Crawfordsville Weekly Journal, Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, 12 February 1897 — Page 7

THE QUAINT LINCOLN.

VIEWS OF A LAWYER WHO WAS ON THE SAME CIRCUIT WITH HIM.

His Modes of Expression—Sayings That Art- I'nliUe Those of jlny One Else. An Iustant'o of Snrciunn—Recollections of a Contemporary.

[Copyright, l&iXi, by the Author.] Although ho was very grave 141 his own person, ho loved the most bizarre und irregular wits. Roger North, "Life of Lord Guilford."

While, as a rule, Mr. Lincoln employed direct and unembcllished language to convey his thoughts and was terse and emphatic (though without precedent) in style, there nevertheless frequently occurs in his speeches, writings and random sayings a quaintness •of expression derived from no model and strictly sui juris, while not infrequently it requires quite au effort to grope through tho intricacics of expression to the involved idea. I think, however, that tho idea was strongly enforced and deeply impressed on the mind by means of the search and analysis required.

Desirous to inform mo that a statement liiadn in the Chicago Times of June !M, lbioS, was false, lie resorted to this verbosity and involution of language in order to embody the idea—viz: "Your letter inclosing tho attack of Tho Times upon me was received. Give yourself no concern about my voting against the supplies unless you are without faith that a lie can be successfully contradicted. There is not a word of truth in the. charge," etc. Here the latter short sentence contained the entire simple idea, albeit the long and involved preamble tended to fasten it firmly in the mind.

In his early youth he had a similar propensity. In 1S37, when" he was 2.S yoars old, he made a village lyeeum speech, which he desired to introduce by a preface substantially thus, "Wo live in the nineteenth century," but instead of stating it in that sufficient mode he veiled it iu this pomp of language, "In the great journal of things happening under the sun we, thf American people, find our account running under date of tho nineteenth century of the Christian era." Usually ho did not stray beyond the severity and strict sobriety of language. He not only did not indulge in hyperbole as a rule, but he habitually minimized his expressions below their proper standard and bases of facts, as in the same sophomorical speech last quoted from may bo found this extravagance of statement, "All tho armies of

IT. C. WHITNEY.

[Prom a photoprnph taken in 1874. Mr. Vfhitnejrwas a lawyer on tlie same circuit with Lincoln, with whom he was on intimate terms of friendship. IIo attended tho state convention in Blonminpton and made thuonly report of Lincoln's unti-Nebraskan "lost speech." Mr. Whitney now resides in Beechmont, near Boston.] Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasures of the earth (except our own) in their military chest, with a Napoleon for a commander, could not, by force, take a drink from tho Ohio nor make a track 011 the Blue ridge in a trial of a thousand years."

In his use of comparisons or illustrations he was sometimes addicted to extravagance of language and figures of speech, as in a letter of instructions to General Hooker about the needful disposition of his army, where he says, "In one word, I would not take any risk of being entangled upon the river, like an ox jumped half over a fence and liable to be torn by dogs in front and rear, without a fair chance to go one way or kick the other." The mind that coald devise so bold a comparison must have been possessed of a wonderful exuberance of fancy. In similar vein and with equal ardor of imagination he enjoins Grant, while the latter was in the Wilderness, to "hold on with a bulldog grip and chew and choke as innch as possible."

Ono could hardly suppose that ho expected to bo taken seriously in his famous lotter to mo of July 9, 185G, so often quoted—thus:' 'It turned me blind when I first heard that Swott was defeated and Love joy nominated, but after ninch anxious reflection I really believe it is best to lot it stand." Of course this extreme way of putting it, made in the freedom of epistolary correspondence, was not intended to bo understood literally, nor yet was tho following extract from a letter,written to Miss Mary S. Owen just after he had settled iu Springfield. He. wrote: 'I've never been to church yet and probably shall not be soon. I stay away because I am conscious 1 should not know how to behave mysolf." Consistency is a jewel indeed, for thu author of such gross exaggerations, iu Ins "lost speech" of May 29, 185(, said, "We must not promise what 'vo ought not, lest wo be oalled' on to perform what we cannot." There ia no efflorescence of language there. Here is another bold figure, taken from the same grent speech, which rang out like a shrill trumpet blast, startling all within hearing: "The battle of freedom is to be fought oat on principle. Slavery is a

violation of the eternal rigiit, but as sure as God reigns and school children read that'black, foul lie can never be consecrated into God's hallowed truth."

