candidate for the Legislature the first time. A free-for-all fight
began soon after the opening of the meeting, and Lincoln, noticing
one of his friends about to succumb to the energetic attack of an
infuriated ruffian, edged his way through the crowd, and, seizing the
bully by the neck and the seat of his trousers, threw him, by means of
his strength and long arms, as one witness stoutly insists, "twelve
feet away." Returning to the stand, and throwing aside his hat, he
inaugurated his campaign with the following brief but pertinent
declaration:
"Fellow-citizens, I presume you all know who I am. I am humble Abraham
Lincoln. I have been solicited by many friends to become a candidate
for the Legislature. My politics are short and sweet, like the old
woman's dance. I am in favor of the national bank; I am in favor of
the internal improvement system and a high protective tariff. These
are my sentiments; if elected, I shall be thankful; if not, it will be
all the same."
=THE OTHER ONE WAS WORSE=
It so happened that an official of the War Department had escaped
serious punishment for a rather flagrant offense, by showing where
grosser irregularities existed in the management of a certain Bureau
of the Department. So valuable was the information furnished that the
culprit who "gave the snap away" was not even discharged.
"That reminds me," the President said, when the case was laid before
him, "of a story about Daniel Webster, when the latter was a boy.
"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 the 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 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.'"
=COULD MAKE "RABBIT-TRACKS"=
When a grocery clerk at New Salem, the annual election came around.
A Mr. Graham was clerk, but his assistant was absent, and it was
necessary to find a man to fill his place. Lincoln, a "tall young
man," had already concentrated on himself the attention of the people
of the town, and Graham easily discovered him. Asking him if he could
write, "Abe" modestly replied, "I can make a few rabbit-tracks." His
rabbit-tracks proving to be legible and even graceful, he was employed.
The voters soon discovered that the new assistant clerk was honest
and fair, and performed his duties satisfactorily, and when, the work
done, he began to "entertain them with stories," they found that their
town had made a valuable personal and social acquisition.
=PETER CARTWRIGHT'S DESCRIPTION OF LINCOLN=
Peter Cartwright, the famous and eccentric old Methodist preacher, who
used to ride a church circuit, as Mr. Lincoln and others did the court
circuit, did not like Lincoln very well, probably because Mr. Lincoln
was not a member of his flock and once defeated the preacher for
Congress. This was Cartwright's description of Lincoln: "This Lincoln
is a man six feet four inches tall, but so angular that if you should
drop a plummet from the center of his head it would cut him three
times before it touched his feet."
=WISHED THE ARMY CHARGED LIKE THAT=
A prominent volunteer officer who, early in the War, was on duty in
Washington and often carried reports to Secretary Stanton at the War
Department, told a characteristic story on President Lincoln. Said he:
"I was with several other young officers, also carrying reports to the
War Department, and one morning we were late. In this instance we were
in a desperate hurry to deliver the papers, in order to be able to
catch the train returning to camp.
"On the winding, dark staircase of the old War Department, which many
will remember, it was our misfortune, while taking about three stairs
at a time, to run a certain head like a catapult into the body of the
President, striking him in the region of the right lower vest pocket.
"The usual surprised and relaxed grunt of a man thus assailed came
promptly.
"We quickly sent an apology in the direction of the dimly seen form,
feeling that the ungracious shock was expensive, even to the humblest
clerk in the department.
"A second glance revealed to us the President as the victim of the
collision. Then followed a special tender of 'ten thousand pardons,'
and the President's reply:
"'One's enough; I wish the whole army would charge like that.'"
="UNCLE ABRAHAM" HAD EVERYTHING READY=
"You can't do anything with them Southern fellows," the old man at the
table was saying.
"If they get whipped, they'll retreat to them Southern swamps and
bayous along with the fishes and crocodiles. You haven't got the
fish-nets made that'll catch 'em."
"Look here, old gentleman," remarked President Lincoln, who was
sitting alongside, "we've got just the nets for traitors, in the
bayous or anywhere."
