Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1895-02-21
TRIBUTE TO LINCOLN.
HENRY wATTERSoN'S GRAFTON
AT CHICAGO.

AT CHICAGO.
Magnificent Audience Hears the Elo-
quent Kentuckian's Brilliant Effort
His Words Were Worthy-Life and
Character of the Great Emanci pator.
i'm Honor of the Martyred President.
The most notable feature of the Lincoln
memorial exercises at Chicago was the
speech of Colonel Henry Wattersop, of
Louisville, Ky. Mr.. Watterson began his
oration by reference to the poise. and
dignity of the statesmen in knee breeches
and powdered wigs who signed the Dec
laration of Independence and framed the
Constitution, and who made their influ-
ence felt upon life and thought long after
the echoes of Bunker Hill and Yorktown
had died away. 1t was not until the in
stitution of African slavery got into poll
tics as a vital force that Congress be-
came bear garden. The men who sign
ed the declaration and their immediate
successors were succeeded by set of
party leaders much less decorous and
much more self-confdent. Continuing,
the lecturer said in part:
There were Seward and Sumner and
Chase, Corwin and Ben Wade, Trumbull
and Fessenden, Hale and Collamer and
Grimes, and Greeley, our latter-day
Franklin. There were Toombs and Ham
mond, and Slidell and Wigfall, and the
two little giants, Douglas and Stephens,
and Yancey and Mason, and Jefferson
Davis. With them soft words buttered
no parsnips and they cared little how
nit iOht ha hU nd a
ones. The issue between them did not
require a diagram to explain it. 1t was
so simple a child could understand 1t. 1t
read, human slavery against human free
dom, slave labor against free labor, and
involved q conflict as inevitable as it was
irrepressible.
Lincoln Enters the Fray.
Amid the noise and confusion, the clash
ing of intellects like sabers bright, and
the booming of the big oratorical guns of
arrayed, there came one day into the
Northern camp one of the oldest figures
imaginable, the figure of a man who, in
spite of an appearance somewhat out of
line, carried a serious aspect, if not the
suggestion of power, and, pausing mo-
ment to utter single sentence that could
be heard above the din, passed on and for
moment disappeared. The sentence was
pregnant with meaning. The man bore
a commission from God on high! He said:
"A house divided against itself cannot
stand. i believe this Government cannot
endure permanently half free and half
slave. / do not expect the Union to be
dissolved; l do not expect the house to
fall, but l do expect it will cease to be
divided" He was Abraham Lincoln.
How shall describe him to you? Shall
do so as he appeared to me when first
saw him Immediately on his arrival at
the national capital, the chosen President
of the United States, his appearance quite
as strange as the story of his life, which
was then but half known and half told,
or shall l use the language of another and
more vivid word-painter?
In January, 1861, Colonel A. *. Nc
Clure, of Pennsylvania, journeyed to
Springfield, H., personally, to become ac-
quainted and to consult with the man he
had contributed so materially to elect. 81
went directly from the depot to Lincoln S
house." says Colonel Mcclure, '>nd rang
the bell, which was answered by Lincoln
himself, opening the door. doubt wheth-
er l wholly concealed my disappointment
at meeting him. Tall, gaunt, ungainly,
ill-clad, with homeliness of manner that
was unique in itself, l confess that my
heart sank within me as l remembered
that this was the man chosen by great
nation to become its ruler in the gravest
period of it's history. 1 remember his
dress as if it were but yesterday-snuff-
colored and slouchy pantaloons; open
black vest, held by a few brass buttons
straight or evening dress coat, with tight
v., ala NN avn 90 70 I1...,
bony arms, all supplemented by an awk-
wardness that was uncommon among men
of intelligence. Such was the picture
met in the person of Abraham Lincoln
We sat down in his plainly furnished par
lor and were uninterrupted during the
nearly four hours l remained with him
and little by little as his earnestness, sin
cerity and candor were developed in con
versation, / forgot all the grotesque quail
ties which so confounded me when first
greeted him. Before half an hour had
passed ] learned not only to respect, but
indeed, TO reverence the man."
Lincoln's First Inaugural.
am not undertaking to deliver an oral
biography of Abraham Lincoln, and shall
pass over the events which quickly led
up to his nomination and election to the
Presidency in 1860.
/ met the newly elected President the
afternoon of the day in the early morning
of which he had arrived in Washington
at was Saturday, l think. He came to
the capitol under Mr.. Stewards escort, and
among the rest ! was presented to him
His appearance did not impress me M
Enthusiastically as II had impressed Colonel
Mcclure. / was more familiar with the
Western type than Colonel Mcclure, and
whilst Mr.. Lincoln was certainly not an
Adonis, even after prairie ideas. there
was about him n rugged dignity that com.
manded respect.
l met him again the next Monday fore.
noon in his apartments ut Willard's Ho.
tel as he was preparing to start to his in.
auguration, and was struck by his unaf.
fected Kindness; for / came with a matter
u requiring his attention. He was entirely
self-possessed, no trace of nervousness
and very oblging. 1 accompanied til,
cortege that went from the Senate cllnm
ber to the east portco of the capitol. As
Mr.. Lincoln removed his hat to face the
vast multitude in front and below, I ex
tended my hand to take it, but Judge
Douglas, just behind me, reached over my
outstretched arm and received il. holding
it throughout the delivery of the inau
gurnl address. ! stood just near enough
TO the speakers elbow not to obstruct any
gestures he might make, though he made
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