HOUSE IN WHICH LINCOLN WAS BORN

Abraham Lincol

HOUSEINWHICHLINCOLNWASBORN Vol. I.,page 20, Tarbell's"LifeofLincoln"

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^0/. I.,page iqi, TarbelVs "LifeofLincoln"

New Light on Lincoln's Character

Digitizedby theInternetArchive in2010withfundingfrom

TheInstituteofMuseumandLibraryServices throughanIndiana State LibraryLSTAGrant

http://www.archive.org/details/newlightonlincol5180linc

The Need ^of Knowledge About Lincoln

TIME

^{isthetrue test} of greatness, and no better proof of the greatness of

Abraham

Lincoln can be found than that

now,

forty years after he

was

laid at rest, there remains an unquenchable and ever-increasing interest in everything connectedwith his life.

The

fortyyears thathavepassed have servedonlytobring into clearer reliefthe essential grandeur of the

man

and the clearsightedness and the soundjudgment ofhisprojects.

The

importantthing,however, about this interest inour martyred presidentisthat it concerns

itself

more

with the

man

than with the statesman,withhischar- acterthanwith hisgenius.

We

^loveto thinkof Lincoln,homely infigure and speech, lowlyin birth,

humble

inoccupation until his starrose inthe ascendant, yetinspirit alwaysnoble,sincere, unselfish,one

whose

supreme ambition it

was

tothink out the right inthequestions that confronted

him

and whose onesatis- factionitwastofollow theright

when

hehad foundit,unerringly totheend.

It is the

man who

rose through

many

struggles,

many

failures from obscurityto the highest office in the gift of the

American

people,that has endeared himselfto his countrymen,

who

hold

him

up to all theworld, proudly, as the finest ex- ampleof the highest type ofAmerican

manhood. The

greatest

man

that thiscountry has produced, thefirst reallygreat Ameri- can born and bred of our

own

nativesoil, allthevirtues of the pastembodiedintoatypeof

manhood

forour national character to form itself upon,

—

^{this is} what Lincoln is for us.

How

importantit is,therefore, that everyAmerican home, no matter

how

humble, shouldhavean accurateaccount ofhim.

The Object of the Lincoln History Society

IT

isbecause ofthis conceptionof the characterof Lincoln and itsimportanceasanobject-lesson to the elders aswell as youth of our countrythat theLincoln History Society hasbeen started. Statedsimply, the object ofthe society isto collectanddisseminate

new

knowledge of Lincoln. In a sense the Societyistheoutgrowthof theLincoln Bureauestab-

lished bytheeditors of McClure's

Magazine

nearlyeight years ago, since ittakesupthe

work

where theBureau ^{left off.}

The

original undertaking, however,

was

a great accomplishment.

Thousands

of dollars were spent in an organized search for Lincoln reminiscences, pictures, and documents. All persons possessing or

knowing

ofLincoln material were asked through the

Magazine

to

communicate

with the editor. Hundreds of persons fromallpartsof thecountryreplied, andevery case

was

investigated and all the

new

matter thus found

was

secured.

It

was

a

work

in

which

thewhole country co-operated.

The

objectof theBureau wasaccomplished,and Miss Tarbell,

who

had beenincharge ofitswork,took

up

the labor of writing a

new

lifeof Lincoln, based on all ofthe Lincoln material then

known

to exist.

The Writing of the Book

Lincoln's Early Life

FIVE

years of themost painstaking researchandstudywere necessary before the firstvolume

was

ready.

Many

of the documents

now

published in her

work

were found hidden

away

inprivate families assacredrelics andwere unearthed only by untiring effort. It seemed like an endless laborand oneoflittlerewardtothewriter. Gradually,however, thestorytookshape; theearlylifeof Lincoln

was

completedand

some

of its chapters published in McClure's Magazine.

The

publisherswere amplyrewarded,forthecirculationoftheirmaga- zine increased bynearly 100,000copiesamonth.

The

lovers of Lincoln recognizedatonce that here

was

astorythey could not miss reading; itheld

them

likeacontinued novelfrom

month

to

month

asthe installments appeared. CharlesA.

Dana

(then editorof the

New

York Sun) read the chapters which

make up

thefirstvolumeof the present complete work, andherankedit as

ONE OF THE TEN INDISPENSABLE BOOKS FOR

EVERY AMERICAN,

^{andanotherwell-known}editor said that Miss Tarbell'searlylifeofLincoln should follow the Bibleand Shakespeare into every American home. Itwould seem,then, that the authoralsohadherreward.

The Continuation of the Work

The ^Plan

^{for a}

Complete Biography

MISS

^Tarbell,however, wasnot content withapresenta- tion of Lincoln's early life,merely; she wanted to round out her record of all of hisexperiences upto his tragic death. Soshe workedon,travelled thou- sandsof miles,examined hundreds of papers,visited scores of people

who

had

known

Lincoln personally,inorderto

make

the later life as complete and authoritative as

was

herformerwork.

The

biographiesof Lincoln thenin existencewereforthe most part histories of the war, compilations of statistics,hearsay ac- counts of Lincoln's early life,and biassed records of his public service.

What

MissTarbellsought

more

thananythingelseand whathas

made

her

work

pre-eminentb' attractive

was

the

human

interest

—

^the

^man,

^{alwaystheman.}

The Work ^of Distribution

IT

^{completedwasnot longthat afterthe LincolnMiss Tarbell'sHistorygreatSociety,}

^work

^{realizinghad beenits}

importance, secured from the publisherstherightofintro- ducing it to all

members

and those specially interested in Lincoln.

Such

a distribution as

we

expect to accomplishwill further ourobjectasa Society

more

than anything else

we

can hopetodo foryearstocome.

Unique Method of Preparation

Why

^it

^Exists

J^

S far aspossible thestoryof each periodinLincoln's life

/ \

is from interviews or collaboration with the persons

1 ^,

most competent,either from personal acquaintance or by special study,to relate it.

Thus

the materials are allgatheredfromoriginal sources; from the persons still living

who

were associated with

him

in his lifeasaboy,farm-hand, store-keeper, soldier, lawyer, politician, statesman, as well as a private individual; from his correspondence andwritings; from theofficialdocuments of the period; from the newspapers and pamphlets of the time

which show

the drift of public opinion andgive the life of the day; from the great mass of personal

reminiscenceswhich has appeared in the course of thirty-seven years since

Mr.

Lincoln's assassination, but which has never beforebeen siftedandarranged.

By

this means,accuracy,local color,and factsabsolutely

new

havebeen secured.