In necessary references to himself there is a needless disparagement as well as a garnish of grotesque humor. In a letter to Jesse W. Fell, inclosing his biography, he says, "There ia not much of it, for the reason, I supposo, that there is not much of 1110," and at the foot of this brief biography, after describing his person generally, he cannot refrain from addiug, although he was aware that it was to be exhibited to strangers and probably published, "No other marks or brands recollected," after the manner of describing an animal.

Self disparagement could scarcely go farther thau the following, tho full

NOTIMAX D. JL'DI).

[Tho man who presented his namo to tho Chicago runvrntiSn in June, 1S00. force of which is quite a puzzlo to tho understanding: "I read a sort of lecture to three different audiences, but I did so under circumstances which made it a waste of

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tiino whatever.

Apropos of this lecture, which he expended much time and pains on, but which proved to be a failure, I saw in a paper that lie had made a trip to Clinton to deliver it. and there was

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ence so I commenced to joke him about it, v.'hen he ruefully said: "Don't speak of if, for it plagues me some." Kut he was used 0 rebuffs of this kind. I11 June, 1850, Herndon made a great effort to get up a ratification meeting at Springfield, to which, however, but ono ma:: camo. When Lincoln arrived, he said, "This meeting is larger than I knew it would be, for, while I knew that Herndon and I would be here, I did not know that anybody else would come, but one other has come— you, John Pain."

He usually took a pessimistic view of anything that related to himself personally, but sometimes there would be a little rift in the somber cloud which hung over his destiny. Thus wrote to his friend Speed, "I have been quite a man since you left." And while in congress ho wroto to Herndon, 'As you are all so anxious for me to distinguish myself I have concluded to do so before long."

Ho had a felicity of statement which was peculiarly his own and stamped with his own individuality. Thus one Tom Johnson, his foster brother's son, stole a watch in Champaign, which was subsequently recovered, and Lincoln, in commenting on the probabilities of his guilt, thus summarized the case: "The watch disappeared from where he might have taken it, aud it reappeared at a place where he might have left it."

Of a certain mean lawyer he said, "The doctrine of the transmigration of souls may be true but, if so, when Quirk wa3 born no one died."

He was once bored while we were on the cars by a well known Know Nothing political lender. Assoou as he found an opportunity ho whispered to me, "That feller can crowd the most words into the fewest ideas of any one I ever saw."

I once wrote to retain him in a case. My letter came back, with his indorsement on it, "Count me in."

Another well recognized peculiarity is that his quaint sayings are genorally unlike the quaint sayings of anybody else aud bear the Lincolniau stamp and brand quite as unerringly as if his signature was appended thereto. Take, for example, this mode to portray a somewhat involved but veritable fact, "You may fool all of the people some of the time, and you may fool some of tho people all the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." That wonld at once be recognized as Lincoln's,

hm

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A. CAMl'UKM,.

[Tho man who loaned lanootu money to pay hifl campaign oxpeiuiit.i.j even thongh it should be found nailed upon tho north polo. Most obscure men raised on tho frontier would, on being translated into polite society, attempt to somewhat ohnston their language to harmonize with tho now social sphere. No so, however, our hero, as witness his first drawing room utterance after tho eleotion. When, at tho Tromont House in Chicago, Mrs. Judd called to t.ako Mrs. Lincoln out for a drive, Lincoln reported thus: "How d'ye, Mrs. Judd, how d'ye I My wife'U be down as soon ns she gets her trottin harness on." And

he was homespun and undramatio thriMghout. Unlike most men with bis environments, lie never assumed the doubtful virtue of artificial dignity, nor exhibited tho vulgarity of an affected style.

