the gentlemen Mr. Lincoln had been avoiding for a week. Mr. Lincoln
reached for the boy, took him in his lap, kissed him, and told him it
was all right, and that he had introduced his friend like a little
gentleman as he was. Tad was eleven years old at this time.
The President was pleased with Tad's diplomacy, and often laughed at
the incident as he told others of it. One day while caressing the boy,
he asked him why he called those gentlemen "his friends." "Well," said
Tad, "I had seen them so often, and they looked so good and sorry,
and said they were from Kentucky, that I thought they must be our
friends." "That is right, my son," said Mr. Lincoln; "I would have the
whole human race your friends and mine, if it were possible."
=STOOD UP THE LONGEST=
There was a rough gallantry among the young people; and Lincoln's old
comrades and friends in Indiana have left many tales of how he "went
to see the girls;" of how he brought in the biggest back-log and
made the brightest fire; of how the young people, sitting around it,
watching the way the sparks flew, told their fortunes.
He helped pare apples, shell corn and crack nuts. He took the girls
to meeting and to spelling school, though he was not often allowed to
take part in the spelling-match, for the one who "chose first" always
chose "Abe" Lincoln, and that was equivalent to winning, as the others
knew that "he would stand up the longest."
=ADMIRED THE STRONG MAN=
Governor Hoyt of Wisconsin tells a story of Mr. Lincoln's great
admiration for physical strength. Mr. Lincoln, in 1859, made a speech
at the Wisconsin State Agricultural Fair. After the speech, in company
with the Governor, he strolled about the grounds, looking at the
exhibits. They came to a place where a professional "strong man" was
tossing cannon balls in the air and catching them on his arms and
juggling with them as though they were as light as baseballs. Mr.
Lincoln had never before seen such an exhibition, and he was greatly
surprised and interested.
When the performance was over, Governor Hoyt, seeing Mr. Lincoln's
interest, asked him to go up and be introduced to the athlete. He did
so, and, as he stood looking down musingly on the man, who was very
short, and evidently wondering that one so much smaller than he could
be so much stronger, he suddenly broke out with one of his quaint
speeches. "Why," he said, "why, I could lick salt off the top of your
hat."
=SAVED LINCOLN'S LIFE=
When Mr. Lincoln was quite a small boy he met with an accident that
almost cost him his life. He was saved by Austin Gollaher, a young
playmate. Mr. Gollaher lived to be more than ninety years of age,
and to the day of his death related with great pride his boyhood
association with Lincoln.
"Yes," Mr. Gollaher once said, "the story that I once saved Abraham
Lincoln's life is true. He and I had been going to school together for
a year or more, and had become greatly attached to each other. Then
school disbanded on account of there being so few scholars, and we did
not see each other much for a long while.
"One Sunday my mother visited the Lincolns, and I was taken along.
'Abe' and I played around all day. Finally, we concluded to cross
the creek to hunt for some partridges young Lincoln had seen the day
before. The creek was swollen by a recent rain, and, in crossing on
the narrow footlog, 'Abe' fell in. Neither of us could swim. I got a
long pole and held it out to 'Abe,' who grabbed it. Then I pulled him
ashore.
"He was almost dead, and I was badly scared. I rolled and pounded him
in good earnest. Then I got him by the arms and shook him, the water
meanwhile pouring out of his mouth. By this means I succeeded in
bringing him to, and he was soon all right.
"Then a new difficulty confronted us. If our mothers discovered our
wet clothes they would whip us. This we dreaded from experience, and
determined to avoid. It was June, the sun was very warm, and we soon
dried our clothing by spreading it on the rocks about us. We promised
never to tell the story, and I never did until after Lincoln's tragic
end."
=WOULD BLOW THEM TO H----.=
Mr. Lincoln had advised Lieutenant-General Winfield Scott, commanding
the United States Army, of the threats of violence on inauguration
day, 1861. General Scott was sick in bed at Washington when
Adjutant-General Thomas Mather, of Illinois, called upon him in
President-elect Lincoln's behalf, and the veteran commander was much
wrought up. Said he to General Mather:
"Present my compliments to Mr. Lincoln when you return to Springfield,
and tell him I expect him to come on to Washington as soon as he is
ready; say to him that I will look after those Maryland and Virginia
rangers myself. I will plant cannon at both ends of Pennsylvania
Avenue, and if any of them show their heads or raise a finger, I'll
blow them to h----."
