In speaking of the resolution itself, Lincoln indulged in these typical expressions: It is an old maxim and a very sound one, that he who dances should always pay the fiddler. I am decidedly opposed to the people's money being used to pay the fiddler. These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert to fleece the people; and now that they have got into a quarrel with themselves, we are called upon to appropriate the people's money to settle the quarrel.[119] The people know their rights and they are never slow to assert and maintain them when they are invaded. I make the assertion boldly, and without fear of contradiction, that no man who does not hold an office, or does not aspire to one, has ever found any fault with the bank. No, sir, it is the politician who is first to sound the alarm (which by the way, is a false one.) It is he who by these unholy means, is endeavoring to blow up a storm that he may ride upon and direct. Mr. Chairman, this work is exclusively the work of politicians--a set of men who have interests aside from the interests of the people, and who, to say the most of them, are, taken as a mass, at least one step removed from honest men. I say this with the greater freedom, because, being a politician myself, none can regard it as personal.[120] [119] _Ibid._, 141. [120] _Ibid._, 142. The speech was published in the _Sangamon Journal_ with the editorial comment that Lincoln's remarks on Linder's bank resolution were quite to the point; that he carried the true Kentucky rifle, and when he fired he seldom failed sending the shot home.[121] [121] _Ibid._ Lincoln's bold words about the politician, modified by his quaint admission, allow us a glimpse of the inner man. It took no mean courage to make so unpalatable an assertion. Still tempering his speech with his rare kind of diplomacy, he did not suffer in the estimation of his associates, those whose esteem he valued. CHAPTER V PROTESTER AND PATRIOT The year 1837 is the culmination of the first period of abolitionism in Illinois. Until then, abolitionism was a hated eastern conception. Despite opposition, and somewhat feeding on it, it slowly filtered its way through an almost impervious public sentiment. A small band encountered with heroism, the continuous martyrdom that waits on the protagonist. Few in numbers, zealous in their gospel, superbly confident in the rectitude of their counsel they aroused the spirit of retaliation. Their excessive zeal transcended all other obligations, rendering them indifferent, if not hostile, to the constitutional compact. They stimulated and encouraged to life a corresponding bitterness among the multitude.