Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-05-16


dott, for instance. who NAV be quoted without
nstituting a comparison. once received letter
from her publisher, who expressed curiosity to
know how she really appeared in personality,
which she replied to, perhaps wisely, in limited
description, merely announcing herself as having
"H ,nds ard feet ,. ....,
OF respectable size,
Mud-colored hair,
And dubious eyes"
II is proposed in this letter to give that famiI-
lar view OF Mr.. Line ln's individuality, which
has become the theme OF innumerable anecdotes
and common table-talk among department clerks
and the gossips of the capital.
PRIVATE HABITS OF MR.. LINCOLN
Mr.. Lincoln is an early riser. He gifts up at
FIVE, shayes at six, breakfasts ut seven, sends his
private correspondence ut eight, receives visitors
at nine and the members of his Cabinet at ten.
But as his Cabinet does not often meet. he goes
and meets his Cabinet. Previous to the elevation
of General Grant to the supreme command of
our armies, he used to dedicate two hours, from
eleven to one. to the getting up of plans of cam
paigns for geueras In that he went
into a small closet adjoining bis private apart
ments fitted up with all the necessary instruments
for drawing maps, and there closeted himself with
two or three officers to whom be used to dictate
that mastery strategy which has resulted in the
taking or Richmond and in the conquest of the
South. At O'Clock Mr. Lincoln takes light
lunch. and then starts in the performance of the
responsible duty of President. He goes from
department TO department and assists his minis
tiers in what he calls running the machine" At
o'clock he takes his dinner, which sometimes
lasts till Z. From to 10 he admits to his Dri.
vate circles his most intimate friends, and among
them Senators and members of Congress At
10 he retres, to commence the next day again
the same kind of work ne had performed the day
before
HOW Mr.. LINCOLN PREPARES HIS PRocLAMA-
TI0Ns.
This monotonous routine is interrupted only
when Mr. ncolnprepares some of those remark
able papers which have contributed to assign TO
him in history so high place as a statesman and
grammarian On that occasion he remains a
day at a time shut up in room strongly heated,
with the shutters hrlf closed. so rs not to be dis
turbed by any outside light. of which he has
great fear.
WHAT MR.. LINCOLN DRINKS WHEN WRITING STATE
PAPERS.
Sometimes he sends for a cup of coffee which
produces IA slight exctatiOn of the brain and
gives 20 his composition freshness and vivacity
truly admirable He avoids, however, taking
coffee, aud replaces that beverage by hard cider
whenever he wants To be either serious argu
mentatiye Ii he aims at elegance and perspcu
ity in style he generally adds the cup of coffee
a small glass Ot sherry. especially when he has
TO relate his stories or To appear before the mem
bers of the foreign legation, iu presence OF whom
he sometimes unbosoms himself freely as if he
was before Spring field audience il. the unpaved
yard of court OF justice.
MR. LINCOLN AT TIE DINNER TABLE
Mr. Lincoln is abstenious. He eats little but
talks great deal, and seems to feed upon his
thnu fha fiilho Rh ara
placed before him Medical say that this
s-counts for his emacatOn
MR LINcoLN's PREFERENCE FOR CORN BREAD AND
FAT BACON
On his entrance to the W White House he strove
to naturalize in the official region fat bacon and
corn bread of which he is very fond, and tried to
induce his cabinet to adopt this diet which he
recommended invigorating and as adding
largely to the briliancy OF conversational
powers But opposition raised who
banished that dish from the table as unbecoming
the dignity of the place His only resource now
is to go and sit at Mr.. Bates table, who. in his
quality OF Western man, always has bacon and
corn bread at his dinner
Mr.. LINcoLN's DISLIKE FOR GARLIC
Mr. Lincoln hates garlic which he says is fit
only for the Latin race He once threatened to
turn out his French cook for having used that
tuber in a mayonnaise His loug experience OF
river navigation, and his residence 10 Illinois, has
given him n taste for frogs, which he procIaims
the first dish of French cuisine He has also to
an alarming extent a craving for pastry, particu-
larly for rhubarb pie His doctor was obliged to
interfere, and to exclude these ailments from bis
table
LINCOLN PRIVATE CIRCLES.
In his hours of ease. in the intimacy OF the
private circle. when his plans of battle all
drawn. his cabinet harmonious. and his digestion
easy. Mr Lincoln is unusually talkative, jocular
and good natured This is ordinarily the time
when, free from any restraint. he throws off the
presidential garment and shows himself such as
nature made him. before men, spelling the work
of nature. put in practice the unfortunate idea o
raising him to the administration of the govern
ment of a great nation. In these hours too rare
and too short for his happiness and that of hi,
family, the President is in the habit of reviewing
his past history, and of speaking OF his life in the
woods and on the river. when, obscure boat
man with oar 10 one hand and a line in the
other, he used to go through the delta of Ameri-
can Egypt in the pursuit OF ees and tortoises
! /, who have heard him many time relate with
complacency. and in that familiar way usually
bordering on vulgarity, the adventures of his life
cannot help thinking that he occasionally regret:
not to be again splitting rails and blowing corn
and that when these flashes OF reason cross BIZ
mind he would give everything the world ts
be again the farm boy of an obscure and iguoran
Hoosier. This sentiment is easy to explain
/ Since his advent to power, his life has beer
troubled by many bloody and hearl-rending ca
tastrophes, his hours of rest too embittered by th
| contentious and exactions OF his friends, that tn
humblest position in the world would be prelera-
ble to that he occupies and for which be is utterl
untitled by bis sutecedents. by his want of ex.
perience, by an inefficient training, by the alb
sehce. in short, of the qualities which consIitut
the thinker. the philosopher and the statesman.
Mr. LIScoLS's sTATEsMAssHIP. 70.
The misfortune Of Mr. Lincoln ia to hav
studied statesman anship whore else eve
thought Of studying tit partisan books an
platforms, on the stump. and in the low-mnde
and obscure traditions of country lawyers an
politicians The early scenes of his life play ais
an important part in his Judgments OF men an
things, as it appears from his habit of matchin
r the most important events of his administratio
with the familiar and trivial pictures of his youtt
Every one is familiar with his constant practic
! Of likening the most complicated questions to
! squabble between country judges. of comparin
route of the Union force to drove Of cattl