CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY GIFT OF President J. G. Schurman Cornell University Library PS 1260.C13I6 The mini :a story of the. Pralrles /b' 3 1924 022 086 023 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924022086023 £3C-iS-C ^/n THE ILLINI ^^ J^LfJlj '>— ' /^^^^^^W<. /^^V^. THE ILLINI A STORY OF THE PRAIRIES BY CLARK E^^CARR fflTH TfVENrr-ONE FULL-PAGE PORTRAITS The word Illinois comes from the Indian Illini, signifying a complete, finished, and perfect Man, imbued with the spirit and bravery of the men of every nation that ever lived. Father Hennepin. SIXTH EDITION CHICAGO A. C. McCLURG & CO. I 906 PS ^Ht'i ^■u. Copyrighted By Clark E. Carr A. D. igo4 Published Dec. i, I904 Second Edition, Dec. 20, 1904 Third Edition, Dec. 31, 1904 Fourth Edition, July 31, 1905 Fifth Edition, June 7, 1906. Sixth Edition, Sept. i, 1906. ^'^. X^ S'cWrmeL^f^ Composition by The Dial PresSj Chicago. Presitvork by R. R. Donnelley <^^ Son > Co.yChicago. TO THE MEMORY OF HIS LAMENTED SON CLARK MILLS CARR THIS WORK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR JUST A WORD 'T^HE author of the following pages has endeavored, by inter- weaving fact with fiction, to give his conception of the posi- tion and influence of Illinois among the sisterhood of States, as well as his estimate of events, and of those Illinoisans who were conspicuous actors in them, from 1850, when the Fugitive-slave law was enacted, to the opening of the Civil War. In consider- ing this most important period, while he has given especial prom- inence to Illinois and to her sons, he has sought to show that their chief glory is in their relations with and devotion to the whole great Nation. Availing himself of the license usually accorded a writer of fic- tion, the author has created situations in which he makes real characters appear, with the purpose of placing those characters more vividly before the reader than would have been possible had he confined himself, as must the historian, to a narrative of events and incidents as they actually occurred. He hopes, however, that these are so set forth that the reader will have little difficulty in distinguishing between those that are real and those that are created to make his purpose more effective. In his treatment of historic events and personages, it must be understood that the author does not assume that his views and judgments are infallible. Living in Illinois for a full half-century, and during all that period connected more or less intimately with public affairs and public men, especially those of the Republican party, his studies have been made and his material collected chiefly at first hand. While with sincerity of purpose he has sought to make his treatment and portrayal fair and impartial, he recognizes the influence of personal relations and the fallibility of viii Just a Word human judgments. He will be glad to be corrected whenever he is found in error, and will always welcome just criticism in the hope that other survivors of the times of which he writes may be led to give their recollections and estimates of men and measures, and thus further illumine the grandest epoch in the history of our State and Nation. C. E. C. Galesburg, Illinois, October, ig04. CONTENTS BOOK I.— THE PIONEER CHAPTER PAGE 1. "Where are you from?" 15 II. General Silverton, of Illinois .... 18 III., A Political Outbreak 21 IV. HoBBS THE Overseer 24 V. Stephen A. Douglas 29 VI. Rose Silverton 33 VII. Chicago in 1850 40 VIII. "A CuRis Young Feller" 47 IX. The Prairies 51 X. The Abolitionist Preacher 53 XI. The Beginnings of Romance 55 XII. An Adventure on the Prairie .... 58 XIII. "A Runaway Nigger" 61 XIV. The Underground Railway in Illinois . 67 XV. The Story of a Fugitive Slave .... 70 XVI. A Home in Illinois 76 XVII. "Movers" 79 XVIII. Some Distinguished Visitors 81 XIX. Early Times in Illinois 85 XX. Galesburg 89 XXI. Work and Play 91 XXII. Abe Lincoln 97 XXIII. The Letter from Canada 98 XXIV. An Apparently Hopeless Struggle . . loi XXV. People and Politics in 1852 106 XXVI. A Mississippi Steamboat Trip 109 XXVII. A Visit TO Pike County 113 XXVIII. The Grange 116 XXIX. "The Little Giant" 124 XXX. The Nursery of Great Men ..... 136 CHAPTER XXXI. XXXII. XXXIII. XXXIV. Contents PAGE Undesirable Acquaintances 141 Figures on the Public Stage 144 A Stranger who Liked Fine Horses . . 151 The Creole Invasion of New Orleans . 156 BOOK II.— POLITICAL UPHEAVAL I. The Birth of a Great Party . . . . 161 II. A Discovery and a Disappearance . . . i6g III. The State Fair 171 IV. Old Acquaintances at Springfield . . 178 V. A Memorable Evening 182 VI. Douglas Expounds "Popular Sovereignty" 191 VII. Various Exhibits at the Fair .... 196 VIII. Lincoln Replies to Douglas 201 IX. Fond Farewells 208 X. The General's Story 212 XI. Inside Views of Illinois Politics . . . 219 Xll. The Bloomington Convention of 1856, AND Mr. Lincoln's "Lost Speech" . 225 XIII. Paul Percival 232 XIV. Colonel Besanqon 234 XV. Story of a Miniature 239 XVI. Choosing Political Champions .... 250 XVII. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates .... 254 XVIII. Presidential Candidates 265 XIX. Republican National Convention of i860 270 XX. With Old Friends at The Grange . . 285 XXI. The Political Campaign of i860 . . . 299 XXII. The Gathering Storm — Treason in Illinois 308 XXIII. News of the Fugitive 317 XXIV. From Illinois to Washington .... 319 XXV. The Inauguration of President Lincoln 325 XXVI. A Study in Psychology 337 XXVII. The Shaping of Public Sentiment ... 345 XXVIII. Dark Days of the Republic .... 349 Contents XI BOOK III. — IN WAR-TIME CHAPTER PAGE I. The Awakening of the North .... 353 II. The Soldier's Friend 358 III. Captain Grant of Galena 360 IV. Some Illinois War Heroes 363 V. Our Greatest Volunteer Soldier . . . 370 VI. A Glimpse of the Fugitive 376 VII. The Evolution of a Copperhead . . . 379 VIII. A Meal for Taurus 383 IX. The Battle of Pea Ridge 385 X. A Letter from the Front 389 XI. The Tennessee and Cumberland Cam- paigns 391 XII. The Battle of Shiloh 393 XIII. Illinois Cares for her Wounded Heroes 399 XIV. Governor Yates at Shiloh 406 XV. The Wounded Orderly 410 XVI. Back to the Battlefield 417 XVII. The Conqueror of Himself 420 XVIII. Colonel Paul Percival 422 XIX. A Surprise and a Revelation .... 426 XX. A Headquarters Dinner Party .... 432 XXI. The Home-Coming 435 XXII. Story of the Wanderer 437 XXIII. Welcome to The Grange 442 XXIV. The Lilies of France 451 XXV. An Humble Confession 456 XXVI. Clouds and Darkness 458 XXVII. Dawn 460 LIST OF PORTRAITS Clark E. Carr Frontispiece Stephen A. Douglas facinz 30 John Wentworth " 44 Owen Lovejoy " 54 O. H. Browning " 82 Abraham Lincoln ........... " 102 John Hay " 138 Jonathan Blanchard " 164 Lyman Trumbull " 176 David Davis " 188 Richard J. Oglesby " 200 Norman B. Judd ..... " 220 John M. Palmer " 226 Leonard Swett " 248 Joseph Medill ,.,,.. " 276 Robert G. Ingersoll " 302 Shelby M. Cullom " 310 Richard Yates , , . . . " 358 John A. Logan . ..... ..." 370 General Eugene A. Carr " 388 U. S. Grant " 420 THE ILLINI BOOK I. — THE PIONEER CHAPTER I. "WHERE ARE YOU FROM?" I WAS born in a beautiful valley of Western New York, — more beautiful to me than any other I have ever seen. In my wanderings I have visited the "Blue Juniata," the Yosemite, the Vale of Chamouni, and many other valleys of picturesque and sublime beauty; but I have never found another that held so much of charm for me as that in which I was born. Before I was thirteen years of age, I had never passed outside the limits of that beautiful valley. I remember, when I was a boy, looking up from the valley which was my world, at the hills on either side, clothed with the verdure of growing grass and grain, and crowned by lofty pines and hemlocks and oaks and beeches, and wondering what there was beyond. In my wander- ings since these happy days, there has often come over me an inexpressible longing for the old valley. I never hear such songs as "The Old Oaken Bucket," "Ben Bolt," "I wandered to the Village, Tom," "In the Valley I would dwell," and ballads of kindred nature, but they recalled to me the scenes I loved and revelled in as a boy, in that lovely valley. At the time when my story begins, my father, like many of the people of that region, was seized with what is commonly called "the Western Fever," — a fever of ambition and unrest which has caused so many adventurous Americans to leave their homes and seek for better fortunes in the new lands lying toward the setting sun. He had read with eager interest many accounts of the wonderful regions of the West, and of the possibihties of their development. In his reading, he had become more inter- ested in Illinois than in other States. He was impressed with the 1 6 The mini advantages of her geographical position, extending from the Great Lakes down to the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, almost into the centre of the Southern States. Feeling, as he did, an abhorrence of human slavery, he was interested in the history of Illinois, a State dedicated forever to freedom by the Ordinance of 1787; and his interest was heightened by the fact that after she became a sovereign State, when it seemed to be for her interest to annul the sacred provision of that Ordinance, and when there were those who sought to amend her constitution so as to permit the iniquity of human slavery, her conscientious citizens arose and by their votes sustained the Ordinance and re-dedicated the commonwealth to freedom. My father read also many interesting facts about the subse- quent history of Illinois, — how, through a system of internal improvements, the building of canals and railways to develop her resources, the State had gone so far beyond her means as to be- come, as it seemed, hopelessly bankrupt ; and when, in her dire extremity, it was declared that she could not pay her debts, and must repudiate them to avert inevitable ruin, the people arose anci declared that " if it takes our lands and our homes, and strips us of everything, we will pay the debt, we will not live in a State that repudiates," and they put a provision into their constitution making it obligatory to pay oS the obligation, and thus rees- tablished the credit of the commonwealth, and saved their State from the blight of repudiation, as they had before saved it from the curse of human slavery. The decision to go west" was not made, in my father's family, in a day nor in a year. The question was considered at our fireside long and thoroughly. Other new States in the Mis- sissippi Valley had their attractions and advantages, but when- ever the question was considered my father would always finally declare in favor of Illinois. At last the important matter was settled, and we prepared for our departure. I will not linger over the pangs of separation from relatives and friends. They have been the experience of most of the elderly men and women of Illinois, who have broken away from friends and kindred as dear to them as were ours to us. Those of us who have passed middle life still feel the same afiec- The Pioneer 17 tion for the regions from which we were separated, — the New England, the Middle, and the Southern States, and even the countries of Europe, — that we felt when we were torn away from them. Men and women who have lived in Illinois for forty years or more still speak of the old places where they were born as " home." " I had a letter from home," " I was back home this summer," " I want to go back home next year," — such are the expressions indicating the old love and interest. And so our own children who have gone on farther west, even to the Pacific coast, still speak of Illinois as " home." This home" feeling cannot be overestimated in its effect upon the nation. The older States are bound to the new by their interest in their children who have gone so far away, and the new States are bound to the old by their interest in the dear ones who are left behind. Through our great lines of travel, the nation is bound together literally by bands of steel ; but steel is not so strong nor so enduring as the "mystic chords of affection stretching from every hearthstone in this broad land." There were no railways at the time of which I write, and my father decided to make the journey to Chicago by a voyage around the lakes. Accordingly, early in the month of March, 1850, we found ourselves on board the steamboat " Empire State," Captain Hazard, sailing out of the harbor of Buffalo. To make the voyage "around the lakes" was a great journey in those days. I was interested in everything pertaining to what seemed to me a great steamship, and still more in the people whom I saw about me. In leaving for the first time the dear old valley where my life till then had been passed, I was entering upon a great new world of thought and action. The passengers on the steamer were, most of them, hke our- selves, emigrating to the West. I remember their greetings. Invariably after the first salutations came the question, "Where are you from?" In my life on the prairies I have often heard that question asked by those who for the first time greeted each other ; for, as I have said, nearly everybody in Illinois, of advanced age, is from somewhere. On the boat, after the question of "Where are you from?" was answered, came at once another: "Where are you going?" 2 1 8 The mini And out of these questions came the consideration of matters that awakened the liveliest interest in my boyish nature. I had read little, but from the time I could run about I had attended school ; I knew something of geography, and had a very good idea of the location and boundaries and the physical characteristics of most of the States of the Union, and had learned a good deal in regard to them from hearing my father read his newspaper. To meet men and women and children from various places, who had just torn themselves away from their old homes,, as we had torn ourselves from ours, was something marvellous to me. And the accounts of the new States to which we were going by those who had really been there, with the speculations as to what we should find there for ourselves, were intensely exciting. I dreamed every night of prairie fires, of wolves, and of the chase ; and although the feats I then accomplished, in shooting buffalo, deer, antelope, prairie chicken, quail, and wild geese and ducks, were never half realized, yet I afterwards became fairly successful in the pursuit of game. There were on board our steamer a few passengers for Northern Ohio and Indiana, others for Michigan, some for Iowa, a number for Wisconsin, and many who, like ourselves, were making their way to Illinois. There were two families going to California, attracted by the gold discoveries made there only a year before. I remember that my father was almost persuaded to cast his for- tunes with them, and make the long journey across the continent to the new Eldorado, as so many did in those days of forty-nine and fifty ; but he could not quite give up his long-cherished plan of making his home in Illinois. CHAPTER II. GENERAL SILVERTON, OF ILLINOIS \]l /"HEN we first seated ourselves at the steamer's dinner-table, ' ' with the Captain at its head, my father and my mother and I were placed at his left, and a vacant place was reserved at his right, until the steward had conducted an impressive looking The Pioneer 19 gentleman down from the ladies' cabin and seated him there. The Captain, saluting him, presented him to the other guests, but few of whom he knew, as " General Silverton, of Illinois." The General extended his hand to my father across the table, as he expressed his pleasure at the meeting, in the same breath directing the inevitable inquiry to my father, " Where are you from, sir ? " My father answered him, adding, "Then you. General Sil- verton, are of Illinois ? " "I am, sir," was the reply; " and I assure you I am proud of it. There is no such State in the Union. Illinois is certain to become a great State, sir." " How about Chicago ? " asked my father. " A city, sir," replied the General, " a city already; and such trade I — teams coming in every day loaded with produce. Why, the very day I left there over a hundred head of cattle were sold in Chicago. You and I, sir, will live to see fifty thousand inhab- itants in Chicago; and that boy of yours," looking at me, "will live to see it have twice that number. It has nearly twenty thousand now." My father askea concerning the State outside of Chicago. The General replied, " Now, sir, you are asking me of what I know something about. You never saw such land ! — rich black soil, six feet deep. Talk about fertilizing land! — it will never be needed in Illinois. We never think of it." My father asked about the timber. "Plenty of timber," answered the General, "for all that come. There are groves in all directions, — plenty of them for people to settle in for a hundred years." • " But what about those great prairies ? " asked my father. "Blue sky, sir, only blue sky. Don't make the mistake of trying to make a home away from timber. You must have fire- wood. The prairies can never be anything but cattle ranges." " So you think. General, that Chicago will be the great city of Illinois ? " my father asked. " Not at all, sir; not at all. Chicago will be a great city, but Cairo will be the great city. Look at her position, on the great Father of Waters, at its confluence with the Ohio ! Think of the 20 The mini trade and commerce that is already coming up the Mi'-sissippi, from New Orleans and all the ports of the South ! Think of all that comes down the Ohio from Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Louisville, and the other cities, besides what comes from the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. Think of all that will come down from the upper Mississippi and the Missouri, — and all this to meet at Cairo ! It will be the largest city on this continent ; and the time is sure to come when Cairo will be the largest city in the world." Thereupon the conversation became general, and many opin- ions were expressed ; but no one ventured to differ from General Silverton as to the future of Illinois and of her two great cities. I quickly became much interested in General Silverton. We learned that he was a very prominent man in Illinois, that he had a large property, lived in luxury for those days, and was famed far and wide for his hospitality. He had but a short time before been an officer in the Mormon war, and appeared quite distinguished. He was of medium height, and his figure was neat and trim. His face was full and florid ; he had wavy thick auburn hair, quite long, which surmounted a broad forehead and kindly brown eyes. He always appeared at dinner in evening dress, and, according to the fashion of those days, wore an immaculate ruffled shirt bosom. The favorite place for the gentlemen to assemble was in the smoking-room of the steamer. As I was allowed to go every- where, I frequently found myself in that room. The General was usually seated at a table, with a decanter of whiskey before him, from which he poured out his libations, inviting everybody to join him. I noticed that he really drank sparingly of the liquor ; he would pour out scarcely a spoonful, fill the glass with water, and sip for a long time. My father never indulged in liquor, but was glad to be in the room to Ijear the conversation and take part in it. One afternoon, when a party was playing a game of cards, which I afterwards learned was poker, at another table, an animated discussion was carried on regarding the so-called " com- promise measures" then before Congress. The General lauded the measures without reserve, as well as the men who favored them, especially Henry Clay, who had the measures in charge. My father had been for many years a supporter of the Great The Pioneer 21 Kentuckian, and was pleased to hear him so enthusiastically commended ; but he was very decidedly opposed to one of the compromise measures, — the fugitive-slave bill. He ventured to show his disapprobation of this measure ; whereupon the General expressed his surprise and regret that any intelligent gentleman should look with disfavor on so wise and just and necessary a measure, and went on at considerable length to tell of how much "property" the Southern people had lost during the last few years ; how, even in Illinois, there were men ready to aid fugitives who had escaped from their masters to run away to Canada, and said that in Illinois there were regular nests of Abolitionists, — one at Galesburg, another at Princeton, another at Farmington, another at Geneseo, another at St. Charles, hundreds of them in Chicago, and at many other places, who made it their business to help negro slaves escape to Canada. He denounced these men and their acts, and declared it was high time they should be put a stop to. CHAPTER III. A POLITICAL OUTBREAK AS General Silverton finished his outburst, my father said: " But, General, the difficulty with this bill is that it makes every one of us a slave-catcher. If a slave is running by my house or yours, the United States Marshal may, under this bill, call upon you and me to help catch him, and we must obey the sum- mons. It's an outrage; and I am ready to give them all notice, now and forever, that all the power of the Government can never make me a slave-catcher! My sympathies are, and always have been, with the poor negro slave." As my father made this declaration, everyone in the room looked at him with astonishment. The players at the table laid down their cards, and looked at him, with the rest. Finally one of those players exclaimed, " G— d d— n a nigger, and G— d d— n any man who won't d — n a nigger ! " My father sprang to his feet, and I expected trouble; but the 22 The mini General arose and laid his hand on his shoulder and said, My dear sir, don't mind it. You can't afford to fight Bill Hobbs. He 's my overseer. He 's now taking care of my cattle. He 's not a gentleman. I'll attend to him," and turning to the man, he said, " Hobbs, go below and look after the stock! " And Hobbs obeyed. The General and my father then quietly resumed the discus- sion. The General said, "My dear sir, I know something of your feelings, for this is not the first time I have met men from the North who have had no relations with Southern gentlemen and with negro slaves. I have discussed this subject at many fire- sides in the Northern States, and I may add in other lands. I do not expect to change or even modify your views, by anything I may say ; but I do hope to make you feel that I, and those who think as I do, are as sincere and honest in our views as you are in yours. We are patriots, and loyal to our country ; and we feel that such sentiments as you have expressed are disloyal in their tendency. I do not intend to imply that I look upon you as dis- loyal, or that you would not make as great sacrifices as I would for our common country ; but I do say that in my opinion such sentiments as you express will, if they become general throughout the North, in the end disrupt the Union. You saw just now how they affected my man ; and while not always expressed in that way, a similar feeling prevails throughout Illinois, where I have lived for years, and where you are going. We do not have slavery in lUinois, and we do not want it ; but it is not because of any namby-pamby sentimentality in regard to the negro. We believe that he is far better off in slavery, with an intelligent master to care for him, than he can possibly be if left to shift for himself." I had become deeply interested in this view of the m^atter, and wondered how my father would answer the argument. He did not reply for a few moments ; finally he said : " General, I do not wish to be offensive, but I must say in all candor that, as it looks to me, this talk about the dissolution of the Union is absurd. We look upon it as simply a bluff by the slave-holders to frighten us. They have been openly threatening to dissolve the Union ever since the Constitution was adopted. This has been going on for more than a half a century. When the South wanted The Pioneer 23 more slave territory, or more concessions, these threats were always revived. This was the case in 1820, and again in 1832, when General Jackson so effectually put Mr. Calhoun down ; it is the same now, when the South wants the fugitive slave bill, to make us in the North slave-catchers ; it will be the same always when the South wants a new concession for slavery. It has been going on all these years; and still the South is no nearer secession than when the doctrine was first proclaimed. It has frightened many of our Northern 'doughfaces,' but the South should understand that the North cannot be intimidated in that way. You ask me to say nothing about the iniquity of slavery; but I am an Amer- ican citizen, and have the right of free speech ; and when you say or intimate that I may not fully and freely express my beliefs on this or any other political question, you deprive me of my liberty. Besides, if slavery is right there is more reason why it should be freely and publicly considered. It is the confession of the weak- ness of their cause for the slave-holders to object to having it talked about. Illinois, as you say, is a free State. When I get there, I expect to be free ; and, with due regard for the rights of others, and to such courteous gentlemen as you have shown your- self to be, I intend to express my views as freely as I now express them to you. Illinois has shown her opinion of slavery by declar- ing against it. What first attracted me to that splendid people was the noble position they took on this question. Whatever may be the feeling of individuals, there can certainly be no wide- spread prejudice in such a State against the negro." "You are right as to the sentiment of the people of Illinois regarding slavery," replied the General. "We recognize its evils now, as our earliest settlers recognized them. We are most of us from the South ; yes, ninety per cent of our people are from that section, though the ratio is rapidly changing with the advert of people from the Northern States who are just now coming among us in great numbers. We know what slavery is, and we know what negroes are. You are entirely in error as to our feelings in regard to the negro race. While we don't want slaves, except those who have been in our famiHes from childhood, we do not want and will not have negroes among us at all. The prejudice against negroes in Illinois is a hundred-fold more intense than it is 24 The mini in the slave States. Why, my dear sir, we have only just now, within two years, adopted a new constitution, providing that only white men can become citizens ; and so intense is the feeling that we have put into that constitution a provision forever prohibiting free negroes from coming into the State. We adopted this con- stitution by an immense majority, and to carry it into effect our Legislature has passed laws, called by the Abolitionists the " black laws," providing severe punishment for every free negro who shall set his foot upon the soil of Illinois, and for anyone who brings him there. You will understand how intense this prejudice is, when you yourself become a citizen of Illinois. You will find that the great mass of the people, however they may express them- selves, are no less prejudiced against the negro than is my man Hobbs, who so rudely answered you." CHAPTER IV. HOBBS THE OVERSEER WE had taken with us on the vessel our household goods, furniture, etc., which were carefully packed for the journey. We had also taken our carriage horses, which were placed care- fully with other stock on the lower deck. I was very much attached to these horses, and as soon as opportunity offered I went below to pat and fondle them. They were ill at ease, but seemed to recognize me and enjoy my being with them. Near the horses were the cattle belonging to General Sil- verton, of which he had spoken to us, — a fine short-horn Durham bull, and a half-dozen cows of the same breed. The bull was in a padded box-stall, securely tied by the horns ; as he could not be tied by the ring in his nose, for the lunging of the ship would have torn it out. These animals had been bought at Bufialo of Hon. Lewis F. Allen, a friend of my father, and at that time the most noted importer and breeder of short-horn cattle in the country; and General Silverton was taking them to his Illi- nois farm. Hobbs had these cattle in charge, and looked after The Pioneer 25 them very carefully, with the help of a hired man, who, under Hobbs's direction, was constantly feeding them and watering them, and keeping them blanketed when it was cold. This man had a bunk near the cattle, and was sometimes up all night with them; while Hobbs, who was a cabin passenger, came down frequently to look after them. The General himself visited them but once a day, usually in the morning, leaving everything to Hobbs. Our horses were cared for by one of the vessel's crew. In my visits to the lower deck, boy as I was, I took great interest in the deck passengers, and made many acquaintances among them. There were many more deck than cabin passen- gers. They had bunks made of plain boards, furnished their own bedding, and cooked and prepared their own meals, having brought with them such provisions as they could not obtain on board. It was curious to me to see this rude housekeeping going on in such striking contrast with the luxury and splendor of the cabin. In fact, it was the first real example of extreme social distinction I had ever seen. There were emigrants from the Scandinavian countries, and a few Germans, none of whom could speak English; while the others had come mainly from New England and New York. I became especially interested in a family named Earle, a father, mother, and son, from Vermont. The father was, as I afterwards learned, a graduate of Middlebury College, and had been for some years principal of an academy. He had decided that a better field for success was offered in the West, and though his means were limited he was emigrating thither. His wife was a stirring, active, ambitious woman, who evidently had not always been in a con- dition of life that would make it necessary for her to be a deck passenger. She was very much dissatisfied with her surroundings, and did not hesitate to say so. I heard her say to her husband that if he had thought more of his family instead of being so anxious about other people, they would all have been better off ; that he had always talked morality, and prated about his conscience, while other people had got the plums. Her favorite maxim was, "Every man for himself, andtheDevil take the hindmost." Their son, Dwight Earle, about two years older than myself, I found disposed to agree with his mother in her estimate of his father. 26 The mini He was, like me, interested in the horses and cattle ; and in my visits to the stalls I was very soon upon intimate terms with him. I had never seen anyone like Hobbs. He was about thirty years old, of medium height, squarely built, and as strong as an ox. He said that he had only come in contact with one man who could beat him lifting, and that was Sam Anderson of Knox County, Illinois, who had won ten dollars of him lifting barrels of whiskey in Peoria, and then offered to bet him ten dollars that he could pull the nose out of a blacksmith's anvil and throw it over the court house ; and after what Hobbs had seen he dared not take the bet. Hobbs delighted in baring his legs and arms and showing his great muscles. His face was full, with big cheeks and heavy mouth ; he had coarse brown shaggy hair that grew almost down to his eyebrows, and almost hid his small cunning black eyes. But his most extraordinary feature was his round pug nose, which was so small as to be a deformity. He wore corduroy trousers, short black plush coat and vest, colored cotton "hickory " shirt, the bosom of which was ornamented with what I supposed was a big diamond pin, a red necktie and turn-down collar, and a slouch hat. From under his vest in front dangled a heavy watch fob, to which hung a key and crystal set in what appeared to be gold. There was nothing Hobbs did not know about cattle, and the tenderness with which he cared for the valuable animals in his charge showed that the General's confidence in him was nut misplaced. At that time I had never heard anybody talk as Hobbs talked, although similar peculiarities of dialect have been familiar to me since then. That thar cow is powerful weak!" he exclaimed. "But git me right smart of bran an' a heap of hot water, and I '11 bring her to her milk direkly; " and he did. " Speakin' of milk," said Hobbs, " I reckon nary of you fellers never had the milk-sick ? You '11 git it in Illinois, shoo. You '11 git so skeered when you have it you 'U be afeared you '11 die ; and the day after you '11 be so powerful sick you '11 be afeared you won't die. Talk about snakes in yer boots ! It 's nuthin to the milk-sick." The Pioneer 27 " What causes it ? " we asked. "Don't know nuthin about it; reckon it's suthin the cows git to eat on the perrarie. Don't make no difference how bad it is, everybody alius allows it 's wuss over in the next county." Did you ever have it?" we asked. " No, I never hev, but I 've beared tell of it all my life. Ef ever I do git it, I '11 lay down my hand direkly." On the afternoon of the third day after leaving Buffalo we landed at Detroit, where there was much freight to put ofi and some to take on. It was wonderful to me to see how rapidly the men worked, carrying the great bags and boxes over the gang- planks. But what struck me most forcibly was the second mate's profanity to the men. They were all working, it seemed to me, to the best of their ability, staggering under their great burdens as they hastened out upon the gang-planks, then running back for other loads ; but all the while this mate was cursing them and swearing at them, calling them the vilest names and applying to them the most degrading epithets. You lazy, shiftless ! " " What do you mean, there, you shirking — — ?" "Why in don't you lift that box onto your back ? " " Hell 's full of just such as you ! " " Jump there, you ! " It seemed to me perfectly appalling ; but the passengers gen- erally paid no attention to it. The only comment was made by Hobbs, who remarked : " The man lets on like he was drivin' niggers. Them men must be drefful pore white trash, er they'd cut his heart out." I have since heard, on Mississippi steamboats, similar violent and blasphemous cursings of the crew by the mates oi vessels ; but in time I too ceased to be affected by it, as it seemed to be considered a necessary quahfication of a mate. I became con- vinced that this boisterous brutality was necessary, and held to that view of the matter until I observed, many years after, that on the great Atlantic liners an order is scarcely ever given in a tone of voice loud enough to be heard by a passenger, yet the discipline is perfect. When we got into Lake Huron, there was a heavy sea. My father said he would go below to look after the horses, and I fol- 28 The mini lowed him. They were frightened, but in their narrow padded stalls they were safe from injury. The great bull had been thrown down, and was bellowing in terror. Two of the cows were also down. Hobbs and his man carefully covered the bull's eyes with a blanket, and he soon ceased bellowing, but was all in a tremor with fright ; while the poor cows were being helplessly hurled against each other by the lunges of the vessel. Hobbs ordered the man to punch the bull and make him get up. This he tried to do, but found it could not be accomplished ; whereupon Hobbs climbed over into the stall and by main force lifted the monster to his feet, first lifting the fore and then the hind quarters, and by occasional punchings the man kept him from again falling. My father and I ascended to the cabin, which we found almost deserted, the passengers having found it convenient to return to their state-rooms. Soon Hobbs came up, and I found him pale as a ghost, holding on to the rail with one hand, and with the other pressing his capacious stomach. As I was not at all sick, I joined him at the rail. " What 's the matter, Mr. Hobbs ? " I asked. " Milk-sick, by G — d, " he exclaimed. " Gurus a feller can git the milk-sick jes' tendin' stock, an' from a bull, too! I've got it powerful bad," he whined, as he leaned over the rail and made his offering to Neptune. I could not help laughing at the grotesque monster; he noticed it, and I think never quite forgave me for it. He never would admit that his was not a case of genuine "milk-sickness." The storm soon abated, and the passengers reappeared. We landed at Mackinaw, and then began our southward course on Lake Michigan. I was seated on the deck enjoying the freshness of the spring morning, when Hobbs, who had quite recovered, joined me. The first thing he said was : " I 've been talkin' to them folks below, and I allow that that feller Dwight's a mighty peart cuss. What he don't know ain't wuth knowin'. He can tell of Webster, an' Calhoun, an' Clay, an' everybody. He knows almos' as much as the General ! " There was a space railed ofif aft on the deck, to which the steerage passengers were admitted. We observed that the Earle The Pioneer 29 family had come up there, and we joined them, as the cabin pas- sengers were permitted to go everywhere. The conversation, as usual, was soon directed to our destination — Illinois. Hobbs, who had become interested in us boys, expressed great anxiety lest we should go wrong in pohtics in entering upon our careers in our new home. He said : You uns '11 find that the Democrat party is the thing for you ! The Democrat party alius wins. You could 'nt nuther of you, ef you was Angel Gabrel hisself, be elected dog-pelter ef ye were n't Democrats. When you land in Chicago, the first thing you do you must swing yer hats and hurrah for Doughs, and you '11 win all yer lives." CHAPTER V. STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS " T^ID you ever see Senator Douglas ? " asked my father. -'— ' " See him ! " exclaimed Hobbs, " see Douglis ? Didn't I carry Hickory precinct for him ? He wuz runnin' ag'in Brownin', — he'd been beat afore, jes' lied and swindled out of his ofEs, 'cause the Democrats wuz pore in spellin', an' didn't hev his name spelt like them fellers wanted it, though everybody knew that the people was for Douglis. But we fixed it, spellin' and all, next time." "What was he running for?" I asked. " Congriss," said Hobbs. " Hickory precinct did it. Brownin' came down thar and told us thet he was one of the people, and he made the oiHest and most palaverin' speech you ever heerd. He had on a plug hat an' a biled shirt with kinks in the bosom, like the General wears at dinner, an' he let on about Clay an' Webster, an' tariff, an' arged for two hours, an' then went oflf to take a drink with the General and the big fellers, all by themselves. Doughs came down nex' day and made the bigges' speech we ever heerd, for free-trade, an' sailors' rights, an' about 'fifty-four-forty or fight,' an' nigger 'quahty, an' 'whole-hog Jackson,' an' ever- thin' you could think of; an' after speakin' he drank whiskey out 30 The mini of a gourd, an' chawed terbacky with the rest of us, but all the time he was the dignifiedest man you ever saw, never cracked a smile, told a story, nor nuthin'. Jes' as solum as when he was a-sittin' on the supreme bench ! At fust sight he looked like a spring chicken. He was no more 'n five feet four, did n't come up to a yearhn' steer; but when you looked at thet head, an' them eyes, an' heard that deep voice, you seen Dan'l Webster an' Henry Clay an' Tom Benton all standin' there in that one little cuss. He did 'nt tell us he was one of the people, but he jist was one of the people. But when he talked about the Gov'ment, an' the Constitootion, an' the nigger, you knew he wuz squar, — a reg'lar constitootional Southron gentleman." "Hobbs," interrupted Mr. Earle, "do you call Stephen A. Douglas a Southern gentleman?" Why, yes, ' ' said Hobbs, ' ' a reg'lar Southroner ' ! You could tell it before he opened his mouth ; you could see he had alius been used to niggers, and bein' waited on, he was so dignified and gentlemanlike, an' when he took a drink of whiskey, or talked about the constitootion an' nigger equality, you was sure of it." Mrs. Earle smiled, and would have broke out laughing; but a wave of her husband's hand restrained her. "What part of the South was Mr. Douglas from?" asked Mr. Earle. "Dunno," answered Hobbs. "I reckon from old Virginny, or Kaintucky, or Tennessee. The great Southroners was alius from one or the other." "Hobbs," said Mr. Earle, "Stephen A. Douglas is a New England Yankee. He came from the same town I am from, Brandon, Vermont. We were both born in that town. You talk about his being a Southern gentleman, and always used to negroes, and being waited on ! Why, he probably never saw a colored man until he was twenty years old ; and as for always being waited on, he was raised as a mechanic. He was a cabinet-maker by trade, and since he has been in the Senate he sometimes tells about his having, when a boy, learned to make cabinets and bu- reaus, — and it looks now as though there is no statesman in the country who is more successful in creating cabinets and bureaus than our Yankee boy from Brandon." The Pioneer 31 "That's the fust time I ever heerd of that," said Hobbs. "But he 's a gentleman, anyway, and the people knows it," "Yes," said Mr. Earle, "it looks as though the people liked him." " I don't like his principles," said my father, "if you call them principles." "Nor I," said Mr. Earle; "but never did a young man in this or any other country have such a career in politics. Being from my own native town, I 've watched him. Listen : When only twenty years old, Stephen A. Douglas arrived in Illinois, without a dollar and without a friend, and without an acquaint- ance within a thousand miles. Since that day he has been State's Attorney, Member of the Legislature, Register of the Land Office at the State Capital, Secretary of State of Illinois, Judge of the Supreme Court of Illinois, Member of Congress from Illinois, and now he has been for three years United States Senator from Illinois, — and a great Senator at that, with three more years to serve on his present term, and with almost a certainty of remain- ing in the Senate so long as he lives, unless he goes higher; and he is now only thirty-seven years old 1 " While Mr. Earle was speaking. General Silverton had come through the gate that divided the cabin from the steerage passen- gers and had heard the account given of the career of Senator Douglas since he came to Illinois. " It 's all true, " said General Silverton. " It is indeed remark- able how that wonderful man has advanced from place to place, and from position to position ; but you have not spoken of the great political measures with which he has been identified. He is a fine lawyer, and had he not been drawn into pohtics he would have been a really great lawyer. In our own State, before he went to Congress, he had a conspicuous part in a hundred important matters. I served with him in the Mormon War, in which, as a volunteer staff officer, he rendered some very valuable services. As a debater, he is not surpassed by either Clay, Web- ster, or Calhoun. No man has appeared in Illinois who could cope with him, and none ever will appear. In the House of Representatives at Washington he at once came to the front. His speeches on the Texas Boundary question, showing that after we 32 The mini acquired that country our boundary extended to the Rio Grande, were masterpieces ; especially the speech in which he locked horns with John Quincy Adams, and proved from that gentleman's official papers while Secretary of State the just claims of the United States. All his speeches in vindication of the attitude of our country in the Mexican War are also masterpieces. I believe that but for Douglas in the House, we could never have acquired all that vast new territory of v/hich California is a part. His wis- dom was also shown in the discussions regarding the Northwest boundary, or the ' fifty-four-forty or fight ' question ; and if the administration had had Douglas's energy and determination, we would now have all that Northwestern Territory from latitude forty- nine, the present boundary, to fifty-four-forty, clear up to Alaska, and out of this region could have been carved several States as great as Illinois. It would take hours to tell of all the great measures Douglas prepared and advocated, such as that of extending the Missouri Compromise line of thirty-six thirty to the Pacific Ocean; opposition to the narrow, sectional, abolition Wilmot proviso, and others. Perhaps the greatest thing he did for his own State was to get the appropriation for the Illinois Central Railway, by which we are to have a great railway line from one end of the State to the other, which will foster and encourage other railway enter- prises, and make Illinois the greatest railway State in the Union. And Douglas has but just entered upon his great career, and is but thirty-seven years of age ! " My father took very positive and decided exception to what the General had said, especially as to Douglas's course in regard to the Mexican War, the Wilmot Proviso, and the Compromise measures, including the fugitive slave bill, — declaring that upon all these questions he had been upon the side of human slavery. "He has won by it," said Mrs. Earle, "and the people of Illinois have stayed by him." " Mighty peart woman, you are. Madam ! " exclaimed Hobbs. Dwight clapped his hands, and said he was "a Douglas boy" from that day forward. "I said, "For shame, Dwight! I'd rather be one of these deck-hands, or a negro slave, than to be for Douglas!" The Pioneer 33 CHAPTER VI. ROSE SILVERTON TT 7"HEN our vessel reached Milwaukee, all were anxious to ' » get papers to learn the news, particularly the proceedings in Congress on the Compromise measures, in which everyone was interested. While my father and General Silverton seated themselves in the ladies' cabin to devour the newspapers, Hobbs and I looked down at the scenes of hurry and confusion on the dock. Suddenly Hobbs exclaimed, "Jeams's Cousin!" and rushed as fast as his sturdy legs would carry him, into the cabin, down the stairway, across the gang-plank and out on the wharf, to a carriage from which a lady had just alighted and was help- ing out a little girl. Hobbs took off his hat as he left the gang-plank, and rushed to meet the lady, with such bowing and scraping as I had never seen before. The lady smiled recogni- tion as he came up, but did not bow or extend her hand. The little girl ran to Hobbs and screamed with delight. Hobbs, still bowing and scraping, took their hand-baggage, and they came together to the gang-plank, he walking sideways so as constantly to face the lady. The mate ordered the line of roustabouts to stop work for a moment, to let the party pass. I peeped in at the cabin door, and saw them ascending the stairway. The little girl flew down the cabin to where the gentlemen were seated, knocked the paper out of the General's hands, jumped up on his knees, threw her arms about his neck and covered his face with kisses, crying, " Papa ! Papa! Papa!" He drew her to his bosom and held her as he arose to greet the lady, who also threw herself into his arms. He embraced them both tenderly, and then turned to my father and the other passengers and presented them to his wife and daughter. "But how did you get here?" he asked. 'I expected to meet you in Chicago." Mrs. Silverton replied that she had been told at the Tremont 34 The mini House in Chicago that there was time for them to come up on the stage-coach to meet the steamer; and when Rose heard it she was so anxious to come that she yielded. "Yes, Papa," exclaimed the little girl, "I couldn't wait. I wanted to run all the way. I 'd have fly 'd if I could 1 I wanted to tell you that Slice had killed two deer, that one of them had a little baby deer'and I 've got it, and Mamma is teaching me to speak French, and old Strong has broke his arm, and Slice has killed five rattlesnakes and I've got the rattles, and I can ride Jenny all alone, and we 've got lots of cunning little pigs, and there 's prairie fires every night, and Slice shoots prairie-chickens off from the stacks back of the barn every morning, and you can hear the wolves howl all night, and " "But, my child," said Mrs. Silverton, "you cannot tell your father everything in one breath. Wait a while ; you will have plenty of time." "Well, Papa, honey, I was in such a hurry, and the stage- coach was so big and so slow, and it took so long to change horses, and" — she was out of breath, and stopped. The General called me up and said to the little girl, " Rose, this boy has been with us on our journey, and I have made friends with his father and mother. They do n't quite agree with me in everything, but we get on well together." The inevitable "Where are you from ?" was asked by Mrs. Silverton, and was courteously answered by my mother; but to the question, "Where are you going?" she was not so definite, simply answering To Illinois," and the conversation drifted to subjects relating to the journey and the prospects for the future. While this was going on, the boat had cast off and we were again out on the great lake on our way to Chicago. In the con- versation we learned that the family had been some time abroad, that Mrs. Silverton and her daughter hgd preceded the General several months in sailing for New York, that they had visited rela- tives in the South before their return to their Illinois home, and that the General had spent some time in the East after he arrived from Europe, and was now on his way to Chicago, where it had been arranged that his wife and daughter should meet him. I had never before seen so beautiful a lady as Mrs. Silverton. The Pioneer 35 She had an exquisite figure, was graceful and gentle in her move- ments, and when she spoke her face was radiant with smiles, her rosy lips parting over white but not too regular teeth. She had a dimpled chin, rich black wavy hair held by a large tortoise-shell comb, and a soft olive complexion. But her principal grace was in her beaming eyes. She appeared only to see what was good and pure and holy, to think only the best thoughts, and to be moved by only the kindliest emotions; and when she spoke she had such a gentle, trustful, winning way, that she seemed to lead others into that higher realm in which she herself lived. I had seated myself on a low ottoman, listening closely to the conversation, and was gazing, perhaps too intently, at the new- comers, the little girl on her father's knee, and her mother sitting near. Soon the maid came to tell Mrs. Silverton that her state- room was ready. As she arose, the little girl came over to me and laid her hand in mine and said, ' I never saw an American boy before who looked like you." I was very much taken aback, and could not think of any- thing to say; when she continued, "Every American boy I ever saw before had long trousers coming down to his feet, a long coat when he had any, long hair and little eyes, and looked all around him instead of opening his eyes wide and looking straight at people as you do." I had not thought before that there was anything peculiar in my make-up, but I did wear a roundabout coat and knickerbock- ers as was the custom with boys in those days, and my hair had been neatly trimmed, and they all said my eyes were large, and I am sure I could not help staring all the while at that interesting group. I was not able to summon up courage to reply, when the little girl added, "And the boys I have seen, talk. Don't you talk?" Before I could answer, she asked, "Can't you take me to see the boat ? I was never on such a boat as this before. The boats are different on the ocean, and on the Mississippi and the Illinois. Mamma, can't I go around and see the boat?" The General looked up from his paper, in which he was becoming again absorbed, and asked, "Where 's Hobbs ? " 36 The mini That worthy, who had been standing at a respectful distance, came forward and answered, "Hy'er, sir." "Go with these children," said the General, "and keep your eyes on them." Mrs. Silverton put a little cloak around the chjld, who took my hand, and I rather awkwardly led her out upon the deck. We walked up and down for a while, she talking all the time; then we went back into the cabin to look through the plate-glass at the bright polished machinery of the engine in motion, the piston-rods sliding in and out, and above the great arms of the crane going up and down, and a man climbing about, oiling and wiping and polishing every part of the machinery. Then we again went out on deck, and climbed up the stairs to the wheel- house. I wanted to go down to the lower deck, but Hobbs objected. Not being able to think of anything else to say, I asked the little girl how old she was. " Half-past ten," she answered; " and I can read fairy stories, and can write, and can spell to 'baker' and 'lady,' and can read in McGufley's Second Reader, and can say most all of the multi- plication-table, and can tell all the States and the Presidents, and Mamma has taught me French and drawing, and I can play all the first exercises on the piano, and am learning to embroider, and a lot of other things." "Your Mamma! Can she teach you ? " I asked. "Oh, yes," said she; "my Mamma has been to the best schools in the North, and then she went to Paris, away over the ocean, with her brother who was a minister." Did your Uncle preach at Paris ? " I asked. "Oh, no!" she said; "I don't think he was that kind of a pinister, for I 've heard him say cuss-words, and that kind of a minister do n't do that. He was a government minister." We were leaning over the rail, and as we looked out upon the broad expanse of placid water she asked if I would like to go in a boat, with just someone I liked, and sail away and away and away forever. I said, " I never thought of that." She asked, "Do n't you like to ride out on the prairie ? " I said, "There are no prairies where I came from. I never saw a prairie." The Pioneer 37 She said, "I have rode and rode and rode on my mare that my Uncle sent me from Kentucky. I named her Jenny, and 1 have thought and thought how, if I could have somebody with me I like, I would keep going and going, and never stop; but when I 'm on the water I think it would be better to sail away all alone in a boat with somebody I liked better than anybody else in the world, and never, never stop, and maybe have Papa and Mamma just hovering about, so as to be near me if I wanted them." "Yes," I said; " but nobody lives forever." "I know," said she; "but you see the sky comes down all around us. You can see there, in the east, how it comes down to the water; but we have never gone far enough to get to it. I would keep sailing and sailing, and then, you see, we would finally reach the sky and sail right into heaven, and then Papa and Mamma would come to us, and we would see the dear Saviour, and live there always. Would n't it be splendid ? But I 'd want it to be somebody I liked with me in the boat, some- body I could talk to the whole day and night, and tell just what I thought, just as if I was thinking aloud or talking to myself, and who would listen and talk a little bit too. And I think I 'd rather have you go with me in that boat than anybody I ever saw before." I was so much encouraged by this expression of her confi- dence, that I was able to find words to ask her about the things she had told her father on their first greeting. She explained to me all about the baby deer, and about her speaking French, and about Slice whose real name was Slicer, about the snake-rattles, about her Kentucky mare Jenny, about the little pigs which I learned were Berkshires, and all the rest. Of the baby deer she said it was only two days old when Slice caught it, and they all thought it would die, as Slice had killed its mother, and the poor thing could not eat or drink. She told how Slice put his finger in its mouth and made the little thing suck it, and then would press its head down into the basin of milk as they did with the calves, but it would not take a drop of milk. "And then," she said, " as they were all standing over it, thinking it must die. Aunty came along with her little baby in her arms, and said, ' You ' do n't know nothin' ! Give the pore little 38 The mini starvin' thing to me,' and she took it up in her arms and sat down on the grass and held it to her breast, and it nursed just Hke the baby; and she nursed it every day, and it got well, and growed and growed until now it drinks milk out of a basin just like a calf. Aunty nursed me when I was a baby, and I love her very much. I always hugged her and kissed her until lately, but now Mamma won't let me any more." " Is your Aunty your father's sister or your mother's sister ? " I asked, innocently. "My father's sister or my mother's sister!" she exclaimed. "Why, Aunty 's a nigger! " I was very much astonished, as I had never before heard a colored woman called "Aunty" by the white people. As we strolled about the deck, and came by the rail which sep- arated the cabin from the steerage passengers, I saw Dwight Earle intently watching us. He was dressed better than he had been before on the voyage, I supposed on account of our approaching arrival at Chicago, but I was afterwards convinced that it was for the purpose of making a good impression upon my companion. I stopped with her at the rail, and the best introduction I could give was to say to her that this boy was Dwight Earle, and to him that this girl was Rose Silverton. "Glad to see you," said Dwight; "hope to know you better. Where are you from?" " I 'm from Illinois," answered she. " I 've come to meet my Papa, along with my Mamma." "I know your father," said Dwight ; " he 's got some fine cat- tle on board. Everything he 's got is fine. I know Mr. Hobbs too, he and I's good friends. Ain't we, Mr. Hobbs?" Hobbs answered, Sho' we is, an' from what I 've seen of Master Dwight, he's a corker." "Well, Mr. Dwight," said Rose, "my Mamma says I must be good to Hobbs, for he 's been a good servant for a long time ; but Hobbs's friends are not nice, and they are not the kind of people for me to talk to." Dwight bit his lip, but said nothing. Hobbs came to the rescue, and lifting his hat, said, "Beg pardon, Miss Rose, but Master Dwight is a gentleman. He knows everything, — g'og- The Pioneer 39 raphy, readin', hist'ry, an' politics. He '11 be a great man some day. He's jes' our kind. He's goin' to be a Democrat. I tell you, Miss Rose, Master Dwight is no Abolitionist." " Don't you like the Abolitionists?" I asked her. " I never saw an Abolitionist," she answered. But I 've seen two horse-thieves. They had them tied to the back of a wagon, and they said they were going to drag them down into the brush to be tried before Judge Lynch. I never heard of them any more." Dwight exclaimed, " Miss, you are mistaken. You have seen an Abolitionist. That boy's father is the rankest kind of an Abolitionist!" Rose looked at him, and then at me, and again at him. I was speechless. I could not deny the charge made against my father, and after what she had said I had not the courage to confess that he belonged to a class which she regarded as criminal. She seemed about to speak, and I waited in breathless anxiety. With an effort, as it seemed to me, she restrained herself, placed her little hand in the big palm of Hobbs, and without a word led him away. I heard the man muttering something between his teeth, as they disappeared into the cabin. I left Dwight as abruptly as she had left us, and for the first time was glad that he was not a cabin passenger and could not follow me. I went directly to the spot where she and I had been together, and leaning upon the rail looked out upon the water. The great side-wheels were splash- ing, the engine was puffing. I looked up at the black smoke pouring in clouds from the iron stacks. I felt the groaning of the timbers, and the creaking of the planks, and the tremor of the vessel, as the mighty engines propelled her forward; and I felt that all hope of "sailing and sailing and sailing away for ever and ever and ever " upon a placid sea was gone, and that instead my life would be like the onward movement of that vessel, made up of struggles and buffetings and conflicts. 40 The mini CHAPTER VII. CHICAGO IN 1850 THE next morning, all was hurry and bustle. We were approaching Chicago, where we were soon to land. Every- body was packing up, and the freight was being carried out upon the decks to be convenient for unloading. We could see land on our right, and I was told that it was Illinois. The city of Chicago, as it appeared from the vessel, was a great disappointment to me. It was low and flat, the buildings were small, and beyond them there was nothing to relieve the eye but more low flat land. As we entered the narrow river which is the harbor, we could see muddy streets along which were successions of small frame buildings, with a few of brick, no two of them of the same height, with board sidewalks on such differ- ing levels that pedestrians in walking a single block were obliged to ascend and descend stairways a dozen or more times. The plank street-crossings were covered with mud, and only seemed to keep the foot-passengers from sinking out of sight. The chief business of the city at that time seemed to be re- ceiving emigrants bound for the West, and fitting them out for their journey across the country. There was occasionally a real- estate dealer, who tried to sell city and suburban property. One of them got hold of my father, and I thought at one time that he would induce him to buy a forty-acre tract three-quarters of a mile south of the wharf where we landed. The price was fifty dollars an acre ; and the man urged that the land could be rented as gardens for enough to support our family. But it was low and flat, and my father said that with the two thousand dollars which the forty acres would cost he could go into the country and buy a whole section of land, six hundred and forty acres, and have a splendid farm. Of those we met, very few, besides those who had taken up their residence there, had any faith in Chicago except as a place The Pioneer 41 to get through to more inviting localities. There were then, it was said, twenty-five thousand people in the city; but the popu- lation was uncertain, with so many people coming and going. We were too much occupied in getting our goods and horses ashore to see much of our fellow-passengers as we landed. A carriage was waiting for the Silvertons, which I saw the General and his wife and daughter enter, assisted by Hobbs ; they then drove away, leaving the latter worthy to look after the luggage and cattle. The Earles, with a load of household goods, got upon a lumber wagon and also drove away. Rudely as he had treated me, I could not help admiring the tact and address of Dwight. He not only got what he wanted from the men about the wharf, and paid less for it than anybody else, but he succeeded in getting the good-will of everybody. He spoke to me as pleasantly as if nothing had happened between us ; but after he left, I learned that he and Hobbs had given them all to understand that my father and all of our family were dangerous abolitionists, to be shunned by every true patriot, and that he himself was a straight-out " Douglas Democrat." We were several days in Chicago, preparing for our journey into the country. I went with my father to visit several sale- stables, at some of which were hundreds of horses, collected from the country. A pair of horses were finally bought of W. H. Eddy (afterwards distinguished as "Horse Eddy"), and a lumber wagon, which, with the team we had brought round the lakes, made us two full "outfits." One day, as I was sauntering along Lake Street lookmg in at the shop windows, I heard someone call me. I turned around, and there, in an open carriage, alone except for the driver on the box, was Rose Silverton. I ran up to her. She arose and leaned out of the carriage, and putting her two little hands upon my shoulders, exclaimed, " I 'm so glad to find you ! I shall never see you again, — never, never, never ; but I wanted to see you once more. I 've cried, and cried, and cried. Papa says your Papa is a gentleman, but Mamma says she 's afraid that he 's just what that horrid Dwight said. You must now go right away, — you must n't let Mamma and Hobbs see you. She has gone into that store, and Hobbs with her." 42 The mini The question that was uppermost in my mind found expres- sion : "Don't you like Dwight?" I asked. " Like him ! that horrid boy ! " she exclaimed. " I hate him ! Now, do go away ! " "Do you hate me, Rose?" I asked. "I hate anyone that is wicked," she said, "I thought you were so good, — and to think you would steal niggers, and want us to marry niggers, and try to get the niggers to murder us in our beds! Now, go away before Mamma and Hobbs come, or I will hate you too !" I tried to answer her, but she turned away from me. I started to go. She called me, and as I turned she was still standing up in the carriage. She put her hand on my arm, and looking straight into my eyes said, "If you had not been — what that horrid boy said, — I would have liked you better than anybody I ever saw. There come Mamma and Hobbs ! Please go away ! " I slipped around behind the carriage and mingled with the crowd. When certain I could not be seen, I stopped and saw Mrs. Silverton en.ter the carriage, follov/ed by Hobbs carrying bundles, and he climbed up on the box with the driver. As they passed by where I was standing, I heard Mrs. Silverton tell Hobbs to have the man drive to the Clinton House. I knew the Earles were staying there, and, big as I was, I sat down on one of those steps in the sidewalk and cried like a baby. The events of the last few days had made a deep impression upon me. Though but a boy, I felt that my lot had been cast among those who were not only politically unpopular, but were looked upon as dangerous fanatics. Even for a strong man, it is an awful thing to feel that in the society in which he lives and moves he is an object of suspicion and dread ; but to a young and ambitious boy, of tender sensibilities, to be rudely awakened to the realization that he must take his place among those who are objects of suspicion and dread, and be derided and scoffed at, shunned and despised, is indeed appalling. I could not under- stand it ; I had done nothing, and said very little. My father had expressed his abhorrence of what seemed to him a great wrong ; he had not proposed to harm anybody, but had simply given utterance to a feeling of sympathy for the oppressed and of hatred The Pioneer 43 of tyranny ; and because of this, not only he but his family were considered unworthy of respect or consideration from those around them. Presently I began to analyze this, — to consider how this prejudice against us had been caused. It was not by General Silverton, — he respected my father highly, and notwithstanding that they diSered so widely in opinion, I felt sure that he would have befriended him. The more I thought about the matter, the more I was puzzled. Finally I became convinced that this whole feeling of prejudice against our family was aroused by Hobbs. My first thought was that this could not be. I said to myself, "How can this coarse, ignorant, brutal man influence anybody?" But he it was. Through a word here and a word there, he had done it all. Strange as it seems, such men can fre- quently do more to influence the action of those about them than the most cultured and refined can do. Just such men aroused and led the " Kuklux " of the South to commit their strange barbarities. There was an influence behind Hobbs and such as he, work- ing upon ignorant men, and through their prejudices inflaming their brutal instincts. It is not too much to say that in Illinois the most potent influence in keeping the Democratic party in power in national affairs, during the decade preceding the Civil War, was the constant and persistent picturing of impending cal- amities to come from what was called " nigger equality." To be a Democrat and declare against "nigger equality" gave oppor- tunity for place and position, and opened the door to distinction. This same hue and cry of " nigger equality " closed every avenue of success and distinction to those who would not take it up and join in the crusade. To be an Abolitionist meant political ostra- cism, and in many localities those so branded were social outcasts. I became satisfied that the man who had done more than any other to arouse and inflame this prejudice was Stephen A. Doug- las. Of course I did not realize this so fully at that time as I did afterwards ; but I had learned enough of him to detest him. Soon after my adventure at the carriage, I met Dwight Earle. I expected to find him in high feather; but he too seemed in low spirits. Notwithstanding his rudeness to me, I greeted him as 44 The mini though nothing had happened. He said his family had decided to remain in Chicago; that his father had been ofiered a position as teacher, with a fair salary ; that he himself could have employ- ment from General Silverton in helping drive his Durham cattle, for which position he had been recommended by Hobbs, but that his father insisted upon his remaining in the city. He said that the Silvertons treated him just as they did Hobbs, — as a servant, — for which he declared he was indebted to me, charging that I had prejudiced them against him. I replied by asking if he had read jEsop's fable wherein the wolf accused the lamb of roiling the water; and said that it was he who had done the harm, and now he was accusing me of it. Notwithstanding he had been thus offered employment, he was very bitter against the Silver- tons, and said, " Some day I will show them they cannot tread on me ! " We walked together to our hotel, in front of which, on the sidewalk, we found my father and Mr. Earle engaged in conver- sation, discussing their plans for the future. Mr. Earle had told my father of his decision to remain in the city, and my father told him that we had already made arrangements to buy an additional team of horses and a wagon, to start out on our journey through the country. People passing and repassing frequently stopped to speak to each other, exchanging the usual greeting of ' Where are you from?" They were generally strangers to each other, but did not wait for the formality of an introduction. All seemed to recognize the fact that most of those they met were like them- selves, just then from somewhere, and " going West." Chicago seemed to me only a transition city, a place of meet- ing and separating, of hail and farewell. It was the woodenest city I could ever have imagined, — nearly every house a tinder- box of wood; and I have always wondered that it did not burn dozens of times before it did. As I was looking down Dearborn Street, I saw approaching us in the distance what appeared to be a giant. He walked a few steps upon a level with us on the sidewalk, then descended, his legs, his body, and finally his head disappearing, and then his head and body reappeared, but not his legs, when he descended again, and again rose, revealing his whole great frame, and again de- ^v^^-<:^^e^/>z7 The Pioneer 45 scended until lost to view, and so appeared and disappeared, until finally he came up the steps to where we were. He was simply walking the street towards us, up and down stairs, on a Chicago sidewalk as then constructed. He stopped before us, and looked at us with a smile and then a grimace. He had a way of drawing back the corners of his big mouth, giving him a fierce look, and then relaxing the muscles of his face into a grin. When his mouth opened, I was really alarmed lest he should swallow me, as I was the smallest one in the party. Then, before speaking a word, he gulped great quantities of air into his lungs and belched it forth, constantly looking down at us. Finally he put the usual inter- rogatory, "Where are you from?" My father answered him politely, — to my astonishment calling him by name. When the name was pronounced, Mr. Earle exclaimed, "Are you Mr. Wentworth, — ' Long John ' Wentworth ? Of course I might have known it." "Yes," answered the giant, aSably, "I am from New En- gland, as well as yourself." Then he went on to tell us about Chicago and Illinois and the West, and we soon discovered that he was strong in intellect as well as in stature. He urged us to remain in Chicago, declaring, as General Silverton had done, that it would be a great city, and that some of us would live to see it have a hundred thousand inhabitants. "Hello, Judd ! " he suddenly exclaimed, to a passing gentle- man, a httle below the medium height, who stopped, and Mr. Wentworth introduced him as Mr. Norman B. Judd, declaring he would agree with him that we had better stay in Chicago. Mr. Judd we soon found to be a very entertaining and able man. Mr. Wentworth informed us that he was a prominent member of the State Senate at Springfield, working in the interest of Chicago. These two gentlemen were then Chicago's most prominent citizens, — Mr. Wentworth being the more prominent of the two, he having served in Congress for several years. In the meantime Mr. Earle had become engaged in conversa- tion with a tall, spare gentleman, whom I afterwards learned was Mr. E. C. Larned. Upon joining our party, Mr. Lamed at once launched out in denunciation of the fugitive-slave bill, which he characterized as a "brutal outrage upon the American people." 