CHAPTER XLIX. THORNS. Poisoned Arrows-The Ways of a Workingman-Western Bickerings- It is well to keep in sight the fact that the bitter opposition to the policy of the Administration had generally assumed the shape of a personal detestation of the President. Hatred has keen eyes, and it made no error in this, for he was "the Administration." No satire was too pointed, no ridicule too coarse, no calumny too vile, no vituperation too profane, to be hurled at the man whom both American and English journalists did not hesitate to describe as a "gorilla" and as "the Illinois ape." Well might even so respectable an affair as the London Punch, after his death, in 1865, print with his obituary its versified and thorough contrition for its course towards him as a man and ruler.* It is not possible to rightly measure the strength of any man without taking into account all the weights making up the burden he is carrying. It is not pleasant, now, to think of such a man exposed to such foul and cowardly abuse; but he had it all to endure daily, nevertheless. His personal manner changed but little, and whatever variations came were not caused by any thought or purpose of his own. Any special reserve, or coldness, or sternness, as well as * See Appendix. 1 any special heartiness in his greetings of men or women, was an outward expression which took care of itself, for he was no actor. From his childhood to his last days, his kindly nature came to the surface in a smile on reaching out his hand to grasp another. He could not help it. A child could stop him and get a pleasant word from him, even if he were on his way to the State Department or the War Office. Some success had been attained by Mrs. Lincoln in her efforts at securing greater care in matters of dress, but the care was almost entirely her own, he merely submitting to occasional new clothes with more docility, including gloves on state occasions. He was a man of too much good sense to despise the minor social proprieties of all sorts, but his head and heart were too full of the larger interests of his position to spare much thought for its formalities. It had not been easy to make him attend regularly to his meals in Springfield, and the difficulty increased in Washington. Towards his immediate subordinates, private secretaries, messengers, and other officials or servants, it may almost be said that he had no manner at all, he took their presence and the performance of their duties so utterly for granted. Not one of them was ever made to feel, unpleasantly, the fact of his inferior position by reason of any look or word of the President. All were well assured that they could not get a word from him unless the business which brought them to his elbow justified them in coming. The number of times that Mrs. Lincoln herself entered his business-room at the White House could probably be counted on the fingers of one hand. It is a misuse of words and a falsification of ideas to say or think that this absorption in duty and simplicity in manner implied or produced any real lack of dignity. True dignity of character can carry well what littleness breaks down under. The most superficial observer, looking in upon Lincoln and his Cabinet of uncommonly strong men, during an hour of trial and its counsels, could have had no difficulty in pointing out their unquestionable chief and leader. Mr. Lincoln, in all his public career, invariably left his personal popularity to take care of itself. He never for one moment hesitated to do the most unpopular things that were required of him by the duties of the hour. In the long-run events were pretty sure to justify his judgment, even in cases where it had gone against that of other men or contrary to local public opinion. Concerning a multitude of matters, including many of great importance, he was compelled to form his conclusions from such information as he was able to obtain from interested parties, making such allowances as he could for their prejudices. It was needful to trust largely to representations made by men whose social, political, or military position seemed to render them trustworthy and responsible witnesses. A notable instance of this occurred in the summer and fall of 1863. It had been difficult to steer a straight course among the jarring factions of Missouri and Kansas, especially because they all contained so many able and excellent men. Had each of the more prominent Union men of that section been in fact the being he was described by some equally active patriotic neighbor, Mr. Lincoln's task in the premises would have been comparatively easy. The foreign element in both States was large, and was mainly composed of German immigrants of the better classes. The New England settlers were numerous and were generally of the extreme anti-slavery type. The "old settler" element, on the other hand, was not at all anti-slavery, and a good deal of its "Union" feeling had been developed somewhat late in the day, but it was none the less important and entitled to thoughtful consideration. The "rebel sympathizers" were also numerous, and added to the difficulties of the situation the continual complications of their intrigues and conspiracies. It was simply impossible for any military commander, however competent as an "army man," to so carry himself in his management of affairs as not to get himself into trouble. Every man Mr. Lincoln sent there got in, if time were given him. From the day of General Frémont's withdrawal, varieties of discontents had exhibited themselves in many annoying ways. There were not many "leading men," Senators, Congressmen, governors, generals, or editors, from the western bank of the Mississippi and beyond, who had not at one time or another obtained an interview with the President to explain to him the goodness and wisdom of their own faction and the unmixed evil of every other. Such was the case, in a measure, with several other States and localities; but nowhere else was the difficulty quite so ingrained and irremediable. Kansas and Missouri had been a sort of battle-ground, even before the war, and they had not yet entirely ceased to be so. The troubles in the Eastern States, in the Center, in the Northwest, were pretty well overcome by the effects of the great victories and of the Draft Riot in New York. Still, the political situation could not be considered at all clear so long as the disturbances in the far West were so great and were so directly attributed to the acts of "satraps" retained in power by the President's favoritism and incapacity. The time drew near for the annual meeting, at Washington, of the Grand Council of the Union League, and the public generally was not at all aware of the fact. The disaffected politicians of Kansas and Missouri were, however, and they were all of them members of the League. The delegations from those States to the Grand Council were composed exclusively of the critics of the Administration. They included United States Senators, Representatives, and a Governor or so, and all the way across the country they addressed gatherings of people and rehearsed their story of the blunders and tyrannies of the Government. They reached the city of Washington in due time, and they attended the Grand Council. This was an admirably selected representative body of men, fresh from the people. It was an independent Congress, an important part of whose membership was entitled to seats in the other "Congress," provided for by the Constitution of the United States. The session was secret, of course, and there was no reason why men should not talk freely. Mr. Lincoln never knew-perhaps-how thoroughly his Western policy and much of his other policy was pulled in pieces in the course of that verbally stormy evening. His assailants had everything their own way at first. They labored with fiery energy. It was a desperate effort of the personal opposition in his own party to create a sentiment against him in timely preparation for the political canvass of 1864. The assault was well planned and was ably and even eloquently made, but it failed somewhat ignobly. The Kansas military management had been selected as the very worst feature of all that part of the "dictatorship and tyrannical personal despotism," but no proper preparation had been made for the manner and matter of the reply. The Council seemed to be in almost entire sympathy with the oppressed and downtrodden complainants, and no single voice had been raised in defense of the Administration. At last, however, one of the Grand Officers of the League took the stand. He simply offered evidence, written and oral, that the policy of Mr. Lincoln in Kansas, in whole and in part, had been at its outset advised and all but dictated by the very men who now assailed him for it. It was also shown that at no point from the beginning of the war had the President failed to consult with the Senators and members of Congress from both Kansas and Missouri. There was very little of what is called eloquence in such a rejoinder; but no more speeches were made, for none were needed. The Council promptly and all but unanimously, omitting the malcontents from the count, adopted a resolution approving and sustaining the Administration. It was a vote which meant a great deal at that peculiar juncture, and it was followed by yet another which was destined to produce important political fruit. This was the action of the |