Chapter II: Part 2

One of the most interesting anecdotes about the beloved Lincoln is the one quoted from Joe Jefferson’s autobiography. Jefferson and his father were playing at Springfield during the session of the legislature, and, as there was no theaters in town, had gone to the expense of building one. Hardly had this been done when a religious revival broke out. The church people condemned the theater and prevailed upon the authorities to impose a license which was practically prohibition.

“In the midst of our trouble,” says Jefferson, “a young lawyer called on the managers. He had heard of the injustice and offered, if they would place the matter in his hands, to have the license taken off, men then in vogue he remarked how much declaring that he only desired to see fair play, and he would accept no fee whether he failed or succeeded. The young lawyer began his harangue. He handled the subject with tact, skill and humor, tracing the history of the drama from the time when Thespis acted in a cart to the stage of to-day. He illustrated his speech with a number of anecdotes and kept the council in a roar of laughter. His good humor prevailed and the exorbitant tax was taken off. The young lawyer was Lincoln.”

HOW LINCOLN GOT THE WORST OF A HORSE TRADE.

Abraham Lincoln was fond of a good story, and it is a well-known fact that he often illustrated an important point in the business at hand by resorting to his favorite pastime. Probably one of the best he ever told he related of himself when he was a lawyer in Illinois. One day Lincoln and a certain judge, who was an intimate friend of his, were bantering each other about horses, a favorite topic of theirs. Finally Lincoln said:

“Well, look here. Judge, I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll make a horse trade with you, only it must be upon these stipulations: Neither party shall see the other’s horse until it is produced here in the court yard of the hotel, and both parties must trade horses. If either party backs out of the agreement, he does so under a forfeiture of $25.”

“Agreed,” cried the judge, and both he and Lincoln went in quest of their respective animals.

A crowd gathered, anticipating some fun, and when the judge returned first, the laugh was uproarious. He led, or rather dragged, at the end of a halter the meanest, boniest, rib-staring quadruped--blind in both eyes--that ever pressed turf. But presently Lincoln came along carrying over his shoulder a carpenter’s horse. Then the mirth of the crowd was furious. Lincoln solemnly set his horse down, and silently surveyed the judge’s animal with a comical look of infinite disgust.

“Well, Judge,” he finally said, “this is the first time I ever got the worst of it in a horse trade.”

LINCOLN HELPED HIM TO WIN.

His first case at the bar will never be forgotten by ex-Senator John C. S. Blackburn, of Kentucky, for Abraham Lincoln played a conspicuous part in helping the young Kentuckian to win his suit. Lincoln was merely an attorney, waiting for one of his cases to be called, when the incident occurred.

Ex-Senator Blackburn was but 20 years old when he began the practice of law, having graduated at Center College, Danville, Ky. His first case was in the United States court in Chicago, presided over by Justice John McLean, then on the circuit, says the Chicago Times-Herald. The opposing counsel was Isaac N. Arnold, then at the head of the Chicago bar, and subsequently a member of congress and author of the first biography of Lincoln. Young Blackburn had filed a demurrer to Mr. Arnold’s pleadings in the cause, and when the case was reached on the calendar the young Kentuckian was quite nervous at having such a formidable and experienced antagonist, while the dignity of the tribunal and the presence of a large number of eminent lawyers in court served to increase his timidity and embarrassment. In truth, the stripling barrister was willing to have any disposition made of the cause, in order to get rid of the burden of embarrassment and “stage fright.” He was ready to adopt any suggestion the opposing counsel should make.

Arnold made an argument in which he criticized the demurrer in a manner that increased the young lawyer’s confusion. However, Blackburn knew that he had to make some kind of an effort. He proceeded with a few remarks, weak and bewildering, and was about to sit down when a tall, homely, loose-jointed man sitting in the bar arose and addressed the court in behalf of the position the young Kentuckian had assumed in a feeble and tangled argument, making the points so clear that the court sustained the demurrer.

Blackburn did not know who his volunteer friend was, and Mr. Arnold got up and sought to rebuke the latter for attempting to interfere in the case, which he had nothing to do with. This volunteer was none other than Abraham Lincoln, and this was the first and last time the Kentuckian ever saw the “rail-splitting President.” In replying to Mr. Arnold’s strictures, Mr. Lincoln said he claimed the privilege of giving a young lawyer a helping hand when struggling with his first case, especially when he was pitted against an experienced practitioner.

LINCOLN SETTLES A QUARREL WITHOUT GOING TO LAW.

When Abe Lincoln used to be drifting around the country practicing law in Fulton and Menard counties, Illinois, an old fellow met him going to Lewistown, riding a horse which, while it was a serviceable enough an animal, was not of the kind to be truthfully called a fine saddler. It was a weather-beaten nag, patient and plodding and it toiled along with Abe--and Abe’s books, tucked away in saddle-bags, lay heavy on the horse’s flank.

