The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-01-07
temperance.
Abraham Lincoln ON LIQUORS.

Mr.. Luke G. Grimes, formerly city
librarian and an active politician, has
for thirty years taken deep interest,
at intervals, in temperance movements.
He is at present member of Perry
lodge, order of Good Templars, and
grand commander of the Knights of the
Cross in the state of New York. Dur
ing the Washingtonian temperance ex-
element, about 1858 or 1854, he was
present at meeting where the late
President Lincoln made speech, and
the story of the interesting event, as
told by him, is as follows: One Sun
day afternoon in 1853 or 1854, / am not
certain of the year, began Mr.. Grimes,
" attended a meeting in the large hall
on the top floor of the building on the
southeast corner of Broome street and
the Bowery, given under the auspices
of Neptune division, Washington Sons
of Temperance. The same apartment
is used to-day for the meeting of Frank
lin lodge of Good Templars. The meet
ing on the occasion of which speak
was presided over by Daniel Wolford,
who is still alive and engaged in the
good work, being a member of Hope
lodge, Good Templars. After an open
ing address by the presiding officer, the
audience was called upon for five-min-
ute speeches. Many were made, but
the material giving sign of being ex-
hausted, Mr.. Wolford resorted to direct
personal appeal, and, addressing per-
son who was modestly seated in re-
mote corner of the room, said: Per-
haps our friend in the corner will make
few remarks The audience, in
stinctively, of course, gazed in the di-
rection indicated by the speaker, and
saw the gaunt, uncOuth form of very
tall man slowly arise from a seat A
half-suppressed litter ran through the
assemblage at the appearance of the in
dividual. He was clad in homespun
garments of a grayish color, which
added to the quaintness of his aspect
So leisurely did he rise from his chair
that it seemed as though he must be
about seven feet high. His complexion
was sallow, his cheeks sunken, and his
hair and beard were black-the latter
slightly grizzled. But the most re-
markable feature was his eyes; they
were deep-sunken in the sockets, jet
black, and they glowed like Goals of
fire, and impressed me with the fact
that their possessor was no ordinary
man. Well, at last he had risen to his
full height, and he was seen to be of
much more than average stature, but
slightly stopped. After a deliberate
survey of the audience for minute or
two, he began to speak, and | tell you
it was not long before the litter spoke
of gave place to murmurs of applause
and admiration, and he wasn't restricted
to the five-minute rule, either. | can
only give mere outline of the address.
He dwelt, of course, upon the evil eff
fects of liquor-drinking, and illustrated
his speech with many amusing anec-
dotes; but one feature | recall very dis
tinctly, and that was tribute he paid
to his mother, in which he said that
whatever success he had attained and
whatever force he had brought to bear
to resist temptation he felt was due to
the principle of self-reliance inculcated
by his mother-that she had always
taught him that he was responsible for
his acts and could do either right OF
wrong, as he should choose He said
furthermore: In the far West, whence
| come, rum has not yet made the raw
ages that mark its dread path in the
crowded cities of the East, and i trust
there shall never be found wanting ear
nest men to warn the pioneer that his
labor will be useless until he excludes
from his presence the dread destroyer,
rump These were the words of the
speaker as near as Irecollect, but re-
call distinctly the concluding sentence
of the speech, which was as follows:
/ am from the far West, on my way to
Washington, and my name is Abraham
Lincoln None of his hearers had
ever heard the name before, but all real
lied that the owner was an able man.
When the meeting broke up Mr.. Lin
coin passed out with the crowd, and !
never saw him again till was intro
duced to him at the Aston House, in
1861, when, as he said, perhaps prophet
ically, he was on his way to Washing
ton to the presidency and to his death -