The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1884-03-06
LAVE AND LINCOLN.

| LANE AMI L4HCOL4.
In the last North American Review
w. o. Stoddard had very interesting
article under the tile, The Story of q
Nomination" It is well known that
there was bitter opposition to the rtn1m
insiion of Abraham Lincoln in 1864. and
that his last administration as bitterly
criticised A grand council of The Union
L. ague. then q p 'werful Repub lean or
Rapiz4tIon IN this country. composed of
delegates from every 10y al STATE, was
held in Washington in the summer OF
1868, at which the tide Of cppo i ion 10
Lincoln Was very great. An att mpt
was made TO censure his administration.
It was finally postponed aad
the grand council adjourned
TO mret st the time of the .tional Re-
publican convention 1t Baltimore, in
June, 1854 To this grand council Sen
atos James II Lane was q deli gate from
Kansas He was great admirer aud a
staunch friend of Mr.. Lincoln. A few
days before the nesting of the grand
councll snd national convention Lsne
had long CONSULTATION with the presi-
deaf. the result of that insult ltIon is
tod below by Mr. SLodiaTd.
The grand council met. The tide of
bitter deuunciatiou OF Mr.. Lincoln and
his administration set 10 again. For
hours IL seemed tn carry everything be-
fore il; Il looked as though the eff1rt
10 condemn the administration would
prevail. Lincoln was anxious about the
result. The di cusslon lasted long
AID exc temebt ran high. Not voice
had been raised ia d .fense of MIR. Lin
elon. This may have b zen in part for
lack of opportunity. The grand pres
dent, Judge Edmunds, WIS a devoted
friend of SIR. Lincoln. aud yet as il with
malice aforethOught, be sat there b hind
his desk on the raised platform, C .lm-
ly recognizing" as presiding Off er
of the grand council, only the known
enemies OF his friend, until it seemed
that most of them must have been Le.rd.
There came a luil in the storm, and
Jim" Lane, of KaGs4s, arose near the
front, in tie middle aisle of tAe hall
He was instantly recognized by The
chairman; but be stood in silence for
moment, until he had deliberately turned
around and looked ali over The room
The substance If his remarks was near
lY as follows:
Mr. President, Gentlemen of the
| Grand Council: For a man u produce
| pain in another man by pressing upon
| u wounded spot requires no great degree
OF strength, and he who presses is not en-
titled to any emotion of triumph at the
agony expressed by the suffer
er. Neither skill nor wisdom
has been exercised IN the bar
barrie process. For man, an orator,
| to produce an effect upon sore and
weary hearts, g4ngrened with many
hurts, worn out with many sacrifices,
sick with long delays, broken with bitter
disappJintmI hts; so stirring them up
even 10 passion and 10 folly, demands
no high degree of oratOrical ability
| 1t is an easy thing To d }, as We have
seen this evening. Almost anybody
can do it.
"For a man to take such q crowd as
this now is, 81 sore aud sick at heart,
and now so stung and aroused TO
passionate folly; now so infused with 9
delusive h"pe for the future as well as
/ with false and unjust thoughts con-
IAC PdNbI lOA q h1d1 ~
dress himself to such an assembly and
turn the tide of its passion and its ex
| element In the opposite direction; that
| were q task worthy of the highest ant
greatest effort of human oratory. I am
no orator at all, but TO precisely that task
have / now set myself, with absolu e
| certainty OF success: All that IL needful
is that the truth should be set forth
plainly, now that the false has done rs
| wOrst,n
He had gained in a minute all that
could be won by an audacity bordering
upon arrogance. Rspid and vivid
sketches followed, presenting 10 detail
The leading features of the history o.
| MIR. Liucoln's administration. Each Wa
made complete in It's If, and at the end
of each chapter came some variation Of
this formula:
II sm speaking Individually to each
man here. Do on, sir, know, in this
broad land. and can you name To me
one man whom you could or would
trust, before God, that he would have
done tettt in this matter than Abraham
Lincoln has done. and tn whom you
would be more willing 10 intrust the un-
forseeu emergency or peril which is
next TO come. That unfork cen peril,
that perplexIng emergency, that step in
the Clark, is right before US, and we are
here t0 decide by whom it shall be made
for the nation. Name your other man r.
Very little time was wasted upon the
general list of ehsrEes. fof they had
) spetit themselves in the making; but a
mastery picture of Mr. Lincoln's long,
suff ring, patience, faithful toll, uttt /
unsel6shness, and of the great advances
already gained under his leadership
was followed by sudden transfer 81 the
thoughts of ali TO the scene In the great
Wigwam on the morrow.
I'VE shall come together to be watched
IN bTeatbless listt ming by all this c1'un
try-by all the civiiiz, q World-and II
. We shall seem to WAIVER as to our par
pose, we destroy hope; and if we permit
private feelings, as tonight, to break
{, nth into discussiOnI We discttss defeat
and If We nominate any other man than
, Abraham Lincoln we nominate ruin
Gentlemen of the Grand Council OF the
Union League, have done"
: The senator sat down, but no mar
arose to reply. His speech had no
been a very long one. but 1t bad beer
enough {, accomplish all he had pro
posed for ii. The resolution approving
the administration was adopted will
but few disc nting voices, many not vot
ing ApItaer vols declared the voice o
the Union League to he IN f,Vor %
3 | President Lincoln's re-elec ion. and Tho
9 greetest political peril then Ihrcate MIN
:, The United Ststes had disappear, d
When the national cotvention IF th
;, Republican party at.aired an organizes
I condition on the next day, Abraham
| The first ballot.