“Hello, Uncle Tommy,” said Abe. “Hello, Abe,” responded Uncle Tommy. “I’m powerful glad to see ye, Abe, fer I’m gwyne to have sumthin’ fer ye at Lewiston cot, I reckon.”

“How’s that, Uncle Tommy?” said Abe.

“Well, Jim Adams, his land runs long o’ mine, he’s pesterin’ me a heap an’ I got to get the law on Jim, I reckon.”

“Uncle Tommy, you haven’t had any fights with Jim, have you?”

“No.”

“He’s a fair to middling neighbor, isn’t he?”

“Only tollable, Abe.”

“He’s been a neighbor of yours for a long time, hasn’t he?”

“Nigh on to fifteen year.”

“Part of the time you get along all right, don’t you?”

“I reckon we do, Abe.”

“Well, now, Uncle Tommy, you see this horse of mine? He isn’t as good a horse as I could straddle, and I sometimes get out of patience with him, but I know his faults. He does fairly well as horses go, and it might take me a long time to get used to some other horse’s faults. For all horses have faults. You and Uncle Jimmy must put up with each other as I and my horse do with one another.”

“I reckon, Abe,” said Uncle Tommy, as he bit off about four ounces of Missouri plug. “I reckon you’re about right.”

And Abe Lincoln, with a smile on his gaunt face, rode on toward Lewistown.

A LINCOLN STORY ABOUT LITTLE DAN WEBSTER’S SOILED HANDS.

Mr. Lincoln, on one occasion narrated to Hon. Mr. Odell and others, with much zest, the following story about young Daniel Webster:

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 happened to be very dirty. Knowing this, on his way to the teacher’s desk, he spit 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 cleaned. 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.”--From Lincoln’s Stories, by J. B. McClure.

LINCOLN’S LONG LIMBS DRIVE A MAN OUT OF HIS BERTH.

There was one story of his career that the late George M. Pullman told with manifest delight, which is thus related by an intimate friend.

One night going out of Chicago, a long, lean, ugly man, with a wart on his cheek, came into the depot. He paid George M. Pullman 50 cents, and half a berth was assigned him. Then he took off his coat and vest and hung them up, and they fitted the peg about as well as they fitted him. Then he kicked off his boots, which were of surprising length, turned into the berth, and, having an easy conscience, was sleeping like a healthy baby before the car left the depot. Along came another passenger and paid his 50 cents. In two minutes he was back at George Pullman.

“There’s a man in that berth of mine,” said he, hotly, “and he’s about ten feet high. How am I going to sleep there, I’d like to know? Go and look at him.”

In went Pullman--mad, too. The tall, lank man’s knees were under his chin, his arms were stretched across the bed and his feet were stored comfortably--for him. Pullman shook him until he awoke, and then told him if he wanted the whole berth he would have to pay $1.

“My dear sir,” said the tall man, “a contract is a contract. I have paid you 50 cents for half this berth, and, as you see, I’m occupying it. There’s the other half,” pointing to a strip about six inches wide. “Sell that and don’t disturb me again.” And, so saying, the man with a wart on his face went to sleep again. He was Abraham Lincoln.

LINCOLN’S JOKE ON DOUGLAS.

On one occasion, when Lincoln and Douglas were “stumping” 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.

“What Mr. Douglas has said, gentlemen,” replied Mr. Lincoln, “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 my best customers.

“Many a time have I stood on one side of the counter and sold whisky to Mr. 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 his as tenaciously as ever!”--From Lincoln’s Stories, by J. B. McClure.

LINCOLN SHREWDLY TRAPS DOUGLAS.

Perhaps no anecdote ever told of Mr. Lincoln illustrates more forcibly his “longheadedness” in laying plans, not even that incident when he asked the “Jedge” a question in his debate with Mr. Douglas, which may be told as follows:

One afternoon during that joint debate Mr. Lincoln was sitting with his friends, planning the program, when he was observed to go off in a kind of reverie, and for some time appeared totally oblivious of everything around him. Then slowly bringing his right hand up, holding it a moment in the air and then letting it fall with a quick slap upon his thigh, he said:

“There, I am going to ask the ‘jedge’ (he always called him the ‘jedge’) a question to-night, and I don’t care the ghost of a continental which way he answers it. If he answers it one way he will lose the senatorship. If he answers it the other way it will lose him the Presidency.”

No one asked him what the question was: but that evening it was the turn for Mr. Douglas to speak first, and right in the midst of his address, all at once Mr. Lincoln roused up as if a new thought had suddenly struck him, and said:

“Jedge, will you allow me to ask you one question?”

“Certainly,” said Mr. Douglas.

“Suppose, Jedge, there was a new town or colony just started in some Western territory; and suppose there were precisely 100 householders--voters--there; and suppose, Jedge, that ninety-nine did not want slavery and one did. What would be done about it?”

Judge Douglas beat about the bush, but failed to give a direct answer.

“No, no, Jedge, that won’t do. Tell us plainly what will be done about it?”