46 The mini I noticed that while neither Mr. Wentworth nor Mr. Judd had anything to say in approval of Mr. Larned's position, they did not take issue with him. They both were, as I was told. Democrats in politics. "Larned," said a dark keen-visaged gentleman who had just come up, "you are always talking politics. Let 's drop the nigger, and get these people, so many of whom are passing through here, to stop in Chicago. We 've got enough to do to build up our city. You and Doctor Dyer have too important interests in Chi- cago to be always talking about slavery and abolitionism." Just then^ General Silverton came out of the hotel, and with him a gentleman whom he introduced as Mr. James H. Mc- Vicker the actor. I had never seen a real actor in a theatre before, but in after years I gained a very high regard for this gentleman. Both General Silverton and Mr. McVicker agreed with the dark-visaged gentleman, that there were too many things of importance in the development of Chicago and the Northwest for men of sense to be worrying about politics. I was curious to know who the dark-visaged gentleman was, who led off in this line of argument ; and learned that he was Mr. Ira Couch, one or the most public-spirited men in the city, who was then completing its greatest public building, so great and imposing and expensive, and apparently so far beyond the city's needs, that it was known as " Couch's folly." It was the Tremont House, which proved to be the finest and most successful hotel west of the AUeghanies, and the wisest investment that could have been made. These gentlemen were nearly all Dem.ocrats, and admirers of Senator Douglas ; but I noticed that their admiration of him was not on account of his position upon political questions so much as his advocacy of measures for the development of Chicago and the West. Several other gentlemen joined the party while we were pres- ent : — Mr. W. B. Ogden, the first Mayor of Chicago, a dignified and able man ; Mr. J. Y. Scammon, an earnest, public-spirited, prosperous, demonstrative lavyyer; and Dr. Charles H. Dyer, a noted anti-slavery man of literary tastes, and withal a great wag whose witticisms were the talk of the town. The Pioneer 47 My interest in these gentlemen deepened as I learned more of them in after years. I had not then, and have never since, seen another figure so imposing as that of Mr. Wentworth. He stood six feet and six inches in his stocicings, and wherever he appeared upon the street or in a public assemblage he attracted general attention. All those I have named were men of force and character, whose names are forever identified with the city's history. CHAPTER VIII. "A CURIS YOUNG FELLER" WE remained in Chicago several days. In the meantime, Hobbs and his man had started on with the cattle, driving them across the prairies, and the Silvertons had gone to visit friends in the city. Finally our family, in our emigrant wagons, — " prairie schooners " as they were called, — started on our journey westward. Although Illinois had then been a sovereign State for more than thirty years, much of the northern half, now its most opulent and populous portion, was still but sparsely settled. Frequently we travelled several miles without seeing a human habitation. The roads were mere trails across the prairies, leading from town to town. There were few bridges, and we were obliged to ford most of the streams. The greatest difficulty was in crossing what were called "slews," which abounded throughout the journey; they could neither be called brooks nor rivulets, although the water percolated through the low ground which formed them, with usually a narrow ditch in the lowest part. They were min- iature swamps, miry and sticky, and extremely difficult to cross with teams and wagons. When we came to them we were frequently obliged to double our teams and take the wagons through one at a time, each with four horses urged on by the whip as they sank into the mire. It took their united strength to get through. Sometimes the horses were stalled, and we were obliged to wait for an approaching emigrant train with additional 48 The mini teams to help us out. These "slews " are all drained now, with culverts over the ditches to collect and carry off the water ; and the traveller who drives rapidly along the highway scarcely notices that which caused the early settlers so much annoyance and delay. There was an abundance of game, — deer, prairie chickens, and quail, which we frequently saw but had no time for shooting. We took a road leading out through Dupage County, until we came to the Illinois River, the valley of which we followed, through Ottawa and LaSalle and Peru ; but I remember very little of this part of the journey. Soon after leaving Peru, near Hennepin, we ascended the bluff to the high prairie, and made our way to Prince- ton, then a thriving and promising town, the county seat of Bureau County. We had left Chicago on a Tuesday, and had been nearly all the week making a journey which is now performed in a little more than two hours. My father would not travel on Sunday, and so we stopped at Princeton for that day. At the hotel in Princeton we fell in with a man who, as we learned by the usual salute, "Where are you from ? " had emigrated from Tennessee, but had lived in Illinois many years. He told us that his name was Green, William G. Green; and added that "the folks down thar on the San Gammon whar I live call me 'Slicky Bill.' " He was very droll, very queer, and withal entertaining, — the best story-teller I have ever met.* When we complimented him on 'his talent in that line, he said : "I ain't a primin' to a cutis young feller who used to keep a grocery down whar I live, on the San Gammon. He kin make a cat laugh. I've seen the hull neighborhood turn out to hear him tell stories. They ain't all jes' the kind fer women to listen to, but they's always a pint to 'em. This young feller used to tend sawmill, an' at one time he ran a flatboat down to New Orleans ; but he was n't satisfied, but must go inter bizness for himself. He was honest, but kind o' happy-go-lucky; an' when he wasn't *Upon becoming better acquainted with Mr. Green I found him to be a man of large means, and one of the most prominent and respected citizens of IVIenard County. He was a man of education whose English was ordinarily, to say the least, as good as ours j but, upon occasion, especially when thrown among those who, like us, were unaccustomed to them, he would assume the ways and vernacular of the bacicwoods of his native State, which were very droll. The Pioneer 49 tellin' stories, he was readin'; and whilst he told stories an' was readin', his pardner was drinkin' up and stealin' the profits, until finally they broke. I backed the concern, and had to Dony up; an' he owes me a thousand dollars now." "What sort of business was it ?" we asked. " It was a grocery. They had a sign, made out o' a board, an' on it was painted a lot of stuff; but the principal thing they sold wasn't on the sign." "What was that ? " we asked. "Whiskey, — that was the principal thing. Ef it hadn't been for that, they 'd a broke in thirty days. But you oughter hear him tell a story ! He 's a great big feller, with a big mouth, an' he kinder acts it all out, smilin' and lafEn'." He must be a clown, isn 't he ? " was asked. I never seed a real clown," said Green, " but he 'd make.one. But I 've seen him when he was the solumest man in ten states. He got in love once with a gal down thar, an' she died, an' we thought he 'd lose his mind. He tuk it pow'rful bad. Finally he got amusin' agin; but it wasn't safe for nobody to mention that gal when he was about. Then thar was another thing he got solum about. When he kem back from New Orleans, ef any- body said anythin' about niggers he would git so solum, an' tell about a nigger auction he seed in New Orleans, — how they sold a fambly, the man to one planter an' his wife to another an' pas- seled the childern out among the highes' bidders, an' he thought it was awful ; but it was the most nateral thing in the world, fer who down thar, whar thar is work to do, could think of buying up a whole fambly of niggers ? I 've seen him when talkin' about this here auction," continued Green, "turn pale, and seem to take sick to his stomick, and then begin to cuss and take on; an' I 've heerd him say he 'd ruther tend sawmill all his life than to sell niggers, an' he 'd ruther do all the work on a plantation his- self than to buy a nigger boy or girl away from its mammy. I never once heerd him swar excep' when talkin' o' that nigger auction." "He must be an Abolitionist," said my father. "Ab'litionist ! Ab'litionist ! " exclaimed Green. " You bet he ain't. He is a true loyal man, who loves his country. He 50 The mini went right inter the Black Hawk War, jes' as soon as it broke out; an' though he didn't see much fitin', he showed his loy'Ity all right. No, he 's no Ab'Iitionist. " I jes' want to tell ye about his goin' inter the Black Hawk War. He was workin' fer a gentleman named Kirkpatrick, an' one day somebody said to Kirkpatrick, ' You oughter git a cant- hook for that young feller to move logs with. It 's too bad to make him roll them 'bout without one.' The young sawmill tender asked what a cant-hook would cost, an' they said a dollar an' a half. The young feller said, 'If you '11 give me the dollar an' a half, I '11 go on tackling the logs as I do now, with a wooden spike thet I make myself.' 'Done,' said the boss, an' he didn't need to buy no cant-hook. But do you know thet the boss was thet mean thet he beat thet poor boy out o' thet money, an' said seven dollars a month and his grub was good pay enough for him ? Thet feller went on tendin' sawmill, an' tellin' stories, an' never let on about the cant-hook. Presently came the Black Hawk War, an' they pitched in and raised a comp'ny, an' Kirkpatrick set all his pins to be Cap'n; but thet young feller hadn't forgot about the cant-hook, an' he jes' become a canderdate fer Cap'n hisself, an' when the comp'ny come to vote he was thet popular thet he beat old Kirkpatrick four to one ! I helped to 'lect him, an' when he got 'lected he turned to me an' said, ' Bill, I 've got even on the cant-hook,' an' I know he felt prouder on it than if he 'd been 'lected Pres'dent. He is the curisest feller I ever seed ! He could ask more questions than a Phila- delphia lawyer could answer. Thar never kem a man inter the neighborhood, but he 'd find out jes' the things he knowed. He 'd make friends with him by tellin' him stories, an' then he'd pump him. I 've seen him pump a down-east Yankee 'bout Boston, till he knowed more 'bout Boston, and Plymouth Rock, and Bunker Hill, than the Boston feller hisself. Mentor Graham, the schoolmaster, he never let have any peace arter he found he knew grammar, until he larnt all the grammar he knew; an' when he heerd of a grammar-book he walked six miles to git it, an' when he got through with it he knowed more grammar than the schoolmaster. He found a feller who knowed how to measure off land, an' sure as you live this feller quizzed him an' quizzed The Pioneer 51 him until he larnt the trade, an' then he got some tools an' went out hisself a settin' section-corners an' makin' lines an' settin' stakes to show people whar to put their fences." "What became of this young man?" we asked. " Wall," said Green, " he went an' larned law, made speeches, run fer the legislatur, set up in Springfield, an' got to Congriss. But he 's onljf a kind of a Jackleg lawyer, — an' as fer Congriss, he couldn't git 'lected agin, an' now he's kind o' played out." We were about to ask Mr. Green the name of this singular young man, when he broke out with, " He 's as good a feller as ever lived; but he's kinder common, — sorter jes' hke everybody, — no better no worse, — jes' a good feller. Thar's another feller in that country who beats him, — Dick Yates of Jacksonville. He 's a feller who can beat anybody as a talker. He is thet eloquent thet he '11 make you fergit yer own name. Talk about the American Eagle an' the Star Spangled Banner ! He can jes' lift you ofiE your feet, an' make you soar an' yell, an' hurrah, an' swing yer hat, an' holler, — think ye 're Patrick Henry, an' George Washington, an' Andrew Jackson, an' Henry Clay, an' Bunker Hill, an' everything. I 've seen him make people hold their breaths, an' wipe their eyes, an' blow their noses, jes' by his talk. He'll be Pres'dent some day!" " But you have not given us the name of this funny young man whom you have told us so much about. What is his name?" "Abe Linkern," replied Green. And thus was first introduced to me the name of Abraham Lincoln, a man whom I afterwards came to know quite well, and who became the first citizen of lUinois and the greatest of American Presidents. CHAPTER IX. THE PRAIRIES BEAUTIFUL as is Illinois to the people of the present gener- ation when they travel through the country upon estabhshed highways, among cultivated fields, by meadows and pastures and orchards and gardens surrounding luxuriant homes, they can 52 The mini scarcely realize how resplendent these prairies were fifty years ago. The broad expanse upon which we found ourselves, as we travelled on in that early spring-time, so far as we could see had no beginning and no end except as bounded by the horizon. There were very few houses, and these were usually far away from us ; and in their isolation they seemed to be phantom abodes for disembodied spirits, if occupied at all. Where fires had come and swept away the decayed vegetation of the preceding year, fresh grass of emerald green had sprung up in the midst of vast areas of that which was dead and dry and withered, whose deep brown, surrounding and fringing the green, made luxuriant tapestries of a thousand hues, which, constantly irradiated and illumined and modified by successive sunshine and shadow and humidity and drought, presented more variegated and beautiful tints than any that have been attained by the handi- work of the Orient. The carpets spread out upon the prairies have never been equalled in beauty by the deft fingers or the looms of Turkey and Persia. There was no sound save the rumbling of our own wheels ; and when they ceased to revolve, one realized the sublimity of silence. The vast expanse, extending as far as the eye could reach, was bounded by the horizon, which, rising into the firmament and arching the heavens, formed " a majestical roof fretted with golden fire," a mighty dome canopying all beneath, and constituting what seemed to be a vast pavilion of which the prairies were the floor. This expanse of prairie was relieved here and there by a stream of water, and at intervals by groves of trees, whose cool and refreshing shade seemed always to beckon the wayfarer to approach and enjoy their sweetness and repose. As the season advanced, flowers bloomed more freely, delighting the eye and filling the air with fragrance. Singing birds made melody. The prairie chicken and bobwhite, still unconscious of the wiles of the sportsman, hummed and whistled ; while in the distance the graceful doe and the stately buck, unconscious of danger, lifted their heads high in air to gaze with wistful and curious eyes at the passer-by. Overhanging clouds presented a thousand fantastic forms, — temples and obelisks and pyramids, architecture of every conceiv- The Pioneer 53 able kind. We made out the Acropolis surmounted by the Parthenon, the Cathedrals of St. Peter's and St. Paul's and Milan, and the Mosque of St. Sophia, as we had seen them in pictures. There were innumerable animated creations, elephants and camels and rhinoceroses and lions and tigers, and every kind of beast. In the distance, as it seemed on our own level, ap- peared lakes and rivers, interspersed with islands, so realistic that we had to approach them before being fully convinced, as they faded away, that each was only a phantom, an optical illusion known as a mirage. Wonders of evanescent forms and colors, of dissolving views, painted and erased by the mystic power of refraction, can be found nowhere else in such splendor as upon the great prairies. At the setting of the sun there was a brilliant array of constellations, with the Northern lights, the Milky Way, the Pleiades, the Dipper, and all the glories of the starry heavens on every side as well as above us, — for the sky bent down to the level of the prairie. It is the custom to speak with rapture of the grandeur of mountain scenery, of high altitudes and great gorges. Illinoisans who have ascended the Himalayas, climbed Mont Blanc, traversed the defiles of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado and of the Yosemite, still declare that none of the works of the Divine Architect are quite so majestic and sublime as were our prairies in their pristine beauty. CHAPTER X. THE ABOLITIONIST PREACHER AT Princeton, we attended Divine worship in the Congrega- tional Church, and were surprised as well as pleased to find ourselves among as intelligent and cultivated a people as we had ever seen, most of them emigrants from New England and New York. But when the pastor ascended the pulpit, we were even more surprised. Instead of a backwoods preacher, such as we had read accounts of in the West, it was apparent that this pas- tor was a man of both culture and character. He was a little 54 The mini above the medium height, of sturdy but not too stout figure, full face, broad and massive forehead surmounted by heavy brow^n hair, large kindly beaming eyes, a large cheery mouth, and broad and strong chin. His head was well set upon broad shoulders, and his whole bearing was such as to indicate that while his was a merry and even a jovial nature, he was one of those strong char- acters who can do and dare. I do not remember the text, nor do I remember much that the preacher said, except that he talked of the fugitive-slave law, and described the poor panting fugitive whose only crime was that he was black and fleeing for liberty, and denounced the law that made it the duty of the officers of the United States to pursue him, and that gave them authority to summon and require every citizen to join in the chase, ' making slave-catchers of us all," declaring that there was no power upon earth that could make a slave-catcher of him, and that he would never obey the law, quoting text after text from the Bible to sustain him. He made the most thrilling appeal for the poor fugitive, but his denuncia- tion of the slave-catcher was appalling. He characterized the President of the United States as the chief slave-catcher of all. One of his figures was so striking, that I recall it almost as he made it. He was referring to those preachers who had nothing to say in denunciation of slaver)', and said, " Suppose a general should march a great army to the field of Waterloo, dispose his forces, plant his cannon, and fire into the bones of the heroes who fell there nearly a half-century ago. How ridiculous would that appear ? But how much more ridiculous does it appear for ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to fire their long-toms at that old serpent that disturbed the peace of Eden, and constantly tell of the sins of the Jews who have been dead for thousands of years, while they have no words of censure for men who can make and execute such a brutal enactment as the fugitive-slave law!" As we passed out of the church I came upon our new acquaint- ance, Mr. Green. Before we could say a word, he exclaimed, "They'll kill him, sho', jes' the same as they killed his brother 'Lijah. That 's what they '11 do ! I saw a man this mornin' thet would sooner kill him then he would a dog! " " Did they kill his brother ? " we inquired. ^^UL^^^ ^^-^^^ t/^^^j^/i:. <^^'-^ ^-^^-^^ The Pioneer 55 Yes," he said, down at Alton, where he run an Abolition- ist paper. This preacher was thar an' seen it all when only a boy; but it only made him wuss." "What was the brother's name?" I asked. " 'Lijah P. Lovejoy," he answered ; " an' this preacher's name is Owen Lovejoy." " Did you say you saw a man this morning who would like to kill him?" " Hobbs, Bill Hobbs," he answered. "Hobbs!" I exclaimed. Yes," he answered; he was drivin' Silverton's fancy stock. Left here this mornin'. Druv them all the way from Buffalo." I explained that Hobbs came with us around the lakes, and asked if we should see him. Yes," he said, you'll foller the same trail, an' overhaul him, for you git along faster then he does. He 's mighty keerful o' them cattle, for he knows they're wuth their weight in gold." "Didn't you like the sermon, Mr. Green?" I asked. " Like it ? " he said. " I 'm a loyal man ! I 'm fer the Con- stitution an' the Union! I ain't fer niggers! I do n't want no slavery, — my father came 'way from Tennessee to git shet on it; but I ain't no nigger-stealer. I 'm fer my country." "Do you think Hobbs would kill an Abolitionist ?" I asked, in consternation. " Jes' as quick as he 'd kill a dog," he repeated. ' He 's one o ' the same kind o ' fellers thet killed 'Lijah Lovejoy." CHAPTER XL THE BEGINNINGS OF ROMANCE WE were late in getting off the next day. My father had begun to look for a location, and was making inquiries about the country and considering where to locate. After what Green had told me, I started upon the journey with misgivings. I was curious to see Hobbs again, because he was connected with the Silvertons, in whom I took a deep interest. I knew he 56 The mini was a man of brutal instincts, but had not dreamed that he would be a murderer. I now anticipated meeting him with terror. Green did not accompany us on our journey. In a short time after leaving Princeton, we saw in the distance a top buggy, before which some cattle were moving very slowly, leisurely grazing as they advanced. We found Hobbs in the buggy, half asleep, while the man who had been with the cattle was on foot, slowly urging the cattle forward. Hobbs awoke with a start, as we drove along beside him, and greeted us in a rather surly manner. We asked how he was get- ting along. He said nothing about himself, but talked about the cattle, and how they had stood the journey. He said they had been fifteen days on the journey of a hundred miles, and thought they had got along well. "Ye see," he said, "them kind o' cattle can't travel like Texas steers. I 've druv Texas steers forty mile a day, an' they stood up to it better than I did on hossback. The Gen'ral is mighty tender o' them cattle, an' ruther I'd make a mile a day than ten. I got a letter from him at Princeton, an' a feller read it to me; but he said he was late fer church, an' he read it at such a gait I couldn't keep up. Here it is. Would yer mind gettin' inter this buggy and readin' it to me ?" I squeezed myself in beside him, and all the time I felt press- ing against my body the great revolver in his hip pocket. He brought the letter out of his trousers pocket, all crumpled up. There were no envelopes in those days, and I found the letter was written upon a sheet of paper the back of which had been scribbled over by someone else. There was a twenty-five cent postage-stamp upon it, and it had been sealed with a wafer. Notwithstanding it had once been opened, as I spread it out some of the blotting-sand which had still adhered to the ink marks fell out. I remember all this, as the letter afterwards became very precious to me. It read as follows : "Illinois & Michigan Canal, near La Salle, April ijth, 1850. "Hobbs. '^ ^ > :> " Sir: — Taurus the bull is wortli his weight in gold. I was offered six thousand dollars for him by John Wentworth in Chicago. If I get hira home, he will be worth twice that much. The cows and heifers are very valuable. The Pioneer 57 I hold you responsible for them. Don't overheat them, if you don't get along a mile a day. Remember what I told you, that short-horns are not Texas steers. Be careful about the slews. Only let one animal go through at a time, and if that gets down, both of you together can lift it out. Always stop at night, but don't ever both go to sleep at once, as the cattle may get stam- peded. Go to the Post-office at Knoxville and ask for a letter. " Yours truly, SiLVERTON. " P. S. — They have no letter-paper on the boat, and I have to write on this, which has been scribbled on." I turned the letter over, and to my astonishment I found scrawled upon the sheet, over and over again, my own name, written with a pencil. At the top of the page there was some writing in pencil, some of it on that part of the sheet which had come outside when it was folded, and had been nearly obliterated. Resorting to that which has so many times been a very present help in time of need, — a lie, — I said to Hobbs that I was not sure that I had made out all the words just right, and I would like to study the letter and read it to him again ; and I put it carefully in my pocket, with which proceeding he was entirely satisfied. When opportunity offered, I looked over the scrawls, and was appalled to find also the name of Dwight Earle. But for its not belonging to me, I would have torn the letter into shreds. I put it back into my pocket and walked the ground in misery. I knew that those scrawls were made by Rose Silverton. When I saw that she had written my name, I was in ecstasies ; but when I saw that she had also written the name of Dwight Earle, I was in despair. There was some httle consolation in the fact that she had written my name many times, while his appeared but once ; yet it was some time before I dared try to decipher the remainder of the letter. Finally my curiosity overcame me, and I again drew it out. There was my name as before, scrawled over and over again by itself ; and there was Dwight's name, occurring in written lines, which proved to be only portions of something which had been written on another sheet of paper. I soon made out a few words and fragments of sentences, — such as, did not admit he was . . . what that fellow said ... do n't believe it 's true . . . wish I 'd asked him . . . know he can't lie to me . . . would n't believe that Dwight Earle if he swore to it on a stack of Bibles." S8 The mini How precious General Silverton's letter about his bull and cows and heifers had become to me ! I would have given more to keep it than I would have given for the whole herd of cattle ! But as I could not keep it I did the next best thing, — I copied it, and learned it word for word, of course mentally filling the blanks in a way very pleasing to my boyish self-esteem. CHAPTER XII. AN ADVENTURE ON THE PRAIRIE WE were not inclined to adopt the slow movement of Hobbs with his herd, and bidding him good-bye we drove on. But an incident soon occurred which brought us together again. After leaving Hobbs, we found ourselves approaching a deep valley, be- tween very steep hills. Through this valley ran what is known as Bureau Creek, — from which Bureau County takes its name. The descent into the valley was very abrupt, and we found it necessary, as we had no brakes, to chain the hind wheels of the wagons. This took considerable time; and while we were thus engaged, Hobbs with his train passed on down the hill. Our de- scent was quite difficult, although the chains held the wheels from turning. The valley was about a quarter of a mile wide, and in it there was a rank growth of heavy grass, dead and dry from being exposed to the weather since its maturity the summer before. As we came down to the creek bottom, we saw approaching us, on the other side of the valley, a man driving a gray team of horses attached to a lumber wagon. He forded the stream and came on to meet Hobbs and his cattle; and, following the custom among pioneers, they stopped "to tell the time of day," as the phrase was. When we joined them, the stranger, a very intelligent and prepossessing young man, was telling Hobbs how he had been looking over lands in that country in the interests of a company that wanted to buy; that his name was George Davis, and that he was going to Princeton to look up the records and see if the land-titles were all right. I noticed that he had his wagon-box filled with bundles of oats, which it was the custom to carry on a journey to feed the horses. The Pioneer 59 All this time the cattle were browsing in the grass, that came up to their bellies. The wind was blowing from the south-east quite briskly, but not strong enough to be particularly noticeable. Suddenly Hobbs's man shouted, "Great God! look there!" and pointed to a cloud of smoke which seemed to be miles away. The man started instantly to "bunch" his cattle, to drive them along the road; but they were enjoying themselves, and could not at once be brought together. Hobbs, apparently in great terror, applied the. whip to his horse, and tried to aid in moving the slug- gish cattle. Not having the faintest conception of what was the matter, we were startled by the excitement of Hobbs and the cattle-driver. I started up our horses, but in my haste I struck the hub of the stranger's wagon, breaking my double-tree and one of his harness-tugs, which stopped us both. It was not until that moment that I heard what seemed to be the deep, low, far-distant roar of thunder. I turned in the direc- tion toward which everybody else was looking in terror, and saw along the horizon deep black clouds of smoke, which brightened and radiated in the sunshine as it arose. I did not realize what it all meant, until I heard the cattle-driver, with a volley of oaths surpassing even those of the steamboat mate, cursing Hobbs, who seemed to have collapsed in terror, at the same time calling for some matches, and declaring that Hell was let loose upon us and we should all be burned up. I have seen many prairie-fires since then, but none so appalling as this one. The grass was dry and burned hke tinder, and was so thick and heavy that it made an intense heat. The fire was coming from the south, while the narrow trail ran east and west through the high grass. It was plain that before we could reach the hill on either side the fire would be upon us. Great clouds of smoke were already rolling near, and must soon stifle us. 'Through the rifts of these smoky clouds we could see bright flames steadily approaching, with a frightful roaring. Many kinds of wild fowl, intent upon escape, were flying by over our heads, — ducks and geese, and prairie chickens and quail; while an occasional wolf and smaller prairie animals ran across the road near us. A herd of deer sprang up and bounded wildly past, less terrified by the sight of us than by the approaching conflagration. 6o The mini For us there seemed to be no means of escape. It was appalling, stifling, sickening. Suddenly there appeared before us a young man whom we had not noticed before. Had he come down the road from either direction, it seemed we must have seen him. Whether he came down from the skies or up out of the ground, we did not know, and we had no time to ask. He ran out into the tall grass to the north, and seemed to fall down overcome, as was nearly the con- dition of most of us in those awful moments. I heard from his direction a click, click, click, sounding like the pecking of the stones in the old grist-mill of my native valley. This sound continued for some seconds, when suddenly a fire sprang up just at the spot where the young man had disappeared. As the fire blazed out it showed him upon his feet with burning wisps of dry grass in his hands, with which he ran toward the east, lighting the dead grass until he had a hne of fire several rods wide. It looked as though he intended to make our destruction even more sure; for now we had fire upon both sides of us, — the north as well as the south. Not so! The fire kindled by that young man was our only hope, and proved our salvation. As it burned away, leaving the approaching fire nothing to feed upon, the young man beck- oned us to come to him, which we did as quickly as possible. The fires he had kindled were burning from us, carried by the wind; while the fire that seemed our destruction was coming toward us with all the fury of a whirlwind. He had kindled the fire with flints, the sound of which I had heard as he struck them together. Then I comprehended what his man wanted of the matches, when Hobbs was so frightened that he had not the phy- sical strength to take them out of his pocket. Scarce as Lucifer matches were in those days, we could have furnished them had we known what use to make of them. It was a lesson I never forgot, and more than once it was useful to me when traversing the prairies afterwards. I then learned what it means to fight fire with fire. Our friendly fire was now burning the grass away from us, almost as fast as was that which approached us ; and we had only to move along with our horses and wagons, as fast as the dry grass was burned off. With considerable difficulty, Hobbs's man got the cattle upon this bare space ; but we helped him to move Hobbs, The Pioneer 6i whose horse we had to lead. Hobbs said he had "tuk sick in the stummick," and that it was " most as bad as the milk-sick." My mother fell upon her knees and thanked God fervently for our deliverance. We had no musical instruments, nor anyone skilled in playing ; but our songs of praise and gratitude could not have been surpassed by those of " Miriam and all the women who went cut after her, with timbrels and with dances." We over- whelmed our deliverer with thanks. Among all those whose exploits I had ever read, it seemed to me that this was the real hero ; he had saved us all. Of course we were desirous of know- ing something about him, and plied him with questions. When we asked him from which way he came, he simply said, I came down the hill," and discouraged us from pursuing our inquiries. He was formed like an Apollo. His figure was lithe and trim, his complexion rather dark, with dull red shining in his cheeks. His eyes were dark brown, his hair black and a Httle wavy. He had full red lips, which displayed the most exquisite teeth. But what struck us most were his refined and gentle manners. It was evident that he had seen more than some of us of polite society. Then he was modest and retiring, disclaiming any credit for what he had done, seeming to prefer to withdraw into the oblivion from which he had so mysteriously and opportunely appeared. His clothing was very plain. He wore a slouch hat; his coat and trousers were made of what was then called "jeans," colored yellow, as I afterwards learned, from the juice of butternut rinds. He wore no vest, and had on a woollen shirt with turn-down collar. Around his waist he wore a buckskin belt. I noticed on his left cheek, from just below the corner of the eye, a straight raised hne in the skin, running back to the ear. CHAPTER XIII. "A RUNAWAY NIGGER" HOBBS laid himself down upon the ground, blowing like a porpoise. We put the lap-robe of his buggy under him, and took one of his cushions for his pillow. We noticed him eyeing our deliverer with peculiar interest ; and he did not join in 62 The mini our expressions of thankfulness. I thought it was because, having himself been so utterly useless, he was perhaps jealous of the young man who had saved his life, and what seemed almost as dear to him, the cattle. But in this I was mistaken. He kept eyeing the young man, who seemed annoyed by the attention. Finally he sat up and asked the young man where he was when the fire broke out. The young man replied that he was asleep in the grass. "How come yer to be thar sleepin' in the daytime?" asked Hobbs. " I was tired," answered the young man. "Come hyer," said Hobbs, rising to his feet. "My eye- sight ain't what it used ter be. Come hyer! " The young man timidly approached, when Hobbs, stepping forward, threw his left arm around him and held him as in a vice, while he critically exam.ined the mark upon his left cheek. Then, placing his left foot upon the hub of a wagon which stood near, he bent the struggling captive over his knee, pulled his coat over his head and his shirt out from the buckskin belt, thus exposing his bare back. Such a sickening sight none of us, excepting Hobbs, had ever seen before. The poor fellow's entire back was black and blue, and crossed with great welts like the one we had observed upon his cheek, but worse. " Look a hyer ! " Hobbs shouted as we gazed in pity. " Hoo- ray ! Hooray! Hooray! Jeams's cousin ! " "I do n't see anything to laugh at," said my father. "Don't see nothin' to larf at!" shouted Hobbs, as he set the young man on his feet, still holding him in his powerful grip. "Can't ye see? He's a runaway nigger, by G — ! an' he 's a fine piece o' property. I '11 get enough to buy a hull sec- tion o' land when I turn him over ter his master, an' I'll hev the credit o' doin' my dooty besides!" You wouldn't put that poor boy back into slavery, after he has saved all our lives, and those of your cattle too, would you, Mr. Hobbs?" asked my mother. " Inter slavery !" exclaimed Hobbs. " Ain't he a slave ? Don't his master own him, body and soul and breeches? W'y, he's wuth most as much as thet ar bull ! Cud I see my master's The Pioneer 63 property runnin' away an' not stop it ? He knows he belongs to his master. Ain't his runnin' away from his lawful owner stealin' ? I '11 do my dooty, an' he '11 git a lesson that '11 make him quit stealin' hisself, I reckon. That 's wuss than highway robbery ; an' when the overseer gits through with him, his hull body '11 match his back." I have never seen such indignation as was manifested by all in our little company. Everyone was determined that this young man should be free, and that before he should be taken back to slavery we would die, if need be, in his defense. Not a word was said as to how we would act, but there was no mistaking our temper and meaning. I noticed especially the stranger who had driven the pair of gray horses from the west. He held in his hand, under his coat, a knife with a heavy pointed blade, which I after- wards learned was called a bowie knife ; and I saw him watching Hobbs with a menacing expression. My father was lightly hold- ing a long-handled axe, as he leaned against the wagon. Even my mother was preparing to take a hand, — she had grasped a hatchet, which lay in a feed-box behind the wagon. For my own part, I had picked up a piece of the broken doubletree. We were all ready for the big brute, had he started to move away with his capture. Hobbs realized the situation, and put his hand upon his revolver. I reached over and seized the shot-gun with which I had been shooting prairie chickens, and, cocking it, laid it across my left arm. Then Hobbs called loudly to his man for help, but it happened that the latter, who had heard enough of the excited talk to understand the situation, had just then all he could do in taking care of the herd, which was ready to be stampeded. He shouted back, " Come and help take care of the stock, and let the d — d nigger go! " All this time Hobbs was holding to his captive like grim death. Suddenly we heard a strange buzzing sound. Hobbs released his hold upon the young man, and jumped, big as he was, ten feet as it seemed to me. He had been standing almost upon a prairie rattlesnake, which had saved itself from the fire by crawling under a great clod or bunch of earth and grass and roots, such as are common in the bottom-lands. Quick as thought, the young man darted away. Almost as quick, Hobbs drew his revolver; but 64 The mini before he could fire I was behind him, and just as he fired I gave him a running shove with all my strength, which sent the bullet wide of its mark. Strong enough to lift a bull, as I had seen him do on the vessel, yet he could not run; and now that the boy was free, there was no possibility of overtaking him. The young man ran like a deer, and before Hobbs could recover himself for a second shot no rifle then in existence would have sent a ball far enough to reach him. Turning around the point of a blufif, he quickly disappeared from sight. Fortunately, the man now came up from the herd of cattle, which had become quiet, as Hobbs turned to wreak his vengeance upon me. I had been careful to keep out of his way; for after what I had seen, I did not care to get into his clutches. The man faced Hobbs squarely and gave him a volley of oaths and curses for having forgotten his cattle, and everything else, jist for a d — d nigger." " Now," he said, "you want to git up a quarrel with these folks ! Hain't ye sense enough to understand that they know the General, and will tell him all about how you thought more on a nigger than ye did o' the cattle? There hain't a heifer in the herd thet hain't wuth more'n any nigger; and the bull '11 sell fer more on the auction-block than a half-dozen such niggers as thet ! Do n't ye know the grass is all burnt off here, and the stock has got to have feed? If we do n't move along they won't have any all night, and then they'll surely stampede afore mornin'." The speech was effectual. Hobbs gathered up his belongings, got into his buggy, and drove on, flinging at us, as a parting im- precation, what to his mind was probably the bitterest epithet that could be applied to a human being: "Ye 're all d — d Abohtion- istsl" and added, if I had some good bloodhounds with me, I 'd have the d — d nigger yit ! ' ' Scarcely had Hobbs and his man gone, when the young man Davis insisted upon going also. We had become attached to him, and urged him not to hasten away. My mother said we would drive down to the creek where there was water, and there she would give us supper. But nothing could stop Mr. Davis; he said he had to meet some men about a land-trade that night in Princeton, and must hurry. My father said I could not go on The Pioneer 65 with my team with a broken whippletree, and proposed that I take the broken pieces with the irons upon them and go with Davis back to Princeton and have a new one made ; that in the mean- time they would go down to the creek and camp for the night, and I could join them in the morning. With what appeared to me considerable reluctance, Davis consented that I should go ; but I was convinced that if he could possibly have formed a plausi- ble excuse he would not have consented to take me. As the sun went down, we were climbing the hill on our way back to Princeton. The shadows of night soon closed around us, and the stirring events of the day were in my mind. I could not help talking. Davis answered me in a low tone, and cautioned me not to speak loud. My recollections of the terrible prairie fire still filled me with awe ; and the appearance and work of our de- liverer seemed to me a special interposition of Providence. The thought that this brave and manly fellow was a negro slave, whose back was scarred from cruel floggings, seemed unendurable ; and I said to Mr. Davis that I always had been an Abolitionist, although I did not really find it out until a few days before, and that, if I never had been one, such a sight as that poor young man's wounds would have made me one forever. Then I expressed my anxiety as to the poor fellow's fate. Where had he gone? Would he not be in danger of running into other men as bad as Hobbs? Could he ever regain his liberty ? Where on the face of the earth could he find friends ? My heart went out to the poor outcast. He had committed no crime; he had as much right to hberty as I ; and I asked my companion if there was no way I could help to reach him. I begged Mr. Davis to drive in the direction he had taken, and see if we could not find him. He simply answered, "Wait," and drove on. We rode in silence for a time, when I asked Mr. Davis what he had intended to do with the big knife he had in his hand at the time of the trouble with Hobbs. " I intended to kill that beast with it," he answered; " and I felt that it was fortunate for me, as well as for him, that he hit that rattlesnake with his foot. Had he persisted in taking that boy away, I would have killed him. I do not care so much that his life was saved, as that I was saved from taking the life of a 6 66 The mini fellow-man. What would you have done, my boy, with that shot-gun?" he asked me. "Killed him in his tracks," I answered; "and I almost wish now I had done so. From what my father whispered to me, I know he intended to get ahead of me and kill him, to save me from doing so." Then I told Davis all about our voyage around the lakes, and how Hobbs had insulted my father in the smoking-room of the vessel because he was a friend of the negro, and how in everyway in his power he had sought to injure us. Mr. Davis seemed much relieved by what I told him. " Now," he said, " I know I can trust you. You must not feel hurt that I did not at once take you into my confidence; but it is a serious thing in this State for a person to be known as an Abolitionist and help black men to freedom, and we must make every possible trial of a stranger before we give him our confidence. If for nothing else, I ought to have trusted you from the moment I saw the look in your eyes as you seized your shot-gun. Now that I know your experience with that man on the voyage, I am satis- fied, and will tell you the whole story. The boy was not hidden in the grass at all ; he did not come down from Heaven, nor up out of the ground, when he appeared to you and to us as our deliverer " "Whoo!" The horses stopped, and he exclaimed, " Listen ! " I listened, as did he. We heard simply a turn, turn, turn, a kind of drum- ming, with which I had already become familiar. " It 's only prairie-chickens, over yonder toward that clump of hazel brush," said I. "We hear them every evening." " Wait," said my companion. Soon we heard from the same direction a short, sharp, snappish, spiteful bark, accompanied by a whine. "That," I whispered, "is a prairie-wolf ; we hear them every night." "Wait," he said again. " Listen ! " and then we heard from the same direction the " ha-hoo, ha-hoo, ha-hoo " of an owl; whereupon my companion, instead of again cautioning me to be quiet, set up a series of barkings, in very good imitation of a dog, and so loud that it could be heard a long distance. The Pioneer 67 All this had taken considerable time, and it seemed to me that we ought to move on. "Wait," said my companion; "wait, and I will present you to a friend of ours." Soon I heard a rustling of the grass, and then a footstep from the direction of the hazel brush and presently I discerned in the darkness the figure of a man approaching. He stopped about twenty feet away, and asked if we had met a wagon going west, loaded with hoop-poles. " Ho!" answered Mr. Davis; "it 's all right, now come and get in." The man approached timidly, but started when he saw me. " It 's all right," repeated my companion. " He 's a friend, and will help us." The man came toward us, and, dark as it was, I recognized his movement, and was soon sure of what I had begun to half suspect, that it was the poor fugitive. With a bound he sprang into the wagon, and placed himself upon the sheaves of oats behind the seat upon which we were sitting. I cried out, over- come with surprise and wonder. "Hush!" said Mr. Davis. "You must make no noise, — speak very low, if at all." Then after a pause, he proceeded to explain to me some very interesting matters. CHAPTER XIV. THE UNDERGROUND RAILWAY IN ILLINOIS "TTT'E are now," said Mr. Davis, "on the route of what is » ' called the Underground Railway in Illinois. Along it many a poor slave has made his way from Missouri to Canada, from slavery to liberty. It is the only railway now successfully running in Illinois. As a matter of fact, it is not a railway at all, but only an imaginary line, and is called a railway merely because of the speed and success with which it runs, scarcely ever failing to deliver its passengers at their destination. The hne has sev- eral branches and a considerable number of stations. The main trunk-line through this part of the State, after leaving the Mis- 68 The mini sissippi River, runs through Galesburg, Wethersfield, Princeton, and St. Charles, to Chicago. Galesburg is the most important station after leaving the Mississippi. If a fugitive can get to Galesburg, he is reasonably safe. That place is knovi'n by the colored people all through Missouri as the first and most impor- tant point for them to reach ; they know that if they once get there they will find friends who will hide them and help them. Galesburg is where I live." " How do they find out about Galesburg?" I asked. "It's a mystery even to me," he answered; "but I think they get the information chiefly through the denunciations of the place by those who have learned to hate it. The colored people are very quick of apprehension, and when they hear a place de- nounced as an abolition hole " they know they will find friends there. All along the river, from Warsaw to St. Louis, and even down to Cairo and up the Ohio, there are good and brave men and women who are willing to help them, and they somehow manage to find out who these friends are." "You say you live at Galesburg?" I inquired. " Yes," he said ; " there is where I live." "Are you a farmer?" I asked. " No," he answered; " I live with a man named John West, one of the founders of the town. He, and other good men and women, came there from the East to establish a religious town and a college ; and it may be said that the chief corner-stone of the town is liberty. Hatred of slavery and opposition to it is one of the most marked characteristics of the place." I was curious to learn about my new friend's relations with the young man who had saved us from the fire, and inquired if he had ever seen him before he appeared to us so opportunely. " That was what I was about to tell you," he replied, "when I stopped the horses to listen to what you thought was the drumming of a prairie-chicken. Last Wednesday night a man drove into our yard, and as we came out we recognized him as a friend, whose name was Heiser. We knew he had a fugitive with him, as he had come before with others. When he learned there were no strangers about the place, he spoke a few low words and a man crawled out from under some sheaves of oats in The Pioneer 69 the wagon-box, just such as I have back there in this wagon; and this is the man. Mr. Heiser had found him weary and foot- sore and almost famished. We gave him food, and hid him that night and until the next afternoon, when I started with him in this wagon for Princeton. We had a long rest at Wethersfield, in Henry County, and felt that our journey was about completed, when we met you, and the fire burst upon us." " But," I exclaimed, "where was the fugitive all that time? " " Lying under those sheaves of oats, where he is now." But when we found him," said I, ' he was lying on the high grass, out of which he came." "Not at all," said Davis; he was lying in this wagon, cov- ered up with those sheaves of oats, just as he is now. When the fire burst upon us, and our whole attention was given to our danger, he slipped out of the wagon, — and you know the rest. In all this he risked far more than we did. He could easily have run away and saved himself, but he saw our danger, and risked his life, and more than his life, to save us." " But how did he find you afterwards ? " " That is easily explained," answered Mr. Davis. " I noticed that the boy was an extraordinary mimic ; he can mimic almost any sound that is made by a living thing; and so it was arranged between us that should we be pursued and likely to be overtaken he should take to his heels, and if he eluded his pursuers he should take the direction in which we were travelling, get as near to the trail as possible, watch for passing wagons, and as one came near if it was at night he should give the sounds you heard, — the drum of the prairie-chicken, the bark and whine of the wolf, and the screech of the owl, — but if it was in the daytime he should give the coo of the mourning-dove, the whistle of the quail, and the pipe of the robin. His hiding-place would be where he could see me in the daytime, and when the coast was clear after I should hear the signal I was to beckon him to come out. I had a special signal for the night, and it was agreed that I should give the only one of which I am capable, an imitation of a bark- ing dog." " But how could he find the direction to reach the trail across these wild prairies ? " I asked. yo The mini " This road we are travelling runs east and west ; hence our general direction is toward the east." " How could he tell which way was east ? " Seeing that Davis hesitated for an answer, the young man who was sitting up on the bundle of oats close behind us answered the question for himself. "Do you see that bright star over there to the north?" he said. " Every colored child knows that star be- fore he is old enough to run about. The first lesson his mother gives him is about that star; it is the North Star; and hence to the colored people North means liberty, freedom, deliverance, while South means degradation, despair, and death. Do you wonder that the poor slave worships the North Star ? As soon as I felt safe from being overtaken, in the friendly shades of the night the North Star appeared, and then I had all the points of the compass. I knew that I was south of the trail leading to Princeton, for I crossed it when that friendly rattlesnake set me free, and ran south. I knew that Mr. Davis would soon drive east on that trail ; and so I had only to make my way east, and then come north until I struck the trail. When I came upon it, I sat down and waited for you half an hour. When you appeared, not being sure who you were, I went off a little way and gave the signals, which were quickly answered, as you know." "What made you run away from slavery ? " I asked. "It's quite a long story," he replied. "As it is too early for us to drive into town," said Mr. Davis, "we will turn away from the road a little and wait to hear the story." CHAPTER XV. THE STORY OF A FUGITIVE SLAVE WHEN we had stopped, the young man proceeded as follows: "My master was a rich man, who went from Virginia to Missouri in 1824, taking with him most of his movable prop- erty, including slaves and horses and cattle, besides considerable money. My mistress wanted to locate near her brother, in Pike County, Illinois; but as they could not hold slaves in Illinois, they settled in Missouri, as near as possible to her brother's plantation. The Pioneer 71 across the Mississippi River. My master tooic up a large tract of land, much of it at the government price. Pike County, Illinois, where my mistress' brother had located, just across the river from us, then embraced all the region where we now are ; in fact, Chicago was then in Pike County. "Among the slaves brought from Virginia by my master and mistress was a young woman, almost white, and very beautiful. She had been my mistress' maid, but was more of a companion than a servant. She had spent several winters with the family in Washington and New York, had travelled with them in the Eastern States and in Europe, and had shared in the education given the sons and daughters of the family. She became not only an associate but an instructor of the children, teaching them their ordinary school lessons, besides French, German, music, embroid- ery, and other accomplishments. "My mistress' brother was a bachelor. He often used to come over and visit her, crossing the river in a skiff. He was a kind and generous man ; and though he did me the greatest wrong that can be imagined, I still love him. I remember him as he came when I was a little child, and how kind he was to me and to my mother. I remember how they talked together, and how sad he would become, and how my mother would seek to comfort and cheer him. I never suspected, until I was told the real truth, that he was my father." "And who was your mother?" I asked. ' ' Who was my mother ? Who was my mother ? " he exclaimed, with a tremor in his voice that thrilled me. " Who was my mother ? She was the beautiful, angelic woman of whom I have been telling you." He paused for a moment, and then continued : "In her duties in the family, mostly as tutor, she did not neglect me. I was employed about the house, went upon errands, and made myself as useful as I could. My mother gave especial attention to my education. She taught me all the common branches, — French, which she spoke like a native, German, Latin, Greek, and history; and placed in my hands good books from our master's library. "When I was a little more than sixteen years old, my mother died. She was sick only a few days, and I was constantly at her 72 The mini side. One summer afternoon, as the sun was going down in the west, she held my hand, and with quivering lips told me of my father, of her love for him and of his for her, and she gave me some vague hints regarding herself and her relations to him, but said she could not tell me more without his approval, which he would be sure to give sometime. She told me of how devoted he had been to her, and was sure he would hasten to her if he knew of her illness. When I offered to send for him, she forbade me, saying she loved him too much for that, and that although her heart went out to him, and she longed to see him, it could not be. Then she told me that I was free, that the papers had been made out and signed and sealed, and that my father had them, to give to me whenever he thought best. "When I asked her about her marriage to my father, she turned her face from me with a sigh and a look that I can never forget. After a time she slowly turned toward me, and, gazing in my face a moment, said that although my father had often urged her to tell me, she had not intended to do so; yet now that I asked it I had a right to know; that she was privately married to my father, in Trinity Church in the city of New York, where my master and mistress were visiting, she under the name by which she had been called when a child, before she was bought by my good master and mistress." Mr. Davis here asked the young man what the name was, and he pronounced it ; but it was a French name, and I did not remember it. Then the young man went on. " She said the time would come when my father would tell me all about it, but it could do me no good to have it publicly known that he had been married to a slave, while it would ruin him. Then she took two parcels from under her pillow and handed them to me, saying they were for my father; that she had hoped to place them in his hands; that they contained papers and mementos for him and for me, but that she wished the parcels to remain sealed until I should be a free man. She wanted me to be free, she said, but hoped I would stay with my kind master and mistress while they lived. "The next morning I found her, very weak, writing a letter which she carefully folded and sealed and directed to my mistress' The Pioneer 73 brother, and handed it to me to deliver to him in person, with the parcels. That was her last act on earth. "When my mistress' brother came back, I gave him the letter and parcels. He read the letter over and over again, and was deeply affected by it. Upon each of the parcels was some writing asking him to open them in my presence after I should become of age, or in the presence of someone of her own name should such ever appear to take an interest in me. My mother was buried under a large cypress in the cemetery, just on the line separating the graves of the white people from those of the colored folks. My mistress' brother visited the spot very often, and I could see that he grieved deeply. I had been there every day, but I did not presume to join him there. During most of the time he was with us, he kept me near him, — driving for him, walking with him, and riding with him on horseback. He was always sad, but kind and gentle to me. I had a long talk with him, or, rather, he talked a long time to me. He told me that my mother had given him in her letter a full account of what she had told me. On the last day he was there, he said he wanted to arrange to take me with him, but that his sister needed me and he could not think of taking me from her. Remembering my mother's injunction, I said nothing of my relation to him ; and he went away. The rest is soon told. I went on as before for three years, when my master died. My mistress' brother came over with the lawyers to settle the estate, which gave an ample fortune to the family. I learned that two years after my mother's death, my mistress' brother had again married. He had me with him as before, whenever he visited us. Just before returning to Illinois, he again told me that he would like to take me with him, but was sure that as he was now situated it would not be as agreeable to me to be with his family as with his sister. I remembered my mother's counsel, and told him I preferred to remain with my good mistress; and so I went on as before, for several years more. I read books from the library, and improved myself in every way ; and, for a slave, I was happy. "Finally the overseer, a good Christian man who had been in charge of the estate for many years, died, and my mistress wrote 74 The mini to her brother asking him to recommend a man for his place. He at once sent a man with a letter, saying that he was highly recom- mended by his own overseer, who had known him in Missouri. He was for all the world just such a man as the one from whose clutches the rattlesnake delivered me ; he was not so strong, but he was more devilish. Never was there such a change on a planta- tion as that man brought about. My mistress was sick and weak with palsy, and finally became bedridden. The new overseer had set up a regular whipping-post for both men and women. He took a dislike to me from the first, and I knew that my turn would come. My mistress' brother had gone abroad, as I learned, with his family; hence I could not appeal to him, and I would not if I could. "At last my poor mistress died. I was overwhelmed with grief, and rushed into the room and fell upon my knees beside the bed, sobbing like a child. The overseer, finding me there, seized me by the collar and dragged me away. I could not resist him in the awful presence of death, but when in the open air I gave him a blow that broke his nose and closed one of his eyes. Then he had me seized and whipped, the marks of which you saw upon my cheek and upon my back. I was in bed for several days ; but as soon as I was able I made a dash for liberty. I crossed the river at midnight. I have often thought of what a blessing the great river is to such as I. Through the river, bloodhounds cannot keep the trail. I found friends, whom I knew I could trust, known to all the colored people in Northern Missouri ; and they put me on the Underground Railway line for Galesburg. The rest you know." "What is the name of your mistress' brother? " I asked. "I cannot tell even you," he replied. " He now has a family, and I would not bring trouble upon them, nor dishonor upon him. You must not ask me to name him. Knowing as I do how my mother would feel, I would rather go back into slavery than injure him. Besides, I still love him more than any other being in the world. I never expect to see him again ; but I would like sometime to hear from him, and to have him know that I faithfully kept the trust." "But you must go to him," I urged. The Pioneer 75 No," he slowly replied, "I cannot go to him now. This would be just what my mother would not wish me to do. I could not say who I am without doing him harm. I am even now, no doubt, pursued; and if I should turn back I would be retaken and returned to a fate worse than death. There is but one refuge for the poor fugitive slave : it is on British soil. My free papers would not save me here, — there might be some flaw in them, and these are always construed against the slave. Be- sides, where could I go ? Free negroes are not allowed in Illinois. I, and those hke me, are outcasts. In my own country, the land of my birth, and for whose honor I would die if permitted to defend her, I am a hunted man. I must hasten to Canada." It was time to move, and we drove on in silence. We realized that we must soon separate ; and it was arranged that if the fugi- tive should reach Canada he should send his post-ofBce address to George Davis at Galesburg. It was midnight when we drove through Princeton, where all the people were asleep. A mile east of the town, we stopped. Mr. Davis got out of his wagon and walked away. He said he would not drive up to the house, for fear of being watched. After a while he came back, but not alone. A gentleman was with him. It was too dark to see more than the outlines of his figure, but there was no mistaking the voice that had thrilled me from the pulpit on the Sunday before, as the gentleman cordially greeted us in a low tone. It was Mr. Lovejoy. " Since this iniquitous fugitive-slave bill has been up," he said, we are watched very closely ; and while I would be glad to enter- tain all of you, I think it hardly safe for you to drive to my house. You had better bid the young man good-bye here, and I will take him to a place of concealment for the present, and as soon as practicable I will speed him on his journey." And with a bene- diction, he bade us good-night. The young man was so overcome with emotion that he could only press our hands, when they walked away together in the darkness. And thus came the parting between me and the young man whom I had so strangely met and in whom I had become so deeply interested. 76 The mini CHAPTER XVI. A HOME IN ILLINOIS MR. DAVIS and I stayed that night at a hotel, and as soon as my whippletree was repaired the next morning, we drove back to join my people. I did not need to ask an explanation of Mr. Davis about his real-estate business in Princeton, for now I understood it all ; but we arranged that as soon as we were settled in Illinois I should write to him. We found my father and mother anxiously awaiting our arrival. Hobbs and his man, with the stock, had driven over the hill soon after we left the evening before, and, as we understood, were to take a southerly direction, while we kept our course more to the westward, in the direction of Rock Island. I did not regret part- ing with Hobbs. Pioneers regarded it as a duty to kill every rattlesnake that crossed their paths. When I asked my father what was the fate of that particular rattlesnake which so frightened Hobbs, he replied that it was unmolested further, and added that if anyone had pre- sumed to attack it he would have felt it his duty to defend it. Mr. Davis, having discharged his "freight," soon took leave of us. He had no load, and could make better speed than we. I had become very much attached to him. My father bought a farm in Henry County, upon which we were soon settled. The house comprised but one large room, above which was an attic or garret. This attic was made by rude rafters resting on the top of the walls and supporting a roof made of staves. These staves had been split from logs and smoothed with a draw-shave. In this attic it was possible to stand erect only in the centre, under the ridgepole, where the rafters met at the top. The room below was floored with rough boards. There was a great fireplace, with chimney projecting outside the wall. From this room, the ascent to the attic was by a rude ladder made of strips of wood hewed out of young saplings. I slept in the attic, The Pioneer 77 as did the " help," both male and female, the partitions being made of cotton muslin doth. The height of the room did not admit of bedsteads, and the beds were made on the floor. The one room below served as parlor, hbrary, dining-room, and kitchen, and bedroom for my father and mother, with a " spare bed " curtained off for company. The house was not built of logs, as the houses of pioneers usually were; but the walls were built of a kind of clay called "rammed clay." These clay walls were nearly two feet thick, and were similar to the adobe walls of New Mexico and Arizona houses, but better. I was not surprised at the scarcity of boards, when I learned that when the house was built the only sawed lumber available came from what was known as a "saw-pit," in which logs were sawed into boards by hand. The man from whom my father bought the farm wished to move away ; and our purchase included the horses and cattle and hogs, — in fact, everything on the place. We did not join farms" with anybody, as our farm was isolated upon the open prairie. Nearer the grove, about a mile away, there was a series of inclosed farms; but upon the open prairie there was only here and there an improvement. The roads, or trails, led directly across the prairie, from settlement to settlement, from farm to farm, the courses of which were gradu- ally changed to get around the farms, as the country became settled, until they finally became established upon section lines. In those days people who lived within two or three miles of each other were near neighbors, and others living twenty or twenty- five miles away were still neighbors. We attended church at a settlement six miles away, and the congregation assembled from a radius of twenty miles. In all this wide world, there is no hospitality so generous and so cordial and sincere as was that of the pioneers of Illinois. Meagre as were our conveniences for entertainment, there was always room for visitors and for the belated traveller who asked if he could " git to stay all night." Time and again have I seen a whole household give up its beds to perfect strangers, driven by stress of weather or overtaken by the darkness of night to seek its hospitality, and themselves sleep on the floor. 