The Wichita daily eagle., 1894-02-16

| SPEECHES.
| argument even, Mr.. Lincoln was able +
make a point or to suggest an idea were pur
inventions of his, made many times upo
the spot. They are certainly pure allegories
| quite AS suggestive as many of Ksop'
fables, and reveal what to Lincoln himsel
was an unconscious literary faculty.
| 1t is the common opinion of the ablest crit
les and the common appreciation of all mel
| 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 utterance of an,
American and will take rank in historr
with some of the profoundest sentences O
Shakespeare, and it has been supposed tha
1t was an almost eXtempOraneOus address
revealing Lincoln's command of the highes
literary qualities even in sudden emergen
cy. But recent paper written by one whC
had abundant authority to know what Mr.
Llncoln's methods of composition were has
made 1T plain that this address, like every
other speech or writing that contains the
seeds of immortality, was laborious com
position. Mr.. Lincoln thought much upon
it, 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 wassub-
jected by Mr.. Lincoln to most painstaking
revision-revision which reveals his intui-
tive perception of The canons of literary
form.
In a visit to the New England states
n hfYr
mated for the presidency Mr.. Lincoln met
the Rev. DR.. John p. Gulliver, a very able
clergyman, who died recently while hold
ing professors chair in the Andover SEM
mary. DR.. Gulliver had heard of Lincoln
as 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
debater of the time. Therefore, having op-
portunity, DR.. Gulliver went to hear this
country lawyer, expecting to find quaint,
perhaps original, but wholly unrhetorical
discourse, without any literary graces, but
only such rough mannerisms and sugpes-
tions as would appeal to political throng.
On the following morning Dr. Gulliver
met Mr.. Lincoln upon the train, took a seat
beside him and said to him that he'was
amazingly disappointed with the speech
and most happily disappointed, for be said:
:" our address was not only mastery in its
logic, most skillful in its presentations
but it had a literary charm. 1t was pre-
sented with such perfection of style, so far
as the use of language is concerned, that
feel lmpelled 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 II he had any capacity for logical pres
entatlon 1t was partly natural and partly
due TO habit which he had adopted eariy
in life OF never opening his lips TO speak
upon any matter which was not as clear to
his own mind rs the simplest sentence
could be. Thus he had trained himself 70
speak so that ether people could under
stand him, because he himself understood
what II was that he wanted TO say.
he said that he had unconsciously. Der.
haps, learned TO speak with precision and
with happy choice of words because he
had read over and over again the Bible.
''-Esop's Fables" aad had
read an abridged dictionary which he pos
'essed so Frequently. studying every wort,
n it, that ne almost knew it by heart. Ii
vas his opinion that Only by such habit rs
hat was 1t possible for q man in the higher
orrns OF discourse to obtain a complete |
mastery over language. T. j. EpwARps