A ^{Few of Those} Interviewed Are

Austin Gollaher

the only living playmate of Lincoln's boyhood.

II

John

Roll

who

helped Lincoln build the flat-boat.

H.

C.

Whitney

who

reported thefamous " Lost Speech," hitherto unpublished.

1F

Judge Emerson, Judge

Grosscup, Judge Blod-

gett,

Judge Ewing

allcontribute reminiscencesof his legalcareer.

H

The Hon.

L.

E. Chittenden

Registrar of theTreasurydur- ing the

War,

contributes inci- dentsofLincoln'slifein

Wash-

ington.

J.

McCan Davis

ofSpringfield,111.,has unearthed valuable materialinSpringfield.

Col. Clarice

E. Carr

who was

with Lincoln during the Douglas Debates, hasvivid recollectionsofthatgreatpoliti- cal battle. flrr

Hon. Joseph ^Medill

editor of the Chicago Tribune, and Lincoln's confidant before thenomination of

i860

andin the nominating convention.

IT

Hon. John G. Nicolay

Lincoln's privatesecretary,has givenfacts aboutLincoln as a politician,

I

Dr. Lyman Beecher Todd

acousin of Mrs.Lincoln,one of thefewsurvivorsof those

who

stoodabout Lincoln's death bed.

Lavishly Illustrated

THE

illustrationsincludefac-similesof Lincoln's writing andfiguring,andofhisrudemap-drawing,

many

hitherto

unknown

portraitsof Lincolnand ofhis family; fac- simile of the family record

made

by Lincoln in the familyBible.

Map

of Lincoln'slineof

march

intheBlack

Hawk

War.

Fac-similes of Lincoln's marriagelicense; pictureofLin- coln's

home

in Illinois; Lincoln-Douglas meetingin Galesburg

;

LincolnatMcClellan'sheadquarters;

Review

of

Army

ofPoto-

mac

; hisdeathbed; in factexhaustivelyreproducing the scenes ofhis birth, his early career,andhislifeasPresident.

Illustrations Secured from

theOldroyd collection,

now

in

Washington

inthehouse where Lincoln died, rich in relics, wood-cuts, lithographs, and campaign emblems.

William Lambert,ofPhiladel- phia,

who owns

themost

com-

plete libraryof books, pamphlets, andotherinterestingmatterre- latingtoLincoln.

The Hon.

Robert

T.

Lincoln,

who

loaned theearliest portrait of

Abraham

Lincolnforrepro- duction.

the Libby Prison

Museum

of Chicago.

T. H.

Bartlett,

H

ofBoston,

who

has

made

the onlyscientificcol- lection of Lincolnportraits.

J. C.

Brown,

ofPhiladelphia, and his great Civil

War

col- lection.

IF

R.

T.

Durrett, of Louisville,

who made

a valuablecollection.

RobertCoster's greatCivil

War

collection.

who

h

H. W.

Fay,

who

loaned

many

interesting pictures.

The

Race,CurrierandIvescol- lectionofcaricatures.

.

The

Louis

Vanuxem

collection, of Philadelphia.

The War

Department of the

U.

S. Government.

.

Every source has been

drawn

fromto

make

this Lifeof Lin- coln apictorialhistory aswellas awritten one. Artistshavebeen senttoKentucky,Indiana,Illi- nois,and

Washington

to depict the scenes of his entirecareer.

New ^{and Splendid Features}

NUMBERS

^{of unheard-of letters, over}

²⁰⁰

^{pages of}

speeches,letters,and telegrams, hitherto unpublished, are here presentedforthefirsttime.

There

are

new

stories toldbyLincoln, gatheredwithgreat care;

new

facts and documentsappear,suchasthoseclearly establishing his mother'sorigin,proving she

was

not thenameless girlso gener- allybelieved. Hisfatheris

shown

tobe something

more

thana

"

_poorwhite." Hisstruggles fora^livelihoodand his intellectual developmentaretracedwith

more

detailthaninanyother biog- raphy.

The

sensational account of hisrunning

away

fromhis

own

wedding is disproved. Miss Tarbell also brings to light Lincoln'sgreatspeech, deliveredatBloomington,111.,

May

29th, 1856, andlong

known

asthe

"

LostSpeech "because theinterest

was

so intense that every reporter present forgot^totakenotes.

The Work ^Enables

If

New

Facts regarding Lincoln's parentage, correcting

many

misstatements.

II

New Light

_

onhislifeasa farm-boy,store- keeper,soldier, politician, states- man.

You to Investigate

If

The True

Story ofLincoln's marriage.

If

New

Material on Lincoln-Douglasdebates.

If.

New

Incidents in hislifeasalawyer.

ir ^.11

The Famous ^{" Lost} New Lincoln

Stories

Speech

"

and anecdotes showing his delivered in 1856,

now

first kindly humor,

reproduced.

New

Facts onhisnominationforPresident, election,lifeinWashington, and tragic death.

The ^{Result of This} Work

ismostvaluable and delightful.

We

^{see the}real, live,breathing Lincoln,hishumility,his humor,his carefulsearch for truth, his unwavering adherence to what he believed to be right, his patience, his boundless sympathy,his honesty, his fearlessness, hisbodily andmental strength,and,aboveall,his manlytender- ness. Miss Tarbell tellsthestory so wellthatitis as fascinat- ingas anovel. She shows Lincoln ^asseen by his fellow

men

and as revealed by his

own

acts and words,and sums up his greatness inonebrief sentence

when

she says "

He

was

human

inthebest sense ofthat fine word."

The Books Themselves

Cloth Binding

FOUR

English ribbed^{beautifulvolumes,}cloth,with^boundgiltⁱⁿtops,^specialsilk^woven,head-bands,^rich,and^red thelettering onthe sideand back stamped ingold.

A

featureofthisbindingis a blind stampedmedallion bust of Lincoln onthe frontcover of each bookwith the signaturein gold.

No

^painshave been sparedto

make them

amostattractive addition to thelibrary.

Leather Binding

A

^few sets have been beautifully

bound

in three-quarters dark green levant,with gold tops, silkhead-bands, gold marbled veined sidesandgoldveined flyleaves. Artisticand durable.

Paper, Type

The

paper for the text is of bangalore weave, specially selected for this work, and that for illustrations of the finest quality, thus permitting of perfect reproduction.

The

type is

new, clear,andofample size,the marginsmostgenerous.

Random Notes

Chas. A. Dana

s

Opinion of

the

Work and His

List

of

10

Indispensable

Books.

THE

^{late Chas. A.} Dana, famous as a

man

ofletters, Editor of the

New

York Sun,andintimately associated with

Mr.

