The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-02-15

LINCOLN MAKING ONE OF HIS EARLY
SPEECHES.
argument even, Mr.. Lincoln was able to
make point or to suggest an idea were pure
inventions of his, made many times upon
the spot. They are certainly pure allcgorcs,
quite as suggestive rs many of EsOps
fables, and reveal what to Lincoln himself
was an unconscious literary faculty
1t is the common opinion of the ablest crit
les and the common appreciation of all men
that Lincoln's Gettysburg address in sub
Unity of thought, loftiness and appropri-
ateneSS of expression and purity of its die
ton Is the most classic uttcrance of any
American and will take rank in history
with some of the profoundest sentences of
Shakespeare, and it has been supposed that
it was an almost eXtcmporaneous address,
revealing Incoln's command of the highest
literary qualities, even in sudden emergen-
cy. But recent paper written by one who
had abundant authority to know what Mr..
Lincoln's methods of composition were has
made it plain that this address, like every
other speech or writing that contains the
seeds of immortality, was Il laborous com
position Mr.. Lincoln thought much upon
il, and it was always his habit to compose
mentally before he committed his thoughts
TO paper. In fact, the mere work of writing
WAS mechanical almost automatic = as
| some slips of the pen in the first draft of
| that speech show.
After the speech was delivered it was sub
| jcctcd by Mr.. Lincoln TO most panstaking
rcvision-rcvsion which reveals his ntui-
| tive perception of the canons of literary
form.
IN visit to the New England states
| about three months before he WAS nomi-
mated for the presidency Mr.. Lincoln met
| the Rev. DIR. John II. CULVER, Il very able
clergyman, who died recently while hold
| ing IL professor chair in the Andovcr sem
| mary. DR.. Gullivcr had heard OF Lincoln
| as Il country lawyer of the west who had
made some speeches which were regarded
| as more powerful than those delivered by
! Douglas, then esteemed the most brilliant
dcbaier of the time. Therefore, having OPP
| portunity, DR. CULVER went to hear this
| country lawyer expecting to find Il quaint
| perhaps original, but wholly unrhetorical
| discourse, without any literary graces, but
| only such rough mannerisms and suggcs-
tions us would appeal TO II political throng
On the following morning DR.. CULVER
met Mr.. Lincoln upon the train, took u seat
| beside him and said 10 him that he was
| amazingly disappointed with the speech
| and most happily disappointed, for he said
"Nour address was not only mastery in it's
! logic, most skillful in its presentations
| but it had II literary charm. 1t was pre-
| sented with such perfection Of style, SO far
| as the use of language is concerned, that
feel impelled to ask you how you mastered
| that style, since the report has been made
| in the east that you were an unlettered
| country lawyer who had had very brief
| schooling"
Mr.. Lincoln seemed pleased to hear this
compliment, for he had an honest pride in
appearing well before the cultured people
of the country. He said that he presumed
that if he had any capacity for logical pres
entation it was partly natural and partly
due to Il habit which he had adopted early
i'll life of never opening his lips to speak
upon any matter which was not as clear to
his own mind as the simplest sentence
could be. Thus lc had trained himself TO
speak so Tia, ether people could under
stand lim, because ie himself understood
what it WA, tilni Inc wanted 10 say.
He said int be had uuconScou~iy, PR
halps lc.i.uco go speak viiE precision and
with a Aappy cAcicc %! von- Devo;,e he
had read o,cr and Over ,in ,uc .,in.c.
Shakespeare, "..,or's .f.hc, anG led
read an ahr.d.od Dictionary which he pos
scssed frequently, studying every word
i'll it, that hc almost knew it 10y heart. 1t
was his opinion that only by such habit as
that WAS ii possible for 2 man in the higher
forms of discourse to obtain complete
mastery over language +. j. EDWARDS.