Lincoln, the Politician

by T. Aaron Levy

CHAPTER XIV

LEADER OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IN ILLINOIS

Few pages in our history present a darker picture than the ruffianism of the friends of slavery in Kansas, and the retaliating spirit of its opponents. Still, the gloom is illumined by patriotic politicians, democratic slave holders and sympathizers, who sternly put duty before party. There are few more glorious incidents in our political annals than the unwavering fidelity of Robert J. Walker of Mississippi. As Governor of Kansas he lived up to his public pledges, though the offer of the Presidency of the United States was dangled before him.[333] Like Washington, himself, Walker towered above temptation. If the Mississippi statesman had held the place of Buchanan, slavery, instead of being nursed by the palsied policy of the Northern statesman, would have been startled by another Jackson, and the nation might have owed its salvation to a Southern leader instead of to the prairie politician.

In the fine language of Seward: "The ghosts on the banks of the Styx constitute a cloud scarcely more dense than the spirits of the departed Governors of Kansas, wandering in exile and sorrow for having certified the truth against falsehood in regard to the elections between Freedom and Slavery in Kansas."[334] The strange fact above all is that the admission of Kansas as a slave state against the wishes of its people was not asked for by the South. It was freely tendered to the slave dynasty by a majority of northern democrats in the executive and legislative branches of the Government.[335] And so again the North shared with the South in the zeal for spreading slavery.

The final scene in the drama was the Lecompton Constitution. Douglas then saw the fatal result that Lincoln had foretold in his June speech of 1857, when he declared that Douglas, since the famous Nebraska Bill, saw himself superseded in a presidential nomination by one generally endorsing his measure, but standing clear of the odium of its untimely agitation and its violation of the national faith; that he saw his chief aids in his own State, politically speaking, successfully tried, convicted and executed for an offense not their own, but his, and that now he saw his own case standing next on the docket for trial.[336]

Northern Democrats refused to brook longer the crime in Kansas. To refuse submission of the Constitution to that people made a mockery of the popular sovereignty of Douglas. With desperate constancy he had impressed that great principle, as he called it, on his constituency. It was now so shorn of all dignity that even a child might see it. He either had to lose Illinois or fight the policy of the administration. Once having decided to differ he took a bold stand. No Abolitionist or Republican used plainer or more impelling language: "But if this Constitution is to be forced down our throats, in violation of the fundamental principles of free government, under a mode of submission that is a mockery and insult, I will resist it to the last. I have no fear of any party associations being severed. I should regret any social or political estrangement, even temporarily; but if it must be, if I cannot act with you and preserve my faith and my honor, I will stand on the great principle of popular sovereignty, which declares the right of all people to be left perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way. I will follow that principle wherever its logical consequences may take me, and I will endeavor to defend it against assault from any and all quarters. No mortal man shall be responsible for my action but myself."[337]

The former distinction of Douglas as a slave advocate made his seeming accession to the ranks of its opponents all the more marked. Stirring stories were told of his peerless courage when Buchanan told him to remember that no Democrat ever yet differed from an administration of his own choice without being crushed, and to beware of the fate of Tallmadge and Rives.

"Mr. President," retorted Douglas, "I wish you to remember that General Jackson is dead."[338] Like an undaunted Abolitionist he flung aside all compromise, refused to accede to the English bill that many administration opponents welcomed as an exit from the dilemma of party recusancy. Many began to believe that Douglas was about to turn into a black Republican. He had stolen conferences with their leaders, inducing them to believe that it was policy for him to conceal his present real intention; that he would soon unmask himself and fight their battles. He often said that he had checked all his baggage and taken a through ticket.[339]

He convinced his foes that the Nebraska bill was a daring device in behalf of freedom. One Republican said that the plan of Douglas for destroying the Missouri line and thereby opening the way for the march of freedom beyond the limits forever prohibited and conceded to belong to the Slave States, and its march westward, from the British possessions to Mexico, struck him "as the most magnificent scheme ever conceived by the human mind." This kind of conversation made the deepest impression upon his hearers, and often changed their opinion of the man.[340]

In this way, Douglas triumphantly vindicated his policy of popular sovereignty for which he protested he was willing to devote all his talent and the remainder of his life. The very prospect of such a convert dazzled the vision of even radicals like Greeley. So these visionaries wandered in the dreamland of politics, and were eager to enter into an unholy alliance. Even shrewd leaders in the party built bridges for the entering of Douglas. It was rumored that Seward and others were in the plot.[341]