The Pickens sentinel. (Pickens, S.C.) 1911-2016, 1911-11-16

UQe long pdSSdSe-Nd dy eth'' oAoAo
the rotunda to the East portlcc
where a temporary woode.
platform had been erected, keeI
ing close to Mr.. Lincoln. Il
was tall and ungainly, wearin
a black suit, a black tie and
black silk hat. He carried
gold or a silver-headed walkin
cane. AS we came out into tn
open and upon the provisiona
stand, where there was a tabl
containing a Bible, a pitche.
and a glass of water, he drev
from his breast pocket the man
uscript I had seen him reading
at the hotel, laid this before hin
placing the cane upon it as
paperweight, removed from
their leathern case his steel-rim
med spectacles, and raised hi
hand-he was exceeding delber
ate and composed-to remov
his hat. As he did so, [ lifte'
my hand to receive it. but Judg
Douglas, who stood at my sid
reached over my arm, took tn
hat, and held it during the de
livery Of the Inaugural Address
which followed.
His self-possession was per
feet. Dignity, herself, coult
not have been more uneNcited
His,voice was a little highpitch.
ed, but resonant, quite reaching
the outer fringes of the vast
crowd in front; his expression
serious to the point OF gravity:
not a scintillation Of humor. In
spite of the campaign pictures
I was prepared to expect much
Judge Douglas had said to me,
upon his return to Washington
after the famous campaign of
1853 for the Illinois senatorship
from which the Little Giant
had come off victor: He is the
greatest debator I have ever met
either here or anywhere else.
To me the address meant war.
AS the crowd upon the portico
dispersed back into the Capitol
I found myself wedged in be-
tween J hn Bell, of Tennessee,
and Reverdy Johnson, of Mary
land. E:-ch took me by an arm
and we sat down upon a bench
lust outside the Rotunda. They
were very optimistic. No, there
would be no war, no fight; all
the troubles would be tided over;
the Union still was safe, [ was
but a boy, just one and twenty.
They were the two most intel
lectual and renowned of the sur
viving Whig leaders of the
Clay and Webster, one of them
just defeated for president in
the preceding election. Their
talk puzzled me greatly, for to
my mind there seemed no escape
from the armed collision of the
sections-Secession already ac-
compIished and a Confederate
Government actually establish
ed. There is in youth a pro-
phetic instinct which grows dull
Ter with advancing years.
AS I look behind me | not only
bear this in mind, illustrated by
the converse Of those two veter-
an statesman that day in the
Rotunda of the Capitol at Wash
ington. but I feel it and realize
it, so that [ am much less conf
dent, with a lifetime of exper-
ience to guide me. than | was
when bouyed by the ignorance
and bravery but also the inspir-
alton, Of youth, the problems
ahead read plain and clear as
out of an open book.
Of Lincoln and the South he
said:
The duty he had been conf
missioned to do was to save the
Union. With an overwhelming
majority of the people the in
stitution of African slavery was
not an issue. In his homelv,
enlightening way, Lincoln de-
clared that if he could preserve
the Union, with slavery, he
would do it, or without slavery,
he would do it or with some free
and others slaves, he would do
that. The Proclamation of
Emancipation was a war meas
ure purely. He knew he had
no Con :titutional warrant, and,
true to his oath of office. he held