Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1896-09-20


 The road the cockroaeh went
 Mr. Lincoln would always laugh immoderately when I sang this iineling nonsense to him. It reminded him of the rude and often witty ballads which had amused him in his boyhoed days. He w3s foua of negro melodies, and The Blue Tailed Fly Nies t f..zs.1 tt,. He often called for that buzzing ballad when We were alone, and he wanted to throw off the weight of public and pri- yate cares. The following are sample lines as nearly as I can recall them:
 When was young and used to wait
 Upon de table at masSa' s pIata
 d pass the bottle when he was dry
 An brush away de blue tailed fly.
 seOle nassas's dead Oh. let him rest!
 DeY say all things am for de best.
 But l ean forget until die
 Ole mss all dc blue tailed fly
 tIr Lincoln was very fond of the concerts given by the Newhall family, a company of players and musicians who travelled over the prairies and ren- dered performances ill the churches and school1ouses Of central Illinois for many years lie could always attend their concerts if in the same town, and if they appeared more than enc night i'll succession lie WAS sure to be present even though he failed thereby to meet all important engagement elsewhere. He generally went alone. The pro- granllne was arranged to interest ehiI- dren and ladies rather than adult men, and the lawyers wondered why Lincoln, whose musical tastes were manifestly so limited was such faithful patron. Tie real reason became apparent when they learned that Mrs Hills, one of the singers, had met Lincoln and com p1imented him on his interesting face and agreeable manners D As she WAS doubtless the only woman who had ever paid him such marked attention, his colleagues laughed and insisted it had turned his head Nothing, however, pleased him so much as negro minstrel show. That seemed in every way to meet the level of his appreciation of wit. Major Whitney relates that late i'll March, 1860, when Lincoln had gone to Chicago to meet and confer with his po- litieal friends relative to his chances for the nomination for president at the convention to be held two months later, he asked Lincoln if he would like to attend q "nigger show" with him, as he had complimentary tickets .'Of all things l would rather do tonight, !" an- swered Lincoln, that suits me best. :" Whitney says he never saw him so joyial and appreeiative He applauded every thing. .tWe heard Dixie sung for the first time, " continues Whitney. "I can well remember the spontaneity of Lin coln's enthusiasm and the heartiness of his applause at the music and action of the rollicking and eccentric perform anee Little did we think then that this weird and harmless melody would ere long be transformed into fierce battle cry, by whose inspiration slaughter and carnage would be carried into the ranks of those who barred their bosoms to save the nations life ?
 As a lawyer one of the secrets of Mir. Lincoln success was the clearness of his perceptions and his consequent i'm perturbability. Nothing excited, dis tprbed CT distressed him. Throughout the trial of a cause he was a stranger alike to enthusiasm and trepidation. Nothing was so apparent as his desire for clear and exact justice. This marked judicial temperament really proved det- rimenta1 to his success if the simple accumulation of business is alone con- sidered People in employing lawyer do not and cannot always use a man whose natural inclination is first to weigh his clients cause with respect to it's justice, and Lincoln's propensity i'll that direction cost him employment i'll many bad case. Samuel C. Parks, colleague of circuit days, relates as an instance of Lincoln s weakness when on the wrong side of case: "A man was indicted for larceny, and he employed Lincoln, Young and me to defend Lin coln was satisfied from the evidence that he was guilty and ought to be convict ed. He called Young and me aside and very gravely said; If you can say any thing for the man, do it; cannot If I attempt it, the jury will see that l think he is guilty and convict him sure The case was, therefore, submitted to the jury without word, and the result was a disagreement. Before the next term the man died. Lincoln's honesty un- doubtedly saved him from the peniten- tiary. h the case of Harris and Jones versus Buckles, Harris wanted Lincoln to assist n1e. The latter's answer WAS characteristic: Tell Harris it's no use to waste money on me in that case. He'll get bsat
 Mir. Line In n's temper was admirable but when th roughly aroused and pro- yoked he MS capable of terrible passion and iryectiye. His "skinning" of one of his political opponents (Jesse B. Thomas) before the people in 1S40 is still remembered by few who heard it as terrible i'll it's severity, and his de nuneiatien before 8 jury i'll Petersburg of defendant wh2 had slandered an almost fl-ipllGlpSS schC6}niStreSs was as