Of course, there had been more or less electioneering in advance. Half a dozen candidates were in the field; but there were two who were recognized as leading in strength and popularity. These were William H. Seward and Abraham Lincoln. The former, in length and variety of public service, in general culture, and national{174} reputation, was far superior. It was felt that he would make an admirable candidate, and that he deserved the nomination2; but there were many who were strongly opposed to him. Three important States—Pennsylvania, New Jersey3, and Indiana—declared that, as against Douglas, they could do nothing if Seward were the nominee4. Illinois, of course, was for Lincoln, and this giant of the Western prairies enjoyed a popularity which his more experienced competitor could not boast. Yet for the first two days Seward’s chances seemed the better of the two. The other candidates whose names were presented to the Convention were Mr. Dayton, of New Jersey; Mr. Cameron, of Pennsylvania; Edward Bates, of Missouri; and Ohio offered two distinguished5 sons—Salmon P. Chase and John McLean.
On the first and second ballots6 Mr. Seward led; but, on the third, Mr. Lincoln lacked but a vote and a half of the number necessary to make him the nominee. An Ohio delegate rose and changed four votes from Chase to Lincoln. This was sufficient. He was nominated. The vast building shook with the cheers of the dense7 throng8. State{175} after State changed its vote to the man of destiny, and his nomination was made unanimous. In the afternoon, Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, was nominated for Vice-President.
Meanwhile Mr. Lincoln was in Springfield, bearing the suspense9 as well as he could. My boy readers will be interested to know that he spent a considerable part of his time in playing baseball, his mind being too preoccupied10 to do his ordinary work. Dispatches were received from time to time, but nothing decisive.
Mr. Lincoln and some of his friends were waiting in the office of the Journal when the local editor rushed in, in a fever of excitement.
“What’s the news?” was the breathless inquiry11.
“The Convention has made a nomination,” he said, “and Mr. Seward——”
A look of intense disappointment was beginning to show itself on the faces of the listeners. They supposed that Seward was nominated.
“And Seward is—the second man on the list,” continued the editor.
He could no longer restrain himself. Jumping on the editorial table, he shouted, “Gentlemen, I{176} propose three cheers for Abraham Lincoln, the next President of the United States.”
The cheers were given with a will.
The dispatch was handed to Mr. Lincoln, who read it quietly.
Then he put it in his pocket, saying, “There is a little woman on Eighth Street who will be interested to hear this,” and he walked home.
In Springfield the news excited the greatest enthusiasm. All knew and loved Abraham Lincoln. He set himself above no one, but greeted all with cordial kindness. The nomination was felt to be a personal compliment to Springfield. The country had come to them for a President, and to the man above all others whom they would personally have selected.
That day Mr. Lincoln had to keep open house. His modest residence proved quite too small to contain the crowds who wanted to enter and shake hands with the man who had become so suddenly of national importance. They received a cordial welcome; and no one could detect in the nominee any unusual elation12 nor any deviation13 from his usual plain and modest deportment.{177}
The next day Mr. Lincoln was formally notified of his election by a Committee of the Convention, with Mr. Ashmun at the head. This was his response:
“Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee:—I tender to you, and through you to the Republican National Convention, and all the people represented in it, my profoundest thanks for the high honor done me, which you now formally announce. Deeply and even painfully sensible of the great responsibility which is inseparable from this high honor—a responsibility which I could almost wish had fallen upon some one of the far more eminent15 men and experienced statesmen whose distinguished names were before the Convention, I shall, by your leave, consider more fully14 the resolutions of the Convention, denominated the platform, and, without unnecessary and unreasonable16 delay, respond to you, Mr. Chairman, in writing, not doubting that the platform will be found satisfactory, and the nomination gratefully accepted. And now I will not longer defer17 the pleasure of taking you, and each of you, by the hand.”
Let us consider who were Mr. Lincoln’s rivals{178} in the Presidential race. Usually there are but two tickets in the field. This time there were four. First in order of time had come the National Constitutional union Convention, made up largely of old Whigs. At this Convention John Bell, of Tennessee, was nominated for President, and Edward Everett, of Massachusetts, for Vice-President. The Democratic National Convention had met at Charleston, but adjourned18 without deciding upon a candidate. Mr. Douglas was the most prominent man before it, but extreme Southerners doubted his entire devotion to slavery, and he was unable to obtain the necessary two-thirds vote. The two factions20 into which the Convention split afterward21 met: the one at Baltimore, the other at Richmond. At the Baltimore Convention Stephen A. Douglas was nominated for President, and Mr. Johnson, of Georgia, for Vice-President. At the Richmond Convention of Southern seceders, John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, and Joseph Lane, of Oregon, were selected as standard-bearers.
