Life of Abraham Lincoln | Page 4

is the time when Lincoln fell in love with Ann Rutledge, a beautiful young woman
of New Salem who was already betrothed to another. The other lover went East and did
not return. Lincoln had hopes, but Ann took sick and died of brain fever. He was allowed
to see her as she lay near the end, and the effect upon his kindly nature was terrible.
There settled upon him a deep despondency. That fall and winter he wandered alone in

the woods along the Sangamon, almost distracted with sorrow. When he seemed on the
verge of insanity a friend, Bowling Green, took him to his own home and nursed him
back to health, and the grief settled into that temperamental melancholy, which, relieved
only by his humor, was part of the deep mystic there was in him, part of the prophet, the
sadness that so early baptised him in the tragedy of life, and taught him to pity a suffering
world.
Again he ran for the legislature, announcing his policy: "for all sharing the privileges of
the government who assist in bearing its burdens; for admitting all whites to the right of
suffrage who pay taxes or bear arms (by no means excluding females). If elected, I shall
consider the whole people of Sangamon as my constituents, as well those that oppose as
those that support me. While acting as their representative I shall be governed by their
will upon all subjects upon which I have the means of knowing what their will is; and
upon all others I shall do what my own judgment teaches me will best advance their
interests." He was always fundamentally democratic, was so close to the heart of
humanity that he felt its mighty pulsations and knew intuitively what his people were
thinking. His contemporaries thought that he had a dependable occult sense of public
opinion.
One incident of this campaign shows Lincoln's versatility at repartee. George Forquer,
who had been a Whig, changed over to be a Democrat and was appointed Register of the
Land Office. His house, the finest in Springfield, had a lightning rod, the only one that
Springfield had ever seen. At a meeting near Springfield, Lincoln spoke, and when he
had finished, Forquer replied with some condescension, calling Lincoln the "young man."
Lincoln listened to the attack with folded arms and then made a spirited reply ending with
the words: "The gentleman calls me a young man. I am older in years than I am in the
tricks and trades of politicians. I desire to live and I desire place and distinction, but I
would rather die now than, like the gentleman, live to see the day that I would change my
politics for an office worth three thousand dollars per year, and then feel compelled to
erect a lightning rod to protect a guilty conscience from an offended God."
The Whig ticket was elected, Lincoln leading, and the Sangamon delegation, seven
representatives and two senators all over six feet tall were called the "Long Nine." At
Vandalia Lincoln was the leader of the Long Nine and labored to advance legislation for
public improvements to be financed by the sale of public lands. He confided to a friend
that he was dreaming of the Governorship and was ambitious to become the "DeWitt
Clinton of Illinois."
The Assembly voted for a colossal scheme of railroads and canals, and authorized a loan
of twelve millions. These vast projects afforded unlimited opportunities for special
legislation and in all this atmosphere of manoeuvre Lincoln was most skillful. He knew
human nature and how to handle it. Log-rolling was the order of the day and so skillfully
did the Long Nine function that they succeeded in removing the capital from Vandalia to
Springfield. Though Lincoln did prove that he knew "the tricks and trades of the
politician" he was true to his convictions; as shown by the fact that, when the legislature
passed resolutions "highly disapproving" of the formation of abolition societies and the
doctrines promulgated by them, he voted against the resolutions; and furthermore he

drew up a protest against the resolutions, and inducing his colleague, Dan Stone, to sign it
with him, had his protest entered on the journal for March 3, 1837. While this protest was
cautiously worded it did declare "the institution of slavery is founded upon injustice and
bad policy." This was a real gratuitous expression of a worthy ideal contrary to self
interest, for his constituents were at that time certainly not in any way opposed to slavery.
It was only within a few months after this very time that the atrocious persecution and
murder of Lovejoy occurred in the neighboring town of Alton.
When the Long Nine came home bringing the capital with them Springfield planned such
a