2 AM A A/\ i f M f f'M ! j 1 ! HIS 1- a'i Lj ■■> L3 C> 2 ^' 'n s.v i - *v < f LINCOLN ROOM UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY MEMORIAL the Class of 1901 founded by HARLAN HOYT HORNER and HENRIETTA CALHOUN HORNER Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://www.archive.org/details/abrahamlincolnhiOObark This is number 2/. Of the COLLECTORS' EDITION of ABRAHAM LINCOLN: HIS LIFE IN ILLINOIS signed by the author /rf \(i*u^/oz^ ABRAHAM LINCOLN His Life In Illinois Dedicated to RAYMOND MASSEY, star of the stage and motion picture production of Robert E. Sherwood's Pulitzer Prize Drama, "ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS" ABRAHAM LINCOLN HIS LIFE IN ILLINOIS BEING YEAR BY YEAR INCIDENTS FROM 1830 TO 1865 Written and Compiled by H. E. BARKER Curator, the Lincoln Fellowship of Southern California -gs M. BARROWS AND COMPANY I NC ORPORATED PUBLISHERS NEW YORK Copyright 1940 by H. E. BARKER PHOTOGRAPHS PROPERTY OF R. K. O. RADIO PICTURES, INC. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Y J. J. LITTLE AND IVES COMPANY. NEW YORK cy Contents Lincoln Enters Illinois 1830 11 Lincoln's Flat-Boat at New Salem 183 i 12 Lincoln's First Printed Address 1832 13 Lincoln a Grocer, Postmaster and Surveyor 1833 15 Lincoln Studies Law — Elected to Legislature 1834 17 Lincoln and Ann Rutledge 1835 19 Lincoln in the Illinois Legislature 1836 20 Lincoln's Plea for Law Observance 1837 22 Lincoln's Letter to Mrs. Browning 1838 23 Lincoln on Patriotism and Fidelity 1839 25 Lincoln Defends a Friend 1840 27 Lincoln's Legal Acumen 1841 29 Lincoln's Courtship and Marriage 1842 31 Lincoln's First Child, Robert 1843 33 Lincoln the Politician 1845 35 Lincoln Elected to Congress 1846 36 Lincoln's Third and Last Law-Partner 1844 3^ Lincoln's Bold Stand for Justice 1847 4° Lincoln Defends His Opposition to Polk 1848 41 Lincoln Refuses Oregon Territory Governorship 1849 4 2 Lincoln's Advice to Lawyers 1850 43 Lincoln Advises His Step-Brother 1851 44 Lincoln Eulogizes Henry Clay 1852 45 Lincoln and His Youngest Son, "Tad" 1853 47 Lincoln Speaks at Peoria, Illinois 1854 49 [v] Lincoln on Slavery Extinction 1855 50 Lincoln's Tribute to Stephen A. Douglas 1856 52 Lincoln on the "Dred Scott" Case 1857 53 Lincoln Debates With Douglas 1858 55 Lincoln Discusses Free Labor 1859 57 Lincoln Speaks at Cooper Union i860 58 Lincoln's Farewell Address at Springfield 186 i 59 Lincoln's Letter to Horace Greeley 1862 60 Lincoln's Address at Gettysburg 1863 62 Lincoln's Letter to Mrs. Bixby 1864 63 Lincoln's Faith and Tolerance 1865 64 [vi] Appreciation Fuller appreciation of Lincoln is much more important to contemporary America for itself, than as mere commemora- tive duty to one of the world's greatest men. Genuine apprecia- tion can only be the fruit of understanding. Understanding of Lincoln is understanding of Americanism. Americanism actu- ally understood is Americanism preserved. So, this little book issued by the Lincoln Fellowship of Southern California on the seventy-fifth anniversary of Lin- coln's re-election to the Presidency and written by our honored member, Mr. Harry E. Barker, Research Chairman and Archi- vist of our Fellowship, is sent forth with the hope that grati- tude and devotion to Lincoln ideals may be increasingly evi- denced. And how grateful, too, we should be for the presentation, now in time of acute world crisis, of the motion picture, "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" by Robert E. Sherwood. Like Mr. Raymond Massey, portraying Lincoln in that pic- ture, we, too, are "grateful for the opportunity to contribute our share, however small, in restating the principles of democ- racy for which Lincoln lived" — and for which he must forever live in American hearts. Ralph G. Lindstrom, President, Lincoln Fellowship of Southern California. November 8, 1939 ABRAHAM LINCOLN His Life In Illinois Lincoln Enters Illinois 1830 Abraham Lincoln had barely passed the age of twenty-one when his parents decided to leave Indiana for Illinois. They had heard wonderful tales of the "Sangamo Country" and that was their goal. Henry C. Whitney says that once when he and Lincoln were in Decatur together, standing before the courthouse, "Lincoln walked out a few feet in front, and, after shifting his position two or three times, said, partly to himself and partly to me: 'Here is the exact spot where I stood by our wagon when we moved from Indiana, twenty-six years ago; this isn't six feet from the exact spot.'" Still in Macon County, about ten miles west of Decatur, his father and family settled a new place on the north side of the Sangamon River, where they built a log cabin into which they removed, and made sufficient of rails to fence ten acres of ground, and raised a crop of sown corn on it the same year. His parents comfortably settled, Lincoln struck out for him- self during the summer of 1830, working as a farm-hand, and splitting "four-hundred rails for every yard of brown jeans dyed with white-walnut bark that would be necessary to make him a pair of trousers." "When he left home," says Ida M. Tarbell in her "Early Life of Lincoln," "he went empty-handed. He had nothing in the world, not even a respectable suit of clothing. He had no trade, no profession, no spot of land, no patron, no in- fluence. Two things recommended him to his neighbors — he was strong, and he was a good fellow." Such was Abe Lincoln as he steps out from the shelter of his parents' roof, to make a place for himself in the world. [11] Lincoln s Fiat-Boat at New Salem 1831 Lincoln's first appearance in New Salem was decidedly dramatic. He, together with John D. Johnston and John Hanks yet residing in Macon County, hired themselves to Denton Offutt to take a boat load of goods from Beardstown, Illinois, to New Orleans. They met Offutt at Springfield, only to learn that he had failed to secure a suitable boat. They then pro- posed to build a flat-boat for the trip and this meeting Offutt's approval they repaired at once to Sangamon Town, on the Sangamon River, and proceeded to cut out the timbers. It took some time to build the boat and before it was finished the river had fallen considerably. Nothing daunted, they par- tially loaded their cargo and launched the boat, floating it safely down as far as New Salem where it stuck fast across the dam at the Rutledge mill. John Nicolay has this comment: "Nearly all the people of New Salem gathered on the banks above to see what might happen and to offer their advice. But Lincoln was equal to the occasion. He bored a hole in the bottom of the boat at the bow, and rigged some sort of lever or derrick to lift the stern, so that the water she had taken in behind ran out in front, enabling her to float over the partly submerged dam; and this feat, in turn, caused great wonderment in the crowd at the novel expedient of bailing a boat by boring a hole in her bottom. "This exploit of naval engineering fully established Lincoln's fame at New Salem, and grounded him so firmly in the esteem of his employer Offutt that the latter, already looking forward to his future usefulness, at once engaged him to come back to New Salem, after his New Orleans voyage, to act as his clerk in a store." [12] ,?%S«BC* ?'