White House at nine o'clock the next morning. Speed
and I, after tea, had come into the room and listened to
the discussion, after the delegation left. I was much
afraid that Mr. Lincoln had made up his mind not to
pardon the young men. Speed, who I know had more
influence with the President than any living being, sug-
gested that we should tackle him and beg for the boys,
which we did in good earnest. We plied him with all the
reasons we could muster, and still I was afraid we were
not gaining ground. When it came to be time to retire, I
said to Mr. Lincoln that I did not think I could sleep
unless I knew that he was going to pardon the boys. He
said: " Gillespie, I can't tell you." "Well," said I, "you
can give me an inkling." Said he, " All I can say is that I
have always found that mercy bears richer friiits than strict
justice'' In the morning the delegation were ahead of
time and they were rejoiced beyond measure to receive
the pardon for their friends. Mr. Lincoln was a very
4 6o /. GILLESPIE.
humane man, but at the same time he was wonderfully
just and firm. If it was possible for him to exercise
clemency without doing wrong, he would do so. He told
me, one evening, that since he saw me in the morning,
he had received some distressing intelligence. He had
been notified by Ould, Commissioner (I think he called
him) for Exchange in the rebel army, that a large number
of prisoners captured and paroled at Vicksburg had been
put into the field. I said I did not perceive why that
should distress him ; that it only amounted to our having
a few more to fight. " Ah," said he, " look at it in this
light ; these men are liable to be shot when captured
unless I prohibit it, and the responsibility rests on me to
say whether the laws of war shall be carried out, in the
case of those men, or suspended. What would you do if in
my place ? " said he. I said : " It is too big a question for
me," " Well," said he, " it is a momentous question, and
must be decided at once, and I have about made up my
mind that those men have been forced into the field, and
that it would be unmerciful to have them shot." As a boon
companion, Mr. Lincoln, although he never drank a drop
of liquor, or used tobacco in any form, in his life, wa?
without a rival. No one would ever think of putting in
while he was talking. He could illustrate any incident,
it seemed to me, with an appropriate and amusing anec-
dote. He did not tell stories just for the sake of telling
them, but invariably by way of illustration of something
that had happened or been said. There seemed to be no
end to his fund. I could relate hundreds of his stories,
but time and space forbid it. I will give a circumstance
showing his power to amuse. In 1842 (I think), after
/. GILLESP1E. 461
Mr. Van Buren's defeat, he and Mr. Paulding took an
excursion through the West ; they informed their friends
that they would reach Springfield, 111., by a certain
evening. The Springfield people knew that the bad state
of the roads would prevent them getting further thar
Rochester, about seven miles from Springfield, that day;
and as accommodations at the place were horrible, Mr.
Van Buren's friends concluded to meet him there with re-
freshments and make the night pass off as pleasantly as
circumstances would permit. Mr. Lincoln, although a
Whig, was pressed into the service, and was told to use
his best endeavors to entertain the distinguished guests,
in which he succeeded admirably. Ebenezer Peck, a great
admirer of Mr. Van Buren, told me he had never passed
a more joyous night. " Lincoln told his queerest stories ;
Van Buren's laugh was ready chorus." Mr. Van Buren
said that for days after his sides were sore from laughing
at Lincoln's humor. Physically, Mr. Lincoln was a
Hercules. I first saw him in 1832, while he was engaged
in a wrestling-match with one Dan Thompson, who was
the champion, in that line, of the southern portion of
Illinois, while Lincoln occupied that position as to what
was then the northern portion. It was a terrible tussle,
but Lincoln was too much for him. Mr. Lincoln was a
very indulgent husband and father ; while at Springfield,
his children were constantly with him, romping and play-
ing. The truth is, his affection was so strong that he
had but little government over them, and it was painful
to see him when allusion was made to the death of his
son Willie. As a lawyer he was peculiar, and never
gave an opinion until he had reflected upon the case. He
462 , /. GILLESPIE.-
went into court with his subject thoroughly analyzed, and
would discard every doubtful point and concentrate all of
his powers upon the tap-root of his case. Analysis and
concentration were the characteristics of his mind. He
had no acrimony in his temper, and treated every one
with the utmost consideration and respect. Mr. Lincoln
cared nothing about money-making, and had no concep-
tion of a speculation. He said he had no money sense.
