EXLIBRISBT 1

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

THE 16TH PRESIDENT OP THK UNITED STATES.

ANECDOTES

OF

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

AND

LINCOLN'S STORIES.

[UNITED STATES CAPITOL.]

INCLUDING

EARLY LIFE STORIES, PROFESSIONAL LIFE STORIES,

WHITE HOUSE STORIES, WAR STORIES,

MISCELLANEOUS STORIES.

Edited by J. B. ' McCLCELL'; " >> \\? : ;;

Compiler of ' " Moody1 's Anecdotes;'''1 " Moody' s Child Stories /" '''•Edison an i His

Inventions : "' " Entertaining A necdotes ; " il Mistakes of Ingersoll ; "

" IngersolCs Answers;'1' etc., etc.

CHICAGO:

RHODES & McCLURE, PUBLISHERS.

1879.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by

J. B. McCLUUE & R. S. RHODES,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.
All Rights Reserved.

Electrotyped and Printed by
OTTAWAY & COMPANY.

DONOIIITE & HENNEBERRY
Binders.

SAID Mr. Lincoln, to Dr. Gulliver, on a certain occasion when the
versatile Doctor had highly complimented the then coming President
concerning one of his speeches:

" I should very much like to know what it was in my speech which
you thought so remarkable, and which interested my friend, the Profes
sor (of Yale College), so much?"

" The clearness," answered Dr. G., " of your statements, the unanswer
able style of your reasoning, and especially your illustrations, which
were romance, and pathos, and fan, and logic, all welded together:'

The great Lincoln thanked the clerical celebrity, and said: "That
reminds me of a story," and then proceeded to tell how the Yale
Professor had taken notes on his New Haven speech, and had lectured
his class, and had followed him 10 Meriden for further " notes," etc.

Thus is demonstrated the superior value that attaches to Mr. Lincoln's
"illustrations," which, as -<\\\ the world knows, were made of pointed,
pungent, pithy and practical stories, drawn from an inexhaustible
source, and always available on every possible occasion. Perhaps there
never lived a greater story-teller than Abraham Lincoln, and one who
told them always with such mainc effect. With him, the "appropriate
story " was zpowcr, and his remarkable faculty in telling them was an
essential factor in his greatness.

In this volume the compiler has aimed to present, in a conveniently
classified form, the Anecdotes and Stories of this wonderful man, as
narrated by him to the lowly and the great, in peace and \\ ar, at the
fireside and bar, in the wilderness and White-house, with that /est and
potency which made Mr. Lincoln such a remarkable man. It is our
sincere desire that in this form the book may be of real interest and
prove a further means of usefulness to every reader.

Our indebtedness is specially acknowledged for aid found in F. B.
Carpenter's "Six Months in the White-house;" J. G. Holland's "Life
of Lincoln;" the Press, and to the many friends who have contributed.

J. B. McCLURE.

CHICAGO, ILL., July 4, 1879.

5

JEARLY LIFE.

A Batch of Lincoln's Reminiscences 49

A Hard Tussle with Seven Negroes — Life on a Mississippi Flat

Boat 27

A Humorous Speech — Lincoln in the Black Hawk War 39

A Pig Story — Lincoln's Kindness to the Brute Creation 26

An Honest Boy — Young Lincoln " Pulls Fodder " Two Days for a

Damaged Book 14

An Incident of Lincoln's Early Hardships. 18

An Incident or Two Illustrating Lincoln's Honesty 22

Captain Lincoln— How he Became Captain 38

Elected to the Legislature — Lincoln Walks to the State Capitol. .. 41

General Linder's Early Recollections of Lincoln 46

How Lincoln Earned his First Dollar. 13

How Lincoln Helped to Build a Boat — How he' Loaded the Live

Stock 23

How Lincoln Piloted a Flat Boat over a Mill Dam 34

Lincoln and his Gentle Aj^nie — A Touching Incident 20

Lincoln's First Political Speech ._ 40

Lincoln's Marriage — Some very Interesting Letters. 44

Lincoln's Mechanical Ingenuity— His Patent Boat 31

Lincoln's Mother — How he Loved Her ... 45

Lincoln Splits Several Hundred Rails for a Pair of Pants 28

Lincoln's Story of a Girl in New Salem 29

Little Lincoln Firing at Big Game Through the Cracks of his

Cabin Home 17

Mrs. Brown's Story of Young Abe 30

Remarkable Story — " Honest Abe " as Postmaster 32

Returning from the Legislature— A Joke on Lincoln's Big Feet.. 43

Showing How Lincoln Resented an Insult 24

6

CONTENTS. 7

Splitting Bails ard Studying Mathematics 34

*• The Long JNrine "—Lincoln the Longest of All 42

What some Men say About Young Lincoln 25

When and Where Lincoln Obtained the Xame of " Honest Abe," 81

Young Lincoln and his Books — Their Influence on his Mind 19

Young Lincoln and the " Clary's Grove Boys," 48

Young Lincoln'^ Kindness of Heart 18

PROFESSIONAL LIFE.

A Famous Story— How Lincoln was Presented with a Knife 60

A Revolutionary Prisoner Defended by Lincoln 75

An Amusing Story concerning Thompson Campbell 60

An Honest Lawyer — Some of Lincoln's Cases 74

An Incident Related by one of Lincoln's Clients. 64

General Linder's Account of the Lincoln-Shields Duel 71

How Lincoln and Judge B — Swapped Horses 55

How Lincoln kept his Business Accounts _. 68

Honest Abe and his Lady Client 67

Hon. Xewton Batemau's Story of Mr. Lincoln 79

Incident Connected with Lincoln's Nomination 70

Lincoln and " His Sisters and his Cousins, and his Aunts," 67

Lincoln and his Step-mother — How he Bought her a Farm 59

Lincoln as a Story Teller — A Practical Example 77

Lincoln Defends the Son of an Old Friend Indicted for Murder. _ 72

Lincoln in Court 68

Lincoln's Pungent Retort 74

Lincoln's Story of a Young Lawyer as told to General Garfield.. 58

Lincoln's Story of Joe Wilson and his "Spotted Animals," 63

Lincoln's Valor — He Defends Col. Baker -. 65

One of Lincoln's Hardest Hits . . 69

Remarkable Law Suit about a Colt — How Lincoln Won the Case, 55

The Lincoln-Shields Duel— How it Originated 16

Thrilling Story— Lincoln's Twenty Years' Agitation in Illinois... 76

WHITE HOUSE INCIDENTS.

A Home Incident — Lincoln and Little "Tad," 105

A Little Story which Lincoln told the Preachers 85

A Praying President — " Prayer and Praise," 120

A " Pretty Tolerable Respectable Sort of a Clergyman," 94

An Apt Illustration 99

8 CONTENTS.

An Instance where the President's Mind Wandered 104

An Irish Soldier who wanted Something Stronger than Soda

Water 90

Comments of Mr. Lincoln on the Emancipation Proclamation 109

Common Sense _ . . 93

Criticism — Its Effect on Mr. Lincoln — A Bull Frog Story Ill

Ejecting a Cashiered Officer from the White House 113

How Lincoln and Stanton Dismissed Applicants for Office _. 101

How Lincoln "Browsed Around," 100

How Lincoln Opened the Eyes of a Visitor 97

How Lincoln Stood up for the Word " Sugar Coated,".. 86

How the Negroes Regarded " Massa Linkum,"._ 115

Lincoln's Advice to a Prominent Bachelor *87

Lincoln and the Committee on " Grant's Whisky,". 94

Lincoln and the Newspapers- 111

Lincoln and the Preacher ._ 104

Lincoln and the Wall Street Gold Gamblers 114

Lincoln Arguing Against the Emancipation Proclamation 110

Lincoln Cutting Red Tape. 100

Lincoln's Habits in the White House— The Same " Old Abe," 117

Lincoln's High Compliment to the Women of America 118

Lincoln in the Hour of Deep Sorrow — He Recalls his Mother's

Prayers 118

Lincoln's Laugh 111

Lincoln's Little Speech to the Union League Committee 113

Lincoln Mourning for his Lost Sou is Comforted by Rev. Dr. Vintou, 106

Looking out for Breakers 91

Lincoln's Story of a Poodle Dog 112

Lincoln Wipes the Tears from his Eyes, and Tells a Story 109

Minnehaha and Minneboohoo 97

More Light and Less Noise _ 99

Mr. Lincoln and the Bashful Boys. 88

One of Lincoln's Drolleries 101

One of Lincoln's Last Stories 116

President Lincoln and the Artist, Carpenter 97

Telling a Story and Pardoning a Soldier — Lincoln did Both.: 121

The Kind of Cane Lincoln Made and Carried when a Boy. 92

Trying the "Greens" on Jake — A Serious Experiment 85

Stories Illustrating Lincoln's Memory _ 92

Work Enough for Twenty Presidents.... 91

CONTENTS.

WAR STORIES.

A Celebrated Case Settled with Lincoln-like Celerity 140

A Church which God Wanted for the Wounded Soldiers 144

A Dream that was Portentous— What Lincoln Said to General

Grant About it. 147

A Little Soldier Boy that Lincoln wanted to Bow to 127

Amusing Anecdote of a "Hen-pecked Husband," — 138

A Shoit Practical Sermon 139

A Soldier that Knew no Royalty 120

A Touching Incident in the Life of Lincoln.. 132

An Interesting Visit to the Hospitals— How the Soldiers Received

Him... 132

Could not allow a Soldier to be more Polite than Himself 131

Cutting Reply to the Confederate Commission — His Story of

"Root Hog or Die," 155

How Lincoln Illustrated What Might Be Done with Jeff Davis.. 154

How Lincoln Relieved Rosecrans 145

Interesting Incident Connected with Signing the Emancipation

Proclamation 146

Lincoln and Judge Baldwin... 148

Lincoln's Curt Reply to a 'Clergyman 139

Lincoln Proposes to " Borrow the Army " from one of his Gen
erals 131

Lincoln's Second Nomination — Lincoln Sees Two Images of him
self in a Mirror 153

Lincoln's War Story of Andy Johnson — Col. Moody's Prayers 125

Lincoln While in Bed Pardons a Soldier. 128

Mr. Lincoln and a Clergyman 134

No Mercy for the Man Stealer— Lincoln Uses Very Strong Lan
guage 151

Recollections of the War President, by Judge William Johnson ._ 141

Remarkable Letter from Lincoln to General Hooker 135

Sallie Ward's Practical Philosophy... 128

The Great Thing About General Grant as Lincoln Saw it ... 153

The Merciful President 150

The Serpent in Bed with Two Children ._ 143

What Lincoln Considered the " Great Event of the Nineteenth

Century" 130

10 CONTENTS.

MISCELLANEOUS STORIES.

A couple of good Stories — How Lincoln took his Altitude — A

Prophetic Bowl of Milk 169

Abraham Lincoln's Death — Walt Whitman's description of the

Scene at Ford's Theatre _. 184

An Amusing Illustration 168

Attending Henry Ward Beecher's Church — What Lincoln said of

Beecher 159

D. L. Moody's Story of Lincoln's Compassion 176

Feat at the Washington Navy Yard with an Axe 162

Funeral Services of Lincoln's Mother— The Old Pastor and Young

Abraham 164

How Lincoln Won a Case from his Partner — Laughable Toilet

Ignorance 170

Interesting Anecdote of Lincoln related by Rev. J. P. Gulliver..- 173

Lincoln and his New Hat. 162

Lincoln and the Little Baby— A Touching Story 175

Lincoln at the Five Points House of Industry at New York 161

Lincoln's Failure as a Merchant— Six Years later he pays his

Debts 163

Lincoln Joking Douglas— A Splendid "Whisky Cask,".... 178

Lincoln's Last Story and Last Written Words and Conversations. 182
Lincoln's Life as written by himself — The whole thing in a Nut
shell 179

Lincoln's Love for Little Tad 160

Lincoln's Love for the Little Ones 170

Lincoln's Story about Dan Webster's Soiled Hands 175

Little Lincoln Stories . 180

Something concerning Mr. Lincoln's Religious Views. 166

Thmiow Weed's Recollections.. 167

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Sixteenth President of the U. S Frontispiece

UNITED STATES CAPITOL Vignette, Title Page

EARLY HOME OF THE LINCOLNS IN ILLINOIS 36

BIRTH PLACE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 16

ILLINOIS STATE CAPITOL, SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS - 54

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, the LAWYER - - - - 66

UNITED STATES CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON 84

WHITE PIGEON CHURCH 96

LINCOLN MONUMENT, SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS 124

DOUGLAS MONUMENT, CHICAGO - --- 138

HOME OF THE LlNCOLNS IN INDIANA 158

ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S RESIDENCE AT SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS 172

CLASSIFICATION.

EARLY LIFE STORIES - 13

PROFESSIONAL LIFE STORIES 55

WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS 85

WAR STORIES 125

MISCELLANEOUS STORIES _ . 159

11

ANECDOTES

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

EARLY LIFE.

How Lincoln Earned His First Dollar.

The following interesting story was told by Mr. Lincoln
to Mr. Seward and a few friends one evening in the
Executive Mansion at Washington. The President said :
" Seward, you never heard, did you, how I earned my first
dollar \ " " No," rejoined Mr. Seward. '• Well," continued
Mr. Lincoln, "I belonged, you know, to what they call
down South, the ' scrubs.' We had succeeded in raising,
chiefly by my labor, sufficient produce, as I thought, to
justify me in taking it down the river to sell.

'• After much persuasion, I got the consent of mother to
go, and constructed a little flatboat, large enough to take a
barrel or two of things that we had gathered, with myself
and little bundle, down to the Southern market. A steamer
was coming down the river. We have, you know, no
wharves on the Western streams ; and the custom was, if
passengers were at any of the landings, for them to go out
in a boat, the steamer stopping and taking them on board.

" I was contemplating my new flatboat, and wondering
whether I could make it stronger or improve it in any par-

13

14 LINCOLN STORIES.

ticular, when two men came down to the shore in carriages
with trunks, and looking at the different boats singled out
mine, and asked, '"Who owns this ?' I answered, somewhat
modestly, ' I do.' ' Will you,' said one of them, ' take us
and our trunks out to the steamer ?' ' Certainly.' said I.
I was very glad to have the chance of earning something.
I supposed that each of them would give me two or three
bits. The trunks were put on my flatboat, the passengers
seated themselves on the trunks, and I sculled them out to
the steamboat.

" They got on board, and I lifted up their heavy trunks,
and put them on deck. The steamer was about to put on
steam again, when I called out that they had forgotten to
pay me. Each of them took from his pocket a silver half-
dollar, and threw it on the floor of my boat. I could
scarcely believe my eyes as I picked up the money. Gentle
men, you may think it was a very little thing, and in these
days it seems to me a trifle ; but it was a most important
incident in my life. I could scarcely credit that I, a poor
boy, had earned a dollar in less than a day — that by honest
work I had earned a dollar. The world seemed wider and
fairer before me. I was a more hopeful and confident being
from that time."

An Honest Boy— Young Lincoln "Pulls Fodder" Two Days for
a Damaged Book.

The following incident, illustrating several traits already
developed in the early boyhood of Lincoln, is vouched for
by a citizen of Evansville, Ind., who knew him in the days
referred to :

In his eagerness to acquire knowledge, young Lincoln
had borrowed of Mr. Crawford, a neighboring farmer, a
copy of Weems' Life of Washington — the only one known

EARLY LIFE. 17

to be in existence in that region of country. Before he
had finished reading the book, it had been left, by a not
unnatural oversight, in a window. Meantime, a rain, storm
•came on, and the book was so thoroughly wet as to make it
nearly worthless. This mishap caused him much pain ;
but he went, in all honesty, to Mr. Crawford with the
ruined book, explained the calamity that had happened
through his neglect, and offered, not having sufficient
money, to " work out " the value of the book.

" Well, Abe," said Mr. Crawford, after due deliberation,
a as it's you, I won't be hard on you. Just come over and
pull fodder for me for two days, and we will call our
.accounts even."

The offer was readily accepted, and the engagement lit
erally fulfilled. As a boy, no less than since, Abraham
Lincoln had an honorable conscientiousness, integrity,
industry, and an ardent love of knowledge.

JLittle Lincoln Firing at Big Game Through the Cracks of His
Cabin Home.

While yet a little boy, one day when Lincoln was in his
cabin home, in what was then a wilderness in Indiana, he
chanced to look through a crack in the log walls of the
humble residence and espied a flock of wild turkeys feeding
within ran^e of his father's trust v rifle. He at once took

£3 t/

in the possibilities of the situation and ventured to take
down the old gun, and quietly putting the long barrel
through the opening, with a hasty aim, fired into the flock.
When the smoke had cleared away, it was observed that
one of the turkeys lay dead on the field. This is said to
have been the largest game on which Lincoln ever pulled a
trigger, his brilliant success in this instance having no
power to excite in him the passion for hunting.
2

18 LINCOLN STORIES.

An Incident of Lincoln's Early Hardships and Narrow Escape

from Death.

A little incident occurred while young Lincoln lived in
Indiana, which illustrates the early hardships and surround
ings to which he was subjected. On one occasion he was
obliged to take his grist upon the back of his father's
horse, and go fifty miles to get it ground. The mill itself
was very rude, and driven by horse-power. The customers
were obliged to wait their " turn," without reference to
their distance from home, and then use their own horse to
propel the machinery ! On this occasion, Abraham, having
arrived at his turn, fastened his mare to the lever, and was
following her closely upon her rounds, when, urging her
with a switeh, and " clucking " to her in the usual way, he
received a kick from her which prostrated him, and made
him insensible. With the first instant of returning con
sciousness, he finished the cluck, which he had commenced
when he received the kick (a fact for the psychologist), and
with the next he probably thought about getting home,
where he arrived at last, battered, but ready for further
service.

Young Lincoln's Kindness of Heart— He Carries Home and Nurses

a Drunkard.

An instance of young Lincoln's practical humanity at an
early period of his life is recorded, as follows : One even
ing, while returning from a u raising " in his wide neigh
borhood, with a number of companions, he discovered a
straying horse, with saddle and bridle upon him. The
horse was recognized as belonging to a man who was accus
tomed to excess in drink, and it was suspected at once that
the owner was not far off. A short search only was neces
sary to confirm the suspicions of the young men.

EARLY LIFE. W

The poor drunkard was found in a perfectly helpless con
dition, upon the chilly ground. Abraham's companions
urged the cowardly policy of leaving him to his fate, but
young Lincoln would not hear to the proposition. At his
request, the miserable sot was lifted to his shoulders, and
he actually carried him eighty rods to the nearest house.
Sending word to his father that he should not be back that
night, with the reason for his absence, he attended and
nursed the man until the morning, and had the pleasure of
believing that he had saved his life.

o

Young Lincoln and His Books — Their Influence on His Mind.

The books which Abraham had the early privilege of
reading were the Bible, much of which he could repeat,
^Esop's Fables, all of which he could repeat, Pilgrim's Prog
ress, Weems' Life of Washington, and a Life of Henry
Clay, which his mother had managed to purchase for him.
Subsequently he read the Life of Franklin and Ramsey's
Life of Washington. In these books, read and re-read, he
found meat for his hungry mind. The Holy Bible, yEsop
and John Bunyan — could three better books have been
chosen for him from the richest library?

For those who have witnessed the dissipating effects of
many books upon the minds of modern children it is not
hard to believe that Abraham's poverty of books was the
wealth of his life. These three books did much to perfect
that which his mother's teachings 'had begun, and to form
a character which, for quaint simplicity, earnestness, truth
fulness and purity has never been surpassed among the his
toric personages of the world. The Life of Washington,,
while it gave to him a lofty example of patriotism, incident
ally conveyed to his mind a general knowledge of Ameri
can history; and the Life of Henry Clay spoke to him of a

20 LINCOLN STORIES.

living man who had risen to political and professional emi
nence from circumstances almost as humble as his own.

The latter book undoubtedly did much to excite his taste
for politics, to kindle his ambition, and to make him a warm
admirer and partisan of Henry Clay. Abraham must have
been very young when he read Weems' Life of Washing
ton, and we catch a glimpse of his precocity in the thoughts
which it excited, as revealed by himself in a speech made
to the New Jersey Senate, while on his way to Washington
to assume the duties of the Presidency.

Alluding to his early reading of this book, he says: "*I
remember all the accounts there given of the battle fields
and struggles for the liberties of the country, and none
fixed themselves upon my imagination so deeply as the
struggle here at Trenton, New Jersey. * * * 1 recol
lect thinking then, boy even though I was, that there must
have been something more than common that those men
struggled for" Even at this age, he was not only an inter
ested reader of the story, but a student of motives.

Lincoln and His Gentle Aanie — A Touching Incident.

'The following interesting particulars connected with the
early life of Abraham Lincoln, are from the Virginia (111.)
Enquirer, of date March 1, 1ST9:

John McXamer was buried last Sunday, near Petersburg,
Menard County. A long while ago he was Assessor and
Treasurer of the county for several successive terms. Mr.
McNamer was an early settler in that section, and before
the Town of Petersburg was laid out was in business at Old
Salem, a village that existed many years ago two miles
south of the present site of Petersburg. Abe Lincoln was
then postmaster of the place, and sold whisky to its inhabi
tants. There are old-timers yet living in Menard who

HFE. 21

.[bought many a jug of corn-juice from Old Abe when he
lived at Salem. It was heie that Annie ltutle<?e dwelt, and

O '

in whose grave Lincoln wrote that his heart was buried.
As the story runs, the fair and gentle Annie was originally
John McNamer's sweetheart, but Abe took a '; shine " to
the young lady, and succeeded in heading off McNamer,
and won her affections. But Annie Rutlege died, and Lin
coln went to Springfield, where he some time afterwards
married.

tt is related that during the war a lady belonging to a
prominent Kentucky family visited Washington to beg for
her son's pardon, who was then in prison under sentence <&f
death for belonging to a band of guerrillas who had com
mitted many murders and outrages. With the mother was
her daughter, a beautiful young lady, who was an accom
plished musician. M^r. Lincoln received the visitors in his
usual kind manner, and the mother made known the object
of her visit, accompanying her plea with tears and sobs and
all the customary dramatic incidents.

There were probably extenuating circumstances in favor
of the young Rebel prisoner, and while the President seemed
to be deeply pondering, the young lady moved to a piano
near by, and taking a seat commenced to sing " Gentle
Annie,'; a very sweet and pathetic ballad, which, before the
war, was a 'familiar song in almost every household in the
Union, and is not yet entirely forgotten, for that matter.
It is to be presumed the young lady sang the song with
more plaintiveness and effect than Old Abe had ever heard it
in Springfield. During its rendition, he arose from his
seat, crossed the room to a window in the westward, through
which he gazed for several minutes with that " sad, far
away look," which has so often been noted as one of his
peculiarities. His memory, no doubt, went back to the
days of his humble life on the banks of the Sangamon, and

22 LINCOLN STORIES.

witli visions of Old Salem and its rustic people, who once
gathered in his primitive store, came a picture of the u Gen
tle Annie " of his youth, whose ashes had rested for many
long years under the wild flowers and brambles of the old
rural burying-ground, but whose spirit then, perhaps, guided
him to the side of mercy. Be that as it may, Mr. Lincoln
drew a large red silk handkerchief from his coat-pocket,
with which he wiped his face vigorously. Then he turned,
advanced quickly to his desk, wrote a brief note, which he
handed to the lady, and informed her that it was the par
don she sought. »
The scene was no doubt touching in a great degree, and
proves that a nice song, well sung, has often a powerful
influence in recalling tender recollections. It proves, also,
that Abraham Lincoln was a man of fine feelings, and that,
if the occurrence was a put-up job on the lady's part, it
accomplished its purpose all the same.

An Incident or Two Illustrating Lincoln's Honesty.

Lincoln could not rest for an instant under the conscious
ness that he had, even unwittingly, defrauded anybody. On
one occasion, while clerking in Oft'utt's store, at New
Salem, 111., he sold a woman a little bill of goods, amount
ing in value by the reckoning, to two dollars six and a quar
ter cents. He received the money, and the woman went
away. On adding the items of the bill again, to make him
self sure of correctness, he found that he had taken six and
a quarter cents too much. It was night, and, closing and
locking the store, he started out on foot, a distance of two
or three miles, for the house of his defrauded customer,
:and, delivering over to her the sum whose possession had
so much troubled him, went home satisfied.

On another occasion, just as lie was closing the store for

EARLY LIFE. 23

the niglit, a woman entered, and asked for a half pound of
tea. The tea was weighed out and paid for, and the store
was left for the night. Tho next morning, Lincoln entered
to begin the duties of the day, when he discovered a four-
ounce weight on the scales. He saw at once that he had
made a mistake, and, shutting the store, he took a lon^

O O

walk before breakfast to deliver the remainder of the tea.
These are very humble incidents, but they illustrate the
man's perfect conscientiousness — his sensitive honesty-
better perhaps than they would if they were of greater
moment.

How Lincoln Helped to Build a Boat, and How He Loaded the

Live Stock.

While a laboring man, Lincoln, Hanks & Johnston on
one occasion contracted to build a boat on Sangamon River,
at Sangamon Town, about seven miles northwest of Spring
field. For this work they were to receive twelve dollars a
month each. AYhen the boat was finished (and every plank
of it was sawed by hand with a whip-saw)-, it was launched
on the Sangamon, and floated to a point below New Salem,
in Menard (then Sangamon) County, where a drove of hogs
was" to be taken on board. At this time, the hogs of the
region ran wild, as they do now in portions of the border
states. Some of them were savage, and all. after the man-

O "

ner of swine, were difficult to manage. They had. how
ever, been gathered and penned, but not an inch could they
be made to move toward the boat. All the ordinary
resources were exhausted in the attempts to get them on
board. There was but one alternative, and this Abraham
adopted. He actually carried them on board, one by one.
His long arms and great strength enabled him to grasp
them as in a vise, and to transfer them rapidly from the

24 LINCOLN STORIES.

shore to the boat. They then took the boat to New Orleans.,
according to contract.

An Incident Showing How Lincoln Resented an Insult— He Gave
the Victim a Thrashing.

While showing goods to two or three women in Offutt's
store one day, a bully came in and began to talk in an
offensive manner, using much profanity, and evidently
wishing to provoke a quarrel. Lincoln leaned over the
counter, and begged him, as ladies were present, not to
indulge in such talk. The bully retorted that the oppor
tunity had come for which he had long sought, and he
would like to see the man who could hinder him from say
ing anything he might choose to say. Lincoln, still cool,
told him that -if he would wait until the ladies retired, he
would hear what he had to say, and give him any satisfac
tion he desired.

As soon as the women were gone, the man became
furious. Lincoln heard his boasts and his abuse for a time,
and finding that he was not to be put off without a fight,
said — " Well, if you must be whipped, I suppose I may as
well whip you as any other man." This was just what^the
bully had been seeking, he said, so out of doors they went,
and Lincoln made short work with him. He threw him
upon the ground, held him there as if he had been a child,
and gathering some " smart- weed " which grew upon the
spot, rubbed it into his face and eyes, until the fellow bel
lowed with pain. Lincoln did all this without a particle of
anger, and when the job was finished, went immediately
for water, washed his victim's face, and did everything he
could to- alleviate his distress. The upshot of the matter
was that the man became his fast and life-long friend, and
was a better man from that day. It was impossible then,,

EARLY LIFE. 25

and it always remained impossible, for Lincoln to cherish,
resentment or revenge.

What Some Men Say About Yoang Lincoln— His First Meeting
WAh Richard Yates.

Lincoln was a marked and peculiar young man. People
talked about him. His studious habits, his greed for inflpr-
mation, his thorough mastery of the difficulties of eve£v
new position in which he was placed, his intelligence touch
ing all matters of public concern, his unwearying good
nature, his skill in telling a story, his great athletic power,
his quaint, odd ways, his uncouth appearance, all tending to
bring him in sharp contrast with the dull mediocrity by
which he was surrounded. Denton Offutt, his old employer
in the store, said, in the extravagance of his admiration,
that he knew more than any other man in the United States.
The Governor of Indiana, one of Offutt's acquaintances,
said, after having a conversation with Lincoln, that the
young man "had talent enough in him to make a Presi
dent." In every circle in which he found himself, whether
refined or coarse, he was always the centre of attraction.

William G. Greene says that when he (Greene) was a
member of Illinois College, he brought home with him, on
a vacation. Richard Yates, afterwards Governor of the state,
and some other boys, and, in order to entertain them, took
them all up to see Lincoln. He found him in his usual
position and at his usual occupation. He was flat on his
back, on a cellar door, reading a newspaper. That was the
manner in which a President of the United States and a
Governor of Illinois became acquainted with one another.
Mr. Greene says that Lincoln then could repeat the whole
of Burns, and was a devoted student of Shakspeare. So
the rough backwoodsman, self-educated, entertained the

26 LINCOLN STORIES.

college boys, and was invited to dine with them on bread
and milk. How he managed to upset his bowl of milk is
not a matter of history, but the fact that he did so is, as is
the further fact that Greene's mother, who loved Lincoln,
tried to smooth over the accident and relieve the young
man's embarrassment.

A Pig Story— Lincoln's Kindness to the Brute Creation.

An amusing incident occurred in connection with " riding
the circuit," which gives a pleasant glimpse into the good
lawyer's heart. He was riding by a deep slough, in which, to
his exceeding pain, he saw a pig struggling, and with such
faint efforts that it was evident that lie could not extricate him
self from the mud. Mr. Lincoln looked at the pig and the
mud which enveloped him, and then looked at some new
clothes with which he had but a short time before enveloped
himself. Deciding against the claims of the pig, he rode
on, but he could not get rid of the vision of the poor brute,
and, at last, after riding two miles, he turned back, deter
mined to rescue the animal at the expense of his new clothes.
Arrived at the spot, he tied his horse, and coolly went to
work to build of old rails a passage to the bottom of the
hole. Descending on these rails, he seized the pig and
dragged him out, but not without serious damage to the
clothes he wore. Washing his hands in the nearest brook,
.and wiping them on the grass, he mounted his gig and rode
along. He then fell to examining the motive that sent him
back to the release of the pig. At the first thought it
seemed to be pure benevolence, but, at length, he came to
the conclusion that it was selfishness, for he certainly went
to the pig's relief in order (as he said to the friend to whom
he related the incident,) to u take a pain out of his own
mind." This is certainly a new view of the nature of

EARLT LIFE. 27

sympathy, and one which it will be well for the casuist to
examine.

A Hard Tussle with Seven Negroes— Life on a Mississippi Flat

Boat.

