The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-12-17

His Peculiarit,es While Sitting for His
Portrait.
From the Nep York Times.


From the Neic York Times.
Baptist pastors recently listened to some
interesting remarks by A. J. Conant, the
artist, on Personal "reminiscences of Abra-
ham Lincoln" Mr.. Conant said his first
acquaintance with Mr.. Lincoln came about
through his being requested to paint Mr..
Llncolns portrait for the first exhibition of
the Western Academy of Art at st. Louis.
IL was his custom, he said, in painting this
70 go to Mr. Lincoln's office in the old
State building, as Mr.. Lincoln was at
that time QS60 busted with political
affairs and could not find tune for formal sit
tings
The first time Mr.. Conant visited Mr..
Lincoln for this purpose he found the ex-
preston upon his face quite the reverse Of
the melancholy and serious one he had sup
posed be wore 1t was so bright, animated,
ana genial that Mr.. Conant at once made
up his mind to depict it if he could. With
this in view it was his custom to tell humor-
Gus stories, which, when they touched Mr.
Lncoln's fancy, made him forget for the
time his absorbing affairs.
One day Mr.. Lincoln told how, when
running" as he termed it, his grocery
store at Salem, near Springfield, he got his
first taste for law. A farmer drove up with
a broken-drown horse and wagon filled
WIN nouoouOAu pluHueT, anu dSkeu MIN
what he would give .'fur the hull load"
Lincoln looked over the lot of old pots,
pans, kettles, and stuff, and gave him half
dollar. The man went Off and Lincoln
stored the stuff. Some weeks after the pur-
chase Lincoln had occasion to use one of the
barrels, which were filled with some of the
old truck" bought in the 80 cents purchase,
and as he turned out the contents of one of
them, under the old rusty pans dilapidated
copy of Blackstone's Commentaries came
to light. Lincoln eyed it curiously and laid
it ASIDE. Later in the afternoon he picked
the book up and began to read. He soon
became absurbed in it, and from that day
oD he read all the long leisure hours which
fall to the lot of the country grocer. This
was the first linking he had of any taste in
the direction in which he afterward at
tanned such success.
Another story the artist told was one
which he said he had himself told Lincoln
and which he had used on several occasions,
on two of which he had been interrupted
before he got to the point, ''and," said the
artist, ''if there was anything which an
noyed Mr.. Lincoln it was this. 1t caused
him TO always remember the man from
whom he got the story. The story was of a
Missouri man who went to a stable to get a
horse to take him to convention to which
he was going as a delegate with hope of
nomination. The stable keeper was of a
different political persuasion, and gave him a
horse which he calculated would break
down before he got there His calculation
proved true and the man lost the nomina-
tion. On his return to the stable, the dis
appointed Missourian asked the stableman
if he was training that horse for a hearse.
The man said:
kinder guessed he wasn't"
"Well." said the man, ''if you are, he'll
never do it, for he wouldn't get corpse
to the cemetery in time for the resurrec-
ton"
This story Lincoln had twice tried to tell,
once from the rear of a train, and was
carried away by it before he got to the
point, and second time, when present
at gun testing, when the gun was fired
just as he reached the Missourian's reply.