He had a realizing sense that he was generally set down
by city snobs as a country Jake, and would accept, in a
public-house, any place assigned to him, whether in the
basement or the attic, and he seldom called at the table
for anything, but helped himself to what was within
reach. Indeed, he never knew what he did eat. He said
to me once that he never felt his own utter unworthi-
ness so much as when in the presence of a hotel clerk or
waiter. Mr. Lincoln was very tender-hearted. I called
at the White House and was detained a considerable time
in the anteroom, which was filled with persons waiting
their turn to be admitted to the. President. While there,
I met with an old lady who said she had been several
days waiting to see Mr. Lincoln ; that she wanted to get
permission to see her son, who was a soldier lying at the
point of death ; that she was unable to obtain permission
from the Secretary of War. I told her that if I gained
admittance before she did, I would speak to the Pres-
ident about her case. She said she had been told that he
was a very kind-hearted man. Just about this time, Mr.
Lincoln's barber, whom I had known in Springfield,
Illinois, came out of Mr. Lincoln's room and, seeing me,
offered to take me in by a private door, which I accepted
/. GILLESPIE. 463
While shaking hands with the President, I mentioned the
case of the old lady, and he remarked that his greatest
tribulation consisted in the fact that it was impossible for
him to give prompt attention to such cases, but he directed
the old lady to be shown in, and without hesitation,
granted her request. He saw in an instant that she was
honest. I have heard Joshua F. Speed, of Louisville, re-
late an incident illustrative of Mr. Lincoln's character,
which redounded to the advantage of the country. It
was at a time when the want of money was paralyzing
the Government. Stewart and Astor and other capital-
ists had assembled to consider whether they would
advance funds to meet the pressing necessities of the
case. While those men were conferring with the Pres-
ident on the momentous question, an old gentleman and
lady made their appearance, who turned out to be very
particular friends of Mr. Lincoln, who broke up the con-
ference with the capitalists, to greet, in his most cordial
manner, his old friends. The effect upon Messrs.
Stewart, Astor and others was electrical. They declared
that they would have no hesitation to aid a Government
at the head of which was a man so true to his old
friends.
EDWARDSVILLE, 1882.
464 *S\ S. COXTJVOM4S CHASE.
HIS sense of humor was as logical as his mind was
clear and his heart generous. I knew him well
before he was Chief Executive, and he was the best
companion ; bigger by far in the noblest sense of courtesy
and heartiness than any man I ever knew, except his great
rival, Judge Douglas.
NEW YORK, 1880.
A MAN of a style of greatness which is the best
product of free institutions, and of them alone ; a
man whose glory it was that his chief desire was to do
the right, and to promote the right ; whose watchword
was Duty ; and whose warmest aspiration the removal of
all weights and hindrances which hold men back from
their highest social, intellectual and religious develop-
ment.
1880.
CAVALRY GROUP OF STATUARY. NATIONAL LINCOLN MONUMENT.
Representing the rearing figure of ahorse, from whose "back his rider has just been thrown,
and the wounded trumpeter, who is supported by a companiou.
/. G, HOLLAND ANSON G. M'COOK. 465
WHEN I began, a few weeks after his death, to
write the life of Abraham Lincoln, I entertained
a profound respect for his strong mind, his tender heart,
and the memory of his beneficent life. When I wrote
the last page of the book, I had become his affectionate
admirer and enthusiastic partisan.
NEW YORK, 1880.
HIS services were of such inestimable value to the
republic, and his life so identified with the
struggle to maintain it, that no ordinary volume would
be sufficient to more than touch upon them.
WASHINGTON, 1880.
80
466 H. W. LONGFELLOW.
UNABLE to do more than wish the undertaking
great success.
Q/wrvx^r N I M r
C3 ^
A. O Cj ^?
CAMBRIDGE, MARCH 13, 1882.
M. R. WAITE. 467
I HAVE always thought Mr. Lincoln was a man born
for his time. He was a leader without seeming to
be. He, more than any other man during his presidency,
stood at the helm of State. Through his skill, which
was only the best of common sense, we were taken by
the only channel that led from secession to the true
dictum of "an indestructible Union, composed of in-
destructible States." He died as he lived, a great states-
man, who knew enough of the ways of politics to make
his statesmanship practically useful.
