"On another occasion, he wanted John G. Gillette, the great cattle dealer, to proximate him because he'd got the best pair of cattle scales in Logan County."
How Uncle Abe got his Sobriquet.
Some one ventured to ask Uncle Abe, soon after his arrival at the White House, how he got the sobriquet of "Honest Abe."
"Oh," said he, "I suppose my case was pretty much like that of a country merchant I once read of. Some one called him a 'little rascal.' 'Thank you for the compliment,' said he. 'Why so?' asked the stigmatizer. 'Because that title distinguishes me from my fellow tradesmen, who are all great rascals.'"
"So honest lawyers were so scarce in Illinois that you were thus distinguished from them?" persisted the questioner.
"Well," quoth Uncle Abe, glancing slyly at Douglas, Sweet, and others from Illinois, "it's hard to say where the honest ones are."