"Hey? What nets?"
"Bayou-nets!" and "Uncle Abraham" pointed his joke with his fork,
spearing a fishball savagely.
=DIDN'T TRUST THE COURT=
In one of his many stories of Lincoln, his law partner, W. H. Herndon,
told this as illustrating Lincoln's shrewdness as a lawyer:
"I was with Lincoln once and listened to an oral argument by him in
which he rehearsed an extended history of the law. It was a carefully
prepared and masterly discourse, but, as I thought, entirely useless.
After he was through and we were walking home, I asked him why he
went so far back in the history of the law. I presumed the court knew
enough history.
"'That's where you're mistaken,' was his instant rejoinder. 'I
dared not trust the case on the presumption that the court knows
everything--in fact I argued it on the presumption that the court
didn't know anything,' a statement, which, when one reviews the
decision of our appellate courts, is not so extravagant as one would
at first suppose."
="TAD" GOT HIS DOLLAR=
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
accompanied him, and he at length said:
"'Tad,' if you will be a good boy, and not disturb me any more until
we get to Fortress Monroe, I will give you a dollar."
The hope of reward was effectual for a while in securing silence, but,
boylike, "Tad" soon forgot his promise, and was as noisy as ever. Upon
reaching their destination, however, he said, very promptly: "Father,
I want my dollar." Mr. Lincoln looked at him half-reproachfully for an
instant, and then, taking from his pocketbook a dollar note, he said:
"Well, my son, at any rate, I will keep my part of the bargain."
=ROUGH ON THE NEGRO=
Mr. Lincoln, one day, was talking with the Rev. Dr. Sunderland about
the Emancipation Proclamation and the future of the negro. Suddenly a
ripple of amusement broke the solemn tone of his voice. "As for the
negroes, Doctor, and what is going to become of them: I told Ben Wade
the other day, that it made me think of a story I read in one of my
first books, 'Æsop's Fables.' It was an old edition, and had curious
rough wood cuts, one of which showed three white men scrubbing a negro
in a potash kettle filled with cold water. The text explained that the
men thought that by scrubbing the negro they might make him white.
Just about the time they thought they were succeeding, he took cold
and died. Now, I am afraid that by the time we get through this war
the negro will catch cold and die."
="LONG ABE'S" FEET "PROTRUDED OVER"=
George M. Pullman, the great sleeping car builder, once told a joke
in which Lincoln was the prominent figure. In fact, there wouldn't
have been any joke had it not been for "Long Abe." At the time of
the occurrence, which was the foundation for the joke--and Pullman
admitted that the latter was on him--Pullman was the conductor of his
only sleeping-car. The latter was an experiment, and Pullman was doing
everything possible to get the railroads to take hold of it.
"One night," said Pullman in telling the story, "as we were about
going out of Chicago--this was long before Lincoln was what you might
call a renowned man--a long, lean, ugly man, with a wart on his cheek,
came into the depot. He paid me fifty 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, undoubtedly having an easy conscience, was sleeping like a
healthy baby before the car left the depot.
"Pretty soon along came another passenger and paid his fifty cents. In
two minutes he was back at me, angry as a wet hen.
"'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 I went--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. I 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 fifty 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, and he never grew any shorter afterward. We
became great friends, and often laughed over the incident."
="I'D A BEEN MISSED BY MYSE'F"=
The President did not consider that every soldier who ran away in
battle, or did not stand firmly to receive a bayonet charge, was a
coward. He was of opinion that self-preservation was the first law of
Nature, but he didn't want this statute construed too liberally by the
troops.
At the same time he took occasion to illustrate a point he wished
to make by a story in connection with a darky who was a member of
the Ninth Illinois Infantry Regiment. This regiment was one of those
engaged at the capture of Fort Donelson. It behaved gallantly, and
lost as heavily as any.
