The Indianapolis journal., 1885-02-09
THE FIELD OF LITERATURE.
Arnold,s sew Life Of lincoln.

| To the making of books from the life Of
Abraham Lincoln there will probably be no end |
His picturesque personality, his patient charac-
ter, his genial and noble qualities, present such
rich field for biographists That it never be
wholly exhausted. His life, il it could be con-
templated aside from its heroic sufferings and
tragic termination, would read like fairy tale.
In no other land and in no other age could Lin
coin have risen merit alone from the obscnr-
ity of poverty and backwoods igno-
rance. The Nation loves the mer-
ory of Lincoln because his was q
lovable nature; the world honors it, because he
was honorable in all things. Living for others,
his sympathy took in all humanity from high
est to humblest and, dying, he left record
that may be treasured as an heirloom by the on
coming generations as loag as civilization shall
| endure.
The last writer to explore the rich field OF
Lincoln "reminiscences is the Hon. Isaac N.
Arnold. at time law partner with
Lincoln, and, therefore, peculiarly qualified to
attempt his portraiture. In addition to the
innumerable anecdotes, long in possession Of
the reading public Mr.. Arnold has produced
some that are new, and has prepared his work
with that skill and ability that will insure itsl
lasting popularity. The volume issues from the
publishing house of Jansen, McClurg & CO.,
| Chicago.
Illustrative of his tenderness of heart, the fol.
lowing incident is related:
Lincoln and other members of the bar from
| the capital had been attending court at Chris
| tiansburg, and Speed was riding with them
towards Springfield He tells us that there was
quite party of these lawyers, riding two by
| a q nd N II
Hardin brought up the rear Of the cavalcade
We had passed through thicket of wils
plum and crab-apple trees. and stopped to waite
| our horses. Hardin came up alone.
"'Where is Lncolnr we inquired.
| Oh replied he, when | saw him last, he
! had caught two young birds, which the wind had
blown out of their nests, and he was hunting the
nest to put them back
I'm a short time, Lincoln came up, having
| found the nest and placed the young birds in i'll
The party laughed at him, but he said
| could not have slept If had not restored thosd
| little birds to their mother"
The same acute sympathy for the sufferings oi
others was Characteristic of Lincoln, even to the
end. In the darkest days of the rebellion
when peace seemed very far away, and the il
sue doubtful, whether the Union should live of
be dismem bered, ths writer Says
During these long days of terrible slaughtef
| the face of the President was grave and anxious
| member Of his own family. | recall one evening
| late in May, when met the President in his car
riage driving slowly towards the Soldiers Home
He had just parted from one of those long lines
| of ambulances. The sun was just sinking be-
hind the desolate and deserted hills of Virgini1
the flags from the forts, hospitals and camps
dropped sadly Arlington. with its white colon
made, looked like what 1t was-a hospital
Far down the Potomac, towards MOUND
Vernon. the haze of evening gathering
over the landscape, and when | met the
President his attitude and expression spoke the
deepest sadness. He paused as we met an6
pointing his hand towards the wounded men, he
said: Look yonder at those poor fellows. / can
not bear it. This suffering, this loss of life s
dreadful Recalling letter he had written
years before to suffering friend whose grief he
had sought to console, | reminded him of the
incident, and asked him: Do you remember
writing to your sorrowing friend these words
And this, too. shall pass away. Never fear.
Victory will come Yes replied he, victory
will come, but it comes slowly
"His friends and his family, and especially
Mrs. Lincoln, watched his careworn and anxious
face with the greatest solicitude. She and they
sometimes took him from his labors almost in
spite of himself He walked and rode about
Washington and its picturesque surroundings.
He visited the hospitals, and, with his friends
and in conversation and visits to the theatre,
he sought to divert his mind from the pressure,
upon it He often rode with Secretary Seward
| with Senator Sumner, and Others But his
greatest relief was when he was visited by his
old Illinois friends, and, for a while, by anec-
dotes and "reminiscences of the past, his mind
was begued from the constant strain upon it.
These old friends were sometimes shocked with
| the change in his appearance They had known
him at his home, and at the courts N Illinois,
| with frame of iron and nerves of steel; as
man who hardly knew what illness was ever
genial, and sparkling with frolic and fun, nearly
always CHEEKY and bright. Now as the months
of the war went slowly on, they saw the wrinkles
on his face and forehead deepen into burrows.
hn 1Oh M n dave l0co 7nnf ord
did not seem to come from the heart Anxiety,
responsibility, care, thought, disasters, defeats,
the injustice of friends, wore upon his giant
| frame, and his nerves of steel became at times
| irritable He said one day, with pathos which
language cannot describe: I feel as though I
shall never be glad any more During these
| four years he had no respite no holidays. When
others fed away from the heat and dust of the
| capital, he remained. He would not leave the
helm until all danger was passed, and the good
ship Of state had weathered the storm"
His confidence in the final triumph of right
seems never to have been shaken, though the
strain upon his sensitive nature and upon his
sympathy told heavily upon him. No less strong
was his confidence in individuals when once be-
slowed. The year 1862 closed in gloom. There
had been vast expenditures of blood and treas
ure by the government. and great successes yet
the Union cause had suffered still greater de-
feats and many grievous disasters and the
hopes of the insurgents rose ecorrespondingly
Leading officers of the army went so tar as
to say that both the army and the governments
needed a dictator During these gloomy days.
in which it seemed that many of the leading
men in civil and military life lost their heads,
/ and were ready for almost any change however
wild. the President was calm. patient, tolerant
of those who differed from him, and hopeful.
At this crisis, when his generals were denounc-
ing each other, his Cabinet quarreling and MAX
i IN Coz
foreign nations hostile and ready to recognize
the Confederaey and some in high positions call
ing for dictator, it is not too much to say that
Lincoln bore on his Atlantean shoulders the fate
of the Republic, that his firm, vigorous hand
saved the country from anarchy and ruin.
/ s.On the 2fth of JannarY. the President sent