VALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 9002 07156 0974 wm KtKS&ff&iXfZ '¦¦-:':¦:. ¦¦<:<:¦:¦('/ ¦v. YAL£ UNIVERSITY ¦¦, LIBRARY Gift of STUART W.JACKSON Yak 1898 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. [From his first photograph, taken in Chicago in 1857. The original in possession of Mrs. Harriet Chapman, Charleston, 111.] ABRAHAM LINCOLN BY CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN AXITHOK OF ¦THE BOYS OF '76" "DRUM-BEAT OF THE NATION" "MARCHING TO VICTORY' "REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC" "FREEDOM TRIUMPHANT" ETC. 2Uu0trateft NEW YORK HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE 1893 Copyright, 1892, by Harper & Brothers. AU rights reserved. Dedicates TO MY SISTER AND BROTHERS APPHIA C. LITTLE, FREDERICK W. COFFIN AND ENOCH COFFIN AND TO THE MEMORY OF MARY K. CARLETON and ELVIRA AMES SISTERS WHO HAVE PASSED TO THE LARGER LIFE INTRODUCTION. A LITTLE more than a quarter of a century has passed since the death of Abraham Lincoln. Much has been written concerning him, and doubtless much more will be written. My acquaintance with him began in his Springfield home the night following his nomination as candidate for the Presidency. It was such an acquaintance as a cor respondent of a leading journal was privileged to have with pubhc men. I saw him frequently during his Presidential term met him socially on several occasions, and walked with him through the streets of burning Richmond. In preparing this work I have visited the scenes of his early years — the spot where he was born, the sites of his Kentucky and Indiana homes, also that at New Salem, 111. From playmates of his childhood, and from those who knew him in later years, I have obtained information which may be accepted as authentic. I am especially in debted to Joseph Gentry, of Gentryville, Ind. ; William G. Green, of Tolula, and Mrs. Hill, of Petersburg, 111., for information relating to Mr. Lincoln's early years ; and to Mrs. Harriet Chapman, of Charleston, 111., for a copy of the first photograph ever taken of him. This volume is to be regarded as a sketch of the life and times of Abraham Lincoln rather than as a biography. His intellectual and moral qualities will be seen far better in the historic narration than by any analysis that might be given. The Muse of History has recognized him as the liberator of a race, redeemer of a repiiblic, and one of the great benefactors of all time. It is to be hoped that eulogy never will place him upon a pedestal or smooth out the lines that make up the true portrait of this man of the people, appointed by divine Providence to render inestimable service to his fellow-men. Chables Carleton Coffin. Boston, July, 1892. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. 1-agk Ancestry 1 CHAPTER II. Early Years 18 CHAPTER III. Life in Indiana 30 CHAPTER IV. A Citizen of Illinois 46 CHAPTER V. Life at New Salem 71 CHAPTER VI. In Public Life 88 CHAPTER VII. Riding the Circuit 102 CHAPTER VIII. Seven Years of Active Life 115 CHAPTER IX. Beginning of the Conflict Between Freedom and Slavery 134 CHAPTER X. Kansas-Nebraska Struggle 151 CHAPTER XL Nominated for the Presidency 182 CHAPTER XII. The Election, 1860 204 X -n CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIII. . PAGE Outbreak of the Rebellion 233 CHAPTER XIV. First Months of the War 256 CHAPTER XV. Autumn of 1861 274 CHAPTER XVI. Winter of 1862 290 CHAPTER XVII. Preliminary to Emancipation 312 CHAPTER XVIII. Emancipation 333 CHAPTER XIX. Darkness Before the Dawn 354 CHAPTER XX. Gettysburg 378 CHAPTER XXI. Spring of 1864 393 CHAPTER XXII. Summer of 1864 411 CHAPTER XXIII. Peace Democracy 437 CHAPTER XXIV. Re elected President 455 CHAPTER XXV. The End of Slavery 473 48? CHAPTER XXVI. Second Presidential Term CHAPTER XXVII. In Richmond .qfi CHAPTER XXVIII. The Closing Scene ^. . CHAPTER XXIX. Apotheosis „_ 527 ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Abraham Lincoln. (From his first photo graph, taken in Chicago in 185*1 ). Frontispiece. Norwich Cathedral 2 Public Square, Norwich 3 The Meadows of Norfolk 5 Hingham Meeting-house 6 Freehold Meeting-house 7 Daniel Boone 9 Captured by the Indians 10 The Site of Bryant's Fort 11 Defending the Fort 13 The Spot once occupied by the Cabin in which Abraham Lincoln was Born. (From a photograph tfcken by the author, 1890) 18 A Dutch-oven. (From a photograph taken by the author, Noliu's Creek, Ky., October, 1891) 19 The Listening Boy Hears the Wonderful Story 21 Little Mound Meeting-house, Hodgensville, Ky. (From a photograph taken by the au thor, October, 1891) 24 Site of Thomas Lincoln's Home on Knob Creek. (From a photograph taken by the author, October, 1891) 25 Points of Interest in the Early Life of Abra ham Lincoln 26 Junction of Salt River with the Ohio, where Thomas Lincoln's Boat was Capsized. (From a. photograph taken by the author, 1890) 2*7 Grave of Nancy Hanks Lincoln, Pigeon Creek, Ind. (From a photograph taken by the author, October, 1890) 28 Site of Thomas Lincoln's Indiana Home. ... 31 PAGE Learning Arithmetic Under Difficulties 33 Sarah Bush Lincoln. (From a photograph in possession of Mrs. Harriet Chapman, Charleston, 111.) 36 Site of Jones's Store at Gentryville, Ind. (From a photograph taken by the author, 1890) 37 Dennis Hanks. (From a photograph taken in 1889) 88 Two Shining Half-dollars 39 Planter's Home 41 Homes of the Slaves 42 Flat-boats 43 Making a Camp for the Night 47 " I cannot bear to see even a puppy in dis tress" 51 Places in Illinois Frequented by Abraham Lincoln 54 Sangamon River near New Salem. (From a photograph taken by the author in 1890) 55 " He stood in the auction-room where they were sold " 57 A Creole Home in New Orleans 61 The Lincoln Home, Farmington, 111. (From a photograph taken in 1890) 65 Rutledge's Mill. (From a photograph by C.S. McCuUough, Petersburg, 111.) 74 Oak-trees Standing near the Site of Berry & Lincoln's Store. (From a photograph by C. S. McCuUough, Petersburg, 111.) 77 William G. Green, October, 1890 78 George D. Prentice 79 Grave of Ann Rutledge. (From a photograph by C. S. McCuUough, Petersburg, 111.) 86 William Lloyd Garrison 92 xn ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Presbyterian Church, Springfield 97 Edward Dickinson Baker 100 Court-house, Petersburg. (From a photo graph taken by the author, 1890) 104 William Henry Harrison 109 Lucy Gilman Speed. (From a. painting by Bush, in possession of the family) 113 Seeing Slavery at its Best 117 Negro Cabins on a Kentucky Plantation. . . 119 General James Shields. (From a photo graph taken in 1861) 121 Martin Van Buren 123 Globe Tavern. (From a photograph) 124 Henry Clay 126 John Quincy Adams. (From a painting by G. P. A. Healy, in the Corcoran Gallery, Washington) 129 Lewis Cass 131 Oliver Wendell Holmes 138 Mr. Lincoln's Home. (From a, photograph taken by the author in 1890) 140 Franklin Pierce 141 John G. Whittier 143 John Brown 144 Representatives' Chamber 146 Norman B. Judd 149 John Charles Fremont 152 Roger B. Taney 154 James Buchanan 155 Horace Greeley 159 Abraham Lincoln's Inkstand 164 Leonard Swett 165 Harper's Ferry 174 William Cullen Bryant 176 Elihu B. Washburne 177 Democratic Convention, 1860 185 Benjamin F. Butler 187 Seceders' Convention, St. Andrew's Hall. ... 188 Richard Oglesby 189 David Davis 191 Edward Bates 193 Republican Wigwam, Chicago, 1860 194 Thurlow Weed 195 William H. Seward 197 Hannibal Hamlin 198 Mrs. Lincoln, 1861. (From a photograph in possession of the author) 199 William D. Kelley 200 Desk upon which President Lincoln wrote his first Inaugural 201 Lincoln & Herndon's Office in the Third Building from the Corner. (From » pho tograph taken by the author iu October, 1890) 202 The State-house, Springfield, 111., 1860. ..'... 203 Wide Awakes 205 Fac-simile of Lincoln's Letter to Grace Bedell 209 Buchanan's Cabinet 213 The Chapman House, Charleston, 111. (From a photograph taken by the author in Oc tober, 1890) 216 Jefferson Davis 218 Railroad Station, Springfield 219 John Pope 221 David Hunter 223 Raising the Flag over Independence Hall. . 228 Andrew G. Curtin 230 Edwin Y. Sumner 231 Inauguration of President Lincoln 237 Salmon P. Chase 241 Montgomery Blair 243 Henry Wilson 245 Gideon Welles 247 Robert E. Lee 249 John A. Andrew 251 Administering the Oath to Citizen Soldiers. 253 Reverdy Johnson 257 Thomas H. Hicks 259 Marshall House 261 Douglas Monument 266 George B. McClellan 269 Last Meeting between General Scott, the Cabinet, and President 271 Ulysses S. Grant 275 A Contraband Coming into Camp 281 Henry W. Halleck 291 Edwin M. Stanton 296 Francis Vinton 300 General Wadsworth 315 Hampton Roads 319 William A. Buckingham, War Governor of Connecticut 325 Edwin D. Morgan, War Governor of New York • 327 William Dennison, War Governor of Ohio . . 329 ILLUSTRATIONS. Xlll PAGE War Meeting in Washington 336 Charles F. Browne (" Artemus Ward ") 343 President Lincoln at McClellan's Head quarters 347 Ambrose E. Burnside 352 Charles Sumner 357 Henry J. Raymond 360 Joseph Hooker 364 Benjamin F. Wade 36S Owen Lovejoy 371 John Brough 384 Edward Everett 387 Gettysburg Monument 389 Thaddeus Stevens 393 General Grant Receiving His Commission. . 397 Sunday Afternoon 407 Andrew Johnson 414 Clement L. Yallandigham 417 William P. Fessenden 419 Zachariah Chandler 422 Reuben E. Fenton 433 Horatio Seymour 440 George H. Pendleton 443 Philip Sheridan 447 David R. Locke ("Petroleum V. Nasby"). . 451 Soldiers Voting 459 Oliver P. Morton 462 PACE President Lincoln and Cabinet Receiving the Cannon Captured by Sheridan 465 Passage of the Amendment to the Constitu tion Prohibiting Slavery 474 Alexander H. Stephens. ... 479 R. M. T. Hunter 481 General Grant's Headquarters 492 Key of the Richmond Slave Prison. (In pos session of the author) 498 Military Railroad, City Point 499 Parke Station 502 President Lincoln in Richmond 507 Confederate Presidential Mansion 510 House in which Abraham Lincoln Died. . . . 516 John Wilkes Booth. (From a photograph taken in 1864) 519 Mrs. Surratt's House. (From a photograph taken in 1865) 522 Diagram of the Box Occupied by President Lincoln 524 Ford's Theatre, as Draped After the Presi dent's Death. (From a photograph taken at the time) 525 Monument to Abraham Lincoln, Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, 111. (From a photo graph taken by the author in 1890). .... 529 Statue by St. Gaudens, Lincoln Park, Chicago 533 "To front a lie in arms and not to yield — This shows, melliinks, God's plan And measure of a stalwart man." James Russell Lowell. 'There are no mistakes in the universe of God."— Charles Sumner. "That God rules in the affairs of men is as certain as any truth of physical science." — George Bancroft. "The great master-spirits of the world are not so much distinguished, after all, by the acts they do as by the sense itself of some mysterious girding of the Almighty upon them, whose behests they are set to fulfil." — Horace Bushnell. " I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have con trolled me." "No human council has devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out, these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God."— Abraham Lincoln. LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. CHAPTER I. ANCESTRY. 1620. ' TpAE back in the centuries the river "YVitham, which winds through -L the lowlands of eastern England, was known as the Lindis. The town which the Romans built on the bank of the stream received the name of Lindum. When the Normans made themselves masters of England they built a castle on the top of the hill that overlooks the town and changed the name to Lincoln. (') In the course of years it became the name of a family. Possibly there were several families bearing the name in Norfolk and Lincoln counties. "We know that one such family had its home in Hingham, and that Samuel Lincoln was an infant on that day when the Pilgrims, in December, 1620, established a government of the people in America. We also know that there was an older brother, Thomas ; but it is not certain that we shall ever learn much about their parents. It seenis probable that they were obliged to work hard to obtain a living for themselves and their children. We may conclude that their home was a cottage thatched with straw. We may think of the brothers as playing in the streets, or going into the green fields and gathering daisies, listening to the larks and nightingales. They could look across the meadows and see the tall spire of Norwich Cathedral, and in the hush and stillness hear the great bell sending forth its music. Quite likely they heard their parents say that King James had died, and that his son, Charles I., was King. Then the talk Avas about troublesome times. The King maintained that he was ordained by God to rule the nation, and that it was the duty of the peo ple to obey. The bishop preached that the King could do no wrong. 1 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. NORWICH CATHEDRAL. Charles wanted money, and levied taxes without consulting Parliament The Puritans who would not pay, together with those who would not accept the ritual prepared by the bishop, were arrested— so many that the jail and the Guildhall in Norwich were filled. When the officers undertook to collect the tax in Lincoln the people pelted them with ANCESTRY. stones. The Puritans all over England were resisting the demands of the King. Possibly it was the desire of Charles to get rid of them that led him to grant a charter for a government of their own in America. The persecution of the bishop and the arbitrary acts of the King made life so bitter that thousands of Puritans were ready to quit England forever. Many of the people of Norfolk and Lincoln counties had sailed for Massachusetts ; others were ready to join them. The ships Rose and the John and Dorothy were at Yarmouth, preparing to sail. Francis La wes resolved to become an emigrant ; and it seems probable that Samuel Lincoln was ready to join his brother, who had settled in Hingham, near Boston. (2) We see them travelling across the meadows and lowlands, with others, to Yarmouth town. Together the ships sail across the Atlantic, to drop their anchors in Salem Harbor. It is probable that Samuel Lincoln, for lack of wool, did not do 1637. 111 PUBLIC SQUARE, NORWICH. [The Guildhall in which the Puritans were imprisoned is seen iu the cenlre of the picture.] ¦4 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. much weaving in the town of Ipswich, where his master settled. The only sheep in Massachusetts were a few which were pastured on the islands in Boston harbor, where the wolves could not get at them. When the apprentice became of age he joined his brother Thomas in Hingham. He had learned a trade ; it is not certain that he fol lowed it, but probably he became a farmer. A maiden named Martha became his wife; her parental name is not known. Their children were Samuel, Daniel, Mordecai, Mary, Martha, Sarah, and Re becca. (3) Startling news came that the Indians were murdering the settlers of Swanzey. It was the beginning of the war with the Pequots, under their chief, Philip. Samuel, the oldest son, seized his father's gun and powder-horn and became a soldier. A year passed, in which more than six hundred of the settlers were killed ; but the chief was dead, and his head was hanging on a gibbet in Plymouth. The captured Indians were sold as slaves to the Spaniards. Mordecai Lincoln, the while, was blowing the bellows and making the anvil ring in a blacksmith's shop. When he became of age he set up his own forge in Hull. Perhaps Sarah Jones may have influenced him in settling there, for she soon became his wife. (4) The year 1686 was a memorable one to the blacksmith, for a son was born to him — Mordecai, junior. Just before his birth the frigate Rose sailed into Boston harbor, bringing Sir Edmund Andros, who had been appointed Governor of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. He had brought over two companies of troops to aid him in upsetting the government of the people. It seems that Mordecai Lincoln could look from his shop door and see the frigate running out its guns and firing a salute, and the cannon of the castle replying. James II. had determined to overthrow the Puri tan commonwealth. The people were no longer to assemble in town meeting or make their own laws. We may be sure that the farmers who came to have their horses shod or their ploughshares sharpened, or fishermen who wanted work done, expressed their minds freely upon public affairs, and that the blacksmith had something to sav while making the anvil ring by his sturdy blows. Three years passed, and Sir Edmund Andros saw the streets of Boston suddenly swarming with armed men, who came from Cambridge, Roxbury, Hingham, Hull, and other towns, put an end to his government, and re-established their own. Blacksmith Lincoln thought the time had come when the people of ANCESTRY. 5 Massachusetts should no longer be dependent on England for iron. There was an abundant supply of ore in the bogs and meadows of Scitu- ate and Hinarham. Through his efforts a furnace was constructed, 1704 & ° and the ore dug from a bog and smelted. It was the beginning of an industry which lasted many years. His enterprise went further. He built a mill on Bound Brook, where the water tumbled over the rocks on its way to the sea. The brook at the falls was the boundary THE MEADOWS OP NORFOLK. between the colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts. It was of great service for a large section of the country in both colonies. (6) Mordecai Lincoln helped build the Hingham meeting-house. The elders decided just what seats people should occupy, and they assigned an honorable seat to him in the front gallery. He wanted his grandchildren to be well educated, and in his will bequeathed £10 to aid them in Harvard College. (") We do not know in what year the blacksmith's oldest son, Mordecai, junior, married ; neither is the maiden name of his wife to be found on any record. We only know that after the birth of a son the husband became a widower. Although Massachusetts was sparsely settled, people were emigrating from the province. Mordecai Lincoln, with his son John, made his way to Freehold, Monmouth County, N. J. The citizens of that county re garded him as being worthy of their esteem. Plannah Salter, daugh ter of Richard and Sarah Bowne Salter, gave him her hand in mar riage. Mr. Salter was a lawyer, judge, and member of the Provincial Assembly. Hannah's uncle, Captain John Bowne, was rich. He re membered Hannah Salter Lincoln in his will, giving her £250. Her husband was so greatly esteemed that in title-deeds he was styled "gentleman." He was thrifty, and purchased several hundred acres 6 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. of land. (7) He wanted more, and visited the valley of the Schuylkill, in Pennsylvania, to see for himself whether or not the lands there were as fertile and beautiful as reported. Pie was so well pleased that he resolved to become a citizen of Pennsylvania, and removed to Amity township. It seems conclusive that John did not go with his father, but re mained in Freehold, and married there. We shall see him, together with liis sons, further on.(B) Mordecai Lincoln became near neighbor to George Boone, who came from England with eleven children. He had such pleasant memories of his old home in the valley of the Exe that he named his 1717. new home Exeter, after the old town whose cathedral bells had charmed him with their music. He found that many of his neighbors were Germans who could not speak the English language. Farther down the valley of the Schuylkill the settlers were mostly from Wales, who gave Welsh names to the towns. In Gwynedd were four brothers — Thomas, Robert, Owen, and Cadwallader Evans. They could trace their ancestral line back to Lludd, King of Britain, who fought the Romans when Julius Cassar was Emperor of Rome. (') Cadwal lader was the youngest of the brothers. He became a preacher after joining the Friends. Before leaving England he married Ellen Morris, of Bryn Gwyn, which means White Hill. They had a beautiful and queenly daughter, Sarah. We need not think it strange that John — -rKj^ HINGHAM MEETING-HOUSE. ANCESTRY. FREEHOLD MEETING-HOUSE. Hanks, of Whitemarsh, found pleasure in her society and asked her to be his wife. The autumn leaves were changing, and there was glory on the hills, October 12, 1711, when John Hanks and Sarah Evans stood before the 1711 com?regation of Friends, in Gwynedd, he promising to love and honor her as a husband, she to be a true and faithful wife. The clerk who recorded the marriage put John down as "yeoman," and Sarah as "spin ster." ('") Their home was in Whitemarsh. Children made it musical with their prattle — John, William, Samuel, Jane, and Elizabeth. The eldest reaches manhood, marries — whom we do not know ; but he finds a home in Union town ship, on the west bank of the Schuylkill. His neighbor is John Lincoln, from Freehold. Across the river are the homes of Mordecai Lincoln and George Boone, and that of his son, Squire Boone. Settlers were building their homes in the surrounding country, but there were still vast reaches of forest abounding with game. One of Squire Boone's sons — Daniel — found great pleasure in listening to the singing of the birds, the chattering of squirrels. He loved hunting, and before he was ten years old could bring down a deer when it was upon the run. His parents allowed him to go out alone, for on dark and cloudy days he could keep the points of compass, and was never in dan ger of being lost. One night he did not return. The second night came, and Daniel was still absent. His father and the neighbors searched the woods, and found that he had built a camp, killed a deer, kindled a fire, and was broiling venison for his dinner. (u) A warm friendship sprang up between the Boone, Lincoln, and Hanks families. They were on the frontier ; many of the settlers around them could not speak English. It does not appear that Mordecai or' John Lincoln ever joined the Friends, and it is not certain that George Boone was a member of the society ; but they attended the meetings, and all lived together in brotherly love. Mordecai Lincoln, in his last will and testament, appointed George Boone to assist in settling the estate. He 8 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. had many hundred acres of land. He bequeathed 1000 acres to be di vided between Mordecai, junior, Thomas, and Abraham; 100 to Ann and Sarah, the children of Hannah Salter Lincoln ; and 300 acres to John, the eldest son, born in Massachusetts. (" ) A fever of unrest was upon the people of Pennsylvania, causing them to move southward, through Maryland, across the Potomac, into the valley of the Shenandoah, and settling upon lands which George Washington had surveyed. John Hanks, junior, and John and Thomas Lincoln sold their farms in Union, made their way across the Potomac River, and settled near Harrisonburg, Va. Squire Boone, with his family, went farther south, and settled at Holman's Ford, on the Yadkin River, not far from Wilkesborough, N. C. It was a memorable year in the history of America ; for while these families were seeking new homes, the flag of France was giving place to England's banner at Quebec. The settlers along the frontier who had been disturbed by the Indians could lie down at night and sleep in peace. When John Lincoln's eldest son, Abraham, born in Pennsylvania, be came of age, he left the Harrisonburg home to visit his friends, the Boones, in North Carolina, where he made the acquaintance of Mary Shipley, who became his wife. (1S) He built a cabin, and opened a farm on the banks of the Yadkin. Daniel Boone knew there was a beautiful country beyond the mount ains westward. In 1748 Thomas Walker and three others had dis covered a remarkable gateway in the mountains, which they called Cumberland Gap, in honor of the Duke of Cumberland, Prime-minister to King George. They beheld a beautiful region, abound ing with game. It is not surprising that Daniel Boone resolved to explore it. With four companions he passed through Cumberland Gap and travelled many miles beyond, finding meadows waving with grass, the haunt of buffalo and deer. He and one of his companions were captured by the Indians, but made their escape. When they returned to their camp the other two men were gone. They never knew what became of them. Boone remained so long that his family became alarmed. His younger brother, accompanied by another man came in search of him. Daniel, instead of returning, sent him back to tell his friends that he was safe ; he was to return with powder and bullets Three months went by before the younger brother came. Daniel was alone the while. He knew the Indians would be glad to capture him • ANCESTRY. 9 but he knew their wiles, and eluded them. After being absent nearly a year, he returned to his home. People were crossing the mountains to make their homes in Ken tucky. Daniel Boone organized a company of fifty, who made a settle ment at Boonsborough. The Revolutionary War had begun, and the Indians were being supplied with arms and ammunition by the British at Detroit. The settlers built a fort, which was often beset by the Indians. They captured Jemima Boone, and Elizabeth and Frances Cal laway, who were seized while in a canoe on the Kentucky River. The people in the fort heard their cries and started in pursuit of the Indians, 1775. DANIEL BOONE. 10 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. CAPTURED BY THE INDIANS. who were hurrying their captives towards the Ohio River. Boone, with several others, followed in pursuit. When night came they were obliged to halt, but at daylight were pressing on once more. Boone had roamed the forest so long that he could easily keep the trail. When the sun ANCESTRY. 11 went down the second clay he knew the Indians were not far in ad vance. With the first flush of daylight on the third day the pursuers were hastening on. Noiselessly, no one speaking above a whisper, they glided through the woods. Suddenly, at a sign from Boone, they drop upon the ground, for just ahead a fire is blazing, and the Indians are broiling their breakfast of venison. Four of the pursuers are to fire when Boone gives the signal ; the other three, with himself, are to be ready to encounter the remaining Indians. Four rifles flash, and then u.^> THE SITE OF BRYANT S FORT. with gleaming knives all rush forward. Four of the Indians have fall en ; the others are fleeing, leaving the three girls unharmed and over whelmed with joy at their rescue. The tide of emigration to Kentucky was increasing. A second fort was constructed near Lexington ; a third was built by Joseph Bryant and his companions five miles distant. They made a mistake in not enclosing a spring of water. No well had been dug, when the place was suddenly besieged by several hundred Indians. The settlers had plenty of food, but no water. They knew the Indians Avere secreted in the bushes near the spring, and if a man were to go for water he Avould be killed. It Avas thought if the women and girls were to go with buckets, the Indians Avould think they had not been discovered, and would not harm them. The brave - hearted Avi\'es and daughters Avent down the path chattering and laughing, filled their buckets, and returned to the fort unharmed. Two men mounted on fleet horses 12 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. dashed out from the gateway, and rode so swiftly that before the Ind ians could recover from their surprise they were beyond the reach of their rifles, riding to Lexington to give the alarm. The Indians began the attack; the settlers' rifles flashed in return. The Avomen Avere as brave as the men ; the}'' moulded bullets, cared for the wounded, encour aged their husbands, and assisted in every possible way in maintaining the defence till reinforcements came and compelled the Indians to flee. The hardships of a journey of 500 miles on horseback did not deter Abraham and Mary Shipley Lincoln from leaving their home on the Yadkin to establish a neAV home in Kentucky. They had three children, Mordecai, Josiah, and Thomas, the last a babe in the arms of the mother. They settled near Bear - grass Fort, a short distance from Avhat is now the City of Louisville. ( ,4) The Avar with England Avas over, but the Indians Avere angry because the settlers Avere taking possession of their hunting-grounds. It Avas a pleasure to them to creep stealthily through the forest, come upon the unsuspecting white man, bring him down with a bullet, and take his scalp. Abraham Lincoln Avas at work in the clearing vnth his three boys— Mordecai, ten years old ; Josiah, eight ; and Thomas, six. A bullet fired by an Indian pierced his heart. The scene is one for a painter : Mordecai running towards the cabin, animated by a great re solve ; Josiah fleeing toAvards the fort ; and the Indian who had fired the fatal bullet seizing Thomas by the arm to lead him away. Sud denly a rifle flashes and the savage falls, shot dead by Mordecai. (,8) Such was the tragedy in the life of Mary Shipley Lincoln. She was a widow with five young children, for tAvo daughters had come to the cabin home. She did all that she could for them. No schools had been established in Kentucky, and her children grew to manhood and woman hood without any opportunity to obtain an education. The Lincoln family through all the generations had been on the frontier of civilization. FeAV of the ancestors of Thomas had ever at tended school. Their education Avas not from books, but from the hard ships of life. They had lived righteous lives, and transmitted to their children successively the inheritance of the manly character and Puritan faith bequeathed by the Aveaver apprentice. Under the law of entail in Kentucky the eldest son inherited the estate of a father, and so Morde cai Lincoln came into possession of the farm, and Josiah and Thomas must begin life in poverty. We have seen John Lincoln and John Hanks settling side bv side in the Shenandoah Valley. The children of Abraham Lincoln Avere in DEFENDING THE FORT. ANCESTRY 15 Kentucky. It is not strange that the descendants of John Hanks should also be there. Joseph Hanks had emigrated to Kentucky. He Avas a carpenter of Elizabethtown. Shall Ave think it strange that Thom as Lincoln, Avho Avas Avorking Avith him, found pleasure in the so ciety of his nieces — Lucy, Elizabeth, Polly, and Nancy Hanks ? • Nancy was tall, dark -haired, comely, dignified, and Avinsome by her grace and kindness. She seemed at times as if looking far away — seeing what others did not see. She had attended school in Virginia, and stood upon a higher intellectual plane than most of those around her. The Bible was read morning and evening, and her conduct Avas in accordance Avith its precepts. She Avas on the frontier, Avhere feAV books were to be had to satisfy her thirst for knowledge, and where there Avas httle intellectual culture. Through the summer days she heard the mourn ful cooing of the ring-doves, the mimicry of the mocking-bird, and the tender notes of the hermit-thrush in the forest. In Avinter the voices were harsh and discordant — the barking of foxes and the howling of wolves. Her eyes, so sad at times, looked into an uncongenial present and unpromising future. Thomas Lincoln Avas twenty-eight years old and Nancy Hanks twen ty-three Avhen they were united in marriage by Rev. Jesse Head. Their first home was a cabin in Elizabethtown. (ia) They had but few articles for house-keeping, but Thomas Lincoln Avas a kind and loving husband, and she a helpful wife, ever regardful of his happiness and welfare. A daughter was born to them in this uncongenial home. As their ances tors had done, they turned to the Bible for a name, and selected Sarah — the princess. (") NOTES TO CHAPTER I. (') "History of Liucolnsb ire." (!) "The Original List of Persons of Quality — Emigrants from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700," edited hy John Camden Hutton, p. 290. (3) Samuel Barnard Eliot, iu "Cincinnati Gazette," October 6, 1882. (4) George Lincoln, in "Boston Transcript," January, 1892. (5) Ibid. (6) Will of Mordecai Lincoln, Plymouth, Mass., "Records." ('•) Samuel Shackford, in " Chicago Tribune," April 14, 1883. (8) Ibid. (9) H. M. Jenkins, "Historical Collections of Gwynedd," p. 143. (10) Ibid., p. 110. (" ) Cecil B. Hartley, " Life of Daniel Boone." ( ,!) Samuel Shackford, iu " Chicago Tribune," April 14, 1883. (I3) Ibid. 16 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. (14) Ibid. (,s) Nicolay aud Hay, "Abraham Lincoln: A History," "Century Magazine," No vember, 1886. (,6) Ibid. (") President Lincoln knew very little about his ancestry. In a letter written in 1848, he said : "My grandfather weut from Rockingham County, Va., to Kentucky, about 1782, and two years afterwards was killed by the Indians. We have a vague tradition that my grandfather went from Pennsylvania to Virginia; that he was a Quaker. Further than that I have never heard anything." It has long been known that the first emigrants from England bearing the name of Lincoln came from Hingham, England, and settled in Hingham, Mass. Recent investi gations show that Thomas Lincoln became an emigrant in 1633 ; that liis younger brother, Samuel, apprenticed to Francis Lawes, landed at Salem, Mass., 1637 ; that he was eigh teen years of age, aud subsequently settled in Hingham, and was the ancestor of the Pres ident. The maiden name of his wife was Martha, but her family name is not known, Their children were : 1. Samuel, born August 25, 1G50. 2. Daniel, born January 2, 1653. 3. Mordecai, born June 19, 1655 ; died in infancy. 4. Mordecai, born June 14, 1657. 5. Mary, born March 27, 1662. 6. Thomas, born August 20, 1664. 7. Martha, born December 11, 1667. 8. A daughter, born August 3, 1669 ; died in infancy. 9. Sarah, born June 17, 1671. 10. Rebecca, born March 16, 1674. The fourth son, Mordecai, born in 1657, became a blacksmith. He married Sarah Jones, of Hull, daughter of Abraham Jones, of whom he learned his trade. The shop was on a point of land which projects into Boston harbor. It seems probable that the set tlers in that vicinity may have been fishermen rather than farmers. He subsequently lived in Hingham, and with his elder brother Samuel was employed, in 1679, in building the meeting-house, still standing (1892) in Hingham. His father, Samuel, aud himself paid taxes in that town in 1680, and the blacksmith was assigned a seat iu the front gallery. It is probable that he moved into Cohasset, the adjoiuing town, about 1700, and with his neighbors established iron-works and built a mill. He died in 1727. His grave is in the cemetery in North Scituate. Children of Mordecai and Sarah Jones Lincoln : 1. Mordecai, born April 24, 1686. 2. Abraham, born January 13, 1689. 3. Isaac, born October 21, 1691. 4. Sarah, born July 27, 1694. 5. Elizabeth. 6. Jacob. It seems that the two last-named were children of a second wife. The will of the iron-founder was made iu 1727, aud Jacob was sixteen years of age at the time. Mordecai Lincoln, junior, born 1686, was the ancestor of President Lincoln. No record of his marriage has been found. AVe only know that he emigrated to Freehold Mon mouth County, N. J., accompanied by his brother Abraham, and that he had one son John. He was married to Hannah Salter, of Freehold, before 1714 — the date of his uncle's will, which bequeathed to Hannah Salter Lincoln £250. It appears that he moved to Amity township, Pa., and became near neighbor to George Boone. His will bears ANCESTRY. 17 date February 22, 1735-36, providing for Johu, Mordecai, Ann, Sarah, and a posthumous child which was named Abraham. John Linooln, born in Massachusetts, ancestor of the President, married and resided in Freehold, but moved to Union, Pa., iu 1758, where he was assessed for taxes. His children were Thomas, Abraham, Isaac, aud Jacob. It is probable that all his children were born at Uuion, and that he moved to Virginia in 1759. Abraham, his second son, joined the family of Squire Boone at Holman's Ford, eight miles from AA'ilkesborough, N. C, where he married Mary Shipley. Their children were Mordecai, Josiah, Thomas, born in North Carolina, aud Mary and Sarah, born at Bear- grass Fort, Ky. The paternal line of desceut is : 1. Samuel ; 2. Mordecai ; 3. Mordecai ; 4. Johu ; 5. Abraham ; 6. Thomas ; 7. Abraham — President. The maternal ancestry of President Lincoln cannot to a certainty be traced continu ously from his mother, Naucy Hanks, back to John Hanks, who married Sarah Evaus, of Gwynedd, in 1711. It is very probable that the mother of the President was a descend ant of their son John, who settled iu Union township, Pa., and who probably moved to Rockingham County, Va., iu 1759. Presumably Nancy Hanks was his granddaughter. It appears that Johu Hanks, who lived in Whitemarsh, made his will December 12, 1730. It was admitted to probate in May, 1731. His wife was executrix, and he mentions seven children. From the records of marriages among the Friends of Gwynedd, it seems that Sarah Evans Hanks, widow, married Thomas Williams, widower, of Montgomery township, Pa. The witnesses of the marriage were her seven children. — "Historical Collections of Gwynedd," p. 116. Mrs. William Parker Faulke, in "Historical Collections of Gwynedd," informs us that Sarah Evans was the daughter of Cadwallader Evans, who, with three brothers, emigrated from Merioneth County, in AYales, which, together with Montgomery, Flint, Denbig, Carnavon, and Anglesey constituted the ancient Gwynedd. The Evans family occupied an exalted position. Their ownership of land extends back to the twelfth century. The genealogical line has been traced to Mervyn Vrych, King of Man, who married Essylt, daughter of the King of Wales, in 820, both of whom traced their ancestral line to Lludd, King of Britaiu, who resisted the Roman invasiou. It does not appear that any of the paternal ancestors of President Lincoln iu Pennsyl vania belonged to the Society of Friends, but rather that they attended the religious meetings of the Friends, and lived in harmonious relations with them. It seems probable that John Hanks, of Whitemarsh, joined the society, aud that his son John remained a Frieud ; but his nieces, who emigrated to Kentucky, were not Friends. Ou the paternal and maternal side it was a religious ancestry. — Author. 2 18 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. CHAPTER II. EARLY YEARS. 1809. THOMAS LINCOLN selected a quarter -section of land situated on Nolin's Creek, near Hodgensville, for a farm. The site chosen for his home was near an ever-flowing spring of pure, cool, refreshing water, issuing from a cleft in a rock shaded by forest trees. Asters, columbines, and other flowers bloomed around it, drawing their moisture from the crystal fountain. We may justly infer that the carpenter could not earn much money by working at his trade. Not many mills had been built for sawing lumber, and consequently the time had not come for erecting frame-houses. A log-cabin could be easi ly constructed by the set tler himself felling the trees and notching the logs. His neighbors would manifest their friendship by coming to the "roll ing," lifting the logs that Avere to form the cabin Avails, and partaking free ly of the Avhiskey pro vided for the occasion. The OAvner of the house could lay the stones for the fireplace and hew the timbers for the floor. The cabin built by Thom as Lincoln had but one room. The floor was not laid, no glass had been purchased for a windoAV or boards provided for a door, Avhen it became the home of the family. ' THE SPOT ONCE OCCUPIED BY THE CABIN IN WHICH ABRAHAM LINCOLN WAS BORN. [From a photograph taken by tho author, 1890. The stones at the foot of the pear-tree mark the locality of the fireplace.] EARLY YEARS. 19 The Avife had not many utensils for house - keeping — probably a Dutch-oven, frying-pan, a feAV tin dishes, Avooden plates, and a bucket. None of his ancestors could have ever lived in a home more destitute of needed articles or one more cheerless. Perchance the cabin of his father on the Yadkin or that at Bear-grass Fort may haA'e been but little bet ter; but the home of Mordecai, the iron-founder of Scituate, and that of Mordecai, the land proprietor of Freehold and Amity, were palaces in comparison Avith this habitation. Shall Ave conclude that inability to acquire wealth or that intellectual decadence are the natural outcome of the ad verse circumstances of life on the picket -line of civilization? It is not probable that the grandfa ther or father of Thomas Lincoln had much opportunity to attend school. Theirs was a limited education. The owner of the home on Nolin's Creek did not know the letters of the alpha bet until taught them by his devoted Avife. Hoav shall we account for the gradual Avaning of intellectual endoAvment in the genera tions betAveen the active and energetic "gentleman," the landed pro prietor of Freehold, and the unambitious carpenter of Hodgensville ? Though the roots of the husband's ancestral tree reached down to Puritan England, and, on the part of the Avife, to the days Avhen a King of Britain confronted imperial Eome, nature gave no intimation, through hereditary descent, of the coming of one Avho should be a re deemer to millions of his felloAV-men. The evolution had been doAvn- Avard rather than upAvard. No prophetic voice Avhispered of coming greatness ; no sign appeared ; no star rested above the cheerless cabin by Eock Spring, in which, February 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln, son of Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, Avas born. To keep out the snoAV and rain possibly the skin of a bear may have hung across the doorway of the cabin, or that of a deer over the open ing left for a window ; but the Avintry Avinds had free access through the unplastered crevices betAATeen the logs. Here the mother folds in her A DUTCH-OVEN. [From a photograph taken by the author, Nolin's Creek, Ky., October, 1891.] 20 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. arms her infant son. Here she attends to her household duties — living the routine of drudgery, baking the corn-bread, frying the bacon, dress ing the skins of the deer brought doAvn by her husband's rifle, making his clothing, carding cotton and avooI to obtain a dress for herself and garments for her children. It was not a difficult matter for Thomas Lincoln to obtain meat for his family, as the woods abounded with deer and wild turkeys. It was more of a task to obtain corn. When obtained, it must be taken to Mr. Hodgen's mill for grinding. What other home surpasses this in exhibi tion of pathetic scenes ? Another child came, to live only a few hours. Nancy Hanks Lincoln — queenly in personal appearance, imperial in her aspirations — attends to her wifely duties. The day begins and ends Avith religious service. The cultured wife reads the Bible to the uncultured husband. His lips utter the prayer. The Puritan instinct in the hus band has come doAvn through the successive generations from the Hing ham straw-thatched cottage in old England, and in the wife from the Friends' home on the white hills of Wales. In the gloaming, Avhen work for the day is done, the mother tells the stories of Abraham, Moses, David, and the Child of Nazareth. The horizon of her life Avas Avider than the walls of her home. That her kind-hearted husband might be more than he Avas to her, himself, and his fellow-men, she taught him the alphabet ; but he never was able to construct sentences. She showed him how to Avrite his name, but his proficiency Avith the pen ended Avith that attainment. The iron Avhich had given vigor to his ancestors seems to have been Avanting in his blood. Little did this mother know how deeply her lessons of truth and virtue went doAvn into the heart of her listening son ; how in the fulness of time the germs would put forth their tender shoots ; how her OAvn spirit would reap pear in his, and the beauty of her soul glorify his life. She had few opportunities to gratify her longings or enlarge her sphere of usefulness. Occasionally a preacher came to the log meeting house at Little Mound to hold services on Sunday. Like her OAvn home it had no floor. Logs split in halves served for seats. Public spirit in HodgensviUe had erected the building, but had not provided glass for the windoAvs. To this meeting-house, located three miles from the Lin coln home, settlers came from far and near— parents and children on foot or on horseback. It Avas not only a place for religious service, but the news exchange, Avhere, before and after the sermon, they could hear what was going on in the community and in the world outside of Nolin's Creek. At Little Mound young men could look into the faces of the THE LISTENING BOY HEARS THE WONDERFUL BTORY. EARLY YEARS. 23 maidens, thinking possibly quite as much of their charming countenances as of the heads of the preacher's sermon. Abraham Lincoln, five years old, Avas not unmindful of Avhat he saw and heard in Little Mound meeting - house, for usually, after reaching home, he mounted a stool and preached a sermon of his OAvn, shouting in imitation of the minister, and pounding the table with his little fist. He especially liked the Eev. David Elkin. The preacher may have seen something in Thomas Lincoln's boy that attracted his particular atten tion. It may have been the purity, earnestness, and sadness of the mother's countenance reproduced in the face of the son ; perchance the boy asked him questions Avhen he stepped doAvn from the pulpit to shake hands with the father and mother. Whatever the mutual attraction may have been, David Elkin and Abraham Lincoln became fast friends. It is plain that the settlers of HodgensviUe had no very exalted ideas concerning the education of their children. No school-house had been provided when Zachariah Einey proposed to open a school. He Avas a Eoman Catholic priest, Avho travelled through the settlements teach ing a few weeks in a place. The people were too poor to pay him much money, nor Avas it much that he could teach. The children of HodgensviUe and along Nolin's Creek, those living at Little Mound, boys and girls verging upon manhood and womanhood, flocked to the cabin which served for a school -house. The teacher had only a spell ing-book containing easy lessons for reading. Quite likely the young men were somewhat chagrined when Abraham Lincoln, five years old, marched to the head of the class. His mother had been his teacher. Thomas Lincoln made no headway in paying for his farm. He tried to better his fortune by bargaining for 200 acres of land on Knob Creek, seven miles from Nolin's. He built a cabin, but it was little bet ter than the one he abandoned. (') Another teacher came — George Hazel — who, like Einey, had only a spelling-book. When the most advanced pupils finished it, he started them once more in Avords of one syllable. (2) No other book was studied. He did not teach writing. We ha\Te seen Thomas Lincoln's oldest brother inheriting all the property of their father's estate; The law of entail was no longer in force, but the titles of land which had been granted by Virginia to in dividuals before Kentucky became a State Avere not always clear. Set tlers, after building their houses and improving the land, frequently found thev Avere not the legal OAvners of the property. Under such a condition of affairs people were moving to Indiana, Avhere they could buy land for $2 an acre, and obtain an unclouded title from the United States. Slavery 24 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. existed in Kentucky. Poor men were conscious of an assumed supe riority on the part of those who owned slaves. The lands in Indiana were fertile. It was a free State, in Avhich rich and poor alike Avere respected. Thomas Lincoln, in common with many others in Ken- LITTLE MOUND MEETING-HOUSE, HODGENSVILLE, KY. [From a photograph taken by the author. October, 1891.] tucky, resolved to live where there would be no distinction between rich and poor, and Avhere he would have a better chance to get on in the Avorld. He had bargained for the Knob Creek farm, built a cabin, dug a well, and cleared a portion of the land. He Avas fortunate enough to find a settler who Avould purchase the improvements. He took in payment 400 gallons of Avhiskey, which Avas every Avh ere a marketable commod ity. (3) Nearly everybody drank spirituous liquors, in accordance Avith the custom of the times. Instead of being disreputable to drink, it Avas regarded as ungracious not to drink, especially Avhen invited to do so. Only when people became senseless or quarrelsome Avas the drinking regarded as harmful. Next to silver coin, Avhiskey came nearest to being legal tender in business. At the junction of Knob Creek with Soiling Fork, Mr. Lincoln constructed a boat. The barrels of liquor were placed on board, too-eth- EARLY YEARS. 25 er with his carpenter's tools. Without any mishap he floated doAvn Boiling Fork to Salt Eiver, and Avith the current of that stream to the Ohio, Avhich had overfloAved its banks. Suddenly his frail craft Avas cap sized in the swirling Avater, and Avhiskey and tools went to the bottom of the river. He swam to the shore and stood penniless upon the bank ; but Avhen the Avater receded, a few days later, he regained his prop erty, obtained another boat, and floated doAvn the Ohio to Thompson's Landing. Leaving his property in a storehouse, he went northward twenty miles through the forest to Pigeon Creek. He was charmed with the country. The soil was fertile. Mr. Gentry had built a cabin ; other settlers were selecting lands. He made choice of a quarter- section, and travelled seventy miles to Vincennes to enter his claim, and returned to Kentucky. The November winds were rattling the acorns and walnuts to the ground, and the ripened leaves were falling, when the family moA^ed to Indiana. The nights were cold. No shelter had been provided. The late autumn rains Avere setting in. It was only a "camp" that the carpenter could build, one side of which was open to the weather. (4) The hard-working wife, as in the floorless cabin at Nolin's Creek, baked the corn-bread and Avent on with the making and mending. It seems probable that while occupying this camp she taught Avriting to Abraham. We know that George Hazel did not teach it, but further on we shall see Abraham Avriting a letter to a friend in Kentucky. SITE OP THOMAS LINCOLN'S HOME ON KNOB CREEK. [From a photograph taken by the author, October, 1891. The well dug by Thomas Lincoln is seen in the centre of the picture.] 26 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Okntr^yilk iDUBO/S -.CRAWFORD Is— , A limcolnj P+cra vet OF A Ijouis ?fransriille£$! 3S> ~~30M POINTS OF INTEREST IN THE EARLY LIFE OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN. iSPEfNCEfT-/ C()H. Through the winter carpenter Lincoln was hewing timber for his future home, which was to be something more than a cabin. Although there would be but one room on the ground, he would build the Avails high enough for a loft, which would give sleeping accommodations to Sarah and Abraham. Built of hewn logs, it would be palatial in com parison Avith his former homes. Picture it as we may, we shall not be able to portray the desolateness of the winter passed in the Pigeon Creek camp, and the Aveariness of spirit on the part of one endowed as Avas the mother to adorn a palace. We are not to think thai; Thomas Lincoln was idle, nor that he Avas altogether shiftless. He was in pov erty. The family must have food. A home must be built. The ground must be cleared for planting corn. There is no evidence that he was idle. Other settlers, more industrious than he, could not accumulate much property in a section of country covered by a dense forest. Many sturdy bloAvs must be giA^en with the axe before he could complete his house and clear the ground for raising corn. The new home Avas not finished when the family moved into it — the floor not laid, no boards provided for a door. The moving was hastened by the arrival of Thomas Sparrow, whose wife was Mrs. Lincoln's sister. Dennis Hanks, a nephew, came with them. Without doubt it was a glad day when they arrived, but the joy was quickly changed to mourning. A few weeks later Mr. and Mrs. SparroAv Avere borne to their graves. Sickness, which became epidemic, appeared throughout southern Indiana, attacking cattle and human beings alike, caused, as is supposed, by herbs which poisoned the milk of the cows. The physi cian had no counteracting medicine. The illness was brief ; the result, in most cases, fatal. Nancy Hanks Lincoln was thirty-three years old. Life as found by 1818. EARLY YEARS. 27 her had presented few attractions. It seems probable that not much sunshine fell across her path, even during her girlhood, in Virginia. She had been dependent upon friends for a home. By circumstances beyond her control she had been compelled to accept uncongenial life on the frontier. Her aspirations were far different from those of her kind-hearted husband. She heard voices Avhich he could not hear. Her discerning eyes beheld Avhat he never would be able to see. Shall we Avonder that the sadness deepened upon her countenance ? Seem ingly it was not much she could do to lift her offspring to a better life than her OAvn had been ; but human vision does not reach down to the springs which underlie character. The world never will know the great ness of its debt to her for doing Avhat she could in stamping her own lofty conception of duty and obligation upon the hearts and consciences of her children. October had come. The forest Avas arrayed in glory. The harvest Avas at hand. There had ever been loving intimacy and sympathy be- j—y' _j^ -¦^--jg-^-g^Bssg JUNCTION OP SALT RIVER WITH THE OHIO, WHERE THOMAS LINCOLN'S BOAT WAS CAPSIZED. [From a photograph taken by the author, 1890.] 28 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. tween Mrs. Lincoln and her children. She had discerned what the father had not seen in their boy — a nature rich and rare : kindness of heart, sym pathy with suffering, re gard for what was right, impatience Avith wrong. She had watched the un folding of his intellect. He had asked questions Avhich others of his age did not ask. She knows that her work for this life is ended. Her boy stands by her bedside. "I am going aAvay from you, Abraham, and shall not return. I know that you will be a good boy ; that you will be kind to Sarah and to your father. I Avant you to live as I have taught you, and to love your Heavenly Father." Through life he will hear her last words. In the full vigor of manhood he will not think it unmanly to say, Avith tearful eyes, "All that I am, all that I hope to be, I owe to my angel mother." (°) Death came. The husband made the coffin. No preacher was near, but sympathizing neighbors bore all that was mortal of her to the summit of a hill that overlooked the unfinished home — the site selected for her resting-place. That his mother had been buried without a religious sendee cut Abraham Lincoln to the heart. In the lonesomeness and desolation of the Avinter's camp she had trained his hand in holding the pen. Is it probable that there was any other boy only ten years old in the State of Indiana — or in the country — who would have set himself to AATite a letter inviting a minister 100 miles distant to come and preach a funeral sermon? But Eev. David Elkin, at Little Mound, received such a letter. (e) Abraham Lincoln! That must be Nancy Hanks Lincoln's boy. Yes, he Avould go, although it was so many miles to GRAVE OP NANCY HANKS LINCOLN, PIGEON CREEK, IND. [From a photograph taken by the author, October, 1890. The marble slab and Burrounding fence were erected by P. E. Studebaker, of South Bend, Ind. The stone bears the following inscription : " Nancy Hanks Lincoln, mother of President Lincoln, died October 5, a.d. 1818, aged 35 years. Erected by a friend of her martyred son, 1879."] EARLY YEARS. 29 Pigeon Creek. The appointment was made. From far and near the settlers gathered round the newly -made grave. The hymn Avas sung, the sermon preached, the prayer offered. So the departed mother was committed to God's keeping. NOTES TO CHAPTER II. (') In several ofthe biographies of Abraham Lincoln it is stated that the land select ed on Nolin's Creek by Thomas Lincoln was worthless. " The ground had nothing attractive about it but its cheapness. It was hardly more grateful than the rocky hill-sides of New England. It required full as earnest and intel ligent industry to persuade a living out of those barren hillocks and weedy hollows, covered with stunted and scrubby underbrush, as it would amid the sands on the Northern coast." — Nicolay and Hay, vol. i. "The land he occupied was sterile and brokeu — a mere barren glade, and destitute of timber. It required a persistent effort to coax a living out of it, and to one of his easy going disposition life was a never-ending struggle." — Herndon, vol. i., p. 18. Having visited the spot where Abraham Lincoln was born, the farm on Nolin's Creek, and also the farm on Knob Creek, I do not coincide with these estimates of the quality ofthe land. That on Nolin's Creek is a fair representative section of the land in the im mediate region. It was under cultivation (1890), yielding an average crop. The farm on Knob Creek, while embracing a rocky hill, has many acres which are very fertile. It would seem that his selections of land cannot with justice be cited as evidence of in efficiency or want of judgment. — Author. (2) Austin Gollaher, schoolmate of Abraham Lincoln, to Author. (3) William H. Herndon, "Lincoln," p. 19 (edition .1889). (4) Nicolay and Hay, " Century Magazine," November, 1886. (5) Joshua F. Speed, Lecture on Abraham Lincoln. (6) J. G. Holland, " Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 29. 30 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. CHAPTEE III. LIFE IN INDIANA. fT^HE unfinished cabin of Thomas Lincoln was a cheerless home. He -*- had not found time to heAV " puncheons " for a floor, saw boards for a door, make a sash for the windoAV, or plaster the crevices betAveen the timbers to exclude the driving rain or drifting snow. (') Sarah Lincoln, twelve years old, baked the corn-bread, fried the bacon, and did what she could to make the cabin cheerful ; but no fire, be it ever so bright, during the winter days and nights could dissipate the cheerlessness of such a home. In the evening the shadows of the father, Sarah, Abraham, and that of Dennis Hanks danced on the walls in the flickering light, but the mother's was not there. The nearest neighbors were so far away that voices other than their own seldom broke the silence. It is not strange that Abraham Lincoln became grave and thoughtful, or that a sadness like that seen in the countenance of his mother ap peared on his face at times. Dennis Hanks found pleasure in treeing raccoons, but Abraham did not care much for 'coon hunting. Most of the boys in Pigeon Creek delighted to trap Avild turkeys or bring down a deer Avith the rifle. Abraham once shot a turkey Avith his father's gun by firing through the crevice betAveen the timbers, for he did not like to see any animal put to death. He Avas groAving rapidly, and Avas so strong that he could throAV an iron bar farther than any other boy in Pigeon Creek. It Avas a delightful book that came to his hands — "^Esop's Fables;" also an arithmetic. Where he obtained them we do not know. For want of a slate and pencil he used a Avooden shovel and a charred stick. When the shovel was covered with figures he Aviped them off and began again. (2) Sarah and Abraham Avere outgroAving their clothing. They needed some one to care for them. A year had gone since the death of their mother. Their father was silent and thoughtful. Suddenly he left LIFE IN INDIANA. 31 home. He did not say whither he Avas going; possibly he had some misgivings as to the outcome of his journey, and thought it wise to say 1820 notmng- He reached Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Avhere he had learned to be a carpenter. He called upon Sarah Bush Johnston, a widow Avith three chil dren — John, Sarah, and Matilda. Mrs. Johnston had been his playmate in his boyhood. When he became a young man he asked her to marry him; but she had ac cepted Mr. Johnston in stead. It was evening when Mr. Lincoln en tered her home. '• Do you remember me, Mrs. Johnston ?" " Oh yes ; you are Tommy Lincoln. It is long since you moved from Elizabethtown — fourteen years or more." " Yes ; but I have come, Mrs. Johnston, to see if you will be my Avife. You and I are old friends. My children need a mother, and I Avould like to have you go home with me." It was an unexpected request. " Why, Mr. Lincoln ! I could not go at once. I am owing some debts, and I could not go till they are paid." Such in substance was the conversation, according to the story that has come to us. Mr. Lincoln found she owed about $12, and he called upon the creditors and paid them. In the morning a marriage-license Avas obtained, and they became husband and wife during the day. (*) Ealph Krume, Avho. married Mr. Lincoln's sister, kindly offered to take the whole family to Indiana in his four-horse Avagon. They reached the Ohio Eiver, Avere ferried across in a flat - boat, and then made their Avay through the Avoods to Pigeon Creek. Just Avhat Sarah and Abra ham Lincoln thought when they saAv a wagon drawn by four horses, in Avhich was a new mother, a new brother, and two ne\v sisters, a bureau, feather-beds, and chairs, Ave do not know; neither do Ave know the SITE OP THOMAS LINCOLN S INDIANA HOME. 32 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. thoughts that flashed through the mind of Sarah Bush Lincoln as she entered the uncompleted cabin, and beheld her newly-acquired daughter and son, their clothes worn to tatters. But her coming brought about a neAV order of things. A door Avas hung, a floor laid, a AvindoAV pro vided, and neatness and order established. With eight in the family— three romping girls and three rollicking boys, for Dennis Hanks was there— the cabin was no longer a place of gloom, but a home ringing with merry voices. It was Abraham who told funny stories and asked puzzling questions. The time had come for Pigeon Creek to have a school - house. The settlers felled the trees, cut the trunks into suitable lengths, notched the logs, and rolled them into place. Having no glass, thin strips "of wood Avere fastened across the opening left for a window, on which greased paper was pasted. Azel Dorsey was employed as teach er. Eeading, Avriting, spelling, and arithmetic were taught. The am bition of the boys of Pigeon Creek was not to stand at the head of the class, but to be champions in wrestling, throw a weight farthest, and, in a fight, strike the hardest Moav. Abraham Lincoln was ready to try his strength with them in wrest ling, and if any fun was going on he could do his part in making things lively. He began no quarrel, but allowed no one to pick upon him. Somehow, if there was any dispute, the other boys appealed to him to say Avhat Avas right and fair. There is humor in the lines Avhich he Avrote in his arithmetic : "Abraham Lincoln, His hand and pen ; He will be good, But God knows when."(4) After a few weeks with Dorsey, two years went by before the settlers felt able to employ another teacher. Abraham Lincoln, the while, was reading Defoe's " Eobinson Crusoe," Bunyan's " Pilgrim's Prog ress," and Weems' "Life of Washington." (6) He borrowed the last-named book of Josiah Crawford, and unfortunately laid it where the rain Avet the leaves. Mr. Crawford charged him 75 cents for the dam age done the volume. Having no money, he paid the bill by working three days in CraAvford's cornfield. (') He vvas growing strong enough to swing an axe, and help clear the land and hoe corn. His father wanted him to be a carpenter, and was teaching him to use the saw and chisel. LEARNING ARITHMETIC UNDER DIFFICULTIES. LIFE IN INDIANA. 35 With eight in the family, a bag of meal quickly disappeared. It Avas fifteen miles or more to the nearest corn-mill, which was not driven by Avater, but by a horse attached to a sweep and going round in a circle. The customer furnished the horse for the o-rindino-. Abraham Avent O O to the mill Avith a bag of corn, harnessed the mare, anil struck her Avith a stick. He Avas going to say, " Get up, you old hussy !" The words "get up" fell from his lips, and then he became unconscious, caused by a kick from the mare. Hours passed. Suddenly those who stood around him heard the rest of the sentence — " you old hussy." In after-years he thus explained it : " Probably the muscles of my tongue had been set to speak the words when the animal's heels knocked me down, and my mind, like a gun, stopped half-cocked, and only went off when consciousness returned." (') People in Pigeon Creek had feAV opportunities of hearing Avhat was going on in the world. Once in a while a neAvspaper found its way into the settlement. By going to Gentry's Landing, on the Ohio Eiver, they could have a talk with boatmen from Cincinnati and Louisville. Occasionally a traveller passed a night at Gentryville, and talked Avith those who spent their evenings in Jones's store. Abraham Lincoln was the one who usually asked questions. (*) He made everybody good-na tured by what he himself had to say. People Avere talking of the " hard times." At Pittsburg flour would bring only $1 a barrel. Whiskey could be had for 15 cents a gallon. Tea cost §1 a pound. Twelve bar rels of flour would purchase one yard of " broad" cloth. (9) Times were hard in the Eastern as well as the Western States. People had doleful stories to tell of privation and suffering : how the sheriffs of Pennsyl vania and other States were turning men and women out of doors be cause they could not pay their debts. The jails Avere filled Avith poor debtors. (10) But good news came from Washington. Congress had passed a law reducing the price of land to 81-25 per acre. With whiskey costing only 15 cents a gallon, Ave need not wonder that men drank more than Avas good for them. Abraham Lincoln did not drink intoxicating liquor. (") On a bitter cold night, as he and others Avere on their Avay home from Jones's store, they came upon a drunken man. The others Avent on, but Abraham, sixteen years old, strong and kind-hearted, shouldered the man and carried him to a cabin, doubtless saving the poor fellow from freezing. (,2) Thomas Lincoln thought that his son had been to school long enough. He could read, write, and cipher, and was ahead of any other boy in Pigeon Creek. Was not that sufficient ? He Avanted him to help 36 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. grub the ground for the next year's crop of corn. (1S) An affectionate intimacy the while had sprung up between the stepmother and Abra ham. He was ever ready to help her, and she ever solicitous for his Avelfare. (u) Through her influence the three boys and three girls from the Lincoln cabin made their way to the school taught by Andrew Crawford. Some of the boys found pleasure in tormenting dogs and ''&£k JP^ ^mma. 1! ! I 1 llll SARAH BUSH LINCOLN. [From a photograph in possession of Mrs. Harriet Chapman, Charleston, 111.] cats. Abraham Avrote a composition upon cruelty to animals in which he maintained that to give pain to a dumb animal Avas contemptible cruel, and Avicked. A few weeks at school, and he Avas once more at Avork. It was irk some to swing an axe and grub Avith a hoe. Without doubt Mr. Lin- LIFE IN INDIANA. 37 coin had his patience sorely tried by three boys who loved fun, and who had rollicking times Avhen he was not Avith them. They had " spoken pieces " at school, and it Avas far more agree able to Abraham to mount a stump and re hearse Avhat he had learned from the " American Precept or," or make an im promptu political speech than to Avork. His audience — John Johnston, Dennis Hanks, and the three girls — Avere ever ready to clap their hands at his perform ance^18) Abraham was hun gry for intellectual food. He walked twelve miles to David Turnham's home to obtain a copy of the laws of Indiana. A man accused of committing murder Avas arraigned at Booneville, the county seat, fifteen miles distant. Abraham attended the trial. He had great respect for the judge, who represented the majesty of the law. He list ened with intense interest to the argument of Mr. Breckenridge, the lawyer Avho defended the accused man. When the argument was fin ished there occurred a scene for an artist. Abraham Lincoln, tall, slim, Avith bare feet, wearing buckskin trousers and a jean coat, Avalked across the room and shook hands Avith him. " That is the best speech I ever heard," he said. (16) Once more Abraham was in school — one taught by Master Swaney. He helped Katy Eoby in spelling. Several scholars in the class had failed in their attempts to spell the word "defied." " D-e-f," said Katy, and stopped. Should she say i or y ? She saw the tall young man raise a finger and touch his eye, and, comprehending the meaning of the action, spelled the word correctly. When the term closed his school- days Avere o\rer. Putting all the Aveeks together, SITE OP JONES S STORE AT GENTRYVILLE, IND. [From a photograph taken by the author, 1890 ] 38 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. they Avere less than a twelvemonth. He had not seen a geography or grammar. The time had come Avhen he must earn money. He was employed by James Taylor to ferry people across the Ohio Eiver at Gentry's Landing. His Avages Avere $2.50 a Aveek. His earnings Avere for his father, and not for his own personal benefit. It Avas a memorable event Avhen two strangers came to the landing and were taken out to a pass ing steamboat. Each gentleman tossed him a shining half-dollar. One dollar for a few minutes labor ! As he roAved back to the shore his Avorld Avas larger, and the possi bilities of life far greater than he had supposed them to be. (") Katy Eoby lived near hy, and made time fly more swiftly by chatting Avith him Avhile he Avas Avaiting for travellers. It Avas a pleasure to take her up-stream on a moonlight evening, and float down Avith the current to the landing. They see the moon and Yenus sinking towards the western horizon. "We say the moon goes down," said Abraham, " and the stars rise and set ; but they do not come up and go doAvn. It is Ave Avho do the rising and setting." " You are a fool, Abe. Don't you see that the moon and Yenus are going doAvn ?" " Xo, they are not. The earth turns over every tAventy-four hours ; it is that which makes them seem to rise and set. It is only an illusion, Katy." He went on and explained it so clearly that she gazed Avith increasing admiration dennis hanks. at the y°ung man who previously [From a photograph taken in 1889.] had helped her in spelling. (ie) TWO SHINING UALF-DOLLAUS. LIFE IN INDIANA. 41 Possibly Judge Pitcher, Avho hved near the landing, saw something unusually attractive in the boy Avho, while Avaiting for travellers, came into his office and asked if he might look at the books on his shelves. The ferry-boy saAv people make fools of themselves by drinking too PLANTER S HOME. much whiskey. He could not discover that any good came from drink ing liquor. On the contrary, it made men silly, or cross and ugly, and brought misery to themselves and their families. He wrote a composi tion on the foolishness of drinking, and the evils that come from the habit. The judge was pleased with it, and handed it to Eev. Mr. Farmer; he in turn sent it to an editor, who gladly printed it. So Abraham Lin coln, five years before the beginning of a great temperance reformation which SAvept over the country, did what he could to bring it about. (") The ferry-boy probably never had seen a geography. Possibly he may have seen a map of the United States. He knew the passing steamboats made their Avay to New Orleans or St. Louis. He may have heard of the journey of exploration by Captain Lewis and George Eogers Clarke, of Kentucky, up the Missouri and down the Columbia to the Pacific Ocean. He knew the United States Avas a vast country. He Avas thinking about its form of government — the Constitution and the Union. He Avrote out his thoughts several years before Daniel Webster uttered the Avords, " The Constitution and the Union now and forever : one and inseparable." Winter came, and there were so few travellers that Mr. Taylor no longer needed him. He returned to Pigeon Creek to attend the Aved- ding of his sister Sarah, who married Mr. Grigsby. 42 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 1828. Mr. Gentry had purchased a large quantity of corn, pork, and other produce, Avhich he determined to send to NeAV Orleans. He had seen enough of Abraham Lincoln to knoAV that he was honest and faith ful, so engaged him to take charge of the flat-boat which he Avas loading for that market. Allan Gentry was to accompany him. The boat Avas wide and flat ; the steamboat men called it a " broad horn." It had a little caboose, in Avhich they could sleep. Clay several inches in depth Avas spread upon the bottom of the boat, upon which they could kindle a fire, bake their corn-bread, and fry their meat. Abraham Lincoln, captain of the craft, Avas nineteen years old. For pulling an oar and assuming responsibility in marketing the produce he Avas to receive $8.50 a month. The tAvo boatmen did not see many settlements along the river. Here and there they beheld a clearing and a solitary cabin. In spring time the Mississippi OArerfloAved its banks, and all the lowlands were flooded. The settlements, consequently, Avere mostly inland, upon high er ground. Memphis was only a collection of huts. The country behind it Avas still the hunting-ground of the Cherokee Indians. It was a lone ly voyage. At times they met a steamboat. After passing the mouth HOMES OF THE SLAVES. LIFE IN INDIANA. 43 PLAT-BOATS. of the Arkansas Eiver they saw alligators sunning themselves along the banks. Farther down they beheld live-oaks Avith festoons of moss trail ing from the wide-spreading branches. At Baton Eouge the two boatmen had an opportunity to show of what stuff they were made. Their boat Avas moored for the night at the landing. They were awakened by a gang of negroes, who leaped on board, intending to help themselves to plunder. The negroes Avere slaA-es. White men had stolen them — their manhood, their natural rights, their labor. Why should they not help themseh^es to Avhatever they could find? The boatmen leap from their bunks and rush out from the caboose. They have no weapons, but Captain Lincoln pitches two into the river, a third is felled by Gentry, and the others, seeing the fate of their companions, take to their heels. They had reached a section of the country Avhere the people used the French language. Natchez Avas a very old toAvn. The French settled it when they took possession of Louisiana. The people, language, houses, manners, and customs— all were different from Avhat Lincoln and 44 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. his fellow-boatman had ever seen. At intervals they beheld large plan tations with collections of cabins — the homes of the slaves. The two young. men beheld strange sights at NeAV Orleans. Hun dreds of flat-boats Avere moored along the levees ; steamboats were com ing and going ; ships were anchored in the river. They heard lan guages which they could not understand — French and Spanish — and saAv sailors from all parts of the Avorld. In the old part of the city — that settled by the French — they felt themselves, as it were, in a for eign land. Having disposed of the cargo, they returned to Indiana. Mr. Gentry was well satisfied Avith the result of his venture. Abraham Lincoln had reached a period in life which many another boy has reached — the period of restlessness and discontent. His father wanted him to be a carpenter, but he would like to do something more than push the plane and use a saw all his days. His world is larger than it Avas before he floated doAvn the great river and saAv vessels that had come from foreign lands. The money Avhich he had earned is not his OAvn,but his father's. It is lonesome in Pigeon Creek. Why stay at home ? Why not strike out for himself % But before going he will talk about it Avith his good friend William Wood, at Gentry's Landing. " No, Abraham, you must not go ; you must stay at home till you are of age and can leave rightfully. It is a duty which you OAve to yourself and to your parents." (20) The question is settled — duty! obligation! On Sunday eA^enings, in the old Kentucky home, when he Avas a little boy, his mother talked about doing right. He hears once more the Avords that fell from her lips as he stood by her side for the last time — " Be kind to your father !" With neAV strength and resolution he goes back to the Pigeon Creek home as Avent the Child of Nazareth— to be obedient to his parents. NOTES TO CHAPTER III. (' ) William H. Herndon, " Lincoln," p. 23 (edition 1889). (2) Ibid., p. 28. ( 3 ) Ibid., p. 29. " Letters of Samuel Haycraft." (4) Ibid., p. 40. ( 6) J. G. Holland, "Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 31. (6) Ibid., p. 32. C) AVilliam H. Herndon, "Lincoln," p. 59 (edition 1889). ( 8 ) Joseph Gentry, of Gentryville, to Author, September, 1890. ( 9 ) " Annals of North America," edited by Edward Howland. (10)Ibid. LIFE IN INDIANA. 45 ( n ) Joseph Gentry to Author, September, 1890. (ls) J. G. Holland, " Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 33. (1S) William H. Herndon, " Lincoln," p. 36 (edition 1889). (14) Ibid., p. 31. (15) Ibid., p. 44. (16) Ibid., p. 58. ( " ) J. G. Holland, " Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 34. (18) AVilliam H. Herndon, "Lincoln," p. 39 (edition 1889). (») Ibid., p. CI. (!») Ibid., p. 02. 46 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN CHAPTEE IY. A CITIZEN OF ILLINOIS. ALETTEE came to Thomas Lincoln, postmarked Decatur, 111., Avrit ten by John Hanks, formerly of ElizabethtoAvn, Ky. He said that Illinois Avas a beautiful State : there were vast reaches of prairie ; the soil was rich ; there Avere Avindinp; rivers and creeks, and 1RS0 groves of oak, maple, elm, and gum trees. Settlers were pouring in, many from Kentucky. If Thomas Lincoln Avould come, he would select a quarter-section of land for him, and have logs cut for a cabin. (') The prospect was inviting. Tlie disease which carried the first Mrs. Lincoln to her grave reappeared every autumn. There was no partic ular reason Avhy the family should remain at Pigeon Creek. One of the step - daughters had married Levi Hall, and the other Dennis Hanks. They Avere ready to go. His OAvn daughter Sarah, Avho married Aaron Grigsby, had died. There Avere no tender ties to be severed. Abraham Avas twenty-one years old, but ready to cast his lot with the rest. It Avould be a long and tedious journey, but by starting in March they Avould reach the Sangamon country with the beginning of spring. So the farm was sold and preparations made for the journey. They were eight in all, besides beds, bedding, frying-pan, skillet, Dutch-oven, bags of meal, hams, and sides of bacon, in wagons draAvn by oxen. It Avas in March— the month of snow, sleet, rain, mud, chilling Avinds. The rivers were filled Avith floating ice or overflowing their banks. If they could not find shelter in a cabin at night, they must build a camp in the woods or sleep in the Avagons. Abraham Lincoln is free to go where he will, but the fever and restlessness of former days have passed aAvay. He has been a dutiful son, and will see his parents in their new home before he strikes out for himself. He drives the oxen, or takes his turn in swinging the axe to build a camp or a bridge across a creek. When the Avagon sinks hub-deep in the mire he puts his shoulder to the wheel and lifts it out. A little dog trots by the side of the teamster. They come to a river A CITIZEN OF ILLINOIS. 49 with ice upon its banks and in its surging current. The reluctant cat tle Avallow the stream with all hands in the Avagons. Unwittingly the puppy has been left behind ; they hear it yelping. It is a Avorthless cur, but Abraham Lincoln has not the heart to leave it. He will not have the shivering cattle wade the stream again, but barefooted he re- crosses the water, takes the dog in his arms, and returns to the wagons. " I cannot bear to see even a puppy in distress," he says, as he brings the cur up the bank. (2) Before they reached Decatur two weeks went by — days of hardship and suffering, the severest weather of the winter. John Hanks had been true to his promise ; the logs had been made ready, and, Avith all hands to help, a cabin Avas quickly constructed. At the age of twenty-one, Abraham Lincoln, Avearing a jean jacket, shrunken buckskin trousers, and 'coon-skin cap, driving an ox-team, entered Illinois, to be thenceforth a citizen of that State. Lie had reached the years of manhood. What would he do Avith himself ? For what was he fitted ? He was so strong of muscle that he could sink an axe into a hickory log deeper than any other man in Pigeon Creek ; he could pull an oar on a flat-boat ; he could take charge of the cargo and successfully dispose of it in New Orleans. He did not like manual labor ; it was vastly easier and more delightful to read books. He could not teach school for a living, for he did not know enough. What prob ability was there that he would ever do anything beyond chopping, rowing, or driving a team ? There was nothing before him except to help his father plough fifteen acres of land and split enough rails to fence it, and then help plough fifty acres for another settler. His clothes were wearing out so fast that he was ashamed to appear in de cent society. He had no money, but bargained Avith Nancy Miller to make him a pair of trousers, he to split 400 fence rails foreach yard of cloth required — 1400 rails in all. It was three miles from his father's cabin to her wood -lot, where he made the forest ring through the long summer day with his chopping. Of the 150,000 people in the State of Illinois in that summer, was there one loAver down in poverty than he? Was there an individual whose outlook for the future was more cheerless ? Would he ever be able to make headway against the adverse tides of life ? For what could he hope ? The year 1830, which marked his arrival to manhood, may be taken as the initial of a new era — the beginning of the development of material forces and a corresponding advancement of moral ideas. The Erie Canal, 4 50 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. connecting the Hudson EiA-er Avith the great lakes, had been opened five years, and the country Avas beginning to feel the impetus of that achieve ment. While he was splitting fence rails, Avorkmen in Massachusetts Avere laying the iron for a railroad between Boston and LoAvell— the first to be completed in the country. The invention of the machine for cleaning cotton, separating the fibre from the seed, greatly cheapening the cost of cotton cloth and creating a demand for it the Avorld over, was setting mill-Avheels in motion, and Lowell and other toAvns Avere becoming busy places of industry. Inventors were making spindles and shuttles do the Avork formerly done by hands. The stage-coach was giving place to the locomotive engine. People from Europe were cross ing the Atlantic to find homes in the United States. Twenty thousand emigrants came in 1820 ; in 1830 no less than 80,000 arrived ; and by an instinct as true as that of the honey-bee Avinging its Avay to sweet flowers, they selected their homes in those States where there were no slaves. With the rivers of New England setting machinery in mo tion for the manufacture of cloth more cotton was called for, and more ships Avere needed to transport it from Charleston and New Orleans and other southern ports to Boston. The cotton planters wanted more slaves to Avork in the cotton-fields. As the plant could not be grown in Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri, and as slaves were called for to cultivate it in the more southern States, the slave-holders in the border States began to raise slaves for the Southern markets. ' Traders set up their marts in Baltimore, Washington, Alexandria, Kichmond, Louisville, and St. Louis. Gangs of negroes in chains were taken from Baltimore across the country, or shipped on vessels to southern ports. Steamboats descending the Mississippi Eiver transported other gangs from Missouri and Kentucky to the greatest of all markets — New Or leans. During the days when Abraham Lincoln Avas floating down the Mis sissippi on a flat-boat, Congress passed a law imposing a duty on cotton goods manufactured in other countries. The laAv Avas opposed by the slave-holders of South Carolina. They regarded it as damaging to their interests, for England manufactured far more cotton cloth and yarn than Avas produced by Massachusetts and Ehode Island. More ships sailed from Charleston for Liverpool loaded with cotton than for Boston. The planters of that State determined to pay no attention to the laAv, but to do as they pleased. Under the clause in the Constitution of the United States which counted slaves in the basis of representation in Congress, and through the rapid increase of slaves, the institution had "I CANNOT BEAR TO SEE EVEN A PUPPY IN DISTRESS.' A CITIZEN OF ILLINOIS. 53 become a great political poAver, controlling the Government. Good men — doctors of divinity, judges, senators, members of Congress — men hon ored and respected, saw no moral Avrong in holding negroes as slaves. There always had been slaves. In Bible times, Moses, Avho gave laws to the children of Israel, established statutes relating to bondmen. Abraham had bond-servants. There Avere slaves in the time of Christ and the apostles. Paul told the slaves of his time that they must be obedient to their masters. If it Avas right to hold slaves in those days, where was the wrong in holding them in the United States in the year 1S30 I Was it not a beneficent institution, divinely ordained by Al mighty God for the best Avelfare of the human race ? So reasoned men renoAvned for learning. A young man, born in NeAvburyport, Mass., was setting type in a newspaper office in Baltimore. He did not agree with the general sen timent in regard to slavery. He saAv a gang of slaves taken from jail, where they had been placed under lock and key to prevent their run ning aAvay, and put on board a ship which was owned and commanded by a sea-captain from his native town. Congress had prohibited the bringing of slaves from Africa to the United States, and any person vio lating the law was to be regarded as a pirate. The young printer, Will iam Lloyd Garrison, could not see why it was not just as much a crime to ship slaves from Baltimore to New Orleans, or anyAvhere else in the country, as to bring them from Africa to Baltimore. He printed an article which denounced the act of his fellow-townsman as piracy, for doing which he Avas arrested for libel, tried before the court, found guilty, and, because he had no money to pay the fine, was put in prison. A large-hearted merchant in New York, Arthur Tappan, heard what had taken place and paid the money, securing his liberty. We are not to conclude that the printer Avas the first person in the United States Avho saw the iniquity of slave-holding. Forty years before this occur rence Dr. George Buchanan delivered an address before a society which had been organized in Baltimore to bring about the abolition of slavery. He said that Africans were born free and independent, and that to keep them in slavery Avas an infringement of the laws of God. Other anti- slavery societies had been formed before the year 1800 — one in Virginia ; but at that time slavery was not regarded as profitable, and it had not become a great political power, as in 1830. The young printer went to Boston to give lectures upon the iniquity of the slave-traffic. He found, to his amazement, that people Avere not 54 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 1831. willing to listen to him. He discovered that there was an intense prej udice against the negro in the Northern States. Being of indomitable energy, he established a paper, "The Liberator," which advocated the im mediate abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia and the Terri tories over which Congress had jurisdiction. So it came about that at the time when Nancy Miller was making a pair of jean trousers, and Abraham Lincoln was splitting rails to pay for them, William Lloyd Garrison Avas issuing the first number of his paper. The country was divided into tAvo political parties — Whig and Dem ocratic. The Democratic party was in power, Avith Andrew Jackson as President. Henry Clay, Senator from Kentucky, Avas an ac knowledged leader of the Whig party. A book had been pub lished setting forth the political principles of Mr. Clay, Avhich Abraham Lincoln read during the days Avhen he could get nothing to do. He thought that the principles held by the Senator from Kentucky were better for the country than those held by President Jackson. The month of March saw John Hanks and Abraham Lincoln pad dling down the Sangamon Eiver in a boat to meet Denton Offut, of Springfield, who was buying corn, beef, pork, and pigs, Avhich they were to take to New Orleans. John Johnston was to go with them. Offut agreed to give them 50 cents per day and $60 besides. The boat Avas to be ready for them at Judy's Ferry, five miles from Springfield. They found Offut at the Buckhorn Tavern, taking things easy. He had no boat, but would like to have them build one. He would just as soon pay them as anybody else. The timber Avould cost them nothing, for there was an abundance along the San- gamon, on land owned by the Govern ment. They could get it saAved at Mr. Kirkpatrick's mill. (3) Abraham had at one time worked with his father at carpentering, and could superintend the construc tion of the boat. The bargain was made. A shanty was built on PLACES IN ILLINOIS FREQUENTED BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN. A CITIZEN OF ILLINOIS. 55 i- '. '¦'I>f,)// ===== '''^flll'- /''', , SANGAMON RIVER NEAR NEW SALEM. [From a photograph taken by the author in 1890. The view looks down the river towards Petersburg. The mill stood at the left. The village of New Salem was amid the trees at the top of the hill.] the bank of the river, in which they slept and ate their meals. Abra ham, besides being the head-carpenter, took charge of the cooking. An axe, saw, chisel, and auger Avere the only tools needed. Two great trees were felled and hewn for the sides, upon Avhich the planking Avas pinned ; the seams were calked and smeared Avith pitch. Offut and a large number of his friends came out from Springfield to the launch ing, bringing a supply of whiskey. Speeches Avere made — some uphold ing Jackson, others supporting Henry Clay. The cook told funny stories and declared himself in favor of Clay. A sleight-of-hand per former was along, and, among other tricks performed, eggs were fried in the cook's hat. ( 4 ) On April 19th, Avith the barrels of pork and beef on board, the three boatmen bade good-bye to Sangamon town, and floated down the river to NeAV Salem. Mr. Eutledge had built a dam at a bend in the river and erected a mill on the western bank. The boat, instead of gliding over the dam, hung fast upon it. Abraham thought a while, and showed John the Avay out of the difficulty. They must take to the 56 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. shore some of the barrels at the forward end. The seams had not been made tight, and the boat Avas partly filled with water. He would bore a hole in the bottom at the end projecting over the dam, which Avould let the water out and lighten the craft. Then he Avould plug up the hole, roll the barrels to the bow, and the boat Avould slide over. When beloAv the dam they could put more oakum in the seams, daub on more pitch, and be in good shape for their trip. It was done, with the people of New Salem looking on and admiring the ingenuity of the young man Avho devised the plan. At Blue Banks a herd of pigs Avhich Offut had purchased of Squire Godbey were to be taken on board. The animals were determined not to embark on such a craft. The more the three boatmen and Squire Godbey tried to drive them, the more they would not go. They munched the corn strewn on the ground, but showed no disposition to eat that on the boat. " We might sew up their eyes, and then they would have to go it blind," said Abraham. (") As the pigs Avould not be coaxed, he carried them one by one in his arms doAvn the bank and put them on board. (") Once more they were floating Avith the stream down the Sangamon to the Illinois, Avhere final preparations were made for the trip to NeAV Orleans. They set up a mast, and, having no canvas, rigged a wooden sail. People at Beardstown, Alton, and St. Louis laughed when they be held the contrivance ; the pilots of steamboats, when they saw it, won dered what was coming; but their Avooden sail helped them on when the Avind was in the right direction to use it. They reached New Orleans without special adventure. Abraham Lincoln, with no responsibility upon him in disposing of the cargo, as when upon the first trip, Avandered about the city. He visited the sec tion settled by the Spaniards, and also the quarter occupied by the French and Creole population. He saw gangs of slaves which had come from Kentucky and Tennessee marched to the sugar-cane and cotton plantations. He stood in the auction -room Avhere they were sold, and saw women and girls stripped to the waist, men handling them as they handled cows and calves : making them run to see if they Avere lame, looking into their mouths to ascertain if their teeth were sound, calculating their age, and whether tbey would bear children. He hears the auctioneer telling their good points : hoAv much work they can do, Avhat they are fitted for, how good and kind and religious they are. He hears the bidding, and beholds maidens shrinking from men "3TE SqXXJD in TIIE AUOTION-ROOM WHERE THEY WERE SOLD. A CITIZEN OF ILLINOIS. 59 who look them over Avith leering e}Tes. He hears the wailing and sees the weeping, as husbands, wives, and children are separated, never to meet again. The boatman turns aAvay Avith something rising in his throat, and goes out Avith John Hanks into the sunshine. His lips are quivering, for his soul is on fire. "John, if f ever get a chance to hit that institution, I'll hit it hard, by the Eternal God!"(') Who is he, to hit the institution of slavery a blow ? He is only a boatman, a wood - chopper, teamster, backwoodsman .— nothing more. What position of influence is he likely to attain to enable him to strike at slavery ? His school - days have been less than a year. He is unknown, except to a feAV people. SlaArery is incorporated into the framework of society and legalized in half of the States of the Ee- public. It is intrenched in Church and State alike ; pronounced by doctors of divinity and statesmen to be divinely established for the good of the human race. It is a political force, recognized by the Constitu tion of the United States ; it enters into the organization of Congress, and dictates as to the affairs of government and the election of Presi dents. Is there the remotest probability that he will ever be able to strike a blow at such an institution? Why does he speak the words? Why lift his right hand to heaven and swear a solemn oath ? Is it that those eyes, looking as his mother's looked, far aAvay, catch some dim vision of Avhat may be by-and-by ? Does the thought come that in the unfolding years an all-directing Providence in human affairs has some thing especially marked out for him to accomplish ? Is it an illumina tion by some spirit-force of a coming conflict in which he is to take a conspicuous part— the whispering of some messenger from an unseen realm that he is the one chosen to give freedom to millions of slaves ? Be that as it may, certainly no words ever spoken by the prophets of Israel have had a larger fulfilment than those uttered by Abraham Lincoln in the streets of New Orleans. As we thus go over the events in the life of this carpenter's son, Ave think of the Son of another carpenter, and recall his words: "AVist ye not that I must be about my Father's business ?" The three boatmen returned to St. Louis, accompanied by their em ployer, who was intending to open a store in New Salem, where Abra ham Lincoln had exhibited his ingenuity in getting the flat-boat over Eutledge's mill-dam. Offut remained at St. Louis to purchase goods, and the three boatmen made their way on foot across the country to 60 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Farmington, near the eastern boundary of Illinois, where Thomas Lin coln Avas preparing to build a new house. On an appointed day Abra ham was to meet Offut at New Salem, and begin business Avith him as clerk and salesman. Beaching Farmington, he assisted his father in building a cabin con taining tAvo rooms. It was of hewn logs, and much superior to any of the former dwellings. We have seen that the recreations and pleasures of people on the frontier Avere exhibitions of physical strength. Daniel Needham, cham pion wrestler of Coles County, had put many men on their backs, and boasted loudly of his powers. Having heard that there was a strong young flat-boatman in Farmington, he sent him a special challenge, which the boatman accepted. Abraham Lincoln found his highest pleasure in reading, but he Avas by no means indifferent to the pleasure that comes from putting forth physical strength. The match was held at Wabash Point. Needham soon found himself on the ground. Cha grined at his discomfiture, he demanded a second trial, to be again vanquished. The boatman, in consequence of his victory, became very popular with the young men of Coles County. (8) On the clay appointed, the clerk engaged by Offut stepped from a canoe at Eutledge's mill. He had paddled down the river from Decatur. NeAV Salem was a collection of log-houses overlooking the beautiful val ley of the Sangamon. Offut was there to welcome him, but the goods had not arrived. The future clerk had time, therefore, to make the ac quaintance of the people. The day for the annual election came. Men tor Graham was clerk, but the assistant clerk Avas not present. Mr. Graham noticed a tall young man loitering about the village, and vent ured to ask him if he could write. " I can make a few rabbit-tracks," Avas the reply ; Avhereupon he was installed in office. The voters were not long in discovering that the assistant clerk was honest and fair, and performed his duties faithfully. More than that, he entertained them with stories. (") One of the citizens of New Salem was departing for Texas with his family. It was not far to the Illinois Eiver, and the most expeditious way of reaching Beardstown, Avhere he could take a steamboat for St. Louis, Avould be by flat-boat down the Sangamon. The assistant clerk of elections engaged to convey the family to the Illinois, and once more was pulling an oar. The Avater was Ioav, and the boat often grounded on the sand-bars ; but all obstacles were surmounted, and the trip suc cessfully accomplished. A CREOLE HOME IN NEW ORLEANS. A CITIZEN OF ILLINOIS. 63 Upon the arrival of Offut's goods, the boatman became clerk and salesman. It Avas a country store, and the articles for sale were such as a newly-settled agricultural community on the frontier Avould espe cially neetl. Women Avanted pins, needles, thread ; they asked if the calico which they examined would " wash ;" they " chinked " the crock ery to discover a possible crack. Their presence, in comparison Avith the men whom he met on flat - boats, made the air sweet and pure. He greeted them Avith a pleasant smile, and Avas so truthful in Avhat he said about the goods, and gave such just Aveight, that they soon had implicit confidence in him. In keeping accounts he Avas careful to reckon the half and quarter cents. We are to remember that the mint at Phil adelphia for coining money had been in operation but little more than thirty years; not many dimes and twenty -five cent pieces were in circulation, but fourpence, sixpence, ninepence, and shilling pieces of English coinage, together Avith many Spanish coins, Avere in use. A silver fourpence coin was valued at six and one-fourth cents. A nine- pence coin was Avorth twelve and one-half cents. If Abraham Lincoln made a mistake in reckoning or weighing he was quick to rectify it the moment he discovered the error. He was closing the store one evening when a Avoman came for a half-pound of tea. In the morning he saAv from the weight in the scale that he had given her only one-quarter of a pound. Leaving everything else he weighed out the other ounces and carried them to her. Another customer paid him six and one-quarter cents more than was his due, and when the store was closed at night he hastened to correct the mistake, although she lived two miles away. ('") Denton Offut's store Avas the social exchange for a wide extent of country along the Sangamon — the place Avhere people could hear from his clerk what was going on in the world. After the arrival of the mail (which brought his neAvspaper, the " Louisville Journal "), he could tell them Avhat Congress Avas doing, and what was occurring throughout the country and on the other side of the Atlantic. They discovered that he could talk intelligently upon a great many questions. Some of the felloAvs who made the store a lounging-place Avhile their corn Avas grind ing at Eutledge's mill used profane language. One of them had so little sense of what Avas decent that he used vile Avords Avhen women Avere present. " Don't use such language here," said Lincoln. " Who are you ? I'll SAvear when and where I please. I can lick you," said the fellow. " When the ladies are gone I'll let you have a chance to do so." 64 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. The women departed, and the bully dared Lincoln to touch him. Little did the ruffian comprehend the strength and resolution of the man whom he had incensed. Suddenly he found himself lying on the ground and blows falling upon him like the strokes of a hammer. He begged for mercy, and Lincoln bathed the felloAv's face Avith Avater to relieve the pain.(n) " He can lift more than any other man in Sangamon County ; and when it comes to wrestling, he can throw the whole crowd," said Offut. The " Clary Grove boys," as they Avere called, heard of it. They were a Avild and lawless set of felloAvs, Avho lived seven or eight miles from New Salem. Jack Armstrong Avas their champion wrestler and leader. They found pleasure in picking upon a stranger, and having fun with any one weaker than themselves. It Avas delightful sport to put a man into a cask and set it rolling down a hill. They rode through the settlements at night Avhooping, swearing, frightening women and chil dren. They cared nothing for law or order, and were a terror to the country. " Jack Armstrong will put Offut's clerk on his back in a tAvinkling," said one of the gang. " I'll bet that Lincoln will use him to Avipe his feet on," said Offut. " I'll bet $10 that Jack is the better man," responded Bill Clary. " I'll take that bet, and as much more as you and your gang will put up." " I do not Avant to wrestle," said Lincoln, when Offut asked him to engage in a contest with Jack Armstrong. He was no longer a boatman ; he Avas drifting away from former things. There Avas something in life better than wrestling. He looked every day into the faces of noble women and pure -hearted girls as they examined the goods which he placed before them. What would they think of him if he found his greatest pleasure in wrestling with.. Jack? " I want you to teach those fellows a lesson," said Offut. " They are a set of bullies, and I want you to take them down." Quite likely Abraham Lincoln Avas not averse to teaching them a lesson, and there would be some satisfaction in putting their champion upon the ground. The match was arranged, and the day fixed. All the Clary Grove fellows, and others up and down the Sangamon, heard of it, and laid their plans to be present, some staking their money on Armstrong, others on Offut's clerk. The day arrives ; New Salem is astir. The spectators tie their horses beneath the trees and take a drink of Avhiskey. The ring is formed. There is a friendly hand-shaking as THK LINCOLN HOME, FARMINGTON, ILL. I From a photograph taken In 1800. Abraham Lincoln assisted his father in brnMing this homo after his return from the second trip to Now A CITIZEN OF ILLINOIS. 67 the contestants enter it ; then comes the grappling, turning, the strain ing of muscles. If Jack Armstrong imagined it would be an easy vic tory, he found himself mistaken. He tries his peculiar tricks, which have giA^en him victory over other Avrestlers ; but somehoAV this clerk of Offut's, who spends so much time in reading, does not go down. He seems to be playing with Jack, and biding his time. Jack's friends do not like the looks of things ; if he is vanquished they Avill lose thfflr bets, and it will be humiliating. One of the gang attempts to interfere in behalf of Armstrong. "Fair play!" "Stand back!" "Let them alone!" were the cries from the excited crowd. Lincoln sees that the Clary Grove fellows in tend to help Jack gain an advantage ; like another Samson he puts forth his strength, and the hitherto champion of Sangamon goes to the ground. Armstrong's friends are amazed and angry. But there is good stuff in Jack. He knows that he has been fairly thrown, and exhibits his manhood by rising and shaking hands Avith Lincoln. From that mo ment through life he will be a steadfast friend. The Clary Grove boys have lost their bets, but forget their anger in their admiration for the man who does not crow OArer what he has done. (13) Abraham Lincoln was champion ; but instead of wrestling, he Avanted to study grammar. Mentor Graham thought that Mr. Yaner might possibly haATe a text-book. Although it Avas several miles, he walked to Yaner's house, and returned with a copy of " Kirkham's Grammar." Customers who came to trade the next day found him lying on the counter Avith the book in hand, his head pillowed on a pile of cotton goods. He knew that his language was not grammatical. He Avanted to express himself clearly and correctly. It Avas a pleasure to read the editorial articles in the " Louisville Journal," because they Avere so Avell written. He Avould like to be able to Avrite so that people Avould under stand just Avhat he intended to say. With that object in view, he de termined to know the parts of speech and the rules Avhich govern the construction of language. He had no one to teach him, but Avent on as best he could. (13) While the clerk was waiting upon customers, keeping exact accounts, and getting on Avith his grammar, Offut Avas buying produce, trading horses, and speculating generally ; giving his notes, Avhich were not paid Avhen clue. He transacted business in such a lucky-go-easy Avay that the day came when the sheriff took possession of the store. Abraham Lincoln was adrift once more. Good news came. Cap tain Bogue, of Springfield, had gone to Cincinnati to obtain a steamboat 68 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. which was to navigate the Sangamon. Meetings Avere held in Spring field, New Salem, and other towns, to help on the enterprise. The merchants at Springfield informed their customers that their 1832 goods Avere to be brought direct from Cincinnati by the steamboat " Talisman," Avhich would ascend the Illinois and the Sangamon rivers. It Avas April, and the spring floods enabled Captain Bogue to make the upAvard trip Avithout much difficulty. Some work must be done, hoAV- ever, in cutting away trees to enable the boat to reach New Salem. Abraham Lincoln was one of the first to volunteer his services as a Avood-chopper. At the Springfield landing the people Avelcomed him Avith speeches and plenty of liquor. A young lawyer wrote a " poem :" "Now we are tip the Sangamon, Aud here we'll have a grand hurrah ; So fill your glasses to the brim With whiskey, brandy, wine, and gin."(14) The " Talisman " went on to Decatur. But the Avater was fallino-, and the captain despaired of ever getting back, on account of the sand-bars and drift-wood embedded in the mud ; so he wisely employed the tAvo boatmen, who had navigated the Mississippi to New Orleans, to take the craft down to the Illinois. They had much difficulty to get past the mill-dam at New Salem, but Beardstown Avas finally reached, and the boatmen received $40 each for their labor. The Sac and Fox Indians of Wisconsin, Avho had given up their lands to the United States and moved to Iowa, determined to return to their old hunting-grounds. Their chief, Black HaAvk, began Avar by commit ting outrages upon the settlers of that section. The Governor of Illi nois called for soldiers. Abraham Lincoln enlisted. The youno- men along the Sangamon volunteered in sufficient numbers to form a com pany. They elected him captain. He knew nothing of military tactics, and his soldiers were equally ignorant. With rifle, powder-horn, knap sack, and canteen the march was begun to YelloAv Bank, on the Missis sippi Eiver. The company is marching battalion front, and comes to a fence which has a narrow opening. Captain Lincoln does not knoAV Avhat order he ought to give to get them into single file, and were he to give it correctly the company might not know how to execute it. He sees that something must be done : his soldiers will lauo-h at him if they are brought to a stand-still by a rail-fence. There is one order Avhich they will comprehend. A CITIZEN OF ILLINOIS. 69 " Halt !" he shouts. " This company is dismissed for two minutes ; it will reassemble on the other side of the fence. Break ranks !" (16) The dignity of Captain Lincoln was maintained, and possibly most of his soldiers thought it the proper order to be given. The steamboats which were to take the soldiers up the Mississippi were not at the appointed landing. The troops had nothing to do. They marched, countermarched, wheeled, and performed other evolu tions ; but time dragged. They were impatient of military restraint and became quarrelsome. They had little respect for their superior offi cers, and it required much tact on the part of Abraham Lincoln to preserve order ; but with the arrival of the steamboats and a supply of food harmony was restored. We are not to suppose that such a motley set of young men could be brought under strict military discipline in two or three weeks ; neither should Ave conclude that Captain Lincoln could assume military dignity in the same space of time. On the contrary, the captain thought it not undignified to take part in wrestling-matches. Possibly he won respect and honor by putting his soldiers one after another on their backs; one only Avas his equal in strength. Though he took part in the games, he did not lose his authority as their commander. An old Indian came into camp, bringing a letter Avritten by General Lewis Cass, Avho stated that the bearer was entitled to protection ; that he Avas friendly, and had taken no part in the uprising. The soldiers discredited the letter. " It is a forgery," said one, who did not think of the absurdity of what he Avas saying. The soldiers had come to fight Indians ; they thought there were no friendly Indians. " Shoot him !" they shouted. " No, you Avill not shoot him — I shall protect him ! I'll shoot the first man Avho lays hands on him !" Avas the calm but resolute reply of their captain. The company was part of a regiment commanded by Colonel Samuel Thompson, which marched northAvard to Dixon. The troops halted to await the arrival of United States soldiers. Two battalions of horse men, under Majors Stillman and Bailey, Avere eager to encounter the Indians — perhaps thinking it would be fun to chase them across the prairies. The horsemen advanced and reached Old Man's Creek, where they suddenly found themselves confronted by Black HaAvk and a large number of Indians. The soldiers became panic-stricken and fled to Dixon, the Indians pursuing and killing several. In the morning not an Indian Avas to be seen. 70 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. The time expired for which the soldiers from Sangamon had en listed. They had not fought a battle, but Avere weary of military life. All the company, with the exception of Captain Lincoln and one pri vate, returned to Sangamon. The captain Avas without a command, but he could become a private, and accordingly enlisted in a company of cavalry commanded by Captain Elijah lies. It was knoAvn as the " Independent Spy Battalion." It was a holiday service, lasting three Aveeks. The Indians Avere defeated in a battle at Bad Axe, and Black Hawk taken prisoner. The "Independent Spy Battalion " Avas not pres ent to take part in the engagement. Private Lincoln saAv no fighting, and Avas mustered out of service June 16th by young Lieutenant Eobert Anderson. From Fox Eiver Lincoln and his fellow-soldier, Harrison, made their way to the Illinois Eiver at Peoria, Avhere they obtained a canoe and paddled to Havana, and from that town Avalked to NeAV Salem. NOTES TO CHAPTER IV. (') Nicolay and Hay, "Abraham Lincoln: A History," vol. i., p. 45. (2) AVilliam H. Herndon, "Lincoln," p. 68 (edition 1889). (s) Herndon speaks of the plauk as being sawed at Kirkpatrick's mill. J. G. Hol land, visiting Illinois immediately after the death of President Lincoln, 1865, says: " Every plauk of it was sawed by haud with a whip-saw." — " Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 42. (4) William H. Herndon, "Lincoln," p. 73 (edition 1889). (5) Ibid., p. 75. (6) J. G. Holland, "Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 42. (7) AVilliam H. Herndon, "Lincoln," p. 76 (edition 1889). (") Ibid. (9) Mrs. Lizzie H. Bell's letter quoted iu Nicolay aud Hay's "Abraham Lincoln: A History,'' vol. i., p. 78, note. (10) J. G. Holland, "Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 43. (") Ibid., p. 44. (ls) AVilliam H. Herndou, "Lincoln," p. 43 (edition 1880). C13) Ibid., p. 84. (») Ibid., p. 88. ( I5 ) Ibid., p. 93, note. LIFE AT NEW SALEM. 71 CHAPTEE Y. LIFE AT NEW SALEM. IN a community where every man casts a vote there will ever be a large number of people Avho will desire to hold office or represent their fellow-citizens in making laws. In Illinois those who desired po litical distinction might aspire to be candidates for any position ug"s ' and enter the list independent of nomination by a convention of electors. Before volunteering as a soldier, Abraham Lincoln had announced that he would be a candidate for the Legislature. It Avas only ten days before the election Avhen he reached New Salem. His friends welcomed his return. Those Avho had served under him as sol diers were ready to persuade their friends to cast their ballots for him. He had shown his patriotism by being one of the first to enlist, and had re-enlisted Avhen others, wearied of the restraints of camp-life, returned to their homes. He Avas brave, resolute, kind-hearted, and had a mind of his own ; in wrestling he had put the best men of the regiment on their backs — all save one. Though most of them were Democrats and he a Whig, they were ready to vote for him. A majority of the people in Illinois accepted the political principles held by President AndreAV Jackson. Abraham Lincoln supported the principles held by Henry Clay, Avho believed the nation ought to improve the rivers, make them navigable, and pass laws Avhich would protect the industries of the coun try by imposing a tariff on goods made in other countries. He thought a national bank would be a good thing for the country. Candidates bet ter known to the people than he Avere making speeches in the villages throughout the county. There Avas to be an auction of horses, cattle, and pigs at Pappsville, twelve miles from Springfield, Avhere all the candidates Avould speak. The people for miles around would be there to hear them, and help themselves to free whiskey. The day arrives, and Pappsville is alive. A stand for the speakers had been erected. Those Avho gather around it see a very tall young man, Avearing a blue jean clawhammer, bobtail 72 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. coat, tow-and-Avool trousers, coAvhide boots, and a straw hat, laughing and telling stories to those around him. It is Captain Lincoln, and those Avho served under him in the war with the Indians are grasping his brawny hand. His face is bronzed from exposure to the sun and Avinds upon the prairies. The other candidates speak. He is a young man of twenty -three years, and respectfully Avaits his turn. Whiskey has flowed so freely that some ruffians in the crowd are quarrelsome. Cap tain Lincoln sees one of his friends sorely beset by a bully. He jumps from the platform, gives the fellow a threshing, tosses him aside as if he Avere but a boy, returns to the platform, and listens to the other candidates just as if nothing had happened. It is a brief speech Avhich he makes : " FelloAv-citizens, I presume you would like to know who I am. I am humble Abraham Lincoln. I have been solicited by my friends to be come a candidate for the Legislature. My politics are short and sweet, like the old woman's dance. I am in favor of a national bank ; I am in favor of the internal improvement system and a high protective tariff. These are my sentiments and principles. If elected I shall be thankful ; if not, it Avill be all the same." (') Another meeting was held at Springfield, Avhere he made a longer speech. One who was present has described his appearance on that occasion : "He was tall, gawky, and a rough - looking fellow. His panta loons didn't meet his shoes by six inches; but after he began speak ing I became much interested in him. He made a very sensible speech." (a) Four representatives Avere to be elected. There Avere twelve candi dates. Abraham Lincoln was not chosen. He could not go to Yandalia, the capital of the State, as a representative. What should he do ? He did not want to be a boatman or wood -chopper. Would it not be Avell for him to become a blacksmith? He turned the matter over,(s) but suddenly found himself again keeping store in an unexpected way. Eowan and James Herndon, after the failure of Offut, opened a store at New Salem. James sold his interest to Mr. Berry, Avho induced Lin coln to purchase the interest held by Eowan Herndon. Lincoln had no money, but Herndon was ready to take his note. Another store was opened by Eeuben Eadford about the same time. " You had better get on good terms Avith the Clary Grove boys," said Eadford's father, " or they will trouble you." Eadford stayed at the store several evenings, expecting a visit from the gang ; but as they did not come, and wishing to spend a night a few LIFE IN NEW SALEM. 