on the 16th of may the republican convention assembled in chicago. considered with reference to its outcome, no more important convention had assembled since the organization of the government. though this could not be realized at the time, its deliberations were followed with great interest all over the country. the opponents of the slave power were, for the first time, to make a formidable effort to prevent its extension and indefinite perpetuation.
of course, there had been more or less electioneering in advance. half a dozen candidates were in the field; but there were two who were recognized as leading in strength and popularity. these were william h. seward and abraham lincoln. the former, in length and variety of public service, in general culture, and national{174} reputation, was far superior. it was felt that he would make an admirable candidate, and that he deserved the nomination; but there were many who were strongly opposed to him. three important states—pennsylvania, new jersey, and indiana—declared that, as against douglas, they could do nothing if seward were the nominee. illinois, of course, was for lincoln, and this giant of the western prairies enjoyed a popularity which his more experienced competitor could not boast. yet for the first two days seward’s chances seemed the better of the two. the other candidates whose names were presented to the convention were mr. dayton, of new jersey; mr. cameron, of pennsylvania; edward bates, of missouri; and ohio offered two distinguished sons—salmon p. chase and john mclean.
on the first and second ballots mr. seward led; but, on the third, mr. lincoln lacked but a vote and a half of the number necessary to make him the nominee. an ohio delegate rose and changed four votes from chase to lincoln. this was sufficient. he was nominated. the vast building shook with the cheers of the dense throng. state{175} after state changed its vote to the man of destiny, and his nomination was made unanimous. in the afternoon, hannibal hamlin, of maine, was nominated for vice-president.
meanwhile mr. lincoln was in springfield, bearing the suspense as well as he could. my boy readers will be interested to know that he spent a considerable part of his time in playing baseball, his mind being too preoccupied to do his ordinary work. dispatches were received from time to time, but nothing decisive.
mr. lincoln and some of his friends were waiting in the office of the journal when the local editor rushed in, in a fever of excitement.
“what’s the news?” was the breathless inquiry.
“the convention has made a nomination,” he said, “and mr. seward——”
a look of intense disappointment was beginning to show itself on the faces of the listeners. they supposed that seward was nominated.
“and seward is—the second man on the list,” continued the editor.
he could no longer restrain himself. jumping on the editorial table, he shouted, “gentlemen, i{176} propose three cheers for abraham lincoln, the next president of the united states.”
the cheers were given with a will.
the dispatch was handed to mr. lincoln, who read it quietly.
then he put it in his pocket, saying, “there is a little woman on eighth street who will be interested to hear this,” and he walked home.
in springfield the news excited the greatest enthusiasm. all knew and loved abraham lincoln. he set himself above no one, but greeted all with cordial kindness. the nomination was felt to be a personal compliment to springfield. the country had come to them for a president, and to the man above all others whom they would personally have selected.
that day mr. lincoln had to keep open house. his modest residence proved quite too small to contain the crowds who wanted to enter and shake hands with the man who had become so suddenly of national importance. they received a cordial welcome; and no one could detect in the nominee any unusual elation nor any deviation from his usual plain and modest deportment.{177}
the next day mr. lincoln was formally notified of his election by a committee of the convention, with mr. ashmun at the head. this was his response:
“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 and 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, and each of you, by the hand.”
let us consider who were mr. lincoln’s rivals{178} in the presidential race. usually there are but two tickets in the field. this time there were four. first in order of time had come the national constitutional union convention, made up largely of old whigs. at this convention john bell, of tennessee, was nominated for president, and edward everett, of massachusetts, for vice-president. the democratic national convention had met at charleston, but adjourned without deciding upon a candidate. mr. douglas was the most prominent man before it, but extreme southerners doubted his entire devotion to slavery, and he was unable to obtain the necessary two-thirds vote. the two factions into which the convention split afterward met: the one at baltimore, the other at richmond. at the baltimore convention stephen a. douglas was nominated for president, and mr. johnson, of georgia, for vice-president. at the richmond convention of southern seceders, john c. breckinridge, of kentucky, and joseph lane, of oregon, were selected as standard-bearers.
in this division of the democracy lay the hope of the new republican party. with the democracy united they would have been unable to{179} cope; but they were stronger than either faction. when the eventful 6th of november arrived, the result was what might have been anticipated. abraham lincoln, the poor boy whose fortunes we have so long followed, reached the highest step of political preferment. he received 1,857,610 votes; mr. douglas came next, with 1,291,574; while mr. breckinridge could muster only 850,082; mr. bell secured 646,124. of the electoral votes, however, mr. lincoln received a majority, namely, 180 out of 292.
to go back a little. from the day of mr. lincoln’s nomination he was beset by callers—some drawn by curiosity, and many by considerations of private interest. they found him the same unaffected, plain man that he had always been. he even answered the door-bell himself, and personally ushered visitors in and out. my readers will be interested in two anecdotes of this time, which i transcribe from the interesting volume of dr. holland, already more than once referred to:
“mr. lincoln being seated in conversation with a gentleman one day, two raw, plainly-dressed young ‘suckers’ entered the room and bashfully{180} lingered near the door. as soon as he observed them and apprehended their embarrassment, he rose and walked to them, saying, ‘how do you do, my good fellows? what can i do for you? will you sit down?’
“the spokesman of the pair, the shorter of the two, declined to sit, and explained the object of the call thus: he had had a talk about the relative height of mr. lincoln and his companion, and had asserted his belief that they were of exactly the same height. he had come in to verify his judgment. mr. lincoln smiled, went and got his cane, and, placing the end of it upon the wall, said, ‘here, young man, come under here.’
“the young man came under the cane, as mr. lincoln held it, and when it was perfectly adjusted to his height, mr. lincoln said, ‘now come out, and hold up the cane.’ this he did, while mr. lincoln stepped under. rubbing his head back and forth to see that it worked easily under the measurement, he stepped out, and declared to the sagacious fellow who was curiously looking on, that he had guessed with remarkable accuracy—that he and the young man were exactly{181} of the same height. then he shook hands with them, and sent them on their way. mr. lincoln would just as soon have thought of cutting off his right hand as he would have thought of turning those boys away with the impression that they had in any way insulted his dignity.
“they had hardly disappeared when an old and modestly-dressed woman made her appearance. she knew mr. lincoln, but mr lincoln did not at first recognize her. then she undertook to recall to his memory certain incidents connected with his ride upon the circuit—especially upon his dining at her house upon the road at different times. then he remembered her and her home. having fixed her own place in her recollection, she tried to recall to him a certain scanty dinner of bread and milk that he once ate at her house. he could not remember it; on the contrary, he only remembered that he had always fared well at her house. ‘well,’ said she, ‘one day you came along after we had got through dinner, and we had eaten up everything, and i could give you nothing but a bowl of bread and milk; and you ate it; and when you got up you said it was good enough for the president of the{182} united states.’ the good old woman, remembering the remark, had come in from the country, making a journey of eight or ten miles, to relate to mr. lincoln this incident, which, in her mind, had doubtless taken the form of prophecy. mr. lincoln placed the honest creature at her ease, chatted with her of old times, and dismissed her in the most happy and complacent frame of mind.”