Again Douglas tried to evade, but Lincoln would not be put off, and he insisted that a direct answer should be given. At last Douglas admitted that the majority would have their way by some means or other.

Mr. Lincoln said no more. He had secured what he wanted. Douglas had answered the question as Illinois people would have answered it, and he got the Senatorship. But that answer was not satisfactory to the people of the south. In 1860 the Charleston convention split in two factions and “it lost him the Presidency,” and it made Abraham Lincoln President.

LINCOLN’S FAIRNESS IN DEBATE.

The first time I met Mr. Lincoln was during his contest with Douglas. I was a young clergyman in a small Illinois country town. I was almost a stranger there when Lincoln was announced to make a speech. I went to the hall, got a seat well forward and asked a neighbor to point out Mr. Lincoln when he came in. “You won’t have no trouble knowin’ him when he comes,” said my friend, and I didn’t. Soon a tall, gaunt man came down the aisle and was greeted with hearty applause.

I was specially impressed with the fairness and honesty of the man. He began by stating Douglas’ points as fully and fairly as Douglas could have done. It struck me that he even overdid it in his anxiety to put his opponent’s argument in the most attractive form. But then he went at those arguments and answered them so convincingly that there was nothing more to be said.

Mr. Lincoln’s manner so charmed me that I asked to meet him after the address, and learning that he was to be in town the next day attending court I invited him to dine with me. He came, and we had an interesting visit.

The thing that most impressed me was his reverence for learning. Recently come from divinity studies, I was full of books, and he was earnest in drawing me out about them. He was by no means ignorant of literature, but as a man of affairs naturally he had not followed new things nor studied in the lines I had. Philosophy interested him particularly, and after we had talked about some of the men then in vogue he remarked how much he felt the need of reading and what a loss it was to a man not to have grown up among books.

“Men of force,” I answered, “can get on pretty well without books. They do their own thinking instead of adopting what other men think.”

“Yes,” said Mr. Lincoln, “but books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren’t very new, after all.”

I met Mr. Lincoln several times later, the next time a long while after in another place. I thought he would have forgotten me, but he knew me on sight and asked in the gentlest way possible about my wife, who had been ill when he came to see us. But of all my memories of Lincoln the one that stands out strongest was his interest in poetry and theology. He loved the things of the spirit.--A Clergyman.

LINCOLN ASKED HIS FRIEND’S HELP FOR THE UNITED STATES SENATE.

One of the most valued possessions of the Gillespie family of Edwardsville, Ill., is a package of old letters, the paper stained by time and the ink faded, but each missive rendered invaluable, to them at least, by the well-known signature of Abraham Lincoln which adorns it. These letters, so carefully preserved, are nearly all of a political nature, and are addressed to Hon. Joseph Gillespie, before the war one of the leading politicians of Illinois, a famous stump speaker, several times member of the legislature, and for many years one of Lincoln’s most intimate political friends. The correspondence covers a period of about ten years, from 1849 to 1858, and the most interesting feature of this period, so far as Lincoln was concerned, was his unsuccessful effort to be elected to the United States senate. Probably the first intimation of his ambition in this direction was conveyed to Mr. Gillespie in the following letter, the original of which is now in the possession of the Missouri Historical Association, having been presented to that society by Mr. Gillespie in 1876. A copy, however, forms part of the family collection. It reads:

“Springfield, Ill., December 1, 1854.--(J. Gillespie, Esq.)--Dear Sir: I have really got it into my head to be United States senator, and if I could have your support my chances would be reasonably good. But I know and acknowledge that you have as just claims to the place as I have; and, therefore, I cannot ask you to yield to me if you are thinking of becoming a candidate yourself. If, however, you are not, then I would like to be remembered by you; and also to have you make a mark for me with the anti-Nebraska members down your way. If you know, and have no objection to tell, let me know whether Trumbull intends to make a push. If he does I suppose the two men in St. Clair, and one or both in Madison, will be for him.

“We have the legislature clearly enough on joint ballot, but the senate is very close, and Cullom told me to-day that the Nebraska men will stave off the election if they can. Even if we get into joint vote we shall have difficulty to unite our forces. Please write me and let this be confidential. Your friend as ever.

“A. LINCOLN.”

MAKING LINCOLN PRESENTABLE.

In narrating “When Lincoln Was First Inaugurated,” Stephen Fiske tells of Mrs. Lincoln’s efforts to have her husband look presentable when receiving a delegation that was to greet them upon reaching New York City.

“The train stopped,” writes Mr. Fiske, “and through the windows immense crowds could be seen; the cheering drowning the blowing off of steam of the locomotive. Then Mrs. Lincoln opened her hand bag and said:

“‘Abraham, I must fix you up a bit for these city folks.’

“Mr. Lincoln gently lifted her upon the seat before him; she parted, combed and brushed his hair and arranged his black necktie.

“‘Do I look nice now, mother?’ he affectionately asked.