In this division of the Democracy lay the hope of the new Republican party. With the Democracy united they would have been unable to{179} cope; but they were stronger than either faction19. When the eventful 6th of November arrived, the result was what might have been anticipated. Abraham Lincoln, the poor boy whose fortunes we have so long followed, reached the highest step of political preferment. He received 1,857,610 votes; Mr. Douglas came next, with 1,291,574; while Mr. Breckinridge could muster22 only 850,082; Mr. Bell secured 646,124. Of the electoral votes, however, Mr. Lincoln received a majority, namely, 180 out of 292.
To go back a little. From the day of Mr. Lincoln’s nomination he was beset23 by callers—some drawn24 by curiosity, and many by considerations of private interest. They found him the same unaffected, plain man that he had always been. He even answered the door-bell himself, and personally ushered25 visitors in and out. My readers will be interested in two anecdotes26 of this time, which I transcribe27 from the interesting volume of Dr. Holland, already more than once referred to:
“Mr. Lincoln being seated in conversation with a gentleman one day, two raw, plainly-dressed young ‘Suckers’ entered the room and bashfully{180} lingered near the door. As soon as he observed them and apprehended28 their embarrassment29, he rose and walked to them, saying, ‘How do you do, my good fellows? What can I do for you? Will you sit down?’
“The spokesman of the pair, the shorter of the two, declined to sit, and explained the object of the call thus: he had had a talk about the relative height of Mr. Lincoln and his companion, and had asserted his belief that they were of exactly the same height. He had come in to verify his judgment30. Mr. Lincoln smiled, went and got his cane31, and, placing the end of it upon the wall, said, ‘Here, young man, come under here.’
“The young man came under the cane, as Mr. Lincoln held it, and when it was perfectly32 adjusted to his height, Mr. Lincoln said, ‘Now come out, and hold up the cane.’ This he did, while Mr. Lincoln stepped under. Rubbing his head back and forth33 to see that it worked easily under the measurement, he stepped out, and declared to the sagacious fellow who was curiously34 looking on, that he had guessed with remarkable35 accuracy—that he and the young man were exactly{181} of the same height. Then he shook hands with them, and sent them on their way. Mr. Lincoln would just as soon have thought of cutting off his right hand as he would have thought of turning those boys away with the impression that they had in any way insulted his dignity.
“They had hardly disappeared when an old and modestly-dressed woman made her appearance. She knew Mr. Lincoln, but Mr Lincoln did not at first recognize her. Then she undertook to recall to his memory certain incidents connected with his ride upon the Circuit—especially upon his dining at her house upon the road at different times. Then he remembered her and her home. Having fixed36 her own place in her recollection, she tried to recall to him a certain scanty37 dinner of bread and milk that he once ate at her house. He could not remember it; on the contrary, he only remembered that he had always fared well at her house. ‘Well,’ said she, ‘one day you came along after we had got through dinner, and we had eaten up everything, and I could give you nothing but a bowl of bread and milk; and you ate it; and when you got up you said it was good enough for the President of the{182} United States.’ The good old woman, remembering the remark, had come in from the country, making a journey of eight or ten miles, to relate to Mr. Lincoln this incident, which, in her mind, had doubtless taken the form of prophecy. Mr. Lincoln placed the honest creature at her ease, chatted with her of old times, and dismissed her in the most happy and complacent38 frame of mind.”
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1
perpetuation
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| n.永存，不朽 | |
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nomination
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| n.提名，任命，提名权 | |
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jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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nominee
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| n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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ballots
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| n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 ) | |
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7
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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elation
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| n.兴高采烈，洋洋得意 | |
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deviation
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| n.背离，偏离；偏差，偏向；离题 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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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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unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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defer
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| vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从 | |
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adjourned
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| （使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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faction
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| n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争 | |
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factions
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| 组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 ) | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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ushered
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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anecdotes
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| n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
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transcribe
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| v.抄写，誉写；改编(乐曲)；复制，转录 | |
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apprehended
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| 逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解 | |
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embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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32
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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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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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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complacent
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| adj.自满的；自鸣得意的 | |
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