At the age of nineteen, Abraham made his second essay
in navigation, and this time caught something more than a
glimpse of the great world in which he was destined to play
so important a part. A trading neighbor applied to him
to take charge of a flat-boat and its cargo, and, in company
with his own son, to take it to the sugar plantations near
New Orleans. The entire business of the trip was placed
in Abraham's hands. The fact tells its own story touching
the young man's reputation for capacity and integrity. He
had never made the trip, knew nothing of the journey, was
unaccustomed to business transactions, had never been much
upon the river; but his tact, ability and honesty were so
trusted that the trader was willing to risk his cargo and his
son in Lincoln's care.

The incidents of a trip like this were not likely to be
exciting, but there were many social chats with settlers and
hunters along the banks of the Ohio and Mississippi, and
there was much hailing of similar craft afloat. Arriving at
a sngar plantation somewhere between Natchez and New
Orleans, the boat was pulled in, and tied to the shore for
purposes of trade; and here an incident occurred which was
sufficiently exciting, and one which, in the memory of recent
events, reads somewhat strangely. Here seven negroes
attacked the life of the future liberator of the race, and it
is not improbable that some of them have lived to be eman
cipated by his proclamation. Night had fallen, and the
two tired voyagers had lain down upon their hard bed for
Hearing a noise on shore, Abraham shouted: "Who's

28 LINCOLN STORIES.

there?" The noise continuing, and no voice replying, he
sprang to his feet, and saw seven negroes, evidently bent on
plunder.

Abraham guessed the errand at 'once, and seizing a hand
spike, rushed toward them, and knocked one into the water
the moment he touched the boat. The second, third and
fourth who leaped on board were served in the same rough
way. Seeing that they were not likely to make headway
in their thieving enterprise, the remainder turned to flee.
Abraham and his companion growing excited and warm with
their work, leaped on shore, and followed them. Both were
too swift on foot for the negroes, and all of them received
a severe pounding. They returned to their boat just as the
others escaped from the water, but the latter fled into the
darkness as fast as their feet could carry them. Abraham
and his fellow in the fight were both injured, but not dis
abled. Not being armed, and unwilling to wait until the
negroes had received reinforcements, they cut adrift, and
floating down a mile or two, tied up to the bank again, and
watched and waited for the morning.

The trip was brought at length to a successful end. The
cargo, or " load," as they called it, was all disposed of for
money, the boat itself sold for lumber, and the young men
retraced the passage, partly, at least, on shore and on foot,
occupying several weeks in the difficult and tedious journey.

Lincoln Splits Several Hundred Rails for a Pair of Pants — How
He Looked, as Described by a Companion.

A gentleman by the name of George Cluse, who used to-
work with Abraham Lincoln during his first years in Illi
nois, says that at that time he was the roughest looking
person he ever saw. He was tall, angular and ungainly,
wore trowsers made of flax and tow, cut tight at the ankle

EARLY LIFE. 29

and out at both knees. He was known to be very poor, but
he was a welcome guest in every house in the neighborhood.
Mr. Cluse speaks of splitting rails with Abraham, and reveals
some very interesting facts concerning wages. Money was a
commodity never reckoned upon. Lincoln split rails to get
clothing, and he made a bargain with Mrs. Nancy Miller
to split four hundred rails for every yard of brown jeans,
dyed with white walnut bark, that would be nescessary to
make him a pair of trowsers. In these days Lincoln used
to walk five, six, and seven miles to work.

Lincoln's Story of a Girl in New Salem.

Among the numerous delegations which thronged Wash
ington in the early part of the war, was one from New
York, which urged very strenuously the sending of a fleet
to the southern cities — Charleston, Mobile and Savannah —
with the object of drawing off the rebel army from Wash
ington. Mr. Lincoln said the object reminded him of the
case of a girl in New Salem, who was greatly troubled with
a " singing " in her head. Various remedies were suggested
by the neighbors, but nothing tried afforded any relief. At
last a man came along — " a common-sense sort of man,"
said he, inclining his head towards the gentleman compli-
mentarily — "who was asked to prescribe for the difficulty.
After due inquiry and examination, he said the cure was
very simple.

'What is it?' was the question.

' Make plaster of psalm-tunes, and apply to her feet, and
draw the " singing " down? was the rejoinder."

30 LINCOLN STORIES.

Mrs. Brown's Story of Young Abe— How a Man Slept with the
President of the United States.

ilev. A. Hale, of Springfield, 111., is responsible for the
following interesting story: Mr. Hale, in May, 1861 (after
Lincoln's election to the Presidency), went out about seven
miles from his home to visit a sick lady, and found there a Mrs.
Brown who had come in as a neighbor. Mr. Lincoln's name
having been mentioned, Mrs . Brown said : 4k Well, I remem
ber Mr. Linken. He worked with my old man thirty-four
year ago, and made a crap. We lived on the same farm
where we live now, and he worked all the season, and made
a crap of corn, and the next Winter they hauled the crap
all the way to Galena, and sold it for two dollers and a half
a bushel. At that time there was no public houses, arid
travelers were obliged to stay at any house along the road
that could take them in. One evening: a riirht smart look"

O F3

ing man rode up to the fence, and asked my old man if he
could get to stay over night. ' Well,' said Mr. Brown, ' we
can feed your crittur, and give you something to eat, but
we can't lodge you unless you can sleep on the same bed
with the hired man.' The man hesitated, and asked, ' Where
is he?' i Well, said Mr. Brown, ' you can come and see him/
So the man got down from his crittur, and Mr. Brown took
him around to where, in the shade of the house, Mr. Lin
coln lay his full length on the ground, with an open boolc
before him. ' There,' said Mr. Brown, pointing at him,
'he is.' The stranger looked at him a minute, and said,
' Well, I think he'll do,' and he staid and slept with the
President of the United States."

EARLY LIFE. 31

When and Where Lincoln Obtained the Name of " Honest Abe."

During the year that Lincoln was in Denton Offutt's
store, that gentleman, whose business was somewhat widely
and unwisely spread about the country, ceased to prosper
in his finances, and finally failed. The store was shut up,
the mill was closed, and Abraham Lincoln was out of busi
ness. The year had been one of great advances, in many
respects. He had made new and valuable acquaintances,
read many books, mastered the grammar of his own tongue,
won multitudes of friends, and become ready for a step
still further in advance. Those who could appreciate brains
respected him, and those whose highest ideas of a man
related to his muscles were devoted to him. Every one
trusted him. ' It was while he was preforming the duties of
the store that he acquired the soubriquet " Honest Abe "
— a characterization that he never dishonored, and an abbre
viation that he never outgrew. He was judge, arbitrator,
referee, umpire, authority, in all disputes, games and matches
of man-flesh and horse-flesh; a pacificator in all quarrels;
everybody's friend; the best natured, the most sensible, the
best informed, the most modest and unassuming, the kind
est, gentlest, roughest, strongest, best young fellow in all
New Salem and the region round about.

Lincoln's Mechanical Ingenuity — His Patent Boat.

That he had enough mechanical genius to make him a
good mechanic, there is no doubt. "With such rude tools
as were at his command he had made cabins and flat-boats;
and after his mind had become absorbed in public and pro
fessional affairs he often recurred to his mechanical dreams
for amusement. One of his dreams took form, and he en
deavored to make a practical matter of it. He had had

32 LINCOLN STORIES.

experience in the early navigation of the Western rivers.
One of the most serious hinderances to this navigation was
low water, and the lodgment of the various craft on the
shifting shoals and bars with which these rivers abound.
He undertook to contrive an apparatus which, folded to the
hull of a boat like a bellows, might be inflated on occa
sion, and, by its levity, lift it over any obstruction upon
which it might rest. On this contrivance, illustrated by a
model whittled out by himself, and now preserved in the
Patent Office at Washington, he secured letters patent; but
it 'is certain that the navigation of the Western rivers was
not revolutionized by it.

A Remarkable Story— " Honest Abe" as Postmaster— How He
Kept the Identical Money in Trust for Many Years.

Mr. Lincoln was appointed Postmaster by President
Jackson. The office was too insignificant to be considered
politically, and it was given to the young man because
everybody liked him, and because he was the only man will
ing to take it who could make out the returns. He was
exceedingly pleased with the appointment, because it gave
him a chance to read every newspaper that was taken in
the vicinity. He had never been able to get half the news
papers he wanted before, and the office gave him the pros
pect of a constant feast. Not wishing to be tied to thev
office, as it yielded him no revenue that would reward him
for the confinement, he made a Post-office of his hat.
Whenever he went out, the letters were placed in his hat.
When an anxious looker for a letter found the Postmaster,
he had found his office; and the public officer, taking off
Ids hat, looked over his mail wherever the public might
find him. He kept the office until it was discontinued, or
removed to Petersburg.

EARLY LIFE. 33

One of the most beautiful exhibitions of Mr. Lincoln's
rigid honesty occurred in connection with the settlement of
his accounts with the Post-office Department, several years
afterwards. It was after he had become a lawyer, and had
been a legislator. He had passed through a period of great
poverty, had acquired his education in the law in the midst
of many perplexities, inconveniences, and hardships, and
had met with temptations, such as few men could resist, to
make a temporary use of any money he might have in his
hands. One day, seated in the law office of his partner, the
agent of the Post-office Department entered, and inquired
if Abraham Lincoln was within. Mr. Lincoln responded
to his name, and was informed that the agent had called to
collect a balance due the Department since the discon
tinuance of the Xew Salem office. A shade of perplexity
passed over Mr. Lincoln's face, which did not escape the
notice of friends who were present. One of them said at
once: "Lincoln, if you are in want of money, let us help
you." He made no reply, but suddenly rose, and pulled
out from a pile of books a little old trunk, and, returning
to the table, asked the agent how much the amount of his
debt was. The sum was named, and then Mr. Lincoln
opened the trunk, pulled out a little package of coin
wrapped in a cotton rag, and counted out the exact sum,
amounting to something more than seventeen dollars.
After the agent had left the room, he remarked quietly that
he never used any man's money but his own. Although
this sum had been in his hands during all these years, he
had never regarded it as available, even for any temporary
purpose of his own.

34 LINCOLN STORIES.

How Lincoln Piloted a Flat-Boat Over a Mill-Dam.

Governor Yates, of Illinois, in a speech at Springfield,
quoted one of Mr. Lincoln's early friends — "W. T. Greene —
as having said that the first time he ever saw Mr. Lincoln,
he was in the Sangamon River with his trousers rolled up
five feet, more or less, trying to pilot a flat-boat over a mill-
dam. The boat was so full of water that it was hard to
manage. Lincoln got the prow over, and then, instead of
waiting to bail the water out, bored a hole through the
projecting part and let it run out; affording a forcible illus*-
tration of the ready ingenuity of the future President in
the quick invention of moral expedients.

Splitting Rails and Studying Mathematics— Simmons, Lincoln &

Company.

In the year 1855 or '56, George B. Lincoln. Esq., of
Brooklyn, was traveling through the West in connection
with a large New York dry-goods establishment. He
found himself one night in a town on the Illinois River, by
the name of Naples. The only tavern of the place had
evidently been constructed with reference to business on a
small scale. Poor as the prospect seemed, Mr. Lincoln
had no alternative but to put up at the place. The supper-
room was also used as a lodging-room. After supper and
a comfortable hour before the fire, Mr. L. told his host
that he thought he would "go to bed." "Bed !" echoed
the landlord ; "there is no bed for you in this house, unless
you sleep with that man yonder. He has the only one we
have to spare/' " Well," returned Mr. Lincoln, " the
gentleman has possession, and perhaps would not like a
bedfellow." Upon this, a grizzly head appeared out of the
pillows, and said, " What is your name ? " " They call

EARLY LIFE. 37

mo Lincoln at home," was the reply. " Lincoln ! " re
peated the stranger ; u any connection of our Illinois
Abraham ? " " No," replied Mr. L., " I fear not."
" Well," said the old man, " I will let any man by the
name of 'Lincoln ' sleep with me, just for the sake of the
name. You have heard of Abe ? " he inquired. " Oh,
yes, very often,'5 replied Mr. Lincoln. '* Xo man could
travel far in this State without hearing of him, and I

O

would be very glad to claim connection, if I could do so
honestly/' ;- Well," said the old gentleman, " my name
is Simmons. ' Abe ' and I used to live and work together
when we were young men. Many a job of wood-cutting
and rail-splitting have I done up with him. Abe Lin
coln," said lie, with emphasis, " was the likeliest boy in
God's world. He would work all day as hard as any of us
— and study by firelight in the log-house half the night ;
and in this way he made himself a thorough practical
surveyor. Once, during those days, I was in the upper
part of the State, and I met General Ewing, whom Presi
dent Jackson had sent to the Xorthwest to make surveys.
I told him about Abe Lincoln, what a student he was, and
that 1 wanted he should give him a job. He looked over
his memoranda, arid, pulling out a paper, said: 'There is

county must be surveyed ; if your friend can do the

work properly, I shall be glad to have him undertake it —
the compensation will be six hundred dollars ! ' Pleased
as I could be, Chastened to Abe, after I got home, with
an account of what I had secured for him. He was sitting

o

before the fire in the log-cabin when I told him; and what
do you think was his answer? When I finished, he looked
up very quietly, and said, ' Mr. Simmons, I thank you very
sincerely for your kindness, but I don't think I will under
take the job.' ' In the name of wonder,' said I, ' why ?
Six hundred dollars does not grow upon every bush out

38 LINCOLN STORIES.

herein Illinois/ 'I know that,' said Abe, 'and I need
the money bad enough, Simmons, as you know; but I
have never been under obligation to a Democratic admin
istration, and I never intend to be so long as I can get my
living another way. General Ewing must find another
man to do his work.' '

Mr. Carpenter related this story to the President one
day, and asked him if it was true. " Pollard Simmons ! "
said Lincoln : " well do I remember him. It is correct
about our working togethj. • but the old man must have
stretched the facts somevhat about the survey of the
county. 1 think I should have been very glad of the job
at that time, no matter what administration was in power."
Notwithstanding this, however, Mr. Carpenter was inclined
to believe Mr. Simmons was not far out of the way and
thought his statement seemed very characteristic of what
Abraham Lincoln may be supposed to have been at twenty-
three or twenty-five years of age.

Captain Lincoln — How he Became Captain.

In the threatening aspect of affairs at the time of the
Black Hawk "W:,r, Governor Reynolds issued a call for
volunteers, and amon;- the companies that immediately
responded was one from Menard County, Illinois. Many
of the volunteers were from New Salem and Clary's
Grove, and Lincoln, being out of business, was the first to
enlist. The company boing full, they held a meeting at
Richland for the election of officers. Lincoln had won
many hearts, and they told him that he must be their cap
tain. It was an office that he did not aspire to, and one
for which he folt that he had no special fitness; but he
consented to be a candidate. There was but one other
candidate for the office (a Mr. Ivirkpatrick), and he was

EARLY LIFE. 39

one of the most influential men in the county. Previously,
Kirkpatrick had been an employer of Lincoln, and was so
overbearing1 in his treatment of the young man that the
latter left him.

The simple mode of electing their captain, adopted by
the company, was by placing the candidates apart, and
telling the men to go and stand with the one they pre
ferred. Lincoln and his competitor took their positions,
and then the word was given. At least three out of every
four went to Lincoln at once. When it was seen by those
who had ranged themselves with the other candidate that
Lincoln was the choice of the majority of the company,
they left their places, one by one, and came over to the
successful side, until Lincoln's opponent in the friendly
strife was left standing almost alone. " I felt badly to see
him cut so," says a witness of the scene. Here was an
opportunity for revenge. The humble laborer was his em
ployer's captain, but the opportunity was never improved.
Mr. Lincoln frequently confessed that no subsequent suc
cess of his life had given him half the satisfaction that this
election did. He had achieved public recognition ; and to
one so humbly bred, the distinction was inexpressibly
delightful.

A Humorous Speech— Lincoln in the Black Hawk War.

The friends of General Cass, when that gentleman was a
candidate for the presidency, endeavored to endow him with
a military reputation. Mr. Lincoln, at that time a repre
sentative in Congress, delivered a speech before the House,
which, in its allusions to General Cass, was exquisitely sar
castic and irresistiby humorous :

"By the way, Mr. Speaker," said Mr. Lincoln, "do
you know I am a military hero ? Yes, sir, in the days

40 LINCOLN STORIES.

of the Black Hawk War, I fought, bled and came away.
Speaking of General Cass' career reminds me of my own.
1 was not at Still man's Defeat, but I was about as near it
as Cass to Hull's surrender ; and like him I saw the
place very soon afterward. It is quite certain I did not
break my sword, for I had none to break; but I bent my
musket pretty badly on one occasion. If

General Cass went in advance of me in picking whortle
berries, I guess I surpassed him in charges upon the wild
onions. If he saw any live, fighting Indians, it was more
than I did, but I had a good many bloody struggles with
the musquitoes; and although I never fainted from loss of
blood, I can truly say I was often very hungry." Mr. Lin
coln concluded by saying if he ever turned democrat and
should run for the Presidency, he hoped they would not
make fun of him by attempting to make him a military
hero !

Lincoln's First Political Speech,

Mr. Lincoln made his first political speech in 1832, at
the age of twenty-three, when he was a candidate for the
Illinois Legislature. His opponent had wearied the audi
ence by a long speech, leaving him but a short time in
which to present his views. lie condensed all he had to
say into a few words, as follows :

" Gentlemen, Fellow-citizens : I presume you know who
1 am. I am humble Abraham Lincoln. I have been
solicited by many friends to become a candidate for the
legislature. My politics can be briefly stated. I am in
favor of the internal improvement system, and a high
protective tariff. These are my sentiments and political
principles. If elected, I shall be thankful. If not, it
will be all the same."

EARLY LIFE. 41

Elected to the Legislature— Lincoln Walks to the State Capitol,
Distant 100 Miles !

IE 1834, Lincoln was a candidate for the legislature, and
was elected by the highest vote cast for any candidate.
Major John T. Stuart, an officer in the Black Hawk War,
and whose acquaintance Lincoln made at Beardstown, was
also elected. Major Stuart had already conceived the
highest opinion of the young man, and -seeing much of
him during the canvass for the election, privately advised
him to study law. Stuart was himself engaged in a large
and lucrative legal practice at Springfield. Lincoln said
he was popr — that he had no money to buy books, or to live
where books might be borrowed and used. Major Stuart
offered to lend him all he needed, and he decided to take
the kind lawyer's advice, and accept his offer. At the close
of the canvass which resulted in his election, he walked to
Springfield, borrowed u a load ?' of books of Stuart, and
took them home with him to Xew Salem. Here he began
the study of law in good earnest, though with no preceptor,
He studied while he had bread, and then started out on a
surveying tour, to win the money that would buy more.
One who remembers his habits during this period says
that he went, day after day, for weeks, and sat under an
oak tree on a hill near Xew Salem and read, moving
around to keep in the shade, as the sun moved. lie was
so much absorbed that some people thought and said that
he was crazy. Xot unfrequently he met and passed his
best friends without noticing them. The truth was that
he had found the pursuit of his life, and had become very
much in earnest.

During Lincoln's campaign, he possessed and rode a
horse, to procure which he had quite likely sold his com
pass and chain, for, as soon as the canvass had closed, he

42 LINCOLN STORIES.

sold the horse, and bought these instruments indispensable
to him in the only pursuit by which he could make his
living. When the time for the assembling of the legisla
ture approached, Lincoln dropped his law books, shouldered
his pack, and, on foot, trudged to Yandalia, then the capital
of the State, about a hundred miles, to make his entrance
into public life.

" The Long Nine" — Lincoln the Longest of All.

The Sangamon County delegation to the Illinois Legisla
ture, in 1834, of which Lincoln was a member, consisting
of nine representatives, was so remarkable for tj^e physical
altitude of its members that they were known as u The
Long Nine." Not a member of the number was less than
six feet high, and Lincoln was the tallest of the nine, as Jie
was the leading man intellectually, in and out of the House.
Among those who composed the House, were General John
A. McClernand, afterwards a member of Congress; Jesse
K. Dubois, afterwards Auditor of the State; James Semple,
afterwards twice the Speaker of the House of Representa
tives, and subsequently United States Senator; Robert
Smith, afterwards member of Congress; John Hogan,
afterwards a member of Congress from St. Louis; General
James Shields, afterwards United States Senator (who
died recently); John Dement, who has since been
Treasurer of the State; Stephen A. Douglas, whose
subsequent public career is familiar to all; Newton Cloud,
President of the Convention which framed the present State
Constitution of Illinois; John J. Hardin, who fell at Buena
Yista; John Moore, afterwards Lieutenant Governor of the
State; William A. Richardson, subsequently United States
Senator, and William McMurtry, who has since been Lieu
tenant Governor of the State. This list does not embrace

EARLY LIFE. 43

all who had then, or who have since been distinguished, but
it is large enough to show that Lincoln was, during the
term of this legislature, thrown into association, and often
into antagonism, with the brightest men of the new state.

Returning from the Legislature—" No Wonder Lincoln was Cold"—
A Joke on Lincoln's Big Feet.

He had walked his hundred miles to Yandalia, in 1836,
as he did in 1S34, and when the session closed he walked
home aijain. A gentleman in Menard County remembers

O CT> t,

meeting him and a detachment of " The Long Xine" on
their way home. They were all mounted except Lincoln,
who had thus far kept tip with them on foot. If he had
money he was hoarding it for more important purposes
than that of saying leg-weariness and leather. The weather
was raw, and Lincoln's clothing were none of the warmest.
Complaining of being cold to one of his companions, this'
irreverent member of " The Long1 Xine " told his future

S

President that it was no wonder he was cold — " there was
so much of him on the ground." Xone of the party appre
ciated this homely joke at the expense of his feet (they were
doubtless able to bear it) more thoroughly than Lincoln
himself. ~Y\re can imagine the cross-fires of wit and humor
by which the way was enlivened during this cold and tedious
journey. The scene was certainly a' rude one, and seems
more like a dream than a reality, when we remember that
it occurred not very many years ago, in a state which now
contains hardly less than three millions of people and
seven thousand six hundred miles of railway.

44 LINCOLN STORIES.

Lincoln's Marriage— Boarding at $4 per Week — Some Very Interest
ing Letters — A Peep into Lincoln's Social Life,

In 1842, in his(^mrt^ffii^__jea^)Mr. Lincoln married
Miss Mary Todd, a daughter of Hon. Robert S. Todd, of
Lexington, Kentucky. The marriage took place in Spring
field, where the lady had for several years resided, on the
fourth of Xovember of the year mentioned. It is probable
that he married as early as the circumstances of his life per
mitted, for he had alwa\~s loved the society of women, and
possessed a nature that took profound delight in intimate
i'emale companionship. A letter written on the eighteenth
of May following his marriage, to J. F. Speed, Esq., of
Louisville, Kentucky, an early and a life-long personal friend..
gives a pleasant glimpse of his domestic arrangements at
this time. '• We are not keeping house," Mr. Lincoln says
in this letter, " but boarding at the Globe Tavern, which is
very well kept now by a widow lady of the name of Beck.
Our rooms are the same Dr. Wallace occupied there, and
boarding only costs four dollars a week. * * * I most
heartily wish you and your Fanny wrill not fail to come...
Just let us know the time, a week in advance, and we will
have a room prepared for you, and we'll all be merry together
for awhile." He seems to have been in excellent spirits, and
to have been very hearty in the enjoyment of his new rela
tion. The private letters of Mr. Lincoln were charmingly
natural and sincere. His personal friendships wrere the
sweetest sources of his happiness.

To a particular friend, he wrote February 25, 1842:

"Yours of the sixteenth, announcing that Miss and

you 'are no longer twain, but one flesh,' reached me this
morning. I have no way of telling you how much happi
ness I wish you both, though I believe you both can con
ceive it. I feel somewhat jealous of both of you nov\, for

EARLY LIFE. 45

you will be so exclusively concerned for one another that I
shall be forgotten entirely. My acquaintance with Miss

— (1 call her thus lest you should think I am speaking
of your mother,) was too short for me to reasonably hope
to long be remembered by her; and still I am sure 1 shall
not forget her soon. Try if you can not remind her of that
debt she owes me, and be sure you do not interfere to pre
vent her paying it.

" I regret to learn that you have resolved not to return to
Illinois. I shall be very lonesome without you. How mis
erably things seem to be arranged in this world! If we
have no friends we have no pleasure; and we have them,
we are sure to lose them, and be doubly pained by the loss.
I did hope she and you would make your home here, yet I
own 1 have no right to insist. You owe obligations to her
ten thousand times more sacred than any you can owe to
others, and in that light let them be respected and observed.
It is natural that she should desire to remain with her rela
tions and friends. As to friends, she could not need them
anywhere — she would have them in abundance here. Give

my kind regards to Mr. and his family, particularly to

Miss E. Also to your mother, brothers and sisters. Ask

little E. D if she will ride to town with me if I come

there again. And, finally, give a double reciprocation

of all the love she sent me. Write me often, and believe
me, yours forever, LINCOLN.

Lincoln's Mother— How He Loved Her.

" A great man," says J. G. Holland, " never drew his
infant life from a purer or more womanly bosom than her
own; and Mr. Lincoln always looked back to her with an
unspeakable affection. Long after her sensitive heart and
weary hands had crumbled into dust, and had climbed to

46 LINCOLN STORIES.

life again in forest flowers, he said to a friend, with tears in
his eyes: 'All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel
mother — blessings on her memory!' ' She was five feet,
five inches high, a slender, pale, sad and sensitive woman,
with much in her nature that was truly heroic, and much
that shrank from the rude life around her. Her death
occurred in 1818, scarcely two years after her removal from
Kentucky to Indiana, and when Abraham was in his tenth
year. They laid her to rest under the trees near their
cabin home, and, sitting on her grave, the little boy wept
his irreparable loss.

Gen. tinder's Early Recollections of Lincoln — Some Amusing
Stories of Lincoln's Uncle Mord.

I did not travel, says General Linder, on the circuit- in
1835, on account of my health and the health of my wife,
but attended court at Charleston that Fall, held by Judge
Grant, who had exchanged circuits with our judge, Justin
Harlan. It was here I first met Abraham Lincoln, of
Springfield, at that time a very modest and retiring man,
dressed in a plain suit of mixed jeans. He did not make
any marked impression upon me, or any other member of
the bar. He was on a visit to his relations in Coles, where
his father and stepmother lived, and some of her children.
Lincoln put up at the hotel, and here was where I saw him.
Whether he was reading law at this time I can not say.
Certain it is, he had not been admitted to the bar, although
he had some celebrity, having been a captain in the Black-
Hawk campaign, and served a term in the Illinois Legisla
ture; but if he won any fame at that season I have never
heard of it. He had been one of the representatives from
Sangamon. If Lincoln at this time felt the divine afflatus
of greatness stir within him I have never heard of it. It

EARLY LIFE. 4T

was rather common among us then in the West to suppose
that there was no Presidential timber growing in the North
west, jet, he doubtless had at that time the stuff out of which
to make half a dozen Presidents.

I had known his relatives in Kentucky, and he asked me
about them. His uncle, Mordecai Lincoln, I had known
form my boyhood, and he was naturally a man of consider
able genius; he was a man of great drollery, and it would
almost make you laugh to look at him. I never saw but
one other man whose quiet, droll look excited in me the
same disposition to laugh, and that was Artemas Ward. He
was quite a story-teller, and in this Abe resembled his Uncle
Mord, as we all called him. He was an honest man, as
tender-hearted as a woman, and to the last degree charit
able and benevolent.

No one ever took offense at Uncle Mord's stories — not
even the ladies. I heard him once tell a bevy of fashion
able girls that he knew a very large woman who had a hus
band so small that in the night she often mistook him for
the baby, and that upon one occasion she took him up and
was singing to him a soothing lullaby, when he awoke and
told her that she was mistaken, that the baby was on the
other side of the bed.

Lincoln had a very high opinion of his uncle, and on one
occasion he said to me: " Linder, I have often said that
Uncle Mord had run off with the talents of the family."

Old Mord, as we sometimes called him, had been in his
younger days a very stout man, and was quite fond of play
ing a game of fisticuffs with any one who was noted as a
champion. He told a parcel of us once of a pitched battle
he had fought with one of the champions of that day. He
said they fought on the side of a hill or ridge; that at the
bottom there was a rut or canal, which had been cut out by
the freshets. He said they soon clinched, and he threw his

48 LINCOLN STORIES.

man and fell on top of him. He said he always thought he
had the best eyes in the world for measuring distances, and
having measured the distance to the bottom of the hill, he
concluded that by rolling over and over till they came to
the bottom his antagonist's body would fill it, and he would
be wedged in so tight that he could whip him at his leisure.
So he let the fellow turn him, and over and over they went,
when about the twentieth revolution brought Uncle Mord's
back in contact with the bottom of the rut, "and," said he,
^ before fire could scorch a feather, I cried out in stentorian
voice: < Take him off!'"'

Young Lincoln and the " Clary's Grove Boys "—A Wrestling Match
and How it Terminated.

There lived at the time young Lincoln resided at New
Salem, Illinois, in and around the village, a band of rollick
ing fellows, or, more properly, roystering rowdies, known
as the " Clary's Grove Boys." The special tie that united
them was physical courage and prowess. These fellows,
although they embraced in their number many men who
have since become respectable and influential, were wild
and rough beyond toleration in any community not made
up like that which produced them. They pretended to be
" regulators," and were the terror of all who did not ac
knowledge their rule; and their mode of securing allegiance
was by flogging every man who failed to acknowledge it.
They took it upon themselves to try the mettle of every
new comer, and to learn the sort of stuff he wTas made of.
Some of their number was appointed to fight, wrestle, or
run a foot-race with each incoming stranger. Of course
Abraham Lincoln was obliged to pass the ordeal.

Perceiving that he was a man who would not easily be
floored, they selected their champion, Jack Armstrong, and

EARLY LIFE. 49

imposed upon him the task of laying Lincoln upon his back.
There is no evidence that Lincoln was an unwilling party
in the sport, for it was what he had always been accus
tomed to. The bout was entered upon, but Armstrong
soon discovered that he had met with more than his match.
The " Boys " were looking on, and, seeing that their cham
pion was likely to get the worst of it, did after the manner
of such irresponsible bands. They gathered around Lin
coln, struck and disabled him, and then Armstrong, by
" legging" him, got him down.

Most men would have been indignant, not to say furi
ously angry, under such foul treatment as this; but if Lin
coln was either, he did not show it. Getting up in perfect
good humor, he fell to laughing over his discomfiture, and
joking about it. They had all calculated upon making him
angry, and then they intended, with the amiable spirit which
characterized the " Clary's Grove Boys," to give him a
terrible drubbing. They were disappointed, and, in their
admiration of him, immediately invited him to become
one of the company.