At a nnss meeting in Springfield 011 Aug. 14, lh(iO, he said candidly, "I've come just, to sec you and let yon seo me. To General Grant he wrote, "I confess that I was wrong and you was right.'' He once wrote, "This is as plain as adding up the, weight of three small hogs."

Alter he was elected, being greatly pressed from many quarters to issue, an I address to the southern people, boas frequently declined, aud in a letter to

Mr. Gilmer uf North Carolina he indulges in sarcasm (something unusual for him). "It would make me appear as if I icpnnted for the crime of having been elected and was anxious to apologize. and boa forgiveness." To the committee from the Virginia convention he agreed on April 4, 18il, that if the convention would adjourn without passing an ordinance of secession he would order Fort,Sumter evacuated, saying, "I'll give a fort for a state any time

He was terribly annoyed with office seekers, and a few days after the inauguration he complained bitterly to me of Judge Davis' pertinacity and greed in demanding official favors. Said he: "There's Davis. With that way of making a man do a thing, whether he wants to or not, has made me appoint," etc. But sometimes he was in a cheerful mood even in bestowing office. Once in my presence he wrote on a card for a waiting office seeker a note reading thus: "To the secretary of tho treasury The bearer, is an applicant for the position of in the custom house at Baltimore, and if his recommendations are satisfactory—and I recollect them to have been good—the fact that he is a Methodist is in his favor, as they complain of us some."

Among the predisposing causes of this tendency early illiteracy is the least potent. The controlling causes are more complex and recondite.

HENRY C. WHITNEY.

fn

Lincoln's fepecitfc Lire Work. One often think= of his'life as cut off, but no great man since Caisar ha.-: seen his life work ended as did Lincoln. Napoleon died upon a desert rock, hut not until Austcrlitz and Wagram hud become memories, and the dust of tho empire even as all dust. Cromwell knew that England had not at lieurt materially altered. Washington did not know that, ho had created cue of the grout, perhaps the greatest, empires to bo known to man. But Lincoln had a specific task to do—to save his country aud to make it free—und on that fateful I-lth jf April ho knew that, ho had accomplished both things.

There are those who would say that chance put this man where he was to do this work. To the thoughtful mind it was not chance, however, but design, and that the design of which all greatness is a part. War is indeed the crucible of the nations. It is the student of a century hence whoshall properly place the civil war

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American history. But,

whatever that placo be, there can be

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doabt of tho position in it of the war president. Like William tho Silent, Ins domination of all about him was a matter not of personal desire, but of absolute and constant growth. There are few more interesting characters

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history

than Lincoln. There is none who in quite the same manner fits himself so absolutely into his circumstances. It is the highest form of genius that so produces as to make production seem effortless, and it is perhaps the greatest of all tributes to Lincoln that what he did seems sometimes only what tho average man would have done in his place.

Abraham Lincoln.

'Tl3 to tbo man nnd tho man's honest worth The nation's loyalty in tourn upsprings. Throngb him tho soil of labor ahinuu henceforth

High o'or tin? tjilken broideries of kings. Born of tho people, well ho know to grasp The wants and wishes of tho weak and small. Therefore wo hold him with no shadowy clasp

Therefore bis name la honsshold to us all. —Alice Carjr.

A STUDY OF LINCOLN.

PECULIARITIES OF HIS PHYSICAL AND

MENTAL STRUCTURE.

An Extraordinary Combination of Unfitted Pilrts Wherein His Crcutness Lay—IIo Grew Liko tho lliekory and Kipcncd

Like the Oak Iiis 1'laee In History.