73 miles distant, he left the store in charge of a younger brother — Jack, sixteen years old. " You may give the boys, if they come, two drinks all round, but no more," he said. It was the evening chosen by the felloAVS for a lark in New Salem. " Well, boy, aren't you going to give us a treat C" they asked. " Oh yes," and they Avere each given a generous drink. " It is about time for another snifter, isn't it, sonny V ' they said, after a while. " Yes ;" and Jack served them once more. They lounged about the store, sang songs, danced, and made them selves at home. "Well, Jack, we reckon that it is time for another nipper," they said. " You can't have any more. Eube said I might give you tAvo drinks, but no more." " Oh ho ! he said so, did he ? We will see I" And each one of the creAv went to the whiskey-barrel, took a big drink, and filled his bottle. The whiskey was doing its Avork — they danced and av hooped like Indians. " I'll bet the drinks I can beat you in hitting those jars," said one, seizing a weight and smashing a glass jar. Each in turn brought the jars and crockery crashing to the floor; then frying-pans, skillets, Dutch-ovens, coffee-pots, tin basins, milk-pans, saucers, plates and plat ters, molasses-jugs, went flying through the air. The glass in the win dows rattled to the ground, and the door was torn from its hinges. A little past midnight they rode whooping homeward, with cow-bells tied to their saddles. The sun was just rising when Eeuben Eadford Avas awakened by the cow -bells and Avhooping, as the gang rode past the house Avhere he was spending the night. Suspecting there might be trouble, he mounted his horse and galloped towards New Salem, passing on the Avay a boy of sixteen, William G. Green, who had started early in the morning with a bag of corn to be ground at Mr. Eutledge's mill. Ead ford reached the store, beheld the Avreck and ruin, and heard Jack's story. He had no particular desire to be a merchant any longer, and Avas ready to sell out. " I'll sell this store to the first person Avho makes me an offer," said he, as Green rode up ; and added, " What will you give for it ?" The boy looked through the Avindow and surveyed the interior — the shattered glass and crockery, the helter-skelter of frying-pans and 74 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. broken jugs. He noticed many of the most valuable articles had not been disturbed, and Avithout much thought, and in fun rather than in earnest, said, " I'll give you $400." " It is a bargain." " But I haven't any money." " No matter ; I'll take your note." Green dismounted, entered the store, and signed a note promising to pay $400 after a specified number of days. A little later Abraham RUTLEDGE S MILL. [From a photograph by C. S. McCuUough, Petersburg, 111. Lincoln & Berry's store stood near the trees at the right of the view.] Lincoln came, beheld the broken crockery and general confusion, and laughed as he listened to Jack Eadford's account of hoAv the Clary Grove boys danced, yelled, and smashed things. Green told the story of the purchase. " Billy," said Lincoln, " I shouldn't be surprised if you had made a good bargain. I'll help you take an inA^entory."(4) Young Green, whose education had been limited, did not knoAv just LIFE IN NEW SALEM. 75 what an iiiATentory might be. If it Avas a further smashing, he said he did not care for it. Lincoln explained it Avas an estimate of the value of each article. " You Avill need it, to be able to fix prices." The man Avho said this was part owner in a rival store ; but he Avas ready to help the boy who thoughtlessly had begun as a trader. They hung the door on its hinges and nailed boards over the Avindow. Green took his corn to the mill and Lincoln left for his breakfast. Through the day he Avent over the inventory with Green. The broken glass and crockery Avere swept out and things put in place. "Billy, it figures up more than $1200 at St. Louis prices," said Lin coln, AAThen the inventory Avas completed. Customers came, listened to the story, laughed over it, and purchased articles. During the day Green sold goods to the amount of $15. Mr. Lincoln's partner, Berry, thought it would be a good business operation to buy out Green. " What Avill you take for your bargain ?" he asked. Berry owned a good horse, which Green thought he would like to obtain. Although he was only sixteen years old, he had an eye to busi ness, and was ready to quit being a store-keeper. Besides, he was not quite sure hoAv his father would look upon Avhat he Avas doing. " I'll tell you what I'll do. If you will let me have your horse, saddle, and bridle, $200 cash, and you and Lincoln will give your joint notes for $200, I'll call it a bargain." Lincoln had made the inventory, and found the property was worth $1200. Berry having $200 in silver on hand, the offer was accepted, the notes signed, and the transfer completed. With the goods of both stores put into one building, Berry and Lincoln began business on a larger scale, having a monopoly of trade in NeAV Salem. It Avas nearly midnight Avhen Green, riding the horse obtained from Berry, and leading the other Avith the bag of meal on its back, reached home. Having put the horses in the stable, he lifted the latch and en tered the house. Hi3 father and mother Avere in bed. They had heard Avhat had been going on at New Salem : the Avreck done by the Clary Grove boys, and the purchase by their son. " Well, boy," said his father, " you think you can be a store-keeper, do you ? I'll teach you a lesson not to buy a store when I send you to mill. Go to bed, you rascal, and be prepared for a threshing in the morning !" " Hold on, father !" said the son, raking open the coals in the fire place and throwing on a stick of wood. He seated himself on the floor 76 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. and began to toss shillings, quarters, and half dollars on the hearth, which rang as they fell. The father heard the jingling, and sat up in bed, gazing with astonishment at the groAving pile. " Wife, give me a chaAV of tobacco," he said. He took the quid, sat more erect, spat at the fire, and gazed at the shining pieces of silver. " There is $215.12^. Besides this, I have got Berry's horse, saddle, and bridle in the stable, and his and Lincoln's notes for $200," said the son. " Wife, get up ! Billy must have some supper— the best you can get. Billy, I Avon't thresh you in the morning. You are a good bov — good boy!"(6) It Avas a dull Avinter for trade. Although Berry and Lincoln were the only store-keepers in NeAV Salem, they were not making much head- Avay in business. The farmers had little produce to sell, conse quently could not purchase many goods. Berry, the while, was drinking Avhiskey, and Lincoln was thinking of what Avas going on in South Carolina and in Congress rather than how to increase trade. South Carolina Avas proposing to pass a laAv to nullify the acts of Con gress, because a tariff was to be collected on goods brought from other countries. In Congress Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, made a speech on the Constitution and the Union Avhich electrified the country ; Pres ident Jackson uttered a solemn oath that the Union should be pre served. All of Avhich Avas interesting reading to Lincoln. The partners thought they might make money by keeping a tavern, and took out a license, which prescribed the prices they might charge per pint for liquors: French brandy, 25 cents; peach brandy, 18| cents; apple brandy, 12 cents; Holland gin, 18| cents; wine, 25 cents; rum, 18-f cents; whiskey, 12-^ cents. Meals, 25 cents each; lodging, 12^- cents. Horse for the night, 25 cents. Breakfast, dinner, or supper for passengers in the stage, 37-j- cents. The project of keeping a tavern was not carried out. The store was sold to Trent Brothers. They had no money, but gave their notes. Lincoln and Berry had given their own notes— first to the Herndons, then to Green. From the beginning the transactions Avere pretty much in notes. No one seemed to look forward to the time Avhen they would become due, or made any preparation for such an event. The Trents probably had no thought of ever paying. They Avould get Avhat they could for the goods and leave town. Berry became a loathsome sot and died. Abraham Lincoln found himself held on the joint notes Avhich had been given to the Herndons and to Green. He could not LIFE IN NEW SALEM. 77 pay them, but did not repudiate them. He had put in no capital. If the creditors Avould not harass him he would do his best to pay them. Years Avent by, the debts hanging like a millstone about his neck, but Avere paid finally, principal and interest, to the last cent. He would not have been true to him self, Avould not have been Abraham Lincoln, had he not done so. The little monej- he had when the Trents took the store Avas soon gone. His board bill at Eut- ledge's tavern Avas due. He would like to spend his time in reading; but there was no chafing of spirit as he shouldered his axe and Avent down the hill - side to the woods along the river, chopping down trees in order to obtain splints, Avhich he carried to a shanty, Avhere his evenings were spent reseating chairs. OAK-TREES STANDING NEAR THE SITE OF EERRT & LIN COLN'S STORE. [From a photograph by C. S. McCuUough, Petersburg, 111.] He Avas twenty - four years old, Avithout an oc cupation, and did not know for Avhat he Avas fitted. He Avould like to be a lawyer. He had not forgotten the plea of laAvyer Breckenridge in Indiana. He had come in contact with the prominent lawyers of Springfield : Stephen T. Logan and Major John T. Stuart. The last named served Avith him in the Avar Avith the Indians. His old comrade Avas very kind, and loaned him a law-book. The people of New Salem sometimes saw him stretched upon the ground beneath an oak-tree studying it. Eussell Godby Avanted a hand to help harvest his corn and gave him Avork. He Avas astonished to see his new hand, when resting, seated on a stump reading a book. Never before had he be held a fellow Avith a book in the field. " What are you reading, Abe ?" " I am not reading ; I am studying." 78 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 1838. " Studying ! What, I should likej to know ?" " Law, sir." "Great God Almighty!" exclaimed Godby. It Avas not a profane expression, but one of astonishment. When the book Avas finished, the farm hand Avalked to Springfield and obtained another from his friend. He earned money enough to pay his board hy assisting Mr. Ellis, Avho had opened a store. When a customer came he put his book aside, but took it up again the moment he was at leisure. Just how it happened is not known, but he Avas appointed post master. President Jackson Avas a Democrat, and did not appoint many Whigs to office ; for he had giATen utterance to the expression, " To the victors belong the spoils." Lincoln was in a Dem ocratic community, but Avas popular Avith Whigs and Democrats alike. So few letters came to NeAV Salem that the revenue would hardly pay him for the trouble of receiving and sending the weekly mail. His hat was the post-office. He thrust the letters into it, and kindly carried them to the people in the village to whom they Avere addressed. The young postmaster at New Salem greatly admired Henry Clay, of Kentucky, avIio had been Senator, and also member of President John Quincy Adams's Cabinet. In 1829 a young man, George D. Prentice, Avho Avas born in Con necticut, established a neAvs paper, the "NeAV England Ee- vieAv," at Hartford, in that State. He had graduated at Brown University, and was a very able and Avitty Avriter. His poems Avere appearing in the newspapers. Mr. Clay Avas a candidate forthe Presidency, and Mr. Prentice Avas employ ed to write his life. So it came about that John G. Whittier, whom the Avorld has since avtlliam g. green October, ism. heard of, became editor of LIFE IN NEAV SALEM. 79 GEORGE D. PRENTICE. the " EevieAv," and Mr. Prentice went to Kentucky and prepared a life of Mr. Clay,, a copy of Avhich fell into the hands of the young postmas ter at New Salem, who read it Avith great care, and Avho accepted the political principles of the Kentucky statesman. Mr. Clay needed a news paper to set forth his principles, and Mr. Prentice accordingly estab- 80 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. lished the "Louisville Journal," for which the postmaster at New Salem had subscribed. He found great pleasure in reading its witty and pungent paragraphs to the loungers in Mr. Hill's store, such as the following : "An editor in Indiana threatens to handle us without gloves. We certainly would never think of handling him without three pair, and thick ones at that." ' ' AA'hat would you do, madam, if you were a gentleman ?" " Sir, what would you do if you were one ?" " Strange that a dinner to which a man has not been invited is generally the one that sits hardest on the stomach." It is certain that he must have laughed heartily over Mr. Prentice's account of Avhat happened in Louisville : "Mr. Trotter, without provocation, attempted to shoot Mr. Clark in the street. Mr. O'Hara, friend of Trotter, made an attack upon Mr. Bryant, associate of Clark. Bryant gave O'Hara an effectual cudgelling, and then laid his cane over the head and shoulders of Mr. Trotter till the latter cried for quarter. There the matter ended. Mr. Clark retired to reload his pistols, Mr. Bryant to purchase a new cane, and Mr. Trotter and Mr. O'Hara to get their heads mended." Mr. Trotter Avas editor of the " Louisville Gazette," and said in his paper : " The infamy of George D. Prentice is notorious. He is shunned by all honorable men. The mark of Cain is on his broAV." " Mr. George Trotter," Avrote Prentice, in reply, " says that the mark of Cain is on our brow. We don't knoAv about that ; but Ave do knoAv that the mark of cane is on his back." It seems probable that Mr. Prentice greatly influenced Abraham Lincoln in forming his political opinions. The paper Avhich came to NeAV Salem — its able editorials upon the questions of the day and the measures before Congress — Avere read Avith as keen a zest as its Avitty and sarcastic fines. People from the Eastern States brought books, Avhich the postmas ter borrowed. He read Baldwin's History, Gibbon's works, and the novels of Mrs. Caroline Lee Hentz. (e) The civilization of NeAV Salem Avas still of the frontier type. The Clary Grove ruffians and many others delighted in cock - fights. Mr. McNab had a rooster which he boasted could Avhip any other cock in Sangamon. Another fellow Avas sure his chicken was the best bird. Bets were made, the day fixed, and the cocks tossed into the ring. McNab's, instead of fighting, fleAv to the fence, clapped its wings, and gave a lusty crow. " You are mighty fine on dress parade, but not much at fighting," said McNab, who paid his bet amid the laughter of LIFE IN NEW SALEM. 81 the spectators. Such AATas the sport, the delight, the civilization, sur rounding the young man avIio Avanted to become a kiAvyer. Board bills must be paid, and Abraham Lincoln, while studying the law-books loaned by friends in Springfield, Avas obliged to take his axe in hand once more. He split rails for James Short. He Avas Avorking on the bank of the Sangamon Avhen Pollard Simmons came along. " Good news for you," said Simmons. " What is it ?" " Haven't you heard of your appointment ?" " What appointment ?" " Why, John Calhoun, who has been appointed by President Jackson surveyor of public land, has selected you for his assistant." Calhoun was an ardent Democrat. Possibly he did not know any other person Avhom he thought competent to do the Avork. He knew Lincoln was to be trusted in everything that he would be willing to un dertake. " If I can be free to carry out my pohtical principles I will accept ; otherwise I will not take it," said Lincoln, and Avent on swinging his axe. (') He never had studied surveying ; but Mentor Graham, the school master, kindly offered to assist him, and he soon comprehended the meaning of sines, cosines, and traverse tables. He obtained a compass and chain, and was ready to begin work. The Government surveyors, many years before, had erected the bounds of the quarter sections of land, but many of the monuments had disappeared and neAV ones must be established. A party planned a neAV town two miles clown the San gamon from NeAV Salem, which they named Petersburg, and he was called upon to lay out the streets and lots. He resurveyed Eussell Godby's land, and received for pay two buckskins, which Hannah Arm strong, wife of Jack the wrestler, seAved upon his linsey-woolsey trou sers to protect them from the brambles. He was wanted in different parts of the county, and purchased a horse and saddle, also a pair of saddle-bags, in which he carried the compass, chain, survey-books, and other instruments. But the sheriff one day confronted him with a writ, and seized his horse and other property, demanding payment of the note which Berry and Lincoln had given for Eadford's goods. The note had been sold to a man who was determined to collect it, although Berry was in his grave, and Lincoln was having hard Avork to pay his board and keep himself in decent clothes. James Short kindly purchased the horse and equipments, and turned them once more over to Lincoln, Avho 6 82 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. never forgot the great service rendered at a moment when he needed a true friend. People liked to help him, possibly because he liked to help others. He was riding towards Springfield, and Avas overtaken by a man Avho had ridden fast and far that he might make an entr}7 of a tract of land in advance of a rich neighbor. He was poor, but his friends had contributed $100 to help him. " If I get there first I can secure it," he said. " See here," said Lincoln, " your horse is tired out ; mine is fresh. I am in no hurry ; take mine and go ahead. Put him up at Herndon's stable. I'll take yours and get there by-and-by." The man with a fresh horse reached Springfield, and secured the land a few min utes in advance of the other's arrival. Abraham Lincoln was ever ready to help those Avho needed help. Once more Mr. Lincoln Avas a candidate for the Legislature, and the people were ready to vote for him. He had become acquainted Avith men in all sections of the county. There was no need for him to make speeches. Of the four persons elected, only one had more votes than he. When the time came for the Legislature to assemble a friend loaned him money enough ta buy a new suit of clothes, and he made his Avay to Vandalia. When he entered the building in Avhich the rep resentatives met he crossed one of the dividing lines of his life. The future was to be far different from the past. He Avas associated with the foremost men of the State, who had been selected by their fellow- citizens to represent them in the Legislature. In the past he had com pared himself with men Avho chopped wood, with boatmen, and the Clary Grove gang. As a legislator he was to measure himself with men who had enjoyed the advantages of academies and colleges, Avho had won reputations and the respect and esteem of their fellow-men. He heard their speeches, but said little himself. He met in the lobby Stephen Arnold Douglas, born amid the Green Mountains of Yermont. His father died when he Avas only fifteen months old, but his mother tenderly cared for him. He attended the public-school, and usually stood at the head of his class. On the play ground he Avas leader in the games. He Avanted to go to college, but could not for lack of money. " I Avill earn my own living," he resolutely said. When fifteen years old he made furniture, obtaining enough money to attend an academy in Yermont one year. By teaching school he was able to attend a second year the academy at Canandaigua, N. Y. He studied law. With only 37£ cents in his pocket he entered the toAvn of Winchester, not far from Jacksonville, 111., Avhere he taua'ht LIFE IN NEW SALEM. 83 school and began the practice of laAv. He was affable and made many friends. He Avas ambitious to succeed in his profession and in political life. He was in Yandalia for the purpose of persuading the Democratic members of the Legislature to turn out Colonel John J. Hardin from the office of District Attorney and elect him instead. He was successful. The session lasted but a feAV Aveeks, and Abraham Lincoln Avent back to his surveying. He Avas not the same man he had been. The grasp of his hand, when he met Jack Armstrong, Avas as hearty as ever, but he had advanced to a higher plane of life. He had been considering questions which affected the welfare of his felloAV-men and the prosper ity of a great and groAving State. The young men of New Salem were attracted to the sitting-room of Eutledge's tavern because they desired to be where they could enjoy the society of the landlord's daughter ; there was not a girl in all the country round who had such Avinsome ways, such grace of manner and kindness of heart. If sickness came to a household, it was she Avho hastened to the bedside of the sufferer. It Avas her lullaby that soothed the fretting child. There AAras something so pure and holy about her that men were ashamed to utter an oath if she Avere near. She had attended school at Jacksonville ; not many of her mates had enjoyed such advantages. Of her many admirers she accepted the spe cial attentions of John McNeil, a young man from the State of NeAV York, who had left home to make his fortune in the groAving West. He had accumulated several thousand dollars. He planned to go to NeAV York, bring his father and mother to New Salem, and then he Avould claim her for his bride. On the evening preceding his depart ure he informed her that his real name was not McNeil but McNamur. He had left home determined to make his fortune, and did not desire his friends to knoAV where he Avas till he had attained his object. The explanation Avas accepted, and he took his departure. He Avould write to her, and she to him ; he would not be gone many months. The weeks went by, but no letter came for Ann Eutledge ; the sum mer waned, and still no message. Friends whispered their suspicions. Was not the revelation he had made in regard to his name to his dis credit ? If a true man, Avhy change his name ? If upright and honor able, Avhy not keep his promise? A letter came at last. On his home ward journey he had been seized Avith fever and delirium. Strangers kindly cared for him, but months Avent by before he was able to resume his journey. He had reached home, but it would take time to settle affairs. The troubled heart of Ann Eutledge was at peace once more. 84 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Other months passed, but brought no letter. Why did he not write ? Was he again doAvn with fever ? If so, would not some one inform her ? Was business crowding out all thoughts of herself? Is it a Avonder that her friends once more said he Avas fickle-minded; that he cared little for her ; that he had found some one with a fairer face ? It was no secret in New Salem that he did not write ; that a great disappointment had come to her. She found comfort and consolation in attending relig ious meetings. There was unwonted pathos in her voice as she joined in the singing. Something had gone out of her life. Her once rippling laughter Avas not so joyous as it had been, and there was a shade of sadness in her winsome smile. The heart of Abraham Lincoln goes out to her. To him there never was a blossom so fragrant, sweet, and fair as this flower of the prairie. Wherever he beholds her, whether in her home, in the religious meeting, or by the bedside of the sick, her presence glorifies the place. We may be sure that he Avho once Avaded the ice-cold stream to care for a dog would love Ann Eutledge with all the intensity and greatness of his soul. He had nothing but himself to offer her ; himself — an ungainly, uncultivated wood-chopper, boatman, teamster, store-keeper, surveyor— a piece of driftwood, thus far floating on the stream of time. He Avas poor, almost in poverty. Would she accept his love ? But the true love of Ann Eutledge has been awaiting, is awaiting, unanswered letters. She Avill write once more to him to whom she gave her love. The letter is written. Weeks pass, no answer comes, and the wounded heart, chastened by disappointment, accepts the sym pathy and affection of Abraham Lincoln. It is pleasure to labor, because Ann Eutledge has come into his life. Never before have the spring birds been so joyful, the days so bright, the nights so calm and peaceful, the vault of heaven so lit with stars, or the air so perfumed with flowers. He returns to NeAV Salem from his surveying, to look once more upon the face of her for whom he would lay down his life, if need be. He sits by her side in the gloaming. She sings a hymn which she has often sung in the religious meetings : " Vain man, thy fond pursuits forbear ; Repent, thy end is nigh. Death, at the farthest, can't be far, Oh think before thou die !"(9) The hymn to which he listens Avas written by one who in early life Avrote a book upon the "Unreasonableness of Eeligion" (Joseph LIFE IN NEW SALEM. 85 Hart, of London, England), but avIio saAv his mistake, and who became an earnest preacher of the Gospel. (") Abraham Lincoln had entered upon a period of doubt in religion. Thomas Paine's " Age of Eeason " and Yolnev's " Euins " led him to question generally accepted religious beliefs.(") Little does he think, as he listens to the enchanting voice, that a great sorrow, like the shadow of an eclipse, is about to darken his life. He does not mistrust the unwonted bloom upon her cheek that, brighten ing her beauty, heralds the approach of life's closing scene. He does not dream the cup of joy brimming over Avith blessedness at that evening hour never again will come to his lips — that Calvary is not far aAvay. A few hours, and her blood is on fire — the fever burning out her life. Watchers stand by her bedside — all others are excluded by order of the physician. ( 12 ) " But I must see him," her pitiful appeal. He enters the room alone, stands by her side, gazes once more into her loving eyes. No ears other than their OAvn hear the parting Avords. August 25, 1835, Ann Eutledge enters the life eternal, and all that is mortal of her is borne to its resting-place. He is stunned by the loss and walks as in a dream. He spends the night beside her grave, heeding not the chilling Avind or driving storm. " I cannot bear to have the rain fall upon her !" the moan of the stricken heart. A great hope has gone down — a joy forever departed. In the daytime he wanders aimlessly. If he sits beneath the trees on the bank of the river, the fallen leaves borne away by its current re mind him of his loss. The faded flowers bring before him the fairer blossom cut down by death. He is overwhelmed by grief. Eeason tot ters. His friends are alarmed, and seek to divert his thoughts. A friend sends him the poem Avritten by William Knox, of Scotland : "Oh I why should the spirit of mortal be proud ? Like a swift fleeting meteor, a fast flying cloud, A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave, He passeth from life to his rest in the grave. "The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade, Be scattered around and together be laid ; And the young and the old, and the low and the high, Shall moulder to dust and together shall lie. ' ' Yea ! hope and despondency, pleasure and pain, We mingle together in sunshine and rain ; st; LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. And the smile and the tear, the song and the dirge, Shall follow each other like surge upon surge. ' 'Tis the wink of an eye, 'tis the draught of a breath, From the bloom 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 ?" ^^^S GRAVE OP ANN RUTLEDGE. [From a photograph hy C. S. McCuUough, Petersburg, 111.] The poem emphasizes the evanescence of earthly things. That Avhich has come to him is the common lot of man, and so he will be resigned under the great affliction. Through life, whenever he is boAved Avith grief, he will find comfort and consolation in the lines. Little does Bolin Green know what service he is rendering to the world Avhen he takes Abraham Lincoln to his home. It is only a log- cabin, but Avithin its Avails kindness and sympathy are tenderly given till reason is once more enthroned. Years pass, but the kindness is never forgotten. When at last this benefactor passes away, and Abra- LIFE IN NEW SALEM. 87 ham Lincoln, croAvned Avith honor, stands by the burial casket, he can not give utterance to the Avords he fain Avould speak in commemora tion of his friend. His eyes fill Avith tears; Avith tremulous lips he turns away, unable to control his emotion. NOTES TO CHAPTER V. (]) A. Y. Ellis's letter in AVilliam H. Herndon's " Lincoln," p. 104 (edition 1889). (2) Judge Stepheu A. Logau, quoted iu Nicolay and Hay's "Abraham Lincoln: A History," vol. i., p. 108. (3) Nicolay and Hay, "Abraham Liucoln : A History," vol. i., p. 109. (4) AV. G. Green to Author, October, 1890. , (5) Ibid. (6) AVilliam H. Herndon, "Lincoln," p. 113 (edition 1889). (') Ibid., p. 118. ( s) Ibid., p. 120 ; also, Nicolay and Hay, "Abraham Lincoln : A History," vol. i., p. 115. (9) John M. Rutledge's letter in William H. Herndon's "Lincoln," p. 138, note (edi tion 1889). (io) S. AV. Dnffield, in "English Hymns," p. 100. (") AVilliam H. Herndou, " Lincoln," p. 439 (edition 1889). (12) Ibid., p. 138, note. 88 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. CHAPTEE Yl. IN PUBLIC LIFE. A LTHOUGH Abraham Lincoln had once been to Yandalia as a rep- -^*- resentative, he had not taken an active part in public affairs. Once more he Avas a candidate. A great meeting was held at Spring field, Avhere Whigs and Democrats addressed their felloAv-citizens 1836' from the same platform. Lincoln Avas the leading candidate of the Whigs. " He carried the crowd with him and swayed them as he pleased," are the words of one who heard him. ( ' ) George Forquar, Avho had been a Whig, but who had changed his politics, and was holding an office at a salary of $3000 a year, was the next speaker. Mr. Forquar had built a new house — one of the most expensive in Springfield. Lincoln, as he rode into the city the night before, noticed the elegant residence, and Avas particularly interested in the lightning - rod attached to the building. He had heard about lightning-rods, but had never seen one. Many good people thought that such a contrivance to Avard off a thunder - storm was an at tempt to circumvent Almighty God, and therefore audacious and wicked. Mr. Forquar thought himself of considerable importance in the com munity. " I see," he said, Avith an air of superiority, " that I shall have to take this young man down a little." His speech abounded with sarcasm and ridicule. Abraham Lincoln has left the platform and stands a listener in the audience. He hears the loud-spoken Avords, the guffaws of the crowd, but does not interrupt the speaker. When Forquar is through, Mr. Lincoln makes a speech Avhich elec trifies the audience — not of sarcasm, but argument. Not till the close does he indulge in ridicule. " The gentleman began his speech by saying that this young man Avould have to be taken doAvn, and he Avas sorry that the task devolved IN PUBLIC LIFE. 89 upon him. I am not so young in years as I am in the tricks and trades of a politician ; but live long or die young, I Avould rather die now than, like the gentleman, change my politics, and, simultaneously Avith the chauge, receive an office worth $3000 per year, and then have to erect a lightning - rod over my house to protect a guilty conscience from an offended God." Laughter and cheers rend the air, and his friends lift him upon their shoulders and bear him from the court-house as an expression of their admiration. ( " ) We are not to think that Lincoln shared the opinions of the people who said that to put up a lightning-rod was to " tempt God," but rather that he saw an opportunity to employ his opponent's weapon (ridicule) with telling effect. The discomfited Democratic office-holder could make no reply, and was compelled to endure the raillery that greeted him. Abraham Lincoln frankly responded to the call for a statement of his pohtical principles. " I go," he said, " for all sharing the privileges of the Government Avho assist in bearing its burdens ; consequently, I go for admitting all whites to the right of suffrage who pay taxes or bear arms, by no means excluding females^ (3) Yery few people in the United States in 1836 had entertained the thought that women as Avell as men were entitled to exercise the right of suffrage. It Avas not a question in the political camTass ; he was stat ing what to him was a fundamental principle. " All questions of social and moral reform," he said a few years later, "find lodgement first Avith enlightened souls, Avho stamp them Avith their approval. In God's OAvn time they will be organized into laAv, and thus woven into the fabric of our institutions." (*) In the election Lincoln led the ticket, and nine Whigs were sent to the Legislature from a county Avhich before had been Democratic. They were all very tall in stature, and Avere called the " Long Nine of Sangamon." Six years had passed since his soul was stirred Avithin him at wit nessing men, wTomen, and children sold at auction in New Orleans ; six years since William Lloyd Garrison had been put in prison at Baltimore for printing that trade in slaves Avas piracy. During the period peti tions had been presented to Congress for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia and the Territories over Avhich Congress had jurisdiction. Antislavery societies had been formed in many places 90 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. throughout the Northern States advocating the doing away with slav ery, so far as it could be done by the Government of the United States. The publication of the " Liberator " and other antislavery papers made the people of the Southern States very angry. In Charleston, S. C, the mail-bags were seized by a Yigilance Committee, and the few ob noxious papers found in them were burned in the public square. A grand-jury in Alabama indicted E. J. Williams, editor of the "Eman cipator," living in New York ; and the Governor of Alabama sent a requisition to the Governor of that State demanding that Mr. Williams should be given up to him to be dealt with by the courts of Alabama. The slave-holders of Louisiana offered $50,000 for the head of Arthur Tappan, of NeAV York, who had paid the fine of Garrison. The Presi dent, in his message to Congress, asked for the passage of a law Avhich Avould exclude such papers as the " Emancipator " and " Liberator " from the mails. A bill was introduced, but it did not become a law. There was much excitement throughout the country. People who joined the antislavery societies Avere called fanatics. They Avere accused of dis turbing the peace of the country, and of desiring that the slaves should cut the throats of their masters. A benevolent young Avoman, Prudence Crandall, Avas teaching school in Canterbury, Conn. A col ored girl attended, Avhich gave great offence to the people of the town, who Avithdrew their children, Avhereupon she opened a school for col ored children, Avhich so enraged the people that they held a town meeting, and passed resolutions condemning the school. They Avere not Avilling colored children should obtain an education. They Avere so bitter that it was difficult for Miss Crandall to obtain food for her self or her pupils. The selectmen of the toAvn informed her she must pay $1.60 a Aveek for any pupil not an inhabitant of the town, and if the colored girls from other toAvns did not leave within ten days they would be tied up to the Avhipping-post and flogged. Euffians filled up the well in Miss CrandaU's dooryard. The sheriff seized one of the pupils, and Avas about to tie her up to the whipping - post, but did not do it. Possibly he thought it Avould be cruel, as the girl had not done anything Avrong ; it may be he came to the conclusion it Avould not read well in history. Instead of whipping the children, the people secured the passage of a law which prohibited the teaching in a school for colored children by any one Avithout first obtaining the consent of a majority of the people and of the selectmen of a town. Church bells, Avhich on Sunday called people to Avorship God and do good to their fellow-men, Avere rung, and cannon fired, Avhen the Goat- IN PUBLIC LIFE. 91 ernor signed the bill. The sheriff put Miss Crandall in jail — into a cell from Avhich a man accused of murdering his Avife had just been taken. Her alleged crime was teaching colored children. There were men on the jury Avho did not think that she had committed any crime, and she was set at liberty. Once more the school began, which made some of the people of Canterbury so angry that they set her house on fire, but she extinguished the flames. A mob threw stones through the win dows and broke down the doors, so that she could no longer keep school. The people of Canterbury, hoAvever, Avere not any more prejudiced against the colored people than those living in other towns throughout the Northern States. In Pittsfield, N. H., the Eev. Mr. Storrs was of fering a prayer at an antislavery meeting, when the sheriff entered the pulpit and dragged him down the steps and out-of-doors. He had com mitted no crime, and was doing what he had a right to do under the constitution and laws of the State. James G. Birney, Avho lived in Kentucky, was a lawyer and also a minister, arguing cases in court dur ing the Aveek and preaching on Sunday. He Avas a slave-holder, but did not think it right to hold slaves, and so moved to Ohio and gave his slaves their freedom. He established the " Philanthropist," a news paper Avhich advocated the abolition of slavery. It so stirred up the people of Cincinnati that they held a public meeting. Jacob Bennett, one of the judges of the Superior Court and Senator in Congress, pre sided. It was not a meeting of ruffians, but of men Avho called them selves gentlemen. Many of them, doubtless, thought they Avere doing right, and what Avould be for the Avelfare of the community, by going to the office of the " Philanthropist " and throwing the type into the street and the printing-press into the river. They tried to find Mr. Birney, with the intention of giving him a coat of tar and feathers. Having destroyed the printing-office, they broke the windoAvs and doors of the houses occupied by colored people ; not that the negroes had done anything wrong, but because they were negroes. The colored people of Philadelphia fared Avorse than those in Cincin nati. A mob killed one, beat others with clubs, treated Avomen and girls indecently, broke doAvn the doors and smashed the AvindoAvs of fifty-four houses, and threAv the furniture into the street, just because they had African blood in their veins. Some of the Avomen of Boston formed an antislavery society. The young printer, Mr. Garrison, Avas present at one of their meetings. Mary Parker Avas reading a chapter in the Bible and offering prayer 92 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON. Avhen a mob gathered about the building. The mayor of the city, Mr. Lyman, rushed in. " I entreat you to dissolve the meeting," he said. " We demand protection," the reply. " I cannot protect you." The mob seized Garrison, put a rope about his neck, and dragged him into the street. "Hang him!" they shouted. But the police hustled him into a carriage and took him to the jail y"~ — -^ to save him from the excited crowd ; not altogether from men Avhose homes were in narrow alleys, but who had ships on the sea bringing cotton from Southern cities — men who went from their count ing-rooms to Avell-furnished houses, and Avho sat in cushioned pews on Sunday. While this was going on in Boston, another mob was breaking up a meeting in Philadelphia and burning the building in which it Avas held. Many of the min isters in the Northern States, instead of being foremost in joining the antislavery societies, thought that slavery was sanc tioned by the Bible, and Avas ordained for the welfare of the human race. We are to keep in mind the fact that Southern and Central Illinois Avas largely settled by people from Kentucky ; that Abraham Lincoln Avas from that State, as were all his fellow-members in the Legislature from Sangamon County. By the ordinance of 1787, passed by Con gress, slavery had been prohibited in the North-Avest Territory, Avhich included Illinois ; but in 1823 an amendment to the Constitution ad mitting slavery had been submitted to the people, Avhich was rejected by a majority of only 1800 votes in a total of nearly 11,000. On the last day of the session of 1836 a member of the Legislature introduced a series of resolutions Avhich deprecated any discussion of slavery by the people, and Avhich bitterly denounced the Abolitionists. Abraham Lincoln was very far from being an Abolitionist, but he did not like the spirit of the resolutions. He believed that the people had a right to discuss any question. He thought the institution of slavery Avas founded on injustice ; that it was not good for any community ; that Congress had the right to abolish it in the District of Columbia and in the Territories, but ought not to exercise the right except when the people in the District and Territories asked for its abolition.' He wrote a protest against the resolutions, but could get only Dan Stone IN PUBLIC LIFE. 93 to sign it. His Whig friends were fearful that if they Avere to sign they might lose some votes when the next election came round. The protest was Abraham Lincoln's first public expression in regard to slavery. It was a time when everybody was intending to get rich — the pe riod of grand schemes and great expectations. The multiplying of steamboats on the rivers and lakes, the opening of the Erie Canal, the fertility of the land in, Illinois, together with other things, brought a great many people into the State. The prairies were dotted with Avhite- topped Avagons of emigrants ; towns and villages were springing up ; people who bought land from the Government and divided it into vil lage lots expected to obtain several hundred dollars for an acre ; those who obtained their farms from the Government for $1.25 per acre ex pected that they would erelong be Avorth $10 or $15 per acre. Chi cago, which in 1830 was only a little collection of houses, had become an important point. Yessels Avere coming and going. A canal Avhich was to connect Lake Michigan with the Illinois Eiver had been sur veyed, and the Legislature, of which Abraham Lincoln Avas a member, had appropriated $500,000 to carry on the construction. So much land was taken by settlers that there was a surplus of more than $40,000,000 in the Treasury of the United States. The land-offices were crowded with people — many of whom Avere not settlers — paying for land Avhich was rapidly to increase in value. Everybody wanted railroads con structed. Each member had his pet scheme. The people of Alton wanted roads leading northward and eastward from that town, Avhich would make it the rival of St. Louis. The men who Avere mining lead at Galena wanted a road which would run the entire length of that State to the Ohio Eiver. There were to be roads east and west, north and south-— in all, more than 1400 miles. No surveys had been made ; neither did any one make an estimate of their cost ; but the Legisla ture voted $8,000,000 for the various schemes, and $4,000,000 to help on the canal, besides $200,000 to improve the rivers. No one thought of raising the money by taxation. It was said it could be had by the sale of bonds to people in the Eastern States. The State would have no difficulty in raising money to pay the interest on the bonds, Avhich the rich men in NeAV York and across the Atlantic Avould be eager to purchase. Such the reasoning. Towns were laid out, Avhich, it was be lieved, would soon become bustling cities. The members from Sangamon County determined to make Spring field the capital of the State. Other towns were equally determined to 94 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. secure the prize. Lincoln's fellow-members placed the bill for the re moval of the capital in his hands. He was so kind and genial, and had so many stories for the entertainment of the members, that those who did not accept his political opinions were ready to listen to Avhat he had to say in regard to the matter. His statements were so clear and argu ments so conclusive that he brought about the passage of the bill. The members from Sangamon and Morgan counties were greatly elated over what they had accomplished. At Macoupin's Point, Avhere they passed a night on their homeAvard journey, they made the tav ern ring Avith merriment — all except Lincoln, who Avas depressed in spirits. " What is the trouble ?" asked Mr. Butler. " Well, I have no particular interest in having Springfield the capi tal," he said. " I am more concerned in getting some capital for my self. I have been trying to get started in life, but haven't made much headway. I am in debt, and all the money I have received at Yan dalia will go to pay it." " What do you intend to do for a living ?" Butler asked. " I Avould like to leaA~e NeAV Salem, make my home in Springfield, and study law." " Make my house your home as long as you please," said Mr. Butler, who comprehended how greatly they Avere indebted to him in securing the passage of the bill. (E) A banquet was provided by the people of Springfield upon their arrival, at Avhich the following sentiment complimenting Lincoln Avas given : " He has fulfilled the expectations of his friends and disappoint ed the hopes of his enemies." It is a great point gained Avhen a young man finds out for Avhat he is best fitted in life. During the two sessions of the Legislature at Yandalia, Abraham Lincoln had met lawyers in debate. He saAv their qualifications and natural ability, and had measured himself Avith them. He had been studying the few laAV-books which his friends had loaned him, and had been drifting almost insensibly tow ards the laAV as an occupation ; but if be was to be a lawyer he must begin in earnest to prepare himself. He was twenty-eight years old. He was no longer postmaster ; no longer surveyor for the Government. He was in poverty, with the unpaid notes signed by himself and Berry hanging over him. He was poorer than on that day when Nancy Miller made him a pair of jean trousers. Every village had its lawyer; in Springfield there Avere seATeral gentlemen who were Avell educated. IN PUBLIC LIFE. 95 What chance was there for him ? Yet the decision Avas made calmly and resolutely. The song birds Avere building their nests and the forest trees put ting forth their leaves, when the young man Avho had secured the passage of the bill which made Springfield the capital entered the store of Joshua Speed and threAv his saddle-bags upon the counter. He intended to make Springfield his home. Thenceforth he Avas to be a lawyer. " I Avant to get a room, and must have a bedstead and some bedding. Hoav much shall I have to pay ?" he said. Mr. Speed took up his slate and jotted down the items : the cost of the bedstead, bed -tick, sheets, blankets, and wash-basin. "Seventeen dollars," said the store-keeper. " I have no doubt it is cheap, but I ha Aren't the money to pay for the articles. If you can trust me till Christmas, and if I succeed in my experiment of being a lawyer, I will pay you then ; if I fail, probably I never shall be able to pay you." No ripple of laughter came from his lips, no smile illumined the countenance, and the sad eyes Avere looking far aAvay. Mr. Speed Avas his friend, but never before had he seen him so dejected. " I can fix things better than that," said the store-keeper. " I have a large room and a double bed up-stairs, and you are welcome to occupy the room and share the bed Avith me." With his spare clothing and tAvo law-books in his saddle-bags he ascends the stairs. " I am moved !" his exclamation. He comes doAvn Avith a beaming face, the sadness all gone.(a) Major John T. Stuart, Avho had been a felloAV-soldier in the cam paign against the Indians, Avas ready to receive him as a partner. We are not to conclude that a crowd of people came flocking to the office of Stuart & Lincoln with cases for the court ; on the contrary, not many clients darkened their doors during the summer. There came a gentleman, one day, Avho announced himself as agent of the Post-office Department at Washington. " You were at one time, two or three years ago, postmaster at New Salem, I think ?" said the stranger. " Yes, I believe so." " I think your account has never been settled." "No, it has not. I have been wondering why somebody did not come round to square up things. I have been keeping the money." He goes up-stairs, returns Avith an old stocking, and counts out half-dollars, 96 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. shillings, and sixpences — the exact amount due the United States. (') In his poverty it has been held sacred. Long ago it was written, " He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much." Events were taking place Avhich set Abraham Lincoln thinking about the value of free institutions under a government of the people. A ne gro in St. Louis Avho had committed a terrible crime was taken from jail by a mob before he had been tried by the court, chained to a stake, and burned to death. After the poor wretch was dead, men and boys amused themselves by throwing stones at the skeleton. Eev. Elijah P. Lovejoy, editor of a religious paper, published an article in Avhich he said that while the negro deserAred to die, such conduct Avas no better than that of savages Avho burned prisoners of Avar at the stake, and Avho danced around their victims while the fire was doing its Avork. The men Avho burned the negro did not like such plain talk, and organized another mob, Avhich entered the printing-office, destroyed the types, and threAv the press into the river. Mr. Lovejoy left St. Louis and set up a neAV office in Alton, 111., thinking the people of that town would respect the freedom of the Press ; but when the new printing-press ar rived from Cincinnati, ruffians broke it in pieces and destroyed the types. Another press Avas purchased in Cincinnati. The mayor was notified, and a request made for its protection. He appointed Mr. Lovejoy and a large number of citizens special policemen to protect the property. The press arcwed, and was put into a stone warehouse. "It is our determination to protect our property," said Mr. Lovejoy and the others, as they assembled in the building in the evening with their guns. "You are acting in accordance with the law," said the mayor. A howl ing mob beset the building and fired into it. Those within returned the fire, killing one and wounding another. " Burn them out !" shouted the ruffians, raising a ladder and kindling a fire on the roof. Mr. Lovejoy and others stepped out-of-doors to fire at those on the ladder ; but sev eral of the mob fired upon them, and he fell mortally wounded. The other citizens, knowing if they remained they would be burned to death, fled from the building, the mob firing at them as they ran. Having gained possession, they broke the press and threAv it into the river. (8) The men who committed the murder little thought that instead of suppressing agitation they were helping it on. In many places through out the Northern States public meetings Avere held denouncing the out rage. Mr. Lovejoy had written articles against slavery, but men who. were not in sympathy with the Abolitionists saw that tlie freedom of the Press was the great question to be considered. IN PUBLIC LIFE. 97 The young men of Springfield formed a lyceum for the considera tion of questions affecting the interests of the people. The discussions Avere carried on around the great fireplace in Mr. Speed's store, Avith the hickory logs blazing on the hearth, and the audience sitting on nail- casks and benches. Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas were so able in argument and keen at repartee that the store could not accom modate those who came to hear them, and the meetings were held in PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, SPRINGFIELD. the Presbyterian church. They took up the affair at Alton. It came to the lot of Lincoln to deliver an address. He chose for his theme " The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions." He Avas twenty-eight years of age. Seven years had passed since he entered the State driving an ox -team. He had pulled an oar on the Mississippi, navi gated the Sangamon, been a soldier in the Black HaAvk War, store keeper, land-surveyor, and legislator. The people listened Avonderingly to the opening sentences : "In the great journal of things happening under the sun, the American people find our account running under date of the nineteenth century of the Christian era. We find ourselves in peaceful possession of the fairest portion of the earth as regards extent of territory, fertility of soil, and salubrity of climate. We find ourselves under the govern ment of a system of political institutions conducing more essentially to the ends of civil 7 98 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. and religious liberty than any of which the history of former times tells us. We find ourselves the legal inheritors of these fundamental blessings. We toiled not in the ac quirement or the establishment of them ; they are a legacy bequeathed to us by a once hardy, brave, and patriotic, but now lamented and departed, race of ancestors.'- The Avords that fall from his lips are the utterances of a statesman — of one who is looking into the future, Avho comprehends in some degree the mighty forces that are shaping the future of the country. He speaks of the action of the mob which a few weeks before had burned a negro in St. Louis, and of the peril of the country. What sentences are these ! "There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law. "Many great and good men, sufficiently qualified for any task they should undertake, may ever be found whose ambition would aspire to nothiug but a seat in Congress, a gu bernatorial or a presidential chair ; but such belong not to the family of the lion or the brood of the eagle. What ! Think you these places would satisfy an Alexander, a Caesar, or a Napoleon ? Never ! "Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto unexplored. It does not add story to story upon the monuments of fame erected to Ihe memory of others. It denies that it is glory enough to serve under any chief. It scorns to tread in the foot steps of any predecessor, however illustrious. It thirsts and burns for distinction, and, if possible, will have it, whether at the expense of emancipating slaws or enslaving free men. Is it unreasonable, then, to expect that some man possessed with the loftiest genius, coupled with ambition sufficient to push it to its utmost stretch, will at some time spring up among us ? And when such an one does, it will require the people to be united, attached to the Government and laws, and ' generally intelligent, to successfully frustrate the design." (9) Is this prophecy ? Is there some unseen intelligence of another realm Avhispering to him of the part he is to play in the drama of his country's history ? Why did he, six years before, raise his right hand to heaven, as he came from the heart-rending scene in the slave-market of New Orleans, swear a solemn oath that, if the opportunity ever came to him, he Avould hit the institution of slavery a staggering blow? Is it that his own spirit is already thirsting and burning for the emanci pation of 3,000,000 slaves ? Interpret the Avords as Ave may, they will ever stand as remarkable utterances — seemingly prophetic Avhen read in connection with the eATents of his subsequent life. In the election of members for the Legislature, Mr. Lincoln Avas again a candidate. His opponent, Colonel Taylor, said the Whig party was composed of aristocrats, who wore broadcloth and rode in fine carriages, whereas the Democrats Avere poor men, Avho Avorked hard to get a living. The rich Whigs lived in luxurious homes, Avhile the Democrats were found in log-cabins. IN PUBLIC LIFE. 99' " My opponent," said Lincoln, in reply, " accuses the Whigs of rid ing in fine carriages and Avearing ruffled shirts, kid-gloves, and gold Avatch-chains. Well, I was once a poor boy, and worked hard on a flat- boat for $8 a month, and had only a pair of buckskin breeches. You knoAv that buckskin after being Avet is apt to shrink in drying, and as my breeches Avere often Avet, the shrinking Avent on, the breeches getting shorter and shorter, till tliere Avere several inches of bare ankle between my stockings and the lower ends of the breeches. They Avere so tight that they left a blue streak around my shins. Now, if you call that aristocracy, I plead to the charge." (10) His opponent was a demagogue who, Avhen making political speeches to obtain an office, liked to Avear fine clothes and a showy Avatch-chain, but Avho, when trying to obtain votes, was careful to cover up his ruf fled shirt and chain. Lincoln kneAv that he was deceiving the people, and by a sAveep of his arm gave the fellow's vest a jerk, exposing the ruffle of his shirt and gold chain. The people roared with laughter, and the fellow left the platform, very red in the face. By the sweep of his arm he had upset all of Taylor's plans. Edward Dickinson Baker Avas born in London, England. He was two years younger than Abraham Lincoln, and came to America early in life. He made Springfield his home. He was a young laAvyer, and, hke Lincoln, an ardent Whig. His voice Avas musical. He could play the piano, sing songs, and Avrite poetry. He was an earnest advocate for the election of Harrison as President, and made a speech in the court-house to a great crowd. Many of those Avho gathered to hear him were Democrats. They Avere rough men ; they chewed tobacco, drank Avhiskey, and became angry at Avhat Baker was saying. The office of Stuart & Lincoln was over the court-room. A trap door for ventilation, above the platform of the court-room, opened into their office. Lincoln, desiring to hear what Baker was saying, lifted the door, stretched himself upon the floor, and looked clown upon the sway ing crowd. Baker Avas talking about the stealings of the Democratic officials in the land-offices. " Wherever there is a land-office there you will find a Democratic neAvspaper defending its corruptions," said Baker. " Pull him down ! Put him out ! It is a lie !" the cry from a fellow in the crowd, whose brother Avas editor of a Democratic paper. There was a rush for the platform. Great the astonishment of the croAvd at seeino- a pair of long legs dangle from the scuttle, and then the body, shoulders, and head of Abraham Lincoln, who let himself doAvn to the 100 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. EDWARD DICKINSON BAKER platform. He lifted his hand, but the fellows did not heed his gesture. They saw him grasp a stone- ware Avater-pitcher and heard him say, " I'll break it over the head of the first man who lays a hand on Baker! Hold on, gentlemen ! This is a free country — a land for free speech. Mr. Baker has a right to speak ; let him be heard. I am here to protect him, and no man shall take him from this platform if I can prevent it."(") It was as if he had said — as Avas said once before — " Peace, be still." The people knew hoAv champion Avrestlers had gone down before him ; but it was not that which hushed the crowd to silence and stilled the storm. They knew his goodness — how kind-hearted, just, honest, and IN PUBLIC LIFE. 101 true he was ; that he stands ever for what is right. Baker goes on, no one daring to disturb him so long as Abraham Lincoln is there. NOTES TO CHAPTER VI. (' ) Joshua F. Speed, Lecture on Abraham Lincoln, p. 17. (2) Ibid., p. 18. (3) "Sangamon Journal," June, 1836, quoted iu "Herudon'3 Lincoln," p. 166 (edition 1889). (4) AV. H. Herndon, "Lincoln," p. 167 (edition 1889). (6) J. G. Holland, "Life of Abraham Liucolu," p. 71. (6) AV. H. Herndon, "Liucoln," p. 185 (edition 1889). C ) J. G. Holland, " Life of Abraham Liucolu," p. 55. (8) "Life of Rev. E. P. Lovejoy." (3) " Sangamon Journal." ( 10) W. H. Herndou, " Lincoln," p. 195 (edition 1889). ( " ) Ibid., p. 196. 102 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. CHAPTEE VII. RIDING THE CIRCUIT. THE judicial districts of Illinois comprised several counties, in which the judge for the district held court, going from county to county ; he was called " Circuit Judge." The leading lawyers in the district usually accompanied him to the different county seats — all on horseback. It was called " riding the circuit." The judge might be very grave and dignified Avhen representing the majesty of the laAV in the court-room, but when mounted on his horse, Avith his laAv-books and an extra shirt in his saddle-bags, riding across the prairie, accompanied by a dozen or more jolly laAvyers, his laugh Avas as loud as theirs. In the evenings judge and lawyer alike gathered in the bar-room of the tavern, and there Avas ever an admiring audience to listen to their sto ries. The coming of the Court Avas looked forward to by the people of the county as one of the most important events of the year. Abraham Lincoln was a young lawyer. He could not be called a leading member of the bar, for he had been only a few months with his partner Avhen he began to ride the circuit. He had very few cases in court, but hoped that somebody Avould Avant to employ him at the different county seats. The census taken by the United States in 1840 showed that there Avere slaves in Illinois, although it was a free State. Settlers from Ken tucky had brought them across the Ohio Eiver. Unexpectedly a case came to Mr. Lincoln which greatly enlisted his sympathy and energy. Mr. Crowell sold his slave Nancy to Mr. Bailey, who, not having the money to pay for her, gave his note, Avhich was not paid when due. Mr. CroAvell did not Avant to lose his money, and brought suit in the Circuit Court. The judge decided that the note must be paid. An appeal was made to the Supreme Court. We do not know just how it came about, but possibly somebody had discovered that Abraham Lin coln was very kind-hearted, that he loved justice and right, and so employed him in behalf of the slave. He Avas thirty-two years old. He RIDING THE CIRCUIT. 103 had not had many cases; possibly this was his first in the Supreme Court. The laAvyer opposed to him Avas one of the ablest in Illinois — Stephen T. Logan, who later became his law partner, and subsequently a judge. '• May it please the Court," said Lincoln, in his argument, " the Ordi nance of 17S7, which prohibited slavery in the North- Avest Territory, would give Nancy her freedom. The Constitution of the State prohibits the holding of slaves. She cannot, therefore, be held as a slave ; she can not be sold as a slave. A note giAren for the sale of a slave in a free State can have no value. Neither Crowell nor Bailey can hold Nancy ; she is entitled to her freedom, and Crowell is not entitled to the money which Bailey promised to pay." The argument was so plain that the Court decided in his favor. The decision put an end to the holding of slaves in Illinois. The court-house, when the court Avas in session, was an attractive place. It might not be much better than a barn, but it Avas Avhere people reverenced the majesty of law ; where the brightest men in the county might be seen and heard. The judge sat on a platform behind a desk, with the clerk in front of him upon a lower platform. The members of the bar usually were tipped back in chairs, Avith their feet on other chairs, chewing tobacco and spitting at a box filled with sawdust. Abraham Lincoln did not chew nor smoke tobacco. In pre senting a case he often admitted so much that was favorable to his opponent, the lawyers were accustomed to say he had given himself away ; but he believed one lost nothing by being fair. He was employed in a very interesting case. Two farmers went to laAv about a young colt. One brought thirty-four Avitnesses, Avho testi fied that they had known the colt from the day of its birth ; that it be longed to him. Thirty other men swore they also had known it from its birth ; that it belonged to the other man. There had been two colts, but one was missing. Everybody said they were so nearly alike in size and color it was not possible to say which was Avhich. " Let the mares be brought into the case as witnesses," said the judge. He leaves the bench, and goes with all the lawyers and a great crowd of people to see and hear what the animals will say. The two mares are brought into the public square, and the colt let loose. It Avhinneys for its mother. There is an ansAvering whinney from one of the mares, and the colt runs to her side and will not leave her. What ought the jury to do ? Thirty -four men have testified on one side, and thirty on the other. They all say they have knoAvn the colt 104 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. from its birth, and that they cannot be deceived. Shall the actions of the animals be accepted as evidence ? " May it please your honor," said Lincoln, " I submit that the voice of Nature in the colt and its mother is of far more importance than the testimony of man. This is a case in Avhich the argument is as to the weight of evidence. It is a civil suit, and Ave want to find out who owns the colt. It is a case in Avhich the jury must decide according to the weight of evidence. Now, gentlemen of the jury, if you were going to bet as to Avhich of the mares is the mother, on which would you risk your money — even if it Avas not more than a picayune? On Avhich is the preponderance of evidence? Pos sibly you might not be right, but that is not the question. It is whether you will accept the testimony of thirty men and the silence of one of the mares on the one side, or the testimony of thirty-four men, the other mare, and the colt on the other side?" The case was so plain that the jury had no difficulty in deciding as to Avhich farmer was the rightful owner of the colt. They decided just as they Avould have bet their money. Another case was that of a poor Avoman, nearly eighty years old, who came Avith a pitiful story. Her husband had been a soldier in the Eevolutionary War, under Washington. He Avas dead, and she Avas en titled to a pension amounting to $400. A rascally fellow, pretending COURT-HOTJSE, PETERSBURG. [From a photograph taken by the author, 1890. The town of Petersburg was surveyed by Mr. Lincoln. and many of his legal arguments were made in this building.] RIDING THE CIRCUIT. 105 great friendship for her, had obtained the money, but had put half of it into his own pocket. The poor Avonian was the only Avitness. The jury heard her story. Abraham Lincoln the while was making the following notes on a slip of paper : " No contract. " Not professional services. " Unreasonable charges. " Money retained by defendant not given to plaintiff. " Bevolutionary War. " Describe A^alley Forge. " Ice. Soldiers' bleeding feet. " Husband leaving home for the army. " Skin defendant." He rises and turns to the judge. Of the laAvyers sitting around the table perhaps not one of them can say just what there is about him which hushes the room in an instant. " May it please your honor " — the words are spoken slowly, as if he were not quite ready to go on Avith what he has to say — " gentlemen of the jury : this is a very simple case — so simple that a child can understand it. You have heard that there has been no contract — no agreement by the parties. You will observe that there has been no professional service by contract." Slowly, clearly, one by one the points Avere taken up. Who was the man to Avhom the GoA^ernment of the United States owed the money? He had been with Washington at Valley Forge, barefooted in midwinter, marching with bleeding feet, with only rags to protect him from the cold— starv ing for his country. The speaker's lips were tremulous, and his eyes filled with tears as he told how the soldiers of the Bevolution inarched amid the snoAvs, shivered in the Avintry Avinds, starved, fought, died that those Avho came after them might have a country. Judge, jurymen, lawyers, and the people who listen Avipe the tears from their eyes as he tells the story of the soldier parting from friends, from the wife, then in the bloom and beauty of youth, but now friendless and alone, old and poor. The man who professed to be her friend had robbed her of what was her due. His spirit is greatly stirred. The jury right the Avrong, and compel the felloAV to hand over the money. And then the people see the laAvyer who has Avon the case tenderly accompanying the grateful woman to the railroad station. He pays her bill at the hotel, her fare in the cars, and charges nothing for Avhat he has done ! ( 2 ) A negro woman came to Mr. Lincoln with a pitiful story. She 106 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. and her children had been slaves in Kentucky, but their master had brought them to Illinois and given them their freedom. Her son was a cabin - boy on a steamboat. When the boat reached New Orleans the boy went on shore, and, not having a pass, was arrested. He was in jail, and Avould soon be sold into slavery because he had no money to pay the fees due the jailor. He was a citizen of Illinois. "What can you do for the boy, legally and constitutionally ?" wrote Lincoln to the Governor of the State. " I am poAverless ; I have no authority," was the reply. Mr. Lincoln saAv as never before the aggressiveness of slavery ; how it was laying its iron hands upon citizens of Illinois. He walked the floor with rising indignation. " I'll have that negro back, or I'll have an agitation in this State that shall last twenty years, if need be, to give the Governor authority to act in such a case !" he exclaims. He obtained $200, and secured the return of the boy. It was a pleasure for him to help others. He loved justice and right. He would not undertake to conduct a case in court unless he had right on his side. It was a very strange announcement which he made when a case was called in Avhich he appeared as counsel : " May it please your honor, I have examined this case with great care ; the only question at issue is one of authority. I have not been able to find any authority to sustain my side, but I have found several cases in point on the other side. I will give them, and submit the case to the Court." Instead of presenting his own side, or instead of sitting in silence, he had given the argument and authority on the side of his opponent. A laAvyer in Beardstown received a call from Lincoln. "I learn," said the latter, "that you are suing some of my clients, and I have come to see about it." " Yes, I have brought suit against a man in order to make him carry out a contract. Here is the agreement between the parties. Bead it, and see if I haAre not justice on my side," the reply. "; You are right. Your client is justly entitled to Avhat he claims, and I shall so represent it to the Court. It is against my principle to contest what is clearly a matter of right." (3) Eight first, justice always, chicanery never — those were the princi ples of Abraham Lincoln. A man Avanted him to undertake a case, told his story, and was astonished to hear Lincoln reply : " Yes, I can doubtless obtain your case for you. I can set the Avhole neighborhood at loggerheads. I can distress a widoAved mother and her six fatherless children, and RIDING THE CIRCUIT. 107 thereby get you $600, to which you seem to have a legal claim, but Avhich rightfully, as it appears to me, belong quite as much to the Avoman and her children as to you. You must remember that some things are legally right which are not morally right. I will not undertake your case, but will give you a little advice, for Avhich I shall charge nothing. You seem to be an energetic man, and I advise you to make $600 some other Avay." At Clinton there was so interesting a case that men and Avomen from all the surrounding country crowded the court -room. Fifteen women were arraigned. A liquor seller persisted in selling whiskey to their husbands after the wives begged him not to do so. He cared nothing for their protestations, but laughed in their faces. The tears upon their cheeks did not move him. What should they do? There was no law to stop him. They marched to the groggery, smashed in the heads of the barrels with axes, and broke the demijohns and bot tles. The fellow had them arrested. No laAvyer volunteered to defend them. Abraham Lincoln, from Springfield, entered the room. There Avas something about him which emboldened them to speak to him. " We have no one to defend us. Would it be asking too much to inquire if you can say a kind word in our behalf?" the request. The lawyer from Springfield rises. All eyes are upon him. " May it please the Court, I will say a feAV Avords in behalf of the Avomen Avho are arraigned before your honor and the jury. I would suggest, first, that there be a change in the indictment, so as to have it read, ' The State against Mr. Whiskey,' instead of ' The State against the Women.' It would be far more appropriate. Touching this question, there are three laws : First, the laAV of self-protection ; second, the law of the statute ; third, the laAV of God. The law of self-protection is the law of necessity, as shown when our fathers threw the tea into Boston harbor, and in assert ing their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This is the defence of these women. The man who has persisted in selling whiskey has had no regard for their Avell-being or the Avelfare of their husbands and sons. He has had no fear of God or regard for man ; neither has he had any regard for the laAvs of the statute. No jury can fix any damages or punishment for any violation of the moral law. The course pursued by this liquor dealer has been for the demoralization of society. His groggery has been a nuisance. These women, finding all moral suasion of no avail with this fellow, oblivious to all tender appeal, alike regard less of their prayers and tears, in order to protect their households and promote the Avelfare of the community, united to suppress the nuisance. 108 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. The good of society demanded its suppression. They accomplished what otherwise could not have been done." There was no need for him to say more. The whole case had been stated, and the jury understood it. " Ladies," said the judge, " you need not remain any longer in court unless you desire to. I will require no bond of you ; and if there should be any fine imposed, I will give you notice." The judge was so polite and smiling that everybody in the room understood that there Avas no probability of a fine.(4) Mr. Cass had a case in court. He owned two yoke of oxen and a breaking-up plough which he AATantedto sell, and which Mr. SnoAv's tAvo sons bought, giving their note in payment. Neither of the boys had arrived at the age of manhood. Mr. Cass trusted that they would pay the note when it became due ; but it was not paid. Abraham Lincoln questioned a witness : " Can you tell me where the oxen are noAv ?" he asked. " They are on the farm where the boys have been ploughing." " Have you seen them lately ?" " I saw them last week." " How old are the boys now ?" " One is a little over twenty-one, and the other is nearly tAventy- three." " They were both under age Avhen the note Avas given?" " Yes, sir." " That is all." " Gentlemen of the jury : I do not think that those boys would have tried to cheat Mr. Cass out of his oxen but for the advice of their coun sel. It Avas bad advice in morals and in law. The law never sanctions cheating, and a lawyer must be very smart indeed to twist the law so that it will sanction fraud. The judge will tell you what your own sense of justice has already told you — that if those boys Avere mean enough to plead the baby act Avhen they came to be men, they at least ought to have taken the oxen and plough back to Mr. Cass. They ought to knoAV that they cannot go back on tbeir contract and also keep what the note was giATen for." So plain the case the jury, Avithout leaving their seats, rendered a verdict, and the young men were obliged to pay for the oxen and plough, besides learning a Avholesome lesson. While riding the circuit Abraham Lincoln Avas taking a lively inter est in political affairs. There was much dissatisfaction throughout the RIDING THE CIRCUIT. 109 country with the administration of President Van Buren, whom the Democratic party renominated. The Whig party nominated General William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, Avho Avas born in a log-cabin, who fought a battle with the Indians at Tippecanoe, in Indiana, and whom the Whigs called " Old Tippecanoe." He Avon other battles against the British in Canada. During the campaign there Avere mass-meetings, log-cabins, processions, brass bands, oxen roasted whole, flag -raisings, speeches, and songs. The songs sung told about General Harrison, his eating corn -bread and drinking cider. Abraham Lincoln was mak ing speeches throughout Illinois for Harrison. His speeches were en- hvened with anecdotes and stories, and Avere much liked by the people. His partner, Mr. Stuart, Avas a mem ber of Congress. With one mem ber of the firm in Washington, and the other giving his attention to politics, the spiders could spin their webs undisturbed in their law office. Not much money came from riding the circuit. Once more he was elected to the Legislature. In the State-house he made the acquaintance of men of influence and position. In the bar-room of the hotel he Avas the centre of a circle of admiring listeners. Springfield was no longer a small county seat, but the capital of the State, the resort of men and women of influence and position. It was a hospitable mansion — that of Ninian Edwards — which opened its doors to the Governor, judges, members of the Legislature, and distinguished visitors. They received a gracious Avelcome from the young bride, whose former home was in tlie most cultured toAvn of Kentucky — Lexington. Shall we Avonder that the young men of Springfield Avere often found in the parlor of the Edwards mansion, made doubly radiant and at tractive by the presence of Mrs. Edwards and her unmarried sister, Mary Todd ? " I Avant to introduce you to Mary Todd," said Mr. Speed to Mr. Lincoln, as they entered the house of Mr. Edwards. Doubtless, the WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 110 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. acquaintance was all the more pleasurable to him from the fact that Miss Todd was acquainted with Henry Clay. She Avas twenty -one, vivacious, sparkling, the centre of a circle of admiring young men. She never Avas at a loss for a partner in the promenade, the minuet, or Avaltz. He did not dance, neither did he knoAV hoAv to play cards ;(') but yet she was neATer more ATivacious than Avhen in conversation Avith him. We are not to think that a young man who but a feAV years before pulled an oar and swung an axe to earn his daily bread, Avhose life had been a struggle against adversity, could at once become a general favor ite in cultured society. He did not understand all the amenities of social intercourse ; but somehow the attentions of Mr. Lincoln Avere more ac ceptable to Miss Todd than those proffered by other young men. As the weeks went on, friendship ripened to a marriage engagement. In his lonely chamber he was pondering a great question. Could he give her the affection that Avould be her clue ? Could he fill her life with joy ( Ought he to accept her love when he could give so little in return? Not for the Avorld would he imperil her happiness. Is it strange that the tears glistened upon her cheeks Avhen he informed her he could not reciprocate her affection as he ought and as she deserved ? Need Ave Avonder that Avhen he saw the tears he kissed them away and plighted his troth anew ? The day fixed for the wedding arrived. The marriage of Abra ham Lincoln and Mary Todd Avould be a notable social event. There Avas much preparation in the hospitable mansion of Ninian isTi"5'' Edwards. The guests assemble; the feast is prepared; all are Avaiting. The bride in her beauty is ready to descend from her chamber to meet him who is to fill her life Avith happiness. He has not arrived. None of all the listening ears can hear his approaching footsteps. The evening Avanes. He does not come. The guests take their departure ; the lights are extinguished ; the Avedding-feast is not eaten. Mary Todd is in her chamber, overwhelmed Avith mortification. Joshua Speed searches for the delinquent groom, and finds him pale, haggard, and in the deepest melancholy. ( " ) Heart-rending the letter which he sent to his friend, Mr. Stuart : " I am the most miserable man hving. If what I feel were equally distributed to the Avhole human family, there would not be a cheerful face on earth. Whether I shall ever be better I cannot tell ; I awfully forebode I shall not. To remain as I am is impossible. I must die or be better." (') In the mythology of our forefathers of Norseland a bird of ebony RIDING THE CIRCUIT. Ill plumage was the symbol of memory. Through all ages, in all lands, the raven has been the emblem of haunting recollections. The Avorld never will know the tearful memories and heart-rending forebodings of that night of agony. The transcendent genius of Edgar Allen Poe faintly portrays it : "'Prophet!' said I, 'thing of evil! — prophet still, if bird or devil! By that heaven that bends above us — by that God we both adore — Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn, It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore— Clasp a rare aud radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore.' Quoth the raven, 'Nevermore.'" Unmindful of what was going on around him, silent, pale, his mind tempest-tossed, Mr. Lincoln was sinking into distressful melancholy. It was very kind in Joshua F. Speed, Avho had closed his business in Springfield, and who was going to Kentucky, to take Mr. Lincoln Avith him to his former home just out from Louisville. (8) There was tender ness in the sympathetic Avelcome given him by the mother of Mr. Speed, a great-hearted Christian woman. To men who think for themselves, no matter Avhat may have been their previous religious belief, there not unfrequently comes a period of doubting. Such a period came to Abraham Lincoln. The preachers whom he heard through his early years, for the most part, had little ed ucation. One of the Governors of Illinois says of them : " They Avere Avithout previous training, except in religious exercises and in the study of the Holy Scriptures. It Avas not thought necessary that a teacher should be a scholar. It Avas thought to be his business to make appeals warm from the heart ; to paint heaven and hell to the imagination of the sinner, to terrify him Avith the one and to promise the other as a reward for a life of righteousness. . . . They made up by loud holloaing and violent action what they lacked in information." (°) Many of those who travelled from settlement to settlement knew very little about the Bible, but yet attempted to explain all its truths and events. At the camp -meetings held in groves along the streams there was weeping, Availing, excitement, frenzy, rolling upon the ground, ecstatic shoutings, "Amen!" "Glory!" "Hallelujah!" Shall Ave Avon der that Abraham Lincoln came to the conclusion that there Avas not much true religion in such ecstasy and excitement ? It is possible that some of those Avho shouted loudest were hard and grasping in their dealings with their neighbors; aniens, hallelujahs, and loud praying did not make them better men. He had not forgotten his mother's 112 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. teachings. He could repeat much of the Bible, but he Avas not moAred by emotional appeals. Many of the doctrines taught Avere repulsive to him. When Ann Eutledge died, and his soul Avas wrung Avith grief, no one had talked to him of divine love and eternal goodness. So far as he could see, his own life had been a failure. Hopes had not been realized, desires not gratified. He had accomplished nothing. " You Avill die unless you rally," the words of his dear friend, Mr. Speed. " I am not afraid to die, and Avould be more than willing; but I have an irrepressible desire to live till I can be assured that the Avorld is a little better for my having lived in it," the mournful reply. (10) He is out in the desert — hungry, thirsty, weary, depressed in spirit — no' star to guide him. But as the angels of God came to the carpenter's Son of Nazareth, so came Joshua F. Speed and Lucy Gilman Speed to him. He finds himself in a hospitable home. Flowers are blooming around it ; balmy breezes sweep through the halls. He breathes an atmos phere of restful peace. A saintly Avoman sits by his side, opens the NeAV Testament, and reads the words of One avIio Himself bad been in the wilderness. Her teachings are very different from Avhat he has heard from the shouters. The Oxford Bible which she presents him as a token of her respect and affection (") has given her comfort and consolation in every hour of trouble. She talks of God as a Father, Jesus Christ as a Brother. New truths dawn upon him, and the Bible becomes a different book from Avhat it has been in the past. That home, with its blooming flowers, restful shade, and atmosphere of peace and joy, is the gateway of a new life. Little does Lucy Gilman Speed knoAv that God has crowned her with honor and glory, to be a minis tering spirit in leading a beAvildered Avanderer out of the desert of de spair and unbelief, that he may do great things for his felloAV-men. Weeks go by, the gloom and anguish disappear. The period of doubt has gone, never to return. From that hour the Bible is to be his rule of life and duty. His biographers— those who Avere near him later in life— have this to say of him : "The late but splendid maturity of Lincoln's mind and character dates from this time ; and although he greAv in strength and knowl edge to the end, from this year Ave observe a steadiness and sobriety of thought and purpose discernible in his life." (I2) This estimate does not include the service rendered by Lucy Gilman RIDING THE CIRCUIT. 113 Speed. When the great account is made up, and the angels of God come from the harvest-fields to lay their sheaves at the feet of the Mas ter, hers -will be the changed life of Abraham Lincoln. /¦ . ¦¦:¦.,. : ,.-, "¦-'¦¦;. -y^fi ¦ — -V-. v- ¦':, ,--,,-, ' LTJCT GILMAN SPEED. [From a painting by Bush, in possession ofthe family.] As this biography unfolds, there will be seen, as the years go by and the responsibilities of life roll upon him, a reverent recognition of Divine Providence, an increasing faith and childlike trust in God. 8 114 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. NOTES TO CHAPTER ATI. ( ] ) J. G. Holland, " Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 81. (s) W. H. Herndon, "Liucolu," p. 340 (edition 1889). (3) Ibid., p. 327. (4) Ibid., p. 343. C) Joshua F. Speed, Lecture on Abraham Lincoln, p. 31. (6) W. H. Herudon, " Lincolu," p. 215 (editiou 1889). (') Letter to J. T. Stuart, quoted iu Herndon's "Liucolu," p. 215 (edition (a) Joshua F. Speed, Lecture on Abraham Lincoln, p. 39. ( * ) Governor Ford, " History of Illinois." (I0) Joshua F. Speed, Lecture on Abraham Liucolu, p. 39. (") "Century Magazine," January, 1887. (>») Ibid. SEVEN YEARS OF ACTIVE LIFE. 115 CHAPTEE VIII. SEVEN YEARS OF ACTIVE LIFE. Tj^EOM the restful retreat in the home of Lucy Gilman Speed, Mr. -*~ Lincoln, Avith new hopes and ambitions, took passage on a steam boat doAvn the Ohio and up the Mississippi and the Illinois rivers to his home. It Avas the most convenient route of travel. With out doubt, Avhen he reached Gentry's Landing he recollected the day Avhen he ferried two passengers out to a passing boat, and received in return two shining half-dollars, Avhich seemed a fortune at the time. It Avas the locality Avhere Katy Kobie had made the evening hours pleasant by her presence. It Avas the home of Judge Pitcher, Avho had been so kind to him. From that point to the junc tion of the Ohio with the Mississippi he had pulled an oar on a flat- boat. From the Mississippi to BeardstoAvn he Avould be once more amid the familiar scenes of his second trip to New Orleans. There is little question that the recollections of the auction of human beings came back to him, for once more he beheld the barbarism of the insti tution of slavery. In the Kentucky home where he had found such restfulness he had seen slaATery in its most attractive form — the slaves cared for as members of the household, and a tender affection existing between them and their mistress. In such a home, the institution was patriarchal and seemingly beneficial, but upon the steamboat the illu sion faded. In a letter to Miss Mary Speed he said : "A fine example was presented on board the boat for contem plating the effect of 'condition upon human happiness. A gentleman had purchased twelve negroes in different parts of Kentucky, and Avas taking them to a farm in the South. They were chained six and six together; a small iron clevis AAras around the left wrist of each, and this Avas fastened to the main chain by a shorter one at a conven ient distance from the others, so that the negroes were strung together precisely like so many fish upon a trout-line. In this condition they were being separated forever from the scenes of their childhood, their friends, 116 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. their fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters, and many of them from their Avives and children, and going into perpetual slavery, Avhere the lash of the master is proverbially more ruthless than anyAvhere else ; and yet amid all these distressing circumstances, as Ave would think them, they Avere the most cheerful and apparently happy people on board. One, Avhose offence for which he was sold was an over-fondness for his Avife, played the fiddle almost continually, and others danced, sang, cracked jokes, and played various games Avith cards from day to day. How true it is that ' God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb,' or, in other Avords, that He renders the Avorst of human conditions tol erable, while He permits the best to be nothing better than tolerable." ( ' ) In Kentucky slavery was in some respects patriarchal. Kind-hearted planters felt a degree of responsibility for the physical and moral Avel fare of their slaves. Those of the household had many liberties, and en joyed rollicking times in the kitchen, singing songs and dancing. It Avas for the planter's interest to provide them comfortable cabins. Each had its patch of ground for a garden. In sickness they received kindly care. The dark side Avas revealed when they Avere sold to enable the master to pay his debts. There were mournful scenes Avhen the laAv stepped in to settle an estate of a deceased planter. The inexpressible hideousness of the institution Avas revealed Avhen hard-hearted men dis posed of their slaves for gain, just as they sold cattle and pigs. Mr. Lincoln did not write to Miss Speed the effect that the spec tacle had upon himself, but it intensified his abhorrence of such a con dition of affairs in a free republic. Times Avere hard. The period which people were looking for Avhen everybody was to be rich had not arrived, but seemed farther off than ever. There had been a period of speculation in the East and South as Avell as in the West. In Illinois the inhabitants were feeling the out come of the legislation which appropriated $12,000,000 for the construc tion of railroads and a canal. The bonds had been printed and a por tion of them sold ; but the rich men of New York and Boston, Avho AA'ere expected to purchase them, had themselves been speculating, buy ing farms and house -lots, borrowing money from the banks. When their notes became due they Avere unable to pay them. The banks had no more money to loan and Avere crippled. A firm in New Orleans, Avhich had been buying cotton at high prices and borrowing money, failed to pay its notes when due. It was the beginning of a financial crash. Men who supposed themselves rich suddenly found they were penniless. Banks and individuals alike failed. Trade was at a stand- SUEINd SLAVERY AT ITS REST. SEVEN YEARS OF ACTIVE LIFE 119 still. Very little money passed between buyer and seller. The mer chant was obliged to take farm produce at low price in exchange for his goods. Creditors Avere suing those Avho OAved them. Lawyers were making out Avrits and trying cases. Taxes were especially burdensome by the action of State officials, Avho refused all bank-bills and demanded gold or silver, which had disappeared from circulation. People saw their farms sold for taxes and were powerless to prevent the sale. NEGRO CABINS ON A KENTUCKY PLANTATION. _^4i -s^* The official most active in this period of financial distress was Mr. Shields, an emigrant from Ireland, Avho had been elected State Auditor. He Avas belieA7ed by many to be vain, egotistical, and pompous in the discharge of the duties of the office. The Auditor regarded himself Avith much complacency Avhen in the society of ladies, and lost no op portunity of showing them attentions. He was a Democrat, Avhereas quite a number of the young ladies of Springfield were ardent Whigs, especially Miss Mary Todd and Miss Julia Jayne. The action of Shields in refusing to receive bank-bills in payment for taxes gave 120 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. great offence. He Avas bitterly denounced. Abraham Lincoln gave utterance to no denunciation, but, knowing Shields Avas sensitive to ridicule, adopted a far different method of attack. The " Spring field Journal," the last Aveek in August, contained a letter which set the Whigs to laughing, but Avhich irritated Mr. Shields. It was Avritten from " Lost Township," a place not found on any map. The writer Avas a Avidow, and signed herself " Kebecca." The Avidow gave an account of a visit to her neighbor, Avhom she found very angry. "What is the matter, Jeff?" she asked. "I'm mad, Aunt 'Becca! I've been tugging ever since har\rest, getting out wheat and hauling it to the riA*er to raise State bank paper enough to pay my tax this year and a little school debt I OAve ; and now, just as I've got it, here I open this infernal 'Extra Eegister' [Democratic neAvspaper], expecting to find it full of Glorious Democratic Victories and High Com'd Cocks, when, lo and behold ! I find a set of fellows calling themseh^es officers of the State have forbidden the tax collectors and school commissioners to receive State paper at all ; so here it is, dead on my hands." The Avidow Avent on to tell hoAv her neighbor used some bad Avords. "Don't SAvear so," she said, in expostulation to Jeff; "you know I be long to the meetin', and sAvearing hurts my feelings." " Beg pardon, Aunt 'Becca, but I do say that it is enough to make one swear, to have to pay taxes in silver for nothing only that Ford may get his $2000, Shields his $2400, and Carpenter his $1600 a year, and all without danger of loss from State paper." (2) The ridicule of "Eebecca" Avas merciless. A week passed and a second letter appeared, not Avritten by Abraham Lincoln, but by Mary Todd and Julia Jayne, in which " Eebecca " satirized the Auditor upon his attention to the ladies. Besides the letter there Avere rhymes : "YTe Jews-harp, awake ! the Auditor's won ; Rebecca the widow has gained Erin's son ; The pride of the North from Emerald Isle Has been wooed and won by a woman's smile." (3) The Auditor, instead of laughing at the satire, became very angry, and demanded the name of the Avriter. " Give him my name, but say nothing about the young ladies," said Lincoln. (4) Shields demanded satisfaction. In the Southern States a refusal to fight a duel was looked upon as evidence of cowardice. Many public men had fought duels — Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, Colonel GENERAL JAMES SHIELDS. [From a photograph taken in 1861.] Benton and General Jackson, Commodore Decatur and Commodore Barron, Henry Clay and John Eandolph. Four years before the Avrit ing of the " Eebecca " letter Mr. Graves, of Kentucky, and Mr. Cilley, of Maine, members of Congress, fought a duel, in Avhich Cilley was killed. Lincoln Avas quite willing to come to satisfactory terms Avith Shields for anything that he had Avritten himself, but he could not in honor say to him that the second letter and poetry had been Avritten by tAvo estimable young ladies. " What will you do?" asked a friend. "I am Avholly opposed to duelling, and will do anything to avoid it that will not degrade me in the estimation of myself and friends ; but if degradation or a fight are the alternatives, I shall fight." (6) He knew the party challenged could name the Aveapons. He knew. too, that small SAVords AArere generally used, but Avith grotesque humor he selected heavy broadswords. He stipulated that there should be a barrier between himself and Shields, over Avhich they were to hack 122 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. at each other, and they were to be confined to a limited space. The laws of Illinois prohibited duelling, and he demanded that the meet ing should be outside the State. Shields undoubtedly knew Lincoln Avas opposed to fighting a duel — that his moral sense Avould revolt at the thought, and that he Avould not be likely to break the laAV by fight ing in the State. Possibly he thought Lincoln would make a humble apologv. Shields Avas brave but foolish, and would not listen to over tures for explanation. It was arranged that the meeting should be in Missouri, opposite Alton. They proceeded to the place selected, but friends interfered and there Avas no duel. There is little doubt that the man who had swung a beetle and driven iron Avedges into gnarled hickory logs could have cleft the skull of his antagonist, but he had no such intention. He repeatedly said to the friends of Shields that in Avriting the first article he had no thought of anything personal. The Auditor's vanity had been sorely wounded by the second letter, in regard to Avhich Lincoln could not make any explanation except that he had had no hand in writing it. The affair set all Springfield to laughing at Shields, but it detracted from the happiness of Lincoln. By accepting the challenge he had violated his sense of right and out raged his better nature. He Avould gladly have blotted it from memory. It Avas ever a regret. (") Martin Yan Buren, freed from the cares of the nation by the elec tion of General Harrison, journeyed av est ward to Illinois. The roads were deep with mud, and instead of reaching Springfield on the day he intended, found night oA'ertaking him Avhen six miles from the capital. Word came to his friends that he would spend the night in the vil lage of Eochester. They knew the accommodations at the little tavern Avould be scanty. The food Avould be bacon and eggs, or other homely fare ; and so, providing themseh'es Avith delicacies, they hastened to Eochester. Abraham Lincoln had made speeches supporting Harrison ; he had commented severely upon the shortcomings of Yan Buren's administra tion ; but a man Avho had been chief executive of the nation should be honored by all, irrespective of party. He accepted the invitation of his Democratic fellow-citizens to accompany them to Eochester. Courteous the Avelcome extended to Yan Buren, and equally kind the reception on the part of the ex-President, avIio talked of events in New York and Washington, and narrated anecdotes to the company, Avho Avere charmed by his genial ways. But it Avas the young Whig laAvyer from Spring field Avho convulsed the ex-President Avith laughter by his anecdotes and SEVEN YEARS OF ACTIVE LIFE. 12.'3 stories. It Avas an evening often referred to with many expressions of pleasure by Mr. Van Buren in after-life. "My sides ached from laughing," he was wont to say. (') Although the marriage engagement between Mr. Lincoln and Mary Todd had been suddenly suspended, the friendship had not been irrevo cably sundered. Again he avus a welcome guest at the hospitable home of Governor Edwards. A renewal of friendship led to a re-engagement, re sulting in their marriage, November 4, 1S42. The officiating clergyman, Eev. Mr. Dresser, used the marriage service of the Episcopal Church, Avhich Avas new to one of the guests, Judge Thos. C. BroAvne, an early settler of that section of the country. Mr. Lincoln placed the ring upon the bride's finger, and solemnly repeated the Avords : •' With this ring I thee Aved, and with all my worldly goods I thee endoAv." Suddenly there came an exclamation from the judge not found in the serv ice : " Good gracious, Lincoln, the stat ute fixes all that!" To an old-time, straightforward country laAvyer the formula Avas needless superfluity. A ripple of laughter went round the room ; but the clergyman, recovering his self-possession, proceeded Avith the service. The newly-married couple found accommodations at the Globe Tavern. Soon after his marriage Mr. Lincoln associated himself in his profession Avith William H. Herndon. It was a congenial partnership. Mr. Hern don Avas an Abolitionist, and Avas holding correspondence with William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, and other leading agitators for the immediate abolition of slavery. Antislavery publications found their Avay to the office of Lincoln & Herndon. Mr. Lincoln thought an im mediate abolition of slavery Avas not possible. He hated the institution, but saw that it was intrenched in State and Church alike. It was recog nized by the Constitution of the United States ; it existed in half the States composing the Union. Public opinion regarding slavery must change before laws could be changed. The Abolitionists denounced the Constitution and the Union because the Constitution recognized slavery. Mr. Lincoln believed the government of the people under that agree- MARTIN VAN BUREN. 124 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 1844. ment was the best the Avorld had ever seen, notwithstanding the ex istence of slavery. He read tbe speeches of the Abolitionists, but did not accept their premises or conclusions. He believed emancipation must be gradual. He did not comprehend the aggressiveness of the slave power. When Henry Clay Avas nominated for President, Abraham Lincoln became his ardent supporter. He made speeches in Illinois and Indiana. He went to Pigeon Creek, and addressed the people of that sec tion of the country. Those who had stood with him in the old log school-house, and remembered how he surpassed them all in "speak ing pieces " and in eA'erything else, Avere not surprised to find him one of the foremost speakers in the political campaign. He confidently ex pected that Mr. Clay Avould be elected, and Avas much disappointed by the election of the Democratic candidate, Mr. Polk, of Tennessee. A greater disappointment awaited him. He had never seen Mr. Clay, but learning that he Avas to give an address at Lexington, Ky., on the gradual emancipation of the slaves, he determined to make a trip to that town to hear one Avhom he regarded Avith such veneration and honor. Not many of us like to have our idols shattered. It is not pleasant to have illusions Avhich we have fondly cherished rudely blown aAvay. Mr. Lincoln entered the hall in Lexington a stranger to all about him. He beheld a brilliant assembly of men and Avomen Avho GLOBE TAVERN. [From a photograph ] SEVEN YEARS OF ACTIVE LIFE. 125 had gathered to listen to the man who, for nearly half a century, had electrified audiences by his eloquence. But time had turned many fur rows on his broAv. The fire of early years was dying out. He had held many places of honor and trust, but had not reached the goal to the at tainment of Avhich he had directed all his energies — the Presidency. Never again could there be a flaming up of the old-time enthusiasm upon any theme. The address which he had prepared Avas not upon a subject calculated to Avin the applause of his hearers. No thrilling Avords fell from his lips. In that eA'ening hour the illusions of many yea.rs were fading away from the eyes of the man who had taken the journey from Illinois to Lexington. But a keener disappointment was to come. Henry Clay had been born in poverty, had made his way against adverse circumstances to an exalted position. From his first entrance into public life he had been accustomed to receive adulation and homage. Men approached him as if he Avere a superior being; sycophants had fawned around him. Through niany years he had maintained a dignified public life. He gave a courteous reception to the man from Illinois, Avho had been mak ing speeches in his behalf — courteous, nothing more. Mr. Clay was pohte, affable, agreeable in conversation, but cold, distant, patronizing in manner. His was not a hearty grasp of the hand. He manifested no great pleasure in meeting the Illinois lawyer who, Avithout hope or expectation of reward, had labored to make him President. Hundreds had also been making speeches, and it is possible that Mr. Clay may not have heard that a man by the name of Lincoln was stumping Illinois in his behalf, and so received him politely, but without marked cordiality. Beneath the oaks, elms, and ashes casting their shade over the home of the great statesman at Ashland, Abraham Lincoln became disen chanted. (8) Whether he himself was acquainted Avith men or not, Avhether they had labored for or against him, Avhether men were rich or poor, whether occupying humble or exalted positions, it made no differ ence to him ; to all there Avas the hearty grasp of his hand. It Avas Abraham Lincoln's way, but not Mr. Clay's. The Congressional districts in Illinois were Democratic, except that in which Abraham Lincoln resided. The Democratic party nominated Eev. Peter Cartwright, a Methodist minister, Avho had preached ' in nearly every school district, and Avho was known to everybody. The Whig party believed Mr. Lincoln would prove to be more popular than the minister. He was nominated and elected. Some of his friends, knowing that he had but little money, contributed $200 tow- 126 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. HENRY CLAY. ards meeting his expenses Avhile travelling through the district and mak ing speeches, and were much surprised to receive the following letter from him, returning $199.25 : " I have ridden my OAvn horse. My friends have entertained me at SEVEN YEARS OF ACTIVE LIFE. 127 night. My only outing has been 75 cents for some cider, which I bought for some farm-hands." He saAv no harm in the drinking of cider. He may have thought a little given to a gang of men Avhom he met in the harvest -field Avould not harm them, and might be of some benefit to himself on election-day. In the Capitol at Washington, as a member of the House of Eepre- sentatives, Mr. Lincoln met men whose names are inseparably associated Avith the history of the country : Eobert C. Winthrop, of Massa chusetts, Speaker of the House ; John Quincy Adams, ex-President of the United States, member of the House ; George Ashmun, from the same State ; Caleb B. Smith, of Indiana ; Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee ; Alexander H. Stephens, Howell Cobb, and Eobert Toombs, of Georgia ; and Barnwell Ehett, of South Carolina. On the same day Stephen A. Douglas became a Senator from Illinois, meeting Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts ; John P. Hale, of New Hampshire ; John Adams Dix, of New York ; Lewis Cass, of Ohio ; Thomas E. Benton, of Missouri ; Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania ; John J. Crittenden, of Kentucky ; James M. Mason, and E. M. T. Hunter, of Virginia ; John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina ; and Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, all of whom Avere to appear in the great drama in which Abraham Lincoln was to take the leading part. Mr. Lincoln Avas meeting the foremost men of the nation as their equal in making laAvs for the country. He introduced a resolution call ing upon the President to furnish the House Avith a statement of facts relating to the war Avith Mexico, and advocated its passage in a very able speech. While member of Congress he was greatly exercised at seeing gangs of slaves in chains marched aAvay from the slave -prison to be sold in Southern markets. He looked upon it as a national disgrace. Mr. Gait, member from New York, introduced a resolution prohibiting the slave-trade in the District of Columbia. Mr. Lincoln Avas in favor not only of prohibiting slavery in the district, but he would make free all children born after January 1, 1850; and if owners of slaves were Avilling to part with them, he Avould have the Government pur chase their freedom. He soon discovered, hoAvever, that the members from the slave-holding States Avere bitterly opposed to any such bene ficent measure. They would not listen to any proposition Avhich in the remotest degree would interfere Avith the institution. General Lewis Cass, of Michigan, Avas the candidate of the Demo- 128 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. cratic Party for President, in opposition to General Zachary Taylor, the candidate of the Whigs. The partisans of Cass unwisely Jui84287' magnified his military services. Mr. Lincoln, in common with many other members, made a speech upon the political situation, in which General Cass was held up to ridicule, especially in regard to extra charges upon the Treasury. Mr. Lincoln said : "I have introduced General Cass's accounts here chiefly to show the wonderful phys ical capacities of the man. They show that he not only did the labor of several men at tlie same time, but he often did it in several places many hundred miles apart at the same time. And as to eating:, too, his capacities are shown to be quite as wonderful. From October, 1821, to May, 1822, he ate ten rations a day in Michigan, ten rations a day here in Washington, and nearly $5 worth a day, besides, partly on the road between the two places. And then there is an important discovery in his example — the act of being paid for what one eats, instead of having to pay for it. Hereafter, if any nice young man shall owe a bill which he cannot pay in any other way, he can just board it out. We have all heard of the animal standing in doubt between two stacks of hay and starving to death ; the like of that would never happen to General Cass. Place the stacks a thousand miles apart, and he would stand stock-still midway between them and eat them both at once, and the green grass along the line would be apt to suffer some, too, at the same time. By all means, make him President, gentlemen. He will feed you bounteously, if — if — there is any left after he shall have helped himself." Just before the close of Mr. Lincoln's term in Congress the thought came to him that he might possibly obtain an appointment from the President as Commissioner of the General Land Office, which would give him a fair salary. He applied for the situation, but his friend, Edwin D. Baker, from Illinois, also wanted the office. Fortunately for themselves and for the country neither of them received the appoint ment. Mr. Lincoln visited New York and Boston. He gave an address at Worcester, Mass., which was much liked by those who heard it. He journeyed to Niagara. He beheld the swirling stream above the falls, the cataract, and the fury of the current below. A Yankee thought it might be a good place to wash sheep. Mr. Lincoln was not thinking about Avashing sheep, or of setting Niagara to turning mill- Avheels, but AVondered where all the water came from. The most com fortable route home Avas by steamboat down the Ohio Eiver and up the Illinois. The water was low, and the boat grounded on a bar. The firemen stuffed wood under the boilers, and black clouds of smoke rolled out from the chimneys. Louder the puffing of the steam, but the boat was hard and fast upon the sand. " Get out those empty barrels !" the order of the captain. The crew pitched a lot of empty casks into the JOHN QULNCY ADAMS. [From a painting by G. P. A. Healy, in the Corcoran Gallery, Washington.] SEVEN YEARS OF ACTIVE LIFE. 131 mrer and fastened them Avith ropes under the boAv of the boat, thus lift ing it till clear of the obstruction. A thought came to the man Avho looked down upon the operation from the deck of the steamer. Quite likely he recalled the days when he took the Talisman over the sand bars of the Sangamon. Why not get up a contrivance— a flexible air- chamber, to be attached to the hull of the boat i It could be pumped full of air whenever the vessel grounded, and so enable it to glide over. He thought about it all the Avay to Springfield ; set Walter Davis, a carpenter, to Avork making a model, which he sent to the' Patent Office, and received a patent for his invention ; but, like most of the patents issued, it came to nothing. Zachary Taylor, who Avon the battle of Buena Yista in the war with Mexico, had been elected President. During the campaign Mr. Lincoln made many speeches favoring his election, and as a reward for Avhat he had done could have an office. He started for Washington to see what the President Avould give him. In the early morning he took his seat in the stage at Rams- dell's tavern. There was only one other passenger, a Kentuckian, who took a plug of tobacco from his pocket, bit off a quid, and handed it to the silent man beside him. " No, I thank you, sir ; I do not chew." "Perhaps you will take a cigar?" and the Kentuckian held out a case Avell filled Avith cigars. " Much obliged to you, but I do not smoke." " Well, stranger, seeing you don't chew or smoke, perhaps you will take a little nice French brandy ?" said the man, taking a flask from his pocket. " You are very kind, but I am not in the habit of drinking," replied Lincoln. The stage reached the tavern where the horses Avere changed, and where the Kentuckian Avas to stop. He did not quite understand the man who had declined the offered courtesies. LEWIS CASS. 132 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. " See here, stranger," he said, " I think you are a real clever fellow ; I Avouldn't offend you for the world ; but allow me to say that a man Avho does not chew, smoke, or drink, who has no vices of any kind, is not likely to have many virtues." Mr. Lincoln laughed heartily as he bade him good-bye. At Terre Haute two prominent citizens of Indiana, Thomas H. Nel son and Judge Hammond, took seats for Indianapolis. It Avas early morning, the sun not up. They saw a man asleep, lying on the back seat and his long legs stretched across the vehicle. " Hullo, my friend ! Say, have you chartered the Avhole of this coach?" shouted the judge, slapping the sleeper on the shoulder. " Beg your pardon, gentlemen ; but I thought I would make myself as comfortable as I could," said Mr. Lincoln, as he courteously took the front seat. The sun rises, and the tAvo passengers see that their fellow-traveller is a tall man with deep-set eyes and thin cheeks. It is a Avarm morn ing, and he has laid aside vest and cravat. His hat is of palm -leaf, tipped back on his head. He must be a queer fellow, and they will have some fun with him. He laughs at their jokes, and does not seem to mind it Avhen they make liim the butt of their raillery. At night they behold a comet blazing in the sky. Ignorant people are fearful it is going to destroy the Avorld. Judge Hammond and Mr. Nelson are surprised at Avhat their felloAv- passenger has to say upon astrono^my. He seems to be Avell informed. " What do you think is to be the up shot of this comet business ?" he asks. " I differ from the scientific men and the philosophers. I should not be surprised if the Avorld should folloAv the plaguy thing off," the reply of Mr. Nelson. The man Avithout any vest or cravat laughs heartily, but does not controvert the opinion. Late in the evening the stage rolls up to BroAvning's Hotel, in Indianapolis, and Judge Hammond and Mr. Nel son go to their rooms to brush the dust from their clothing. They are astonished Avhen they come down and see Judge McLean and half a dozen of the foremost public men of the State shaking hands Avith the man wearing the palm-leaf hat. " Who is he ?" Nelson asked of the landlord. " That is Abraham Lincoln." Mortified and ashamed of their joking and raillery, they sneak out of the back door and make their Avay to another tavern. They do not care to meet him after what has taken place. SEVEN YEARS OF ACTIVE LIFE. 133 Mr. Lincoln reached Washington, and learned that the President would appoint him Governor of Oregon. It was a territory far away, with but feAV inhabitants. It could be reached only after a tedious journey across the plains of Nebraska, over the Eocky Mountains and the sterile Snake Eiver region. It would require many Aveeks of travel, and Avhen there he would be, as it Avere, out of the world. The office Avas respectfully declined, and he returned to Illinois, to again " ride the circuit." NOTES TO CHAPTER VIII. ( ' ) Joshua F. Speed, Lecture on Abraham Lincoln, p. 40. (5) William H. Herndon, " Lincoln," p. 233 (edition 1889). (3) Ibid., p. 242. (••) Ibid., p. 243. (5) E. H. Merrvman, letter to "Sangamon Journal," quoted in Herndon's "Lincoln," p. 248 (edition 1889). (6) AVilliam H. Herndon, "Lincoln," p. 231 (edition 1889). C) Joshua F. Speed, Lecture on Abraham Liucolu, p. 36. (s) "Century Magazine," January, 1887 134 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. CHAPTEE IX. BEGINNING OF THE CONFLICT BETAVEEN FREEDOM AND SLAVERY. ABRAHAM LINCOLN Avas forty years old. It cannot be said A that he had accomplished very much for his fellow-men. Some how Ave cannot help thinking of Moses, who Avas in the desert forty years, doing nothing beyond tending the sheep of his father-in- laAV — not knowing that he Avas biding God's time. Great events must take place before the man Avho had declined the Governorship of Oregon could do the work Avhich divine Providence had planned for the Avelfare of our country and the Avhole human race. In his Springfield home he bade good-bye to politics and resumed the prac tice of law. The Avar Avith Mexico Avas over, and California had become a part of the United States. While Abraham Lincoln Avas a legislator in the Representatives' Hall in Washington, January, 1848, James W. Marshall Avas digging a mill-race for John A. Sutter in California. " I Avonder Avhat that yellow stuff is !" said Marshall, as he threw up a shovelful of earth. " I guess it is brass," said one of the workmen. " I'll see what vinegar will do to it," said Marshall. He put the yellow particles into vinegar, but they did not change. •' I am going to San Francisco, and will see Avhat they say about it there," said Mr. Bennett, Avho went to that town and showed it to Isaac Humphrey, Avho had Avorked in a gold-mine in Georgia. " It is gold," said Humphrey. The news spread. There Avas a rush of people to the American Eiver, Avhere the gold had been found. In June and July, 1849, gold-dust val ued at $250,000 Avas received at San Francisco, then only a little collec tion of houses. Lieutenant Beale, of the United States Navy, Avas in California, and Avas sent to Washington Avith despatches. He made his Avay down the coast to Monterey, crossed Mexico, and in September reached Washington. " Eich Gold-mines Discovered in California!" was CONFLICT BETWEEN FREEDOM AND SLAVERY. 135 the announcement in the Baltimore " Sun," September 20th. The news spread far and wide ; it Avas flying all over the country. Miners were making fortunes — hundreds of dollars a day. From Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and all the Atlantic ports vessels were sailing for Califor nia. By February, 1S50, ninety had sailed, carrying 8,000 men. Seventy other ships Avere getting ready. The men of the Western States flocked to St. Louis, Avent up the Missouri to the mouth of the Platte Eiver, and started from there in caravans across the plains, with oxen and horses, drawing Avhite canvas-topped Avagons. Over the plains, across the wide reaches of sage lands Avhere there Avas little Avater, 0Arer the Sierra Nevada Mountains streamed a long line of weary, poverty-stricken men, hungry for gold, more hungry for food. Into the Golden Gate sailed the Avhite-winged ships. Before the year closed more than 400 vessels were riding at anchor in the Bay of San Francisco ; and that place, Avhich Avas only a village when the first yellow gold-dust Avas thrown to the surface, Avas a city Avith 20,000 people — a jostling, hurrying crowd, having only one object in view : to get gold. We are not to forget that the slave-holders of the South had brought about the annexation of Texas for the purpose of extending the area of slavery and perpetuating their power in political affairs, that they might control the GoA'ernment. The annexation resulted in a war with Mexico. That republic had been forced to surrender California and a vast extent of country between the Eio Grande and the Pacific coast, Avhich the slave-holders confidently expected would become SlaATe States. Henry A. Wise, of Virginia, of whom Ave shall speak further on, said in a speech : " Slavery should spread itself, and have no limit except the South ern Ocean." Yery unexpectedly to him and all the slave-holders, the peo ple of the gold region declared there should be no slavery in California. Twenty years had gone by since the imprisonment of the young print er in Baltimore for saying the slave-trade Avas piracy ; tAventy years since a flat-boatman in New Orleans had sworn a solemn oath that if he ever got a chance to hit the institution he would hit it hard. During the years a great change had taken place in public sentiment throughout the Northern States regarding slavery. Men Avere beginning to see that it Avas an aggressive political force ; that it Avas Avicked and cruel, and threatened to subvert the liberties of the people. Se\reral men Avho mainly had acted with the Democratic Party, but avIio were opposed to the further extension of slavery, met at Buffalo, N.Y., and organized the Free-soil Party. " No more Slave States ! No more Slave Territory !" their motto. 