"Upon the hurricane-deck of one of our gunboats," said the President
in telling the story, "I saw an elderly darky, with a very
philosophical and retrospective cast of countenance, squatted upon his
bundle, toasting his shins against the chimney, and apparently plunged
into a state of profound meditation.
"As the negro rather interested me, I made some inquiries, and found
that he had really been with the Ninth Illinois Infantry at Donelson,
and began to ask him some questions about the capture of the place.
"'Were you in the fight?'
"'Had a little taste of it, sa.'
"'Stood your ground, did you?'
"'No, sa, I runs.'
"'Run at the first fire, did you?'
"'Yes, sa, and would hab run soona, had I knowd it war comin'.'
"'Why, that wasn't very creditable to your courage.'
"'Dat isn't in my line, sa--cookin's my profeshun.'
"'Well, but have you no regard for your reputation?'
"'Reputation's nuffin to me by de side ob life.'
"'Do you consider your life worth more than other people's?'
"'It's worth more to me, sa.'
"'Then you must value it very highly?'
"'Yes, sa, I does, more dan all dis wuld, more dan a million ob
dollars, sa, for what would dat be wuth to a man wid de bref out ob
him? Self-preserbation am de fust law wid me.'
"'But why should you act upon a different rule from other men?'
"'Different men set different values on their lives; mine is not in de
market.'
"'But if you lost it you would have the satisfaction of knowing that
you died for your country.'
"'Dat no satisfaction when feelin's gone.'
"'Then patriotism and honor are nothing to you?'
"'Nufin whatever, sa--I regard them as among the vanities.'
"'If our soldiers were like you, traitors might have broken up the
government without resistance.'
"'Yes, sa, dar would hab been no help for it. I wouldn't put my life
in de scale 'g'inst any gobernment dat eber existed, for no gobernment
could replace de loss to me.'
"'Do you think any of your company would have missed you if you had
been killed?'
"'Maybe not, sa; a dead white man ain't much to dese sojers, let alone
a dead nigga--but I'd a missed myse'f, and dat was de p'int wid me.'
"I only tell this story," concluded the President, "in order to
illustrate the result of the tactics of some of the Union generals who
would be sadly 'missed' by themselves, if by no one else, if they ever
got out of the Army."
=LOST HIS CERTIFICATE OF CHARACTER=
Mr. Lincoln prepared his first inaugural address in a room over a
store in Springfield. His only reference works were Henry Clay's great
compromise speech of 1850, Andrew Jackson's Proclamation against
Nullification, Webster's great reply to Hayne, and a copy of the
Constitution.
When Mr. Lincoln started for Washington, to be inaugurated, the
inaugural address was placed in a special satchel and guarded with
special care. At Harrisburg the satchel was given in charge of Robert
T. Lincoln, who accompanied his father. Before the train started from
Harrisburg the precious satchel was missing. Robert thought he had
given it to a waiter at the hotel, but a long search failed to reveal
the missing satchel with its precious document. Lincoln was annoyed,
angry, and finally in despair. He felt certain that the address was
lost beyond recovery, and, as it lacked only ten days until the
inauguration, he had no time to prepare another. He had not even
preserved the notes from which the original copy had been written.
Mr. Lincoln went to Ward Lamon, his former law partner, then one of
his body-guards, and informed him of the loss in the following words:
"Lamon, I guess I have lost my certificate of moral character, written
by myself. Bob has lost my gripsack containing my inaugural address."
Of course the misfortune reminded him of a story.
"I feel," said Mr. Lincoln, "a good deal as the old member of the
Methodist Church did when he lost his wife at the camp meeting, and
went up to an old elder of the church and asked him if he could
tell him whereabouts in h--l his wife was. In fact, I am in a worse
fix than my Methodist friend, for if it were only a wife that were
missing, mine would be sure to bob up somewhere."
The clerk at the hotel told Mr. Lincoln that he would probably find
his missing satchel in the baggage-room. Arriving there, Mr. Lincoln
saw a satchel which he thought was his, and it was passed out to him.