A Batch of Lincoln Reminiscences — The Turning Point in the
Great Man's Life.

it was while young Lincoln was engaged in the duties of
OfFutt's store that the turning point in his life occurred.
Here he commenced the study of English grammar.
There was not a text-book to be obtained in the neighbor
hood, but, hearing that there was a copy of Kirkham's
Grammar in the possession of a person seven or eight miles
distant, lie walked to his house and succeeded in borrowing it.

L. M. Green, a lawyer of Petersburg, in Menard County,
says that every time he visited ]STew Salem, at this period,
Lincoln took him out upon a hill, and asked him to explain

4.

50 LINCOLN STORIES.

some point in Kirkham that had given him trouble. After
having mastered the book, he remarked to a friend, that if
that was what they called a science, he thought he could
" subdue another."

Mr. Green says that Mr. Lincoln's talk at this time
showed that he was beginning to think of a great life and
a great destiny. Lincoln said to him, on one occasion, that
all his family seemed to have good sense, but, somehow,
none had ever become distinguished. He thought that
perhaps he might become so. lie had talked, he said, with
men who had the reputation of being great men, but he
could not see that they differed much from others!

During this year, he was also much engaged with de
bating clubs, often walking six or seven miles to attend
them. One of these clubs held its meetings at an old store
house in New Salem, and the first speech young Lincoln
ever made was made there. He used to call the exercise
u practicing polemics." As these clubs were composed
principally of men of no education whatever, some of their
" polemics " are remembered as the most laughable of farces.

His favorite newspaper, at th*3 time, was the Louisville
Journal, a paper vhich he received regularly by mail, and
paid for during a number of year;: when he had not money
enough to dress decently. He liked its politics, and was
particularly delighted with its wit and humor, of which he
had the keenest appreciation* When out of the store, he
was always busy in the pursuit of knowledge.

One gentleman who met him during this period, says
that the first time he saw him he was lying on a trundle-
bed, covered with books and papers, and rocking a cradle
with his foot. The whole scene, however, was entirely char
acteristic — Lincoln reading and studying, and at the Same
time helping his landlady by quieting her child.

EARLY LIFE. 51

" MY early history," said Mr. Lincoln to J. L. Scripps,
" is perfectly characterized by a single line of Gray's
Elegy:

4 The short and simple annals of the poor.' "

A GENTLEMAN who knew Mr. Lincoln well in early man
hood says : " Lincoln at this period had nothing butjpZmty
of friends. "_

SAYS J. G. Holland: "No man ever lived, probably,
who was more a self-made man than Abraham Lincoln.
Not a circumstance of life favored the development which
he had reached."

IN his seventh year Lincoln attended his first school.
Zacharia Riney, a Catholic, whose memory Lincoln always
revered, was the teacher. Caleb Hazel was the second
teacher, under whose instructions Lincoln learned to write
a good legible hand in three months.

AFTER the customary hand-shaking, on one occasion at
"Washington, several gentlemen came forward and asked
the President for his autograph. One of them gave his
name as " Cruikshank." " That reminds me," said Mr.
Lincoln, " of what I used to be called when a young man —
4 Long '-shanks /' '

ME. HOLLAND says: " Lincoln was a religious man. The
fact may be stated without any reservation — with only an
explanation. He believed in God, and in His personal
supervision of the affairs of men. He believed himself to
be under His control and guidance. He believed in the
power and ultimate triumph of the right, through his belief
in God."

GOVERNOR YATES, in a speech at Springfield, before a
meeting at which William G. ^Greene presided, quoted Mr.
Greene as having said that the first time he ever saw Lin
coln he was " in the Sangamon Kiver, with his trousers

52 LINCOLN STORIES.

rolled up five feet more or less, trying to pilot a flat-boat
over a mill-dam. The boat was so full of water that it was
hard to manage. Lincoln got the prow over, and then, in
stead of waiting to bail the water out, bored a hole through
the projecting part, and let it run out"

A PROMINENT writer says: " Lincoln was a child-like
man. No public man of modern days has been fortunate
enough to carry into his manhood so much of the direct
ness, truthfulness, and simplicity of childhood as distin
guished him. He was exactly what he seemed. v

ME. LINCOLN and Douglas met for the first time when
the latter was only 23 years of age. Lincoln, in speaking
of the fact, subsequently said that Douglas was then " the
least man he ever saw." He was not only very short, but
very slender.

LINCOLN'S mother died in 1818, scarcely two years after
her removal to Indiana from Kentucky, and when Abraham
was in his tenth year. They laid her to rest under the trees
near the cabin, and, sitting on her grave, the little boy wept
his irreparable loss.

THE Black Hawk war was not a very remarkable affair.
It made no military reputations, but it was noteworthy in
the single fact that the two simplest, hornliest and truest
men engaged in it afterward became Presidents of the
United States, viz : General (then Colonel) Zachary Taylor,
and Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln never spoke of it as
anything more than an interesting episode in his life, except
upon one occasion when he used it as an instrument for
turning the military pretensions of another into ridicule.

STATE CAPITOL AT SPRINGFIELD, ILL.

PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 55

PROFESSIONAL LIFE STORIES.

How Lincoln and Judge B Swapped Horses.

When Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer in Illinois, he and
a certain Judge once got to bantering one another about
trading horses; and it was agreed that the next morning at
9 o'clock they should make a trade, the horses to be unseen
up to that hour, and no backing out, under a forfeiture
of 825.

At the hour appointed the Judge came up, leading the
sorriest -looking specimen of a horse ever seen in those
parts. In a few minutes Mr. Lincoln was seen approach
ing with a wooden saw-horse upon his shoulders. Great
were the shouts and the laughter of the crowd, and both
were greatly increased when Mr. Lincoln, on surveying the
Judge's animal, set down his saw-horse, and exclaimed:
""Well, Judge, this is the first time I ever got the worst of
it in a horse trade."

A Remarkable Law Suit About a Colt — How Lincoln Won the

Case — Thirty-Four Men Against Thirty Men

and Two Brutes.

The controversy was about a colt, in which thirty-four
witnesses swore that they had known the colt from its fall
ing, and that it was the property of the plaintiff, while
thirty swore that they had known the colt from its falling,
and that it was the property of the defendant. It may be
stated, at starting, that these witnesses were all honest, and
that the mistake grew out of the exact resemblances which
two colts bore to each other.

56 LINCOLN STORIES.

One circumstance was proven bj all the witnesses, or
nearly all of them, viz.: that the two claimants of the colt
agreed to meet on a certain day with the two mares which
were respectively claimed to be the dams of the colt, and
permit the colt to decide which of the two he belonged to.
The meeting occurred according to agreement, and, as it
was a singular case and excited a good deal of popular in
terest, there were probably a hundred men assembled on
their horses and mares, from far and near.

Now, the colt really belonged to the defendant in the
case. It had strayed away and fallen into company with
the plaintiff's horses. The plaintiff's colt had, at the same
time, strayed away, and had not returned, and was not to
be found. The moment the two mares were brought upon
the ground, the defendant's mare and the colt gave signs of
recognition. The colt went to its dam, and would not
leave her. They fondled each other ; and, although the
plaintiff brought his mare between them, and tried in
various wavs to divert the colt's attention, the colt would
not be separated from its dam. It then followed her home,
a distance of eight or ten miles, and, when within a mile or
two of the stables, took a short cut to them in advance of
its dam. The plaintiff had sued to recover the colt thus
gone back to its owner.

In the presentation of this case to the jury, there were
thirty-four witnesses on the side of the plaintiff, while the
defendant had, on his side, only thirty witnesses; but he
had on his side the colt itself and its dam— thirty-four men
against thirty men and two brutes. Here was a case that
was to be decided by the preponderance of evidence. All
the witnesses were equally positive, and equally credible.
Mr. Lincoln was on the side of the defendant, and con
tended that the voice of nature in the mare and colt ought
to outweigh the testimony of a hundred men. The jury

PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 57

were all farmers, and all illiterate men, and he took great
pains to make them understand what was meant by the
" preponderance of evidence." He said that in a civil
suit, absolute certainty, or such certainty as would be re
quired to convict a man of crime, was not essential. They
must decide the case according to the impression which the
evidence had produced upon their minds, and, if they felt
puzzled at all, he would give them a test by which they
could bring themselves to a just conclusion. " Now," said
he, "if you were going to bet on this case, on which side
would you be willing to risk a picayune? That side on
which you would be willing to bet a picayune, is the side
on which rests the preponderance of evidence in your
minds. It is possible that you may not be right, but that
is not the question. The question is as to where the pre
ponderance of evidence lies, and you can judge exactly
where it lies in your minds, by deciding as to which side
you would be willing to bet on."

The jury understood this. There was no mystification
about it, They had got hold of a test by which they could
render an intelligent verdict. Mr. Lincoln saw into their
minds, and knew exactly what they needed; and the
moment they received it, he knew that his case was safe,
as a quick verdict for the defendant proved it to be. In
nothing connected with this case was the ingenuity of Mr.
Lincoln more evident, perhaps, than in the insignificance
of the sum which he placed in risk by the hypothetical
wager. It was not a hundred dollars, or a thousand dollars,
or even a dollar, but the smallest silver coin, to show to
them that the verdict should go with the preponderance of
evidence, even if the preponderance should be only a hair's
weight.

58 LINCOLN STORIES.

Lincoln's Story of a Young Lawyer as He Told it to General

Garfield.

General Garfield, of Ohio, received from the President
the account of the capture of Norfolk with the following
preface: " By the way, Garfield," said Mr. Lincoln, " you
never heard, did you, that Chase, Stanton, and I, had a
campaign of our own ? We went down to Fortress Monroe
in Chase's revenue cutter, and consulted with Admiral
Goldsborough as to the feasibility of taking Norfolk by
landing on the north shore and making a march of eight
miles. The Admiral said, very positively, there was no
landing on that shore, and we should have to double the
•cape and approach the place from the south side, which
would be a long and difficult journey. I thereupon asked
him if he had ever tried to find a landing, and he replied
that he had not.

" ' Now,' said I, c Admiral, that reminds me of a chap
out West who had studied law, but had never tried a case.
Being sued, and not having confidence in his ability to
manage his own case, he employed a fellow- lawyer to man
age it for him. He had only a confused idea of the mean
ing of law terms, but was anxious to make a display of
learning, and on the trial constantly made suggestions to
his lawyer, who paid no attention to him. At last, fearing
that his lawyer was not handling the opposing counsel very
well, he lost all patience, and, springing to his feet, cried
out: " Why don't you go at him with a capias, or a surre
butter, or something, and not stand there like a confounded
old nudum-pactum?"

PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 59

Lincoln and His Step-Mother — How He Bought Her a Farm.

Soon after Mr. Lincoln entered upon his profession at
Springfield, he was engaged in a criminal case in which it
was thought there was little chance of success. Throwing
all his powers into it he came off victorious, and promptly
received for his services five hundred dollars. A le^al

o

friend calling upon him the next morning found him
sitting before a table, upon which his money was spread
out, counting it over and over.

" Look here. Judge," said Lincoln; "See what a heap of

money I've got from the case. Did you ever see

anything like it ? Why, I never had so much money in
my life before, put it all together ? " Then crossing his
arms upon the table, his manner sobering down, he added,
" I have got just five hundred dollars : if it were only seven
hundred and fifty, I would go directly and purchase a
quarter section of land, and settle it upon my old step
mother."

His friend said that if the deficiency was all he needed
he would loan him the amount, taking his note, to which
Mr. Lincoln instantly acceded.

His friend then said : " Lincoln, I would not do just
what you have indicated. Your step- mother is getting old,
and will not probably live many years. I would settle the
property upon her for her use during her lifetime, to revert
to you upon her death."

"With much feeling, Mr. Lincoln replied: "I shall do no
such thing. It is a poor return, at the best, for all the good
woman's devotion and fidelity to me, and there is not going
to be any half-way business about it ;" and so saying, he
gathered up his money, and proceeded forthwith to carry
his long-cherished purpose into execution.

GO LINCOLN STORIES.

A Famous Story — How Lincoln was Presented with a Knife \

It is said that Mr. Lincoln was always ready 'to join in
a laugh at the expense of his person, concerning which he
was indifferent. Many of his friends will recognize the
following story — the incident having actually occurred-—
which Lincoln always told with great glee :

u In the days when I used to be ' on the circuit,' " said
Lincoln, " I was accosted in the cars by a stranger, who
said :

" ' Excuse me, sir, but I have an article in my possession
«vhich belongs to you.'

" ' How is that ? ' I asked, considerably astonished.

" The stranger took a jack-knife from his pocket. i This
knife,' said he, ' was placed in my hands some years ago,
with the injunction that I was to keep it until I found a
man uglier than myself. I have carried it from that time
to this. Allow me now to say, sir, that I think you are
fairly entitled to the property.' '

An Amusing Story Concerning Thompson Campbell.
Amono- the numerous visitors on one of the President's

O *

reception days, were a party of Congressmen, among whom
was the Hon. Thomas Shannon, of California. Soon after
the customary greeting, Mr. Shannon said :

"Mr. President, I met an old friend of yours in Califor
nia last Summer, Thompson Campbell, who had a good deal
to say of your Springfield life."

"Ah!" returned Mr. Lincoln, "I am glad to hear of
him. Campbell used to be a dry fellow," he continued.
" For a time he wras Secretary of State. One day, during
the legislative vacation, a meek, cadaverous-looking man,
with a white neck-cloth, introduced himself to him at his

PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 61

office, and, stating that he had been informed that Mr.
C. had the letting of the Assembly Chamber, said that he
wished to secure it, if possible, for a course of lectures he
desired to deliver in Springfield.

u 4 May I ask,' said the Secretary, ' what is to be the
subject of your lectures '? '

'•'Certainly,' was the reply, with a very solemn expres
sion of countenance. ' The course I wish to deliver, is on
the Second Coining of our Lord.'

£j

u ' It is of no use,' said C. l If you will take my advice,
you will not waste your time in this city. It is my private
opinion that if the Lord has been in Springfield once, He
will not come the second time /'

The Lincoln-Shields Duel — How it Originated.

The late Gen. Shields was Auditor of the State of Illi
nois in 1839. While he occupied this important office he
was involved in an " affair of honor " with a Springfield
lawyer — no less a personage than Abraham Lincoln. At
this time u James Shields, Auditor," was the pride of the
young Democracy, and was considered a dashing fellow by
all, the ladies included. In the Summer of 1842 the Spring
field Journal contained some letters from the i; Lost Town
ships,'' by a contributor whose nom de plume was "Aunt
Becca," which held up the gallant young Auditor as u a ball
room dandy, floatin' about on the earth without heft or sub
stance, just like a lot of cat-fur where cats had been fightin'."

These letters caused intense excitement in the town.
Nobody knew or guessed their authorship. Shields swore
it would be coffee and pistols for two if he should find out
who had been lampooning him so unmercifully. Thereupon
4i Aunt Becca" wrote another letter, which made the fur
nace of his wrath seven times hotter than before, in which

62 LINCOLN STORIES.

she made a very humble apology, and offered to let him
squeeze her hand for satisfaction, adding:

" If this should not answer, there is one thing more I
would rather do than to get a lickin'. I have all along
expected to die a widow; but, as Mr. Shields is rather good-
looking than otherwise, I must say I don't care if we com
promise the matter by — really, Mr. Printer, I can't help
blushin' — but I — must come out — I — but widowed modesty
— well, if I must, I must — wouldn't he — maybe sorter let
the old grudge drap if I was to consent to be — be — his wife?
I know he is a fightin' man, and would rather fight than bat;
but isn't marryin' better than fightin', though it does some
times run into it? And I don't think, upon the -whole, I'd
be sich a bad match, neither; I'm not over sixty, and am
jest four feet three in my bare feet, and not much more
round the girth ; and for color, I wouldn't turn my back to
nary a girl in the Lost Townships. But, after all, maybe
I'm countin' my chickens before they're hatched, and
dreamin' of matrimonial bliss when the only alternative
reserved for me maybe a lickin'. Jeff tells me the way
these fire-eaters do is to give the challenged party the choice
of weapons, which, being the case, I tell you in confidence,
I never fight with anything but broomsticks or hot water,
or a shovelful of coals or some such thing; the former of
which, being somewhat like a shillelah, may not be so very
objectionable to him. I will give him a choice, however,
in one thing, and that is whether, when we fight, I shall
wear breeches or he petticoats, for I presume this change
is sufficient to place us on an equality."

Of course some one had to shoulder the responsibility of
these letters after such a shot. The real author was none
other than Miss Mary Todd, afterward the wife of Abraham
Lincoln, to whom she was engaged, and who was in honor
bound to assume, for belligerent purposes, the responsibil-

PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 63

ity of her sharp pen-thrusts. Mr. Lincoln accepted the
situation. Not long after the two men, with their seconds,
were on their way to the field of honor. But the affair
was fixed up without any fighting, and thus ended in a
fizzle the Lincoln-Shields duel of the Lost Townships.

Lincoln's Story of Joe Wilson and His " Spotted Animals "— Slow-
Progress in Killing Cats.

Although, the friendly relations which existed between

£"5 t>

the President and Secretary Cameron were not interrupted
by the retirement of the latter from the War Office, so
important a change in the Administration could not of
course take place without the irrepressible "story" from
Mr. Lincoln. Shortly after this event some gentlemen
called upon the President, and expressing much satisfac
tion at the change, intimated that in their judgment the
interests of the country required an entire reconstruction of
the Cabinet.

Mr. Lincoln heard them through, and then shaking his
head dubiously, replied, with- his peculiar smile: " Gentle
men, when I was a young man I used to know very well one
Joe Wilson, who built himself a log-cabin not far from where
I lived. Joe was very fond of eggs and chickens, and he
took a good deal of pains in fitting up a poultry shed.
Having at length got together a choice lot of young fowls
—of which he was very proud — he began to be much
annoyed by the depredations of those little black and white
spotted animals, which it is not necessary to name. One
night Joe was awakened by an unusual cackling and fluttering
among his chickens. Getting up, he crept out to see what
was going on.

" It was a moonlight night, and he soon caught sight of
half a dozen of the little pests, which, with theiv dam, were

64 LINCOLN STORIES.

running in and out of the shadow of the shed. Very
wrathy, Joe put a double charge into his old musket, and
thought he would 'clean ' out the whole tribe at one shot.
Somehow he only killed one, and the balance scampered off
across the field. In telling the story, Joe would always
pause here, and hold his nose.

"'Why didn't you follow them up, and kill the rest?'
inquired the neighbors.

" ' Blast it,' said Joe, ( why, it was eleven weeks before I
got over killin' one. If you want any more skirmishing in
that line you can just do it yourselves!' '

An Incident Related by One of Lincoln's Clients.

It was not possible for Mr. Lincoln to regard his clients
simply in the light of business. An unfortunate man w.as
a subject of his sympathy, a Mr. Cogdal, who related the
incident to Mr. Holland, met with a financial wreck in 1843.
He employed Mr. Lincoln as his lawyer, and at the close of
the business, gave him a note to cover the regular lawyer's
fees. He was soon afterwards' blown up by an accidental
discharge of powder, and lost his hand. Meeting Mr. Lin
coln some time after the accident, on the steps of the State
House, the kind lawyer asked him how he was getting along.

" Badly enough," replied Mr. Cogdal, " I am both broken
up in business and crippled." Then he added, " I have beeii
thinking about that note of yours."

Mr. Lincoln, who had probably known all about Mr.
Cogdal's troubles, and had prepared himself for the meet-
ing, took out his pocket-book, and saying1, with a laugh,
" well, you needn't think any more about it," handed him
the note.

Mr. Cogdal protesting, Mr. Lincoln said, " if you had
the money, I would not take it," and hurried away.

PROFESSIONAL LIFE.' 65

At this same date, he was frankly writing about his pov
erty to his friends, as a reason for not making them a visit,
and probably found it no easy task to take care of his fam
ily, even when board at the Globe Tavern was " only four
dollars a week."

Lincoln's Valor — He Defends Col. Baker.

On one occasion when Col. Baker was speaking in a
court-house, which had been a store-house, and, on making
some remarks that were offensive to certain political row
dies in the crowd, they cried : u Take him off the stanof."
Immediate confusion ensued, and there was an attempt to
carry the demand into execution. Directly over the
speaker's head was an old scuttle, at which it appeared Mr.
Lincoln had been listening to the speech. In an instant,
Mr. Lincoln's feet came through the scuttle, followed by
his tall and sinewy frame, and he was standing by Colonel
Baker's side. He raised his hand, and the assembly sub
sided immediately into silence.

"Gentlemen," said Mr. Lincoln, "let us not disgrace
the age and country in which we live. This is a land where
freedom of speech is guaranteed. Mr. Baker has a right to
speak, and ought to be permitted to do so. I am here to
protect him, and no man shall take him from this stand if
I can prevent it."

The suddenness of his appearance, his perfect calmness
and fairness, and the knowledge that he would do what he
had promised to do, quieted all disturbance, and the speaker
concluded his remarks without difficulty.
5

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

THE LAWYEB.

PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 67

Honest Abe and his Lady Client.
About the time Mr. Lincoln be^an to be known as a sue-

£D

cessful lawyer, he was waited upon by a lady, who held a
real-estate claim which she desired to have him prosecute,
putting into his hands, with the necessary papers, a check
for two hundred and fifty dollars, as a retaining fee. Mr.
Lincoln said he would look the case over, and asked her to
call again the next day. Upon presenting herself, Mr.
Lincoln told her that he had gone through the papers very
carefully, and he must tell her frankly that there was not a'
"peg" to hang her claim upon, and he could not con
scientiously advise her to bring an action. The lady was
satisfied, and, thanking him, rose to go.

" Wait," said Mr. Lincoln, fumbling in his vest pocket;
" here is the check you left with me."

"But, Mr. Lincoln," returned the lady, " I think you
have earned that"

" !N"o, no," he responded, handing it back to her; "that
would not be right. I can't take pay for doing my duty.'*

Attention Shown to Relatives — Lincoln and "His Sisters and
His Cousins and His Aunts."

One of the most beautiful traits of Mr. Lincoln was his
considerate regard for the poor and obscure relatives he had
left, plodding along in their humble ways of life. Wherever
upon his circuit he found them, he always went to their
dwellings, ate with them, and, when convenient, made their
houses his home. He never assumed in their presence the
slightest superiority to them, in the facts and conditions of
ids life. He gave them money when they needed and he
possessed it. Countless times he was known to leave his
companions at the village hotel, after a hard day's work in
the court room, and spend the evening with these old

68 LINCOLN STORIES.

friends and companions of his humbler days. On one
occasion, when urged not to go, he replied, " Why, aunt's
heart would be broken if I should leave town without call
ing upon her;" yet he was obliged to walk several miles to
make the call.

How Lincoln Kept His Business Accounts— His Remarkable
Honesty.

A little fact in Lincoln's "Work will illustrate his ever-
present desire to deal honestly and justly with men. He
had always a partner in his professional life, and, when ho
went out upon the circuit, this partner was usually at home.
While out, he frequently took up and disposed of cases that
were never entered at the office. In these cases, after
receiving his fees, he divided the money in his pocket-bpok,
labeling each sum (wrapped in a piece of paper), that
belonged to his partner, stating his name, and the case on
which it was received. He could not be content to keep
an account. He divided the money, so that if he. by any
casualty, should fail of an opportunity to pay it over, there
could be no dispute as to the exact amount that was his
partner's due. This may seem trivial, nay, boyish, but it
was like Mr. Lincoln.

Lincoln in Court.

Senator McDonald states that he saw a jury trial in
Illinois, at which Lincoln defended an old man charged
with assault and battery. No blood had been spilled, but
there was malice in the prosecution, and the chief witness
was eager to make the most of it. On cross-examination,
Lincoln gave him rope and drew him out; asked him how
long the fight lasted, and how much ground it covered.

PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 60

The witness thought the fight must have lasted half an
hour, and covered an acre of ground. Lincoln called his
attention to the fact that nobody was hurt, and then, with
an inimitable air, asked him if he didn't think it was "<3
mighty small crop for an acre of ground" The jury
rejected the case with contempt as beneath the dignity of
twelve brave, good men and true.

In another cause the son of his old friend, who had em
ployed him and loaned him books, was charged with a
murder committed in a riot at a camp-meeting. Lincoln
volunteered for the defense. A witness swore that he saw
the prisoner strike the fatal blow. It was night, but he
swore that the full moon was shining clear, and he saw
everything distinctly. The case seemed hopeless, but Lin
coln produced an almanac, and showed that at the hour
there was no moon. Then he depicted the crime of per
jury with such eloquence that the false witness fled the
Court House. One who heard the trial says: "It was
near night when he concluded, saying: ' If justice was
done, before the sun set it would shine upon his client a
free man.' '

The Court charged the jury; they retired, and presently
returned a verdict — " Not guilty." The prisoner fell into
his weeping mother's arms, and then turned to thank Mr.
Lincoln, who, looking out at the sun, said: u It is not yet
sundown, and you are free."

One of Lincoln's "Hardest Hits."

In Abbott's " History of the Civil War," the following
story is told as one of Lincoln's "hardest hits:" "i once
knew," said Lincoln, "a sound churchman by the name of
Brown, who was a member of a very sober and pious com
mittee having in charge the erection of a bridge over a

70 LINCOLN STORIES.

dangerous and rapid river. Several architects failed, and at
last Brown said he had a friend named Jonee, who had
built several bridges and undoubtedly could build that one.
So Mr. Jones was called in.

'• ' Can you build this bridge?' inquired the committee.

" ' Yes,' replied Jones, ' or any other. I could build a
bridge to the infernal regions, if necessary !'

The committee were shocked, and Brown felt called upon
to defend his friend. ' I know Jones so well,' said he, < and
he is so honest a man and so good an architect, that if he
states soberly and positively that he can build a bridge to —

to , why, I believe it; but I feel bound to say that I

have my doubts about the abutment on the infernal side/

" So,*' said Mr. Lincoln, '' when politicians told me that
the northern and southern wings of the Democracy could
be harmonized, why, I believed them, of course; but I
always had my doubts about the ' abutment ' on the other
side."

An Incident Connected •with Lincoln's Nomination — A Good
Temperance Man.

Immediately after Mr. Lincoln's nomination for Presi
dent at the Chicago Convention, a committee, of which
Governor Morgan, of New York, was Chairman, visited
him in Springfield, 111., where he was official ly informed
of his nomination.

After this ceremony had passed, Mr. Lincoln remarked
to the company, that as an appropriate conclusion to an
interview so important and interesting as that which had
just transpired, lie supposed good manners would require
that he should treat the committee with something to
drink ; and opening a door that led into a room in the
rear, he called out " Mary ! Mary ! " A girl responded to

PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 71

the call, to whom .Mr. Lincoln spoke, a few words in an
under-tone, and, closing the door, returned again to converse
with his guests. In a few minutes the maiden entered,
bearing a large waiter, containing several glass tumblers,
and a large pitcher in the midst, and placed it upon the
centre-table. Mr. Lincoln arose, and gravely addressing
the company, said : " Gentlemen, we must pledge our mu
tual healths in the most healthy beverage which God has
given to man — it is the only beverage I have ever used or
allowed in my family, and I can not conscientiously depart
from it on the present occasion — it is pure Adam's ale from
the spring ; " and, taking a tumbler, he touched it to his
lips, and pledged them his highest respects in a cup of
cold water. Of course, all his guests were constrained to
admire his consistency, and to join in his example.

Gen. Linder's Account of the Lincoln-Shields Duel — Why Lincoln
Chose Broadswords as Weapons.

When the famous challenge was sent by General Shields
to Mr. Lincoln, it was at once accepted, and by the advice
of his especial friend and second, Dr. Merriman, he chose
broadswords as the weapons with which to fight. Dr.
Merriman being a splendid swordsman trained him in the
use of that instrument, which made it almost certain that
Shields would be killed or discomfited, for he was a small,
short-armed man. while Lincoln was a tall, sinewy, long-
armed man, and as stout as Hercules.

They went to Alton, and were to fight on the neck of
land between the Missouri and Mississippi llivers, near their
confluence. John J. Ilarclin, hearing of the contemplated
duel, determined to prevent it, and hastened to Alton, with
all imaginable celerity, where he fell in with the belligerent

72 LINCOLN STORIES.

parties, and aided by some other friends of both Lincoln
and Shields, succeeded in effecting a reconciliation.

After this affair between Lincoln and Shields, I met Lin
coln at the Danville court, and in a walk we took together,
seeing him make passes with a stick, such as are made in
the broadsword exercise, I was induced to ask him why he
had selected that weapon with which to tight Shields. He
promptly answered in that sharp, ear-splitting voice of his:

"To tell you thetruth, Linder,! did not want to kill Shields,
and felt sure I could disarm him, having had about a month
to learn the broadsword exercise; and furthermore, I didft't
want the darned fellow to kill me, which I rather think he
would have done if we had selected pistols."

Lincoln's Gratitude— He Volunteers to Defend the Son of an Old
Friend Indicted for Murder— How He Was Acquitted.

Jack Armstrong, the leader of the " Clary Grove Boys,"
with whom Lincoln in early life had a scuffle which "Jack "
agreed to call " a drawn battle," in consequence of his own
foul play, afterwards became a life-long, warm friend of
Mr. Lincoln. Later in life the rising lawyer would stop at
Jack's cabin home, and here Mrs. Armstrong, a most
womanly person, learned to respect Mr. Lincoln. There
was no service to which she did not make her guest abund
antly welcome, and he never ceased to feel the tenderest*
gratitude for her kindness.

At length her husband died, and she became dependent
upon her sons. The oldest of these, while in attendance
upon a camp-meeting, found himself involved in a melee,
which resulted in the death of a young man, and young
Armstrong was charged by one of his associates with strik
ing the fatal blow. He was arrested, examined, and im
prisoned to await his trial. The public mind was in a

PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 73

blaze of excitement, and interested parties fed the flame.
Mr. Lincoln knew nothing of the merits of this case, that is
certain. He only knew that his old friend Mrs. Armstrong
was in sore trouble; and he sat down at once, and volun
teered by letter to defend her son. His first act was to
procure the postponement and a change of the place of
the trial. There was too much fever in the minds of the
immediate public to permit of fair treatment. When the
trial came on, the case looked very hopeless to all but Mr.
Lincoln, who had assured himself that the young man was
not guilty. The evidence on behalf of the state being all
in, and looking like a solid and consistent mass of testi-

O

mony against the prisoner, Mr. Lincoln undertook the task
of analyzing and destroying it, which he did in a manner
that surprised every one. The principal witness testified
that " by the aid of the brightly shining moon, he saw the
prisoner inflict the death blow with a slung shot." Mr.
Lincoln proved by the almanac that there was no moon
shining at the time. The mass of testimony against the
prisoner melted away, ujitil u not guilty" was the verdict
of every man present in the crowded court-room. There
is, of course, no record of the plea made on this occasion,
but it is remembered as one in which Mr. Lincoln made
an appeal to the sympathies, of the jury, which quite sur
passed his usual efforts of the kind, and melted all to tears.
The jury were out but half an hour, when they returned
with their verdict of "'not guilty." The widow fainted in
the arms of her son, who divided his attention between his
services to her and his thanks to his deliverer. And thus
the kind woman who cared for the poor young man, and
showed herself a mother to him in his need, received the
life of a son, saved from a cruel conspiracy, as her reward,
from the hand of her grateful beneficiary.