“‘Well, you’ll do, Abraham,’ replied Mrs. Lincoln critically. So he kissed her and lifted her down from the seat, and turned to meet Mayor Wood, courtly and suave, and to have his hand shaken by the other New York officials.”

EVIDENCE OF LINCOLN’S RELIGIOUS BELIEF.

There has been much controversy over Lincoln’s religious beliefs, many claiming that he was a deist while others have sought to prove that he was an infidel. Although never a member of any church, there is much documentary as well as corroborative evidence which show him to have been a believer in Providence; and in his parting address to his Springfield neighbors, when leaving for Washington, he said:

“Washington would never have succeeded except for the aid of Divine Providence, upon which he at all times relied. I feel that I cannot succeed without the same Divine blessing which sustained him; and on the same Almighty Being I place my reliance for support. And I hope you, my friends, will all pray that I may receive that Divine assistance, without which I cannot succeed, but with which success is certain.”

LINCOLN A TEMPERANCE MAN.

After his nomination for the Presidency at the Republican convention of Chicago, a committee visited him in Springfield and gave him official notification of his nomination.

The ceremony over, Lincoln informed the company that custom demanded that he should treat them with something to drink. He thereupon opened a door that led into a room in the rear and called a girl servant. When she appeared Lincoln spoke something to her in an undertone, and returned to his guests. In a few minutes the girl appeared, bearing a large waiter, containing several glass tumblers, and a large pitcher in the midst, which she placed upon the table.

Mr. Lincoln arose and gravely addressing the company, said: “Gentlemen, we must pledge our mutual 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 cannot conscientiously depart from it on the present occasion. It is pure Adam’s ale from the spring.” So saying he took a tumbler, 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.--From Lincoln’s Stories, by J. B. McClure.

LINCOLN’S FAMOUS GETTYSBURG ADDRESS.

Speaking of the dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg and President Lincoln’s famous address, delivered on that occasion, Nov. 19, 1863, Gov. Curtain, of Pennsylvania, said that there had been much discussion as to how and when that address was written, and he continued:

“I can tell you all about that. Of course I was there, and the President and his cabinet had arrived and were at the hotel. Soon after his arrival, as we were sitting around in the parlor, Mr. Lincoln looked thoughtful for a moment or two, and then said: ‘I believe, gentlemen, the committee are expecting me to say something here to-day. If you will excuse me I will go into this room here and prepare it.’ After a time he returned, holding in his hand a large, yellow government envelope, on which he had written his address.

“‘Here, gentlemen,’ he said, ‘I want to read this to you to see if it will do;’ and sitting down he read it to us, and then said: ‘Now for your criticisms. Will it do? What do you say?’

“Several spoke in favor of it, and one or two commended it in strong terms. ‘Well,’ says the President, ‘haven’t you any criticisms? What do you say Seward?’

“Mr. Seward made one or two suggestions, bearing on some slight verbal changes, which I believe Mr. Lincoln incorporated.

“‘Now if you will allow me, gentlemen,’ continued the President, ‘I will copy this off;’ and again withdrew and made a copy of the address.”

THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS.

“Ladies and Gentlemen: Four score and seven years ago your fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that the nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

“But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it far above our power to add to or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here; but it can never forget what they did here.

“It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that the government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

LINCOLN AS A RULER.

Mr. Henry Watterson, the distinguished and scholarly editor of the widely-read Louisville Courier Journal, once delivered a lecture on “Lincoln.” The following is part of what he said:

“After he was inaugurated President, Mr. Lincoln evinced four great qualities of mind and heart so great indeed that it is doubtful if such a combination of kingly talents was ever before or since concentrated in the same man.” Mr. Watterson then elaborated from historical facts, incidents, and conclusions, as also from quotations from Mr. Lincoln’s speeches and letters, his direction and management of generals and cabinet officers, his knowledge of law, diplomacy, and military affairs, his firmness for the right, his great kindness of heart, and love of humanity, the following propositions:

1. Lincoln was the wisest ruler of this or any other age.

2. He had the firmness of the everlasting hills.

3. His love of justice and righteousness between man and man,
and between nations guided him in all things.

4. His kindness of heart, and his sympathies for mankind were
as an overflowing fountain.

5. Abraham Lincoln was raised up of God, and in a sense
inspired for the place and work he fulfilled in the world.

“Perhaps the most striking illustration of superior wisdom and power as a ruler,” said the speaker, “was his reply to Mr. Seward’s proposition to declare war against France and Spain, and impliedly against England and Russia, only one month after Lincoln’s inauguration. The reply was complete; so was his mastery over the most astute and scholarly statesman and diplomatist of the age. While preparing that reply, the same night after receiving Mr. Seward’s wonderful proposals,--a reply which the best critics of the world have declared needed not another word, and would not have been complete with one word lacking,--he was overheard repeating to himself audibly over and over, ‘One war at a time, one war at a time, one war at a time.’”