136 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. When the slave-holders heard that the miners of California intended to make it a Free State they sent Senator Gwyn, of Mississippi, to the Pacific coast to do what he could towards making it a Slave State ; but his efforts were vain. The slave-holders, chagrined at the upsetting of their plans, determined to oppose its admission to the Union. To understand what followed we must remember that in 1820, Avhen Missouri was admitted to the Union, it Avas agreed that all the terri tory north of 36° 30', Avhich formed the southern boundary of that State, should be free. Mexico, before the ceding of California to the United States, had abolished ser\Titude ; so Avhen California, NeAV Mexi co, and Utah were joined to the United States, those sections Avere free from skwery. Henry Clay had been instrumental in accomplishing the Compromise of 1820, and in his declining years, seeing the trouble brewing between the Free and Slave States, bent all his waning energies to bring about another Compromise, Avhich he hoped Avould forever settle the question. Daniel Webster, in Massachusetts, having a great love for the Constitution and the Union, was ready to do Avhat he could to secure peace and harmony. The agreement made was one-sided. The slave holders Avere to consent that California should be admitted as a Free State. To pay them for the concession Utah and New Mexico were to be organized as territories, without any stipulation whether they should or should not permit the holding of slaves. Texas was to receive $10,000,000 for 70,000 square miles belonging to that State north of the Missouri Compromise line, and slavery was to be extended over it. No more slaves were to be sold in the District of Columbia, but fugitives es- caping from a Slave to a Free State were to be returned to their mas ters. Insulting and degrading to the people of the Free States were the provisions of the law regarding fugitive slaves. Such was the Compromise which, it Avas declared, Avould forever put an end to the agitation of the slavery question. "There shall be no more agitation. These measures are a finality, and Ave will have peace," said Daniel Webster. (') " In taking leave of this subject," said Stephen A. Douglas, " I wish to state that I have determined never to make another speech upon the slavery question. So long as our opponents do not agitate for repeal or modification, why should Ave agitate for any purpose. This Compromise is a final settlement." (2) They did not comprehend the aggressive character of slavery. The Compromise became a law, and California Avas admitted to the Union. During these days Abraham Lincoln was reading Shakespeare and CONFLICT BETWEEN FREEDOM AND SLAVERY. 137 the poetry of Eobert Burns. When work for the day was done he was accustomed to tip himself back in his office chair, put his feet on the table, and read aloud. " I can understand it better," he said. A poem, entitled •* The Last Leaf," written by Oliver Wendell Holmes, gave him great pleasure. He often recited it to his friends. His lips AA'ere tremulous at times as he repeated the lines : "The mossy marbles rest Ou the lips that he has prest In their bloom ; And the name he loved to hear Has been carved for many a year On the tomb."(3) " For pure pathos," he said, in after-years, " there is, in my judgment, nothing finer in the English language." Without doubt the lines awakened tender and holy memories of Ann Eutledge. Mr. Lincoln was giving little attention to political affairs. His one term in Congress seems to have satisfied for the time all desire for po litical distinction. He had made the acquaintance of men prominent in public affairs, and taken the measure of their abilities. He had dis covered that with most of them politics Avas not devotion to principles, but the advancement of selfish interests. We have seen Mr. Lincoln assuming the joint indebtedness of Berry .., , most degraded section of the city. ,f Many of the children were in rags. ill \ Eev. Mr. Pease, the superintendent, M&xS, kindly welcomed them, and in re sponse to his invitation Mr. Lincoln addressed the children. Mr. Lincoln repeated his ad dress at New Haven, Conn. A pro fessor of rhetoric in Yale College listened in astonishment. Never before had he heard such plain, direct, clear, and comprehensive language — Avords so simple that a child could understand Avhat he Avas saying. Mr. Lincoln Avas to speak at Meriden, and the professor hastened to that town to hear him once more. He returned to the college and gave a lecture to his class upon the marvellous rhetoric of this man from the West who never had had the advantages of an education. From Meriden Mr. Lincoln went to Hartford and Norwich. The largest hall in Norwich Avas filled Avith people avIio desired to hear him. " It gives me pleasure," the words of Mayor A. W. Prentice, who presided, "to introduce a gentleman with whom you are already ac quainted, and whom you hope to see presiding in the Senate over Ste phen Arnold Douglas as Yice -president of the United States." The mayor was anticipating that William H. SeAvard would be the Ee publican candidate for President, and Mr. Lincoln for Yice-president. Eev. John Putnam Gulliver, one of the ministers of Norwich, lis tened in amazement to what Mr. Lincoln had to say. He had heard many eloquent men, but none that used such plain Avords with so much power. Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Gulliver, and the mayor met at the railroad station in the morning ; the mayor introduced the minister. WILLIAM CULLEN BRYAHT. KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 177 " I haATe seen you before," Mr. Lincoln remarked. " I think not. You must mistake me for some other person." " No ; I saAv you last eArening in the town-hall." " Is it possible that jtou could have observed individuals so closely in such an audience V " Oh yes ; that is my Avay. I do not forget faces. Were }rou not there ?" " I was, and I Avas well paid for going. I consider it one of the most extraordinary speeches I ever heard." ELIHU 11. WASHBURNE. 178 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. " Will you take a seat with me ?" the kind invitation of Mr. Lincoln as thev entered the car. " Were you sincere in what you said about my speech ?" "I mean every word of it. I learned more of the art of public speaking last evening than I could from a whole course of lectures on rhetoric." " That is extraordinary. I am informed that one of the professors at Yale College folloAved me to Meriden to hear me a second time, and has been lecturing about my speech. I should like to know what there is about what I say that has made you and the professor think it any way remarkable." " It is the clearness of your statements, your unanswerable style of reasoning, and your illustrations, Avhich are romance, pathos, and fun welded together." " I am much obliged to you. I haATe been Avishing for a long time to have some one make an analysis for me. It throAvs light on a sub ject Avhich has been dark to me." " May I ask how you acquired your unusual power of putting things? It must have been a matter of education. No man has it by nature alone. What has been your education ?" " Well, as to education, I never went to school more than six months in my life. When I Avas a child I used to get irritated if anybody talked to me in a way I could not understand. I don't think I got an gry at other things, but that disturbed my temper. I remember Avhen the neighbors came in and talked to my father in the evening, I tried to understand what they Avere talking about. When I got hold of an idea I put it into my own language. It has become a kind of passion with me — has stuck to me. I am not easy now when I am handling a thought till I have bounded it north, south, east, and west. Perhaps that ac counts for the characteristic you spoke of, though I never put the two things together before." " Did you not have a law education ?" " Oh yes ! I ' read law,' as the phrase is ; that is, I became a law yer's clerk in Springfield, and copied tedious documents, and picked up Avhat I could of law in the intervals of other work. But your question reminds me of a bit of education I had Avhich I am bound in honesty to mention. In the course of my law-reading I constantly came upon the Avord ' demonstrate.' I thought at first that I understood its meaning, but soon became satisfied I did not. I said to myself, ' What do I do when I demonstrate more than Avhen I reason or prove? Hoav does KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 179 demonstration differ from any other proof?' I consulted Webster's Dic tionary. That told of ' certain proof,' ' proof beyond the possibility of doubt;' but I could form no idea of what sort of proof that was. I thought a great many things were proved beyond the possibility of doubt without recourse to any such extraordinary process of reasoning as I understood ' demonstration ' to be. I consulted all the dictionaries and books of reference I could find, but Avith no better results. You might as well have defined ' blue' to a blind man. At last I said, ' Lin coln, you can never make a lawyer if you do not understand Avhat " de monstrate " means ;' and I left my situation in Springfield, Avent home to my father's house, and stayed there till I could give any proposition in the six books of 'Euclid' at sight. I then found out what 'demon strate' means, and went back to my law studies." ( 10 ) Mr. Lincoln visited his eldest son Eobert at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. He proceeded to NeAV Hampshire, and addressed audiences at Concord and Manchester. " He is far from prepossessing in personal appearance," Avrote the editor of the Manchester "Mirror," "and his voice is disagreeable, yet he AAdns attention and good-will from the start. He indulges in no floAvers of rhetoric, no eloquent passages. He is not a wit, humorist, or a clown ; yet so fine a vein of pleasantry and good-nature pervades what he says, gliding over a deep current of poetical arguments, that he keeps his hearers in a smiling mood, with their mouths open to hear all he says. His sense of the ludicrous is very keen ; and an exhibition of that is the clincher to all his arguments — not the ludicrous acts of persons, but lu dicrous ideas. Hence he is never offensive, but steals away Avillingly into his train of belief persons who were opposed to him. For the first half-hour his opponents would agree to every Avord he uttered ; and from that point he began to lead them off little by little, until it seemed as if he had got them all into his fold." The newspapers of Springfield informed the people that Mr. Lincoln had addressed the ragamuffins at the Five Points Mission. Those most intimate with him were accustomed to call him " Abe ;" in like manner he abbreviated their names. " Well, Abe," said one of his neighbors upon his return, " I see you have been making a speech to Sunday-school children." " Yes ; sit down, Jim, and I'll tell you about it. On Sunday morn ing Washburne said, ' Let's go down to the Five Points Mission.' I Avas much interested in what I saw, Jim. The superintendent, Mr. Pease, came and shook hands Avith us, and Washburne introduced me to him. 180 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. He spoke to the children, and then I was urged to speak. I told him that I didn't know anything about talking to Sunday-schools, but Mr. Pease said that many of the children Avere homeless and friendless, and I thought of the time when I had been pinched by terrible poverty. And so I told them that I had been poor ; I remembered when my toes stuck out through my broken shoes in Avinter, when my arms Avere out at the elbows, Avhen I shivered with the cold. I told them there Avas only one rule — ahvays to do the very best you can. I told them I had always tried to do the very best I could, and that if they would follow that rule they Avould get on somehoAv. " When I got through, Mr. Pease said it Avas just the thing they needed. When the school was dismissed all the teachers came up and shook hands Avith me and thanked me for it, although I didn't know that I Avas saying anything of any account. I never heard anything that touched me as one of the songs they sung. Here is one of their song-books." Mr. Lincoln took a little hymnal from his pocket and read one of the hymns. .As he read his lips became tremulous and tears rolled down his cheeks. ( " ) Doubtless memory Avent back once more to the floorless cabin of his birthplace and to the lonely grave of his mother in the Indiana forest — to the poverty and hardship of his boyhood. Looking into the faces of the poor and friendless children touched his heart as nothing else could have done, and awakened his tenderest sympathies. NOTES TO CHAPTER X. ( ' ) Isaac N. Arnold, "Life of Lincoln," p. 144. (2) This sentence was quoted by President Lincoln at Gettysburg. It occurs in au address given by Theodore Parker before the Massachusetts Autislavery Society at its an nual meeting, 1848, reported in the " Liberator." The idea was not original with Mr. Par ker. It may be found in a volume on " The Advancement in Knowledge and Religion,'' by James Douglas, of Scotland, published at Edinburgh, 1825. Mr. Douglas was about Mr. Parker's age, liviug at tlie place of his birth, Cavers, Roxburgh County, Scotland. He had abundant wealth, was eudowed with » philosophic mind, and gave himself to studying the philosophy of history. The book iu question went through several editions in Scotland, and was republished in the United States by Cooke & Co., Hartford, Conn., 1830. The volume contains a paragraph entitled "New Social Order in America," in which occurs the folio wiug sentence: " The European emigrant might believe himself as one transported to a new world, governed by new laws, and finds himself at once raised in the scale of being — the pauper is maintained by his own labor, the hired laborer works on his own account, and the tenant is changed into a proprietor, while the despised vas sal of the old continent becomes colegislator and coruler iu a government where all power is from the people, and in the people, and for the people." The paragraph was repub- KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 181 lished in the "Rhetorical Reader," a book for schools, which was the reading of my school days, and of which more than one hundred thousand copies were sold. It seems prob able that President Lincoln acquired the thought, from Parker, and that he in turn received it from Douglas. The volume in which the quotation occurs is very ably written, aud there cau be no question that it has left its impress upon tho philosophy of history during this century. — Author. (3) AV. H. Herndon, " Liucoln," p. 355 (edition 1SS9). (4) J. G. Holland, " Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 161. (5) Isaac N.Arnold, "Life of Lincoln," p. 145. (•) AV. H. Herndon, "Lincoln," p. 414 (editiou 1889). (') The song was composed by H. S. Thompson, the most popular song- writer of Amer ica. It was published in 1858, and was widely sung. — Author. (6) New York "Tribune," Feb. 28, 1860. (9) Elihu B. AATashburne was born at Livermore, Me., September 23, 1816. His edu cation was obtained in the public-schools aud a few terms at an academy. He became a printer, but the legal profession being more congenial, he studied law, emigrated to Illinois, and became an attorney at Galena. He was elected to Congress in 1853, aud took an active part in the debates ou the Kansas-Nebraska affairs. He was prominent in the formatiou of the Republican Party iu Illinois, aud at au early period made the ac quaintance of Abraham Lincoln. He was in Congress from 1853 to 1869, with the excep tion of one term, occupying prominent aud responsible positions ou committees. He was often called the "Watch-dog ofthe Treasury," from his careful watch upon expenditures. Duriug the later years of his Congressional service he was called " Father of the House." Recoguizing the fitness of Ulysses S. Grant as military commander, he asked President Lincoln to appoint him brigadier-general, and after the surrender of Vicksburg aud the victory of Chattanooga he urged Grant's appointment as lieutenant-general. He was often with the army during the Wilderness campaign. Upon the election of General Grant to the Presidency, Mr. Washburne became Secretary of State. He was subsequent ly appoiuted Minister to France, and rendered conspicuous service during the siege of Paris by the Prussians. — Author. (10) John Putnam Gulliver to Author. See, also, " Independent," Sept. 1, 1864. ( n ) Edward Eggleston, quoted in " Every-day Life of Lincoln," p. 323. 182 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. CHAPTEE XI. NOMINATED FOR THE PRESIDENCY. THE time was approaching (April 16, 1859) Avhen candidates Avould be nominated by the different political parties for the Presidency. Mr. Pickett, an editor in Illinois, wrote to Mr. Lincoln as folio avs : " My partner and myself are absent addressing the Eepublican editors of the State on the subject of a simultaneous announcement of your name for the Presidency." " I must in candor say," Mr. Lincoln wrote in reply, " that I do not think myself fit for the Presidency. I certainly am flattered APggg6' and gratified that some partial friends think of me in that con nection ; but I really think it best for our cause that no concert ed effort such as you suggest should be made."(') He Avas not seeking the Presidency. Neither would he be a rival to Senator Trumbull Avhen the time came to choose Mr. Trumbull's suc cessor. Yery frank and open his letter to a friend : " I do not understand Trumbull and myself to be rivals. You know I am pledged not to enter a struggle Avith him for the seat in the Senate now occupied by him; and yet I Avould rather have a full term in the Senate than in the Presidency. For my single self, I have enlisted for the permanent success of the Eepublican cause; and for this object I shall labor faithfully in the ranks, unless, as I think not probable, the judgment of the party shall assign me a different position." (2) In this biography we have reached a point where I Avho am writing became an observer of passing events, and from this page to the close shall at times Avrite of what I saAV and heard in connection with the life of Mr. Lincoln. There was one member of the Eepublican party who had an earnest desire to be its candidate for the Presidency — William H. Seward, Senator from New York, who had rendered conspicuous serv ice in the councils of the nation. It was understood that a strong effort Avould be made by his friends to secure his nomination. " Who is to be your candidate out West ?" was the question put by NOMINATED FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 183 me to my friend George W. Gage, of Chicago, in the month of December, 1859. " Well, the Democratic Party is going to be divided, and Ave can win with almost any good candidate — Chase, of Ohio, or Abraham Lincoln, of our State," the reply. I am not aware that Mr. Lincoln at that date had been publicly men tioned as a candidate. Not till a month later did the people of New York, New Haven, Hartford, and Boston become acquainted Avith him personally. The thought may have come to him that his friends might bring him forward as a candidate, but I find no evidence that he him self had made any movement towards that end. The Democratic Party had controlled the Government for many years. It was united and poAverful on that Sunday in 1854 when Stephen A. Douglas and Jefferson Davis called upon President Pierce and unfolded the plan for the introduction of slavery into Kansas and the other Ter ritories of the Union ; but it was no longer a united party. President Buchanan had done what he could to prevent Douglas from being re elected to the Senate. The Democratic Senators from the slave-hold ing States had degraded him from the chairmanship of the Committee on Territories. They knew the Democrats of the Northern States Avere enthusiastic for his nomination as candidate for the Presidency, and de termined to prevent it. The Democratic Convention assembled at Charleston, S. C. A ma jority of the delegates from the Northern States were for Douglas. He was a popular leader. The delegates from the Slave States ac- APgg023' knowledged his abihties. He had rendered them great service, but they did not accept his ideas of the right of the Territories to vote slavery in or out as the people pleased. Slavery must be voted in, never out. They had no candidate for the Presidency, but Avere in favor of establishing a great principle : Congressional protection to slavery in the Territories and States. The Southern delegates kneAv that Caleb Cushing, of Massachusetts, agreed Avith them, and secured his election as president of the convention. William L. Yancey, of Alabama, assumed leadership in debate. The men who were shouting for the nomination of Douglas Avere astonished Avhen they heard these sentiments fall from his lips : " The Northern Democrats are losing ground before the rising Black Eepublican Party because they have not stood resolutely up against the anti-slavery sentiment. Northern Dem ocrats have admitted that slavery is wrong. They must change. There must be legislation by Congress which will protect slavery eATerywhere." 184 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Senator Pugh, of Ohio, replied to him : " We have been taunted with our weakness. We have been told that Ave must put our hands on our mouths, and our mouths in the dust. Gentlemen of the South, you mistake us. We Avill not do it." For five days the delegates Avrangled over resolutions, the Southern ers demanding what the Northerners would not give. Benjamin F. Butler, of Massachusetts, thought to settle all differences by adopting the platform of the convention held in Cincinnati in 1856, upon Avhich Buchanan had been elected. "That Avas a swindle on the Southern States !" the shout of the delegates from Mississippi. The motion was adopted by a large majority. If Mr. Butler thought such a motion would bring peace and harmony he Avas mistaken. The time had come for carrying out Avhat Yancey and his felloAv-conspirators had planned. The delegates from Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina, Florida, Texas, and Arkansas rose from their seats, marched out of the room, and organized another convention. The great and powerful Democratic Party was divided. The dele gates from the cotton States — Avho believed the Avorld could not get on without that product — had split the party asunder. It Avas the initial step of a great and far-reaching scheme to bring about the disruption of the Union. Yancey outlined it in a speech made in an Alabama convention : "To obtain the aid of the Democracy in this contest it is necessary to make a contest in its Charleston convention. In that body Douglas's adherents will press his doctrines to- a decision. If the State-rights men keep out of that convention that decision must in evitably be against the South, and that either in direct favor of the Douglas doctrine or by the indorsement of the Cincinnati platform, under which Douglas claims shelter for his principles. . . The State-rights men should present in that convention their demands for a decision, and they will obtain an indorsement of their demands or a denial of these de mands. If indorsed, we shall have a greater hope of triumph within the Union ; if denied, in my opinion the State-rights wing should secede from the convention and appeal to the whole people ofthe South, without distinction of parties, and organize another convention upon the basis of their principles, and go into the election with a candidate nominated by it as a grand constitutional party. But in the Presidential contest a Black Republican may be elected. If this dire event should happen, in my opinion the only hope of safety for the South is in a withdrawal from the Union before he shall be inaugurated — before the sword and treasury of the Federal Government shall be placed in the keeping of that party." The people of Charleston were wild in their enthusiasm. Cultured ladies flocked to the hall in which the seceders assembled, and waved their handkerchiefs in token of their approval. Bonfires illumined the streets. NOMINATED FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 187 The rival conventions adjourned without nominating candidates for the Presidency. They Avere to reassemble in Baltimore in the month of May. The Whig Party also met in Baltimore. Southern men controlled the convention. They nominated John Bell, of Tennessee, for Presi dent, and Edward Everett, of Massachusetts, for Vice-president. Public opinion in the Northern States regarded Everett as the greater statesman. One editor called it the " Kangaroo " ticket, as its hind legs were long est. I was present as a journalist, and noticed that the antagonism of the delegates from the Southern States was very much more intense against the Eepublican Party than against either Aving of the Democratic Party. At the Capitol (Wash ington) Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi ; Eobert Toombs, of Georgia ; John M. Mason, of Virginia; and Judah P. Benjamin, of Louisiana, were croAvding Douglas to the Avail. Like a stag at bay he confronted them, manifesting marvellous poAver and boldness in debate. Better than any other Northern Senator he understood their purpose. He had been deep in their counsels. He was experiencing the implacable hate of the slave oligarchy towards one whom they could not control. The Eepub lican Senators had little sympathy for Douglas. They took no part in the debate. I Avas sitting on a sofa in the Senate-chamber with Sena tor Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts, when Senator Seward entered. " He is to be our next President. He feels it ; you can see it in his actions," the remark of Senator Wilson, who Avas regarded as one of the far-sighted politicians of the period. He knew every phase of public sentiment in the Eastern States, but he did not fully compre hend the rapid development of though feeling in the West. BENJAMIN P. BUTLER. 188 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. At that time (May 10, 1864) the Illinois Eepublicans Avere assem bled in convention at Decatur, where Abraham Lincoln once split rails for Nancy Miller. Eichard Oglesby was chairman of the convention. " Gentlemen," he said, " tAvo old Democrats want to make a contri bution to the meeting." Two farmers thereupon entered the room, each Avith a fence rail on his shoulder bearing this inscription : ABRAHAiV LINCOLN, THE RAIL CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY, 1860 ! Two rails from a loi of 3000 made in 1S30 by Thomas Hanks and A braham Lincoln. Delegates and spectators sprung to their feet, mounted the seats, swung their hats, and shouted : " Lincoln ! Lincoln ! Abe ! Abe !" " It is true I helped build a house for my father," Mr. Lincoln said, as he rose to speak. " It is true that Thomas Hanks and myself split rails. Whether these are some of the identical rails I cannot say. Quite likely they are." The dramatic scene had not been planned by politicians. It was the outcome of the thought of a plain farmer Avho formerly had been a Democrat, but who had become a Eepublican. " They are talking of you for President," said a friend. » llllili SECEDERS' CONVENTION, ST. ANDREW'S HALL. NOMINATED FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 189 liife "They ought to select some one avIio knows more than I do," Mr. Lincoln replied. (3) It was voted to present his name at the National Convention. This action Avas brought about mainly by Leonard Swett, B. C. Cook, Norman B. Judd, and David Davis. We are ...._ not to conclude that it was wholly a surprise to Mr. Lincoln. He knew people Avere talk ing about him as a pos sible candidate. He had endeared himself to the Eepublicans of the State by his devo tion to principle, his de bates with Douglas, his unselfish action in secur ing the election of Sen ator Trumbull. They loved him for his noble manhood and the sim plicity of his character. During a journey from Washington to kichakd oglesby. Pittsburg I conATersed with men prominent in political affairs, and Avas convinced that Mr. Sew- ard would not receive the votes of Pennsylvania in the convention. For more than a third of a century NeAV York and Pennsylvania had been rival States for political prestige and poAver. NeAV York had assumed to be the " Empire State ;" Pennsylvania prided herself on being the " Keystone " in the arch of the republic. It was plain that Pennsyl vania did not intend to support the favorite son of the Empire State. In Ohio there Avas a moderate enthusiasm for Mr. Chase, but I could not discover active effort being made to secure his nomination. Of public sentiment in Indiana I could form no definite opinion, except that the candidate ought to be from the great and growing West. Arriving in Chicago several days before the assembling of the convention, I found a number of delegates from St. Louis actively advocating the nomina tion of Mr. Bates. In no city of the Union had there been so rapid a 190 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. development of Eepublican sentiment as in St. Louis, and the delegates believed, or affected to believe, that Avith Mr. Bates they could secure the electoral vote of the State. There was but one name on the lips of the Eepublicans of Illinois —Abraham Lincoln. They knew him; had looked into his kindly face ; had listened to his unanswerable arguments in the debates with Douglas, as clear and demonstrable as a proposition from " Euclid." Mr. Thurlow Weed, of Albany, was managing affairs in the interest of Mr. Seward. He had engaged a number of rooms at the hotels. His agents Avere in Chicago previous to the assembling of the convention. He had men on the ground to ask admission to the convention as dele gates from Texas and other Southern States, to cast their ballots for Mr. Seward. I discovered companies of men strolling the streets — half a dozen in a band — hurrahing for SeAvard. The train from New York bringing the delegates Avas decorated with flags. A brass band played the "Star Spangled Banner" and "Yankee Doodle." Seward Avas an experienced statesman, who had had long acquaintance with public af fairs. Lincoln was only a homespun lawyer Avho had been in Congress but one term. "A rail-splitter! What did he know of the needs of the nation? Hurrah for Seward!" such the argument. The Eepublicans of Chicago had erected a building sufficiently large to accommodate 10,000 people. They called it " The Wigwam." It was plain, unpretentious — built for the accommodation not only of the delegates, but of the people. Significant the holding of the convention of the new party of the people in the rapidly-growing city of the West in contrast to that of the Democratic Party in the old City of Charles ton, Avhich had come to a stand-still. In Charleston every movement of the slave aristocracy looked towards disintegration and defeat ; in Chicago the enthusiasm was indicative of harmony and victory. The first day Avas spent in organization. George Ashman, of Mas sachusetts, Avas president of the convention. I noticed, as I sat at a small table in the section assigned to representatives of the Press, i860 ' ^hat wnen Mr. Seward's name was mentioned there was an out burst of applause in different parts of the great auditorium. The leaders had received their instructions from Thurlow Weed, of Albany, who happened to sit by my side, who was not using his pen, but who saw everything that was going on. The organization and the enthusiasm of the convention was all that he could desire for bring ing about the nomination of Mr. Seward. The second day was given to preparing the platform and canvassing for candidates. ckSSSfc; DAVID DAVIS. NOMINATED FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 193 This the telegram sent by Horace Greeley to his paper, the New York " Tribune :" "Governor Seward will be nominated to-morrow." Not so did I regard the outlook. It Avas evident that the delegates from the East, Avho never before had been in the West, were being influenced by the rising enthusiasm of the multitudes which surged through the streets in the evening, hurrahing for Abraham Lincoln. Midnight beheld Norman Judd, of Chicago ; Burton C. Cook, of Ottawa ; David DaAds, of Springfield, and others in secret consulta tion at the Tremont House. "We must beat SeAv- ard's men on their own ground," said Judd. " There is a felloAv in this city Avith a thundering voice. He can halloo loud enough to be heard across Lake Michigan, and I pro pose that we have him on hand to-morrow." " I know of another fel low, by the name of Ames, who lives down my way, who can halloo as loud as your Chicago chap. He is a Democrat, but I guess will be open to a job. I'll telegraph him to be on hand in the morning," said Cook. The sun rose upon a cloudless sky. Each in coming train brought ad ditional thousands from Northern Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Southern Wisconsin. No one had marshalled them. They Mi8608' came t° manifest their enthusiasm for the party which stood pledged to resist the aggressions of slavery. They Avere more ready to hurrah for Lincoln than for SeAvard. Lincoln was the repre sentative of the bone, sinew, and muscle of the younger West ; Seward 13 EDWARD BATES. 194 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. REPUBLICAN WIGWAM, CHICAGO, 1S60. represented the culture of the older East. Stimulating and triumphant strains of music burst upon the morning air, blown from clarionet, cor net, and trombone by the band from New York. A great crowd in the interest of Seward was marching in procession to the Wigwam. Mr. SeAvard's lieutenants had made a mistake. The procession never would enter the Wigwam, for a dense mass already crowded every avenue leading to the building. The interior was filled. Candidates were put in nomination. At the mention of the name of Abraham Lincoln, Mr. Cook, of OttaAva, standing in a conspicuous place on the platform, waved a white handkerchief, and a stentorian voice broke forth at the eastern end of the building, answered by one equally loud from the western end, followed by the shouts of the assembled thousands — con tinuing till the white handkerchief ceased to wave. The man from Chicago and the man from Ottawa, with voices hke fog-horns, were carrying out their instructions. The first ballot was given, Seward receiving 173£ votes ; Lincoln, 102 ; the other 42 ballots were divided between Cameron, of Pennsyl vania ; Chase, of Ohio ; Bates, of Missouri, and others. In a full vote of the convention the successful candidate must receive 233 votes. The second ballot gave Seward 184J-; Lincoln, 181. Louder the thunders of applause evoked by the white handkerchief of Cook. The smile upon the kindly face of ThurloAv Weed faded away. NOMINATED FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 195 A great hope was going doAvn, never to rise again. The third ballot Avas taken; a total of 465 votes — 233 would be a majority. Seward received 180 ; Lincoln, 231-J-. He needed only 14, votes. The president had not announced the result, but scores of pencils had kept the tally. Profound the silence. Delegates had the right of changing their votes. THURLOW WEED. 196 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. " Ohio changes four votes from Chase to Lincoln !" shouts Judge Cartter. Like the burst of a tornado is the roar that«rolls up from the vast assembly. A cannon upon the roof of the building belches its thunder. The thousands in the streets toss their hats into the air. The man who in early life had been a Avood-chopper, rail-splitter, and boat man is before the world as a candidate for the highest office in the re public. Thurlow Weed Avrites a word or tAvo and hands it to the tele graph operator, bows his head, covers his eyes to hide the unbidden tears. The great hope and expectations have gone doAvn. William H. Seward never can be President. Abraham Lincoln, in Springfield, avrs not unmindful of what was going on at Chicago. The telegraph had kept him informed as to the doings of the comTention from hour to hour. He Avould be something more or less than human were he to remain indifferent to Avhat was taking place. He could not sit quietly in his office and await the result, but killed time by playing base-ball and billiards. He was in the office of the Springfield "Journal," sitting Avith compressed lips and thought- ful countenance when the telegraph messenger entered with the result of the ballot — his nomination. " There is a little Avoman down the street who will want to hear the news. I will go and tell her," he said. William H. SeAvard had left Washington and was at his charming home in Auburn, N. Y. Many people came from the surrounding coun try to be present Avhen the telegraph announced the nomination of the man they loved. They were sure he would be selected. A cannon had been loaded. Flags Avould be waved on the instant. Mr. Seward Avas surrounded by intimate friends. A horseman came with a tele gram giving the first ballot, Avhich was received Avith tumultuous cheer ing. He brought the result of the second ballot. " I shall be nominated the next time," the words. Again the cheers resounded, and again the messenger appeared. "Lincoln nominated. — T. W." Nothing more. No cheer. The flags Avere furled. The match to fire the cannon was not lighted. Friends took their departure as when they have laid a loved one in the grave. Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, was nominated for Vice-president. An excited crowd surged through the streets of Chicago. Bonfires blazed, cannon thundered, cheers rent the air. The work of the convention was done, and the delegates turned their steps homeward. NOMINATED FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 197 WILLIAM H. SEWARD. On Saturday morn ing, after the adjourn ment, a passenger car drawn by one of the fastest locomotiA^es of the Illinois Central Bail- road rolled out from Chicago. It bore to Springfield the com mittee appointed i8607' b}r tlie conven tion to apprise Mr. Lincoln of his nomi nation. Being a member of the Press, I accom panied the committee. The sun was setting when we reached Spring field. A croAvd had gathered in the State-house grounds — not to welcome the committee, but to listen to John A. McClernand, Avho was to make a speech fa voring Douglas for the Presidency. The clock had struck the hour of eight when the party from Chicago proceeded to the house of Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln's two boys, Willie and Thomas — or " Tad," as he was familiarly called — were perched on the fence before the house, chaffing their playmates. "Tad" stood erect, and welcomed the committee by shouting " Hooray !" Both boys Avere brimming over with life. The committee entered the house and passed into the parlor, where Mr. Lincoln received them. Mr. Ashman, presi dent of the convention, made a brief address. The reply was equally brief. The formality ended, and all restraint Avas gone. Smiles rippled upon Mr. Lincoln's face as he then addressed William D. Kelley, of Pennsylvania. " You are a tall man, Judge Kelley. What is your height ?" " Six feet three." " I beat you," said Mr. Lincoln ; " I am six feet four without my high-heeled boots on." "Pennsylvania boAvs to Illinois. I am glad that we have found a candidate for the Presidency Avhom we can look up to, for Ave have been 198 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. informed that there Avere only little giants in Ilhnois," the graceful allusion- to Mr. Douglas. A few moments before, Mr. Lincoln, under the constraint of for mality, was hke a school -boy making his first declamation. The un- HANNIBAL HAMLIN. NOMINATED FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 199 natural dignity Avhich had been assumed laid aside, conversa tion became general. "Mrs. Lin coln will be pleased to see you in the oth er room, gen tlemen. You will be thirsty after your long journey. You will find some thing refresh ing in the li brary." In the li brary were several hundred volumes ranged upon shelves, two globes (one terrestrial, the other celestial), a plain table, a pitcher of cold water and glasses, but no wines nor liquors. " You did not find any great spread of liquors, I take it," the remark of a citizen of Springfield the next morning. " No," my reply. " Thereby hangs a httle story : When Ave knew you were on your way, a number of us called on Mr. Lincoln and said that in all proba bility some of the members of the committee would need some refresh ment, wines or liquors. ' I haven't any in the house,' he said. ' We will furnish them.' ' Gentlemen, I cannot alloAv you to do what I will not do myself,' the reply. But that was not the end of it. Some of our good Democratic citizens, feeling that Springfield had been highly hon ored by the nomination, sent over some baskets of champagne, but Mr. Lincoln sent them back, thanking them for their intended kindness." MRS. LINCOLN, 1861. [From a photograph in possession ofthe author.] 200 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. The birds were singing and building their nests in the trees two mornings later as I crossed the public square and entered the office of Mr. Lincoln. A pine table occupied the centre of the room, a desk one corner. The May sun shone through uncurtained Avindows upon ranges of shelves filled with laAV-books, pamphlets, and documents— a helter- skelter arrangement. Newspapers littered the floor. Mr. Lincoln was WILLIAM D. KELLEY. NOMINATED FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 201 seated at the desk, clad in a linen duster, with a pile of letters and a wooden inkstand before him. He had a hearty welcome for all who came. There Avas no sign of elation. To friends, neighbors, old ac quaintances, and strangers alike he was simply Abraham Lincoln. He saw two tall young men — farmers, he judged by their appearance —bashfully looking into his office. " How do you do, gentlemen ? What can I do for you ? Won't you come in and take a seat ?" "We are much obliged to you, Mr. Lincoln," said one. " You see, we are a little curious to knoAv which is the tall est, you or Jim here. I told him he was ,, ,, DESK UPON WHICH PRESIDENT L1N- as tall as a ou. coln wrote his first inaugu- " Oh, that is it. Well, let us see. ral. Stand up beside the wall, young man." Jim stood against the wall of the room, and Mr. Lincoln placed a cane on the top of his head — the end against the plastering. " That is your height. Now, you hold the cane, and let me see what I can do." He steps under the cane, wags his hair against it. " Well, young man, you are good at guessing. We are exactly the same height." (4) The act was in keeping with his good-nature. Did he lose anything by gratifying their curiosity? Did he not rather gain their friend ship ? A farmer's wife drove into Springfield, bringing butter and eggs to sell, and called to see the man who had been selected as candidate for the Presidency. " I thought I'd call and shake hands with you once more," she said. Mr. Lincoln tried to remember when and where she had shaken hands with him. " Oh, don't you remember ? Why, you've stopped at our house to get something to eat when you've been riding the circuit." "Oh yes. Now I know. Well, I'm right glad to see you once more." " Don't you remember, Mr. Lincoln, that day when you called and I hadn't anything to eat ?" 202 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. " No, I don't remember the time, for you always had a good dinner." " But you called one day when we had finished dinner and eat up every scrap, and I hadn't nothing but some bread-and-milk for you, and you smacked your lips and said it was good enough for the Presi dent of the United States, and now you are going to be President. I'm right glad to see you so pert." (B) They were not flattering words, but a sincere and honest expression of her regard for him. While the Eepublican Convention was in session in Chicago, the two Democratic Conventions Avere reassembling in Baltimore. Mr. LINCOLN & HERNDON'S OFFICE IN THE THIRD BUILDING FROM THE CORNER. [From a photograph taken by the auther in October, 1890.] NOMINATED FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 203 Douglas's friends nominated him for the Presidency, with Herschel V. Johnson, of Georgia, for Vice-president. The delegates from the cot ton-producing States nominated John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, for Presi dent and Joseph Lane, of Oregon, for Vice-president. I remained in the vicinity of Spring field several weeks. Every train brought people to that city to see Mr. Lincoln. Politicians who wanted to be Sec retary of War, or of the Navy; who wanted to be made Minister Plenipoten tiary or Consul in some foreign coun try, position in a custom-house, surveyor of lands, Governor or Secre tary of a Territory, postmaster somewhere — all thinking to take time by the forelock by making the acquaintance of Mr. Lincoln in advance of his election. So many came that the Governor of the State kindly allowed him the use of the executive chamber in the State-house, where he courteously welcomed all those who wanted office, as well as those who only wished to shake hands with him. THE STATE-HOUSE, SPRINGFIELD, ILL., 1860. [The executive chamber was the corner room of the upper story in line with the cupola.] NOTES TO CHAPTER XI. ( ' ) " Century Magazine," September, 1887. (2) Letter to N. B. Judd, December 9, 1859, quoted in "Century Magazine," Septem ber, 1887. (3) I.N.Arnold, "Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 163. (4) J. G. HoUand, "Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 233. (5) Ibid., p. 235. 204 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. CHAPTEE XII. THE ELECTION, 1860. THE campaign Avas one of intense excitement and unbounded enthu siasm on the part of the Eepublicans, who felt that with the Dem ocratic Party divided they could bring about the election of Mr. Lin coln. Mass meetings were held throughout the Northern States. The vital questions of the hour were the aggressions of the slave power, the attempt to force slavery into the Territories and the Free States, the Dred Scott decision, and the preservation of the Union. The young men organized " Wide Awake " clubs. They wore uniforms and carried torches. Little did they, in their enthusiasm, comprehend what would be the ultimate outcome of their midnight drilling and marching. Further on we shall see them making other midnight marches as soldiers of the Grand Army of the Eepublic. The friends of Senator Douglas saw from the outset that they were doomed to defeat. The men who "supported the nomination of Bell and Everett in the Northern States endeavored to awaken enthusiasm by ringing bells mounted on wagons and drawn by horses, as their proces sions paraded the streets of towns and cities. Breckinridge had not many supporters in the Northern States. It was but a small portion of the Democratic Party that folloAved his lead. We are not to think because there was an uprising of people to re strict the further extension of slavery, the party supporting Abraham Lincoln was for its immediate abolition. The printer imprisoned at Baltimore thirty years before for saying the slave-trade was piracy, took no part in advocating the election of Abraham Lincoln, who was not an Abolitionist. Public sentiment cannot be changed in a day. Many good men in the Northern States, including ministers, lawyers, judges, opposed the Eepublican Party. They said it was sectional, and its success Avould bring about a dissolution of the Union. The slave holders were threatening to secede, and establish a Southern Con federacy if Lincoln should be elected. He saw a dark and forbidding wursi^ i»*e^' Jiwrsf /fcsps/ feaafi /// mmye. ns /ang .Siai' /agy THE ELECTION. 207 future. Shall we wonder that his friends beheld the old look of sad ness upon his face at times ? " Mr. Bateman," said Mr. Lincoln to the Superintendent of Instruc tion, whose office joined the chamber where he received his friends, " here is a book — a canvass of this city, which my friends have made — the name of every citizen, and hoAv he probably will vote. Here are the names of twenty -three ministers of different denominations, and all but three of them are against me. Here are the names of a great many men who are members of churches, and a very large majority of them are against me. Mr. Bateman, I am not a Christian. God knows that I want to be one. I have read the Bible ever since I sat at my mother's knee. Here is the New Testament which I carry with me. Its teachings are all for liberty. Now, these ministers and church members know that I am for freedom in the Territories — for freedom everywhere as far as the Constitution and law will permit, and that my opponents are for slavery. They knoAv this, and yet with this book in their hands, in the light of which human bondage cannot live a moment, they are going to vote against me. I don't understand it." He rises and paces the room. His voice is tremulous as he goes on, and there are tears upon his cheeks. " Mr. Bateman, I knoAv there is a God, and that He hates injustice and slavery. I see the storm coming, and I know that His hand is in it. If He has a place for me — and I think He has — I believe I am ready. I am nothing, but truth is everything. I know that I am right because I know that liberty is right. Jesus Christ teaches it, and Christ is God. I have told them that a house divided against itself cannot stand. Christ and reason say the same, and they will find it so. Douglas doesn't care whether slavery is voted up or doAvn ; but God cares, humanity cares, and I care. With God's help I shall not fail. I may not see the end ; but it will come, and I shall be vindicated, and these men will find that they have not read their Bibles right." He paces the floor in silence a while, and then goes on : " Doesn't it seem strange that men ignore the moral aspects of this contest ? A revelation could not make it plainer to me that slavery or the Government must be destroyed. The future would be something awful, as I look at it, but for this." He holds up the New Testament. " There is the rock on Avhich I stand. It seems to me as if God had borne with slavery until the very teachers of religion had come to de fend it from the Bible, and to claim for it a divine charter and sanction, 208 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. till the cup of iniquity is full, and the vials of wrath must be poured out."(') Before Mr. Lincoln was thought of as a candidate for the Presi dency the slave-holders of South Carolina had purchased a cargo of slaves brought direct from Africa. They Avere sold to the cotton- planters. It was an attempt to reopen the slave-trade. No preachers of the gospel in the Slave States uttered a Avord in condemnation of the traffic. On the contrary, the leading religious publication of the South, the "Presbyterian Eeview," published in Columbia, S. O, was advo cating the system of slavery as an institution expressly ordained of God for the Avelfare of the human race.(s) Mr. Lincoln made a hurried trip to Chicago on business, and Avas re ceived with great enthusiasm by Democrats as well as Eepublicans. At the house of a friend he beholds a group of little girls. One of them gazes at him wistfully. " What is it you would like, dear ?" " I Avould like, if you please, to have you write your name for me." " But here are several of your mates, quite a number of them, and they will feel badly if I write my name for you and not for them also. How many are there, all told ?" " Eight of us." " Oh, very well ; then get me eight slips of paper and pen and ink, and I Avill see what I can do." Each of the little misses, Avhen she went home that evening, carried his autograph. If we had been in the village of Westfield, on the shore of Lake Erie, Chautauqua County, N. Y., on an October evening, we might have seen little Grace Bedell looking at a portrait of Mr. Lincoln and a pict ure of the log-cabin which he helped build for his father in 1830. " Mother," said Grace, " I think that Mr. Lincoln would look better if he Avore Avhiskers, and I mean to write and tell him so." " Well, you may if you want to," the mother answered. Grace's father was a Eepublican and was going to vote for Mr. Lin coln. Two older brothers were Democrats, but she was a Eepublican. Among the letters going Avest the next day was one Avith this super scription, " Hon. Abraham Lincoln, Esq., Springfield, Illinois." It was Grace's letter, telling him how old she Avas, where she lived, that she was a Eepublican, that she thought he would make a good President, but would look better if he would let his Avhiskers grow. If he Avould she would try to coax her brothers to vote for him. She thought the THE ELECTION. 209 W/h-j . ckjLas £utDUj >/$h-i-^f % '-- i4- '~i~^c O^Os^^p^^S^^Z-- "J '^fiu^^^J .. jtrf^f£«c. ¦¦' ^$^^^z &£L -, 5^-w /K<*«C :/&fC wanted an office, but from a little girl who wanted him to let his. Avhiskers grow. That was a letter which he must answer. A day or tAvo later Grace Bedell comes out of the Westfield post- office Avith a letter in her hand postmarked Springfield, 111. Her pulse beats as never before. It is a cold morning — the wind blowing bleak and chill across the tossing waves of the lake. Snow-flakes are falling. She cannot wajt till she reaches home, but tears open the letter. The melting flakes blur the writing, but this is what she reads : Springfield, III., Oct. 19, 1860. Miss Grace Bedell : My dear Little Miss, — Your very agreeable letter of the 15th is received. I regret the necessity ot saying I have no daughter. I have three sons ; one seventeen, one nine, and one seven years of age. They, with their mother, constitute my whole family. As to the whiskers, having never worn any, do you not think people would call it a piece of silly affection (affectation) if I should begin it now ? Your very sincere well-wisher, A. Lincoln. (3) Before the clocks in the church-towers of the Union tolled the mid night hour on the day of election, it was known that Abraham Lincoln Avas to be President. There was great rejoicing throughout the i8606' N°rtli, for it Avas the verdict of the people that slavery was not to be extended into the Territories. There was also much re joicing in Charleston, for South Carolina Avas ready to secede from the Union. In the hall of the South Carolina Institute a convention called by the Governor voted that the union Avith the United States be dissolved. Men tossed their hats into the air ; Avomen Avaved their hand set)0' kerchiefs. A procession was formed which marched to St. Michael's Church-yard, where, around the grave of Calhoun, a solemn oath was taken to give their lives and fortunes to secure the independence of the State. Lieutenant - colonel Gardner, Avith a few soldiers, was in command of the forts in Charleston harbor. He saw that the Secessionists were getting ready to seize the fortifications. The Secession members of Congress called upon the Secretary of War, John B. Floyd, of Virginia, and asked for Gardner's removal. The request was granted, and Major Eobert Anderson, of Kentucky, was appointed to succeed him. The Secessionists did not know how dearly he loved THE ELECTION. 211 the flag of his country, or how true he Avas to his convictions. He, too, saw Avhat the Secessionists intended to do, and asked General Scott for reinforcements. Secretary Floyd thereupon sent a very curt letter to Anderson. " Your communications," he Avrote, " in the future will be addressed to the Secretary of War." There Avas a stormy scene in the executive chamber of the White House Avhen it Avas knoAvn that Ander son had called for reinforcements. LeAvis Cass, Secretary of State, true and loyal, could no longer remain in the Cabinet Avhen the President yielded to the demand of the Secretary of War that no troops should be sent. Mr. Black, Attorney-general, Avho had given an opinion that the President could not coerce a State, also resigned. Quite likely Floyd would have removed Major Anderson, but he had other things to think of. He had made a contract with the firm of Kussell & Co. to transport supplies for the army from St. Louis to Utah, and had paid them more than two million dollars in excess of money due for work done — making the payments in drafts. But the banks in NeAV York would not advance money on the drafts, Avhereupon Floyd's nepheAV, who had charge of bonds belonging to the Government, took them from the safe and exchanged them Avith Eussell & Co., taking the drafts as se curity — doing what he had no right to do. In effect, it was robbery. The interest on the bonds was coming due, and then the theft would be known. Christmas came Avith its joyful scenes. Major Anderson Avas at a dinner-party in Charleston. He heard remarks Avhich caused him to take immediate action. No reinforcements had been sent him, Djg'6Q°'and he had come to the conclusion that none Avould be sent. In the darkness of night he abandoned Fort Moultrie and oc cupied Sumter. The sun of the next morning Avas rising. The soldiers stood around the flag-staff. Major Anderson kneeled, holding the hal yards, while the Eev. Matthew Harris, the chaplain, offered prayer, and the Stars and Stripes rose to the top-mast to float serenely in the morn ing sunlight. The people of Charleston, looking across the bay, beheld Avith aston ishment the flag at Sumter, and a column of smoke rising from Moultrie, caused by the burning of the gun-carriages set on fire by Major Ander son. The plans of the Secessionists had been upset by this action. Sumter, standing on a reef in the bay, could not be seized. The tele graph flashed the neAvs to Washington. Secretary Floyd hastened to the White House, demanding that Anderson be ordered back to Moul trie ; but the President did not comply Avith the demand. 212 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. The coupons on the bonds stolen by Floyd's nephew were due, but when presented there was no money to pay them. Floyd had done Avhat he could to destroy the Union, and rear a Confederacy on its ruins. He could remain in office no longer. The court indicted him, and he fled to escape arrest. President Buchanan appointed Joseph Holt, of Kentucky, to succeed Floyd ; Edwin M. Stanton, of Pittsburg, of Avhom Ave have preATiously spoken (p. 162), to succeed Mr. Black as Attorney-general, and John A. Dix, of NeAV York, to succeed HoAvell Cobb as Secretary of the Treasury. They were able men, and true to the Union. They were in position to render great service to the country. Governor Pickens, of South Carolina, ordered the Darlington Guards and Columbia Artillery to take possession of Morris Island. Slaves were sent by the planters, and were set to work building bat- "18611' ter'es and mounting cannon for the bombardment of Sumter. Major Anderson had only a small amount of food. It was de cided at a meeting of the Cabinet in the White House to send him reinforcements and supplies. President Buchanan, perhaps, did not know that one of the members of his Cabinet, Jacob Thompson, of Mississippi, Secretary of the Interior, was a traitor. The members Avere in honor bound not to make knoAvn what was going on, but Thompson sent a telegram to Charleston informing the Governor of the decision. The steamer Star of the West, Avith troops and provisions, reached Charleston harbor, but, being fired upon, turned back. Very boastful the language of the Charleston " Mercury " the next morning : " We Avould not exchange or recall that bloAv for millions. It has wiped out half a century of scorn and outrage. The decree has gone forth. Upon each acre of the peaceful soil of the South armed men will spring up as the sound breaks upon their ears." Secession newspapers were saying that the South neA-er would submit to Eepublican rule — Lincoln would not be allowed to take his seat. In one of the committee-rooms of the Capitol at Washington there was a secret midnight meeting of the Senators from Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, at Avhich it was re- 5' solved to seize all the forts along the southern coast, Avith all the arsenals, and to urge the Southern States to follow South Carolina and secede from the Union. Governor Brown, of Georgia, thereupon ordered a military company to take possession of Fort Pu laski. A company Avent up the Mississippi from New Orleans and Jan. 1861 THE ELECTION. 215 took possession of the arsenal at Baton Eouge. In all the seaports the Secessionists seized the revenue - cutters. The neAV Secretary of the Treasury, John Adams Dix, sent Mr. Jones to New Orleans Avith an order to Captain Breslnvood, commanding the revenue-cutter there, to sail to New York. Breshwood Avas a Secessionist, and prepared to haul down the Stars and Stripes and turn the vessel over to the Governor of the State. This the despatch sent by Mr. Dix : "If any man attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the spot." The people of the Northern States had been stupefied by the suc cession of events. They had seen the Union crumbling to pieces — the Secessionists having everything their own Avay, Avithout a word of pro test from President Buchanan or anybody else connected Avith the Ad ministration. The despatch awakened intense enthusiasm for main taining the honor of the country's flag. Florida was the first of the States (January 12, 1861) to follow South Carolina out of the Union, and then Alabama, Georgia, Louisi ana, and Texas in turn seceded. In the hall of Willard's Hotel in Washington delegates from all the States except those which had seceded assembled in Avhat 186 1*' was called a Peace Convention — an effort to bring about har mony. The seceding States on the same day assembled in con vention at Montgomery, Alabama, to organize a Confederate Govern ment. Had we been in Springfield during those days and inquired for Abraham Lincoln, his secretary would have informed us that he could not be seen. He Avas not in the State - house — neither in his own house, but in an out-of-the-Avay chamber over a store, the key turned in the lock. Upon the table before him Avere books containing a speech of Henr}^ Clay, made in 1850, upon the compromise measures then before the country ; President AndreAV Jackson's proclamation, made Avhen South Carolina, thirty years before, attempted to nullify the laAvs of the United States ; and Daniel Webster's speech in the Senate in reply to Hayne in 1830, together Avith the Constitution of the United States. He Avas preparing the address to be delivered at his inauguration. He submitted it to no one, asked no advice as to what he should say. The time had come Avhen he must bid good-bye to his friends. He visited Farmington, Coles County, Avhere Avas still standing the log-cabin 216 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Avhich he assisted in building. He gave directions for the erection of a suitable monument to his father, and then rode to Charleston, where his step-mother was living. A great crowd had gathered to Avelcome him. Many remembered him as he appeared on that day Avhen he put Dan Needham on his back in the wrestling-match (see page 60). " I am afraid your enemies will kill you, Abraham," said Mrs. Lincoln. His voice Avas trem ulous, and the tears coursed down his cheeks as he gave the good-bye kiss. There had ever been the ut most confidence be tween them: she was loving and helpful — he obedient, kind, and tender. Eeturning to Spring field, he found his old friends of New Salem there to shake hands Avith him once more ; among them Hannah Armstrong, whose son he defended when accused of murder. " I am afraid that those bad people will kill you," said Hannah. "Well, they can't do it but once," the reply. (4) It was late in the afternoon, and the sun Avas setting when Isaac Colgate called. They talked of old times, of those whom he used to know in New Salem. Mr. Lincoln spoke tenderly of Ann Eutledge. " I have ever loved the name of Eutledge. I loved Ann honestly, truly, dearly. She was beautiful, intellectual, good. I think of her often."(5) So he unbosomed himself to his dear old friend in the twilight of that winter evening. His business in Springfield was closed, his trunks packed. He en- Feb. 10. tered the office of Lincoln & Herndon to bid his partner fare- 1861. -vyeiL He was weary, and threAv himself upon the lounge. He was once more looking far away. He broke the silence at last. THE CHAPMAN HOUSE, CHARLESTON, ILL. [Where Abraham Lincoln bade farewell to his step-mother. From a photo graph taken by the author in October, 1890-3 THE ELECTION. 217 " Billy, how long have Ave been together ?" " Over sixteen years." " We haven't had a cross Avord during all that time, have Ave ?" "Not one." The old smile Avas upon his face as he went over the past. " Don't take down the sign, Billy ; let it SAving that our clients may understand that the election of a President makes no change in the firm of Lincoln & Herndon." He took a fareAvell glance at the room — the books, the table, the chairs. Together the partners descended the stairs. " Oh, Billy, I am sick of office-holding, and I shudder when I think of what is before me. The chances are that I never shall return." The old sadness was upon him. " Oh, that is an illusory notion. It is not in harmony or keeping with the popular ideal of a President," the remark of Herndon, Avho did not know what else to say. "But it is in keeping Avith my philosophy. Good-bye." (6) The Provisional Government of the Confederate States had been organized — Jefferson Davis, President, and Alexander H. Stephens, Vice- president of the Confederacy. Mr. Davis was on his Avay from Fjggj!' Mississippi to Montgomery, addressing the people in all the prin cipal toAA-ns. He stood upon the balcony of the Exchange Hotel in that city the evening before his inauguration, Avith a negro by his side holding a tallow candle, which threAv its flickering light upon the crowd in the street. " England," he said, " will not allow our great staple, cotton, to be dammed up within our present limits. If Avar must come, it must be on Northern, not on Southern soil. A glorious future is before us. The grass will grow in Northern cities where the pavements have been worn off by the tread of commerce. We will carry Avar Avhere it is easy to advance, where food for the SAvord and torch aAvait our armies in the densely populated cities." Mr. Davis had some reason for using such language, for a great many people in the Northern States had assured the Secessionists that they sympathized Avith them. " If there is to be any fighting, it will be Avithin our own borders, and in our OAvn streets," Avrote ex-President Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire. Fernando Wood, Mayor of New York, proposed that NeAV York City secede from the State of New York. " If force is to be used, it will be inaugurated at home," said the Democratic politicians of Albany. 218 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. JEFFERSON DAVIS. " If the cotton States can do better out of the Union than in it, Ave insist on letting them go in peace," Avrote Horace Greeley, editor of the New York" Tribune," Avho had done what he could to elect Mr. Lincoln. The snow was falling in Springfield, but people Avere hastening to the railroad station to see once more the man Avhom they honored and loved. The conductor of the train which Avas to bear the Presi- j8gj ' dential party to Washington Avas about to give the signal for starting, but Avaited, for Mr. Lincoln Avas standing upon the plat form of the car Avith his hand uplifted. These his parting words : "My friends ¦ No one not in my situation can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place and the kindness of these people I owe everything. Bere I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one of them is buried. I now leave, not knowing when or whether ever I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon THE ELECTION. 219 Washington. Without the assistance of that divine Being who ever attended him, I can not succeed. With that assistance, I cannot fail. Trusting in Him, who can go with me, and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell." Mr. Lincoln had invited several gentlemen to accompany him to Washington ; among others, Norman B. Judd, David Davis, EdAvin V. Sumner, John Pope, DaAdd Hunter, and Ward Laman. Mr. Lincoln Avas very much affected as he entered the car, after say ing good-bye to his friends. He Avas on his way to become the chief executive of a great nation. But instead of elation at the prospect be fore him of exercising influence and power, there was depression of spirit. In Montgomery, Jefferson Davis Avas talking of carrying the SAvord and torch into Northern cities, of conquest, Avar, and devastation. In Springfield, the words of Abraham Lincoln Avere in the spirit of those spoken by Jesus Christ in the " Sermon on the Mount." His voice trembled and its tender pathos brought tears to the eyes of those Avho heard him. It Avas natural that the people should desire to see the man Avho had been elected President, and the route to Washington was arranged to take in a number of the large cities — Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Colum bus, Pittsburg, Cleveland, and Buffalo. In each of these he spent a night and addressed great c'roAvds of people. When the train left Cleve land, Mr. Patterson, of Westfield, was invited into Mr. Lincoln's car. RAILROAD STATION, SPRINGFIELD. 220 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. " Did I understand that your home is in Westfield ?" Mr. Lincoln asked. " Yes, sir ; that is my home." " Oh, by-the-Avay, do you know any one living there by the name of Bedell?" " Yes, sir, I know the family very well." " I have a correspondent in that family. Mr. Bedell's little girl, Grace, Avrote me a very interesting letter advising me to wear Avhis kers, as she thought it would improve my looks. You see that I have folloAved her suggestion. Her letter Avas so unlike many that I re ceived — some that threatened assassination in case I Avas elected — that it was really a relief to receive it and a pleasure to ansAver it." The train reached Westfield, and Mr. Lincoln stood upon the plat form of the car to say a few words to the people. " I have a little correspondent here, Grace Bedell, and if the little miss is present, I would like to see her." Grace Avas far cloAvn the platform, and the crowd prevented her seeing or hearing him. " Grace, Grace, the President is calling for you !" they shouted. A friend made his way with her through the croAvd. " Here she is." Mr. Lincoln stepped doAvn from the car, took her by the hand, and gaATe her a kiss. " You see, Grace, I haATe let my Avhiskers groAV for you." (7) The kindly smile Avas upon his face. The train Avhirled on. His heart was lighter. For one brief moment he had forgotten the burdens that Avere pressing him with their Aveight. At Buffalo, Albany, and NeAV York great croAvds welcomed him. No boastful words fell from his lips. He gave no hint as to his course of action other than to preserve the Union and faithfully execute the trust committed to him by the people. His speeches were disappointing. People expected he Avould give an outline of what he intended to do. It seems probable that he him self did not know. He had faith in God, in the people, and in himself. He would endeavor to execute the laAvs in accordance with the Consti tution, and do the right thing at the right time. Would he ever become President? There were rumors that the electoral vote never Avould be declared — that something would happen to prevent its being counted. February 13th Avas the day fixed by law. Strange faces appeared THE ELECTION. 221 JOHN POPE. in Washington. The boarding-houses were filling with dark-visaged men Avho lounged in the saloons and SAvaggered along the streets, Avho jostled Northern men into the gutter. " That Black Eepublican Abolitionist never will be President," the common remark uttered with oaths. Few Northern men at the capital doubted that there was a plan to seize the Government. It was known that General Scott l'sei.8' was l°yal- What would he do to put down a conspiracy? Mr. L. E. Chittenden, a member of the Peace Congress, called upon him at his headquarters in Winder's Building. He Avas lying on a sofa. " A Chittenden of Vermont ! Why, that Avas a good name when Ethan Allen took Ticonderoga ! Well, Vermont must T" "~ +~'ie to-day 222 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. as she always has been. What can the commander of the army do for Vermont ?" « Very little at present. I called to pay my personal respects. In common with many other loyal men, I am anxious about the count of the electoral vote on next Wednesday. Many fear that the vote will not be counted or the result declared." " Pray, tell me why it will not be counted ? There have been threats, but I have heard nothing of them recently. I supposed I had suppressed that infamy. Has it been resuscitated? I have said that any man Avho attempted by force or parliamentary disorder to obstruct or interfere Avith the lawful count of the electoral vote for President and Vice-president of the United States should be lashed to the muzzle of a 12-pounder and fired out of a windoAV of the Capitol. I would manure the hills of Arlington Avith fragments of his body were he a Senator or chief magistrate of my native State ! It is my duty to suppress insurrection — my duty /"(") The ruffianly-looking men Avho had frequented the bar-rooms Avhen they reached the Capitol on the morning of February 13th found they could not gain admittance to the building Avithout a ticket. Sol- Fi86i8' diers of the United States in their blue uniforms guarded every entrance. The tickets Avere signed either by the Vice-presi dent, John C. Breckinridge, or by the Speaker of the House, and they had been issued so sparingly that the galleries of the representatives' chamber and the corridors were not crowded. The members of the Peace Conference in session at Willard's Hall Avere admitted by a vote of both Houses of Congress, but Senators and representatives could not admit their friends except by authority of the presiding officers. Euffians might shake their fists at the soldiers and use vile language, but neither by bribe or threat could they enter the Capitol. No soldiers Avere to be seen except those that were guarding the doors. Within the Capitol were several hundred men, Avho entered as citizens, but who, upon a preconcerted signal, Avould be transformed into sol diers armed writh rifles. The hour for the Senate and House to meet in convention arrives, and the Senators enter the hall. Mr. Breckinridge occupies the chair as presiding officer. For four years he has been Vice-president of the United States, sworn to obey the laws. He has been loyal to the Con stitution. He has too high a sense of obligation to countenance any plan for a seizure of the Government, or to obstruct the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln. His voice is clear and distinct : " It is my duty THE ELECTION. 223 to open the certificates of election in the presence of the two Houses, and I now proceed to the performance of that duty." Another voice breaks in : "I rise to a point of order. Is the count to proceed under menace? Shall the count be made under menace? Shall members be required to perforin constitutional duty before the janizaries of Scott are withdraAvn from the hall ?" " The point of order is not sustained," the calm reply of Breckin ridge as he hands the certificate of Maine to Senator Trumbull, who reads it. There is no other interruption. The last certificate is read, DAVID HUNTER. 224 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. and Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin are declared to be elected President and Vice-president of the United States. The Senate retires. The pent-up anger of the Secession members from the Slave States that had not seceded burst forth. " Hurrah for Jeff Davis !" " Scott is a traitor to his native State !" " He is a coward !" " An old dotard !" " What right had he to put his blue-coated janizaries in the Capitol ?" Oaths and curses rent the air. Impotent the rage. Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin had been legally declared elected, but would they be allowed to take their seats ? The plan to prevent the declaration of their election was aban doned several days before that event, and another far darker conspiracy was entered upon. Miss Dorothy Dix, of NeAV York, Avho had been in the South, informed Samuel M. Felton, president of the railroad leading from Baltimore to Philadelphia, that the Southern conspirators had de termined Mr. Lincoln should never reach Washington. He read in Southern newspapers the threatening words that he Avould not be al lowed to take his seat. Mr. Felton knew there Avere many brutal men in Baltimore — ruffians Avho had no regard for anything except brute force. They went by the name of " Plug Uglies." They were Seces sionists, and Avere determined to carry the State out of the Union. He kneAv they were ready to do any violent act to insure their success. He discovered that organizations Avere forming in the Adllages along the line of the railroad, and decided to investigate what Avas going on. " Will you come to Philadelphia ?" the message to Mr. Pinkerton, a detective, who hastened to that city. A feAV days later the men drilling at Perryville, Magnolia, and Havre de Grace received neAV recruits — rough-looking men — who an nounced themselves as Secessionists. (') Among the guests at Barnum's Hotel in Baltimore was one who signed his name " Joseph Howard, Montgomery, Alabama." Timothy Webster, from Eichmond, arrived at another hotel, not quite so aristo cratic as Barnum's. Mr. Howard was very much of a gentleman— so polite, Avell-educated, and handsome that the ladies in the parlor Avere charmed with him. In the smoking-room he was very courteous, and the cigars which he presented to the young gentlemen Avho spent their evenings at Barnum's Avere delicately flavored. Mr. HoAvard listened to Avhat they had to say about secession, and the intimations that Lin coln might not get to Washington. He made the acquaintance of Mr. Kane, marshal of the Baltimore police, member of a secret society. They gained entrance to a chamber by signs and passwords. Captain THE ELECTION. 225 Ferrandini, president of the society, declared that the election of Lin coln Avas an insult to the gentlemen of the South. "This hireling, Lincoln," he shouted, "shall never be President. My life is of no consequence. I am ready to die for the rights of the South, and to crush out the Abolitionists." He flourished a dirk to let the members of the society understand that he Avas ready to use it. Mr. Howard from Montgomery, Avith a friend from Georgia, met Captain Ferrandini in Mr. Guy's restaurant. The captain was pleased to meet the gentleman from Georgia, who, as Mr. Howard assured him, was " all right." " Are there no other means?" somebody asked. " No ; as Avell might you attempt to move that monument yonder with your breath as to change our purpose. He must die ; and die he shall," said Captain Ferrandini. " There seems to be no other Avay," Mr. HoAvard remarked. " The cause is noble ; and on that day every one of us will prove himself a hero. With the first shot he Avill die, and Maryland will be Avith the South," the captain added. " But have all the plans been matured, and are there no fears of failure? A misstep Avould be fatal to the South, and everything ought to be Avell considered," said the gentleman from Georgia. " Our plans are fully matured, and they cannot fail. If I alone must strike the bloAv, I shall not hesitate or shrink from the task. Lincoln will not leave this city alive. Neither he nor any other Aboli tionist shall ever set foot on Southern soil, except to find a grave," said Captain Trichat. " But about the authorities ; is there no danger to be apprehended from them ?" asked the gentleman from Georgia. " Oh no. They are all Avith us. I have seen the chief of police, and he is all right. In a week from to-day the North will Avant another President, for Lincoln will be a corpse," the reply. Mr. Howard became quite intimate Avith Lieutenant Hill. They Avalked the streets arm in arm, drank each the other's health, talked over the plans in their own rooms. " I shall immortalize myself by plunging a knife into Lincoln's heart," said the Lieutenant. (,0) Timothy Webster, of Eichmond, Va., joined the military company at Perry ville. The chamber in which the members met was hung with quilts, that no listening ears in adjoining rooms might hear what Avas said. 15 226 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. The bridges on the railroad were to be set on fire, the tracks torn up so that no troops could reach Baltimore from the North. Little did the men mistrust that Timothy Webster, from Eichmond, Avas in con stant communication with the gentleman from Georgia, in Baltimore ; that Mr. Howard Avas also informing the gentleman from Georgia of all that Avas going on, and that he was giving full information of the conspiracy to Norman B. Judd, at Buffalo. Mr. Lincoln had planned to go from Philadelphia to Harrisburg, and from that city to Baltimore. There would be a great croAvd at the Northern Central station, where he would enter a narrow passage to reach a carriage. It Avould be an easy matter to get up a toav in such a crowd. When the police left the passage to quell the disturbance, the fatal bullet Avould be fired, or the knife plunged into his breast. A steamboat Avould take the assassin to South Carolina — secure from capture. Senator Grimes, of IoAva, and Elihu B. Washburne, member of the House of Eepresentatives from Galena, 111., Avere in consultation with General Scott, commanding the army. He was receiving letters from honest and true-hearted men in the South, informing him of a deep- laid plot to murder Mr. Lincoln. Senator Grimes and Mr. Washburne were made a "Committee of Public Safety" by the loyal Senators and members of Congress. They knew that Chief of Police Kennedy, in Ne\v York, was loyal and true, and that he had trustAvorthy men in his employ, and so put themselves in communication Avith him. Men who Avore slouched hats and seedy coats, who smoked cheap cigars and drank Avhiskey, Avere sent to Eichmond, Alexandria, and Baltimore. They also learned the details of the plot to murder Lin coln. (") Mr. Lincoln is at Trenton, N. J. Things have arrived at a serious pass. Mr. Seward and Mr. Washburne, in Washington, have unmis takable evidence, apart from what has come to Mr. Judd, that i86i. ' ^-r- Lincoln is to be assassinated in Baltimore. They cannot with safety telegraph any information. A messenger must be sent, and Mr. Frederick W. Seward, son of the Senator, with letters from his father and from General Scott, makes his way to Philadel phia. The train from Trenton is just arriving with Mr. Lincoln. A young man slips a piece of paper into the hand of Mr. Judd, who reads only this : " Call for J. H. Hutchinson at the St. Louis Hotel." THE ELECTION. 227 It is not Mr. Hutchinson Avhom Mr. Judd finds, but Mr. Pinkerton, the " gentleman from Georgia." He lays before Mr. Judd all the de tails of the plan. Mr. Seward confirms them ; also Mr. Sanford, sent by General Scott. Mr. Felton, who has had several gangs of men AvhiteAvashing the bridges across the rivers betAveen Philadelphia and Baltimore, but Avho Avere instructed to keep their eyes on the structures day and night for fear they might be set on fire, adds information con firming the testimony gathered by the detectives. What shall be done? The time has come when Mr. Lincoln must know Avhat is going on. His secretary, Mr. Nicolay, calls him from the parlor of the Continental Hotel. Mr. Judd and Mr. Sanford propose that he shall go at once to Washington. That he will not consent to do. He has promised to raise a flag over the hall in which the Decla ration of Independence Avas signed, and will keep his word. He has promised to go to Harrisburg, and will go ; but it is arranged that in stead of remaining at Harrisburg over night, and going to Baltimore on the Northern Central road, he shall return to Philadelphia, and go by the regular night train through Baltimore to Washington. It is the anniversary of George Washington's birth. For the first time in his life Mr. Lincoln enters the hall Avhere the Declara- ^jggj22' tion of the Independence of the United States Avas signed. The street and square, the houses, Avindows, and roofs are occupied by a vast crowd of people. These words fall from the lips of Mr. Lincoln : "I am filled with deep emotion at finding myself standing in this place, where were collected together the wisdom, the patriotism, the devotion to principle from which sprang the institutions under which we live. You have kindly suggested to me that in my hands is the task of restoring peace to our distracted country. I can say in return that all the political sentiments I entertain have been drawn, so far as I have been able to draw them, from the sentiments which originated in, and were given to the world from, this hall. ... It was not the mere matter of 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 hope to all the world for all future time." The flag rises to the top-mast, and the vast multitude rends the air Avith cheers as they behold the bright new banner floating in the breeze. From Philadelphia, Mr. Lincoln proceeds to Harrisburg, and meets the Legislature and Governor Curtin. The ceremonies of the day are ended. Judge Davis, Colonel E. V. Sumner, Major John Pope, Major David Hunter, and Mr. Lamon, Avho are travelling Avith Mr. Lincoln, 228 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. ¦L RAISING THE FLAG OVER INDEPENDENCE HALL. have received hints that the programme for the journey to Washing ton has been changed. Mr. Lincoln cannot slip away Avithout taking them into his confidence. He has not been quite sure that it will be manly to go through Baltimore in the night. No hospitalities have been extended to him by the Governor of Maryland or the authorities of Baltimore, but Avill people not look upon him as a coward? He lays the matter before his friends. " Well, Mr. Lincoln, Avhat is your judgment ?" Mr. DaAns asks. " I have thought this matter over considerably since I Avent over the ground Avith Mr. Pinkerton. The appearance of Mr. Frederick SeAvard THE ELECTION. 229 Avith information from another source confirms my belief in Mr. Pinker- ton's statements. Therefore, unless there are some other reasons than the fear of ridicule, I am disposed to carry out Mr. Judd's plan." " That settles it," said Mr. Davis. " So be it," says Colonel Sumner, brave and true soldier. " It is against my judgment, but I have undertaken to go to Washington with Mr. Lincoln, and I shall do it." He does not comprehend the malig nity of the desperadoes Avho are looking forward to the coming noon as the hour Avhen they will rid the world of the man Avhom they hate. The hands of the clock in the hotel office steal on to 5.45. The gentlemen at dinner are munching the nuts and raisins, and sipping their coffee. Mr. Nicolay enters, and Avhispers to Mr. Lincoln, .who leaATes the room, followed by the Governor, Mr. Judd, and others. He retires to his chamber, changes his clothing, and descends the stairs. " He is going to the Governor's," the whisper that runs through the crowd as they see Governor Curtin and Mr. Lincoln arm in arm. A carriage is waiting at the door. Mr. Lincoln, Governor Curtin, and Lamon enter. Colonel Sumner is just stepping in when Mr. Judd touches his shoulder. He turns to see what is wanted ; the driver starts his horses, and the vehicle whirls down the street — not to the Governor's house, but to the railroad station, Avhere an engineer and fireman are waiting in the cab of an engine. It is a light train : a baggage car and one passenger car — a special to take the superintend ent of the railroad and a few friends to Philadelphia. The track has been cleared, and the engineer can make quick time. It is a midwinter night, and the twilight is fading from the sky, but the darkness does not prevent a lineman of the telegraph from climbing a pole just outside of Harrisburg, and attaching a fine copper wire to the line, and carrying it to the ground. Possibly the man might wonder Avhat sort of an experiment Mr. Westervelt, who had come up from Philadelphia, was carrying on ; but Avhen it Avas done, the operatives in Harrisburg and Baltimore might finger their telegraph keys by the hour, but Avould not be able to send a message between the tAvo cities. In Philadelphia, Mrs. Warne, employed by Mr. Pinkerton, has engaged two berths in the sleeping-car ostensibly for herself and in valid brother, and the porter has hung a curtain so they can be sepa rated from the other passengers on their trip to Washington. "You will hold your train till I give you a package Avhich Mr. Felton wishes you to take," the instructions of Mr. Kinney, super intendent of the railroad betAveen Philadelphia and Washington, to the 230 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. g^S^gs^s ANDREW G. CURTIN. conductor of the midnight train. A carriage rolls up to the station in Philadelphia. A tall man steps out — the invalid brother for Avhom the lady has engaged the birth. She is delighted to see him. He enters the sleeping-car, followed by three other gentlemen — Judd, Lamon, and Pinkerton. The superintendent hands a package to the con ductor, AA-ho lifts his hand— the signal for starting. The engineer pulls the throttle, and the train speeds away. THE ELECTION. 231 Neither conductor, porter, nor any one else has any inkling that Abraham Lincoln and the invalid brother of the lady are one and the same. Possibly the engineer Avonders Avhy men are standing by the bridges Avith lanterns as the train thunders across them, but Mr. Pinkerton knows that everything is as it should be. The train from Philadelphia at an early hour rolls into the Washing ton station. A gentleman standing behind one of the pillars of ^Sof3' *^e bui^ing is looking eagerly at the passengers as they step from the cars, and is about to turn away, disappointed, when he sees a tall man wearing a soft felt hat, Avith a muffler round his neck, step from the sleeping car, accompanied by two gentlemen. " The tall man looks like an Illinois farmer — as if he had come to Washington to get a patent for his farm," the thought of the man by the pillar. " How are you, Lincoln ?" the greeting. Lamon and Judd are startled. EDWIN V. SUMNER. 232 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. " Oh, this is only Washburne," says Lincoln, introducing Mr. Wash burne to his two companions. A carriage Avhirls them to Willard's Hotel. Mr. Seward comes, and the two men Avho had been rivals for the nomination at Chicago grasp each other's hands. " Faith, it is you, then, Avho have brought us the new Prisident," the greeting of the smiling porter to Mr. Washburne. ( 12 ) While Mr. Lincoln is eating his breakfast in Washington, the con spirators in Baltimore, who had so carefully planned his assassination, are comprehending that he has escaped them. Long ago, a poet far away in Oriental lands, Avrote these comforting and assuring Avords concerning God's guardianship of his children : "For He shall give His angels charge over tliee to keep thee in all thy ways." NOTES TO CHAPTER XII. (') J. G. Holland, "Life of Abraham Liucolu," p. 236. (2) " Presbyterian Review," vol. xiii., No. 4. ( s) Correspondence in possession of the Author. (") William H. Herndon, "Lincoln," p. 481 (edition 1889). (6) Ibid., p. 482. (") Ibid., p. 483. f ' ) Document iu possession of the Author. (8) L. E. Chittenden, "Recollections of Abraham Lincoln," p. 37. (e) S. M. Felton to William Schoules iu " Massachusetts iu the War." (I0) Allen Piukerton, "Story of a Detective." ( ") E. B. Washburne, "Reminiscences of Lincoln," p. 34. C) Ibid., p. 39. OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION. 233 CHAPTEE XIII. OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION. "T3EACE! Peace at any price!" said those who did not compre- J- hend the eternal antagonism between Freedom and Slavery. People who stood aghast at the prospect of civil war with its attendant horrors were willing to surrender their convictions of Avhat Avas right, if by so doing they could prevent hostilities betAveen the North and the South. The Virginia Legislature proposed a National Peace Con vention, to be held in Washington. All the States, except those which had seceded, appointed delegates. While Mr. Lincoln Avas making his Avay from Springfield to Washington, the convention, with ex-President Tyler presiding, was holding daily sessions in the great hall connected Avith Willard's Hotel. It was an effort to conciliate the Secessionists, who had no desire to be conciliated. They Avere dreaming of future empire, greatness, glory, and power for the South ; and no measure short of complete surrender to their demands Avould be accepted. The members from Virginia were surprised when informed that Mr. Lincoln was in the hotel. It seems probable that one delegate knew of the plot to assassinate him. " How did he get through Baltimore ?" his exclamation. (' ) "Mr. Chairman," said John A. Logan, of Illinois, "I move that the president of the conference Avait on the President-elect, and inform him that the conference would be pleased to Avait upon him in a body at such time as will suit his convenience." " No !" "No !" " Lay it on the table !" " Vote it down !" " Eail- splitter !" " Ignorance !" " CloAvn !" shouted the Southern delegates. " I trust that no Southern member will decline to treat the incoming President with the same respect that has already been given to the pres ent incumbent of that office," said Mr. Tyler. The resolution Avas adopted. What sort of a man Avas this rail-splitter ? What did he look like ? There must be something unusual about one Avho could rise from such a low estate to be elected President. Curiosity Avas awakened. 234 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Evening came. Mr. Lincoln was in the parlor of the hotel. The members of the Peace Conference entered. They beheld a tall man wearing ill-fitting clothes. What was it that instantly arrested their attention? Was it the kindly face? Was it the perfect ease Avith Avhich he greeted each one Avhen introduced by Mr. Chittenden? " You are a smaller man, Mr. Eives, than I supposed — I mean in person; every one is acquainted Avith the greatness of your intellect. It is indeed pleasant to meet one Avho has so honorably represented his country in Congress and abroad." (!) Mr. Eives comprehended that a man so familiar Avith his personal history Avas not an ignorant boor.(3) " The clouds," said Mr. Eives, " that hang over us are very dark. I can do little, you can do much. Everything now depends on you." " I cannot wholly agree to that. My course is as plain as a turn pike road. It is marked out by the Constitution. I am in no doubt Avhich way to go. Suppose Ave all stop discussing and try the experi ment of obedience to the laws and the Constitution. Don't you think it will work?" "May I answer thai question?" Mr. Summers, of West Virginia, made the request. Mr. Lincoln Avaited for him to go on. " Yes, it will Avork. If the Constitution is your light I will folloAv it Avith you, and the people of the South will go with us." " Your name, Mr. Clay (James B. Clay, of Kentucky), is all the in dorsement you require. From my boyhood the name of Henry Clay has been an inspiration to me." "Does liberty still thrive in Eastern Tennessee?" the question to Mr. Zollicoffer, who had been member of Congress from that State. Little did Mr. Zollicoffer think that before a twelvemonth passed he would meet death on the battle-field of Mill Springs. The deep, sepulchral A'oice of John A. Seddon, of Virginia, who Avas doing what he could to bring about the secession of that State, broke in : " It is your failure to enforce the laAvs of Avhich we complain — to suppress your John Browns and Garrisons, Avho preach insurrection and make war upon our property." There was humor and firmness in Mr. Lincoln's reply : " If my memory serves me, John Brown Avas hung and Mr. Garrison imprisoned. You cannot justly charge the North with disobedience to statutes, or Avith failure to enforce them. You have made some Avhich are very offensive, but they have been enforced, notwithstanding." " You do not enforce the laws. You refuse to execute the statute OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION. 235 for the return of fugitive slaves. Your leading men openly declare that they will not assist the marshal to capture or return them," said Seddon. "You are Avrong in your facts again, Mr. Seddon. Your slaves have been returned from the shadow of Faneuil Hall, in the heart of Boston. Our people do not like the Avork. They will do Avhat the laAv commands, but they will not volunteer to act as tipstaves and bum- bailiffs. The instinct is natural to the race. Is it not true of the South ? Would you join in the pursuit of a fugitive slave if you could aA'oid it I Is it the proper Avork for gentlemen ?" •• Your Press," said Seddon, " is incendiary. It advocates servile in surrections, and advises our slaves to cut the throats of their masters. You do not suppress your newspapers. You encourage their violence." " I beg your pardon, Mr. Seddon ; I intend no offence, but I will not suffer such a statement to pass unchallenged, because it is not true. No Northern newspaper, not even the most ultra, has advocated a slave insurrection, or advised slaves to cut their masters' throats. A gentle man of your intelligence should not make such assertions. We do maintain the freedom of the Press. We deem it necessary in a free government. Are we peculiar in that respect ] Is not the same doc trine held in the South ?" The haughty Virginian could make no reply. (* ) " Is the nation, Mr. Lincoln, to be plunged into bankruptcy ? Is the grass to grow in our streets ?" asked William E. Dodge, merchant, of New York. "If it depends upon me, the grass shall not groAV anywhere except in the fields, Avhere it ought to grow," the reply. " Then you will permit the South to control our institutions ?" " I do not know that I quite understand you. I do not know Avhat my acts or opinions may be in the future. If I ever come to the great office of President of the United States I shall take an oath to the best of my ability to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. This is a great and solemn duty. With the support of the people and the assistance of the Almighty 1 shall undertake to perform it. I have full faith that I shall perform it. It is not the Constitution as I Avould like to have it, but as it is, that is to be defended. The Constitution will not be preserved and defended until it is enforced and obeyed in every part of every one of the United States. It must be so respected and de fended, let the grass grow where it may." His AATords were deep and solemn, as if spoken at the funeral of a 236 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. departed friend. Those around him could all but hear the beating of their hearts in the hush and stillness. "Should the North make further concessions to avoid civil Avar? Shall Ave consent that the people of a Territory shall determine the question of having slaves ?" the questions by a delegate. "It will be time to consider such a question when it arises. Just now Ave have other questions to decide. The voice of the civilized Avorld is against slavery. Freedom is the natural condition of the hu man race in Avhich the Almighty intends men to live. Those who fight the purposes of the Almighty will not succeed. They always haATe been, they ahvays will be, beaten," the reply. (6) " Mr. Lincoln," remarked Mr. Eives, of Virginia, to Mr. Chittenden, "has been misjudged and misunderstood by the Southern people. They have looked upon him as an ignorant, self-Avilled man, incapable of in dependent judgment, full of prejudices, willing to be used as a tool by more able men. This is all Avrong. He Avill be the head of the nation and do his own thinking. He seems to have studied the Constitution, and to have adopted it as his guide. I do not see how any fault can be found with the views he has expressed this evening. He is probably not so great a statesman as Mr. Madison, he may not have the will power of General Jackson ; he may combine the qualities of both. His Avill not be a weak administration." (') The day for inauguration came. Never before had there been so many people in Washington. Soldiers Avere stationed in groups along , Pennsylvania Avenue and on the roofs of buildings. Cavalry- March 4, men rode beside the carriage that bore President Buchanan 1861' and Mr. Lincoln from Willard's Hotel to the Capitol. Not far away artillerymen were sitting on their caissons or on their horses, ready to move in an instant should General Scott give a signal. But the conspirators who had plotted the death of Mr. Lincoln did not dare attempt his assassination. From the Senate -chamber came Mr. Lincoln, President Buchanan, Mrs. Lincoln and her sons, Chief- justice Taney, in his black robe of office, and the clerk of the Supreme Court bearing a Bi ble. They passed to the eastern portico. Thousands had gathered to witness the inaugura tion. The Capitol was unfinished. Above the throng rose the huge derricks by Avhich the marble and iron for the construction of the dome Avere lifted. Many of those standing beneath the portico Avere inseparably con nected with the history of the country. James Buchanan, old, feeble, INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION. 239 retiring from the Presidency, Avas representative of a political era which on that day AAras to have an ending. Abraham Lincoln, by his side, was the incarnation of the idea which impelled the men of the Mayflower to cross the Atlantic and establish a government of the peo ple. Eoger B. Taney had trailed the ermine of the highest tribunal of justice in the mire at the behest of the skrve poAver. Stephen A. Douglas had been a Avilling agent of the slave-holders for the extension of slavery ; he had lost the Presidency through his Avant of fidelity to liberty. The life - work of Buchanan and Taney Avas ended ; that of Douglas Avas soon to close. Mr. Lincoln had once alluded to them as house-builders (see p. 167). The fourth carpenter, " Franklin," Avas not present. Once only after his retirement from the Presidential chair had the world heard from Franklin Pierce. A letter which he had written to Jefferson Davis indicated to his felloAv-citizens that his sympathies Avere with the Secessionists. The four "house-build ers" Avere passing into oblivion, and the uncultured backwoodsman, under divine Providence, Avas to be architect of the new Temple of Liberty. Clear and distinct the words of Mr. Lincoln : "In view of the Constitution and the laws, the Union is unbroken; and to the extent of my ability I shall take care, as the Constitution expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws shall be faithfully executed in all the States. ... In doing this there needs to be no bloodshed or violence ; and there shall be none, unless it be forced upon the national au thority. The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the Government, and to collect the duties and imports ; but be yond what may be necessary for these objects, there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere. . . "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momen tous 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 de stroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to ' preserve, protect, and defend ' it. "I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. "The mystic cords of memory, stretching from every battle-field and patriot grave to every living heart and hearth-stone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better augels of our nature." Mr. Lincoln lays his right hand upon the open Bible. A hush falls upon the vast multitude as he repeats after Chief -justice Taney the Avords : " I, Abraham Lincoln, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully exe cute the office of President of the United States, and will, to the best 240 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. . of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." It is done. The cannon thunder a salute — cheers rend the air. James Buchanan, citizen, and Abraham Lincoln, President, ride to the executive mansion, one never again to enter it ; the other to take up the Avork assigned him in the councils of divine Provi dence. In November, on the evening of the election, Avhen sitting in the telegraph office in Springfield, Mr. Lincoln had selected the men whom he would invite to become members of his Cabinet : Mr. Seward, of New York, Secretary of State ; Mr. Chase, of Ohio, Treasury ; Mr. Cameron, of Pennsylvania, War ; Mr. Welles, of Connecticut, Navy ; Mr. Smith, of Indiana, Interior ; Mr. Blair, of Maryland, Postmaster-general ; Mr. Bates, of Missouri, Attorney-general. No President of the United States, upon his inauguration, ever had so difficult a task to accomplish as that Avhich confronted Abraham Lin coln. Seven States had seceded from the Union, established a govern ment, elected a President and Vice-president. Other slave-holding States Avere preparing to secede. Forts, arsenals, vessels, post-offices had been seized. Officers of the army and naAw were resigning their commis sions. All but two of the justices of the Supreme Court by their decisions had shoAvn their sympathy with the slave oligarchy. The officials in the various departments knew they Avould be compelled to seek other employment. Those belonging to the Democratic Party from the Northern States were angry and morose under the prospect of losing their comfortable positions. Treason was everyAvhere. Nei ther the President nor any of the Secretaries knew upon whom they could rely. The people of Washington were far more in sympathy Avith the South than with the North. A very large proportion of them looked Avith disdain upon a man who had pulled an oar and swung an axe to earn his daily bread. They called him " Abe the Bail-splitter." The newspapers of the Southern States published false and malicious stories about his parentage and birth. They said he had negro blood in his veins. The " Black " Eepublican Party had elected him. It was natural for ignorant people in the South to believe that the mother of Abraham Lincoln might have been a negress. He was called an " ape," a " baboon." A feAV weeks after the inauguration a " Dramatic Poem," entitled " The Eoyal Ape," was published in Eichmond. Wom en who gloried in their ancestry could not bear to think of one so loAv-born occupying the White House. One lady, who took pride in OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION. 241 SALMON P. CHASE. her ancestors, saw Mr. Lincoln in the parlor of Willard's Hotel before his inauguration. "Is that Abe Lincoln?" she asked, greatly astonished to see he was a courteous gentleman. "That is Mr. Lincoln, and I will introduce you to him," said Mr Seward. "Shall I have the pleasure of introducing Mrs. How ard ?" ° Very stately the bowing of the lady. « I am from South Carolina," she said. " I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Mrs. Howard." No gentleman in Charleston could have been more courteous. She 16 242 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. looked into his face and beheld nothing but kindness. She listened in amazement to his conversation. " Why, Mr. Lincoln, you look, act, and speak like a kind, good- hearted, generous man !" she exclaims. " Did you expect to meet a savage ?" " Certainly I did, or something Avorse. But I am glad that I have met you. The best way to procure peace is for you to go to Charleston and show the people what you are, and tell them you have no intention of injuring them." She left the parlor and met her friends. " I have seen him." "Who?" " That terrible monster, Lincoln ; and instead of being a monster he is a gentleman, and I mean to attend his first reception." (') While Mr. Lincoln was taking his oath to support the Constitution, Mr. Holt, Buchanan's Secretary of War, Avas reading a letter received from Major Anderson, commanding Fort Sumter, informing him that the bread he had on hand Avould be gone in tAventy-eight days. His pork would last a little longer, but in forty days the last particle of food Avould be consumed. He could not buy anything in the Charleston markets. Slaves Avere building batteries on Morris Island and mounting cannon. A floating battery protected by railroad-iron would soon be completed. Several days passed before all the members of the new Cabinet arrived in Washington. They listened in amazement to the communi cation from Major Anderson. General Scott had informed President Lincoln that it would require 20,000 men to force their way into Sumter. No such number could be had. Captain Gustavus V. Fox believed that \ressels of light draft could cross Charleston bar in the night and supply the fort with provisions. Each member of the Cabinet was asked to give his opinion as to what should be done. Nearly all said it would not be wise to attempt to relieve the garrison. Three gentlemen, sent by Jefferson Davis, arrived in Washington : Martin J. Crawford, John Forsyth, and A. S. Bomans. They requested President Lincoln to give up Sumter, and also Fort Pickens, at Pensa cola. They held consultations with Mason and Hunter, of Virginia, and Breckinridge, of Kentucky. They found J. A. Campbell, one of the judges of the Supreme Court, an able ally. He was from Alabama, but professed loyalty to the Union. He had the confidence of Mr. Seward, who did not mistrust that Campbell was in constant communi- OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION. 243 cation Avith Jefferson Davis's commissioners. Mr. Seward was pleased to see the gentlemen, but could not hold any official relations Avith them. He thought there Avould not be war. Fort Sumter probably Avould be evacuated. Nothing Avould be done without notice, he thought. Mr. Seward ga\Te Judge Campbell no assurance as an officer of the Cabinet, but only as a private citizen. He had no authority to speak officially. I Avas in AYashington during those March days. The hotels and MONTGOMERY BLAIR. 244 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. boarding-houses Avere filled with men from nearly every Northern State, and many from Maryland and Virginia, seeking office. They SAvarmed into the White House, filled the corridors and stairways leading to the executive chamber, waiting for the moment when they could see the President. Each had letters of recommendation for some office — consul, marshal, or postmaster. Senators and members of the Cabinet, entitled to precedence, avIio made their Avay through the croAvd, were looked upon as intruders. Some of the most importunate office-seekers were from Virginia. They had not voted for Mr. Lincoln, did not belong to the Eepublican Party ; they Avere Whigs, and had voted for Mr. Bell, of Tennessee. As there were no Eepublicans in Virginia, they would stand some chance of obtaining an office. Many of the loud-talking men from the seceded States were loath to give up the salaries they were receiving from the Government. They Avere predicting war. They said the Northern men Avere craven creatures, Avho never would fight the gentle men of the South. They did not regard Northern men as gentlemen. It Avas the expression of a sentiment engendered by slavery. Men who Avorked for a livelihood, Avho did not have bond-seiwants to do their bidding, could not be " gentlemen." Mr. Seward publicly expressed his opinion that all trouble between the North and South would be speedily settled. Not so promising was the outlook to me. On a calm evening, soon after the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln, I visited the White House in company with Senator Wilson. (8) The President Avas engaged and we did not tarry. We walked towards Mr. Wilson's apartments in the direction of the Cap itol. The moon Avas full, revealing the beautiful proportions of the uncompleted edifice. " What is that unfinished Capitol so beautiful in design worth ?" I asked. " Nothing. We are going to have civil Avar, and God only knows Avhat the end will be," the reply. Others saw the coming storm. A gentleman who had applied for the consulate at Callao, South America, withdrew his application. He said : " AVe are going to have one of the greatest struggles the world has ever seen. These fellows are determined to fight. I am going home to get ready to meet them." (°) From the hour of his inauguration President Lincoln was badgered and hounded by office-seekers. We little know the severity of the mental strain during those days to him. Seven States had left the Union. Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee were getting ready to OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION. 245 HENRY WILSON. go. Forts and arsenals had been seized, Major Anderson Avas cooped up in Sumter. Batteries were being erected on Morris Island. The A'essels of the navy were on distant seas, the soldiers of the army thou sands of miles aAvay among the Indians of the West. Traitors Avere in the departments. The members of the Cabinet were strangers to each other. Affairs at home and abroad Avere drifting to chaos. Civil AA'ar was imminent. The credit of the Govern ment .was gone. Many people in the Northern States were doubtful if an uneducated man, without experience in affairs of State, would be able to administer the Government at such a critical period. Alone at night in his chamber Mr. Lincoln bore the nation on his heart. A train going south from Wash ington carried two passengers, Mr. S. A. Hurlburt and Mr. Lamon. The first Avas born in Charleston, and had a sister residing there. He had studied law Avith James L. Yg6122' Petigru, who Avas loyal to the Union. Mr. Lamon, whom Ave have seen travelling from Springfield to Washington with President Lincoln, was agent of the Post-office Department. He Avas alloAved by Governor Pickens to visit Fort Sumter. Mr. Hurlburt, in the home of Mr. Petigru, learned much about public sentiment in South Carolina. The merchants believed the Avorld could not get along with out cotton. Charleston Avas to become a great commercial emporium. They hated the Union, and spat on the Stars and Stripes. The two gentlemen returned to Washington, and informed Mr. Lincoln of the determination of the seceded States to establish a separate nationality. During the last Aveek in March the President invited the members of the Cabinet to his first State dinner. When the repast Avas OArer they assembled in the executive chamber to listen to a letter Avritten by General Scott, Avho advised the giATing up of forts Sumter and Pickens. He thought such a course would keep the other Skive States in the Union. The members of the Cabinet Avere astonished. Some thing must be done at once. Provisions must be sent to Sumter, or the fort given up. Which ? Through the night the President Avalked the floor of his chamber. 246 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. He did not seek to be President. Divine Providence has called him ; the people elected him. A trust of unparalleled greatness has been committed to him — the trust bequeathed by Washington, Franklin, Adams, Jefferson, the patriots of the Bevolution. The Constitution is assailed, the laws defied. The life of the nation is threatened. The people are divided in opinion. Traitors are around him ; he knows not Avhom to trust. A great crowd of men seeking office swarm into the White House and through the departments, blind to the peril of the nation, seeking only individual advancement. The Cabinet is sitting around the table in the executive chamber, considering the vital question of the hour. One member, the Attorney - general, in order to condense his ideas into a few words, writes his conclusion. The President reads it. " Gentlemen, will you all write your opinions as to what shall be done?" the request of the President. In brief, these are the responses : Mr. Bates — " It is my decided opinion that Forts Pickens and Key West ought to be reinforced and supplied, so as to look down opposi tion at all hazards. As to Fort Sumter, the time has come either to reinforce or evacuate." Blair — " It is acknoAvledged to be possible to relieve Fort Sumter. South Carolina is the head and front of this rebellion, and when that State is safely delivered from the authority of the United States it will strike a blow against our authority, from which it Avill take years of bloody strife to recover. For my part, I am unwilling to share the re sponsibility of attempting to relieve Sumter." Smith — " Believing that Fort Sumter cannot be defended, I regard its evacuation as a necessity, and I advise that Major Anderson's com mand shall be unconditionally withdrawn." Welles — "I concur in the proposition to send an armed force off Charleston, with supplies of provisions and reinforcements for the garri son of Fort Sumter. . . . Armed resistance to a peaceable attempt to send provisions to one of our own forts Avill justify the Government in using all its powers." Chase — " I am in favor of maintaining Fort Pickens and provision ing Sumter. ... If war is to result, I see no reason why it may not begin in consequence of military resistance to the efforts of the Admin istration to sustain troops of the Union in a fort of the Union." Seivard — " I advise against the expedition in every vieAV. ... I Avould instruct Major Anderson to retire forthAvith." (") President Lincoln paces the floor. The Cabinet is divided in opin- OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION. 247 ion. He must decide. He has sworn to maintain the Constitution. He cannot abandon a fort. If Avar comes, those Avho bring it about must bear the responsibility. He directs that an order shall be issued for the relief of Sumter and Pickens. Mr. Seward's ideas and opinions on many points are not in accord with those of the President nor with a majority of the members ^i.1' OI tbe Cabinet. He has been outvoted. While the order for fit ting out a ship is on its way to Brooklyn be is Avriting a commu nication to the President. This the opening sentence : " We are at the end of a month's ad ministration, and yet without a policy, either domestic or foreign." These the closing Avords : " But what ever policy we adopt, there must be an energetic prosecution of it. For this purpose it must be somebody's business to pursue and direct it in cessantly. Either the President must do it himself and be all the Avhile act ive in it, or devolve it on some mem- ber of his Cabinet. Once adopted, debates on it must end, and all agree and abide." It is as if Mr. Seward had said : I Avill take the reins, if you please, Mr. President. A little later the Secretary of State reads a letter Avritten by Mr. Lincoln : "Upon your closing proposition — that 'whatever policy we adopt, there must be an energetic prosecution of it ; for this purpose it must be somebody's business to pursue and direct it incessantly , either the President must do it himself and be all the while active in it,' or 'devolve it on some member of his Cabinet; once adopted, debates on it must end aud all agree and abide ' — I remark that if this must be done, I must do it. When a general line of policy is adopted, I apprehend there is no danger of its being changed without good reason or continuing to be a subject of unnecessary debate; still, upon points arising. in its progress I wish, and suppose I am entitled to have, the advice of all the Cabinet. Your ob't serv't, A. Lincoln. "( " ) Mr. Seward aAvakens from his dream of being the one to direct the affairs of the nation. Abraham Lincoln is still President — himself Secretary of State— nothing more. The President is calm and unruf fled, and his greeting is as kind and hearty as ever Avhen next they meet. The man Avhose school-days Avere comprised in a twelvemonth, GIDEON WELLES. 