74 LINCOLN STORIES.

An Honest Lawyer — Some of Lincoln's "Cases" and How
He Treated Them.

A sheep-grower on a certain occasion sold a number of
sheep at a stipulated average price. When he delivered
the animals, he delivered many lambs, or sheep too young
to come fairly within the terms of the contract. He was
sued for damages by the injured party, and Mr. Lincoln
was his attorney. At the trial, the facts as to the character
of the sheep delivered were proved, and several witnesses
testified as to the usuage by which all under a certain a<?e
were regarded as lambs, and of inferior value. Mr. Lincoln,
on comprehending the facts, at once changed his line of
effort, and confined himself to ascertaining the real number
of inferior sheep delivered. On addressing the jury, he said
that from the facts proved, they must give a verdict against
his client, and he only asked their scrutiny as to the actual
damage suffered.

In another case, Mr. Lincoln was conducting a suit
against a railroad company. Judgment having been given
in his favor, and the court being about to allow the amount
claimed by him, deducting a proved and allowed offset, he
rose and stated that his opponents had not proved all that
was justly due them in offset; and proceeded to state and
allow a further sum against his client, which the court
allowed in its judgment. His desire for the establishment
of exact justice overcame his own selfish love of victory,
as well as his partiality for his clients' -feelings and interests.

Lincoln's Pungent Retort.

A little incident occurred during a political campaign
that illustrated Mr. Lincoln's readiness in turning a polit
ical point. He was making a speech at Charleston, Coles
County, Illinois, when a voice called out, " Mr. Lincoln, is

PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 75

It true that YOU entered this state barefoot, driving a yoke
of oxen?" Mr. Lincoln paused for full half a minute, as if
considering whether he should notice such cruel impertin
ence, and then said that he thought he could prove the fact
by at least a dozen men in the crowd, any one of whom was
more respectable than his questioner. But the question
.seemed to inspire him, and he went on to show what free
institutions had done for himself, and to exhibit the evils
of slavery to the white man wherever it existed, and asked
if it was not natural that he sho'uld hate slavery and agitate
against it. '• Yes," said he, "we wrill speak for freedom
and against slavery, as long as the Constitution of our
country guarantees free speech, until everywhere on this
wide land the sun shall shine, and the rain shall fall, and
the wind shall blow upon no man who goes forth to unre
quited toil."

A Revolutionary Pensioner Defended by Lincoln — An Interesting

Incident.

An old woman of seventy-five years, the widow of a rev
olutionary pensioner, came tottering into his law office one
day, and, taking a seat, told him that a certain pension
agent had charged her the exorbitant fee of two hundred
dollars for collecting her claim. Mr. Lincoln was satisfied
by her representations that she had been swindled, and find
ing that she was not a resident of the town, and that she
was poor, gave her money, and set about the work of pro
curing restitution. He immediately entered suit against
the agent to recover a portion of his ill-gotten money.
The suit was entirely successful, and Mr. Lincoln's address
to the jury before which the case was tried is remembered
to have been peculiarly touching in its allusions to the
poverty of the widow, and the patriotism of the husband

76 LINCOLN STORIES.

she had sacrificed to secure the nation's independence. He
had the gratification of paying back to her a hundred dol
lars, and sending her home rejoicing.

A Thrilling Story — Lincoln Threatens a Twenty Years' Agitation

in Illinois.

One afternoon an old negro woman came into the office
of Lincoln & Herndon, in Springfield, and told the story
of her trouble, to which both lawyers listened. It appeared
that she and her offspring were born slaves in Kentucky,
and that her owner, one Hinkle, had brought the whole
family into Illinois, and given them their freedom. Her
son had gone down the Mississippi as a waiter or deck
hand, on a steamboat. Arriving at New Orleans, he had
imprudently gone ashore, and had been snatched up by the
police, in accordance with the law then in force concerning
free negroes from other states, and thrown into confine
ment. Subsequently, he was brought out and tried. Of
course he was fined, and, the boat having left, he was sold,
or was in immediate danger of being sold, to pay his fine
and the expenses. Mr. Lincoln was very much moved, and
requested Mr. Herndon to go over to the State House, and
inquire of Governor Bissell if there was not something he
could do to obtain possession of the negro. Mr. Ilerndon
made the inquiry, and returned with the report that the
Governor regretted to say that he had no legal or constitu
tional right to do anything in the premises. Mr. Lincoln
rose to his feet in great excitement, and exclaimed, " By
the Almighty, I'll have that negro back soon, or I'll have a
twenty years' agitation in Illinois, until the Governor does
have a legal and constitutional right to do something in the
premises." He was saved from the latter alternative — at
least in the direct form which he proposed. The lawyers

PROFESSIONAL LIFE 77

sent money to a Xew Orleans correspondent — money of
their own — who procured the negro, and returned him to
his mother.

Lincoln as a Story Teller — How he always Turned the Story to
his advantage— A Practical Example.

One of his modes of getting rid of troublesome friends,
as well as troublesome enemies, was by telling a story. He
began these tactics early in life, and he grew to be wonder
fully adept in them. If a man broached a subject which
he did not wish to discuss, he told a story which changed
the direction of the conversation. If he was called upon
to answer a question, he .answered it by telling a story.
He had a story for everything — something had occurred at
some place where he used to live, that illustrated every pos
sible phase of every possible subject with which he might
have connection. His faculty of finding or making a story
to match every event in his history, and every event to
which he bore any relation, was really marvelous.

That he made, or adapted, some of his stories, there is
no question. It is beyond belief that those which entered
his mind left it no richer than they came. It is not to be
supposed that he spent any time in elaborating them, but
by some law of association every event that occurred sug
gested some story, and, almost by an involuntary process,
his mind harmonized their discordant points, and the story
was pronounced " pat," because it was made so before it
was uttered. Every truth, or combination of truths,
seemed immediately to clothe itself in a form of life, where
he kept it for reference. His mind was full of stories; and
the great facts of his life and history on entering his mind
seemed to take up their abode in these stories, and if the
garment did not fit them it was so modified that it did.

78 LINCOLN STORIES.

A good instance of tke execution which he sometimes
effected with a story, occurred in the legislature. There
was a troublesome member from Wabash County, who
gloried particularly in being a " strict constructionist." He
found something " unconstitutional " in every measure that
was brought forward for discussion. He was a member of
the Judiciary Committee, and was very apt, after giving
every measure a heavy pounding, to advocate its reference
to this committee. ~No amount of sober argument could
floor the member from Wabash. At last he came to be
considered a man to be silenced, and Mr. Lincoln wa*s
resorted to for an expedient by which this object might be
accomplished. He soon afterwards honored the draft thus
made upon him.

A measure was brought forward in which Mr. Lincoln's
constituents were interested, when the member from
Wabash rose and discharged all his batteries upon its un
constitutional points. Mr. Lincoln then took the floor,
and, with the quizzical expression of features which he
could assume at will, and a mirthful twinkle in his gray eyes,
said: "Mr. Speaker, the attack of the member from Wa
bash on the constitutionality of this measure, reminds me
of an old friend of mine. He's a peculiar looking old fel
low, with shaggy, overhanging eyebrows, arid a pair of
spectacles under them. (Everybody turned to the member
from Wabash, and recognized a personal description.)"
One morning just after the old man got up, he imagined,
on looking out of his door, that he saw rather a lively squir
rel on a tree near his house. So lie took down his rifle and
fired at the squirrel, but the squirrel paid no attention to
the shot. He loaded and fired again, and* again, until, at
the thirteenth shot, he set down his gun impatiently, and
said to his boy, who was looking on:

"'Boy, there's something wrong about this rifle.'

PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 79

" ' Kifle's all right, I know 'tis,' responded the boy, i but
where's your squirrel?'

" ' Don't you see him, humped up about half way up tne
tree?' inquired the old man, peering over his spectacles,
and getting mystified.

"4Xo, I don't,' responded the boy; and then turning
and looking into his father's face, he exclaimed, ' I see your
squirrel! 1. ou 've been firing at a louse on your eyebrow! ' '

The story needed neither application nor explanation.
The House was in convulsions of laughter; for Mr. Lin
coln's skill in telling a story was not inferior to his appre
ciation of its points and his power of adapting them to the
case in hand. It killed off the member from Wabasli, who-
was very careful afterwards not to provoke any allusion to
his " eyebrows."

Hon. Newtcn Bate man's Thrilling Story of Mr. Lincoln — The

Great Man Looking to See How the Springfield Preachers

Voted— His Surprise, and What Lincoln Said

About It.

At the time of the Lincoln nomination, at Chicago, Mr.
Newton Bateman, Superintendent of Public Instruction
for the State of Illinois, occupied a room adjoining and
opening into the Executive Chamber at Springfield. Fre
quently this door was open during Mr. Lincoln's receptions,
and throughout the seven months or more of his occupa
tion, he saw him nearly every day. Often when Mr. Lin
coln was tired, he closed the door against all intruders, and
called Mr. Bateman into his room for a quiet talk. On
one of these occasions, Mr. Lincoln took up a book contain
ing a careful canvass of the city of Springfield, in which
he lived, showing the candidate for whom each citizen had
declared it his intention to vote in the approaching election.
Mr. Lincoln's friends had, doubtless at his own request,

80 LINCOLN STORIES.

placed the result of the canvass in liis hands. This was
towards the close of October, and only a few days before
election. Calling Mr. Bateman to a seat by his side, hav
ing previously locked all the doors, he said : ' Let us look
over this book; I wish particularly to see how the ministers
of Springfield are going to vote.' The leaves were turned,
one by one, and as the names were examined Mr. Lincoln
frequently asked if this one and that were not a minister,
or an elder, or a member of such or such church, and sadly
expressed his surprise on receiving an affirmative answer.
In that manner they went through the book, and then* he
closed it and sat silently for some minutes regarding a
memorandum in pencil which lay before him. At length
he turned to Mr. Bateman, with a face full of sadness, and
said: * Here ' are twenty-three ministers, of different
denominations, and all of them are against me but three,
and here are a great many prominent members of the
churches, a very large majority are against me. Mr. Bate
man, I am not a Christian, — God knows I would be one,—
but I have carefully read the Bible, and I do not so under
stand this book; ' and he drew forth a pocket New Testa
ment. ' These men well know,' he continued, ' that I am
for freedom in the Territories, freedom everywhere as free
as the Constitution and the laws will permit, and that my
opponents are for slavery. They know this, and yet, with
this book in their hands, in the light of which human bond
age can not live a moment, they are going to vote against
me; I do not understand it at all.'

" Here Mr. Lincoln paused — paused for long minutes —
his features surcharged with emotion. Then he rose and
walked up and down the reception-room in the effort to
retain or regain his self-possession. Stopping at last, he
said, with a trembling voice and cheeks wet with tears: ' I
know there is a God, and that he hates injustice and

PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 81

slavery. I see the storm coming, and I know that His hand
is in it. If He has a place and work for me, and I think
He has, I believe I am ready. I am nothing, but Truth is
everything. I know I am right, because I know that
liberty is right, for Christ teaches it, and Christ is God. I
have told them that a house divided against itself can not
stand; and Christ and Keason say the same; and they will
find it so.'

"'Douglas don't care whether slavery is voted up or
down, but God cares, and humanity cares, and I care; and
with God's- help I shall not fail. I may not see the end;
but it will come, and I shall be vindicated; and these men
will find that they have not read their Bible right.'

" Much of this was uttered as if he was speaking to him
self, and with a sad, earnest solemnity of manner impossi
ble to be described. After a pause, he resumed: ' Doesn't it
appear strange that men can ignore the moral aspect of
this contest? A revelation could not make it plainer to
me that slavery or the Government must be destroyed.
The future would be something awful, as I look at it, but
for this rock on which I stand,' (alluding to the Testament
which he still held in his hand,) * especially with the knowl
edge of how these ministers are going to vote. It seems
as if God had borne with this thing (slavery) until the very
teachers of religion had come to defend it from the Bible,
and to claim for it a divine character and sanction; and
now the cup of iniquity is full, and the vials of wrath will
be poured out.' After this the conversation was continued
for a long time. Everything he said was of a peculiarly
deep, tender, and religious tone, and all was tinged with a
touching melancholy. He repeatedly referred to his con
viction that the day of wrath was at hand, and that he was
to be an actor in the terrible struggle which would issue in the
overthrow of slavery, though he might not live to see the end.
6

82 LINCOLN STORIES.

"After farther reference to a belief in Divine Providence,
and the fact of God in history, the conversation turned upon
prayer. He freely stated his belief in the duty, privilege,
and efficacy of prayer, and intimated, in no unmistakable
terms, that he had sought in that way the Divine guidance
and favor. The effect of this conversation upon the mind
of Mr. Bateman, a Christian gentleman whom Mr. Lincoln
profoundly respected, was to convince him that Mr. Lincoln
had, in his quiet way, found a path to the Christian stand
point — that he had found God, and rested on^ the eternal
truth of God. As the two men were about to separate, Mr.
Bateman remarked: 'I have not supposed that you were
accustomed to think so much upon this class of subjects ;
certainly your friends generally are ignorant of the senti
ments you have expressed to me.' He replied quickly : ' I
know they are, but I think more on these subjects than
upon all others, and I have done so for years; and I am
willing you should know it.' '

WHEN his clients had practiced gross deception upon him,
Mr. Lincoln forsook their cases in mid-passage; and he al
ways refused to accept fees of those whom he advised not
to prosecute. On one occasion, while engaged upon an
important case, he discovered that he was on the wrong
side. His associate in the case was immediately informed
that he (Lincoln) would not make the plea. The associate
made it, and the case, much to the surprise of Lincoln, was
decided for his client. Perfectly convinced that his client
was wrong, he would not receive one cent of the fee of
nine hundred dollars which he paid. It is not wonderful
that one who knew him well spoke of him as " perversely
honest."

WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 85

WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS.

Trying the " Greens " on Jake — A Serious Experiment.

A deputation of bankers were one day introduced to*
the President by the Secretary of the Treasury. One of

the party, Mr. P of Chelsea, Mass., took occasion to

refer to the severity of the tax laid by Congress upon the
State Banks.

44 Now," said Mr. Lincoln, " that reminds me of a cir
cumstance that took place in a neighborhood where I lived
when I was a boy. In the spring of the year the farmers
were very fond of the dish which they called greens,
though the fashionable name for it now-a-days is spinach,
1 believe. ' One day after dinner, a large family were taken
very ill. The doctor was called in, who attributed it to the
greens, of which all had freely partaken. Living in the
family was a half-witted boy named Jake. On a subse
quent occasion, when greens had been gathered for dinner,
the head of the house said : ' Now, boys, before running
any further risk in this thing, we will first try them on
Jake. If he stands it, we are all right.' And just so, I
suppose," said Mr. Lincoln, i; Congress thought it would
try this tax on the State Banks ! "

A Little Story which Lincoln told the Preachers.

A year or more before Mr. Lincoln's death, a delegation
of clergymen waited upon him in reference to the appoint
ment of the army chaplains. The delegation consisted of
a Presbyterian, a Baptist, and an Episcopal clergyman.

86 LINCOLN STORIES.

They stated that the character of many of the chaplains
was notoriously bad, and they had come to urge upon the
President the necessity of more discretion in these ap
pointments.

" But, gentlemen," said the President, "that is a matter
which the Government has nothing to do with; the chap
lains are chosen by the regiments."

Not satisfied with this, the clergymen pressed, in turn, a
change in the system. Mr. Lincoln heard them through
without remark, and then said, " Without any disrespect,
gentlemen, I will tell you a ' little story.' ^

" Once, in Springfield, I was going off on a short jour
ney, and reached the depot a little ahead of time. Leaning
-against the fence just outside the depot was a little darkey
boy, whom I knew, named ' Dick,' busily digging with his
toe in a mud-puddle. As I came up, I said, ' Dick, what
are you about \ '

" ' Making a church? said he.

•" ' A church?' said I ; 'what do you mean ?'

"'Why, yes,' said Dick, pointing with his toe, 'don't
you see ?. there is the shape of it ; there's the steps and
front-door — here the pews, where the folks set — and there 's
the pulpit.'

" ' Yes, I see,' said I, ' but why don't you make a
minister ? '

" ' Laws,' answered Dick, with a grin, ' I hain't got mud
enough ! ' "

How Lincoln Stood up for the Word " Sugar-Coated."

Mr. Defrees, the government printer, states, that, when
one of the President's messages was being printed, he was
a good deal disturbed by the use of the term " sugar-
coated," and finally went to Mr. Lincoln about it. Their

WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 87

relations to each other being of the most intimate character,
he told the President frankly, that he ought to remember
that a message to Congress was a different affair from
a speech at a mass meeting in Illinois ; that the mes
sages became a part of history, and should be written
accordingly.

" What is the matter now ?" inquired the President.

" Why," said Mr. Defrees, "you have used an undig
nified expression in the message ;" and then, reading the
paragraph aloud, lie added, " I would alter the structure
of that, if I were you."

" Defrees," replied Mr. Lincoln, " that word expresses
precisely my idea, and I am not going to change it. The
time will never come in this country when the people won't
know exactly what sugar-coated means ! "

On a subsequent occasion, Mr. Defrees states that a
certain sentence of another message was very awkwardly
constructed. Calling the President's attention to in the
proof-copy, the latter acknowledged the force of the objec
tion raised, and said, " Go home, Defrees, and see if you
can better it."

The next day Mr. Defrees took in to him his amendment.
Mr. Lincoln met him by saying : " Seward found the same
fault that you did, and he has been rewriting the paragraph,
also." Then, reading Mr. Defrees' version, he said, " I
believe you have beaten Seward; but, ' I jings,' I think I
can beat you both." Then, taking up his pen, he wrote
the sentence as it was finally printed.

Lincoln's Advice to a Prominent Bachelor.

Upon the bethrothal of the Prince of Wales to the Prin
cess Alexandra, Queen Victoria sent a letter to each of
the European sovereigns, and also to President Lincoln,

88 LINCOLN STORIES.

announcing the fact. Lord Lyons, her ambassador at
Washington, — a " bachelor," by the way, — requested an
audience of Mr. Lincoln, that he might present this im
portant document in person. At the time appointed he
was received at the White House, in company with Mr*
Seward.

" May it please your Excellency/' said Lord Lyons, " I
hold in my hand an autograph letter from my royal mis
tress, Queen Victoria, which I have been commanded to
present to your Excellency. In it she informs your Excel
lency, that her son, his Royal Highness the Prince bf
Wales, is about to contract a matrimonial alliance with her
Royal Highness the Princess Alexandra of Denmark."

After continuing in this strain for a few minutes, Lord
Lyons tendered the letter to the President and awaited his
reply. It was short, simple, and expressive, and consisted
simply of the words :

" Lord Lyons, go thou and do likewise"

It is doubtful if an English ambassador was ever ad
dressed in this manner before, and it would be interesting
to learn what success he met with in putting the reply in
diplomatic language when he reported it to her Majesty.

Mr. Lincoln and the Bashful Boys — He Tells a Story of Daniel

Webster.

The President and a friend were standing upon the thresh
old of the door under the portico of the White House?
awaiting the coachman, when a letter was put into his hand.
While he was reading this, people were passing, as is cus
tomary, up and down the promenade, which leads through
the grounds to the War Department, crossing, of course,
the portico. Attention was attracted to an approaching
party, apparently a countryman, plainly dressed, with his

WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 89

wife and two little boys, who Lad evidently been straying
about, looking at the places of public interest in the city.
As they reached the portico, the father, who was in advance,
caught sight of the tall figure of Mr. Lincoln, absorbed in
his letter. His wife and the little boys were ascending the
steps.

The man stopped suddenly, put out his hand with a " hush "
to his family, and, after a moment's gaze, he bent down and
whispered to them, " There is the President!" Then leav
ing them, he slowly made a half circuit around Mr. Lincoln,
watching him intently all the while.

At this point, having finished his letter, the President
turned and said: ""Well, we will not wait any longer for
the carriage; it won't hurt you and me to walk down."

The countryman here approached very diffidently, and
asked if he might be allowed to take the President by the
hand; after which, "Would he extend the same privilege
to his wife and little boys?"

Mr. Lincoln, good-naturedly, approached the latter, who
had remained where they were stopped, and, reaching down?
said a kind word to the bashful little fellows, who shrank
close up to their mother, and did not reply. This simple
act filled the father's cup full.

" The Lord is with you, Mr. President," he said, rever
ently; and then, hesitating a moment, he added, with strong
emphasis, "and the people, too, sir; and the people, too!"

A few moments later Mr. Lincoln remarked to his friend:
"Great men have various estimates. When Daniel Webster
made his tour through the West years ago, he visited Spring
field among other places, where great preparations had been
made to receive him. As the procession was going through
the town, a barefoated little darkey boy pulled the sleeve of
a man named T., and asked :

" 'What the folks were all doing down the street?'

90 LINCOLN STORIES.

" ' Why, Jack,' was tlie reply, 'the biggest man in the
world is coming.'

" Now, there lived in Springfield a man by the name of
G. — a very corpulent man. Jack darted off down the street,
but presently returned, with a very disappointed air.

" i Well, did you see him?' inquired T.

" ' Yees,' returned Jack; l but laws — he ain't half as big
as old G: "

An Irish Soldier Who Wanted Something Stronger than Soda- Water.

Upon Mr. Lincoln's return to Washington, after the cap
ture of Richmond, a member of the Cabinet asked him if it
would be proper to permit Jacob Thompson to slip through
Maine in disguise, and embark from Portland. The Presi
dent, as usual, was disposed to be merciful, and to permit
the arch-rebel to pass unmolested, but the Secretary urged
that he should be arrested as a traitor. '• By permitting
him to escape the penalties of treason," persistently remarked
the Secretary, "you sanction it/' " Well," replied Mr. Lin
coln, " let me tell you a story.

" There was an Irish soldier here last Summer, who wanted
something to drink stronger than water, and stopped at a
drug-shop, where he espied a soda-fountain.

" ' Mr. Doctor,' said he, ' give me, plase, a glass of soda-
wather, an' if yees can put in a few drops of whisky unbe
known to any one, I'll be obleeged.'

" Now," said Mr. Lincoln, u if Jake Thompson is per
mitted to go through Maine unbeknown to any one, what's
the harm? So don't have him arrested."

WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 91

Looking Out for Breakers — How the President Illustrated It.

In a time of despondency, some visitors were telling the
President of the " breakers " so often seen ahead — " this
time surely coming.'7 <; That," said he, " suggests the story
of the school-boy, who never could pronounce the names
4 Shadrach,' ' Meshach,' and ( Abednego.' He had been
repeatedly whipped for it without effect. Sometime after
wards he saw the names in the regular lesson for the day.
Patting his finger upon the place, he turned to his next
neighbor, an older boy, and whispered, * Here comes those
" tormented Hebrews" again T '

Work Enough for Twenty Presidents Illustrated by a Story
About Jack Chase.

A farmer from one of the border counties went to the
President on a certain occasion with the complaint that the
Union soldiers in passing his farm had helped themselves
not only to hay but to his horse; and he hoped the proper
officer would be required to consider his claim immediately.

"Why, my good sir," replied Mr. Lincoln, "if I should
attempt to consider every such individual case, I should
find work enough for twenty Presidents !

" In my early days, I knew one Jack Chase, who was a
lumberman on the Illinois, and, when steady and sober, the
best raftsman on the river. It was quite a trick twenty-
five years ago to take the logs over the rapids, but he was
skillful with a raft, and always kept her straight in the chan
nel. Finally a steamer was put on, and Jack — he's dead
now, poor fellow ! — was made captain of her. He always
used to take the wheel going through the rapids. One
day, wrhen the boat was plunging and wallowing along the
boiling current, and Jack's utmost vigilance was being
exercised to keep her in the narrow channel, a boy pulled

92 LINCOLN STORIES.

his coat-tail and hailed him with: 'Say, Mister Captain! I
wish you would just stop your boat a minute — I've lost
my apple overboard !' '

Philosophy of ' Canes — The Kind Lincoln Made and Carried
When a Boy.

A gentleman calling at the White House one evening
carried a cane, which, in the course of conversation, attracted
the President's attention. Taking it in his hand, he said:
" I always used a cane when I was a boy. It was a freal^
of mine. My favorite one was a knotted beech stick, and I
carved the head myself. There's a mighty amount of char
acter in sticks. Don't you think so? You have seen these
fishing-poles that fit into a cane ? "Well, that was an old
idea of mine. Dogwood clubs were favorite ones with the
boys. I suppose they use them yet. Hickory is too heavy;
unless you get it from a young sapling. Have you ever
noticed how a stick in one's hand will change his appear
ance? Old women and witches wouldn't look so without
sticks. Meg Merrilies understands that."

Stories Illustrating Lincoln's Memory.

Mr. Lincoln's memory was very remarkable. At one of
the afternoon receptions at the White House, a stranger
shook hands with him, and, as he did so, remarked, casually,
that he was elected to Congress about the time Mr, Lin
coln's term as representative expired, which happened
many years before.

"Yes," said the President, "you are from ," men
tioning the state. " I remember reading of your election
iix a newspaper one morning on a steamboat going down to
Mount Vernon."

WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 93

At another time a gentleman addressed him, saying, " I
presume, Mr. President, that you have forgotten me?"

" Ko," was the prompt reply; u your name is Flood. I

saw you last, twelve years ago, at -," naming the place

and the occasion. " I am glad to see," he continued, " that
the Flood flows on.''

Subsequent to his re-election a deputation of bankers
from various sections were introduced one day by the Secre
tary of the Treasury. After a few moments of general con
versation, Mr. Lincoln turned to one of them, and said:
" Your district did not give me so strong a vote at the last
election as it did in 1860."

u I think, sir, that you must be mistaken," replied the
banker. " I have the impression that your majority was
considerably increased at the last election."

" Xo," rejoined the President, " you fell off about six
hundred votes." Then taking down from the book-case the
official canvass of 1860 and 1864-, he referred to the vote of
the district named, and proved to be quite right in his
assertion.

Common Sense,

The Hon. Mr. Hubbard, of Connecticut, once called upon
the President in reference to a newly invented gun, concern
ing which a committee had been appointed to make a report.

The '; report " was sent for, and when it came in was found
to be of the most voluminous description. Mr. Lincoln
glanced at it, and said: " I should want a new lease of life
to read this through!" Throwing it down upon the table,
he added: " Why can't a committee of this kind occasion
ally exhibit a grain of common sense? If I send a man to
buy a horse for me, I expect him to tell me his points — not
how many hairs there are in his tail.

94 LINCOLN STORIES.

Lincoln's Confab with a Committee on "Grant's Whisky .ss

Just previous to the fall of Yicksburg, a self-constituted
committee, solicitous for the morale of our armies, took it
upon themselves to visit the President and urge the removal
of General Grant.

In some surprise Mr. Lincoln inquired, " For what rea
son?"

" Why," replied the spokesman, u he drinks too much
whisky."

" Ah!" rejoined Mr. Lincoln, dropping his lower lip^
"By the way, gentlemen, can either of you tell me where
General Grant procures his whisky? because, if I can find
out, I will send every general in the field a barrel of it!"

A "Pretty Tolerable Respectable Sort of a Clergyman."

Some one was discussing, in the presence of Mr. Lincoln^
the character of a time-serving Washington clergyman.
Said Mr. Lincoln to his visitor:

" I think you are rather hard upon Mr. . He reminds

me of a man in Illinois, who was tried for passing a count
erfeit bill. It was in evidence that before passing it he had
taken it to the cashier of a bank and asked his opinion of
the bill, and he received a very prompt reply that it was a
counterfeit. His lawyer, who had heard the evidence to be
brought against his client, asked him, just before going into
court, ' Did you take the bill to the cashier of the bank
and ask him if it was good?'

" i I did,' was the reply.

" ' Well, what was the reply of the cashier?'

" The rascal was in a corner, but he got out of it in this-
fashion: ' He said it was a pretty tolerable, respectable sort
of a bill.' ': Mr. Lincoln thought the clergyman was " a
pretty tolerable, respectable sort of a clergyman."

WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 97

How Lincoln Opened the Eyes of rn Inquisitive Visitor.

Mr. Lincoln sometimes had a very effective way of dealing
,vitli men who troubled him with questions. A visitor cnce
asked him how many men the Rebels had in the field.

The President replied, very seriously, "Twelve hundred
thousand, according to the best authority"

The interrogator blanched in the face, and ejaculated,
" Good Heavens!"

" Yes, sir, twelve hundred thousand — no doubt of it.
You see, all of our generals, when they get whipped, say
the enemy outnumbers them from three or five to one, and
I must believe them. We have four hundred thousand men
in the field, and three times four make twelve. Don't you
see it?"

MInnehaha and Minneboohoo!

Some gentlemen fresh from a Western tour, during a call
at the White House, referred in the course of conversation
to a body of water in Nebraska, which bore an Indian name
signifying "weeping water." Mr. Lincoln instantly re
sponded: " As ' laughing water,' according to Longfellow,
is ' Minnehaha,' this evidently should be ' Minneboohoo.' '

Meeting of President Lincoln and the Artist, Carpenter.

F. B. Carpenter, the celebrated artist and author of the
well-known painting of Lincoln and his Cabinet issuing the
Emancipation Proclamation, describes his first meeting
with the President, as follows:

" Two o'clock found me one of the throng pressing toward
the center of attraction, the l blue ' room. From the thresh
old of the ' crimson ' parlor as I passed, I had a glimpse

98 LINCOLN STORIES.

of the gaunt figure of Mr. Lincoln in the distance, haggard-
looking, dressed in black, relieved only by the prescribed
white gloves; standing, it seemed to me, solitary and alone,
though surrounded by the crowd, bending" low now and
then in the process of hand shaking, and responding half
abstractedly to the well-meant greetings of the miscel
laneous assemblage.

"Never shall I forget the electric thrill which went
through my whole being at this instant. 1 seemed to see
lines radiating from every part of the globe, converging to
a focus at the point where that plain, awkward-looking n\an
stood, and to hear in spirit a million prayers, ' as the sound
of many waters,' ascending in his behalf. Mingled with
supplication I could discern a clear symphony of triumph
and blessing, swelling with an ever-increasing volume. It
was the voice of those who had been bondmen and bond
women, and the grand diapason swept up from the coming
ages.