="I CAN STAND IT IF THEY CAN"=
United States Senator Benjamin Wade, of Ohio, Henry Winter Davis, of
Maryland, and Wendell Phillips were strongly opposed to President
Lincoln's re-election, and Wade and Davis issued a manifesto. Phillips
made several warm speeches against Lincoln and his policy.
When asked if he had read the manifesto or any of Phillips' speeches,
the President replied:
"I have not seen them, nor do I care to see them. I have seen enough
to satisfy me that I am a failure, not only in the opinion of the
people in rebellion, but of many distinguished politicians of my own
party. But time will show whether I am right or they are right, and I
am content to abide its decision.
"I have enough to look after without giving much of my time to the
consideration of the subject of who shall be my successor in office.
The position is not an easy one, and the occupant, whoever he may be,
for the next four years, will have little leisure to pluck a thorn or
plant a rose in his own pathway."
It was urged that this opposition must be embarrassing to his
Administration, as well as damaging to the party. He replied: "Yes,
that is true; but our friends, Wade, Davis, Phillips, and others
are hard to please. I am not capable of doing so. I cannot please
them without wantonly violating not only my oath, but the most vital
principles upon which our government was founded.
"As to those who, like Wade and the rest, see fit to depreciate my
policy and cavil at my official acts, I shall not complain of them. I
accord them the utmost freedom of speech and liberty of the press, but
shall not change the policy I have adopted in the full belief that I
am right.
"I feel on this subject as an old Illinois farmer once expressed
himself while eating cheese. He was interrupted in the midst of his
repast by the entrance of his son, who exclaimed, 'Hold on, dad!
there's skippers in that cheese you're eating!'
"'Never mind, Tom,' said he, as he kept on munching his cheese, 'if
they can stand it I can.'"
=A MORTIFYING EXPERIENCE=
A lady reader or elocutionist came to Springfield in 1857. A large
crowd greeted her. Among other things she recited "Nothing to Wear,"
a piece in which is described the perplexities that beset "Miss Flora
McFlimsey" in her efforts to appear fashionable.
In the midst of one stanza in which no effort is made to say anything
particularly amusing, and during the reading of which the audience
manifested the most respectful silence and attention, some one in the
rear seats burst out with a loud, coarse laugh, a sudden and explosive
guffaw.
It startled the speaker and audience, and kindled a storm of
unsuppressed laughter and applause. Everybody looked back to ascertain
the cause of the demonstration, and were greatly surprised to find
that it was Mr. Lincoln.
He blushed and squirmed with the awkward diffidence of a schoolboy.
What caused him to laugh, no one was able to explain. He was
doubtless wrapped up in a brown study, and recalling some amusing
episode indulged in laughter without realizing his surroundings. The
experience mortified him greatly.
=GRANT HELD ON ALL THE TIME=
(Dispatch to General Grant, August 17th, 1864.)
"I have seen your dispatch expressing your unwillingness to break your
hold where you are. Neither am I willing.
"Hold on with a bulldog grip."
=EVERY LITTLE HELPED=
As the time drew near at which Mr. Lincoln said he would issue the
Emancipation Proclamation, some clergymen, who feared the President
might change his mind, called on him to urge him to keep his promise.
"We were ushered into the Cabinet room," says Dr. Sunderland. "It
was very dim, but one gas jet burning. As we entered, Mr. Lincoln
was standing at the farther end of the long table, which filled the
center of the room. As I stood by the door, I am so very short that I
was obliged to look up to see the President. Mr. Robbins introduced
me, and I began at once by saying: 'I have come, Mr. President, to
anticipate the new year with my respects, and if I may, to say to you
a word about the serious condition of this country.'
"'Go ahead, Doctor,' replied the President; 'every little helps.' But
I was too much in earnest to laugh at his sally at my smallness."