Lincoln as his Assistant Secretaryof

War,

selected "

The

Early Life of Lincoln "(theonlyone then complete and

now

the first volume ofthe present great work)asone oftenbooks indispensabletoeveryoneof

American

origin.

The

other ninewere:

The

Bible, Declaration ofInde- pendence,

The

Constitution of the United States, Bancroft's History of theUnitedStates, Irving'sLifeofWashington, Frank-

lin'sAutobiography,Shakespeare,Channing'sEssay on Napoleon Bonaparte and Gibbon's Decline and Fallof the

Roman

Empire.

A ^Public

Benefaction.

141 regard thebookas apublic benefaction."

Anotheropinion of

Chas.

A.

Dana.

From

a

Comrade of

Lincoln.

A

leading

member

oftheIllinoisBar.

"

_Ithas fascinatinginterest. Inthis locality,where Lincoln

was

so well

known,

itisgreatlyadmired byhis old friends and neighbors. Ifit

was

nottrue to hislife,they ofallothers

would

soonest detectit."

Next After

Bible

and Shakespeare.

The

Scranton,Pa., Tribune says

:

" When

Chas.A.

Dana

included Tarbell's^cLifeof Lincoln

'

in hislistof ten bestbooks,heassuredly

made no

mistake.

He

putit,if

we remember

correctly,seventhinthe list; but

we

are not so sure that it ought not,atleast

among

Americans,to go afterthe BibleandShakespeare.

We know

ofnootherbiography whichso clearlybrings

home

^tothe present-day readers thehu-

man

qualities of Lincoln and putsintosuchinteresting reliefthe

comedy

and pathosofhisboyhooddays."

Full

of New Things.

"

Itisnot only fullof

new

things,but itis sodistinct and clear in local color that an interest attachestoitwhich is not foundinother biographies."

Hon.

Joseph

Medill,

Editor Chicago Tribune,and a friendof Lincolnfor

many

years.

Rock-Bottom Evidence.

Mr.

R.

W.

Diller,of Springfield, 111.,

who knew

Lincoln intimately fortwenty years,writesaboutMissTarbell^: "

As

far asI haveread she goestorock-bottomevidenceandwillbeat her Napoleonoutofsight."

A ^Wonderful Combination.

"You

have secured a wonderful combination of literary skillandartisticexcellence inthe presentation of Lincoln'slife."

Herbert

B.

Adams,

Professorof History,Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore,

Md.

The Opinions of a Few Press Critics

" A

^perusalof thevolumesleaves averysatisfied feeling. It

makes

ourhearts

warm more

than evertoward thathomelyfigure and thehomely speech.

We

note with pleasure the explanation of

many

points in the life which beforewere not satisfactorily understood."

New

York Times.

"There

is no doubt that the

new

material here collected materially increases our knowledge of Lincoln's life.

We

ob- servewith satisfaction that this bookisabiographyinthe true senseoftheword."

New

York Sun.

"Itis not extravagant praise to affirm that this ^<•Lifeof

Abraham

Lincoln,' by Ida

M.

Tarbell,isthe best that has yet beenwritten." Milwaukee Sentinel.

"

There

has been noother lifeof Lincoln which gives so vividanimpressionofthe true greatnessofthe

man."

WashingtonTimes.

" Her work

^{presents aportraitof the}

man

that no student ofhistory can affordto miss." Brooklyn Eagle.

"

The

book deservesapopularwelcome, becauseit satisfies inan honest

way

the cravingfor details of Lincoln's wonderful career."

New

YorkEveningPost.

LINCOLN ^{HISTORY SOCIETY}

150 FIFTH AVENUE

NEW YORK

S.

T, LOGAN & E. D. BAKER,

Attorneys and Counsellors at Lahu

"^STILL

practice,inconjunction,inUieiCur-

If

CourtsofthisJudicial District, andinthe Circuit Courts oftheCounties of"Pike,SchuyleraadPeoria*

_Springfield,march, 1887. JBjJ

J.T.

STUART AND

^A.

^LINCOLN.

ATTORNEYS

and CounsellorsatLaw,willpractice, conjointly, in theCourts ofthisJadiciaj Circuit.

—

OfficeNo.4 Hoffman's Rew.'upstains.

Springfield, april 12, 1837.

^^

THE

partnership heretoforeexistingbetweentheun- dersigned,has beendissolvedbymutual consent.—

Thebusiness will.bc.foundinthehandsofJohn T.Stuart.

JOHN

T.

STUART,

Aprtl12, 1837. 84

HENRY

E-

DUMMER,

STUART ANDLINCOLN'S PROFESSIONAL CARD.

Samples of Miss Tarbell's Work

NOTHING

^butan examination of thebooksthemselves can convey any idea of the unparalleled interestand value ofthiswork,bothbecause of its literary treat-

ment

andthenature ofitsmaterials.

We

append, however, a few specimen pages which will undoubtedly interestyou:

Specimen pages 38, 39. Tells

how

Lincoln earned his first dollar.

" _{42, 43.}

A

glanceat hisearly opportunities.

" 147,148. GiveshisfirstexperienceinSpring- field.

" 187. Quotes theterms of the Lincoln-Shields Duel.

"

40, 47, 48. Examples ofhis story-telling in court.

" 111,112,113,114.

Incidentsof the Lincoln- Douglas debates.

'« 149, 150, 151, 152.

A

scene in Lincoln's nominationin i860.

ITOe Hift of

jSbrafmm Eituoln

©rattm from original gourceg ant) containing

man? ^>peec^e& iLetter^ ant) Celegramg

tyttyerto unpubli^eti ant)

tuity many reproductions from

original painting^ j^otograp^

etc*

Xtm OX. fflarWI

fir^tuoiume

^ubli^eD by

tlie

SLtttcoln Hfetorp ^octetp

I9eto gorfc

Jftcmiii

38 LIFE OF LINCOLN

tell the

news and show

their wares.

Even

the steamboats loiteredasitpleased them.

They knew no

schedule.

They

stopped

anywhere

to let passengers off.

They

tied

up

Wherever

it

was

convenient,towaitforfresh

wood

tobecut

and

loaded,orfor repairs tobe

made. Waiting

for repairs, seems, infact, to

have

absorbed a great dealofthetime of these earlysteamers.

They were

continually

running

onto

"sawyers," or "planters," or

"wooden

islands,"

and

they

blew up with

a regularity

which was monotonous. Even

aslateas 1842,

when

Charles

Dickens made

thetrip

down

the Mississippi, he

was

oftengravely

recommended

to keep asfar aft as possible,"becausethesteamboats generally

blew

up

forward."

