Lincoln's Admiration of Henry Clay-An Irresponsive Idol-Slavery and the Tariff-Lincoln Elected to Congress-The Mexican War-A Queer Nickname-Rise of the Free-Soil Party-Election of Gen. Taylor-Return to Springfield-The Boys of Lincoln-A Shiftless Relative.

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T was said of Lincoln that he was a born politician and that, as a political prophet, he made few mistakes. But he was deeply and overwhelmingly disappointed, in 1844, when his idol, Henry Clay, was defeated for the presidency by James K. Polk of Tennessee. For once, Lincoln had no doubts, apparently, as to the success of a campaign on which he had staked so great expectations. But Clay was defeated, and the Whigs, plunged into the depths of grief, went to the length, in some localities, of wearing mourning badges to show the hopelessness of their woe. Clay was the idol of those who had supported him for the presidency; and Lincoln, sincere as was his personal disappointment and grief, was only one of thousands who felt as he did. The defeat was unexpected, and its very unexpectedness made it harder to bear. Long after this, Lincoln was accustomed to refer to the defeat of Clay as one of his keenest personal sorrows.

LINCOLN'S ADMIRATION OF CLAY.

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It is very likely, however, that the edge of this grief was made less sharp by Clay's own conduct. In 1846, Lincoln, learning that Clay was to speak in Lexington, Kentucky, made a pilgrimage to that place in order that he might hear the voice, grasp the hand, and look in the magnetic eyes of his adored leader. Clay's speech was on the subject of colonizing Africa with emancipated American slaves, an expedient then attracting much attention in the republic as a possible solution of the problem of American slavery, now becoming more and more difficult and more than ever discussed. Clay's speech, on this occasion, was written out and was read in a cold manner, very unlike what Lincoln had expected of the fiery and impetuous Kentucky orator. Lincoln, who had come so far to hear what was a very commonplace address, was disappointed. Nevertheless, when the meeting was dissolved, he sought the much-wished-for introduction to Clay. The Kentuckian, knowing how true a friend was the Illinois Whig leader, invited him to accompany him to Ashland, the seat of the Clay family. We may imagine the elation with which Lincoln accepted this unexpected invitation from the object of his worship. But more disillusion was in store for him. Clay was proud, distant, and haughty in his manner, and he evidently regarded Lincoln as a clodhopper, a rude backwoodsman, whose personal affection for "the great Whig chief" must be rewarded by a few curt words of welcome. He was conceited in himself, impatient of suggestions or advice from others. Lincoln was humble, conscious of his own

shortcomings. Clay was sufficient unto himself. coln's invariable habit was to defer to others.

Lin

Clay, in

the fulness of his popularity, accepted the deference offered him as his due. Lincoln felt that his hero-worship was an egregious blunder. He went back to Springfield, as he afterwards expressed it, "with the enthusiasm all oozed out of him." The man who was to be President had learned a lesson from him who never could be President. It was a lesson never forgotten.

In 1846, Lincoln was nominated for Congress, and one object of his ambition was within reach. His competitor on the Democratic ticket was Peter Cartwright, a backwoods preacher and exhorter, famous in his time for the vigor with which he pursued every topic to which he addressed himself. It was thought that Cartwright would poll a very much larger vote than that usually given to a Democratic candidate in the district, possibly might be elected. But Lincoln astonished his opponents by the fulness of his vote. His majority over Cartwright was sixteen hundred and eleven, considerably more than any other Whig candidate had a right to expect.

When Lincoln took the "stump stump" for himself in the canvass, he had a plenty of material for his addresses to the people. During the preceding winter, the new State of Texas had been admitted to the Union, a measure to which Lincoln, and other Whigs, was bitterly opposed. Texas had first seceded from Mexico, and, after a sharp war, had gained something that was akin to independence. At least, the war was temporarily suspended, according to

THE MEXICAN WAR.

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Mexican notions of the position of affairs, and the new State proposed to join the family of the United States. After various expedients had been tried without success, the Democratic administration of the government finally did secure the annexation of Texas. This was done in order that a new slave State might be added to the Union. The increase of population in the North, so much more rapid than it was in the South, made it necessary that something should be done to maintain the political strength of the slave States. The work of achieving the independence of Texas was accomplished largely by Americans, and it was felt that this was only to prepare the way to bring the young republic into the Union. This suspicion was certainty when the Southern States insisted that Texas should be brought into the Federal Union, without delay. This was finally brought about, and Mexico, which had agreed to a cessation of hostilities for a time, immediately began a war with Texas and the United States. This, and a reduction of the tariff on imported goods, for which the Democrats were responsible, gave the Whigs ammunition for their political campaign; and we can understand how vigorously Lincoln used it in his canvass. In fact, the encroachments of slavery were exciting alarm and uneasiness among the more thoughtful and observant of the people of the free States. Mr. Lincoln, who apparently believed that slavery could not be abolished without changing the Constitution of the United States, was as uneasy as any other man, and his speeches were all aimed, although indirectly, at that power.

The Congress to which Lincoln was elected was the Thirtieth, and Lincoln took his seat in it, December 6, 1847. He was very much at home there, for he had then been repeatedly a member of the State Legislature, had "stumped" Illinois from one end to the other, had made a great many public speeches, had met all the leading men of that region, and had been accustomed to hold his own in debate. Add to all this the fact that he had, ever since boyhood, been a diligent, almost hungry, student of political affairs, and had heard them discussed in public places, or had read in the newspapers, and we shall see that he was no tyro in affairs that were likely to come before Congress. He was familiar with all the great questions, had debated them before the people, and had so studied the history of his country that he knew all that had happened to lead up to the crisis in which the republic then found itself-with a foreign war on its hands and a new State in the Union, the admission of which a great many public men, in and out of Congress regarded as a misfortune to the republic. James K. Polk was President of the United States, and, disappointed by a failure to dispose of the Mexican question before he took office, his messages to Congress were designed to show that the war with Mexico was a just one, and that he had been right in all that he had done to make that war inevitable.

Lincoln's acute mind saw the inconsistency of the President's position, and, in order to bring from President Polk, if possible, a statement of the facts on which he had pre