The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1860-07-21

n
was one OF the original signess Of the precious
document which sealed our liberties on that day.
We refer TO the UeciaratlOh Of Independence 80
Il liis fathers name wa0 Mr. Lincoln, biz mothers
| Mrs. Lincoln. and II he had sisters, thsy wer0
4 known q the Misses Lincoln. A. The age Oftwo
Il years. Young Abraham commenced splitting rails
Il, living, singing beautiful hymns while 70 en-
gagged, md displaying ~ those noble virtues Tor
/ which be has since been Distinguished. when
he WAS about ten years Old, Boseon suodeniy Pc
i came The hub Of the universe, and required %
4 much greasing that clearly people were obliged
L 10 move away. The Lincolns went 70 Illinois,
| where Abraham became the ablest lawyer in The
| State 10 less than . week, and learned 70 chew
| tobacco. His reputation for elogucncc was un-
parallelcd, and, as specimen Of his wit, We give
| The following
Anecdo1. --On one occasion Mr. Lincoln vas
splitting rail in the parlor Of Judge Dougias
residence, when the latter joined him, and think
ing 70 make good joke about our heros extreme
lcanness, remarked:
"Why, Abe, you are n rail yourself"
Mr.. Lincoln locked up from his work with that
sublime glare which has often petri6ed world,
and eravely responded:
"You sir, are the reverse OF . rail-
Douglas Immediately grasped his hat and car
pet bag, went TO Washington, and asked the
i President 70 explain what Lincoln meant by that
i wv nv, repheO the TFeSluent, tuC ISvcESG VI
rail il rail spelt backwards"
i Since then Douglas and Lincoln have been
warm friends. r NV
The subject Of our biography was defeated by
|.Mr. Douglas for the United States Senate in
1854 on account Of sickness in the family, and
has since been known M Honest Old Abe" to
the whole country. He is . man Of unfinching
integrity, and though he chews tobacco at pres
ent, will not choose the Weed for companion If
elected President.
N.B.-The author Of this biography died inn
mediately after pennrng the above work.
i LIFE OF SrErHEx ARNOLD DoUGLAs-By One
,cho has Kaor, Him since he So HgA-Ar.
Douglas was born At Bennington, Vermont, on
the Fourth Of July, l776, and demonstrated the
utility Of Squatter Sovereignty before he threw
off his crinoline His parents belonged to a no
BILE Scotch family, and when Stephen was two
years old they emigrated with him TO Illinois Il
was during this journey that he gave vent 70 2
remark which has since become classical. His
father asked him If he would have an apple, and,
on receiving an answer in the affirmative, made
ssplit" in it-preparatory to dividing 1t into
two pjeces-when Mr., Douglas suddenly grasped
the whole, exclaiming:
'.The Union must and shall be preserved"
This immortal sentence was Immediately telc.
graphed to all the papers in the United States and
Canada, and procured the election Of Mr. Doug
las to the Office Of Judge Of good whisky, as soon
| as he arrived in Illinois. When about ten years
old, he commenced writing for Harpers Magazine,
and finally contributed series OF humorous ar
ticles to the editorial columns Of the Chicago
Times. Just before his election to the Senate
last time, an exploit Of his gave birth to this
.4nccRon.-Whi!c Mr. Douglas and his gigan-
tic opponent, Lincoln, we're canvassing the State,
they agreed to hold debate at Quincy, and al
tho IN do hrl ha
claim to their votes. The meeting was large
one, and it did not take long for Douglas TO get
the better Of the argument. Finding the battle
going against him, Lincoln drew his form TO its
utmost height, and looking down at the short fig
ure Of his rival, sad very pompously:
"Mr. Douglas, cannot look at you without
thinking of a passage OF Scripture"
What il that:' asked our hero, good humor-
edly.
1.-THE way Of the wicked is short" responded
Lincoln, and tainted away.
