Part 13 (2/2)
I agree with you, Mr. Chairman, and with the address of your const.i.tuents, in the declaration that workingmen are the basis of all governments. That remark is due to them more than to any other cla.s.s, for the reason that there are more of them than of any other cla.s.s. And as your address is presented to me not only on behalf of workingmen, but especially of Germans, I may say a word as to cla.s.ses. I hold that the value of life is to improve one's condition. Whatever is calculated to advance the condition of the honest, struggling laboring man, so far as my judgment will enable me to judge of a correct thing, I am for that thing.
An allusion has been made to the Homestead Law. I think it worthy of consideration, and that the wild lands of the country should be distributed so that every man should have the means and opportunity of benefiting his condition. [_Cheers_.] I have said that I do not desire to enter into details, nor will I.
In regard to Germans and foreigners, I esteem foreigners no better than other people--nor any worse. [_Laughter and cheers_.] They are all of the great family of men, and if there is one shackle upon any of them it would be far better to lift the load from them than to pile additional loads upon them. [_Cheers_.] And inasmuch as the continent of America is comparatively a new country, and the other countries of the world are old countries, there is more room here, comparatively speaking, than there is elsewhere; and if they can better their condition by leaving their old homes, there is nothing in my heart to forbid them coming, and I bid them all G.o.d speed.
[_Cheers_.] Again, gentlemen, thanking you for your address, I bid you good night.
”If anyone,” says Mr. Smith, ”had expected to trap Mr. Lincoln into imprudent utterances, or the indulgence of the rhetoric of a demagogue, this admirable reply showed how completely they were disappointed. The preservation of this speech is due to my accidental presence. The visitation of the Germans was not on the programme, and none of the representatives of the press charged with the duty of reporting the events of the day were present. Observing this, I took short-hand notes on the envelope of an old letter loaned me for the occasion, and afterwards wrote them out. The words of Mr. Lincoln, exactly as spoken, are given above.”
At Cleveland the party remained over for a day, and Lincoln was greeted with the usual friendly enthusiasm. An immense crowd met him at the depot, and he was escorted to the Weddell House, where a reception was given him in the evening. Hon. A.G. Riddle, then a resident of Cleveland, and a newly elected member of the Congress which was to share with Lincoln the burdens and responsibilities of the Civil War, was present on that occasion, and furnishes the following interesting personal recollections of it: ”I saw Abraham Lincoln for the first time, at the Weddell House that evening. He stood on the landing-place at the top of a broad stairway, and the crowd approached him from below. This gave him an exaggerated advantage of his six feet four inches of length.
The shapelessness of the lathy form, the shock of coa.r.s.e black hair surmounting the large head, the retreating forehead--these were not apparent where we stood. My heart sprang up to him--the coming man. Of the thousand times I afterward saw him, the first view remains the most distinct impression; and never again to me was he more imposing. As we approached, someone whispered of me to him; he took my hand in both his for an instant, and we wheeled into the already crowded rooms. His manner was strongly Western; his speech and p.r.o.nunciation Southwestern.
Wholly without self-consciousness with men, he was constrained and ill at ease when surrounded, as he several times was, by fas.h.i.+onably dressed ladies. One incident of the evening I particularly recall. Ab McElrath was in the crowd--a handsome giant, an Apollo in youth, of about Mr.
Lincoln's height. What brought it about, I do not know; but I saw them standing back to back, in a contest of alt.i.tude--Mr. Lincoln and Ab McElrath--the President-elect, the chosen, the nation's leader in the thick-coming darkness, and the tavern-keeper and fox-hunter. The crowd applauded.
”Mr. Lincoln presented me to the gentlemen of his party--Mr. Browning, Mr. Judd, and Mr. Lamon, I remember, as I later became very well acquainted with them; also the rough-looking Colonel Sumner of the army.
Mr. Lincoln invited me to accompany him for at least a day on his eastward journey. I joined him the next morning at the station. The vivacity of the night before had utterly vanished, and the rudely sculptured cliffy face struck me as one of the saddest I had ever seen.
