The Cairo daily bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1870-1872, 1872-06-18
LANNON'S LIFE OFLINCOLN
(Fron the st. Louis Republican,

Ward II. iamon. formerly United
States marshal for the District of Columbia
and son-in-law of Judge Stephen T.
| Logan, an eminent lawyer of Springfield
| Ills, has presented the public with
| ponderous volume of five hundred and
| fifty pages, entitled The Life of Abraham
Lincoln, from his Birth to his Inaugural
ton of President This book will be
very generally read, acknowledged to be u
valuable contribution to our knowledge of
an eminent man, and at the same time
cordially condemned bya large proportion
of intelligent people who are fortunate
or unfortunate enough to possess Keen
sense of the prophecies Truth is a good
thing, but it is possible 10 get too much Of
| il, and there are some circumstances
where Ignorance is bliss, and it is the
supremest folly to be wise. NJ. Lamon
however, evidently does not comprehend
| this fact, and has acted on the principle
that nothing should be suppressed which
could throw dn atom of light or shade on
the subject which he discusses. a warm
personal friend of Mr.. Lincoln, bound to
| him by ties of gratitude as well as OF poll
tics, and anxious apparently to make AS
fine specimen of the demi-god AS the
material will permit, he has yet given US
as ruthless and unsavory post morton,
examination as can be found in the whole
range of biographical literature. Were it
possible for the illustrious dead TO escape
from the ponderous tomb at Oak Ridge,
and revisit for n brief season, the scene of
his tolls trials. and triumphs, we think
! the first business transacted during the in
| tervals of resurrection would be sound
kicking administered to the gentleman
who has written his life.
The provocation for this kicking COM
mences in the earliest pages of the book,
| and, with few insignificant exceptions,
| continues throughout the whole work.
We are told, what might just as well have
remained untold, that there exists no
evidence Of the marriage of Thomas Lin
coin and Nancy Hanks (the parents of the
president, but that Of mutual acknowl-
| edgment and cohabitation - that while
Thomas Lincoln's marriage is properly
recorded and verified by the ministers Ii
cense, no fragment of documentary proof
| can be discovered to establish the validity
of the first. Furthermore, il is stated that
| Mr.. Lincoln seldom or never alluded to
| his mother seemed to have an instructive
| dread of reviving her memory in any
way, and allowed her grave to remain in
| the condition it now is--covered with
weeds and briars, and consigned to utter
and contemptuous neglect. Yet he
tenderly loved his step-mother, paid
her the highest respect, and was al
ways ready TO make her the theme of en-
thusiastic praise. In short, Mr.. Lannon's
narrative does much to confirm, and moth
| ing to remove, the reports which have
been in circulation in Kentucky and else
where for many years past. Judcious
silence would have been highly appropri-
ate in such a delicate matter rs this.
But when love affairs are brought under
discussion, our biographer becomes even
more garrulous and indiscreet. There is
no doubt that the first and the only real
, love which Mr.. Lincoln ever cherished
= was for Ann Rutledgc, modest, attractive
, girl Of West Salem whose strange, sad
story was originally circulated in William
II. Herndon's somewhat notorious lecture.
When poor Ann tired Of waiting for Mr..
} Nc Namar, her first love, and hardly will
ing to marry her second Lincoln solved
the embarrassing difficulty by going
beneath the daisies, this second lover
actually took leave of his senses, and had
to be carried away to a cabin in the
: woods in order TO recover his mental eaui-
r librium. Yet within year after an event
d which plunged him into profound grief
Y That was never wholly oblitcrated, he
/ paid his addresses to Miss Owens. and nm
parently was exceedingly anxious 10
d. marry her The lady rejected him
al promptly, ana he then writes u letter to
In Airs' w. H. Browning, of Quincy, Illinois,
f. cailcaturlng his inamoratu in the mos,
g. outrageous manner, and expressed hi.
.e views OF the intended alliance in terms
$ seldom employed by gentlemen. No,
+ long after Miss Owens had dispens.d
5. with his services, Mr.. Lincoln again
+ passed under cupids yoke and laid his
Y slightly battered heart ut the feet of Miss
& Mary Todd. Lamon' to the contrary not.
withstanding, his affection for the person
VINO was destined to be his future wife ap
10 peared genulne-at least, at the beginning
y ana he unquestionably felt, as hi
ID" iriehds did, that he was making u brillian
Sc ,na'Sh. bnt while the engagement wa
penIlhg' Miss Matilda Edwards, daughte
To ion' C!rus Edwards, of Alton, Illinois
led - s'S'er oil Ninlan Edwards, as La
nm. on mas l--caine to Springfield an,
' spread havoc amc ny the susceptihla cava
'"' Ie's oi the capital. Stonben A
~. Doug'as and Joshua Suend III
IN. courted her and were oo'
IL and Llncoln became So ao eIuseu
yer enamored that his friend Speed w.,
or Obliged to take him to Kentucky wh.,
he got rld al another attack of insani,v /,
inos' rs uesPerhle us huthledge lunac
He never told his love to Miss Edwnr,
,,,s and she afterwards married the late n
ms not chuyler-Strong, Il lawyer W,
RF known in ST. Louis. When Lincoln
lT- turned from his sanitary expedition,
was undecided whether to spouse NJ
Todd or allow that lady to choose Il mS
=, oongenial partner; but after breaking Il
me amending the engagement once or tw
ign he went one afternoon in November, 49,
ace to Mr.. Matheny of Springfield and
ual marked TO him-"Jim, | shall have
Die marry that girl and "narry that cir
lb- he did, the same evening. Both husba,
and wife repented Of the ills,arred nupti,
at their leisure.
Of The biography deals us freely with N
of Lincoln's religious views as with his am
an tory exploits, and furnishes sufficient t,
h G timony to put him far beyond the pale
III wha: Is commonly called "orthodoxy."
NJ. bis oa.ly manhood ha read Wilma,