LINCOLN’S REAL OBJECT IN CONDUCTING THE WAR.

The great Horace Greeley was wont to criticize Lincoln’s plan of conducting the war. He finally wanted to know “what were the purposes and aims of the President, anyway?” The following is Lincoln’s reply, showing that his sole purpose was to save the Union at whatever cost.

“If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object is to save the Union, and not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it. If I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it, and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery and the colored race I do because I believe it helps to save the Union, and what I forbear I forbear because I do not believe it helps to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe that what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I believe doing more will help the cause.”

LINCOLN ASKED FOR SOME OF GRANT’S WHISKY.

When officious intermeddlers went to President Lincoln and demanded Gen. Grant’s removal from the command of the armies, charging that he was in the habit of getting drunk, Lincoln coolly asked them where he could get some of the brand of whisky that Grant was using; he wanted to supply it to his other generals. This remark of his silenced his callers, and he heard no more complaints about Grant getting drunk.

LINCOLN BELIEVED HIMSELF UGLY.

Mrs. Benjamin Price, of Baltimore, told, at a meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club of that city, two anecdotes of Abraham Lincoln. In one of them she said that her father-in-law had at one time been appointed to a government position in place of Mr. Addison, who was a most polished but notably plain-featured man. The two gentlemen went together to call upon President Lincoln, who received them cheerfully in the midst of the somewhat embarrassing operation of shaving. His face was a lather of soap, he extended a hand to each, and upon Mr. Addison enumerating the good qualities of his successor, and congratulating the President upon securing so eminent an officer, Mr. Lincoln exclaimed:

“Yes, Addison, I have no doubt Mr. Price is all that you say, but nothing can compensate me for the loss of you, for when you retire I shall be the homeliest man in the employment of the government.”

LINCOLN’S KINDNESS TO A DISABLED SOLDIER.

One summer morning, shortly before the close of the civil war, the not unusual sight in Washington of an old veteran hobbling along could have been seen on a shady path that led from the executive mansion to the war office. The old man was in pain, and the pale, sunken cheeks and vague, far-away stare in his eyes betokened a short-lived existence. He halted a moment and then slowly approached a tall gentleman who was walking along. “Good morning, sir. I am an old soldier and would like to ask your advice.”

The gentleman turned, and smiling kindly, invited the poor old veteran to a seat under a shady tree. There he listened to the man’s story of how he had fought for the Union and was severely wounded, incapacitating him for other work in life, and begged directions how to apply for back pay due him and a pension, offering his papers for examination.

The gentleman looked over the papers and then took out a card and wrote directions on it, also a few words to the pension bureau, desiring that speedy attention be given to the applicant, and handed it to him.

The old soldier looked at it, and with tears in his eyes, thanked the tall gentleman, who, with a sad look, bade him good luck and hurried up the walk. Slowly the old soldier read the card again, and then turned it over to read the name of the owner. More tears welled in his eyes when he knew whom he had addressed himself to, and his lips muttered: “I am glad I fought for him and the country, for he never forgets. God bless Abraham Lincoln!”

A SAMPLE OF LINCOLN’S STATESMANSHIP.

President Lincoln, the man who said and did so many kindly things, taught Seward how to write state papers. He was not only master of the situation in this country, but when England and France were about combining to recognize the Confederacy he so won the admiration of Lord Lyon, the British ambassador at Washington, that that official informed Lord Russell that he was in error when he sent instructions to prepare the government for the recognition of the South by England, and Lord Lyon afterwards resigned his office in consequence of the opposition to Lincoln. At that time there was a Russian fleet in New York harbor under sealed instructions, to be opened when France and England made their move, and the instructions were afterward found to be a command to the admiral to report to his excellency, President Lincoln.

TWO GOOD STORIES.

At a cabinet meeting once the advisability of putting a legend on greenbacks similar to the In God We Trust legend on the silver coins was discussed, and the President was asked what his view was. He replied: “If you are going to put a legend on the greenbacks I would suggest that of Peter and Paul: ‘Silver and gold we have not, but what we have we’ll give you.’”

On another occasion when Mr. Lincoln was going to attend a political convention one of his rivals, a liveryman, provided him with a slow horse, hoping that he would not reach his destination in time. Mr. Lincoln got there, however, and when he returned with the horse he said: “You keep this horse for funerals, don’t you?” “Oh, no,” replied the liveryman. “Well, I’m glad of that, for if you did you’d never get a corpse to the grave in time for the resurrection.”

LINCOLN RAISES A WARNING VOICE AGAINST THE CONCENTRATION OF GREAT WEALTH.

“Liberty cannot long endure,” said Webster, “when the tendency is to concentrate wealth in the hands of a few.”

President Lincoln, in a message to Congress, said of this danger: “Monarchy itself is sometimes hinted at as a possible refuge from the power of the people. In my present position I could scarcely be justified were I to omit raising a warning voice against approaching despotism. There is one point to which I ask a brief attention. It is the effort to place capital on an equal footing with, if not above, labor in the structure of the government. Let them beware of surrendering a political power which they already have, and which if surrendered will surely be used to close the door of advancement against such as they, and to fix new disabilities and burdens upon them till all liberty shall be lost.”