His key fitted the lock, but alas! when it was opened the satchel
contained only a soiled shirt, some paper collars, a pack of cards and
a bottle of whisky. A few minutes later the satchel containing the
inaugural address was found among the pile of baggage.
The recovery of the address also reminded Mr. Lincoln of a story,
which is thus narrated by Ward Lamon in his "Recollections of Abraham
Lincoln":
The loss of the address and the search for it was the subject of
a great deal of amusement. Mr. Lincoln said many funny things in
connection with the incident. One of them was that he knew a fellow
once who had saved up fifteen hundred dollars, and had placed it in a
private banking establishment. The bank soon failed, and he afterward
received ten per cent of his investment. He then took his one hundred
and fifty dollars and deposited it in a savings bank, where he was
sure it would be safe. In a short time this bank also failed, and he
received at the final settlement ten per cent on the amount deposited.
When the fifteen dollars was paid over to him, he held it in his hand
and looked at it thoughtfully; then he said, "Now, darn you, I have
got you reduced to a portable shape, so I'll put you in my pocket."
Suiting the action to the word, Mr. Lincoln took his address from the
bag and carefully placed it in the inside pocket of his vest, but held
on to the satchel with as much interest as if it still contained his
"certificate of moral character."
=THE CASE OF BETSY ANN DOUGHERTY=
Many requests and petitions made to Mr. Lincoln when he was President
were ludicrous and trifling, but he always entered into them with that
humor-loving spirit that was such a relief from the grave duties of
his great office.
Once a party of Southerners called on him in behalf of one Betsy Ann
Dougherty. The spokesman, who was an ex-governor, said:
"Mr. President, Betsy Ann Dougherty is a good woman. She lived in my
county and did my washing for a long time. Her husband went off and
joined the rebel army, and I wish you would give her a protection
paper." The solemnity of this appeal struck Mr. Lincoln as uncommonly
ridiculous.
The two men looked at each other--the Governor desperately in earnest,
and the President masking his humor behind the gravest exterior. At
last Mr. Lincoln asked, with inimitable gravity, "Was Betsy Ann a good
washerwoman?" "Oh, yes, sir, she was, indeed."
"Was your Betsy Ann an obliging woman?" "Yes, she was certainly very
kind," responded the Governor, soberly.
"Could she do other things than wash?" continued Mr. Lincoln with the
same portentous gravity.
"Oh, yes; she was very kind--very."
"Where is Betsy Ann?"
"She is now in New York, and wants to come back to Missouri, but she
is afraid of banishment."
"Is anybody meddling with her?"
"No; but she is afraid to come back unless you will give her a
protection paper."
Thereupon Mr. Lincoln wrote on a visiting card the following:
"Let Betsy Ann Dougherty alone as long as she behaves herself.
"A. LINCOLN."
He handed this card to her advocate, saying, "Give this to Betsy Ann."
"But, Mr. President, couldn't you write a few words to the officers
that would insure her protection?"
"No," said Mr. Lincoln, "officers have no time now to read letters.
Tell Betsy Ann to put a string in this card and hang it around her
neck. When the officers see this, they will keep their hands off your
Betsy Ann."
="FOOLING" THE PEOPLE=
Lincoln was a strong believer in the virtue of dealing honestly with
the people.
"If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow-citizens," he said
to a caller at the White House, "you can never regain their respect
and esteem.
"It is true that you may fool all the people some of the time; you can
even fool some of the people all the time; but you can't fool all of
the people all the time."
=HER ONLY IMPERFECTION=
At one time a certain Major Hill charged Lincoln with making
defamatory remarks regarding Mrs. Hill.
Hill was insulting in his language to Lincoln, who never lost his
temper.
When he saw his chance to edge a word in, Lincoln denied emphatically
using the language or anything like that attributed to him.
He entertained, he insisted, a high regard for Mrs. Hill, and the only
thing he knew to her discredit was the fact that she was Major Hill's
wife.
