. 117

JUST a. the moment when the people were rejoicing
over the fall of Richmond and the surrender of the
Confederate armies, the Chief Magistrate of the Na-
tion, the most beloved and most trusted of men, fell by the
hand of an assassin. For a moment the nation was struck
dumb by the atrocity of the act, and the magnitude of the
loss that had been sustained. As the report flashed over
the wires that the beloved Chief Magistrate of the Nation,
in the midst of rejoicing over our victories and the pros-
pect of returning peace, had been slain, what heart was
there throughout this broad land which was not filled
with anguish and apprehension ? — what thinking man did
not put to himself the questions, Can the Republic
stand this unexpected calamity ? Can our popular insti-
tutions bear this new trial ? The anguish remained and
still remains, but the apprehension existed but for a
moment. Scarcely had the announcement been made that
Lincoln had fallen, before it was followed by the report
that the Vice-President had taken the oath of President,
and that the functions of government were being per-
formed as regularly and quietly as though nothing had
happened. And what followed ? The body of the beloved
President was taken from Washington to Illinois through
crowded cities, among a grief-stricken and deeply excited
people, mourning as no people ever mourned, and moved
as no people were ever moved ; and yet there was no
popular violence, no outbreak of popular passion ; borne
a thousand miles to its last resting-place, hundreds of
thousands doing such honor to the remains as were never

n8 HUGH M'CULLOCH.

paid to those cf king or conqueror, and the public peace
notwithstanding intense indignation was mixed with
intense sorrow, was in no instance disturbed. Hereafter
there will be no skepticism among us in regard to the
wisdom, the excellence and the power of republican insti-
tutions. There is no country upon earth that could have
passed through the trials to which the United States have
been subjected during the four years of civil war with
out being broken into fragments.

The more I saw of Mr. Lincoln the higher became my
admiration of his ability and his character. Before I went
to Washington, and for a short period after, I doubted both
his nerve and his statesmanship ; but a closer observation
relieved me of these doubts, and before his death I had
come to the conclusion that he was a man of will, of
energy, of well-balanced mind, and wonderful sagacity.
His practice of story-telling when the government seemed
to be in imminent peril, and the sublimest events were
transpiring, surprised, if it did not sometimes disgust, those
who did not know him well ; but it indicated on his part
no want of a proper appreciation of the terrible responsi-
bility which rested upon him as the Chief Magistrate of a
great nation engaged in the suppression of a desperaFe
rebellion which threatened its overthrow. Story-telling
with him was something more than a habit. He was so
accustomed to it in social life and in the practice of his
profession, that it became a part of his nature, and so
accurate was his recollection, and so great a fund had he
at command, that he had always anecdotes and stories to
illustrate his arguments and delight those whose tastes
were similar to his own ; but those who judged from this

HUGH M'CULLOCH. 119

trait that he lacked deep feeling or sound judgment, or a
proper sense of the responsibility of his position, had no
just appreciation of his character. He possessed all
these qualities in an eminent degree. It was true of him,
as is true of all really noble and good men, that those who
knew him best had the highest admiration of him. He
was not a man of genius, but he possessed, in a large
degree, what is far more valuable in a public man,
excellent common sense. He did net undertake to direct
public opinion, but no man understood better the leadings
of the popular will or the beatings of the popular heart.
He did not seem to gain this knowledge from reading or
from observation, for he read very few of our public jour-
nals, and was little inclined to call out the opinions of
others. He was a representative of the people, and he un-
derstood what the people desired rather by a study of him-
self than of them. Granting that, although constitution-
ally honest himself, he did not put a very high valuation
upon honesty in others, and that he sometimes permitted his
partiality for his friends to influence his action in a manner
that was hardly consistent with an upright administration
of his great office, few men have held high position whose
conduct would so well bear the severest criticism as
Mr. Lincoln's. The people have already passed judg-
ment in favor of the nobleness and uprightness of his
character and the wisdom of his administration, and the
pen of impartial history will confirm the judgment.

NEW YORK, 1882.

120 EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH.

»

EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH

AT GALES BURG, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 7, 1858.

I have all the while maintained, that in so far as it
should be insisted that there was an equality between the
* white and black races that should produce a perfect so-
cial and political equality, it was an impossibility. This,
you have seen in my printed speeches ; and with it, I
have said, that in their right to "life, liberty and the pur-
suit of happiness," as proclaimed in that old Declaration,
the inferior races are our equals. And these declarations
I have constantly made in reference to the abstract
moral question, to contemplate and consider when we
are legislating about any new country, which is not
already cursed with the actual presence of the evil —
slavery. I have never manifested any impatience with
the necessities that spring from the actual presence of
black people among us, and the actual existence of slav-
ery among us, where it does already exist; but I have
isisted that, in legislating for new countries, where it does
not exist, there is no just rule, other than that "of
moral and abstract right! With reference to those
new countries, those maxims as to the right of a
people to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happi-
ness," were the just rules to be constantly referred to.
There is no misunderstanding this, except by men inter-
ested to misunderstand it. I take it that I have to
address an intelligent and reading community, who will
pursue what I say, weigh it, and then judge whether I

EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 121

advance improper or unsound views, or whether I
advance hypocritical, and deceptive, and contrary views
in different portions of the country. I believe myself to
be guilty of no such thing as the latter, though, of course,
I cannot claim that I am entirely free from all error in
the opinions I advance.

I have said once before, and I will repeat it now, that
Mr. Clay, when he was once answering an objection to*
the Colonization Society, that it had a tendency to the
ultimate emancipation of the slaves, said that " those who
would repress all tendencies to liberty and ultimate
emancipation, must do more than put down the benevo-
lent efforts of the Colonization Society — they must go
back to the era of our liberty and independence, and
muzzle the cannon that thunders its annual joyous return
—they must blot out the moral lights around us — they
must penetrate the human soul, and eradicate the light of
reason, and the love of liberty," and I do think — I repeat,
though I said it on a former occasion, — that Judge
Douglas, and whoever, like him, teaches that the negro
has no share, humble though it may be, in the Declara-
tion of Independence, is going back to the era of our
liberty and independence, and so far as in him lies,
muzzling the cannon that thunders its annual joyous
return ; that he is blowing out the moral lights around us,
when he contends that whoever wants slaves has a right
to hold them : that he is penetrating, so far as lies in his
power, the human soul, and eradicating the light of reason
and the love of liberty, when he is in every possible way
preparing the public mind, by his vast influence, for
making the institution of slavery perpetual and national.

122 EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH.

And now, it only remains for me to say that it is a
very grave question for the people of this Union to
consider — whether, in view of the fact that this slavery
question has been the only one that has ever endangered
our Republican institutions — the only one that has ever
threatened or menaced a dissolution of the Union — that
has ever disturbed us in such a way as to make us fear
1for the perpetuity of our liberty — in view of these facts,
I think it is an exceedingly interesting, and important
question for this people to consider whether we shall
engage in the policy of acquiring additional territory,
discarding altogether from our consideration, while
obtaining new territory, the question how it may affect
us in regard to this, the only endangering element to our
liberties and national greatness. The Judge's view has
been expressed. I, in my answers to his question,
have expressed mine. I think it will become an impor-
tant and practical question. Our views are before the
public. I am willing and anxious that they should con-
sider them fully — that they should turn it about,
and consider the importance of the question, and arrive
at a just conclusion as to whether it is, or is not, wise
in the people of this Union, in the acquisition of new
territory, to consider whether it will add to the disturb-
ance that is existing among us — whether it will add to
the one only danger that has ever threatened the perpe-
tuity of the Union, or of our own liberties.

I think it is extremely important that they shall
decide, and rightly decide, that question before entering
upon that policy.

W. B. AFFLECK. 123

I LOVE Abraham Lincoln so ardently, that I scarcely
dare write my opinion of him. His obscure parent-
age, his humble birth, his lack of childhood's joys, his
exalted attainments, his peculiar talents, his natural gifts,
his sympathy for the oppressed, his patriotism for his
country, his loyalty to truth, his pure life, and his having
had all these excellencies crowned with a martyr's death,
renders him beyond doubt, one of the most illustrious
men that ever labored to make goodness triumphant, and
brotherly charity universal.

SPRINGFIELD, 1881.

i24 EXTRACT FROM MR, LINCOLN'S SPEECH.

EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH,

AT QUINCY, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 13, 1858.

I was aware, when it was first agreed that Judge
Douglas and I were to have these seven joint discussions,
that they were the successive acts of a drama — perhaps I
should say, to be enacted not mearly in the face of audi-
ences like this, but in the face of the nation, and to some
extent, by my relation to him, and not from anything in
myself, in the face of the world — and I am anxious that
they should be conducted with dignity and in good
temper, which would be befitting the vast audiences
before which it was conducted.

I was not entirely sure that I should be able to
hold my own with him, but I at least had the purpose
made to do as well as I could upon him ; and now I say
that I will not be the first to cry " hold." I think it orig-
inated with the Judge, and when he quits, I probably
will But I shall not ask any favors at all. He asks me,
or he asks the audiences, if I wish to push this matter to
the point of personal difficulty ? I tell him, No. He
did not make a mistake, in one of his early speeches,
when he called me an amiable man, though perhaps he did
when he called me an "intelligent" man. It really hurts
me very much to suppose that I have wronged anybody
on earth. I again tell him No ! I very much prefer, when
this canvass shall be over, however it may result, that we
at least part without any bitter recollections of personal
difficulties.

EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 125

We have in this nation this element of domestic
slavery It is a macter of absolute certainty that it is a
disturbing element. It is the opinion of all the great
men who have expressed an opinion upon it, that it is
a dangerous element. We keep up a controversy in
regard to it. That controversy necessarily springs from
difference of opinion, and if we can learn exactly — can
reduce to the lowest elements — what that difference of
opinion is, we perhaps shall be better prepared for discuss-
ing the different system of policy that we would propose *
in regard to that disturbing element. I suggest that the
difference of opinion, reduced to its lowest terms, is no
other than the difference between the men who think
slavery a wrong and those who do not think it wrong.
We think it is a wrong not confining itself merely to the
persons or the States where it exists, but that it is a wrong
in its tendency, to say the least, that extends itself to the ex-
istence of the whole nation. Because we think it wrong
we propose a course of policy that shall deal with it as a
wrong. We deal with it as with any other wrong, in so
far as we can prevent its growing any larger, and so deal
with it that in the run of time there may be some promise
of an end to it. We have a due regard to the actual
presence of it among us and the difficulties of getting rid
of it in any satisfactory way, and all the constitutional
obligations thrown about it. I suppose that in reference
both to its actual existence in the nation, and to our con-
stitutional obligations, we have no right at all to disturb
it in the States where it exists, and we profess that we
have no more inclination to disturb it than we have the
right to do it. We go farther than that ; we don't pro-

126 EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN ''S SPEECH.

pose to disturb it where, in one instance, we think the
Constitution would permit us. We think the constitution
would permit us to disturb it in the District of Columbia.
Still, we do not propose to do that, unless it should be in
terms which I don't suppose the nations is very likely soon
to agree to — the terms of making the emancipation gradual
and compensating the unwilling owners. Where we
suppose we have the constitutional right, we restrain our-
selves in reference to the actual existence of the institu-
tion and the difficulties thrown about it. We also oppose
it as an evil so far as it seeks to spread itself. We in-
sist on the policy that shall restrict it to its present limits.
We don't suppose that in doing this we violate anything
due to the actual presence of the institution, or anything
due to the constitutional guaranties thrown around it.

W. MERRITT. 127

THERE is not, to my mind, outside of Divine Writ,
so convincing an evidence of the immortality of the
soul, as is furnished by the growth and development of
the mind and character of this greatest of American Pres-
idents to meet the exigencies of the direction and control
of a great revolution, on the successful issue of which
depended the happiness of one-fifth of the world. From
a poor country boy, uneducated and untrained, we find
him advancing through the grades of a commonplace
law practice, to the government of a great nation in one
of the most perplexing political epochs that history
records, controlling and directing events to a successful
issue — to the most successful issue possible, as retrospec-
tion after a lapse of years proves. History furnishes
scarcely a parallel to the character of this greatest of
reformers. The love of power has produced wise
despots, who have endured a life of earnest labor, full of
privations, for the sake of innovation and improvement ;
Icabots have lived miserable lives, or suffered infamous
deaths for an idea involving improvement, but the
motive in both cases is rather personal than general.
The rule with mankind as practical in politics or religion,
is conservation. In the face of opposition and struggle,
we shrink from responsibilities, and content ourselves
with contracting the sphere of intended reforms, to our
immediate surroundings.

128

W. MERRITT.

As his career differed from that of the other heroes of
history, in that he li*ed and strove for reforms that
would benefit mankind, though his own life should be
the price, in so far is Abraham Lincoln the greatest of
Reformers — the noblest of Patriots — the ablest of men.

U. S. ARMY, 1882.

CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER. 129

A BRAHAM LINCOLN was the genius of common
r~\. sense. In his daily life he was a representative of
the American people, and probably the best leader we
could have had in the crisis of our national life. He
was a great leader, because to his common sense was
added the gift of imagination.

.>-7

HARTFORD, 1880.
I

I3o SPEECH AT ALTON.

SPEECH AT ALTON, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER

15, 1858.

On this subject of treating slavery as a wrong, and
limiting its spread, let me say a word. Has anything
ever threatened the existence of this Union save and ex-
cept this very institution of slavery ? What is it that we
hold most dear among us ? Our own liberty and pros-
perity. What has ever threatened our liberty and
prosperity, save and except this institution of slavery ?
If this is true, how do you propose to improve the con-
dition of things by enlarging slavery? — by spreading it
out, and making it bigger ? You may have a wen or
cancer upon your person, and not be able to cut it out
lest you bleed to death : but surely, it is no way to cure
it, to ingraft it and spread it over your whole body — that
is no proper way of treating what you regard a wrong.
You see, this peaceful way of dealing with it as a wrong
— restricting the spread of it, and not allowing it to go
into new countries where it has not already existed —
that is the peaceful way, the old-fashioned way, the
way in which the fathers themselves set us the example.

"Is slavery wrong?"

That is the real issue. That is the issue that will
continue in this country, when these poor tongues of
Judge Douglas and myself shall be silent. It is the
eternal struggle between these two principles — right and
wrong — throughout the world. They are two principles

SPEECH AT ALTON. 131

that have stood face to face from the beginning of time ;
and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the com-
mon right of humanity, and the other, the divine right of
kings. It is the same principle in whatever shape it
develops itself. It is the same spirit that says, "You
work, and toil, and earn bread, and I'll eat it." No
matter in what shapes it comes, whether from the mouth
of a king, who seeks to bestride the people of his own
nation, and live by the fruit of their labor, or from one
race of men as an apology for enslaving another race,
it is the same tyrannical principle.

I do not claim, gentlemen, to be unselfish ; I do not
pretend that I would not like to go to the United States
Senate ; I make no such hypocritical pretense ; but I do
say to you, that in this mighty issue it is nothing to the
mass of the people of the nation, whether or not Judge
Douglas or myself shall ever be heard of after this night ;
it may be a trifle to either of us, but in connection with
this mighty question, upon which hangs the destinies of
the nation, perhaps, it is absolutely nothing.

EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH.

EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH

AT COLUMBUS, OHIO, SEPTEMBER, 1859.

Public opinion in this countrjf is everything. In a
nation like ours this popular sovereignty and squatter
Sovereignty have already wrought a change in the public
mind to the extent I have stated. There is no man in
this crowd who can contradict it. Now, if you are op-
posed to slavery honestly, as much as anybody, I ask you
to note that fact, and the like of which is to follow, to be
plastered on, layer after layer, until very soon you are
prepared to deal with the negro everywhere as with the
brute. If public sentiment has not been debauched al-
ready to this point, a new turn of the screw in that direc-
tion is all that is wanting ; and this is constantly being
done by the teachers of this insidious popular sovereignty.
You need but one or two turns further until your minds,
now ripening under these teachings, will be ready for all
these things, and you will receive and support or submit
to, the slave trade, revived with all its horrors, a slave
code enforced in our territories, and a new Dred Scott
decision to bring slavery up into the very heart of the
free North. This, I must say, is but carrying out those
words prophetically spoken by Mr. Clay, many, many
years ago — I believe more than thirty years — when he
told his audience that if they would repress all tenden-
cies to liberty and ultimate emancipation, they must go

EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 133

back to the era of our independence and muzzle the cannon
which thundered its annual joyous return on the Fourth
of July; they must blow out the moral lights around us;
they must penetrate the human soul and eradicate the
love of liberty ; but until they did these things, and others
eloquently enumerated by -him, they could not repress al)
tendencies to ultimate emancipation. I ask attention to
the fact that in a pre-eminent degree these popular sov-
ereigns are at this work ; blowing out the moral lights
around us ; teaching that the negro is no longer a man,
but a brute ; that the Declaration has nothing to do with
him ; that he ranks with the crocodile and the reptile ;
that man with body and soul, is a matter of dollars and
cents.

134 EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH.

EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH

AT CINCINNATI, OHIO, SEPTEMBER, 1859.

It has occurred to me here, to-night, that if I ever
do shoot over the line, at the people on the other side of
the line, into a slave State, and purpose to do so, keeping
my skin safe, that I have now about the best chance I
shall ever have. I should not wonder that there are
some Kentuckians about this audience ; we are close to
Kentucky ; and whether that be so or not, we are on ele-
vated ground, and by speaking distinctly, I should not
wonder if some of the Kentuckians would hear me on the
other side of the river. For that reason, I propose to
address a portion of what I have to say, to the Kentuck-
ians.

I say, then, in the first place, to the Kentuckians,
that I am what they call, as I understand it, a " Black
Republican." I think slavery is wrong, morally and
politically. I desire that it should be no further spread
in these United States, and I should not object, if it
should gradually terminate in the whole Union. While
I say this for myse1^ I say to you, Kentuckians, that I
understand you differ radically with me upon this propo-
sition ; that you believe slavery is a good thing ; that
slavery is right ; that it ought to be extended and perpet-
uated in this Union. Now, there being this broad differ-

EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH. 135

ence between us, I do not pretend, in addressing myself
to you, Kentuckians, to attempt proselyting you ; that
would be a vain effort. I do not enter upon it. I
will tell you, so far as I am authorized to speak for the
opposition, what we mean to do with you. We mean to
treat you, as near as we possibly can, as Washington,
Jefferson, and Madison treated you. We mean to leave
you alone, and in no way to interfere with your institu-
tion ; to abide by all and every compromise of the
Constitution, and, in a word, coming back to the original
proposition, to treat you, so far as degenerated men (if
we have degenerated) may, according to the examples of
those noble fathers — Washington, Jefferson, and Madi-
son. We mean to remember that you are as good as we ;
that there is no difference between us, other than the
difference of circumstances. We mean to recognize and
bear in mind always, that you have as good hearts in
your bosoms as other people, or as we claim to have,
and treat you accordingly. We mean to marry your
girls, when we have a chance — the white ones, I mean —
and I have the honor to inform you that I once did have
a chance in that way.

I have told you what we mean to do. I want to
know, now, when that thing takes place, what you mean
to do. I often hear it intimated that you mean to divide
the Union whenever a Republican, or anything like it,
is elected President of the United States. If that is so,
I want to know what you are going to do with your half
of it ? Are you going to split the Ohio down through,
and push your half off a piece ? Or are you going to
keep it right alongside of us outrageous fellows ? Or

I36 EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH.

are you going to build up a wall some way, between your
country and ours, by which that movable property of
yours can't come over here any more, to the danger of
your losing it ? Do you think you can better yourselves
on that subject, by leaving us here, under no obligation
whatever to return those specimens of your movable
property that come hither? You have divided the
Union, because we would not do right with you, as you
think, upon that subject ; when we cease to be under
obligations to do anything for you, how much better off
do you think you will be ? Will you make war upon us,
and kill us all ? Why, gentlemen, I think you are as gal-
lant and as brave men as live ; that you can fight as
bravely in a good cause, man for man, as any other peo-
ple living ; that you have shown yourselves capable of
this, upon various occasions ; but, man for man, you are
not better than we are, and there are not so many of
you as there are of us. You will never make much of a
hand at whipping us. If we were fewer in numbers than
you, I think that you could whip us ; if we were equal,
it would likely be a drawn battle ; but being inferior in
numbers, you will make nothing by attempting to master
us.

LOT M. MORRILL. 137

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, with George Washington,
jT\. will stand out in the pages of American history in
exalted pre-eminence. Mr. Lincoln was suited to the
epoch which rightly anticipated his advent to the Presi-
dency ; the quality of the man was the equivalent of the
perils of the Chief Magistrate. Throughout his career,
he displayed a character of perfect integrity, sincerity,
undeviating rectitude and courage, while he exhibited,
in rare combination, wisdom, gentleness and conciliation.
His "firmness in the right, as God gave him to see,"
was, to him, faith, courage, patience and boundless endur
ance in the cause of the right — to the American people,
nationality restored, liberty and union vindicated, the
dark stain of slavery erased, and free institutions pre-
served.

AUGUSTA, 1880.

138 EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH.

EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S SPEECH

AT JONESBORO, ILL., SEPTEMBER 15, 1858.

In so far as Judge Douglas has insisted that all the
States have the right to do exactly as they please about
all their domestic relations, including that of slavery, I
agree entirely with him. I hold myself under constitu-
tional obligations to allow the people in all the states,
without interference, direct or indirect, to do exactly as
they please ; and I deny that I have any inclination to
interfere with them, even if there were no such constitu-
tional obligation.

I say, in the way our fathers originally left the Slav-
ery question, the institution was in the course of ulti-
mate extinction, and the public mind rested in the
belief that it was in the course of ultimate extinction.
I say, when this Government was first established, it was
the policy of its founders to prohibit the spread of slavery
into the new Territories of the United States, where
it had not existed. All I have asked, or desired, any-
where, is that it should be placed back again upon
the basis that the fathers of our govern-ment origin-
ally placed it upon. I have no doubt that it would
become extinct, for all time to come, if we but re-
adopted the policy of the fathers by restricting it to the
limits it has already covered — restricting it from the new
Territories.

ROBERT ALLYN. 139

IN the Autumn of 1859, I was residing in Cincin-
nati, and heard the late Stephen A. Douglas speak
twice in that city or vicinity, and Mr. Lincoln speak
once, from the steps of the Burnet House, I believe. I
was impressed greatly with the contrast between them.
Mr. Douglas was aggressive, confident in himself, and
evidently bent on crushing his opponents. Mr. Lincoln
seemed at first too modest and undemonstrative. But
as he went on and forgot himself, and apparently his
party, in his interest in grand principles, he rose in dig-
nity, till he seemed more the embodiment of Justice,
Freedom and Love of Humanity, than a mere man. He
was lost in the grandeur of the cause, and stood un-
selfishly for the rights of all men, in all ages. And I
have often .thought that this idea of him then, gathered
by me, best expresses the essence of his character, and
inspired disregard of personal interests, and a complete
self-surrender of everything to the welfare of all men,
especially the humblest

CARBONDALE, 1880.

140 ADDRESS AT COOPER INSTITUTE.

EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN'S ADDRESS

DELIVERED AT COOPER INSTITUTE, FEBRUARY 2/, i860.

Let all who believe that "Our fathers, who framed
the Government under which we live, understood this
question just as well, and even better, than we do now,"
speak as they spoke, and act as they acted upon it. This
is all Republicans ask — all Republicans desire — in relation
to slavery. As those fathers marked it, so let it be again
marked, as an evil not to be extended, but to be tolerated
and protected only because of and so far as its actual
presence among us makes that toleration and protection
a necessity. Let all the guaranties those fathers gave it
be, not grudgingly, but fully and fairly maintained.

It is exceedingly desirable that all parts of this great
Confederacy shall be at peace, and in harmony, one with
another. Even though much provoked, let us do noth-
ing through passion and ill temper. Even though the
Southern people will not so much as listen to us, let us
calmly consider their demands, and yield to them if, in
our deliberate view of our duty, we possibly can.

Wrong as we think slavery is, we can yet afford to
let it alone where it is, because that much is due to the
necessity arising from its actual presence in the nation ;
but can we, while our votes will prevent it, allow it to
spread into the National Territories, and to overrun us
here in these Free States ? If our sense of duty forbids

ADDRESS AT COOPER INSTITUTE. 141

this, then let us stand by our duty, fearlessly and effectively.
Let us be diverted by none of those sophistical contriv-
ances wherewith we are so industriously plied and bela-
bored— contrivances such as groping for some middle
ground between the right and the wrong, vain as the
search for a man who should be neither a living man nor
a dead man — such as a policy of " don't care " on a ques-
tion about which all true men do care — such as Union
appeals beseeching true Union men to yield to Disunion-
ists reversing the divine rule, and calling, not the sinners,
but the righteous to repentance — such as invocations to
Washington, imploring men to unsay what Washington
said, and undo what Washington did. Neither let us be
slandered from our duty by false accusations against us,
nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the
Government nor dungeons to ourselves. Let us have

o

faith, that right makes might, and in that faith let us, to
the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.

ADDRESS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

ADDRESS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

TO THE CITIZENS OF SPRINGFIELD, ON HIS DEPARTURE
FOR WASHINGTON, FEBRUARY IITH, 1 86 1;

My Friends:

No . one, not in my position, can appreciate the sad-
ness I feel at this parting; To this people I owe all that
I am. Here I have lived more than a quarter of a cen-
tury ; here my children were born, and here one of them
lies buried. I know not how soon I shall see you again.
A duty devolves upon me which is, perhaps, greater
than that which has devolved upon any other man since
the days of Washington. He never would have suc-
ceeded except by the aid of Divine Providence, upon
which he at all times relied. I feel that I cannot suc-
ceed without the same Divine aid which sustained him,
and on the same Almighty Being I place my reliance for
support ; and I hope you, my friends, will all pray that I
may receive that Divine assistance, without which I can-
not succeed, but with which success is certain. Again I
bid you an affectionate farewelL

"",. rfy' . . •• '^

JOSHUA F. SPEED. 143

IN 1834, I was a citizen of Springfield, Sangamon Co.,
Illinois, Mr. Lincoln lived in the country, fourteen
miles from the town. He was a laborer, and a deputy
surveyor, and at the same time a member of the legislature,
elected the year previous. In 1835, he. was a candidate
for re-election.. I had not seen him for the first six
months of my residence there, but had heard him spoken
of as a man of wonderful ability on the stump. He was
a long, gawky, ugly, shapeless man. He had never spok-
en, as far as I know of, at the county seat, during his
first candidacy. The second time he was a candidate, he
had already made,, in the legislature, considerable repu-
tation ; and on his renomination to the legislature, adver-
tised to meet his opponents, and speak in Springfield, on
a given day. I believe that that was the first public
speech he ever made at the court-house. He was never
ashamed, so far as I know, to admit his ignorance uqon
any subject,, or of the meaning of any word, no matter
how ridiculous it might make him appear. As he was
riding into town the evening before the speech, he
passed the handsomest house in the village, which had
just been built by Geo. Farquer; upon it he had placed
a lightning-rod, the only one in the town or county.
Some ten or twelve young men were riding with
Lincoln. He asked them what that rod was for. They
told him it was to keep off the lightning. " How does it
do it ? " he asked ; none of them could telL He rode into

144 JOSHUA F. SPEED.

town, bought a book on the properties of lightning, and
before morning knew all about it. When he was igno-
rant on any subject, he addressed himself to the task of
being ignorant no longer. On this occasion, a large
number of citizens came from a distance to hear him
speak. He had very able opponents. I stood near him
and heard the speech. I was fresh from Kentucky
then, and had heard most of her great orators. It struck
me then, as it seems to me now, that I never heard a
more effective speaker. All the party weapons of
offense and defense seemed to be entirely under his
control. The large crowd seemed to be swayed by him
as he pleased. He was a Whig, and quite a number of
candidates were associated with him on the Whig ticket ;
seven, I think, in number ; there were seven Democrats
opposed to them. The debate was a joint one, and Lin-
coln was appointed to close it, which he did as I have
heretofore described, in a most masterly style. The
people commenced leaving the court-house, when Geo.
Farquer, a man of much celebrity in the State, rose, and
asked the people to hear him. He was not a candidate,
but was a man of talents, and of great State notoriety.
as a speaker. He commenced his speech by turning
to Lincoln and saying, " This young man will have
to be taken down ; and I am truly sorry that the
task devolves upon me." He then proceeded in a vein
of irony, sarcasm, and wit, to ridicule Lincoln in everyway
that he could. Lincoln stood, not more than ten feet
from him, with folded arms, and an eye flashing fire, and
listened attentively to him, without ever interrupting him
Lincoln then took the stand for reply. He was pale and

JOSHUA F. SPEED. J45

his spirits seemed deeply moved. His opponent was
one worthy of his steel. He answered him fully and
completely. The conclusion of his speech I remember
even now, so deep an impression did it make on me then.
He said, "The gentleman commenced his speech by
saying that this young man would have to be taken down,
alluding to me ; I am not so young in years as I am in
the tricks and trades of a politician ; but live long, or die
young, I would rather die now, than, like the gentleman,
change my politics, and simultaneous with the change re-
ceive an office worth three thousand dollars per year,
and then have to erect a lightning-rod over my house, to
protect a guilty conscience from an offended God." He
used the lightning-rod against Farquer as he did every-
thing in after life.

In 1837, after his return from the legislature, Mr. Lin-
coln obtained a license to practice law. He lived four-
teen miles in the country, and had ridden into town on a
borrowed horse, with no earthly goods but a pair of saddle-
bags, two or three law books, and some clothing which he
had in the saddle-bags. He took an office, and engaged
from the only cabinet-maker then in the village, a single
bedstead. He came into my store (I was a merchant
then), set his saddle-bags on the counter and asked me
" what the furniture for a single bedstead would cost." I
took slate and pencil and made calculation, and found the
sum for furniture complete would amount to seventeen
dollars in all. Said he, " It is probably cheap enough : but
I want to say that, cheap as it is, I have not the money
to pay. But if you will credit me until Christmas, and my

experiment here as a lawyer is a success, I will pay you then.
10

146 JOSHUA F. SPEED.

If I fail in that I will probably never be able to pay you at
all." The tone of his voice was so melancholy that I felt
for him. I looked up at him, and I thought then, as I
think now, that I never saw so gloomy and melancholy a
face. I said to him, " The contraction of so small a
debt seems to affect you so deeply, I think I can suggest
a plan by which you will be able, to attain your end,
without incurring any debt. I have a very large room,
and a very large double-bed in it ; which you are per-
fectly welcome to share with me if you choose."
"Where is your room?" asked he. " Up stairs," said I,
pointing to the stairs leading from the store to my room.
Without saying a word, he took his saddle-bags on his
arm, went up stairs, set them down on the floor, came
down again, and with a face beaming with pleasure and
smiles, exclaimed: "Well, Speed, I'm moved." Mr.
Lincoln was then twenty-seven years old, almost without
friends, and with no property except the saddle-bags
with the clothes mentioned, within. Now, for me to
have lived to see such a man rise from point to point, and
from place to place, filling all the places to which he was
called with honor and distinction, until he reached the
presidency, filling the presidential chair in the most trying
time that any ruler ever had, seems to me more like
fiction than fact. None but a genius like his could have
accomplished so much ; and none but a government like
ours could produce such a man. It gave the young
eagle scope for his wings ; he tried it, and soared to the
top!

In 1839 Mr. Lincoln, being then a lawyer in full prac-
tice, attended all the courts adjacent to Springfield. He

JOSHUA F. SPEED. 147

was then attending court at Christiansburg, about thirty
miles distant I was there when the court broke up ; quite
a number of lawyers were coming from court to Spring-
field. We were riding along a country road, two and
two together, some distance apart, Lincoln and Jno. J.
Hardin being behind (Hardin was afterward made
colonel and was killed at Buena Vista). We were pass-
ing through a thicket of wild plum and crab-apple trees,
where we stopped to water our horses. After waiting
some time Hardin came up and we asked him where Lin-
coln was. " Oh," said he, "when I saw him last" (there had
been a severe wind storm) "he had caught two little birds
in his hand, which the wind had blown from their nest,
and he was hunting for the nest." Hardin left him be-
fore he found it. He finally found the nest, and placed
the birds, to use his own words, " in the home provider
for them by their mother." When he came up with the
party they laughed at him ; said he, earnestly : " I could
not have slept to-night if I had not given those two little
birds to their mother."

This was the flower that bloomed so beautifully in
his nature, on his native prairies. He never lost the
nobility of his nature, nor the kindness of his heart, by
being removed to a higher sphere of action. On the
contrary, both were increased. The enlarged sphere of
his action developed the natural promptings of his heart.

V

LOUISVILLE, 1882.

i48 LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE.

LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE.

SPRINGFIELD, ILL., May 23, 1860.
" Hon. Geo. Ashmun,

" President of the. Republican National Convention.

"Sir — I accept the nomination tendered me by the
Convention over which you presided, and of which I am
formally apprised in the letter of yourself and others,
acting as a committee of the Convention foi that pur-
pose.

" The declaration of principles and sentiments which
accompanies your letter meets my approval ; and it
shall be my care not to violate nor disregard it in any
part.

" Imploring the assistance of Divine Providence, and
with due regard to the views and feelings of all who
were represented in the Convention ; to the rights of all
States and Territories, and the people of the nation ; to
the inviolability of the Constitution, and to the per-
petual union, harmony and prosperity of all, I am most
happy to co-operate for the practical success of the prin-
ciples declared by the Convention.

" Your obliged friend and fellow-citizen,

£. O. HAVEN. 149

IN times of great trouble, men and nations, unless
doomed to perish, recognize and call upon God. So
did this nation in the terrible struggle produced by slav-
ery. It now seems that any man, however highly
endowed, much unlike Abraham Lincoln, could not have
so well filled the demand as President. Certainly, he did
meet the demand, and well. To God be all the glory !

SYRACUSE, 1880.

SPEECH AT TOLEDO, OHIO.

SPEECH AT TOLEDO, OHIO.

I am leaving you on an errand of national importance,
attended, as you are aware, with considerable difficulties.
Let us believe, as some poet has expressed it, " Behind
the cloud the sun is shining still." I bid you an affec-
tionate farewell.

CHARLES LANMAN. 15 j

I FULLY concur with all that has ever been uttered —
calculated to show that Abraham Lincoln was a pure
and honest man, and possessor of very superior abilities.
Among those to whom I applied for biographical
facts, while preparing the first edition of my Dictionary
of Congress, was Mr. Lincoln ; and his reply was so
characteristic of the man, that I send the following :
" Born in Hardin County, Kentucky, February 12, 1809 ;
received a limited education ; adopted the profession of
law ; was captain of volunteers in the Black Hawk war ;
was post-master of a small village ; four times elected to
the Illinois Legislature, and a Representative in Con-
gress from 1847 to 1849." The several letters which he
wrote to me, and two or three very pleasant interviews
that I had with him, can never be forgotten ; but what I
cherish with peculiar pleasure, is the fact that he once
suggested my appointment as Librarian of Congress ;
and when, through a distinguished friend, I suggested
that Mr. A. R. Spofford was an applicant for the place,
and better fitted for it than myself, the manner in which
he commented on my suggestion was exceedingly
gratifying.

WASHINGTON, 1882.

152 SPEECH DELIVERED AT INDIANAPOLIS.

SPEECH DELIVERED AT INDIANAPOLIS,

INDIANA.

In all trying positions in which I shall be placed, and,
doubtless I shall be placed in many such, my reliance will
be placed upon you and the people of the United States ;
and I wish you to remember, now and forever, that it is
your business, and not mine ; that if the Union of these
States, and the liberties of this people shall be lost, it is
but little to any one man of fifty-two years of age, but a
great deal to the thirty millions of people who inhabit
these United States, and to their posterity in all coming
time. It is your business to rise up and preserve the
Union and liberty for yourselves, and not for me. I
desire they should be constitutionally performed. I, as
already intimated, am but an accidental instrument, tem-
porary, and to serve but for a limited time, and I appeal
to you again to constantly bear in mind that with you,
and not with politicians, not with . Presidents, not with
office-seekers, but with you, is the question, Shall the
Union and shall the liberties of this country be pre-
served to the latest generations ?

£UFUS BLANCHARD. 153

ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE CONVEN-
TION OF 1860.

NATIONS, like individuals, have turning-points in
their lives. The United States has passed
through one of them — her first crisis since she be-
came a nation by the adoption of a constitution in
1789. No small amount of eloquent advocacy, as well
as charitable compromise, were required to unite the
different States together in one common bond in that
early day, even though the glories of her Revolution were
fresh in the minds of all. The only cause of this re-
luctance on the part of some of the States to enter into
this compact grew out of a fear, that slavery might not
.be sustained after the national Union of the States had
been consummated. And it is not improbable that some
mental reservation existed 'as to the binding force of the
constitution, on the part of some of the States at the
time of signing it. When this union of all the States
under one bond was accomplished we became, in the eyes
of the world, a nation ; and our patriotic pride and
fidelity to a common interest seemed to give an assurance
of perpetual harmony. This kindred feeling was not
disturbed till slavery had assumed rights, which were con-

154 RUFUS BLANCHARD.

sidered hostile to the honor of the North, and dangerous
to the best interests of the nation. At this eventful
epoch, when everybody was intent on his calling, loath
to turn aside from his daily routine, the great issue was
forced upon the nation in no equivocal form at the con-
vention of 1860. For the first time in the history of
presidential conventions, this issue completely trans-
cended all others ; that of 1856 having been somewhat
vacillating. A suspense now hung over the whole
country. Prophets harangued and everybody partook
of the general excitement. When the convention met it
was observable through a conviction that seemed to fill
the very air, that a new order of things was at hand ; that
new men and new measures would soon be brought to
the front by an irresistible influence that was gathering
force like the whirlwind. And while (as is always the
case at such popular councils), noisy and thoughtless
demonstrations, like the froth that floats on deep waters,
were uppermost at times, yet the profound convictions of
political economists transcended them, whenever the
true issue came up for debate. It was the substance,
not the shadow, that this element of candor demanded ;
it asked no favors through a reciprocity of interest, but
challenged men to support principles according to their
merits. Political prestige weighed nothing. In vain, it
had oft been tried to bridge over the chasm ; heroic
treatment was demanded, and who should be the hero to
administer it, who could buffet the storm of indignation
T ready to burst upon the head of him who accepted the
nomination of the anti-slavery party ? Who could step
into this arena impervious to the corruption of partisans ?

RUFUS BLANCHARD.

'55

Who could become the political gladiator, in hand-to-
hand conflict with the disciples of Calhoun, and the
neophytes of the oligarchy of which he was father ?
Who could become the animated target at whose feet the
shafts of malice should fall harmless ? Who could be
compromising without a letting down of principles?
Who had firmness without arrogance, eloquence without
pretension, charity without cupidity ? Who had the virtues
of the statesman without the vices of the partisan ? He
who had seen every phase of American life, and shared
its wants, and felt its anxieties, and been taught in its
school ; and whose spotless record now beckoned to the
lovers of justice to follow whither he might lead.

Abraham Lincoln. He was nominated, elected once,
and again. His services wrung from the reluctant lips of
his adversaries praise that they dared not refuse. The
stickler for " blue blood " stood aghast, before the charm
of his words — simple and potent, and fortified by the
force of events ; and last of all, the autocrats of the
world obsequiously bowed before the bier which held the
genius of America — a corpse, around which a halo of
glory shone to the uttermost parts of the earth. Other
rulers of nations had been assassinated, but none before
had won such acknowledgments of that kind of grandeur
which died in him to live again. Our country, in her
youthful fecundity, stimulated into activity by the vast-
ness of her wild domain, through which genius became
the handmaiden of creative power, produced a Lincoln.
It is not essential that heraldry or even conventionalism
should accompany merit, it is a positive principle. All
the more lustrous if unshackled with forms. Lincoln

156

£UFUS BLANCHARD.

was its simple model — the child of our training and
own maturity. He became our father, and his tomb is
our shrine.

WHEATON, 1882.

/. T. TROWBRIDGE.

157

LINCOLN.

HEROIC soul, in homely garb half hid,
Sincere, sagacious, melancholy, quaint ;
What he endured, no less than what he did,

Has reared his monument, and crowned him saint.

ARLINGTON, 1880.

i53 SPEECH.

SPEECH

TO THE MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE OF INDIANA WHO
WAITED UPON HIM AT HIS HOTEL.

" Solomon says there is ' a time to keep silence,' and
when men wrangle by the mouth with no certainty that
they mean the same thing, while using the same word,
it perhaps were as well if they would keep silence."

" The words ' coercion ' and ' invasion ' are much used
in these days, and often with some temper and hot blood.
Let us make sure, if we can, that we do not misunder-
stand the meaning of those who use them. Let us get
the exact definitions of these words, not from dictiona-
ries, but from the men themselves, who certainly depre-
cate the things they would represent by the use of the
word. What then, is ' coercion ? What is ' invasion '?
Would the marching of an army into South Carolina,
without the consent of her people, and with hostile intent
towards them, be invasion ? I certainly think it would,
and it would be 'coercion' also if South Carolinians
were forced to submit. But if the United States should
merely hold and retake its own forts and other property,
and collect the duties on foreign importations, or even
withhold the mails from places where they were habitu-
ally violated, would any or all these things be ' invasion '
or 'coercion? Do our professed lovers of the Union,
but who spitefully resolve that they will resist coercion

SPEECH. 159

and invasion, understand that such things as these on the
part of the United States would be coercion or invasion
of a State ? If so, their idea of means to preserve the
object of their affection would seem exceedingly thin and
airy. If sick, the little pills of the homoeopathists would
be much too large for it to swallow. In their view, the
Union, as a family relation, would seem to be no regu-
lar marriage, but a sort of ' free love ' arrangement, to be
maintained only on ' passional attraction.' By the way, in
what consists the special sacredness of a State ? I
speak not of the position assigned to a State in the
Union by the Constitution ; for that, by the bond, we all
recognize. That position, however, a State cannot carry
out of the Union with it. I speak of that assumed
primary right of a State to rule all which is less than it-
self, and ruin all which is larger than itself. If a State
and a county, in a given case, should be equal in extent
of territory, and equal in number of inhabitants — in what,
as a matter of principle, is the State better than a
county ? Would an exchange of names be an exchange
of rights upon principle ? On what rightful principle
may a State, being not more than one-fiftieth part of the
nation in soil and population, break up the nation, and
then coerce a proportionally larger subdivision of itself,
in the most arbitrary way ? What mysterious right to
play tyrant is conferred on a district of country, with its
people, by merely calling it a State ? I am not asserting
anything ; I am merely asking questions for you to con-
sider."

i6o SPEECH AT CINCINNATI, OHIO.

SPEECH AT CINCINNATI, OHIO.

I have spoken but once before this in Cincinnati,
1 hat was a year previous to the late Presidential election.
On that occasion, in a playful manner, but with sincere
words, I addressed much of what I said to the Ken-
tuckians. We mean to treat you as near as we possibly
can, as Washington, Jefferson, and Madison treated you.
We mean to leave you alone, and in no way to interfere
with your institution, and, in a word, coming back to the
original proposition, to treat you, so far as degenerated
men (if we have degenerated) may, according to the
examples of those noble fathers — Washington, Jefferson,
and Madison. We mean to remember that you are as
good as we ; that there is no difference between us other
than the difference of circumstances. We mean to rec-
ognize and bear in mind always that you have as good
hearts in your bosoms as other people, or as we claim to
have, and treat you accordingly.

Fellow-citizens of Kentucky ! friends ! brethren, may
I call you in my new position ? I see no occasion, and feel
no inclination to retract a word of this. If it shall not
be made good, be assured the fault shall not be mine.

O. B. FROTH1NGHAM.

161

TOO much cannot be done to preserve the memory
and deepen the moral impression of a man like
Mr. Lincoln. So humble, simple, disinterested, imper-
sonal, the peer of Washington. Even as idealized, the
superior of any other statesman the country has pro-
duced.

BOSTON, 1882.
11

i6a TO THE OHIO SENATE.

TO THE OHIO STATE.

It is true, as has been said by the President of the
Senate, that very great responsibility rests upon me in
the position to which the votes of the American people
have called me. I am deeply sensible of that weighty
responsibility. I cannot but know, what you all know,
that without a name, perhaps without a reason why I
should have a name, there has fallen upon me a task such
as did not rest upon the " Father of his Country ;" and
so feeling, I cannot but turn, then, and look to the
American people, and to that God who has never forsaken
them.

/. W. FORNEY.

163

I

AM sure, as millions have said, that take him for all
in all, we never shall look upon his like again.

PHILADELPHIA. 1880.

i64 SPEECH AT STEUBENVILLE, OHIO.

SPEECH AT STEUBENVILLE, OHIO.

I fear that the great confidence placed in my ability
is unfounded. Indeed, I am sure it is. Encompassed
by vast difficulties as I am, nothing shall be wanting on
my part, if sustained by the American people and God.
I believe the devotion to the Constitution is equally great
on both sides of the river. It is only the different under-
standing of that instrument that causes difficulty. The
only dispute on both sides is " What are their rights ?"
If the majority should not rule, who should be the
judge ? Where is such a judge to be found ? We should
all be bound by the majority of the American people. If
not, then the minority must control. Would that be
right ? Would it be just or generous ? Assuredly not. I
reiterate that the majority should rule. If I adopt a
wrong policy, the opportunity for condemnation will
occur in four years' time. Then I can be turned out and
a better man with better views put in my place.

ROBERT C. WINTHROP. 165

HIS early term in Congress was while I was Speaker
of the House of Representatives. Thirty-four
years have elapsed since that Congress assembled, but I
recall vividly the impressions I then formed, both as to
his ability and his amiability. We were old Whigs to-
gether, and agreed entirely on all questions of public
interest. I could not always concur in the policy of the
party which made him President, but I never lost my
personal regard for him. For shrewdness, sagacity and
keen, practical sense, he has had no superior in our day
and generation. His patience, perseverance, imper-
turbable goodnature and devoted patriotism, during the
trying times of the civil war, were of inestimable value
to the Union cause. Meantime, the forbearing and con-
ciliatory spirit, which he manifested so signally in the last
months of his presidency, rendered his death — quite
apart from the abhorrent and atrocious manner in which
it occurred — an inexpressible shock, even to those who
had differed from his earlier views. His life, even at the
moment it was taken away, as I said publicly at the time,
was the most important and precious life in our whole
land. I heartily wish success to the memorials of a ca-
reer associated so prominently with the greatest event of
our age, and which must ever have so exalted a place in
American history.

BOSTON, 1 88 1.

SPEECH AT PITTSBURGH.

SPEECH AT PITTSBURGH.

The condition of the country, fellow-citizens, is an
extraordinary one and fills the mind of every patriot with
anxiety and solicitude. My intention is to give this sub-
ject all the consideration which I possibly can before I
speak fully and definitely in regard to it, s*o that, when I
do speak, I may be as nearly right as possible, and when
I do speak, fellow-citizens, I hope to say nothing in oppo-
sition to the spirit of the constitution, contrary to the
integrity of the Union, or which will in any way prove
inimical to the liberties of the people or to the peace of
the whole country. And, furthermore, when the time
arrives for me to speak on this great subject, I hope to
say nothing which will disappoint the reasonable expecta-
tions of any man, or disappoint the people generally
throughout the country, especially if their expectations
have been based upon anything which I may have here-
tofore said.

WILLIAM F. WARREN. 167

" nr^HEY who believe and clothe not their faith with injustice,
JL they shall enjoy security, and they are rightly directed.
And this is our argument wherewith we furnished Abraham that he
might make use of it against his people." — The Koran, Sura VI.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY, 1880.

i68 SPEECH AT CLEVELAND, OHIO.

SPEECH AT CLEVELAND, OHIO.

It is with you, the people, to advance the great
cause of the Union and the Constitution, and not with
any one man. It rests with you, alone. This fact is
strongly impressed on my mind at present. In a com-
munity like this, whose appearance testifies to their intel-
ligence, I am convinced that the cause of liberty and the
Union can never be in danger.

H. W. BELLOWS. i69

FOR singleness and simplicity of purpose, vigor of
intellect, and sweetness of nature; for a humor
matched with a pathos, that won the popular sympathy
and was most rare and wise ; for a homely, hearty
Americanism, that represented our new world and young
nation ; for a profound and passionate love of his
country ; for undeviating rectitude and an unworldliness
which was not want of ability to lead other men, or
any lack of skill to make his own way — Lincoln was
the ideal of a President, when the nation most wanted
the right man in the right place.

BROOKLYN, 1880.

170 SPEECH AT BUFFALO, N. Y.

SPEECH AT BUFFALO, N. Y.

I AM sure I bring a heart true to the work. For the
ability to perform it, I must trust in that Supreme Being
who has never forsaken this favored land, through the
instrumentality of this great and intelligent people.
Without that assistance, I shall surely fail ; with it, I
cannot fail. When we speak of threatened difficulties
to the country, it is natural that it should be expected
that something should be said by myself, with regard to
particular measures. Upon more mature reflections,
however — and others will agree with me — that when it is
considered that these difficulties are without precedent,
and never have been acted upon by any individual, sit-
uated as I am, it is most proper I should wait and see the
developments, and get all the light possible, so that when
I do speak authoritatively, I may be as near right as pos-
sible.

C. F. £ URN AM. 171

PRIOR to his elevation to the Presidency of the
United States I had never met Mr. Lincoln,
although I was acquainted with the splendid reputation
he had achieved in Illinois as a lawyer and statesman.
His venerable father-in-law, Robert S. Todd, of Lex-
ington, was one of my earliest friends, and his more
distinguished relative, Hon. Daniel Breck, of this town,
was my first law preceptor. From these gentlemen I
had learned to admire his great character, and was not
surprised, when, in 1860, the nomination for the chief
magistracy of the republic was given him by the conven-
tion at Chicago over rivals so illustrious as Chase and
Seward.

After his election, I met Mr. Lincoln often in Wash-
ington, and it will be always one of the pleasant memo-
ries of my life that I had this privilege and shared
somewhat his regard and confidence. Great as were
the men who constituted his cabinet — and in no admin-
istration were ever found three greater men than Chase,
Seward and Stanton — I always thought, and still think,
he was greater than any of them. Calm, courageous,
generous, just ; he was the impersonation of patriotism,
and his labors to restore the Union by suppressing the
rebel Confederacy, and by striking off the fetters from
four million slaves, followed by his untimely death by the
hand of an assassin, gave to him of all the men of this
century the first place in the eyes of all mankind.

172

C. F. BURN AM.

Nothing which can be done to perpetuate his fame, to
keep him ever before the coming generations of his
countrymen, should be omitted.

RICHMOND, 1882.

JOSEPH f. BRADLEY. 173

' I "HE greatness of his figure in our history stands so
JL near and towers so high that it cannot be taken in
at a glance in this generation.

SPEECH AT SYRACUSE, N. Y.

SPEECH AT SYRACUSE, N. Y.

I see you have erected a very fine and handsome
platform here, for me, and I presume you expect me to
speak from it. If I should go upon it, you would imag-
ine that I was about to deliver you a much longer speech
than I am. I wish you to understand that I mean no
discourtesy to you by thus dealing. I intend discourtesy
to no one. But I wish you to understand that, though
I am unwilling to go upon this platform, you are not at
liberty to draw any inference concerning any other plat-
form with which my name has been, or is, connected. I
wish you long life and prosperity, individually, and pray
that with the perpetuity of those institutions under
which we have all so long lived and prospered, our hap-
piness may be secured, our future made brilliant, and the
glorious destiny of our country established forever.

A. E. BURN SIDE.

175

T

HE greatest man of this age.

PROVIDENCE, 1881.

1 76 SPEECH AT UTICA, N. Y.

SPEECH AT UTICA, N. Y.

»
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN — I have no speech to make

to you, and no time to speak it I appear before you
that I may see you, and that you may see me ; and I am
willing to admit, that so far as the ladies are concerned, I
have the best of the bargain ; though I wish it to be
understood that I do not make the same acknowledg-
ment concerning the men.

S. WELLS WILLIAMS. 177

WHEN President Lincoln was killed, I was the
acting United States Minister at Peking, and re-
ported the assassination to His Imperial Highness, Prince
Kting, then at the head of the government, from whom
a suitable reply was received on the 8th of July, 1865.
I sent the correspondence to the Secretary of State, with
the following remarks : " The limits of a dispatch will
hardly allow me more than to add my tribute of admira-
tion to the character of Mr. Lincoln. His firm and
consistent maintenance of the national cause, his clear
understanding of the great questions at issue, and his
unwearied efforts, while enforcing the laws, to deprive
the conflict of all bitterness, were all so happily blended
with a reliance on Divine guidance, as to elevate him
to a high rank among successful statesmen. His name
is hereafter identified with the cause of Emancipation,
while his patriotism, integrity, and other virtues, and his
untimely death, render him not unworthy of mention
with William of Orange and Washington."