With

this varied river life

Abraham

Lincoln first

came

into contact asa

ferryman and boatman, when

in

1826

he spentseveral

months

as a

ferryman

atthe

mouth

of

Ander-

son creek,

where

it joins the Ohio.

This

experience sug- gested

new

possibilitiestohim. It

was

a

custom among

the farmersofOhio, Indiana

and

Illinoisat thisdatetocollect

a

quantity of produce,

and

float

down

to

New

Orleans

on

a raft, tosellit.

Young

Lincoln

saw

this,

and wanted

totry his fortuneasa

produce

merchant.

An

incident ofhispro- jectedtripherelatedonceto

Mr. Seward

:

"Seward," he

said, "did

you

ever hear

how

I earned

my

firstdollar?"

"No,"

said

Mr. Seward.

"Well," replied he, "I

was about

eighteen years of age,

and

belonged,as

you know,

to

what

theycall

down

souththe 'scrubs^;'people

who do

not

own

land

and

slaves are no-

body

there; but

we had

succeededinraising, chiefly

by my

labor,sufficientproduce,asIthought,to justify

me

intaking

it

down

the river to sell. After

much

persuasion I

had

got the consent of

my mother

to go,

and had

constructedaflat- boat large

enough

totakethe

few

barrels ofthings

we had

gatheredto

New

Orleans.

A

steamer

was going down

the

EARLY OPPORTUNITIES 39

river.

We

have,

you know, no wharves on

the western streams,

and

the

custom

was, ifpassengers

were

at

any

of thelandings they

were

to

go

outinaboat, thesteamerstop- ping,

and

taking

them on

board. I

was

contemplating

my

new

boat,

and wondering whether

I could

make

it stronger or

improve

itin

any

part,

when two men

with trunks

came

down

to theshoreincarriages,

and

lookingatthedifferent boats, singled out mine,

and

asked,

'Who owns

this?' I

answered

modestly, 'I do.' 'Will

you/

said

one

of them, 'take us

and

our trunks out to the steamer?' 'Certainly,' saidI. I

was

very gladto

have

thechanceofearning

some-

thing,

and

supposed that each of

them would

give

me a

couple ofbits.

The

trunks'

were

putin

my

boat, thepas- sengers seated themselves

on

them,

and

I sculled

them

out to thesteamer.

They

got

on

board,

and

I liftedthe trunks

and

put

them on

the deck.

The

steamer

was

about to put

on steam

again,

when

I called out,

'You have

forgotten to

pay

me.'

Each

of

them

took

from

his pocket a silver half- dollar

and threw

it

on

the

bottom

of

my

boat. I could scarcely believe

my

^{eyes as I picked}

^up

^the

^money. You

may

thinkit

was

a very^littlething,

and

inthesedaysit

seems

to

me

likea trifle, but it

was

a

most

important incident in

my

^life. I couldscarcely credit that I, the

poor

boy,

had

earned a dollar in lessthan a day;, that

by

honest

work

1

had

earned adollar. I

was

a

more

hopeful

and

thoughtful

boy from

that time."

Soon

after this, while

he was working

for

Mr.

Gentry, the leading citizen of Gentryville, his

employer

decided to send a load of

produce

to

New

Orleans,

and

chose

young

Lincoln to

go

as

"bow-hand,"

"to

work

the front oars."

For

this trip he received eightdollarsa

month and

hispas- sage back.

Who

canbelieve that

he

could see

and

be part of this river life without learning

much

of the

ways and

thoughtsof the

world beyond him

?

Every

timeasteamboat orarafttied

up

near

Anderson

creek

and

hewithhis

com-

panions

boarded

it

and saw

itsmysteries

and

talkedwithits

crew, every time he

rowed

outwith passengersto

a

passing

42 LIFE OF LINCOLN

though

as a rule his listeners

were

sympathetic, taking a certainpride inthe fact that

one

of their

number knew

as

much

asLincoln did.

"He was

betterreadthanthe

world

knows

or islikely to

know

exactly," said

one

oldacquaint- ance.

"He

often

and

often

commented

ortalked to

me

about

what

he

had

read

— ^seemed

to readit outof the

book

as

he

went

along

—

^{did sowith others.}

He was

the learned

boy

among

usunlearned folks.

He

took great painstoexplain

;

could

do

it so simply.

He was

diffident, then, too."

One man was

impressed

by

thecharacter ofthe sentences Lincoln

had

given

him

foracopybook. "It

was

consideredat

FACSIMILEOFLINESFROMLINCOLN'SCOPYBOOK.

that time," said he, "that

Abe was

the best

penman

in the neighborhood.

One

day, while

he was on a

visit at

my

mother's,Iasked

him

towrite

some

copies forme.

He

very willinglyconsented.

He wrote

several ofthem, but

one

of

them

I

have

neverforgotten,although a

boy

at thattime. It

was

this

:

"'Goodboys

who

to theirbooks apply Willallbe great

men

by andby.'"

His wonderful memory was

recalled

by many. To

save that

which he found

to his liking in the

books he borrowed

Lincoln

committed much

to

memory. He knew many

long poems,

and most

of the selections in the

"Kentucky

Precep-

EARLY OPPORTUNITIES ₄₃

tor."

By

thetime he

was

twenty-one, infact,his

mind was

well stored with verse

and

prose.

Allof his

comrades remembered

hisstories

and

his clear- nessin

argument.

^"

When he appeared

in

company,"

says

Nat

Grigsby, "theboys

would

gather

and

cluster

around him

to hear

him

talk.

Mr.

Lincoln

was

figurative in his speech, talks,

and

conversation.

He argued much from

^analogy,

and

explained things

hard

for us to understand

by

stories,

maxims,

tales,

and

figures.

He would

almost

always

point hislessonoridea

by some

story that

was

plain

and

nearus, that

we ^might

instantly seetheforce

and

bearing of

what he

said."

This

ability to explain clearly

and

to illustrate

by

simplefigures ofspeech

must

be countedasthegreatmental acquirement of Lincoln's boyhood. It

was

a

power which

he gained

by hard

labor.

Years

later

he

related hisexperience to

an

acquaintance

who had been

surprised

by

the lucidity

and

simplicity of his speeches

and who had

asked

where

he was

educated.