. * J~ Entering the "Sangamo Country.' Splitting "four-hundred rails for every yard of brown jeans dyed with white-walnut bar\ that would be necessary to ma\e him a pair of trousers!' They built a log cabin into which they moved. "Two things recommended him to his neigh- bors — he was strong, and he was a good fellow.' ■HP He, together with John D. Johnston and John Han\s, hired themselves to Denton Offutt to ta\e a boat load of goods from Beardstown, Illinois, to New Orleans. Floating the boat safely down as far as New Salem, where it stuc\ fast across the dam at the Rutledge mill. Lincoln's First Printed Address 1832 In a four-page circular, issued under date of March 9, 1832, Lincoln announced himself a candidate for the Illinois Legis- lature. In this, his first public document, he argues in favor of free education for all: "Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people can be engaged in. That every man may receive at least a moderate education, and thereby be enabled to read the histories of his own and other countries, by which he may duly appreciate the value of our free institutions, appears to be an object of vital importance, even on this account alone, to say nothing of the advantages and satisfaction to be derived from all being able to read the Scriptures, and other works both of a religious and moral nature, for themselves. "For my part, I desire to see the time when education — and by its means, morality, sobriety, enterprise, and industry — shall become much more general than at present, and should be gratified to have it in my power to contribute something to the advancement of any measure which might have a tendency to accelerate that happy period. . . . "But fellow-citizens, I shall conclude. Considering the great degree of modesty which should always attend youth, it is probable I have already been more presuming than be- comes me. However, upon the subjects of which I have treated, I have spoken as I have thought. I may be wrong ... so soon as I discover my opinions to be erroneous, I shall be ready to renounce them. Every man is said to have his peculiar ambi- [13] tion. Whether it be true or not, I can say, for one, that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellowmen, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem." [14] Lincoln a Grocer, Postmaster and Surveyor 1833 If 1832 brought disappointment to Lincoln in the failure of Offutt's store, — in his service as a soldier in the Black Hawk War, — in his failure of election to the Illinois Legislature, — and in his new venture as proprietor of a general store which was soon to involve him in a debt so difficult to pay that it became to him his "national debt," — the year 1833 brought satisfactory changes. In addition to his store business, which at this time required the help of a clerk, — Lincoln received from the Gov- ernment an appointment as Postmaster for New Salem, and the distribution of mail from the store, or by the Postmaster in person, could not fail to add to his popularity. Lincoln once said that his father taught him to work, but that "he never taught me to like it." Nevertheless, we are told on good authority that Lincoln gave part of his time this year to various odd jobs offered by his neighbors. In the autumn of this year came Lincoln's chance for finan- cial security, and he was not slow to take it. John Calhoun was then Surveyor for Sangamon County, and found himself in need of deputies. He had heard of Lincoln as an honest, intelligent, and trustworthy young man, and sent him word that he wished to appoint him as a deputy surveyor if he would accept. Calhoun was a Jackson Democrat, and Lincoln a Clay Whig. He was willing to sell his services, but not his principles, and made this known to Calhoun, who assured him the appointment entailed no political obligations. Lincoln ac- cepted and at once plunged into an intense study of surveying, assisted by his friend Mentor Graham. So closely did he apply [15] himself both day and night, that his appearance was changed and his friends feared for his health. But in six weeks he reported for duty, and to this day no recorded survey of his has been found at fault. [16] In his new venture as proprietor of a general store. He received from the Government an appointment as Post- master for New Salem, and delivers a letter to Ann Rutledge. As a captain in the Blacky Haw\ War. Friends ]ac\ Armstrong and Seth Gale are in Lincoln's Company. ^W^hK S^L Abe is asked to run for the Whig Party. Lincoln Studies Law — Elected to Legislature 1834 It was early in 1834 that Lincoln & Berry were offered a chance to sell their store to the Trent Bros.; and as the store, under their own management, seemed destined to failure, and in spite of the fact that only personal notes would be given in payment, the sale was made. But the notes came due, the Trent brothers disappeared, Lincoln's partner died, and Lincoln was left to carry the burden of debt alone. It became his "national debt," but in time he paid it in full. While keeping store he had found a set of Blackstone's Commentaries on Law, and these he continued to study assidu- ously since he had determined that law and politics should be his occupation and avocation through life. The study of Black- stone fascinated him, — so much so that he said, "The more I read the more intensely interested I became. Never in my whole life was my mind so thoroughly absorbed. I read until I devoured them." In the meantime his work as Surveyor took him into all sec- tions of the County and extended his acquaintance. Wherever he went it seemed but natural to him to lend a hand, whether in the home or in the field. His pay as Surveyor was three dol- lars per day, and this not only covered his living expenses but enabled him to pay something on his debts, and send a part of his earnings to his parents in Macon County. As the time for the August elections approached, and being conscious of his gains in acquaintance and popularity, Lincoln again announced himself as a candidate for the legislature, and followed up the announcement with a vigorous campaign throughout his district. Of the four assemblymen elected, Lin- [17] coin lacked but fourteen votes of taking the lead, and polled over two hundred more votes than the other two elected candi- dates. [18] Lincoln and Ann Rutledge 1835 The year 1835 finds Lincoln in full swing with his plans for life. Another year and he will be admitted to the bar, a full- fledged lawyer. At present he is serving his second term as assemblyman in the Illinois Legislature, then meeting at Van- dalia. His work as Surveyor is requiring more and more of his time, and he has not only met and sympathized with, but has fallen in love with Ann Rutledge. He at first concealed from Ann his growing love, but now, in the continued absence of John McNeill to whom she had engaged herself, and who no longer sought by correspondence to hold her to her promise, Lincoln dares make known his love, and has finally won from her a promise of marriage. They have made their plans. An- other year of schooling at Jacksonville for Ann. For Lincoln, admission to the bar. From there on the lovers see stretching out before them a long, long road of happiness. But Fate, Providence, or natural causes stepped in and all this brightness was changed to gloom. Ann fell ill of a fever and, after lingering in illness but a few weeks, died, on August 25, 1835. Their story has often been told. Ann's sincere love for Lin- coln may have been so mingled with anxiety over the possible return of McNeill, as to bring about her separation from Lin- coln by death. Lincoln's love was whole-hearted, and to his dying day he cherished the name of Rutledge. Too much credence should not be given Herndon's telling of this story. A far more reliable authority is Henry B. Rankin, whose mother was a personal friend and confidant of Ann's, and the telling of the story as she imparted it to her son takes from it the high-fever of Herndon's telling, but in truth keep- ing all of its sweetness. [19] Lincoln in the Illinois Legislature 1836 The study of law, with books borrowed from Major John T. Stuart, engrossed all of Lincoln's spare time in 1836. This special application was in view of his hope to obtain a permit to practice in the Courts, and this was granted him on Septem- ber 9 of that year. Even before this date he had made himself familiar with the ordinary legal forms, and without making any charge for the service, had written out contracts, notes, and deeds, for various friends in New Salem. And now that his first term in the Illinois Legislature had expired, he announced himself for a second term, made a vig- orous campaign, and was elected. As the acknowledged leader of the Sangamon County group, known as "the long nine," he has been credited with having brought about the removal of the capital seat from Vandalia to Springfield, a task that required some shrewd political man- agement. Let Carl Sandburg tell the story in his inimitable way: "And yet as a manipulator, trading, fixing, coaxing, Lincoln operated by a code of his own. An all-night session was held by the members favoring Springfield for the State capital; and Lincoln was told of a block of votes he could have if he would give his vote for a certain measure that he considered against his principles; the members went home at daybreak without having brought him their way. "A second meeting was called; again they tried to ride down Lincoln's objections; midnight came, the candles burned low, all were tired. Lincoln began speaking amid silence, seriously and with feeling, telling why he couldn't in such a case trade [20] "' ™ TE for HONEST ABE Lincoln announces himself as a candidate