The year 1837 is the culmination of the first period of abolitionism in Illinois. Until then, abolitionism was a hated eastern conception. Despite opposition, and somewhat feeding on it, it slowly filtered its way through an almost impervious public sentiment. A small band encountered with heroism, the continuous martyrdom that waits on the protagonist. Few in numbers, zealous in their gospel, superbly confident in the rectitude of their counsel they aroused the spirit of retaliation. Their excessive zeal transcended all other obligations, rendering them indifferent, if not hostile, to the constitutional compact. They stimulated and encouraged to life a corresponding bitterness among the multitude.
It was in those days a mortal offence to call a man an abolitionist. The popular mind scarcely distinguished between men who stole horses and men who freed negroes. They regarded anti-slavery men as robbers, disturbers of the peace, the instigators of arson, and enemies to the Union which gave us as a people liberty and strength. "In testimony of these sentiments, Illinois enacted a 'black code' of most preposterous and cruel severity,—a code that would have been a disgrace to a slave state, and was simply an infamy in a free one. It borrowed the provisions of the most revolting laws known among men, for exiling, selling, beating, bedeviling, and torturing negroes, whether bond orfree."[122]
That the opposition of slavery was bothering the people of Sangamon County, is evident from the following resolution adopted at Springfield in 1837 at a public meeting, over which Judge Brown presided:
"Resolved that in the opinion of this meeting the doctrine of the immediate emancipation of the slaves of this country (although promulgated by those who profess to be Christians) is at variance with Christianity, and its tendency is to breed contention, broil and mobs; and the leaders of those calling themselves Abolitionists are designing ambitious men and dangerous members of society and should be shunned by all good citizens."[123]
Illinois would scarcely brook unchained utterance on the darkest question of all the ages,—the "right of one man to eat the bread which another earned." A kind of stifling ostracism awaited the lowly or the towering disciple who spoke in the language of Jefferson, of the fear awakening problem. Every generation has its remorseless method of crucifying its heroes of speech and deed. Business and political interests, social influences and religious affiliations concerted in the crushing of abolitionism. Success might have crowned their effort had prudence been their companion, but they mobbed, maltreated, and even murdered the champions of the new movement. Had madness confounded them, they could not have acted more unwisely. This, more than all the agitation of abolition leaders, quickened the moral vitality of the people. There were many white men who cared little for the slave, but much for the gospel of free speech as old as the Anglo-Saxon race. This fatal policy of brute force finally dictated the doom of a power that long mocked all opposition, that dreamed of an imperialgovernment grander than the vision which "Stout Cortez" beheld when he first stared at the Pacific, "silent on a peak in Darien."
The motives that prompted public sentiment in Illinois to throttle discussion on the slave question, almost baffle understanding. The Lovejoys attacked no vested interest in the State, menaced no substantial rights of person or property. While the Southern States busied themselves with the doctrine that it was the privilege of each State to demean itself as it wished, subject only to the Constitution, as it interpreted that instrument, there was small occasion for a Northern commonwealth to curb its own citizens, to sacrifice ancient and cherished rights for the pleasure of an exacting foreign institution.
The anti-slavery forces with keenness of vision saw the weak point of the enemy's attack, so they ranged themselves round the banner, proclaiming the doctrine of free speech and the sacredness of an unshackled press. Nothing more inherently reveals the weakness of the advocates of slavery, than their morbid fear of free and frank inquiry into its policy and wisdom. In the face of an institution demanding mob power, and the sacrifice of priceless principles, the Abolitionists performed a wholesome public service in contending that then more than ever liberty of discussion should be protected, maintained and hallowed.
Suddenly, in the same year up starts Lincoln the statesman, Lincoln the politician sinks. He possessed the rare gift of concealing his most cherished opinions until the time was ripe for expression. He was aware of the folly of mouthing truths when no good could come therefrom. In this, he was a politician. Still when the occasion called for an act of fortitude, when the solemnity of the hour summoned heroic utterance, as from "heights afar," the sound of hisvoice was heard and the thrill of his words awakened. In this, he was a supreme statesman.
Strange medley of the ideal and the practical,—at times he appeared the very woof of the visionary, and then stood forth as a petty politician. He was a mystery and a wonder to his contemporaries. They never beheld such a man; they had no standard by which to measure him. First, amazing some by the minuteness of his strategy, he would then startle others by a bold proclamation of immortal truth. There was something elusive in the manifoldness of his nature. The world with childlike simplicity looks for uniformity of action, for consistency. So it was that in later years time-servers called Lincoln the apostle of radicalism, and radicals named him the slave of conservatism.
The legislature instead of branding the black crime of the murder of Lovejoy in 1837, hastened to pass resolutions of sympathy with slavery. No external inducement guided Lincoln to fly in the face of the sentiment of the Legislature, the State and Nation in regard to Abolitionism. His conduct mystifies unless the abiding impress of the incident at New Orleans is fully measured. It was no idle vaunt that stirred him to the declaration that if he ever had the chance he would strike a blow for the enslaved. The testing time was at hand. His oath was "registered in Heaven." It was necessary to join the majority in their defence of slavery, or strike a lonely path in behalf of the enslaved. His soul faced that crisis. No longer helpless, he was widely known, and was distinguished for his services as a political leader. High in position, his act and word carrying weight, he proclaimed his protest. The chance being at hand, he struck slavery a stinging blow. The silence of nearly a decade was broken in words that shall echo for evermore. Only one other representative, Dan Stone, of Sangamon County, dared to signthe following signal dissent that will save him from an oblivion that has already enshrouded those who voted for the successful resolutions:
"They believe that the institution of slavery is founded on both injustice and bad policy, but that the promulgation of abolition doctrines tends rather to increase than abate the evils."They believe that the Congress of the United States has no power under the Constitution to interfere with the institution of slavery in the different States."They believe that the Congress of the United States has the power, under the Constitution, to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, but that the power ought not to be exercised, unless at the request of the people of the District."The difference between these opinions and those contained in the said resolutions is their reason for entering this protest."Dan Stone,"A. Lincoln."Representatives of the County of Sangamon."[124]
"They believe that the institution of slavery is founded on both injustice and bad policy, but that the promulgation of abolition doctrines tends rather to increase than abate the evils.