LINCOLN AND THE DYING SOLDIER BOY.

One day in May, 1863, while the great war was raging between the North and South, President Lincoln paid a visit to one of the military hospitals, says an exchange. He had spoken many cheering words of sympathy to the wounded as he proceeded through the various wards, and now he was at the bedside of a Vermont boy of about sixteen years of age, who lay there mortally wounded.

Taking the dying boy’s thin, white hands in his own, the President said, in a tender tone:

“Well, my poor boy, what can I do for you?”

The young fellow looked up into the President’s kindly face and asked: “Won’t you write to my mother for me?”

“That I will,” answered Mr. Lincoln; and calling for a pen, ink and paper, he seated himself by the side of the bed and wrote from the boy’s dictation. It was a long letter, but the President betrayed no sign of weariness. When it was finished, he rose, saying:

“I will post this as soon as I get back to my office. Now is there anything else I can do for you?”

The boy looked up appealingly to the President.

“Won’t you stay with me?” he asked. “I do want to hold on to your hand.”

Mr. Lincoln at once perceived the lad’s meaning. The appeal was too strong for him to resist; so he sat down by his side and took hold of his hand. For two hours the President sat there patiently as though he had been the boy’s father.

When the end came he bent over and folded the thin hands over his breast. As he did so he burst into tears, and when, soon afterward, he left the hospital, they were still streaming down his cheeks.

THE DANDY, THE BUGS AND THE PRESIDENT.

President Lincoln appointed as consul to a South American country a young man from Ohio who was a dandy. A wag met the new appointee on his way to the White House to thank the President. He was dressed in the most extravagant style. The wag horrified him by telling him that the country to which he was assigned was noted chiefly for the bugs that abounded there and made life unbearable. “They’ll bore a hole clean through you before a week has passed,” was the comforting assurance of the wag as they parted at the White House steps. The new consul approached Lincoln with disappointment clearly written all over his face. Instead of joyously thanking the President, he told him the wag’s story of the bugs. “I am informed, Mr. President,” he said, “that the place is full of vermin and that they could eat me up in a week’s time.” “Well, young man,” replied Lincoln, “if that’s true all I’ve got to say is that if such a thing happened they would leave a mighty good suit of clothes behind.”

LINCOLN UPHELD THE HANDS OF GENERAL GRANT.

In his “Campaigning With Grant,” in the Century, Gen. Horace Porter told of Gen. Halleck’s fear of trouble from enforcing of the draft, and his desire that Grant should send troops to the Northern cities. Gen. Porter says:

On the evening of August 17 General Grant was sitting in front of his quarters, with several staff officers about him, when the telegraph operator came over from his tent and handed him a dispatch. He opened it, and as he proceeded with the reading of it his face became suffused with smiles. After he had finished it he broke into a hearty laugh. We were curious to know what could produce so much merriment in the general in the midst of the trying circumstances which surrounded him. He cast his eyes over the dispatch again, and then remarked: “The President has more nerve than any of his advisers. This is what he says after reading my reply to Halleck’s dispatch.” He then read aloud to us the following:

“I have seen your dispatch expressing your unwillingness to break your hold where we are. Neither am I willing. Hold on with a bulldog grip, and chew and choke as much as possible.

“A. LINCOLN.”

WHY LINCOLN TOLD STORIES.

Mr. Edward Rosewater, editor of the Omaha Bee, said he believed Lincoln got relaxation by his story telling, and that the hearing of a good story gave him the mental rest that he so much needed during those brain-taxing days. These stories came out under the most trying circumstances and at the most solemn times. A striking instance of this was just after the battle of Fredericksburg. After the Union armies were defeated an official who had seen the battle hurried to Washington. He reached there about midnight and went directly to the White House. President Lincoln had not yet retired, and the man was at once received. Lincoln had already heard some reports of the battle. He was feeling very sad and rested his head upon his hands while the story was repeated to him. As the man saw his intense suffering he remarked:

“I wish, Mr. President, that I might be a messenger of good news instead of bad. I wish I could tell you how to conquer or to get rid of those rebellious States.”

At this President Lincoln looked up and a smile came across his face as he said: “That reminds me of two boys out in Illinois who took a short cut across an orchard. When they were in the middle of the field they saw a vicious dog bounding toward them. One of the boys was sly enough to climb a tree, but the other ran around the tree, with the dog following. He kept running until, by making smaller circles than it was possible for his pursuer to make, he gained upon the dog sufficiently to grasp his tail. He held on to the tail with a desperate grip until nearly exhausted, when he called to the boy up the tree to come down and help.

“What for?” said the boy.

“I want you to help me let this dog go.”

