The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1895-06-14
HIS FIRST LAW OFFICE.

| any other way but aloud. This habit
used to annoy me almost beyond the
point of endurance. I once asked him
why he did so. This was his explana-
ton: "When read aloud, two senses
catch the idea-frst, I see what read;
second, hear it. and therefore can re-
member it better.
He never studied lawbooks unless a
case was on hand for consideration,
never followed up the decisions of the
supreme courts, as other lawyers did. 1t
seemed as if he depended for his effect
iveness in managing lawsuit entirely
on the stimulus and inspiration of the
final hour. He paid but little attention
to the fees and money matters of the
firm, usually leaving all such to me. He
never entered an item in the account
book If any one paid money to him
which belonged to the firm, on arriving
at the Office he divided it with me. If I
was not there, he would wrap up my
share in piece of paper and place it in
| my drawer, marking it with pencil:
"Case of Roe versus Doe. Herndon's
| half"
As Tallzer and Listener.
On many topics he was not a good con-
versationist, because he felt that he
was not learned enough. Neither was he
good listener. Putting it a little
| strongly, he was not often even polite.
| If present with others or participating
in a conversation, he was rather abrupt,
and in his anxiety to say something apt
or to illustrate the subject under discus
sion would burst in with story. In
our Office l have known him to consume
the whole forenoon relating stories 1t
man came to see him for the purpose
Of finding out something which he did
not care to let him know and at the
| same time did not want to refuse him,
he was very adroit. In such cases Lin
coin would do most of the talking,
swinging around what he suspected was
the vital point, but never nearing it, in
terlarding his answers with seeming
ly endless supply Of stories and jokes.
The interview being both interesting
and pleasant, the man would depart in
good humor, believing he had accom-
plished his mission. After he had walk
ed away few squares and had cooled
off the question would come up, "Well,
what did find out?" Blowing away the
froth of Lincoln S humorous narratives,
he would find nothing substantial left.
AS he entered the trial., relates one
Of his colleagues at the bar, ''where
most lawyers would object he would say
he 'reckoned' it would be fair to let this
IN or that, and sometimes, when his adj
versary could not quite prove what Lin
coin knew to be the truth, he 'reckoned'
it would be fair to admit the truth to be
SO and So When he did object to the
court, and when he heard his objections
answered, he would often say, We'll, I
reckon 1 must be wrong. Now, about
the time he had practiced this three
fourths through the case, if his adver-
sary didn't understand him, he would
wake up in few minutes, learning that
be had feared the Greeks too late, and
find himself beaten. He was wise as
serpent in the trial of cause, but had
had too many scares from his blows to
certify that he was harmless as dove.
When the whole thing was unraveled,
the adversary would begin to see that
what he was so blandly giving away
was simply what he couldn't get and
keep. By giving away six points and
carrying the seventh he carried his case,
and the whole case hanging on the sew
enth he traded away everything which
would give him the least aid in carry
ing that. Any man who took Lincoln
for simple minded man would very
soon wake up with his back in ditch. !"
His Power a Lawyer.
Lincoln's restless ambition found its
qualification only in the field of politics
He used the law merely as a stepping
stone to what he considered more at
tractive condition in the political world.
In the allurements held out by the lat
ter he seemed to be happy. Nothing in
Lincoln S life has provoked more discus
sion than the question of his ability as
a lawyer I feel warranted in saying
that he was at the same time very