for the legislature. Uneasy as he awaits the coach which is to take him to V and alia, then the capital of Illinois. He not only met and sympathized with, but jell in love with Ann Rutledge. He dares make known his love, and finally wins from her a promise of marriage. Ann fell ill of a fever. After lingering in illness but a few weekj, Ann died, on August 25, 1835. y , /> • " 7 his vote. Said he, 'You may burn my body to ashes, and scatter them to the winds of heaven ; you may drag my soul down to the regions of darkness and despair to be tormented forever; but you will never get me to support a measure which I believe wrong, although by doing so I may accomplish that which I believe to be right.' " [21] Lincoln's Plea for Law Observance 1837 While yet a resident of New Salem, Illinois, on January 27, 1837, Lincoln delivered an address in Springfield, Illinois, of which this is an extract: "I know the American people are much attached to their government; I know they would suffer much for its sake; I know they would endure evils long and patiently before they would ever think of exchanging it for another, — yet, notwith- standing all this, if the laws be continually despised and dis- regarded, if their rights to be secure in their persons and prop- erty are held by no better tenure than the caprice of a mob, the alienation of their affections from their government is the natural consequence; and to that, sooner or later, it must come. "Here, then, is one point at which danger may be expected. "The question recurs, 'How shall we fortify against it?' The answer is simple. Let every American, every lover of liberty, every well-wisher to his posterity swear by the blood of the Revolution never to violate in the least particular the laws of the country, and never to tolerate their violation by others. As the patriots of '76 did to the support of the Declaration of Independence, so to the support of the Constitution and laws let every American pledge his life, his property, and his sacred honor — let every man remember that to violate the law is to trample on the blood of his father, and to tear the charter of his own and his children's liberty. Let reverence for the laws be breathed by every American mother to the lisping babe that prattles on her lap; let it be taught in schools, in semi- naries, and in colleges; let it be written in primers, spelling- books, and in almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, pro- claimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice. And, in short, let it become the political religion of the nation." [22] Lincoln s Letter to Mrs. Browning 1838 "All this while, although I was fixed 'firm as the surge- repelling rock' in my resolution, I found I was continually repenting the rashness which had led me to make it. Through life I have been in no bondage, either real or imaginary, from the thraldom of which I so much desired to be free. After all my sufferings ... I am, wholly, unexpectedly, completely out of the 'scrape,' ... no violation of word, honor, or con- science. . . . After I had delayed the matter as long as I thought I could in honor do, I concluded I might as well bring it to a consummation without further delay, and so I mustered my resolution and made the proposal to her direct; but, shock- ing to relate, she answered, No. At first I supposed she did it through an affectation of modesty, which I thought but ill became her under the peculiar circumstances of her case, but on my renewal of the charge I found she repelled it with greater firmness than before. . . . "I finally was forced to give it up, at which I very unexpect- edly found myself mortified almost beyond endurance. I was mortified, it seemed to me, in a hundred different ways. My vanity was deeply wounded by the reflection that I had so long been too stupid to discover her intentions, and at the same time never doubting that I understood them perfectly; and also that she . . . had actually rejected me with all my fancied greatness. And, to cap the whole, I then for the first time began to suspect that I was really a little in love with her. But let it all go! I'll try and outlive it. Others have been made fools of by the girls, but this can never with truth be said of me. I most emphatically, in this instance, made a fool of my- [23] self. I have now come to the conclusion never again to think of marrying, and for this reason — I can never be satisfied with anyone who would be blockhead enough to have me." {From Lincoln's letter to Mrs. Browning, April i, 1838.) [24] Lincoln on Patriotism and Fidelity 1839 "Many free countries have lost their liberty, and ours may lose hers; but if she shall, be it my proudest plume, not that I was the last to desert, but that I never deserted her. I know that the great volcano at Washington, aroused and directed by the evil spirit that reigns there, is belching forth the lava of political corruption in a current broad and deep, which is sweeping with frightful velocity over the whole length and breadth of the land, bidding fair to leave unscathed no green spot or living thing; while on its bosom are riding, like demons on the waves of hell, the imps of that evil spirit, and fiendishly taunting all those who dare resist its destroying course with the hopelessness of their effort; and knowing this, I cannot deny that all may be swept away. Broken by it I, too, may be; bow to it I never will. The probability that we may fall in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just; it shall not deter me. If ever I feel the soul within me elevate and expand to those dimensions not wholly unworthy of its almighty Architect, it is when I contemplate the cause of my country, deserted by all the world beside, and I standing up boldly and alone, and hurling defiance at her victorious 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 fearlessly adopt the oath that I take? Let none falter who thinks he is right, and we may succeed. But if, after all, we shall fail, be it so. We still shall have the proud consolation of saying to our consciences, and to the departed [25] shade of our country's freedom, that the cause approved of our judgment, and adored in our hearts, in disaster, in chains, in torture, in death, we never faltered in defending." (From a Springfield speech, December 20 , 1839.) [26] Lincoln Defends a Friend 1840 Lincoln's first law-partner was the Hon. John T. Stuart, and their office was on the second floor above the County Court- room, located in "Hoffman's Row," in Springfield. Just why a scuttle-hole was cut in the ceiling of the Courtroom is un- known, but such was the fact, and Lincoln had but to lift the board cover in his office floor and at once he could see and hear the proceedings below. On one occasion in 1840, his friend E. D. Baker was making a speech to a promiscuous crowd in the Courtroom, and Lin- coln, stretched on the floor of his office above, was taking it all in. Baker warmed with his theme, even to the point of becom- ing personally abusive, and declared that "wherever there was a land-office, there was a Democratic newspaper to defend its corruptions." "This," said John B. Webber, who told the story, "was a personal attack on my brother, George Webber. I was in the Courtroom and heard it, and in my anger I shouted 'Pull him down!'" A scene of great confusion resulted, with the promise of a general riot in which Baker was quite likely to suffer. But just at the critical moment, a pair of long legs appeared at the scuttle-hole and dangled in the air before the astonished crowd, and in an instant Lincoln was standing beside his friend Baker, one hand grasping the handle of a tall water-pitcher, and the other gesticulating for silence. "Gentlemen," said he, "let us not disgrace the age and the country in which we live. This is a land where freedom of speech is guaranteed. Mr. Baker has a right to speak, and [27] ought to be permitted to do so. I am here to protect him, and no man shall take him from this stand if I can prevent it." The startled crowd settled down and Baker finished his speech. [28] " Jmmf %• p|L ^^^^H [ 1 J ■ A JJH \ l' 1 * u #*•# a^M- zo Lincoln defends a friend. Lincoln renounces the legislature for law practice. Lincoln's fear of Mary Todd's ambition drove him to deliberately breaks their engagement. The estranged lovers were happily recon- ciled, and on November 4, 1842, were married. Lincoln s Legal Acumen 1841 In the spring of 1841, after four years of