78 The mini In our rude habitation there was always a long wooden latch on the inside of the door and reaching across it, to which a string was attached and passed out through a hole above. With this string, the catch could be easily raised from the outside ; while to securely lock the door from the inside, it was only necessary after latching it to pull in the string. I have heard sentiments and declarations of hospitality in many lands, but I never heard or read of one that seemed to be quite so expressive and cordial as that of the pioneers of those days, " Our latch-string always hangs out for you." The capacity of those rude cabins for entertainment, such as was satisfactory in those days, was immense. There were no separate bedrooms, but there was the great wide floor of that one room, and many could lie down before the fireplace upon skins of animals and upon blankets. Markets were remote and money was scarce, but of everything raised upon the farm we all had plenty. Indian corn could scarcely be sold at all for cash, and when exchanged at the village store for coffee and sugar and molasses and salt, which comprised nearly all the family groceries, ten cents a bushel was considered a good price. Our hogs fed most of the year upon mast in the grove, and were fattened upon Indian corn. Pork cost httle more than the labor of butchering and curing and dressing, and beef was almost as plenty. Milk and butter and eggs and poul- try, we had in abundance. One of the chief troubles was to get our grain ground. I have gone twenty-five miles over to Green River to mill, carrying my own provisions and blankets, and feed for the horses, and stayed over two nights, sleeping in the mill, waiting my turn to get my grist run through. There was plenty of timber for fuel ; and the expense of cooking, which was all done at the fireplace, was but little. Who can forget the savory fragrance that came from the pots and kettles that hung upon the crane, and from the "Dutch oven," and the frying pans, and the spits and the griddles, and all the accessories of the great fireplace ? I have never been able to f:nd in a London grill-room, or in a Paris or Vienna or Copen- hagen cafe viands that began to equal those prepared by good Illinois pioneer women at those fireplaces, seasoned as they were by good cheer and good appetites. Think of the corn-bread and The Pioneer 79 johnny-cake, baked in the Dutch oven ; the hoe-cakes and pan- cakes baked on the griddle; the hasty pudding, the hulled corn, and the hominy, boiled in the pot, with all the savory meats cooked in a dozen different ways ! Who that has tasted such fare would not wish to go back again and live in a pioneer's cabin ? CHAPTER XVII. "MOVERS" A GREAT many people were coming into the country. Every day "movers " passed, many of whom stopped at our house. Most of them travelled in wagons covered with white muslin. Somehow I have never been able to have quite as much respect for a palace car as I felt for these "prairie schooners" which brought across the country the men and women who laid deep and strong the foundations of our great State. Through these emigrants we on our secluded farm were brought into relations with the outer world. Those that passed through our section came chiefly from the East and from the Middle States; but there were many from Europe, and some from Virginia and other Southern States. In the narrow limits of the valley from which we came, we had known of other peoples only through our reading. Now we came into personal contact with men and women representing many lands, and bringing with them the customs and creeds and tastes and prejudices that had been common to them there. We came to Illinois, feeling that no people could be quite so good and wise as those among whom we had lived. We were at first a little inclined to ridicule the ways of most of these new people, — their ideas, their pecul- iarities of manner, and especially their dialects. But soon we found that they had about the same feeling toward us. Then we began to study them ; and we found that while in some things we excelled them, in many others their ways were better than ours; and thus we all began to benefit from each other. We found that here upon the prairies of Illinois were assembled rep- resentatives of the best races of the earth, — Scandinavians, 8o The mini Germans, English, Irish, French, Yankees, New Yorkers, Penn- sylvanians, Virginians, Carolinians, Kentuckians, Tennesseans, and I know not how many others, bringing into this new society the customs and manners and traditions of each, and making them a part of the common stock. Men and women whose ancestors had fought with Gustavus Adolphus and Charles the Twelfth, with Frederick the Great and Bliicher, with Cromwell and Wellington, with William of Orange, with Henry of Navarre and Napoleon, met and mingled here, as did also those from all the older States of the Union. Such a combination of all the better elements of mankind could hardly be found elsewhere upon the face of the earth. With all their differences and various peculiarities, these people have come into closer and closer rela- tions, their children have inter-married, and in their descendants are represented the highest and noblest characteristics of advancing civilization. Sitting about the great fireplace of the pioneer cabin, those stalwart men and women would discuss political, social, philo- sophical, and religious affairs; and it was astonishing to find how well-informed they were. I remember a man who could not read, nor write a word except his own name. He was from Kentucky. When I heard that he could not read or write, I was much aston- ished that a grown man could be so ignorant. When I heard him talk, however, I found him far from ignorant. He knew more of the Bible than any man in the company. He could quote freely from many of the best public addresses. He had sev- eral times heard Henry Clay, Tom Marshall, John J. Crittenden, Stephen A. Douglas, and Thomas H. Benton, and remembered every argument they made, and quoted from them word for word. He had a very good knowledge of the Constitution and laws of the United States. While he could not read, he could hear, and when important questions were discussed, he remembered every word uttered and every idea advanced. He was a high-tariff Whig in politics, and thoroughly informed on the question. Any ordinary free-trade Democrat who attacked this man, assuming him to be ignorant, very soon found that he had "caught a Tartar." The men who assembled around the fireplaces of the Illinois pioneers had something to say that was fresh and new. From The Pioneer 8i them we could learn more in a week about foreign countries and the older States of our own country, the character and opinions, the literature and religions, of the people of many different lands, than we could have learned in a year in the quiet, respectable, but secluded society of the old valley from whence we came. And thus, besides the delights of the viands that roasted and baked upon the hearth, or steamed and simmered in the pot, there was always a true " feast of reason and flow of soul." We had never heard of an after-dinner speech, but with us the speeches began when the party assembled and continued until it broke up. The great characters that Illinois has given to the world could never have been evolved from any other than a pioneer life. They will never again be equalled in our country, until there appears some equally potential pioneer movement ; it may be in morals, it may be in politics, it may be in society; but it must be such an awakening as takes men out of themselves, and beckons them toward new and unexplored regions of thought, enterprise, and aspiration. CHAPTER XVIII. SOME DISTINGUISHED VISITORS OUR first winter in our new home passed quickly away, and spring found us actively engaged in ploughing and planting and in the many and various activities of farm life in a new and unbroken country. I had my full share of these activities, and had almost forgotten my friend George Davis, when one day I received a letter from him, postmarked at Galesburg. In it he told me many interesting things ; but the most interesting related to our old acquaintance Hobbs. He had lately met Hobbs at Knoxville, and learned from him that General Silverton was in Missouri, looking after the affairs of a sister who had died there ; that he expected to remain away a while longer from his Illinois home, and had written Hobbs some instructions about the care of his valuable stock, and other things. He also wrote of the escape of a slave from his sister's farm,— a young man almost white, who was supposed to have made his way north through 82 The mini Illinois ; and he instructed Hobbs to watch for any news of this young man, and if any was found to advise him as soon as pos- sible. Hobbs was quick to guess that the runaway was the same one that had escaped him at the time of the prairie fire ; and he asked Mr. Davis to help him in the search, promising to divide with him the expected liberal reward for the capture of the " nigger." To this Mr. Davis had readily assented; adding, in his letter to me: "From what you know of me, you will understand just how much I shall be likely to do to help return that poor boy to slavery. If the matter is left in my hands, he '11 have plenty of time to get to Canada. Is it not curious that Hobbs should have never even suspected that I had anythins; to do with the boy?" My father had promised General Silverton that when we got settled he would write to him. A few days before the letter came from Davis, he fulfilled this promise, and had written, telling General Silverton of our journey, of our falling in with Hobbs, of the prairie fire, and of the heroism of the young man who saved us and the cattle; and how the young man, although a; oarently white, was suspected of being a runaway slave, and was brutally treated by Hobbs, who tried to return him to bondage; and how, fortunately, the young man had escaped, as my father hoped, for- ever from the curse of slavery. Within a week after my father's letter was posted. General Silverton was at our house. He came up the Mississippi River on a steamboat, and across the country from Rock Island. With him was a gentleman whom he introduced as Mr. Orville H. BrowninjT; of Quincy. This gentleman, while dignified and ele- gant, was most affable and suave. I scarcely ever have known or seen a man who seemed to fill so completely my idea of a " gentle- man of the old school." He was a great lawryer, standing in the front rank of his profession ; he had at one time sought political preferment, but now was devoting himself to his law practice. We learned that he had come with General Silverton, to assist him in a professional way, if opportunity offered, but as a friend and adviser rather than as a lawyer. The two gentlemen came in a carriage, with a driver, from Rock Island. The team and carriage were put away for the night, and we all sat down to supper; but not until after the The Pioneer 83 cloth was removed did they give us an intimation of the object of the visit. It was to learn something of the young man who had been delivered out of the clutches of Hobbs. My father was a good deal disturbed at the situation. There had been going on in Chicap:o for some time the prosecution of a man who had assisted in the escape of a runaway slave, and who, although defended by some of the ablest lawyers in the State, — such men as Joseph Knox, I. N. Arnold, and S. A. Goodwin, — was finally convicted. Mr. E. C. Larned, whom we had met in Chicago, had only a few days before made a great speech in denun- ciation of the fugitive-slave law, in the old Market Hall on State Street in Chicago; this speech had aroused the "Free Soilers," and Senator Douglas was making speeches in defense of the measure, denouncing all who opposed it as "Black Abolitionists." So intense had the feeling become that Senator Douglas was not permitted to speak in Chicago, but after standing for nearly an hour before a lar e audience who interrupted and jeered him every time he attemoted to speak, he was obliged to retire from the stand. My father feared that if my aiding in the escape of the young man should become known, I would be made to pay the penalty of the crime of which, under the law, I had been guilty. He felt that he had been very indiscreet in writing the General anything about the matter. Upon being questioned, he simply related the facts as to the great prairie fire, our consternation and distress, the apparent certainty that we, as well as all of our property and the General's, would be destroyed, the timely appearance of the young man, our deliverance by him, etc. My father would gladly have stopped here ; but the General pursued the matter, and asked him to explain how he had learned that the young man was a slave. My father was thus obliged to go on and tell the whole story, but confined himself to what he had seen, and made no mention of what I had told him about Davis and myself again finding the young man. Yet he told of my preventing Hobbs from killing or wounding the fugitive, by throwing myself against him when he fired. When my father came to relate the circumstances of Hobbs seizing the young man and baring his back and exposing his hor- rible wounds. General Silverton groaned audibly, and was so over- 84 The mini come that for some moments he could not speak. Mr. Browning asked my father several questions, but could learn no more than had already been related. Then the General turned to me, and asked me several questions. I was very guarded in my replies, and gave no intimation of having seen the young man after he disappeared around the point of the bluff down the valley, where he escaped. I felt that I had no right to bring Mr. Davis or Mr. Lovejoy, or anyone else, into the matter without their consent. The General seemed greatly disappointed that he could get no clue from us as to the whereabouts of the young man, and my father bluntly asked him why he took such an interest in the matter, and added, "General Silverton, I cannot for a moment believe that you would be a party to any plan for returning that poor boy into slavery ! ' ' " Return him to slavery! " exclaimed the General. " I would lay down my life for him ! " Then, as if collecting his thoughts, he exclaimed, "What was I saying? That boy is free, as free as any of us. He is no fugitive," and drawing a bundle from his pocket, added, "Here are his free papers. I have had them in my safe for a long time. I want to find him, to save him, to give them to him, and to let him know that I will defend him with my life." After listening for some time to the conversation, in which I was deeply interested, between General Silverton, Mr. Browning, and my father, I ventured to say that there was another man with us when the boy first appeared, and I told how this man after- wards met Hobbs at Knoxville, and suggested that possibly the fugitive might have passed through Galesburg, and some clue as to where he had gone might be obtained there. Do you think you could find this young man in Galesburg?" Mr. Browning asked ; and before I could reply he answered the question himself. Surely you can find him. Galesburg is a little town, of only six or seven hundred people. But you have not told us the young man's name ! " "I cannot give it to you," I replied. " I have no right to do so." That is true," said General Silverton, "and it only confirms the opinion I formed of this boy when we met on our voyage together around the lakes. And this reminds me," he added, "of The Pioneer 85 something I had nearly forgotten. I have a letter for you. It is from my daughter Rose." He drew from his inside pocket a dainty letter sealed with a wafer, with my name written on the outside just as I had found it on the letter to Hobbs written on the canal- boat, which in the excitement of the fire and the escape I had not returned, and was now my most sacred treasure. My hand trembled as I took the letter, and as soon as possible I found an opportunity to slip away and read it. When I came back, I found that the gentlemen had been speaking of me. Mr. Browning told me that they had persuaded my father and mother to let me go with them to Galesburg, and explained that they thought I could help them in their search for the young man. It was a great event for me, and I could not refuse to go ; but I was determined in any event not to get Davis into trouble. My sleep that night was troubled. With the excitement of the proposed journey to Galesburg, and with that precious letter under my pillow, I could scarcely close my eyes. When I found myself dozing, there came dim thoughts of prosecutions by those great lawyers for aiding fugitive slaves to escape ; of my Galesburg friend in prison, and of my being the cause of his arrest; of my entreating the lawyers to help him, and of none of them daring to do so. Once it seemed to me that I saw the poor fugitive on a boat ready to cross to Canada, and I was happy in the thought that he was about to reach the goal of hberty, but as the gang-plank was about to be drawn in I dreamed that Dwight Earle appeared with a band of ruffians and seized the poor boy and dragged him back to slavery. Afterwards I thought I was out on the deck of a vessel with a beautiful child, and that she was asking me to sail away with her forever and forever; and I was very, very happy. CHAPTER XIX. EARLY TIMES IN ILLINOIS WITH the earliest gray of dawn I dressed myself and descended the ladder, first taking my precious letter from under the pillow. I went out noiselessly, hoping not to awaken anyone. After an early breakfast, we got away. I rode on the front seat 86 The mini with the driver. We made our way through Red Oak Grove, a mile or so in width, from which we emerged upon the open prairie. There were farms and improved places nestling about the grove ; but after leaving its shelter there was a broad expanse of waving grass as far as the eye could reach. A wagon-trail ran through the grass, and we followed it in the direction of Pilot Knob, an abrupt rise of ground covered with trees, ten miles away. Early as it was in the morning, there was an abundance of game in sight, prairie chickens flying up in flocks, quail run- ning ahead in the road, and in the distance we saw herds of deer. Some herds of cattle were seen, lying at rest or rising to begin the day's feeding ; and in these General Silverton took great interest, pointing out the special characteristics of the various animals, with their wide horns, large frames, and big development of muscle. Knowing his interest in the short-horn Durhams, I expected to hear him sneer at these bony animals. He did nothing of the kind, but said that really these Western cattle had qualities of health, strength, and vigor, that made them of great value; that their big frames would, when properly developed, produce splendid beef, and that it was his ambition to engraft upon our prairie stock strains from the best beef-cattle of England; that he had begun with the short-horns, and was studying other breeds. "You are the pioneer in importing short-horn cattle into Illinois, are you not. General?" we asked. "Oh, no," he said, " I am not entitled to that distinction. It belongs to Captain James N. Brown, of Island Grove, in San- gamon County; but he is not very far in advance of me. He brought his cattle from Kentucky, and they are, like mine, very finely bred. I value mine very highly, because they came from Mr. Lewis F. Allen, who is the best authority in this country, and whose herd-book will always be an authority on short-horns." "You must be careful," said Mr. Browning, ' or your fate will be like that of the authors of what was known as the ' little- bull law.' " They both laughed at this suggestion, and I asked for an explanation. "Why," answered the General, "at one time there were those who wanted to improve the cattle of Illinois, and a law was passed by the Legislature prohibiting 'little bulls' from running The Pioneer 87 at large, and prescribing heavy penalties against the owners of any such animals who permitted it. There was a storm of indignation against the 'little-bull law,' which swept from office and from public life everyone who favored it. The law discriminating against ' little bulls ' was denounced as intended to favor the rich, who had become possessed of big bulls; and there was a feeling in the hearts of the people of Illinois in favor of equality of priv- ileges, even among bulls." From this the two gentlemen went on to relate other incidents of the early times in the State, which interested me very much. " Speaking of the action of the Legislature," said Mr. Brown- ing, "do you remember the incident of John Hanson and Nicholas Shaw in the Legislature of 1822 and 1823? Hanson and Shaw were both from the county of Pike, which then included all this territory where we now are, as well as most of the northern part of the State. It was during that legislative session that a consti- tutional convention was proposed, for the purpose of submitting to the people the question of establishing slavery in Illinois. Hanson and Shaw both claimed to have been elected to the Legislature, and there was a contest between them. The slave party wanted to elect Jesse B. Thomas to the United States Senate. Hanson was for Thomas, but Shaw was not ; so they admitted Hanson, and by his vote elected Thomas. But Hanson was not for slavery; and as it took a two-thirds vote to adopt the slavery amendment, it could not be adopted without Hanson's vote. Shaw, however, was for slavery, and would vote for the constitu- tional convention; and so, after they had got Thomas elected to the Senate by Hanson's vote, they reconsidered the disputed elec- tion between him and Shaw, and turned Hanson out and seated Shaw, and by Shaw's vote carried the measure to call an election to decide the slavery amendment. Fortunately for Illinois, the measure was defeated by the people at the polls, and the State was re-dedicated to freedom." I was interested in their talk of the early French settlers. They spoke of "Kasky," which I learned was "short" for Kaskaskia, the first capital of the State, the site of which is now being swept away by the encroachments of the Mississippi river. They spoke of the peculiar customs and manners of those French 88 The mini people, of their politeness, of their houses built of hewn timber set upright in the ground and "chinked in" with stones and mortar,, and of how these houses were covered with vines and surrounded with shrubbery and fruit-trees and gardens, with shady walks and lawns, which made them very inviting; of the peculiar dress of these French people, men as well as women wearing cotton handkerchiefs folded about their heads like night-caps, neither men nor women wearing coats, but a sort of blanket-gown which was drawn over the head with a cape at the back of the neck called a capote. They spoke of the French horses, so small and yet so strong; of their oxen, that pulled great loads yoked by the horns instead of the neck ; and of their carts made entirely of wood. They told of every village having its priest, v/ho was looked up to as the father and adviser and director of the com- munity in which he lived, all of the people being Roman Catho- lics; of the reverence and affection with which the community regarded the good father, and how tender and compassionate he was to them, ever sympathizing with them in their sorrows and sharing in their joys; of what a gay place of resort the church was on Sundays and holidays, — of how these happy people sang and danced and made merry, cultivating at the same time their little gardens and patches of ground, and hunting and fishing and sup- plying their simple wants. This was my first information in regard to these French people who were the earliest settlers of Illinois. The gentlemen saw how deeply I was interested in these matters, and were so kind as to answer all the questions I asked. I remember their explaining how Illinois people came to be called "suckers," — that when the lead-mines were opened at Galena, the Southern Illinois men, or "Egyptians," would make their way up the Mississippi to Galena and work in the lead-mines, for which they received good wages, and then they would descend the river to cultivate their lands. About the same time that these men ascended the great river, the fish known as suckers would make their way up ; and as nearly all the population of the State was at that time in its southern portion, when these men began to appear from the south it was said, "The suckers are coming up the river," and thus Illinois people in general were called "suckers," The Pioneer 89 CHAPTER XX. GALESBURG A S we ascended a rise, known as Center Point Hill, the village ■^ ^ of Galesburg came into full view. As we saw it, it consisted of a few low one-story or story-and-a-half houses on a broad prairie, huddled around what seemed an enormous church build- ing, so much larger than any other building in the place that it had the appearance of being a cathedral. St. Peters at Rome, as I have seen it since, never seemed quite so large as did that church. The farms on the outskirts of the village were pictur- esque. The owners had bought prairie land covered with wild grass, built rude cabins, and broken up with a plough as much as each was able to do, in most cases only a few acres ; and these cultivated lands surrounded by waving grass seemed like oases in a desert or islands in the sea. The area of cultivated land grad- ually extended, until finally it comprised the whole great State. The patient farmer and his more patient beasts have slowly but surely continued to turn the sod, until all the land has been brought under cultivation. So complete has been the transforma- tion of what a little more than a half century ago was an illim- itable prairie, that it is now scarcely possible to find in all that region enough native prairie grass to feed a horse. There were no idlers in the village ; men and women were all at work, some of the men building houses, others cultivating and developing the farms. Through the prairie grass the roads or trails ran diagonally, or as happened to be most convenient, with- out regard to the streets that had been staked out, in which wild grass was still growing. There were no sidewalks, and no one dreamed there would ever be pavements. We drove up to the Galesburg House, the only hotel in the place. As we alighted, a gentleman came along, carrying some books under his arm. He was apparently about sixty years old, of medium height, of rather slender build and graceful carriage. His straight dark hair was turning gray, and his face was lighted go The mini up with a kindly, benevolent expression. He and Mr. Browning recognized each other, and he was introduced to us as Reverend George W. Gale, the founder of Galesburg. We learned from the conversation that Mr. Browning was a trustee of Knox College, and was much interested in the institution. Mr. Gale escorted us into the hotel, and gave us some vivid accounts of the development of the village and the prospects of the college which was its special pride. I learned that the town was conceived and laid out, and its whole polity of government, secular, moral, and religious, estabhshed by its proprietors and founders, in the village of Whitesboro, New York, before it was known where the town would be situated ; and after all this was accomplished, a com- mittee was sent out to determine its location. There was a meeting that evening at the big church of which I have spoken, which was called the "First Church"; and this meeting I attended. It was a missionary meeting. With all the expense and labor of building up a new town and making farms, and with all the outlay and sacrifice incident to the building of this great church away out here on the raw prairies, these people still had such devotion to their religion that they systematically and generously carried forward considerable missionary work. I was very much interested in the exercises of this meeting. The music consisted of grand old hymns, I had been familiar with all my life,—" Old Hundred," " Hebron," " Elgin," "Orton- viUe," "Uxbridge," "Hamburg," " Duke Street," "Antioch," " Coronation," " How Firm a Foundation," " From Greenland's Icy Mountains," and many more "compared with which Italian trills are tame." There was a large choir of well-trained voices that had been cultivated in the churches of the East. Instru- mental music also was not wanting; such a thing as a pipe-organ, or an organ of any kind, had never been dreamed of, but there was a violin, a bass viol, and I think a flute. I afterwards became acquainted with all of these musicians, for whom I came to have a great regard. Most of them are dead, but a few still linger. I have wondered if they ever realized how strong an impression they made upon those who, like me, came from another region to be charmed by them. There was more cultivation in the preaching than I had been The Pioneer 91 accustomed to, and more earnestness. It was plain that those pioneer men and women had other aspirations besides cultivating the land ; that their church and their college were more to them than anything else. The exercises closed with Bishop Heber's missionary hymn, which seemed to arouse the congregation to a high pitch of enthusiasm. I am never at sea but I find myself, while tossed upon the billows, singing to myself the closing stanza of this grand old hymn: " Waft, waft, ye winds, the story. And you, ye waters, roll, Till like a sea of glory It spreads from pole to pole." As these words were resounding through the church, I felt a hand upon my shoulder, and, turning, recognized George Davis. He had come in from his work to attend the service, with no idea of seeing me. We were both overjoyed at the meeting. We walked together out on the prairie, and had a long talk. I noticed that he was very careful that we should not be overheard; and I understood this perfectly, as there had recently been several pros- ecutions for harboring fugitive slaves. I told him frankly of my having come with General Silverton, and of his deep interest in ascertaining the whereabouts of the fugitive ; but that I had given the General no information, and would give none that would compromise Davis. The latter, however, had heard nothing more from the fugitive. He expressed regret that he could not come and spend the morrow with me, as he was obliged to work to keep the men and teams going. It was arranged that I should go out to see him the next day; and he accompanied me to the hotel, and then walked away in the darkness across the prairie. CHAPTER XXI. WORK AND PLAY THE next morning I had breakfast soon after daylight, and then made my way to the "West Farm," where I found several men with their teams at work building a sod fence. A strip of sod about eight feet wide was turned with a "breaking 92 The mini plough," and the men with teams and scrapers drew the sod and dirt upon the grass beside the ditch thus marked out, which was deepened by repeated ploughing and scraping, while the dirt was thrown up beside it, thus making a bank of earth with a deep ditch outside, a miniature moat and wall, all around the enclosure. This, if the ditch was deep enough and the bank high enough, made a fence that would itself turn cattle ; but it was usual to surmount the bank with a wooden rail, supported upon crutches made of short stakes driven into the ground, which made an excellent fence, and when the bank of earth became covered with verdure it presented a picturesque appearance. The vestiges of these sod fences, which were common in those early days of scar- city of timber and of labor, may still be seen sinking gradually into the earth. There were then no hired men or regular farm laborers who went out to work, as was the case afterwards. In all labor requir- ing several men and teams, the farmers would help each other, " changing work " as they called it. They changed work " in this way for raising the frames in the building of houses and barns, in haying and harvesting, in butchering, and in various kinds of work where several men were needed. At these gatherings there was always a social and fraternal spirit ; questions of public in- terest, rehgious, political, and economical, were discussed, and thus was created and maintained a healthy public sentiment. At about nine o'clock there came up a drizzhng rain, and work had to be suspended. The ploughs and scrapers were left in the field, and we mounted our horses and rode to the house for shelter. On the way one of the young men exclaimed, "This is just the day for quail ! I '11 get my net, and we '11 go out and get a covey. I know just where to find one, for I saw them this morning," and suiting the action to the word he cantered away. When we got to the house, Davis found an old suit of working clothes which he brought out to me at the barn and insisted upon my putting them on to keep mine from being ruined. We un- harnessed the horses, only keeping on the bridles, and were ready to re-mount whenever the young man appeared with the net. I wondered if they expected to get the quails into that net by putting salt on their tails; but I asked no questions. I knew of The Pioneer 93 the "snipe-bagging" sell which was often played upon "green- horns" from the East. This consisted in inducing the victim, late at night, to hold an open bag in the narrow ditch of a little gulch, the rascals assuring him that they would go up to the head of the stream and start the game, which would run down the ditch right into the bag, and that if he held it long enough he was sure to have it filled with birds; and when they got the poor fellow fixed there, holding the bag, they would stealthily make their way up the gulch and out of his hearing, and the party would break up in great glee and go home to bed. I have known a poor fellow to stay all night holding the bag, never suspecting the trick that was played upon him ; and I know also that one of the leaders of a band of ' snipers," if still alive, is yet suffering from the effects of the punishment he received from a victim who held the bag. So I thought of "sniping," and was wary; but, trusting to Davis, I felt that so long as I was not set to hold a bag I would be safe. We rode on horseback in the rain, about a mile, to the edge of Barnett's Grove, our guide in advance with his net upon his arm. When we heard the shrill "Bob White" whistle of several quail, we all dismounted, and the net was set on the ground. This net was a long cylinder, in a frame of hoops about a foot in diameter and perhaps twenty feet long, closed at one end and open at the other. From the opening of the net, and extending on each side, were "wings" of netting, perhaps two feet high, like a woven-wire screen, supported by stakes hastily driven into the ground. How so wild a bird as a quail could be caught by such a device, I could not understand ; but I was not long in finding out. When the net was all in place, we remounted our horses, it still raining, and made a wide detour until we came upon the covey of birds. We were very cautious in approaching them, moving as slowly as possible. To my sur- prise, they did not fly up, but ran on ahead of our horses. I found that in a drizzling rain they could be driven like a flock of sheep, if we did not hurry them. Quietly and carefully we directed their course, heading them off and turning them here and there until they came to where the net was placed. Here the upright wings of the net intercepted them, and they ran along the wings, never offering to fly over, till they came to the 94 The mini opening of the round net, into which they ran, and down to the other end, which was closed, and thus the poor things were all captured. This sport is no longer practised, and under our present game-laws there is a severe penalty for netting quails. After this the members of the party dispersed to their own homes, Davis and I returning to Mr. West's house, where we put on dry clothes, I resuming my own. As it was not yet noon, we made our way to the hay-loft in the barn. "Here," said Davis, "the poor fugitives hide and sleep during the day, until we can take them on their journey. The boy in whom you are interested was brought here and stayed until I started on with him. He was the brightest young man I ever knew, and so kind and amiable that I became very much attached to him. The idea of that brute Hobbs thinking that for a few paltry dollars I would help to return him to slavery! " I had been thinking of how to present the matter of General Silverton's mission to Galesburg, and decided to hold back nothing, but to tell Davis the whole truth. I had become con- vinced that General Silverton was really the fugitive's own father; but this I withheld from Davis. I wished to have him form his own opinion on the subject, after talking with the General. After I had explained the object of the General's visit, and stated that he had with him the "free papers" for the young man, Davis plied me with questions as to what I knew of the General's character. I told him of our voyage around the lakes, and of all the incidents that would throw light upon the matter. After talking it all over and carefully considering what course was best, Davis finally said that there was one of two things for him to do, either to politely excuse himself from seeing the General at all, or frankly to tell him the whole story ; that he was inclined to adopt the latter course, as it might be the means of having justice done to the young man. I said that this seemed to me to be the best thing to do ; and so it was agreed to. The rain had ceased, but the ground was still too wet to resume work; so, after a substantial farmer's dinner, we made our way to the village and to the tavern, in front of which a group of people had assembled to await the arrival of the Peoria stage- coach. There is no such interest nowadays in the arrival and The Pioneer 95 departure of trains at the stations of the great railways as was awakened by the pioneer stage-coach. We had no telegraph, and our only means of learning of the great world was through the mails and passengers that two or three times a week came on the coach. That coach might be the bearer of intelligence of great importance in public affairs. It was sure to bring missives to us from the old homes we had left, dearer it seemed after our separation from them, messages of cheer and joy and hope, or of sorrow and sickness, death and despair. As we joined the group in front of the hotel, we found them talking of the gentlemen with whom I had come. I found that everyone had a high estimation of the character of Mr. Browning. He took great interest in Knox College. He had been a can- didate for Congress, years before, against Stephen A. Douglas ; and this had made him a man much talked about. Surprise was expressed at his being there with General Silverton, who was well known as a Douglas man ; but it was presumed that he was em- ployed by the General as his attorney in some law case. "Browning is no politician," remarked Colonel Finch, who I afterwards learned was the leading Whig politician of the county. "He don't know the A B C's of politics, but he's the finest political speaker in the party. He can beat anybody making a speech, except Ned Baker; but he can't hold a candle to Abe Lincoln in a caucus or a convention. I 've seen Abe go into a convention with the whole bilin' agin him, and jist git up and talk kind of honest-like, with no sort of fuss or eloquence, but jist plain sense, windin' up with a story or an anecdote, right square to the point, and carry the whole outfit, bag and baggage, along with him." "I don't care for any of them," said Ralph Skinner; "they're all tarred with the same stick, — Browning, your Lincoln, Silver- ton, and all the rest of the Whigs and Democrats. They're all doughfaces and weak-kneed politicians, and the minute the slave- driver cracks his whip they drop on their marrow-bones. I warrant every man we 've named is now hollering for the fugitive-slave law, — Browning and Lincoln just the same as Silverton. I've always been a Whig, but I do n't care to vote the ticket any longer." 96 The lUini " Nonsense ! " broke in Mr. Pardon Sisson. " See how much Henry Clay has tried to do for the colored man ! He would have been glad to have him colonized in Liberia, where he could be free. And see how he has fought Calhoun on the tariff, the most im- portant question before the American people ! " "It's all well enough to let the nigger drop, as you say, Mr. Sisson," said Sam Shannon, " and you can talk tariff or anything else; but I tell you what we farmers want is cheap ploughs and cheap harrows and cheap cradles and cheap clothes and cheap hats and cheap boots, and we can have them with free-trade. What difference is it to us, away out here on the prairies, whether they are made in New England or in Old England ? No tariff for me! I want cheap goods; and the only way to get them is through free-trade. No tariff for me!" "You're right, alius," exclaimed Peter Frans. "Free-trade and sailors' rights I I 'm a whole-hog Jackson man. No nigger equality, no Yankee tariff, no abolition nigger-thieves." At this moment we heard the shrill notes of a horn, and look- ing away down East Main Street we saw turn into it from the Knoxville road the great rockaway stage-coach, the four horses breaking into a run, the driver, half erect, cracking his whip with one hand and holding the reins and the horn in the other, men and women and children and cattle and swine and fowls scram- bling to get out of the way, the horn blowing, the whip cracking, the horses' hoofs clattering, the mud splashing, the body of the great vehicle swinging and creaking, people running out from their houses waving hats and handkerchiefs and aprons and dish- cloths and whatever was available, as the great coach thundered by. I thought the horses must have been on a keen run all the way from Peoria, and that stage-coaches travelled all the time at such speed; but afterwards, when I took passage on one of them, I found that on the long distances from village to village the horses walked, reserving their wind for such displays in town as we had witnessed. I remember that ' Frink and Walker," the name of the stage-coach line, seemed to me to have some special signifi- cance as to the speed of the coaches ; and that I acquired a high regard for a stage-driver, whose position seemed most enviable. The speed of the horses was not slackened until the stage The Pioneer 97 reached the public square, when it swung around to the little one-story frame post-office on the southeast corner, where the mail was delivered. Then it was leisurely driven back to the hotel, where the passengers alighted to wait for supper and a change of horses. CHAPTER XXII. ABE LINCOLN RAPIDLY as the coach had swept by the hotel, I had noticed that the driver was not alone on his high seat. He had a companion ; and before any of the other passengers could alight, this companion had alighted, — stepping, as it seemed to me, from the high coach box clear to the ground, he was so very tall and his legs were so very long. My first impression was that he was the homeliest man I had ever seen; but as he moved and spoke, this impression was gradually changed. He was awkward and ungainly, bony and angular, his body abnormally extended, his long legs and arms terminating in big feet and large bony fingers. His neck was long, and seemed to be intended especially to lift his head high enough to survey every object about him. His head was covered with thick matted brown hair ; his forehead was not high but wide, his nose was prominent, his mouth large, his jaws widening back from his mouth and chin, and his cheek- bones high. He had dark gray eyes, well set in his head, heavy eyebrows, a large expressive mouth, and dark complexion. Colonel Finch sprang forward to greet the tall stranger, when a swarthy ruddy-cheeked man with a whip in his hand, who had just come up, slipped in front of the Colonel and grasped the stran- ger's hand, exclaiming, "Abe Lincoln, by G — d ! " "Yes, Governor, here I am," replied the stranger, cordially shaking hands; "and I'm glad to see you and to be in Knox County. How are you. Colonel Finch ? I hear you are keeping these rascally Democrats level here in Knox ! And here is my old friend from Sangamon, Squire Barnet ! How are you. Squire ? You and I and the Governor are as black as ever ! " And shaking hands with all the rest of the bystanders, — including me, boy as I was, — he said, " That's a good story we had on the Governor," 98 The mini and addressing the whole party, he proceeded to tell the story. "You see," he said, "an Irishman had a bill before the Legis- lature for some imaginary service he had performed on the canal, which the Governor here squelched in the Senate. The Irish- man's account of it was that his bill had passed the House and he was watching it from the gallery of the Senate; that it finally came up, and 'jist as it was about to pass, a big nayger named McMurtry, from the Military Thract, got up an' motioned that my bill be laid under the table till the Fourth of July; an' that killed it sure.'" The story on the Governor, much better told (as was the case with all of Mr. Lincoln's stories) than anyone could reproduce it, was received with shouts of laughter, as the party made their way into what was designated as the bar-room "of the tavern, — a misnomer, as up to that time there had never been a bar in Galesburg, nor a glass of liquor sold in the town. I was curious to know who the swarthy and dark complex- ioned man was who had greeted Mr. Lincoln so cordially, and at whose expense the story had been told; and I learned that he was the Honorable William McMurtry, Lieutenant-Governor of Illinois, who lived on a farm on Henderson Creek, a few miles north of town, — one of the most prominent and best known Democrats in the State, a rough diamond, but genuine and true. As the party entered the hotel, Mr. Lincoln continued to tell stories, the drollest and most ludicrous that were ever heard. One of these stories was located at New Salem, on the Sangamon river; and it then dawned on me that this could be no other than Wm. G. Green's friend, "Abe Linkern," who told stories, tended saw-mill, kept grocery, and went to the Black Hawk War. I won- dered whether he had ever paid Green that thousand dollars! CHAPTER XXIII. THE LETTER FROM CANADA IN the midst of one of the best stories, Davis came to the door and called me out. He had in his hand a letter which had come by the stage-coach. Davis had only time to tell me that the letter was from our friend the fugitive, when General Silver- The Pioneer 99 ton and Mr. Browning came into the corridor where we were, and asked us both to come up-stairs with them. When we were seated in General Silverton's room, Mr. Browning said : The General here wants to learn something of one concern- ing whom perhaps Mr. Davis can give us some information." "It is a very delicate matter," replied Davis, after some hesi- tation. "If I knew anything of the person you seek, I would not divulge it unless satisfied that it would not bring him into trouble. I do n't care so much for myself, but I would not for the world betray him. I do n't want to be fined a thousand dollars, and condemned to serve six months at hard labor in prison, but I would stand even that before I would betray that noble young man." "I assure you," said the General, "that beyond everything else my greatest anxiety is to befriend and aid that boy. I would give my whole fortune, even my life, to save him ; and if the person I seek is the one you have befriended, as I now feel sure is the case, you have placed me under obligations which I can never sufficiently repay." "I have faith in you," replied Davis, " not so much from what you say, although I feel that you are sincere, but from what this boy friend of mine here has told me of his acquaintance with you on your voyage together around the lakes ; and I feel that I can trust you." " There is one question," remarked Mr. Browning, 'that has given me a little anxiety. Should you divulge anything criminal, — excuse the word, I mean that would be criminal in law, — and either of the parties present should be called before a court of justice, I have thought he might be obliged to testify as to any statements or confessions that may be made by you. But now I have in mind the proper solution of this problem. I am an attor- ney and counsellor-at-law. The General here has retained me as his counsel in this matter. It may be arranged for him to re- tain me also as counsel for both of you young men ; and when so retained, no court of justice could or would attempt to make either of us reveal anything that is said here. Under our juris- prudence, the relations between a lawyer and his client are sacred, and there is no power on earth that can compel either to reveal lOO The mini what passes between them. Is ft understood that I am so re- tained, General Silverton?" "It is," replied the General; "and I will gladly pay any fee that you may name." "There will be no difficulty as to the amount of the fee," responded Mr. Browning. "I only wish to have the relations of attorney and client clearly established." Thereupon Davis proceeded to tell the whole story about the young man's coming into his charge, of the journey to the north, of their falling in with us, of the prairie fire, of the brutality of Hobbs, of the boy's terrible wounds, and of his miraculous escape. During all the recital, the General walked the floor, and as the horrible details were given he would cry out in agony, "Oh, God ! My God ! How could I have left him in the hands of such brutes ! It is all my fault 1 It is my sin, my crime 1 God can never forgive me, and I can never forgive myself! " When Davis came to the account of Hobbs raising his revolver, he cried out : " He killed him then and there ! Hobbs never misses his aim, — I 've seen him, with his revolver, kill a deer running away from him at thirty yards. He killed the poor boy I " "No," replied Davis, he did not kill him." And then he told how I had thrown myself against Hobbs just as he was about to pull the trigger, and thus sent the bullet wide of its mark. The only answer the General made to this was to come and lay his hands on both my shoulders, and imprint a kiss upon my fore- head, declaring that he loved me as much as if I were his own son. Davis went on with his story, telling of how we again found the young man, but did not speak of what he had told us, and gave no information with whom we had confided him or where we had left him. When pressed to do this, he replied that it was enough to say that the young man was now safe beneath a flag that would protect him from cruel and murderous overseers, and from such brutes as Hobbs. " Do you know where he is ? " demanded the General. "I do," replied Davis. " He is safe in Canada." "How do you know?" asked he. I have a letter from him received by this day's mail. Here it is." The Pioneer loi "Read it, please," said the General; and in a clear voice, but not without emotion, Davis read aloud the letter. It told of the fugitive's adventures after leaving us, and finally of his safe arrival in Canada, where for the present he was earning a liveli- hood by teaching French in a public school. It gave his address there, and asked the favor of an early reply. The letter added that no one there suspected the writer of ever having been a slave. During the reading of the letter. General Silverton's emotion was so great that Mr. Browning frequently begged him to calm himself. When it was concluded, he could not sufBciently express his gratitude to Davis; and he was profuse in his thanks to me. Finally, Mr. Browning suggested that it might be better for us to leave the General and him together for a while ; whereupon Davis and I withdrew. I tried to get my friend to stay with me to supper, but he excused himself, and quietly went his way. At the table Mr. Lincoln joined us. CHAPTER XXIV. AN APPARENTLY HOPELESS STRUGGLE MR. LINCOLN, as we learned, had some law business in Warren County for the next day, and was to go out there in the morning. He told us that his business there was to try a case of "forcible entry and detainer," and expressed his satisfac- tion in learning that Mr. Browning was not to appear against him. I then for the first time learned the importance of these "forcible entry and detainer " law-suits, which, although tried before country Justices of the Peace, had become most important in deciding who was in possession of land, as the title often turned upon the ques- tion of possession. In those trials in the Military Tract, as it was called, possession was not only "nine points of the law," but frequently all the points. "I take no part in politics," said Mr. Lincoln, "and never again expect to do more than vote." " But you used to," said General Silverton ; "you seemed to think of nothing else." "I've served my time at that," said Mr. Lincoln; "and now I02 The mini there is nothing going on in politics that I care about, and so I am pegging away trying to get a living practising law. I 've taken Billy Herndon as a partner, and we are doing enough to make a living. Of course I can't help giving you Democrats a dig when a chance comes to me, but I do n't go gunning for you. I 'm afraid I shall never be more than a 'jack-leg lawyer' at best; but I have a high regard for a great lawyer like Mr. Browning here, although I can never hope, with my start, to become one. I feel all the while my lack of early education ; for I 've seen, when I have come in contact with these men who have had advantages I have not had, that in the practice of law, as in everything else, the longest pole takes the persimmons. I feel sometimes now, and I used to feel all the time, that in court I was a sort of bull in a china shop; but after I got to going I was too poor and too proud to stop and too old to learn any other trade. Did you ever hear the story of the man who sold ' the best coon dog in the world ' ? Well, after a few nights out with that wonderful dog, the purchaser brought him back to the man he had bought him from, cursing and swearing and declaring that a coon would stand a better show of treeing the dog than the dog would of treeing the coon. 'You don't think anything is made in vain, do you ? ' asked the vendor. ' No, I do not,' was the answer. Well, that dog is certainly good for nothing else, and as there is nothing made in vain I thought he must be a good coon dog.' So on that principle," added Mr. Lincoln, ''I thought I might be a good lawyer." "John T. Stuart and Stephen T. Logan both tell me you are having good success in your practice," said Mr. Browning. "That's only because I've won a few cases against them," said Mr. Lincoln. "I have been in partnership with each of them, but they knew so much more law than I did that it was embarrassing. Billy Herndon, my present partner, knows more about some things than I do, but in others I know as much as he, and so we even things up. The fact is that the way I began to win against these men was, when I had a case where one of them was opposed to me I 'd get the other to help me ; but now I have n't the face to ask them, and I have to pole my own flat- boat, but it 's all the time up-stream, and it 's hard work. You see," he continued earnestly, " at the age when all these men, — The Pioneer 103 John T. Stuart, and Stephen T. Logan, and Mr. Browning here, and Sidney Breese, and David Davis, and Stephen A. Douglas, and Cyrus Walker, and Archie Williams, and all these big men in the profession, — were ready to begin practice, I was tending saw-mill and running a grocery on the Sangamon ; and when I did finally get hold of a copy of Blackstone's Commentaries, and began to study it, everybody in the neighborhood laughed at the idea of my studying law. By the way, Mr. Browning, I want to ask you," — and he proceeded in clear terse language to state a hypo- thetical law-case, asking Mr. Browning his opinion of the law in the case, and the best course to take in trying it on the part of the defendant. It was the very case he was to try the next day in Warren County! Mr. Browning cheerfully answered all the in- quiries, which were very numerous, each one suggesting another, adding reflections of his own, until the case was quite clear to me, young as I was. I was surprised at the simplicity of some of Mr. Lincoln's questions. He asked for information upon matters which, even to me, seemed self-evident. The questions were all put in such a deferential and respectful manner that one could not be displeased; in fact, they showed evidence of such profound respect and admiration for Mr. Browning, such a delicate recognition of his attainments and abilities, as to imply a high order of compliment. I had never before seen a man of so much apparently native ability and good sense, who so seemed to appreciate the abilities and acquirements of others, and was so earnest and persistent in an endeavor to elicit information, and who pursued his inquiries with such frankness and candor and appreciation as not only to succeed in what he was after, but to gain confidence and good-will and friendship. From questions of law, the conversation drifted to politics ; and all congratulated themselves upon what they regarded as the happy solution of the problems that had lately confronted the public. All were pleased at the admission of California into the Union without slavery. All were equally satisfied with the fugi- tive-slave law, although I noticed that General Silverton was not so enthusiastic in his expressions as he had been when we were coming around the lakes. Both Mr. Browning and Mr. Lincoln highly commended this law as a constitutional measure and as a I04 The mini matter of justice to the South. In the conversation, all the gen- tlemen felicitated themselves upon the final settlement of the slavery question under the splendid leadership of Henry Clay. In the years w^hich followed, I have frequently recalled the satisfac- tion of Mr. Lincoln with the condition of affairs. Deferring, as usual, to Mr. Browning, he asked if that gentleman did not think the situation most gratifying, as through the admission of Cali- fornia as a free State the North was satisfied, and by the fugitive- slave law, the South was satisfied ; and he laid great stress upon the statement that now there could be no more controversy, as the Missouri Compromise line forever prohibited slavery north of the parallel of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes. In the course of the conversation, Mr. Browning again asked : "Lincoln, how can you keep out of politics? You used to be a very active politician." "I am trying to become a lawyer," was the reply. "Now that we have got the hot-headed Southerners and the Abolition- ists where they can do no more harm, I am not needed in politics, and shall attend to my business." " But suppose the South should try to break down the Mis- souri Compromise line?" "They can never do it," was the reply. "All of the great statesmen of both the North and the South are irrevocably pledged to it. Can you think for one moment that men who have de- clared, as did Stephen A. Douglas, that ' the Missouri Compromise line is canonized in the hearts of the American people, and no ruthless hand will ever dare to disturb it,' — men who, like him, have sought to extend it to the Pacific Ocean, — do you think they will ever dare disturb it ? " "We cannot tell what men will do," answered Mr. Browning. " Well,"rephed Mr. Lincoln, " if anybody should attempt such an outrage while I live, I think I 'd want to take a hand in politics again "; and rising from the table, he withdrew. After he had gone, Mr. Browning remarked that in one respect Mr. Lincoln was the most remarkable man he had ever seen. "I have known him," he said, "for ten years, and every time I meet him I find him much improved. He is now about forty years old. I knew him at thirty, and every time I have seen him I have ob- The Pioneer 105 served extraordinary improvement. As you know, most young men have finished their education, as they say, at twenty-five ; but Lin- coln is always a learner. He has already become a good lawyer ; and if he keeps out of politics, as he seems determined to do, he will in another ten years stand at the head of the profession in this State. ' ' Before we were up the next morning, Mr. Lincoln was gone. When Mr. Browning and General Silverton came down, they announced that they had decided to take the stage for Oquaka, and to send the team back to Rock Island, leaving me at the farm on the way. The General again expressed his satisfaction at find- ing the whereabouts of the fugitive, and said that now he knew he was safe and comfortable, he would take his time in relieving him. He offered me a sum of money, to pay for my time and assistance in the matter; but I declined to accept it. What pleased me most was, that he invited me to visit his family at "The Grange," as he called his Illinois home. While we were talking Davis came in, and the General again sought to recompense him. Davis was much hurt at the suggestion and so expressed himself; ending by saying, a little bitterly, that he could not consent to permit the General to become a culprit like himself, through paying him for the crime of rescuing a fellow-man from the blood- hounds of slavery. On my way home, I was not in a mood for talking with my only companion, the driver. Boy as I was, the events of the last few days had made a deep impression upon my mind. I felt that I had, through the assistance of Davis, greatly relieved General Silverton, with results that could not fail to be of benefit to the poor fugitive. I had enjoyed the association with those earnest men, from whom I felt I had learned much. I had, as a boy, formed a poor opinion of lavi^yers. In fact, I had been led to believe that honest and worthy men could not be successful in that profession ; but the character of Mr. Browning was a revelation to me. That he was a great lawyer, seemed apparent from the first ; and if more evidence was needed, it was found in the deference paid him by our new acquaintance, Mr. Lincoln. I had not seen enough of the latter to. form an estimate of his character and abilities, but I was greatly impressed by his frankness and apparent sincerity. My first crude impression of io6 The mini him had been that he was a sort of clown, whose highest ambi- tion was to make people laugh, and his greatest pleasure to laugh with them, — for I noticed that he laughed with great glee at his own stories as well as at those told by others. After seeing more of him, in the conversations between him and Mr. Browning which I have tried to repeat, he seemed candid, earnest, serious, and at the same time modest and simple-minded, apparently approaching an important subject with misgivings as to his ability to compre- hend it, seeking support and approval of the views toward which he inclined, with no pride in his own opinion, but a sincere deter- mination to reach the truth regarding any matter in which he was interested. It was especially curious to see to what an extreme he carried his habit of inquiry. After I, as it seemed to me, had been able to comprehend the whole law-case in which he was just then interested, he continued to ask questions. It was almost pathetic when he referred to his lack of early advantages of education, and it seemed to me deplorable that a man of his age should come to a point where he could realize how much he might have been, to what position and power he might have attained, and what avenues of usefulness might have opened before him, and yet should feel compelled to accept the probability of being only, to use his own words, "a jack-leg lawyer." It almost seemed to me a misfortune to him that he had not remained in content and ignorance in the saw-mill and the grocery. Certainly, I thought, he could never hope to be the peer of Mr. Browning, John T. Stuart, John M. Palmer, Senator Douglas, Judge Breese, Stephen T. Logan, U. F. Linder, Lyman Trumbull, or the other leading Illinois lawyers of whom I had heard so much, and among whom at that time his name was not even included. CHAPTER XXV. PEOPLE AND POLITICS IN 1852 THE autumn and winter passed away without special incident. I remember that "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was then being published, in weekly installments, in " The National Era," printed at Washington, for which my father had subscribed; and witb what impatience we awaited each number, and when it came how The Pioneer 107 we all gathered about the fireplace while my mother read aloud the pathetic story of Uncle Tom, of Little Eva, of Cassy, and of the brute Legree. I remember also the interest taken in the Illinois Central Rail- way at that time, and how highly Douglas was commended for his support of the measures for the development of that great enter- prise. I remember men coming through the country ' ' pioneering ' ' and prospecting for railway lines, and what interest my father took in those matters, seeming then so far from realization; while to-day one can scarcely find a spot in all Illinois where he may not see the smoke and hear the whistle of the locomotive. During this time a correspondence had continued between Rose Silverton and myself. I noticed a gradual improvement in her spelling and grammar ; but as she improved in a literary way there seemed more restraint, and instead of the frankness and art- lessness of her first productions, there was more of reserve and dignity. Her letters were, however, most kind and cordial, and gave me a great deal of pleasure. She now had a governess, she said, under whose instruction she was constantly improving. One day I had a letter from my friend Davis, giving welcome news of our fugitive in Canada, who had lately had a visit, he said, from a New York notary, who came especially by direction of his former mistress' brother, and brought him his free papers, so that should he ever have occasion to cross the border into his own country he would be safe from being dragged back to bondage. The notary also brought him a generous sum of money, which he declined to accept, being able to earn his own living by teaching French and doing some work in translating ; and through this work he was also learning considerable about the Creoles of Louisiana, in whom he took much interest. The fugitive added that Davis had never given him the name of the young gentleman who saved his life and afterwards rode with him into Princeton ; and said that whenever it seemed proper he would like to have the name and address. My life was uneventful for the next year, although I was fully occupied. The Presidential election of 1852 attracted compar- atively little attention in that sparsely-settled country. Senator Douglas was a candidate for the nomination as President in the io8 The mini Democratic National Convention held at Baltimore in June. Illinois Democrats were enthusiastic in his support, and had high hopes of his nomination. His vote ran up on one ballot to ninety- two, and on several ballots he ran ahead of such prominent men as Lewis Cass, James Buchanan, and William L. Marcy. Franklin Pierce was not named in the convention until the thirty-third ballot, when he received fifteen votes. Finally he was nominated, with William R. King as the candidate for Vice-president. Three weeks later the Whig convention, held at the same place, nomi- nated General Winfield Scott for President and William A. Graham for Vice-president. Both these great parties in their platforms endorsed and supported the Compromise measures of 1850, in- cluding the fugitive-slave law. The "Free-Soil Democracy," which was organized on a basis of open hostility to slavery exten- sion and all pro-slavery compromises, nominated John P. Hale for President and George W. Julian for Vice-president. In the election which followed. Pierce was overwhelmingly elected ; he carried twenty-seven States, while General Scott only carried four — Massachusetts, Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee, — and Hale carried none. Seldom have the signs of a period of political calm been more favorable than when Franklin Pierce was inaugurated, on March 4, 1853. The country had quieted down with a general acceptance of the Compromise measures of 1850 as a final settle- ment of the slavery question, and there was a prospect of general quiet and prosperity. While earnest anti-slavery men continued to denounce the fugitive-slave law, and in some cases resisted its enforcement, even they could see no hope of a triumph of their views and principles. Had anyone then declared that slavery would be abolished in a hundred years, he would have been regarded as a visionary enthusiast. California had come into the Union as a Free State, and all of the region north of the parallel of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes had been, by the Missouri Compromise line, forever dedicated to freedom. To the South had been given the fugitive-slave law, under which they could seize their fugitives wherever they could find them, in any State in the Union, and return them to their masters, aided by all the power of the government. The Pioneer 109 Henry Clay, the great statesman of the South, died in June of that year. Of the many triumphs of his long and brilliant career, the Compromise measures of 1850, which he carried through Congress, were the last and greatest. He was called the " Great Pacificator"; he had been foremost in bringing about the peace- ful and, as was fondly hoped and believed, the final settlement of the conflict between the North and the South. But Clay was not the only one who had taken an active part in formulating and carrying through Congress the famous Compromise measures of 1850. Of the six distinct bills known as the Compromise meas- ures, three were framed by the hand of Stephen A. Douglas, and reported by him to Congress. These three were : the bill for the admission of California as a free State, that for the creation of the Territory of Utah, and that for creating the Territory of New Mexico. CHAPTER XXVI. A MISSISSIPPI STEAMBOAT TRIP THROUGH my relations with Davis and my correspondence with Rose, I had kept track of the movements of General Silverton. Davis had been to see us, and from him I learned that the General had visited our young friend in Canada, and after much persuasion had induced him to accept assistance in entering upon a course of study, with a view to preparing himself for a pro- fession. I learned from Rose that after his visit to us the General had been rather depressed ; that he had somehow taken a great dislike to Hobbs, and had finally dismissed him from his employ. Rose had frequently spoken of my proposed visit to them, and her father had written asking me to come early in June. After much persuasion, my father and mother consented; and at the appointed time I set out. I went to Rock Island and there waited for a Mississippi steamboat coming down from St. Paul. The next morning, while we were at breakfast in the tavern, we heard a hoarse whistle, and soon thereafter "The Champion" landed at the levee. I went on board, and was soon descending the mighty river. no The mini There was comparatively little freight to be put off at the various landings, but much to be taken on, consisting of the pro- ducts of the farm, — wheat, corn, oats, potatoes, meats, hides, and numerous other articles. These were piled up on the levees, and carried over the gang-planks by negro roustabouts who manned the boat, the mate standing on the lower deck vociferating oaths and imprecations so much more horrible than those of the mate I had heard on the lake vessel as to make that worthy seem a model of patience and gentleness in comparison. I was surprised to see how prosperous were the towns at which we landed ; each was alive with trade and thrift, overflowing with the products that poured into it from the surrounding country, and each was expecting in the near future, as the country became more settled and the lands more improved, to become a great city. Alas for these river-towns for which we predicted so great pros- perity ! There was a line of commerce just beginning to develop, of whose potentiality we then had no conception. When the iron horse, with lungs of fire and breath of steam, began to traverse the prairies, the river-towns, except those upon his frequented track, declined ; and now their deserted stores and empty warehouses are the only reminders of days of thrift and ambition. Quite a num- ber of those prosperous towns have disappeared altogether. The great river, the boasted Father of Waters, upon whose bosom there floated the treasures of a continent, instead of being the grand highway of commerce and travel is now but little more than a sewer. As I entered the cabin, those who spoke to me of course asked me where I was from, and with true Western courtesy, I returned the compliment by manifesting a similar interest in them. The passengers met in the cabin, on the decks, or at table, breaking at once the thin ice of formality, waiting for an introduc- tion if it seemed within the near probabilities, dispensing with it and greeting each other if it seemed remote. There was no lack of subjects for discussion; everybody had come from somewhere which was interesting to tell and hear about, and everybody was going somewhere to do something that was equally interesting. Hope and animation abounded. The country was so vast and its possibilities so unlimited that there was room and opportunity for all. Is it strange that we who lived in those days of development The Pioneer iii and of generous assistance to those about us, should in these days, when every foot of land is taken up and every place is filled, love to live and tell over again the delights of the pioneer days ? Among the passengers on those early river boats there were neither aristocrats nor plebeians. Nobody thought of distinctions between rich and poor, between capital and labor. The passen- gers formed a pure democracy, meeting in the cabin or walk- ing about the decks upon a common plane of friendship and equality. How different is travel under our modern railway sys- tem! Men and women now travel for hours, seated side by side, with scarcely an exchange of courtesies. They ride in the same car from ocean to ocean, with hardly a word with each other. How many times, in such circumstances, I have wished that I might without appearance of presumption give to my fellow- passengers the greeting of the good old pioneer days, "Where are you from ? ' ' The population of our little repubhc on the boat was con- stantly changing but constantly augmenting. Some passengers left us at every landing, but more joined us. I remember Mus- catine, Oquaka (which then seemed destined to be a great city) , Burlington, Dallas, Keokuk, Warsaw, Quincy, and other places, some of which have become important places, while others exist only in name. We all went out upon the deck to see Nauvoo, which the Mormons had lately abandoned. The front wall of the great temple was still standing on the blufi overlooking the river, giving an idea of the prosperity to which this remarkable people might have attained had they been permitted to remain there, and to which they have attained further in the west in the so-called " City of the Saints." I felt a great compassion for the negro roustabouts, as they tottered under their heavy burdens up and down the gang-plank, urged and goaded by the brutal mate, and I regarded them as the most miserable of beings ; hence, great was my surprise when they all assembled in the evening on the forward lower deck, as the vessel ploughed its way down the dark river, and broke forth into song and laughter. One of them would break out in a solo, much of which he seemed to improvise, and then all would join in the chorus. There was real pathos, as well as merriment, in some 112 The mini of these rude songs. I remember some of the words, which had a weird effect with their sing-song melody and constant repetition. ' De pearly gates is openin', Openin', openin', Ter let me in — ter let me in; De pearly gates is openin' Ter let me in ! "Jesus' arms is openin', Openin', openin', Ter let me in — ter let me in; Jesus' arms is openin' Ter let me in ! "My eyes is openin', Openin', openin', Ter see Marsa Jesus ; My eyes is openin' Ter see Marsa Jesus! " There were a number of these crude religious songs, in which the negroes all fervently joined. Then there were plantation songs, illustrative of various incidents of plantation life. One of these I remember to have heard sung since, but never so well as on that night. The song consists of a few rude lines chanted by a leader and repeated by the company in chorus; and the number of stanzas sung on any occasion depends on the skill of the soloist in ringing the changes on the general theme. " De ol' black bull kem down de medder, Husen Johnnie, Husen Johnnie! De ol' black bull kem down de meadow, Long time ago. Chorus. " Long time ago, long time ago, De ol' black bull kem down de medder, Long time ago. "Fust he paw an' den he beller, Husen Johnnie, Husen Johnnie! Fust he paw an' den he beller, Long time ago. Chorus. He whet his horn on a white oak saplin', Husen Johnnie, Husen Johnnie ! He whet his horn on a white oak saplin', Long time ago. Chorus. The Pioneer 113 "He shake his tail, he jar de ribber, Husen Johnnie, Husen Johnnie ! He shake his tail, he jar de ribber, Long time ago. Chorus. "He paw de dirt in de heifers' faces, Husen Johnnie, Husen Johnnie! He paw de dirt in de heifers' faces, Long time ago." And so the improvisor would go on singing as long as he could, all hands joining in the chorus. I wish I was musician enough to write out the air of that song, which is very familiar to me. The solo is a sort of droning chant ; but the chorus, when sung by good voices as it was on that night, is superb. The song became a favorite with lawyers travelling the circuit in those days, and was often sung on convivial occasions. It is said that at one time, at Knoxville in our county, when some good news that caused universal rejoicing had been received, the court was ad- journed, and judge and lawyers and jury and spectators paraded around the public square singing ' De ol' black bull kem down de medder." It must be remembered that this was before the days of brass bands and other artificial contrivances for giving