Boston, June 18,1860.
My Dear Mr. Senior,
— Thinking you may be interested in the antecedents of our promised ruler
Lincoln, I send through my bookseller a copy of his speeches (and Douglas's)
during their great fight for the Illinois senatorship — which form his chief
record.
From such of them as I have read I get the idea that he is
an earnest, rough, quick-witted man, — persistent and determined, half
educated, but self-reliant and self-taught. These speeches, made before
Seward's, show that Lincoln originated in these latter days the utterance of
the “irrepressible conflict,” — and what is more, stuck to it manfully. Those
who know him assure me that he is honest and straightforward and owned by no
clique of hackneyed politicians.
Seward was killed by his association with the politicians
who joined in the plundering of the last New York legislature, and by his
speech in the Senate ignoring the irrepressible conflict and smoothing over his
supposed radicalism.
The first evil lost him the confidence of the right sort of
men, not because they believed him corrupt, but from the bad company he had
been in and would probably be in again! His latter-day conservatism conciliated
his enemies, who would not, however, vote for him, happen what might; and
cooled the zeal of his radical supporters, and especially of the country
people. I think on the whole the actual nominee will run better and be quite as
likely to administer well when in. We shall elect him, I think, triumphantly,
by the people; and avoid that abominable expedient, an election by the House, —
filled as it is with so large a proportion of mere politicians. There is some
danger that we shall be disgusted with a repetition of the log-cabin and
hard-cider style of campaigning which was so successful in the Harrison
election, but this is a minor evil compared with either having Douglas, with
his filibustering crew, or a set of Albany wire-pullers under a Republican
administration. . . .
Although you say nothing about it, I still hope you will
come out this summer and take care of your young prince and see our heir
apparent!
Yours very truly,
J. M. Forbes.
SOURCE: Sarah Forbes Hughes, Letters and
recollections of John Murray Forbes, Volume 1, p.183-4
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