The President is often naturally bantered about his habit of story-telling.
Dr. Hovey, of Dansville, N.Y., called at the White House, and found the occupant on horseback, ready for a ride. The Dr. approached and said: “Lincoln, I thought I would call and see you before leaving the city, and hear you tell a story.”
Lincoln greeted him pleasantly, and asked him where he was from.
The reply was: “From Western New York.”
“Well, that’s a good enough country without stories,” said the President, and off he rode.
Public Opinion.
Some moral philosopher was telling the old President one day about the undercurrent of public opinion; he went on to explain it at length, and drew an illustration from the Mediterranean Sea. The current seemed very curiously to flow in both from the Black Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; but a shrewd Yankee, by means of a contrivance of floats, had discovered that in the outlet into the Atlantic only about thirty feet of the surface water flowed inward, while there was a tremendous current under that flowing out. “That,” said Mr. Lincoln, much bored, “that don’t remind me of any story I ever heard of.” The philosopher despaired of making a serious impression by his argument, and left.
The President’s Secret.
When the Sherman expedition, which captured Fort Royal, was fitting out, there was great curiosity to learn where it had gone. A person, visiting the chief magistrate at the White House, importuned him very much to disclose the destination to him.