The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1871-11-30
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.


LEY, AT THE HORTICULTURAL HALL,
PHILADELPHIA, NOV. 16, 1871.
Ladies and Gentlemen No doubt I
shall weary you with portion of my lee
ture, yet | really hope those who will be
so patient as to follow me to the end will
find themselves rewarded for their trust
IN me, for [ have heard so much said of
Mr.. Lincoln, which seems to me discrim-
mating that | have put down my recollec.
tiOns of him, interspersed with what
have learned from other sources, with an
earnest hope that shall be able to give
Judicious account of the man, and one
which fair minded men of all sects, creeds
and parties will recognize as at my rate
imbued with spirit of candor This
was my reason for writing Of Mr.. Lin
coin.
l have known him for the last twenty
years of his life, and have formed opin-
ions definite and clear with regard to him,
which seem to me to not be expressed by
the accounts | have heard, so | have
committed to paper the thoughts that oc-
cur to me. Biography has degenerated
with eulogy. 1t makes of its subjects !;
in the language Of the poet. "That fault
less monster none over saw" Under this
idea Richard the Third becomes hu-
name and sagacious Prince, slightly cary
ed in the spine, perhaps ; and Henry the
Eighth is no longer the arbitrary monarch
we once knew him, but a model husband
and exemplary family man.
There have been many biographies of
Lincoln written. Perhaps forty or fifty
full fiedged volumes have been inflicted
npon much endearing public, yet the
man, Abraham Lincoln, is not pictured as
| know him. | wish to show you the
man as he appeared to me, and then he
will be shown to you as by no means the
angel some have made him. l shall pass
rapidly over what may be turned as the
''rail splitting" era OF his life, giving only
brief description of those early events
He grew up on the outskirts of civliza-
tion where he listened first to the stump
speech of the orator and the sermon of
an occasional minister as a source Of in.
structioD.
He did not attend school, for the good
reason that there were none in his vicin.
ity No one would deny that he was,
when he grew up manhood, kind neigh
Dor and excellent man. Surprise was Of
ten expressed when man of moderate
education was selected to fill responsible
position. Few who saw him in after life
would have suspected that his knowledge
was less than that of college graduates
by whom he was surrounded.
OF course his knowledge was different
from theirs, but had he lived to be 70
years of age he would have compared ia
yorably with Henry Clay in the after
years of his private life. The scenes by
which he was surrounded in his early life
were calculated to develop the best ele-
ments of his character. That trip down
the Ohio and Mississippi in fatboat
might be looked upon as his diploma, as
good as any sheepskin of the collage grad
uate. In 1884, when 25 years of age, he
was elected to the Legislature, and was
re elected in 1886 and 1888
The speaker then traced Mr.. Lincoln 8
political career up to the time of his cleo
tion as President His success was due
to his early and long continued, self.
sacrificing devotion to the cause of his
party. In this respect there was strik-
ing similarity between him and Henry
Clay. President Lincoln learned the art
of logic 10 that best of all schools-the
American political stump. There were
faults and vices in our political system of
election. eering, but the stump brought
the people face to face with their en-
thusiasm.
There never was yet stirring political
canvass that did not leave the people bet
ter informed on political affairs then it
found them. 1t served the place of the
French coup d efdt. 1t was the conser-
vator of our liberties. Lincoln was one
Of those who, in speech on the stump,
could do his cause more good and less
harm than most men of bis time His