Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1906-02-13

stories with him to his hearts content !;
staid merchants, preachers, clergymen,
| lawyers and other professional men; and
last, but not least, tradesmen and work
| ingmen. All these he received in the
true spirit of democracy and made per-
sonal friend of every one. Lincoln was
never at loss for a story to enforce a
meaning or make a point, and many OF
his yarns are popular to-day. 1t made no
difference what sort of a story it was If
it served his purpose.
1t was during this period that he Sc
lected his cabinet, and it is somewhat
remarkable that he chose for the two
highest places the men who had been his
keenest rivSls for the presidential nomi-
nation. Here again he showed that quail
ity of tactfulness for which he was
famous, and also imbibed the sense of
the deep responsibilities which had come
upon him. Political passion was rising
higher and higher and was soon to cul-
inmate in secession, to be followed by war,
but not once in all those months did he
give an inkling of the course he intended
to pursue except to say that when as
President he should be sworn to support
the Constitution of the United States, and
he should do so to the best of his ability.
He was often embarrassed by the efforts
of rabid abolitionists to get an expression
of opinion from him, but his friends I'M
derstood that at that time he was incin-
ed to think that if the States wanted to
secede they could not be held in the
Union by force. He did make it clear
that he did not desire to be classed as
an ebolitionist and that he believed that
the slaves should not be taken from their
owners unless compensation were given
them. AS political passion rose higher
and higher, eliminating in the establish
ment of the Confederacy with seven Sc
ceding States as its component parts, his
belief that a policy of Cancellation might
be successful must have been shaken vet
up to the time he left Springfield he never
lost faith that the North and South could
once more be brought together without
bloodshed. Certainly he never dreamed
that upon him would rest the responsible
ity of raising armies and equipping ma
vies for the most bloody war in the his
tory of the western hemisphere.
At this time he became involved with
the pest of the times, the seeker of office.
Then there was no hint of civil service.
The Jacksonian idea that to the victors
belong the spoils prevailed, and there was
fight after fight for patronage. Every
hotel in Springfield was the haunt of
Office seekers, whose tricks were many,
and it might be said vain. Lincoln's pa
thence and shrewdness suffered some I'M
der these attacks, and finally he became
careworn man. 1t is a pathetic fact in
the life of Lincoln that that careworn
look never left him until death smoothed
away all the great Emancipator's perplex-
tiles and burdens.
! 1t was on Monday, Feb. II, 1861, that
Lincoln left Springf Id to make the mem
orable journey to Washington, and at
! that time he made that well-known ad-
dress which has come to be one of the
most priced possessions of the republic.
Moved by the sad feeling by which he was
almost overwhelmed, and going to things
he knew not of, he gave utterance to these
words to the crowd OF friends and neigh
bors who came to say good-by:
MY friends, no one not in my position
can appreciate the sadness l feel at this
parting. To this people 1 owe all that |
am. Here l have lived more than q
! quarter of a century; here my children
were born and here one of them lies
buried. l know not how soon l shall
see you again. A duty devolves upon me
which is, perhaps, greater than that
which has devolved upon any other man
since the days of Washington. He never
would have succeeded except for the aid
of Divine Providence, upon which he at
all times relied. 1 feel that l cannot
succeed without the same Divine aid
| h ob oi,,aI ii " ho
mighty Being 1 place my reliance for sup
port; and hope you, my friends, will all
pray that l may receive that Divine as
sistance without which l cannot succeed,
but with which success is certain. Again
l bid you an affectionate farewell"
The presidential party was about ten
days on the road, going by way of Indian
apolis, Cincinnati. Pittsburg, Cleveland,
Buffalo, Albany, New York and Philadel-
phia. The journey was one constant tri-
umph, but it was such a strain that by
| the time Buffalo was reached Lincoln was
| literally worn out. He must have spoken
at least fifty times during the week, and
it is somewhat peculiar that not one of his
speeches was in his usual vein. For that
reason, there were many who were disap-
pointed in him, and when he went secret
ly away from Philadelphia, and turned
into Harrisburg for a secret night run to
Washington he found many critics. This
was regarded as an evidence of fear
which was entirely unwarranted, but de-
velopments showed that Lincoln was right
in it, rs he was right in most things af-
terwarG. Probably there never would
have been President Lincoln in the
! White House had the last stage of the
journey been made in open day and with
the usual lack Of safeguards which char
acterized its first stages.
The old Lincoln home at Springfield
stands to-day mach as it did when the
Emancipation saw it the last time. 1t is
well preserved and as long as the patri-
otto people of Springfield can keep it from
decay it will stand snonument to the
simple life of the great man. 1t has a
sign over the front door which tells that
it is Lincoln's home.
There is still standing near Hogden-
vile, Ky, the mill built by Thomas Lin
coin, father of the President in 1916.
Abe's birthplace was about mile distant
from the mill. 1t was IN his early boy
hood that he nearly lost his life while
playing about the stream not far from the
mill. Abe and playmate had been
started for church one Sunday morning
by their mothers. but strayed away from
the straight and narrow path and went
to the mill. The stream was much swol-
len from freshets and therefore danger
Gus. At one point long log had lodged
across the creek ana abe proposed that
they coon it" across. On the way over
Abe became dizzy and fell in. The swift
current was carrying him down TO GER
tain death when his companion managed
to reach him with long pole, and drew
him out, so nearly drowned that there
was little life left in him. 1t was seine
} time before the boy regained conscious