expression to tumultuous feeling. CHAPTER XXVII. A VISIT TO PIKE COUNTY AT the first gray of dawn the next morning, I was out on deck. We were at Quincy, and I wanted to go to see if I could find my friend Mr. Browning ; but it was too early. Soon after leaving Quincy we turned into the little Sny carte River, which is no longer navigable ; and I left the boat at a point near Atlas. I was interested in the httle hamlet of Atlas, named for the ancient genius who supported the world upon his shoul- ders. The place was founded in 1820 by a little band of Yankees from Massachusetts, and was first called Ross Settlement, after Colonel William Ross, an officer who had distinguished himself in the War of 1812. With four of his brothers he had led a band 114 The mini of pioneers from their New England home to the headwaters of the Alleghany River, which they descended to Pittsburg and thence went down the Ohio to Shawneetown, there taking wagons over- land to Upper Alton, from whence they explored the country in quest of a good location. Finally they ascended the Illinois River, which they forded at a point opposite where Gilead, in Calhoun County, now stands, and proceeded north until they came to this spot, where they had established themselves in a wild and unex- plored region. The event was so important as to attract the attention of the Governor and the members of the Legislature in session at Vandalia, the capital of the State ; Pike County was then created, and it may be said that Atlas was its parent place. The region which at that time composed Pike County is now almost an empire ; out of it have been created more than fifty counties. It embraced all the territory of Illinois north and west of the Illinois River, including what are now known as the cities of Chicago, Peoria, Galena, Rock Island, Galesburg, and Quincy. At a general election thirty years before I arrived at Atlas, held in that vast territory in which there are now hundreds of thousands of voters, only thirty-five votes were cast. Colonel Ross had influenced many pioneers to locate in the neighborhood of Atlas, and among them was my old friend General Silverton, whom I was now about to visit. As I was descending the gang-plank I was met by a long gang- ling sort of man, who asked me if I wanted to go to the Grange. I replied that I wanted to go to General Silverton's. " I allowed that you was the young man," he said, and, taking my baggage, he escorted me to an open buggy, and we drove away. I asked the man if the Silverton family were all well, to which he replied by a nod of his head and a grimace, adding, 'The Gen'ral'U be hum, I reckon, termorrer." I asked if he had gone far away. " No," he answered, " he 's only gone to a speakin'. Douglas is aroun' agin, and the Gen'ral alius shows up when he comes." " Did Hobbs go with the General?" I asked. " No," he replied. " Hobbs ain't yere no more." "Where has he gone?" I asked. "He's a squatter," he replied. The Pioneer 115 "A what!" " He 's a squatter, — makes a business of squattin'. He squats on land." "What do you mean?" I asked. " Why, ye see, I do n't myself 'zacly understand, but a gentle- man, a land-shark from Chicago, a real nice young feller, hired him to squat on land fer him. Ye see, when a feller who has a tax-title or suthin' on his land, and gits careless like and do n't stay on it, Hobbs '11 go on the quarter-section arter night, and build a shanty, and put some straw on the ground to sleep on, and have some grub to eat, and when the man who owns it comes along and asks him what he 's doing there, Hobbs '11 say, ' What am I doin' yere ? It 's my land ; I own it. I 've got the real true patent title from Uncle Sam comin' right direct from the sojer ! ' An' nobody can't 4'^we Hobbs oS ! He jes stays squattin' thar on thet quarter till he gits the land, or they have a law-suit, or the owner settles and pays a lot o' money to the man Hobbs works fer. It 's mighty ticklish business, for some of these men '11 shoot; but Hobbs do n't skeer easy, an' he never gives up." It was not necessary for the man to make further explanations to me. I already knew what these controversies were. The region west of the Illinois River, called the Military Tract, was set apart for the soldiers of the War of 1812, each soldier having been given a patent title to a quarter section, or a hundred and sixty acres, of land. The region so set apart was then a terra incognita. As most of these soldiers lived in the East and South, very few of them had ever attempted to reach the land, or given it any atten- tion. The land itself, when thus patented, had very little if any market value ; and unless the soldier could emigrate to it, it was of no value to him. The patent, if preserved at all, was valued chiefly as a souvenir of honorable patriotic service. With the lapse of forty years, most of the patentees had died; the taxes had not been paid, and the lands had gone to public sale. Other settlers had come in, bought the tax titles, and improved the land; and in justice if not in law they owned it. After the lands had become valuable, it occurred to enterprising men to hunt up and secure these patent titles, and agents were sent all over the East- ern and Southern States to buy them. These agents, — "land- ii6 The lUini sharks," as they were called, — bought the land at their own price, frequently as low as five dollars, and sometimes even one dollar, ■for the patent to a quarter-section. This patent-title, with pos- session, gave a good title to land; and thus "possession" became "nine points of the law." This was the business in which Hobbs was now engaged. One can easily imagine how these land- sharks" were detested by the bona fide early settlers of the Mili- tary Tract. Yet they really proved to be an advantage to the country; through looking up these patents, titles of land were perfected, and the country was greatly benefitted. CHAPTER XXVIII. THE GRANGE REALLY fine places in Illinois were rare at that early day. General Silverton's place was known as "The Grange." There was a big square house, three stories in height, with a ve- randa the whole length of the front, its roof as high as the second story of the house, and supported by great pillars, like Washing- ton's mansion at Mt. Vernon. The third story was really a high attic, with sloping roof and dormer windows, and was used as a ball-room. There were massive front doors of oak, which opened into a hall twenty feet wide, with a broad stairway at the farther end, ascending by easy steps to the second floor. On one side of the hall was a great fireplace ; and along the other side, against the wall, were placed sofas and lounges. The hall was hung around with heads of buffalo, elk, and deer, and suspended from their antlers were the rifles and other accoutrements of the hunter, suggesting how they had been obtained. On the floor were skins of animals, with some rugs of foreign manufacture. The drawing- rooms and parlors on either side, tastefully and substantially fur- nished, showed that it was a home of comfort ; while the dining- room, back of the hall and running clear across the house, showed that it was also a home of abundance. This banqueting hall was finished and wainscotted in walnut. I was told that the wood- work in the house had been prepared and finished in New Orleans, and that workmen came with it up the river to put it in place. The Pioneer 117 The house was located upon a level plateau fronting to the north ; but west of it the ground sloped down toward the river. Stately trees, that had sheltered the Indian hunter not so long before, spread their great branches over the lawn, giving the place a picturesque appearance. I had only time to make these observations, and to seat myself upon a sofa in the hall, when Mrs. Silverton and Rose came down the stairway. Mrs. Silverton greeted me cordially, as did also Rose ; but I noticed the latter was not quite so cordial as when I had last seen her in Chicago. The freedom and artlessness of childhood were giving way to the timidity and shyness of young maidenhood. But she seemed to me more bewitchingly beautiful than ever before. Mrs. Silverton asked me about my father and mother, about my home, and about my journey ; to which I answered as best I could, but I fear I was looking all the while at Rose. She spoke of General Silverton visiting at our house, and of his speaking very kindly of me and asking me to visit them. I was about to reply, and had the name of Mr. Browning upon my lips as having accom- panied the General, when she proceeded to say that the General frequently went away to look after his stock, or sometimes on political missions and to renew acquaintances ; and in this way he happened to meet Mr. Browning, and they drove together to Galesburg, taking me with them. There was enough in this statement to satisfy me that I had better not go into details about the visit to our house and our trip to Galesburg. Afternoon tea was served on a low table in the hall, at which Miss Edwards, a young lady from Springfield, joined us. She was not a relative of the family, but a very close friend, and knew all the gossip of the State Capital. She had come part of the way upon a new railroad, the first in Illinois, which ran down to Meri- dosia on the Illinois River; and she gave us an interesting account of the trip. When she was all ready to leave the house, she said, she found that through some mistake or negligence her trunk had not been taken, and she would have missed the train had not a tall lean man just then come along, and learning what the trouble was picked up the trunk and lifted it upon his shoulder and started " across-lots " for the station, which they reached in time for the train, but not in time for her to thank him. It was Mr. Lincoln, ii8 The mini the lawyer, whose wife was Miss Edwards's aunt. When the conductor came along she asked him if he knew Mr. Lincoln, and he said, "Oh, yes, everybody knows Abe Lincoln." I told them that I had seen the same man in Galesburg, and of how droll he was. " Yes," said Miss Edwards, " I know that no one can tell such funny stories as he can. Aunt Mary [Mrs. Lincoln] comes often to our house, but he comes very seldom, and when he does come he keeps us all laughing ; but Aunt Mary does not like his drollery at all." Tea was served by a colored woman, a little past middle age, wearing a neat calico dress of many colors, with a clean white apron, and upon her head she wore a red bandana handkerchief folded like a turban. I noticed that she called Mrs. Silverton "Missus," the young lady "Miss," and Rose "Honey." Rose and I said very little to each other. After tea, Mrs. Silverton sug- gested that Rose take me out and show me about the place, and she directed "Aunty," the colored woman, to accompany us. It then dawned upon me that this was the "Aunty" of whom Rose had told me on the steamboat. We first went to the negro quarters, called usually " nigger quarters," where the colored help lived. There were but few of them, the General having kept only those most attached to the family. Savory meats were boiling in the pot swung from the crane over the great fireplace, and a woman was covering the dutch oven," filled with the cornmeal mixture, with hot ashes and coals. A young girl was stripping the husks from green corn, which she carefully replaced and added others, doing it up very carefully in these husks, so that it would be entirely protected from the dust or ashes; and after it was prepared she carefully laid it in the hot ashes, covering it two or three inches deep, so that no live coals could get to it, and then drawing the coals over the ashes. No French cook can turn out such delicious "roastin' years" as those cooked in that way. Another woman was spinning with a great wheel, and the spindle hummed and buzzed as she moved forward and backward at her work. Every- body seemed very happy and very busy. "Aunty" was a kind of queen among the colored folks, giving orders and admoni- tions and commendations; and they all seemed to worship " Miss Rose." We visited the spring-house, where the milk and butter The Pioneer 119 were kept; peeped in at the smoke-house, where we saw hams and bacon and tongues hung up over a smouldering fire of corn- cobs. Then we went to the poultry yard, the duck-pond, looked at the bee-hives from a safe distance, and went into the horse-barn, where Rose showed me her riding-mare in a box-stall. As we came out of the stall, we saw in a small lot surrounded by a rail fence ten or twelve feet high a fine buck with great branching antlers, which Rose told me was the same she had had as a pet when it was a little fawn, and whose life "Aunty" had saved. It was now unsafe for a strong man to be where it could attack him. We were shown the families of ' ' little piggies " — Berkshires, which were then in high favor in that region. Scarcely anything interested me more than Taurus, the great bull, who had been a voyager vvith us around the lakes. He was confined in a pasture of several acres, through which ran a stream of water. In the distance we could see the beautiful cows and calves making up General Silverton's herd of short-horns. I was surprised to find so great a change in Rose. She was not quite a young lady, but I could see that she was no longer a child. She told of the incidents of her life on the farm, of the visitors they had entertained, of their journeys and the people they had seen, in all of which I was much interested, as the names of quite a number were familiar to me. I inquired about Hobbs, and why he was no longer with them. She said that when her father came home from his visit to us he seemed much displeased with him, and could hardly bear to see him about ; he would not permit him to be in the house, but told him he must stay with the stock, where his business was. I learned that Hobbs laid all his misfortunes to me, and said that I had turned General Silverton against him. Then Rose told me that Dwight Earle had been there, much improved and prosperous in appearance ; that he had given Hobbs work of some sort, she didn't know what, but her father said it was a mean sort of business, just suited to Hobbs, and that he was glad to be rid of him. She said her father had been in much better spirits since his last visit to the East the previous summer, and that he had again taken an interest in politics and everything as before. Just now, she said, he was away with Senator Douglas making stump-speeches, and they were expected home the next day. "Do you like Senator Douglas?" I asked I20 The mini " I used to," she replied, "but I shall never like him any more. Do people call you an Abolitionist now?" she added. "There is nobody who wants to injure me where I live, and they do not care what my views are. The fact is, I have modified my views quite a little." " How? " said she, laying her little hand upon my arm. "Sit down here on the veranda, and tell me." I felt a tremor in the pressure of her hand, which almost sent a shiver through me. I remembered how shamelessly and cruelly, on the lake steamer, Dwight Earle and Hobbs had denounced my father and me as Abolitionists, and the effect it had produced upon Rose. I was anxious to please her, and I thought that by giving her a candid statement of what had been passing through my mind she would be satisfied. "You see. Rose," I proceeded, not without some misgivings, " this question has become a very serious one. I would hke to see the slaves all free ; but I cannot free them. If we try to free them in the South, as my father and all the Abolitionists would like to do, there is danger that it will break up the Union — that there will be war. So I have thought that perhaps it might be better to go with the more conservative anti-slavery sentiment, and announce that there will be no interference with slavery in t'-e States where it exists, but that it will not be permitted to go any farther; that there shall be no more slave territory, and so by confining it to its present limits it must eventually die out." "Please don't say any more! please don't say any more!" she pleaded, as her voice trembled and her eyes filled with tears. "Let me go; you must dress for dinner," she said; "it will be at six o'clock, and Mamma expects everybody to be prompt." "Yes, but Rose," I said, "I had only just begun to tell you." "I cannot hear any more now," she answered, and abruptly left me. I was distressed beyond measure. How could she have been so moved by the simple statement I had made ! I hastened to my room and dressed myself in my Sunday suit ( I no longer wore roundabouts and knickerbockers) , with the clean linen my mother had packed for me, and sat down to think. How could this young girl, who only three years before I had known as' a mere The Pioneer 121 child, understand the weighty issues which I had tried to present to her ? And why should she have been so moved by my words ? I went down to the drawing-room, where Mrs. Silverton and Miss Edwards were already waiting, and Rose soon joined us. There were no other guests, and the dinner was very quiet. Miss Edwards continued her account of her journey, telling us what a wonderful thing the railroad was and how fast the cars went — some of the time fifteen miles an hour! She told of the fright they all had when one of the rails — light strips of iron called strap-rails — got loose, and the end bent up and was thrust through the car floor and came near striking a lady passenger who sat near. This was a not uncommon form of accident in those early days of railroading, — so common, in fact, that the rail-ends that were pushed up through the car-floor were called "snake- heads" by the railroad people. Another incident was that at one place they had to wait for sufficient wood to be sawed to replenish the fire of the locomotive. The dinner was served by Thomas, a tall young colored boy of sixteen or seventeen, who wore a white coat and gloves. I after- wards learned that he was "Aunty's" son; and that his father, Joshua, Aunty's husband, the man who had met me at the landing, was a licensed exhorter in the Methodist church, and was to preach in the schoolhouse that very evening. I had never attended a religious meeting of colored people, and Miss Edwards proposed that we go. Accordingly, Miss Edwards, Rose, and I, with Aunty and Thomas, walked down to the schoolhouse together. The congregation had already assembled, and as we approached we heard them singing: "Jesus, my all, to heaven is gone; I belong to the band, hallelujah I He who I fixed my hopes upon, I belong to the band, Hallelujah I Hallelujah ! Hallelujah ! I belong to the band, Halielujah I " We went in, as we thought, unobserved, and seated our- selves on a bench near the door. A venerable colored man led in prayer, for which all kneeled. He had a powerful sympathetic voice, and as he proceeded exclamations came from every part of 122 The mini the house. As his voice rose, the responses became more loud and frequent, with such exclamations as, " Bress de Lor' ! T'ank de Lor'! Lor' save us!" Miss Edwards could hardly restrain herself from laughter ; but to me, as that deep voice led, growing in strength and fervor until at last the whole congregation broke out into shouts of "Glory!" and "Hallelujah!" it was very impressive, and Rose seemed to be affected as I was. After the prayer and another hymn, a colored man arose and stated that he noticed that "some white folks has come in since de sassers wuz passed," whereupon the preacher said, "Pass de sassers agin!" and we each added something to the contribution. Then we went home, and with music and songs and pleasant talk ended what had been for me a very happy day. I slept but little that night. I asked myself over and over again how Rose could have been so moved by hearing that I had changed my views regarding slavery. Finally a thought came to me that made me spring up in bed, — the thought that she might have heard something of the sad story of the poor fugitive; and I tried to fathom the mystery of how she had heard it. In reality, as I found afterwards, she knew nothing whatever of the matter; but the thought that she might know it, and that this might be the cause of the strange emotion she had shown, was one I could not shake off. It was daylight before I closed my eyes in sleep, and I slept late in the morning. They had no special breakfast hour, as we had in our humble home; so it was quite proper for me to come down late if I wished. After breakfast, I found Rose seated in the library, reading. Our conversation began upon the incidents of the previous even- ing. Presently she said: You don't seem to be so devoted to the colored folks as when we first met. I do n't believe I like you quite as well for it. I thought you were more steadfast. I had thought you would never give up your principles, even for me ; that you would grow up and go to Congress, and fight for those poor people ; but you are like all the rest ! And I do like you so! and I want to like you more; and I wanted to see you and tell you how much I liked you. But now, now, now, — " and she started, sobbing, to leave the room. " Rose, Rose, Rose!" I called. She came back and said, "I The Pioneer 123 do n't want to be cross with you. It was good of you to come and visit us, and I have looked forward to it so long, and I thought you would help me. I have been reading such a wonderful book. It 's only a story, but I know it 's all true, that just such things as it tells about are going on all the time." "What is the book?" I asked. She picked up a copy of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," open at the end of the chapter which tells of the brutal murder of Uncle Tom, and of his Christian fortitude and heroic death. To say that I was dumbfounded scarcely expresses my surprise and astonishment. To find this girl, whom I had regarded almost as a child, and whom I was so desirous of pleasing, so moved and so changed, and upbraiding me for the things I thought she would commend me for, was more than I could understand, and almost more than I could bear. "If you would read that book," she said, "you would never again speak as you did yesterday. You would be proud to be called an Abolitionist." "I have read it," I said; and I explained how the story had come to us on the farm, printed in an anti-slavery newspaper, and how eagerly we had devoured it. She replied by asking, "Don't you believe what the story says?" "I am so surprised at your feelings, and at what you have said, that I think we had better not discuss the question further now," I replied. "But really," I continued, "I think about as you do. Rose, and I want to do just about what you want to. The question is, how to bring it about. But let us talk about that some other time." Then I asked her if she knew when her father would be at home. "Mamma had a letter from him this morning," she replied. "He will be here by the down boat this afternoon, and — what do you think? — Judge Douglas is coming with him! " "Will he come to your house? " I asked. "Oh, yes," she replied; "he always stays with us." After luncheon I strolled about the place. I saw the blooded cattle, which were still in charge of the man who had cared for 124 The mini them on the voyage around the lakes and had helped drive them across the country. I asked him about Hobbs, and he said that Hobbs had got too big for his business, and the General "got shet of him." The man showed me the young stock, yearlings and calves, beside their mothers, the cows with which I was familiar. I also saw Taurus the bull, in his pasture. I was not so much interested, however, as I supposed I would be. I was all the while thinking of Rose, and the wonderful transformation in her ; and I wandered away in reverie, from which I was awakened by the hoarse whistle of the steamer descending the river, and by Josh rattling by in the carriage in order to be at the levee when the boat should land. I was pleased with the pros;ect of again seeing General Silverton, but would gladly have run away from Senator Douglas. I had not forgotten that he had much to do with arousing the prejudice against anti-slavery people, from which I had suffered so much. CHAPTER XXIX. THE LITTLE GIANT I WANDERED so far from the house that it was near six o'clock, the dinner-hour, when I returned. The gentlemen had already arrived, and were seated on the veranda. General Silverton greeted me cordially, and presented me to the Senator as a young gentleman who had been a fellow-passenger with him on the trip around the lakes. The Senator arose and extended his hand to me. I had never before been in the presence of so dis tinguished a man. I had never before shaken hands with a Senator of the United States, and, as might be supposed, I felt not a little embarrassed ; but he was so kind and so hearty in his greeting, that this feeling soon passed away. Of course he asked me where I was from, and when I told him, he replied, " I grew up in Canan- daigua, in Western New York, not far from your place, and I am always interested in anyone who comes from that region." He went on to give an interesting account of his young days, of the school and academy he attended, of his study of the law, and many other things. I had never heard so impressive a voice, so The Pioneer 125 deep and sympathetic. He had a sort of confiding way, as much as to say, " I am going to tell you, — I feel that I can trust myself to say to you," as though you were the one person in whom he could confide. I was surprised, when Senator Douglas arose, to find myself considerably taller than he. He was only five feet four, and was well called " The Little Giant." I was also astonished to find he had so good, I may say so elegant, a figure. There was a little tendency to corpulency, which grew upon him in after years ; but I had never seen so massive a head, such lustrous eyes, such a mag- nificent forehead crowned with luxuriant brown hair, and such a resolute but kindly expression of the mouth. He was as perfectly formed as Webster, and had he been as large in stature he would have appeared even more majestic. There was in the expression of his face and his bearing, as someone had truly said, ' a sug- gestion of the Infinite." We had time for but few formalities and observations, when dinner was announced. The Senator took out Mrs. Silverton, the General Miss Edwards, while Rose took my arm and led me out, for I was so dazed I would hardly have known how to go otherwise. The distinguished guest was very courteous to the ladies, asking Mrs. Silverton if she liked being back in her own country after her sojourn in Europe. " Yes," she replied, "I love my own country better than any other; but. Senator, there is much to be seen abroad, and when my health permitted I enjoyed it." "Europe is interesting, as the land of our fathers," he replied. "But, Madam, it is antiquated, decrepit, tottering on the verge of dissolution. As I saw it, the objects that enlisted the highest admiration were the relics of past greatness, the broken columns erected to departed power. It is one vast graveyard, where you find here a tomb indicating the burial of the arts, there a monu- ment marking the spot where liberty expired, another erected to the memory of a great man whose place has never been filled. The choicest product of that classic soil consists in relics, sad memorials of departed glory and fallen greatness ; but they inspire no hope for the living, — while here everything is fresh, blooming, ever advancing and expanding." 126 The mini "Yes," assented Mrs. Silverton. "But there is a charm about it all, and I like it. I enjoyed every hour of it." "Ladies who go abroad are always captivated," he replied; " and I do not wonder at it. If one had nothing to do but to sit down and amuse himself, Europe would be tolerable; but for a man who is ambitious to do something, to achieve something, to build for the future, ours is the favored land. Perhaps I am too much wrapped up in my own country, but I would rather take part in building up States than in contemplating those that have fallen. I hope you had a pleasant journey from Springfield, Miss Edwards," said the Senator, turning suddenly to that young lady. " Yes, sir," she replied; " it was so fine to come part way on a real railroad." "It will not be the last railway you will ride over in Illinois," said the Senator. "Tell them," said the General, "about the great railway to be built of which you are the projector and I may say the father." "I did something to get the bill through Congress," said the Senator. " In fact, I may say that I had nearly the whole burden of its passage upon me ; but Judge Sidney Breese was the pro- jector of the Illinois Central Railway." "Everybody knows, however," said the General, that but for you the bill would never have had any chance of going through Congress." "I am very proud of my work in that matter," replied the Senator. "I wish it could have been made to run through the whole State, so that you here in Pike County, and all the country west of the Illinois River, could have had it ; but it was a great thing to have it run from Cairo north for three hundred and fifty miles, with practically two lines, one to Chicago at the northeast corner of the State, and the other to Galena at the northwest corner. The effect of this road will be to stimulate capital to build other lines to regions it does not reach ; and thus you and all the rest of the State will finally get the benefit. So you liked the little Meridosia line, Miss Edwards? I think that if one is in a hurry he might better walk." "Well, the speed is not very great," she said, and she related to him the incidents she had given us. The Pioneer 127 "Tell about your coming so near being left, and who helped you with your trunk," said Mrs. Silverton; and the young lady told about the trouble she had, and how Mr. Lincoln helped her. Just like him, ' ' answered the Senator. ' ' Lincoln is as strong as an ox, and as generous as he is strong; and it would be nothing for him to carry a Saratoga trunk. I knew him when a young fellow, big and strong. I was a school-teacher in the town of Winchester, and he was a grocery-keeper in the town of Salem. He was good at telling an anecdote, he could beat any of the boys in wrestling or running a foot-race, in pitching quoits or tossing a copper, could ruin more liquor than all the boys of the town together, while the dignity and impartiality with which he presided at a horse-race or a fist-fight won the admiration of everybody present." I have heard of some of his queer anecdotes," said Mrs. Silverton. " Is he not a light-beaded, frivolous sort of man?" To those who know him but little, he gives the impression that he is merely a good fellow," replied the Senator; "but I know him better than that. Anyone who may chance to be pitted against him in a debate, as I once was at Jacksonville, and as I have been at other times, will find out, as I did, that there is far more to him than a mere story-teller. He is often called a clown ; but there is method in what he does." How is he coming out as a lawyer? " asked the General. "That's just where Lincoln will succeed," replied the Sena- tor. " If he continues to keep out of politics, as he is now doing, and devotes himself to law, he will get ahead of all the law^^ers in Springfield. He thought, because he could run a few country precincts and get elected to the legislature, that he was a politician ; but he is a mere baby in politics. To be a successful politician, one must be gble to see the drift of public opinion and take advan- tage of it. You know he was in Congress one term since I have been in the Senate, and distinguished himself by his opposition to the Mexican War, taking the side of the enemy against his country. When he came home, he was of course retired to private life." "Did you ever hear how Abe Lincoln came to study law?" continued the Senator. "One day some emigrants, 'movers.' stopped at his grocery to get a drink. Among their efiects thef 128 The mini had a barrel of old papers, which they decided to abandon ; and left them with Abe. After they left he turned the barrel upside down, and found at the bottom a copy of Blackstone's Commentaries. He did not know who Blackstone was, nor what he wrote about ; but he had no other book to read, and he began to read that one. Squire Godby, Justice of the Peace at Salem, used to tell the story of chancing to see a pair of big bare feet put up against the shady side of a woodpile near the grocery, and following the feet down he found the owner of them lying flat on his back on the ground, his only clothing his trousers, a "hickory" shirt, and suspenders, his old straw hat lying on the ground. It was Lincoln, and he had a book open on his breast, which he was devouring. Squire Godby said that he spoke to him, but Abe never took his eyes oS the book ; and finally Godby shouted Abe, what are you doing there ? ' ' Reading,' was the reply. ' What are you reading, Abe ? ' 'Law,' was the answer. Squire Godby could only exclaim. Great God Almighty ! ' and passed on. The big awkward boy was really read- ing Blackstone ; and he has never given up reading it. He knows more Blackstone and Chitty to-day than any other lawyer in Illi- nois. He is in one respect the most remarkable man I ever saw. At an age when most young men are supposed to complete their education, Lincoln began his. He had not as much book educa- tion when he became of age as most schoolboys have at ten. But he began to study then, and he has been a student every day of his life since ; not a student of books merely, but of men. He makes everybody he comes in contact with become his teacher. He will talk with Judge Stephen T. Logan, or John T. Stuart, about a law que'stion, and before he gets through he will know more about it than either of them. He prepares his cases very carefully. At first he used to get one of the good lawyers to help him, and by his management and their knowledge he usually won. Now he can conduct cases himself, and wins as often as any of them." Then you think he will make a great lawyer, do you. Sen- ator?" asked General Silverton. "I can hardly say that," was the reply. " He has too much to overcome, too little general education ; and yet if he could go on improving as he has done in the last ten years he would no doubt be equal as a lawyer to Daniel Webster, Rufus Choate, or Reverdy Johnson." The Pioneer 129 " Do you think he will stick to the law ? " was asked. " Yes, I think he will," was the reply. " He has had enough hard lessons in politics to find out that he has not the qualities for success in that direction. Think of a man who opposed the Mexican War hoping to succeed in politics ! Besides, while he is an old-line Henry Clay Whig on the tariff, he is at heart an Abolitionist. I know it. I have heard him tell about seeing a slave-auction in New Orleans, when he ran a flat-boat down there, before he got into the grocery; and he almost cried in telling it." Yes, but he supports the fugitive-slave law," was answered. " He does, and he can't help it," replied the Senator. " No man can help supporting that law, if he is loyal to the constitution of his country, which especially provides for it ; but there is where he and all the namby-pamby reformers are inconsistent. If you have slave property, that property must sometimes be sold, and you must have slave-auctions. No, Lincoln knows better than ever to try his hand again in politics; but John T. Stuart, and Stephen T. Logan, and even O. H. Browning and some of the Chicago lawyers, will have to look to their laurels or they may have to step aside for Abe Lincoln. If he had anything hke the aptitude for politics that he has for law, some of us would be watching him very closely." We had after-dinner coffee on the veranda. Rose and I were seated at the extreme end, where we could talk without being heard. "What a fine talker he is!" I said. "Yes," she said. "I have always loved to be present when Senator Douglas is here, but how could you like him to-night ? I wanted to fly in his face when he said what he did about the fugitive-slave law. Think of poor Eliza, with her child in her arms, crossing the Ohio River, jumping from one cake of ice to another, and the brutes, bloodhounds and all, after her ! How dreadful it is ! " "You liked, I hope, what he said about Lincoln, Rose," I said. "I have seen Mr. Lincoln and heard him talk. He is very droll, but I think he is a good man." " I liked some of it," she said. " It shows that Mr. Lincoln has a kind heart ; but he, like all the rest, is for the fugitive-slave law. If they are allowed to hunt poor fugitives with bloodhounds. 130 The mini as if they were beasts, why, as the Senator said, should they not sell them at auction ? " As evening came on, quite a number of neighbors (in those days people living twenty miles apart were neighbors) came dropping in, by invitation of the General, to pay their respects to Senator Douglas. The General had served, what was then and is too often yet the favorite Illinois beverage, whiskey, of which most of the guests partook. Cigars were also passed around. The callers were not all Democrats, by any means, as politics made no difference in social relations. The conversation became general, but the Senator took the lead, as he did in every social gathering where I chanced to see him. It was said of him that from childhood everybody deferred to him ; that without any apparent effort on his part he led the conversation in every com- pany. I cannot recall all that was said on that memorable occasion, but some things so impressed me that I could never forget them. In some way the Oregon-boundary question came up. The Sena- tor declared that to have been one of the most important matters that ever came before the American people. He explained that both Great Britain and the United States claimed all the Northwest Territory along the Pacific Ocean, north of California, as far as Alaska ; that we claimed it by priority of occupancy, our hunters and fur-traders being there first, and that Great Britain made the same claim; that while the question was pending, both nations occupied the region jointly; that when the question came up for final settlement, he became satisfied that our claim as far as the parallel of fifty-four degrees and forty minutes was good. He told of the discussion of the question before the people, who declared by the election of 1844 that we were justly entitled to all that territory, and said that the Democratic party won under the banner of "fifty-four-forty or fight." He told of how he tried to influence Congress to take a firm stand upon the question, by showing that we got our Northeast boundary, between us and Canada, as we claimed, because Congress was united and took a firm stand upon the Ashburton Treaty; and that if we had been united and firm upon this Northwestern boundary, we should have had it all up to lifty-four degrees and forty minutes. But, not- The Pioneer 131 withstanding all his efforts, Congress would not stand firm, and the forty-ninth parallel was conceded to be the boundary, and a treaty was made with Great Britain to that effect. I was very much impressed by his saying, "The time will come when the American people will realize that they threw away an empire by that surrender to Great Britain." Anyone who now traverses that vast region on the Canadian Pacific Railway, visits Puget Sound, looks out upon the St. Georgian Bay, the Straits of Juan de Fuca, or lands upon Victoria Island, will realize how much of wisdom there was in that prophecy, and how much the country lost by not heeding the admonitions of Senator Douglas, and will have some proper conception of the statesmanship of the great Illinois Senator to whose appeals Congress turned a deaf ear. The conversation drifted to the Mexican War ; and the Senator was especially jubilant over its results, saying that we not only acquired the disputed territory east of the Rio Grande, but also New Mexico, Arizona, and California; and that, notwithstanding all the aggressions of Mexico, it was extremely difficult to bring Congress to the point of declaring war, even after our troops were attacked upon our own territory east of the Rio Grande. Refer- ence was made by someone to the conspicuous part the Senator took in bringing Congress to act, and especially to his passage at arms with the venerable John Quincy Adams. " That was a little cruel, I admit," replied the Senator; " but I could not help it. You see, the whole question turned upon what really was the western boundary of Texas, — whether it was the Nueces River as the Mexicans claimed, or the Rio Grande. The opponents of the Mexican War, led by Mr. Adams, were willing to concede to Mexico the country west of the Nueces River, between that river and the Rio Grande ; while we insisted upon the Rio Grande as our western boundary. Mr. Adams was positive that the claim of his partisans was correct, and that Texas only extended to the Nueces. After he had very definitely com- mitted himself to this view of the matter, I politely called his attention to what I designated as a masterly despatch, written in 1819 by one whose learning and accuracy he would not question, our Secretary of State, to Don Onis the Spanish Minister, which proved that the Rio Grande del Norte was the western boundary 132 The mini of Louisiana, and was so considered by both Spain and France when they owned the opposite banks of that river. Texas was at that time a province of Louisiana; and so it was proved that the western boundary of Texas was the Rio Grande del Norte, and the Secretary claimed that by our purchase our title was as good to the Rio Grande del Norte as to New Orleans. Mr. Adams had himself prepared that despatch, when Secretary of State in President Monroe's Cabinet. He had served his country faithfully and ably during all his long life, and had been President since that despatch was written ; and it had no doubt passed out of his mind. His reply to me was, I tried to make out the best case I could for my own country, as it was my duty to do,' and tried to explain that he did not mean the whole length of the Rio Grande del Norte, etc. Mr. Adams's despatch at that time was a very learned and voluminous document, illustrated by old maps, many records, histories, and geographies, in Spanish, English, and French. Scarcely any other work of ' the grand old man ' gives a better illustration of his profound learning and extensive research. In the course of the controversy, he taunted me with the course of my party on the Oregon question, which he referred to as ' fifty- four-forty or fight.' I did not attempt to excuse the Democratic party, but told him how I stood upon the question, and that I was still ready to fight if necessary; but I turned the question upon him by asking him to apply to Texas another of his own great statesman-like utterances — that made during the debate upon the Oregon boundary question, when Mr. Adams had declared that he was for adopting the plan of Frederick the Great in regard to Silesia — ' take possession first and negotiate afterwards.' " Among other matters spoken of was the famous Clayton- Bulwer Treaty, which Mr. Douglas had fought in the Senate with all his might. He called it "going into partnership with Great Britain in regard to a matter on this hemisphere," and con- ceding that she had equal rights with us in regard to Nicaragua. He said it was a complete surrender of the Monroe Doctrine ; that we should have conceded no right to England in this matter; that we should never have entered into a treaty with England agreeing that neither government "should ever buy, . annex, colonize, or acquire any portion of Central America." Senator The Pioneer 133 Douglas added that a veteran member of the Senate had said to him that Central America is so far oS- that we should never want it; to which he had replied, "Yes, it is a good wayofif, — half-way to California, and on the direct road to it." The Senator went on to say that he had dined with Sir Henry -Lytton Bulwer. while the treaty was being negotiated, and that Sir Henry had called him to account for so violently opposing it. He said that the treaty was "fair because it was reciprocal; it pledged that neither Great Britain nor the United States should ever purchase, colonize, or acquire any territory in Central America." The Senator told him that they should add that "neither should acquire or hold dominion over Central America or Asia." Sir Henry answered, "You have no interest in Asia"; to which the Senator replied, "And you have none in Central America." Sir Henry rejoined. But you can never establish any rights in Asia"; to which the Senator retorted, "And we don't mean that you shall ever establish any in Central America." The day will come," continued the Senator, "when that Clayton-Bulwer Treaty will be a great annoyance to our country, and when Great Britain will have to modify that treaty or fight. The day will come when the American people will have their own highway through the Isthmus to the Pacific Ocean." * Prejudiced as I had been against Senator Douglas, I listened with breathless interest to what he said, as he sat there puffing away at his cigar. I could then understand why such multitudes followed him. I had had vague ideas as to the great measures with which he had been connected, but I never before had any proper conception of his broad and statesmanlike views. As the conversation continued, someone asked why it was that in every instance, except the war with Mexico, we had yielded. " Because we ourselves were not united," he replied. "We might as well as not have had all that Northwest Territory, clear up to Alaska, if we had been united. We might have had the exclusive right to build a railway or a canal across the Isthmus, if we had *This Clayton-Bulwer Treaty was for half a century a stumbling-block in the way of the United States, making it impracticable for us to build and control a canal across the Isthmus. It was finally modified through the statesmanship of an Illinois man, John Hay, Secretary of State, by the treaty of December, 1901, known as the Hay- Pauncefote Treaty. 134 The mini been united. Nicaraugua offered it to us ; Mr. Hise, our Charge d'affaires to the Central American States under President Polk, negotiated a treaty with Nicaraugua, giving us that right; but Great Britain stepped in, and it was put aside, and we made the unwise Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. The reasons why we have not been united," he continued, is because of the constant and growing jealousy between the North and the South. Empires have been given away because of the greed of the slaveholders of the South and the fanaticism of the North. Because of a few millions of negroes, we are always antagonizing each other in Con- gress, when we ought to be united in patriotic efforts to extend the domain and influence of our country. The Abolitionists, most of them still calling themselves Whigs, opposed the Mexican War; and if the Mexicans had not fired upon our flag, they would have succeeded, and we would not have had California, New Mexico, and Arizona. It was this same eternal question of slavery in Con- gress that kept us from being united on the Oregon controversy, and from acquiring all that northwest boundary. The Abolition- ists did not want to acquire any more territory to the southwest, for fear it would become slave territory and give the slave States control; and the South was unwilling to acquire territory to the northwest because it would add free States and give the North control. I have a plan," pursued the Senator, " by which this eternal 'nigger question' can be taken out of Congress and rele- gated to the people themselves. Let them fight it out in the Territories, and if they want slavery there let them have it ; if they don't want it, let them keep it out. Leave it to the people of the Territories." "But," someone urged, "they cannot have slavery north of the Missouri Compromise line." "Why should they not," asked the Senator, " if they want it?" "Because it is forever prohibited north of that line." "Then let us abrogate the Missouri Compromise line," said the Senator. "We cannot do that," was the reply. "It was a solemn compact between the North and the South, made in 1820 as a condition of the admission of Missouri as a slave State, that there should never be slavery north of the parallel of thirty-six degrees The Pioneer 135 thirty minutes. You yourself once said, Senator, that the Missouri Compromise line was 'canonized in the hearts of the American people,' and you wanted to extend it to the Pacific Ocean.' "I did once say something of that kind," replied the Senator; ' but now I am extremely desirous of having the question taken out of Congress and left to the people." A young man, whom I afterwards learned was O. M. Hatch, exclaimed with great earnestness, " Senator, if a serious attempt be made to break down that sacred bulwark against slavery, it will create such a commotion in this country as has never been known before. One might as well try to break down the Con- stitution of the United States." " Gentlemen, let us all have a drink 1 " suggested the General ; and in a generous potation politics dropped out of sight. There was a general exchange of social amenities, and soon the guests withdrew, after bidding the Senator and all of us good-night. A little later. Rose said to me, "There is someone in the kitchen who wants to see you." I followed her there, and found Hobbs. "I wanted ter see yer," said the monster. "I wanted ter tell yer I had nothin' ag'in yer. I 'lowed it wa'n't jes' right fer yer to joggle me an' keep me from wingin' thet nigger. Yer reckoned I was goin' to kill him; but I wa'n't sich a idiot as thet. I knowed ef I killed him, his carcase wuddent been wuth a pica- yune; but alive, I'd been a thousand dollars ahead. I kin ham- string a deer every time ; an' I 'd only lamed him, ef yer'd let me be; an' now you yerself hev been the means o' killin' him.' "What do you mean ? " I exclaimed. " Why," he said, " he 's dead — dead as a mack'rel." "Dead?" I exclaimed. "Yes, sir," said he. " He 's never been heard of sence. I 've hed thet man Davis huntin' him. He must hev got down in the lUinois River swamps an' shook hisself to death with ager, er starved. But I don't lay nothin' up ag'in yer! " " How did you know," I asked, " that this young man was a runaway slave ? " " I knowed by the welt on his forrid; I knowed it was fresh- made by a cat-o-nine-tails. One lick struck him there ; yer kin allers tell." 136 The mini " Do you ever have the milk-sickness now, Hobbs ? " I asked. "Never hed it sence I was sailin' on thet boat; but they all hev it roun' in the other counties. I 'm workin' now fer thet feller Dwight Earle. He 's well heeled a'ready ; but he ain 't gen'rous, like the Gen'ral, though he 's a good squar hull-hog Demercrat. I wish he 'd a ben hyer to-night an' heerd the Jedge talk." " Did you hear him, Hobbs ? " I asked. "Yes, I was a-leanin' ag'in the fence. Ef Dwight Earle 'd only ben hyer, he 'd jes' hollered. He 'II be hyer to-morrer. Yer '11 see him, — he'll come right hyer to this house. They do n't like nobody here hke they do him." "Well, good-night, Hobbs," I said. " Good-night," he responded, and I started to withdraw, " Oh, say, hello ! " he called ; and I turned about. " I want to ax yer to say a good word fer me to the Gen'ral. Ef yer'd only jes' say to him, ' Hobbs is squar, Hobbs is true-blue, Hobbs '11 stay by yer, Hobbs understan's cattle, Hobbs knows the diff'rence atween a short-horn and a Texas steer, Hobbs is a Demercrat,' " — 'Hobbs," I replied, "I don't think that what I say to the General will do any good." It will, it will!" he cried, with his great arms outstretched toward me. I could not help laughing at the great booby. " Larf , will yer! Larf ! " he exclaimed. "I'll make yer larf out o' the other side o' yer d — d mouth !" And he bolted out of the door, and I went to my room. CHAPTER XXX. THE NURSERY OF GREAT MEN THE Senator as I learned when I came down in the morning, had arisen early and started off to go over the place with Hobbs, who was a great favorite with him. Before long they re- turned together; and it was curious to see how cordial, though at the same time dignified, the Senator was in his relations with that uncouth man. Upon seeing them together, I could understand why Hobbs was so devoted to him. It was his way of being friendly and confidential with everyone. The Pioneer 137 The carriage soon came around to take the Senator to the boat, to proceed down the river. The General accompanied him, but was to return after seeing him on board. As the Senator bade us good-bye, he invited us all to visit him at Washington. A ride on horseback was proposed, and Miss Edwards and Rose and I were soon cantering over the prairie, with Tom the colored boy as an attendant, and Slice following with a pack of grayhounds. As there were some purchases to be made, it was decided that we ride to Pittsfield, the county seat of Pike County, where Colonel Ross and other prominent men then lived. Who that has grown up in Illinois, as perhaps in others of our great States, has not been impressed with the possibilities of influ- ence that may be exerted from some little town or community ? In no country of the earth is it possible for rural retreats to develop such strong and able men as ours. In the great mercantile and manufacturing centres, in the marts of trade or the stock-exchange, in the professions or in public hfe, it will be found that ninety per cent of the leading men have grown up on the farm or in these rural communities. I did not know this, of course, at that early age ; but I have since realized that it is true, and whenever I see a bright young man, however poor or however limited in opportu- nities, I picture his possibilities of attainment. I have come to regard every young man I meet as a sort of potential hero who may some day rule the State. A striking illustration of this is afforded by the little community of which I have just been speaking. An old court record recently discovered at Pittsfield shows that in a case tried there in the circuit court, involving only about fifty dollars, eight lawyers were engaged, — Stephen A. Douglas, O. H. Browning, Richard Yates, E. D. Baker, James A. McDougall, Wm. A. Richardson, D. B. Bush, andWm. R.Archer, — of whom six afterwards became U. S. Senators : Douglas, Browning, Yates, and Richardson, from Illinois, Baker from Oregon, and McDougall from California. There were few people in town when we arrived. Colonel Ross observed us, and was the first to greet us. He asked us to the noon dinner at his house, and suggested that the young ladies ride directly there, while I remained down-town to go home with him. Presently Mr. Hatch, whom I recognized, came across the 138 The Illini street, bringing with him a plain young man, whom I found was Mr. Nicolay, the editor of the local paper, "The Pike County Free Press." The inevitable "Where are you from ? " foOowed; and when everybody's curiosity was satisfied on this point, Mr. Hatch spoke of the evening he had spent with the Senator. "It was a most interesting evening," he said. " There is no abler man in public life than Senator Douglas ; but some of us do not agree with his views." "There are many Douglas men in this county, are there not ? " I ventured to ask. "Yes," he said, "they are in the majority, but we are gaining on them. You Democrats will have to look to your laurels." "I am not a Democrat," I replied. "Then you are a Whig, I suppose," said Mr. Hatch. "No," I said; "I am a Free Soiler." " Hello, Milt ! " exclaimed Mr. Hatch, to a smiling, stalwart man, who was passing. The gentleman stopped, and after greeting us inquired, " Where is John ?" " He is up in my office," answered the editor. What is John doing up there ? " "Why," said the editor, "I was telling him of our call on Senator Douglas last night, and what was said, and he thought he would like to try his hand at an editorial on Douglas, so I told him to go ahead and see what he could do." "John is bright," answered the man, "but he can't write an editorial. He s only a boy ! " "Who is this boy?" I asked. "Oh, he is my nephew, come down from Warsaw to visit us." I was struck with the appearance of this man. He had a Web- sterian forehead, florid complexion, and a round cheery face. He had, dancing about on his lips, a small round quid of tobacco, about the size of a pea, which he was always rolling from side to side of his mouth. I saw him afterwards quite frequently for many years ; and he was always smiling and rolling what seemed to be that same little quid of tobacco. "Who is that man?" I asked, as he passed on. "That is Milt Hay," was the reply; "Milt Hay, the best lawyer in this county. He is going to move to Springfield." AT TWENTY-OKE YBAKS OF AGE. The Pioneer 139 "Ase!" called Colonel Ross, "come over here! And you too, Charley! " Two young men crossed over to us. "This is Mr. Ase Mathews, and this Mr. Charley Philbrick," said the Colonel, introducing them. " When did you come over, Charley ? " " This morning, sir," answered the young man. Yes," added Ase, he drove over in his old milk-cart from Griggsville." "Would you like to go up to my office?" asked the editor, who had so far proved himself a good listener, — a great accom- plishment for a young man. "John is there." The Colonel excused himself, telling me to come into his store in an hour, to go to dinner with him ; and he and Mr. Hatch walked away together. I entered the printing-office with Mr. Nicolay. It was the usual sort of " country office ' of those days. There was the hand printing-press on which I afterwards worked, the composing-stone with forms partly made up, half-open drawers of "job type," composing-cases, ink-rollers, paste-pots, etc., and a man and a boy to do the type-setting and other work. Upon the walls were hung hand-bills illustrated with portraits of various animals of distinguished pedigree, as samples of the job- work done by the office. A bright, rosy-faced, boyish-looking young man arose and greeted us. I had never seen a young man or boy who charmed me as he did when he looked at me with his mischievous hazel eyes from under a wealth of dark brown hair. He was, for those days, elegantly dressed, — better than any of us; so neatly, indeed, that he would, since that word has been coined, have been set down as a " dude " at sight. " How do you get on ? " asked the editor. "I have it finished," he replied. "Read it to us," said Ase; some of your Pike County bal- lads, or other nonsense, I reckon." We all joined in urging him to read what he had written, and he did so. I can give only the substance of the editorial from memory, but doubt whether its author ever wrote a better one when afterward editing the " New York Tribune." I recall that he did full justice to the abilities and sterling qualities of Senator Douglas as a statesman, but 140 The mini argued that his extraordinary abilities and public services had given him such a hold upon the people, especially in Illinois, that his present views and tendencies made him one of the most dan- gerous men in public life ; that he wras so ambitious to be Pres- ident that he was ready to follow the South to any extreme in the interest of slavery; that his course in regard to the Mex- ican War and the Compromise Measures of 1850, especially his advocacy of the fugitive-slave bill, showed him to be the willing tool of the slave-power, with the hope of securing the vote of the South for the Presidency; that he was undoubtedly ready to break down the Missouri Compromise line, the last barrier against slavery; and the editorial warned the Senator that if he attempted such a thing as this, not only Whigs but Democrats would band themselves together to overwhelm him. "Bravo ! " we all cried; but Mr. Nicolay, the editor, while com- mending the production, expressed some misgivings as to whether it was not a little too radical to be printed just at that time. "Throw it into the waste-basket, then," said John. " No," said the editor, "I want to look it over and consider it." The article appeared in the " Pike County Free Press" as written, and was copied and generally commented upon throughout the State. I little thought that the young man then before me would some day be our Ambassador to England, and occupy the first positon in the cabinet of his government. The young man was John Hay, and his subsequent history is known to all. John Hay was not the only one of the party of young men assembled in that little printing-office who became distinguished in after life. John G. Nicolay, the editor, became the Secretary and confidential adviser of the President of the United States at a time of great public peril, and also took high rank in literature. Another, A. C. Mathews, entered the army in the Civil War and did good service, was afterwards a judge on the bench, and be- came First Comptroller of the Treasury at Washington. Still another, Charles Philbrick, a man of singularly sweet and gentle nature, became Assistant Secretary of State at Springfield, and afterwards was for a short time an Assistant Secretary to the President of the United States. The Pioneer 141 At Colonel Ross's store I found Mr. Hatch and his brother Reuben, whom I afterwards knew for many years, and Mr. Gilmer, then called ' Dick." Mr. Gilmer was a strong, brave man, who became a colonel in the Union army and was killed in battle. Mr. O. M. Hatch was afterwards Secretary of State of Illinois, and was a man of great influence. Mr. Milton Hay removed to Springfield, and finally became the leading lawyer of the State outside of Chicago. Colonel Ross's house, in the east side of town, was as com- modious as that of General Silverton. It was a place of generous hospitality while he lived, and for many years after he died. His daughter married Judge Mathews, who had been a member of our little party at the printing-office, and the place became and still remains their home. After dinner, several young people came in, and we passed the time rambling about the grounds. Golf, croquet, and tennis, had never been heard of in Illinois in those days ; but we could be happy without them. There was as much vivacity as now, — even more; for these later games, as they came in fashion, have brought with them a certain degree of restraint which we did not feel. Rambling through orchards of apple and peach, playing at " Ring around the rosey," " Drop the handkerchief," and " Blind man's buflf," and such simple amusements, were enough for us. CHAPTER XXXI. UNDESIRABLE ACQUAINTANCES WHEN we reached "The Grange," on our return, we found General Silverton seated on the veranda; and with him was Dwight Earle. I do not remember ever to have seen such a change in any young man. In place of the raw, almost uncouth, boy I had known as a deck-passenger on the steamer, here was a handsome young gentleman of good address and fashionable attire, graceful and captivating in manner. At dinner the General encouraged Dwight to talk, asking him about Chicago and his acquaintances there. He proved to be remarkably entertaining, — well informed about business, 142 The mini politics, and matters of general public interest. He knew many prominent men in Chicago and throughout the State, — at least he pretended to know them. Liking him as little as I did, I could not but be interested in his clever talk. He was very courteous to me, but it was with a sort of patronizing manner that made me feel ill at ease, and caused me to distrust him. I could not help real- izing how little I knew of the great world as compared with him. The next morning, while Dwight and the ladies were seated on the veranda, General Silverton called me into his study. As soon as I was seated, he asked me if I had sent Miss Rose a copy of " Uncle Tom's Cabin." He added that it came to her by mail when he was away; the wrapper was torn off and destroyed, and no one had thought to look at the post-mark. I was considerably taken aback by the question, but replied that I had not sent the book, — that Miss Rose had shown it to me, and I was as much surprised as he when I saw she had it. He said that she had been much affected by it, as hers was a very impressionable nature. He went on to say that he was aware the book expressed in an intense degree the sentiments of my father, and perhaps also of myself ; yet he could hardly believe I had sent it without his knowledge. I told him that I had never seen a copy of the story in book form until Miss Rose showed me hers, although I had read the story in The National Era," our anti-slavery paper, as it came out from week to week. He said that he had read the book, and had been very much impressed by it ; but that, powerfully written as it was, and true in many ways, it was doing a great deal of harm. "You will not agree with me in this," he said; "but we will not get into a political discussion. I confess that, looking upon the mere question of slavery, I am much moved by the story; but masters and mistresses are not all bad, as Mrs. Stowe herself concedes. That young man, for example, in whom we are so much interested, had a good home, and was as contented and happy as any young man I ever knew, until misfortune came upon my sister, who was his mistress. Even then, had I been at home he would have escaped the calamity that came upon him." He con- tinued, that he himself abhorred slavery, and this was why he chose to locate in Illinois. " While I do not want to own slaves," The Pioneer 143 he said, " I feel that there is too much at stake to imperil and perhaps destroy the Republic on account of the negroes that were left us by our fathers at a time when the African slave-trade and African slavery were legalized throughout the world. I know the Southern people better than it is possible for you Northern people to know them ; and I am as certain as that I am sitting here, that if these aggressions from the North continue beyond the bounds of compromise, there will be Civil War, and if the South once begins war I can see no possibility of the country being united again. Then there will be real grievances, real sorrows, real causes of hatred and bitterness, which must continue for genera- tions. The blood of the martyrs on both sides will forever cry out against conciliation and reunion. Think of it, my young friend ! This Republic is the last hope of the world for freedom. If it goes down, as most monarchical countries desire, there can never be another like it. I have given you my opinion of slavery; but to me there is more importance in saving this nation and perpetu- ating our institutions than in at once getting rid of slavery. To continue this strife is shipwreck and ruin. It is like sinking a great ship in mid-ocean, with all the precious lives and treasures on board, in order to drown the rats in her hold." The General spoke with much earnestness and deep feeling ; and, young as I was, I did not feel like attempting a reply. "But," he continued, " I did not ask you in here to say all this. I wanted to tell you that I have visited the young man in whom you took such an interest, and that I have arranged for his com- fort and education, and shall continue to look after him. He will be provided for; he has his free papers, and no one can now harm him or return him to bondage. I want you also to know that I have had the brute who was so cruel to him on the Missouri plan- tation discharged, and a kind and humane man is in his place. That brute — Bill Kidder is his name — is still prowling about here; and he and Hobbs, whom I afterwards discharged, are fre- quently together. And this reminds me of something which you should know. Hobbs has always hated you. He is a desperate man, as is also Kidder. They would murder you if they dared; but, desperate and cruel as they are, they are both cowards. I do not know surely that I could convict them of crime, but they both 144 The mini believe I have sufficient evidence In my possession to have them arraigned and tried and hanged at Pittsfield ; and they are very careful not to offend me. So I think you are quite safe as my guest. Earle has Hobbs in his employ in a service cf which the least said the better. I meant to tell you that they have another ' pal' upon whom I really have a string that I can pull at any time, as he is as afraid of me as he is of death. He is a half-breed Indian named Gabe Henriquez. Curiously enough, he is well educated, reads and writes, and speaks French fluently. He was reared at Natchez, where his father, who once commanded a pirate slave- ship, was hanged. Neither Hobbs nor Kidder can read a word; but Gabe is a good scholar. He works for pay, and would con- sider a five-dollar bill a good price for killing a man if he felt sure he would not be caught; but neither of the scoundrels would, for all of John Jacob Astor's money, attack anybody if they thought it would displease me and I would find it out. They know that I would follow them to the ends of the earth." "But will they not some day put you out of the way, Gen- eral?" I asked with a shudder. "I have thought of all that," he replied, " and provided for it. They know that the evidence I have against them is all locked up in Mr. Browning's fire-proof vault at Quincy, and will surely be produced if anything happens to me." From that time forward I was upon my guard for the three worthies, Hobbs, Kidder, and Gabe. I had no trouble in recog- nizing Kidder by the broken nose given him by the fugitive, which made his naturally ugly visage very repulsive. I surprised them that afternoon, in company with Dwight Earle. While I over- heard nothing, I was sure from their manner when I approached that they were plotting against me. CHAPTER XXXII. FIGURES ON THE PUBLIC STAGE THE next afternoon, as we were all seated upon the veranda, two gentlemen drove up in a top buggy. As they alighted, Dwight Earle, who recognized them, hastened out to greet them; and General Silverton soon followed. As they came up, the The Pioneer 145 General introduced them as Mr. Leonard Swett of Bloomington and Mr. William H. Herndon of Springfield. I found they were lawyers who had come to the county to attend to some legal business, and were to spend the night at the General's hospitable mansion. Mr. Swett was a tall, dark-complexioned man, who in features and bearing reminded me of Mr. Lincoln. He was at that time a man of prominence in the State, and stood high at the bar. He knew more of the leading public men of Illinois, it seemed to me, than even Mr. Browning. From his appearance and manner, I thought he was, like most of the prominent men of Illinois, from the South; but after he had asked me the usual question, "Where are you from?" and I had replied, he volun- teered the statement that he was born in the State of Maine, where he had been reared upon a farm. The other gentleman, Mr. Herndon, I learned in the course of the conversation was the law-partner of Mr. Lincoln at Springfield. The conversation naturally turned to the future prospects of Illinois, and the fine type of men the State was Hkely to produce. Mr. Swett spoke of the remarkable number of men of high ability already among us, who were becoming recognized outside the State. "Yes," exclaimed General Silverton, "who stands higher in the United States Senate, or before the country, than Stephen A. Douglas?" "General," said Mr. Herndon, "I for one, knowing him as I do, do not set Senator Douglas down as so great a man as he is generally thought to be." On Mr. Swett being asked regarding Mr. Lincoln's rank among the lawyers of Illinois, he replied: "If rank as a laviryer depends upon the success one has in winning cases, then Mr. Lincoln ranks as high as any man at the bar. I would rather trust a good cause in his hands, a cause where my side had a reasonably fair showing of being in the right, than in the hands of any other lawryer in Illinois ; but he is the last man to trust with a cause when he has misgivings as to whether or not his client ought in justice to win. I have sometimes had him with me when I felt confident that I could have done better without 146 The mini him. He has a way of conceding and admitting, and even making prominent all that is favorable to his antagonist, and thus getting the confidence and good-wrill of the jury, and then adroitly direct- ing attention to the strong points in favor of his client, and thereby winning his case. But Mr. Lincoln is not a success when he happens to have a bad cause. This seldoms happens; for he is wary as to the causes he champions. He has not yet attained a position at the bar where he can choose the side he wishes to take in every cause, — that is, where both sides want him, — and he sometimes gives up the opportunity of appearing at all in a case. You are Mr. Lincoln's partner, Mr. Herndon, — give us your opinion of him as a lawyer." "I can hardly assume," said Mr. Herndon, "although his partner, to have closer relations with Mr. Lincoln than Mr. Swett has. True, we are together, and are mutually interested in our business and in our office affairs, and I am with him at Springfield; but he is much of the time away, travelling on the circuit, and there he is with other lawyers. But he is probably more intimate with Mr. Swett than with anyone else. Did I ever tell you about our bookkeeping between ourselves ? Well, we have none whatever. Whenever any fees are paid we at once divide the money, he taking his share and I mine; so we have no need of keeping accounts." "Is Mr. Lincoln a thorough student in the office?" was asked. "Well," said Mr. Herndon, "I doubt if he ever read a law- book, or any other kind of a book, through from beginning to end, but he studies up our cases thoroughly, and goes into court well prepared. He never forgets anything; and of course, as the cases come up, he is constantly learning more law and becoming better equipped for those that follow." " Does he read the great authors ? " I believe he has a fair knowledge of Shakespeare, picked up here and there from the plays. It is the same with a few other literary works of which he has any knowledge. When he first began to read at New Salem, — a big, awkward, ignorant boy, — he usually carried a book about with him, but he could only snatch here and there a moment from business or story-telling. He knows The Pioneer 147 Blackstone and Chitty better, probably, than most lawyers, as they are the foundation of legal learning ; and his is a mind that must trace everything to its cause. When I came back from Niagara, overwhelmed with its grandeur, I asked Lincoln what had most impressed him when he saw it; and he replied that he was thinking all the while of where such a vast volume of water came from. He reads less and thinks more than any lawyer I know." "Is he giving himself up entirely to the law?" was asked. Yes," was the reply. 'I do not think he will ever return to politics. He is as ambitious as ever for political distinction, but his experience in Congress has convinced him that he had better stick to the law." Reference being made to Mr. Lincoln's fun-loving character, Dwight Earle exclaimed: "He is a regular clown! I've seen him at Springfield with half the farmers of Sangamon County about him, telling stories and laughing so you could have heard him a mile. I couldn't help laughing with them. But he isn't much of a lavi^yer; he can't be compared to such men as Mr. Swett here, or Stephen T. Logan, or Judge Stuart, or Mr. Lamborn, or Mr. Edwards." Mr. Swett looked hard at Dwight, and turning to Mr. Hern- don said, " I doubt if his partner will admit that ! " "Where did you learn, young man, that Mr. Lincoln is not much of a law^yer ? " asked Mr. Herndon. " Did you learn it from Mr. Stuart, whose partner he was for four years ? Or from Judge Logan, whose partner he was afterwards until he took me in with him ? You certainly did not learn it from me ! " "This young man," said Mr. Swett, "is like a good many others in their way of estimating character. They assume that a man who is droll must necessarily be shallow. Tom Cor- win, one of our biggest statesmen and stump orators, is a great wag. Recently, in a public statement, he regretted that he had ever made a pun or told a story, declaring that the public would forget all the important things with which his name was con- nected, and remember him only as a clown. While it is perhaps natural that Mr. Lincoln's drolleries should cause him to be set down as a clown, the fact is that he is one of the most serious and 148 The mini sensitive of men. I remember a case in which I appeared against him. The case was that of Isaac Wyant, charged with murder. The defense was that Wyant was insane; and I urged it with all my power. Lincoln, however, believed the man was feigning insanity — possuming,' as he called it; but afterwards, becoming convinced from the man's past history that he really was insane, he was so fearful that he had done the poor man a wrong that it made him miserable. He told me he could not sleep on account of it. I never knew another man who was so sensitive. He is sometimes low-spirited and despondent for days together; yet he bears it himself, and does not afflict others with his sorrows. He is never a grumbler. When he drives up in his old crazy one- horse buggy to the little crowded tavern at the county seat and is shown to the poorest room in the house, he is never known to complain; and, on the other hand, if he happens to be the first arrival, and is assigned to the best room, he will give it up or share it with someone who is belated. I never knew another man so generous as he." "Curious as it may seem," continued Mr. Swett, ''in many of his moods Lincoln is still a boy; and I think this accounts in some degree for both his frivolity and his gloom. His nature seems to be such that he will always be, in a sense, a schoolboy; and this big, awkward, rollicking schoolboy, who amuses Judge Davis on the bench and all the members of the bar and jury, we have found to be really the most earnest student among us. He can now grapple with problems that were impossible for him when I first knew him ; and he is constantly advancing. He is always a learner. If he lives to be a hundred years old, — and, with his vigor of body and mind, there is no reason why he should not, — he will always be learning, always advancing, until he reaches the summit of human attainment." Of course I was immensely interested in all this, and in the further conversation in which Mr. Swett and Mr. Herndon entertained the company with their witty comments and descrip- tions of men who were coming into prominence in the State. I remember their speaking of Lyman Trumbull as a "cold- blooded Connecticut Yankee," who was a very thorough lawyer and student ; of John A. McClernand as "the Grecian orator"; The Pioneer 149 of David Davis as the natural presiding officer of eveiy company, social or otherwise, in which he happened to find himself; of John M. Palmer as an "able man, but too impracticable to suc- ceed "; of Judge John D. Caton as " a fine judge, and devoted to the game of billiards"; of Isaac N. Arnold as "a little too refined to succeed in the West." I then first heard the name of John A. Logan. He wasspoken of as " a dare-devil, carousing fellow," who, through his leadership of wild and reckless young men, had become a power in Egypt." It was said that he was going to marry one of the most beautiful and promising young ladies in Southern Illi- nois, Miss Mary Cunningham ; and some curiosity was expressed as to whether she knew of his roystering life at Springfield. "Hold on!" exclaimed Mr. Swett. 'Don't make a mis- take ! Lincoln takes me sometimes, when I am at Springfield, to one of those night revels. Some of those present gamble and drink, but all do not. Lincoln, while the centre of the fun and roystering, drinks almost nothing at all, and never gambles. As you say, Logan is the leader of the young Southern Illinois boys, and as he blusters and swears most people who see and hear him think that the devil surely has a mortgage on him ; but I know better. In all his carousing, he knows what he is doing. While he seems to be throwing himself away in drink and excesses, Logan always keeps his head ; he lets the other fellows do the drinking, while he leads them and controls them to his hking. He is a typical Douglas-worshipping, nigger-hating, fun-loving, 'rip-roaring' Egyptian Democrat; but, like most Southern Illinois people, he is generous and brave and true, and the incarnation of patriotism. I know some of our party call him ' dirty-work Logan,' a name he got by saying that whatever work Douglas might lay out for him he was ready to perform. You know he was one of the first to volunteer in the Mexican War, and made a splendid soldier. He has been States Attorney of his District, and a member of the Legislature ; and you will hear from him in Congress before very long. He knows every man worth knowing in Egypt, as I found out when trying a murder case once at McLeansboro. When 'Black Jack' Logan, as they call him, drops into any of those towns, the tavern can't hold ' the boys ' who come around, and there is more good whiskey spilled than there has been at any 150 The mini time since he was there before. Notwithstanding all this, he has a good religious following, and every Methodist preacher in Egypt is for him for anything he wants. Did you ever hear how he studied law? Old Tom Logan the actor, — father of Eliza Logan the actress, and of Olive Logan, — was running a theatre in Louis- ville. He is a cousin of John's father, — who, by the way, was a native-born Irishman, and a physician. His mother was a Ten- nessee woman ; it is said that she had Indian blood, which would account for John's straight black hair and eyes, dark complexion, and dare-devil spirit. Well, John went to Louisville, and got his uncle. Old Tom Logan the actor, to take him as a supe ' in the theatre ; and with the money thus earned he paid his board and studied law, and instead of following oflE after the show he came back to Jackson County, where he was born, to practice law. He never misses an opportunity to brag of having been born in lUinois." "I am glad to hear so good an account of that scapegrace," said Mr. Herndon. " I must confess that from what I had heard I had not formed so favorable an opinion of him." There was one subject I wished especially to hear discussed, but I hesitated to introduce it. Finally, not without misgivings, I ventured to say that I had heard that there was talk in some quarters about the abrogation of the Missouri Compromise line. "It has been talked about," said Mr. Swett, "and I know that the Southern fire-eaters want this last barrier against slavery in the Territories removed." " Senator Douglas spoke of this when visiting here a few days ago, and of taking the slavery question out of Congress," said General Silverton. "Take it out of Congress! take it out of Congress!" ex- claimed Mr. Swett. If that sacred barrier against slavery should be broken down, it would not only arouse the people of the country as they have never been aroused before, but every new member of Congress would be elected on that issue, and the mem- bers elected would meet face to face in almost deadly combat. The conflicts of 1820 and 1850 would be as nothing to it. You speak, General, as though Senator Douglas was already contem- plating such a movement. I sincerely hope not, for it would be The Pioneer 151 the sowing of dragons' teeth. Should such a thing be done, we shall all be by the ears in earnest, in bitter political conflict, if we do not actually spring to arms." " But," replied the General, " you must not forget that Judge Douglas is a great statesman; and not only a great statesman, but the ablest politician and the ablest debater in this country ; and no one can successfully cope with him before the people. He is too great a statesman to favor a measure that he cannot defend ; he is too cunning a politician to be drawn into a scheme that will not be popular with the people ; and he is too able an orator to be overwhelmed by any man living in Illinois, or in any other State, for that matter. Say what you will of Stephen A. Douglas, I know him. No living statesman has done so much for his coun- try, and especially for Illinois, as he. He is the soul of honor and of patriotism. He has never faltered in devotion to his native land, and never will while he lives." The General had spoken very earnestly, and was becoming somewhat excited. It was evident that it would be difficult for him to restrain himself in his devotion to his friend should there be further criticism ; and Mr. Swett adroitly changed the subject of conversation. CHAPTER XXXIII. A STRANGER WHO LIKED FINE HORSES THE next day was the last of my visit at "The Grange." The time had come for me to return home. Mr. Swett and Mr. Herndon were to take the boat with me, as they were going to Quincy. I had spoken of a desire to meet Mr. Browning again, and the General told me that the gentlemen were going to Quincy especially to see him, and it was arranged that I should stop ofif there with them. When we arose in the morning, Dwight Earle had gone. After a hasty breakfast, he had driven off to Pittsfield. It was arranged that the three gentlemen should be taken to the landing by Josh in the carriage, while Rose and I were to accompany them on horseback, with Tom as our escort. 152 The mini After breakfast we had music in the parlor, Mrs. Silverton singing, with beautiful effect, some of the dear old songs whose melodies will linger in my memory as long as life shall last. Before the party broke up she took me aside, and in the most delicate and friendly manner made known to me her views regarding the rela- tions existing between myself and Rose. These relations were not displeasing to her, she said, nor to General Silverton; yet she asked me to remember that Rose was but a child whose views and tastes might change, and while she should not object to the continuance of our friendship, and to our occasional correspond- ence, she wished us for the present to remain simply friends. I thanked her and assured her of my willingness to do as she desired, and left her with my eyes filled with happy tears. We made our way out upon the veranda. The gentlemen were already in the carriage, and Tom was holding our riding- horses. I bade Miss Edwards good-bye, and promised to call upon her if I ever should go to Springfield. Mrs. Silverton gave me both her hands, which I pressed to my lips. She came down to the gate as I lifted Rose into her saddle and sprang into my own, and I saw her still standing looking fondly after us as we rode away. We did not catch up with the carriage until it nearly reached the landing. Why should we ? We knew that the gentlemen were enjoying their ride and each other's society, — and why should we interrupt them ? Arriving at the river landing, we found there was much freight to be put off ; and the gentlemen sat in the carriage and we upon our horses for some time. While thus waiting, I noticed a gentleman come down the gang-plank and approach us, seem- ingly for the purpose of speaking to us. He was of medium height, had broad and rather rounded shoulders, auburn hair, sandy whiskers, clear blue eyes, a very quiet modest expression, and appeared to be perhaps a little more than thirty years of age. He wore a blue sack-coat and blue trousers, somewhat worn, but well brushed and cared for, which I afterward learned was the "fatigue uniform " of the United States army. He was smoking a cigar, which he removed as he came near us, and raised his hat, but gave us no other greeting. We soon saw that instead of being interested in us he was interested in Rose s mare, which had evi- The Pioneer 153 dently attracted his attention while on the boat. He looked the mare over with great interest for a considerable time, puffing away at his cigar, but without speaking ; then, again removing his cigar and raising his hat, he returned on board the boat. That man knows a good horse when he sees it," remarked General Silverton. "I thought perhaps he might be a horse-jockey," said Mr. Swett, but, he is evidently a gentleman. Horse-jockeys talk." It was getting time for us to go aboard the steamer, and the General and Rose accompanied us. The General presented Mr. Swett, Mr. Herndon, and me to the Captain, as having been his guests; which insured us especial attention. While they all talked with the Captain, Rose and I went out upon the deck. 'I am glad you came to visit us," she said, " but I shall never see you again. I cannot go to visit you, as it would not be proper now, and I cannot let you take the risk of coming here again. I fear for your safety. I am afraid of Hobbs. He is entirely under control of Dwight Earle, and will do anything Earle tells him. It was Earle who first stirred up Hobbs against you, and he is still keeping it up. How can he be so mean ? ' ' I can tell you, Rose, why it is," I said. "It is because he thinks you like me better than you like him. If you would only hke him better than you like me, he would not try to injure me." " Like him! Like Dwight Earle! Do you remember when he called you an Abolitionist on the lake steamer ? It was so mean that I can never forget it. But I only meant to say good-bye, as I fear we cannot meet again." " I think we shall. Rose," I said. " Let us wait and hope." The bell sounded, and the mate warned everybody to go ashore. " I shall remember those words," she said. " Let us wait and hope. Good-bye!" She placed her hand in mine as she bade me good-bye, as did her father ; and they went ashore together. The General waved his hat and she her handkerchief, to which I responded, as we steamed away. At dinner Mr. Swett and Mr. Herndon were seated near the Captain, at the head of the table, and I was placed a little farther 154 The mini down. After I was seated, the gentleman who had taken such an interest in Rose's Kentucky mare, with a lady who was evi- dently his wife, came and sat opposite me. He bowed to me, and asked me if I lived in the neighborhood where I came on board. I told him I was only a visitor there, and was on my way home. He said that was a fine animal the young Miss rode, and that he took an interest in her as he was familiar with the breed and once had a horse of the same stock, a very high-bred Ken- tucky animal. " Miss Rose's mare is from Kentucky," I responded. " I knew that," he said. " I could have told the young lady her whole pedigree." " Then you had seen her before ? " I said. " Oh, no," he replied, " but there are points in those Lexing- ton horses which I can read as clear as print." " Do n't talk horse-talk, Liss," said the lady. " I want to ask the young gentleman about the young lady. I was looking at her from the deck as she sat so gracefully in her saddle, and I noticed her and her father (I suppose it was her father) as they came with you on board the boat. They are Southern people, are they not ? " I told the lady about them, — how the father had emigrated from Virginia and built up a splendid home in that county, of his interest in fine stock, of my visit there and those I had met, and other things. " So Senator Douglas was there, was he ? A very able man," remarked the gentleman. " I heard him speak once in St. Louis. How long have they had that mare ?" About two years," I replied. "The General brought her from Kentucky as a present to his daughter." Who are those two gentlemen who came with you? " the lady asked. Friends of General Silverton," I answered. "Of the same politics, I suppose," said the gentleman. "Democrats ? " " No," I replied. " The General is a Democrat, while they, I think, are Whigs." " I supposed he was a Democrat by his entertaining Douglas," said the gentleman. The Pioneer 155 "Politics make no difference with the General," I replied; "his house is open to men of all parties." Then I told of the interest I had taken in the conversation of those gentlemen, especially about Illinois people. "Of whom did they talk?" asked the gentleman; and when I told him, I found he had been acquainted with several of them. " They talked most about Mr. Lincoln, — Abraham Lincoln," I said. "One of the gentlemen is his partner in the practice of law." "I never knew or heard of any Illinois man of that name," answered the gentleman. " Bissell and Hardin and Baker and Don Morrison were all Illinois men. I have served with them." "In Mexico?" I asked. "Oh, yes," he replied, "in a very small way. Hardin was kOled at Buena Vista. I have seen and heard Baker in Cali- fornia. He is the most eloquent man I ever heard." "Colonel Fremont, 'The Pathfinder,' is out there in Cali- fornia, isn't he?" I asked. "I have read a great deal about him." "Yes," answered the gentleman, dryly. " He must be a brave and gallant man, so handsome, and such a great explorer! " I exclaimed. "Does your friend keep many horses?" interrupted the gen- tleman. "His carriage-team was well mated, — fair roadsters, I should say." I answered the question as best I could, when the gentleman relapsed into silence, and the only other words he spoke during the entire meal were to ask me very politely if I would "kindly pass the butter." I feared I had made a mistake in some way in my conversation, but the gentleman showed no consciousness of it. He simply, when I spoke so enthusiastically of Colonel Fremont, turned the subject abruptly, and did not speak again. I had never before known anyone who, without explanation or apology of any kind, would relapse into dogged silence, and I have since only known one who would do this, and that one was the gentleman himself. I should have been very ill at ease, but for the courtesy and even cordiality of the lady. She seemed to make a special effort 156 The Illini to put me at my ease, although she made no reference to the matters about which we had been talking. I observed that in addressing her husband, and in speaking of him, she always called him "Liss," or so I understood her. I had never heard anyone called by that name; I have heard Melissa so abbreviated, but that was the name of a girl. After supper I joined Mr. Swett and Mr. Herndon, and we spoke of the gentleman and lady. They said that the captain of the steamboat had remarked that the gentleman was, or had been, an army ofiGcer; and that was all he knew about him. Later in the evening I met the gentleman on the deck, where he was smoking. He greeted me kindly, and seemed inclined to talk with me. I found him to be well informed on matters of general public interest, especially in regard to our new and unoccupied territory in the West. He showed great aversion to politics, declaring that the politicians North and South seemed to be doing all in their power to make trouble between the two sections. I spoke to him especially of the gentlemen with whom I was travelling ; but he seemed to shrink from speaking of them or having any relations with them. As they seemed equally indifferent to him, they did not meet. So reserved was he, that I was convinced that had I been a man instead of a big boy the gentleman would scarcely have noticed me ; and that he was only prompted to do so by his interest in Rose's mare. Yet notwithstanding his reserve and his abrupt dismissal of the subject when I had spoken to him of Fremont, and notwithstanding his fondness for " horse-talk," there was so much quiet dignity and candor, and I may say cordiality, in his manner, as to attract me to him; and I parted from him with regret. We went ashore in the night, and were driven to the Quincy House in Quincy. CHAPTER XXXIV. THE CREOLE INVASION OF NEW ORLEANS THE next morning Mr. Browning called at the hotel and asked the two gentlemen, Mr. Swett and Mr. Herndon, to go with him to his office. I was about to excuse myself, when, somewhat to my surprise, Mr. Browning asked me to join the The Pioneer 157 party, remarking to the others that he desired my presence and that they could trust to my discretion. When we were seated in Mr. Browning's office, Mr. Swett, holding in his hand a paper to which he frequently referred, began as follows : "We have become interested in a somewhat singular matter, and we thought that you, either through your Kentucky friends or in some other way, might help us out. To begin with a statement of the case, Mr. Lincoln has learned from friends in New Orleans that one Felix Besanfon, a French Creole living in the Rue du Maine in that city, was, when comparatively a young man, with thousands of others of his race, driven out of the West Indies, and embarked at Havana with his family on a ship bound for New Orleans. This was in the autumn of 1807. You will remember that about that time Napoleon's wars were convulsing Europe; the navies of Great Britain were threatening the French West Indies, and the inhabitants fled in terror for their lives. At one time, within the short period of sixty days, thirty-four vessels from Cuba set ashore in New Orleans nearly fifty-eight hundred persons, mostly French Creoles, with some mulattoes and black slaves. The ship upon which Mr. Besanfon had embarked with his family, consisting of his wife and his daughter Juliette, was overtaken by an African slave-ship, manned by a piratical crew; many of the slaves were taken by the slaver, among them all those belonging to Mr. and Mrs. Besanfon. But, heavy as was their loss in property, it was as nothing to their other calamities. To their consternation, as the ships parted they saw their little daughter Juliette on board the slave-ship. They frantically screamed to the pirate Captain, telling him that he was welcome to their slaves, but begging him to restore their daughter; but all to no avail. They never saw her afterwards. After passing through a terrific hurricane, they landed at New Orleans, where the poor mother died of a broken heart. The father, Mr. Besanfon, engaged in business and public affairs, and became a man of wealth and prominence. He commanded a company of Creole soldiers at the battle of New Orleans, and distinguished himself so much that, upon the recommendation of General Jackson, he was brevetted Colonel. He never married again, and, in advanced years, is now living, as has been said, on the Rue du 158 The mini Maine in New Orleans. As may be supposed, every possible effort was made to find the lost girl. Advertisements were pub- lished, rewards were offered, and men were sent everywhere in the hope of gaining some clue. At times, information came which encouraged the father to believe that there was hope; he followed up every clue, but only to be disappointed. "Now comes the strangest part of the story. About two months ago a man called upon Colonel Besanfon and showed him a small pocket Bible, printed in French, containing on the fly-leaf an inscription in the Colonel's own handwriting, also in French, showing that the book was a gift from him to his daughter Juliette, dated at St. Pierre, Martinique, May 20, 1806. The man said that before the slave-trade was stopped, his father, a Portu- guese born at Oporto, was a slave-trader, and commanded a slave- ship engaged in capturing and buying negroes on the coast of Africa and bringing them to the United States for sale ; that on one of his voyages the ship was overloaded, and, being becalmed for several days, hundreds of the negroes died and their bodies were thrown overboard ; that at that time, on account of the French War many Creoles were emigrating to New Orleans and taking their slaves with them, and that in order to replenish his cargo his father watched those ships, boarded them, and seized the slaves; that on one of those ships they captured among the rest a Creole girl ; he intended to hold her for ransom, satisfied that, as she was upon a slave-ship with every indication that she was imported like the rest of the cargo, it would be difficult for anyone to prove that she had no negro blood, and that he could command for her almost any sum he might choose to ask ; that they landed at Norfolk, Virginia, where he disposed of his cargo ; that this girl was elegantly dressed in silks and laces, was very pretty, and attracted much attention ; that a rich Virginia planter came on board with his wife, and, seeing the girl, offered a thou- sand dollars for her, which was accepted, the gentleman and lady stating that they bought the girl as a companion and nurse for their children. The man said that in a pocket in the folds of the girl's dress his father had found the French Bible, which he re- tained in the hope of sometime using it as a clue to her identity. As the child spoke only French, of which the gentleman under- The Pioneer 159 stood nothing and the lady very little, she was not able to make her story appear credible ; the lady was inclined to believe it, but the slave-trader urged that it was very common for wealthy Cre- oles to bring up bright mulatto children in that way, to treat them as their own children, and finally to set them free. The man gave his name as Gabriel Henriquez, the same as that of his father, the slave-trader." I started when I heard the name; it was the same as that of Hobbs's man, who. Rose thought, was plotting to murder me. "Well," Mr. Swett proceeded, "the man went on to say to Colonel Besanfon that he was short of money, and finding his name in the Httle French Bible, and thinking he might possibly want the book as a souvenir, he would offer it to him for a hun- dred dollars ; adding that if the offer was refused he would tear out the fly-leaf and destroy it. Colonel Besanpon paid him the hun- dred dollars, and now has the book in his possession." As Mr. Swett concluded his story, Mr. Browning asked: "Could the man give no information as to the name of the gen- tleman to whom the girl was sold, or where he lived?" "He could not, except that his father said that he was from Virginia, and that they had property somewhere in the West, he thought in Kentucky, where they had emigrated. It was also learned," added Mr. Swett, "that the girl became more than ordinarily intelligent and accomplished, and was treated almost as a member of the family in which she lived." " But why have you gentlemen taken this matter up?" asked Mr. Browning. "I first became interested in it through Lincoln," answered Mr. Herndon, ' ' and have since got Mr. Swett interested, as I hope to get you interested. Lincoln wrote to his friend Joshua Speed, and also to some of his wife's relatives, the Todds. Speed took quite an interest in it at first, and made many inquiries through Kentucky; but learning nothing, he gave the matter up, saying it was of no use. In fact, he finally came to disbelieve the story, and said that old Besanfon had been fooled; that the story was fixed up to get the hundred dollars ; that the probabilities are that the girl is dead, or if alive that she belongs to some gang of slaves, and one might as well look for a needle in a haystack as i6o The mini for her. You have seen Lincoln and Speed together, Mr. Browning, and you know what Lincoln thinks of him. They write to each other frequently, and Lincoln reads me all Speed's letters. I am sure that if Speed should write Lincoln that water naturally runs up-hill, or that the moon is made of green cheese, he would believe it and act accordingly. So Lincoln will now have nothing to do with the matter; but he has told me to go ahead if I want to, and he is quite willing I shall have all the glory and money to be got out of it. I forgot to say that Colorjel Besanfon offers ten thousand dollars for any information that will lead to the recovery of the girl. Of course, as Mr. Lincoln says, it 's not strictly in the line of the legal profession, but I would like to help the old man out, and would not object to a slice of the reward." "It is my impression," said Mr. Browning, musingly, "that I have had the name of Besanfon in some of my papers, as con- nected with some client. I remember it from the peculiarity of the French accent of the last syllable ; but I have no recollection of just where or in what connection I saw it. I will keep the matter in mind, and will write to some Kentucky friends about it. There is, as I understand, no necessity for haste in the matter; in fact, I don't see how it can be hurried. I am inclined to the opinion," he added, that friend Lincoln and friend Speed are right in their view of the matter ; but there is no harm in keeping it in mind." As soon as I could, after Mr. Swett had finished, I opened my pocket memorandum book and wrote down the names of Felix and Juliette Besanfon, — names destined to be important ones in the development of my story. BOOK II. — POLITICAL UPHEAVAL CHAPTER I. THE BIRTH OF A GREAT PARTY THE Autumn of 1853 found me a student at Knox College, in Galesburg. This noble institution of learning afforded to me, as to thousands of young men and women of limited means, the only opportunity for higher education within reach. Its work has been carried on amidst great disadvantages and dis- couragements, by the brave and self-sacrificing men and women who founded and maintained it ; and it has always been a power for good in the higher development not only of its own State but of the great Northwest. I shall never forget the sensation in Galesburg when, on the 24th of January of that winter of 1854, we read in the Chicago " Press and Tribune " that on the day before Senator Douglas, as Chairman of the Committee on Territories, had introduced into the United States Senate the so-called "Kansas-Nebraska bill" abrogating the Missouri Compromise line, — a sensation which was parallelled only in my remembrance by the news of the firing upon Fort Sumter, seven years later. A similar measure had been pro- posed in the Senate a few days before, by Senator Dixon of Ken- tucky; but little heed was paid to it. But when Senator Douglas, potent as he was, — the Warwick of the administration, the autocrat of both houses of Congress, whose word was law with the party then in control of the government, — when he cham- pioned the measure, it was apparent that the great barrier against the onward march of slavery was doomed. This barrier against slavery, it may be said, had been erected by an Illinois Senator. It was Senator Jesse B. Thomas of Illinois, who, in 1820, framed and introduced into the Senate the measure which was intended to be perpetual; and now another Illinois Senator was foremost in breaking it down. Startled and outraged as the people were, 1 62 The mini they were unable to stem the tide in favor of the measure. The great Senator had already sufficient support in Congress to accom- plish his purposes ; but what was even more deplorable was that no one had appeared who seemed able to oppose him before the bar of public opinion, — in our country the final arbiter of all polit- ical questions. The people of Galesburg were almost panic-stricken. They flocked together as at the time of a great conflagration or public calamity, and vainly sought for some means to avert the catastrophe. But there was no hope. The mighty Senator controlled the ele- ments of political power, and directed them as steadily and skilfully as Apollo guided the steeds of his chariot of the sun. On the 31st day of May his Nebraska bill became a law. It was the death-knell of the Whig party. Upon its ruins arose the Anti- Nebraska party of the North, of which the old-line Whigs made up the warp and woof, reinforced by Free-Soilers and by patriotic Democrats who could not approve of the overthrow of the barrier against slavery. In the South, most of the Whigs went over in a body to their old enemies, the Democrats ; while the more con- servative men. North and South, united in what they regarded as a national party, calling it the American Party. The ablest fol- lowers of Senator Douglas, leaders of the Democratic party in Illinois, — such men as Trumbull, Judd, Wentworth, Palmer, Cook, and many others, — immediately turned against him and denounced him and his bill, summoning their friends and fol- lowers to come forward and drive the "recreant apostate" from public life. It seemed then that Senator Douglas's doom was sealed, — that he must be overwhelmed in hopeless and final defeat. During the months while the Nebraska bill was pending in Congress, as one after another of the Senator's former supporters declared against it, there seemed to be no one in Illinois to defend it or him. Senator Douglas came home and announced appoint- ments to speak in every county in the State, — first at Chicago, where ten thousand people turned out to hear him — no, not to hear him, but to defy and browbeat him, their Senator, who had come before his constituents to give an account of his stewardship. Every time Senator Douglas attempted to speak, after his appear- ance upon the platform, he was greeted with groans, hisses, and Political Upheaval 163 threats, that drowned his voice. It was Saturday night ; and for nearly four hours, with flashing eyes and dogged persistence, he looked that " howling mob " in the face, and patiently and persist- ently tried to speak, but was never permitted to complete a sen- tence; his voice was drowned in imprecations and insults. Still he was undaunted. It was said that but for the fact that midnight ushered in the Sabbath, he would have continued to face them until morn. I remember with what exultation we Anti-Nebraska men re- ceived the news of that meeting. It was, as we thought, the end of Douglas. But we did not yet know the man, or the constit- uency he represented. Senator Douglas next went into the country districts. With prejudices equal to those existing in Chicago, the people turned out to his meetings. He made no apologies or excuses, but placed himself squarely before the people upon the principles of popular sovereignty, the right of the people of a Territory, as well as those of a State, to decide upon and control their domestic institutions, — slavery as well as every other, — as enunciated in the Nebraska bill. There are no more potent and convincing arguments in English for the right of the people to rule than those made by Senator Douglas at that time. He denounced the Abolitionists and Free-soilers as enemies of their country, fomenting discord and sectional strife, that would, unless checked, destroy the gov- ernment." He declared that ' this is a white man's government, for white men and their descendants," and that the negro had, and should have, no part in it. When he came to Knoxville, — at that time the county seat of Knox County, only five miles from Galesburg, — the Anti- Nebraska men insisted upon having a joint debate; and the Senator promptly assented. Jonathan Blanchard was then President of Knox College. He was a sound scholar, a great preacher, and conspicuous as an extreme Abolitionist. Only a few years before, at Cincinnati, President Blanchard had engaged in a joint debate on slavery with the Rev. Doctor N. L. Rice, which attracted general atten- tion and gave him a national reputation. There was scarcely any man in the country so well equipped to argue against slavery as 164 The mini was Jonathan Blanchard, and the Anti-Nebraska men confidently put him forward to meet the great Senator. The debate was held on the west side of the old court-house at Knoxville, the speakers' platform having been placed against the building. The students of Knox College turned out in a mass to sustain their President — to cheer and encourage him, and to help put down his opponents. It being the Senator's own appointment, he of course had the opening and closing of the debate. I shall never forget Senator Douglas's appearance as he emerged through an open window of the building, upon the platform. He was dressed in a black broadcloth suit, of the latest Washington cut, with immaculate linen. His trim figure, though small, seemed perfect, as his lustrous eyes looked out from under his massive forehead, surmounted by heavy brovi^n locks. Bold, defiant, confident, he seemed the impersonation of strength and power. He entered at once upon his subject, with an account of the efforts to organize the territory west of the Missouri River, in the domain acquired by the Louisiana Purchase, which was rapidly filling up with pioneers from the older States; he told how these efforts had been retarded by sectional strife between the North and the South, and how the slavery agitation in Congress had convulsed the whole nation ; he claimed that there was no reason for a war in Congress on a matter which related only to Kansas and Nebraska, or to any other Territory that might be seeking admission to the Union; that the question should be left to the people of the Territories interested, to decide it for them- selves ; and that therefore, in order to so submit it to the people, it had become necessary to remove the barrier against slavery known as the Missouri Compromise line. He justified this on the ground that the Southern people as well as the Northern had rights in the public domain. He claimed that the Northern people, by insisting upon applying the Wilmot Proviso to every Territory, had prac- tically abandoned the Missouri Compromise line; and that the Compromise measures of 1850, which organized the Territories of Utah and New Mexico without reference to the Missouri Com- promise, practically abrogated it. He assailed with all his power the Anti-slavery men, whom he classed as Abolitionists ; and he Political Upheaval 165 was especially denunciatory of the Democrats, who had " gone over bag and baggage to the Abolitionists," who were trying to bring about " negro equality" socially as well as politically; he said that Abolitionism meant not merely the freedom of the negro, but also his right to vote and hold office, and to marry into white families. He showed that antagonism to slavery existed only in the North, and was therefore sectional and a menace to the Union ; that the only hope of preserving the Union, and of keeping our Anglo-Saxon race from mixing with and becoming contam- inated by the negro, was to put down forever this monstrous hybrid Anti-Nebraska party, made up of Whigs, renegade Demo- crats, and Abolitionists. Concerning the men who had left the Democratic party, he said that no one would regret it but them- selves, — that the Democracy which had so long dominated Illinois would continue in control ; that it would march on to new con- quests and new victories, the bulwark of constitutional government and of the principle of popular sovereignty. He told of the " howl- ing mob " he had met in Chicago, and appealed to " the loyal, true, and faithful Democrats of Knox County," who for a quarter of a century had been his friends, never to desert the standard of Democracy. "We shall not now," he said, "after standing so long together, desert each other, shall we, old friends? I want an opportunity while here to take you all by the hand." There was not a joke or an anecdote in his whole speech, and the nearest attempt at sentiment was his appeal to his old friends to stand by him. President Blanchard, in his turn, showed how the Missouri Compromise had been established, and described the sacred com- pact of which it was the result ; how the statesmen of the country had defended this barrier against slavery for more than a generation ; how Senator Douglas himself had said that it was " canonized in the hearts of the people," and had sought to have it extended to the Pacific Ocean ; how its repeal was sought for and supported, under Douglas's leadership, by Southern slaveholders. He re- ferred to the fact that both Douglas and himself were natives of the " Green Mountain State," and that the Senator, by becoming the pliant tool of the slave power, had been recreant to every principle he had been taught in childhood. He discussed slavery 1 66 The mini and depicted its horrors with all the zeal and earnestness of the avowed Abolitionist he was, and showed how the slave power had gradually extended until it was about to overspread the entire country. He showed that President Pierce, Congress, and the courts had yielded to its domination, and that now the last barrier against it had been destroyed ; and he arraigned Senator Douglas as being the subservient tool of the South, — a Northern doughface, who with all his great ability was like a hired overseer cracking the whip for his Southern masters. In all he said he assumed that Douglas's Kansas-Nebraska bill was simply intended to carry slavery into those Territories. Never had Senator Douglas been arraigned with such energy and bitterness ; never, probably, in all his life was he so held up to scorn and so relentlessly assailed. President Blanchard gave utterance, in the face of the Senator, to the long pent-up emotion of an outraged people. Of course we students applauded our President, and when the Senator arose to reply we manifested our feelings of hostility to him. His rejoinder was wonderfully tactful. The Senator made the intemperance, as he called it, of his adversary the main subject of his reply. He quoted his abolition sentiments as proving that the new party, of which the speaker was the chosen representative, was ready to go to any extreme in interfering with slavery in the States, as well as in the Territories, without regard to constitu- tional rights, and break up the government ; that the speaker had, by what he said, established the fact that the party with which he acted favored equality with the negro, social as well as political, and was ready if it came into power to march into Kentucky and Missouri to free the slaves, as he had constantly charged; and he appealed to the loyal and patriotic people of every party to save the country from such a disaster. His only answer to the evidence adduced as to his own former devotion to the Missouri Compro- mise line was by pointing his finger at President Blanchard and exclaiming, ' There is an old adage that wise men change their opinions, hut fools never do." It was a great debate. To us students of course it appeared that our champion had simply ' ' mopped the earth ' ' with his oppo- nent. These were our words of exultation. But somehow, when we reflected in the quiet of our own Political Upheaval 167 rooms, it began to dawn upon us that the Senator had made his way back into the hearts of his old Democratic supporters, and had even made himself a little stronger with them than he had been before ; and that he had awakened in his audience a feeling that it was hardly safe to give the reins of government into the hands of a party holding the extreme views expressed by his oppo- nent, but that it would be safer and wiser to keep the government in the hands of the party that had so long administered it. We knew that the Anti-Nebraska party was unqualifiedly pledged against interference with slavery in the States. We knew that in every speech he made the Senator had put us into a somewhat false position, and thus had us at a disadvantage. We felt that, with the prejudice in Illinois against the negro, and the dread of dis- union, there was great danger that the speeches of men with extreme views, like those of President Blanchard, would help Douglas rather than harm him. We felt that our cause would be hopeless unless someone should appear to set us right, and make it clear that, while we were unalterably opposed to the extension of slavery, we- did not favor social equality with the negro; and that we were not in favor of disregarding the Constitution through interfering with slavery in the States where it existed. The task of bringing together the many diverse elements con- stituting what was first the Anti-Nebraska party and crystallizing them into the great Republican party (made up of original Abo- litionists, old-line Whigs, Free-soil Democrats, — in short, of all those who had become alarmed at the spread of slavery) , and of harmonizing them and making them act effectively together, was one of no small magnitude. There were Abolitionists who hated slavery with all the intensity of their nature, and who would have gone to any extreme to overthrow the abhorred institution ; there were Whigs who had all their lives opposed the policies of the Democrats upon almost every question, — tariff, finance, and for- eign relations ; and there were Democrats with whom these had always been in conflict, — all now to be united into one homo- geneous organization working together for a common purpose. Looking back upon this great uprising, after the lapse of half a century, it seems remarkable that so many discordant elements could have been so well united. In the political speeches and lit- 1 68 The mini erature of that day it is curious to note that, with the exception of the old-h'ne Abolitionists, whose numbers were comparatively few. Republicans were constantly and earnestly protesting that they were not tainted with what was then regarded as the dan- gerous heresy of Abolitionism. It was the aim and policy of Senator Douglas to fasten this stigma upon the new party. He regarded a state of bondage as the proper condition of the black man. He did not himself own slaves, and when they were ofiEered to him he declined to accept them ; but this was not on account of any scruples as to the pro- priety of owning them. He wanted them treated with kindness, but believed that they needed a master to think for them, to pro- vide for their wants, and to protect them. He knew how delicate a subject the question of slavery was at the South, how every Anti- slavery sentiment was a cause of anxiety and alarm. He knew that a similar feeling pervaded a great majority of the people of Illinois ; and he knew that if he could make it appear that the new party which had sprung into existence in opposition to his Kansas- Nebraska bill was an Abolition party whose purpose was to assail slavery in the States where it existed, the people of Illinois would overwhelm that new party in defeat. Accordingly, with charac- teristic boldness and aggressiveness, he denounced the "Black Republican" party, "made up of Whigs, Abolitionists, Know- Nothings, and renegade Democrats," as an out-and-out Abolition party. The speeches of President Blanchard and other extreme Abolitionists, — among whom were Owen Lovejoy, Ichabod Cod- ding, John F. Farnsworth, E. C. Larned, and many others in our State, and William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, John P. Hale, Joshua R. Giddings, Charles Sumner, Theodore Parker, and Fred- erick Douglass, who came amongst us from other States, — were taken up by Senator Douglas and used with tremendous effect among the people of Illinois. No one knew better than he that the people of Illinois were devoted to the Constitution and the Union, and no one knew better how to avail himself of these pre- judices to further his own political ends. It was daily becoming more and more apparent that unless some strong man should appear to oppose Douglas, — one who could develop a policy of opposi- tion to slavery which would not threaten the integrity of the Union Political Upheaval 169 and the Constitution, — Illinois would continue, as she had been for so many years, the stronghold and bulwark of the Democratic party in the North. s CHAPTER II. A DISCOVERY AND A DISAPPEARANCE OON after I had become fairly settled in my student life at Galesburg, I looked up my former friend George Davis. I found him on the farm, working as before. In those days, when the town had a population of only five or six hundred, everybody was acquainted; and hence Davis was well known to the college people, by whom he was much esteemed for his intel- ligence and high character. There was about him a certain air of mystery which seemed to add to the interest of his acquaintance. He would sometimes disappear for three or four days at a time, and it would be learned that he had not been to Rock River to mill, nor to Copperas Creek or Peoria with pork, as he had given people to understand, but to some place unknown. Yet his character was so excellent that this caused no special comment. Although he never really told me, I knew that the poor fugitive I had happened to meet was not the only one of those whom Davis had helped along in the path toward freedom. One afternoon when Davis had come to visit me, and we were talking together on the college green, I entertained him with an account of my visit to Quincy, and of my memorable meeting with Mr. Swett, Mr. Herndon, and Mr. Browning ; and I went on to tell him the story of the old French Creole gentle- man of New Orleans, and of the reward ofiered by him for the recovery of his daughter who had been taken away on the piratical slave-ship. I had scarcely thought of the circumstances since; and with my usual inability to remember names, I referred to my memorandum book in which I had written his name, and showed it to Davis as he lay stretched out on the grass. The efiect was most surprising. He glanced at it, and sprang to his feet with a yell that could have been heard half a mile. Then he began jumping and dancing about, still yelling like a wild Indian. I begged him to tell me what was the matter; but he continued his 170 The mini antics, occasionally pausing long enough to ejaculate Idiot!" "Jackass!" with other uncomplimentary expressions. If it had been anyone else, I should have been very angry; but I quietly waited for his paroxysm to pass off . Finally he exclaimed, Don't you know that Juliette Besanpon was that poor fugitive's mother? Don't you know that he gave us her name that night ? There it is, right there in your book, written by your own hand; and you are so stupid as not to recognize it ! That is the name under which she was legally married in New York City; and that young man, instead of being a negro, must be the lawful son of General Silverton, descended from one of the best old cavalier families of Virginia, while his mother, instead of being a slave woman, belonged to one of the best old French Creole families in New Orleans. So now you probably see the reason for General Sil- verton's interest in the boy." When I came to comprehend the full import of all this, I was not at all surprised at Davis's excitement. While not so demon- strative as he, I was more than delighted. I felt ashamed at not having recognized the name of Juliette Besanfon instantly; but when I first heard it, that lonely night on the prairies, I was only a boy, and so much had happened that day and night that it is perhaps no wonder I did not treasure up a name I had never heard before. That Davis remembered it, was less surprising ; he had been longer with the young man and was deeply interested in him. Besides, Davis was one who never forgot anything. We agreed that our information was of great importance, and could not doubt that our conclusions were correct. But, much to our surprise, that very afternoon Davis received a letter from the young man, from Canada. "You will not hear from me again," he wrote, "for a long time, if ever. I have decided to try, so far as possible, to disap- pear from the world, and not to reappear unless I can do so as a man among men. 1 need not tell you how the cloud that hangs over my birth depresses me. Since my experience with that brute Hobbs, I am always apprehensive lest someone should again detect me. True, I now have my free papers, and even should I return to the States they cannot drag me back into slavery; but the effort would reveal the circumstances of my birth and of my former Political Upheaval 171 degradation. I cannot even tell who I am, or the circumstanpes of my birth and parentage, without bringing discredit upon my- self and reflecting upon those who are very dear to me. So I have decided to sink away out of sight, so far as possible, from the time this letter is posted. I have not yet determined just where I shall permanently make my abode, and if I had decided I could not tell even you, much as I owe to you, and grateful as I am for all your kindness. To you alone do I confide even this statement of my resolution. "You need not fear that I shall rust out in my seclusion. I have laid out for myself a course of study and training which I shall follow, and hope that I may be able to make myself useful in the world. Provision has been made that will be ample, with economy and what I can myself earn, for my support ; so you need give yourself no anxiety about me. It will be in vain for you to try to communicate with me, for I cannot give my address without the constant peril of being discovered, and so nothing will be forwarded to me. I ask that no effort be made to discover my retreat. I wish that you would especially commend me to the young gentleman who was with us the night we rode into Princeton, who saved my life. You cannot realize how delightful it would be to me could I be a companion to you and him. I shall cherish the memory of you both ; but now I must ask, as the greatest favor you can bestow upon me, that you leave me to my seclusion, and if possible forget me." As Davis finished reading the letter, we stared at each other in amazement. It was some time before either of us could find words. Our plans for helping our friend were unexpectedly and hopelessly blocked, just as we were in a position to be of the greatest service to him. We agreed there was now but one thing to do, and that was — to wait. CHAPTER III. THE STATE FAIR DURING my college days, Rose and I had been exchanging letters rather regularly. She told me of many interesting things, — of her studies, and of her reading in her father's library, chiefly on the subject of slavery ; she had written, she said, to Mrs. 172 The mini Harriet Beecher Stowe, telling her of her interest in ' ' Uncle Tom's Cabin," and through that lady she had received the publications of the Abolition Society, which she was reading with great interest. Among other bits of news, she told me that Dwight Earle was staying at Pittsfield, engaged in his favorite pursuit of seizing upon lands, employing Hobbs as his assistant. Early the next Fall, Rose wrote me that her father was taking a great interest in the State Fair to be held at Springfield, and ex- pected to take there his herd of short-horns, of which he was very proud; that she was going to the Fair with him, and would visit her friend Miss Edwards, while her father would stay at the hotel. She said that her father had arranged to take her mare, as well as saddle-horses for himself; and she made me very happy by express- ing the wish that I might be there at the time of her visit. I wrote to my father asking permission to go, and the opening of the Fair found me at Springfield. The State Fair of Illinois in 1854 had no such attractions as now. We did not have such large buildings and grounds, and there were no such crowds in attendance. In those days the location of the Fair was not fixed at the capital, but it was held alternately at dififerent places, Springfield, Peoria, Quincy, Bloomington, Rock- ford, or elsewhere, grounds and money being furnished to the State Association by the local authorities in consideration of the advantages of having the Fair in their community. Yet , while the attendance was comparatively small, the Fair was the meeting-place of the more prominent and well-to-do people. Almost every county was represented by its leading farmers, stock- men, professional men, and especially politicians, who controlled affairs at home. Men from the Ohio, the Wabash, the Mississippi, " Egyptians" from Southern Illinois, met those from the central and northern portions of the State. Old French families, some of whose ancestors had come to the Illinois country more than a century before the State was admitted into the Union, men who had emigrated from Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and the Caro- linas, with the later emigrants from the Middle and New England States, besides others who had emigrated from Europe, — all now proud of being lUinoisans, — here met and renewed or formed acquaintance and exchanged views. Political Upheaval 173 I then saw the Southern Illinois people, or ' ' Egyptians, ' ' for the first time. I found that politically their affiliations and sympathies were with the South, bound as they were to the Southern people by ties of consanguinity as well as of interest. Through the navi- gation of our great river, these Southern Illinoisans had a grasp upon the commerce of the South ; and these influences bound them together as the people of Northern Illinois were bound to the Northern and Eastern States from which so many of them had come. In thus being brought into relations with the people of Southern Illinois, and of other portions of the State, I realized as never before what a power Illinois must be in binding and holding together all the States in perfect union. I appreciated the wisdom of Nathaniel Pope, our Territorial Delegate in Congress, who foresaw the impor- tance of so extending the boundaries of Illinois that her commerce on the rivers with the South and on the Great Lakes with the North would make it imperative that the union of the States be main- tained ; who saw that no greater calamity than a dissolution of the Union could come upon the people of Illinois, and that it must ever be not only their paramount duty but an imperative necessity to preserve the Union. The northern boundary of the proposed Ter- ritory of Illinois was a line running due west from the southern point of Lake Michigan, leaving no outlet upon the lakes. Judge Pope, with a wisdom that cannot be too much admired, foresaw that an outlet upon the Great Lakes would enable Illinois to bind the Union together in indissoluble bonds. He urged this upon Congress with great ability and persistency, and with the result that when admitted into the Union as a State, instead of the line proposed, the present northern boundary of Illinois was perpetually established.* Almost the first man I saw at the Fair, among the many in * The extent of Illinois from north to south is remarkable. Her northern boun- dary is about on the same latitude as Detroit, Albany, and Boston ; Chicago is about the same as Toledo, Poughkeepsie, Hartford, and Providence ; while the latitude of Spring- field, the State Capital, is about the same as that of Baltimore, Centralia as that of Lex- ington (Kentucky), and Carbondale as that of Richmond (Virginia). Cairo is on about the same latitude as Fort Monroe, and many miles south of Louisville. At Cairo, Illinois reaches down almost to the geographical centre of what are known as the Southern States. Cairo is within iifty miles of being as far south as the southern boundaries of Missouri, Kentucky, and Virginia, and of the northern boundaries of Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carohna. 174 The mini whom I was interested, was the roystering "Jack" Logan who had been so talked of at Mr. Browning's. He had the blackest and most piercing eyes I had ever seen. The first thing I thought, when I saw him was, that in a melee I would rather have him on my side than against me. The group in which I saw him was made up of Democrats, and he was talking to a Democrat of some prominence, who, as he thought, had not stood up to the rack " as he ought to have done in a political contest, but who was pro- testing that he had. "Well, it may be, Jerry," said Logan, caressing his black mustache, "but the thing don't look just right. Men don't go out to take a drink just when the main question is about to be put in a caucus, if they mean to stand up ! " "Jack Logan, if you say I dodged," said the man, "if you say that—" " Be a little careful what you say, Jerry," interrupted Logan quietly, " be a little careful, it might get you into trouble. I did not say you dodged, but I now say you sneaked." The man was very indignant. He looked like a man that it would not be safe to exasperate, but I noticed he was careful not to call Logan a liar, as he evidently started out to do. The most curious thing about it all was that Logan kept on talking to the man, adroitly turning the subject until he got him into a perfectly good humor, and they all went off to take a drink together. This conversation, as I observed afterwards, illustrated Logan's way of getting along with people. He was entirely fearless and frequently audacious. Men learned that he could say, and dared to say, whatever he thought, and that there was a limit as to what it was safe to say to him in reply, and so they always had a whole- some respect for him. But with all his sharp and apparently malignant criticisms, he knew just when and how to talk. Posi- tive and determined and exacting, Logan usually got what he wanted ; but with unerring instinct he always knew just how far it was wise to press a matter. Afterwards, when Logan was engaged in conversation with Senator Douglas, similar peculiarities were observed, although they were manifested in a somewhat different way. The talk was about some Federal appointment in Southern Illinois. At that time. Political Upheaval 175 Senator Douglas's authority in making Federal appointments in Illinois was absolute, as it had been for many years. Logan had been disappointed in regard to the man put in or the man put out of some office, and in talking to the Senator he grumbled and snarled until finally he got just what he wanted. Persistency and nerve and courage were Logan's most striking characteristics ; but when he failed to carry his point (which was seldom) he did not quit his party or his position, but, however much he growled, he kept right on in the line of duty, as everybody knew he would. With these qualities he succeeded in accomplishing more than men who far surpassed him in learning, culture, and eloquence. He had the rare faculty of attaching men to him and to his for- tunes, and they would stick to him and fight for him. They liked him and were loyal to him because they knew he never forgot a favor, and his success would finally be theirs. It must not be understood, in considering the peculiarities of John A. Logan, that he was cross and disagreeable. Ordinarily he was genial and pleasant, full of humor and kindly regard for those with whom he was associated, devoted to his party and to his friends. He was particularly devoted to Senator Douglas and to his views, — "squatter sovereignity" and everything else; and no one was more pronounced against Abolitionism and nigger equality" than he. Richard Yates came over from Jacksonville, and proved to be a favorite with everybody, although he was not then very much known outside of Central Illinois. His was a charming person- ality. I can see him now as I first looked into his bright brown eyes beaming out from under his blonde wavy hair, his rosy complexion aglow with animation. In following the career of Governor Yates, it always seemed to me that he was guided by a kind of inspiration. He used to say that one should act from im- pulse, upon the impression of duty as it first came to him ; that if one so acted he would do right, without regard to how it would personally affect him and his interests, — while if he took time to consider, self came in and warped his judgment. Another striking figure at the Fair was John M. Palmer. He impressed me as a broad-minded man, — too good a lawyer to be a great statesman, and too able a statesman to be a great lawyer. 176 The mini He had no regard for party unless it happened to represent his own views, and he never followed implicitly the dictum of any party. When the Democratic party came nearest to representing his views he was a Democrat, and when the Republican party came nearest he became a Republican, going back to the Democrats again when he was convinced that they were right, to leave them again with as little ceremony when he thought they were wrong. While he was criticised for what seemed to be his vagaries, it was seldom that anyone doubted his patriotism or his sincerity. Lyman Trumbull, who was present, also was a law^yer, and at that time, having always been a Democrat, he was a candidate on the Anti-Nebraska ticket for election to Congress from the Alton district. He was a man of singularly acute and analytic mind. Every proposition that came before him, whether of politics or of law, whether involving a grave constitutional question or an ap- pointment to some trivial ofEce, was reasoned out by him without reference to policy or political claims. He was regarded as the most cold-blooded man who had ever appeared in public life in Illinois. He was a native of Connecticut, and had many of the characteris- tics of his Puritan ancestors. He never had anything like a political machine to support him, nor a coterie of politicians to manage his canvasses ; and yet for three successive terms, by the force of his intellectual power, he was elected and reelected to the United States Senate, and would no doubt have been elected the fourth time but for his vote against the impeachment of President John- son, which is now generally approved. He knew when he took that position that it was unpopular with his party, the Repub- licans ; but as a legal proposition he subjected it to that thorough analysis for which he was distinguished, and voted with the Democrats. Except for him. President Johnson would have been convicted under the articles of impeachment, and removed from office; and a dangerous precedent thereby established. In the final judgment of mankind, when the historian shall consider the measures with which he was prominently connected as chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the Senate — Reconstruction, Con- stitutional Amendments, Impeachment, and all the rest, — the character and attainments and achievements of Lyman Trumbull will be properly appreciated. <^* ®^^»*-t--t<^ -/J^t,*^-?'*-*^-^^-*.^^^ Political Upheaval 177 Elihu B. Washburne, a member of what was afterwards known as " the great Washburne family," had come down from Galena. He was a plain, active, earnest man, ambitious and pushing, not at all brilliant, but endowed in a high degree with the genius of common-sense. He had already become an important factor in the northwestern part of the State, which for many years afterwards (I think seven terms) he represented in Congress; and afterwards he gained world-wide fame as our Minister at Paris during the dark days of the Commune. Mr. Washburne was always ambitious to represent Illinois in the Senate, but never succeeded in this. While absolute in his own Congressional district, he was never able to gain supporters beyond its limits. Judge Stephen T. Logan, keen, critical, cool, and cynical, was among the most prominent citizens of Springfield, and had been recognized for many years as the ablest lawyer in the State. He was so small of stature as to attract little attention as he passed down the street; but no one who ever saw him or heard him at the court-house, whether arguing a law-point before the judge, or addressing a jury, ever forgot him. John T. Stuart, — a great, handsome, strong lawyer, — was distinguished for having beaten Siephen A. Douglas (the only time Douglas ever was beaten) for Congress. The man most talked about at the Fair was, of course, Sen- ator Douglas. It was known that he was to be there, and it was understood that, as upon all such occasions, he would speak. Violent as had been the shock of the repeal of the Missouri Com- promise, the old rallying-cries of the Democracy were having their effect, and men who at first were inclined to break away from the old party were again taking their places in its ranks. The idea of ' ' popular sovereignty, " or " squatter sovereignty " as it was usually called, that the people should rule, was captivating and was becom- ing the rallying-cry of the Democracy. Owen Lovejoy was then in Springfield, and with him were Ichabod Codding and other Abolitionists. They did not hesitate to declare their radical sentiments, and this of itself was sufficient to arouse a feeling of antagonism to the new Anti-Nebraska party. Joel A. Matteson, then Governor of the State, Colonel Don Morrison, the Thorntons, the Caseys, the McMurtrys, the Aliens, 178 The mini and all the leading Democrats, were not slow to declare that this Anti-Nebraska Free-Soil party was, as shown by its affiUation with Lovejoy, really nothing else than an Abolition party. Lovejoy himself was a member of the Legislature from Bureau County; and to mention his name was with many men like shaking a red rag at a bull. Many old-line Whigs, who had fought the Demo- crats all their lives, were driven by this cry of Abolitionism into the Democratic ranks. CHAPTER IV. OLD ACQUAINTANCES AT SPRINGFIELD T HAD met General Silverton, who was very much interested -■- in his herd of short-horns, and he asked me to rjo with him to the Fair-grounds to see them. Afterwards he expressed a wish to have a talk with me ; and at his request I went with him to his room at the hotel. He at once inquired if I knew anything of the whereabouts of the young man in whom he was so much interested, or if I had heard anything from him. I frankly told him of the letter to Davis, in which the young man had said he was about to dis- appear from view, and I assured the General that neither Davis nor I had any idea where he had gone. The General seemed much disappointed, and said there were important reasons for his wishing to communicate with the young man. I surmised that he might have received information from New Orleans, similar to mine, regarding Monsieur Besanfon's relations to the young man. I longed to tell the General all I knew; but as he had never given me an intimation as to his own relations with our young friend, I felt that I could not venture farther in so delicate a matter. How could I have left him to go off in this way ! " exclaimed the General. "If I ever find him I shall try to have him so situ- ated that he will. not care to go away." Then turning to me he asked, " Is your friend likely to hear from him again ? " " I see little prospect of this," I answered. " My friend and I talked it all over, and decided that about all we could do was to wait." Political Upheaval 179 "Perhaps so," said the General; "but I shall still do what I can. My friend Allan Pinkerton, of Chicago, is very expert in such matters. Perhaps he may help us." The General was thoughtful a few moments ; then he said : Rose is here, at Miss Edwards's. She knows that you are to be at the Fair, and will expect to see you." I thanked him, and took my leave. As I emerged from the hotel I found a crowd gathered about an open buggy, which, to judge from its appearance and that of the horse, had just come in from a long journey. As occupants of the buggy I soon recognized my former acquaintances Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Swett. They had come from Tazewell County, where they had been attending court. Presently I heard a voice that seemed familiar to me, saying, I hope, Linkern, ye 've got a mirmy on the hook ! Douglas 'es comin', — he'll be hyer to-morrer, chuck full o' pop'lar sovernty an' whiskey, an' we want yer to land him, hook an' hne, bob an' sinker! " "I '11 do the best I can. Bill," answered Mr. Lincoln, " if the boys think I 'm the man for the job ; but I have had some experi- ence in this line with the Judge, and I know it 's not so easy. I think you 'd better get someone else. I 've been to that fire." "Tell us the story 'bout bein' at that fire, Linkern ! " said the man. "I hardly think this is a proper company to tell that story in," answered Mr. Lincoln, and he and the others laughed. " Wall, you must answer Douglas," persisted the man. " We are all on us kinder settled on 't, an' yer can't get shet o' the job. We 've been lookin' fer yer fer two days." All joined in the opinion of the spokesman of the crowd, to whom my attention was now especially duected. I could not place the man, although his voice and face were familiar. He finally looked at me, and extended his hand, exclaiming, " Derned ef yer ain't the feller that tuk me ter hear Lovejoy, the Abolition preacher! " I now saw that the man was none other than Bill Green, whom I had met at Princeton. Mr. Swett had now got down from the buggy, and Mr. Lin- coln started to drive away, saying, " I must go home and get my i8o The mini supper and put out my horse. I '11 see you all later in the evening." As I passed down the street I saw on the opposite side a strik- ing looking man of erect figure and elastic step, whom I recognized as Owen Lovejoy. I crossed over and spoke to him. He received me very kindly, and I told him about having heard him preach at Princeton, and about the poor fugitive whom he had received from Davis and me, of the fugitive's safe arrival in Canada, of his having his free papers, of his strange disappearance, etc., in all of which Mr. Lovejoy was much interested. I asked Mr. Lovejoy what he thought of the political situation. He was elated at the prospects, and said that the repeal of the Missouri Compromise had awakened an Anti-slavery sentiment which he had never hoped to see during his life, — that the North was now fully aroused, and he did not believe anything could stop the onward movement until every slave should be freed. "Yes," I said, "but the Anti-Nebraska men are as much op- posed to interfering with slavery in the States as the Democrats are." " That is true," he answered; " but in antagonizing the Ne- braska bill, and at the same time protesting against the extension of slavery, the whole subject of the wrongs of the black man is discussed, and the people are becoming aroused. There, for in- stance, is Mr. Lincoln, — a lawyer by profession and a great stickler for the Constitution, a supporter of the fugitive-slave bill and zeal- ously opposed to any interference with slavery in the States, and yet in opposing the extension of slavery he is denouncing the brutal institution as earnestly as I am. It 's the same with Palmer, Trumbull, Yates, Swett, and all the rest, — men who would resent being placed with you and me as Abolitionists, and yet dissemina- ting anti-slavery sentiments. Of one thing I am confident : there will be no more slave States." In those days, many men and women in Illinois rode on horse- back. It was quite common in the country for a young man to take his " best girl " up behind him on the saddle and go off for a ride, and men often took their wives to church in this way. There was no attempt at "style "; the horse was usually a work-animal from the farm, ungroomed and clumsy. A " blinding bridle " and a blanket were sufficient for his equipment — if, indeed, he was not Political Upheaval i8i ridden bareback. As Mr. Lovejoy and I were walking along to- gether, there came up the street, riding upon fine horses richly caparisoned, a handsome young couple whose grace and elegance attracted general attention. I at once recognized Rose Silverton ; and by her side was Dwight Earle. I had intended calling upon Rose that evening, and, being not at all pleased at seeing her riding in such company, I would gladly have passed them unob- served. Dwight, who was nearer to my side of the street, pre- tended not to see me, and tried to ride by without my being seen by Rose ; but just then I heard her pronounce my name, and she reined in her horse and spoke to me, Dwight of course being also obliged to stop. She at once began to rally me about my not having called upon her. She said that there was no use in making excuses, that she knew I had been in town for two days, and had not even called ; exclaiming that Mr. Earle had called before he had been in town an hour. I thought I had never seen Rose so beautiful as she was then, in her elegant riding habit, made very long according to the fashion of those days, and riding a beautiful mare whose head was high in air, neck arching, mane and tail flowing, nostrils dis- tended, impatiently champing her bit and pawing the earth. I did not take time to consider whether or not it would be proper, but presented Mr. Lovejoy to Rose. He was surprised to meet the daughter of General Silverton, of whom he knew much ; but Rose was even more surprised at meeting him. She at once dismounted, and, handing her rein to Tom the colored boy, who, also on horseback, had followed at a respectful distance, she gave both her hands to Mr. Lovejoy. " So you are Mr. Owen Lovejoy, of whom I have heard ? " she exclaimed. " I cannot tell you how I admire you. I am glad to find one man who is not afraid of being called an Abolitionist ! My friend here was once brave enough to be all this, — but every- body is now so cowardly ! Can't you come down to Mr. Edwards's with him this evening to see me? Oh, I forgot, — this is Mr. Earle. He is like my father — a worshipper of Douglas. He had an engagement for this evening, but I hope you will come. It will be such an honor! " Mr. Lovejoy promised to go, as of course I did. Tom led up 1 82 The mini the mare, and Rose offered her pretty little foot to me, and, profit- ing by the lessons she had once given me, I assisted her to spring into the saddle, and off they clattered down the street. CHAPTER V. A MEMORABLE EVENING IN the evening we met at Mr. Edwards's, where we were cor- dially received. Among the guests was Mrs. Lincoln, who was a sister of Mrs. Edwards; and later in the evening Mr. Lincoln came for her. I recall also Dr. William Jayne and Mr. John Bunn, two well-known citizens who were intimately associated with Lincoln, Douglas, Trumbull, Palmer, Yates, and other prominent men.