III*

I ic. on ifi~ $

BRA I-IA.M LINCOLN was a man apart from his kind in mind, body and fortune. Physically ho was what

would bo called in biology a freak and in botany a sport—ono of those abrupt departures from the morphological lino for which science can as yet give no reason. No resemblanco could ever ho traced between him and any of his relatives near or remote. No two men of tho same race could well be more unlike than ho and his father, and of his threo sous

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showed any great likeness to

him in form or features or any suggestion of tho same mental or moral traits, From tho social, domestic aud physical standpoint aliko I10 seemed indeed "the man without a model and without a shadow," a being sent into our sphere for a specific purpose, and, because of his mission, not permitted to become a part of tho stock in which he was bom or too deeply rooted in its social organism.

It is in his physical structure, I am

tVv/V// ,..*

w.'.y.'/.

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persuaded,-ih ti«» k« '-i \-t.vC. to those ::n: tz:i:- piso:::-•• v. hlcii i'.'* rined or, disgusted his frie-ids am! have, puzzle.1 his l.lograp'M rs. Caricature during his life

1

the p.ihfic. familiar

with some o! his odniues, he.t measurements taken after his death and preserved in the public archives show that caricature, envenomed though it was by tho fiercest political strife, had fallen short of the reality. His physical structure was at war with itself. Ho was (5 feet 4 inches in height, vet all that, length and more was in tho upper part of his legs mi chest, lor hi lower body was but avc-rngo and his diunhragm less tl. average, liis stomach was small and his appetite feeble. To borrow a phrase from mechanics, tho boiler was too small to supply power to so largo a machine, aud there was necessarily a deficiency somewhere. IIo had scarcely' an ounce of fat on his body. Ho was a small rater, disliked spirits and tobacco, cared not at all for fruit or sweetmeats, and even in tho hottest, weather or after tho greatest exprtion a moderate drink of cold water satisfied Ins thirst,. It. was from no calculating prudence thai, he was thus abstemious. His system craved no more, and, thongh temperance could not bring him happiness, indulgence in stimulants would have brought.

Tho beautiful science r.f comparative anatomy has enabled the biologist to reconstruct an entire? animal from the knowledge furnished by a single bone. Tho law of harmony of parts requires that a certain jaw should hold a certain kind of tooth and that a thigh bone of given length should be. part of the frameivork ot a body of corresponding size. Hut- there aro are, curious exceptions, and Abraham Lincoln was one. Had Cuvicr or au Agassiz pronounced upon tho separate parts ho nnght have assigned them thus: Thigh bone of a man 7 feet high diaphragm of

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5 feet inches

high foot that of an Indian, and a rather tall one, with an abnormity of the phalanges stomach that of a small and

weakly man arms of a very large and powerful man, and chest that of a largo man with a slight tendency to consumption. When Lincoln sat in his homo office in his favorite position, his chair leaning against the wall and his feet on tho lower round, his knees woro

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level with his forehead, and a writer who saw him first in this position, noting also his very long feet, remarked that without tho slightest exaggeration a silhouette of him would servo as tho initial \V for a comic illustrated paper.

Ono of his most marked peculiarities Was in tho feet. Tho normal man in walking touches with the heel first and gradually brings tho pressuro forward to tho toes, from which thoro is a sort of spring to tho next step, tho feet thus describing suocessivo arcs of circles, but Lincoln planted his wholo foot evenly 011 tho ground and lifted it ill the samo way, so that his track was liko that which may bo mado by a heavy man

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Stilts, tho bottom of tho stilt being shaped like a perfectly flat foot. It would bo WMirisomo repetition to give, tho many statements about tho awkwardness of his movements due to iliiu very peculiar structure. It may be noted once more, however, that, oddly as ho appeared to strangers when standing or walking, this was greatly increased when ho was lying down, as then his outlino appeared in full rolief. When the caricaturist of 1SG0 stated that ho was "thin as a lath and cast a shadow liko a lightning rod," it was but a moderate exaggeration for that heated campaign. Such was this odd combination —tho legs of a gi ait, with tho stomach of a dwarf tho arms of an athlete hung upon tho chest of a consumptive a man of immense physical .strength who was never really well, and a born humorist with au iutractablo liver.