The eyes especially had a depth of melancholy which I had never seen in human eyes before. Some things he wished to know from me, especially regarding Mr. Chase, whom, among others, he had called to Springfield.
He asked me no direct questions, but I very soon found myself speaking freely to him, and was able to explain some not well-known features of Ohio politics--and much to his satisfaction, as he let me see. There was then some talk of Mr. Seward, and more of Senator Cameron. All three had been his rivals at Chicago, and were, as I then thought, in his mind as possible Cabinet ministers; although no word was said by him of such an idea in reference to either. Presently he conducted me to Mrs. Lincoln, whom I had not before seen. Presenting me, he returned to the gentlemen of the party, and I saw little more of him except once when he returned to us, before I left the train. Mrs. Lincoln impressed me very favorably, as a woman of spirit, intelligence, and decided opinions, which she put very clearly. Our conversation was mainly of her husband.
I remarked that all the likenesses I had ever seen of him did him injustice. This evidently pleased her. I suggested that a full beard from the under lip down (his face was shaven) would relieve and help him very much. This interested her, and we discussed it and the character of his face quite fully. The impression I then formed of this most unfortunate lady was only deepened by the pleasant acquaintance she permitted, down to the time of the national calamity, which unsettled her mind as I always thought.”
Of the New York City visit, an excellent account is given by the distinguished preacher and writer, Dr. S. Irenaeus Prime. ”The country was at that moment,” says Dr. Prime, ”in the first throes of the great rebellion. Millions of hearts were beating anxiously in view of the advent to power of this untried man. Had he been called of G.o.d to the throne of power at such a time as this, to be the leader and deliverer of the people? As the carriage in which he sat pa.s.sed slowly by me on the Fifth avenue, he was looking weary, sad, feeble, and faint. My disappointment was excessive; so great, indeed, as to be almost overwhelming. He did not look to me to be the man for the hour. The next day I was with him and others in the Governor's room in the City Hall, when the Mayor of the city made an official address. Mr. Lincoln's reply was so modest, firm, patriotic, and pertinent, that my fears of the day before began to subside, and I saw in this new man a promise of great things to come. It was not boldness or dash, or high-sounding pledges; nor did he while in office, with the mighty armies of a roused nation at his command, ever a.s.sume to be more than he promised in that little upper chamber in New York, on his journey to the seat of Government, to take the helm of the s.h.i.+p of state then tossing in the storm.”
Before the end of the journey, strong fears prevailed in the minds of Lincoln's friends that an attempt would be made to a.s.sa.s.sinate him before he should reach Was.h.i.+ngton. Every precaution was taken to thwart such endeavor; although Lincoln himself was disturbed by no thought of danger. He had done, he contemplated doing, no wrong, no injustice to any citizen of the United States; why then should there be a desire to strike him down? Thus he reasoned; and he was free from any dread of personal peril. But the officials of the railroads over which he was to pa.s.s, and his friends in Was.h.i.+ngton, felt that there was cause for apprehension. It was believed by them that a plot existed for making away with Lincoln while pa.s.sing through Baltimore, a city in the heart of a slave State, and rife with the spirit of rebellion. Detectives had been employed to discover the facts in the matter, and their reports served to confirm the most alarming conjectures. A messenger was despatched from Was.h.i.+ngton to intercept the Presidential party and warn Lincoln of the impending danger. Dr. Holland states that ”the detective and Mr. Lincoln reached Philadelphia nearly at the same time, and there the former submitted to a few of the President's friends the information he had secured. An interview between Mr. Lincoln and the detective was immediately arranged, and took place in the apartments of the former at the Continental Hotel. Mr. Lincoln, having heard the officer's statement in detail, then informed him that he had promised to raise the American flag on Independence Hall the following morning--the anniversary of Was.h.i.+ngton's birthday--and that he had accepted an invitation to a reception by the Pennsylvania Legislature in the afternoon of the same day. 'Both of these engagements I will keep,' said Mr. Lincoln, '_if it costs me my life_.' For the rest, he authorized the detective to make such arrangements as he thought proper for his safe conduct to Was.h.i.+ngton.”