legal practise with Maj. John T. Stuart, Lincoln was invited to become the law- partner of Stephen T. Logan, who was then recognized as the foremost legal mind in the State. Lincoln wisely accepted the highly complimentary offer, and it was during this three years' association with Logan that he abandoned his rather haphaz- ard methods and adopted Logan's keen analytical search into the merits of both sides of a given case before taking it into court. It was this great legal trait, acquired and cultivated in Logan's office, that later on made him so formidable a foe in his debates with Douglas, — so worthy a foe as to cause Douglas to say Lincoln had given him more trouble than all the Abolitionists put together. And still later, when Captain Wilkes stopped the Trent on the high seas and removed the Confederate envoys, Mason and Slidell, from the protection of the English flag, Lincoln was at first inclined to take the popular view of the matter; but he calmly weighed the angry protest of the mother-country, argued her case in his own mind, and not only saw that she was right, but also shrewdly noted the tactical advantage of submission, which he quietly pointed out in these most sig- nificant words: "We must stick to American principles concerning the rights of neutrals," he remarked. "We fought Great Britain for insisting by theory and practise on the right to do precisely what Captain Wilkes has done. If Great Britain shall now pro- test against the act and demand Slidell and Mason, we must [29] give them up and apologize for the act as a violation of our own doctrines, and thus forever bind her over to keep the peace in relation to neutrals and so acknowledge that she has been wrong for sixty years." [30] Lincoln s Courtship and Marriage 1842 Two serious love affairs had disturbed Lincoln's life before he met Mary Todd, to whom he was married on November 4, 1842. Strange to say, in this last courtship, Lincoln contended with Stephen A. Douglas, his rival in legal practise, and in ambition for political honors. Because of twelve Democratic "holdovers" in the legislature, Douglas retained the Senatorship, but Lin- coln won the hand of Mary Todd, and the Presidency. During the two years of their engagement, their differences in tempera- ment led to certain "flurries." Katherine Helm, writing of this period, says, "Like most engaged lovers they had their heated disputes, jealousies, lovers' quarrels, and intervals of loving un- derstanding." But there came a date, the "fatal first of Jan- uary" (1841), when Lincoln's inferiority complex drove him to deliberately break their engagement, — being fearful that he could not give Mary Todd the happiness he felt was due her. Never had Lincoln felt such melancholy and despair as now assailed him. He wrote to his partner, Stuart, then in Congress, "I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth." This was not a broken wedding-date as Herndon claimed it to be. "There never was," says Mrs. Wallace, sister to Mary Todd, "but one wedding arranged between Mary and Mr. Lincoln, and that was the time they were married." "If such a thing had ever occurred," writes Katherine Helm, "it could not have failed to be known, of course, even to its smallest details, by all the relatives and friends of both Miss Todd and Mr. Lincoln. Nobody, however, ever heard of this wedding party until Mr. [31] Herndon gave his material to the public." But soon these estranged lovers were, by a clever ruse on the part of Mrs. Simeon Francie, brought together in her home, — were happily reconciled, and on November 4, 1842, were married. [32] Abraham Lincoln's first child, Robert. For President I! MY HARRISON. For Vice-President Lincoln was now laying his plans for election to Congress. Lincoln s First Child, Robert 1843 On August i, 1843, Abraham Lincoln's first child, Robert, was born. Through the years there has been expressed a feeling that Robert lacked appreciation of his father. On the occasion of the first meeting at Springfield, Illinois, in 1909, of the Lincoln Centennial Association, Robert Lincoln was one of the hon- ored guests, sat at the speakers' table, partook of the banquet, and then, without showing himself to the assembled guests, or uttering a word for them to hear, quietly slipped out through a side door and made his way to his private car on the Chicago & Alton tracks nearby, and retired, while the celebration in honor of his father continued on, far into the night. Robert was sensitive at being 'made over' — fearful it was being done rather on his father's account than his own. He desired above all things to be honored for his own rather than another's merits, and so he avoided rather than sought pub- licity. This incident discloses the son's true feeling towards his father. In February, 1927, Bishop Hartzell and a friend were view- ing the Lincoln Memorial, at Washington. The streets and sidewalks were covered with ice. They were standing with the Guard in front of the Lincoln statue when the Guard, in a hushed voice, motioned them behind one of the large pillars, and whispered to them that the old gentleman who was being helped up the steps by his colored servant was Robert Lincoln, the aged son of our martyred President. Mr. Lincoln dismissed his colored attendant, limped his way with the aid of his cane to the statue of his father, stood rev- erently looking up into his face for a few minutes, and then [33] fell on his knees in prayer for some time ; and rising he kissed the foot of the statue, waved a kiss to his face, and departed. That was the last time Robert Lincoln ever looked upon this marvelous image of his father, our beloved Abraham Lincoln. [34] Lincoln the Politician 1845 The Whig party in 1845 found the growing sentiment for abolition was leading many of its members away, and into the newly formed "Liberal Party." Lincoln was now laying his plans for election to Congress, and on a speaking trip to Hennepin, Illinois, was so impressed with the danger of a division in the party vote that he wrote to some prominent members of the "Liberal Party." "I was glad to hear that you intended to attempt to bring about ... a union of the Whigs proper and such of the Liberty men as are Whigs in principle on all questions save only that of slavery. So far as I can perceive, by such union neither party need yield anything on the point in difference between them. If the Whig abolitionists of New York had voted with us last fall, Mr. Clay would now be President, Whig principles in the ascendent, and Texas not annexed; whereas, by the division, all that either had at stake in the contest was lost. As I always understood, the Liberty men deprecated the annexa- tion of Texas extremely; and this being so, why they should refuse to cast thir votes so as to prevent it, even to me seemed wonderful. What was their process of reasoning, I can only judge from what a single one of them told me. It was this: 'We are not to do evil that good may come.' This general proposition is doubtless correct; but did it apply? If by your votes you could have prevented the extension, etc., of slavery, would it not have been good, and not evil, so to have used your votes, even though it involved the casting of them for a slave-holder? By the fruit the tree is to be known. An evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit. If the fruit of electing Mr. Clay would have been to prevent the extension of slavery, could the act of electing have been evil?" . . . [35] Lincoln Elected to Congress 1846 For the second time Lincoln finds himself running for office in competition with "Uncle" Peter Cartwright, the famous pioneer preacher. Lincoln lost his race for the Illinois Legisla- ture in 1832, and now in 1846 both are seeking a seat in Con- gress. In Lincoln's letters of that period he shows a political keen- ness in his plans for bringing about his nomination and elec- tion. Whitelaw Reid once said of him: "He was an ardent partisan and the most skilful master of men and all the in- tricacies of the game of politics known in his State." One of the memorable humorous tilts in this campaign was on the occasion of a public meeting where Cartwright was presiding, and Lincoln was in the audience. The good old doctor had made a comparison of heaven and hell, and asked of the audi- ence that those who expected to go to heaven would please to stand. Noticing that Lincoln was not among those that stood, he called to him: "And you, Mr. Lincoln, where do