A VISIT TO MR. LINCOLN.
Before proceeding to speak of Abraham Lincoln as President, I desire
that my readers may know him as well as possible, and for that purpose I
will transcribe an account of a visit to him by a correspondent of the
New York _Evening Post_. I find it in D. W. Bartlett’s book, entitled
“The Life and Public Services of Hon. Abraham Lincoln”:
“It had been reported by some of Mr. Lincoln’s political enemies that he
was a man who lived in the lowest Hoosier style, and I thought I would
see for myself. Accordingly, as soon as the business of the Convention
was closed, I took the cars for Springfield. I found Mr. Lincoln living
in a handsome, but not pretentious, double two-story frame house, having
a wide hall running through the center, with parlors on both sides,
neatly, but not ostentatiously furnished. It was just such a dwelling
as a majority of the well-to-do residents of these fine Western towns
occupy. Everything about it had a look of comfort and independence. The
library I remarked in passing particularly, and I was pleased to see
long rows of books, which told of the scholarly tastes and culture of
the family.
“Lincoln received us with great, and, to me, surprising, urbanity. I had
seen him before in New York, and brought with me an impression of his
awkward and ungainly manner; but in his own house, where he doubtless
feels himself freer than in the strange New York circles, he had thrown
this off, and appeared easy if not graceful.
“He is, as you know, a tall, lank man, with a long neck, and his
ordinary movements are unusually angular, even out West. As soon,
however, as he gets interested in conversation, his face lights up, and
his attitudes and gestures assume a certain dignity and impressiveness.
His conversation is fluent, agreeable, and polite. You see at once from
it that he is a man of decided and original character. His views are all
his own; such as he has worked out from a patient and varied scrutiny
of life, and not such as he has learned from others. Yet he can not be
called opinionated. He listens to others like one eager to learn, and
his replies evince at the same time both modesty and self-reliance. I
should say that sound common-sense was the principal quality of his
mind, although at times a striking phrase or word reveals a peculiar
vein of thought. He tells a story well, with a strong idiomatic smack,
and seems to relish humor, both in himself and others. Our conversation
was mainly political, but of a general nature. One thing Mr. Lincoln
remarked which I will venture to repeat. He said that in the coming
Presidential canvass he was wholly uncommitted to any cabals or cliques,
and that he meant to keep himself free from them, and from all pledges
and promises.
“I had the pleasure also of a brief interview with Mrs. Lincoln, and, in
the circumstances of these persons, I trust I am not trespassing on the
sanctities of private life, in saying a word in regard to that lady.
Whatever of awkwardness may be ascribed to her husband, there is none of
it in her. On the contrary, she is quite a pattern of ladylike courtesy
and polish. She converses with freedom and grace, and is thoroughly _au
fait_ in all the little amenities of society. Mrs. Lincoln belongs, by
the mother’s side, to the Preston family of Kentucky; has received a
liberal and refined education, and, should she ever reach it, will adorn
the White House. She is, I am told, a strict and consistent member of
the Presbyterian church.
“Not a man of us who saw Mr. Lincoln but was impressed by his ability
and character. In illustration of the last, let me mention one or two
things which your readers, I think, will be pleased to hear. Mr.
Lincoln’s early life, as you know, was passed in the roughest kind of
experience on the frontier, and among the roughest sort of people. Yet,
I have been told, that, in the face of all these influences, he is a
strictly temperate man, never using wine or strong drink, and, stranger
still, he does not ‘twist the filthy weed,’ nor smoke, nor use profane
language of any kind. When we consider how common these vices are all
over our country, particularly in the West, it must be admitted that it
exhibits no little strength of character to have refrained from them.
“Mr. Lincoln is popular with his friends and neighbors; the habitual
equity of his mind points him out as a peace-maker and composer of
difficulties; his integrity is proverbial; and his legal abilities are
regarded as of the highest order. The _sobriquet_ of ‘Honest Old Abe’
has been won by years of upright conduct, and is the popular homage to
his probity. He carries the marks of honesty in his face and entire
deportment.
“I am the more convinced by this personal intercourse with Mr. Lincoln,
that the action of our Convention was altogether judicious and proper.”
I call the attention of my readers to what is said of Mr. Lincoln’s
freedom from bad habits of every kind, though brought up as he had been,
and with the surroundings of his early life, it would have been natural
for him to fall into them.
During Mr. Lincoln’s visit to New York, he visited the Five Points House
of Industry. This was probably at the time of his first visit, already
referred to, when he made an address at the Cooper Institute. One who
was at that time a teacher in the House of Industry, gives this account
of the visit:
“Our Sunday-school in the Five Points was assembled one Sabbath morning,
a few months since, when I noticed a tall and remarkable-looking man
enter the room and take a seat among us. He listened with fixed
attention to our exercises, and his countenance manifested such genuine
interest that I approached him and suggested that he might be willing to
say something to the children.
“He accepted the invitation with evident pleasure, and, coming forward,
began a simple address, which at once fascinated every little hearer,
and hushed the room into silence. His language was strikingly beautiful,
and his tones musical with intensest feeling. The little faces around
would droop into sad conviction as he uttered sentences of warning, and
would brighten into sunshine as he spoke cheerful words of promise. Once
or twice he attempted to close his remarks, but the imperative shouts of
‘Go on!’ ‘Oh, do go on!’ would compel him to resume. As I looked upon
the gaunt and sinewy frame of the stranger, and marked his powerful head
and determined features, now touched into softness by the impressions of
the moment, I felt an irrepressible curiosity to learn something more
about him, and when he was quietly leaving the room, I begged to know
his name. He courteously replied:
“‘It is Abraham Lincoln, from Illinois!’”
It is easy to understand how the sight of these poor children should
have touched the heart of the backwoods boy. Doubtless they recalled to
his memory his own neglected childhood, and his early privations, when
he was not in a position to learn even as well as these poor waifs from
the city streets. If only that speech could have been reported, with
what interest would we read it to-day. It must have been instinct with
sympathy to have made such a powerful impression on these poor children
and the teacher who tells the story.