The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1885-02-19
HONEST ARE.
Interesting Incidents from the Life
OF Abraham IIncoIn

" "@'N" Psf'isuitiiy lrustWortny, Ac-
cordlng TO Mr., Arnold Lincoln's fore,
fathers had been backwoodsmen and
indian lighters for several generations.
Ills grandfather came to Kentucky soon
AFTER Daniel Boone and his father pushed
ON TO Indiana when that territory in turn
was the frontier, Faithful to the instinct
that had kept his progenitors on the front
wave OF immigration, Lincoln, himself, at
twehty-one, found Indiana too crowded,
and went still further westward into the
heart OF Illinois. At that time he could
read, write and cipher, having had in all
Just twelve months schooling. He never
went to school afterward But the few
volumes to be found in his fathers log
house and the neighboring cabins he
almost knew by heart. 1t is significant
fact that among the half dozen books
that during his youth gave direction to
his sympathies and aspirations, and that
endowed him with his surprising mastery
of terse, idiomatic English, were the
Bible, Bunyon's Pilgrims Progress"
Weem's Life of Washington" and the
poems OF Robert Burns The Life Of
Washington" he borrowed and having
thrust 1t one night between the logs of the
cabin, that it might be at hand rs soon az
there was light to read by, he awokc to
find it soaked through and through by
rain. Having no money, he offered to
work out the value OF the injured volume.
and, by pulling corn three days, finally
became its owner.
Lincoln's cognomen of "the rail split-
ter" bore witness to his proficiency in all
tasks incumbent on the Western farmer,
but 1t is less generally known that he was
crack shot with the rifle, which before
and during the Black Hawk war was sell
dom out OF the Illinois settlers reach, or
that his prowess in the hand -to-hand en-
counters by which the young backwoods-
men We're not seldom called upon to prove
their mettle made his name redoubtable
throughout the country where he lived.
The reputation had its Inconvenience,
and compelled him on one occasion to
measure his strsngth against the leader Of
&c The Clary Grove Boys" who was be-
lieved by his partisans to be able
to lick any man on the san
CANON River. We are told that this
fellow resorteu to some foul play, which
rousIng l.incoln's ire, the latter rut forth
his full strength, and, Selling the liz bully
by the throat and holding him out at
arms length, shook him as he would
boy There used to be q legend current
that Washington could outjump any man
in Virginia, and there seems be no doubt
that in all athletic sports Lincoln had
no equal in Illinois. According TO the
recollections of surviving comrade, "be
c0Nl1 gtrika tho hurInSt Ein,t. wit
maui, jump higher and further, run
faster than any of his fellows, and there
was 10 one, far or near, could lay him Gu
his back"
He acquired very early that nickname of
Honest Abe, which stuck to him ali his
life 1t was while he was acting "a clerk
of country store. Several incidents IL
lustrate an integrity 20 which, it seems,
his customers could not have been
habituated. One evening he found his
cash Overrun a little-a discovery which
we fear sometimes eXcies u cucElc-and
after porting over the phenomenon, con,
cluded that in making change for his last
In little before shutdown, he had given
her too little. Although the sum involved
was only a few cents, he forthwith took it
too her house. At anOtle r time he found
on the scales weight which he remem-
bered using Just before dosing the store
on the previous night, but which was
lighter than the one he meant TO usc.
Evidently he must have given the pur-
chaser few ounces of TIA less than was
paid for, and he Immediately sent the
quantity to make up the deficiency He
carried the same scrupu!Ous p:obity into
his management of small pos;Ofte Of
which he had charge for short period in
1884, and his method of dealing with un-
called-for remnant of the funds Oh deposit
may interest the ofice-holders of a later
time. 1t seems that when the station was
discontinued the small sum of SIS remain |
ing In his hands was overlooked, and not |
demanded until some years after Lincoln |
had removed to Springfield TO attempt the |
practice of the law. During those years
compelled to borrow pitance from |
friends to Fay the bare nccess,ries of life. |
When. therefore, an agent Of The posto;,.ce |
called at one DR.. Henry's, in whose Office |
Lincoln had desk, Henry, believing $50 |
he told the biographerl that Lincoln could
have no money on hud wherewith to |
meet the draft, was about to call him |
Lincoln asking the agent to be seated
moment, went over to his boarding house |
and brought back an old stocking with O |
quantity Of copper and silver coin tied up |
in it, manifcstly the identical pieces in
which the country people had paid their
pOSldSe. i Hc uScUt lOuHu Ill lEe stocking
the exact amount due tic department to
cent.
OF his tenderness of heart some touching
proofs are cited in this biography. While |
Lincoln was serving rs il Captain in the
Black Hawk war an Old and half starving
Indian strayed into the calup Of his COM
pany, all of whose members We're eNa&pc-
rated by the barbarities lately pcipctratpd
on the settlers, and some Of whom, like
Lincoln himself. had lost near rc,ati, c. at
the hands of the savngcs, In a frcn2y of
blind rage the soldiers refused to recognize
the Indians safe conduct, and had cock
ed their muskets, determined TO despatch
him, when Lincoln rushed forN ard, knock
ed up the pieces, and declared tie man
should not be killed Bat the mobs passions
were afame, and for soIre Il 0lItHls ii
seemed likely that Lincoln and rs lrpiege
would be both shot down. After :. pause,
the militia lowered their weapons AID
Bullenly turned away. :" | never, said an
eyewitness, in all my life saw Lincoln so
reused before. Mr.. Arnold recalls anoI er
incident, on its face more trivial, but
which the thoughtful reader is not likely
to overlook. In the early days OF his prGc-
tice at the Springfield bar l.inrDin wa
coming home from negibori,g county
seat, with party of lawyers, riding two
by two along country lane. " Where is
Lincoln :" was the inquiry Oh rcpiicd
his comrade, "when / saw him last c Lad
caught two young birds, which the Wnu
had blown out Of their nest, and lie was
hunting up the nest to put them back In
it." In a short time Lincoln rode up, hav-
ing found the nest and replaced its in
mates.
1t was while Lincoln lived at New Salem
that he managed to buy asecoud hand copy
of Blackstone's Commentaries and began 10
study law. Other books, however, he had
none, nor would he have had any means
of getting any, had not an Old friend at
Springfield, offered him the use of his
collection. In order to exchange one book
for another however,, lie had to walk
from New Salem to Springfield, a distance
of fourteen miles, and, it is said, would
often master thirty or forty Iagcs Of the
new volume on his way iinine He was
often seen seated against the trunk Of
tree, or lying OH the grass under its shadp,
porting over his books, and changing his
position as Tie sun ai.yarccd 50 as to keep
in the shadow.
There is a tradition, which apparently
dates back 10 lt3i, that on the visit which
he paid in that year to New Orleans, as a
deck h@nd on :: Eat boat, Lincoln and his
companion visited an old fortune teller, a