Abraham Lincoln

by William Eleroy Curtis

General Duff Green came to Springfield in December, 1860, as an emissary from President Buchanan to invite the President-elect to Washington for a conference upon the situation, with the hope that his presence there might prevent civil war, and General Green was bold enough to tell him that, if he did not go, "upon his conscience must rest the blood that would be shed." Here Lincoln's political shrewdness and diplomacy were demonstrated in as conspicuous a manner, perhaps, as at any other crisis in his life. He detected at once the intention to unload upon him the responsibility for disunion and war, and met it with a counter-proposition which must have excited the admiration of the conspirators who were trying to entrap him. He received General Green with great courtesy, heard him with respectful attention, and gave him a letter in which he said that he did not desire any amendment to the Constitution, although he recognized the right of the American people to adopt one; that he believed in maintaining inviolate the rights of each State to control its own domestic institutions; and that he considered the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory as the gravest of crimes. While those were his sentiments, and while they indicated the policy he should pursue as President, he would not consent to their publication unless the Senators from Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas would sign a pledge which he had written below his signature to this letter and upon the same piece of paper. It was a pledge "to suspend all action for the dismemberment of the Union until some act deemed to be violative of our rights shall be done by the incoming administration." Thus the responsibility was thrown back upon the representatives of the seceding States, and it is unnecessary to say that Duff Green's mission to Springfield was not considered a success by the rebel leaders. In order to protect himself, Lincoln sent a copy of his letter to Senator Trumbull, calling his attention to the fact that part of its text and all of its sentiment were copied from the Chicago platform.

By this time Lincoln had become thoroughly convinced that the Southern leaders were in earnest and that nothing could prevent the secession of their States, although he continued his efforts to reassure them and to apply every means his ingenuity could suggest to reconcile them to the situation. Notwithstanding all his anxiety, his sense of humor remained, and, as was his habit, he illustrated the situation with a story about a pious man named Brown who was on a committee to erect a bridge over a very dangerous river. They called in an engineer named Jones, who had great confidence in himself, and, after the difficulties had been explained, asked him whether he was able to build the bridge. Jones was a profane man, and replied that he would build a bridge to hell if he could get a contract, or words to that effect. The churchmen were horrified, and when the contractor retired, Brown attempted to allay their indignation by saying all the good things he could remember or invent about Jones. At the same time he was a very cautious man and would not commit himself to any doubtful proposition.

"I know Jones," he said, "and he is a man who will keep his promises. If he agrees to build a bridge to Hades he will do it, although I have my doubts about the 'butments on the infernal side."

The infinite patience exhibited by Lincoln during this period of anxious helplessness, amidst the clamors of office-seekers, the importunities of sincere but timid men who besought him to yield to the South and avoid trouble and bloodshed, the threats of his enemies, the intrigues of the politicians, the conspiracies of the disunionists, showed his strength of character and sense of discretion, and did much to establish him in the confidence of the public. He indulged neither in hope nor fear, he made no boasts, he showed no alarm, he answered neither yea nor nay, but maintained complete self-control and waited for his time to come. To intimate friends who possessed his confidence he never failed to assert his determination to maintain the Union, no matter what it cost, and to resist to the end every proposition for dissolution or dismemberment, but his words were as gentle and as kindly as they were firm.

"The right of a State to secede is not an open or debatable question," he said. "That was fully discussed in Jackson's time and denied not only by him but by the vote of Congress. It is the duty of a President to execute the laws and maintain the existing government. He cannot entertain any proposition for dissolution or dismemberment. He was not elected for any such purpose. As a matter of theoretical speculation it is probably true that if the people, with whom the whole question rests, should become tired of the present government they might change it in the manner prescribed by the Constitution."

At the same time, without being dictatorial, he kept the Republican leaders inspired with his own confidence and determination and endeavored to prevent them from the mistake of yielding to compromise or making concessions. He wrote Representative Washburne with emphasis, "Prevent our friends from demoralizing themselves and their cause by entertaining propositions for compromise of any sort on slavery extensions. There is no possible compromise upon it but what puts us under again, and all our work to do over again. On that point hold firm as a chain of steel."

To Seward he wrote, "I say now, as I have all the while said, that on the question of extending slavery I am inflexible. I am for no compromise which assists or permits the extension of the institution on soil owned by the nation."

He knew what was going on under the direction of the disloyal members of Buchanan's Cabinet. He was aware that the Northern States were being stripped of arms and ammunition and that large quantities of military stores were being sent South where they could easily be seized when the time came. He knew also that disloyal officers of the army were being placed in command of the forts and military posts in the South, and other strategical points, and he asked Washburne to present his respects to General Scott, "and tell him confidentially that I should be obliged to him to be as well prepared as he can either to hold or retake the forts as the case may require after the inauguration."

Mr. Seward and other Republican leaders were apprehensive lest an attempt be made to prevent the counting of the electoral vote and the inauguration of Lincoln. The secessionists controlled both Houses and could have prevented constitutional proceeding if they had chosen to do so, but offered no interference. Mr. Seward always claimed—and he had an excessive degree of admiration for his own acts—that a speech which he made at the Astor House in January deceived the secession leaders into permitting the vote to be canvassed and Lincoln inaugurated. "When I made that speech the electoral vote was not counted," said Mr. Seward with pride, "and I knew it never would be if Jeff Davis believed there would be war. I had to deceive Davis and I did it. That's why I said it would all be settled in sixty days."

The will of the people to make Abraham Lincoln President was carried into effect upon February 13, 1861, when the Congress of the United States met in joint session and declared him duly elected.