, 1866-03-02
Scala aggalla Statesman.
lincoln. BY his Law-Partner.

Inc uue pecuLaflIy OI n1T' LlnCOlh naS
not been seen by his various biographsrs, or,
if seen, they have failed woefully to give it
that prominence which it deserves. 1t is
said that Newton saw an apple fall to the
ground from the tree and beheld the law Of
the universe in that fall. Shakespeare saw
human nature in the laugh of a man. Pro-
fessor Owen saw the animal in its claw, and
Spencer saw the evolution of the universe in
che growth of seed. Nature was sugges-
tive to all of these men. Mr.. Lincoln no less
80 saw philosophy in a story, and a school
master 10 joke No man, no men, saw naN
ture-fact, thing, or man-from his stand
point His was new and original position
which was always suggesting, limiting someN
thing to him. Natures insinuations, hints
and suggestions were new, fresh, original and
odd to him. The world, fact, man, principle,
all had their powers of suggestion to his eG-
ceedingly susceptible soul. They continually
put him in mind of something. He was odd,
fresh, new, original, and peculiar; for this
reason he was a new, fresh, odd, and original
creation and fact He had keen susceptible
tiles TO the hints and suggestions Of nature,
which always put him in mind of something,
known or unknown. Hence his powers and
tenacities of what is called association ofideas
must have been great. His memory was te-
nacious and strong. His susceptibility to
all suggestions and hints enabled him at
will to call up readily the associated and
classified fact and idea.
As an evidence Of this, especially peculiar
to Mr.. Lincoln, let me ask one question:
were not Mr.. Lincoln's expression and lans
guage queer, odd, and original, standing out
peculiar from those of all other men? What
does this imply? Oddly and originality of
vision as we'll as expression; and what is ex-
preston in words and human language but a
telling of what we see, defining the idea
arising from and created by the vision and
view in us? Words and language are but
the counterparts of the idea-the other half
of the idea; they are but the stinging, hot,
heavy, leaden bullets that drop from the
mold; and what are they in rife, with pow
der stuffed behind and fire applied to it, but
an embodied force pursuing their object So
are words an embodied power feeling for
comprehension in other minds Mr. Lin>
coin was Often perplexed to give expression
to his ideas; first, because he was not master
of the English language; and second, because
it did not contain words conveying the color
ing,shape, exactness, power, and gravity ofhis
ideas He was frequently at loss for word,
and hence had to resort to stories, maxims,
and Jokes to embody his idea that it might
be comprehended So true was this peculiar
mental vision of his, that though mankind
has been gathering, arranging and classify
ing facts hundreds, thousands of years, Lin
coins peculiar standpoint could give him
no advantage of other mems labor Hence
he tore up to the deep foundation all arrangeN
ments and classification of facts, coined and
arranged new laws to govern himself He
was compelled from his peculiar mental Or
ganization to do this, His labor was great,
continuous, patient and persevering.
The truth about this whole matter is, that
Mr.. Lincoln read less and thought more
than any other man in his sphere in America
No man in this audience can put his finger
on any great book written in the last or the
present century that he read. He read, when
young, the Bible, and Shakespeare when of
age. The latter book was scarcely ever out
of his mind. Mr.. Lincoln is acknowledged
to have been great man, but the question is
what made him great repeat that he
read less and thought more than any man in
his sphere in America, if not in the world
He possessed originality and power of thought
to an eminent degree. He was cautious, cool,
concentrated, with continuity of reflection,
was patient and enduring. These are some of
the grounds of his wonderful success.
Not only was nature, man, fact and prin-
ciple suggestive to Mr.. Lincoln; not only had
he accurate and correct perceptions, but he
was causative, l. E., his mind ran back be-
hind all facts, things, and principles to their
origin, history, and first cause-to that point
where forces act at once as effect and cause
He would stop in the street and analyze
q machine. He would Whittle things to a
point and their count the numberless inclined
planes and then pitch, making the point.
He would master and defne it or go crazy.
He would then cut that point back and get
a broad traverse section of his pine stick and
feel and define that. Clocks, omnibuses,
and language, paddle-wheelS aud idioms neV.
er escaped his observation.
Before he could form any idea Of anything,
before he would express his opinion on any
subject, he must know it in origin and his
tory, in substance and quality, in magnitude
and gravity. He must know his subject in
side and outside, upside and dOwnsids. He
searched his own mind and nature thorough
ly, as 1 have often heard him say. He must
anAlyze sensation, an idea, and words, and
run them back to their origin, history, pur>
pose, and destiny. He was most emphati.
cally remorseless analyEer of facts, things,
and principles. When all these processes
had been well and thoroughly gone through,
he could then form an opinion and express
Il, but no sooner. He had no faith "Say
SOS" he had no respect for, coming though
they might from tradition, power, or author.
ity. All things, facts, and principles had to
run through his crucible and be tested by
the fires Of his analytic mind, and hence,
when he did speak, his utterances ran out
gold-like, quick, keen, and current upon the
counters Of the understanding. Mr.. Lin>
coin reasoned logically through analogy aud
comparison. All opponents dreaded him in
his originality of ideas, condensation, defni>
tion, aud force Of expression, and woe be to
the man who hugged to his bosom a secret