"I never

went

to school

more than

six

months

in

my

life," he said, "but I can say ^this: that

among my

earliest recollections I

remember how, when

a

mere

^child,

Iusedtogetirritated

when anybody

talked to

me

ina

way

I could not understand. I

do

not think I evergot

angry

at anythingelsein

my

^life; butthat

always

disturbed

my

tem- per,

and

has ever^{since. I}can

remember going

to

my

^little

bedroom,

afterhearing the neighborstalkof

an

evening with

my

father,

and spending no

small part ofthe night

walking

up and down ^and

^tryingto

^make

^out

^{what was}

^theexact

meaning

^of

some

oftheir,to

me, dark

sayings.

"Icould notsleep,althoughItriedto,

when

Igot

on

such a

hunt

for

an

idea untilI

had caught

it;

and when

I

thought

I

had

got it,I

was

not satisfied until I

had

repeated itover

and

over^{; untilI}

had

put ^itin

language

plain

enough,

as I thought, for

any boy

I

knew

to

comprehend. This was a

kind of passion with

me, and

^ithas stuck

by me;

for I

am

never easy

now, when

I

am

handling a thought, till I

have

CHAPTER X

LINCOLN BEGINS TO STUDY LAW MARY OWENS A NEWS-

PAPER CONTEST GROWTH OF POLITICAL INFLUENCE

As

soonas theassemblyclosed, Lincoln returnedto

New

Salem

;but nottostay.

He had

determinedto

go

toSpring-

field.

Major John

Stuart, the friend

who had

advised

him

tostudy

law and who had

^lent

him books and

with

whom he

had

been associated closely in politics,

had

offered to take

him

asa partner. It

was

a

good

^opening, for Stuart

was one

oftheleading lawyers

and

politiciansofthe State,

and

hisin- fluence

would

placeLincolnatoncein

command

of

more

or lessbusiness.

From

every point of

view

the

change seems

to

have

been wise;yetLincoln

made

itwith foreboding.

To

practise

law

he

must abandon

hisbusinessassurveyor,

which was

bringing

him

afair

income

^;he

must

foratime, at least,

go

without a certain income. If he failed,

what

then?

The

uncertainty

weighed on him

heavily,the

more

so because he

was burdened by

the debtsleft

from

his store

and

becausehe

was

constantlycalled

upon

toaid his father's

fam-

ily.

Thomas

Lincoln

had remained

inColes County, but he

had

not, inthese sixyearsin

which

hisson

had

risen so rap- idly,been able toget

anything more

than a

poor

livelihood

from

his farm.

The

sense of responsibility Lincoln

had

towards

his father'sfamily

made

itthe

more

difficultfor

him

toundertake a

new

profession.

His

decision

was made, how-

ever,

and

assoonasthe session of the

Tenth Assembly was

overhestarted for Springfield.

His

firstappearancethereis as pathetic as

amusing.

"He had

ridden into

town,"

says

Joshua

Speed,

"on a

borrowed

horse,with

no

earthly property save apairofsad-

i47

148 LIFE OF LINCOLN

die-bags containing a

few

clothes. I

was

a

merchant

at Springfield,

and

kept alarge country store,

embracing

dry- goods, groceries, hardware, books, medicines, bed-clothes, mattresses

—

^{in fact,everythingthat the}country needed. Lin- coln

came

into the storewithhissaddle-bags

on

hisarm.

He

said he

wanted

to

buy

the furniture fora single bed.

The

mattress, blankets, sheets, coverlid,

and

pillow, according to the figures

made by me, would

cost seventeen dollars.

He

saidthat perhaps

was

cheap

enough

; but small as the price was, he

was

unableto

pay

it.

But

if I

would

credit

him

till

Christmas,

and

his

experiment

asa

lawyer was

asuccess,he

would pay

then; sayinginthe saddesttone,'If I failin this I

do

not

know

that Ican ever

pay

you.'

As

I looked

up

at

him

I

thought

then,

and

Ithink

now,

thatInever

saw

asad- derface.

"I said to

him

^:

'You seem

to be so

much

painedatcon- tracting sosmalladebt,^IthinkIcan suggestaplan

by which

you

can avoidthe debt,

and

at the

same

timeattain

your

end.

I

have

a large

room

withadouble

bed

upstairs,

which you

are very

welcome

toshare withme.'

"

'Where

^is

your room?'

saidhe.

"'Upstairs/ said I, pointing to a pair of

winding

stairs

which

led

from

thestore to

my room.

"He

took his saddle-bags

on

his arm,

went

upstairs, set

them on

thefloor,

and came down

with the

most changed

ex- pression of countenance.

Beaming

with pleasure,

he

ex- claimed:

" 'Well, Speed,I

am

moved.'^"

Another

friend,

William

Butler, with

whom

Lincoln

had

become

intimate at Vandalia, took

him

to board; life at Springfield thus

began under

as favorable auspices as

he

could

hope

for.

After Chicago,Springfield

was

atthat

day

the

most prom-

ising cityin Illinois. It

had some

^fifteen

^hundred

inhabitants,

and

the

removal

of the capital

was

certain to bring

many

more. Already,in fact,the

town

felttheeffect.

"The owner

ofreal estate sees hisproperty rapidly

enhancing

invalue,"

declaredthe

"Sangamon

Journal^;""the

merchant

anticipates

HIS MARRIAGE ENGAGEMENT 187

letters,

which

Shields finallyput. It

was

inconsistent with his

honor

to negotiate forpeace with

Mr.

Shields, he said, unless

Mr.

Shields

withdrew

his

former

offensive letter.

Seconds were

immediately

named:

Whitesides

by

Shields,

Merryman by

Lincoln;

and though

they talked of peace, Whitesides declared he could not

mention

itto his principal.

"He would

challenge

me

next,

and

assooncut

my

throat as not."

This was on

the nineteenth,

and

that nighttheparty re- turnedto Springfield.

But

in

some way

the affair

had

leaked out,

and

fearingarrest,Lincoln

and Merryman

left

town

the next

morning. The

instructions

were

left with Butler. If Shields

would withdraw

his first note,

and

write another asking if Lincoln

was

the author of the offensive articles, and, ifso, askingforgentlemanlysatisfaction, then Lincoln

had

preparedaletterexplainingthe

whole

affair. IfShields

would

not

do

this, there

was

nothingto

do

butfight. Lin- colnleftthefollowing preliminaries forthe duel

:

"First.

Weapons

:

Cavalry broadswords

of the largest size,preciselyequalinall respects,

and

suchas

now

used

by

thecavalry

company

atJacksonville.

"Second. Position:

A

plankten feet long,

and from

nine to twelve inches broad, to be firmly fixed

on

edge,

on

the ground,as the line

between

us,

which

neither is topass his footover

on

forfeit of his life.