=KEPT UP THE ARGUMENT=
Judge T. Lyle Dickey of Illinois related that when the excitement
over the Kansas-Nebraska bill first broke out, he was with Lincoln
and several friends attending court. One evening several persons,
including himself and Lincoln, were discussing the slavery question.
Judge Dickey contended that slavery was an institution which the
Constitution recognized, and which could not be disturbed. Lincoln
argued that ultimately slavery must become extinct. "After a while,"
said Judge Dickey, "we went upstairs to bed. There were two beds in
our room, and I remember that Lincoln sat up in his night shirt on the
edge of the bed arguing the point with me. At last we went to sleep.
Early in the morning I woke up and there was Lincoln half sitting up
in bed. 'Dickey', said he, 'I tell you this nation cannot exist half
slave and half free.' 'Oh, Lincoln,' said I, 'go to sleep.'"
=THOUGHT OF LEARNING A TRADE=
Lincoln at one time thought seriously of learning the blacksmith's
trade. He was without means, and felt the immediate necessity
of undertaking some business that would give him bread. While
entertaining this project an event occurred which, in his undetermined
state of mind, seemed to open a way to success in another quarter.
Reuben Radford, keeper of a small store in the village of New Salem,
had incurred the displeasure of the "Clary Grove Boys," who exercised
their "regulating" prerogatives by irregularly breaking his windows.
William G. Greene, a friend of young Lincoln, riding by Radford's
store soon afterward, was hailed by him and told that he intended to
sell out. Mr. Greene went into the store, and offered him at random
$400 for his stock, which offer was immediately accepted.
Lincoln "happened in" the next day, and being familiar with the value
of the goods, Mr. Greene proposed to him to take an inventory of the
stock, and see what sort of a bargain he had made. This he did, and it
was found that the goods were worth $600.
Lincoln then made an offer of $125 for his bargain, with the
proposition that he and a man named Berry, as his partner, take over
Greene's notes given to Radford. Mr. Greene agreed to the arrangement,
but Radford declined it, except on condition that Greene would be
their security. Greene at last assented.
Lincoln was not afraid of the "Clary Grove Boys"; on the contrary,
they had been his most ardent friends since the time he thrashed
"Jack" Armstrong, champion bully of "The Grove"--but their custom was
not heavy.
The business soon became a wreck; Greene had to not only assist in
closing it up, but pay Radford's notes as well. Lincoln afterwards
spoke of these notes which he finally made good to Greene, as "the
National Debt."
=THE SAME OLD RUM=
One of President Lincoln's friends, visiting at the White House, was
finding considerable fault with the constant agitation in Congress
of the slavery question. He remarked that, after the adoption of the
Emancipation policy, he had hoped for something new.
"There was a man down in Maine," said the President, in reply, "who
kept a grocery store, and a lot of fellows used to loaf around for
their toddy. He only gave 'em New England rum, and they drank pretty
considerable of it. But after a while they began to get tired of that,
and kept asking for something new--something new--all the time. Well,
one night, when the whole crowd were around, the grocer brought out
his glasses, and says he, 'I've got something New for you to drink,
boys, now.'
"'Honor bright?' says they.
"'Honor bright,' says he, and with that he sets out a jug. 'Thar,'
says he, 'that's something New; it's New England rum!' says he.
"Now," remarked the President, in conclusion, "I guess we're a
good deal like that crowd, and Congress is a good deal like that
store-keeper!"
=COULDN'T LET GO THE HOG=
When Governor Custer of Pennsylvania described the terrible butchery
at the battle of Fredericksburg, Mr. Lincoln was almost broken-hearted.
The Governor regretted that his description had so sadly affected
the President. He remarked: "I would give all I possess to know how
to rescue you from this terrible war." Then Mr. Lincoln's wonderful
recuperative powers asserted themselves and this marvelous man was
himself.
Lincoln's whole aspect suddenly changed, and he relieved his mind by
telling a story.
"This reminds me, Governor," he said, "of an old farmer out in
Illinois that I used to know.
"He took it into his head to go into hog-raising. He sent out to
Europe and imported the finest breed of hogs he could buy.
