Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1905-02-04
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Lincoln
and the
Question Of
Slavery
By GEORGE II. PICARD
By GEORGE II. PICARD
Copyright. 1905. by George II Picard
.s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-.-e-s-.

~ OoN after reaching his majority
VA Abraham Lincoln made two
~ voyages down the Mississippi
river as far aS New Orleans in
a ildtboat Ten years later, when his
faculty of critical observation must
hat" become considerably more acute.
he made IA third visit to the gulf states.
II Las been found convenient by some
OF Ills biOGrapherS and not few post
h"n,um historians to date Mr. LinCOln's
conversation to the then novel and pro-
SC"'"l doctrines OF antiSlavery from
that period. SpeCious as this hypothe-
SIS may seem, there Is no authentic rec
ord that Lincoln himself ever confirmed
ii. With n mentality capable of alb
Sorhin% the giSt of the literary hoard
in. If the centuries, but denied all OPP
porlunity until long after the period
nj which most students have mastered
tie essentials of college education,
Abraham Lincoln, OmnivorouS reader
and logical reusoner, in the long in
tr"Val between his southern journeys
and his election to congress- transform
ed himself into the foremost sociologiSt
of his age.
Before he was elected to congress
Mr. Lincoln served for several terms
III tn" Illinois state legislature, but did
not refer, even incidentally, to the sub
jcCt of slavery in his speeches. When
he was sent to congress he proclaimed
himself the militant apostle Of the anti
slavery agitation. Strong men had ar
l,,, oil
trade. and fervid enthusiasts had pro-
claimed their Willingness to yield their
lives for its abolition. The new con
grCSSman from the San%amon district
of Illinois announced his intention to
propose the emancipation of the slaves
in the District of Columbia. Such was
the prevailing temper of the time that
congress declined absolutely to consider
the proposition. but Mr. Lincoln had
sounded the keynote OF Il mighty apos-
tolate. He had shown his colOrS and
a willingness to follow them to the end.
He was not invited to become can
didate for reelection. His political
friends admired his courage and his in
tellcct but SHE'D at his radicalism.
This heStancy on the part of his con
Sttucncy could not prevent Mr. Lin
coin from becoming the most intlucn-
tial exponent of the principles of the
WhiG party in the state. After his re-
turn from congress he was in great de
mand as an orator IN every campaign.
He became better known than any 9th
er mau in the state except stephen \.
Douglas, and in the course of time he
settled down to Il very large and luCra-
tive law practice. The repeal of the
Missouri compromise awakened all the
apparently dormant energies of his ma
turp He fOrSook his cXactng business
and at once assumed tn" leadership OF
the new party which arose in the west
to battle against the scheme of the
slave trade to organize the new terrific
ricS under proSlavery auspices. The
designs of the proSlavery leaders were
not cOngcnial to the people of the west
but they had powerful advocate in
the eloquent Douglas, and public senti-
ncut was in a state of ticklencSS. \
now senator was to be chosen in Hi
noiS. and it happened that the legiSla-
tulc elected during the heat of the dis
cUSSion contained Il majority in favor