you expect to go?" In a confident voice Lincoln replied, "I expect to go to Congress." Despite the fact that the district was a doubtful one, Lincoln was elected by a handsome majority. He served but one term, as that had been agreed upon before the election. During this single term he was placed on the important Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads, and made frequent speeches from the floor of the House. Writing back to Herndon at Springfield, he said: "I find speaking here and elsewhere about the same thing. I was about as badly scared, and no worse, as I am when I speak in court." However, 1846 was but the year of election,— his services [36] as Congressman would not begin until the following year, and before he had taken his seat he wrote his friend Speed: "Being elected to Congress, though I am grateful to our friends for having done it, has not pleased me as much as I expected." [37] Lincoln s Third and Last Law-Partner 1844 After seven years of law practice as a junior partner, Lin- coln decided in 1844 to form a new partnership with himself as head of the firm, and his choice falling on William H. Herndon, a new office-room was selected and a new sign read- ing "Lincoln & Herndon" was hung at the doorway. Herndon tells with feeling of a last interview between the partners. Lincoln "threw himself down on the old office sofa which, after many years' service, had been moved against the wall for support. He lay for some moments, his face towards the ceil- ing, without either of us speaking. Presently he inquired, 'Billy,' — he always called me by that name, — 'how long have we been together?' 'Over sixteen years,' I answered. 'We've never had a cross word during all that time, have we?' to which I returned a vehement 'No, indeed we have not.' He then recalled some incidents of his early practice and took great pleasure in delineating the ludicrous features of many a lawsuit on the circuit. It was at this last interview in Spring- field that he told me of the efforts that had been made by other lawyers to supplant me in the partnership with him. . . . I never saw him in a more cheerful mood. He gathered a bun- dle of books and papers he wished to take with him and started to go; but before leaving he made the strange request that the sign-board which swung on its rusty hinges at the foot of the stairway should remain. 'Let it hang there undisturbed,' he said, with a significant lowering of his voice. 'Give our clients to understand that the election of a President makes no change in the firm of Lincoln and Herndon. If I live I'm coming back [38] some time, and then we'll go right on practising law as if nothing had ever happened.' He lingered for a moment as if to take a last look at the old quarters, and then passed through the door." [39] Lincoln s Bold Stand for Justice 1847 Congressman Lincoln, to whom justice and fair play were as the breath of life, early took a decided stand against Presi- dent Polk's message of December 7, 1847, in which he had said: "The Mexican Government refused even to hear the terms of adjustment which he (our minister of peace) was au- thorized to propose, and finally, under wholly unjustifiable pretexts, involved the two countries in war, by invading the territory of the State of Texas, striking the first blow, and shedding the blood of our citizens on our own soil." He immediately began a thorough study of the situation, and, as was his habit in handling law-cases, he justly considered the rights of both nations then at war. His conclusions were given at length in his famous "spot speech" of January 12, 1848, in which, after giving his proofs and arguments, he comments on President Polk's unhappy position: "All this shows that the President is in nowise satisfied with his own positions. First he takes up one, and in attempting to argue us into it he argues himself out of it, then seizes another and goes through the same process, and then, confused at being able to think of nothing new, he snatches up the old one again, which he has some time before cast off. His mind, taxed beyond its power, is running hither and thither, like some tortured creature on a burning surface, finding no position on which it can settle down and be at ease. . . . God grant he may be able to show there is not something about his conscience more painful than all his mental perplexity." Preliminary to this, on December 22, 1847, Lincoln had intro- duced in the House a set of resolutions demanding of the Presi- dent that he, in all fairness, show whether or not the exact spot on which blood was first shed was indeed American soil. [40] Lincoln decided in 1844 to form a new partnership with himself as head of the firm, his choice falling on William H. Herndon (extreme left). "Give our clients to understand that the election of a "President ma\es no change in the firm of Lincoln and Herndon. If I live, I'm coming bac\ . . ." m r- The Lincoln family poses for a newspaper portrait. Lincoln Defends His Opposition to Polk 1848 Congressman Lincoln's partner, Herndon, wrote him in criticism of his stand on the Mexican War. The justice of Lin- coln's reply is as timely today as when written, on February 15, 1848. ". . . Let me first state what I understand to be your position. It is that if it shall become necessary to repel invasion, the President may, without violation of the Constitution, cross the line and invade the territory of another country, and that whether such necessity exists in any given case the President is the sole judge. ". . . Allow the President to invade a neighboring na- tion . . . and you allow him to make war at pleasure. Study to see if you can Rx any limit to his power in this respect, after having given him so much as you propose. If today he should choose to say he thinks it necessary to invade Canada to pre- vent the British from invading us, how could you stop him? You may say to him, 'I see no probability of the British invad- ing us'; but he will say to you, 'Be silent: I see it, if you don't.' "The provision of the Constitution giving the war-making power to Congress was dictated, as I understand it, by the following reasons: Kings had always been involving and im- poverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object. This our convention understood to be the most oppressive of all kingly oppressions, and they resolved to so frame the Constitution that no one man should hold the power of bringing this op- pression upon us. But your view destroys the whole matter, and places our President where kings have always stood." [41] Lincoln Refuses Oregon Territory Governorship 1849 Looking forward to the end of his term in Congress, Lin- coln, in 1849, was loath to lose his hold on national politics. He had written to his partner at Springfield: "It is very pleas- ant to learn from you that there are some who desire that I should be re-elected. I most heartily thank them for their kind partiality; and I can say, as Mr. Clay said of the annexation of Texas, that 'personally I would not object' to a re-election, although I thought at the time, and still think, it would be quite as well for me to return to the law at the end of a single term. I made the declaration that I would not be a candidate again, more from a wish to deal fairly with others, to keep peace among our friends, and to keep the district from going to the enemy, than from any cause personal to myself; . . . but to enter myself as a competitor of others, or to authorize any one so to enter me, is what my word and honor forbid." He ardently desired the place of Commissioner of the Gen- eral Land Office, under the new administration, yet wrote a friend, "there is nothing about me to authorize me to think of a first-class office." A little later he wrote another friend, "I wish you to write Gen. Taylor at once, saying that either I, or the man I recommend, should in your opinion be appointed to that office, if any one from Illinois shall be." But the plum fell in the lap of Justin Butterfield, of Chicago. And now, to soothe the wrath of Illinois Whigs, Lincoln was offered the Governorship of the newly organized Territory of Oregon, but Mrs. Lincoln objecting, he wrote to his friend John Addison on September 27, 1849: "I cannot but be grate- ful to you and all other friends who have interested themselves in having the governorship of Oregon offered to me ; but on as much reflection as I have had time to give the subject, I cannot consent to accept it." [42] Lincoln's Advice to Lawyers 1850 "The leading rule for the lawyer, as for the man of every other calling, is diligence. Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today. Never let your correspondence fall behind. Whatever piece of business you have in hand, before stopping, do all the labor pertaining to it which can then be done. . . . "Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compro- mise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser, — in fees, expenses, and waste of time. As a peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough. "Never stir up litigation. A worse man can scarcely be found than one who does this. Who can be more nearly a fiend than he who habitually overhauls the register of deeds in search of defects in titles, whereon to stir up strife, and put money in his pocket? A moral tone ought to be infused into the profession which should drive such men out of it. "The matter of fees is important. . . . An exorbitant fee should never be charged. As a general rule, never take your whole fee in advance. . . . When fully paid beforehand, you are more than a common mortal if you can feel the same in- terest in the case, as if something was still in prospect for you, as well as for your client. And when you lack interest in the case, the job will very likely lack skill and diligence in the performance. "There is a vague popular belief that lawyers are neces- sarily dishonest. . . . Let no young man choosing the law for a calling for a moment yield to the popular belief; resolve to be honest at all events; and if in your own judgment you cannot be an honest lawyer, resolve to be honest without being a lawyer. Choose some other occupation, rather than one in the choosing of which you do, in advance, consent to be a knave." [43] Lincoln Advises His Step-Brother * 1851 "Dear Brother: When I came into Charleston day before yesterday, I learned that you are anxious to sell the land where you live and move to Missouri. I have been thinking of this ever since, and cannot but think such a notion is utterly foolish. What can you do in Missouri better than here ? Is the land any richer? Can you there, any more than here, raise corn and wheat and oats without work? Will anybody there, any more than here, do your work for you ? If you intend to go to work, there is no better place than right where you are; if you do not intend to go to work, you cannot get along anywhere. Squirming and crawling about from place to place can do no good. You have raised no crop this year; and what you really want is to sell the land, get the money, and spend it. Part with the land you have, and, my life upon it, you will never after own a spot big enough to bury you in. Half you will get for the land you will spend in moving to Missouri, and the other half you will eat, drink, and wear out, and no foot of land will be bought. Now, I feel it my duty to have no hand in such a piece of foolery. I feel that it is so even on your own account, and particularly on mother's account. The eastern forty acres I intend to keep for mother while she lives; if you will not cultivate it, it will rent for enough to support her — at least it will rent for something. Her dower in the other two forties she can let you have, and no thanks to me. Now, do not misunderstand this letter; I do not write in any unkind- ness. I write it in order, if possible, to get you to face the truth, which truth is, you are destitute because you have idled away all your time. Your thousand pretenses for not getting along better are all nonsense; they deceive nobody but yourself. Go to work is the only cure for your case." * John D. Johnston. [44] Lincoln Eulogizes Henry Clay 1852 In Lincoln's eulogy of Henry Clay, at Springfield, July 16, 1852, he naturally praised those qualities in his "beau ideal" of a statesman which he himself believed in, and, indeed, himself possessed. "Mr. Clay's eloquence did not consist, as many fine speci- mens of eloquence do, of types and figures, of antithesis and elegant arrangement of words and sentences, but rather of that deeply earnest and impassioned tone and manner which can proceed only from great sincerity, and a thorough conviction in the speaker of the justice and importance of his cause. This it is that truly touches the chords of sympathy; and those who heard Mr. Clay never failed to be moved by it, or ever after forgot the impression. All his efforts were made for practical effect. He never spoke merely to be heard. ... As a poli- tician or statesman, no one was so habitually careful to avoid sectional ground. Whatever he did, he did for the whole coun- try. In the construction of his measures, he ever carefully sur- veyed every part of the field, and duly weighed every con- flicting interest. Feeling as he did, and as the truth surely is, that the world's best hope depended on the continued Union of these States, he was ever jealous of and watchful for what- ever might have the slightest tendency to separate them. "Mr. Clay's predominant sentiment, from first to last, was a deep devotion to the cause of human liberty — a strong sym- pathy with the oppressed everywhere, and an ardent wish for their elevation. With him this was a primary and all-control- ling passion. Subsidiary to this was the whole conduct of his life. He loved his country partly because it was his own coun- [45] try, and mostly because it was a free country; and he burned with a zeal for its advancement, prosperity, and glory, because he saw in such the advancement, prosperity, and glory of human liberty, human right, and human nature." [46] Lincoln and His Youngest Son, "Tad" 1853 Lincoln ever showed a fondness for children. So many inci- dents have been told in proof of this that a book might easily be compiled, devoted to this subject. In his own family all four of the children were boys, and the youngest of these, Thomas, or, as he was nicknamed by his father, and always called, "Tad," was born April 4, 1853. Lincoln was an indulgent father and this youngest child, seemingly born with the very spirit of mischief in him, was loved, and petted, and scarcely ever repressed, — even on such occasions as when Lincoln and Judge Treat were engaged in playing chess, and Tad, being sent by his mother to bring his father home to supper, and not getting as prompt a response as he desired, upset the chess-board and ended the game. The Judge wanted him punished then and there, but Lincoln laughed it off, and taking Tad's hand in his, started for home. At Washington, Tad was given a pony for his own, and often rode beside his father as they went back and forth from the White House to the Soldiers' Home, where the family stayed during most of the warmer weather. He was given the use of a room in the White House, in which to fit up a minia- ture stage; a favored pet was a goat; Lincoln once telegraphed his wife, "Tell Tad the goats and father are very well — espe- cially the goats." Secretary Stanton commissioned him as a lieu- tenant, and he was fitted out in a uniform of which he was extremely proud. He once lost a ball as he played about the White House grounds, — it fell in a well; but nothing daunted, he secured from the President an order on the Chief Engineer to "Please pump the water out of a certain well which Tad will show." [47] It was Tad who gave to the executive mansion almost the only joyous note that echoed through its corridors and stately drawing-rooms in those troublous times. [48] I A ■■:■-,:..,■: Lincoln's advice to lawyers. All four of the children were boys, and the youngest of these, Thomas, or, as he was nicknamed by his father, and always called "Tad" was born April 4, 1853. "Twenty-two years ago Judge Douglas and I first became ac- quainted!' Douglas, even in defeat, remained a staunch admirer. In 1858 the famous series of debates between Lincoln and Douglas too\ place . . . large crowds gathered at the seven places of meeting. Lincoln Speaks at Peoria, Illinois 1854 Profound thought and careful preparation are evidenced in Lincoln's speech at Peoria, Illinois, October 16, 1854. ^ n tne following fragment of a long speech Lincoln may be found taking a firm stand for practical politics and statesmanship, morality and law, tolerance and patriotism. "Some men, mostly Whigs, who condemn the Missouri Compromise, nevertheless hesitate to go for its restitution, lest they be thrown in company with the abolitionists. Will they allow me, as an old Whig, to tell