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them at home. Before the campaign was over he was again in Illinois, adding materially to his reputation as a speaker, but no amount of Whig eloquence could prevent the vote of that State from being given to Cass and Butler.

The second session of the Thirtieth Congress began in December, 1848. There had been some changes in its membership, and more were indicated, but the greatest change of all made itself manifest because the campaign was over. The Mexican War and its management no longer furnished a cloak for the real issue over which the old parties were to break in pieces and new parties were to form. The question of slavery extension came to the front at once, with the first legislative effort to provide for the organization of the vast territories acquired from Mexico by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo at the return of peace. The session was to terminate on March 4th following, and there was little possibility of doing more than open the way for the great debates and measures, the compromises of 1850 included, which were to make the succeeding Congress memorable in American political history. How distinctly Mr. Lincoln marked his position among anti-slavery men may be gathered from the facts that at the close of his term he was recorded as having voted forty-two times for the Wilmot Proviso, as it appeared and reappeared, and that early in January, 1849, he prepared and presented a bill for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia.

CHAPTER XIII.

Beginning Anew-A Tempting Offer-The Old Circuit Once More-Death of Thomas Lincoln-Standing of Mr. Lincoln at the Bar-The Abolitionists.

LETTERS written by Mr. Lincoln during his term. in Congress deal very little with men and affairs around him in Washington. He kept no diary, and he was not yet of sufficient mark for other men to record the occurrences of his daily life. It is evident that he found his separation from home wearisome. He was conscious that as yet he had no great work upon his hands and that he was somehow out of place. Nevertheless, as the end drew near, it became necessary to look forward and decide upon his future course in life. He did not too strongly desire a second term, and there was good reason to expect defeat at the polls in case he should obtain a nomination. The Democratic Party was everywhere recovering from its reactionary defeat in 1848, and was beginning to take upon itself a new character. Both at the North and at the South it was absorbing more and more of the multitudes who instinctively shrink from changes, and to whom there is a semblance of evil in any assault upon a solid, time-honored institution, such, for instance, as the Constitutional right of slave owners to own slaves. The right to own them anywhere in the

United States, without reference to State or territorial line, was apparently the only point seriously disputed, and there seemed to be a swift increase in the number of men who were even willing to concede this for the sake of peace. It was not yet so plain that the men who refused to concede it were strengthening their numbers and their convictions and were preparing their courage to say that it was sometimes better to be just than to be at peace.

If Mr. Lincoln's course with reference to the war and to the ideas represented by the Wilmot Proviso had not been in the way of a renomination, the custom of his district, if not almost of his party, was against him. Rotation in office was almost an accepted doctrine, as if a seat in Congress were a kind of prize to be awarded rather than a public service for which the best and most experienced men should be carefully selected. The Whig nomination was, therefore, given to Judge Logan, and he was defeated at the polls, as Lincoln probably would have been.

The law practice and professional connections of the latter had drifted away from him during his term in Congress. He had not nominally separated from Mr. Herndon, but it looked very much as if he were about to begin life anew. His party services and rank entitled him to ask something of a Whig Administration, and there was one appointment which seemed to open a field peculiarly suited to a born frontiersman. It was that of Commissioner of the General Land Office, and Lincoln had applied for it at the suggestion of many personal

friends. His claim was so manifestly good that the Taylor Administration, deciding against him and in favor of another citizen of Illinois, offered him instead the post of Territorial Governor of Oregon. There was a momentary temptation in the suggestion of so important a field of usefulness. It seemed to promise present support, future prosperity, a share in the development of a new commonwealth, and shortly a seat in the Senate of the United States. At the same time, it implied a complete abandonment of all hope for any other career. said, on receiving the offer, that he would accept it if Mrs. Lincoln would consent, and the whole matter was referred to her; but she did not require any time for deliberation. She promptly declared that she would not permit her husband to go and bury himself in the wilderness of Oregon, and there the proposal died.

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Politics and office seeking having been definitely put aside, Mr. Lincoln turned to his profession with greater devotion than ever before. He refused to open an office in Chicago, on the ground that city practice required an amount of office work and close confinement which his habits unfitted him for. would destroy his health, he said, and he wisely returned to the migratory work with which he had so long been familiar. He was at no time what is termed an office lawyer, the duties so indicated being turned over, as a rule, to his partner or to his associate counsel. The Eighth Judicial District contained fourteen wide-acred prairie counties, and each of these, in turn, received a visit from Mr.

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Lincoln twice a year, nearly half of his time being consumed by his absences upon the circuit. every county seat there was a circle of professional and other friends ready to welcome him, to listen eagerly for any remark he might make upon current events, and particularly to catch and repeat the little story with which he was pretty sure to point and illustrate his remarks. He took a per

sonal interest in every case placed in his hands, thoroughly enjoying its management, and seeming to care more for the contest itself than for any fee he might earn by it. In fact, his inability to charge and collect fees was still one of his weak points. The six years beginning in 1849 and ending in 1855 were in many respects the brightest part of Mr. Lincoln's life. The rebuilding of his law practice more than took care of itself, so eagerly did men seek his services, especially as a counsel for the defendant. His home, when he could be in it, was all that his simple tastes required, and Mrs. Lincoln was constantly devising improvements with which to surprise him on returning from his professional absences. She was given to hospitality, and so was he, and those who sat down at his table were apt to say something afterward about the excellence of the abundant provision, as well as the cordiality with which they had been entertained.

One son, Edwards, had died in infancy, but in 1850 a fourth, Thomas, afterward so well known as "little Tad," came to complete the home circle. It was as if hardly anything remained to be asked for, as success in life, by a man who had begun as a

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