Some of Mr. Lincoln’s intimate friends once called his attention to
a certain member of his Cabinet who was quietly working to secure a
nomination for the Presidency, although knowing that Mr. Lincoln was to
be a candidate for re-election. His friends insisted that the Cabinet
officer ought to be made to give up his Presidential aspirations or be
removed from office. The situation reminded Mr. Lincoln of a story:
“My brother and I,” he said, “were once plowing corn, I driving the
horse and he holding the plow. The horse was lazy, but on one occasion
he rushed across the field so that I, with my long legs, could scarcely
keep pace with him. On reaching the end of the furrow, I found an
enormous chin-fly fastened upon him, and knocked him off. My brother
asked me what I did that for. I told him I didn’t want the old horse
bitten in that way. ‘Why,’ said my brother, ‘that’s all that made him
go.’ Now,” said Mr. Lincoln, “if Mr.---- has a Presidential chin-fly
biting him, I’m not going to knock him off, if it will only make his
department go.”
‘SQUIRE BAGLY’S PRECEDENT.
Mr. T. W. S. Kidd, of Springfield, says that he once heard a lawyer
opposed to Lincoln trying to convince a jury that precedent was superior
to law, and that custom made things legal in all cases. When Lincoln
arose to answer him he told the jury he would argue his case in the same
way.
“Old ‘Squire Bagly, from Menard, came into my office and said, ‘Lincoln,
I want your advice as a lawyer. Has a man what’s been elected justice of
the peace a right to issue a marriage license?’ I told him he had not;
when the old ‘squire threw himself back in his chair very indignantly,
and said, ‘Lincoln, I thought you was a lawyer. Now Bob Thomas and me
had a bet on this thing, and we agreed to let you decide; but if this is
your opinion I don’t want it, for I know a thunderin’ sight better, for
I have been ‘squire now for eight years and have done it all the time.’”