The crowd applaudcd tremendously, but Doug
las was not be outdone. Waiting until Lincoln
had revived, he quietly said:
"And you remind me, Mr.. Lincoln, of another
passage"
What is that. y asked Lincoln.
| How long. 0 Lord, how lorg ?" respond
ed Douglas. He was elected
By way Of concluding our biography, we give
4
most eloquent speeches:
| : Squatter Sovereignty, gen
| tlemen, [great applause is not the right OF one
man over another man, accorded by the COnsti-
| tuition, but the right of another man over this
man, or that man over this man, where man is
willing that man should be his own man, indie
| pendent Of every other man. This, gentlemen,
is squatter sovereignty, without mitigation
\ lGreat enthusiasm.l
\ ..f Tbo e,,Ix
iect of our story born the day Of his birth,
on the Cincinnati Platform, and is chiefly noted
for his eloquent silence on all public occasions
Being Of fiery disposition, the Breckenridge coal
was appropriately named after him; and it is a
question with us whether he is the more noted as
dneist fneist. We cal, say little more Of
him than that he was born Of Southern, but hon.
est parents, and has acquired some falae as an
| artilerst by his management Of the celebrated
Buchanan, which viii be discharged on the 4th
Of March next. Mr. Breckenridge is rather sharp
in conversation, as il proved by the following
1necdoie.--In the rear of MIR. Breckinridge's
private residence is green sward, on which is |
located a pen for hogs. One day, while he was |
standing by his pen then empty with friend,
watching the motions of hog that was luxuri-
ously roofing the sward just before them, one of /
the negroes came from the house and filled the |
trough ot.the pig pen with swill. The hog heard
the gush Of the swill, and locked wistfully TO-
ward the pen, and then back at the place where
he had been roofing, as though undecided what
to do about it. Finally, however, the swIl pre-
vailed, and with decisive grunt, he trotted to-
ward the pen.
Turning to his friend, Mr.. Breckenridge said: I
IF that hog could speak, what line Of Bulwer's
drama Of Richelieu' might he appropriately
quote ?"
The friend didn't know.
'Why," exclaimed Breckenridge, "he might /
truly say: The pen is mightier than the swardv" /
That night the friend died Of measles
LIFE or SAMUEL HousroS.-BAa UsH knona
dathor.-Gen. Samuel Houston was born at San
Jacinto, Texas, on the 4th of July, l776, and
whipped Mexican baby before he was six
months old. At the age Of three wears he elec.
trihed the universe thus: Having been taken by |
his parents to see a foot race between two noted
Indian runners, he turned to his father and asked:
'Why is q patron Of foot-races like philan-
thropist ?"
know not, my angel boy returned the ven
cradle Houston.
because said Samuel, The is friend Of hu-
man progress
After this, his family compelled him to wear
cold brick on his head; and II il said, that even
now, while in Washington, he sometimes carries
the same article in his hat At the period when
Texas rose in rebellion against the Mcxicans, be-
50 A"ss~t SSPsq SeesHS up EtNOIutiOuS |
among themselves every afternoon, Mr. Houston
was chosen General Of the patriots, ana com
plctely defeated the reyoiters of San Jacinto.-l
In connection with this battle, and BY way OF H.
instratng General iIouston'sgr precision, they
tell an M
Aneaiote.-Toward the conclusion Of the bat
tie Of San Jacinto, Texas Ranger dashed fran
1caily into tent where Houston was asleep, and
aroused him. with an exclamation Of:
General, the day il ours.
"Yon illIterate fellow y exclaimed the brave
old soldier, scowlingat the frightened man, .why
can't you syeak properyy You should say, The
day is composed of hoars.'"
The abashed Ranger muttercd some thin q about
being soldier, and knowing nothing about time,
Houston again rcprimand.d him with;
=, Know nothing about time, Won scoandrcls
There u but one time that American soldiers
know nothing about, and that Is tiy time
The Ranger deserted that night