It was not without a feeling of modest shyness that he surveyed the immense audience gathered to hear him, and he was surprised to see the most cultivated citizens of the great metropolis7 upon the platform. Among them was William Cullen Bryant, who was president of the meeting, and in that capacity introduced him as “an eminent citizen of the West, hitherto known to you only by reputation.”
Mr. Lincoln commenced his address in low tones, but his voice became louder and his manner more confident as he proceeded. His speech was an elaborate argument to prove that the original framers of the American Government intended that the Federal Government should exercise absolute control of the Federal territories, so far as the subject of slavery was concerned, and had never surrendered this high privilege to local legislation. This he established by incontrovertible proof, and in so doing quite upset Senator Douglas’ theory of Squatter8 Sovereignty. Incidentally he vindicated9 the right of the Republican party to exist.
I have not room to quote from this remarkable speech. I am afraid I have already introduced{166} more extracts from speeches than my young readers will enjoy. They are necessary, however, if we would understand what were the views of Mr. Lincoln, and what made him President.
The next day Mr. Lincoln’s speech was printed in full in two prominent papers—the Tribune and the Evening Post, accompanied by comments of the most favorable character. The first was edited by Horace Greeley, the latter by the poet Bryant, who was nearly as conspicuous10 a politician as a poet. “No man ever before made such an impression on his first appeal to a New York audience,” said the Tribune.
Robert Lincoln, Mr. Lincoln’s oldest son, was a student at Harvard, and his father travelled into New England to visit him. He was besieged11 by applications to speak at Republican meetings, and accepted a few invitations, being everywhere cordially received. This visit no doubt bore fruit, and drew many voters to his standard, when he had been formally presented to the country as a candidate for the Presidency12. That my readers may learn how he spoke13, and how he appeared, I quote from the Manchester (N. H.) Mirror, an independent paper:{167}
“He spoke an hour and a half with great fairness, great apparent candor14, and with wonderful interest. He did not abuse the South, the administration, or the Democrats16, or indulge in any personalities17, with the exception of a few hits at Douglas’ notions. He is far from prepossessing in personal appearance, and his voice is disagreeable; and yet he wins your attention and good-will from the start. He indulges in no flowers of rhetoric18, no eloquent19 passages. He is not a wit, a humorist, or a clown; yet so great a vein20 of pleasantry and good-nature pervades21 what he says, gilding22 over a deep current of practical argument he keeps his hearers in a smiling mood, with their mouths open ready to swallow all he says. His sense of the ludicrous is very keen; and an exhibition of that is the clincher of all his arguments,—not the ludicrous acts of persons, but ludicrous ideas. Hence he is never offensive, and steals away willingly into his train of belief persons who were opposed to him. For the first half hour his opponents would agree with everything he uttered; and from that point he began to lead them off little by little, until it seemed as if he had got them all into his fold. He displays{168} more shrewdness, more knowledge of the masses of mankind, than any public speaker we have heard since Long Jim Wilson left for California.”
On the day succeeding his speech in Norwich, he met in the cars a clergyman named Gulliver, who sought his acquaintance.
“Mr. Lincoln,” he said, “I thought your speech last evening the most remarkable I ever heard.”
“You do not mean this?” said Mr. Lincoln, incredulously.
“Indeed, sir,” said Gulliver, “I learned more of the art of public speaking last evening than I could from a whole course of lectures on rhetoric.”
Mr. Lincoln was puzzled, for he was not a man to accept extravagant23 compliments.
“I should like very much to know what it was in my speech which you thought so remarkable,” he said.
“The clearness of your statements,” answered Gulliver, “the unanswerable style of your reasoning, and especially your illustrations, which were romance and pathos24, and fun and logic25, all welded together.”
“I am much obliged to you for this,” said Mr.{169} Lincoln. “I have been wishing for a long time to find some one who would make this analysis for me. It throws light on a subject which has been dark to me. I can understand very readily how such a power as you have ascribed to me will account for the effect which seems to be produced by my speeches. I hope you have not been too flattering in your estimate. Certainly I have had a most wonderful success for a man of my limited education.”