* The presence of Mr. Lovejoy, who came by Rose's invitation, was a little embarrassing. There was scarcely a name in Illinois better known than his, but it cannot be said that he was known very favorably. He was regarded as a dangerous agitator, and a very unsafe man ; in fact, it was said that most people believed he had horns. The guests were evidently surprised to find this Princeton Congregational preacher, who had stirred up such a commotion, to be not only a man of charming personality, but of high character and attainments. He talked in a most entertaining way upon general subjects, but made no allusion whatever to the views for which he was so widely known, until a Southern lady very politely complimented him upon something he had said that especially pleased her, and expressed regret that he was so un- friendly to the South. "I beg your pardon. Madam," Mr. Lovejoy exclaimed, "but I am not unfriendly to the South, or to the Southern people. I want especially to help the Southern people — to do them good." " But," she replied, "we are constantly hearing of your assail- ing the South and its institutions." I do oppose slavery with all my might," he replied ; " but I do so because I am sure that not only the South, but the North, and the whole country, would be better off without it." * Many of these prominent Illinois families became related by marriage. Dr. Jayne's siflter, Julia M. Jayne, .who was present at the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln, became the wife of Lyman Trumbull: while his son William Jayae married Margaret Palmer, daughter of John M. Palmer. Political Upheaval 183 " But if you are correctly reported, Mr. Lovejoy," replied the lady, you do the Southern slaveholders great injustice in what you say of them. They are not the inhuman monsters you repre- sent ; most of them are high-minded and considerate, kind and lenient masters, and exemplary Christian people." I know that is often the case," answered Mr. Lovejoy ; "and I commend them for it. But if every slaveholder in the United States were a saint, I should still oppose slavery. We know hu- man nature too well to trust it too far. I would not trust even myself with absolute power over another human being ; and when we reflect that any man or woman, however base and brutal, who happens to be able to do so, may buy and own men and women and children, the fact that good and humane Christian people are slaveholders does not at all reconcile me to that evil institution." Mr. Lovejoy mused for a moment, and thea continued : Nearly everyone thinks slavery is wrong. I know of but one man who is indifferent to it, and that is Stephen A. Douglas, of our own State. He has publicly declared that ' this country is only for white men and their descendants,' and that he 'cares not whether slavery be voted up or voted down.' "You speak of me as being unfriendly to the South," Mr. Lovejoy went on. I am even denounced as an enemy to my country. Listen a moment. There was once a man who loved his wife beyond the power of expression. She was very beautiful, and possessed all the charms and graces. But there developed upon her beautiful features an excrescence which was extremely annoying, and finally disfigured her. The husband, thoroughly devoted to her, sought out an eminent surgeon, from whom he learned that the hideous thing could be entirely removed. In rapture he has- tened to tell the wife he adored what seemed to him the glad news. Instead of rejoicing with him, she was affronted and indignant, and turned" upon him with bitter reproaches, declaring that he did not love her, — that he was not satisfied with her, — that no one could love her who wanted to have her changed in any particular; and finally worked herself up to the belief that he hated her. I hope," added Mr. Lovejoy, and his lips quivered with emotion, "I hope that you will believe that I love my country, and all my country, North, South, East, and West. It is because I love my country 1 84 The mini with all my heart and soul that I am anxious to remove from her fair face this hideous deformity of human slavery." Everyone in the room vv^as strongly moved by the power of this eloquent champion of human rights. It seemed as though, if an expression could have been taken at that moment, all would have declared themselves Abolitionists. I looked anxiously at Rose. She had not spoken after her first greeting to Mr. Lovejoy, but sat silent, drinking in every word. " We have with us a behever in your doctrine, Mr. Lovejoy," said Miss Edwards, turning toward Rose. " She was only this morning quoting Thomas Jefferson on slavery. What was that he said?" she asked Rose, to whom the general attention was thus directed. Mr. Jefferson, after showing the evils of slavery, exclaimed, ' I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.' And not only Jefferson," Rose added, " but every statesman worthy of the name has abhorred slavery. In fact, there has not been, up to the present generation, a philosopher, statesman, jurist, his- torian, poet, or scholar, worthy of being named as such, who has, not abhorred it. How men and women can now advocate it or apologize for it, I cannot comprehend. You, Madam," she con- tinued, turning to the lady who had addressed Mr. Lovejoy, " are from Kentucky. Perhaps you know that your greatest statesman, Henry Clay, said, ' So long as God allows the vital current to flow through my veins, I will never, never, by word or thought, by mind or will, aid in admittmg one rood of free territory to the everlasting curse of human bondage.' " The whole company were intently listening to Rose, as, ab- sorbed in her subject, her eyes shone with unusual lustre; yet she seemed unconscious of the presence of anyone except the lady she was directly addressing. I was proud of her, and enjoyed her evi- dent triumph. "Your father must have a fine library," said Mrs. Lincoln to Rose, "and you have evidently made good use of it. I had no idea that the young lady I saw riding on horseback to-day with that handsome young gentleman was so well informed. Where did you get that lovely riding-habit you wore ? Certainly not in Springfield!" Political Upheaval 185 " Mamma sent to her dressmaker in Paris and had it made," replied Rose, simply. And who was the handsome young gentleman with you ? " asked Mrs. Lincoln. " He is from Chicago," replied Rose. " We have known him for a long time." "I suppose he agrees with you in your views," continued Mrs. Lincoln. "Not at all," said Rose. "He is an enthusiastic Douglas Democrat. I like Senator Douglas personally very much; he comes to our house, and is a friend of my father ; but I do not like his principles. Yet he seems likely to go on and carry the people with him just the same as he has always done, because there seems to be no one who is able to cope with him. Mr. Lovejoy could do it, — but everyone seems afraid of an Abolitionist." " Someone will rise up who is able to cope with Senator Douglas," replied Mrs. Lincoln, "someone who is abler than he is, and can beat him at his own game." I wanted to ask Mrs. Lincoln whom she meant ; but she im- mediately said to me, with a merry twinkle in her eye, "You will have to look out for your laurels, young man, or that handsome young Douglas Democrat will take this bright young lady away from you ! I have heard, from my niece here, all about the house-party in Pike County; and, to tell the truth, I am on your side ! " She went on with playful apd witty talk that put the whole party in good humor. Everybody gathered about her, recognizing the social supremacy she always claimed and maintained. Mr. Lincoln came in, accompanied by Judge David Davis. I had never before seen Mr. Lincoln at a. social gathering where there were ladies. He seemed more dignified, and less free in his manners, than when I had seen him before. He soon sought the side of Mr. Lovejoy, who told him, loud enough for everybody to hear, how well-informed General Silverton's daughter was. " A prodigy, — a prodigy," he repeated, "in her store of knowledge; and, would you believe it?" he added, "General Silverton's daughter is an Abolitionist, as radical as I am ! " " How could the daughter of so decided a Douglas Democrat take that shoot ? " asked Mr. Lincoln. 1 86 The mini " I don't know," said Mr. Lovejoy ; " but I suspect there is a young gentleman in the case, who is an Abolitionist." I saw that Rose was listening, very much embarrassed, and she drew away when Mr. Lincoln extended his hand to me and said, " I think, young man, that we have met before." " I met you at Galesburg, with General Silverton and Mr. Browning," I replied as best I could, and fled. At the other end of the drawing-room I found myself near Judge Davis and Mrs. Lincoln, who in every company managed to get the most distin- guished men near her. They seemed to be having a good- humored chat, but spoke more than one truth in jest. Just now Mrs. Lincoln was good-naturedly calling the Judge to account for keeping her husband so much away from home. "You know, Judge Davis, that you might adjourn court early enough for him and all the lawyers to get home Saturday nights if you wanted to ! The idea of keeping him up in Tazewell County for three weeks ! You ought to be ashamed ! " The Judge had a peculiar sort of exclamation which cannot be described, — a little snort, something like " Hu ! " which he always gave when especially interested or amused; and on this occasion it came often into play. " Hu ! I Zifl<:^ to stay ! " he exclaimed ;" and why should n't I keep Lincoln ! Hu ! Think of me, and all the lawryers and jurors and witnesses, staying up there over Sunday without Lin- coln, just to please one woman ! Why, he kept us all from dying of what the French call ennui ! We would all have been dead long ago but for Lincoln ! He is a whole show by himself, — the drollest man on earth, full of humor and anecdote, and a whole magazine of knowledge besides. And to think of letting a man like him go home to spend his valuable time looking after women and children, running to market, fetching wood, feeding the pig, and bringing water ! " "Stufi!" exclaimed Mrs. Lincoln; "telling those awful stories, when he ought to be at home with his wife and children ! But he is of no account when he is at home. Talk about him looking after women and children ! — he never does anything when he is at home except to warm himself and read. He never went to market in his life ; I have to look after all that. He just does Political Upheaval 187 nothing. He is the most useless, good-for-nothing man on earth!" "Hu! Suppose / said that!" said the Judge. "Suppose I had said, Lincoln is the most useless, good-for-nothing man on earth ! ' " "I would have scratched your eyes out!" exclaimed Mrs. Lincoln. " But really," she continued, " he is so absorbed with his law, his anecdotes, his reading, and what not, that he is of little use at home. I have been trying a long time to get him to make the house fit to live in. He was always going to do it, but never did. Finally, when he went off to your court, I got a neighbor to help me, and had the upper story raised so we could have some decent sleeping-rooms." " Lincoln himself told me about it to-night," said the Judge. " He said that when he came home and saw the change in the house, he waited on the corner until a neighbor came along and asked him to tell him where Mr. Lincoln lived ; and then, what do you think ? he began bragging about his wife, and telling what a wonderful woman she is, and kept it up until we came in that door. I suppose, from what you have said, he never gives you any money?" " Money ! " she exclaimed, " he never gives me any money, — he leaves his pocket-book where I can take what I want." "Of course you paid for the house repairs?" inquired the Judge. "No," said Mrs. Lincoln, "he paid it without a word, and made fun about it, and finally, — well, he did n't think any the less of me for what I had done." " Listen ! "said the Judge, laying his hand upon the arm of Mrs. Lincoln's chair, and speaking with great earnestness. "When Abraham Lincoln began practicing on our circuit, there was no other lawyer so poorly equipped for the duties of the profession. He has had the hardest struggle for recognition of any lawyer at our bar. But he did n't get discouraged. He kept ' pegging away,' as he says, until his colleagues all admit he is now the best and most successful lawyer who practices in my court. That he did not give up, but kept 'pegging away,' is due, in my opinion, more than to anyone else, to the volatile, wilful, determined, exacting, 1 88 The mini ambitious, charming lady who at this moment does me the honor to listen to me, — hu ! " Mrs. Lincoln laughed merrily, but said, "That's all very well. Judge Davis, but he will always be 'pegging away,' trying little law-cases in those horrid little towns, staying at little country tav- erns telling stories and leaving me to take care of the children. He is more of a man than Judge Douglas, who has all the honors, and lives in Washington. When he was in Congress he might have been popular ; all he had to do was to approve the war with Mexico. He knew that this would make him popular, but he had to go and make a speech against it, and nobody wanted to send him back. Look at Douglas ! He is a real politician. He was too smart to be led into that trap, — he was for war from the first, and all the time ! " "Wait!" answered the Judge. "Just wait! Don't get im- patient ! Douglas will arrive in town to-night, and he is going to speak in the State House to-morrow, and we are going to put your husband up to answer him ; and then, — do you understand me? — we are going to elect him as Shields's successor in the United States Senate. He will be in the Senate with Douglas ; and he will take care of the rest. The country will find out that Stephen A. Douglas is not the only man in Illinois! " " Do you really think, Judge Davis, that you can elect my husband to the Senate?" "I do, Mrs. Lincoln ! " the Judge answered. She gave an exclamation, almost a scream. " My ! " she said, " if he could be a Senator ! Would n't I teach some of those up- start women a thing or two ? They would find that they couldn't snub me any more at the White House receptions ! " " Hu! " answered the Judge, ' if that would please you so, why did n't you marry Douglas? You had your pick between them! " "Marry Douglas!" she exclaimed; "there is more in Abe Lincoln's little finger than in Douglas's whole body! Douglas is nothing but a scrubby little Vermont Yankee, not to be compared with Lincoln. I knew it all the time. Lincoln is a real gentle- man, of our true blue-grass Kentucky blood. If he could only have some sense as a politician ! That little Steve Douglas runs all around him in politics ! " AS AN ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE SUPlftME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES. Political Upheaval 189 "But," said the Judge, " Lincoln is a politician. All the cau- cuses and conventions go as he says. Now, in place of looking to the old politicians to answer Douglas, everybody looks to Lin- coln to do it." "Yes," she replied, "he is a politician in a small way here in Springfield, but I want him to do something great. I am no Abo- litionist; I hate them. But Abolitionism is going to win. Love- joy over there is the apostle of Abolitionism and will be a great man. My husband hates slavery as much as Lovejoy does ; but he is so slow, always holding back for the Constitution, and they will all get ahead of him.' We shall see, ' ' mused Judge Davis. ' ' I think Lincoln is right.' "Come over here. Miss Rose! I want to speak to you!' exclaimed Mrs. Lincoln, and she presented Rose to Judge Davis who, being very corpulent, remained seated. "This," said Mrs Lincoln, "is the daughter and only child of General Silverton She knows everything in her father's library, which is very large I know you will be interested in her." Without waiting for the Judge to answer a word, Mrs. Lincoln continued, " Really and truly. Rose, has your mother a Paris dressmaker ?" "She has," replied Rose. "Is your mother coming over here?" asked Mrs. Lincoln. "I do want to see her. Don't you think she could get me a Paris gown ? ' ' "I think she could," said Rose. "I would send my measure, and pay anything for it," said Mrs. Lincoln. "I must have a Paris gown made by a man-tailor. Won't you speak to your mother about it? " Mr. Lovejoy had already taken his leave, and Mr. Lincoln had about him Dr. Jayne, John Bunn, Speed Butler, and several others. They were earnestly talking about the Douglas meeting to be held the next day. " He will ring the changes on Lovejoy, and Ichabod Codding, and the whole outfit of Abolitionists," said Butler; " and, as they are here, he will claim that to become an Anti-Nebraska man is to go over bag and baggage into the Abolition camps, and he will frighten the Democrats, who are really against having any more slave States, and hold them in Hne for his support." 190 The mini " This is precisely what he is already doing," said Mr. Lincoln; " and it is having its effect. Democrats who have felt really indig- nant at the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and who were inclined to go with us, are already alarmed by this cry, and are afraid to leave their party lest they be put down as Abolitionists. But this is not the worst of it. It is having its effect upon our old-line Whigs. They are fully as sensitive on this matter as the Democrats are, and there is danger that many of them will go over to the Democratic party." "Let them go," said John Bunn, " if they want to. I don't want the old Whigs to leave us, but I am not in favor of giving up any principle to keep them. I am no Abolitionist, but I say, no more slave States, whether the people of the Territories vote to have slavery or not ! " "That's the doctrine!" said Dr. Jayne. "John T. Stuart has already declared himself against us, and he will take away as many of the Whigs as he can; but we will have others. Trumbull, Palmer, Judd, and Cook will bring us more Democrats than we will lose Whigs, and we shall not miss them." Mrs. Lincoln was calling for her husband, and they made their adieus and withdrew. Judge Davis accompanying them. Rose called me aside and said she wanted to hear Senator Douglas the next day, and wished I would take her, which I was very glad to promise to do. Dr. Jayne, Butler, Bunn, and I walked away together. "Isittrue," Tasked, "that Mr. Lincoln is to reply to Senator Douglas?" "Yes," replied Dr. Jayne. "We have all agreed upon him. It is all right, is it not?" "I presume so," I replied. "Judge Davis thinks so, and you all seem agreed upon it. We in the Military Tract are not so well posted about Mr. Lincoln as you are here in central Illinois. Senator Douglas is an able man, and it seems to me that the strongest man we have should be put up against him. Do you consider Mr. Lincoln a great man ? " "Nobody ever called Lincoln a great man, said Butler; "at least I never heard anybody call him that, — but I would rather see him put up against Douglas than anybody else." Political Upheaval 191 "Well, you know him," I said, "but I would have thought you would prefer to put up some man of well-known ability as a lawyer and an orator, — some man like Mr. Browning, — to meet Douglas." Mr. Browning is a very able lawyer and a fine scholar. Lincoln is not so great a lawyer, and perhaps is not the equal of Browning as an orator," said Dr. Jayne. " He, and in fact none of them, begin to compare with Colonel Baker as a public speaker. Stephen T. Logan, strictly as a lawyer, is no doubt the superior of Mr. Lincoln. Bill Herndon, Lincoln's partner, is perhaps better read in the law than he ; but here in Sangamon County, and all through Central Illinois, no man living can hold Douglas level as Lincoln can. In some way, Lincoln carries the crowd with him. He has such a plain, simple way of talking, and he makes every- thing so clear, that everybody can understand him, and everybody thinks he is honest and believes what he says. If he was really a great man, or if people regarded him as a great man, he could not do half so much." CHAPTER VI. DOUGLAS EXPOUNDS "POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY" AS we walked along, the strains of music from a brass band reached us. "Douglas has arrived!" exclaimed John Bunn. "They are serenading him at the Chenery House. He will make a speech. Let 's go and hear him ! " And we all went. There was a big and boisterous crowd, yelling and cheering and jostling each other. Torches were held up in front of Senator Douglas, who had already begun speaking, and we could plainly see him and those about him. I recognized Lieutenant-Governor McMurtry, better dressed than I had ever seen him at home, John A. McClernand, Sam Buckmaster, John A. Logan, William R. Morrison, and, nearer to the Senator than anyone else, Dwight Earle, who was very enthusiastic, and several times shouted, "That's so!" and called for cheers for Douglas. In the back- ground I could see the dignified figure of General Silverton. As we drew near, we heard Senator Douglas's deep, strong, 192 The mini sympathetic bass voice proceeding with slow and measured accents, each word projected out into the darkness with tremendous power as if fired from a columbiad, a distinct pause after every word. "Neither . . to legislate . . slavery . . into . . a Territory nor . . to exclude . . it therefrom . . but . . to leave . . the people . . perfectly free . . to form . . and regulate . . their . . domestic . . institutions . . in their own . way . . subject . . only . . to the . . Constitution of the United States. That," exclaimed the Senator, speaking more rapidly as he proceeded, "is all there is of the Nebraska bill ; that is ' popular sovereignty, ' upon which I am to speak at the State House to-morrow. I have come home, as I have done so many times before, to give an account of my stewardship. I know the Democrats of Illinois. I know they always do their duty. I know, Democrats, that you will stand by me, as you have always done. I am not afraid that you will be led oS by those renegades from the party, Trumbull, Palmer, Judd, and Cook, who have formed an unholy alliance with Lovejoy and Codding, both now in Springfield, to turn the glorious old Demo- cratic party over to the black Abolitionists. Democrats of Illinois, will you permit it?" " Never! " came from hundreds of voices. "I tell you," continued the Senator, "the time has not yet come when a handful of traitors in our camp can turn the great State of Illinois, with all her glorious history and traditions, into a negro-worshiping, negro-equality community. Illinois has always been, and always will be, true to the Constitution and the Union. I shall be glad to see you all at the State House to-morrow, where I shall discuss at length the questions that are before the people. Good-night! " Senator Douglas was then at the zenith of his fame. The year before, he had been elected for a second term in the United States Senate, and still had nearly five years to serve. Two years before, his name was among those presented to the Democratic National Convention for the nomination to the Presidency; and there was no more promising candidate for that nomination two years thereafter. Since the death of Clay, Calhoun, and Webster, he had been the foremost man in either house of Congress. He absolutely controlled, either directly or through his friends, every Political Upheaval 193 public office worth having in Illinois, not only Federal appoint- ments but State and county offices, as his friends under his direc- tion controlled conventions and carried elections. He had for years been identified with the most important public measures, in the consideration of which he had taken a conspicuous part. He was only forty-one years old, in the heyday of physical strength and manly vigor. No man knew the people of Illinois better than he. He knew many of them personally, knew from whence they had come, knew the traditions and opinions they had brought with them, and their likes and dislikes. He appreciated their patriot- ism, their devotion to the Union, and realized how sensitive they were in regard to anything that might bring discord between the North and the South. He knew that while they hated slavery they had no love for the negro and did not want him among them. He himself had become imbued with their spirit, their ideals, their rugged manly virtues, their vices and their prejudices. Douglas was, besides all this, the ablest debater in public life. No man had yet been found who could cope with him. When Rose and I entered the hall of the State House the next day, the Senator was holding a reception, hundreds of people press- ing forward to grasp his hand. Just as the meeting was called to order, we saw Mr. Lincoln making his way up the aisle. He was received with great cordiality by the Senator, and given a promi- nent seat. Senator Douglas and Mr. Lincoln seemed to meet as old friends. I noticed Mr. Lovejoy and Mr. Ichabod Codding seated near us in the hall. The Senator's speech was much the same as that I had heard in his debate with President Blanchard at Knoxville. He started with the same declaration that the Missouri Compromise line had been practically abrogated by the compromise measures of 1850. He eulogized Henry Clay as the great leader in the adoption of those measures, and said that "the Sage of Ashland" would turn In his grave if he could know that his old Whig friends could be led into a conspiracy with Lovejoy to abolitionize the country. In the breaking up of the Whig party, the Senator's great desire seemed to be to bring the pro-slavery Whigs into the Democratic party, and thus compensate for the loss of Democrats who had gone off with the Anti-Nebraska men. His argument in support 194 The mini of the right of self-government, the right of the people of a Terri- tory to settle all local questions for themselves, was masterly. No abler arguments for popular sovereignty could be made. He said that so far as the matter of slavery wras concerned, he ' cared not whether it was voted up or voted down." The real question was whether the people should rule, whether the people of a Terri- tory should control their own affairs. He appealed to the preju- dices of his hearers in regard to the negro, declaring that his opponents were for negro supremacy, negro equality, and negro domination, and that "if the people of Kansas and Nebraska were able to govern themselves, they were able to govern a few miser- able negroes." Rose moved up closer to me, as he denounced the Abolitionists and sneered at the negroes. She was all in a tremor at first, and could scarcely suppress her indignation. So excited did she become, that I almost feared she would cry out in denunciation of the speaker. Finally she became more calm ; but I could see that she was very much moved. The crowd, however, was rapt- urous with delight. Cries of " That 's so ! " " Hit 'em again ! " " Hurrah for the Little Giant ! " were heard on every hand. The speaker declared that the Abolitionists were in favor of miscegena- tion, of intermarriage with the negro; and he warned his hearers to protect their daughters from such a calamity, by standing by the Democratic party. I watched Mr. Lincoln, almost expecting him to protest openly against such outrageous sentiments. To my surprise, he appeared greatly amused ; in fact, he seemed almost hilarious with mirth. Seated all about him were Democrats, and I saw him frequently whisper to them, and they all seemed to be convulsed with sup- pressed glee. I called Rose's attention to him, and she seemed little less indignant at him than at Douglas. As the Senator closed, Dwight Earle, who had a front seat, jumped upon the speaker's platform and called for " Three cheers for the Little Giant ! " which were given with immense enthusiasm. The crowd was so great that we thought it best to stay in our seats until the crush was over. As we started to go out, Senator Douglas and Mr. Lincoln came down the aisle together, several others following. The Senator espied Rose, and stopped Political Upheaval 195 to greet her; politel)' bowing to me, he extended his hand to her, but she did not take it. "Excuse me," she said. "I beg your pardon, sir. I need no protection from the negro ! ' ' "Oh," he said, " that was politics ! " " I do not like such politics," she replied, with spirit. " It was an insult to every young woman in Illinois, especially to the daugh- ter of every Democrat." Mr. Lincoln seemed much amused, and said, "Judge, here is the daughter of one Democrat who does not scare easily ! You '11 find lots of them in Illinois. You'd better find where the road forks, and turn ofi ! You 're going the wrong way to reach the hearts of Illinois women!" Then turning to Rose, he said, "Don't bother or fret yourself, young lady! We'll hang the Judge's hide on the fence to-morrow!" and they passed out to- gether. We walked out behind them, and as they passed through the crowd Dwight Earle again called for cheers for the " Little Giant," which of course were given. I noticed that Dwight was always demonstrative when the Senator was present and could see and hear him. " Shame on him! " was the only expression Rose gave to her feelings, as she heard Dwight call for cheers. She did not speak again until we were almost home, when she said, "I do not like Mr. Lincoln. He is almost as bad as Senator Douglas ! How could he sit there and giggle, and almost laugh out loud with those coarse men, while Senator Douglas was saying such dreadful things? He ought to have jumped to his feet and denounced him. And then to see him coming down the aisle with Douglas ! He is no man to meet the Senator in debate ! I noticed that Mr. Lovejoy did not laugh; it was no laughing matter to him. Why did they not call upon him to answer Senator Douglas ? " Then she added, " But I do want to hear Mr. Lincoln ! Will you take me to-morrow ? ' ' I was only too glad to be permitted to do so. 196 The mini CHAPTER VII. VARIOUS EXHIBITS AT THE FAIR GENERAL SILVERTON'S short-horned cattle were greatly admired, at the fair, as few of the people present had ever before seen imported Durham cattle. Through the efforts of such enterprising men, an interest in the subject was awakened among the farmers which has continued until no other State surpasses lUinois for fine stock. Bulls have been sold for as large a sum as ten thousand dollars, and cows have commanded almost as high a price. The efforts of breeders of fine stock are no longer con- fined to short-horns, but the best of other breeds of high-class cattle may be found in nearly every county. Of the original stock which the General had brought around the lakes on the steamer upon which we came, he had placed but three or four on exhibition ; and among these was the great bull Taurus. His herd had increased beyond his most sanguine expec- tations, and he was able to show cattle of different ages up to seven years. Not far removed from the cattle-sheds. General Silverton had pitched a tent, well furnished with tables, camp- chairs, and cots, where he dispensed hospitality, consisting chieHy of whiskey and cigars. I found him surrounded by groups of rep- resentative men from different parts of the State, to whom he was discoursing upon the merits of short-horns. He spoke to me kindly, and continued the conversation. As I was strolling among the cattle-sheds, a little later, I heard a familiar voice discoursing upon the merits of the cattle to a group of men who were gathered about a shed some distance down the line. My first impulse was to get away as rapidly as possible ; but I thought better of it, and approached the group. "I tell yer, gen'lemen," said the familiar voice, " thet bull's wuth his weight in gold ! Ever sence he left old England, Queen Victory's bin cryin' her eyes out on account o' the loss o' that calf, — for he was jist a calf then. Now you kin go up an' down these sheds an' see what a fambly he 's got about him. All the Political Upheaval 197 gold in Californy couldn't buy his childem an' gran'childern ! " It was Hobbs. His voice failed him when his eye caught mine. He came to me with some hesitation, and exclaimed, " Fer God's sake, do n't say nuthin' agin me to the Gen'ral ! He said to me, ' Hobbs,' says he, ' it 's a long way from Pike to the State Fair ! Ther ain't nobody on earth I kin trust them cattle with but Hobbs ! Hobbs brung the cattle all the way on the boat an' all the way across the perarie, an' never lost a head.' I haint nuthin' agin yer. 'Pears like yer might jist say ter the Gen'ral, ' Hobbs is squar,' ' Hobbs knows stock,' ' Hobbs is ' " "I hardly think it best for me to say anything," I answered, interrupting him. "I've got religion," Hobbs exclaimed, "an' I've got it powerful ! " "You don't say you've got religion, Hobbs?" " Powerful, powerful ! It was old Pete Cartwright as did it, — him thet run agin Abe Likern fer Congriss. Ole Pete he jist prayed the Lord to take us pore sinners by the nape o' the neck an' shake us over the flames o' hell till our toe-nails cracked, but not to loose his grip; an' the Lord jist did it, an' held on, an' here I am, a brand from the burnin'. You jist ort to see ole Pete ! He ain't afeard o' nuthin'. He told Gen'ral Jackson to his face, down in Tennessee, thet ef he did 'nt repent he 'd go to hell jist the same as the pore white trash, or the niggers ; an' he do n't like niggers no more than me." "I hope, Hobbs, your conversion has made you too humane ever to fire upon a poor negro fleeing for his liberty," said I. "Thet ain't gittin' religion," said Hobbs. " Gittin' religion is bein' yanked from the jaws o' hell jist as they is shettin' up on yer, an' puttin' yer down in glory, an' makin' yer whoop an' yell powerful! " "But, Hobbs," I persisted, "doesn't it make you better to everybody, especially to the poor negroes, to have religion? " "Don't think we're no wuss," said Hobbs. "The Bible says, ' Cussid be Canaan.' Thet means niggers, an' we cuss 'em ; an' it says ' Servants, obey yer masters '; an' it 's our dooty to make 'em do it." 198 The mini When I went back to the General's tent, he explained to me in an apologetic way why he had taken Hobbs back. He said that both Mrs. Silverton and Rose had begged him to do so ; that he had no one of experience to bring his stock to Springfield, and when Hobbs begged to be taken back he decided to give him another chance. While I was with the General, Rose and Miss Edwards came in. They had driven out from town in a carriage, to see the Fair. The General had too many friends about him to leave, and so he asked me to escort the young ladies about the grounds, which I was glad to do. As we came out from the building where articles of domestic industry were exhibited, we saw Mr. Lincoln. He was surrounded by a group of men, among whom we noticed William H. Green, Jack Armstrong, and others from old Salem, in Menard County, where Lincoln had lived in his younger days, and some from the same neighborhood who were known as the ' Clary Grove boys." Mr. Lincoln was entertaining his friends with stories. We stopped and looked at the party from a distance, and Rose remarked that she thought Mr. Lincoln had better be preparing himself for his speech in answer to Senator Douglas. Tall as Mr. Lincoln was, he saw us over the heads of the crowd, and came over to speak to us, at the same time beckoning a young man in the company, whom we had not before observed, to come with him. After greeting us, he said he wanted to introduce a young friend, a lawyer from Decatur, and presented Mr. Richard J. Oglesby, whom he called " Dick Oglesby," and remarked that he had only a short time before returned from California, and that he had been a soldier in the Mexican War. I was struck, as were we all, with the appearance of this young man. He had a fine figure and graceful carriage, and his eyes beamed with intelligence. He was a little timid, almost bashful, at first, but soon was at his ease. He was full of rollicking fun, and had the drollest expressions, some of which, taken by them- selves, were anything but elegant ; yet his bearing, taken alto- gether, was dignified, almost courtly. With all his " Westernisms " and vernacular of the backwoods, or I might more appropriately say of the prairies, there was an air of candor and sincerity about Political Upheaval 199 him that gave everything he said and did a charm that drew^ men to him.* I have seen your father," said Mr. Lincoln to Rose, "and have complimented him upon the fine showing of stock he is mak- ing here. I also took occasion to express my admiration for his daughter." Rose blushed, and playfully replied that while she appreciated the compliment, she was not on exhibition, and was not compet- ing for a blue ribbon. "You deserve one from the women of Illinois," said Mr. Lincoln, " for the rebuke you gave Douglas yesterday." "I beg your pardon, sir," she said, "but I felt almost equally indignant toward you. How could you laugh and joke with those about you, when he was speaking in such an outrageous manner ? And how could you continue on such good terms with him ? You would not have found Mr. Lovejoy doing such a thing ! " "Perhaps I ought to feel a little guilty," replied Mr. Lincoln, "for I regard this abuse of the black man as brutal beyond expres- sion; but I have heard it all my life, and, as the boy said about skinning eels, it do n't hurt 'em so very much, it has always been done, they 're used to it. I 'm used to it." "I know it's done by people like our man Hobbs," persisted Rose, " but it ought not to be tolerated in a United States Senator." " Excuse me," said Mr. Oglesby, "but I think we had better • Richard J. Oglesby, more than any other of the public men of Illinois, filled the measure of what was called " a gentleman of the old school." His long and eventful life was filled with usefulness and high public service. During the nearly half a century that has elapsed since I first knew him, I saw him in many and various capacities, as lawyer, soldier, politician, and citizen. I saw him rise to a commanding position in the military service of his country : I saw him suffering from an almost mortal wound received upon the field of battle ; I saw him attain the highest positions in the gift of his State ; I saw him loaded with honors and responsibilities ; I saw him when the lives of several human beings, the Chicago anarchists, depended upon his decision, and I reahzed the intensity of his emotions in his desire to save them, and the heroism with which he overcame those emotions in his devotion to the public welfare ; I saw him in his retirement ; I saw him overcome by the burden of years and infirmities, — and through it all he maintained that serene grandeur and nobility of character for which he was distinguished. Governor Oglesby was not so great a lawyer as either Trumbull or Palmer ; he had not the dogged perseverance and unbounded ambition that characterized Logan ; he had not the grace of manner and elegance of diction of Yates ; but excepting Lincoln alone, there has been no lUinoisan who in a higher degree exemplified the noblest characteristics and traditions of the people of the State. 200 The mini leave all that to Mr. Lincoln. He knows better than anybody how to manage us sapsuckers. Lovejoy can never bring the old-line Whigs into the Anti-Nebraska party. Mr. Lincoln can do it, if you just let him alone. He knows how. Trust to him. He was born in Kentucky, as I was, and knows us Southern people. He 's almost made an Abolitionist of me." " I '11 tell you frankly, young lady," said Mr. Lincoln, "that I am not an Abolitionist, — far from it. That is, I cannot think it right for me, an lUinois man, to interfere with slavery in other States. I look upon slavery with horror, and cannot approve of its extension into any of the Territories that belong to the whole people. The Missouri Compromise line was a barrier against it in most of the Territories. Douglas's Nebraska bill broke down that barrier. Therefore I am opposed to Douglas and to his Nebraska bill. I am going to ask you, young lady," he continued, to give me some points for a speech. I am told that no one is so well informed as to the history of the slavery question as you are. I am in for this fight, and I want you to help me." And Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Oglesby rejoined their companions. Suddenly there was a shout and a rush. The crowds gathered, broke up, and ran pell-mell toward the great gate that guarded the entrance of the Fair-grounds, shouting, "Douglas! Douglas! Douglas! Hurrah for the Little Giant!" Rose and I remained where we were, and watched the mad scramble. An open barouche'entered the grounds, and soon we descried the Senator standing in the carriage, hat in hand, bowing right and left to the crowd. Cheer upon cheer rent the air, as the carriage passed. All were not for Douglas, but no doubt a large majority were his supporters, and they made the air ring with their acclaims. In the carriage with the Senator were his colleague in the Senate, Gen- eral Shields; Joel A. Matteson, Governor of the State; and John A. McClernand. We looked for Mr. Lincoln. He was still standing where we had last seen him, but the crowd that had been about him had dis- persed. They had joined in the mad rush to see and greet Doug- las. The only ones who had remained were Dick Oglesby, Bill Green, and Jack Armstrong. Mr. Lincoln pensively watched the enthusiastic crowd pressing about and following the Senator's car- Political Upheaval 201 riage, with a look of sadness upon his face such as I had never seen before, but which I have since seen many times. I thought of this scene afterwards, when in the presence of tens of thousands of people Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated as President of the United States at Washington, with Senator Douglas standing by, holding Mr. Lincoln's hat. CHAPTER VIIL LINCOLN REPLIES TO DOUGLAS THE space in the Representative Chamber of the State House was not sufficient to accommodate the crowd that gathered there to hear Mr. Lincoln in the afternoon. Rose and I went early and got a good seat. It was difficult for Mr. Lincoln him- self to make his way through the crowd to the stage. Senator Douglas was already there, and was invited to a seat near the speaker. Mr. Lincoln began by questioning the wisdom of his being selected to reply to the Senator. He spoke of the Senator's world- wide fame, of his high position in the Senate, of his great power in debate, and of what a serious undertaking it was to attempt to answer him before the people. Then he took up the considera- tion of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, which the Senator had carried through Congress, and in defense of which he had spoken the day before. Mr. Lincoln quoted from a speech of the Senator, made years before, wherein he had said that ' the Missouri Compromise is a sacred thing, canonized in the hearts of the people, which no ruthless hand would ever be reckless enough to disturb." At this point Douglas good-humoredly interrupted him, exclaiming, A first-rate speech!" Without noticing the interruption, Mr. Lincoln proceeded to state that when the Texas-boundary question was being con- sidered Douglas wanted to extend that line to the Pacific Ocean. "And you voted against it in Congress!" again interrupted Douglas. "I wanted to put it still farther south," replied Mr. Lincoln. ' ' I think, and I shall try to show, that the Nebraska bill is wrong, — wrong in its direct effect of admitting slavery into Kansas and 202 The mini Nebraska, and wrong in principle, allowing the institution to spread to any part of the world where men can be found to favor it." This tolerance for the spread of slavery, Mr. Lincoln said, he could not but hate. He hated it because of the monstrous injustice itself, and also because it deprived our Republican exam- ple of its just influence in the world, enabling the enemies of free institutions everywhere to taunt us as hypocrites, and causing the friends of freedom to doubt our sincerity; and he hated it especially because it forced so many good men into war with the fundamental principles of liberty, criticising the Declaration of Independence and insisting that there is no real principle of action except self- interest. He had no prejudices, he said, against the Southern people. They were just what we would be in their situation. If slavery did not already exist among them, they would not introduce it; if it existed among us, we would not instantly give it up. This he believed true of the masses both of the North and the South. Doubtless, he said, there were individuals on both sides who would not hold slaves under any circumstances, and there were others who would gladly introduce slavery anew if it were once out of existence. It was well known that some Southern men had freed their slaves, gone North and become Abolitionists; while some Northern men had gone South and become slave- holders. He said that when the Southern people reminded him of their constitutional rights, he acknowledged them, — not grudg- ingly, but fully and fairly; and he would favor giving them any legislation for reclaiming their fugitives which should not be more likely to carry a free man into slavery than our ordinary criminal laws are to hang an innocent man. But all this, in his judgment, furnished no more excuse for permitting slavery to go into our own free territory than it would furnish for reviving the African slave-trade. The law that forbids bringing slaves to us from Africa, and that which has so long forbidden the taking of them to Nebraska, can hardly be distinguished on any moral principle; and the repeal of the former could find quite as many plausible excuses as the latter. Mr. Lincoln then turned his attention more directly to Senator Douglas, who, with bitter irony and sarcasm, had paraphrased our Political Upheaval 203 argument by saying that " the white people of Nebraska are good enough to govern themselves, but they are not good enough to govern a few miserable negroes." He said : "I doubt not the peo- ple of Nebraska are, and will continue to be, as good as average people elsewhere ; I do not say the contrary; what I do say is that no man is good enough to govern another man without that other man's consent. I say that this is the leading principle, the sheet-anchor, of American RepubHcanisin. Our Declaration of Independence says : ' We hold these truths to be self-evident : that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with cer- tain inalienable rights ; that among these are life, hberty, and the pursuit of happiness ; that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed.' I have endeavored," continud Mr. Lincoln, " to show that according to our ancient faith the just power of govern- ment is derived only from the consent of the governed. Now the relation of master and slave is pro tanto a total violation of this principle. The master not only governs the slave without his con- sent, but he governs him by rules altogether different from those which he prescribes for himself. To allow all the governed an equal voice in the government, — that, and that only, is self- government. "Senator Douglas has said in substance," Mr. Lincoln pro- ceeded, " that he had always considered this government made for white people, and not for negroes. Well, in point of fact I think so too. But in this remark of the Judge there is a significance which is the key to the great mistakes he has made in this Ne- braska measure. It shows that he has no very clear realization that the negro is human, and consequently that there can be any moral question involved in legislating about him. In his view, the question whether a new country shall be slave or free is a matter of as complete indifference morally as it is whether his neighbor shall plant his farm with tobacco or stock it with cattle. Now, whether this view is right or wrong, it is certain that the great mass of mankind takes a totally different view. They consider slavery a great moral wrong, and their feeling against it is not evanescent but eternal." Referring to the Senator's talk about negro equality and social 204 The mini equality, Mr. Lincoln said: "I protest, now and forever, against that counterfeit logic which assumes that because I do not want a negro woman for a slave, I therefore want her for a wife. The Judge shows us the terrible enormities that take place by the mix- ture of the races, — that the inferior race drags the superior down. Why, Judge, if we do n't let them get together in the Territories they certainly will not mix there! " This sentence was received with applause and laughter, amidst which Mr. Lincoln added, "I should say that, at least, is a self-evident truth." Mr. Lincoln continued : I do not see how I can express my- self more plainly than I have done. I distinctly disclaim all inten- tion to bring about social and political equality between the white and black races. But I wish to make it equally plain that I think the negro is included in the word ' men ' as used in the Declara- tion of Independence. I believe the declaration that ' all men are created equal ' is the fundamental principle upon which our free institutions rest ; that negro slavery is in violation of that principle, although the principle has not been made one of legal obligation ; that by our form of government the States that have slavery are to retain it or surrender it at their own pleasure, and that all indi- viduals from other States, as well as the National government, are constitutionally bound to leave them alone to do as they like about it. I believe our government was thus framed because of the ne- cessity springing from the actual presence of slavery when it was formed, and that this necessity dose not exist in the Territories v/here slavery is not present." Addressing himself to the old-line Whigs with whom he had so long acted in following Henry Clay and his teachings, many of whom were now hesitating about casting their lot with the Anti- Nebraska party, Mr. Lincoln spoke of Mr. Clay's declaration that as an abstract principle there is no doubt of the truth of the dec- laration that all men are created equal, and that it is desirable, in the original construction of society and in unorganized societies, to keep this in view as a great fundamental principle; and that if a state of nature existed, and we alone were to lay the foundations of society, no man would be more strongly opposed than he (Mr. Clay) to incorporating the institution of slavery among its ele- ments. ' Exactly so," proceeded Mr. Lincoln. " In our new free Political Upheaval 205 Territories a state of nature' does exist. In them, Congress lays the foundation of society; and in laying those foundations, I say with Mr. Clay, that it is desirable that the declaration of the equality of all men be kept in view as a great fundamental prin- ciple, and that Congress, which lays the foundations of society, should, like Mr. Clay, be strongly opposed to the incorporation of slavery among its elements. But I will say again, that it does not follow that social and political equality between the whites and blacks must be incorporated because slavery must not be." I have given these extracts from Mr. Lincoln's speech in order to make clear his position at that time. It will be seen how intensely he abhorred slavery, — how iirmly he believed that the Declaration of Independence referred to white and black men alike ; that he was absolutely committed, as a constitutional duty, against interfering with slavery in the States where it already existed, but he insisted that it must not be permitted in the new Territories. No one can gain a more full and complete understanding of the fundamental principles upon which the Republican party was founded than by an examination of that first speech of Mr. Lin- coln. It abounded in quaint illustration, mostly humorous; and, when referring to the horrors of human slavery, in exquisite and touching pathos. It seemed to me then that Mr. Lincoln made it quite clear, not only that the repeal of the Missouri Compro- mise measure was uncalled for and inexpedient, but that it was a positive wrong ; and also that he abhorred slavery, and for that reason was opposed to permitting it to blight new and unoccupied territory. He also made it clear that his abhorrence of slavery did not imply that he favored negro equahty, miscegenation, or any- thing of that nature; and that, however much he abhorred the institution, he claimed no right to interfere with it in the States where it already existed, and that the Anti-Nebraska party claimed no such rights, and had no such intention. The only possible hope of success of the new party was in making these points quite clear ; and Mr. Lincoln proved to be the first advocate of its prin- ciples who was able to do so. He realized, as did no other Anti- Nebraska man at that time, that the announcement of an inten- tion to overthrow slavery in the States where it existed would be fatal to any man or party; that if such a movement were made, 2o6 The mini the people of Illinois would repudiate and overthrow it. Only one man in Illinois, besides Senator Douglas, seemed to understand the feelings and prejudices of the people upon this question, and that man was Abraham Lincoln. There was no one so potent as Douglas in working upon the prejudices of the people and awakening a feeling of distrust of the new party in its movement to prevent the further extension of slavery ; and no other man was so well equipped as was Lincoln to prove the fallacy and absurdity of Senator Douglas's position. Mr. Lincoln was thoroughly grounded in his convictions ; he could not, on the one hand, be browbeaten or cajoled or frightened by the negrophobists into at- tempting to justify the horrors of human slavery, nor to disregard or override the plain mandates of the Constitution by the anti- slavery men on the other. He it was who first laid out and clearly defined the position and meaning of the new party; and Senator Douglas, with all his skill, audacity, and genius, could not place him in a false position, as he had so many others. Because he was loyal to the Constitution, and could show clearly that antagonism to slavery in the Territories did not mean interference with slavery in the States, and did not mean negro equality, which was so much feared, he was able, beyond any other man who had appeared before the public, to lead men into the new Republican party. This speech of Mr. Lincoln was so plain and simple that it hardly seemed proper to dignify it by the name of an address or oration. There was in it no attempt at oratory. It seemed merely a talk, or explanation, by one of the plainest and commonest of men, who, pretending to no more than ordinary ability or fitness, had been persuaded to come forward and give his views upon the absorbing questions of the day. Nobody regarded him as a great man. He was so simple, candid, plain, homely, that the people who listened to him looked upon him only as one of themselves, neither better nor worse than they, making everything plain and clear to their understandings in language and with illustrations that all could comprehend. As one of his hearers said, " I don't keer fur them great orators, — I 'd as live hear a dog bark ! I want to hear jist a plain common feller like the rest on us, thet I kin foUer an' know whar he 's drivin'. Abe Linkern fills the bill 1 I do n't want to hear no big man struttin' over the stage like a turkey- Political Upheaval 207 cock, an' allowin' thet he knows it all. Abe Linkern ain't no sich sort o' a feller as thet ! " As Mr. Lincoln closed his speech, Mr. Lovejoy rushed for- ward and announced to the audience that there would be a meeting of the friends of freedom, — which of course meant the Abolition- ists, — at the same place that evening. Although urged to attend and speak at the evening meeting, Mr. Lincoln found it conven- ient to stay away. It was fortunate for his political future that he did so, as his presence at that meeting would have identified him with the Abolitionists, whose views he could not sanction, and would have destroyed his influence with conservative men, who, like himself, hated slavery but were devoted to the Constitution and the Union. Senator Douglas and others afterwards charged Mr. Lincoln with having been present and taking part in that Abolition meeting ; but it was untrue. As we walked away from the meeting, Rose asked, "Does Mr. Lincoln always speak like that ? " " I have never heard him in pubhc before," I replied. " But those who have known him and heard him for a long time say that the speeches he made a few years ago were very crude, and can scarcely be compared with those he makes now. They say that he is constantly learning and improving. What were your impres- sions of him? " " I did not like him at all at first," said Rose ; " in fact, I wanted to go out, and would have asked you to let me go, but thought it would be rude. He seemed to have so little refinement, and used such homely and droll expressions that he appeared like a back- woodsman ; but he was so sincere and earnest that I finally became interested. I almost wish I had not heard him, though, for he almost convinced me that it was wrong to attack slavery anywhere but in Kansas and Nebraska. It may be, as he claims, that slavery will be finally overthrown if it can be stopped where it is ; but in the meantime what are the poor slaves going to do ? Their misery will continue." " But Rose," I urged, " did he not show clearly that we in Illi- nois have no constitutional right to interfere with slavery in other States ? Did he not make it plain that the only thing we can do, as law-abiding citizens, is to prevent its extension ? " 2o8 The mini Yes, ' ' she answered ; ' ' but still it is cruel, unjust, and wrong ! ' ' " That is true, as you know I have always, even as a little boy, maintained; but did not Mr. Lincoln himself say as much ?" " Yes," she said. "I never heard a stronger argument against slavery than he made. It was as strong as anything I ever read from Mr. Lovejoy, or from anybody else'; but it seems to me it will take for ever and ever to get rid of it if we only fight against it in Nebraska and Kansas ! " " That may be true," I said, " and yet it is the only thing we can lawfully and constitutionally do against it. We can show its evils here among our own people, awaken the conscience of the people to its enormities, and create a public sentiment that will influence the people of the South, so that they will perhaps come to see it as we do, and finally give it up of themselves. Even now, I am sure many of the Southern people would be glad to throw it oS. Do n't you think, Rose, that Mr. Lincoln's speech will have a tendency in that direction ? " "It will," said Rose, "and I was glad to hear him come out as he did against slavery. I was glad he said that the words all men ' in the Declaration of Independence meant black men as well as white ; it almost made me love him. It was so different from those coarse things Senator Douglas said. As between those two men, — as well as we know Senator Douglas, and as much as my father likes him, I am for Mr. Lincoln. After all, Mr. Lincoln was right and I was wrong. He knows better than I." And she passed into the house. Afterwards, in years of uncertainty, doubt, disaster, and gloom, as well as of glory and triumph, how many times have I heard men who had been impatient with Mr. Lincoln, and had distrusted and censured him, finally say, as did Rose on that eventful day, "After all, Mr. Lincoln was right and I was wrong. He knew better than I!" CHAPTER IX. FOND FAREWELLS I WENT in the evening to see if Rose did not want to go to the Abolition meeting with me. But she said she was too tired to go out again, and that she wanted to talk with me. She began by saying that she expected to go away soon, and would not see me Political Upheaval 209 again for a long time, — perhaps never. I could hardly control my emotion, as I asked her where she was going, and why. " It is for my dear mother," she replied. " She has to go, and she needs me." Then she told me that Mrs. Silverton had been ailing for several months, and had gradually been growing weaker to such a degree as to awaken a feeling of uneasiness in the mind of her father ; that he wished her to go to Carlsbad or Weisbaden for the benefit of the waters, and that Rose should go with her. She urged me to continue faithful to the cause she had so much at heart, — the welfare of the poor slave. But, Rose," I said, " I shall be very lonely without you. I had hoped that I would always be able to see you as a friend, and that some day there might be a nearer tie between us. Do you remember, Rose, when you said to me, as we were looking out upon Lake Michigan, that you would like to sail away in a boat with somebody you liked, for ever and ever ? " I was but a child then," she replied, " and, indeed, I am lit- tle more than a child now — only sixteen. I have always wished for a brother, and when I saw you, and came to know you, it almost seemed to me this wish had been gratified, and you would be a brother to me, as I have wanted to be a sister to you." Dear Rose," I said, " I thank you for that wish ; but I have thought and hoped that I might some day be in a nearer and even dearer relation to you than that of brother." I do not think of you in that way," she replied. " I might perhaps have done so, sometime, if I had had a brother ; but you have grown into my life in that relation, and I have come to love you more than I can say. There is nothing I would not do for you, and no sacrifice 1 would not make for you. Will you not love me the same way in return ? " "You know. Rose, that I cannot help loving you," I replied, " and I will have to do so upon your own terms. Possibly," I con- tinued, as a great hope trembled in my breast, possibly you may some day think differently of me." It had occurred to me that the dear girl might really have a brother; but even then I saw the great gulf between them, and realized the frailty of such a hope. " I want you to ride with me on horseback to-morrow after- 14 2IO The mini noon," Rose said, changing the conversation. "My father is going to lend you his own saddle-horse, the finest in the State, a present from a friend in the East. He says that Kentucky will have to look to her laurels, or she will lose her supremacy in fine horses." When we came to (-ake our ride, I found that the horse I rode fully justified the General's praises. I had never before seen one of those famous Eastern horses, afterwards known as Hambleton- ians, of which I had heard so much. Until then, it was supposed in Illinois that no horses could be compared with those of Ken- tucky origin. These Hambletonians are now well known in Illinois, where some of the best of this stock are bred and sold sometimes at fabulous prices. Although we were superbly mounted, I did not care to make a display, and proposed to Rose that we take our ride in the coun- try. After a brisk trot of several miles, we reined in our horses, turned about, and settled down to a long walk. "When do you and your mother expect to leave, Rose?" I asked. "In a month," she said. "We have engaged passage on a Cunarder, from New York. Will you not come to see me again before I go ? " "I fear I cannot," I replied. " I cannot leave school. It was hard for me to give up a week to come down here; but I wanted to see you, and your father also." " My father is very fond of you," she said. He likes to have you with him, and always seems more cheerful when he can see you and talk with you. You cannot imagine how gloomy he is becoming. He often walks the floor of the library until midnight, and we hear him groan as though in some distress. We fear there is something troubling him, some secret sorrow. Kind and con- siderate as he is, he is very impetuous in his nature, and it is dreadful sometimes to see him when he gets in those moods. I have never seen him in one, except when he broke out upon Hobbs. It was about the time he returned from that visit with you to Mr. Browning. Hobbs was doing his work well enough, and there was no apparent reason for it, but he drove him from Political Upheaval 211 the house. Did you ever have any such experience with him?" Why do you ask such a question?" I asked. "Because," she said with some hesitation, "because Mamma has suspected that this might have been the case. She has heard him, when he supposed we were all asleep, cry out, as he walked the floor, in such expressions as ' I wronged him,' ' I was cruel to him,' I, who ought to have been his protector, drove him from me,' 'I shall never see his face again.' " " But, Rose, what could have made your mother think he referred to me ? ' ' 'Because," she replied, "he always brought in something about slavery. It is not his fault,' he would exclaim, ' he could not help it, and I let the hellhounds of slavery loose upon the poor boy,' and, knowing your position upon this question, and knowing no other boy of similar character, we thought he must have referred to you." Of course I could not disclose the story of her father's rela- tions to the poor fugitive, and could only say that never had her father been otherwise than considerate to me, and that if I had been his own son he could not have been more kind. I longed to tell her the whole sad story of the poor fugitive, and how her father had suffered since he had learned that he had been driven away and had become an outcast and a wanderer ; but I forbore. Such a revelation could not be made by me without a breach of confidence ; and I could only try to reassure her by expressing the belief that there was some misunderstanding which her father would very soon explain and be his old self again. "I would not leave him," she said, "but it seems absolutely necessary for my mother to go. The doctors say that it is the only hope of saving her, and my father insists upon her going. I want you to promise that you will keep in communication with my father, so that you can go to him if he needs you." We had now reached the Edwards house, and as I assisted her to spring from the saddle she turned to me and said : " I fear you have an idea, from what I said to you, that I love someone else. But I love you more than anyone. You are my dear and only brother." 