which nominated General Taylor for President, in 1848, and, during the campaign, visited the East, speaking at New Bedford and elsewhere. Illinois gave her vote, however, to General Cass. In 1849, Mr. Lincoln retired from Congress, where he had always maintained a dignified and respectable position. He was the unsuccessful candidate for United States Senator, General Shields having been elected.

After his retirement from Congress, Mr. Lincoln devoted himself, with greater earnestness than ever before, to the duties of his profession, and extended his business and repute. He did not reappear in the political arena until 1852, when his name was placed on the Scott electoral ticket.

In the canvass of that year, so disastrous to the Whig party throughout the country, Lincoln appeared several times before the people of his State as the advocate of Scott's claims for the Presidency. But the prospect was everywhere so disheartening, and in Illinois the cause was so utterly desperate, that the energies of the Whigs were paralyzed, and Lincoln did less in this Presidential struggle than in any in which he had ever engaged.

During that lethargy which preceded the dissolution of his party, he had almost relinquished political aspirations. Successful in his profession, happy in his home, secure in the affection of his neighbors, with books, competence, and leisure, ambition could not tempt him.

When the term of General Shields as Senator from Illinois expired in 1854, a close contest ensued in the State legislature on the choice of his successor. The Whig party was fast melting away, and the new Republican party had not yet assumed form. Mr. Lincoln was again a candidate for the Senate, but as some anti-Nebraska Democrats adhered to Mr. Trumbull, Mr. Lincoln gave way in his usual unselfish spirit, viewing the choice of Mr. Trumbull more safe than that of some less decided man.

It was in the same spirit that he declined the nomination for Governor, when tendered by the anti-Nebraska Democrats: he felt that as an old Whig campaigner he was necessarily still an object of antagonism, and till the old party lines disappeared, some men who had mingled less prominently in the arena of political strife, would be more certain of success. Governor Bissell was then nominated and elected.

When the Republican party finally took shape, and met in convention to nominate its candidates for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency, Abraham Lincoln stood so high that he was one of those at once proposed, and received one hundred and two votes for the second office. He stood at the head of the Fremont electoral ticket of Illinois, and labored for the success of that candidate, although the country was not yet prepared to adopt the Republican doctrines.

In 1858 it was determined in Illinois to give the senatorial question the form of a contest by electing a Legislature pledged either to Douglas or Lincoln. A most extraordinary canvass then ensued. The two candidates stumped the State, and at last came into the presence of each other, giving the contest all the interest of direct personal debate.

Mr. Lincoln's first speech was made at Springfield on the 17th of June, before the State convention which nominated him.

The reply made by Douglas to this speech was on the occasion of his reception at Chicago in the July following. Lincoln was present, and spoke in the same city on the next day. Two more great speeches by Douglas, and one more speech by Lincoln were made before they entered the lists in debate.

In one of those speeches, Douglas found occasion-for he was then addressing Lincoln's old friends at Springfield-to pay his tribute to the worth and greatness of his opponent:

"You all know that I am an amiable, good-natured man, and I take great pleasure in bearing testimony to the fact that Mr. Lincoln is a kind-hearted, amiable, good-natured gentleman, with whom no man has a right to pick a quarrel, even if he wanted one. He is a worthy gentleman. I have known him for twenty-five years, and there is no better citizen, and no kinder-hearted man. He is a fine lawyer, possesses high ability, and there is no objection to him, except the monstrous revolutionary doctrines with which he is identified."

On the 24th of July, Lincoln wrote to Douglas proposing debates.

The challenge was accepted, and seven debates followed, at Ottawa, Freeport, Jonesboro', Charleston, Galesburg, Quincy, and Alton. These are unsurpassed in our campaign annals for eloquence, ability, adroitness, or comprehensiveness. Mr. Doug

las represented the moderate Democracy, and Mr. Lincoln the new Republicanism. The standing of the two men, antagonists well matched, and soon to be rival candidates on a wider field, the one more polished; courtier-like, adroit; the other solid, earnest, clear-headed and persuasive, gave their words no ordinary effect on the minds of men.

Mr. Lincoln was now fully roused, and during the canvass made more than fifty speeches in other parts of Illinois, till the State fairly shook with excitement. The result, while it showed the great influence of Mr. Lincoln, proved that many still hesitated. Mr. Douglas was elected to the Senate by a small majority, effected, his opponents claimed, by the unfair districting of the State. Mr. Lincoln thought more of the cause than of personal success. Being now in the field he extended his tour to other States, following Judge Douglas to Ohio, and in Kansas exciting hearty applause. A speech on National Policy at the Cooper Institute, New York, brought him before the Republicans of that city.