"The prize hog was put in a pen, and the farmer's two mischievous
boys, James and John, were told to be sure not to let it out. But
James, the worst of the two, let the brute out the next day. The hog
went straight for the boys, and drove John up a tree; then the hog
went for the seat of James' trousers, and the only way the boy could
save himself was by holding on to the hog's tail.
"The hog would not give up his hunt, nor the boy his hold! After they
had made a good many circles around the tree, the boy's courage began
to give out, and he shouted to his brother, 'I say, John, come down
quick, and help me let go this hog!'
"Now, Governor, that is exactly my case. I wish some one would come
and help me to let the hog go."
=HIS KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN NATURE=
Once, when Lincoln was pleading a case, the opposing lawyer had all
the advantage of the law; the weather was warm, and his opponent, as
was admissible in frontier courts, pulled off his coat and vest as he
grew warm in the argument.
At that time, shirts with buttons behind were unusual. Lincoln took in
the situation at once. Knowing the prejudices of the primitive people
against pretension of all sorts, or any affectation of superior social
rank, arising, he said: "Gentlemen of the jury, having justice on my
side, I don't think you will be at all influenced by the gentleman's
pretended knowledge of the law, when you see he does not even know
which side of his shirt should be in front." There was a general
laugh, and Lincoln's case was won.
=TOOK NOTHING BUT MONEY=
During the War Congress appropriated $10,000 to be expended by the
President in defending United States Marshals in cases of arrests and
seizures where the legality of their actions was tested in the courts.
Previously the Marshals sought the assistance of the Attorney-General
in defending them, but when they found that the President had a fund
for that purpose they sought to control the money.
In speaking of these Marshals one day, Mr. Lincoln said:
"They are like a man in Illinois, whose cabin was burned down,
and, according to the kindly custom of early days in the West, his
neighbors all contributed something to start him again. In his case
they had been so liberal that he soon found himself better off than
before the fire, and he got proud. One day a neighbor brought him a
bag of oats, but the fellow refused it with scorn.
"'No,' said he, 'I'm not taking oats now. I take nothing but money.'"
=CREDITOR PAID DEBTOR'S DEBT=
A certain rich man in Springfield, Illinois, sued a poor attorney for
$2.50, and Lincoln was asked to prosecute the case. Lincoln urged
the creditor to let the matter drop, adding, "You can make nothing
out of him, and it will cost you a good deal more than the debt to
bring suit." The creditor was still determined to have his way, and
threatened to seek some other attorney. Lincoln then said, "Well, if
you are determined that suit should be brought, I will bring it; but
my charge will be $10."
The money was paid him, and peremptory orders were given that the
suit be brought that day. After the client's departure, Lincoln went
out of the office, returning in about an hour with an amused look on
his face. Asked what pleased him, he replied, "I brought suit against
----, and then hunted him up, told him what I had done, handed him
half of the $10, and we went over to the squire's office. He confessed
judgment and paid the bill."
Lincoln added that he didn't see any other way to make things
satisfactory for his client as well as the other.
=CONSCRIPTING DEAD MEN=
Mr. Lincoln being found fault with for making another "call," said
that if the country required it, he would continue to do so until the
matter stood as described by a Western provost marshal, who says:
"I listened a short time since to a butternut-clad individual, who
succeeded in making good his escape, expatiate most eloquently on
the rigidness with which the conscription was enforced south of the
Tennessee River. His response to a question propounded by a citizen
ran somewhat in this wise:
"'Do they conscript close over the river?'
"'Stranger, I should think they did! They take every man who hasn't
been dead more than two days!'
"If this is correct, the Confederacy has at least a ghost of a chance
left."
And of another, a Methodist minister in Kansas, living on a small
salary, who was greatly troubled to get his quarterly instalment. He
at last told the non-paying trustees that he must have his money, as
he was suffering for the necessaries of life.
"Money!" replied the trustees; "you preach for money? We thought you
preached for the good of souls!"
"Souls!" responded the reverend; "I can't eat souls; and if I could it
would take a thousand such as yours to make a meal!"
"That soul is the point, sir," said the President.