“Mr. Lincoln, may I say one thing to you before we separate?” asked Mr. Gulliver later.
“Certainly; anything you please.”
“You have spoken of the tendency of political life in Washington to debase the moral convictions of our representatives there, by the admixture of considerations of mere26 political expediency27. You have become, by the controversy28 with Mr. Douglas, one of our leaders in this great struggle with slavery, which is undoubtedly29 the struggle of the nation and the age. What I would like to say is this, and I say it with a full heart: Be true to your principles, and we will be true to you, and God will be true to us all!”
“I say amen to that! amen to that!” answered{170} Mr. Lincoln, taking his hand in both his own, while his face lighted up sympathetically.
I may as well mention here the first public occasion on which Mr. Lincoln’s name was mentioned for the Presidency.
On the 9th and 10th of May the Republican State Convention met at Decatur. Mr. Lincoln was present as a spectator, but he attracted the attention of Gov. Oglesby, who rose, and said: “I am informed that a distinguished30 citizen of Illinois, and one whom Illinois will ever delight to honor, is present; and I wish to move that this body invite him to a seat on the stand.”
Public interest and curiosity were aroused. Who was this distinguished citizen?
The Governor paused a moment, and then uttered the name of Abraham Lincoln.
Instantly there was a roar of applause, there was a rush to where the astonished Lincoln sat, he was seized, and the crowd being too dense31 to press through, he was literally32 passed over the heads and shoulders of the great throng33 until breathless he found himself on the platform. Willing or unwilling34 he was literally for the time being “in the hands of his friends.”{171}
Later on Gov. Oglesby rose once more and said: “There is an old Democrat15 outside who has something which he wishes to present to the Convention.”
“What is it?” “What is it?” “Receive it!” shouts the crowd.
The door of the wigwam opens, and an old man, bluff35 and hearty36, comes forward, bearing on his shoulder two small rails, surmounted37 by a banner, with this inscription:—
TWO RAILS
From a lot made by Abraham Lincoln and John Hanks, in the Sangamon Bottom, in the year 1830.
This old man was John Hanks himself! His entrance was greeted with tumultuous applause.
“Lincoln! Lincoln! A speech!” shouts the crowd.
Mr. Lincoln seemed amused. He rose at length and said:
“Gentlemen, I suppose you want to know something about those things,” (the rails). “Well, the truth is, John Hanks and I did make rails in{172} the Sangamon Bottom. I don’t know whether we made those rails or not; fact is, I don’t think they are a credit to the makers,” (laughing as he spoke). “But I do know this: I made rails then, and I think I could make better ones than these now.”
Before the Convention dissolved, a resolution was passed, declaring that “Abraham Lincoln is the first choice of the Republican party of Illinois for the Presidency, and instructing the delegates to the Chicago Convention to use all honorable means to secure his nomination38, and to cast the vote of the State as a unit for him.”
So Abraham Lincoln, “the rail-splitter,” as he was familiarly called, was fairly in the field as a candidate for the highest office in the gift of the nation.
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1
prominence
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| n.突出；显著；杰出；重要 | |
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tenure
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| n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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stipulated
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| vt.& vi.规定；约定adj.[法]合同规定的 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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metropolis
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| n.首府；大城市 | |
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squatter
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| n.擅自占地者 | |
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vindicated
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| v.澄清（某人/某事物）受到的责难或嫌疑( vindicate的过去式和过去分词 )；表明或证明（所争辩的事物）属实、正当、有效等；维护 | |
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10
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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besieged
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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presidency
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| n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期) | |
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13
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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candor
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| n.坦白，率真 | |
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democrat
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| n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员 | |
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democrats
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| n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 ) | |
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personalities
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| n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 ) | |
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rhetoric
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| n.修辞学，浮夸之言语 | |
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eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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vein
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| n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络 | |
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pervades
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的第三人称单数 ) | |
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gilding
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| n.贴金箔，镀金 | |
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extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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pathos
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| n.哀婉，悲怆 | |
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logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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expediency
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| n.适宜；方便；合算；利己 | |
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controversy
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| n.争论，辩论，争吵 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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nomination
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| n.提名，任命，提名权 | |
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