This was written seventeen years ago, since which
time I have learned more of the inimitable blending- in

o

his character of mercy and firmness, and estimate him
higher. He was tested in every way throughout the
long struggle, and his rare virtues will endure him to
the American people the more they study his life.

^^L^-\^J

YALE COLLEGE, 1882.

12

178 SPEECH.

SPEECH

FROM THE STEPS OF THE CAPITOL, ALBANY, N. Y.

I AM notified by your Governor that this reception is
given without distinction of party. I accept it the more
gladly, because it is so. Almost all men in this country,
and in any country where freedom of thought is toler-
ated, attach themselves to political parties. It is but
ordinary charity to attribute this to the fact that in so
attaching himself to the party which his judgment
prefers, the citizen believes he thereby promotes the best
interests of the whole country ; but when an election is
past, it is altogether befitting a free people that, until the
next election, they should be as one people. The recep-
tion you have extended to me to-day, is not given to me
personally. It should not be so, but as the representa-
tive, for the time being, of the majority of the nation.
If the election had resulted in the selection of either of
the other candidates, the same cordiality should have
been extended to him, as is extended to me this day, in
testimony of the devotion of the whole people to the
Constitution and the whole Union, and of their desire to
perpetuate our institutions, and to hand them down in
their perfection, to succeeding generations.

JOHN BRIGHT. 179

r*HE life of President Lincoln is written in im-
-L perishable characters in the history of the great
American Republic.

LONDON, 1880.

i So

SPEECH IN THE ASSEMBLY HALL.

SPEECH IN THE ASSEMBLY HALL AT AL-
BANY, N. Y.

/
I DO not propose to enter into an explanation of any

particular line of policy as to our present difficulties, to
be adopted by the incoming Administration. I deem it
just to you, to myself, and to all, that I should see every-
thing, that I should hear everything, that I should have
every light that can be brought within my reach, in order
that when I do so speak, I shall have enjoyed every
opportunity to take correct and true grounds ; and for
this reason I don't -propose to speak, at this time, of the
policy of the Government. But when the time comes, I
shall speak, as well as I am able, for the good of the
present and future of this country — for the good both of
the North and the South of this country — for the
good of the one and the other ; and of all sections of
the country. In the meantime, if we have patience, if
we restrain ourselves, if we allow ourselves not to run off
in a passion, I still have confidence that the Almighty,
the Maker of the Universe, will, through the instrumen-
tality of this great and intelligent people, bring us
through this, as he has through all the other difficulties
of our country.

G. DE LA MATYR. 181

MORE fully than any other man, not excepting
Washington, Abraham Lincoln embodied and
exhibited our distinctive civilization. " From the people,
of the people, and for the people," he inspired and di-
rected them through the most trying ordeal that this
government has passed, or ever can pass.

Geologists tell us, the lower stratum of the earth's
crust is granite, and that the highest mountains are the
upheaval of this granite, so granite is both base and
crown. Mr. Lincoln was lifted by the force of his un-
rivaled genius from the mass of the people, the im-
mutable basis, the granite of our civilization, to an ele-
vation of solitary grandeur. Embracing all phases,
from the humblest to the highest, his life bears all to a
higher altitude where its influence falls in perpetual bene-
diction.

INDIANAPOUS, 1882.

1 82 SPEECH AT POUGHKEEPSIE.

SPEECH AT POUGHKEEPSIE, N. Y.

I CANNOT refrain from saying that I am highly grati-
fied, as much here indeed, under the circumstances, as I
have been anywhere on my route, to witness this noble
demonstration — made, not in honor of an individual, but
of the man who at this time humbly, but earnestly, repre-
sents the majesty of the Nation. This reception, like all
others that have been tendered to me, doubtless ema-
nates from all the political parties, and not from one
alone. As such, I accept it the more gratefully, since it
indicates an earnest desire on the part of the whole
people, without regard to political differences, to save
— not the country, because the country will save itself —
but to save the institutions of the country — those insti-
tutions under which, in the last three quarters of a cen-
tury, we have grown to be a great, an intelligent, and a
happy people — the greatest, the most intelligent, and the
happiest people in the world. These noble manifesta-
tions indicate, with unerring certainty, that the whole
people are willing to make common cause for this object ;
that if, as it ever must be, some have been successful in
the recent election, and some have been beaten — if some
are satisfied, and some are dissatisfied — the defeated party
are not in favor of sinking the ship, but are desirous of
running it through the tempest in safety, and willing, if
they think the people have committed an error in their
verdict now, to wait in the hope of reversing it, and set-

SPEECH AT POUGHKEEPSIE. 183

ting it right next time. I do not say that in the recent
election the people did the wisest thing that could have
been done ; indeed, I do not think they did ; but I do
say, that m accepting the great trust committed to me,
which I do with a determination to endeavor to prove
worthy of it, I must rely upon you, upon the people of
the whole country, for support ; and with their sustaining
aid, even I, humble as I am, cannot fail to carry the ship
of state safely through the storm.

1 84

SPEECH AT PEEK SKILL, JVr. Y.

SPEECH AT PEEKSKILL, N. Y.

I WILL say in a single sentence, in regard to the diffi-
culties that lie before me and our beloved country, that if
I can only be as generously and unanimously sustained,
as the demonstrations I have witnessed indicate I shall
be, I shall not fail ; but without your sustaining hands I
am sure that neither I, nor any other man, can hope to
surmount these difficulties. I trust that in the course I
shall pursue, I shall be sustained not only by the party
that elected me, but by the patriotic people of the whole
country.

JOHN B A 3COM. 185

I LOOK upon A. Lincoln as a remarkable illustra-
tion of the important part which a sound social and
moral character may play in a political career. While, in
a lower sense, he opened up his own way to fortune by
his own industry, in a higher sense, it was opened up for
him by the moral forces at play about him. The ice-floe
parts before the skillful sea-captain. Not by his own force
chiefly, Lincoln threaded his narrow strip of open way,
till at length he reached, and a great nation with him,
the high-seas, by a shrewd intellect, and far more, by an
honestly sympathetic heart. He was not a great man
in intellect only, he was not a moral hero ; but he pos-
sessed in an unusual degree, in an active, mobile form,
humane sympathies ; and these saved him and us. Abra-
ham Lincoln was one of those few men, at the sight of
whom, we trust God and take courage.

MADISON, 1880.

1 86 REPLY TO THE MAYOR OF NEW YORK.

REPLY TO THE MAYOR OF NEW YORK.

IN my devotion to the Union I hope I am behind no
man in the nation. As to my wisdom in conducting
affairs so as to tend to the preservation of the Union, I
fear too great confidence may have been placed in me.
I am sure I bring a heart devoted to the work. There is
nothing that could ever bring me to consent — willingly
to consent — to the destruction of this Union, unless it
would be that thing for which the Union itself was made.
I understand that the ship is made for carrying and pres-
ervation of the cargo ; and so long as the ship is safe
with the cargo it shall not be abandoned. This Union
shall never be abandoned, unless the possibility of its
existence shall cease to exist, without the necessity of
throwing passengers and cargo overboard. So long,
then, as it is possible that the prosperity and liberties of
the people can be preserved within the Union, it shall be
my purpose at all times to preserve it.

GEO. W. M INTER. 187

MR. LINCOLN was great in goodness, as well as
good in greatness. Like the silent potent forces
in nature, he was most powerful in the calm. He never
shunned storms and tempests, but never courted them.
His love of honesty and fair dealing was one of his most
prominent characteristics ; he never stooped to trickery.
Let the following incident illustrate this trait in his
character :

In the spring term of the Tazewell County Court, in
1847, which, at that time, was held in the village of Tre-
mont, I was detained as witness an entire week. Lin-
coln was employed in several suits, and among them was
one of Case vs. Snow Bros. The Snow Bros., as
appeared in evidence (who were both minors), had pur-
chased from an old Mr. Chase what was then called a
" prairie team," consisting of two or three yoke of oxen
and prairie plow, giving therefor their joint note for some
two hundred dollars, but when pay-day came, refused
to pay, pleading the minor act. The note was placed in
Lincoln's hands for collection. The suit was called, a
jury impaneled. The Snow Bros, did not deny the
note, but pleaded, through their counsel, that they were
minors, and that Mr. Case knew they were, at the time
of the contract and conveyance. All this was admitted
by Mr. Lincoln, with his peculiar phrase, " Yes, gentle-
men, I guess that's so." The minor act was read, and its
validity admitted, in the same manner. The counsel of
the Snow Bros, were permitted, without question, to

1 88 GEO. W. MINIER.

I

state all these things to the jury, and to show by the stat-
ute that these minors could not be held responsible for
their contract. By this time, you may well suppose that
I began to be uneasy. " What ! " thought I, " this good
old man, who confided in these boys, to be wronged in
this way, and even his counsel, Mr. Lincoln, to submit in
silence !" I looked at the court, Judge Treat, but could
read nothing in his calm and dignified demeanor. Just
then, Mr. Lincoln slowly got up, and in his strange, half
erect attitude, and clear, quiet accent began, " Gentlemen
of the jury, are you willing to allow these boys to begin
life with this shame and disgrace attached to their charac-
ter? If you are, / am not. The best judge of human
character that ever wrote, has left these immortal words
for all of us to ponder :

" ' Good name in man or woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.

Who steals my purse, steals trash ; 'tis something, nothing :
'Twas mine, 'tis his ; and has been slave to thousands.
But he that filches from me my good name,
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And leaves me poor, indeed.' "

Then rising to his full height, and looking upon the Snow
Bros, with the compassion of a brother, his long right arm
extended toward the opposing counsel, he continued :
*' Gentlemen of the Jury, these poor, innocent boys would
never have attempted this low villainy, had it not been for
the advice of these lawyers." Then, for a few minutes,
he showed how even the noble science of law may be
prostituted; with a scathing rebuke to those who thus

CEO. W. MINIER. 189

belittle their profession, and concluded : " And now,
gentlemen, you have it in your power to set these boys
right before the world." He plead for the young men
only ; I think he did not mention his client's name. The
jury, without leaving their seats, decided that Snow Bros.
must pay that debt ; and they, after hearing Lincoln,
were as willing to pay it as the jury were determined
they should. I think the entire argument lasted not
above five minutes.

I once heard Mr. Lincoln speak on the Tariff, and
he illustrated it in this way ; " I confess that I have not
any very decided views on the question. A revenue we
must have. In orden to keep house, we must have
breakfast, dinner and supper ; and this tariff business
seems to be necessary to bring them. But yet, there is
something obscure about it It reminds me of the fel-
low that came into a grocery down here in Menard
County, at Salem, where I once lived, and called for a
picayune's worth of crackers ; so the clerk laid them out
on the counter. After sitting awhile, he said to the clerk,
' I don't want these crackers, take them, and give me a
glass of cider.' So the clerk put the crackers back into
the box, and handed the fellow the cider. After drinking,
he started for the door. ' Here, Bill,' called out the
clerk, ' pay me for your cider.' ' Why,' said Bill, ' I
gave you the crackers for it.' 'Well, then, pay me for
the crackers.' ' But I haint had any ; ' responded Bill.
' That's so,' said the clerk. ' Well, clear out ! It seems
to me that I've lost a picayune somehow, but I can't
make it out exactly.' "So," said Lincoln, after the

1 90

GEO. W. MINIER.

laugh had subsided, " it is with the tariff ; somebody gets
the picayune, but I don't exactly understand how."

I am glad to assist in embalming in the minds of his
countrymen, the true history and eminent character of
the greatest American President, before they are over-
run with the weeds of fable.

MINIER, 1882.

JOHN £. GO UGH. i

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, one of the grandest men
IJL this country or the world has ever produced,
pure in life and motive, inflexible in his purpose to do
right as he understood it, of undaunted courage in car-
rying out the principles he believed to be true, large-
hearted, and tender in his sympathy with human suffer-
ing-
Bold as a lion and gentle as a child —
He lived to bless the world.

He broke no promise, served no private end,
He gained no title, and he lost no friend.

WORCESTER, 1880.

1 92 SPEECH TO VARIOUS ASSOCIATIONS.

SPEECH TO VARIOUS REPUBLICAN ASSO-
CIATIONS, NEW YORK.

IT was not intimated to me that I was brought into
the room where Daniel Webster and Henry Clay had
made speeches, and where, in my position, I might be
expected to do something like those men, or do some-
thing worthy of myself or my audience. I have been
occupying a position since the Presidential election, of
silence, of avoiding public speaking, of avoiding public
writing ; I have been doing so, because I thought upon
full consideration that was the proper course for me to
take. I have not kept silence since the Presidential
election from any party wantonness, or from any indiffer-
ence to the anxiety that pervades the minds of men about
the aspect of the political affairs of this country. I have
kept silence for the reason that I supposed it was pecu-
liarly proper that I should do so until the time came
when, according to the custom of the country, I could
speak officially. I alluded to the custom of the Presi-
dential-elect, at the time of taking the oath of office ;
that is what I meant by the custom of the country. I do
suppose that, while the political drama being enacted in
this country, at this time, is rapidly shifting its scenes —
forbidding an anticipation, with any degree of certainty,
to-day, what we shall see to-morrow — it was peculiarly
fitting that I should see it all, up to the last minute,

SPEECH TO VARIOUS ASSOCIATIONS. 193

before I should take ground that I might be disposed
(by the shifting of the scenes afterwards) also to shift. I
have said several times, upon this journey, and I now
repeat it to you, that when the time does come I shall
then take the ground that I think is right, right for the
North, for the South, for the East, for the West, for the
whole country. And in doing so, I hope to feel no
necessity pressing upon me to say anything in conflict
with the Constitution ; in conflict with the continued
Union of these States, in conflict with the perpetuation
of the liberties of this people, or anything in conflict with
anything whatever that I have ever given you reason to
expect from me.

18

194

SPEECH AT NEWARK, N. f.

SPEECH AT NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

I AM sure, however, that I have not the ability to
do anything unaided of God, and that without his sup-
port, and that of this free, happy, prosperous, and intelli-
gent people, no man can succeed in doing that the im«
portance of which we all comprehend.

C. M. CLAY. 195

K^COLN was the truest friend I ever had and
therefore my estimate of his character must be
taken "cum grano salis." He was the most conscien-
tious man I ever knew, and ranks with Washington in
genius, public service, and patriotism. They will go
down to posterity in equal love, admiration, and grati-
tude. After this I need not say that he was the man oi
his times : and such is the verdict of his contemporaries,

WHITE HALL, 1880.

196 SPEECH IN THE SENATE CHAMBER.

SPEECH IN THE SENATE CHAMBER.

TRENTON, NEW JERSEY.

MAY I be pardoned if, upon this occasion, I mention
that away back in my childhood, the earliest days of
my being able to read, I got hold of a small book,
such a one as few of the younger members have seen,
" Weem's Life of Washington." I remember all the
accounts there given of the battle-fields and struggles
for liberties of the country, and none fixed themselves
upon my imagination so deeply as the struggle here at
Trenton, New Jersey. The crossing of the river, the
contest with the Hessians ; the great hardships endured
at that time, all fixed themselves on my memory, more
than any single revolutionary event ; and you all know,
for you have all been boys, how these early impressions
last longer than any others. I recollect thinking then, boy
even though I was, that there must have been some-
thing more than common that these men struggled for.
I am exceedingly anxious that that thing which they
struggled for ; that something even more than National
Independence ; that something that held out a great
promise to all the people of the world to all time to come
— I am exceedingly anxious that this Union, the Consti-
tution, and the liberties of the people shall be perpetu-
ated in accordance with the original idea for which that
struggle was made, and I shall be most happy indeed il

SPEECH IN THE SENATE CHAMBER. 197

I shall be an humble instrument in the hands of the
Almighty and of this, his most chosen people, as the
chosen instrument — also in the hands of the Almighty —
for perpetrating the object of that great struggle.

198

SPEECH AT TRENTON, N. J.

SPEECH AT TRENTON, NEW JERSEY.

DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY.

I SHALL endeavor to take the ground I deem most
just to the North, the East, the West, the South, and
the whole country. I take it, I hope, in good temper,
certainly with no malice towards any section. I shall do
all that may be in my power to promote a peaceful settle-
ment of .all our difficulties. The man does not live who
is more devoted to peace than I am, none who would
do more to preserve it, but it may be necessary to put
the foot down firmly. And if I do my duty and do
right you will sustain me, will you not? Received, as
I am, by the members of a Legislature, the majority of
whom do not agree with me in political sentiments, I
trust that I may have their assistance in piloting the
ship of State through this voyage, surrounded by perils
as it is, for if it should suffer wreck now, there will be
no pilot ever needed for another voyage.

SCHUYLER COLFAX. 199

HIS freedom from passion and bitterness — in his
acute sense of justice — in his courageous faith in
the right, and his inextinguishable hatred of wrong — in
warm and heartfelt sympathy and mercy, in his coolness
of judgment, in his unquestioned rectitude of intention —
—in a word, in his ability to lift himself for his country's
sake above all mere partizanship, in all the marked traits
of his character combined, he has had no parallel since
Washington, and, while our republic endures he will
live with him in the grateful hearts of his grateful
countrymen.

SOUTH BEND, 1880.

200 ADDRESS TO THE MAYOR AND CITIZENS

ADDRESS TO THE MAYOR AND CITIZENS
OF PHILADELPHIA

I DEEM it a happy circumstance that this dissatisfied
position of our fellow-citizens does not point us to any-
thing in which they are being injured, or about to be
injured ; for which reason I have felt all the while jus-
tified in concluding that the crisis, the panic, the anxiety
of the country at this time, is artificial. If there be
those who differ with me upon this subject, they have
not pointed out the substantial difficulty that exists. I
do not mean to say that an artificial panic may not do
considerable harm ; that it has done such I do not
deny. I promise you, in all sincerity, that I bring to
the work a sincere heart. Whether I will bring a head
equal to that heart will be for future times to deter-
mine. It were useless for me to speak of details of
plans now ; I shall speak officially next Monday week, if
ever. If I should not speak then, it were useless for me
to do so now. If I do speak then it is useless for me to
do so now. When I do speak, I shall take such ground
as I deem best calculated to restore peace, harmony,
and prosperity to the country, and tend to the
perpetuity of the nation and the liberty of these
States and these people. Your worthy Mayor has ex-
pressed the wish, in which I join with him, that it
were convenient for me to remain in your city long
enough to consult your merchants and manufacturers ; or

ADDRESS TO THE MAYOR AND CITIZENS. 201

as it were, to listen to those breathings rising within the
consecrated walls wherein the Constitution of the United
States, and I will add, the Declaration of Independence,
were originally framed and adopted. I assure you and
your Mayor that I had hoped, on this occasion, and upon
all occasions during my life, that I shall do nothing in-
consistent with the teachings of these holy and most
sacred walls. I never asked anything that does not
breathe from these sacred walls. All my political warfare
has been in favor of the teachings that came forth from
these sacred walls. May my right hand forget its cun-
ning, and my tongue cleave to the roof my mouth, if ever
I prove false to those teachings.

2O2

SPEECH IN INDEPENDENCE HALL.

SPEECH IN INDEPENDENCE HALL

AT PHILADELPHIA.

I HAVE never had a feeling, politically, that did not
spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration
of Independence. I have often pondered over the
dangers which were incurred by the men who assembled
here and framed and adopted that Declaration. I have
pondered over the toils that were endured by the officers
and soldiers of the army who achieved that independ-
ence. I have often inquired of myself what great prin-
ciple or idea it was that kept this Confederacy so long
together. It was net the mere matter of the separation
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 I hope to the
world for all future time. It was that which gave
promise that, in due time, the weight would be lifted
from the shoulders of all men. This is the sentiment
embodied in the Declaration of Independence. Now,
my friends, can this country be saved on that basis? If it
can, I shall 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 / would rather be assassinated on this
spot than surrender it.

ROBERT COLLYER. 203

A BRAHAM LINCOLN'S greatness and worth lay
XJL in his simple manhood. So that the excuse we
offer for the faults and failings of some great men,
" They were only human," was the very crown of his ex-
cellence. He was a whole man, human to the core of
his heart.

NEW YORK, 1880.

204 SPEECH BEFORE INDEPENDENCE HALL.

SPEECH

BEFORE INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA, FEB., 1 86 1
WHILE HOISTING A NEW FLAG.

EACH additional star added to that flag has given
additional prosperity and happiness to this country, until
it has advanced to its present condition ; and its welfare
in the future, as well as in the past, is in your hands.
Cultivating the spirit that animated our fathers, who
gave renown and celebrity to this hall ; cherishing that
fraternal feeling which has so long characterized us as a
nation ; excluding passion, ill-temper, and precipitate
action on all occasions, I think we may promise our-
selves that additional stars shall from time to time be
placed upon that flag, until we shall number, as was
anticipated by the great historian, five hundred millions
of happy and prosperous people.

ROSCOE CONKLING. 205

IT would be difficult, in many words, and perhaps not
more difficult in a few, to state my estimate of the
" Life and Services of Abraham Lincoln." It was a hard
life, a busy life, an American life, and a great life ; and it
rendered services to the country which can hardly be
over-estimated, and which it has been the fortune of,
perhaps, only two other men to equal.

UTICA, 1880.

206

SPEECH AT LANCASTER.

SPEECH AT LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA.

I APPEAR not to make a speech. I have not time to
make a speech at length, and not strength to make them
on every occasion ; and worse than all, I have none to
make. There is plenty of matter to speak about in these
times, but it is well known that the more a man speaks
the less he is understood — the more he says one thing,
the more his adversaries contend he meant something
else. I shall soon have occasion to speak officially, and
then I will endeavor to put my thoughts just as plain as
I can express myself — true to the Constitution and
Union of all the States, and to the perpetual liberty of
all the people.

S. J. KIRK WOOD. 207

IT is not probable that the memory of Abraham Lin-
coln will perish from the earth, so long as " a gov-
ernment of the people, by the people, and for the people "
shall stand. Nevertheless, I believe that anything which
tends to bring the honest, true life of so grand a man
nearer to the thoughts and hearts of each generation, is a
worthy work.

IOWA CITY, 1882.

zo8 SPEECH BEFORE THE LEGISLATURE.

SPEECH

BEFORE THE LEGISLATURE OF PENNSYLVANIA AT HARRIS-
BURG, FEBRUARY 22, 1 86 1.

I HAVE already gone through one exceedingly inter-
esting scene this morning, in the ceremonies at Philadel-
phia. Under the high conduct of gentlemen there, I
was for the first time allowed the privilege of standing
in old Independence Hall, to have a few words addressed
to me there, and opening up to me an opportunity of ex-
pressing, with much regret, that I had not more time to
express something of my own feelings, excited by the
occasion, somewhat to harmonize and give shape to the
feelings that had been really the feelings of my whole
life. Besides this, our friends there had provided a mag-
nificent flag of our country ; they had arranged so that
I was given the honor of raising it to the head of its
staff. And, when it went up, I was pleased that it went
to its place by the strength of my own feeble arm, when,
according to the arrangement, the cord was pulled, and
it floated gloriously to the wind, without an accident, in the
light, glowing sunshine of the morning. I could not help
hoping that there was, in the entire success of that beau-
tiful ceremony, at least something of an omen of what is
to come. How could I help feeling, then, as I often
have felt ? In the whole of that proceeding, I was a very
humble instrument. I had not provided the flag. I had

SPEECH BEFORE THE LEGISLATURE. 209

not made the arrangements for elevating it to its
place ; I had applied but a very small portion of my
feeble strength in raising it. In the whole transac-
tion, I was in the hands of the people who had
arranged it, and, if I can have the same generous co-
operation of the people of the nation, I think the flag of
our country may yet be kept flaunting gloriously. It is
not with any pleasure that I contemplate the possibility
that a necessity may arise in this country for the use of
the military arm. . While I am exceedingly gratified to
see the manifestation, upon your streets, of your mili-
tary force here, and exceedingly gratified at your promise
here, to use that force upon a proper emergency- — while
I make these acknowledgments, I desire to repeat, in
order to preclude any possible misconstruction, that I do
most sincerely hope that we shall have no use for them ;
that it will never become their duty to shed blood, and
most especially, never to shed fraternal blood. I promise
that, so far as I may have wisdom to direct, if so painful
a result shall in any wise be brought about, it shall be
through no fault of mine.

14

210

SPEECH TO THE MAYOR.

SPEECH

TO THE MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL OF WASHINGTON.

MR. MAYOR:

I thank you, and through you the municipal authori-
ties of this city who accompany you, for this welcome.
And as it is the first time in my life, since the present
phase in politics has presented itself in this country, that
I have said anything publicly within a region of country
where the institution of slavery exists, I will take this
occasion to say, that I think very much of the ill-feeling
that has existed and still exists between the people in the
sections from which I came and the people here, is
dependent upon a misunderstanding of one another. I
therefore avail myself of this opportunity to assure you,
Mr. Mayor, and all the gentlemen present, that I have
not now, and never have had, any other than as kindly
feelings towards you as the people of my own section. I
have not now, and never have had, any disposition to
treat you in any respect otherwise than as my own
neighbors. I have not now any purpose to withhold
from you any of the benefits of the Constitution, under
any circumstances, that I would not feel myself con-
strained to withhold from my own neighbors, and I hope,
in a word, that when we shall become better acquainted
— and I say it with great confidence — we shall like each
other the more.

I have reached this city of Washington under cir-

SPEECH TO THE MAYOR. 211

cumstances considerably differing from those under
which any other man has ever reached it. I hope that,
if things shall go along as prosperously as I believe we
all desire they may, I may have it in my power to remove
something of this misunderstanding ; that I may be
enabled to convince you, and the people of your section
of the country, that we regard you as in all things our
equals, and in all things entitled to the same respect and
the same treatment that we claim for ourselves ; that we
are in no wise disposed, if it were in our power, to
oppress you, to deprive you of any of your rights under
the Constitution of the United States, or even narrowly
to split hairs with you in regard to these rights, but are
determined to give you, as far as lies in our hands, all
your rights under the Constitution — not grudgingly, but
fully and fairly. I hope that, by thus dealing with you,
we will become better acquainted, and be better friends.

2 1 a PROCLAMA TION.

PROCLAMATION,

APRIL 15, l86l.

Now, Therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of
the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested
by the Constitution and the laws, have thought fit to call
forth, and hereby do call forth, the militia of the several
States of the Union to the aggregate number of 75,000,
in order to suppress said combination and to cause the
laws to be duly executed. The details for this object
will be immediately communicated to the State authori-
ties through the War Department.

I appeal to the loyal citizens to favor, facilitate and
aid this effort to maintain the honor, the integrity, and
the 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 force hereby called forth, will probably be to re-
possess the forts, places and property which have been
seized from the Union, and in every event the utmost
care will be observed, consistent with the objects afore-
said, to avoid any devastation, any destruction of, or in-
terference with property, or any disturbance of peaceful
citizens in any part of the country ; and I hereby com-
mand the persons composing the combination aforesaid,
to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective
abodes within twenty days from this date

WILLIAM WALKER. 213

MY personal recollection of Mr. Lincoln, and what
I have seen of him, in and about Springfield, dates
from about the year 1842, and was almost continuous
until he left for Washington, in February, 1861 ; and, of
course, I can say of, or concerning him, nothing but what
might be said by hundreds of others who knew him as
well, and much better, than I did. There was one trait
in Mr. Lincoln's character that I can never forget; that
was his great kindness and generous sympathy for the
young men, who were struggling night and day, to reach a
place at the bar, as lawyers. I well remember his coming
in the office of Col. Baker, where I studied and read law,
almost every afternoon ; and with his cheerful face, and
hearty greeting, to myself and other students, " How are
'you this afternoon, boys ?" seat himself, and take up some
text-book, that some of us were reading, and give us a
close and rigid examination, laughing heartily at our an-
swers, at times ; and always made the hour he spent with
us interesting and instructive ; occasionally relating, to
the great amusement of all present, an anecdote ; and,
after the hour so spent, he could go to a back yard, used
by the students, and join them in a game of ball, with as
much zest as any of us. But, when his watch told him
the hour was out, he would at once quit the game, and
bid us good-evening. Many years after, years that the
writer had spent in the active practice of law, I met Mr.
Lincoln, and was associated with him in about the last
case he had any connection with. This, I think, was in

WILLIAAf WALKER.

the year 1859, an<^ after his name had become a house-
hold word in all the land — after he had won imperishable
renown as a political debater, with Senator Douglas ; and
while his great mind was full of the momentous ques-
tions then agitating the public mind — he could not, and
did not, forget an old widow lady who had been, long
years before, kind to him, while he was struggling, alone
and unaided, in a new country, for the means to enable
him to qualify himself for the high position afterward
called upon, by his countrymen, to fill. This old widow
lady, named Armstrong, known by almost every one in
Menard Co. as Aunt Hannah, had a son — a wild boy of
about twenty years of age — who, with others, became in-
volved in a difficulty at a camp meeting, held in Mason
Co., near Salt Creek, resulting in the killing of a man
named Metzker. Young Armstrong, and another young
man, were indicted for murder in the first degree. Aunt
Hannah, young Armstrong's mother, employed the
writer, and a lawyer named Dillworth, to defend her son.
We obtained an order of court, allowing separate trials,
and took a change of venue, on the part of Armstrong,
to Cass Co., Illinois, in the spring of '59. Upon the
writer reaching Beardstown, and while in consultation
with my associate, at the hotel, Mr. Lincoln was an-
nounced. Upon entering, he gave us the gratifying
information that he would, at the request of Aunt Han-
nah, assist us in the case of her son. This was agree-
able news to us. We furnished Mr. Lincoln such facts
as had come to our knowledge ; he walked across the
room two or three times, was again seated, and asked us
for our line of defense, and the kind of jury we thought

WILLIAM WALKER. 215

of taking. We were in favor of young men. He asked
our reasons. We replied, the defendant being a young
man, we thought the sympathies of young men could be
more easily aroused in his behalf. Mr. Lincoln differed
with us, and requested the privilege of making the chal-
lenges, which we accorded to him, and to me. The most
remarkable-looking twelve men were sworn, that I had
ever seen in a jury-box. All were past middle life, and
the more strict the men were in enforcing obedience to
the law, and the good order of society, the better pleased
Mr. Lincoln was with them. The trial progressed, evi-
dence heard and instructions given, and the State was
heard from through its attorney. Mr. Lincoln made the
closing argument for the defense. A grander, or a more
powerful and eloquent speech, never, in my opinion, fell
from the lips of man ; and when he closed, there was not
a dry eye in the court-room. The young man was
acquitted, for which Mr. Lincoln would not receive a
cent. I have made this mention of some of my recol-
lections of Mr. Lincoln, longer, perhaps, than I ought —
but I could not well avoid it — for, taking him all in all, I
think him one of the greatest men America has ever
produced.

r/~

LEXINGTON, 1882.

2l6

REPLY TO GOVERNOR HICKS

REPLY

TO GOVERNOR HICKS AND MAYOR BROWN.

FOR the future, troops must be brought here,
but I make no point of bringing them through Baltimore.
Without any military knowledge myself, of course I
must leave details to General Scott. He hastily said
this morning, in the presence of these gentlemen,
" March them around Baltimore and not through it."
I sincerely hope the General, on fuller reflection, will
consider this practical and proper, and that you will not
object to it By this, a collision of the people of Balti-
more with the troops will be avoided, unless they go out
of their way to seek it. I hope you will exert your in-
fluence to prevent this. Now and ever I shall do all in
my power for peace, consistently with the maintenance of
the government

APRIL 20, 1 86 1.

LEONARD W. VOLK. 217

r I "HE public services of Mr. Lincoln are well known
JL to the world. But there is much of the man,
the inner man and his real characteristics — familiar
only to his neighbors and intimate friends, as they knew
him, before he was so suddenly called to the Presidency
of the United States, from a country village, where,
and near which most of his life had been spent, to assume
the " cares of state," and carry, Atlas-like, the destinies
of the Western Continent upon his brawny and hercu-
lean shoulders. The world at large will never know as
do those living neighbors and friends the real greatness
of the man. Personally, I had but little intimate
acquaintance with Mr. Lincoln, compared to what many
others had, and what I observed of his character was
mainly while sitting to me, prior to his nomination in
1860, for the clay model of his bust. But he impressed
me, before I ever spoke with him, with a feeling akin to
reverence — a feeling of affection. He was just the man
to strike with favor every person who knew toil and pri-
vation— and what could be more natural ? for he himself
had been a toiler at every drudgery, and experienced the
severest privations from earliest boyhood to mature man-
hood. Its effect was plainly visible in his figure, in the
form of the bones, muscle and sinew, in his motion and
in his speech. He was a plebeian in the truest sense, and
his prototype cannot be found among the great men of
ancient or modern times. He has been compared with
King Servius Tullius, but might with more propriety be

2i8 LEONARD W. VOL FT

compared with the Czar Alexander II. of Russia, who by
his own personal will freed so many millions of serfs, in
opposition to the wishes of his nobles ; while the former
freed no slaves, but granted some elective privileges to
the plebeian claims, subject always to the approval of the
patrician senators, and built a five-mile wall around
Rome. But neither of these despots (one a King and
the other an Emperor) possessed the characteristics of
Abraham Lincoln. The fact that all three were assas-
sinated does not signify much in making them resem-
blances of each other. In studying the marble and
bronze portraits of the rulers and great men of ancient
medieval and modern times, the writer has found none
possessing any decided resemblance to Mr. Lincoln,
whose features are distinctly in contrast with European
types and may properly be designated as purely Amer-
ican. Our own brief history gives us the names of Jive
distinctly remarkable men who were Presidents of the
United States, greater than all others, more remarkable
because they carved out and achieved their own immor-
tality, and none but one of these five referred to was a
college graduate, and he, by his own indomitable will,
perseverance and industry, through extreme poverty,
alone obtained a collegiate education. None of these
five men were sons of presidents, nor did they possess
wealthy and distinguished relatives (except, perhaps, the
first) to advance and place them in high stations. No !
they all earned their honors and promotion from stage to
stage, from young boyhood, in the rough, rugged school
of experience, toil and hardship, which ripened and fitted
them for. every station to which they were successively

LEONARD W. VOLK. 219

advanced up to the highest and proudest positions in the
land. Nature had endowed these favorite sons with a
wealth of ideas, a wealth of self-reliance, industry, hon-
esty, patience and patriotism, far greater and more valu-
able than inherited riches, titles, or class privileges.
Imagine Abraham Lincoln, as a sturdy youth in the
depths of the primeval forests of the west, alone with his
axe, felling the giant trees, lopping off the limbs, dividing
the trunks in regular lengths, then, with beetle and
wedges splitting them into rails, now and then wearily
sitting on a stump or log, or lying on the ground to rest
himself, and snatching a few moments to study a book,
or perhaps contemplating the solitude of the forest, while
watching the birds and listening to their wild songs.
Then, in the grand moon-lit night, while floating silently
down the mighty Mississippi on his flat-boat, he doubt-
less thought, planned and dreamed of his ambitious
desire to rise in the world and get above his present
lowly condition. Noble and ambitious resolves were
weaving in his young brain. He, like the others of the
immortal five, believed in himself to be able to grapple
with the difficulties of life and take the responsibilities
thrust upon him by the people. It was fortunate for the
fame of these men that events of sufficient magnitude
occurred, affording the opportunities to prove to the
world their real fitness, talent and greatness to be
imperishably engraved upon history's tablets among the
immortal men of all ages. If the ambitious young men
of the present and future generations will earnestly study
and imitate these sublime characters, relying as they did
upon their own honest, patient toil and privation of lux-

22O

LEONARD W. VOLK.

uries, instead of leaning upon others or watching chances
to be placed high by those temporarily in power — to sud-
denly tumble from unearned stations — some of them
may reap the reward and honors of Washington, Jack-
son, Lincoln, Grant and Garfield.

CHICAGO, 1882.

GEORGE STONEMAN. 221

is and can be but one opinion regarding
JL the life and work performed by that great man
Lincoln. He did more to perpetuate the existence of
free institutions and a republican form of government
than any man that has ever lived, and the debt mankind
owes his memory can never be repaid.

He had but one fault. He was too sympathetic and
tender-hearted. I well recollect one night about two
o'clock A. M. in the early days of the war, that I was with
him in the telegraph office at General McClellan's head-
quarters. He arose from his chair to leave, straightened
himself up and remarked, " To-morrow night I shall have
a terrible headache." When asked the cause he replied,
" To-morrow is hangman's day and I shall have to act
upon death sentences," and I shall never forget the sad
and sorrowful expression that came over his face. It is
well known that Congress relieved him from the consid-
eration of death sentences for desertion and other capital
offenses, and conferred it upon army commanders.

SAN GABRIEL, 1881.

222 MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.

MESSAGE TO CONGRESS

ASSEMBLED IN EXTRA SESSION, JULY 4, 1 86 1.

I AM most happy to believe that the plain people un-
derstand and appreciate this. It is worthy of note that
while in this, the Government's hour of trial, large num-
bers of those in the army and navy who have been
favored with the offices, have resigned and proved false
to the hand which pampered them, not one common
soldier or common sailor is known to have deserted his
flag. Great honor is due to those officers who have re-
mained true despite the example of their treacherous
associates, but the greatest honor and most important
fact of all, is the unanimous firmness of the common
soldiers and common sailors. To the last man, so far as
known, they have successfully resisted the traitorous
efforts of those whose commands but an hour before they
obeyed as absolute law. This is the patriotic instinct of
plain people. They understand without an argument
that the destroying the Government which was made
by Washington means no good to them. Our popular
Government has often been called an experiment. Two
points in it our people have settled : the successful estab-
lishing and the successful administering of it. One still
remains : its successful maintenance against a formidable
internal attempt to overthrow it. It is now for them to
demonstrate to the world that those who can fairly
carry an election, can also suppress a rebellion ; that

MESSAGE TO CONGRESS. 223

ballots are the rightful and peaceful successors
of bullets, and that when ballots have fairly and
constitutionally decided, there can be no successful
appeal back to bullets ; that there can be no successful
appeal except to ballots themselves at succeeding elec-
tions. Such will be a great lesson of peace, teaching
men that what they cannot take by an election, neither
can they take by a war, teaching all the folly of being
the beginners of a war.

As a private citizen the Executive could not have
consented that these institutions shall perish, much less
could he, in betrayal of so vast and so sacred a trust as
these free people had confided to him. He felt that he
had no moral right to shrink, nor even to count the
chances of his own life in what might follow.

In full view of his great responsibility, he has so far
done what he has deemed his duty. You will now, ac-
cording to your own judgment, perform yours. He sin-
cerely hopes that your views and your actions may so
accord with his as to assure all faithful citizens who have
been disturbed in their rights, of a certain and speedy
restoration to them, under the Constitution and laws,
and having thus chosen our cause without guile, and with
pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God, and go for-
ward without fear and with manly hearts.

224

PERSONAL CONFERENCE.

PERSONAL CONFERENCE

WITH THE REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE BORDER STATES,

JULY 12, l86l.

AFTER the adjournment of Congress, now near, 1
shall have no opportunity of seeing you for several
months. Believing that you of the Border States hold
more power for good than any other equal number of
members, I feel it a duty which I cannot justifiably
waive to make this appeal to you. I intend no reproach
or complaint when I assure you that, in my opinion, if
you all had voted for the resolution in the gradual
emancipation message of last March, the war would now
be substantially ended. And the plan therein proposed
is yet one of the most potent and swift means of ending
it Let the states which are in rebellion see definitely
and certainly that in no event will the states you repre-
sent ever join their proposed Confederacy, and they can-
not much longer maintain the contest. But you cannot
divest them of their hope to ultimately have you with
them so long as you show a determination to perpetuate
the institution within your own states.

If the war continues long, as it must if the object be
not sooner attained, the institution in your states will be
extinguished by mere friction and abrasion — by the mere
incidents of the war. It will be gone, and you will have
nothing valuable in lieu of it. Much of its value is gone
already. How much better for you and for your people

PERSONAL CONFERENCE. 225

to take the step which at once shortens the war, and
secures substantial compensation for that which is sure
to be wholly lost in any other event ! How much better
to thus save the money which else we sink forever in the
war ! How much better to do it while we can, lest the
war, ere long, render us pecuniarily unable to do it !
How much better for you as sellers, and the nation as
buyer, to sell out and buy out that without which the
war could never have been, than to sink both the thing to
be sold and the price of it, in cutting one another's
throats ? I do not speak of emancipation at once, but of
a decision at once to emancipate gradually.

Upon these considerations, I have again begged your
attention to the message of March last. Before leaving
the Capitol, consider and discuss it among yourselves.
You are patriots and statesmen, and as such, I pray you
to consider this proposition, and, at the least, commend
it to the consideration of your states and people. As
you would perpetuate popular government for the best
people in the world, I beseech you that you do in no
wise omit this. Our common country is in great peril,
demanding the loftiest views and boldest action to bring
a speedy relief. Once relieved, its form of government is
saved to the world ; its beloved history and cherished
memories are vindicated, and its happy future fully as-
sured and rendered inconceivably grand. To you, more
than to any others, the privilege is given to assure that
happiness, and swell that grandeur, and to link your own
names therewith forever.

15

226 REPLY TO HORACE GREELY.

REPLY TO HORACE GREELEY.

My paramount object is to save the Union, and neither
to save or destroy slavery.

If there be those who would not save the Union un-
less they could at the same time save slavery, I do not
agree with them. If there be those who would not save
the Union unless they could at the sams time destroy
slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object
is to save the Union, and not either to save or destroy
slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any
slave, I would do it. If I could save it by freeing all the
slaves I would do it ; and if I could do it by freeing some
and leaving others alone, I would also do that. What I
do about slavery and the colored race I do because I be-
lieve it helps to save the Union, and what I forbear, I
forbear because I do not believe it helps to save the
Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe that
what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more
whenever I believe doing more will help the cause.

. J. OGLESBY. 227

r I ^"HERE is but one opinion of the character of
JL Abraham Lincoln, throughout the world. No
living man can add anything to his fame. It will be
polished by the wear of time, to a luster which will
eclipse the glory of all men, not born as he was, to the
boon of immortality.

DECATUR, 1880.

228 REPLY TO A RELIGIOUS DELEGATION.

REPLY TO A RELIGIOUS DELEGATION

WHO PRESENTED A MEMORIAL REQUESTING MR. LINCOLN
TO ISSUE A PROCLAMATION OF UNIVERSAL
EMANCIPATION.

I AM approached with the most opposite opinions
and advice, and that by religious men, who are equally
certain that they represent the divine will. I am sure
that either the one or the other class is mistaken in that
belief, and perhaps in some respects, both. I hope it will
not be irreverent for me to say that if it is probable that
God would reveal his will to others, on a point so con-
nected with my duty, it might be supposed he would re-
veal it directly to me ; for, unless I am more deceived in
myself than I often am, it is my earnest desire to know
the will of Providence in this matter, and if I can
learn what it is I will do it ! These are not, however,
the days of miracles, and I suppose it will be granted
that I am not to expect a direct revelation. I must
study the plain physical facts of the case, ascertain what
is possible and learn what appears to be wise and right

The subject is difficult, and good men do not agree.
For instance, the other day four gentlemen of standing
and intelligence from New York, called as a delegation on •
business connected with the war ; but before leaving two
of them earnestly besought me to proclaim general
emancipation, upon which the other two at once attacked
them. I can assure you that the subject is on my mind,
by day and night, more than any other. Whatever shall
appear to be God's will I will do.

CYRUS NORTHRQP. 229

HIS wisdom, his accurate perceptions, his vigor of
intellect, his humor and his unselfish patriotism
are known to all. But what impressed me even more
than these was the sweetness of his whole nature — his
great loving heart. It was this, glorifying his other great
qualities, that so endeared him to the people and caused
his death to be mourned with such an unequaled depth
of sorrow and abundance of tears. No man can take his
place in the hearts of the American people.

YALE COLLEGE, 1882.

INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

INAUGURAL ADDRESS,

DELIVERED ON THE FOURTH DAY OF MARCH, 1 86 1.

APPREHENSION seems to exist among the people of the
Southern States that by the accession of a Republican
administration their property and their peace and per-
sonal security are to be endangered. There has never
been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed,
the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while
existed and been open to their inspection. It is found
in nearly all the published speeches of him who now
addresses you. I do but quote from one of those
speeches when I declare, that " I have no purpose,
directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of
slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no
lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so."
Those who nominated and elected me did so with
full knowledge that I had made this and many similar
declarations, and had never recanted them.

Before entering upon so grave a matter as the
destruction of our national fabric, with all its benefits, its
memories and its hopes, would it not be wise to ascertain
precisely why we do it ? Will you hazard so desperate a
step while there is any possibility that any portion of the
ills you fly from have no real existence ? Will you, while
the certain ills you fly to are greater than all the real ones
you fly from — will you risk the commission of so fearful
a mistake ?

INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 231

Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We cannot
remove our respective sections from each other, nor build
an impassable wall between them. A husband and wife
may be divorced, and go out of the presence and beyond
the reach of each other, but the different parts of our
country cannot do this. They cannot but remain face to
face ; and intercourse, either amicable or hostile, must
continue between them. Is it impossible, then, to make
that intercourse more advantageous or more satisfactory
after separation than before ? Can aliens make treaties
easier than friends can make laws ? Can treaties be more
faithfully enforced between aliens than laws can among
friends ? Suppose you go to war, you cannot fight always ;
and when, after much loss on both sides, and no gain on
either, you cease fighting, the identical old questions, as
to terms of intercourse, are again upon you.

The Chief Magistrate derives all his authority from
the people, and they have conferred none upon him to
fix terms for the separation of the States. The people
themselves can do this also if they choose ; but the Exec-
utive, as such, has nothing to do with it. His duty is
to administer the present government as it came to his
hands, and to transmit it, unimpaired by him, to his suc-
cessor.

Why should there not be a patient confidence in the
ultimate justice of the people ? Is there any better or
equal hope in the world ? In our present differences, is
either party without faith of being in the right ? If the
Almighty Ruler of nations, with his eternal truth and
justice, be on your side of the North, or yours of the

232 INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

South, that truth and that justice will surely prevail, by the
judgment of this great tribunal of the American people.

By the form of the government under which we live,
(the same people have wisely given their public servants
but little power for mischief ; and have, with equal wisdom,
provided for the return of that little to their own hands
at very short intervals. While the people retain their
virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme
of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the gov-
ernment in the short space of four years.

My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well
upon this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by
taking time. If there be an object to hurry any of you in
hot haste to a step which you would never take deliber-
ately, that object will be frustrated by taking time ; but
no good can be frustrated by it. Such of you as are now
dissatisfied still have the old Constitution unimpaired,
and, on the sensitive point, the laws of your own
framing under it ; while the new administration will have
no immediate power, if it would, to change either. If it were
admitted that you who are dissatisfied hold the right side
in the dispute, there still is no single good reason for pre-
cipitate action. Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and
a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this
favored land, are still competent to adjust, in the best
way, all our present difficulty.

In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and
not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The
Government will not assail you.

You can have no conflict without being yourselves the
aggressors. You have no oath registered in Heaven to

INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

233

destroy the Government ; while I shall have the most
solemn one to " preserve, protect and defend " it.

I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but friends.
We must not be enemies. Though passion may have
strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.

The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every
battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and
hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the
chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they
will be, by the better angels of our nature.

234

ABOLISHING SLA VER Y.

ABOLISHING SLAVERY IN THE DISTRICT
OF COLUMBIA.

I HAVE never doubted the constitutional authority of
Congress to abolish slavery in this District, and I have
ever desired to see the national capital freed from the
institution in some satisfactory way. Hence there has
never been, in my mind, any question upon the subject ex-
cept the one of expediency, arising in view of all the cir-
cumstances. If there be matters within and about this
act which might have taken a course or shape more sat-
isfactory to my judgment, I do not attempt to specify
them. I am gratified that the two principles of com-
pensation and colonization are both recognized and
practically applied in the act.

APRIL 16, 1862.

A. H. GARLAND

235

I NEVER had personally an opportunity to know
or study Mr. Lincoln, and my ideas of him are made
up altogether from reading, and from conversations with
prominent gentlemen who knew him well. From these
sources, I have the impression firmly fixed, that Mr. Lin-
coln possessed great native good sense and a well-
balanced head, what is generally called "common sense."
He had an intuitive judgment of men, and he studied men
closely ; with these he combined a liberal and charita-
ble judgment, and viewed the shortcomings of his fellows
with leniency, mercy and goodness of heart. His inten-
tions were good, and, as I think, on the side of his coun-
try at large, and I am of the opinion but few, very few,
men would have passed through the ordeal of war, and
such a war, as successfully as he did. The blow that
struck him down inflicted a wound upon the whole coun-
try. His loss to the country was severe indeed, for I
believe, had he lived, the work of pacification, or quieting
the Southern States to practical relations with the Union
— to use his own language — would have progressed more
smoothly, and been consummated in less time, and with
less expense, less bitterness and less loss to all parties.

In Mr. Lincoln's history there is as much profound
stimulus to the young men of the country who desire to
secure it, as in that of any man who has figured in our
annals.

LITTLE ROCK, 1882.

FIKST ANNUAL MESSAGE.

FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE

TO CONGRESS, DECEMBER 3, 1 86 1.

THE war continues. In considering the policy to be
adopted for suppressing the insurrection, I have been
anxious and careful that the inevitable conflict for this
purpose shall not degenerate into a violent and remorse-
less revolutionary struggle. I have, therefore, in every
case thought it proper to keep the integrity of the Union
prominent as the primary object of the contest on our
part, leaving all questions which are not of vital military
importance to the more deliberate action of the legis-
lature.

In my present position, I could scarcely be justified
were I to omit raising a warning voice against this
approach of returning despotism.

It is not needed nor fitting here, that a general argu-
ment should be made in favor of popular institutions ; but
there is one point, with its connections, not so hackneyed
as most others, to which I ask a brief attention. It is
the effort to place capital on an equal footing with, if not
above labor, in the structure of government. It is
assumed that labor is available only in connection with
capital ; that nobody labors unless somebody else, owning
capital, somehow, by the use of it, induces him to labor.
This assumed, it is next considered whether it is best
that capital shall hire laborers, and thus induce them to
work by their own consent, or buy them, and drive them

FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 237

to it without their consent. Having proceeded' so far, it
is naturally concluded that all laborers are either hired
laborers or what we call slaves. And further, it is
assumed that whoever is once a hired laborer is fixed in
that condition for life.

Now, there is no such relation between capital and
labor as assumed ; nor is there any such thing as a free
man being fixed for life in the condition of a hired
laborer. Both these assumptions are false, and all infer-
ences from them are groundless.

Labor is prior to, and independent of capital. Capi-
tal is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed
if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of
capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.
Capital has its rights, which are as worthy of protection as
any other rights. Nor is it denied that there is, and
probably always will be, a relation between labor and
capital, producing mutual benefits. The error is in assum-
ing that the whole labor of a community exists within
that relation. A few men own capital, and that few avoid
labor themselves, and, with their capital, hire or buy
another few to labor for them. A large majority belong
to neither class — neither work for others, nor have others
working for them. In most of the Southern States a
majority of the whole people, of all colors, are neither
slaves n )r masters ; while in the Northern a large major-
ity are neither hirers nor hired. Men with their families
— wives, sons, and daughters — work for themselves
on their farms, in their houses, and in their shops,
taking the whole product to themselves, and ask-
ing no favors of capital on the one hand, nor of hired

238 FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE.

laborers or slaves on the other. It is not forgotten that
a considerable number of persons mingle their own labor
with capital — that is, they labor with their own hands,
and also buy or hire others to labor for them ; but this is
only a mixed, not a distinct, class. No principle stated is
disturbed by the existence of this mixed class.

Again, as has already been said, there is not, of
necessity, any such thing as the free hired laborer being
fixed to that condition for life. Many independent men
everywhere in these States, a few years back in their
lives, were hired laborers. The prudent, penniless be-
ginner in the world labors for wages awhile, saves a sur-
plus with which to buy tools or land for himself ; then
labors on his own account another while, and at length
hires another new beginner to help him. This is the just
and generous, and prosperous system, which opens the
way to all, gives hope to all, and consequent energy and
progress, and improvement of condition to all. No men
living are more worthy to be trusted than those who toil
up from poverty — none less inclined to take, or touch,
aught which they have not honestly earned. Let them
beware of surrendering a politicial power which they already
possess, and which, if surrendered, will surely be used to
close the door of advancement against such as they, and
to fix new disabilities and burdens upon them till all of
liberty shall be lost

The struggle of to-day is not altogether/^ to-day — it
is for a vast future also. With a reliance on Providence,
all the more firm and earnest, let us proceed in the great
task which events have devolved upon us.