In the meantime, according to Dr. Holland, General Scott and Senator Seward, both of whom were in Was.h.i.+ngton, learned from independent sources that Lincoln's life was in danger, and concurred in sending Mr.
Frederick W. Seward to Philadelphia to urge upon him the necessity of proceeding immediately to Was.h.i.+ngton in a quiet way. The messenger arrived late on Thursday night, after Lincoln had retired, and requested an audience. Lincoln's fears had already been aroused, and he was cautious, of course, in the matter of receiving a stranger. But satisfied that the messenger was indeed the son of Mr. Seward, he received him. Nothing needed to be done except to inform him of the plan entered into with the detective, by which the President was to arrive in Was.h.i.+ngton early on Sat.u.r.day morning, in advance of his family and party.
On the morning of the 22d, Lincoln, as he had promised, attended the flag-raising at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the historic building in which had been adopted the Declaration of Independence. The occasion was a memorable one, and Lincoln's address eloquent and impressive. ”All the political sentiments I entertain,” said he, ”have been drawn from the sentiments which were given to the world from this hall.” He spoke calmly but firmly of his resolve to stand by the principles of the immortal Declaration and of the Const.i.tution of his country; and, as though conscious of the dangers of his position, he added solemnly: ”I have said nothing but what I am willing to live by, _and, if it be the pleasure of Almighty G.o.d, to die by_.”
From Philadelphia Lincoln went immediately to Harrisburg, and attended the reception given him by the Pennsylvania Legislature, in the afternoon of the same day. Then, leaving his hotel in the evening, attended only by Mr. Lamon and the detective (Mr. Allan Pinkerton), he was driven to the depot, where he took the regular train for Was.h.i.+ngton.
The train pa.s.sed through Baltimore in the night, and early the next morning (February 23) reached the capital. Mr. Washburne, who had been notified to be at the depot on the arrival of the train, says: ”I planted myself behind one of the great pillars in the old Was.h.i.+ngton and Baltimore depot, where I could see and not be observed. Presently, the train came rumbling in on time. When it came to a stop I watched with fear and trembling to see the pa.s.sengers descend. I saw every car emptied, and there was no Mr. Lincoln. I was well-nigh in despair, and when about to leave I saw three persons slowly emerge from the last sleeping-car. I could not mistake the long, lank form of Mr. Lincoln, and my heart bounded with joy and grat.i.tude. He had on a soft low-crowned hat, a m.u.f.fler around his neck, and a short overcoat. Anyone who knew him at that time could not have failed to recognize him at once; but I must confess he looked more like a well-to-do farmer from one of the back towns of Jo Daviess County, coming to Was.h.i.+ngton to see the city, take out his land warrant and get the patent for his farm, than the President of the United States. The only persons that accompanied Mr. Lincoln were Pinkerton, the well-known detective, and Ward H. Lamon. When they were fairly on the platform, and a short distance from the car, I stepped forward and accosted the President: 'How are you, Lincoln?' At this unexpected and rather familiar salutation the gentlemen were apparently somewhat startled; but Mr.
Lincoln, who had recognized me, relieved them at once by remarking in his peculiar voice: 'This is only Washburne!' Then we all exchanged congratulations, and walked out to the front of the depot, where I had a carriage in waiting. Entering the carriage (all four of us), we drove rapidly to Willard's Hotel, entering on Fourteenth Street, before it was fairly daylight.”
General Stone, who was in command at Was.h.i.+ngton at that time, states that both General Scott and himself ”considered it almost a certainty that Mr. Lincoln could not pa.s.s through Baltimore alive on the day fixed,” and adds: ”I recommended that Mr. Lincoln should be officially warned; and suggested that it would be best that he should take the train that evening from Philadelphia, and so reach Was.h.i.+ngton early the next day. General Scott directed me to see Mr. Seward, to whom he wrote a few lines, which he handed me. I did not succeed in finding Mr. Seward until past noon. I handed him the General's note. He listened attentively to what I said, and asked me to write down my information and suggestions. Then, taking the paper I had written, he hastily left.