" It was soon my privilege, in the regular succession, to
take that honored hand. Accompanying the act, my name
and profession were announced to him in a low tone by one
of the assistant private secretaries, who stood by his side.
Retaining my hand, he looked at me inquiringly for an
instant, and said, ' Oh, yes; I know; this is the painter.'
Then straightening himself to his full height, with a twinkle

of the eye, he added, playfully, " Do you think, Mr. C -,

that you can make a handsome picture of me?' emphasizing
strongly the last word. Somewhat confused at this point-
blank shot, uttered in a tone so loud as to attract the
attention of those in immediate proximity, I made a ran
dom reply, and took the occasion to ask if I could see him
in his study at the close of the reception. To this he re
sponded in the peculiar vernacular of the West, * I reckon,'
resuming meanwhile the mechanical and traditional exer-

WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 99

cise of the hand which no President has ever yet been able
to avoid, and which, severe as is the ordeal, is likely to
attach to the position so long as the Republic endures."

An Apt Illustration.

At the White House one day some gentlemen were pres
ent from the West, excited and troubled about the com
missions or omissions of the Administration. The President
heard them patiently, and then replied: " Gentlemen, sup
pose all the property you were worth was in gold, and you
had put it in the hands of Blondin to carry across the
Niagara River on a rope, would you shake the cable, or
keep shouting out to him, 'Blondin, stand up a little
straighter — Blondin, stoop a little more — go a little faster
— lean a little more to the north — lean a little more to the
south?' No ! you would hold your breath as well as your
tongue, and keep your hands off until he was safe over.
The Government is carrying an immense weight Untold
treasures are in their hands. They are doing the very best
they can. Don't badger them. Keep silence, and we'll
get you safe across."

More Light and Less Noise.

An editorial, in a New York journal, opposing Lincoln's
re-nomination, is said to have called out from him the fol
lowing story: A traveler on the frontier found himself out
of his reckoning one night in a most inhospitable region.
A terrific thunder-storm came up, to add to his trouble.
He floundered along until his horse at length gave out.
The lightning afforded him the only clew to his way, but
the peals of thunder were frightful. One bolt, which seemed
to crash the earth beneath him, brought him to his knees.

100 LINCOLN STORIES.

By no means a praying man, his petition was short and to
the point — " O Lord, if it is all the same to you, give us a
little more light and a little less noise!"

How Lincoln Browsed '' Around,

A party of gen tlemen, am ong whom was a doctor of divinity
of much dignity of manner, calling at the White House
one day, was informed by the porter that the President
was at dinner, but that he would present their cards.
The doctor demurred at this, saying that he would cafrll
again. " Edward " assured them that he thought it would
make no difference, and went in with the cards. In a few
minutes the President walked into the room, with a kindly
salutation, and a request that the friends would take seats.
The doctor expressed his regret that their visit was so ill-
timed, and that his Excellency was disturbed while at din
ner. " Oh ! no consequence at all," said Mr. Lincoln,
good-naturedly. u Mrs. Lincoln is absent at present, and
when she is away, I generally ' browse ' around."

Lincoln Cutting Red Tape.

" Upon entering the President's office one afternoon,"
says a Washington correspondent, " I found Mr. Lincoln
busily counting greenbacks.

"' This, sir,' said he, 'is something out of my usual line;
but a President of the United States has a multiplicity of
duties not specified in the Constitution or acts of Congress.
This is one of them. This money belongs to a poor negro
who is a porter in the Treasury Department, at present
very bad with the small-pox. He is now in hospital, and
could not draw his pay because he could not sign his name.
I have been at considerable trouble to overcome the dim*-

WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 101

culty and get it for him, and have at length succeeded in
cutting red tape, as you newspaper men say. I am now
dividing the money and putting by a portion labelled, in
an envelope, with my own hands, according to his wish ; '
and he proceeded to indorse the package very carefully."

'No one witnessing the transaction could fail to appreciate
the goodness of heart which prompted the President of the
United States to turn aside for a time from his weighty
cares to succor one of the humblest of his fellow-creatures
in sickness and sorrow.

One of Lincoln's Drolleries.

Concerning a drollery of President Lincoln, this story is
told :

" During the Kebellion an Austrian Count applied to
President Lincoln for a position in the army. Being intro
duced by the Austrian Minister, he needed, of course, no
further recommendation ; but, as if fearing that his im
portance might not be duly appreciated, he proceeded to
explain that he was a Count ; that his family were ancient
and highly respectable; when Lincoln, with a merry
twinkle in his eye, tapping the aristocratic lover of titles
on the shoulder, in a fatherly way, as if the man had con
fessed to some wrong, interrupted in a soothing tone,
* Never mind; you shall be treated with just as much
consideration for all that ? - "

Anecdote Showing the Methods by which Lincoln and Stanton
Dismissed Applicants for Office.

A gentleman states in a Chicago journal: In the Winter
of 1864, after serving three years in the Union army, and
being honorably discharged, I made application for the post

102 LINCOLN STORIES.

sutlership at Point Lookout. My father being interested,
we made application to Mr. Stanton, then Secretary of War.
We obtained an audience, and was ushered into the presence
of the most pompous man I ever met. As I entered he
waved his hand for me to stop at a given distance from him,,
and then put these questions, viz.:

" Did you serve three years in the army?"

" I did, sir."

" Were you honorably discharged?"

" I was, sir?"

"Let me see your discharge?" *

I gave it to him. He looked it over, and then said:
"Were you ever wounded?"

I told him yes, at the battle of Williamsburg, May 5, 18G1.

He then said: " I think we can give this position to a
soldier who has lost an arm or leg, he being more deserving,''
and he then said that I looked hearty and healthy enough
to serve three years more. He would not give me a chance
to argue my case. The audience was at an end. He waved
his hand to me. I was then dismissed from the august
presence of the Honorable Secretary of War.

My father was waiting for. me in the hallway, who saw
by my countenance that I was not successful. I said to my
father, "Let us go over to Mr. Lincoln; he may give us
more satisfaction." He said it would do no good, but we
went over. Mr. Lincoln's reception room was fall of ladies,
and gentlemen when \ve entered, and the scene was one I
shall never forget. On her knees was a woman in the agonies
of despair, with tears rolling dowrn her cheeks, imploring for
the life of her son, who had deserted and had been con
demned to be shot. I heard Mr. Lincoln say: " Madam^
do not act this way, it is agony to me; I would pardon
your son if it was in my power, but there must be an
example made, or I will have no army."

WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 103

At this speech the woman fainted. Lincoln motioned to
his attendant, who picked the woman up and carried her
out. All in the room were in tears.

But, now changing the scene from the sublime to the
ridiculous, the next applicant for favor was a big, buxom
Irish woman, who stood before the President with arms
akimbo, saying, " Mr. Lincoln, can't I sell apples on the
railroad?" Lincoln said: "Certainly, madam; you can
sell all you wish." But she said, " You must give me a
pass or the soldiers will not let me." Lincoln then wrote a
few lines and gave it to her, who said, " Thank you, sir;
God bless, you." This shows how quick and clear were all
this man's decisions.

I stood and watched him for two hours, and he dismissed
each case as ouickly as the above, with satisfaction to all.

My turn soon came. Lincoln spoke to my father, and
said, " Now, gentlemen, be pleased to be as quick as possi
ble with your business, as it is growing late." My lather
then stepped up to Lincoln and introduced me to him.
Lincoln then said, " Take a seat, gentlemen, and state your
business as quick as possible." There was but one chair by
Lincoln, so he motioned to my father to sit, while I stood.
My father stated the business to him as stated above. He
then said, "Have you seen Mr. Stanton?" We told him
yes, that he had refused. He (Mr. Lincoln) then said:
"Gentlemen, this is Mr. Stan ton's business; I can not
interfere with him; he attends to all these matters, and I
am sorry 1 can not help you."

He saw that we were disappointed, and did his best to
revive our spirits. He succeeded well with my father, who
was a Lincoln man, and who was a staunch Republican.

Mr. Lincoln then said: "Now, gentlemen, I will tell
you what it is; I have thousands of applications like this
every day, but we can not satisfy all for this reason, that

104 LINCOLN STORIES.

these positions are like office-seekers, there are too many
pigs for the tits"

The ladies who were listening to the conversation placed
their handkerchiefs to their faces and turned away. But
the joke of Old Abe put us all in a good humor. We
then left the presence of the greatest and most just man
who ever lived to fill the Presidential chair.

An Instance Where the President's Mind Wandered.

An amusing, yet touching instance of the President's
pre-occupation of mind, occurred at one of his levees,
when he was shaking hands with a host of visitors passing
him in a continuous stream. An intimate acquaintance
received the usual conventional hand-shake and salutation,
but perceiving that he was not recognized, kept his ground
instead of moving on, and spoke again; when the Presi
dent, roused to a dim consciousness that something unusual
had happened, "perceived who stood before him, and seizing
his friend's hand, shook it again heartily, saying, " How do
you do? How do yon do? Excuse me for not noticing
you. I was thinking of a man down South." He after
ward privately acknowledged that the " man down South "
was Sherman, then on his march to the sea.

Lincoln and the Preacher.

An officer of the Government called one day at the White
House, and introduced a clerical friend. " Mr.. President,"
said he, "allow me to present to you my friend, the Rev.
Mr. F., of - — . He has expressed a desire to see you and
have some conversation with you, and I am happy to be the
means of introducing him."

The President shook hands with Mr. F., and desiring

WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 105

him to be seated took a seat himself. Then, his counte
nance having assumed an air of patient waiting, he said: " I
am now ready to hear what you have to say." "Oh, bless
you, sir," said Mr. F., "I have nothing special to say; I
merely called to pay my respects to you, and, as one of
the million, to assure you of my hearty sympathy and
support."

" My dear sir," said the President, rising promptly, his
face showing instant relief, and with both hands grasping
that of his visitor, " I am very glad to see you, indeed. /
\ thought you had come to preach to me!"

A Home Incident— Lincoln and Little " Tad."

The day after the review of Burnside's division some
photographers, says Mr. Carpenter, came up to the White
House to make some stereoscopic studies for rne of the
President's office. They requested a dark closet, in which
to develop the pictures; and without a thought that I was
infringing upon anybody's rights, I took them to an unoc
cupied room of which little " Tad " had taken possession a
few days before, and with the aid of a couple of the ser
vants, had fitted up as a miniature theatre, with stage, cur
tains, orchestra, stalls, parquette, and all. Knowing that
the use required would interfere with none of his arrange
ments, I led the way to this apartment.

Everything went on well, and one or two pictures had
been taken, when suddenly there was an uproar. The
operator came back to the office, and said that " Tad " had
taken great offence at the occupation of his room without
his consent, and had locked the door, refusing all admission.
The chemicals had been taken inside, and there was no way
of getting at them, he having carried off the key. In the
midst of this conversation, " Tad " burst in, in a fearful

lOli LINCOLN STORIES.

passion. He laid all the blame upon me — said that I had
no right to use his room, and the men should not go in
even to get their things. He had locked the door, and they
should not go there again — " they had no business in his
room !"

Mr. Lincoln was sitting for a photograph, and was still
in the chair. He said, very mildly, " Tad, go and unlock
the door." Tad went off muttering into his mother's room,
refusing to obey. I followed him into the passage, but no
coaxing would pacify him. Upon my return to the Presi
dent, I found him still sitting patiently in the chair, fro^m
which he had not risen. He said: " Has not the boy
opened the door?'' I replied that we could do nothing with
him — he had gone off in a great pet. Mr. Lincoln's lips
came together firmly, and then, suddenly rising, he strode
across the passage with the air of one bent on punishment,
and disappeared in the domestic apartments. Directly lie
returned with the key to the theatre, which he unlocked
himself. " There," said he, "go ahead, it is all right now."
He then went back to his office, followed by myself, and
resumed his seat. "Tad," said he, half apologetically, " is
a peculiar child. He was violently excited when I went to
him. I said, 'Tad, do you know you are making your
father a great deal of trouble?' He burst into tears,
instantly giving me up the key."

A Touching Incident — Lincoln Mourning for His Lost Son is
Comforted by Rev. Dr. Vinton.

After the funeral of his son, William Wallace Lincoln,
in February, 1862, the President resumed his official duties,
but mechanically, and with a terrible weight at his heart.
The following Thursday he gave way to his feelings, and
shut himself from all society. The second Thursday it was

WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 107

the same; h'e would see no one, and seemed a prey to the
deepest melancholy. About this time the Rev. Francis
Vinton, of Trinity Church, New York, had occasion to
spend a few days in Washington. An acquaintance of Mrs.
Lincoln and of her sister, Mrs. Edwards, of Springfield, lie

' l O

was requested by them to come up and see the President.
The setting apart of Thursday for the indulgence of his
grief had gone on for several weeks, and Mrs. Lincoln
began to be seriously alarmed for the health of her husband,
of which fact Dr. Vinton was apprised.

Mr. Lincoln received him in the parlor, and an oppor
tunity was soon embraced by the clergyman to chide him

«/ J c5J

for showing so rebellious a disposition to the decrees of
Providence. He told him plainly that the indulgence of

It; c3

such feelings, though natural, was sinful. It was unworthy
one who believed in the Christian religion. He had duties
to the living, greater than those of any other man, as the
chosen father, and leader of the people, and he was unfitting
himself for his responsibilities by thus giving way to his
grief. To mourn the departed as lost belonged to heathen
ism — not to Christianity. "Your son," said Dr. Vinton,
" is alive, in Paradise. Do you remember that passage in
the Gospels: 'God is not the God of the dead but of the
living, for all live unto Him?' ':

The President had listened as one in a stupor, until his
ear caught he words, " Your son is alive." Starting from the
sofa, he exclaimed," Alive! alive/ Surely you mock me."

" No, sir, believe me," replied Dr. Yinton; " it is a most
comforting doctrine of the Church, founded upon the words
of Christ Himself."

Mr. Lincoln looked at him a moment, and then, stepping
forward, he threw his arm around the clergyman's neck,
and, laying his head upon his breast, sobbed aloud, " Alive?
alive?" he repeated.

108 LINCOLN STORIES.

" My dear sir," said Dr. Yinton, greatly moved, as he
twined his own arm around the weeping father, " believe
this, for it is God's most precious truth. Seek not your
son among the dead; he is not there; he lives to-day in
Paradise! Think of the full import of the words I have
quoted. The Sadducees, when they questioned Jesus, had
no other conception than that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
were dead and buried. Mark the reply: 'Now that the
dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush when he
called the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and
the God of Jacob. For He is not the God of the dead, but
of the living, for all live unto Him!' Did not the aged
patriarch mourn his sons as dead ? — ' Joseph is not, and
Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin, also.' But Joseph
and Simeon were both living, though he believed it not.
Indeed, Joseph being taken from him, was the eventual
.means of the preservation of the whole family. And 'so
God has called your son into His upper kingdom — a king
dom and an existence as real, more real, than your own. It
may be that he, top, like Joseph, has gene, in God's good
providence, to be the salvation of his father's household. It
is a part of the Lord's plan for the ultimate happiness of
you and yours. Doubt it not. I have a sermon," con
tinued Dr. Yinton, " upon this subject, which I think might
interest you."

Mr. Lincoln begged him to send it at an early day — -
thanking him repeatedly for his cheering and hopeful
words. The sermon was sent, and read over and over by
the President, who caused a copy to be made for his own
private use before it was returned.

WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 109

Lincoln Wipes the Tears from His Eyes and Tells a Story.

A. "W. Clark, member of Congress from Watertown, New
York, relates the following interesting story: Daring the
war a constituent came to me and stated that one of his
sons was killed in a battle, and another died at Anderson-
ville, while the third and only remaining son was sick at
Harper's Ferry.

These disasters had such effect on his wife that she had
become insane. He wanted to get this last and sick son.
discharged, and take him home, hoping it would restore his
wife to reason. I went with him to President Lincoln and
related the facts as well as I could, the father sitting by and
weeping. The President, much atiected, asked for the
papers and wrote across them, " Discharge this man."

Then, wiping the tear from his cheek, he turned to the man
at the door, and said "Bring in thr.t man," rather as if he-
felt bored, which caused me to ask why it was so.

He replied that it was r. writing-master who had spent a
long time in copying nis Emancipation Proclamation, had
ornamented it with flourishes, rjid hich made him think
of an Irishman who said i^ to )k him nn hour to catch his
old horse, and when he had caught him he was not worth
a darn!

Comments of Mr. Lincoln on the Emancipation Proclamation —
What He Told Mr. Colfax.

The final proclamation was signed on 'New Year's Day,
1863. The President remarked to Mr. Colfax, the same
evening, that the signature appeared somewhat tremulous
and uneven. " Not," said he, " because of any uncertainty
or hesitation on my part; but it was just after the public
reception, and three hours' hand-shaking is not calculated
to improve a man's chirography." Then, changing his

110 LINCOLN STORIES.

tone, he added: "The South had fair warning, that if they
did not return to their duty, I should strike at this pillar
of their strength. The promise must now be kept, and I
shall never recall one word."

Lincoln Arguing Against the Emancipation Proclamation That
He May Learn all about It.

When Lincoln's judgment, which acted slowly, but which
was almost as immovable as the eternal hills when settled,
was grasping some subject of importance, the arguments
against his own desires seemed uppermost in his mind,
and, in conversing upon it, he would present those argu
ments to see if they could be rebutted.

This is illustrated by the interview between himself and
the Chicago delegation of clergymen, appointed to urge
upon him the issue of a Proclamation of Emancipation?
which occurred September 13, 1862, more than a month after
he had declared to the Cabinet his established purpose to
take this step.

lie said to this committee: "I do not want to issue a
document that the whole world will see must necessarily
be inoperative, like the Pope's bull against the comet ! '>
After drawing out their views upon the subject, he con
cluded the interview with th:se memorable words:

" Do not misunderstand me, because I have mentioned
'these objections. They indicate the difficulties which have
thus far prevented my action in some such way as you
desire. I have not decided against a proclamation of liberty
to the slaves, but hold the matter under advisement. And
1 can assure you that the subject is on my mind, by day
and night, more than any other. Whatever shall appear to
be God's will, I will do ! I trust that, in the freedom with
which I have canvassed your views, I have not in any re
spect injured your feelings."

WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. Ill

Lincoln's Laugh — What Hon. I. N. Arnold Said About It.

Mr. Lincoln's u laugh " stood by itself. The u neigh " of
a wild horse on his native prairie is not more undisguised
and hearty. A group of gentlemen, among whom was his
old Springfield friend and associate, Hon. Isaac N. Arnold,
were one day conversing in the passage near his office,
while awaiting admission. A congressional delegation had
preceded them, and presently an unmistakable voice was
heard through the partition, in a burst of mirth. Mr.
Arnold remarked, as the sound died away: "That laugh has
been the President's life-preserver!"

Lincoln and the Newspapers.

On a certain occasion, the President was induced by a
committee of gentlemen to examine a newly-invented
*• repeating" gun, the peculiarity of which was, that it pre
vented the escape of gaSc After due inspection, he said :
44 Well, I believe this really does what it is represented to
do. Now, have any of you heard of any machine or inven
tion for preventing the escape of 'gas' from newspaper
establishments ?"

Criticism — Its Effect Upon Mr. Lincoln — A Bull-frog Story He
Told as an Illustration.

Violent criticism, attacks and denunciations, coming
either from radicals or conservatives, rarely ruffled the
President, if they reached his ears. It must have been in
connection with something of this kind, that he once told a
friend this story:

"Some years ago," said he, "a couple of 'emigrants,'
fresh from the ' Emerald Isle,' seeking labor, were making
their way toward the West. Coming suddenly one evening

112 LINCOLN STORIES.

upon a pond of water, they were greeted with a grand
chorus of bull-frogs — a kind of music they had never before
heard. < B-a-u-m ! ' — B-a-u-m ! '

" Overcome with terror, they clutched their ; shillelahs,'
and crept cautiously forward, straining their eyes in every
direction to catch a glimpse of the enemy; but he was not
to be found !

"At last a happy idea seized the foremost one — he sprang
to his companion and exclaimed, 'And sure, Jamie ! it is
my opinion it's nothing but a i noise. n "

Lincoln's Story of a Poodle Dog Used on the End ot a Long Pole
to Swab Windows.

A friend who was walking over from the White House
to the W'ar Department with Mr. Lincoln, repeated to him
the story of a " contraband " who had fallen into the hands
of some good, pious people, and was being taught by them
to read and pray.

Going off by himself one day, he was overheard to com
mence a prayer by the introduction of himself as "Jim
Williams — a berry good nigga' to wash windows; 'spec's
you know me now ? "

After a hearty laugh at what he called this " direct way
of putting the case," Mr. Lincoln said :

" The story that suggests to me, has no resemblance to .,
it, save in the ' washing windows ' part. A lady in Phila
delphia had a pet poodle dog, which mysteriously disap
peared. Rewards were offered for him, and a great ado
made without effect. Some weeks passed, and all hope of
the favorite's return had been given up, when a servant
brought him in one day in the filthiest condition imagin
able. The lady was overjoyed to see her pet again, but
horrified at his appearance.

WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 113

c Where did you find him ? ' she exclaimed.
" ' Oh,' replied the man, very unconcernedly, ' a negro
down the street had him tied to the end of a pole, swabbing
windows.' "

Lincoln's Little Speech to the Union League Committee — No
Swapping Horses in the River.

The day following the adjournment at Baltimore, various
political organizations called to pay their respects to the
President. First came the convention committee, embrac
ing one from each state represented — appointed to announce
to him, formally, the nomination. Next came the Ohio
delegation, with Menter's Band, of Cincinnati. Following
these were the representatives of the National Union
League, to whom he said, in concluding his brief response :

"I do not allow myself to suppose that either the con
vention or the League have concluded to decide that I am
either the greatest or the best man in America; but, rather,
they have concluded that it is not best to swap horses while
crossing the river, and have further concluded that I am not
so poor a hovse, but that they might make a botch of it in
trying to swap!"

Ejecting a Cashiered Officer from the White House — Mr.
Lincila Mich Offended and How He Acted.

Among the callers at the White House one day, was an
.officer who had been cashiered from the service. He had
prepared an elaborate defence of himself, which he con
sumed much time in reading to the President. When he
had finished, Mr. Lincoln replied, that even upon his own
statement of the case, the facts would not warrant executive
interference. Disappointed and considerably crestfallen,
the man withdrew.
8

114 LINCOLN STORIES.

A few days afterward he made a second attempt to alter
the President's convictions, going1 over substantially the
same ground, and occupying about the same space of time,
but without accomplishing his end.

The third time he succeeded in forcing himself into Mr.
.Lincoln's presence, who with great forbearance listened to
another repetition of the case to its conclusion, but made
no reply. Waiting for a moment, the man gathered from
the expression of his countenance that his mind was uncon
vinced. Turning very abruptly, he said :

" "Well, Mr. President, I see you are fully determined not
to do me justice ! "

This was too aggravating, even for Mr. Lincoln. Mani
festing, however, no more feeling than that indicated by a
slight compression of the lips, he very quietly arose, laid
down a package of papers he held in his hand, and then
suddenly seizing the defunct officer by the coat-collar, *he
inarched him forcibly to the door, saying, as he ejected him
into the passage :

"Sir, I give you fair warning never to show yourself in
this room again. I can bear censure, but not insult ! "

In a whining tone the man begged for his papers, which
he had dropped.

"Begone, sir," said the President, "your papers will be
sent to you. I never wish to see your face again! "

Lincoln and the Wall Street Gold Gamblers — He Wishes their
"Devilish Heads Shot Off."

Mr. Carpenter, the artist, is responsible for the following:
The bill empowering the Secretary of the Treasury to
sell the surplus gold had recently passed, and Mr. Chase
was then in New York, giving his attention personally to
the experiment. Governor Curtin referred to this, saying
to the President :

WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. us

"I see by the ({notations that Chase's movement has
already knocked gold down several per cent."

This gave occasion for the strongest expression I ever
heard fall from the lips of Mr. Lincoln. Knotting his face
in the intensity of his feeling, he said : " Curtin, what do
you think of those fellows in Wall Street, who are gambling
in gold at such a time as this ? "

"The}7 are a set of sharks," returned Curtin.

"For my part," continued the President, bringing his
clinched hand down upon the table, " I wish every one of
them had his devilish head sJiot off!"

How the Negroes Regarded " Massa Linkum " — A Story that
Deeply Impressed the President.

In 1863, Colonel McKaye, of New York, with Robert
Dale Owen and one or two other gentlemen, were associ-

o

ated as a committee to investigate the condition of the
freedmen on the coast of ISTorth Carolina. Upon their re
turn from Hilton Head they reported to the President; and
in the course of the interview Colonel McKaye related the
following incident:

O

He had been speaking of the ideas of power entertained
by these people. He said they had an idea of God, as the
Almighty, and they had realized in their former condition
the power of their masters. Up to the time of the arrival
among them of the Union forces, they had no knowledge of
any other power. Their masters fled upon the approach of
our soldiers, and this gave the slaves a conception of a
power greater than that exercised by them. This power
they called "Massa Linkum."

Colonel McKave said that their place of worship was a
large building which they called " the praise house ;" and
the leader of the meeting, a venerable black man, was

116 LINCOLN STORIES.

known as " the praise man." On a certain day, when there
was quite a large gathering of the people, considerable con
fusion was created by different persons attempting to tell
who and what " Massa Linkum " was. In the midst of the
excitement the white-headed leader commanded silence.

" Brederin," said he, " you don't know noseri' what you'se
talkin' 'bout. Now, you just listen to me. Massa Linkum,
he eberywhar. He know eberyting." Then, solemnly
looking up, he added, — " He walk de earf like de Lord /"

Colonel McKaye said that Mr. Lincoln seemed much
affected by this account. He did not smile, as another
man might have done, but got up from his chair and walked
in silence two or three times across the floor. As he
resumed his seat, he said very impressively:

" It is a momentous thing to be the instrument, under
Providence, of the liberation of a race."

One of Lincoln's Last Stories.

One of the last stories heard from Mr. Lincoln was con
cerning John Tyler, for whom it was to be expected, as an
old Henry Clay Whig, he would entertain no great respect.
"A year or two after Tyler's accession to the Presidency."
said he, " contemplating an excursion in some direction, hi-s
son went to order a special train of cars. It so happened
that the railroad superintendent was a very strong Whig-
On 'Bob's ' making known his errand, that official bluntly
informed him that his road did not run any special trains
-for the President.

•" ' What!' said ' Bob,' ' did you not furnish a special train
for the funeral of General Harrison?'

"'Yes,' said the superintendent, stroking his whiskers;
f and if you will only bring your father here in that shape,
you shall have the best train on the road!' '

WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 117

Lincoln's Habits in the White House— The Same " Old Abe "—A
Laughable Glove Story.

Mr. Lincoln's habits at the White House were as simple
as they were at his old home in Illinois. He never alluded
to himself as " President," or as occupying " the Presi
dency." His office, he always designated as u this place."
'"• Call me Lincoln," said he to a friend—" Mr. President "
had become so very tiresome to him. " If you see a news
boy down the street, send him up this way," said he to a
passenger, as he stood waiting for the morning news at his
gate. Friends cautioned him against exposing himself so
openly in the midst of enemies; but he never heeded
them. He frequently walked the streets at night, entirely
unprotected; and he felt any check upon his free move
ments as a great annoyance. He delighted to see his famil
iar Western friends; and lie gave them always a cordial
welcome. He met them on the old footing, and fell at once
into the accustomed habits of talk and story-telling.

An old acquaintance, with his wife, visited Washington.
Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln proposed to these friends a ride in the
Presidential carriage. It should be stated, in advance, that
the two men had probably never seen each other with gloves
on in their lives, unless when they were used as protection
from the cold.

The. question of each — Mr. Lincoln at the White Houser
and his friend at the hotel — was, whether he should wear
gloves. Of course, the ladies urged gloves; but Mr. Lin
coln only put his in his pocket, to be used or not, according
to circumstances.

When the Presidential party arrived at the hotel, to take
in their friends, -they found the gentleman, overcome by his
wife's persuasions, very handsomely gloved. The moment
he took his seat, he began to draw off the clinging kids,
while Mr. Lincoln began to draw his on!

118 LINCOLN STORIES.

" No ! no ! no ! " protested his friend, tugging at his
gloves. " It is none of my doings; put up your gloves, Mr.
Lincoln."

So the two old friends were on even and easy terms, and
had their ride after their old fashion.

Lincoln's High Compliment to the Women of America.

A Fair for the benefit of the soldiers, held at the Patent
Office, in Washington, called out Mr. Lincoln as an inter
ested visitor; and he was not permitted to retire without
giving a word to those in attendance. u In this extraordi
nary war," said he, " extraordinary developments have man
ifested themselves, such as have not been seen in former
wars; and among these manifestations nothing has been
more remarkable than these fairs for the relief of suffering
soldiers and their families. And the chief agents in these
fairs are the women of America. I am not accustomed to
the use of language of eulogy; I have never studied the art
of paying compliments to women; but I must say that if
all that has been said by orators and poets, since the crea
tion of the world, in praise of women, were applied to the
women of America, it would not do them justice for their
conduct during the war. I will close by saying, God bless
the women of America ! "

Lincoln in the Hour of Deep Sorrow — He Recalls His Mother's

Prayers.

In February, 1862, Mr. Lincoln was visited by a severe
affliction in the death of his beautiful son', Willie, and the
extreme illness of his son, Thomas, familiarly called " Tad."
This was a new burden, and the visitation which, in his firm
faith in Providence, he regarded as providential, was also

WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 119

inexplicable. A Christian lady from Massachusetts, who
was officiating as nurse in one of the hospitals at the time,
came to attend the sick children. She reports that Mr.
Lincoln watched with her about the bedside of the sick
ones, and that he often walked the room, saying, sadly:

"This is the hardest trial of my life; why is it? Why
is it?"

In the course of conversations with her, he questioned
her concerning his situation. She told Him that she was a
widow, and that her husband and two children were in
heaven; and added that she saw the hand of God in it all,
and that she had never loved Him so much before as she
had since her affliction.

" How is that brought about? " inquired Mr. Lincoln.

" Simply by trusting in God, and feeling that He does all
things well," she replied.

" Did you submit fully under the first loss?" he asked.

"No," she answered, "not wholly; but, as blow came
upon blow, and all were taken, I could and did submit, and
was very happy."

He responded: " I am glad to hear you say that. Your
experience will help me to bear my affliction."

