The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1895-07-05
use. The newspapers treated him with

CousO. L uc newspapers Gr6dGSu I'LL VIII
no little consideration. One paper char
acterized his speech as one of great
fairness" delivered with ''great appar-
ent candor and wonderful interest For
the first half hour his opponents would
agree with every word he uttered, and
from that point he would lead them off
little by little unit! it seemed as if he
had got them all into his fold. He is far
from prepossessing in personal appear
ance, and his voice is disagreeable, and
yet he wins your attention from the
start He INDUCES in no flowers of
rhetoric, no eloquent passages He dis
plays more shrewdness, more knowledge
of the masses of mankind than any pub
lie speaker we have heard since Long
Jim Wilson left for California.
AS Politician.
Lincoln's return to Springfield after
his dazzling success in the east was the
signal for earnest congratulations on
the part of his friends Seward was the
great man of the day, but Lincoln had
demonstrated to the satisfaction of his
friends that he was tall enough and
strong enough to measure swords with
the Auburn statesman. His triumph in
New York and New England had shown
that the idea of house divided against
itself induced as strong cooperation and
hearty support in prevention of a great
wrong in the east as the famous "irre-
pressible conflict" attracted warriors to
Stewards standard in the Mississippi
valley. 1t was apparent now to Lincoln
that the presidential nomination was
within his reach. He began gradually
to lose his interest in the law and to
trim his political sails at the same time.
His recent success had stimulated his
self confidence to unwonted proportions.
He wrote to influential party workers
everywhere. I know the idea prevails
that Lincoln sat still in his chair in
Springfield, and that one of those IN
looked for tides in human affairs came
along and cast the nomination into his
lap, but any man who has had expert
ence in such things knows that great
political prizes are not obtained in that
way. The truth is, Lincoln was as vigi-
liant as he was ambitious, and there is
no denying the fact that he understood
the situation perfectly from the start.
In the management of his own interests
he was obliged to rely almost entirely
on his own resources. He had no money
with which to maintain a political
bureau, and he lacked any kind of per-
sonal organization whatever. A letter
written by Lincoln about this time to a
friend in Kansas serves to illustrate his
methods and measures the extent of his
ambition. The letter is dated March 10
and is now in my possession. For obvi
Gus reasons I withhold the friends
name: GAS to your kind wishes for my
self, writes Lincoln, "allow me to say
I cannot enter the ring on the money
basis, first, because in the main it is
wrong, and, secondly, have not and
cannot get the money. Isay in the main
the use of money is wrong, but for GER
tain objects in political contest the
use of some is both right and indispen-
sable. With me, as with yourself, this
long struggle has been one of great Pc
cuniary loss, Inow distinctly say this
if you shall be appointed delegate to
Chicago, I will furnish 500 to bea1
the expenses of the trip"
Lincoln's friend, instead of securing
that delegation for him, suffered the
Seward men to outgeneral him, and the
prospects were by no means fattering
81 see by the dispatches, :" writes Lin
coin in burst of surprise, "that, since
you wrote, Kansas has appointed dele
gates and instructed for Seward. Don't
stir them up to anger, but come along
to the convention, and I will do as
said about expenses. Whether the
friend ever accepted Lincoln's generous
offer do not know, but it may not be
without interest to state that within ten
days after the latter's Inauguration he
appointed him to a federal Office with
comfortable salary attached and even
asked for his preferences as to other con.
templated appointments in his own
state.
Formal Notice of His Nomination.
The news of his nomination found
Lincoln at Springfield in the Office Of
The Journal. Naturally enough, he was
nervous, restless and laboring under
more or less suppressed excitement. He
had been tossing ball, pastime fire.
quently INDUCED in by the lawyers of
that day, and had played few games
of billiards to keep down, as another
has expressed it, "the unnatural excite
ment that threatened to possess him. "
When the telegram containing the re-
suit of the last ballot came in, although
apparently calm and undisturbed, a
close observer could have detected in the
compressed lip and serious countenance
evidences of deep and unusual emotion.
As the balloting progressed he had
gone to the Office of The Journal and
was sitting in large armchair there
when the news of his nomination came.
What a line of scenes, stretching from
the barren glade in Kentucky to the ju-
bilant and enthusiastic throng in the
Wigwam at Chicago, must have broken
in upon his vision as he fastened from
the newspaper Office to ''tell little
woman down the street the newsr' In
the evening his friends and neighbors
called to congratulate him. He thanked
them feelingly and shook them each by
the hand. A day later the committee
from the convention, with George Ash
mum of Massachusetts, at its head, called
and delivered formal notice of his nomi-
nation. This meeting took place at his