LXVII.
“The world,” writes one who knew Mr. Lincoln well, “will never hear the last of the ‘little stories’ with which the President garnished or illustrated his conversation and his early stump-speeches. He once said, however, that as near as he could reckon, about one sixth only of those credited to him were old acquaintances,—all the rest were the productions of other and better story-tellers than himself. ‘I remember a good story when I hear it,’ he continued; ‘but I never invented anything original; I am only a retail-dealer.’”[11]
“Mr. Lincoln’s jocoseness,” wrote another, “though sometimes grim and sarcastic, was never abusive, and seldom wounded. Often nicely adapted to the place and the occasion, it was used, as the case might be, either as a shield or a weapon.”[12]
Humor and shrewdness, together with a certain nameless individuality, were combined in his stories in a degree that will secure for many of them enduring interest. These characteristics, marked and prominent as they were, are directly traceable to the powerful effect produced upon the plastic mind of the pioneer boy, by the early study of Æsop’s Fables, and the “Pilgrim’s Progress.” His lightest as well as his most powerful thought almost invariably took on the form of a figure in speech which drove the point home, and clinched it, as few abstract reasoners are able to do.
The character of this volume, necessarily rambling and fragmentary, seems to present a legitimate field for the incorporation and preservation of some of the best of Mr. Lincoln’s “little stories” and quaint sayings, other than those which came within my own personal observation. Beside these, there has accumulated in my possession a variety of incidents, many of which have never been published, throwing light not only upon the character of the man, but upon many events and circumstances connected with the war and the administration.
Believing everything of this kind to have more than a temporary interest and value, I devote the following section to their embodiment.
LXVIII.
Mr. Lincoln made his first political speech in 1832, at the age of twenty-three, when he was a candidate for the Illinois Legislature. His opponent had wearied the audience by a long speech, leaving him but a short time in which to present his views. He condensed all he had to say into a few words, as follows:—
“Gentlemen, Fellow-citizens: I presume you know who I am. I am humble Abraham Lincoln. I have been solicited by many friends to become a candidate for the legislature. My politics can be briefly stated. I am in favor of a national bank. I am in favor of the internal improvement system, and a high protective tariff. These are my sentiments and political principles. If elected, I shall be thankful. If not, it will be all the same.”
The contrast between Mr. Lincoln and Senator Douglas is well brought out in the following extract from a speech by Hon. I. N. Arnold of Illinois, in 1863. Speaking of their great contest for the senatorship, Mr. Arnold said:—