WASHINGTON, 1882.
4 68 JESSE W. FELL.
IF there was any one trait in the make-up of that illus
trious man that stood out more conspicuously than
any other, it was, to use a favorite word of his, his fairness
his habitual, ever-recurring sense of justice. As an illus
tration of this, I offerfor the LINCOLN MEMORIAL ALBUM
a few recollections of his bearing towards his great politi
cal rival, Stephen A. Douglas : for great he, too, truly was,
as a popular and sensational debater and political man-
ager, to say nothing of his acknowledged ability in other
directions.
The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill of which he
was the admitted champion in the spring of 1854, in open
violation of both letter and spirit of the Missouri Com-
promise Act of 1820, throwing out that immense district of
country covered by these Territories now States to
the baneful institution of human slavery, was claimed to
be a manifest breach of national good faith ; and so re-
pugnant was it to the sentiment of the Northern people,
that it roused up a storm of popular indignation all over
the North, unequaled in the previous history of the coun-
try. In no part of that country, Kansas alone excepted,
did that excitement run higher than here in Illinois ; as an
evidence of which, about that time, or soon after, scores
of law-abiding men armed themselves with Sharpe's
rifles, and fled from our midst to the plains of " Bleeding
Kansas " then so-called whilst many others contributed
freely of their means to accomplish a common object,
JESSE W. FELL. 46*
to wit, make Kansas a free State ; the battle-grounc
being almost wholly confined to that State.
Senator Douglas, having not only introduced and
voted for that Bill, but making the leading speech in its
support, was the object of special hostility and criticism
here and everywhere. He labored to justify the act on
the ground of what he denominated "popular sovereign-
ty " plausibly contending it was equally fair to both
sections of the Union ; and that, as the free State men
were not only more numerous, but more active in their
movements than the Southern people, they would take
possession of and organize into free States both of these
Territories ; a view, the correctness of which in the lat-
ter regard was vindicated by subsequent history, though
not till a series of outrages had been perpetrated, unpar-
alleled in the history of popular governments. The oppo-
sition contended that, as that Territory had in the most
solemn manner, and as a peace-offering for the preserva-
tion of the Union, been dedicated to freedom, when Mis-
souri was admitted into the Union, the passage of the Bill
exhibited an unmanly, servile pandering to the slave
power of the South, that up to that time, and for many
years preceding, had dominated all legislation on the
slavery question, and in various ways been very aggres-
sive on the rights of Northern people. The result was
an intensely bitter political excitement ; so bitter as to
not only mar, but almost to destroy social enjoyment be-
tween ordinary politicians holding adverse opinions on
this subject.
These two men were the Magnus Apollos of their re-
spective parties ; for although the Republican party had
470 JESSE W. FELL.
not then been fully crystallized into a political organiza-
tion, it was in a process of formation, and Lincoln was
" everywhere in Illinois our admitted standard-bearer.
Notwithstanding the high party-excitement referred
to, his love of fair play shone out most conspicuously.
Judge Douglas, fully apprised of the state of. public feel-
ing, had given out that on his return from Washington
he would address the people on the exciting topic of the
times, and in pursuance thereof a Democratic meeting
was called at Bloomington on the i9th day of September,
1854. After conferring with our Anti-Nebraska friends
as we were then commonly called I opened a correspon-
dence with Mr. Lincoln, resulting in his coming to
Bloomington on that day, in order to take notes and
reply to Mr. Douglas, if the way opened, on the same
day, and if not, in the evening. This fact became pretty
widely known, and a very large meeting, composed of
quite as many Anti-Nebraska men as Democrats, met in
the grove near town no hall we then had being sufficient
to hold the crowd. In order that the country people
should have the benefit of the discussion, there was a
universal desire, on the part of our friends, that Lincoln
as well as Douglas should be heard in the day-time, and
I had been requested to see Lincoln on his arrival and
get his approval that we propose to, and urge upon the
Judge to divide time, so as to have a joint discussion.
