The Tenth Assembly was important to Lincoln not only in its
legislation; it greatly increased his circle of acquaintances. The
character of the work of the session called to Vandalia numbers of
persons of influence from almost every county in the State. They were
invariably there to secure something for their town or county, and
naturally made a point of getting acquainted. Game suppers seem to
have been the means usually employed by visitors for bringing people
together. The lobbyists were not the only ones in Vandalia who gave
suppers, however. Not a bill was passed nor an election decided that
a banquet did not follow. Mr. John Bryant, the brother of William
Cullen, was in Vandalia that winter in the interest of his county, and
he attended one of these banquets, given by the successful candidate
for the United States Senate. Lincoln was present, of course, and so
were all the prominent politicians of the State.
"After the company had gotten pretty noisy and mellow from their
imbibitions of Yellow Seal and 'corn juice,'" says Mr. Bryant, "Mr.
Douglas and General Shields, to the consternation of the host and
intense merriment of the guests, climbed up on the table, at one end,
encircled each other's waists, and to the tune of a rollicking song,
pirouetted down the whole length of the table, shouting, singing,
and kicking dishes, glasses, and everything right and left, helter
skelter. For this night of entertainment to his constituents, the
successful candidate was presented with a bill, in the morning, for
supper, wines, liquors, and damages, which amounted to six hundred
dollars."
But boisterous suppers were not by any means the important feature of
Lincoln's social life that winter in Vandalia. There was another
and quieter side in which he showed his rare companionableness and
endeared himself to many people. In the midst of the log-rolling
and jubilations of the session he would often slip away to some
acquaintance's room and spend hours in talk and stories. Mr. John
Bryant tells of his coming frequently to his room at the hotel, and
sitting "with his knees up to his chin, telling his inimitable stories
and his triumphs in the House in circumventing the Democrats."
Major Newton Walker, of Lewiston, was in Vandalia at the time;
and still talks with pleasure not only of the Assembly's energetic
legislation, but of the way Lincoln endeared himself to him and to
his colleague. "We both loved him," says Major Walker, "but I little
thought then that he would become the greatest man that this country
ever produced, or perhaps ever will. Many a night I have sat up
listening to Lincoln's wonderful stories. That was a long time
ago--nearly sixty years. I shall be ninety-two years old in a few
days. I was six years older than Lincoln."
[Illustration: INVITATION TO A SPRINGFIELD COTILLION PARTY OF WHICH
LINCOLN WAS ONE OF THE MANAGERS.
The invitation is in the collection of Mr. C.F. Gunther of Chicago,
through whose courtesy it is here reproduced.]
"I used to play the fiddle a great deal, and have played for Lincoln a
number of times. He used to come over to where I was boarding and ask
me to play the fiddle for him; and I would take it with me when I went
over to visit him, and when he grew weary of telling stories he would
ask me to give him a tune, which I never refused to do."