On being assured that many Christians were praying for
him on the morning of the funeral, he wiped away the
tears that sprang in his eyes, and said:

" I am glad to hear that. I want them to pray for me.
I need their prayers."

As he was going out to the burial, the good lady expressed
her sympathy with him. He thanked her gently, and said:

" I will try to go to God with my sorrows."

A few days afterward, she asked him if he could trust
God. He replied:

" I think I can, and I will try. I wish I had that child
like faith you speak of, and I trust He will give it to me."

120 LINCOLN STORIES.

And then he spoke of his mother, whom so many years
before he had committed to the dust among the wilds of
Indiana. In this hour of his great trial, the memory of
her who had held him upon her bosom, and soothed his
childish griefs, came back to him with tenderest recollec
tions. UI remember her prayers," said he, "and they
have always followed me. They have clung to me all my
life."

A Praying President — "Prayer and Praise."

After the second defeat at Bull Run, Mr. Lincoln appeared
very much distressed about the number of killed and
wounded, and said to a lady friend : u I have done the best
I could. I have asked God to guide me, and now I must
leave the event with him."

On another occasion, having been made acquainted with
the fact that a great battle was in progress, at a distant but
important point, he came into the room where this lady
was engaged in nursing a member of the family, looking
worn and haggard, and saying that he was so anxious that
he could eat nothing. The possibility of defeat depressed
him greatly ; but the lady told him he must trust, and that
he could at least pray.

uYes," said he, and taking up a Bible, he started for his
room.

Could all the people of the nation have overheard the
earnest petition that went up from that inner chamber, as
it reached the ears of* the nurse, they would have fallen
upon their knees with tearful and reverential sympathy.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, a telegram reached him
announcing a Union victory ; and then he came directly to
the room, his face beaming with joy, saying :

WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. m

" Good news ! Good news ! The victory is ours, and
God is good."

u Nothing like prayer," suggested the pious lady, who
traced a direct connection between the event and the prayer
which preceded it.

" Yes, there is," he replied — "praise — prayer and praise."

The good lady who communicates these incidents, closes
them with the words : '; I do believe he was a true Christian,
though he had very little confidence in himself."

Telling a Story and Pardoning a Soldier — How Lincoln did Both.

General Fisk attending the reception at the White House,
on one occasion saw, waiting in the ante-room, a poor old
man from Tennessee. Sitting down beside him, he inquired
his errand, and learned that he had been waiting three or
four days to get an audience, and that on his seeing Mr.
Lincoln probably depended the life of his son, who was
under sentence of death for some military offense.

General Fisk wrote his case in outline on a card, and
sent it in, with a special request that the President would
see the man. In a moment the order came ; and past sen
ators, governors and generals, waiting impatiently, the old
man went into tlio President's presence.

He showed Mr. Lincoln -his papers, and he, on taking
them, said he would look into the case arid give him the
result on the following day.

The old man, in an agony of apprehension, looked up
into the President's sympathetic face, and actually cried out:

" To-morrow may be too late ! My son is under sentence
of death ; The decision ought to be made now ! " and the

O

streaming tears told how much he was moved.

" Come," said Mr. Lincoln, " wait a bit, and I'll tell you

122 LINCOLN STORIES.

a story;" and then he told the old man General Fisk's
story about the swearing driver, as follows:

The General had begun his military life as a Colonel, and,
when he raised his regiment in Missouri, he proposed to
his men that he should do all the swearing of the regiment.
They assented ; and for months no instance was known of
the violation of the promise. The Colonel had a teamster
named John Todd, who, as roads were not always the best,
had some difficulty in commanding his temper and his
tongue. John happened to be driving a mule-team through
a series of mud-holes a little worse than usual, when, unable
to restrain himself any longer, he burst forth into a volley
of energetic oaths. The Colonel took notice of the offense,
and brought John to an account.

"John," said he, "didn't you promise to let me do all
the swearing of the regiment ? "

"Yes, I did, Colonel," he replied, " but the fact was the
swearing had to be done then or not at all, and you weren't
there to do it"

As he told the story, the old man forgot his boy, and
both the President and his listener had a hearty lau^h to-

»/ O

gether at its conclusion. Then he wrote a few words which
the old man read, and in which he found new occasion for
tears; but the tears were tears of joy, for the words saved
the life of his son.

IN all the great emergencies of his closing years, Mr.
Lincoln's reliance upon Divine guidance and assistance was
often extremely touching.

" I HAVE been driven many times to my knees," he once
remarked, " by the overwhelming conviction that I had no
where else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about
me, seemed insufficient for that day."

THE NATIONAL LINCOLN MONUMENT.

In Oak Ridge Cemetery, at Sprinsrfield, 111. The ba?e of this monument is 7214 ft.
square, and with the circular projection of the catacomb on tho north, and memorial
nail on the south, the extreme length on the ground from north to south is 119^ ft
Jueignt of terrace 15 ft. and 10 in. From the terrace to the apex of the obelisk 82 ft'
b% in. From the jrrade line to the top of the lour round pedestal* 28 ft 4 in and to
the top of the pedastal of the Lincoln Statue, 35^ ft. Total heio-ht from ground line
to apex of obelisk, 98 ft. 4M in. Total expense of erection, about $200,000.

WAR STORIES. 125

WAR STORIES.

Lincoln's War Story of Andy Johnson. — Andy Seeks a Doubtful
Interest in Col. M&ody's Prayers.

Col. Moody, " the fighting Methodist parson," as he was
called in Tennessee, while attending a conference in Phila
delphia, met the President and related to him the following
story, which we give as repeated by Mr. Lincoln to a friend:

'; He told me," said Lincoln, " this story of Andy John
son and General Buel, which interested me intensely. The
Colonel happened to be in Xashville the day it was reported
that Buel had decided to evacuate the city. The Rebels,
strongly re-enforced, were said to be within two days' march
of the capital. Of course, the city was greatly excited.
Moody said he went in search of Johnson, at the edge of
the evening, and found him at his office, closeted with two
gentlemen, who were walking the floor with him, one on
each side. As he entered they retired, leaving him alone
with Johnson, who came up to him, manifesting intense
feeling, and said, ' Moody, we are sold out! Btiel is a
traitor! He is going to evacuate the city, and in forty-
eight hours we will all be in the hands of the Rebels!'
Then he commenced pacing the floor again, twisting his
hands, and chafing like a caged tiger, utterly insensible to
his friend's entreaties to become calm. Suddenly he turned
and said :

" k Moody, can you pray?'

" ' That is my business, sir, as a minister of the Gospel,'
returned the Colonel.

u 'Well, Moody, I wish you would pray,' said Johnson;

120 LINCOLN STORIES.

and instantly both went down upon their knees, at opposite
sides of the room.

As the prayer waxed fervent, Johnson began to respond
in true Methodist style. Presently he crawled over on his
hands and knees to Moody's side, and put his arm over
him. manifesting the deepest emotion. Closing the prayer
with a hearty i Amen ' from each, they arose.

"Johnson took a long breath, and said, with emphasis,
4 Moody, I feel better ! ' Shortly afterwards he asked,
' Will you stand by me ?'

u ' Certainly, I will,' was the answer.

" ' Well, Moody, I can depend upon you ; you are one
in a hundred thousand ! ' He then commenced pacing
the floor again. Suddenly he wheeled, the current of his
thought having changed, and said, l Oh ! Moody, I don't
want you to think I have become a religious man because
I a>kc:l you to pray. I am sorry to say it, but I am not,
a;i 1 hive never pretended to be, religious. No one knows
this bjtier than you ; but, Moody, there is one thing about
it — I DO believe in ALMIGHTY GOD ! And I believe also

in the BIBLE, and J say d n me, if Nashville shall be

surrendered ! "

And .Nashville was not surrendered.

A Soldier that Knew no Royalty.

Captain Mix, the commander, at one period, of the Pres
ident's body-guard, told this story to a friend:

On their way to town one sultry morning, from the
Soldier's Home, they came upon a regiment marching into
the city. A " straggler," very heavily loaded with camp
equipage, was accosted by the President with the question:

" My lad, what is that?" referring to the designation of
his regiment.

WAR STORIES. 127

" It's a regiment," said the soldier, curtly, plodding on,
his gaze bent steadily upon the ground.

" Yes, I see that," rejoined the President, " but I want to
know what regiment.7'

- Pennsylvania," replied the man in the same tone,
looking neither to the right nor the left.

As the carriage passed on, Mr. Lincoln, turned to Captain
Mix and said, with a merry laugh, " It is very evident that
chap smells no blood of * royalty ' in this establishment."

A Little Soldier Boy that Lincoln Wanted to Bow to.

" President Lincoln," says the Hon. W. D. Kell, " was a
large and many-sided man, and yet so simple that no oner
not even a child, could approach him without feeling that
he had found in him a sympathizing friend. I remember
that I apprised him of the fact that a lad, the son of one of
mv townsmen, had served a year on board the gunboat
Ottawa, and had been in two important engagements; in
the first as a powder-monkey, when he had conducted him
self with such coolness that he had been chosen as captain's
messenger in the second; and I suggested to the President
that it was in his power to send to the Naval School, an
nually, three boys who had served at least a year in the
navy.

" He at once wrote on the back of a letter from the com
mander of the Ottawa, which I had handed him, to the
Secretary of the Navy: 'If the appointments for this year
have not been made, let this boy be appointed.' The ap
pointment had not been made, and I brought it home with
me. It directed the lad to report for examination at the
school in July. Just as he was ready to start, his father,
looking over the law, discovered that he could not report
until he was fourteen years of age, which he would not be

128 LINCOLN STORIES.

until September following. The poor child sat down and
wept. He feared that he was not to go to the Naval School.
He was, however, soon consoled by being told that i the
President could make it right.' It was my fortune to meet
him the next morning at the door of the Executive Cham
ber with his father.

" Taking by the hand the little fellow — short for his age,
dressed in the sailor's blue pants and shirt — I advanced with
him to the President, who sat in his usual seat, and said:

"' Mr. President, my younir friend, Willie Bladen, finds
a difficulty about his appointment. You have directed him
to appear at the school in July; but he is not yet fourteen
years of age.' But before I got half of this out, Mr. Lin
coln, laying down his spectacles, rose and said:

" i Bless me! is that the boy who did so gallantly in those
two great battles? Why, I feel that I should bow to him,
and not he to me.' The little fellow had made his grace
ful bow.

" The President took the papers at once, and as soon as
he learned that a postponement until September would suf
fice, made the order that the lad should report in that
month. Then putting his hand on Willie's head, he said:

" ' Now, my boy, go home and have good fun during the
two months, for they are about the last holiday you will
get.' The little fellow bowed himself out, feeling that the
President of the United States, though a very great man,,
was one that he would nevertheless like to have a game of
romps with."

The Story of Sallie Ward's Practical Philosophy.

When the telegram from Cumberland Gap reached Mr.
Lincoln that " firing was heard in the direction of Knox-
ville," he remarked that he "was glad of it." Some per-

WAR STORIES. 129

son present, who had the perils of Burnside's position
uppermost in his mind, could not see why Mr. Lincoln
should be glad of it, and so expressed himself.

" Why, you see," responded the President, " it reminds
me of Mrs. Sallie Ward, a neighbor of mine, who had
a very large family. Occasionally one of her numerous
progeny would be heard crying in some out-of-the-way
place, upon which Mrs. Ward would exclaim:

* There's one of my children that isn't dead yet.'' '

Lincoln While in Bed Pardons a Soldier.

The Hon. Mr. Kellogg, representative from Essex County,
JSTew York, received a dispatch one evening from the army,
to the effect that a young townsman, who had been induced
to enlist through his instrumentality, had, for a serious
misdemeanor, been convicted by a court-martial, and was
to be shot the next day. Greatly agitated, Mr. Kellogg
went to the Secretary of War, and urged, in the strongest
manner, a reprieve. Stanton was inexorable.

k'Too many cases of the kind had been let off," he said,
"and it was time an example was made."

Exhausting his eloquence in vain, Mr. Kellogg said:
i; Well, Mr. Secretary, the boy is not going to be shot — of
that I give you fair warning! "

Leaving the War Department, he went directly to the
White House, although the hour was late. The sentinel
on duty told him that special orders had been issued to
admit no one whatever that night. After a long parley, by
pledging himself to assume the responsibility of the act,
the congressman passed in. The President had retired, but,
indifferent to etiquette or ceremony, Judge Kellogg pressed
Jais way through all obstacles to his sleeping apartment.

9

130 LINCOLN STORIES.

In an excited manner he stated that the dispatch announc
ing the hour of execution had but just reached him.

"This man must not be shot, Mr. President," said he.
" I can't help what he may have done. Why, he is an old
neighbor of mine; I can't allow him to be shot! "

Mr. Lincoln had remained in bed, quietly listening to the
vehement protestations of his old friend (they were in Con
gress together). He at length said: " Well, I don't believe
shooting him will do him any good. Give me that pen."
And, so saying, "red tape" was unceremoniously cut, and
another poor fellow's lease of life was indefinitely extended.

What Lincoln Considered the " Great Event of the Nineteenth
Century." — Lincoln's Vow Before God.

The following incident, remarkable for its significant
facts, is related by Mr. Carpenter, the artist :

Mr. Chase, says Mr. Carpenter, told me that at the
Cabinet meeting immediately after the battle of Antietarn,
and just prior to the issue of the September proclamation,
the President entered upon the business before them, by
saying that " the time for the annunciation of the emanci
pation policy could be no longer delayed. Public senti
ment would sustain it — many of his warmest friends and
supporters demanded it — and he had promised his God he
would do it /" The last part of this was uttered in a low
tone, and appeared to be heard by no one but Secretary
Chase, who was sitting near him. He asked the President
if he correctly understood him. Mr. Lincoln replied : " /
made a solemn vow before God that if Gen. Lee was driven
back from Pennsylvania, I would crown the result by the
declaration of freedom to the staves"

In February, 1865, a few days after the Constitutional
Amendment, I went to Washington, and was received by

WAR STORIES. 131

Mr. Lincoln with the kindness and familiarity which had
characterized our previous intercourse. I said to him at
this time that I was very proud to have been the artist to
have first conceived of the design of painting a picture
commemorative of the Act of Emancipation ; that sub
sequent occurrences had only confirmed my own first judg
ment of that act as the most sublime moral event in our
history. " Yes," said he, — and never do I remember to
have noticed in him more earnestness of expression or
manner, — " as affairs have turned, it is the central act of
my administration, and the great event of the nineteenth
century "

Lincoln Proposes to "Borrow the Army" ficm one of his Generals.

On a certain occasion the President said to a friend that
he was in great distress; he had been to General McClel-
lan's house, and the General did not ask to see him; and as
he must talk to somebody, he had sent for General Frank
lin and myself, to obtain our opinion as to the possibility of
soon commencing active operations with the Army of the
Potomac. To use his own expression, if something was
not soon done, the bottom would fall out of the whole
affair; and if General McClellan did not want to use the
army, he would like to borrow it, provided he could see
how it could be made to do something.

Lincoln Could not Allow a Soldiar to be More Polite than
Himself.

I was always touched, says Mr. Carpenter, by the Presi
dent's manner of receiving the salute of the guard at the
White House. Whenever he appeared in the portico, on
his way to or from the War or Treasury Department, or on
any excursion down the avenue, the first glimpse of him

132 LINCOLN STORIES.

was, of course, the signal for the sentinel on duty to
" present arms," and " call out the guard."

This was always acknowledged by Mr. Lincoln with a
peculiar bow and touch of the hat, no matter how many
times it might occur in the course of a day ; and it always
seemed to me as much a compliment to the devotion of the
soldiers, on his part, as it was the sign of duty and deference
on the part of the guard.

An Interesting Visit to the Hospitals — How the Soldiers Received

Him— He Meets a Wounded Confederate who Asks His

Pardon — The President Weeps.

" On the Monday before the assassination, when the Presi
dent was on his return from Richmond, he stopped at City
Point. Calling upon the head surgeon at that place, Mr.
Lincoln told him that he wished to visit all the hospitals
under his charge, and shake hands with every soldier. The
surgeon asked if he knew what he was undertaking, there
being five or six thousand soldiers at that place, and it
would be quire a tax upon his strength to visit all the wards
and shake hands with every soldier. Mr. Lincoln answered,
with a smile, he 'guessed he was equal to the task; at any
rate he would try, and go as far as he could; he should
never, probably, see the boys again, and he wanted them to
know that he appreciated what they had done for their
country.'

" Finding it useless to try to dissuade him, the surgeon
began his rounds with the President, who walked from bed
to bed, extending his hand to all, saying a few words of
sympathy to some, making kind inquiries of others, and
welcomed by all with the heartiest cordiality.

"As they passed along, they came to a ward in which
lay a rebel who had been wounded and was a prisoner. As

WAR STORIES. 133

the tall figure of the kindly visitor appeared in sight, he
was recognized by the rebel soldier, who, raising himself on
his elbow in bed, watched Mr. Lincoln as he approached,
and extending his hand exclaimed, while tears ran down
his cheeks, —

*' ' Mr. Lincoln, I have long wanted to see you, to ask
your forgiveness for ever raising my hand against the old
"flag.'

'• Mr. Lincoln was moved to tears. He heartily shook
the hand of the repentant rebel, and assured him of his
good -will, and with a few words of kind advice passed onj
"After some hours the tour of the various hospitals was
made, and Mr. Lincoln returned with the surgeon to his
office. They had scarcely entered, however, when a mes
senger came saying that one ward had been omitted, and
' the boys ' wanted to see the President. The surgeon, who
was thoroughly tired, and knew Mr. Lincoln must be, tried
to dissuade him from going; but the good man said he
must go back; he would not knowingly omit one, i the
boys ' would be so disappointed. So he went with the mes
senger, accompanied by the surgeon, and shook hands with
tlie-gratified soldiers, and then returned again to the office.,

" The surgeon expressed the fear that the President's
arm would be lamed with so much hand-shaking, saying
that it certainly must ache. Mr. Lincoln smiled, and say.
ing something about his 'strong muscles,' stepped out at
the open door, took up a very large, heavy axe which lay
there by a log of wood, and chopped vigorously for a few
moments, sending the chips flying in all directions; and
then, pausing, he extended his right arm to its full length,
holding the axe out horizontally, without its even quivering
as he held it. Strong men who looked on — men accus
tomed to manual labor — could not hold the same axe in
that position for a moment. Returning to the office, he

134 LINCOLN STORIES.

took a glass of lemonade, for he would take no stronger
beverage; and while he was within, the chips he had
chopped were gathered up and safely cared for by a hospital
steward, because they were ; the chips that Father Abraham
chopped.' "

Mr. Lincoln and a Clergyman.

At the semi-annual meeting of the New Jersey Histor
ical Society, held recently in Newark, N. J., Rev. Dr.
Sheldon, of Princeton, read a memorial of their late Presi
dent, Rev. R. K. Rodgers, D.D., in which appears the fol
lowing fresh incident concerning Mr. Lincoln and the war:

o o

" One day daring the war, Dr. Rodgers was called on by
a man in his congregation, who, in the greatest distress,
told him that his son, a soldier in the army, had just been
sentenced to be shot for desertion, and begged the minister's
interposition. The Doctor went to Washington with the
wife and infant child of the condemned man, and sent his
card up to Mr. Lincoln. When admitted, the President
said :

" ' You are a minister, I believe. What can I do for
you, my friend ?'

"The reply was: l A young man from my congregation
in the army has so far forgotten his duty to his country and
his God as to desert his colors, and is sentenced to die. I
have come to ask you to spare him.'

i With characteristic quaintness the President replied:
* Then you don't want him hurt, do you?'

"' Oh, no,' said the petitioner, I did not mean that; he
deserves punishment, but I beg for him time to prepare to
meet his God.'

" ; Do you say he has father, wife and child?' said Mr.
Lincoln. " ' Yes.' " ' Where do you say he is?'

WAR STORIES. 135

" On being told, lie turned to his secretary, said a few
words in an undertone, of which that official made note, and
added to Dr. Rodgers, ' You have your request. Tell his
friends I have reprieved him.'

""With a 'God bless you, Mr. President,' Dr. Rodgers
turned away to bear the glad news to the distressed family."

A Remarkable Letter From Lincoln to Gen. Hooker.

The following remarkable letter from Lincoln to General
Hooker was written after the latter had taken command of
the Army of the Potomac, in January, 1863, and while the
President yet retained it in his possession, an intimate
friend chanced to be in his Cabinet one night, and the Pres
ident read it to him, remarking, " I shall not read this to
anybody else, but I want to know -how it strikes you."
During the following April or May, while the Army of the
Potomac lay opposite Fredericksburg, this friend accom
panied the President to General Hooker's headquarters on
a visit. One night General Hooker, alone in his tent with
this gentleman, said:

" The President says that he showed you this letter," and
lie then took out that document, which was closely written
on a, sheet of letter-paper. The tears stood in the General's
bright blue eyes as he added: " Tt is such a letter as a
father might have written to his son. And yet it hurt
me." Then, dashing the water from his eyes, he said:
" When I have been to Richmond, I shall have this letter
published."

This was more than sixteen years ago, and the letter has
just now seen the light of day. There are in it certain
sharp passages which, after this long lapse of time, can not
be verified by the memory of any who heard it read in 1863.
There are others which seem missing. Nevertheless, the

136 LINCOLN STORIES.

letter, which is herewith reprinted, must have been written
by Lincoln :

EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D. 0., Jan. 26, 1863. — Ma j. -Gen.
Hooker — GENERAL : I have placed you at the head of the Army of the
Potomac. Of course I have done this upon what appears to me to be
sufficient reasons; and yet I think it best for you to know that there
are some things in regard to which I am not quite satisfied with you.
I believe you to be a brave and skillful soldier— which, of course, I
like. I also believe you do not mix politics with your profession — in
which you arc right. You have confidence in yourself — which is a
valuable, if not an indispensable, quality. You are ambitious— which,,
within reasonable bounds, does good rather than harm; but I think
that, during General Burnside's command of the army, }rou have taken
counsel of your ambition and thwarted him as much as you could, in
which you did a great wrong to the country, and to a most meritorious
and honorable brother-officer. I have heard, in such a way as to believe
it, of your recently saying that both the army and the Government
needed a Dictator. Of course, it was not for this, but in spite of it, that
I have given you the command. Only those Generals who gain suc
cesses can set up Dictators. What I now ask of you is military
success, and I will risk the Dictatorship. The Government will sup
port you to the utmost of its ability — which is neither more nor less
than it has done and will do for all commanders. I much fear that the
spirit which you have aided to infuse into the army, of criticising their
commander and withholding confidence from him, will now turn upon
you. I shall assist you as far as I can to put it down. Neither you nor
Napoleon, if he were alive again, could get any good out of an army
while such a spirit prevails in it. And now beware of rashness. Be
ware of rashness, but, with energy and sleepless vigilance, go forward
and give us victories. Yours, very truly, A. LINCOLN. -

An Amusing Anecdote of a " Hen-Pecked Husband."

When General Phelps took possession of Ship Island,
near ISfew Orleans, early in the war, it will be remembered
that he issued a proclamation, somewhat bombastic in tone,
freeing the slaves. To the surprise of many people, on
both sides, the President took no official notice of this move
ment. Some time had elapsed, when one day a friend took

DOUGLAS MONUMENT.

On the banks of Lake Michigan, near foot, of 35th Street, Chicago, in the midst of
a beautiful park. It is built of granite from Hollowell, Me., with an altitude of 104
feet, and at an expense of about $100,000. Douglas and Lincoln began public life
together as members of the Illinois Legislature. Though differing in political faith,
they were really life-long friends.

WAR STORIES. 139

him to task for his seeming indifference on so important a
matter.

" Well," said Mr. Lincoln, " I feel about that a good deal
as a man whom I will call ' Jones,' whom I once knew, did
about his wife. He was one of your meek men, and had
the reputation of being badly hen-pecked. At last, one day
his wife was seen switching him out of the house. A day
or two afterward a friend met him in the street, and said:
4 Jones, I have always stood up for you, as you know; but
I am not going to do it any longer. Any man who will
stand quietly and take a switching from his wife, deserves
to be horsewhipped.* Jones looked up with a wink, patting
his friend on the back. ' Now don't J said he; * why, it
didn't hurt me any; and you've no idea what a power of
good it did Sarah Ann ?' '

Lincoln's Curt Reply to a Clergyman.

No nobler reply ever fell from the lips of a ruler, than that
uttered by President Lincoln in response to the clergyman
who ventured to say, in his presence during the war. that
he hoped "the Lord was on our side."

'' I am not at all concerned about that," replied *Mr. Lin
coln, " for I know that the Lord is always on the side of
the right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that /
and this nation should be on the Lord's side."

A Short Practical Sermon.

" On a certain occasion, two ladies, from Tennessee, came
before the President, asking the release of their husbands^
held as prisoners of war at Johnson's Island. They were
put off until the following Friday, when they came again,

140 LINCOLN STORIES.

and were again put off until Saturday. At each of the in
terviews one of the ladies urged that her husband was a
religious man. On Saturday, when the President ordered
the release of the prisoner, he said to this lady:

" ' You say your husband is a religious man; tell him,
when you meet him, that I say I am not much of a judge
of religion, but that in my opinion the religion which sets
men to rebel and fight against their Government, because,
as they think, that Government does not sufficiently help
some men to eat their bread in the sweat of other men's
faces, is not the sort of religion upon which people can get
to heaven.' "

A Celebrated Case Settled With Lincoln-like Celerity.

The celebrated case of Franklin W. Smith and brother,
was one of those which most largely helped to bring mili
tary tribunals into public contempt. Those two gentlemen
were arrested and kept in confinement, their papers seized,
their business destroyed, their reputation damaged, and a
naval court-martial, ''organized to convict," pursued them
unrelentingly till a wiser and juster hand arrested the
malice of their persecutors. It is known that President
Lincoln, after full investigation of the case, annulled the
whole proceedings, but it is remarkable that the actual
record of his decision could never be obtained from the
]^avy Department. An exact copy being withheld, thefol-"
lowing was presented to the Boston Board of Trade as
being very nearly the words of the late President:

" Whereas, Franklin "W. Smith had transactions with the Navy
Department to the amount of one million and a quarter of a million of
dollars; and, whereas, he had the chance to steal a quarter of a million,
and was only charged with stealing twenty-two hundred dollars— and
the question now is about his stealing a hundred — I don't believe he
stole anything at all. Therefore, the record and findings are disap-

WAR S TORIES. 141

proved — declared null and void, and the defendants are fully dis
charged."

" It would be difficult," says the New York Tribune, "to
sum up the rights and wrongs of the business more briefly
than that, or to find a paragraph more characteristically
and unmistakably Mr. Lincoln's.

Recollections of the War President by Judge William Johnston.

I rendered, says Judge Johnston, Mr. Lincoln some
service in my time. When I went to Washington I ob
served that among Congressmen, and others in high places,
Mr. Lincoln had very few friends. Montgomery Blair was
the only one I heard speak of him for a second term. This
was about the middle of his first Administration. I went
to Washington by way of Columbus, and G. Tod asked me
to carry a verbal message to Mr. Lincoln, and that was to
tell him that there were certain elements indispensable to
the success of the war that would be seriously affected by
any interference with McClellan.

I suppose that the liberal translation of Tod's language
would be thus : " I am keeping the Democratic soldiers in
the field, and if McClellan is interfered with I shall not be
able to do it." We all felt some trouble about it. McClellan
had been relieved, and one bright moonlight night I saw
a regiment, I suppose Pennsylvanians mostly, marching
from the Capitol clown Pennsylvania Avenue, yelling at the
top of their lungs, " Hurrah for Little Mac ! " and, making
a pause before the White House, they kept up that bawling
and hurrahing for McClellan.

I went to see Mr. Lincoln early the next morning, and
asked him if he had witnessed the performance on the pre
vious night. He said he had. I asked him what he thought
of it. He said it was very perplexing. I told him I had

142 LINCOLN STORIES.

come to make a suggestion. I told him I would introduce
him to a young man of fine talents and liberal education,
who had lost an arm in the service, and I wanted him to
tell one of his Cabinet Ministers to give that young man a
good place in the Civil Service, and to avail himself of the
occasion to declare that the policy of the Administration
was, whenever the qualifications were equal, to give those
who had been wounded or disabled in the service of the
country the preference in the Civil Department. He said
it was an idea he would like to think of, and asked me how-
soon I would wait upon him in the morning. I said any
hour; and I went at 7 o'clock and found him in the hands
of a barber. Says he: "I have been thinking about your
proposition, and I have a question to ask you: Did you
ever know Colonel Smith, of Rockford, 111. ?" I said I
had an introduction to him when attending to the defense
of Governor Bebb. " You know," said he, " that he was
killed at Yicksburg; that his head was carried off by a
shell. He was Postmaster, and his wife wants the place,"
and he inquired if that would come up to my idea; and
thereupon he and I concocted a letter — I have the corre
spondence in my possession — to Postmaster General Blair,
directing him to appoint the widow of Colonel Smith Post
mistress, in the room of her deceased husband, who had
fallen in battle, and stating that in consideration of what
was due to the men who were fighting our battles, he had^
made up his mind that the families of those who had fallen,
and those disabled in the service, their qualifications being
equal, should always have a preference in the Civil Service.
I told him I was not personally acquainted with Blair,
and he gave me a note of introduction to him with the let
ter. I told Blair that I proposed to take a copy of Mr.
Lincoln's letter, which he had then made out by the clerk.
I took the letter to the Chronicle office in Washington, in

WAR STORIES. 143

which paper it was published, and the next morning I
jumped into an ambulance and went to the convalescing
camp, where there were about 7,000 convalescents, a great
many of them Ohio men, and when I made my appearance
they called on me for a speech. I got upon a terrace and
made them a few remarks, and, corning round to the old
saw, " that Republics are always ungrateful," I told them
I could not vouch for the Republic, but I thought I could
vouch for the chief man at the head of the Administration,,
and he had already spoken on that subject, and when I read
Lincoln's letter the boys flung their hats into the ail and
made the welkin ring for a long while. I hurried back to
the city, and with a pair of shears cut out Lincoln's letter,
and then attached some editorial remarks, and that letter
went around, and I believe was published in every friendly
newspaper in the [Jnited States. About that time Congress
passed a resolution to the same effect, that those disabled
in the military service of the country, wherever qualified,
ought to have a preference over others. This may have
been a small matter, but it made a marvelous impression
on the armv.

The Serpent in Bed With Two Children.

A number of Kentuckians insisted that troops should
not be sent through that state for the purpose of putting
down the war in Tennessee. The President was hesitating
what to do, and they were pressing immediate action,

'•I am," he said, "a good deal like the farmer who, re
turning to his home one Winter night, found his two sweet
little boys asleep with a hideous serpent crawling over their
bodies. He could not strike the serpent without wounding
or killing the children, so he calmly waited until it had
moved away. Now, I do not want to act in a hurry about

144 LINCOLN STORIES.

this matter; I don't want to hurt anybody in Kentucky;
but I will get the serpent out of Tennessee.