248 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. who has had little acquaintance with public affairs, has become master and teacher, and the cultured and honored Secretary is sitting at his feet and learning a lesson. Two steamers with provisions sailed from New York to Sumter. A messenger was sent by President Lincoln to inform Governor Pickens that no arms or ammunition, but only provisions, would be landed. Jefferson Davis and his Cabinet were in consultation at Mont gomery. What should be done ? Virginia had not seceded. The con vention in session at Eichmond was composed largely of men who hesitated about leaving the Union. " I will tell you Avhat will put Virginia in the Southern Confeder acy in less than an hour : sprinkle blood in their faces !" said Eoger A. Pryor, in a speech to the people of Charleston. Jefferson Davis and Eobert Toombs, and the men composing the Confederate Cabinet, knew the seven States then forming the Confed eracy must be joined by Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and the other Slave States to succeed in Avhat they had undertaken : the for mation of a nation Avith slavery for its corner-stone. The time had come Avhen they must strike a blow. All the Avorld would laugh at them if, after they had planted cannon on Morris Island, built a •Jg'gj11' floating battery, they allowed provisions to be landed. To open fire on the fort would be war, but war it must be. The tele graph flashed an order from Montgomery to General Beauregard : " Demand the immediate surrender of Fort Sumter." The reply of Major Anderson to the summons : "I cannot surrender the fort. I shall await the first shot, and if you do not batter me to pieces, I shall be starved out in three days." The vessels with provisions had not arrived. Why did not Jef ferson Davis wait till they came, and open fire upon them rather than upon the fort ? Because he and his fellow-conspirators did not wish to wait. So long as the Stars and Stripes floated above Sumter the Con federacy amounted to nothing. Starving out the garrison Avould not be victory. The booming cannon must announce to the Avorld that the Confederacy was a power by itself, entitled to a place among the na tions. The United States must be the first to feel and acknoAvledge its power. With the first glimmer of day (April 12, 1861) the bombardment began. (See " Drumbeat of the Nation.") The fleet made its appear- OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION. 249 ROBERT E. LEE. ance, but did not attempt to relieve the fort. Major Anderson's pro visions Avere gone. He could no longer continue the contest, and sur rendered, the garrison being allowed to depart for New York, Sunday April 14, 1861. Let us recall the words uttered by Abraham Lincoln, March 4, when he took the oath to support the Constitution : " In your hands, my dis satisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, are the momentous issues of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors." 250 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. He has kept his word. War has begun, but not by him. He has done what he could, consistent with his oath to support the Constitu tion, to avert it. Never before such a Sunday in the United States. The telegraph has flashed the news to every city. Bulletins read : Fort Sumter surrendered ! The flag humiliated ! Tavo governments : one in Washington — the other in Montgomery. The great republic crumbling to pieces! Government by the people a failure! In Mont gomery, predictions that before April is ended the flag of the Confed eracy will be waving in triumph over the Capitol at Washington, and Jefferson Davis installed in the White House !('s) In Charleston tlie people were Avild Avith excitement. Go\rernor Pickens, from the balcony of the Charleston Hotel, addressed a surging croAvd : "Thank God, the day has come 1 The war is open, and we will conquer or perish. AVe have defeated their twenty millions, and we have humbled their proud flag of the Stars and Stripes that never before was lowered to any nation. We have lowered it in humility before the Palmetto and Confederate flags, and have compelled them to ask sur render. I pronounce before the civilized world that your independence has been bap tized in blood, and you are now free in defiance of the world in arms." Throughout the North the people are gazing into each others' faces in Avonder and amazement. Never before such sinking of hearts. Tears glisten in the eyes of men unaccustomed to weep. The Constitu tion defied ! The Government a wreck ! What will Abraham Lincoln, untried in statesmanship, do in this woful extremity? In Washington the church -bells are tolling the hour for worship. Mournful their pealing in the ears of loyal men. The President needs no one to tell him Avhat he ought to do. That question is settled. It is a government of the people, and the people alone must decide whether or not their authority shall be defied. He will call for 75,000 men from the several States to suppress this combination against the laws. The laws shall be enforced. The members of the Cabinet discuss the question. Seventy-five thousand ! Will that number of men respond to the call ? It is a great army. Do we need so many? Hoav can they be armed? How fed? What can be done with them ? Will the "gentlemen" of the South, as they call themselves, fight ? Will they not soon weary of military re straint ? President Lincoln hears the opinions. "We must not forget," he remarks, "that the people of the seceded States, like those of the loyal ones, are American citizens, with essen tially the same characteristics and powers. Exceptional advantages on OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION. 251 one side are counterbalanced by exceptional adA'antages on the other. We must make up our minds that man for man the soldier from the South will be a match for the soldier from the North and vice versa." (") They are the Avords of one calmly looking into the future. Through the day men have been coming and going. As the shad ows of evening fall, Stephen A. Douglas enters the White House. He ascends the stairs and meets the President. Their hands clasp in cordial greeting. The door closes upon them. They are alone. No ears other than their OAvn hear the Avords spoken during the two hours' interview. A quarter of a century has passed since they first met in the corridor of the State-house in Yandalia (see p. 82). During this period they have been opposed politically, but on this night Douglas is ready to stand by Mr. Lincoln to secure the enforcement of the laAvs. Millions of people are reading the proc lamation of the President — in the Southern States with shouts of laughter, in the North- ,r , ern with an outburst of gratitude. Mondav, ° April 16, Never has the Avorld beheld such a spectacle. Political parties disappear in a twinkling. For the moment there is no Eepublican, no Democratic Party; only one : that for the preservation of the Union, and the avenging of the insult to the flag. One State is ready to respond instantly to the call for troops — Massachusetts. In 1860 Nathaniel P. Banks, Governor, saw the com ing of the crisis. In September he mar shalled the troops of the State, 13,000 men, upon the field Avhere the first battle of the Bevolution began. His successor, Governor John A. Andrew, has in like manner looked into the future, and seen the neces sity of being ready to respond to any call which the President might make upon the State. One of the delegates from Massachusetts to the Democratic Con vention which assembled at Charleston was Benjamin F. Butler, Avho voted for Breckinridge during all the ballotings. In December, after the election of President Lincoln, Butler visited Washington and talked with the Secessionists. "Your men of the North Avill not fight," said a gentleman from Mississippi. "Yes, they will." JOHN A. ANDREW. 252 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. " Who in the North will fight if we secede from the Union ?" " I will." " Oh, there will be plenty of men in the South to take care of you." " When we march to the defence of the Union we will hang on the trees every man who undertakes to destroy it," said Butler. He informed Governor Andrew in regard to the plans of the Seces sionists. Measures Avere at once taken for the complete equipment of the militia. " If you have troops ready, send them.'- So read the telegram from Senator Wilson to the Governor of Massachusetts. Though not an order from the War Department, Governor Andrew, comprehending its significance, issued orders for the immediate departure of the Sixth and Eighth Eegiments. (See " Drum beat of the Nation.") On the anniversary of the battle of Lexington the Sixth Eegiment Avas in Baltimore, fighting its Avay through the streets of that city, manifesting its forbearance, discipline, steadiness, and pow er. This regiment reached Washington to aid in holding the Capitol. Never in the history of any nation has there been such a succession of great events as during these April days. Never has there been another such uprising of the people. The Union is dissolved, but there shall be one country, one destiny, for all the people. Cost what it may of blood, treasure, sacrifice, suffering, the Government ofthe people shall not perish. In every city and town the drum -beat breaks the still ness. Bankers hear it, and hasten to tender their money to the Gov ernors of the several States. Ministers of the gospel hear it, and from this hour through the coming four years they Avill preach the gospel of patriotism. Benjamin F. Butler, of Lowell, Mass., hears it. He is a general, commanding a brigade of Massachusetts militia. For four years the spiders will spin their webs undisturbed on his law books. Ulysses S. Grant, educated at West Point, citizen of Galena, 111. — so obscure that few of his felloAv -citizens are aAvare that such a person Avalks their streets — hears it, and consents to preside at a public meeting, little comprehending the work Avhich ProATidence has planned for him. Stephen A. Douglas hears it, and makes his Avay from Wash ington westward to arouse his fellow-citizens. " It is not a question of union or disunion. It is one of order ; of the stability of GoA'ernment ; of the peace of communities. The whole social system is threatened with destruction and with disruption," the Avords of Mr. Douglas. OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION. 253 Eobert E. Lee, held in high esteem by General Scott, Avas in Wash ington. Two members of the Cabinet conferred Avith him, un officially tendering him from President Lincoln command of the army. " I look," said he, " upon secession as anarchy. If I owned four million slaves I would sacrifice them all for the Union, but how can I draw my sAATord upon Virginia, my native State ?" His beautiful home at Arlington overlooked a lovely landscape : the gleaming Potomac, green fields, the City of Washington, the stately Capitol. He Avas patrician by birth and education, and cast his lot with the slave power. The Secessionists burned the bridges on the railroads leading north from Baltimore, that no more troops might reach Washington. They Avere doing their utmost to bring about the secession of Maryland. Clerks in the departments at Washington appointed from the Southern States were hastening from the city. Citizens, under the command of Major David Hunter, Avere guarding the AVhite House and Treasury. In the executive mansion, through the weary hours, President Lincoln calmly performed his arduous duties. ADMINISTERING THE OATH TO CITIZEN SOLDIERS. 254 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. It Avas a joyful hour in Washington when the Massachusetts Eighth Eegiment and the NeAV York Seventh reached that city. Their presence guaranteed the safety of the Capitol. In Illinois, troops from pn 20. £mcag0 took pOSSession 0f Cairo. The occupation of that point greatly offended John M. Johnson, of Paducah, Ky. He had been elected to the Senate of that State, and deemed it his duty to send a solemn protest to the President. "If I had suspected," Avrote Mr. Lincoln in reply, "that Cairo, in Illinois, was in Dr. Johnson's Kentucky Senatorial district, I would have thought twice before sending troops to Cairo." (") B3' the prompt arrival of troops in Washington, and the occupation of Cairo, the plans of the Secessionists were overthroAvn. NOTES TO CHAPTER XIII. (') L. E. Chittendeu, "Recollections of President Lincoln," p. 66. (a) Ibid., p. 72. (3) AA'illiam Cabell Rives was born in Nelson County, Va., 1793. He was educated at Hampden, Sidney, and William and Mary Colleges. Studied law under Jefferson. He was member of Congress, 1823-29. Minister to France, 1829-32. United States Seuator, 1832-45. Again he was Minister to Fiance from 1849-53. After the secession of Virginia he became a member ofthe Confederate Congress. — Author. (4) James A. Seddon was born at Falmouth, Va., 1815. He studied law at the University of Virginia. He began practice in Richmond. He was member of Congress from 1845 to 1849; Mr. Lincoln was a member during his second term. The Governor of Axirgiuia appointed him member of the Peace Conference. Upon the secessiou of the State he was appointed by Jefferson Davis Secretary of War for the Confederate States, succeeding Mr. AA'alker. — Author. (5) L. E. Chittenden, " Recollections of Abraham Liucolu," p. 76. (6) Ibid. (') Isaac N. Arnold, "Life of Lincoln," p. 199. (B) Henry Wilson was born at Farmington, N. H., February 16, 1812. His parents were poor. His first years were spent ou a farm, and in making shoes. He earned enough money to attend an academy at Coucord, N. H, in 1837. He was studious, aud became interested in politics. He began public speaking -in 1840, advocating the elec tion of Harrison. He was elected to the House of Representatives and Senate of Massa chusetts. He was an uncompromising opponent of slavery. He was elected to the Senate, 1855. Was Vice-president of the United States during the Presidency of General Grant. He wrote a " History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power." He died November 10, 1875. — Author. (9) Joseph C. Abbott. He was proprietor of the Manchester, N. H., "Mirror," and had been an earnest opponent of slavery. He had held the office of Adjutant-general of New Hampshire. He was appointed Lieutenant-colonel of the Seventh New Hamp shire Regiment ; took conspicuous part in the assault upon Fort Wagner, Morris Island. OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION. 255 After the war he settled in North Carolina, and was elected Senator from that State. — ¦ Author. (I0) "Century Magazine," February, 1888. (") Ibid. (12) "Century Magazine," March, 1888. (1S) J. G. N. (J. G. Nicolay.) "Century Magazine," March, 1888. (14) "Every-day Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 455. 256 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. CHAPTEE XIV. FIRST MONTHS OF THE AVAR PEESIDENT LINCOLN, looking from the southern windows of the White House, could see the flag of the Confederacy floating above the houses of Alexandria. Confederate troops were pouring into Eichmond, Avith the avowed intention of marching upon Wash ington. Very confident were the predictions of Southern newspapers that the Confederate flag would erelong be flying above the unfinished dome of the Capitol, and Jefferson Davis occupying the White House. This the telegram (April 22, 1861) from Davis to Governor Letcher : "In addition to the forces heretofore ordered, requisitions have been made for thirteen regiments, eight to rendezvous at Lynchburg, four at Richmond, one at Harper's Ferry. Sustain Baltimore, if possible. We reinforce you.'' James M. Mason, of Virginia, a week before, had been in the Senate of the United States. He had gone to Baltimore, and was supplying the Secessionists Avith fire-arms. (') Eeverdy Johnson, (2) the great lawyer in the patent law case, Avhom the President had met in Cincinnati (see page 162), hastened to Wash ington to obtain assurance that the South was not to be subjugated. A committee from the churches, Avith a clergyman as chairman, also came. " We ask that you recognize the independence of the Southern States," the request. This the reply of the President : " You, gentle men, come here to me and ask for peace on any terms, and yet have no word of condemnation for those who are making Avar upon us. You express great horror of bloodshed, and yet would not lay a straw in the way of those who are organizing in Virginia and else where to capture this city. The rebels attack Fort Sumter, and your citizens attack troops sent to the defence of the Government and the lives and property in Washington, and yet Avould have me break my oath and surrender the Government Avithout a blow. There is no Washington in that — no Jackson in that — there is no manhood or FIRST MONTHS OF THE WAR. 257 REVERDT JOHNSON. honor in that. I have no desire to invade the South, but I must have troops to defend this Capitol. Geographically it lies surrounded by the soil of Maryland, and mathematically the necessity exists that they should come over her territory. Our men are not moles, aud can't dig under the earth ; they are not birds, and can't fly through the air. 17 258 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. There is no way but to march across, and that they must do. But in doing this there is no need of collision. Take care of your rowdies in Baltimore, and there will be no bloodshed. Go home and tell your people that if they will not attack us Ave Avill not attack them ; but if they do attack us, Ave will return it, and that severely." Governor Hicks, (3) of Maryland, Avas loyal to the Union, but was surrounded by Secessionists. He Avas timid about taking responsibility. Those whom he highly esteemed were using their influence to bring about the secession of the State. The Legislature assembled at April 27. ' Frederick. The Governor, in his message, said the only safety for the State was to remain neutral. He admitted the right of the United States to take troops through Baltimore. Once more regiments Avere passing through that city and moving on to Washington — troops of the United States Army from the Far Utiv 9. West : Sherman's battery, Avhich had won fame on the field of Buena Vista ; three months' men, responding to the call of the President. The sky Avas lurid Avith lightning and rain falling on the evening of May 13th ; but the driving storm, the flashing lightning, did. not bring to a halt the 1000 men commanded by General Butler. They entered Baltimore and took permanent possession of the city. The crisis had passed ; the Confederate flag ne\Ter would wave above the dome of the Capitol ; Jefferson Davis never enter the White House ; Maryland never secede. It Avas seen that cannon planted near the home of Eobert E. Lee, on Arlington Heights, might send their missiles crashing into the White House. Nearly 20,000 troops had arrived in Washington. The time had come to take possession of the hills commanding the Potomac and the Capitol. The night Avas calm and still, the full moon shining, when the Union soldiers rolled up their blankets, fell into line, and marched across the Long Bridge. Three regiments crossed at Georgetown. The "Fire Zouaves," commanded by Colonel Ells worth, went down the Potomac on a steamer and landed at Alexandria. Colonel EUsworth had studied laAv in Mr. Lincoln's office, and was one of the party that accompanied him to Washington. He saw a Con federate flag Avaving above the Marshall House, kept by Mr. Jackson. He Avent to the roof and tore it from the staff ; but while descending was shot by Mr. Jackson, who in turn was killed by a Zouave. Great the grief of the President. It Avas the beginning of his many sorrows. The first hostile shot had struck into his own household, as it were, and taken one Avhom he tenderly loved. FIRST MONTHS OF THE WAR. 259 We must remember that Mr. Lincoln was not, like William Lloyd Garrison, an Abolitionist. Mr. Garrison advocated a dissolution of the Union because slavery was wrong ; Mr. Lincoln believed the Union Avas the greatest boon in civil government which had ever come to the hu man race. He Avas confronted by a vital question : hoAv to keep Ken tucky from leaving the Union. It was his native State. Some of his dearest friends resided tliere. Governor Magoffin Avas doing Avhat he could to bring about the secession of the State. The people Avere diA'ided in sentiment. The Legislature adopted a resolution affirming " armed neutrality " as the position Avhich the State would maintain. Citizens of Louisville passed resolutions denouncing the President for attempting to bring the seceding States back into the Union. At the same time they THOMAS H. HICKS. 260 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. declared the Union ought to be preserved, but maintained it was the duty of Kentucky to oppose the attempt to make Avar upon a seceding State ! " Kentucky will furnish no troops for the wicked purpose of subdu ing her sister Southern States," said Governor Magoffin, in his reply to the call of the President for troops. The Secessionists Avere organizing. "The Knights of the Golden Circle," as they called themselves, Avere drilling in the streets of Louis ville. The members of the " Working-men's Association " in that city knevv that slavery was antagonistic to free labor. They succeeded in electing J. M. Dolph as mayor, Avho was loyal to the Union. The Secessionists became very bold and arrogant. The Union men were threatened with assassination. Not intimidated but emboldened, they formed a " Union Club." The members SAVore unconditional loyalty to the Union. Their ritual Avas compiled from the sayings of Washington, Daniel Webster, and Henry Clay. The great statesman of Kentucky, Mr. Clay, loved and reverenced by President Lincoln, once said : " If Kentucky to - morro av unfurls the banner of resistance, I never will fight under that banner. I owe a paramount allegiance to the whole Union ; a subordinate one to my own State." The Legislature had declared for strict neutrality. President Lin coln comprehended that in a conflict between tAvo diverse civilizations there could be no neutrality on the part of a State. He had said that "a house divided against itself cannot stand, that the entire country must be one thing or another." What measures could he take to prevent it from becoming the other thing ? Hoav foster the Union sen timent in the State ? How develop an abiding and aggressive loyalty which would finally marshal it on the side of the Union ? Major An derson, native of Kentucky, had shown his unswerving loyalty to the Union at Sumter. William Nelson, (4) lieutenant in the navy, had de clared in forcible language his fealty. The President sent them to their native State to ascertain the exact condition of affairs. They found that the volunteer militia, known as the " State Guard," was under the control of the Secessionists. General Simon B. Buckner Avas in command. The law under which it Avas organized was drafted by him. He intended to use the troops in behalf of the Confederacy. Governor Magoffin sent Dr. Luke Blackburn to Montgomery for arms. He purchased a feAV Avorthless muskets. Kentucky had not seceded, and the Confederate Government had no arms for that State. He made a speech in New Orleans, in which he stated that the people o£ Kentucky would soon be marshalled on the side of the Confederacy. FIRST MONTHS OF THE WAR. 261 MARSHALL HOUSE. May 25. Another military body came into existence — the "Home Guard." It was organized in Louisville under an ordinance passed by the City Council. It was founded upon a vague clause in the city char ter. Mayor Dolph approved the act, and two regiments were organized for the defence of the city. The mayor Avas commander- in-chief, with authority to appoint a brigadier general. He selected Lowell H. Eosecrans, who soon became an officer in the United States Army. James Speed Avas appointed as his successor. It Avas the be ginning of organized loyalty in Kentucky. The Union sentiment was developing. George D. Prentice, Avhose Avritings had pleased Abra ham Lincoln for many years, was still Avielding his pen in behalf of the Union. Lieutenant Nelson hastened to Washington. " If you will furnish 17* 262 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. arms to the Union men of the State," he said to Mr. Lincoln, " they avi'U fight for the restoration of the State to the Union." " It shall be done," the President replied, and directed that 10,000 muskets be placed at his disposal. Mr. Nelson hastened to Kentucky, and arranged Avith James Speed for a secret meeting of the leading Union ists. There were only twelve at the meeting — John J. Crittenden, Garret Davis, James Harlan, Joshua F. Speed, (") James Speed, Charles A. Wickliffe, Thornton F. Marshall, Lieutenant Nelson, and four oth ers. They selected suitable persons to distribute the arms. Joshua F. Speed was appointed general agent by the President. Companies of Home Guards Avere forming throughout the northern and central sections of the State. The magazine containing the ammunition of the State Avas under the control of Buckner ; but Mayor Dolph demanded the keys. 'Buckner knew that if he did not give them up the mayor would take forcible possession of the property, and he therefore sur rendered them. The mayor demanded the arms of the members of the " State Guard " in Louisville, and they Avere given up. By the Avisdom and prudence of the President, acting in concert with Joshua F. Speed and his few Union friends. Kentucky Avas saved to the Union. The President ardently labored to foster the Union sentiment in Mis souri. With that end in view he had selected Mr. Bates to be Attorney- general. (") During the years immediately preceding the outbreak of the war the Germans in St. Louis had manifested their opposition to the extension of slavery. They voted for Abraham Lincoln. The Governor of the State. Claiborne F. Jackson, favored secession. He called a State convention, but the delegates elected Avere opposed to seceding. It was a great disappointment to Governor Jackson and Jefferson Davis. Fran cis P. Blair, (') one of the energetic Eepublicans of St. Louis, brother of Montgomery Blair, Avhom Mr. Lincoln had appointed Postmaster-gen eral, discovered that Jackson was intending to seize the arsenal, which contained 60,000 arms. "We must prevent it," said Mr. Blair, privately, to a few of his friends, Avho agreed Avith him, and formed themselves into a military company. It was organized before the inauguration of President Lin coln. The commander of the arsenal was from North Carolina. He had a secret understanding Avith Governor Jackson to hand it over to the State. Before their plans Avere ripe Captain Nathaniel Lyon, of the army, appeared, appointed by General Scott. He was energetic, bold, fearless, and soon had barricades erected for the protection of the arsenal. FIRST MONTHS OF THE WAR. 263 A steamer from Memphis came up the Mississippi. At night boxes labelled "Marble" Avere unloaded at the levee, which wore quickly carted aAvav. A man Avho was louno-ino- about the landing: fol- Mnv 8. ' ° ° lowed the teams to a military camp which Governor Jackson had established, and where General Frost was in command. It was no secret that his soldiers were in sympathy with Jefferson Davis. The next morning a gentleman and lady drove to the camp. The lady smiled graciously upon the soldiers, and was pleased to see them ' performing their evolutions. She noticed that the boxes marked " Marble " were being opened. They contained cannon, shot, and shell. The carriage returned to the city, the lady to her lodgings. She re moved bonnet, gown, and veil, and put on her uniform. She Avas no longer a woman, but Captain Lyon, Avho thus in disguise had seen for himself the cannon sent by the Confederate Secretary of War to Gov ernor Jackson. Suddenly, as if moved by a common impulse, six regi ments of Union troops with six cannon approached Camp Jackson. The cannon unlimbered, and wheeled into position. General Frost was amazed. " Your command," said Captain Lyon, " is regarded as hostile to the United States. I demand your surrender Avith no other conditions than that all persons shall be humanely and kindly treated." There was no alternative for the Secessionists. Thus the arsenal was saved and trea son stamped out in the chief commercial city of the Mississippi valley. Unfortunately, the troops came in collision with a mob, and several soldiers and citizens were killed in the melee, which greatly intensified the antagonism between the Unionists and the Secessionists. The complications growing out of the movements in the border States required the exercise of great wisdom and judicious action on the part of the President. From morning till late at night he must receive delegations, listen to long documents, charge his memory Avith facts, make many decisions affecting the Avelfare of the nation. While bear ing present burdens he Avas looking into the future. Major Anderson, on his return from Sumter, called upon the Presi dent and rehearsed the story of the bombardment. " The Confederates had a floating battery protected by railroad iron; cannon-shot had no effect upon it," he said. Mr. Lincoln was much interested by the remark. Among the vessels partly burned and then scuttled at the Norfolk Navy -yard was the frigate Merrimac. Mr. Welles, Secretary of the Navy, learned that the Confederates were intending to raise the hull. 264 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. They Avould cover it with iron, and transform the frigate into a vessel more powerful than any craft afloat. Mr. Gustavus V. Fox, avIio had accepted the position of Assistant Secretary of the Navy, called upon the President. "We must not let the rebels get ahead of us in such an important matter as plating vessels with iron," said Mr. Lincoln. (") " Naval officers doubt the stability of armored ships. They think that the amount of iron needed to make them effective would send them to the bottom," said Mr. Fox. " Is not that a sum in arithmetic ? On our Western rivers we can figure how many tons will sink a flat-boat. Can't your clerks do the same for an armored vessel ?" " I suppose they can ; but there are other difficulties. With such a weight a single shot piercing the armor Avould sink the vessel so quickly that no one could escape," said Mr. Fox. " Now, as the very object of the armor is to get something that the best projectile cannot pierce, that objection does not appear to be sound," Mr. Lincoln replied. Mr. Fox was greatly impressed, and an investigation for building iron-clad vessels Avas begun at once. A few weeks later Captain Erics son exhibited some plans of a craft, the like of which had never been seen — a hull Avholly below water, carrying a revolving iron-clad turret. President Lincoln, after hearing the explanation of Ericsson and look ing over the plans, remarked, " As the darkey said in putting on his boot and finding a thistle in it, ' I reckon dars someting in dar.' " (") The plans were accepted. The result was seen at Hampton Eoads eight months later. The memorable battle between the Merrimac and the Monitor revolutionized naval architecture. The great crowd of place-hunters increased. Every morning they flocked to the White House to gain an audience with the President — each applicant with his package of recommendations — to be postmaster in some country town, or a consul to a foreign port, or some position as agent for the purchase of supplies. The President, with all the great questions of the hour pressing upon him, did not lose his patience with this swarm of gadflies. With unfailing humor he brushed them away. " I am like a man who is busy letting rooms at one end of his house, Avhich is on fire at the other end," he said. (I0) Not feeling well, he sent for a physician. " You are having a mild attack of the small-pox," said the doctor. FIRST MONTHS OF THE WAR. 265 " Tell all the office-seekers to come at once, for now I have some thing that I can give them," the President gleefully replied. (") Two" applicants for a post-office came Avith their packages of rec ommendations signed by ministers, doctors, selectmen, and citizens generalhT. " Put them on the scales and see which is the heaviest. The one which Aveighs the most gets it," said the President. He did not doubt that both were qualified for the position. Many of the officers in the army, especially those educated at West Point, were very conservative in their views of slavery. They Avere ready to fight to maintain the Union, but did not desire there should be any interference with slavery. General George B. McClellan, ap pointed by the Governor of Ohio to command the troops from that State sent to West Virginia, issued a proclamation to the people of that section. " Understand one thing clearly," he said. " Not only will Ave ab stain from all interference with your slaves, but we will, on the con trary, crush with an iron hand any attempt at insurrection on their part." No occasion had arisen for his giving expression to such a sentiment. There was no sign of an uprising of the slaves against their masters. It indicated his desire to protect slavery. The Vice-president of the Con federacy, Alexander H. Stephens, had said that African slavery was "the corner-stone of the Confederacy." The great majority of those who supported Mr. Lincoln kneAv the slave-holders brought about the Avar ; they did not relish the uncalled-for expression by McClellan. General Benjamin F. Butler, in command at Fortress Monroe, took a far different view of the question. A slave named Luke, who had been working upon Confederate fortifications, escaped to the Union lines. His master, Colonel Mallory, came to reclaim him. " There is no authority for sending Luke back to his master," said Captain Tyler, a subordinate officer. "How so?" Butler asked. " The case is this," Tyler replied. " Luke's master sent him to be employed in constructing the Confederate fortifications. That made Luke contraband of war, and liable to be confiscated to the United States in case he should ever be found in our lines. His master cannot claim him, because he is only property. The United States cannot hold him, because, as a government, Ave do not recognize slavery as a na tional institution. Luke is free, and never can again be legally a slave." 266 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. May 30. General Butler was a lawyer. He Avas quick to comprehend the statement. The time had come when he could strike a blow at the corner-stone of the Confederacy. " I am greatly embarrassed," he wrote to the Secretary of War, " by the number of sla\Tes that are coining in from the surrounding country and seeking protection within the lines of my camp. I have determined to regard them as contraband of Avar, and to employ their labor at a fair compensation, against which should be charged their support." " The Government approves of your course," replied the Secretary. " You are not to interfere between master and slave on the one hand, nor surrender slaves who may come Avithin your lines." Under the decision of General Butler the " corner-stone " began to crumble. We have seen that the President did not believe in the sud den and immediate abolition of slavery. He thought it would not be well for the country. We shall see further on how time and the sequence of events enabled him at the right time to abolish slavery." Sad neAvs came to the Presi dent from Chicago: the death of Senator Douglas, his old political opponent, yet his hearty supporter in the crucial hour at the beginning of the war. By his patriotic action Douglas had turned the great multitude of his followers to the support of Mr. Lin coln. Once more Congress was in ses sion, called by the President. Dur ing all the turmoil, commotion, and the consideration of great questions, he found time to write a message detailing the events from the time of his inauguration. He asked for an army of 400,000 men and for 8400,000,000. They were granted. The pulse of the douglas monument. country was beating high. More June 3. July 4. FIRST MONTHS OF THE WAR. 267 than 30,000 troops had gathered at Washington — men who Avere to serve three months. Another large army had gathered at Harper's Ferry. " On to Eichmond !" the cry. A like activity in the South had organized tAvo large Confederate armies : one at the Manassas Junction, under Beauregard ; one in the Shenandoah Valley, under General Johnston. The Confederates had been sAvept out of West Virginia and Missouri. Eastern Tennessee had declared for the Union. President Lincoln earnestly desired to send a body of troops to aid in holding that section of the State. Judge Eob- ertson and another gentleman hastened to Washington to protest against the marching of Union troops across Kentucky. The President heard what they had to say : That Kentucky must be neutral. If Union troops were to enter the State, Confederates would do the same. Both parties must be kept out. " Gentlemen," said Mr. Lincoln, " my position in regard to your State is like that of the man who one night found that a rattlesnake had crawled into bed where his children were sleeping. What should he do ? Leave the snake to bite the children the moment they stirred ? If he struck a blow it niight kill them. He could not leave tbem to certain death. He must strike, even if in so doing he were to kill them. So it is Avith me. I knoAV Kentucky and Tennessee are infested with the enemies of the Union, but I know that there are thousands of patriots in both, who will be persecuted even unto death unless the strong hand of the Government is interposed for their protection and rescue. We must go in. The old flag must be carried into Tennessee at Avhatever hazard." At heart the gentlemen were Secessionists, and Avent home greatly chagrined over the result of their mission. (12) The term of service of many regiments Avould expire before the end of July. The time had come for a movement of the troops. The Northern people expected to see the army under Beauregard swept aside, the Union soldiers marching into Eichmond, and Jefferson Davis fleeing soutliAvard. President Lincoln did not share in the general en thusiasm. Through life he had accustomed himself to look at both sides of a case. In his law practice he had endeavored to see what his opponent could do, and to shape his own course accordingly. He knew there was little difference betAveen the men of the North and the South ; that both were brave, both would fight, both endure. The advance, the battle, the stealing aAvay of Johnston from the Shenandoah, the failure of Patterson to prevent the junction of Johnston 268 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. with Beauregard, the arrival of Johnston's last brigade Avhen the battle Avas going against Beauregard, the panic of the Union troops, their drifting back to Washington, is given in the history of the war. ' u y " (See " Drum-beat of the Nation.") No one in Washington — offi cial or private citizen — could feel more keenly than the President the mortification of the disaster. Mr. Lincoln saw that General Scott was too old and feeble to organ ize a great army. Whom should he appoint ? General McDowell had been defeated. General Patterson had failed to accomplish Avhat was expected of him. The only officer who had won distinction Avas General McClellan, in command of the Ohio troops in West Virginia. General Eosecrans, in command of a brigade, planned and executed a move ment at Laurel Mountain, resulting in victory which had been much glorified by McClellan's despatch : "Garnett and forces routed. His army demolished. Garnett killed. We have an nihilated the enemy in Western Virginia. Have lost thirteen killed and not more than forty wounded. We have killed in all at least two hundred of the enemy, and the pris oners will amount to at least one thousand. Have taken seven guns in all. The troops defeated are the crack troops of Eastern Virginia, aided by Georgians, Tennesseeans, and Carolinians. Our success is complete, and secession is killed in this country." (I3) It Avas such a bulletin as Napoleon was accustomed to issue to awaken enthusiasm. The despatch brought McClellan prominently into notice. He was looked upon as a great commander. By the advice of General Scott, the President called him to Washington to organize the troops arriving in that city and make preparations for a vigorous campaign. He established his headquarters in an elegant mansion and appoint ed a large staff. His coming, however, did not diminish the troubles experienced by the President, but increased them. McClellan informed General Scott there were 100,000 Confederate troops at Manassas, and urged that all available regiments be hurried to Washington regardless of other localities. He Avanted a very large sec tion of the Northern States merged into one department and placed under his own control. (") He intimated to the President that General Scott was remiss in his duties and incompetent to command. (I6) The venerable lieutenant-general could not condescend to reply to a letter which he regarded as xery offensive and insulting. He asked the Presi dent to retire him from further ser\Tice. Mr. Lincoln endeavored to restore amicable relations between the- FIRST MONTHS OF THE WAR. 269' GEORGE B. MoCLELLAN. two commanders — one old and honored, the other young and inexperi enced. The President called in person upon the venerable commander. He addressed a kind and conciliatory letter to McClellan, who replied, desiring to withdraw the letter he had written reflecting upon Scott. General Scott received a second letter from McClellan, which he re garded as offensive. General McClellan was subordinate to General Scott, but he made no report of his proceedings. He consulted with members of the Cab inet, and not with his superior commander. "He is," Avrote Scott to the Secretary of War, "in frequent conversation with portions of the Cabinet on matters pertaining to me. That freedom of access and con sultation ha\Te, very naturally, deluded the junior into a feeling of indif ference towards his senior. With such supports on his part, it would 270 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. be as idle for me as it Avould be against the dignity of my years to be filing daily complaints against an ambitious junior." The request of General Scott to be placed upon the retired list Avas granted. The President and Cabinet Avaited upon him in a body at his residence to pay their respects to one who had rendered great service to his country. With his retirement General McClellan became com mander of the great army assembling at Washington. A fleet under Commodore Stringham sailed from Fortress Monroe southAvard to Hatteras Inlet and rained shells upon the Confederate fortifications at that point, compelling their surrender. General ' Butler, Avith a body of troops, took possession, thus closing the passage to vessels from England, Avhich had been furnishing the Con federates Avith supplies, and it enabled the Union fleets to gain access to Pamlico and Albermarle sounds. General Butler received a letter from the President, who desired to see him. " You are out of a job, general," said Mr. Lincoln. " Now, if we only had the troops, I Avould like to send an expedition either against Mobile, NeAV Orleans, or Galveston. But the regiments are filling up slowly." " Mr. President, you have given me leave to tell you wherein I dif fer from the Administration," said Butler. " In one thing you are mak ing this too much a party Avar. That, perhaps, is not the fault of the Administration, but the result of political conditions. All Northern Governors are Eepublicans, and they, of course, appoint only their Ee publican friends as officers of regiments, Avho, of course, only recruit Eepublicans. Now this Avar cannot go on as a party Avar ; you must get Democrats into it, and there are thousands of patriotic Democrats who Avould go into it if they could see any opportunity to do so on equal terms Avith the Eepublicans. Besides, it is not good politics. An election is coming on for Congressmen next year, and if you get all the Eepublicans sent out as soldiers, and the Democrats not interested, I do not see but you will be beaten." " There is meat in that, general. What is your suggestion ?" " EmpoAver me to raise ATolnnteers and select the officers, and I will go to New England and raise a division of six thousand men in sixty days. If you will give me the poAver to select the officers, I shall choose all Democrats." " Draw such an order as you want, but don't get me into a scrape with the Governors about the appointment of the officers if you can help it.(16) FIRST MONTHS OF THE WAR. 271 LAST MEETING BETWEEN GENERAL SCOTT, THE CABINET, AND PRESIDENT. The order Avas drawn and signed. One month later an expedition under General Butler Avas on its way to New Orleans to take posses sion of that city. The Union men of Maryland informed the Government that the secession members of the Legislature intended to vote the State out of the Union at an adjourned session. Attorney - general Bates had given an elaborate opinion as to the power of the President to make arbitrary arrests of persons contemplating treason, and also to suspend the writ of habeas corpus. It Avas the duty of the President to preATent 272 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. the contemplated action. General McClellan was directed to arrest the members. " When they meet," read McClellan' s order to General Banks, " you will please have everything prepared to arrest the whole party, and be sure that none escape." The order Avas enforced, the members arrested, their plans over turned. "I believe," said Governor Hicks, "that it saved the State from destruction." NOTES TO CHAPTER XIV. (') James Murray Mason was born in Fairfax County, Va., 1798. He was educated at the University of Pennsylvania. Studied law ; was member of Congress, 1837-39 ; elected United States Senator, 1847. He remained in the Senate till 1861. When Vir ginia seceded he did not resign, but used his position to aid the Confederates, for which he was expelled the following July. He was appointed diplomatic agent of the Con federacy to England. Sailed with Mr. Slidell from Charleston to Nassau ; took passage on the steamer Trent, from which he was taken by Commodore Wilkes, commanding the San Jacinto, and confined in Fort Warren, in Boston Harbor. He was released by President Lincoln, and delivered to an English vessel. He presented his credentials to Lord Johu Russell, Secretary of English Foreigu Affairs, but could only be recog nized as a private gentleman. After the war he returned to the Uuited States, aud died at Alexandria, Va., 1874. — Author. (2) Reverdy Johnson was born at Annapolis, Md., 1796. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar of Maryland at the age of 19. He served in the Senate ofthe United States 1845-49. He was a\Arliig in politics, and upon the accession of Zachary Taylor to the Presidency was appointed Attorney-general. Mr. Johnson was regarded as one of the foremost lawyers of the country. He was Senator during President Lincoln's term in Congress. They were opposing counsel in the celebrated McCormick reaper case, in which Mr. Liucolu expected to take conspicuous part, but from which he was excluded by Edwin M. Stanton. Mr. Johnson was delegate to the Peace Conference. He was again in the Senate from 1863 to 1868. — Author. (3) Thomas Holliday Hicks, boru 1798, in Dorchester Couuty, Md., was a farmer. He served many terms iu the Legislature, and was Governor of the State from 1858 to 1862, aud served in the United States Senate from 1862 to 1867. He was loyal to the Union, but had a difficult part to perform. By his prudence the Secessionists were thwarted, and the State saved to the Union. — Author. (4) Lieutenant William T. Nelson was born in Maysville, Ky., 1825. Entered the navy 1840, was at the siege of Vera Cruz during the war with Mexico. His outspoken loyalty led the President to appoint him a brigadier-general in the army. He com manded a division under General Bnell. He reached the battle-field of Shiloh at a critical hour and rendered efficient service. Iu an unfortunate quarrel with General Jef ferson C. Davis he received a wound from which he died, September 29, 1862. — Author. (5) Joshua F. Speed was born uear Louisville. He emigrated to Springfield, 111., aud opened a store. He early became a friend to Abraham Lincoln. He was successful in business, and returned to Louisville and became a prominent citizen. His great friendship for Mr. Liucoln and his intense patriotism made him a central figure among the Uuion men of Kentucky. Several years after the death of the President he gave a FIRST MONTHS OF THE WAR. 273 lecture whioh is replete with information relative to the early manhood of Mr. Lincoln. — Author. (*) Edward Bates, Attorney-general, was born in Virginia, 1793. He was of Quaker descent. He was educated at Charlotte Hall, Md. In 1814 he emigrated to Missouri, aud began the practice of law in St. Louis. He was elected Attorney-geueral of the State, 1820. Ho became member of Congress, 1826 — serviug one term. President Fillmore appointed him Attorney-geueral of the United States, 1850, but the appoiutraent was respectfully declined. He was outspoken iu his denunciation of the attempt to force slavery upon Kansas. The Republicans of Missouri presented his name as a candidate for the Presidency at the Chicago Convention. — Author. (') Francis P. Blair, second sou of Frauds Blair, was one of the founders of the Republican Party in Missouri. He comprehended the plans of the Secessionists, and took radical and energetic measures to thwart them. He was appointed major-general by the President, and was selected by General Sherman to command an army corps in the March to the Sea. He was elected to Congress ; although serving iu that body, he retained his commission in the military service, which subjected him to much criticism. He was patriotic and brave, and efficiently aided the cause ofthe Uniou. — Author. (s) L. E. Chitteuden, "Recollections of Abraham Liucolu," p. 213. (9) Ibid., p. 216. (10) Titian J. Coffey, " Reminiscences of Abraham Lincolu,'' p. 337. (») Ibid., p. 338. (12) Johu W. Forney, "Anecdotes of Public Men," vol. i., p. 265. (13) " AA'ar Records," vol. xi., p. 3. (") Ibid. ( 15 ) General Scott's Letters to Secretary of War, " Records," vol. xi., p. 3. (16) B. F. Butler, "Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln," p. 140. 18 274 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. CHAPTEE XV AUTUMN OF 1861. D UEING the summer of 1861 Congress was in session, called by President Lincoln. In his message he said : "It might seem, at first thought, to be of little difference whether the present move ment at the South be called ' secession ' or ' rebellion.' The movers, however, will under stand the difference. They knew that the3r never could make their treason respectable by any name which implies a violation of law. They knew their people possessed as much of moral sense, as much of devotion to law and order, and as much pride in and reverence for the history and government of their common country as any other civilized and patriotic people." President Lincoln used plain words, Avhich everybody could under stand, as is seen in the following sentences : "They knew they could make no advancement directly in the teeth oi these strong and noble sentiments. Accordingly, they commenced by an insidious debauching of the public mind. They invented an ingenious sophism, which, if conceded, was followed by perfectly logical steps through all the incidents to the complete destruction of the Union. The sophism is that any State may, consistently with the national Constitution, therefore lawfully and peacefully withdraw from the Union, without the consent of the Union or any other State. The little disguise that the supposed right is to be exercised only for just cause, themselves to be the sole judges of its justice, is too thin to merit any notice. With rebellion thus sugar-coated, they have been drugging the public mind of their section for more than thirty years.'' In these brief sentences we have the history of Secession. • " Would it not be better, Mr. President," said Mr. Defrees, the pub lic printer, " to use some other word a little more dignified than ' sugar- coated' in an important State paper which is to go down to all time?" " Well, Defrees, if you think the time will ever come when the peo ple will not understand what 'sugar-coated' means, I'll alter it; other wise I think I'll let it go," said Mr. Lincoln, with good-humor in every wrinkle of his face. (') Ulysses S. Grant presided at a public meeting in Galena, 111. A ULYSSES S. GRANT. AUTUMN OF 1861. 277 few days later he accompanied the troops from that toAvn to the capi tal of the State. He had seen service in Mexico as lieutenant, and was acquainted with military affairs. At Springfield he met Major John Pope. " You ought to go into the United States service again," said Pope ; and added, " I am acquainted Avith the public men of the State, and Avill get them to recommend you." " I do not think I ivill get any indorsement for permission to fight for my country," replied Grant. He addressed a letter to the adjutant- general of the army, offering his services, but received no answer. From Springfield he journeyed to Covington, Ky., and visited his par ents. The headquarters of Major-general McClellan being in Cincin nati, he crossed the river to that city, thinking he Avould apply for a position as staff-officer. Twice he entered the apartments of McClellan for that purpose, but did not meet him. Upon returning to Springfield, he found Governor Yates had appointed him colonel of the Twenty-first (Illinois) Eegiment. He was sent to Missouri, and then to Cairo. With out solicitation on his part he Avas appointed brigadier-general. A Confederate force under General Leonidas Polk ascended the Mississippi from Memphis and took possession of the high bluffs at Co lumbus, Ky. The neutrality of the State ended with that act. It had been violated by the Confederates just as President Lincoln expected it would be. " The Confederates are getting ready to seize Paducah," said a Union man from Columbus. If the Confederates Avere in Kentucky, why should not Union troops be there 1 Paducah was an important position. Confederate cannon planted there would prevent steamboats passing that point. ' It was at the mouth of the Tennessee. The party Avhich first gained possession of that town would have great advantage. General Grant informed Fremont what he intended to do, and then proceeded to do it Avithout waiting for orders. ( 2 ) The people of Paducah the next morning were greatly astonished to see a fleet of steamboats crowded with Union soldiers moored at the landing. Most of the citizens were Secessionists, and were ex- ' pecting to welcome a Confederate force under General Thomp son. The prompt action of General Grant Avas of incalculable benefit to the Union cause in Kentucky, and gave great satisfaction to Pres ident Lincoln. Grant issued a brief address to the people of Paducah. He said : 278 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. "I have come among you not as an enemy, but as your friend and fellow-citizen ; not to injure or annoy you, but to respect the rights and enforce the rights of all loyal citizens. An enemy in rebellion against one common Government has taken possession of and plant ed its guns on the soil of Kentucky and fired upon our flag. Hickman and Columbus are in his hands. He is moving upon jour cit}-. I am here to defend you against this enemy, and to assist and maintain the authority and sovereignty of your Government and mine. I have nothing to do with opinion. I shall deal only with armed rebellion and its aiders and abettors." " I like that address," said President Lincoln, when he read it. " Its modesty and brevity shoAv that the officer issuing it understands the situation, and is a proper man to command there at this time."(3) With the coining of autumn a series of antislavery lectures was given in the Smithsonian Institute, Washington. They were attended by the President, Avho Avas much pleased with one given by Horace Greeley, editor of the NeAV York " Tribune." " That lecture," he said to Mr. Greeley, " is full of good thoughts, and I would like to take it home with me and read it over next Sun- day.T) _ Mr. Lincoln, as he Avalked out in the afternoons for exercise, often met a gentleman Avhose courteous bearing and kindly face arrested his attention. " May I be so rude as to ask your name ?" said the President, ex tending his hand. " Joseph Henry," the reply. " I am delighted to make your acquaintance, Mr. Henry. I long have heard of you. Come to the White House. I Avant to know about the Smithsonian Institute, with which you are connected, and what is going on in the Avorld of science." (6) The acquaintance ripened into one of affectionate intimacy. Pro fessor Henry spent many evenings in the family apartments at the White House. It Avas a great relief to the President, after the per plexities of the day, to converse with one of the foremost scientists of the age. Whispers Avere in the air of a military movement at Edwards Ferry near Leesburg. I hastened to General McClellan's headquarters, but aids and clerks had no information for a correspondent. There Avas an air of mystery and reticence which usually acts as a stimulant to a journalist. While Avaiting to obtain an interview with General McClellan, President Lincoln entered the room. He gave me a cordial greeting, but there were signs of intense anxiety on his countenance. AUTUMN OF 1861. y79 "Is General McClellan in ?" he asked. " He is, Mr. President," the reply of a lieutenant. Several minutes passed, during Avhich the only sound breaking the painful silence was the clicking of the telegraph. " Will you please walk this Avay, Mr. President ?" said the lieutenant, returning from McClellan's apartment. A feAV minutes later, Mr. Lincoln, Avith his head boAved upon his breast, his hands clasped to his heart, shuffling, tottering, reeling as if beneath a staggering blow, moved once more through the room. Ne\rer before had I seen such anguish on a human countenance as upon his face. He stumbled, but did not fall. He Avalked toAvards the White House, carrying not only the burden of the nation, but unspeakable private grief — the intelligence of the disaster at Ball's Bluff, and the death of his old-time friend, Colonel Edward Dickinson Baker. (See " Drum-beat of the Nation," p. 117.) Very dear had been their friend ship. They had practised laAv together in Springfield, "ridden the cir cuit " side by side till the outbreak of the war Avith Mexico, in which Baker served as colonel. He had been elected Senator from Oregon. "When the Kebellion began he raised a regiment at his own expense in New York and Pennsylvania. President Lincoln offered to make him a brigadier-general, but the offer Avas declined. I recalled a scene in the Senate a feAV weeks before his death. Senator Breckinridge, Vice-president under Buchanan, was bitterly opposing the prosecution of the Avar. " War is separation ; it is disunion — eternal disunion," he said. At this moment Colonel Baker, Avearing his uniform, entered the chamber. He had not resigned his senatorship. He did not intend to remain, or notice what was going on, but stood for a moment as if riveted to the spot, then deliberately seated himself and looked into the face of the former Vice-president. "We have," Breckinridge went on, "separation now; it will be Avorse as the war goes on. In addition to the moans and cries of Avid- ows and orphans, you Avill hear the cry of distress for the wants and comforts of life. . . . The Pacific slope is uoav devoted, doubtless, to the Union ; but if you increase the burdens of taxation, Avill they remain ? You already see New England and the great North- Avest in a measure divided. Fight twelve months and you will have three confederacies, and a little longer and you will have four." Colonel Baker arose. " Mr. President," he said, " what Avords are these? What their meaning? Are they not words of brilliant, poi- 280 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. ished treason ? What would have been thought if, in another capital, another republic, in a yet more martial age, a Senator as grave — not more eloquent or dignified than the Senator from Kentucky, yet with the Eoman purple flowing over his shoulders — had risen in his place, surrounded by all the illustrations of Eoman glory, and declared that advancing Hannibal Avas just, and that Carthage ought to be dealt with in terms of peace ? What would have been thought if, after the battle of Cannae, a Senator had then risen in his place and denounced every levy of the Eoman people, every expenditure of its treasure, and every appeal to the old recollections and the old glories ?" A voice Avas heard — that of William Pitt Fessenden, of Maine : " He would have been hurled from the Tarpeian Bock." " Does not the Senator from Kentucky know," continued Baker, " that every Avord he has uttered Avill be an inspiration to every Con federate ear? For myself, I have no such words to utter. For me, amid temporary defeat, disaster, disgrace, it seems that my duty calls me to utter another word— a Avord for bold, sudden, forward, determined war, according to the laAvs of war, advancing with all the past glories of the republic urging us on." " I Avarn Southern gentlemen," said Thaddeus Stevens, of Pennsyl vania, " that if this Avar continues there will be a time when it will be declared a free nation, that eA^ery bondman of the South belonging to rebels — I confine it to them — shall be called upon to aid us in a war against their masters and to restore the Union." Colonel Baker had obeyed the orders of his superior officer in an ill-planned movement resulting in disaster. A few hours after witness ing the agony of President Lincoln, I stood beside the body of the fallen commander, and beheld his face peaceful in death, and recalled the lines he had composed " To a Wave :" "Dost thou seek a star with thy swelling crest O Wave, that leavest thy mother's breast ? Dost thou leap from the prisoned depths below In scorn of their calm and constant flow ? Or art thou seeking some distant land, To die in murmurs upon the strand ? "I too am a wave on the stormy sea ; I too am a wanderer, driven like thee ; I too am seeking a distant land, To be lost and gone ere I reach the strand ; For the land I seek is a waveless shore, And those who once reach it shall wander no more." AUTUMN OF 1861. 281 In Missouri and Virginia skives Avere flocking to the Union Army. No argument was needed to convince them the war Avas being waged on their account — that the Stars and Stripes Avas the banner of free dom. They were ready to act as guides, use the spade and shovel, A CONTRABAND COMING INTO CAMP. 282 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. drive teams, cook for officers and soldiers. We shall see as this biog raphy goes on the gradual growth of the idea that slavery had caused the Avar, that it was in a great degree the strength of the Kebellion, and must be annihilated. Senator Trumbull, of Illinois, introduced a bill in Congress which gave freedom to all slaves used by the rebels in carrying on the war. Senator Breckinridge, of Kentucky, and other members from the bor der Slave States opposed it. Those who advocated its passage said slaves were constructing fortifications, driving teams, and doing the drudgery in the Confederate armies without pay. It was the expecta tion of their freedom that led them to steal away from their cabins at night and enter the Union lines. The bill became a law. General Fremont, ( 6 ) Avho had been Eepublican candidate for Presi dent in 1856, was military commander in Missouri, and proclaimed mar tial laAv, declaring slaves of rebels to be free men. The proclamation was hailed with joy by those Avho wanted to see slavery at once sAvept from the land, but it gave great offence to those who were prosecuting the war solely for the preservation of the Union. General Fremont had assumed an authority not conferred upon him by Congress, and the Pres ident was obliged to inform him and the public that the proclamation must be set aside. This act of President Lincoln was severely denounced by those Avho demanded the immediate abolition of slavery, and who saw only one phase of the struggle. There was another side Avhich the President saw, and he made it very plain in a letter to one of his friends : " The proclamation is simply dictatorship. It assumes that a general may do anything he pleases— confiscate the lands and free the slaves of loyal people, as well as disloyal ones. ... I cannot assume this reckless position, nor allow others to assume it on my responsi bility. . . What I object to is that as President I shall expressly or impliedly seize and exercise the legislative function of government. . . No doubt the thing was popular in some quarters. The Kentucky Legislature would not budge till the proclamation was- modified, and General Anderson telegraphed me that on the news of General Fremont having actually issued deeds of manumission, a whole company of our volunteers threw down their arms and disbanded. I was so amazed to think that the very arms we had furnished Kentucky would be turned against us. I think that to lose Kentucky is nearly to lose the whole game. Kentucky gone, we cannot hold Missouri, nor, as I think, Mary land. These all against us, and the job on our hands is too large for us. On the con trary, if you will give up your restlessness for new positions aud back me up manfully on the grounds upon which you and other kind friends gave me the election, we shall go through triumphantly." The man whom divine Providence had called to be ruler of the AUTUMN OF 1861. 283 nation knew that great ideas are of sIoav growth, and so, undisturbed by clamor of friend or foe, he chose the course which seemed to him best adapted for the ultimate welfare of the nation. The setting aside of Fremont's proclamation marshalled Kentucky on the side of the Union, for Avhich her sons Avere ready to lay down their lives. They had not ad\Tanced far enough to comprehend that sla very must be eradicated, root and branch, before there could be a restored Union. Only by the logic of events would they be able to understand it, and acquiesce in the edict Avhich would give freedom to the slave. A fleet of war-ships sailed from Fortress Monroe under the com mand of Admiral Dupont, also a large number of steamers carrying 12,000 soldiers under General W. T. Sherman. The captain of each vessel received a letter Avhich he was not to open till after passing Capes Charles and Henry. None on board the fleet except Admiral Dupont and General Sherman knew their destination, but the morning after the fleet sailed, Mr. Benjamin, Confederate Secretary of War, Avas able to send a telegram to Governor Pickens, of South Carolina, in forming him that it was bound for Port Eoyal. Confederate spies in Washington had furnished the information. It was seen that the navy must have a harbor where the vessels blockading Charleston and Savannah could obtain coal and make re pairs. The Confederates had erected tAvo forts to defend it — ept. 29. j,^^ Walker, on Hilton Head, and Fort Beauregard, on the oppo site shore. Fifty-two heavy cannon had been mounted. Admiral Dupont had thirteen vessels. The frigate Wabash led in the attack, followed by the Susquehanna and the gunboats. The forts opened fire, but with little effect, the guns not being well aimed. Bound and round in an ellipse sailed the ships, sending such a storm of shells into the forts that the troops soon fled in consternation. The fleet steamed on to Beaufort, from which the white inhabitants precipitately fled. When the gunboats reached the town the slaves were having a saturnalia: drinking costly wines and helping themselves to whatever suited their fancy. They did not run from the Union soldiers, but welcomed them as friends. So once more the old flag was waving in South Carolina, to the great joy of President Lincoln and the loyal people of the country. The sympathy of England was seen at the beginning of the war by the haste with which the British Government recognized the Con federacy as a belligerent power. Jefferson Davis appointed James M. Mason, of Virginia, Minister to England, and John Slidell, of Louisiana,. 284 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Minister to France. They sailed from Charleston to Cuba, and from thence took passage on the English steamer Trent for England. Commo dore Wilkes in the Avar -ship San Jacinto overhauled the Trent, took Mason and Slidell on board his own vessel to Boston, where they were confined in Fort Warren. " I considered them," said Commodore Wilkes, " as the embodiment of despatches. . . . The cargo Avas also liable, as all the shippers were knowing to the embarkation of these live despatches and their traitor ous motives and actions to the Union." He did not seize the vessel under international law, because by so doing he would greatly incon venience the passengers on board. Great the rejoicing through the country. Mason and Slidell had been among the chief conspirators to bring about the war. Their course while in the Senate had been that of traitors. The Secretary of the Navy wrote Wilkes a letter approv ing his " brave, adroit, and patriotic conduct." In Boston the citizens assembled in Faneuil Hall, applauded the action, and gave Wilkes a banquet. Congress passed without a dissenting AToice a resolution of thanks. But there Avas one man in Washington who Avas looking at the other side of the case — how the transaction would seem to him if he were a member of the British Ministry. Before calling the Cabinet to gether, President Lincoln had a talk Avith the Secretary of the Navy and the Attorney-general. " AVhat shall Ave do with Mason and Slidell?" he asked. " Will they not be white elephants on our hands? The people are so incensed against them I fear it will be difficult to prevent an outbreak.(') I am not getting much sleep out of that exploit of Wilkes's, and I suppose we must look up the laws of the case. I am not much of a prize lawyer, but it seems to me pretty clear that if Wilkes saw fit to make the capture on the high seas he had no right to turn his quarter-deck into a prize court." (e) Upon the arrival of the Trent at Southampton, all England flushed with anger at the audacity of the outrage, forgetting that the frigates of England before the War of 1812 had stopped hundreds of American vessels, and seized American seamen, compelling them to serve in the English Navy. That war was waged chiefly by the United States for the protection of the rights of sailors. In all the English dockyards there was the utmost activity. Eight thousand soldiers were sent to Canada. An imperious demand was made for the liberation of Mason and Slidell and their secretaries. It seems probable that Mr. Seward at the outset may have felt, in AUTUMN OF 1861. 285 common Avith the people of the North and Avith Congress, a momentary exultation ; but he saAV, as the President had seen, that the United States ought not to hold Mason and Slidell. Before having any communica tion with Lord Lyons, the President and the Secretary of State outlined the proper course to be pursued. No State paper Avritten by Mr. Seward surpasses in ability that in relation to the Trent affair. These the clos ing words : " If I decide this case in favor of my Government, I must disavow its most cherished principles, and reverse and forever abandon its essential policy. The country cannot afford the sacrifice. If I maintain those principles and adhere to that policy, I must surrender the law itself. . . . The four persons are now held in military custody at Fort Warren, in the State of Massachusetts. They will be cheerfully liberated." In the annals of diplomacy there are few triumphs more illustrious. England could have no pretext for a quarrel Avith the United States. The beautiful autumnal days Avere passing away. McClellan was holding frequent reviews, as if preparing for a movement, but other than this there were no indications of a campaign. The people were becoming impatient. Why did not the army move ? they asked. Why was there not some attempt made to drive the Confederates from the batteries they had erected along the Potomac below Mount Vernon? Why not do something to enable the frigate Minnesota, lying at Wash ington Navy-yard, to reach Chesapeake Bay ? Why allow a handful of Confederates, not more than 4000 in number, to throw up fortifications on Munson's Hill within cannon-shot of the Potomac? Members of Congress could see from the windows of the Capitol the Confederate flag waving defiantly above the intrenchments. Instead of any move ment, the nightly telegram was sent to the newspapers of the country : "All quiet along the Potomac!" It was not what loyal people wanted. Before September closed many expressions of discontent reached the President. By their secret agents and lines of communication the Confederates were cognizant of everything going on in Washington. The newspapers of New York were regularly received in Eichmond the day after their publication. The extravagance and inefficiency of General Fremont in Missouri was so manifest that the President felt it his duty to appoint another commander in that department. He selected General Halleck, 7' ' who had received a military education. The removal of Fremont greatly offended those who Avanted to see slavery immediately abol ished, and they attributed his removal to the President's dissatisfaction 286 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. with Fremont's proclamation. Halleck directed that fugitive slaves at tempting to enter the lines of the army should be excluded. He as sumed they would go back and give ATaluable information to the enemy. The soldiers knew the slaves AArould not return to their masters. The course pursued by the new commander increased the difficulties and perplexities of the President. The expedition fitted out by General Butler was nearly ready to sail for the Gulf of Mexico. " Get into New Orleans, if you can," said Mr. Lincoln, " and the backbone of the Kebellion will be broken. It is of more importance than anything else that can noAv be done ; but don't interfere Avith the slavery question, as Fremont did in St. Louis." " May I not arm the negroes ?" Butler asked. " Not yet ; not yet." "But Jackson armed them, Mr. President, in 1815." " Not to fight against their masters, general, but Avith them." " I Avill wait, Mr. President, for the Avord or the necessity." " That is right. God be with you." (9) With this benediction General Butler sailed with his army for the mouth of the Mississippi. It is one of the anomalies of history that those members of Congress Avhose sympathies Avere Avith the Confederates should have been on most friendly terms Avith General McClellan. A loyal member, familiar with affairs, William D. Kelley, of Pennsylvania, has given this statement relative to McClellan's associates : " The headquarters of the general-in-chief soon became a rendezvous for the master-spirits of the reactionary force. Here frequent confer ences were held, in Avhich Messrs. Vallandigham and George H. Pendle ton, of the House, and Senators Milton S. Latham and Henry M. Eice Avere conspicuous. These meetings were characterized by a prominent Democrat, who revolted from their objects (Mr. Odell, of NeAV York), as a " continuing caucus " for the consideration of plans of resistance to all measures which proposed to strengthen the army and navy, to pro vide means for their pay, sustenance, the munitions of war, and means of transportation ; and to devise means of embarrassing the Government by constitutional quibbles and legal subtleties." Let us remember that these consultations were had, acccording to this statement, in the headquarters of General McClellan. Mr. Kelley goes on : " It was here, so it Avas then said, that Vallandigham was inspired to take such a course with reference to the surrender of Mason and Sli- AUTUMN OF 1861. 287 dell as might result in Avar with Great Britain. Here, too, a preliminary draft of the resolutions of Mr. Pendleton, Avhich declared that Congress alone has the power, under the Constitution, to suspend the privilege of the Avrit of habeas corpus, Avas said to have been discussed. . . . Here, too, at the headquarters of the general-in-chief, indignities as gross, if not more gross, than those which drove General Scott into retirement, were flagrantly inflicted upon the President of the United States. Among General Scott's complaints was that his subordinate refused to confer Avith him ; and when the President, impelled by anxiety for the country, waived questions of official etiquette and proceeded to headquarters, the announcement of his presence Avas more than once greeted with boister ous and derisive laughter, evidently intended for his ears ; and there was one occasion when, it was more than whispered by those immediately about the President, that he Avas made to Avait nearly an hour, while men aa'Iio denied the right of the Government to maintain the Union by force of arms engaged McClellan's attention ; and Avhen, at his OAvn good time, the general concluded to see his commander-in-chief, his departing guests visibly sneered as they passed the cold chamber in which he had been so long imprisoned." ('") To understand this indignity towards the President Ave must take into account the ideas underlying the war. It was a conflict between two forms of society — on the one side Aristocracy, in which a cultured few ruled the uneducated many and lived upon their unrequited toil ; on the other side Democracy, the rule of all the people. It Avas far more than the preservation of the Union. Jefferson Davis, representing aris tocracy, had been educated by the nation at West Point. The aristo cratic government of which he Avas the head had made slavery its foun dation. The members of Congress Avho gathered in the spacious mansion selected by General McClellan for his military residence had received their education in college and university. McClellan, elevated by Presi dent Lincoln to command the army, had also been educated at West Point. He had been an honored delegate to observe military operations in the Crimean War. He was cultured and refined. He had suddenly been called when a young man from the management of a railroad to command half a million men in arms. He desired the preservation of the Union, but it must be restored just as it was before the conspirators began the conflict. Slavery was not to be harmed. Abraham Lincoln Avas the representative of democracy. His poverty had been so pinching that he had received only a few Aveeks' instruction in the loo- school -house of the frontier. Life had been a battle with 288 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. hardship and privation. His heart went out to every needy and strug gling being, irrespective of race or social condition. He lived not for himself, but for his fellow-men. The question once uttered by phari- saical lips in the marble corridors of Herod's temple — " How knoweth this man letters, having never learned ?" — after eighteen centuries was repeated in the drawing-room of the general-in-chief of the army of the republic. But in that mansion it was accompanied by contumely and contempt. Great benefactors have ever been maligned by their felloAv-men. Moses, Elijah, Socrates, William the Silent, were reviled — and Him of Nazareth, the greatest of all. Mr. Lincoln was not an exception. He was scoffed by his enemies, and depreciated by hypocritical friends. NOTES TO CHAPTER XV. (') J. G. Holland, " Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 322. (2) U. S. Grant, "Personal Memoirs," vol. i., p. 239. (3) A. H. Marklaud, "Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln," p. 322. (4) Horace Greeley was born at Amherst, N. H., February 3, 1811. At the age of thirteen he was apprenticed to learu the art of printing, at Poultney, Vt. His parents moved to Erie, Pa., and he twice visited them, walking most ofthe distance. In 1831 he began work in New York City as a journeyman printer. He thought the public would patronize a cheap paper, aud with Mr. H. D. Shepard established the " Morning Post," the first penny paper ever published. He became editor of the " New Yorker" in 1834; it was devoted to literature, and attained a, circulation of 9000 in a short time. During the political campaign of 1840 Mr. Greeley edited the " Log Cabin ;" it had a circulation of more than 80,000. Ou April 10, 1841, iu company with Mr. McElrath, he began the publication of the " Daily Tribune." He continued \s its editor till his death. He gave many lectures and public addresses. He was an able journalist, impulsive aud erratic. He thought it would be better for the country to allow the seceded States to establish a confederacy. He supported and opposed by turns the Administration of President Lincoln, but ever earnestly labored to promote what seemed to him the best welfare of the country. In 1872 he accepted the nomination of the Democratic Party as President — the party which through life he had strenuously opposed. He published a history ofthe war, entitled "The American Conflict." The unremitting labor of a third of a century during a most exciting period, the turmoil of a political campaign, the death of a beloved wife, exhausted the powers of nature. He died November 29. 1872, a few weeks after the close of the political campaign. — Author. ( 5) Joseph Henry was born December 17, 1797, at Albany, N. Y. He began life as a watch-maker. He early gave his attention to science, and was appointed Professor of Mathematics in Albany Academy, 1826. He began experiments in electricity by using an electro-magnet. He rang a bell by electricity iu 1831, demonstrating its use by conveying signals. He was appointed Professor of Natural Philosophy in Princeton College. He was appointed Regent of Smithsonian Institute, 1846. He was one of the founders of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. President Lincoln found great pleasure in his society. He died May 13, 1878. AUTUMN OF 1861. 289 (6) General John Charles Fremont was born in Savannah, Ga., January 21, 1813. He was educated at Charleston College. He was appointed instructor of mathematics in the navy, 1833-35. He received the appointment of second lieutenant of Topo graphical Engineers, 1837. He became son-in-law to Senator Benton, of Missouri, and through Mr. Benton's influence was appointed to command an expedition to explore au overland route to the Pacific Oceau. He assisted iu the conquest of California, and was appointed Military Governor. He was elected Senator from that State upon its admission to the Union. He explored a new route to the Pacific at his own expense, 1853. Upon the formation of the National Republican Party, 1856, he was nominated as candidate for the Presidency, and received 114 electoral votes against 174 giveu to Buchanan. He was appointed major-general iu the United States Army, 1861, and assigned to com mand the Western Department. His military administration was conducted without regard to economical considerations. His proclamation in relation to the freedom of slaves greatly embarrassed the President. In 1862 he was assigned to West Virginia, but resigned his commission, not being willing to serve under an officer of inferior rank. — Author. ( ' ) Gideon AVelles, " Galaxy Magazine," 1883, p. 647. (8) Titian J. Coffey, "Reminiscences of Abraham Liucolu," p. 142. (9) B. F. Butler, " Reminisceuces of Abraham Lincoln," p. 142. (I0) William D. Kelley, "Lincoln and Stanton," p. 6. 19 290 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. CHAPTEE XVI. WINTER OF 1862. rT,HE year opened Avith half a million men in arms. Very little had -¦- been accomplished by the Union generals. McClellan had organ ized a great army, but with the coming of Avinter it was dwindling rather than increasing. The hospitals Avere filled with patients. He had no plan for a movement. General Halleck was in command in Missouri, General Buell in Kentucky. There Avas no co-operation be tween them. The President endeavored to bring about unity of action. " I state," he wrote to Buell and Halleck, " ray general idea of the war to be that we have the greater numbers, and the enemy has the greater facility of concentrating forces upon points of collision ; that Ave must fail unless Ave can find some Avay of making our advantage an over match for his ; and this can be done only by menacing him Avith superior forces at different points at the same time." He went on to say he Avanted Halleck to menace Columbus on the Mississippi, and Buell at the same time to moAre upon the force under Johnston, at BoAvling Green, in Central Kentucky. Buell took no notice of the let ter, possibly thinking, though Mr. Lincoln was commander-in-chief, he kneAv nothing about military affairs. Halleck sent no reply to the President, but wrote McClellan the idea of moving doAvn the Mississippi Avas impracticable, or at least pre mature. He thought it better to move up the Tennessee and carry out a plan Avhich had been suggested. He must have 60,000 men before undertaking it. The President aAvoke to the fact that the three commanders Avere three do-nothings. Neither McClellan nor Buell had any plan, and Halleck Avanted a great army before undertaking any movement. The people of eastern Tennessee, who had declared for the Union, were being arrested and imprisoned by Confederates from Georgia and Texas. Eefugees had pitiable stories to tell of sufferings. The Presi dent Avas anxious that Buell should move to their relief, but nothing was done. WINTER OF 1862. 291 Jan. 9. The Confederate Government determined to secure central Ken tucky. Tavo expeditions were planned to invade the eastern section of that State. General Humphrey Marshall, with 3000 men, prepared to descend the valley of the Big Sandy Eiver, and General Felix Zolli coffer, with 10,000, began a moATement from Tennessee toAvards the cen tral section of the State. Colonel James A. Garfield, commanding the Forty-second Ohio regi ment at Columbus, Avas directed by Buell to proceed with his OAvn and two other regiments against Marshall. He Avent up the Big Sandy and attacked him ; the Confederates fled in confusion. The battle was quickly over, but the victory secured eastern Kentucky to the Union. Two Union brigades — one under General George B. Thomas, at Columbia, the other under General Schoepf, at Somerset, tAventy miles farther east — were moving towards Mill Springs to confront Zollicoffer. The Confederate commander re solved to make a rapid march by night, and fall upon Thomas before the brigades united. In the dim light of the winter morning the Union pickets discov ered the advancing Confederates. The drums beat the long roll, and Thomas's lines were quickly formed. The battle raged furiously, but after an hour's strug gle the Confederates fled in disor der. Zollicoffer, Avhom we have seen member of the Peace Conven tion before the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln as President, had been killed. The successes of Garfield and Thomas aroused the enthusiasm of the country. The President issued a letter, congratulating the troops upon the victories. More than half of the Union soldiers engaged were Kentuckians. People began to see hoAv wise and prudent the Presi dent had been in his course. The State had abandoned its neutral position, and was standing by the Union. Mr. Lincoln suggested a general movement towards Eichmond, which would threaten communication between that city and Johnston's army at Centreville. This the reply of McClellan : Jan. 19. HEHRY W. HALLECK. 292 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. " Information leads me to believe that the enemy could meet us in front Avith nearly equal forces, and I have my mind actively turned towards another campaign that I do not think at all anticipated by the enemy, nor by many of our own people." (') The army in and around Washington numbered nearly 200,000 men. McClellan had employed Mr. Pinkerton to ascertain the number of Confederate troops at Centreville and Manassas. His spies reported there Avere 80,000 immediately in front of Washington, 18,000 of them supporting the batteries along the Potomac ; that the total Confeder ate force in Northern Virginia Avas 115,000. The reports Avere greatly exaggerated. We noAV knoAv the force was only 47,000. The discontent of the people at the inaction of the army manifested itself in Congress by the appointment of a " Committee on the Conduct of the War." McClellan paid little heed to the murmurings of the people or to the committee of Congress. He Avas taken ill and confined several Aveeks to his chamber. The President Avas in distress over the prospect, and held a confer ence with General McDowell and General Franklin. " I am in great trouble," he said, " for if something is not soon done the bottom will be out of the Avhole affair. If General McClellan does not Avant to use the army, I would like to borrow it, provided I can see how it can be made to do something. What movement, General McDowell, can be made?" McDowell replied that an advance against both flanks of the Con federate army would compel it to leave the intrenchments at Centreville and accept battle on terms favorable to the Union troops. General Franklin thought it Avould be better to move on Eichmond by Avay of York Eiver. " But that Avill require a great number of vessels and involve a large expense," the President replied. " Think the matter over, and let me knoAV your conclusions to-morrow evening." " In view of the time and means it Avould require to take the army to a distant base, operations can best be carried on from the pres- ' ent position," read the paper prepared by McDowell and Frank lin. Mr. Seward, Mr. Chase, Mr. Blair, and Quartermaster-general Meigs were present when the paper Avas submitted, but nothing Avas decided. A second conference Avas held with McClellan present. McDowell, Avith proper deference to his superior officer, and to the Pres ident as commander-in-chief, said he had submitted his sug gestions at the request of Mr. Lincoln. WINTER OF 1862. 293 " You are entitled to have any opinion you please," the curt reply of McClellan. (2) The Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Chase, asked McClellan what his plans were, and Avhat he intended to do Avith the army. It Avas a plain question, put by a member of the Cabinet upon Avhom rested the great burden of providing money for carrying on the Avar. The ex penses Avere more than 81,000,000 a day, and the army was doing noth ing. Mr. Chase doubtless thought he had some right to know what the commander of the army intended to do. "I must deny." McClellan replied, "the right of the Secretary of the Treasury to question me upon the military affairs committed to my charge. The President and Secretary of War alone have the right to question me." McClellan Avas much disturbed because the President had conferred with two subordinate officers. He regarded it as an attempt to bring about his removal — " to dispose of the military goods and chattels," he said, "of the sick man, so inopportunely restored to life."(s) The conclusion was unwarranted. The President kneAv something; must be done. The people were holding him responsible. As things were drifting, the Avar Avould soon end in failure. " Well, General McClellan, I think you had better tell us what your plans are," said Mr. Lincoln. McClellan replied that the President knew in general what his de signs Avere, but he should decline to give any information unless so ordered. He said : " I trust you will not allow yourself to be acted upon by improper influence, but still to trust me. If you will leave military matters to me, I will be responsible that I will bring matters to a successful issue, and free you from all troubles. "(') Gloom Avas settling upon the army. The soldiers were Aveary of the routine of camp drill. The hospitals were filled with sick. People from the North were sending them delicacies, books, and newspapers. The Hutchinsons — a family of vocalists Avho had been singing songs and ballads over the country — came to cheer them. President Lincoln had heard them in Springfield, and invited them to sing in the White House. The piano Avas opened, but found to be out of tune. " If you will Avait a moment Ave will use our OAvn instrument," said John W. Hutchinson. He ran to their carriage, standing under the portico at the door, and brought in a melodeon. " I remember one song that you sung Avhen you were in Springfield," said the President. " It Avas a good while ago — ten years, perhaps — 294 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. but I never have forgotten it. It was about a ship on fire, and I want to hear it again."(b) The song was sung. The look of care and anxiety which had settled upon his face gave place to the old - time smile. He thanked them heartily for the pleasure they had given him. " You must come over into Virginia and sing to the soldiers," said a chaplain of a New Jersey regiment. " Certainly. Go by all means, only don't sing any secession songs," said the Secretary of War. With a pass from McClellan the vocalists made their way to Alex andria. The soldiers Avere delighted. John G. Whittier for thirty years had been Avriting songs of Free dom. He Avas Avaiting for the deliverance of the land from the curse of slavery — biding God's time. His soul Avas stirred with indignation as he read the proclamation of McClellan : that there should be no interference with slavery (see p. 265). Fremont's proclamation freeing slaATes in Missouri aroused his enthusiasm. It had been set aside by the President. The poet recalled a hymn Avritten by Martin Luther — " A Strong Fortress is our God." His soul burst forth : "We wait beneath the furnace blast, The pangs of transformation; Not painlessly doth God recast And mould anew the nation. Hot burns the fire Where wrongs expire; Nor spares the hand That from the land Uproots the ancient evil." This was sung by the Hutchinsons. Some of the soldiers had enlisted solely to fight for the restoration of the Union; others wanted to annihilate the institution Avhich had caused the war. Again the music : "In vain the bells of war shall ring Of triumph and revenges, While still is spared the evil thing That severs and estranges. But blest the ear That yet shall hear The jubilant bell Tliat rings the knell Of slavery forever." WINTER OF 1862. 295 A hiss— a long, loud, venomous hiss — from the surgeon of the regi ment. " You do that again and I'll put you out !" shouted the officer of the day. Cheers, hisses, and uproar followed. A few hours later a de spatch came over the Avires : "By direction of Major-general McClellan, the permit given to the Hutchinson Fam ily to sing in the camps and their pass to cross the Potomac are revoked, and they will not be allowed to sing to the troops." The vocalists returned to AVashington, and called upon their old- time friend, Secretary Chase. "I would like to take Whittier's hymn into the Cabinet meet ing. I neA-er have seen it before, and I doubt if the members of the Cabinet are familiar Avith it," he said. He thereupon read it to the President. " I don't see anything very bad about that. If any of the com manders want the Hutchinsons to sing to their soldiers, and invite them, they can go," said Mr. Lincoln. (") Little did McClellan comprehend Avhat Avould be the outcome of his revocation of the pass given to the Hutchinsons. Throughout the North it Avas interpreted as an indication that his sympathies were with the slave-holders. People sent letters to members of Congress, urging them to use their influence with the President to secure his removal. Mr. Lincoln listened patiently to their complaints, but made no promises. There was much dissatisfaction with Mr. Cameron, Secretary of War. He had made extravagant contracts. The inactivity- of the army was attributed partly to a lack of energy in the War Depart ment. The time had come for a change. His resignation was ac cepted, and he was sent as Minister to Kussia. Whom should the President appoint in his stead? Those who kneAv what service Edwin M. Stanton had rendered the country Avhen in Buchanan's Cabinet — hoAv true he had been to the Union ; how he had confronted John B. Floyd, Jacob Thompson, Howell Cobb, and the other conspirators — presented his name to the President. Edwin M. Stanton ! Was it not he who treated Mr. Lincoln rudely in Cincinnati ? (see p. 162). Would the President be willing to appoint a man to a responsible posi tion Avith whom he must haATe daily conferences, who had all but in sulted him on a former occasion ? Yes. He Avould appoint him. True, Mr. Stanton was rude, and had a quick temper — could be hard, cold, 296 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. EDWIN M. STANTON. insulting; but the life of the nation Avas at stake, and he would use him in his effort to save the country. "Are you going to be Secretary of War?" It was an old-time friend Avho put the question to Mr. Stanton. " Yes." " What Avill you do ?" The friend had in mind the scene between Lincoln and Stanton at Cincinnati. " Do ? I intend to accomplish three things : I will make Lincoln President of the United States ; I will force that man McClellan to fight or throw up ; and last, but not least, I will pick Lorenzo Thomas up Avith a pair of tongs and drop him out of the nearest windoAV."(7) Mr. Stanton had come to the conclusion that McClellan was ignoring WINTER OF 1863. 297 the authority of his superior — that his appointments were his favorites and pets, Avho were ready to subserve his personal interests and further his aspirations. Lorenzo Thomas Avas adjutant -general of the army. Stanton, how ever, did not pick him up with a pair of tongs, for he remained in office through the war. General George H. Thomas had marched through mud and storm, and won a victory. If the Union and Confederate troops in Kentucky could make marches in midwinter, why could not those around Wash ington? Mr. Lincoln could Avait, but the time had come Avhen Avaiting was no longer a virtue. There Avas no sign of a movement. As com mander in-chief, as head of the nation, he would take matters in his own hands. Without consulting any member of his Cabinet, he Avrote a military order. The 22d of February would be the anniversary of the birth of George Washington — a day to awaken patriotic fervor. He directed a general movement of all the land and naval forces to be made on that day. All officers Avould be severally held to their strict and full responsibility for its prompt execution. That McClellan might have some definite line for action, a second order was issued directing him to provide for the safety of Washing ton, and then move to gain the railroads leading south from °' Manassas. But McClellan wanted instead to take the army to Annapolis, down Chesapeake Bay, then up the Eappahannock to Urbana, and from thence march to York Eiver. These the questions written out by the President : " If you will give me satisfactory answers to the following questions I shall gladly yield my plan to yours : "First. — Does not your plan involve a greatly larger expenditure of time and money than mine ? "Second. — Wherein is victory more certain by your plan than mine? "Third. — Wherein is victory more valuable by your plan than mine? " Fourth. — In fact, Avould it not be less valuable in this : that it would break no great line of the enemy's communication, Avhile mine would ? "Fifth. — In case of disaster, would not a retreat be more difficult by your plan than mine ?" General McClellan did not ansAver the President's questions, nor acknowledge the receipt of the letter. He sent a long communica tion to Mr. Stanton, in which he set forth the advantages of a move- 298 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. ment by water to Urbana, from whence he could march into Eichmond, but made no allusion to any letter from the President, or to the questions asked. Eailroad trains at that moment were speeding from Manassas loaded with supplies for the Confederate army. Jefferson Davis had read the order of President Lincoln. General Johnston had read it. They comprehended its meaning. They knew that with only a little more than 40,000 troops, the Union army of 150,000 could easily seize the railroad south of Manassas. More than 5,000,000 pounds of food had been accumulated, all of which was sent south of the Eapidan. There Avas a general at Cairo, also a commodore, who had no desire to Avait until February 22d before moving. " General Grant and my self," Avrote Commodore Foote to General Halleck, " are of the opinion that Fort Henry can be carried by four gunboats and troops." " From Fort Henry," wrote General Grant, " it will be easy to oper ate either on the Cumberland, tAvelve miles distant, on Memphis, or Columbus." Fort Henry was on the Tennessee Eiver, near the line between Kentucky and Tennessee. Fort Donelson was on the Cumberland. Admiral Foote, Avith four gunboats, attacked Fort Henry and compelled its surrender. A week passed and 14,000 prisoners were captured at Fort Donelson by General Grant. This movement forced the Confederates to evacuate Kentucky. The victories electrified the country. President Lincpln had been called from the retirement of his home in the capital of Illinois to the executive mansion of the nation. He could find no time for study or contemplation. His oldest son, Eobert, was in Harvard University, but Willie and " Tad " made the White House ring Avith their joyous shouts. (9) They connected the many bell- wires, so when one was pulled every bell in the house began to tinkle. They slid down the balusters, and made themselves at home in every apartment. When the President entered the breakfast - room they climbed into his lap, pulled his ears, ran their fingers through his hair. Both boys were seized with sickness. In addition to the weight of public cares came anxious days and sleepless nights to the President. How could he sleep when he saw that Willie was to be taken from him? "Why is it? Why is it? This is the hardest trial of my life," he said to the nurse. " Have you ever had any such trial ?" he asked. " Yes, Mr. Lincoln. I am a Avidow. My husband and my two chil- WINTER OF 1862. 299 dren are in heaven, and I can say that I can see the hand of my Heav enly Father in it. I did not love Him so much before my affliction as I do now." " How has that come about ?" " God is my Father, and I know that He does everything well. I trust Him." " Did you submit fully under the first loss ?" " Oh no, not wholly ; but as one after the other went, I did submit, and am very happy." " I am glad to hear that. Your experience Avill be a help to me." The young life faded away, and the heart-broken father stood beside the coffin, looking for the last time upon Willie's face. " Mr. Lincoln," said the nurse, " a great many people are praying for you to-day." " I am glad to hear that. I Avant them to pray for me. I need their prayers ; and I will try to go to God with my sorrow. I wish I had that childlike faith you speak of. I trust God will give it to me. My mother had it. She died many years ago. I remember her prayers ; they have always folloAved me. They have clung to me through life."(8) When all that Avas mortal of his child Avas laid to rest, the President Avent on Avith his duties for one week. On the succeeding Thursday he shut out all visitors, and gave Avay to his grief. Again, Avhen the day came, his doors were closed. The old-time melancholy Avas taking possession of him, increasing as the weeks went by. Little did Eev. Francis Vinton, rector of Trinity Church, New York, know, when he entered the cars for a visit to friends in Washington, hoAv divine Providence Avas going to use him. He Avas acquainted Avith Mrs. Edwards, sister of Mrs. Lincoln, who was in Washington. He also had met Mrs. Lincoln, Avho, learning he Avas in the city, informed him in regard to the melancholy of the President. He visited the White House. "Mr. President," said Mr. Vinton, "it is natural that you should mourn for your son — one whom you so tenderly loved; but is it not your duty to rise above the affliction ? Your duties are to the living. They are far greater than those of a father to his son. You are at the head of the nation — a father of the people ; and are you not unfitting yourself for a right exercise of the responsibility that God has laid upon you ? You ought not to mourn for your son as lost — that is not Christianity, but heathenism. Your son is above. Do you not remem- 300 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. ber that passage in the Gospels, " God is not the God of the dead, but of the living?" The President is sitting on the sofa, listening as if dazed. " Alive! alive! Do you say that Willie is ali\Te ? Pray do not mock me." He rises and looks Avith intense earnestness at Mr. Vinton. " Yes, Mr. Lincoln, alive. Jesus Christ has said it." He clasps the clergyman in his arms. "Alive! alive!" he exclaims. Tears are rolling down his cheeks. " Yes, Mr. Lincoln, it is one of God's most precious truths. You re member that the Sadducees, when questioning Jesus, had no other con ception than that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob Avere dead and buried ; but Jesus said, ' Now that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he called the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For He is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto Him.' God has taken your son from you for some good end — possibly for your good. Doubt it not. I have a sermon upon this subject Avhich possibly may interest you." " Please send it to me, Dr. Vin ton," said the President, as the in- teiwiew closed. The sermon came. Mr. Lincoln Avas so impressed by its treatment of the Eesurrection and Immortal ity that he read it again and again, and caused it to be copied. No longer Avas Thursday a day for seclusion. he took up the burden of the nation. The thought that in the radiant future he wTould once more clasp his boy in his arms made his sorroAV easier to bear than ever before, (10) and he cheerfully turned his thoughts to the affairs of the nation. The Baltimore and Ohio Eailroad had been closed by the burning of the bridge at Harper's Ferry, and the destruction of the company's shops FRANCIS VINTON. With unwonted cheerfulness WINTER OF 1862. 301 and engines at Martinsburg. The President Avas very anxious that the railroad should once more be opened. McClellan informed him that he contemplated a grand strategic movement, which Avould result, he was confident, in the capture of the Confederate troops at Winchester and the reopening of the road. He Avould put down a pontoon-bridge at Harper's Ferry, which would deceive the enemy, they thinking it Avas only for a temporary purpose ; but the real, substantial bridge Avould be the mooring of a line of boats Avhich he was having built, and a bridge laid upon them. The President was delighted. " A glad surprise awaits the country, which will restore the confi dence of the people in McClellan," he said to a member of the Cabmet. " Do you realty think so '(" " Yes. He has left no loop-hole for escape. He has said to Stanton and myself that if this move fails he will have nobodjr to blame but himself." (") General Hooker, Avith a body of troops, at the same time was to cross the Potomac below Washington and capture the batteries on the Virginia side. On the day fixed for the surprise, a little before midnight, a tele gram was received by the President, dated at Sandy Hook, February 26, 10.30 p.m. : "The bridge was splendidly thrown by Captain Duane, assisted by Lieutenants Bab- cock, Reese, and Cross. It was one of the most difficult operations of the kind ever per formed. I recommend Captain Duane to be made a major by brevet, for his energy and skill in this matter : also Lieu'enants Babcock, Reese, and Cross, of the corps of engineers, to be captains by brevet." The bridge was not composed of canal-boats, but ordinary pontoons. The officers thus recommended had stood upon the shore and told the soldiers belonging to the engineer's corps to take the boats from the Avagons, launch them in the river, paddle and anchor them, and lay the stringers and planking. No Confederates Avere near, no picket looking on from the Virginia side. The despatch went on : "We have 8500 infantry, eighteen guns, and two squadrons of cavalry on the Virginia side. I have examined the ground, and seen that the troops are in proper position and are ready to resist an attack. Burns's brigade will be here in a couple of hours and will cross at daybreak. Four more squadrons of cavalry and several more guns pass here. Reports that G. W. Smith, with 15,000 men, is expected at Winchester." The town of Winchester is betAveen tAventy and thirty miles from 302 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Sandy Hook. There Avere no Confederate troops between the two points and only a small force at Winchester. The despatch continued : "We will attempt the canal-boat bridge to-morrow. The spirit of the troops is most excellent. They are in a mood to fight anything." ( 12 ) It Avas an inspiriting message. At last McClellan was doing some thing. Just Avhat he intended to accomplish after getting the troops across the river the President did not know, except, possibly, to make Hooker's work easier down-stream. He read the telegram and retired for the night, happy in the thought that a portion of the army Avas in motion. There was no telegram upon his table when the President sat doAvn to Avork the next morning. The forenoon passed Avithout fur- ' ther information. The afternoon waned, but neither the Presi dent nor Secretary Stanton had received any news from Sandy Hook. General Marcy, chief of staff to McClellan, who had been left in Washington to carry out his orders, at one o'clock received this despatch : "Do not send the regular iufantry until further orders. Give Hooker directions not to move until further orders." Two hours later came the following to Marcy : " The difficulties here are so great that the order for Reyes's movement must be coun termanded until the railway bridge is finished, or some more permanent arrangement made. It is impossible to supply a large force here." "It Avas not the canal -boat bridge, but the burnt railroad bridge, to Avhich the despatch referred. The railroad was open from Sandy Hook to Washington and Baltimore. The troops of General Keyes had been taken thither in the cars ; the canal Avas intact, yet the 10,000 men could not, according to the information, be supplied with food. The pontoons for the permanent bridge had been built on the banks of the canal. General McClellan Avas an engineer ; he had constructed railroads, and Avas familiar Avith practical engineering; but his fore thought did not provide for a measurement of the lift-locks of the canal by Avhich the boats Avere to be taken to Harper's Ferry. A startling despatch came to Secretary Stanton : "The lift-lock is too small to permit the canal-boats to enter the river, so that it is im possible to construct tbe permanent bridge as I intended. I shall probably be obliged to fall back upon the safe and slow plan of merely covering the reconstruction of the rail road. This will be done at once, but it will be tedious. I cannot, as things now are, be WINTER OF 1862. 303 sure of my supplies for the force necessary to seize Winchester, which is probably rein forced from Manassas. The wiser plan is to rebuild the railroad bridge as rapidly as pos sible, and then act according to the state of affairs." Secretary Stanton was amazed. He telegraphed : "If the lift-lock is not big enough, why cannot it be made big enough? Please an swer immediately." A little before midnight he received a reply : " It can be enlarged, but entire masonry must be destroyed and rebuilt and new gates made; an operation impossible in the present state of water, and requiring many weeks at any time. The railroad bridge can be rebuilt many weeks before this could be done.'' We do not know why McClellan did not say that the boats had been built four inches wider than the locks, for such Avas the case. Stanton telegraphed : " What do you propose to do with the troops that have crossed the Potomac?" This the answer : "I propose to occupy Charlestown and Bunker Hill, so as to cover the rebuilding of the railways." Through the day the President Avaited for a telegram, pacing the floor at times, absorbed in thought. The long-looked-for despatch came from McClellan : "It is impossible for many days to do more than supply the troops now here and at Charlestown. ... I know that I have acted wisely, and that you will cheerfully agree with me when I explain." Such the outcome of the movement that was to surprise and gratify the country. With a sinking heart Mr. Lincoln retired to his chamber, but not to sleep. He was carrying the burden of the nation. McClellan marched with a strong force to Charlestown, but found no enemy, and returned to Washington. He did not call upon the President. The conversation between Mr. Lincoln and Captain Ericsson resulted in the building of an iron-clad vessel on a plan totally different from any ever constructed. The craft was launched at Brooklyn, January 30th, and instead of sinking, as many had predicted, drew less Avater by several inches than Ericsson had calculated. Day and night the hammers Avere ringing. The Union spies at Norfolk informed the Navy Department of the rapid progress made by the Confederates towards completing the Merrimac. The Monitor Avas also being hurried to completion. Captain Fox called upon the President. " I do not expect the Mer- 304 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. rimac to make her appearance before day after to-morroAv, Sunday," said Fox ; " but she may come at any moment, for my agent Friday, jnforms me that her engines are Avorking and that her armor Mar. 7. ° 1 1 i is complete. I am going to Fortress Monroe to be there when she comes down from Norfolk. I suppose, Mr. President, that you are prepared for disastrous news?" " Oh no. Why should I be ? We have three of our most effective Avar vessels in Hampton Eoads, and any number of small craft that will hang on to the stern of the Merrimac like small dogs on the haunches of a bear. They may not be able to tear her doAvn, but they will be able to interfere with the comfort of her voyage." " I think that you do not take into account all the possibilities of the Merrimac," said Captain Fox. " Have Ave not three good ships against her?" " But the Merrimac may prove invulnerable. Suppose they are pow erless, and she sinks them ?" " You are looking for disaster, I see." "I anticipate nothing. If she sinks our ships, what is to prevent her from coming up and sending a shell into this room ?" "The Almighty! I expect set-backs, defeats; we haATe had them and shall have them. They are common to all wars. But I have not the slightest fear of any result Avhich shall fatally impair our military and naval strength, or give other powers a right to interfere in our quarrel. The destruction of the Capitol would do both. I do not fear it. This is God's fight, and He will win it in His own good time." " I sincerely hope you are right, Mr. President, but probably we cannot even guess what the Merrimac will do." " Ericsson's vessel, the Monitor, ought to be at Flampton Eoads now. I believe in tbe Monitor and in her commander, Captain Worden. I believe he will give a good account of himself," said the President. " The new iron craft is an experiment, Mr. President. We knoAv nothing about her. She is liable to break down. She Avent to sea with out a trial trip, when she should have had several. We ought not to be disappointed if she does not reach the mouth of the James. If she ar rives, she may break doAvn with the firing of her first gun." "No, captain; I respect your judgment, as you have good reason to knoAV, but this time you are Avrong. I believed in her when Ericsson shoAved me the plans. I am confident she is afloat and Avill give a good account of herself," said the President, Avith an enthusiasm which Cap tain Fox could but admire. (13) WINTER OF 1862. 