"They believe that the Congress of the United States has no power under the Constitution to interfere with the institution of slavery in the different States.
"They believe that the Congress of the United States has the power, under the Constitution, to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, but that the power ought not to be exercised, unless at the request of the people of the District.
"The difference between these opinions and those contained in the said resolutions is their reason for entering this protest.
"Dan Stone,"A. Lincoln."Representatives of the County of Sangamon."[124]
The resolutions that passed the General Assembly were still rather conservative for the time and place. The protest of Lincoln is therefore the more significant, as indicating its origin from some deep mental or moral sentiment. Every letter in the protest is weighed. No product of Lincoln is more native to his genius. It is as restrained as a judicial decision. Avoiding unneeded antagonism, it is framed with admirable diplomacy. Radical in thought, still so moderate in expression, it saved his power for further good, not placing him beyond fellowship withhis associates. Yet with all its subdued character, with infinite wisdom it made the assault at the weakest point, declaring that slavery was founded, not only on injustice, butbad policy. In the last phrase lurked the sting that was to awaken the self-interest of the North, the same kind of selfishness that solidified the South in defending the institution. Lincoln was among the first to grasp and lay stress on the warp of the issue. He once declared that honest statesmanship was the employment of individual meanness for the public good. When self-interest became enlisted with conscience against the evil, its days were numbered. While Abolitionism was noisily tugging at one of the pillars that supported human bondage, Lincoln serenely forged an argument linking its moral and industrial weakness, an argument that finally shook its very foundation, until the peculiar institution that dominated the destiny of the nation for more than half a century tumbled to destruction. While other men were forced to change their opinions through the malignancy of slavery to keep abreast of public sentiment, Lincoln remained steadfast in his opinions and his policy. At the outset, he foresaw that no institution could last long that rested on injustice and bad policy. Only a change of external conditions separated the man who entered a solemn protest against the iniquity of slavery in a hostile community and the leader who gave life to the momentous act of the nineteenth century.
The period preceding the murder of Lovejoy was an era of unrest. The mob spirit ranged over the land. Thus in commenting upon the murder of the mulatto McIntosh, Lovejoy says: "In Charlestown it burns a Convent over the head of defenseless women; in Baltimore it desecrates the Sabbath, and works all that day in demolishing a private citizen's house; in Vicksburg it hangs up gamblers, three or fourin a row; and in St. Louis it forces a man—a hardened wretch certainly, and one that deserves to die, but notthusto die—it forces him from beneath the aegis of our constitution and laws, hurries him to the stake and burns him alive!"[C]
Without doubt, the murder of Lovejoy and similar incidents drew the mind of Lincoln to the discussion of the subject of the preservation of our institutions. For Herndon has left valuable testimony as to the influence of like events on his own opinions. The cruel and uncalled-for murder aroused anti-slavery sentiments, penetrating the college at Jacksonville where he was attending, and both faculty and students were unrestrained in their denunciation. Herndon's father, believing that the college was too strongly permeated with the virus of Abolitionism, forced him to withdraw from the institution. But Herndon declares that it was too late; that the murder of Lovejoy filled him with more desperation than the slave scene in New Orleans did Lincoln. For while the latter believed in non-interference with slavery, as long as the Constitution authorized its existence, Herndon, although acting nominally with the Whig party up to 1853, struck out for Abolitionism pure and simple.[125]
In the fall of 1837, Lincoln addressed the Young Men's Lyceum at Springfield, Illinois, in a formal discourse bearing traces of considerable preparation. The style is fulsome and fanciful, and unlike his own crisp utterance of previous or subsequent periods. For a time he wandered from his natural self and followed the glitter of what he doubtless deemed a more cultivated form of expression. Thus it begins: "In the great journal of things happening under the sun, we, the American people, find our account running under date of the nineteenth century of the Christian era. We find ourselvesin the 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 government of a system of political institutions conducing more essentially to the ends of civil and religious liberty than any of which the history of former times tells us."[126]
It is especially important to take note of Lincoln's attitude of the prevailing mob spirit. His treatment of that theme, his mode and manner and thought, is so like that of the editor of theAlton Observer, that it is reasonable to assume that there was a common origin to the common sentiment. The same scenes and events that stirred the soul of Lovejoy aroused that of Lincoln. His direct onslaught on the mob spirit being largely connected with the slave issue, was an indirect attack on slavery. In this, Lincoln and the Abolitionists stood on the same ground. He extravagantly denounced the malefaction of the mobs, saying that they pervaded the country from New England to Louisiana; and alike sprang up among the pleasure-hunting masters of Southern slaves, and the order-loving citizens of the land of steady habits, that this process of hanging went on from gamblers to negroes, from negroes to white citizens, and from these to strangers, till dead men were seen literally dangling from the boughs of trees upon every roadside. He further insisted that by the operation of this mobocratic spirit, the strongest bulwark of any government might effectually be broken down and destroyed—the attachment of the people. He contended that whenever the vicious portion of population should be permitted to burn churches, ravage provision stores, throw printing presses into rivers, shoot editors, and hang and burn obnoxious persons with impunity, this government could not last.[127]
Under the display of such extravagant expression there is still patriotic apprehensiveness of danger to the national existence. He fought out the solution of the problem unaided until the way seemed clear and plain. To him the remedy was simple—obedience to the law of the land.