=HE "BROKE" TO WIN=
A lawyer, who was a stranger to Mr. Lincoln, once expressed to General
Linder the opinion that Mr. Lincoln's practice of telling stories to
the jury was a waste of time.
"Don't lay that flattering unction to your soul," Linder answered;
"Lincoln is like Tansey's horse, he 'breaks to win.'"
="BAP." McNABB'S ROOSTER=
It is true that Lincoln did not drink, never swore, was a stranger to
smoking and lived a moral life generally, but he did like horse-racing
and chicken fighting. New Salem, Illinois, where Lincoln was
"clerking," was known the neighborhood around as a "fast" town, and
the average young man made no very desperate resistance when tempted
to join in the drinking and gambling bouts.
"Bap." McNabb was famous for his ability in both the raising and the
purchase of roosters of prime fighting quality, and when his birds
fought the attendance was large. It was because of the "flunking" of
one of "Bap.'s" roosters that Lincoln was enabled to make a point when
criticising McClellan's unreadiness and lack of energy.
One night there was a fight on the schedule, one of "Bap." McNabb's
birds being a contestant. "Bap." brought a little red rooster, whose
fighting qualities had been well advertised for days in advance,
and much interest was manifested in the outcome. As the result of
these contests was generally a quarrel, in which each man, charging
foul play, seized his victim, they chose Lincoln umpire, relying not
only on his fairness but his ability to enforce his decisions. Judge
Herndon, in his "Abraham Lincoln," says of this notable event:
"I cannot improve on the description furnished me in February, 1865,
by one who was present.
"They formed a ring, and the time having arrived, Lincoln, with one
hand on each hip and in a squatting position, cried, 'Ready.' Into the
ring they toss their fowls, 'Bap.'s' red rooster along with the rest.
But no sooner had the little beauty discovered what was to be done
than he dropped his tail and ran.
"The crowd cheered, while 'Bap.' in disappointment, picked him up and
started away, losing his quarter (entrance fee) and carrying home his
dishonored fowl. Once arrived at the latter place he threw his pet
down with a feeling of indignation and chagrin.
"The little fellow, out of sight of all rivals, mounted a woodpile and
proudly flirting out his feathers, crowed with all his might. 'Bap.'
looked on in disgust.
"'Yes, you little cuss,' he exclaimed, irreverently, 'you're great on
dress parade, but not worth a darn in a fight.'"
It is said, according to Judge Herndon, that Lincoln considered
McClellan as "great on dress parade," but not so much in a fight.
=LINCOLN'S FIRST SPEECH=
Lincoln made his first speech when he was a mere boy, going barefoot,
his trousers held up by one suspender, and his shock of hair sticking
through a hole in the crown of his cheap straw hat.
"Abe," in company with Dennis Hanks, attended a political meeting,
which was addressed by a typical stump speaker--one of those
loud-voiced fellows who shouted at the top of his voice, and waved his
arms wildly.
At the conclusion of the speech, which did not meet the views either
of "Abe" or Dennis, the latter declared that "Abe" could make a better
speech than that. Whereupon he got a dry-goods box and called on "Abe"
to reply to the campaign orator.
Lincoln threw his old straw hat on the ground, and, mounting the
dry-goods box, delivered a speech which held the attention of the
crowd and won him considerable applause. Even the campaign orator
admitted that it was a fine speech and answered every point in his own
"oration."
Dennis Hanks, who thought "Abe" was about the greatest man that ever
lived, was delighted, and he often told how young "Abe" got the better
of the trained campaign speaker.
=TOO MANY PIGS FOR THE TEATS=
An applicant for a sutlership in the army relates this story: "In
the winter of 1864, after serving three years in the Union Army, and
being honorably discharged, I made application for the post sutlership
at Point Lookout. My father being interested, we made application to
Mr. Stanton, the Secretary of War. We obtained an audience, and were
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 he 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, then said: 'Were you ever
wounded?' I told him yes, at the battle of Williamsburg, May 5, 1861.
"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 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: