Weekly Minnesotian and times., 1860-05-26

From 1919 to 1851, Mr.. Lincoln was cl-
gagged as,iiuously in the practice OF his pro
tcssipn, and being deeply cmcrscd in business
was beginning to take little interest in politics,
when the schcnin. and grovcling selfish
ness of All unsc.upulous aspirant to the
Presidency brought about the repeal Of the
Missouri Compromise. That act OF bascness
and pcrlidy aroused the sleeping lion, and he
prepared for new efforts. lie threw himself
at once into the contest which followed, and
fought the battle Of freedom on the ground Of
his former conflicts in Illinois with more than
his accustomed energy and zeal Those who
rccollect the tremendous battle fought i'll Hi
| nOs that year, will award to Abraham Lin
| coln fully thrccfourths Of the ability and un-
| wcaryIIg labor which resulted i'll the mighty
victory which gave Illinois her first Rcpubll-
| can Legislature, and placed Lyman Truinbnl
| in the Senate of the United States The first
| and greatest debate Of that year came of be
| tween Lincoln and Douglas at Springfield,
during the progress of the State Fair, in Oc.
| tobcr
| we remember the event As vivldly as il it
| had transpircd yesterday. During this cxcit-
! lnS campaign MIR. Lincoln pressed the avery
| Issue upon the people Of Central and Southern
Illinois, who were largely made up of the en-
| isration from Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia,
and North Carolina, with all the powers Of
! his mind. lie felt the force of the moral cau-
Scs that must influence the question, and he
never iaiied to appeal to the moral sentiments
oil the people III aid Of the argument drawn
from political sources, and to illuminate his
theme with the lofty inspirations of an elo-
quence, pleading for the rights of humanity.
\ revolution swept the State. For the first
| time the majority Of the Illinois Legislature
was opposed to the Democratic administration
of the Federal Government
United States Senator was to be cccted
in the place of Gen. Shields who had yielded
to the influence OF his less scrupuloiS col
league, and against his own better judgment,
had voted for the Kansas Nebraska act The
election came on, and Il number of ballots
were taken, the almost united opposition vot-
Ing steadily for Lincoln, but the anti-Ncbras-
ka Democrats for 'rrumbull. Mr. Lincoln be-
c,me apprehensive that those men who had
been elected as Democrats, though opposed
to Judge Douglas, would turn upon some
third candidate, of less decided convictions
than Judge Trumbull, and possibly elect Il
Senator who had little or nothing in common
with the then inchoatc Republican party 70
prevent such a consummation, he went per-
sonally to his friends, and by strong perSul-
sion, induced them to vote for rrumbull He
thus secured, by an act of generous self sac
rliice, triumph for the cause o. right and an
advocate of it on the floor of the Senate, not
inferior, in earnest zeal for the principles of
RcpubllcanSm, to any mcmber of that body.
Some of his friends on the floor of the
Legislature wept like children when con-
strained by Mr. Lincoln's personal appeals to
desert him and unite ON Trumbul. 1t Is
proper to say in this connection, that be-
tween Trumbul and Lincoln the most cordial
relations have always existed, and that the
feeling of envy OF rivalry is not to be found in
the breast Of either.
From his thorough conviction of the grow
ing magnitude of the slave question and of the
need of "a strong effort to preserve the terri
tories to freedom, Mr. Lincoln was among
the first to join in the formation of the Re
publican party, although the public opinion
around him was strongly adverse to that
movement.
He cxerted himself for the organization of
the Republican forces in Illinois, and atten-
ded the first Republican Convention held in
the State. This was in Bloomington in May,
1886. His speech in that Convention was OF
surprising power and eloquence, and produced
SiCdl CllcCl III tIlc COntcSL vi tlldl year, VII.
Lincoln was at the head of the Illinois cleo
toral ticket, and laborcd earnestly, though
vainly, to wrest that State from the grasp of
the pro slavery Democracy, with the walk
inS magazine Of mischief" as Douglas has
been appropriately called, at its head.
We need not refer to the great campaign Of
1888, so fresh i'll the recollection Of all readers
further than to snbjoin the result of the vote
on members Of the Legislature, to wit:
For ABRAHAM LINCOLN. .I25,275.
For STEPHEN \. DOUGLAS III 100.
By reason however of the iIsrant apportion-
ment of the State in Legislative districts, by
which 4 ma iOrity OF the members are always
elected by minority of the people, Mr.. Doug
las was, as is well known, returned to the
Senate.
In private life he is literally unmpcachablc.
Among all who knew him his most acceptable
and at the same time appropriate soubriqmet,
is that by which he is most widely known:
"IiONEST OLD ABE"