"Let reverence for the law be breathed by every American mother to the lisping babe that prattles on her lap; let it be taught in schools, in seminaries and in colleges; let it be written in primers, spelling books, and in almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice. And, in short, let it become the political religion of the nation, and let the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the grave and the gay of all sexes and tongues and colors and conditions, sacrifice unceasingly upon its altars....
"When I so pressingly urge a strict observance of all the laws, let me not be understood as saying there are no bad laws, or that grievances may not arise for the redress of which no legal provisions have been made. I mean to say no such thing. But I do mean to say that although bad laws if they exist, should be repealed as soon as possible, still, while they continue in force, for the sake of example they should be religiously observed. So also in unprovided cases. If such arises, let proper legal provision be made for them with the least possible delay, but till then, if not too intolerable, be borne with."[128]
His remedy bespeaking reverence for the laws, would destroy the rampant spirit in the slavery movement and in abolitionism, so that neither would violate the law of the land, and so that the controversy might be conducted without intruding on the sanctity of the fundamental principles of the Constitution.
From this time, Lincoln ceased to be a mere local politician. He became intensely concerned over national questions. Naturally, a man of broad views, he soon threw off the coil of locality, and with zeal invaded the arena of national issues. His mind ranged over the general domain for materials. Local issues were only stepping stones to him. Leaving the valley of minor matters, with exuberant spirits, he rejoicingly entered the new land of larger import, and of broader moment to the weal of the nation. For the first time he encountered extensive questions concerning the very foundations of the Republic.
"Towering genius," he said, "disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto unexplored. It sees no distinction in adding story to story upon the monuments of fame erected to the memory of others. It denies that it is glory enough to serve under any chief. It scorns to tread in the footsteps of any predecessor, however illustrious. It thirsts and burns for distinction; and if possible, it will have it, whether at the expense of emancipating slaves or enslaving freemen."[129]
We here strike a golden vein in his character. Ranging over the world's activities for an illustration to rival the ambition of towering genius, he finds it in the enslavement or emancipation of a race. Out of the loneliness of his individuality, out of the solemnity of his deliberations, he grew into a great character. It is his own illustration dug out of his mental experience, a product of a mind brooding over a national destiny. He saw with unerring vision, for men did come in his own generation who did not scruple to climb to power upon the back of an enslaved people. The true Lincoln consists not only of the humble man, of homely face, gaunt form, shambling limbs, quaint utterance, rude story and humble way. We may also see him in his early manhoodwith Titan power, fighting and triumphing over the brute forces of his being, over his ambition, and towering to the greatness of righteous triumph. Conduct is only the shadow of soul struggle. Nearly three decades before the Emancipation, its destiny was determined in no small measure by the events that led to the murder of Lovejoy.
The campaign of 1838 did not differ materially from that of previous years. A colleague of Lincoln says that they called at nearly every home; that it was customary to keep some whiskey in the house, for private use and to treat guests; that the subject was always mentioned as a matter of etiquette, but with the remark to Lincoln that though he never drank, his friend might like to take a little. Lincoln often told his associates that he never drank and had no desire for drink, nor the companionship of drinking men.
Some light is thrown on the nature of the conduct of office seekers by the following incident: During this campaign, Douglas and Stuart, candidates for Congress, "fought like tigers in Herndon's grocery, over a floor that was drenched with slops, and gave up the struggle only when both were exhausted. Then, as a further entertainment to the populace, Mr. Stuart ordered a 'barrel of whiskey and wine.'"[130]
Joshua Speed states that some of the Whigs contributed a purse of two hundred dollars to enable Lincoln to pay his personal expense in the canvass. After the election, the candidate handed Speed $199.25, with the request that he return it to the subscribers. "I did not need the money," said he, "I made the canvass on my own horse; my entertainment being at the houses of friends, cost me nothing; and my only outlay was seventy-five cents for a barrel of cider, whichsome farm hands insisted I should treat them to."[131]
On one occasion, Col. Taylor, a demagogue of the Democratic party, was hypocritically appealing to his "horny handed neighbors" in language of feigned adulation. Lincoln knew his man. He deftly removed the vest of the orator and revealed to his astonished hearers "a ruffled shirt front glittering with watch chain, seals and other golden jewels." The speaker stood confused. The audience roared with laughter. When it came Lincoln's turn to answer, he retorted. "While Colonel Taylor was making these charges against the Whigs over the country, riding in fine carriages, wearing ruffled shirts, kid gloves, massive gold watch chains with large gold seals, and flourishing a heavy gold-headed cane, I was a poor boy, hired on a flat-boat at eight dollars a month, and had only one pair of breeches to my back, and they were buckskin. Now if you know the nature of buckskin when wet and dried by the sun, it will shrink; and my breeches kept shrinking until they left several inches of my legs bare between the tops of my socks and the lower part of my breeches; and whilst I was growing taller they were growing shorter, and so much tighter that they left a blue streak around my legs that can be seen to this day. If you call this aristocracy I plead guilty to the charge."[132]
