.
The figures of the first verse filled the imagination, but the chorus
was like a bugle-call:

"THE SHIP OF STATE.

"(Sung at the Springfield Convention.)

"Hark! hark! a signal-gun is heard,
Just out beyond the fort;
The good old Ship of State, my boys,
Is coming into port.
With shattered sails, and anchors gone,
I fear the rogues will strand her;
She carries now a sorry crew,
And needs a new commander.

"Our Lincoln is the man!
Our Lincoln is the man!
With a sturdy mate
From the Pine-Tree State,
Our Lincoln is the man!

"Four years ago she put to sea,
With prospects brightly beaming;
Her hull was strong, her sails new-bent,
And every pennant streaming;
She loved the gale, she plowed the waves,
Nor feared the deep's commotion;
Majestic, nobly on she sailed,
Proud mistress of the ocean.

"There's mutiny aboard the ship;
There's feud no force can smother;
Their blood is up to fever-heat;
They're cutting down each other.
Buchanan here, and Douglas there,
Are belching forth their thunder,
While cunning rogues are sly at work
In pocketing the plunder.

"Our ship is badly out of trim;
'Tis time to calk and grave her;
She's foul with stench of human gore;
They've turned her to a slaver.
She's cruised about from coast to coast,
The flying bondman hunting,
Until she's strained from stem to stern,
And lost her sails and bunting.

"Old Abram is the man!
Old Abram is the man!
And he'll trim her sails,
As he split the rails.
Old Abram is the man!

"We'll give her what repairs she needs--
A thorough overhauling;
Her sordid crew shall be dismissed,
To seek some honest calling.
Brave Lincoln soon shall take the helm,
On truth and right relying;
In calm or storm, in peace or war,
He'll keep her colors flying.

"Old Abram is the man!
Old Abram is the man!
With a sturdy mate
From the Pine-Tree State,
Old Abram is the man!"

These words seem commonplace to-day, but they were trumpet-notes then.
"Our Lincoln is the man!" trembled on every tongue, and a tumultuous
applause arose that shook the air. The enthusiasm grew; the minstrel had
voiced the people, and they would no