Next

aline

drawn on

the

ground on

either sideofsaidplank

and

parallelwithit,each atthe distanceof the

whole

length of the

sword and

three feet additional

from

the plank;

and

the passing ofhis

own

suchline

by

eitherparty

during

the fightshallbe

deemed

a surrender of the contest.

"Third.

Time: On Thursday

evening at five o'clock, if

you

can getitso;butin

no

case tobeata greaterdistanceof timethan

Friday

eveningatfiveo'clock.

"Fourth. Place:

Within

three milesofAlton,

on

the op- posite side oftheriver,the particularspottobe agreed

on

by you/

^f

40 LIFE OF LINCOLN

Inthe courts themselves there

was

acertain indifference to formality

engendered by

the primitive surroundings, which, however, the

judges

never allowedto interfere with the seriousness of the

work.

Lincoln habitually,

when

not busy,

whispered

stories to his neighbors, frequently to the

annoyance

of

Judge

Davis. If Lincolnpersisted too long, the

judge would

rap

on

thechair

and

exclaim:

"Come,

come,

Mr.

Lincoln, Ican't standthis!

There

is

no

use tryingto carry

on two

courts;I

must adjourn mine

or

you

yours,

and

I think

you

will

have

to betheone."

As

soonasthe

group

had

scattered, the

judge would

call

one

of the

men

to

him

and

ask^:

"What was

thatLincoln

was

telling?"

"I

was

neverfinedbut oncefor

contempt

ofcourt," says

one

ofthe clerksof the courtinLincoln'sday.

"Davis

fined

me

fivedollars*

Mr.

Lincoln

had

just

come

^in,

and

leaning over

my

desk

had

told

me

astory so irresistibly

funny

that Ibroke outintoaloudlaugh.

The judge

called

me

toorder in haste, saying, 'This

must

bestopped.

Mr.

Lincoln,

you

are constantly disturbingthiscourtwith

your

stories.'

Then

to me,

'You may

fineyourselffive dollarsfor

your

disturb- ance.' I apologized, but toldthe

judge

that the story

was

worth

the

money.

In a

few

minutes the

judge

called

me

to him. ^'

What was

the story Lincolntold

you

?^'

he

asked. I toldhim,

and

he

laughed

aloudin spiteofhimself. ^'

Remit

your

fine,'

he

ordered."

The

partialityof

Judge Davis

forLincoln

was

shared

by

the

members

of the courtgenerally.

The

unaffectedfriendli- ness

and

helpfulnessof hisnature

had more

to

do

with this than his wit

and

cleverness. If there

was

a

new

clerk in court, a stranger

unused

to the

ways

of the place, Lincoln

was

thefirst

— ^sometimes

^theonly

^one —

^{to shake}

^hands

^with

him and

congratulate

him on

hiselection.

"No lawyer on

thecircuit

was more unassuming

than

was

TRAVELLING ON THE CIRCUIT 47

Mr.

T.

W.

S.

Kidd

saysthathe once heard a lawyer op- posedtoLincoln trying^toconvince a jurythatprecedent

was

superior to law,

and

that

custom made

things legal in all cases.

When

Lincoln aroseto

answer him

hetold thejury he

would argue

his case in the

same

way. Said he:

"Old

'SquireBagly,

from Menard, came

into

my

office

and

said, 'Lincoln,I

want your

adviceas alawyer.

Has

a

man

what's beenelected justiceofthepeace a right to issuea

marriage

license?' Itold

him

he

had

not;

when

the old 'squire

threw

himself back in his chair very indignantly,

and

said^: 'Lin- coln, I

thought you was

a lawyer.

Now Bob Thomas and

me had

abet

on

thisthing,

and we

agreedtolet

you

decide;

but ^{if this is}

your

opinion I don't

want

^it, for I

know

a thunderin' sight better, for I

have

been 'squire

now

eight years

and have done

itall the time.'"

His manner

of telling stories

was most

effective.

"When

he

choseto

do

so," writes

Judge

Scott, "

he

couldplace the oppositeparty,

and

hiscounseltoo,forthatmatter,ina

most

ridiculous attitude

by

relating in his inimitable

way

aperti- nentstory.

That

often

gave him

a great

advantage

withthe jury.

A young

lawyer

had brought an

action in trespass to recover

damages done

to his client's

growing

crops

by

de- fendant'shogs.

The

rightofaction

under

the

law

ofIllinois, asit

was

then,

depended on

the fact

whether

plaintiff'sfence

was

sufficienttoturnordinarystock.

There was some

^little

conflictintheevidence

on

thatquestion; but the

weight

of the testimony

was

decidedly in favor of plaintiff,

and

sus- tained

beyond

all

doubt

hiscause ofaction.

Mr.

Lincoln ap- peared fordefendant.

There was no

controversy as to the

damage done by

defendant's stock.

The

only thing in the casethatcouldpossibly

admit

of

any

discussion

was

thecon- ditionofplaintiff'sfence;

and

asthetestimony

on

thatques- tion

seemed

to be infavor of plaintiff,

and

asthe

sum

in- volved

was

littlein

amount, Mr.

Lincoln did not

deem

itnee-

4§ LIFE OF LINCOLN

essary to

argue

the case seriously, but

by way

of saying

something

inbehalf ofhis clienthetolda^littlestoryabout a fencethat

was

so

crooked

that

when

a

hog went through an

opening

init, invariably it

came

out

on

the

same

side

from

whence

it started.

His

description of theconfused look of the

hog

after severaltimes

going through

the fence

and

still finding itself

on

the side

from which

it

had

started,

was

a

humorous specimen

ofthe best story-telling.

The

effect

was

to

make

plaintiff's case appear ridiculous;

and

while

Mr.

Lincoln did not attempttoapply the story to the case, the jury

seemed

tothink it

had some

kindof application to the fenceincontroversy

—

otherwise he

would

not

have

toldit

—

and

shortly returned a verdict for the defendant."

Those

unfamiliar with his

methods

frequently took his storiesas

an

effortto

wring

a laugh

from

the jury.

A

law- yer, a stranger to

Mr.

Lincoln, once expressed to General

Linder

theopinionthat this practiceofLincoln

was

a

waste

of time.

"Don't

lay that flattering unction to

your

soul,"

Linder answered

;"LincolnislikeTansey'shorse,he'breaks to win.'"

But

it

was

nothis stories, it

was

his clearness

which was

hisstrongestpoint.

He meant

thatthejury shouldsee that he

was

^right.

For

^thisreason he never used a

word which

the dullest

juryman

could not understand. Rarely, if ever, did aLatin

term

creep into hisarguments.