When the Legislature convened in 1838, Lincoln was a candidate of his party for speaker. His opponent was chosen by a plurality of one vote. Lamon declares that this distinction was a barren honor, and known to be such at the time, but cites no reason for his statement.[133]At least the humble representative of Sangamon County continued to rise in the esteem of his associates. His activity was crowned with the approval of those with whom he fought side by side in the turmoil and debate of controversy. It is a significantindication of his diplomacy. He had so won the confidence of his companions that even differences on that slavery issue did not cause him the loss of their esteem and favor. The recipient of such an honor is likely to be the possessor of amiable personal qualities that call forth devotion, even more than the sturdy qualities of talent and ability.[134]In matters of political expediency, Lincoln did not run athwart the sentiments of the majority. Despite the mutterings of discontent in some quarters, despite a growing feeling that the internal improvement policy was likely to involve the State in disaster, the finance committee, of which Lincoln was a prominent member, advised even further indulgence in the fatal policy. Finally, the fearful financial condition of the State stared the people and their representatives in the face. The supporters of the internal improvement system stubbornly began to yield to the policy of retrenchment. Still, in the Special Session of 1839, assembled to deliberate over the momentous state of affairs, Lincoln with peculiar logic urged they were so far advanced in a general system of internal improvements that they could not retreat from it without disgrace and great loss, and that the conclusion was that they must advance.[135]
Lincoln was one of thirty-three members to vote for laying the bill repealing improvements on the table, while sixty opposed this action; and he was one of thirty-five who voted against the repeal of the internal improvement policy, while thirty-seven voted for it.[136]Thus, to the very end, Lincoln persisted in the disastrous policy that clouded the history and prosperity of Illinois for many years.
Lincoln basked in political events. He was alive to the details in political strategy. In November, 1839, he wrote to Stuart, his partner, in regard to a voter: "Evan Butler is jealous that you never send your compliments to him. You must not neglect him next time."[137]
From the very beginning, he concerned himself with the candidacy of General Harrison. Recognizing its elemental political strength, he watched its growth with increasing interest. Harrison had never distinguished himself as a public citizen. Lincoln looked at the political side of the picture alone, little dreaming that the day was to come when his election was to depend, in some measure, on the same emotions that promoted the triumph of Harrison. In both campaigns the log cabin played a dominant part.
Speed's store in Springfield was the retreat of Lincoln, Douglas and Baker, and other political leaders of the dominant parties. However, partisanship was about to triumph, and common meeting places were soon to become unknown. In December, 1839, just as the campaign of 1840 was looming up, a political discussion between the leaders grew violent in the grocery over the national issue. During the angry debate, Douglas, with his imperial manner, flung forth the taunt: "Gentlemen, this is no place to talk politics; we will discuss the question publicly with you."[138]
Lincoln, who had schooled himself in logical dissertation, loved a political contest. He had met the champions of the Legislature without dismay, and was more feared than fearing. Shortly afterward Lincoln presented a resolution to accept the flaunting challenge of Douglas. Logan, Baker, Browning and Lincoln were the chosen disputants of the Whig cause. The Democrats put forth Douglas, Calhoun, Lambourn and Thomas as their champions. Each speakerwas allowed an evening for his address. This controversy was long known as "the great debate."[139]
That Lincoln was climbing to eminence slowly, that he was marvelously free from egoism and the aggressiveness of the common political orator is manifest from the first paragraph of his address: "It is peculiarly embarrassing to me to attempt a continuance of the discussion, on this evening, which has been conducted in this hall on several preceding ones. It is so because on each of these evenings there was a much fuller attendance than now, without any reason for its being so, except the greater interest the community feel in the speakers who addressed them than they do in him who is to do so now. I am, indeed, apprehensive that the few who have attended have done so more to spare my mortification than in the hope of being interested in anything I may be able to say. This circumstance casts a damp upon my spirits, which I am sure I shall be unable to overcome during the evening."[140]
His manner of holding an opponent to the point at issue, his directness of speech are strikingly displayed: "I now ask the audience, when Mr. Calhoun shall answer me, to hold him to the questions. Permit him not to escape them. Require him either to show that the subtreasury would not injuriously affect the currency, or that we should in some way receive an equivalent for that injurious effect. Require him either to show that the subtreasury would not be more expensive as a fiscal agent than a bank, or that we would in some way be compensated for the additional expense."[141]
Although of limited experience in public controversy, the least known of the Whig debaters, diffident of his own capacity, yet he sought the most brilliant and distinguisheddebater in the Democratic party—Douglas. Free from sham, he was merciless in exposing it in others, as the following attack on his elusive antagonist indicates: "Those who heard Mr. Douglas recollect that he indulged himself in a contemptuous expression of pity for me. 'Now, he's got me,' thought I. But when he went on to say that five millions of the expenditure of 1838 were payments of the French indemnities, which I knew to be untrue; that five millions had been for the Postoffice, which I knew to be untrue; that ten millions had been for the Maine boundary war, which I not only knew to be untrue, but supremely ridiculous also; and when I saw that he was stupid enough to hope that I would permit such groundless and audacious assertions to be unexposed,—I readily consented that, on the score both of veracity and sagacity, the audience would judge whether he or I were the more deserving of the world's contempt."[142]