W. B. FRANKLIN. 239

I WAS on duty in Washington in 1861, when Mr.
Lincoln was inaugurated, and knew him quite well.
But I never saw him after about the first part of Febru-
ary, 1862. In the short term of my acquaintance with
him, I was always impressed with the great ability which
he displayed in his view of the situation of the country at
that time, with the patience which he showed in listening
to the views of people of all shades of opinion in the dis-
cussion of various subjects, and with the good judgment
which in my opinion he displayed in coming to a decision
after hearing both sides of a question.

No one could have known him well at that time with-
out coming to the conclusion that all of his energy and
ability were devoted to bringing the country through the
war successfully. All side issues were avoided, nothing
but the one end of the preservation of the Union was
kept in view. Beset by fanatics of all sides of the ques-
tion, he steered clear of all extremes, and his patriotism
and good sense enabled him to do the right things at the
right times. In his appointment of leading general
officers at this time, the fitness of the men guided him,
and I know a case in which he appointed a man against
the advice of his Cabinet, because he had given the man
a promise that if he raised a brigade he should be made
a Brigadier-General, believing that this man represented
a class which it was important to conciliate. The condition
having been fulfilled, he appointed the man notwithstand-

240

W. B. FRANKLIN,

ing the earnest remonstrance of the Cabinet. Such actions
gave him the reputation of keeping promises after he had
made them, a very different one from that of the ordinary
politician. His untimely death was a misfortune to the
country from which it has not yet recovered.

HARTFORD, 1882.

ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS. 241

I KNEW Mr. Lincoln well and intimately. We
were both members of the Thirtieth Congress, that
is, from 1847 to 4th March, 1849. We both belonged to
the Whig organization of that day, and were both ardent
supporters of General Taylor to the Presidency in 1848.
Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Wm. Ballard Preston, and Mr. Thos*.
S. Flournoy of Va., Mr. Toombs of Georgia, Mr. E. C.
Cambell of Florida, and one or two others, and myself
formed the first Congressional Taylor Club ; we were
known as the Young Indians, who by our extensive corre-
spondence organized the Taylor movement throughout
the country, which resulted in his nomination at Phila-
delphia. Mr. Lincoln was careful as to his manners,
awkward in his speech, but was possessed of a very
strong, clear and vigorous mind. He always attracted
the riveted attention of the House when he spoke ; his
manner of speech as well as thought was original. He
had no model. He was a man of strong convictions,* and
was what Carlyle would have called an earnest man.
He abounded in anecdotes ; he illustrated everything that
he was talking or speaking about by an anecdote ; his an-
ecdotes were always exceedingly apt and pointed, and
socially he always kept his company in a roar of laughter.
In my last interview with him at the celebrated Hampton
Roads Conference in 1865, this trait of his character
seemed to be as prominent and striking as ever. He was
a man of strong attachments, and his nature overflowed

16

242 ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS.

with the milk of human kindness. Widely as we were
separated in politics in the latter days of his life, yet I
ever cherish for him a high degree of personal regard.
I cheerfully give this tribute to his memory.

WASHINGTON, 1882.

HUGH /. HASTINGS.— O. W. HOLMES. 243

ABRAHAM LINCOLN was the greatest Presi-
/~V dent that ever occupied the Executive chair, and
the best story-teller ever known to a free people.

NEW YORK, 1881.

I COULD wish that fitting words would offer them-
selves to me to add to the multitude of tributes
to the memory of Abraham Lincoln, but I fear that I
should hardly find a phrase that eulogy has not applied or
a sentiment to which patriotism has not given expression.

BOSTON, 1882.

244 PROCLAMATION.

PROCLAMATION

RELATIVE TO GENERAL HUNTER*S ORDER DECLARING SLAVES
WITHIN HIS DEPARTMENT FREE.

I FURTHER make known, that whether it be competent
for me, as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy,
to declare the slaves of any State or States free ; and
whether, at any time or in any case, it shall have become
a necessity indispensable to the maintenance of the gov-
ernment to exercise such supposed powers, are questions
which, under my responsibility, I reserve to myself, and
which I cannot feel justified in leaving to the decision of
commanders in the field.

The United States ought to co-operate with any State
which may adopt a gradual abolishment of slavery, giving
to such State earnest expression to compensate for its
inconveniences, public and private, produced by such
change of system.

I beg of you a calm and enlarged consideration of
them, ranging, if it may be, far above partisan and per-
sonal politics. This proposal makes common object,
casting no reproaches upon any. It acts not the Pharisee.
The change it contemplates would come gently as the
dews of Heaven, not rending or wrecking anything.
Will you not embrace it ? So much good has not been
done, by one effort, in all past time, as, in the providence
of God, it is now your high privilege to do. May the
vast future not have to lament that you have neglected it !

MAY i Qth, 1862.

ANDREW SHUMAN. 245

I KNEW him as a citizen, a lawyer and a politician,
and I knew him afterwards as the President of
the United States. His most striking characteristic was
his simplicity, next to" that was his independence of
thought and self-reliance of reason. He had the heart of
a child and the intellect of a philosopher. A patriot
without guile, a politician without cunning or selfishness,
a statesman of practical sense rather than finespun
theory. The more I contemplate the history of his pub-
lic life and services, the more I study his words, his
works and the peculiarities of his character, the more I am
inclined to believe that Abraham Lincoln was specially
inspired, called and led by Providence to be the savior of
our nation.

CHICAGO. 1880.

LINCOLN READING THE PROCLAMATION.

LINCOLN READING THE EMANCIPATION
PROCLAMATION TO HIS CABINET,

SEPTEMBER 22.

GENTLEMEN : — I have, as you are aware, thought a
great deal about the relation of this war to slavery, and
you all remember that several weeks ago I read to you
an order I had prepared upon the subject, which, on ac-
count of objections made by some of you, was not issued.
Ever since then my mind has been much occupied with
this subject, and I have thought all along that the time for
acting on it might probably come. I think the time has
come now ; I wish it was a better time. I wish that we were
in a better condition. The action of the army against the
rebels has not been quite what I should have best liked,
but they have been driven out of Maryland, and Penn-
sylvania is no longer in danger of invasion.

When the rebel army was at Frederick, I determined,
as soon as it should be driven out of Maryland, to
issue a proclamation of emancipation, such as I thought
most likely to be useful. I said nothing to any one,
but I made a promise to myself and (hesitating a
little), to my Maker. The rebel army is now driven
out, and am going to fulfill that promise. I have got you
together to hear what I have written down. I do not
wish your advice about the main matter, for that I have
determined for myself. This I say without intending
anything but respect for any one of you. But I already

LINCOLN READING THE PROCLAMATION. 247

know the views of each on this question. They have
been heretofore expressed, and I have considered them
jas thoroughly and carefully as I can. What I have
written is that which my reflections have determined me
to say. If there is anything in the expressions I use, or
in any minor matter which any one of you think had best
be changed, I shall be glad to receive your suggestions.
One other observation I will make. I know very well
that many others might, in this matter as in others, do
better than I can ; and if I was satisfied that the public
confidence was more fully possessed by any one of them
than by me, and knew of any constitutional way in which
he could be put in my place, he should have it. I would
gladly yield to him. But though I believe I have not so
much of the confidence of the people as I had some time
since, I do not know that, all things considered, any other
person has more ; and, however this may be, there is
no way in which I can have any other man put where
I am. I am here ; I must do the best I can and bear the
responsibility of taking the course which I feel I ought
to take.

24B

REPLY TO THE RESOLUTIONS.

REPLY TO THE RESOLUTIONS OF THE

EAST BALTIMORE METHODIST

CONFERENCE

OF l862.

THESE kind words of approval, coming from so numer-
ous a body of intelligent Christian people, and so free from
all suspicion of sinister motives, are indeed encouraging
to me. By the help of an all-wise Providence, I shall
endeavor to do my duty, and I shall expect the continu-
ance of your prayers for a right solution of our national
difficulties, and the restoration of our country to peace
and prosperity.

EMERSON BENNETT. 249

ON several occasions, during our unfortunate interne-
cine troubles, it fell to my lot to visit Washington
and have personal interviews with Abraham Lincoln, and
my impression of him then was, and still is, that
he possessed a heart, which, in its great humane
reach, would take in all mankind ; that he was
a man of earnest, honest, single purpose ; entirely
unostentatious, free from petty jealousy and ignoble
ambition ; willing to live and labor for the good
of mankind ; full of genuine sympathy ; thinking of
everybody except himself ; and who felt as if he were
sent to perform a mission on earth, that must hasten to
a completion in order that he might be removed to an-
other scene of action. He was intellectual beyond most
men, with a grand reach of thought, which could grasp a
great subject and comprehend it in its entirety, and then,
with a few well-chosen words he could so simplify as to
make it plain and clear to the most ordinary understand-
ing. Along with a gentle, tender, yearning sympathy, he
had the firmness of a rock and the courage of a lion.
No one in the right ever feared to meet him, and no one
in the wrong could stand unmoved before his deep,
searching gaze. He was evidently a man of destiny —
here for a purpose — to be removed with the end of his
mission. Simple, sincere, honest, earnest, upright, just,

250

EMERSON BENNETT.

pure, noble and good, he was one of the best men who
ever lived to bless mankind, or died a martyr in a holy
cause.

PHILADELPHIA, 1882.

EUGENE J. HALL. 251

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

O HONORED name, revered and undecaying,
Engraven on each heart, O soul sublime!
That, like a planet through the heavens straying,
Outlives the wreck of time !

•

O rough strong soul, your noble self-possession

Is unforgotten. Still your work remains.
You freed from bondage and from vile oppression
A race in clanking chains.

O furrowed face, beloved by all the nation !
O tall gaunt form, to memory fondly dear !
O firm bold hand, our strength and our salvation !
O heart that knew no feaj; !

Lincoln, your manhood shall survive forever,
Shedding a fadeless halo round your name.
Urging men on, with wise and strong endeavor,
To bright and honest fame !

Through years of care, to rest and joy a stranger,

You saw complete the work you had begun,
Thoughtless of threats, nor heeding death or danger,
You toiled till all was done.

You freed the bondman from his iron master,

You broke the strong and cruel chains he wore,
You saved the Ship of State from foul disaster
And brought her safe to shore.

You fell ! An anxious nation's hopes seemed blighted,

While millions shuddered at your dreadful fall \
But God is good! His wondrous hand has righted
And reunited all.

252

EUGENE J. HALL.

You fell, but in your death you were victo.'ious ;

To moulder in the tomb your form has gone,
While through the world your great soul grows more glorious
As years go gliding on !

All hail, great Chieftain ! Long will sweetly cluster

A thousand memories round your sacred name,
Nor time, nor death shall dim the spotless luster
That shines upon your fame.

CHICAGO, 1882.

GEO. W. JULIAN— PHILIP SHAFF. 253

H

E combined the integrity of Washington with the
humanity of Wilberforce.

IRVINGTON, 1880.

NEXT to Washington, the Father of our Independ-
ence, stands Abraham Lincoln, the martyr of our
Union, in the line of our Presidents.

NEW YORK, 1882.

254 TO THE OLD SCHOOL PRESBYTERIANS.

TO THE SYNOD OF THE OLD SCHOOL
PRESBYTERIANS OF BALTIMORE,

WHO WAITED UPON HIM IN A BODY.

I SAW, upon taking my position here, I was going to
have an administration, if an administration at all, of
extraordinary difficulty. It was without exception a
time of the greatest difficulty this country ever saw. I
was early brought to a lively reflection, that nothing in
my power whatever, or others, to rely upon, would suc-
ceed, without direct assistance of the Almighty. I have
often wished that I was a more devout man than I
am; nevertheless, amid the greatest difficulties of my
administration, when I could not see any other resort, I
would place my whole reliance in God, knowing all
would go well, and that he would decide for the right

ALBERT PIKE. 255

TO say that he was pre-eminently an honest man,
a frank, sincere, outspoken man, who deceived
no one, wronged no one, cajoled no one ; that he
was a great, strong, fearless man ; that he was unsel-
fishly patriotic, a worshiper of the constitution ac-
cording to the old Whig interpretation of it, a de-
votee of the Union, an ardent lover of his whole
country, hating no one, desiring to punish no one ;
yearning to see the Union restored, and the old good
will and good humor return to bless the land — to
say all this is only to say what is testified to by a
cloud of witnesses, what no one anywhere will now not
gladly admit. He occupied, I think, a larger place in the
affections of the people than any of the great men who
preceded him, and he will have it, I think, in the affec-
tion of the generations that are to come. He would
have said, if questioned, that he greatly preferred to be
so remembered. He endeared himself to the people by
ways and practices and observances all worthy and
honorable, generous and fair; and kindly memories of
him are as general among those who, struggling to a-
chieve political independence, owed chiefly to him their
defeat, as they are among the men of the States whose
armies obeyed orders and maintained the Union.

WASHINGTON, 1882.

256 REPLY TO THE LUTHERANS.

REPLY TO THE COMMITTEE OF THE
LUTHERAN SYNOD OF 1862.

I WELCOME here the representatives of the Evangeli-
cal Lutherans of the United States, I accept with grati-
tude their assurances of the sympathy and support of
that enlightened, influential, and loyal class of my fellow-
citizens in an important crisis, which involves, in my
judgment, not only the civil and religious liberties of our
own dear land, but in a large degree the civil and religious
liberties of mankind in many countries and through many
ages. You well know, gentlemen, and the world knows,
how reluctantly I accepted this issue of battle forced up-
on me, on my advent to this place, by the internal ene-
mies of our country. You all know, the world knows
the forces and the resources the public agents have
brought into employment to sustain a government against
which there has been brought not one complaint of
real injury committed against society at home or
abroad. You all may recollect that in taking up the
sword thus forced into our hands, this government ap-
pealed to the prayers of the pious and the good, and
declared that it placed its whole dependence upon
the favor of God. I now humbly and reverently, in
your presence, reiterate the acknowledgment of that
dependence, not doubting that, if it shall please the
Divine Being who determines the destinies of nations,
that this shall remain a united people, they will,
humbly seeking the divine guidance, make their prolonged
national existence a source of new benefit and conditions
of mankind.

ABRAM S. HEWITT.

257

ABRAHAM LINCOLN was essentially a thinker
/~\ who had the courage of his convictions. He was
a patriot who was ever willing to make personal sacrifices
for his patriotism. He was, therefore, a man of action as
well as of reflection. His character was based upon
truth, and having been placed by fortune in the proper
sphere of action, he showed he was a truly great man.

NEW YORK, 1880.

17

2.«;8 SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE.

SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE

TO CONGRESS, DECEMBER I, 1 862.

PHYSICALLY speaking, we cannot separate. We can-
not 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 be-
yond the reach of each other ; but the different parts of
our country cannot do this. They cannot but remain
face to face ; and intercourse, either amicable or hostile,
must continue between them. Is it possible, then, to
make that intercourse more advantageous or more satis-
factory after separation than before f Can aliens make
treaties easier than friends can make laws ? Can treaties
be more faithfully enforced between aliens than laws can
among friends ? Suppose you go to war, you cannot fight
always ; and when, after much loss on both sides and no
gain on either, you cease fighting, the identical old ques-
tions, as to terms of intercourse, are again upon you.

There is no line, straight or crooked, suitable for a
national boundary, upon which to divide. Trace
through, from east to west, upon the line between the free
and slave country, and we shall find a little more than
one-third of its length are rivers, easy to be crossed, and
populated — or soon to be populated — thickly upon both
sides ; while nearly all its remaining length are merely
surveyors' lines, over which people may walk back and
forth without any consciousness of their presence. NQ

SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE. 259

part of this line can be made any more difficult to pass
by writing it down on paper or parchment as a national
boundary. The fact of separation, if it comes, gives up,
on the part of the seceding section, the fugitive slave
clause, along with all other Constitutional obligations
upon the section seceded from, while I should expect no
treaty stipulation would ever be made to take its place.

Is it doubted, then, that the plan I propose, if adopted,
would shorten the war, and thus lessen its expenditure of
money and of blood ? Is it doubted that it would restore
the national authority and national prosperity, and per-
petuate both indefinitely? Is it doubted that we here
— Congress and Executive — can secure its adoption ?
Wili not the good people respond to a united and earnest
appeal from us ? Can we, can they, by any other means,
so certainly or so speedily, assure these vital objects ?
We can succeed only by concert. It is not, " can any of
us imagine better ?" but " can we all do better ?" Object
whatsoever is possible, still the question recurs, " can we
do better?" The dogmas of the quiet past are inade-
quate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high
with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As
our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew.
We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our
country.

Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We, of this
Congress and this administration, will be remembered in
spite of ourselves. No personal significance or insignifi-
cance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial
through which we pass will light us down, in honor or
dishonor, to the latest generation. We say we are for the

«6o SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE.

Union. The world will not forget that we say this.
We know how to save the Union. The world knows we
do know how to save it. We — even we here — hold the
power and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to
the slave, we assure freedom to the free — honorable alike
in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly
save, or meanly lose, the last, best hope of earth. Other
means may succeed ; this could not fail. The way is
plain, peaceful, generous, just — a way which, if followed,
the world will forever applaud, and God must forever
bless.

A return to specie payments, however, at the earliest
period compatible with due regard to all interests con-
cerned, should ever be kept in view. Fluctuations in the
value of currency are always injurious, and to reduce
these fluctuations to the lowest possible point will always
be a leading purpose in wise legislation. Convertibility
— prompt and certain convertibility — into coin is generally
acknowledged to be the best and surest safeguard against
them ; and it is extremely doubtful whether a circulation
of United States notes, payable in coin and sufficiently
large for the wants of the people, can be permanently,
usefully and safely maintained.

A. CLEVELAND COXE. 261

E^COLN was as evidently raised up of God for
1 86 1, as Washington was for 1776. Two more
unlike each other could hardly be produced in the his-
tory of a common country, among those who have identi-
fied themselves with its progress ; but their common
elements of character were those of the Anglo-Saxon
race (so-called), a love of freedom and of law ; percep-
tions of the right thing to do and of the right time to do
it ; all regulated by a sober faith in divine Providence,
and a willingness to be His instrument for good to man-
kind.

BUFFALO, 1882. .

262 EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.

EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION,

JANUARY FIRST, 1863.

WHEREAS, on the 226. day of September, in the year
of our Lord, 1862, a proclamation was issued by the Pres-
ident of the United States, containing, among other things,
the following, to wit : That on the first day of January,
in the year of our Lord, 1863, 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 thenceforth and forever free, and the
Executive Government of the United States, including
the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize
and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no
act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any
effort they may make for their actual freedom ; that the
Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid,
issue a proclamation, designating the States and parts
of States, if any, in which the people therein, respect-
ively, shall then be in rebellion against the United
States, and the fact that any State or the people
thereof, shall, on that day, be in good faith rep-
resented in the Congress of the United States by mem-
bers chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority
of the qualified voters of such States shall have partici-
pated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testi-
mony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State and
the people thereof are not in rebellion against the United
States.

EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. 263

Now therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the
United States, by virtue of the power vested in me as
Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, in a time of
actual armed rebellion against the authority of the Gov-
ernment of the United States, as a fit and necessary war
measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this
first day of January, in the year of our Lord, 1863, and in
accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed
for the full period of one hundred days from the date of
the first above-mentioned order, designate as the States
and parts of States therein, the people whereof, respec-
tively, are this day in rebellion against the United States,
the following, to wit : Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana
(except the parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemine, Jeffer-
son, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assump-
tion, Terrebonne, La Fourche, St. Mary, St. Martin and
Orleans, including the city of New Orleans), Mississippi,
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Caro-
lina and Virginia (except the forty-eight counties desig-
nated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkley,
Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess
Anne and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and
Portsmouth), which excepted parts are for the present left
precisely as if this proclamation were not issued ; and by
virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do
order and declare that all persons held as slaves within
designated States, or parts of States, are, and hencefor-
ward shall be free, and that the Executive Government
of the United States, including the military and naval au-
thorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom
of the said persons ; and I hereby enjoin upon the peo-

264 EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.

pie so declared to be free, to abstain from all violence,
unless in necessary self-defense, and I recommend to
them that, in all cases where allowed, they labor faith-
fully for reasonable wages ; and I further declare and
make known that such persons of suitable condition will
be received into the armed service of the United States,
to garrison forts, positions, stations and other places, and
to man vessels of all sorts in said service. And upon this,
sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the
Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the con-
siderate 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 Jan-
uary, in the year of our Lord, 1863, and of the Indepen-
dence of the United States of America, the eighty*
seventh.

FRED'K DOUG£J,S& 265

A GREAT man, tender of heart, strong of
nerve, of boundless patience and broadest sym-
pathy, with no motive apart from his country, he
could receive counsel from a child and give counsel to a
sage. The simple approached him with ease, and the
learned approached him with deference. Take him for
all in all, Abraham Lincoln was one of the noblest, wisest
and best men I ever knew.

()

WASHINGTON, 1880.

266 REPLY TO AN INVITATION.

REPLY

I

TO AN INVITATION TO PRESIDE OVER A MEETING OF THE
CHRISTIAN COMMISSION, HELD IN WASH-
INGTON, FEBRUARY 22, 1863.

WHILE, for reasons which I deem sufficient, I must
decline to preside, I cannot withhold my approval of the
meeting and its worthy objects. Whatever shall be sin-
cerely, and in God's name, devised for the good of the
soldiers and seamen in their hard spheres of duty, can
scarcely fail to be blessed. And whatever shall tend to
turn our thoughts from the unreasoning and uncharitable
passions, prejudices, and jealousies incident to a great
national trouble such as ours, and to fix them on the vast
and long-enduring consequences, for weal or for woe,
which are to result from the struggle, and especially to
strengthen our reliance on the Supreme Being for the
final triumph of the right, cannot but be well for us all.

The birthday of Washington and the Christian Sab-
bath coinciding this year, and suggesting together the
highest interests of this life and of that to come, it is the
most propitious for the meeting proposed.

GEO. S. BOUT WELL. 267

"PRESIDENT LINCOLN excelled all his contem-
-L poraries, as he also excelled most of the eminent
rulers of every time, in the humanity of his nature, in the
constant assertion of reason over passion and feeling, in
the art of dealing with men ; in fortitude, never disturbed
by adversity, in capacity for delay when action was
fraught with peril, in the power of immediate and reso-
lute decision when delays were dangerous ; in comprehen-
sive judgment, which forecasts the final and best opinion of
nations and of posterity, and in the union of enlarged
patriotism, wise philanthropy and the highest political
justice, by which he was enabled to save a nation and to
emancipate a race.

CHESTNUT HILLS FARM, 1880,

268 REPLY TO AN ADDRESS.

REPLY

TO AN ADDRESS FROM THE WORKINGMEN OF MANCHESTER,

ENGLAND.

I KNOW, and deeply deplore, the sufferings which the
workingmen at Manchester, and in all Europe, are called
to endure in this crisis. It has been often and studiously
represented that the attempt to overthrow this Govern-
ment, which was built upon the foundation of human
rights, and to substitute for it one which should rest ex-
clusively on the basis of human slavery, was likely to
obtain the favor of Europe. Through the action of our
disloyal citizens, the workingmen of Europe have been
subjected to severe trials, for the purpose of forcing their
sanction to that attempt. Under these circumstances, I
cannot but regard your decisive utterances upon the ques-
tion as an instance of sublime Christian heroism, which
has not been surpassed in any age or in any country. It
is indeed an energetic and reinspiring assurance of the
inherent power of truth, and of the ultimate and universal
triumph of justice, humanity and freedom. I do not
doubt that the sentiments you have expressed will be sus-
tained by your great nation, and on the other hand I have
no hesitation in assuring you that they will excite admira-
tion, esteem, and the most reciprocal feelings of friend-
ship among the American people. I hail this interchange
of sentiment, therefore, as an augury, that, whatever else

REPLY TO 4«V ADDRESS. 269

may happen, whatever misfortune may befall your coun-
try or my own, the peace and friendship which now exists
between the two nations will be, as it shall be my desire
to make them, perpetual

JANUARY 19, 1863.

&E MARKS.

REMARKS

MADE TO SOME FRIENDS NEW YEARS EVENING, 1863, CON-
CERNING THE PROCLAMATION.

THE signature looks a little tremulous, for my hand
was tired, but my resolution was firm. I told them in
September, if they did not return to their allegiance, and
cease murdering our soldiers, I would strike at this pillar
of their strength. And now the promise shall be kept,
and not one word of it will I ever recall.

HORACE MAYNARD. . 271

I AM glad there is to be laid another block, perhaps
I should say another course, upon the monument
which the American people, year by year, are erecting to
the memory of Abraham Lincoln. Every effort to per-
petuate his name and make known his character engages
my sympathy.

My personal acquaintance with Mr. Lincoln began
shortly after his first inauguration as President of the
United States. The perturbed condition of public affairs
soon brought me much into his presence, and I saw more
of him, by far, than is usual in the case of persons occu-
pying places so widely apart. I have seen most of the
great men of our country, my contemporaries, and have
known them, more or less, it has so happened. It was
easy to say Mr. Lincoln was the greatest of them all,
but this would imperfectly express my conception of the
truth. He was great in a different way from any other.
He impressed me as no other man ever did. Never was
the title Honest so expressive of character — honest not
only in action and word, but also in thought and feeling
and purpose. When he gave a reason for what he did,
you felt instinctively that it was the real reason and not a
mere attempt at justification. It was this profound truth-
fulness which gained for his words and actions the un-
questioning confidence and support of the country.

/

KNOXVILLE, 1881.

THE LETTER TO ERASTUS CORNING.

FROM THE LETTER TO ERASTUS CORN-
ING AND OTHERS,

JUNE 12, 1863.

MUST I shoot a simple-minded soldier boy who de-
serts while I must not touch a hair of a wily agitator
who induces him to desert ? This is none the less injuri-
ous when effected by getting a father, or brother,
or friend, into a public meeting, and there work-
ing upon his feelings till he is persuaded to write the
soldier boy that he is fighting in a bad cause, for a wicked
administration of a contemptible government, too weak to
arrest and punish him if he shall desert. I think that in
such a case, to silence the agitator and save the boy is
not only constitutional, but withal a great mercy.

/. M. STURTEVANT. 273

I KNEW Mr. Lincoln very well, I may say somewhat
intimately, before he was ever thought of in con-
nection with the exalted station to which he was after-
wards elected. In those years of his comparative ob-
scurity, I knew him as preeminently a truthful man.
His love of truth was conspicious in all his thinking. The
object of his pursuit was truth, and not victory in argu-
ment or the triumph of his party, or the success of his
own cause. This was always conspicuous in his conver-
sation. It constituted the charm of his conversation.
In his society one plainly saw, that his aim was so to use
words to express and not conceal his real thoughts. This
characteristic had formed his style, both of conversation
and of writing. His habitual love of truth had led him
successfully to cultivate such a use of language as would
most clearly and accurately express his thoughts. His
words were a perfectly transparent medium through which
his thought always shone out with unclouded distinct-
ness. No matter on what subject he was speaking, any-
person could understand him. This characteristic of his
mind and heart gave a peculiar complexion to his
speeches, whether at the bar, or in discussing the great
political issues of the time. He always preferred to do
more than justice rather than less to an opponent. It was
often noticed, that he stated his opponent's argument with
more force than his opponent himself had done. In the
opening of his argument, his friends would often feel for

the moment that he was surrendering the whole ground
18

274 /• M. STURTEVANT.

in debate. They had no need to concern themselves on
that subject, it would always turn out that he had only
surrendered fallacious grounds, on which it was unsafe to
rely, while the solid foundation on which his own faith
rested was left intact, as the enduring basis on which he
would build his argument. He was a very conscientious
man ; his anti-slavery opinions had their seat in no mere
political expediency, but in the very depths of his moral
nature. In the summer of 1856 he delivered a speech to
a very large audience assembled on the public square in
this city ; the population of this county were at that time
very largely of Southern origin, and had those views of
slavery which prevailed in the States from which they
came. His audience on that occasion were very largely
of that character. Yet Mr. Lincoln made a very frank
and explicit avowal of his opposition to slavery on moral
grounds, and drew his argument against it from the
deepest roots of natural justice ; yet he presented the case
with such irresistible eloquence that his speech was re-
ceived with the greatest favor, and often with outbursts of
very hearty applause. That speech went far in all this
region to establish his reputation as a popular orator.

In a conversation I once had with him, at what was
then his dingy office in Springfield, where I had gone for
no other purpose than to enjoy the luxury of an hour's
conversation with him, I spoke of the then recent anti-
slavery excitement in St. Louis as proceeding entirely
upon the ground of expediency for the white man. " I,"
said Mr. Lincoln, " must take into account the rights of
the poor negro." That conscientious element is appar-
ent in the whole course of his public policy. Conscience

/. M. STURTEVANT. . 275

constrained him to regard his oath to respect the consti-
tution of the United States ; and yet always to remember
the rights of the negro, and to do all for him which his con-
stitutional powers permitted him to do. Had he not been
conscientious in both these directions, he would, in all
probability, have plunged his country in last anarchy.
Most admirably did his statesmanship combine in itself the
true conservative and the true radical. He was just such
a statesman as every nation needs in the great crisis of its
history. It is eminently an American phenomenon, that
a man was born in a log-cabin in the backwoods of Ken-
tucky, who had precisely the intellectual endowments and
moral characteristics which his country would need in its
chief magistrate, in its hour of supreme necessity. Verily
there is a God in history ! Mr. Lincoln's emotional char-
acter was one of the most kindly I have ever known.
The tenderness of his affections was almost womanly. I
confess I sometimes thought this trait in his character
was rather in excess, certainly, for the ruler of a great na-
tion. He was not only incapable of malice, but I some-
times thought he was too much afraid of hurting any-
body's feelings. If it was a fault, it was a fault of a great
and magnanimous soul, of which few men are capable. If
he had any vices they always leaned to virtue's side.
The wail of sorrow with which his foul taking-off was re-
ceived throughout the civilized world was a spontaneous
tribute to the exalted and unique virtues of his character,
pointing him out as the man who, of all the great historic
names, had least deserved so sad a fate. There are re-
markable analogies and equally remarkable contrasts be-
tween the careers of Mr. Lincoln and Gen. Garfield.

276 /. M. STURTEVANT.

Both originated in obscurity and in the midst of the pri-
vations of frontier life ; both were great in the natural en-
dowments of the intellect, and greater still in the exalted
moral characteristics in which they shone above most
others of our statesmen. Both were cut off in the midst
of their high career and in the very prime of life, by the
hand of the merciless assassin. At the untimely and
violent death of both, the civilized world put on mourning
to an extent never before seen in history.

The contrast appears chiefly in this. Mr. Lincoln was
born and reared in a community in which the advantages
of education had been little enjoyed, and consequently the
spirit of liberal learning had been little diffused. He had
none to encourage and help him. He must find his way
out into the light of knowledge by his own unassisted
efforts. As a consequence, he did not acquire the first
rudiments of an education till he had reached mature
manhood. Mr. Garfield was born in a community in which
education had been universal from its very origin, and
where men built the school-house in every neighborhood
simultaneously with their own log cabins. The whole
people was, as the consequence, imbued with the spirit of
liberal learning, and as soon as young Garfield began to
show the superiority of his talents in the common school,
the suggestion came from every quarter, you should have
a collegiate education. An educated community bore him
onward towards his great destiny from his very boyhood.
This made the task a comparatively easy one. At the
time of life when Mr. Lincoln was just beginning to
acquire the first rudiments, Mr. Garfield was already a
graduate of one of our most renowned colleges. Such is

/. M. STURTEVANT. 277

the advantage of being born in a community in which the
first rudiments of knowledge are universally diffused by
the ubiquitous common school. •

That Mr. Lincoln succeeded in surmounting the ob-
stacles which hemmed him in on every side, is wonderful
indeed. Few men, certainly, have ever risen to greatness,
purely by the force of intellectual and moral excellence,
by a road so hard as that by which he traveled ; yet he
accomplished the mighty task without one of the arts of
the demagogue, or one of the vices of the corrupt poli-
tician ; and transferred his residence from the obscure log-
cabin in the wilderness, to the executive mansion of a
mighty nation, in his fifty-third year. Dying by violence in
his fifty-seventh year, he left a name behind to be forever
spoken with honor and reverence in the halls of the great
and in the palaces of kings, and to be cherished with im-
perishable affection in the humble dwellings of the poor
and lowly.

Cs

JACKSONVILLE, 1882.

278 RESPONSE TO A SERENADE.

RESPONSE TO A SERENADE,
JULY, 1863.

I AM very glad indeed to see you to-night, and yet I
will not say I thank you for this call ; but I do most sin-
cerely thank Almighty God for the occasion on which
you have called. How long ago is it ? — eighty odd years
—since, on the Fourth of July, for the first time in the his-
tory of the world, a nation, by its representatives, assem-
bled and declared as a self-evident truth, " that all men
are created equal." That was the birthday of the United
States of America. Since then the Fourth of July has
had several very peculiar recognitions. The two men
most distinguished in the framing and support of the
Declaration were Thomas Jefferson and John Adams —
the one having penned it, and the other sustained it the
most forcibly in debate — the only two of the fifty-five
who signed it, and were elected Presidents of the United
States. Precisely fifty years after they put their hands
to the paper, it pleased Almighty God to take both from
this stage of action. This was indeed an extraordinary
and remarkable event in .our history. Another President
five years after was called from this stage of existence on
the came day and month of the year ; and now on this
last Fourth of July just passed, when we have a gigantic
rebellion, at the bottom of which is an effort to overthrow
the principle that all men were created equal, we have
the surrender of a most powerful position and army on

RESPONSE TO A SERENADE. 279

that very day. And not only so, but in a succession of
battles in Pennsylvania, near to us, through three days,
so rapidly fought that they might be called one great
battle, on the first, second and third of the month of
July; and on the fourth the cohorts of those who
opposed the declaration that all men are created equal,
" turned tail " and run. Gentlemen, this is a glorious
theme and the occasion for a speech, but I am not pre-
pared to make one worthy of the occasion. I would like
to speak in terms of praise due to the many brave
officers and soldiers who have fought in the cause of the
Union and liberties of their country from the begin-
ning of the war. These are trying occasions, not only in
success, but for the want of success. I dislike to mention
the name of one single officer, lest I might do wrong to
those I might forget. Recent events bring up glorious
names, and particularly prominent ones : but these I will
not mention. Having said this much, I will now take
the music.

28o THE PRESIDENT'S DISPATCH.

THE PRESIDENT'S DISPATCH,
JULY 4, 1863.

THE President announces to the country, that news
from the Army of the Potomac, to ten p. M. of the third,
is such as to cover that army with the highest honor ; to
promise a great success to the cause of the Union, and to
claim the condolence of all for the many gallant fallen ;
and that, for this, he especially desires that on this day,
He, whose will, not ours, should ever be done, be every-
where remembered, and reverenced with profoundest
gratitude.

WENDELL PHILLIPS— NOAH PORTER.

281

HE was one whom responsibility educated, and he
showed himself more and more nearly equal to
duty as year after year laid on him ever fresh burdens.
God-given and God-led and sustained, we must ever be-
lieve him.

BOSTON, 1 880.

THUS saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have
I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I
helped thee .... That thou mayest say to the pris-
oners, go forth ; to them that are in darkness, show your-
selves.— Isaiah xlix. 8, 9.

YALE COLLEGE, 1880.

282 PROCLAMATION

PROCLAMATION.

THE year that is drawing towards its close has been
filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful
skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly en-
joyed that we are prone to forget the source from which
they come, others have been added which are of so extra-
ordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and
soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to
the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God. In the
midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity,
which has sometimes seemed to invite and provoke the
aggressions of foreign states, peace has been preserved
with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws
have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has pre-
vailed everywhere except in the theater of military conflict,
while that theater has been greatly contracted by the ad-
vancing armies and navies of the Union. The needful
diversion of wealth and strength from the fields of peace-
ful industry to the national defense, have not arrested the
plow, the shuttle, or the ship. The axe has enlarged the
borders of our settlements, and the mines as well of iron
and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more
abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily in-
creased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in
the camp, the siege and the battle-field ; and the country,
rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and
vigor, is permitted to expect a continuance of years with

PROCLAMA TION. 283

large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath de-
vised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great
things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High
God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins,
hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to
me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverent-
ly, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and
voice, by the whole American people. I do, therefore,
invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United
States, and also those who are at sea, and those who are
sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the
last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiv-
ing and prayer to our beneficent Father, who dwelleth in
the heavens. And I recommend to them that, while
offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such
singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with
humble penitence for our national perverseness and diso-
bedience, commend to his tender care all those who have
become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the
lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably en-
gaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Al-
mighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to
restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine
purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tran-
quillity, and union.

OCTOBER 3, 1863.

284

REPLY TO A COMMITTEE.

REPLY TO COMMITTEE OF THE PRESBY-
TERIAN CHURCH (NEW SCHOOL),.

PHILADELPHIA, 1863.

IN my administration I might have committed some
errors. It would be indeed remarkable if I had not. I
have acted according to my best judgment in every case.
As a pilot I have used my best exertions to keep afloat
our ship of state, and shall be glad to resign my trust at
the appointed time to another pilot more skillful and suc-
cessful than I may prove. In every case, and at all
hazards, the Government must be perpetuated. Relying,
as I do, upon the Almighty Power, and encouraged, as I
am, by these resolutions which you have just read, with the
support which I receive from Christian men, I shall not
hesitate to use all the means at my control to secure the
termination of this rebellion, and will hope for success.

S. IRENAEUS PRIME. 285

MY FIRST SIGHT OF MR. LINCOLN.

HE was riding into the city of New York with
military and civic escort, on his way to Wash-
ington to be inaugurated for the first time to the Presi-
dency of the United States. The country was at that
moment in the first throes of the great rebellion. Mil-
lions of hearts were beating anxiously in view of the ad-
vent to power of this untried man. Had he been called
of God to the throne of power at such a time as this to
be the leader and deliverer of the people ?

As the carriage in which he sat passed slowly by me
on the Fifth avenue, he was looking weary, sad, feeble
and faint. My disappointment was excessive, so great,
indeed, as to be almost overwhelming. He did not look
to me to be the man for the hour. The next day I was
with him and others in the Governor's room in the City
Hall, when the Mayor of the city made to Mr. Lincoln an
official address. Of this speech I will say nothing ; but
the reply by Mr. Lincoln was so modest, firm, patriotic
and pertinent, that my fears of the day before began to
subside, and I saw in this new man a promise of great
things to come. It was not boldness nor dash, nor high-
sounding pledges ; nor did he, in office, with the mighty
armies of a roused nation at his command, ever assume
to be more than he promised in that little upper chamber
in New York, on his journey to the seat of government,

286 S. IRENAEUS PRIME.

to take the helm of the ship of state then tossing in the
storm. During the war, I was dining with a party of
which Gen. Burnside was one. A gentleman expressed
surprise and regret that the war had not brought to the
front in civil service some man of such commanding force
of character, will-power and genius as to compel his coun-
trymen to accept him as the born statesman for the hour.
Gen. Burnside said : "We are drifting," and it is better
so. I think Mr. Lincoln is just the man to keep the ship
on its course. One more headstrong, willful and resolute
might divide and weaken the counsels of the nation. We
shall go through and come out all right." It did not
please God to spare him until the people were settled in
peace in the redeemed and reunited land. But he saw
from the mount of vision the goodly sight afar, and died
in faith.

NEW YORK, 1882.

ALEX. RAMSEY— C. E. PRATT.

287

MR. LINCOLN'S life was one of true patriotism,
and his character one of honesty and of the
highest type of religious sentiment.

ST. PAUL, 1882.

WHEN history crystallizes that the events of a
century shall be recorded in a sentence, then will
the administrations of Washington and Lincoln be the
epochal marks of this age. The former founded a re-
public, the latter was the great emancipator of the nine-
teenth century.

BROOKLYN, 1880.

288 LETTER TO GENERAL GRANT.

LETTER TO GENERAL GRANT.

MAJOR-GENERAL GRANT. — My Dear General : I do
not remember that you and I ever met personally. I
write this now as a grateful acknowlegement for the al-
most inestimable service you have done the country.
I write to say a word further. When you first reached
the vicinity of Vicksburg, I thought you should do what
you finally did — march the troops across the neck, run
the batteries with the transports, and thus go below ; and
I never had any faith, except a general hope that you
knew better than I, that the Yazoo Pass expedition, and
the like, could succeed. When you got below, and
took Port Gibson, Grand Gulf and .vicinity, I thought
you should go down the river and join General Banks ;
and when you turned northward, east of the Big Black,
I feared it was a mistake. I now wish to make the
personal acknowledgment that you were right and I was
wrong.

ft

RAY PALMER. 289

r I ^HERE can be, I think, but one opinion among
JL those competent to form a judgment of the gen-
eral character and services of Abraham Lincoln. His
native genius, the solidity of his understanding, his com-
mon sense and remarkable sagacity, his patience and
courage, and above all, his incorruptible integrity and
steadfast faith in God, gave him eminent administrative
ability, made him a noble man, a great statesman and the
second Father of his Country. This will, I doubt not, be
the judgment of history.

NEWARK, 1882.

19

290 A PROCLAMA TION.

A PROCLAMATION.

JULY 15, 1863.

IT has pleased Almighty God to hearken to the suppli-
cation and prayers of an afflicted people, and to vouchsafe
to the army and the navy of the United States, on the
land and on the sea, victories so signal and so effective as
to furnish reasonable grounds for augmented confidence
that the Union of these States will be maintained, their
constitution preserved, and their peace and prosperity
permanently secured. But these victories have been ac-
corded not without sacrifice of life, limb, and liberty, in-
curred by brave, patriotic and loyal citizens. Domestic
affliction, in every part of the country, follows in the
train of these fearful bereavements. It is meet and right
to recognize and confess the presence of th°: Almighty
Father ; and the power of his hand equally in these tri-
umphs and these sorrows.

Now, therefore, be it known, that I do set apart
Thursday, the sixth day of August next, to be observed
as a day for national thanksgiving, praise and prayer ;
and I invite the people of the United States to assemble
on that occasion in their customary places of worship,
and, in the form approved by their own conscience, ren-
der the homage due to the Divine Majesty, for the won-
derful 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

A PROCLAMATION. 291

needless and cruel rebellion ; to change the hearts of
the insurgents ; to guide the counsels of the govern-
ment 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 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 repentance and submission to the Divine will, back to
the perfect enjoyment of union and fraternal peace.

292 PRESENTATION TO U. S. GRANT.

PRESENTATION OF A COMMISSION AS

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL TO U. S.

GRANT.

GENERAL GRANT : — The nation's appreciation of
what you have done, and its reliance upon you for what
remains to be done in the existing great struggle, are now
presented with this commission, constituting you Lieu-
tenant-General in the Army of the United States. With
this high honor devolves upon you also a corresponding
responsibility. As the country herein trusts you, so,
under God, it will sustain you. I scarcely need to add,
that with what I here speak for the nation, goes my own
hearty personal concurrence.

NATIONAL LINCOLN MONUMENT AT SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS

Unveiled and dedicated. October 15. 1874. Dimensions 72)tf by 119V5 feet square, and 100 feet high. De-
»igned and modeled by Larkin G. Mead. Cost. $212.000.

Emblematical of ihe Constitution of the United Slates. President Mncoln standing nbovo tho coat of
arms, with the Infantry. Navy, Artillery, and Cavalry marshalled nronnd him, wields all for h"l«ling ihe States
together in a perpetual bond of Union, without which he could never hope to effect the pn at enemy of human
freedom. Tho grand climax is indicated by Pn-eideut Lincoln with his left hand h"lding out as a golden
sceptre, the Emancipation Proclamation, while In his right he holds tho pen with which he had just
written it. The right hand is resting on another badge of authority, the American Flag, thrown over the
fascet. Atthefootofthe/Vwcftt lies a wreath of laurel with which to crown the President as the victor over
slavery and rebellion.

WM. P. FRYE. 293

I HAVE no capacity to do justice to the greatness,
purity and honesty of Abraham Lincoln, nor to
the immense value of his service to our country. The
great heart of the nation alone is equal to a work of
such magnitude. He touched the manacles of four mil-
lions of men and women, and in the twinkling of an eye
they dropped off forever. He wrote a word, and slavery,
which had hung like a mill-stone around the neck of the
nation, compelling it to bow its head in shame and dis-
grace, sunk into oblivion. The possibilities of his life
were grand ; how grandly were they realized ! The glory
and luster of his name will stand in the history of the
nation "more lasting than a monument of brass."

LEWISTON, 1882.

294 LETTER TO JAMES C. CONKLING.

LETTER TO JAMES C. CONKLING,

AUGUST, 1863.

THE signs look better. The Father of Waters again
goes unvexed to the sea. Thanks to the great Northwest
for it ; nor yet wholly to them. Three hundred miles
up they web New England, Empire, Keystone and Jersey,
hewing their way right and left. The sunny South, too,
in more colors than one, also lent a helping hand. On
the spot, their part of the history was jotted down in
black and white. The job was a great national one, and
let none be slighted who bore an honorable part in it.
And while those who have cleared the great river may
well be proud, even that is not all. It is hard to say that
anything has been more bravely and well done than at
Antietam, Murfreesboro, Gettysburg, and on many fields
of less note. Nor must Uncle Sam's wet feet be for-
gotten. At all the watery margins they have been pres-
ent. Not only on the deep sea, the broad bay, and the
rapid river, but also up the narrow, muddy bayou, and
wherever the ground was a little damp, they have been
and made their tracks. Thanks to all. For the great
republic — for the principle it lives by and keeps alive —
for man's vast future — thanks to all. Peace does not ap-
pear so distant as it did. I hope it will come soon and
come to stay ; and so come as to be worth the keeping in
all future time. It will then have been proved that
among freemen there can be no successful appeal from

LETTER TO JAMES C. CONKLING. 295

the ballot to the bullet, and that they who take such
appeal are sure to lose their case and pay the cost. And
there will be some black men who can remember that with
silent tongue, and clinched teeth, and steady eye, and
well-poised bayonets, they have helped mankind on to this
great consummation, while I fear there will be some white
ones unable to forget that with malignant heart and
deceitful speech they have striven to hinder it. Still, let
us not be over-sanguine of a speedy, final triumph. Let
us be quite sober. Let us diligently apply the means,
never doubting that a just God, in his own good time,
will give us the rightful result.

296 REPLY TO GOVERNOR SEYMOUR.

REPLY TO THE LETTER OF GOVERNOR
SEYMOUR, OF NEW YORK,

AUGUST, 1863.

No time is wasted, no argument is used. This pro-
duces an army which will soon turn upon our now vic-
torious soldiers in the field, if they shall not be sustained
by recruits as they should be. It produces an army with
a rapidity not to be matched on our side, if we first waste
time to re-experiment with the volunteer system, already
deemed by Congress, and palpably, in fact, so far
exhausted as to be inadequate, and then more time to
obtain a court decision as to whether a law is constitu-
tional which requires a part of those not now in the serv-
ice to go to the aid of those who are already in it ; and
still more time to determine with absolute certainty that
we get those who are to go in the precisely legal pro-
portion to those who are not to go. My purpose is to
be in my action just and constitutional, and yet practical
in performing the important duty with which I am
charged, of maintaining the unity and free principles of
our common country.

EUGENE HALE— ALBERT J. MEYER. 297

HE was not only the head of an administration
which shaped events the mightiest of the century,
but its balance-wheel also. The American people
owe it to him that the important steps in the war for the
preservation of the Union were taken just at the fitting
moment.

ELLSWORTH, 1880.

B

E just and fear not."

U. S. SIGNAL SERVICE, 1880.

298 ADDRESS

ADDRESS ON THE BATTLE-FIELD OF
GETTYSBURG,

NOVEMBER 19, 1863.

FOURSCORE and seven years ago our fathers brought
forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in Lib-
erty, 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 are met to dedicate a
portion of it as the final resting-place of those who here
gave their lives that that nation might live. It is alto-
gether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot
consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave
men, living and dead, who struggled here, have conse-
crated it far above our power to add or detract. The
world will little note, nor long remember, what we say
here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is
for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the un-
finished work that they have thus far so nobly carried on.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great
task remaining before us — that from these honored dead
we take increased devotion to the cause for which they
here gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here
highly resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain —
that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of free-
dom, and that the government of the people, by the peo-
ple, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

ARTILLERY GROUP OF STATUARY. NATIONAL LINCOLN MONUMENT.

Representing three artillerymen, one, an officer standing on a dismounted cannon in an atti-
tnde of defiance,' while below him is a prostrate soldier, wounded by the same shot that disabled
his gun, und u boy in an attitude of sympathy and horror, springing forward as if to succor his
wounded comrade.

C. A. PAYNE. 299

GREAT men are divinely called to great missions.
As certainly as God called Abraham to be the
human founder of his church, or Moses to lead his people
out of bondage into liberty, or "girded" Cyrus forliis bene-
ficent work, though unknown by that famous commander,
or commissioned Paul to be the leader of an evangelistic
host, to open the gates of gospel day to heathen nations,
or inspired Luther and Wesley to rekindle the fires of
religion on the altars of a faithless church, so certainly
does it appear to thoughtful minds that he called Abra-
ham Lincoln to rise from the log-cabin in the wilderness,
through difficulties and obstacles that would have ap-
palled a weaker man, to take the helm of the new
American nation in its crisis hour, to strike the shackles
from an enslaved race, and thence to ascend to a victor's
throne and a martyr's crown. ^ •

300 THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE.

THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE TO CONGRESS,

DECEMBER 8, 1863.

IN the midst of other cares, however important, we
must not lose sight of the fact that the war power is still
our main reliance. To that power alone can we look, yet
for a time, to give confidence to the people in the con-
tested regions that the insurgent power will not again
overrun them. Until that confidence shall be established,
little can be done anywhere for what is called reconstruc-
tion. Hence our chiefest care must still be directed to
the army and navy, who have thus far borne their harder
part so nobly and well. And it may be esteemed fortu-
nate, that in giving the greatest efficiency to these indis-

w

pensable arms, we do also honorably recognize the gallant
men, from commander to sentinel, who compose them, and
to whom, more than to others, the world must stand
indebted for the home of freedom, disenthralled, regen-
erated, enlarged and perpetuated.

CHARLES HENRY HART. 301

MR. LINCOLN v/as certainly a most remarkable
man. He was undoubtedly well fitted for the
times in which he lived, and the emergency that con-
fronted him. He began with a very moderate degree of
public confidence and sympathy. A large proportion of
the community had, at the time of his first election, and
for a considerable period afterwards, a painful sense of
distrust as to his qualifications for the position to which
he had been called. This distrust was slow to yield.
Good things were done, but they were all attributed, on
account of this preconceived opinion of his ability, to the
excellence of his advisers, while the evils and the mistakes
were all laid to him. His physical organization must not
be overlooked as one of the sources of his success. The
great practical men of the world have been, not neces-
sarily of large, but of strong bodily frames. To the
heathen philosopher, a sound mind in a sound body
seemed the greatest good : " Mens sana in corpore sano."
The discipline of his early life prepared his frame for
the laborious duties which were to devolve upon him.
It is true that this discipline did not develop his form into
a beautiful and graceful one — his warmest friends could
not claim that for him — but they could declare that " his
large eyes in their softness and beauty expressed nothing
but benevolence and gentleness," and that a pleasant
smile frequently brought out more vividly the earnest
cast of his features, which were serious even to sadness.
He has been called by one of his best friends "a wiry,

302 CHARLES HENRY HART.

awkward giant." He was six feet four inches high ; his
arms were long, almost disproportionately so ; his mouth
and nose were both exceedingly large ; his features were
coarse, and his large hands exhibited the traces of toil.
He was not specially attentive to dress, though by no
means slovenly. The formal politeness of fashionable
life he had not, though the gentleness of the unspoiled
child of nature he had. He said once that he had never
studied the art of paying compliments to women. Yet
they never received a grander one than he paid when he
declared : " If all that has been said by orators and
poets since the creation of the world, in praise of
women, were applied to American women, it would not
do them justice for their conduct doing the war." It has
been stated that he had none of the grossness of life.
He was not a licentious man. He was not addicted to
the use of profane language. He did not gamble. He
was temperate, and he did not use tobacco in any form.
Only those who have known the fearful extent to which
these habits prevail among our public men can appre-.
ciate the honor which the absence of them confers upon
the late President. His honesty passed into a proverb,
and his integrity was beyond reproach. It was not called
in question, even in the height of political excitement and
vituperation. His qualities of heart were such as com-
mended him to all men. He was naturally disposed to
think well of his race. His prepossessions were generally
in favor of a man. He would rather love than hate him ;
in fact, he seemed as if he could not hate him if he would.
The entire absence of vindictiveness, either personal or
political, was one of the ripe fruits of his native tender-

CHARLES HENRY HART. 303

ness. Was he ever heard to have said a hard thing of
his opponents, or known to have uttered a single word
showing personal hate or even personal feeling ? Between
him and his predecessors no parallel can be drawn, for no
other President ever held the reins of power through
four years of virulent rebellion. It is therefore impossi-
ble to say how much better or how much worse others
would have done. Not graceful nor refined, not always
using the English language correctly, he proved to be a
meet and proper man for the times. He had the greatness
of goodness ; not a powerful nor a brilliant intellect, but
plain, practical good sense ; a sincere purpose to do right ;
an eminent Catholic spirit that was ready to listen to all
sides, and a firm, unshaken belief in the expediency of
justice. When others with higher and more profound
faculties might have failed, he succeeded, guided by his
matchless sagacity and prudence and common sense and
native shrewdness. His thoughts were his own ; they
were fresh and original, and were clothed with a quaint-
ness, a directness, a simplicity of style, peculiar to him-
self. He had a vein of humor which marked him from
all other men in his position, and lost him, perhaps, the
reputation of official dignity ; and yet this very humor,
which in most important emergencies could not refrain
from making the witty repartee or telling the pointed
anecdote, undoubtedly helped him to endure those
fatigues and cares under which he would otherwise have
sunken.