them, good-humoredly, that I think this is very silly ? STAND WITH ANYBODY THAT STANDS RIGHT. STAND WITH HIM WHILE HE IS RIGHT, AND PART WITH HIM WHEN HE GOES WRONG. Stand with the abolitionist in restoring the Missouri Compromise, and stand against him when he attempts to re- peal the fugitive slave law. In the latter case you stand with the Southern disunionist. What of that? You are still right. In both cases you are right. In both cases you oppose the dan- gerous extremes. In both you stand on middle ground, and hold the ship level and steady. In both you are national, and nothing less than national. This is the good old Whig ground. To desert such ground because of any company is to be less than a Whig — less than a man — less than an American. "Let North and South — let all Americans — let all lovers of liberty everywhere join in the great and good work. If we do this, we shall not only have saved the Union, but we shall have so saved it as to make and to keep it forever worthy of the saving. We shall have so saved it that the succeeding mil- lions of free, happy people the world over shall rise up and call us blessed to the latest generations." [49] Lincoln on Slavery Extinction 1855 Writing in 1855 to Judge Robertson, of Lexington, Ken- tucky, Lincoln discusses "the peaceful extinction of slavery," and the dwindling patriotism of our country. "You are not a friend to slavery in the abstract. In that speech you spoke of 'the peaceful extinction of slavery,' and used other expressions indicating your belief that the thing was at some time to have an end. Since then we have had thirty-six years of experience; and this experience has demon- strated, I think, that there is no peaceful extinction of slavery in prospect for us. The signal failure of Henry Clay and other good and great men, in 1849, to effect anything in favor of gradual emancipation in Kentucky, together with a thousand other signs, extinguished that hope utterly. On the question of liberty as a principle, we are not what we have been. When we were the political slaves of King George, and wanted to be free, we called the maxim that 'all men are created equal' a self-evident truth, but now when we have grown fat, and have lost all dread of being slaves ourselves, we have become so greedy to be masters that we call the same maxim 'a self-evi- dent lie.' The Fourth of July has not quite dwindled away; it is still a great day — for burning fire-crackers!!! "That spirit which desired the peaceful extinction of slavery has itself become extinct with the occasion and the men of the Revolution. Under the impulse of that occasion, nearly half the States adopted systems of emancipation at once, and it is a significant fact that not a single State has done the like since. So far as peaceful voluntary emancipation is concerned, the condition of the negro slave in America, scarcely less terri- [50] ble to the contemplation of a free mind, is now as fixed and hopeless of change for the better, as that of the lost souls of the finally impenitent. Our political problem now is, 'Can we as a nation continue together permanently — forever — half slave and half free ?' " [51] Lincoln's Tribute to Stephen A. Douglas 1856 When President-elect Lincoln was getting ready to leave Springfield for Washington, one of the number of articles left in the care of "cousin Lizzie" Grimsley was an old and much worn carpet bag. This contained many sheets of manuscripts in Lincoln's hand, — notes for speeches, lectures, etc., written on letter-size and foolscap paper. Many of these sheets, in the years following Lincoln's death, were given out by Mrs. Grims- ley to admiring friends, who besought her for them as me- mentos of the martyred President. One of these sheets contained his short and beautiful tribute to Stephen A. Douglas, written in 1856. While no date is writ- ten in, the time can be fixed by comparison with a sentence written by Lincoln concerning his first meeting with Douglas. He says: "I first saw Douglas at Vandalia in December, 1834." Lincoln's Tribute to Douglas: "Twenty-two years ago Judge Douglas 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 so as he — With me, the race of ambition has been a failure — a flat failure; with him it has been one of splendid success — His name fills the nation, and is not unknown even 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." [52] Lincoln on the "Dred Scott" Case 1857 In Lincoln's speech at Springfield, Illinois, on June 27, 1857, he defends himself on the charge of resisting Supreme Court decisions, and maintains his respect for law. On that occasion he said in part: "And now as to the Dred Scott decision. That decision de- clares two propositions — first, that a negro cannot sue in the United States courts; and secondly, that Congress cannot pro- hibit slavery in the Territories. Judge Douglas does not discuss the merits of the decision. ... He denounces all who question the correctness of that decision as offering violent resistance to it. But who resists it? . . . "We believe as much as Judge Douglas in obedience to, and respect for, the judicial department of government. We think its decisions on constitutional questions, when fully settled, should control not only the particular cases decided, but the general policy of the country, subject to be disturbed only by amendments of the Constitution as provided in that instrument itself. More than this would be revolution. But we think the Dred Scott decision is erroneous. We know the court that made it has often overruled its own decisions, and we shall do what we can to have it overrule this. We offer no resistance to it. "If this important decision had been made by the unanimous concurrence of the judges, and without any apparent partisan bias, and in accordance with legal public expectation and with the steady practice of the departments throughout our history, and had been in no part based on assumed historical facts which are not really true; or, if wanting in some of these, it [53] had been before the court more than once, and had there been affirmed and reaffirmed through a course of years, it then might be, perhaps would be, factious, nay, even revolutionary, not to acquiesce in it as a precedent." [54] Lincoln Debates With Douglas 1858 In 1858 the famous series of debates between Lincoln and Douglas took place. The main questions at issue were popular sovereignty and slavery extension. Large crowds gathered at the seven places of meeting, and unbounded enthusiasm was shown by either faction at each tell- ing hit on the opposition. A sharp divergence in principle marked the speeches of the contestants; Douglas, failing to recognize in slavery any moral wrong, declared he "did not care whether slavery was voted up or voted down," and said, "I have said a hundred times, and have now no inclination to take it back, that I believe there is no right and ought to be no inclination in the people of the free States to enter into the slave States and interfere with the question of slavery at all." But Lincoln, on moral grounds, opposed the extension of slavery and said: "This declared indifference but, as I must think, covert real zeal for the spread of slavery, I cannot but hate. I hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself." And further in the same speech declares: "I have no purpose to introduce political and social equality between the white and the black races. There is a physical difference be- tween the two, which, in my judgment, will probably forever forbid their living together upon the footing of perfect equal- ity, . . . but I hold that . . . there is no reason in the world why the negro is not entitled to all the natural rights, ... to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. ... I hold that he is as much entitled to these as the white man. ... In the right to eat the bread, without the leave of anybody else, which his own hand earns, he is my equal and the equal of Judge Douglas, and the equal of every living man." [55] Was either debater victorious ? Democratic hold-overs in the legislature returned Douglas to the Senate, but the popular vote in the November elections gave Lincoln a clear five-thou- sand majority. [56] "1 hold that he is as much entitled to these as the white man . . . In the right to eat the bread, without the leave of anybody else, which his own hand earns, he is my equal and the equal of Judge Douglas, and the equal of every living man." ". . . / believe there is no right and ought to be no inclination in the people of the free States to enter into the slave States and interfere with the question of slavery at all!