The National Convention of 1860, called by the party whose interests he considered those of right and justice, was convened on the 16th of May, in the Wigwam, an immense structure erected at Chicago. Governor Morgan, of New York, called to order, and George Ashmun, of Massachusetts, was chosen permanent president. It soon became evident that the delegates of the Republican party from all parts of the Union, came prepared to select for the nomination to the Presidency, one of two men, the experienced and polished William H. Seward, of New York, or the homely, clear-headed pioneer of the West, Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois. On the first ballot Seward received 173 votes and Lincoln 102; on the second Seward received 184 and Lincoln 181, but a third ballot showed that Mr. Seward's friends yielded the contest. Mr. Lincoln received 231 votes, and on motion of W. M. Evarts, of New York, the nomination was made unanimous.

Mr. Lincoln was at Springfield at the time, and when the message was brought from the telegraph office, showed little exultation, but simply remarking that there was a little woman at his house who would be glad to hear the news, went to the quiet residence, which was soon to be made familiar to all throughout the land.

The next day the excursion train arrived in Chicago with a large number of delegates, and the Committee appointed by the Convention to make Lincoln officially acquainted with his nomination.

The deputation was received at Mr. Lincoln's house, and when the guests had assembled in the parlor, Mr. Ashmun, the President of the Convention, said:

"I have, sir, the honor in behalf of the gentlemen who are present, a Committee appointed by the Republican Convention, recently assembled at Chicago, to discharge a most pleasant duty. We have come, sir, under a vote of instructions to that Committee, to notify you that you have been selected by the Convention of the Republicans at Chicago, for President of the United States. They instruct us, sir, to notify you of that selection, and that Committee deem it not only respectful to yourself, but appropriate to the important matter which they have in hand, that they should come in person, and present to you the authentic evidence of the action of the Convention; and, sir, without any phrase which shall either be considered personally plauditory to yourself, or which shall have any reference to the principles involved in the questions which are connected with your nomination, I desire to present to you the letter which has been prepared, and which informs you of the nomination, and with it the platform, resolutions, and sentiments which the Convention adopted. Sir, at your convenience we shall be glad to receive from you such a response as it may be your pleasure to give us."

To this address Mr. Lincoln listened with grave attention, and replied:

"MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN OF THE COMMITTEE:

"I tender to you, and through you to the Republican National Convention, and all the people represented in it, my profoundest thanks for the high honor done me, which you now formally announce. Deeply, and even painfully sensible of the great responsibility which is inseparable from this high honor—a responsibility which I could almost wish had fallen upon some one of the far more eminent men and experienced statesmen whose distinguished names were before the Convention-I shall, by your leave, consider more fully the resolutions of the Convention denominated the platform, and without unnecessary or unreasonable delay, respond to you, Mr. Chairman, in writing, not doubting that the platform will be found satisfactory, and the nomination gratefully accepted.

"And now I will not longer defer the pleasure of taking you, aud each of you, by the hand."

Mr. Lincoln subsequently accepted the nomination in this formal letter:

"HON. GEORGE ASHMUN,

66

'SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, May 23, 1860.

'President of the Republican National Convention :

"Sir: I accept the nomination tendered me by the Convention over which you presided, of which I am formally apprized in the letter of yourself and others acting as a Committee of the Convention for that purpose. The declaration of principles and sentiments which accompanies your letter meets my approval, and it shall be my care not to violate it, or disregard it in any part.

'Imploring the assistance of Divine Providence, and with due regard to the views and feelings of all who were represented in the Convention, to the rights of all the states and territories and people of the nation, to the inviolability of the Constitution, and the perpetual union, harmony, and prosperity of all, I am most happy to co-operate for the practical success of the principles declared by the Convention.

"Your obliged friend and fellow-citizen,

"ABRAHAM LINCOLN."

Emerson in his eloquent remarks, given in full in this volume, expresses well the despondency felt in the East on the announcement of Mr. Lincoln's nomination. To them he was an almost unknown, an unprepossessing man, apparently ill-fitted for the gravest crisis of American history. There was little in him to excite enthusiasm, but the party took up the ticket with zeal, and Mr. Lincoln stood before the people as a candidate for the Presidency. His party selected as their nominee for the VicePresidency, Hannibal Hamlin, a Senator from Maine. The Democratic party was 'rent in twain. The violence of Southern leaders, the imperiousness of their demands, and the manifest determination on their part to drive matters to a point where no solution but civil war was possible, had alarmed many lifeong Democrats. A strong party rallied round Judge Douglas, of Illinois, believing that a moderate policy might yet secure under a Democratic President that return to calmness and reason, which was necessary for a compromise between the extreme elements agitating the country. But the action of the