A

lawyer quot- inga legal

maxim one day

incourt,turned toLincoln,

and

said:

"That

is so, is

k

not,

Mr.

Lincoln?"

"If that'sLatin," Lincolnreplied,

"you had

bettercallan- other witness."

His

illustrations

were

almost

always

ofthehomeliestkind.

He

didnot careto

"go among

the ancients for figures," he said.

"

Much

^{of the}forceofhis

argument,"

writes

Judge

Scott,

"_layinhis logicalstatement of the factsofa^case.

When

THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES m

thatthepeople of aterritoryshould beleftto regulate their domestic concerns in their

own way

subject only to the Constitution,

and

the decision of the

Supreme

Court

in the

Dred

Scott case that slaves, being property, could not

under

the Constitution be excluded

from

a territory.

He knew

thatif

Douglas

said

no

to thisquestion, hisIllinoisconstituents

would

never return

him

to the Sen- ate.

He

believed thatifhesaid yes,thepeople ofthe

South

would

never votefor

him

forPresidentof the

United

States.

He was

willing himself to lose the senatorship in order to defeat

Douglas

for the Presidency in i860. "_I

am

after larger

game;

thebattle of

i860

is

worth

a

hundred

of this,"

hesaid confidently.

The

question

was

put,

and Douglas answered

it withrare artfulness. "_Itmattersnot,"

he

cried, "

what way

the

Su-

preme Court may

hereafterdecideas totheabstractquestion

whether

slavery

may

or

may

not

go

intoa territory

under

theConstitution; thepeople

have

thelawful

means

to intro- duceitorexcludeitastheyplease, for thereasonthat slav- erycannotexista

day

or

an hour anywhere

unlessitissup- ported

by

localpoliceregulations.

Those

policeregulations can only be established

by

the local legislature,

and

if the people are

opposed

toslavery,theywillelect representatives to that

body who

will,

by

unfriendly legislation, effectually prevent the introduction of it into their midst. If,

on

the contrary, theyare for it, their legislation will favor its ex- tension."

His Democratic

constituents

went

wild over theclever

way

in

which Douglas had

escaped Lincoln'strap.

He now

prac- tically

had

hiselection.

The

Republicans

shook

theirheads.

Lincoln only

was

serene.

He

alone

knew what

he

had

done.

The

Freeport debate

had no

sooner reached the pro-slavery press than a

storm

of protest

went

up.

Douglas had

be- trayed the South.

He ^had

repudiated the

Supreme Court

H2 LIFE OF LINCOLN

decision.

He had

declared that slavery could be kept out of theterritories

by

otherlegislationthan a State Constitu- tion. "

The

Freeportdoctrine,"or" thetheory of unfriendly legislation," as it

became known,

spread

month by month,

and

slowly but surely

made Douglas an

impossible candi- date inthe South.

The

force ofthe question

was

not real- ized in full

by

Lincoln's friends until the

Democratic

party

met

in Charleston, S.

C,

in i860,

and

the

Southern

dele- gates refusedto support

Douglas

because of the

answer

he

gave

toLincoln's questioninthe Freeport debateof 1858.

"

Do you

recollect the

argument we had on

the

way up

toFreeport

two

^years

^ago

over the questionI

was going

to ask

Judge Douglas?"

Lincoln asked

Mr. Joseph

Medill,

when

the latter

went

to Springfield a

few

days after the electionof i860.

"Yes,"said Medill, "Irecollect itverywell."

"

Don't you

thinkI

was

right

now

?

"

"

We were

both^right.

The

question hurt

Douglas

forthe Presidency, but itlost

you

the senatorship."

"Yes,

and

I

have won

theplace

he was

playing for."

From

^the

beginning

of the

campaign

Lincoln supple-

mented

the strength ofhis

arguments by

inexhaustible

good-

humor.

Douglas, physically

worn,

harassed

by

the trend

which

Lincoln

had

given the discussions, irritated that his adroitness

and

eloquence could not socover the

fundamental

truthofthe Republicanpositionbutthat it

would up

again, often

grew

angry,evenabusive. Lincoln

answered him with

most

effectiveraillery.

At Havana, where

he spoke the

day

afterDouglas,

he

said

:

"I am informed

that

my

distinguished friend yester-

day became

alittle excited

—

^{nervous, perhaps}

— ^{and he}

^said

something

aboutfighting, as

though

referring toapugilistic encounter

between him and

myself.

Did anybody

in this audience hear

him

usesuch

language?

[Cries of

"Yes."]

THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES

113

I

am informed

further,that

somebody

in hisaudience,rather

more

excited

and

nervous than himself, took off his coat,

and

offered to takethe joboff

Judge

Douglas's hands,

and

fightLincolnhimself.

Did anybody

here witness that

war-

like proceeding?

[Laughter and

cries of

"Yes."]

Well, Imerelydesire tosaythatI shallfightneither

Judge Doug-

las nor his second. I shall not

do

this for

two

reasons,

which

Iwill

now

explain. In thefirst place,a fight

would

prove nothing

which

isinissue in this contest. It

might

es- tablish that

Judge Douglas

is a

more muscular man

than myself, orit

might

demonstratethatI

am

a

more muscular

man

than

Judge

Douglas.

But

thisquestionisnotreferred to in the Cincinnati platform,

nor

in either of theSpring- field platforms. Neitherresult

would prove him

right

nor

me wrong; and

soof the

gentleman who

volunteeredto

do

this fighting forhim. If

my

fighting

Judge Douglas would

not prove anything, it

would

certainly

prove nothing

for

me

to fight his bottle-holder.

"

My

second reason fornot

having

a personal encounter with the

judge

is, that I don't believe

he wants

it himself.

He and

I areabout the best friends intheworld,

and when

we

gettogetherhe

would no more

think offighting

me

than offighting his wife. Therefore,ladies

and

gentlemen,

when

the

judge

talked aboutfighting, he

was

not giving vent to

any

illfeelingofhis

own,

but

merely

tryingto excite

—

^well,

enthusiasm against

me on

thepart ofhisaudience.

And

as Ifind

he was

tolerably successful,

we

willcall itquits."

More

difficult for Lincoln to take good-naturedly than threats

and hard names was

the irrelevant matters

which

Douglas dragged

intothedebatestoturnattention

from

the vitalarguments.

Thus Douglas

insistedrepeatedly

on

taunt- ing Lincolnbecausehiszealous friends

had

carried

him

off the platform at

Ottawa.

^"Lincoln

was

so frightened

by

the questions put to him,"said Douglas, " that he could not walk."