305 Eleven days had passed since McClellan's return from Harper's Ferry, and he had not called upon the President. It was early in the morning — half-past seven — Avhen a messenger informed him that ' Mr. Lincoln desired his presence at the White House — an indi cation that the chief magistrate of the nation did not intend to again subject himself to the sneers of men avIio Avere opposed to the Avar. He obeyed the command. Just Avhat was said by the President in this interview will never be known. McClellan, in his " Own Story," says: " He appeared much concerned about something, and soon said that he wished to talk with me about a very ugly matter. I asked what it was, and, as he still hesitated, I said that the sooner and more directly such things were approached the better. He then re ferred to the Harper's Ferry affair. . . . He then adverted to the more serious, or ugly, mat ter, and now the effects of the intrigues by which he had been surrounded became appar ent. He said that it had been represented to him (and he certainly conveyed to me the distinct impression that he regarded these representations as well founded) that my plan of the campaign (which was to leave Washington under the protection of a sufficient garri son, and to throw the whole army suddenly by water from Annapolis and Alexandria to the forts on James River) was conceived with the traitorous intent of removing its defend ers from AVashington, and thus giving over to the enemy the capital and the Government, thus left defenceless." — Page 195. . . . " In a manner perhaps not altogether decorous towards the chief magistrate, I desired that he should retract the expression, telling him that I could permit no one to couple the word ' treason ' with my name. He was much agitated, and at once disclaimed any idea of considering me a traitor, and said that he merely repeated what others had said, and that he did not "believe a word of it. . I then informed him that I had called a meeting of the generals of division for that day with reference to the proposed attack upon the enemy's Potomac batteries, and suggested that my plan should be laid before them iu order that he might be satisfied. This was done, and I heard no more of treason in that connection." — Page 196. To understand the situation in which the President was placed, Ave must keep in mind the fact that the discontent of the people was in creasing. The victories won in the West intensified it. If Garfield, Thomas, and Grant could move, why not McClellan ? The failure at Harper's Ferry was commented upon in the newspapers, in the hotels of Washington, in the corridors of the Capitol. Men said McClellan had no heart in the war. The fact that the boats were too wide to be taken through the locks was regarded as evidence of design on the part of somebody to thwart a movement of the army. Of the tAvelve division commanders, eight had been appointed by McClellan, and Avere said to be his pets. Many of the commanders of brigades appointed by him were said to be attached to his interests. Every morning letters came to the President, expressing fears that 20 306 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. McClellan Avas surrounded by men who wanted the war to end in fail ure. Members of Congress Avere outspoken in their denunciations. With great frankness, according to McClellan's own account, the President informed him of the state of public opinion, and yet acknowl- edged his own disbelief in the stories. McClellan has not published all the President said to him : in substance, that if he Avere not ready in ten days with a plan which he could at once execute, he would be relieved of the command of the army. (14) McClellan took his departure, and the President, anticipating what the verdict of the majority of the division commanders might be, wrote an order in advance of their as sembling. No mo\Tement of the army should be made Avithout leaving in and about Washington a force that Avould make the capital secure ; not more than two army corps — about 50,000 troops — should be moved until the Potomac Avas freed from the enemy's batteries ; that the moAre- ment should begin as early as March 18th, or Avithin ten days. The interview Avith the President and the issuing of the order pro duced a commotion among the Senators and members of Congress who Avere on intimate terms Avith McClellan. General Naglee, commanding a brigade in Hooker's division, received a note from Senator Latham, of California, saying that something must be done immediately by the friends of McClellan, as the patience of the President would bear no f ur- ther strain. (,s) Naglee hastened to Washington. Latham had been called to New York, but a consultation was had with Senator Eice, of Minnesota, who understood the situation. It was decided that McClel lan should not attend the meeting which had been called. Those gen erals who had been appointed by him were to Avrite out their vieAvs on slips of paper of various sizes and colors, in order to avoid any ap pearance of concerted action. By such a procedure they Avould hood- Avink the President. ( 16 ) They did not mistrust that forthcoming events Avould compel a movement of the army. Startling the news : The Merrimac had sunk the frigates Cumberland and Congress! Wooden Avar-ships Avere iia^T °f no account in a contest Avith an iron-clad vessel. Telegrams were flying to all the seaboard cities. What Avas there to pre vent the Merrimac from making her way to New York, or ascending the Potomac to Washington and sending a shell into the White House ? As night came on Avorkmen were loading canal-boats Avith stone, to be taken doAvn the Potomac and sunk where the channel Avas narroAvest. There was other information : not a Confederate soldier remained at Centreville or Manassas. The great army which McClellan had de- WINTER OF 1863. 307 clared to be confronting him had departed : soldiers, cannon, supplies — all gone. Glorious news ! Ericsson's Monitor is at Hampton Eoads, and the Merrimac, instead of sending the Minnesota and all the other A^essels to the bottom, is staggering back to Norfolk. Since the days of Ma^io! David and Goliath there has been no such contest. No need now to block the channel of the Potomac. The Merrimac will not make her appearance at Washington. Just Avhat McClellan's emotions were at the news of the departure of the Confederates we do not know, but orders were issued, and the troops which previously could not move on account of mud marched to Centreville. They found deserted fortifications with Avooden cannon behind the embankments, the railroad bridges burned, and the Confederate army beyond the Eapidan. The division commanders assembled in council, eleven in number. General Hooker was absent. General Naglee had so managed things that no notice had been sent to Hooker. He himself Avas there instead. It was known that McDowell held opinions differing from theirs, and he was called upon to preside. A chairman could not express his own views Avithout leaving the chair ; with him presiding, his voice Avould not be heard opposing any plan. Which is the best route to Eichmond ? Shall the army move over land from where it is ? Four \Toted yes— -the other eight against the proposition. Shall the army go to Fredricksburg and move along the line of the railroad to Eichmond ? Five voted in favor, seven against the plan. There was still another proposition. Shall the army go to Fortress Monroe by Avater and make that the base of operation? Naglee — brigade, and not a division commander — said the last plan ought to be adopted. President Lincoln and Mr. Stanton were present. Mr. Stanton no ticed that when the President asked a question Naglee was quite ready to reply. " General Naglee," said Mr. Stanton, " you are not a division com mander ; what are you here for ?" " General Hooker is indisposed, and I am here to represent him," the reply.(17) Naglee did not say Avhat he afterAvards told a friend : that Hooker Avas known to be opposed to the movement to Fortress Monroe. The plan was adopted, although General Blenker said he did not understand it, but voted for it because McClellan had requested it. General Keyes 308 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. voted for it upon condition that the Potomac should be first opened. Four of the division commanders voted against the plan. The President and the Secretary of War, upon the adjournment of the council, met for consultation. "We can do nothing else than adopt this plan and discard all others," the Avords of the President. "With eight out of twelve division commanders approving it, we can't reject it and adopt another without assuming all the responsibilities in case of failure of the one Ave adopt." " I agree with you," said Stanton, " in your conclusion, but not in your arithmetic. The four generals Avho dissent from the plan are in dependent of the influence of McClellan, Avhile all the others OAve their positions to him, and are especially under his influence, so that instead of eight to four, it is really one to four. You, Mr. President, are a lawyer. In estimating the value of a witness you look not only at the Avords of the witness, but to his manner and all the surrounding circum stances of bias, interest, or influence that may affect his opinion. Noav, Avho are the eight generals upon Avhose votes you are going to adopt the proposed plan ? All made so since General McClellan assumed com mand, and upon his recommendation, and influenced by his views and subservient to his Avishes. In fact, you have in this decision only the operation of one man's mind." What shall the President do ? The Secretary of War is opposed to the movement. Five division generals, including Hooker, are opposed to it, only seven in favor, leaving out Naglee, the brigadier. The man who has been accustomed to look at all sides of a case while riding the circuit in Illinois makes this reply : " Mr. Secretary, I admit the full force of your objection, but Avhat can Ave do ? We are ciAdlians. We should be justly held accountable for any disaster, if Ave set up our opinions against those of experienced military men in the practical management of the campaign. We must submit to the action of the majority of the council, and the campaign will have to go on as decided by that majority."(18) " What force, Mr. President, do you intend to have left behind to make Washington secure ?" " General McDowell will remain Avith 40,000 men to cover the capital." During the Eevolutionary War, General Washington AA-as hampered and distressed by those Avho conspired against him. In like manner Abra ham Lincoln Avas forced by the cabal surrounding General McClellan to consent to that Avhich his judgment did not approve. He Avisely dis- WINTER OF 1862. 309 cerned that the country AArould hold him responsible for any failure which might attend the carrying out of the plan which most commend ed itself to his judgment. Neither McClellan, Naglee, or the division commanders acting Avith him foresaw that by forcing the President to accept their project the country Avould hold McClellan responsible. Naglee and Senators Eice and Latham devised the scheme to bhnd the President and save McClellan from removal. They did not knoAv the colored slips of paper Avere on file in the pigeon-holes of the War Department, and that Secretary Stanton kneAV all that had been going on.(") McClellan had been in command of all the troops in the country. The President issued an order relieving him from such control, ' but continuing him as General of the Army of the Potomac. General McClellan had not organized the army into corps, but divis ions only, giA'ing as a reason " that the mistakes of an incompetent di vision commander might be rectified, Avhile those of a corps command er might prove fatal." After seeing Avhat the division commanders were competent to do in battle, he might then divide the army into corps. The President had been studying authorities on military art. He thought an army organized into tAvelve divisions could not do the most effective work, and, Avithout consulting McClellan, arranged the divisions into four corps, appointing Generals Sumner, Heintzelman, Keyes, and McDowell as commanders. This action of the President was very distasteful to McClellan. In his " Own Story " he says : " It was the work of the President and the Secretary of War, proba bly urged by McDoAvell. It Avas issued AArithout consulting me, and against my judgment." The army Avas returning from Centreville. The withdrawal of the Confederates had left McClellan in a position Avhere he must do some thing. He called the four corps commanders to counsel with Mar 13 ' ' him. A plan for removing the army to York Eiver, leaving enough to protect Washington, Avas agreed to unanimously. General Sumner said a total force of 40,000 should be left. Generals Keyes, Heintzelman, and McDowell said enough should be left to garrison the forts around the city, besides 25,000 men in front of it. The President reluctantly accepted the plan. Steamers at Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, also many sailing-vessels, were engaged to trans port the army. The operations of the Merrimac, together with information that the Confederates Avere likely to have gunboats from England, created 310 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. great uneasiness in New York, and a committee, representing moneyed men, hastened to Washington to see the President about protecting that city. Accordingly, fifty gentlemen called upon Mr. Lincoln, to duly impress him Avith the gravity of the situation. They said a Brit ish-built cruiser might suddenly appear in the harbor, destroy the shipping and bombard the city, or demand millions of dollars for its ransom. They represented $100,000,000. It Avas the imperative duty of the Government to protect them by sending a gunboat to that port. The President listened attentively to the earnest speech of the chairman. "Gentlemen," he said, "I am, by the Constitution, commander-in- chief of the army and naATy of the United States, and, as a matter of law, I can order anything done that is practicable to be done ; but, as a matter of fact, I am not in command of the ships of Avar. I do not knoAv exactly Avhere they are, but presume that they are actively en gaged. It is impossible for me in the condition of things to furnish you a gunboat. The credit of the GoATernment is at a low ebb. The currency is depreciating. Noav, if I was worth half as much as you, gentlemen, are represented to be, and as badly frightened as you seem to be, I Avould build a gunboat and giATe it to the GoATernment." The gentlemen never had looked at it in that light. They saw they had cheapened themselves by making the request, and in not taking into account the fact that the Government Avas employing its utmost energies to sa\Te the nation. With profuse apologies for troubling the President they left the White House. ("") More agreeable news than that regarding the fitting out of Avar ves sels came from England. Princess Alexandra, daughter of the King of Denmark, had been married to the Prince of Wales Avith much pomp and ceremony. Lord Lyons, the British Minister, was directed to notify the President of this most important event. Every nation must be duly informed. Lord Lyons was a bachelor, but ever maintained the embassy Avith true British dignity. He rode in state to the executiA^e mansion at an appointed hour to present the Queen's letter. " Mr. President," he said, " it will be my duty and my great pleas ure to transmit to my most gracious sovereign Victoria Avhatever re sponse it may please the President of the United States to make." There is a merry tAvinkle in the eyes of Abraham Lincoln, as he takes the official letter and replies : " Lyons, go and do thou likewise." (al) The dignity of the British realm Avas suddenly snuffed out. To the President the proceeding was farcical and ludicrous. He had relegated WINTER OF 1862. 311 it to the past, Avith the knee-breeches, ruffled shirts, and cocked hats of a by-gone age. It was perfectly proper for the Prince of Wales to get married ; he had set Lord Lyons a good example ; but to the millions of American people, aat1io Avere themselves sovereigns, the event Avas of no more consequence than a marriage of a couple in a country village. NOTES TO CHAPTER XVI. (]) " Century Magazine," October, 1888. (!) Ibid. ( s ) George B. McClellan's " Owu Story," p. 157. (4) Ibid. (s) J. AAr. Hutchiuson to Author. (6) Ibid. (') Donn Piatt, ''Memories of Men who Saved the Uuiou," p. 57. (8) J. G. Holland, "Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 435. (9) Robert Lincoln was born August 1, 1843; Edward Baker, March 10, 1846, died in infancy ; AAllliam Wallace, December 21, 1850, died February, 1862 ; Thomas, April 4, 1853. (">) F. B. Carpeuter, " Six Mouths in the White House," p. 117. (") William D. Kelley, "Lincoln and Stanton," p. 22. (12) " War Records," vol. v., series i., p. 727. (13) L. E. Chittenden, "Recollections of President Lincoln," p. 209. (i") AVilliam D. Kelley, "Liucolu aud Stanton," p. 40. (151 Ibid. (16) Ibid., p. 42. (") Ibid., p43. (18) Ibid., p. 33. (19) Ibid., p. 41. (™) Chauucey M. Depew, "Reminiscences of President Lincoln," p. 433. (21) Schuyler Colfax, "Reminiscences of'President Liucolu," p. 346. 312 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. CHAPTEE XVII. PRELIMINARY TO EMANCIPATION. GENEEAL GEANT was encamped at Pittsburg Landing, on the west bank of the Tennessee. General Buell Avas leisurely moving from Nashville to join him. After the loss of Fort Donelson the Con federates concentrated at Corinth, tAventy tAvo miles from the AiP8626' Position occupied by Grant. General Beauregard had been sent west by Jefferson Davis, to aid Albert Sidney Johnston in con centrating and organizing an army. They resolved to attack Grant, and crush him before the arrival of Buell. Though not expecting to be attacked, and although many of the men Avere asleep Avhen the first volley of musketry broke the stillness of the morning, the Union soldiers did not flee, but fought obstinately through the day. (See " Drum-beat of the Nation.") General Nelson's troops of Buell's army arrived at sunset, and were placed in line of battle. Before morning other divisions joined them, and the Confederates suffered a disastrous defeat. General Grant had maintained the battle against a superior force during the first day of the conflict. He had displayed great ability at Donelson. Yet busybodies were depreciating him; they in formed the President that he drank intoxicating liquor. " Are you sure of it ?" the President asked. " So they say." " Thank you. Now, if you will find out what kind of liquor he drinks, I'll send some of the same brand to other generals." Gratifying news came from New Orleans : General Butler and Ad miral Farragut were in possession of tlie city. The negroes left behind by their masters on the Sea Islands of South Carolina were being fed and clothed by General Hunter, AAdio had been appointed to command a military department compris- 1862. ino South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. He issued a procla mation, in Avhich he said that slavery and martial laAv in a free country were incompatible. He declared that all slaves in his depart- PRELIMINARY TO EMANCIPATION. 313 ment Avere therefore entitled to their freedom. It greatly gratified those Avho desired to see the system destroyed. " General Hunter ought to be sustained," said Secretary Chase to the President. (') By what authority had Hunter issued this order? Solely that of military law. But the President was commander-in-chief. " No commanding general shall do such a thing upon my responsi bility Avithout consulting me," his reply to Secretary Chase. An order Avas issued by Mr. Lincoln setting aside that of his personal friend, whom he knew to be loyal, honest, and true. Friendship did not have the weight of a feather in the decision. "Whether it be competent forme," reads the order, "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 be- ' come a necessity indispensable to the maintenance of the Govern ment to exercise such supposed powers, are questions Avhich, under my responsibility, I reserve to myself, and Avhich I cannot feel justified in leaving to the decision of commanders in the field." Once in the world's history, AArhen a favored people gaAre themselves to wickedness, when violence and oppression ruled, when the dry and thirsty land was parched Avith summer heat, and the famine sore, a prophet of God sent up his supplication, and there appeared a cloud like a man's hand, as it Avere, above the sea — the sign of coming rain. So at an hour when the wickedness of the Eebellion Avas filling the country Avith woe ; when the land was parched by the heat of Avar, red with human gore, lurid Avith the lightning of battle, resounding with the thunder of the cannonade; Avhen supplications Avere ascending to God that the causes of the woe and anguish might be swept aAvay — Abraham Lincoln, like the prophet of old, spoke the words which Avill ever remain as the sign of the coming of one of the greatest political and philanthropic events of all the ages : the gift of freedom to 4,000,000 bondmen. Yet there were those who could not discern the little cloud. Will iam Lloyd Garrison could not see it. He said, " All honor to General Hunter. With cheer upon cheer the welkin rings. Shame and confu sion of face to the President for his halting, shuffling, backAvard policy. By his act he has dispirited and alienated the truest friends of freedom universally, and gratified the malignity of the enemies of his Adminis tration, who at heart are traitors." (2) Some of the newspapers failed to comprehend the meaning under- 314 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. lying the revocation of General Hunter's orders. "He has declared against the Federal right of emancipation in the States," wrote the editor of the Albany "Argus." There Avas no declaration in the order of his Avant of power under the Constitution to put an end to slavery, but, on the contrary, a clear intimation that the time might come when he would be called upon to exercise such authority. Other newspapers sustained the President. "We are not surprised," said the New Bedford, Mass., "Standard," " at the action of the President. We know too Avell the strength of sla very. The difficulty is not so much in the President's mind as in public opinion. Abraham Lincoln had not for a moment considered Avhether or not his action Avould affect his standing Avith the people. He could not allow others to exercise an authority which was exclusively his own. His judgment decided that the people Avere not ready for emancipa tion." (3) " The President has to-day a stronger hold than ever upon the confi dence of the majority of the people," said the Boston " Advertiser." (4) " He has shown his own good sense, his consistency, and steady ad herence to the Constitution and the laws," the words of the Philadelphia " Ledger." "He has given to the world evidence of that firmness and moral courage for which he is distinguished," the declaration of the Albany " Evening Journal." ( B) The President sent a special message to Congress, recommending the passage of a resolution to the effect that the United States ought to co-operate Avith any State in securing the abolition of slavery by compensating the owners of slaves. Congress complied with the rec ommendation. SlaA'ery had been thus abolished in the District of Co lumbia, but the border States stood aloof from such a measure. The President made a tender and pathetic appeal to those States. He said : " The proposal makes common cause for a common object, cast ing no reproaches upon any. It acts not the Pharisee. The chance it contemplates Avould come as gently as the dews of heaven, not send ing weakness to anything. Will you not entertain it ? So much good has not been clone by one effort in all past time as, in the providence of God, it is now your privilege to do. May the vast future not have it to lament that you neglected it." The army under McClellan was on its way to Fortress Monroe. In eighteen days' time 121,000 men, nearly 15,000 horses and mules, 1150 wagons, 260 cannon, and 74 ambulances were transported from Alexan- PRELIMINARY TO EMANCIPATION. 315 dria, besides provisions, camp equipage, ammunition, and a vast amount of other material. General McClellan left Washington to join the three corps of his army — Heintzelman's, Sumner's and Keyes's — which had preceded him. McDowells Avas to folloAv. Startling information came to the President from General Wadsworth, informing him that he had only 19,000 troops to garrison the forts and defend Washington ! At the conference of the commanders of the four army corps, held at Fairfax Court-house (see page 307), Generals Keyes, Heintzelman, and McDowell had agreed that if the forts on the Virginia side of the Potomac should be fully garrisoned, and those on the Washington side occupied, there must still be left a covering force of 25,000. General GENEBAL WADSWOllTH. 316 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Sumner, commanding a corps, said that a total of 40,000 must be left. Was not General Wadsworth mistaken ? Could the information be cor rect ? The President directed Generals Hitchcock and Thomas to in vestigate the matter. They reported it Avould require 30,000 men to man all the forts, Avhich, Avith 25,000 as a covering force, Avould make a total of 55,000 to render the capital secure. " The requirement of the President has not been fully complied with," they said ; Avhereupon Mr. Lincoln issued an order that McDoAvell's corps should remain. In speaking of this action of the President, McClellan says : " It frus trated all my plans for impending operations. It made brilliant opera tions impossible. It was a fatal error." ( 6 ) Yorktown Avas held by a Confederate force of 11,000 men under General Magruder. His line extended thirteen miles along Wanvick Creek. McClellan saAv breastworks and fortifications Avith cannon. He sent this despatch to the President : " The approaches, except at Yorktown, are covered by the Warwick, over which there is but one, or, at the most, two passages, both of which are covered by strong batteries. It will be necessary to resort to the use of siege operations before we assault. ... I am im pressed with the conviction that here is to be fought the great battle that is to decide the existing contest. I shall, of course, commence the assault as soon as I can get up my siege train." The President replied : " You now have over one hundred thousand troops. I think you had better break the enemy's lino from. Yorktown to AA'arwick River at once. Your despatches complaining that jrou are not properly sustained, while they do not offend me, do pain me very much. Blenker's division was withdrawn from you before you left here, and you know the pressure under which I did it, and, as I thought, acquiesced in it — certainlj' not without reluctance. After you left I ascertained that less than twenty thousand unorganized men, without a single field battery, were all you designed to be left for the defence of Wash ington and Manassas Junction, and part of this even was to go to General Hooker's old position. General Banks's corps, once designed for Manassas Junction, was diverted and tied up on the line of Winchester and Strasburg, and could not leave it without again exposing the Upper Potomac and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. This presented, or would present, when McDowell and Sumner should be gone, a great temptation to the enemy to turn back from the Rappahannock and sack Washington. My explicit order that Washington should, by the judgment of all the commanders of army corps, be left entirely secure, had been neglected. It was precisely this that drove me to detain McDowell. "I do not forget that I was satisfied with your arrangement to leave Banks at Manas sas Junction; but when that arrangement was broken up and nothing was substituted for it, of course I was constrained to substitute something for it myself. And allow me to ask, do you really think I should permit the line from Richmond via Manassas Junction to this city to be entirely open, except what resistance could he presented by less than PRELIMINARY TO EMxVNCIPATION. 317 twenty thousand unorganized troops ? This is a question which the country will not allow me to evade. "There is a curious mystery about the number of troops now with you. AVhen I telegraphed you on the 6th, saying you had over oue hundred thousand with you, I had just obtained from the Secretary of War a statement, taken, as he said, from your own returns, making one hundred and eight thousand then with you and en route to you. YTou now say you will have but eighty-five thousand when all en route to you shall have reached you. How can the discrepancy of twenty-three thousand be accounted for ? "As to General Wool's command [at Fortress Monroe], I understand it is doing for you precisely what a like number of your own would have to do if that command was away. "I suppose the whole force which has gone forward for you is with you by this time, and, if so, I think it is the precise time for you to strike a blow By delay the enemy will relatively gain upon you — that is, he will gain faster by fortifications and reiuforcements than you can by reinforcements alone. And once more let me tell you, it is indispensable to you that you strike a blow. I am powerless to help this. You will do me the justice to remember I always insisted that going down the bay in search of a field, instead of fighting at or near Manassas, was only shifting and not surmounting a difficulty ; that we would find the same enemy and the same or equal intrenchments at either place. The country will not fail to note, is now noting, that the present hesitation to move upon an intrenched enemy is but the story of Manassas repeated. " I beg to assure you that I have never written you or spoken to you in greater kind ness of feeling than now, nor with a fuller purpose to sustain you, so far as, in my most anxious judgment, I consistently can. But you must act." General McClellan wrote that he wanted McDowell's full corps, but would try to get along Avith Franklin's division, and Avould be re sponsible for results. The President complied Avith the request. The division arrived, but there Avas nothing for it to do. The 100,000 sol diers already there Avere building earthworks and putting heavy guns in position. The artillery threw a few shells into the enemy's works, and McClellan sent this despatch to Secretary Stanton : " General Smith has just handsomely silenced the fire ofthe so-called one-gun battery, and forced the enemy to suspend work. Mott's battery behaved splendidly." Stanton telegraphed : "Good for the first lick ! Hurrah for Smith and the one-gun battery I Let us have Yorktown, with Magruder and his gang, before the first of May, and the job will be over!" We may regard it as a bit of sarcasm on the part of the Secretary of War. General McClellan had a large number of mortars and cannon mounted, but telegraphed for more. This the despatch from the Pres ident : 318 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. "Your call for Parrott guns from Washington alarms me, chiefly because it argues indefinite procrastination. Is anything lo be done ?" McClellan replied : " Our work going on very well. . . Our rifle-pits are rightly advancing. Indications of a brush to-night. The time for opening fire is now rapidly approaching. Enemy still in force and working hard." Nearly one hundred heavy guns and mortars Avere in position, but McClellan Avould not allow them to open fire till all arrangements Avere completed. Then he Avould astonish the Confederates. He did not mistrust that Magruder's spies were in his camp, and kneAV everything that was going on — that the enemy Avas ready to leaATe at any mo ment. (') When the batteries of McClellan Avere prepared to begin the bom bardment, not a Confederate soldier was to be seen ; all had departed. Exultant the despatch sent by McClellan to Washington : "Yorktown is in our possession. We have the ramparts, have guns, ammunition, camp equipage, etc. Hold the entire line of works. . . Gunboats have gone up York River. I shall push the enemy to the wall." The division commanded by General Hooker overtook the retreat ing Confederates at Williamsburg. Although confronted by a superior force, he boldly and resolutely began an engagement. McClel lan Avas far in the rear, and did not arrive till the battle was over. Through the following night the Confederates retreated to Eich mond. The Union soldiers kindled their bivouac fires and passed the night on the field. There Avas commotion in the Confederate capital. " In the Presi dential mansion all was consternation and dismay," the words of a Southern historian. (B) Congress adjourned hastily and many people left the city. The public documents Avere packed in boxes and taken aAvay ; the presses which were printing treasury notes Avere sent to Georgia. It seems probable that if McClellan had pushed resolutely on he could have made his way at once into Eichmond. The Merrimac was still a menace to the great fleet of vessels in Hampton Eoads. Mr. Lincoln believed the time had come when Nor folk could be seized and the Merrimac destroyed. He was con fident that Avith the army moving toAvards Eichmond the Confed erates would not leave many troops to hold Norfolk and the batteries PRELIMINARY TO EMANCIPATION. 319 along the shore. Accompanied by Secretary Chase and Secretary Stan ton, he visited Fortress Monroe. He asked Admiral Goldsborough if troops could not be landed on the north shore. If so, they Avould only have to march eight miles to reach Norfolk. "There is no landing-place on the north shore," said the ad miral. " We shall have to double the cape and approach the place from the south side, which will be a long and difficult journey." " Have you ever tried to find a landing?" " We have not." " That reminds me," said Mr. Lincoln, "of a fellow out in Il linois who had studied laAV, but Avho never had tried a case. He AATas sued, and not having confi dence in his own ability, em ployed a lawyer to manage it for him. He had only a confused idea of law terms, but was anxious to make a display of learning, and on trial made suggestions to his lawyer. He said : ' Why don't you go at him with a capias, or surrebutter, or something, and not stand there like a confounded old mudum factum?' Now, admiral, if you do not know there is not a landing on the north shore, I want you to find out." Admiral Goldsborough understood why the President told the story. Accompanied by Secretary Chase and General Wool, he closely examined the shore and found a landing. The troops were put in mo tion. The Confederates evacuated Norfolk. The Merrimac Avas blown up, and the Union gunboats steamed up the James. The President returned to Washington much pleased Avith the results. Senator Wilson, of Massachusetts, called at the White House to pre sent four gentlemen from England. It Avas early in the forenoon, and the President had not laid aside his dressing-gown. He rose and greeted them without embarrassment, making no apology for not having com pleted his toilet. "You have been fighting great battles," said Mr. Gold win Smith, one of the visitors. HAMPTON ROADS. 320 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. " Yes." " Will not your great losses impair the industrial resources of the North and the revenues of the country ?" " That brings to mind ' darkey arithmetic,' " said Mr. Lincoln. " Darkey arithmetic ! I did not know, Mr. President, that you have two systems of arithmetic." " Oh yes ; and I'll illustrate that point by a little story. Two young contrabands, as we noAv call them, Avere seated together. ' Jim,' said one, ' do you know 'rithm'tic ?' '"No. What is 'rithm'tic?' " ' It's where you adds up tings. When you has one and one and puts dem togeder, dey makes tAvo. When you substracts tings, if you has two tings and you takes one aAvay, only one remains.' '" Is dat 'rithm'tic ?' " ' Yes.' "'Well, 'tain't true ; it's no good.' "'Yes 'tis, and I'll shoAv ye. Now spose tree pigeons sit on dat fence, and somebody shoots one of dem, do tother two stay dar? Dey flies aAvay fore tother feller falls.' " Noav, gentlemen, the story illustrates the arithmetic you must use in estimating the actual losses resulting from one of our great battles. The statements you refer to givre the killed, Avounded, and missing at the first roll-call, Avhich always gives an exaggerated total." " Is it not unfortunate that such reports should go out ? Would it not be better to delay making any report, Mr. President?" " Perhaps so. But I am surprised at the smallness rather than the greatness of the number missing, Avhen Ave take into account the dense Avoods, long marches, and the fatigues of men unaccustomed to military life." To the astonishment of the gentlemen, the President gave compari sons betAveen American and European Avars, and showed by statistics that the missing in the battles fought by the volunteers were less than in the armies of Europe after a great battle. Mr. William D. Kelley, member of Congress, was present, a silent listener. As the gentlemen passed from the executive chamber he heard their conversation. " What are your impressions of him ?" one asked. " Such a person," the reply, " is quite unknown to our official circles or to those of continental nations. I think his place in history will PRELIMINARY TO- EMANCIPATION. 321 be unique. He has not been trained to diplomacy or administrative affairs, and is in all respects one of the people. But Iioav Avonderfully he is endoAved and equipped for the performance of the duties of the chief executive office of the United States at this time ! The precision and minuteness of his information on all questions to Avhich Ave referred was a succession of surprises to me."(°) The colored people — not only those in the Northern States, but throughout the South — kneAv from the time Abraham Lincoln was nomi nated for the Presidency that he represented Freedom ; that the party supporting him was pledged to prevent the further extension of Slavery. They comprehended that the Avar Avas a conflict betAveen Freedom and Slavery. The most ignorant slaves on a Southern plantation understood that Mr. Lincoln represented Liberty. Many thousand colored people were in Washington. Their churches on Sunday Avere thronged. The children were gathered into Sunday-schools, Avhich held a May-day cele bration. Never had there been such a spectacle Avitnessed in the United States as that on the day set apart for the festivities. Parents arrayed themselves and their children in gaudy clothing, displaying startling contrasts of color — Avhite, yelloAV, green, blue, crimson — regardless of artistic harmony. The marshals wore huge rosettes, and marched with conspicuous dignity. The procession came down Pennsylvania Avenue, entered the White House grounds, and passed beneath the portico. At one of the windows stood the President. The teachers had endeavored to impress the children that they must march in solemn and dignified silence when in the presence of the greatest man in the world. They might as well have said to the yeast in a barrel of beer there must be no fermentation. The ministers and teachers at the head of the proces sion passed the President with stately dignity, but the irrepressible yeast burst forth with the coming of the first file of boys. " Hooray ! Hooray !" they shouted, and waved their flags. The enthusiasm ran down the fine. The girls tossed their flowers into the window. " There he is!" "I seen him!" " Dats Mars. Linkum." "Look at him!" "Look at him !"(10) Till the last child has passed he stands there. Never before has a President of the United States reviewed such a procession. Never before has a chief magistrate so recognized a down-trodden people, or so acknowledged the brotherhood of the human race. His thoughts were turned from the children to the Avar. May 10th McClellan telegraphed for more troops : 21 322 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. " I ask for every man the department can send me. I beg that you will cause this army to be reinforced without delay by all the disposable troops of the Government. I ask for every man that the War Department can send. . . . The soldiers have confidence in me as their general, and in you as their President. Strong reinforcements will at least save the lives of many of them." In response to these calls General McDowell, who was at Freder icksburg, Avas ordered to march overland to York Eiver. President Lin coln visited him, and directed his movements. But there came a sud den change of the plan. General Banks, with a small force, Avas near Strasburg. "Stonewall" Jackson, with a much larger Confederate army, Avas pushing northward, forcing Banks to make a rapid retreat. Jackson's movement menaced Washington. The President thereupon directed McDowell to move westward and gain Jackson's rear instead of marching to Eichmond, and then ay ' sent the following despatch to McClellan : "If McDowell's force was now beyond our reach, we should be entirely helpless. Apprehensions of something like this, and no unwillingness to sustain you, have always been my reasons for withholding McDowell from you. Please understand this, and do the best you can with the force you have." A little later the same day the President telegraphed : " I think the time is near when you must either attack Richmond or give up the job and come to the defence of Washington." The President mapped out the best possible movements for the dif ferent bodies of troops : McDoAvell to hasten Avestward to Port Eoyal and cut off Jackson's retreat ; Fremont, Avho Avas farther west, to hasten east and join McDowell. McClellan the while was calling for more troops. The attempt to cut off Jackson resulted in failure through the tar diness of Fremont. The Confederates retreated from Harper's Ferry as rapidly as they had advanced. The army pn the Peninsula was divided by the Chickahominy Eiver. Two corps, commanded by Heintzleman and Keyes, Avere attacked at Seven Pines ; Sumner hastened to their aid, and the Confederates were defeated, and their commander, General Johnston, Avounded. General Dix, Avho had succeeded General Wool at Fortress Mon roe, sent 10,000 men to McClellan ; McCall's division of 10,000 from McDoAvell's corps was also forwarded, increasing the army to nearly 157,000. Mortifying the news that came to McClellan. General Stuart, with PRELIMINARY TO EMANCIPATION. 323 a division of Confederate cavalry, burned two schooners in the Pamun- key Eiver, tore up the railroad track leading to White House, ' fired upon a train, captured supplies and the sick in one of the hospitals, trotted around the Union army, and aftenvards returned to Eichmond. The information Avas received Avith incredulity and disgust by the people. It foreshadowed failure, if not disaster. Members of Congress who visited the peninsula said they found soldiers guarding the property of an officer who Avas in the Confederate army. Surgeons Avere not alloAved to pitch their hospital tents beneath the trees near the house of a Confederate, but were compelled to set them up in the blazing sun shine. Senator Wade and a party sought shelter from a shower beneath the portico of a house, and were rudely driven from it. General Sum ner Avas informed regarding the indignity. " You must not hold me responsible, gentlemen. I am not general- in-chief. I must enforce the order of my superior," the reply. (" ) Beports came to the President that officers who were in sympathy with McClellan would send in their resignations if negroes Avere em ployed to aid in putting doAvn the Eebellion. At the yearly meeting of the Progressive Friends, a society of Quakers, William Lloyd Garrison drew up a memorial to the President, asking him to issue a Proclamation of Emancipation. Oliver Johnson, Thomas Garrett, and several others visited Washington to pre sent it to Mr. Lincoln. Although the news from the army was discouraging, though he had passed a sleepless night, he patiently listened to the reading of the address. It intimated that he had not done what the people expected him to do Avhen they elected him. It set forth the blessings that Avould immediate^ follow Avere he to issue a proclamation. " If it is not done," read the memorial, " blood will continue to flow and fierce dissensions abound, calamities increase and fiery judgments be poured out, until the work of national destruction is consummated bej'ond hope of recovery." " You cannot," said Mr. Lincoln, " expect me to make any extended reply to your address, as I have not been provided Avith a copy in ad vance. Slavery is the most troublesome question Ave have to deal Avith. My view in regard to the way of getting rid of it may not be your view. We all agree that it is wrong. You want me to issue a Procla mation of Emancipation ; but were I to do so, how can I enforce it ? I feel the magnitude of the task before me, and Avish to be rightly di rected." 324 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. "Mr. President," said William Barnard, "you will remember that Queen Esther, Avhen she was going before Ahasuerus, relied upon divine assistance." " Yes ; and I, too, feel the need of divine assistance. I have some times thought I might be an instrument in the hands of God for accom plishing a great work, and I certainly am not unwilling to be. Per haps, however, God's way of accomplishing the end may not be your Avay. It Avill be my endeavor, Avith a firm reliance upon the divine arm, to do my duty in the place to which I am called." (ia) The President kneAv the people were beginning to distrust him. Charles Sumner, Senator from Massachusetts, -was receiving letters from his friends, Avho said the President was not meeting the expecta tions of those who had elected him. He kneAv Iioav true Mr. Lincoln was to his convictions. " If you are disposed to be impatient," Avrote Mr. Sumner to a friend, "at any seeming shortcoming, think, I pray you, of Avhat he has done in a brief period, and from the past discern the promise of the future." (13) General Lee prepared to move against McClellan. The Union army was divided. He determined to fall upon the portion north of the Chickahominy and sever its railroad connections with York Jui"c^o6' Eiver. A series of battles folloAved — the first at Gaines's Mill lob -. and Cold Harbor, the last at Malvern Hill, on the banks of the James. (See " Drum-beat of the Nation.") A heart - sickening, irritating despatch came (June 28th) from Gen eral McClellan to the Secretary of War : " I am not responsible for this; and I say it with the earnestness of a general who feels in his heart the loss of every brave man who has been needlessly sacrificed to-day. I still hope to retrieve our fortunes, but to do this the Government must view the matter in the same earnest light that I do. You must send me very large reinforcements, and send them at once. I shall draw back to this side of the Chickahominy, and think I can withdraw all our material. Please understand that in this battle we have lost nothing but men, and those the best we have. "In addition to what I have already said, I only wish to say to the President that I think he is wrong in regarding me as ungenerous when I said that my force was too weak. I merely intimated a truth which to-day has been too plainly proved. If, at this instant, I could dispose of ten thousand fresh men, I could gain a victory to-morrow. I know that a few thousand more men would have changed this battle from a defeat to a victory. As it is, the Government must not and cannot hold me responsible for the result. "I feel too earnestly to-night. I have seen too many dead and wounded comrades to feel otherwise than that the Government has not sustained this army. If you do not do so now the game is lost. "If I save this army now, I tell you plaiuly that I owe no thanks to you or to any other person in Washington. You have done your best to sacrifice this army." ^y?i~ PRELIMINARY TO EMANCIPATION. 325 Three days later (July 1st) McClellan telegraphed : " I need fifty thousand more men. With them we will retrieve our fortunes." Mr. Lincoln sent the following reply : " It is impossible to reinforce you for present emergency. If we had a million men we could not get them to you in time. We have not the men to send. If you are not strong enough to face the enemy, you must find a place of security, and wait, rest, and repair." The President, anticipating disaster, and believing the people Avould sustain him, sent Secretary Seward to NeAV York to arrange for calling out several hundred thousand men. Messages went over the wires to the Governors of all the loyal States. Quick and encouraging responses came from John A. Andrew, of Massachusetts ; William A. Bucking ham, of Connecticut ;( " ) Edwin D. Morgan, of New York;(1B) Andrew G. Curtin, of Pennsylvania ;(16) William Dennison, of Ohio; (") and other chief magistrates. Each re plied by telegraph that his State Avould cheerfully respond to the call of the President. The people had not lost faith in the Administration. The President was greatly en couraged by the replies of the Governors. following despatch to McClellan : WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM. [War Governor of Connecticut.} On July 2d he sent the "The idea of sending you fifty thousand, or any considerable force promptly, is absurd. If, in your frequent mention of responsibility, you have the impression that I blame you for not doing more than you can, please be relieved of such impression. I only beg that in like manner you will not ask impossibilities of me. If you think you are not strong enough to take Richmond just now, I do not ask you to try just now. Save the army material and personnel, and I will strengthen it for the offensive again as fast as I can. The Governors of eighteen States offer me a new levy of three hundred thousand, which I accept." The thought that so large a force was to be raised stimulated Mc Clellan to ask that 100,000 be sent to him : 326 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. "To accomplish the great task of capturing Richmond and putting an end to the Re bellion, reinforcements .should be sent me, rather much over than much less than one hundred thousand men. I beg that you will be fully impressed by the magnitude of the crisis in which we are placed." The army was at Harrison's Landing, protected by gunboats. The campaign for the capture of Eichmond was over. It had been under taken against the judgment of the President, who had seen that the Confederate army would be stronger at Eichmond than at Centreville. It would have been easier for McClellan to strike a Uoav near Wash ington than in the enemy's country. No blow had been given ; the Confederates had done the striking. The army still numbered more than 100,000. It Avas inactive and dispirited. There were rivalries and jealousies among the officers and a decline in discipline. General McClellan, forgetting he Avas only commander of an army, and the President his commander-in-chief, wrote a long letter, instruct ing; Mr. Lincoln as to Avhat ought and ought not to be done in T 1 tl " y ' political affairs. " Let neither military disorder," it read, " po litical faction, nor foreign war shake your settled purpose to enforce the equal operation of the laAvs of the United States upon the people of every State." The communication was offensive by its dictatorial tone. It informed Mr. Lincoln that a declaration of radical views in relation to slavery Avould rapidly disintegrate the army. The President knew his powers and responsibilities under the Con stitution, and did not need instruction from any general. No notice was taken of the letter. He visited the army, and was affectionately received by the soldiers. General McClellan had no plan. With a heavy heart Mr. Lincoln returned to Washington. Shall we wonder that he Avas depressed in spirit ? The people had expected great things from the Army of the Potomac, but it had accomplished nothing. The tide of success Avhich marked the opening of the campaign in the West was offset by the failure in the East. The " Copperheads," as they were called — the men Avho opposed the Avar — rejoiced over the state of affairs. " You never can conquer the South," they said. Many Avho had sup ported Mr. Lincoln began to question whether he had any serious in tention of interfering Avith slavery. He had taken no notice of the action of McClellan when in West Virginia, or of Halleck in Missouri, excluding slaves from the lines of the Union armies. On the other hand, he had set aside the proclamations of Fremont and that of Hun ter, givingfreedom to the slaves in their military departments. Very PRELIMINARY TO EMANCIPATION. 327 EDWIN D. MORGAN, WAR GOVERNOR OP NEW YORK. few people comprehended the President's position. He had appealed to the members of Congress from the border Slave States to take action towards abolishing slavery in their respective States. Their indiffer ence cut him to the heart. He Avould make one more effort. He would invite them to the White House and address them personally. Very earnest his appeal : "The incidents of war cannot be avoided. If it continues, as it must if the object is not soon attained, the institution in your States will be extinguished by mere friction and abrasion. 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 as seller, 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 ! . . . 328 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. I am pressed with a, difficulty not yet mentioned — one which threatens division among those who, united, are none too strong. An instance is known to you. General Hunter is an honest mau. He was, and I hope still is, my friend. I value him none the less for his agreeing with me in the general wish that all men everywhere could be free. He proclaimed all men free in certain States, and I repudiated the proclamation. He ex pected more good and less harm from the measure than I could believe would follow. Yret in repudiating it I gave dissatisfaction, if not offence, to many whose support the country cannot afford to lose. And this is not the end of it. The pressure in this direc tion is still upon me and is increasing. By conceding what now I ask, you can relieve me, and much more — even relieve the country in this important point. ... As you would perpetuate popular government for the best people in the world, I beseech you that you do not omit this. "Our common country is in great peril, demanding the loftiest views and boldest action to bring 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 immeasurably grand. To you, more than to others, the privilege is given to assure that happiness and swell that grandeur, and to link your names therewith forever." What the President thus earnestly asked them to do was to vote a sum of money for purchasing the slaves in their respective States sufficient to fully compensate the OAvners. A majority submitted an elaborate reply. They thought freeing the slaves would not terminate the Avar or tend to restore the Union. So deeply concerned Avas the President that he drafted a bill for carrying out his plans, but a ma jority of the members from the border States regarded it as of no more value than a piece of blank paper. They maintained that under the constitutions of the States and under the Constitution of the United States they had a right to hold slaves, and they were not ready to give it up. Nine of the gentlemen were ready to co-operate with him in carry ing out his plan, but with only a minority in favor of it nothing could be done. It Avas Sunday. A day calm and peaceful, a mournful day to Sec retary Stanton. Death had come to his home and taken an infant from the parents' arms. The President and Secretaries Seward " u y ' and Welles were riding together in the funeral procession. The President broke the silence. He spoke of the disaster to the Army of the Potomac ; the state of public opinion ; the power of the Eebellion. He had given much thought to the question of issuing a Proclamation of Emancipation. " I have about come to the conclusion," he said, " that it is a military necessity, essential for the salvation of the nation. This is the first time I have ever mentioned it to any one. What do you think of it V PRELIMINARY' TO EMANCIPATION. 329 " The subject is so vast that I must have time for reflection. The measure may be justifiable and necessary," said Mr. Seward. Mr. Welles was of the same opinion. Up to the time of the inter view Avith the members of Congress from the border States on Satur day the President had been opposed to any interference by the gen eral government Avith an institution Avhich each State could itself deal with. It seems probable every member of the Cabinet had regarded the matter in the same Avay. (IS) " I would like you to give the question your careful consideration, for something must be done," said the President. V^ WILLIAM DENNISON, WAR GOVERNOR OF OHIO. 330 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Congress had finished its business and adjourned. It had passed an act confiscating the property of the rebels. Slaves were property, and under the act they might be seized and used for the benefit -v of the Government. They were being used as teamsters. They Avere building fortifications. Why not give them freedom ? The Cabinet is in session. The President takes a paper from his desk and reads it — the draft of a proclamation for emancipating the slaves — a notice that " on and after the first day of January, 1863, u y "" all slaves within any State or States where the constitutional authority of the United States shall not then be recognized, submitted to, and maintained, shall thenceforward and forever be free." The members of the Cabinet listen in amazement. Wipe slavery from the land ! Can it be done ? Give instant freedom to 4,000,000 ! Is it safe ? They sit as if dazed. " I have not called you together to ask your advice, but to lay the subject before you. I shall be pleased to hear any suggestions from you."(") "I would like the language made a little stronger," Mr. Chase re marked. " It will cost you the fall election," said Mr. Blair. " Mr. President," said Secretary Seward, " I approve of the procla mation, but I question the expediency of issuing it just noAV. The depression of the public mind consequent upon our reverses is so great that I fear the effect of so important a step. It may be viewed as the last measure of an exhausted Government — a cry for help : the Govern ment stretching forth its hands to Ethiopia, instead of Ethiopia stretch ing forth her hands to the Government. It will be considered as our last shriek on retreat. While I approve the measure, I suggest that you postpone its issue until you can give it to the country supported by military success, instead of issuing it, as would be the case now, upon the greatest disaster of the war." Mr. Lincoln sees that it will be wise not to issue it at once, but wait for a better moment. Two members only of the Cabinet have had any intimation that the President has thought of issuing a document unparalleled in the his tory of the human race. These the words of Mr. Lincoln a few months later : " It had got to be. Things had gone from bad to worse until I felt that we had reached the end of our rope on the plan of operations we had been pursuing — that we had played our last card and must change PRELIMINARY TO EMANCIPATION. 331 our tactics, or lose the game. I determined on the Emancipation Proc lamation, and, Avithout consultation Avith or the knowledge of the Cabinet, I prepared the original draft, and after much, anxious thought called a Cabinet meeting upon the subject." Thirty-one years had passed since a flat -boatman in New Orleans lifted his hand towards heaven and uttered the words, "If I ever get a chance to hit that institution, I'll hit -it hard, by the Eternal God!" Strange the utterance, stranger the happenings. Divine Providence had placed him in position, and he Avould strike the bloAV ! NOTES TO CHAPTER XATII. ( i ) Warden's " Life of Chase." ('-) "Liberator," May 23, 1862. (3) "New Bedford Standard," quoted in the " Liberator," May 30, 1862. (4) "Boston Advertiser," May 30, 1862. (5) "Albany Evening Journal," May 30, 1862. ( 6 ) James S. AATadsworth was born at Geneseo, N. Y., October 30, 1807. He was edu cated at Harvard and Yale colleges. He studied law iu the office of Daniel Webster at Boston. He inherited great wealth. The Governor of New York appointed him mem ber of the Peace Convention, 1861. When the war began aud communication between Philadelphia and Washington was broken, he chartered a vessel at New York, loaded it with supplies, aud sent it to Anuapolis for the relief of the Union soldiers. He volun teered his services to the Government, was appointed aid ou the staff of General McDow ell, and displayed great bravery in the battle of Bull Run. The President appoiuted him Military Governor of Washington City and District of Columbia, March, 1862. He was the Republican candidate for Governor of New York the same year, but was defeated by Horatio Seymour. In the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and the Wilderness, where he lost his life, he commanded a division of troops. He was inspired hy an intense patriotism, and made large contributions of money to carry on the war. He was much beloved by President Lincoln. — Author. ( 1 ) Major McLaiu, Confederate Army, to Author, November, 1862. (8) Edward N. Pollard, " Second Year of the War," p. 29. (9) William D. Kelley, "Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln," p. 289. (w) L. E. Chittenden, "Recollections of Abraham Lincoln," p. 331. (") William D. Kelley, "Lincoln and Stanton," p. 89. (") New York " Tribune," June 22, 1862. (IS) "Liberator," June 20, 1862. (14) William Alfred Buckingham was boru at Lebauon, Conn., May 8, 1804. He was a manufacturer of carpets. He was generous iu his contributions to benevolent, charita ble, aud educational institutions, and was held in high esteem for his integrity, energy, ability, aud patriotism. He was elected to the Uuited States Senate, 1869. He died February 4, 1875. — Author. (15) Edwin D. Morgan was born at Washington, Berkshire County, Mass., February 8, 1811. He became clerk in a grocery at Hartford, Conn., at the age of seventeen. In 1836 he began business iu New York, and amassed a large fortune. Ho was elected State Senator, 1849-53. He was active in the formation of the Republican Party. 332 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. In 1859 he was elected Governor of the State, and re-elected 1861. His administration was characterized by great energy and economy. Although the State expenditures were greatly increased by the war, there was u, large decrease of the public debt from the wise management of the finances. The troops furnished by the State numbered 220,000. They were promptly armed and equipped. Governor Morgan used his wealth for the welfare of the State and nation with uustiuted liberality. He was elected United States Senator, aud served from 1863 to 1869. — Author. (">) Andrew G. Curtin was born at Bellefonte, Pa., April 28, 1817. He studied law, and took an active part iu political affairs. He was elected Secretary of State, 1855, con tinuing to 1858. He became Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1860, aud Governor, 1861. He was re-elected, 1863, aud was appointed Minister to Russia, 1869. — Author. (") William Denuison was born at Cincinnati, November 23, 1815. He graduated at Miami University, 1835, and entered upon the practice of law, 1841. He was a member of the State Legislature, 1848-50, aud elected Governor, 1860. He administered the affairs ofthe executive office with rare ability. He was appointed Postmaster-geueral by Pres ident Lincoln, October, 1864. He retired from the Cabinet upon the accession of Andrew Johnson to the Presidency. (is) " Century Magazine," December, 1887. (19) President Lincoln to F. B. Carpenter, " Six Months iu the White House," p. 21. EMANCIPATION. 333 CHAPTEE XVIII. EMANCIPATION. NEW OELEANS was in possession of the Union troops. The peo ple of that city did not like General Butler, Avho was in com mand ; neither what General Phelps Avas doing — forming a regiment of negro troops. He was at Carrollton, and a great many slaves came into his camp. He thought they Avould make good soldiers. " I have now," he Avrote, "upwards of five hundred Africans organized into five companies, who are willing and ready to show their devotion to our cause in any way that they may be put to the test. They are willing to submit to anything rather than slavery." Mr. Eeverdy Johnson had been sent to New Orleans on public business, and improved the occasion to Avrite a letter to the President, informing him that the Union people were greatly disturbed by the enlistment of negroes. Mr. Lincoln had not discovered very much Union sentiment in Louisiana. Notwithstanding all the burdens press ing him, he found time to write to Mr. Johnson : "It seems" [according to what Johnson had written] " the Union feeling in Louisiana is being crushed out by the course of General Phelps. Please pardon me for believing it is a false pretence. The people of Louisiana — all intelligent people everywhere — know full well that I never had a wish to touch the foundation of their society or any right of theirs. With perfect knowledge of this, they forced a necessity upon me to send armies among them, and it is their own fault, not mine, that they are annoyed by the presence of General Phelps. They also know the remedy — how to be cured of General Phelps : re move the necessity of his presence. . . If they cau conceive of anything worse than Gen eral Phelps within my power, would they not better be looking out for it? ... I distrust the wisdom if not the sincerity of friends who would hold my hands while my enemies stab me. This appeal of professed friends has paralyzed me more in this struggle than any other one thing. You remember telling me the day after the Baltimore mob in April, 1861, that it would crush all Union feeling in Maryland for me to attempt bringing troops over Maryland soil to Washington. I brought the troops, notwithstanding, and yet there was Union feeling enough left to elect a legislature the next autumn, which in turn elect ed a very excellent Union United States Senator! I am a patient man — always willing to forgive on the Christian terms of repentance, and also to give ample time for repentance. Still, I must save this Government, if possible. What I cannot do, of course, I will not 334 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. do ; but it may as well be understood, once for all, that I shall not surrender this game leaving any available card unplayed." A private citizen, Mr. Durant, complained that the relations be tween the masters and their slaves were disturbed by the presence of the Union army. He induced another gentleman, Mr. Bullitt, to write to the President, Avho replied : "The rebellion will never be suppressed in Louisiana if the professed Union men there will neither help to do it, nor permit the Government to do it without their help. Now, I think the true remedy is very different from what is suggested by Mr. Durant. It does not lie in rounding the rough angles of the war, but in removing the necessity for the war. ... If they will not do this, if they prefer to hazard all for the sake of de stroying the Government, it is for them to consider whether it is probable I will sur render the Government to save them from losing all. If they decline what I suggest, you scarcely need to ask what I will do. What would you do in my positiou? Would you drop the war where it is, or would you prosecute it in future with elder-stalk squirts charged with rose-water? Would you deal lighter blows rather than heavier ones? Would you give up the contest, leaving any available means unapplied? I am in no boastful mood. I shall not do more than I can, and I shall do all I can to save the Government, which is my sworn duty as well as my personal inclination. I shall do noth ing in malice. What I deal with is too vast for malicious dealing." The campaigns had been hap-hazard. There had been no head, and President Lincoln called General Halleck to Washington to direct mili tary movements. He was appointed chief of staff. General Pope was also ordered from the West to command the troops in front of Wash ington. It Avas an unfortunate announcement which Pope made. " I have come," he said, " from the West, Avhere we have ahvays seen the backs of our enemies." The officers and men thought he was making unjust comparison between the soldiers of the East and those of the West. Such was not his intention, but he did not reflect how it would be ac cepted. An imputation that they were inferior to the Western troops gave great offence. General Halleck directed Pope to concentrate his army of 40,000, and cut the railroads leading west from Eichmond. General "StoneAvall" Jackson Avith 36,000 troops hastened to oppose him. General Halleck Avent to Harrison's Landing to see McClellan, Avho had asked for 50,000 more men. " I am not authorized to July 24 promise you more than 20,000," said Halleck. " I Avill make the attempt to take Eichmond with that number," McClellan replied. Halleck returned to Washington, but upon his ar- riATal found a despatch calling for 35,000. It was seen that General Lee was intending to hurl a large force on EMANCIPATION. 335 Pope and annihilate him, and it was decided that the army must be withdraAvn from James Eiver. Halleck telegraphed : " Seud away your sick as fast as you can." Three days later an order Avas issued for the withdrawal of the entire army, against Avhich McClellan protested. Tavo Aveeks passed before the last of the troops left the banks of the James. The citizens of Washington manifested their patriotic spirit during this period of gloom by assembling in mass-meeting around the eastern portico of the Capitol. It Avas in the evening, the moon at its ug' ' full. The thousands present rent the air with cheers Avhen in response to their calhng the President rose to address them : " Fellow - citizens, I believe there is no precedent for my appearing before you on this occasion, but it is also true that there is no precedent for your being here on such an occasion. But I offer in justification of myself and of you that I do not know there is anything in the Constitution against it." (Great laughter and applause.) . . "The only thing I think of now not likely to be said by some one else is a matter in which we have heard some other persons blamed for what I did myself. There has been a very unwise attempt to have a quarrel between General McClellan and the Secretary of War. Now I occupy a position that enables me to believe at least these two gentlemen are not nearly so deep in the quarrel as some presuming to be their friends." (Cries of " Good!") "General McClellan's attitude is such that, in the very selfishness of his nature, he cannot but wish to be successful — and I hope he will ; and the Secretary of War is in precisely the same situation. If the military commander in the field cannot be successful, not only the Secretary of War, but myself — for the time being master of them both — cannot but be failures." (Laughter and applause.) " I know General McClellan wishes to be success ful, and I know he does not wish it any more than the Secretary of War for him, and both of them together no more than I wish it." (Applause.) " Sometimes we have a dis pute about how many soldiers General McClellan has had. Those who would disparage him say he has had a very large number, and those who would disparage the Secretary of War insist that McClellan has had a very small number. The basis of this is, there is al ways a wide difference, and on this occasion perhaps a wider difference, between the grand total on McClellan's rolls and the men actually fit for duty. General McClellan has some times asked for things which the Secretary of War is not to blame for not giving when he had none to give." (Applause and laughter.) "And I say here, so far as I know, the Secretary of AVar has withheld no one thing from him at any time in my power to give him." (Wild applause.) "I have no accusation against him. I believe he is a brave and able man" (applause), " and I stand here, as justice requires me to do, to take upon my self what has been charged to the Secretary of War, as withholding from him. I have talked longer than I expected to" ("No! no!" "Go on!"), "and now I avail myself of my privilege of saying no more." The editor of the NeAV York " Tribune," in March, 1861, had said to the seceding States, " Wayward sisters, go in peace ;" but after twel\re months of conflict Mr. Greeley Avas advocating extreme measures. He published a long letter over his own name in the " Tribune," accusing 336 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. M44' WAR MEETING IN WASHINGTON. the President of being unwilling to enforce the laws passed by Con gress confiscating the property of rebels, and of being unduly influ enced by counsels and menaces of " certain fossil politicians from the border States." He complained that a large portion of the regular army officers, with many of the volunteer officers, Avere more ready to uphold slavery than put an end to the Eebellion. The article in the " Tribune " was from one Avho professed to be friendly to the President. Mr. Lincoln kneAv it Avould be read by many thousand people Avhose sons were in the army. Mr. Greeley had signed his name to the edito rial, giving it the weight of his great personal influence. What should EMANCIPATION. 337 the President do? Ought he to remain silent? Would not silence be regarded as acknowledging the indictment '. As President of the United States he would not notice it, but as an individual he could Avith propriety reply. Let us not forget that neither Horace Greeley, nor any one, other than the members of the Cabinet, knew of the proclamation Avhich for a month had been lying in the President's desk, penned by the same hand that Avrote this reply to the editor of the " Tribune :" "Dear Sir, — I have just read yours of the 19th, addressed to myself through the New York 'Tribune.' If there be in it any statements, or assumptions of fact, which I may know to be erroneous, I do not, now and here, controvert them. If there be in it any inferences which I may believe to be falsely drawn, I do not, now and here, argue against them. If there be perceptible in it an impatient and dictatorial tone, I waive il in defer ence 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 it is not either to save or de stroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave 1 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 for bear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall be lieve doing more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors, and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views. I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modifica tion of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free. " The Confederate cavalry under Stuart gained the rear of Pope's army, and captured his supplies at Manassas. Then came the battle at Groveton, and the second at Bull Eun, resulting in the de- Auo- 26 ' feat of Pope through the Avant of co - operation on the part of Fitz -John Porter Avith his division of the Army of the Potomac. General Franklin's corps Avas at Alexandria. Halleck directed that it should make a forced march to join Pope, and start as Au0" 27 °' ' soon as possible. McClellan thought it Avould be better for Franklin not to go, and questioned Avhether Washington was safe. He recommended the troops be held Avhere they were for its defence. Halleck issued an order for Franklin to move at once. This the re ply of McClellan : 22 338 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. "The moment Franklin can be started with a reasonable amount of artillery he shall go." Three hours passed ; it was nearly night. Then came a telegram that Franklin Avas not in a condition to move, but might be able to do so in the morning. Halleck replied : " There must be no delay. They must go to-morrow morning, ready or not ready." Through the following day the President could hear the thunder of cannon in the battle Avhich Pope was fighting. The aid expected °" from Fitz-John Porter was not given. The members of the Cabinet were discussing the situation. Sec retary Stanton drew up a remonstrance against the further contin uance of McClellan in command of the Army of the Potomac, to be sent to the President. It was signed by himself, also by Mr. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury ; Mr. Bates, Attorney - general ; and Mr. Smith, Secretary of the Interior. Mr. Welles, Secretary of the Navy, agreed with them, but declined to sign it, as the President might think it an unfriendly act. The remonstrance Avas not presented to the President ; why, Ave do not know. Night closed Avith the Union army in retreat to Centreville. Sum ner's and Franklin's corps Avere there, but had arrived too late to be of any use. It is not surprising that McClellan keenly felt the ' change that had come to him. He had been commander of all the armies, had issued orders to generals in the Far West — to Halleck ; but now Halleck Avas issuing orders to him. He had seen his troops taken from him and sent to a commander Avhom he did not like. General Pope Avas discouraged. He saAv that the army must fall back to Washington and be reorganized. He said, in a despatch to Halleck : " When there is no heart iu their leaders, and every disposition to hang back, much cannot be expected of the men." We are not to forget, as Ave review in bare outline the events of the hour, the letter written by McClellan from Harrison's Landing, in which he arraigned the President — a letter which Mr. Lincoln had not forgotten. His heart Avas now wrung Avith anguish at the want of cordiality manifested by the commander of the army. His sense of jus tice was outraged by the despatch which suggested that Pope be left to " get out of his scrape as best he could." " McClellan has acted very badly towards Pope. He really Avanted him to fail," said the President to his secretaries. (' ) The army Avas drifting back to Arlington Heights. Halleck directed EAIANCIPATION. 339 McClellan to take command of the troops in the defences, but not to assume control of those that Avere to arrive. Adjutant-general Kelton Avas sent to the front by McClellan, and directed to make special ^g,1' inquiries as to the state of affairs. We ilo not know Avhom Kelton saw or what Avas said, but he had a doleful story to tell the President : that the army was demoralized, that there Avere 30,000 stragglers making their way to Washington. Through the night the President walked his chamber. The dawn Avas just appearing in the east as he listened to Kelton's account. What should he do ? The remonstrance of the members of the Cabinet had not been laid before him, but he knew they had no confi dence in McClellan. Mr. Stanton, who AAras intrusted with the manage ment of military affairs, and Mr. Chase, who must maintain the credit of the nation, Avere bitterly opposed to continuing him in command, but Abraham Lincoln comprehended that under existing conditions there was but one course to be pursued. General McClellan Avas at breakfast when the President and Gen eral Halleck called and asked him to resume command of the troops. Mr. Lincoln had not informed any member of the Cabinet of Avhat he was about to do. He knew that he alone must bear the responsibility, be the result beneficial or attended with disaster. The hour arrived for the meeting of the Cabinet to discuss the ques tions of the moment. •• I have set McClellan to putting the troops into the fortifications. I think that he can do it better than any other man," said the President. " This can be done just as well by the engineer who constructed the forts," Mr. Chase remarked. " No one is now responsible for the defence of tlie Capitol," said Mr. Stanton, " for the order to McClellan has been given by the President, and General Halleck considers himself relie\7ed from responsibility, though he acquiesced and approved of the order. McClellan can now shield himself under Halleck should anything go Avrong, while Halleck can disclaim all responsibility." " I consider General Halleck," said the President, " just as responsi ble hoav as he Avas before. The order directs McClellan to put the troops into the fortifications, and command them for the defence of Washington." " I can but feel that giATing McClellan command is equivalent to giv ing Washington to the rebels," Mr. Chase said. "It distresses me exceedingly," said the President, "to find myself 340 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. differing from the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Treasury on this point ; so much do I feel it that I would gladly resign my place. I cannot see who can do this as well as it can be done by McClellan." " Hooker, Sumner, or Burnside will do it better than he," Mr. Chase replied. (2) " I have issued the order, and I must be responsible to the country for it," the calm but firm words of the President. (s) His constitutional advisers disagree with him. He thinks of the attitude of McClellan ; of the army drifting back to Washington ; of the thousands of dead and wounded on the field of Manassas ; of the victorious Confederates preparing to invade Maryland. He walks his chamber and exclaims, "How willingly would I exchange places to day Avith the soldier Avho sleeps on the ground in the Army of the Potomac !"(') We are not to conclude that the President had lost courage on account of the disasters that had come through the tardiness and in- • efficiency, or lukeAvarmness, on the part of those who had been intrusted with command. He Avas deeply grieved over the differences between himself and the members of the Cabinet, but there was no yielding of his faith in what would be the final outcome. He believed in the army and in the people. He directed Halleck to proceed with all possible despatch to organize an army for active operations, independent of the forces he might deem necessary for the defence of Washington when the active army should take the field. The Confederate army was crossing the Potomac at Leesburg. It Avas universally believed in the South that the sympathies of the people of Maryland Avere with the Confederates. General Lee thought thousands of young men would hasten to join him ; that Balti more Avould welcome him. The harvests had been gathered, and there would be little difficulty in finding food. If he could win a victory north of the Potomac the moral and political results would be of in estimable value to the Confederacy. He divided his army, and sent " Stonewall" Jackson to capture the 10,000 Union troops, under General Miles, holding Harper's Ferry. McClellan the while was moving ' slowly out from Washington with an army of 100,000. He was calling for more troops. In the silence and seclusion of his chamber, Mr. Lincoln meditated upon the situation. He looked beyond the turmoil of the hour, to as certain if possible the ways and meanings of divine Providence. These his thoughts as recorded by himself : EMANCIPATION. 341 " The Avill of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the Avill of God. Both may be, and one must be, Avrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. In the present Civil War it is quite possible that God's purpose is something different from the purpose of either party ; and yet the human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best adapta tion to effect His purpose. I am almost ready to say that this is proba bly true ; that God wills this contest, and wills that it shall not end yet. By His great poAver on the minds of the non-contestants He could have either saved or destroyed the Union Avithout a human contest. Yet the contest began, and, having begun, He could give the final victory to either side. Yet the contest goes on."(B) The disaster that had come to the Army of the Potomac created consternation among the loyal people of the North. A delegation of ministers from Chicago reached Washington to urge the President to do something to abolish slavery. Mr. Lincoln kindly listened to their remarks. He did not inform them that for two months a proclamation had been lying in his desk, and that he Avas Avaiting for a victory before issuing it. " Gentlemen," he said, in reply, " you know that I am poAverless to enforce the Constitution in the States noAv in rebellion. Allow me to ask you if you think that I can enforce a proclamation of emancipation any better?" The delegates interpreted the question as indicating a reluctance on the part of the President to issue such a proclamation, even if he had the power to enforce it. " What you have said," replied one of the gentlemen, " compels me to say that it is a message of the divine Master, through me, command ing you, sir, to open the doors and let the oppressed go free !" " Well, that may be," said the President, Avith twinkling eyes, " but if it is, as you say, a message from your divine Master, is it not a little odd that the only channel of communication to me must be by the roundabout way of that aAvfully wicked city of Chicago ?"(") They departed Avithout having obtained any satisfaction. A very important and valuable paper fell into the hands of McClellan — an order issued by General Lee, outlining the future movements of the Confederate army. A soldier had picked it up where the Confederate army had been encamped ; there was no doubt about its being genuine. McClellan learned that Lee had divided his army. Jackson was to move to Harper's Ferry ; Lee, Avith the other 342 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. half of his troops, was to be in the vicinity of Boonsboro'. A great opportunity had come to McClellan. General Franklin Avas in position to make a quick march and fall upon Jackson; he himself might hurry on to Boonsboro' and overAvhelm Lee. But there was no quick issuing of orders, no hurrying anywhere. Franklin, when he reached Cramp- ton's Gap, Avon an easy victory over the Confederates holding it ; but Harper's Ferry, with 11,000 men and all its cannon, Avas being surren dered to Jackson. McClellan moved leisurely to Turner's Gap, held by a portion of the Confederates under Longstreet. The advance Avas made with great de liberation. The Confederates Avere finally driven, and the Union army moved on to Boonsboro'. A battle Avas fought at Antietam. When night closed the advantage Avas on the side of the Union army, which looked fonvard to Sept. 17. . J a victory. The following morning dawned, but no cannon thundered, nor was there any rattle of musketry. Through the day the tAvo armies Avere motionless. Again the morning dawned, and the Confederates Avere in Virginia. The report showed that notwithstanding the losses in battle and from straggling soldiers, 93,000 men Avere present for duty. The Confed erate army, as is now knoAvn, did not number 50,000. It Avas Sept. 20. , , , , • t , -, I Avorn by hard marching, and greatly weakened. Several thou sand troops had been sent to McClellan, but many had wandered from the ranks and Avere feasting on the good things to be found in the farm-houses of Maryland. " Sending troops to the army," said the President,. " is like attempt ing to shovel fleas across a barn-yard : not half of them get there." (') The North hailed the result of Antietam as a victory. The time had come for President Lincoln to issue his contemplated proclamation concerning emancipation — giving notice to the States fighting against the Government that unless they laid down their arms he should, on January 1, 1863, issue an edict giving freedom to slaves. The clock was striking tAvelve on Monday noon Avhen the members of the Cabinet assembled in the White House — called to a bept. 22. special meeting. " I have a very funny book here," said the President, " written by ' Artemas Ward.' Let me read you what he says about an outrage at Utica." "Artemas Ward," Avhose real name Avas Charles F. Browne, Avas a hu- EMANCIPATION. 343 Among the figures was one of morist. His book was an account of the incidents that befell him while making his pretended travels through the country exhibiting his "show" to the public. .Mr. " Ward's " spelling avrs peculiarly phonetic. His "show" consisted of "Three moral bares, a kangaro (;t amoozin little raskaL, wax Aggers of G. Washington, Gen. Tayler, John Bunyun, Capt. Kidd, and Dr. AVebster in the act of killing Dr. Parkman, besides sev eral miscellanyus wax statoots of celebrated piruts and murderers, tfcc., ekalled by few and exceld by none Judas Iscariot. The account given by Mr. " Ward " of his advent ures was flavored with irony as Avell as humor. The outrage at Utica is a jest upon one phase of human nature as sometimes exhibited. "In the fall of 1856," reads the account, " I shoAved my show in Utiky, a trooly great sitty in the state of New York. The peo ple gave me a cordyul recepshun. The press Avas loud in her prases. " 1 day as I Avas givin my discripshun of my Beests and Snaiks in my usual flowry stile, Avhat Avas my skorn and disgust to see a big burly feller Avalk up to the cage contain ing my figger of Judas and drag him out on the ground. He then com menced to pound him as hard as he cood. " ' What under the son are you about ?' cried I. "Sez he, 'What did you bring this pussylaneemus cuss here fur?' & he hit the Avax figger another tremenjis blow on the hed. Sez I, 'You egrejus ass, that air's a wax figger — a representashun of the false 'Postle.' " Sez he, ' That's all very well fur you to say ; but I tell you, old CHARLES P. BROWNE ("ARTEMUS WARD"). 344 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. man, that Judas Iscareiot can't show himself in Utiky Avith impunerty.' With that he kaved in Judasses hed. The young man belonged to 1 of the first famulies in Utiky. I sood him, and the Joory braAvt in a verdick of arson in the 3d degree." The' President enjoyed the " hit " upon people who regarded them selves as belonging to the first families, and also upon the verdicts of juries as sometimes rendered. The members of the Cabinet — all except Mr. Stanton— laughed heartily. The Secretary of War could not see anything to laugh at. He had little appreciation of humor. He had come to the White House to consult with the President upon a mo mentous question, and made no effort to conceal his contempt for the nonsense of such a mountebank as " Artemas Ward." He could not comprehend the relief which it had given the President after the sleepless nights and anxious days preceding Antietam. The laughter and humor was a healthful stimulus in preparing Mr. Lincoln for the consideration of great questions. The book Avas returned to the President's desk. " I have called you together," he said, " to consult upon an impor tant matter. ( 9 ) Gentlemen, I have, as you are aware, thought a great deal about the relation of this Avar to slavery ; and you all remember that, several Aveeks ago, I read to you an order I had prepared on this subject, Avhich, on account of objections made by some of you, Avas not issued. Ever since then my mind has been much occupied Avith this sub ject, and I have thought, all along, that the time for acting on it might probably come. I think the time has come noAv. I Avish it was a bet ter time. I wish that Ave 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 Pennsylvania is no longer in danger of invasion. When the rebel army Avas at Fred erick, 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 the promise to my self, and" [hesitating a little] "to my Maker. The rebel army is now driven out, and I am going to fulfil that promise. I have got you to gether to hear what I have Avritten 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 know the views of each on this question. They have been here tofore expressed, and I have considered them as thoroughly and care fully as I can. What I have Avritten is that which my reflections have EMANCIPATION. 345 determined me to say. If there is anything in the expressions I use, or in any minor matter, Avhich any one of you thinks had best be changed, I shall be glad to receive the suggestions. One other observa tion I Avill make. I knoAv very Avell that many others might, in this matter, as in others, do better than I can ; and if I was satisfied that the public confidence Avas 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 Avould gladly yield it to him. But, though I believe that I have not so much of the confidence of the peo ple as I had some time since, I do not knoAv that, all things considered, any other person has more; and, however this may be, there is no Avay 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. (°) " I have made a vow — a covenant — that if God should give us vic tory in battle I would consider it as an indication of divine will, and that it would be our duty to move forward Avith emancipation. You may think it strange that I have thus submitted matters Avhen the way Avas not clear to my mind as to what I ought to do. God has decided this question in favor of the shaves. I am satisfied that I took the right course ; it is confirmed by results.'^10) " Would it not be well," Mr. SeAvard asked, " to make the proclama tion more clear and decided ; to leave out all reference to the act being sustained during the incumbency of the present President, and not merely say that the Government ' recognizes,' but that it will maintain the freedom it proclaims ?" " What you have said, Mr. President," remarked Mr. Chase, " fully satisfies me that you have given the subject careful consideration. You have expressed your conclusions distinctly. This it was your right, and under your oath of office your duty to do. The proclamation does not mark out exactly the course I myself Avould prefer, but I am ready to take it just as it has been written, and to stand by it Avith all my heart. I think, however, that the suggestions of Mr. SeAvard are very judicious, and shall be glad to have them adopted." " I am ready to sustain the proclamation Avith all my power," said Mr. Stanton, " but the act is so great, and in Avhich such great conse quences are involved, I hope every member will be explicit in declaring his opinion." " I assent to it as a war measure," said Mr. Welles. " I am on principle an emancipationist," Mr. Blair remarked, " but 346 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. doubt the expediency of issuing the proclamation just at this moment. We ought not to do anything that aviII jeopardize the patriotic senti ment of the border States. This proclamation will be likely to carry them over to the Confederacy. There is also a party of men in the Free States Avho are trying to revive old party lines, and I do not want to put a club into their hands just noAv. I approve the measure, but the time has not come for such action, and I must file my objection, Mr. President." " Certainly, Mr. Secretary, that you have the right to do. I have thought over the objections which you raise. The difficulty not to act is as great as to act. For months I have labored to get the border States to consent to compensated emancipation. I have endeavored to convince them that it is for their best interest, but my labors have been in vain. The time has come for a forward movement. They Avill ac quiesce ; if not at once, they Avill in a short time. They will see that slavery has received its death -bloAv from the men Avho own slaves. They Avill see that slavery cannot survive the Avar. In regard to the party in the North, they will use their clubs against us, no matter Avhich course Ave pursue." ( ") The people of the United States, as they opened their newspapers on the following morning, beheld the head-lines Avhich announced the proclamation. The antislavery people thanked God; the pro- ' slavery uttered curses. Horace Greeley and the Chicago minis ters Avere surprised. Mr. Lincoln had shut his chamber door on all the world. Twenty years had passed since Lucy Gilman Speed guided his troubled spirit into restful peace. His conduct of the affairs of the nation Avas based upon the precepts contained in the book Avhich she had placed in his hands. Not Avith his Cabinet but Avith God had he first taken counsel. A third of a century had gone by since he stood a spectator in the slave mart of New Orleans and uttered a voav ; alone in his closet he reaffirmed it and promised to strike a blow at slavery. He had kept his promise. Word came to President Lincoln that members of McClellan's staff Avere making remarks which ought not to be made by army officers. Major Turner asked, "Why Avas not the rebel army bagged at An tietam ?" " That is not the game. The object is that neither army shall get much advantage of the other ; that both shall be kept in the field till they are exhausted, Avhen we Avill make a compromise and save slavery," replied Major John J. Key. EMANCIPATION. 347 The two officers Avere summoned to appear at the White House, and Major Key was informed that he had an opportunity of disproving the language attributed to him. He made no denial, but said he was true to the Union. " If there is a game," said the President, "among Union men to have our army not take any advantage of the enemy Avhen it can, I propose to break it up. In my view it is av holly inadmissible for any gentleman holding a military commission from the United States to utter such sentiments as Major Key is proved to have done. Therefore let Major John J. Key be forthAvith dismissed from the mili tary service of the United States." The army under McClellan, present and fit for duty, numbered 100,- 000, besides 73,000 under General Banks, in and around Washington. The Confederates were at Winchester. McClellan showed no disposition to advance. He complained that he needed clothing and supplies. The President determined to see for himself the con dition of the armj'-, and visited Harper's Ferry and McClellan's head quarters. In the early morning he climbed the mountain with a friend and beheld the panorama — hill-side and valley, as far as the eye could see, dotted Avith Avhite tents. " Do you know," said the President, turning to his friend, " what that is r " It is the Army of the Potomac," the ansAver. " So it is called. But that is a mistake ; it is General McClellan's Oct. 1. ' " « " / ¦''" B .r,i,!W „:¦«¦¦».•, ¦ wm r 1 7 ¦ Ty Tl PRESIDENT LINCOLN AT MoCLELLAN'S HEADQUARTERS. 348 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. body-guard," said Mr. Lincoln, sadly. Very kind but frank the conver sation held Avith the commanding general, who was informed that the army must move. There Avas no ambiguity in the fohWing despatch which General McClellan received from General Halleck, October 6th : "The President directs that you cross the Potomac and give battle to the enemy or drive him South. Your army must move now while the roads are good." To a friend the President said : " With all McClellan's failings as a soldier, he is a pleasant and scholarly gentleman. He is an admira ble engineer, but he seems to have a special talent for a stationary engine'' (12) Concealed by a fog that hung along the Potomac, General Stuart, commanding 1800 Confederate cavalry, crossed that stream, rode north ward, and in the e\Tening entered Chambersburg, Pa. He spent ' the night there, burned the railroad buildings, turned eastward, reached Emmettsburg the next evening, and recrossed the Potomac into Virginia, near Leesburg. He had trotted round the army as once before on the peninsula. McClellan complained that his own cavalry horses Avere broken down. " Will you pardon me for asking," Avrote the President, " Avhat the horses of your army have done since the battle of Antietam that fa tigues anything ?" On the day (October 13th) that the Confederate cavalry escaped into Virginia, the President wrote a long letter to McClellan : "You say that you cannot subsist your army at Winchester unless the railroad from Harper's Ferry to that point be put in working order. But the enemy does now subsist his army at AVinchester, at a distance nearly twice as great from railroad transportation as you would have to do without the railroad last named. He now wagons from Cul- peper Court-house, which is just about twice as far as you would have to do from Harper's Ferry. He is certainly not more than half as well provided with wagons as you are. I certainly should be pleased for you to have the advantage of the railroad from Harper's Ferry to Winchester, but it wastes all the remainder of autumn to give it to you, aud in fact ignores the question of time, which cannot and must not be ignored. Again, one of the standard maxims of war, as you know, is to ' operate upon the enemy's communica tions as much as possible without exposing your own.' You seem to act as if this applies against you, but cannot apply in your favor. Change positions with the enemy, and think you not he would break your communication with Richmond within the next twenty-four hours? You dread his going into Pennsylvania; but if he does so in full force, he gives up his communications to you absolutely, and you have nothing to do but to follow and ruin him. If he does so with less than full force, fall upon and beat what is left behind all the easier. Exclusive of the water-line, you are now nearer Richmond than the enemy is by the route that you can and he must take. AVhy can you tiot reach EMANCIPATION. 349 there before him, unless you admit that he is more than your equal on a march? His route is the arc of a circle, while yours is the chord." The result of the October election in Pennsylvania was disastrous to the Eepublican Party. Several members of Congress failed of a re-elec tion. William D. Kelley had been outspoken in his opinion of McClel lan, and had. been chosen by an increased vote, Avhile other candidates whose election Avas regarded as certain were defeated. Mr. Kelley called upon the President. " Kelley," said Mr. Lincoln, " you know how I sincerely congratulate you. Come, sit down and tell me hoAv it is that you, for Avhose election nobody seemed to hope, are returned with a good majority at your back, wdiile so many of your friends have been badly beaten." " My triumph, Mr. President, is due to my loyalty to you and to my independence in demanding the substitution of a fighting general for McClellan ; and it is the desire for a change of commanders that has brought me here this morning." Mr. McPherson, who had been defeated in Avhat Avas regarded as a strong Eepublican district, entered the room. " Tell me, Mr. McPherson, hoAv it happened that you were so un fortunately left out?" Mr. McPherson vaguely gave several reasons. " Pardon me, Mr. President," said Mr. Kelley, " but my colleague is not dealing frankly with you. His friends hold you responsible for his defeat." " If that is true, I thank you for the suggestion, Mr. Kelley. Now, tell me frankly what lost us your district, Mr. McPherson. If there was ever an occasion when a man should speak with perfect candor to another it is now, when I apply to you for information that may guide my course in grave national affairs." " Well, Mr. President, I will tell you frankly what our friends say. They charge the defeat to the general tardiness in military movements, which results, as they believe, from McClellan's unfitness to command. The enforcement of the draft occurred during the campaign, and of course our political enemies used it against us. Stuart, you know, raid ed through my district on the Friday and Saturday before the election, burned the railroad shops and trains, and destroyed thousands of mus kets and a large amount of supplies." Before the President could reply Mr. Moorhead, of Pittsburg, en tered. "Well, Moorhead, Avhat word do you bring? You Avere not defeated ?" 350 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. " No, Mr. President ; but I am sorry to say that it was not your fault that Ave Avere not all beaten !" he exclaimed, very excitedly. " Mr. President, I came as far as Harrisburg yesterday, and passed the even ing with a number of the best and most influential men of the State, including some Avho have been your most earnest supporters ; and they charged me to tell you that Avhen one of them said he would be glad to hear, some morning, that you had been found hanging from the post of a lamp at the door of the White House, others approved the expression." The President stands before the three gentlemen calm and unmoved. His voice is subdued. " My friends, you need not be surprised to find that your suggestion has been carried out any morning. The violent preliminaries of such an event would not surprise me. I have done things incomprehensible to the people, and Avhich cannot now be ex plained." " Mr. President," said Mr. Kelley, Avith great earnestness, " you have but to assert your position by showing yourself master of the military department, as you have of the other departments, to command a fol lowing in the Northern States such even as AndreAV Jackson never had. You enjoy a greater share of the personal affection of your fellow-citi zens than any public man since Washington. Within tAventy-four hours after it shall be known that you have put a soldier in McClellan's place, you Avill command the moral, social, and financial resources of the country as no President ever has done." " Kelley," replied the President, " if it Avere your duty to select a suc cessor to McClellan, Avhom would you name ?" Mr. Kelley did not reply directly, but said : " My advice to you, Mr. President, is to make a change, and let it be known that the loss of a great battle Avill be to the general the loss of his command ; and go on changing till you find the right man, though it be a private with a marshal's baton in his knapsack." " Well, but you are talking about an immediate successor to McClel lan, and I ask you Avhom you would name for his position if the duty Ave re yours ?" " I think, sir, my judgment Avould incline to Hooker, whose sobriquet of 'Fighting Joe' Avould convey the impression to the impatient coun try that the change meant ' fight,' Avhich the people would believe to be synonymous Avith an ultimate success." " Would not Burnside do better ?" "I don't think so. You knoAV I have great respect for him, but he is not known to the country as an aggressive man." EMANCIPATION. 351 " But Burnside is the better house-keeper." " Mr. President, you are not in search of a house-keeper or a hos pital steward, but of a soldier who will fight, and fight to win." " I am not so sure, Mr. Kelley, that Ave are not in search of a house keeper. I tell you that the successful managemeut of an army requires a good deal of faithful house-keeping. More fight will be got out of well-fed and Avell-cared-for soldiers and animals than those who make long marches on empty stomachs. (1S) The words were kindly spoken, and the three gentlemen assented to them. Mr. McPherson and Mr. Moorhead took their departure, and Mr. Kelley and the President Avere once more alone. " Mr. President," said Kelley, " you know that at Antietam Lee was in a cul-de-sac, Avith only one road by Avhich he could retreat across the Potomac ; that his ammunition Avas exhausted ; that McClellan had Fitz-John Porter's corps fresh, Avith an abundant supply of ammuni tion ; and yet Lee was allowed to get across the river with no moles tation." '" I know it, Kelley. Victory Avas Avithin McClellan's grasp. I know his unfitness to command ; but let me say to you that I restored McClel lan to the command of the army to reorganize it. He owed his command quite as much to Lee as to me ; for Avhile the work of reorganization was going on, Lee crossed the Potomac into Maryland, and compelled McClellan to move and check his advance." Mr. Kelley noticed a smile lighting up the sad face, but did not quite understand its meaning. The President continued : " Whatever the people and the troops may think or say of his failure to capture Lee, my censure avouIc! be tempered by the consciousness of the fact that I did not restore him to the command for aggressive fight ing, but as an organizer and a good hand at defending a position. McClellan, by liis constant and unfounded complaints, had done much to impair confidence in the Secretary of War and myself. He had wantonly sacrificed Pope. I admit that to employ him to rescue the army from its demoralization is a good deal like ' curing the bite with the hair of the dog.' But Ave must not forget the position of affairs, which furnish a striking illustration of the danger to Avhich republican institutions are subjected by a great Avar, Avhich may produce ambitious and rival commanders. The civil power in September Avas in reality subordinate to the military. I was commander-in-chief, but found my self, in that season of insubordination, panic, and demoralization, con sciously under military duress. McClellan, while fighting battles which 352 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. should produce no result but the expenditure of men and means, had contrived to keep the troops with him by charging each neAV failure to some dereliction of the Secretary of War and the President ; had cre ated an impression among them that the Administration was hostile to him, and Avithheld what should have been accorded him, and Avhich in some instances he falsely represented as having been promised him. The restoration of McClellan to command, in the face of his miscon duct, was the greatest trial and most painful duty of my official life. Yet, situated as I Avas, it seemed to be my duty, and, in opposition to every member of my Cabinet, I performed it, and I feel no regret for what I have done. To-day, Mr. Kelley, I am stronger Avith the Army of the Potomac than McClellan. The supremacy of civil power has been restored, and the Executive is again master of the situation. The troops AMBROSE E. BURNSIDE. EMANCIPATION. 353 knoAV that if I made a mistake in substituting Pope for McClellan, I was capable of rectifying it by again trusting him. They know, too, that neither Stanton nor myself withheld anything from him at Antie tam, and that it Avas not the Administration but their OAvn former idol avIio surrendered the just results of their terrible sacrifice and closed the great fight as a draAvn battle, Avhen, had he thrown Porter's corps of fresh men and other available troops upon Lee's army, he Avould have driven it in disorder to the river and captured most of it before sunset." The month of October was closing. For a period of six Aveeks the army had idled the time away encamped on the bank of the Potomac. It was east of the Blue Bidge. General Lee Avas west of it, in the Shenandoah Valley. McClellan was nearer Eichmond. The President urged him to make a rapid march on the interior line for the Confederate capital, but the army did not move. The patience of the loyal people of the country was exhausted. President Lincoln knew that every member of his Cabinet had lost faith in McClellan. He had issued a peremptory order for a movement which had been disregarded. Slowly, during the last week of October, the army crossed the Poto mac ; slowly it moved a feAV miles each day southward. More swiftly marched the army of Lee, crossing the mountains and reaching Cul- peper, ready to confront McClellan on the bank of the Eapidan. The patience of the President was exhausted. He had resolved to remove him from further command if he allowed Lee to cross the mountains and block the advance to Eichmond. A messenger ' came with an order relieving McClellan of the command and appointing General Burnside as his successor. NOTES TO CHAPTER XVIII. (') " Century Magazine," January, 1889. (2) Warden's "Life of Salmon P. Chase," p. 459. (3) Gideon AVelles, " Lincoln and Seward," p. 194. (4) Schuyler Colfax, " Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln," p. 337. (5) " Century Magazine," August, 1889. (6) Ibid. (') " Ceutury Magazine," January, 1889. (8) Ibid. (9) Gideon Welles's Diary, " Century Magazine," January, 1889. (10) Ibid. (") Gideon Welles, "Galaxy Magazine," December, 1882. (IS) Isaac N. Arnold, " Life of Lincoln," p. 300. (1S) William D. Kelley, "Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln," p. 271. 23 354 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. CHAPTEE XIX. DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN. THE Army of the Potomac was at Warrenton. Its new commander, General Burnside, had rendered excellent service in North Caro lina. He reluctantly accepted the command conferred upon him by President Lincoln. He doubted his ability to handle so large a body of troops. The country demanded aggressive action. He must plan a campaign. The advantages Avhich existed after Antietam had been lost. The Confederate army was behind the Eapidan, at Gordonsville. A new movement must be planned. General Halleck advised Burn side to make a direct attack upon the Confederate army. Burnside thought it would be better to march south-east to Fredericksburg, and cross the Eappahannock at that point. It Avould necessitate the re opening of the railroad from Aquia Creek to Fredericksburg. Pon toons would be needed. They could be taken down the Potomac and up the Eappahannock by steamer. Burnside Avould conceal his inten tions by making a demonstration towards Gordonsville with a portion of the army while the boats Avere on their Avay. At the right moment he would make a quick march to Fredericksburg. Halleck would see that the pontoons Avere there at the appointed time. The plan was approved by the President. Day was dawning on November 15th Avhen the troops under Gener al Sumner folded their blankets and moved eastward from Warrenton. They reached the Falmouth hills opposite Fredericksburg. The Con federate regiment of cavalry and four companies of infantry holding the place saw with amazement the hills across the Eappahannock SAvarming with Union soldiers. The pontoons had not arrived. Colonel Brooks, commanding a brigade, saw a steer come down the southern bank and wade across the stream. He sent word to Sumner, who de spatched a messenger to Burnside, asking permission to cross the river and seize Fredericksburg. He had 40,000 men. Burnside hastened to Falmouth, but thought the risk too great, as the pontoons Avere not DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN. 355 there. Two days passed, and Lee's army was upon the hills behind the city. Through want of co-operation or inefficiency at Washington the well -laid plan had miscarried. Burnside Avas confronted by the army of Lee, intrenched upon frowning hills. The country was Di86''2' demanding a battle. He must make a movement. He decided to cross the Eappahannock, capture the toAvn, and then attack Lee in the intrenchments. It was done, resulting in failure, the loss of 12,000 men, and the Avithdrawal of the troops to Falmouth. No language can adequately describe the emotions of the President upon hearing of the terrible slaughter and the disastrous results. Day by day the lines deepened upon his brow. The elections held in November had resulted in the choice of a large number of Democratic members of Congress, and the election of Horatio Seymour as Governor of New York. Mr. Seymour Avas a Democrat, opposed to the war, and Mr. Lincoln could no longer turn to the chief of that great State for support. He had good reason to look with apprehension into the future. But in his message to Congress, upon its reassembling for its last session, there was no swerving from his conviction of what was right, or what ought to be done to maintain the Union. There is dignity, grandeur, and touching pathos in his clos ing sentences : " I do not forget the gravity which should characterize a paper addressed to the Con gress of the nation by the chief magistrate of the nation. Nor do I forget that some of you are my seniors, nor that many of you have more experience than I iu the conduct of public affairs. Yet I trust that in view of the great responsibility resting upon me you will perceive no want of respect to yourselves in any undue earnestness I may seem to display. The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occa sion 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 disinthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country. "Fellow-citizens, we canuot escape history. We, of this Congress and this adminis tration, 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 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 re sponsibility. 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. '' Mr. Lincoln was carrying burdens which were not apparent to the public. The country was holding him responsible for all the failures. 356 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. The War Department was a part of the Administration. Why such in efficiency at Washington ? Why were not the pontoons at Fredericks burg at the appointed time ? Why did not the President bring about harmony among the members of the Cabinet? Mr. Seward and Mr. Chase differed widely in their views as to what ought to be done. They had both been aspirants for the Presidency. Mr. Lincoln, with great magnanimity, had invited them to aid him in the administration. They were strong men, who not only criticised each other, but the President. " It is painful," wrote Mr. Chase to Senator Sherman, " to hear com plaints of remissness, delays, disorder, and dangers, and feel that there must be ground for such complaints, and know at the same time that one has no power to remedy the evils complained of, and yet be thought tohave."(') Mr. Chase said the Administration had made many mistakes and blunders. He also felt that the influence of the Secretary of State over Mr. Lincoln was not Avhat it should be. " I do not doubt," he said to Mr. ThurloAv Weed, " Mr. Seward's fidel ity to his ideas of progress, amelioration, and freedom ; but he adheres too tenaciously to men who have proved themselves unworthy and dan gerous, such as McClellan. His influence encourages the irresolution and inaction of the President in regard to men and measures." (2) Mr. SeAvard offended a large number of Senators by a despatch writ ten to Mr. Adams, Minister to England, in Avhich he criticised the policy of that minister. The Senators learned of the intervieAv between Mr. Chase and Mr. Weed, which made them still more dissatisfied Avith Mr. Seward. They met in conference and voted to demand his dismissal, but subsequently thought it Avould be more respectful to request a re construction of the Cabinet. The janitor at the White House was accustomed to see delegations and committees ascend the stairs leading to the President's room, but not often had he seen nine Senators entering the chamber in a Dec 19 ' body. They were men whom the President greatly respected — Sumner, (3) Fessenden, Collamer, Pomeroy, Howard, Harris, Wade, Grimes, Trumbull. They had no charge to make of any particular wrong done by Mr. Seward, but thought he was not heartily supporting the measures of the President. " I would like to see you again this evening," said the President. The Senators departed, and a little later each member of the Cabi net, in response to a request from the President, entered. They were DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN. 357 ^1 »S CHARLES SUMNER. informed of the interview with the Senators. He desired them to know all that was being done. Once more — in the evening — the Sen ators met the President, together with the members of the Cabinet, except Mr. Seward. We never shall know all that Avas said. A frank and free discussion was carried on till late in the night. "Do you, gentlemen," said the President, "still think Mr. SeAvard ought to be excused from serving as Secretary of State?" "Yes," said Sumner, Trumbull, Grimes, and Pomeroy. " No," responded Senator Harris. " We decline to commit ourselves," the answer of Fessenden, Colla- mer, and Howard. 23* 358 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. On December 20th Secretary Seward and Secretary Chase sent their resignations to the President, but he declined to accept them ; he need ed their great services and had confidence in them. Christmas was not, as in former years, full of joy and gladness, but sorrow, to those whose loved ones were buried Avhere they fell on the battle-fields. Gloom and despondency were settling upon the Army of the Potomac. The leading generals were quarrelling. Burnside de manded the peremptory removal of those whom he believed had failed to do their duty — among them General Hooker. His subordinate com manders Avere denouncing him for the useless slaughter at Fredericks burg. There Avas want of unity in the Cabinet. Senators and mem bers of Congress were criticising the Administration. The Eepublican members Avere divided in opinion. The Committee on the Conduct of the War was bringing to light many scandals. The men who opposed the Avar were becoming arrogant and aggressive. The Democratic Party was in poAver in many of the States, determined to thwart the President. Leading officers in the army said that " the army and the Government needed a dictator." The time was near at hand when the final edict of emancipation would be issued. More bitterly than ever was it denounced as unconstitutional, unrighteous, and wicked by those who did not want to see slavery abolished. Is it a Avonder that under these circumstances the sadness deepened upon the countenance of the President, or that he experienced unspeakable anguish as he thought of the slaughter at Fredericksburg and looked into the darkness of the future ? Many slaves had left their masters and made their way to Washing ton. The Government Avas obliged to establish a " contraband camp," where they were cared for. On the last day of December the hands of the clock stole on to the midnight hour, when, according to the edict of Abraham Lincoln, they Avere to be free. The thousands kneeled and began to sing : " Oh, go down, Moses, Way down to Egypt's land ; Tell King Pharaoh To let my people go. Oh, Pharaoh said he would not cross — 'Let my people go.' But Pharaoh and his hosts were lost — Let my people go." The song ceased. The church bell slowly tolled the hour. There DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN. 359 was silence as of death, and then " Glory ! hallelujah ! we are free ! God bless Massa Linkum !" "O dark, sad millions, patiently and dumb, AA'aiting for God, your hour at last has come, And freedom's song Breaks the long silence of your night of wrong." So wrote John G. Whittier on hearing the consummation of the eATent which gave freedom to 4,000,000 slaves. General Burnside planned a movement of the army. General Sum ner was to have charge of it. General Averill, Avith a large force of cavalry, was to make a raid in rear of the Confederates and ^'o1' destroy their communication with Eichmond. While the church bells were tolling out the old year and ringing in the new, with its era of freedom, a despatch Avent over the wires from the President to Burnside : " I have good reason for saying you must make no movement without consulting me." General Burnside hastened to Washington, and learned that seAT- eral of his subordinate officers had protested against the movement. He sent a letter to the President, in Avhich he said that the country evidently had lost confidence in Mr. Stanton, General Halleck, and himself, and that all three ought to resign. He enclosed his own resig nation. He called upon Secretary Stanton and informed him of Avhat he had clone. " If," said Stanton, " you had as much confidence in yourself as oth ers have in you, things Avould go through all right." The President sent the resignation back to Burnside, Avho returned to the army. Mr. Eaymond, editor of the New York " Times," Avishing to see the actual situation, visited Falmouth and talked with many officers. (4) " I think," said General Wadsworth, " that the reported demoraliza tion of the army is much exaggerated, and that the only trouble is in the disaffection of some of the officers, Avho had been greatly favored by McClellan, and aaJio were hoping for his return to command." (6) " There is," said Colonel MorroAv, " a good deal of dissatisfaction — or rather of despondency — among officers and men, due mainly, in my opinion, to a lack of military successes and to a want of confidence in General Burnside, because he has no confidence in himself. He has said many times that he did not feel competent to command. He has not 360 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. only spoken of his incompetency, but has been before a Congressional committee and sAvorn to it. As an instance of the feeling in the army, one of my lieutenants has sent in his resignation because he does not approve of the policy on which the Government is conducting the war. The army must be reorganized, with a general at its head who has not been mixed up with rivalries."