Sober in the main as the speeches of Webster, on the currency issue Lincoln only once let loose his rollicking and suffusing sense of humor: "The Democrats are vulnerable in the heel—I admit is not merely figuratively, but literally true. Who that looks but for a moment at their Swartwouts, their Prices, their Harringtons, and their hundreds of others, scampering away with the public money to Texas, to Europe, and to every spot of the earth where a villain may hope to find refuge from justice, can at all doubt that they are most distressingly affected in their heels with a species of 'running itch.' It seems that this malady of their heels operates on these sound-headed and honest-hearted creatures very much like the cork leg in the comic song did on its owner: which, when he had once got started on it, the more he tried to stop it, the more it would run away."[143]
That he was still subject to the fashion of pioneer exuberantexpression; that he was somewhat entangled in the growing partisanship of the time, is thoroughly evident from his stormy peroration: "Many free countries have lost their liberty, and ours may lose hers; but if she shall, let it be my proudest plume, not that I was the last to desert, but that I never deserted her. I know that the great volcano at Washington, aroused and directed by the evil spirit that reigns there, is belching forth the lava of political corruption in a current broad and deep, which is sweeping with frightful velocity over the whole length and breadth of the land, bidding fair to leave unscathed no green spot or living thing; while on its bosom are riding, like demons on the waves of hell, the imps of that evil spirit, and fiendishly taunting all those who dare resist its destroying course with the helplessness of their effort; and, knowing this, I cannot deny that all may be swept away. Broken by it I, too, may be; bow to it I never will. The probability that we may fall in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just; it shall not deter me."[144]
This fulsome conclusion more than his sustained logical argument swept over his audience and made it a popular success, so that admiring friends promoted its publication in the SangamonJournal. Lamon, however, curtly makes this dampening comment on his eloquent diction: "Considering that the times were extremely peaceful, and that the speaker saw no bloodshed except what flowed from the noses of belligerents in the groceries about Springfield, the speech seems to have been unnecessarily defiant."[145]
The Committee of Whigs in charge of Harrison's political campaign in Illinois issued a circular urging the organization of the whole State for the Presidential contest. Lincolnwas a prominent member of this body and his style shows through this appeal. It was a combination of skillful play to party spirit, and a thorough knowledge of the mode of conducting a successful campaign. "To overthrow the trained bands that are opposed to us, whose salaried officers are ever on the watch, and whose misguided followers are ever ready to obey their smallest commands, every Whig must not only know his duty, but must firmly resolve, whatever of time and labor it may cost, boldly and faithfully to do it. Our intention is to organize the whole State, so that every Whig can be brought to the polls in the coming presidential contest. We cannot do this, however, without your cooperation; and as we do our duty, so we shall expect you to do yours."[146]
The circular then proposed a new method of bringing out the full Whig vote, in essence the same that is now employed by every successful political organization. The following was the plan of organization:—
(1) To divide every county into small districts, and to appoint in each a subcommittee, with the duty to make a perfect list of all the voters, and to ascertain their choice with certainty, all doubtful voters to be designated in separate lines.
(2) To keep a constant watch on the doubtful voters, and from time to time have them talked to by those they trusted, and to place in their hands convincing documents.
(3) To report, at least once a month, and on election days see that every Whig was brought to the polls.[147]
Lincoln was brought up in a practical school where votes are a matter of calculation, where the things done on the stage were plotted and planned behind the stage. Few men were more thoroughly trained in the methods of securingresults. He eagerly wrote to Stuart for copies of the "Life of Harrison," and also requested "The Senate Journal of New York" of September, 1814. "I have a newspaper article which says that that document proves that Van Buren voted against raising troops in the last war. And in general send me everything you think will be a good 'war-club.'"[148]He was learning that political battles are won and lost, not alone on discussion of principles, but on appeals to the emotions of men.
As a politician, his judgment prevailed over his sentiment. He was not carried away by the enthusiasm of the hour, but looked beneath the surface for events that suggested public sentiment. So he noted with discernment "A great many of the grocery sort of Van Buren men, as formerly, are out for Harrison. Our Irish blacksmith, Gregory, is for Harrison. I believe I may say that all our friends think the chances of carrying the State very good."[149]
For the first time in years, the Whigs conducted a campaign more aggressive than that of their opponents. General Harrison represented no definite political policy. The log cabin, the coon skin cap, the political songs, the enthusiasm of even the children, all this was more potent than the solid and sober discussion of such issues as the currency, executive power, American labor, protection and internal improvements.
The sober thinking and dignified leaders of the Whig party were somewhat shocked by the uncouth campaign of 1840. It was not in keeping with the dignity of its traditions. Leaders like Webster brooked with impatience a campaign in which judgment was fairly forgotten.