In the words of Daniel Webster on the death of
President Taylor : " He has left on the minds of the
country a strong impression ; first, of his absolute honesty

3°4

CHARLES HENRY HART.

and integrity of character ; next, of his sound, practical
good sense ; and lastly, of . the mildness, kindness and
friendliness of his temper towards his countrymen.

PHILADELPHIA, 1882.

G. S. HUB BARD, 305

MY acquaintance with the lamented President Lin-
coln began in the winter of 1832-3, during the
session of the Legislature of this State, of which I was a
member, and warmly interested in procuring an act for
the construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, for
which I had introduced a bill, which was defeated. I then
introduced a bill for a railroad, instead of a canal, which
passed the House, lost in the Senate by the casting vote
of the Speaker, Zadoc Casey. At the next session Mr.
Lincoln was a member. I, as a lobbyist, attended that and
the successive sessions until the passage of the act to
construct the canal. Mr. Lincoln, in and out of the Leg-
islature, favored its construction at the earliest possible
moment, by his advice, and rendered efficient aid. Indeed,
I very much doubt if the bill could have passed as early
as it did without his valuable help. We were thrown
much together, our intimacy increasing. I never had a
friend to whom I was more warmly attached. His char-
acter was nearly faultless. Possessing a warm, generous
heart, genial, affable, honest, courteous to his opponents,
persevering, industrious in research, never losing sight of
the principal point under discussion, aptly illustrating by
his stories, always brought into good effect ; he was free
from political trickery or denunciation of the private
character of his opponents ; in debate firm and collected ;
with " charity towards all, malice towards none," he won
the confidence of the public, even of his political oppo-
nents.

20

306 G. S. HUB BARD.

His elevation to the highest honor within the gift of
the people did not alter his feelings or deportment towards
his acquaintances, however humble. The poor and igno-
rant, the wealthy and educated, were met with the same
cordiality and frankness. This manly and noble course
pre-eminently distinguished him ; he had a heart full of
tenderness for his fellow-man, wholly void of selfish pride,
vanity or cringing adulation. If he, by industry and per-
severance, gifted by a superior mind, advanced himself
in social position, he did not lose sight of the great prin-
ciple ever guiding him, that " all men were created
equal."

I called on him in Washington the year of his inaugura-
tion ; was alone with him for an hour or more ; found him
greatly changed, his countenance bearing an expression
of great mental anxiety, and the whole topic of our con-
versation was the then exist:ng civil war, which affected
him deeply, though he spoke with confidence of the sup-
pression of the rebellion, rejoicing that so large a portion
of the people were for using the resources of our country
to bring back the rebellious States into the Union. Ex-
amining the map hanging on the wall, pointing out the
points most strong in the rebel district, he said : " Doug-
las and myself have studied this map very closely. I
am indebted to him for wise counsel. I have no better
adviser, and feel under great obligations to him." I left
Washington with a feeling our nation had not misplaced
its confidence in choosing him as its President. Two
years after I again visited Washington and went to the
White House to pay my respects to him ; in the ante-

G. S. HUBBARD. 307

room was my friend Thos. L. Forrest ; sending in our
cards, and waiting nearly two hours without seeing him,
conversing by the window opening upon the fine grounds
and garden at the rear of the White House. About six
o'clock the band from the navy yard appeared and bege.n
to play, when Mr. Forrest said: "This is Saturday,
when the grounds are open to the public ; the President
will present himself on the balcony below ; let us join the
crowd." So we adjourned and filed in with the crowd.
The President, with Adjutant-Gen. Thomas, were seated
on the balcony. The crowd was great, marching com-
pactly past the President, the men raising their hats in
salutation. As my friend and myself passed he said to me :
" The President seems to notice you — turn toward him."
"No," I said, "I don't care to be recognized." At that
instant Mr. Lincoln started from his seat, advancing
quickly to the iron railing, and leaning over, beckoning
with his long arm, called : " Hubbard! Hubbard ! come
here." I left the ranks and ascended the stone steps to
the gate of the balcony, which was locked, Gen. Thomas
saying : " Wait a moment, I will get the key." " Never
mind, General," said Mr. Lincoln, " Hubbard is used to
jumping — he can scale that fence." I climbed over and
for about an hour we conversed and watched the large
crowd, the rebel flag being in sight on Arlington
Heights. This was the last time I ever saw his face in
life, little thinking at the time I should be one of the
escorts of his honored remains from this city to his last
resting-place amid the tears of a sorrowing nation. I
simply mention the circumstance of his calling me to sit

3o8 G. S. IIUBBARD.

with him, as an evidence of his being unchanged by the
dignity of his office. I was but an humble citizen, entitled
to no such notice. It was the Lincoln of olden times un-
expectedly seeing the familiar face of a friend of former
years.

CHICAGO, 1882.

E. B. MARTIN DALE. 309

IF " by his works he be known," he was the greatest
statesman America ever produced. In less than a
hundred years his name will be honored and revered above
that of any other American name. He was a great man
of the people, and the greatest advocate of universal lib-
erty — the first President who believed in the letter and
spirit of the Declaration of Independence.

WASHINGTON, 1880.

3io SPEECH AT A LADIES' FAIR.

SPEECH AT A LADIES' FAIR IN WASH-

INGTON,

MARCH 21, 1864.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : — I appear to say but a
word. This extraordinary war in which we are engaged
falls heavily upon all classes of people, but the most
heavily upon the soldiers. For it has been said, "All
that a man hath will he give for his life," and, while all
contribute of their substance, the soldier puts his life at
stake, and often yields it up in his country's cause. The
highest merit, then, is due to the soldier.

In this extraordinary war, extraordinary developments
have manifested themselves, such as have not been seen
in former wars ; and, among these manifestations, noth-
ing has been more remarkable than these fairs for the re-
lief of suffering soldiers and their families, and the chiet
agents in these fairs are the women of America !

I am not accustomed to the use of language of eulogy
I have never studied the art of paying compliments to
women ; but I must say, that, if all that has been said by
orators and poets since the creation of the world in praise
of women were applied to the women of America, it
would not do them justice for their conduct during the
war. I will close by saying, God bless the women of
America.

LEV I P. MORTON— W. S. HANCOCK. 311

I HAD only a slight personal acquaintance with Mr.
Lincoln, but yield to no one in veneration for his
memory, or admiration for his grand qualities of head
and heart.

LEGATION DES ETATS-UNIS D'AMERIQUE,
PARIS, 1 88 1.

MR. LINCOLN'S history will be "of all time," and
he will be recalled as one of the grandest figures
of the world's history.

GOVERNOR'S ISLAND, 1881.

312 LETTER WRITTEN TCf A. G. HODGES.

LETTER WRITTEN TO A. G. HODGES,
APRIL 4, 1864.

I ATTEMPT no compliment to my own sagacity. I
claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly
that events have controlled me. Now, at the end of
three years' struggle, the nation's condition is not what
either party or any man devised or expected. God alone
can claim it. Whither it is tending seems plain. If God
now wills the removal of a great wrong, and wills, also,
that we of the North, as well as you of the South, shall
pay fairly for our complicity in that wrong, impartial his-
tory will find therein new causes to attest and revere the
justice and goodness of God.

ISAAC M'LELLAN. 313

When clos'd years since the fratricidal strife,

One latest victim offer'd up his life,

That plain, good man, who, with life's parting tone,

Breath'd charity for all, and malice toward none ;

So kind, so truthful, modest and sincere,

Prompt to forgive the injury and the sneer ;

Brimming with gracious love, for all a smile,

In whose big heart there was no taint of guile,

Lamented Lincoln, sacred be his rest !

With all his mourning country's honors blest !

Long will the land his tragic end deplore,

The noblest martyr when the war was o'er.

He freed the slave ! No chains now bind his hand,
All disenthrall'd he proudly walks the land ;
'Twas Lincoln's voice emancipation gave,
That snapt the gyves and fetters of the slave,
Bade him that was a slave be slave no more,
Free as God's blessed beams from heaven that pour.

SHELTER ISLAND, 1880.

3i4 SPEECH AT THE OPENING OF A FAIR.

SPEECH

AT THE OPENING OF A FAIR IN BALTIMORE, FOR THE BENE«
FIT OF THE UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMIS-
SION, APRIL, 1864.

CALLING it to mind that we are in Baltimore, we can-
not fail to note that the world moves. Looking upon
these many people I see assembled here to serve, as they
best may, the soldiers of the Union, it at once occurs to
me that three years ago the same soldiers could not so
much as pass through Baltimore. The change from then
till now is both great and gratifying. I would say, bless-
ings upon the men who have wrought the change, and
the fair women who strive to reward them for it !

When the war began, three years ago, neither party nor
any man expected it would last till now. Each looked for
the end, in some way, long ere to-day. Neither did any
anticipate that domestic slavery would be much affected
by the war. But here we are ; the war has not ended,
and slavery has been much affected — how much need not
now be recounted. So true it is that man proposes and
God disposes.

The world has never had a good definition of the
word liberty, and the American people, just now, are
much in want of one. We all declare for liberty, but in
using the same word we do not all mean the same thing
With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do
as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor ;

SPEECH AT THE OPENING OF A FAIR. 315

while to others the same word may mean for some men
to do as they please with other men, and the product of
other men's labor. Here are two, not only different, but
incompatible things, called by the same name, liberty.
And it follows that each of these things is, by the respect-
ive parties, called by two different and incompatible
names — liberty and tyranny.

The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep's throat,
for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as a liberator,
while the wolf denounces him for the same act, as the de-
stroyer of liberty, especially as the sheep was a black one.
Plainly, the sheep and the wolf are not agreed upon a
definition of the word liberty, and precisely the same
difference prevails to-day among us human creatures,
even in the North, and all professing to love liberty.

3i6 REPLY TO A COMMITTEE.

REPLY TO A COMMITTEE FROM THE
METHODIST CONFERENCE,
MAY 14, 1864.

NOBLY sustained as the Government has been by all
the churches, I would utter nothing which might in the
least appear invidious against any. Yet without this it
may fairly be said that the Methodist Episcopal Church,
not less devoted than the rest, is, by its greater numbers,
the most important of all. It is no fault in others that
the Methodist Church sends 'more soldiers to the field,
more nurses to the hospitals, and more prayers to heaven
than any. God bless the Methodist Church ! bless all the
churches, and blessed be God ! who in this our great
trial giveth us the churches.

WILLIAM C. MOREY. 317

HE was the true American, at one with the people
in his origin, his simplicity of character, his
rugged manliness, and his stern devotion to the cause of
civil liberty. While he lived, he was the friend of his
country, and when he died the sense of personal bereave-
ment darkened every American home. In the supreme
crisis of American history, his faith in the ultimate
triumph of popular institutions never failed him. By
that faith he saved the nation, he widened the bounds of
human freedom, and he rendered forever sacred those
principles of government which rest upon justice and the
equal rights of man. His real epitaph cannot be written.
It has received its truest expression in the silent memory
of those great historic deeds with which his name is asso-
ciated, and which can never, as long as liberty is cherished
by man, be effaced from the records of time.

UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER, 1880.

3i8 RESPONSE.

RESPONSE TO A DELEGATION OF THE
NATIONAL UNION LEAGUE.

I CAN only say, in response to the kind remarks of
your chairman, as I suppose, that I am very grateful for
the renewed confidence which has been accorded to me
both by the Convention and by the National League. I
am not insensible at all to the personal compliment there
is in this, and yet I do not allow myself to believe that
any but a small portion of it is to be appropriated as a
personal compliment ; that really «the Convention and
the Union League assembled with a higher view — that of
taking care of the interests of the country for the present
and the great future — and that the part I am entitled to
appropriate as a compliment is only that part which I
may lay hold of as being the opinion of the Convention
and of the League, that I am not entirely unworthy to be
intrusted with the place which I have occupied for the
last three years. But I do not allow myself to suppose
that either the Convention or the League have concluded
to decide that I am either the greatest or best man in
America, but rather they have concluded that it is not
best to swap horses while crossing the river, and have
further concluded that I am not so poor a horse that
they might not make a botch of it in trying to swap.

P. T. BARNUM. 3!9

A BRAHAM LINCOLN'S cheerfulness and wit were
JL~~\ invaluable to him in the trying years of our civil
war. Cheerfulness to a good man or woman is always a
mighty sustaining power. Mr. Lincoln's unwavering
faith that good would finally overcome evil buoyed his
spirits through the darkest hours. Of Mr. Lincoln's in-
flexible honesty of purpose, there is but one opinion
throughout the world. He was a noble, whole-souled,
tender-hearted man. He was a model President of this
model Republic. His fame is justly immortal.

BRIDGEPORT, 1880.

320 SPEECH AT THE PHILADELPHIA FAIR.

SPEECH AT THE PHILADELPHIA FAIR,
JUNE 1 6, 1864.

WAR, at the best, is terrible, and this war of ours, in
its magnitude and in its duration, is one of the most terri-
ble. It has deranged business totally in many localities,
and partially in all localities. It has destroyed property
and ruined homes ; it has produced a national debt and
taxation unprecedented, at least in this country ; it has
carried mourning to almost every home, until it can
almost be said that the " heavens are hung in black."
Yet the war continues, and several relieving coincidents
have accompanied it from the very beginning, which have
not been known, as I understand, or have any knowledge
of, in any former wars in the history of the world. The San-
itary Commission, with all its benevolent labors.; the Chris-
tian Commission, with all its Christian and benevolent
labors, and the various places, arrangements, so to speak,
and institutions, have contributed to the comfort and
relief of the soldiers.

It is a pertinent question, often asked in the mind
privately, and from one to the other, " When is the war
to end?" Surely I feel as deep an interest in thk ques-
tion as any other can, but I do not wish to name a day, a
month, or a year when it is to end. I do not wish to run
any risk of seeing the time come, without our being ready
for the end, for fear of disappointment because the time
has come and not the end. We accepted this war for an

SPEECH AT THE PHILADELPHIA FAIR. 321

object, a worthy object, and the war will end when that
object is attained. Under God, I hope it never will end
until that time. Speaking of the present campaign,
General Grant is reported to have said, " I am going
through on this line, if it takes all summer." This war has
taken three years ; it was begun or accepted upon the
line of restoring the national authority over the whole
national domain, and for the American people, as far as
my knowledge enables me to speak, I say we are going
through on this line, if it takes three years more.

I have never been in the habit of making predictions
in regard to the war, but I am almost tempted to make
one. If I were to hazard it, it is this : That Grant is
this evening, with General Meade and General Hancock,
and the brave officers and soldiers with him, in a position
from whence he will never be dislodged until Richmond
is taken. And I have but one single proposition to put
now, and, perhaps, I can best put it in the form of an in-
terrogative— If I shall discover that General Grant and
the noble officers and men under him can be greater
facilitated in their work by a sudden pouring forward of
men and assistance, will you give them to me ? Are you
ready to march? [Cries of "yes."] Then, I say, stand
ready, for I am watching for the chance.

21

322 FROM HIS LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE.

FROM HIS LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE,

r

JUNE 27, 1864.

I AM especially gratified that the soldier and the sea-
man were not forgotten by the convention, as they for-
ever must and will be remembered by the grateful coun-
try for whose salvation they devote their lives.

Cr. S. GRANT. 323

A MAN of great ability, pure patriotism, unselfish
nature, full of forgiveness to his enemies, bearing
malice toward none, he proved to be the man above all
others for the great struggle through which the nation
had to pass to place itself among the greatest in the
family of nations. His fame will grow brighter as time
passes and his great work is better understood.

GALENA, 1880.

324 SAVING A LIFE.

SAVING A LIFE.

SOME of our generals complain that I impair discipline
and subordination in the army by my pardons and res-
pites, but it makes me rested, after a day's hard work,
if I can find some good excuse for saving a man's life ;
and I go to bed happy as I think how joyous the signing
of my name will make him and his family and his friends.

To WHOM IT MAY CONCERN I

Any propositions which embrace the restoration of
peace, the integrity of the whole Union, and the abandon
ment of slavery, and which come by and with an author-
ity 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 by liberal terms on other substantial and collateral
points ; and the bearer or bearers thereof shall have safe
conduct both ways.

JULY 1 8, 1864.

THOS. WENTWORTH HIGGINSON. 325

PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S "Gettysburg address"
has always seemed to me the high-water mark of
American oratory. It proves, what so many have not dis-
covered, that the highest eloquence is simple.

CAMBRIDGE, 1880.

326 SPEECH TO A SERENADING CLUB.

SPEECH

TO A SERENADING CLUB OF PENNSYLVANIANS ON THE
NIGHT OF HIS SECOND ELECTION, 1864.

EVEN before I had been informed by you that this
compliment was paid me by loyal citizens of Pennsylvania
friendly to me, I had inferred that you were of that
portion of my countrymen, who think that the best
interests of the nation are to be subserved by the support
of the present administration. I do not pretend to say
that you, who think so, embrace all the patriotism and
loyalty of the country ; but I do believe, and I trust
without personal interest, that the welfare of the country
does require that such support and indorsement be given.
I earnestly believe that the consequences of this day's
work, if it be as you assume and as now seems probable,
will be to the lasting advantage, if not to the very salva-
tion, of the country. I cannot, at this hour, say what
has been the result of the election ; but whatever it may
be, I have no desire to modify this opinion : that all who
have labored to-day in behalf of the Union organization
have wrought for the best interest of their country and
the world, not only for the present, but for all future ages.
/ am thankful to God for this approval of the people ; but
while deeply grateful for this mark of their confidence in
me, if I know my heart, my gratitude is free from any
taint of personal triumph. I do not impugn the motives
of any one opposed to me. It is no pleasure to me to
triumph over any one, but I give thanks to the Almighty
for this evidence of the peoples resolution to stand by free
government and the rights of humanity.

£EJVSON J. LOSSING. 327

MR. LINCOLN A STATESMAN.

" I "HERE is a popular impression that the wise states-
J- manship displayed by our national government
during the late civil war, in its foreign relations, was al-
most wholly due to the direction of the intellect and judg-
ment of Secretary Seward. It is attested, on the contrary,
by persons supposed to have knowledge of some of the
secrets of the Cabinet of President Lincoln, that some of
the wisest acts of statesmanship that marked the career of
Mr. Seward in his intercourse with foreign governments,
during the administration of Mr. Lincoln, were inspired by
the suggestions of the President. In support of the latter
position, a single incident may suffice, which came under
the observation of the writer. It had relation to perhaps
the most delicate question of right which arose between
the United States and Great Britain during that war.
The incident was the surrender of Mason and Slidell,
Confederate ambassadors to European courts.

The writer was in Washington when the news reached
there of the capture of those two arch-conspirators against
the life of the republic, by Captain Wilkes, commander of
the national steam sloop-of-war San Jacinto, whom he had
forcibly taken from the British mail steamer Trent. The
act of Captain Wilkes was universally applauded by all
loyal Americans, and the land was filled with rejoicings
because two of the most mischievous men among the
enemies of the Government were in custody. For the

3:8 £ EN SON /. LOS SING.

moment, men did not stop to consider the law or the ex-
pediency involved in the act. Public honors were
tendered to Captain Wilkes, and resolutions of thanks
were passed by public bodies. The Secretary of the
Navy wrote him a congratulatory letter on the " great
public services " he had rendered in " capturing the rebel
emissaries, Mason and Slidoll," and assured him that his
conduct had " the emphatic approval of the department."
The House of Representatives tendered him their thanks
for the service he had done. But there was one thought-
ful man in the nation, in whom was vested the tremen-
dous executive power of the republic at that time, and
whose vision was constantly endeavoring to explore the
mysteries of the near future, who had indulged calmer
and wiser thoughts than most men at that critical mo-
ment, because his feelings were kept in subjection to his
judgment by a sense of heavy responsibility. That man
was Abraham Lincoln.

The writer was in the office of the Secretary of War
when the telegraphic dispatch announcing the capture of
Mason and Slidell was brought in and read. He can
never forget the scene that ensued. Led by Secretary
Stanton, who was followed by Governor Andrew of
Massachusetts, and others who were present, cheer
after cheer was heartily given by the company. A little
later, the writer, accompanied by the late Elisha
Whittlesey, then the venerable First Comptroller of the
Treasury, was favored with a brief interview with the
President, when the clear judgment of that far-seeing and
sagacious statesman uttered through his lips the words

BENSON J. LOSSING, 329

which formed the suggestion of and the key-note to the
judicious action of the Secretary of State afterwards.

" I fear the traitors will prove to be white elephants,"
said Mr. Lincoln. " We must stick to American princi-
ples concerning the rights of neutrals," he continued. " We
fought Great Britain for insisting, by theory and practice,
on the right to do just what Captain Wilkes has just
done. If Great Britain shall now protest against the act
and demand their release, we must give them up, apolo-
gize for the act as a violation of our doctrines, and thus
forever bind her over to keep the peace in relation to
neutrals, and so acknowledge that she has been wrong
for sixty years."

Great Britain did protest and make the demand, also
made preparations for war against the United States at '
the same moment. On the same day when Lord John
Russell sent the protest and demand to Lord Lyons, the
British minister at Washington, Secretary Seward for-
warded a dispatch-to Minister Adams in London, inform-
ing him that this Government disclaimed the act of
Captain Wilkes, and giving assurance that it was ready to
make a satisfactory arrangement of all difficulties arising
out of the unauthorized act. These dispatches passed
each other in mid-ocean.

The Government, in opposition to popular sentiment,
decided at once to restore Mason and Slidell to the pro*
tection of the British flag. It was soon afterwards done,
war between the two nations was averted, and, in the
language of President Lincoln, the British Government
was "forever bound to keep the peace in relation to
neutrals."

33°

BENSON J. LOSSING.

The wise statesmanship exhibited at that critical time
was originated by Abraham Lincoln.

DOVER PLAINS, 1882.

S. G. BARNES— /. M. BAfLEY. 331

r I ^HE right man in the right place was never more
JL clearly seen than in the story of President Lin-
coln. His simplicity and humor, his patient wisdom and
hopeful courage, his conspicuous integrity and universal
charity made him by all odds the most impressive figure
of our dark days. And coming years can only make more
tender the affection and more profound the reverence
which his own age has been proud to give to the savior
of his country.

1880.

IT must be confessed that Mr. Lincoln's early life gave
no promise of the power he showed at the head of
the nation ; but I believe he was born for the emergency,
and when it came I am confident that of the three in-

•

terested — the emergency, Mr. Lincoln, and the American
public — the emergency was the most completely aston-
ished. It is my humble judgment that in all the positions
the great crisis forced him into he was a perfect fit.

DANEURY, 1882.

332 ADDRESS TO THE POLITICAL CLUBS.

ADDRESS TO THE POLITICAL CLUBS.

IT has long been a grave question whether any
government not too strong for the liberties of its people
can be strong enough to maintain its existence in great
emergencies.

On this point the present rebellion has brought our
republic to .a severe test, and a presidential election
occurring in regular course during the rebellion, has
added not a little to the strain. If the loyal people,
united, were put to the utmost of their strength by the
rebellion, must they not fail when divided and partially
paralyzed by a political war among themselves. ?

But the election was a necessity. We cannot have a
free government without elections ; and if the rebellion
could force us to forego or postpone a national election,
it might fairly claim to have already conquered and
ruined us. .

The strife of the election is but human nature prac-
tically applied to the facts in the case. What has oc-
curred in this case must ever recur in similar cases.
Human nature will not change. In any future great
national trial, compared with the men who have passed
through this, we shall have as weak and as strong, as
silly and as wise, as bad and as good. Let us therefore
study the incidents of this as philosophy to learn wisdom
from, and none of them as wrongs to be revenged.

While I am deeply sensible to the high compliment

ADDRESS TO THE POLITICAL CLUBS. 333

of a re-election, and duly grateful, as I trust, to Almighty
God for having directed my countrymen to a right con-
clusion, as I think, for their own good, it adds nothing
to my satisfaction that any other man may be dis-
appointed or pained by the result May I ask those
who have not differed with me to join with me in this
same spirit towards those who have ?

334 INTERVIEW WITH A GENTLEMAN.

INTERVIEW WITH A GENTLEMAN.

THERE have been men base enough to propose to me
to return to slavery the black warriors of Port Hudson
and Olustee, and thus win the respect of the masters they
fought. Should I do so, I should deserve to be damned
in time and eternity. Come what will, I will keep my
faith with friend and foe. My enemies pretend I am
now carrying on this war for the sole purpose of aboli-
tion. So long as I am President, it shall be carried on
for the sole purpose of restoring the Union. But no
human power can subdue this rebellion without the use
of the emancipation policy, and every other policy cal-
culated to weaken the moral and physical forces of the
rebellion.

AUGUST, 1864.

JAMES SHRIGLEY. 335

MY first visit with Mi Lincoln was a few days before
he issued his Emancipation Proclamation, when I
was introduced by the Hon. John Covode. The President
was walking his room, apparently under great excitement,
and spoke to Mr. Covode in nearly the following words,
which made a deep impression on my mind : " I have
studied that matter well ; my mind is made up — it must
be done. I am driven to it. There is to me no other
way out of our troubles. But although my duty is plain,
it is in some respects painful, and I trust the people will
understand that I act not in anger, but in expectation of
a greater good." These few words revealed to me some
of the noble attributes of his nature. " I do it not in
anger, but in expectation of a greater good." Nothing
but the honest sense of duty could have induced him to
issue that proclamation, and this he desired the people to
know, that his motives might not be misunderstood. No
man was ever more free from the spirit of revenge or
more conscientious in the discharge of his duties. Pres-
ident Lincoln was also remarkably tolerant. He was
the friend of all, and never, to my knowledge, gave the
influence of his great name to encourage sectarianism in
any of its names or forms ; he had " charity for all and
malice toward none."

The following is in proof. Immediately after the
earliest battles of the war most of the sick and wounded
were brought to the Philadelphia hospitals for treatment,
and I was in daily receipt of letters from my denomina-

336 JAMES SH RIG LEY.

tional friends soliciting me to visit husbands and brothers
who were among the sick and wounded. As much of
my time was thus occupied, and at considerable expense,
it was suggested by the Hon. Henry D. Moore that
application be made for the position of hospital chaplain,
and it was on the recommendation of Mr. Moore and
Governor Curtin that the President made the nomination.
Soon as it was announced in the papers that my name
had been sent to the Senate for confirmation a self-con-
stituted committee of " Young Christians "(?) consulted
with a few others, as bigoted as themselves, and volun-
teered their services to visit Washington and try to induce
the President to withdraw the name. It so happened
that when these gentlemen called on the President Mr.
Covode was present and made known the interview to a
reporter, and it thus became public. It was in substance
as follows :

THE INTERVIEW.

"We have called, Mr. President, to confer with you
in regard to the appointment of Mr. Shrigley, of Phila-
delphia, as hospital chaplain."

The President responded : " Oh, yes, gentlemen ; I
have sent his name to the Senate, and he will no doubt
be confirmed at an early day."

One of the young men replied : " We have not come
to ask for the appointment, but to solicit you to with-
draw the nomination."

"Ah," said Lincoln, "that alters the case; but on
what ground do you wish the nomination withdrawn ?"

The answer was, " Mr. Shrigley is . not sound in his
theological opinions."

JAMES SHR1GLEY. 337

The President inquired : " On what question is the
gentleman unsound ?"

Response. — " He does not believe in endless punish-
ment ; not only so, sir, but he believes that even the
rebels themselves will finally be saved."

" Is that so ?" inquired the President.

The members of the committee both responded,
"Yes," "Yes."

" Well, gentlemen, if that be so, and there is any way
under heaven whereby the rebels can be saved, then, for
God's sake and their sakes, let the man be appointed."

And he was appointed, and served until the war
closed. In relation to this matter the Hon. John Covode
wrote Hon. Henry D. Moore as follows :

"WASHINGTON, 2 Qth January, 1863.
" DEAR SIR : Your friend Mr. Shrigley's appointment
was sent to the Senate on the 22d inst. It gives me
pleasure to think that I have been able to aid you in
this matter.

" Truly yours, JOHN COVODE.

" P. S. — Believing that both you and I, after our long
public services, will be benefited by our friend's prayers,
I hope we shall have them.

"J. C."

PHILADELPHIA, 1882.
22

338 LETTER TO MRS. GURNEY.

LETTER TO MRS. ELIZA P. GURNEY.

I HAVE not forgotten, probably never shall forget, the
very impressive occasion when yourself and friends
visited me on a Sabbath forenoon two years ago. Nor
shall your kind letter, written nearly a year later, ever be
forgotten. In all it has been your purpose to strengthen
my reliance in God. I am much indebted to the good
Christian people of the country for their constant prayers
and consolations, and to no one of them more than to
yourself. The purposes of the Almighty are perfect and
must prevail, though we erring mortals may fail to ac-
curately perceive them in advance. We hoped for a
happy termination of this terrible war long before this,
but God knows best, and has ruled otherwise. We shall
yet acknowledge his wisdom and our own errors therein ;
meanwhile we must work earnestly in the best light he
gives us, trusting that so working still conduces to the
great ends he ordains. Surely he intends some great
good to follow this mighty convulsion, which no mortal
could make, and no mortal could stay. Your people,
the Friends, have had, and are having, very great trials,
on principles and faith opposed to both war and oppres-
sion, they can only practically oppose oppression by
war. In this hard dilemma, some have chosen one horn
and some the other. For those appealing to me on
conscientious grounds I have done and shall do the best
I could and can in my own conscience, under my oath to
the law. That you believe this I doubt not, and believe
I shall still receive for my country and myself your
earnest prayers to our Father in heaven.

CECIL F. P. BANCROFT— ASA GRAY. 339

THE greatness of the man appears not so much in
his courage, his patience, his vigilance, 'his
loyalty, his equanimity, his faith in God and man, as in
that instinct of timeliness which led him unerringly to seize
upon the great opportunity at its very full. In this re-
spect he stands without a peer.

PHILLIPS ACADEMY, 1880.

typical American, pure and simple.

_

> ' <

1880.

340 " REPLY TO A COMMITTEE.

REPLY

TO A COMMITTEE OF LOYAL COLORED PEOPLE OF BALTI-
MORE, PRESENTING THE PRESIDENT WITH A BIBLE
COSTING $580.

I CAN only say now, as I have often said before, that
it has always been a sentiment with me that all mankind
should be free. So far as I have been able, or so far as
came within my sphere, I have always acted as I believed
was right and just, and have done all I could for the
good of mankind. I have in letters and documents sent
forth from this office expressed myself better than I can
now. In regard to the Great Book I have only to say
that it is the best gift which God has given man. All
the good from the Saviour of the world is communicated
to us through this book. But for this book we could not
know right from wrong. All those things desirable to
man are contained in it

OCTOBER, 1864.

G. T. BEDELL 341

A S the best contribution which I can make, is the fol-
JL\. lowing extract from a letter by the late Rt. Rev.
Charles P. Mcllvaine, D.D., D.C.L., who knew Mr. Lin-
coln well, and was brought into official relations with him.
He mourned for him, not only as I do for a great presi-
dent, but for a personal friend.

" The man, so wise, so pure, of such simplicity, such
inflexible determination to the right, who had done so
well in duties and times beyond precedent difficult ; who
had gone on winning the confidence, admiration and love
of all classes, till there seemed no more to gain ; just fin-
ishing his great work, just about to reap the harvest of
all his toil, just showing how moderate and wise and ten-
der he was going to be, cut down by an assassin ! Oh,
how it has smitten the nation's heart !"

Responding with all my heart to such an estimate of
the character of President Lincoln.

CLEVELAND, 1882.

342 REMARKS TO A NEW YORK REGIMENT.

REMARKS TO THE i89TH NEW YORK REG

MENT.

IT is said that we have the best Government
world ever knew, and I am glad to meet you, the sup-
porters of that Government. To you, who rendered the
hardest work in its support, should be given the greatest
credit. Others who are connected with it, and who
occupy higher positions, their duties can be dispensed
with ; but we cannot get along without your aid. While
others differ with the Administration, and, perhaps,
honestly, the soldiers generally have sustained it ; they
have not only fought right, but, so far as could be judged
from their actions, they have voted right, and I for om»
thank you for it.

OCTOBER 24, 1864.

VY. £. HAZEN.

343

MR. LINCOLN was one of those singular men
whom the great unknown power brings upon
the scenes of men's actions when momentous events are
about to transpire. Lincoln, more than any man ex-
cept Washington, came forward to lead successfully the
grand advance of human rights and progress, growing out
of the development of the new continent, America.
That he was all that his best admirers can claim, is abun-
dantly shown by what he did, and the judgment of the
world upon it.

0

WASHINGTON, 1882.

344 SPEECH TO THE 164 TH OHIO.

SPEECH TO THE i64TH OHIO.

THERE is more involved in this contest than is realized
by every 'one. There is involved in this struggle the
question Whether your children and my children shall
enjoy the privileges we have enjoyed. I say this in
order to impress upon you, if you are not already so im-
pressed, that no small matter should divert you from our
great purpose. There may be some inequalities in the
practical application of our system. It is fair that each
man shall pay taxes in exact proportion to the value of
his property ; but if we should wait before collecting a
tax to adjust the taxes upon each man in exact proportion
with every other man, we should never collect any tax at
all. There may be mistakes made. Sometimes things
may be done wrong, while the officers of the Government
do all they can to prevent mistakes ; but I beg of you, as
citizens of this great republic, not to let your minds be
carried off from the great work we have before us.

The struggle is too large for you to be diverted from
it by any small matter. When you return to your
homes, rise up to the dignity of a generation of men
worthy of a free Government, and we will carry out the
work we have commenced.

JAMES. FREEMAN CLARKE. 345

I ONCE had a long day's talk about Abraham Lin-
coln with a friend in Kentucky, Joshua F. Speed,
who had lived in intimate relation with Lincoln when he
was a young lawyer in Springfield, just beginning busi-
ness. He said that every case he had took his whole in-
terest and attention. Once he had to argue a case in
which all depended on finding the right boundary for a
piece of land on the prairie. There are no stones there
for boundaries, and few trees, so the surveyors were in
the habit of fixing the corners of the lots by shoveling
up a little heap of earth. But it happened that a prairie
squirrel, or gopher, does the same thing. Hence it be-
comes important to distinguish between the mounds made
by the surveyor and those made by the gopher. Lincoln
sent to New York to get books to tell him of the habits of
the gopher, brought them into court, showed the judge
and jury how the gopher built his mound, how it differed
from that of the surveyor, and after he had won his case,
sat up late in the night still studying about the gopher,
so as to be sure he knew all about him.

BOSTON, 1882,

346 REPLY TO A COMPANY OF CLERGYMEN.

REPLY TO A COMPANY OF CLERGYMEN.

GENTLEMEN: — My hope of success in this great and
terrible struggle rests on that immutable foundation, the
justice and goodness of God. And when events are very
threatening and prospects very dark, I still hope in some
way, which man cannot see, all will be well in the end,
because our cause is just and God is on our side.

JAMES E. MURDOCH. 347

I FIRST made Mr. Lincoln's acquaintance in 1860,
while in Springfield, 111., on professional business.
We met in the studio of my friend Mr. Thomas Jones,
the sculptor, who was at that time modeling Mr. Lincoln's
bust. The circumstances were favorable to a conversa-
tion on literary subjects, and I was charmed with the
earnestness and originality exhibited in Mr. Lincoln's
remarks and criticisms. His clear insight into character-
ization was apparent in the expression of his conception
of the personalities of Falstaff and old Weller, who
seemed to be especial favorites with him. He regarded
old Weller as a sort of stage-coach embodiment or type
of the Fat Knight, the latter being a tavern reflection, as
it were, of the velvet-and-brocade or court side of wit and
humor, and the other the familiar or road-side phase or
expression of it ; but both suggestive of " the cap-and-
bells" and furnishing the materials for wholesome merri-
ment. Speaking of Dickens, he said that his works of
fiction were so near the reality that the author seemed to
him to have picked up his materials from actual life as he
elbowed his way through its crowded thoroughfares, after
the manner, in a certain sense, of Shakespeare himself.
As there was but little of the metaphysical or speculative
element in Mr. Lincoln's mind, though strong in practical
philosophy, common sense, and clear moral intuitions, it
was not difficult to understand and appreciate the pref-
erence he expressed, on this occasion, for the speech oi
King Claudius : " Oh ! my offense is rank and smells to

348 JAMES E. MURDOCH.

heaven," over Hamlet's philosophical " To be or not tc
be." He expressed a wonder that actors should have
laid so much stress on the thought contained in the latter
soliloquy, and passed with such comparative indifference
over the soul-searching expressions of the king, uttered
under the stings of self-accusation. " The former," said
Mr. Lincoln, " is merely a philosophical reflection on the
question of life and death, without actual reference to a
future judgment ; while the latter is a solemn acknowl-
edgment of inevitable punishment hereafter, for the in-
fraction of divine law. Let any one reflect on the moral
tone of the two soliloquies, and there can be no mistak-
ing the force and grandeur of the lesson taught by one,
and the merely speculative consideration in the other, of
an alternative for the ills that flesh is heir to." It was
very plain how such a mind as his could not fail to be
forcibly struck with the truth and grandeur of the follow-
ing lines :

" In the corrupted currents of this world,
Offense's gilded hand may shove by justice ;
And oft 'tis seen, the wicked prize itself
Buys out the law. But 'tis not so above ;
There is no shuffling ; there the action lies
In his true nature ; and we ourselves compelled,
Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults,
To give in evidence."

The conversation turned upon the political condition
of the country (it was at the troubled period just previous
to Mr. Lincoln's inauguration) and he spoke upon the sub-
ject plainly and without hesitation. So deeply was I im-
pressed with his hope and faith for the future of the

JAMES E. MURDOCH. 349

country and the ultimate triumph of right and justice in
its affairs, that glowed in the fervor of his simple and un-
affected language, and beamed from his benevolent
features, that I lost sight of all the previous impressions
that his reputed story-telling proclivities and his broad
witticisms had made upon me ; I saw only the man — as the
whole world learned to know him — in whom the sacred
principles of eternal justice and human rights were to find
an honest and unflinching champion in the bitter hours

*

of trial and affliction.

I will simply add a few words in this connection
with regard to the mirthful element of Mr. Lincoln's
character. It has too frequently been misunderstood and
unjustly censured. The following anecdote furnishes us
an instance of the slight ground upon which rested many
of the charges made against Mr. Lincoln, of undignified
conduct and heartless expressions upon serious and
even solemn occasions. The incident was related to me
by one who stood at the President's side at the time of
its occurrence. One day, a detachment of troops was
marching along the avenue singing the soul-stirring
strain of " John Brown." They were walled in on either
side by throngs of citizens and strangers, whose voices
mingled in the roll of the mighty war-song. In the midst
of this exciting scene, a man had clambered into a small
tree, on the side-walk, where he clung, unmindful of the
jeers of the passing crowd, called forth by the strange
antics he was unconsciously exhibiting in his efforts to
overcome the swaying motion of the slight stem which
bent beneath his weight. Mr. Lincoln's attention was
attracted for a moment, and he paused in the serious

350 JAMES E. MURDOCH.

conversation in which he was deeply interested and in an
abstracted manner, yet with a droll cast of the eye, and a
nod of the head in the direction of the man, he repeated,
in his dry and peculiar utterance, the following old-
fashioned couplet :

" And Zaccheous he, did climb a tree,
His Lord and Master, for to see — "

Amid the laughter of those who had observed the in-
congruity of the scene, Mr. Lincoln resumed the serious
tone of his remarks, as if nothing unusual had happened.
And yet, said my informant, I have heard him charged, in
connection with this incident, with a want of proper feel-
ing, and even with turning sacred subjects into ridicule.
It was evident, said he, that Mr. Lincoln did not employ
the quotation in a spirit of levity. It was but an uncon-
scious exhibition of the mirthful tendency — or, perhaps,
more correctly speaking — necessity of the man's nature.
He seemed, as it were, to instinctively select the old-time,
ballad-like couplet, from among the mass of quaint and
home^spun verse with which his memory was stored,
more from the sing-song tone of its jingling rhyme,
which perhaps suggested a likeness to the swinging mo-
tion of the man before him, than from any intent to ridi-
cule the verses or its allusion to sacred history. It may
be that such freaks of fancy were the unpremeditated
make-weights by which an over-strained mental activity
was prevented from taxing the brain too constantly.

He who can, for a moment, believe that Mr. Lincoln
gave utterance to such an expression in a spirit of levity,
or could utter a heartless jest, in the midst of a scene

JAMES E. MURDOCH. 351

calculated to arouse all the interest and enthusiasm of the
mind, and stir every deep and impassioned feeling ot the
heart, by its grandly solemn surroundings, and inevitably
terrible consequences, does not understand the character
of Abraham Lincoln. Those soldiers and their imper-
iled lives ; the destinies of the cause they were throng-
ing to the front to defend ; the fortunes of the families
they left behind ; the bloodshed, misery and suffering in
store for the nation ; all this was crowding upon his brain
and throbbing in his heart, with as much intensified
sympathy and soul-harrowing foreboding as ever wrung
the heart of wife or mother, when called upon to sur-
render a loved son or a husband to the cause of free-
dom.

The following incident is but one of many instances
of his personal sufferings in the general cause. Having
called upon Mr. Lincoln on one occasion during the war,
by special appointment, at 9 o'clock in the morning, I was
shown into a private room. When the President appeared
I was surprised to find him in a state of intensified grief
and nervous excitement, the very embodiment of woe, the
alternate fever and cold of his hand, and his whole physi-
cal being, indicating an overstrained condition, attendant
upon mental and physical agitation and suffering. After
a few passing remarks the cause of his condition was ex-
plained, when I learned from his lips, for the first time,
the news of our defeat at Chancellorville. I shall never
forget the kindly and grateful expression of his face when
I stated the fact that, not being aware of the disaster
when I came, I felt the propriety of deferring the occa-

352 JAMES E. MURDOCH,

sion of our interview to some more fitting time. Receiv-
ing an earnest pressure of the hand, and a fervent " God
bless you," I left the presence of one whom I felt to be
indeed bowed down under the burden of a nation's
affliction. And yet, strange as it may appear to those of
a different temperament, Mr. Lincoln could, as he cer-
tainly did on many an occasion, by force of will, subdue
the heart-throb, crush back the rising tear, and turn his
thoughts in other channels, molding his features to ex-
pression of indifference or mirth. This same " levity,"
as some white-haired sinners of his day called it, was
often the " nice fence," with which he foiled the more
serious thrusts made by his opponents, and as such served
his purpose, perhaps better than other means might have
done.

Those who knew Mr. Lincoln and loved the man had
cause to look through and over such peculiarities, content
with an appreciation of the more sterling qualities which
generously and thoroughly pervaded his nature. What
was said of Thomas Fuller, the facetious, though devout
old preacher, who lived in the troublous times of Charles
the First, may be as truly said of Mr. Lincoln : " He
was endowed with that happy buoyancy of spirit which,
next to religion itself, is the most precious possession of
man." Untiring humor seemed the ruling passion of his
soul ; quaintly and facetiously he thought, wrote and
spoke, preferring ever a jocose expression even in his
gravest moments.

With a heart open to all innocent pleasure and
purged from the leaven of malice and uncharitableness,

JAMES E. MURDOCH.

353

It was as natural that he should be as full of mirth as
it is for the grasshopper to chirp, or bees to hum, or
birds to warble in the spring breeze and the bright sun-
shine.

CINCINNATI, 1882.

23

354 SPEECH fO AN OHIO JtEGIMENT.

SPEECH TO THE 148™ OHIO REGIMENT.

IT is vain and foolish to arraign this man or that for
the part he has taken or has not taken, and to hold the
Government responsible for his acts. In no administra-
tion can there be perfect equality of action and uniform
satisfaction rendered by all.

But this Government must be preserved in spite of the
acts of any man or set of men. It is worthy your every
effort. Nowhere in the world is presented a Govern-
ment of so much liberty and equality. To the humblest
and poorest amongst us are held out the highest privi-
leges and positions. The present moment finds me at
the White House, yet there is as good a chance for your
children as there was for my father's. Again I admonish
you not to be turned from your stern purpose of defend-
ing our beloved country and its free institutions by any
arguments urged by ambitious and designing men, but
stand fast to the Union and the old flag.

CHARLES FOSTER.— HAMILTON FISH. 355

ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S name ranks with the pur-
/~\ est of men, the wisest of statesmen, the most
sincere and devoted patriot, the loveliest character of
American statesmen.

COLUMBUS, 1880.

J

" f USTUM ac tenacem propositi virum
Non civium ardor prava jubentium
Non vultus instantis tyranni,
Mente quatit solida."

HORACE.

" With malice toward none, with charity to all, with
firmness in the right."

LINCOLN.

NEW YORK, 1880.

356 REMARKS AT THE WHITE HOUSE.

REMARKS TO A SERENADING PARTY AT
THE WHITE HOUSE.

I AM notified that this is a compliment paid to me by
the loyal Marylanders resident in this District. I infer
that the adoption of the new Constitution for the State
furnishes the occasion, and that, in your view, the extir-
pation of slavery constitutes the chief merit of the new
Constitution. '

Most heartily do I congratulate you and Maryland, and
the nation, and the world upon the event. I regret that
it did not occur two years sooner ; which, I am sure,
would have saved to the nation more money than would
have met all the private loss incident to the measure.
But it has come at last, and I sincerely hope its friends
may fully realize all their anticipations of good from it,
and that its opponents may, by its effects, be agreeably
and profitably disappointed. A word upon another sub-
ject. Something said by the Secretary of State, in his
recent speech at Auburn, has been construed by some into
a threat that, if I shall be beaten at the election, I will,
between then and the end of my constitutional term, do
what I may be able to ruin the Government. Others
regard the fact that the Chicago Convention adjourned
not sine die, but to meet again, if called to do so by a
particular individual, as the intimation of a purpose that
if their nominee shall be elected he will at once seize the
control of the Government. I hope the good people will
permit themselves to suffer no uneasiness on this point.

REMARKS AT THE WHITE HOUSE. 357

I am struggling to maintain the Government, not to
overthrow it; I am struggling especially to prevent others
from overthrowing it. I therefore say that, if I shall
live, I shall remain President until the fourth of next
March, and that whoever shall be constitutionally elected
therefor, in November, shall be duly installed as Presi-
dent on the fourth of March, and that, in the interval, I
shall do my utmost that whoever is to hold the helm for
the next voyage shall start with the best possible chance
to save the ship. This is due the people both on
principle and under the Constitution. Their will, con-
stitutionally expressed, is the ultimate law for all. If
they should deliberately resolve to have immediate peace,
even at the loss of their country and their liberties, I
have not the power or the right to resist them. It is
their own business, and they must do as they please with
their own ; I believe, however, they are still resolved to
preserve their country and their liberty ; and, in this
office or out, I am resolved to stand by them. I may
add, that in this purpose to save the country and its
liberties no class of people seem so nearly unanimous as
the soldiers in the field and seamen afloat. Do they not
have the hardest of it ? Who should quail while they do
not ? God bless the soldiers and seamen, with all their
brave commanders !

OCTOBER 19, 1864.

358 OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH.

OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH.

THE President, Commander-in-Chief of the Army
and Navy, desires and enjoins the orderly observance of
the Sabbath by the officers and men in the military and
naval service. The importance to man and beast of the
prescribed weekly rest, the sacred rights of Christian
soldiers and sailors, a becoming deference to the best
sentiment of Christian people, and a due regard for the
Divine Will, demand that Sunday labor in the army and
navy be reduced to the measure of strict necessity. The
discipline and character of the national forces should not
suffer, nor the cause they defend be imperiled, by the
profanation of the day or name of the Most High. " At
the time of public distress," adopting the words of
Washington in 1776, "men may find enough to do in the
service of their God and their country without abandon-
ing themselves to vice and immorality." The first
general order issued by the Father of his Country after
the Declaration of Independence indicates the spirit in
which our institutions were founded and should ever be
defended : " The General hopes and trusts that every
officer and man will endeavor to live and act as becomes a
Christian soldier defending the dearest rights and liberties
of his country '."

///? /

^yWrft^iJM^ c

NOVEMBER 16, 1864.

HENRY S. FRIEZE.— CYRUS W. FIELD. 359

~"*HE name of Abraham Lincoln will not grow dim
JL with age, like many names brilliant in their own
day, yet fading with the lapse of time. But that name
will shine with ever-increasing luster, as the results of
his public life and services shall be mftre clearly mani-
fested in the increasing greatness of his country, which,
without his wise leadership, aided by faithful counselors,
would have been dissolved into clusters of insignificant
states, forever at war and forever weak.

1880.

LINCOLN — the statesman, the emancipator, the
martyr, whose services to his country will be re-
membered with those of Washington.

NEW YORK, 1880.

360 LETTER TO MRS. BIXBY.

LETTER TO MRS. BIXBY OF BOSTON.

I HAVE been shown on the file of the War Depart-
ment a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massa-
chusetts, that you are the mother of five sons who have
died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak
and fruitless must be any word of mine which should
attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so over
whelming ; but I cannot refrain from tendering to you
the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the
republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly
Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavements,
and leave only the cherished memory of the loved and
lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have
laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

NOVEMBER 21, 1864.

W. O. BRADLEY. 361

NO man has so happily blended in his character child-
like simplicity with true greatness and nobility,
and combined so great a degree of tenderness with lofty
and unflinching courage, as the lamented Lincoln. The
energy and perseverance that enabled him to overcome
the poverty and obscurity which enshrouded his youth
eminently qualified him to encounter and surmount the
colossal difficulties that environed his administration.
His strong common sense, undaunted patriotism, and
wise statesmanship have left an impress on our institu-
tions which will never be effaced so long as this is free-
dom's home ; and their influence shall not be felt here
alone, but throughout the civilized world, for centuries
to come.

He has taken and will hold rank in history with the
purest and most illustrious of mankind. Admiring coun-
trymen have erected a noble shaft to mark his last rest-
ing-place, while in their heart of hearts they have builded
a mausoleum that will successfully defy the devouring
tooth of time ; but surpassing these is the monument
erected by his philanthropic statesmanship, of manacles
torn from the limbs of four million slaves.

LANCASTER, 1882.

362 REMARKS FROM TO A DELEGATION.

REMARKS TO A DELEGATION FROM OHIO.

I AM very much obliged to you for this compliment.
I have just been saying, and as I have just said it, I will
repeat it : The hardest of all speeches which I have to
answer is a serenade. I never know what to say on such
occasions. I suppose that you have done me this kind-
ness in connection with the action of the Baltimore Con-
vention, which has recently taken place, and with which,
of course, I am very well satisfied. What we want still
more than Baltimore Conventions or Presidential Elec-
tions is success under General Grant. I propose that you
constantly bear in mind that the support you owe to the
brave officers and soldiers in the field is of the very first
importance, and we should, therefore, bend all our energies
to that point. Now, without detaining you any longer,
I propose that you help me to close up what I am now
saying with three rousing cheers for General Grant and
the officers and soldiers under his command.

F. E. SPINNER. 363

FROM our official and social relations, for over four
years, I had abundant opportunity to know Mr.
Lincoln well. I have been a student of human nature
and character all my life, and of all the men that have
ever challenged my attention, I have never found Mr.
Lincoln's equal ; possessing the simplicity of a child, and
the tenderness of a woman, he combined, in his make-up,
all the sterner qualities of a perfect man. A close
observer of men, measures and events, and with a dis-
criminating mind that led to a correct judgment, was
added a conscientiousness of the right and a moral
courage to do it, that enabled him to execute his honest
convictions of all the political and social duties that were
required of him as a man and a magistrate.

JACKSONVILLE, 1881.

364 FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.

FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE

TO CONGRESS, DECEMBER 6TH, 1864.

THE most remarkable feature in the military opera-
tions of the year is General Sherman's attempted march
of three hundred miles directly through the insurgent
region. It tends to show a great increase of our relative
strength that our General-in-Chief should feel able to
confront and hold in check every active force of the enemy,
and yet to detach a well-appointed large army to -move
on such an expedition. The result not yet being known,
conjecture in regard to it is not here indulged.