With what little ability I could command, I did so,
emphasizing the fact that a large majority of those we
most desired to reach could not be heard unless this
arrangement was made ; and that in the absence of such
an agreement it would be quite difficult to restrain within
JESSE W. FELL. 471
bounds the clamor of the people to hear him. I shall
never forget his very prompt and decisive reply, which
was substantially this : " Fell, this is not our meeting ;
it is Judge Douglas's meeting ; he called it, and he arid
his friends have a right to control it. Notwithstanding
all you say about our country people, and the great desire
I have to talk to them, we must do nothing to defeat his
object in calling it. He has heard of the great racket the
passage of his Bill has kicked up, and he wants to set
himself right with his people, a job not very easily done,
you and I being the judges. Partly on this ground and
partly to keep me from speaking, he will no doubt con-
sume so much of the time that I'll have no chance till
in the evening. I fully appreciate all you say about our
country friends, and would like mighty well to talk to
them on this subject. If Judge Douglas will give me a
chance I will follow him out in the grove, but as he won't
do this, I guess you may give it out, after he is done,
that I will reply to him after candle lighting in the court-
house."
This speech settled the matter. I will only add, in
conclusion, our Anti-Nebraska friends were greatly dis-
appointed at not getting his approval of some pretty
active (perhaps I should say aggressive) demonstrations,
to secure a division of time in the discussion ; that, as we
anticipated, the afternoon was consumed by the Judge ;
that so intense was the desire to hear Lincoln in the day-
time, it was found quite difficult to repress a perfect
avalanche of popular calls for our hero to be heard ; and
that, in the evening, he held forth at the old court-house
to all that could get in it, or within hearing distance, in a
472 JESSE W. FELL.
most logical, eloquent and inspiring speech on the dis-
turbed and perturbed condition of the country, and the
consequent duties we owed to that country, and to a
common humanity, in resisting, to the bitter end, this last
aggression on Northern rights. In power and pathos,
mingled with the playful and humorous, he seldom, if
ever, acquitted himself more grandly.
It may not be amiss to say that before speaking com-
menced I called on Judge Douglas, who, as we had antici-
pated, politely declined the proffered debate ; in do'ng
which he made some amusing, though good-natured,
remarks about the uncertain character of our party,
which in truth was, at that time, far from being of a very
compact or coherent order, either in name or creed.
I repeat, it was Lincoln's love of justice, his habitual,
ever-active sense of right, and the practice of it, that
made him so strong with the people ; and such I know is
the opinion of him whose name, more than any other, is
linked with his; I mean Judge David Davis, with whom
he spent so much of his life, here in Illinois, as a practic-
ing attorney around our old judicial circuit
In the fall of 1858, during the discussion between
Senator Douglas and Mr. Liacoln, I had occasion to
visit the Middle and Eastern States ; and as the whole
country was then agitated by the slavery question and
that discussion cut a prominent figure in the agitation,
I was frequently applied to for information in reference
to Mr. Lincoln. I felt my State pride flattered by these
inquiries, and still more to find the New York Tribune,
and other papers, publishing copious extracts from these
discussions, taken from the Chicago press. I did what
JESSE W. FELL. 473
little I could to satisfy so laudable a curiosity, not think-
ing, at first, that anything further would come of this
discussion, in reference to Mr. Lincoln, than his election
to the Senate. At length, from the frequency of these
inquiries and public notices of the Illinois contest, an
impression began to form, that by judicious efforts he
could be made the Republican candidate , for presidency
in 1860. Very soon after my return home, and after the
senatorial contest had closed, one evening, as I passed
on the south side of the public square of this city, I
espied the tall form of Mr. Lincoln emerging from the
court-house door, Judge Davis's court then being in
session. I stopped until he came across the street, when,
after the usual salutations, I asked him to go with me
into my brother's (K. N. Fell) law-office, then kept over
what is now the Home Bank. There we sat down, and
in the calm twilight of the evening, had substantially the
following conversation : FELL. " Lincoln, I have been
East, as far as Boston, and up into New Hampshire,
traveling in all the New England States, save Maine :
in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan
and Indiana; and everywhere I hear you talked about.