Extraordinary as this combination of unfitted parts was, it was

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moro ex­

traordinary than tho combination of warring temperaments which animated the wholo. Tho basis was an extreme bilious temperament, and tliero ia reason to bolievo that tho bilo»duct ended too near tho pylorus, as sometimes occurs, t-lio result being that tho secretion therefrom works backward iuto tho stomach, producing tho trouble popularly known as "chronic biliousness." IIo also possessed tho encephalic temperament and another element which gave to his mind in cortain respects tho dreamy softness of a poetical and delicate woman. In short, as Abraham Lincoln was not ono man physically, hut parts of threo men awkwardly joined in 0110, so ho had as many temperaments, and eye, hair and beard and vital organs seemed to have been designed for different men. With all these he had in an extraordinary degreo that mysterious force called tenacity of life, often found in very weak men, a force which enabled tho semi-invalid Yoltairo to live to the ago of 8-4 and often preserves an apparent consumptive for a long life.

A man composed of such discordant parts and animated by such warring temperaments may become wiso or rich or great. In this world he never can bo happy. Happiness consists in tho harmonious action of the bodily organs, tho reasonable satisfaction of natural desire, the just balance of in^ulso and judgment aud the exorcise without extreme fatigue of all tho faculties of tho mind. But in Lincoln somo of tho tenderest emotions never had healthful satisfaction, aud others were most cruolly outraged. As to family pride, domestic love and the social cheer of homo life, wo need not accept the worst said by his latest biographer to know that these were not his, aud, though wo accept all that the most ardent eulogists havo alleged in denial or palliation, we must still believe that the man never lived one day of real tranquil enjoyment. It is rare that a man is so humble or unfortunate as not to find something in his ancestry to which lie may point with pride, but tho uniform testimony is that on that point Lincolu "maintained a significant reserve." Pew indeed are the men who do not confess a sentimental attachment to the placo of their birth or childhood, hut it was enly under very strong political pressure that Lincoln mentioned that ho was born iu Kentucky, aud all his I-lirois intimates 11 that his only refer. i: to his early lito in Indiana wero in ei.miection with aguo and poverty, hard struggles aud "milk sickness."

A man thus constituted of discordant elements, as 1 said before, canuot develop normally or happily. Ho cannot escapo tho most depressing melancholy, and I10 is l'ortunato if ho escapes an attack of insanity. And fight here, in my

Hit: MUST rOKTKArr OF MN'COI.N. [By ])ern:!:v on of ti. s. McCltiro. opinion, is tho key to tho solution of those mysteries in his early life. His— shall I say unnatural?—lovo affairs hm gi-otesquo and utterly unpardonable love letter, if such it may bo called his action at the timo first sot for his marriage, which it would seem that nothing but temporary insanity could excuse, and his fits of tenderness alternating with coarseness—all are explained by tbo faot that he had not yet grown into complete mastery of his peculiar make up. Whonce, then, the greatness of this, the greatest man of our time, if not of all time? It lies largely in tho faot that he never ceased to grow. Ho grew liko the hiokory he ripened like the hardj

russet. Ho never mado tho samo mistake twice, and to tlio last, day of his life he was a persistent, patient and thoroughly honest learner.