Important movements have also occurred during the
year to the effect of molding society for durability in
the Union. Although short of complete success, it is
much in the right direction that twelve thousand citizens
in each of the States of Arkansas and Louisiana have
organized loyal State governments, with free constitu-
tions, and are earnestly struggling to maintain and ad-
minister them. The movements in the same direction —
more extensive, though less definite — in Missouri,
Kentucky, and Tennessee should not be overlooked.
But Maryland presents the example of complete success.
Maryland is secure to Liberty and Union for all the
future. The genius of rebellion will no more claim
Maryland. Like another foul spirit, being driven out, it
may seek to tear her, but it will woo her no more.

In presenting the abandonment of armed resistance to

FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. 365

the national authority, on the part of the insurgents, as
the only indispensable condition to ending the war on the
part of the Government, I retract nothing heretofore said
as to slavery. I repeat the declaration made a year ago,
that " while I remain in my present position I shall not
attempt to retract or modify the emancipation proc-
lamation, nor shall I return to slavery any person who
is free by the terms of that proclamation, or by any of
the acts of Congress." If the people should, by what-
ever mode or means, make it an executive duty to re-
enslave such persons, another, and not I, must be their
instrument to perform it.

In stating a single condition of peace, I mean simply
to say that the war will cease on the part of the Govern-
ment whenever it shall have ceased on the part of those
who began it

366 REPLY TO AN ILLINOIS CLERGYMAN.

REPLY TO AN ILLINOIS CLERGYMAN.

" WHEN I left Springfield I asked the people to pray
for me. • I was not a Christian. When I buried my son,
the severest trial of my life, I was not a Christian. But
when I went to Gettysburg, and saw the graves of
thousands of our soldiers, I then and there consecrated
myself to Christ. Yes, I do love Jesus."

IHFANTRY GROUP OP STATUARY. NATIONAL LINCOLN
MONUMENT.

Representing a body of infantry soldiers on the march. They are fl:e<l
upon from eome covert place, and the color-bearer killed. The captain
raises the colors with one band, and with the other points to the enemy
and orders a bayonet charge, which the private 01 his right is in the act of
executing. The drummer-boy becomes excited, loses his cap, throw?*
away hia haversack, puts one drumstick in his belt, draws a revolver and
••nga^'cs in the conflict. The exploded shell indicates that they are on
ground that has been fought ovir before.

W. T. SHERMAN. 367

[EXTRACT.]

I KNOW, when I left him, that I was more than ever
impressed by his kindly nature, his deep and earnest
sympathy with the afflictions of the whole people, result-
ing from the war, and by the march of hostile armies
through the South ; and that his earnest desire seemed to
be to end the war speedily, without more bloodshed or
devastation, and to restore all the men of both sections
to their homes. In the language of his second inaugural
address he seemed to have " charity for all, malice toward
none," and, above all, an absolute faith in the courage,
manliness, and integrity of the armies in the field. When
at rest or listening, his legs and arms seemed to hang
almost lifeless, and his face was care-worn and haggard ;
but the moment he began to talk his face lightened up, his
tall form, as it were, unfolded, and he was the very im-
personation of good-humor and fellowship. The last
words I recall as addressed to me were that he would
feel better when I was back at Goldsboro'. We parted
at the gang-way of the River Queen about noon of
March 28th, and I never saw him again. Of all the men
I ever met, he seemed to possess more of the elements of
greatness, combined with goodness, than any other.

WASHINGTON, 1880.

368

INSTRUCTIONS.

INSTRUCTIONS

GIVEN BY MR. LINCOLN TO WM. H. SEWARD, AT THE MEET-
ING OF MESSRS. STEVENS, HUNTER AND CAMP-
BELL, AT FORTRESS MONROE, VA.

FIRST, the restoration of the national authority
throughout all the States ; second, no receding by the
Executive of the United States, on the slavery question,
from the position assumed thereon in the late annual
message to Congress and in the preceding documents ;
no cessation of hostilities short of the end of the war,
and the disbanding of all the forces hostile to the Govern-
ment.

JANUARY 31, 1865.

GLENNI W. SCOFIELD. 369

A PRIVATE soldier from my congressional district
having been convicted of knocking down his cap-
tain, was sentenced to two years' labor on the Dry Tortu-
gas. With some of his neighbors I called upon President
Lincoln to solicit a pardon. He appeared completely
worn out, and complained of weariness ; said he was un-
able to look after details, and we must go to Stanton. I
told him we had been there, but he declined to interfere.
" Then, said the President, " attend to it yourselves at
the Capitol." I inquired what Congress could do in the
matter, and quick as thought he said : " Pass a law that
a private shall have a right to knock down his captain."
But after the wit came the pardon.

WARREN, 1880.

24

37 ~ SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS,

DELIVERED MARCH 3, 1865.

" FELLOW COUNTRYMEN : At this second appearing
to take the oath of the presidential office, there is less
occasion for an extended address than there was at the
first. Then a statement somewhat in detail of a course
to be pursued seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the
expiration of four years, during which public declarations
have been constantly called forth on every point and
phase of the great contest which still absorbs the atten-
tion and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is
new could be presented. The progress of our arms,
upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to
the public as to myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably
satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for
the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.

" On the occasion corresponding to this, four years
ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending
civil war. All dreaded it ; all sought to avert it. While
the inaugural address was being delivered from this place,
devoted altogether to saving the Union without war,
insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it
without war — seeking to dissolve the Union and divide
its effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war ;
but one of them would make war rather than let the
nation survive, and the other would accept war rather
than let it perish. And the war came.

SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 371

" Both could not be answered — those of neither have
been answered fully. The Almighty has his own pur-
poses. Woe unto the world because of offenses ! for it
must needs be that offenses come ; but woe to that man
by whom the offense cometh.

" If we shall suppose that American slavery is one
of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must
needs come, but which, having continued through his
appointed time, he now wills to remove, and that he
gives to North and South this terrible war, as the woe
due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern
therein any departure from those Divine attributes which
the believers in a living God always ascribe to him ?
Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty
scourge of war may soon pass away. Yet, if God wills
that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bonds-
man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall
be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn by the lash
shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was
said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said :
' The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous
altogether.'

" With malice toward none, with charity for all, with
firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let
us strive on to finish the work we are in ; to bind up the
nation's wounds ; to care for him who shall have borne
the battle, and for his widow and for his orphan ; to do
all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting
peace among ourselves, and with all nations."

?; REMARKS ON THE FALL OF RICHMOND.

REMARKS UPON THE FALL OF
RICHMOND.

WE meet this evening not in sorrow, but in gladness
of heart. The evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond,
and the surrender of the principal insurgent army, give
hope of a righteous and speedy peace, whose joyous
expression cannot be restrained. In the midst of this,
however, He from whom all blessings flow must not be
forgotten. Nor must those whose harder part give us
the cause of rejoicing be overlooked ; their honors must
not be parceled out with others. I myself was near the
front, and had the high pleasure of transmitting much
of the good news to you ; but no part of the honor, for
plan or execution, is mine. To General Grant, his skill-
ful officers and brave men, all belongs.

LAWRENCE BARRETT— NEAL DOW. 373

"T3ESIDES .... he hath borne his faculties so meek,
-U Hath been so clean in his great office
That his virtues will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued,
Against the deep damnation of his taking off.
And Pity, like a naked, new-born babe, striding the blast,
Or Heaven's cherubim, horsed on the sightless couriers oi

the air,

Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,
That tears shall drown the wind."

CoHASSET, 1880.

I BE LI EVE in Divine inspiration for good, and that
God sometimes intervenes in the affairs of man.
Abraham Lincoln, in my view, was charged with a Divine
mission, which he executed wisely and well, and is justly
entitled to the reverence, gratitude and love of all loyal
citizens of our great republic.

PORTLAND, 1882.

374 A VERBAL MESSAGE.

A VERBAL MESSAGE GIVEN BY MR. LIN-
COLN TO HON. SCHUYLER COLFAX,
FOR THE MINERS OF THE
FAR WEST,

APRIL 14, 1865.

MR. COLFAX : — I want you to take a message from
me to the miners whom you visit. I have very large
ideas of the mineral wealth of our nation. I believe it
practically inexhaustible. It abounds all over the
western country, from the Rocky Mountains to the Pa-
cific, and its development has scarcely commenced.
During the war, when we were adding a couple of millions
of dollars every day to our national debt, I did not care
about encouraging the increase in the volume of our
precious metals. We had the country to save first.
But, now that the rebellion is overthrown, and we know
pretty nearly the amount of our national debt, the more
gold and silver we mine makes the payment of that debt
so much the easier. Now, I am going to encourage that
in every possible way. We shall have hundreds of
thousands of disbanded soldiers, and many have feared
that their return home in such great numbers might
paralyze industry by furnishing suddenly a greater supply
of labor than there will be a demand for. I am going to
try and attract them to the hidden wealth of our mountain
ranges, where there is room enough for all. Immigration,
which even the war has not stopped, will land upon our

A VERBAL MESSAGE. 375

shores hundreds of thousands more per year from over-
crowded Europe. I intend to point them to the gold
and silver that waits for them in the West. Tell the
miners from me that I shall promote their interests to the
utmost of my ability, because their prosperity is the pros-
perity of the nation ; and we shall prove, in a very few
years, that we are, indeed, the treasury of the world.

Mr. Lincoln went to the opera, saying: — " People may
think strange of it, but I must have some relief from this
terrible anxiety, or it will kill me."

APRIL I4TH, 1865.

[Fac-similf if TJieatrical Programme of the night of President Lincoln's Assassination.]

FORD'S THEATRE,.

TENTH STREET, WASHINGTON, D. C.

FRIDAY EVENING, APRIL 14th, 1 86S.

THIS EVENING

the performance will be honored by the presence of
PRESIDENT LINCOLN.

Benefit and last night of MISS

X_! A. TJ FL A. IK1 IE IE 3XT IE ,

The distinguished Manageress, Authoress and Actress, supported by
Mr. JOHN DYOTT and Mr. HARRY HAWK.

Tom Taylor's celebrated Eccentric Comedy as originally produced in

America by Miss Keene, and performed by her upwards of

ONE THOUSAND NIGHTS

ENTITLED

OUR AMERICAN COUSIN.

FLORENCE TRENCHARD Miss LAURA KEENE,

Abel Murcott JohnDyott.

Asa Trencbard Harry Hawk.

Sir Edward Trenchard T. C. Gourlay.

Lord Dundreary E. A. Emerson.

Mr. Coyle, Attorney. .., J. Mathews.

Lieut. Vernon, R. N W. J. Ferguson.

Captain De Boots C. Byrnes.

Binncy G. G. Spenr.

Buddicomb. a valet. , J. H. Evans.

John Whicker, a gardner J. L. De Bonay

Rasper, a groom

Bailiffs G. A. Parkhurst and L Johnson.

Mary Trenchard Miss J. Gourlay.

Mrs. Mountchessington Mrs. H. Muzzey.

Augusta Miss H. Truman.

Gcorgiana. Miss M. Hart.

Sharpe Mrs. J. H. Evans.

Skillet Miss M. Gourlay.

THE PRICES OF ADMISSION :

Orchestra $1 00 I Dress Circle and Parquette, $ 75

Family Circle 25 | Private Boxes, ... $6 00 and f 10 00

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MARTIN L. HOOGE— CHARLES A. DANA. 377

ABRAHAM LINCOLN is the purest man of the
JT\ people known to history. In his public career he
was as incorruptible as Aristides the Just, as sagacious as
William the Silent, as brave as Cromwell, and as unselfish
as Codrus the Athenian, who fell in the forefront of the
battle, that by the sacrifice of his life Jie might be the
preserver of his country.

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, 1880.

HE was a patriot and a wise man. The fundamental
ideas of the American republican system con-
trolled his mind and dictated his action. His wisdom
carried the United States safely through the war of
secession and abolished slavery. His death was a
calamity for the country, but it left his fame without a
fault or criticism.

(yT^UXj^

NEW YORK, 1881.

378 ALEXANDER II . RICE,

PERHAPS no quality in the character of the late
President Lincoln was more conspicuous or more
engaging than his broad and deep humanity — the interest
he felt in every human being — and the unostentatious
and beautiful manifestations of it which were visible to all
who had intercourse with him.

No person of much sentiment or sensibility ever
looked into his wonderful eyes without feeling the spell
which they exerted, or without knowing that they
were the windows through which a great soul was
looking upon the problems of life and the actors in them,
with a calm, philosophic and loving sympathy. This was
one of the secrets of the magical power of Lincoln's
presence.

He was mirthful, talkative and sad by turns ; fond of
superficial anecdotes, and invented and used them at con-
venience or pleasure, to furnish amusement, to parry a
bore, or to point an argument. He was familiar and
companionable in ordinary intercourse, always neglectful
of assuming any unreal dignity, and apparently uncon-
scious of the greatness of his office, except only the great-
ness of its responsibilities. To a casual observer, he
was homely in person and awkward in manners ; and yet
he was a man with whom no one could presume to trifle,
and before whom, even in his playful moods, every one
was impressed by his greatness of spirit.

We have had no man in our history like Lincoln in his
leading characteristics, and they cannot be imitated. He

ALEXANDER //. RICE. 379

had not much of the serene and contemplative gravity
which belongs to our traditional Washington ; none of
the imperious personality of Jackson ; none of the win-
some and chivalric dash of Henry Clay ; none of the
ponderous eloquence of Webster, and but little of that
polite learning which- gives high ornament to literature
and statesmanship ; but he had a subtle and comprehen-
sive intellect, wonderful power of intuition, and a trans-
parency of soul through which the truth shone into affairs
and gave them an interpretation almost divine.

Nobody ever feared that Lincoln would do a mean or
wrong thing ; no one dreaded a foolish thing from him ;
and the country came, finally, to expect from him the
wisest and best that could be done in every case and on
every subject.

It is doubtful if any man born and jeared under the
civilization of the older States could ever have become a
characteristic Lincoln. To produce him the rough sim-
plicity of frontier life was necessary ; its needs, its priva-
tions, its efforts, its self-reliance — that whole sphere of
experience in which the daily life, though simple, is yet
full of problems such as can be, and must be, solved ; and
which are but the epitome of those larger problems
which, later on, demand the strongest and most versatile
powers in their solution. In that simple life the facts
and uses of knowledge, rather than its verbiage, are ac-
quired and appreciated ; all the faculties are quickened
and toughened a more quiet contact with nature is en-
joyed ; and out of that contact often comes the con-
sciousness of a mysterious Power greater than nature,
between which and men a communion more or less

380 ALEXANDER H. RICE.

palpable is possible, a communion which gives to human
actions the elements of dignity and power that extend far
above and beyond the realm and the period of earthly
existence. Lincoln was a man of profound spirituality.
All this, and much that might be added, was essential to
the development of a man like Abraham Lincoln.

But I intended to speak especially and almost wholly
of the humanity of Lincoln — of his love for the whole
race of men, and of his sympathy with individuals in their
trials and distresses. Passing by those great public acts,
his Proclamation of Emancipation and the like, which have
become historic, and which have modified the laws and
institutions and even the civilization of the country, let
me give a few personal incidents which have never been
published.

While officially re3ident in Washington, during the
late war, I once had occasion to call upon President
Lincoln with the late Senator Henry Wilson, upon an er-
rand of a public nature in which we were mutually inter-
ested. In the recognized order of precedence a member
of the House of Representatives, as I then was, could not
times of pressure for audience with the President gain
admittance so long as there were Cabinet Ministers,
members of the Diplomatic Corps, Senators or Justices
of the Supreme Court desiring audience with him, and
all civilians must wait their opportunity until after
members of Congress and officers of the Army and Navy,
and of the Civil Service and others, had had their turns
respectively. Having a joint errand with Senator Wilson,
I could avail of his privilege of earlier admission ; but we
were obliged to wait some time in the anteroom before

ALEXANDER H. RICE. 381

we could be received, and when at length the door was
opened to us, a small lad, perhaps ten or twelve years old,
who had been waiting for admission several days without
success, slipped in between us, and approached the Pres-
ident in advance. -The latter gave the Senator and
myself a cordial but brief salutation, and turning im-
mediately to the lad, said: "And who is the little boy?"
During their conference the Senator and myself were ap-
parently forgotten. The boy soon told his story, which
was in substance that he had come to Washington seek-
ing employment as a page in the House of Representa-
tives, and he wished the President to give him such an
appointment. To this the President replied that such
appointments were not at his disposal, and that applica-
tion must be made to the door-keeper of the House at
the Capitol. " But, sir," said the lad, still undaunted,
" I am a good boy, and have a letter from my mother,
and one from the supervisors of my town, and one from
my Sunday-school teacher, and they all told me that I
could earn enough in one session of Congress to keep my
motfyer and the rest of us comfortable all the remainder
of the year." The President took the lad's papers, and
ran his eye over them with that penetrating and absorb-
ing look so familiar to all who knew him, and then took
his pen and wrote upon the back of one of them : " If
Captain Goodnow can give a place to this good little
boy, I shall be gratified," and signed it "A. Lincoln."

The boy's face became radiant with hope, and he
walked out of the room with a step as light as though
all the angels were whispering their congratulations.

Only after the lad had gone did the President seem

382 ALEXANDER H. RICE.

to realize that a Senator and another person had been
some time waiting to see him.

Think for a moment of the President of a great
nation, and that nation engaged in one of the most
terrible wars ever waged among men, himself worn down
with anxiety and labor, subjected to the alternations of
success and defeat, racked by complaints of the envious,
the disloyal and the unreasonable, pressed to the decision
of grave questions of public policy, and encumbered by the
numberless and nameless incidents of civil and martial
responsibility, yet able so far to forget them all as to
give himself up for the time being to the errand of a little
boy who had braved an interview uninvited, and of whom
he knew nothing, but that he had a story to tell of his
widowed mother, and of his ambition to serve her.

On another occasion I had an interview with Presi-
dent Lincoln on behalf of a captain in one of our
Massachusetts regiments, a brave man, who, after most
valiant service, had been captured by the rebels, and was
then held a prisoner at Richmond. I asked that he
might be exchanged. The President replied with piuch
kindness that such cases were so numerous that he could
not deal with them individually, but must classify and
decide them in considerable numbers. This was obvi-
ously so true as scarcely to admit of reply ; yet I ventured
to say that if he could but hear this case, I thought it so
remarkable that he would be glad to make it an excep-
tion. " Well, state it," he said, and I did so ; and im-
mediately on my closing, the President said, " I wish you
would go over to the War Department and tell Gen.
that story, just as you have told it to me, and say

ALEXANDER H. RICE. 3^3

from me that if it be possible for him to effect the ex-
change of Captain without compromising the cases

of other prisoners of his rank, I wish him to do so."
" But," I said, " for a technical misdemeanor Captain
— has, since his capture, been deprived of his com-
mission and reduced to the ranks, and probably the
rebels will not exchange him for a private soldier."

"Well," said the President, "if Gen. raises that

point, say to him that if he can arrange the exchange
part, I can take care of the rank part, and I will do so."
The captain was in Washington in about ten days after-
wards.

Again, a boy from one of the country towns of Mas-
sachusetts, who had entered a store in Boston, and be-
come dazzled by the apparent universal distribution of
wealth, without any definite idea of how it was acquired,
fell into the fault of robbing his employer's letters as he
took them to and from the post-office, and, having been
convicted of the offense, was serving out his sentence in
jail. The father of this boy came to Washington to ob-
tain a pardon for his son, and I accompanied him to the
White House and introduced him. A petition signed
by a large number of respectable citizens was presented.
The President put on his spectacles and stretched himself
at length upon his arm-chair while he deliberately read the
document, and then he turned to me and asked if I met
a man going down the stairs as I came up. I said that I
did. "Yes," said the President; "he was the last person
in this room before you came, and his errand was to get
a man pardoned out of the penitentiary ; and now you
have come to get a boy out of jail !" Then, with one cif

384 ALEXANDER H. RICE.

those bursts of humor which were both contagious and
irresistible, he said : " I'll tell you what it is, we must
abolish those courts, or they will be the death of us. I
thought it bad enough that they put so many men in the
penitentiaries for me to get out ; but if they have now
begun on the boys and the jails, and have roped you into
the delivery, let's after them ! And they deserve the
worst fate," he soon continued, "because, according to
the evidence that comes to me, they pick out the very
best men and send them to the penitentiary ; and this
present petition shows they are playing the same game
on the good boys, and sending them all to jail. The
man you met on the stairs affirmed that his friend in the
penitentiary is a most exemplary citizen, and Massa-
chusetts must be a happy State if her boys out of jail
are as virtuous as this one appears to be who is in.
Yes ; down with the courts and deliverance to their
victims, and then we can have some peace !"

During all this time the President was in a most
merry mood. Then his face assumed a sad and thought-
ful expression, and he proceeded to say that he could
quite understand how a boy from simple country life
might be overcome by the sight of universal abundance
in a large city, and by a full supply of money in the
pockets of almost everybody, and be led to commit even
such an offense as this one had done, and yet not be
justly put into the class of hopeless criminals ; and if he
could be satisfied that this was a case of that kind, and
that the boy would be placed under proper influences,
and probably saved from a bad career, he would be glad
to extend the clemency asked for. The father explained

ALEXANDER H. RICE. 385

his purpose in that respect, the Congressmen from the
State in which he belonged united in the petition, and the
boy was pardoned.

Such examples as these, varying in character, but
all springing from the same tender and noble qualities
of heart, might be multiplied almost indefinitely ; but
they all found culmination in that grandest utterance of
modern eloquence, at the consecration of the battle-field
of Gettysburg, when, the promptings of his soul having
summoned his intellect to the point of supreme exalta-
tion, he spoke to all mankind those words of patriotism,
admonition and pathos which will continue to sound
through the ages as long as the flowers shall bloom or
the waters flow.

BOSTON, 1882.

25

386 A. A. E. TAYLOR— H. Z. DA WES.

r I "HE name of Abraham Lincoln will ever stand in
X history and in the hearts of his own countrymen
beside the name of Washington. His genius, wisdom
and goodness saved the Union ; his great heart liberated
the slaves. Christian people believe he was raised up
by the divine Hand for the deliverance of the nation, and
guided in its accomplishment. In my humble judgment
his name is the greatest in American history.

UNIVERSITY OF WOOSTER, 1880.

WASHINGTON was the Father, and Lincoln the
Savior, of his Country.

PlTTSFIELD, l88o.

PETER COOPER.

387

I HAVE always had the greatest admiration for the
amiable, simple and honest traits of Mr. Lincoln's
character. I believe that, under the providence of God,
he was, next to Washington, the greatest instrument for
the preservation of the Union and the integrity of the
country ; and this was brought about chiefly through his
strict and faithful adherence to the Constitution of his
country.

NEW YORK, 1880.

388

/. W. ANDREWS— P. A. CHADBOURNE.

IN the revolutionary struggle George Washington was
raised up to be our great leader in the achievement
of national independence ; and in the rebellion Abraham
Lincoln was placed in the Presidential chair to preserve
the Union from dissolution and destruction. Each of
these great men seems to have been chosen of God for
his special work, and the names of Washington and
Lincoln will forever be united in the memory and love
of the American people.

MARIETTA COLLEGE, 1880.

A BRAH AM LINCOLN was the man for the times ;
/~\ and in the great work he accomplished for his
country, and in the cause of human rights, he has not
been surpassed by any of the greatest and best men of
our land.

^^MZS

v*

WILLIAMS COLLEGE.

M. F. BIGNEY. 389

IN the broadest and best sense of the term, Abraham
Lincoln was America's great " Commoner." Pos-
sibly he builded wiser than he knew, for while

" He carved his name on time as on a rock,
And stood thereon as on a monument,"

he was apparently unconscious as an infant-giant of his
own high possibilities. A patriot without pretense, and
a statesman by intuition, he could still descend to the
level of the humblest, ever ready with a jest to point a
moral, and with a story to confound a sophist.

At the time when bloody treason flourished and he
fell, the Southern people, unjustly accused of sympathy
with his assassin, were just beginning to appreciate his
sterling qualities and the wisdom of his acts. His death
was to the North a bereavement and a grief; to the
South it was a dire calamity which hindered the consum-
mation of that "more perfect union" for which all good
people prayed ; and to-day the men and women of the
South, without distinction of race or color, cherish the
memory of the Martyr-President as that of a Deliverer.

He, whom the people honored; he, the wise,

Who fought for honor's prize;
He, whom the armies reverenced — the good,

Who every lure withstood;
He, whom the ransomed worshiped; HE, the blest,

Has gone to his great rest!

390 J/. F. BIGNEY.

When through, war's storm-cloud the fair silver light

Of peace appeared most bright,
Red-handed murder raised against his life

The pistol and the knife,
And HE, the great, the good, the nation's Chief

Fell, leaving all in grief.

NEW ORLEANS, 1881.

JAMES MARVIN— C. M. MEAD. 391

A BRAHAM LINCOLN. AN AMERICAN, I

/~V find all the characteristics of the ideal American
embodied in this great, good MAN. Coming ages alone
can properly estimate the value of his services to this
country and to human freedom in all lands.

LAWRENCE, 1880.

NO other statesman in the world's history has ever
won from so many men their personal affection,
thorough confidence and enthusiastic admiration, as
Abraham Lincoln.

ANDOVER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, 1880.

392

O. O. HO WARD.

I MET Mr. Lincoln several times during the war, and
always entertained for him feelings of confidence
and esteem, and finally of great personal affection. The
last time I saw him was in the fall after Gettysburg, at
the White House. It was just prior to my leaving the
Army of the Potomac for the West with a part of the
nth Corps. He gave me his map, which, being
" mounted," was in his judgment better than mine for
field service. This was after we had conversed for some
time upon the military situation in the vicinity of Knox-
ville and of Chattanooga, and just as I was about leaving
his room. I used the map thereafter, and have it still.

WEST POINT, 1882.

WILLIAM M'NEELY. 393

MY first acquaintance with Abraham Lincoln com-
menced on his arrival at New Salem, Sangamon
County, Illinois, on a flat-boat, about the year 1830, in
company with one Denton Offeit, who had a store.
Lincoln clerked for him some time, after which he went
to work at anything that could be found to do, such as
cutting and splitting rails, etc. He had worked but a
short time when he was appointed deputy-sheriff, and
after a time became county-surveyor under one Calhoun,
of Springfield, which business he followed for some time.
Lincoln was poor ; but it was soon discovered that he
possessed a very high order of intellect, and therefore
he was helped and encouraged, and soon had a host of
friends in New Salem. About this time he went into the
family grocery business, but left the business principally
in charge of his partner, while he devoted his time to
other business and at the same time studying to make
something of himself. When at work he was in the
habit of carrying a book about with him, and when
stopping to rest would devote the time tc reading, and
what he read he remembered. I recollect of his saying
that "A fool could learn about as well as a wise man,
but after he had learned, it did not do him any good."

Lincoln said he did not believe in total depravity,
and, although it was not popular to believe it, it was
easier to do right than wrong ; that the first thought
was : what was right ? and the second —what was wrong ?
Therefore it was easier to do right than wrong, and

394 WILLIAM M'NEELY

easiei to take care of, as it would take care of itself. It
took an effort to do wrong, and a still greater effort to
take care of it ; but do right, and it would take care of
itself. Then you had nothing to do but to go ahead and
do right and nothing to trouble you.

He was a very close observer. Speaking of a prayer
he once heard a very pious man make, in which he
prayed very earnestly for the "widowers," he said he
"did not know but what it might be an improvement on
prayer ; that he did not know but the widows had about
as hard a time as the widowers, but believed that God
did all things right."

Lincoln, during his residence in New Salem, was a
candidate for the Legislature. There were nine who
wanted to be elected, and he said : " They let him off
with 700 votes — a little behind^ the ninth man." After
this some of the talented, big men induced him to move
to Springfield. The next time he was a candidate he
was elected to the Legislature, where he distinguished
himself by taking a prominent part in favor of internal
improvements and other important measures. In politico
he was a Whig, and so was I ; and when the Whig part]'
had worn itself out in honorable age he and I joined the
Republican party. After leaving New Salem for Spring-
field, Mr. Lincoln and myself petitioned for a new county.
He looked out the lines of the proposed new county,
and the result was the county of Menard was set off.
At this time he was an able lawyer, and stood very high
in the profession. He was always kind to his friends,
and attended to some law business for me, frequently
gave me advice ; and I do not recollect of his ever charg-

WILLIAM M'NEELY. 395

ing me anything for it. He was not only kind to his
friends, but possessed a large share of humanity and was
kind to all.

I was acquainted with him a long time, and I never
knew him to do a wrong act. While he had a host of
friends, I would not say that he had no enemies. In this
connection I will quote in substance what he said at the
funeral of one Doling Green, of Menard county, an old
citizen and friend of Mr. Lincoln. The arrangements
for the funeral were that Dr. McNeal, of Springfield,
was to preach the funeral sermon and Mr. Lincoln was
to speak of the character of the deceased. Dr. McNeal,
in his introductory remarks, said that in relation to the
character of the deceased he would say nothing, as that
was left to better and abler hands. At the conclusion
of the sermon Mr. Lincoln arose and said that Mr. Green,
the deceased, had a great many friends, and had always
been a true friend to him, but he would not say that he,
Green, had no enemies. There was, however, one con-
solation in that, for he read in Sacred Writ, a woe was
pronounced on that man that all men spoke well of, and
in that his deceased friend got rid of that "woe;" and
so I would say of Mr. Lincoln, he will get rid of that
woe. As is well known, Mr. Lincoln volunteered and
went into the Black Hawk War, as captain of a company
of Illinois troops, and, as I recollect, did well and was
liked by all. The "boys" would get discouraged, but
Lincoln would cheer them up by cracking his jokes, tell-
ing amusing stories and appearing always cheerful.

It may not be generally known, but Mr. Lincoln
surveyed and laid out the town of Petersburg, which is

396 WILLIAM M'NEELY.

now a city. He was also elected to Congress, the well-
known Peter Cartwright, a Methodist preacher, being his
opponent in the canvass. The records of the country
show what he did in opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska
bill, when he took issue with Stephen A. Douglas, agreed
upon a joint discussion, and made a canvass of the State.
At one of their public discussions — I believe it was
at Havana — after the discussion had been somewhat
prolonged and it *was thought that Mr. Douglas had
exhausted his argument, Mr. Lincoln came forward and
told a story. He said : There were large poplar trees
in Kentucky, and he knew a man who had a very large
one, and nothing near to pile upon it, so as to burn it,
and it was so large that it could not be hauled away ;
and he then asked if any one could tell what they did
about it ? No one answering, he told them : " They
went around it." "Just so," said Mr. Lincoln, "Mr.
Douglas will have to do with his Kansas-Nebraska bill,
just go around it" The well-known remark of Mr. Lin-
coln, that the Government could not exist half free and
half slave, and that a house divided against itself could
not stand. My opinion is, there never was a better man
than Abraham Lincoln, and I came to this coiclusion
from a long acquaintance with him.

/^k^/fo%^&v

" '

PETERSBURG, 1882.

LOUISA PARSONS HOPKINS. 397

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

OUR country's Titan! on her mighty rivers,
Her trackless plains, in virgin forests growing,
That strength was nurtured which a land delivers,
And reaps the harvest of a century's sowing.

Harvest of blood and death: Oh! hapless nation,
Into that gulf her best and bravest throwing !

Rome gave her Curtius for an expiation —

Our sealed abyss was thy great heart's outflowing.

NEW BEDFORD, 1882.

398 SAM'L ADAMS DRAKE— FERNANDO WOOD.

A BRAHAM LINCOLN is one of the most com-
x ~\ manding figures in history. That his elevation to
the Presidency was at first viewed with aversion by a
large and influential body of his countrymen there can be
no question. But events vindicated the wisdom of the
choice. The world has confirmed and history has re-
corded it. When he died it was as a conqueror. Like
Wolfe, at Quebec, Abraham Lincoln expired in the arms
of victory.

MELKOSE, 1882.

FOR the fame of Lincoln it is only necessary to say
that he was contemporary with the permanent
establishment of human freedom in the United States,
and identified with its final accomplishment.

NEW YORK, 1880.

DA VI D D. PORTER.

399

IT would be a difficult matter for any one to give
a proper idea of Abraham Lincoln and his services
during the years he was engaged in the most stupendous
labor that has perhaps fallen to the lot of a statesman.
He can be better judged by his works than by anything
I could say. I was intimately associated with Mr.
Lincoln during a period of two or three weeks when the
war of the rebellion was drawing to a close, and my re-
membrance of him is of a man whose mind was oppressed
with care and whose body was almost broken down with
the magnitude of his labors ; whose days and nights were
passed in sleepless anxiety for the preservation and wel-
fare of the Union. I knew nothing, personally, of Mr.
Lincoln's trials in the Cabinet, where I am sure he had
much to contend with, or of the dissensions with poli-
ticians who, amid the ruins of their country, were work-
ing for their own aggrandizement. I only knew the Pres-
ident as an honest, faithful worker in his country's
cause, who did the best he could to bring the war to a
speedy close, while at the same time he showed a deter-
mined spirit to yield nothing that would militate against
the Republic of which he was the head. Although
painted by his enemies in the blackest colors, President
Lincoln had a heart capable of the greatest sympathy
and the keenest emotions for the carnage and destruction
he saw going on in every direction, and if necessary he
would have sacrificed his life to avert these horrors. If
Mr. Lincoln had never done more than the one act of
abolishing slavery and wiping out that blot on our civil-
ization, it would have been enough to immortalize him ;

4oo DAVID D. PORTER.

but if his biography is publicly written when prejudices
are laid aside, so that the man can be seen in his great-
ness and integrity, no nobler character will adorn the
pages of American history. The last days of President
Lincoln's life, except the two final ones, were passed in
my company and mostly on board my flag-ship, and I
take great satisfaction in the knowledge that he con-
sidered them the happiest days of his administration.
He came to City Point, unaccompanied by any of his
Cabinet, to witness what he knew was about to take place
in the downfall of the Confederate stronghold. He was
anxious for peace and was willing to extend the most
liberal terms to those who had made war upon us. I
kept from the President all those who would have
annoyed him or disturbed the tranquillity he enjoyed on
ship-board, and I think he was grateful for my -onsidera-
tion. It would take a large volume to contain a true
story of Lincoln's administration. He was the central
figure in the Cabinet, and without him it would have been
nothing. He was the opposing power against political
schemers who wished to put this or that general at the
head of our armies, and when left to his own judgment
he always selected the right man. Take him a' together,
Abraham Lincoln was one of the most remarkable men
this country has produced, and will be revered in the
future more than any other President except Washing-
ton. The two names will go down together to posterity.

WASHINGTON.

i

NAVY GROUP OP STATUARY. NATIONAL LINCOLN MONUMENT.

Representing a scene on the deck of a ship of war. The mortar is properly poised, the gunner
as rolled up a shell ready to be elevated into t lie mortar, the boy, whose duty it is to carry cartridges
> the piece, and who in nautical phrase is called the powder monkey, has elevated himself to the
tghcst position. The two latter believing they are about to enter upon an engagement, are peering
iito the distance with manifest indications of excitement. The Commander, however, having taken
n observation through his telescope, finds there is no cause to apprehend danger, and is calmly
leditiiting.

AUGUST V. KAUTZ. 401

THE VISIT OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN TO

RICHMOND,

THE ABANDONED CONFEDERATE CAPITAL, ON THE 4TH OF

APRIL, 1865.

THE abandoned and burning city was occupied, the
day previous, by General Weitzel's command, con-
sisting of a division of white troops under General Devins
and a colored division which I commanded. The Pres-
ident, accompanied by Admiral Porter, had landed early
in the afternoon from the gun-boat Malvern, which came
up from City Point, and leading his little son Tad, the
three walked up from the landing to General Weitzel's
quarters, in the house occupied two days before by the
Confederate President. By the time he reached it, the
streets were almost impassable, being obstructed mostly
by negroes struggling to get sight of the man whom they
regarded as their savior. A reception was held immedi-
ately, that lasted some hours, and then a ride was proposed,
and, accompanied by a number of general officers, the
party, filling two ambulances, drove through the city and
Capitol grounds until sundown. The same evening, Mr.
Campbell, of the Confederate Cabinet, and some other
prominent Confederates, interviewed Mr. Lincoln with
propositions for the restoration of Virginia to the Union.
The President remained until the 7th without agreeing
upon any plan that was accepted. This was the last time

26

402 AUGUST V. KAUTZ.

that I saw Mr. Lincoln ; one week after he was assassinated ;
and, a few weeks later, I was summoned to Washington
and detailed a member of the Commission that tried the
assassins. By this visit tor the captured Confederate
capital, Mr. Lincoln realized, before General Lee had
surrendered, more completely than he otherwise could
have done, that the Confederacy had fallen, and that the
cause, of which he was the distinguished representative,
had triumphed, to accomplish which, he would have laid
down his life at any time during the war.

U. S. ARMY.

SOPHIE E EASTMAN. 403

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

FEBRUARY 12, 1809.

NO minster bells' loud paean
Proclaimed the moment when
He came to earth to be an

Uncrowned.king of men;
No purple to enfold him,

Our country's royal guest ;
But loving arms to hold him.
Silence ! God knoweth best !

APRIL 15, 1865.

The way was long and cheerless,

But dawn succeeded night;
That soul, so brave and fearless,

Dwells evermore in light !
No shadows dim his glory,

Our hearts his praise resound,
And history tells his story, —

Our nation's king is crowned !

SOUTH HADLEY, 1882.

404 WM. WILBERFORCE NEWTON.

THE most conspicuous victim of our nation's rise and
progress has been Abraham Lincoln. The long
and cruel war of the rebellion was over. The first glad
days of peace had come. The waters of the flood of
wrath were disappearing, and the long-tossed ark of the
national life had just rested upon solid ground. The dove
was returning from the redeemed world with a branch of
olive, when the hand of the assassin struck down the
emancipator of the race of slaves. To those of us who
remember vividly the war days, who cannot recall the
awful shock of that event? The brave patriot's life,
covered, as it had been, with contumely and abuse, de-
rided, scorned, criticised, condemned, stood at the last
far above all his compeers, and we understood at the last
why it was that the leadership of this elect nation had
been committed to his patient, suffering keeping through
the storm of the civil war, and not to his companions, a
Seward, a Chase or a Stanton, since in the light of his
death we beheld the divine meaning of his choice, and
felt that, like Saul among the elder brethren of his
father's house, the horn of the prophetic people, like
that of Samuel of old, had anointed with holy oil that
man of the people whom God had unmistakably called
and chosen to be the leader through the crisis of the
rebellion.

BOSTON, 1882.

L. SCOTT. 405

ABRAHAM LINCOLN I regard as belonging to
JL\ the same class with the judges in Israel. He was
raised up by Divine Providence to be the deliverer of
this nation in a time of great peril. His work done, God
permitted him to be removed without conscious suffer-
ing, by the bullet of a most cowardly and wicked assassin.
His name will stand on the roll of fame next to that of
Washington as a benefactor of his race.

1880.

4o6

W. STRONG.

THE life and services of President Lincoln must e/er
be regarded as one of the most beneficent gifts
which an ever-willing Providence has ever conferred upon
this much-favored country. He seems to have been
raised up for the times in which he lived — times as
critical as it is possible to conceive — and for those times
he was exactly fitted. Perhaps it is too much to say no
other man could have done the noble work which he did
in saving the Union, but I know of no other that in my
judgment could have done so well. An ardent patriot,
shrewd, with large common sense, far-reaching fore-
sight, firmness and tenacity of purpose, possessing the
largest sympathies, "with malice for none and charity for
all," I cannot hope ever to see his like again.

WASHINGTON, 1880.

W. D. HO WELLS— JOHN GIBBON. 407

NO admirer who speaks in his praise must pause
to conceal a stain upon his good name. No
true man falters in his affection at the remembrance of
any mean action or littleness in the life of Lincoln. The
purity of his reputation ennobles every incident of his
career and gives significance to all the events of his past"

BELMONT, 1880.

MR. LINCOLN will be known in history, first, as
an honest man ; second, as a statesman in the
truest and best meaning of the word ; third, as a human-
ist with a sincere love of his whole country, and a heart
large enough to take in the whole human race ; fourth,
as the great martyr to the cause of Liberty throughout
the world.

U. S. ARMY, 1882.

4oS

/. A. GARFIELD.

W

ITH profound reverence for the life and character
of Abraham Lincoln.

MENTOR, OHIO, JULY 2, 1880.

GALUSHA A. GROW—W. W. GOODWIN. 409

r I "HE Martyr President seals with his blood the
JL emancipation of a race, and grasping four millions
of broken coffles, ascends to the bosom of his God, thus
consecrating the land of Washington as the home of the
emigrant and the asylum of the oppressed of every clime,
and of all races of men.

PHILADELPHIA, 1880.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN was the right man in the
±\ right place, at the right time. The whole country
owes him a debt of endless gratitude.

CAMBRIDGE, 1880.

410

C. E. LIPPINCOTT.

E^COLN came so aptly to the need of his times, and
was so exactly fitted for the burden of his great-
ness, that probably he impressed few of his casual ac-
quaintances with his transcendent qualities. Now that
he has gone from the world, which he did so much to
make better, those who have a definite knowledge of the
crisis in which he was the greatest actor can see and
wonder at his greatness. Others were divided upon
abstract questions, which, by unkindly discussion,, seemed
to have grown into causes of sectional hate. Even many
of the leaders of the party which made Lincoln President
forgot their love of country in their hatred of slavery,
and would have accepted disunion even, that they might
fight slavery more earnestly. They made the mistake
which history shows has been made so often. They
fancied that excessive philanthropy might take the place
of patriotism. Lincoln first and above all loved his
country. Every other love, opinion, principle was in
utter subordination to his patriotism. That was his
strength. That made him the representative and the
worthy leader of all patriots of every sort of opinion.
He was the leader of all the patriotic people ; he was
the leader of the war. He was the incarnation of a
nation's love of country. In his grave he remains the
exemplar and the idol of patriotism.

CHANDLERVILLE, 1881.

GEO. BANCROFT GRIFFITH— JOHN G. FEE. 411

THE grand legacy ot American freedom, bequeathed
to us by the Father of his Country, and which a
wicked rebellion would have squandered, was saved, we
trust, for all coming time, by that noble martyr, Abraham
Lincoln.

C

EAST LEMPSTER, 1881.

A BRAHAM LINCOLN at all times impressed me
1~\ as a man of native good sense, singleness of
motive and integrity of purpose. His life has been of
great good to this nation, because he " desired to be on
the Lord's side," gave his voice for the freedom of the
oppressed and his life for the Union of the States. No
better legacy can be left to the youth of our land than
the example of great men and women — great in goodness
of heart and character.

BEREA COLLEGE, 1882.

412

FREDERICK SMYTH.

THE possibility of such a man as Abraham Lincoln
is a standing argument in favor of a Government
which unites freedom with strength, and has strength
without tyranny. Courts and kingdoms might be
searched in vain for a prince who, by tradition or culture,
had attained such wisdom in the government of men as
had the son of the backwoods. What gentleness, wis-
dom, patience ! What wit ! What skill in argument !
What power of persuasion ! What sublime faith ! These
were qualities which bound him to the hearts of his
countrymen and m«ude him worthy to be a martyr to
liberty.

MANCHESTER, 1880.

JANE GREY SWISSHELM. 413

IN February, '63, I went to Washington, so much
prejudiced against President Lincoln that I was
with difficulty persuaded to attend a reception, and would
only go on condition that I should not be presented. I
went into his presence with a feeling of scorn for the
man who had tried to save the Union and slavery — the
man who had rescinded the orders of Gen. Fremont and
Gen. Hunter, emancipating the slaves of rebels in arms
against the Government. I had no respect for the man
who had emancipated a nation of slaves, not as an act
of justice, but as a means to an end ; and, was no little
startled to find a chill of awe pass over me as my eyes
rested upon him. It was as if I had suddenly passed a
turn in a road and come into full view of the Matterhorn ;
as if I had stepped from a close room into a mountain
breeze.

I have always been sensitive to the atmosphere of
those I met, but have never found that of any one
impress me as did that of Mr. Lincoln, and I know no
word save "grandeur" which expresses the quality of
that atmosphere. I think that to me no familiarity, no
circumstance, could have made him other than grand.
The jests, the sallies, with which he amused small people
and covered his own greatness, were the shrubs on the
mountain side, the flowers which shot up in the crevices
of the rocks ! They were no part of the mountain.
Grandly and alone he walked his way through this life ;
and the world had no honors, no emoluments, no

4i4 JANE GREY SWISSHELM.

reproaches, no shames, no punishments which he could
not have borne without swerving or bias.

Washington was to Lincoln what St Peter's is to
the Matterhorn. He was a fine combination of good
material, worked into form by high art ; but art had
nothing to do in making Lincoln ; only God, and His
elements, could effect the equipoise or outline of this
rugged, thoroughly balanced nature.

I stood for some time watching him receive his
guests and getting back my own breath and circulation ;
not realizing- the full measure of the effect his presence,
had on me, but fully impressed by a conviction of his
honesty. Whatever he had done, or left undone, was
the result of conviction. He had done what he believed
to be right, and stood ready to bear every responsibility
of his acts.

He could never dodge or prevaricate, and his policy
was that of the teacher who seeks to lead his pupils to
the highest plane, and by the best means known to him-
self. His simplicity and self-forgetfulness, his total lack
of that weakness which finds strength in rank, were
evident at a glance. To himself he was no greater as
Commander-in-chief than he would have been as corporal
or private. His aims were all his country's, his ambition
to render her the best service in his power ; and this he
would have done in any position, with as much pride as
he commanded his armies.

His evident weariness, and the patience with which
he stood shaking hands, as one might pump on a sinking
ship, made me angry with the senseless custom. Were
there not enough demands on his time and strength,

JANE GREY SWISSHELM. 415

without this unreasonable drain ? I hesitated about being
presented, because it would be another hand for him to
shake, but felt I could not go away without yield ing what
was counted a token of respect and protesting against the
custom. So when he took my hand I said : " May the
Lord have mercy on you, poor man ; for the people have
none F

He threw up his head and laughed pleasantly, and
those around him joined the laugh ; but I went off angry,
indignant, that he should be sacrificed to a false social
custom — an insolent demand of thoughtless people, and
vain people, who added this burden to that of an already
cruelly overtaxed public servant.

CHICAGO, 1882.

4i6

JNO. C. NEW.

THE name and fame of Mr. Lincoln will live as long
as the history of the republic endures, as that of
a true lover of his country and of humanity — as that of
a man equal to all the conditions of life, from that of
the humble and lowly to that of the proud and exalted
position as President of the grand republic and peer of
the proudest monarch, and in every position the same
plain, honest, prudent man — safe in council, wise in action
and pure in purpose.

INDIANAPOLIS, 1880.

RICHARD SMITH. 417

THE life and services of a public man can only be
impartially estimated when he has passed from
active duty. Washington was largely reviled while living;
his memory is now universally revered. In public life
Lincoln was a second Washington, and his memory
occupies a corresponding position in the hearts of his
loyal countrymen. Side by side their names will go down
in history to the end of time, the one as the instrument
that secured independence, and the other as the instru-
ment that preserved our Union and gave freedom to four
million slaves. He was sacrificed, but his martyrdom
gave emphasis to the living principles embodied in our
amended Constitution ; as the lifting up of Christ elevated
the principles it was his mission to establish. These are
now almost universally acknowledged. These are the
beacon lights which moderate despotisms and are the
hope of people who seek liberty for the sake of the
human race.

CINCINNATI, 1880.

4i 8 ALEXANDER MILTON ROSS.

A FEW months after the inauguration of President
Lincoln I received a letter from the Hon.
Charles Sumner, requesting me to come to Washington
at my earliest convenience. The day after my arrival in
Washington I was introduced to the President. Mr.
Lincoln received me very cordially, and invited me to
dine with him. Assembled at the President's table were
several prominent gentlemen, to whom Mr. Lincoln
introduced me as "a red-hot abolitionist from Canada."
One of the guests, a prominent member of Congress,
from Indiana, said, in a slurring manner : " I wish the
negroes of the United States would emigrate to Canada,
as the Canadians are so fond of their company." Mr.
Lincoln said : " It would be better for the negroes, that's
certain." " Yes," I replied a little warmly, " it would be
better for the negroes ; for, under our flag, the blackest
negro is entitled to and freely accorded every right and
privilege enjoyed by native Canadians. We make no
distinction in respect to the color of a man's skin. It is
true, we live under a monarchical form of government,
but every man and woman, white, black, or brown, have
equal rights under our laws." Mr. Lincoln, in a jocular
way, said to the member of Congress : " If you are not
careful, you will bring on a war with Canada ; I think we
have got a big enough job on hand now." The con-
versation then turned on the attitude of England toward
the free States in their contest with the slave-holders.
One gentleman remarked that he was surprised to see so

ALEXANDER MILTON ROSS. 410

many manifestations of unfriendliness on the part of the
English and Canadian people, and asked me how I ac-
counted for it. I replied: " How can you expect it other-
wise, when there exists in your Northern States so much
diversity of opinion as to the justness of your cause? The
unfriendly expressions of an English statesman, or the
avowed hostility of a few English and Canadian papers,
are noted by you with painful surprise ; while the
treasonable utterances and acts of some of your own
political leaders and people are quite overlooked.
Besides, you cannot expect the sympathy of the Christian
world in your behalf, while you display such an utter dis-
regard for the rights and liberties of your own citizens,
as I witnessed in this city yesterday." Mr. Lincoln asked
to what I alluded. I replied : " A United States marshal
passed through Washington yesterday, having in his
charge a colored man, whom he was taking back to
Virginia under your Fugitive Slave Law. The man had
escaped from his master, who is an open rebel, and fled
to Wilmington, Delaware, where he was arrested and
taken back into slavery."

After dinner Mr. Lincoln led me to a window, distant
from the rest of the party, and said : " Mr. Sumner sent
for you at my request ; we need a confidential person in
Canada to look after our interests, and keep us posted as
to the schemes of the Confederates in Canada. You have
been strongly recommended to me for the position.
Your mission shall be as confidential as you please ; no
one here but your friend Mr. Sumner and myself shall
have any knowledge of your position. Your communica-
tions may be sent direct to me under cover to Major .

420 ALEXANDER MILTON ROSS.

Think it over to-night, and if you can accept the mission
come up and see me at nine o'clock to-morrow morning."
When I took my leave of him, he said : " I hope you will
decide to serve us." The position thus offered was one
not suited to my tastes, but, as Mr. Lincoln appeared very
desirous that I should accept it, I concluded to lay aside
my prejudices and accept the responsibilities of the
mission. I was also persuaded to this conclusion by the
wishes of my friend, Mr. Sumner.

At nine o'clock next morning, I waited upon the
President, and announced my decision. He grasped my
hand in a hearty manner, and said, " Thank you, thank
you ; I am glad of it." I said, " Mr. Lincoln, if the object
of your Government is the liberation from bondage of
the poor slaves of the South, I should feel justified in
accepting any position where I could best serve you ; but
when I see so much tenderness for that vile institution
and for the interests of slave-holders, I question whether
your efforts to crush the rebellion will meet with the
favor of Heaven." He replied : " I sincerely wish that
all men were free, and I especially wish for the complete
abolition of slavery in this country ; but my private wishes
and feelings must yield to the duties of my position. My
first duty is to maintain the integrity of the Union.
With that object in view, I shall endeavor to save it,
either with or without slavery. I have always been an
anti-slavery man. Away back in 1839, when I was a
member of the Legislature of Illinois, I presented a
resolution asking for the emancipation of slavery in the
District of Columbia, when, with but few exceptions, the
popular mind of my State was opposed to it. If the

ALEXANDER MILTON ROSS. 421

institution of slavery is destroyed, and the slaves set free,
as a result of this conflict which the slave-holders have
forced upon us, I shall rejoice as heartily as you. In
the meantime, help us to circumvent the machinations of
the rebel agents in Canada. There is no doubt they will
use your country as a communicating link with Europe,
and also with their friends in New York. It is quite
possible, also, that they may make Canada a base to harass
and annoy our people along the frontier."

After a lengthy conversation relative to private
matters connected with my mission, I rose to leave, when
he said : " I will walk down to Willard's with you ; the
hotel is on my way to the Capitol, where I have an
engagement at noon."

Before we reached the hotel, a man came up to the
President and thrust a letter into his hand, at the same
time applying for some office in Wisconsin. I saw that the
President was offended at the rudeness, for he passed the
letter back without looking at it, saying : " No, sir ! I am
not going to open shop here." This was said in a most
emphatic manner, but accompanied by a comical gesture
which caused the rejected applicant to smile. As we
continued our walk, the President spoke of the annoy-
ances incident to his position, saying: "These office-
seekers are a curse to this country ; no sooner was my
election certain, than I became the prey of hundreds of
hungry, persistent applicants for office, whose highest
ambition is to feed at the government crib." When he
bid me good-by, he said : " Let me hear from you once a
week at least." As he turned to leave me a young army
officer stopped him and made some request, to which the

422

ALEXANDER MILTON ROSS.