Very frequently I have been asked : ' Who is this man
Lincoln, of your State, now canvassing in opposition to
Senator Douglas ?' Being, as you know, an ardent
Republican and your friend, I usually told them we had
in Illinois two giants instead of one ; that Douglas was
the little one, as they all knew, but that you were the big
one, which they didn't all know.
" But, seriously, Lincoln, Judge Douglas being so wide-
ly known, you are getting a national reputation through
t?4 JESSE W. FELL.
him, as the result of the late discussion; your speeches,
in whole or in part, on both sides, have been pretty
extensively published in the East ; you are there regarded
by discriminating minds as quite a match for him in
debate, and the truth is, I have a decided impression
that if your popular history and efforts on the slavery
question can be sufficiently brought before the people,
you can be made a formidable, if not a successful,
candidate for the presidency."
LINCOLN. " Oh, Fell, what's the use of talking of me
for the presidency, whilst we have such men as Seward,
Chase and others, who are so much better known to the
people, and whose names are so intimately associated
with the principles of the Republican party. Everybody
knows them ; nobody, scarcely, outside of Illinois, knows
me. Besides, is it not, as a matter of justice, due to
such men, who have carried this movement forward to its
present status, in spite of fearful opposition, personal
abuse, and hard names ? I really think so."
FELL. " There is much truth in what you say. The
men you allude to, occupying more prominent positions,
have undoubtedly rendered a larger service in the Re-
publican cause than you have ; but the truth is, they have
rendered too much service to be available candidates.
Placing it on the grounds of personal services, or merit,
if you please, I concede at once the superiority of their
claimS; Personal services and merit, however, when in-
compatible with the public good, must be laid aside
Seward and Chase have both made long records on th
slavery question, and have said some very radical things
which, however just and true in themselves, and howevei
JESSE W. FELL. 475
much these men may challenge our admiration for their
courage and devotion to unpopular truths, would seriously
damage them in the contest, if nominated. We must
bear in mind, Lincoln, that we are yet in a minority ; we
are struggling against fearful odds for supremacy. We
were defeated on this same issue in 1856, and will be
again in 1860, unless we get a great many new votes from
what may be called the old conservative parties. These
will be repelled by the radical utterances and votes of
such men as Seward and Chase. What the Republican
party wants, to insure success, in 1860, is a man of
popular origin, of acknowledged ability, committed
against slavery aggressions, who has no record to defend
and no radicalism of an offensive character to repel votes
from parties hitherto adverse. Your discussion with
Judge Douglas has demonstrated your ability and your
devotion to freedom ; you have no embarrassing record ;
you have sprung from the humble walks of life, sharing
in its toils and trials ; and if we can only get these facts
sufficiently before the people, depend upon it, there is
some chance for you. And now, Mr. Lincoln, I come to
the business part of this interview. My native State,
Pennsylvania, will have a large number of votes to cast
for somebody on the question we have been discussing.
Pennsylvania don't like, over much, New York and her
politicians. She has a candidate, Cameron, of her own ;
but he will not be acceptable to a larger part of hrt- own
people, much less abroad, and will be dropped. Through
an eminent jurist and essayist of my native county in
Pennsylvania, favorably known throughout the State, 1
want to get up a well-considered, well-written newspaper
476 JESSE W. FELL.
article telling the people who you are and what you
have done, that it may be circulated, not only in that
State, but elsewhere, and thus help in manufacturing
sentiment in your favor. I know your public life, and
can furnish items that your modesty would forbid, but I
don't know much about your private history : when you
were born, and where, the names and origin of your
parents, what you did in early life, what your oppor-
tunities for education, etc., and I want you to give me
these. Won't you do it ?"
LINCOLN. " Fell, I admit the force of much that you
say, and admit that I am ambitious, and would like to be
President. I am not insensible to the compliment you
pay me, and the interest you manifest in the matter ; but
there is no suck good luck in store for me as the presidency
of these United States ; besides, there is nothing in my
early history that would interest you or anybody else ; and,
as Judge Davis says, '// wont pay' Good night."
And thus ended, for the time being, my pet scheme
of helping to make Lincoln President. I notified him,
however, as his giant form, wrapped in a dilapidated
shawl, disappeared in the darkness, that this was not the
last of it ; that \hzfacts must come. The next year, 1859,
I was engaged much of the time as the corresponding