Show xa S dicov ze ahe A VC A S Z g ax ato lc y f e za 0 n axy 01 71 J 7 t G ay n kae K ae r y f 1 I ay e 3 rf sa ec e C by ELMO SCOTT WATSON BE LINCOLN the rail splitter te r It honest onest abe lini coln coin the new salem stork store s leeper keeper A lincoln tile the circuit lidid riding lawyer and orator of lincoln debate fame and most of 0 all abraham lincoln 7 the resident president of tile the united states all are familiar figures in american history and well known to most americans hut but there is another lincoln which is comparatively unk unknown and that is lincoln Lin colu the legislator that little known period iu in lin coans life has been recalled recently in the discovery by miss margaret 0 norton superintendent of if the archives of the hie illinois state it 11 1 briery br ry at springfield Spring nold of the original manuscript of a piece of legislation spon sponsored bored ly by lincoln a resolution reproduced aboe which lie intro deuced into the lower louer house of the illinois mate assembly on december 2 1810 18 10 it reads read as follows f resolved that the committee on education be instructed to inquire into the expediency of providing by law for or ti the e examination as to their qualifies tiong or persons offering themselves as achrol and that no teacher rhall receive any part of 0 the public school funds funda who shall not have successfully cess fully passed such euch examination and that they report by bill or otherwise iu ill view of the astounding rise of lincoln lin from the obscurity of tile alie III illinois liili to the presidency of the united states and his subsequent deathless fame it Is interesting to nole mile that his bis first licht attempt to win an elective office met with failure on OD march 9 1832 there had appeared on the erects t of the little town of new salem ill a crudely printed handbill circular announcing the candidacy of A lincoln the clerk to la Off utts store tor for the legislature from sangamon county although lie was running as a whig at a time when andrew jackson was president and the democrats were the furiously intolerant majority in illinois as in other parts of the nation lincoln made no reference to ilat national ional politics in ills his announcement most of ills his statement was confined to a disca discussion sion of plans for improving tile navigability of tile sangamon rier then a pet pel topic in his district As nicolay nud and hay bay his blog biographers raphers have pointed out however lio wever Lincol ns S unno announcement was a well written cl circular I 1 re for its soberness and rescue when we con consider bider the a age ge and limited advantages of the writer its conclusion Is especially interesting it reade read as aa follows upon the subjects of which I 1 have treated I 1 have spoken us as t I 1 have hav thought I 1 may be wrong in regard to A re resolution r oI ution in Lincol ns handwriting which he introduced in the illinois ll linol house of representatives december 2 1840 from a photostat of the original in the illinois archives and never before published any or all of 0 them but holding it a sound found maxim that it la is better only sometimes t to he be right than at all times oon wrong so BO al oon as I 1 discover my opinions ion 3 to be erroneous I 1 shall be ready to renounce them every man Is said to have his peculiar ambitions whether Vb ether it Is true or not I 1 can say tor for one that I 1 have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed by my fellow men by rendering myself worthy of their esteem how far I 1 shall succeed in gratifying this ambition Is yet to be developed I 1 am young and unknown to many of you I 1 was born and have ever remained in the most t umble w walks a iks 0 r life I 1 have no wealthy or powerful relations or friends to recommend me my bly case Is thrown exclusively clu upon the independent voters ot of the county and it if elected they will have conferred a favor upon me for which I 1 shall be unremitting in ray my labors to compensate cut it if the good people in their wisdom shall see ft fit to keep me in the background I 1 shall be tw amiling with disappointments t to 0 be very much chagrined before the prospective legislator could begin campaigning however governor reynolds of illinois called for volunteers to drive chief black hawks sac and fox warriors back across tai abe e mississippi and one of the first to respond to the call was lincoln lie ile was chosen captain of one of the volunteer companies but ills his military career was a short one and comparatively uneventful upon his discharge from the army and his return to new salem lie found that he had only about ten days before the august ele elections in which to carry on oil his campaign ills his first speech in the campaign campal agn made at vIlle 11 miles west of springfield was waa a very brief one consisting of exactly 65 words lie said gentlemen qed ind fellow citizens I 1 presume ou on all know who I 1 am I 1 am humble abraham lincoln I 1 have been solicited by many friends to become a candidate tor for the legislature my bly politics are short and sweet I 1 urn am in favor of the internal improvement system and a high protective tariff these are my sentiments and political principles it if elected I 1 shall be thankful if not it will be all the same evidently at that time the good people did see fit to keep him in the back background g round as his announcement had phrased ased it for he was defeated for tile hie only time in ills his life when it lay with the people to dualde lie ile received only votes the highest AMOD among the four winning candidates rec received rIved 1127 but what must have been adequate compensation for ills his defeat was the fact that among ills his friends ark ads and neighbors of tile the new salem pre cinci chief lie received otes out of the cat ca t undiscouraged by this reverse lincoln was again a candidate in august 1 1834 83 4 and this time he won receiving the highest number of votes 1376 of 0 any of the four successful candidates during his first session lincoln occupied pi c a no particularly conspicuous position posic write nicolay and nay bay ile he held his own respectably among the best one of his colleagues tells us lie he wa was s not by any external eccentricity that he be wore according to the custom of the time a decent suit of blue jeans that he was known simply as a rather quiet young roan man good natured and sensible before the session ended he had made tile the acquaintance of most of the members and had evidently come to be looked upon as possessing more than ordinary capacity ile he introduced a resolution in favor of securing to the state a part of the proceeds of the sales of public lands within its limits he took part in the organization of the ephemeral white party which was designed to unite all the anti jackson elements under the leadership of hugh L white of tennessee lie voted with the majority in favor of young against robinson for senator and fulth the majority that pass passed ed the bank and canal bills which va were ere received with such enthusiasm throughout illinois and which were only the precursors of those gigantic and ill adai advised s ed schemes that came to maturity two years later and inflicted such incalculable injury upon the state lincoln was reelected elected re in 1836 1830 and r during lur in it this ill s cession of the legislature was one of the long nine the nine legislators from sangamon county noted in the history of illinois partly for their stature and partly for their influence in legislative matters their average height was over six feet and their total altitude was said to have boehn beben 55 feet feel their most noted piece of legislation was that of getting thi the state capital removed from vandalla vandalia to springfield and it Is said that this wa was accomplished by the adroit management of lincoln in ili 1838 lincoln was again elected to the legislature by a greater majority than ever before by this time he was such a prominent figure that lie he was the candidate for speaker but the democrats having a majority of otes elected their man again in 1810 1840 lie he was elected to the state assembly tor for the fourth und last time by now lie had proved its ills ability in state affairs and the stage wua was being sot set tor for lila life entrance into a greater arena that of national and international fume fame |