President replied with a good deal of humor : " No, 1
can't do that ; I must not interfere ; they would scratch my
eyes out, if I did. You must go to the proper department."
As I watched the President wending his way towards
the Capitol, I was deeply impressed with the dreadful re-
sponsibility that rested upon him. The hopes of millions
of Republicans throughout the world were fixed upon
him ; while twenty millions of his own people looked to
him for the salvation of the Republic, and four millions
of poor, down-trodden slaves in the South looked to him
for freedom. Mr. Lincoln was no ordinary man. He had
.a quick and ready perception of facts, a retentive mem-
ory, and a logical turn of mind, which patiently and un-
waveringly followed every link in the chain of thought on
every subject which he investigated. He was honest,
temperate and forgiving. He was a good man, a man of
noble and kindly heart. I never heard him speak un-
kindly of any man ; even the rebels received no word
of anger from him.

MY SECOND VISIT TO WASHINGTON.

On my arrival there (about midnight) I went direct
to the Executive Mansion, and sent my card to the Pres-
ident, who had .retired to bed. In a few minutes the
porter returned and requested me to accompany him to
the President's office, where, in a short time, Mr. Lincoln
would join me. The room into which I was ushered was
the same in which I had spent several hours with the
President on the occasion of my first interview with him.
Scattered about the floor, and lying open on the table,

ALEXANDER MILTON ROSS. 423

were several military maps and documents, indicating
recent use. On the wall hung a picture of that noble
friend of freedom, John Bright, of England.

In a few minutes the President came in and welcomed
me in the most friendly manner ; I expressed my regret
at disturbing him at such an hour. He replied in a good-
humored manner, saying : " No, no ; you did right ; you
may waken me up whenever you please. I have slept with
one eye open ever since I came to Washington ; I never
close both, except when an office-seeker is looking for me.
I am glad," referring to a letter I had sent him, "you
are pleased with the Emancipation Proclamation, but
there is work before us yet. We must make that proc-
lamation effective by victories over our enemies ; it is a
paper bullet, after all, and of no account, except we can
sustain it." I expressed my belief that God would aid
the cause of the Union now that justice had been done
to the poor negro. He replied : " I hope so ; the suffering
and misery that attends this conflict is killing me by
inches ; I wish it was over."

I then laid before the President the " rebel mail." He
carefully examined the address of each letter, making
occasional remarks. At length he found one addressed
to Franklin Pierce, ex-President of the United States,
then residing in New Hampshire, and another to ex-
Attorney-General Gushing, a resident of Massachusetts.
He appeared much surprised, and remarked, with a sigh,
but without the slightest tone of asperity : " I will have
these letters inclosed in official envelopes, and sent to
these parties." When he had finished examining the ad-

4*4 ALEXANDER MILTON ROSS.

dresses, he tied up all those addressed to private individ-
uals, saying : " I won't bother with them, but these look
like official letters ; I guess I'll go through them now."
He then opened them, and read their contents, slowly
and carefully. While he was thus occupied, I had an
excellent opportunity of studying this extraordinary
man. A marked change had taken place in his counte-
nance since my first interview with him. He looked
much older, and bore traces of having passed through
months of painful anxiety and trouble. There was a sad,
serious look in his eyes that spoke louder than words of
the disappointments, trials and discouragements he had
encountered since the war began. The wrinkles about
the eyes and forehead were deeper ; the lips were firmer,
but indicative of kindness and forbearance. The great
struggle had brought out the hidden riches of his noble
nature, and developed virtues and capacities which sur-
prised his oldest and most intimate friends. He was
simple, but astute ; he possessed the rare faculty of seeing
things just as they are ; he was a just, charitable and
honest man.

Having finished reading the letters, I rose to go,
saying that I would go to " Willard's," and have a rest.
" No, no," said the President, " it is now three o'clock ;
you shall stay with me while you are in town ; I'll find you
a bed," and leading the way, he took me into a bedroom,
saying : " Take a good sleep ; you shall not be disturbed."
Bidding me "good-night " he left the room to go back
\nd pore over the rebel letters until daylight, as he
afterwards told me.

ALEXANDER MILTON ROSS. 425

If ever an individual was raised up by the Almighty
to perform a special service, that person was Abraham
Lincoln. No parent could evince a greater interest in
the welfare of his family than he did for the safety and
welfare of his country. Every faculty he possessed was
devoted to the salvation of the Union. I did not awake
from my sleep until eleven o'clock in the forenoon, soon
after which Mr. Lincoln came into my room and laugh-
ingly said : " When you are ready, I'll pilot you down to
breakfast," which he did, and seating himself at the table
near me, expressed his fears that trouble was brewing on
the New Brunswick border ; that he had gathered further
information on that point from the correspondence, which
convinced him that such was the case. He was here in-
terrupted by a servant who handed him a card, upon
reading wljich he arose, saying : " The Secretary of War
has received important tidings ; I must leave you for the
present ; come to my room after breakfast, and we'll talk
over this New Brunswick affair."

On entering his room, I found him busily engaged in
writing ; at the same time repeating in a low voice the
words of a poem, which I remembered reading many
years before. When he stopped writing I asked him
who was the author of that poem. He replied : " I do
not know. I have written the verses down from memory,
at the request of a lady who is much pleased with them."
He passed the sheet, on which he had written the verses,
to me, saying: "Have you ever read them?" I replied
that I had, many years previously, and that I should be
pleased to have a copy of them in his handwriting, when

426 ALEXANDER MILTON ROSS.

he had time and inclination for such work. He said :
"Well, you may keep that copy, if you wish." The
following is the poem, as written down by Mr. Lincoln.

MONTREAL, 1882.

Oh ! why should the spirit of mortal be proud ? —
Like a swift-fleeing meteor, a fast-flying cloud,
A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave,
He passeth from life to his rest in the grave.

The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade,
Be scattered around and together be laid ;
And the young and the old, and the low and the high,
Shall molder to dust and together shall lie.

The infant, a mother attended and loved ;
The mother, that infant's affection who proved ;
The husband, that mother and infant who blest, —
Each, all, are away to their dwellings of rest.

The maid, on whose cheek, on whose brow, in whose eye,
Shone beauty and pleasure — her triumphs are by.
And the memory of those who loved her and praised,
Are alike from the minds of the living erased.

The hand of the king, that the scepter hath borne,
The brow of the priest, that the miter hath worn,
The eye of the sage and the heart of the brave,
Are hidden and lost in the depths of the grave.

The peasant, whose lot was to sow and to reap,
The herdsman, who climbed with his goats up the steep,
The beggar, who wandered in search of his bread,
Have faded away like the grass that we tread.

ALEXANDER MILTON ROSS. 427

The saint, who enjoyed the communion of heaven,
The sinner, who dared to remain unforgiven,
The wise and the foolish, the guilty and just,
Have quietly mingled their bones in the dust.

So the multitude goes — like the flower or the weed,
That withers away to let others succeed ;
So the multitude comes — even those we behold,
To repeat every tale that has often been told.

For we are the same our fathers have been ;
We see the same sights our fathers have seen ;
We drink the same stream, we view the same sun,
And run the same course our fathers have run.

The thoughts we are thinking, our fathers would think ;
From the death we are shrinking, our fathers would shrink ;
To the life we are clinging, they also would cling —
But it speeds from us all, like a bird on the wing.

They loved — but the story we cannot unfold ;
They scorned — but the heart of the haughty is cold ;
They grieved — but no wail from their slumber will come ;
They joyed — but the tongue of their gladness is dumb.

They died — ay, they died — we things that are now,
That walk on the turf that lies over their brow,
And make in their dwellings a transient abode,
Meet the things that they met on their pilgrimage road.

Yea ! hope and despondency, pleasure and pain,
Are mingled together in sunshine and rain ;
And the smile and the tear, the song and the dirge,
Still follow each other, like surge upon surge.

'Tis the wink of an eye — 'tis the draught of a breath,
From the blossom of health to the paleness of death ;
From the gilded saloon to the bier and the shroud : —
Oh ! why should the spirit of mortal be proud ?

428 JOHN SHERMAN— FREDERICK MERRICK.

MR. LINCOLN possessed all the qualities requisite
to inspire confidence and to unite all the loyal
elements of our much-divided people in the great conflict
of our civil war, when the possibility of Republican institu-
tions, in a wide extended country, was on trial. At times
I thought him slow, but he was fast enough to be abreast
with the body of his countrymen, and his heart beat
steadily and hopefully with them.

MANSFIELD, 1881.

WISE in council, prudent in action, firm upon
necessity, humane always, patriotic, honest be-
yond a shadow of suspicion, he sought his country's good
in self-sacrificing devotion. Noble as were many of his
acts, he will be chiefly known in history as the great
Emancipator.

DELAWARE, i88a

ROSE TERRY COOKE. 429

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

" STRANGULATUS PRO REPUBLICA."

Hundreds there have been, loftier than their kind,

Heroes and victors in the world's great wars :

Hundreds, exalted as the eternal stars,

By the great heart, or keen and mighty mind ;

There have been sufferers, maimed and halt and blind,

Who bore their woes in such triumphant calm

That God hath crowned them with the martyr's palm ;

A.nd there were those who fought through fire to find

Their Master's face, and were by fire refined.

But who like thee, oh Sire ! hath ever stood

Steadfast for truth and right, when lies and wrong

Rolled their dark waters, turbulent and strong;

Who bore reviling, baseness, tears and blood

Poured out like water, till thine own was spent,

Then reaped Earth's sole reward — a grave and monument !

WlNSTED, l882.

4 jo

NEWMAN HALL.

MY admiration of the character of Abraham Lincoln
has been put into permanent form in the erection
of the " Lincoln Tower," adjoining my church. This
structure cost ,£7,000. Half of it was given, with great
readiness, by Britishers ; the other half was contributed
in America. A stone over the principal entrance bears
the honored name of Lincoln. Two class-rooms in it
bear the names of Washington and Wilberforce. The
spire is built in alternate stripes with stars between. A
marble tablet explains the origin of the structure, and
records the fact of the abolition of slavery by Lincoln.
He nobly lived for freedom, and in its cause died a
martyr's death. Few men in the world's history have
been privileged to do a work involving so much benefit
to mankind. •

LONDON, 1881.

CHARLES GAYARRE. 431

I THINK Mr. Lincoln possessed much originality o!
character ; that he was humane and pure, kindly
disposed toward the South, and that, whatever may have
been his errors or deficiencies, he always meant to act
according to what he considered patriotic motives and

the dictates of an honest conscience. Hence I have no

-

hesitation to declare that I have never ceased to be
convinced that his tragic death, at the time it occurred,
was a most fatal event for the Southern States, which I
sincerely believe would have been treated with much
more liberality by him than they had the good fortune
to be after his assassination.

NEW ORLEANS, 1882.

432

VV. DALE—PARKE GODWIN.

PATRIOT, who made the pageantries of kings
Like shadows seem, and unsubstantial things.

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, 1881.

THE name of Abraham Lincoln will stand forever,
as the second in our history, following immediately
that of George Washington. This one was the principal
agent in emancipating the western continent from foreign
domination, that one the principal agent in rescuing it
from a domestic domination even more hurtful. Both
were spotless apostles of human liberty.

NEW YORK, 1880.

STANLEY MATTHEWS— CHAS. W. DILKE. 433

" I "HE memory of Abraham Lincoln is entombed in
-L the hearts of the American people. Their love
and gratitude are the columns which support the monu-
ment of his fame, more enduring than bronze or marble.
His will live forever, not only in the story of his country,
but^ in the reverence and affection of his countrymen.
The purity of his patriotism inspired him with the
wisdom of a statesman and the courage of a martyr.

CINCINNATI, 1880.

w

ITH profound admiration of Abraham Lin-
coln.

HOUSE OF COMMONS, 1881.

28

434

W. 0. STODDARD.

MY personal acquaintance with Mr. Lincoln began
in 1858. Afterwards, as one of his secretaries
at Washington, I had many opportunities for personal
observations. There were many strong men grouped
around him, from time to time ; statesmen, jurists,
scholars, journalists, generals, diplomatists ; yet under no
circumstances did he fail to make upon me the indelible
impression that he was the greatest, the strongest, the
noblest of them. I have never seen him speaking with
any man who seemed to me his equal.

MORRISANIA, 1 88 1.

C. S. HARRINGTON. 435

A SAGE in wisdom, worthy of the best of the
ancients ; a man such as Diogenes would have
been delighted to find ; a statesman of the school of
sound common sense, and a philanthropist of the most
practical type ; a patriot without a superior — his mon-
ument is a country preserved. His name will always
be enrolled among the heroes and saviors of mankind.

1880.

436

/. C. BLACK.

PLAIN in body and mind; simple and direct in
speech ; great, rugged, sincere ; a passionate lover
of liberty ; trained in the people's school to be their own
unyielding instrument ; in his high career regarding
their rights and prosperity ; lawyer enough to hold to the
form until it antagonized the spirit of American law ;
statesman enough not to kill the spirit for the form's
sake — his reward is apotheosis ; his fame will widen to
the utmost horizon of human growth.

1880.

B. HAYES— GEORGE P. FISHER.

437

NOW all men begin to see that the plain people,
who at last came to love him and to lean upon
his wisdom, and trust him absolutely, were altogether
right, and that in deed and purpose he was earnestly
devoted to the welfare of the whole country and of all
its inhabitants. To him more than to any other man
the cause of Union and Liberty is indebted for its final
triumph. Lincoln was the very embodiment of the
principles by which our country and its inhabitants were
saved.

WASHINGTON, 1880.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN had a sterling common
JL\. sense, a vein of humor, a deep well of gentle,
kindly feeling, a long-suffering patience, an unselfish
patriotism, which, when viewed in connection with his
death as a martyr for his country, are sufficient to secure
for him a lasting place in the catalogue of the world's
leaders.

NEW HAVEN, 1882.

FRED. H. BOWMAN.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

Great Champion of Freedom ! When the blow
Came from the traitor's hand — with one wild start
A nation's love awoke, and every heart
Stood still with sorrow. It was thine to sow
The seeds of liberty, from whence shall grow
New bonds to knit mankind. Tho' far apart —
Sunder'd by oceans — with the lightning's dart
The world was roused to share Columbia's woe.
At thy command the manacles were burst,
And the sad slaves came forth, forever free.
His life was bought, but the price paid was first
Thine own. 'Twas thine in Freedom's shrine to be
The proto-martyr ; now throughout all time
Thy name shall stand heroic and sublime.

HALIFAX, 1882.

WILLARD WARNER. 439

ABRAHAM LINCOLN stands out on the pages of
£~\. American history, unique, grand and peculiar. As
honest, unselfish and patriotic as Washington, he was his
superior as an orator and logician, and dealt successfully
with larger and graver matters. In tact he has never had
an equal in this country. Mr. Salmon P. Chase once said
to me that " his cunning amounted to genius."

Like the mighty oak which towers far above its
fellows, he was a growth of the forces of nature, which is
to say, of God ; and one cannot resist the conclusion that
he was prepared, in a special sense, by God, for the work
he had to do.

TECUMSEH, 1882.

440 WILLIAM WILLDER WHEILDON.

THE world will readily admit that Abraham Lincoln
was a very remarkable man in his character and
career, as in the achievement which crowned his life with
honor ; not, as is sometimes said, one of a thousand, but
one of many thousands of much higher promise than
attached to him in their early days ; and yet his fame
and the immortal character of his memory depends
chiefly upon two acts, neither of which was, properly
speaking, his own : one, the proclamation abolishing
slavery, which was in a manner forced upon him and the
country; and the other his assassination, which was
brought upon him, in whole or in part, by that act : the
penalty, as it were, of one of the noblest deeds on record
among mankind.

It is common in this country, where no law of primo-
geniture prevails, to find men born in the middling
classes, or even lower classes, so-called, who reach sta-
tions and positions of eminence. In this respect Mr.
Lincoln sustained himself in every position he reached,
or, we might almost say, that reached him.

One might easily imagine that a common rail-splitter
and woodman might become a boatman, or even, under
circumstances, a soldier ; but who would ever dream of
his becoming a lawyer, a politician, a legislator, a states-
man, and, much less, the President of the nation and the
head man of thirty or forty millions of people : one of
the highest positions, few as they are in number, in the
civilized world ?

WILLIAM WILLDER WHEILDON. 441

If any one had seen him splitting rails it would be
natural enough to suppose he might some day become a
river boatman ; and again, when acting as a river boat-
man, it might occur to an observer, seeing his energy and
readiness, that he would ultimately become captain of a
raft, but few persons would have thought of anything
beyend that.

So, again, when he reached the bar — if there was any
such thing as a bar at that time in the place where he
practiced — it might possibly be thought, from his tact
and efficiency as a counselor, that he might ultimately
become a judge ; and yet again, who that ever knew him
as a rail-splitter on his father's farm, or a boat-hand on
the Mississippi river, or even as a lawyer, ever dreamed
that he would reach the highest position in the nation —
perform the highest act for human freedom ever dis-
charged by man ? It is not to be denied that Abraham
Lincoln had tact, which is often the equivalent of talent,
and was able to qualify and adjust himself to every
position to which he was elected or reached by his own
efforts or the favor of his friends.

Mr. Lincoln had acute sense of the absurd and
ridiculous, of obstacles and objections, real or imaginary,
and a quick wit, which held them to account and
"brought down the house" on all occasions. He was
fond of relating a good practical story, illustrative of
human life, which were often original with him, always
apt to the occasion, and told with a gu^to which was
characteristic, and may be said to be a quality and a
passion of his distinct personality.

Strange to say, the life, career and death of President

442 WILLIAM WILLDER WHEILDON.

Garfield were, in many respects, parallel with those of
Abraham Lincoln. Both were remarkable men and both
are lamented by a nation of people and the wonder of
the civilized world.

The life of Abraham Lincoln was, as it were, a destiny
unforeseen, uncontemplated, unrevealed, while it was
progressive, almost without effort or expectation.

Success, and that apparently unsought, seems to have
ruled, guided and governed him, and gained for him a
reputation and a fame not excelled by any American
statesman.

CONCORD, 1882.

THOS. BURK— SAMUEL F. MILLER,

443

I HAVE great admiration for Lincoln. I regard him
as one of the greatest men of our time. His fame
is growing every day.

HOUSE OF COMMONS, 1882.

MR. LINCOLN, next to Washington, is the great
central figure of our history in another genera-
tion. As the lapse of time shall smooth the asperities
of a civil war, and shall throw its mellowing influences
over the stories of his early life, his public services as
President, his character as a statesman and leader, will
rise higher and shine more brightly, until it shall stand
without a rival or a peer in the day to which he be-
longed.

WASHINGTON, 1880.

444 W- H< GIBSON— L. C. HO UK.

r I "HE child of nature, Abraham Lincoln illustrated
JL in his life the grand possibilities of the American
citizen, and in his position of national Executive, he led a
great people through the perils of civil war, preserving
the integrity of the Union and breaking the fetters of four
millions of God's poor. Patriot, statesman, emancipator,
his name is immortal, and his memory will be cherished
through all the advancing ages.

COLUMBUS, 1881.

I REGARD Mr. Lincoln as being peculiarly great in
many respects, and certainly possessed of more genius
than any public man of the generation in which he lived.
I have always, since studying his character, considered him
as much a child of Providence as Moses or any one of the
Prophets, excepting alone in the matter of inspiration,
which, of course, was not human genius.

WASHINGTON, 1881.

STEWART L. WOODFORD.

445

BULL RUN found an administration zealous of inter-
est, but irresolute as to method. It found a Pres-
ident seeking the right, but modestly relying upon others
and showing little faith in self. It left a sad-eyed, quaint-
featured man, who from that hour, with one hand resting
on the heart of the people and feeling constantly how and
why that heart was throbbing, from thereafter accepted
all the responsibility of his place. He moved and spoke
thereafter as the people would have moved and spoken,
had that people sat incarnate in his seat. Forever there-
after, with humanity, but iron resolution, he directed the
issue and bore himself the terrible burden of the strife.

446 CLINTON JB. FISK.

I MOST heartily indorse the enterprise for revealing to
succeeding generations how large a place Abraham
Lincoln had in the hearts of his countrymen. I knew
and loved him well ; a letter from him, now before me,
shows how, in the midst of the war for the Union, his
thoughts were running on the best methods of restoring
fraternity and good fellowship when the strife should be
over. I was in command in Missouri, and in response to
his inquiries touching the administration of the semi-civil-
military state of affairs then existing, I had the honor to
suggest what he highly approved and adopted. With his
own hand he wrote me as follows :

" EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,

"October 13, 1863.
' GEN'L CLINTON B. FISK,

" Pilot Knob, l\Jo.

" My Dear Gen'l : — I have received and read, with
great satisfaction, your letter of the 8th inst. It is so full
of charity and good will, I wish I had time to more than
thank you for it.

" Very truly yours,

"A. LINCOLN."

I regarded Mr. Lincoln as the greatest man of his
times, as the most unselfish and most honest ruler of the
century.

CLINTON B. FISK.

447

" Our hearts lie buried in the dust,

With him so true and tender,
The patriot's stay, the people's trust,
The shield of the offender.

" Let every murmuring heart be still,
As, bowing to God's sovereign will
Our best-loved we surrender."

Whatever shall keep green the memory of Abraham
Lincoln, let that be done.

SEABRIGHT, 1882.

448 T. W. S. K1DD.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN,

LAWYER AND CITIZEN.
BY THE " CRIER OF THE COURT."

TO remember the sayings and acts of those with
whom we come in every-day contact is a task
made easier when the memory of events are of a pleasant
character, sweetened by high personal regard. My
recollections of Mr. Lincoln are all pleasant to memory.
The bitterness of political campaigns could not poison the
ordinary antagonist of Abraham Lincoln into the slight-
est show of personal disrespect, while the influence of the
genial grandeur of his nature, on one who esteemed him
personally, as I did, would wipe away the gauzy webs of
aspersion woven by political spiders during the heat and
excitement of a canvass. Politically I shall utter not an-
other line nor syllable in reference to Mr. Lincoln — only
this — I was not of Mr. Lincoln's party, hence what I may
say of him will be outside of prejudice politically. My
introduction to Mr. Lincoln personally, whom I had known
by reputation as a leading Whig politician of Illinois,
since the campaign of 1848, was in the spring of 1854.
I was engaged in conversation with Dr. Harrison and
Rev. Peter Cartwright, explaining to them the "Atkins
Self- Raking Reaper," when Mr. Lincoln came up and the
doctor gave me an introduction. He told me to proceed
with the explanation, which I did, and he seemed to take
quite a lively interest. At the close of the explanation

T. W. S. KIDD. 449

Mr. Lincoln surprised me not a little by remarking in his
peculiar emphatic manner, " Young man, I think you are
just the one I am looking for," and without giving me an
opportunity to ask for what purpose he wanted me, he
said, :( If you are through with the doctor and Uncle Peter,
will you walk over to the state-house with me, I want to
use you." I consented to go, remarking to Dr. Harrison, as
I did so : " Doctor, I only know Mr. Lincoln as a Whig, but
as the Whig party is dead, I suppose he will not be danger-
ous." He laughed and we started, but after going about
twenty feet turned and said, " Ho, Doc ! I hope our reaper
friend will have better luck than some in this county who
thought the Whig party was dead !" This was evidently
intended as a "twit" at some old Whig politician, as both
the doctor and the pioneer of Methodism had a hearty
laugh over it.

His use of me I soon learned; he^ showed me a
number of pieces taken from two reaping-machines — the
Manny and McCormick — which had been taken to his
room for the purpose of studying the various movements,
to ascertain wherein one of the machines was an infringe-
ment of the patent granted to the other. Mr. Lincoln
possessed but little practical knowledge of machinery,
but his fondness for the study of mechanics very much
interested him, and he could very readily, with but little
explanation, comprehend the uses of different parts and
their relation to other parts. It was a pleasurable task
for me to explain these two machines ; to aid him in
ascertaining their movements ; in noting the difference
or pointing out the mechanical equivalents of the one
for the other, or where I thought the same principle was

29

450 T. W. S. KIDD.

applied in the construction or operation of the various
parts to accomplish a specific purpose, or where the
mechanism of the one differed from the other, although
the end reached was the same.

That little introduction knit two very opposite na-
tures, in many respects, very closely together. Neither
could, or at least did not, talk long upon a subject with-
out a story was suggested, when it would flow out as
natural as life, and frequently to the merriment of both.
My business had naturally led me in contact with a great
many stories, which it was the least of all my troubles to
retain. I found one with an inexhaustible fund of them,
and a taste for telling them unsurpassed.

This was my introduction to Mr. Lincoln, and each
day I came in contact with him in our closer relation of
lawyer and "Crier of the Court" only strengthened our
" fellow feeling," until, without appearing egotistic, I
really loved Lincoln, and I had many evidences of his
personal regard for myself. As a "story-teller" Mr.
Lincoln has been misunderstood, and in this short article,
if I can place him before the country robbed of what some
natures — who never knew the man — would make appear
as a "trifling" attribute in his genial "make-up." The
impression has been sought to be left on the minds
of those who have read some of the criticisms on his
character that "story-telling" with Lincoln was an in-
dication of a "great waste of time," and "a contribution
to the indolent and shiftless of social life." This view
of Mr. Lincoln as a story-teller is a great wrong to his
memory, and they who have measured him thus knew
him not. Mr. Lincoln's stories were a recreation to him,

T. W. S, KIDD. 451

and he only used them to relieve an over-taxed mind or
to "make a point" by telling a story which would require
hours of argument. As Linder once said to an Eastern
lawyer, who expressed the opinion that Mr. Lincoln lost
time in telling stories to a jury : " Ah, my friend ! Don't
lay the flattering unction to your soul that he is losing
time. Lincoln is like Tansey's horse, he 'breaks to
win.' ' Mr. Lincoln could tell a story as no other man I
ever heard make the attempt. He had a purpose in
telling them before juries and on the stump. He could
annihilate an opponent with a story, and the other would
scarcely know what hurt him.

It will scarcely be presumed that he was always tell-
ing stories. It was the force of one of his well-told
stories that gave him the reputation of a story-teller.
Modesty would suggest to the "Crier of the Court" to
close with this simple explanation. He would not have
ventured thus much only to correct an error in regard to
one whom those failing to understand the man would
conclude that —

" Every word he spoke,
And even when he wrote,
Out would pop a little joke,
Or end with anecdote."

He told stones, very good ones, too, which we hope
long to remember ; but the mind which could grapple
with questions requiring an army of a million men and
great executive ability was made equal to the task by
just such innocent recreation to self and amusement of
his friends.

As I have said in my lecture, so I repeat here, " Mr.

452 T. W. S. KIDD.

Lincoln has puzzled wiser heads than those supposed to
be carried through life on the shoulders of a Court Crier.
Attempts to define and portray him are numerous. They
are found floating on the sea of literature in evety con-
ceivable shape from contact with the waves of tribulation
or success from the frequent jars and bumps on the rocks,
as well as the shoals of criticism. I have not ventured
on this sea with my flimsy bark to attempr a reputation at
the expense of a lawyer I honored, a citizen whom I knew
well and loved, but rather to give those not favored with
the same relation a court officer bears to the attorney, a
homely sketch of an honest man's private life, as a law-
yer, his going in and coming out before a court, his daily
walk and conversation, the little things of a great man's
life which make up the great characteristics of which
only the world at large sees and hears so little.

" One of the finest fields for the study of characters
that more frequently rise in splendid proportions than
any other in this nation, is the court-room. Certainly no
field or profession has proved so prolific in the produc-
tion and development of ruling spirits, as that of the
law.

" As a lawyer Mr. Lincoln was not classed with the
first of the profession in all the branches of the science.
Others who still delight in having had a professional asso-
ciation with him — an intimate acquaintance with him —
. hile ho. lived and practiced law at the s*me bar, could
•jstly lay claim to and would in equity be allowed credit for
. greater amount of legal attainments, a more comprehen-
sive knowledge of the premises in particular branches
,.ian he. But he possessed a general knowledge of all

T. W. S. KIDD. 453

the branches. He had taken a draught from nearly all
the various streams that flow from the one great well-
spring of a ' Rule of action,' and was, in a word, a
good lawyer. Mr. Lincoln could boast that in some
branches of the law he had greater knowledge than some
of his brothers ; had more freely than many others ana-
lyzed the medicinal properties of these waters, with a
view solely to ascertain their healing virtues for the ills
of litigation. Mr. Lincoln was impressed with the idea,
which should govern every honorable member of the pro-
fession, that a lawyer's duty was to settle, not create
litigation.

"Judge Davis — who loved Mr. Lincoln as a brother
— said of him: ' He was a great lawyer, both at Nisi
Prius and before an appellate tribunal.' It was gen-
erally thought among the members of the bar that his
strength was most apparent when standing before a jury.
How often have I heard his shrill and not unfrequently
musical voice ring out the convincing notes from an in-
tellect as vigorous, although not so quick to perceive,
yet so comprehensive, exact and clear that they stamped
him in the estimation of every listener as an able, im-
pressive master of the intricacies of his case. He was an
honest man and a lawyer, seldom, if ever, allowing him-
self to be found on the wrong side of a case. It was to
this fact more than to any other that he owed his success
at the bar. In canvassing his success as a lawyer and
statesman it has been my privilege to hear almost every
shade of opinion expressed of him by members of the
Springfield bar. But, Crier only as I claim to have
been, I think the great secret has been overlooked, and

454 T. W. S. KIDD.

with all due deference to opinions that I have seldom
found erroneous, I beg to suggest his extraordinary
moral courage to do the right, regardless of the conse-
quences, as the secret lever that lifted him slowly but
steadily above his fellows when contending with brothers
at the bar, or afterward, as the Chief of a great nation,
under the most complicated and trying circumstances. ';

/. GILLESPIE. 455

I HAVE been requested to give my recollections
touching the life of Abraham Lincoln, late President
of the United States. I understand that it is not expected
that I should prepare a life or biography of him, but
simply give such incidents as would illustrate his charac-
ter and minor life. So much has been said and written
respecting the public history of the great commoner of
America, that I feel that it would be a work of supereroga-
tion in me to attempt a review of his public career. »I shall
confine myself in what I shall say to what I know of
Abraham Lincoln as a man, and his political life, at home
or in Illinois. In order to give assurance that I had the
acquaintance, and to some degree the confidence, of the
illustrious man, I will give a copy of a letter from him to
me, now in my possession ; but I will first premise the
circumstances under which it was written. In 1857 and
1858, William Bissell, a Republican, was Governor of
Illinois. The Democrats at the session of the Legisla-
ture of those years obtained a majority in the Legisla-
ture, and passed two acts, an appropriation bill, and an
apportionment bill, the latter of which the Governor in-
tended to veto, and the former to approve. The bills re-
sembled each other in external appearance and were both
laid upon the Governor's table at the same time, and by
mistake he approved of the bill he intended to veto, which
was reported to the House as having been sanctioned
by the Executive. In a short time the Governor was
made aware of his mistake, and he instantly convened a

4s6 /. GILLESPIE.

meeting of such of his friends a'j could be summoned, to
consult as to the best means to extricate himself from the
dilemma. N. B. Judd, of Chicago, Mr. Lincoln, I believe,
Gov. Koerner, of St. Clair, and I, were of the number.
We advised Governor Bissell to instantly send his messen-
ger to the House, and request the return of the bill. The
majority, not suspecting anything, complied with the re-
quest, and the Governor erased his name. The Democrats
employed General McClernand to apply for a writ of
mandamus to compel the Secretary of State, Hatch, to
report the apportionment bill as having received the
Executive approval and become a law. Here is the
letter :

• •
" SPRINGFIELD, January 19, 1858.

" HON. JOSEPH GILLESPIE.
" My Dear Sir :

" This morning Colonel McClernand
showed me a petition for a mandamus against the
Secretary of State to compel him to certify the ap-
portionment act of last session, and he says it will be
presented to the court to-morrow morning. We shall be
allowed three or four days to get up a return, and I for
one want the benefit of consultation with you. Please
come right up.

" Yours, as ever,

"A. LINCOLN."

I visited him as desired, and agreed with him as to the
line of defense he should pursue, and after a few days re-
ceived the following letter :

/. GILL ESP IE. 457

"SPRINGFIELD, February yth, 1858.
" HON. J. GILLESPIE.

" My Dear Sir:

"Yesterday morning the court over-
ruled the demurrer to Hatch's return in the mandamus
case. McClernand was present, said nothing about plead-
ing over, and so I suppose the matter is ended. The
court gave no opinion for the discussion, but Peck tells
me confidentially that they were unanimous in the
opinion that even if the Governor had signed the bill
purposely, he had the right to strike his name off so long
as the bill remained in his custody to control.

" Yours as ever,

•' A. LINCOLN."

So much has been said about Mr. Lincoln that I
hardly know how I shall go about giving my views
touching or delineating his life and character without
traveling in old grooves. Mr. Lincoln seldom said any-
thing on the subject of religion. He said once to me that
he never could reconcile the " prescience of Deity with
the uncertainty of events." I inferred from that remark
that his antecedents were of the Baptist persuasion. He
said at the same time that he thought it was unprofitable
to discuss the dogmas of predestination and free will.
After he became President he told me that circumstances
had happened during the war to induce him to a belief
in " special providences." I think his mind was unsettled
on religious matters until his election, and he surveyed
the vast responsibilities cast upon him. After that, it
seemed to me that he became religiously inclined. It was

458 /. GILLESPIE.

difficult for him to believe without demonstration. He
was up in Bible reading and quoted from and illustrated
by Bible incidents. To give an instance, I called upon
him, to get his opinion as to the probabilities of the
conclusion of the war. He said it would very soon be
ended by the overthrow of the rebellion. " Now," said
I, " Mr. Lincoln, what is to be done with the rebels ?'*
" Well," said he, " some people think their heads ought
to come off, but there are too many of them for that, and
if it was left to me, I could not draw the line between
those whose heads ought to come off or stay on." He
said he was favorably impressed with the policy of King
David. Said I : " What was that?" " Well," said he, " you
remember that during the rebellion of Absalom, while
David was fleeing from Jerusalem, Shimei cursed him.
After the rebellion was put down, Shimei craved a
pardon. Abishai, David's nephew, the son of Zeruiah,
David's sister, said : ' This man ought not to be pardoned ;
he cursed the Lord's anointed.' David said unto him :
' what have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye
should this day be adversaries unto me ? Know ye that
not a man shall be put to death in Israel.' " This reference
not only indicated Mr. Lincoln's policy, but also his
humanity, which is evidenced by an incident I will relate.
One evening Mr. Joshua F. Speed, of Louisville, and I ac-
companied Mr. Lincoln to the Soldiers' Home, to spend the
night with him. While we were at tea, it was announced
that a delegation were in the anteroom. Mr. Lincoln im-
mediately went to see them ; Speed and I remained at the
table. We soon heard that the delegation were from New
Jersey, and that they were importuning the President to

/. GILLESPIE. 459

pardon some young men from that State, who had de-
serted, were recaptured and sentenced by a court-martial
to be shot, in a few days. One of the delegation was a
brother to one who was under sentence, and he appealed
to Mr. Lincoln with terrible earnestness. The President
combated his views with invincible arguments. He
pointed out that it would be disastrous to the cause if
he should pardon men who had deserted their colors,
while the armies were confronting each other ; he had no
right under such circumstances to expect the men who
had remained in the ranks to do their duty. My heart
almost sank within me when Mr. Lincoln dismissed them,
saying that he would give them a definite answer at the
White House at nine o'clock the next morning. Speed
and I, after tea, had come into the room and listened to
the discussion, after the delegation left. I was much
afraid that Mr. Lincoln had made up his ^mind not to
pardon the young men. Speed, who I know had more
influence with the President than any living being, sug-
gested that we should tackle him and beg for the boys,
which we did in good earnest. We plied him with all the
reasons we could muster, and still I was afraid we were
not gaining ground. When it came to be time to retire, I
said to Mr. Lincoln that I did not think I could sleep
unless I knew that he was going to pardon the boys. He
said: " Gillespie, I can't tell you." "Well," said I, "you
can give me an inkling." Said he, " All I qan say is that I
have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict
justice" In the morning the delegation were ahead of
time and they were rejoiced beyond measure to receive
the pardon for their friends. Mr. Lincoln was a very

46o /. GILLESPIE.

humane man, but at the same time he was wonderfully
just and firm. If it was possible for him to exercise
clemency without doing wrong, he would do so. He told
me, one evening, that since he saw me in the morning,
he had received some distressing intelligence. He had
been notified by Ould, Commissioner (I think he called
him) for Exchange in the rebel army, that a large number
of prisoners captured and paroled at Vicksburg had been
put into the field. I said I did not perceive why that
should distress him ; that it only amounted to our having
a few more to fight. " Ah," said he, " look at it in this
light ; these men are liable to be shot when captured
unless I prohibit it, and the responsibility rests on me to
say whether the laws of war shall be carried out, in the
case of those men, or suspended. What would you do if in
my place ? " said he. I said : " It is too big a question for
me," " Well," said he, " it is a momentous question, and
must be decided at once, and I have about made up my
mind that those men have been forced into the field, and
that it would be unmerciful to have them shot." As a boon
companion, Mr. Lincoln, although he never drank a drop
of liquor, or used tobacco in any form, in his life, was
without a rival. No one would ever think of putting in
while he was talking. He could illustrate any incident,
it seemed to me, with an appropriate and amusing anec-
dote. He did not tell stories just for the sake of telling
them, but invariably by way of illustration of something
that had happened or been said. There seemed to be no
end to his fund. I could relate hundreds of his stories,
but time and space forbid it. I will give a circumstance
showing his power to amuse. In 1842 (I think), after

/. GILLESPIE. 461

Mr. Van Buren's defeat, he and Mr. Paulding took an
excursion through the West ; they informed their friends
that they would reach Springfield, 111., by a certain
evening. The Springfield people knew that the bad state
of the roads would prevent them getting further than
Rochester, about seven miles from Springfield, that day;
and as accommodations at the place were horrible, Mr.
Van Buren's friends concluded to meet him there with re-
freshments and make the night pass off as pleasantly as
circumstances would permit. Mr. Lincoln, although a
Whig, was pressed into the service, and was told to use
his best endeavors to entertain the distinguished guests,
in which he succeeded admirably. Ebenezer Peck, a great
admirer of Mr. Van Buren, told me he had never passed
a more joyous night. " Lincoln told his queerest stories ;
Van Buren's laugh was ready chorus." Mr. Van Buren
said that for days after his sides were sore from laughing
at Lincoln's humor. Physically, Mr. Lincoln was a
Hercules. I first saw him in 1832, while he was engaged
in a wrestling-match with one Dan Thompson, who was
the champion, in that line, of the southern portion of
Illinois, while Lincoln occupied that position as to what
was then the northern portion. It was a terrible tussle,
but Lincoln was too much for him. Mr. Lincoln was a
very indulgent husband and father ; while at Springfield,
his children were constantly with him, romping and play-
ing. The truth is, his affection was so strong that he
had but little government over them, and it was painful
to see him when allusion was made to the death of his
son Willie. As a lawyer he was peculiar, and never
gave an opinion until he had reflected upon the case. He

462 /. GILL ESP IE.

went into court with his subject thoroughly analyzed, and
would discard every doubtful point and concentrate all of
his powers upon the tap-root of his case. Analysis and
concentration were the characteristics of his mind. He
had no ceremony in his temper, and treated every one
with the utmost consideration and respect. Mr. Lincoln
cared nothing about money-making, and had no concep-
tion of a speculation. He said he had no money sense.
He had a realizing sense that he was generally set down
by city snobs as a country Jake, and would accept, in a
public-house, any place assigned to him, whether in the
basement or the attic, and he seldom called at the table
for anything, but helped himself to what was within
reach. Indeed, he never knew what he did eat. He said
to me once that he never felt his own utter unworthi-
ness so much as when in the presence of a hotel clerk or
waiter. Mr. Lincoln was very tender-hearted. I called
at the White House and was detained a considerable time
in the anteroom, which was filled with persons waiting
their turn to be admitted to the. President. While there,
I met with an old lady who said she had been several
days waiting to see Mr. Lincoln ; that she wanted to get
permission to see her son, who was a soldier lying at the
point of death ; that she was unable to obtain permission
from the Secretary of War. I told her that if I gained
admittance before she did, I would speak to the Pres-
ident about her case. She said she had been told that he
was a very kind-hearted man. Just about this time, Mr.
Lincoln's barber, whom I had known in Springfield,
Illinois, came out of Mr. Lincoln's room and, seeing me,
offered to take me in by a private door, which I accepted.

/. GILLESPIE. 463

While shaking hands with the President, I mentioned the

o

case of the old lady, and he remarked that his greatest
Tribulation consisted in the fact that it was impossible for
him to give prompt attention to such cases, but he directed
the old lady to be shown in, and without hesitation,
granted her request. He saw in an instant that she was
honest. I have heard Joshua F. Speed, of Louisville, re-
late an incident illustrative of Mr. Lincoln's character,
which redounded to the advantage of the country. It
was at a time when the want of money was paralyzing
the Government. Stewart and Astor and other capital-
ists had assembled to consider whether they would
advance funds to meet the pressing necessities of the
case. While those men were conferring with the Pres-
ident on the momentous question, an old gentleman and
lady made their appearance, who turned out to be very
particular friends of Mr. Lincoln, who broke up the con-
ference with the capitalists, to greet, in his most cordial
manner, his old friends. The effect upon Messrs.
Stewart, Astor and others was electrical. They declared
that they would have no hesitation to aid a Government
at the head of which was a man so true to his old
friends.

EDWARDSVILLE, 1882,

464

S. S. COX— THOMAS CHASE.

HIS sense of humor was as logical as his mind was
clear and his heart generous. I knew him well
before he was Chief Executive, and he was the best
companion ; bigger by far in the noblest sense of courtesy
and heartiness than any man I ever knew, except his great
rival, Judge Douglas.

NEW YORK, 1880.

A MAN of a style of greatness which is the best
product of free institutions, and of them alone ; a
man whose glory it was that his chief desire was to do
the right, and to promote the right ; whose watchword
was Duty ; and whose warmest aspiration the removal of
all weights and hindrances which hold men back from
their highest social, intellectual and religious develop-
ment.

1880.

CAVALRY GROUP OF STATUARY. NATIONAL LINCOLN MONT7MKNT.

Representing the rearing figure of ahorse, from whose Lack his rider hat just l>euii thrown,
ana the wounded trumpeter, who is supported by a companion.

/. G. HOLLAND— AN SON G. M'COOK. 465

WHEN I began, a few weeks after his death, to
write the life of Abraham Lincoln, I entertained
a profound respect for his strong mind, his tender heart,
and the memory of his beneficent life. When I wrote
the last page of the book, I had become his affectionate
admirer and enthusiastic partisan,

NEW YORK, 1880.

HIS services were of such inestimable value to the
republic, and his life so identified with the
struggle to maintain it, that no ordinary volume would
be sufficient to more than touch upon them.

WASHINGTON, 1880.

80

466

H. W. LONGFELLOW.

T NABLE to do more than wish the undertaking
great success.

o/vN-vxi r

S

CAMBRIDGE, MARCH 13, 1882.

M. R. WAITE. 467

I HAVE always thought Mr. Lincoln was a man born
for his time. He was a leader without seeming to
be. He, more than any other man during his presidency,
stood at the helm of State. Through his skill, which
was only the best of common sense, we were taken by
the only channel that led from secession to the true
dictum of "an indestructible Union, composed of in-
destructible States." He died as he lived, a great states-
man, who knew enough of the ways of politics to make
his statesmanship practically useful.

468 JESSE W. FELL.

IF there was any one trait in the make-up of that illus-
trious man that stood out more conspicuously than
any other, it was, to use a favorite word of his, his fairness
—his habitual, ever-recurring sense of justice. As an illus-
tration of this, I offerforthe LINCOLN MEMORIAL ALBUM
a few recollections of his bearing towards his great politi-
cal rival, Stephen A. Douglas : for great he, too, truly was,
as a popular and sensational debater and political man-
ager, to say nothing of his acknowledged ability in other
directions.

The passage of the Kansas- Nebraska Bill — of which he
was the admitted champion — in the spring of 1854, in open
violation of both letter and spirit of the Missouri Com-
promise Act of 1820, throwing out that immense district of
country covered by these Territories — now States — to
the baneful institution of human slavery, was claimed to
be a manifest breach of national good faith ; and so re-
pugnant was it to the sentiment of the Northern people,
that it roused up a storm of popular indignation all over
the North, unequaled in the previous history of the coun-
try. In no part of that country, Kansas alone excepted,
did that excitement run higher than here in Illinois ; as an
evidence of which, about that time, or soon after, scores
of law-abiding men armed themselves with Sharpe's
rifles, and fled from our midst to the plains of " Bleeding
Kansas" — then so-called — whilst many others contributed
freely of their means to accomplish a common object,

JESSE W. FELL. 469

to wit, make Kansas a free State ; the battle-ground
being almost wholly confined to that State.

Senator Douglas, having not only introduced and
voted for that Bill, but making the leading speech in its
support, was the object of special hostility and criticism
here and everywhere. He labored to justify the act on
the ground of what he denominated " popular sovereign-
ty "- —plausibly contending it was equally fair to both
sections of the Union ; and that, as the free State men
were not only more numerous, but more active in their
movements than the Southern people, they would take
possession of and organize into free States both of these
Territories ; a view, the correctness of which — in the lat-
ter regard — was vindicated by subsequent history, though
not till a series of outrages had been perpetrated, unpar-
alleled in the history of popular governments. The oppo-
sition contended that, as that Territory had in the most
solemn manner, and as a peace-offering for the preserva-
tion of the Union, been dedicated to freedom, when Mis-
souri was admitted into the Union, the passage of the Bill
exhibited an unmanly, servile pandering to the sjave
power of the South, that up to that time, and for many
years preceding, had dominated all legislation on the
slavery question, and in various ways been very aggres-
sive on the rights of Northern people. The result was
an intensely bitter political excitement ; so bitter as to
not only mar, but almost to destroy social enjoyment be-
tween ordinary politicians holding adverse opinions on
this subject.

These two men were the Magnus Apollos of their re-
spective parties ; for although the Republican party had

470 JESSE W. FELL.

not then been fully crystallized into a political organiza-
tion, it was in a process of formation, and Lincoln was
everywhere in Illinois our admitted standard-bearer.

Notwithstanding the high party-excitement referred
to, his love of fair play shone out most conspicuously.
Judge Douglas, fully apprised of the state of public feel-
ing, had given out that on his return from Washington
he would address the people on the exciting topic of the
times, and in pursuance thereof a Democratic meeting
was called at Bloomington on the iQth day of September,
1854. After conferring with our Anti-Nebraska friends —
as we were then commonly called — I opened a correspon-
dence with Mr. Lincoln, resulting in his coming to
Bloomington on that day, in order to take notes and
reply to Mr. Douglas, if the way opened, on the same
day, and if not, in the evening. This fact became pretty
widely known, and a very large meeting, composed of
quite as many Anti-Nebraska men as Democrats, met in
the grove near town — no hall we then had being sufficient
to hold the crowd. In order that the country people
should have the benefit of the discussion, there was a
universal desire, on the part of our friends, that Lincoln
as well as Douglas should be heard in the day-time, and
I had been requested to see Lincoln on his arrival and
get his approval that we propose to, and urge upon the
Judge to divide time, so as to have a joint discussion.

With what little ability I could command, I did so,
emphasizing the fact that a large majority of those we
most desired to reach could not be heard unless this
arrangement was made ; and that in the absence of such
an agreement it would be quite difficult to restrain within

JESSE W. FELL. 471

bounds the clamor of the people to hear him. I shall
never forget his very prompt and decisive reply, which
was substantially this : " Fell, this is not our meeting ;
it is Judge Douglas's meeting ; he called it, and he and
his friends have a right to control it. Notwithstanding
all you say about our country people, and the great desire
I have to talk to them, we must do nothing to defeat his
object in calling it. He has heard of the great racket the
passage of his Bill has kicked up, and he wants to set
himself right with his people, a job not very easily done,
you and I being the judges. Partly on this ground and
partly to keep me from speaking, he will no doubt con-
sume so much of the time that I'll have no chance till
in the evening. I fully appreciate all you say about our
country friends, and would like mighty well to talk to
them on this subject. If Judge Douglas will give me a
chance I will follow him out in the grove, but as he won't
do this, I guess you may give it out, after he is done,
that I will reply to him after candle lighting in the court-
house."

This speech settled the matter. I will only add, in
conclusion, our Anti-Nebraska friends were greatly dis-
appointed at not getting his approval of some pretty
active (perhaps I should say aggressive) demonstrations,
to secure a division of time in the discussion ; that, as we
anticipated, the afternoon was consumed by the Judge ;
that so intense was the desire to hear Lincoln in the day-
time, it was found quite difficult to repress a perfect
avalanche of popular calls for our hero to be heard ; and
that, in the evening, he held forth at the old court-house
to all that could get in it, or within hearing distance, in a

472 JESSE W. FELL.

most logical, eloquent and inspiring speech on the dis-
turbed and perturbed condition of the country, and the
consequent duties we owed to that country, and to a
common humanity, in resisting, to the bitter end, this last
aggression on Northern rights. In power and pathos,
mingled with the playful and humorous, he seldom, if
ever, acquitted himself more grandly.

It may not be amiss to say that before speaking com-
menced I called on Judge Douglas, who, as we had antici-
pated, politely declined the proffered debate ; in do:ng
which he made some amusing, though good-natured,
remarks about the uncertain character of our party,
which in truth was, at that time, far from being of a very
compact or coherent order, either in name or creed.

I repeat, it was Lincoln's love of justice, his habitual,
ever-active sense of right, and the practice of it, that
made him so strong with the people ; and such I know is
the opinion of him whose name, more than any other, is
linked with his; I mean Judge David Davis, with whom
he spent so much of his life, here in Illinois, as a practic-
ing attorney around our old judicial circuit.

In the fall of 1858, during the discussion between
Senator Douglas and Mr. Lincoln, I had occasion to
visit the Middle and Eastern States ; and as the whole
country was then agitated by the slavery question and
that discussion cut a prominent figure in the agitation,
I was frequently applied to for information in reference
to Mr. Lincoln. I felt my State pride flattered by these
inquiries, and still more to find the New York Tribune,
and other papers, publishing copious extracts from these
discussions, taken from the Chicago press. I did what

JESSE W. FELL. 473

little I could to satisfy so laudable a curiosity, not think-
ing, at first, that anything further would come of this
discussion, in reference to Mr. Lincoln, than his election
to the Senate. At length, from the frequency of these
inquiries and public notices of the Illinois contest, an
impression began to form, that by judicious efforts he
could be made the Republican candidate for presidency
in 1860. Very soon after my return home, and after the
senatorial contest had closed, one evening, as I passed
on the south side of the public square of this city, I
espied the tall form of Mr. Lincoln emerging from the
court-house door, Judge Davis's court then being in
session. I stopped until he came across the street, when,
after the .usual salutations, I asked him to go with me
into my brother's (K. N. Fell) law-office, then kept over
what is now the Home Bank. There we sat down, and
in the calm twilight of the evening, had substantially the
following conversation : — FELL. — " Lincoln, I have been
East, as far as Boston, and up into New Hampshire,
traveling in all the New England States, save Maine :
in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan
and Indiana ; and everywhere I hear you talked about.
Very frequently I have been asked : ' Who is this man
Lincoln, of your State, now canvassing in opposition to
'Senator Douglas ?' Being, as you know, an ardent
Republican and your friend, I usually told them we had
in Illinois two giants instead of one ; that Douglas was
the little one, as they all knew, but that you were the big
one, which they didn't all know.

" But, seriously, Lincoln, Judge Douglas being so wide-
ly known, you are getting a national reputation through

474 JESSE W. FELL.

him, as the result of the late discussion ; your speeches,
in whole or in part, on both sides, have been pretty
extensively published in the East ; you are there regarded
by discriminating minds as quite a match for him in
debate, and the truth is, I have a decided impression
that if your popular history and efforts on the slavery
question can be sufficiently brought before the people,
you can be made a formidable, if not a successful,
candidate for the presidency."

LINCOLN. — " Oh, Fell, what's the use of talking of me
for the presidency, whilst we have such men as Seward,
Chase and others, who are so much better known to the
people, and whose names are so intimately associated
with the principles of the Republican party. Everybody
knows them ; nobody, scarcely, outside of Illinois, knows
me. Besides, is it not, as a matter of justice, due to
such men, who have carried this movement forward to its
present status, in spite of fearful opposition, personal
abuse, and hard names ? I really think so."

