The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1895-08-09

and on hearing from my brother I i'm
mediately packed up and started fol
Springfield. l arrived there on Saturday
night On Sunday Mr.. Lincoln was point
ed out to me. well remember this frs
sight of him. He was striding along
holding little Tad, then about 6 years old
by the hand, who could with the greatest
difficulty keep up with his father. In the
morning applied at the Office of Lincoln
Il Herndon for admission as a student.
A Modest Office.
1.-THE office was on the second floor of g
brick building on the public square, oppo
site the courthouse. You went up one
flight of stairs and then passed along q
hallway to the rear office, which was me-
dunn sized room. There was one long ia
Bile in the center of the room and shorter
one running in the opposite direction,
forming Il, and both were covered with
green baize There were two windows
which looked into the back yard. In one
corner was an old fashiA he'd secretary with
pgeonholes and drawer, and here Mr..
Lincoln and his partner kept their law pa
pers There was also a bookcase contain
ing about 200 volumes of law as well as
miscellaneous books. The morning en-
tered the office Mr., Lincoln and his part
her, Mr. Herndon, were both present. Mr..
Lincoln addressed his partner thus: Billy,
this is the young man of whom spoke to
you. Whatever arrangement you make
with him will be satisfactory to me. )
Then, turning to me, he said: Il hope you
will not become so enthusiastic in your
studies of Blackstone and Kent as did two
young men whom we had here. Do you
see that spot over there?' pointing to a
large ink stain ON the wall. We'll, one of
these young men got so enthusiastic in
his pursuit of legal lore that he fred an
inkstand at the other ones head, and that
is the mark he made Immediately be-
gan to clean up about the office little.
Mr. Lincoln had been in congress and had
the usual amount of seeds to distribute to
the farmers. These were sent out with
Free Soil and Republican documents In
my efforts to clean up l found that some
of the seeds had sprouted in the dirt that
had collected in the office. Judge Logan
and Milton Hay occupied the front offices
on the same floor with Lincoln and Hern-
don, and one day Mr.. Hay came in and
said, with apparent establishment, What's
happened here?' oh, nothing replied
Lincoln, pointing to me, only this young
man has been cleaning up little One
of Lincoln's striking characteristics was
his simplicity, and nowhere was this trait
more strikingly exhibited than in his will
ingness to receive instruction from any
body and every body. One day he came into
the Office and addressing his partner said,
Billy, what's the meaning Of antithesisf'
Mr.. Herndon gave him the definition Of
the word, and said, Mr.. Lincoln, II you
will allow me, will give you an exam
ple.' All right, John, go ahead, said
Mr.. Lincoln in his hearty manner. Phil
lips says In his essay on Napoleon, "A
pretended patriot, he impoverished the
protested Catholic, he impris-
oned the pope, - etc. Mr.. Lincoln thanked
me and seemed very much pleased. Re-
turning from off the circuit once, he said
to Mr.. Herndon; Billy, heard good
story while I was up in the country.
Judge D. was comPlimenting the landlord
On the excellence of his beef. II am sur
pirsed" he said, THAT you have such good
beef. You must have to kill a whole crit
ter when you want any" Yes" said the
I'VE never kill less than whole
3ritter. -
"Linooln's favorite position when I'M
-aveling some knotty law point was to
stretch both of his legs at full length upon
, chair in front of him. In this position, |
With books on the table near by and in |
lis lap, he worked up his case. No matter
low deeply interested in his work, If any |
me came in he had something humorous
md pleasant to say, and usually wound
Up by telling joke or an anecdote. l
ave heard him relate the same story three
lines within as many hours to persons
Who came in at different periods and ev-
ry tiES he laughed as heartily and en-
Dyed 1t as if 1t were a new story. His hui
lor was infectious. l had to laugh be-
ause 1 thought 1t funny that Mr.. Lincoln
njoyed story SO repeatedly told.
Dividing the Fees.
"There was no order in the office at all.
he firm of Lincoln & Herndon kept no
king any receipts or making any entries
q books. One day Mr.. Lincoln received
), 600 as a fee in railroad case. He
lme in and said, Well, Billy, addressing
Is partner, Mr.. Herndon, here is our fee.
it down and let me divide He counted
1T SO, 500 to his partner and gave it to
i'm with as much nonchalance as he
ould have given few cents for a paper
upidity had no abiding place in his ma
Ire.
II took a good deal of pains in getting
p a speech which l wanted to deliver
uring political campaign. told Mr..
lincoln that would like to read it to
i'm. He sat down in one chair put his
et into another one and said: John, I
'u can fire away with that speech. 1 {
less can stand it, unrolled the man. q
script and proceeded with some trepida- I
on. That's a good point, john, he
ould say at certain places, and at others, {
hats gcod-very good indeed, until I
1t very much elated over my effort 1
'livered the speech over so times during
e campaign. Elmer E. Ellsworth, after
lionel of the famous zouaves, who was 9
lied In Alexandria early in the war, was
student in Lincoln's office.
is head was so full of military matters,
'wever, that he thought little of law. or .
llsworth, Lincoln said, That young
an has real genius for war;" q