Part 9 (2/2)

”He was paying his money to this one, and that one, and t'other one, and sufferin' great loss because it wasn't silver instead of State paper; and the sweet distress he seemed to be in,--his very features, in the ecstatic agony of his soul, spoke audibly and distinctly, 'Dear girls, _it is distressing_, but I cannot marry you all. Too well I know how much you suffer; but do, do remember, it is not my fault that I am _so_ handsome and _so_ interesting.'”[166]

[166] Lamon, 255, 256.

The production appeared in the Sangamon _Journal_, and at once aroused the wrath of s.h.i.+elds. A demand for the ident.i.ty of the author followed.

Doubtless to save Miss Todd from entanglement, Lincoln announced himself as the writer. Thereupon, s.h.i.+elds demanded a full retraction of all offensive allusions. Strangely enough, Lincoln did not welcome this solution of the situation. He took advantage of the rather ardent demand for an apology and held his ground with these words: ”Now, sir, there is in this so much a.s.sumption of facts and so much of menace as to consequences, that I cannot submit to answer that note any further than I have, and to add that the consequences to which I suppose you allude would be matter of as great regret to me as it possibly could to you.”[167]

[167] Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 69.

With such a start, a duel for a time seemed inevitable. At the last moment, common friends conveniently, and doubtless to the great satisfaction of the contestants, calmed the affair without a real encounter.

Duelling was the rage of the hour.[168] Lincoln was too sensitive to the good opinion of the community to fly in the face of popular sentiment.

So he violated the law of the State to engage in a transaction unsanctioned by his judgment, not ready to defy the general taste in a matter where the standard was still that of the pioneer community. It is not therefore surprising that in later years, Lincoln was abashed by his part in this fight. This was his last personal quarrel, and marks a decisive epoch in his career.[169] Thereafter, he became a champion of principles and was prepared to play a part in debates of world-wide moment.

[168] _Ibid._, 71.

[169] Nicolay & Hay, 1, 211.

A dramatic contest ran through this session on the part of the banks to obtain further condonation in the suspension of specie payments. The Whigs were friendly, calling them, ”the inst.i.tutions of the country,”

branding opposition unpatriotic. The Democrats, however, were on the whole hostile to the banks. They called them ”rag barons, rags, printed lies, bank va.s.sals, ragocracy, and the 'British-bought bank, bluelight, Federal, Whig party.'”[170]

[170] Lamon, 217.

The contest was rendered closer by ”opportune loans to Democrats.” The fight grew in intensity as if the wealth, the industry and the very happiness of the people were at stake. The Democrats, in order to kill the banks, were bent on a _sine die_ adjournment of the special term.

The Whigs in their zeal to save them invented what was a novel expedient at that time in parliamentary tactics. The Whigs absented themselves to prevent a quorum, leaving Lincoln and Gillespie to call the ayes and noes. The Democrats discovered the game, and the sergeant-at-arms was sent out. There was great excitement in the House, which was then held in a church at Springfield. Soon several Whigs were caught and brought in and the plan was spoiled. Then Lincoln and his accomplice determined to leave the hall. Going to the door, and finding it locked, they raised a window and jumped out, but not until the Democrats had succeeded in adjourning. Mr. Gillespie remarked that ”Lincoln always regretted that he entered into that arrangement, as he deprecated every thing that savored of the revolutionary.”[171]

[171] Lamon, 217.

This incident discloses Lincoln the politician, Lincoln the student of methods engaging in practices that his judgment subsequently disapproved. He was thoroughly schooled in securing results. The student of Lincoln should not hurry over this incident, nor minimize its significance. He mingled in common, sordid, political events.

Though Lincoln engaged freely in the political machinations of his day, he did not sanction corruption. He stood out as a champion of an untainted franchise. He did not still his conscience with the soothing medicine that corruption was the common practice. He moved at this session that the part of the Governor's message relating to fraudulent voting be referred to the Committee on elections, with instructions to prepare and report a bill for such an act as might afford the greatest possible protection of the elective franchise against all frauds.[172]

[172] Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 42.

Bred in the school of partisans.h.i.+p, where the doctrine that spoils is the fruit of victory, was almost a creed, Lincoln never enslaved himself by the acceptance of that dogma, either in practice or theory. Early in life he had reasoned out the principle that public office is a trust. He dared to a.s.sert its integrity at a time when it met little favor. He wrote in 1840 that he was opposed to removal of public officials to make places for friends.[173] Still, the malevolent conduct of an office holder stirred his resentment. In the same letter he said there was no question as to the propriety of removing the postmaster at Carlinville, that the latter boldly refused to deliver during the canva.s.s all doc.u.ments franked by Whig members of Congress.[174]

[173] Lincoln's Speeches, 1, 43.

[174] _Ibid._, 43-44.

By his tact and service, Lincoln stood well with the party leaders, so that in 1841 he was widely mentioned as a worthy candidate for Governor.

A formal protest from his hand and that of his close friends against such a movement was put in the Sangamon _Journal_: ”His talents and services endear him to the Whig party; but we do not believe he desires the nomination. He has already made great sacrifices in maintaining his party principles, and before his political friends ask him to make additional sacrifices, the subject should be well considered. The office of Governor, which would of necessity interfere with the practice of his profession, would poorly compensate him for the loss of four of the best years of his life.” Whether he could have attained the nomination is not known. Lincoln was not accustomed to put aside political honors. It is significant that the young legislator readily availed himself of a mode of self-glorifying declination popular with politicians to this day.[175]

[175] Nicolay & Hay, 1, 217-8.

With this session, Lincoln concluded his duties as the representative of the people. In 1832, he entered Vandalia, a son of poverty, timid of his ability, ungifted in appearance. In eight years, he plowed his way to the very front as the champion of his a.s.sociates, a skillful leader of his party. Still it is amazing how faint a trace Lincoln left on the history of Illinois, hewing out no legislative enactment endearing his memory to the people of the State. Ford only notes him as a Congressman who in the State Legislature followed the glitter of a false finance, and a destructive plan of public improvement. Had his career ended here, no one would have ventured to rescue his name from oblivion. One act only, overtops the events submerged by time, an event that sober history pa.s.sed by, little knowing that it was the one fact, richer than all others, in the annals, under its scrutiny. For in the light of later events, the protest of 1837 showed an enkindled soul that in the goodness of time thrilled the land with a second edition of the Declaration of Independence.

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