FELL. — " There is much truth in what you say. The
men you allude to, occupying more prominent positions,
have undoubtedly rendered a larger service in the Re-
publican cause than you have ; but the truth is, they have
rendered too much service to be available candidates.
Placing it on the grounds of personal services, or merit, '
if you please, I concede at once the superiority of their
claims. Personal services and merit, however, when in-
compatible with the public good, must be laid aside
Seward and Chase have both made long records on th«
slavery question, and have said some very radical things
which, however just and true in themselves, and howevei

IV. FELL. 475

much these men may challenge our admiration for their
courage and devotion to unpopular truths, would seriously
damage them in the contest, if nominated. We must
bear in mind, Lincoln, that we are yet in a minority ; we
are struggling against fearful odds for supremacy. We
were defeated on this same issue in 1856, and will be
again in 1860, unless we get a great many new votes from
what may be called the old conservative parties. These
will be repelled by the radical utterances and votes of
such men as Seward and Chase. What the Republican
party wants, to insure success, in 1860, is a man of
popular origin, of acknowledged ability, committed
against slavery aggressions, who has no record to defend
and no radicalism of an offensive character to repel votes
from parties hitherto • adverse. Your discussion with
Judge Douglas has demonstrated your ability and your
devotion to freedom ; you have no embarrassing record ;
you have sprung from the humble walks of life, sharing
in its toils and trials ; and if we can only get these facts
sufficiently before the people, depend upon it, there is
some chance for you. And now, Mr. Lincoln, I come to
the business part of this interview. My native State,
Pennsylvania, will have a large number of votes to cast
for somebody on the question we have been discussing.
Pennsylvania don't like, over much, New York and her
politicians. She has a candidate, Cameron, of her own ;
but he will not be acceptable to a larger part of her own
people, much less abroad, and will be dropped. Through
an eminent jurist and essayist of my native county in
Pennsylvania, favorably known throughout the State, I
want to get up a well-considered, well-written newspaper

476 JESSE W. FELL.

article tellmg the people who you are and what you
have done, that it may be circulated, not ^>nly in that
State, but elsewhere, and thus help in manufacturing
sentiment in your favor. I know your public life, and
can furnish items that your modesty would forbid, but I
don't know much about your private history : when you
were born, and where, the names and origin of your
parents, what you did in early life, what your oppor-
tunities for education, etc., and I want you to give me
these. Won't you do it ?"

LINCOLN. — " Fell, I admit the force of much that you
say, and admit that I am ambitious, and would like to be
President. I am not insensible to the compliment you
pay me, and the interest you manifest in the matter; but
there is no suck good luck in store for me as tke presidency
of these United States ; besides, there is nothing in my
early history that would interest you or anybody else ; and,
as Judge Davis says, '// wont pay' Good night."

And thus ended, for the time being, my pet scheme
of helping to make Lincoln President. I notified him,
however, as his giant form, wrapped in a dilapidated
shawl, disappeared in the darkness, that this was not the
last of it; that \htfacts must come. The next year, 1859,
I was engaged much of the time as the corresponding
secretary of the Republican State Central Committee, in
traveling over the State and in carrying out plans for a
more thorough organization of the Republican party,
preparatory to the great contest of 1860. I visited per-
sonally a largo majority of the counties in the State, and
nearly everywhere had the satisfaction of learning that,
though many doubted the possibility of nominating

JESSE W. FELL. 477

Lincoln, most generally it was approved of. This fact
became in time very apparent to Lincoln himself, whom
I not infrequently met in my travels ; and in the month
of December of that year, feeling that perhaps it would
" pay," I induced him to place in my hands this emi-
nently characteristic paper. Such is the history of a
paper that has already become historic, and which, to me
at least, has a value I little dreamed of at the time.

"SPRINGFIELD, Dec. 20, 1859.
"J. W. FELL, Esq.

"Mv DEAR SIR:

"Herewith is 'a little sketch, as you re-
quested. There is not much of it, for the reason, I
suppose, that there is not much of me. If anything be
made out of it, I wish it to be modest, and not to go
beyond the materials. If it was thought necessary to
incorporate anything from any of my speeches, I suppose
there would be no objections. Of course, it must not
appear to have been written by myself.

" Yours very truly,

"A. LINCOLN."

"NORMAL, ILLINOIS, March 9, 1882.
" OSBORN H. OLDROYD, Springfield, 111.
" MY DEAR SIR :

" It is with much pleasure that I have
learned of your purpose to erect at Springfield, Illinois,
a " Memorial Hall," in which is to be stored whatever is
interesting as connected with, or illustrating the life and
character of that most remarkable man and patriot,

47 8 JESSE W. FELL.

Abraham Lincoln. In answer to your polite request for
the original manuscript of what is known as the " Auto-
biography of Abraham Lincoln," I herewith present you
that paper, to be placed in your large and valuable
collection of memorials of Mr. Lincoln. Not doubting
your great success in so patriotic an undertaking, I am,
with sincere respect,

" Yours truly,

NORMAL, 1882.

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VIRGINIA A. FRAZER. 483

1861 — 1865.

THE cry for " Freedom " or for " Death " resounds,
From frozen lake to Mississippi's mouth
The rugged mind of Lincoln guides the North,
The gray-eyed eagle Davis leads the South.

On ! on ! they come ! the while the scythe of gray
Sweeps low the lines of blue, like autumn leaves ;

The eager mouths of earth quaff deep of gore ;
The granaries of Death heap high with sheaves.

§>teel clashes steel ! and now the twofold cry
Bursts from the stern lips of the nation's head,

The patriot's cry for " Union," " Freedom " rings
Through all the land, and echoes mid the dead.

And patriotism swells the surging tide,

With mighty hosts unnumbered as the stars —

" One country" stirs the patriot of the North,
And nerves his sinews for the " War of Wars !"

On ! on ! and now the banners of the South
Bend low to meet the kiss the dying give ;
The South yields to the hosts — her cause is lost —

Yet, though subdued, her Truth and Honor lives!

•

Now Lincoln's hand has caught the Union flag,
And firmly nailed it to the ship of State ;

He stands to pilot her into the port —
To sternly meet the stern decree of fate.

And now — a horror falls upon the land,
The pulses of the North beat wild and high;

The weary Southland sees her last hope fade,
And, vfith the dream of Lincoln, droop and die.

484

VIRGINIA A. fRAZER.

'Tis finished ! ay ! the daring mission's filled !

The grasp of Death rests on the iron hand
That laid the Southern banner in its shroud,

And flung the " Stars and Stripes" o'er all the land.

/

MEMPHIS, 1882.

C. C. CARPENTER 485

I HAVE been more deeply interested in the life and
character of Abraham Lincoln, and have admired
him more unreservedly, than any other American, living or
dead. I have read all the biographies of which I have
any knowledge, and not one of them, or all of them, have
given me the high estimate of his character which was
indicated in the unreserved confidence and generous love
with which he was regarded by all his contemporaries, and
especially by those who came in personal contact with
him and knew him best.

FORT DODGE, 1882.

486 Z. EASTMAN.

ENGLISH SYMPATHY FOR MR. LINCOLN.

THE hatred of aristocratic England of the American
Union in the time of the rebellion almost made
anti-slavery England pro-slavery. The anti-slavery
society of Clarkson and Wilberforce were alarmed at the
revulsion of principle, and issued an address to the
people. They sent a copy of that address to President
Lincoln, with the following letter :

" SIR: — It has seemed desirable to the Committee of the
BRITISH AND FOREIGN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY, to issue, at
the present crisis, an Address to the friends of the Anti-
Slaver}* cause, of which a copy is annexed.

'• In directing your attention to it, the Committee
would take advantage of the opportunity, to assure you
of their personal respect and sympathy, and of their ap-
preciation of the exceeding great difficulties of your
position. Since your accession to office, they have
watched, with deep interest, the progress of events, and
especially the gradual development of a policy tending
to promote Negro Emancipation. If certain measures in
furtherance of that policy, and some apparently incon-
sistent with it, have not recommended themselves to the
approval of the Committee, they have, nevertheless,
recognized the majority of them with satisfaction, as con-

Z. EASTMAN. 487

ducive, in the main, to the interests of the enslaved portion
of the African race.

The Committee earnestly desire, that the sanguinary
conflict between the two sections of the Union may
speedily cease, and that with the removal of the sole
cause of this strife, a way may open for a reconciliation,
upon the enduring basis of a community of interests, and
a mutual forgiveness of injuries.

" On behalf of the Committee,
" (Signed) THOMAS BINNS, Chairman.

" L. A. CHAMEROVZOW, Secretary.
27 New Broad Street, E.C.
London, i;th November, 1862."

MR. LINCOLN'S EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION IN ENG-
LAND.

When it had been learned that Mr. Lincoln had been
elected for a second term for the presidency, a larg^
public meeting was called- in Bristol, England, to con-
gratulate him on his re-election, and the meeting was
broken up by a mob. Afterwards the following address
was prepared and signed by a number of prominent
persons, representing the friends of the American Union.
A few weeks later another public meeting was held in
the same hall, and presided over officially by the Mayor
of the city, to express their abhorrence of the assassina
tion of our President and condolence to the nation for
the loss of so great and good a man.

488 Z. EASTMAN.

ADDRESS TO HIS EXCELLENCY ABRAHAM LINCOLN ON HIS

RE-ELECTION TO THE PRESIDENCY OF THE

UNITED STATES.

We, the officers and members of the Committee of
the Bristol Emancipation Society, in the name of a
large number of our fellow-citizens, who, in meeting
assembled, on several occasions, and invariably by a large
majority of votes, have adopted resolutions in agreement
with the tenor of this address, desire most cordially to
express to your Excellency our congratulations on your
re-election to the presidency of the United States, by the
popular vote of your freedom-loving countrymen.

We rejoice in this result, regarding it as evincing the
will and design of the American people to sustain you in
the Anti-Slavery policy inaugurated under your adminis-
tration by the Federal Government, a policy which,
while rapidly making your country as free in fact as
it has been heretofore by profession, will for the future
identify your administration with the Liberation of the
Enslaved.

We believe that in issuing your Emancipation Pro-
clamation, freeing all persons held as slaves by citizens
who were in arms against the United States Government
after 1863, and your corresponding recommendation to
purchase for emancipation the slaves of loyal persons in
States not in rebellion ; and your signing the law exclud-
ing slavery from all the lands of the United States at
present under a territorial form of government, together
with the anti-slavery policy marking many of your acts,

Z. EASTMAN. 489

you have commended your course to the approval of all

TRUE PHILANTHROPISTS.

Disclaiming any desire to mingle with the mere civil
and political questions of the day, in which, among
Americans, there exists a diversity of opinion, we feel
that the policy of your administration, to which we have
referred, affects the great interests of humanity / by it we
are reminded afresh of the acts of our own Government
in abolishing the slave trade, and slavery ; and in
venturing to send to you our congratulations, we would
express it as our conviction that such deeds, while in
harmony with the highest laws of morality, tend, of their
own nature, to draw nearer to each other the two great
Protestant nations, leading to their alliance and co-opera-
tion, and placing them in a position to influence, by their
united example, the civilized world.

In the long struggle which has passed, and in the con-
flict which may yet be continued, we see the chastisement
of a great and erring people, for the crime of slave-hold-
ing, and for the glaring departure from high principles
and professions ; and we believe that whenever the
nation shall have purged away the crime of slavery,
Peace and Prosperity will speedily be restored.

The address was beautifully engraved and illuminated
on a sheet of parchment four by five feet, and formally
presented through me, as United States Consul, to the
President, who received it but a short time before his
assassination.

MAYWOOD, 1882.

490 JAMES S. ROLLINS.

MR. LINCOLN was a man, in my view, of unswerv-
ing integrity in all his private and public rela-
tions ; his convictions upon all subjects that he discussed
were honest and decided, and he followed them out ; he
was a man of great benevolence of character ; there was
no malice in his composition, but the widest charity for
all ; he was devoted to the best interests of the State of
his adoption, but at the same time he was a devoted
patriot, loving his whole country, and an earnest defender
of human liberty, and the perpetuation of the American
Union, which, if broken up, might destroy the existence of
free institutions upon the American continent ; he had
no prejudices against the Southern people ; he was one
of the best friends they ever had. This is the place that
will be awarded to him in history in after times. The
war gave him deep distress ; there was nothing he would
not have done, no sacrifice he would not have made con-
sistent with his high sense of duty to his country and to
humanity, if that would have stopped the war, and saved
the Union from dissolution. In the deep sincerity of his
heart, I have often heard him express these sentiments,
and all his Messages to Congress and other similar
papers, when carefully analyzed, will prove the correctness
of this estimate of him. These are my impressions
formed of Mr. Lincoln in a pleasant and frequent associa-
tion with him during the 37th and 38th Congresses, in
both of which I was a member, and which extended through
the period of the civil war.

JAMES S. ROLLINS. 49!

Mr. Lincoln often spoke to me about the Emancipa-
tion Proclamation. He had no great faith in its efficacy.
I heard him say a number of times it only affected those
who were free, z. e., those behind the Federal lines, and of
course it would not reach the vast number of slaves who
remained within the lines of the Southern army. This
made him exceedingly anxious in reference to the passage
of the 1 3th amendment to the Constitution of the United
States, abolishing African Slavery in our country. This
amendment had failed to pass during the session of Conr
gress of 1863-64, but it was again introduced into the
Senate by its author, the Hon. John B. Henderson, of
Missouri, and having passed that body, was sent to the
House of Representatives to be acted upon there. The
President had several times in my presence expressed his
deep anxiety in favor of the passage of this great
measure. He and others had repeatedly counted votes in
order to ascertain as far as they could the strength of the
measure upon a second trial in the House. He was
doubtful about its passage, and some ten days or two
weeks before it came up for consideration in the House,
I received a note from him, written in pencil on a card,
while sitting at my desk in the House, stating he wished
to see me, and asking that I call on him at the White
House. I responded that I would be there the next
morning at nine o'clock. I was prompt in calling upon him,
and found him alone in his office. He received me in the
most cordial manner : and said in his usual familiar way :
" Rollins, I have been wanting to talk to you for some
time about the I3th amendment proposed to the Consti-
tution of the United States, which will have to be voted

492 JAMES S. ROLLINS.

on now before a great while." I said : " Well, I am here,
and ready to talk upon that subject." He said : ' ' You and
I were old Whigs, both of us followers of that great states-
man, Henry Clay, and I tell you I never had an opinion
upon the subject of slavery in my life that I did not get
from him. I am very anxious that the war should be
brought to a close, at the earliest possible date, and I
don't believe this can be accomplished as long as those
fellows down South can rely upon the Border States to
help them ; but if the members from the Border States
would unite, at least enough of them to pass the i3th
amendment to the Constitution, they would soon see
they could not expect much help from that quarter, and
be willing to give up their opposition, and quit their war
upon the Government ; this is my chief hope and main
reliance, to bring the war to a speedy close, and I have
sent for you, as an old Whig friend, to come and see me,
that I might make an appeal to you to vote for this
amendment. It is going to be very close ; a few votes
one way or the other will decide it." To this I re-
sponded, " Mr. President, so far as I am concerned you
need not have sent for me to ascertain my views on this
subject, for although I represent perhaps the strongest
slave district in Missouri, and have the misfortune to be
one of the largest slave-owners in the county where I reside,
I had already determined to vote for the I3th amend-
ment." When he arose from his chair, and grasping me
by the hand, gave it a hearty shake, and said, " I am most
delighted to hear that." He asked me how many more of
the Missouri Delegates in the House would vote for it."
I said I could not tell ; the Republicans of course would,

JAMES S. ROLLINS. 493

General Loan, Mr. Blow, Mr. Boyd, and Col. McClurg.
He said : " Won't General Price vote for it ? He is a good
Union man." I said I could not answer. "Well, what
about Governor King ?" I told him I did not know. He
then asked about Judges Hall and Norton. I said they
would both vote against it, I thought. " Well," he said,
" are you on good terms with Price and King ?" I respond-
ed in the affirmative, and that I was on easy terms with the
entire delegation. He then asked me if I would not talk
with those who might be persuaded to vote for the amend-
ment, and report to him as soon as I could find out what
the prospect was. I answered I would do so with pleas-
ure, and remarked, at the same time, that when a young
man, in 1848, I was the Whig competitor of King, for
Governor of Missouri, and as he beat me very badly, I
think now he should pay me back by voting as I desire
him to on this important question : I promised the Presi-
dent I would talk to these gentlemen upon the subject.
He said : "I would like you to talk to all the Border State
men whom you can approach properly, and tell them of
my anxiety to have the measure pass ; and let me know
the prospect of the Border State vote," which I prom-
ised to do. He again said: " The passage of this amend-
ment will clinch the whole subject ; it will bring the war,
I have no doubt, rapidly to a close." I have never seen
any one evince deeper interest and anxiety upon any
subject than did Mr. Lincoln upon the passage of this
amendment. The next day I saw both General Price
and Governor King, and had a long private interview
with each of them. When I mentioned the matter to
General Price, he became at once quite excited, and

494 JAMES S. ROLLINS.

expressed himself, in strong language, against the amend-
ment ; and said : " Lincoln don't know that I am the
owner of seventy negroes, does he ?" I said, " I don't
know; but suppose you owned a thousand negroes,
what would they amount to, compared with the stop-
ping of this infernal war, and saving the American
Union ?" I left General Price, and seeking Governor
King, took him into one of the cloak-rooms of the
House, and had a more quiet conversation with him
upon the subject. I asked him if he had decided in
his own mind how he should vote upon the I3th
amendment. He said he had been thinking upon the
subject a good deal, but said : " You know my people o /-c
opposed to it." I responded : " Governor, at least two-
thirds of the people in my district are opposed to the
passage of this amendment ; but there are questions
sometimes bigger than constituencies, and I intend to
vote, and speak in favor of this amendment, and make
our country free in fact, as well as in name, and get
clear of this infamous rebellion." Before I left him he
said he thought he would vote for it, which he did.
I conversed with most of the Border State men who
could be approached, upon the question ; told them of
the President's deep anxiety in regard to it, and I have
ever believed that the interviews had some influence
in strengthening the final vote for the i3th amendment.
It will be remembered that when the vote in
the House was taken, the amendment was carried
by a small majority; and, being approved, on
the ist day of February, 1865, became substantially a
part of the Constitution of the United States, being

JAMES S. ROLLINS. 495

subsequently ratified by all the States. Several days
after the passage of this amendment through Congress,
I called upon President Lincoln, and I never saw him
evince greater joy at the news of any victory won
upon the field of battle, than he did over the passage of
this amendment. He said : " I read your speech, one
night, after I had gone to bed, and it is the best
speech delivered in Congress during this session." I
suppose that the good President felt he owed me this
much on account of my earnest co-operation with him
in endeavoring to put through this important amend-
ment. It is the most important, as it is to me the most
satisfactory vote I ever cast in a legislative assembly.

It was well understood, and especially in Missouri, that
General Sterling Price, of Confederate military fame,
immediately prior to and about the commencement of
the rebellion, claimed to be a Union man, and, as such,
was elected president of the convention which assembled
in February and March, 1861, in Jefferson City and St.
Louis, to take into consideration the then existing con-
dition of things in the State of Missouri. He had been
a warm supporter of Colonel Benton during his contest
with the nullifiers of the State. It was thought by many
that he went very reluctantly into the rebellion, and as
late as 1863 it was frequently said, and by persons pre-
sumed to know, he was getting very tired of the Con-
federate cause, and that he would be gratified if he could
get out of it honorably. I had a conversation with a
gentleman bearing a very near relation to him, and this
subject was mentioned ; he was of the same impression
with others, that General Price would like to abandon the

456 JAMES S. ROLLINS.

rebellion. As he was a very popular officer, command
ing a large body of men, and most of them from Mis
souri, I thought it might be well to sound him upon the
subject, and to this end it was agreed that a reliable mes-
senger be sent to him, that his real sentiments might be
ascertained. A pass was obtained by me for him through
the Federal lines, General Price at that time being in the
State of Texas ; but upon the arrival of the messenger
at the Confederate lines, some distance below Cairo, he
was not allowed to go through into the Confederacy ; de-
termined, however, not to give up so valuable an enter-
prise, I wrote to a member of the Confederate Congress
then in session at Richmond, Va., from Missouri, to obtain
a pass through their lines for the person above referred
to. It was not long before I received an answer to my
letter, in which the gentleman stated he had submitted
the proposition to President Davis, and he promptly re-
fused to grant the request, and in this my correspondent
said he entirely agreed with him. So the project failed,
simply because General Price could not be reached,
and his opinion on the subject could not be as-
certained. At that time it would have been a grand
thing if General Price could have been induced
to abandon the Confederacy and return to his loyalty
to the United States, as he wielded an immense influence,
and could have reclaimed a large number of young men
who had been persuaded against their better judgment
to make war upon their country. About the time I con-
ceived this thought, in August, 1863, I happened to be in
the office of President Lincoln, when I ventured to men-
tion the subject to him. He was very much amused at

JAMES S. ROLLINS. 497

my proposition, regarding it as not at all feasible, and at
the same time perpetrating quite a number of jokes at
my expense. I insisted, however, that it be tried, as no
harm could come of it, and we would at least find how
General Price's pulse beat upon the subject, and all I
asked of him was that he give the messenger a pass
through the Federal lines, to see General Price. " Well,
he said, "we will see what General Hitchcock says about
it," and ringing his bell, he sent for General Hitchcock,
who then had charge of the transmission of messages
between the Governments at Washington and Richmond.
In a few moments General Hitchcock made his appear-
ance, when the President said to him : " General, here is

Rollins from Missouri, who has had an intimation that

*

General Price, now in Texas, might be induced to give
up his opposition, and quit his war upon the United
States, and return to his home in Missouri." They both
laughed very heartily at the idea, but finally issued the
pass, and also sent some papers which I had prepared
through the lines to Richmond. After receiving the
papers Mr. Lincoln said to me, pleasantly: " Now, Rollins,
this is a very delicate business, and I don't want you to
get me into any scrape about it ; this is your project, and
not mine ; if Sterling Price will come back, all I have to
say, I will do the fair thing by him ; and if you can get
him to come back and disband his men, it will be equal to
a half-dozen victories to the Union side ; but this thing
must not go into the papers, or be spoken of outside of
you, Hitchcock and myself." I then said to him : " Mr.
President, I wish you would give me a memorandum
showing your good disposition towards General Price,"

33

4g3 JAMES S ROLLINS.

which he said he would do, and at once took up his pen
and wrote a short note and handed it to me, the original
of which, in Mr. Lincoln's handwriting, I have now in
my possession, and is here copied, and this anecdote again
illustrates his kindly feeling to those in arms against the
Government of the United States.

"EXECUTIVE MANSION,

"WASHINGTON, August, 1863."
" HON. JAS. S. ROLLINS :

"Yours in reference to General Sterling Price is re-
ceived. If he voluntarily returns and takes the oath of
allegiance to the United States, before the next meeting
of Congress, I will pardon him, if you shall then wish me
to do so.

' " ABRAHAM LINCOLN."

During the winter of 1864-65, as I now remember the
time, a gentleman came to Washington, named Colonel
Lane, who was one of my constituents, and resided in
Montgomery Co., Missouri. I had known him in Missouri.
He was a number of times at my rooms in Washington,
and told me he had been operating with the United
States detective force on the Mississippi river, he having
an official connection therewith. I knew nothing to the
prejudice of Colonel Lane. He had been recommended to
the Government by such respectable and patriotic gentle-
men as James O. Broadhead, Samuel S. Glover and Judge
S. M. Breckenridge, as I now recall. On an occasion,
when at my room, in giving me an account of his war ex-
periences in running up and down the Mississippi river

JAMES S. ROLLINS. 409

on steamboats, he told me at one time he had left the
boat and gone out into the State of Mississippi, where he
had remained some time; that whilst there he had heard
a plan discussed by a number of young and warlike
gentlemen 9 as to how the President of the United States
might be disposed of. He got in, so to speak, with these
young fellows ; he was anxious to find out more about it,
and was one of them for a number of days. The plan
agreed upon was to obtain a box about six or seven inches
square, containing an explosive material, and which on
being opened would explode, and most probably destroy
the person who held it in his hand. He told me he had
seen this box, and held it in his own hands ; that the pur-
pose and design was to send it to Washington directed to
Mr. Lincoln, and place it in the Presidential Mansion,
where he would most likely get and open it. To me this
was a most extraordinary and infamous disclosure ; it
arrested my serious thought and attention. I could
hardly credit it, and yet could see no motive for such a fab-
rication. I asked Colonel. Lane if he was serious in what
he said. He said he was, and had only related to me
what he had witnessed with his own eyes. I said to him at
once : " Colonel Lane, if the facts you relate to me are true
you should not lose a moment in communicating the facts
to the President. Will you go up with me, call upon the
President, and make the same statement to him ?" Cer-
tainly, he said, he would go up, as he wished to tell Pres-
ident Lincoln precisely what he had told me. I then
• said to him: " Come to my room in the morning, in Twelfth
street, when I will have a hack ready, when we will drive
up to the White House." He was a little late putting in

500 JAMES S. ROLLINS.

an appearance next morning, but I waited for him, and
as soon as he arrived we mounted into the hack, and
drove off to the President's office. It so happened there
were great numbers of visitors who had preceded us, and
were occupying the reception-room. I sent in my card,
but so many others were in advance of me, I failed to ob-
tain an audience that morning. We remained until one
o'clock, when the messenger announced that the Presi-
dent would see no more visitors that day, and those
present were dismissed. Colonel Lane and myself drove
back to my room, intending to ask an audience at
another time. This, I think, was on Saturday, and, as
near as I can now remember, in the month of December
or January in the year 1864-65. When I parted with
Colonel Lane it was not his intention to leave Washing-
ton for several days ; but he received a telegram that
evening, as he informed me in a letter, calling him to
Wheeling, West Va., and which compelled him to leave
in the evening train. I did not see him again during
that session of Congress, which terminated on the 4th of
March, 1865, the day of the second inauguration of Mr.
Lincoln as President. A few days thereafter, having
business at the White House, I called upon Mr. Lincoln
again, when I happened to find him alone, and seemingly
in a very cheerful humor. He received me very cordially,
as was his habit, and after dispatching the business which
called me to see him, I ventured to tell him precisely
what I had learned from Lane, and as I have stated it
above. I observed he listened to what I had to say- very
attentively, and when I had finished my story, I said in
an apologetic tone- " Mr. President, nothing but a sense of

JAMES S. ROLLINS. 501

duty and the interest I feel in you and the country would
have prompted me to have mentioned a matter of this
kind to you. I have simply told you the tale as it was
told to me." He thanked me kindly for what I had told
him, and said he appreciated the good feeling and friend-
ship which prompted it ; but, treating the whole matter
jocularly, he said : " I don't pay much attention to such
things. I have received quite a number of threatening
letters since I have been President, and nobody has
killed me yet, and the truth is, I give very little consider-
ation to such things." I told him the little I knew of
Lane, and said to him : " Now, I hardly see why a man
should get up a story of this sort unless there was some
foundation for it. I believe he has witnessed what he re-
lates." Upon rising to take leave I said, pleasantly :
"Mr. President, I feel relieved in having unburdened my-
self in telling you what I have. I have acted from a
sense of duty ; and now, let me add, if you should come
into your office one of those mornings and find sitting
upon your table a wooden box about six inches square, I
beg of you not to open it ; let some one else attend to
that ; but if you attempt to open it, and the nation lose
its President, I want it understood I have cleared my
skirts." He again thanked me and laughed very heartily,
and said, " Now, I will tell you — I promise you if I find
any boxes on my table directed to me, I won't open
them." Pausing a moment just as I was taking my leave
of him, the smile which had just lighted up his face de-
parted, and a certain melancholy expression, which I had
often seen him wear, took its place, and he said seriously,
and in language he evidently felt, "Rollins, I dorit see

502 JAMES S. ROLLINS.

what on God's earth any man would wish to kill me
for, for there is not a human being living to whom 1
would not extend a favor, and make them happy if it
was in my power to do so" It occurred to me, on leav-
ing him, the conversation I had had with him had left
quite an impression on his mind. This occurred, accord-
ing to my best recollection, in January, 1865.

Before the close of the session of Congress, I was sev-
eral times in the office of the President, to see him on
business, and on one occasion, when I was about leaving
the room, he said to me, in a jocular manner : " Well,
Rollins, I have not received my box yet." I responded,
" I am gratified to hear it," but again warned him not to
open any box of the kind left upon his table, and I left
the room.

At the close of the Thirty-eighth Congress, I was
present at the second inauguration of President Lincoln,
and remained in Washington several days thereafter.
My second term in Congress having ended with the ex-
piration of the Thirty-eighth Congress, before leaving for
Missouri I called at the White House, to pay my re-
spects to the President and take my leave of him. I
found him in his office in a very genial humor, and I had"
a pleasant conversation with him. He seemed to be
hopeful that the war troubles would soon be over, which
greatly rejoiced him. When I rose to bid him good-bye,
he gave me a cordial shake of the hand, and said : " Rol-
lins, the box has not come to hand yet." I responded :
" That is well, Mr. President, I am glad to hear
it. I hope it may never come ; but if it does, I charge

JAMES S. ROLLINS.

503

you not to open it." This is the last time I ever saw,
and this was my last interview with, Abraham Lincoln.

About six weeks afterwards, when I was in the city of
Chillicothe, Livingston county, Missouri, away up on
Grand River, on the I5th day of April, 1865, I was most
deeply shocked and grieved to hear that President Lin-
coln and several members of his Cabinet had been assas-
sinated.

COLUMBIA, 1882.

504 E. D. TOWNSEND.

A BRAHAM LINCOLN. There was a majesty in
Ji\ his character which shone forth on all great occa-
sions. Though oppressed with the weight of novel respon-
sibilities, he rose above all obstacles, and proved himself
equal to every emergency. As a ruler he was just and
efficient, not prone to yield unduly to the judgment of
others ; of a kind heart and genial nature, he was a stead-
fast friend, a magnanimous enemy. The reverence in
which he was held by the entire populace was strikingly
exhibited in the demeanor of the hundreds of thousands
who witnessed the progress of the martyred President's
funeral cortege from the city of Washington to Spring-
field, 111. — none were seen to smile, many wept. The
world never before looked upon such a spectacle of a na-
tion's profound grief.

WASHINGTON, 1880.

H. M. RECTOR. 505

MY sentiments of the life and services of Abraham
Lincoln are, that he was a big-headed, big-
hearted man — a man of destiny, sent, like Washington,
to perform a great moral and political mission. Born in
a tent, reared in poverty, in the Slave State of Kentucky,
from infancy he imbibed early and lasting prejudices
against slave-holders and slavery. Hence, his efforts in
after life were directed by a scrupulous regard for what
he esteemed a public duty. His administration evinced
wisdom, forbearance, persistence, and was a success. His
mission is performed. His advent and destiny will em-
blazon history so long as the science of government
shall be read and propagated by men. A humane be-
nevolence was amongst his most estimable traits.

506 JOHN H. BARROWS.

RELIGIOUS ASPECTS.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S CAREER.

ONE of the noteworthy features of Lincoln's
wonderful life was the manifest deepening of his
sense of God's Presence and Providence during those
later years when he bore the imperiled nation on his
heart. He who is accustomed to discern a divine Hand
in history must look upon Mr. Lincoln as a man raised
up for a great purpose by him who lifted Joseph out of
the pit to be ruler over Egypt, and exalted David from
the Bethlehem sheep-fold to be Israel's king. How far
Mr. Lincoln himself discerned God in Revelation or in
the orderings of human life, previous to his exaltation to
the Presidency, may not be fully known. He had early in
his youth read the Bible and Pilgrim's Progress, and
although the atmosphere of his legal and political life in
Illinois was not helpful to faith, still he was known to
several Christian ministers as a man of serious thought-
fulness, if of little knowledge, in the domain of Christian
truth.

But the great anti-slavery debates and the nation's
terrific struggle for existence were the rain and the solar
heat that awakened and called forth the diviner nature,
the heavenward side of this gracious and humane spirit.
The contest against American slavery was essentially
religious — a defense of fundamental Christian truth, the

JOHN H. BARROWS. 507

it
sacredness and worth of that humanity for which Christ

died. The heroes of West India emancipation, Zachary
Macaulay, Thomas Clarkson and William Wilberforce,
were disciples of Him who came to break every yoke
and let the oppressed go free. Green, the great English
historian, finds the primal moral impulse which led
England to free the negro in the great revivals under
Whitefield and the Wesleys. Wendell Phillips says of
the early American abolitionists that they " bound the
Bible to their brows." This great orator of Boston has
written severe things of the churches. He has scathed
hypocrisy as no other man in our generation has done.
But, having bowed my head in prayer with this old
apostle of freedom, and having heard him seek the
blessing of God through the merits of Christ, the great
Emancipator, I have never had the least suspicion that
the movement which destroyed American slavery was an
infidel crusade ! Looking into the coffin which held the
form of William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips ex-
claimed : " Farewell for a little while, noblest of Christian
men." In reviewing the anti-slavery contest, the younger
generation should not forget, and are not likely to forget,
that the most stirring lyrics ever sung to freedom came
from the Christian lips of Whittier ; that for years the
most potent voice denouncing slavery sounded from Ply-
mouth pulpit, and that the volume which converted the
heart of the North, " Uncle Tom's Cabin," was written
by a Christian woman, and is itself perhaps the most
religious work of fiction since Bunyan wrote his immortal
allegory. Charles Sumner was continually hurling the
Sermon on the Mount at our great national sin, and

5o8 JOHN H. BARROWS.

%

Abraham Lincoln derived his deeper anti-slavery con-
victions, as he confessed, from a sermon by the lion-
hearted Leonard Bacon, of New Haven.

All the world knows that when the newly-elected
President was about to assume the government of the
nation, he asked the prayers of his neighbors in Spring-
field. Lincoln's was a nature far from shallow. There
was a moral sensitiveness about him, that made him weak,
as an attorney, in defending a cause of uncertain right-
eousness. He was wont to seek after laws underlying
special facts. It has been said of him that " he saw
through his lawyer's brief the general principles of the
Divine administration." His deeper nature developed
and ripened as Providence brought him to bear the
weight of majestic and solemn responsibilities. In the
anxious uncertainties of the great war, he gradually rose
to the heights where Jehovah became to him the sublimest
of realities, the Ruler of nations. When he wrote his
immortal Proclamation, he invoked upon it not only
" the considerate judgment of mankind," but " the gracious
favor of Almighty God " When darkness gathered over
the brave armies fighting for the nation's life, this
strong man, in the early morning, knelt and wrestled in
prayer with him who holds in his hand the fate of
empires. When the clouds lifted above the carnage of
Gettysburg, he gave his heart to the Lord Jesus Christ.
When he pronounced his matchless oration on the chief
battle-field of the war, he gave expression to the resolve
that " this nation, under God, should have a new birth
of freedom." And when he wrote his last Inaugural

JOHN H. BARROWS. 509

Address, he gave to it the lofty religious tone of an old
Hebrew Psalm.

In 1873, I stood on the broad granite platform of that
noble monument which has been built in Oak Ridge
Cemetery above all that was mortal of Abraham
Lincoln. A great crowd stood reverently in the May
sunshine, while the Jubilee Singers, men and women whom
the good President had liberated, sang, with the hot tears
rolling down their dusky cheeks, as they rolled down our
paler faces, the great " Battle-Hymn of the Republic,"
with its tuneful suggestions of that other Christian
martyr who died at Harper's Ferry, attacking the wrong
which at last had been trampled out in blood to the music
of the old man's name :

" Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord,
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath were

stored,

He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword,
His truth is marching on.

" In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me ;
As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on."

The whole scene was a chapter in the modern evidences
of Christianity, witnessing to the world that the lightning
which melted the shackles off from four millions of slaves
is the same with that which gleamed among the clouds
of Mount Sinai of old, and played above the summit of
the Cross of Calvary.

All the great epochs of American history have been

5io JOHN H. BARROWS.

profoundly religious. John Winthrop felt that " the civil
state must be reared out of the churches." Mulford, in
his great work on this nation, gathers together the words
of Franklin before the Convention which formed the
Constitution : " Except the Lord build the house, they
labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this ;" and
the words of Washington in his first inaugural : "No
people can be bound to adore the hand which conducts
the affairs of men, more than the people of the United
States ;" and the words of Jefferson : " I shall need, too,
the favor of that Being in whose hands we all are, who
led our fathers, as Israel of old, from their native land ;"
and he says of the last inaugural of President Lincoln
that " it was the unbroken expression of the spirit of these
Scriptures, and its whole thought was gathered up in their
words in the recognition of One who will establish
righteousness on the earth."

CHICAGO, 1882.

Jt. M. BISHOP. , •' 5 1 1

I KNEW Mr. Lincoln personally, being Mayor of the
city of Cincinnati in February, 1861. It was my
privilege to extend to him the hospitalities of the city on
his way to Washington to take his seat as President of
the United States. I respect him as a man of great
nobleness of heart, purity of mind and intentions. I
consider him a patriot, whose every endeavor it was to
promote the interests of his country. While I differed
with him essentially in politics, I have ever considered
Lincoln a true man, actuated only by noble purposes.
He was a great man, a good man, and his name will ever
be venerated and honored as one of the brightest among
that gallery of illustrious names which make our country
so famous.

5:2

ROBERT P. PORTER.

HISTORY has not left it for me or for any other
man to magnify or detract from the glory of
Abraham Lincoln. His record, inscribed in deeds and
sealed with his blood, is known and read of all men.

A man of strong native mental and moral powers, he
rose, by his own exertions, superior to all the depriva-
tions of poverty and pioneer hardships, from the obscurity
of a backwoods cabin, to command the admiration of all
lands for all time.

At the most critical period of his country's history,
when even its greatest statesmen stood perplexed and
confounded in the midst of the political questions of the
day, his penetrating logic picked every fallacy, cleft ever)'
knob of political casuistry, and discovered the only path
to the preservation of the Union ; and through the
fiercest, bloodiest civil war that a free people ever en-
dured, with unswerving courage he led four millions of
slaves to liberty, and re-established the Federal Govern-
ment in its rightful supremacy. As true to humanity
as he had always been faithful to his country, his last
words were a prayer and benediction for his enemies.
. Before such a character I stand, with all men, in
loving reverence.

CHICAGO, 1880.

GEO. A. TOWNSEND. 513

WESTERN and Northern-bred men ought not to
forget that Lincoln was of the South. In its
more instinctive, less methodical school of parentage his
idiosyncrasies were grown. The natural man, gazing out
on the better development of the North, poetized and
reasoned in admiration of it, yet with melancholy, for
he was of the poorer and more shiftless race. Let us,
therefore, learn from Lincoln that honest Southernhood
taken into Northernhood produces the most memorable
Americanhood ; and that, though the North prevailed,
Lincoln, Johnson, General Thomas, and many such re-
fined and endeared the victory, and made it national.

83

KUFUS HATCH.

A BRAHAM LINCOLN, the ablest of them all !
He lived and died an honest man.

NEW YORK, 1880.

H. B. ANTHONY. 515

AS the character of Abraham Lincoln steadily devel-
oped with the developing demands and necessities
of the position to which he was elevated, so his fame
steadily grows with the increasing light which is thrown
upon what he achieved in his great office ; the emer-
gencies that he met, the difficulties that he overcame and
the results that he accomplished. He will always stand
out, one of the grand figures in our history, one of the
heroes and martyrs in the history of freedom, of cultiva-
tion of humanity.

PROVIDENCE, 1882.

5i6 W, G. GREENE.

I RECALL an incident of Mr. Lincoln's early life,
which came under my own personal observation,
and which illustrated his desire to be just and do right
while yet a mere boy, and which showed his magnetic
influence over men among whom he moved. It was in
1832 ; we were doing service in the Black Hawk War,
and while lying at Rock Island the boys got up a wrest-
ling match and pitted Mr. Lincoln, who was our captain,
against a famous athlete and wrestler by the name of
Thompson, from Union county, Illinois. We Sangamon
county boys believed Mr. Lincoln could throw any one,
and the Union county boys knew no one could throw
Thompson ; so we staked all our slick and well-worn
quarters and empty bottles on the wrestle. The first
fall was clearly in Thompson's favor ; the second fall
was rather in Thompson's favor, but Lincoln's backers
claimed that it was what, in those days, was called a
" dog-fall." Thompson's backers claimed the stakes,
while we demurred, and it really looked, for some time,
as though there would be at least a hundred fights as
the result. Mr. Lincoln, after getting up and brushing
the dust and dirt off of his jean pants, said : " Boys,
give up your bet; if he has not thrown me fairly, he
could." Every bet was at once surrendered, and peace
and order were restored in a minute. During the re-
bellion in 1864 I had occasion to see Mr. Lincoln in his
office at Washington, and, after having recalled many of
our early recollections, he said : " Bill, what ever became

W. G. GREENE. 517

of our old antagonist, Thompson, that big curly-headed
fellow who threw me at Rock Island ?" I replied I did
not know, and wondered why he asked. He playfully
remarked that if he knew where he was living he would
give him a post-office, by way of showing him that he
bore him no ill-will.

TALLULA, 1882.

5i8 CALEB CARMAN.

I BECAME acquainted with Abraham Lincoln in the
year 1831, when he came from Decatur, Illinois,
with a Mr. Hanks, on the hull of a flat-boat, for a man
by the name of Denton Offutt. The building of this
boat was commenced at Decatur, but, for want of lumber,
was brought by water to Sangamon town and finished,
as there was a little saw-mill which furnished sufficient
material to complete it. It was the design of Mr. Offutt
to load it with fifteen hundred bushels of corn and take
it to New Orleans. The corn was bought at ten cents
per bushel, and the boat was partially filled at Sanga-
mon town ; then brought to New Salem and finished. I
was standing on the bank of the river when the boat was
tied up, and I don't think I ever looked at as awkward a
man as Mr. Lincoln was at that time. He was dressed
in blue jean pants and coat, and a wool shirt and slouch
hat. I viewed him from head to foot, and thought to
myself, What a fool ! but I had not been in his company
long until I found out that I was the bigger fool of the
two. We became very warm friends and strongly at-
tached to each other. After Mr. Lincoln sold the corn
in New Orleans, at fifty cents per bushel, he walked back
and took up his residence at New Salem.

Mr. Lincoln was a candidate for the Legislature, but

o

was defeated by Peter Cartwright ; but was successful in
being elected in 1834. He was boarding with me when
he was appointed post-master at New Salem by Andrew
Jackson ; this was previous to his election. And while

CALEB CARMAN. 519

in the Legislature he appointed me his deputy, as the
post-office was then in my house. I don't think I ever
saw Lincoln idling any time away. He had but few
books, but those few were always near him, and in going
to and from his work, would read. He had a wonderful
retentive memory, and was a great story-teller. He was
liked by every person who knew him. While he boarded
with me he made himself useful in every way that he
could. If the water-bucket was empty he filled it; if
wood was needed he chopped it ; and was always cheer-
ful and in a good humor. He started out one morning
with the axe on his shoulder, and I asked him what he
was going to do. His answer was : " I am going to try
a project." When he returned he had two hickory poles
on his shoulders, and in a very short time two of my
chairs had new bottoms.

PETERSBURG, 1882.

520

MRS. NORMAN B. JUDD.

AN EVENING WITH MR. LINCOLN.

THERE are some evenings, the events of which are
so impressed upon our memories, that scarcely a
word said, or an act done, can ever be forgotten ; at one
time, perhaps, because of the beauty of our surround-
ings ; at another, because the events were a surprise and
worthy of remembrance. The evening to which I refer
was noteworthy for both of these reasons.

It was, I think, in the year 1856. My husband, the
late Norman B. Judd, was attorney for the Rock Island
Railroad. The bridge over the Mississippi at Rock
Island had been destroyed by a river steamer running
into it and setting it on fire. The steamboat owners
along the Mississippi had brought a suit against the rail-
road company, and it was to be tried in the U. S. District
Court at Chicago. Mr. Lincoln had come to Chicago as
assistant counsel in the suit. Mr. Judd had invited Mr.
Lincoln to spend the evening at our pleasant home on
the shore of Lake Michigan. After tea, and until quite
late, we sat on the broad piazza, looking out upon as
lovely a scene as that which has made the Bay of Naples
so celebrated. A number of vessels were availing them-

*_3

selves of a fine breeze to leave the harbor, and the lake
was studded with many a white sail. I remember that a
flock of sea-gulls were flying along the beach, and dipping
their beaks and white-lined wings in the foam that capped
the short waves as they fell upon the shore.

MRS. NORMAN B. JUDD. 521

Whilst we sat there, the great white moon appeared
on the rim of the Eastern horizon, and slowly crept
above the water, throwing a perfect flood of silver light
upon the dancing waves. The stars shone with the soft
light of a midsummer night, and the breaking of the low
waves upon the shore, repeating the old rhythm of the
song which they have sung for ages, added the charm of
pleasant sound to the beauty of the night.

Mr. Lincoln, whose home was far inland from the
great lakes, seemed greatly impressed with the wondrous
beauty of the scene, and carried by its impressiveness away
from all thought of the jars and turmoil of earth. In
that mild, pleasant voice, attuned to harmony with his
surroundings, and which was his wont when his soul was
stirred by aught that was lovely or beautiful, Mr. Lincoln
began to speak of the mystery which for ages enshrouded
and shut out those distant worlds above us from our own,
of the poetry and beauty which was seen and felt by seers
of old when they contemplated Orion and Arcturus as
they wheeled, seemingly around the earth, in their nightly
course ; of the discoveries since the invention of the
telescope, which had thrown a flood of light and' knowl-
edge on what before was incomprehensible and mysteri-
ous; of the wonderful computations of scientists who had
measured the miles of seemingly endless space which
separated the planets in our solar system from our central
sun, and our sun from other suns, which were now gemming
the heavens above us with their resplendent beauty.

He speculated on the possibilities of knowledge which
an increased power of the lens would give in the years
to come ; and then the vonderful discoveries of late

522 MRS. NORMAN B. JUDD.

centuries as proving that beings endowed with such capa-
bilities as man must be immortal, and created for some
high and noble end by him who had spoken those num-
berless worlds into existence ; and made man a little
lower than the angels that he might comprehend the
glories and wonders of his creation.

When the night air became too chilling to remain
longer on the piazza., we went into the parlor, and, seated
on the sofa, his long limbs stretching across the carpet, and
his arms folded behind him, Mr. Lincoln went on to speak
of other discoveries, and also of the inventions which had
been made during the long cycles of time lying between
the present and those early days when the sons of Adam
began to make use of the material things about them,
and invent instruments of various kinds in brass and gold
and silver. He gave us a short but succinct account of
all the inventions referred to in the Old Testament from
the time when Adam walked in the Garden of Eden until
the Bible record ended, 600 B. c.

I said, " Mr. Lincoln, I did not know you were such a
Bible student." He replied: "I must be honest, Mrs.
Judd, and tell you just how I came to know so much
about these early inventions." He then went on to say
that, discussing with some friend the relative age of the
discovery and use of the precious metals, he went to the
Bible to satisfy himself, and became so interested in his
researches that he made a memoranda of the different dis-
coveries and inventions ; that soon after he was invited to
lecture before some literary society, I think in Blooming-
ton ; that the interest he had felt in the study convinced
him that the subject would interest others, and he therefore

MRS. NORMAN B. JUDD. 523

prepared and delivered his lecture on the " Age of Differ-
ent Inventions :" and " of course," he added, " I could not
after that forget the order or time of such discoveries
and inventions."

After Mr. Lincoln left, Mr. Judd remarked : " I am
constantly more and more surprised at Mr. Lincoln's at-
tainments and the varied knowledge he has acquired dur-
ing years of constant labor at the Bar, in every depart-
ment of science and learning. A professor at Yale could
not have been more interesting or more enthusiastic."

Another incident in connection with the railroad suit
above referred to may be of interest.

Mr. Joseph Knox, one of the ablest lawyers in
Illinois, was also engaged as counsel in the defense. Mr.
Lincoln began his speech in the forenoon and spoke un-
til the court adjourned at noon. Mr. Knox dined with
us that day. He sat down at the dinner table in great
excitement, saying: "Lincoln has lost the case for us.
The admissions he made in regard to the currents in the
Mississippi at Rock Island and Moline will convince the
court that a bridge at that point will always be a serious
and constant detriment to navigation on the river."

Mr. Judd's reply was in substance that Mr. Lincoln's
admissions in regard to the currents were facts that could
not be denied, but that they only proved that the bridge
should have been built at a different angle to the stream,
and that a bridge so built could not injure the river as a
navigable stream. This reply was noteworthy as fore-
shadowing Mr. Lincoln's argument made in the afternoon.
The case was decided in their favor, and although carried
later to the Supreme Court at Washington, where it was

524 MRS. NORMAN B. JUDD.

argued against by the Hon. Caleb Gushing, one of the
ablest lawyers in the United States, the lawyers on the
side of the Bridge company won their case, and forever de-
cided the question that bridges could be built under
proper restrictions on all navigable streams in the United
States.

SENECA FALLS, 1882.

JOHN A VERY. 525

THE more the smoke of party strife clears away, as
we recede from the times of Abraham Lincoln and
the civil war, the grander does the form of the Martyr
President stand forth as the representative of sagacious
statesmanship and unsullied patriotism. It has not fallen
to the lot of any American since Washington to be so
loved and lamented by the whole nation, without distinc-
tion of race, section, or party. He was suddenly
snatched away in the midst of his usefulness, but he has
left a name behind which is a precious legacy to future
generations of his countrymen, teaching ambitious youth
that immortality may be most surely won, not by employing
the tricks of the politician, but by unselfish devotion to
the welfare of their country.

BOWDOIN COLLEGE, 1880.

5 26 WM. //. HERN DON.

THE ANALYSIS OF MR. LINCOLN'S CHAR-
ACTER.

A BRAHAM LINCOLN was born in Hardin county,
JL\ Kentucky, February i2th, 1809. He moved to
Indiana in 1816; came to Illinois in March, 1830; to
old Sangamon county, in 1831, settling in New Salem,
and from this last place to this city in April, 1837 ;
coming as a rude, uncultivated boy, without polish or
education, and having no friends. He was about six feet
four inches high; and when he left this city was fifty-one
years old, having good health and no gray hairs, or but
few, on his head. He was thin, wiry, sinewy, raw-boned ;
thin through the breast to the back, and narrow across
the shoulders ; standing, he leaned forward — was what
may be called stoop-shouldered, inclining to the consump-
tive by build. His usual weight was one hundred and
sixty pounds. His organization — rather his structure
and functions — worked slowly. His blood had to run a
long distance from his heart to the extremities of
his frame, and his nerve-force had to travel through
dry ground a long distance before his muscles were
obedient to his will. His structure was loose and
leathery ; his body was shrunk and shriveled, having
dark skin, dark hair — looking woe-struck. The whole
man, body and mind, worked slowly, creakingly, as if it
needed oiling. Physically, he was a very powerful man,
lifting with ease four hundred or six hundred pounds.

WM. ff. HERN DON. 527

His mind was like his body, and worked slowly but
strongly. When he walked, he moved cautiously but
firmly, his long arms and hands on them, hanging like
giant's hands, swung down by his side. He walked with
even tread, the inner sides of his feet being parallel. He
put the whole foot flat down on the ground at once, not
landing on the heel ; he likewise lifted his foot all at once,
not rising from the toe, and hence he had no spring to his
walk. He had economy of fall and lift of foot, though he
had no spring or apparent ease of motion in his tread.
He walked undulatory, up and down, catching and pocket-
ing tire, weariness and pain, all up and down his person,
preventing them from locating. The first opinion of a
stranger, or a man who did not observe closely, was that
his walk implied shrewdness, cunning — a tricky man ; but
his was the walk of caution and firmness. In sitting
down on a common chair he was no taller than ordinary
men. His legs and arms were abnormally, unnaturally long,
and in undue proportion to the balance of his body. It
was only when he stood up that he loomed above other men.
Mr. Lincoln's head was lono- and tall from the base

O

of the brain and from the eyebrows. His head ran back-
wards, his forehead rising as it ran back at a low
angle, like Clay's, and, unlike Webster's, almost per-
pendicular. The size of his hat, measured at the hat-
ter's block, was 7^, his head being, from ear to ear, 61^
inches, and from the front to the back of the brain 8
inches. Thus measured, it was not below the medium
size. His forehead was narrow but high ; his hair was
dark, almost black, and lay floating where his fingers or
the winds left it, piled up at random. His cheek-bones

523 WM. H. HERN DON.

were high, sharp, and prominent ; his eyebrows heavy
and prominent ; his jaws were long, upcurved and heavy ;
his nose was large, long and blunt, a little awry towards
the right eye ; his chin was long, sharp and upcurved ;
his eyebrows cropped out like a huge rock on the brow
of a hill ; his face was long, sallow and cadaverous,
shrunk, shriveled, wrinkled and dry, having here and
there a hair on the surface ; his cheeks were leathery ;
his ears were large, and ran out almost at right angles
from his head, caused partly by heavy hats and partly by
nature ; his lower lip was thick, hanging, and under-
curved, while his chin reached for the lip upcurved ; his
neck was neat and trim, his head being well balanced on
it ; there was the ione mole on the right cheek, and
Adam's apple on his throat.