=MAJOR ANDERSON'S BAD MEMORY=
Among the men whom Captain Lincoln met in the Black Hawk campaign
were Lieutenant-Colonel Zachary Taylor, Lieutenant Jefferson Davis,
President of the Confederacy, and Lieutenant Robert Anderson, all of
the United States Army.
Judge Arnold, in his "Life of Abraham Lincoln," relates that Lincoln
and Anderson did not meet again until some time in 1861. After
Anderson had evacuated Fort Sumter, on visiting Washington, he called
at the White House to pay his respects to the President. Lincoln
expressed his thanks to Anderson for his conduct at Fort Sumter, and
then said:
"Major, do you remember of ever meeting me before?"
"No, Mr. President, I have no recollection of ever having had that
pleasure."
"My memory is better than yours," said Lincoln; "you mustered me into
the service of the United States in 1832, at Dixon's Ferry, in the
Black Hawk War."
=SETTLED OUT OF COURT=
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 Lewiston, riding a horse which, while it was a serviceable
enough animal, was not of the kind to be truthfully called a fine
saddler. It was a weatherbeaten 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 co't, 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
Lewiston.
=NO VANDERBILT=
In February, 1860, not long before his nomination for the Presidency,
Lincoln made several speeches in Eastern cities. To an Illinois
acquaintance, whom he met at the Astor House, in New York, he said:
"I have the cottage at Springfield, and about three thousand dollars
in money. If they make me Vice-President with Seward, as some say they
will, I hope I shall be able to increase it to twenty thousand, and
that is as much as any man ought to want."
=LINCOLN MISTAKEN FOR ONCE=
President Lincoln was compelled to acknowledge that he made at least
one mistake in "sizing up" men. One day a very dignified man called at
the White House, and Lincoln's heart fell when his visitor approached.
The latter was portly, his face was full of apparent anxiety, and
Lincoln was willing to wager a year's salary that he represented some
Society for the Easy and Speedy Repression of Rebellions.
The caller talked fluently, but at no time did he give advice or
suggest a way to put down the Confederacy. He was full of humor, told
a clever story or two, and was entirely self-possessed.
At length the President inquired, "You are a clergyman, are you not,
sir?"
"Not by a jug full," returned the stranger heartily.
Grasping him by the hand Lincoln shook it until the visitor squirmed.
"You must lunch with us. I am glad to see you. I was afraid you were a
preacher."
"I went to the Chicago Convention," the caller said, "as a friend of
Mr. Seward. I have watched you narrowly ever since your inauguration,
and I called merely to pay my respects. What I want to say is this:
I think you are doing everything for the good of the country that is
in the power of man to do. You are on the right track. As one of your
constituents I now say to you, do in future as you d---- please, and I
will support you!"
This was spoken with tremendous effect.
"Why," said Mr. Lincoln, in great astonishment, "I took you to be
a preacher. I thought you had come here to tell me how to take
Richmond," and he again grasped the hand of his strange visitor.
Accurate and penetrating as Mr. Lincoln's judgment was concerning men,
for once he had been wholly mistaken. The scene was comical in the
extreme. The two men stood gazing at each other. A smile broke from
the lips of the solemn wag and rippled over the wide expanse of his
homely face like sunlight overspreading a continent, and Mr. Lincoln
was convulsed with laughter.
He stayed to lunch.
="DONE WITH THE BIBLE"=
Lincoln never told a better story than this:
A country meeting-house, that was used once a month, was quite a
distance from any other house.
The preacher, an old-line Baptist, was dressed in coarse linen
pantaloons, and shirt of the same material. The pants, manufactured
after the old fashion, with baggy legs, and a flap in the front, were
made to attach to his frame without the aid of suspenders.
A single button held his shirt in position, and that was at the
collar. He rose up in the pulpit, and with a loud voice announced his
text thus: "I am the Christ whom I shall represent today."
About this time a little blue lizard ran up his roomy pantaloons. The
old preacher, not wishing to interrupt the steady flow of his sermon,
slapped away on his leg, expecting to arrest the intruder, but his
efforts were unavailing, and the little fellow kept on ascending
higher and higher.