The whole campaign was one of luxuriant freedom, of intense excitement, of exaggerated discourse. A resolutionadopted at Springfield during March, indicates the language that was abroad: "Resolved, that the election of Harrison and Tyler would emancipate the land from the Catilines who infest it; would restore it to prosperity and peace, and bring back the time when good measures, good principles and good men would control the administration of our government."[150]
Lincoln was foremost in the emotional fight of 1840. With all the zeal of eager youth, he rushed into the contest. As a presidential elector, he traversed a large portion of the State. Thus a newspaper of the day says: "He is going it with a perfect rush. Thus far the Locofocos have not been able to start a man that can hold a candle to him in political debate. All of their crack nags that have entered the list against him have come off the field crippled or broke down. He is now wending his way north."[151]
An incident little known, but of vast importance in illumining the kind of orator Lincoln was in 1840, is found in an almost forgotten book. Therein we find the impression that gaunt Lincoln made upon a cultured resident and distinguished lawyer of St. Louis, who says that at a gathering of Whigs in April, 1840, at Belleville, Mr. Lincoln was the first speaker to an immense crowd. "He rang all the changes upon 'coon skins,' 'hard cider,' 'log cabins,' etc., and among other things he launched forth in true Lincoln style and manner and said he had been 'raised overtharon Irish potatoes and buttermilk and mauling rails.'... I went to Col. Edward Baker, I think it was, and told him for goodness sake to try and get Lincoln down from the stand; that he was doing us more harm than good ... when Lincoln goes to weaving his buttermilk, etc., it would seem as if we were verging rather too near onto the ridiculous. We succeededvery soon in getting Lincoln down from the stand and got up another speaker who seemed to have more judgment in managing the canvass."[152]
This statement should not be neglected. It is the judgment of a civilization different from that of pioneer Illinois. Events had hardly sobered the style and the manner of the sensitive politician of Sangamon County. Later on he grew to a more reserved and severe exposition of political discussion, grew to appeal to the judgment rather than the sentiments of men, grew to lift the debate of the hour above the clash of partisan controversy.
During this campaign, he once failed to come up to the requirements of the occasion in a debate with Douglas. A friend describes his distress at his failure: "He begged to be permitted to try it again, and was reluctantly indulged; and in the next effort he transcended our highest expectations. I never heard and never expect to hear such a triumphant vindication as he then gave of Whig measures or policy. He never after, to my knowledge, fell below himself."[153]
The debates of this campaign were a product of the excited and heated condition of the public mind. Thus, Gen. John Ewing, of Indiana, challenged the whole Democratic party and threatened to annihilate it. Douglas was pitted against him. There was no formality at the meetings. Each was to speak an hour alternately. The debate was to begin at eight and adjourn at twelve; meet at two and continue to sundown each day until the contest would be ended. At the end of the fifth day, Ewing "threw up the sponge," and a vigorous shout was given by the Democrats. "E. D. Baker, notified of Ewing's defeat, mounted a butcher block and began to address us. They protested that the game of 'twopluck one' could not be tolerated. He persisted and at once the cry was raised 'pull him down.' At length he yielded, otherwise it would have ended with a number of broken heads."[154]
Another incident still further discloses the character of the controversy that prevailed at that period. Arnold says that Baker was speaking in a room under Lincoln's office, and communicating with it by a trap door. Lincoln in his office, listened. Baker, becoming excited, abused the Democrats. A cry was raised, "Pull him off the stand!" Lincoln, knowing a general fight was imminent, descended through the opening of the trap door, and springing to the side of Baker, said: "Gentlemen, let us not disgrace the age and country in which we live. This is a land where freedom of speech is guaranteed. Baker has a right to speak, and a right to be permitted to do so. I am here to protect him, and no man shall take him from this stand if I can prevent it." Baker finished without further interruption.[155]
Lincoln and Douglas often met in debate in this campaign. Lamon states that Lincoln in the course of one speech imputed to Van Buren the great sin of having voted in the New York State Convention for negro suffrage with a property qualification. Douglas denied the fact, and Lincoln attempted to prove his statement by reading a certain passage from Holland's Life of Van Buren, whereupon Douglas got mad, snatched up the book, and, tossing it into the crowd, remarked sententiously, "Damn such a book!"[156]
The above encounter shows Lincoln's method of attack. He followed his brilliant antagonist with facts that all his ingenuity could not evade. From that day, Lincoln loved nothing better than a fray with the feared champion of Democracy.No other Whig orator could fret Douglas as Lincoln did. They were as different in mental and moral outlook as they were in appearance. Lincoln saw through his skillful opponent. He knew his strength and he knew his weakness. He was prepared for his chameleon-like attacks and onslaughts. While contemporaries hardly saw in Lincoln the future rival of the growing Douglas, still Lincoln was gaining strength in the technic of debate that was later to be of inestimable service to him in controversies of national import.
In the 1840-1 Legislature, Lincoln was again the candidate of his party for speaker. As leader of the minority, he doubtless deemed it an obligation on his part to provide some plan to pay the State debt and save its honor. He no longer cherished the illusion of gaining fame as the DeWitt Clinton of Illinois. There were some in the Legislature who boldly favored repudiation of the whole State debt. Others advocated payment of such part of it as the State actually received an equivalent for. Only a few dared to demand adequate taxation for the payment of the interest on the bonds. That was an unpopular expedient.