Thus stood, walked, acted and looked Abraham
Lincoln. He was not a pretty man by any means, nor
was he an ugly one ; he was a homely man, careless of
his looks, plain-looking and plain-acting. He had no
pomp, display or dignity, so-called. He appeared simple
in his carriage and bearing. He was a sad-looking man ;
his melancholy dripped from him as he walked. His ap-
parent gloom impressed his friends, and created a
sympathy for him — one means of his great success. He
was gloomy, abstracted, and joyous — rather, humorous—
by turns. I do not think he knew what real joy was for
many years.

Mr. Lincoln sometimes walked our streets cheerily,
— good-humoredly, perhaps joyously — and then it was,
on meeting a friend, he cried : " How d'y ?" clasping one
of his friend's hand in both of his, giving a good hearty

WM. H. HERN DON. 529

soul-welcome. Of a winter's morning, he might be seen
stalking and stilting it towards the market house, basket
on arm, his old gray shawl wrapped around his neck, his
little Willie or Tad running along at his heels, asking a
thousand little quick questions, which his father heard
not, not even then knowing that little Willie or Tad was
there, so abstracted was he. When he thus met a friend,
he said that something put him in mind of a story which
he heard in Indiana or elsewhere, and tell it he would,
and there was no alternative but to listen.

Thus, I say, stood and walked and looked this
singular man. He was odd, but when that gray eye
and face and every feature were lit up by the inward soul
in fires of emotion, then it was that all these apparently
ugly features sprang into organs of beauty, or sunk
themselves into a sea of inspiration that sometimes
flooded his face. Sometimes it appeared to me that
Lincoln's soul was just fresh from the presence of its
Creator.

I have asked the friends and foes of Mr. Lincoln
alike, what they thought of his perceptions. One
gentleman of undoubted ability, and free from all partial-
ity or prejudice, said : " Mr. Lincoln's perceptions are
slow, a little perverted, if not somewhat distorted and
diseased." If the meaning of this is that Mr. Lincoln
saws things from a peculiar angle of his being, and from
* this was susceptible to Nature's impulses, and that he so
expressed himself, then I have no objection to what is
said. Otherwise, I dissent. Mr. Lincoln's perceptions

34

530 WM. H. HERNDON.

were slow, cold, precise, and exact. Everything came to
him in its precise shape and color. To some men the
world of matter and of man comes ornamented with
beauty, life, and action, and hence more or less false and
inexact. No lurking illusion or other error, false in
itself, and clad for the moment in robes of splendor,
ever passed undetected or unchallenged over the
threshold of his mind — that point that divides vision
from the realm and home of thought. Names to him
were nothing, and titles naught — assumption always
standing back abashed at his cold, intellectual glare.
Neither his perceptions nor intellectual vision were per-
verted, distorted, or diseased. He saw all things through
a perfect mental lens. There was no diffraction or re-
fraction there. He was not impulsive, fanciful or im-
aginative, but cold, calm, precise and exact. He threw
his whole mental light around the object, and in time,
substance, and quality stood apart ; form and color took
their appropriate places, and all was clear and exact
in his mind. His fault, if any, was that he saw things
less than they really were ; less beautiful and more
frigid. In his mental view he crushed the unreal, the
inexact, the hollow and the sham. He saw things in
rigidity rather than in vital action. Here was his
fault. He saw what no man could dispute ; but he
failed to see what might have been seen. To some
minds the world is all life, a soul beneath the material ;
but to Mr. Lincoln no life was individual or universal that
did not manifest itself to him. His mind was hisstandard.
His perceptions were cool, persistent, pitiless in pursuit of
the truth. No error went undetected, and no falsehood

WW. H. HERN DON. 531

unexposed, if he once was aroused in search of truth.
If his perceptions were perverted, distorted, and dis-
eased, would to Heaven that more minds were so.

* * * * * •*•# * *
The true peculiarity of Mr. Lincoln has not been seen
by his various biographers ; or, if seen, they have failed
wofully to give it that prominence which it deserves. It
*is said that Newton saw an apple fall to the ground from
a tree, and beheld the law of the universe in that fall ;
Shakespeare saw human nature in the laugh of a man ;
Professor Owen saw the animal in its claw ; and Spencer
saw the evolution of the universe in the growth of a seed.
Nature was suggestive to all these men. Mr. Lincoln no
less saw philosophy in a story, and a schoolmaster in a
joke. No man, no men, saw nature, fact, thing, or man
from his stand-point. His was a new and original posi-
tion, which was always suggesting, hinting something to
him. Nature, insinuations, hints and suggestions were
new, fresh, original and odd to him. The world, fact,
man, principle, all had their powers of suggestion to his
susceptible soul. They continually put him in mind of
something. He was odd, fresh, new, original, and pecu-
liar, for this reason, that he was a new, odd, and original
creation and fact. He had keen susceptibilities to the
hints and suggestions of nature, which always put him in
mind of something known or unknown. Hence his
power and tenacity of what is called association of ideas
must have been great. His memory was tenacious and
strong. His susceptibility to all suggestions and hints
enabled him at will to call up readily the associated and
classified fact and idea.

53* WM, H. HERN DON.

As an evidence of this, especially peculiar to Mn
Lincoln, let me ask one question. Were Mr. Lincoln's
expression and language odd and original, standing out
peculiar from those of all other men ? What does this
imply ? Oddity and originality of vision as well as ex-
pression; and what is expression in words and human
language, but a telling of what we see, defining the idea
arising from and created by vision and view in us ?*
Words and language are but the counterparts of the idea
— the other half of the idea ; they are but the stinging,
hot, heavy, leaden bullets that drop from the mold ; and
what are they in a rifle with powder stuffed behind them
and fire applied, but an embodied force pursuing their
object ? So are words an embodied power feeling for
comprehension in other minds. Mr. Lincoln was often
perplexed to give expression to his ideas : first, because
he was not master of the English language : and,
secondly, because there were no words in it containing
the coloring, shape, exactness, power, and gravity of his
ideas. He was frequently at a loss fora word, and hence
was compelled to resoflt to stories, maxims, and jokes to
embody his idea, that it might be comprehended!. So
true was this peculiar mental vision of his, that though
mankind has been gathering, arranging, and classifying
facts for thousands of years, Lincoln's peculiar stand-
point could give him no advantage of other men's labor.
Hence he tore up to the deep foundations all arrange-
ments of facts, and coined and arranged new plans to
govern himself. He was compelled, from his peculiar
mental organization, to do this. His labor was great,
continuous, patient and all-enduring.

WM. H. HERN DON. 533

The truth about this whole matter is that Mr.
Lincoln read less and thought more than any man in his
sphere in America. No man can put his ringer on any
great book written in the last or present century that he
read. When young he read the Bible, and when of age
he read Shakespeare. This latter book was scarcely ever
out of his mind. Mr. Linaoln is acknowledged to have
been a great man, but the question is, what made him
great ? I repeat, that he read less and thought more
than any man of his standing in America, if not in the
world. He possessed originality and power of thought
in an eminent degree. He was cautious, cool, concen-
trated, with continuity of reflection ; was patient and
enduring. These are some of the grounds of his wonder-
ful success.

*

Not only was nature, man, fact and principle sug-
gestive to Mr. Lincoln, not only had he accurate and
exact perceptions, but he was causative, i.e., his mind
ran back behind all facts, things and principles to their
origin, history and first cause, to that point where forces
act at once as effect and caused He would stop and
stand in the street and analyze a machine. He would
whittle things to a point, and then count the numberless
inclined planes, and their pitch, making the point. Mas-
tering and defining this, he would then cut that point
back, and get a broad transverse section of his pine
stick, and peel and define that. Clocks, omnibuses and
language, paddle-wheels and idioms, never escaped his
observation and analysis. Before he could form any idea
of anything, before he would express his opinion on any
subject, he must know it in origin and history, in sub-

534 WM. H. HERNDON.

stance and quality, in magnitude and gravity. He must
know his subject inside and outside, upside and down-
side. He searched his own mind and nature thoroughly,
as I have often heard him say. He must analyze a sen-
sation, an idea, and words, and run them back to their
origin, history, purpose and destiny. He was most em-
phatically a remorseless analyzer of facts, things and
principles. When all these processes had been well and
thoroughly gone through, he could form an opinion and
express it, but no sooner. He had no faith. " Say so's"
he had no respect for, coming though they might from
tradition, power or authority.

All things, facts and principles had to run through
his crucible and be tested by the fires of his analytic
mind ; and hence, when he did speak, his utterances rang
out gold-like, quick, keen and current upon the counters
of the understanding. He reasoned logically, through
analogy and comparison. All opponents dreaded him in
his originality of idea, condensation, definition and force
of expression, and woe be to the man who hugged to his
bosom a secret error if Mr. Lincoln got on the chase of
it. I say, woe to him ! Time could hide the error in
no nook or corner of space in which he would not detect
and expose it.

* * * * * *

Though Mr. Lincoln had accurate perceptions,
though nature was extremely suggestive to him, though
he was a profound thinker as well as an analyzer, still
his judgments and opinions formed upon minor matters
were often childish. I have sometimes asked prominent,
talented and honest men in this and other States for

WM. H. HERN DON. 535

their manly opinion of Mr. Lincoln's judgments. I did
this to confirm or overthrow my own opinions on this
point. Their answers were that his judgments were
poor. But now, what do we understand by the word
"judgments"? It is not reason, it is not will, nor
is it understanding ; but it is the judging faculty — that
capacity or power that forms opinions and decides on
the fitness, beauty, harmony and appropriateness of
things under all circumstances and surroundings, quickly,
wisely, accurately. Had Mr. Lincoln this quality of
mind? I think not. His mind was like his body, and
worked slowly.

******

One portion of mankind maintained that Mr. Lin-
coln was weak-minded, and they look at him only from
the stand-point of his judgments. Another class main-
tain that he was a great, deep, profound man in his judg-
ments. Do these two classes understand themselves ?
Both views cannot be correct. Mr. Lincoln's mind was
slow, angular, and ponderous, rather than quick and
finely discriminating, and in time his great powers of
reason on cause and effect, on creation and relation, on
substance and on truth, would form a proposition, an
opinion, wisely and well — that no human being can deny.
Whan his mind could not grasp premises from which to
argue he was weaker than a child* because he had none
of the child's intuitions — the soul's quick, bright flash
over scattered and unarranged facts.

Mr. Lincoln was a peculiar man, having a peculiar
mind ; he was gifted with a peculiarity, namely, a new
look-out on nature. Everything had to be newly created

536 WM. H. HERN DON.

for him — facts newly gathered, newly arranged, and newly
classed. He had no faith, as already expressed. In
order to believe he must see and feel, and thrust his
hand into the place. He must taste, smell and handle
before he had faith, i.e., belief. Such a mind as this must
act slowly, must have its time. His forte and power lay
in his love of digging out for himself and hunting up for
his own mind its own food, to be assimilated unto itself ;
and then in time he could and would form opinions and
conclusions that no human power could overthrow.
They were as irresistible as iron thunder, as powerful as
logic embodied ih mathematics.

I have watched men closely in reference to their
approaches to Mr. Lincoln. Those who approached him
on his judgment side treated him tenderly — sometimes
respectfully, but always as a weak-minded man. This
class of men take the judgment as the standard of the
mind. I have seen another class approach him on his
reason side, and they always crouched low down and
truckled, as much as to say, "great," "grand," "omnipo-
tent." Both these classes were correct. One took judgment
as the standard of the man, and the other took reason.
Yet both classes were wrong in this — they sunk out of
view one side of Mr. Lincoln. A third class knew him
well, and always treated him with human respect:! not
that awe and reverence1 with which we regard the Supreme
Being ; not that supercilious haughtiness which greatness
shows to littleness. Each will please to examine itself,
and then judge of what I say. I have approached Mr.
Lincoln on all sides, and treated him according to the
angle approached.

WM. H. HERNDON. 537

An additional question naturally suggests itself here,
and it is this : Had Mr. Lincoln great, good common
sense ? Different persons, of equal capacity and honesty,
hold different views on this question — one class answer-
ing in the affirmative, and the other in the negative.

These various opinions necessarily spring out of the
question just discussed. If the true test is that a man
shall quickly, wisely, and well judge the rapid rush and
whirl of human transactions, as accurately as though
indefinite time and proper conditions were at his disposal,
then I am compelled to follow the logic of things, and say
that Mr. Lincoln had no more than ordinary common
sense. The world, men and their actions must be judged
as they rush and pass along. They will not wait on us ;
will not stay for our logic and analysis ; they must be
seized as they run. We all our life act on the moment.
Mr. Lincoln knew himself, and never trusted his dollar
or* his fame on his casual opinions ; he never acted hastily
on great matters.

* * * # *

Mr. Lincoln very well knew that the great leading
law of human nature was motive. He reasoned all ideas
of a disinterested action from my mind. I used to hold
that an action could be pure, disinterested, and holy, free
from fell selfishness, but he divested me of that delusion.
His idea was that all human actions were caused by
motives, and that at the bottom of those motives was self.
He defied me to act without a motive and unselfishly ;
and when I did the act and told him of it, he analyzed
and sifted it, and demonstrated beyond the possibility of
controversy that it was altogether selfish. Though he

538 WM. H. HERN DON.

was a profound analyzer of the laws of human nature, still
he had no idea of the peculiar motives of the particular
individual. He could not well discriminate in human
nature. He knew but little of the play of the features as
seen in "the human face divine." He could not distin-
guish between the paleness of anger and the crimson
tint of modesty. He could not determine what each play
of the features indicated.

*****
The great predominating elements of Mr. Lincoln's
peculiar character, were : First, his great capacity and
power of 'reason J secondly, his excellent understanding;
thirdly, an exalted idea of the sense of right and equity ;
and, fourthly, his intense veneration of what was true and
good. His reason ruled despotically all other faculties and
qualities of his mind. His conscience and heart were
ruled by it. His conscience was ruled by one faculty —
reason. His heart was ruled by two faculties — reason
and conscience. I know it is generally believed that Mr.
Lincoln's heart, his love and kindness, his tenderness and
benevolence, were his ruling qualities ; but this opinion is
erroneous in every particular. First, as to his reason.
He dwelt in the mind, not in the conscience, and not in
the heart He lived and breathed and acted from his
reason — the throne of logic and the home of principle,
the realm of Deity in man. It is from this point that
Mr. Lincoln must be viewed. His views were correct
and original. He was cautious not to be deceived ; he
was patient and enduring. He had concentration and
great continuity of thought ; he had a profound analytic
power ; his visions were clear, and he was emphatically

WM. //. HERN DON. 539

the master of statement. His pursuit of the truth was
indefatigable, terrible. He reasoned from his well-chosen
principles with such clearness, force, and compactness,
that the tallest intellects in the land bowed to him with
respect. He was the strongest man I ever saw, looking
at him from the stand-point of his reason — the jhrone of
his logic. He came down from that height with an irre-
sistible and crushing force. His printed speeches will
prove this ; but his speeches before courts, especially be-
fore the Supreme Courts of the State and Nation, would
demonstrate it : unfortunately, none of them have been
preserved. Here he demanded time to think and pre-
pare. The office of reason is to determine the truth.
Truth is the power of reason — the child of reason. He
loved and idolized truth for its own sake. It was
reason's food.

Conscience, the second great quality and forte of
Mr. Lincoln's character, is that faculty which loves the
just : its office is justice ; right and equity are its correla-
tives. It decides upon all acts of all people at all times.
Mr. Lincoln had a deep, broad, living conscience. His
great reason told him what was true, good and bad, right,
wrong, just or .unjust, and his conscience echoed back its
decision ; and it was from this point that he acted and
spoke and wove his character and fame among us. His
conscience ruled his heart ; he was always just before he
was gracious. This was his motto, his glory : and this is
as it should be. It cannot be truthfully said of any
'mortal man that he was always just. Mr. Lincoln was
not always just ; but his great general life was. It follows
that if Mr. Lincoln had great reason and great con-

WM. H. HERN DON.

science, he was an honest man. His great and general
life was honest, and he was justly and rightfully entitled
to the appellation, " Honest Abe." Honesty was his
great polar star.

Mr. Lincoln had also a good understanding ; that
is, the faculty that understands and comprehends the
exact state of things, their near and remote relation.
The understanding does not necessarily inquire for the
reason of things. I must here repeat that Mr. Lincoln
was an odd and original man ; he lived by himself and
out of himself. He could not absorb. He was a very
sensitive man, unobtrusive and gentlemanly, and often hid
himself in the common mass of men, in order to prevent
the discovery of his individuality. He had no insulting
egotism, and no pompous pride ; no haughtiness, and no
aristocracy. He was not indifferent, however, to appro-
bation and public opinion. He was not an upstart, and
had no insolence. He was a meek, quiet, unobtrusive
gentleman. These qualities of his nature merged some-
what his identities. Read Mr. Lincoln's speeches,
letters, messages and proclamations, read his whole record
in his actual life, and you cannot fail to perceive that he
had good understanding. He understood and fully com-
prehended himself, and what he did and why he did it,
better than most living men.

There are contradictory opinions in reference to
Mr. Lincoln's heart and humanity. One opinion is that
he was cold and obdurate, and the other opinion is that
he was warm and affectionate. I have shown you that

WM. H. HERN DON. 541

Mr. Lincoln first lived and breathed upon the world from
his head and conscience. I have attempted to show you
that he lived and breathed upon the world through the
tender side of his heart, subject at all times and places to
the logic of his reason, and to his exalted sense of right
and equity ; namely, his conscience. He always held his
conscience subject to his head ; he held his heart
always subject to his head and conscience. His heart
was the lowest organ, the weakest of the three. Some
men would reverse this order, and declare that his heart
was his ruling organ : that always manifested itself with
love, regardless of truth and justice, right and equity.
The question still is, was Mr. Lincoln a cold, heartless
man, or a warm, affectionate man ? Can a man be a
warm-hearted man who is all head and conscience, or
nearly so ? What, in the first place, do we mean by a
warm-hearted man ? Is it one who goes out of himself
and reaches for others spontaneously because of a deep
love of humanity, apart from equity and truth, and does
whar it Joes for love's sake ? If so* Mr. Lincoln was a
cold man. Or, do we mean that when a human being,
man or child, approached him in behalf of a matter of
right, and that the prayer of such an one was granted,
that this is an evidence of his love ? The African was
enslaved, his rights were violated, and a principle was
violated in them. Rights imply obligations as well as
duties. Mr. Lincoln was President ; he was in a position
that made it his duty, through his sense of right, his love
of principle, his constitutional obligations imposed upon
him by oath of office, to strike the blow against slavery.
But did he do it for love ? He himself has answered the

542 WM. H. HERNDON.

question : " I would not free the slaves if I could preserve
the Union without it." I use this argument against his
too enthusiastic friends. If you mean that this is love
for love's sake, then Mr. Lincoln was a warm-hearted man
— not otherwise. To use a general expression, his
general life was cold. He had, however, a strong latent
capacity to love ; but the object must first come as prin-
ciple, second as right, and third as lovely. He loved
abstract humanity when it was oppressed. This was an
abstract love, not concrete in the individual, as said by
some. He rarely used the term love, yet was he tender
and gentle. He gave the key-note to his own character,
when he said, "with malice toward none, and with charity
for all," he did what he did. He had no intense loves,
and hence no hates and no malice. He had a broad
charity for imperfect man, and let us imitate his great life
in this.

" But was not Mr. Lincoln a man of great humanity ?"
asks a friend at my elbow, a little angrily ; to which I
reply, " Has not that question been answered already ?"
Let us suppose that it has not. We must understand
each other. What do you mean by humanity ? Do you
mean that he had much of human nature in him ? If so,
I will grant that he was a man of humanity. Do you
mean, if the above definition is unsatisfactory, that Mr.
Lincoln was tender and kind ? Then I agree with you.
But if you mean to say that he so loved a man that he
would sacrifice truth and right for him, for love's sake,
then he was not a man of humanity. Do you mean to
say that he so loved man, for love's sake, that his heart
led him out of himself, and compelled him to go in search

WM. H. HERNDON. 543

of the objects of his love, for their sake ? He never, to
my knowledge, manifested this side of his character. Such
is the law of human nature, that it cannot be all head, all
conscience, and all heart at one and the same time in
one and the same person. Our Maker made it so, and
where God through reason blazed the path, walk therein
boldly. Mr. Lincoln's glory and power lay in the just
combination of head, conscience, and heart, and it is here
that his fame must rest, or not at all.

Not only were Mr. Lincoln's perceptions good ; not
only was nature suggestive to him ; not only was he orig-
inal and strong; not only had he great reason, good
understanding ; not only did he .love the true and good —
the eternal right; not only was he tender and kind — but
in due proportion and in legitimate subordination, had he
a glorious combination of them all. Through his percep-
tions— the suggestiveness of nature, his originality and
strength ; through his magnificent reason, his understand-
ing, his conscience, his tenderness and kindness, his heart,
rather than love — he approximated as nearly as most
human beings in this imperfect state to an embodiment
of the great moral principle, " Do unto others as ye would

they should do unto you."

*****

There are two opinions — radically different opinions
— expressed about Mr. Lincoln's will, by men of equal
and much capacity. One opinion is, that he had no will ;
and the other is, that he was all will — omnipotently so.
These two opinions are loudly and honestly affirmed.
Mr. Lincoln's mind loved the true, the right and good,
all the great truths and principles in the mind of man.

544 WM. H- HERNDON.

He loved the true, first ; the right, second ; and the
good, the least. His mind struggled for truths and his
soul for substances. Neither in his head nor in his soul
did he care for forms, methods, ways — the non-sub-
stantial facts or things. He could not, by his very
structure and formation in mind and t}pdy, care anything
about them. He did not intensely or much care for
particular individual man — the dollar, property, rank,
order, manners, or such like things. He had no avarice
in his nature, or other like vice. He despised, somewhat,
all technical rules in law and theology and other sciences
— mere forms everywhere — because they were, as a
general rule, founded on arbitrary thoughts and ideas,
and not on reason, truth, right, and the good. These
things were without substance, and he disregarded them
because they cramped Iris original nature. What suited
a little, narrow, critical mind did not suit Mr. Lincoln's
any more than a child's clothes did his body. Generally,
Mr. Lincoln could not take any interest in little local elec-
tions— town meetings. He attended no gatherings that
pertained to local or other such- interests, saving general
political ones. He did not care (because he could not, in
his nature) who succeeded to the presidency of this or
that Christian association or railroad convention ; who
made the most money ; who was going to Philadelphia,
when and for what, and what were the costs of such a
trip. He could not care who, among friends, got this
office or that — who got to be street inspector or alley
commissioner. No principle of goodness, of truth, or
right was here. How could he be moved by such things
as these ? He could not understand why men struggled

WM. H. HERNDON. 545

for such things. He made this remark to me one day, I
think at Washington, " If ever this free people — if this
Government itself is ever utterly demoralized, it will come
from this human wriggle and struggle for office — a way
to live without work ; from which nature I am not free
myself." It puzzled'him a good deal, at Washington, to
know and to get at the root of this dread desire — this
contagious disease of national robbery in the nation's
death-struggle.

Because Mr. Lincoln could not feel any interest in
such little things as I have spoken of, nor feel any par-
ticular interest in the success of those who were thus
struggling and wriggling, he was called indifferent — nay,
ungrateful — to his friends. Especially is this the case
with men who have aided Mr. Lincoln all their life.
Mr. Lincoln always and everywhere wished his friends
well ; he loved his friends and clung to them tenaciously,
like iron to iron welded ; yet he could not be actively and
energetically aroused to the true sense of his friends'
particularly strong feelings of anxiety for office. From
this fact Mr. Lincoln has been called ungrateful. He
was not an ungrateful man by any means. He may have
been a cool man — a passive man in his general life ; yet
he was not ungrateful. Ingratitude is too positive a
word — it does not convey the truth. Mr. Lincoln may
not have measured his friendly duties by the applicant's
hot desire ; I admit this. He was not a selfish man —
if by selfishness is meant that Mr. Lincoln would do any
act, even to promote himself to the presidency, if by
that act any human being was wronged. If it is said
that Abraham Lincoln preferred Abraham Lincoln to

35

546 WM. H. HERN DON.

any one else, in the pursuit of his ambitions, and that,
because of this, he was a selfish man, then I can see no ob-
jections to such an idea, for this is universal human nature.

It must be remembered that Mr. Lincoln's mind
acted logically, cautiously, and slowly. Now, having
stated the above facts, the question of his will and its
power is easily solved. Be it remembered that Mr. Lin-
coln cared nothing for simple facts, manners, modes,
ways, and such like things. Be it remembered that he
did care for truth, right, for principle, for all that pertains
to the good. In relation to simple facts, unrelated to
substance, forms, rules, methods, ways, manners, he cared
nothing ; and if he could be aroused, he would do any-
thing for anybody at any time, as well foe as friend.
As a politician he would courteously grant all facts and
forms — all non-essential things — to his opponent. He
did so because he did not care for them ; they were
rubbish, husks, trash. On the question of substance, he
hung and clung with all his might. On questions of
truth, justice, right, the good, on principle, his will was
as firm as steel and as tenacious as iron. It was as firm,
solid, real, vital, and tenacious as an idea on which the
world hinges or hangs. Ask Mr. Lincoln to do a wrong
thing, and he would scorn the request ; ask him to do an
unjust thing, and he would cry : " Begone !" ask him to
sacrifice his convictions of the truth, and his soul would
indignantly exclaim : " The world perish first !"

Such was Mr. Lincoln's will. On manners and such
'like things, he was pliable. On questions of right and
substance, he was as firm as a rock. One of these classes

WM. H. HERN DON. 547

of men look at Mr. Lincoln from the stand-point of things
non-essential, and the other looks at him from the stand-
point of substance, rejecting forms. Hence the difference.
Mr. Lincoln was a man of firm, unyielding will, when, in
human transactions, it was necessary to be so, and not
otherwise. At one moment Mr. Lincoln was as pliable and
expansive as gentle air, and at the next moment he was as
biting, firm, tenacious, and unyielding as gravity itself.

Thus I have traced Mr. Lincoln through his percep-
tions, his suggestiveness, his judgments, and his four
great predominant qualities, namely — his powers of
reason, his great understanding, his conscience, and his
heart. I assert that Mr. Lincoln lived in the head. He
loved the truth ; he loved the eternal right and the good
— never yielding the fundamental conceptions of these to
any man for any end.

All the follies and wrong Mr. Lincoln ever fell into,
or committed, sprang or came out of his weak points,
namely, his want of quick, sagacious, intuitive judgment
— his want of quick, sagacious, intuitive knowledge of the
play and meaning of the features of men as written on
the face — his tenderness and mercy, and, lastly, his
utterly unsuspecting nature. He was deeply and seriously
honest himself, and assumed that others were so organ-
ized. He never suspected men. These, with other de-
fects of his nature, caused all his follies and wrongs, if he
ever had any of either.

All the wise and good things Mr. Lincoln ever did,
sprang or came out of his great reason, his conscience,
his understanding, and his heart ; his love of truth, right,

548 WM. H. HERNDON.

and the good. I am speaking now of his particular and
individual faculties and qualities, not their combination^
nor the result of wise or unwise combinations. Each
man and woman must form his or her own estimate of the
man in the mind. Run out these facts, qualities, and
faculties, and see what they must produce. For instance,
a tender heart ; a wise, strong reason ; a good understand-
ing, an exalted conscience, a love of the good, must, in
such combination, practically applied, produce a man of
great humanity.

Take another illustration in the combination of his
faculties and qualities. Mr. Lincoln's eloquence lay, ist,
in the strength of his logical faculty, his supreme power of
reasoning, his great understanding, and his love of
principle ; 2d, in his clear, exact, and very accurate vision ;
3d, in his cool and masterly statement of his principles,
around which the issues gather ; in the statement of those
issues, and the grouping of the facts that are to carry con-
viction, aided by his logic, to the minds of men of every
grade of intelligence. He was so clear that he could not
be misunderstood nor misrepresented. He stood square
and bolt upright to his convictions, and formed by them
his thoughts and utterances. Mr. Lincoln's mind was not
a wide, deep, broad, generalizing, and comprehensive mind,
nor versatile, quick, bounding here and there, as emer-
gencies demanded it. His mind was deep, enduring, and
strong, running in deep iron grooves, with flanges on its
wheels. His mind was not keen, sharp, and subtile ; it
was deep, exact, and strong.

Whatever of life, vigor, force, and pcwer of eloquence

WM. H. HERN DON. 549

the whole of the above qualities, or a wise combination,
will give ; whatever there is in a fair, manly, honest and
impartial administration of justice, under law, to all men
at all times — through these qualities and capabilities
given, never deviating ; whatever there is in a strong will
in the right, governed by tenderness and mercy ; what-
ever there is in toil and a sublime patience ; whatever
there is in particular faculties, or a wise combination of
them — not forgetting his weak points — working wisely,
sagaciously, and honestly, openly and fairly ; I say,
whatever there is in these, or a combination of them,
that Mr. Lincoln is justly entitled to in all the walks of
life. These limit, bound and define him as statesman,
orator, as an Executive of the nation, as a man of human-
ity, a good man, and a gentleman. These limit, bound
and define him every way, in all the ways and walks of
life. He is under his law and his nature, and he never
can get out of it.

This man, this long, bony, wiry, sad man, floated into
our county in 1831, in a frail canoe, down the north fork
of the Sangamon River, friendless, penniless, powerless
and alone — begging for work in this city — ragged,
struggling for the common necessaries of life. This
man, this peculiar man, left us in 1861, the President of
the United States, backed by friends and power, by
fame, and all human force ; and it is well to inquire
how.

To sum up, let us say, here is a sensitive, diffident,
unobtrusive, natural-made gentleman. His mind was
strong and deep, sincere and honest, patient and endur-

WM. H. HERN DON.

ing ; having no vices, and having only negative defects,
with many positive virtues. His is a strong, honest,
sagacious, manly, noble life. He stands in the foremost
rank of men in all ages — their equal — one of the best
types of this Christian civilization.

SPRINGFIELD, 1882.

C. T. CORLISS. 551

DEDICATED TO THE PILGRIMS

VISITING LINCOLN'S TOMB ON THE NINETEENTH ANNIVER-
SARY OF THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION,

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, SEPTEMBER 22,
1881.

WE have come, fellow-men, of a dark-hued race,
On a pilgrimage to the last resting-place
Of him, who, in life, was a friend to the slave,
But whose mortal remains fill a martyr's grave.

We have come from the East, the North, South and West,
A disenthralled people, no longer oppressed,
But free as the air — as a bird on the wing —
To this hallowed shrine our oblations we bring.

Four millions of Freedmen to-day swell the song ;
The blue vault of Heaven its echoes prolong.
From the gulf to the lakes, from the lakes to the sea,
The shackles have fallen — the Brother is free.

The crack of the slave-whip no longer is heard,
And hearts no more sicken, while hope is deferred ;
The slave-pen and auction block never shall be
Erected again in this land of the FREE.

LINCOLN, the God-like, the friend of our race,
With a stroke of his pen did forever efface
That foul blot, so long our derision and shame,
And carved for himself an immortal name —

A name that shall live throughout all coming time,
Unbounded by country, by language, or clime.
Great-grandchildren's children, as years roll around,
Shall pilgrimage make to this hallowed ground;

552 C. T. CORLISS.

And he whom we honored, what tho' he be dead,

What tho' the spirit forever has fled,

Our fond recollection time cannot efface

Of LINCOLN, the saviour and friend of our race.

He blushed when he thought of the deep-burning shame

That slavery brought on Columbia's fair name,

And the proudest day of his life was when

He struck off the chains from four millions of men.

From the depths of our hearts, for this priceless boon,
Let songs of thanksgiving our voices attune ;
Let gratitude from these dark temples arise
Like incense from altars, whose flame never dies.

If ever beatified spirits descend

And with those of mortals in harmony blend,

The spirit of LINCOLN is with us to-day,

To charm all our fears and our sorrows away.

So long as the Freedman inhabits this zone,
PHILANTHROPIST, STATESMAN, and SAGE, all in one
We'll hail him, the greatest, the wisest and best,
Who sleeps in yon " windowless palace of Rest."

INDIANAPOLIS, 1881.

DAVID DAVIS. 553

BORN in the humblest walks of life, and unaided by
education or by fortune, Abraham Lincoln, by his
own endeavors and native resources, attained to the
highest honor of the republic. He administered that
great office so as to win the confidence and affection of
the American people. His name will go down through
all time imperishably associated with the freedom of a
race, and as one of the noblest champions of liberty,
humanity and charity for all, in war and in peace.

WASHINGTON, 1880.

554 HOWARD CROSS Y.

I LOOK upon Abraham Lincoln as a special instru-
ment of God (as was Washington) to meet a fear-
ful crisis in our country's history. He was a thorough
American, carrying a calm mind and tender heart, with a
firm sense of right, through the stormy period of civil
strife.

NEW YORK, 1880.

WM. F. SMITH. 5.55

MR. LINCOLN'S place in the hearts of the nation
and on the pages of history is so well fixed, that
it seems like presumption in one like myself to write of
his merits. I do it, however, because of my great ad-
miration for his character and services. At the begin-
ning of his administration I was very much prejudiced
against him, but I was intensely interested in the success-
ful termination of the war, and that interest was far above
all prejudices or friendship ; and so at last I came to
recognize in President Lincoln a man of extreme con-
scientiousness and patriotism ; to which was added an
ability for the grave duties devolved upon him far beyond
that of the most able men known for years in the councils
of the nation. I have long held to the opinion that at
the close of the war Mr. Lincoln was the superior of his
generals in his comprehension of the effect of strategic
movements and the proper method of following up vic-
tories to their legitimate conclusions. Had he lived, I
have always believed that the long and bitter struggle
over reconstruction would never have been initiated, and
that substantial peace and prosperity would have followed
the laying down of arms. It would seem as though the
two sections of the country had not been sufficiently
punished by the war, and that he was removed from his
high place arM that we lost the power which his character
had won with the people, so that a new set of plagues
might be turned loose over the land.

NEW YORK, 1882.

556 GEORGE WASHINGTON NANCE.

I BECAME acquainted with Mr. Lincoln in the year
1833. I moved from Kentucky to Illinois about that
time, and Mr. Lincoln was then engaged in the grocery
business in New Salem, Illinois. I had previously re-
ceived the impression that the inhabitants of New Salem
were perfect " ogres and hobgoblins," and that no one
ever attempted to pass through the town without being
either killed or robbed. I had some business with a
friend living near there, and on calling at his house, I
learned that he had gone to Salem. I scarcely knew
whether it would be safe to venture there alone or not.
I at length made up my mind to try it, anyhow. I
reached the town without meeting with an accident ; but
as I neared the center my ear caught the sound of a loud
voice. I began to tremble in my boots, for I felt sure the
devouring angel was close at hand. I kept up my cour-
age as well as I could, and proceeded in the direction
of the voice, and a few steps brought me to the house
from whence the voice issued. There sat the dreaded
monster with a note-book open before him, practicing
music. He at once recognized me, having been ac-
quainted with two of my brothers, to whom I bore a
close resemblance ; he then introduced himself as Abra-
ham Lincoln. We spent a very pleasant* evening to-
gether, and some time after this meeting, I had an op-
portunity to become better acquainted with him. The
family with whom he was then boarding went away on a
visit, and he engaged board with a gentleman for whom I

GEORGE WASHINGTON NANCE. 557

was making a frame for a house, and we soon became in-
timate friends and room-mates. After he became a law-
yer I engaged his services in a law-suit, and on asking
his charge, to my surprise he only asked me two dollars
and fifty cents. I had no idea of paying less than ten
dollars. When Mr. Lincoln first became a lawyer he
was a general favorite with all the wild young men who
knew him, and in one of his speeches, delivered after he
was elected to the Illinois Legislature, he displeased
some of these young bloods, and it reached his ears. He
called a meeting and addressed them, saying that they
had made him what he was, and if he had said anything
that displeased them he was willing for them to take him
to pieces limb by limb.

PETERSBURG, 1882.

558 JOHN BENNETT.

I CAME to Illinois in the fall of 1835, and in January,
1836, located in Petersburg, a little village recently
laid out on the Sangamon river, two miles north of Salem,
Mr. Lincoln's home. My earliest acquaintance with Mr.
Lincoln commenced in February of that year, on his
return home from Vandalia, where he had spent the
winter as a member of the legislature from Sangamon
county. Mr. Lincoln spent the most of the month of
March in Petersburg, finishing up the survey and planning
of the town he had commenced the year before, and I was
a great deal in his company and formed a high estimate
of his worth and social qualities, which was strengthened
by many years of subsequent social intercourse and busi-
ness transactions, finding him always strictly honest ; in
fact, he was universally spoken of in this region as
" Honest Abe." After Menard county was formed out of
a portion of Sangamon county, and the county seat
established at Petersburg, Mr. Lincoln was a regular
attendant at the courts, and as I was then keeping a
hotel, he was one of my regular customers, where he met
many of his old cronies of his early days at Salem, and
they uniformly spent the most of the nights in telling
stories, or spinning long yarns, of which Mr. Lincoln was
very fond. In the early settlement of this community,
when a stranger came to settle amongst them, it was their
custom to try him on. This trying on was to ascertain
what he was made of, and all sorts of sports were resorted
to, such as running, jumping, wrestling and occasionally
a knock-down, if necessary. In all these sports, Mr.
Lincoln not only proved himself a match, but an over

JOHN BENNETT. 559

match for the most of them, and they at on.:e became his
fast friends. On one occasion, Mr. Lincoln, with a
number of other persons, was descending the Sangamon
river in a flat-boat. The boat leaked badly and took in a
good deal of water, and when they reached the Salem
mill-dam, the water was not high enough to take the boat
over with so much weight, and the bow ran up high and
dry on the dam. The question was, What was to be done ?
Mr. Lincoln suggested that they should bore a hole in
the bottom of the boat and lighten it by letting the water
out. This was a novel idea, but the hole was bored in
the bow, and all hands went to that end, which raised the
stern ; the water flowed to the bow and passed off through
the hole, and the boat went over the dam in safety.

On another occasion, when Mr. Lincoln and some of
his friends were visiting a neighbor, a very large, fleshy,
rough and uncouth old woman came in and seated her-
self on one of those old-fashioned, straight-backed, split-
bottomed chairs, leaned back, balancing herself on the
hind legs and rocking to and fro, and telling of every-
thing going on in the neighborhood (for she knew every-
body's business), Mr. Lincoln was sitting near, and being
always fond of a joke, he couldn't withstand the tempta-
tion, and slyly put his foot under the front round of the
chair and upset her. She fell in such a position that she
could not extricate herself without his assistance ; what
followed can better be imagined than described.

PETERSBURG, 1882.

560 E. C. POMEROY.

THAT Mr. Lincoln was an eminently good man —
that he was really great in all the moral aspects of
human character, is very widely if not universally conced-
ed. That he was equally great from the purely intellec-
tual point of view, has been spoken of with more reserve.
It was not unnatural, therefore, that his extraordinary suc-
cess in political life, obtained as it was without resort to
the crafty methods of the mere politician, and without
the usual personal solicitation by himself in his own be-
half, should have been regarded by many as something
of a mystery — especially when considered in connection
with the fact that he was not supposed to be an educated
man. His success was largely due, no doubt, to his re-
markable sagacity in determining the condition of the
public mind, and in reading the signs of the times. He
seemed to have a special gift in this direction. Perhaps
it was intuition, but so largely developed in his case as
to be almost equivalent to a separate mental endowment,
giving him, as it were, one faculty more than other men
have, and bestowing upon him a corresponding advan-
tage over his contemporaries. But that he was intellec-
tually great, aside from this, is one of the most conspicu-
ous facts of his life. And it is clearly evident from the
circumstances in which he was placed, during the most
important period of his political career— being the leader
alike of a new party and a new thought — that he could
not have succeeded nor laid a foundation for success, if
this had not been a fact in his favor. Whatever he may

E C. POMEROY. 56i

have lacked in the way of education or scholarship, he
certainly did not lack knowledge, or the ability to acquire
knowledge to any extent needed at any time when want-
ed, nor the intelligence and skill necessary to use it to the
best possible advantage. There are thousands of educa-
ted men who would rejoice to have this same power, but
have it not. Such talent as this, in the field of duty to
which he was called, was an ample substitute for the
scholarship he did not- have, and out of this talent came
the giant forces which wrought his success. With these
at his command, no difficulties embarrassed him, no emer-
gencies found him unprepared, he made no mistakes, and
met with no failures.

In the stirring Illinois campaign which brought him to
the front as champion of freedom, and which resulted
two years later in making him the nominee of his party
for the Presidential office, he manifested capabilities equal
to the highest and the best. The country was filled with
able men at that time, men noted for great learning, elo
quence, skill in debate, and wisdom of management, but
it is not likely that any one could have been selected from
among them all, who would have gone through that cam-
paign, in his place, with a success and brilliancy equal to
his. And yet the performance did not seem to be in any
way difficult or extraordinary for him. It was only in
keeping — except as to its greater importance, and the
greater excitement attending it — with all his former ef-
forts in the political field. Without pretending to be an
orator, he swayed the multitudes by his eloquence as the
tempest stirs the sea ; and vanquished his opponents in
debate with the same easy grace and irresistible force of

30

562 E. C. POMEROY.

logic with which lesser fields had been won, and which
lesser foes had been taught to respect in the less trying
situations of the past, and which all parties, friends and
foes alike, were destined to admire. He wrought with-
out malice ; without personal animosity towards anybody ;
simply for his love of the right, and his hatred of the
wrong, as matters of principle ; and won the respect of
all by the fairness and candor and good temper with
which his work was done. With pleasant smiles, and
keen wit, and unanswerable argument, he cleared the path
before him, for himself and his party, and pointed the
way to a higher and better life for the nation ; and then,
stepping quickly to the front, led the nation on to
take possession of and permanently occupy that higher
ground. And this was essentially his own work from be-
ginning to end. He started it, and kept with it all the
way through, as the most capable and efficient worker of
all, and finally finished it at the end. A nobler exhibition
of mental supremacy and magnificent success, in the politi-
cal field, has not been seen on this earth. This is a strong
statement, but it is no doubt a perfectly truthful one.
If there are men now living who would withhold from him
this large credit for intellectual greatness, let them explain
how, from the condition of helpless poverty in which he was
born, and in which he continued through all the years of
childhood and youth, he could come to be the master-spirit
of the nation, and to hold its highest position of official
trust and power with such transcendent ability and faultless
wisdom, through the most trying ordeal any nation or any
ruler of a nation has ever experienced ; and do all this
without aid from any outside source except such as he

E. C. POMEROY. 563

created for himself and drew unto himself by his own ef-
forts alone, as he advanced. His known integrity and
goodness of heart were, of course, strong elements of pop-
ularity, but such success as this cannot be rationally ac-
counted for without including among its causes that most
indispensable one of all — great intellectual ability. If we
call it wisdom, it means the same thing.

Mr. Lincoln was a profound admirer of our great men
of the past. He studied their lives and made himself
minutely acquainted with their characters, and became
one of the noblest defenders of their work. Particularly
is this true with regard to the men of the Revolution.
He had imbibed their very spirit. The Declaration of
Independence was the light which lighted him on his po-
litical way. He believed in it as sincerely and devoutly
as he believed in his Bible. Its principles to him were as
sacred as any earthly thing could be. He regarded them
as of divine origin. And now, when he found that noble
instrument assailed by gifted northern orators, and
sneered at and ridiculed as containing nothing but "glit-
tering generalities," and determined efforts being made to
destroy its influence over the public mind, in order to
make more room for slavery, he was naturally roused
with indignation and inspired with eloquence in its de-
fense. He came to its defense with a magnanimity and
power no other man has shown. It would not be diffi-
cult to prove, if there were time and space, that he really
possessed many of the leading characteristics of our great
men of the past, more, perhaps, than has been manifested
by any other single American. At the same time, he was
wholly unlike them all in his intellectual methods — as

564 £• C. POMEROY.

well as in his personal appearance — and was not equal to
any one of them, probably, in those educational advanta-
ges that come from the schools. But his great soul, man-
ifesting itself by great deeds, has won for him a reputa-
tion and fame superior to all other Americans, with the
single exception, perhaps, of Washington — and he stands
before the world an illustrious example of human great-
ness, creditable alike to the men who created the govern-
ment and to the government which they created. They
made it possible for such a man to be produced ; and he
is without any exception the grandest fruit of their deep
political foresight. He was wholly American, and
wholly a United States American, of the purest and best
type : a broad-minded, big-hearted, genial-tempered prod-
uct of the prairies : with a love of country and of free-
dom and of man a thousand times more boundless than
the prairies, — as boundless as humanity. With such en-
dowments of mind and such attributes of character, it is
not to be wondered at that he could move men as they
had never been moved before ; nor is it a matter of won-
der to those who believe in an overruling Providence that
fits the man for the hour and the hour for the man, in the
great concerns of earth, that at his chief advent into pub-
lic life, the time had come for them to be so moved.

A country that has produced two such men as Wash-
ington and Lincoln during the first century of its exist-
ence--besides the large number of other great men neces-
sarily implied in the production of these two- can afford to
be well satisfied with its laurels. Washington, the Father
of Liberty and the Founder of the Republic ; Lincoln,
the Father of Freedom and the Preserver of the Re-

E. C. POMEROY. 565

public : — these might not improperly be distinguishing
titles of these distinguished men. No brighter names
than theirs shine out from the pages of history, in ancient
or modern times. The united voice of the country, and
of all countries, has given to Washington his proper
place, where he will stand, bathed in glory, forever. Lin-
coln's time has not yet come. It is too early for him to
take his right place in the undivided opinion of the world.
Another generation must pass — perhaps many genera-
tions— before he can be seen by all alike and in his true
light. When the asperities of the war are all gone, and
the memory of its bitterness has faded from the minds of
men, and the prejudices excited by its passions are at an
end — when the animosities engendered by party strife are
forgotten, and when the losses caused by the war to the
present generation are found to be an immense gain in
the future, as they certainly will be — when all of these
ameliorated conditions, in so far as they relate to him,
shall have been reached — then the memory of his great
deeds and pure life and noble character will take posses-
sion of men's minds to the exclusion of their former false
views and errors, and thus being able to look upon him
with unclouded sight, they will behold him exactly as he
was, and as he will continue to be in reputation, one of
the greatest of earth's great men.

The divine oversight and guidance of earthly affairs is
nowhere more manifest than in that portion of our
national history which relates to slavery. The nation
has been punished, as it deserved to be, for tolerating
the hideous wrong. The oppressed race has been bene-
fited, as was right that it should be, by the continuance

566 E. C. POMEROY.

of that wrung. 1 he emancipated slave comes from his
bondage better fitted for the duties of civilization and bet-
ter capable of self-support and self-improvement than any
other equal number of his race. Shall he not share these
advantages with the less-favored portion of his people ?
Shall he not be a missionary to his fellows of the " dark
continent," still suffering under a bondage more crushing
and cruel than that from which he himself has been
freed ? The bondage of ignorance and superstition by
which they are enslaved is a bondage from which they
cannot be emancipated by proclamation, but only by slow
growth in knowledge through generations of instruction.
Their period of instruction will come and growth in
knowledge follow as one of the fruits, in part at least, of
the Emancipation Proclamation issued by Mr. Lincoln ;
and in so far as they shall then be liberated from the
gross barbarism in which they are sunk, the credit of their
improved condition must proportionally be attributed to
the same cause, and will in like proportion enhance the
glory of that great act.

The far-reaching beneficence of this great man's life
character and services cannot now be realized. Believers
in the world's ultimate redemption from evil may picture
to themselves the golden glories of that millennial era and
rejoice in the contemplation of its purity and peace, but
this is the work of the imagination. Not till the era
comes shall its real brightness be seen, and not till then
shall there be men wise enough to trace the blessed in-
fluences by which it was brought about, — not till then
shall the full measure of his greatness be known to the
children of earth.

E. C. POMEROY. 567

When the freedman shall have come to his own and
can speak for himself and his race with an applauding
world to listen, men will look back over the landmarks of
human progress, recalling the mighty agencies by which
the grand result was achieved, and nowhere shall they find,
in the long, bright vista of their vision, a glory more brilliant
and beautiful and pure than that which rests upon the
name and hallows the fame of Abraham Lincoln.

BUFFALO, 1882.

568 ANDREW BO YD.

I AM glad to be recorded with the many as one who
had great love for Mr. Lincoln ; who reveres his
name and memory, and who believes that God gave him
to us for the crisis we were to pass through ; to lead us
successfully through that four years of terrible civil war
into the bright sunlight of a blessed peace, the early
dawn only of which he was permitted to see, when he
was cruelly and brutally murdered during an evening of
recreation. We question if there was ever a man holding
public office in our country who received more blame
and more praise than Abraham Lincoln while President ;
but when he died the nation staggered under the sad in-
telligence ; a cry of unfeigned sorrow went up from every
loyal breast ; even enemies had pity in their hearts ; and
from almost every hamlet throughout the world came ex-
pressions of sympathy for the loss of our good President.
Mr. Lincoln's kind and forgiving nature should never be
called in question. It was like unto the following :
" Then Peter came to him and said, Lord, how oft shall
my brother sin against me and I forgive him ? Till seven
times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee until
seven times, but until seventy times seven" I believe the
answer which Jesus made to have been the ruling spirit
of Mr. Lincoln towards his fellow-beings — friends or
enemies : for he said, with malice towards none, with
charity for all.

He was pure-hearted and pure-minded. There were
times, perhaps, in our impatience we thought him wrong,

ANDREW BO YD. 569

and wished him to do different ; but the result showed
that he was about right, and did things at the proper
time for the benefit of all concerned. It is not likely
that any man could have filled his place during the try-
ing time he was President, perhaps, without erring — with-
out displeasing many ; and it is certainly beyond doubt
that but few would have been as conscientiously just as he.
Who would have been more faithful ? He stood like the
noble pine, that can bend before the storm but will not
break. "He stood when others fell!" No matter who
was discouraged, it was not for him to be disheartened ;
or, at least, to show it. How well did he try to conceal
the burden he had to bear ; wearing a smile, and telling a
story to forget his own sorrow, and to cheer up the timid
and desponding. Mr. Lincoln has spoken and written
some of the finest sentences to be found in our language.
His speech at Gettysburg, and portions of his inaugurals,
are very superior. A few words of his last inaugural,
although written in prose, are really in rhyme.

" Fondly do we hope,

Fervently do we pray,
That this mighty scourge of war
May speedily pass away, &c., &c."

Many of his speeches abound with fine, tender, poetic
expression. His little off-hand good-bye address to his
old friends when leaving Springfield in 1861 is full of
deep pathos, and will never be forgotten.

Mr. Lincoln, with his pen — and that was law — gave
freedom to 4,000,000 of colored slaves. Mr. Lincoln was
not looked up to with any degree of awe or reverence as

570 ANDREW BO YD.

some great men have been ; but he was respected and
truly beloved by the masses of the people for his hon-
esty and justness to all ; for his amiable temper and dis-
position ; for his great kindness of heart; and for his un-
swerving integrity to the principles of free government,
and the honor of his country. He was really one of the
people, was for the people, and stood by the people. Mr.
Lincoln was half-brother to mercy and justice. Without
the rank, which is but the "guinea's stamp," he was pure
gold ; and from an apparently poor and humble sphere,
be bounded at one leap in history to the side of Wash-
ington. Both these great men showed their virtue and
wisdom through a thundering life — or death — struggle of
our country. The rising generation will outdo us in ap-
preciation of his character. The charm that lingers
about the name of the immortal Washington as the Father
of our Country, will also surround that of honest Abra-
ham Lincoln as its Saviour.

SYRACUSE, 1882.

LUCY LARCOM. 57r

TOLLING.

(April 15, 1865.)

TOLLING, tolling, tolling!
All the bells of the land !
Lo, the patriot martyr

Taketh his journey grand !
Travels into the ages,

Bearing a hope how dear !
Into life's unknown vistas,
Liberty's great pioneer.

Tolling, tolling, tolling !

See, they come as a cloud,
Hearts of a mighty people,

Bearing his pall and shroud ;
Lifting up, like a banner,

Signals of loss and woe ;
Wonder of breathless nations,

Moveth the solemn show.

Tolling, tolling, tolling !

Was it, O man beloved,
Was it thy funeral only

Over the land that moved?
Veiled by that hour of anguish,

Borne with the rebel rout
Forth into utter darkness,

Slavery's corse went out.

BOSTON, 1882.

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