45 votes—­the highest number of any of the candidates, and within six votes of enough to secure his election.  This was on the first ballot, after which Lincoln’s votes declined.  After the ninth ballot, Mr. Lincoln stepped forward—­or, as Mr. Richmond expresses it, leaned forward from his position in the lobby—­and requested the committee to withdraw his name.  On the tenth ballot Judge Trumbull received fifty-one votes and was declared elected.”  Thus were Lincoln’s political ambitions again frustrated.  But their realization was only delayed for the far grander triumph that was so soon to come, although no man then foresaw its coming.

CHAPTER X

Birth of the Republican Party—­Lincoln One of Its Fathers—­Takes His Stand with the Abolitionists—­The Bloomington Convention—­Lincoln’s Great Anti-Slavery Speech—­A Ratification Meeting of Three—­The First National Republican Convention—­Lincoln’s Name Presented for the Vice-Presidency—­Nomination of Fremont and Dayton—­Lincoln in the Campaign of 1856—­His Appearance and Influence on the Stump—­Regarded as a Dangerous Man—­His Views on the Politics of the Future—­First Visit to Cincinnati—­Meeting with Edwin M. Stanton—­Stanton’s First Impressions of Lincoln—­Regards Him as a “Giraffe”—­A Visit to Cincinnati.

The year 1856 saw the dissolution of the old Whig party.  It had become too narrow and restricted to answer the needs of the hour.  A new platform was demanded, one that would admit the great principles and issues growing out of the slavery agitation.  A convention of the Whig leaders throughout the country met at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on the 22d of February of that year, to consider the necessity of a new organization.  A little later, Mr. Herndon, in the office of Lincoln, prepared a call for a convention at Bloomington, Illinois, “summoning together all those who wished to see the government conducted on the principles of Washington and Jefferson.”  This call was signed by the most prominent Abolitionists of Illinois, with the name of A. LINCOLN at the head.  The morning after its publication, Major Stuart entered Mr. Herndon’s office in a state of extreme excitement, and, as the latter relates, demanded:  “’Sir, did Mr. Lincoln sign that Abolition call which is published this morning?’ I answered, ’Mr. Lincoln did not sign that call.’  ‘Did Lincoln authorize you to sign it?’ ’No, he never authorized me to sign it.’  ‘Then do you know that you have ruined Mr. Lincoln?’ ’I did not know that I had ruined Mr. Lincoln; did not intend to do so; thought he was a made man by it; that the time had come when conservatism was a crime and a blunder.’  ’You, then, take the responsibility of your acts, do you?’ ‘I do, most emphatically.’  However, I instantly sat down and wrote to Mr. Lincoln, who was then in Pekin or Tremont—­possibly at court.  He received my letter, and instantly replied, either by letter or telegraph—­most likely