(6) General Burnside planned another advance. He intended to send a portion of the army down the river and make a feint of crossing. At HENRY J. RAYMOND. the same time he would make a rapid march up the river and gain a foothold on the southern side. Generals Franklin, Smith, and Hooker Jan 22 vehementr7 opposed the plan. The orders Avere issued. The ' army began its march. But a storm came— the rain poured in torrents. Wagons and cannon could not be moved, and the troops re turned to their quarters. DxlRKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN. 361 The dissatisfaction increased. It Avas promoted by officers rather than by the men. We need not Avonder that Burnside keenly felt their antagonism. The command of the army had been thrust upon him. He had been tliAvarted in his first attempt by the inefficiency or neglect of Halleck in not having the pontoons at Fredericksburg. Franklin had not done his duty in battle, and together Avith Hooker, Smith, Cochrane, Woodbury, Sturgis, and Newton opposed his plans. The President himself had interfered Avith one of his projects, and yet Avould not accept his resignation. He could accomplish nothing, and resolved to remove the officers Avho were opposing him ; but instead of issuing the order, he Avent to Washington to lay the matter before Mr. Lincoln. " You know, Mr. President," he said, " that I never sought any com mand — and more particularly that of the Army of the Potomac. You know my desire to return to civil life. I have no desire to place myself in opposition to you or to do anything to weaken the Government. I have written the order removing those officers, but I have no right to remove them Avithout your approval. In case you cannot approve it, I must tender you once more my resignation." " General Burnside," replied the President, " I think that you are correct, but I must consult with some of my advisers about this." In addition to the burdens he had to bear, the President, in compli ance with custom, must hold receptions and shake hands with several thousand people. It was only a minute that he could talk with Mr. Eaymond on such an occasion. "General Hooker is throwing obstacles in the way of Burnside," said Mr. Eaymond. "It is true," replied Mr. Lincoln; "Hooker does talk badly, but the trouble is he is stronger with the country to-day than any other man." " Hoav long will he retain that strength when his real conduct and character is understood ?" " The country would not believe it ; they Avould say it is a lie." (') Mr. Seward was anxious to know what Mr. Eaymond thought of affairs in the army " The mass of the soldiers are loyal ; the demoral ization is with the officers," said Mr. Eaymond. In addition to the jealousies and rivalries among the army officers, the President was annoyed by the course pursued by Horace Greeley, who was holding private interviews and correspondence with Mercier, the French Minister, to persuade him that the people of the United 362 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. States would welcome a mediation which Avould put an end to the Avar. (8) Mr. Seward was Secretary of State, and had been intrusted by the President with all diplomatic affairs ; but Mr. Greeley, a private citi zen, was attempting to carry out a pet plan of his own devising, in violation of the laAv Avhich forbade all intercourse Avith foreign Minis ters. Mr. Greeley was undertaking to manage the affairs of the nation. He held intimate personal relations with the Secretary of State. " He ought to be arrested," said Mr. J. P. Usher, who had succeeded Mr. Smith as Secretary of the Interior. " If you were to have him ar rested the public would see that the Government intended to punish with impartial A'igor all violations of law and all departures from loy' alty." " Were I to cause his arrest," replied Mr. Seward, " it would be re garded as an act of personal hostility to Mr. Greeley, Avhose proposition is to be ridiculed. He proposes to make Switzerland the arbiter of our destiny — a republic half Prussian and half French, half Catholic and half Protestant, represented in Washington by a consul-general Avho keeps a feed-store near the Capitol, and who knows no more of the ne cessities and conditions of our national existence than of the politics of the moon. The President must be supported in his conduct of the war. The dream of separation is idle. The South Avill not rest content with any boundary that can be drawn. If it Avas the Potomac, they would Avant Washington and Baltimore ; if the Susquehanna, they would want Philadelphia and then New York. Permanent peace on such a basis would be impossible. With all his defects President Lincoln is just the man for the crisis. Patient, capable of endurance, just and tolerant be yond example, Providence has raised him up for this emergency as He raised up Washington for the necessities of our struggle for independ ence.'^9) Once more General Burnside entered the President's chamber. " I have decided," said Mr. Lincoln, " to relieve you of the command of the army ; not to accept your resignation, but to give you a little rest, and I shall place General Hooker in command. I intend also to relieve General Sumner and General Franklin of their commands. Sumner is much older than Hooker, and ought not to be asked to serve under him." " I am content, Mr. President, to accept it as the best solution of the problem. Neither yourself nor General Hooker will be happier than I Avill be at any victory Avon by him." DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN. 363 It was a very frank, open, and earnest letter which the President wrote to General Hooker : " I have placed you at the head of the Arm)' of the Potomac. Of course I have done this upon what appears to me to be sufficient reasons, and yet I think it best for you to know that there are some things in regard to which I am not quite satisfied with you. I believe you to be a brave and skilful soldier, which, of course, I like. I also believe you do not mix politics with your profession, in which you are right. Vou have confidence in yourself, which is a valuable, if not an indispensable, quality. You are ambitious, which, within reasonable bounds, does good rather than harm. But I think that during General Burnside's command of the army you have taken counsel of your ambitions, and thwarted him as much as you could, in which you did a great wrong both to the country and a most meritorious and honorable brother-officer. I have heard, in such a way as to believe it, of your recently saying that the army and the Government needed a dictator. Of course it was not for this, but in spite of it, that I have given you a command. Only those generals who gain success can set up as dictators. What I ask of you is military success, and I will risk the dictatorship. The Government will support you to the utmost of its ability, which is neither more nor less than it has done and will do for all command ers. I much fear that the spirit you have aided to infuse into the army, of criticising its commander and withholding confidence from him, will now turn upon you. I shall assist you, as far as I can, to put it down. Neither you nor Napoleon, if he were alive again, could get any good out of an army while such a spirit prevails in it. And now, beware of rashness ! Beware of rashness 1 But with energy and sleepless vigilance go forward and give us victories. " General Hooker found that the soldiers were homesick. The long ing had become a disease. The medical staff had no medicine for its cure. The sight of home — of parents, wives, sisters, children' — alone would cure it. He proposed to furlough for several clays a specified number of men from each regiment, who must return on the appoint ed day, or their fellow-soldiers would not be able to go. President Lincoln at first objected, but allowed the experiment. The soldiers were upon their honor, and promptly returned. Homesickness disappeared, and the army took on neAV vigor and moral strength. The Confederate cavalry under General Mosby made a daring and successful raid. They eluded the Union pickets at Centreville in the night, rode to Fairfax Court-house, surprised and captured Gen- ' eral Stoughton, Avho was in command at that point, also thirty men, and fifty -eight horses and mules. Mosby and his soldiers Avere Virginians. They knew every road and path, and could make their Avay through the forest in the darkest night. Their exploits were those of marauders rather than of soldiers. President Lincoln laughed heartily Avhen he heard of the capture. " So one of my generals is captured," he said. " How fortunate ! I can fill his place in five minutes without costing a cent, but those mules cost $200 each."(10) 364 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. l$if*5SII JOSEPH HOOKER. It was the bubbling up of the unfailing spring of humor. A great many men wanted to be generals — those who had had no military experi ence. Senators, Congressmen, men of standing and position were asking him to appoint their friends. Colonels of regiments were looking for ward to the time when they would wear a star on each shoulder, and DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN. 365 were using all possible means to bring it about. There Avas grim humor in the expression, " My generals." He appointed them, but had no means of knowing their fitness for command, except the representations of those who sought the appointments. During the first week in May, General Hooker advanced to Chan- cellorsville, suffered defeat, and returned to Falmouth Hills. Nothing had been gained, and the Confederates could justly boast that ]^' they had won a great Aactory. The strategy of Hooker in gain ing a position south of the Eapidan must be regarded as brill iant. His falling back from Tabernacle Church (see " Marching to Victory," battle of Chancellorsville) seemingly Avas a mistake in tactics. His hasty conclusion that the movement of Jackson across his front was a retreat of the Confederate army Avas an error of judgment. On the morning that saAv the Army of the Potomac once more at Falmouth, Professor Henry and Mr. Brooks, personal friends of Mr. Lincoln, were ushered into one of the family -rooms of the White House. The President entered, handed them a despatch, and tottered to a chair. " Bead it — news from the army." It was all he could say "The army has safely recrossed the Rappahannock !" His face was the color of ashes, as if the fire of life had gone out. " Oh, what will the country say ? What will it say ?" he gasped. No thought of himself. The Avelfare of the country Avas the fore most thought. (") A great battle had been fought. The Confederates, Avith an infe rior force, had attacked Hooker and defeated him, compelling him to recross the river. Thousands had been killed. Nothing Avas gained. The country would hold the Administration responsible. The Abolitionists, who had anticipated great and immediate results from the Emancipation Proclamation, were disappointed because the slaves did not flock in crowds to the Union armies. A delegation vis ited the White House to see if something could not be done to make the proclamation more effective. Senator Wilson, of Massachusetts, introduced them to the President, They found him laughing heartily as they entered. "You find the White House," he said, "in a highly sensational state. Tad informed me this morning that a lot of kittens had been added to the household, and just noAv a bulletin has been issued an nouncing that we have a family of puppies." Some of the gentlemen thought it rather undignified for the Presi- 366 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. dent of a great nation to receive a delegation of honorable gentlemen in so hilarious a manner, but they saw the smile fade from his face, and heard sober words follow the gleeful laughter. " It gives me pleasure to introduce Mr. Wendell Phillips, of Boston," said Senator Wilson, " and Mr. Moncure Conway, Mr. Bird, Mr. Wright, and Mr. Stearns." " Oh, I know you all, gentlemen. Please be seated." " We have come, Mr. President," said Mr. Phillips, " to express our gratitude and joy for what you have done in issuing the Proclamation of Emancipation. May we ask how, in your judgment, it is working ?" " Well, gentlemen, I never have supposed that any very great result would come at once, and consequently am not disappointed. I have hoped, and still hope, that something will come of it after a while." " It was to be expected," said Mr. Phillips, " that the proclamation would arouse hostility in some quarters, but the people of the North are nearly satisfied in regard to it. But it has seemed to us that it is not being honestly carried out by all the generals in command." " It is my impression," responded the Bresident, " that the masses are only dissatisfied at our lack of military successes. Defeat and fail ure make everything seem Avrong. Most of us here present have nearly all our lives been Avorking in minorities, and many have got into a habit of being dissatisfied." Mr. Phillips and those with him understood the significance of the words, for they had severely commented upon the President on many occasions, but they disclaimed any dissatisfaction since the proclama tion had been issued. " At any rate, gentlemen, it has been very rare that an opportunity has been lost of running this Administration." " Mr. President," said Mr. Phillips, " if Ave see this Administration earnestly working to free the country from slavery and its rebellion, we will show you how Ave can run it into another four years of power." " Oh, Mr. Phillips ! I have ceased to have any personal feeling or expectation in that matter. I do not say that I never had any, but I have been greatly abused and borne upon. I must bear this load which the country has intrusted to me as well as I can, and do my best. I am glad to have met you, gentlemen. I have knoAvn of your dis tinguished services. Am pleased to have met you personally." He boAvs graciously, and they take their departure, but they will carry through life the memory of a countenance inexpressibly sad, and burdened with care. DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN. 367 Visitors to the executive chamber saAV maps suspended on the walls, Avith the positions of the armies of the Union and Confederacy plainly marked, and their movements traced from time to time. From the outbreak of the Eebellion the President had pointed out to the members of the Cabinet and others Avhat he conceived to be the true lines for military operations. " I see no hope of success," said the President, as he stood looking at the maps. "This moArement toAvards Eichmond by the Army of the Potomac is on the same line as that attempted by Burnside. The one against Vicksburg by the Yazoo Pass, the movement of the monitors against Charleston, are not, in my judgment, going to be ac complished." He never had studied military science, but he comprehended the principles that must underlie successful strategic movements. " There was not one of his most trusted military counsellors in the beginning of the war who equalled him in military sagacity," (12) said General Keyes. The failure of Hooker produced a feeling of depression throughout the country. A poem written by E. C. Stedman, Avhich the President read to the members of the Cabinet, Avell expressed public sentiment : "Give us a man of God's own mould, Born to marshal his fellow -men; One whose fame is not bought and sold At the stroke of the politician's pen. Give us a man of thousands ten, Fit to do as well as to plan. Give us a rallying cry, aud then, Abraham Lincoln, give us a man." McClellan, Burnside, Hooker, Buell, Fremont, Pope — all had failed as commanders. Grant, Avho had won Donelson and Pittsburg Land ing, was trying to capture Vicksburg. He had not succeeded in his attempt to turn the Mississippi by digging a canal, so as to gain the rear of Vicksburg by the Yazoo Pass. The Confederates Avere boasting that it was a Gibraltar, and that Grant would fail, no matter what his plan might be. General Halleck had shown no marked ability as a commander in the field. The people were asking Mr. Lincoln for what he could not give. Senators and members of Congress were urging him to remove Grant, who, they said, was accomplishing nothing. "Mr. President," said Senator Wade, of Ohio, " I have called to ask you to relieve Grant. 36S LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. He is doing nothing. His hospitals are filled with sick. His army is Avasting away." " Senator, that reminds me of a story." " Bother your stories, Mr. President. That is the way with you, sir. It is all story — story. You are the father of every military blunder that has been made during the Avar. You are on the road to h — 1, sir, Avith this Government, and you are not a mile off this minute." " Wade, that is about the distance from here to the Capitol," Mr. Lincoln replied, his eyes twinkling and smiles rippling his countenance. He knew that a true heart Avas beating in the breast of the outspoken Senator, and Avas not offended by the uncomplimentary language. (1S) More than a quarter of a century had passed since the tragedy at Alton, 111., in Avhich Eev. E. P. Lovejoy was murdered (see p. 377). BENJAMIN F. WADE. DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN. 369 Through many years Mr. Lincoln had enjoyed the personal friendship of Owen Lovejoy, a brother, Avho had given his life in defence of the freedom of the Press. (14) The brother Avas member of Congress, and Avas always warmly Avelcomed at the executive mansion. He thought that national unity Avould be promoted by a greater mingling of East ern Avith Western troops. The President saw that much good might come from such action, and wrote a note to the Secretary of War, Avhich Mr. Lovejoy handed to Mr. Stanton. " I will not do it," said the Secretary. " But here, Mr. Secretary, is the President's letter." " The President is a d d fool." Mr. Lovejoy returned to the White House. " Well, what now, Lovejoy ?" the President asked. " Stanton says you are a d d fool." " Did he say that ?" •Yes." " Well, if he said so, I reckon I must be, for he is nearly always right. I'll step over and see about it." The object Avhich Mr. Lovejoy had in vieAv was accomplished a few months later, when a portion of the Army of the Potomac was sent Avest to share in the movement Avhich swept the Confederates from Lookout Mountain and Chattanooga, and to take part in the capture of Atlanta and the March to the Sea. In the battle of Chancellorsville the Confederates lost the Arery able commander, "Stonewall" Jackson, Avho, although fighting against the Government, Avas highly esteemed by Mr. Lincoln for his ability as a commander, and for the stainless purity of his character. A fitting tribute to the fallen general in the Philadelphia " Press " elicited from the President a note, thanking the editor for what he had written. (") General Burnside had been appointed commander of the Depart ment of Ohio. He issued an order which announced that persons Avho committed acts for the benefit of the enemies of the country Avould be tried as spies and traitors, and if convicted would suffer death. Instead of allaying discussion, the order aroused the hostility of those Avho opposed the Avar. The Democratic Party Avas emboldened by the results of the fall elections. Clement L. Vallandigham, of Ohio, became very bitter. At a political meeting held at Mount Vernon he inflamed his hearers by saying it was the design of those in power to establish a despotism, and they had no intention of restoring the Union. If the people sub- 24 370 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. mitted to the conscription, they were not worthy to be called free men. He spoke of the President as " King Lincoln." The defiant attitude and treasonable speeches of Vallandigham caused his arrest and trial by court-martial, and he was sentenced to be placed in confinement during the war. General Burnside approved the sentence, and selected Fort Warren, in Boston Harbor, as the place where he should be imprisoned. The President did not know of this. It seems probable that had he known he would not have alloAved the trial to go on. General Burnside possibly saw he had not pursued the best course. He wrote that his resignation was at the disposal of the President. " When I wish to supersede you I will let you know," the reply. The President saw that if Vallandigham were to be kept in confine ment he would have the sympathy of the entire Democratic Party. There is humor in his action in changing the sentence of the court — that he be sent " beyond our lines into those of his friends." Vallandigham was accordingly escorted to the Confederate lines in Tennessee, from Avhence he proceeded to Eichmond. It Avas not a very cordial reception that was given him. " He has no claim on ay ''' our gratitude," said the "Eichmond Examiner;" "he is simply an alien enemy, a prisoner of Avar, a respectable enemy." Mr. Vallandigham assured Jefferson Davis that if the Confederates could hold out another year the Beace Party of the North would sweep the Lincoln dynasty out of political existence. After a short stay in Eichmond he ran the blockade to Nassau, and thence to Canada. When the war began more men volunteered than were called for, but the Avave of patriotism had spent its force, and Congress had ordered a draft Avhich Avas to be made on the first day of July. The Democratic Party opposed it. The war was declared to be a failure. Peace con ventions were held; one in New York City, which declared that " Under the Constitution there is no power to coerce the States by military force." The Democratic convention of Pennsylvania denounced the emancipation of the slaAres. " The party of fanaticism," read one of the resolutions, " or crime, whichever it may be called, that seeks to turn loose the slaves of the Southern States to overrun the North, and to enter into competition Avith the white laboring masses, thus degrading their manhood by placing them on equality with the negroes, is insult ing to our race and merits our unqualified condemnation. This is a government of white men, and was established exclusively for white men." The Democrats of New York held a "peace meeting" at Albany DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN. 371 OWEN LOVEJOY. (May 16th), at which a letter was read, written by Governor Seymour. Concerning the arrest of Vallandigham, he said : "If it is approved by the Government and sanctioned by the people, it is not merely a step towards revolution — it is revolution. ... If itis upheld our liberties are overthrown. . . . The action of the Administration will determine, in the minds of more than one-half of the people of the loyal States, whether the war is waged to put down rebellion in the South or destroy free institutions in the North." The convention passed a series of resolutions condemning arbitrary arrests, and calling upon the President to reverse the proceedings of the military courts. 372 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Not many State papers surpass in vigor, force, clearness, and direct ness of statement the reply of Mr. Lincoln. He referred to the safety of individuals under the Constitution, and reviewed the ' state of affairs when he Avas inaugurated President — how forts and arsenals had been seized. The men who Avere fighting against the lawful authority of government had been long preparing for its overthroAV. They kneAv that if war came habeas corpus would probably be suspended. The President said : " Civil courts were powerless. Even in times of peace bands of horse-thieves and robbers frequently grew too numerous aud powerful for ordinary courts of justice. But what comparison in number have such bands ever borne to the insurgent sympathizers in many of the loyal States ? A jury too frequently has one member who is more ready to hang the panel than to hang the traitor. He who dissuades one man from volunteering or induces one soldier to desert weakens the Union cause just as much as he who kills a soldier in battle. Yet this dissuasion may be so conducted as to be no definite crime of which any civil court would take cognizance. . . .Mr. Vallandigham was not arrested be cause he was damaging the political prospects of the Administration, or the personal inter ests of the commanding general, but because he was damaging the army, upon the exist ence and vigor of whicli the life of the nation depends. He was warring upon the military, and this gave the military constitutional jurisdiction to lay hands on him. . . . Long experi ence has shown that armies cannot be maintained unless desertion shall be punished by the severe penalty of death. The case requires, and the law and Constitution sustain this punishment. Must I shoot a simple-minded soldier-boy who deserts, and not touch a hair of the wily agitator who induces him to desert? " This is none the less injurious when effected by getting a father, brother, or friend into a public meeting, and there working upon his feelings until he is persuaded to write to the soldier-boy that he is fighting in a bad cause, for n 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. ... I am not able to appreciate the danger apprehended that the American people will, by means of military arrests during the Rebellion, lose the right of public discussion, the liberty of speech and the Press, the law of evidence, trial by jury, habeas corpus throughout the indefinite, peaceful future, which I trust lies before them, any more than I am able to believe that a man could contract so strong an appetite for emetics during a temporary illness as to persist in feeding upon them during the remainder of his healthful life." The " Peace Democrats " were very angry, but the letter gave great satisfaction to the loyal people. They saAV in its perfect candor that Abraham Lincoln never Avould assume to be a dictator, and that civil liberty AAras safe in his hands. Spies reported that the Confederates Avere preparing to invade Pennsylvania. General Hooker wrote to the President, expressing a desire, in case a large portion of Lee's army was to leave Fredericks- burgoo cross the river and fall on the remainder. The President replied : DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN. 373 "I have but one idea which I think worth suggesting to you, and that in case you find Lee coming north of the Rappahannock, I would by no means cross south of it. If he should leave a rear force at Fredericksburg, tempting you to fall upon it, it would fight in intrenchments and have you at a disadvantage, and so, man for man, worst you at that point, while his main force would in some way be getting an advantage of you north ward. In one word, I would not take any risk of being entangled upon a river like an ox jumped half over a fence aud liable to be torn by dogs front and rear, without a fair chance to gore one way or kick the other." Again General Hooker sent a despatch : "Will it not promote the true interest of the cause for me to march to Richmond at once ?" The President answered: "I think Lee's army and not Richmond is your true objective point. If he comes towards the upper Potomac follow his flank, and on the inside track, shortening your line while he lengthens his. Fight him, too, when opportunity offers. If he stays where he is fret him, fret him." From the beginning of the war the cry had been "Eichmond." McClellan had made the Confederate capital his objective point. Hooker was doing the same. They had been educated in military ideas at West Point ; but the President understood that the power of the Eebel- lion Avas in the Confederate Army. Destroy that, and the Confederacy and its " corner-stone " would crumble. A brigade of Confederate cavalry entered Chambersburg, Pa. Par ties of soldiers Avent out in all directions collecting what cattle and horses they could find, also negroes, sending them into Virginia ' to be sold as slaves. It mattered not that they Avere free. HaAring collected a large amount of provisions, the Confederates fell back to Williamsport. It was known the army under Lee was making its Avay northAvard. Hooker was east of the Bull Bun Mountain, ready to cross the Potomac whenever Lee indicated his chosen line of march. On Maryland Heights, at Harper's Ferry, were 10,000 Union troops, com manded by General French ; they Avere in a military department under General Schenck, whose headquarters were at Baltimore. Hooker want ed to use them, and asked that they be transferred to his command. Halleck refused to grant the request. General Heintzelman wTas in command of 30,000 troops holding the forts at Washington. General Lee's plan was soon discovered by the advance of the Union cavalry Avestward to Aldie, in Virginia, Avhere it came in collision Avith the Confederate cavalry under Stuart. The infantry, artillery, and supplies 374 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. of the Confederates were all moving northward down the Shenan doah Valley. Stuart was east of the Blue Eidge, covering the movement. The war had divided families, especially in the border States ; in Ken tucky, Maryland, and Missouri brothers were fighting against brothers. Kentucky had not seceded, but many citizens of that State had joined the Confederates, among them Major Todd, brother of Mrs. Lincoln. The Confederate corps leading the advance of Lee's army, command ed by General Ewell, reached Williamsport, crossed the Potomac, and moved on to Chambersburg. Major Todd was in Ewell's com- ' mand. He attempted to enter the house of Dr. Stevens unin vited, but was confronted by Miss Stevens, the doctor's daughter, who raised an axe and stood ready to strike. " I'll split your head open," she said. The major thought it prudent to give up the attempt. When the Confederates reached Chambersburg, Hooker compre hended the meaning of the movement. The Union army crossed the Potomac. Again he asked that the troops at Harper's Ferry be transferred to his command. He intended to join them to the Twelfth Corps, under General Slocum, making a force of 25,000 to close upon the rear of Lee, and prevent his receiving supplies. General Hal leck again refused, whereupon Hooker sent a despatch to Mr. Stanton, resigning the command of the army. Mr. Stanton was greatly depressed. No other officer knew Avhat plan, if any, General Hooker had in view. A great battle must soon be fought. " Will you please come to the War Office, at once ?" the message from the Secretary of War. Mr. Lincoln entered and read the despatch ; the blood for a moment left his face, as if the heart had ceased to beat. " What shall be done, Mr. President ?" "Accept his resignation," the instant reply. (") Such prompt action warrants the conclusion that Mr. Lincoln had anticipated such a possible contingency, and had decided the question of a successor to Hooker. He knew General George G. Meade had ren dered efficient service as a division commander on the peninsula and at Fredericksburg. He was a native and citizen of Pennsylvania. The Confederate army was about to invade that State. The people would have confidence in him. He Avas a Democrat, but not a partisan. He would have the confidence of the War Democrats. (" ) Mr. Lincoln was in doubt Avhether he should appoint Meade or General Eeynolds. The latter was also from Pennsylvania, and had shoAvn marked qualities DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN. 375 of character, and Avas equally well qualified to assume command of the army. A special train came from Washington, bringing Colonel Hardie with a letter to General Hooker from the President, relieving him, and another to General Meade, commanding the Fifth Corps, appointing him commander-in-chief. It was a surprise to General Meade and to the army. I saAv him a few minutes after he received the order, standing with boAved head and downcast eyes, his slouched hat drawn doAvn and shading his features. He was lost in thought. His uniform was the worse for Avear durino- hard service. As a loyal soldier he accepted the great responsibility. General Hooker bade good-bye to his officers Avith the tears coursing down his cheeks. He issued a brief but tender, pathetic, and patriotic address : " With the earnest prayer that the triumph of this army may bring successes Avorthy of it and the nation, I bid it farewell." NOTES TO CHAPTER XIX. (') Schucker's " Life of Salmon P. Chase," p. 379. (!) Warden's "Life of Salmon P. Chase," p. 475. (3) Charles Sumner was born in Boston, June 11, 1881. At the age of 19 lie graduated from Harvard University, studied law, and was appointed reporter of the United States Circuit Court. While occupying that position he edited the " American Jurist," and gave lectures on constitutional law in Harvard University. Iu 1837 he visited Great Britaiu aud Europe. During three years' sojourn abroad he acquired several European lan guages — was received as a scholar in all countries. At a civic banquet, July 4, 1845, he delivered an oration upon the "True Grandeur of Nations," in which he vigorously as sailed the attitude of the United States towards Mexico, maintaining that all differences between the two countries should be settled by arbitration. The oration attracted in neh attention iu the United States and other countries. He opposed the annexation of Texas. He saw that it was wholly in the interest of slavery. He published a letter in which he commented severely upon the course of Robert C. AATinthrop, representative in Congress, for favoring the war. His pronounced position against the extension of slavery led, in 1851, to his election as Senator to succeed Daniel Webster. He remained in the Senate till his death, March 11, 1874. A speech delivered May 19 and 20, 1856, upon "The Crime in Kansas," led Preston S. Brooks, member of Congress from South Carolina, to brutally assault Mr. Sumuer in the Senate-chamber, dealing a blow which felled him to the floor, and from which he never fully recovered. Brooks was expelled from the House, but was immediately re-elected and presented with a gold-headed enne by his constitu ents. After the assault Mr. Sumner visited Europe to obtain medical treatment. Upon resuming his seat he took an active part in all matters of legislation. He saw, with Presideut Lincoln and Secretary Seward, that the seizure of Mason and Slidell was a violation of international law. Through the War ofthe Rebellion he occupied an influ ential position as chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs. His speech upou 376 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. the Alabama Claims in 1869 caused much excitement in England, when it was looked upon as au attempt to bring about a war with that country. Mr. Sumner opposed tho acquisition of Santo Domingo as proposed by President Grant. His attitude led to his deposition from the chairmanship of the Committee ou Foreign Affairs. The transaction was regarded as unwarranted. Mr. Sumuer became antagonistic to President Grant's Administration, and in 1872 supported Horace Greeley for the Presidency, and was nomi nated by the Democratic Party of Massachusetts for Governor. The nomination was de clined. He advocated the removal from the regimental colors of the army and from the army register the names of battles won by Union troops, and introduced a bill to that effect. The Legislature of Massachusetts passed a resolution censuring his course, which, however, was rescinded before his death. Upon the assassination of President Lincoln Mr. Sumner gave an oration beginning with a memorable sentence : "There are no mis takes in the universe of God." As statesman aud scholar Mr. Sumuer will ever occupy an exalted position. — Author. (4) Henry J. Raymond was born in New York City, January 24, 1820, bnt was taken to the country by his parents. His early years were passed on a farm. He graduated at the University of Vermont at the age of 20, studied law, but became, in 1841, associated with Horace Greeley as assistant editor of the New York " Tribune." Subsequently he was connected with the New York " Courier and Enquirer," and with the publishing house of Harper & Brothers. In 1849 he was elected to the State Senate, and the fol lowing year to the Assembly, and became Speaker. In 1851 he established the New York "Times." He was active iu the formatiou of the Republican Party, and became Lieu- teiiaut-governor of the State, 1854. He was offered the nomination for Governor in 1857, but declined the honor. Iu the memorable contest between Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln in 1853 Mr. Raymond advocated the election of Douglas. He warmly supported Mr. Seward iu 1860 as candidate for the Presidency, but supported Mr. Lincoln during the campaign. He was again elected to the State Assembly in 1861, and was a candidate for Senator in 1863, but was defeated by Edwin D. Morgan. In 1864 he was elected to Congress. During his Congressional term he compiled a " History of President Lincoln's Administration," also the "Life and Services of President Lincoln." He died June 18, 1869.— Author. (6) H. J. Raymond's Diary, " Scribner's Magazine," January 1, 1880. (6) Ibid. C) Ibid., March, 1880. (8) Ibid. (9) Ibid. (10) Schuyler Colfax, "Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln," p. 339. (ii) "Every-day Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 592. (18) Ibid., 498. (13) Benjamin F. AA'ade was born in Spiingfield, Mass., October 27, 1810. His early life was one of great hardship. His boyhood was passed on a farm. AVheu thirteen years old he aided iu driving a herd of cattle from Massachusetts to Philadelphia. He worked as a laborer in the construction of the Erie Canal, earning sufficient money to begin the study of medicine, but the legal profession being more congenial to his taste, he became an attorney when twenty years of age at Jefferson, O., forming a partner ship with Joshua R. Giddings. In 1835 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Ash tabula County, and iu 1837 a member ofthe State Senate. He was elected to the Senate ofthe United States, 1851. He was a determined opponent ofthe aggressions ofthe slave power. He made a brave and resolute speech iu the Senate after the brutal assault upon Senator Charles Sumner by Preston S. Brooks, of South Carolina. He was made chairman of the Committee ou the Conduct of the War. After the death of President DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN. 377 Lincoln ho became, as President of the Senate, acting Vice-president of the United States. He was ever outspoken in his opinions. He died at Jefferson, 0., 1878. — Author. (,4) Owen Lovejoy was born in Allison Mo., l^ll. His father was a Congregationalist minister. He worked on a farm till eighteen years of age, and then by his own exertions paid his way through Bowdoin College. He was present at Alton, 111., when his brother, Rev. E. P. Lovejoy, was murdered by a pro-slavery mob in defence of the liberty of the Press. Over the dead body of his brother he vowed eternal hostility to slavery. He pre pared himself for the clerical profession, and became pastor of the Congregational church, Princeton, 111. The church excluded slave-holders from its fellowship. Mr. Lovejoy was active iu aidiug fugitive slaves to reach Canada. He took au active part in political af fairs and was elected to the Legislature of Illinois, where he made tlie acquaintance of Mr. Liucolu, and became his personal friend. He was elected to Congress, 1858. He took a prominent part in debate, and was held in high esteem by his political opponents for no bility of character and uncompromising fidelity to principle. He was a frequent visitor to the AVhite House, and was greatly beloved by the President. — Author. (15) J. AA*. Forney, "Anecdotes of Public Men," vol. i., p. 167. (16) George S. Boutwell, " Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln," p. 128. ('") Ibid. 378 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. CHAPTEE XX. GETTYSBURG. rpHE sun was setting on the last day of June Avhen a division of J- Union cavalry under General Buford entered the town of Gettys burg. The scouts had been watching the roads leading through the mountains towards the Cumberland Valley. During the previous night they had seen the Confederate camp-fires gleaming in the Avest. Gen eral Buford had been directed by General Eeynolds to proceed to Gettysburg and hold that section of the country. It Avas known that Eweli's corps of the Confederate army Avas near Harrisburg, and the main body of the army Avest of Gettysburg. Eeynolds saw that a collision must soon take place. The cavalrymen, as they wheeled into the public square, beheld PettigreAv's brigade of Confederate infantry descending the hill on the Chambersburg turnpike Avest of the town. They Avere intending to help themselves to boots, shoes, and clothing from the stores, but, seeing the Union troops, they retraced their steps to Herr's Tavern, beyond Willoughby Eun. The cavalry folloAved to that stream, along yvhich the pickets of both armies Avatched through the night. From the road in front of the tavern, at seven o'clock in the juh-i. morning, Pegram's cannon sent a shell across Willoughby Eun, 1863. anct a m0ment later the guns of Calef's battery made reply. The battle of Gettysburg had begun. The scenes of that conflict are a part of the history of the war. (See •Marching to Victory.") It has come to be regarded as the turning- point of the Eebellion — deciding the destiny of the nation and of re publican government. Through the forenoon of the national holiday I was riding OA7er the battle-field. The Confederates were holding the ground along the woods from whence Pickett's division advanced on the preceding afternoon, but behind the outposts were unmistakable signs that Lee Avas preparing to retreat. A little later I saAv baggage - Avagons GETTYSBURG. 379 winding along the road westward. At General Meade's headquarters it was believed that Lee Avas intending to retire at nightfall. The next morning I entered the EutaAV House, in Baltimore. The corridor was filled Avith anxious men, among them Henry Winter Davis and Elihu B. Washburne, members of Congress. They had heard of the repulse of Pickett's division and Avere anxious for further information. 's Where are you from ?" Washburne asked. " Gettysburg." " What's the news ?" " We have won the greatest battle of the war." " Now, see here ; don't tell a lie. We have been deceived often enough. Is it true ?" "I have been all over the battle-field, and the rebels are in retreat." " Hurrah ! Hurrah !" the shout. The next moment Washburne and DavTis Avere bugging* each other. DO O General Schenck, commander of the military department, seized me by the arm, led me to his OAvn room, closed the door, asked when I had left the field, and what I had seen. He telegraphed the information to the President. It was the first report received in Washington of the movement of Lee towards Virginia. At no period of the war did the President exhibit such anxiety as during the week succeeding the appointment of General Meade to com mand the army. "I shall never forget," writes a Senator, "the painful anxiety of those few days when the fate of the nation seemed to hang in the bal ance, nor the restless solicitude of Mr. Lincoln, as he paced up and down the room, reading despatches, soliloquizing, and often stopping to trace the map which hung against the wall ; nor the relief we all felt when the fact was established that victory, though gained at a fearful cost, Avas indeed on the side of the Union." (') After the President received the telegram from General Schenck that the Confederates Avere retreating from Gettysburg, he proceeded to the Ebbitt House to call upon General Sickles, Avho Avas ' wounded during the second day's engagement, and who had arrived in Washington. General James B. Eusling(2) Avas Avith Gen eral Sickles Avhen Mr. Lincoln entered the room. There Avas no longer any sign of anxiety on the face of the President as he shook hands with the wounded commander. " Were you not worried, Mr. President, as to what might be the re sult of the battle ?" Sickles asked. 380 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. " Oh no ; I thought it would all come out right." " But you must have been the only man Avho felt so," replied Sickles, " for I understand that there Avas a deep feeling of anxiety here among the heads of the Government." " Yes," replied the President, " Stanton, Welles, and the rest were pret ty badly rattled. They ordered two or three gunboats up to the city and placed some of the Government archives aboard, and Avanted me to go aboard ; but I told them it yvasn't necessary, and that it would be all right." "But Avhat made you feel so confident, Mr. President?" persisted General Sickles. " Oh, I had my reasons ; but I don't care to mention them, for they would perhaps be laughed at," said Lincoln. The curiosity of both the other gentlemen Avas greatly excited, and Genera] Sickles again pressed Mr. Lincoln for the grounds of his confi dence. Finally, Lincoln said : " Well, I Avill tell you Avhy I felt confident Ave should win at Gettys burg. Before the battle I retired alone to my room in the White House, and got down on my knees and prayed to the Almighty God to give us the victory. I said to Him that this Avas His Avar, and that if He Avould stand by tbe nation noAV, I Avould stand by Him the rest of my life. He gave us the victory, and I propose to keep my pledge. I arose from my knees Avith a feeling of deep and serene confidence, and had no doubt of the result from that hour." " General Sickles and myself," said Busling, " Avere both profoundly impressed by Lincoln's Avords, and for some minutes complete silence reigned. Then Sickles, turning over on his couch, said : " Well, Mr. President, how do you feel about the Vicksburg cam paign ?" " Oh, I think that will be all right, too. Grant is pegging away at the enemy, and I have great confidence in him. I like Grant. He doesn't bother me or give any trouble. I prayed for success there, too ; I told the Lord about the Vicksburg campaign ; that victory there Avould cut the Confederacy in tAvo, and Avould be the decisive one of the war. I have abiding faith that Ave shall come out all right at Vicksburg. If Grant wins I shall stick to him though the Avar." In the congratulatory address issued by General Meade after the battle, he urged the soldiers " to drive the invaders from our soil." The President read it ; his hands fell upon his knees and the old-time sad ness appeared, as he exclaimed, "Drive the invaders from our soil! My God! Is that all?" (8) GETTYSBURG. 381 While the Confederates Avere retreating from Gettysburg, General Pemberton was surrendering Vicksburg to General Grant, Avith 31,000 soldiers and 17*2 cannon. General Banks was besieging Port Hudson. " Vicksburg is ours !" shouted the Union soldiers. An officer Avith a Avhite flag came out from the Confederate lines Avith a letter from General Gardner, Tulv 8 ' asking if it Avas true that Vicksburg had fallen. General Banks replied that it Avas, and enclosed a copy of the letter he had received from General Grant. The Confederates Avere on the point of starva tion. They had been eating mule meat. Their commander could hold out no longer, and surrendered. The last vestige of Confederate power had disappeared from the Mississippi, and once more its waters were free to peaceful commerce. We haAre seen President Lincoln standing before a map in the ex ecutive chamber and predicting that the proposed movement of Hooker towards Eichmond, the effort of the monitors at Charleston, the at tempt of Grant to reach Vicksburg by the Yazoo Pass, Avould not be successful. His predictions had proved true. But the determination of Grant to capture Vicksburg Avas strengthened by his repeated failures. Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and Port Hudson make a turning-point in history. On July 13th the President wrote to General Grant : " I do not remember that you and I ever met personally. I write this now as a grate ful acknowledgment for the almost 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. 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 aud join General Banks. When you turned northward, east of the Big Black, I feared it was a mistake. I now wish to make the personal acknowledg ment that you were right and I was wrong." " I guess," said the President to a friend, " I was right in standing by Grant, although there Avas a great pressure made after Pittsburg Landing to have him censured. I thought I saw enough in Grant to convince me that he Avas one on whom the country could depend. That unconditional message to Buckner at Donelson suited me. It in dicated the spirit of the man."(4) The victories Avon at Gettysburg and on the Mississippi, instead of kindling the patriotism of the Peace Democrats, made them angry. On July 4th, while Lee Avas preparing to retreat from Pennsylvania, while 382 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Pemberton's troops were laying down their arms, Governor Seymour, of NeAV York, Avas addressing a Democratic convention : " I stand before you on this occasion not as one animated by expected victories, but feeling, as all feel now within sound of my voice, the dread uncertainties of the conflicts which rage around us — not alone in Pennsylvania, but along the whole course of the Mis sissippi — that are carrying down to bloody graves so many of our fellow-countrymen. . . The doctrine of the suspension of the habeas corpus is unconstitutional, unsound, unjust, and treasonable." In New Hampshire, at the same hour, ex-President Franklin Pierce, one of the " house-builders," said : " The mailed hand of despotism strikes doAvn the liberties of the people, and its foot tramples a dese crated Constitution." The draft was resisted in New York City. The mob attacked the office of the provost marshal. The President was denounced as being Avorse than Nero or Caligula of imperial Eome. Negroes Avere u y ' seized and hanged, an asylum for colored children burned, the office of the " Tribune " assailed. Many of the rioters Avere killed be fore order Avas restored. In Ohio the Peace Democrats had nominated Vallandigham for Governor. A body of Confederate cavalry under John Morgan was making a raid through Southern Indiana and Ohio ; but their seizure of horses and plundering of citizens did not contribute to Vallandig- ham's success. The Peace Democrats of Illinois were very bitter against the Presi dent. The Eepublicans were to hold a convention in September, and desired Mr. Lincoln to be present. That he Avould not do. Under no circumstances Avould he attend a political gathering. He wrote : "The signs look better. The Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea. Thanks to the great North-west for it. Nor yet wholly to them. Three hundred miles up they met New England, Empire, Keystone, and Jersey, hewing their way right and left. The Sunny South, too, ih more colors than one, also lent a hand. On the spot their part of the history was jotted down in black and wdiite. The job was a great national one, and let none be banned who bore an honorable part in it. And while those who have cleared the river may well be proud, even that is not all. It is hard to say that any thing has been more bravely and well done than at Antietam, Murfreesborough, Gettysburg, and on many fields of lesser note. Nor must Uucle Sara's web-feet be forgotten. At all the watery margins they have been present. Not only on the deep sea, the broad bay, and the rapid river, but also up the narrow, muddy bayou; and wherever the ground was a little damp they have been and made their tracks. Thanks to all ! For the great re public, for the principle it lives by and keeps alive, for man's vast future, thanks to all ! GETTYSBURG. 383 "Peace does not appear so distant as it did. I hope it will come soon, and come to stay; and so come as to be worth the keeping in all future time. It will then have been proved that among free men tliere can be uo successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet, and 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 bayonet they have helped mankind on to this great consummation; while I fear there will be some white ones unable to forget that with ma lignant heart and deceitful speech they strove to hinder it. "Still let us not be over-sanguiue 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." General Eosecrans, in command of the Army of the Tennessee, by a strategic movement had forced General Bragg to evacuate the stronghold of Chattanooga. Pie thought the Confederates were retreating towards Atlanta ; but they Avere, instead, concentrat ing all their available troops for an attack. Longstreet's corps Avas sent from Virginia, and Eosecrans, at Chickamauga, suddenly found him self confronted by an army larger than his own. He suffered a defeat. Notwithstanding this disaster, and the earnest efforts made by the Beace Democrats against the Administration, the loyal people of the North manifested their approval by increased majorities at the fall election, every State except New Jersey being carried by the Eepubli cans. John Brough, Avho had been a Democrat before the Avar, but who was loyal to the flag, Avas the candidate of the Eepublicans in Ohio. " John Brough, what is your majority ?" asked the President, about nine o'clock on the evening of the election. " Over 30,000, Mr. President." " What is your majority now ?" the question late in the night. " Over 100,000," the reply. "Glory to God in the highest! Ohio has saved the nation!" the fervent exclamation of the President as he read the despatch. The State of Pennsylvania had purchased a portion of the Gettys burg battle-field as a burial-place for the Union soldiers killed in that engagement. It was to be consecrated by imposing ceremonies. "'" ' President Lincoln arrived at Gettysburg on the preceding after noon, and became the guest of Judge Willis. Mr. Everett, of Massa chusetts, and other distinguished gentlemen, Avere also entertained at the same hospitable mansion. "What is to be the order of exercises to-morrow?" asked Mr. Lin coln, just before retiring to his chamber, after a delightful evening of social intercourse. 384 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. P* T'S ^"^sjfjP W msir mmmwm mmm ¦ SSjS JOHN BROUGH. " The oration will be given by Mr. EATerett," said Judge Willis, " and then I shall call upon the President of the United States for some re marks." " I supposed I might be expected to say something, and I shall have GETTYSBURG. 385 to put some stray thoughts together," said President Lincoln, smiling pleasantly. (6) In his chamber, after the fatiguing journey from Washington, after an evening reception, he Avrote out his " stray thoughts." On the morning of July 1st, Avhen the brigade of General Wads worth turned from the Emmettsburg road by the house of Nicholas Codori and marched across the fields, the soldiers saw a man Avith a gun running to join them. It Avas John Burns, citizen, Avho stepped into the ranks of the One Hundred and Fiftieth Pennsylvania Eegi ment, and, without Avaiting to be enrolled, Avent into the fight, and Avas severely wounded. " I should like to have Burns go Avith me to the dedication," said Mr. Lincoln. The veteran came and accompanied the President to Ceme tery Hill, Avhich during the battle Avas sAvept by shot and shell from the Confederate artillery, and Avhere forty Union cannon thundered de fiance in the heat of the conflict. Mr. Everett was an accomplished orator. (") His rhetoric Avas fault less. For two hours the great audience listened to him. The applause that followed his closing sentence died away. " Lincoln ! Lincoln !" shouted the people. The President arose, stepped to the front of the platform, put his spectacles on his nose, took a sheet of paper from his pocket and read what he had Avritten, and Avhich will be reread so long as the United States is a nation : "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. "Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle field of that war. We 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 altogether fitting and proper lliat we should do this. "But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it far above our 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 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 freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth." 25 386 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. The audience has loudly applauded Mr. Everett, but noAV is hushed as if it were a prayer or a benediction falling from the lips of the chief magistrate of the nation. Eyes unaccustomed to weeping fill with tears. " Mr. Everett, allow me to congratulate you upon your success," said the President, reaching out his hand to the orator of the day. " Ah, Mr. President, how gladly Avould I exchange all my hundred pages to have been the author of your twenty lines !" Mr. Everett replied, Avith emotion. The beginning of November had seen the defeat of the Peace Dem ocrats in the elections ; the month ended with the Confederates fleeing in confusion from Lookout Mountain and Missionary Eidge. Nov 24 ' The President Avas dissatisfied over the inaction of General Meade (who, after the battle of Gettysburg, accomplished nothing), but Avas much gratified by what General Grant had done. Some who thought he had made a mistake in paroling prisoners captured at Vicksburg expressed to the President their fears that the soldiers would be again conscripted into the Confederate army. "Did you eATer hear of Avhat became of Sykes's dog?" Mr. Lincoln asked. "No." " Well, I must tell you. Sykes had a yelloAv dog which he thought a great deal of, but the boys in the village didn't think the cur was of any good to anybody. The puppj^ Avas generally regarded as of no ac count. The boys thought they would get rid of him somehow. They didn't Avant to pound the dog with clubs, so they put a cartridge into a piece of meat and attached a fuse. They saw the dog coming down the street, threw the meat on the sidewalk, lighted the fuse, and waited to see Avhat would happen. The dog swallowed the meat, cartridge, and all, but the next moment there Avere several pieces of dog lying round loose. Sykes came along and looked at the pieces. ' Well,' he said, ' I reckon the puppy never Avill be Avorth much hereafter — as a dog !' So, gentlemen, I reckon that Pemberton's soldiers will never be of much account again — as an army." General Milroy, in command of a corps of Union troops at Winches ter when Lee advanced to Pennsylvania, was brought before a court- martial by Secretary Stanton for alleged disobedience of orders. Milroy shielded himself behind the order of General Schenck, Avho was in com mand of the military department. General Schenck sent Donn Piatt, one of the members of his staff, to the President Avith his protest. GETTYSBURG. 387 " Mr. President, I am directed to read it to you," said Piatt. " Let me see it ; I can read," said Mr. Lincoln. "Piatt, don't you think that you and Schenck are squealing, like pigs, before you are hurt ?" " No, Mr. President." "Why, am I not the court of appeal? Do you think I am going to have injustice done Schenck ?" " Mr. President, allow me to say that before the appeal can be heard a soldier's reputation will be blasted by a packed court." EDWAKD EVERETT " Come, now, Piatt, you and I are lawyers, and I knoAv the meaning of the word ' packed.' I don't want to hear it from your lips again. What is the matter with the court ?" " It is illegally organized by General Halleck." " But General Halleck's act is mine." 388 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. " Mr. President, I beg your pardon. The ' Eules and Eegulations ' direct that in cases of this sort you shall select the court. You cannot delegate that to a subordinate officer any more than you can the par doning power. Here is the article," said Piatt, opening the "Eules and Eegulations." " That is a point. Do you know, Piatt, that I have been so busy that I never have read the ' Eules and Eegulations ?' Give me the book, and I Avill read them to-night." " Yes, Mr. President, but in the mean time General Schenck will be put under arrest for disobedience, and the mischief Avill be done." " That's so. Here, give me a pencil." The President tore off part of a blank sheet from the protest and wrote the folio Aving : " All proceedings before the court-martial convened to try General Milroy are suspended until further orders." (') The President's sense of justice and right settled the question. He was commander-in-chief. Stanton had overstepped his authority. The Confederates were in need of percussion-caps ; they also wanted quinine, a remedy for fever -and -ague, Avhich commanded a very high price. Among those arrested for attempting to supply them Avith articles contraband of Avar Avas Eev. Henry M. Luckett, a Methodist minister past seventy years of age. He was tried by court-martial and sentenced to be shot. The day before the one fixed for his death his daughter, Mrs. Bullitt, of Kentucky; Hon. Henry M. Lane, Senator from Indiana; Daniel W. Voorhees, member of Congress from that State, and several other gentlemen, entered the executive chamber. "We have called," said Senator Lane, "to ask you, Mr. Bresident, to reprieve Henry M. Luckett, who is sentenced to be shot to-morroAV. He is an old man. He has done wrong, but there are extenuating cir cumstances. He is poor. He has been overpersuaded by Confederate friends." The President made no reply. The daughter of the condemned man approached. He turned to hear what she had to say. She plead ed earnestly for her father's life. " Lane, what did you say the man's name Avas ?" said the President, breaking in, seemingly aAvakening from a dream. " Luckett." " Not Henry M. Luckett ?" " Yes ; that is my father's name," Mrs. Bullitt replied. " Didn't he preach in Springfield years ago ?" GETTYSBURG. 38!) " Yes, sir ; my father preached there." " Well, this is wonderful ! I know him — ha\Te heard him preach. He is tall and angular like myself. I have been mistaken for him on the streets. Did you say he is to be shot to-morrow ?" "Yes, sir." " No, no ; there Avill be no shoot ing in this case. Henry M. Luckett ! There must be something wrong Avith him, or he Avouldn't get into such a scrape as this." The President dictated a de spatch to General Hurlburt, in com mand of the Department at Mem phis, directing him to suspend the execution till further orders, " No ; we will have no shoot ing in this case," he repeated, as if in soliloquy. The grateful peti tioners took their departure, the daughter of the reprieved man laughing and crying by turns over the joy that had come to her. ( e ) y: -- ^>,. GETTYSBURG MONUMENT. Dec. 1 Congress was once more in session, listening to the annual message of the President. The year had been marked by great events. Mr. Lincoln said : "Eleven months having now passed, we are permitted to take another review. The rebel borders are pressed back still farther, and by the complete opening of the Missis sippi the country dominated by the Rebellion is divided into distinct parts, with no polit ical communication between them. Tennessee and Arkansas have been substantially cleared of insurgent control, and influential citizens in each — owners of slaves and advo cates of slavery at the beginning of the Rebellion — now declare openly for emancipation in their respective States. Of those States not included in the Emancipation Proclama tion — Maryland and Missouri — neither of which three years ago would tolerate any re straint upon the extension of slavery into new Territories, only dispute now as to the best mode of removing it within their own limits." The proposition to employ negro troops had aroused much opposi- 390 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. tion. The President had patiently waited for the time when he could use them as soldiers. General Butler had enlisted a regiment of free negroes in New Orleans in September, 1862. But negroes who had been slaves were also enlisting. President Lincoln's message on this subject read : " Of those who were slaves at the beginning of the war, fully one hundred thousand are now in the United States military service. About one-half of these actually bear arms in the ranks, thus giving the double advantage of taking so much labor from the insurgent cause, and supplying the places which otherwise'must be filled with so many white men. So far as tested, it is difficult to say that they are not as good soldiers as any." All the predictions that the slaves would cut their masters' throats ; that they Avere cowards and Avould run at the sound of a hostile shot, had been proven false. The enlistment of so many negroes made the men Avho were opposing the war very angry, but gave great satisfaction to the loyal people of the country. The President presented a plan by Avhich the seceded States might be restored to the Union. The message was accompanied by a procla mation Avhich offered pardon and amnesty. " He has struck another great blow," said Senator Wilson, of Massa chusetts. " It is," remarked Mr. Boutwell, from the same State, " a very able and shrewd paper. It has great points of popularity, and it is right." " I shall live to see slavery ended !" the gleeful words of Owen Lovejoy. " God bless old Abe ! I am one of the radicals who have ahvays believed in him !" shouted Mr. Blow, member from Missouri. " The message is highly satisfactory," the more quiet remark of Senator Severely Johnson, of Maryland. There were few, if any, dissenting voices. Senator Sumner, who had been strenuous in maintaining his own theory of reconstruction, mani fested his pleasure. Many members of Congress visited the White House to express their thanks and appreciation of what the President had done. NOTES TO CHAPTER XX. (') Zachariah Chandler, quoted in "Every-day Life of Abraham Liucolu," p. 598. (2) James B. Rusliug, Lecture before the Youug Men's Christian Association, Trenton, N. J., 1892. (3) James B. Fry, " Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln," p. 402. GETTYSBURG. 391 (4) "Every-day Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 599. ( 5 ) Edward McPherson to Author. (s) Edward Everett was a native of Dorchester, Mass., born April 11, 1794. He graduated at Harvard University, 1811, wheu but sixteeu years old. Ho studied theology, aud became pastor ofthe Brattle Street Unitarian Church at the age of tweuty. In 1819 he became Professor of Greek iu Harvard University; was member of Congress, 1825- 35; Governor of Massachusetts four years, 1836-40. A law restricting the sale of intoxi cating liquors in quantities less than fifteen gallons, passed by the Whig Party, created a revolution in public sentiment upon the question of temperance, which caused his de feat for a fifth term by one vote. He was appointed President of Harvard University, 1846, continuing till 1849, when he succeeded Daniel Webster as Secretary of State. He became United States Senator, 1853, remaining till May, 1864. Mr. Everett was renowned for his scholarship, erudition, and oratory. Au attempt was made by the " Mount Vernon Association" of women to purchase the estate of Washington ou the banks ofthe Potomac. Funds were needed, and Mr. Everett, with a desire to promote so worthy an object, pre pared a lecture upou Washington, which was given in most of tho cities of the Union. The proceeds were devoted to its purchase. He also contributed a series of articles to the New York " Ledger," by which many thousand dollars were obtained. He wrote a biography of Daniel Webster and edited his speeches. Mr. Everett was nominated as candidate for Vice-president in 1860, on a ticket with John Bell, of Tennessee, as Presi dent. He supported President Lincoln in 1864, and was one of the electors of Massachu setts. He was selected as orator at the dedication of the Gettysburg monument. He was for many years editor of the "North American Review." He has been justly re garded as one of the foremost scholars aud orators of his time. — Author. (') Donn Piatt, "Memorials of Men who Saved the Nation," p. 40. (e) D. W. Voorhees, "Reminiscences of Abraham Liucoln," p. 357. 392 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. CHAPTEE XXI. SPRING OF 1864. ME. LINCOLN was entering upon the last year of the Presidential term, and people were thinking about his renomination. He had made enemies. The Peace Democrats opposed him because he was car rying on the Avar so persistently and for issuing the Proclamation of Emancipation. Opprobrious and insulting epithets Avere still applied to him. Those aggrieved at the removal of General McClellan said the President Avas an autocrat and tyrant. Men Avho had endeavored to use him to attain their own selfish ends, but whom he had foiled, said he was not fit to be President. Members of Congress turned against him. Earnest and impulsive men, Avho Avanted to see the Eebellion crushed at once, said Mr. Lincoln Avas too sIoav. Conservatives main tained he was going too fast. Mr. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury, Avas ambitious to be President. He wrote a letter to his friend, Mr. James C. Hall, of Toledo, O., formally announcing himself as a Jan. 18 1864. ¦candidate. A committee of Senators, representatives, and citi zens Avas formed to bring about his nomination. ( ' ) A circular Avas issued by Senator Pomeroy and others advocating the selection of Mr. Chase. Mr. Thaddeus Stevens, of Pennsylvania, one of the most influential members of Congress, Avas opposed to the renomination of Mr. Lincoln. (2) A friend of Mr. Stevens visited the Capitol. "In troduce me to some of the members Avho are friendly to Mr. Lincoln," he said. Mr. Stevens took him to Isaac N. Arnold, member from Illinois. " You are the only one I know," said Mr. Stevens, " who favors the renomination of Lincoln, and I have come to introduce my friend to you." " Thank you," replied Mr. Arnold ; " I knoAv many members who want him renominated. I will present your friend to them." ( 3) " If the question could be submitted to the people," said Mr. Stevens, in a speech, " the majority of them would vote for General Benjamin F. Butler." (4) JP 1 J ft- fi „ r THADDEUS STEVENS. SPRING OF 1864. 395 People in foreign countries Avere Avatching the conflict betAveen free dom and slavery with much interest. Count Gasparin, of France, pub lished a volume entitled, "The Uprising of a Great People." He ad mired President Lincoln, and Avrote a letter to a friend in the United States, in which the hope Avas expressed that he would be renominated. The letter Avas sent to Horace Greeley, Avho replied as follows : "Those who know the least about the way things are managed in Washington want Mr. Lincoln renominated, and I presume they will have their way. I match their judg ment with that of Congress, whereof not one-third of the Unionists desire Mr. Lincoln's renomination, and not half can be constrained to seem to oppose it even by the terror of popular reprobation. Count Gasparin, 3500 miles away, is naturally even more decided and zealous than any one in Connecticut. Well, 10,000 miles away he would be still more so. I am not accustomed to allow majorities to dictate my opinion ; if I were, I should be among the new converts to abolition and share their choice of President. But having seen and/ett too much during the last three mournful years, it seems my duty to force the nomination of some one who will not go through Baltimore in disguise and dark ness when he goes to be inaugurated, and who will cause the mayor of Baltimore and young Christians of that city to be kicked out of the White House whenever they shall dare propose that troops be forbidden to cross the territory of Maryland to defend the federal metropolis. Had the first general that proved treacherous or cowardly been shot on sight thereafter, we should long since have seen the end of the Rebellion." ( *) A committee of the NeAV York Working-men's Association visited Washington to inform Mr. Lincoln he had been elected honorary mem ber of that organization. The President, thanking them for the honor, said : " I think your association must comprehend that the existing Eebel- lion means more than the perpetuation of African slavery — that it is a war upon the rights of Avorking people. The most notable feature of the disturbance in your city last year was the hanging of some working people by other Avorking people. It should never be so. The strongest bond of human sympathy outside the family relation should be one uniting all working people of all nations, tongues, and kindreds ; nor should this lead to a war on property or OAvners of property. Property is the fruit of labor. It is desirable. It is a positiATe good to the Avorld. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence yvhen built." (8) Ten months had passed since the battle of Chancellors ville and the publishing of the poem, " Abraham Lincoln, Give us a Man." The man March 9, 396 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. had been found, and the President had appointed him lieutenant-gen eral — Ulysses S. Grant. He Avas to command all the troops in the field. He saw the country Avas divided into nineteen military depart ments, each with an independent commander Avho received orders ^gg1'1' direct from the War Department. It was like having a team with nineteen horses — liable to pull in different directions.- The troops were Avidely scattered ; he Avould concentrate them and consol idate the departments. The theory of General Halleck had been that when a section of the Confederacy was conquered it must be held to re establish the authority of the United States. It seemed to General Grant that it would be far better to crush the Confederate armies. When all power of resistance Avas gone it Avould be an easy matter to restore the civil authority. General Grant never had met the President, but was on his way to Washington in obedience to a summons. The Cabinet, Mr. Stanton, and E. B. Washburne were in the White House when he entered. "General Grant," said the President, "the nation's appreciation of what you have done, and its reliance upon you for yvhat remains to be done in the existing struggle, are uoav presented Avith this com mission, constituting you lieutenant-general in the army of the United States. With this high honor devolves upon you a corresponding re sponsibility. As the country trusts in you, so, under God, it will sustain you. I scarcely need add that with what I here speak for the nation goes my OAvn hearty personal concurrence." The words Avere spoken Avith trembling lips, so deep the feeling of Mr. Lincoln. "Mr. President," General Grant replied, "I accept the commission for the high honor conferred. With the aid of the noble armies that have fought on so many fields of our common country, it will be my earnest endeavor not to disappoint your expectations. I feel the full responsibilities noAv devolving upon me; and I know that if they are met it will be due to those armies, and, above all, to the favor of that Providence Avhich leads nations and men." General Grant visited the Army of the Potomac at Culpeper, and made the acquaintance of General Meade, took a look at the soldiers in a quiet Avay, and returned to Washington. Mrs. Lincoln had pre pared a grand dinner expressly in his honor. " Mrs. Lincoln must excuse me," he said. " I must be in Tennessee at the earliest possible moment." SPRING OF 1864. 399 " But Ave can't excuse you," said the President. " Were Ave to sit down without you it Avould be " Hamlet " with Hamlet left out." " I appreciate the honor, Mr. President, but time is very precious just now. I ought to be attending to affairs. The loss of a day means the loss of a million dollars to the country." " Well, then, we shall be compelled to have the dinner without the honor of your presence," said Mr. Lincoln, as they parted. Never before had a commander of any of the armies pleaded public necessity for declining a dinner at the White House ; never a command er so absorbed as was General Grant in the business of the country. Possibly the declination gave the President more pleasure than he would have had from an acceptance of the invitation. A few days before General Grant received his commission F. B. Carpenter, an artist, Avas installed in the White House to paint a picture commemorating the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. He became a member of the household, and recorded scenes in the routine of the President's official life. Mr. Lincoln and the artist Avere together one evening Avhen the President turned from his paper as if Aveary. ( ' ) " Tad," he said to his youngest son, " run to the library and get ' Shakespeare.' " He read passages which had ever been a delight to him. "The opening of 'Eichard III.,' it seems to me, is almost ahvays misapprehended," he said. " You know the actor usually comes in with a flourish, and, like a college sophomore, says : " 'Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer by this sun of YTork.' Now this is all wrong. Eichard had been, and was then, plotting the destruction of his brothers to make room for himself. Outwardly, he is most loyal to the newly crowned king ; secretly, he could scarcely con tain his impatience at the obstacles still in the way of his own eleva tion. He is burning Avith repressed hate and jealousy. The prologue is the utterance of the most intense bitterness and satire." Mr. Lincoln assumed the character, and recited the passage with such force that it became a new creation to the artist. " There is a poem," he said, " which has been a great favorite with me for many years. Jason Duncan first called my attention to it. I cut it from a newspaper, and carried it in my pocket and learned it. I would give a great deal to know Avho wrote it." Half closing his eyes, he repeated the poem " Oh, Avhy should the spirit of mortal be proud ?" 400 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. The poem contained thirteen stanzas, but Mr. Lincoln never recited the third : "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." Neither did Mr. Lincoln, in his many recitations of this poem to his friends, evrer include the seventh stanza : "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.'7 There Avere tender and sacred memories connected Avith the poem which time never effaced. He recited once more Holmes's " Last Leaf." The corridors leading to the executive chamber were daily crowded by Senators, members of Congress, officers of the army and navy, vis itors from foreign lands, delegations from civic, religious, and political organizations — men Avith schemes for putting an end to the Avar; ap plicants who Avanted special permits to trade in the South; men and women Avho desired to get their sons home from the army or out of prison. Mr. Lincoln often recognized an old acquaintance among them. " I presume you have forgotten me," said one. " No, your name is Flood. I saw you tAvelve years ago. I am glad to see you, and it gives me pleasure to know that the Flood still flows on." Many years before the outbreak of the Eebellion, George Thompson, an Englishman, came to America to promote the abolition of slavery. The people resented the interference of a foreigner in American af fairs, and he Avas rudely treated. He Avas once more in the United States, and called on the President, accompanied by Eev. John Pier- pont, of Boston, LeAvis Clephane, publisher, and Oliver Johnson, editor of an antislavery paper, the " New Era." " The aristocracy and the moneyed interests of Great Britain," said Thompson, " Avould rejoice to see the United States broken up ; but the working people know that the cause of liberty is at stake, and their sympathies are with the North and for the extirpation of slavery." " Mr. Thompson," said the President, " the people of Great Britain and of other countries have been in error in regard to this conflict. SPRING OF 1864. 401 They seemed to think the moment I became President I had the power to abolish slavery, forgetting that I had to take an oath to support the Constitution and to execute the laAvs as I found them. I did not con sider that I had any right to touch the institution of slavery in the States until all other means for maintaining the integrity of the GoAT ernment had been exhausted. The time came Avhen, if the nation was to live, slavery must die. Many of my strongest supporters urged emancipation before I thought it indispensable and before the country was ready for it. It is my conviction that if it had been issued six months earlier public sentiment would not have sustained it. Just so in reference to enlisting colored soldiers. Had the step been taken sooner it could not have been carried out. A man watches his pear-tree day after day, impatient for the ripening of the fruit. Let him attempt to force the process, and he may spoil both fruit and tree ; but let him patiently wait, and he will have the ripe pear. I can solemnly assert that I have a clear conscience in regard to my action. I have done what no man could have helped doing, standing in my place." A lady from Alexandria complained that the medical director had taken the church where she was accustomed to Avorship for a hospital. " Mr. President," she said, " as there are only two or three wounded soldiers in it, I came to see if you would not let us have it, as we want it very much to worship God in." " Have you called upon the post surgeon ?" " Yes, sir, but can do nothing with him." "Well, madam, he is there to attend to just such business, and it is reasonable to suppose that he knows better than I what should be done under the circumstances. You probably own property in Alexandria. How much will you give towards building a hospital ?" "Eeally, Mr. President, our property is very much embarrassed by the war, so I could not give much for such a purpose." "Well, madam, I expect there will be a battle soon, and it is my opinion that God wants the church for poor wounded Union soldiers quite as much as he does for secesh people to worship in. You will excuse me. Good-day, madam." Two aged people, husband and wife, Avith much hesitation approached the President. The severity upon his face changed to a kindly look. " Well, my good lady, what can I do for you ?" " Mr. President, I never spoke to a President before, but lama Union woman, down here in Maryland. My boy has been wounded in battle. He is in the hospital. I have been trying to get him out; 26 402 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. somehow I can't. They said I'd better come and see you. When the war broke out I gave my boy to God, and then told him he might go and fight the rebels. Now, Mr. President, if you'll let me take him home, I'll nurse him up, and just as soon as he gets well enough he'll go right back and fight again. He's a good boy ; he won't shirk." Tears glistened in the eyes of Mr. Lincoln as he looked into the honest face and listened to the pleading Avords. " You shall haAre your boy. There, take this scrap of paper, and you Avill get your boy if he is able to be moved." " God bless you, Mr. President ! Ave are so much obliged to you !" said the grateful woman, stifling her sobbing joy as she received the paper. ( 8 ) The Attorney-general came to the President soliciting a favor. " A friend of mine," said Mr. Bates, " over in Virginia is a Union man, but his boy enlisted in the rebel army. He has been captured by our troops, and the father Avants him paroled. He promises that the boy shall not serve again. As a personal favor I hope you will see your way to grant it." " Bates," said Mr. Lincoln, " I have a case almost like it. The son of an old friend in Illinois ran away from home and enlisted in the rebel army. The poor fool has been captured, and his broken-hearted father Avants me to send him home, and he promises to keep him there. Xow, let us unite our influence with this Administration, and see if we can't make the two old men happy, and at the same time keep two fools from going back into the rebel army." The fathers received their sons, and the "focus" never again took up arms against their country. A fair was held in Washington on March 16th for the benefit of the sick and wounded soldiers in the hospitals. It was given under the auspices of Avomen. Mr. Lincoln visited it, and, being called upon for a speech, said : "I have hut a few words to utter. This extraordinary war falls heavily upon all classes of people, but most heavily upon the soldier. It has been said, ' All that a man hath will he give for his life ;' the soldier puts his life at stake, and often yields it, in his country's cause. The highest merit thus is due the soldier. ... I am not accustomed to the 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 this war." An entertainment in aid of the fair, consisting of poetical recitations SPRING OF 1864. 403 and readings by elocutionists, Avas held in the Eepresentatives' Hall. The President attended, and Avas invited to a seat on the platform. Among the selections Avas a poem entitled " The New Pastoral," Avritten by Thomas Buchanan Bead in 1850, after the repeal of the Missouri Compromise — a prophetic poem containing a remarkable passage : "Here the great statesman from the ranks of toil May rise with judgment clear, as strong as wise, And with a well-directed patriot blow Reclinch the rivets in our Uuion bonds Which tinkering knaves have striven to set ajar." Fourteen years had passed since the Avriting of the poem, and the prophecy was being fulfilled in the person of President Lincoln. It Avas recognized by the audience, and the Capitol rang with applause. The Governor of Kentucky, Mr. Bramlette, together Avith Mr. Dixon and Mr. A. G. Hodges, visited Washington to see about the draft for soldiers Avhich Congress had ordered. They talked Avith Mr. April 4 . ' Lincoln about the Emancipation Broclamation. After their re turn to Kentucky, Mr. Hodges asked the President to write out Avhat he had said to them. Yery remarkable the closing sentences : " 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 history will find therein new causes to attest and revere the justice and goodness of God." General Grant returned from the West to take supreme command of military affairs. "What sort of a man is General Grant?" asked one of the Pres ident's friends. " Well, I hardly knoAV what to think of him," said Mr. Lincoln. " He is the quietest fellow you ever saAv. He don't make any fuss. I believe two or three times he has been in this room a minute or so be fore I knew he was here. The only evidence you have that he is in any place is that he makes things git. Grant is the first general I have had." " How is that ?" " You knoAv how it has been Avith the others. As soon as I put a man in command, he'd come to me Avith a plan of a campaign, as if to 404 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. say, 'Now, I don't believe I can do it, but if you say so I'll try,' and so put the responsibility of success or failure on me. It isn't so Avith Grant. He hasn't told me what his plans are. I don't know, and I don't want to knoAv. I am glad to have found a man who can go ahead without me." The President had been lying on a lounge, but noAV sat upright and talked more earnestly, as if it Avere a congenial topic. " You see, Avhen any of the others set out on a campaign, they'd look over matters and pick out some one thing they Avere short of and which. they knew I couldn't give them, and tell me they couldn't win unless they had it, and it Avas most generally cavalry." Mr. Lincoln laughed heartily a moment, and then went on : ¦' Now, Avhen Grant took hold I was waiting to see Avhat his pet im possibility would be. I reckoned it would be cavalry, as a matter of course, for we hadn't horses enough to mount the men Ave had. There Avere 15,000, or thereabouts, up near Harper's Ferry, and no horses to put them on. WeU, Grant sent Avord to me the other day about those very men, just as I expected, but he didn't ask for horses. He only wanted to know Avhether he should make infantry of them or disband them. He don't ask impossibilities of me, and he is the first general Avho hasn't." General Grant intended that the army under Sherman, at Chatta nooga, the Army of the Potomac, under Meade, and the Army of the James, under Butler, should move at the same time. General Burnside Avas at Annapolis, in Maryland, with the Ninth Corps, numbering near ly 30,000 men. He was directed to march to Washington, and from there to the Eapidan, to co-operate Avith the Army of the Potomac. Down Pennsylvania Avenue comes Burnside's troops, turning up Fourteenth Street, Avhere the President stands upon a balcony to revieAv them. Some of the veterans have fought at Bull Eun, Ball's April 25 ' Bluff, Eoanoke, Newbern, in front of Eichmond, Antietam, Get tysburg, Knoxville. The flags Avhich they carry are in tatters, but they are the dearest things on earth to the men keeping step to the drum beat. There is the steady tramping of the men, the deep, heavy jar of gun-carriages, clattering of horses' hoofs, clanking of sabres. General Burnside and the President, standing side by side, look doAvn upon the serried ranks. The lines are deepening in the face of Abraham Lincoln. He is pale and care-Avorn. The soldiers behold him, swing their hats, and hurrah. A division of veterans pass, and then, Avith full ranks, the platoons extending the entire Avidth of the street, come brigades SPRING OF 1864. 405 which have never been in battle — men Avho have come at the call of their country to lay down their lives on the battle-field. Their country ! They never had a country till that pale man on the balcony gave them one. They never were men till he made them such. They Avere slaves ; he made them freemen. They have been chattels — things ; now they are OAvners of themsel\Tes — citizens — soldiers of the Bepublic. Never before have they beheld their benefactor. " Hurrah for Uncle Abe ! Hurrah for Mars Linkum !" No cheers like theirs. It is the spontaneous outburst from grateful hearts. Yes ; in return for Avhat he has done for them and for their race will they fight to the death ! "Can you," said the President to Mr. L. E. Chittenden, "leave your office and go over to Annapolis? A party of about 400 officers and men out of rebel prisons at Belle Isle, at Eichmond, arrived there yesterday. Their condition will be investigated by Congress ; but that will take time. An intelligent lady, Avhom you know, has given me such an account of their sad state that I should like to knoAV the truth at once from one Avho will neither exaggerate nor suppress any of the facts. Will you go and see them, and bring me back your report ?"(") Mr. Chittenden visited Annapolis, beheld the men, returned to Washington, and reported to Mr. Lincoln. "All the way from Annapolis," he said, "I have been studying the formula for an answer to your question. It is useless. You would like to know what I have seen ; I cannot tell you. Imagine, if you can, strong men, robbed of their money, blankets, overcoats, boots, and cloth ing, covered with rags, driven like foxes into holes on an island, exposed to frost and cold until their frozen extremities drop from their bleeding stumps, fed upon food such as the swine wTould have rejected, until by exhaustion their manhood is crushed out, their minds destroyed, and their bodies, foul Avith filth and disease, are brought to the very borders of the grave, which soon will close upon half of them, and you may get some faint conception of Avhat may be seen at Annapolis. But it will be very faint. The picture cannot be comprehended even Avhen it is seen." " Can such things be possible !" the President exclaimed. " You are the fourth person who has given me the same account. I cannot be lieve it ! There must be some explanation for it. The Eichmond peo ple are Americans — of the same race as ourselves. It is incredible !" " No," Mr. President, " I saw the poor unfortunates last evening. I went again this morning to find something which would relieve the 26* 406 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. horror of the first impression. I did not find it. I have conversed with men Avho know they are dying. They aU tell the same story, and but one conclusion is possible: a frightful weight of responsibility and guilt rests upon the authorities at Eichmond for these crimes against humanity." " Nothing," replied Mr. Lincoln, " has occurred in the war Avhich causes me to suffer like this. I know it seems impossible to account for the treatment of these poor fellows, except on the theory that somebody is guilty. But the Avorld will be sIoav to believe that the Confederate authorities intend to destroy their prisoners by starvation. We should be slow to believe it. It must be that they have some claim of excuse. The Indians torture their prisoners, but I never heard that they froze them or starved them !" We may not know all the facts, the whole inside history. They may have excuses of Avhich Ave know nothing." " Make the case your own, Mr. President," said Chittenden. "Wash ington is larger than Eichmond. Your duties are quite as absorbing as those of Mr. Jefferson Davis. Could Confederate prisoners of Avar be dying by hundreds of exposure and starvation on an island in the Po tomac, between this city and Alexandria, and you not know it? Why, the newsboys in the streets would publish it, and the authorities could not remain ignorant of it, even if they were deaf and dumb." " Well," said Mr. Lincoln, " I admit you have the best of the argu ment. But do me a favor. Eetain your opinions, if you must, but say nothing about them at present until Ave are forced to make the charge — until there is no alternative, and the world is forced to think as we do." " I will do as you request, Mr. Bresident." " Let us hope," he replied, " for the best. We shall have enough to ansAver for if we surATive this war. Let us hope at least that the crime of murdering prisoners by exposure and starvation may not be fastened on any of our people." With fifteen days' rations for the army, General Grant cut loose from all communication with Washington, crossed the Bapidan, and went on to the Wilderness. (See "Eedeeming the Bepublic," chap, iv.) A courier arrived at the White House Avith an account of the two days' struggle— an undecided battle, in which 20,000 men had been killed or Avounded. The President paced his chamber, and gave way to uncontrollable emotion, exclaiming : " My God ! my God ! twenty thousand ! I cannot bear it ! I can not bear it ! Why do Ave suffer so ? Could we not have avoided the terrible, bloody war ? Was it not forced upon us ? Will it ever end ?" SUNDAY AFTERNOON. SPRING OF 1864. 409 In the evening John W. Forney, editor of the Philadelphia " Press," called at the White House. He found Mr. Lincoln suffering great de pression of spirits. He Avas ghastly pale. There Avere dark rings around his deep-set eyes. He Avas reading Shakespeare. " Let me read you this from Shakespeare," he said. " I cannot read it like Forest, avIio is acting at the theatre, but it comes to me to-night like a consolation : " 'To-morrow, and to-morrow, and "to morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle ! Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.' " (10 ) A feAV days later the Avounded began to arrive from the Wilderness and Spottsylvania. Washington became a vast hospital. The Presi dent visited the disabled soldiers, speaking kind words and doing wThat he could for them. Day by day his OAvn countenance Avas changing, the sadness becoming habitual. " He looked," writes Mr. Arnold, member of Congress, " like one who had lost a dear member of his OAvn family. I recall one evening late in May, Avhen I met the President in his carriage driving slowly toAvards the Soldiers' Home. He had just parted from one of those long lines of ambulances. The sun was just sinking behind the desolate and deserted hills of Virginia ; the flags from the forts, hospitals, and camps drooped sadly. Arlington, Avith its white colonnade, looked like what it was — a hospital. Far doAvn the Potomac, toAvards Mount Ver non, the haze of evening was gathering over the landscape, and when I met the President his attitude and expression spoke the deepest sad ness. He paused as we met, and pointing his hand toAvards the line of wounded men, he said : ' Look yonder at those poor fellows. I can not bear it. This suffering, this loss of life, is dreadful.' Becalling a letter he had written years before to a suffering friend Avhose grief he had sought to console, I reminded him of the incident, and asked him : ' Do you remember Avriting to your sorrowing friend these Avords : "And this, too, shall pass away. Never fear, victory Avill come.'" 'Yes,' replied he, 'victory will come, but it comes slowly.' "(") 410 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Sunday was ever a restful day. Bublic cares were laid aside. In the floorless cabin on the banks of Nolin's Creek Mr. Lincoln had lis tened to the stories of Abraham, Moses, Joseph, David, Daniel — heroes of Biblical history, as narrated by his mother. There is no more beau tiful picture in Mr. Lincoln's life than the scene often Avitnessed in the White House on Sunday afternoons — the chief executive of the nation narrating the same stories to his listening boy. NOTES TO CHAPTER XXI. ( ' ) Warden's " Life of Salmon P. Chase," p. 570. (2) Thaddeus Stevens was born at Peacham, Vt., April 4, 1794. He was educated at Dartmouth College, graduating 1814. He became a school-teacher at York, Pa. He studied law, aud began practice as au attorney at Gettysburg, where he remained till 1842 ; then became a resident of Lancaster. He served many years as a member of the Legislature, and became a political leader. He was elected to Congress, 1848, and made the acquaintance of Mr. Lincoln, then member from Illinois. Through life he had been ardent in his opposition to slavery, and took a prominent part in debate upou the floor of Congress. Few members surpassed him iu attention to public affairs. His constitu ents re-elected him mauy times. He was ever a friend to the poor and oppressed, a de fender of their rights. From the beginning of the war he urged President Lincoln to strike a blow at slavery. He initiated and urged the passage of the Fourteenth Amend ment to the Constitution. During the war he wielded great influence iu Congress, and though advocating extreme measures to put down the Rebellion, he was, on the other hand, a, stanch supporter of the Administration. — Author. (a) Isaac N. Arnold, "Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 380. (4) "Congressional Globe," Thirty-eighth Congress, Second Session, pp. 1, 400. (5) "The Nation," October 2, 1873. ( 6 ) " Harper's Weekly," April 2, 1864. ( 7) F. B. Carpenter, " Six Months in the White House," p. 48. (8) W. C. J., in New York " Times," March 16, 1864. ( ' ) L. E. Chitteuden, " Recollections of Lincoln," p. 323. ( ,0) J. AV. Forney, "Anecdotes of Public Men," vol. ii., p. 180. ( " ) Isaac N. Arnold, " Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 375. SUMMER OF 1864. 411 CHAPTEE XXII. SUMMER OF 1864. THE political campaign for nominating candidates for the Presidency began Avith the assembling of the Abolitionists and others at Cleve land. General Fremont was nominated. Wendell Phillips in an ad dress said : "The Administration I regard as a civil and military failure, and its avowed policy ruinous to the North in every point of view. Mr. Lincoln may wish the end peace and freedom, but he is wholly unwilling to use the means which can secure that end. If Mr. Lincoln is re-elected, I do not expect to see the Union reconstructed in my day, unless on terms more disastrous to liberty than ever disunion would be." Mr. Phillips did not state what means the President could use. The Emancipation Proclamation had been issued ; more than 100,000 negro soldiers Avere in the army. What more could be done ? Mr. Phillips also said : "I see in General Fremont one whose thorough loyalty to democratic institutions without regard to race, whose earnest and decisive character, whose clearsighted states manship and rare military ability justif}' my confidence that in his hands all will be done to save the State that foresight, skill, decision, and statesmanship can do." Instead of showing rare military ability, General Fremont had utterly failed as a commander. The convention denounced corruption in office, yet one of its leading members, who had served on Fremont's staff, had been dismissed from military service on account of his dishonest trans actions. It was a gathering of a handful of discontented men — less than four hundred. Mr. Lincoln read the account of the proceedings, and laughed. It reminded him of a gathering in another age, and in another country. He took up his Bible and read : "And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them; and there were with him about four hundred men." 412 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. The United States under the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln was not just like the Kingdom of Israel under Saul ; neither was General Fremont the exact counterpart of David. But the four hundred gathered at Cleveland and the four hundred in the cave of AduUam were alike discontented and opposed to those in authority. The President laughed heartily over the similarity. He respected and honored the earnest men who had nominated Fremont, but could not accept their views as to his duty in administering the affairs of the nation. From the outbreak of the Eebellion the people had gradually come to see that it had been caused by slavery, and that there could be no lasting peace till it Avas wholly eradicated. President Lincoln issued his Proclamation of Emancipation as a war measure to cripple the ene my, but it did not wholly abolish slavery. Congress could not do it by an enactment. The people must act in their sovereign capacity and change the Constitution. James M. Ashley, of Ohio ; James F. Wilson, of Iowa ; Senator Sum ner, of Massachusetts, and Senator Henderson, of Missouri, had sub mitted resolutions for amending the Constitution, Avhich were referred to a Joint Judiciary Committee, of Avhich Senator Trumbull was chair man. The months were slipping away, summer approaching. The committee had taken no action. President Lincoln Avas solicitous that something should be done. The Emancipation Proclamation was of little effect, save as victories Avere Avon. The National Convention of the Eepublican Party to nominate a candidate for the Presidency Avas to meet in Baltimore. It would be called to order by Edwin D. Morgan, chairman of the National Com mittee. " I would like you," said Mr. Lincoln to him, " in your address, when you call the convention to order, as its key-note, and to put into the platform, as its key -stone, the amendment to the Constitution abolishing and prohibiting slavery." The day arrived (June 8, 1864). At the outset the delegates mani fested their determination to take advanced ground for the maintenance of the Union. The Army of the Potomac Avas at Cold Harbor. It had fought its way from the Wilderness to the vicinity of Eichmond. It Avas so near the city that in the stillness of night the Union sentinels could hear the church bells toll the passing hours. The army commanded by Sherman had forced the Confederates under Johnston from Buz zard's Boost to KenesaAV. With victory upon their banners the soldiers of the Union would continue the struggle to the end. SUMMER OF 1864. 413 As he called the convention to order, Mr. Morgan said : "It is a little more thau eight years since it was resolved to form a national party, to be conducted on the principles and policy of AA'ashington and Jefferson. ... In view of the dread realities of the past and what is passing at this moment, the fact that the bones of our soldiers are bleaching in every State of the Union, and with the further knowledge of the fact that this has all been caused by slavery, we shall fail of accomplishing our great mission unless we shall declare for such an amendment to the Constitution as will positively prohibit African slavery in the United States." The delegates clapped their hands, rose as one man, and made the haU ring Avith cheers. It was significant of their determination to carry on the Avork they had begun till that Avhich caused the war should be eradicated from the Constitution. EeAT. Eobert J. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, renowned as preacher and scholar, was appointed temporary chairman.(') He was uncle to John C. Breckinridge, Vice-president under Buchanan, for whom the slave-holders had AToted in 1860, and avIio was a lieutenant-general in the Confederate army. Though many of his friends and relatives had given their sympathies to the Confederacy, and Avere fighting against the Government, Eobert J. Breckinridge was true to the Union. He believed President Lincoln had been chosen by Almighty God to save the nation from ruin. " This nation," he said to the delegates in con vention, " shall not be destroyed. The only enduring and imperishable cement of all free institutions has been the blood of traitors. . . . We must use all power to exterminate the institution of slavery, which has raised the sword against the Union." The convention adopted a resolution demanding an amendment to the Constitution prohibiting slavery, as had been suggested by Presi dent Lincoln and announced by Mr. Morgan. Again the hall rang Avith loud and prolonged cheers. Mr. Lincoln Avas renominated by acclama tion. Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, Avas selected as candidate for Vice-president. The committee chosen to inform Mr. Lincoln of his renomination visited the White House. " I cannot," said the President, " conceal my gratification nor re strain the expression of my gratitude that the Union people, through their convention, in their continued effort to save and advance the na tion, have deemed me not unworthy to remain in my present position. ... I approve the declaration in favor of so amending the Constitution as to prohibit slavery throughout the nation. Such an amendment is a necessarv conclusion to the final success of the Union cause." 414 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. ANDREW JOHNSON. Baltimore being so near the capital, many delegations called upon the President — among others, members of the Philadelphia Union League. " I do not allow myself," said Mr. Lincoln, in response to the ad dress of its president, " to suppose that either the convention or the league haATe concluded that I am the greatest or best man in America, but rather that it is not best to swap horses Avhile crossing the river, SUMMER OF 1864. 415 and that I am not so poor a horse but that they might make a botch of it in trying to swap.'^2) " Allow me," said a gentleman, " to introduce my friend. He is an artist, and has painted a beautiful portrait of yourself and presented it to the league." " A beautiful portrait, did you say ? I think, sir," said the Presi dent, addressing the artist, " that you must have taken your idea not from my person, but from my principles." (3) William Lloyd Garrison, who had severely criticised Mr. Lincoln for setting aside Fremont's and Hunter's proclamations, visited the White House, and was warmly Avelcomed. "I have just come from Baltimore," said Mr. Garrison. "I have been searching for the old jail which I once had the honor of occupy ing, but have not been able to find it." " WeU," said Mr. Lincoln, " times have changed. Then you couldn't get out, now you can't get in."(*) The National Democratic Convention was to meet in Chicago, July 4th. The committee having matters in charge selected the anniver sary of national independence, hoping that the choice of such a day Avould awaken the enthusiasm of those Avho believed the Avar Avas a failure, who said the South never could be conquered, and who de manded peace, no matter Avhat terms Jefferson Davis might de mand. As narrated, Mr. Vallandigham, of Ohio, had been sent to the Con federate lines by President Lincoln. After a brief stay in Eichmond, he made his Avay to Canada. (6) He located himself near Windsor, op posite Detroit, and Avas in constant communication with his friends in Ohio. He was counselling Avith Jacob Thompson and Clement C. Clay, Confederate agents at Toronto and Montreal. At an early period of the Eebellion a secret society had been formed in Southern Indiana by men who favored the Confederacy. The organization at first was knoAvn as the "Knights of the Golden Circle." In 1863 it became the " Sons of Liberty." Its members were bitterly opposed to the war. The calls of President Lincoln for more troops and the ordering of the draft intensified their opposition. They Avere in communication Avith the Confederates. If the Union Avere to be restored at all, they desired it to be as it was before the Avar, with slavery unharmed. They did not comprehend that slavery was being swept from the land by the victories of the Union armies. The mem bers of the society were most numerous in Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, 416 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. and Ohio. The organization gradually extended eastward to NeAV York. Its meetings Avere held secretly. On Washington's birthday, in February, 1864, a grand council of delegates assembled in NeAV York and elected Vallandigham as grand commander. The members of the order judged, from the discontent in the Western States, it Avould be easy to bring about an uprising against the Government. The Con federate commission in Canada had received a large amount of money in gold coin from Eichmond, and were supplying arms to the " Sons of Liberty." Captain Hines, an officer in the Confederate service, was commissioned to make his way to Canada and collect the soldiers who had escaped from Union military prisons. He put himself in connection Avith the secret society. The Peace Democrats of south-Avestern Ohio while in session were surprised when Mr. Vallandigham, general commander of the " Sons of Liberty," appeared. It was an unlooked-for event. He had J 186416' corae m the night from Canada. He was greeted with a yell of delight. President Lincoln Avas informed of his arrival, but had no intention of having him again arrested. Just Avhat induced Val landigham to suddenly leave Canada and appear in Ohio is not known. The " Sons of Liberty " Avere not ready for an uprising. Probably it was to make his influence felt in the approaching Democratic Conven tion, to which he was at once elected a delegate. The managers Avere greatly disturbed. They feared Vallandigham Avould be a ruling spirit. The National Committee hastily assembled in NeAV York and voted to adjourn the meeting of the convention to August 29th. They gave as a reason that it would be well for the party to Avait for probable events. General Grant had fought his way from the Wilderness to Petersburg, and had announced his determination to fight on that line if it took all summer. General Sherman was moving towards Atlanta. Every vic tory won, every advance of the armies, made the cause of the Union stronger and brought discouragement to the Democratic Party. One newspaper frankly stated that the meeting of the convention was post poned that advantage might be taken of any military blunder. The Eepublican newspapers said it was the first time in history that a politi cal party pretending to be loyal to the Constitution could only hope for success from disaster to the armies of the Union. Mr. Chase had conducted the Treasury Department with great ability, but he differed from Mr. Lincoln on many questions. It was very natural that he should want his own way. Once he resigned, but the President declined to receive his resignation. Accusations were SUMMER OF 1864, 41', coming to Mr. Lincoln against a collector of customs in Oregon — that he was not a fit person to hold so important an office. " My mind is made up," wrote the President to Mr. Chase, " to re move him. I do not decide that the charges against him are true. I only declare that the degree of dissatisfaction Avith him is too great for him to be retained. But I believe he is your personal acquaintance and friend, and, if you desire it, I will try and find some other place for him." Mr. Chase thought the President ought to have consulted with him, CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM. 418 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. and was so displeased that he again tendered his resignation. Mr. Lincoln called upon him, put his arm around the neck of the Secretary and said, " Chase, here is a paper Avith Avhich I have nothing to do. Take it back and be reasonable." Mr. Chase did so, and things went on once more as if nothing had happened. When the Eepublican Party came into poAver there was a great scramble for offices, especially in NeAV York. The strife between the different factions gave Mr. Lincoln a great deal of trouble. Mr. Cisco, collector of customs, desired to resign the office. A contest arose as to who should succeed him. Mr. Chase desired the appointment of Mr. Field. Senator Morgan opposed it. "Strained as I am," wrote Mr. Lincoln to the Secretary, "I do not think that I can make this appointment in the direction of a still greater strain." TAvice had Mr. Chase tendered his resignation, and he was so dis pleased tbat he once more asked to be relieved of the Secretaryship. Abraham Lincoln was not the man to go again to the residence of Mr. Chase and ask him to remain in office. The resignation was accepted, and David Tod, of Ohio, appointed ; but a telegram came from him, declining the appointment on account of his health. Through the night the President had been thinking over the situa tion. The Secretary of the Treasury must be a man of marked ability — one Avho wTould command the confidence of the people. The ^lsii' Go\rernment must have money. Unless it was obtained the ar mies could not be kept in the field. William P. Fessenden, Senator from Maine, chairman of the Finance Committee, commanded the confidence of the country. (') He would appoint him. " Mr. Fessenden is in the anteroom and would like to see you," said one of the secretaries in the morning. " Here, take this to the Senate. Mr. Fessenden is not to come in till after you have started," said Mr. Lincoln. After the departure of the secretary, Mr. Fessenden entered the ex ecutive chamber. He did not knoAV Avhat the President had done. " Mr. President," said Mr. Fessenden, " allow me to suggest Mr. McCulloch as a suitable person for the Treasury Department.'' He sees a smile upon Mr. Lincoln's face, and soon learns its meaning. " Mr. Senator, I have just sent your name to the Senate." Mr. Fessenden springs from his chair. SUMMER OF 1864. 419 WILLIAM P. FESSENDEN. " Mr. President, you must withdraw it. I cannot, I cannot accept it." " No, Mr. Fessenden, I cannot withdraAV it. I want you. You must decline it before the public if you really cannot take it." The nomination Avas confirmed Avithout a dissenting \'oice in the Senate. Eepublicans and Democrats alike knew, esteemed, and honored Mr. Fessenden. 420 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. " It is very singular," Mr. Lincoln said, " considering that this ap pointment is so popular when made, that no one ever mentioned his name to me for that place. Thinking over the matter, two or three points occurred to me : his thorough acquaintance with the business — as chairman of the Senate Committee of Finance he knows as much of this special subject as Mr. Chase ; he possesses a national reputa tion and the confidence of the country ; he is a radical, Avithout the petulant and vicious fretfulness of many radicals. There are reasons why this appointment ought to be ATery agreeable to him. For some time past he has been running in rather a pocket of bad luck; the failure to renominate Mr. Hamlin makes possible a contest between him and the Vice-president, the most popular man in Maine, for the election Avhich is now imminent. A little Avhile ago, in the Senate, you know Trumbull told him his ill -temper had left him no friends, but this sudden and most gratifying manifestation of good feeling over his ap pointment, his instantaneous confirmation, the earnest entreaties of everybody that he should accept, cannot but be grateful to his feelings." Congress was to adjourn at noon on the anniversary of the birth of the nation. Early in the forenoon the President rode to the Capitol to examine and sign the bills Avhich had been passed. A bill providing for the readmission of the seceded States to the Union did not meet his approval. It had been drawn by Henry Winter Davis, of Maryland, and vehemently advocated by Senator Wade, of Ohio ; Senator Sumner, of Massachusetts ; Senator Chandler, of Michigan, and others. " Are you not going to sign it ?" Chandler asked. (') " This bill," Mr. Lincoln replied, " has just come to me. Congress is about to adjourn. It is a matter of too great importance to be swal lowed that way." " If it is vetoed, Mr. President, it will damage us fearfully in the coming elections. The bill prohibits slavery in the reconstructed States. It is a very important point." " I am aware of it," the President replied. " It is a very important point. I doubt if Congress has authority under the Constitution to act on that point." " Mr. President, it is no more than you yourself haATe done." " I conceive," said the President, " that in an emergency I may do things on military grounds Avhich Congress cannot do under the Con stitution." Senators and representatives who had earnestly advocated the pas sage of the bill were angry. SUMMER OF 1864. 