"And he did march through Kentucky, to the aid of
Andrew Johnson's mountaineers."

A Church Which God Wanted for the Union Soldiers.

"Among the various applicants at the White House one
day was a well-dressed lady, who came forward, without
apparent embarrassment in her air of manner, and addressed
the President. Giving her a very close and scrutinizing
look, he said:

" ' Well, madam, what can I do for you? '

" She proceeded to tell him that she lived in Alexandria;
that the church where she worshiped had been taken for a
hospital.

'• ' What church, madam?' Mr. Lincoln asked, in a quick,
nervous manner.

" ' The Church,' she replied ; ' and as there are

only two or three wounded soldiers in it, I came to see if
you would not let us have it, as we want it very much to
worship God in.'

" ' Madam, have you been to see the Post Surgeon at
Alexandria about this matter?'

"'Yes, sir; but we could do nothing with him.'

"'Well, we put him there to attend to just such busi-^
ness, and it is reasonable to suppose that he knows better
what should be done under the circumstances than I do.
See here: you say you live in Alexandria; probably you
own property there. How much will you give to assist in
building a hospital?'

" ' You know, Mr. Lincoln, our property is very much
embarrassed by the war; — so, really, I could hardly afford
to give much for such a purpose.'

WAR STORIES. 145

" ' "Well, madam, I expect we shall have another fight
soon: and my candid opinion is, God wants that cJiurch
for poor wounded Union soldiers, as much as He does for
secesli people to worship in.' Turning to his table, he said,
quite abruptly, * You will excuse me; I can do nothing for
you. Good-day, madam.' '

How Lincoln Relieved Rosecrans.

General James B. Steedman, familiarly known as " Old
Chickamauga," relates the following: Some weeks after
the disastrous battle of Chickamauga, while yet Chattanooga
was in a state of siege, General Steedman was surprised
one day to receive a telegram from Abraham Lincoln to

v t5

come to Washington. Seeking out Thomas, he laid the
telegram before him, and was instructed to set out at once.
Repairing to the White House, he was warmly received by
Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln's first question was abrupt and
to the point :

'* General Steedman, what is your opinion of General
Rosecrans ?'-'

General Steedman, hesitating a moment, said: " Mr.
President, I would rather not express my opinion of my
superior officer.''

Mr. Lincoln said: u It is the man who does not want to
express an opinion whose opinion I want. I am besieged
on all sides with advice. Every day I get letters from army
officers asking me to allow them to come to Washington to
impart some valuable knowledge in their possession."

u Well, Mr. President," said General Steedman, "you are
the Cornmander-in-Chief of the Army, and if you order me
to speak I will do so."

Mr. Lincoln said: " Then I will order an opinion."

General Steedman then answered: "Since you com-
10

146 LINCOLN STORIES.

mand me, Mr. President, I will say General Rosecrans is a
splendid man to command a victorious army."

'kP>ut what kind of a man is he to command a defeated
army?" said Mr. Lincoln.

General Steedman in reply said, cautiously: ".I think
there are two or three men in that army that would be
better."

Then, with his quaint humor, Mr. Lincoln propounded
this question: " Who, besides yourself, General Steedman.
is there in that army who would make a better com
mander?"

General Steedman said promptly: " General George H.
Thomas."

" I am glad to hear you say so," said Mr. Lincoln, " that
is my own opinion exactly. But Mr. Stanton is against
him, and it was only yesterday that a powerful New York
delegation was here to protest against his appointment be
cause he is from a Rebel State and can not be trusted."

Said General Steedman: "A man who will leave his-
own state (Thomas was a Virginian), his friends, all his
associations, to follow the flag of his country, can be trusted
in any position to which he may be called." That night
the order went forth from Washington relieving General
Rosecrans of the command of the Army of the Cumber
land and appointing Thomas in his place.

An Interesting Incident Connected With Signing the Emancipa
tion Proclamation.

" The roll containing the Emancipation Proclamation was
taken to Mr. Lincoln at noon on the first day of January,
1863, by Secretary Seward and his son Frederick. As it
lay unrolled before him, Mr. Lincoln took a pen, dipped it
in ink, moved his hand to the place for the signature, held

WAR STORIES, 147

it a moment, and then removed his hand and dropped the
pen. After a little hesitation he again took up the pen and
went through the same movement as before. Mr. Lincoln
then turned to Mr. Seward, and said:

" ' I have been shaking hands since nine o'clock this
morning, and my right arm is almost paralyzed. If my
name ever goes into history it will be for this act, and my
whole soul is in it. If my hand trembles when I sign the
Proclamation, all who examine the document hereafter will
say, 4 He hesitated.'

" He then turned to the table, took up the pen again, and
slowly, firmly wrote ' Abraham Lincoln,' with which the
whole world is now familiar. He then looked up, smiled>
and said: ' That will do?"

A Dream That Was Portentous — What Lincoln said to General
Grant About It.

At the Cabinet meeting held the morning of the day of
the assassination, it was afterward remembered, a remark
able circn instance occurred. General Grant was present,
and during a lull in the discussion the President turned to
him and asked if he had heard from General Sherman.
General Grant replied that he had not, but was in hourly
expectation of receiving despatches from him announcing
the surrender of Johnson.

u Well," said the President, " you will hear very soon
now, and the news will be important."

" Why do you think so?" said the General.

u Because," said Mr. Lincoln, " I had a dream last night;
and ever since the war began, I have invariably had the
same dream before any important military event occurred."
He then instanced Bull Run, Antietam, Gettysburg, etc.,
and said that before each of these events, he had had tho

148 LINCOLN STORIES.

same dream ; and turning to Secretary Welles, said : " It
is in your line, too, Mr. Welles. The dream is, that I saw
a ship sailing very rapidly; and I am sure that it portends
some important national event."

Later in the day, dismissing all business, the carriage was
ordered for a drive. When asked by Mrs. Lincoln if he
would like any one to accompany them, he replied:

"No; I prefer to ride by ourselves to-day."

Mrs. Lincoln subsequently said that she never saw him
seem so supremely happy as on this occasion. In reply to
a remark to this effect, the President said: *

" And well I may feel so, Mary, for I consider this day
the war has come to a close." And then added: " We
must both be more cheerful in the future; between the war
and the loss of our darling Willie, we have been very
miserable."

Lincoln and Judge Baldwin.

" Judge Baldwin, of California, being in Washington,
called one day on General Halleck, and, presuming upon
a familiar acquaintance in California a few years before,
solicited a pass outside of our lines to see a brother in
Virginia, not thinking that he would meet with a refusal,
as both his brother and himself were good Union men.

" ' We have been deceived too often,' said General Hal
leck, 'and I regret I can't grant it.'

Judge B. then went to Stanton, and was very briefly
disposed of, with the same result. Finally, he obtained an
interview with Mr Lincoln, and stated his case.

"''Have you applied to General Halleck ?' inquired the
President.

" * Yes, and met with a flat refusal/ said Judge B.

WAR STORIES. 149

" 'Then you must see Stanton,' continued the President.

" * I have, and with the same result,' was the reply.

" ' Well, then,' said Mr. Lincoln, with a smile, ' I can do
nothing; for you must know that 1 have very little influ
ence with this Administration} "

Lincoln and Stanton Fixing up Peace Between the Two Con
tending Armies.

ki On the night of the 3d of March, the Secretary of
War, with others of the Cabinet, were in the company of
the President, at the Capitol, awaiting the passage of the
final bills of Congress. In the intervals of reading and
signing these documents, the military situation was con
sidered — the lively conversation tinged by the confident and
glowing account of General Grant, of his mastery of the
position, and of his belief that a few days more would see
Eichmond in our possession, and the army of Lee either
dispersed utterly or captured bodily — when the telegram
from Grant was received, saying that Lee had asked an in
terview with reference to peace. Mr. Lincoln was elated,
and the kindness of his heart was manifest in intimations
of favorable terms to be granted to the conquered ilebels.

" Stanton listened in silence, restraining his emotion, but
at length the tide burst forth. * Mr. President,' said he,
' to-morrow is inauguration day. If you are not to be the
President of an obedient and united people, you had better
not be inaugurated. Your work is already done, if any
other authority than yours is for one moment to be recog
nized, or any terms made that do not signify you are the
supreme head of the nation. If generals in the field are to
negotiate peace, or any other chief magistrate is to be
acknowledged on this continent, then you are not needed,
and you had better not take the oath of office.'

150 LINCOLN STORIES.

" ' Stanton you are right ! ' said the President, his whole
tone changing. i Let me have a pen.'

"•Mr. Lincoln sat down at the table, and wrote as fol
lows :

" ' The President directs me to say to you that he wishes you to have
no conference with General Lee, unless it be for the capitulation of Lee's
army, or on some minor or purely military matter. He instructs me to
say that you are not to decide, discuss, or confer upon any political
question. Such questions the President holds in his own hands, and
will submit them to no military conferences or conventions. In the
mean time you are to press to the utmost your military advantages.'

"The President read over what he had written, and theA
said :

" ' Kow, Stanton, date and sign this paper, and send
it to Grant. We'll see about this peace business.'

u The duty was discharged only too gladly by the ener
getic Secretary." •

The Merciful President.

A personal friend of President Lincoln says : " I called
on him one day in the early part of the war. He had just
written a pardon for a young man who had been sentenced
to be shot, for sleeping at his post, as a sentinel. lie re
marked as he read it to me :

u 1 1 could not think of going into eternity with the blood
of the poor young man on my skirts.' Then he added :
' It is not to be wondered at that a boy, raised on a farm,
probably in the habit of going to bed at dark, should, when
required to watch, fall asleep; and I can not consent to
shoot him for such an act.' '

This story, with its moral, is made complete by Rev.
Newman Hall, of London, who, in a sermon preached after
and upon Mr. Lincoln's death, says that the dead body of
this youth was found among the slain on the field of Fred-

WAR STORIES. 151

ericksburg, wearing next his heart a photograph of his pre
server, beneath which the grateful fellow had written, " God
bless President Lincoln !"

From the same sermon another anecdote is gleaned, of a
similar character, which is evidently authentic. An officer
of the army, in conversation with the preacher, said :

" The first week of my command, there were twenty-four
deserters sentenced by court martial to be shot, and the
warrants for their execution were sent to the President to
be signed. He refused. I went to Washington and had an
interview. I said :

" ' Mr. President, unless these men are made an example
of, the army itself is in danger. Mercy to the few is cruelty
to the many.'

" He replied : ' Mr. General, there are already too many
weeping^ widows in the United States. For God's sake,
don't ask me to add to the number, for I won't do it.' '

No Mercy for the Man Stealer — Lincoln Uses Very Strong
Language.

Hon. John B. Alley, of Lynn, Massachusetts, was made
the bearer to the President of a petition for pardon, by a
person confined in the Newburyport jail for being engaged
in the slave-trade. He had been sentenced to five years'
imprisonment, and the payment of a fine of one thousand
dollars. The petition was accompanied by a letter to Mr.
Alley, in which the prisoner acknowledged his guilt and the
justice of his sentence. He was very penitent — at least, on
paper — and had received the full measure of his punish
ment, so far as it related to the term of his imprisonment ;
but he was still held because he could not pay his fine. Mr.
Alley read the letter to the President, who was much moved
by its pathetic appeals ; and when he had himself read the

152 LINCOLN STORIES.

petition, he looked up and said : u My friend that is a very
touching appeal to our feelings. You know my weakness
is to be, if possible, too easily moved by appeals for mercy,
and, if this man were guilty of the foulest murder that the
arm of man could perpetrate, I might forgive him on such
an appeal ; but the man who could go to Africa, and rob
her of her children, and sell them into interminable bond
age, with no other motive than that which is furnished by
dollars and cents, is so much worse than the most depraved
murderer, that he can never receive pardon at my hands.
No ! He may rot in jail before he shall have liberty by
any act of mine." A sudden crime, committed under
strong temptation, was venial in his eyes, on evidence of
repentance ; but the calculating, mercenary crime of man-
stealing and man-selling, -with all the cruelties that are
essential accompaniments of the business, could win from
him, as an officer of the people, no pardon.

A Touching Incident in the Life of Lincoln.

A few days before the President's death, Secretary Stan-
ton tendered his resignation of the War Department. He
accompanied the act with a heartfelt tribute to Mr. Lin
coln's constant friendship and faithful devotion to the coun
try; saying, also, that he as Secretary had accepted the pos
ition to hold it only until the war should end, and that now
he felt his work was done, and his duty was to resign.

Mr. Lincoln was greatly moved by the Secretary's wordsy
and tearing in pieces the paper containing the resignation,
and throwing his arms about the Secretary, he said:

"Stanton, you have been a good friend and a faithful
public servant, and it is not for you to say when you will
no longer be needed here." Several friends of both parties
were present on the occasion, and there was not a dry eye-
that witnessed the scene.

WAR STORIES. 153

The Great Thing About Gen. Grant as Lincoln Saw It.

Mr. Carpenter, the artist, made particular inquiry of the
President, during the progress of the Battles of the Wil
derness, how General Grant personally in pressed him as
compared to other officers of the army, and especially those
who had been in command.

"The great thing about Grant," said he, "I take it, is
his perfect coolness and persistency of purpose. I judge
he is not easily excited, which is a great element in an offi
cer, and has the grit of a bull-dog ! Once let him get his
' teeth ' in, and nothing can shake him off."

Lincoln's Second Nomination — How He Associated it with a Very

Singular Circumstance— Lincoln Sees Two Images of

Himself in a Mirror.

It appeared that the dispatch announcing Lincoln's re-
nomination for President had been sent to his office from
the War Department while he was at lunch. Afterward,
without going back to the official chamber, he proceeded to
the War Department. While there, the telegram came in
announcing the nomination of Johnson.

''What ! " said he to the operator, "do they nominate a
Yice-President before they do a President?"

u Why! " rejoined the astonished official, " have you not
heard of your own nomination? It was sent to the White
House two hours ago."

"It is all right," was the reply; " I shall probably find
it on my return."

Laughing pleasantly over this incident, he said, soon
afterwards : "A very singular occurence took place the
day I was nominated at Chicago, four years ago, of which
I am reminded to-night. In the afternoon of the day, re
turning home from down town, I went up-stairs to Mrs,

154 LINCOLN STORIES.

Lincoln's reading-room. Feeling somewhat tired, I lay
down upon a couch in the room, directly opposite a bureau
upon which was a looking-glass. As I reclined, my eye
fell upon the glass, and I saw distinctly two images of my
self , exactly alike, except that one was a little paler than
the other. I arose, and lay down again, with the same result.
It made me quite uncomfortable for a few moments, but
some friends coming in, the matter passed out of my mind.

" The next day, while walking in the street, I was sud
denly reminded of the circumstance, and the disagreeable
sensation produced by it returned. I had never seen any
thing of the kind before, and did not know what to make
of it.

" I determined to go home and place myself in the same
position, and if the same effect was produced, I would
make up my mind that it was the natural result of some
principle of refraction or optics which I did not under
stand, and dismiss it. I tried the experiment, with a like
result; and, as I had said to myself, accounting for it on
some principle unknown to me, it ceased to trouble me.
But," said he, " some time ago, I tried to produce the same
effect here, by arranging a glass and couch in the same
position, without success"

He did not say, at this time, that either he or Mrs. Lin--
coln attached any omen to the phenomenon, but it is well
known that Mrs. Lincoln regarded it as a sign that the
President would be re-elected.

How Lincoln Illustrated What Might Be Done With Jeff. Davis.

One of the latest of Mr. Lincoln's stories, was told to a
party of gentlemen, who, among the tumbling ruins of the
Confederacy, anxiously asked " what he would do with Jeif.
Davis?"

WAR STORIES. 155

"There was a boy in Springfield," replied Mr. Lincoln,
" who saved up his money and bought a < coon,' which, after
the novelty wore off, became a great nuisance.

" He was one day leading him through the streets, and
had his hands full to keep clear of the little vixen, who had
torn his clothes half off of him. At length he sat down
on the curb-stone, completely fagged out. A man passing
was stopped by the lad's disconsolate appearance, and asked
the matter.

;; ' Oh,' was the only reply, ' this coon is such a trouble
to me.'

"* Why don't you get rid of him. then?1 said the gentleman.

i/ •/ O O

" 'Hush!' said the boy; ' don't you see he is gnawing his
rope off ? I am going to let him do it, and then I will go
home and tell the folks that he got away from me/' '

Lincoln's Cutting Reply to the Confederate Commission — His
Story of " Root Hog or Die."

At a so-called " peace conference " procured by the vol
untary and irresponsible agency of Mr. Francis P. Blair,
which was held on the steamer River Queen, in Hampton
Roads, on the 3d of February, 1865, between President
Lincoln and Mr. Seward, representing the government, and
Messrs. Alexander H. Stephens, J. A. Campbell and H.
M. T. Hunter, representing the rebel . confederacy, Mr.
Hunter replied that the recognition of Jeff Davis' power
was the first and indispensable step to peace; and, to illus
trate his point, he referred to the correspondence between
King Charles the First and his Parliament, as a reliable
precedent of a constitutional ruler treating with rebels.
Mr. Lincoln's face wore that indescribable expression which
generally preceded his hardest hits ; and he remarked :

" Upon questions of history I must refer you to Mr.

156 LINCOLN STORIES.

Seward, for lie is posted in such things, and I don't profess
to be ; but my only distinct recollection of the matter is
that Charles lost his head ! "

Mr. Hunter remarked, on the same occasion, that the
slaves, always accustomed to work upon compulsion, under
an overseer, would, if suddenly freed, precipitate not only
themselves, but the entire society of the South, into irre
mediable ruin. No work would be done, but blacks and
whites would starve together. The President waited for
Mr. Seward to answer the argument, but, as that gentleman
hesitated, he said : *

u Mr. Hunter, you ought to know a great deal better about
this matter than I, for you have always lived under the
slave system. I can only say, in reply to your statement of
the case, that it reminds me of a man out in Illinois, by the
name of Case, who undertook, a few years ago, to raise a
very large herd of hogs. It was a great trouble to feed
them ; and how to get around this was a puzzle to him,
At length he hit upon the plan of planting an immense
field of potatoes, and, when they were sufficiently grown, he
turned the whole herd into the field and let them have full
swing, thus saving not only the labor of feeding the hogs,
but that also of digging the potatoes ! Charmed with his
sagacity, he stood one day leaning against the fence, count
ing his hogs, when a neighbor came along :

" ' "Well, well,' said he, ' Mr. Case this is all very fine*
Your hogs are doing very well just now ; but you know
out here in Illinois the frost comes early, and the ground
freezes a foot deep. Then what are they going to do ? '

" This was a view of the matter which Mr. Case had not
taken into account. Butchering time for hogs was away on
in December or January. He scratched his head and at
length stammered: 'Well, it may come pretty hard on
their snouts, but I don't see but it will be root hog or die!"

MISCELLANEOUS. 159

MISCELLANEOUS ST DRIES.

Attenaing Henry Ward Beecher's Church — What Lincoln said of

Beecher.

Mr. Nelson Sizer, one of the gallery ushers of Henry
Ward Beecher's church in Brooklyn, told a friend that
about the time of the Cooper Institute speech, Mr. Lin
coln was twice present at the morning services of th-at
church. On the first occasion, he was accompanied by his
friend, George B. Lincoln, Esq., and occupied a prominent
seat in the centre of the house. On a subsequent Sunday >
morning, not long afterwards, the church was packed, as
usual, and the services had proceeded to the announcement
of the text, when the gallery door at the right of the organ-
loft opened, and the tall figure of Mr. Lincoln entered,
alone. Again in the city over Sunday, he started out by
himself to find the church, which he reached considerably
behind time. Every seat was occupied; but the gentle
manly usher at once surrendered his own, and, stepping
back, became much interested in watching the effect of the
sermon upon the western orator. As Mr. Beecher devel
oped his line of argument, Mr. Lincoln's body swayed for
ward, his lips parted, and he seemed at length entirely
unconscious of his surroundings — frequently giving vent to
his satisfaction, at a well-put point or illustration, with a.
kind of involuntary Indian exclamation — "ugh!" — not
audible beyond his immediate presence, but very expressive!
Mr. Lincoln henceforward had a profound admiration for
the talents of the famous pastor of Plymouth Church. He
once remarked to the Rev. Henry M. Field, of New York,.

160 LINCOLN STORIES.

that " he thought there was not upon record, in ancient or
modern biography, so productive a mind, as had been ex
hibited in the career of Henry Ward Beecher ! "

Lincoln's Love for Little Tad.

No matter who was with the President, or how intently
absorbed, his little son Tad was always welcome. He almost
always accompanied his father. Once on the way to Fortress
Monroe, he became very troublesome. The President was
much engaged in conversation with the party who acconi-
panied him, and he at length said:

" Tad, if you will be a good boy, and not disturb me any
more till we get to Fortress Monroe, I will give you a
dollar."

The hope of reward was effectual for a while in securing
silence, but, boy-like, Tad soon forgot his promise, and was
as noisy as ever. Upon reaching their destination, how
ever, he said, very promptly, " Father, I want my dollar."

Mr. Lincoln turned to him with the inquiry: " Tad, do
you think you have earned it ? "

" Yes," was the sturdy reply.

Mr. .Lincoln looked at him half reproachfully for an in
stant, and then taking from his pocket-book a dollar note,-
he said: " "Well, my son, at any rate, I will keep my part
of the bargain"

While paying a visit to Commodore Porter at Fortress
Monroe, on one occasion, an incident occurred, subsequently
related by Lieutenant Braine, one of the officers on board
the flag-ship, to the Rev. Dr. Ewer, of New York. Noticing
that the banks of the river were dotted with Spring blos
soms, the President said, with the manner of one asking a
special favor: " Commodore, Tad is very fond of flowers;
— won't you let a couple of your men take a boat and go

MISCELLANEOUS. 1G1

-with him for an hour or two along shore, and gather a few?
It will be a great gratification to him."

An Interesting Story — Lincoln at the Five Points' House of In
dustry in New York.

When Mr. Lincoln visited New York in 1860, he felt a
great interest in many of the institutions for reforming
criminals and saving the young from a life of crime.
Among others, he visited, unattended, the Five Points'
House of Industry, and the Superintendent of the Sabbath-
school there gave the following account of the event:

" One Sunday morning, I saw a tall, remarkable-looking
man enter the room and take a seat among us. lie lis
tened with fixed attention to our exercises, and his coun
tenance expressed such genuine interest that I approached
him and suggested that he might be willing to say some
thing to the children. He accepted the invitation with evi
dent pleasure; and, coming forward, began a simple address,
which at once fascinated every little hearer and hushed the
room into silence. His language was strikingly beautiful,
and his tones musical with inteiiov. feeling. The little faces
would droop into sad conviction as he uttered sentences of
warning, and would brighten into sunshine as he spoke
cheerful words of promise. Once or twice he attempted to
close his remarks, but the imperative shout of 'Goon!
Oh, do go on!' would compel him to resume.

As I looked upon the gaunt and sinewy frame of the
stranger, and marked his powerful head and determined
features, now touched into softness by the impressions of
the moment, I felt an irrepressible curiosity to learn some
thing more about him, and while he was quietly leaving the
room I begged to know his name. He courteously replied:
4 It is Abraham Lincoln, from Illinois."'
11

162 LINCOLN STORIES.

Lincoln and His New Hat.

Mr. G. B. 'Lincoln tells of an amusing circumstance
which took place at Springfield soon after Mr. Lincoln's
nomination in I860. A hatter in Brooklyn secretly
obtained the size of the future President's head, and made
for him a very elegant hat, which he sent by his townsman,
Lincoln, to Springfield. About the time it was presented,
various other testimonials of a similar character had come
in from different sections. Mr. Lincoln took the hat, and
after admiring its texture and workmanship, put it on Ifis
head and walked up to a looking-glass. Glancing from the
reflection to Mrs. Lincoln, he said, with his peculiar twinkle
of the eye. " Well, wife, there is one thing likely to come
out of this scrape, any how. We are going to have some
new clothes!"

Lincoln's Feat at the Washington Navy Yard With an Axe.

One afternoon during the Summer of 1862, the President
accompanied several gentlemen to the Washington Navy
Yard, to witness some experiments with a newly-invented
gun. Subsequently the party went aboard of one of the
steamers lying at the wharf. A discussion was going on
as to the merits of the invention, in the midst of which Mr.
Lincoln caught sight of some axes hanging up outside of
the cabin. Leaving the group, he quietly went forward,
and taking one down, returned with it, and said:

" Gentlemen, you may talk about your ' Raphael repeat
ers ' and ' eleven-inch Dahlgrens;' but here is an institution
which I guess I understand better, than either of you."
With that he held the axe out at arm's length by the end of
the handle, or " helve," as the wood-cutters call it — a feat
not another person of the party could perform, though all
made the attempt.

MISCELLANEOUS. 163

In such acts as this, showing that he neither forgot nor
was ashamed of his humble origin, the good President ex
hibited his true nobility of character. He was a perfect
illustration of his favorite poet's words :

" The rank is hut the jruinea's stamp,
The maiTs the gold, for a' that!"

Lincoln's Failure as a Merchant— He, However, Six Years Later
Pays the "National Debt."

It is interesting to recall the fact that at one time Mr.
Lincoln seriously took into consideration the project of
learning the blacksmith's trade. He was without means,
and felt the immediate necessity of undertaking some busi-

•/ O

ness that would give him bread. It was while he was en
tertaining this project that an event occurred which, in his
undeterminded state of mind, seemed to open a way to
success in another quarter.

A man named Reuben Radford, the keeper of a small
store in the Village of New Salem, had somehow incurred
the displeasure of the Clary's Grove Boys, who had exer
cised their "regulating'" prerogatives by irregularly break
ing in his windows. William G. Greene, a friend of young
Lincoln, riding by Radford's store soon afterward, was
hailed by him, and told that he intended to sell out. Mr.
Greene went into the store, and, looking around, offered him
at random four hundred dollars for his stock. The offer
was immediately accepted.

Lincoln happening in the next day, and being familiar
with the value of the goods, Mr. Greene proposed to him
to take an inventory of the stock, and see what sort of a
bargain he had made. This he did, and it wras found that
the goods were worth six hundred dollars. Lincoln then
made him an offer of a hundred and twenty-five dollars for

164 LINCOLN STORIES.

liis bargain, with the proposition that he and a man named
Berry, as his partner, should take his (Greene's) place in the
•notes given to Radford. Mr. Greene agreed to the arrange
ment, but Radford declined it, except on condition that
Greene would be their security, and this he at last as
sented to.

Berry proved to be a dissipated, trifling man, and the
business soon became a wreck. Mr. Greene was obliged to
go in and help Lincoln close it up, and not only do this
but pay Eadford's notes. All that young Lincoln won
from the store was some very valuable experience, and th£
burden of a debt to Greene which, in conversations with the
latter, he always spoke of as the National debt. But this
national debt, unlike the majority of those which bear the
title, was paid to the uttermost farthing in after years.

Six years afterwards, Mr. Greene, who knew nothing of
the law in such cases, and had not troubled himself to in
quire about it, and who had in the meantime removed to
Tennessee, received notice from Mr. Lincoln that he was
ready to pay him what he had paid for Berry — he (Lincoln)
being legally bound to pay the liabilities of his partner.

funeral Services of Lincoln's Mother — The Old Pastor and

Young Abraham — A Remarkable

Service.

Several months after the death of Lincoln's mother
which occurred when he was but a few years old, child as
he was, he wrote to Parson Elkin who had been their pas
tor when residing in Kentucky, begging him to come to
Indiana, and preach her funeral sermon.

This was asking a great favor of their former minister,
for it would require him to ride on horseback a hundred
miles through the .wilderness; and it is something to be re-

MISCELLANEOUS. 165

membered to the bumble itinerant's honor that he was will
ing to pay this tribute of respect to the woman who had so
thoroughly honored him and his sacred office. He replied
to Abraham's invitation, that he would preach the sermon
on a certain future Sunday, and gave him liberty to notify
the neighbors of the promised service.

As the appointed day approached, notice was given to
the whole neighborhood, embracing every family within
twenty miles. Neighbor carried the notice to neighbor. It
was scattered from every little school. There was probably
not a family that did not receive intelligence of the anx
iously-anticipated event.

On a bright Sabbath morning, the settlers of the region
started for the cabin of the Lincolns; and, as they gathered
in, they presented a picture worthy the pencil of the
worthiest painter. Some came in carts of the rudest con
struction, their wheels consisting of sections of the huge-
boles of forest trees, and every other member the product;
of the axe and auger; some came on horseback, two or
three upon a horse; others came in wagons drawn by oxen,,
and still others came on foot. Two hundred persons in all
were assembled when Parson Elkin came out from the Lin
coln cabin, accompanied by the little family, and proceeded
to the tree under which the precious dust of a wife and
mother was buried.

The congregation, seated upon stumps and logs around
the grave, received the preacher and the mourning family
in a silence broken only by the songs of birds, and the mur
mur of insects, or the creaking cart of some late comer.
Taking his stand at the foot of the grave, Parson Elkin
lifted his voice in prayer and sacred song, and then preached
a sermon.

The occasion, the eager faces around him, and all the
sweet influences of the morning, inspired him with an un-

166 LINCOLN STORIES.

usual fluency and fervor; and the flickering sunlight, as it
glanced through the wind-parted leaves, caught many a
tear upon the bronzed cheeks of his auditors, while father
and son were overcome by the revival of their great grief.
He spoke of the precious Christian woman who had gone
with the warm praise which 'she deserved, and held her up
as an example of true womanhood.

Those who knew the tender and reverent spirit of Abra
ham Lincoln later in life, will not doubt that he returned
to his cabin-home deeply impressed by all that he had
heard. It was the rounding up for him of the influences*
of a Christian mother's life and teachings. It recalled her
sweet and patient example, her assiduous efforts to inspire
him with pure and noble motives, her simple instructions
in divine truth, her devoted love for him, and the motherly
offices she had rendered him during all his tender years.
'His character was planted in this Christian mother's life.'
Its roots were fed by this Christian mother's love; and
those that have wondered at the truthfulness and earnest
ness of his mature character, have only to remember that
the tree was true to the soil from which it sprung.

Something Concerning Mr. Lincoln's Religious Views.

The Rev. Mr. AVillets, of Brooklyn, gives an account of a
conversation with Mr. Lincoln, on the part of a lady of his
acquaintance, connected with the " Christian Commission,"
who in the prosecution of her duties had several interviews
with him.