212 The mini " Let it be so, if you so will," I replied. "For his own sake, as well as for yours, I will try to help your father." We shook hands and said good-bye. I felt her hand tremble, — but it may have been the tremor of my own hand that caused it. CHAPTER X. THE GENERAL'S STORY GENERAL SILVERTON had expressed a desire to see me in his room; and when I went there he said he wanted to tell me about Mrs. Silverton's illness, and also to talk with me about the young man in whom we were so much interested. " Rose has told me about her mother," I said, " and that they must go abroad. I hope it is nothing alarming?" "I cannot tell," said the General; " her case seems not to be understood by our physicians. The specialist whom she has had advises that she go abroad for treatment. I am very anxious about her and intend to exhaust every means for her recovery; therefore I have decided that she must go. It seems that there is no end of trouble for me." The General paused in anxious thought, and then continued: "I have had a letter from my New York agent, who incloses a letter from a banking firm in Rio de Janeiro, stating that a year ago the young man in whom we are interested, without again making a draft, left with them his letter of credit with instructions that it be forwarded to my bankers in New York, as he had no fur- ther use for it, — he having, as he said, found employment which supplied all his needs." "But," I asked, " does he not say where he is, or what he is doing?" "Not a word," said the General. "And now we have no means of tracing him. I had some faint hope that we might find him through his drafts for money; but now that hope is gone. What shall I do?" "He shows himself to be a young man of the noblest instincts," I ventured to say. He is, he is ! " exclaimed the General. " He was always so. Political Upheaval 213 If you could have known him from childhood you would have realized it, — so kind, considerate, and gentle, and still so brave and proud. You should have seen his devotion to his mother and to me ! — But what am I saying ? I must tell you the whole story. I have never told it to anybody, — not even to Mr. Browning. But I must tell it to somebody, and, young as you are, I have faith in you. Sit down and listen to the story of the sin and sorrow, the folly and suffering, of an old man who once, like you, was young." I seated myself without a word, and the General proceeded. "The young man whose life you saved, and whom we are now seeking, is my son. His mother was a slave woman, owned by my sister, Mrs. Selby. I first knew her when she and I were children. She was bought by my sister at Norfolk, Virginia, from an African trader who had brought a large cargo of slaves into that port, — almost the last cargo ever brought to our shores, as very soon thereafter the law prohibiting the slave-trade went into effect. This slave-trader had stocked his ship on the coast of Africa, entirely with negroes. Many of the poor wretches had died on the voyage; and the trader, in order, as he claimed, to replenish his cargo, had bought a large number of slaves from French refugees who were fleeing with their property, including their slaves, from the French West Indies islands to New Orleans. It was after- wards stated, and was generally believed, that this slave-trader was also a pirate, and that he had obtained his cargo by seizing and despoiling the ships of those poor refugees. " My sister was struck with the extraordinary appearance of this little girl. She was so fair, gentle, and refined, so well edu- cated, speaking the purest French which my sister translated for the others, and withal so well dressed, as to appear far above the other slaves who made up the cargo. She could not speak a word of English, but protested in French that she was not a slave, — to which the trader replied that she had evidently been brought up in the household of the family to whom she belonged, and was feigning all this in the hope of being set free. He said it was not uncommon for French Creoles to educate the most promising of their slave children, in order that, while they were caring for white children as nurses, they might be useful also in educating them. On account of these accomplishments, the trader placed a high 214 T^^ mini price upon this slave-child, and my sister finally bought her for a thousand dollars." " But," I asked, "did not the child give her name?" " Oh, yes," replied the General. "Juliette Besanfon was her name." I started when the name was pronounced, but did not inter- rupt, while the General proceeded to tell the story of how he and the little girl grew up together, and how they became attached to each other. "You are perhaps thinking," he continued, "that our rela- tions became such as are too common among the young men of family in the South and the young slave women who grow up near them. Such a thought would do us both a great injustice. She was as pure as she was beautiful and accomplished. I loved her beyond the power of expression, and found that my feelings were reciprocated. Finally I determined to marry her. There was, however, an obstacle in the'way which I had not considered. When I presented the matter to the young woman, she, realizing the efiect of such a marriage, positively refused to consider it. She said I did not realize what I was proposing ; that her love for me was too great to allow me to be made an object of derision and scorn by marriage with a slave woman. "When I found her so determined," continued the General, "I was in despair. I felt that I could not remain in the neigh- borhood without being permitted to see her, and that I must go away. I considered for a long time what it was best to do, before coming to a decision. "My mother had died when I was a child, and when I was eighteen years old my father died. As he had made ample provis- ion for my sister, who was much older than I when she married, he left his entire estate to me, and upon attaining my majority I had come into possession of it. The first thing I decided was that I would not continue to be a slaveholder. I knew something of the difficulties and embarrassments incident to emancipating his slaves by a Virginia planter. This led me to consider emigrating to the West. I had very favorable reports regarding Illinois, which we even then regarded as a part of Virginia, as it was a portion of the territory which Virginia had ceded to the United States. I Political Upheaval 215 knew that by the Ordinance of 1787 Illinois had been dedicated forever to freedom. I decided to make a journej' west and see the country. Taking with me a considerable sum of money, I crossed the mountains, descended the Ohio to Cairo, and ascended the Mississippi to St. Louis. There I chanced to fall in with Colonel William Ross, who had located at Atlas, in Pike County, and was persuaded by him to go there. I found a large tract of land with which I was pleased, and at once bought it, paying what money I had down, and obligating myself for the deferred payments. That is the property included in what is called 'The Grange,' which is my home, to which I have added very considerably. I then returned to Virginia, emancipated my slaves, and sold such parts of my estate as brought a fair price, and have since sold all that remained. I provided for the care of such of my former slaves as wished to remain there, and afterwards took such as wished to go with me to my Western home. "In the meantime, my brother-in-law and my sister had be- come much interested in the West, and he decided to return with me and look the country over. He wished to retain his slave prop- erty, and therefore desired to locate in a slave State. I had learned that land could be bought in Missouri even more favorably than in Illinois. My sister and he wished to be near me, and he finally located in Pike County, Missouri, just across the river from me. Upon that plantation in Pike County, Missouri, my son was born, — and from there he was fleeing when you found him in company with Mr. Davis. " I made arrangements," continued the General, " for break- ing my lands and bringing them under cultivation ; but my heart was all the time with the young woman I loved. Finally I decided to leave my interests in the hands of a competent agent, and go abroad. I wandered about Europe for a year, receiving occasional letters from home, among which none were so valued as those from the woman I adored. In nearly every one of them she begged me to give my heart and hand to some good woman of my own sta- tion in life. "When I landed at New York, upon my return, I found my sister and family there, and with them, as was always the case, that noble woman. Realizing, as I fully did, the force of all that 2i6 The mini she had said, I had tried to shut her out of my heart; but the moment I saw her again the old affection revived, and I loved her with a devotion greater than I had ever felt before. Upon being with her and talking with her, although she vainly sought to con- ceal her emotions, it was plain that her affection for me had not been lessened during our long separation. " How can I describe the awful struggle that was going on in our hearts ! I had determined that I was ready to suffer any dis- grace or disaster to win her. She had as firmly resolved that she would not permit me to make the sacrifice. I was in despair, so much so that there was danger of losing my reason. She became alarmed, and, as the only hope of saving me, said she would marry me upon one condition, which was that we be married in secret and that the secret should be kept inviolate. When I urged that this would dishonor her, she replied that no one can be dishonored who knows himself or herself to be pure. We ourselves would know, she said, that we were lawfully married, and what would it matter what the public might think or say? But for her to be known and recognized as my wife would in the South, and even in the North, as people look upon the relations between the races, bring disgrace and shame to both ; although the relations which the public would suppose to exist between us are too common in the South even to excite comment. As society is constituted, for a man of good family to have such relations with a slave woman, or with a woman who had ever been a slave, is not regarded as any- thing out of the way ; but marriage to such a woman, and devotion to her, although she be "pure as snow and chaste as ice," is an offense never to be condoned. She spoke of how, in his history of England, Macaulay could find no more vivid illustration of the race prejudices of the Normans against the Saxons, whom they despised, than by saying that the marriage of Beauclerc to an En- glish princess was " regarded as a marriage between a white planter and a quadroon girl would now be regarded in Virginia." I said that we might make known her identity, and her possession of the best French blood ; but she replied that we had no proof of this, and that the attempt had already proved futile. Not to weary you with further details," the General pro- ceeded, "we were finally married in the city of New York, I by Political Upheaval 217 my own name and she by that of Juliette Besanpon, which she was called when a child. She kept the marriage certificate as long as she lived. My sister never knew of our marriage, but made no objection to my relations with her. Although, in accordance with our understanding, the secret was always kept inviolate while she lived, no husband and wife were ever more devoted to each other. The boy whom you now know was our first and only child. That noble woman, all through her married life, was content to be mis- understood, keeping her secret to protect me. I was true to her, and while she lived I never had a thought of an alliance with any other woman. "You will think," said the General, "that I should have defied the world and proclaimed her my wife. Many times I con- sidered this, and would have done it if I could have seen that it would have helped her. To go away together would not have remedied the matter, as anywhere in the South, and even in the North, our position would have been intolerable. While slavery is held in abhorrence by many people in the North, there is the same race prejudice there as at the South on the question of inter- marriage. In Illinois it is if possible more intense than anywhere else. Even with all this, I would have defied the world and all its prejudices if she had given me the least encouragement to do so ; but she would never listen to it. She said it would ruin her as well as me, and that, as to our boy, it would only call general atten- tion to facts that had better be kept concealed, — that when she was dead he could go away where he would not be known and make his own way in the world." I had not interrupted the General throughout his story; but when he ended I exclaimed, " General, I know that Juliette Be- sanfon was a woman of noble family. I know it can be proved ! " "You!" he said, "You? How could you know anything about it ? You are but a boy ! " " I do know," I said. Listen! Do you remember when you put me on the boat with Leonard Swett and Mr. Herndon? Well, they were then on their way to Quincy, to consult Mr. Browning. I stopped off there with them, and heard the whole conversation at their interview with him." Then I related in detail the interview, which was fresh in my 21 8 The mini mind, as it had made a deep impression upon me, — how that old man. Colonel Besanfon, had for all these years been longing for and vainly endeavoring to find his lost child, w^ith little hope, until Gabe had brought him that Bible, and how he was now moving heaven and earth to find her. The General was astonished at this information. He plied me with questions, and made me repeat what I had said over and over again. I could only reiterate my statements. Finally I said, " You can step over to Lincoln and Herndon's office, and Mr. Herndon will tell you himself." He seized his hat and started to go, but came back and sat down and reflected. " No," he said, "I must not go to Herndon. To consult him would lay my whole life bare before him ; and I cannot do that with him. He is a strong anti-slavery man, and will not understand me. I will go to Mr. Browning; he is the custodian of some parcels and papers she left, with her own instructions written on them." "Yes," I added, " and Mr. Browning said that he had some- where seen the name of Juliette Besanfon, — that he had an indistinct recollection of its having in some way been connected with some client, and remembered something about a question coming up about the pronunciation of the name." " I will see him as soon as I can get away from the Fair," said the General, earnestly. He was lost in thought for a few moments, and then exclaimed, " It 's too late ! too late ! She is dead, and the poor boy is wan- dering somewhere in the world, seeking to hide himself from the disgrace which he feels is overwhelming him, — too much devoted to me and my family to use my name with all it would imply, and too proud to accept the substantial assistance to which as my son he is entitled. It will do no good to pursue the matter. Leave me, my young friend, to whom I am so much indebted, — leave me for a time; I want to think." "I believe," I said, "that you have no good reason for being so discouraged. The young man cannot be otherwise than pros- perous, or he would not have returned your letter of credit. He evidently had found some means to provide for his wants." "I had thought of that," said the General; "yet still, I do not know it." Political Upheaval 219 You do know," I said, "that when he went away he ac- cepted your assistance, and that he wrote Davis that he had the means of providing for himself. Were he in trouble, I am sure he would write Davis about it. He is making his own way, and the time will come when you will know it." I am glad to hear you say so, my young friend; it is very encouraging. And now one thing more. When Rose and her mother have gone abroad, will you not come to see your old friend, and cheer his loneliness ? " "I will indeed,"'! replied, "if you need me. You have only to tell me that you want me." He arose, and placing both his hands upon my shoulders, said : It was very kind of you to come down here. You can have no idea how much comfort you have been to an old man who is greatly troubled. I am grateful to you for it." " It will be enough for me," I said, "to have your respect and confidence. Now I must say good-bye. I must go this evening. I have already been too long away from my school." "I cannot detain you," he said; "but can I do nothing to serve you? I have means which I would gladly place at your disposal." "Nothing," I said, "except to permit me to serve you when- ever I can." He followed me down the stairs and to the door, and, wringing both my hands, bade me good-bye. I was moving away, when he called me back to him. " Promise me," he said, " that if you or Davis hear anything from my boy, you will let me know. I would go to the ends of the earth to find him ! " "I will," I said, and turned and walked away. CHAPTER XI. INSIDE VIEWS OF ILLINOIS POLITICS 1 FOUND everybody in Springfield, and at the Fair, talking about the contest between Lincoln and Douglas, and each party elated at the success of its champion. The Douglas men were happy to find not only that the great masses of the Demo- 220 The mini cratic party were still devoted to their leader, and would stand by him, but also that he had awakened some of the old-line Whigs to the dangers of negro supremacy and of disunion to such a degree as to keep them from casting their lot with the new Anti- Nebraska party. The Anti-Nebraska men were no less elated. Those who had enthusiastically joined the new movement were confirmed in their faith, while many who had been inclined to go with the new party, but had misgivings, were now convinced that opposition to the extension of slavery into the Territories of the United States did not mean either negro equality or disloyalty to the Union, and came out squarely against Douglas. These men were convinced that no one in Illinois was so capable of meeting him in a public discussion as was Mr. Lincoln. Among those whom I met at this time was Dwight Earle. I was not in a mood for talking with him, but could not avoid him. "I have just come from your man ' Spot Lincoln,' " he said. " He is over there at the State House, telling stories. They are awfully good, but would hardly do to print. I never saw a clown in a circus that could hold a candle to him in fun-making. Every- body likes him, Democrats the same as Whigs. I thought old Governor McMurtry, and Sam Casey, and Charley Constable, and John Logan, and Phil Fouke, and Sam Buckmaster, and Bill Morri- son, would split with laughter. You 'd have thought they liked him as well as the Whigs. U. F. Linder was there, and you know he 's almost as good at story-telling as Lincoln is. It seemed as though there was a sort of story-telling match going on between Linder and Lincoln. Lincoln beat, all right ! But think of comparing him as a statesman with Stephen A. Douglas! Why, he's just naturally fit for the Illinois Legislature; he's good timber for that, and when you 've said that you 've sized him up. He got to Con- gress once, but he killed himself the first time he opened his mouth, and got the name of ' Spot Lincoln, ' which he can never shake off, and probably don't want to. Did you know that the Anti-Nebraska men have just nominated him for the Legislature? What a come-down for a Member of Congress ! Mrs. Lincoln, who is as ambitious as Lucifer, tried to stop it; but they knew where he belonged, and fixed him there. He thinks he's a can- didate for United States Senator; but he's off on that. I heard % t Political Upheaval 221 Mr. Judd say he would n't vote for him, and Judd is the biggest Anti-Nebraska man in the State. None of the old Democrats who tried to sell out Douglas will ever vote for Lincoln for Sena- tor, — Trumbull's their man." "Well, Dwight," I said, as soon as I could get a chance to speak, "Lincoln's speech in the State House certainly showed that no man in Illinois is so able to cope with Douglas as he. Douglas himself knows it better than anybody; and whether Lincoln is elected Senator, or stays here in Springfield practicing law, he is the man that Douglas has got to settle with. Sooner or later, Douglas must answer the arguments Mr. Lincoln is mak- ing, or go down ; it may not be this year or next, but the day is coming when Douglas will find he is in a life-and-death struggle with this man whom you call a clown. Lincoln is in the right, and Douglas in the wrong; and so sure as they both live, Lincoln will triumph. Good bye ! " I wished to call on Mr. Herndon, and accordingly made my way to Lincoln and Herndon's ofEce. Mr. Lincoln was in the front room with some friends about him. I asked for Mr. Herndon, and was directed into the back room where he was. Mr. Herndon greeted me cordially, asked me about my visit to Springfield, and spoke of our meeting at General Silverton's and at Quincy. I asked him if he had learned anything more about the matter upon which he had consulted Mr. Browning. "No," he said; "it has been so long, — over forty years, — since the child was stolen, that I fear the mystery will never be solved. It is only another illustration of the horrors of slavery, a system under which a child of as good Caucasian blood as any of us can be stolen away and sold into slavery, her father and mother in despair; and this in our boasted land of freedom ! " On my inquiring who the gentlemen were with Mr. Lincoln, he took me out and Mr. Lincoln himself presented me to Mr. Jesse W. Fell of Bloomington, Mr. Joseph Gillespie, Dr. Robert Boal of Lacon, Mr. Lawrence Weldon of Clinton, Mr. Amos C. Babcock of Canton, and Mr. Ward Hill Lamon of Bloom- ington, — all men whom Mr. Lincoln loved and trusted. Few men knew Mr. Lincoln better, or preserved more vivid and intimate recollections of him, than Judge Weldon. To Mr. 222 The mini Lamon particularly Mr. Lincoln gave evidence, on a most trying and important occasion, of his unbounded confidence in his cour- age and discretion. Mr. Lamon was a very Hercules in physical strength, and in later years showed himself possessed of considerable intellectual povi^er, by writing an excellent biography of Lincoln. "Hill," said Mr. Lincoln, addressing Mr. Lamon by the name by which his friends usually called him, "this young man is a friend of General Silverton, and belongs to an Abolition family up in the neighborhood of Galesburg." "Yes," responded Lamon, " they say that in that region there are runaway niggers under every haystack! " "I would not think it strange," said Mr. Weldon, "if this young man could tell us something about the management of the Underground Railway in that section ! " " Do you remember, Mr. Lincoln, my meeting you at Gales- burg?" I asked. " I remember it quite well," he answered, " and of my having a sort of frolic in the hotel office with Governor McMurtry, Squire Barnett, and the old friends there, telling stories. I have just left the old Governor at the State House. I also remember meeting you with Mr. Browning and General Silverton, at supper. But how can you, a Galesburg Free Soiler, be on such good terms with a Democrat like General Silverton?" "We came around the lakes on the same steamer," I said. " He became acquainted with my father and mother, and was very kind to me." "And, besides. General Silverton has a daughter," Mr. Lin- coln said, with a quizzical look at me. "She is an Abolitionist, and is as well informed in regard to everything pertaining to slav- ery as William Lloyd Garrison himself: and they say you con- verted her, and in fact have almost converted her father! " " He will never join us," I said. "He firmly believes that the abolition of slavery, or any general movement in that direction, will result in a dissolution of the Union. He has no love for slavery, as I have good reason to know ; but he believes the dan- gers to the country from an agitation of the question are greater than any that are likely to come from the institution itself." If the Democrats who came over to us propose to control Political Upheaval 223 everything, I think we already have plenty of them," said Hern- don. " Four-fifths of the Anti-Nebraska men are old-line Whigs. There will be but a handful of Anti-Nebraska Democrats in the Legislature, and they want to dictate to us. It 's a case of the tail trying to wag the dog. They are already saying that if we, the Anti-Nebraska men, carry the Legislature, they will consent to the election of no one but an old-line Democrat to Shields's place in the Senate. Now Mr. Lincoln is the leader in our fight, and he is the man for the place. Everybody except the httle coterie of Democrats concedes this ; but Judd and Palmer and Cook are already conspiring to elect a Democrat. Taking advantage of Lincoln's absence from home, they made him a candidate for the Legislature, in order to shut him out from being a candidate for Senator. Mrs. Lincoln was sharp enough to see through it, and she herself had Mr. Lincoln's name taken out of the newspaper as a candidate for the Legislature; but they had it put back in, and there it stands." "There is no hope for me," said Mr. Lincoln, rather sadly. " It will be as it has always been ; the same fatality that has always followed me will follow me now. John T. Stuart, my old friend and partner, and many of my old Whig friends, think I have ruined myself forever by associating with the Free Soilers, while the Free Soilers think I am not radical enough to be worthy of their con- fidence. Still, I know that most, I think nearly all, of the Anti- Nebraska men favor me for Senator. Yet there will be enough Democrats in our new party to defeat me. Somehow, I never seemed to be lucky in pohtics. I went to Congress, and thought I was on the road to success; but the Mexican War came on, and though I voted for all the war appropriations, yet because I did not approve of the war, and said so in Congress in the best speech I ever gave, it made me so unpopular that I could not have been elected dog-pelt^r after that. I feel sometimes like the man who opposed the War of 1812, and finding how unpopular it made him he declared that hereafter he would be for war, pestilence, and famine! " We all laughed, but there was no smile upon Mr. Lincoln's face; rather there was a look upon it that reminded me of his face as I had seen it at the Fair, when nearly everyone deserted 224 The mini him to run after Douglas's carriage and join in the plaudits of the great Senator, — a look that once seen could never be forgotten. The result of the Fall election proved precisely as Mr. Lin- coln had predicted. The Anti-Nebraska men had a majority in the Legislature, to which Mr. Lincoln himself had been elected. It required fifty-one votes to elect a United States Senator; and the forty-six Anti-Nebraska Whigs were practically all for Mr. Lincoln. He at once resigned his seat in the Legislature, which he had accepted contrary to Mrs. Lincoln's admonition, and became a candidate for Senator; but notwithstanding that he had all of those Anti-Nebraska Whigs for him, with nine-tenths of the voters of the new party at their backs, five Anti-Nebraska Democrats, — John M. Palmer, Norman B. Judd, Burton C. Cook, Baker, and Allen, persisted in voting for Lyman Trumbull, an Anti-Nebraska Democrat. After several ballots, to prevent the election of Gov- ernor Matteson, a Douglas Democrat, to whom some of them would have gone over, Mr. Lincoln withdrew, and turned all his votes over to Judge Trumbull, who was elected. In the whole political history of Illinois, there has never been another instance of such magnanimity. It was not without diffi- culty that Mr. Lincoln persuaded those forty-six devoted friends to give him up, and go over to Judge Trumbull; but it was a mat- ter of principle with him, and when he urged the importance of Illinois having a Free-soil Senator they yielded to his desires. Judge Trumbull thus gained the position which Mr. Lincoln desired, and Mr. Lincoln went back to the practice of the law. Important events followed each other in rapid succession dur- ing the next two years. Instead of the country becoming quieted by the transfer of the question of the extension of slavery, through the abrogation of the Missouri Compromise line, to the Territories themselves, as Senator Douglas predicted would be the case, sec- tional animosities became more bitter than ever before. In the efiforts of the South to establish slavery in the Territories, and of the North to prohibit it, the contest became more widespread and general. The "Border Ruffians" of the South met the "Jay- hawkers" of the North in deadly conflict on the plains of Kan- sas, the slaveholders led by the Atchisons and Stringfellows, and the Free State men by Jim Lane and old John Brown. The Political Upheaval 225 South had at first a great advantage in this contest, for Missouri, a slave State, bordered upon Kansas, and all along the border the Southern men gathered in great numbers, and it was an easy mat- ter for them to cross the Missouri River into Kansas and control elections and terrorize the people. But great numbers of hardy and enterprising Northern men, imbued with the spirit of freedom, who sought homes in the West, soon gave the advantage to the North. Mass-meetings were held in both the North and South, to raise arms and equip men for the journey to the new territories, and for the deadly conflict which they knew must follow. Henry Ward Beecher thundered from his Northern pulpit ana- themas against slavery, declaring that it was better to send Sharps rifles to Kansas than to send Bibles ; while at the South similar inflammatory appeals were made, and the young men were urged to take up arms and go to Kansas to fight the battles of the South. The conflict was still raging when the Presidential campaign of 1856 came, and scarcely anything but slavery was then considered. Illinois had so long been under the domination of the Democratic party and its invincible leader, Douglas, that it seemed almost futile to take a stand against it. The Whig party, which had so long vainly disputed Democratic supremacy in the State, had gone down forever. But men rose up against the repeal of the Missouri Com- promise, who were unalterably opposed under any circumstances to the further extension of slavery. In Illinois, Free-Soil Demo- crats and Whigs and Abolitionists united, calling themselves Anti- Nebraska men. They had succeeded in defeating a Democrat for Senator by electing Judge Trumbull, which encouraged them beyond measure; but they had as yet no State organization and no effective political machinery. CHAPTER XII. THE BLOOMINGTON CONVENTION OF 1856, AND MR. LINCOLN'S "LOST SPEECH" IT is curious to study, from the meagre information that has been preserved, the remarkable State Convention held by the Anti- Nebraska men of Illinois in 1856. So important was this conven- tion, that to have been a member of it has been in itself a distinc- 15 226 The mini tion. Much has been written about it, but there were no reports of the speeches. We know what official action was taken, we have the resolutions that were passed and the names of the candidates nominated ; but for what was actually said we are obliged to depend in great measure upon tradition. All the leaders of the new party were there, — Trumbull, Lincoln, Palmer, Oglesby, Yates, Brown- ing, Wentworth, Lovejoy, David Davis, Judd, Cook, Medill, Dubois, Hatch, Butler, and many others whose names have ever since become household words in Illinois. Men who had been in antagonism all their lives met together for a common purpose. The leaders had been many times in the political conventions of their respective parties. They had met each other on the stump in earnest and sometimes ascrimonious debates, each battling for the principles of his party. If it had been suggested, three short years before, that such opposite characters and former political opponents as Lincoln, Browning, Lovejoy, Wentworth, Trumbull, Judd, Palmer, Oglesby, Cook, and Yates would ever meet together in a harmonious political convention in Illinois, the idea would have been received with derision. Besides the old political lead- ers, many young men were there, among them Ward H. Lamon, W. P. Kellogg, Thomas J. Henderson, Jackson Grimshaw, Will- iam Jayne, J. W. Bunn, Thomas J. Pickett, J. F. Farnsworth, Stephen A. Hurlbut, and C. B. Denio, all of whom had been imbued with the spirit of liberty. The repeal of the Missouri Com- promise had been the means of bringing these apparently discordant and incongruous elements together, of calling into existence a new organization destined to wrest the sceptre from the Democratic party, and to dominate for nearly half a century the affairs of the State and of the Nation. Giving up the title of Anti-Nebraska men, they formed a new organization and called it the Republican party of Illinois.* John M. Palmer was called upon to preside at this convention, *" Among those who appeared at Bloomington was Mr. Joseph Medill, afterwards editor of the Chicago Tribune. He had come to the State but a short time before, from Ohio, and was destined to wield a commanding influence. It may be doubted whether any Illinois man, excepting only Mr. Lincoln, wielded a greater influence in bringing the Republican party into power in Illinois. Under his sway the Chicago Tribune organized victory and dictated policies. Mr. Medill's judgment was not always correct, and in later years his recollection of events was not infallible : but he was able, earnest, and honest, and scarcely any other man did more effective work. Political Upheaval 227 and Colonel William H. Bissell was nominated as the candidate for Governor. Colonel Bissell had recently come home from the Mexican War, a hero. He had led away, as Colonel of a regi- ment, the best and bravest of Illinois men, of whom he was the idol. He fought in several battles, especially distinguishing him- self at Buena Vista. A Democrat in politics, upon his coming home he was elected without opposition to Congress, and returned to his seat again and again. In Congress he had promptly, and with caustic and severe denunciation, called Jefferson Davis to account for what he regarded as a reflection upon Illinois men who fought in the Mexican War, and was summoned by Davis to meet him outside the District to receive a communication which meant a challenge to a duel. Bissell immediately responded, accepting the demand, and chose muskets as the weapons, to be used at so short a range as to make the combat probably fatal to both parties. Through the intercession of President Zachary Taylor, Davis's father-in-law, the challenge was withdrawn, and the duel between these men, both of whom had gallantly fought under Taylor in Mexico, was prevented; but Colonel Bissell came out oftheafiair with great credit. Although a Democrat, he could not favor the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and vigorously opposed it. No more worthy or popular man could have been found to lead the new party. The other officers nominated were strong men. A leading character of Illinois, Jesse K. Dubois, familiarly called "Uncle Jesse," was nominated for State Auditor. He was a devoted friend and admirer of Mr. Lincoln, and had with him fought many a political battle. He was from " away down in Egypt," — Law- rence County, — where his rugged character and sterling qualities were recognized and appreciated. Our old friend Colonel William Ross, of Pike County, was at the convention, as was Mr. Ozias M. Hatch, whom I had met at General Silverton's house ; and the delegation from Pike succeeded in nominating Mr. Hatch for the office of Secretary of State. Francis A. Hoffman, of Chicago, was nominated for Lieutenant-Governor; but he declined, and that noble old Roman, John Wood of Quincy, was placed upon the ticket, and afterwards, through the death of Governor Bissell, became Governor. James Miller, of McLean County, was nom- 228 The mini inated as State Treasurer; and W. H. Powell, of Peoria, as Superintendent of Public Instruction. A Presidential electoral ticket was also nominated, with Abraham Lincoln at its head. Questions of national interest, which had hitherto divided po- litical parties, — the tariff, finance, and others, — had to be ignored or handled very gingerly, to avoid treading on the toes of members of the Convention who had for years been in antagonism to each other. The salient features of the platform were declarations that it was the power and duty of Congress to "prevent the further spread of slavery," that "justice, humanity, the principles of freedom as expressed in our Declaration of Independence and our National Constitution, and the purity and the perpetuity of our government, require that that power should be exerted to prevent the extension of slavery into Territories heretofore free," and that "the repeal of the Missouri Compromise was unwise, unjust, and injurious, an open violation of the plighted faith of the States"; that the attempt to force slavery upon Kansas and Nebraska, against the known wishes of the people, was an "arbitrary and tyrannous violation of the rights of the people to govern themselves," etc. The platform declared devotion to the Union, and denounced the efforts of the administration to bring about disunion, while at the same time being careful to declare that "all the constitutional rights of the States" must be main- tained. Owen Lovejoy, of whom it has been said that he, like Otis of Colonial fame, was 'a flame of fire," stirred the members of the convention, who had not forgotten the murder of his brother on Illinois soil. John Wentworth, forceful and strong, exerted a powerful influence ; Lyman Trumbull, fresh from his active duties in the Senate, could tell of the situation in Congress. O. H. Browning, David Davis, Leonard Swett, and Henry C.Whitney, all cautious and conservative lawyers, carefully and critically considered every question ; Richard Yates, almost as radical as Lovejoy, lent the inspiration of his eloquence; Norman B. Judd, who had been the shrewdest and cleverest politician of the Dem- ocratic party, carefully guarded every action and position with reference to its effect upon public sentiment and the election; Political Upheaval 229 while John M. Palmer, in the chair, deftly managed the conven- tion and brought all the incongruous and naturally antagonistic elements into such harmonious action as to insure the best pos- sible results. Amidst them all, so quietly and unpretentiously that at the beginning they scarcely realized that he was a factor in the con- vention, the genius of Abraham Lincoln watched and controlled its every movement. When all the others had spoken, when the nominations had been made, the platform adopted, and the business of the day finished, Mr. Lincoln was called to the speakers' stand. More has been said and written about that speech of Mr. Lincoln's than of any other ever made in Illinois. It is well called "the lost speech." It was not reported, and there is no reliable repro- duction of it in existence. Those who began to make notes of it soon forgot pencil and paper, and listened in rapt attention.* Mr. Henry C. Whitney, who was present, has published in a recent magazine what he regards as a reproduction of the speech ; but it has not satisfied those who heard it. Judging from all that has been written and said concerning it, it must have been remarkable. Its effect, in electrifying and inspiring the convention, must have equalled that of the great eflort of Patrick Henry in the House of Delegates of Virginia. I remember the enthusiasm of those who, upon coming home, described its character and effect. While all who heard it concurred in saying it was wonderful, they were not agreed as to what the speaker said, or what line of thought he followed. Mr. Herndon says that Judge T. Lyle Dickey declared that Mr. Lincoln in that speech promulgated the doctrine that the government "could not endure permanently. *Mr. Herndon wrote of this speech : " I attempted for about fifteen minutes, as was usual with me, to take notes ; but at the end of that time I threw pen and paper away, and lived only in the inspiration of the hour. ... I have heard and read all of Mr. Lin- coln's great speeches, and I give it as my opinion that the Bloomington speech was the grand effort of his life. Heretofore he had simply argued the slavery question on the grounds of policy. — the statesman's grounds, — never reaching the question of radical and eternal right. Now he was newly baptized and freshly born ; he liad the fervor of a new convert; the smothered flame broke out; enthusiasm, unusual to him, blazed up; his eyes were aglow with inspiration; he felt justice; his heart was alive to the right; his sympathies, remarkably deep for him, burst forth, as he stood before the throne of eternal right." 230 The mini half slave and half free," and that at his (Dickey's) solicitation, Mr. Lincoln promised to discontinue proclaiming this doctrine during that campaign.* The delegates returned to their homes full of enthusiasm, and called mass-meetings in their several counties. Such a meeting w^as called at the Court House in Springfield, announced by flaming posters, at which Mr. Lincoln v^as to speak. ]ust three persons were present at the meeting, — Mr. Lincoln, his partner Mr. Herndon, and Mr. John Pain. Mr. Lincoln's speech was as follows: *' This meeting is larger than I knew it would be. While I knew that my partner and I would attend, I was not sure that anyone else would be here ; and yet another man has been found who was brave enough to come. While all seems dead, the age itself is not. It liveth as sure as our Maker liveth. Under all this seeming want of life and motion, the world does move nevertheless. Be hopeful; and now let us adjourn, and appeal to the people." With his natural tendency to melancholy, we can imagine what a night that was, and what the days that immediately followed were to Abraham Lincoln. *One of the few survivors of that memorable convention, Hon. Wm. Pitt Kellogg, afterwards Governor of Louisiana and Senator from that State, writes under date of June 5, 1903, as follows: '* Lincoln's speech I recall vividly. When he came forward to speak, of course there was tremendous excitement and great applause. He began very slowly, holding in his left hand a card on which he had evidently jotted down his points. After making a point and reaching a climax, he would with a peculiar gesture, having slowly in the meantime walked from the rear to the front of the platform, hurl his climax, so to speak, at his audience, then stop suddenly, and while the convention rose to its feet, and cheered and applauded again and again, Lincoln would walk slowly back some dis- tance, bowing, until after the applause had subsided, glancing In the meantime at the card he held in his hand. He would then resume his speech, repeatedly making his points in the same manner, and with the same results. I do not think he made the point, — I am sure he did not distinctly, — of the ' house divided against Itself ' etc., on this occaeion. It was afterwards, at Springfield, that he made this point, which aroused so much comment and engendered considerable disquietude among some of our people." The Hon. J. A. Latimer, now residing at Winnebago City, Minnesota, was in that convention, a delegate from Knox County. He recently. In an interview, said of that " lost speech " : " Mr. Lincoln spoke slowly at the start. Before he had spoken long, the people all over the house began to leave their seats. They were slowly and silently moving up to the vacant places in front of the platform. I found myself going with the rest of them. There was not a sound In the room except that made by Mr. Lincoln's voice. ... I have heard many great actors and many great orators, such as Glddings, Cough, and Douglas, but none of them ever impressed me as did Mr. Lincoln In that speech. . . . His talk was on slavery and Kansas. When he began he stood at the back of the platform, but he gradually moved up to the front. His face was white, and his eyes were blazing. . . . Nearly his whole talk was on the Kansas question and the means of keeping slavery out of that State. The climax of the whole speech was when he said to the Southern disunionists, * f^e won't go out of the Union, and you shant.' " Political Upheaval 231 The Democrats nominated as their candidate for Governor Wm. A. Richardson of Quincy, Senator Douglas's most ardent friend and supporter; and the Fillmore party nominated Buckner S. Morris. On the Democratic electoral ticket were such names as Augustus H. Harrington, John A. Logan, O. B. Ficklin, S. W. Moulton, and Wm. A. J. Sparks; while among the electoral can- didates of the Fillmore American party were Shelby M. Cullom and Joseph Gillespie. Notwithstanding the discouraging opening of the campaign at Springfield, Mr. Lincoln entered into it with great earnestness, making more than a hundred speeches before the campaign ended. I heard him several times, — once, I especially remember, at a great mass-meeting at Princeton. I was not particularly impressed by his speech. It was a logical lawyer's argument, but had none of the fire and force that are expected in a political speech. Lovejoy and Old Joe Knox " and George Stipp also spoke. I was much more impressed by the speeches of Lovejoy and Knox than by that of Mr. Lincoln. Lovejoy depicted the horrors of slavery, mimicked Douglas, and answered him most effectively ; while Knox eloquently portrayed the important incidents in the hfe of Colonel Bissell, his brilliant services in Mexico, his work in Congress, and gave a thrilling account of his proposed duel with Jefferson Davis. He described President Taylor beseeching Bissell not to fight Jeff Davis ; but said Bissell was obdurate, until finally the President threw his arm about his neck, exclaiming, " Bissell, Bissell! for Heaven's sake don't kill my son-in-law ! " Of course this was nearly all made up by the speaker, but it shows what sort of a campaign it was, and how the gallantry of Colonel Bissell was appreciated in Illinois. The campaign waxed hotter every day. I myself caught the infection, and made several speeches before small audiences. To the surprise of everybody. Colonel Bissell and the whole Republican State ticket was elected by a majority of nearly five thousand ; but the State went against General Fremont, the Republican candidate for Presi- dent, and for Buchanan by a majority of over nine thousand. Senator Douglas made almost superhuman efforts to keep Illinois in line for the Democracy. He spoke every day during the campaign, sometimes two or three times a day. He saved lUinois to the National Democratic ticket ; but with all his work 232 The mini for his friend, Colonel Richardson, for Governor, he lost the State ticket. That Colonel Bissell and all our State officers were elected was because the Republicans had made judicious nomina- tions, and Lincoln and all the others who met at Bloomington had worked in harmonj'; but more than anything else, perhaps, it was because of Colonel Bissell's personal popularity. Mr. Lincoln, as Presidential elector, had again been defeated, and again went back to the practice of the law. CHAPTER Xm. PAUL PERCIVAL IT had been arranged that Mrs. Silverton and Rose should start at once on their European trip ; but when General Silverton and Rose returned from the State Fair they found Mrs. Silverton so feeble and dispirited as to be unable to complete the necessary preparations, and the trip had to be postponed. At last, however, the preparations were completed, and Rose and her mother bade farewell to the old home and turned their faces to the east. Rose wrote me a full account of their ocean voyage. The account was contained in a letter written in sections from day to day, beginning the day after they sailed, and ending after land was sighted. She sent me a printed list of the passengers on their vessel ; and among them she had underscored the name Paul Percival. She wrote that he was a young gentleman from New York, in whom she took much interest ; that meeting him re- called her meeting with me on the voyage around the lakes; that although a grov/n-up man, he at first seemed as bashful and timid as I was when a little boy ; that when he was presented to her and her mother, he seemed so overcome with embarrassment that she thought he would sink through the cabin floor, but they encour- aged and reassured him, and he proved to be, as Rose said, "ex- cepting only you" the best informed and most intelligent young gentleman she had ever met. She did not mention the young man again for four days, when she wrote that she had only seen him at a distance in the dining- Political Upheaval 233 room, but that upon her mother inquiring of the Captain con- cerning him, she learned that he had been devoting himself to a poor sick man in the second cabin, whose only hope was that he might be able to reach home to die among his kindred; that the poor invalid could speak only German, and as Mr. Percival spoke that language fluently he at once went to him and had cared for him from that moment ; that the poor man had had a severe hem- orrhage, and but for the care and attention of that young gentle- man he would have died. The next day Rose wrote that upon the young man's passing near the steamer chairs in which they were reclining, her mother called to him to inquire again about the invalid. He politely answered that he was much better, and that with proper care he would probably be able to reach home, and was begging him to accompany him there, as he feared he had not the strength to go alone. His home, the young man said, was at Coblentz on the Rhine ; and as it was not far out of his way, he had promised to see him there. Rose went on to say that her mother asked the young man if he was a physician ; to which he answered simply that he was trying to be a lawyer, and was now studying law; that in another year he expected to be admitted to practice at the New York bar, and he already had a desk in the office of Mr. W. M. Evarts, a very able young lawyer of New York, who was kind enough to give him considerable of his business that he could not attend to. He was now, he said, on his way to Munich, to study. Mrs. Silverton regarded him as a fine young gentleman, well informed, well bred, and evidently of a good family. On the last day on shipboard. Rose wrote that Mr. Percival sat with them on the deck, as they skirted along the Irish coast, and that the conversation turned upon American affairs. He seemed to be very much surprised to learn her views upon the slavery question, whereupon her mother explained that Rose had taken up the matter for herself, and through her reading had adopted those extreme views; that her father was much grieved and disappointed at her taking such a position, but that she had been led into it by the books she had read, and from hearing Abe Lincoln speak, and meeting Owen Lovejoy. The young man vyas deeply interested, and proved to be even more radical in his 234 The mini views than Rose herself. He said that as sure as God is just, a day of reckoning would come for all the horrors of slavery, and that he was already preparing for it. When Mrs. Silverton asked him how he was preparing, he said, with evident pride, that he was a corporal in the Seventh New York Regiment, that he attended drill, and was perfecting himself in the manual of arms and in the evolutions; that he had his book of tactics, which he studied as assiduously as he did his law cases. Upon Mrs. Silverton express- ing her surprise at all this preparation, when there was no war nor prospect of any, he answered, with much feeling, that just as sure as the sun rises and sets, the South will take up arms and fight to extend and perpetuate slavery, and just so sure will the North fight for freedom ; and that he would be found fighting on the side of freedom. "I wish you could have seen him," said Rose; ''he was so enthusiastic and so handsome. Mamma is going to invite him to visit us at Weisbaden ; but he will not come. In fact, he has avoided us nearly all the time we have been on board. His heart must have been given to one of those great New York l-adies on Madison Square. I like him, and I like to be in his company. It is very sad for me to think that after we part at the Liverpool dock I may never see him again." Rose went on to speak of her mother's health, and said the voyage had improved her greatly. She too seemed to have become much interested in Mr. Percival, notwithstanding their difference in views on political questions ; she frequently mentioned his name in connection with mine, not to the disparagement of either; and Rose added playfully that she was sure that if her mother had another daughter she would like to have both me and him for sons-in-law. CHAPTER XIV. COLONEL BESANgON GENERAL SILVERTON had learned that the wife of his youth, whom he had adored during all the years of their mar- ried life, and who had been so self-sacrificing and devoted, was not only possessed of all the qualities of noblest womanhood, but was Political Upheaval 235 undoubtedly his equal in birth and lineage. He at once went to Mr. Browning's office and examined the papers she had left. He found upon them a curious seal, which he quickly recognized as one with which he had long been familiar. Its impress upon the wax was not made by an ordinary seal, but by a small gold locket, upon which, in raised characters, was the coat-of-arms of the Besanfon family, with the letter V in the centre ; the Besanf ons having taken their name, as the General afterwards learned, from the old city of that name situated on both sides of the river Doubs in France, the letter V standing for the city's ancient name Vesontio. When the little girl Juliette had been taken on board the slave- ship, she had this locket suspended on her bosom by a silken cord ; and the avaricious slave-trader had not deprived her of it, as he thought it would enhance her value when she should be put upon the market. There was a parcel besides the one containing the papers, and sealed in the same way. Upon both parcels was an indorsement, made by the owner's hand, in both English and French, as follows : " Kindly permit no one but General Silverton or my son to open this parcel. I should be glad if it could be opened in the presence of a member of the Besan^on family, to whom I am related; but as there seems to be no hope of ever finding one of that family, I wish it to be opened by one of those above men- tioned." Now that there appeared to be some prospect of finding one of the Besanfons, the General decided to make the effort before opening the parcels, and accordingly had them returned to Mr. Browning's safe. Soon after, he departed for New Orleans, in the hope of finding the venerable Felix Besanfon. He had no difficulty in finding the stately mansion on the Rue du Maine. It was surrounded by a massive stone wall, with a porter's lodge beside the gate. Ringing the bell, he was admitted by the porter in livery, who conducted him to the house, where an usher, also in livery, met him, took his card, and led him into the drawing-room. He remained standing for a few moments, when a fine vigorous-looking gentleman, who, though of more than the allotted threescore years and ten, had the appearance of 236 The mini being much younger, entered, greeting him very cordially with "Bon jour Monsieur! Bon jour, mon cher Monsieur / " and, pointing to a sumptous divan, added, ' Prenez place, Monsieur." The General replied in English, and as the gentleman spoke that language w^ith the same fluency as French, they had no diffi- culty in their conversation. "This is Colonel Besanfon, I suppose?" said the General. " The same, at your service, General Silverton," responded the gentleman, v/ith an excess of politeness characteristic of his race. As the General proceeded to state the purpose of his visit, he list- ened w^ith breathless interest ; his appearance and manner quite confirming the General in his theory of the relations existing be- tw^een him and his former wife. The General gave him in detail, not without embarrassment, but with all the frankness and delicacy of which he was capable, the story of his early love and secret mar- riage, — the same sad story he had given to me at Springfield. As the story proceeded, the old gentleman seemed for a time uneasy and suspicious; but at the account of the marriage he seemed re- lieved, and when the General told him of the birth of the boy, and that he still lived, the old gentleman broke out impulsively with, " Where is he ? Bring him to me ! I must see him ! " Then, as the General went on to tell how noble and self-sacrificing the mother of the boy had been, and of her passing away, he could no longer restrain his emotions, and sobbed outright. "Leave me, dear sir ! " he exclaimed ; " leave me to myself for a few hours. I have not the strength to hear more. Pardon my emotion, — I have been waiting fifty years for her. Come at this time to-morrow." And the General withdrew. When he called, the next day, and was ushered into the drawing-room, a physician appeared and said he could not con- sent that the old gentleman should have another interview that day, but that his patient was very desirous of meeting him again, and he hoped to permit it within a day or two. When next the General called, he found Colonel Besanfon awaiting him in his study. He was reclining upon a couch, and impatiently begged the General to proceed with his story, in which he was so vitally con- cerned. The General told him of the boy, and how he had dis- appeared, and of his making provision for him and learning that Political Upheaval 237 he was then self-supporting and nCeded no further assistance, and of the vain eflforts to find him. A true Besanfon ! a true Besanfon ! " exclaimed the old gen- tleman. "But he must be found. I would give my fortune to find him. He shall be found ! " Then he asked the General if he had evidence of the marriage. The General answered him that it was a matter of record in New York City, and that the boy's mother always secretly kept the marriage certificate, — not so much for herself, she said, as for him. It was no doubt, the General said, among her papers. He then explained the safe-keeping of these papers in Mr. Browning's office at Quincy, and of her request, endorsed upon the packet, that they should if possible be opened in the presence of a Besanfon. The old gentleman inquired about the location of Quincy, and at once decided to go there, saying, I can make the journey without fatigue. As the place is on the Mississippi River, I can take the boat here and be as quiet as I wish all the way. David, my old servant who has been with me for forty years, and knows my every need, will accompany me." On the General reminding him that Illinois was a free State, and he might lose his slave, he said, "David will not run away; he already has his free papers, and can go if he wants to, but he prefers to stay with his old master." So it was arranged that if the old gentleman's health permitted they should take the first up-river packet for Quincy. These details were written me by the General, in a letter from New Orleans, which concluded by saying that he was extremely desirous of having me with him at Quincy ; that he might need me to help him in something he would be unwilling to trust to anyone else. I was on the levee at Quincy when the New Orleans packet landed. The usual volley of profanity was fired by the mate of the steamer, as the roustabouts shoved out the gang-plank. There was the customary rush of passengers impa- tient to get ashore, and, last of all, the General, with a tall vener- able gentleman leaning upon his arm, descended. The appearance of the two was so striking as to attract attention. The General himself was distinguished in appearance, but the bearing of his companion was so noble and stately that one might have imagined that the Marquis de Lafayette had come back to life, and was ^38 The mini again making a tour of the Western rivers. Following them, carrying the luggage, was David, a white-haired negro servant. The General greeted me warmly, and presented me to Colonel Besanfon as the young gentleman of whom he had spoken, and we were driven to the Quincy House, where rooms had been reserved. The old gentleman was very polite to me, and asked me about my school studies, whether I had settled upon my life- work, and other things. Presently he relapsed into silence, evi- dently absorbed with his own reflections. He had dinner served in his private parlor, to which he invited the General, while I went to the public dining-room. Later in the evening, Mr. Browning called, and made an appointment with the gentlemen to meet him at his office on the next day. After Mr. Browning left, the General sent for me to come to his room. He was alone, and told me more in detail about his trip to New Orleans and his finding Colonel Besanfon. He explained to me that he had told the old gentleman that I had been a great help to him in his efforts to find the young man in whom we were all so greatly interested, and that it was understood I was to be present at their conference. I ventured to ask the General about Mrs. Silverton and Rose. " Rose writes you, does she not ? " he asked. " She does," I said, "but it is some time since I have received anything from her." "I have received a letter since my arrival at this house," he said, "which gives me some anxiety. After going to Weisbaden, Mrs. Silverton improved and seemed to be on the high-road to recovery; but the later news is not so favorable. It seems that on the ship when they went over they met a gentleman, a Mr. Per- cival of New York, who became interested in them, and has called upon them, and observing that Mrs. Silverton was hardly holding her own, he persuaded them to allow him to send from Munich the most eminent specialist in Europe to diagnose the case; that this specialist had said there was no immediate danger, but he could give no further opinion until a thorough trial had been made of the treatment he had prescribed. That is all I have heard," said the General; " while she is so far no worse, it is doubtful if she is improving. If she is not, I must go over very soon and look after them." Political Upheaval 239 He then went on to tell me how lonely it had been for him since they had gone, and how much he needed them, but that this was as nothing if her health could only be restored. "Without her," he added, " life would not be worth the living." "Yes, but you have your daughter," I said. "That is true; but it almost seems that, disconsolate as Rose would be at such a loss, her presence and my sympathy for her would make my own grief even more intolerable." " Let us hope for the best," I said. " I see nothing in that letter to alarm you. She is evidently no worse, and that must mean that she will soon be better." " I hope so," he said, as I bade him good-night. I had said that there was nothing in the letter to aiarm him. But there was something in it to alarm me. Mr. Percival was in the habit of visiting them ; he had arranged for a specialist to see Mrs. Silverton ; he was performing for them offices of great kind- ness and of incalculable value ; he was good, and kind, and gen- erous, and considerate. I admired his nobility of character, and was grateful to him for his services to those I loved. But why was it that during the watches of that long night I never once closed my eyes in sleep ? Why was it that I ran over in my mind every reference to him in Rose's steamer letter ? Why was it that I saw him riding or walking or sitting with them at Weisbaden ? Why was it that I saw him summoning the renowned physician from his patients at Munich to make the journey to see Mrs. Silverton, and, as he arrived with the great man, that I saw the look of grati- tude and appreciation illumining the face of Rose, as she tenderly looked into his eyes ? I shall not try to answer these questions ; but my troubles over them were very real through that long sleep- less night. CHAPTER XV. STORY OF A MINIATURE AFTER breakfast the next morning, I went with General Silverton and Colonel Besanfon to the law offices of Mr. Browning. We were invited by him into his private room, where was the safety vault, already open, from which the parcels were quickly brought out and placed upon the table. 240 The mini " I desire that you open those parcels, Colonel Besanfon," said the General. " If I am not mistaken, you of all living persons are the one to whom they should be entrusted." " I think it would be as proper for you to perform that duty," replied the Colonel; "but if you desire it, I will do so." He then took up the smaller of the two parcels, which was sealed with three wafers such as were then in common use, but with no impression upon them. Upon the outside of the envelope there was an inscription which he read .is follows : '^ To be opened in presence of my son, or in the presence of some member of the Besangon family to which I belong, should one chance to be found. I prefer that it should not be opened until my son attains his majority." He then proceeded to open the package. The first paper was a marriage certificate, executed by the Rector of Trinity Church of the city of New York, which Mr. Browning declared to be in due form and entirely genuine and legal. The next paper was a formal statement giving an account of the marriage of young Silverton to Juliette Besanfon, and of the birth of a son, their only child, who at the time the paper was written was living on the Selby plantation in the State of Missouri, and would remain there so long as he could be useful and con- tented. This paper was signed by Juliette Besanfon. There was no allusion in it to this son being, or ever having been, a slave. The third paper was in an envelope by itself, and was directed to any member of, or any person related to or connected with, the family of Mr. Felix Besanfon, which family hved early in the century at St. Pierre on the Island of Martinique, and in the year 1807 sailed from Cuba to some foreign port. It was a letter, writ- ten in a beautiful hand, as follows : Dear Sir or Madam : This letter is the prayer of a poor woman who may be of your own family and kindred. I do not write it with the hope of myself being benefitted by any attention you may possibly be inclined to give it, for by my express arran.L;:ement it will not leave me until I am beyond iiuman aid or consolation. I write it sim- ply in the hope that through it the true position and relations of Political Upheaval 241 my only son to you may be made known, and he thus be bene- fitted. What I say will be very disconnected and fragmentary, being written entirely from memory, and only from the memory of a little child who had no idea at all of the importance of treasuring up incidents of her life. " My first recollections are of being in a beautiful home,— a home of perfect happiness, — with my mother, an angel of light and beauty, and my father who adored her. The house was of but one story, built around an open court, abounding in fragrant flowers, with inside porches embowered with vines and climbing shrubs. "I remember that my father was tall and graceful in bearing, fond of books, and from my infancy he taught me in a very curious way, such as I have tried to practice in teaching my own boy. As an illustration of his method, I remember that as I sat on his knee he told me of two pretty little babies that were hidden by their mamma beside a log in the woods, and she went away and got lost and never came back. They lay and slept for a time, but when they woke up they were very hungry, and cried and cried, and presently a she-wolf came running down the hill, and heard them, and ran to them as though to eat them up ; and when I asked anxiously if the wolf really ate the poor little children, my father said no, not at all, — the wolf just laid down with the little babies and nursed them as their mamma did, and when their hunger was satisfied they went to sleep, and when they woke up she nursed them again, and they grew up strong men, and built a great city, and their names were Romulus and Remus, and the city they built was called Rome. From that time I was interested in everything concerning Rome. " I remember that there was a great deal said about Napoleon Bonaparte. Great interest was taken in him because he married a young lady who was born on that very island where I lived. I remember that there was much said about the French wars then going on. "There was in the parlor an oil portrait of a handsome young officer in uniform, whose face was radiant and expressive; and they told me it was my mother's brother. My own son's expres- sion is much the same as that represented in the portrait. 16 242 The mini " One day my father read an account of the great battle of Austerlitz. He came upon a description of how General Bertrand had distinguished himself by his bravery and skill, on account of which Napoleon had made him a Grand Marshal of France. I could not understand this, but I remember that my father and mother were very much elated about it, and they took me into the parlor and pointed to the portrait, exclaiming that it was Bertrand, now Marshal Bertrand, my mother's brother. This always made me interested in Marshal Bertrand. In after years I read of how he and Marshal Souk saved the great commander from death at Waterloo, and how Marshal Bertrand followed his chieftain to Elbe, and shared his long exile at St. Helena, until death relieved the great Emperor from his imprisonment on that lonely island. I also read, in the account of the removal of the Emperor's remains to France, that Marshal Bertrand was one of those specially com- missioned to guard them," At this point Colonel Besanfon interrupted the reading, ex- claiming, "It is enough ! No one else could have known these things about our home on the Island of Martinique. I remember perfectly the lesson about the founders of Rome. I do not remem- ber the incident about Bertrand, but my wife was his sister, his portrait hung in our parlor, and we read of Austerlitz, — let me reflect, — yes, it occurred in 1805. We were still at St. Pierre. I especially remember how delighted we were at the glory he achieved. But let us read on." I wish," the letter continued, " that I could tell many other incidents, as I would have told you could I have been with you, as I have so often longed to do ; but I forbear. My memory is clouded as to the reasons for our sudden departure from that lovely home. I was so young that I could not understand them, but I thought we were to go to France. I remember that we went to Havana and embarked on a ship, and that while at sea I was separated from my father and mother, and was in the hands of strangers and among negroes. I was stunned by the separation from my parents, and was entirely helpless. I had never seen such low and brutal white people. They took away my clothing and put other clothes upon me, but I managed to keep a locket with a miniature of my mother which she had given me, with a gold chain. It will be found in the parcel with this letter. Political Upheaval 243 "We finally landed at Norfolk, in the United States. I had found that the black people were to be sold as slaves, and that I also was to be sold. Many persons came to look at us. I did not realize what it all meant, but was glad to get away from the brutal people on the ship. " They brought me back my clothing and put it on me. I did not know why they did this, but have since learned that it was because they thought I would bring a better price dressed in that way. Everyone spoke English, of which I did not understand a word ; but I knew that I was to be sold like the others. I cried and begged to be restored to my parents, but was told that the ship they were on had been wrecked in a great storm, and they were dead. One evening a kind lady came with her husband. She understood French a little, and I begged her to take me away. She urged her husband to buy me. I heard him having some loud and angry talk with the Captain, and saw him pay a large sum of money; and then, to my great relief, they took me away. " I knew that I had become a slave, but the change from that awful ship and from those dreadful people was such a relief that I was contented and soon became almost happy. I had a few sim- ple duties to perform, caring for my mistress' children, and teach- ing them to speak French ; and in this way I learned English. They had their little books, which I studied much more than did they, and became familiar with everything in them. I was really their governess and teacher for several years, and always mastered every book that was got for them. My mother had taught me some- thing of needlework and embroidery. My mistress had clothing made for me, and carefully folded up the clothes in which she found me and laid them away. When I grew up she gave them to me, and I have always kept them. I will have them folded up and put into a separate parcel, to be opened, if ever, at the same time this package is opened. " My mistress's father and mother lived upon an adjoining farm. It was a great estate. They had an only son, much younger than my mistress, and I think perhaps a little younger than I ; but I cannot tell exactly, for I have no record of my birth, and do not know precisely how old I am. That boy and I prac- tically grew up together. He was bright and quick to learn, but, 244 The Illini young as I myself was, I could teach him many things. His parents were pleased, because they found that his mind was im- proving. We studied together, until finally he was sent away to school ; and then he would send me the books he was studying, and I kept up with him, and when he came home we went over them together. " But why continue ? It is the old, old story. I loved him beyond the power of expression, and he returned my affection with all the intensity of his noble nature. " He was the pride and hope of one of the first families of Vir- ginia, and I was a slave. True, I was almost as one of the family, a companion to my mistress and her children; while in education and accomplishments I was the equal of any young lady of that region. But still, I was — a slave. "I do not remember any special time when we told our love to each other. It may be that always, from the time we first knew each other, we were lovers ; and we loved each other more and more as we grew older and more acquainted." She then related the circumstances which led up to their marriage, and proceeded as follows : "With all the embarrassment that has come upon me on account of my relations with my husband, no one ever dreaming that we were married, it has been far better for both him and me than it could have been had our marriage been known. The relations supposed to exist between us were too common among whites and blacks to excite comment. I was willing to bear the humiliation of my position in order to shield and protect him. No human being was ever nobler than he during all this relation. Time and again he insisted upon defying the world and publicly proclaiming me as his lawful wife. My greatest fear was that he might do so. I knew that it would ruin him, while doing me no good ; and by persistence and beseechings, and sometimes threaten- ing that I would do violence to myself, I restrained him. He never forgot or neglected me, and was always true to me, — as devoted a husband and lover as ever lived. I am writing a parting letter to him, telling him of my devotion to him and of my love for him to the very last. Now as to our dear son. His father has his free papers, whicti Political Upheaval 245 will be delivered to him. He will, so long as she lives, remain with his mistress. After that, I know that my husband will provide for him. He and I have talked matters over many times. I think, from what our boy has said, that he intends to disappear from view in some foreign land, and try to earn a livelihood where the taint of slavery will not be upon him. He thinks that he can accomplish this unaided. I fear it is impossible; but should he attempt it, I hope that his father or a Besanfon will try to assist him. It will be no kindness to him to drag him from his seclusion and reveal his identity. No greater kindness can be shown him than to assist him in concealing himself ; but if he can be assisted without dragging him before the public, I hope it will be done. He has always been studious, and has acquired a thorough educa- tion. He can make his way as a teacher, if nothing else. How- ever much any of his friends might, in the kindness of their hearts, desire to do him justice by revealing his identity, with the pre- judices that exist in this country it would be cruel to him to do so. "I am very sad that my dear husband is not with me at this time. I wish he might reach home for one last word of parting. I would like once more to see him in the presence of our darling boy, who sits by me ; but it is impossible. "The most sacred thing I have to leave to you is the locket containing a miniature portrait of my mother, of which I have spoken. I have always carried it in my bosom. It has been a solace and comfort to me during all these years. She whose face it shows I know is waiting for me, and I shall soon be with her, and together we will wait for our dear ones who will come after. If I could know that this lovely memento could be placed in the hands of someone to whom she was dear, it would be a great con- solation to me. " I have not the strength to write more. (Signed) JULIETTE BESA>fgoN." Before Colonel Besanfon had read the letter half through, he was so overcome that he could not proceed, and handed it to me to finish the reading, which I did. Both he and the General listened with rapt attention to what seemed almost to come from another world. Colonel Besanfon tried hard to restrain himself, but the strong old man could not help giving utterance to sighs 246 The mini and groans. The General was no less intensely interested, but seemed better able to control himself. As he glanced occasional!