manifest that the friends of minor candidates were breaking away from their men under the tremendous pressure and excitement of the hour, and that the issue lay between the leading representatives of the East and the West. It is worthy of note that Mr. Lincoln himself had remarked, some days before the Convention, that Seward or he would get the nomination.

As it pro

The call of States began upon the third ballot. As it ceeded votes flew fast from every quarter, until it was known that Mr. Lincoln had 2311, only a vote and a half less than the required number. The Convention held its breath for a moment, and then Mr. Cartter of Ohio arose to change four of the votes of that State delegation from Mr. Chase to Mr. Lincoln.

The nomination was sealed, and the great "wigwam" shook with the excited outburst that followed. No such enthusiasm could have greeted any other result, for the fire kindled at Decatur had been burning hotter and hotter every hour, and it must be said that the men of Illinois had scattered the brands of it well and zealously. Hannibal Hamlin of Maine was named for Vice-President, and the Convention shortly adjourned.

All through these proceedings Mr. Lincoln remained at Springfield. He was continually advised by his friends as to the course of events, and took a deep though undemonstrative interest in the news they sent him. He was not at all indifferent, and made no vain and weak pretense of being so; but he exhibited excellent self-control. This was not the kind of excitement which could disturb a mind so disciplined as his had been. On the great third day, when all was seemingly trembling in the balance, he chatted with friends, read dispatches, commented freely on the prospects of other candidates, but gave utterance to no opinion as to his own,-until the telegraphic announcement of the result of the second ballot was handed him. A single flash of personal feeling and human ambition

escaped him then, for, with familiar reference to his powerful rival, he exclaimed:

"I've got him!"

He was not thinking of himself too much, however. Shortly afterwards came another message informing him of his nomination.

While the streets of Springfield rang with "cheers for Lincoln" from men of all parties, proud of their friend and neighbor, he turned quietly away from their plaudits and congratulations, remarking:

"Well, gentlemen, there's a little short woman at our house who is probably more interested in this dispatch than I am; and, if you will excuse me, I will take it up and let her see it."

On the following day the appointed Committee of the Convention, headed by its president, arrived in Springfield with the formal announcement of its action. They found the man of their choice, contrary to their expectation, sad, gloomy, already depressed by the crushing burden they had come to lay upon him. He received their address with great dignity, replying in a few well-chosen sentences full of deep feeling. He promised to answer them in writing after a more careful consideration of the resolutions adopted by the Convention. The formal acceptance, made the following day, was very brief, but left nothing to be asked for in its manner or its substance. The several forces which were to contend for mastery in the political campaign of 1860 were marshaled in a manner significant of the chaotic state to which all the old party organizations had been reduced. After a vain effort to retain its longaccustomed solidity, the Democratic party had angrily split in twain. What may be called its Northern division nominated Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois for President and Herschel V. Johnson of Georgia for Vice-President. The other division-the pro-slavery, or Southern-nominated John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky for President and Joseph Lane of Oregon for Vice-President. The persistent remainder of the

old Whig party, after passing through several mutations of name and searching out vain excuses for continuance, now appeared for the last time, as the "Constitutional Union Party," under the nominal leadership of John Bell of Tennessee, as its candidate for the Presidency, and of Edward Everett of Massachusetts as a possible Vice-President. The voting population of the country had therefore an uncommonly wide discretion offered them.

CHAPTER XXV.

ELECTED PRESIDENT.

The Great Canvass of 1860-The Critical Election-Southern Threats of Civil War-Office-seekers Early-A Wise Decision-Cabinet-making— Preparing for the Trouble to Come-A Nation Without a Ruler.

DURING the political canvass which followed the Chicago Convention Mr. Lincoln remained at Springfield. It was a matter of manifest propriety that he should maintain as much reserve as was consistent with his customary frankness. He continued to meet all men freely and avoided none who desired to see or speak with him.

Those few short months were a time of feverish and hourly increasing excitement to the entire people, and most of all to the man whom the clearest-minded politicians, North and South, himself included, knew they were about to elect as their Chief Magistrate. He passed the dense and burdened days, therefore, as an intense student of all the present symptoms and probable results of that fierce fermentation.

The collision he had foreseen and prophesied twenty years before was at hand. The crisis he had more publicly formulated in his Bloomington speech was hourly drawing nearer. Hundreds of Southern orators and writers plainly declared that the election of Lincoln would precipitate the struggle he had foretold. They were the exponents of a feeling more deep and more willful than careless observers knew or would believe. Their real meaning was that they would regard such an election as their justification for themselves precipitating the struggle. It was more a threat than a warning.

Great pains were taken, by enemies as well as friends, to

keep Mr. Lincoln well advised of these hostile utterances and of all known preparations for such action as would fulfill threats. Enough of such preparation showed itself, almost publicly, to indicate its extent. Even the methods of its veiled and secret operations were from time to time suggested. For none of this treasonable agitation, or its consequences, could Mr. Lincoln hold himself in any manner responsible. It forced upon his mind, however, the necessity he was under of speedily establishing his own relations to public affairs and to the future of the country.

The popular vote was given on the 6th of November, with a result which showed that if the adversaries of the Republican party could have united upon any one candidate they would have elected him; but the same was also true of each of the four parties. The Lincoln electoral tickets received an aggregate of 1,857,610 votes; those of Mr. Douglas, 1,291,574; those of Mr. Bell, 646,124; those of Mr. Breckinridge, 850,082. The popular majority against Mr. Lincoln, if it could have been so counted, was 930,170; but would, by a like reckoning, have been much larger against either of the others.

When the Electoral Colleges of the several States came together and performed their official duties, Mr. Lincoln received 180 votes; Mr. Breckinridge, 72; Mr. Bell, 30; Mr. Douglas, 12. That, however, was but the formal declaration of a result which was already known to the whole country.

Hardly was the popular vote counted, on the 6th of November, before the current of office-seekers and other political pilgrims to Springfield swelled rapidly to a sort of flood, and an important part of Mr. Lincoln's Presidential powers and perplexities at once demanded his attention.

It was popularly taken for granted, at the first, that the incumbents of all federal offices would presently be removed and that their places would be filled by new men, selected from the victorious party. Mr. Lincoln had been thinking of this. He understood the situation and the strength it brought