The President, it seemed, had been much impressed with
the devotion and earnestness of purpose manifested by the
lady, and an one occasion, after she had discharged the
object of her visit, he said to her :

" Mrs. , I have formed a high opinion of your Chris-

MISCELLANEOUS. 107

tian character, and now. as we are alone, I have a mind to
ask you to give me, in brief, your idea of what constitutes
a true religious experience."

The lady replied at some length, stating that, in her
judgment, it consisted of a conviction of one's own sinful-
ness and weakness, and personal need of the Saviour for
strength and support; that views of mere doctrine might
and would differ, but when one was really brought to feel
his need of Divine help, and to seek the aid of the Holy
Spirit for strength and guidance, it was satisfactory evidence
of his having been born again. This was the substance of
her reply.

When she had concluded, Mr. Lincoln was very thought
ful for a few moments. He at length said, very earnestly,
" If what you have told me is really a correct view of this
great subject, I think I can say with sincerity, that I hope
I am a Christian. 1 had lived," he continued, "until my
boy Willie died, without realizing fully these things. That
blow overwhelmed me. It showed me my weakness as I
had never felt it before, and if I can take what you have
stated as a test, I think I can safely say that 1 know some
thing of that change of which you speak; and I will fur
ther add, that it has been my intention for some time, at a
suitable opportunity, to make a public religious profession."

Thurlow Weed's Recollections.

In a letter to the New York Lincoln Club, Thurlow
"Weed remarks: I went to the Whig National Convention,
at Chicago, in 1860, warmly in favor of and confidently ex
pecting the nomination of Governor Seward. That disap
pointment of long-cherished hopes was a bitter one. I then
accepted, very reluctantly, an invitation to visit Mr. Lincoln
at his residence in Springfield, where, in an interesting con-

168 LINCOLN STORIES.

versation, even while smarting under the sense of injustice
to Mr. Seward, confidence in Mr. Lincoln's good sense, ca
pacity and fidelity was inspired.

A campaign programme was agreed upon, and, returning
to Albany, I went to work as zealously and as cheerfully as
I should have done with Mr. Seward as our Presidential
nominee. Mr. Lincoln's inauguration simultaneously in
augurated rebellion. Events soon proved that the Chicago
Convention had been wisely if not providentially guided.
The country in its greatest emergency had, what it so
greatly needed, the services of two, instead of one, of its
greatest and best men. With Lincoln as President and
Seward as Secretary of State, the right men were in the
right places.

With ample opportunities to study the character of Abra
ham Lincoln, I never hesitated in declaring that his sense
of public and private duty and honor was as high and his
patriotism as devoted as that of George Washington.

Their names and-their memories should descend to future
generations as examples worthy of imitation.

An Amusing Illustration.

One of Mr. Lincoln's illustrations given by him on one.
occasion was that of a man who, in driving the hoops of a
hogshead to " head " it up, was much annoyed by the con
stant falling in of the top. At length the bright idea
struck him of putting his little boy inside to " hold it up."
This he did; it never occurring to him till the job was
done, how he was to get his child out. •' This," said Lin
coln, " is a fair sample of the way some people always da
business"

MISCELLANEOUS. . 169>

A Couple of Good Stories — How Lincoln took His Altitude —
A Prophetic Bowl of Milk.

Soon after Mr. Lincoln's nomination for the Presidency,
the Executive Chamber, a large tine room in the State
House at Springfield was set apart for him, where he met
the public until after his election.

As illustrative of the nature of many of his calls>, the
following brace of incidents were related to Mr. Holland
by an eye witness: " Mr. Lincoln, being seated in conversa
tion with a gentleman one day, two raw, plainly-dressed
young ; Suckers ' entered the room, and bashfully lingered
near the door. As soon as he observed them, and appre
hended their embarrassment, he rose and walked to them*
saying, " How do you do, my good fellows ? What can I
do for you ? Will you sit down ?" The spokesman of the
pair, the shorter of the two, declined to sit, and explained
the object of the call thus: he had had a talk about the
relative height of Mr. Lincoln and his companion, and had
asserted his belief that they were of exactly the same height.
He had come in to verify his judgment. Mr. Lincoln
smiled, went and got his cane, and, placing the end of it
upon the wall, said:

" Here, young man, come under here."

The young man came under the cane, as Mr. Lincoln held
it, and when it was perfectly adjusted to his height, Mr.
Lincoln said:

" 2s"ow, come out, and hold up the cane."

This he did while Mr. Lincoln stepped under. Kubbing
his head back and forth to see that it worked easily under
the measurement, he stepped out, and declared to the saga
cious fellow who was curiously looking on, that he had
guessed with remarkable accuracy — that he and the young
man were exactly of the same height. Then he shook hands
with them and sent them on their way. Mr. Lincoln would

170 LINCOLN STORIES.

just as soon have thought of cutting off his right hand as
he would have thought of turning those boys away with the
impression that they had in any way insulted his dignity.

They had hardly disappeared when an old and modestly-
dressed woman made her appearance. She knew Mr. Lin
coln, but Mr. Lincoln did not at first recognize her. Then
she undertook to recall to his memory certain incidents con
nected with his rides upon the circuit — especially his dining
at her house upon the road at different times. Then he re
membered her and her home. Having fixed her own place
in his recollection, she tried to recall to him a certain scanty
dinner of bread arid milk that he once ate at her house. He
could not remember it — on the contrary, he only remem
bered that he had always fared well at her house.

" Well," said she, " one day you came along after we had
got through dinner, and we had eaten up everything, and I
could give you nothing but a bowl of bread and milk; and.
you ate it; and when you got up you said it was good
enough for the President of the United States!"

The good woman had come in from the country
making a journey of eight or ten miles, to relate to Mr.
Lincoln this incident, which, in her mind, had doubtless
taken the form of prophecy. Mr. Lincoln placed the hon
est creature at her ease, chatted with her of old times, and
dismissed her in the most happy and complacent frame of
mind.

Lincoln's Love for the Little Ones.

Soon after his election as President and while visiting
Chicago, one evening at a social gathering Mr. Lincoln saw
a little girl timidly approaching him. He at once called
her to him, and asked the little girl what she wished.

She replied that she wanted his name.

MISCELLANEOUS. 173

Mr. Lincoln looked back into the room and said : " But
"here are other little girls — they would feel badly if I should
give my name only to you."

The little girl replied that there were eight of them in all.

"Then,'' said Mr. Lincoln, "get me eight sheets of paper,
and a pen and ink, and I will see what I can do for you."

The paper was brought, and Mr. Lincoln sat down in the
crowded drawing-room, and wrote a sentence upon each
sheet, appending his name; and thus every little girl car
ried off her souvenir.

Daring the same visit and while giving a reception at one
of the hotels, a fond father took in a little boy by the hand
who was anxious to see the new President. The moment
the child entered the parlor door he, of his own accord and
quite to the surprise of his father, took off his hat, and, giv
ing it a swing, cried: " Hurrah for Lincoln ! " There was
a crowd, but as soon as Mr. Lincoln could get hold of the
little fellow, he lifted him in his hands, and, tossing him
towards the ceiling, laughingly shouted: "Hurrah for
you ! »

It was evidently a refreshing incident to Lincoln in the
dreary work of hand-shaking.

An Interesting Anecdote of Lincoln Related by Rev. J. P. Gulliver.

On the morning following Lincoln's speech, in Norwich,
Conn., Mr. Gulliver met Mr. Lincoln upon a train of cars,
and entered into conversation with him. In speaking of
his speech, Mr. Gulliver remarked to Mr. Lincoln that he
thought it the most remarkable one he ever heard.

" Are you sincere in what you say? " inquired Mr. Lin
coln.

" I mean every word of it," replied the minister. " In
deed, sir," he continued, " I learned more of the art of

174 LINCOLN STORIES.

public speaking last evening than I could from a whole
course of lectures on rhetoric."

Then Mr. Lincoln informed him of " a most extraordinary
circumstance " that occurred at New Haven a few days
previously. A professor of rhetoric in Yale College, he
had been told, came to hear him, took notes of his speech,
and gave a lecture on it to his class the folio wing day; and,
not satisfied with that, followed him to Meriden the next
evening, and heard him again for the same purpose. All
this seemed to Mr. Lincoln to be u very extraordinary."
He had been sufficiently astonished by his success at the
the West, but he had no expectation of any marked success
at the East, particularly among literary and learned men.

" Now," said Mr. Lincoln, " I should very much like to
know what it was in my speech which you thought so re
markable, and which interested my friend the professor sp
much?"

Mr. Gulliver's answer was, " The clearness of your
statements, the unanswerable style of your reasoning, and,
especially, your illustrations, which were romance and
pathos and fun and logic all welded together."

After Mr. Gulliver had fully satisfied his curiosity by a
further exposition of the politician's peculiar power, Mr.
Lincoln said:

" I am much obliged to you for this. I have been wish
ing for a long time to find some one who would make this
analysis for me. It throws light on a subject which has
been dark to me. I can understand very readily how such
a power as you have ascribed to me will account for the
effect which seems to be produced by my speeches. I hope
you have not been too flattering in your estimate. Cer
tainly, I have had a most wonderful success for a man of
my limited education."

MISCELLANEOUS. 175

A Lincoln Story about Little Dan Webster's Soiled Hands!— How
Dan Escaped a Flogging.

Mr. Lincoln, on one occasion narrated to Hon. Mr.
Odell and others, with much zest, the following story about
vounw- Daniel AVebster :

i/ O

When quite young, at school, Daniel was one day guilty
of a gross violation of the rules. He was detected in the
act, and called up by the teacher for punishment. This was
to be the old-fashioned ''feruling" of the hand. His
hands happended to be very dirty. Knowing this, on his
way to the teacher's desk, \\Qspit upon the palm of his right
hand, wiping it off upon the side of his pantaloons.

"Give me your hand, sir," said the teacher, very sternly.

Out went the right hand, partly cleansed. The teacher
looked at it a moment, and said:

" Daniel! if you will find another hand in this school-room
as filthy as that, I will let you off this time!"

Instantly from behind his back came the left hand.
" Here it is, sir," was the ready reply.

'• That will do," said the teacher, "for this time; you can
take your seat, sir."

Lincoln and the Little Baby— A Touching Story.

" Old Daniel," who was one of the White House ushers,
is responsible for the following touching story:

A poor woman from Philadelphia had been waiting with
a baby in her arms for several days to see the President.
It appeared by her story, that her husband had furnished a
substitute for the army, but sometime afterward, in a state
of intoxication, was induced to enlist. Upon reaching the
post assigned his regiment, he deserted, thinking the gov
ernment was not entitled to his services. Returning home,
he was arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to be shot.

176 LINCOLN STORIES.

The sentence was to be executed on a Saturday. On
Monday his wife left her home with her baby, to endeavor
to see the President.

Said Daniel, " She had been waiting here three days, and
there was no chance for her to get in. Late in the afternoon
of the third day, the President was going through the passage
to his private room to get a cup of tea. On the way he
heard the baby cry. He instantly went back to his office
and rang the bell.

" Daniel," said he, " is there a woman with a baby in the
ante-room?" *

I said there was, and if he would allow me to say it, it
was a case he ought to see; for it was a matter of life and
death.

Said he, " Send her to me at once."

She went in, told her story, and the President pardoned
Jier husband.

As the woman came out from his presence, her eyes were
lifted and her lips moving in prayer, the tears streaming
down her cheeks."

Said Daniel, " I went up to her, and pulling her shawl,
said, i Madam, it was the 'baby that did it.7 '

D. L. Moody's Story of Lincoln's Compassion— What a Little Girl
Did with Mr. Lincoln to Save Her Brother.

During the war, says D. L. Moody, I remember a young
man, not twenty, who was court-martialed at the front
and sentenced to be shot. The story was this: The young
fellow had enlisted. He was not obliged to, but he went
off with another young man. They were what we would
call "chums." One night his companion was ordered out
on picket duty, and he asked the young man to go for him.
The next night he was ordered out himself; and having

MISCELLANEOUS. 177

been awake two nights, and not being used to it, fell asleep
at his post, and for the offense he was tried and sentenced to
death. It was right after the order issued by the President
that no interference would be allowed in cases of this kind.
This sort of thing had become too frequent, and it must be
stopped. When the news reached the father and mother in
Yermont it nearly broke their hearts. The thought that
their son should be shot was too great for them. They had
no hope that he would be saved by anything they could do.
But they had a little daughter who had read the life of
Abraham Lincoln, and knew how he had loved his own
children, and she said : " If Abraham Lincoln knew how
my father and mother loved my brother he wouldn't let him
be shot." That little girl thought this matter over and
made up her mind to see the President. She went to the
White House, and the sentinel, when he saw her imploring
looks, passed her in, and when she came to the door and
told the private secretary* that she wanted to see the Presi
dent, he could not refuse her. She came into the chamber
and found Abraham Lincoln surrounded by his generals
and counselors, and when he saw the little country girl he

t. O

asked her what she wanted. The little maid told her plain,
simple story — how her brother, whom her father and
mother loved very dearly, had been sentenced to be shot ;
how they were mourning for him, and if he was to die in
that way it would break their hearts. The President's
heart was touched with compassion, and he immediately
sent a dispatch canceling the sentence and giving the boy a
parole so that he could come home and see that father and
mother. I just tell you this to show you how Abraham
Lincoln's heart was moved by compassion for the sorrow of
that father and mother, and if he showed so much do you
think the Son of God will not have compassion upon you,
sinner, if you only take that crushed, bruised heart to Him ?
12

178 LINCOLN STORIES.

Lincoln Joking Douglas— A Splendid " Whisky Cask."

On one occasion, when Lincoln and Douglas were "stump
ing " the State of Illinois together as political opponents,
Douglas, who had the first speech, remarked that in early
life, his father, who he said was an excellent cooper by
trade, apprenticed him out to learn the cabinet business.

This was too good for Lincoln to let pass, so when his
turn came to reply, he said :

" I had understood before that Mr. Douglas had been
bound out to learn the cabinet-making business, which is
all well enough, but I was not aware until now that his*
father was a cooper. I have no doubt, however, that he was
one, and I am certain, also, that he was a very good one,
for (here Lincoln gently bowed toward Douglas) he has
made one of the best whisky casks I have ever seen."

As Douglas was a short heavy-set man, and occasionally
imbibed, the pith of the joke was at once apparent, and
most heartily enjoyed by all.

On another occasion, Douglas in one of his speeches,
made a strong point against Lincoln by telling the crowd
that when he first knew Mr. Lincoln he was a " grocery-
keeper, " and sold whisky, cigars, etc. " Mr. L.," he said,
" was a very good bar-tender!" This brought the laugh
on Lincoln, whose reply, however, soon came, and then the
laugh was on the other side.

MVhat Mr. Douglas has said, gentlemen," replied Mr.
Lincoln, u is true enough; I did keep a grocery and I did
sell cotton, candles and cigars, and sometimes whisky; but
I remember in those days that Mr. Douglas was one of iny
best customers!

" Many a time have I stood on one side of the counter and
sold whisky to Douglas on the other side, but the difference
between us now is this: I have left my side of the counter,
but Mr. Douglas still sticks to hi* as tenaciously as ever ! "

MISCELLANEOUS. 179

Lincoln's Life as Written by Himself— The Whole Thing in a

Nut Shell.

The compiler of the u Dictionary of Congress " states
that while preparing that work for publication in 1858, he
sent to Mr. Lincoln the usual request for a sketch of his
life, and received the following reply :

" Born February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Ken
tucky."

" Education Defective." " Profession a Lawyer" "Have
been a Captain of Volunteers in Black Hawk War."
" Postmaster at a very small office." " Four times a member
of the Illinois Legislature, and was a member of the
Lower House of Congress." Yours, etc.

"A. LINCOLN."

How Lincoln Won a Case from his Partner— Laughable Toilet

Ignorance.

"While Judge Logan, of Springfield, 111., was Lincoln's
partner, two farmers, who had a misunderstanding respect
ing a horse trade, went to law. By mutual consent the
partners in law became antagonists in this case. On the
day of the trial Mr. Logan, having bought a new shirt,
open in the back, with a huge standing collar, dressed him
self in extreme haste, and put on the shirt with the bosom
at the back, a linen coat concealing the blunder. He dazed
the jury with his knowledge of " horse points," and as the
day was sultry, took ofF his coat and summed up in his
shirt-sleeves.

Lincoln sitting behind him, took in the situation, And
when his turn came, remarked to the jury:

u Gentlemen, Mr. Logan has been trying for over an hour
to make you believe he knows more about a horse than
these honest old farmers who are witnesses. He has quoted

180 LINCOLN STORIES.

largely from his ' horse doctor,' and now, gentlemen, I sub
mit to you, (here he lifted Logan out of his chair, and
turned him with his back to the jury and the crowd, at the
same time flipping up the enormous standing collar) what
dependence can you place in his horse knowledge when he
has not sense enough to put on his shirt f "

The roars of laughter that greeted this exhibition, and
the verdict that Lincoln got soon after, gave Logan a per
manent prejudice against u bosom shirts."

Little Lincoln Stories.

AN old Englishman who resided in Springfield, Ills.,
hearing the results of the Political Convention at Chicago,
could not contain his astonishment. " What ! " said he,
" ABE LINCOLN nominated for President of the United
States ? Can it be possible ! A man that buys a ten cent
beef-steak for his breakfast, and carries it home himself! "

MR. LINCOLN being asked by a friend how he felt when the
returns came in that insured his defeat, replied that " lie
felt, he supposed, very much like the stripling who had
stumped his toe; too badly to laugh and too big to cry.'

A YOUNG man bred in Springfield speaks of a vision that
has clung to his memory very vividly, of Mr. Lincoln as lie
appeared in those days. His way to school led "by the
lawyer's door. On almost any fair summer morning, he
could find Mr. Lincoln on the sidewalk, in front of his
Louse, drawing a child back and forth, in a baby carriage.

MB. LINCOLN never made his profession lucrative to him
self. It was very difficult for him to charge a heavy fee to
anybody, and still more difficult for him to charge his
friends anything at all for professional services. To a poor

MISCELLANEOUS. 181

client, he was quite as apt to give money as to take it from
him. He never encouraged the spirit of litigation. Henry
Mellenry, one of his old clients, says that he went to Mr.
Lincoln with a case to prosecute, and that Mr. Lincoln
refused to have anything to do with it, because he was not
strictly in the right. '; You can give the other party a
great deal of trouble/' said the lawyer, " and perhaps beat
him, but you had better let the suit alone."

FROM the original manuscript of one of Mr. Lincoln's
speeches, these words are transferred: "Twenty- two years
ago, Judge Douglas and I first became acquainted. We were
both young then — he a trifle younger than I. Even then
we were both ambitious, — I, perhaps, quite as much so as
he. With me, the race of ambition has been a failure — a
flat failure; with him, it has been one of splendid success.
His name fills the nation, and is not unknown even in for
eign lands. I affect no contempt for the high eminence he
has reached. So reached that the oppressed of my species
might have shared with me in the elevation, I would rather
stand on that eminence than wear the richest crown that
ever pressed a monarch's brow."

Ix one of Lincoln's early speeches against slavery he
said : " My distinguished friend (Stephen A. Douglas) says,
it is an insult to the em i "-rants to Kansas and Nebraska to

O

suppose they are not able to govern themselves. We must
not slur over an argument of this kind because it happens
to tickle the ear. It must be met and answered. I admit
that the emigrant to Kansas and Nebraska is competent to
govern himself, but (the speaker rising to his full height),
/ dtny his right to govern any other person without that
person's consent." That touched the very marrow of the
matter, and revealed the whole difference between Lincoln
and Douglas.

182 LINCOLN STORIES.

Lincoln's Last Story and Last Written Words and Con
versations.

The last story told by Mr. Lincoln was drawn out by a
circumstance which occurred just before the interview with
Messrs. Colfax and Ashmun, on the evening of his assassin
ation.

Marshal Lamon, of Washington, had called upon him
with an application for the pardon of a soldier. After a
brief hearing the President took the application, and, when
about to write his name upon the back of it, he looked up
and said :

" Lamon, have you ever heard how the Patagonuins eat
oysters? They open them and throw the shells out of the
window until the pile gets higher than the house, and then
they move;" adding:

'I feel to-day like commencing a new pile of pardons^
and I may as well begin it just here."

At the subsequent interview with Messrs. Colfax and
Ashmun, Mr. Lincoln was in high spirits. The uneasiness
felt by his friends during his visit to Richmond was dwelt
upon, when he sportively replied that he "supposed he
should have been uneasy also, had any other man been Pres
ident and gone there; but as it was, he felt no apprehension
of danger whatever." Turning to Speaker Colfax, lie"
said :

"Siimner has the 'gavel ' of the Confederate Congress, *
which he got at Richmond, and intended giving it to the
Secretary of "War, but I insisted he must give it to you,
and you tell him from me to hand it over."

Mr. Ashmun, who was the presiding officer of the Chi
cago Convention in 1860, alluded to the "gavel" used on
that occasion, saying he had preserved it as a valuable
memento.

MISCELLANEOUS. 183

Mr. Aslimun. then referred to a matter of business con
nected with a cotton claim, preferred by a client of his, and
said that he desired to have a " commission " appointed to
examine and decide upon the merits of the case. Mr. Lin
coln replied, with considerable warmth of manner, "I have
done with i commissions.' I believe they are contrivances
to cheat the Government out of every pound of cotton they
can lay their hands on." Mr. Ashmuii's face flushed, and
he replied that he hoped the President meant no personal
imputation.

Mr. Lincoln saw that he had wounded his friend, and he
instantly replied: " You did not understand me, Ashinun.
I did not mean what you inferred. I take it all back."
Subsequently he said: " I apologize to you, Aslimun."

He then engaged to see Mr. Ashmun early the next morn
ing, and, taking a card, he wrote :

"Allow Mr. Ashmun and friend to come in at 9 A.M. to-morrow.

A. LINCOLN."

These were his last written words. Turning to Mr. Col-
fax he said : " You will accompany Mrs. Lincoln and me
to the theatre, I hope?'' Mr. Colfax pleaded other engage
ments — expecting to start on his Pacific trip the next morn
ing. The party passed out on the portico together, the
President saying at the very last :

" Colfax, dorrt forget to tell the people of the mining
regions what I told you this morning about the develop
ment when peace comes;" then shaking hands with both
gentlemen, he followed Mrs. Lincoln into the carriage, lean
ing forward, at the last moment, to say as they were driven
off, " I will telegraph you, Colfax, at San Francisco, "-
passing thus forth for the last time from under that roof
into the creeping shadows which were to settle before an
other dawn into a funeral r>all upon the orphaned heart of
the nation.

184 LINCOLN STORIES

Abraham Lincoln's Death— Walt Whitman's Vivid Description of
the Scene at Ford's Theatre.

The day (April 14, 1865,) seems to have been a pleasant
one throughout the whole land — the moral atmosphere
pleasant, too — the long storm, so dark, so fratricidal, full of
blood and doubt and gloom, over and ended at last by the
sunrise of such an absolute National victory, and utter
breaking down of secessionism — we almost doubted our
senses! Lee had capitulated beneath the apple tree at
Appommatox. The other armies, the flanges of the revolt,
swiftly followed. «.

And could it really be, then? Out of all the affairs of
this world of woe and passion, of failure and disorder and
dismay, was there really come the confirmed, unerring sign
of peace, like a shaft of pure light — of rightful rule — of
God?

But I must not dwell on accessories. The deed hastens.'
The popular afternoon paper, the little Evening Star, had
scattered all over its third page, divided among the adver
tisements in a sensational manner in a hundred different
places: " The President and his lady will be at the theatre
this evening." Lincoln was fond of the theatre. I have
myself seen him there several times. I remember thinking
how funny it was that he, in some respects the leading
actor in the greatest and stormiest drama known to real
history's stage, through centuries, should sit there and be
so completely interested in those human jack-straws, moving
about with their silly little gestures, foreign spirit, and flat
ulent text,

So the day, as I say, was propitious. Early herbage,
early flowers, were out. I remember where I was stopping
at the time, the season being advanced, there were many
lilacs in full bloom. By one of those caprices that enter
and give tinge to events without being at all a part of them,

MISCELLANEOUS. 185

I find myself always reminded of the great tragedy of that
day by the sight and odor of these blossoms. It never
fails.

On this occasion the theatre was crowded, many ladies in
rich and gay costumes, officers in their uniforms, many
well-known citizens, young folks, the usual clusters of gas
lights, the usual magnetism of so many people, cheerful,
with perfumes, music of violins and flutes — and over all,
and saturating, that vast, vague wonder, Victory, the Nation's
victory, the triumph of the Union, filling the air, the
thought, the sense, with exhilaration more than all perfumes.

The President came betimes, and, with his wife, witnessed
the play, from the large stage boxes o! the second tier, two
thrown into one, and profusely draped with the National
flag. The acts and scenes of the piece — one of those sin
gularly witless compositions which have at least the merit
of giving entire relief to an audience engaged in mental
action or business excitements and cares during the day, as
it makes not the slightest call on either the moral, emo
tional, esthetic or spiritual nature — a piece (" Our Ameri
can Cousin '') in which, among other characters so called,
a Yankee, certainly such a one as was never seen, or at least
like it ever seen in North America, is introduced in Eng
land, with a varied fol-de-rol of talk, plot, scenery, and such
phantasmagoria as goes to make up a modern popular
drama— had progressed through perhaps a couple of its
acts, when in the midst of this comedy, or tragedy,
or non-such, or whatever it is to be called, and to offset it,
or finish it out, as if in Nature's and the Great Muse's
mockery of these poor mimics, comes interpolated that
scene, not really or exactly to be described at all (for on the
many hundreds who were there it seems to this hour to
have left little but a passing blur, a dream, a blotch) — and
yet partially to be described as I now proceed to give it:

186 LINCOLN STORIES.

There is a scene in the play representing the modern
parlor, in which two unprecedented English ladies are in
formed by the unprecedented and impossible Yankee that
he is not a man of fortune, and therefore ujidesirable for
marriage catching purposes; after which, the comments
being finished, the dramatic trio make exit, leaving the
stage clear for a moment. There was a pause, a hush, as
it were. At this period came the murder of Abraham
Lincoln. Great as that was, with all its manifold train
circling around it, and stretching into the future for many
a century, in the politics, history, art, etc., of the ISTew «•
World, in point of fact, the main thing, the actual murder,
transpired with the quiet and simplicity of any commonest
occurrence — the bursting of a bud or pod in the growth of
vegetation, for instance.

Through the general hum following the stage pause, with
the change of positions, etc., came the muffled sound of a
pistol shot, which not one-hundredth part of the audience
heard at the time — and yet a moment's hush — somehow,
surely a vague, startled thrill — and then, through the or
namented, draperied, jstarred, and striped space- way of the
President's box, a sudden figure, a man, raises himself with
hands and feet, stands a moment on the railing, leaps below
to the stage (a distance of perhaps of 14 or 15 feet), falls
out of position catching his boot-heel in the copious drapery
(the American flag), falls on one knee, quickly recovers
himself, rises as if nothing had happened (he really sprains
his ankle, but unfelt then) — and the figure, Booth, the
murderer, dressed in plain black broadcloth, bare-headed,
with a full head of glossy, raven hair, and his eyes, like
some mad animal's flashing with light and resolution, yet
with a certain strange calmness, holds aloft in one hand a
large knife — walks along not much back of the foot-lights
— turns fully towards the audience his face of -statuesque

MISCELLANEOUS. 187

beauty, lit by those basilisk eyes, flashing with desperation,
perhaps insanity — launches out in a firm and steady voice
the words Sic Semper Tyrannis — and then walks with
neither slow nor very rapid pace diagonally across to the
back of the stage, and disappears. (Had not all this terri
ble scene — making the mimic ones preposterous — had it
not all been rehearsed, in blank, by Booth, beforehand?)

A moment's hush, incredulous — a scream — the cry of
murder — Mrs. Lincoln leaning out of the box, with ashy
cheeks and lips, with involuntary cry. pointing to the retreat
ing figure, "He has killed the President." And still a
moment's strange, incredulous suspense — and then the del
uge! — then that mixture of horror, noises, uncertainty — (the
sound, somewhere back, of a horse's hoofs clattering with
speed) the people burst through chairs and railings, and
break them up — that noise adds to the queerness of the
scene — there is extricable confusion and terror — women
faint — quite feeble persons fall, and are trampled on — many
cries of agony are heard — the broad sjage suddenly fills to
suffocation with a dense and motley crowd, like some horri
ble carnival — the audience rush generally upon it — at least
the strong men do — the actors and actresses are there in
their play costumes and painted faces, with moral fright
showing through the rouge — some trembling, some in tears
the screams and calls, confused talk — redoubled, trebled —
two or three manage to pass up water from the stage to the
President's box — others try to clamber up— etc., etc.. "

In the midst of all this the soldiers of the President's
Guard, with others, suddenly drawn to the scene, burst in
—some 200 altogether — they storm the house, through all
the tiers, especially the upper ones — inflamed with fury,
literally charging the audience with fixed bayonets, muskets
and pistols, shouting." Clear out! clear out! — you sons of

188 LINCOLN STORIES.

b — !" Such the wild scene, or a suggestion of it rather,
inside the play house that night.

Outside, too, in the atmosphere of shock and craze, crowds
of people, filled with frenzy, ready to seize any outlet for
it, came near committing murder several times on inno
cent individuals. One such case was especially exciting.
The infuriated crowd, through some chance, got started
against one man, either for words he uttered, or perhaps
without any cause at all, and were proceeding at once to
hang him on a neighboring lamp-post, when he was rescued
by a few heroic policemen, who placed him in their midst*,
and fought their way slowly and amid great peril toward
the station house. It was a fitting episode of the whole
affair. The crowd rushing and eddying to and fro — the
night, the yells, the pale faces, many frightened people try
ing in vain to extricate themselves — the attacked man, not
yet freed from the jaws of death, looking like a corpse — the'
silent, resolute half dozen policemen, with no weapons but
their little clubs, yet stern and steady through all those
eddying swarms — made indeed a fitting side scene to the
grand tragedy of the murder. They gained the station
house with the protected man, whom they placed in
security for the night, and discharged him in the morning.

And in the midst of that night pandemonium of sense
less hate, infuriated soldiers, the audience and the crowd—
the stage, and all its actors aud actresses, its paint pots,
spangles and gaslight — the life blood from those veins, the
best and sweetest of the land, drips slowly down, and
death's ooze already begins its little bubbles on the lips.

Such, hurriedly sketched, were the accompaniments of
the death of President Lincoln. So suddenly, and in mur
der and horror unsurpassed, he was taken from us. But
his death was painless.

THE END.

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