* (Douglas) I ". . . Let us have faith that right ma\es might, and in that faith let us to the end dare to do our duty as we understand it." N?\ Abe and Mary leave Springfield for the White House. Lincoln Discusses Free Labor 1859 Lincoln touched on the subject of labor and education in his speech at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, September 30, 1859, as shown in this extract: "By the 'mud-sill' theory it is assumed that labor and educa- tion are incompatible, and any practical combination of them impossible. According to that theory, a blind horse upon a tread-mill is a perfect illustration of what a laborer should be — all the better for being blind, that he could not kick under- standingly. According to that theory, the education of laborers is not only useless but pernicious and dangerous. In fact, it is, in some sort, deemed a misfortune that laborers should have heads at all. Those same heads are regarded as explosive ma- terials, only to be kept in damp places, as far as possible from that peculiar sort of fire which ignites them. A Yankee who could invent a strong-handed man without a head would re- ceive the everlasting gratitude of the 'mud-sill' advocates. "But free labor says, 'No.' Free labor argues that as the Author of man makes every individual with one head and one pair of hands, it was probably intended that heads and hands should cooperate as friends, and that that particular head should direct and control that pair of hands. As each man has one mouth to be fed, and one pair of hands to furnish food, it was probably intended that that particular pair of hands should feed that particular mouth — that each head is the natural guardian, director, and protector of the hands and mouth inseparably connected with it; and that being so, every head should be cultivated and improved by whatever will add to its capacity for performing its charge. ... In one word, free labor insists on universal education." [57] Lincoln Speaks at Cooper Union 1860 "Holding, as they do, that slavery is morally right and so- cially elevating, they cannot cease to demand a full national recognition of it as a legal right and a social blessing. "Nor can we justifiably withhold this on any ground save our conviction that slavery is wrong. If slavery is right, all words, acts, laws, and constitutions against it are themselves wrong, and should be silenced and swept away. If it is right, we cannot justly object to its nationality — its universality; if it is wrong, they cannot justly insist on its extension — its en- largement. All they ask we could readily grant, if we thought slavery right; all we ask they could as readily grant, if they thought it wrong. Their thinking it right and our thinking it wrong is the precise fact upon which depends the whole con- troversy. . . . "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 this, then let us stand by our duty fearlessly and effectively. Let us be diverted by none of those sophistical contrivances wherewith we are so industriously plied and belabored, — contrivances such as groping for some middle ground between right and wrong: vain as the search for a man who should be neither a living man nor a dead man. . . . "Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the government, nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith let us to the end dare to do our duty as we understand it." [58] fc.-fl " ; y^ 1 0/2 the morning of February n, 1861, President-elect Lincoln stood on the platform of the car that was to convey him to Washington . . . 'Friends, one and all, 1 must now bid you an affectionate farewell. Lincoln s Farewell Address at Springfield 1861 On the morning of February n, 1861, President-elect Lin- coln stood on the platform of the car that was to convey him to Washington, and with profound feeling spoke these words of farewell to his neighbors and friends of Springfield: "Friends, no one who has never been placed in a like posi- tion can understand my feelings at this hour nor the oppressive sadness I feel at this parting. For more than a quarter of a century I have lived among you, and during all that time I have received nothing but kindness at your hands. Here I have lived from my youth till now I am an old man. Here the most sacred trusts of earth were assumed; here all my children were born; and here one of them lies buried. To you, dear friends, I owe all that I have, all that I am. All the strange checkered past seems to crowd now upon my mind. Today I leave you; I go to assume a task more difficult than that which devolved upon General Washington. Unless the great God who assisted him shall be with and aid me, I must fail. But if the same omniscient mind and the same Almighty arm that directed and protected him shall guide and support me, I shall not fail; I shall succeed. Let us all pray that the God of our fathers may not forsake us now. To Him I commend you all. Permit me to ask that with equal sincerity and faith you will all invoke His wisdom and guidance for me. With these few words I must leave you — for how long I know not. Friends, one and all, I must now bid you an affectionate farewell." [59] Lincoln's Letter to Horace Greeley 1862 Executive Mansion Washington, August 22, 1862 Hon. Horace Greeley: "Dear Sir: I have just read yours of the 19th, addressed to myself through the New York Tribune. ... If there be per- ceptible in it an impatient and dictatorial tone, I waive it in deference to an old friend whose heart I have always supposed to be right. "As to the policy I 'seem to be pursuing,' as you say, I have not meant to leave any one in doubt. "I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored, the nearer the Union will be 'the Union as it was.' If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that. What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more when- ever I shall believe doing more will help the cause. I shall try [60] to correct errors when shown to be errors, and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views. "I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free. "Yours, A. Lincoln." [61] Lincoln s Address at Gettysburg 1863 Lincoln's address at Gettysburg, November 19, 1863 — "short, short, short," as he said before its delivery it would be, — not only breathes the very essence of patriotism, but has long been acknowledged by the scholarship of the world as the most perfect example of terse and expressive English. "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. "Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. "But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate — we cannot con- secrate — we cannot hallow — this ground. The brave men, liv- ing and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people ? for the people, shall not perish from the earth," [62] Lincoln's Letter to Mrs. Bixby 1864 The present whereabouts of President Lincoln's letter of sympathy to Mrs. Bixby, of Boston, written shortly after his re-election in 1864, is unknown. Too beautiful to have been wilfully thrown away, one can only surmise that it may have been hidden away so carefully as to have never, through the years since it was written, been discovered. Should it some day appear, its commercial value being so great, there will be grave doubts as to whether the letter found is indeed genuine, or only a clever forgery. Other than the Twenty-third Psalm, and Christ's Sermon on the Mount, when did ever words so console and so hearten the reader ? Executive Mansion Washington, November 21, 1864 To Mrs. Bixby, Boston, Mass. Dear Madam: I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacri- fice upon the altar of freedom. Yours very sincerely and respectfully, A. Lincoln. [63] Lincoln's Faith and Tolerance 1865 "The Almighty has his own purposes. '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 re- move, and that he gives to both 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 speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, 'The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.' "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firm- ness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan — to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations." Closing lines of Lincoln's second inaugural address, March 4, 1863. [64]