“Ifeveryotherfellowgrumbledatthebilloffarewhichgreetedusatmanyofthedingytaverns，Lincolnsaidnothing。“[13]
Buthiscomplacencywasofthesurfaceonly。Hisideaswerehisown。Heheldtothemwithdoggedtenacity。HerndonwasmerelythefirstofseveralwhodiscernedonclosefamiliarityLincoln’sinwardinflexibility。“Iwasneverconscious，“hewrites，“ofhavingmademuchofanimpressiononMr。Lincoln，nordoIbelieveIeverchangedhisviews。Iwillgofurtherandsaythatfromtheprofoundnatureofhisconclusionsandthelaboredmethodbywhichhearrivedatthem，nomanisentitledtothecreditofhavingeitherchangedorgreatlymodifiedthem。“[14]
Intheseyearsoftheearly’fifties，Herndonhadmuchoccasiontotesthispartner’sindifferencetoothermen’sviews，histenaciousadherencetohisown。HerndonhadbecomeanAbolitionist。HelaboredtoconvertLincoln；butitwasalostlabor。TheSphinxinaglimmerofsunshinewasasunassailableasthecheery，fable-loving，inflexibleLincoln。Theyoungermanwouldworkhimselfup，and，flushedwithardor，warnLincolnagainsthisapparentconservatismwhentheneedsofthehourweresogreat；buthisonlyanswerwouldbe，“Billy，youaretoorampantandspontaneous。“[15]
NothingcouldmovehimfromhisfixedconvictionthatthetemperofAbolitionismmadeitpernicious。Hepersistedinclassifyingitwithslavery，——bothofequaldangertofreeinstitutions。Hetookoccasiontoreassertthisbeliefintheoneimportantutteranceofapoliticalnaturethatcommemoratesthisperiod。AnorationonthedeathofHenryClay，containsthesentence：“Castintolifewhenslaverywasalreadywidelyspreadanddeeplysealed，hedidnotperceive，asIthinknowisemanhasperceived，howitcouldbeatonceeradicatedwithoutproducingagreaterevileventothecauseofhumanlibertyitself。“[16]
ItwillberememberedthattheAbolitionistswereneverstronglynationalinsentiment。Incertainrespectstheyremindoneoftheextreme“internationals“ofto-day。TheirallegiancewasnotfirstofalltoSociety，nortogovernments，buttoabstractideas。Forallsuchattitudesinpoliticalscience，Lincolnhadaninstinctiveaversion。Hewaspermeatedalways，byhissenseofthecommunity，oftheobligationtoworkintermsofthecommunity。Eventheprejudices，theshortsightednessofthecommunitywerethingstobeconsidered，tobedealtwithtenderly。Hencehisunwillingnesstoforcereformsuponacommunitynotripetoreceivethem。Inoneofhisgreatestspeechesoccursthedictum：“Auniversalfeelingwhetherwellorill-founded，cannotbesafelydisregarded。“[17]