The scales having fallen from our sight and the figure of the greatest
American standing out colossal and clean-cut for posterity to worship
as without a blemish, it is hard to measure the conceit of the clique
of politicians, pettifoggers, and office-seekers certainly assisting in
the advancement of Abraham Lincoln from confined obscurity in the West
to the choice of the Northern nation. That was not enough, but still
gaging him with their tape they withheld justice from him, after he
displayed his worth in meeting the impending crisis.
When on the heels of the call for 300,000 men in 1863, came in spring,
1864, another for 500,000, to fortify General Grant in his finishing
maneuvers, a murmur was heard. Chicago, gallantly having done her part,
thought it was pumping at a void. A deputation from Cook County, headed
by Lincolnites, departed for the capital to object to the summons. It
was thought by his friends and long supporters that "their own elect"
could not resist their plea, or turn it off with a joke. This
deputation fined down to three persons, as it was not a patriotic
quest. One of them also wished to balk, being Joseph Medill, editor of
the Chicago _Tribune_. As a matter of course, Secretary of War Stanton
refused the indulgence, obdurate as he was. The President was likewise
averse, but he did consent to go over the matter with Stanton. The
result was the same. All was left solely to Lincoln, since the personal
argument was implied by the mediums selected.
"I"--said Medill to Miss Tarbell--"I shall never forget how Mr. Lincoln
suddenly lifted his head and turned on us a black and frowning face.
"'Gentlemen,' said he, in a voice full of bitterness, 'after Boston,
Chicago has been the chief instrument in bringing this war on the
country. The Northwest has opposed the South as New England opposed the
South. It was you who were largely responsible for causing the blood to
flow as it has. You called for war until we had it. You called for
emancipation, and I have given it to you. Whatever you have asked, you
have had.
"'Now you come here, begging to be let off from the call for men which
I have made to carry out the war you demanded. You ought to be ashamed
of yourselves. I have a right to expect better things of you!
"'Go home and raise your six thousand extra men--the Cook County rate.
And you, Medill, you are acting like a coward! You and your _Tribune_
have had more influence than any paper in the Northwest in making this
war. Go home and send us those men!'" They went home, and they raised
and sent those men!
* * * * *
"SOONER THE FOWL BY HATCHING THE EGG THAN SMASHING IT."
"Still the question is not whether the Louisiana Government, as it
stands, is quite all that is desirable. The question is, Will it be
wiser to take it as it is, and help to improve it, or to reject and
disperse?... Concede that the new government is to what it should be as
the egg to the fowl, we shall sooner have the fowl by hatching the egg
than by smashing it. (Laughter.)"--(Speech by A. Lincoln, his last! in
answer to a serenade at the White House, 11th April, 1865, amid
illuminations for the victories.)
* * * * *