was placed the illustrious name of John C. Fremont. Lincoln's prominence in political circles was so great that he received one hundred and ten votes for the position of Vice-President. The party became wholly committed to the opposition to the spread of slavery, and, for the first time in the history of the country, the slave-holders found themselves squarely opposed by a great and compactly organized political party. The fact that the working forces of the new party must be drawn necessarily from the free States, and that the opposition must come mainly from the slave States, not only increased sectional antagonism, but led to a disruption of the Democratic party, each section following radical or conservative leaders. Although this division did not take place in the campaign of '56, it so weakened the Democratic party in the next presidential campaign that the election of a Republican President followed.

The campaign of '56 was one of the most animated and closely contested political campaigns since the formation of the government up to that time. However, the time was not ripe. Indiana and Pennsylvania, two doubtful States, were carried by the Democrats by narrow majorities, and Buchanan was elected. Lincoln, up to this time, had not been outspoken in regard to slavery. He had always looked upon it with horror and detestation. The horrors of the slave-mart, the barbarous cruelty of plantation life in many of its phases, and the utter disregard of human rights, shown on every side, had been inexpressibly shocking to him, yet he had never taken a prominent stand against it, and had looked with suspicion upon the Abolitionists and their bold efforts to

overthrow it. He stated clearly and tersely his attitude upon the subject in a speech in reply to one of Judge Douglas in Chicago, July 10, 1858, as follows:

"I have always hated slavery, I think, as much as any Abolitionist-I have been an old-line Whig-I have always hated it, but I have always been quiet about it until this new era of the introduction of the Nebraska bill began. I have always believed that everybody was against it, and that it was in the course of ultimate extinction. The great mass of the nation have rested in the ultimate belief that slavery I was in the course of extinction."

If he had held his peace hitherto, on the great topic, he was to do so no more. From this time on no heart was more earnest nor tongue more eloquent in behalf of the down-trodden millions than his. With him it was an ever-present evil, becoming more and more appalling as time went on, and more and more did he become impressed with the magnitude and imminence of the struggle, and the stupendous catastrophe threatened by it.

He was always ready to assist fugitive slaves, and more than once put himself to great inconvenience and some personal danger by reason of his sympathy for the suffering slave fleeing from bondage.

One afternoon an old negro woman came into his office, and told the story of her trouble. It appears that she and her offspring were born slaves in Kentucky, and that her owner had brought the whole family into Illinois, and given them their freedom. Her son had gone down the Mississippi as a waiter or deck-hand on a steamboat. Arriving at New Orleans, he had imprudently gone ashore, and had been

snatched up by the police, in accordance with the law then in force concerning free negroes from other States, and thrown into confinement. Subsequently he was brought out and tried. Of course, he was fined, and, the boat having left, he was sold, or was in immediate danger of being sold, to pay his fine and expenses. Mr. Lincoln was very much moved, and requested Mr. Herndon to go over to the State House and inquire of Governor Bissell, if there was not something he could do to obtain possession of the negro. Mr. Herndon made the inquiry, and returned with the report that the Governor regretted to say that he had no legal or constitutional right to do anything in the premises. Mr. Lincoln rose to his feet in great excitement, and exclaimed: "By the Almighty, I'll have that negro back soon, or I'll have a twenty years' agitation in Illinois, until the Governor does have a legal and constitutional right to do something in the premises." He was saved from the latter alternative-at least in the direct form which he proposed. The lawyers sent money to a New Orleans correspondent-money of their own-who procured the negro, and returned him to his mother.

In 1854 Lincoln was nominated for the State Legislature, but refused to accept the proffered honor. His name, however, was presented to the people, and he was elected. But, feeling that he had earned a higher honor than this, he refused to take his seat. One of the duties of this session was to elect a United States Senator to succeed General Shields, the colleague of Douglas. Lincoln ardently desired the position, and once, in speaking of it, said that he had rather have one full term in the Senate than the

Presidency. His prospects seemed good to secure the coveted honor, but, through certain unexpected complications, his election became doubtful, and he magnanimously withdrew his name in favor of Judge Trumbull, who was immediately elected. When consulted in the dilemma, he said: "You ought to drop me and go for Judge Trumbull, that is the only way you can defeat Mathison (the Democratic candidate)." Judge Logan came up and insisted on making one more effort to secure Lincoln's election; but the latter said: “If you do, you will lose both Trumbull and myself, and I think the cause in this case is to be preferred to men." This was certainly a rare instance of political self-sacrifice.

CHAPTER IX

AT the Bloomington Convention Mr. Lincoln was called upon to make a speech. It proved to be the inauguration speech of the new party in Illinois, and in it he advanced to higher political ground than he had ever done before. He seemed like one inspired as he gave utterance to the grandest political truths, and made close application of them to the condition of the country.

One of the delegates says: "Never was an audience more completely electrified by human eloquence. Again and again, during this speech, the audience sprang to their feet, and by long continued cheers expressed how deeply the speaker had affected them." Herndon characterizes this speech as the grand effort of his life.

The movement, thus enthusiastically inaugurated, gathered strength rapidly, and the young, but vigorous party soon became a recognized power in the State. Lincoln had been one of the ruling spirits of the old Whig party, and he now became the recognized leader of the Republican party, its great defender in the furious onslaughts made upon it, and its champion in the aggressive fight it was about to make upon the old parties.

In the following national campaign, the first in which the Republican party had figured, his services