every
other mercenary possession. Its ownership not only betokened the
possession of wealth, but indicated the gentleman of leisure who scorned
labor. These things Mr. Lincoln regarded as highly pernicious to the
thoughtless and giddy young men who were too much inclined to look upon
work as vulgar and ungentlemanly. He was much excited, and said with
great earnestness that this spirit ought to be met, and if possible
checked; that slavery was a great and crying injustice, an enormous
national crime, and we could not expect to escape punishment for it. I
asked him how he would proceed in his efforts to check the spread of
slavery. He confessed he did not see his way clearly; but I think he
made up his mind that from that time he would oppose slavery actively. I
know that Lincoln always contended that no man had any right, other than
what mere brute force gave him, to hold a slave. He used to say it was
singular that the courts would hold that a man never lost his right to
property that had been stolen from him, but that he instantly _lost his
right to himself_ if he was stolen. Lincoln always contended that the
cheapest way of getting rid of slavery was for the nation to buy the
slaves and set them free."

While in Congress, Lincoln had declared himself plainly as opposed to
slavery; and in public speeches not less than private conversations he
had not hesitated to express his convictions on the subject. In 1850 he
said to Major Stuart: "The time will soon come when we must all be
Democrats or Abolitionists. When that time comes, _my mind is made up_.
The slavery question cannot be compromised." The hour had now struck in
which Lincoln was to espouse with his whole heart and soul that cause
for which finally he was to lay down his life. In the language of Mr.
Arnold, "He had bided his time. He had waited until the harvest was
ripe. With unerring sagacity he realized that the triumph of freedom was
at hand. He entered upon the conflict with the deepest conviction that
the perpetuity of the Republic required the extinction of slavery. So,
adopting as his motto, 'A house divided against itself cannot stand,' he
girded himself for the contest. The years from 1854 to 1860 were on his
part years of constant, active, and unwearied effort. His position in
the State of Illinois was central and commanding. He was now to become
the recognized leader of the anti-slavery party in the Northwest, and in
all the Valley of the Mississip