The Irish standard., 1895-11-09
quarter section Of land from my father
IN q ~ q {. nc. iif In nf.nnS & IfAE

and was putting it In crops. AS winter
came on 4 grew restless. I told my fath. 3
ser he could have his land again. and that e
was going to Springfield to study law. { !;
"I did not study in the Office OF: NE. Lin
coin "A great deal OF his work was on
the circuit, and he spent but little time In
his office had known him 81 nce I was
a boy of IL, and he was already my ideal
hero. When ! went to Springfield
asked him if had not better study law
with him, but he advised me to go into the
office of lawyer who would be station
ary. He gave me lots OF good points,
however, and / was closely associated
with him from that time on
:tHow did you like the laW?" @ ss9s$
81 liked it very well,'' replied the sem
ator, "and would not object to practicing
noW I did not get to be a lawyer with
out considerable trouble. A few months
after I took UP the study began to get
sick again. I had an attack of typhoid
fever, and hung for some time between
life and death. The doctors told me that
the only thing that could save me was to
buy pony and ride in the open air.
then went back home and tried the pony
cure But it was no good. I had no
object in my rides, and I could not gain
strength.
.This was the situation when went to
Peoria one day. 1t was then, as it is
now, quite hog market. ] met one OF
the capitalists, and he asked me if | would
like to buy hogs for him. He offered TO
pay me 10 cents a hog, the farmers to keep
the hogs until they were wanted, and to
be paid the market prices prevailing at
the time of delivery. I accepted the
proposition and started out to buy. During
IL, he r + fhnJ,cqrGc
of hogs. / galloped from one farm to
another. buying all the swine within sight
and l contracted for all the hogs in two
or three counties. At the close of my
season 7 found that | had cleared $500,
and also that had entirely regained my
health | took the money and went back
to Springfield + resumed my studies,
and was soon admitted to the bar"
How did you get into politics, sena-
tor?'' r.,
EVERY lawyer in those days was. to a
certain extent, politician" replied Sen
ator Cullom. ''The law is, as rule,
one of the stepping stones to politics.
got into politics because / tried to use
politics as "a stepping stone to The law
was practicing in Springfield, ana 1
thought if became member OF the legls-
lature that this would give me acQuaint-
ances all over the state, and Wodl4 help
my law business. The result was That l
became candidate and was elected l
was reelected, then made speaker Of the
house, and after that sent to congress.
Later on I was elected governor for six
wears, and then sent to the United States
senate There YOU have it all in a nut
she'll"
.'How about Lincoln, senator? Was
he rea11v s17ch a great story teller as is
claimed?"
"Yes.' was the reply "But he did not:
tell stories for the sake Of telling stories.
His stories came out in the shape OF IL
Illustrations OF his thought or to enforce
his arguments f1e liked to talk, and
during his life at Springfield there was
drug store which still stands there, TO
which Lincoln used to- come nearly every
night to talk There was a crowd who
came there to listen to him, and many an
argument was sprung merely for the
sake Of getting Lincoln to talking. F1e
would brighten up as he began to talk,
and / used to sometimes think that he
told stories to get away from his
thoughts and himself. When lie was
alone he. would often drop into habits or
deep meditation, would seem to be
gloomy, and it was almost Impossible at
such tunes. TO arouse -QllH... 49,. =
tHe may have been moody at times,
continued Senator Cullom, but his mead
was extraordinarily clear. 1 used to think
when 1 saw him sitting apparently brood
ing over something that he was possibly
turning over the great questions concern
ing the matters which he had to settle
in after life, and that the responsibilities
which he was to have were already be-
fore him., He was q philosopher and
his great mind and soul we're different
from those Of common men.
S'Was Abraham Lincoln a religious
man."
I'm one sense he was, and In another
not" -eplied Senator Cullom. AS to a
belief in future state and God, 4
think he was. He had a religious side
to his nature, and / have seen evidences
that he had made a deep study of the
Bible. AS to being a doctrinal Christian
"a believer in certain creeds and
churches-he was not. AS to his study
Of such matters. I remember an incident.
The Uniyersalist and Campbellite
preachers of Springfield were holding 81
Joint debate upon certain doctrines. Well,
one night, when they were discussing
whether there was hell, Abraham Lin
coin attended. He and sat together,
and when the two eachers'hads finished
their discussion we walked out. 1 re-
member Lincoln was disguised with The
discussion. He swung himself out Of
his seat as they stated the debate was
closed and said to me: They have
scarcely touched the question He had
evidently been thinking upon the subject
and had it all figured out in his mind"
s'What were the elements of his
strength s j. ~. XII
abraham Lincoln replied Senator
Cullom, chad a great sympathy with the
people, He was a man of the; people.
He could feet for them and with them.
He had great. common sense and great
ability"
t'Was he shrewd politician?''
eyes; he was good Judge Of men and
knew how to move them. s
...Was he ambitious?" sI5*s| ssE.s
eyes; very much So" was the reply.
sBut he was SO wrapped up in the great
questions with which he had to deal that
it is hard to tell where his ambitious
ended and his convictions began. He
was far-seeing. Il remember the acara4
raign with Douglass. I was in, 1T with
Lincoln, and when the returns came in,
though 4incoln had the popular vote, d
legislature had been chosen which would
elect Douglass. ID met Lincoln coming
home just after the news had been zrer
ceived. ~ said :s.ss
FL & & & syvVeH, Mr.. Lincoln, we are beaten.
4 Z. . Yes, he replied, we are beaten. 9ssS