The Arkansaw traveler., 1886-03-20
LINcoLN.S SARCASM.
lExchanan.l

Abraham Lincoln, when . representa- tive f,om Illinois. in lS47 AS, says Ben. Rerley Poere, used to pass an hour os more every morning in the hoase pest. ofkice telling stories, of which he had an illimitable fund. While relating q story his face usually wore an expression of the deepest gravity, but when he came to the close he would indulge tn hearty laugh-in tact, laugh all over from head 10 foot and if his listener enjoyed the narrative and manifested his apprecia tion of it ia q similar manner, Mr, Lin- coln would only laugh the more, until his eyes oveTdowed with tearS in the ex. cess of his enjoyment.
 Mir. lncoln made but one long speech, which vas listened to with intense in,er- est by the occupants of the floor and of the galleries of the house of representa-. tives. This speech vas delivered during the session of congress immediately pre- ceding the presidential election, and was tn reply to one made tew days previous by Mir. lverson, a representative from the state of Georgia. The seats in the old hall of representatives were arranged in semi-circle and divided by narrow aisies, which ladiated like the spokes of . wheel from the area which was partly occupied by the clerks desk and the speakers chair. 4 broad aisle. extend ing from the center door to the clerks desk, divided the hall iAto two equal paus. The seats on one side ot thls aisle were occupied by the members be- longing to the Democratic party. white on the ether side sat the Whig and Free i Soii representatives. Ms. I.,neola's seat was on the outer range and near the wes - ern entrance ot the hall His speech was hastily written on sheets of toclscsp pa. per, and lay on the desk before him,
 Alter speaking few minutes he abAn- doned his notes and trusted to his mem. ory or the inspiration of the theme Be- coming excited he commenced walking up aud down the aisle, his right arm be- Ing extended, and his long, bony fore. finger pointing toward the opposite side of the hall, to the occupants of which his remarks were especially addressed, ana by whom he was listened to with the deep est attention, when he was no. interrupted | by loud laughter. His left arm vas thrown behind him and partially covered by the skirts of black, swallow tailed coat, slightly thread lre, which hung loosely from his shoulders He seemed hardly conscious of his movements until he had crossed the area, and stood face to face with his auditors on the Demo cratic side of the hall. when he would suddenly turn and rapidly walking back to his desk, glance at his manuscript, and then resume his walk. He thus occu pied his allott, hour. Military Coat Tails was the subject of his speech. Few speeches comparable to it in witty sarcasm have ever been delivered in the halls of congress.
 The presidential candidate ofthe Whig party at this tune was General Zach ary Taylor, the hero of the Mexican war while that of the Democratic party was General Lewis Cass, a senator from Mich igsn, who was in the service of the United States in the war of 1872. and dis ungulshed himself as a volunteer aid-de- camp te General Harrison at the battle of the Thames. ln tho speech of the member from Georgia the Whig party were said to have deserted all their prin- ciples and taken shelter under the mili- tary coat-tails of General Taylor. In other words, their chief reliance for suc- cess was upon the military reputation oi taeir candidate. In the course of his speech Mir. Lincoln undertook to show that the Democratic party were open to a similar charge, having for nearly quar- ter of century made political capital out of the military reputation of General
 Jackson, or "Oid Hickory" as he was popularly called, and not only making him president out of il for eight years but having enough of it left to make presidents of several comparatively small men afterward, and still relying upon it to make another.
 The campaign papers of the party with rude likepesses of General Jackson upon them," he said, "proclaimed that Cass and Butler were of the true hickory stripe, while hickory poles and hickory brooms were their never ending em- blems Toward the close of his speech Mir. Lincoln made humorous and sar- castle commentary upon the military record of General Csss, quoting at some length from the stories then in circula. ton concerning his valor a, the battle of the Thames, where, 1t Is said, he broke his sword in fit of desperation" and winding up with the following narrative of his own exploits as a soldier:
 By the way. Mr Speaker, did you know that am a military hero2 Yes. sir, in the days Of ths Black Hawk war fought, bled, and-came away. Speak ing of General Cass career reminds me of my own. l was not at S,iIlm ans de feat, but about as near |. as Cass was to Huil's surrender, and, like him. saw the place very soon afterward. luis quite certain 1 did not break my sword, for 1 had none to break, but bent musket pretty badly on one occasion. If Cass broke his sword, the idea is he broke 1t m desperation. bent the musket by accident. If he saw any real live fight ing Indians, 1t was more than did but 1 had a good many bloody struggles with the mosqui,oes, and although never fsioted from the loss of blood, can truly say was often very hungry. Mir. Speaker, if should ever agree to dod