}' at the elder man, it was with an appealing look, as of a prisoner at the bar to the judge who is to pass upon his case. For some minutes not a word was spoken. I finally picked up the parcel and said, "There is something else here." I ven- tured to take out an envelope very carefully sealed. "Open it," said Colonel Besan^on. This I proceeded to do, and carefully wrapped in silk I found the locket, to which a fine gold chain was attached. I handed the locket to Colonel Besanfon. He silently held it for some minutes in his hand, and then, evidently with some misgivings, cautiously opened it. I have never seen such a look of rapturous delight illumine the face of any human being as that which overspread the features of Col- onel Besanfon as he looked at that minature. " It is she ! it is she!" he exclaimed, just as she was, the most beautiful and lovely of women ! " And he pressed it repeat- edly to his lips with the most endearing expressions uttered both in English and in French. I finally ventured to ask him whether it was the best portrait he had of her. " The best I " he exclaimed, " there is no other ; it is the only one she ever had taken. It was made in Paris, the week after we were married. We supposed it was lost in our flight from the West Indies ; and after all this time it is restored to me I It is price- less ; I would have given half my fortune for it. Now it is mine." "But here is another parcel," I said. He opened it with trembling hands, and found a little girl's dress, the skirt of fine lace made over crimson silk, pantelettes of the finest linen, silk stockings, and a dainty pair of slippers tied with bright ribbons. How she would have been delighted by the sight of these, " said the Colonel, glancing at the portrait. " She has told me over and over again just what she wore that awful day. They were about to have a children's party on shipboard, and she was dressed for that. " I remember her as she appeared in them when she first came, " ventured the General. "Might I be permitted to have them?" Political Upheaval 247 " You may, " said the Colonel; and so they were allotted to him. They sat for a few minutes longer, neither venturing to speak, when Colonel Besancon carefully folded up the papers, placed the locket in his inside pocket, and, excusing himself to Mr. Browning and General Silverton, said, "I beg your pardon, — 1 will return to my apartments at the hotel. I wish to reflect; I would be alone. " I went with him to his apartments, and, excusing myself at the door, heard the bolt slide in it as I passed down the hall. I had never before seen the General in such a state of mind as when I entered his room. He seemed to be in despair, and almost helpless. '■ It will break his heart, " he exclaimed. " He cannot bear the burden of sorrow and disgrace. Think of it ! the niece of a Grand Marshal of France who fought beside the great Napoleon and shared his exile, and now sleeps beside him in that wonderful mausoleum in the Hotel des Invalides, — think of it ! the daughter of a Besanfon who fought under General Jackson at New Orleans and can trace his lineage back to the reign of Henry the Fourth, and who belongs to one of the highest families in France ! that she, the noblest and purest and most accomplished of women, should have gone through life as a slave, misunderstood and mis- judged, and that I permitted it all, and when she was dead and gone I have permitted her boy, our boy, to be an outcast and a wanderer on the face of the earth ! Why did I not leave her in peace to herself ! Why did I insist upon marrying her ! And why, when we were married, did I not proclaim her as my wife ! What must Colonel Besanpon think of me ? " he continued. ' ' He can never forgive me. • He will despise me; he will hate me!" And so he kept on in his excited self-condemnation, although I tried to comfort him, until I left him for the night. When I called at the General's room the next morning, he told me that Colonel Besanf on had sent David to ask him to come to his apartments at ten o'clock, and to bring me with him. ' ' I have read these papers over many times, ' ' Colonel Besanf on began, so soon as we were seated. There cannot be the shadow of a doubt that this poor woman, Juliette Besanfon, was my lost 248 The mini daughter, the only child of my wife and me. The evidence we have might not be sufficient to establish the relationship in a court of justice, but to me it is absolutely conclusive. No one else could have known of our home on the Island of Martinique, and been able to speak of it as she does. No one could have remembered the incident of my teaching the story of the founding of Rome. The accounts of the relation of Marshall Bertrand to my wife, and the incident about his portrait, could have comp from no one else but my daughter. The account of our voyage and of our being overtaken, although she remembers the incident but indis- tinctly, with the recollection I myself have, make her identity absolutely clear to my mind. It is true that we first intended to return to France, and she no doubt heard us planning to do so ; and it is not strange that she should always have supposed we were there, — if not lost at sea, as they told her we had been. These statements are of themselves conclusive ; but far above them, to my mind, is the evidence contained in the locket. I can- not tell you how happy I am to possess it. And now," continued the old gentleman, " I want to say frankly to you. General Silver- ton, that it is very difficult for me to be reconciled to the idea of my daughter's bearing such a relation to any man as she bore to you ; very difficult indeed, sir. Were I a Northern man, or had I been still a subject of France, or in fact of any country of Europe, no doubt I could never have considered it without bitterness. I read her letter over and over during the silent watches of the night, and it is very hard for me to be reconciled to the idea of my daughter going through life as a negro slave, and of her having such relations with you without it having been known that she was your lawful wife. But I am not a Northern man, nor do I belong to a country of Europe. I am a Southern man, accustomed to slavery, and I realize the relations between master and slave, and the relations of both to the public. I know that it would have blighted your life, and have brought her into dishonor, had you been publicly married. But notwithstanding all this, you offered her open, public, honorable marriage. Realizing better than you the consequences of such a step, she would only consent to marry you upon condition that it be kept secret ; and your devotion to her was so great that you accepted those terms, and you were. Political Upheaval 249 although privately, yet lawfully married. I must say to you that upon reflection I heartily commend your course. I have never before known of an instance of such devotion. The only parallel of which I have ever read was that of Heloise and Abelard in my own country, and you were more constant in your devotion than was Abelard to his wife. Give me your hand ; I would embrace you." The two men arose, clasped hands, and embraced each other. When they had resumed their seats. Colonel Besanfon continued : "There is something in that letter which troubles me. It is the declaration that it will be an unkindness, a cruelty even, to pursue her son and my grandson into the seclusion he has chosen, and seek to reveal his identity. But I must find him. I have no other descendant. I cannot make a bequest to him without the probate of the will revealing what he does not wish to have known. If I should die intestate, the estate could never go to him, because, while the proof in her letter and by the miniature is conclusive to my mind, it could have no weight in a court of probate." The two gentlemen, after discussing this matter for some time, decided to consult Mr. Browning; which they accordingly did. Mr. Browning's advice was that they pursue a policy of "masterly inactivity," as he expressed it. He urged that any attempt to find the young man might injure him rather than help him. He thought it best simply to wait and hope, adding that he had no doubt all would come out to their satisfaction in the end. The advice was accepted as that of a cool-headed and wise friend ; and after a few days spent with General Silverton at The Grange, Colonel Besanfon took a packet down the river for New Orleans. Soon after these events. General Silverton arranged to join his wife and daughter at Weisbaden, and was soon on his way. Mrs. Silverton's condition had been far more critical, as the General afterwards learned, than he had supposed. In fact, her life had at one time been despaired of. But, fearing to alarm her husband, she would not tell him how desperate her case was, nor permit Rose to do so. The treatment of the German specialist proved to be just what she required, and no doubt saved her life. For this result they all felt deeply indebted to their new friend, Paul Percival. This gentleman, as I learned from letters from Rose, 250 The mini now spent very little time abroad. He still pursued some special studies at Munich, which only required about three months of the year, and the rest of the time he was actively employed in Mr. Evarts's ofEce in New York. When abroad, he found time to visit the Silvertons occasionally; and I could see by Rose's letters that she looked forward eagerly for his coming and was sad when he went away. She wrote that they often spoke of me. She had told him how much interested I was at that time in the Lincoln- Douglas debates, about which, he said, all New York was talking when he left. He said that when the debates began, everybody asked, "Who is this Mr. Lincoln?" and as they progressed everybody was surprised to find him able to hold his own against Douglas. Mr. Evarts, he said, declared that Lincoln had no supe- rior in the Republican party except Senator Seward. In another letter. Rose said that she had told Mr. Percival of the expected visit from her father, and that he seemed very anxious to see him; but the very evening before his arrival he called and announced that imperative business engagements required that he leave that night, as he was to have a conference at London with Mr. Evarts's clients, who had hastily summoned him to meet them there, and he expected to go elsewhere as their interests should demand. Rose added that the specialist in charge of her mother's case said she could now safely return to America if she desired to do so, and that they were impatient to get home. Accordingly they would all soon return together. CHAPTER XVL CHOOSING POLITICAL CHAMPIONS 'TpHE Presidential campaign of 1856 marked a transition period ■'- in American politics. While Fremont was defeated for the Presidency, the election showed that the Republican party had gained a strong hold upon the country. Up to that time, any party having in its platform a suspicion of anti-slavery or free-soil sentiments was hopeless of success. Fremont received more than thirteen hundred thousand votes, and carried eleven Northern States, — certainly a good showing for a party so lately organized. Political Upheaval 251 Mr. Buchanan, who was elected, carried every Southern State except Maryland, which went for Fillmore; and in the North he carried New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, and California. The tide in the North had set in against slavery and in favor of the principle enunciated in the platform of the Republican party, that it was "both the right and the imperative duty of Congress to prohibit in the Territories those twin relics of barbarism, polygamy and slavery"; while at the South the tide of senti- ment was no less strong in favor of the right to extend slavery into the Territories. As Mr. Blaine expressed it in his "Twenty Years of Congress," "The issue was made, the lines of battle were drawn. Freedom or slavery in the Territories was to be fought to the end, without flinching and without compromise." Early in the summer of 1858, Senator Douglas returned to Illinois from a most gallant and successful fight in the Senate of the United States to prevent slavery being forced upon the peo- ple of Kansas against their will. With all his might, the Senator had championed the cause of the people of that Territory in resisting the wrong that was sought to be inflicted upon them. So earnest and determined was his stand in this matter, that he received the very highest commendations from Republicans, many of whom wished him, notwithstanding his previous course, to remain in the Senate. Horace Greeley, in the New York Trib- une, then the leading Republican paper of the country, advised the Republicans of Illinois to concede his reelection to the Senate without opposition. By his course. Senator Douglas, on the other hand, had hopelessly alienated the South. Controlled entirely by the slave power, the administration of President Buchanan turned against the great Senator and made every effort to defeat his reelection. President Buchanan mercilessly removed Senator Douglas's friends and appointees holding Federal offices in Illinois, and held out the allurements of official position to those who were opposed to him, although he had carried his State for that same Mr. Buchanan, and had supported every Democratic candidate for President for a quarter of a century, during which period he had controlled the patronage of the State. Many Democrats who could not approve of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise had gone over to the Republicans; but some whom Senator Douglas 252 The mini had always regarded as his political friends, allured by glittering baubles of official favor held up before them, shamefully deserted the great Senator, supported President Buchanan in his war upon him, and tried to disrupt the Democratic party in order to secure appointments to office, and it was openly charged and generally believed that others were paid in money for their treachery. These latter were called "Danites," and were politically execrated. Under such circumstances it would have seemed that the Republicans of Illinois might be willing to allow the "Little Giant" to go back to the Senate without opposition, as Republi- cans outside of the State thought they should do. The Republicans of Illinois would not even consider such a proposition. Why ? First, they knew Senator Douglas believed that the proper condition of the black man was one of slavery; that ours was a " white man's government, formed for white men and their pos- terity"; that the Declaration of Independence was not intended to include black men, and never did include negroes; that slaves were property, the same as any other kind ; that he did not oppose forcing slavery upon Kansas because of any antagonism to slavery, but simply because a majority of the people of that Territory did not want slavery, and he would have been just as earnest to estab- lish slavery there had the people wanted it ; that he repeatedly declared that he cared not whether slavery was voted down or voted up"; in short, they knew that he was radically opposed to the fundamental principle upon which the Republican party was founded, " No more slave territory." Second, the Republicans of Illinois had an available man — a man upon whom they were united, who did not believe that slavery was the proper condition of any man, black or white; but that the Declaration of Independence was intended to include "all men " regardless of color, — a man who did " care whether slavery was voted down or voted up," and who was irrevocably opposed, whatever should thereafter be the wish of the people of any Ter- ritory, to the further extension of slavery. That man was Abra- ham Lincoln. The Republicans of Illinois were of the opinion that should they permit Senator Douglas, champion of the Nebraska bill and of the Repeal of the Missouri Compromise, to go back to the Political Upheaval 253 Senate unopposed, it would be an admission that he was right, and amount to a surrender of the whole question. Had they yielded to the advice of Horace Greeley and others outside the State, it may well be doubted whether it would not have been the death-knell of the Republican party. Mr. Lincoln had become in Illinois the oracle of the Repub- lican party. This man, starting in his career so far behind all the great men of the State, had, by slowly and patiently "pegging away," as he himself said, come to be regarded as more capable of championing a movement before the people than any other man in the State excepting alone Senator Douglas. Yet, while the Republicans instinctively turned to Mr. Lincoln in this emer- gency, they still had misgivings as to whether he was equal to the task of meeting Senator Douglas. Curiously, even yet very few in Illinois had come to regard Mr. Lincoln as what we call a great man. How could so homely, plain, simple, unpretentious, and droll a man be great ? He was simply one of the common people ; that was all. Outside of Illinois, Mr. Lincoln was then but little known. Less than a year before the Lincoln and Douglas debates, he spent a week at Cincinnati trying a lawsuit in company with Edwin M. Stanton, afterwards the great War Secretary during the Rebellion. Reverdy Johnson was the attorney on the other side of the case. These two great men, Stanton and Johnson, were well known. Lincoln was not; he stayed in Cincinnati a week, moving freely about, yet not twenty men knew him per- sonally, and not a hundred would have known who he was had his name been spoken. Mr. Stanton afterwards described him, from his impressions of that first meeting, as " a long, lank crea- ture from Illinois, wearing a dirty linen duster for a coat, the back of which the perspiration had splotched with stains that resem- bled a map of the continent." The Republicans of Illinois assembled in State Convention at Springfield on the 17th of June, 1858. The members of the Legislature wjiich was to choose a successor to Senator Douglas were to be elected in November. The Republicans wished their candidate and champion to be placed squarely before the people. They had not forgotten the Senatorial election of four years 254 ^^^ mini before, and they determined there should be no mistake this time. Freed from the restraints of their old party associations which had influenced them in 1854, the anti-Nebraska Democrats, having now become full-fledged Republicans, were as united and earnest for Lincoln as the old-line Whigs; and that State Convention unanimously resolved that "Abraham Lincoln is our first, our last, and our only choice for United States Senator." And so, representing more distinctly than any other men the antagonistic views of two civilizations, Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln were pitted against each other. N CHAPTER XVn. THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES EVER has there been a forensic contest which, from the character of the contestants, the issues involved, the number and intelligence of those addressed, and the results achieved, was of such transcendant importance as were the debates of Lincoln and Douglas held upon the prairies of Illinois during the summer of 1858. It may be said of this contest that the Constitution of the United States was the platform and the whole American peo- ple the audience ; and that upon its issue depended the fate of a continent. It is remarkable that midway between the time, in 1856, when the Republican party was completely organized, and the time, four years later, in i860, when the verdict of the Ameri- can people was finally rendered upon issues which had for almost a century confronted them, the ablest exponents of each conten- tion should have met face to face and debated before the public, as no one else could do, every phase of the momentous questions involved. As has been stated, outside of Illinois only a very few people knew Mr. Lincoln ; comparatively few had ever even heard his name. People in other States wondered that the Republicans of Illinois should put him up to debate with so great a man as Sen- ator Douglas, and marvelled at Mr. Lincoln's temerity in assum- ing such an undertaking. They had read the debates in which Senator Douglas had engaged for a quarter of a century with the Political Upheaval 255 greatest orators and statesmen of the Senate, and they knew his power and skill. Senator Douglas had, as he supposed, decided what should be the issues of the campaign. The " paramount issue" was to be "popular sovereignty " — the right of the people of a Territory to control their domestic institutions ; and he was confident of being enthusiastically supported on account of his devotion to those principles, as shown in his fight to prevent slavery being forced upon the people of Kansas under the Lecompton Constitution. Upon this issue he was confident he could not be overthrown. But Senator Douglas was not permitted to dictate the issues of the campaign. On the 17th of June, while Douglas was still at Washington, in the State Convention which nominated him Mr. Lincoln himself dictated the issues of the campaign in a most remarkable declaration of principles and by the most convincing logic, placing Senator Douglas upon the defensive, — a position from which he was never able to extricate himself. After recalling the sentiment so often quoted, that " a house divided against itself cannot stand," Mr. Lincoln squarely laid down the proposition that "this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free; it will become all one thing or all the other." He made a forcible and convincing argument to prove that by means of an almost complete legal combination — a "piece of machinery, so to speak, compounded of the Nebraska doctrine and the Dred Scott decision" — if permitted to be carried into operation, the govern- ment must become "all slave." He charged that there had been " a conspiracy," of which the Senator was a part, to make slavery " alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new. North as well as South." He showed that while the Nebraska bill was being con- sidered in Congress, the Dred Scott decision, which denied citizen- ship to the negro and made him a chattel, was issuing from the Supreme Court of the United States, making it impossible for a Territory to exclude slavery, and one step more — the declaration that a State could not of itself exclude slavery — would make the institution " alike lawful in all the States." And he further showed that in order to keep slavery from becoming national, — in order to keep it out of Illinois, — this conspiracy must be overthrown. By this view the contest was lifted far above any mere question 256 The mini of the Kansas struggle. The statement of the proposition as formulated by Mr. Lincoln carried with it the irresistible conclusion that the government must, as the only hope of enduring perma- nently, "cease to be divided," and become "all slave" or "all free" ; and it brought directly before the people of Illinois and of the whole country the issue as to whether they would, by per- mitting slavery to be extended, make the nation "all slave," or by restricting it make the nation ' all free." If anyone will take the time to run over Senator Douglas's speeches during the Lincoln-Douglas debates, and in the Senate and before popular audiences for the next two years, he will find that in every one of them Douglas quoted from that " house divided against itself " speech of Mr. Lincoln, and vainly tried to answer it. When the great contest was first entered upon, it appeared to be merely one between two individuals for preferment. As it proceeded, it became a contest between civilizations. It arrested general attention to such a degree that the question of the Sena- torship was scarcely considered by the waiting multitudes who from ocean to ocean were awakened to a realization of the dan- gers that menaced them, and were aroused to a sense of their responsibilities. The daily newspaper had but just gone into circulation sufficiently to reach the general public. Important information was placed before the people without being lumbered up and overwhelmed by clap-trap and nonsense under glaring headlines and with silly illustrations. Stenography was still in its infancy, but reporters were found who could take down the speeches in shorthand. It was not then common for speeches to be transmitted by telegraph ; but so interested and impatient did the people become that this was done.* In all those wonderful debates, one may look in vain for a well- * Mr. Robert R. Hitt, then a young man, now the distinguished member of Congress, was the reporter of Mr. Lincohi's speeches; and he has stated to the author that at Galesburg, after sending off to the Chicago Tribune his full report of Mr. Lincoln's speech, he witnessed the putting up of a wager between two men, one asserting that "no man living could write out the speeches in full as delivered," and the other declaring that it had been done. The letters of Mr. Horace White, published in the Chicago Tribune and copied everywhere, had much to do with bringing Mr. Lincoln prominently before the country. Mr. White, then quite a young man, travelled con- stantly with Mr. Lincoln. He afterwards became the chief editor of the Chicago Tribune, and later of the New York Evening Post. Political Upheaval 257 rounded period. There are no ornaments of rhetoric, no passages for declamation. They are made up of simple, plain, rugged facts and arguments, each vigorously, fearlessly, inexorably put forth to overwhelm the adversary. They cannot be judged by any forensic contest that preceded them. In elegance of diction and ornate rhetoric, the speeches of Demosthenes and JEschines, those of Pitt, Fox, and Burke, and those of Webster and Hayne, excelled beyond measure those of Lincoln and Douglas ; but in clearness of statement, close logical reasoning, breadth of com- prehension, thorough analysis, simplicity, and directness in bring- ing their views to the attention and understanding of vast masses of people, no other public debates ever equalled them. The people of Illinois were interested from the first. Soon the debates began to attract attention beyond the limits of the State. People in other sections asked, "Who is this man Lin- coln ? " and wondered that they had not known something of him before. As the interest augmented, newspapers both East and West took up the speeches and published them in full. Their readers awaited their publication with eagerness and read them with avidity, and men on either side made their arguments their own. In every home, on every farm, in every tavern, store, shop, and mill, from New York to San Francisco, the statements and arguments were repeated and discussed. " Did you see how Lincoln turned the tables on the ' Little Giant ' with the Dred Scott decision ? " asked one. " Read it ! read it aloud ! " was the response. "See how Douglas answered him!" cried another; read that ! " and it was read. " The ' Little Giant ' is too much for your Springfield lawyer 1 " said one. "The ' Little Giant ' has finally found his match ! " another man responded. " It 's all very well for Lincoln to talk his abolition sentiments in northern Illi- nois," said the Douglas men, after the Ottawa and Freeport debates. " You just wait until the ' Little Giant ' trots him down into Egypt, and you '11 laugh out of the other side of your mouth ! ' ' In Illinois the feeling was so high that little else was considered. Each champion was so well known throughout the State, and had such devoted admirers and earnest supporters, that men were will- ing to give their whole time and spend their money without stint to advance the interest of their favorite candidate. Beyond all 17 2s8 The mini personal feeling, the principles involved raised the issue above any question of the success of the opposing champions. There were but seven joint debates in which the contestants met face to face on the same platform ; but from early in July to the election in November, Senator Douglas and Mr. Lincoln fol- lowed each other closely, speaking on every week day at all the important towns in each of the one hundred and two counties of Illinois. The discussion did not by any means end when they concluded their daily speeches, but was taken up by local speakers and by men and women whenever they met. The chief contest- ants were of course the central figures; but throughout that entire summer, from Chicago to Cairo, the people of Illinois were aroused and arrayed against each other. It was curious to look into the faces of the people who assem- bled to hear Lincoln and Douglas in these famous debates. The debates were held in the open air; and, unlike ordinary political meetings, both sides were fully represented. This fact, more than anything else, had prompted Mr. Lincoln to challenge the Senator to meet him face to face. "I want to reach the Democrats," he said to his friends. ' They are so prejudiced that they will not attend a Republican meeting ; but they will all come out to hear Douglas, and this will give me a chance at them." As has been said, neither party spared either pains or expense to have its side represented in the most effective manner. The date of each joint debate was fixed long before it occurred, and each party sought to make a more imposing demonstration in numbers and equipment than the other. Meetings were held by each party in advance, at every crossroads within a radius of fifty miles of the place where a joint debate was to occur, in order to awaken its adherents to the importance of being present to encour- age and support its champion. They organized themselves into great delegations which rallied at convenient points and formed in processions of men and women, in wagons and carriages and on horseback, and, headed by bands of music, with flags flying and hats and handkerchiefs waving, proceeded to the place of meeting. Many of these processions were more than a mile in length. As they marched, the air was rent with cheers, — in the Republican procession for "Honest Old Abe," and in the Democratic for Political Upheaval 259 The Little Giant." The sentiments printed in great letters upon the banners carried in each of these processions left no one in doubt which party it belonged to. Upon the banners of the Douglas processions were such sentiments as "Squatter Sover- eignty!" "Popular Sovereignty!" "Let the People rule!" "This is a White Man's Government ! " "No Nigger Equality ! " "Hurrah for the Little Giant!" The Republican processions, on the other hand, carried banners with such mottoes as "Hur- rah for Honest Old Abe ! " " Lincoln the Rail-splitter and Giant Killer ! " "No more Slave Territory ! " " All Men are Created Equal ! " " Free Kansas ! " "No more Compromise ! ' ' Each party had great wagons or chariots specially fitted up, drawn by four, eight, and sometimes twenty horses, bearing young ladies each representing one of the States of the Union. In the Republican processions one of these young ladies was usually dressed in mourning, to represent Kansas. Over the young ladies in a Douglas chariot was displayed a banner bearing the sentiment, "Fathers, protect us from negro husbands." As the processions came into town, they were met by marshalls of their respective parties, on horseback, and conducted to their meeting places, greeted, as they passed through the streets, by cheers from their own parties and jeers from their opponents, which were answered in the same spirit. Finally they ail assembled before the grand stand. Seats could be provided for comparatively few, and the most of the people were standing. Democrats and Republicans were packed into a solid mass together, good-naturedly talking and chaffing each other. Upon the stage were seated prominent men of both parties. A chairman and secretary, and time-keepers who had previously been agreed upon, were early in their seats, but made no effort to restrain the great crowd until after the speakers had arrived and received the deafening applause of their followers. It was a curious sight when the contestants ascended to their places on the platform, — Lincoln was so tall and Douglas so short, Lincoln so angular and Douglas so sturdy, Lincoln so spare and Douglas so compact and rotund. They alternated in opening and closing the debates, — the opening speaker taking an hour, his com- petitor following with an hour and a half, and the opening speaker closing with half an hour. Every moment of time was im- 26o The mini portant to each speaker. The debate opened at precisely the moment fixed upon, and the moment a speaker's time expired he was called by the time-keepers, after which he could only finish the sentence he had begun. Great as is now the fame of Mr. Lincoln, it is curious to find him, at the time of the opening of the great debates, saying: "Twenty-two years ago Judge Douglas and I became acquainted. We were both young then, — he a trifle younger than I. Even then we were both ambitious, I perhaps quite as much so as he. With me, the race of ambition has been a failure — a flat failure; with him it has been one of splendid success. His name fills the nation, and is not unknown even in foreign lands. I affect no contempt for the high eminence he has reached. I would rather stand upon that eminence than wear the richest crown that ever pressed a monarch's brow. . . . The Judge means to keep me down, — put me down I should not say, for I have never been up." Mr. Lincoln usually began with an explanatory half-apologetic remark, and was always deferential to his opponent and his audi- ence. He seemed always to appreciate the importance of a proper solution of the questions involved, and to feel misgivings as to whether he was the man to meet so great a personage as Judge Douglas in debate. In entering upon a subject, he frequently used the interrogative form, and by asking questions would appar- ently seek to bring his hearers to consider the proposition with him. In reply to Judge Douglas's assertions, he would, as the lawyers say, file a demurrer," a good definition of which is, What of it?" — that is, admitting what was stated to be true, what does it amount to? Frequently he would, as it seemed, adopt a plea of confession and avoidance." By his manner, and in the intonations of his voice, he seemed to be constantly appeal- ing to his auditors, and begging them to reflect with him and reason out the propositions to their logical conclusions. He seemed, as he proceeded, to make suggestions, apparently doubt- ing and distrusting his own judgment, in order to take the audi- ence into his confidence to assist him in reaching a just and proper solution of the problem, — giving the impression that it was still an open question, and that if, after all, upon this thorough analysis of the matter it should appear that he was wrong and Judge Political Upheaval 261 Douglas was right, he would be the first to acknowledge his error, and would expect his hearers to do the same. It is scarcely necessary to say that by this style of discussion he gained the respect and good-will of his hearers, and by it led them finally to conclusions that were irresistible. Senator Douglas, on the other hand, was bold, positive, dog- matic, assertive, evincing no misgivings as to the correctness of his statements or his conclusions. As slavery existed generally throughout the country when the Constitution was adopted, ours was a white man's government, for white men," and the senti- ment "All men are created equal" of the Declaration of Inde- pendence could not apply to the negro; he was property, and white men had the right to take their property into the Terri- tories. Lincoln, he said, believed that the sentiment did apply to "all men," including the negro, therefore Lincoln was an Aboli- tionist; abolitionists were sectional — their teachings tended to make strife between the North and the South and to break up the Union, — therefore Lincoln was himself disloyal in his teach- ings. If slaves really were property, the same as horses and cattle, Douglas was right and Lincoln was wrong. Under the decision of the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case, Douglas was right and Lincoln was wrong. But how, the question was asked, with that theory and that decision could slavery be kept out of a Terri- tory? It has been claimed that upon this question Douglas was " driven into a corner " and " forced " at Freeport to answer Mr. Lincoln. Douglas had anticipated this question, and had time and again, — notably in Lincoln's presence, six weeks before, at both Bloomington and Springfield, — showed how slavery could be kept out of a Territory notwithstanding the Dred Scott decision, by "unfriendly legislation," and Mr. Lincoln had heard him so elucidate it. Judge Douglas was not the kind of man to be " driven into a corner." He recalled the conditions of the coun- try for a century, citing precedents with great force and skill. He showed that from time to time, especially in 1820 and 1850, com- promises had been made, and that all the great statesmen had taken part in bringing them about ; and he used this argument against Mr. Lincoln's assertion that the "government cannot permanently endure half slave and half free." 262 The mini During all the debates, and thoroughout the campaign, Senator Douglas strove to make it appear that Mr. Lincoln was the especial champion of the negro, while he himself was the especial cham- pion and defender of the white man; that he was devoted to the race to which his auditors belonged, and would not permit it to be contaminated with one that was inferior. His assertions and arguments in regard to the position of "the Black Republican party," led by the Abolitionists as he claimed, were made with tremendous power. No one in Illinois, except Mr. Lincoln, could, with all our prejudices, have been able to withstand him. Everything Senator Douglas put forth was tested in the cruci- ble of Mr. Lincoln's thorough and searching analysis, and when it came out it was valued at just what it was worth, and no more. Mr. Lincoln made it clear that opposition to the extension of slavery into new Territories did not imply interfering with it in the States ; that opposition to slavery did not imply social equality with the negro ; that while the fathers of the government held slaves, they were really opposed to slavery, and expected its ultimate extinction, and that they so declared; that the law prohibiting the slave-trade, the Ordinance of 1787 prohibiting slavery in the Northwest Territory, and every act of theirs, showed their antag- onism to slavery ; and that they fondly hoped and expected it would gradually die out. He declared himself to be in favor of continu- ing all the guarantees of the Constitution to the slave States, including the fugitive-slave law. He showed that the Dred Scott decision, as expounded by Judge Douglas, practically nationalized slavery. The most difficult thing for Mr. Lincoln to show was that opposition to slavery in the abstract, and to its extension, did not imply that Republicans wanted or intended to interfere with it in a sovereign State; but even this he made clear. There was but little cheering as the debate progressed, for the speakers, jealous of every moment of their time, begged their hearers to make no interruptions. When, smarting under the lash of criticism and denunciation, pent-up wrath could no longer be restrained and broke out in angry demonstrations, the cham- pion who was receiving the castigation would rise and beg his friends to desist, and was always obeyed. During all these debates, intense and bitter as was the feeling Political Upheaval 263 among those great masses of men thus meeting face to face, there were very few, scarcely any, breaches of the peace. While they all boldly and courageously expressed their opinions and denounced their adversaries, there was a line which was seldom passed. This was, to question the veracity of an opponent. Everyone in Illinois in those days knew that the moment such a thing was suggested there was danger; and that when the lie was passed, wherever it was, even in the sanctuary or before a judicial tribunal, it meant a fight. Hence such a provocation was seldom given. I have sometimes thought that some of the men of our day might be benefitted by following the example of those of forty years ago. The debates of Lincoln and Douglas, and several of their speeches, were published in book form, and may still be found by those who wish to study them. Such study would greatly benefit anyone who wishes to have a correct understanding of the momen- tous questions that brought about the political revolution which called into existence the Republican party, and which finally, two years later, arrayed the people of the North and South against each other in the Civil War. As has been intimated, the public became so absorbed in the consideration of the transcendent issues, that the question which of the opposing candidates should be elected to the Senate sank into insignificance. The immediate political result, as affecting the two champions, was that while Mr. Lincoln ran ahead in the popular vote. Senator Douglas carried the Legislature and was reelected ; and Mr. Lincoln again, as he had done so many times before when defeated, went back to the practice of the law. During the joint debate held at Galesburg October 7, 1858, on the east side of the main Knox College building, which is still standing, Davis and I found a place upon the roof of the one-story dormitory, an extension of what was known as the " East Brick," which has since been removed. We immediately faced the plat- form, looking over the heads of the great mass of people packed together below. We could hear every word, and at the same time could survey the vast crowd of interested listeners. In looking down, I chanced to spy Dwight Earle upon the outskirts of the crowd ; and having witnessed his enthusiasm for Douglas at Spring- 264 The mini field, I wondered that he was not up in front encouraging his cham- pion with cheers. I thought to myself that Dwight must have improved, that in some way he had learned a lesson of modesty. He soon espied me, and as I descended he joined me. "A great debate ! " I said. " I think Lincoln got the best of it, but Douglas is a great debater." " Douglas is a turncoat and a traitor! " said Dwight. "What do you mean, Dwight?" I asked. " I mean just what I say," he said. " He sold out the South, he sold out the administration to Seward and Chase and Sumner and Giddings and Lovejoy, and defeated the Lecompton Constitution." "But, Dwight," I said, "he showed in the Senate that the people of Kansas were opposed to that slave constitution by a large majority." "That makes no difference," he answered. Hewent in with the South and the administration on the Nebraska bill, and just when they needed him he deserted them." At that moment Senator Douglas passed near us, in company with Governor McMurtry, Judge Lanphere, Major McKee, Squire Barnett, Major Yvonette, and other Democrats. I raised my hat, and the Senator stopped and extended his hand, saying, " How is our young lady friend who was so severe on me at Spring- field? I hope she thinks better of me now." I was about to reply, when Dwight stepped forward, and ex- tending his hand said, " How do you do. Senator? " The Senator looked at him for a moment, with such withering scorn as I had never before seen upon the face of any human being, and turned away exclaiming, ' He is a Danite, bought with money! " On account of his supposed close intimacy with Senator Douglas, it was thought that Earle could draw Democrats away, and he had been hired by representatives of the administration to betray the Senator. I was afterwards told that Dwight had been sent by the authorities under President Buchanan, to make a report on the Postmaster of Galesburg, who could not be fright- ened nor bribed by an office to give up his convictions. That officer was removed on account of his steadfast devotion to Sen- ator Douglas; but, fortunately, a better man than was recom- mended received the appointment from President Buchanan. Political Upheaval 265 CHAPTER XVIII. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES FOR a long time before the Republican National Convention of i860, it seemed certain that Mr. Seward would be nomi- nated for the Presidency. In fact, until two years before the actual nomination this was generally conceded. He was one of the organizers of the Republican party, and one of its wisest and most influential leaders; and he seemed its logical and most available candidate. He was urged for the place by the most sagacious politician in the country, Thurlow Weed, seconded by one of the most eloquent orators and ablest lawyers of the nation, William M. Evarts of New York. But, as has often been the case with "the wise men of the East," the vision of Mr. Weed and of Mr. Evarts, and of most of the New York statesmen, was limited in range. Their horizon was not yet sufficiently extended to give them an adequate idea of the potentiality of the new States of the Mississippi Valley. Many shrewd observers were convinced that Mr. Seward could not be elected, if nominated by the Republican party; and, while he had the respect and admiration of the Republicans of the West, the wisest of our leaders did not regard him as a strong candidate. Much as the Republican party owed New York's great statesmen, Western Republicans did not regard him as available. He was, as they believed, too radical. To be successful, it was essential for the Republicans to bring together all the elements of opposition to the Democratic party, — old-line Whigs, those who had affiliated with the American party, and Free-soilers. Tens of thousands of voters, who looked with horror upon any suggestion that the Con- stitution should be violated or disregarded by assailing or interfering in any way with slavery in the States where it existed, were opposed to its extension into the new Territories. Whatever Mr. Seward's views were in regard to this important matter, he had impressed the general public in the West as willing, in an emergency, to dis- regard the rights of the States under the Constitution, and was therefore regarded as an unsafe man to be intrusted with the great responsibilities of the Presidency. 266 The mini Such was the feeling of many of the best Republicans of the West ; much as they admired Mr. Seward, and felt indebted to him, they could not favor his nomination, and vast numbers of them would not have voted for him had he been nominated. It was urged, as has so often been done, that it was imperative that the candidate be able to carry New York, with her large electoral vote, and that this Mr. Seward was sure to do ; but it was answered that Fremont had carried that great State four years before, and it was sure to support any worthy Republican candidate. It was becoming evident that the Republicans throughout the country would not concede the nomination of Mr. Seward with- out a contest. Pennsylvania put forward Simon Cameron; Ohio, Salmon P. Chase; New Jersey, William L. Dayton; Vermont, Jacob Collamer; and Missouri, Edward Bates. Illinois waited. If she should decide to present a candidate, but one man would be considered. Many outside of the State, as well as among her own people, were talking of Abraham Lin- coln. He himself was reluctant to allow his name to be used. It is apparent from what he said that he really did not realize how strong a hold he had upon the public* It proved to be fortunate for him that he did not allow his friends to put him forward too early, as was the case with other candidates. Finally it became necessary for his friends to act. He had been so frequently men- tioned by his admirers in the public press or otherwise, that his friends had either to put him forward or withdraw his name. The Illinois State Republican Convention was to meet at Decatur on the 9th of May, and the National Republican Con- vention was to meet at Chicago one week later to nominate can- didates for President and Vice-President. As has been said, the time had come when it was imperative that the position of Illinois Republicans be known. A short time before the State Convention, a few of Mr. Lincoln's friends, — Norman B. Judd, Chairman of the Republican State Committee, Leonard Swett, O. M. Hatch, Jesse K. Dubois, Lawrence Weldon, A. C. Babcock, William *In letters to several editorial friends, written at this time, Mr. Lincoln, referring to their urging his candidacy, said : " In regard to the matter you spoke of, I beg that you will not give it further mention. Seriously, I do not think I am fit for the Presi- dency." Political Upheaval 267 Butler, Ward H. Lamon, John Bunn, Ebenezer Peck, Jackson Grimshaw, and several others of equal prominence, met in the office of the Secretary of State at Springfield, with Mr. Lincoln, for consultation. They insisted upon Mr. Lincoln's authorizing them to use his name, urging many reasons why it should be done. He asked that he be allowed until the next day to reflect ; and on the next day he authorized them to do so. At the Decatur Convention, Norman B. Judd of Chicago, Leonard Swett of Bloomington, and Richard Yates of Jackson- ville were candidates for nomination as Governor. They were all able men and true patriots, and each had a strong following. Finally the supporters of Mr. Swett went over to Mr. Yates, who was thus nominated, and he became the great ' War Governor " of Illinois. I was not at the Decatur Convention, but have been told that the scene when Mr. Lincoln's name was brought forward was such as had never before and can never again be witnessed. Mr. Lin- coln's name was put in nomination by Richard J. Oglesby, whom I met with Mr. Lincoln at the State Fair in 1854. Throughout his public career, Mr. Oglesby sometimes made the very best, and sometimes the very worst, speeches of any public man. He never used notes, always depending upon the inspiration of the occasion to bring his faculties into full play. When the occasion was just such as to move him, — when, as he used to say, he "got ofif on the right foot," — he could make a speech before a popular audience which carried everything before him. The occasion and the theme at Decatur were just suited to him, and he electrified the conven- tion. As he closed with a burst of eloquence on the character of Lincoln, " Old John Hanks" was seen coming up the aisle with two old fence-rails on his shoulders, rails that had been made by Lincoln and himself only a few years before on the Sangamon river bottom, where they had fenced in some land. As Hanks advanced to the platform carrying the fence-rails, the enthusiasm knew no bounds. Fortunately, the convention had already made the nomi- nations for State offices and elected delegates to Chicago; and in the midst of this enthusiasm, unanimous instructions for the support of Lincoln were adopted, and the convention adjourned. The general acclaim for the nomination of "the rail-splitter of Illinois" was taken up by the Republicans of the State, who had 268 The mini been impatiently awaiting this action, and carried to the very doors, and through the doors, of the great Chicago Convention, to each individual delegate. Senator Douglas was a candidate for the Democratic nomina- tion as President. Curiously, all the citizens of Illinois, Republi- cans as well as Democrats, ha,d also become interested in the suc- cess of Douglas in his candidacy. The Republicans did not at all want to see Douglas elected President, but they felt that if ever a man had earned the highest honors of his party, Stephen A. Douglas had earned the nomination of the Democratic party for the Presi- dency. He was its foremost man. Under his leadership, the party had repeatedly organized victory. He had always held Illinois in line. Away back in 1840, when the whole country was shouting the plaudits of William Henry Harrison, the determination, energy, persistency, and eloquence of Stephen A. Douglas kept Illinois from being carried away by the mighty Whig upheaval which swept nearly every Northern State, and she gave her electoral vote to Martin Van Buren, the Democratic candidate for President. Under Douglas's leadership, the electoral votes of Illinois had always been cast for a Democratic candidate. At the National Democratic Convention four years before. Senator Douglas as a candidate was next in line to Mr. Buchanan, who received the nomination, Douglas's name having been withdrawn by his own request to preserve harmony in the party. The successful candi- date was nominated upon a platform of principles, — "popular sovereignty, " — put forth by Douglas which he had carried through both Houses of Congress. He contributed more than any other man to the election of Mr. Buchanan. It was his genius that kept the Democratic party in power. The Democratic Convention of i860 met at Charleston on the 23d of April. Under the rules adopted, a two-thirds vote was necessary to a nomination. Douglas was all the time the leading candidate, and finally had a majority, but not the required two-thirds. Four years before, when Mr. Buchanan had received a majority, Douglas withdrew and gave him, the necessary two- thirds. In all fairness and justice, the nomination should now have been conceded to him. But it was not to be. He had been too true to the principle of "popular sovereignty." When, two Political Upheaval 269 years before, he stood by his principles, and refused to consent to have the Lecompton slave constitution forced upon the people of Kansas against their will, he incurred the enemity of the slave- holders, and they never forgave him. They withdrevi? from the convention. There was an adjournment to Baltimore, to meet on the 1 8th of June. At Baltimore, Douglas was nominated ; but so determined was the opposition that the party was split asunder. The seceding delegates nominated John C. Breckenridge of Ken- tucky for President, and Joseph Lane of Oregon for Vice-President. Lincoln was nominated by the Republicans at Chicago. Why was he nominated? Because he was available. Why was he available ? Every candidate before the convention — Seward, Chase, Cameron, Collamer, Bates, and Lincoln — had pronounced against the extension of slavery, which was the fundamental principle of the Republican party; but none more strongly than Abraham Lincoln. Every other candidate had been known for years as a public man. Two years before the convention met, three-fourths of the delegates had never heard Lincoln's name. How then could Lincoln have been nominated ? It was because the people had learned from the great debates with Senator Douglas, that while Mr. Lincoln was as devoted as any Abolitionist to the anti-slavery cause, he was even more de- voted to the Constitution and the Union; that no power or influ- ence, however it might present itself, could lead him to disregard or override any provision of the fundamental law of the land ; that upon obedience and devotion to the Constitution, framed by the fathers with such prescience and wisdom and handed down to us, depended our liberties ; that it was the last and only hope of free- dom, and that there could be no " higher law " for the guidance of an American patriot than was embodied in its provisions. Real- izing, as no one living in the East could realize, that in order to unite those who opposed the extension of slavery it was necessary to nominate a candidate who under no circumstances, not even to destroy slavery, would disregard or override the plain provisions of the Constitution, the Republicans of Illinois united upon Abraham Lincoln. 270 The mini CHAPTER XIX. THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION OF i860 NEVER before did a candidate for nomination to the ofEce of President of the United States have such sagacious and earnestsupportersas Abraham Lincoln had at Chicago in i860; and never before did the political managers put forward so wise and fit a candidate. Chief in council at the convention were Judge David Davis, Orville H. Browning, Norman B. Judd, and Leonard Swett. The location of the convention at Chicago made it convenient for many prominent Illinois people to be present, and those of the great Northwest as well. We ail had come to believe in Lincoln, and to believe he could be elected. We knew that Mr. Seward, backed by New York, the greatest State of the Union, and with his earnest supporters throughout the North, was Lincoln's most formidable competitor for the nomination. New York had never before sent to a national convention so strong a delegation or so large a number of her representative men. There were among them statesmen who had occupied high positions in the councils of the nation, literary men of high char- acter, professional men whose names were well known, great finan- ciers who dominated Wall Street, and the keenest and shrewdest of her politicians. The New York delegation brought with them brass bands and banners, and their street processions, with the name of William H. Seward everywhere displayed, were most impressive. The most noted pugilist of those days, Tom Hyer, followed by less conspicuous men in the same calling, was a picturesque figure in the Seward processions on the streets. A pun was made upon his name. It was said that he illustrated Mr. Seward's Higher-law doctrine. The management of Mr. Seward's forces was under the direc- tion of Mr. Thurlow Weed, then regarded as the most sagacious hving politician. He had been Mr. Seward's political manager for many years, and ever since the defeat of Fremont, four years before, he had been laying his plans for Mr. Seward's nomination at this time. Next to himself and his own great abilities, Mr. Seward was Political Upheaval 271 chiefly indebted to Mr. Weed in attaining high positions as Gov- ernor of New York and Senator from that State. Mr. Weed had quietly and cautiously, but tirelessly and zealously, worked for his candidate in other States, and he beheved that Mr. Seward had the nomination within his grasp. The orator and public leader of the New York delegation was William M. Evarts. Mr. Evarts was then in his prime. He was already a great lawyer, and a man of commanding influence. There was such charm in his manner and melody in his voice as to capti- vate all who saw and heard him in that convention. No one who then heard Mr. Evarts can ever forget the exquisite tenderness with which he pronounced the name of William Henry Seward. I greatly admired the men who represented my native State, of whom I had before seen but little. It will be remembered that I was but a young lad when I came west, and that my observation before leaving Western New York was limited to the little valley where I had always lived. Here at Chicago, I saw the foremost representatives of the greatest States of the Union. I could see that there was a marked contrast between the men of the West and the men of the East. The New York men were more cul- tured and scholarly than we. They were better and more appro- priately dressed for such an occasion. They wore their neat business suits, to which they were accustomed ; while we, espe- cially those of us who were from the country, were dressed in our " Sunday clothes," to which we were not accustomed. But most of us, if at all conscious of the difference, were unconcerned about it. There was no less a contrast in culture and bearing and dress of the candidates we represented. Being upon our own ground, in our own State, in a city that was new, and living among those who, like ourselves, were all from somewhere, we had a certain advantage over the New York men, for we knew better how to reach men from all parts of the country. The mistake the Seward men made at Chicago was in dispar- aging all the other candidates. We of Illinois, on the other hand, under the instructions of our discreet advisers, lauded all the other candidates, especially Mr. Seward, whom we most feared. We were admonished by Judge Davis, Mr. Swett, Mr. Judd, and all of our other managers, especially to commend Mr. Seward, but to 272 The mini insist that, with all his splendid record as a Free Soiler, he could not possibly carry the States that were needed to secure a victory. We believed this ; and after a lapse of more than forty years, there is still in my mind no doubt that those wise men were correct. Had Mr. Seward been nominated, the conservative men who opposed the extension of slavery would not have supported him, and he would have lost enough States to throw the election into the House of Representatives, which would have resulted in the election of a Democrat. We younger men were instructed by our leaders to provoke discussion at every opportunity, in the hearing of delegates ; and, while commending Mr. Seward in the highest terms, declare that to nominate him meant defeat in the election. On the opening morning of the convention, it was apparent that if the nomination should not go to Mr. Seward, Mr. Lin- coln had the best chance of being chosen. As the prospects for our Illinois candidate thus brightened, we continued our work with increased earnestness. We knew we were gaining, and the more time we had to work the better we were satisfied. The first and second days of the convention were taken up in effecting the organization and in considering the platform. On the evening of the second day, the chances looked favorable for Mr. Seward. His supporters made more noise than did those of all the rest of the candidates put together. With Tom Hyer at their head, they managed to fill the great Wigwam, — the specially constructed building in which the- convention was held ; and it seemed that their boisterous demonstrations might overawe the delegates. Had a vote been taken on the evening of that day, Mr. Seward would probably have been nominated. While the Lincoln men were active, and there was immense pressure for him, yet up to that time the Seward men had made by far the greatest demonstrations in the Wigwam. After the convention adjourned on the second day, I was in the public court of the Tremont House with a dense crowd about me, urging the impracticability of presenting Mr. Seward as a candidate, great and deserving as he was ; and it seemed to me that I was getting the best of the argument. Presently I saw a young man, somewhat older than myself, making his way through the Political Upheaval 273 crowd toward where I stood. There was something in his appear- ance, I could not tell what, that impressed me strongly. For some moments he quietly listened to our discussion, evidently with deep interest ; and finally he asked, modestly, if he might be permitted to say a word. He said he was from the State of New York, and naturally took a great interest in Mr. Seward. "I think," he said address- ing his words more directly to me, ' ' I think that, notwithstanding all the kind things you have said of Mr. Seward, you scarcely do him justice. He is not the extreme man he is represented to be He does not, and never did, endorse the views of the extreme men in the Republican party. He is really, as compared with Garrison and Phillips and the other Abolitionists, a conservative man. He has the utmost veneration for the Constitution. I myself, as do many of our New York men, look upon slavery with horror, and we have sometimes been impatient with Mr. Seward because we thought he did not go far enough. That he is an earnest, sincere, courageous antagonist of slavery, none can deny. He has fought the battles of freedom all his life, and it would be strange if here in a Republican convention he should be defeated because of too ably and too courageously battling for the principles upon which the Republican party was founded." " I admit all you say in commendation of Mr. Seward," I replied; " but Mr. Lincoln is just as much opposed to slavery as he, — and Mr. Lincoln can be elected, while Mr. Seward cannot be." "I beg pardon," he replied; " I have great admiration for Mr. Lincoln, as I know Mr. Seward has from what I have myself heard him say about Mr. Lincoln's splendid canvass of Illinois two years ago, and how ably he upheld our principles in the debates with Senator Douglas. I have nothing but commendation for Mr. Lin- coln ; and should you succeed in nominating him, I shall expect, as will all Republicans in New York, to support him loyally. But I leave it to you, in all fairness, to say whether this would be right. Until the Lincoln- Douglas debates of only two years ago, if we in New York had ever heard of Mr. Lincoln we had forgotten it. It is true that when our attention was called to this remarkable man and the ability he displayed in coping with Douglas, the foremost 274 T^^ mini man in public life and the ablest debater in the Senate, we looked up Mr. Lincoln's record. We found that he had been several times a member of the Illinois Legislature, and one term in Con- gress, with no hope of reelection. We also found that four years ago, when Fremont was nominated at the Republican convention in Philadelphia, Illinois presented Mr. Lincoln to the convention as a candidate for Vice-President, but with no hope or expectation of his nomination. Except that he was a prominent and trusted local leader of the Whig party, this was all we could find of Mr. Lincoln's career. Upon the great question of slavery, while his views were no doubt better known in Illinois, we of the East could find nothing in his record as an anti-slavery man up to the time of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. We have since learned that he approved of the fugitive-slave law, and that he still approves of it." " You do Mr. Lincoln injustice," I replied with some warmth. " He has always been known in Illinois as a hater of slavery. As early as 1837, while a member of the Illinois Legislature, he signed a protest against resolutions favoring slavery, and declared that the institution is founded upon injustice and bad policy." " That is true," replied the young man. "We heard of this in praise of Mr. Lincoln just before we left New York. It was a brave thing to do at that time, with the prejudice prevailing in Illinois; but upon looking the matter up I find that the paper he signed says in qualification that the ' promulgation of abolition doc- trine tends rather to increase than to abate its evils,' — that is, to speak or write against slavery, tends ' rather to increase than to abate its evils.' But, admitting as I do that Mr. Lincoln is thoroughly reliable upon this question, so important to us, I want to ask your attention to the record of Mr. Seward. Before Mr. Lincoln was at all known, Mr. Seward was Governor of the great State of New York. He entered upon the office in 1838, and per- formed his duties so ably that in 1840 he was reelected. While Governor, he refused to recognize the demand of the Governor of Virginia for the rendition of men charged with abducting slaves, claiming that, as it was not a crime in New York to help men to liberty, Virginia had no right to demand them back. In 1849,-'- eleven years ago, — he was elected United States Senator; and Political Upheaval 275 when his term expired he was reelected, and ever since he has been fighting slavery. He was in the Senate when the fugitive- slave law was passed, and fought it with all his might. It was dur- ing the controversy over the bill admitting California as a State that he made his famous 'higher law' speech, about which so much has been said and written. He was in the Senate during the whole fight upon the question of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and time and again locked horns with Senator Douglas and the rest. I beg your pardon, gentlemen. I did not intend to say so much; but we are all Republicans. Some of us know what it means to fight the battles of the poor slave; and I ask you, is it fair, is it just, is it worthy of us, to turn against Mr. Seward, who has been all his life fighting the battles of free- dom ? " "Do not understand me as saying anything against Mr. Seward," I replied. "He is a great statesman, and he is right, according to my view, upon most questions. But, as I was saying, we in Illinois feel sure that he cannot carry our State, and several other States that will be necessary for the election of a Republican President. We know from the sentiment of our own people that no man who publicly avows that there is a rule of political action above and superseding the Constitution of the United States, — that, to use Mr. Seward's own words, ' There is a law higher than the Constitution,' — can get the votes of our people. We are morally certain that no man who holds these views can be elected President of the United States. Notwithstanding all you have said, we know that ' Honest Abe Lincoln ' is as sound upon the slavery question as Mr. Seward is, and we feel sure that if nomi- nated he can be elected, and, therefore, that in his nomination is our only hope of success. We in Galesburg, where I live, are as radical on the slavery question as are the people of any town in New York or New England. We want Mr. Lincoln because we believe in him, and because we are confident he can be elected; and we believe that this is the only hope of bringing the Republi- can party into power, and of placing an eflfectual barrier against the further encroachments of slavery." " Do you live at Galesburg? " the young man asked. "Yes," I replied. 276 The lUini "Were you ever at Princeton, the home of Mr. Lovejoy?" he again asked. " Many times," I said. "I was at Princeton before being at Galesburg. We stayed there one Sunday on our way west, and went to hear Mr. Lovejoy preach. The next day we came near being burned up by a prairie fire." While we were talking, several persons who had paused to listen to us took up the discussion, and it became quite acrimonious. Epithets were hurled backward and forward. An Illinois man from "Egypt" shouted, "I don't want no d — d niggers nowhere! I want to git shet on 'em ! I do n't want 'em in Illinois nor in Kansas. I don't want no Ab'Htionist like Seward pesterin' me ! Give me that good ole-line Henry Clay Whig, Abe Linkern, and we'll show you what Illinois kin do ! " "That's all d — d nonsense!" rephed a New Yorker. "Talk about a country lawyer and pettifoger like Abe Lincoln put up against a statesman like William H. Seward! He don't trot in the same class with him! " The young gentleman with whom I had been talking extended his hand, and, asking me where I was staying, politely took his leave. At the Illinois headquarters, where I went, I found our people jubilant. Mr. Judd was dancing about the room. Judge Davis, always dignified, was smiling and giving vent to his feelings by the little satisfied grunt or snort which we have before described. Mr. Swett was at the table writing a letter. " Tell him to keep a stiff upper-lip and fuzzy eyebrows, Swett," said Oglesby, who stood near; tell him the New York men have found out we are not all sapsuckers," by which I understood that Mr. Swett's letter was for Mr. Lincoln, who had remained at Springfield. Mr. Joseph Medill was telling of an interview with some old Ohio friends, that was very encouraging. "You are doing fine work in the Tribune," said Mr. E. B. Washburne. "Everybody reads the Tribune, and your editorials are making friends for us every hour among the delegates of other States." Meanwhile, men of prominence from other States were coming and going, each having a little private conference with our man- agers, and then rushing off to some other delegation. Notwith- ciJ^6^