421 " Gentlemen," said Mr. Lincoln, " it seenis to me in asserting that the insurrectionary States are no longer in the Union is to make the fatal admission that States, whenever they please, may dissolve their connection Avith the Union. We cannot surmise that admission. If that be true, then I am not President. I have earnestly favored an amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery. Such a bill passed the Senate, but failed in the House." " I agree Avith you," said Secretary Fessenden. " I have had my doubts as to the constitutional efficacy of your own decree of emanci pation where it has not been carried into effect by the advance of the army." The other members of the Cabinet expressed their conviction that the President had acted wisely in withholding his signature to the bill. Mr. Chase, no longer a member, said the bill Avas a condemnation of the President's amnesty proclamation, and that Mr. Lincoln put the bill in his pocket because he did not dare to veto it. "There is," said Senator Sumner, "intense indignation against the President." While Mr. Lincoln was signing bills in the Capitol an animated scene was being enacted in the grounds around the White House. By his special permission the colored Sunday-school children Avere holding a festival upon the smoothly-mown laAvn. A platform had been erected for the accommodation of those who Avere to speak, and rows of benches for the audience. SAvings wTere suspended from the trees and tilts erected. Men who but a feAV months before had been sold upon the auction block stood upon the platform, and Avith religious fervor peculiar to their race gaAre thanks to God for the freedom they had received from " Mars Linkum." He was their Moses, wTho had brought them out of bondage. Never before had there been such a gathering in the grounds around the Presidential mansion. Never before March 4, 1861, had a colored person other than as a servant dared set his foot in that enclosure. As the Saviour of the Avorld broke down the wall that sep arated Jew and Gentile in the temple of Jerusalem, so Abraham Lin coln, not only by proclamation but by example, overturned the Avail of prejudice, contumely, and hatred Avhich had been erected betAveen An glo-Saxon and African. During the day a delegation of three clergymen and two laymen, representing the colored churches of Baltimore, called upon the Presi dent to present a Bible to their benefactor. It was a large volume, bound in velvet, its corners protected by solid golden bands. Upon one 422 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. ^vflfSl ZACHARIAH CHANDLER. cover was a representation of the President in a cotton-field removing shackles from the slaves, and invoking the blessing of God upon the act. Upon the other cover was the inscription : _" To Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, the friend of universal freedom. From the loyal colored people of Baltimore, as a token of respect and gratitude. "M/ 4,1864." SUMMER OF 1864. 423 The Eev. Mr. Case, in presenting it, said : " The loyal colored people of Baltimore have delegated to us the authority to present this Bible as a token of their appreciation of your humane part towards the people of our race. While all the natious are offering tributes of respect, we cannot let the occasion pass by without tendering ours. Since we have been incorporated in the American fam ily we have been true and loyal, and we now stand ready to defend the country. We are ready to be armed and trained in military matters, in order to protect and defend the star-spangled banner. " Our hearts will ever feel the most unbounded gratitude towards you. AVe present a copy of the Holy Scriptures as a token of respect to you for your active part in the cause of emancipation. This great event will be a matter of history. In future, when our race shall ask what meau these tokens, they will be told of your mighty acts, and rise up and call you blessed. "The loyal people will remember your Excellency at the throne of divine grace. May the King Eternal, an all-wise Providence, protect and keep you ; and when you pass from this world, may you be borne to the bosom of your Saviour and God !" Mr. Lincoln, much moved, replied : "It would be a very fitting occasion to make a response at length to the very appro priate address which you have just made. I would do so if I were prepared. I would promise you to make response in writing had not experience taught me that business will not allow me to do so. I can ouly say now, as I have often said before, it has always been a sentiment with me that all mankind should be free. "So far as I have been able, so far as came within my sphere, I have always acted as I believed was right and just, and 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 it is the best gift which God has ever given to man. All the good from the Saviour of the world is communicated to us through this book. But for it we could not know right from wrong. All those things desirable to man are contained in it. I return you- my sincere thanks for this very elegant copy of the great Book of God which you present." That the people might know Avhy he did not sign the Eeconstruction Bill, Mr. Lincoln issued a proclamation. " I am," he said, " fully satis fied with the system of reconstruction contained in the bill, as 1864' one very proper for the loyal people of any State choosing to adopt it." Such a course on the part of a State Avould be in ac cordance with the Constitution, and he Avould use his influence to aid in its restoration ; but it Avas needful for the people to act in their sov ereign capacity. Important military events Avere taking place. General Hunter, with 18,000 men, advanced up the Shenandoah Valley to Lexington. This movement wTas so threatening to the Confederates that General Lee sent General Early with a large force to stop them. Hunter's provisions Avere failing. The Confederate cavalry captured one of his 424 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. trains loaded Avith supplies. Early occupied a position which obliged Hunter to retreat down the Great Kanawha to the Ohio Eiver. Early saw his opportunity and advanced Avith 17,000 veteran soldiers. A di vision of his cavalry under General Imboden destroyed the Baltimore and Ohio Eailroad. General Sigel with a small Union force held Maryland Heights, near Harper's Ferry. The Confederate cavalry paid no attention to this force, but crossed the Potomac, dashed into Hagerstown, made requisi tion for $20,000, burned hay and grain, seized horses and cattle. Early followed to Boonsboro', turned east over the South Mountain, and entered Frederick. It Avas a very rapid movement, and a surprise to General Halleck, who at first thought it was only a small raiding party bent on obtaining plunder. That Washington might be protected, Gen eral Grant sent Bicketts' division of the Sixth Corps from the lines in front of Petersburg. The troops marched to City Point and embarked on steamboats en route for Baltimore. The few Union troops in Maryland, under General Wallace, were stationed along the Monocacy Eiver, east of Frederick. They were only 2500. Many of the soldiers had enlisted for 100 days and had never been in battle. Wallace kept them marching and countermarching in sight of the Confederate pickets, to make them think they were con fronted by a large force. General Early Avas in Frederick, demanding $200,000, which Avas paid him. He was obtaining boots, clothing, and provisions. His ca\T- alrymen wrere gathering horses and cattle from the surrounding country. The morning dawned with the troops under Wallace and Bicketts, numbering 6000, posted along the eastern bank of the Monocacy. The Confederates, numbering nearly 20,000, with forty cannon, ad- Ji8649' vanced to brush Wallace aside ; that done, they would move on to Washington or Baltimore. The Union troops made a stub born resistance. Nearly 2000 were killed or Avounded and more than 700 taken prisoners before they yielded the field. The stand thus res olutely taken, delaying the advance of Early, Avas of incalculable ad vantage in saving Washington. The little handful of men under Wallace retreated towards Balti more, and there Avere no Union troops to retard Early in his march toAvards the nation's capital. A division of Confederate cavalry 1864°' was sleeping around Baltimore, destroying the railroad leading to Harrisburg and between Philadelphia and Baltimore. As at the beginning of the war it Avas intended to prevent troops from arriv- SUMMER OF 1864. 425 ing at Washington ; but soldiers Avere hastening to that city from an other direction. The four years of conflict were characterized by remarkable coinci dences. When General Grant assumed command of all the armies he determined to conduct the campaign on a general principle — he Avould concentrate his forces. He saAV that the Confederate army, under Lee, in Virginia, and the one in Georgia, under Johnston, constituted the power of the Eebellion. He Avould need reinforcements, especially in Vir ginia. The Nineteenth Corps in Louisiana, under General Emory, was holding that country, but was not in position to take aggressive action. He therefore directed Emory to embark his troops and sail to Fortress Monroe; and the steamers, with the veterans on board invigorated by the sea-voyage, were ready to drop anchor at Hampton Eoads on the afternoon of the conflict at Monocacy. The telegraph flashed the neAvs of the advance of Early towards the capital; and not only the Nine teenth Corps but the second division of the Sixth Corps, by the orders of Grant, Avere sent to Washington. There was a scene of excitement in that city : a mustering of convalescents in the hospitals, soldiers on detached service, marines and sailors in the Navy-yard, clerks in the Quartermaster's Department, artillerymen in the forts — nearly 20,000 in aU. But they were undisciplined, widely scattered, unorganized. The chances were that Early, with his 20,000 veterans, would haATe lit tle difficulty in entering the city. Up the Potomac sailed the ocean steamers from New Orleans with the veterans from Louisiana, and the riArer steamers Avith those of the Sixth Corps. It was nearly two o'clock in the afternoon ^g]1' when the President, looking from the south windows of the White House, beheld the vessels off Alexandria, and experienced a sense of relief from the anxiety of the morning. When the vessels came to the wharves at the foot of Sixth Street the soldiers beheld the President Avaiting to Avelcome them. They rent the air with cheers. Without delay the column marched up Seventh Street, Avelcomed by hurrahs. Mingling Avith the shout of welcome Avas the thunder of can non at Fort Stevens, hurling shells upon the advancing Confederates. The veterans had arrived just Avhen they Avere greatly needed. General Early's opportunity had gone by. Never Avas a Confederate flag to Avave over the dome of the Capitol ; never Avere his soldiers to march in triumph through Washington. He had determined to make an assault, but Avhen he beheld the soldiers of the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps confronting him, he hesitated to give the order. 426 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. The Union troops were not there to stand upon the defensive. Gen eral Wright, of the Sixth Corps, in command, determined to advance. The cannon of Fort Stevens opened fire. Upon its rampart stood Pres ident Lincoln surveying the scene. Wheaton's division of the Sixth Corps began the attack, driving the Confederate skirmishers. The rat tling fire deepened to volleys. The heavy cannon in the forts sent shells over the heads of the advancing troops. Early had no intention of fighting a battle. He had come to seize the capital, but had been foiled. He signalized his exploit by burning the house of Mr. Blair, member of the President's Cabinet, then crossed the Potomac with the cattle and plunder collected in Maryland, and made his way once more to the Shenandoah. Mr. Lincoln had selected able men as members of his Cabinet, but they differed widely in opinion upon questions of public policy. The convention Avhich renominated him passed a resolution calling for har mony of action. The Postmaster-general, Mr. Montgomery Blair, was regarded with disfavor by many earnest Eepublicans. They importuned the President to remove him. It was known that the Postmaster-gen eral Avas hostile to Mr. Seward and Secretary Stanton. He keenly felt the destruction of his residence by the Confederates, especially his li brary, which contained valuable papers. He commented severely upon the inefficiency of Halleck, who wrote a letter to Stanton. " I desire to know," said Halleck, " whether such wholesale de nouncement and accusation by a member of the Cabinet receives the sanction and support of the President of the United States ? If so, the names of the officers accused should be stricken from the rolls of the army ; if not, it is due to the honor of the accused that the slanderer be dismissed from the Cabinet." The Secretary of War sent the communication to the President, making no comment upon Halleck's request. Plain the reply of Mr. Lincoln : " Whether the remarks were really made I do not know, nor do I suppose such knowledge is necessary to a correct response. If they Avere made, I do not approve them ; and yet, under the circumstances, I would not dismiss a member of the Cabinet therefor. I do not con sider what may have been hastily said in a moment of vexation at so severe a loss is sufficient ground for so grave a step. Besides this, truth is generally the best vindication against slander. I propose continuing to be myself the judge as to when a member of the Cabinet shall be dismissed." ( e ) SUMMER OF 1864. 427 The members of the Cabinet assembled in the executive chamber to consult upon grave questions. They had been invited by Mr. Lin coln to be his advisers, to aid him in administering the affairs of the Government. The country Avas fighting for its life. Harmonious ac tion was a duty they owed to the nation. The people demanded it. Abraham Lincoln Avas determined to have it. Before proceeding to business they heard him say : "Gentlemen, I must myself be the best judge how long to retain in and when to remove any of you from his position. It would greatly pain me to discover any of you endeavoring to procure another's removal, or in any way to prejudice him before the public. Such endeavor would be a wrong to me, and, much more, a wrong to the country. My wish is that on this subject no remark be made nor question asked by any of you, here or else where, now or hereafter. {") With firmness and dignity the head-master of the school had made known the rule to his subordinates. It was not for them to dictate his course of action. They were not the words of an autocrat, but of a servant of the people. While Early was advancing towards Washington, the President re ceived a letter from Horace Greeley, indorsing a communication from William Cornell Jewett, who was hobnobbing with Thompson and Clay, Confederate agents in Canada. Mr. Jewett was an adventurer, a busybody, who imagined he Avas of great importance to the coun try. He wrote letters to Jefferson Davis and Mr. Lincoln, proffering advice, of Avhich no notice was taken. He also Avrote letters to the neAvspapers. " I am authorized to state," he wrote to the editor of the " Tribune," " that two ambassadors of Davis & Co. are now in Can ada, with full and complete powers for a peace, and Mr. Saunders re quests that you come on immediately to me at Cataract House for a private interview ; or, if you will send the President's protection for him and tAvo friends, they will come and meet you. He says the Avhole matter can be consummated by me, you, them, and President Lincoln." Mr. Greeley was an able editor and Avriter. He Avas impulsive and earnest. He wanted to bring about peace. He knew that Jewett was meddling with other people's affairs. A little reflection Avould have led him to doubt the statements of such an adventurer, but Avith childish simplicity he wrote to Mr. Lincoln and enclosed that received from Jewett. " I venture to remind you," he said, " that our bleeding, bankrupt, almost dying country longs for peace, shudders at the prospect of fresh 428 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. conscriptions, of further wholesale devastations, and of neAV rivers of human blood ; and a wide-spread conviction that the Government and its supporters are not anxious for peace, and do not improve proffered opportunities to achieve it, is doing great harm now, and is morally certain, unless removed, to do far greater harm in the approaching elec tion." Mr. Greeley drew up a plan of his own for bringing about peace. The Union Avas to be perpetual. Slavery was to be abolished. Four hundred million dollars were to be paid to the Slave States. A na tional convention was to be called to settle all differences. " Mr. President," he wrote, " I fear you do not realize how intently the people desire any peace, consistent with national integrity and honor, and how joyously they Avould hail its achievement and bless its authors. With United States stocks Avorth about forty cents in gold per dollar, and drafting about to commence on the third million Union soldiers, can this be wondered at ? I do not say a just peace is noAv attainable, though I believe it to be so." Mr. Greeley, accepting JeAvett's statements without question, had jumped at a conclusion. President Lincoln had no faith in Jewett. He did not believe any one had been authorized by Jefferson Davis to negotiate a peace. Were it so, it Avas not probable that a busybody would be selected by the President of the Confederacy. The letter, however, was not tossed into the waste-basket. It should not be said that the Administration did not desire peace.. Mr. Greeley had been criticising the conduct of the war, but the time had come when the President could effectually demonstrate to him his sincere desire to end the conflict. " If you can find," he Avrote in reply, " any person, anywhere, pro fessing to have any proposition of Jefferson Davis, in writing, for peace, embracing the restoration of the Union and abandonment of slavery, whatever else it embraces, say to him he may come to me with you." Mr. Greeley did not read in the Avords " any person, anywhere," " any proposition," the disbelief of Mr. Lincoln in the honest intention of Jewett and a quiet sarcasm upon himself. Another meddler, George N. Saunders, who toiok part in making Greeley a dupe of the Democratic Party, wrote that he was authorized to say that Mr. Clay, Professor Holcombe, of Virginia, and himself were ready to go to Washington to negotiate peace. " I am," Avrote Greeley to the President, " of course quite other than sanguine that peace can now be made, but I am quite sure that a frank, SUMMER OF 1864. 429 earnest, anxious effort to terminate the war on honorable terms Avould immensely strengthen the Government in case of its failure, and would help us in the eyes of the civilized Avorld." The President wrote a second letter to Greeley. "I am disap pointed," he said, " that you have not already reached here with those commissioners. If they Avould consent to come on being shown Ji8646' my ^ter to y°u on ttie 9th inst., show this to them ; and if they Avill consent to come on the terms stated in the former, bring them. I not only intend a sincere effort for peace, but I intend that you shall be a personal witness that it is made." The President manifested his sincerity by sending one of his secre taries to New York to confer Avith Greeley. He was determined the editor of the "Tribune" should personally know that he was sincere. Mr. Greeley went to Niagara Avith a paper Avhich guaranteed the safety of Clay, Thompson, Holcombe, and Saunders in visiting Wash ington. He wrote a note to those gentlemen, informing them he J"'g6]6' understood they were duly accredited from Eichmond as bear ers of propositions looking to the establishment of peace. He did not inform them in regard to the condition mentioned by Mr. Lin coln — " a proposition in writing from Jefferson Davis." They replied that they were not accredited from Eichmond to ne gotiate peace. They had no Avriting from Davis. They did not doubt he might appoint them to conduct arrangements for peace if President Lincoln Avere to move in the matter. The editor of the " Tribune " Avas perplexed, and telegraphed to Washington, asking what should be done. The President concluded to send John Hay, one of his secretaries, to Niagara with the following document, Avhich Avould be understood by all : " To whom it may concern : Any proposition which embraces the restoration of peace, the integrity of the whole Union, and the abandonment of slavery, and which comes by and with an authority that can control the armies now at war with the United States, will be received and considered by the executive government of the United States, and will be met by liberal terms and other substantial and collateral points, and the bearer or bearers thereof shall have safe conduct both ways." \ Mr. Greeley crossed to the Canada side, handed the proposition to Mr. Holcombe, and privately informed Jewett he would be j8y6|0' pleased to receive through him any answer the Confederates might make. Mr. JeAvett saAv an opportunity to help the Peace Democrats and disparage Mr. Lincoln. 430 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. He informed the commissioners that he Avas Mr. Greeley's confi dential agent. They Avrote a letter pretending ignorance of any condi tions attached to the first letter of the President to Greeley, and ac cused Mr. Lincoln of having made a withdraAval of his first overture. They said the South Avanted peace, and intimated that he did not desire it. They appealed to patriots and Christians in the North to "recall the abused authority, and vindicate the outraged civilization of their country." The letter was placed in the hands of Jewett, who, besides sending it to Greeley, sent copies to the Democratic newspapers. Jewett, Saunders, and the Confederates had used the unsuspecting editor of the " Tribune " to discredit Mr. Lincoln before the people. The President had not been deceived. He mistrusted at the outset that a trick Avas intended. The Democratic neAvspapers declared more vehemently than ever that Mr. Lincoln Avas a blood-thirsty tyrant, Avho desired only to see the South humiliated and crushed, the country desolated — all on account of the negroes. Mr. Greeley Avas chagrined at the outcome of his ex ploit. The President, desiring to soothe his Avounded sensibilities, in vited him to visit Washington. The invitation Avas not accepted. " I fear," he wrote to Mr. Lincoln, " that my chance for usefulness has passed. I knoAV that nine-tenths of the whole American people, North and South, are anxious for peace — peace on almost any terms — and ut terly sick of human slaughter and devastation. I know that to the general eye it noAV seems that the rebels are anxious to negotiate, and that we refuse their advances. I knoAV that if this impression be not removed Ave shall be beaten out of sight next November. I firmly believe that were the election to take place to-morrow the Democratic majority in the State of Pennsylvania Avould amount to 100,000, and that Ave should lose Connecticut also. Now, if the Eebellion can be crushed before November it will do to go on ; if not, Ave are rushing to certain ruin. ... I beg you, I implore you, to inaugurate or invite pro posals for peace forthwith. And in case peace cannot now be made, consent to an armistice for one year, each party to retain unmolested all it noAv holds, but the rebel ports to be opened. Meantime let a na tional convention be held, and there will surely be no more war, at all events." Two prominent members of Congress, Henry Winter Davis and Senator Wade, were chagrined at the action of the President in not signing the bill for the reconstruction of the Eebel States. The Presi- SUMMER OF 1864. 431 dent had set up his opinion against a majority of both Houses. They gave vent to their anger by issuing a manifesto. " The President," they said, " by preventing this bill from becoming a law, holds the electoral votes of the Eebel States at the dictation of his personal ambition. ... A more studied outrage on the legislative ^liii' aut/h°rity of the people has never been perpetrated. ... If he Avishes our support, he must confine himself to his executive du ties ; to obey and to execute, not make, the laws ; to suppress by arms armed rebellion, and leaATe political reorganization to Congress." In their anger the authors of the manifesto overlooked the one ques tion foremost in the mind of the President : the constitutionality of the act. They misjudged him in concluding he preferred his oavu plan to theirs, Avhereas he was zealous only to maintain the Constitution. He intended that every act of his Administration should be in accordance with its provisions. He could make no reply to the misstatements and falsehoods. He must bear calumny and misrepresentation in silence. It was hard to see old-time friends and strong supporters turning their faces aAvay from him — condemning his course, maligning his motives. "Your re-election," wrote Thurlow Weed, "is an impossibility." " The people," said Henry J. Eaymond, of the New York " Times," " are wild for peace. Commissioners ought to be sent to Eichmond on the basis of peace." " I doubt if I shall be re-elected," said Mr. Lincoln to his intimate acquaintances. (10) Just before the Cabinet entered the executive chamber August 23, 1864, the day assigned for the weekly meeting, the President wrote the following words : "This morning, as for several days past, it seems probable that this Administration will not be re-elected. Then it will be my duty to so co operate with the President-elect to save the Union between the election and the inauguration, as he ivill have secured his election on such grounds that he cannot possibly save it afterwards." '(") What Avords are these! Where in all history, or in Avhat biogra phy, is there such a look into the future ? No forecasting for advan tage to himself ! Everything for the country ! The nation must be saved ! The writing is placed in an envelope and sealed. The members of the Cabinet enter the room. Cheerful as eArer the greeting of the President. " Gentlemen, may I ask a favor — will you please write your names upon this envelope?" the request. They do not know why he asks it. 432 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. He makes no explanation. They have no knowledge of its contents. They Avrite their names, and the package is laid away. Why had the President written the remarkable words ? Why had he asked the members of the Cabinet to Avrite their names ? To under stand his action we must remember that it was one of the gloomiest hours in the history of the country. If we take the premium on gold as a standard of probabilities it Avas the darkest period of the war. In Au gust, 1862, when the Union army Avas drifting back to Washington, after the disaster at Manassas, gold could be purchased by paying 20 per cent, premium. Very soon after the battle of Fredericksburg, the fol lowing December, specie disappeared. People were hiding it in safe places. On that summer morning, 1864, $2.60 in paper-money were re quired to purchase $1 in gold. The credit of the Government was at its lowest ebb. The country stood aghast at the slaughter on the battle-fields. The President was about to call for 300,000 men. Seem ingly the sentiment of the country was for peace. McClellan, if elected, Avould succeed to the Presidency on such a basis. Mr. Lincoln, at such a gloomy hour, called the members of the Cabinet to Avitness that he Avould do all in his power to aid McClellan, if possible. The Cabinet meeting over, the members departed, and E. E. Fenton, member of Congress from NeAV York, entered the chamber in response to a telegram sent by the President. " Mr. Fenton," said Mr. Lincoln, " you are to be nominated by our folks for Governor of your State. Seymour, of course, will be the Democratic nominee. You Avill have a hard fight. I am very desirous you should win the battle. New York should be on our side by honest possession. There is some trouble among our folks over there Avhich we must try and manage — or, rather, there is one man Avho may give us trouble because of his indifference, if in no other Avay. He has great influence, and his feelings may be reflected in many of his friends. We must have his counsel and co-operation in holding friendly relations with Mr. Weed." We have seen Mr. Thurlow Weed meeting defeat and disappoint ment by the defeat of Mr. SeAvard in the Chicago Convention of 1860. He Avas not heartily in sympathy Avith the Administration, and had not been consulted in regard to the appointment of the collector of customs and surveyor in NeAV York, Avhom he regarded as hostile to himself. Political patronage was dear to Mr. Weed; in the eyes of Abraham Lincoln it Avas no more than a bauble. If Mr. Weed could be brought to Avield his far-reaching influence for saving the nation, he would give SUMMER OF 1864. 433 KEUBEN E. FENTON. him the toy. Mr. Fenton was sent to NeAV York. He brought about the resignation of the surveyor, and the appointment of a gentleman Avho could be of service in saving the nation— one who was agreeable to Mr. Weed. Such was Mr. Lincoln's statesmanship. No principle had been sacrificed, but harmony essential to the wel fare of the nation had been attained. Little did the President foresee how events beyond his control would dissipate the gloom; how through the obstinacy of Jefferson 28 434 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Davis, through the blundering and malignity of the Peace Democracy, by the heroism and steadfastness of the great army of the republic the nation was to be saved. There were others than William Cornell Jewett and Horace Greeley Avho thought themselves called upon to bring about peace. Mr. John E. Gilmore, of New York, and Eev. Mr. Jacques, of Illinois, desired to visit Eichmond on an errand of peace, and Avere alloAved by General Grant to pass his lines. They reached the Confederate Capitol and held a conference with Jefferson Davis. They expressed a desire to have the Avar ended. The Northern people longed for peace, they said. " I desire," Mr. Davis replied, " peace as much as you do ; but I feel that not one drop of blood is on my hands. I can look up to God and say this : I tried all in my poAver to avert this Avar. I saw it coming, and for twelve years I worked night and day to prevent it ; but I could not. The North was mad and blind ; but it would not let us govern ourselves, and so the war came ; and now it must go on till the last man of this generation falls in his tracks, and his children seize his musket and fight our battle, unless you acknowledge our right to self- government. We are not fighting for slavery. We are fighting for in dependence • and that or extermination we will have. . . . Say to Mr. Lin coln, from me, that T shall at any time be proud to receive proposals for peace on the basis of our independence. It will be useless to approach us with any other." The Peace Democrats maintained that the President was waging war solely to abolish slavery. Jefferson Davis by this declaration in formed them that the South was not fighting to maintain slavery, but for independence. " We may lose much," wrote the editor of a Southern newspaper, "by presenting a hostile movement to the Peace Democracy. Live with them under the same government we never will ; but if they will use the ballot-box against Mr. Lincoln while we use the cartridge-box, each side will help the other, and both co - operate to accomplish the grandest work Avhich this country has ever witnessed." NOTES TO CHAPTER XXII. (') Robert J. Breckinridge was born in Kentucky, March 8, 1800. He attended Princeton, Yale, and Union colleges, graduating at the latter, 1819. He studied law, was elected to the Legislature four successive years, but in 1832, in obedience to religious convictions, studied theology, and became pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church, SUMMER OF 1864. 435 Baltimore, where he remained till elected to the presidency of Jefferson College, 1845. He took great interest in promoting the public schools of Kentucky. In 1853 he accept ed au appointment as Professor of Polemics iu Danville Theological Seminary. He pub lished several volumes upon theological subjects, and edited the Danville " Review." Hu was intensely loyal to the Union. Although his sou and uephew, John C. Breckinridge, joined the Confederacy, he denounced secession as an unpardonable crime. — Author. (2) F. B. Carpenter, " Six Mouths in the White House," p. 166. (3) Ibid. (¦<) Theodore Tiltou, in New York "Independent," June 14, 1864. (5) Clement L. VaUandighani was of Huguenot descent. He was born in New Lisbon, 0., 1822. He taught an academy at Snow Hill, Md., studied law, aud was admitted to the bar, 1842. He was elected to the Legislature of Ohio, and edited a newspaper at Dayton. He was an intense Democrat, aud secured au election to Congress, 1857. His sympathies were with the Secessionists to au extent which led him to oppose the prose cution of the war. On the floor of Congress, at political gatherings, and through the Press he wielded his influence against the Government, aud was arrested for treasonable utter ances by General Burnside. He was tried by court-martial, sentenced to imprisonment in one of the forts in Boston Harbor ; but Presideut Lincoln overruled the decision and transferred him to the Confederate lines. He received scaut courtesy in Richmond, where he remained but a short time. He ran the blockade to Bermuda, went from there to Canada, was nominated by the Democratic Party as candidate for Governor, 1863. He was defeated by John Brough by an overwhelming majority. He returned to Ohio, was elected delegate to the Democratic National Convention at Chicago, and wrote its platform. While engaged in a suit at court, aud explaining the construction of a pistol, he was mortally wounded by its accidental discharge. He was a man of great earnest ness aud force — an iutense partisan. — Author. (6) The Secretary of the Treasury, William P. Fessenden, appointed to succeed Mr. Chase, was born in Boscawen, N. H., October 16, 1806. He received his education at Bow- doin College, studied law, began practice iu Bridgeton, and subsequently iu Portland. He was elected to the Legislature, 1832, but refused a nomination as member of Congress. He gave his attention wholly to his profession, attaining a high position as member of the bar. He was elected Senator, 1854, and took conspicuous part in the debates upon the Kansas troubles. He was re-elected, 1859. Upou the assembling of the Peace Congress, 1861, he was appointed a member of that body by the Governor of Maine. Upon the ac cession ofthe Republican Party to power he was made chairman of the Committee ou Finance. His ability in that position elicited n glowing eulogy from Senator Sumner, who said, " Iu the financial field he is what the best generals are on the battle-field." Mr. Lincoln placed Senator Fessenden iu charge of the finances at the darkest period of the war, when viewed from the financial stand-point. Mr. Chase had advertised a loan, but there was no response from the public, and it had been withdrawn. In the month of February, 1864, gold was at a premium of 225. Secretary Fessenden resolved that no more treasury notes should be issued. He devised a loan bearing 7^ per cent. interest. He believed that the people, if appealed to, would subscribe to such a loan. They had shown their patriotism in raising meu, they would be equally patriotic in fur nishing money. He determined to appeal to the small investor and issue $50 bonds. He judged rightly ; and the people, having confidence in the stability ofthe Government, ac cepted the bonds, and gave the Government the needed funds to carry on the war. Mr. Fessenden was re-elected to the Senate in 1865, and was made chairman of the Joint Com mittee on Reconstruction. He opposed the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. Ho died in 1869.— Author. (') Zachariah Chandler was born in Bedford, N. H.,1813. He attended the public 436 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. schools of his native town, and taught one term. At the age of twenty he became clerk in a dry-goods store; removed to Detroit, Mich., aud eugaged in business. He was elect ed mayor of that city, 1851. He was a Whig, but took au active part in the formation of the Republican Party. In 1857 he succeeded Lewis Cass as Senator from Michigan. He was ever outspokeu iu his denunciation of slavery. Ho vehemently opposed the ad mission of Kansas under the Lecompton Constitution. He had the courage of his con victions. In a letter to Governor Blair, written February 11, 1861, he said that " without a little blood-letting the Union was not worth a rush." When the President called for 75,000 troops to put down the Rebellion, Senator Chandler regretted that he had not called for 500,000. He reported iu 1861 a bill for the confiscation of the property of those in re bellion. Iu July, 1862, he informed several Senators that he intended to assail McClellan in a speech on the floor of the Senate. He was informed that it would be fatal to his re election to the Senate, theu pending. He replied that the good of the country demanded an exposure of the inefficiency of the commander of the army, and delivered the speech as contemplated. It did not imperil his re-election. He was plain, straightforward, and intensely loyal to the Union. — Author. (8) " Century Magazine," September, 1889. (9) Ibid. (l0) "Century Magazine," August, 1889. (") Ibid. PEACE DEMOCRACY. 437 CHAPTEE XXIII. PEACE DEMOCRACY. JUST out from Chicago, at " Camp Douglas," Avere 5000 Confederate prisoners. The officer in command alloAved some of the captives to visit acquaintances and friends in the city on their parole. He organ ized them in companies to keep the camp clean and distribute proATisions. The Confederates were ready to do all that Avas required. The guards were feAV in number, and belonged largely to the invalid corps. They had seen service, but were not sufficiently hardy to enter upon a campaign. The War Department appointed Colonel J. B. Sweet to command the post. In view of the sufferings of Union soldiers at Andersonville, he thought it wise to curtail the privileges that had been enjoyed by the prisoners. No longer were they alloAved to visit the city. They were permitted to write letters to their friends, which Avere left un sealed, that Colonel Sweet might see they contained nothing contra band. It occurred to him it would be well to hold one of the letters over the flame of a lamp, Avhen lo ! and behold, writing betAveen the fines appeared. He read about a " celebration " that Avas to be held in Chicago. (') He determined to keep his OAvn counsel, and make further discoveries about any society or organization planning a celebration. Detectives, disguised as Confederate prisoners, soon learned that something Avas to be done in connection with the assembling of the Democratic Convention. It was known that the "Sons of Liberty" were making preparations to resist the Government in enforcing the draft ordered by the President. The leaders were in communication with Thompson and Clay in Canada. It was discovered that a large number of " Sons of Liberty " were preparing to attend the convention, and that an attempt was to be made to release the prisoners. (2) The railroad trains from Canada, Ohio, Southern Indiana, and Illi- Aug. 28, nois, entering Chicago, were filled with passengers. Some were 1864- delegates to the Democratic Convention, but the great majority were on their Avay to the city for a far different purpose — to act in 438 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. concert with the Confederate prisoners for their release. The move ment was weU understood in Eichmond. Among the passengers from Canada were men holding commissions signed by Jefferson Davis as officers in the Confederate service, who were to take command of the prisoners. Their fare and the expenses of the motley croAvds of " Sons of Liberty" were paid by Thompson and Clay with money from the Confederate treasury. " Men commanded by Mr. Vallandigham," says a Confederate writer, " had been intrusted with the necessary funds for perfecting county organizations. Arms had been purchased in the North by the aid of professed friends in New York.(3) Alliances, of fensive and defensive, had been made Avith peace organizations, and though we were not misled by the sanguine promises of our friends, we were confident that with any sort of co-operation on their part success was possible. During the excitement that always attends a great po litical con\Tention, increased, as we supposed it would be, by the spirit of opposition to the Administration, we felt that Ave would be free to act unobserved, and that Ave could move with promptness and effect upon Camp Douglas. With 5000 prisoners there, and over 7000 at Springfield, joined by the dissatisfied elements in Chicago and through Illinois, Ave believed that we would have a formidable force, which might be the nucleus of more important movements. . . . Arms were ready, and information had been conveyed to the prisoners of our in tention. Chicago was thronged with people from all sections of the country, and among the vast croAvd were many officers of the secret organizations on whom Ave relied for assistance." ( 4 ) Had we been guests at the Eichmond House, in Chicago, we should have seen one room carefully guarded. All who asked to be admitted Avere closely scrutinized. The Confederate officers and the " Sons of Liberty " were holding a conference. A large number of the " Sons " had arrived, but they were not organized for action. " As day after day passed," wrote an editor of one of the Chicago newspapers, " the crowd increased till the whole city seemed alive with a motley crew of blear-eyed, whiskey-blotched vagabonds, the very ex crescence and sweepings of the slums and sinks of all the cities of the nation. I sat at my window and saAv the filthy stream of degraded hu manity swagger along to the wigwam on the lake shore, and wondered how our city could be saved from burning and plunder, and our wives and daughters from a far more dreadful fate. They talked loudly about the convention, cursed Abraham Lincoln, and praised Vallandigham. They swaggered through the streets, lounged at the corners, drank a PEACE DEMOCRACY. 439 great deal of whiskey, and yelled Avith delight at the mention of the name of Jefferson DaAris."(s) The conspirators reconnoitred Camp Douglas, and beheld vigilant sentinels pacing their beats. Cannon Avere planted to SAveep every aATenue of approach. The soldiers guarding the prisoners Avere veter ans Avho had faced death on the battle-field. The Confederates hold ing commissions from Jefferson Davis saAV that an unorganized mob could accomplish little against a body of disciplined troops, and wisely abandoned an attempt to release the prisoners. Colonel Sweet Avas cognizant of all their plans. Very quietly he increased the force guarding the camp, and Avas prepared for Avhatever might happen. The Democratic Convention assembled. The delegates came with high expectations. It was called to order by Mr. August Belmont, of New York. "Four years of misrule," he said, "by a sectional, Ai8649' Ianati°ab an(i corrupt party have brought our country to the verge of ruin. . . . The inevitable result of the re-election of Mr. Lincoln must be the utter disintegration of our Avhole political and social system and bloodshed and anarchy, with the great problem of liberal progress and self-government jeopardized for generations to come." Horatio Seymour, Governor of New York, was elected president of the convention. " The Administration," he said, " will not let the shed ding of blood cease, even for a little time, to see if Christian charity or the wisdom of statesmanship may not work to save the country. They Avill not listen to a proposal of peace Avhich does not offer that Avhich the Government has no right to ask. . . . We are determined that the party which has made the history of our country, since its advent to power, seem like some unnatural and terrible dream, shall be overthroAvn." The platform of the party was prepared by Mr. Vallandigham. "The Constitution," it read, "has been disregarded in every part, and public liberty and private right alike trodden doAvn, and the material prosperity of the country injured. Justice, humanity, liberty, and the public Avelfare demand that immediate efforts be made for a cessation of hostilities, with a vieAv to an ultimate convention of all the States, that at the earliest possible moment peace may be restored." The name of George B. McClellan was presented as a candidate for the Presidency. From the hour of his removal as commander of the Army of the Potomac a portion of the Democratic Party had selected him as the man Avho would be most likely to defeat the re-election 440 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. HORATIO SEYMOUR. of Mr. Lincoln. The peace wing of the party opposed his nomina tion. He is a tyrant!" shouted Mr. Harris, delegate from Maryland. lie it was who initiated the policy by which our liberties were stricken down. He is the assassin of State rights, the usurper of liberty ; and if nominated will be beaten, as he was at Antietam." "You have arraigned Lincoln," said Mr. Long, of Ohio, "for inter fering with the freedom of speech, the freedom of elections, and of ar bitrary arrests ; and yet you propose to nominate a man who has been gmlty of the arrest of the Legislature of a sovereign State. He has suspended the writ of habeas corpus, and helped to enforce the odious PEACE DEMOCRACY. 441 Emancipation Proclamation of Lincoln, the instrument of a- corrupt and tyrannical administration." McClellan was almost unanimously nominated. George II. Pendle ton, of Ohio, was selected as candidate for Vice-president. While the convention Avas resolving that the war Avas a failure, the troops under General Sherman were making the movement which compelled the Con federates to evacuate Atlanta, and the flag of the Confederacy, which had waved above Port Morgan in Mobile Bay, was giving place to the Stars and Stripes. No cheers rent the air Avhen the delegates heard the news. The convention adjourned, not sine die, but to meet again, if need be, to act in relation to whatever might happen. The events of the hour Avere dissipating the gloom which a few days before had settled over the country. The flashing of Sherman's guns at Atlanta and Farragut's in Mobile Bay, like lightning on a sultry even ing in midsummer, cleared the atmosphere. The invincible host enter ing the Confederate stronghold in Georgia was the promise of final vic tory. At Betersburg, upon the receipt of the news, the cannon of the Army of the Potomac hurled a salute of shot and shell into the Confed erate trenches. President Lincoln issued a proclamation to the country. " The signal successes," he said, " that divine Providence has vouchsafed caU for a devout acknoAvledgment to the supreme Being in Avhose hands are the destinies of nations." He recommended the following Sunday as a day of thanksgiving to God. In behalf of the people he tendered the thanks of the nation to Farragut and Sherman, and all the officers, soldiers, and sailors Avho had achieved the victories. He directed that national salutes should be fired from all arsenals and navy-yards. So it came about that at the hour of noon the Peace Democrats of Boston, NeAV York, and PhUadelphia, Avho were saying the Avar had failed, were compeUed to hear in the thunder of the salutes the reply of loyal peo ple to the Chicago declaration. The first important speech of the campaign on the Eepublican side was made by Secretary SeAvard to the citizens of Auburn, N. Y. SjPg43, "Who can vouch," he asked, "for the safety of the country against the rebels during the interval Avhich must elapse before the new Administration can constitutionally come into power ?" He was talking of the possibility of McClellan's election. It was a simple and natural inquiry, but the Peace Democrats distorted the ut terance into a threat. They said Mr. Seward represented the Presi dent, and it was the intention of Mr. Lincoln to hold on to the office. " It is a threat," said Governor Parker, of New Jersey, " that in case 442 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Mr. Lincoln should be defeated at the polls, he would resort to the means usually adopted by despots, and endeavor to perpetuate his reign by force of bayonets." " The usurper," said Judge Comstock, of New York, " now has his heel upon the free suffrage of the people ; yet if the people be defraud ed by military intervention at the polls, the people must and will take George B. McCleUan in their arms and carry him to the Presidency." Little did the Democrats know what Avas in the heart of Abraham Lincoln, or what was in the sealed envelope witnessed by the members of the Cabinet — his last will and testament, as it were, bequeathing un impaired to McCleUan, if elected, the country— the government of the people. The newspapers of the South hailed with exultation the action of the Democratic Party. " A new party," said the Eichmond " Examiner," " will succeed to power, which Avill sheathe the sword and hold out the olive-branch. . . . The Democratic Party would have been forever obliged to General Hood if he had managed to hold Atlanta another fortnight." The political campaign began Avith vigor and intense feeling. Mr. Lincoln took no part in it. He thought he had no right to make speeches favoring his re-election. A regiment from Ohio, which had served three years, Avas returning home. The veterans wanted to see the man whom they loved and honored. They marched into the grounds of the White House. The President came to the Avindow and welcomed them. They beheld a kindly, care-worn face. " I Avish," he said, " that the country understood the meaning of this struggle. We have a free government, under which every man has a right to be the equal of every other man. ... In this struggle is involved the question whether your children and my children shall enjoy the privileges we have enjoyed. . . . When you return to your homes rise to the heights of a generation of men worthy of a free government, and we will carry out the great Avork we have commenced." The Assistant Secretary of War, Charles A. Dana, accompanied by Eev. Joseph P. Thompson, a distinguished clergyman of New York, called upon the President. " I congratulate you, Mr. President," ' said Mr. Thompson, " on the capture of Atlanta. I thank you for issuing a proclamation for the observance of next Sunday as a day for devout thanksgiving to God for the victory." " I would be glad," the President replied, " if I could issue such a proclamation every week." PEACE DEMOCRACY. 443 "The victory at Atlanta," continued Mr. Thompson, "has Aviped out half the Chicago platform, ami if Grant will wipe out the other half Ave shall re-elect you by acclamation." " I think," said Mr. Dana, " the Union revival of feeling in the coun try is quite as much due to the platform as to the victory." " I guess," said Mr. Lincoln, " it is due to the victory. At any rate, it will bear repetition." "The platform," Mr. Thompson remarked, "has not yet been ac cepted by McClellan. He seems to be as sIoav as he was in taking Eichmond." " Perhaps he is intrenching," said the President, laughingly. "It is rumored," Mr. Thompson added, "that he will decline the nomination on that platform." " Well," Mr. Lincoln replied, " he does not seem to knoAv Avhether he will accept or dechne. And he never AviU. Somebody must do it for him. Of all the men I have had to do Avith in my life, indecision is ^y^-y^ -':^.-i(,yy^:. ; -—= GEORGE H. PENDLETON. 444 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. most strongly marked in McClellan, if that can be said to le strong which is the essence of weakness." There Avas no trace of personal rivalry or animosity in the tone. It was the utterance of deliberate judgment. " Have you heard, Mr. President," said Dana, " of the death of John Morgan ?" " Is he dead ? I avouIc! not desire the death of any man, but I as sure you that I take his death resignedly, as a dispensation of divine Providence. Morgan was a nigger-driver before the war. You North ern men don't know anything about such mean, low creatures. South ern slave-holders despise them. But such a wretch has been used to carry on the Bebellion." The President uttered the words with an emphasis which manifested his abhorrence of that phase of the institution of slavery. Mr. Thompson alluded to his renomination. " The churches, Mr. President, throughout the North desire your re-election." " It gratifies me to be assured of it. I rely much upon them. I Avould like to be re-elected, that I may carry out the policy of the Ad ministration." "Several prominent ministers," said Mr. Thompson, "are exerting their influence in your behalf. Among them is Eev. Leonard Bacon, of New Haven, Avho is earnestly advocating your re-election." "Bacon! Let me see. What do I knoAV of him? Didn't he once Avrite a book on slavery, which some of the abolitionists did not agree Avith ?" " Yes." " Well, I read that book some years ago, and at first did not knoAV exactly what to make of it, but I aftenvards read it more carefully, and got hold of Dr. Bacon's distinctions, and it had much to do with shap ing my own way of thinking on the subject of slavery. He is quite a man." " There is a distinction," said Mr. Thompson, " between what might be termed domiciliary subjection of captives taken in war, and the bond service of paupers, as allowed under the Mosaic economy, and chattel slavery in our own country." " Yes," replied the President, " there is a distinction. However, / have somehow thought that Moses didn't quite understand the Lord along there'' With a warm grasp of the hand he bade Mr. Thompson good-bye. PEACE DEMOCRACY. 445 " No description," Avrites the latter, " can be given of the brilliancy of his repartee, the readiness of his Avit, or the affability of his manner." (°) The month of September marks the beginning of the closing period of the war. General Early with his army Avas at Winchester, in the Shenandoah. He intended to prevent the opening of the Baltimore and Ohio Eailroad. He desired to hold the valley till the harvests were gathered. His presence so near Maryland Avas a constant menace to that State. The Union troops at Harper's Ferry consisted of the Sixth, Eighth, and Nineteenth Corps, and a large force of cavalry. General Sheridan was in command. General Grant, at Petersburg, extended his lines and took possession of the Weldon Eailroad. " I think," he said to Sheridan, " that Lee will order all troops back from the valley except what he believes will be sufficient to detain you. Watch closely, and if you find the thing correct, push Avith all vigor. Give the enemy no rest, and, if possible, follow to the Virginia Central Eailroad. Do all the dam age to railroad and crops you can, carry off stock of all descriptions and negroes, so as to prevent further planting. If the war is to go on an other year, Ave want the Shenandoah Aralley to remain a barren Avaste." General Lee did what Grant supposed he would. He ordered Early to send Anderson's division of troops to Eichmond. Slieridan, finding they had started, advanced a portion of his force to Berryville. Early, thinking he was to be attacked, caused Anderson to return. In the West, General Sherman was resting his army in Atlanta. Such the position of troops the first Aveek in September. General Grant was. studying the situation. He saAv it would not do for Sheridan to risk a battle Avith a prospect of being defeated. Such a result would encourage the Confederates to continue the struggle, but a decisive victory would have a powerful influence upon the political campaign in favor of the re-election of Mr. Lincoln. If Sheridan were defeated, the Confederates and their allies in the Democratic Party Avould push the advantage to the utmost. He did not send his instruc tions by telegraph or letter, but visited Harper's Ferry. " I knew," he said, "it was impossible for me to get orders through Washington to Sheridan to make a move, because they Avould be stopped there, and such orders as Halleck's caution Avould suggest (and that of the Secre tary of War) would be given instead, and Avould no doubt be contra dictory to mine. I therefore, without stopping at Washington, went directly through to Charlestown, some ten miles from Harper's Ferry, and Avaited there to see General Sheridan, having sent a courier in ad vance to inform him Avhere to meet me." 446 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. The two commanders met. Through Miss Eebecca Wright, a loyal young lady in Winchester, Sheridan had ascertained that Anderson's division was on its way to Eichmond. " Anderson has gone, and I propose to fight a battle," said Sheridan. " Your teams and supplies are at Harper's Ferry. How soon can you get them up ?" Grant asked. " This is Friday evening. I can be ready by daylight next Monday morning." " Go in !" The two words comprised aU the instructions Grant had to give. On a bright autumnal day Sheridan crossed the Opequan Eiver and fought the battle of Winchester. When the sun went down the ' Confederates were fleeing from the field, retiring to a very strong position at Fisher's Hill. Two days later the Confederates were again routed, with a loss in the two battles of tAventy-one cannon and several thousand men. Sept' 21' (See " Freedom Triumphant.") " God bless you all, officers and men ! I am strongly inclined to come and see you," the message sent by the President to Sheridan. In cities and villages throughout the North bells were ringing and bonfires blazing. The people comprehended the significance of the victories. The malaria of the Potomac marshes affected the health of the in mates of the White House, necessitating the removal of the President's family to the Soldier's Home, three miles distant. Mr. Lincoln rode to the executiATe mansion every morning to attend to the affairs of the nation. A citizen of Washington thus pictures the daily scene : ( ' ) "He always has a company of twenty-five or thirty cavalrymen, with sabres drawn and held upright over their shoulders. The party makes no great show in uniforms or horses. Mr. Lincoln, in the sad dle, generally rides a good-sized, easy-going gray horse. He is dressed in plain black, somewhat rusty or dusty ; wears a black stiff hat, and looks about as ordinary in attire as the commonest man. A lieutenant, with yellow straps, rides at his left, and following behind, two by two, come the cavalrymen, in their yellow striped jackets. They are gener ally going at a slow trot, as that is the pace set them by the one they wait upon. The sabres and accoutrements clank, and the entirely unor- namented cortege, as it trots towards Lafayette Square, arouses no sen sation, only some curious stranger stops and gazes. I see plainly Abra ham Lincoln's dark brown face, with the deep -cut lines and deep -set PHILIP SHERIDAN. PEACE DEMOCRACY. 449 eyes. There is always a latent expression of sadness. We have got so that we exchange boAvs, and very cordial ones. " Sometimes the President comes and goes in an open barouche. The cavalry ahvays accompany him Avith drawn sabres. Often I notice he halts at the residence of the Secretary of War and holds conferences there. He does not alight, but sits in the carriage, and Mr. Stanton comes out to attend him. Sometimes his son, a boy of ten or twelve, accompanies him, riding at his right on a pony. Earlier in the summer I occasionaUy saw the President and his wife, toAvards the latter part of the afternoon, out in a barouche on a pleasure ride. Mrs. Lincoln Avas dressed in complete black, Avith a long crape veil. The equipage is of the plainest kind — only two horses, and they nothing extra. They passed me once very close, and his look, though abstracted, happened to be directed steadily in my eye. He bowed and smiled, but beneath his smile I noticed the sadness. None of the artists or pictures have caught the subtle and indirect expression of this man's face. One of the great portrait-painters of two or three centuries ago is needed." Many letters threatening violence had been received by Mr. Lincoln. He usually referred to them jocosely, and often said that the people of Washington might find him some morning decorating a lamp-post or dangling from the limb of a tree. So many had been received that Mr. Stanton, as a matter of precaution, detailed the cavalrymen as an escort. Their riding with draAvn sabres was not to repel any apprehended assault, but in accordance Avith military discipline. In the quiet and healthful retreat of the Soldier's Home, after the labors of the day, Mr. Lincoln gave himself to recreation. He looked out upon a lovely landscape — hill, dale, meadow, forest, field, the Capitol, the spires of the city, the Avhite headstones of the soldiers' cemetery. On a calm summer evening Mr. Lincoln sat upon the veranda of the Home, surrounded by friends, and as he beheld the newly-made graves recited with tender pathos the stanzas written by the poet Collins : (8) "How sleep the brave, who sink to rest By all the country's wishes blest, When Spring, with dewy lingers cold, Returns to deck their hallowed mold? She then shall dress a sweeter sod Than Fancy's feet have ever trod. "By fairy hands their knell is rung, By forms unseen their dirge is sung ; 29 450 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Then Honor comes, a pilgrim gray, To bless the turf that wraps their clay ; And Freedom shall awhile repair To dwell a weeping hermit there !" The grounds of the Home were adorned with a great variety of trees and shrubs. A lady plucked a fragrant evergreen. She thought it a species of cedar. Another declared it spruce. A third thought it a variety of pine. " I know a little about trees," said the President. " I lived in the woods once. This is neither cedar, spruce, nor pine, but a sort of ille gitimate cypress. Trees are as deceptive as certain classes of men, among whom none but the eye of a physiognomist can detect dissimilar moral features until events have developed them. Do you know I think we ought to haAre a school of eA-ents ?" " A school of events, Mr. President !" exclaimed one of the ladies. " Yes," he continued ; " for it is only by active development that character or ability can be tested. Understand me. I mean men, not trees. The latter can be tested, and an analysis of their strength ob tained at less expense to life and human interests than any estimate of the strength and value of men. Call it a whimsey, if you will. I mean that students, before entering public life, might pass through mimic vi cissitudes to bring out their strength and calibre. You might ascertain who was fitted to be a soldier or a martyr or a cunning politician. These things have to be ascertained later in life. There is no more dangerous or expensive analysis than that which consists in trying a man." " Do you think, Mr. President, that all men are tried ?" " Scarcely ; for if they were, so many would not fit their places so badly. Our friend Henry Ward Beecher explains this in his quaint illustrations of men who are out of their proper sphere. He meets cler ical faces in gay, rollicking life, and finds natural wits Avearing ascetic robes." " Some men, Mr. President, seem to be able to do anything," said the lady. " Versatility," Mr. Lincoln replied, " is an injurious possession, since it never can be greatness. It misleads you in your calculations, and it inevitably disappoints you in any great trust, from its want of depth. A versatile man, to be safe, should never soar. Mediocrity is sure of detection." We have seen Mr. Lincoln turning for recreation to the humor of PEACE DEMOCRACY. 451 " Artemas Ward," but he read with greater zest the letters of " Bev erend Petroleum V. Nasby," Avritten by David E. Locke, editor of the " Toledo Blade." Mr. Locke saw, in 1861, the false position assumed by the Democratic Party by its sympathy Avith the Confederacy, its readiness to defend slavery, its hatred of the negro, and its opposition to the war. He also comprehended that irony, sarcasm, and ridicule might be made far more effective than logical argument in an exposure of the attitude of that party. ,«& There was irony in the title " Bev erend." It was expressive of the position assumed by the Southern churches in their defence of slav ery. "Beverend Mr. Nasby," at the outbreak of the war, represent ed himself as a citizen of Kentucky {a, neutral State), residing at " Con federate Cross Eoads ;" but when the people of that section declared for the Union, he moATed into south ern Ohio, and took up his residence among the Peace Democrats, who had established a church, the mem bers of which were wholly of that political faith. "Beverend Mr. Nasby" was not a member of a To tal Abstinence Society, but drank whiskey quite freely. He not only kept a private demijohn, but never declined to drink when invited by any of his parishioners, who often met at Bascom's grocery to discuss public affairs and denounce President Lin coln. They were very bitter in their denunciation of the Emancipation Proclamation, the call for troops, and the enlistment of negroes. When President Lincoln issued a proclamation for drafting soldiers, "Beverend Mr. Nasby " fled to Windsor, Canada. He found many negroes there, who had escaped from slavery before the Avar ; also many white men — citizens of Ohio and Indiana Avho, like himself, had accepted voluntary exile to escape the draft. " Mr. Nasby " thus described the situation of himself and fellow-exiles : (' ) " 200 Peece men are here, and I must acknowledge that we are not treeted with that distinguished consideration usually accorded political eggsiles. Fer instance, at the tav ern where I hoard the paiier is partikelerly plesent, and I wus a settin into it. In trips a DAVID R. LOCKE ("PETROLEUM V. NASBV.") 452 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. girl, purty enuff fer a man, whose taste was not vishiated, 2 eat. ' Shel I shet down this window, sir ?' sez she. 'Why shet it down, jentle maid ?' retorts I, lookin sweet onto her. 'Because,' replide she, 'I thot, perhaps, the draft was too much fer ye.' A few slavish Kanajens who set there laft. The landlord required a months pay in advance, and a fur ther deposit uv 25 cents per eggsile, as sekoority fer the pewter spoons, wich we hev at table. To cap the climacks, last nite a big nigger was put into each uv our rooms, and we were forced to sleep with em, or okkepy the floor, wich I did. The cussid nigger laft all nite, in a manner trooly aggravatin to hear. " P. S. Tell my wife to send sich money as she earns to me, as livin is high, and ther aint no tick. The township kin support her and the children." Mr. Nasby returned to Ohio, and was drafted into the service, but took an early opportunity to desert to the Confederates. He had vari ous experiences in the " Loozeaner Pelikin " regiment. He writes : " I endoord hunger and cold — I saw the rags drop off my muskeler limbs wun by wun — I murmered not. But wen the pantaloons wuz awl gone — wen my costoom wus a blanket and wun shoe — I applide fer new pants, and the Quartermaster onfeelingly re- markt that my dress was all rite ; that hereafter my costoom wuz to be adoptid ez the uniform uv the rejyment — I felt that desershun wuz no longer a crime, and I deserted. It is entirely onnessary to rekount awl I endoored in makin my eskaip. Suffice it to say that at Columbus I stript the klose off uv an innebryated solger and maid my way to Amanda township. My old Demokratic friends did not kno me, and ez I expected to borry money uv them I deemed it best not to make myself knone. " They were suspishus uv my bloo kote, at fust, until wun uv them remarkt how I liked the serviss 1 "To wich I anserd, ' Dam the serviss !' " 'Don't admire fitin fer the nigger, eh ?' " 'Not any,' sez I. " ' Why not desert ?' sez he. " ' I have deserted,' sez I. " In a instant the aspeck uv things wuz changd. A jug wuz prodoost, and they awl shook hands. Wun, more richer nor the rest, handed me a treasury note uv $10, sayin, ' You may need it.' "I replide that, as a general thing, I wood endoor it until I cood get it changd into Injeany munny. They took up a kollekshun to wunst, fer my benefit, wich amounted to $43. Jest at this pint wun uv em asked me to what rejyment I belonged. "I replide the Loozeaner Pelikins. " ' Loozeaner!' sed another; ' why, that's a Confedracy rejyment, aint it?' " ' To be sure,' sez I. " ' And air yoo a deserter frum a Suthrin rejyment?' sez the henevelent old butternut who hed invested $10 in the deserter biznis. " ' Sartin,' sez I. " Seezin me by the throte, he ejackelated, ' Give me my money, you swindler 1' And with a unanimity trooly surprisin they awl yelled, ' Give me my money, you swindler; you got it under false pretences!' "Hevin the munny safe in my pokkit, I took these compliments with ekanimity, sidlin out and gettin away ez soon ez possible. PEACE DEMOCRACY. 453 "I am disappointed in Amandy. Frum what I had heard I bed supposed they were kind to deserters. I found that it makes a diffrense wich side you desert from." Among the allies of slavery in the North, use Avas made of the Bible to prove that slavery was divinely ordained for the well-being of the race. Churches were organized in some of the Western States on this basis. " Beverend Mr. Nasby," in consequence, Avas invited to be come the pastor of the "Church uv St. Vallandygum." The letters written by the pastor Avere greatly enjoyed by Mr. Lincoln. One of them read : "We hed a blessid and improvin time yisterday. My little flock staggered in at the usual hour in the mornin, every man in a heavenly frame uv mind, hevin bin ingaged all nite in a work uv mercy, to wit : 2 mobbin uv 2 enrollin officers. One uv em resisted and they smote him hip and thigh, even ez Bohash smote Jaheel. (Skriptooral, wich is nessary, bein in the ministry.) He wuz left fer dead. "We opened servis by singin a 113m, wich I writ, commencin es follows: " Shall niggers black this land possess, And mix with us up here? Oh no, my friends, we rayther guess, We'll never stand that 'ere. "I then held forth from this text4. ' Whirr hev ye laid him?' I statid that the person I referred to wuz the marterd Vallandygum, and I, in behaff uv a outraged Dimocrisy, demanded uv the tyrant Linkin, ' Whar hev yoo laid him?' A unconvertid individooal sed, ' He's laid him out !' wich remark cost him a broken head. I went on to show why our saint hed bin martered. It wuz becoz he wuz a Dimocrat — becoz he dared to exercise the rites garanteed to every American, exceptin Ablishnists and niggers, aboosin the Guv- erment. Fer this and nuthin else wuz he eggsiled. ' My friends,' sez I, drawin myself up to my full hite, and looking ez much like Fernandy Wood ez possible, ' I am willin to be martered. I denounce this war as unholy, unconstooshnel, unrighteous and umnit- tygated. It is nuthin less than a invashen uv Dimocratik States, fer the sole purpus uv freein niggers. Linkin is a tyrant, Burnside a tool, order 38 a relik uv barberism, and I will resist the enrollment, the conskripshen, and the tax. Hooray fer Jeff Davis!' " Our class meetin wuz more interestiner than ever. One old whiteheaded brother sed at times his way was dark and his pathway gloomy. Wunst he wuz very near be- comin a inflddle. He reely believed at one time that the nigger was human, and wunst he voted fer a Republican road Supervisor. But he hed repented, and was, he trusted. forgiven. His mind wuz now easy, and he should vote the whole Dimocratic ticket. "Two backsliders who scratched their tickets last fall confest their sin publicly. I exhorted em two hours, fined em a gallen uv whisky apeece, and took em into full com munion. The whisky will be devoted to the missionary service, wich is me." It was unspeakable relief to President Lincoln to turn from the ar duous and wearying duties of the day to the Nasby letters. He read them aloud to those who caUed upon him, laughing till the tears ran down his cheeks, and making sententious comments upon the position 454 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. assumed by the Democratic Party. He expressed his appreciation of the Nasby letters by personally Avriting a letter to Mr. Locke. He said : " For the genius to write such things I would gladly give up my office. Why don't you come to Washington and see me? Is there no place you want? Come on, and I will give you any place you ask for — that you are capable of filling and are fit to fill. "(lc ) The editor of the " Toledo Blade " did not desire any official position. His genius Avas making his paper a political power. The letters were widely read. " It is impossible," said Senator Charles Sumner, " to measure their value. Of publications during the war none had such a charm for Abra ham Lincoln. He read every letter as it appeared. He kept them all within reach for refreshment." Statesmanship under a go\rernment of the people is far different from statecraft under monarchical institutions. He who v/ould successfully administer the affairs of a nation for its Avell-being and continuance must be actuated by lofty motives. Abraham Lincoln, in the political campaigns of 1864, thought not of himself, but ever of the needs of the nation. He knew, by a divine instinct, that justice and righteousness are eternal principles. From that day, in 1857, when, against the pro tests of all his friends, he gave utterance to the Avords "A house divided against itself cannot stand," he had been obedient to the heavenly vis ion. He believed in God, in the ultimate triumph of right over Avrong, in the future greatness of the country. He trusted the people. NOTES TO CHAPTER XXIII. (i) "Atlantic Monthly," July, 1865, p. 109. ( = ) T. Henry Hines, " Southern Bivouac," February, 1887. (3) Ibid. (4) "Atlantic Monthly," July, 1865. (5) William Bross, "Biographical Sketch of B. J. Sweet," p. 18. (6) " Congregationalist," March 30, 1866. (') AAralt Whitman, "Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln," p. 469, note. (8) The Nasby Papers, "Toledo Blade," 1864. (") Ibid. (10) D. R. Locke, "Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln," p. 459. RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT. 455 CHAPTEE XXIV. RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT. ABEAHAM LINCOLN, when a member of the Illinois Legislature, -£*- declared himself in favor of extending the franchise to Avomen. Public sentiment did not favor the movement. Woman's Eights con ventions were held up to ridicule. Women who desired to vote Avere regarded as going beyond their proper sphere in life. A meeting was held in a church at Akron, O., 1851. It was attended by those who favored and by those opposed to the movement. Several clergymen were present. The attention of the audience was directed to a tall, gaunt colored woman wearing a sun-bonnet, who marched up the aisle, looking for a seat. No one offered her any civility, and she planted herseU upon the steps leading to the pulpit. A buzz of disapprobation was heard. " An abolition affair !" " Woman's Eights and niggers !" the exclamations from opponents. The colored woman Avas known throughout Michigan and Ohio as Sojourner Truth, preacher and exhorter in the religious assemblies of her race. She had been a slave. She did not know a letter of the alphabet, but was endowed with a commanding intellect and a deep rehgious nature. The clergymen present opposed granting the franchise to women. One claimed superior rights for men, because of superior intellect. An other because Christ was a man. If God had desired the equality of woman with man, He Avould have given some token of His Avill through the birth, life, and death of the Saviour. Still another gave a theolog ical review of the sin of Eve in the garden of Eden. The audience ap plauded the arguments. The old colored Avoman arose, Avalked up the steps and stood upon the platform, stepped to its front, removed her bonnet and laid it delib erately at her feet. Hisses greeted her. " Sojourner Truth will address you. I ask that you give her a re spectful hearing," said the president, Mrs. Frances Gage, appealing to their sense of fair play. ( ' ) 456 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. " Well, chillen," she said slowly, distinctly, and with resonant tones, that hushed the audience upon the instant, " whar dar's so much racket dar must be somet'ing out o' kilter. I t'ink dat tAvixt de niggers of de Souf an' de women of de Norf, all a-talking about de rights, de Avhite men AviU be in a fix pretty soon. Dat man ober dar says dat woman needs to be helped into carriages, and lifted ober ditches, and to hab de best place eberywhar. Nobody eber helps me into carriages, or ober mud-puddles, or gives me de best place. Ar'n't I a woman! I have ploughed, planted, gathered, and no man could head me. Ar'n't I a woman? I've borne thirteen chillen, and seen most of 'em sold; and when I cried, none but Jesus heard. Ar'n't I a woman? Den dey talks about dis t'ing in de head — intellect. What's dat got to do wid Avoman's rights or nigger's rights % If my cup holds a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my half-meas ure full ?" She pointed her finger towards the minister who had made the ar gument in regard to the manhood of Jesus Christ. All eyes turned towards him. " Dat little man in black, dar, he say woman can't have as much right as man, 'cause Christ Avasn't a woman. Whar did your Christ come from ? Frou God and woman. Man hadn't anyt'ing to do wid him/'C) The building shook with applause. Those Avho a moment before were ready to hustle her out-of-doors shook hands with her. An unlet tered woman, once a slave, had discomfited learned graduates of coUeges and theological schools. On a morning in October, 1864, Sojourner Truth, past eighty years of age, entered the White House. She had traveUed from Battle Creek, Mich., to Washington to see the man who had given freedom to her race. President Lincoln had heard of her. " This is Sojourner Truth," said the attendant at the White House, introducing her. The President rose and gave her a kindly welcome. " Mr. President," said Sojourner, " when you fust took your seat I feared you'd be torn in pieces. You was like Daniel 'mong de lions. If de lions did not tear you, I knew it would be God Avho would shut their moufs. I toi' Him, if He spared me, I'd come and see you, and here I is." " I am pleased to see you, Sojourner, and it seems that a good Prov idence has spared me." " You are de best President we eber had." RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT. 457 " I suppose you refer to my giving freedom to the slaves ; but, So journer, the men Avho have preceded me — Washington, Adams, Jeffer son, and others — would have done just as I have, had the time called for such action. If the people over the other side of the Potomac had behaved themselves, I Avould not have done what I have ; but they did not, and I was compelled to do those things." " I t'ank God, Mr. President, dat He s'lected you to do it." " Here is Avhat the colored people of Baltimore gave me the other day," said the President, taking up the Bible presented on the Fourth of July. " Isn't it beautiful ? They have given it to the Head of the Government. And yet, only a little Avhile ago, the laAvs Avould not per mit the colored people to read it." " WiU you write your name for me, Mr. President ?" she asked. " Certainly." His autograph Avas Avritten : For Aunty Sojourner Truth. October 29, 1864. A. Lincoln. " I shaU be pleased to see you again, aunty," said the President, as she departed. Frederick Douglas, who had also been a slave, was once more in Washington. The President, desiring to talk with him upon some points concerning the Avelfare of the colored people, invited him to the White House. " Come and take tea with me," read the note. The citizens of Washington were astonished to see Mr. Douglas rid ing to the executive mansion in the President's own carriage, and still more amazed to learn that a colored man had been a guest at Mr. Lin coln's table. " The President," said Mr. Douglas, " is one of the feAV men with whom I have passed an hour who did not remind me in some Avay that I am a negro." In several of the Northern States elections for State officers were to be held during the months of September and October. The Eepubli cans feared the draft for 500,000 men, ordered by the President, would influence the people to vote the Democratic ticket. They visited Wash ington and importuned Mr. Lincoln to withdraAV the call, or at least to suspend it till after the elections. A committee from Ohio came, asking for its suspension. Very plain, patriotic, and pertinent the President's question : 458 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. " What is the Presidency Avorth to me if I have no country ?" (2 ) He comprehended what the frightened politicians could not see: that the soldiers under Grant and Sherman Avould lose confidence in him were he to suspend the draft. He never had deceived them. They trusted him. To suspend the draft in order to gain political ad vantage avouM be a fatal mistake. " If the President," said General Sherman, " modifies the draft to the extent of one man, or wavers in its execution, he is gone forever. The army would vote against him." Nearly all the Northern States had statutes enabling the soldiers to vote in the field. Indiana had failed to enact such a law. The " Sons of Liberty " and the Democratic Party opposed such legislation. The draft Avas proceeding. The President was being denounced as a "tyrant," "butcher," who cared nothing for the soldiers. The In diana soldiers desired to show their patriotism and loyalty by their ballots. Atlanta had been taken, and Sherman was preparing for his next movement. He Avould not be hampered if they were allowed to return to Indiana for a few days. " Anything," wrote the President, " that you can safely do to let the soldiers, or any part of them, go home to vote, will be greatly to the point. They need not remain for the Presidential election, but may return to you at once. This is in no sense an order, but is merely in tended to impress you with the importance to the army itself of your doing all you safely can, yourself being the judge of what you can safely do." The cars rolling northward from Atlanta during the first week in October were filled Avith veterans who had won the victories of Eesaca, KenesaAV, and Atlanta. They Avere having a furlough, and Avere going home to Indiana to vote once more for Oliver P. Morton, governor. He had displayed great energy in carrying on the affairs of State dur ing the war. He had been solicitous for their welfare. They trusted him. They had no sympathy Avith the " Knights of the Golden Circle," or " Sons of Liberty," aUied Avith the Democratic Party. Very feAV ballots Avere cast for the Democratic candidates by the soldiers. On the evening of the election the President visited the War Department, and sat by the side of the telegraph operator to ' learn the results. Gratifying the intelligence that Morton was re-elected by 20,000 majority. Pennsylvania had gained four Eepub lican members of Congress. The majority in the State Avas more than 10,000. Maryland had adopted an amendment to the State Constitu- RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT. 461 tion putting an end to slavery. Very cheering the news from Ohio, where the Eepublicans had a majority of 54,000. The Democrats had elected tAvo members of Congress, the Eepublicans seventeen — a gain of tAvelve. Notwithstanding the results Avere so favorable to the Eepublicans, Mr. Washburne, member of Congress, Avas afraid the President's own State Avould vote against him in November. " It is no use to deceive ourselves about Illinois," he wrote. " Ev erything is at sixes and sevens ; no head or tail to anything. There is imminent danger of our losing the State." Mr. Lincoln read the letter, smiled, and Avrote on the envelope : "Stampeded!"^) Mr. Locke ("Eeverend Betroleum V. Nasby") visited Washington in behalf of a young soldier sentenced to be shot for desertion. He was warmly Avelcomed by the President, who kindly listened to his story. The soldier had given his affections to a young girl before he enlisted, and they were engaged to be married. Word came to him that another was paying her especial attention. He applied for a furlough, but it not being granted, deserted, made his Avay home, to find the reports in a measure true. Once more the lady plighted her troth to him, and they were married. The honey-moon was suddenly interrupted by his arrest, trial, and sentence. Mr. Lincoln heard the story, and without solicitation signed the pardon. "I'U punish him another way," he said, his face Avreathed with smiles. " Probably in less than a year he will Avish I had Avithheld the pardon. We can't tell, though. I suppose when I Avas a young man I should have done the same foolish thing." ( s) He turned the conversation upon the political situation and the con fidence of the people in his administration. " Do the masses of the people," he asked, " hold me in any way re sponsible for the loss of their friends in the army ? It is a good thing," he added, " that there is a Government to shoulder the acts. The shoul ders of no one man are broad enough to bear Avhat must be." Tavo prominent members Avere striving each to obtain a foremost position in the Eepublican Party. " You do not," said Mr. Locke, " take any pronounced position in relation to the controversy." " No. I learned a great many years ago that in a fight between man and wife a third party should never get between the woman's skil let and the man's axe-helve." 462 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. A member of Congress who had been drinking whiskey entered the room. He was in the maudlin stage of intoxication, and, hiccoughing, said: "Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?" " I see no reason whatever," the President replied. The conversation with Mr. Locke turned upon the avarice of those who were accumulating fortunes. A man who had been prominent in political affairs was accused of attempting to swindle the Government out of a large sum of money. " I cannot understand," said Mr. Lincoln, " why men should be so eager after money. Wealth is simply a superfluity of what we don't need."(e) Although the October elections indicated the re election of Mr. Lincoln, the presidential campaign was vigorously contested by the Democratic Party. General McClellan was greatly be loved by many of the offi cers and soldiers of the Army of the Potomac. General E. W. Andrews, stationed at Baltimore, being present at a Democratic meeting, expressed his high regard for General McClellan, and declared his intention of voting for him. Greatly to his surprise, he received notice from the War Department the following morning that he was mustered out of service by the Secretary of War. A gentleman laid the matter before Mr. Lincoln. "Was the revocation of General Andrews's commission by your order ?" he asked. "I know nothing about it," the President replied. " Of course, Stan ton does a thousand things of Avhich I know nothing. What has Gen eral AndreAvs done ?" " He attended a Democratic meeting, and was caUed up for a speech. He declared himself in favor of General McClellan." OLIVER P. MORTON. RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT. 463 " Well," replied Mr. Lincoln, " that's no reason Avhy he should be dismissed. Andrews has just as good a right to hold on to his Democ racy, if he chooses, as Stanton had to throw his overboard. If I should muster out all my generals avIio avoAV themselves Democrats, there would be a sad thinning out of commanding officers of the army. No ! when the military duties of a soldier are faithfully performed, he can manage his politics in his OAvn way ; yve've no more to do with them than with his religion. Tell this officer he can return to his post ; and if there is no better reason for the order of Stanton than the one he suspects, it shall do him no harm. The commission he holds will re main as good as new. Supporting General McClellan for the Presi dency is no violation of army regulations ; and as a question of taste, of choosing between him and me — Avell, I'm the longest, but he is the best looking." (7) Of all the battles of the war, that of Cedar Creek Avas the most dra matic. The Union troops in that engagement were surprised and driven, losing many prisoners and several cannon in the morn ing ; but Avhen night came the Confederate army Avas fleeing in confusion. AU the lost cannon were recaptured, together with twenty- four others, and 1200 prisoners. Sheridan Avas at Winchester when the battle began, but reached the field, re-formed the scattered troops, aroused their enthusiasm, and won the victory. President Lincoln sent this despatch to him : "With great pleasure I tender to you and your brave army the thanks of the nation and my own personal admiration and gratitude for the month's operations in the Shenan doah Valley, and especially for the splendid work of October 19, 1864. " The cannon captured in this battle were taken to Washington and presented to the Government in the grounds of the War Department. The President, members of the Cabinet, and a great gathering of people witnessed the ceremony. The country rang with praises of Sheridan and his men. The victory had great influence upon the political campaign. The people saw that the Confederates were rapidly losing ground— that the time would come when the authority of the nation would once more be established throughout the South. They knew slavery Avas doomed. The policy adopted by President Lincoln in due time Avould bring peace to the country. As the prospects for the re-election of Mr. Lincoln brightened, those who hated him became more virulent. More bitter and insulting were their epithets. 464 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. The day of election was bright and beautiful throughout the coun try. Troops were stationed in New York to preserve order. ' They were commanded by General Butler, who issued an ad dress to the people. " Let every citizen," he said, " having the right to vote, act accord ing to the inspiration of his own judgment. He will be protected in that right by the whole power of the Government, if it shall become necessary." No troops were seen at the polling places in that city. There was no rioting or disorder anyAvhere. " To Mr. Lincoln," writes one of his secretaries, " this Avas one of the most solemn days of his life. Assured of his personal success, and de voutly confident that the day of peace was not far off, he felt no ela tion and no sense of triumph over his opponents. His mind seemed filled with mingled feelings of deep and humble gratitude to the vast majority of his fellow-citizens who Avere this day testifying to him their heart-felt confidence and affection, and of a keen and somewhat sur prised regret that he should be an object in so many quarters of so bit ter and vindictive an opposition. He said : ' It is singular that I, who am not a vindictive man, should ahvays, except once, have been before the people for election in canvasses marked for their bitterness. When I came to Congress it Avas a quiet time ; but always, except that, the contests in Avhich I have been prominent have been marked with great rancor.' "(8) Once more Mr. Lincoln was sitting with the telegraph operator dur ing the evening to receive despatches regarding the Bresidential elec tion. " The Union majority in Bhiladelphia will be 10,000," the message from Mr. Forney. This wTas much beyond Avhat Mr. Lincoln had an ticipated. " I reckon Forney is a little excited," he said. " We shall have," telegraphed Mr. Felton, " 15,000 majority in Bal timore, and 5000 in the State. All hail, free Maryland !" It came from the city where, in 1861, the President - elect was to have been assassinated. Mr. Henry Winter Davis, of Baltimore, was an ardent Eepublican, but had opposed Mr. Lincoln, and had failed of a re-election to Congress. " I am glad," said Mr. Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, " that he has been defeated. He has maliciously assailed the navy for the last two years." " I cannot quite agree with you," said Mr. Lincoln. " You have ¦KB '/pfiL .;¦¦¦;,¦ w ;;.;i- ¦¦;/;|f /,¦ '/ .i. '- 1-::[ 'JlyyrlMjy^i— RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT. 467 more of the feeling of personal resentment than I. Perhaps I have too little of it ; but I never thought it paid. A man has no time to spend half his life in quarrels. If any man ceases to attack me I never re member the past against him."(°) Mr. Stanton, Mr. Dana, Assistant Secretary of War, and Mr. Eckert, who had charge of the telegraph, were present. " Dana," said Mr. Lincoln, " have you ever read any of Beverend Petroleum V. Nasby's letters ?" "No, Mr. President, I have only had time to glance at them, but they seem to be quite funny." " Well, let me read a specimen." The President thereupon took a yeUoAv-covered pamphlet from his pocket and read one of Nasby's let ters, written some weeks before the election. Mr. Stanton viewed the proceeding with an impatience which he did not try to conceal ; but Mr. Lincoln went on reading and laughing, stopping long enough to listen to the reading of the election returns, and then resuming Nasby. Mr. Chase and Mr. Whitelaw Beid entered the apartment. The Pres ident greeted them. Mr. Stanton left the room and beckoned Dana to foUow him. " I shall," writes Mr. Dana, " never forget the fire of his indignation at Avhat seemed to Mr. Stanton to be mere nonsense. The idea that when the safety of the republic Avas thus at issue, when the control of an empire was to be determined by a few figures brought in by the tel egraph, the leader, the man most deeply concerned, not merely for him self but for his country, could turn aside to read such balderdash- and to laugh at such frivolous jests, was to his mind indescribably repugnant. He could not understand, apparently, that it was by the rehef which these jests afforded to the strain of mind under which Mr. Lincoln had so long been living, and to the natural gloom of a melancholy and de sponding temperament, that the safety and sanity of his intelligence Avas maintained and preserved." (,0) There was more than this. Mr. Lincoln was not so solicitous in regard to the election as were Chase, Fox, Dana, and Stanton. He had forecast the result with unerring vision. They Avere not so far-seeing. His behef in the people, his trust in God, his unsAverving faith in the ultimate triumph of eternal principles, his knowledge of passing events, had enabled him to determine the probable verdict of the people upon his administration. Weeks before the election he had comprehended the trend of events. He profoundly believed divine Providence was di recting the affairs of the nation, and ceased to be solicitous as to results. 468 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Before midnight he became satisfied that the great State of NeAV York had voted in his favor, though by a small majority, not exceed ing 7000. Very wisely had he brought about harmony among the lead ing Eepublicans in that State. Two hundred and twelve electoral votes had been secured for him, and twenty-one for McClellan. It was nearly tAvo o'clock in the morning Avhen he left the War De partment. At the door he encountered a brass-bancl and a crowd of people, Avho called for a speech. "I earnestly believe," said Mr. Lincoln, "that the consequences of this day's Avork will be of lasting advantage, if not the salvation of the country. All Avho have labored to-day in behalf of the Union organi zation have wrought for the best interests of their country and the world, not only for the present, but for all future ages. I 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 mo tives of any one opposed to me. It is no pleasure to me to triumph over any one ; but I give thanks to the Almighty for this evidence of the people's resolution to stand by free government and the rights of humanity." (") From the day of his retirement as commander of the army, Gen eral McClellan had been residing in New Jersey. The election re turns indicating his defeat, he resigned his commission as major-general in the regular army and became once more a private citizen. His resig nation was accepted by the President, and the place thus made vacant Avas filled by the appointment of Philip H. Sheridan. On the evening of November 10th the various Eepublican clubs of Washington marched to the White House Avith banners and torches to pay their respects to the President. He had been informed of Nov. 10. , . . . ' their intentions, and wrote a brief address. He stood by an open window to read it, one of his secretaries holding a candle. " It is not very graceful," said Mr. Lincoln, "but I am growing old enough not to care much for the manner of doing things." Mr. Lincoln said in his address : " It is demonstrated that a people's government can sustain a national election in the midst of a great civil war. Until now it has not been known to the world that this was a possibility. It shows also how sound and strong we still are. It shows that, even among the candidates of the same party, he who is most devoted to the Union and most opposed to treason can receive most of the people's vote. It shows also to an extent yet unknown that we have more men than we had when the war began. Gold is good in its place, but brave, patriotic men are better than gold. . . So long as I have been here I RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT. 469 have not willingly planted a thorn in any man's bosom. While I am sensible to the high compliment of a reelection, and duly grateful, as I trust, to Almighty God for having di rected my countrymen to a right conclusion, as I think, for their own good, it adds noth ing to my satisfaction that any other man may be disappointed or pained by the result." Many delegations called to congratulate the President. " Those who differ from us," he remarked to one, " will yet see that defeat was better for their OAvn good than if they had been successful." A quarter of a century has passed since the Avords Avere spoken, and people in the Southern as well as in the Northern States rejoice in the fulfilment of the prophecy. The result of the election was an announcement to the Avorld that the Avar Avas to go on till the last rebel had laid clown his arms. Congress reassembled on December 6th. In his message Mr. Lin coln said : "The public purpose to re-establish and maintain the national authority is un changed, and, as we believe, unchangeable. It seems to me that no attempt at negotia tion with the insurgent leader could result in any good. He would accept nothing short of severance of the Union — precisely what we will not and cannot give. His declarations to this effect are explicit and oft repeated. He does not attempt to deceive us. He affords us no excuse to deceive ourselves. Between him and us the issue is distinct, simple, and inflexible. It is an issue that can only be tried by war and decided by victory. If we yield, we are beaten. If the Southern people fail him, he is beaten. But what is true of him who heads the insurgent cause is not necessarily true of those who follow. Although he cannot reaccept the Union, they can. Some of them we know already desire peace and reunion. They can at any moment have peace simply by laying down their arms and submitting to national authority under the Constitution. I mean simply to say that the war will cease on the part of the Government whenever it shall have ceased on the part of those who began it." The Chief-justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Eoger B. Taney, died. We have seen Mr. Lincoln referring to him, in con nection yvith the passage of the Kansas -Nebraska Bill, as a "house builder" working in conjunction with Franklin Pierce and Stephen A. Douglas. His private life had been without reproach, but his sympa thies had been Avith the slave propaganda for the extension of that in stitution of servitude. His decisions upon the bench had been antago nistic to the spirit of the age. Instead of going to his grave beloved, honored, and reverenced, his death was regarded as a beneficent dispen sation of divine Providence, in view of the great questions growing out of the war, which must be decided by the Supreme Court. The future welfare of the nation demanded decisions in correspondence with its new charter of liberty. Whom should the President appoint to such a responsible position ? The friends of Mr. Chase presented his name. 470 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. " A chief-justice is needed," wrote Senator Charles Sumner, " whose position on the slavery question is already fixed, and who will not need argument of counsel to convert him." Mr. Fessenden, Avho had succeeded Mr. Chase as Secretary of the Treasury, and Mr. Stanton thought Mr. Chase should be appointed. "I shall be very shut pan about this matter," (") said Mr. Lincoln, using an obsolete military term in connection with a flintlock musket, such as he carried in the Black Hawk War. In loading a musket, the pan was first opened, " primed " with powder, then shut. The friends of Mr. Chase and the friends of other able jurists had " primed " Mr. Lincoln, but the " pan " would remain shut until he was ready to an nounce his choice. Mr. Chase had endeavored to secure the nomination as President, but Abraham Lincoln had no personal resentments, lie gave him the appointment. While General Sherman Avas planning a movement from Atlanta, General Hood, commanding the Confederate army in the West, was making arrangements to invade Tennessee. He thought Sherman would be compelled to hasten northward. One started eastAvard in the di rection of Savannah ; the other at the same time moved northward towards NashviUe, held by Thomas. It Avas a remarkable spectacle- two great armies marching in opposite directions. On December 16th Hood suffered a disastrous defeat. His troops Avere disheartened and scattered. Many of his soldiers deserted to their honies, never again to be marshalled for battle. The army under Sherman reached the sea and opened communica tion with the war-ships. On the morning of December 23d it entered Savannah. Inspiring the message sent by Sherman tb President Lin coln : " I beg to present you a Christmas gift— the City of Savannah, with 150 heavy guns and plenty of ammunition, also about 25,000 bales of cotton." There was joy in the White House on Christmas Eve. The news papers throughout the country on Christmas morning contained the thrilling news. As the dawn betokens the coming day, so the defeat of Hood, the march of Sherman, the possession of Savannah, heralded approaching peace. RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT. 471 NOTES TO CHAPTER XXIV. ( > ) Mrs. Frances D. Gage to Author, 1863. (2) Ibid. (3) " Century Magazine," September, 1889. (4) Ibid. (°) D. R. Locke, "Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln," p. 450. (°) Ibid., p. 452. (7) E. W. Andrews, " Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln," p. 507. (8) " Century Magazine," September. 1889. (°) Ibid. (10) Charles A. Dana, "Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln," p. 372. (") "Century Magazine," September, 1889. (1S) Ibid. 472 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. CHAPTEE XXV. TBE END OF SLAVERY. CONGEESS was in session. The time had come for carrying out the verdict of the people in regard to slavery. Senator Trumbull, Jan. 6, from the Joint Judiciary Committee, reported the Thirteenth 1865. Amendment to the Constitution : "Section I. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their juris diction. "'Section II. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation." Mr. Voorhees, member from Indiana, thought the time had not come for such an amendment, and opposed it. " When the sky," he said, " shall again be clear over our heads, a peaceful sun illuminating the land, and our great household of States all at home in harmony once more, then AviU be the time to consider Avhat changes, if any, this gen eration desires to make in the work of Washington and Madison, and the several sages of our antiquity." Such was not the opinion of Mr. Bollins, of Missouri. " I have been a slave-holder," he said, " but I am no longer an owner of sla\Tes, and I thank God for it. Missouri has adopted an amendment to her Constitu tion for the immediate emancipation of all slaves in the State. If the giving up of my slaA^es without complaint shall be a contribution upon my part to promote the public good, to uphold the Constitution of the United States, to restore peace and preserve the Union, if I had owned a thousand slaves they would cheerfully have been given up. We never can have entire peace as long as slavery remains as one of the recog nized institutions of the country." "We have," said Thaddeus Stevens, who had the amendment in charge, "suffered for slavery more than all the plagues of Egypt. More than the first-born of every household has been taken. We stiU THE END OF SLAVERY. 473 harden our hearts and refuse to let the people go. The scourge still continues ; nor do I expect it to cease till wc obey the behests of the Father of men. We are about to ascertain the national will by an amendment to the Constitution. If the gentlemen opposite will yield to the voice of God and humanity, and vote for it, I verily believe the SAvord of the destroying angel will be stayed, and this people be re united. If we harden our hearts, and blood must still Aoav, may the ghosts of the slaughtered victims sit heavily upon the souls of those Avho cause it." TAvo-thirds of those voting must favor the amendment to secure its passage. It Avas known that some of the Democratic members of the House were ready to vote for so beneficent a measure ; but would there be a sufficient number i Breathless the silence as the clerk called the roll — broken by a low murmur of approval when Mr. English, Democratic member from Con necticut, responded "Aye." The applause was repeated Avith increasing emphasis as other Democrats followed his example. The last name wras caUed. One hundred and nineteen Ayes, fifty-six Noes — two more than the requisite number ! The great transaction was accomplished. The haU rang Avith cheers. Members stood upon their seats, mounted their desks, shouted their huzzas. The great audience in the galleries and crowding the doorways thundered its applause. Outside the Capitol cannon announced to President Lincoln, to the soldiers wasting away in the hospitals, to the people of Washington, that there Avas to be no more slavery in the land. In the evening a great croAvd gathered around the White House. The President, responding to their call, said: "I cannot but congratulate you, myself, the country, the whole world, upon this great moral victory." In God's time and way the blow had been given, and slavery abolished. President Lincoln, in 1860, cheerfully surrendered to Great Britain the two Confederate agents — Mason and Slidell, wrongfully seized by Commodore Wilkes. Mr. Mason had been courteously received in Lon don by Lord John Eussell as a private citizen, but England was not ready to recognize him as an agent of the Confederacy. Mr. Slidell, in Paris, had been accorded several interviews Avith Louis Napoleon, who said that his sympathies were with the South. He considered the re-establishment of the Union impossible, and final separation a mere question of time. The difficulty before him was to find a way to ex- 474 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN PASSAGE OP THB AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION PROHIBITING SLAVERY. press his sympathies. He desired to preserve friendly relations with England, but was not Avilling to act Avithout the co-operation of that countrjr. Through the war the Emperor had keenly Avatched every movement of the conflict. He Avas dreaming of empire and power. He longed to have his name known in future ages. He desired to see the great re- THE END OF SLAVERY. 475 public of the West divided, the government of the people overthrown. Its example and influence were threatening the stability of European governments. The United States, during the administration of Presi dent Monroe, declared to the world that there must be no interference on the part of European governments with affairs in the Western hemi sphere. Each government must be left to itself in Avorking out its well- being and destiny. Just before the secession of the Southern States the "Clerical" Party in the Eepublic of Mexico annulled the Constitution of that country and elected Miramon dictator, who seized $660,000, which had been set aside for the payment of interest on bonds held in England. The dictator issued $15,000,000 in bonds, whicli were sold to French brokers for 8700,000 in gold. The Liberal Barty elected Juarez President, Avho defeated Miramon in battle, and compelled him to flee the country. The Liberals, having obtained possession of the Gov ernment, confiscated a portion of the estates of the Church. Some of the bishops, Avho had made themselves very obnoxious, also the Papal Nuncio, Avere ordered to leave Mexico. The people had been plundered by the Clerical Party. The country was poor. Miramon had taken the last dollar from the national treasury. A laAv Avas passed suspending for two years payment of interest on the bonds held in England and in Europe. The ministers of England, France, and Spain informed President Juarez that unless it was annulled in twenty-four hours they would haul down their flags and suspend all intercourse. A convention was held in London by agents of the three countries, and it was agreed that each country should send a fleet and troops to Vera Cruz to hold that port, and collect the custom dues. It probably never will be known just what inducements were brought to bear upon Emperor Louis Napoleon to induce him to enter upon a grand scheme for the extension of the influence and power of France in Mexico, but on February 14, 1862, Mr. Charles Francis Adams, at Lon don, informed Secretary SeAvard that the Emperor of France intended to establish a monarchy in Mexico, with Maximilian, brother of the Emperor of Austria, and Carlotta, daughter of the King of Belgium, upon the throne. The fleets of France crossed the Atlantic Avith several thousand troops, which landed at Vera Cruz, marched inland, but were con fronted and defeated by the Mexicans. England and Spain, seeing Louis Napoleon had ulterior designs in Mexico, Avithdrew their troops. A form of election was held by the French commander, and Maximil ian declared to be the choice of the Mexicans as ruler of the na- 476 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. tion. The Monroe Doctrine had been set aside by the Emperor of France. At this juncture Mr. Francis P. Blair thought he could render great service to the United States. He was a venerable gentleman, who had been influential in political affairs during the administrations of Jackson and Van Buren. He Avas intimately acquainted with Jefferson Davis and men holding high positions in the Confederate Government. Mr. Blair undoubtedly believed that he could bring about peace. He applied to President Lincoln for a pass beyond the lines of the army, Avhich Avas granted. Mr. Blair addressed a letter to Mr. Davis, stating that Avhen General Early's army was in the vicinity of Washington, the soldiers had access to his home in the suburbs of the city, and doubtless carried away some papers Avhich Avere of value to himself, and he would like to visit Eichmond to recover them. The letter furnished a reason to an inquiring public. Far different a personal letter to Mr. Davis, which set forth his true desire. He Avished to explain his vieAVS upon the state of the country — to promote its Avelfare. He Avas not an accredited agent from President Lincoln, but desired, as an individual and a pri vate citizen, to "unbosom his heart frankly and without reserve." (') By flag of truce Mr. Blair reached Eichmond, January 12, 1865, and Avas kindly received. He submitted a long communication to President Davis. "Slavery," Mr. Blair said, "no longer remains an insurmountable obstruction to pacification. . . . The North and South speak one lan guage, are educated in the same common laAv. . . . They were coming together again. . . . The feAV States remaining in arms against the Gov ernment were ready to surrender slavery. . . . Louis Napoleon had de clared he intended to make the Latin race supreme in the southern sec tion of the continent." Mr. Blair told Mr. Davis he was in a position to drive Maximilian from his American throne and baffle the designs of Napoleon. (2) Mr. Blair's plan Avas for the Confederacy to give up the struggle, unite with the North, and drive the French out of Mexico. President Davis addressed a note to Mr. Blair, which he Avas at liberty to read to President Lincoln. " I have no disposition," said Davis, " to find obstacles in forms, and am yvilling now, as heretofore, to enter into negotiations for the resto ration of peace. I am ready to send a commission Avhenever I have reason to suppose it Avill be received, and to receive a commission if the United States Government shall choose to send one." THE END OF SLAVERY. 477 Mr. Blair reached Washington, January 18th, and laid the letter from Davis before the President, who in turn Avrote : "You may say to Mr. Davis that I have constantly been and am now and shall con tinue ready to receive any agent whom he or any other influential persons now resisting the national authority may informally send to me with the view of securing peace to the people of our common country." Mr. Blair returned to Eichmond, and informed President Davis that President Lincoln would not be able to make any direct movement towards peace. Were he to do so he Avould be hampered by Congress. It was Mr. Blair's excuse, not the President's. The chief executive of the nation would receive any one accredited from the Confederate Government, but Grant, Sherman, and the soldiers were the agents upon Avhom he relied for securing lasting peace. He knew that in a few weeks the Confederacy Avould have no power to continue the war. It was known that the Confederate army had very little food. Governor BroAvn, of Georgia, Avas refusing to obey the laAvs passed by the Confederate Congress. The return of Mr. Blair to Eichmond created a stir in that city. The people regarded it as a sign of approaching peace. Mr. Davis appointed Vice-president Alexander H. Stephens, Judge John A. Campbell, and E. M. T. Hunter commissioners to act under the letter written by President Lincoln to Mr. Blair. "You are requested," said Mr. Davis, in his letter- to them, "to pro ceed to Washington City for informal conference with Mr. Lincoln upon the issues involved in the existing war, and for the purpose of securing peace to the two countries." ( 3 ) President Lincoln Avas ready to receive any one coming with a view of securing peace to the people of " our common country." President Davis was for securing peace to the "two countries." That was the difference. The President commissioned (January 31, 1865) Secretary Seward to proceed to Fortress Monroe to meet the Confederate commissioners. Explicit and plain his letter of instructions. " The following things," wrote Mr. Lincoln, " are indispensable : "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 preceding documents. 478 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. " Third. No cessation of hostilities short of an end of the war, and the disbanding of all forces hostile to the Government. You will inform them that all propositions of theirs, not inconsistent Avith the above, will be considered and passed upon in a spirit of sincere liberality ; you will hear all they may choose to say and repeat to me ; you AviU not assume to definitely consummate anything." Equally explicit was the instruction of the President to General Grant, sent by special messenger Major Eckert : "Let nothing Avhich is transpiring change, hinder, or delay your military plans." General Grant had desired no armistice, and informed the President that the troops were in readiness to move at the shortest notice. The sentinels did not relax their vigilance. The sharp-shooters Avere still on the alert. The cannon of both armies thundered daily. Secretary Seward visited Fortress Monroe to meet the agents of the Confederate Government. It was night when the commissioners, under a flag of truce, reached the headquarters of General Grant ^l&il' a^ ^y Point. They found the commander of the Union army in a log-cabin, busily writing at a small table. The cabin was lighted by a kerosene lamp. Mr. Stephens Avas impressed Avith the sim plicity and naturalness of General Grant. " There Avas nothing," he says, " to indicate his official rank. There were neither guards nor aids about him. He furnished us comfortable quarters on board one of his despatch-boats. The more I became ac quainted Avith him, the more I became thoroughly impressed with the very extraordinary combination of rare elements of character which he exhibited. During the time he met us frequently, and conversed freely upon Ararious subjects, not much upon our mission. I sayv, however, very clearly that he was anxious for the proposed conference to take place." (4) General Grant in turn Avas impressed by the sincerity and earnest ness of the commissioners. "I recognize," he telegraphed to Stanton, "the difficulties in the Avay of receiving these informal commissioners at this time, and do not knoAV what to recommend. I am sorry, however, that Mr. Lincoln can not have an interview with the two named in this despatch (Stephens and Hunter), if not with all three now within our lines." President Lincoln read the despatch. If the Confederates sincere ly desired peace he was ready to see them, although they had been appointed by Jefferson Davis on a basis different from what he himself had stipulated. He did not know that Davis had charged THE END OF SLAVERY. 479 the commissioners to demand his recognition as President of a separate nationahty. (") "Say to the gentlemen," Mr. Lincoln telegraphed, "I Avill meet them personally at Fortress Monroe." It Avas midAvinter — the mercury nearly down to zero. Mr. Stephens, small of stature, in feeble health, av rapped himself in three overcoats ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS. 480 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. and a AvooUen muffler. Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward Avere in the cabin of the steamer River Queen, awaiting the arrival of the com- ^ggg3' missioners. They saw, at the farther end of the saloon, Mr. Stephens laying aside his overcoats one by one. When the dis robing was finished they beheld a shrivelled, boyish-looking little man. "Seward," said Mr. Lincoln, "that is the largest shucking for so small a nubbin that I ever saw." There were friendly greetings, hearty hand-shakings, pleasant talk of old times. Mr. Stephens asked if there was no Avay of restoring hap piness and harmony. " I knoAv of but one way," Mr. Lincoln replied. " Those Avho are resisting the laAvs of the Union must cease their resistance." " We have been induced to believe," said Mr. Stephens, " that both parties might cease present strife and take up a Continental question, which would giATe time for their anger to cool." " I suppose," the President replied, " you refer to something Mr. Blair has said. Now it is proper for me to state that Mr. Blair had no authority from me to make any statement. When he applied to me for a pass to go to Eichmond with certain ideas he wished to make known to me, I told him flatly I did not Avant to hear them. When he returned and brought me Mr. Davis's letter, I gave him the one to which you aUude in your application to pass the lines. I Avas always willing to hear propositions for peace, on the conditions of this letter and on no others. The restoration of the Union is a sine qua non Avith me, and hence my instructions that no conference Avas to be held except on that basis." (e) Mr. Stephens possibly thought Mr. Lincoln could be influenced by argument. He urged an armistice, and a joint expedition of Union and Confederate troops to drive the French out of Mexico. This Avould establish the right of self-government to all countries in the western hemisphere against any interference from European nations. The Confederate Vice-president underrated the logical powers of Mr. Lin coln if he thought to hoodwink him by such sophistry. Consenting to a joint expedition would be an acknowledgment of the Confederacy as a separate nation. " I cannot," Mr. Lincoln replied, " entertain a proposition for an ar mistice on any terms while the vital question of reunion is undisposed of. That is the first question with me. I can enter into no treaty, convention, or stipulation or agreement with the Confederate States, jointly or separately, upon any other subject but upon the basis first THE END OF SLAVERY. 