Lincoln walked the middle way. He was not a friend of repudiation and still he did not court a loss of public esteem by proposing substantial direct taxation. His bill provided that the Governor should issue interest bonds as might be absolutely necessary for the payment of the interest upon the lawful debt of the State. He declared that he submitted the proposition with great diffidence; that he felt his share of the responsibility in the crisis; and, that after revolving in his mind every scheme which seemed to afford the least prospect of relief, he submitted this as the result of his own deliberations; that it might be objected that the bonds would not be salable; that he was no financier, but that hebelieved the bonds would be equal to the best in the market, and that as to the impropriety of borrowing money to pay interest on borrowed money,—he would reply, that if it were a fact that our population and wealth were increasing in a ratio greater than the increased interest hereby incurred, then it was not a good objection.[157]
He concluded with characteristic modesty that, "he had no pride in its success as a measure of his own, but submitted it to the wisdom of the House, with the hope, that, if there was anything objectionable in it, it would be pointed out and amended."[158]
Lamon calls it a loose document, as the Governor was to determine the "amount of bonds necessary," and the sums for which they should be issued, and interest was to be paid only upon the "lawful" debt; and the Governor was to determine what part of it was lawful and what was unlawful.[159]Still in essence, Lincoln's plan of leaving the determination of the lawfulness of the debt to an authority not the legislative, was finally adopted.[160]
The shameless interference with the judicial system of Illinois about 1840 luridly illustrates the enslaving partisanship of that time. Under the provision of the State Constitution permitting every white male adult to vote, aliens had known the right of suffrage for years. Nine-tenths of the aliens allied themselves with the Democratic organization so that their support was essential to its success. As the Presidential contest grew in intensity there sprang up a controversy about these unnaturalized voters. Each party arrayed itself on the side of its own interest. The Whigs maintained that the Federal Constitution had provided against the participation of aliens in the affairs of government. A testcase was brought to the Illinois Supreme Court which consisted of three Whigs and one Democrat. The latter informed Douglas, in advance, that the majority had agreed upon a decision unfavorable to the alien vote, but that there was a technical error in the record. This knowledge became serviceable to the Democrats. The case, by reason of the imperfection, was put over to the December term, and 10,000 alien votes saved the State for another Democratic administration.
The attitude of the Whig judges was made a pretext to reorganize the judiciary by increasing their number, thus enabling the political complexion of that tribunal to represent the party in power. Early in the winter, however, the Supreme Court rendered a decision that affirmed the contention of Douglas and his party. Still, the advocates for reorganization were not stayed in their purpose, and they moved forward in what they termed a reformation of the judiciary.
This action of making the judiciary dependent on the Legislature was extremely pernicious in immediate results. It also started political impulses malignant and enduring, little appreciated by those who wantonly inaugurated the change. The participation of Douglas in this enterprise was effectively utilized by Lincoln in the debate of 1858. It is not surprising that Lincoln and other Whigs in the Legislature were unwilling witnesses of this degradation. They framed protests, declaring that the immutable principles of justice were to make way for party interests, and the bonds of social order were to be rent in twain, in order that a desperate faction might be sustained at the expense of the people; that the independence of the judiciary had been destroyed; that hereafter the courts would be independent of the people, and entirely dependent upon the Legislature; that rights of property and liberty of conscience could no longerbe regarded as safe from the encroachments of unconstitutional legislation.[161]
This strong statement from the Whigs represented the conscience of the State. The protesting element is generally alert in awakening public sentiment or responding to it on the issues of the day, thus affording a wholesome check upon the dominant organization in making inroads upon righteous government. In this way, it becomes the selfish interest of at least one political party to be on the side of honest statesmanship.
At no time was Lincoln more active in legislative affairs than during the early part of the 1840-41 session. In the internal improvement system, bank discussions, the attack upon the Sangamon delegation and in almost every legislative proceeding he was ready to bear his share of the fight.
But during the session, an event occurred that shadowed his political career. Lincoln, the democrat, the man of humility, of common ancestry, was attracted to Mary Todd, a Southern aristocrat, a woman of beauty and ambition. Lamon finds the source of this in selfishness, saying: "Born in the humblest circumstances, uneducated, poor, acquainted with flatboats and groceries, but a stranger to the drawing-room, it was natural that he should seek in a matrimonial alliance those social advantages which he felt were necessary to his political advancement."[162]
This biographer overlooks the fact that it is not an uncommon event for a homely, humble man to be diverted from the common highway as Lincoln was. It is very hard to read in this story anything of designing selfishness. At one time severing his engagement to Miss Todd, the same despondency that crushed him upon the death of Ann Rutledge again became his master. His own words describehis condition: "I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth. 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, it appears to me."[163]
He was absent from the Legislature for nearly three weeks. A visit to his friend Speed in Kentucky recalled him to his better nature.[164]The injustice he had done Miss Todd rankled until a reconciliation followed. Out of this there arose events that culminated in a duel. Though this event was soon hushed, yet its echoes lingered, for he said in 1858, "If all the good things I have done are remembered as long and as well as my scrape with Shields, it is plain I shall not soon be forgotten."[165]
The panic of 1837 and the disintegration of the internal improvement system were holding their requiem over the finances of the State. Money was a furtive visitor. The currency of the State banks, fairly worthless, was nearly the only circulating medium. During the summer of 1841, the Administration invalidated the use of State Bank notes for the payment of taxes but the salary of lawmakers was still payable in currency. The Whigs hastened to charge the state officers with adding to the burdens of the people that they might be assured of their salaries. The Auditor of the State was James Shields. Rather vain and aggressive, he was not inclined "to beware of an entrance into a quarrel."
It was at this time that Lincoln was having stolen conferences with Miss Todd. The restless spirit of the latter sought the political field for adventure. A daughter of leisure,she had no rival in sarcasm in Springfield. Hunting for material, she found a subject in the pretentious Auditor, and enjoyed worrying the sensitive official. Under such influences, Lincoln aided or sanctioned the composition of an article ridiculing Shields. Like many similar productions, it professed to come from a back-woods settlement, and affected a homely if not a vulgar form of speech. The paragraph that follows is a sample of the effusion:—
"I looked in at the window, and there was this same fellow Shields floatin' about on the air, without heft or earthly substance, just like a lock of cat-fur where cats have been fightin'.
