The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1895-08-30
A DEMOCRAT ON
Lincoln How the War Pres
ident Impressed SEN
atom Voorhees,.

him when | was a young man as a
tall, angular figure with a shaggy
shock of black hair, who used to ride
the circuit as lawyer, and whose
business occasionally brought him as
far as my bailiwick in Indiana. Even
in an early day Lincoln had consider
able fame as a successful trial lawyer.
He told stories as effectively then as
he did in after years, when. as Presip
dent, his stories were bound to be a
success. He was a singularly good
talker to a jury, and that convincing
gift which few men posses Of talking
with his audience rather than to it.
Most speakers talk to an audience.
Lincoln talked with his, and that
with his homely rhetoric. through
which ran an eternal current Of senti-
ment, was the real secret OF his victo-
ries.
"Few lawyers cared to meet Lin~
coin on even terms. Even when he
had weak case he was dangerous.
Douglas once said of him: When
Lincoln is right you can't beat him;
when he is wrong you must be id
careful or he'll beat you. This makes
a strong man OF Lincoln Douglas
was right, and the history OF his later
collision with Lincoln on the stump,
and final great contest with him at
the ballot box, might go along ways
toward proving it.
"Lincoln was a man of tremendous
physical strength. He had long gor-
illa.like arms, and was as powerful as
an ogre, In his younger days he had
great fame as wrestler. It was the
common practice of lawyers in that
day to put in the noon hour in wrest-
ling, leaping and running. The
members Of the bar were we'll known
for their wrestlingas iortheir strength
before Judge of jury. Lincoln was
unquestionably the champion wrest-
Ter of his time and circuit. No one
ever succeeded in getting him on his
back. With Lincoln's strength and
faculty for physical exercises, it
should be no wonder that he was a
famous ail.splitter.
Mentally Lincoln was a much
more powerful man than men of his
time were willing to credit. It is
significant that in the most trying
time in our history there never was
an occasion so great but Lincoln was
greater than the occasion; never a cri-
sis so formible but Lincoln was pow.
erlul enough to dominate it. l have
often thought Of the labors of this
man during his four yearso civil war
and wondered what some of our later
and 'overworked' Presidents would
think if they had been in Lincoln's
place. If in addition to the ordina-
ry business OF the Government, they
had had a navy in every water of the
globe and All army of 1000, 900 Of
fighting men in the field.
81 was in Congress when Lincoln
in the White House and saw a great
deal of him. He was man who knew
nothing OF physical fear, and while
men about him used to tell him
stories of possible assassination, and
the necessity Of care, Lincoln never
seemed to pay much heed to them.
He was often seen walking about the
streets or making frequent excursions
to the forts and camps and other
points about Washington. don't
think he was afraid of anything on
earth.
with all his cares he always had
time to listen to or tell a good story,
and can picture him now as he used
to walk up and down his Office in the
White House, rubbing his shaggy
head with one hand, while he held the
other against the small OF his back,
aud laughed delightedly at some story
which was being told. Lincoln al
ways laughed as hard at his own sto'
ries as he did at yours, so he had q
great many laughs in the course of q
day.
Occasionally he would seem wrlpi
in a fashion of sentimental gloom.
The war panied him exceedingly in a
personal way. The thought of the
slaughter OF men and the sorrow and
trouble of their families would worry
him as much as if every soldies who
was killed was his longtime personal
friend. Now and then somebody who
had deserted, or in some other fash
ion violated MILITARY law, would be
sentenced to be shot Lincoln nevei
failed to pardon everyone Of them /
the case was brought to him. He
would not let one Of them be executed
One day he said to me, when wal
visiting at the White House; 'Voor'
hees, don't you kuowit seems strang'
to me that a man of my nature aud
my former surroundings should have
been brought to a place like this
Doesn't it strike you as queer that l
who never had heart enough to kill I
chicken, and whom the sight Of bloo'
never failed to make sick, should b.
placed in this position, with river
and torrents Of blood flowing all abou
me, and be obliged to take part in It
and live in it year after Year,