The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1895-05-17

| freer from unpleasant illusions than
that of most men,
While wooing that jealous eyed mis-
tress, the law, Lincoln was earning no
money. AS another has said, He had
running board bill to pay and nothing
to pay it with" BY dint of sundry jobs
today, splitting rails for James Short
tomorrow, he managed 10 keep his head
above the waves. His friends were firm
no young man ever had truer or bet
ter ones-but he was Of too independent
turn to appeal to them or complain of
his condition. He never at any time
abandoned the idea of becoming IA law
yer. That was always a spirit which
beckoned him on in the darkest hour of
his adversely.
Some one, probably Democrat who
voted for him in the preceding fall,
recommended him to John Calhoun,
then surveyor Of the county, as suitable
material for an assistant This Office.
in view of the prevailing speculation in
lands and town lots, was the most i'm.
portant and possibly the most profitable
in the county. Calhoun, the incumbent.
was a Yankee and a typical gentleman.
He was brave, intellectual, self possessed
and cultivated. He had been educated
for the law, but never practiced much
after coming to Illinois; taught school
in preference. AS an instructor he was
the popular one of his day and age. |
attended the school he taught, when
was boy, in Springfield, and was in
later years clerk Of the city under his
administration as mayor. Lincoln,
know, respected and admired him. Aft
er Lincoln s removal to Springfield they
frequently held joint debates on political
questions. AT one time, | remember,
they discussed the tariff question in the
courthouse, using up the better part of
two evenings in the contest. Calhoun
was polite, affable and an honest de-
batter, never lodging any question. This
made him formidable antagonist in
argumentative controversy. | have
heard Lincoln say that Calhoun gave
him more trouble in his debates than
Douglas ever did, because he was more
captivating in his manner and more
learned man than Douglas.
But to resume. The recommendation
Of Lincolns friends was sufficient to in
duce Calhoun to appoint him one of his
deputies. At the time he received no
tice of his selection by Calhoun, Lin
coin was out in the woods near New
Salem splitting rails. A friend named
Pollard Simmons, who still survives
and has related the incident TO me-
walked out to the point where he was
working with the cheering news. Lin
coin, being Wing and knowing Cal
houn's pronounced Democratic tenden-
cies, inquired if he had to sacrifice any
principle in accepting the position. IF
/ can be perfectly free in my political
action, l will take the office, he re-
marked, but if my sentiments or even
expression of them is TO be abridged in
any way / would not have it or any
other Office. A young man hampered
by poverty as Lincoln was at this time,
who had the courage TO deal with pub
lie office as he did, was certainly made
of unalloyed material. No wonder in
after years. when he was defeated by
Douglas, he could inspire his friends by
the admonition not to give up after
one nor one hundred defeats. y
Honors were now crowding thick and
fast upon him. On May Z, 1888, he was
commissioned postmaster at New Salem,
the first Office he ever held under the
federal government. The salary was
proportionate to the amount of business
done. Whether Lincoln solicited the
appointment himself or whether it was
given him without the asking l do not
know, but certain it is his "administra-
ton" gave general satisfaction.
Natures Stamp of Greatness.
No little of Lincoln S influence with
the men of New Salem can be attributed
to his extraordinary feats of strength
By an arrangement of ropes and straps,
haruessed about his hips, he was en-
abled one day at the mill to astonish "a
crowd of village celebrities by lifting a
box of stones weighing near 1000
pounds There is no fiction either, as
suggested by some of his biographers.
III the story that he lifted barrel of
whisky from the ground and drank
from the bung, but in performing this
latter almost incredible feat he did not
stand erect and elevate the barrel, but
squatted down and lifted it to his knees,
rolling it over until his mouth came op-
posite the bung. His strength, kindness
of manner, love of fairness and Justice,
his original and unique sayings, his
power of mimicry, his perseverance,
all made a combination rarely met with
Oh the frontier. Nature had burned him
in her holy fire and stamped him with
the seal of her greatness.
In the summer of 1S43 Lincoln de-
termined to make another race for the
legislature, but this time he ran dis
tinctly as a Wing. He made, it is pre-
sumed, the usual number of speeches,
but as the art of newspaper reporting
had not reached the perfection it has
since attained we are not favored with
even the substance of his efforts on the
stump. / have Lincoln's word for it
that il was more of a handshaking cam
paign than anything else
The election took place in August.