"He was paying his money to this one, and that one, and t'other one, and sufferin' great loss because it wasn't silver instead of State paper; and the sweet distress he seemed to be in,—his very features, in the ecstatic agony of his soul, spoke audibly and distinctly, 'Dear girls,it is distressing, but I cannot marry you all. Too well I know how much you suffer; but do, do remember, it is not my fault that I amsohandsome andsointeresting.'"[166]
The production appeared in the SangamonJournal, and at once aroused the wrath of Shields. A demand for the identity of the author followed. Doubtless to save Miss Todd from entanglement, Lincoln announced himself as the writer. Thereupon, Shields demanded a full retraction of all offensive allusions. Strangely enough, Lincoln did not welcome this solution of the situation. He took advantage of the rather ardent demand for an apology and held his ground with these words: "Now, sir, there is in this so much assumption of facts and so much of menace as to consequences, that I cannot submit to answer that note any further than I have, and to add that the consequences to which I suppose youallude would be matter of as great regret to me as it possibly could to you."[167]
With such a start, a duel for a time seemed inevitable. At the last moment, common friends conveniently, and doubtless to the great satisfaction of the contestants, calmed the affair without a real encounter.
Duelling was the rage of the hour.[168]Lincoln was too sensitive to the good opinion of the community to fly in the face of popular sentiment. So he violated the law of the State to engage in a transaction unsanctioned by his judgment, not ready to defy the general taste in a matter where the standard was still that of the pioneer community. It is not therefore surprising that in later years, Lincoln was abashed by his part in this fight. This was his last personal quarrel, and marks a decisive epoch in his career.[169]Thereafter, he became a champion of principles and was prepared to play a part in debates of world-wide moment.
A dramatic contest ran through this session on the part of the banks to obtain further condonation in the suspension of specie payments. The Whigs were friendly, calling them, "the institutions of the country," branding opposition unpatriotic. The Democrats, however, were on the whole hostile to the banks. They called them "rag barons, rags, printed lies, bank vassals, ragocracy, and the 'British-bought bank, bluelight, Federal, Whig party.'"[170]
The contest was rendered closer by "opportune loans to Democrats." The fight grew in intensity as if the wealth, the industry and the very happiness of the people were at stake. The Democrats, in order to kill the banks, were bent on asine dieadjournment of the special term. The Whigs in their zeal to save them invented what was a novel expedientat that time in parliamentary tactics. The Whigs absented themselves to prevent a quorum, leaving Lincoln and Gillespie to call the ayes and noes. The Democrats discovered the game, and the sergeant-at-arms was sent out. There was great excitement in the House, which was then held in a church at Springfield. Soon several Whigs were caught and brought in and the plan was spoiled. Then Lincoln and his accomplice determined to leave the hall. Going to the door, and finding it locked, they raised a window and jumped out, but not until the Democrats had succeeded in adjourning. Mr. Gillespie remarked that "Lincoln always regretted that he entered into that arrangement, as he deprecated every thing that savored of the revolutionary."[171]
This incident discloses Lincoln the politician, Lincoln the student of methods engaging in practices that his judgment subsequently disapproved. He was thoroughly schooled in securing results. The student of Lincoln should not hurry over this incident, nor minimize its significance. He mingled in common, sordid, political events.
Though Lincoln engaged freely in the political machinations of his day, he did not sanction corruption. He stood out as a champion of an untainted franchise. He did not still his conscience with the soothing medicine that corruption was the common practice. He moved at this session that the part of the Governor's message relating to fraudulent voting be referred to the Committee on elections, with instructions to prepare and report a bill for such an act as might afford the greatest possible protection of the elective franchise against all frauds.[172]
Bred in the school of partisanship, where the doctrine that spoils is the fruit of victory, was almost a creed, Lincoln never enslaved himself by the acceptance of that dogma,either in practice or theory. Early in life he had reasoned out the principle that public office is a trust. He dared to assert its integrity at a time when it met little favor. He wrote in 1840 that he was opposed to removal of public officials to make places for friends.[173]Still, the malevolent conduct of an office holder stirred his resentment. In the same letter he said there was no question as to the propriety of removing the postmaster at Carlinville, that the latter boldly refused to deliver during the canvass all documents franked by Whig members of Congress.[174]
By his tact and service, Lincoln stood well with the party leaders, so that in 1841 he was widely mentioned as a worthy candidate for Governor. A formal protest from his hand and that of his close friends against such a movement was put in the SangamonJournal: "His talents and services endear him to the Whig party; but we do not believe he desires the nomination. He has already made great sacrifices in maintaining his party principles, and before his political friends ask him to make additional sacrifices, the subject should be well considered. The office of Governor, which would of necessity interfere with the practice of his profession, would poorly compensate him for the loss of four of the best years of his life." Whether he could have attained the nomination is not known. Lincoln was not accustomed to put aside political honors. It is significant that the young legislator readily availed himself of a mode of self-glorifying declination popular with politicians to this day.[175]
With this session, Lincoln concluded his duties as the representative of the people. In 1832, he entered Vandalia, a son of poverty, timid of his ability, ungifted in appearance. In eight years, he plowed his way to the very front as thechampion of his associates, a skillful leader of his party. Still it is amazing how faint a trace Lincoln left on the history of Illinois, hewing out no legislative enactment endearing his memory to the people of the State. Ford only notes him as a Congressman who in the State Legislature followed the glitter of a false finance, and a destructive plan of public improvement. Had his career ended here, no one would have ventured to rescue his name from oblivion. One act only, overtops the events submerged by time, an event that sober history passed by, little knowing that it was the one fact, richer than all others, in the annals, under its scrutiny. For in the light of later events, the protest of 1837 showed an enkindled soul that in the goodness of time thrilled the land with a second edition of the Declaration of Independence.