The note I wrote was what Mr. Frederick Seward carried to Mr. Lincoln in Philadelphia. Mr. Lincoln has stated that it was _this note_ which induced him to change his journey as he did. _The stories of disguises are all nonsense_. Mr. Lincoln merely took the sleeping-car in the night train.”
There is little doubt that the fears of Lincoln's friends regarding his pa.s.sage through Baltimore were well grounded; and that but for the timely warnings and precautions the a.s.sa.s.sination of April, 1865, might have taken place in February of 1861.
CHAPTER XV
Lincoln at the Helm--First Days in Was.h.i.+ngton--Meeting Public Men and Discussing Public Affairs--The Inauguration--The Inaugural Address--A New Era Begun--Lincoln in the White House--The First Cabinet--The President and the Office-seekers--Southern Prejudice against Lincoln--Ominous Portents, but Lincoln not Dismayed--The President's Reception Room--Varied Impressions of the New President--Guarding the White House.
The week following Lincoln's arrival in Was.h.i.+ngton, and preceding his inauguration, was for him one of incessant activity. From almost the first moment he was engrossed either in preparations for his inauguration and the official responsibilities which would immediately follow that event, or in receiving the distinguished callers who hastened to meet him and in discussing with them the grave aspects of political affairs. Without rest or opportunity to survey the field that lay before him, or any preparations save such as the resources of his own strong character might afford him, he was plunged instantly into the great political maelstrom in which he was to remain for four long years, and whose wild vortex might well have bewildered an eye less sure, a will less resolute, and a brain less cool than his. As Emerson put it, ”The new pilot was hurried to the helm in a tornado.”
”Mr. Lincoln's headquarters,” says Congressman Riddle of Ohio, ”were at Willard's Hotel; and the few days before the inauguration were given up to a continuous reception in the broad corridor of the second floor, near the stairway. I remember a notable morning when the majestic General Scott, in full dress, sword, plumes, and bullion, came to pay his respects to the incoming President. The scene was impressive. By the unknown law that ruled his spirits, Mr. Lincoln was at his best, complete master of himself and of all who came within the magic of his presence. Never was he happier, speaking most of the time, flas.h.i.+ng with anecdote and story. That time now seems as remote as things of a hundred years ago. The war antiquated all that went before it. The Was.h.i.+ngton, the men, the spirit of that now ancient time, have faded past all power to recall and reproduce them. The real Was.h.i.+ngton was as essentially Southern as Richmond or Baltimore. 'Lincoln and his vandals,' fresh from the North and West, were thronging the wide, squat, unattractive city, from which the bolder and braver rebel element had not yet departed.”
Dr. George B. Loring, of Ma.s.sachusetts, who was one of the first to meet Lincoln after his arrival in Was.h.i.+ngton, says: ”I saw him on his arrival, and when he made his first appearance in a public place. I was standing in the upper hall of Willard's Hotel, conversing with a friend and listening to the confused talk of the crowded drawing-room adjoining. As we stood there, a tall and awkward form appeared above the stairs, especially conspicuous, as it came into view, for a new and stylish hat. It was evidently President Lincoln, whom neither of us had seen before. As soon as his presence was known, the hall was thronged from the drawing-rooms. He seemed somewhat startled by the crowd, did not remove his hat, wended his way somewhat rapidly and with mere pa.s.sing recognition, and took shelter in his room. When the crowd had dispersed, my friend and myself--although we had opposed his election--called upon him to pay our respects. He received us with great cordiality, spoke freely of the difficulties by which he was surrounded, and referred with evident satisfaction to the support he had received in Ma.s.sachusetts. 'I like your man Banks,' said he, 'and have tried to find a place for him in my Cabinet; but I am afraid I shall not quite fetch it.' He bore the marks of anxiety in his countenance, which, in its expression of patience, determination, resolve, and deep innate modesty, was extremely touching.”
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