He

tried to arouse the prejudice of the au- dience

by

absurd charges of abolitionism. Lincoln

wanted

togivenegroes socialequality;

he wanted a negro

wife;

he

(8)

ii4

LIFE OF LINCOLN

was

willing to allow

Fred Douglass

to

make

speeches for him.

Again

he took

up

a

good

deal of Lincoln's time

by

forcing

him

to

answer

toa

charge

ofrefusingto vote sup- plies forthe soldiers in the

Mexican War.

Lincoln denied

and

^{explained, until} at last, at Charleston, he turned sud- denlyto Douglas's supporters,

dragging one

of the strong- estof

them —

^the

^{Hon. O.}

^{B.Ficklin,with}

^whom

^he

^had

^been

in

Congress

in

1848 —

^{to theplatform.}

"_I

do

not

mean

to

do anything

with

Mr.

Ficklin,"hesaid,

"except topresent his face

and

tell

you

that he personally

knows

ittobe alie."

And Mr.

Ficklin

had

to

acknowledge

thatLincoln

was

right.

"

Judge

Douglas," saidLincolninspeakingof this policy,

"_is playing cuttlefish

—

^{a small species of fish that has}

^no

mode

of defending himself

when pursued

except

by throwing

out a black^fluid

which makes

the

water

so

dark

the

enemy

cannotseeit,

and

^thusitescapes."

The

question at stake

was

too serious inLincoln's

judg-

ment, for platform jugglery.

Every moment

of his time

which Douglas

forced

him

to

spend answering

irrelevant charges

he gave

begrudgingly.

He

struggled constantly to keephisspeeches

on

thelineofsolidargument.

Slowly

but surelythose

who

followed the debates

began

to understand this. It

was Douglas who drew

thegreat

masses

tothe de- bates inthefirstplace;it

was

because of

him

that the public

men and

the

newspapers

of theEast, as wellas ofthe

West,

watched

thediscussions.

But

asthedays

went on

it

was

not

Douglas who made

the impression.

During

the

hours

of the speeches the

two men seemed

well mated. ^"Icanrecallonly

one

factof thedebates,"says

Mrs.

William

Crotty of Seneca, Illinois, "_{thatI felt}so sorryfor Lincoln while

Douglas was

speaking,

and

thento

my

surprise I feltsosorryfor

Douglas when

Lincolnreplied."

The

^dis-

interested to

whom

it

was an

intellectual

game,

feltthe

power

NOMINATION IN

i860 149

choice,

had

buttwelve. If

Seward was

tobebeaten, it

must

be

now

^;

and

it

was

forPennsylvaniato say.

The

delega- tionhurriedtoa

committee-room, where Judge

^{Pettis, dis-} regarding the action of the caucus

by which McLean ^had

been adoptedasthe delegation's second choice,

moved

that,

on

thesecondballot, Pennsylvania's votebecast solidly for Lincoln.

The motion was

carried.

Returning

to the hall the delegation

found

the second ballot

under way.

In a

moment

the

name

of Pennsylvania

was

called.

The whole

Wigwam

heard the

answer

^{: "}Pennsylvaniacastsher fifty-

two

votesfor

Abraham

Lincoln."

The meaning was

clear.

The

break to Lincoln

had

begun.

New York

sat as if stupefied, while^allover the^hall cheerfollowed cheer.

It

seemed

but a

moment

before the second ballot

was

ended,

and

it

was known

thatLincoln'svote

had

risen

from

102to 181.

The

tension as the third ballot

was

taken

was

almost unbearable.

A hundred

pencilskeptscorewhile the delegations

were

called,

and

it

soon became

apparent that Lincoln

was

outstripping

Seward. The

lastvote

was

hardly given before the

whisper went

around, ^"

Two hundred and

thirty-one

and

one-halfforLincoln;

two and

one-half

more

willgive

him

the nomination."

An

instant of silence fol- lowed, in

which

the convention grappled with the ^idea,

and

tried to pull itself together to act.

The chairman

of the

Ohio

delegation

was

thefirsttogethisbreath. "

Mr.

Presi- dent," he cried, springing

on

his chair

and

stretching out his

arm

to securerecognition, "I riseto

change

four votes

from Mr. Chase

to

Mr.

Lincoln."

Ittook a

moment

to realizethetruth.

New York saw

it,

and

the white facesofher noble delegation

were bowed

in despair. Greeley

saw

^it,

and

a guileless smile spread over his features as

he watched Thurlow Weed

press his

hand

hard

against his

wet

eyelids. Illinois

saw

it,

and

tears

poured from

theeyes of

more

than

one

of the

overwrought,

i5o

LIFE OF LINCOLN

devoted

men

asthey

grasped one

another's

hands and

vainly struggled against the sobs

which

kept

back

their shouts.

The crowd saw

it,

and broke

outin a

mad

^{hurrah. "}

The

scene

which

followed,"

wrote one

spectator, "_{baffles all}

human

description. After

an

instant's silence, as deep as death,

which seemed

tobe requiredtoenabletheassemblyto take inthe full forceof the

announcement,

the wildest

and

mightiestyell (forit

can

becalled

by no

other

name)

burst forth

from

ten

thousand

voices

which we

ever

heard from

mortal throats.

This

strange

and tremendous demonstra-

tion,

accompanied with

leaping

up and down,

tossing hats, handkerchiefs,

and

canes recklessly into the air, with the

waving

of flags,

and with

every other conceivable

mode

of exultant

and

unbridled joy, continuedsteadily

and without

pause

for perhaps ten minutes.

"_It then

began

to rise

and

fall in slow

and

^billowing

bursts,

and

forperhaps the next five

minutes

these stupen-

dous waves

of uncontrollable excitement,

now

rising intothe deepest

and

^{fiercestshouts,}

and

then sinkinglikethe

ground

swellof the

ocean

intohoarse

and

lessening

murmurs,

rolled

through

the multitude.

Every now and

then it

would seem

as

though

the physical

power

of the

assembly was

exhausted

and

that quiet

would

be restored,

when

all at once

a new

hurricane

would

breakout,

more prolonged and

terrificthan

anything

before. Ifsheer exhaustion

had

not prevented,

we

don't

know

but the applause

would have

continued to this hour."

Without,

the scene

was

repeated.

At

thefirst instantof realization in the

Wigwam

a

man on

the platform

had

shouted to a

man

stationed

on

the roof, "Hallelujah;

Abe

Lincoln is

nominated

!"

A ^{cannon boomed}

^the

^news

^to

the multitude below,

and twenty thousand

throats took

up

the cry.

The

city

heard

it,

and one hundred guns on

the

Tremont House, innumerable

whistles

on

theriver

and