“Now,” concluded President Lincoln, “if I could only let the rebel States go it would be all right. But I am compelled to hold on to them and make them stay.”

LINCOLN REWARDS A MAN FOR KINDNESS THIRTY YEARS AFTER THE OCCURRENCE.

Lincoln’s indebtedness, in consequence of the closing out of his general store at New Salem, was such that it took him many years to extinguish all. There was one man among his creditors who would not wait, but secured a judgment against Lincoln and his personal effects were levied upon. Among them was his surveying instrument on which he depended for his living. At the sale a farmer friend of Lincoln’s named James Short bought the horse and surveying instruments for $120 and generously turned them over to their former owner. This kindness deeply touched the future President of the United States, who, some years later, repaid with interest the money so kindly advanced by Mr. Short.

Thirty years later, while Lincoln was President, he heard that James Short was living in California. Financial reverses had overtaken him some years previously and he left his home near New Salem and emigrated with his family to the State on the Pacific Ocean. One day Mr. Short received a letter from Washington informing him that he had been appointed an Indian agent. It will thus be seen that Lincoln never forgot a benefactor.

LINCOLN A MERCIFUL MAN.

Abraham Lincoln had a heart that was full of mercy; he could not bear to see even an animal suffer, and would not tolerate any wanton cruelty to animals. There are numerous instances of his mercifulness, but the following story will serve to show how kindly disposed the man was:

One day the major-general commanding the forces in and around Washington, came to the office of Mr. Dana with a spy whom one of his men had captured. Mr. Dana was assistant secretary of war. The officer informed Mr. Dana that the spy had been tried by court-martial and had been sentenced to death. He handed Mr. Dana the warrant for his execution, which was to take place at six o’clock the following morning. The warrant must be signed by the President, or in his absence by some officer with authority to sign it. President Lincoln was absent from Washington at that time and was not expected back before the afternoon of the next day. It therefore became necessary for Mr. Dana to sign the warrant for the execution of the spy, in accordance with the decision of the court. But President Lincoln got home at two o’clock in the early morning and on learning of the affair at once stopped the whole thing and thus spared the man’s life. It may be here stated that the law of nations in regard to the punishment of spies when captured is death.

LINCOLN’S HUMOROUS ADVICE TO A DISTINGUISHED BACHELOR.

When the Prince of Wales was betrothed to the Princess Alexandria, Queen Victoria sent a letter to every sovereign of Europe, and to President Lincoln, announcing the fact. The ambassador of England then at Washington was Lord Lyons, and he was a bachelor. He requested an audience with President Lincoln in order that he might present the important letter in person.

He called at the White House in company with Secretary Seward and addressed the President as follows:

“May it please your Excellency, I hold in my hand an autograph letter from my royal mistress, Queen Victoria, which I have been commanded to present to your Excellency. In it she informs your Excellency that her son, his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, is about to contract a matrimonial alliance with her Royal Highness the Princess Alexandria of Denmark.”

After the use of such diplomatic and high-sounding language one would naturally suppose Lincoln would require a few moments to collect his thoughts and reply in kind. Not so, however. His reply was short, simple and expressive, as follows:

“Lord Lyons, go thou and do likewise.”

A witness of the above incident said: “It is doubtful if an English ambassador was ever addressed 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.”--From Lincoln’s Stories, by J. B. McClure.

HOW LINCOLN ANSWERED A DELICATE QUESTION.

At the time when the Union soldiers were hunting for Jeff Davis, some one asked the President: “Mr. Lincoln, suppose they were to find Davis, and, in order to capture him, it was necessary to shoot him. Would you want them to do so?”

Mr. Lincoln said: “When I was a boy, a man lecturing on temperance stayed at our house over night. It was a cold, stormy night, and the man was quite chilled when he reached home after the meeting. He said if they would give him a hot lemonade he thought it would prevent his taking cold. Some one suggested that some spirits added would be beneficial. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘you might put in some unbeknown to me!’”

LINCOLN ILLUSTRATES A CASE HUMOROUSLY.

On one occasion, exasperated at the discrepancy between the aggregate of troops forwarded to McClellan and the number the same general reported as having received, Lincoln exclaimed, “Sending men to that army is like shoveling fleas across a barnyard--half of them never get there.”

To a politician who had criticized his course he wrote, “Would you have me drop the war where it is, or would you prosecute it in future with elder stalk squirts charged with rosewater?”

When, on his first arrival in Washington as President, he found himself besieged by office seekers, while the war was breaking out, he said, “I feel like a man letting lodgings at one end of the house while the other end is on fire.”

WHY LINCOLN MISTOOK A DRIVER TO BE AN EPISCOPALIAN.

The first corps of the army commanded by General Reynolds was once reviewed by the President on a beautiful plain at the north of Potomac Creek, about eight miles from Hooker’s headquarters. The party rode thither in an ambulance over a rough, corduroy road, and as they passed over some of the more difficult portions of the jolting way the ambulance driver, who sat well in front, occasionally let fly a volley of suppressed oaths at his wild team of six mules.