The root of tho matter was in him— thorough honesty aud inherent love for his fellow

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and a sincere desire to

benefit them, with an imrionso fund of brain power, an intellect winch only needed timo to work itself clear and a charity for the errors of others so great that to his colaborers it often seemod excessive. ft is tho rule that when eulogists have unduly exalted a martyred hero thoro follow it reaction and a timo when writers fail to do liitn justice, and so for awhilo it threatened to ho with Lincoln. A voluminous lif'o of him appeared, in which every good thing dono by his administration was credited to him, and to thoso who know his cabinet officers it seemed that tho laurels had been stripped from them to add—what was not needed—to tho glory of tho central figure. It was a rather dangerons proceeding. In tho case ot' almost any other man tliero would havo been a storm of protest, and tho luro would havo suffered for tho unwisdom of his biographers. Even in the case of Lincoln it should he noted that, this publication was followed soon by others, in which all tho faults and follies of his early life were shown in tho grossest detail. That tho reaction was so slight is tho fiual proof that Lincoln's placo in tho very zenith of tho firmament is for-

FIRST rOKTRAIT Of LINCOLN WITH A DF.ALD. [By permission of S. S3. McCIuro.]

ever fixed. Tho world road tlioso personal detailsand sinilod, but itwasarather sad smilo, and tho Lincoln of 188^-50 was ignored. For those eccentricities which, as I believe, rosnlted ontiroly from his unfortunato physical structure, tho world has shown even moro charity thau for tho frailties of Georgo Washington. Tho last groat trial of his fame has been most triumphantly passed, and all mankind now accept and oven heighten tho most florid eulogy passed Boon lifter his death upon tho groat emancipator and martyred president, Abraham Lincoln. J. H.

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lj*te!'

UKADLE.

CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT.

It Made tittle Iinprosslon 111 tho Great Kmam-iputor. Concerning Lincoln's lil'o in .Springfield, life., before the war an old resident of that city says: "Ho usod to come to my father's store, stiific his feet on tho counter and talk about the affairs of tho nation. I was present

night when Abo came in,

looking as melancholy as a man whose hens won't lay. "'What's tho matter, Lincoln?' my father asked. "'Oh, nothing much I I'm discouraged a bit. I fear my tilt with Donglaa was not very successful.' 'Nonsense, Abel' remarked my father. 'Your words havo electrified the country. Thoy will bear rich fruit for you. Your reputation has beon merely local heretofore now it is national.' "'Do you think so? Well, I hope you're right.' Thou tho future president •stalked out into tho night, looking more cheerful than when I10 ontored. "I will never forgot ho first few days after he was nominatod. At that time Springfield had 110 postal delivery, and v.e were in tho habit of going to tho postofrico la to in tho afternoon for our mail, fc'onietinics 200 people would gather in and near thn postoflioo. Tho ovoning after ho was chosen presidential candidate by his party Abo camo to tho postofiico as usual for hiH letters. Ho was dressed in the homely fashion of the time and placo aud grootod his neighbors in his usual democratic way. He. found his box full of mail. "Those were lively times in Springfield. Tho town was overrun with prominent men from all parts of tho country. It was my privilege to attend the reception given to his fellow townsmen by Lincolu iuli i' his clcction. I will never forgot tho picture ho presented as he toworod above his wifo aud greeted bis old friends. Thoro was not iu his manner tho slightest indication of what is now oalled'tho big head.' Mrs. Lincoln was very gracious and mado a lino impression that night. I hoard Abo say to my father in tho hallway an we were about to leave: 'I guess Mary will carry herself right well in Washington, old man.' "tjpeaking of Mrs. Lincoln, reminds me of an episode that took placo somo years before Abo bocamo a national hero. Thoro was a well to do tailor in Springfield who owned a handsome house just acrosd the street from tho Lmcoliis. Mrs. Lincoln did not fool pleased that a tailor should livo 111 a liner residence than that occupied by a loading lawyer. When Abo was olT on circuit, therefore, sho had a story added to their house. Tho job was nearly finished when Abe returned. I'o strode down thostivt, gazed at his house 111 surpriso, and then crossed to tho tailor's sido of tho road. 'Who lives in that palatial mansion over there?' ho asked of his neighbor. 'The widow Lincoln,' answered tho smiling tailor. Then waH heard a voice from tho top story of tho Lincoln house: 'Abe! Abe! Come to dmnor*

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