THE RAIL-SPLITTER ENTERS CONGRESS.
Abraham Lincoln’s professional success did not fill the measure of his
ambition. It certainly was a great step upward from the raw-boned,
ragged, barefooted lad to the prosperous lawyer, and our hero, if I may
so call him, doubtless felt complacent when he considered the change in
his position and surroundings. I may take occasion to say here that
Abe--to return to the name which he did not wholly lay aside when he
emerged from boyhood and youth--never put on airs because of his
elevation, nor looked down upon the humble relatives whom he had left
behind. Whenever in his journeyings he found himself near the residence
of any of his poorer relations, he took special pains to visit them,
and, if possible, to stay with them. Often he pressed upon them money
when they appeared to need it--not with the air of a liberal patron,
but with straight-forward friendliness and cordiality. Once when he was
urged to remain at the hotel with his professional friends, instead of
making a call upon an aged aunt, he said:
“Why, aunt’s heart would be broken if I should leave town without
calling upon her.”
Let me add that this call required something more than ordinary
good-natured consideration, for the aunt in question lived several miles
away, and her nephew had no horse at his command, but walked all the
way. I am very glad to call the attention of all my young friends to
this admirable trait in the character of President Lincoln. I wish it
were more common. I am sure we all admire the boy or girl who is always
thoughtful of the feelings and happiness of older relatives.
But to return from this digression, let me repeat that Mr. Lincoln had
other aspirations than to succeed as a lawyer. It has been said that
nine out of ten American boys cherish a vague ambition to become
President. This is plainly an exaggeration, but it is certain that a
large number entertain the hope of some day entering public life,
either as legislator or Congressman, or at any rate as a salaried
officer. That is one reason why there is such a horde of office-seekers
swarming to our National or State capitals, ambitious to earn a living
at the expense of the Government. Some throw up good mercantile
positions and spend months in the attempt to secure a position as
department clerk, foreign consul, or poorly-paid postmaster.
Abraham Lincoln’s ambition was of a more elevated character. He had a
pardonable ambition to take part in the government of his country, not
for the sake of the position so much, as because he felt within himself
the capacity to shape legislation to worthy ends. He was not alone in
this idea. His fellow-citizens had gauged him and felt that he was fit
to represent them. I have already spoken of his service in the State
Legislature; but he was only preparing himself there for a wider arena.
In 1846 he received the nomination for Congress from the Sangamon
district. Now it was not the fashion in those days for a candidate to
remain quietly at home pursuing his business as usual while waiting for
the popular verdict. It is perhaps the more dignified course to pursue,
but it would not have elected Mr. Lincoln. He understood at once that he
would have to “stump” the district. I need hardly explain to my young
readers what this means. He must visit the principal towns and villages,
and address public meetings of the people on political subjects of
present interest, explaining clearly how he stood, and how he proposed
to vote if elected.
For this service Lincoln was very well fitted. He had a vigorous Saxon
style, and he knew how to make things clear even to the humblest
intellect. Then, again, he possessed a fund of homely, but pertinent
stories, which often produced more effect than a protracted argument.
However, he was not limited to such means of influencing his audiences.
He had a logical mind and a happy faculty of stating things clearly and
precisely, so as to convince the reason as well as to persuade the
judgment.
There was no lack of topics on which to speak. The country was in an
excited state. Texas had been admitted to the Union, war with Mexico had
succeeded, and opinions were divided as to the wisdom of entering upon
it. The Whig party, of which Mr. Lincoln was a member, considered it
unnecessary and unjustifiable. So also did the Anti-Slavery party, then
coming into existence. Many of my young readers have doubtless read the
“Biglow Papers,” by our eminent poet and diplomatist, James Russell
Lowell, and have enjoyed the quaint and pungent sarcasm with which he
assails those who were instrumental in bringing on this ill-advised war.
I speak of it as ill-advised, for, though some of the results, notably
the acquisition of California, have proved beneficial, the object for
which the war was commenced and waged was far from commendable. The
tariff also had been recently repealed, and the result was a disturbance
of the business interests of the country. Clearly, Congress and the
country had plenty to talk about and plenty to legislate about.
Mr. Lincoln’s speeches in this “stumping” tour have not been preserved,
but we have every reason to believe that he did himself credit, and
maintained the reputation he had already acquired as a strong and
forcible speaker. The best evidence we can adduce is his triumphant
election by much more than the usual party vote. Even Mr. Clay, with
all his popularity as a Presidential candidate in 1844, received a
majority less by about six hundred than were given to Abraham Lincoln in
his contest for a seat in Congress.
So we chronicle one more step in the upward progress of the young
rail-splitter. On the 6th of December, 1847, he took his seat in the
Thirtieth Congress, as a Representative from his adopted State of
Illinois. At the same time his future rival, Stephen A. Douglas, took
his seat in the United States Senate, representing the same State.
Lincoln was the tallest man among the nearly three hundred who sat in
the House. Douglas was the shortest man in the Senate. Both were to
achieve high distinction, and to fill a remarkable place in the history
of their country. To Lincoln distinction came with slower steps, but he
was destined to mount higher and achieve a more enduring fame. Of the
two, Douglas was more of a politician, and he was more ready to
sacrifice principle in the interest of personal ambition. Years later
they were to stump the State as competitors for Senatorial honors in a
memorable canvass, and still later to be rival candidates for the
Presidency. In the first, Douglas secured the election; in the second,
Lincoln. It is to the credit of Douglas that when the last contest was
decided, and his competitor, who had secured the prize for which he had
labored earnestly for years, was about to take his seat, at a time when
the first faint rumblings of the Civil War were being heard, and
well-grounded fears were entertained for the safety of the
President-elect, he laid aside all the bitterness of personal feelings
and disappointed ambition, and rode with his old rival to the capital on
Inauguration Day, content to share any personal risk in which he might
be placed.
The closing period of the life of Douglas does him great credit. It
shows him in the character of patriot, rather than as politician. In
former years he had been willing to make concessions to the slave power,
in order to further his own chances of the Presidential succession. Now,
when civil war was imminent and the integrity of the Government was
menaced, he forgot the politician and stood side by side with Lincoln
for the preservation of the Government which he had so long served. It
was a source of sincere regret to Abraham Lincoln that Douglas should
have been removed by death so early in the Civil War. It removed from
him a staunch friend and supporter, whose influence was all the greater
because he was perhaps the most prominent member of the opposition.
I have a personal remembrance of Mr. Douglas, to whom I was introduced
on the occasion of a visit to Massachusetts. Short as he was, he had a
dignified and impressive presence, and his massive figure well entitled
him to the name by which he was so commonly known, “The Little Giant.”
He was not destined to achieve the object of his ambition, but he will
long be remembered as an influential actor in our political history.