Finally, Mr. Lincoln, leaning forward, touched the man on the shoulder, and said:

“Excuse me, my friend, are you an Episcopalian?”

The man, greatly startled, looked around and replied:

“No, Mr. President; I am a Methodist.”

“Well,” said Lincoln, “I thought you must be an Episcopalian, because you swear just like Governor Seward, who is a church warden.”

A CLERGYMAN WHO TALKED BUT LITTLE.

A clergyman of some prominence was one day presented to Lincoln, who gave the visitor a chair and said, with an air of patient waiting:

“I am now ready to hear what you have to say.”

“Oh, bless you, sir,” replied the clergyman, “I have nothing special to say. I merely called to pay my respects.”

“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. It is a relief to find a clergyman, or any other man, for that matter, who has nothing to say. I thought you had come to preach to me.”

HOW LINCOLN RECEIVED A JACKKNIFE AS A PRESENT.

Considering his own personality Lincoln was very indifferent. He was perfectly aware that many people talked about his “awkwardness” and homely personal appearance. Far from feeling hurt at the remarks occasionally flung at him he rather enjoyed them.

One day he was traveling in a train. He was addressed, without any formal introduction, by a stranger in the car, who said:

“Excuse me, sir, but I have an article in my possession which belongs to you.”

“How is that?” Lincoln inquired, much surprised.

The stranger took a jackknife from his pocket.

“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 to say now, sir, that I think you are fairly entitled to the property.”

Lincoln related the above story to his friends again and again during his lifetime.--From Lincoln’s Stories, by J. B. McClure.

THE BEST CAR FOR HIS CORPSE.

Lincoln had the following good story on President Tyler:

“During Mr. Tyler’s incumbency of the office he arranged to make an excursion in some direction and sent his son, ‘Bob,’ to arrange for a special train. It happened that the railroad superintendent was a strong Whig. As such he had no favors to bestow upon the President and informed Bob that the road did not run any special trains for the President.

“‘What,’ said Bob Tyler, ‘did you not furnish a special for the funeral of Gen. Harrison?’

“‘Yes,’ said the superintendent, ‘and if you’ll bring your father in that condition you shall have the best train on the road.’”

HIS TITLE DID HOT HELP ANY.

During the war an Austrian count applied to President Lincoln for a position in the army. He was introduced by the Austrian Minister, but as if fearing that his importance might not be duly appreciated, he proceeded to explain his nobility and high standing. With a merry twinkle in his eye, Mr. Lincoln laid his hand on the count’s shoulder and said:

“Never mind: you shall be treated with just as much consideration for all that.”

ONE OF MR. LINCOLN’S AUTOGRAPHS.

Abraham Lincoln once received a letter asking for a “sentiment” and his autograph. He replied: “Dear Madam: When you ask a stranger for that which is of interest only to yourself always inclose a stamp. Abraham Lincoln.”

LINCOLN’S SUBSTITUTE.

It is not generally known that Abraham Lincoln sent a substitute to the war against the South, but such is a fact. During the earlier days of the war it seems to have been the desire of all prominent men in Washington to have a representative in the ranks, and Lincoln was no exception to the rule. At that time there was a minister named Staples in Washington, one of whose sons, then aged nineteen, had a desire to go to the front. Lincoln heard of him, and after a conference selected him as his representative, and he proved worthy, for he won honor on the field. He survived the war and finally died in Stroudsburg. The inscription on the stone over his grave reads as follows: “J. Summerfield Staples, a private of Company C, One Hundred and Seventy-sixth Regiment, P. V. Also a member of the Second regiment, D. C. Vols., as a substitute for Abraham Lincoln.”--Philadelphia Record.

LINCOLN’S ESTIMATE OF THE FINANCIAL STANDING OF A NEIGHBOR.

A New York firm applied to Abraham Lincoln some years before he became President for information as to the financial standing of one of his neighbors. Mr. Lincoln replied:

“I am well acquainted with Mr. ----, and know his circumstances. First of all, he has a wife and baby; together they ought to be worth $50,000 to any man. Secondly, he has an office in which there is a table worth $1.50 and three chairs worth, say, $1. Last of all, there is in one corner a large rat hole, which will bear looking into. Respectfully, A. Lincoln.”

LINCOLN’S QUERY PUZZLED THE MAN.

At a time when the war crisis was at its height one of those persons who were ever ready to give the President free advice on how to conduct the war, had just finished explaining an elaborate idea, when Mr. Lincoln remarked:

“That reminds me of a man in Illinois, who, in driving the hoops of a hogshead to ‘head it up,’ was much annoyed by the constant falling in of the top. At length a bright idea struck him of putting his little boy inside to hold it up. This he did. But when the job was completed there arose the more serious question, how to get the boy out of the hogshead. Your plan sounds feasible, but how are you to get the boy out?”

LINCOLN’S INAUGURATION.