He was written of as the man whom Douglas had
beaten two years before, and without other distinction; as lacking in
culture, in every way inferior to Seward; as a whangdoodle stump speaker
of the second class, and without any known principle. What is this talk
of Old Abe Lincoln, Old Uncle Abe, Honest Abe Lincoln? Was he not a log
roller in the Illinois legislature of 1836? Had he not been driven from
position to position by Douglas in the debates? What is honest about him
above other men? Why a nomination on the strength of a deceiving
nickname? Is he not for the tariff and loose construction? Has he not
been a Whig with all the humbuggery of that party, of log cabins and
imperial practices?
The Republican press was more favorable. He was hailed as a man of the
people, sprung from the people. On a hurried visit with Douglas, he told
me that Lincoln was as able as any man the Republicans had, abler far
than Seward; and of great integrity, though he loathed Lincoln's
political faith. "I'll carry nearly every northern state against him,"
said Douglas. "The Union must be saved. I know the South. They will
secede if Lincoln is elected. It's utter madness of them to think of
this; but mad they are. We must handle them accordingly. Wall Street,
New York, is afraid of Lincoln. They don't want their business disturbed
by secession or even by a hostile South.
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