Abraham Lincoln

by William Eleroy Curtis

It would seem from other remarks made at the time that he was planning another fight with Douglas and had the patience to wait six years to renew the contest. He wrote several friends that he intended to fight in the ranks, and declined to be a candidate for the Senate against Trumbull; but while he was writing those letters, about January 1, 1860, there was a conference at Springfield of the Republican leaders of the State, said to have been called by Mr. Norman B. Judd, at which a serious and organized effort was begun to secure his nomination. One of the gentlemen present says, "We asked him if his name might be used in connection with the nomination. With characteristic modesty, he doubted whether he could get the nomination even if he wished it, and asked until the next morning to answer us whether his name might be announced. The next day he authorized us, if we thought proper to do so, 'to place him in the field.' In answer to a question whether he would accept a nomination for Vice-President if he could not be put on the first place on the ticket, he replied that if his name were used for the office of President he would not permit it to be used for any other office, no matter how honorable it might be."

From this time Lincoln exerted every proper means to secure success. He did not repose idly in his Springfield office and allow his friends to do the work, but was quite as active and vigilant in his own behalf as any of his supporters, and managed the campaign himself. He had no funds, however, no literary bureau, no head-quarters or personal organization; nearly every letter he sent out on the subject was written with his own hand, and he used plain and characteristic language asking for the support of his friends in Illinois and other States. Whether his intention was to disarm jealousy, or whether he actually believed that his nomination was impossible, he intimated to several of his correspondents that he desired to make a brave show at the Chicago Convention because of the prestige it would give him in his future fight for the Senate. And to another he wrote, "I am not in a position where it would hurt much for me not to be nominated on the national ticket, but I am where it would hurt some for me not to get the Illinois delegates."

He even sent money from his own small means to pay the expenses of friends who were working in his interest. On March 10, 1860, he wrote to a gentleman in Kansas, "Allow me to say that I cannot enter the ring on the money basis,—first, because in the main it is wrong; and secondly, I have not and cannot get the money. I say in the main the use of money is wrong, but for certain objects in a political contest is both right and indispensable. With me, as with yourself, this long struggle has been one of great pecuniary loss. I now distinctly say this; if you shall be appointed a delegate to Chicago I will furnish one hundred dollars to bear the expense of the trip."

Nevertheless, Kansas instructed her delegation for Seward, whereupon Lincoln wrote a consoling letter to his friends and said, "Don't stir them up to anger, but come along to the Convention and I will do as I said about expenses." There is nothing to show whether the offer was accepted, but, with his usual gratitude for favors received or intended, he appointed his Kansas friend to a lucrative office within ten days after his inauguration, and frequently consulted him about the patronage in that State.

The Illinois State Convention gave Lincoln a hearty endorsement and sent an enthusiastic delegation to Chicago composed of personal friends of great ability, political experience, and personal influence, and by a combination with Chase from Ohio, Cameron from Pennsylvania, Bates from Missouri, and other anti-Seward candidates, he was nominated for the office of President of the United States. The credit of his success was claimed by many; several accounts of bargains have passed into history, and other fictitious explanations for his nomination have been printed from time to time, but we have the authority of David Davis, Norman B. Judd, and other friends who were authorized to speak for him, as well as his own testimony, that after the Convention adjourned he was free from all obligations except the gratitude he was glad to offer to his supporters.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S HOUSE AT SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS

The tree in front of the house was planted by Lincoln

The evening of the second day after the nomination brought to Springfield a committee of notification composed of some of the most distinguished men of that day and others who were destined to play a conspicuous part in national affairs. George Ashmun, of Massachusetts, was the chairman; Governor Boutwell, afterwards United States Senator and Secretary of the Treasury; Samuel Bowles, editor of the Springfield Republican; Carl Schurz, of Wisconsin; Gideon Welles, of Connecticut; Amos Tuck, of New Hampshire; William M. Evarts and Governor Edwin D. Morgan, of New York; "Pig-Iron" Kelley, of Pennsylvania; Francis P. Blair, of Missouri; and others were of the party. Most of them were disappointed at the result of the Convention and distrustful of the strength and ability of the prairie lawyer as a candidate. He received them, however, with simple dignity. They were invited to deliver their message at his modest home, and appeared there a few moments after their arrival in Springfield, to find him surrounded by his family and a few intimate friends. They saw a man of unprepossessing appearance, with long limbs, large hands and feet, stooping shoulders, coarse features, and a shock of rebellious hair. He was the last man in the world, perhaps, to judge by appearances, that this committee would have chosen as a Presidential candidate; but when he began to speak in reply to Mr. Ashmun, a change seemed to come over him. The rugged face and awkward figure were transformed, and the members of the committee recognized at once that they were in the presence of a man who was master of himself and possessed a strength they had not suspected. And when they left Springfield, almost without exception, they were convinced of the wisdom of his nomination.

The opposing candidates prepared long letters of acceptance explanatory of their views and defining their purposes, but Lincoln had already recognized the wisdom of reticence, and the night of his nomination, standing in his own doorway, he told his neighbors and friends who called to congratulate him and demanded a speech that "the time comes upon every man when it is best to keep his lips closed. That time has come to me." Hence his letter of acceptance was the briefest ever written by a Presidential candidate. After one formal introductory phrase, it reads: