Part 4 (1/2)
The testimony of Judge Logan shows that Lincoln had in his youth a mature mind. ”He was a very tall, gawky, and rough looking fellow then; his pantaloons didn't meet his shoes by six inches. But after he began speaking I became very much interested in him. He made a very sensible speech. His manner was very much the same as in after life; that is, the same peculiar characteristics were apparent then, though of course in after years he evinced more knowledge and experience. But he had then the same novelty and the same peculiarity in presenting his ideas. He had the same individuality that he kept through all his life.”[67]
[67] Nicolay & Hay, 1, 108.
A companion allows us a view of Lincoln as a politician at this period.
Deferential to the rich, agreeable to the poor, he was at home everywhere. He talked with the husband and wife about their hopes in life, about the school and the farm. The mother would hear with joy of her fine children; Willie was the image of father; Sarah the most beautiful, and looked like her mother. The distribution of nuts and candy captured the children. During the preparation for supper, he would walk over the farm with his host, and be shown its worth. After the meal he would tell the boys and girls stories of the trials of frontier life in Indiana. He thus secured the esteem of all.
Early in this campaign, he issued a political circular. This first written address of Lincoln should command attention. It contains abundant evidence of close thinking, political sagacity and quaint utterance. This youthful appeal of Lincoln is a sober production expressing thoughts that go straight to the mind. The circular is conclusive that his style and his thought were not altogether the fruition of his maturity.
The address deals mainly with the navigability of the Sangamon River. No theme was closer to the people in the county. The arrival of the steamer _Talisman_ had been hailed with rapture. A newspaper thus gave utterance to the common feeling: ”We congratulate our farmers, our mechanics, our merchants and our professional men, for the rich harvest in prospect, and we cordially invite emigrating citizens from other states, whether rich or poor, if so they are industrious and honest, to come thither and partake of the good things of Sangamon.”[68] The enthusiasm reached the women, for they indulged in a grand ball to honor the occasion.[69] The ardent champions.h.i.+p of this vain proposal, for it was never either effected or seriously attempted, is proof that Lincoln was a student of popularity. At this period he proclaimed the doctrine that the representative of the people should reflect the known views of his const.i.tuency.[70]
[68] History of Sangamon County, 53.
[69] _Ibid._
[70] Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 7.
He next paid heed to the problem of usury. Money, always seeking the highest bidder, preyed on the industry of the people. The common contract rate was about fifty per cent. In many instances it rose to more than one hundred, and unfortunates even paid two or three times as much.[71] ”It seems,” Lincoln said, ”as though we are never to have an end to this baneful and corroding system, acting almost as prejudicial to the general interests of the community as a direct tax of several thousand dollars annually laid on each county for the benefit of a few individuals only, unless there be a law made fixing the limits of usury.
A law for this purpose, I am of the opinion, may be made without materially injuring any cla.s.s of people. In cases of extreme necessity, there could always be means found to cheat the law; while in other cases it would have its intended effect. I would favor the pa.s.sage of a law on this subject which might not be easily evaded. Let it be such that the labor and difficulty of evading it could only be justified in cases of greatest necessity.”[72] This rather remarkable admission is interesting in view of his subsequent utterances on the sacred enforcement of all laws lest single relaxations prove an inducement for other violation.[73]
[71] Lamon, 133.
[72] Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 3.
[73] _Ibid._, 12.
A rather becoming modesty pervades the conclusion of his address. He maintained that he might be wrong in regard to any or all the subjects he discussed, declaring that it was better only sometimes to be right than at all times to be wrong, that he was ready to renounce his opinions as soon as he discovered them to be erroneous.[74]
[74] _Ibid._, 4.
”Every man,” he observed, ”is said to have his peculiar ambition.
Whether it be true or not, I can say for one that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow-men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem.”[75] This illumines our limited knowledge of his att.i.tude toward an essential problem of life. Lincoln did not fling away ambition. With patient footstep he restlessly followed the vision of higher place along the road of helpful service to his fellow-men. As he rose in influence, he never forsook his early ideals; that the measure of success was worthiness and not station, that power was only respectable as it was mercifully exercised. He believed that altruistic responsibility expanded with growing opportunities. His good deeds, not his personal wants, grew with his growth.
[75] _Ibid._
He did not rest with an appeal to the reason of men. He deftly put in motion the human chord in democracy that vibrates to the poor and the struggling. He declared that he was young and unknown; that he was born, and would ever remain, in the most humble walks of life; that he had no wealthy or popular relations or friends to recommend him; that his case was thrown exclusively upon the independent voters of the county; and that, if elected, they would have conferred a favor upon him, for which he would be unremitting in his labors to compensate.[76]
[76] Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 4.
”But, if the good people,” he concluded, ”in their wisdom shall see fit to keep me in the background, I have been too familiar with disappointments to be very much chagrined.”[77] Suffused with seeming humor and the pathos of half hidden tragedy this averment brings us face to face with a life reluctantly a.s.serting its individuality. It is hardly strange that one who p.r.o.nounces himself a companion of many disappointments when only twenty-three years old should soon get the name of ”Old Abe.” Sorrow had already left its traces on his heart and brain, so that the appellation was fitting. Still, he encountered uncomplainingly the exigencies of human events.
[77] _Ibid._
”The Democrats of New Salem worked for Lincoln out of their personal regard for him. That was the general understanding of the matter here at the time. In this he made no concession of principle whatever. He was as stiff as a man could be in his Whig doctrines. They did this for him simply because he was popular--because he was Lincoln.”[78] Despite the efforts of his friends in New Salem, Lincoln was yet too little known to be elected a representative of Sangamon County.
[78] Nicolay & Hay, 1, 102-103.
One fact stands out boldly. Out of the total 300 votes cast in the precinct of New Salem, where he was best known, Lincoln received 277.[79] This did not pa.s.s without the scrutiny of those who studied the details of local politics. It revealed an amazing popularity. It was a defeat that practiced politicians knew betokened future triumphs. It marked the trail of a triumphing career in the common course of events.
With ardent pride, he later said of this defeat, that it was the only time he was ever beaten on a direct vote of the people.[80]