Part 5 (1/2)
Barnett, the man that had asked me who this man Lincoln was. I told him that he was a candidate for the Legislature. He laughed and said, 'Can't the party raise no better material than that?' I said, 'Go to-morrow, and hear all before you p.r.o.nounce judgment.' When he came back, I said, 'Doctor, what say you now?' 'Why, sir,' said he, 'he is a perfect take-in; he knows more than all of them put together.'”[89]
[89] _Ibid._
”Mr. J. R. Herndon, his friend and landlord, heard him make several speeches about this time, and gives us the following extract from one, which seems to have made a special impression upon the minds of his auditors: 'Fellow citizens, I have been told that some of my opponents have said that it was a disgrace to the County of Sangamon to have such a looking man as I am stuck up for the Legislature. Now, I thought this was a free country; that is the reason I address you to-day. Had I known to the contrary, I should not have consented to run; but I will say one thing, let the shoe pinch where it may; when I have been a candidate before you five or six times, and have been beaten every time, I will consider it a disgrace, and will be sure never to try it again; but I am bound to beat that man if I am beat myself. Mark that!'”[90]
[90] Lamon, 127.
Voting at this period was _viva voce_ and not by ballot. One seeking the vote of Lincoln, pompously supported him. Lincoln thereupon voted against that candidate. Those who witnessed the action marveled much and approved his conduct.[91] At this election, of the four successful candidates for Sangamon County, Dawson received 1390 votes; Lincoln followed with 1376. Stuart, the popular Whig, had nearly 200 votes less.[92] These figures speak with eloquence of the advance made by the surveyor in two years.
[91] Nicolay & Hay, 1, 67.
[92] Herndon, 1, 118.
”After he was elected to the Legislature,” says Mr. Smoot, ”he came to my house one day in company with Hugh Armstrong. Says he, 'Smoot, did you vote for me?' I told him I did. 'Well,' says he, 'you must loan me money to buy suitable clothing, for I want to make a decent appearance in the Legislature.' I then loaned him two hundred dollars, which he returned to me according to promise.”[93]
[93] Lamon, 157.
Compelled by events to be his own teacher, Lincoln learned to depend on his own resources. Reared in a rough school, accustomed to be a leader among his intellectual inferiors, still, in all humility, he looked to his legislative experience with joy. Deprecating his kind of education, open minded he anxiously awaited the privilege of a.s.sociating with many of the leading men of the State. There gathered at the Capitol its best blood, the choice sons of Illinois, the representatives of the ambition, the intelligence, and the popularity of the State. ”The society of Vandalia and the people attracted thither by the Legislature made it, for that early day, a gay place indeed. Compared to Lincoln's former environments, it had no lack of refinement and polish. That he absorbed a good deal of this by contact with the men and women who surrounded him, there can be no doubt. The 'drift of sentiment and the sweep of civilization' at this time can best be measured by the character of the legislation. There were acts to incorporate banks, turnpikes, bridges, insurance companies, towns, railroads and female academies. The vigor and enterprise of New England fusing with the illusory prestige of Kentucky and Virginia was fast forming a new civilization to spread over the prairies.”[94]
[94] Herndon, 1, 155.
Lincoln with modesty remained a witness of the doings of the Legislature. Content to wait for the fitting time to make an impression, he did not rush into debate. It was a scouting period. Scanty of talk, rich in thought, ever on the lookout for information, steady in attendance, studying parliamentary procedure, he gained a name for solidity, far better than brilliancy or oratory for real influence in a legislative body.[95]
[95] _Ibid._
Lincoln forgot the prudence expressed in his first circular, for he jumped into the movement that hurried along the internal improvement policy. His practice was behind his theory in matters of finance.
Lincoln made little stir in this session, he took no glorious part in its deliberations, and made no record for independence. He usually voted with the members of his party. He became grounded in the finesse of law making, an art whose acquirement and importance are seldom considered.
For method as well as merit is an element in the making of the statute.
Still, in measuring himself with his a.s.sociates, he gained confidence and found that he was not far behind in the training for political prosperity. While he would not deceive, he learned how not to be deceived. He discovered that men in the Senate are not of a far different order from those in the field; that culture often hides a mean soul; that polish is often the tinsel of education. He remained the same Lincoln, longing for the reality of the old life without pretense.
He was content to return to his admirers in Clary Grove, with no exaltation or pride in his new distinction as legislator.
A special session of the Legislature was held in December, 1835. One of the evils of the time was the eagerness of representatives for public offices of a more permanent character than the uncertain tenure of popular election. New offices were constantly created. Lincoln took a bold stand on the danger. He voted with the majority that the election of a member of the Legislature to a State office was corrupting. He voted with the minority to apply the principle also to relatives and connections of the members. Lincoln remained a persistent supporter of internal improvements. Some of the advocates s.h.i.+fted their votes from time to time, but he remained constant in his devotion.
The influence of Lincoln extended over a widening territory and his fame spread with new opportunities. After two scant years of public life, he was considered among the leaders of his party. No longer waiting on the advice of friends, he offered himself as a candidate for renomination.
He initiated his campaign with the following political fulmination:
”To the Editor of the _'Journal'_: In your paper of last Sat.u.r.day I see a communication, over the signature of 'Many Voters,' in which the candidates who are announced in the _Journal_ are called upon to 'show their hands.' Agreed, here's mine.
”I go for all sharing the privileges of the government who a.s.sist in bearing its burdens. Consequently, I go for admitting all whites to the right of suffrage who pay taxes or bear arms (by no means excluding females).
”If elected, I shall consider the whole people of Sangamon my const.i.tuents, as well those that oppose as those that support me.
”While acting as their representative, I shall be governed by their will on all subjects upon which I have the means of knowing what their will is; and upon all others I shall do what my judgment teaches me will best advance their interests. Whether elected or not, I go for distributing the proceeds of the sales of the public lands to the several States, to enable our State, in common with others, to dig ca.n.a.ls and construct railroads without borrowing money and paying the interest on it.
”If alive on the first Monday in November, I shall vote for Hugh L.
White for President. Very respectfully. A. Lincoln.”[96]
[96] Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 7.
In commanding contrast to his first circular, this fairly seems to crowd out every dispensable expression. Contact with the pioneer had taught him to court the power of brevity, so this announcement is more like a creed than an address. Homely and curt in character, it suited the time.