481 R. M. T. HUNTER. settled — that the Union is to be restored. Any such agreement or stipu lation Avould be a quasi recognition of the States then in arms against the National Government as a separate poAver. That I never will do. . . . Even if the Confederate States should entertain the proposition to return to the Union, I could not enter into any agreement in regard to reconstruction, or upon any other matters of that sort, Avhile there Avere parties in arms against the Government." ( 7) " But," interposed Mr. Hunter, " there are instances where a chief executive has entered into agreements even when there were parties in arms against acknoAvledged authority. Charles I., of England, did it." "I do not profess to be posted in history," Mr. Lincoln replied. " On such matters I will turn you over to Mr. Seward. All that I dis tinctly recollect about Charles I. is that he lost his head." (e) The Amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery Avas read. " The slaves," said Mr. Hunter, " have always been accustomed to an overseer. If }rou suddenly free them on the basis of the Emancipa. 31 482 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. tion Proclamation, you will not only precipitate them, but the entire Southern people, into irredeemable ruin." " Mr. Hunter," the President replied, " you ought to know more about this matter than I, for you have always lived under the slave sys tem. I can only say that your statement brings to mind Farmer Case, out in Illinois, who undertook to raise a lot of hogs. It was no small job to feed them. He had a large field of potatoes, and he concluded to turn the hogs loose and let them have full swing. It would save digging the potatoes. He was looking at the critters one day Avhen a neighbor came along. ' Case,' said he, ' your hogs are doing well just now, but what Avill become of them Avhen the ground freezes ?' ' Well,' said Case, ' it may come rather hard on their snouts, but it will be root, hog, or die.' "(") " Mr. President," said Mr. Seward, " I think we may as well inform the gentlemen that the Amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery Avas acted on by Congress yesterday, and it doubtless will be ratified by the requisite number of States." " That is true, gentlemen," said Mr. Lincoln. " I suggest that the States which have seceded return and vote for its ratification. It is de sirable to have the consent of the people as soon as possible. I do not doubt they will be ready to make liberal compensation for your slaves —possibly $400,000,000. You Avould be surprised, gentlemen, Avere I to give you the names of those Avho favor it." Mr. Lincoln spoke of the position of individuals Avho had taken part in the Bebellion. " According to your view of the case," said Mr. Stephens, " we are all guilty of treason and liable to be hanged." " Yes, that is so," Mr. Lincoln replied. " Well, I have no fear of being executed so long as you are Presi dent," said Mr. Stephens. Hampered by the conditions imposed by Jefferson Davis, the com missioners could not make any definite proposition for ending the Avar. Mr. Lincoln stated frankly and decidedly that there was one course they could pursue which Avould end the struggle at once— submission to Federal authority. " I'll tell you," he said to Mr. Stephens, " Avhat I Avould do, Avere I a citizen of Georgia, as you are. I Avould go home and get the Gov ernor to call the Legislature together, recall the troops, elect Senators and Eepresentatives to Congress, and ratify the Amendment to the Con stitution abolishing slavery." (10) THE END OF SLAVERY. 483 Both the meeting and parting were friendly. On the trip up the Potomac the President was looking into the future. He knew the time was near when the people must deal Avith the question of reconstruc tion. If there was to be a true restoration of the Union, there must be conciliation on the part of the North toAvards the defeated South. Would not an offer of compensation for the slaves freed go far toAvards bringing about harmony i Upon his arrival at Washington the matter was brought to the attention of the Cabinet. The President pro posed to submit a message to Congress recommending an appro priation of $400,000,000, and that all political offences be condoned. The Cabinet did not take kindly to the proposition. The President was surprised. " Hoav long will the Avar last ?" he asked. No one answered. It was a painful silence. The President continued : " Let us suppose it will last 100 days. We are spending $3,000,000 a day, Avhich will amount to aU the money, besides all the lives. But I see you are aU opposed to me, and I will not send the message." It was laid aside and neA^er again taken up. In his desire to save life, his earnestness to secure peace, in the greatness of his charity, Mr. Lincoln had gone to the extreme verge of magnanimity. "The earnest desire of the President," Avrote Mr. Welles in his diary, " to conciliate and effect peace was manifest, but there may be such an overdoing as to cause distrust or adverse feeling. The rebels Avould misconstrue it if the offer Avere made." (") The Confederate commissioners had not manifested any desire to return to the Union. Jefferson Davis had stipulated for his recognition as chief executive of an independent nation. There Avas no evidence that the slave-holding States could be conciliated by the proposed offer. A noble desire had taken possession of the great-hearted President. The longing for peace, the restoration of the Union, and the saving of life for the moment outweighed his judgment. Had he Avaited a few hours Ave may be sure the matter never would have been laid before the Cabinet. The Confederate commissioners returned to Eichmond, chagrined over their failure. AVhile they Avere making their Avay up the James and through the Union lines under their safe conduct, the Con- 18654' ^derate Congress Avas considering the question of adopting a neAV flag for the Confederacy, as if it Avas to Avave forever as an emblem of sovereignty, oblivious as Avas Belshazzar of approaching doom. The commissioners reported to Jefferson Davis that the Con- 4S4 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. federacy must disappear before there could be any peace. A clerk in the Confederate War Department Avrote the following in his diary : "As I supposed, the peace commissioners have returned from their fruitless errand. President Lincoln and Mr. Seward, it appears, had nothing to propose, and would listen to nothing but unconditional submission. The Congress of the United States has just passed, by a two-thirds vote, an amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery. Now, the South will soon be fired up again, perhaps with a new impulse, and the war will rage with greater fury than ever. Mr. Stephens will go into Georgia and reanimate his people. General Wise spoke at length for independence at the Capitol on Saturday night amid applauding listeners, and Governor Smith spoke to-night. Every effort will be made to popularize the cause again. General Wise's -brigade has sent up resolu tions consenting to a gradual emancipation, but never for reunion with the North. All hope of peace with independence is extinct, and valor alone is now relied on for our sal vation. Every one thinks the Confederacy will at once gather up its military strength and strike such blows as will astonish the world." ( 12 ) Mr. Campbell had comprehended the situation of affairs more clearly than either Stephens or Hunter. He saw the impracticability of the scheme devised by Mr. Blair, which had been made the basis of the con ference. He advised that the reason for its failure be kept secret. Jef ferson Davis, in his anger, refused to accept such advice. He sent a message to Congress, in which he said that the enemy had refused all terms except those Avhich a conqueror might grant. The newspapers of Eichmond reflected the general sentiment of the hour. " We have had," said the ' Sentinel,' " some peace men among us, but there are no peace men now. Not realizing the full enormity of our enemies, they have deemed it impossible that their devilish thirst for our blood Avas not yet slaked ; that their rapacious designs upon our homes and property, and their desire to destroy our liberties were not yet abandoned or abated ; and hence they have been anxious that our government should extend the olive-branch. These questions are set tled now. We have been pressed to the Avail, and told plainly there was no escape except such as Ave shall heAv out with our manful SAvords. There is literally no retreat except in chains and slavery." The Governor of Virginia, William Smith, called a public meeting, which was held in the African Baptist Church, the largest in Eichmond. He presented a series of resolutions denouncing and spurning as a gross insult the terms offered by President Lincoln. " Men Avho grumble now deserve a lamp-post," he said. " If the spirit Avhich animates you to-night," said Jefferson Davis, " shall meet with a general response, as I have no doubt it will, I shall feel that Ave are on the verge of success. We shall not again be insulted THE END OF SLAVERY. 485 by such terms of peace as the arrogance of the enemy has lately pro posed, but ere many months haAre elapsed our successes Avill cause them to feel that when talking to us they are talking to their masters." Jefferson Davis Avas confronted by a puzzling question. He had transmitted a message to Congress relating to the enlistment of slaves as soldiers. He thought the slaves Avould fight for the Confederacy. The GoATernment ought to purchase them from their masters. But ought not the negroes to have their freedom ? Would they fight unless some inducement were held out to them ? "The policy," he said, "of engaging to liberate the negro on his dis charge after service faithfully rendered, seems to me to be preferable to that of granting immediate manumission or that of retaining him in servitude." The Southern people were greatly astonished when they read the message. Arm slaves! Give them their freedom! Was not slavery the corner-stone of the Confederacy ? A meeting was held to consider the question. Mr. Benjamin said that slaves who volunteered to fight for the Confederacy ought to have their freedom. Other speakers said the white soldiers Avould re- Feb. 11. sent the enlistment of negroes. General Lee, in a letter, said that negroes would make good soldiers. The Confederate Congress passed a law for the employment of 200,000 slaves as soldiers, and au thorized President Davis to accept slaves Avhich might be given to the Confederacy by their owners. No reward Avas promised to the slaves. The master was still to be master and owner. Such half-hearted, in sincere, death-bed repentance could be of no avail. The slaves kneAv that Abraham Lincoln had given them their freedom. They knew that 200,000 of their race were marshalled under the Stars and Stripes as free men, citizens of the Eepublic. The passage of the bill was a humil iating confession of wrong-doing and failure. The Confederate Congress also passed a resolution that if Eich mond were evacuated, all public property should be destroyed, especial ly the great Avarehouses filled Avith tobacco owned by the Government. General Lee Avas made miUtary dictator. HaA'ing passed these bills, Congress adjourned. General Lee Avas making great efforts to recruit his army and obtain supplies. He kneAv that General Grant had brought a large force from Tennessee to North Carolina; that Sherman Avas adATancing from Sa vannah; that Sheridan with 15,000 cavalry would soon be moving in the Shenandoah. With the several Union armies closing around him, 4S6 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. the struggle must eventual^ end. There would be humiliation in de feat. It Avould be far better to secure peace by coming to an agree ment Avith Grant. A flag of truce brought a letter to the Union com mander proposing a conference. President Lincoln Avas at the Capitol in Washington, signing bills which Congress had passed, Avhen a despatch from Grant to ' Stanton announced the proposition of Lee. Mr. Lincoln laid aside for a moment the bills, and wrote this reply, purporting to be from Mr. Stanton : " The President directs me to say that he wishes you to have no conference with Gen eral Lee, unless it be for capitulation of General Lee's army, or on some minor or purely political matters. He instructs me to say that you are not to decide, discuss, or confer upon any political questions. Such questions the President holds in his own hands, and will submit them to no military conference or convention. Meanwhile you are to press to the utmost your military advantages." Abraham Lincoln, servant of the people, to begin on the morrow another term of service, determined no mistake should be made in the closing of the conflict. NOTES TO CHAPTER XXV. ( ' ) " Century Magazine," October, 1889. (s) Ibid. (3) Jefferson Davis, " Rise and Fall of the Confederate States," vol. ii., p. 612. (4) A. H. Stephens, "War Between the States," vol. ii., p. 597. (5) "Augusta Chronicle," January 17, 1865. ( 6) John A. Campbell, " Southern Magazine," December, 1874. ( ' ) A. H. Stephens, " War Between the States," vol. ii., p. 608. ( 8 ) " Century Magazine," October, 1889. (9) F. B. Carpenter, " Six Mouths iu the White House," p. 210. (10) " Ceutury Magazine," October, 1889. (") "Century Magazine," November, 1889. (12) J. B. Jones, "Rebel War Clerk's Diary," vol. ii., p. 710. SECOND PRESIDENTIAL TERM. 487 CHAPTEE XXVI. SECOND PRESIDENTIAL TERM. 4 SECOND time Abraham Lincoln stands upon the portico of the -^*- Capitol to take the oath of office as President of the Bepublic. Far different the outlook from that of the first inauguration. Then, uncertainty, darkness, gloom ; now, the daAvn of a brighter day, the rising sun of a neAV era. Then, an unfinished edifice ; now, the Mi865 *' statue OI Liberty crowning the world's most beautiful halls of legislation. Then, Avar about to begin ; now, the prospect of its end. Then, 4,000,000 bondmen ; now, slavery abolished. The na tion then as helpless as a child ; noAv a giant, astonishing the world by the majesty of its power. In the month of August preceding the November election the Peace Democracy, seemingly, were about to take possession of the Govern ment. Mr. Lincoln had doubted his re-election, but the people indorsed his administration by giving him 212 electoral votes, against 21 for McClellan. None in the Presidential office ever had greater cause for elation, but those nearest Mr. Lincoln noticed a growing sense of re sponsibility, and a consciousness that he was an agent of divine Prov idence to promote the Avell-being of his felloAv-men. It is manifest in his reply to the Committee of Congress apprising him officially of his re-election. " With deep gratitude," said Mr. Lincoln, " to my countrymen for this mark of their confidence ; Avith a distrust of my own ability to per form the duty required under the most favorable circumstances, and now rendered doubly difficult by exciting national perils ; yet Avith a firm reliance on the strength of our free government and the eventual loyalty of the people to just principles upon which it is founded, and, above all, with an unbroken faith in the Supreme Euler of Nations, I accept this trust." NeA'er had any nation or people heard such words as Avere uttered by Mr. Lincoln as he stood upon the portico of the Capitol before tak ing the oath of office for a second term : 188 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. " 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 titling and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been con stantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be pre sented. 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 en couraging 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 effects, by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the na tion survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came. "One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the soulhern part of it. These slaves constituted a pecul iar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was, somehow, the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the in surgents would rend the Union, even by war; while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God ; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance iu wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered— that of neither has been an swered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. 'Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the of fence cometh.' If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offences which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His ap pointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this ter rible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offence 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 towards 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 na tion'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 a lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations." SECOND PRESIDENTIAL TERM. 4S9 The address has no parallel in political literature. To the groat au dience listening in breathless attention it Avas like a transcription of a portion of the Sermon on the Mount. From the hour when Lucy Gil man Speed talked with Mr. Lincoln about eternal truths, there had been Avithin him a growing recognition of divine Providence in human af fairs. It appears in many of his State papers and private letters. "Every one likes a compliment," he Avrote to Mr. Weed. " Thank you for yours, and on my little notification speech and on the recent in augural address. I expect the latter to wear as well, or perhaps better, than anything I haAre produced, but I believe it is not immediately pop ular. Men are not flattered by being shown there is a difference of purpose betAveen the Almighty and themselves. To deny it, however, in this case is to deny there is a God governing the Avorld. It is a truth which I thought needed to be told, and as to whatever of humiliation there is in it falls most directly on myself, I thought others might af ford for me to teU it." (' ) The great drama was about to close. The army under Sherman was in North Carolina. Union troops were in Charleston and Wilmington. Sheridan with the cavalry was on his way from the Shenandoah to Petersburg. A few more weeks, and the final blow would be given. General Grant, desiring to have an interview with the President, invited him to visit City Point. The invitation was accepted. He Avas accompanied bv Mrs. Lincoln and " Tad," on the steamer River Mar 22 ' Queen, protected by a small gunboat. Upon the President's arrival General Grant and the members of his staff went on board the steamer to pay their respects to their commander-in-chief. They were cordially received. " I am not feeling very well," said the President. " I got pretty well shaken up on the bay coming down, and am not altogether over it-T) "Letrme send," said a staff-officer, "for a bottle of champagne for you, Mr. President ; that is the best remedy I know of for sea-sickness." " No, no, my young friend ; I have seen many a man in my time sea-sick ashore from drinking that very article," the President replied. In the eATening a pitch-pine camp-fire Avas kindled at the military headquarters. It Avas a pleasure to the President to sit before it, as suming any attitude he pleased. He Avas regardless of etiquette. With his legs at full length or doubled up, the bright flames iUuming his countenance, he gave free play to fancy, and entertained General Grant and his staff Avith anecdote and story. He listened with interest to 490 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Avhat others said. He inquired in regard to new inventions relating to military art. " I have here," said General Horace Porter, member of the staff, " a specimen of the new poAvder for the fifteen-inch guns at Fortress Mon roe. The kernel is nearly as large as a walnut." " Well," the President replied, " that is a little larger than the pow der I used in my shooting days. It reminds me of what once occurred in a country meeting-house in Sangamon County. You see, there were very feAV newspapers then, and the country store-keepers had to resort to some other means of advertising their wares. If, for instance, the preacher happened to be late in coming to a prayer-meeting of an even ing, the shopkeeper Avould often put in the time while the people were Avaiting by notifying them of any new arrival of an attractive line of goods. One evening a man said : ' Brethren, let me take occasion to say, Avhile w're a-Ava'tin', that I have just received a new inv'ice of sportin' powder. The grains is so small you kin scarcely see 'em with the naked eye. The}7 are polished so fine you kin stand up and comb your ha'r in front of 'em jes' like it was a lookin' -glass. Hope you'll come down to my store at the cross-roads, and examine that powder for yourselves.' " When he had got about thus far a rival merchant, who had been boiling Avith indignation at the amount of advertising, got up and said : 1 Bretherin, I hope you'll not believe a single word Brother Jones has been saying about that powder. I've been down thar and seen it for myself, and I pledge you my word, brethren, that the grains is bigger than the lumps in a coal-pile, and any one of you brethren in your fut ure state could put a bar'l of that powder on your shoulder and march square through the sulphurious flames of the Avorld below Avithout the least danger of an explosion.' " (3) Mr. Lincoln desired to see the army, and on the following morning, mounted on General Grant's favorite horse, "Cincinnati," he rode along the lines. The soldiers tossed their caps and cheered lustily for the man in Avhom they had unswerving confidence. Again, as evening came, the President sat by the glowing camp-fire. He spoke of the events of the war— of the changes that had taken place, the patriotism of the people, the attitude of England and France. " Have you ever doubted, Mr. President," one asked, " of the final success of our cause ?" " Never for a moment. Mr. Seward has said that there is just enough virtue in the Eepublic to save it— not much to spare, but suffi- SECOND PRESIDENTIAL TERM. 491 cient for any emergency. I agree with him. The capture of Mason and Slidell made me uneasy." " Was it not hard to surrender them ?" " Yes, it Avas a pretty bitter pill to SAvalloAV ; but I contented myself with believing that England's triumph in the matter would be. short lived, and that after the war we should be so poAverful that we could call her to account for all the embarrassments she has inflicted on us. I felt a good deal like the sick man in Illinois who was told he hadn't probably many days to live, and he ought to make peace Avith any enemies he might have. He said the man he hated most of all was a fellow named Brown in the next village, and he guessed he had better commence with him first ; so Brown Avas sent for, and Avhen he came the sick man began to say in a voice as meek as Moses that he Avanted to die in peace Avith all his fellow- creatures, and hoped he and Brown could now shake hands and bury all their enmity. The scene was be coming very pathetic. Brown had to get out his handkerchief and yvipe his tears. He finally melted and reached out his hand, and they had a regular love -feast. It Avas an affecting parting. BroAvn had about reached the door when the sick man raised himself, and said, ' See here, Brown, if I ever should get well that old grudge is going to stand,' so I thought that if this nation should happen to get well we might want that old grudge to stand against John Bull."(4) It was a season of delightful recreation to the President. For the • moment he forgot the great questions confronting him relating to the reconstruction of the seceded States — the future status of the liberated slaves, the pardon of the Confederate leaders. For four years he had been burdened with the nation's welfare. The lines had deepened upon his face. He had endured anxious days, passed sleepless nights. The grief of the nation had been his grief. But as the storm-tossed sailor beholds the headlands of the harbor where he may ride in safety, so he looked forward to a haven of peace and rest. He could rejoice in the thought that the people trusted him as they had trusted no other man since George Washington. They Avere sustaining his administration- manifesting their patriotism and confidence by subscribing for the new loan of $500,000,000, bearing 7-rV per cent, interest. It had been placed upon the market just before the election. Mr. Lincoln belieA'ed that the people would sustain the Government in financial as they had in military affairs. The bankers of Great Britain were not appealed to. They trusted the Confederate Government, subscribed to the Confed erate cotton loan, but distrusted the United States. Their sympathies 492 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. were with the Confederacy. The people of Holland and Germany, Avith truer instinct and clearer vision, had purchased the bonds of the United States. The new loan might have been negotiated at Frank fort, Hamburg, and Amsterdam, but President Lincoln and his Cabinet determined to call upon the people for money to carry on the Avar. The appeal had not been in \Tain. In forty-three days $161,000,000 was subscribed, not by bankers as a speculation, but by the people in every section of the country. (s) The army under Sherman had reached Goldsboro'. Its commander, Avishing to confer Avith General Grant, proceeded to Wilmington, and from that port to City Point. I had Avitnessed his departure M]8657' irom Savannah, beheld the Stars and Stripes floating once more over Sumter, and Avas again yvith the Army of the Potomac. While at headquarters, near the cabin which General Grant had occu- GENERAL GRANT'S HEADQUARTERS. pied during the winter, I saw him step from the door, followed by President Lincoln, Generals Sherman, Meade, Ord, and Crook. " Good-morning. What neAvs have you ?" said the President, shak ing my hand as he entered the headquarters. " I have just arrived, Mr. President, from Savannah and Charleston," "Indeed! Well, I am right glad to see you. How do the people down there like being back in the Union again ?" " I think some of them are reconciled, if Ave may drawT conclusions from the action of one planter, who came down Savannah Eiver on a flat-boat loaded with cotton, bringing wife and children, a negro Avom an and her children, of whom he was the father. Of course he was anxious to sell his cotton." The eyes of the President sparkled as he replied, " Oh yes, I see, SECOND PRESIDENTIAL TERM. 493 patriarchal times once more ! Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Isaac, and Ish mael, all in one boat." General Sherman laughed heartily, and General Grant's countenance Avas illuminated by a smile. The President added, " I reckon they will accept the situation now they can sell their cotton at a price never dreamed of before the war." (') All present turned to a map lying on a table. " We are in a position to catch Lee between our thumb and finger," said Sherman, pointing to Grant's position at Petersburg, and his own at Goldsboro'. In the cabin of the River Queen the next advance of the armies was discussed by the President, Grant, and Sherman. The last named thus narrates the conversation : " Mr. Lincoln made many inquiries about the events which attended the march from Savannah to Goldsboro', and seemed to enjoy the humorous stories about our bummers Avhich he had heard. When in lively conversation his face brightened Avonderfully, but if the conversa tion flagged it assumed a sad and sorroAvful expression. General Grant and I explained to him that my next move would bring my army of 80,000 men in close communication with Grant's army, and that un less Lee could escape, and make junction with Johnston in North Caro lina, he would soon be shut up in Eichmond, Avith no possibility of supplies, and would ha\Te to surrender. Mr. Lincoln seemed unusually impressed Avith this. General Grant said that Sheridan was passing his cavalry across James Eiver, and he Avould extend his left to the south side road. If Lee let go his fortified lines he (Grant) Avould folloAv him so close that Lee could not possibly fall on me alone in North Carolina. I expressed the fullest confidence that my army was Avilling to cope Avith Lee and Johnston combined till Grant could come up. We both agreed that one more bloody battle probably would be fought before the close of the Avar. . . . More than once he exclaimed, ' Must more blood be shed? Cannot this last bloody battle be avoided?' We ex plained that we had to presume Lee must see that Johnston alone was no barrier to my progress, and if my army should reach Burksville he Avas lost in Eichmond. We Avere forced to believe he Avould not await that inevitable conclusion, but make one more desperate effort. . . . We talked generally about what Avas to be clone when Lee's and Johnston's armies Avere beaten and dispersed. On this point Mr. Lincoln was very full. He said he had long thought of it, and he hoped this end could be reached without more bloodshed, but in any event he wanted us to get the deluded men of the rebel armies disbanded and back to their 494 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. homes. He contemplated no revenge, no harsh measures, but quite the contrary. Their sufferings and hardships during the war would make 'them submissive to law."(7) General Grant was not disposed to Avait till Sherman should reach Burksville. He desired to compel Lee to meet him in the open field. If he Avere to wait, the soldiers from the Western States might become unduly elated by a feeling of superior prowess over those from the Eastern States. He determined the Army of the Potomac should have an opportunity of finishing the Avork it had thus far maintained against the strongest of the Confederate armies. He made the Fifth Corps and the cavalry a movable force to operate on his left, and changed his headquarters to be near the scene of action. " I feel like ending the matter, if possible, before going back," he said to Sheridan. The cavalry of General Lee and three brigades of Pickett's division of infantry confronted Sheridan at Dimviddie Court-house. The bat tle ended in the retirement of the Confederates to Five Forks, ' towards Avhich the Fifth Corps and the cavalry advanced. It Avas nearly four o'clock in the afternoon when I reached General Sheridan's headquarters. Ayer's division of infantry was advancing through the Avoods. The cavalry had dismounted, and were ' fighting as infantry. The movement of the Fifth Corps threat ened to separate Pickett from the main body of Lee's army. The Con federate soldiers lost heart at the moment Avhen they needed the most courage. The troops under Sheridan swept over the Confederate in trenchments and captured 6000 prisoners, six cannon, and thirteen battle-flags. General Grant Avas at Dabney's Mill, six miles away. He had listened to the cannonade and the volleys of musketry, which suddenly ceased. What its meaning ? The battle Avas over, but which side was ' Arictorious ? Horace Porter, of his own staff, brought the neAvs. Grant stepped into his tent and Avrote an order to Meade : " Assault along the whole line !" He sent a second telegram to President Lincoln at City Point : " I have ordered everything to advance, to prevent concentration against Sheridan." He telegraphed to Meade : " I believe that with a bombardment be forehand the enemy will abandon his works." The time had arrived when the Avhole army was to take part. In the evening at ten o'clock the cannonade began.' It Avas continued through the night, from James Eiver to the extreme left of the Union SECOND PRESIDENTIAL TERM. 495 line. President Lincoln heard the deep reverberations. Pie compre hended that the decisive hour Avas near, and was turning over the pro found questions that presented themselves to his mind. On what basis ought the conquered States to be restored to the Union ? What clem ency ought he to show the men Avho had led the Southern States into the Eebellion I What should be done Avith Jefferson Davis ? Would it not be well for the country if the leaders were to escape to some for eign land ? Congress would not be in session before December. Such questions as Avere likely to arise must not be left to the military au thorities for settlement. He alone must deal with them. NOTES TO CHAPTER XXVI. ') Weed's "Memoirs," vol. ii., p. 449. 2 ) Horace Porter, " Century Magazine," October, 1885. 3) Ibid. 4) Ibid. 5) Jay Cooke to Author. 6) Author's Note-book, 1865. 7 ) Shermau to I. N. Arnold, Arnold's " Life of Abraham Lincoln,'' p. 421. 496 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. CHAPTEE XXVII. IN RICHMOND. THE stars were shining from a cloudless sky and day was dawning when the troops of the Ninth Army Corps rushed upon the Con federate intrenchments east of Betersburg, captured twelve cannon and 800 prisoners. The Sixth and Second corps were in motion. Sunday, Bresident Lincoln kneAv Grant had determined to make the most 1865. ' of the advantage gained at Five Forks. A little later came the information that the Second and Sixth corps Avere engaged. I watched the varied movements, saw the white battle-clouds above the contending forces, beheld the last charge — compact lines rising like an ocean billow over the fortifications — and then the flag of the Union A\Taving in triumph. Very gratifying the telegram from Grant to the President : "The whole captures are not less than twelve thousand, and probably fifty pieces of artillery." To the Union armies it was a day of victories. The people of Eichmond in the early morning heard the church bells summoning the corps of citizen soldiers to the rendezvous. Many times during the siege had the tocsin sounded — so often that the clang ing created no alarm. The corps was organized for guard duty, or to hold some unimportant point, that Lee might have the entire army in an emergency. No information had been received of the battle at Five Forks. During the night Longstreet's corps had been passing through the city to attack Sheridan. Before Lee could execute the plan his whole line was being assailed. Again the church bells— not clanging, but solemnly and sweetly ringing the hour for public worship. " What news have you ?" asked a lady of an officer, as they Avalked to Eev. Mr. Hoge's church. " All quiet. The croakers are peaceful," the reply. " Do you think Eichmond safe ?" " Never safer. We had a narrow escape from being starved out a IN RICHMOND. 497 few weeks ago. It frightened people into crowding provisions into the city. I am assured this morning that Ave have not been so safe for many months."' ' ) Secretary Breckinridge Avas sitting in his office Avhen this startling despatch came to him from General Lee : "My lines are broken. Richmond must be evacuated to-night.'' The Avorshippers in St. Paul's Church had finished the devotional service and the rector was preaching, Avhen an officer walked up the aisle and handed a slip of paper to Jefferson Davis. The people saAv he Avas much agitated as he hastily left the church. The service closed abruptly. The news that the city Avas to be evacuated quickly spread. There Avas hurrying to and fro, and activity everywhere. A Southern historian has thus pictured the scene : " The disorder increased every hour, the streets were thronged. Pale women and little shoeless children struggled in the crowd. Oaths and blasphemous shouts smote the ear. Wagons were being hastily loaded at the departments with boxes and trunks, which were taken to the Danville depot. All the departments were in confusion. There was no system, no answer to inquiries. Important officers were invisible, and every one felt like taking care of himself." ( '* ) The mayor of the city was informed by General Ewell that the tobacco warehouses were to be set on fire ; it Avould endanger the en tire city, but he must obey orders. The mayor and a deputation of citizens caUed upon President Davis, and protested against the execu tion of the order. " Your statement," said Darvis, " that the burning of the warehouses will endanger the city is only a cowardly pretext to save your property from the Yankees." (3) General Ewell endeavored to impress upon the authorities the necessity of providing protection against the mob after the withdraAval of the troops. A half-dozen members of the council hastily assembled, and decided that the liquor in the city should be destroyed. The railroad to Danville and the James Eiver Canal were the only avenues by which the Confederate Government could leave. Coaches, wagons, carts, vehicles of every description, were brought into use to convey to the railroad station chests and boxes packed with public documents and the personal baggage of Jefferson Davis and his Cabi net. An excited crowd gathered. Women gave way to lamentations, men cursed and blasphemed, as soldiers with fixed bayonets pushed 32 498 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. back aU except a favored feAV. From Lumpkins's prison came a gang of fifty negroes with clanking chains — the last slave coffle of North America. From the day when cotton became " king," in the estimation of the propagandists of slavery, Virginia had been purchasing human flesh for southern markets. The Eichmond mart with its iron-grated cells was scarcely a stone's-throw from the mansion purchased by the Confeder ate Government for Jefferson Davis. There was no room on the train for Lumpkins's chattels. What loss ! In 1861 those fifty men and women would have brought $50,000, but on that Sunday evening they were utter ly valueless. There was no longer a „ „T„„„™„ C* „,.„ ™ ™ slave mart in the United States — KEY OF THE RICHMOND SLAVE PRISON. [in possession or the author.] no longer a slave. Lumpkins could only turn his chattels loose amid the surging croAvd. The prison, whip, shackles, driver, auction block — rel ics of barbarism — were of the past. The excited multitude saw cars provided for the horses, coach, and coachman of Jefferson Davis. Oaths and curses fell upon the ears of the departing President and Cabinet, when at 8 p.m. the train moved aAvay from the station. Later in the evening the Governor of the State and members of the Legislature took their departure on a canal-boat. ( 4 ) Day had not dawned Avhen there came a series of thunder-like peals Avhich awakened President Lincoln and the army, caused by the blow ing up of the war-vessels of the Confederate navy. The soldiers A[ggBs' of the Ninth Corps, with whom I had passed the night, were in stantly alert. They needed no other reveille. General Wilcox, commanding the division nearest Petersburg, found only deserted forti fications where a feAV hours before Confederate cannon had flashed defi ance. I traversed the trenches, surveyed the almost impregnable works, and passed on with the troops into the city. The army was compelled to wait for the arrival of pontoons and the laying of a bridge across the Appomattox, before it could begin the pursuit of Lee. General Grant made his headquarters at the mansion of Mr. Wallace. I saAv him a few moments, and then, comprehending that Eichmond was the objective point for a correspondent, hastened to Meade station, on the military railroad. A train came from City Point bringing President Lincoln. Just before reaching the station it Avas stopped by a procession of several MILITARY KAILROAD, CITY POINT. [Where President Lincoln took tho cars. From a sketch made in December, 1864.] IN RICHMOND. 501 thousand Confederate prisoners crossing the track. They Avere mostly boys, who had been forced into the army by the remorseless Confed erate Conscription. They Avere in rags, and had no blankets. Many had neither shoes nor hats. Mr. Lincoln Avatched them in silence a while, then said, as if in soliloquy : " Poor boys ! poor boys ! If they only knew what Ave are trying to do for them they Avould not have fought us, and they Avould not look as they do."(s) An escort awaited the President at the station. The Union soldiers gave a cheer. He thanked them for what they had accomplished, mounted a horse and rode to Petersburg. He dismounted at the man sion of Mr. Wallace, Avith whom he had been acquainted when member of Congress. Mr. Wallace's young son, fired by Southern patriotism and prejudice, saw Mr. Lincoln entering the grounds. " You are not going to let him come into the house, are you, father ?" he said. " I don't think it will be best to try to stop a man who has such an army," the father replied. " I think we have met before. May I take a seat on your piazza V said Mr. Lincoln. " I am pleased to see you. Will not you and General Grant take seats in the parlor?" said Mr. Wallace. The President accepted the courteous invitation. When seated, Mr. WaUace narrated the conversation between himself and his son, at which Mr. Lincoln laughed heartily. They talked of former times, re calling the days before the Avar. Mr. Wallace Avas much impressed by the quiet, unassuming Avays of the President and General Grant. The latter, Avhile the troops were passing, sat quietly on the piazza smoking a cigar. ( 6 ) More dramatic the scenes in Eichmond during the early morning hours. The Confederate troops were leaving the city. Stragglers and citizens, men and women, Avere breaking open stores and shops. One Avho participated in the plundering has thus described the events of the morning : " I turned into Thirteenth Street, and from thence into Cary. A strong odor of whiskey greeted my nasal organ. A voice cried, ' Look out below !' A moment later a barrel of Avhiskey was hurled from the third story of a warehouse. It was clashed to pieces against the pave ment, the liquor running in streams doAvn the gutter. A crowd was gathered around the door of the medical purveyor's office, where stood a guard with fixed bayonet's. From this building barrels of liquor were 502 LIFE OF xVBRAHAM LINCOLN. PARKE STATION. rolled into the streets and knocked to pieces. The streets literally ran with Avhiskey. A lieutenant told me that it was to prevent the Yankees from getting tight Avhen they should enter the city. Unfortunately, the Confederate officers were allowed to fill their canteens. Drunken officers were unable to maintain any authority over the excited men, who roamed at will over the city."(7) The blowing up of the vessels increased the frenzy. Long trains of wagons and artillery Avere crossing the bridges at the moment. After the Avagons came the infantry. A spectator has vividly pictured the scene : " Custis Lee's division came first, many of the men singing, others joking, but the majority tramped on silently, evidently depressed by the great disaster. Lee's forces Avere about forty-five minutes in passing, and then came Kershaw's division, a much larger body of troops. Old Avomen and girls Avere constantly passing and repassing, their backs bending Ioav beneath the Aveight of heavy sacks of flour, meal, sugar, butts of cloth and cotton goods. Some loaded their carts Avith plunder, some returned again with their wheelbarrows, wmile many more were rolling barrels of bread-stuff or meat. . . . " While KershaAv's division was passing, General Ewell came over from Eichmond. The appearance of this distinguished veteran was by IN RICHMOND. 503 no means prepossessing as he sat on his horse Avith his old black hat pulled over his brows. He rode an old gray horse, Avore a faded cloak, and carried a stout walking-stick. Shortly after I recognized the Avell- knoAvn form of J. C. Breckinridge. He, too, halted, and for a moment vieAved the passing troops. He wore a suit of plain black, Avith a cape or talma throAvn over his shoulders. He Avas attended by several offi cers in dress uniform. My soldiers recognized the familiar face of ' Old Breck,' and acknoAvledged his presence by hearty cheers, which the secretary returned by touching his cap. ... At length the last strag gler crossed, and as delay now seemed dangerous, the order to fire the bridge Avas given, and in a few moments the whole structure Avas en veloped in a broad sheet of flame. ... As we mounted our horses, flames suddenly burst from the windows and roof of one of the tallest build ings. Haxall's mills wrere burning, and a moment after Ave perceived that Crenshaw's mills and a great tobacco Avarehouse Avere wrapped in flames. The laboratory was now on fire, and explosion followed ex plosion in quick succession." (8) By mid-forenoon SOO buildings Avere burning. A few citizens at tempted to work the fire - engines, but to no purpose. The panic- stricken crowd was poAverless to stay the progress of the flames. A little past four o'clock" in the morning Major Atherton H. Stevens, with two companies of the Fourth Massachusetts Cavalry, reconnoitred the Confederate lines east of the city. He found the intrenchments evacuated and the cannon spiked. He met a carriage containing the mayor and Judge Meredith of the Confederate State Court, who ten dered the surrender of Eichmond. Major Stevens proceeded to the Capitol, ascended the roof, pulled down the State flag which Avas flying, and hoisted a guidon of his troop in its place. It was nearly eight o'clock when the infantry, with General Weitzel at the head of the col umn, entered the city. The colored soldiers sang, "John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave, His soul is marching on." With even ranks, steady steps, colors Avaving, drums beating, the column passed up Main Street to the grounds surrounding the Capitol, laid aside arms and equipments, manned the fire - engines, mounted the roofs, poured buckets of water upon the kindling shingles, tore doAvn buildings, and fought the destroying flames. These the benign acts of the men Avho, through the four years of conflict, had been stigmatized as a " vandal horde." 504 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. It was past noon when, after a ride from City Point, I entered Eich mond. The city Avas a sea of flame. A great cloud of smoke ascended heavenward. A division of the TAventy-flfth Army Corps, was then entering the city. On Main Street I came upon a company of negro soldiers Avorking a fire-engine. I dismounted at the SpotsAvood Hotel. No one Avelcoraed me. Its spacious hall was deserted save by the clerk, who stood by a, window watching the flames at that moment threatening the building. " Can I have a room ?" my question. " You can have the entire hotel, but you will be burned out in a few minutes," the reply. Upon the desk lay the open register with a long list of names haATing the prefix of colonel, major, captain, and affix OS. A. I wrote my name — the first from the "foreign country," as the newspapers had been ac customed to speak of the United States, and took possession of a commo dious room and looked out upon the scene. The fire at that moment Avas leaping from a building so near that a biscuit could have been tossed across the intervening space. From the arsenal came explosions of bursting shells. The grounds around the Capitol Avere piled Avith furniture. Old men leaning heavily upon their staves, weeping women, haggard and woe -begone, with barefooted children, were huddled in groups, enduring indescribable agony. The cause they had espoused had gone doAvn never to rise again. The money in their possession was as valueless as last year's withered forest leaves. A thousand dol lars would not purchase a mouthful of food. Their homes were in ashes — burned by the action of Jefferson Davis. He could have pre vented the destruction of the city, but had been deaf to the entreaties of the mayor and citizens. Negro soldiers — men who had been sold on the auction block, who had been freed by the act of Abraham Lincoln — Avere dividing their rations Avith the homeless and famishing multitude. President Lincoln had returned from Petersburg, and was once more at City Point. It was natural that he should desire to visit Eichmond, not to enter the Confederate capital as victor, neither to witness the desolation, but to begin the work of reconstruction. Might he not put himself in communication with some one holding official position and bring about a restoration of civil authority ? He intuitively distrusted military government as being antagonistic to the best interests of the people. He comprehended the meaning of the brilliant apothegm of Wendell PhiUips — that one can do many things with a bayonet, but IN RICHMOND. 505 cannot sit on it. A civil government recognizing the authority of the United States must be established at the earliest possible moment in Virginia. Impelled by such a motive, arrangements were made for a visit to Eichmond. The President, his son " Tad," Admiral Porter, and Captain A. II. Adams, of the navy ; Captain Penrose, of the army, detailed by Secre tary Stanton to attend the President; and Lieutenant W. W. AiP8654' Glemens> 0I tne signal corps — ascended the. James on the River Queen, accompanied by a tug and the gunboat Bat. Obstruc tions prevented the vessels from going beyond Drewry's Bluff. I was standing on the bank of the river, not far from Libby Brison, when a barge approached roAved by twelve sailors. The Bresident, recognizing me, inquired if I could direct him to the headquarters of General Weitzel. I replied in the affirmative. Near at hand a dozen or more negroes were at work under the direction of a lieutenant con structing a bridge across the canal. " You Avere a slave, I suppose," I said to one. " Yes, mars." "Would you hke to see the man Avho made you free V " What, mars V " Would you like to see Abraham Lincoln ? There he is, that taU man." " Be dat President Linkum ?" " Yes." " Mars Linkum has come ! Mars Linkum !" he shouted. The boat reached the landing. Captain Adams stepped ashore; then six sailors in blue jackets and caps, armed with carbines, folloAved by the President, " Tad," and other members of the party, and, lastly, six other sailors. A negro led the Avay, and the procession began its march towards Capitol Hill. I transcribe from the columns of the Boston " Journal," April, 1865, my account of the event, Avritten during the evening of that day : "What a spectacle ! Such a hurly-burly— such wild, indescribable, ecstatic joy I never before have witnessed. A colored man acted as guide ; six sailors, wearing their round blue caps, short jackets, and bagging pants, with navy carbines, were the advance guard. Then came the President and Admiral Porter, flanked by the officers accompany ing him, and the correspondent of the Boston "Journal ;" then six more sailors— twenty of us all told— amid a surging mass of men, women, and children, black, white, and yel low, running, shouting, dancing, swinging their caps, bonnets, and handkerchiefs. Sol diers saw the President, and swelled the increasing crowd, cheering with wild enthusiasm. 506 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. One colored woman, standing in a doorway as the President passed along the sidewalk, shouted: ' Thank you, dear Jesus, for this ! thank you, Jesus !' Another by her side was clapping her hands and shouting ' Bress de Lord !' A colored woman snatched her bonnet from her head, whirled it in the air, screaming, 'God bress you, Mars Linkum!' A few white women looking out from the houses waved their handkerchiefs. One lady, in a large and elegant building, looked and turned away as if from a disgusting exhibi tion. President Lincoln walked in silence, acknowledging the salutations of officers, soldiers, aud citizens, black and while, alike. It was the man of the people among the people. It was the great deliverer meeting the delivered. Yesterday morning the majority of the thousands who crowded the streets and hindered our advance were slaves. Now they were free, beholding him who had given them liberty. "The procession advanced at a rapid pace. The President manifested weariness, and halted for a moment near the railroad station on Broad Street. He was wearing his overcoat. The sun was shining from a cloudless sky. Cavalrymen with gleaming sabres were clattering down the hill from the Capitol, having been informed that the President was on his way. While thus halting, an aged negro without a coat, his tattered garments made from cotton bagging, whose crisp hair appeared through his almost crownless straw- hat, half kneeling, invoked God's blessing upon the man who had given him freedom : ' May de good Lord bress and keep you safe, Mars Linkum!' "The President lifted his own hat from his head, bowed, wiped the gathering moist ure from his eyes, and then the procession moved on to the mansion from which Jeffer son Davis had taken his departure on Sunday evening. The sailors formed in two lines, presented arms, and the President and party entered the building. Mr. Lincoln dropped wearily into a chair, before which stood a writing-table — a chair often occupied by the Confederate President." (") The President manifested no signs of exultation. In Petersburg his countenance had been radiant and joyful, but at that moment it was one of indescribable sadness. A great column of smoke was still as cending from the burnt buildings. He had caught a glimpse of the desolation, the misery and Avoe, bequeathed by the departed Confeder ate authorities. He was confronted by great questions. How could he best exercise the powers given him to relieve suffering, and bring about a restoration of civil authority ? A few moments later the mayor of the city and Judge Campbell, one of the commissioners in the Hampton Eoads conference, arrived. They were cordially welcomed. The President, accompanied by Admiral Porter, General Weitzel, and General Shepley, rode through the city, escorted by cavalry, fol lowed by thousands of colored people. Mr. Lincoln was much af fected as they croAvded around the carriage to touch his hands. A clergyman who was serving in the Christian Commission has pictured the scene : "I was standing upon the open square before the Court-house at PRESIDENT LINCOLN IN RICHMOND. IN RICHMOND. 509 Eichmond. Until the preceding afternoon no black person had been permitted to set foot upon that ground. But now it SAvarmed with emancipated slaves. They were frantic Avith excitement. They sang, they danced, they shouted hallelujah ! They were expecting something, but what I did not know. Suddenly a great hush fell upon us all, and the President, in an open carriage, Avas driven into the square. Slowly his vehicle moved as he bowed and threw his salutations to those who were ready to worship him. The carriage crossed the open space and halted in the street beyond. Mr. Lincoln arose from the back seat, on which he had been sitting, turned half round, faced the great mul titude of blacks who thronged the area behind his carriage, and reached out his hands till he stood in the attitude of a minister pronouncing the benediction. Thus he remained, without speaking a word, for more than a minute, while the carriage stood still ; and, when the horses moved forward, in the same attitude he was driven out of sight." (10) The President made a second visit to Eichmond on April 5, and held a conference with Mr. CampbeU. "I had," said Mr. Campbell to Mr. Lincoln, "an interview with Jefferson Davis, Benjamin, and Breckinridge just before they left the city. I said to them : ' The military poAver of the Confederacy is bro ken ; its independence is hopeless. It only remains for us to make the best terms we can. The trouble is, the President of the United States cannot enter into negotiations with you, but he recognizes the States. The troops of Virginia will recognize the authority of the Legislature.' If you, Mr. President, will permit that body to convene, it will doubtless recaU them." " Judge CampbeU," the President replied, " let us have no misunder standing. I wiU give you in black and white my only terms : " 1. The territorial integrity of the Bepublic. " 2. No change of Executive or Congressional action on the subject of slavery. " 3. No armistice." " Could you not make a modification of the third point in relation to an armistice ?" Campbell asked. " I AviU not," the President replied, " negotiate with men so long as they are fighting against us. The last election established the deliber ate determination of the country." He Avas lenient, charitable, but inflexible in his decision to secure abiding peace. No further attempt was made to secure a modification of the terms. 510 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. CONFEDERATE PRESIDENTIAL MANSION. The President returned to Fortress Monroe, and visited the hos pitals. Although Aveary and burdened with care, he spent sev- APgg68' eral hours with the sick and suffering, informing them that the war would soon be over, and thanking them for what they had accomplished. NOTES TO CHAPTER XXVII. (') Mary Tucker Magill, "Independent,'' January, 1886. (-) E. A. Pollard, "Lost Cause," p. 694. (3) General Ewell to J. B. Lossing, "Independent," March 11, 1866. (4) Ibid. (') William Burnett Wright, " Congregationalist," vol. xl., No. 22. (6) Mr. Wallace to C. C. Carpenter, " Ceutnry Magazine," June, 1890, p. 306. (7) A Coufederate Courier's Experience, "Watchman," February 3, 1866. (e) Ibid. (3) Author's account in Boston "Journal," written April 4, 1865. (10) William Burnett Wright, " Congregationalist," vol. xl., No. 22. THE CLOSING SCENE. 511 CHABTEE XXVIII. THE CLOSING SCENE. IN the farm-house of WiUiam McLean, at Appomattox, General Lee surrendered the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to General Grant. The thrilling neAvs ran along the lines of the Union army. A mighty shout rent the air. Men cheered and yelled with irre- AiP8659' Pressible delight. No more fighting nor weary marches. No ghastly Avounds ; but home, wife, and children awaited them. Thenceforth joy, peace, and rest ! President Lincoln had returned to Washington. He had been but a short time in the executive mansion when the following despatch came from General Grant : ' ' General Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia this afternoon on terms proposed by myself." It was the supreme moment of Mr. Lincoln's life. The country Avas saved, the nation redeemed. All he had labored for, lived for, prayed for, had been accompUshed. Bells rang, cannon thundered, thanks ascended to God in every city, town, and hamlet. A multitude gathered in the grounds around the White House to express their congratulations. Beneficent the countenance of ^cL11' the President as he looked into the radiant faces of his fellow- citizens. " We meet this evening in gladness of heart," he said. " The sur render of the insurgent army gives hope of righteousness and peace. ... In tbe midst of this, He from whom all blessings Aoav must not be forgotten." During the war there had been much apprehension among the people for the safety of the President. " You are not sufficiently careful of yourself," said a member of the Cabinet to Mr. Lincoln, just before his re-election. "There are bad men in Washington." The President took a package of letters from his desk. 512 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. " Every one of these letters," he said, " contains a threat of assassi nation. L might be nervous if I Avere to dAvell upon the subject, but I have come to the conclusion there are opportunities enough to kfll me every day of my life if there are persons disposed to do it. It is not possible to avoid exposure. I shall not trouble myself about it." Solicitude for the President's safety Avas not confined to the City of Washington. General Van Allen, of New York, the day after Mr. Lin coln returned from Eichmond, addressed a letter to him expressing his apprehensions. " I intend to adopt the advice of my friends and use due precau tions," the President wrote in reply. The day commemorating the entombment of the World's Bedeemer was not celebrated by fasting and solemn reflections, but by thanks giving and hallelujahs. It was Good Friday, and also the anni- Friday, versary of the surrender of Sumter. Four years had passed. April 14 1865. ' The time had come when the emblem of national authority Avas to float again in beauty where it had been dishonored. General Eobert Anderson was to raise the same flag which he had lowered when surrendering the fort. On that December morning, 1860, Avhen he took possession of Sumter, the voice of Eev. Matthias Harris was heard in prayer. Once more he kneeled and led the assembled multitude in devotion. Selections from the Bible Avere read alternately by Eev. Eichard S. Storrs and the people : " 'The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.' " ' Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as- the streams in the south.' " ' They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.' '"He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.' " ' Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.' "'We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners.'" With orchestra, choir, and congregation joining in the " Gloria of the Church Universal," the Stars and Stripes floated once more where it had been humiliated by treason. An address was given by Henry Ward Beecher which breathed the spirit of brotherhood and charity. " We offer," he said, in conclusion, " to the President of these United States our solemn congratulations that God has sustained his life and health under the unparalleled burdens and sufferings of four bloody THE CLOSING SCENE. * 513 years, and permitted him to behold this auspicious consummation of that national unity for Avhich he has waited Avith so much patience and fortitude, and for Avhich he has labored with such disinterested wisdom." It was a day of joy and gladness in the White House. Captain Eobert Lincoln, Avho had witnessed the surrender of Lee, arrived in season to breakfast Avith his father and mother. He narrated the last scene at Appomattox. Breakfast finished, the President passed a pleas ant hour Avith Mr. Colfax, speaker of the House, yvho was about to make a journey across the continent. At eleven o'clock the Cabinet met in regular session. General Grant arrived, and was warmly wel comed. " I am somewhat anxious in regard to Sherman," said General Grant. " We shaU have news from him soon," said Mr. Lincoln, " for I had my usual dream last night — the one I have had just before the occur rence of several important events." " What are the particular features of your dream V asked Mr. Welles. " I might say that it relates to your department," the President replied. " I am always in a .vessel which I cannot describe, and am moving rapidly towards a dark and undefined shore. I had the dream before the firing on Sumter, before the Bull Eun battles, Antietam, Gettysburg, Stone Eiver, Vicksburg, and Wilmington." " Stone Eiver was no victory, Mr. President," said General Grant. " A few such victories as that would have ruined us. I do not know that anything of importance resulted from that battle." " I might not wholly agree with you about that," said the President, "but I had this dream before that engagement. Victory has not always followed my dream. I have no doubt that a battle has been, or is soon to be fought, between Sherman and Johnston, for my thoughts were in that direction, and I know of no other important event likely to occur." At the moment of this conversation a Confederate officer was ap proaching General Sherman's lines with a letter from General John ston asking for a conference, with the view of surrendering his army. Eichly endowed natures behold at times by mental vision what others may not see. The Bible tells us that by the eastern wall of Jeru salem the first martyr of the Christian Church, while laying down his life for his faith, beheld heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. Saul, fierce persecutor, beheld a blinding light, 33 514 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. talked Avith Jesus, and became like a child in spirit. John saAv a neAV heaven and a new earth descending from God out of heaven. Upon a house-top in Joppa, Peter, in mid-day slumbers, beheld phenomena far more mysterious than that dreamed by President Lincoln, and heard from one unseen a truth never before announced — that they who fear God and work righteousness in every nation are accepted of Him. Thrice that vision. More than three times sailed the ship that Avas bearing President Lincoln to the shadowy shore. At that noon hour the nation and himself were approaching a haven of peace. We are not to conclude that the President believed in omens. Neither may we say that what he had seen was a hallucination or the phantasm of a disordered imagination. The reality of his dreaming cannot be questioned. We may conclude that philosophy has not as yet fully comprehended mental and psychic conditions. The Cabinet took up the great questions of the hour — the restora tion of the revolted States, and what should be done with the Con federate leaders. " I have no desire," said the President, " to kill or hang them. Let us frighten them out of the country — open the gates, let down the bars, scare them off. Enough lives have been sacrificed ; Ave must extinguish our resentments if we expect to live in harmony and peace." In the afternoon the President, Avith Mrs. Lincoln, drove in his carriage through the suburbs of the city. He Avas welcomed every- Avhere by affectionate recognition. He Avas very happy, and talked of the past and also of the future. " When these four years are over, Mary," he said, " Ave will go back to Illinois, and I AviU again be a country lawyer. God has been very good to us." Mr. Lincoln occasionally sought rest and recreation by attending the theatre. On that evening the drama of " Our American Cousin" was to be enacted at Ford's Theatre. Miss Laura Keene, a favorite actress, had chosen it on the occasion of her benefit. It was known that the President and Mrs. Lincoln, and possibly General and Mrs. Grant, Avould be present. The desire to see the two men foremost in the affections of the people filled the theatre. General and Mrs. Grant, desiring to leave the city, informed the President that they could not accept the proffered invitation to accompany himself and Mrs. Lincoln. Invita tions were accordingly sent to Miss Harris and Major Bathburn, daugh ter and stepson of Senator Harris. Early in the evening Mr. CoUax called again at the White House to THE CLOSING SCENE. 515 say farewell. He was accompanied by Mr. Ashman, Avho was president of the Eepublican Comrention Avhich nominated Mr. Lincoln in 1860. " Was it not," asked Mr. Ashman, " rather imprudent for you to ex pose yourself in Eichmond 'i We Avere much concerned for your safety." " I would have been alarmed myself if any other person had been President and gone there, but I did not find any danger Avhatever," Mr. Lincoln replied. Upon a matter of business the President made a remark which he saw disturbed Mr. Ashman. " You did not understand me," Mr. Lincoln quickly said. " I did not mean it. I take it all back. I apologize for it." The carriage was Avaiting to convey the President to the theatre. He desired to see Mr. Ashman again early the next morning, and wrote upon a card : Allow Mr. Ashman to come at 9 o'clock a.m. to-morrow. A. Lincoln. At the door of the White House the President said to Colfax : " Sen ator Sumner has the gavel of the Confederate Congress, which he got at Eichmond to hand to the Secretary of War ; but I maintained he must give it to you. You tell him to hand it over. You are going to the Pacific Coast. Do not forget to tell the people in the mining region Avhat I told you this morning about their development. Good-bye." The audience crowding the theatre rose and cheered as the presi dential party entered the box assigned them. The orchestra played "Hail to the Chief." The President acknowledged the kind reception, and the performance went on. Mr. Lincoln greatly enjoyed it. The curtain rose upon the second scene of the last act. Miss Keene, per sonating Mrs. Montchessington, was saying to Asa Trenchard : " Vou don't understand good society. That alone can excuse the impertinence of which you are guilty." " I guess I know enough to turn you inside out," the reply of Trenchard. A pistol report startles the laughing audience. A man leaps from the President's box, falls upon the stage, rises, flourishing a knife drip ping with blood. " Sic semper tyrannis ! The South is avenged !" he shouts, and disappears. " John Wilkes Booth !" some one exclaims. There is instant com motion — a rush towards the stage and the box. 516 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. The President had faUen forward. Major Eathburn had received a fearful wound in his arm. The President was borne to a small house across the street. Mrs. Lincoln, dazed and wild with grief, followed, tenderly cared for by Miss Harris. Physicians and the members of the Cabinet were summoned. All Washington was in com motion — thronging the streets, learning not only that the President had been shot, but that another assas sin had gained entrance to the house of Mr. SeAvard as a messenger with medicine from his physician. The as sassin had snapped a pistol at Mr. Frederick Seward, and beaten him senseless with the weapon ; had inflicted sev eral wounds upon Mr. SeAAr- ard with a knife, and also wounded two attendants. Through the night the members of the Cabinet, physicians, and the weeping family watched the ebbing tide of life.(') A little past seven o'clock in the morning Abraham Lincoln died, with inexpress ible peace upon his face. " Now he belongs to the ages," said Secretary Stanton, breaking the silence. What motive impeUed him to com- HOUSE IN WHICH ABRAHAM LINCOLN DIED. Who was John Wilkes Booth % mit the crime ? The Confederate Government, in its desperation during the last months of the war, had used pitiable and despicable means to postpone approaching doom. The Confederate agents in Canada had employed William L. McDonald to manufacture an explosive compound to be placed in hotels and steamships for their destruction. On the evening THE CLOSING SCENE. 51? of November 5, 1864, while the people of New York Avere rejoicing over the re-election of President Lincoln, incendiary fires Avere kindled in thirteen places, Avhich, however, Avere quickly extinguished. Steam boats had been burned on the Avestern rivers. John Y. BeaU, educated in the University of Virginia, OAvner of 100 slaves, captain in the Confederate Army, an accredited agent of the Con federacy, had been employed to wreck railroad trains. When arrested and brought to trial he took a commission from his pocket, signed by Jefferson Davis, to show that he was an officer in the Confederate serv ice, and ought not to be held accountable as a private individual for throwing a railroad train from its track and endangering the lives of innocent passengers. He manifested no sorrow for what he had done. While President Lincoln was having the interview with the Con federate commissioners at Fortress Monroe, Professor McCuUough Avas presenting to Senator Oldham, of Texas, a scheme which the Senator in turn laid before Jefferson Davis. It was a proposition to burn all the shipping of the Northern States. (2) " We can burn," he wrote, " every transport that leaves the harbor of New York or other Northern port with supplies for the armies of the enemy, burn every transport and gunboat on the Mississippi Eiver, as well as devastate the country, and fill the people with consternation." Jefferson Davis did not thrust this letter into* the fire, but wrote the foUowing words : "Hon. W. I. Oldham : February 12, 1865. "In relation to plans and means to burn the enemy's shipping, towns, etc., prepara tions are in the hands of Professor McCuUough, and are known only to one party. Ask the President to have an interview with General Harris, formerly of Missouri, on this subject. Secretary of War at his convenience please see General Harris, and learn what plan he has for overcoming difficulties heretofore experienced. J. D." (3) Soon after the re-election of President Lincoln an advertisement ap peared in a newspaper published in Selma, Ala., proposing to raise a fund for the assassination of the President and Vice-president of the United States. A letter from Lieutenant Alston, proposing assassination, Avas turned over to Mr. Seddon by Jefferson Davis, bearing this indorsement: "For attention." (4) Among those who were ready to engage in desperate undertakings for the benefit of the Confederacy was John Wilkes Booth, a dramatic actor. I saw him frequently during the Avar. After John Brown seized Harper's Ferry, Booth had assisted at his capture. He visited 518 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Eichmond, making his way secretly through the lines. He was in communication Avith Confederate agents in Canada. He was twenty- six years old ; his form was manly, his bearing that of a gentleman. In parlor and drawing-room he was ever an attractive figure. He de lighted in tragic and startling scenes. He had tasted the wine of popular applause upon the stage, and delighted to be before the public. Booth did not imitate those who conspired against Caesar, and select his associates in crime from those occupying high social position, but chose his accomplices from a gang of ruffians. Among them was Lewis PoAvell, often known as Lewis Payne. He had served the Con federates as a spy. George Atzeroth had frequently been in Eichmond with an invoice of goods contraband of war. Daniel E. Harold had been a student of pharmacy. Spangler, Arnold, McLaughlin, and Dr. Mudd were lesser accomplices. Their rendezvous was in a boarding- house kept by Mary E. Surratt, whose son John was also an accom plice. (6) Just Avhen Booth made their acquaintance is not known. By his almost hypnotic power they became obedient to his imperious will. During the four years of the war President Lincoln had been de nounced as "usurper," "autocrat," "tyrant," "czar" in the newspapers of the Peace Democracy. This destroyer of the liberties of the South ern people, as Booth regarded Bresident Lincoln, had turned loose 4,000,000 slaves, thus robbing the masters of their property. The Ides of March had brought humiliation to the Confederacy. Why should not the world be rid of such a despot? Booth had often exclaimed upon the stage : "Shall Rome stand under one man's awe? What Rome? My ancestors did from the streets of Rome The Tarquin drive, when he was call'd a king. ' Speak, strike, redress !' — Am I entreated To speak and strike ? O Rome ! I make thee promise, If the redress will follow, thou receiv'st Thy full petition at the hand of Brutus !" Why should not John WUkes Booth enact in life what he had per formed upon the stage— avenge the South and make his name famous ? It is not probable that he gave any thought as to what benefit or loss might come to the people of the Southern States by murdering the President. Eevenge and vanity impelled him. He determined to send a bullet through the brain of the "tyrant" who had conquered and despoiled the South, Avho had walked in triumph through the streets of the capital of the Confederacy. Passion and self-gratulation had taken JOHN WILKES BOOTH. [From a photograph taken in 1864.] THE CLOSING SCENE. 521 possession of him. Every detail of preparation and execution Avas thought out. He kneAv the President Avas to attend the theatre. As an actor he had been many times upon its stage, and Avas acquainted with aU its passageAvays. He visited the building, examined the box which Avould be occupied by the Presidential party, bored a hole in its door through which he might look before entering to fire the fatal shot. His forethought provided a Avooden bar to be placed across another door opening to the area behind the box. By this means he could prevent any interference with the execution of his plans. That the world might know his motives and applaud his act, he wrote a carefully prepared statement, which, he intrusted to a f eUow-actor, Mr. Mathews, to be de livered to the " National Intelligencer " for publication. He hired a fleet horse at a livery-stable, and rode the animal to ac custom himself to its gait. His scheme contemplated the assassination of President Lincoln, also Vice-president Johnson and Secretary Sew ard. The last-named had been thrown from his carriage, and was- lying helpless upon his bed with a fractured jaw and arm. Harold was detailed to murder the Vice-president, and Payne the Secretary of State. The box in which the President and his party were sitting had been decorated with the Stars and Stripes. It was ten o'clock, and the curtain had risen upon the second scene of the last act. At that moment Booth dismounted from his horse in the alley at the rear of the theatre. He gave the reins to a boy, passed into the restaurant, and drank a glass of brandy. He then entered the front of the theatre, and reached the door opening to the area behind the President's box. He was weU known to the employes, and was admitted by the attendant. He placed the wooden bar across the door, stepped to the box door, peeped through the hole which he had bored and saw the position of the President, dreAv his revolver and knife, and softly entered. He held the pistol near the President's head, fired, and leaped forward. Major Eathburn sprang to seize him. Booth struck at his throat with the knife. Eathburn, in parrying the stroke, received a wound in the arm. In leaping upon the stage a spur on one of Booth's feet caught in the folds of the flag he hated, and he fell headlong. A bone of one leg Avas broken ; but he rose, uttered his triumphant shout, ran across the stage, gained the alley, sprang upon his horse, and disappeared. There is poetic justice in the thought that the flag of the republic should be the means of bringing swift retribution to the murderer and his accomplices. Had it not been for the fracture of one limb, it is 399 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. MRS. SURRATT S HOUSE. [From a photograph taken in 1865.] altogether probable that before sunrise he would have been on the Vir ginia side of the Potomac, and before the week ended so far away that he would have, for a time at least, escaped capture. A little past ten o'clock a sentinel stationed at the navy-yard bridge crossing the Eastern Branch of the Potomac saw a man on horseback rapidly approaching. " I live out here in Charles County, and have been waiting for the moon to rise," said the horseman. The sentinel allowed him to pass, and he rode swiftly on. Another man on horseback came. He also said that he lived in Charles County and was going home, and Avas permitted to cross. THE CLOSING SCENE. 523 A third horseman arrived. " That fellow ahead of me has stolen my horse," he said. " I can't allow you to pass," the sentinel replied. No explanation or entreaty aA7ailed. The first avIio had crossed the bridge was Booth, and the second Harold, who Avas acting as his assistant. It was midnight, and the moon tAvo hours above the horizon, when Booth and Harold rode up to a tavern owned by Mrs. Surratt, in the viUage of SurrattsviUe. The landlord, Mr. Lloyd, knew that some desperate undertaking had been planned. Harold leaped from his horse and entered the tavern. " We have killed the President. Let me have the things," he said. The landlord made no reply, but handed him a bottle of whiskey, a field-glass, and two guns. Booth could not take a gun. He was suffering terrible pain. They rode to the house of Dr. Mudd. Booth was well acquainted with him. Though living in Mary land, Dr. Mudd had ever sympathized with the South. He lifted Booth from his saddle to a bed, and set the fractured limb. Through the fol lowing day the murderer and his accomplice rested. When night came they left SurrattsviUe and rode to Port Tobacco. Thomas Jones shel tered them — not in his own house, but in a thicket — giving them food, and Avaiting for an opportunity to ferry them to the Virginia shore. Booth had been recognized by a number of persons when he leaped upon the stage of the theatre. The police very soon learned that he had frequented Mrs. Surratt's house. .The sentinel at the bridge had a story to tell of two horsemen making their Avay to Charles County. Detectives were quickly on their track. The assassin Payne, who at tempted the life of Secretary Seward, and who had wounded Mr. Fred erick Seward and the attendants, had left behind a blood-stained knife, a broken revolver, and his hat. He did not ride to Charles County to join the chief conspirator, but made his way to a piece of woods. If he had matured a plan to escape, it was abandoned. For two days he remained in hiding. He could think of no better course to pursue than to return to the house of Mrs. Surratt, where the conspirators had been at home in maturing their plans. It was nearly midnight when the officers who had taken possession of Mrs. Surratt's house heard a knock ing at the door. It was opened by Major Smith, who saw a man wear ing a cap made from a portion of his coat-sleeve. He had a pick upon his shoulder. " Who are you ? What do you want ?" asked the officer. " I have come to dig a drain for Mrs. Surratt," said the man. 524 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. " Have you engaged this man to dig a drain for you ?" the question put to Mrs. Surratt. " Before God, I do not know him— never saAv him before. I have not hired him," Mrs. Surratt replied, lifting her right hand that the officer might know she was swearing a solemn oath. Little did she mis trust that her words and acts would lead to the conviction of both herself and Payne as conspirators in-the terrible crime. The mUitary authorities had little difficulty in getting upon the track of Booth and Harold. The trail began at the bridge across the Eastern Branch. The besotted tavern - keeper of Surrattsville, fearing he might be implicated, voluntarily came and told all he knew. The trail led to Bort Tobacco. Soldiers were searching houses and scouring the woods. Gunboats were passing up and down the Boto- mac. Several times Jones had attempted to ferry them to the Virginia shore in the night and had turned back, but at last succeeded. In Maryland, Booth found those who gave hearty hospitahty. He was greatly disappointed at not receiving a like welcome across the Boto- mac. He had struck the bloAV to avenge the South, and was chagrined and angered by the coldness of his reception. [0. Dark corridor leading from the dress-circle to box. — H. Entrance to corridor. — I. The bar used by Booth to prevent entrance from without. — J. Dress-circle.— K. The parquette. — L. The foot-lights. — M. The stage. — F. Open door to the President's box. — G. Closed door. — N. Place where Booth vaulted over to the stage below.] DIAGRAM OF THE BOX OCCUPIED BY PRESIDENT LINCOLN. THE CLOSING SCENE. 525 Booth made this entry in his diary : "Friday, April 21.— After being hunted like a dog through swamps and woods, and last night chased by gunboats till I was forced to return, wet, cold, and starving, with every man's hand against me, I am here in despair ! And why 1 For doing what Brutus was honored for — what made Tell a hero. . . I struck for my country and that alone — a country ground beneath his tyranny. And yet now behold the cold hand they extend to me." From those Avho gave him food he obtained newspapers, and learned that his fellow-actor, Mathews, had burned the article Avhich had been FORD S THEATRE, AS DRAPED AFTER THE PRESIDENT S DEATH. [From a photograph taken at the time.] intended for publication. So, then, the world would never read his vindication of himself. During the days while hiding in the thickets, his ear open to every sound, his intellect alert, conscience arraigned him. He stood before the Great White Throne, the Judgment - seat of the Universe. " I am abandoned, Avith the curse of Cain upon me," the entry in his diary. Vanity put in its specious plea for self-justification. " If the world knew my heart, that one blow would make me great," lie wrote. By no such pleading could he set aside the universal verdict that 526 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. instead of crushing a "tyrant" he had murdered a lenient friend. In stead of his name upon the scroll of fame, he was to be ranked with Cain and Judas and the outcasts of all time — accursed of God and man. Booth and Harold made their way from place to place, finding shelter at last in the barn of Mr. Garrett, near Bowling Green, on the Eappa hannock. At midnight a company of soldiers surrounded the *Vi8652S' DUli(iing. When called upon to surrender Harold complied ; Booth refused, and the barn was set on fire. The flames re vealed his position to Sergeant Corbett, who sent a bullet through the assassin's brain. The final scene of the tragedy was in the yard of the Gld Capitol Prison — the execution of Payne, Harold, Atzerodt, and Mrs. Surratt. Arnold, McLaughlin, Dr. Mudd, and lesser accomplices Avere imprisoned at Key West. Quick had been Nemesis. John H. Surratt alone escaped. He Avent to Canada, from thence to Europe, enlisted as a soldier in the service of the Pope, deserted, and fled to Egypt. Vigilant eyes folloAved him. He was arrested, brought to the United States, and tried ; but the jury disagreed. It was suspected, but could not be definitely proven, that Jacob Thompson, in Canada, agent of the Confederacy, supplied Booth with money. Neither could it be certainly demonstrated that Jefferson Davis or Secretary Benjamin were acquainted with or gave countenance to Booth's intentions. But the historic facts will ever remain that the assassination of Abraham Lincoln was contemplated before his first in auguration ; that it was never lost sight of during the Avar by persons hostile to him ; that he received many letters containing threats against his life. It Avas no sudden impulse on the part of Booth, but a crime deliberately planned and executed. NOTES TO CHAPTER XXVIII. (') The persons present at the death of President Lincoln were Mrs. Lincoln, Robert Lincoln, Secretaries Stanton, Welles, McCuUough, Usher, Dennison, and Speed ; Generals Halleck, Meigs, Farnsworth, Auger, and Todd ; Senator Sumner, Rev. Mr. Gurley, Schuyler Colfax, Governor Farwell, Judges Cartter and Otto, Surgeon-general Barnes, Drs. Stone, Crane, and Teale ; Major John Hay, and Maunsell B. Field. (") Jacob Thompson to Secretary Benjamin. Letter dated at Toronto, C. W., Decem ber 8, 1864. Unpublished Confederate Archives. (3) Senator W. I. Oldham to Jefferson Davis, February 11, 1865. Unpublished Con federate Archives. (J) Pitman, "Report of Conspiracy Trials," p. 51. ( 5 ) Mrs. Surratt resided at 541 H Street. She also owned au estate at Surrattsville, on the road leading to Port Tobacco. APOTHEOSIS. 527 CHAPTEE XXIX. APOTHEOSIS. THE world stood aghast at the tragic death of Abraham Lincoln. Church bells tolled, business ceased, Avorkmen left their occupa tions. The marts of trade were deserted. Strong men Avere overcome by their emotions. Eulers had been assassinated in other lands, but never before in the NeAV World. Easter Sunday dawned upon a people stricken with grief. The day April 16, was not given to joy and gladness commemorating the rising of 186B- the world's Eedeemer from the tomb, but to lamentations for the martyred redeemer of the republic. Everywhere the great sorrow of the people was manifested by em blems of mourning. There was touching pathos in the attempts of the poorest to express their grief by draping their homes. A regiment of colored soldiers, freed from slavery and made citizens by the Emancipation Proclamation, formed the escort of the funeral procession from the White House to the church where Mr. Lincoln had worshipped, and from thence, after appropriate rehgious service, to the Capitol. In its rotunda thousands looked once more upon the peaceful face. Illinois claimed that the last resting-place of her greatest citizen should be at Springfield. The route thither was the one travelled by Mr. Lincoln on his journey to Washington when about to assume the duties of the Presidential office. Generals of the Army, admirals of the Navy, deputations from the Senate and House of Eepresentatives formed a guard of honor. Far different the reception in Baltimore from that of 1861. Then, conspirators planning his death; noAv, the highest possible honor. The State of Pennsylvania officially expressed its bereavement in the Capitol at Harrisburg. At Philadelphia, Mr. Lincoln had said in Independence Hall he would rather be assassinated than surrender the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence. Speechless now his lips, yet never before had they been so eloquent. Then, uncer- 528 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. tainty ; now, the country saved. Then, readiness to give his life ; now, the life given. In New York half a million people gazed upon the inanimate form. In the Capitol at Albany, at Syracuse, Eochester, and Buffalo thousands manifested their sorrow. People congregated at intermediate towns to catch a glimpse of the passing train. No edifice at Cleveland could contain the multitude. The States of Ohio and Indiana rendered hom age to the greatness of Abraham Lincoln in the Capitols at Colum bus and Indianapolis. At Chicago a countless throng passed through the corridors of the Court - house, where his body lay in state. In the Capitol at Springfield his old friends and acquaintances beheld in the benignity of his countenance the benediction, "With malice toward none, Avith charity for all." At last the coffin-lid was closed. Simple the ceremonies at the tomb May 14, in Oak Eidge Cemetery : a hymn, a prayer, a brief address, and 1'S6B- the reading of the second inaugural of the departed President. No Avords could be more appropriate. All the world laid wreaths upon the bier of Abraham Lincoln — sov ereign and subject, crowned and uncrowned, emperor, king, czar, sul tan, pasha ; monarchy, repubhc, commonwealth, city, and town ; people of every race and clime. No other ruler ever had such apotheosis. Statesman, orator, journalist, and poet came with their immortelles. Through the war the aristocracy of England and the mercantile in terests of that country, for commercial gain, sided with the South ; but lords and commoners, rising in their seats, expressed their horror at the crime, and gave condolence to the republic. " If any one was able to relieve the pain and animosities which pre vailed it was Abraham Lincoln," the words of Lord John Eussell. " In the character of this victim," said Disraeli, " in the accessories of his last moments, there is something so homely and innocent that it takes the question out of all the pomp of history and the ceremonial of diplomacy ; it touches the heart of nations and appeals' to the domestic sentiment of mankind." From the outbreak of the Eebellion the sympathies of the working- men of England had been with the North. When the throbbing engines of the Lancashire manufacturers became motionless for want of cotton, when half a million men and women were seeking employment, when hunger was keenest and chUdren crying for bread, they prayed for the success of the North. By a heaven-born instinct they comprehended that the men upholding the flag of the Union were fighting a battle for APOTHEOSIS. 529 MONUMENT TO ABRAHAM LINCOLN, OAK RIDGE CEMETERY, SPRINGFIELD, ILL. [From a photograph taken by the author in 1890] aU the world. The working-men of London sent these Avords to the people of the United States : " Abraham Lincoln has endeared himself to his country and man kind, especially to the toiling millions of the civilized Avorld. The loss of such a man is ours as well as yours. He is enshrined in the hearts 34 530 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. of the laborers of all countries as one of the few uncrowned monarchs of the world." " A man," reads the tribute of the Working-men's International As sociation, "neither to be browbeaten by adversity nor intoxicated by success, slowly maturing his steps, never retracing them ; carried away by no surge of popular favor, disheartened by no slacking of the popu lar pulse ; illuminating scenes dark with passion by the smile of humor ; doing his Titanic Avork as humbly and truly as heaven-born rulers do little things ; who succeeded in becoming great without ceasing to be good. The world only discovered him a hero after he had fallen a martyr." Eobert Leighton, poet, wrote : "Rest to the uncrowned king, who, toiling, brought His bleeding country through a dreadful reign ; Who, living, earned a world's revering thought, And dying, leaves his name without a stain." Said the " Bradford EevieAV :" " The great, pure, single-hearted man, who, with unequalled moral courage and absolute perseverance, had steered the vessel of State through such a time of trial as the world never before Avitnessed." " We doubt," said the " Dublin Freemen's Journal," " whether mod ern history contains a grander character than the humble lawyer of Illinois. His public virtues shone as brightly as his private worth, and both made him the best bekwed man in the United States." "History," said the "London Daily News," "wiU respect him as actuated by an abiding sense of duty, as striving to be faithful in his service of God and of man, as possessed with deep moral earnestness, and as endowed with vigorous common -sense and faculty for dealing Avith affairs." Said the " London Star :" " With a firm faith in his God, his country, and his principles of freedom for all men, whatever their color and con dition, he has stood unmoved amid the shock of armies and the clamors of factions. He quailed not when defeat in the field seemed to herald the triumph of the foe. He boasted not of A'ictory, nor sought to arro gate to himself the honors of the great deeds which have resounded through the Avorld ; but, gentle and modest as he was great and good, he took the chaplet from his own brow to place it on the lowly graves of the soldiers, Avhose blood has been so liberaUy poured forth to conse crate the soil of America to freedom. He dies and makes no sign, but the impress of his noble character and aims will be borne by his country APOTHEOSIS. 531 Avhile time endures. He dies, but his country lives ; freedom has tri umphed ; the broken chains at the feet of the slaves are the mute wit nesses of his Adctory." Graceful the tribute of England's jester, " London Punch :" "You lay a wreath on murdered Lincoln's bier, You, who with mocking pencil wont to trace, Broad for the self-complacent British sneer, His length of shambling limb, his furrowed face, "His gaunt, gnarled hands, his unkempt, bristling hair, His garb uncouth, his bearing ill at ease, His lack of all we prize as debonair, Of power or will to shine, of art to please ; "You, whose smart pen backed up the pencil's laugh, Judging each step as though the way were plain ; Reckless, so it could point its paragraph, Of chief's perplexities or people's pain; " Beside this corse, that bears for winding-sheet The Stars and Stripes he lived to rear anew, Between the mourners at his head and feet, Say, scurrile jester, is there room for you? "Yes; he had lived to shame me from my sneer, To lame my pencil, and confute my pen ; To make me own this hind of princes peer, This rail-splitter true-born king of men. "My shallow judgment I had learned to rue, Noting how to occasion's height he rose ; How his quaint wit made home-truth seem more true; How, iron-like, his temper grew by blows ; "How humble yet how hopeful he could be; How, in good-fortune and in ill, the same; Nor hitter iu success, nor boastful he, Thirsty for gold, nor feverish for fame. "He went about his work — such work as few Ever had laid on head and heart and hand- As one who knows, where there's a task to do, Man's honest will must Heaven's good grace command; ' The Old World and the New, from sea to sea, Utter one voice of sympathy and shame ; Sore heart, so stopped when it at last beat high ; Sad life, cut short just as its triumph came!" 532 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. " He conquered," said the " Paris Epoque," " without ever departing from republican forms, Avithout one single infraction of the laws of his country. When every temptation Avas offered him, Avhen certain violent measures were demanded by the situation, he still thought he could do without them. He took his stand upon legality, and never lent himself to an exceptional or arbitrary act. He was the living law." Said Leopold Gaillard : " No funeral oration can attain to the sim ple and religious eloquence of the second inaugural, which Avill remain as the political bequest of Abraham Lincoln. He enters into that body of the elite of the historic army Avhich M. Guizot once called the bat talion of Plutarch." " He was an honest man, giving the Avord its full meaning," wrote Prevost Paradol. " The idea of doing more or anything else than his duty never entered his plain, upright mind. He has not lived alone for his country, since he leaves to every one in the Avorld to Avhom liberty and justice are dear a great remembrance and a pure example." " Death has revealed to all eyes," said the " Eevue des Deux Mondes," " the worth of this honest man. Opinion has done Mr. Lincoln wrong Avhile living. It is noAv making solemn efforts to repair that wrong Avhen he is no more." "Abraham Lincoln," said Emilio Castelar in the Spanish Cortes, " was the humblest of the humble before his own conscience, the great est of the great before history." From the people of England, the peasantry of France, Germany,. Italy, and all European countries, from the republics of South America, from India and China, came heartfelt tributes. In the chalets of the Alps, in the peasant homes along the Danube, and on the Aune-clad banks of the Ehine, the portrait most frequently seen Avas that of Abra ham Lincoln. Throughout the United States, pulpit and platform voiced the universal grief. Those Avho had denounced him as " tyrant " and " usurper " bowed their heads in shame as all people laid unfading flow ers on his bier. In the world's valhalla are the statues of those Avho have done great things for their felloAv-men. Bericles, builder of the Barthenon, Avas Avilling to pay for its construction if but his name alone could be sculptured upon the enduring marble. Abraham Lincoln's Parthenon was his country. Not his OAvn name, but the Constitution and the Union was the only legend he desired to see inscribed upon the edifice. Cincinnatus — patrician, dictator — though holding the plough and using the spade on his glebe, had little in common with the people. Abra- APOTHEOSIS. 533 ham Lincoln — boatman, ploughman, President — gave his sympathies to all men, irrespective of race or condition. Where shall be found his compeer in the battalion of the Christian era ? Not Alfred the Great, nor Eichard the Lion-hearted — none of England's kings ; neither Marl borough, Cromwell, nor Wellington ; not Frederick the Great of Ger many ; neither Gustavus Adolphus, William the SUent, Henry of Na- STATUE BY ST. GAUDENS, LINCOLN PARK, CHICAGO. 534 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. varre, Napoleon Bonaparte, nor George Washington. Not with these- may Abraham Lincoln be compared. Nature gave not to them as to him such ability to foresee, provide, and execute, such quality of states manship and manhood, such combination of greatness and goodness. To none of them has been given such affectionate remembrance as to him. Washington Avill ever be the father, Lincoln the savior, of our country. The inspiration of his life Avas the song of the heavenly host to the shepherds of Bethlehem, " Peace on earth, good-Avill to man." The millions whom Abraham Lincoln delivered from slavery Avill ever liken him to Moses, the deliverer of Israel. Only in part are they to be compared. Humble alike their birth, but the childhood of one Avas passed in the luxurious court of Pharaoh, that of the other amid the poverty of a frontier cabin. The learned of Egypt's realm revealed the Avisdom of the ages to the youthful HebreAv ; itinerant teachers im parted limited instruction to the boy of the rustic school. Moses be comes a shepherd ; Abraham Lincoln swings an axe. One meditates. on lofty themes in the solitude of Sinai ; the other on the banks of the Sangamon. One discovers God- in the mystery of the burning bush at Horeb ; to the other, in a restful retreat, comes the uplifting reA'ela- tion that God is his Father, and all men his brothers. . Moses gives just and righteous laAvs to Israel, Abraham Lincoln a neAV charter of liberty to his country. Both lead their fellow -men out of bondage, both behold the promised land of a nation's larger life, but neither is privileged to enter it. Says James EusseU Lowell of Abraham Lincoln : " Nature, they say, doth dote, And cannot make a man Save on some worn-out plan, Repeating us by rote : For him her Old- World moulds aside she threw, And, choosing sweet clay from the breast Of the unexhausted West, With stuff untainted shaped a hero new, Wise, steadfast in the strength of God, and true. Great captains, with their guns and drums Disturb our judgment for the hour, But at last silence comes. ; These are all gone, and, standing like a tower, Our children shall behold his fame, The kindly, earnest, brave, far-seeiDg man, Sagacious, patient, dreading praise, not blame, New birth of our new soil, the first American." APOTHEOSIS. 535 I attempt no estimate of the character of Abraham Lincoln. I am too near him in time. There must be the perspective of many years before his goodness, his greatness, and his influence upon the world can be justly and fully comprehended. Analysis, eulogy, and comparison thus far have failed to portray the true lineaments of this matchless man. Like the snoAV-clad summit of the loftiest mountain, gleaming in its distinctive grandeur, shall he shine Avith stainless whiteness and eter nal glory ! INDEX. Anderson, Robert, Lieutenant, 70, 210, 242, 248, 263,612. Andrew, John A., Governor, 251, 325. Andrews, E. W., General, 462. Anecdotes : Helps Katy Roby in spelling, 37 ; wrestling-match, 64; settles with Post-office Department, 95 ; defends Edward D. Baker, 99 ; law case about a colt, 103 ; about pension mon ey, 104; against liquor-seller, 197; Mr. Cass's oxen, 108 ; journey to Washington, 131 ; com pares height with countryman, 201 ; writing his autograph, 208 ; Grace Bedell, 208, 220 ; celebration by colored Sunday-schools, 321; reads " Outrage at Utica," 342 ; asked to re lieve Grant, 367 ; impressions as to result of battle of Gettysburg, 379 ; " Sykes's dog," 386 ; reprieve of Mr. Luckett, 388 ; fondness for Shakespeare, 399 ; kindness of heart, 401 ; opinion of Grant, 403; Farmer Case, 482; Brother Jones and the powder, 490. Armstrong, Hannah, 81, 162. Armstrong, Jack, 64. Arnold, Isaac N., 392, 409. Ashley, James M., 412. Ashman, George, 190, 515. Atchison, David R., 139, 151. Atzeroth, George, 518. Averill, General, 359. Bacon, Leonard, Rev., 444. Baker, Edward Dickinson, 99, 128, 279. Banks, Nathaniel P., General, 251, 272, 322, 347, 381. Barnard, William, 324. Bateman, Mr., 207. Bates, Edward, Attorney-general, 240, 246, 262, 271,338,402. Battery: Sherman's, 258 ; Mott's, 317; Calef's, 378. Beall, John Y., 517. Beauregard, P. G. T., General, 248, 267, 312. Beecher, Benry AYard, Rev., 512. Bell, John, 187. Belmont, August, 439. Benjamin, Judah, 283, 485. Bird, Mr., 366. Birney, James G., 91. Black, Mr., Attorney-general, 211. Blackburn, Luke, Dr., 260. Blair, Francis P., 262, 476, 484. Blair, Montgomery, Postmaster-general, 240, 246, 330, 345, 426. Blenker, General, 307. Boone, Daniel, 7. Boone, George, 6. Booth, John Wilkes, 515. Boutwell, Mr., 390. Bragg, Braxton, General, 383. Branlette, Governor, 403. Breckinridge, John C, 203, 222, 279, 282, 497, 503. Breckinridge, Robert J., Rev., 413. Breshwood, Captain, 215. Brooks, Colonel, 354. Brooks, Mr., 365. Brough, John, 383. Brown, Governor, 212, 477. Brown, John, 158, 173. Buchanan, George, Dr., 53. Buchanan, James, 151, 157, 236. Buckingham, William A., 325. Buckner, Simon B., General, 260. Buell, General, 290, 312. Buford, General, 378. Bullitt, Mr., 334. Burns, John, 385. Burnside, Ambrose E., General, 350, 353, 358, 361, 369, 404. Butler, Benjamin F., General, 184, 251, 258, 265, 270, 286, 312, 333, 390, 392. 538 INDEX. Calhoun, John C., 81, 157. Cameron, Secretary, 240, 246, 295. Campbell, John A., Judge, 242, 477, 484, 506, 509. Carpenter, F. B., 399. Case, Mr., 423. Cass, Lewis, 211. Chase, Salmon P., Secretary, 240, 246, 293, 313, 319, 330, 338, 345, 356, 392, 416, 470. Chandler, Zachariah, 420. Chittenden, L. E., 221, 231, 405. Clay, Clement C, 415, 428. Clay, Eenry, 124, 260. Colfax, Schuyler, 513. Collamer, Senator, 356. Comstock, Judge, 442. Conway, Moncure, 366. Crandall, Prudence, 90. Crawford, Martin J., 242. Crook, General, 492. Curtin, Andrew G., 229, 325. Curtis, Judge, 153. Dana, Charles A., 442, 467. Davis, David, 219, 227. Davis, Henry Winter, 379, 420, 430, 464. Davis, Jefferson, 140 ; elected President of the Confederacy, 217 ; send9 an order to General Beauregard, 248 ; telegram to Governor Letch er, 256 ; conference with Messrs. Gilmore and Jacques, 434 ; confers with Francis P. Blair, 476 ; addresses a public meeting at Richmond, 484. Defrees, Mr., 274. Dennison, William, 325. Discovery of Gold in California, 134. Dix, Dorothy, Miss, 224. Dix, John A., General, 212, 215, 322. Dodge, William E., 235. Douglass, Frederick, 457. Douglas, Stephen A., 82, 97, 136, 139, 144, 152, 157, 166, 202, 239, 251, 266. Dupont, Admiral, 283. Early, Jubal A., 423, 445. Eckert, Mr., 467, 478. Edwards, Ninian, 109. Elkins, David, Rev., 23, 28. Ellsworth, Colonel, 258. Emory, General, 425. English, 473. Ericsson, Captain, 264, 303. Evans, Cadwallader, 6. Everett, Edward, 187, 383. Ewell, General, 374, 378, 497. Farragtjt, Admiral, 312. Felton, Samuel M., 224. Fenton, Reuben E., 432. Fessenden, William P., 280, 356, 418, 470. Floyd, John B., 210. Foote, Commodore, 298. Forney, John W., 409, 464. Forquar, General, 88. Forsyth, John, 242. Forts: Moultrie, 211; Sumter, 211, 248, 512; Pulaski, 212; Pickens, 242; Fortress Monroe, 265, 319, 479 ; Walker, 283 ; Beauregard, 283 ; Warren, 284, 370 ; Eenry, 298 ; Donelson, 29S ; Stevens, 425. Fox, Gustavus V., Captain, 242, 264, 303, 464. Franklin, General, 292, 337, 342, 360, 362. Fremont, John C, 152, 277, 282, 322, 411. French, General, 373. Frost, General, 263. Gaillard, Leopold, 532. Gardner, Lieutenant-colonel, 210. Garfield, James A., 291. Garrett, Thomas, 323. Garrison, William Lloyd, 53, 91, 259, 313, 323, 415. Gilmore, John R., 434. Goldsborough, Admiral, 319. Grant, Ulysses S., General, 252 ; presides at meet ing in Galena, 274; appointed brigadier-general and goes to Paducah, 277 ; captures Fort Don elson, 298; at Pittsburgh Landing, 312; takes Vicksburg, 381 ; appointed lieutenant-genera), 396 ; at the AVilderness, 406 ; at Petersburg, 445 ; at City Point, 478 ; receives despatch from Lee, 486 ; visit from Lincoln, 489 ; sur render of Lee, 511 ; at Washington, 513. Greeley, Horace, 161, 217, 278, 335, 346, 361, 395, 427, 434. Green, William G., 73. Grimes, Senator, 226, 356. Gulliver, John P., Rev., 176. Ball, James C, 392. Balleck, H. W., General, supersedes Fremont, 285 ; letter to McClellan, 290 ; called to Wash ington to direct military movements, 334 ; calls on McClellan, 339 ; differs with Burnside in re gard to plans, 354 ; refuses request of Hooker, 373 ; letter to Secretary Stanton, 426. Bamilton, Charles, 158. Eamlin, Bannibal, 196, 420. Hanks, John, 7. Hardie, Colonel, 375. Harding, George, 162. INDEX. 539 Barold, Daniel E., 518. Harris, Matthias, Rev., 512. Harris, Senator, 356, 514. Hay, John, 429. Hazel, George, 23. Heintzelman, General, 309, 315, 322, 373. Henderson, Senator, 412. Henry, Joseph, Professor, 278, 365. Herndon, William, 161, 164. Hicks, Governor, 258, 272. Hines, Captain, 416. Hitchcock, General, 316. Hodges, A. G., 403. Holcombe, Professor, 428. Holmes, Oliver AVendell, 137. Holt, Joseph, 212. Hood, John B., General, 470. Hooker, Joseph, General, 301, 307, 318, 358, 360, 372. Howard, Senator, 356. Hunter, David, 219, 227. Hunter, General, 312, 423. Hunter, R. M. T., 477, 481. Hurlburt, S. A., 245. Hussey, Obed, 162. Hutchinson family, 293. Imboden, J. D., General, 424. Jackson, Claiborne F., 262. Jackson, Stonewall, General, 322, 334, 340. Jacques, Rev. Mr., 434. Jayne, Julia, 120. Jewett, William Cornell, 427, 434. Johnson, Andrew, 413. Johnson, Herschel V, 203. Johnson, John M., 254. . Johnson, Oliver, 323. Johnson, Reverdy, 162, 256, 333, 390. Johnston, Joseph E., General, 267, 322. Judd, Norman B., 148, 189, 219, 226. Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 140. Kelley, William D., 197, 286, 320, 349. Kelton, Adjutant-general, 339. Key, John J., Major, 346. Keyes, General, 302, 307, 309, 315, 322, 367. Lamon, Ward, 219, 227, 245. Lane, Henry M., 388. Lane, Joseph, 203. Latham, Milton S., 286, 306. Lee, Robert E., General, 253, 324, 334, 340, 355, 373, 378, 445, 485, 494, 503, 511. Letcher, Governor, 256. Lincoln, Abraham (1), 8, 12. Lincoln, Abraham, President, birth, 19 ; at school, 23, 32, 36; death of his mother, 28; goes to mill, 35 ; ferryman at Gentry's Landing, 38 ; takes a flat-boat to New Orleans, 42 ; life at Decatur, 111., 46 ; second trip to New Orleans, 54 ; clerk at New Salem, 60 ; in Black Hawk AVar, 68 ; candidate for Legislature, 71 ; enters store with Mr. Berry, 72 ; postmaster at New Salem, 78 ; surveyor, 81 ; elected to Legislature, 82 ; Ann Rutledge, 84 ; second election to Leg islature, 89 ; decides to study law, 94 ; riding the circuit, 102 ; meets Mary Todd, 109 ; goes to Kentucky with Mr. Speed, 111; " Rebecca " let ter, 120; marriage, 123; meets Henry Clay, 124; elected to Congress, 125 ; member of Executive Committee of society to aid emigrants to Kan sas, 141; campaign speeches, 145, 153; counsel in McCormick-Manny case, 162 ; defends Will iam Armstrong, 162 ; speech at Springfield, 164; at Chicago and Bloomington, 167; at Cooper Institute, 175 ; in Connecticut, 176 ; nominated for President, 194; elected, 210; prepares for Washington, 215; journey, 218; plot for assassination, 224; at Washington, 232 ; inauguration, 236 ; difficulties, 244 ; is sues call for volunteers, 250 ; efforts to keep Kentucky in the Union, 259 ; besieged by office- seekers, 264 ; second call for troops, 266 ; ap points McClellan to command, 270 ; message to Congress, 274 ; receives tidings of death of Colonel Baker, 278 ; sets aside order of Gen eral Fremont, 282 ; action in Trent affair, 284 appoints Halleck to succeed Fremont, 285 disappointed at inactivity of McClellan, 290 confers with McDowell and Franklin, 292 appoints Edwin M. Stanton Secretary of War, 295 ; sends orders to McClellan, 297 ; death of AVillie, 298 ; disappointment at failure of McClellan's plans, 303 ; conference with Mc Clellan, 305 ; council of division commanders, 307 ; reorganizes army, 309 ; sets aside order of Hunter, 313 ; appeal for action towards abolishing slavery, 314, 327 ; visits Fortress Monroe, 319 ; directs movements of Army of Potomac, 322 ; meditates issuing proclamation of emancipation, 328 ; orders Halleck to direct military movements, 334 ; letter to Horace Greeley, 337 ; asks McClellan to resume com mand of troops, 339 ; issues emancipation proc lamation, 344 ; visits Harper's Ferry, 347 ; in terviews with members of Congress, 349 ; removes McClellan from command, 353 ; diffi culties of situation, 355 ; interview with Sena tors in regard to removal of Secretary Seward, 540 INDEX. 356 ; returns resignation of Burnside, 359 ; appoints Hooker to command army, 362 ; changes sentence of Vallandigham, 370 ; reply to Governor Seymour, 372 ; appoints General Meade to succeed Hooker, 374 ; letter to Grant, 381 ; letter to Republican Convention of Illi nois, 382 ; dedication of cemetery at Gettys burg, 383 ; plan for restoring seceded States to the Union, 390; appoints Grant lieutenant-gen eral, 396 ; reviews Burnside's troops, 404 ; re nominated, 413; nominates AVilliam P. Fessen den Secretary of Treasury, 418 ; replies to Horace Greeley, 428 ; issues proclamation for thanksgiving, 441; re-elected, 468; meets agents of Confederate Government at Fortress Monroe, 479 ; telegram to Grant, 486 ; second inauguration, 487 ; visits General Grant at City Point, 489 ; enters Richmond, 505 ; re ceives news of Lee's surrender, 511 ; assassi nation, 515. Lincoln, Mordecai, 4. Lincoln, Robert, 513. Lincoln, Samuel, 1, 3. Lincoln, Thomas, 13; at Nolin's Creek, Ky., 18; Knob Creek, 23 ; moves to Pigeon Creek, lud., 24 ; second marriage, 30 ; moves to Decatur, 111., 46. Locke, David R. (" Petroleum Y. Xasby"), 451, 461- Logan, John A., 233. Lovejoy, Elijah P., Rev., 96, 368. Lovejoy, Owen, 369, 390. Lowell, James Russell, 534. Lyon, Nathaniel, Captain, 262. Lyons, Lord, 310. Magoffin, Governor, 259. Magruder, General, 316. Manny, Mr., 162. Marcy, General, 302. Marshall, Humphrey, General, 291. Mason, James M., 151, 242, 256, 283, 473. McClellan, George B., General, 170, 265 ; called to Washington, 268 ; appointed commander of forces, 270 ; treatment of Lincoln, 286 ; in action, 290 ; displeased by conference of Lin coln with McDowell and Franklin, 292 ; plans for re-opening Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 300; meets Lincoln, 305; assigned to com mand of Army of the Potomac, 309 ; at York- town, 316 ; calls for troops, 321, 325 ; sends despatch to Stanton, 324 ; fails to co-operate with Pope, 338 ; secures plan of movements of Lee's army, 341 ; at Harper's Ferry, 346 ; removed from command, 353 ; nominated for Presidency, 439 ; defeated, 468. McCormick, Cyrus, 162. McCuUough, Professor, 517. McDowell, General, 268, 292, 307, 322. McLean, Judge, 157, 162. McPherson, Mr., 349. Meade, George G., General, 374, 379, 404, 492. Meigs, Quartermaster-general, 292. Miles, General, 340. Milroy, General, 386. Missouri Compromise, 136. Moorhead, Mr., 349. Morgan, John, General, 382, 444. Morgan, Edwin D., 325, 412. Morrow, Colonel, 359. Morton, Oliver P., 458. Mosby, General, 363. Mudd, Dr., 518. Naglf.e, General, 306. Nelson, AVilliam, 250, 312. Newspapers : " The Liberator," 54, 90 ; " Louis ville Journal," 63, 80 ; " New England Review," 78 ; " Louisville Gazette," 80 ; "Emancipator," 90; "Philanthropist," 91; "Springfield Jour nal," 120; " Baltimore Sun," 135; "New York Tribune," 161,164,335; " Anti-slavery Stand ard," 164; " Chicago Tribune," 164; "Charles ton Mercury," 212; "Albany Evening Jour nal," 314; "Boston Advertiser," 314; "New Bedford Standard," 314; "Philadelphia Led ger," 314 ; " Philadelphia Press," 369 ; " Rich mond Examiner," 370, 442 ; " Toledo Blade," 451; "Richmond Sentinel," 484; "Bradford Review," 530 ; " Dublin Freeman's Journal," 530; "London Daily News," 530; "London Star," 530; "London Punch," 531; "Paris Epogue.," 532. Nicolar, Mr., 227. Offdt, Denton, 54. Oglesby, Richard, 188. Oldham, W. J., 517. Ord, General, 492. Parker, Governor, 441. Patterson, General, 267. Payne, Lewis, 518. Pemberton, General, 381. Pendleton, George H., 286, 441. Petigru, Mr., 245. Phelps, General, 333. Phillips, Wendell, 175, 366, 411. Piatt, Donn, 386. Pickens, Governor, 212, 250, 283. Pickett's division, 378, 494. INDEX. ->u Pierce, Franklin, 139, 217, 239, 382. Pinkerton, Allen, 224, 292. Polk, Leonidas, General, 277. Pomeroy, Senator, 856. Pope, Johu, 219, 227,277. Pope, General, 834, 837. Porter, Admiral, 506. Porter, Fitz-John, General, 337. Porter, Horace, General, 490, 494. Prentice, George D., 78, 261. Pryor, Roger A., 248. Radford, Reuben, 72. Rathburn, Major, 514, 521. Raymond, Henry J., 359, 361, 431. Reid, AVhitelaw, 467. Reynolds, General, 374, 378. Rice, Henry AL, 286, 306. Riney, Zachariah, 23. Rives, Mr., 234. Robertson, Judge, 267. Rollins, Mr., 472. Romans, A. S., 242. Roseerans, General, 268, 3S3. Rosecrans, Lowell H., 261. Rusling, James B., General, 379. Rutledge, Ann, 83. Saunders, George X, 428. Schenck, General, 373, 379, 386. Schoepf, General, 291. Scott, Dred, 153. Scott, Winfield S., General, 211, 221, 236, 268. Secession of South Carolina, 210. Seddon, John A., 234, 517. Seward, Frederick AV., 226, 516. Seward, William H., 182, 190, 232, 240, 284, 329, 345, 356, 358, 361, 441, 477, 516. Seymour, Horatio, Governor, 355, 371, 382, 439. Shannon, Wilson, Governor, 142. Shepley, General, 506. Sheridan, Philip H., General, 445, 463, 468, 489. Sherman, W. T., General, 283, 404, 445, 458, 470, 489,492, 513. Shields, Mr., 119, 147. Ships : Dorothy, 3 ; John, 3 ; Rose, 3 ; Talisman, 68; Star of the West, 212; Mayflower, 239; Merrimac, 263, 303, 306, 318; Monitor, 264, 303, 307 ; Susquehanna, 283 ; Wabash, 283 ; San Jacinto, 284 ; Trent, 284 ; Minnesota, 285 ; Congress, 306 ; Cumberland, 306 ; River Queen, 480, 489, 493, 505 ; Bat, 505. Sickles, General, 379. Sigel, General, 424. Slidell, John, 283, 473. Slocum, General, 374. Smith, General, 360. Smith, Goldwin, 319. Smith, Secretary, 241, 246, 338. Smith, William, Governor, 484. Sojourner Truth, 455. "Sons of Liberty," 415, 437. Soule, Pierre, 151. Speed, James, 261. Speed, Joshua, 95, 109, 262. Speed, Lucy Gilman, 112, 346. Stanton, Edward M., 162, 212, 295, 302, 307, 317, 319, 328, 338, 344, 359, 369, 374, 386, 426, 449, 467,516. Stedman,E. C, 367. Stephens, Alexander, 217, 477. Stevens, Atherton H., Major, 503. Stevens, Miss, 374. Stevens, Thaddeus, 280, 392. Storrs, Richard S., Rev., 512. Stringham, Commodore, 270. Stuart, General, 322, 337, 348, 373. Sumner, Charles, 324, 356, 390, 412, 420, 454, 470. Sumner, Edwin V., 219, 227. Sumner, General, 309, 315, 322, 354, 359, 362. Surratt, Mary E., 518. Swett, J. B., Colonel, 437. Taney, Roger B., Chief-justice, 153, 236, 469. Tappau, Arthur, 53, 90. Thomas, George B., General, 291, 316. Thomas, Lorenzo, Adjutant-general, 296. Thompson, George, 400. Thompson, Jacob, 212, 415, 429. Thompson, Joseph P., Rev., 442. Todd, David, 418. Todd, Major, 374. Todd, Mary, 109,120, 123. Toombs, Robert, 248. Trumbull, Lyman, 148, 282, 356, 412, 470. Turner, Major, 346. Tyler, John, 233. Usher, J. P., 362. Vallandigham, Clement L., 286, 369, 382, 415, 439. Vinton, Francis, Rev., 299. Voorhees, Daniel W., 388, 472. Wade, Benjamin F., 323, 356, 367, 420, 430. AVadsworth, James S., General, 315, 359, 385. AVallace, General, 424. 542 INDEX. " Ward, Artemus," 342. Washburne, Elihu B., 176, 226, 232, 379, 396, 461. Weed, Thurlow, 190, 356, 431, 489. Weitzel, General, 503, 506. Welles, Gideon, 240, 246, 263, 328, 338, 345, 483. Whittier, John G., 158, 294, 359. Wilcox, General, 498. Wilkes, Commodore, 284. Willis, Judge, 383. Wilson, Eenry, 187, 244, 252, 319, 365, 390. Wilson, James F., 412. Wood, Fernando, 217. Wool, General, 319, 322. Worden, Captain, 304. Wright, General, 426. Wright, Mr., 366. Wright, Rebecca, 446. Yates, Governor, 277. Zollicoffer, Felix, General, 234, 291. THE END. INTERESTING BOOKS FOR BOYS. HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE : Bound Volumes for 1884 and 1887. 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